Mission in Columbia
Chapter 1
Ram had been in the tree for hours, his face caked with dirt , his rifle slick with sweat. He sat on the branch without moving, almost preternaturally calm and quiet. He kept the target within the scope of his rifle. He was ready to take the shot, and he never missed. He was just waiting on word from Tank.
Woody's POV
Bobby, Tank, Junior, and I were creeping silently through the Columbian jungle, invisible in our black clothes, each movement completely silent. Each of us had at least two guns and a knife, and, well, hands. We were lethal with our hands; having been trained in hand to hand kill techniques in Special Forces. We all did Black Ops assignments; where the CIA disavowed any knowledge of us, and if things went to shit, we were on our own. None of us liked killing, but we didn't hesitate to kill someone to stay alive. Or to complete the mission.
Our lives with Rangeman were more stable now, but none of us had lost our battle-honed instincts or skills. We were huge, muscular, and lethal and scary.
We don't really do black ops stuff anymore. Well, not as much anyway. We had been forced into this mission. Javier Suarez was a Columbian drug lord who hated Ranger because Ranger had killed his son on a past CIA mission. Never mind that his son dealt black tar heroin and had personally ordered the deaths of a hundred people, Javier was still a father who wanted revenge.
Apparently, Javier had spent years concocting a plan to exact revenge on Ranger. He knew Ranger was so tough as to be almost indestructible. After all, Ranger, Tank, and Bobby had been captured and tortured for weeks by a Columbian warlord and still hadn't spilled their intelligence. Hurting Ranger physically was next to impossible.
So Javier had come to Trenton, NJ, because he had heard that Ranger had a business there. Javier knew there was no penetrating the security of Rangeman to get to Ranger. Even if he killed one of Ranger's employees, another would take over. No, Javier saw only one way to get Ranger's compliance. He kidnapped the only other person who seemed to matter to Ranger-Stephanie. How he knew that Ranger was "in the wind" and incommunicado was a mystery. It was up to us at Rangeman to get her back.
No one had suspected anything when Stephanie had gone after another of her low level skips. In fact, things had been so quiet for Stephanie that she had no Rangeman bodyguards with her on skips. She was in a Rangeman vehicle with tracker, and she had a purse tracking device. She had gone after Chester Manriquez, a shoplifter, and disappeared from Rangeman tracking systems. We had had been frantically searching for her until Javier called bragging about the abduction. Ranger comes to him or Stephanie dies. When put like that, we had no choice.
We all knew that Ranger loved Steph; well, as much as Ranger could love anyone. We all knew that he tried to distance himself from her ; but he cared for her despite himself. He was very protective of her; and he would never let her get hurt; especially hurt because of him. Despite our hard exteriors, we loved her too. Ranger had been gone for awhile, so deep in the wind that we weren't even sure our frantic messages would get to him. Who knew if Ranger could get there in time. So we had no choice but to go to Columbia to rescue her ourselves.
Bobby's POV
So now we were back skulking around in the fucking hot jungle, sweaty and stinking, scouting and spying on Javier. Do the job, kill the guy, we get Stephanie, and get the hell out of this god-forsaken hellhole. Truth be told, part of me missed this life. No, not the stench of the jungle, but the finely tuned reflexes, the confidence in knowing you can survive anything, the feel of the power of weapons in my hands. No, I am not a sicko; I don't like killing people. I have killed a few; and they were bad people who deserved killing. Besides, it was them or me; and well, it turned out to be them. But there WAS something to be said for being powerful and completely self-reliant and able to take care of any situation.
I knew how to kill, but I also knew how to heal. I had combat medic training and had been the military equivalent of a paramedic. I could be a paramedic in the civilian world, but working at Rangeman pays better and is much more interesting.
Junior was on point, and he stopped and signaled us to spread out around the palatial estate of Javier Suarez, drug dealer extraordinaire and incredibly vicious bastard. We had to kill him, then find Stephanie. None of us was stupid, though. We all knew that after we eliminated one more drug dealer from the world, we would have to find Stephanie before his men killed her. And us.
Stephanie had been the perfect tool to use to get Ranger involved with the Columbian underworld. She was the only one who had penetrated Ranger's isolation and gotten under his skin and into his heart. I couldn't help but smile when I thought of Steph. She was pretty ballsy; being a bounty hunter with almost no apprehension or defense skills. She usually got her man, purely by accident, and had rolled in more noxious substances than I ever had. She was independent and curious and constantly got herself in over her head. She had been injured so many times she was on a first name basis with most of the doctors in the Trenton ER. As the Rangeman medic, I was usually the one to patch her up or stitch her up on those occasions that she charmed one of us into not taking her to the hospital.
Steph was spunky and independent, and very hot. She was funny and kept us all amused with her antics and her car destruction. Ranger had felt protective of her almost from the day he met her; even when keeping his distance. He gave her a cushy job at Rangeman. She worked hard, yes; but it was a job just about anyone could do. He gave her the job so he wouldn't have to worry about her not having money for food or rent and so he could keep an eye on her. He also gave her several cars equipped with tracking devices so we could keep an eye on her.
She kept us frustrated with her refusals to have surveillance, her refusal to do what she was told, and her aptitude for getting into trouble. She was pretty white bread, but with an independent streak. I looked down at my gun and chuckled. I saw a gun as a part of me; something I could use and feel comfortable with. Steph HATED guns and never loaded hers; she didn't even wear one when working at Rangeman even through employees are required to.
Being her bodyguard was hell, as she was always trying to give us the slip. And whoever lost Stephanie on their watch was in deep shit with Ranger. I liked Steph, and all of us at Rangeman felt protective of her. She was a pain in the ass sometimes, but all of us guys liked her- she made us laugh. There wasn't much laughter in our world. She was in some ways vulnerable and helpless and very sweet. She brought out the testosterone in all of us.
I snapped myself out of my reverie and alerted myself to the current situation, which sucked. We had to get to the house and wait for Ram to shoot shot Javier. Then, we had to get Stephanie and get the hell out of Dodge; all without getting caught by Javier's thugs. I crept around the back of the building and snuck up on the guard waiting there. He hadn't even turned before I grabbed his neck and jerked it until I heard the loud snap. He fell without even making a sound. I was just as lethal with my hands as I was with a weapon. I waited there until my radio gave one, then two, then three, short clicks, indicating that Tank, Woody , and Junior had dispatched their targets as well. Over the radio, I heard soundless whispers. One in position, then the other guys reported their readiness.
Ram's POV
It had been another hour at least and my muscles were stiff from sitting still for so long. The target had never been outside of the sights of my rifle and my finger rested lightly on the trigger, ready to go at the signal. The voice, though almost soundless, seemed deafening in the quiet night. " Ram, fire when shot is clear" I took a deep breath and tried to calm the adrenaline shooting through my body at finally getting the order to take out my target. I didn't like killing, but I liked shooting. I liked that whatever I shot, I hit. If what I happened to hit was an evil bastard, all the better.
I was about 200 yards away from the target; but had a clean shot through the branches of the trees. I took another slow, deep breath and felt the calm settle over me. "10-4 Ram, taking shot." Snipers almost always went for a clear headshot. No risk of hitting a Kevlar vest with a headshot. I got Javier's head in the crosshairs of my rifle and my finger gently squeezed the trigger. There was minute recoil and a sharp thump as the bullet left my rifle. Seconds later, I saw the bullet go exactly where I sent it- the center of Javier's head. I saw him stiffen, then collapse-dead instantly. " Target eliminated", I whispered into the radio and quickly dis-assembled the rifle. Javier's men would be after us instantly, so I had to get out quickly and quietly. Quick and quiet were my specialties. I scrambled thorough the brush for awhile to lose anyone who might be tailing me; then doubled back to meet the guys at Javier's house. They had eliminated the outside guards, and were watching the other guards pouring out of the house intent on finding Javier's murderer.
Tank's POV
When the guards had left the main house, we entered it figuring that was where he kept Stephanie. I was seriously pissed off. Drug lords could fuck with Ranger all they wanted; he could handle it. But fucking with someone he loves to get back at him was evil. Stephanie was relatively helpless. I was glad Javier was dead; and I was disappointed I hadn't been the one to pull the trigger. I didn't exactly LIKE to kill, but he had no compunction about doing it when necessary. Hell, change that, I DO like to kill when what I am killing is an evil soulless bastard who himself has killed hundreds of innocent people. And some people seriously deserve to be killed, like when they fuck with Stephanie.
I wanted to yell out to Stephanie, but I knew we had to be careful and quiet. We all split up, and cleared a section of the huge house, guns resting comfortably in our hands. I heard the guys clearing the rooms and then set about figuring out where the hell Stephanie was.
When I first met Steph, I thought she was an annoying little white girl who foolishly got into trouble and constantly needed Ranger to rescue her from a situation she shouldn't have been in. Her complete inability to listen to orders or carry a gun clashed with my military ways. She was completely inept when they met and I knew Ranger was amused by her. She brought out his protective instincts. I tolerated her because she amused Ranger and he told me to tolerate her I always follow orders. Since then, I have discovered that, although she is still often foolish and gets in over her head, and still often needs to be rescued; she was also brave and independent and funny and sweet. Now I thought of her like a little sister who always needed protecting. She amused me and I liked her. Any and all of us guys at Rangeman would die for her. I turned my head at the sound of Junior's voice. "Guys, look here."
Junior's POV
Once we cleared the main house, we started looking around for Stephanie. I didn't see her; but something caught my eye- a glint in the dim light. "Guys, look here" we all huddled around Steph's cellphone; which she had dropped here as a clue. Ok, maybe she just dropped it. Not sure she was saavy enough to leave it as a clue- bu, hey, there it was. "Ok, she's here somewhere." But where the fuck was she? The estate was huge with several outbuildings. We searched every cranny of the closest outbuilding and headed out the door. Just over the back threshold, I saw a scrap of black fabric on the ground. It was black with a maroon "R" on it. " Shit." She was leaving us clues. She'd obviously ripped it off and dropped it for us to follow." Good girl, Steph," I whispered. Ranger would be proud of her for remembering to leave clues. Hell, we were all proud of her for it. My mind refused to acknowledge the other possibility- that it had been ripped off of her. Once I found the cloth, we all fanned out and looked for more clues.
About two hundred yards away I found a piece of cellophane that said "stycak". I smiled despite myself. Steph ate Tastycakes constantly and probably had an old wrapper in her pocket. Only Steph would leave an old Tastycake wrapper as a clue. I couldn't believe with all the damn Tastycakes and donuts she ate that she didn't weigh 200 pounds. And she hated to run or work out. But she must have a really fast metabolism since she wasn't overweight.
I have had some troubles of my own with Steph. She had gotten away from me on two different occasions when I was assigned to guard her. Luckily, she hadn't gotten into trouble when I lost her, and she always apologized. She was so sweet and nice that none of us could stay mad at her. And we let her get away with far more than we should security-wise because she was so damn sweet, and curious and independent. Also, we were afraid that if we pissed her off she'd complain to Ranger and then we'd get a week of boring monitor duty. That was the hard part of guarding Steph. You couldn't let her get hurt; but you also couldn't stop her from doing things that would get her hurt. So you just followed her and hoped for the fucking best. Yet, I couldn't help but like her despite myself. As one of her bodyguards, it was my job to take a bullet for her if necessary. I would because it was my job, but also because I really liked her and couldn't stand the thought of her in pain.
I still didn't like being assigned to guard her because I knew she'd give me problems; but I liked her like a pesky little sister. She was the only woman most of us associated with regularly. Hell, most of us sucked at relationships with women. None of us had personalities or lifestyles that lent themselves to relationships; we mostly only needed women for sex. Stephanie was the only women many of us had feelings for and she brought out the masculine protective instinct in all of us.
Another 100 yards away, Woody found another scrap of cloth with "an" on it; along with some blood. We saw the blood and almost went ballistic. Tank forced us to calm down. "Man, we have to stay calm. We have to be calm if we are going to find her." He looked at me and promised, "After we find her, you can kill all the rest of those fuckers." We walked searching the ground for another clue. We are all expert trackers, but Steph made it easier and quicker for us. Another hundred yards and we found the rest of the tastycake wrapper just a few feet from a small shed. The wrapper was in a bigger puddle of blood-Steph's blood. Ok, she was hurt- hurt meant still alive. I saw Woody's face tighten when he saw the blood. We all froze when we heard a low moan. "Stephanie!" I yelled, not caring now about noise. We ran to the shed and broke down the door. It was almost pitch black inside and I could barely make out the figures on the ground.
Bobby's POV
We broke into the shed and shined our lights around. Stephanie- oh, shit, is that really Stephanie- was lying on the floor, unmoving. We all ran to her and I dropped to her side. A guard was lying dead next to her and she held a gun in her badly shaking hand. Tank carefully took the gun from her hand. "Watch out, she mumbled. I got his gun but he might get up." I looked at the guard with the bullet hole in his head. "Steph, its ok. He's dead. He can't hurt you."
Stephanie's face was swollen and blackened from bruises and a huge black eye. Her eyes were unfocused and glazed and she seemed semi-conscious. Her wrists were bloody and with deep gashes from her struggling against the handcuffs. She had a knife wound in her upper arm and bruises all over her abdomen. She was shivering uncontrollably, from the cold and shock. I saw the exact moment that the guys noticed that her shirt was torn and tattered, exposing deep scratches on her breasts. Woody looked like he would explode. Then, he just rummaged through his pack and pulled out a button shirt and gently wrapped her in it.
Her eyes finally focused on me, "Bobby? I killed him. I had to." She seemed upset about it. See, that is why she's sweet. I would never understand this about her. She gave a fucking criminal what he deserved and she feels guilty about it. She had no reason to feel guilty. He deserved to die. Any of us would have killed him far more painfully for touching her. But she was upset, so I tried to calm her. "Don't think about him, sweetheart, lets take care of you."
I could see all the guys watching helplessly while I checked over her. They wanted to help her, but seemed to have no clue what to do. The wound on her arm was deep and it looked infected. But I was more concerned about the massive bruising on her abdomen. It was purple and hard and there was probably some internal bleeding. I touched as gently as I could, and she yelled and curled up in pain. "Sorry, honey, I know that hurt. I just need to see if there is internal bleeding." Her eyes were still glazed and I doubt she understood what I was saying but my voice seemed to calm her; so I just kept talking- saying soothing stuff over and over again. I put the BP cuff on her uninjured arm and pumped it up. Her blood pressure was so low I was amazed she was conscious. Her face was flushed and her face was hot-probably a fever from infection.
Everyone's attention was momentarily distracted when Ram came through the door. He had evaded Javier's men and rendezvoused with us. "Did you find her- Oh fuck, he said as he saw the shape she was in. Steph started rambling, not making any sense; her voice starting to rise in panic. I was trying to disinfect her wound for all the good that would do now- and bandage it.
All of the guys wanted to help; but seemed paralyzed by their uncertainty. Have I mentioned that none of us is particularly comfortable with women? We aren't great at talking to women, hell, we weren't talkers at all. Truth is, we weren't really sure how to handle women- other than having sex with them. Of course, we knew we had to be careful what we said around them, we were polite and all but none of us was really understood women or why they thought as they did. Sometimes, not even with Stephanie. Oh, we all care about her; but we aren't sure how to deal with her sometimes. She was an enigma for all of us. She was really hot, and we were all healthy, powerful guys, and we weren't dead, so of course we noticed how hot she is. But we all knew she was Ranger's, so we treated her like a little sister. As much as we loved her, we sometimes treated her like she was a volatile bomb that we didn't want to go off in our faces if we did or said the wrong thing.
Finally, Ram crouched down on her other side and said, " What can I do ?" I said, " I am going to have to clean out this wound and it is going to hurt her like hell. " "Can't you give her something for the pain" he whispered. "No, not when she's in this condition. She's too weak. I can't risk it." "Well, it would just take one blow." he wanted to knock her out. Knocking her out would be best for her- she wouldn't feel the pain. But none of us could bear to hit her, especially after the violence that she had already been through.
Ram's POV
Steph looked at me finally, like she just noticed me sitting in front of her. "Ram?" She looked at me with glazed , confused eyes. Fuck. I had no fucking idea what to say when a woman was upset. I was a fighter, not a lover. But Steph's tortured eyes focusing on me just made me want to do anything to protect her. "Ram? Ididn'tmeantokillthatguy.But IhadtoI hadto hewas goingtokillmeandhewashurtingmeand Ihadtokillhim.". Her words were racing, not even a breath between them, and hervoice was starting to rise in hysteria. Bobby met my eyes and we shared an expression of bewilderment. Steph seemed really upset that she killed a fucking criminal who was about to rape her. There was definitely no understanding women. The bastard deserved to die. I wished I could kill him again. But she was rambling and her voice was rising in panic. Fuck. I took her other hand and stroked it gently. "Steph, forget about him. Focus on me. Look at me , Sweetheart. Its ok, just look at me. " I spoke softly, saying the same thing over and over, nonsense really, but it seemed to calm her.
Bobby was working on her wound and she started to moan and tried to pull away. "Ram. It hurts. It hurts." " Shh. I held her arm hard so she couldn't pull away from Bobby. She was starting to cry from the pain, and it made me start to panic. Ok, I absolutely cannot handle tears. I fucking HATE when a woman cries. Apparently, I especially hate when Stephanie cries. This was the first time I had seen her cry. After all the physical injuries she'd had; she NEVER cried. So if she was crying now…. She was crying and breathing in loud, jerky gasps; trying to hold her breath against the pain. Her face was red and flushed and hot. "Look at me, Steph." She was gasping for air from holding her breath against the pain. "Ram, it hurts and I can't breathe." I tried to calm her. "Stephanie!" I said firmly, " yes you can. Look at me!" Just focus on me. Take deep breaths. In and out. That's it. Deep breaths. That's it." Her eyes never left mine. I focused on keeping my breathing calm and that calmed hers, too. I knew it was going to hurt even worse when Bobby poured the disinfectant and stitched the wound. She couldn't make noise. We had to be quiet. I had her lean against me with her head on my shoulder and I put my hand over her mouth. She tried to scream when Bobby cleaned the wound, but I kept talking softly to her and covered her mouth. She strained against me in pain and then passed out.
Tanks'POV
We all watched in awe as Ram held and comforted Steph. It was amazing to see. I'd seen Ram totally cool and unfeeling, coolly taking a shot that would end a bad guy's life. I'd never seen him be so sensitive and be so gentle with anyone. Steph brought out the protective side of him. In all of us. He was holding her with his hand over her mouth to stifle her screams. I was relieved when she finally went limp in his arms. She was in bad shape but we couldn't stay here. Javier's guys would find us. I huddled with Woody and Junior. Woody said, " I wouldn't have any problem going hand to hand with those fuckers; but we can't with Steph around. We have to get her out of here fast. Maybe Bobby can stabilize her a little; but if she is bleeding internally she needs a hospital fast. Where do we rendezvous with the copter?
This was a problem. In order to get to the chopper, we would have to get through the jungle and to a relatively secure area about 30 miles away. We had come in that way and we could do it in no time. We could, us guys. There was no way Steph could do it on a good day, but in this condition…well, lets just say in regards to getting her out, we were fucked.
We all moved instantly as we heard the sound of men coming towards the shed. Ram and Bobby held onto Steph; moving so she was behind them. I stood like a wall between Steph and the door. Woody and Junior drew their guns and a knife and walked out the door. They returned a few moments later. "They are dead, but there will be more. We have to get her out of here. "
I turned back to see Steph stirring in Ram's arms. Bobby was examining the dark bruises on her abdomen. Then he glanced at the scratches on her breasts and cringed; no one wanted to think about her tattered shirt and jeans and what the scratches on her breasts meant. I made eye contact with Bobby.
Bobby's POV
I finished binding her arm but her abdomen was so bruised and purple that I was worried about internal bleeding. I couldn't believe she was even conscious. She was fevered from the infected arm and who knew what the hell else happened to her. If she had been raped…well, he wasn't sure any of the guys would be able to control themselves if she was raped. Not to mention Ranger's reaction. I just didn't want to even imagine Ranger's reaction. He had to find out. " Sweetheart, I bound your arm and checked your abdomen. You might have some internal bleeding. But I see these scratches on your chest. You need to tell me something. Her eyes were unfocused. "Sweetheart , look at me. Did he … touch …you? " Her mind was too muddles to understand. " Of course he touched me. That's how I got the bruises." "No, honey, I mean, did he touch you like sexually. Did he …rape… you?"
She dissolved into tears shaking her head. She started crying hard, breathing raspy breaths. She looked back over at the dead guy on the floor. No he didn't rape me but he tried; we struggled and I was able to get to his gun. I killed him." She looked shocked that he was dead. " Good for you. Fucker deserved to die." He's lucky Ranger wasn't here to deal with him or he'd have suffered horribly before he died. Who said Stephanie couldn't take care of herself?
She was more alert now but still a bit panicked by the situation. "Its ok. You are safe now." Well, safe as a person could be when seriously hurt in a fucking jungle of a third world country with a corrupt government and being hunted by drug dealing thugs who wanted to kill you. But she didn't have to worry. She had us, and we'd get her out –no matter what.
Junior's POV
Bobby gave Steph a shot of antibiotics and , I think, epinephrine, and she seemed to perk up. She still looked BAD; but she was conscious –mostly. We had to get the hell out of Dodge. Steph, honey, we have to move out of here. Javier's thugs are after us." I started to pick her up to carry her, but she started to struggle to stand up. I took her elbows and helped pull her up.
"No,its ok. I can walk." She stood shakily and wobbled a bit when she walked. It would be a 30 mile walk to where the copter would pick us up. It was nothing for us. Might as well be 100 miles for her. She probably wasn't going to make if very far. And then, well, we'd do whatever the fuck we had to do to get her out of there and to a hospital. We quickly gathered our gear and started off, Tank and Woody in front, weapons out, Steph walking unsteadily, holding her stomach. Bobby walked next to Stephanie to steady her, and Ram and I with our rifles took up the rear. We were in a hostile country with a drug dealer's thugs hunting us, a weak, seriously injured woman with us and thirty miles separated us from our copter. Good thing we were all tough and well trained. We were going to need all the training we had to get us out of here.