Better than Myself Part 2

(Sequel to As a Man)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm not making any money, and all the wonderful characters belong to the lovely JE. But if I could rent to own my very own Ranger, I would be very happy.

Tank's POV

Breaking up with Lula was the last thing I wanted to do. I was planning a future with her, I wanted to marry, have a house, a couple of kids, and I wanted it all with her. I am not nearly as closed off as Ranger, but women don't take me seriously as relationship material. I was good for stud services or a walk on the wild side for a night, but never anything long term. I thought Lula was different; I wanted her to be different. Maybe it wasn't that different to her.

Loyalty is something I value above everything else. I am very loyal to those in my life and I expect the same from others. Lula knows that I consider Ranger my brother. I have explained to her that we have been through a lot together. He was there for me through the death of my parents. And for her to spread gossip like that, with all of the information she has on how important Ranger is too me, shows that she is not loyal to me and mine. To spread lies about Stephanie, who has gone out of her way to help her, when others have walked away, is unforgivable. She calls Stephanie her best friend, hell, how would she treat someone she hated.

I am so glad I was in Vinnie's office and heard what they were saying; Vinnie always has the office bugged. Vinnie heard it all and didn't attempt to defend Stephanie at all. I thought they were family? I will have a talk with Ranger about our continued work with Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. If Vinnie has no loyalty to his family, how would he show loyalty to anyone at Rangeman?

I want to be a fly on the wall when Stephanie gets there. Sometimes her temper gets out of control and they will deserve it. Lula has been leaving me messages, she doesn't understand what happened. Well that is another part of the problem. I feel foolish to have put my trust in her.

I need to just get to work, to focus on something else. Working will keep my mind off of the shambles of my personal life. I do have a lot to do, to catch up on. I walk into Ranger's office to get started and my mind wanders again, to wondering how he is doing. I know that facing your demons is hard work. But if anyone can do it and come out better for it, he can.

Then hopefully there will be some weight off of my shoulders. I have been worrying about what he was doing to himself for months now. Ever since I found the changes he made to his will and letters that were written for myself, Ella and Stephanie. Ranger never does anything by mistake, seeing those, just lying on his desk, made my blood run cold. Rushing up to seven, I found him staring out the window with his weapons on the floor in front of him. He didn't respond when I called his name. I locked his weapons in the safe in my office, called us both off line and sat with him for three days. It was three days of silence on his part. The only thing he said was, "I was never here."

At the end of the three days, he snapped out of it. We never spoke of it. After that time, I noticed subtle changes in his demeanor. He worked out harder and more often, I didn't think the man could gain more muscle, but he became massive. He was out in the field more, doing more apprehensions, ones that he would have passed to someone else. And he was so much more disciplined about his eating and his schedule and over vigilant about his personal security. There were extra locks on the doors in his apartment and motion detectors. I don't know where this track he was on was leading him, but I am relieved that he finally agreed to get help. I already knew he didn't sleep much and your body cannot continue to be pushed that way without much sleep. . I was getting a horrible feeling about how hard he was driving himself.

The ringing of the phone breaks me out of that train of thought. I bet it is Lula again, oh, that isn't my phone, it is the one Ranger forwarded all his calls to - I check the caller ID – it's Jason. I answer, he was surprised that it was me; Ranger did not call him to tell him he was in the wind, like he always had. Jason called to let Ranger know that Maggie had died and a lawyer will call later on in the week to discuss the will. That is fine; I have Ranger's power of attorney, so I can handle all of this for him.

Well, with the plans that Ranger has for whatever money Maggie left him, maybe Steph quitting the bonds office with open her up to Ranger's plans for her and for the money.

My muse wasn't ready for the confrontation between Steph, Connie and Lula. I have another chapter and hopefully then my muse will let that happen. Again I appreciate all of your reviews. Thanks for reading.