Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine.

Spoilers:Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

This is an AU story, with a mix of characters in canon as well.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest, as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as beta on this one. I appreciate all your help. I'd also like to thank Vanessa Loor for translating my English into Spanish. Any mistakes are mine.

A/N: I ask for your patience in allowing me to develop the story. I guarantee the end result will turn out if you can just keep believing.

Chapter 10: More Company Coming

Lester's POV:

I carried Bree back to her room, laid her on the bed, and then moved to the chair in the corner, where it was darkest. I sat there watching her sleep peacefully, I felt a tug, as if something had taken hold of my heart and gently squeezed. Although Bree was a beautiful young lady, these feelings I had for her were much the same as most guys would have for their best friend's kid sister. However, the protective feelings were magnified.

I relaxed in the chair, crossed my right ankle over my left knee, and leaned back in the chair. My elbows rested on the arms of the chair and my hands met in front of me with my fingers steepled.

As I sat there, my mind wandered back to that day in the park. From what Bree had said, I wasn't the only one that'd been given an injection that day. I knew what happened to Ranger and me that day was related to whatever we were dealing with now; I just didn't know how that worked into the overall picture. It puzzled me is that Bree had seen Ranger get the injection with the needle and she knew the three-year-old with him was also injected, yet she didn't say it was me. I wondered why that was.

My thoughts went to the day when Ranger told us he was joining the Army. While everyone was saying how proud they were of him, my only thought was that I was glad he'd waited till I was old enough to join as well. I could watch his back. Ranger had initially tried to talk me out of joining too, but I'd told him I was going to join whether he liked it or not.

The look in his eyes as they'd met mine had given me a really weird vibe, like he had an ulterior motive for joining. It was at the end of basic training that I found out the reason he'd joined up. We'd had a two-week window before we had to go back to Fort Bragg. Ranger had said he needed to check in with Abuela Rosa before coming to see his parents, so I'd agreed to let them know he would be there in a couple of days. When he finally showed up, Abuela was with him, and so was a lovely redhead he'd called Rachel. Ranger had explained that Rachel was pregnant and he was going to marry her before we went back. He'd gotten permission from the powers that be before our leave started.

I stood beside him as he'd said his vows, and although I'd had the feeling it was going to turn out bad, I'd kept my mouth shut. I'd known he would've married her anyway. She'd been carrying his baby. There'd been no way of getting around that. When the time for us to return to base came, Rachel had moved in with Ranger's parents and we headed back to Fort Bragg.

Our first deployment, Ranger and I had been sent overseas. When we'd returned fifteen months later, he'd finally gotten to meet his six-month-old daughter. It had been love at first sight, and from that moment on, Ranger had made sure his daughter had everything she might possibly need.

We'd both tagged for Ranger training, and not long after that, we'd gone through Seal and Delta Force training as well. When our stint was coming to a close, we'd both signed up for another four years, which had made Rachel furious. She'd wanted Ranger to get out of the service and get a high-paying job so they could start living the good life.

Once she'd realized Ranger had his own agenda, she'd filed for divorce and had taken Julie with her. I'd always known that Ranger would have been okay with her leaving if she hadn't taken Julie with her. What's more, she'd told Ranger that Julie wasn't his daughter. Two years of legal battles later, Ranger knew Julie was his daughter beyond a shadow of a doubt. But that didn't mean Rachel had any plans of sharing Julie with him.

Rachel had done everything she could to keep him away from his daughter, including putting a contract out on him. When Ranger had taken out the gunman and the family that had accepted the contract, it'd sent a clear message to anyone else who might think they'd make some easy money by taking him out.

I smiled as I remembered the look on Rachel's face when Ranger and I had walked into her house. We'd gotten everything on tape, and Ranger told her the next time she tried anything, he would take the tape to the district attorney and she could tell her story to them.

Although she'd made things difficult, from then on, she did grudgingly let Julie see her dad. When we left the Army at the end of our tour, we moved to Miami and started Rangeman, so Ranger could be close to Julie. It wasn't long after that she was kidnapped by an old enemy. Once we got her back, Ranger agreed to move to Trenton to protect her.

That's when we'd moved to Trenton and set up shop, leaving a buddy from the Army, by the name of Ghost Talker, in charge of Rangeman Miami. Of course, when Rachel told Ranger ten months ago that she was getting married and moving to Germany, he'd been devastated at losing contact with his daughter.

A few hours before Ranger left on his last mission, we'd learned Rachel hadn't learned her lesson from the first time she'd sent someone after Ranger. Rachel had somehow found out about the Columbian family we'd shut down, and she contacted them. So when the message came in about Micha, Ranger had had reason not to trust the source.

I was brought back to the present by movement on the bed. Bree turned in my direction, opening her beautiful eyes. She sat up suddenly and looked around, stilling when she saw me, and then she seemed to relax.

I remained where I was and grinned at her, "You finally decide to wake up, did you?"

Bree rolled her eyes and said, "Not much choice. I'm starving. What are the chances of us getting something to eat?"

"I'd say they're pretty good, since we have Alexander's cooks and wait staff here."

She stilled and tilted her head for a moment before asking, "You mean they aren't Rangeman employees?"

I shook my head. "No. We don't hire for those positions."

I watched as Bree's look turned to one of questioning. Her eyes didn't look exactly focused, and just as I was going to say something, she blinked and it looked as if her eyes were fully focused once more. She turned to me, a serious expression on her face as she said, "Someone is not what they portray. There's a traitor among us."

I was instantly on my feet, even as I asked, "Do you know who it is?"

She paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. But I'm not sure whether he's Delies's follower or Darrow's."

I held out my hand to her, and she placed her small hand in mine. We headed out to the great room, where I knew everyone would be gathering to wait for the meal. Sure enough, when we got there, everyone else was already waiting.

Stephanie made her way over to us and hugged Bree to her. I knew Bree was telling her what she'd just told me. Stephanie nodded, and after she released Bree, she made her way back over to where Ranger was standing. I watched as she stretched up to kiss him before moving away enough to whisper something to him.

Ranger sent a look my way through lowered eyelids, and I carefully nodded. Our gazes locked, and I could swear I heard him telling me to stay with Bree so she could tell us who it was.

I nodded and leaned down to Bree, saying, "Ranger would like you to point out this person to us."

She looked up at me for a moment, and then her eyes widened and she started laughing. I turned to Ranger and could see the puzzled expression he wore, then wondered if my expression was the same as his. I was getting ready to ask Bree what was wrong, when she turned to Stephanie.

"Did you bring the ear plugs?"

Stephanie's eye widened as she replied, "I didn't think we'd need them since Grandma stayed behind in Trenton."

Bree giggled and shook her head. "Binkie's wishing the same thing. It seems your grandma was at a viewing for Stanley Flatman, and she wasn't too happy with it being a closed casket. She took a butter knife to jimmy the casket open, and when Stanley's widow saw what she was doing, she tackled your grandma. The two of them got to rolling around on the floor, fighting. Con Stiva walked over to separate them, and when he grabbed your grandma by the arm, she cried out, as if she was in pain. Sally Sweet happened to be there and decided to step in. He swung his purse and coldcocked Stiva in the head and knocked him out."

I couldn't help but smile at the twinkle in her eyes as she went on to say, "When Con went down, the widow and your grandma went back to wrestling. When the police arrived and tried to stop them, there was a lot of swearing and arguing, and when everything was settled, Mrs. Flatman was arrested for indecent exposure and your grandma was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Apparently, Binkie was given the task of making sure your grandma was safe, so he went and arranged bail for her. The only way the police would release her was if Binkie could guarantee that your grandma wouldn't skip bail. That was the stipulation the bonds office gave for putting up bail. None of them wanted to try to bring her in."

Her grin was infectious as I listened to her continue. "Binkie checked with Rodriguez and got permission to bring your grandma here. When he told them at the police station that he would personally keep her with him and bring her for her court date, they agreed. Apparently, your grandma has been a little frisky on the drive here, and Binkie doesn't have any armor against her."

When I looked from Bree to Stephanie, I saw humor in their eyes.

I thought I heard Micha say, "Poor bastard didn't know what he was in for."

I had an idea that we were in for visitors to liven up an already lively time. I turned to Ranger, seeing the glint in his eyes that let me know he was looking forward to the excitement to come.