Gaining Forward Momentum

by Proudofyoubabe

Ranger and Tank are doing 6 weeks of hard labor for what we all perceive as a non-crime. Steph, Lula & Hector have their own piece of the business to run. Devon and the 'almost perfects' are trying hard to find that connection to Briggs so they can start court martial proceedings against him. So will everything remain status quo until the guys return? I highly doubt it. A Babe HEA.

1. Chapter 1 — Depth Perception

Gaining Forward Momentum

This takes place after Dancing Outside the Lines.

M Rating

Extra special thanks to Margaret for reading this through first and deeming it exciting enough for a first chapter. Thank you Margaret :)

I don't own the characters, just taking them for a spin :)

Reviews and suggestions are always welcome.

Chap 1 — Depth Perception

A couple of weeks had somehow passed since Carlos' incarceration. I was going through life like a robot. Waking up, getting dressed, going to class. Eating, or not. Maybe doing a little Rangeman work, then going to bed—maybe getting some sleep.

I still hadn't read Carlos' letter because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hold it together, but I slept with it every night. I was feeling particularly brave today and took out the letter, perhaps to read it, perhaps just to catch one waning whiff of Carlos.

I decided to open it.

Babe,

Because you are reading this, it means we're apart. I wanted you to have something of me for the next few weeks, even if it's only words, since we can't be together physically.

You wandered into my life and you moved my soul. You are my light, my life, and my world. Without you I'd be incomplete. There are no words to describe the love I have for you.

I never wanted to put you on an emotional roller coaster. Had I known we'd be apart, I'd have held off professing my love to you until after this adulteration was over. But since I had no way of knowing this fiasco was about to unravel, I shared my inner feelings with you. I would never want to take back the last few months that we've had together, they are the happiest days of my life; but I wanted us to be together forever, not separated by this utter bullshit, even for a day.

It will be thoughts of us reuniting that will get me through the weeks ahead.

You have my heart. Forever.

All my love,

Carlos

It was such a beautiful letter. It was just like Carlos. I didn't lose it like I expected to, but the tears did flow from my eyes. I was glad I held off reading it until now. I didn't think I could have handled it two weeks ago.

I took it with me into the kitchen, to read again while I made myself a peanut butter and olive sandwich. Since Carlos has been gone, they've become a favorite of mine again. While I was forking the olives out of the jar to add to my gooey mess, my phone rang.

I saw from the display that it was Valerie. Although I didn't tell my parents that Carlos and Tank were serving a sentence, I did tell Mary Lou. And as much as she said she'd keep it quiet, I had a feeling, even before I answered this call that she'd told my sister.

"Hi Val, what's up?"

"I just bumped into Mary Lou at the Stop & Shop and she told me about Ranger and Tank. Don't worry, I didn't tell mom. How are you doing?"

"I'm ok, I'm numb." Then I had a thought. Maybe if I went out to the beach house I'd feel better. "Do you think Angie and Mary Alice would like to come out to the house with me this weekend and hang out at the pool. I think I'd like some company and their chatter might be good for me." It would probably remind me of Julie, who would remind me of Carlos, but I thought I could handle it.

"Let me ask them." I could hear her talking even though her hand was over the phone. When someone came back on, it was Mary Alice, the horse kid.

"Yay, Aunt Steph, we want to come out. Are you going to pick us up? Can we ride in your super-cool car?"

"I'll pick you up in the morning and if you don't pack a lot we can take my super-cool car. Can you put your mom back on?"

She put the phone down and I heard her yell for Val, who picked up after a few seconds. I told her that I'd be by around nine to get the girls and she sounded relieved. I think the stress of four kids really did get to her every once in a while.

I knew I had to let Bobby know what I was planning. And I was sure we'd have to have a shadow, but that was ok. My nieces knew a few of Carlos' men and liked them. They especially liked Hal and Lester, so I could always ask for one of them.

I called Bobby and he sounded happy that I was planning a little outing. I mentioned Hal.

"No can do Bomber. We promised Ranger you'd get full protection. You know we travel in pairs except for extenuating circumstances, and there will be three of you. How about Hal and Vince?"

Vince would probably want to cook for us. Not a bad idea.

"Ok Bobby. Hal and Vince are fine. Mary Alice and Angie want me to pick them up in my CL65."

Bobby went quiet. He was probably thinking we could all drive down in one of the Rangeman SUVs and he wouldn't have to worry about our safety. If I was on my own with the girls, anything could happen. True, but I wasn't going to back out. I had already promised my nieces.

"Bobby, I'm picking them up at Val's tomorrow at nine. Can you ask Hal and Vince to be a little discreet? I don't want to scare the girls."

I guessed Bobby had a few seconds to think about how to best handle my request.

"Ok Bomber. Pick them up at nine. We'll tail from a safe distance."

Good. I got my way.

I read Carlos' letter again while I ate my PB&O sandwich and felt happier than I had in weeks. I called Philipe to let him know I'd be at the house for the weekend and he promised to stock the refrigerator in advance. I never knew I wielded such power.

I spent the rest of the evening thinking about Carlos. I went over to our safe and let it scan my iris to give me entry. I just wanted to look at our rings again—anything to give me some connection to him.

I picked up the two blue boxes and opened them. I took off my engagement ring and put my wedding band on; then I put my ring back. I took Carlos' out of the other box and put it on my right thumb. It gave me such a peaceful feeling to wear them that I went to bed with all our rings on.

I had set my alarm for seven so I wouldn't be late getting the girls. I totally forgot that I wore the rings to bed until I looked down at my left hand and saw my wedding band under the engagement ring. Then I looked down at my right thumb. Carlos' ring was gone.

It could only go so far. I was only in the bedroom. I ripped apart the bed looking for it. Nothing. Maybe it fell off during the night and rolled? I got down on my hands and knees and started searching. I was under the bed, under the night tables, under the dresser. Nothing. Shit.

Maybe I imagined that I wore it to bed? I scanned myself back into the safe and checked the blue boxes. Both were empty. I put my wedding band back and thought about what to do.

Ella.

Even though it was the weekend and she was off, she answered my page on the intercom. I explained my situation and that I had to leave the house shortly if I was to pick up my nieces on time.

"Dear, I'm sure it's around. Why don't you get ready to go? Luis and I will come up after we have breakfast and we'll walk the grid. I'm sure we'll find it."

"Walk the grid?"

"It's military. You divide a space up into grids and you cover every inch. You didn't leave the apartment, right?"

"No, I didn't leave the bedroom."

"Go. Enjoy your weekend. We'll find it and I'll text you when we have it."

"Thank you so much Ella."

"No problem."

She probably thought I was a nut. Who else would put on their fiancé's wedding band and sleep with it to try to get a connection?

I did my shower thing and made myself coffee and a quick breakfast of a toasted English muffin, butter and jelly. Comfort food from my childhood. I threw on some mascara and lip-gloss. My hair was going to have to dry naturally, no time for anything else. I hoped Mr. Alexander's special non-frizz stuff would do its thing, or I'd scare the hell out of everyone once it dried. And just in case it opted for the latter, I attached a scrunchie to my wrist.

I grabbed my fob, phone and a gun and threw them in my bag. I had clothes and things at the house, so I just needed to get the girls. I was at the elevator when I remembered the letter. I fobbed myself back into the apartment, found the letter on the kitchen counter where I left it, and threw it in my bag.

This time I made it down to the garage.

I fobbed open my car and heard one of the SUVs come to life somewhere nearby. Hal and Vince, I guessed.

After I buzzed myself through the gate I heard them follow. Sometimes tails make me crazy and I drive around to lose them, but today I didn't care. I didn't have the extra time to weave in and out of Trenton's backstreets and besides I felt safe with them on my ass.

I made it across town to Val's in record time. I guessed she inherited my mother's uncanny ability to know when I was approaching, because her and Albert were both at the door waiting for me with smiles on their faces and babies in their arms.

Lisa is two, so she isn't exactly a baby. Her face lit up when she saw me get out of the car. I hoped she didn't think she was coming along. There's no way I could take care of three of them. And she was a screamer when she didn't get her way.

Chatter I could handle. Screaming was a different story.

I greeted the four of them with kisses and Alexa grabbed my hair. Uh oh. She had it in her fist and was wrapping it around her chubby little fingers and tugging. Not good.

Thankfully Albert was well versed in getting things out of her grip and I was just down about a half dozen hairs.

With that taken care of, Val went to see how the girls were doing with their last-minute packing.

The trunk on the CL65 is small, so I hoped they only took necessities. Let's say I was really happy to see both of them come out of their bedroom. They each had a child-sized pink suitcase with wheels and a handle. They would easily fit in my trunk.

The girls' said goodbye to Val, Albert, Lisa and Alexa and scrambled out to my car. Somehow I got the two suitcases.

Thankfully Hal saw me trying to get through Val's screen-door with them and came over to help. The girls saw him approaching.

"Halosaurus," they screamed in unison and ran to him. Not only did I not have help, he now had two pre-teens on his arms. Oh boy.

"Halosaurus?" he whispered to me when I finally made it out the door and over to him and the girls who were standing at my car.

I guessed he never heard my pet name for him before. I shrugged my shoulders as if I didn't know where that came from. Growing up in the 'Burg taught me many things—never acknowledge your guilt and smile with the best of them.

Once we got the girls' bags in the trunk and them belted in, I headed out.

We were safely driving on I-195 when I heard a pop. Suddenly the back window of my car was spider-webbing into tiny pieces. I yelled for the girls to take cover and used my hand-dandy Hector app to buzz Hal.

"Keep driving Steph, we're on him."

"Who is it?"

"We don't know, but Vince just called for backup, he's not going to get away."

Angie started to cry, but Mary Alice was enjoying the whole thing.

"Don't be a baby. Aunt Steph does this all the time."

There was another gunshot into the car. My back window was gone so the bullet shot through the car. Mary Alice was sitting upfront with me and I heard her wince. My niece was shot.

"MA are you ok?" I asked, panic-stricken.

"Burns. My shoulder. I think I'm ok."

I yelled into Hector's app. "My niece was hit."

"Keep going. Don't exceed the speed limit, but keep going. We're on him. Les is behind us and following you. We've called TPD."

I was panicking because my niece was holding her shoulder. My other niece was non-communicado.

"Angie, are you ok?" I asked. "Angie?"

I was afraid she was hit too. I couldn't turn around and drive at 65 mph.

"Angie, talk to me!" I demanded.

I yelled into Hector's app. "Angie not talking. Can you get Bobby?"

"He's coming. We already called him."

I knew all about shock as I just went through it myself. And I hoped Angie wasn't going into shock. From the backseat I heard a small voice. "I'm ok Aunt Steph. Just scared."

"Rangeman and the police will get the bad guys, they want us to continue. I'm going to keep driving until someone tells me to stop. Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, I'm ok," she said, starting to get up.

"Stay down Angie, please. And stay buckled in."

Looking into my rearview mirror I saw Lester and Ram pull in behind me in a black, new, shiny Explorer. Les was driving.

"Lester is behind us girls, everything's going to be ok."

Then I saw a white POS car with a Kojack light on the roof approach from the right. It's siren started to blare. I looked in my side view mirror and saw a hand directing me to pull over to the right. I slowed down, entered the shoulder and stopped.

Joe Morelli stepped out of the unmarked car and walked over to my driver's side. Lester pulled over behind him and he and Ram joined Joe at my window.

"Cupcake are you ok?"

"Mary Alice was hit. I think it's just a graze, but we need to have her looked at. Hal was following me and took off after whoever it was that shot at us."

"Uncle Joe," Mary Alice and Angie squeeled, almost in unison after noticing Joe at my window and hearing his voice. They had taken to calling him Uncle Joe when we were together and they saw him regularly. Aunt Steph and Uncle Joe.

"Lester the Jester," MA added, seeing Les come up behind Joe. Angie was smiling broadly.

Lester walked over to Mary Alice's side of the car and opened the door. She jumped into his arms and hugged him tight. Angie practically crawled out of the window to Joe. It didn't take much to make them happy. Looked like a couple of big strong men would do it.

Lester was looking at MA's shoulder while she hung onto him like he was a pony ride. I heard him talking to her.

"You remember Bobby, right? He's usually rides with me? Used to have cornrows?" he mimed.

MA nodded her head. "He's on his way here. He's Rangeman's very own private medic. Will you let him look at your arm?"

She nodded again, not taking her arms off of Lester's neck. Joe seemed to be having the same effect on Angie. Thank God everyone was calming down.

Bobby and Hector arrived a few minutes later. They both got out of the car. Bobby went over to Lester and Mary Alice and Hector came over to me. I opened my door when I saw him approach and ran into his arms.

This was a frightening experience and I was so happy my friends were here.

Mary Alice was still holding tight to Lester, but she let Bobby examine her. He had his Medic bag with him and took something out of it. He washed his hands with a hand sanitizer and cleaned MA's arm with an alcohol swab. He then put some bacitracin over the wound and a band-aid on top. He was talking to her the whole time and she was smiling.

Joe and Angie walked over to me and Hector.

"Angie told me you were going to the beach house. You can't drive this car without a rear window," Joe announced as he got close enough to talk without raising his voice.

"I know. I'm not quite sure what to do. Angie, do you still want to go to the beach?"

"Yes! And I want Uncle Joe and Halosaurus to come too."

Oh boy.

"Angie," Joe answered her, "I'm on duty today, but I can come out later if you want me to come for a visit?" Joe was looking at me, but speaking to my niece.

I thought a familiar face might be good for the girls, so I nodded to Joe that I was ok with him coming out. I probably needed to call my sister, although she seemed so relieved that the girls were out of her hair for a couple of days. And no one was really injured.

Still carrying Mary Alice, Lester and Bobby walked over to the four of us. Thankfully MA was grinning from ear to ear and sporting a Batman band-aid.

A blue and white joined our little parked caravan and as they walked over to Joe and I, Hal and Vince pulled in behind their cruiser.

Hal and Vince folded out of their SUV and joined the two patrolmen and us. I saw Hal look over at Bobby and shake his head. I gathered that meant the guy who shot out my window got away.

I'd never met these patrolmen before and they looked like rookies to me, but Joe seemed to know them and introduced them to us as Flanagan and Sanchez. Joe told them everything was under control and that he'd write up the report so they were free to leave. Joe probably knew I was carrying and didn't want me to get into any trouble. And it wouldn't look too good for my nieces to see me get arrested. Sometimes Joe can be an ok guy.

Bobby called for a tow for my car while we were deciding what to do. I hadn't asked MA yet if she wanted to continue with the plans or go home. And as she was the one who was grazed by the bullet, I thought it only fair to ask.

"MA the weekend is in your hands. Do you want to go to the beach or back home?

"Beach," she yelled. "Can Lester come?"

Uh oh. Angie wanted Joe and Hal and MA wanted Lester. I could see this turning into a full house. I looked at Les.

"Mary Alice, you met Autumn at your house a few weeks ago. We made plans for the weekend.

Her face dropped. Then I guessed she thought of something because she smiled brightly. "Autumn can come too. P-l-e-a-s-e Lester."

Never one to disappoint the horse kid, Lester took out his phone. He put Mary Alice down and walked away from us. I guessed he was having a conversation with Autumn. When he hung up he came back over and got down to MAs height.

"Mary Alice, Autumn has some deliveries to make today, but we can come out tomorrow for a few hours if you'd like."

"Yay," she proclaimed and galloped away.

"Mary Alice. Where do you think you're going?" I called to her; afraid she might gallop onto the highway if she wasn't paying attention. This horse thing could get out of control.

She galloped back over to us and looked at Hector who still had an arm around me protectively. "Who are you?"

"Mary Alice, Angie, this is Hector Santiago. He works very closely with me at Rangeman. He's a good friend."

"Sí, it's nice to meet you chicas," Hector smiled at them.

"Are you Spanish?" Mary Alice squinted at him demanding an answer.

"I come from Bolivia. But yes, I speak Spanish and Portuguese and English," he answered her honestly.

"Are you coming to the house with us too?" she demanded again.

"No chica. I just came here to make sure the three of you were ok. I have to go back to work."

'Oh, ok," she said satisfied.

Bobby broke in once the kid banter was over. "Steph, Hal and Vince will take you out to the house. Lester will stay here until your car is picked up. The tow truck is on its way. Call me if you need anything. Hector and I need to head back."

"Estefania, text me if you need me," Hector said, pulling me aside. "Is Joe staying over? I hear Angie invite him and he accept. I still not trust him. You want me to come out tonight after I get off?"

"It's ok Hector. Hal and Vince will be at the house with us. I'm sure they can take care of Joe if he gets out of line, but I'm pretty sure he'll behave. Thank you anyway."

"Ok chica, text me if you need me."

Hector and Bobby headed back to Rangeman. Hal took the girls' suitcases from my trunk and deposited them, the girls and me into the Explorer with Vince. I thanked Joe and said goodbye. I told him I'd email him directions once I got to the house.

Was I really doing this? Carlos was only gone two weeks and I was inviting Joe to spend some time with me and the girls? I hoped it meant that I was comfortable in my relationship with Carlos and not that I was feeling lonely or needy. I shrugged the thought from my head and settled into the back seat of the Explorer with MA and Angie.

We were once again heading east on I-195 when my buzzing phone broke me from my thoughts. I had a text from Ella. 'We can't find Carlos' ring. Are U sure U didn't leave the apartment with it?'

I knew I didn't go anywhere. It had to be in the bedroom. Maybe it rolled into the bathroom, or the walk-in closet. Maybe they just didn't check everywhere? It was the weekend and I didn't want to waste all of Ella's free time looking so I texted her back.

'It's ok, I'll look again when I get home. Thanks for everything.'

That was one more thing that was going to keep me awake this weekend. What the hell happened to Carlos' ring?

"Is everything ok?" Vince asked seeing me staring at my phone, even though there were no further text messages coming though.

I thought about telling them, and then thought better of it. They'd think I was losing my mind too, so I just nodded yes and changed the subject.

"Did you get a license plate for the car that shot at me?"

"We did and ran it through while we were chasing it. Stolen car. Makes me think it was Kraven, but I can't be sure," Hal answered for Vince.

That's what I thought too. Pearce was still stuffed in a cell at TPD awaiting trial and I hadn't been chasing down skips in weeks to make new enemies. I was glad I had the Rangeman support because Kraven really did scare the hell out of me.