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Realigning Destiny
By TT

Sometimes chance intervenes in our lives and causes destiny jumps the tracks. When this happens, fate steps in and realigns destiny’s course to bring us to where we need to be. But, as with the course of true love, the road of realignment doesn’t always run smooth.

Part 2. - Rain

"Damn rain," Ranger muttered as he turned off the highway on to a sideroad. He had travelled all over the world and, especially in the last four years, all over the United States and he always hated having to find his way in the rain. He especially hated it when he was on dark, narrow back country roads.

As he carefully followed along his lane, he spotted a car pulled over to the side of the road. Given the odd angle of the taillights, and the slight white glow at the side of the vehicle, he assumed the motorist had a flat.

Had he been in Trenton, Miami or any number of other places, he never would have thought of stopping to help, but out here, the chances of it being someone who knew him were vastly reduced.

Drawing closer to the vehicle, he felt a warm tension low in his gut. It was a feeling he hand't had in a long time - about four years.

When a slender figure rose to stand next to the SUV, his breath caught. Though he was too far away to see her face, there was no doubt in his mind that the search that had led him across the country for the past four years was at an end. He had found Stephanie Plum.

A small corner of his mind smirked at the appropriateness of finding her on the side of the road in the rain.

Four years ago

The rain beat down on the roof of his truck in a deafening cacophany of sound. It would be impossible to hear a radio right now, so he didn't even bother to try and listen.

Despite the deluge that began before dawn, it had been a productive day for him. All the high-bond skips had been captured and returned to police custody, He had even managed to squeeze in a quick lunch with Stephanie.

Two months ago she and Joe Morelli had ended their three year on-again/off-again relationship with a surprisingly civil conversation in the middle of the police station. He and Stephanie had begun spending more time together. His life still didn't lend itself to relationships, but the elusive "Someday" he had promised Stephanie was getting closer.

A few hours ago a customer outside Trenton had called with a problem and requested that Ranger personaly handle it. Knowing the value of a happy customer, he met with the man, dealt with the issue and ended up with a request for a five thousand dollar upgrade from the customer's current security. All in all, not a bad way to end the day.

He had just crossed the Trenton City limits when he saw a large light source up ahead. From the flashes of blue and red in the yellow-white glow, he could tell there were a large number of emergency personnel on the scene.

As he drew closer to the site, he began to feel more and more uneasy.

A cruiser was off to the side of the road about a quarter mile before the actual site. He recognized the officer halting traffic despite the amorphous rain gear.

Coming to a complete stop, he rolled down his window and waved the officer over.

As the man approached the truck, his face had gone deathly white. "You should go up there," the officer stammered out. "Pull off to the side and find Juniak. He'll let you know what's going on."

A curt nod was all the answer Ranger offered as he pulled forward and parked. Grabbing a waterproof windbreaker, he slipped into it, too worried to acknowledge the uselessness of the gesture.

As he approached the tight knot of people around Joe Juniak, the slight tendril of dread he'd felt earlier grew into horror. By the time he reached the man in question, he was having trouble putting one foot in front of the other. Whatever was going on, he didn't want to know it.

"Joe," he said with a nod, canning the scene around him.

Rescue personnel were everywhere. The guardrail over the bridge had a gaping hole in it. It didn't take much to figure out that a car had broken through. There were safety lines just visible at the edge of the bridge, so Ranger assumed people were over the side looking for the victim or victims.

What stopped him cold was the figure standing perfectly still, face pale as marble, eyes radiating loss, fear and worry. The frozen visage only seemed to emphasize the soul bleeding out of Joe Morelli.

In that instant, Ranger knew. "Stephanie," he said, his voice whisper soft. He wanted, needed, to get to the edge, to make sure it wasn't her car, to make sure she was found perfectly safe, but his feet wouldn't move. The world and light seemed to fade away as he felt something inside tear. It hurt more than any physical injury he had ever experienced. "No," he whispered, denying even the possibility.

"Ranger!" Joe Juniak shouted, shaking the stunned Ranger.

Snapping out of his stupor, Ranger looked up and met the eyes of the Mayor. "All we know is that Steph's car went over through there. Her bag was found in the vehicle, but there's no sign of her so far."

Ranger nodded at the information, struggling to push aside his emotions and focus on his training. "She wasn't in the car?" he asked.

"No," Juniak confirmed. "There's no sign of her."

"Was the seatbelt cut? Was there any sign of blood?" he asked next.

The Mayor looked at him strangely. "No, the seatbelt is perfectly intact. We won't know if there was any blood or not until we can get the car out of the river and to forensics. The whole river has flooded through it."

Ranger looked over at the hole in the guardrail. "Stephanie always wears her seatbelt," he stated.

“She probably took it off in order to get out,” the Mayor stated, his voice laced with sympathy.

“Was the driver’s door or the passenger door open?” Ranger demaded.

“Neither,” Juniak informed. “Both windows were rolled down.”

Ranger could feel his eyebrow rise at this information and a small tendril of hope take root. “What about her purse?”

“It was sitting on the dashboard,” the Mayor replied.

“I need to see it.” The answers that he had been given up until that point had seemed a little odd for Stephanie, but in character for the type of situation they were dealing with. It was possible the doors were jammed shut after crashing through the side of the bridge, so, Stephanie undoing her seatbelt and rolling down the window to get out made sense. That both windows were rolled down, didn’t. He also knew that Stephanie would never take the time to pick up her purse from the floor of the car and leave it out of harm’s way on the dashboard. She was a survivor and would have gotten out fast, or at least taken the bag with her.

After being told where the purse was, he stepped away from the other man and made his way to the purse in question, his mind already beginning to run through scenarios.

Going through the bag, he noted what was there and what wasn’t. Her stun gun, defense spray, a few odds and ends and her wallet were all in the bag. Flipping open the wallet, he quickly noted that, while her credit cards and drivers license were there, the pictures she had shown him at lunch and the cash he had caught sight of were missing.

With that revelation he knew with absolute certainty that Stephanie Plum had not been in the car when it went over the bridge.

Present

Pulling over behind the SUV, he shifted his truck into park and sat frozen in his seat for a moment looking at the bedraggled form before him. It was her.

His mind flashed quickly through the last four years.

Tank and the others had been on him to take a break, to take a vacation, to just take some time off. They were all afraid he would burn himself out. For the first six months Stephanie had been missing, he had pushed himself to the limits of his endurance and everyone else’s patience looking for her. Then he had been called away on business.

When he returned, Rangeman had claimed his attention, despite his burning need to continue his search for Stephanie. In the year he had neglected his company, it had begun to struggle.

With a lot of effort and hard work, he was able to not only return Rangeman to its previously healthy status, he had improved it and made changes to the internal structure that would allow him the freedom he needed to continue his search.

Though frustrated that no one had found anything the entire time he’d been gone, he had continued to allocate resources to finding his Babe. Any lead that came up from anywhere in the country he would personally track down himself. Every single one had proven to be false.

Most of Trenton and Stephanie’s family had accepted that their daughter was dead. The long-term members of Rangeman, Grandma Mazur, Mary-Alice, Lula and Connie all kept the faith and in-between running the business and other obligations, he continued his search.

Finally, after nearly collapsing three weeks ago, he had finally listened to everyone who encouraged him to take a break. The fact that his old friend, Bob Richards had called asking for his help with a situation, was pure kismet. He knew that whatever Bob needed would keep him distracted from his constant worry as well as provide the break he needed from burning the candle at both ends.

Now, two-thirds of the way across the country, he had found her again.

Slowly, as if fearful of shattering the vision before him, he undid his seatbelt and exited the truck. With an even, measured step, he made his way to the wraith he saw before him, praying she wasn’t a dream, praying she was real, hoping with every fiber of his heart that his search was over, yet terrified it was just a dream.

Stopping when he was within two feet of her, Ranger lifted a hand and gently placed it against the pale cheek of his love. “Babe,” he said softly, not hearing the slight quivering in his voice as their eyes locked and the rend in his soul began to heal at contact.

“Ranger,” she whispered back, her eyes filling with tears as she stepped forward and embraced him.

Without the slightest hesitation, he wrapped his arms around Stephanie and buried his face in her hair, inhaling deeply and rejoicing at the simple fact he could hold her again. Emotion overwhelmed him and he felt tears prick his eyes, even as a joyful laugh bubbled up from deep within and escaped.

“Ranger,” Stephanie repeated, her voice thick with tears, relief and love.

Hearing the love in her voice, he pulled back and moved his hands to cup her face in his hands. He leaned forward and kissed her with infinite tenderness, letting her know she was loved, missed and cherished. It was a kiss which promised forever. “I missed you,” he whispered when he broke the kiss, wrapping Stephanie in his arms again. “I love you,” he added, his mouth right next to her ear so there could be no doubt she heard him.

“I love you,” she responded so softly, he almost didn’t hear over the rain. “And I missed you so very much.”

They stood together in the pouring rain for several minutes before a distant roll of thunder drew their attention away.

“Why don’t you lock the car up and we’ll come back for it in the morning,” he suggested.

Reluctantly, Stephanie pulled away and shook her head. “I can’t,” she denied, looking up into his puzzled face. Releasing a sigh, she took his hand and pulled him to the side of the SUV, indicating for him to look inside. She felt him still and stiffen slightly at the sight of boy sleeping peacefully in the back seat.

“Yours?” Ranger finally asked, his voice flat.

“Mine,” Stephanie confirmed. “The adoption was finalized two and a half years ago.” She felt some of the tension leave Ranger’s body. “Help me change the tire and follow me home,” she suggested, not relinquishing his hand. “I’ll tell you all about it.”

Turning to face her, he looked down into her eyes once more, reading the joy at seeing him again, the love she had confessed earlier and a maternal pride as she once more glanced at her son. “I’m supposed to be meeting a friend,” he admitted. “He’s going to introduce me to my landlord for the next few weeks.”

Stephanie blinked for a minute before a sly smile broke out on her face. “Your friend wouldn’t happen to be Bob Richards, would it?” she asked, her smile growing.

Puzzled, he simply nodded.

A soft laugh escaped the blue-eyed lady as she informed, “Then you’ve already met your landlord.” Reading the question in his eyes, she continued, “You’ll be staying at my place.”

The smile on Ranger’s face started small and grew until it hit full wattage and continued to grow until he tipped his head back and laughed. Turning his attention back to Stephanie, he said, “Then let’s get this tire changed and get home.”

To be continued soon in Part 3. - Groceries

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