Stephanie was on edge when they pulled up to a nice suburban home in a comfortable neighborhood. Eduardo clicked the garage opener and idled in the driveway before pulling into the garage. Stephanie followed Eduardo and Minardi into the kitchen of the home. Jamie and KT were behind her and she felt truly trapped and they moved single file into a dining room.
"Have a seat," Minardi instructed moving to one side, giving her full view of the room. She looked up to see Ranger, Tank and Rey sitting the table and could not hold back a small squeal filled with both delight and fear. For so long she'd been telling herself she would see him again not completely convinced she ever would.
"Can I?" she whispered to KT, "I have to." KT nodded and she ran around the table as Ranger stood and threw herself into his arms burying her head in his neck. He held her a little tighter than was natural and it hurt but felt so good and safe. She needed to stay with him, to be able to reach out and touch him because when she touched him, she knew everything would be okay. Someone coughed and she and Ranger pulled apart. Stephanie could see the strain on his face so kept his hand in hers and she slid into the chair next to him hoping that no one would object. No one did.
"Manoso," Minardi began, "If you've decided that now you're reunited with the lovely Stephanie, you and your mountainous sidekick can take her out of her, she will be dead before either of you have a chance to get upright. He nodded to a massive cold air return grate. The revelation was not one to Ranger, he'd spotted a glint off of a rifle sight in the cold air return the moment they'd walked into the room and dealing with that particular problem would be easy when and if the time came. He knew that whatever happened, he wasn't leaving without Stephanie.
"The file I sent you, my goal is to show you that I'm willing to make peace to get back at a greater enemy." Minardi said.
" Tony Collins." Ranger said.
"Of course."
"Why give the file to me," Ranger asked. "Why not just turn it over to the FBI?"
"They know what he does," Minardi explained, "They sanction what he does. The extreme torture of prisoners that he carries out. Did you read through the Thai documents that I sent? I know you read Thai." Ranger nodded and Stephanie stared at him in surprise. Minardi chuckled.
"How well do you know Manoso, Ms. Plum. You speak and read 12 languages fluently?" he asked.
"16," Ranger said flatly.
"You've been busy since we last met," Minardi laughed. "The Thai documents, did you read them?"
"Of course," Ranger said feeling sick at the thought of the police reports and attached pictures of little mutilated and burned bodies.
"The Thai prostitutes he tortured and killed for fun. The FBI will turn away from that but not the people you know. The people you know will help me do what I need to do which is to eliminate this threat."
"I saw the pictures of your brother…" Ranger began.
"You were meant to see them."
"Really, you just want Collins dead." Ranger completed. Minardi laughed again.
"Of course, I want him dead. I also want my brother back. Do you know what happens to horses when the break their legs in a race?" He asked. Ranger stayed silent fearing where Minardi was going with this. "No? The other racers gather around the horse to shield him from the crowd while the rider, the person who most cares for the animal, has sympathy on him and ends his misery."
"You want to end Paul's misery and you want me to help," Ranger said.
"Exactly," Minardi confirmed. "I know that when you took him in you believed in the law but the law has not treated him in a just way. I love him. I need to end this for him."
Ranger sat silent, not sure if he had underestimated Minardi's insanity or if Minardi was the one thinking most clearly. He squeezed Stephanie's hand a bit tighter to let her know that everything would be okay.