Note-smut alert

Chapter 7

Three black Rangeman SUVs were ready to roll in the garage. Bobby rolled up to me in a brand new Dodge Challenger, leaned over and opened the door and said, "get in, sugar. I'm going to take you on this date in style." I smiled and hopped in. My Dad and my brother had loved cars and heavy metal, liked to build them and I secretly had an appreciation too. I loved the old Challengers and anybody would be crazy not to want to ride in this car. I just wish I could drive it.

My dad wouldn't teach me to drive a stick and I would sneak their cars out and taught myself to drive around the neighborhood. I just love switching those gears and having that power in my hands. Bobby said,.."you like?" and I said, "yes I do and the only thing better than riding is driving." He laughed, "this is actually a Rangeman car. You can drive on the way back, sweetheart." I asked about Hal and Bobby said he was doing fine and in a few minutes we were at the bar.

Bobby said, "You okay?" I nodded. "How's your acting skills, sweetheart? You're gonna' have to break my heart in a few minutes." I said, "how about we go with the usual, you cheated on me, I hate you, yada yada yada." Bobby said, "perfect, let's roll." Bobby had a mic and an earpiece. He said, "we are gonna do a 1-2-3 check and ready for go. Ranger 1 go, Ranger 2 go, Ranger 3 yo. Let's Rock and Roll, boys and girls!"

Cal had already radioed that the target, Cullen, was in the bar. A quick eye roll around the room and I recognized him from his photo sitting at the end of the bar. Never in my wildest dreams a couple weeks ago would I have thought that I would be here doing this. Was I just nuts? Bobby grinned and said, "sugar, you just said that out loud." "I guess I'm nervous, huh?" "Okay," he said you ready? You can smack me if you want." I said, "huh? No, whadda' you want me to smack you?" Then I saw by the grin, he was messing with me.

So, I smacked him one and said, "you bastard, I saw you lookin' at that whore. I knew you were cheatin' on me. I'll cut your pecker off, I'll take a fryin pan to your meat head while you sleep, I'll drive your car in the river, I'd rather spend my time watchin' dogs humpin' than spend another minute with you!" Bobby's eyes got big and he said "Damn, sweetheart, I'm outta here", laughing as he went.

I spotted Cal and Woody over by the pool tables and both of them were shaking with laughter. I huffed over to the bar and said "give me a vodka rocks and make it a double." Junior was tending bar so there wasn't anything but water really in the shot glass. I looked over and made eye contact with Cullen. He said to the bartender, "I'll take care of the lady and put some money on the bar." I said, "thanks for the drink." Cullen said, "you can have as many as you want, 'honey'." Gross.

He smiled at me with yellow teeth and cold black eyes. It was all I could do to keep from shivering. I just wanted to get this show on the road and get out. I downed the shots and motioned the sign to keep em' comin'. Cullen scooted over next to me and breathed stink in my face. "I notice you got some fire in you and I like my women fiery." He said, "how about you come home with me and I'll make it worth your while." I said, "fine, let's go." He grabbed my elbow and we walked out the front door and the Merry Men descended on him. They pushed him to the ground, cuffed him and drug him back up to his feet.

Cullen glared steely cold, black eyes at me and smiled. He leaned over and breathed in my scent like an animal would and he said very softly, "I'm gonna' find you, my fine fiery bitch, and I'm gonna fuck you in every hole in your body, then I am going to cut you and break your bones and throw your used up ass to the rats like garbage. But, you be sure and fight hard because that's the way I like it."…. Then Tank plowed his fist into Cullen and he and Ranger dragged him away.

My hair stood up on my arms and I began to shiver. There were no words to describe how cold I was at that moment. Just before my knees gave way, strong arms grabbed me and picked me up and carried me away. Lester put me in the Challenger, got the keys from Bobby and drove me across the river to my apartment in Pennsylvania. I couldn't speak, there were just no words.

Finally, Lester said …"Chopper.. you did great. You did everything right. The entire team is proud of you. What you and Steph do is not an easy job and every man knows it." "Then why am I shaking so hard right now, Lester?" "Because that is what that scum sucker does best, intimidates, beats and abuses and treats women like trash. He needed to be behind bars and you helped him to get there. You should be very proud of what you did." He took my cold hand in his and squeezed it.

When we got to my apartment, Lester took my bag out of the back seat, retrieved the keys and said, "lead the way." We walked in the building, down a hall and I stopped at a door and he opened it, locked it and sat me on the couch. "I'll be right back", he said. I heard water running in the bathtub and in a couple minutes he came to get me. He dropped his utility belt and pulled off my boots.

Then he took my hand and led me to the bathroom, gently removed all of my clothes and guided me into the tub. It was warm and filled with bath salts and smelled so wonderful. I closed my eyes and just held Lester's hand while he sat next to the tub. I was not uncomfortable or nervous about what Lester had just done. It wasn't really sensual. It was surprisingly caring and tender and sweet. It was just another part of his exasperating but oh so special Lester makeup, like his cute butt and radiant smile.

He kissed me after several minutes and said, "I'll be right back. I'm just going to check in." I soaked a bit longer, got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around me and went into my bedroom. I put on a short nightie and panties and crawled into bed. Lester came in, he had found a bottle of tequila, poured me a drink and handed it to me. He said, "it will help you to sleep." I drank it, lay down and closed my eyes. "Lester?".."Yeah".."I'm really glad you're here"…"I know, gorgeous."

I awoke in the middle of the night with that familiar hard body against my back and a warm hand around my waist. I rolled over to face Lester and he opened his sleepy, sexy eyes and he kissed me gently. I kissed him back and put my fingers through his silky hair and held him close. He kissed and suckled my neck and I reached behind my back and pulled my nightie over my head and pressed my bare skin against him. Lester groaned and said, "I can't believe I'm asking this but is this really what you want tonight?"

I said, "Shut up and kiss me, Lester."…"Yes, Ma'am!" And he did…He kissed and suckled me from head to toe and paid attention to everything in between. He was beautiful naked and I mean everything was matched perfect.

When I finally couldn't take any more I said, "stop kissing me, Lester, and put it in", he raised his head and breathed,…"Yes, Ma'am!"... and slid that wonderful thing between his legs into me gently and made love to me with deep slow movements until my toes were curling and I was begging him to move faster.

He whispered in my ear, "This is focus, baby, I learned it in Tai Chi class. Supposed to make the orgasm last longer." I grinned and just held on until I began to feel a wave coming and I closed my eyes. Lester said, "Look at me, Mandy" and reached between us and rubbed my clit and the wave crashed over me and kept crashing over me and Lester shuddered and came and both of us were shaking and quivering and gasping for breath. I felt light-headed, ringing in my ears and white light behind my eyes. I could barely see for a minute and then we just lay there with him still inside of me for a long time.

Finally, Lester said, "I'm probably crushing you and I'm going to roll over now." I didn't want him to go. Lester hugged me to him and said, "That is a first for me. So that's what making love feels like. That's why Carlos never gave up on Steph. They had this. I saw it in them, but I could never really understand it. Wanting one person that much."

I didn't know what to say. This kind of a revelation coming from Lester did shock me. I just couldn't put into words what I was feeling so I didn't say anything. I just hugged him and closed my eyes. In the dark, Lester had a pained look on his face. Then he finally closed his eyes to sleep too.

The next time I opened my eyes, I heard banging and clanging in the kitchen. I got up, put my robe on and headed toward the noise. I rubbed my eyes and there in all his naked glory except for a little pink apron that said "Bake me Happy" was Lester Santos with a frying pan in his hand and a grin. The kitchen was a mess!

"Santos?"..."Yes, Ma'am?" ..."Whatcha' doin'?"..."Making you breakfast, gorgeous.".."You're..never mind", I shook my head. I went to the bathroom to quickly shower and put on some jeans and a t-shirt. Today was moving day and the guys would be here soon.

Just as I was leaving the bedroom the doorbell rang. However, before I got there, Lester wiggled his snarky butt over to the door and swung it wide open. The guys looked at him bug-eyed, Hal's face turned as pink as Lester's apron and then they just busted out into hysterical laughter. They were holdin' onto the door, fallin' in the floor and cryin' laughing so hard…"Shit, Santos..that's a new look for you"…"You are so not right, man." "Yeah, that's a double ditto for me, brother."

I snapped, "Lester!…Who the hell do you think you are?...Listen, Mr. Happy Chef, you might think you're the hostess with the mostest, but you're indecent and you're embarrassin' me!" And that just made the guys laugh harder. "Lester! Get your bare ass into the other room and get dressed now! If you don't move now, I'm gonna' take your fryin' pan and smack you with it!"

I finished the making of the breakfast and the guys joined us for some grub and coffee. They were still holding their chests and wiping tears. "Wait till Ranger hears about this one", Woody said. I gasped "Guys, you wouldn't!" "Oh yeah, we would," Junior chimed. Cal said, "he's so happy to be off the receiving end of this kind of stuff. He loves it!" Oh shit..shit..shit!, I thought. I glared at Lester as he just sat there all puffed up and grinning like a damn fool.

Cal said, "On a more serious note, how you doing today, Chopper?" I said, "I think I'm okay, I guess it being the first time and the shock of Cullen's awful threat just stunned me for a while." Junior said, "That fucker needs to be off the street for good…He's probably even worse than his rap sheet says." That gave me a really cold shiver.

Lester got up to take a call in the other room and I looked at Cal and said, "I'm afraid that if Ranger knows about this he'll fire me. I've only been a part of the team for a couple weeks and I'm an adult I am not gonna' deny what happened here. I'm afraid he'll fire me for bein' a fraternizing floozy. I like my job and I like you guys."

Cal laughed, "listen dollface, he won't fire you. If there is one thing that Ranger knows from his own experience. It's that you can't fight fate."

Hal said, "Chopper, Ranger and Bomber had so many problems they almost didn't make it and they were perfect for each other. The team will defend you if it were to come to that. But it won't." Cal said, "Man, we all knew it was gonna' happen, we just didn't know when. As soon as he met you, his playboy days were over, toots!"

I said, "stupid Lester…If he hadn't busted us doin' his Paula Deen cooking impression featuring Bobby Flay parts, I could have at least maybe got my probationary period in." They all started chuckling again. I put my head on the table thinking this is gonna' be bad, bad, bad.

It took us most of the day to get moved to Steph's apartment. We had to make a couple trips in the truck and the guys were working fast trying to help get me unpacked too. I told the guys that anybody who was not working that night would get pizza and beer on me. "We can watch a movie, chick flick or…..We can play poker", I said. All heads were shaking, nope, uh uh, chick flick is good. Junior gave me a peck on the cheek and had to report for work. A few minutes after I ordered the pizza, I told the guys I was gonna' go around the corner and make a beer and snack run. They were talking sports and cars when I left.

There was a liquor store and market a couple blocks away. I went into the market first and got some chips, pretzels popcorn and soda. Next door I grabbed the beer. I came out of the liquor store, opened the back door of my car to put the bags in and was suddenly pushed from behind and before I could react something hard crashed down on the back of my head and everything went black.

Lester's POV

About 30 minutes after Mandy left my phone rang. It was Ranger,…"Yo"…

"Santos, I don't know how yet but Cullen got out on bail again today and somebody paid big bucks to do it. We need to put Amanda on lock down now. We don't want to take a chance on him finding her and making good on his threat. Pack her a bag and bring her to Rangeman as quick as you can. Maybe we should let Steph tell her about Cullen when she gets here. She's been through this stuff enough times."

I was trained like everybody else to go on emotional lock down and do the job. But, I swear I had never felt the cold fear of dread until this moment in my life. I told the team the news, told Cal to come with me and Hal and Woody to stay in the apartment in case Mandy came back. We drove down the block to the grocery and liquor store and I showed both cashiers her picture that I had downloaded to my phone off Rangeman's files. The young grocery clerk didn't remember her but the owner of the liquor store did and he said that she had been there about 15 minutes or more before we arrived. I called Hal at the apartment and he said she had still not returned.

I rubbed my hands down my face and called Ranger…."Report!"..."I think she's in trouble Ranger. Please tell me we put GPS on her car already?"..."No..we messed up…I messed up." "Leave a man at her apartment and start riding. We are going to send you another vehicle and we are going to start beating the bushes. Lester, I think she has a chance even without weapons. She is a weapon and she is strong like Steph. Stay focused, do the job", Ranger said.

Amanda's POV

I awoke with a blinding headache and I couldn't see. I was shivering and then with dread I realized that I was naked. I felt like I was blindfolded with what felt like tape and my hands were taped painfully behind my back. My legs were free but if I couldn't see my attacker, I couldn't use them to defend myself very well. I was sitting on a small cot or bed and my feet were touching concrete. I couldn't make out many distinguishable sounds. I thought maybe I might be in a basement or warehouse.

This was not good and I was trying my best not to just sink into the panic paralysis that I knew could get me killed. Who did this to me? I didn't feel like I had been raped already. I had to think positive about maybe having a chance to get away and by now Lester and the team would know something was wrong and start looking for me. Then, I heard a door open and a voice that I hoped I would never ever hear again. I started to shiver.

"Hello, honey"…"Did you miss me?", "This was meant to be, I'll be damned if you didn't just fall right on my dick. You look better naked than I ever dreamed you would, bitch. Do you remember my promise? Now, I'm going fuck you to death and then I'm going to break you like a Barbie doll and throw you to the vermin. Open wide cunt. Oh, and you can scream all you want, because that's the way I like it too."

I wished that I had said something back to Lester last night when he opened his heart and whispered to me. I felt it too, I was just afraid to say it. He didn't know me for that long. I hope he finds someone to love him like last night. Then I made my peace with God, reached down deep and pulled my strength into my legs and waited.

Lester's POV

We had tracked Mandy's phone last night to an alley not far from where she was probably taken. Her bag and contents were dumped and scattered on the ground. We didn't find her car.

At 9:35AM, a call went out on the police scanner requesting EMT, police backup and homicide, to a scene. The address was an abandoned apartment building on Stark Street.

Stark Street was bad, pimps, gangs and thugs. The perfect place to commit a brutal crime.

I turned the car around to speed to the location and then I braked and pulled over. I didn't know if I could see this and keep my sanity. I didn't know if anything would ever be right again.

Cal rubbed my shoulder, got out of the vehicle and called Ranger…."Report!", "Boss, did you hear the scan?".."Headed there now"…"Lester has shut down". "Drive him back to headquarters and knock him out"…."Understood."

TBC-

I apologize if I caused tears...