Wrong Man at the Right Time

Characters belong to JE. I'm using them for fun, not profit.

Chapter 14 Ranger's POV

It's been three months since my Babe married another man and I left town. I haven't been in touch with anyone at Rangeman. Hell, I don't even know if the place is still standing. I'm so lost in my own self pity, I'm just letting everything I've worked so hard for fall by the wayside. I'm sure Tank is doing a great job, but I know there are some types of new contracts he can't sign, so the amount of new business they would have been able to bring in during the past twelve weeks would be down. I don't really care, but I'm sure it bothers Tank. Probably, I should get in touch with him soon.

I'm in Belchertown, Massachusetts at the moment. I've been traveling up and down the eastern seaboard stopping in small towns in order to stay under the radar. I dumped the turbo because I figured if Tank was looking for me, that's what he'd be looking for. I sold it way under value for cash. I had a small lock box that I'd kept in the turbo with fake ID's and credit cards and all that jazz, but I knew I could move around undetected a lot easier if I used cash whenever possible. I'm now driving around in a five year old Ford Taurus. No one would suspect that, right?

Some nights, I hit a pool hall and play for money. Most of the time I win, unless I'm too far gone on the Jack Daniels. Other nights, I find a poker game and play until the wee hours of the morning, then sleep half the day the next day.

I keep telling myself I need to get over this whole mess and get my life back together, but taking that first step seems ridiculously hard. Every night I tell myself that tomorrow I'll call Tank and get my ass back to Trenton, then morning comes, and I decide to put if off for one more day. I think I'm having some kind of mid-life crisis, though I never believed in that kind of thing in the past. It's like I worked really hard all my life to get to a certain point, and when I got there, I met a woman who meant more to me than anything I acquired along the way. Then, I fucked up and lost her. Let her just walk away without a fight. I never could say 'no' to her and when she said she wanted to marry Lester, I was thrown for such a colossal loop, I just walked away and crawled into a dark hole.

I came to Belchertown from Sanford, Maine where I actually spent some time fishing when I wasn't drunk. I found out I really enjoy fishing. You know me, I have the patience to sit for hours waiting for the fish to bite. It's sort of like surveillance, except it's a lot more fun to catch a fish than it is a piece of crap skip. Plus, I can just toss the fish back instead of having to transport it to the police department. Can't beat that. Maybe one of these days, I'll build a fire and cook some of them. And, unlike working a distraction job, I don't need a curly haired brunette to lure the fish out of the water. Shit. I meant to not think about her.

Every day, I tell myself not to think about her, but of course my mind doesn't listen. I get this redundant loop going in my head and sometimes it takes hours and a half a bottle of Jack to get it to go away. I remind myself that she's married now, but that doesn't keep my heart from loving her or my body from aching for her.

I know some day I'm going to walk away from the booze and all this aimless wandering around, but I don't know yet when that day will be. Maybe I need to find another woman to get my Babe out of my thoughts.

Plenty of women come on to me in the bars, even on nights I don't bother to shave. I just ignore them or brush them off, but maybe I should give one of them a whirl one of these nights. Maybe I'll do that tonight. Maybe I'll even shave. I have clean clothes. Washed them myself at a laundromat yesterday. That was about as exciting as watching paint dry. Surveillance and fishing are one thing, doing laundry sucks donkey balls. I can handle most any household chore, if I have to, but I'll pay someone to do the laundry any day. Unfortunately, that's not an option right now.

I hauled my ass off the bed in my hotel room and took a hot shower, then shaved. I dressed in some clean clothes and headed out to the bar. There was one within walking distance of the hotel and that was a good thing, considering how shit-faced I get some nights.

Five minutes later, I was sliding onto a barstool. I've been in Belchertown for a few days now, so the bartender, Jim, recognized me. "Usual?" he asked, wiping down the top of the bar in front of me.

"Yeah, that'll do," I told him. I wasn't usually in the mood for smalltalk and tonight was no exception.

Jim set a bottle of Heineken and a shot of Jack Daniels in front of me and I was on my way, but I remembered that I might want to get laid tonight, so I kept in mind that maybe I shouldn't get quite as hammered as usual.

I was minding my own business and watching a game on the TV above the bar, when a dark haired woman hoisted herself up on the barstool next to me. I gave her a quick glance and then turned my attention back to the game. I'd been here for almost two hours and was feeling no pain, if you know what I mean.

After a few minutes, I diverted my eyes from the TV and looked around for Jim so I could get another round, when the dark haired woman spoke to me. "My name's Jackie," she told me, holding out her hand.

I stared at her for a minute, then stuck out my hand. "Ric," I told her. I'm still the master of the one word answers. She looked to be between 30 and 35. She was pretty, but not beautiful, and she had a nice smile and a good figure. She was dressed quite a bit better than most of the women in the place, but not over-dressed. She looked nice and she wanted to hook up. Good. Now I don't have to look for someone.

I bought her a drink and we talked for a few minutes and the next thing I knew, I was in her car, letting her drive me to her house. Not sure what I was thinking. Probably, I wasn't. For once I was just going to let my dick do the thinking like I did in my younger days.

Her house was only a couple miles from my hotel and that was good because I knew if things went south I could just walk back. The house was small and neat and the furniture was modern. She told me to have a seat on the couch and said she was going to change into something more comfortable. Comfortable is nice, but naked was what I was going to be going for.

I looked around the living room while waiting for her to come back. There were some framed pictures on the coffee table, but I'd had so much to drink, they were a little blurry to look at. Suddenly I heard a squeaking noise and I jumped up from the couch. That was a bad idea because I lost my balance and stumbled a bit. So much for not getting quite as hammered tonight.

I followed the squeaking noise and it lead me into the laundry room. There on a counter was a cage with a little rodent running around on its wheel. "Rex!" I said a little too loudly. "What the fuck are you doing here, little buddy?" I was confused as hell. How come Rex was in Belchertown with a stranger instead of home with my Babe? This was bullshit, pure and simple, and I was going to rectify the situation.

I picked up the cage, walked out of the laundry room, and ran smack into Jill or Jackie or whatever her name is. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "Give that to me, you'll drop her!"

"I held the cage up out of her reach and glared at her. "What the fuck are you doing with Rex?" I ground out.

"Rex? Who the hell is Rex? That's my white mouse, Sally. Give me the cage right now!"

I staggered around her and started to make my way to the door. Jill, I mean Jackie, ran to the door to block me from leaving. "I'm calling the police right now if you don't give me that cage, asshole!"

"I may be an asshole, but I don't steal people's hamsters!" I told her.

"Listen, dimwit, she's not a hamster, she's a white mouse, now give me the cage!"

Jackie had a bit of a problem. If she wanted to get her phone and call the police, she was going to have to walk away from the door and that was when I'd make my move.

"I mean it," she threatened. "I'm calling the police in five seconds if you don't give me that cage."

"Why wait?" I slurred out.

I think she choked out a small sob and she ran from the door to get her phone. I opened the door and headed down the driveway toward the road. "Don't worry 'bout a thing, Rex. I'll get you back to Steph."

As I mentioned before, Belchertown is a pretty small town and as it turns out, it also has a very low crime rate. Before I'd make it a quarter mile down the road, a cop car pulled in front of me with its flashers on. Fuck!

Before I knew it, I was being handcuffed and driven to the station where I was booked and fingerprinted. They shoved me into a cell where I collapsed on a cot and promptly fell asleep.

Several hours later, I'm not sure how long, exactly, I heard someone loudly say, "Ranger!" Before I even opened my eyes, I knew the gig was up. I had no ID on me at all that would identify me as Ranger or even as Carlos.

Before I could open my eyes, the man yelled at me again. "Manoso! Get your ass off that cot."

I opened my eyes and turned my head. "Fuck. Toot, what the fuck are you doing here?"

"I'm the captain here, Ranger, but a better question is, what the fuck are you doing here?"

I sat up and scrubbed my hands over my face. Toot was an ex Army man. We served in the Rangers together and even did a Special Ops mission together. That was quite a while ago though. Toot didn't renew his contract and I hadn't spoken to him in quite a while. Had no idea he was a police captain in Belchertown.

"It's a long story," I told him. My head was still a bit fuzzy, though I was pretty much sober by now.

Toot unlocked my cell and had me follow him to his office. He closed the door and motioned for me to sit.

He went around his desk and slid into his chair. "Ranger, what the hell is going on with you? Stealing a woman's pet mouse?"

I frowned. "That was a mouse?"

Toot threw up his hands. "Not that it matters, but, yes. Dog, cat, mouse, what the hell were you thinking trying to steal someone's pet?"

"I was drunk," I told him flatly.

"You don't drink. When did you start drinking?"

I gave him a brief, very brief, explanation of the past few months. Just basically telling him that I had some personal problems and had left Trenton to get away for a while.

"If I cut you loose and make the paperwork disappear, will you head back to Trenton and get your life straightened out?"

I shook my head. "No. I hate that fucking place. There's nothing for me in Trenton. I'll go back eventually, but not yet. I'm leaving the country this afternoon." I'm not sure where that came from, but suddenly, leaving the country seemed like a good idea.

Before he could reply, his phone buzzed. He picked up the receiver, listened to the person on the other end for a moment, then disconnected and excused himself. He said he'd be back in a few minutes and I should sit tight.

X X X

Tank's POV

It was five in the morning, but I was already at Rangeman, working out in the gym. Hal buzzed the gym phone and when I picked it up, he told me I had an important call, so I told him to put it through.

I was sure surprised to hear ole Toot on the other end and even more surprised when he told me why he was calling. He said he was working as a police captain up in Massachusetts and that he had Ranger there.

"No shit? Is he okay?"

"Well, it depends on what you mean by okay," Toot said. "He looks like shit. Like he's been on a two year bender and he got arrested last night for stealing a woman's pet mouse."

"Fuck! He what? Why the hell would he do that?"

"Not sure. I've only talked to him for a few minutes, but the police report says he kept calling the mouse Rex and the owner says the thing's name is Sally. Apparently, it was a case of mistaken identity, but he took the thing from her house, was walking down the road with it, drunk, and told the officer who arrested him to go fuck himself."

I was so stunned, I felt like someone had kicked me in the gut and knocked the wind out me. Were we really talking about the same Ranger? Carlos Manoso? Of course we were, he said Ranger was calling the mouse Rex. Man, he must be some kind of fucked up.

"Listen, Toot. I know Ranger's going to want to post his own bail and get out of there, but I'm hoping you'll delay him until I get there. I'll call for a flight right now."

"No can do, Tank. I'm cutting him loose."

I sat up straight in my chair. "You're what? Toot, I've been look for him for two and a half months. Sounds like he's in bad shape and I want to help him." If it sounded like I was begging, it's because I was.

"Tank listen. You know as well as I do that the man saved my life, not once, but twice, on the same fucking mission. I can't have him waiting here like a sitting duck and let you just waltz in here, but there is something I can do. He said he's leaving the country this afternoon. I know a guy who can tail him and follow him to the airport. He'll check to see what flight Ranger boards and I'll call you with the info. At least that way, you'll know what city he's heading to. What you do after that is up to you. It's the best I can do, Tank. I know he needs help, but he's his own man, and he's not going to get better until he's ready."

I knew that part was true, but when I find his sorry ass I going to show him the future with my size 15 boot. "Thanks Toot. I appreciate it. I'll be waiting for your call. Oh, let me give you my cell number. I'd rather not have any more calls about this on our main line."

Once I hung up, I didn't know whether to celebrate or put my fist through the wall. So close and yet so far. I knew I could have the control room trace the call, but I also knew I wouldn't do that. I'd wait for Toot to call me back. Ranger would have a head start on me, but at least I'd know where to find him.

It was a long five hours waiting for that call, but finally, it came.

"Hey, Tank. My guy followed Ranger to the airport and he boarded a plane to Caracas."

I paused for a minute thinking I must not have heard him right. "Caracas? As in Venezuela?"

"That would be the place," he said.

"What the fuck is in Caracas?" I asked him.

"Ranger, in about four hours," he said with a chuckle.

I don't know why, but I chuckled too. Maybe it was because I was finally going to get my hands on my best friend and bring him back here. "Thanks, Toot. I owe you one, man."

"Not a chance," Toot replied and disconnected.

A/N Thanks for reading! Hope you like the chapter and will send me a review. I love hearing from all of you!