Ranger's Challenge
We were driving to a house to set up a security system that was supposed to be a challenge. Ranger asked me to come along, since I was between skips and needed to pay the rent yesterday. I'm Stephanie Plum, a bond enforcement agent and sometimes part-time employee for Rangeman Securities, which is owned by Ranger. Ranger is also my best friend and mentor, and someone I'd love to be more to, but he doesn't "do" relationships.......
We stopped in front of a nice house, with a good sized yard in front and back. Bigger than my parents house, but not a mansion. The door is opened by a woman who looks to be in her early forties, with blue eyes and wavy reddish brown hair. She's 5'3", a little overweight, but could give my office manager, Connie Rosselli, competition in a wet tee shirt contest. She looks tired, but her eyes sparkle with interest at the same time.
"Mrs. Woods? I'm Carlos Manoso, and this is my associate, Stephanie Plum. I understand you have a security challenge for my company?" Ranger asked.
"Come in, come in," she said with a slight accent, ushering us into the hallway and into the living room. Moving boxes are scattered here and there. "Would you like anything to drink? Some iced tea?"
"Thanks, that would be nice," I replied. Ranger just shook his head no as he settled on the couch next to me.
"Would you like sugar or lemon with it?" she said over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen.
Ranger gave me a small smile as I answered, "some sugar would be nice, thanks."
She came back into the room with a tray on which sat two large glasses of tea and a green sugar bowl and a spoon. "Help yourself to the sugar. I drink my tea plain, but strong." She sat down on the loveseat and took a sip of her drink.
I took a sip of my tea, and added two more spoonfuls of sugar. She wasn't kidding when she said it was strong!
Ranger twitched his lips, and then addressed his client, "So, Mrs. Woods, how can we help you? You didn't give much information over the phone when you called."
"Well," she started, putting her hands in her lap, "as you might be able to tell, my family and I have just moved into this house. Actually, I'm here ahead of them, getting the house ready, while my husband is finishing up at his other job. My husband is an engineer and works at home sometimes. I'm not exactly certain what he does, but he does have Top Secret Security Clearance."
Ranger nodded his head. "Understood. But, that's not exactly the challenge, is it?"
She shook her head. "No, not exactly. We also have 3 kids, an 18 year old daughter and two boys, 15 and 13. The challenge is our 15 year old, who is autistic."
"Ahh." Ranger sat back on the couch. "We've installed security systems for families before, but I understand that autistic kids require more than the normal care."
"Definitely." She looked like she wanted to laugh. "The problem, or challenge, is that we not only want to keep intruders out, but keep our son in, without our home becoming a prison for the other two kids. You see, he likes to escape, and is very quick to find a way to get out before we're even aware that he is gone."
"Well, window and door chimes wil help with that, "Ranger explained. "We can install keypads throughout the house so that you will know which doors and windows are opened."
She shook her head again. "It might work. The only problem with that is that he is very smart and might figure out how to turn the keypad off. If it is key activated and he doesn't have the key, he may get upset and break the keypad. He's very strong."
I had a feeling that that would be an understatement. I glanced at Ranger, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"So, what type of security system would you like installed?" he asked.
"Well, um," she seemed nervous for the first time, "what I would really like is for you, or someone from your company, to spend a couple of days, and possibly nights, with him to figure out the best way to keep him and others safe." She sat forward on the chair. "I realize that this is unusual, but, quite honestly, so is my son." She looked anxiously at Ranger.
He thought about it for a few seconds, and then answered, "I think we could handle that. Does he have a schedule that we need to keep?"
"Not yet. He and the rest of the family will be here on Saturday, and he will be starting at his new school on Monday. Would it be possible for someone to be here on Saturday until he goes to school?"
I was reviewing the conversation in her mind. "I have a question. What do you mean by keeping others safe?"
Mrs. Woods sighed. "My son has actually been in a residential treatment center for the past couple of years, learning to control his temper. He's doing much better now and doesn't react like he used to, but I'm not certain how he'll feel in a new environment. What may help to understand is to say that he has the maturity level of a 5 year old in a teenager's body. He's almost 6'. And, his intelligence is all over the place. He can figure out locks and ways to escape if he's determined enough, but he has no thoughts about safety. He will run into a street of cars without a second thought. And, he's fast, faster than you'd think because of his size. He even has had surgery on both legs and was fast with both legs in casts."
Ranger nodded. "And, the safety part?"
"Before he went into the residential home, I feared for my life at times. He came after me with a shovel one time, sent several teachers to the emergency room, came after one teacher with a pair of scissors." She opened her hands to us. "It got to the point that I had to call the police to protect myself until my husband came home if he became too agitated." She sadly smiled. "He listens well to men, especially his father, but he was becoming too hard to handle even for him."
"Wow," I said. "That must have been hard."
"Yes, it was," she admitted. It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. But, it did give time for my husband and me to pay attention to our other two children and for us to have a "normal" family life. But, our family is not complete without our son, and I'm excited about having him back home. Our daughter will be in her first year of college at Rutgers, so we moved here to be closer to her. I just hope that you can help us."
I looked at Ranger. He smiled. "I'll have to see who would be available for overnights and who has experience with special needs children. Does he have any interests that we should know about that would help?"
She smiled. "Animals. Dinosaurs. Dragons. Reptiles. Bugs. His favorite television channel is Animal Planet, his favorite movies are 'Jurassic Park' and 'Aliens v. Predator'."
Ranger was still smiling. "I think there's several people on staff who have similar interests. I'll see if they would be interested. What time is your family coming tomorrow?"
"About 5 p.m. Depends on how the drive is. I can call when I have a better idea." Mrs. Woods said.
"Do that, and I'll have someone here."
She smiled. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to us."
Ranger shook her hand. "We'll be able to discuss plans and prices as soon as we know what will be needed."
She walked us to her door and waved as we drove away.
"What do you think, Ranger?" I asked him. "Do you think Rangeman can help them?"
"Babe, I hope so."
Word count: 1376.