Chapter 9

The next couple of weeks went by quickly for both Ranger and Stephanie. Dr. Benson was happy with Ranger's progress; he was writing in his journal about the mission and his journal with Stephanie seemed to be going well for both of them. They wrote each other daily, with Ranger sending it down to her before she left each day and Stephanie sending it up to him each morning. The evening always ended with a good night text from Stephanie. Ranger wished he could text her back, but he always started his journal entry thanking her for the text. Ranger kept up with his work in the gym every evening after most of the guys left for the night. Dr. Benson had mentioned some changes he thought would be beneficial to the guys from his observations. After all, his cover story was that he was watching the guys.

By the end of the third week, Ranger was going stir crazy. He hadn't been out of the building yet and he needed to go somewhere. He complained to Tank every day and finally, Tank told him that he was working out getting him out for an afternoon. His session that day with Dr. Benson caused some angst for Ranger. He had progressed in his journal as far as he could, but it wasn't the end of the mission. He couldn't remember what happened during the last week he was gone. Something happened at this point and he was getting frustrated by his lack of memory.

Tank came in the apartment after Dr. Benson had left and told Ranger to get ready that he was busting him out of the building for the afternoon. They went straight to the garage without stopping on the 5th floor. They got into the car and Tank started driving. Ranger was lost in his thoughts and didn't realize where they were heading until they were almost there. "Tank, have you lost your mind? This is the last place I need to be right now. "

Tank chuckled as he pulled in the driveway and said, "Your mother has been calling me daily since you won't return her calls. She's worried about you and it's time you sucked it up and see her. I'll be back in two hours. Please don't try to go anywhere else. The house is being watched by some of the guys. I turned it into a training session for the newer guys, they don't know who lives here, just that you are visiting and if you try to run, they will take you down."

Ranger got out of the car and turned around to shoot another glare at Tank. Tank waited until the front door opened and Ranger's mother came out. She waved at Tank as he drove off and threw her arms around Ranger. "Carlos, I've missed you so much. Come inside, we need to talk."

Ranger swallowed the groan in his throat and followed his mother into the house. It was the house he grew up in and once he tried to give his parents a new house and they refused to accept it. He ended up turning it into a safe house for the company since he had already bought it. They loved this house, it's where all of their kids grew up and they never wanted anything else.

He followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the table. She got them something to drink and brought out a plate of cookies. He looked at her and said, "You know I don't eat sweets."

"Carlos, these are healthy cookies. Please try them and I'm sure you'll like them and if there are any left, you can take them back for the boys.

Your father and I have been worried about you. Obviously something happened during your last trip and even though you don't want to talk about it, I think that you need to so we can get this figured out. You are not yourself and haven't come to see us since you came back. You always come and visit us after you've been back and spent some time with Stephanie. She's such a nice girl, you need to marry her."

"Mom, you know I can't talk about my trips for the government. Something did happen but I don't remember what it was, but Bobby found me a doctor that's trying to help me remember. I've made some good progress in the past few weeks and hopefully we get it figured out soon. I was horrible to Stephanie, but we're working to get back to where we were at before my trip. I've told her I love her and want to marry her someday, and hopefully when this is all figured out, she'll still want to be with me. I'm so scared I'll lose her."

"Carlos, if she loves you like you say she does, then you won't lose her. Now, tell me what you and this doctor are doing to get your memory figured out."

Ranger and his mother talked and ate cookies until Tank returned in two hours. Tank knocked on the door and Mrs. Manoso ushered him into the kitchen. She went to the cabinet and pulled out the box of cookies and put more out on the plate. "Mom, you said these were healthy cookies. Do you know how many of these I've eaten in the past two hours? I'll have to work for hours at the gym tonight to burn off all of these empty calories." Tank laughed and shoved another cookie in his mouth.

"Carlos, you need to indulge every so often. You won't die from eating a few cookies."

"Ok, we need to head back to RangeMan now. I'll call you in a few days and let you know what's going on and how everything is going with Stephanie. Tell dad I said hello and I'll try to come back next week."

"Oh, Carlos, I'm so happy you want to come back. Your dad will be happy to know that you're getting help. Now, let me box up these cookies and you can take them with you."

Ranger and Tank left his parent's house and headed back to RangeMan. They were quiet most of the way back. Tank kept looking at the box of cookies that Ranger was holding and grinning at him. "Tank, thanks for making me go today. Talking to my mom helped."

As they pulled into the garage, they phones went off with the emergency code that they put together for Stephanie. 911 – Bomber - 911