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Electric 13 Chapter 9

We were able to convince Tank to help us without telling Ranger, but it took a lot to persuade him. I eventually got to him by pointing out the fact that Ranger would be a lot angrier at him if I ended up going on my own without any help, after asking him. That and Lula said she wouldn't put out any more for a month if he didn't help us. I'm not sure I actually believed Lula, but it seemed to work on Tank.

Tank told us to fill him in on when we would be arriving in Miami and he would be sure there was a man waiting for us at the air port. Now we just had to convince Connie to get us two flights and a room in Miami.

"So you two are just planning to fly down to Miami and magically locate Sanchez? Tell me you at least have some sort of plan here," Connie said, not really seeming too thrilled.

"Of course we have a plan," insisted Lula, "we even have back up on this one."

"Is Ranger going with you?" asked Connie

Lula looked at me as to indicate, told you, you should be asking Ranger.

"Ranger can't really get away right now, but we will be getting some help from Rangeman in Miami." It wasn't exactly a lie.

"Ok I'll book the flights and the hotel, but Vinnie will probably insist that I take it out of your cut of the bond."

Our flight was going to leave in three hours, so we went by Lula's place first so she could pack and she called Tank to update him on the way. After that we went to my apartment.

"So what do you plan to do about the fact that Ranger is supposed to be by your place tonight and will obviously realize you ain't home?" asked Lula

"Well I hadn't really decided about that yet. Maybe I could leave him a note or something, "I responded.

"What are you going to say, 'Dear Ranger, I think I might be in love with you, but I too much of a chicken shit white girl to stay around and talk to you about any of this'?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'Sorry I couldn't be here for our meeting, but I had a job that took me out of town. Call you when I get back'" I said looking at her for her reaction.

"Huh. I think you should at least call him. I mean unless you're too scared to even do that."

"I'm not scared!" I said to her, "Look I'll do both. I'll call him on our way to the airport, and I'll leave a note on my door just in case I miss him."

Lula still didn't seem to appreciate my plan, but she didn't argue, so I taped the note to the door of my apartment on the way out and I tried calling him on his cell in the car. Unfortunately, he didn't answer his cell. And I didn't really think it was necessary to leave him a message.

"He didn't answer," I told Lula. "I'll just try calling him again later."

The flight was uneventful and there was a man waiting for us just like Tank had said when we arrived. He was wearing black cargo pants and a black Rangeman shirt, the classic Rangeman uniform. He was about 6'4" and almost as big as Tank. His face had a bit of a boyish look to it and was covered in freckles and his hair was pumpkin orange. He introduced himself as Mike Cameron and said he was there to help us in any way possible.

Mike was driving a black Ford Explorer that appeared to be brand new. He took us to our hotel to check in and then asked us what our mission in Florida was.

Lula and I filled him in on what he done so far to try to locate Jesse and I asked him if I could use a search program to look up the number Paul Bruner had given us.

"I've been told to give you access to any Rangeman equipment you want. I'm even supposed to clear out an apartment for you at Rangeman if you request a place to stay," he said. "I have some search programs that are available on my laptop. One of those should be able to give us an address for this number, or if you need something more in depth we could go to Rangeman."

"Right now I think we would just need an address for this number," I said.

Mike got on his laptop and found us an address. "This call came from the Plaza Beach Hotel in Miami. It's a pretty hi-end place. It looks like the call came from the lobby. Do you want me to take you there?" he asked.

"Not yet," I said. "It's not likely that he would be still hanging in the lobby and we don't even know if he was staying in the hotel. Maybe we should try to locate the person he came to see. His girlfriend thought he might be coming to meet with Richard Alvarado. He supposedly was always getting calls from him and frequently doing some sort of business with him in Miami."

"If Sanchez is in business with Alvarado, it can't be anything good. Alvarado is well known in Miami for his dealings with just about anything illegal," Mike said.

"What you mean like gangs and drugs and shit?" asked Lula.

"I mean like drugs, stealing, prostitution, guns, or anything he can do to make money," answered Mike.

"How come nothing came up on the criminal history check then?" I asked.

"Because he's never been caught, at least not to the point of prosecution, but anyone who has spent any time on the street knows about Alvarado and what he's involved in. I don't think Tank would appreciate me letting you guys get involved in something with Alvarado, at least not without getting more of a team together."

"How come when I asked Ranger about Alvarado he didn't mention any of this?" I asked

"Ranger's not really a talkative guy. He doesn't really share much about what he is thinking unless he is giving you an order. He keeps a lot of things to himself," replied Mike.

No shit I thought.

"Hold on, "said Lula defensively. "It's not like Stephanie is like some nuisance to Ranger. They are like a kind of team, sometimes like lovers. I'm sure he shares all kinds of things with her that he wouldn't just share with one of his employee's."

"Lula!" I said glaring at her. Mike was looking more than a little bit nervous.

"You're Ranger's girl, the one that they always talk about. The one he always threatens the New Jersey team about, saying they better keep her safe. I thought I was just doing some sort of favor for Tank. Does Ranger know you are here?" Mike was starting to get a bit panicky.

I glared at Lula some more, then gave Mike my most convincing reassuring smile. "It's okay Mike. I'm not really Ranger's girl, more like he's my mentor. And no one is going to do anything risky here so there's no need to worry. We're just here to catch Jesse Sanchez and with your help there should be no problems."

"But aren't you like known for getting into trouble. Haven't you blown up over a hundred cars and been threatened dozens of times. Are you telling me that you came down here on this case that might have something to do with Richard Alvarado and Ranger doesn't know about it? And I'm responsible for your safety. Oh shit. I'm totally fucked. Ranger will kill me or at least make me wish I was dead. That guy scares the shit out of me when he's mad. How could Tank get me mixed up in this? We have to go to Rangeman right now and we are going to call Ranger and tell him what is going on."

"Whoa, Mike, slow down," I said. "I'm not going to Rangeman and you are not going to tell Ranger. If you tell Ranger I'll go off and talk to Alvarado on my own and that would probably just make Ranger even madder. So let's just calm down and try to figure out the best way to solve all this and no one is calling Ranger."

"Shit. Look you can't do this to me. I really like this job, and it was really hard to get. You can't put me in this kind of position. I heard what happened that time when you stunned the man in the elevator and he was supposed to keep you from leaving Rangeman. I'm not going to do desk duty and monitors for six months and I'm not going to fight Ranger."

"Okay then let's make a deal, you help us track down Sanchez and I will let you stay with us the whole time and listen to your suggestions about our safety. Give us 48 hours without contacting Ranger. If we haven't got Sanchez by then I'll let you contact him. And either way I'll explain to Ranger that we sort of made you do this," I offered.

"I don't know. Alvarado's a dangerous man. What if you get threatened or hurt, or worse? No I can't risk it," he said shaking his head.

"Look I was serious about leaving you and going on my own. How about if I agree to let you contact him if we get threatened by anyone while trying to locate him?" I offered staring him down.

He stared at me for a long moment. I'm not really sure what he was looking to see, but I didn't budge. "Shit," he said."I know I'm going to regret this. I am timing this from now, you have exactly 48 hours and any threats, even the hint of a threat and we call Ranger"

"Deal" I said sticking out my hand. He shook it while rolling his eyes.

"Ok now what? We still gotta make some sort of a plan here," said Lula. "Plus I'm getting hungry."

"Yeah I'll order us a pizza, then we can talk about an idea I have," Mike said. I was beginning to think he was a kindred spirit.

Over dinner Mike explained that he could call in a contact he had with one of Alvarado's men. He would find out how we could get into a meeting with Alvarado. We would all three meet with Alvarado in Rangeman uniforms. He also insisted that we would all be armed. We would explain the truth to Alvarado. That we were looking for Jesse because he missed court and that we had reason to believe he was in Miami doing business with him. According to Mike, Alvarado was usually more than willing to turn over one of his men to law enforcement to avoid having any negative dealings with them. He would always claim he had no idea of their activities. Apparently Alvarado had no loyalty to the people he did business with.

Mike believed that Alvarado would probably respond one of three ways. He might tell us how to get in touch with Jesse and basically hand him to us, which is what we obviously hoped for. He could threaten us and tell us to stay out, or he might just try to kill us. This is why we were going in armed and dressed in Rangeman gear. Apparently Rangeman had a lot of clout in Miami, and Mike didn't think Alvarado would want to be held responsible for killing three Rangeman employees.

Lula and I agreed to the plan. It's certainly not like we had any alternative plans of our own. Mike really appeared to know his stuff. He suggested that I try to contact Sandy Bruner, while he called his contact to try to get us a meeting. He wanted me to see if she had heard anything else from Jesse and to have her call me if she did hear from him.

"I tried calling Sandy and got her voicemail so I left her a message giving her my cell number," I reported to him.

"Ok," he said,"My guy got us set up for an early lunch meeting with Alvarado. We will be meeting him at 11:00 am. This is good; it's in a public place so he probably won't be trying to kill us at the meeting."

"Great, that means tonight we can see the sites. I bet you got some great clubs here in Miami, let's go out on the town. Or maybe go to the beach or something," suggested Lula. "I'm getting restless."

"No, tonight we keep clear heads and we rest for tomorrow. This is not negotiable. You need to be preparing yourselves for tomorrow. We aren't going into this meeting tired or with a hang over," responded Mike.

"Huh" huffed Lula.

"I'm going to call and have a cot sent up to your room. There's no way I'm leaving you here and letting anything happen on my watch. I'm in enough trouble as it is," said Mike.

We ended up paying for in the room pay-per-view and then turning in that night. The next morning Mike went out to get us donuts and coffee. I really was starting to like this guy.

"Shouldn't you be eating healthy junk and exercising while we eat these donuts? Aren't you worried that this stuff will kill you?" I asked. Hey I'm a curious person.

He looked at me for a minute and then smiled."You really do spend a lot of time with Ranger. I just make sure I exercise enough to keep in shape. And I try to eat something healthy now and then."

Mike had had Rangeman uniforms and loaded utility belts delivered to the hotel room for Lula and me.

"Girl this is the best vacation ever. I've always wanted one of these uniforms. I can keep it right Mike? I'd like to see what Tank thinks about seeing me in one of these. I look like a bad ass," said Lula.

Mike seemed to be a little bit frightened at the thought of Lula seducing Tank in the uniform. "Keep it," he said and I'm pretty sure I saw him shudder.

We left for the restaurant at 10:30 and arrived on time. We decided the night before that I would do most of the talking since I had the most knowledge about Jesse. Lula and Mike would be there acting as back up. We asked for Alvarado's table and learned that he had already arrived. We sat at the square table; I sat across from Alvarado and introduced all three of us.

"So Ms. Plum, what is it that I can do for you?" asked Alvarado very politely.

"We have reason to believe that you have had some recent business with a man we are looking for. Do you know Jesse Sanchez?" I asked. Alvarado did not have any visible reaction to the mention of this name.

"And what is it that you are needing from this Mr. Sanchez?" he asked taking a sip of water.

"Mr. Sanchez was recently released on bond for some charges in Trenton, New Jersey. He was bonded out by Vincent Plum Bail Bonds and failed to appear for court," I explained.

"Ah," he said, "so you are bounty hunters. I suspected this much. I have heard of this Rangeman Company you work for. They are mostly in security, yes?"

I nodded.

"Well, Ms. Plum," he continued, "I regret to inform you that I am unable to help you at this time. I will also tell you that your own security may be at risk if you continue in the pursuit of Mr. Sanchez."

"Are you saying you don't know where Mr. Sanchez is, or just that you won't help us?" I asked.

"I am saying that this meeting is over Ms. Plum. I am a very busy man, so please do not pester me with this ridiculous conversation any longer. I do not like to repeat myself," he said staring at me coldly. "Shall I have my men escort you out?" he asked.

"That won't be necessary," answered Mike and he pulled us up to leave.

"What was that about?" I asked when we were out of ear shot. "We didn't get any answers, I might could of pressed him some more."

"He had already threatened you Steph, we don't want to make him any angrier. This counts by the way. I'm calling in on our deal. We are going to Rangeman and calling Ranger," he said.

I was just about to protest, when I felt a warm, familiar hand on the back of my neck.

"It's a little late for that Cameron"

AN: I am really having a lot of fun writing this. I hope at least some of you are enjoying reading it. Please review and let me know if you want me to keep going. Lissa