March 19, 2012
Janet Evanovich FanFic - Standard disclaimer
This story is being posted again. My thanks to Rei Chan for being willing to be the Beta reader for the first story I've ever written for FF.
Para Siempre
Stephanie rose from her desk and stretched her stiff muscles. Her searches were finished. She had printed them, placed them into file folders and neatly stacked them on the corner of her desk. Ranger could review them when he came back from Miami tomorrow.
It was finally Friday afternoon. All week she had been looking forward to girl's night out tonight with Lula, Connie and MaryLou. She couldn't wait to take off so she could get ready. Grabbing her bag she headed out. Waving goodbye to the guys as she passed by their cubicles.
She was walking toward Hal and Lester who were just coming on for the evening shift. They were looking over a basket that was waiting on the desk.
"How does she do this?" Lester was shaking his head in wonder.
"How did she know that Ojarascas* are my favorite cookies of all time?
My Abuelita* was the only one who ever made them for me."
Lester grabbed a cookie and after one bite of the tender cookie sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, he melted into his chair with a look of pure pleasure on his face.
"How did who know?" asked Stephanie, as she stopped to stare at Lester who was now moaning in ecstasy.
"Ella" Hal answered for Lester, who looked like he would not be able to form any words at the moment.
"She puts together these Birthday baskets for us, and fills them with our favorite contraband"
"Oh Lester, is it your birthday today?" Stephanie gasped, "I didn't know."
Lester raised a half eaten cookie as if in a toast and smiled saying
"Happy Birthday to me" before popping the rest of the cookie in his mouth.
Hal simply smiled at Stephanie and said "we tend to avoid talking about personal things like birthdays. But Ella always knows and makes sure we celebrate with our favorite treats. She must have gotten permission from the boss, cause we are never hassled about any of Ella's gifts."
Stephanie was shocked, she hadn't even thought about how it would be for the guys to have to mark these important days away from families. (many of which had distanced themselves from the sons that they couldn't understand). Ella was truly the best thing that had ever happened for the Merry Men, she took care of them. She was their family.
Stephanie kissed Lester on the forehead and said "Happy Birthday Les!"
She had almost reached the elevators when the hush of the comm room was suddenly disrupted by loud banging noises coming from the stairwell. Hal stared at the monitors and saw Luis and Ella running down the stairs. Seconds later the monitors showed the door at the garage level flying open. Luis burst through the door dragging Ella by her wrist. She struggled to keep up with him without stumbling. The guys were wordless for a few seconds none of them had ever seen Luis look so angry or out of control. They couldn't register what they were witnessing. And they had all kind of sucked in their breaths, until Hal broke the silence by growling an order to Woody to run down and see what was going on. As Woody took off downstairs, Hal and Lester stared at the monitors and saw Luis forcefully drag Ella towards their truck.
Stephanie was back at the monitor desk, "What the hell is he doing?" she said when she saw what the guys were watching on the monitors.
Before anyone could respond, they all watched as Luis collapsed down onto the garage floor. He clutched at his chest with one hand and pulled Ella down with him, as he still had her wrist grasped in his other hand. Ella struggled to kneel over Luis, who was now on his back gasping for air. She shouted up at the security camera and they saw her mouth say "get Bobby." Then she turned back to Luis who now lay still beside her. Hal and Lester each grabbed their phones. Hal called Bobby while Lester dialed 911. They were still watching as Ella immediately started CPR. She continued until Bobby reached her less than a minute later.
By then Woody and Cal were down in the garage. Cal gathered a trembling Ella up in his arms trying to comfort her. They watched Bobby work on Luis. Woody opened the gates to allow the approaching ambulance entrance into the garage. Within minutes the EMT's had loaded Luis into the ambulance and several Black SUV's were headed to the hospital right behind it.
Stephanie called her friends to cancel her night out with them, and raced into the hospital with the guys. She found Ella pacing in front of the emergency surgery doors and led her to a chair. Gently she forced her to sit. Ella had a despondent look on her face and her hands were tightly clenched. With her arms hanging at her sides, she was heaving great breaths. It was as if she were in pain and couldn't get enough air into her lungs. Stephanie tried to calm her. But Ella seemed unaware of anyone around her until Bobby walked towards her. She jumped up, with a grimace, and stared at him. Waiting for him to tell her what was happening with Luis.
Bobby grabbed both of her hands in his and spoke to her in his soft, reassuring voice. "Ella, they are working on him, they are doing everything they can for Luis."
She nodded at him, never breaking eye contact with him. "Now I need you to take a deep breath for me, okay?" He took a breath and blew it out slowly, allowing her to follow his lead. She seemed to struggle through the first breath. He took another slow breath with her and they both exhaled together. "That's my girl" he said softly and he wrapped her in his arms. He held her tight until they saw the doctor walk through the doors.
The look on the doctor's face was grim. Ella turned to face him, with Bobby standing to one side of her and Stephanie on the other. By the time the doctor reached her they were surrounded by a wall of black. At once, all of the guys stood to hear what he had to say. Ella tried to be strong. She knew it was bad news by the look on the surgeons face. She stood stoically while she listened to him tell her that Luis had died. She realized that he said it with a lot of medical terms and never once said the word 'dead'. She nodded still trying to be strong. But her knees gave out and she grasped Bobby's arm to keep from collapsing to the floor. He picked her up in his arms and walked out to the first RangeMan SUV still parked in the emergency lane.
In just under an hour it was all over. Luis had suffered a massive heart attack and there had been too much damage done for them to save him. Tank took care of the paperwork and made all necessary arrangements for Luis. Ella was taken back to RangeMan. Bobby took her down to his office and watched over her for signs of shock. He was worried about how calm she appeared to have become. She was pale, and just stared in front of her, not focusing on anything. Her breathing still seemed irregular and labored at times. Stephanie offered to stay with her, she was sure it was not a good idea to let her be alone right now. So she sat with Ella in Bobby's office.
Bobby and Stephanie both tried to speak with her, but she didn't respond with anything other than a nod of her head. After a while, Bobby left them to go up to the 5th floor to find out what he could about what had happened. As he knew they would, everyone was trying to make sense out of the events of this evening. They still wanted to know what Luis was doing before the heart attack. No one could forget that they had watched him drag Ella violently down the stairs. Answers to that question were still unknown. Ella wouldn't speak of the circumstances that brought them to the garage. Frustration in the looks on the guy's faces let Bobby know that the answers were still evading them.
All they could find by looking at security tapes was that Luis had pulled Ella out of their apartment on the 6th floor. He had forcefully dragged her down the stairs. She had been able to keep up with his pace until they reached the 1st floor when he seemed to whip her around the last flight of stairs. She was slammed into the wall. He then yanked her forward and she caught her side on the banister. She attempted to wrap her free arm around her ribs, but Luis swung her around again as he burst through the door onto the garage level. It looked like she hit her head on the door jam as he pulled her through it, but she was still being dragged along and she stumbled towards the truck.
Bobby had arrived in time to see them replay that last scene again, and he gasped. Without a word he turned and immediately returned to his office. Stephanie was still sitting next to Ella trying to talk to her. She looked up in surprise when Bobby rushed through the door. She watched in confusion as he carefully led Ella to the exam room and shut the door. And she waited, pacing the small room, wanting to get answers to the questions that they were all asking.
Bobby gently helped Ella up onto the exam table. When he asked to see her ribs, she resisted.
"Ella" he said firmly, "I need to see the damage." He didn't know why she seemed to be hiding her injuries from him, but he finally persuaded her to let him take a look. What he saw confirmed his suspicion. She had probably bruised her ribs with that hit to the banister. Her skin was badly bruised, a dark purple and blue patch spreading from the front of her side around to her back. A sharp breath caught in his throat when he noticed that her back and shoulders were covered with older bruises in various stages of healing. Her body was battered, and in his professional opinion, he knew she had been abused for along time before whatever happened today.
Silently Bobby wrapped her ribs, he noted how unexpectedly thin she looked. He frowned, subconsciously filing that information away for later. He had never considered Ella to be over weight exactly, but certainly the image he had had was of a more substantial girth. He didn't give all that much thought to it now, however, these injuries needed to be addressed first. He gently told her how she needed to be careful about the way she moved for the next several weeks and made her promise that she would take it easy for a while.
"What happened today?" he asked her. "And what has Luis been doing to you?" he asked under his breath. But she didn't say a word.
"Here, let me take a look at the bump on your head" he said as he continued his examination. There was a nice goose egg, but the damage looked to be minimal. She had not suffered a concussion, so he gave her some pain killers and tried again to question her.
"Ella, I need to know what made Luis do this to you" he said softly, his voice not betraying the rage he felt that she had been treated this way.
But still she shook her head and with her eyes cast down she simply said "No, no you don't want to know."
Bobby stared at her. Yes, he did want to know, and he wanted to understand why he didn't know about what must have been going on for quite a while.
After Bobby had tended to her injuries, she asked to be able to go home. Bobby and Stephanie both walked up to the 6th floor with her. But when they arrived at her apartment, Ella wouldn't allow them to come in with her. They started to protest, saying that she didn't need to be alone right now. But Ella just kept shaking her head. After several reassurances that she was alright she nearly pleaded with them, saying that she really did just need some time alone. And they reluctantly watched as she walked into her apartment and closed the door quietly behind her.
"I'm worried about her" Stephanie said.
Bobby nodded, "Yes, so am I"
*Ojarascas = traditional sugar cookies sprinkled with cinnamon sugar
*Abuelita = grandmother
Walking into her living room, Ella straightened the cushion on the closest arm chair. She sat down on the edge, her eyes stared ahead, but she didn't see the mess that surrounded her. Her thoughts kept going back to when she came into the apartment after shopping just a few hours ago. Luis was dumping the contents of a drawer all over the floor and sorting through the items. Desperation marking his every movement. He turned and started pulling books and CD's and DVD's from the shelf, flinging them to the floor. Frantically searching the shelves for what he was looking for. He had obviously already plowed through the furniture in his search. Cushions and pillows were scattered around the room. Chairs were overturned now laying on their sides, the bottoms ripped open leaving gaping holes that seemed to be staring at her in horror.
Until she gasped at the scene before her, Luis had not noticed that she had come home. But now he turned on her and grabbed her roughly, causing her to drop the bags of groceries that she had been holding. The veins on his neck were bulging and his face was red with a fury the likes of which she had never seen before.
"Where is it?" he growled at her. She sucked in a sharp breath but didn't say anything. And Luis screamed in her face "it is not here, I can't find it anywhere, where is it Ella" he spat the name at her and then he shook her and threw her to the floor. Luis stomped around the room, yelling and throwing anything he could reach against the walls.
"You will show me where it is" he roared at her. Ella was still huddled on the floor when he glared at her and said "no more playing around, I know how to get you to talk." That was when he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the apartment.
She had truly been frightened by his threats. She knew he was going to take her to where the 'familia' could use their methods to try to break her. There was a desperation in Luis right now, something she had not seen for over two years. And she knew that it would be worse with the rest of the family. If Luis had not died today, she was sure that she would have. Something had happened in the past few days to change everything about their fabricated world. For the past two years, since they had been at RangeMan, Luis had half heartedly tried to find the information that he sought. But he acted as if he had all the time in the world. He could be cruel about it, but he never pushed it. She didn't know what had happened 3 days ago, but whatever it was, she could see that it had made Luis start to panic. And that was when he lost control.
She sighed and got up from the chair. She surveyed the damage as she carefully stepped around the mess on the floor. She did not attempt to clean up the disaster. She just walked through it, her thoughts far away. She was not angry at him. She had never really felt anything but pity for Luis. That he had died from a heart attack didn't surprise her at all. Luis was still young, and like the RangeMen he was big, and healthy, and strong. In any other circumstances he would have probably lived to a ripe old age. Instead of succumbing to the heart attack, at the young age of only 49. But Ella knew why. She knew that Luis had actually died of a broken heart. She had watched as his family sucked him back into the business. They forced him to leave the love of his life. All to fulfill a warped sense of family obligation. To Ella, the real question was how had he been able to last this long after having to leave Maria over 3 years ago.
They forced him to set up this charade, to play the role of Ella's husband in order to babysit her. To see if he could find out where she had hidden the documents that could ruin his family. At first he had tried, he repeatedly beat her in an effort to extract information from her. But Ella remained silent. That first year was a blur of horrifying memories that she tried to lock away deep in her mind. She didn't like to think about it much. But she always allowed herself to remember the very moment that she had decided to take back her life.
Luis had never recovered from that moment. He had randomly beat her about once a month after that. Probably just so he could tell himself that he was still trying. He had kept it up, each and every month that they had been at RangeMen. Always careful to keep the marks he made on her torso, so that no one would know. She never said anything about the beatings. It was the price that she paid to be here with the men she considered the family that she never had. She knew that there was always a cost to everything. Living with her parents had taught her that.
Knowing what price you were willing to pay was a personal decision. Luis never understood that about her. But he knew, somehow, that she had won, he would never find what he wanted. So he allowed himself to be dragged along, first by his family, and this time in Ella's plan to be the caretakers of the RangeMan building. Playing roles was second nature to them both by now. And Ella gave him a role where he could be away from his family and be kept busy enough to almost forget how much he hated his life. He played the role well to every outward appearance, but he was still just an empty shell inside.
Ella squared back her shoulders, grimacing just a little from the pain in her side. Then she made her plans and got busy. She knew she would probably have to leave her family here at RangeMan soon. This situation changed everything about her world. The 'family' would stop at nothing to get to her once they found out that Luis had died. And she would not allow them to hurt the ones she loved. It broke her heart to think of leaving, but if it had to happen, she wanted to be ready. She started to gather the items that she would need and assembled them in the kitchen. In complete silence she began her work.
The funeral for Luis would be on Monday. Ella knew that Tank would want to be coordinating the details with her, but she could put that off until tomorrow. Ella smiled inwardly as she thought that, knowing Tank, he had probably already made the necessary arrangements. He was efficient and careful about all that he did. She was sure that her talk with him would be more about confirming details than asking her to plan them. And for that she was grateful. Her heart ached again, as the thought that she might have to leave this family behind, forced its way back into her mind. She shook her head and turned her attention again to her tasks. Her time was limited, she had to have everything done by Monday. The secrets she had kept about Luis' family would create new problems for her now. And, she feared, for the family she loved here at RangeMan. She couldn't, she wouldn't let harm come to them because of her. It was time for her to discover what had caused the change in Luis.
There was an urgency to everything that Ella did throughout the night, she couldn't waste a single second. Open on her counter was the Personnel book that she had compiled painstakingly during the past 2 years. It held information on all of the 'Merry Men', as Stephanie called them. Details about each of them, including their birthdays, important dates, allergies, food preferences, and favorite treats. Everyone would be getting a basket from her this weekend. Her baking was started. During the bake time she worked the on the piles of laundry that she had sorted and started to wash earlier in the day. Again she consulted her book, looking at the weekly schedule. Working in her stealth mode she gathered the laundry out of the rooms of the men that lived here in the building, while they were out of their rooms on duty.
Silently and efficiently Ella went from room to room. She stripped the beds and remade them with clean sheets. She gathered dirty towels, replacing them with the ones she had freshly laundered. She dusted, placed dirty dishes in the dishwasher and started the cycle, and did a little pick up as needed. She grabbed the dirty laundry and was on to the next room in 15 minutes flat. Ella loved taking care of the guys, it was her whole life. She loved them all and her heart ached anew every time she closed the door on another room, wondering if this was the last time she would be able take care of her 'family.'
By morning she had half of the laundry cleaned, pressed, stacked and either returned to the men's rooms or stored away in the massive linen closets. Baskets were lined up along her front hallway, ready to be delivered, sorted by who would be on duty next on the schedule. Ella loaded up as many baskets as she could onto her cart, along with the breakfast foods she had prepared for the break room, and she headed down to make her first delivery. She was ahead of the morning turnover so the 5th floor was quiet and she was able to move about nearly undetected. She gathered the rest of the laundry from the showers by the gym and headed back up to the 6th floor.
Ella had started her next wave of baking and had put on a large pot of soup for lunch by the time Tank called her for. He was ready for that talk she knew he wanted to have with her. When they met in his office an hour later, Tank was concerned about how she was looking. He didn't say anything to her, but he took note of the way Ella was moving, the dark, hollow look in her eyes, the tight lines around her mouth. She looked exhausted. And though it was expected that she would be upset by the death of her husband, Tank felt that there was some other undercurrent of emotion that he did not understand.
As Ella predicted, Tank had made all of the necessary arrangements for the funeral and he just needed her signature on a few of the forms. Ella realized just how wrong it was of her to be signing the papers, since this marriage was just a front. She was not legally related to Luis in any way. But Luis' family could not be consulted. She had not told them about his death, but she knew that they would know soon, somehow. That was another problem that she would soon be facing. Ella carefully took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she stood. She gave Tank a hug, thanking him for his help. Then she left his office and returned to her work.
Stephanie came in later that morning. Though it was a Saturday and she wasn't scheduled to work, she was ready to spend time with Ella. She was hoping to help her through the pain she must be feeling after losing Luis. Ella treated everyone here like her family, she took such good care of them all and Stephanie wanted to be here for her. But she soon found that Ella still preferred to be alone. Like Tank had seen earlier, Stephanie noticed how tired Ella looked. And like Tank, she felt like there was something under the surface, something that she could not put her finger on, but something was very wrong. Ella did not want to talk to anyone yet, and they all wanted to respect her right to mourn. But they were all worried.
And still, food appeared in the break room, for lunch, for snacks and for dinner, just like always. The men were thrilled and more than a little bit surprised to receive the baskets of love from her. Along with the treats she had written personal notes to each of her 'brothers." They were touched by her words. They truly loved her. And they were all very worried about Ella.
By the time Ranger had returned late Saturday evening, he had a line of men waiting to express their concerns about Ella. Ranger had tried to talk to her earlier, but all he got were her assurances that she was alright. She thanked him for his concern, but effectively shut him out. For another day she continued to work, providing food on schedule, filling the freezers with single serving size portions of lunch and dinner foods, delivering baskets and cleaning, still in her stealth mode. And she was closer to putting her plan in to play.
The funeral was quiet and solemn. Only Stephanie and the guys from RangeMen were there with her at the graveside. It was a simple service. Ella said that Luis would have wanted it that way. Everyone's focus was on Ella. She looked so fragile and broken standing there in her black dress and hat with its small black veil. They barely took notice of the man standing yards away hidden in the trees, watching the service with a blank look on his face. But Ella saw him, she knew who he was. The familia knew that Luis had died, and she was truly scared now. She had never been so glad to be surrounded by her 'brothers'. She knew she would be safe, but only for now. Her plan would have to be implemented as soon as possible.
By Monday afternoon Stephanie was unable to take it anymore. Her worries about Ella were growing and still Ella kept to herself. Despite the constant assurances, Stephanie knew that Ella was not okay. So she walked down to Rangers office. Tapping on the door, she let herself in and sat down.
"It's time" she said, "Ella is going to have a heart attack herself if she keeps up this pace, she needs to slow down." Ranger nodded slightly.
"Ella needs you" she stated simply.
He rose from his desk, and gave Stephanie a quick hug, "you need to go home now and get some rest too" he told her. He kissed her forehead and walked out of the room.
Ranger headed up to the 6th floor, he had decided to show up at the door instead of calling. Since all of the calls he had made to Ella thus far had been effectively deflected. As he approached her door, he heard the buzzing of his phone in his pocket. Glancing at the number, he answered his phone by saying one word.
"Ella."
She hesitated for just a moment, then she took a deep breath and focused herself to her task. "Mr. Manoso, I need to speak with you when you have a moment" she said.
"How about now?" he answered. "I am right outside your door."
"Come on in" she responded as she made her way from the kitchen to the front hall. Ranger entered her apartment and walked toward the living room. He stopped and stared, shocked by what he saw. The room had been ransacked, everything was overturned and the floors were littered with books, pillows, CD's, DVD's, etc. Cushions were tossed aside, drawers were emptied into the mess, art work was hanging askew on the walls. Whoever had done this had done a thorough job. Ella walked up and saw his reaction. "I wanted you to see this" she said "Luis did this on the day he died."
Ranger looked up at her and was taken aback. He had been expecting to see a tired, worn out and fragile looking Ella. But the woman standing in front of him was absolutely radiant. He asked how she was holding up and she smiled a sad smile.
"I'm running on equal parts of adrenalin, determination and fear" she said. "Come in, we have a lot to discuss."
She indicated that they should go back to the kitchen, and she sat at the table. She waited for Ranger to sit as well, before she said anything else. The look in his eyes prompted her to explain the disaster that he had just seen.
"Luis had been agitated for several days before this all happened. He had been quiet and brooding and desperate to find something he has known from the beginning that I had. Truth be told, has been searching for it the whole time we've been here."
Ella paused, shaking her head slightly "he knew all along, but something happened very recently, I don't know what, but suddenly Luis was determined to get it from me." Nodding in the direction of the living room she continued. "I wouldn't give it to him, so he tried to find it himself." Her eyes seemed to glaze over as she whispered "it has never been this bad before." With a start, she realized that she had said that out loud.
She took in a deep breath and focused her look intently on Ranger. Leaning forward she asked directly, "What do you know about me, about Luis?" With a deathly serious voice she asked "what is in my file?"
Ranger let himself looked shocked, but Ella saw something flash briefly in his eyes. She could see him steel himself up to keep what he knew from her.
She softened her voice and lowering her eyes she said "I need to know how much information you already have so I don't have to waste too much time explaining my problem." Her eyes met his now and she saw him relax a bit. She continued, looking away again, staring at her hands as she spoke. "I'm sure you ran a background check when you hired us. It wouldn't have given you much information, so I need to know how deep you went digging to fill in the blanks."
This time it was Ranger who drew in a deep breath, he nodded and started talking. "As you said, the background check was unsatisfactory, with my experience I knew that usually meant that information had been 'cleaned' or 'fabricated'. So I checked with some of my sources who confirmed that you had been in the system with 'Witness Protection' during the trial for Chein Sanchez. After you had testified against the Sanchez Family, you were then placed in the 'Witness Relocation Program' that was supposed to keep you safe."
"My contact told me that there were red flags going up everywhere when the W.R.P. agents assigned to you were both found dead within 3 days of each other a month after the trial. One had a heart attack and the other died in an accident that killed his whole family."
He stopped speaking when he saw the look on Ella's face at hearing that information. A mixture of horror, shock, and pain in her eyes. She did not know. He was surprised by that, and he could see that this part of her story bought deep pain with it for her. Her hands had been clenched together in front of her in a tight grip that turned her knuckles white. She was looking down now and he could imagine that she was fighting back tears, since she didn't say a word. Ranger placed his hand over hers, she was trembling and he wondered just how much she had been through in the past 3 years.
Ranger started speaking again, now in low soothing tones. "The W.R.P. listed you as missing or presumed dead. We used the information we could find from the Sanchez trial to piece together some of your past. He hesitated and Ella looked up at him. He met her eyes and he said "you can tell me if we put the pieces together correctly." She nodded slightly, encouraging him to continue.
"Chein Sanchez was a small time player with the Mexican mob. He craved power. He upset a lot of the senior members of the family with his over the top strong arming of the local drug gangs that they controlled. The rift between Chein and his own father created a mini war, with the family being split in their loyalties. A crooked lawyer on Chien's payroll was keeping busy avoiding legal tangles for Chein. That is until the lawyers own wife was killed in yet another of Chein's tantrums." Ranger looked at Ella, her eyes were full of pain, but she nodded for him to continue.
"The legal battle over the killing was fought without his lawyer. In fact, the case against Chein was strengthened by the amount of evidence that was offered up by the lawyers daughter. She had been an eye witness to her mothers murder. By the end of the trial, the former lawyer was dead and the daughter had disappeared, presumably into the Witness Relocation program. Chein went to prison and the 'familia' united again with Chein out of the picture.
Ranger paused, "this was all over 3 years ago. You were the daughter" he looked at her and she nodded. "By the time you came here you had developed a new identity and back story" he said.
Again she nodded, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling. "Mr. Manoso" she almost whispered "why did you hire us, knowing what you did?"
Ranger did not hesitate "I like to think that I'm a good judge of character, I liked you from the first time we met." he smiled warmly at her. "Your story was safe with us" he said. "We tend to hire people who need us as much as we need them, and we really needed you Ella."
Her throat constricted and she swallowed hard to be able to talk. "You know everything I thought you would. I need to tell you the rest before it is too late. Ella stood and started pacing, her body language alarmed Ranger. She was clenching her fists so tight he was sure she would break the skin of her palms with her nails. Her back was stiff and he noticed that she was moving as if she were in a great deal of pain. Her breathing was irregular, she was fighting back tears and he could see that whatever she had to say was tearing her up inside.
"Ella' he started to say.
"I-I'm okay" she said, she stopped pacing and she leaned against the table with one hand and rubbed her face with the other in an attempt to brace herself to say what she needed to say now. In a low voice she started speaking. "You knew that Luis was Chein's brother. The familia knew that I had information that could destroy their organization. Extensive documentation that my father put together and gave to me before he died."
Ranger was staring wide eyed at her now, and she took a deep breath to continue. "Luis was forced to babysit me until they found a way to get that information from me. They created their own private Witness Intimidation program, just for me." She shrugged slightly as she continued. "I had no other family that they could threaten, to make me give up the information, so they figured that they had to keep me close until they could break me down."
She closed her eyes at some unspoken memories and with her eyes still closed she said "during the trial I put the papers from my father in a safe deposit box for safe keeping. I tried to get to the authorities, I wanted to, but the familia caught up with me and I couldn't get away. I didn't even know where they were hiding me for a long time." She removed her glasses and placed her hand over her still closed eyes. She was absently rubbing her forehead with her thumb. "I was beaten repeatedly, and may have spent most of the first 6 months unconscious. I really don't know, everything is still a haze."
Ella then stood up fully, replacing her glasses and looked straight into Rangers eyes, and he could see the fight in her eyes. "Then one day, I got disgusted with myself, my father had died protecting me by compiling the damaging information on the Sanchez family. And here I was laying down at their feet, allowing them to abuse me. Sure, I kept the information from them, and I would never give it up. But I knew that I could no longer act like a stupid little victim."
She sat down again and said "by then they had left Luis alone with me. I knew that he didn't want to be there any more than I did. And when I was able, I walked out of the house and kept walking until I could figure out where I was. Turns out I was here in Trenton. By the time Luis caught up with me, I had found out about the building management opportunity here and I told him that we would be taking the position. He didn't fight me about it. I think that he hated his life so much, that any change would be good. So we came to RangeMan."
"I don't really know why the family let us be here, I have been afraid every minute of every day that someone would show up to create problems. They have to have known where we were, but they seemed fine with allowing us to continue as long as I didn't say anything. Don't get me wrong, Luis kept a close eye on me, but I was so happy being here with my new family, I didn't care about the Sanchez problem. And they didn't seem to mind maintaining the status quo, since no one else knew about the information."
"Like I told you earlier, something happened about a week ago that changed everything. Luis started searching in earnest, he started beating me all the time. He was scared."
Ranger looked at her, nodding slightly, and she knew he understood. "Chein was unexpectedly released from prison last week" he simply said. The panic in her eyes was what he would have expected, but what she said next was not.
"Then we have no time to lose, we probably need to act tomorrow." Again she was up and pacing the kitchen, then she stopped and said "I have a plan, but I need your help." He waited for her to continue, intrigued by what she would say next.
"Some of the information they want is here, and so is a key for the safe deposit box where the rest is locked away." Ella turned to Ranger and said "I need your help to get to the bank, but it's complicated. One of the Sanchez men was at the funeral today. They know about Luis' death and they know about the safe deposit box and I am sure they will be waiting for me to make a move. They will be looking for me," she paused, "that is, they will be looking for 'Ella' to go to the bank."
Ranger raised an eyebrow, and she smiled. "Mr. Manoso, close your eyes and describe me, 'Ella', as if you needed one of your new recruits to find me."
Ranger frowned slightly at the request, the Ella he would have described yesterday was not the same woman that he saw today. But he understood what she was asking and he said "I would have told them to find the short, older Hispanic lady with large tinted glasses and a RangeMan hat."
She smiled bigger at the description. "That is the Ella that they will be expecting to go to the bank."
As she spoke she took off the hat that she always wore. She removed a few hairpins. Her black hair, that had always been in a low, tight bun, tumbled down nearly to her waist. She shook out the hair on her head with her fingers to combat the hat head look. Several shorter strands of hair fell around her face.
Next, Ella removed the button-down RangeMan shirt that she typically wore over a large men's RangeMan t-shirt. The shirts had always hung so long that it made her legs appear short and gave her a frumpy look. But now, without the outer shirt, he could see that she was wearing the style of RangeMan t-shirt that Stephanie used. It was a tight fitting woman's cut with a V-neck. Without the large shirt, Ranger also noticed that the loose cargo pants that she usually wore had been replaced with some form fitting black jeans, showcasing long, slender legs.
Slipping off her black nurses shoes revealed her bare feet, somehow he was surprised that her toenails were painted deep red. Her feet were slender, and much smaller than they looked in the big, soft shoes she had been wearing. Lastly, she removed her large, round, brown tinted glasses and set them on the table. Pointing at herself, she asked "would they have found me with that description?"
Ranger's lips turned up slightly at the corners, "no, definitely not." He looked at her closely. "According to your file, it lists your age as 34. All this time we have been willing to believe that you were closer to 47 like Luis told us" he said. "You are truly a master of disguise."
Ella smiled and said "thank you." Her eyes sparkled and he now could see that they were a brilliant hazel green, something that had always been hidden behind her glasses. She had high cheekbones, her nose was straight and perfect. Her neck, always covered before, was long and graceful. Her body was certainly not short or old looking now, the clothing showcased her lovely curves. That radiance he had noticed earlier was due in part to the fact that she was not wearing any of the heavy powdered foundation that she typically used. He realized that it was the powder that had given her skin a grey cast and made her look so much older. Something more than just surprise at her new look was stirring deep inside of him, but he didn't give himself any time to think about it, and quickly refocused on her question.
"No" he said again. "No one would have mistaken you for Ella." He tilted his head slightly and wondered out loud, "is there another name that we should be using for you? Ella must be a name you picked for the charade, I remember seeing that your name is actually Gabriella."
Ella answered quickly, "no, I chose Ella to be separated from 'Gabby' which is the name from my childhood, and the name that the Sanchez family knew me by. Since Gabby no longer exists, I would rather continue to be known as Ella with my family here." She stopped her words short suddenly and looked at Ranger with panic in her eyes.
"I forgot to ask" she dropped into her chair and held onto the table with both hands for support.
"Is there any way you want me to stay, now that Luis is gone and I have some potentially really bad guys after me."
Then shaking her head, she stood up and started walking away, mumbling under her breath,
"Of course I shouldn't stay, I need to go far, far away from here, take my problems out of here, I should probably never have stayed here after Luis and…" her words trailed off as she moved rapidly down the hallway.
Ranger followed her, and finally caught up with her in a bedroom. It was at the the end of the hall, and it looked like it had been searched in the same manner as the living room. Ella had her arms wrapped around her shoulders as if she were cold and was staring out of the window, and Ranger turned her around gently and grabbed both of her hands in his.
"Ella, this is your home, you are our family, never think about leaving us, I told you, we need you." And somewhere deep inside his mind he added 'more than you could ever know.' He led her back to the kitchen, pausing as they passed by another bedroom. Ranger looked at the room with a surprised expression. Not one thing was out of place in that room.
Ella noticed his look, "It's Luis' room," she said. "We were never really married, and we never lived together." Somehow Ranger felt a huge relief at hearing her say that.
They reached the kitchen and with a hand under her chin he raised her head and made her look at him. "Now, tell me how I can help you."
Tears started streaming down her cheeks unchecked. The relief, in hearing his words offering the help she'd need, was overwhelming. Once again she found herself wrapped in the strong arms of a RangeMan, and she felt safe and cared for. And he suddenly felt more protective of her than he could have imagined. She only hoped that she wouldn't put any of her family in danger with what she had to do next.
Tuesday morning dawned bright and cheerful. Ella felt anything but cheerful, she was too nervous about the plan. And she resented the sun as it streamed through the windows. She had been up for hours putting her new look together. She was almost ready and she would know if her plan had any chance of success in just a few minutes. She met Ranger up at his apartment upstairs. She held her breath when she heard the door opening, exhaling only after she saw the shocked look on his face, one that was immediately followed by a smile.
"You look great. Come in" he stepped back for her to enter. She didn't know that his heart had just skipped a beat or two in the moment it had taken for him to realize it was her. He was very taken with the woman he saw at his door. She handed him the identification card that she had used to set up the safety deposit account.
"This ID was made before the Sanchez family took me from the W.R.P." She glanced at it in his hand, "I guess that I was creating a persona that was the exact opposite of Ella" she mused. "I may have gone a little overboard." The photo showed the Ella that he saw in front of him now. Makeup and hair did a lot to change her appearance, but the clothes and the attitude she carried sealed the deal.
"Wow" he said looking from the ID, to her, and back again.
"I put everything I could into the safe deposit box and hid the key in the sole of my shoe. I guess they never thought to look there, during those first months," Ella was saying as she stepped over to the sideboard in the hallway. "May I?" she asked. He watched in amazement as she lifted the artwork from the wall and turned it over, revealing a thin packet of papers that had been secured to the back of the frame. "I stole these papers from the house they kept me in, seemed like a good idea at the time."
She removed the papers and hung the painting back on the wall. Next she slid her fingers inside of the vase of flowers she always kept on the side board. She brought out a key that had been taped inside. An amused smile played on his lips.
"So all of your secrets have been sitting right here all this time."
She smiled and said simply "Luis would never have been able to find it in here and I suspect that you have probably never even noticed the painting or the flowers, so no one was going to discover them here."
Ranger grimaced at that, but had to admit that he really had not given the décor in his apartment much thought other than he liked what he saw.
Ella handed the papers to Ranger and slipped the key and the ID into her handbag. "Well, I guess it's time to go" she said and headed towards the door. They shared a nervous silence on the elevator ride to the 5th floor. They gave each other a long look before leaving the elevator and they started walking down the hall towards Rangers office.
The men at the first desk looked up from their watch of the monitors and saw the boss walk by with a slender woman with long, thick, dark hair, slightly curled tendrils surrounding her face. She wore an impeccably fitted business suit, it was charcoal grey with lavender pin stripes. The hem hit right above her knees, she wore designer pumps with three inch heels, and her legs looked a mile long. Her blouse, a burgundy silk shell set off her long strands of pearls perfectly. They noticed how serious her green eyes looked. They couldn't decide if she was a new love interest for the boss or if she was a member of the legal team. Everything about her said elegant and sophisticated. They couldn't keep their eyes off of her, and continued to watch until she turned down the hall.
Stephanie was getting started on the stack of searches, that Rodriguez had waiting for her this morning. Suddenly she heard a soft murmur of conversation spread over the comm room. Curious, she stood up to look out of her cubicle, when she saw Ranger walking towards her with a beautiful woman. He was protectively guiding the woman with his hand at her lower back. Stephanie drew a sharp breath, she knew that she and Ranger had agreed to be good friends, but it hurt to see him with another woman. Especially one who was as graceful and gorgeous as this. She noticed the perfect manicure, the flawless makeup job and the air of confidence. She swallowed the lump in her throat as they approached her. Ranger made some vague introductions and the woman offered a small smile, a smile that somehow seemed kind and familiar. They continued on down the hall and entered Rangers office. Puzzled, Stephanie was still looking after them, wondering if she was supposed to know who that woman was. Unable to think of who she could be, Stephanie shook her head and sat down at her desk.
"Okay, now the final test" Ranger said to Ella. "Tank will be walking in any second, and he prides himself on never forgetting a face. If he doesn't recognize you then we are set." Ella smiled, and swallowed as she tried to maintain her cool, aloof posture.
"Tank" Ranger said, with a nod, as Tank entered the office. He made the introductions and Tank engaged in some polite small talk with Ella.
"Please excuse me" Tank said as he made his way to the door. "Hope to see you again" he said to the woman as he left.
Ranger and Ella just looked at each other for a good minute before they hugged in a triumphant embrace. Ranger felt his heart swell with pride at Ella's success, but again, he didn't have time to analyze his feelings. Because just then Tank came back into the office. He looked at them curiously, and came up to Ella as she stepped back from Rangers arms.
"Forgive me if I seem rude" Tank said. "But do I know you from somewhere?"
Ella smiled warmly at him and Tank drew in a sharp breath, "Ella?" he whispered. "Is that you?"
Ranger slapped him on the back. "If it hadn't been for the smile, would you have guessed who she was?" he asked.
Ella put on her serious face again and Tank stared at her. "No, I don't think that I would have figured it out without the smile" he said.
"Good" Ranger said. "We need to fool a few people today" he continued, smiling at Ella. He turned back to Tank and asked "Do you have the team ready to go?"
Tank indicated that the SUV's were packed and ready, and that his men were already heading down. Ranger handed him the messenger bag that held the packet of papers they had retrieved from the frame.
"Then I guess it is time we get this done" he said and the three of them headed to the garage.
Arriving at the bank, the group circled the block once, before Ranger stopped in front of the entrance. They had compiled a list of possible Sanchez family members and several of the men that Ella thought could be guarding the safe deposit box. That list included the man who showed up at the funeral. None of them were visible outside the bank.
Junior and Manny, dressed in plain clothes, got out and entered the bank before Ella was allowed to go in. Once they were in place, Ella walked into the bank and talked to one of the bank managers, before being led down to the vault. No one seemed to recognize her as she walked through the bank. It wasn't until she had removed all of the contents of her box. And calmly left the vault that someone realized that the box in question had been visited. They knew that it had to have been by Ella.
She had almost made it to the front doors before she was approached by the man from the funeral. He suddenly grabbed her arm, twisting it up behind her back, causing her to gasp in pain. He was trying to yank her purse away from her tightened grasp before Junior grabbed him and took him down. By then the Sanchez people had mobilized, guns out now. They were shooting and running toward Ella.
Manny was the first to reach her. He placed his arms carefully around her shoulders as he rushed her into the waiting SUV. The glass doors shattered around them just as they were running through them. Ella's heart was pounding furiously and she found that it was hard for her to breathe. Ranger grabbed the papers from Ella's bag and transferred them to Tank's messenger bag. They took off in one direction. Tank and Hal left in another direction to immediately to deliver the papers to the proper authorities. That left Manny and Junior, and their backup team outside, to deal with the Sanchez threat at the bank. Fortunately the bank security guards were on board to help apprehend the men. Between them they cleared the bank of the threat with in just a few minutes. They detained the Sanchez people until the Police could take them in and hold them in jail for the night.
As planned, Ranger and Ella did not return to the building on Haywood. There were too many variables. The Sanchez familia might come after Ella. They might retaliate against RangeMan. Removing Ella from the area seemed to be the best idea. Ranger kept a vigilant watch to be sure that they were not followed. The drive would take several hours before getting them close to their secret destination. Ella watched as Ranger was in his Zone, and she was grateful for the intensity of his protection. She regretted that she had had to place any of her guys in danger. She had told them this before they started out this morning. They had all tried to assuage her fears. They tried to let her know that they wanted to do whatever they could to eliminate the threat to the communities that the Sanchez familia controlled.
Her guilt would not be alleviated, however, not until she knew that nothing bad had happened. Not to Junior or Manny or the guys at the bank. And not to Tank or Hal. She knew they could still be in danger until they reached the security of the RangeMan building after making the delivery for her.
Her heart was still pounding and she couldn't relax. She was too nervous about the whole plan. Ella kicked off her shoes and drew her legs up to her chest hugging them with her arms. Laying her head down on her knees, she tried to clear her thoughts, but it was no use and tears started to drip down her cheeks.
Ranger placed a hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her over so that he could wrap his arm around her.
"It is going to be okay" he whispered to her.
Finally, she was able to speak and she said in a low tone "what if someone got hurt, and we don't even know it yet" she sobbed again and said "it would be all my fault." Her crying was now hurting her sides and she found it harder and harder to breathe.
The road they were now on was in a wooded area. And since he was sure that they were alone Ranger pulled the truck over to the side of the road, and stopped. He gathered Ella in his arms and tried to soothe away her tears. He knew that most of this emotion was caused by the let down of the adrenalin high that she had experienced while performing her part in the bank. It was also probably due to the fact that she had been worried and scared for more than a week now. And she was, quite literally, worn out physically. So he rocked her and tried to reassure her that the men could take care of the job.
Finally he felt her relax and he asked "are you ready, we don't have that much further to go." She nodded and started to move away, but he kept his arm around her and said "rest, we'll be there soon." She nodded again and he felt her lean into his shoulder. And it surprised him how much he liked the feel of her in his arms.
Later that afternoon, a Police task force went out and searched the Sanchez family homes and businesses. They had warrants issued based on the information that Tank had delivered to them. It was exactly what they needed to bring down the organization, and they wasted no time in doing just that. There was resistance, especially when they found Chein in the family compound. He was determined not to go back to prison and he came out brandishing several firearms and screaming at them. A gun fight began, and when it was over, Chein was mortally injured. Many other members of the familia were also injured and taken to the hospital. The remaining members were found and rounded up and taken to jail. All were held without bail since the evidence against them was so strong.
Tank had the details ready to report when Ranger called in. The call wasn't expected until late that night. Not until after Ranger had had a chance to set up the satellite phone system at their destination. Despite all of the action that had happened at the bank, the buzz at RangeMan centered around the visitor from that morning. Most of the men at RangeMan were still talking about the mystery woman that walked through the office with Ranger. Tank smiled about that, only a few men knew about the mission at the bank today. Ella had done a great job hiding her "true" identity, and her alternate identity was very intriguing. It had definitely been an interesting day.
Ranger drove deep into a lush, wooded area, the sunlight filtered down through the thick canopy created by the large trees. Ella wondered if they would be there any time soon, when suddenly they came around a curve in the road and a cabin loomed in front of them.
"We're here" Ranger said as he turned into the driveway that curved around the side of the cabin. Without realizing it she held her breath as she took in all the details. The wood siding was stained a dark espresso brown. The cedar shingle roof, which looked like it had been recently replaced, was a much lighter color. The contrast was attractive. A porch extended the entire length of the front of the cabin with wide steps that led up to the front door. For some reason a thought popped into her head, and Ella could imagine it being a perfect place for family pictures to be taken.
Ranger brought the truck around the back of the cabin and parked. After helping Ella out of the truck, he unlocked the back door and offered to give her a tour of the cabin before they unloaded the truck. The door opened into a large pantry lined with shelves. The shelves stored canned and packaged goods of all kinds. A large island counter, with open shelves underneath, seemed to house an interesting assortment of large bowls, pots, and serving trays. A set of huge ceramic bowls sat on top of the counter. Four bowls nestled inside of each other. They were a beautiful cobalt blue color with the warm patina of age and lots of use. The room was well lit thanks to some skylights that extended up into the roof from the greenhouse type windows that took up the entire back wall.
The pantry led to the big kitchen. Ella walked around the kitchen in awe, running her hand along the smooth wooden surface of the island that dominated the room. At least eight bar stools fit along the side of the island, providing space for casual eating. This room was bright too, thanks to some well placed sky lights, and the light feel of the knotty pine cabinets. She admired the hand painted tiles that ran the length of the wall behind the large gas stovetop. The more she looked, the more she liked this room. Additional pieces of the cobalt crockery were displayed on the counter and on some of the shelves. They added splashes of color, creating an inviting setting. She would enjoy working in this space while they were here.
Ranger walked with her into the great room that opened up off of the kitchen. With a vaulted ceiling and a stone fireplace that filled up one whole wall, the room was impressive. But it still had a cozy, intimate feel to it with the large leather furniture. Warm inviting colors of blue and red and a warm gold were found in pillows and throws all around the room and in the plush rugs placed over the gleaming wood floors. What caught her eye most in this room was the wall with family portraits. They were hung in uniform rows, apparently in chronological order, there must have been a dozen frames, showing various members of the family during their visits to the cabin. She smiled as she recognized the front porch as the setting for many of the photos. Ranger looked slightly embarrassed as she spotted several photos showing him as a child. But she smiled, knowing she was getting a glimpse into his secret world.
As much as the presentation of the photos was impressive, Ella felt that old longing. Wishing that she had had family experiences like these. She shook her head of those thoughts and they finished the tour by walking down the hall where there were several bedrooms. They were all master bedroom suites with their own bathrooms. And she spotted many more family pictures hung all along the wall of the hallway and in every bedroom. Ella was awed by all she saw, and Ranger seemed pleased with her reaction.
After the tour, Ella brought in her bag to change her clothes in one of the bedrooms. This room was decorated with dark wood paneling and light cream fabrics in the curtains, rugs, upholstery and bed coverings. The contrasting colors were sophisticated and soothing. Looking around, she smiled, thinking that she was really going to like it here. One of the photos caught her eye. There were only two people in this picture. It was of Ranger and an older woman, who Ella supposed to be his grandmother. She had both of her arms wrapped around his waist, as she gazed up at him. It must have been a fairly recent photo. Ranger was not a child, as she had seen in so many other pictures. He looked down into his grandmothers eyes with an affection that was adoring and obvious. She lingered over the photo for quite some time before she pulled herself away from it.
As she pulled the clothes out of her bag, she realized that she was going to have to go shopping soon. After leaving the 'old' Ella's clothes behind, she only had a couple of RangeMan uniforms left, black jeans, black t-shirts. She sighed and pulled on some black tennis shoes. She helped Ranger unload the boxes that she had packed for their trip. As well as the boxes of equipment that Ranger brought to set up his own office here in the woods.
It may have been more of a cautionary measure than they needed, but they had planned to stay here at the cabin for at least 3 days. Giving a chance for things to settle down after the Sanchez situation. So Ranger started setting up the satellite equipment outside. And Ella got busy putting away the groceries and kitchen supplies. She started doing some clean up to get the kitchen ready to make dinner. Taking stock of what she had to work with, she found a heavy, cast iron griddle. She turned it over in her hands. It was a large, square griddle with wooden handles on either side. She had had one just like it, in what seemed like another lifetime. She had almost forgotten about it. She had used it for making tortillas. She also found a rolling pin that was slightly wider in the center and tapered off on either end. It was also just like the one she had once had to make her famous home-made tortillas. Her mind was made up, just like that. They would have fajitas for dinner. She had all of the necessary ingredients, and it just sounded really good to her. She hoped that Ranger liked fajitas too.
Ella was standing on a step stool trying to remove a burned out light bulb when Ranger walked back into the cabin. She was stretching up as far as she could and her arm was extended. This caused her shirt to pull up, exposing a wide strip of skin. Ranger gasped when he saw the bruising. An unexpected anger welled inside him and he felt very protective of her. He wanted, more than anything else, to keep her from any more harm. Ella had just twisted the bulb out of the socket when the sound he made startled her, and she turned suddenly. That movement caused a sharp pain in her ribs and she involuntarily doubled over, nearly losing her balance. Ranger rushed forward and caught her before she could fall. Her arms came around his neck and they looked at each other, too stunned to say anything.
Gently he set her down and said "do you mind if I finish the job?" She handed the new light bulb to him as he climbed up the steps. When he was done with the light, he noticed that she had laid out food for dinner and asked if she needed any help. Ella wasn't accustomed to anyone working with her in her kitchen, but she welcomed the company. She handed him the cutting board and a knife, and pushed a small pile of vegetables over to him with a smile.
The conversation came easily, and they enjoyed being together. Ella thinly sliced some chicken breast and mixed up a marinade for it. As she brought out the skillet and several bowls, she mentioned how well appointed the kitchen was. Everything was easy to find, having been placed exactly where she would expect it to be. Ranger gave her another one of his smiles of satisfaction at her comment and started to tell her about his grandmother.
Ella had thought that they were headed to one of the RangeMan safe houses. But Ranger explained that this had been his grandparents cabin. When he was young, his family would come up every summer, spending at least a week playing, exploring, relaxing. His grandmother presided over all of the family gatherings. She was a strong woman and she liked everything to be just so. She also loved her family with a passion that she shared through her cooking. Ella was enjoying his stories, laughing and asking questions about his family.
Again it surprised him how happy it made him to see Ella cooking in his grandmother's kitchen. Especially when he realized that they were making fajitas. It was tradition. He told her how the first meal at the cabin was always fajitas, something that his grandmother insisted on. Ella was rolling out homemade whole wheat tortillas, and when she asked him to start cooking them on the large griddle, another wave of nostalgia came over him. And she noticed how his voice would soften a bit when he told stories about his grandmother. It was the perfect meal. And he wondered, how could she have known about the fajitas?
Ella finished cleaning up in the kitchen while Ranger set up the computer and contacted Tank via the satellite phone. He was happy to hear the news about the raid on the Sanchez compound. Ella walked in to hear the end of the conversation. She allowed herself to feel an overwhelming sense of relief knowing that all of her guys were safe. Ranger grabbed one of her hands and pulled her closer to him as he finished up the call to Tank.
He stood, placing his hands on her shoulders, and said "there, didn't I tell you that they would be able to take care of things." She nodded, but couldn't say anything, the power of the relief she felt was bringing tears to eyes again. Her throat hurt from trying to stop them, but it didn't help, the tears started falling steadily.
"Ella" he spoke soothingly, "it is okay now, your plan worked out perfectly, and everything is okay." He circled his arms around her and she leaned her head forward into his chest.
"I don't cry" she sniffed. "Not one tear for 3 years, and now I can't seem to stop." She was more than frustrated. She didn't like to cry. She had never wanted to be seen as a weak, emotional woman.
She felt his laugh rumble in his chest before she heard it.
"Are you worried over a few tears?" he said, pulling her back a little, so that he could see her eyes. She didn't look up, she was still fighting for control, but he lifted her chin with his finger and finally their eyes met.
"Mr. Mano-" she started to say, but he cut her off.
"Ella, you can use my name." He watched her struggle with that for a moment, and then softly said "Carlos, you can call me Carlos." At last her face reflected a calm that she had not felt in days.
"Carlos" she said and smiled up at him. His heart nearly stopped at hearing his name on her lips,
"Say it again" he whispered in her ear. She smiled bigger.
"Carlos" she said a little bit breathless this time.
The temperature dropped quickly when the sun went down, so Ranger built a fire in the huge fireplace.
"Oh, it's beautiful" said Ella walking over to the couch.
"We used to sit close to the fire and listen to my grandfather telling ghost stories" he told her, "my mother would always get mad at him for scaring us like that" he said smiling at the memories. Ella sat on the couch, tucking her legs up under her.
"Tell me one of the stories Carlos" she said, and he settled down on the couch with her and they laughed at the stories that seem so innocent now. Finally the weight of the events of the day made Ella's eyes grow heavy and Ranger suggested that they turn in for the night. She went to the room she had used earlier to change in, since her stuff was already in there. Ranger went across the hall to the bedroom where he had set up the computer.
As exhausted as she was, both physically and mentally, Ella found it impossible to fall asleep. She couldn't stop thinking about all this time she was spending with Ranger. It felt so comfortable, so right. And she never wanted it to end. Of course, she told herself that being alone here with him didn't mean anything. She knew in her mind that they were only here to be safe for a while. But her heart didn't listen, she was enjoying every moment she would have with him. Trying again and again to forget that she had fallen in love with him the day she met him 2 years ago. An impossible and consuming love that she could never have.
She paced the bedroom for a while before deciding to go back out to the couch where she had almost fallen asleep before. Hoping for the same results. She curled up in a corner of the couch, wrapped in a warm blanket and watched the fire die down to glowing embers. Her body relaxed and sleep claimed her at last.
In his bedroom, Ranger didn't feel like sleeping yet, he had a lot on his mind so he pulled out some of the paperwork that he brought along to work on. But after 2 hours of working and hoping his mind would calm down enough to sleep, he gave up. He went out to check on the fire. It was Ella that he couldn't get out of his mind. He was confused at the feelings that she seemed to inspire in him. Ranger stopped suddenly as he walked around the couch. There she was, sleeping on the couch.
He watched the red glow of the dying fire dance across Ella's face, as she slept. Her face, with the makeup removed, looked impossibly young. Her dark eyelashes fanned over her light skin. She was beautiful. He had known her as a strong, efficient, capable woman for 2 years. Gazing at her now, he thought she looked sweet and vulnerable and sexy as hell. Her head was laying back on the soft arm rest. Her hair had been gathered in a long braid. His eyes followed the braid as it curled down and around her shoulder. Ranger noticed how soft and enticing her neck looked in this light. He lowered himself into the chair opposite of the couch and watched Ella sleep. Still wondering what he was going to do about the feelings he was having for her. Mesmerized by the play of light from the fire, he let go of the thoughts spinning in his head and finally he nodded off.
Business went on as usual for the men at RangeMan. Tank was in charge as he often was, but Stephanie felt that things were never quite the same without Ranger there. She was feeling unsettled about the woman she met yesterday. At first she blamed it on a little bit of jealousy. But nearly 24 hours later, she was convinced that there was something more involved and she didn't trust that woman. She especially didn't trust her with Ranger. She and Ranger may not be together, but they were best friends and she felt protective of him. Unable to concentrate on her work, Stephanie made her way to Tank's office. She tapped on the door frame,
"Have a minute?" He motioned for her to sit down and he finished making a few notes.
He looking up and asking "what's up?"
Stephanie hesitated, yeah she knew how it was going to sound, but she really was worried about Ranger. And she wanted to know more about that woman. So standing up and pacing a bit she took a deep breath and said "What do you know about the woman that came in with Ranger yesterday?" Tank didn't say anything at first, so Stephanie turned around to look at him and saw what she thought was a smirk on his face. A bit irritated about that she started to say something.
But Tank interrupted her and said "Stephanie, please sit down."
Tank had spoken to Ranger about this very thing last night on their call. There was much speculation going around at RangeMan about the mysterious woman. Ranger was particularly worried about how Stephanie would react to this whole situation. Yesterday hadn't been the right time to make the explanations. Too much was at stake. But now that the mission was over, he didn't see any harm in letting everyone know about Ella. So Tank explained what had happened with Ella and the Sanchez family, and the documents that she needed to retrieve from the safe deposit box. Stephanie sat there, eyes wide, listening closely to every word.
"The mystery woman was none other than our own Ella" Tank concluded. He sat back and waited for her response.
"That was Ella?" she said slowly, trying to wrap her head around the concept of a younger, beautiful, sophisticated Ella. Still, she did remember how familiar that smile had been. "Ella, really?" she said again. What a transformation.
She sat there looking stunned for several moments more, until Tank said "Steph?" and waited for her eyes to focus on him again. "There is one more thing," he hesitated, "we are still on high alert for the possibility of retaliation. So we want you to let the guys watch over you for a few days, until Ranger and Ella get back." He held his breath, waiting for her reaction, she usually didn't like the idea of being followed around, or guarded.
But Stephanie didn't respond.
At all.
For several long minutes.
Tank watched her warily.
"They will be gone for several more days?" she finally said. "Where are they?" He couldn't actually give her that information, so he simply said that they were staying in one of the 'safe houses' that RangeMan kept for this type of emergency. She was quiet for a little while longer, apparently working it all out in her mind. Finally she stood and said with a smile "well at least Ranger has Ella there to take care of him."
Early the next morning the cabin was surrounded by the happy sounds of birds chirping, jumping from branch to branch welcoming the warmth of the sun. Ella emerged from her slumber feeling a little bit disoriented and a very stiff. She slowly opened her eyes. Looking around the cabin her eyes landed on Ranger slumped in the large chair. Carefully she stood and stretched her muscles. He didn't look very comfortable slouched down like that and she was debating whether or not should wake him up.
"Good morning" he said with his eyes still closed. She smile at him and moved closer.
"How does your neck feel?" Ella knelt in front of the chair and gently pulled Ranger forward, resting his head on her shoulder, and started to massage his neck and shoulders.
"Mmmmm" he moaned, "that feels so good." He leaned into her just a little bit more as she continued to work on his muscles.
"How did you end up out here?" she asked him.
"Couldn't sleep" Ranger said.
"Yeah, me neither" she agreed. "But why the chair, a couch would have been more comfortable." Yeah, he thought, but then I couldn't see you.
"Just happened that way" is what he chose to say out loud. He looked up at her and asked, "how are your ribs? Bobby wants me to be sure that you are taking care of yourself." She kept massaging him as she spoke.
"I'm a little bit stiff, I'm feeling okay, but I might not be up to a run this morning, is there any way that you would want to join me for a walk?"
How easy it is for people to adapt to new environments Ella thought. One minute you are trying to avoid bad guys who would probably like to see you dead. And the next minute, you are enjoying all that nature has to offer in a secluded, wooded paradise. And you find yourself forgetting that there were ever horrible people chasing you, beating you up and forcing you to hide from the world. And, she thought, you somehow start believing that you are falling deeper in love with your boss.
Yep, those are the things that can start to happen, when you are taken out of the reality of life and gently transported to what is effectively an alternate universe. Here she was walking along with the man she had been in love with since she first laid eyes on him.
Ranger had been sharing family stories again, pointing to the place where he and his cousins had set up a fort and conspired to attack the 'enemy' with water balloons. And where they discovered a nest that had fallen out of a tree, and how his grandfather showed him how to care for the small birds. Or the stream that cut across the property, where they built a dam and created a pool for splashing in on the hot summer afternoons. It was all so magical, she felt like she was in another world altogether. And she loved listening to his voice, hearing him talk of his family.
Ella thought of how she had actually tried not to think of her childhood. About how disappointed her father was that she turned out to be a girl, and not the boy he had set his hopes on. She tried her best to be a tom-boy. Being tougher than any of the boys in the neighborhood in an effort to be the son her father wanted. It never worked, she always felt that he didn't want her, that she was never good enough. She didn't want to think about the 'vacations' that they were whisked off to. Every time there was a problem with the Sanchez family her father was forced to spend days keeping them out of legal and mob entanglements. She guessed that she should have been grateful that he cared enough about them to hide them from trouble. But she didn't like hiding and her mother was so fragile. She would spend the whole time crying and talking about the horrible things that would happen to them if they were to be found. Ella was left to take care of her mother, in effect she had had to be an adult before she was10 years old.
On her best days she would remember her childhood as a training ground. She had developed skills like cleaning, cooking, first aid, organizing, fixing appliances and electronics, general repair knowledge that helped her fix anything that she needed to, and acting. She could take care of herself, and she developed great survival instincts. That was being generous, giving credit to her parents for the skills that she'd had to learn, she thought. But mostly, that was not how she recalled the lonely days spent trying to take care of her mother.
She liked Rangers world better. And it scared her to realize just how easy it had been for her to feel like she was part of it. But deep inside she knew that
it was an illusion. Once they were back at RangeMan, she would be taking up the role of 'Ella the caretaker' again. She would be busier than ever with the added burden of taking on the responsibilities that she had always given to Luis. And when Ranger was back at RangeMan, she knew that he would have more important things to do than worry about her. Yes, she reminded herself, the real world was out there, waiting.
But for now, just for now, she wanted to belong to this world, his world. She knew there would be a price to pay, there always was. She also knew it would be worth it if she had this time to dream about when she was back to being alone, a few short days from now. So she allowed herself to get caught up in every moment, and when they ended up hand in hand at the end of their walk, she liked being treated like she was special - like a woman. She told herself that she needed it, now. Even if she was being selfish. Even if it couldn't mean anything later.
The day turned out to be one magical moment after another in her eyes. After breakfast, Ranger spent some time on the work he had brought up with him. He had to make calls to Tank to coordinate some of the accounts that needed attention. And Ella spent the time cleaning, planning their meals, organizing. She even found time to start reading a novel that she had discovered on the wall of shelves in the bedroom.
By the early afternoon Ranger stopped what he was doing and went in search of Ella. He found her, reading in a hammock type chair in the enclosed porch at the back of the cabin. She was so engrossed in the book, she didn't realize he was there until he slipped into the hammock next to her and started swinging them gently. The movement caused her to fall into him and he gently grabbed her around her waist and continued the motion until she was sitting cradled in his lap.
"Carlos!" she gasped, but he was laughing and she chuckled too. She liked this playful side of Ranger and she reminded herself that she intended to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.
"That must be a very good book" he teased, "you were completely unaware of your surroundings." Looking into his eyes she winked.
"Maybe that is what I wanted you to think" she countered, "perhaps that was my plan, and I have you just where I want you" she laughed.
A smile crept across his handsome face. "And what were you going to do with me once you got me here?" Ranger whispered. Without hesitation she suddenly lowered her lips to his, and said, their lips touching.
"Maybe I would do something like this" and she kissed him. Gently at first, but when he kissed her back, Ella placed her hand behind his neck and pulled him close and she kissed him like she had always dreamed of. With all the passion that she had hidden away for so long. And then, she started to cry. He hugged her to him as she hid her head in his shoulder.
"I'm so, so sorry, I still can't control the tears" she said softly.
"El" he responded, "look at me." She shook her head, still hiding in his shoulder. "Come on querida" he said as he gently lifted her chin with his hand, to gaze into her eyes. "Did you know that your eyes turn as green as jade when you cry?" Ranger asked quietly, "they're beautiful!" He kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, her cheeks, and finally he found her lips again. This time there were no tears.
"Will you be back tomorrow?" Tank was asking Ranger on their call that evening. Ranger hesitated before answering. He knew it would be good to get back, but he also wanted to spend time with Ella. He told himself that she needed more time to recover from the emotional roller coaster that she had been on. Not to mention from her physical injuries. But deep inside, he knew he needed more time to understand his feelings for her.
"What do you hear about the Sanchez situation?" he asked him.
"Word on the street says there are a few renegade factions that are trying to recruit support to keep the operation going" Tank said. "Fortunately they seem to be more interested in taking over the business than trying to get revenge for the take down of the 'familia'." Tank paused, cleared his throat and continued. "The DA wants me to let you know that they will need to speak with Ella. They want her to testify when the Sanchez family comes to trial." Wow, another trial, thought Ranger, it didn't seem fair to keep putting the burden on Ella to bring this family down.
"Tank, I need some more time here" Ranger said, "Get Lester and Bobby to help out and we'll be back in a few more days, probably by Monday." They ended the call and Ranger went to find Ella.
Another book had grabbed Ella's attention, and she was flipping through the pages fascinated by all of the recipes she had found. Practically on the first page she had found an authentic recipe for Ojarascas. She nearly groaned out loud thinking about how long it had taken her to find the recipe that she had used to make Lester's cookies last week. Here in her hands was a gold mine of recipes, and a culinary scrapbook of the Manoso family. Ranger stood in the doorway watching as Ella studied his grandmother's recipe book.
It was funny, he had never seen his grandmother ever use it. He didn't even know that she kept her recipes in a book. He always thought that she cooked by instinct or something because it was so fun to watch her create the traditional family dishes. His smile turned into a soft chuckle as he realized just how unaware she could be of everything around her. Hearing him, she looked up and smiled
"Carlos, have you seen this?" Ella asked, excited about her discovery. "Do you think your family would mind if I copied down a few of her recipes?" He walked around the counter and looked at the book over her shoulder.
"Oh, this was one of my favorites" he said, pointing at the recipe for Boliche.*
"I think that we would all be flattered to know that you were interested in her recipes, go ahead and copy anything you want."
Ella turned to look at him.
"Do you really think it will be okay?" she asked. The excitement in her face made his heart melt and Ranger found himself more and more fascinated by this woman that had come to mean so much to him. He had known for her 2 years, but he had not been able to really get to know her until 2 days ago. And now he was in love with her. How was he going to be able to tell her? And how did she feel about him? He thought that her kisses should tell him something about her feelings for him. But he needed to hear her say it. He knew how dangerous it could be making assumptions about this kind of thing.
Ranger was lost in his thoughts until Ella took one of his hands and placed a shiny penny in his palm.
"A penny for your thoughts" she said. And he laughed as he realized that he had completely zoned out on her.
"Could you repeat the question?" he said with a smile.
"Do you really think it will be okay, with your family, for me to make copies of these recipes?" she repeated.
"Yes, of course it is, and I will show you the best ones" he said.
Her eyes sparkled and she teased him by asking "the best ones, or your favorite ones?"
He hugged her into him, "same difference El" he answered. "But right now I think we should go and enjoy the fire, what do you say?"
*Boliche = traditional pot roast with citrus juice, garlic and oregano
The rain was gently pelting the roof, a soothing, rhythmic sound, lulling Ella to sleep. They had settled back into the comfortable couch in front of the fireplace.
"Mmmmmm" the sound came out low and rumbling from her chest. "that really does feel good" she mumbled. Ranger was slowly rubbing her back muscles, working the tension from them. He could tell that her rib injury had made her compensate by over using her other muscles. The tension in her back and shoulders was obvious.
"Just returning the favor" he whispered in her ear. She felt his warm breath, the way it tickled her neck, and it took her breath away.
"I could stay like this forever" she said under her breath, pretty sure that he couldn't hear what she said.
"Would you mind if we stay here until Monday?" he asked tentatively. He didn't know how anxious she was to get back home. Especially since they had only planned to be gone for three days originally.
She leaned back into his chest, his arms automatically came around to embrace her. Causing her pulse to quicken and her heart to race. With her eyes still closed she said, so softly that he couldn't hear her clearly "I could stay here forever with you." Her heart was pounding furiously, she couldn't believe that she had actually just said that. What would he think, he must wonder if she had lost her mind. Who was she to be coming on to him like this.
They had known each other for 2 years. She watched him return from challenging missions. She had watched him as he loved another woman. He was her boss. Her relationship with him had always been purely professional, even if she had secretly had a crush on him since that first day that she had met him. She had always addressed him as Mr. Manoso to remind herself that if she were to remain at RangeMan she would have to continue to be completely professional. But it felt so good in his arms, and he had kissed her. That had to have meant something.
Their relationship had turned very personal since they had been here. She shook her head again, trying to gain control. Not wanting to allow the thoughts, from before, to creep back into her mind. That this illusion couldn't last much longer. Of how big of a price would she have to pay for falling so deeply in love with a man she could never have. Old insecurities returned so quickly. You are damaged goods. You will never be good enough for him they said. Her heart felt like it was going to explode, and she took a deep breath.
Suddenly she was aware that Ranger had taken her hand in his and was placing her penny in the center of her palm.
"A penny for your thoughts" he said with a smile in his voice.
"Could you repeat the question, please?" she responded.
"Do you mind if we stay here together until Monday?" he said.
"I could stay here forever with you" she repeated in a whisper. And she felt him tighten his embrace. He kissed her neck and the tears started falling again. The price she would have to pay for these moments would be dear. But she was willing to pay it, even if it would be for the rest of her life.
The logs had died down to a pile of glowing embers. The radiance of the lights they cast on her face was even more enchanting than they had been last night. This time he was watching her sleep in his arms. They had cuddled in the couch, whispering ghost stories again. How he loved each moment he spent with her, and he didn't want it to end, ever. But he knew that he had to be realistic, he couldn't keep her here forever. No matter what they had whispered to each other. Monday would come and they would have to return to RangeMan. How would she feel about being back there? After all she had been through, would it haunt her, would she want to stay? And how could he live without her if she didn't?"
She stirred a little, repositioning herself. Curling into his chest, her head resting on his shoulder, just below his chin. His heart was pounding, hard. He felt his love for Ella take over his whole being, and it hurt. As much as he fantasized about being with her forever, he knew that he would never be good enough for her. He was damaged goods. He had tried to love before, and it couldn't work out. Why did he think it would be any different now? But he was determined to try. There was something about Ella that let him believe that it could be different with her. He closed his eyes and wondered again, how could he let her know that he needed her forever.
"Carlos" it was barely more that a breath, but his eyes flew open, listening intently. He didn't dare breathe. Then he heard it again "Carlos, Te amo"
Confused, he looked into her face, Ella appeared to be asleep, soundly asleep. She was talking in her sleep, murmuring the words he wanted to hear.
"I've always loved you" her words, spoken so softly said. A calm washed over him, he kissed her head and whispered
"I love you El" he closed his eyes again, and slept, more content than he had ever been in his life.
Ella opened her eyes, it was still dark, and she was still wrapped in Rangers arms. She felt the rhythm of his breathing, and she could tell he was asleep. He was asleep. But she thought that she had heard his voice. Tears started again, she still had no control. She thought she heard him say the words she most wanted to hear. But he couldn't have, he was asleep. Her mind was playing cruel tricks on her. It was almost more than she could bear. And the tears continued to flow.
"El" was it her imagination again? "Ella, te amo querida."*
No, she didn't imagine that. She lifted her head and stared at him. He was still asleep. He was talking in his sleep. But she had heard those words. Could he mean them if he said them in his dreams? Doubts tried to sneak into her mind again, but she would not allow it this time. She had heard him, and she would believe him.
Cuddling back into his arms, she whispered "para siempre"* and kissed his neck gently before drifting back into sleep.
And he smiled.
The bright light of day streaming in through the windows, told them that they had slept in longer than they had planned. But neither of them wanted to move. Ella wanted to stay wrapped in Ranger's arms forever. And she smiled as she remembered that she told him so last night. Of course he was asleep at the time, and she didn't know that she had been talking in her sleep before that. She could feel her sides aching a bit, they were stiff from sleep. But she was not about to leave his embrace.
"You are smiling" his voice ,deep from sleep, teased her. "Did you sleep well querida?" he asked.
"Mmmmhmmm" she murmured. "How did you know I was smiling?"
"I could feel it."
Ella looked up to see him smiling at her, his eyes sparkling with laughter.
"It felt good" he said.
Ella lifted herself up enough to kiss him on his chin. It was all she could reach, until he lowered his face to hers and found her lips with his.
"I could get used to waking up like this" she told him.
"Me too" he answered. She started to sit up and he stopped her with his arm. She looked up at him.
"I heard you last night" he said.
She looked into his eyes and said "Yeah?" He nodded.
"Yeah, I heard you too" she said.
He smiled at her and asked "are you awake now?" She nodded.
"I love you El" he said.
She smiled back at him "Te amo Carlos, para siempre."*
How easy it was for people to adapt to new situations Ella thought. A few words can change everything, forever. She smiled. The words she never thought she would ever hear had opened up the world that she never dared hope to enter. Happy tears started to fall and she didn't mind at all. She could face anything that was to come if she had Carlos by her side.
* Te amo = I love you querida = term of endearment like beloved, dearest
* para siempre = forever.
Ella was amazed, the nearest store to the cabin was nearly an hour away. She knew that they had been very secluded in the cabin, but she hadn't realized that it was as far out of the way as it was. Extending their stay meant that they needed additional supplies and food. Ella was also looking for some paper or notebooks to copy the recipe collection in. She was not about to miss this opportunity just because she hadn't thought to pack notebooks. So they made the trip to the market.
As they drove down the only road passing through this small town, Ella noticed that in addition to the market, there was a small bank branch. A post office that looked like it doubled as the courthouse. A charming pharmacy connected to a café. There were small, round, wrought iron tables and chairs, set up on the sidewalk under a brightly striped awning. And on the corner there was an auto repair garage with gas pumps out to the side of the building.
Ranger parked the truck outside of the market and left Ella to shop while he checked something at the bank. He kissed her lightly on her lips.
"It'll only take a few minutes at the bank, and I'll come find you here," he said.
She nodded and went into the market. Ranger approached the bank. He realized that usually, when he had thought about his grandmother's rings he would have to battle his thoughts. The ones that asked him if he were out of his mind. If he was really willing to risk losing his life to another person. These thoughts were begging him not to disrespect his grandmother, and her last wish that the ring go to the only woman who could be everything to him and for him. But no, right now he felt calm.
He was so sure that this was the right thing. And equally sure that his grandmother was happy with his choice. His only regret, now, was that Ella would never get to meet the woman who had always meant so much to him. It would be enough, he knew, that they would share the bond of the rings. He smiled, that rare and wonderful smile that he had usually only used for his Abuelita. He would now be able to share this smile with another.
Although the store did not have the selection that she was used to, Ella was able to find all the things on her list. She even discovered a few unexpected surprises as well. There was a small area in the back of the store with clothing and shoes. So she quickly picked out some shirts and shorts to add to her lacking wardrobe, and continued on with her shopping. Ranger found Ella in the produce section. He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as she thumped a small melon testing for ripeness. Putting the melon down in the cart, she turned around in his arms and kissed him.
"Are you ready then?" she asked. He nodded, with a curious smile and a gleam in his eyes. As soon as their purchases were loaded into the truck, they headed back to the cabin.
The overwhelming need to spend every available moment alone together affected them both. They openly discussed, the fears that they had both had. Worries that the relationship they were experiencing at the cabin couldn't last beyond their time here. But with the words that they had shared with each other, they knew that this was for keeps. Their love was strengthened with every look, every word, every touch. But the time alone here was theirs to share now and they loved every minute of it.
Several miles down the road Ranger pulled over and helped a curious Ella out of the truck. He led her into a grove of trees, and stopped, turning to face her. The sun filtered down through the trees and dappled his skin with golden lights. His eyes were sparkling and she thought to herself that she had never seen anything so beautiful. He smiled at her, the most wonderful smile she had ever seen, her heart was full. Her love for him filled her completely. She placed her hand on the side of his face, her skin looking so pale next to his mocha coloring. She was looking into his eyes, hoping that he could see how much love she felt in this moment.
Keeping his eyes on hers he turned his head and kissed her hand. He then took her hand in one of his and looked down as he slipped a ring on her finger. Her eyes followed his gaze and she gasped when she saw the ring. A thick antique gold band carved with vines and stylized flowers circled around a large, round champagne diamond. It was stunning and it fit her perfectly. She looked up into his eyes, he was smiling at her.
"It is beautiful" she breathed.
"I don't know how you feel about the idea of marriage, he said quietly, "and I'm not sure how I feel, and we don't need to talk about that yet. But these rings can show our commitment to be together forever," he said. He showed her the other ring that he had. It matched hers with vines circling the thick gold band. She took it from him and slipped it on his finger. She had started crying again, and she looked up into his eyes through the glistening tears.
"I love you" she said softly. He lifted her hand and kissed her finger with the ring.
"I love you" he said, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his kisses. They stood in each others arms, content to linger indefinitely in this magical moment.
On the ride back to the cabin Ella could not take her eyes away from the ring now on her finger. It took her breath away, not only because of its unique beauty, but because of the love it represented.
In a low voice, full of emotion, Ranger said "my grandmother designed these rings when she got married nearly 70 years ago." He held her hand in his. "I had a close and special relationship with my Abuela, and before she passed, she gave this set of rings to me. She made me promise that I would share them with the woman who made my life complete." Ella looked into his eyes, and smiled.
"She must have been such a special lady" she said. He nodded.
"We were up here at the cabin together when she gave them to me. That was almost 4 years ago, it was the last time I saw her." Ella heard a catch in his voice as he spoke, but he continued. "I put the rings in a safe deposit box here in town before I left and they have been waiting ever since. For you." He caught her smile at the mention of a safe deposit box.
"I wish that I could have known her" she said softly.
He nodded, "she would have liked you El," he told her. "She would have liked you a lot." She settled into his embrace, knowing more than ever, that she wanted to be with him forever.
Another storm passed through again tonight. The roaring fire kept them cozy and warm as they curled up together sharing stories. Many of these stories centered around the traditional foods that his grandmother shared with her family. Earlier in the evening Ranger had been very 'helpful' pointing out all of his grandmothers recipes that were his favorites. Of course Ella had copied all of the recipes in the book, so none of his favorites had any chance of being left behind, but he didn't have to know that. Ella loved hearing about the traditions that Ranger loved so much. And it made her happy to hear all about his grandmother. She looked at her ring and thought how she would have loved to have met her, she had always dreamed of having someone in her life that could show love like she had.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Ranger asked a seemingly random question.
"How does the kitchen on 7 compare to yours?" She turned herself around to look at him.
"Well," she said thoughtfully, "we designed them at the same time, when the building was being outfitted for RangeMan" she started. "So we have the same kinds of appliances, and basic layout. Mine is a larger the fridge is bigger and there is an additional pantry." Then she teased him by saying, "The biggest difference is that your kitchen is still in mint condition, where mine has seen some serious use." He just smiled at that, she was right, he hadn't done any cooking for himself.
"I didn't need to cook, you do a much better job at taking care of me" he said with a smile. Ella meant to smile back at that statement, but the tears started flowing again. She didn't try to apologize about the tears any more. And Ranger knew that she equated the tears with being weak, so he just wiped them with his thumb and kissed them away for her. When she was finally able to speak again, she whispered
"I've always loved taking care of you"
He touched his forehead to hers and said "promise me you'll never stop."
She kissed him, wrapping her arms tighter around him. "I promise, forever" she whispered in his ear.
"Will you stay with me?" he asked softly. Surprised, she pulled back slightly and she looked into his eyes. "It doesn't feel right to have you alone in your apartment anymore. Will you live with me?" He asked again.
She nodded and smiled at him, through new tears. "Thank you for taking care of me" she whispered.
"Forever" he replied.
Their stories turned into discussions of a future together. Drawing strength from one another, they dared share a vision of the life they wanted together. The rain pounded out a rhythm, matching the beating of their hearts. Tears started flowing again. This time Ella noticed that Rangers eyes were glistening with tears of his own. She looked up at him.
"Carlos?" she whispered, "what is wrong?"
"Oh no, querida, nothing is wrong, for the first time in my life everything feels very right." She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight. He kissed her gently and lifted her up in his arms and walked into the bedroom.
Hal escorted Stephanie up to the 5th floor.
"Aren't you getting tired of this already?" she asked him. As predicted, she was getting a little impatient with her body guards. But to her credit, she had been very cooperative. Hal just smiled, he knew she would be fine after she blew off a little bit of steam.
Everyone was smiling at her as she walked to her cubicle, she didn't know that they were all aware of the surprise waiting for her. She just figured that they were expecting her to cause a scene, but they would be disappointed. She told Tank that she would be fine, and she would be. So she just greeted everyone with a smile of her own and turned to sit at her desk. She stopped, surprised to see that there was a basket waiting for her on her desk. She knew it had to be from Ella, but Ella wasn't back yet. (yes, she had checked, every day) So someone else must have put it here for her.
Removing the card, she sat down and looked at the beautiful scripted handwriting. Is the woman perfect at everything? The thought just popped in her head, and she shook it out. She really did like Ella, and she didn't want to feel catty towards her. It had just been a long week. Ranger and Ella were still gone, and she felt antsy. It was hard to believe that it was one week ago that all hell broke loose. It was Friday again and Stephanie was going to attempt another girls night out tonight. Of course, she would have extra company. The guys agreed to step back a little, but they were still on Stephanie duty until further notice. And she would deal with it. She took a deep breath and opened up the card. In perfectly straight lines, the note that Ella had left for her read;
Stephanie,
Thank you for being there for me for these past days. I may have not shown it at the time, but I really do appreciate all you tried to do for me.
Cal helped me deliver this basket to you today for a special celebration, one that I wanted to share just with you.
It was exactly 2 years ago today that I joined RangeMan and became the first woman to work here. I will always be grateful for the opportunity that I was given to spend time with the amazing men here.
Today I wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed getting to know you. It has been great to have another female presence in this sea of testosterone.
I apologize that I was unable to include fresh baked goodies in the basket today, but I hope you will be able to add these treats to your stash to enjoy when you need them most.
It's good to have you here! Ella
Stephanie was amazed. She had been wondering why everyone but her had received a basket before Ella left. Now she knew that she had not been forgotten. Ella had just welcomed her into the very small club of women spending time here with the Merry Men. Now that it had been pointed out so eloquently, it touched her to share that special honor with Ella. And she was thrilled to see that her stash now included a collection of TastyKakes and Little Debbie cakes of every variety. It was official, Stephanie thought, the woman is a saint. Even if she was still having trouble accepting the new and improved version. Stephanie had to admit, the lady has class!
It took a while, but Stephanie tracked down Cal and gave him a hug.
"Thanks for your part in my surprise today" she told him. He smiled and said it was his pleasure to bring a smile to her face. Yes, it was an honor to work with all of these great guys. And thanks to Ella, it was something that she would remind herself to be grateful for every day. It felt nice to belong.
"Hey, El" Ranger called out, "did you see that paper with codes on it?"
He was still in the bathroom, looking on the counter for the paper in question. Ella came in and took him by the hand leading him to the desk with his computer. She opened the top drawer and showed him a collection of papers.
"Is it one of these Carlos?" she asked. Ranger sat down and lifted the paper that was on top of the pile.
"Yep, this is it," he said.
"You left it in your pants pocket" she said, giving him a small kiss on his neck, and turning to leave the room. He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to sit on his lap.
"How do you do that?" he asked.
"Do what?" she questioned with a concerned look.
He made a sweeping gesture to the bedroom. There was a neat pile of freshly laundered clothes on the bench at the foot of the bed that included the pair of pants that he had left the paper in last night. The bed was made, probably to military standards of perfection. The bathroom was spotless, fluffy towels rolled and stacked for future use.
He knew that in the living room, the pillows and throws would have been fluffed and replaced perfectly. The books and magazines, would be stacked just so. The fireplace would have been swept out and new logs stacked for their next fire. Every surface would be dusted. In the kitchen, the dishes would already be in the dishwasher, counters wiped down and sparkling. Floors swept, throw rugs shaken out and replaced. And he could swear that he could smell Ella's vegetable soup simmering. He even imagined that the steps outside the front and back doors had been swept as well.
"How do you do this, all this" he said. "Everything is always done, but I never see you do it, how it that possible?" he was wondering out loud.
Ella laughed, "its my MO," she said. "I work in stealth mode, and I usually do things while people are out of the rooms." She sighed, and said "I have perfected the art of invisibility, I can be in a room with a group of people and not be noticed." She winked at him "how do you think I can gather so much information about everyone and everything that is going on at RangeMan?"
"Ah, you would be referring to your Personnel book of information" he said. "It is really quite detailed, you are an expert at gathering information." Ranger grinned at her "I am sure glad that you are on my side" he teased.
Then in mock seriousness he said "El, we have a problem." Ella's eyes opened wide in alarm.
"What problem?" she asked.
"I have just received news from the scientific community, and they are not able to clone you at this time." He continued before she could interrupt him. "And our friends in Japan have not been able to design a robot that can do what you do." He stifled a smile and continued. "I'm afraid that we are going to have to resort to drastic measures to solve our problem."
Playing along with him now, Ella gasped dramatically and said
"would you mind defining the problem that we are talking about?"
"You" he stated. "You are the problem, there is not enough of you to go around."
She laughed at that, "when did I become this enormous problem?' she asked.
Ranger traced a finger from her temple down around her jaw and along her neck, sending sparks throughout her body.
"When I realized that I cannot share you with anyone any more." His tone had become almost serious.
"Share me?' she questioned.
Now he was completely serious when he spoke. "El, we both know that RangeMan can not run efficiently without you. Me, my men, we all depend on you. I never realized how much until I watched you get ready to leave us."
Ella froze, she was so used to going unnoticed she hadn't realized that he knew what she had been doing.
"Yes, I knew" he said as if reading her mind. "You were trying to leave us with enough clean laundry and food, that you thought we might not notice that you were gone." She was shocked by the accuracy of his statement.
"But I.., I only.., " she stammered, finally saying "I did not want to leave, but I was scared about the Sanchez thing." He nodded.
"We can't live without you El, but that is not the only problem" he said. She raised an eyebrow, and he turned her to look at her straight on. "You will never be able to work unnoticed again." Ella drew her eyebrows together in confusion.
"Querida, we have all "seen" you now, you can't go back to being invisible Ella."
Until that moment Ella had not considered the fact that she had no intention of ever again being the Ella who was connected to Luis. They had been a pair, both working under assumed identities. She was not that Ella, she really never had been. She nodded her head in agreement.
"I don't want to be 'invisible Ella' anymore" she said softly. Tears threatened her eyes again, but she was able to blink them away this time.
"Never again" he whispered to her, "you will never be invisible again."
He held her close for a while. Then he came back to the purpose of their discussion.
"El" he started to say, "can you help me solve our problem?"
"What do you suggest?" she asked.
"Your book" he said.
"My book?" she was truly confused now. "What does my book have to do with our problem?"
"With all of the information you have gathered about my men, I thought you might be able to tell me if you thought any of them would be good candidates for new job descriptions."
Ella thought about that for a while, then she asked, "which jobs are you wanting to fill?"
Counting off on his fingers he listed. "Someone to run the kitchen and cook, Someone to detail and maintain the fleet of cars and trucks, Building maintenance including cleaning, Inventory control and shopping, and Laundry services."
"That is quite the list" she said.
"In your position as RangeMan manager, are there any other positions that you would like included?" he asked with a smile.
"You want me to be your manager?" she asked.
"You can't possibly do it all by yourself anymore El, but as manager you could make sure that everything is done to your standards, it seemed like a good solution." She looked at him, thinking for a few minutes.
"Cal" she said. "And Bones, and Hunter" Ranger nodded for her to continue. "Cal studied to be a chef at one time, he loves to cook. With his tattoo he considers himself to be a detriment to the team when they are in public. He would love to have a job that keeps him in the building more.
Bones is older than most of the rest of the guys. He is not slowing down, by any means. But the job doesn't hold as much of the excitement for him that it once did. He is highly detail oriented, plus he loves his car. He knows everything there is to know about cars, he could keep the fleet in good condition.
Hunter loves to work with his hands, he has the ability to fix anything he gets his hands on and he likes things to be orderly and clean. He is probably one of the few men that notices when I clean his apartment, not that he ever lets it get very dirty." She stopped and was thoughtful for a minute.
"Stephanie" she said. "She has a business degree, she loves to shop. And she loves all of her 'Merry Men' and cares about them as much as I do. She would be excellent and I know that she would still love to go on distractions. She likes that excitement, and if she had a position that paid her well, she could leave the crappy job with Vinnie behind for good."
She took a breath now. "That only leaves the laundry services, and I would have to look over my notes to see if there are any matches for that."
His magnificent smile was spreading across his face.
"I knew you wouldn't let me down." Then in all seriousness he said "El, would it make you happy to be the manager? Even if it means that you will be stepping back from all the things that you have been used to doing?"
She seemed concerned. "Do you think that I could do it? You know that I have always worked solo, and being a manager would mean I would have to work with a lot of people," she said.
"Are you referring to the 'people' that love you and would do anything for you?" he smiled.
"Well, if you're going to put it that way" she laughed. "I could do that."
Ranger's phone rang and Ella stood up so he could answer it. She kissed his cheek and left him to his call. She walked through the living room with the fluffed pillows and perfectly placed throws. Into the kitchen to check on her vegetable soup. Then she grabbed the broom and swept the steps on the back porch. She had already swept the front steps.
"Report" Tank said as Cal entered his office.
"The food that Ella prepared for us is almost gone. We have meals to cover the afternoon and evening shifts. The pantry is stocked, and Ella left her shopping lists for fresh produce etc." he said. There was admiration in his voice for the organized manner in which he found Ella's kitchen and for the planning she had done. He even found that along with her menu planner, she kept the recipes at hand to refer to.
"I can arrange for the shopping to be done this afternoon, so that we will have dinners to cover the night shift, and be ready for breakfast tomorrow."
Tank was grateful that Cal had the skills and the inclination to take this responsibility on such short notice. How true it is that you don't know how much you appreciate something until it is gone. Ella had always been so good at her job, things just seemed to be ready before anyone even knew it needed to be done. Everyone here at Rangeman really missed Ella, and they asked every day when she would be back.
"Thanks Cal" Tank said, "if we can take care of the rest of the weekend, Ella should be back on Monday to take over." Cal nodded his head, and then he hesitated.
"Uh, Tank," he began. Tank looked up at him nodding for him to continue. "Ella's apartment has been trashed. I was wondering if some of the guys could go up with me and help me get it under control before Ella comes back, it just doesn't feel right that she should have to come back to a reminder of what Luis did to her."
By now all of the guys knew Ella's story, they knew what Luis had been doing to her and they had become even more protective of her than ever. Tank was sure that, like Cal, any number of the men here would like nothing more than to erase every trace of Luis, to save Ella any more pain. Tank just nodded, that was all that was needed for Cal to go forward with his plans.
"Thanks man" he said and then he walked out of the office. Just then a call came in from Ranger. Tank spoke with him for a few minutes and called Cal back into his office.
"Cal, do you think you and the guys could pack up the apartment. Ella wants everything put into boxes and stored in the basement. She said that there are empty boxes in the storage room to use, and markers to identify the contents of each box can be found in a drawer in the kitchen. Leave the kitchen, just pack the living room and bedrooms." Cal nodded, but a worried look came over his face.
"Is she coming back? he asked. Tank assured him that she would be back, she just needed a big change, and this was her first step.
"She said she really appreciates your help in this, you were right on the mark, she was worried about coming back to a reminder of what happened with Luis" Tank told him. "I vote that we pack up the stuff in Luis' bedroom and ship it off to the Sanchez family. She shouldn't have to deal with any of it." With another nod, Cal left.
"I have dessert for you today" she told him, sneaking up behind him while he was working on his computer. He raised an eyebrow, he did not do dessert, and Ella knew that better than anyone else. She smiled at him, "come in when you are done here, I'll show you." She kissed the top of his head and went back to the kitchen. Ranger finished what he was doing and joined her for their late lunch.
"Close your eyes" she said when it was time for dessert. He did as he was told, peeking just a little as she brought a bowl from the fridge and placed it on the table in front of him. These were the local berries that she found at the market, picked ripe from the vines so they were optimally sweet and very juicy "Okay, keep those eyes closed" she teased. She sat down on his lap and said "And open your mouth." Ella picked up a big, juicy berry and placed it on his tongue. He smiled as he chewed it and opened his eyes in surprise.
"I know! They are really good, aren't they" she said. He opened his mouth again, teasing her now. She gave him another berry, but this time he watched her as he captured her finger in his mouth and sucked the tip of it as she pulled it slowly from his lips. They both felt the electricity that was arcing between them. The next berry came with a gentle kiss. And they continued to feed berries to each other until they were both becoming breathless.
"You were right," he swallowed, "this is the best dessert that I have ever had" he said, smiling wickedly at her. Suddenly the berries were all but forgotten. The kisses they now shared were sprinkled randomly. On a forehead, a cheek, an ear, a neck, down an arm, on the tips of each of their fingers, on the rings that they both wore.
Finally, in a hoarse whisper, Ranger said "I think that I would like the rest of my dessert in the bedroom." Ella smiled up at him under hooded eyes and nodded her agreement. He swept her up in his arms and carried her into her bedroom. Together they savored their dessert slowly over the next several hours.
Funny how people can adapt, Tank mused. At first it felt like everyone at RangeMan was holding their breath. Waiting for Ella to return and make all right in their world again. It is what she had always done. And they liked being taken care of. Slowly though, things started happening. First Cal took notice of the work that Ella had done before she left. He took inventory of the food stocks and presented Tank with a plan to keep things going until Ella got back. Then the guys all volunteered to pack up her apartment and Hunter cleaned it until it looked like new.
Bones had placed a 'friendly' reminder in all of the cars, telling them that "if you take care of you car, it will take care of you." Then he approached Tank and volunteered to be sure that the cars were cleaned and tanks filled. The biggest surprise may have been when Hector asked permission to use the laundry room. He wanted to wash his own clothes, but he also volunteered to wash towels, and sheets and blankets. So that Ella would not be coming home to mountains of dirty laundry.
If you had told him a month ago that the guys were capable of these acts, he would have laughed in your face. But here he was watching as his tough men did all that they could to keep things going. Tank knew that at the root of it all was a desire to show Ella that they loved her. It was clear to him now, more than ever before, that this group of men was a family. His family. And they would do anything for each other. That is how families work. And damned if he wasn't as proud as a papa for it.
The sky was clear tonight, not a single cloud in sight. The stars were shining so brilliant. Every one of them visible to the eye without the glare of city lights to interfere. Blankets were spread out in the middle of the back yard and Ranger was telling stories again. This time about the mythology of the constellations. Just like his grandfather had told him when he was a kid. Ella loved listening to him, and watching him. They pointed to the stars as the stories were being told. Ursa major, Ursa minor, Orion, Cassiopeia. It was fascinating and she loved hearing his soft, deep voice. She snuggled a little bit closer to him. Sometimes she felt like she could not get enough of him. She couldn't get close enough to him, she just wanted to be a part of him.
"Ella, are you listening?" he said with a smile.
"MmmmmHmmmm."
"You are staring at me" he accused. She traced a slender finger along his shoulder and down his arm, ending at his hand where she laced her fingers through his.
"Mmmmhmmmm," she said. "Gemini shows the twins, brothers with different fathers, they protected their sister and became heroes that earned an honored place among the stars" she was speaking as her hand moved. He turned on his side to face her, lifting their intertwined hands up to his mouth and kissing her fingers.
"What is on your mind tonight Queirda?" he asked.
She spoke with a soft voice "I love you" she said, "You have no idea how long I've had to wait to be able to say those words to you" her eyes looked deeply into his. "I love everything about you, and I want to be with you always." He smiled at her, he liked what he had heard so far.
"But" he prodded.
"What if I am hard to live with." There she had said it. Her fear was that she had become too closed off. She had been alone since she realized as a child that her parents didn't want her. What if she couldn't really be with someone. What if Ranger realized that she was hard to be with. She had never lived with anyone before. Luis didn't count, as she had always kind of been his prisoner. She had absolutely no experience with this. No one had ever loved her before.
"What if… " Ranger stopped her words by kissing her lips gently.
"Do you trust me El? he asked. Without hesitation she answered.
"Of course I do, you know I do. I always have" he smiled warmly at her.
"Know this, I trust you too, I know you and I have no worries at all about living with you." He kissed her lightly again. "All I am worried about it is having to live without you, I can't do that." He looked directly into her beautiful eyes.
"Please don't ever make me live without you" he said. She returned his gaze
"I want to be with you forever Carlos!" she said through those tears that insisted on showing up. Ranger wrapped the blankets around them and held her close.
"I'll never let you go El"
It was early, she could see, from the light at the window, that the sky still had a rosy glow to it. It was quiet, the birds weren't out singing yet. It was peaceful. Again, Ella woke up feeling completely loved and taken care of. She was wrapped in Rangers arms. Her own arm draped across his chest and her head rested low on his shoulder. He was still asleep and she had no intention of moving, she liked the feel of his embrace. She felt the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. And she listened to the steady beating of his heart under her cheek. The tickle of his breath in her hair sent delicious shivers down her spine. She couldn't help it and she hugged herself a little bit tighter to him, and immediately knew that she had awakened him with the movement.
"Good morning querida" he mumbled.
"Sorry if I woke you" she whispered into his chest.
"I could wake up like this every morning" he softy said. She nodded in response. They remained like that for several minutes, just enjoying being so close to each other. He thought that she had fallen asleep again, so he whispered very softly
"El, are you asleep?" He could feel her shake her head slightly.
"No, she whispered back, "I could just stay here like this forever." He smiled and tightened his arm around her shoulder.
"Yeah, me too" he said.
It had been just a few days since the raid on the Sanchez family, and the authorities were building their case against them. They were satisfied that the hard evidence that they had was enough to put the famila away for a long time. They hoped it would destroy their drug operation for good. The attorneys for the family were desperately trying everything they could to make this all go away. After all, it's what they had always done. It is what they were paid to do. But Ella's evidence was just too damning.
The mob connections ran deep. The other families knew that the legal troubles of the Sanchez familia were potentially going to have serious consequences for them all. They moved quickly to address those issues. But their solution to the problem wasn't what the cops thought it would be. At once it was feared that the other families would rise up and try to help them out. So the cops in all of the affected communities were beefing up their defenses for the expected fight. However, those precautions were not needed. One by one, the remaining connections to the Sanchez family were disappearing. First to go down were the factions fighting for control of the business operations. Seeing this, any family member not currently in jail, took off for refuge in Mexico. Then the attorneys turned up dead. Effectively the Sanchez family was being erased, in an effort to control the damage that could be done to the rest of the mob organization.
This could be both a relief and a concern for the cops. No one was happy to discover the bodies of the attorneys today. They had been shot execution style, and had actually been left to be found easily. A message had gone out and the authorities knew that the fight had been redirected. But the episode with the Sanchez familia was drawing to an end.
Tank shared the news with Ranger later that afternoon. They felt the same relief and concern that the cops had. So far their part in the Sanchez familia drama had not been addressed. That especially included Ella. It was going to be tense until they knew what the mob felt about her role in taking down the Sanchez family. They would all remain on high alert until that was determined.
This was the only dark cloud hanging over them at the cabin. And, Ranger thought, it had been easy to put it out of their minds. Especially when there were so many other distractions. He smiled when Ella entered his room. Yes, she was a big distraction, he acknowledged. She stared at him curiously. He was looking at her with a big grin spreading across his face, and she didn't quite understand this look. He was taking it all in, her bare feet, and long shapely legs leading up to the navy blue shorts that stopped mid thigh. The white, fitted tank top that hugged her curves, the line of her long neck. He took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He looked at her full moist lips, her big expressive eyes, and the long flowing hair falling over her shoulder as she leaned in to give him a small kiss.
Oh what a distraction she could be! He thought again. Good thing that they were safe up here. Ranger gently grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap. She circled her arms around his neck.
"What?" she asked as he continued to stare at her. He simply responded by taking her face in his hands and kissing her with a passion that grew every time he was near her.
Late that night, a message was delivered at the Trenton offices of RangeMan. The messenger spoke with Tank. He reassured him that the people he 'represented' considered that RangeMan had done a great service by bringing down the Sanchez familia. In fact, to show their gratitude, he had been instructed to offer RangeMan their assurances that there would be no further action concerning this situation. Tank was told that no one held any ill will against Ella or any of the RangeMen that had been involved.
As a token of their sincerity, Tank was presented with a beautiful wooden case that held an antique revolver. One that was believed to have once been used by Pancho Villa. It was one of the strangest conversations that Tank had ever had. He watched the 'messenger' leave. And shook his head as he made his way to his office to call Ranger and tell him what had happened. But bottom line was, this episode seemed to be over, and they had come out of it with a distinct advantage.
After a decadent, lazy morning spent in bed together, Ella once again put herself in stealth mode as she prepared the cabin for their departure tomorrow morning. She thoroughly cleaned every surface. The linens had been washed and beds freshly made. All their laundry had been done and their bags were mostly packed. Food that needed to be taken back with them was packaged and ready to be put in the cooler just before they left. Their meals for today were prepared and could be heated in and eaten from the containers that they were in. All that would have to be done is loading and starting the dish washer. She was satisfied as she surveyed her work.
Ranger was also working to wrap up some details that needed to be done before they got back to Trenton. He had decided to leave the satellite equipment here, as they planned to return as often as they could. He and Ella would always remember the time they shared here and the cabin would hold a special place in their hearts forever.
She found him putting some equipment away in its box, and snuck up on him, undetected. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he nearly jumped. Actually all she got out of him was a small gasp, but she teased him anyway.
"Not very aware of your surroundings Manoso" she laughed. But then it was her turn to gasp when he spun around and lifted her up into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his hips and rewarded him with a big kiss, which he returned with enthusiasm. The rest of the packing would have to wait.
Lingering over dinner Ella looked at Ranger and said "Carlos?"
"MmmHmm"
"I had an idea" she said.
He nodded, and she continued. "We are practically ready to go, what if we headed out this evening and got to the apartment in time to sleep in your bed tonight." He lifted an eyebrow and then he grinned.
"Our bed" he corrected. That brought a warm smile to her face.
"Our bed," she repeated.
"If we got home tonight, we could be rested and ready to talk to everyone in the morning. We wouldn't have to deal with unpacking or travel fatigue" she continued. "And maybe we could use a nice, calm buffer between getting back and having to face all the questions that you know are coming" she offered.
"And maybe you just want to get me into your bed again" he teased.
"Our bed" she teased back.
"Our bed" he repeated with a contented smile. He gathered her up in his arms kissing her lightly and said "I like the way you think El"
Within the hour, the truck was packed, the cabin locked up, and they started their journey back to RangeMan. Classical music played softly and Ella snuggled up against his side as Ranger wrapped an arm around her shoulders. They talked as they headed home, both in the same 'zone' this time.
They were half way home when suddenly, she was hit with another thought. The Ella that was coming back, was not, nor would ever again be the Ella that the guys had known for 2 years. Would they have any problems accepting her now? Ranger sensed the change in her mood.
"El, what is going on in that head of yours?" he asked. She straightened up a bit, surprised that he could tune into her feelings so easily. And then it all came tumbling out, words falling over each other as she voiced her worries that the guys might not want to accept a young Ella. Speculating that her older version was probably easy to accept because she had kind of been a 'mother' figure. That was not the case now.
The words were flowing rapidly and Ranger could hear that the were tears ready to start. So he hushed her, pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head.
"El" she didn't respond. "El" he started again, and she nodded. "What makes you think that they wouldn't want a 'sister' figure?
You have always referred to them as your 'brothers', right?" another nod. "So it only stands to reason that they could consider you like a sister." "Right?" she pondered that for a moment and she nodded again. "They love you El" he said quietly. She reached up and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you for that" she whispered. This time he nodded, and smiled at her.
Any anxiety she feared she might have about facing the guys at RangeMan had evaporated, she was happy to be going back to be with them again. She couldn't wait to hug her brothers again and thank them for how they took care of he during the Luis episode. They were her family, she had always seen them that way. Any worries that she had had about being accepted back into their hearts were put aside. And if she had ever worried about how everyone would feel seeing that she was with Ranger, she wasn't now. She would shout from the rooftops that she loved him. Everyone should know how much she loved him! They were a family and she couldn't wait to share her great news with her family.
Only a handful of men saw them return late that night. They would have only seen them on the monitors, entering the garage, and riding the elevators up to 7. And they would have seen Ella for the first time in something other than black. She was wearing some khaki shorts that truly showed off her long legs and a polo type t-shirt in a deep red color complimenting her tan complexion. If there were new guys on the monitors, they wouldn't have recognized her at all.
Tank would have a message waiting for him when he got in, the next morning. Everyone was aware of the meetings planned for that afternoon. So they were not worried about 'sneaking' in without talking with anyone.
They were also not worried about getting up early in the morning, they would take their time being 'home' together for the first time.
Ranger stood in the bathroom doorway, watching as Ella carefully turned back the covers on the bed. Her hair was still loose, and he watched it swing down over her shoulder. This was one of the things he loved most about Ella's 'new' look. He loved the way her long silky hair felt. He loved the way it moved, the way the ends flipped from side to side when she walked. He loved the sexy way the shorter layers framed her face. As she stood up, she flipped her hair to her back and slowly spun around when she felt him come up beside her. She wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her cheek against his bare chest, feeling his warmth. Ranger embraced her and buried his face in her hair, reveling in its silky softness.
"Are you ready for bed querida?' he whispered. She kissed his neck and answered.
"I'm ready to get into bed." Ranger let a low growl escape that she could feel rumbling in his chest. He lifted her into the bed, slipping under the covers after her.
Ella was the last person to enter the conference room. Dressed in her RangeMan uniform; black skinny jeans, black Henley long sleeved t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up, and black on black Puma Soleil shoes. She wore her hair in a loose ponytail, caught in an engraved silver clasp just below shoulder level. She wore no glasses, she had never needed them. Her hazel green eyes now glowed from a light within as she smiled at everyone, the brown flecks seeming almost golden. The only makeup she wore today was mascara, light eye liner, and gloss on her lips, and with her tan complexion she was stunning.
Around her neck hung a long lanyard with master keys and key fobs so that she had access to every room in the building. On Ella it looked like a necklace, an interesting accessory instead of a necessity.
All of the guys stood up as she entered. Ella walked around the room hugging and crying as she spoke with Hal, Lester, Woody, Cal, Tank, Bobby, and Stephanie. It was so great to be back with her family. She kissed Ranger on the cheek as she sat down next to him. During the meeting she caught glances from everyone, smiling back at each of them as they looked closely at her. She realized that the new look may have thrown them a bit. It wouldn't take too long for them to get used to it, she hoped.
They conducted most of the business as usual, until Ranger stood up and made an announcement.
"There will be some staff changes being made very soon."
"Ella is moving out of the 6th floor. I've asked her to stay on 7 with me."
His voice changed with what he said next. "We are glad to be back. Thank you for all you have been doing to keep things going in our absence. Through Ella's eyes I have truly seen you all as my family." He looked at them with sincerity.
"Thanks for pulling together for us guys." It was hard for these men to show emotion, but Ella could see it in their eyes, they were family.
After the meeting was over, Ranger and Tank left to go over some of the accounts, but most of group stayed, wanting to talk to Ella. Stephanie was the first one to pull her aside.
"Thank you for the basket Ella," she said. "And thank you for including me in your celebration." Ella winked at her.
"Us girls have to stick together," she said. Ella noticed Stephanie staring at her.
"Steph, is it weird?" she asked.
"Yeah," Stephanie said, nodding. She seemed to think about it some more and said it again. "Yeah, its a little weird, but hey, you've got a great look, just give us some time to see you as Ella."
That was a little hard to hear, but it was the truth, and she was expecting it. Lester was a little easier to hear.
"Ella, tan guapa*, it is great to have you back," he looked her up and down and said, "its a good look, but I've got to wonder what is behind door #3?"
"Oh no, Les, no more disguises, what you see is what you get," Ella said.
"Well. What I see looks great" he winked at her, pulling her into one of his famous hugs.
After a while Bobby pulled rank on the others and pulled Ella aside.
"How are you feeling?" he asked. Ella was precise and told him that the pain has been under control and she has been as careful as she could be with her injured ribs. "It helps that you sent your guard dog with me" she winked at him.
And then with a serious note in her voice she said, "Bobby thank you for helping me. I am sorry that I shut you out, I wasn't thinking clearly, and I should have remembered that it is good to have a friend to lean on." Bobby just ducked his head a bit.
"It was a bad time for you Ella, we all understand that." Now he looked right into her eyes and said "it will never happen again." She hugged him tight.
"Never again" she said.
tan guapa = beautiful, gorgeous
Ranger intended to get busy on the work that had piled up for him, when Tank came into his office and sat down.
"Report" he said to Ranger with a smile.
Ranger looked up at him, annoyed, puzzled.
"You are wearing a ring, man" he said. "Want to tell me about it?"
Tank and Ranger had been the best of friends for along time. During that time they had both had their fair share of hopes and disappointments.
"Gotta tell you man, a new Ella, and you in a relationship is a little bit much to throw at us all at once." Ranger thought for a minute before answering.
"It happened, unplanned, probably the timing is off" he shook his head "but she is everything to me, I can't live without her."
"Man, you got it bad!" Tank said. Nodding, Ranger agreed.
Then with a smirk he asked "How is Lula?" Tank got the point.
With a serious tone Ranger spoke. "How are the guys taking the "new" Ella thing?" then added, "you know it will kill her if they don't accept her."
"Don't worry man, everyone may need to make a mental adjustment," Tank said. "We have seen Ella as someone else for a long time. But bottom line is, she is Ella, just in new packaging. And it is great package." he winked.
Ella disappeared to her kitchen to check on the pantry and get food ready for dinner. She paused walking past the living room. The couches and chairs had been repaired and set up in a new arrangement. The shelves were completely bare, but the wood was gleaming, they had been highly polished. The end tables had new lamps on them, and nothing else. The glass top of the coffee table shined and reflected the lights from the window. It looked like nothing had ever happened. And she was grateful and disturbed at the same time. Too much had happened here and it was hard not to think of it. She hurried down the hall to the kitchen.
Ella was surprised to find Cal in the middle of dinner preparations. Steam was rising from a large pot at the back of the stove. The grill inserts had been put in place and Cal was grilling salmon steaks, while vegetables in grilling baskets waited their turn. Recipes from her file were scattered all over the table. She sat down, curious to see which recipes he had placed into the 2 small piles at the edge of the table. Cal didn't hear her come in, he was listening to some heavy metal music on his IPod. He was startled to turn around and see her there.
"Ella!" he said, a little louder than necessary because of the music in his ears, which he immediately turned off. "How long have you been there?" he asked.
"Just long enough to see that everything is under control" she smiled. "It smells heavenly in here, the guys don't even know how lucky they are yet." Cal sat down, and closely looked at Ella.
"I can see Ella in you when you smile" he said. "Things must have been bad for you, if you had to hide yourself from us" he frowned. Ella took his hands in hers.
"Oh no Cal, I wasn't hiding from you, it was never like that. My disguise may have been forced on me, because of the circumstances. But I was always myself with all of you. I am me, I will still be me.." her voice trailed off and she looked down at her hands. Those tears were very close to the surface again.
"Is that what everyone thinks? That I was acting, or pretending, or hiding from you?" The tears started falling and her heart felt like it would break. "I had to create the other Ella to protect me, and I had to be this Ella to protect you." Cal wrapped her in his arms, rocking her slowly. "I never meant to hurt anyone Cal" she cried. And he shushed her.
"We know that Ella, we know that" he soothed.
"Cal? is it too weird? Is it hard seeing me like this?" He pulled back to look into her face.
"Hell no!" he said, "I think we all like what we see. It was just hard to know that you were hurting and we couldn't help you."
She smiled up at him. "You are helping now!"
After her visit with Bobby and now with Cal, Ella realized that she wanted to meet with each of her 'brothers' one on one. It was the best way she could think of to be able to hear how they felt about her and the changes. She found Hector down the hall, working on laundry. And Hal at the firing range. Bones was in the garage detailing Rangers truck. Junior was on the treadmill. Manny was in his apartment. Hunter had set up a workshop of sorts down in the storage rooms. Lester was in the break room. Tank in his office. And Woody was just leaving to go pick up some supplies so she went with him.
By the time she returned to Rangers apartment that night, she had had some very emotional discussions with her friends. She had cried a lot, and had mended any hurt that the whole situation had caused. Ranger was waiting for her. He knew what she had been doing since the meeting, and he knew that she had to do it in her own way. She fell into his arms when she walked in, and he held her while she cried some more.
"I'll be glad when the tears dry up" she said, as she buried her face in his shoulder.
"El, did you ever stop to think that maybe not crying was a bigger problem?" She looked up at him in confusion and he continued, "For three years you shut off a part of you that needed to be healed. Maybe crying now is the way you are fixing that pain. And if it is, we will all be glad to cry with you if it will help."
She nodded into his shoulder, "maybe you are right she whispered." Slowly she looked up at him, he placed a hand on the side her face, wiping away a tear with his thumb.
"And what did you learn from the guys today?' he asked gently.
"That we have to allow ourselves to help and be helped when we need it." She replied thoughtfully. "and that this is the best family I could have ever hoped for."
Epilog
It's funny how people can adapt to new circumstances, environments. Staff changes were made at RangeMan. Ella's recommendations turned out to be right on the mark. And the guys, as well as Stephanie, were excited at their new opportunity. And they loved working so closely now with Ella. Cal and Hector became room mates in Ella's apartment on 6 to be close to their work.
RangeMan bought a building across the street turning it into an apartment building. It was a 6 story building and there were 2 large apartments on each of 5 levels. With a laundry room and exercise room in the basement level. Giving the guys who were married a great place to live with their families. Hunter was busy examining specs and helping to finalize the designs for the apartments. Stephanie asked to have one of these apartments so that she would be close, Rex is her only room mate, for now. But she had introduced Ella to a 'very good friend' of hers when they grabbed lunch during their last shopping trip. And word is that they may just be ready to take it to the next level soon.
Everyone was used to Ella's new look, and things were back to normal. Well, everything but her tears, thought Ella. The tear thing was not 'normal' for her, but she had accepted the fact that she would cry sometimes, often. But they were happy tears that showed how much she loved and was loved. That was something that she could get used to.
Ranger wrapped his arms around her as they headed up to their apartment, at the end of another long, wonderful day. Another day of being grateful for the miracle of being with the only man she had ever loved, it was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She kissed him as they walked into their apartment.
"It's so good to be home" she said.
He smiled, "forever" he said as he kissed her back.
"Forever" she echoed with a smile and a tear.