Well girls, apparently you liked that last chapter too. Stop tapping your feet and banging your heads, yelling at me to type faster and making threats! I'm putting these suckers out quick like a fox already! LOL

Chapter 14

Fred's POV

A doctor came to the ICU waiting area and asked for family of Mr. Gutierrez and I stepped forward. He led me aside to speak in private. The doctor introduced himself as Dr. Gruber and I introduced myself has Hector's friend and employer. "Mr. Menardi, this man has been severely beaten and I'm quite amazed that he hasn't suffered trauma from shock with so many injuries at one time. His pain level when he was brought in had to have been very severe. He looks to have been tortured. The police should be called when he wakes up."

"Dr. Gruber, in this case, I am the police. Hector works for a government agency and was on a classified mission when this occurred. Your discretion will be required with this patient. We already know the why and who and will be handling it. Right now, I'm just concerned that he will live and recover."

"I see, understood and discretion is not a problem, but the recovery and rehabilitation for Mr. Gutierrez will be long and very hard. He's heavily sedated in sleep until after his surgeries tomorrow on his face, hand and knee. After, he'll be casted in several places. He has a hairline fracture in is jaw, a broken nose, fingers, arm, fractured knee, concussion. He has several broken ribs. He was aware when he first came in. He has to be a very strong individual."

"He is quite an extraordinary man, doctor. Please continue to give him the best care possible. Anything he needs or special care or you have recommendations for his future care then please let me know. We'll make arrangements. Thank you for speaking with me." I shook his hand.

"Your welcome, Mr. Menardi. Will he have family coming to visit?"

"His wife is here in the hospital. She has suffered a miscarriage."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. What a tragedy this family has suffered." I nodded and he walked away.

I acquired the room number for Mrs. Gutierrez and headed to her room. She was awake and crying when I walked in the door. "Mrs. Gutierrez, I'm Fred Menardi. Hector works for me and we're also very good friends. I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Call me Steph or Stephanie. Have you seen Hector?"

"Yes, just a few minutes ago."

"Please tell me he's going to be okay."

"He'll recover. I talked to his doctor and he's getting the best care possible right now."

"They almost killed him."

"Yes."

"The man that did it used to be my friend. He killed for me once. I know he did and I know he's capable. If I hadn't called Tank looking for him, Hector would be dead right now." She sobbed. The mercenary. I nodded understanding.

Her face was bruised and she had stitches under her eye and a casted finger. "Stephanie, did they harm you?"

"I was interrogated by one of Ranger's men. Another guy I used to like. He just reached out and snapped my little finger. How mean is that?"

"Unforgivable..."

"And I'd like to take his fucking knives and carve him a new crack!" This made me smile a little. This woman did have spunk. I could see Hector's attraction.

"Did they know that you were pregnant?"

"Not right away. I was so shocked at seeing Hector and so angry at Ranger that I forgot. Everything just happened so fast. I thought about it that night in the cell and told Tank the next day." I nodded.

"Has your doctor talked to you?"

"Yes. She said maybe I lost the baby from shock and stress. It wasn't from disease or anything physical. It was early and we'll never know for sure. Hector is going to be so hurt. He was so excited."

"Yes, he will. Did the doctor say that you could try again after you recover?"

"Yes. The problem now is getting Hector recovered. I just need my husband. I love him so much."

"He loves you. He told me all about you. We couldn't really meet till after the mission was concluded. I was looking forward to it. He was very particular when it came to women. He had more interest in his job and then he met you and knew right away that you were the one." A little smile spread across her face and it was beautiful.

"Fred, can I call you Fred?" I nodded. "What's going to happen with the mission? Is it over?"

"No. It's not over. Hector's just out of the game and that's a shame because he was vital."

"Is Ranger the bad guy?"

"No."

"Then why couldn't Hector talk to Ranger if that's true?"

"It was classified. Hector told me that you have your own super powers.

She smirked, "I wish. If I had super powers, I would have neutered Lester Santos with a "Burg' glare." I chuckled at that.

"He mentioned you have spidey-senses I think. Good perception and instincts?"

"Yep. I do have that and it works pretty good." I smiled at her.

"I'll share with you that Hector didn't know who the bad guy was at Rangeman and Ranger was still suspect until now. He was just cleared."

"Oh...So they still have a bad guy?" I nodded. "They don't know who it is or what they are doing?" I nodded again.

"I should hire you to analyze information we collect, Stephanie. Hector's primary job was cryptology. You're pretty sharp."

"I was learning to do something like that at Rangeman with Hector. Searches on suspects and analyzing the information."

"You two together would be quite a team I bet." She smiled again.

"I need to go speak to Mr. Manoso again. Will you be alright? Can I call your family for you?"

"That's okay. I'll call them soon. Maybe. I need some time to myself first."

"I understand and I'll be back. I'm very happy to have met you, Stephanie."

"Thank You. Same here, Fred. It makes me feel better just having you here on Hector's behalf." I nodded and walked out and my expression changed as soon as I hit the hallway.

I left the hospital room looking for Manoso. It was one thing to catch a spy infiltrating your company and beat him nearly to death, but it was another to beat and torture a defenseless woman who had done no harm and she claimed that they had at one time been friends. My God, these men are animals!

I found him in the ICU waiting room conversing with another huge military machine. Christ! It's a wonder they hadn't scared the life out of the poor woman. She must indeed be very tough.

I walked up to them and they stopped talking. "Mr. Manoso, can we speak in private?"

"This is Tank, my second. You can speak freely, Mr. Menardi."

"Yes, I spoke with you on the phone. You're cleared now as well." The man smirked and nodded.

"I just came from visiting Mrs. Gutierrez. Can you explain to me why a defenseless woman was beaten and tortured in your place of business? The woman had done nothing! The most shocking revelation was that she called you friends. Did the military train you to be Goddamn animals, gentleman?" They both had the good grace to blanch at my words.

I watched as Manoso's face changed and I was sure that he was very angry and then he spoke low and very calm. "Mr. Menardi, we are the animals that go in and clean up your messes when you fail, we catch the bad guys when you don't, we stop the real crises before they happen. You sit in your offices and you pick up your phones and when you say, "have someone handle this," we are the ones called to serve for this country. What we handle is not for the weak and our chances of survival for handling the shit is usually very low. Last, because you feed us your WORST nightmares to neutralize and/or extinguish, we get the privilege of making the acquaintances of much of the most dangerous scum of this earth and we accumulate really bad fucking enemies.

We are always on high alert and ready for an imminent attack. Just like the one that is taking place as we speak. Regarding Stephanie, you are right. She was innocent and it should not have happened and I take full responsibility."

"Mr. Manoso, Hector is not just a cryptologist. God help you, when he finds out and recovers"

"I'm aware of exactly what he is. Just another version of me and probably even more dangerous."

It was my turn to blanch now. Hector was deadly. He was a highly trained spy and assassin and his kill factor was ramped by the fact that he had been an enforcer with the Latin King gang at one time. He was still feared by even them. There was no one who could bleed him out and no one even tried anymore. The skills that previously benefitted the gang and would have sent him to prison, now served the government and served it well. I had been lucky to have met him. He had saved my life and the life of my wife and daughter and then I had saved his in return. Now, I was proud to call him my friend.

"I have a question for you regarding Stephanie's skills."

"Go ahead."

"Hector spoke about her instincts. He said they were extraordinary. She has good computer skills as well?"

"Yes. All of that would be true."

"Hector's cover is blown, but when he's recovered enough to do work on a computer, he can still work on this mission. If we could teach Stephanie how and what he was monitoring the computer's in your business for, she could be an asset in this mission. She could work from home if you would set her up with the hardware and software necessary, I could help train her. Is that something you would consider?"

"Could Tank and I have a word, please?"

"Of course."

I waited while they stepped away and spoke for several minutes.

They both walked back to me and Mr. Manoso spoke, "That would be acceptable. We're more than willing to cooperate to find the person that has infiltrated my company and caused all this damage. I have a request, however."

"What would that be?"

"When he's found, he's mine. No trial, no prison. Simple eye for an eye."

"You're asking a government official to sanction murder?"

"That's what the government trained me for and that's what you hire me for..."

I closed my eyes and groaned inwardly. "I can promise that I will look the other way when the time comes. That would be on the condition that we have all the information we need to officially conclude and end the mission." They both nodded.

"I'll speak to Stephanie about this when she's able. I'll contact you after I get her home and she makes a decision." I turned and walked away to check on Hector again.

Stephanie's POV

After Fred had left, I had cried myself to sleep. I was relieved that Hector was getting care and now I could concentrate on my own grief. I knew when Hector came home that I would have to be strong for him, so I would cry for the loss of our baby now and try to put it behind me as soon as possible.

I heard a noise and opened my eyes and looked up. Tank was standing in the doorway. "Bomber, I'm so sorry." I rolled away from him and said, "Apology accepted Tank, but I'm sure you can understand my need to be alone right now.

"I do understand and I'll check on you again."

I woke up the next morning and Fred was sitting in the chair next to my bed. He said, "Your doctor came by and she'll be back shortly. She saw you were still asleep and skipped you doing rounds until you woke. She said that you can probably go home today."

"Oh...I want to see Hector as soon as I can."

"I know. We'll wait till she comes and you have your breakfast. If you're discharged then we'll wait and go together to see him and then I'll take you home."

"Okay. How is he?"

"He's in rough shape, but getting very good care. He's not awake and won't be for a while. He's due for his surgery any time now. It may be over by the time you're discharged."

"I don't want to leave until I know his surgery went well."

"We won't."

I saw a big shadow in the doorway and looked up. Hal was standing there dressed in jeans and a button down shirt looking handsome, but with a sad and troubled face and reluctant to walk inside the room. "Come in, Hal." He slowly walked in and to the bedside.

"Steph, I heard and I'm so sorry. I wanted to see that you were alright."

"Thank you, Hal. I'll be myself again someday soon."

"I hated what they did to you. I know you wouldn't hurt anyone. I had to leave Rangeman that night and I didn't go back."

"I wouldn't and neither would my husband, but they didn't know that. I'm sorry, Hal."

"When I found out about you being here and why, I gave Ranger my notice. I can't work there any longer. I respected him and this is not what I signed up for. Not stateside."

"Hal, you really like your job at Rangeman. You have fought with Ranger and you trusted him. He was protecting his own. I guess I would be considered collateral damage in this mess." Oh God, what was my baby? I was trying hard not to break. This was difficult and I didn't want Hal to see how I really felt. I squeezed Hal's big hand and in a shaky voice said, "Fred, you need to take care of this. It's not right that this should be happening on top of everything else. Please." I begged him with my eyes and he led Hal out of the room.

My OBGYN, Dr. Nash came into the room about fifteen minutes later as I was picking at my breakfast. She examined me and told me that I looked fine and that I would have some bleeding for a few days. She recommended that I wait four to six weeks and to complete one healthy cycle before trying for a baby again if that was our plans. I didn't bother to tell her that I didn't know if my husband would even be out of the hospital by then.

She told me that she was going to discharge me and then she turned before she left. "Oh, the ER doctor had requested DNA results on the fetus and the results are in. I'll give you a copy."

"Why was that even ordered?"

"It was requested by a Mr. Manoso. Says here, he is your power of attorney."

"I don't understand. What does it say exactly?"

"Probable parent DNA was submitted. It shows that you're the mother and..oh, Mr. Manoso was the father."

TBC-

So, now we have two other big questions answered. Do you think Ranger made his point about his job well to Fred?