Disclaimer: Everything familiar belongs to JE and the creators of Criminal Minds.
Warning: Adult Situations
Chapter 7: August 20th, 1000-1100
Miami Rangeman and Nicklaus Children's Hospital
Lester's POV
We arrived in Miami and went to our Miami HQ first to check in and to see if any new information was available. Marco, the head of Miami Rangeman, greeted us in the garage.
"Ranger, we have your penthouse ready for you, with Lester's and Bobby's apartments also set. I was unaware that you brought a guest. Do you need accommodations for her?" Marco asks.
"Marco, I'd like you to meet Stephanie Plum. Stephanie, this is Marco. He oversees Rangeman Miami." Ranger states.
"Nice to finally meet you, Bomber. We've heard a lot about you, especially from Silvio and the guys who come down here to help from Trenton."
I see Stephanie wince slightly before responding, "the funeral home wasn't my fault, and neither was the Boxster."
Marco laughs, kissing the back of Stephanie's hand in greeting. Ranger shoots daggers at him. "Stephanie will be staying in the penthouse with me." Ranger states.
"Would you like me to have Maggie send up some breakfast?"
"That would be great. Stephanie is not used to our schedule and requires meals three times a day." Bobby answers.
I can tell that Ranger is not thrilled with being unable to head directly to the hospital, but he knows that we may not have a chance to eat again soon.
"Javier, where will you be staying?"
"Javier can stay in Tank's apartment," Ranger responds. Javier is a little surprised. He always stays in the penthouse with Ranger. I know there are three bedrooms here, as opposed to his one in Trenton. I guess that means that he is planning on making a move with Beautiful.
"Marco, get a fob ready for Stephanie. She is to have access to the entire building. Also, assign a vehicle to her. I want her to be able to come and go as she pleases while we are here."
"No problem. I'll have it up to your apartment within the half hour. Do you need anything else?"
"Do you have an update for me?" Ranger asks.
"No. Rita is freezing us out. We're lucky we can have Julie's guard on her door. Rocco and Tommy had to promise not to interact with Julie for her not to have them removed. She's hell-bent on keeping you from your daughter."
Ranger sighs, looking at his brother. "Javier, start the paperwork. I need to get my parental rights back. Try to get a copy of Rachel's Will. I'm not sure what the terms were or if she changed them recently."
"Ranger, I'm not sure if she did it yet, but Rita was talking about getting a restraining order against you to keep you away from Julie. In her mind, you are the reason Ron and his family are dead." Marco responds.
"Fuck. I'll deal with her when we get there. Babe, I may need you to run interference. I know that there isn't a lot of love lost between Rachel and me, but Rachel always spoke highly of you, especially after Scrog. I know that Julie credits you with her keeping her cool. If she blocks me, she may allow you. Rachel hated Lester, which means Rita won't be too accommodating to him either."
"I'll do my best, Ranger," Steph replies.
We head to the elevator and go to the ninth floor. The Miami building is bigger than Trenton. The first floor is made up of our lobby, two small conference rooms, and a security store. We sell cameras, lights, and other security needs from that store. We make a killing here in sales. On the second floor, we have our gym and medical suite. The third and fourth floors are employee apartments, with the third floor consisting of one-room and studio apartments and our fourth-floor two-bedroom apartments. The fifth floor houses our sales and research departments. The sixth floor is our control room, executive offices, and conference rooms. There is a breakroom on both the fifth and sixth floors. The seventh-floor has the employee kitchen, laundry room, and game room, along with my apartment and Bobby's apartment. The eighth floor has Maggie and Mike's apartments, the Miami Ella and Luis, along with Tank's and Thomas's, Miami's SIC, apartments. The ninth floor is Ranger's and Marco's apartments. Miami was originally meant to be our company's headquarters, but than Ranger met Stephanie and the plans changed.
When we arrive at Ranger's penthouse, we all enter. Ranger takes Stephanie and shows her the bedrooms and bathroom, I assume. I guess he's not planning on having her share his bed. Interesting. I wonder how long his restraint is going to last. Then again, knowing Ranger, he won't be here much while Julie's in the hospital.
Maggie brought up a spread of yummy breakfast foods: eggs, sausage, bacon, fruit, cottage cheese, oatmeal, and toast. Beautiful ate everything but the fruit and cottage cheese, which Ranger ate willingly along with the oatmeal. The rest of us had a mix of healthy and unhealthy. I noticed Marco and Javier wince when Stephanie let out a moan of enjoyment. Knowing how Stephanie enjoys her food allowed for Bobby and me to prepare ourselves, so we were able to control ourselves. Ranger looks amused. Once we all ate, Beautiful visited the powder room before we left for Nicklaus Children's Hospital.
Ranger and Stephanie got in his Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster, in black, of course, to head to the hospital. I swear, the look Steph gave that car almost had me blowing my load. Dios, if I could get her to look at me like that, I'd never let her out of my bed. My cousin is a stupid man. I shake my head as Bobby, Javier, and I climb into one of the Rangeman SUVs. Marco has Nitro follow us in another SUV, in case Javier needs to go to the courthouse. Once we start our drive over, Javier starts to talk.
"What is the deal with Ms. Plum and Carlos?"
I sigh, "your stupid, dumb, jackass of a brother is in love with Beautiful, and she is in love with him, but the two of them are too blind to see what's right in front of their faces. They dance around each other, while Carlos constantly tells her he loves her with qualifiers, like "I love you in my way," and "I don't do stupid things like marriage, but a condom may come in handy." She, on the other hand, is involved in this toxic on-again and off-again relationship with a detective with the TPD who wants her barefoot and pregnant, taking care of house and home. He belittles her at every chance he gets, publicly, while calling her stupid, incompetent, and then claiming to love her. Steph was by the cop's house this morning when we went to get her. She was wearing Ranger's shirt, in the cop's bed.
"Meanwhile, he has about four or five side pieces that we know of but accuses Steph of cheating on him with Carlos. I think both are scared to admit their feelings for each other because they are afraid the other will reject them." I tell Javier.
"From the way that she looks at Carlos; she cares deeply for him. I haven't seen him act tender to anyone outside of our family or Julie. The way he carried her to the bedroom on the plane is the perfect example. Stephanie seems like she's a great woman. I don't know why my brother is so stupid."
"Rachel. She is the reason he is the way he is today." Bobby replies.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Rachel destroyed his trust in women. Rachel wasn't a one-night stand. They were dating for about a year. Carlos hid Rachel because he didn't want to share her with us. The night that they conceived Julie, he proposed to her. She accepted. Then, once she found out she was pregnant, she told Carlos they needed to marry immediately. Carlos was shocked because he wore a condom each time. She provided them. Plus, she told him she was on the pill. That wasn't the first time they ever had sex. Carlos later discovered that she put holes in the condoms, wanting to get knocked up. She knew he wanted to be a Ranger and knew he wouldn't be around much. She figured she would have his kid, let him support her, while she fucked around with other men. He caught her screwing Jackson in their home. That's why they divorced. When she found Ron, she told Carlos that if he didn't give up Julie, she would accuse him of rape. You know how Carlos can be rough, especially when he loses control. Well, she took pictures of herself after a consensual rough session and had a rape kit done, but never said who screwed her. The accusation would have destroyed his career. She blackmailed him. It was after that day that he swore off falling in love."
"Fuck. That explains a lot. Javier, could Rachel have evidence of the 'rape' somewhere that could keep him from getting Julie back?" I ask.
"It's possible, but I doubt it. I'm glad I know that. It's good evidence against Rachel, and in turn, Rita."
We arrived at the hospital, pulling up to the main entrance. Nitro parked the SUV, then retrieved Ranger's keys to park the Lamborghini. We entered the hospital together and immediately went to the ICU, to see Julie. We found Rocco and Tommy standing outside her room, and Rita inside with her. Bobby left to find the doctor to get some information. Rangeman has donated a lot of money to this hospital, so we should be able to get the information we need, even with Rita blocking our moves. Once Rita sees Carlos and me, she comes storming out of Julie's room.
"What are you doing here. You have no right to see my niece. Get out of here and take your goons with you. I swear, I will have you all arrested for harassment."
Stephanie bravely steps forward. "You must be Ron's sister, Rita. Julie has told me so much about you. I'm Stephanie. I'm the one who was with her when Scrog kidnapped her. We talk almost every other day. I'm so very sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how horrible you must be feeling right now. I don't know what I would do if I got the call that someone killed my sister, her husband, and my nieces one night. I was wondering if I could see Julie."
I see Rita's face soften. She holds no ill will towards Stephanie, thankfully.
"Julie speaks highly of you, Stephanie. It seems she considers you a confidant. I have no problem with you visiting with Julie."
"Will you accompany me?" Steph asks. I'm wondering what she's up to, but if anyone can get Ranger in that room, it will be Beautiful. We watch them enter, and I see Steph take a deep breath. She takes Julie's hand and speaks to her. I'm not sure what she is saying. Finally, I see her talking to Rita. The conversation seems to get animated before I see Rita sigh. She doesn't look happy, but it seems that Stephanie has won the battle. They both exit the room.
"Ranger, you may visit with Julie. You have twenty minutes." Steph tells him. She lets him walk past her, but he takes her hand to bring her in with him. Rita looks at their joined hands.
"I'm not happy that he brought his whore here to see his daughter. Today will be the last time that I will allow him to be with my niece. If it weren't for him, my brother and the rest of his family would still be alive." Rita states.
"Mrs. Komer, do you have a copy of Rachel's Will regarding Julie's custody?" Javier asks her.
"I do, but I don't know why it is any of your business what her Will states," Rita responds.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Javier Manoso; I'm Carlos' brother and attorney. I need to look over the paperwork to make sure everything is in order, for Julie's sake."
I see Rita starting to get angry, but she produces the document. "Here is a copy for you. I figure he would want to see a copy of it, not believing me."
"Thank you," Javier replied. He took the document and scanned the first few pages before stopping at the custody section. By the time he finished reading, he had a ghost of a smile on his face. I know that was good news for Ranger. "Well, Lester, I'm going to head back to HQ. It seems everything is in order here. Tell my brother I'll call him later."
I knew he was heading to court, and that Ranger will have his daughter back before long. Right after Javier left, Stephanie walked out of the room, giving Ranger some time alone with his daughter. I see the tears brimming her eyes and know that she needs a break for herself. I wrap my arms around her, and she allows some tears to fall.
"Shh, Querida, it's okay. You can let it out. You don't need to hold it in, not from me, not from Ranger."
"No, Lester, you're wrong. He's holding on by a thread. I've never seen him vulnerable before; it scares me."
"I have, Beautiful."
"When, Lester?"
"Every time you are in trouble. You know Ranger loves you, right?"
"Yeah, Lester, I know. In his way. With condoms, not a ring. Les, I can't do casual sex. It's all or nothing. I don't need a marriage certificate, but I need a commitment. I need exclusivity."
"And you think you have that with Morelli?"
"No, I know I don't," Steph responds.
"Then why are still with him?" I ask.
"Because I don't love him enough for my heart to break. I can't take another rejection from Ranger. It would kill me, Les." I sigh. Damn it, Carlos, what have you done?