Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. Typos are my bad.

Stephanie's POV

I nearly tripped when we reached the end of the wraparound sidewalk, finding my footing before I tumbled over a concrete parking block. Just as we kept moving further away from the activity, our backs to the building, the power was restored. Squinting, I raised my free arm to shield my eyes from the suddenly too bright parking lot lights. After being engulfed in darkness for long, life threatening moments, the brightness was a stark contrast.

The burning in my right shoulder only intensified when I raised my arm to shield my eyes from the bright lights. I followed Megan's lead, too drained to offer up much resistance. She was in turn following JC's lead, and so on until I realized that we had Bobby pulling us to safety. Taking cover on the front side of the coffee shop, fully occluded from our storefront's view, the rest of the parking lot was swarming with Rangeman SUVs and police cruisers alike.

We all let go as we huddled under the awning to get some reprieve from the rain. A loud shriek snapped everyone's attention just as Mary Lou shoved past a handful of uniformed officers. None of them were any match for my tiny, but mighty, BFF.

"Ma!" JC's patented teenage whine was long gone, enveloping his mom in such a tight hug that she was swept off her feet. My BFF hugged her oldest son just as fiercely, pressing her face to the side of his neck.

Officers readied to swarm our group, no doubt on their quest to start hounding us for info.

"Come here." Mare huffed when she was set back on her feet, hooking her arm around my waist and pulling me into their embrace. "I was worried about you too." My BFF said into my left ear, her voice drowned out by my groan of discomfort. I'm achy all over.

S&R

Lester's POV

Before we had to attempt to figure out how we were going to make our way into the building undetected, a shrill alarm blared just as the back door swung open. On alert, we had our weapons drawn before Stephanie's crew stumbled out. Thanks to the pitch black the power going out casted, Steph's staff didn't see us. It was lucky they didn't, otherwise it would have been quite a shock for them to see us all geared up and armed.

"You're safe." I murmured to them so they wouldn't attempt to bolt in different directions. One of the girls twisted the key, killing the alarm, before she extracted and pocketed it.

Signaling to my team, we helped each member out of the building. Bobby will lead them to safety once we make sure no one else is missing. Except, we weren't fully done extracting each crew member before we heard the distinctive sound of gunshots. At least three shots.

"Let's mobilize." I said, relaying our development to the rest of our men.

We had Steph's staff lined up, holding hands and ready to follow Bobby back to safety when running footsteps approached. Standing in the open doorway, I was on instant alert.

My heart hammered under my ribs, hoping against all odds that it was Stephanie coming towards us. Thankfully, my silent prayer was answered and it was in fact Stephanie barreling towards us. Breathing a sigh of relief, I waited with open arms for her to reach me.

Wrapping my arms around her middle, I kept Stephanie from falling on her ass after slamming into me.

"Beautiful." I breathed, extremely thankful that she was okay. In any other circumstance I would be cracking jokes and reveling in the fact that her curves were plaster against my muscles. Not tonight. No, right now I'm just so fucking grateful that she's okay.

"I'm fine." She said just before quickly getting me up to speed. "Three subdued. Two in the front and one in the back office." Beautiful made sure to tell us that there were still two more men upstairs, towards the back of the building in the section that is unused. As she told us everything we needed to know, her fingers danced over my face. I smirked, too damn happy that she was fine. Her intuitiveness and curiosity aren't extinguished even in the pitch blackness around us, easily exploring my face until she deciphered that I was wearing night vision tech to help me navigate.

Binkie and Hector reinforced that we'd be taking over, taking the figurative baton from her still very capable hands.

Stephanie nodded and stepped aside, knowing that we could see her.

Since I knew Bobby would take over, I crossed the threshold and got moving. With Hector and Binkie flanking me, we did a quick perusal of the stockroom before parting the curtain that would lead us onto the sales floor.

Following Stephanie's directions, I reached the front of the store. We kept up our sweeps, not finding anyone in our path until we reached the area by the glass doors. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to waste. As soon as I spotted the unmoving man strapped to the faux electric chair next to the double glass doors, I kept moving. Hal and Ramon will be in to cover our six soon. I know it.

Ambling away from the front, I easily spotted the location where the second downed man was still squirming under a pile of fallen freestanding walls and shelves. Binkie stopped to make sure the man wouldn't be a threat to us, leaving Hector and I to keep going.

Once we cleared the rest of the sales floor, Hector and I slipped into the break area. After doing a quick clearing of the restrooms nearby, we moved towards the back office.

Hector took over, unlocking the padlock on the door to the office. While he was busy doing that, I cleared the hall and electrical room. All clear.

Binkie joined us just as Hector gave me the all clear, indicating that one more man was down in the office just like Beautiful had said he would be. Binkie signaled that both Hal and Ramon were in, lifting a huge weight off our shoulders. Not being blown to smithereens is always a plus for me.

With Binkie keeping his post by the office, Hector and I kept moving deeper down the eerie hallway. We heard the thundering of footsteps as the men descended clumsily down the death trap stairs. One of the men tripped, flinging his precious cargo across the empty space. I had him cuffed before he even recuperated from slamming repeatedly down the steps. Hector did his thing, easily subduing the last man. Thankfully, Hec had his secure hold before the lights flickered back on. A few seconds earlier and we may have needed to resort to gunfire.

With a shared head nod, we tore the night vision tech off our faces. Relaying the new development to the rest of our team, it took less than a few minutes before the whole building was swarmed by cops. Super late in my humble opinion.

Leaving the officers, along with Hector and Binkie, to deal with the three men in the back of the building, I hauled ass back towards the sales floor.

"Bomber, got him good." Ramon beamed, standing guard with another two officers. The man that had been buried under all the shelves was pulled out of the pile, his dark clothing soaked as he bled steadily. She got him alright.

I didn't spare him a second glance, knowing that Ramon was on it. Yet, as I walked around the scattered area, apprehension settled low in my abdomen when I noted bloody stains on the opposite side of the fallen wall. Glancing around, I spotted other good sized glops that highlighted the clear path of someone fleeing.

Shit!

Turning on my heel, I hauled ass past the now propped open glass doors. Hal arched an eyebrow in question as he watched me fly past him and the restrained man.

The previous downpour eased as unexpectedly as it came, now nothing more than a light sprinkle. Running faster, I pumped my arms so I could run faster. It's not as easy when you got heavy gear on and are worried sick about a certain someone.

My boot slid on the muddy patch of grass I tried to sail over in my attempt to cut down my path towards the coffee shop at the edge of the parking lot. Regaining my footing, I kept moving when I caught a glimpse of Beautiful. Perhaps seeing her cast in the red and blue lights of the new cruisers that descended on the lot was the reason for my nearly overwhelming panic.

Her mouth was moving, answering some question from a uniformed officer, but I blocked it out.

"Where?" I huffed, gripping the edges of the heavy hooded cape. It doesn't help that the cape is a deep red color, completely soggy from the rain.

"Wha-…" Stephanie flicked her usually vibrant eyes to me, a confused look flashing across her beautiful face.

"Where?" I gritted out again, my hands busy checking for injuries. She immediately tensed when my hands landed on her hips, attempting to push me away out of pure defensive instinct. Stephanie, like many of us, doesn't really tolerate much physical touch, especially if it's unsolicited. In the back of my mind, I knew that I was crossing the line and not making much sense, but I figured why waste time?

"Santos." Bobby barked, moving away from the person he was assessing and coming towards us.

Ignoring his warning tone, I kept my hands moving. Not finding a GSW on her midriff did little to appease me. In fact, by the time I was done shoving the gold belt thingy and her shirt out of the way, my heart was in full on racing mode.

"Santos!" Bobby's booming warning and hand shoving my right shoulder, hard, nearly tore me away from Beautiful.

"Lester, what the hell?" Beautiful's voice was weak, snuffing out her usual spirit. If she were fine, she would have kicked my nuts so hard I'd be walking funny for a week. The fact she didn't…

I didn't stop. I couldn't. Not until I was sure that the additional bloody stains weren't hers.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Bobby growled somewhere behind me, possibly gearing up to forcefully remove me. I don't blame him, appreciating that he too cares about Beautiful. But he doesn't know. He's been preoccupied with the others, treating an openly bleeding forearm from one of the boys.

"Les…" Whatever Stephanie was going to say, died in her throat when she lifted her right hand to push me away. As if in slow motion, we both watched her bloody hand and arm stay suspended in the air between us.

"Shit." Bobby muttered, reaching for his medical bag. He'd left it on one of the outside tables the coffee shop has bolted to the sidewalk in front of their shop.

Beautiful's blue eyes looked bluer than ever when our eyes locked, the flashing blue of the police lights somehow flicking in unison to enhance her eyes.

The rain, the flashing lights and everything else casted a gloomy, eerie feeling around us. I was fighting everything inside of me to not fully go over the edge. If death is really in the air tonight, it better be here for one of the assholes inside Steph's store.

"You slayed too hard, Steph." Someone said, but I mostly ignored them. Not even the attempt at humor eased my worry.

Unfastening the strings at neck level, my shaking hands peeled the saturated heavy cape away from Beautiful's even paler than usual skin. Revealing Stephanie's right shoulder covered in blood had everyone falling silent.

Bobby nudged me aside and I finally let him, watching as he took over. While he did so, asking Stephanie questions, her eyes remained locked with mine. A sort of understanding passed between us, easily easing my fears that I had messed up our friendship. The last thing I'd ever want is for her to think that I was trying to cop a shameless feel by taking advantage of the situation.

Not trusting myself not to get too emotional, and with an audience no less, I shifted back to business mode. Relaying the new developments ensured that everyone would be on the same page. It was as much as I could do while Bobby saw to it that Stephanie got patched up. We can worry about the rest once she's recouping.