Thanks for the support and the patience on this wild ride. I was a bit undecided, but in the end settled to make this the last chapter. Hope you like where I went with this.

Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE.

Ranger went to the hospital with his Babe and I stayed behind to deal with the mess. Rangeman, the police and snake chick's coworkers all had to get involved. It turns out I didn't kill the psycho. He passed out from blood loss. It seems like Lt. Plum got a good shot at him. Anyway, I'm glad he's not dead. That asshole has to pay for all the damage he's done.

I was standing on the front yard, trying to stay out of the way while I got some much needed fresh air. Ranger told the cops what happened and when I got a glimpse of the photographs I realized this was all my fault. I was the man fucking Psycho's 'woman' on those photographs. She never hinted that she was seeing someone else. I mean, we weren't exclusive, but it would have been nice to know if she had a super jealous freak of a boyfriend.

"Les!" I looked up just in time to watch Hal jogging my way.

"What's up?" I asked, somehow feeling like the end wasn't quite near. He told me that some chick was at the gate.

"She's supposed to be house sitting for some relatives."

"And?"I have no idea why he felt the need to fill me in on this.

"She didn't think it was necessary to stop by so often considering her relatives permanently moved to Europe."

"Okay." A sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.

"She was just at the property." Hal said this woman got a funny feeling when she approached the house. "As soon as she opened the door, a strong stench wafted her way." HalhdkdfladkdkddddKDKDKJLDSFKAJDFKDSJAFLSDFJIEMDMHHHHHHHHHHHHDDDFFHal thinks it's possible Psycho could have holed up there. It would make sense. He would go undetected in that empty house, leaving him the option to choose the perfect moment to strike. A lot of the residents here work a nine to five schedule, but Ranger's got a more varied one. Well, he did, right before he and Lt. Plum started dating. That would have made him a whole lot more predictable.

"Son of a bitch!" I growled, angry that this beefy idiot did so much damage without us even suspecting the source. I asked Hal which house it was and then I fetched one of the snake dudes to go with me.

"We'll take care of the human threats." I told an Eddie Gazzarra as Hal and I took the lead. Once Hal cleared the front of the house, we moved towards the back. That's when we realized one of the bedrooms was the source of the stench. Gazzarra inspected the room, looking for anything in his field of expertise as I moved towards the bathroom. I nudged the bathroom door open and came face to face with a very beaten female body. She was naked, bruised and bloodied. The woman was curled up against the bath tub and chained to the toilet. She was completely still and I didn't know if I had it in me to check if she was breathing. "Guys, over here." My voice broke, but I don't think the guys noticed.

Gazzarra moved past me and knelt in front of the woman.

"She alive?" Hal asked, standing somewhere behind me.

"Barely." Gazzarra said.

"Get help." I ordered Hal as it dawned on me that I knew the woman. Even through the swelling and bruises, I recognized Carmen Sanchez.

S&R- Ranger's POV

The adrenaline rush was long gone and my body was now feeling the toll of this nightmarish rollercoaster. Thankfully, it was over. That's the only thing that makes the aftermath bearable.

I was in the process of stretching the kink out of my neck when Lester joined us.

"Hey." He looked like a mess. My cousin looked tired, but that tiredness seemed to go beyond the physical.

"Hey." I nodded for him to continue. If he had something to say, he better say it.

"Our bad guy's been identified." Lester said, taking a slow calming breath before he continued. "Benito Ramirez. He's the ex-golden boy of Trenton." Les said Ramirez made a fortune in the ring, that he went undefeated until his carrier ended abruptly a few years ago.

"What happened?"

"He beat some guy to a pulp at a bar. Someone caught it on video and that was the end of his career."

"Okay." I could tell he was holding back on me and I didn't like it. "What else?"

"This was my fault." Lester admitted, looking me right in the eye.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm the man in the photographs. You know, the ones where I'm fucking…"

I held up my hand to cut him off. There's no need for me to replay those scenes in my head.

"The woman, uhm, her name's Carmen Sanchez." Les went on to disclose his heated romance with the woman. "I didn't know she was otherwise committed. We only had a handful of encounters before she cut me off." And then, Les dropped the real bomb. "We found Carmen at the Smith residence, a couple houses over from your place."

So that's where Ramirez had been hiding. It made sense. If he was already in the community then it was relatively easy for him to move undetected. "That son of a bitch."

"She was tortured. Maybe that's how he got information out of her." Les shook his head. "I just don't understand why she would throw him at you."

"In profile, you two look a lot alike." Babe mumbled from her spot on the bed.

Les shot me a look at Babe's giggle. "They pumped her with pain meds." I said by way of explanation as I tried to remember the photograph Ramirez showed me, the one where my head was marked. Now that I think about it, Lester was in the shot too. "She made a mistake." I said to no one in particular. "If Ramirez tortured her beyond her breaking point, then she could have been desperate enough to tell him what he wanted to hear just so he would stop."

"I'm sorry man."

I glanced at Babe and smiled. "All's well that ends well." I slapped his shoulder in reassurance. "We'll get through this." We've gotten through worse.

Les nodded. "Ramirez is critical, but he's expected to make a full recovery." My cousin patted Babe's thigh, making her groan in discomfort. Les grimaced and apologize. "You got him good." He said to Steph before he got ready to leave. "I want to go check up on Carmen's status." And just before he left, Les told me Hal was waiting in the parking lot for us.

"Thanks." I said to his retreating back just as the nurse joined us, handing me aftercare instructions along with Babe's release paperwork.

"Come on." I helped Babe off the low bed and told her we were going to her apartment to spend the night.

"Kay." She murmured sleepily, leaning against my shoulder.

S&R- Stephanie's POV

The phone rang when I was busy washing a few dirty dishes. "Ranger!" I hollered for him to answer the phone.

"The gang is running a little late." Ranger informed when he hung up. He took advantage of the fact that I had my back to him to slip his arms around my waist. His palms settled on my bare abdomen as he pressed his hard body against me.

I pushed my ass against his erection, swiveling my hips ever so slightly as I rinsed off the last plate. "I doubt that everyone is running late."

"They are." Ranger argued, slipping one hand inside the front of my swim shorts. "Eddie and Lula just finished their shifts." As he passed me the information his fingers ghosted along my doodah. "Les is probably leaving Rangeman right now…." One digit traced my entranced and I knew I was done.

"We don't have time." I moaned in protest, even as I turned in his arms to fuse my lips with his.

"We do." He insisted, pointing out that it was called a quickie for a reason.

Our swimwear hit the floor as his bare ass made contact with a chair. I straddled his lap, throwing my head back in pleasure when he filled me in one swift stroke. With his hands on my hips, he allowed me to control the pace. I would slowly rise and he would slam me back down. Rise, slam, rise, slam… over and over until we climaxed together.

We stayed tangled for several moments until our breathing returned to normal. And just as we were getting ready to get up, it hit me that we've now officially christened every room in his house. Except Julie's. That would just be weird.

"What's so funny?" Ranger murmured as we made our way back to our bedroom. Once my laughter subsided, I shared my finding with him. "Don't worry." He said on a chuckle. "We'll figure something out."

"Funny." I smacked his shoulder playfully as I cleaned up.

"I'm happy you agreed to move in with me." He said, tracing the faint scar on one of my butt cheeks. I turned to face him and we shared a long, unhurried kiss. Since the whole Ramirez thing we've practically been inseparable, spending almost every night together. When he asked me to move in with him, I had no doubts and agreed instantly.

"Rex is happy too." I teased just as the doorbell rang. "Ranger! I thought you said they were running late!"

"I'll get it." He flashed me his most charming grin as he slipped on his trunks.

S&R

As we were settling down to eat, I couldn't help but think back to the first time I set foot on this very same backyard.

Lester was manning the grill, expertly cooking the meat for our burgers. Automatically, my eyes searched for Ranger. I spotted him talking with his ex in the kitchen. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but it looked friendly. A moment later I spotted her walking back to the front door while Ranger and Julie walked towards me.

"Hi." I greeted Julie.

"Hey, Stephanie." She returned the greeting with a hug before mumbling something about being hungry. As soon as she spotted Lester, she ambled over to the grill to get her burger.

"Thanks." Ranger said to me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I fibbed.

"You got her to agree." With a smile, Ranger swooped down to peck my lips softly. "I don't know what you said, but you got Rachel to agree." With a chuckle, he added, "That's hard to do."

His ex got super over protective of their daughter ever since the whole snake fiasco. Now that I'm sharing every aspect of his life, I thought it couldn't hurt if I put in a good word in. Rachel was a tough cookie at first, but in the end she agreed. "I didn't do anything." I lied and cocked my head to the side for him to follow me to the table.

"Baby!" Carmen waved Les over, filling him in on her conversation with Lula and Eddie.

"Volunteering sounds great." Les agreed. "As long as you keep the snakes out of the apartment." He half joked.

That got a chuckle out of everyone. And it felt good to laugh. The last several weeks have not only healed the physical scars but also the emotional ones. Everyone seems to be in a better place now.

"We'll take all the volunteers we can get." I said, reminding Lester that all Rangeman employees are undergoing training to help them deal with wildlife encounters on their service calls. He's probably one of the few guys left who has yet to complete his training.

"Fine." Les agreed for us to sign him up, muttering something about snakes and goose bumps.

"I really owe you." Ranger whispered in my ear as we took our seats. I grinned at him, silently letting him know that I intend on claiming full reimbursement.