The characters below are all from the genius of JE.
Fredda (Rangergirl1234) thank you so much for signing on for another story as my beta.
Chapter 1 – Finding a Way
Ranger's POV
"There has to be another option. There is no damn way I'm asking her to do this," I growled at my core team, frustrated at their lack of new ideas to solve the new threat at RangeMan.
Three months ago I began receiving threatening packages from some unknown person that seemed to be fascinated with me. The first packet included pictures of me and my sister Celia, and the sender seemed to misinterpret our relationship as being romantic instead of familial. The next week I got another package apologizing for the mistake and including a picture or Celia and I with Abuela Rosa at lunch. I guess the nut decided to learn more about my family and realized their mistake.
Six weeks ago there was a package of photos of me and Stephanie behind the bonds office. My stalker seemed particularly upset about the kiss we shared and threatened to get rid of the competition so that they could have a chance with me. But when Steph went back to Morelli, another package showed up praising me for sending her back to the cop instead of keeping her for myself. I was relieved at that point and pulled the security detail from Stephanie, assuming she was safe from the danger my life had brought into hers.
I received additional threats after lunches with clients. These elevated from just being an insane person ranting about what they wanted me to do, to a whole new level that included photos and video of me both in Trenton and in Miami. The package that arrived yesterday finally issued the ultimatum we were all anticipating. Either I made myself available to them or they would begin killing any female I associated with. Apparently they wanted a proper courtship, so the indication from the letter was that it would be months before we would actually meet, and in the meantime I could have absolutely no female company regardless of the reason. By following their directions and not having any contact with women, I could prove my worth to be in a relationship with the stalker.
I couldn't just hide in the building. There were clients – female clients – that I needed to see. We had to assume based on the pictures that had been sent that the stalker was able to get close enough to make good on their treat. I was being forced to either hide and wait or try to flush out the threat and eliminate it. I wasn't capable of hiding. It went against my nature. My suggestion was to get Jeanne Ellen up here to pose as a romantic interest, but she had been injured on some sort of assignment with the government and was unable to travel, and wasn't willing to take the risk of putting a target on her head for being seen with me if she wasn't physically able to defend herself. It was a fair response, and I didn't blame her, but it didn't help me.
Lester's bright idea was to use Stephanie, which brings me to my insistence there has to be another way.
"There's no one else for us to use, Boss," Tank jumped in, the only one who didn't seem to be struck mute by my fist hitting the conference room table top.
"I can't put her in this kind of danger," I tried to explain to the group of kindergarteners that apparently worked for me. "She can't protect herself if this is a professional, and the trap she lives in can be broken into by most of the kids I know. She'd be vulnerable all the time. I just can't do it."
Bobby spoke up, but I noticed he wasn't looking me in the eye, which made me suspicious. "I know you have a soft spot for Bomber, and we all want to protect her, so can't we find a way to keep her safe long enough for it to work? I mean, you'd have to clue her in about what's happening, and she'd have to move out of her apartment, at least for a while. But that would just add credibility to your story, wouldn't it?"
"You aren't listening to me," I repeated slowly making sure I wasn't using any words that were too big for them to understand. "I won't use her and put her life in danger just to protect myself. It's out of the question." Feeling frustrated, I dismissed everyone and told them we'd meet again in the morning. Maybe I'd get some sort of inspiration overnight.
I couldn't help but notice that Tank didn't leave. After Bobby and Lester walked out he shut the door and came back to the table to sit across from me. I looked at him and waited, knowing he had something to say or he wouldn't have come back.
"I'm no expert," he started and I raised an eyebrow, basically asking if he wasn't sure of what he was talking about then why was he still speaking. Tank chose to ignore me and kept on, "I know you like Ms. Plum. I know you two have some sort of complicated relationship that neither one of you will admit to, and that's why you refuse to use her. But RangeMan needs you to be out in the community. I'm sure if we pulled our best guys and built a plan around defending her that we could keep her safe; at least long enough to catch this freak. Do you think she would consider it?"
I ran my hand over my face trying to figure out how to explain how I felt about this without saying too much. "She wouldn't consider it; she'd jump in and do it without even thinking about the true sacrifice that I'm asking of her. She's never said no to anything I've asked of her, even when she probably should have. But after Julie…" I stopped talking there. Tank knew that I hated asking Steph for anything more than the occasional distraction after she helped me get Julie back. If I hadn't gotten to Steph's apartment in time Scrog could have killed her. It meant more to me than I could ever explain that she was so willing to help me, but I swore I'd never put her in that position again.
Tank realized I was done talking and stood up. "Just promise me if people start getting hurt, that you'll consider it."
I looked at him, but said nothing. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. I was going to stay out of the office as much as possible from now on, avoiding all contact with women and trying to be more aware of my surroundings, so that I could try and catch whoever it was that was trying to steel my freedom. I didn't mind the threat to my life, this wasn't the first time someone had been gunning for me, but I hated that they were trying to get to me by threatening innocent people.
The rest of the day was quiet, so by 1500 hours I was ready for a break and stopped by Tank's office to tell him I was going by the bond's office to see if Connie had anything for us. He jumped up as though I'd invited him to ride along.
"Until we figure this thing out, where you go, I go," he stated emphatically. I crossed my arms over my chest showing him I didn't need his permission or his shadow. Then the guy that I'd been friends with since I was in boot camp spoke again, "You can cut that shit out right now, man. I've been watching your back for fourteen years, and today ain't any different."
I was able to block the smile from showing up, but down deep I appreciated what he was saying. He was protecting me, even from my own stubborn nature.
When we got to the bond's office I was relieved that Lula wasn't there. Connie greeted us as soon as the bell over the door rang. "I've only got one new file for you," she told me, holding out the standard paperwork I knew she'd pulled together. Not for the first time I wondered why she wasted her time working for Vinnie. Sure she was bold and brash, but she had a good business head on her shoulders and could easily run any office.
"He in?" I asked, looking to the door Vinnie liked to hide behind. Connie nodded, so I let myself into the inner sanctum and hoped my shots were all current enough to keep me protected as I walked in on Vinnie watching some kind of video on his computer that had a screeching cat and the sound of a bull whip over the top of a woman moaning. I knew the guy was into all kinds of weird fetishes, but I was equally positive I didn't want to see what was on that screen or I'd never get the image out of my head.
It took him a good three seconds to recognize I was standing there, and when he did he started clicking his mouse madly. He finally ended the video feed on the forth try. I couldn't help but notice that he didn't move his chair back or attempt to stand up. I was electing to believe it was because he was in the middle of a work related task, not because he was attempting to hide the fact that his pants were undone and he had his hand wrapped around the pitiful appendage between his legs.
"I want a copy of all Steph's files made for RangeMan for the foreseeable future," I informed him.
"Why?" Vinnie had the balls to question.
I raised an eyebrow at his attempt to stand up to me. I refused to explain that it was because I wanted fair warning about who she was going after while I was trying to stay away from her. If there were any in her stack that looked like trouble, I could have the guys set up reasons to shadow her for back up to keep her safe while I was unavailable. Eventually Vinnie came back to his senses and said, "Fine, fine, I'll tell Connie."
I nodded, knowing he would eventually see things my way. I spun around and took the three steps to the door before saying, "You might want to keep the volume on that shit a little lower. I could hear it on the other side of the door. I doubt Harry would be as understanding about the music you listen to while you're 'working'." With that, I took my leave and stepped back into the main office to the voice I most loved, but also had hoped to avoid.
She was trying to talk but Tank interrupted her to say, "Put your head between your legs and breathe."
Shit. I could sneak out the back to avoid her, or I could go see why she was having a panic attack. I had to believe something significant had happened if Steph was falling apart. She lived under near constant stress, so it took more to rattle her than the average person.
When I heard her voice crack I realized there was no decision to be made. I had to go to her. Kneeling in front of her knees I put my hand on her neck and Tank moved away to give me space with her. "Babe?"
Stephanie jerked her head up at the sound of my voice. Then she did the unexpected and threw her arms around my neck and attached herself to me in a move too fierce to be considered a hug. It felt like she was so scared that she was clinging to me as her only hope for salvation. "What's going on?" I finally asked her once I gave up hope that she would let me go on her own.
"My car…" she started to speak, but began breathing in little hiccups once more.
"Deep breaths," I reminded her, exaggerating my own breathing to lead her respiration to mirror mine. Once it seemed that she was calming down I ventured a guess. "Did something happen to your car?" I figured it wasn't that far out there as a possibility. She went through cars faster than most people went through loaves of bread.
She shook her head no and pulled back to look at the box sitting on the couch next to her. I didn't have to open it to know I probably wouldn't like what was in it. "Was this in your car?" I asked, still trying to piece together what she'd said. She nodded her head and scooted away from the box a couple of inches as though she knew what was in it and had no desire to see it again.
"Was it in the car this morning?" I asked, wanting to get as much information as possible while it was still fresh in her mind.
She wiped her eyes, getting rid of the grey smudges where the tar from her eyelashes was melting from her tears. Then she straightened up her back, and I could see her pulling up strength from her reserves. It was this ability that she had to face things, even when they were difficult, that drew me to her. She might seem ill prepared for the career she chose, but at heart she was a warrior and was able to face most anything that life threw at her.
"It wasn't in the car this morning. I picked up Mooner and took him to the station, then I waited while Vinnie rebonded him, and I drove him back home. After that I stopped by my parents' house and had lunch, and then I went to the station to drop off some things that belonged to Joe. I was coming back here to see Connie to give her my receipt for Mooner when I realized something didn't smell right in my car, so before I came in I looked around and that box was sitting on the back seat. It wasn't there when I went in the police station, so somebody must have put it in my car while I was inside." She gave me all the details of her day, and by default she had most likely identified when the package was slipped in. Luckily, we could get the feed from the station to see who put it in her car.
I chose to ignore the fact that she was dropping off things that belonged to Joe. I thought they were on an off stage again, but knowing the way they worked they could be back on again without me being aware. Instead, I asked, "Can I take a look at the box?"
She nodded and turned her head to look out the window. The box itself seemed harmless enough. It was a standard white bakery box with no writing or identifying marks. Tank came over and handed me a latex glove, taking the other one of the pair for his left hand. I lifted the lid and caught a bit of a rancid smell, which must have been what alerted Steph in the confines of her car.
Inside the package were two small jewelry boxes; one the size that would hold a ring, and the other a long box like a necklace holder. I opened the rectangular box first and didn't need long to see that it was a human finger. There was tissue paper around the digit covered in blood. It appeared to be from either a small man, or a rough working woman, as the finger was petit, but calloused. I shut the top on that box and lifted the ring box to see its contents better. Tank lifted the lid with his gloved hand and we both looked inside.
The ring inside had a wide band of gold, built up on the top to house a single inset diamond. It was the kind of ring a man might wear on his pinkie if he liked that kind of jewelry. Stephanie looked over and caught sight of the ring before putting her hands over her mouth in surprise. "Do you recognize this ring?" I asked her, unsure of her expression.
She shook her head no and then asked, "Do you think it went with the…finger in the other box?"
"Probably, but we won't know for sure until we find out who the finger belonged to," I told her, glancing back to see if there was any other information. Usually when stalkers sent packages like this one they included a note, but there didn't appear to be any correspondence. Tank picked up on what I was looking for and asked if he could look around in Stephanie's car in case it was on top and got separated some how.
I put everything away and looked at Connie who was taking everything in very calmly. "Police," I told her, realizing this needed to be handed over to the authorities. Maybe they could ID the victim with a fingerprint.
After Connie hung up she looked at me and said, "You aren't going to find a note."
"Why not?" I couldn't help but ask.
"The finger is the message. Somebody isn't happy with Stephanie, and in my family there would be no reason to add anything else to the sentiment of sending body parts," Connie said matter-of-factly. Sometimes I forgot how connected she was. I guess this kind of thing wasn't as strange to her as it was to most people.
I sat back next to Steph waiting on the blue and whites. Stephanie leaned her head on my shoulder and let out a long breath. "I've got another stalker?"
"Looks like it," I replied. I didn't tell her that it gave us something in common since I had one too. Instead, I lifted my arm and pulled her closer to my side. When I heard the sirens coming I told her, "I'll stay with you while you turn this over and give your statement, and then we'll go check out your apartment together."
She nodded and groaned her displeasure at the idea that if someone had planted a box in her car they might be trying to break into her apartment too.
Luckily Eddie and Big Dog were the officers dispatched. Eddie knew Stephanie well enough to know this wasn't the time to come in making jokes. He took her statement while Big Dog looked over the contents of the box. In under thirty minutes they had come and gone, taking the finger and ring with them.
Tank had a strange expression on his face as I stood up and offered Stephanie my hand to help her to the car. "What?" I asked, unaccustomed to seeing him show anything but his blank face when we were in the field.
He looked at our joined hands and then out the window as though trying to tell me something without using any words. Then it hit me, he was telling me that if I went outside holding Stephanie's hand that I was making her a target for my stalker too. So far we were in the bonds office, probably hidden from prying eyes, but if we walked out like this then I was pulling her into my worries on top of her own.
I couldn't allow that so I said, "Babe, I want you to stay here with Connie. Tank and I are going to ride over to your apartment and check it out first. I'll call you after we've looked around and cleared it to let you know it's safe to come home."
She looked at me like I was talking to her in Spanish. In fact, she was quiet for so long that I began to worry I had done just that. It wasn't until Tank prompted her by saying, "Ms. Plum?" that she shook her head and looked down at the floor.
"Sure, that's fine. I'll wait here," she replied in such a small voice it didn't even sound like her. It was almost like she was upset about not being allowed to come with us. I knew she hated not being included in any decisions that involved her, but this was about keeping her safe. I'd rather hurt her feelings and have her alive than indulge her independence and see her hurt because of me. I had plenty of time to make this up to her once I better understood what we were up against.
The drive to Steph's apartment took only ten minutes and was made in silence. I heard Tank clear his throat once but he never spoke and I didn't ask what he wanted to say. I'd known him long enough to understand he was debating saying something and since he seemed to be deciding against speaking up, I had a feeling it was something he figured I wouldn't like. If that was the case there was no reason to push him to speak.
As soon as we made it up the stairs I knew someone had been in her apartment. The door was open, and as relaxed as Stephanie was about her safety, I knew that even she wouldn't forget to shut and lock the door. Tank brought his Sig out at the same moment I did. There was no reason to inform him that we needed to be on our guard and secure her apartment.
The living room looked undisturbed, but a quick glance in the kitchen told me there was trouble. Rex's cage was sitting on the counter, but he wasn't in it. I knew if Steph had asked someone to watch him that she'd have delivered him cage and all. Someone had taken her hamster and I had a feeling that piece of news was going to be more disturbing to her than receiving a finger in her car.
Tank checked the bathroom and shook his head no, indicating that everything upon first glance seemed fine. I went to the bedroom and sitting in the center of Stephanie's bed was an eight by ten photo of her and me taken in the alley behind the bond's office. Steph was leaning against the brick and I had my hands flat on the wall just above each of her shoulders. I was leaning toward her face and she was looking up at me with her big blue eyes. It was obviously taken from a distance because the blow up to this size had it slightly grainy, but otherwise it was an excellent photo.
Above the photo was a typed note identical to the ones I had received from my stalker. It read, 'He's mine. Stay away, and I'll leave you alone.'
I heard Tank whistle as he read the note. "Whether you want her to be or not, she's involved."
Damn it. I couldn't deny that Tank was right. Whoever this was gunning for me had obviously identified Steph as a threat and was taking it upon themselves to eliminate her as competition. There were probably a lot of plausible responses to this situation, but I could only think of one: draw out this bastard and kill them. Threatening me was one thing – I didn't like it, but it wasn't the first time and I could handle it. But when they were foolish enough to threaten the one thing I considered to be good in my life they made a fatal mistake.
I took a deep breath and then faced Tank. "Call Hal and tell him to get over here with his kit to process this place. Once he's done call the PD and report the break in. I'm going to go get Steph from the bond's office and I'm going to publicly bring her to Haywood. This sick shit is going down, and until then I want two men on Steph anytime she even walks near a window at the office. We'll pull up a couple of men from Boston to help out while we try to bait this stalker into a mistake."
He picked up his cell phone from his belt and started dialing. I left in a hurry and took the Navigator back to Vinnie. I walked in and watched as Steph sat up where she'd stretched out on the vinyl couch. I held out my hand and then looked to be sure the bathroom was open. Without explaining a thing I held her hand in mine and led her down the hall to the restroom, shutting the door behind us.
She was completely confused, but in a rare show of her trust in me, she didn't say a word and waited for me to talk. Standing here in front of her now, my brilliant plan born from my anger in her apartment no longer seemed like such a good idea. How could I put her in this danger yet again? And why was it my famous control only went out the window when things involved Stephanie?
I guess my mental musings began to get to her as she spoke up, "Is there a reason we're in the bathroom?"
Leave it to Steph to not get worked up over how I'm acting, or why I'm not talking and instead focus on our physical location. I couldn't help but offer a small smile in response. "I needed a place to talk to you without an audience."
"What are we discussing?" She wrinkled her forehead in the sweetest way, as though she were trying to figure out some great mystery of life.
"I need your help," I confessed, feeling like a complete failure for admitting it aloud.
"Okay, I'll do it," she replied without hesitation.
I put my hands on her shoulders and grinned. I knew she'd say that. Without even asking the details of how much danger she would be in, she just jumped in because I said I needed her. There weren't many people in the world that would do that. Hell, even my men would ask what I needed before committing themselves to it.
"Wait, Babe," I warned her. "You should probably get the details of what you're agreeing to first."
"Doesn't matter," she assured me. "If there is anything I can do to help you, then regardless of what it is, I'll do it."
I couldn't stop my hand from lifting off her shoulder and cupping her jaw so that my thumb could softly graze over her cheek. She smiled at the attention, and I decided to level with her. "I have a stalker, and they have said if I have any type of communication with a female they will eliminate the competition, so to speak. I need you to stay close to me and go out in public with me so that we can draw this person out and eliminate them. It puts you in a great deal of danger. We'd do everything we could to keep you safe, but since we don't exactly know who we're dealing with, I can't guarantee that they won't slip past our defenses."
She shook her head as though what I said wasn't important. "How together do we need to be?" She asked, confusing me. Since I paused she clarified what she was going after. "I mean do we just need to work a little together, or do we need to convince them that we're a couple? And if we need to be a couple, can people know that it's just for the purpose of drawing out a stalker or does the community need to think it's real?"
I hadn't anticipated these questions. "The guys on the core team will know the difference, and we can tell your parents the truth, but until we know where the threat is coming from I don't think we should tell anyone else."
She smiled and said, "So everyone at the police station would think we were dating?"
"I'm sorry Babe, you could tell Morelli if you wanted, so he doesn't get the wrong idea," I offered, thinking that's where these questions were heading. I don't know why the thought of that bothered me so much. I'd been clear with her for years that she needed to stick with Morelli because he could offer her the things I couldn't.
She shook her head. "No, it would be a big help to me if, at least for a while, everyone there thought we were together. I've been trying everything I can think of to help Joe understand that fact, and he doesn't seem to be getting it. I'd be more than glad to pose as your girlfriend to draw out your stalker if you would be willing to let Joe think the two of us are an item so that he moves on and leaves me alone."
"You sure you want that?" I asked, curious why she was so insistent on losing Joe for good. "You guys have a habit of working things out."
"It was a bad habit," she said with an edge to her voice. "We're done, forever, and I'll be damned if anything will change that."
"What happened?" I asked her, feeling the need to understand what blew up between them this time.
She looked down at my chest and paused. "I'll tell you sometime when we run out of things to talk about."
I lifted her chin, forcing her to look at me before saying, "Then I may never get to hear the story because in all the time I've known you we've never run out of things to talk about."
Her eyes darkened and narrowed fractionally as her checks lifted in a smile. I'd been on all kinds of missions and been forced to pretend to be various characters for the purpose of getting the job done. But playing the part of Stephanie's significant other was the dream role of a lifetime.
"We'll need to walk out of here together, pause at the truck and give whoever might be looking a show. But I need you to let me position you so that I have you protected. I can't risk somebody with a scope and a rifle getting a lucky shot before I have guys in place to watch our backs," I instructed her, trying to think ahead. It was doubtful we'd have an audience this time, but I didn't have much of a profile for my stalker, so anything was possible.
She laced her fingers through mine and instructed, "Alright, let's get this show on the road."
I am Carlos Manoso, Army Ranger, owner of a security firm, and all around badass. I don't need an internal monologue in order to function. Yet walking past Connie's desk and out of the bonds office I found myself mentally chanting, 'keep it cool, keep it cool,' to prevent me from taking this further than it needed to go. This was just an acting gig, and I needed to keep that in the forefront of my mind in order to be aware enough of my surroundings to keep Stephanie safe.
But when I opened the passenger door of the Navigator and backed her to the truck with my body covering hers I had no ability to stop myself from leaning down and kissing her. Intending to keep it light and short I was surprised when Steph moved her hands up to grip my shoulders and keep me in place. I'm blaming her move for my mouth opening and my tongue slipping out to trace her lips.
I'd like to say I was intentionally overacting to be sure we were spotted, but the truth is from the moment her mouth opened and my tongue touched hers, I didn't really give a shit about the rest of the scene we were painting. My only thought was how inconvenient it was that we were so far away from a bed.