Ashley POV
Hi, I'm Ashley Eliza Whitaker. I'm 18 years old, 5'3", dyed hair, and green eyes. I'm a senior in high school taking advanced classes with a year of college credit under my belt. I spend my time studying, working, and shooting photography to save for my future. I have four sisters and five brothers of miscellaneous ages living with myself and my parents in our house outside of Princeton, New Jersey. I love cars, and I have four vehicles: A midnight blue Ferrari 458-birthday present from my father, a red-on-black Ram 3500-my 'work truck' that I use to get the chores done, and a Dodge Dart painted black-on-yellow-my 'play car' that I take wherever, and a indigo blue Hyundai Sonata- my commuter car that I drive most often.
My parents are nearly never home, always off somewhere travelling and enjoying life, so we have four nannies that see to us during the school year. They send us all a monthly check for making good grades, keeping up with chores, an allowance, kind of. Most guys didn't want me, they wanted my money.
A small smile graces my lips as I listen to Mark tell me about… something. Honestly, I couldn't care less what he's talking about. Its 3am and we're on monitor duty at Rangeman. The only good thing that comes of this is that we get paid overtime. I am currently laying across his lap on the couch in the Control Room, watching the monitors and half-listening to him talk.
"Where's Kyle?" I ask sleepily, the thought just now hitting me. I haven't seen Kyle or Jake for two or three days, but honestly I've been asleep most of the time. I'd been called out to help with a photography project in Maine shortly after Cami was released, and I've been crashing at Mark's apartment in Princeton since. My parents where god-knows-where, and my siblings could restrain from burning the house down for a couple weeks at a time.
"Kyle is in Virginia with Cami, and Jake is with Harmony retrieving the new car from Tallahassee for the team." Mark mumbled, gently running his hand up my bare thigh.
"Ahh." I respond. "It doesn't bother you that I hang out in my underwear?" I question, glancing at my braless-self dressed in boy shorts and a tank top.
"Not really, should it?" He laughed, explaining "I grew up with three sisters plus Kyle's sister, Jasmine. I'm pretty used to beautiful women hanging around in little clothing."
"Well, this is adorable" Harmony flounced in, flopping in the chair across the room. "What time is it? I'm hungry. I want food. Do you want food? You don't want food. Be right back…." And she was gone. Jake came in as she left, glancing over his shoulder as she passed him. "That girl has a fantastic-"He looked up and saw me and cut his sentence short.
"Fantastic what? You can say it, I'll probably agree." I said.
"A fantastic ass." He finished nervously.
I nodded with agreement and added "not a bad rack, either" Mark nearly chocked on his water, and Jake looked like a deer in headlights. "Can't say it's not true." I shrugged. Mark chuckled and leaned down to kiss me. I deepened the kiss and right as we were coming up for air, I heard an alarm go off. We cursed and jumped off the couch, sitting at the control panel to determine what had happened. There was a robbery attempt at a client's house, and we needed to dispatch three units immediately. I started calling guys in while Mark arranged for Jake and Ram to coordinate with the police department.
"You gonna put some pants on?" Mark laughed.
"It wasn't in the plans" I smiled and rolled backwards, picking up my yoga pants and pulling them on.
"Ashley, come brief us, would you?" I heard Lester ask from my right side in the 'war room' where we kept everything that would be needed in exactly this situation.
"The Bellagio's account has been compromised on the west side, they used a small bomb to blow a hole in the wall. You currently have ten minutes and counting before police arrive at the scene" I said in my usual trained manner. I've done this hundreds of times before, we all have. The guys were busy pulling vests over their head, strapping on guns, radios, first aid kits, and gloves. "They have made it to the safe room and are awaiting retrieval." And with that the first team was gone. I had thirty seconds before the next team got in, so I quickly took stock of what they left behind and started replenishing the room for the next team. The next team walked in, and I repeated the speech, but adding on where to position the sniper of the group, Bones. They left and I walked back to the control room, snagging a pistol from a shelf and tucking it in my waistband. It wasn't uncommon for me to get called out to the field after for documenting the evidence, and I had learned to take a gun and ask questions later when it came to the field.
The control room was now flooded with people, all swarming around the monitors and talking to the two teams dispatched. I slipped to the bathroom to change my pants and put on some shoes and a bra, and when I returned I squeezed back to my chair, setting the pistol on the counter. I sat back and studied it, knowing I was out of my league to try and coordinate the teams. The pistol was engraved with "RANGEMAN SECURITY #1472" on the frame and slide in gray ink contrasting the black color.
"ASHLEY!" I heard screamed. I quickly tucked the pistol back into my waistband and reached under the counter to grab my camera case.
"Coming!" I yelled back, leaning over and kissing Mark on the cheek quickly before hopping off the platform and jogging out to the elevators, riding with the recovery team of Striker, Cal, and Ranger's daughter, Julie. "Hey Julie!" I greeted as I snatched a set of keys as we were walking from the elevators.
"Hey Ashley, good to see you again" She smiled pleasantly. We stepped into an Expedition and followed Cal and Striker out the gate. "How's my sister?"
"Which one?" I laughed. Julie's dark black hair was pulled back into a ponytail with braids running into it. She wore a pale pink shirt with plain black shorts and combat boots on her feet.
"Cami, of course"
"She's in Virginia with her boyfriend."
"Cami has a boyfriend? I'm scared to ask if dad knows" She smiled, turning onto the Turnpike.
"Yea, they met at the race track, He's a driver there. They're both kinda out of each other's leagues"
"What do you mean?"
"She's innocent and sweet, and he's got drag racing charges and Grand Theft Auto on his record" I sighed. "I guess the redeeming factor is he's Army…"
"Why don't you like him?" She asked me, turning off the turnpike.
"I like him, it's just that I don't think he deserves her- he's even said it to my face" I yawned and shook my head. My phone buzzed and I picked it up to see who was calling me, but it was just an e-mail. I found a photo of him online and showed Julie the picture. It was him, some girl, and Mark, all smiling at something behind and to the left of the camera. They appeared to be at some sort of pond or lake, but I couldn't tell.
"I know that girl" Julie said, examining the picture closer. "Jasmine, Jasmine Lancer."
"What?"
"I met her at an interior decorating seminar. She was there with that guy on her left and another chic. She said something about her brother was a racecar driver and her father had died when she was young, but we only spoke for a minute or two." She shrugged. "Nice girl, though. Pretty. The guy was nice, too, but he didn't say much." We were at the house, so we slid out of the SUV and opened the rear door, pulling bulletproof vests over our heads and grabbing a handful of memory chips and a couple batteries for the cameras. Hearing gunfire, Julie unlocked the safe in the floor of the SUV and handed me a Rangeman-Issue AR15. I slung it over my back and grabbed two extra magazines, sticking them to my vest. We closed the SUV up and walked over to where the second team was hanging around the hood of their car.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Julie asked
"The first group is under fire, Lester has a bullet in his shoulder." Bones explained "I need to be about thirty feet in the air, somewhere back here" he pointed to an area on the map "to get a clean shot. Anywhere else, I'll run the risk of friendly fire."
"There is an oak out about forty yard from the house… would that work?" I heard Stephanie's voice in our earpieces.
"Most likely, although the branches may not be able to support my weight." He responded.
"How much do you weigh, bones?" Bones was 6'5" with red hair, olive skin, and steel grey eyes.
"About 190lbs" He answered.
"The tree is only about forty years old, it's not strong enough for you. Although… Ashley, are you there yet?"
"Yes ma'am" I said.
"You're about 100 pounds, right?" She asked me. I could hear typing and voices in the background
"On a heavy day. I'm normally about 95." Julie snorted and mumbled something about midget. "Shut up Julie."
"Perfect! Bones, give her your rifle. She can get the shot without killing herself." I sighed and went to the back of their SUV, grabbing the rifle from its case.
Bones and I walked down around the house, trying to find this freaking tree. The house was modern, made of cement and glass. When we got to the back, we saw the first team. Lester was holding his shoulder, grimacing. We watched for a second, hiding behind a pillar. When the fire stopped for a moment, my eyes spotted the tree and I plotted a safe course up to it without having to fire. There were two people firing on team one, they appeared to be a man and a woman, holding the owner of the building as a human shield. When they stopped again, I nodded to Bones, sliding down the wall and handing him my AR and camera bag. He took my magazines and I took five bullets for the sniper rifle from him. I held the gun close to my body and stayed low, jogging across to the tall wooden fence. I made my way down to the tree and climbed up the branches, finding a sturdy one and laying the rifle across it. Loading the rifle, I shouldered it and leaned against the trunk of the tree. The scope powered up, glowing orange, then green.
Saying a silent prayer, I aimed and felt my heartbeat. I swallowed and between heartbeats, I pulled the trigger, injuring the man and putting him on the ground. Only having seconds until the woman found me, I re-aimed, this time for the right hip of the woman. I waited, fired, and prayed she wouldn't slit the man's throat before my bullet could reach her.
Everything was in slow motion. The woman fell, I powered the scope down, and watched as the first team went in to apprehend.
There was a sigh of relief when we all met back up at the cars. I was last to arrive, taking my time to let my hands stop shaking with adrenaline. When I got back, the fugitives where locked in the back of the first SUV, and the client was being treated for a minor cut on his throat. Lester spotted me first and yelled to the client "Stop thanking us, it was this girl that saved you!" I smiled a little and raised my voice "I'm not the one with a bullet in my shoulder!" the usual rumble of talking and laughter resumed, and I went to sit in the Expedition until everything was wrapped up. I curled up in the passenger's seat after removing my vest, falling asleep easily.
Once we returned to Rangeman, the first team, myself, and Julie where called into Ranger's office. Tank was standing next to Ranger, so I flopped in a chair in front of his desk.
"First of all, very good job this morning. You all performed excellently. Lester has been taken to the hospital to have the bullet removed, he will return to work next week. Until then, enjoy the rest of your week off. You are dismissed." We went to leave, and he added "And also, nice shot, Ashley."
I smiled with satisfaction. Ranger had always been like a second dad to me since my folks where never around. I remember sleeping with Cami in her bed when I'd come over, waking up at noon and begging Ella for pancakes, and taunting the Rangemen with chips when they were working out. Ranger had taught me to shoot, Stephanie had taught me to drive, and Cami taught me Italian and Spanish. And, if I was completely honest, they were more my family than my actual family.
TBC
Notes
So, I decided to play in Ashley's mind for a while, just for kicks and giggles. I'm trying to divide the 6k monster that is chapter 11 up into three or four different chapters, so it may take some time. Patience.
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