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Love at the Drive-thru
Chapter 14
Staci logged in her computer on the first day of class. Her assignment for this class was simple. Write a three hundred word essay telling the instructor about herself. It didn't take long for her to write what she wanted the instructor to know, her problem came when she needed to send it as a document and getting the formatting correct. Les unfortunately wasn't in the building, but Stephanie was.
"Steph, I need help. I don't know how to format this."
Steph came over to look at the document. After a couple moments, "I think you need to see Hector. You don't have the system the instructor wants you to use. He'll be able to load it for you."
They forwarded the phones to front desk and gave Woody a heads up before going to see Hector.
Upon arriving on the second floor, Steph whispered in his ear.
"Si, you can tell her."
Staci's eyes widened, "I didn't think you could speak English."
Hector put his finger to his lips, "Sshhh. It is a secret."
She smiled and replied, "I heard nothing, you're safe with me."
Staci went on to show him what her assignment was and how it was to be formatted. He loaded the program she needed on her laptop then told her if anything else like that came up, come see him. She listened to him as he quickly taught her how to do what was asked.
Before they left Hector the ladies gave him a kiss on the cheek along with a big thank you. Hector smiled at Staci, "Let me know anytime you need help."
Stephanie and Staci went back to Lester's office. Staci formatted the document the way the teacher wanted and the way Hector had showed her before she and Steph left his domain. Looking back she thought she should have sent it when she was still with Hector in case she had problems, luckily she didn't. With the assignment sent, Staci took the phones back from Woody. Rather than going back out in the cube farm, Steph worked on searches at Les' desk on her laptop.
Around fifteen hundred, Les returned from the sales call he had been on with Ram. It had been a good lead and netted Rangeman a cool two thousand a month for security on a home and a couple businesses the client owned. When he walked in the office, he had the books she needed for the classes Staci started.
She smiled at him, "I have already sent in my first assignment."
"Did you have any problems?"
"Yeah, but I got it taken care of."
"That is wonderful. You're doing great kiddo. What else do you have to work on today?" He asked before taking her ability to answer him away in a searing kiss.
"I start classes on skills to manage files along with hardware and software technology. Which means I need this book right here," she replied once she had the ability to form coherent sentences. She pulled the appropriate book out of the stack he had just deposited on her desk.
Breaking the silence in the room, Les spoke, "We have a skip to pick up this evening, I'll be a little late coming home. I can bring home dinner if you would like to study while I'm gone."
"Sounds wonderful. I'd like to be able to work on this a couple hours anyway."
Staci spent the next couple hours at work answering the phones while Les finished the paperwork associated with the new contract he and Ram had gotten.
Les could see the need for an actual sales department coming soon with the amount of clients they were gaining daily. He had been giving it some thought for a few days on where the department could be located in the building. The first floor had mostly storage and a couple conference rooms if Rangeman didn't want whoever was coming in the building to get past the first floor, which they didn't. The storage area was the most logical place to convert and set up the sales department. He made a note to bring it up in the next core team meeting.
In the meantime, he could look at what was actually stored in the big area. He thought it was clothes and furniture. Each person had a small area to store things that wouldn't fit into their apartment, not everybody used it in fact very few used it anymore. There were ten apartments on the forth floor and twelve total for the entire building not counting Luis and Ella's sixth floor since it was most of the entire floor. Luis had built an area for storing building maintenance items that could be left alone.
At seventeen hundred Staci turned the phones over to the night crew. She told Les she was going to carry the books to the apartment and would be back for Daisy in a few minutes. When she came back, Staci took Daisy on a long walk to clear her head from work and get some much needed exercise plus just unwind a little. Daisy enjoyed the cold weather, Staci did not. After a forty minute walk they returned to Rangeman and the comfort of the apartment, Daisy was a happy girl. Even though she had relaxed a little, Staci was an icicle.
Staci fed an anxious Daisy, who immediately started scooting the bowl across the floor while scarfing her grub. As Daisy enthusiastically ate her kibble, Staci opened her laptop and necessary study materials to get to work on her next assignment. Her goal had been to get through the computer courses quickly or at least the easy ones.
As she worked she noticed most of the material she had a basic grasp on from the start. She just hadn't known the technical terms for what she was using, with any luck she could get through a lot of the classes quickly. Daisy had excellent timing for demanding attention, she interrupted Staci just as she was finishing up for the evening.
It was later than she realized. Les had told her he should be home by nineteen hundred, but it was close to twenty-one hundred. Staci put Daisy's collar and leash on before leaving the apartment and going to the fifth floor to see if they knew where Lester and the crew were.
Junior replied to her question, "They are on their way back. The skip wasn't where he was supposed to be and they had to look for him. Don't worry."
She gave him a sheepish grin, "Sorry, but I was worried big time."
"That is not a problem. Steph still does it and look how long her and Ranger have been together."
"Thank you. I'll get out of the way and go back to the apartment." Junior nodded his reply as Staci turned to leave.
A few minutes later, the phone to the apartment rang.
"Hey Pea, I wanted to let you know we are back in the building. I have to do some paperwork before I come down. Would you like to join me in my office for a while?"
"Sure we will be up in a few."
Staci disconnected the phone call and grabbed a book. She greeted Les with a kiss of relief and love while Daisy made a nest in their office. Staci closed the book a few minutes later and rubbed her eyes.
"Are you done studying for the night?"
"I am. I made it to the first test and it is not available until tomorrow. Most of the information I already knew, just not the correct terms for some of it."
"I knew you would do great Pea."
Later on after taking Daisy on another quick walk they returned to the apartment for the night. Both were happy they had paperwork and schoolwork done for the day.
Over the span of the next few days, the couple would learn the amount of time Staci would have to devote to studies for the courses she was taking. Most of the schoolwork would be easy for her. A couple of times she would have to venture to the second floor to see Hector to ask a couple questions for clarification. Both times however, she would be correct in her understanding of the material.
Les had taken on more responsibility of Daisy to help Staci out. He had also adjusted his schedule to allow Staci a couple hours alone of the evening to do her schoolwork after she was finished at Rangeman for the day.
Since the classes were 'work at your own pace' Staci wanted to achieve having everything for the week done by Thursday so she didn't spend all of their time off working on her studies. So far so good she thought.
During the extreme cold months, Les told Staci the skip rate would be higher. "Some of the skips are homeless, they will skip on purpose to have a warm place to sleep a few nights once we picked them up. Most are harmless so don't worry."
"Sorry but I do worry about you. You've been becoming my rock kind of."
"They will slow back down in the spring, pick up in the summer because of the heat. It is a seasonal thing it seems."
"Sorry but my job also includes worrying about you."
Les smiled at her before pulling her in his lap. "I must admit as a female and my domestic partner you are doing a fantastic job. I'm glad someone is worrying about me, it has been a while." He ended his statement with a long, passionate kiss that made her toes curl.
"Lets go to bed. I want to get up early enough to take my test before I have to go to work."
After each had performed their bathroom rituals they met at Lester's bed to snuggle with a dog … in between them.
The following morning, Staci was up and ready to take her test. It wasn't going to be available until eight o'clock, as she conveyed to Ranger who told her to take it before taking the phones over from Woody.
As soon as she was finished she received her test results back. Out of a hundred questions, she got ninety-nine correct. She needed, no she wanted to share the results with someone. Without hesitation she dialed the speed number assigned to Les, he answered on the first ring.
"I got a ninety-nine on my test!" She exclaimed in the phone.
"That is wonderful Pea!" Les replied with equal enthusiasm. "I knew you had it in you. I am proud of you." She could hear Les talking to someone else. "Ranger said he is proud of you too."
"Thank you guys, I gotta get the phones from Woody. I love you."
"I love you too. I'll see you in a bit," and he was gone.
Staci called Woody to let him know she was taking the phones over. "How did you do on your test?" He asked.
"Ninety-nine out of a hundred."
"Great job. The phones are all yours."
Ram stopped by Staci and Les' office to ask about her test. He gave her a high five when he heard. "That is wonderful Staci. Be proud of yourself, I knew you could do it." Before he left Les and Staci's office he gave Staci a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
It looked like it was going to be a great day.
Just before lunch time, Les and Ranger arrived back at the office. Ranger's extension showed on the caller id on Staci's phone. "Turn the phones over to Woody. We are going to lunch. My wife and Les are included. Meet in the garage in five." As customary the line went dead.
Staci placed a quick call to Woody who was back on monitors after going out to chase a skip, "The phones are yours for a bit."
"Copy that. The boss has already told me. Get your butt to the garage."
She heard Woody chuckling as he hung up the phones. Staci liked Woody and most of the other guys, but outside of Les and Ranger, Ram was her favorite.
After Steph's history with Morelli, she and Ranger tried to avoid Pino's, so it surprised Staci when they pulled in on the lot. "Pino's really?" She said to no one in particular.
"Joe is working undercover so he is gone," Steph replied. "If he was in town, there is no way I would go in there."
Pino's was fairly crowded but as luck would have it there was a table in the back corner. Perfect for them, the guys could watch over the women.
Ranger broke the silence first, "I know it has only been few days, but how are you liking school so far?"
"I like it up to this point. There have been a couple things I didn't understand, but after a short visit with Hector I'm doing better. One program I didn't have so he loaded it for me."
"Is my knucklehead cousin helping you?"
"Les has been great. While he hasn't helped with schoolwork itself, he has helped with other things like doing some of the cooking."
"Let me know if he doesn't, I'll clean his clock."
Staci gave him a smile and nodded her head before looking at Les, "You heard that mister, clean your clock."
"He would do that regardless, Ranger doesn't need an excuse."
Their conversation and banter stopped when the food arrived. Les and Staci were splitting a medium pizza, Steph had opted for a meatball sub, while Ranger had an exciting salad in Steph's mind anyway.
Who goes to a pizza shop and eats salad, she wondered. She knew the answer, on rare occasions Ranger would eat a slice of pizza or steal a meatball off of her sub. Over the years she learned Ranger wasn't perfect, but she loved him salads and all.
"I eat salads and I love you too." Ranger was grinning like a fool in love. "Yes out loud."
Staci noticed Steph was blushing, she bet it was all the way to her toes. Everybody had told Staci that Ranger didn't smile, laugh or joke, apparently they were wrong. She had seen him do that all the time, most of the time however it was when Steph was around. Maybe Steph was the key, when she first started working at Rangeman, the guys didn't smile unless Steph was near them. Now however it was when she was around too, Ram and Hal especially. She didn't know if it bothered Les, hopefully it didn't.
As they were returning from lunch, the alarms were going off at the bond's office where Steph sometimes still worked. Vinnie's as Staci learned. Ranger and Steph had bought Vinnie out a few years ago when he decided he didn't want to be under Harry the Hammer's control any longer.
The alarm had been set off by Connie after a client failed to be recovered in the allotted time and the property was being seized as a forfeiture. The home owner was upset that his son was missing and threatening Connie.
Ranger diverted from going back to Rangeman to go to the bonds office several of the Rangeman crew arrived at the bonds office at the same time. The man in the office tried explaining his son had been missing for a month, but the waving gun had the crew's attention more. Finally Ranger spoke, "Sir, you need to lower the gun first then we will talk. I own the bond's office."
The man looked at the gun like it was a snake before dropping it. He followed it to the ground as he broke down in tears. Steph knelt beside him, "What is your name sir?"
"John Campbell. My son please help find him so I don't lose my home."
Steph kicked Mr. Campbell's gun toward Ranger. "Lets sit on the couch and tell me your story. Why was he arrested in the first place?"
"He was transporting drugs in a car. The cars weren't ours but sometimes he was hired to drive a car from Trenton to Newark, trade cars and drive back. He was told the cars were transporting parts to repair other cars. He never looked to verify that was what was in the trunk. Three days before he was due in court, he got a call. Jeff never said what the call was about. I suspected they either wanted him to make another run or they threatened him. That night he disappeared. He left my house to go to his apartment and that was it, I haven't seen him since. Next thing, I'm getting a foreclosure letter stating they are taking my home. I can't lose my home it is the only thing I have."
Steph knew something wasn't right, but it wasn't the man, he was telling the truth, her spidey senses weren't tingling from him. She knew deep down something had happened to his son. "When are they telling you that they are taking possession of the house?"
"Thirty days."
During Steph's interaction with the man Staci quietly watched. She had been shaken when she saw the gun, afraid one of the men or Steph would get shot. But the way Steph calmed the man surprised her.
Staci watched as Steph gently asked the elderly man for his number and reassured him, "Let me see what I can do in the meantime. Please give me your phone number."
Mr. Campbell gave Steph his phone number, "Please find my son. Even if he has to go to jail, I just want to know he is safe."
The safety of his son was making Steph's spidey senses tingle. She feared it wasn't going to be a happy ending for Jeff Campbell. "We will do our best."
Ranger wasn't going to press charges against the old man and let him go as long as the man surrendered his gun. Mr. Campbell let the gun go willingly and quietly left after getting more reassurance from Steph.
As soon as he was gone, Steph looked at Ranger, "His son is dead."
"I felt it too. Lets check the morgue first. I really don't want to take the man's house."
Feeling more at ease Staci spoke, "What happens now?"
"Typically we would move forward on the foreclosure, but after observing Mr. Campbell, I believe there is a genuine concern. The man isn't hiding his son. The man is truly missing. What did you glean from listening?" Ranger replied.
Staci thought for a few minutes, she caught Ranger glancing at her in the mirror, "I felt sorry for him after I got over my initial concern. He doesn't know where his son is, it has him scared. When we get back to the office, Steph could run a search on Jeff Campbell and see if there has been any activity on his credit cards, if his rent is paid since he has been gone a month. Then go from there."
"Good answer, but I'm going to let Woody keep up with the phones and I want you to run that search. Then you can report to me what you find," Ranger ordered.
"Copy that."
Steph rolled her eyes. Ugh! She has been trained by the second best … Les, she thought.