Author's Note: Have I told y'all lately how much I love you.. I do.. You guys are awesome!
P.S. ChesiBabe, if you're reading this I haven't forgotten ya. However, I can't found any of your information. (email) For some reason, my email isn't pulling up anything. And I've saved a lot of our emails. Please email me. :-)
Thank you! MomofPhoenix, Barb4psu, First Generation Scot, shellbell78, PhillyGirl27, Guest, Bandit3s, melyons, AZBarb, Guest, MarshaMac1215, Garbanzo Beans, HalfBabeHalfBeautiful, Proudofyoubabe, Guest, & Claudette Miller
Chapter Four
Let's Get Busy
So Joe took that note too and had them both fingerprinted. Nothing pulled up. It was completely clean. I hadn't even touched it. So we were still at square one. I had nothing to go on. I didn't know who this guy was. Joe tried to assure me that we would catch him, but with no clues as to who he is; how is that possible? I wanted to scream out in frustration but instead I decided to better myself in the only way I knew how.
I was headed to the gym. Again. In one of my new yoga pants and tank tops with a bottle of water and of course my bag filled with 'goodies', I was ready to get my ass into shape. As I walked on the treadmill, I went over the information I had on Mateo Perez. He was just at six foot, had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was twenty-eight years old. He looked to be pretty muscular, not like the Merry Men, but nice. He was of Cuban descent and had a whole list of relatives. His mom was still alive and his dad was too and apparently they were still together. He had aunts, uncles, cousins, three brothers, and a sister. He seemed as though he had a good childhood. So why at the age of seventeen, did he suddenly start robbing gas stations and local houses. After that, he went downhill fast. Wasn't soon after that he got caught picking up a prostitute and fessed up to being her pimp. Really? At just nineteen? Holy shit! After that he only got arrested for violent crimes. Assault, assault and battery, assault with a deadly weapon, and assault with a vehicle. Vehicle? So he ran someone over with his car? Mmmm... we have something in common. Maybe I can work with that.
I laughed to myself and continued reading. He got arrested at the age of twenty-five for destruction of property, assault, and attempted murder. Murder? Apparently, he was at a club and got into an altercation with another man about a woman. Go figure. A fight broke out and they damaged a lot of property before Perez got violet and stabbed the man in the neck. Wow. Diva much? My vision got a little spotty as I had that mental image in my head. I shuddered in horror and continued to read on. The man he stabbed lived. Well, that's good. Soon after the arrest, charges were dropped and Perez was released. Mmm... that's convenient. Since then he's been laying kind of low until he throat punched a man at the local Wal-Mart.
I couldn't help but wonder what happened when he was seventeen to make him turn down this life of crime, hate, and violence. Looks like I was going to have a pay a visit to RangeMan. Again, a shudder of horror went down my spine. Not that I didn't love my Merry Men but I really did not (DID NOT) want to run into Ranger. What if he had his new girlfriend with him? Or if he wanted to talk to me about her? I couldn't handle that right now. I was trying to get my life back on track and running into Ranger wouldn't help at all. I was going to have to call Tank and see when I could come around without running into Ranger.
I finished my work out on the treadmill and made my way to the next machine. And then the next and the next. An hour later, I was walking (barely) out of the gym feeling high as hell. And no I wasn't talking drugs, people. I never knew working out could feel so good. I was actually enjoying myself. But I wasn't about to tell any of the Merry Men that. As I climbed into my car, I called Tank.
"Yo!"
My eyes rolled. I couldn't help it.
"Hey Tank! What's up? You busy?"
"Busy as fuck around here since Ranger left, but got plenty of time for you, Bomber. You know that."
I sucked in a harsh breath. "Ranger's gone?" I asked softly.
A moment of silence stretched over the phone before Tank spoke up. "He said he went by your place?" Tank questioned more than stated.
I nodded before speaking. "He did come by but he didn't say he was leaving." Then it hit me. That was Ranger's MO. He always came by in the dead of night before he went on a mission. That was his thing. I had been too disoriented to fully comprehend that, but that was his way of saying good bye. Ugh! I wanted to throat punch the infuriating man.
Tank let out a small breath of air. "I'm sorry, Stephanie. He left to go on a mission and none of us are really sure when he'll be back." Tank replied in a hushed, almost worried about how I'd react, voice.
I let out my own sigh. "It's cool, Tank. We're only friends. But when did he leave?" I asked. Joe had just seen him out two nights ago, wasn't it? He had been at my apartment the night before.
"He left early yesterday morning around three or so. He had some," Tank coughed before continuing. "Some last minute business to take care of before he could leave."
"Oh." I didn't know how to respond that. He came by my place three nights ago and then two nights ago he had been seen with another woman. Was that his last minute business? Was she his new girlfriend and he was apologizing to her, telling her he was sorry and that he was going to miss her?
"Stephanie!"
Tanks' loud, booming voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I shook my head. "Sorry Tank. I was just spacing out."
He chuckled. "It's cool, Steph. Everything okay?"
"Yeah. I was just wondering if I could come by and use your computers for a skip I'm trying to track down."
"You're always welcome here, Bomber. The guys will enjoy seeing you again. Me too."
I smiled. "Thanks Tank! I'll see ya in a few."
Tank gave me a 'see ya' before disconnecting. Wasn't exactly a good-bye but it was something. Shaking my head, I put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. I had already went by the Bonds office and there wasn't anything new. I only had Perez for now and I had exactly five days to get cuffs on him and haul his ass back to jail. But first, I needed to know why. I don't know why but it was making me crazy not knowing. There might not be any reasonable explanation to his change of personality but something told me there was.
So here I was at RangeMan to find out exactly what happened. Getting in was easy. Tank meant what he said when he said they were busy. I gave the camera my finger wave because I knew there was someone behind the cameras but the place was deserted. I went to my usually assigned desk and got to work. It didn't take long to find out what I wanted to know. Connie's file left out quite a lot. Perez was on his way to Harvard with a full scholarship. The man was scary super smart and his academic record proved that. He had been wanted by a lot of schools and several of them had been vying for his attention. He was in the debate club, the science club, the Chess club, and he played basketball. His IQ was off the fucking charts. It was higher than Einstein's!
"Fuck!" I whispered to myself and continued to read. He was the popular guy in school. Girls wanted him, guys wanted to be him. The teachers praised him, they loved him. Then it all went to shit. Because of a girl.
"Because of a girl! What the fuck?" Talking to myself... very healthy.
He had met Mina Consuelos at the age of fifteen and they had been dating for two years. When just out of the blue, Mina accused him of raping her and everything went to shit. He had to go to court and because of all this shit, he lost his scholarships, he lost his friends, he lost...
"Everything. He lost everything because of this one girl. Oh my gosh."
A month after the accusation, Mina recanted her statement and told everyone she lied. She had gotten scared because of her Catholic dad.
I bit my lip in thought at that. I understood that part. I was raised Catholic as well, but lying about all that. What Mina had done was horrible. No wonder Perez was pissed off. I would have been too. I wanted to help him. But how? It was ten years later and if he was still angry, he always would be. But then he lost everything! Crap. Where did I go from here? I still had to bring him to justice because after all he missed his court date. Ugh! What could I do for him? How could I fix all this?
Chewing my lip off, deep in thought, I finally had an idea. Only took thirty minutes of staring off into space, but I finally got it. And then, I set to work.
Three hours later, I had accomplished exactly what I had set out to do. Now... all I had to do was wait. I wasn't patient at waiting but I knew this would pay off and I was beyond excited to see the results.
Grinning to myself, I printed all the information I needed and then shut down the computer. I gathered up all my papers, shoved them into my bag and made my way to Tank's office.
"What?" A snarl came through the door and I laughed as I opened it.
"Rough day, Tank?" I asked, grinning at him.
He returned my smile, getting up from his desk. "Bomber! How long have you been here?" He asked as he pulled me into his arms.
I hugged him back. He was warm and familiar and friendly. Didn't realize how much I needed that little hug. "I've been here about four hours. It's deserted around here." I commented as I pulled away and took a seat. He perched himself on the desk in front of me.
He nodded. "Ranger's gone on a mission. Lester left this morning to go on one. Bobby has medical training and he left about a week ago. Hal has been on a mission for the past month and Ram just returned from one so he's busted up as hell and recuperating. Vince had to leave a few days ago because of family stuff. So Hal, Woody, and Bones have been trying to take over Core team duties and they're busting their asses. We've got a few more guys that are doing what they can, but I'm ready for RangeMan to return to normal."
My eyebrows have done reached the top of my hairline in surprise and shock. RangeMan was being pulled in several directions and I felt bad. So I did what I had to do. What I wanted to do.
"Let me help." I offered.
Tank's own eyes widened in surprise. "Bomber, I appreciate it, I really really do, but you don't have to."
I shrugged. "I know I don't but I want to. Let me help. I can do paperwork or surveillance. Deal with clients. I do have a degree in business, Tank."
He held up his hands in surrender. "You won't get anymore arguments from me. You're hired."
As soon as he said that, it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had been stressing majorly and no one else to rely on. I was just thankful I could help him. I stood up. "Show me what to do." I told him.
"Right now?" He almost bellowed out in shock.
I laughed. "Yes. Now!"
He ushered me towards his chair. "Let's get to work."
And once again, I got lost in the work in front of me and the time flew by. When I stopped for a quick snack, Tank had been gone for hours and I was trying to get the paperwork in 'working' order. Tank was horrid at paperwork. The poor fellow had not a clue at what he was doing. He knew it and laughed about it, but I knew it was stressing him out. As soon as I had everything settled and knew what I was doing, he took off. Said there was real work to be done. I just laughed and waved him off.
After finishing for the day, I ordered a large pizza with everything and went down stairs to Ram's apartment. I didn't even have to knock.
"How did you know I was coming?" I asked the grinning man in the doorway. He was trying his level best to stand upright with one hand grasping the door jam but I could tell he was hurting.
"ESP." He responded, still grinning.
I tried to cock an eyebrow but only failed when Ram actually laughed. He grimaced in pain, but he laughed. "I could smell the pizza, Sweetheart. Now get in here and share that thing with me."
"Don't have to ask me twice." I replied, ducking under his arm and entering his little apartment. The place was clean and smelled really good. After grabbing some bottled water, Ram joined me in the living room.
"Not complaining but what did I do to acquire your beautiful face in my apartment? Are you finally declaring your love for me? Ram teased, wagging his eyebrows and smiling.
We both pulled slices of pizza from the box and moaned in unison at our first bite. Around a bite of food, I grinned at him. "Tank said you were pretty much almost by yourself since everyone is doing something crazy so I thought this was my chance to spend some one on one time with you."
His eyes softened and he reached out, touching my cheek gently. "You're too good to be true sometimes, Sweetheart."
I grabbed his wrist, kissed his palm, and stuck my tongue out at him. "I'm awesome."
He ruffled my hair before sinking his teeth back into the pizza, grinning as he did so. "You are so full of it." He teased.
Laughing and joking with Ram came easy. We ate our pizza, teased and tormented each other, and talked well into the early morning hours. About one in the morning, he told me that I wasn't driving home and for once, I didn't argue.
"Okay." I easily agreed.
His eyes widened in surprise. "You agreed way too easy, Stephanie. Everything okay?"
I gave him a small smile and nodded. "Everything is fine." I lied. I didn't want them to know. Joe knew and I was taking every precaution to protect myself. RangeMan didn't need to know about my stalker. Not yet anyway. "It's just late and you're right, I don't need to drive." I agreed with him. Although the thought of returning back to my apartment to find another note on my door wasn't exactly appealing right now. Or ever.
"I'll put in your favorite movie and we can watch that. Unless you're ready to go to bed now. You can take my bed or I'm sure Ranger won't mind you heading up to seven while he's gone." Ram stated, watching me closely.
I shook my head. "I'll take the couch. You're too big for the couch. We can watch the movie first though." I bargained.
Ram nodded, agreeing way too easily. "I'll take the couch on one condition." He counter offered.
My eyes narrowed. "What?" I asked cautiously.
He chuckled as we settled down on the couch. "You let me teach you how to handle your gun and how to shoot it properly."
He was next to me. I could feel his body heat. And right now with every fiber of my being I was wishing that I felt something more for Ram than friendship. This guy was awesome. He even had my favorite movie. But his offer meant a lot to me suddenly. I could feel him next to me. He was waiting, holding his breath. I knew he thought I was going to say no. I was about to surprise him.
"Ram, I would love that."
He let out a whoosh of breath and his smile was freaking huge. He didn't comment. He didn't ask. He just settled back, drew me against him and we watched Ghostbusters. I fell asleep on his couch and in his arms, feeling safe and secure.
Author's Note: This chapter literally wrote itself. I have no idea where Ram came in or the RangeMan job. Steph just took over. Hope you like it! Oh and I'm kind of liking a Ram & Steph story next... (I promise I'll finish Lester's story eventually...got to feel it first!)