A/N: Thank you so much for all the kind words and reviews. I really appreciate all your enthusiasm. You guys are the best
Please note: This chapter is unedited, my beta Fredda (Rangegirl1234) was ill and is just catching up, but since I had this written, I wanted to post it.
Things I didn't know, I googled, so if you find obvious errors, they are all mine.
Chapter 12 The Aftermath
Carlos picked up the intercom and buzzed once, Ella answered and he told her where we were. It was going to be a long ride into Trenton with everything that was going on in my head. Wonder if we'd pick up a few wifi hotspots on the way so I'd be able to Google while Ella drove. I didn't want to be rude, but I wanted to at least get a mental picture of what Carlos was talking about.
"Stephanie...Babe, when you're in Trenton, can you drop your phone off with Hector? I want him to see if he can figure out who texted that image to you?"
"Yeah, Ok. Ella mentioned that she needed to stop at Rangeman before we head to the hospital, so while she goes to six, I'll stop off at five and look for Hector."
"Ask him to set you up with an iPhone and an iPad too, he can give you the same phone number, but he's created some custom apps that won't work on your phone and I want you to have access to them. He can show you how to run them...it won't take long."
"I think I'd like to stop off at my parents' house for a few minutes too...let them know that I'm ok. The last conversation I had with my mother was disturbing and I want to make sure she's off the Joe thing. Maybe either Hal or Sybo can take me, I feel all out of sorts not having a car."
"Babe, you can take the Mercedes if you'd rather drive yourself."
"Thank you but I'm still a little shaken up about things, not sure I should be driving." And I wanted to be able to Google without getting into an accident.
"Dear, are you ready?" Ella's voice broke my train of thought.
"I'll be right there, two seconds." I called back, as I took Carlos' hands in mine and leaned into him to kiss him goodbye. "I'll be back in a few hours, is there anything you want me to pick up for you?" I asked, looking into his eyes and holding his gaze.
He pulled me to him and kissed me so softly, so tenderly, I thought I might cry. "No Babe, I just want you back in one piece."
"I'll be in the car," I heard Ella call as I leaned in and kissed Carlos back, almost deciding I really didn't need to go.
We were driving along I-195 chatting a bit about this and that when I decided to see if my laptop had an Internet connection. "Excuse me for a second Ella, I promised Carlos I would look something up for him when I had a good connection and it looks like I have one now," a little lie never hurt anyone.
I was almost panicked to see what would come up when I googled Tantric, so I
just held my breath and typed...a number of articles appeared on page one, but most of them were promotions for the rock band. Scrolling down, I found an article, Tantric Sex for Beginners, so I opened it. Big mistake...this was definitely not for me. Who would want to breathe and channel during sex, sounds like what you'd do when you were all hot and bothered and couldn't do anything about it. Sounds like a way to shut down your feelings, not build on them. Hmmm, maybe I didn't pick the right article...so I went back and opened another. I started reading, and when I got to the part about a female orgasm lasting for 10-15 minutes I was astounded. Is that even possible? And is this what Carlos wanted me to read?
Ella broke my mindless meanderings when she pulled off the highway to take local streets to Rangeman and spoke. "Dear, we're just about there. If you want to stay in the car, I'll just be a few minutes."
"I actually have to see Hector, but Carlos said it wouldn't take long. Should I meet you back at the car?"
"I'll come to Hector's cube when I'm done, there could be a language problem with you two trying to communicate," she smiled at me.
Oh yeah, Hector and I have had that problem before, I don't speak Spanish and his English isn't the best...so I get why I might need Ella as an interpreter. "Thank you Ella," I smiled back, "you probably heard the 'bang' story." Ella nodded sweetly. "I kind of lost my patience that time, it wasn't Hector's fault, he's really a nice guy." Yeah and I kept telling myself the teardrops meant nothing.
Ella and I went our separate ways, I got off the elevator at five and she continued up to her apartment. I found Hector sitting in the control room and nodded to him...he was watching something on one of the monitors, and looked very involved in it. He gave me the universal 'one minute' finger thing and I sat down on one of the guest chairs, opened my laptop and went back to my google search.
I didn't get very far when I heard Hector address me in his broken Spanglish, "Estef, hablé...I speak to Ranger. He want that I take you phone and give you new." Do Hector and I understand each other or what? I simply handed over my phone and he took me to his cubicle and gave me a brand new iPhone and iPad, still in their boxes, although the boxes had been opened...I assumed to so he could set them up. "I show," he said taking the iPhone from me, opening the box, taking it out and turning it on. "I make custom." and he pointed to an icon on the phone. "You touch, turn on. Alphabetical here." And he pointed to a place to type in a name. "Hit run," and he pointed to a 'run' button, "Wait." And he laughed. We both knew these searches take time to run, a lot of time and I think that was Hector's attempt at humor. He then pointed to the iPad still in my hands and said, "Same."
We had successfully communicated all I needed to know, when Ella came down the hall with a couple of shopping bags. "How did you make out?" she asked coming over. "Good...pointing is the same in all languages. Hector showed me exactly what to do. I do have a question for him though, I want to make sure he programmed my new phone with my old number and I'd love if he could sync up all my old contacts too. Ella started speaking in very fast Spanish to Hector...I couldn't even pick out the few words that I knew. I saw Hector nod his head and answer her with a "Sí." Ella turned to me and said, "he says you're all set up." I didn't 100% trust that my contacts were in my new phone, so I turned it on to check...and sure enough they were all there.
"Thank you Hector," I said, "Gracias."
"De nada."
And just as Ella and I turned to head down to her car, the elevator door opened and Lester came out of it. Because I wasn't expecting him back yet, I ran to him and hugged him hello, "Les, what are you doing here? I thought you were still in Orlando chasing down bad guys."
"I just got back...just dropped my bags in my apartment and came up to see what I could find out about Manny."
"Ella and I were just heading over to St. Francis. Bobby's there and would probably know the latest, want to come with us?"
"Yeah, thank you. Give me two minutes to grab a water and see if I can find something left over from breakfast."
"I just put some sandwiches out, there was nothing left but crumbs." Ella jumped in. "Louis is bringing the rest down in about fifteen minutes, why don't you take one of the ones I just made."
How did she have time to make sandwiches? It never amazes me what that woman can do. "Ella, you're a saint," I said when Lester was out of earshot, "those boys wouldn't know which end is up without you."
"Thank you dear, but it's my job. If Louis didn't volunteer to help me today, I wouldn't be able to go over to see Manny...I think we make a good team. Here comes Les, let's get going."
I got in the back seat so I could resume my search in relative privacy while Ella and Les caught up. She really does love them, it's just so cute to watch how she pampers them all. I opened another Tantric article and this one was more explicit. It had pictures of erect penises and vaginas. I hoped Lester didn't turn around...a penis is a penis, no matter what angle you look at it from. I thought about bookmarking it and coming back to it later...it looked like it would give me some of the show and tell, Lula alluded to. And as I was about to do just that, I looked up to see Lester staring at my screen. "Beautiful, what are you reading?"
"I'd try to explain, but you wouldn't understand. It's not what it looks like."
"Looks like a penis to me," Lester blurted out, and with that Ella glanced around to see what we were both looking at, "Oh dear," I heard her explain.
"Beautiful, you can talk to Uncle Lester," he wolf-grinned me.
"Ok, ok, this is going to sound crazy, but I was just researching something."
"Uncle Lester can help you do some research, you don't have to revert to the internet," he eyebrow-waggled before wolf-grinning again.
Fuck...shit, no matter how you looked at it, I was screwed. Caught red handed...and red-faced too. I knew Les wasn't going to give up until I told him something.
"Ok, here's the thing...this is private and I can't talk to you about it."
"Beautiful, are you telling me you don't know what a penis looks like? I would have assumed...you know, you and the boss man, you and the cop, you and your ex, and may be sometime in the future, you and me..."
"Lester! I stopped him, "in your dreams...now that's enough."
"Oh yes, in my dreams," he went on, and I smacked him in the head.
I was hoping he'd let this go, but sometimes Lester doesn't know when to stop. All of a sudden, he reached back and grabbed my laptop out of my hands. "Tantric? Beautiful, is that what your researching? Why didn't you just ask me?"
Oh shit...and Lester had such a big mouth too, pretty soon all of Rangeman were going to know about my Google search. I was so fucked. Then it hit me, I could lie with the best of them, "Well, if you must know, Grandma Mazur asked me about it. I didn't really know much, so I thought I would look it up." There, got it off me. And that is something Grandma would ask about.
Lester wasn't dropping this, "Beautiful, in a nutshell, Tantric are techniques that you use to intensify pleasure during sex. The old 'testes tug'," and he grinned. "I think it's based on Kundalini; but it isn't yoga, at least not the way you think of yoga. Why don't you ask Ranger, he can tell you more, hell, he can probably show you." And my face turned a very unattractive shade of red.
Thankfully, we were just around the corner from St. Francis and maybe this whole conversation would go away once we found Bobby to get an update on Manny's status. Ella parked in the garage and we got a good spot by the entrance...I guess the Rangeman parking karma extended to Rangewomen too.
We went inside the ER entrance and I spotted Bobby right away, so I led the parade right up to him. "Any news?" I asked more forcefully than I usually would.
"Hey Steph, nice to see you too...what ever happened to 'Hi Bobby, how are you?' You're usually not in this kind of a rush."
"I'm sorry, things have been a little tense with Carlos and Tank's court martial and you know, Florida...then that text thing, and now Manny's kidnapping." Not to mention the fact that Lester just had me flustered beyond belief. "You know I always think about you, Bobby."
"Ok, Bombshell, I'll let it slide this time." There was a long pause while he thought about what to say next. "Manny's got a concussion, a few broken ribs, some assorted cuts and bruises and one pretty big incision in the back of his neck where they ripped out the RFID chip. He's getting a CT scan right now just to be sure there are no other injuries that we can't see. I'm worried about the concussion, he's been in and out of consciousness since we brought him in."
"Has Mariella been in to see him? Does she even know you got him out? I bet she's worried sick," I went on and on.
"Stephanie, calm down. What is with you today? Yes, I called her as soon as the ambulance brought him here. She's in the ER with him, that's why I'm out here, they are only letting one of us in with him at a time."
"But you said he's in radiology now? Can I sneak back and see her?"
"You can try but I don't think they'll let you through the double doors."
"I have ways," I told him as I pushed open the door. And I did.
Right inside, I bumped into Elena Perez. She isn't one of the nurses I went to school with, but I knew her pretty well from getting stitched up so many times.
"Stephanie, how are you doing? I haven't seen you in a while, keeping out of trouble?" Actually I felt like I'd been in more trouble lately than I had in all the years of almost monthly visits to this place, but I wasn't going to tell her that. "I guess it's all relevant...I'm good, just wanted to check on my friend Manny Ramos. I think he's in radiology now, but his girlfriend is back there. Ok if I go in?"
"Sure, he's in 3-A, go right on back." I mentally stuck my tongue out at Bobby. Didn't think I'd get in here, did you?
I walked back and saw Mariella slumped in a chair with her hands over her face. I didn't know her all that well, but we'd met a couple of times so I felt ok just walking in. "Hi Mariella."
"Oh hi, Stephanie. How are you?"
"I'm ok, how's Manny? Bobby filled me in and said that they just sent him for a CT scan. Have you had a chance to talk to him?"
She slowly shook her head no. "I know he knew it was me, I could see the recognition in his face, but he hasn't said a word since I got here. I'm worried."
Manny isn't exactly Les when it comes to loquaciousness, but he's not a quiet kind of guy either. I hoped he didn't have a brain injury, or something else that required surgery.
"Is it ok if I stay with you for a while? I'd really like to see how Manny's doing for myself. Lester and Ella are also here...they're outside. I kind of snuck back, but I'll leave and let them come in once Manny's back in the room. Ranger is pretty upset about this too, but you do know why he can't be here, don't you?" Mariella just nodded. I hoped this wasn't going to be too awkward.
Just as I was going over in my head what else I could talk to Mariella about, an orderly brought Manny back into the room. He was awake, but he didn't seem very alert, in fact he looked a little glazed-over. I saw his eyes track to me, so I knew he saw I was in the room, and once the orderly had him back in the bed, I went over and touched his hand.
"Hey, Manny, we've got to stop meeting like this," I tried to joke, referring to the time he was shot and I pretended to be his wife to get in to the ER to see him. Normally he would laugh, but he just sat there looking straight ahead. Damn, this really didn't look good.
"Manny, Lester and Ella are here too, I'm going to take Mariella's pass outside and give it to one of them so we can all say hello. I'm staying at the shore, but I'll try to come back to see you tomorrow, ok?" Manny barely nodded, but I knew he heard me. I squeezed his hand again and bent down to get the pass that Mariella had dropped on the floor with her jacket, kissed her goodbye and walked out.
I guess I looked pretty upset when I came through the doors, because I heard Ella drawn in her breath and purse her lips...a little nervous thing I'd seen her do before when she didn't know what to say.
"Manny's in his room. He's awake, but I've got to warn you, I think he's got a pretty bad concussion, he seems a little out of it." A little? "Someone take this pass, he's in 3-A, I told him we were all here." Ella looked at Lester, who nodded that she should go next. She picked up her shopping bags, took the pass from me and went through the double doors.
"Ok Bobby, give," I said once Ella was out of hearing distance, "what aren't you telling us? Manny's in bad shape."
"We don't know anything at this point. He may have some swelling that's affecting the speech area of his brain, the CT should tell us more. But I do see his eyes tracking and I think that's a good sign. I should be able to get access to his reports but I doubt that scan's been read yet. Well just have to wait."
I was afraid if there was too long a pause Lester might bring up my search again, so I tried to extend the conversation, "Do you think we need to bring in a specialist? Or maybe get him transferred to another hospital that deals with head injuries?"
"I called in the best neurologist I could find, and this the top hospital in the area...I don't think it's a good idea to move him now. The doctor is scheduled to see him this afternoon," Bobby replied. "I'll be here when he arrives, so we should know his assessment pretty much right away."
Bobby's phone vibrated in his pocket just then, and he stepped aside to take the call. I saw him nodding in agreement, then shaking his head violently. Wonder who he was talking to that had him at such odds. I hoped it wasn't Carlos. And as I was musing to myself about who Bobby could be talking to I saw Ella coming back through the double doors, looking very worried.
Lester walked up to her and put his arm around her. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could tell he was trying to comfort her. They sat down in two of the row of chairs that were set out for visitors and continued their conversation. I didn't want to interrupt, but I was wondering if maybe a doctor came in while Ella was with him and maybe she knows something we didn't yet. I guess I have my grandmother's genes when it comes to things like that...the nosy gene and the impatient gene.
I didn't have to wait long though, I saw Ella give Lester her pass and he went through the double doors to Manny. Taking my cue, I walked over and took the seat that Lester just vacated. "Did you learn anything?" I asked her. She shook her head no, then looked at me and took my arm, "Stephanie, I'm not a doctor but something seems seriously wrong to me. Manny barely acknowledged that I was there...and we have always been friendly."
"Bobby just told me that he's bringing in a neurologist to see him this afternoon so we should get a better idea about a prognosis after that. Seeing him like this is very disturbing...I told him I'd try to come back tomorrow but it's going to be hard. Though I do know that if the situation were reversed, he'd come to see me, no matter what."
"Maybe Carlos can take you tomorrow, has he heard anything further from McHugh?"
"I don't think it's a good idea for him to be anywhere near Trenton, the Feds are still looking to arrest him. As long as he's at the Pardo house he's safe, they can't find him. Even if he goes out as Victor Colón, he's putting himself at risk. I would never ask him to do that, I can take the Mercedes."
"Just so you know, when Hal sets up an identity, it's iron clad. Victor Colón lives and breathes as Victor Colón, they could never trace him to Carlos. The Victor Colón on his passport, drivers license, credit cards, even the man who owns the house in Scarsdale looks like Carlos, but is Victor. Did you see his passport picture, I don't know how Hal did it, but it looks like the Victor that Carlos turned himself into...perfectly cut hair, black framed glasses, the drivers license picture too. The only way they'd be able to tell would be by fingerprints and Carlos would never allow them to get close enough to do that."
"So what about Marc Pardo? Does Carlos have all the documentation to be Marc Pardo too? And then who am I? Am I Stephanie Plum, Mrs. Pardo, or Jennifer Colón?"
"I believe he does, I think the house on the shore was purchased by Marc and Samantha Pardo. I'm sure there is documentation for you too."
"How would Hal know to do that, Carlos and I weren't together when the house was bought last summer?"
"You'll have to ask Carlos that, I'm not sure. I just know I saw a deed on the house made out to Marc and Samantha Pardo."
Was I in Carlos' plans all along? Or could any woman have been plugged in as Samantha Pardo? I know he told me the night of the mojito topic that he's cared about me for a very long time and the last couple of days he's told me over and over that he loves me. And I know he loves me, I really can feel it. And I love him too, so what am I so confused about?
I was going over all of this in my mind when I realized Ella was still talking to me.
"Please don't be angry with Carlos dear, you know he's a bit eccentric. He sometimes does things without thinking about the repercussions. I know he cares very much for you. And I know he wouldn't do anything to purposely hurt you."
"I'm sorry, Ella, this is all so new to me, I'm having a hard time processing all I'm hearing. Just a few days ago he told me for the first time that he loves me, then he told me he would like it if I moved in with him, both at the beach house and at Haywood, and that he wants to spend his life with me. How would you feel?" I stopped talking for a second to collect the rest of my thoughts. "Of course I love him too, I realized I did the day he was shot trying to save me and Julie. If anything had happened to him, I don't know what I would have done." I couldn't stop babbling and then the tears started rolling down my cheek. I was making a fool out of myself in front of Ella. Oh God, I must be PMSing.
"It's ok dear, let it out," I heard her say as she rummaged through her bag for the tissue that she put into my hands.
"I'm sorry Ella," I said again, and turned to see Bobby looking at me intently too.
"Steph are you ok?" he said, coming over to us then sitting down on the other side of me.
I just shook my head no, and blew my nose into the tissue before continuing, "I'm sorry Bobby, I'm just a little overwhelmed, not only has all this shit been happening, but on top of it Ranger's been telling me some pretty heavy..."
"So he finally got his head out of his ass?" Bobby interrupted.
I nodded to Bobby and realized I had confessed, not just to Ella, but to Bobby too.
