Food for thought-
This story is AU. I always write drama and cliff hangers while leaving you with questions on purpose. Then the next chapters fill in the holes. Also, if anyone flings me a question I haven't answered, I'll get it done. The story is written and it is a ride and will have an eventual hea.
Some of you were shocked and a little upset about the last chapter. Fair enough. Let me clear a couple things up. This takes place after JE book seven, at that time she didn't know all the MM that well. In MY story she knows some of the guys who tail her. Her relationships are not that close yet. She doesn't even really know Bobby that well. If you remember, I kept Lester out of the picture. They just mainly know each other through Ranger. Naturally, he would be the one to interrogate her as he is the most far removed. Under attack, he's crazy deadly.
Keep in mind, this is a scenario that Ranger mentions frequently. He has serious enemies. He built his business like a fortress and he is expecting attacks. The top guys are trained black operatives and many of the others are Rangers or Seals. They have now been attacked and Ranger doesn't know who the hell it is or who Hector works for or what they are planning. They are on lockdown and high alert and Stephanie has just shown them that she's now trained and she is on the other side of the fence. You don't think that these men in battle mode are not going to treat her like the enemy? Their training is going to kick in and they are going to do their jobs. Santos's treatment was mild and Hector is alive because of a phone call.
In the next couple chapters, some of your questions will be answered and you'll get snippets of conversations and glimpses through others POV's as to what the men are thinking and feeling and you'll find out exactly what is going on. It's a mess kids and some of these characters are not happy and some are going to be questioning and soul-searching. This is drama gals! I've said it before, you know I don't write them fairy tales!
One reader was a guest who really got what I said above, "Great job on giving the Merry Men a new face and behavior, especially everybody's darling Lester. All this I-don't-hit-women crap... when a threat is there it doesn't matter what gender it has." Thank you reader and thank you to all of my loyal readers that groan and cry and slap their heads and keep reading despite me. LOL
Chapter 12
I sat on the floor humming and singing a dark tune in the cell. It had been eerily quiet and Hector had not stirred one time. Had he died? "Can you hear me, Hector? Please just let me know you're alive." He slowly turned his battered face to me. I wasn't sure if he could talk. "You don't have to speak. Just nod. "Are you hurt really bad?"
He whispered, "Lo siento, mi amor (I'm sorry, my love)." Then he was silent again. I sobbed.
"Hector...don't leave me." He stirred again and tried to open the slits that were his eyes. His voice was just a thin rasp. "You are so special, Estefania. Te amo. I'm so sorry they hurt you because of me. I am with you always." He closed his eyes.
Oh dear God. I'm going to lose my husband. How had my life taken such a horrific turn and so fast? Everything I knew that had been safe and familiar was suddenly in jeopardy and we were both in mortal danger. There was no one to rescue me this time.
Tears mixed with blood were falling down my face. "To think that I was a little mad at you because you stood me up for dinner last night and here you couldn't come home to me because you were being tortured." He opened one of his eyes.
"There is not much that would keep me from you, poco amante (little lover)." His eyes closed and he didn't open them again. I was in a panic and ready to scream until I noticed his chest gently rising and falling.
In a couple hours, a guard opened the door and Bobby came in with his bag.
"Stephanie, come over to the cot and let me look at you."
"Are you going to do the same for Hector?"
"No."
"Then go away."
"Damn it, Stephanie! I had to fight Santos for over an hour to see you. You have a broken finger and a cut that needs attention."
"What difference does it make for you to put me back together and then let Lester kill both of us?"
"Lester is not going to kill you. Make no mistake, this is serious shit. The building has been on lockdown for twenty four hours and the situation upstairs is volatile. The non-military men are nervous, anxious as hell and trigger-happy. I don't know what the fuck we are going to do about this mess, but no one is going to die. Tank is more unhappy about all of this than even I am."
"Well if that's really true, then you can tell Santos that he can kiss my lily white ass and the next set of cojones I attack will be his." I did the looking at you sign with two fingers pointing at my eyes and then back at the camera. "Payback, freaky fucker!"
The corners of his mouth twitched and he said, "Bomber, I am not pouring fuel on an inferno!"
"Do you believe that I betrayed Ranger and Rangeman?"
"I believe that you're more likely guilty of bad judgement."
"Bobby, I wouldn't hurt any of you."
"Bomber, please come here and let me look at you."
I got up off the floor and limped over to the cot and sat down. He took a cloth and ran it under warm water and washed my face. "I'm going to numb this area under your eye and put in a couple sutures." I winced when he stuck the needle in. He snapped an ice pack and rubbed it and placed it gently over my broken pinky finger. That really hurt. He worked quickly putting in the sutures. Then he pulled a splint out of his bag and took the pack off and looked at me.
"This is going to hurt for a couple minutes." I nodded and held my breath.
He pulled on the finger and I screamed in pain. Then he quickly secured the splint and taped it. I was sweating now. "I'm sorry. I had to do that before setting it."
"Can you look at Hector?"
"No."
"Will you let me look at him and at least clean the blood off him?"
"I can't."
"Bobby, Ranger is scary like Lester, isn't he? If I hadn't called, Hector would be dead. I know he would."
"Stephanie...You have no idea how deadly scary they both can be. On a mission, I want them both to have my back. We're highly trained operatives. Do you understand? Ranger has very deadly enemies and there is always the potential for attack. You wonder why he doesn't keep people too close to him? Well, here is a perfect example. I still can't fucking believe how you stumbled into the middle of this one."
"I told Ranger how this happened already. Every time I go snooping, I get more than I bargained for."
"Bomber, that's why we wanted to hire you. Your uncanny instincts."
"Please tell Tank that I know Hector was undercover. I don't know why he was here exactly. He is working on something big. It has something to do with the Latin King gang too. I think he works for the government. He's not one of Ranger's enemies. Someone has to know where he is, right?"
"If he is, he'll have checkpoints. Times and days that he reports. When he misses one, they will look."
"Bobby, thank you." Just then my stomach roared and he laughed.
"I'll have some chow sent down for you." He kissed me on the cheek and left the cell.
A couple hours later, a meal tray was delivered. My stomach had been roaring like a caged tiger. They didn't bring anything for Hector. I took a couple bites and pushed it back. I didn't know how long it had been since Hector had eaten and I needed to try to feed him. The other reason I pushed it back was the fact that there was the toilet and a camera watching the whole room. No way was I going to do my business with male eyeballs watching me. I had already sucked it up and peed one time after my eyeballs had swam for two hours and I couldn't stand the pressure any longer. I made sure to flip the bird to whoever was watching.
"Hector, Hector!" He finally opened his eyes. "Can you try to make it over here. I have food for you. Try to pull that mattress off the cot with you and drag it to the bars. Please try." He nodded.
He groaned in pain as he tried to sit up. He couldn't do it and fell back on the cot. I took a drink of the water and threw the bottle at him through the bars and it landed between his arm and shoulder and he groaned. "I'm sorry. Hector honey, drink the water, please. I picked at the food and sat on the cot chewing my fingernails while watching Hector. I was terrified for him.
Tank came down to the cell the next morning and stopped in front of the bars. "I'm sorry you were hurt, Bomber. We still don't know what to fucking do about this."
"You're sorry. I'm supposed to be your friend. You let freaky Santos torture me!"
"That wasn't my decision and I didn't really condone it. Lester doesn't know you as well as Brown and I do."
"But, Ranger does!" I spat at him.
"I'm very sorry, Bomber..."
"Tank. I love this man and he is the father of my unborn child. Please help him." He rubbed his bald head.
"Aww...Fuck. Why didn't you say something yesterday."
"You mean before Lester tortured me? Duh? I was so upset about everything that happened, I forgot."
Tank opened the door and took my arm and escorted me out and to the elevator. When the elevator doors opened and we walked out, the first person I saw was Hal and his face was whiter than I'd ever seen him and he looked sad and stricken and then he looked away. Tank continued to Ranger's office where Lester and Bobby were waiting. Ranger glared at me from behind his desk. "Sit down!" Lester pushed me down in a chair across from the desk. "Why do you think he works for a government agency?"
"Because I just think he does."
He smirked at me, "And you really believe that and you married the lying wetback?"
I made a point of looking around the room at the men before speaking. "Are you kidding with the name-calling? I married him because I fell in love with him and he treats me with dignity and respect, you bastard!" Had I misjudged this man so completely?
I looked at Ranger. "If he was on the wrong side of the law, I would know and you know I would too. I would sense it and you know my senses are as good or better than my apprehension record!"
"I need proof. I need to know what he was up to in my building regardless of what side he works."
I turned to Tank. "If you'll take me home, I'll search his office and try to find something, anything, a contact. I know he wasn't here to hurt Rangeman." Ranger nodded at him. Tank took my arm and led me out.
He didn't speak until we got in his SUV. "This is bad, Bomber. We have the building on lockdown and we're trying to keep this quiet. We have to get some answers soon. We have to know what he was up to and why. I know you don't understand, but Ranger has some lethal enemies. He was doing what he's trained to do when under attack. Same thing with Lester.
"I'll cooperate, Tank. If I hadn't called yesterday, Hector would have been killed and taken out like garbage, wouldn't he? His job turned him into an animal? A cold-blooded killer? Knowing what he is you guys wanted me to be with him?" He finally looked over at me and said very calmly, "I'm the same as he is and so is Santos and Brown and most of those men in that building. He's not a serial killer. He's doing a thankless, Godforsaken job for his government that not many men can or want to do and he saves thousands of lives every time he takes down a threat to his country. He's not a normal man and evidently your Hector is not either. He's either a highly trained operative or spy. He barely flinched during his entire interrogation."
When we got to the condo, I unlocked the door and went straight to Hector's office. Tank sat down at the computer while I started going through drawers. Tank mumbled, "Look for false bottoms in the drawers, hiding places. Does he have a safe?"
"I'm not sure, Tank. I wouldn't be surprised if he does, but I never saw it. I don't think he was ready to tell me a whole lot until this mission was over. He was trying to protect me. I just trusted him."
"That's what Ranger was trying to do when it came to you. He was trying to protect you."
"Please don't make me feel sorry for him. I'm so focused on hating him right now."
"You're pregnant?"
"Yeah. We just found out not long ago. Hector was so excited." Then the dam burst and I flopped in the floor and started sobbing.
He reached his big hand down and put it on my shoulder. "Bomber, focus here. We don't have much time. We need to find some proof that he works for an agency and contact them. Then we can get him some help."
"Okay, Tank. Shit! I have hormones to deal with too here you know."
"I know, Bomber, and I'm sorry. It never fails to surprise me the stuff you accidentally get yourself into, little girl."
"Everybody says that."
I was laying on the floor and looked up under the desk. "Shit! Tank! There is something underneath the desk. It's like a lever or maybe a release thingy."
"Reach under and pull it." I did and we heard a click in the desk. A drawer dropped down behind the middle drawer under the keyboard. Tank stuck his hand in and pulled out all the contents. "Bingo, baby girl."
He turned an ID badge toward me. "Your old man works for the NSA." There were other items in the drawer. A couple passports, some business cards, a bank book, some credit cards and some cash and a gun. "Tank, there is a card here with a Director's name on it. This could be his boss. Can I call him?"
"Yeah. His cover is blown and they need to get a man here asap and explain to us what the fuck this mission is that involved him working undercover at Rangeman."
I dialed the number on the card and asked for Fred Menardi. When the secretary asked who was calling I told her that I was Hector Gutierrez's wife.
"Menardi."
"Uh sir..My name is Stephanie Plum. I'm Hector's new wife and we have a situation here in Trenton. Hector's in trouble."
"How did you get my name?"
"Your card was in a secret drawer in his desk along with some other items like his NSA badge. If he works for you, you need to know that his cover is blown and the mission that he was on has gone bad and he's at Rangeman in very serious condition. Can you come or send someone? Hector needs help as soon as possible. Please."
"Stephanie, he told me about you. We're friends. I need to contact the other agencies involved and I'll come myself. Who knows about Hector at Rangeman?"
"The core team or leaders only I think. One of them is here with me and I know you can trust him. His name is Tank and the second in command at Rangeman. Do you want to speak with him?"
"Put him on." I handed the phone to Tank.
They had a short conversation with a few grunts and Tank gave him a couple phone numbers and the name of the hospital where Hector would be taken. Then Tank handed my phone back. Tank called Bobby first to make arrangements to get Hector to the hospital and then spoke to Ranger.
I was feeling nauseous and having shooting pains in my stomach. I excused myself while Tank was talking to go to the bathroom. The pain got worse and I felt pressure down low and pulled down my pants and there was blood. So much blood. I groaned. "Oh no. Not this now. Oh, Hector." Then I saw black around the perimeter of my vision and it continued to move inward fast until there was complete darkness. Oh..no...
TBC-
Hopefully some questions were answered. More drama coming up. Some of you have already guessed what's coming. Keep reading!
