Thanks for the reviews. Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. Just think, only 23 days until Christmas! So Ranger, where will your stocking be hung up?

Chapter 4

Ranger's POV

I was slowly going crazy. I had been advised that a team was coming to pick me up for a "meeting".

I dressed with care. No belt, no pants with extra pockets, no jewelery, no hair ties, no contacts, no tie, no tied footwear, and no jacket.

I was authorized to wear dress pants, short sleeved dress shirt, socks and slip on shoes. Funny they had not mentioned if I should or should not wear underwear! I decided to go commando, my usual preference. If whoever was checking me in was female or awkward about my body, they could sit and rotate.

The phone at my bedside rang once. They were downstairs. Well, I was not rushing. They could wait a bloody minute or two. I took one more look at myself in the full length mirror.

Jason had phoned that he was being allowed to attend this meeting and I was looking forward to some time to speak with my friend and lawyer. He would meet me there.

We spoke about the information we wanted to hear. Jason wanted to hear specific charges and their reasoning. He was prepared to cut them off trying to place blame on innuendo or observations.

I wanted to know who had pressed charges against me. I could then ascertain if he or she had a hidden agenda against me, my ideals, my lifestyle or religion.

I looked in the mirror again. Everything looked OK and I was ready to walk out the door.

My eyes slid to the picture in the frame on the credenza in the hallway. It was a picture of Stephanie and myself sitting on a rock wall at Point Pleasant. Our hands were clasped together and she was leaning into me.

The wind had been blowing and some of her hair had slipped out of her ponytail. Her cheeks were red from the cool breeze but she was smiling at something I had whispered in her ear.

A passerby had offered to take our picture and I had handed over my phone immediately.

We had taken a few days off and had disappeared leaving Tank in charge.

I softly brushed my hand over the framed picture. I had something to fight for. My Babe was waiting for me once again.

I took my time heading out the door to the elevator. As if my men knew, the elevator was not waiting for me and I pressed the button to summon it.

That too would piss off the team downstairs. They would hate to wait around.

The new SOP written out by Tank detailed that when the security team was scheduled to arrive, there would be at least three Rangemen in the reception area, stationed at the door to the garage, the door to the stairs and the elevator in addition to the man at the desk. They were all to be fully dressed complete with Kevlar. Take that!

I made my way down to the main floor in the elevator. I stepped out and was immediately surrounded, patted down, cuffed and once again a bulletproof vest was slipped over my head. Well, so much for the time spent combing my hair!

I was whisked out of the building and into a van and it took off. Another van followed.

I was driven to what looked to be a warehouse where the van drove through the shipping door at the back of the building. Once again, I was practically dragged from the van and surrounded as we made our way to the elevator.

I remembered when I was captured in Bolivia and treated much the same way. Unfortunately, my meeting that day had involved a severe beating, resulting in a number of cracked ribs, a broken nose and a few loose teeth. I had been rescued then, but had the feeling that this 'meeting' would end very differently.

The conference room door was open and the lights were on. One man stood in the open doorway and nodded then stepped away.

Jason was waiting for me in the room. He was glaring daggers at the two men assigned to keep the room from being tampered with. I was under no illusions that it was wired and all conversations would be kept on file and played back to ascertain any guilty plea that I might wish to offer.

I was uncuffed and the vest pulled off me. The men moved away and left the room, closing the door softly behind them. I could hear them take positions on the other side of the door.

We were directed to a pair of chairs and a table by the back wall. We took our places and Jason took out a pad and paper from his briefcase and placed it in front of him. I looked at him and then the paper. He nodded back. He understood what I was saying. Nothing was to be spoken between us and everything was to be written down.

I wrote. "Have you talked to your contact?"

Jason nodded. "Very illuminating."

I wrote again. "Do we have a case?"

Jason took his pencil and scribbled quickly. "We will have a case, but it's going to get messy."

Just then, the door opened and three men walked in dressed in military uniforms. I remained seated. I outranked them all and would be damned if I showed them that they were the senior influence in that room. I might be held against my will, but my actions and words would be speaking for myself as I stood up to them.

The men placed their briefcases on the table in front of them. They would be facing us but we literally had our backs to the wall and they were seated facing us in the middle of the room. They took their time opening up their shiny, new briefcases and bringing out files, notepaper and pens. It almost looked comical as they strategically placed all their materials in perfect order in front of them.

I wondered if they had ever had to think on the fly. Tidiness was fine, but it could swiftly become anal and the ability to change direction might be beyond their ability, at least that's how it looked right now. I wondered if they were really lawyers. If so, I would hesitate to have them represent anyone I knew.

Jason had also taken note. He looked at me and a very tiny smile peeked out. This might turn out to be fun if it wasn't so serious, but until it was over, he planned to mess with their perfect little world.

The colonel in the middle spoke. "Colonel, Mr. Jamieson. Thank you for meeting with us today."

I snorted mostly to myself. As if I had a choice.

Jason stealthily jabbed me in the ribs. We needed some information so let them posture themselves.

I nodded at them and schooled my face into my patented blank look.

The man obviously in charge cleared his throat. "Well then, may I introduce my colleagues. To my right is Major John Brown, to my left is Captain Harry Wintrop, and I am Lieutenant Colonel Barry Jackson."

I lifted one eyebrow and a tiny smile tugged at one side of my mouth. The three men shifted in their seats. I hid my satisfaction to myself as they squirmed. I was continuing to embellish the stories that a smiling Ranger was a very dangerous Ranger.

Jason cleared his throat. He spoke. "Good morning gentlemen. May I introduce, Lieutenant Colonel Ricardo Carlos Manoso. U.S. Rangers, Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart."

"My name is Jason Hitachi Jamieson, U.S. Rangers, Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star, Purple Heart"

Colonel Jackson scowled slightly. He was well aware of their accomplishments. With two very well spoken sentences, the seated gentlemen had already set the bar. He and his colleagues had never served one day in the field, had never led men in battle and had never been outside the relatively safe confines of the United States.

He mentally looked down at his uniform tunic. There were precious few ribbons on his chest, and certainly nothing to do with serving off shore in any capacity.

Drawing on his courtroom training, Colonel Jackson sat straighter in his chair and began to speak. "Gentlemen, we are gathered here to try to ascertain the decisions and the subsequent activities on and after the dates of September 1, 2013."

He held up a number of pages of papers in the air.

"We have signed affidavits from the surviving members of the team lead by Colonel Manoso. They all state that the mission was compromised from the beginning resulting in significant loss of life. It is also noted that while captured, Colonel Manoso did not appear to stand in the way of the activities against the men in his command before, during or after their capture."

Jason cleared his throat. Colonel Jackson looked up in surprise. He didn't like to be interrupted when he had the floor. Beside losing his train of thought for a minute, it was downright rude.

Jason spoke. "When were these affidavits signed by the surviving men? At the de-briefing, in the hospital, in the helicopter, where, Colonel?"

Jason looked at me. "Did you sign any affidavit?"

I looked at the Colonel. "No, I did not sign anything."

Colonel Jackson waved his hand as if to dismiss my remark. He carefully put the sheets down on the desk.

"It must be obvious to everyone in this room that as the commander of this failed mission, it was your responsibility to do everything in your power to get your men home. I am only stating that the surviving members felt you had let them down."

Jason had a hand on my arm as Colonel Jackson spoke. I know he could feel the coiled response growing in me. It was only my absolute level of control that was holding me from leaping over the table and taking down the man who had made the accusations.

I believed that he was unaware of my growing anger. This stupid man had absolutely no idea how powerful and strong I was and if I made the decision that this minuscule excuse for a man needed to stop talking now, no man would probably be able to stop me until I had driven home the message. Probably the CID members on the other side of the door might shorten the lesson, but before I was subdued, I hoped that I would have taken the majority of the group with me.

Barry Jackson continued on blithely unaware of the danger he might be in.

"We also have an accounting of the amount of money that Colonel Manoso demanded to be paid to lead this mission and in the eyes of the government, it speaks to holding our government and all we hold dear as captive to perform what was envisioned to be a simple in and out."

I knew that my eyes had changed as I watched the other officers visibly wince.

Jason spoke again. "Unless you are very unaware of the nature of Black Ops, the budget comes down as set."

Jason was still sitting with his hand on my arm. His outward appearance looked calm but the fact that there might be a hand-sized bruise on my forearm later due to the pressure he was exerting led almost everyone in the room to draw a breath.

Colonel Jackson continued on as if he was still unaware of the emotionally charged atmosphere in the room.

"The government is also questioning the itinerary Colonel Manoso employed using specially requested weaponry, munitions and modes of transport."

Jason spoke again. "Colonel Manoso has worked in that area before and knew the terrain he was dealing with. In his opinion, the equipment requested was not out of line with the mission."

Colonel Jackson rambled on.

"The government is well aware that Colonel Manoso has the reputation of 'getting things done', but are concerned that as he has not chosen to extend his contract for another period of time, that he might be open to accepting offers from other interested parties."

He cleared his throat again and looked at me for the first time since beginning to speak.

"Our government has a very liberal policy with respect to immigrants. We pride ourselves in the military with respect to welcoming all nationalities to wear our uniform provided they earn that right. It must be something about where you Cubans come from that makes you think you can come to my country, and repay our kindness with sinister acts the which I am loathe to even dwell on."

Jason spit out. "Colonel, you are walking a very fine line here. If I wanted to write you up for racial discrimination, I am sure your colleagues would be hard pressed to disagree with me."

Colonel Jackson paused and picked up another set of papers. He pursed his lips in anger.

"I have been ordered to offer you a way out of this unfortunate situation. If Colonel Manoso is willing to sign a new contract for the standard 20 missions or five years, the Government is willing to forgo this investigation and release Colonel Manoso from any and all charges immediately. He would be required to immediately agree to be escorted to the nearest military base until such time as a new mission is scheduled."

Jason took his hand off my arm. He stood up and began to place all the materials in his briefcase, closed the lid and snapped it shut. Looking at the three men in front of him, he spoke.

"I request a copy of all the affidavits from the surviving members of the mission, along with a copy of the 'offer' you so kindly offered Colonel Manoso."

He paused then continued. "Colonel Manoso has tried to honor all the outrageous demands since his arrest. He has submitted to the electronic bracelet, the monitoring, and the extensive house arrest conditions."

He stopped for emphasis. "Colonel Manoso is finished with this 'meeting'.

I will advise him that he is not to respond to any more requests to 'meet' until the official trial is to begin. Until then, gentlemen, you can take your case and dwell on how you want to prosecute this.

Colonel Manoso has served his country with Distinction and I will not allow you to sully his name in this room, or to be forced to sign a contract under duress.

I assume that you are taping this whole conversation and I defy you to broadcast in a court of law the frivolous and damaging remarks the like I have never heard spoken to .

We will see you in court, gentlemen."

With that, he nodded at me and I stood up and followed him to the door. Jason wrenched it open and we walked out surprising the men standing by the door.

They quickly surrounded me, re-cuffed me and once again put a vest over my head and we headed to the elevator. One man pressed the button and we all waited. The door opened and we walked in.

Jason put his foot in the elevator keeping the door from closing completely. The men gripped their weapons a little tighter and closer to their chests.

"I will be contacting the JAG about these charges, Ranger. We will be in touch. Good day, gentlemen."

With that farewell, he took his foot away and the door closed.