Gaining Forward Momentum

This takes place after Dancing Outside the Lines.

Thank you so much for all the positive feedback and nice reviews you've posted for this story. I really appreciate it. You guys are the best :)

M Rating

Extra special thanks to Margaret for Beta-ing my story and deeming this chapter good to go :). Thank you Margaret :)

Thank you Dana and trhodes9 for your sharing your knowledge of things I wasn't too familiar with. Much appreciated.

I don't own the characters, just taking them for a spin :)

Reviews and suggestions are always welcome.

Chapter 14 — Seals, bugs and leatherette

"Carlos what's going on out there?" I asked. "It sounds like a leaf blower coming this way." It got even louder before Tank and Lula appeared in our doorway.

"I was going crazy laying there, they gave me this portable VAC so I can walk around," Tank said, coming into the room first.

"God is it always that loud? You'll never be able to do any kind of surveillance with that machine," I said with my hands over my ears.

"This is an old model, it's not the one I'm going home with, but it is loud, isn't it? I guess I got used to the constant vacuum sound. I don't even hear it."

"I'm gonna have to get some sound-attenuating headphones." Lula said, "I hear they can cancel out a jet engine. Tankie's almost there."

Poor Tank. Now that he's finally up and around everyone was making fun of him.

"So what brings you here, man?" Carlos asked.

"I understand Hector has pictures of Briggs' office and we're having a conference call."

"I don't want to spoil your fun, but we won't be able to hear anything with that racket your machine produces. Can you attach yourself to the old machine and we'll come to you?" Carlos asked.

Tank looked deflated.

"I can turn it off for the call. You don't understand how crazy I was going looking at those same four walls. This is my freedom."

There was another knock on our door and Manny, Hector and Jason strolled in. Well that wasn't quite right; Jason walkered in.

"Cal and Ram said they're coming here too, so the only ones we'll have to conference in are Bobby and Lester," Manny announced. "Man you're going to have to lower the volume on that thing, I can't hear myself think."

"Ok, ok, I'll turn it off once we make the call."

Thankfully for my ears Ram and Cal showed up a few seconds later.

I told Stefan and Angelo who were outside, that we couldn't be disturbed and I shut the door. Tank turned off his portable windstorm and Carlos called Rangeman's general number so that the call could be scrambled.

Bobby and Lester were ready for us in one of the conference rooms so everyone was able to talk freely.

"I already emailed Bobby and Santos the camera angles," Hector began. "I'm going to project them onto the wall here so we are all looking at them big. I went over them a couple of times last night and I have some ideas."

Once we had the first image projected on the wall opposite Carlos' bed, Hector spoke again.

"His desk faces the window. He has eastern exposure, so the sun comes in until around noon. I don't want the sun to blanch out anyting, so I want to mount one micro cam onto the top of the window frame, here." Hector said, pointing to the window. "Both are black, it will be invisible.

"He has a ton of wires on his desk for his computer. I never like to use commercial spy cams, but I think an AC adapter cam could work really well here. See he already has one; I just swap it out. I can get an up-close wide angle from there," Hector said, pointing to another shot of the room.

"I already put a bug into his computer and swapped out the switchhook on his landline, so we will hear both sides of a conversation clearly. I tink I want to put a few dust bugs in the room, they undetectable with a sweep as they run on my frequency. Any other ideas?"

Lester answered from Trenton. "I don't like using commercial spy cams either, but I do see why you're recommending it. Is there time to get another Dell adaptor and wire it ourselves? If it's something he stares at when he's working he'd notice the missing logo."

"Sí, I thought of that too. I thought I could tilt it in the other direction, but you're right. Sí, there is time to do it the right way."

"So you're going back in there tonight?" Bobby asked.

"Sí, White's picking me up at 4:30. He not know I already been there and I tink I want to keep it that way. The less people know I can get in and out undetected, the better."

Hector can break into the Pentagon. That was unbelievable to me. I had to ask him.

"Didn't you use your LX and SCI clearance papers to get in? You spent all that time creating them."

"Sí, I used them to get in. Everyone is clocked in and out, so fifteen minutes later I clocked out and got myself back in."

I wasn't going to ask how; obviously Hector disabled something. The more I got to know Hector, the more blown away I was with what he could accomplish. I was sure Carlos, Tank, Bobby and Les saw this too. I hoped now that his English was getting better, they'd consider making him part of the core team. He deserved it.

I was kind of in my own world promoting Hector when I heard Carlos speak. "Manny, were you able to get a bead on Briggs' son?"

"Yeah. He goes to Georgetown and tends bar at night. The place closes up at 2 am, so he's just getting home around 2:30. I threw a bug in his bag, but I want to follow him again tonight to see if he keeps the same pattern. Steph, I think we could use you to keep him there longer so Hector can get in and out of his house. Do you have any plans for tomorrow night?"

"Happy to help, but if you want me looking sexy, I'll have to go shopping. I wasn't planning on doing any distraction jobs and unfortunately, jeans, black chucks and a T-shirt aren't all that appealing."

"Hector and I can take you to the mall."

"Do you need me too?" Lula asked.

"I think Steph on her own at the bar at 2 am might be enough of a distraction, but we'd like you with us for backup in case we need it. Tank, Ranger, you guys good with this?"

They both nodded ok, which made me feel better and Lula and I were going shopping. Yay…freedom. I was getting out of this room, even if it was only for a few hours.

"There's a Best Buy in the mall. Google says that or Walmart are the best places to get a Dell AC adaptor. Steph, Lula, can you guys be ready to go in about a half an hour? I want to get back by noon to put together what I need for tonight," Hector said, closing his iPad and grinning.

I could tell; Briggs was so going down.

Everyone left and I put on some mascara. I was good to go. Lula came into Carlos' room a few minutes later, looking just like she did ten minutes ago. I guessed neither of us had much else with us to wear. Victoria's Secret here we come—and best of all, Rangeman was paying.

Hector had been to the mall with me before, but poor Manny didn't know what hit him. We went from Bebe to BCBGMAX to Victoria's Secret to Steve Madden and even stopped at the Gap. I found a teeny, tiny pair of black faux-leather shorts, an open stitched crochet sweater that hit just above below my navel and exposed a shoulder and a pink Add-2-Cups bra that gave me lots of cleavage and peeped through the sweater. I paired it with 4" studded pumps from Steve Madden and I was perfect.

Lula found a leather peplum corset top that showed off all of her assets, a leather mini skirt and 4" thigh-high platform boots. She walked out of the dressing room to show me and Manny almost fell over, she was all leather and boobs. If we couldn't distract this poor guy, no one could.

"I may have to rethink my 'woman alone' idea, Lula looks too good," I overheard Manny say to Hector.

"We haven't seen Estefania yet, she didn't come out to show us. Chica want to show us your outfit?"

What the hell. I went back into the dressing room and put on all my purchases. I looked at myself in the mirror. God was I a slut.

"I don't know if this is a good idea, guys," I said as I came out. "Maybe I ought to get something a little less revealing. Carlos is going to go ape shit."

"Damn. You look hot," Manny and Hector said almost at the same time.

Lula came out of dressing room to see what all the commotion was about. "Now that's what I call a distraction. You're the shit."

My Rangeman black American Express card paid for everything. The guys took our bags from us and we all went with Hector to get his adaptor. It was fun being out.

"I think I need some makeup," I said as we passed Nordstrom's. I don't have any lipstick or blush with me. I'll just be a few minutes," I said as we all traipsed in. They weren't letting me go anywhere on my own.

Lula and I found some great colors of lipstick and I got a blush and another tube of mascara in case I was running low. Too bad we had to wait until tomorrow night. I was ready to go now.

We drove back to the hospital in silence. I guessed we were all talked out. Hector took the south elevator to go back to his room and the three of us went north and took the elevator back up to Carlos and Tank on nine.

"Babe are you going to show me your distraction outfit?" Carlos asked when I came into his room with Manny and the packages.

"Uh, maybe tomorrow."

"Babe?"

"There's not much to show," Manny said in my defense. Well maybe not, now that I think about his choice of words.

"Manny's seen you, but you won't show me?"

"Ok, ok." I went into the bathroom to change again.

I came out and Manny was still in the room with Carlos. I had left the shoes by his bed and as I bent down to get them for the full effect I heard Manny mumble, "Oh God."

I wondered what he was 'Oh God-ing' when I remembered my 'add-two-cups' bra. Guessed I gave him an eyeful.

"So what do you think Carlos?" I asked, stepping into the shoes.

"I think I'm going to be the one to wire you up, but I like it. You seem to have that jezebel look down."

"You should see Lula," I added.

"You can't miss Lula," Manny moaned. "She was spilling over. I think I'd like to use the two of you after all. That poor man won't know what hit him."

Carlos was laughing. I guessed he was thinking about the seventy-pounds heavier Lula and some of her old ho outfits. I wondered what happened to them all? Some were museum-worthy.

"I'll see you later," Manny said looking at his watch. "Briggs' son's classes are over for the day, I want to see what he does in his spare time."

"Did Hector get everything he needed?" Carlos asked after Manny left and I changed back into plain-old Stephanie.

"All he picked up was a Dell adaptor, I guess he has everything else he needs with him."

"Dust bugs don't take up much space. He probably has them and some micro cameras in his laptop bag. It'll be interesting to see what we catch on film.

"Babe, Tank and I are talking about getting out of here the day after tomorrow. We'll get a plane back to Trenton, but we'll keep Stefan and Angelo and Ram and Cal on duty to make it look like we're still here and to keep Jason safe. Unfortunately we both have a lot of healing left to do. I'd like to stay at our house in Belmar, is that ok with you?"

"I have class. Although it's only an hour each way…I guess I can drive it."

"I want you with me. You only have a couple of classes left and then you have to take your final exam. I was thinking we could have Antonio and Marcia come out to our house for your last few classes. Tank and Lula are planning on staying at the shore too."

"That's ok with me, but what about Hector? He needs those last few classes to graduate as much as we do."

"He's welcome to stay over, it's only a few days. You can ask him, or I can. Maybe he and Miguel will want to take a mini-vacation. They can have the apartment if they want more privacy, although I think the other wing in our house is nicer."

"I'll ask him. But Miguel always seems so busy; they have to schedule dates way in advance. It might be just Hector."

I thought about Hector and Miguel and my spidey sense thought a few days of them together might be a good thing. I hoped Hector would be up for it and Miguel would be able to commit the time.

Carlos was just beginning to understand relationships—ours first, but everyone else's too. He was beginning to see that they were important for all his men's growth. The guys weren't kids in the army anymore. They were men thinking about their futures.

He and Tank were already in committed ones. Looked like Bobby and Manny were too. Ram and Lester were each in love—well maybe with Lester it was more like a hard like. He was such a playboy; that part of him would be slow to change.

My mental musings about the guys were disrupted by Carlos' nurse coming into the room, "I've gotten permission from your surgeon to use the eicosanoid on your surgical site. I hope to see it do as good a job on that as it has on your shrapnel wounds. You're making amazing progress."

"Sherman and I were hoping to leave here day after tomorrow. Will I need a nurse to apply the salve or is it something can Stephanie do?" Carlos asked her.

"You can't get a prescription for this stuff. The FDA hasn't approved it for use on open wounds, although it's been used with much success in Europe for a while. I was hoping, you, Mr. Sherman and Mr. Wright would be able to stay on for a few more days to get the maximum benefit from it."

"What is it prescribed for in the U.S.?"

"Unfortunately it isn't prescribed at all. It's being used in cancer research and open sore drug trial in a few test groups. Maybe we can get the three of you into one of the trials. I can look into it for you."

"Can't you just give each of us a tube to take home, you seem to have it here?"

"That would be illegal. But if you were to accidently pick up a tube that someone left here and it accidently made it's way into your fiancé's purse, well. I'm just saying."

"How many accidents can we have?"

"I'd say just one; although one tube is more than enough for the three of you. But you didn't hear this from me," his nurse said, leaving the tube on Carlos' side table and walking out of his room.

Of course, I did as she accidently suggested. I picked it up and put it into my purse.

"Are you and Tank leaving Jason here to heal on his own? Or will we somehow need to share our accident with him?"

"It's up to him. As you remember he checked out with flying colors, so Tank and I just offered him a job at Rangeman. He has yet to give us an answer. We could always use a good man like him. I suppose if he accepted he'd have to go back to Washington State to sort out his affairs, but I'm hoping to catch Briggs first."

Carlos was answering questions, so I figured now was the time to ask a few more. "I know you switched over leadership to Bobby and Lester while you guys were doing your hard labor, are you switching that back to you now?"

"It's really always been me; they just assumed the position while I was out of commission. I'm still out of commission, so I'd like to keep it as it is until I'm pretty well healed. I think they've been doing a pretty good job."

"I guess. Except for the Vinnie thing. I still don't think that was handled with a lot of thought. Who in their right mind would write a bail bond on a psycho?"

"I've made mistakes too. It's human nature. They never anticipated he would go for you, or for Lester for that matter. Unfortunately Mary Alice and Autumn were the victims. How do you think Lester must feel? It's almost like ordering a hit on your own girlfriend."

I never thought about it that way. No wonder he took so much time off to be with her after her surgery. Suddenly I missed him and his smart-ass mouth. I picked up my phone and sent him a text:

STEPHPLUM: "How R U? How's Autumn?"

LESTER: "Hey Beautiful. What's up?"

STEPHPLUM: "Just saying hi. How's Autumn?"

LESTER: "She's ok, she's healing well. She got into a trial group for this new wound stuff and she's healing really fast."

STEPHPLUM: "EYE-KAH-SAN-OID?"

LESTER: "What?"

STEPHPLUM: "I don't know how to spell it, that's how you say it. Is that the drug Autumn is on? Carlos and Tank are on it too—it's amazing stuff."

LESTER: "I think that's it."

STEPHPLUM: "The guys are coming home day after tomorrow."

LESTER: "Trenton?"

STEPHPLUM: "The shore. Come out and visit. I miss U. Bring Autumn."

LESTER: "I miss U 2. We'll come see U. Gotta go. We're busy."

STEPHPLUM: "K, bye."

"Who are you talking to Babe?"

"Lester. Autumn is in one of those test groups your nurse mentioned for eicosanoid. He said she's healing fast."

"If Rangeman got her in, we could get in too. But I guess we won't have to now. You seemed to have accidently found all we'll need."

"Shouldn't David be here soon to pick up Hector for their rendezvous?"

"What time is it?"

"It's twenty after four."

"They're both punctual. He'll be here."

Speaking of the devil, Hector knocked on our door. "Ok, I come in?"

"Of course Hector. Why not?" I asked.

"Cal told me to knock from now on," he said with a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah, well Cal seems to have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And besides we weren't doing anything. Jeez, you guys." And to move the subject away from Carlos and my sex life I added, "Were you able to make the Dell adaptor work? Can I see it?"

Hector reached into his laptop bag and took out a perfect replica of a Dell AC adaptor. Of course we both knew it wasn't exactly an AC adaptor, but it looked really genuine.

"And the camera works?"

"Sí. I didn't want to do anyting obvious, so I put the camera here to look like a barrel jack. You would never know."

"That's a micro camera?"

"Sí, looks just like the cord with the barrel jack in place."

"And does it still work as an adaptor, what if he turns on his laptop, will it work?"

"Sí, it still work, there is just one extra connector. With that mess of wires on his desk, he never see it. Trust me."

"You're brilliant Hector," I said and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

There was another knock on our door; it was David White. "Hi guys. Hector were you able to make the clearance papers?"

"Sí, take a look, Hector said, taking them out of his wallet to show David."

"This is the real paper, how did you get this?" he asked looking closely at the watermark and feeling the texture of the paper the LX and CSI clearance was printed on. Hector just smiled and handed him his ID.

"I'm not sure I want to know how you did this. That looks like an authentic seal."

"Sí, authentic fake. Compare to yours."

David took his ID and clearance papers out of his wallet and put then next to Hector's for comparison. He didn't say a word, he just handed the papers back to Hector and put his away. Obviously he didn't know who he was dealing with.