A Secret from Santa

For the first time ever, RangeMan was doing a secret Santa. Nobody could believe that Ranger agreed to my proposal and the guys were looking forward to the gift exchange almost as much as I was. I wrote all the names onto small pieces of paper a few days ago at the end of a long day of searches. I placed the names in a bowl and locked them in the drawer in my desk. I wouldn't put it past Leister or one of the guys to change a few of the names so I wanted it safely out of sight and out of mind.

Today during the morning meeting, I passed the bowl around, handing it to Ranger than then taking the last piece of paper for myself. I was so excited that I just put my name in my pocket without looking at it and then explained the rules.

"You must buy a gift for the person on your piece of paper. The gift should cost no more than $20. All gifts must be wrapped and placed under the tree in the break room before the 20th. Make sure your gift has no name on it because on the 20th, each person will present their gift to the recipient personally. Just make sure you don't forget which one is yours. We'll do the gift exchange on the 20th at 17 hundred so we don't interfere too much with RangeMan business. Does anyone have any questions?"

I looked around and could see a few people looking around with huge smiles on their faces. I assumed that they were happy with the person they pulled out of the hat, and I was glad.

Ranger of all people spoke, startling me. He grinned as I jumped a little and sat down beside him.

"RangeMan has decided, or should I say that I have decided to offer a buffet meal after the gift exchange. It is clear to me that you are all enjoying the idea of a holiday tradition so why not start another one while we're at it. Ella has already started planning the food and drinks. We'll arrange the schedules on the 20th so every man can participate for the gift exchange and then take turns for the buffet."

The guys were all smiling and nodding and the fragmented discussions indicated the end of the meeting. I walked back to my desk and as I sat down, I pulled my name out of my pocket and almost choked on my coffee when I saw that it read, 'Ranger'.

I groaned inwardly. Not because Ranger is hard to please but because I really had no idea what he would want or need. I knew Ranger pretty well and was sure that he'd be happy with almost anything, but I wanted to get him something unique or personal. Better yet, something that would make him think of me whenever he saw it.

I spent the rest of the day performing searches and doing some basic skip tracing. When I got enough information about one of the RangeMan skips, I called Ranger and he asked me to go to his office to fill him in. When I walked into his office, Tank was there so I filled them both in on Danny Toulouse. He was FTA after being charged with three counts of rape and murder. To put it plainly, he was worth a lot of money to RangeMan and so far, he was proving difficult to capture.

"I found that Toulouse has a grandmother in Hamilton Township. She didn't turn up in our original search because she changed her name when her husband died 20 years ago. I only found her because Connie went to school with his sister and she mentioned visiting her grandmother as a child. She even knew the name of the house. It was quite isolated and unique in the area."

I handed Ranger a piece of paper with the address and both he and Tank headed off to try and catch Danny. Ranger kissed me on the forehead on the way past and asked "What are your plans this evening Babe?"

I thought for a moment and said, "I promised my Grandmother that I'd take her to Stiva's. Why?"

"Just curious. I might drop by later if I get a chance. I want to talk to you about a distraction during the holidays."

I nodded and wished the guys luck and headed back to my desk to finish the last two searches I had on my desk. At 5:30, I looked up at the clock and headed home to change and to pick up my grandmother. I knew that if I showed up too early, I'd be expected to join the family for dinner, so I purposefully called Grandma Mazur and told her I'd be by at 6:30 to pick her up. As I pulled up to the front of the house, she ran down and climbed in my RangeMan car and we zoomed off before my mother even realised I was nearby.

The funeral parlour was packed and Grandma Mazur headed up to the casket straight away. She stayed there talking with her friends for quite some time while I mingled and spoke to a few people I knew. After about 45 minutes, Grandma waved me over and said, "Betsey's hair looks really nice. They also did a really good job with her makeup. She looks better now than she did when she was alive. I need a cookie. I hope all the good ones aren't gone already."

I followed her over to the cookie table and watched as she tipped a full platter into her humungous handbag. Nobody paid her any attention so she sidled over to me and whispered, "Let's get out of here before they call the cops on me."

I nodded and said, "Yeah, and just my luck, they'd send Joe. I've managed to do a pretty good job at avoiding him lately."

Grandma Mazur grinned and pulled me along behind her towards the door. Once we were tucked up in the RangeMan car she turned and said, "I heard that Joe's put in for a transfer. I haven't heard about where though."

I rolled my eyes and said, "It might be best if he leaves. It doesn't seem that we can be just friends. I would have liked to stay friends, but when I turned down his proposal after accepting a job at RangeMan, he didn't take it very well. He honestly thinks that I've been seeing Ranger behind his back, but the joke's on him because Ranger doesn't want a relationship with me."

Grandma smiled at me and said, "Joe had good reason to be jealous, just you wait and see."

I wasn't sure what she meant, so just ignored her comment and led her to the car. I dropped her off without going into the house and headed back to my apartment. I needed to go through all the photos Ella and Tank pulled together for my gift to Ranger. I wanted to get some inexpensive frames from the dollar store and put a bunch of photos together so he could put them up or set them out in his apartment. It would make it feel more like a home than the current bare apartment.

I dug out my laptop and was going through the pictures of the guys in the army and found one really good one of the 4 guys in the core team. They were dressed in army desert camo gear and they were laughing at something off camera and none of them were looking directly at the camera. All four men looked happy and I wanted to include it in the photos that I plan to frame. The next one I chose was of Julie and Ranger. He was lifting her up onto his shoulders and the smile on their faces was almost infectious. I didn't have any photos of his family, so the last photo would be a RangeMan one. I was currently going through a bunch of photos of the guys in various locations around Trenton in different circumstances.

When I flipped to the next photo, my breath caught in my throat as I looked a picture of Ranger and me of all people. We were standing in front of the RangeMan building and the discreet sign was visible right beside us. Ranger's one hand was on the side of my head away from the camera so it wasn't obvious what he was doing, but I remember this day very well. This was the day that his Turbo was crushed by the dump truck. In the photo, I looked relieved and Ranger was smiling. It was a nice photo and I was considering adding it to the list when I heard somebody at the door.

I hurriedly closed the lid of my laptop so Ranger wouldn't see what I was doing. I wouldn't want him to see the photos and then figure out what I was doing before I had the chance to actually do something. He's like that, clever and able to easily read my mind.

I stood and waited for Ranger to come into the room. When he did, he walked over to me and pulled me towards him for a hug. I was concerned about him because he usually only gets this way if something has happened to him or one of his men.

"Ranger, is something wrong?"

"Not anymore Babe. I just wanted to see you and hold you. We caught our skip but when we were heading back to the police station, we drove past Lula's building and noticed that there was a fire. Tank rushed in and got everyone out, but there was no answer at Lula's door. We were worried that she might still be inside because she wasn't answering her cell phone when Tank called her. The fire was too much and we couldn't get back inside. We stuck around to answer questions from the police and then I decided to try Lula myself. She wouldn't recognise my number if she was screening her calls so there was a chance. She answered after the 4th ring and Tank and I split up and he went to take care of her. They're broken up, but he obviously still cares about her."

"I'm glad Lula is OK, but she'll be devastated to lose her shoes and clothes."

Ranger laughed at this. His laughter was a rare occurrence so leaned back and looked at him as he caught his breath and returned his face to its usual blankness. I smiled at him and he pulled me close again.

"Why would a fire at Lula's make you need a hug from me?"

"I can't really explain it Babe, but I wanted to spend some time with you. Why don't we sit down and talk about anything you'd like?"

Ranger sat on the sofa beside me and we spent the next 2 hours talking about the cars I have destroyed over the years. It turns out that RangeMan has a list. Ranger mentioned that the guys that he was in the army with called him Carlos back then, but now they call him Ranger for the business. He mentioned that he missed being called by his real name and I tucked that away for later. We talked about my family, his family, his relationship with Julie, and we were just about to talk about some of the funny antics that my Grandmother pulls when his phone rang. He picked it up and had a short conversation and then hung up.

I was expecting him to tell me that he had to leave, but he explained that it was Tank and it appears that Lula of all people might have a stalker. Tank has set her up in one of the 4th floor apartments and is staying there with her to keep her safe.

"I'm really worried about Lula. Who would stalk her? We should go through all of the skips she's brought in and maybe some of her johns."

"Don't worry about it tonight Babe. Tank will take good care of her tonight and we can start going through all of the skips and johns in the morning. I'm sure they have better things to worry about tonight."

This made me smile and the corners of Ranger's lips even curled up a little. We both knew what Tank and Lula were like when they were together. In one word, they were happy.

Ranger looked at me and after a few minutes of his staring I started to get a bit self conscious. Do I have something on my face?

"No Babe, you don't have something on your face. I'm just admiring you for who you are. You amaze me all the time. Horrible things happen to you and you brush them off like they were nothing, but as soon as one of your friends is in danger, you get very protective and want to help. You never disappoint and you keep me on my toes."

I laughed at the toes comment and said, "And don't forget that I make your cars cower from fear."

Ranger smiled at me and pulled me towards him so that I was sitting across his lap and his arms were around me. I rested my head on his shoulder and let out a sigh. Ranger kissed me on the head and said, "I'd love to stay like this all night, but it's getting late and I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a long day. It's the last day before the big gift exchange so I'm sure the guys will be running around a little crazy trying to meet the deadline. I should probably go so you can finalise your gift for the lucky bastard that you pulled out of the hat."

I smiled at this because he was in fact, that lucky bastard. He lifted me off his lap and helped me to my feet. He pulled me into a hug and before he let me go, he whispered, "Good night Babe. Sweet dreams and I'll see you in the morning."

I watched him leave and wished that Carlos had kissed me before going. Ranger's head turned slightly and then he walked back towards me quickly and did just what I wanted. If my mind wasn't so occupied with the lips and tongue that were currently weakening my knees, I would have realised that my thoughts were not so much in my head.

When Ranger finally pulled away he said, "I'd gladly kiss you anytime you'd like Babe, and I especially loved hearing you call me Carlos. Let me know when you want another kiss."

Before I was able to form a coherent thought, he was gone. It was then, and only then that I realised that I had wished out loud. Oh well, Ranger knows how I feel about him and he also knows what he does to me so if he didn't want to kiss me, he could have easily ignored my out loud thoughts. He did want to kiss me, and based on the reaction I felt a little further south, he wanted to do a lot more than just kiss me.

I touched my hand to my lips and then shook my head, trying to clear it so I could finish going through the photos. After another 30 minutes, I finally decided on the photo with the guys, the photo with Julie and one of Ranger and me outside the RangeMan building. This last one wasn't the one I'd seen before. It was taken on the same day, but in this one, we were both smiling. I copied all three photos onto a memory stick and shut down my laptop. I would stop on my way to the office in the morning and buy three frames and then I'd print the photos at the office.

The next morning, I arrived at the office a little later than usual because while I was at the mall for the dollar store, I saw a gorgeous dress in the widow of one of the small dress boutiques that I absolutely loved. It wasn't overly formal, but I could definitely wear it for our RangeMan Christmas party and gift exchange the following day, so I tried it on and bought it before getting the frames. I left the frames in the back of my RangeMan car and rushed up to my cubicle and found a pile of searches waiting.

When my first search was underway, I printed out the three photos on the special photo printer in Tank's office. Since he was aware of my gift plans, he agreed to discretely hide the photos so Ranger wouldn't see them. It also meant that I could print the photos at RangeMan and not have to go to a specialty shop where the Burg gossip hounds might see what I was printing.

Tank placed the printed photos in a locked drawer on his desk and told me to bring the frames and he'd help put the present together. I told him that the frames were down in my car and that I'd get them during my lunch break. I returned to my cubicle and finished three searches before I took my lunch break. I ran down to my car and carried a bag into Tank's office.

A few hours later when I went into the break room, I was shocked to see so many gifts under the tree in the corner. The guys had until the morning to get their gifts there but it looked like almost everyone had already placed their gift there. I was looking at the tree in shock when Leister came in and placed his package under the tree. He smiled at me and said, "Why do you look so surprised Beautiful?"

I looked at Leister and grinned when I said, "I expected you all to be rushing around this evening looking for something to put under the tree at the last minute. I didn't expect this level of planning or forethought from a bunch of guys."

Leister held his hand over his heart and had a look of pain on his face. "That pains me Beautiful. Of course we're taking this whole thing seriously. It was your idea after all."

I felt a bit guilty for assuming the guys would be so lax and lazy and after counting the gifts, I realised that there were only two missing. Mine was one of those two so I hurried to Tank's office but found Ranger inside so I wasn't able to do anything. I was about to leave when Ranger stopped me.

"Babe, I'm going to give you three searches and I'm really hoping you can finish them this afternoon. They're for three brothers who were arrested together and have all gone FTA together. They're worth a lot of money to RangeMan and if we don't hurry, they'll end up out of state and the paperwork for that would be a pain for both me and Vinnie."

Ranger handed me the three files and I looked down at them thinking that I might end up having to work late to finish them. Ranger must have read my mind because he said, "I'm sorry if you end up having to work late tonight Babe. As soon as you're done with the searches, we'll get the team together and work out the best course of action to catch these guys. I'll do my best to make it up to you."

I nodded and started back towards my desk when Ranger grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me towards him. The passionate kiss caught me off guard and I ended up dropping the files as I wrapped my arms around Ranger's neck. When Ranger finally pulled back he said, "I think I'll enjoy making it up to you."

Ranger grinned and I was left standing in the hallway beside three files that were spread across the floor. I sighed and collected the papers and went back to my desk. I looked at the clock and it was almost 3. I knew I wouldn't make it to my mother's for dinner so I pulled out my phone and explained that I had to work late. I agreed to come in a few days and started the first search.

Marco, the eldest Caldera brother had an interesting rap sheet. He'd been charged several times for smaller crimes but none of them sent him to jail. This time however, a charge of rape and murder would send him away for a long time. Danny, the middle brother had a clean record up until now. He was charged with accessory after the fact. The youngest brother Rico has been in and out of prison three times already. He is also charged with rape and murder.

All in all, these were three unpleasant men and I needed to get as much information for ranger as possible. I included a financial records, property searches and I even called Connie to find out if the brothers had any connections. She called back a little later with some details about the women they dated, but they were not a connected family, even in the slightest.

I included all of this information in a report and sent the report to the printer. I stood and stretched and then headed towards the printer. After taking a few steps, I stepped on something. I looked down and noticed Hershey's kiss that I had smushed. I looked around and saw a trail of the little chocolates and followed it, forgetting about the printing report.

The picked up each kiss and by the time I got to the elevator, my hands were full. I pressed the elevator button because there was a kiss taped there. Inside, there was another one taped to the button for the 2nd floor. This peaked my curiosity because I don't think I have been down to the 2nd floor since the original tour I was given on my first visit to RangeMan.

The doors to the elevator opened on the 2nd floor and the Hershey's kiss trail picked up and led me to a closed door. One final kiss was taped to the door beside a note that said, 'Knock.'

After knocking, the door was opened by a grinning Leister who ushered me inside. Every single RangeMan was inside a massive conference room. The table that was normally in the middle was pushed against the wall and was completely covered with food and drink. My mouth must have been open in surprise because all of the guys were grinning at me as Ranger came forward a said, "Surprise Babe, we decided to move the gift ceremony forward one day so you didn't stress out about it."

I laughed and said, "That's why all the gifts were there this morning." At that thought, I suddenly paled. Tank leaned over and said, "Don't worry Bomber, I got you covered." I smiled up at Tank and gave him a huge hug before he cleared his throat and said, "Alright. I need the first shift to get back to the monitors. Somebody will be up to relieve you in 20 minutes so you can come down to get some food. We will move things upstairs for the gift exchange so nobody has to miss it."

The two men on monitor duty headed upstairs and the rest of us dug into the buffet. Ella has outdone herself. The food was wonderful. There were even little bite sized desserts, all with a Christmas theme. We all ate and drank, joked and laughed. Tank and Ranger made sure the two new recruits that were given monitor duty had a 30 minute break to join us and get something to eat. When their break was over, we headed upstairs for the gift exchange.

Tank handed me a gift that was under the tree and said, "Since this was Stephanie's idea, she gets to present her gift first."

He turned to me and said, "Tell us who you got and then take your gift to them."

I looked around the room and said, "The name I pulled out of the bowl was Ranger."

I walked across the room and handed Ranger an expertly wrapped gift. Ranger took the package and said, "Thanks Babe."

I laughed and said, "Don't thank me yet. Wait until after you've opened it before you thank me. You might hate it."

Carlos smiled and started to painstakingly open the present. He was very slow and took care not to rip the paper. He was teased about his unwrapping skills, but he didn't let it faze him or speed him up in any way. When he finally had the paper off, he gently set it on his chair and then looked at the three photos. He looked up at me, put the photos down and hugged me tightly. He whispered, "They're perfect Babe. I know just where to put them in my apartment. I'm glad you included one with you. No photo wall would be complete without you."

Ranger hugged me one last time and said, "Who's next?"

I returned to my seat and waited for Tank to indicate the next person. He decided to go in a circle starting from me and I was sitting between Ranger and Leister. Leister stood, went over to the tree and pulled out a small package. He said, "The name I pulled out of the bowl was Stephanie."

I grimaced a little and my facial expression caused Leister to laugh. "Don't worry Beautiful, I know you'll love my gift. It won't even cause you to blush."

I held my breath as I unwrapped the present. I was very surprised to find that the package contained a medium sized bottle of Dolce Vita perfume. It was my favourite perfume and I was currently out. I stood and hugged Leister and thanked him for the gift. I knew it cost more than the spending limit, but I wasn't going to bust Leister for that because it was a really nice gift.

Next to Leister was Bobby. When he stood and said that he also had my name, I was a bit confused. Bobby didn't seem surprised that both he and Leister had the same name, so I figured there was something going on that I didn't know about.

Bobby's gift was a new phone case I had been eying up, but didn't want to spend the money on. I had only mentioned this to Lula so I had to assume that Tank was also involved. My suspicions were confirmed when he too had my name and gave me a bottle of hair serum that was recommended by Mr. Alexander, but more expensive than I was willing to spend regularly.

I assumed that was where it would end, but it wasn't. Every other RangeMan employee going around the room had my name. Each one gave me something I really liked or wanted, and I had no idea where they got their information from. They must have spoken to my family, my friends, and mostly likely, to Ella.

When it got to be Ranger's turn, I was a little apprehensive of his gift. He looked at me and pulled me to my feet when he handed me my gift. He stood in front of me as I opened a small package in total silence.

When I had the paper off the small blue box, I stood there staring at the box in my hand. It was a small Tiffany's box. I shook as I opened it and was confused by the fact that the box was empty. I looked over at Ranger and he wasn't there. I looked around and saw that he was on the floor in front of me holding out something in his hand. He looked up at me and said, "I've waited a long time to say this Babe, so here goes. I know this is a bit unexpected, but will you marry me?"