Disclaimer still applies.

~oooOOOooo~

Chapter 21: December Pt. 5
Stephanie's POV

"It'll feel good to be off the boat and stretch my legs," I said, looking around as Ranger and I walked down the ramp toward the shore.

We had just arrived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, our third stop on the cruise.

"Mmm," he agreed, slipping his arm around my waist. "Still feel up to going shopping this morning?"

"Definitely. The beach yesterday was great, and you know I loved the helicopter ride in Cabo." I laughed, shaking my head. "If I go home without more souvenirs than I've already gotten, the girls will kill me."

Ranger chuckled. "Santos already threatened me if I didn't bring him back something special."

"Did you tell him we weren't allowed to bring him home a woman?" I asked with a giggle.

"He was sorely disappointed," Ranger answered with a straight face. He was quiet for a moment, and when we reached the shore, he asked, "How about something to drink at one of the little cafes? We can plan out our morning while we sit."

My stomach growled, making me grin. "And maybe something to eat," I murmured, rubbing my baby bump.

Laughing, he shook his head. "Babe, we just had breakfast."

I shrugged, unable to help it that the twins were making me hungry!

Just then, a young man in a uniform from our ship came walking quickly down the ramp, stopping us.

"Are you Mr. Manoso?" he asked, breathing heavily.

I raised an eyebrow, and Ranger nodded.

"There's a phone call on the ship for you. They were told you were not on board, but they insisted someone come and find you."

"Babe, it's got to be Tank," Ranger said. "No one else would call, and he wouldn't call if it wasn't an emergency." He sighed. "I'm sorry, but I need to take this. We'll go out after, okay?"

I frowned. "You go back and answer the phone. I'll go find something to eat and sit while I wait for you."

This time, Ranger reflected my frown back at me. "I don't feel comfortable with you going out on your own, Stephanie. Not here, and not while pregnant." He placed his hand on the swell of my belly in a protective gesture.

"Nothing's going to happen, Carlos," I told him, moving my hand to his and squeezing softly. "Go. Answer the call. If something serious has happened, we need to know."

I could see the war going on his head, debating with himself on whether or not to leave me. After looking around, he must have come to the same conclusion.

"You have the panic button?" Ranger asked, glancing at the bag I was carrying.

"I won't need it," I insisted, "but yes, I have it."

He sighed. "All right. Go right to that restaurant," he said, pointing out the nearest cafe, painted a bright pink, "and wait for me. Order me a bottle of water, too, okay?"

"Yes, sir!" I teased, saluting him.

"Babe," he said with a smirk. "Go."

I nodded, kissed him, and then we both turned and walked off in opposite directions. Ranger followed the young man back to the ship while I walked with the crowd to the street.

~oOo~

After choosing two bottles of water and a yummy-looking, flaky pastry, I grabbed a table near the back of the busy restaurant. I'd wanted to sit near the front so Ranger would see me when he came in, but at least from where I was, I had a clear view of the door.

I was looking down at the crumbs of my pastry when I heard footsteps walking up and stopping at my table. I looked up, expecting to see Ranger, but I saw a strange man and woman instead.

"You are Stephanie Manoso?" The man's voice was heavily accented and gruff.

"Can I help you?" They didn't look particularly threatening, but something about them was setting off my Spidey sense.

"You need to come with us," the man said.

I shook my head. "I'm waiting for my husband. I'm good here, thank you." If I had any choice about it, I would most certainly not be going anywhere with these people.

Until I saw the gun.

The man used the woman to block the restaurant's view of him, and when he opened his coat, the butt of a handgun showing above the waist of his pants.

"Come along, Mrs. Manoso," the woman said, flashing her own gun. "You don't want anything to happen to the little baby, correct?"

I immediately dropped the remains of my food. Picking up the full bottle of water I'd gotten for Ranger, I put it in my bag and stood.

"Good girl," the man said, reaching out to caress my face.

I jerked away. "Don't touch me," I hissed. "I'll come with you, but keep your hands off me."

He wrapped his fingers tightly around my upper arm, leading me through the crowd. "Smile," the man growled softly from the corner of his mouth. "It would not be a good thing if you draw attention to your little situation."

I pasted what I hoped passed as a smile on my face as I was led from the restaurant.

When we got out to the street and began weaving through the crowds, I finally asked, "Where are we going?"

"Just keep walking," the woman on my right said.

As we walked, I began to notice three other men around us. I'd seen one as I walked to the cafe, and when I'd come out with my two kidnappers, I'd seen the other two. I wouldn't have thought anything about it, but they kept popping up as we walked. They would pass us and then stand around near one of the shops on the side of the street as we moved past them before moving back in front.

I had to do something to get myself out of this situation and give Ranger time to find me. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew my life and the lives of our babies might very well depend on my actions. A couple of blocks down the street, I got a great idea when I saw a sign for a public restroom.

"I'm sorry," I said, injecting as much sincerity into my tone as I could, "but I really need to use the bathroom." I pointed to the right. "There's one right over there."

"Keep walking," the man said, ignoring my plea.

"Please," I whined. "I really need to go. It would draw a lot of attention if I had an accident on the sidewalk."

"She's right, hermano," the woman said.

They held a short conversation in Spanish, and even though my knowledge of the language was much more extensive now than it used to be, I only caught a few words. "El jefe" was "the boss." "Matar" was "kill." And whether the man was really her brother or not, I didn't know.

Turning toward me, the woman finally said, "I'll take you. Don't try anything funny."

I shook my head and let her lead me to the small cinder block bathrooms.

~oOo~

I was still trying to figure out what to do when I walked into the stall. Looking at the dirty floor, inspiration struck. First, I hit the panic button, knowing it would alert Ranger that I was in danger—if he didn't already know. Then, I pulled the stun gun out, turned it on, and hid it behind the bag.

Once I was settled, I asked in a timid voice, "Would you please hold my bag? This floor is really dirty."

She grumbled, but then I heard her footsteps as she walked to the stall. She pushed open the stall door and held her hand out for the bag.

I thrust the bag at her like I was going to give it to her, and before she could make a sound, I zapped the stun gun against her arm, sending her nearly silently to the floor.

Yes! One down, four to go.

Luckily, she wasn't a very large woman, so after sticking her gun in my waistband, I was able to half drag and half push her into the large, handicapped stall. Ranger had apparently snuck a set of handcuffs in my bag before we'd left the boat, and I used those to cuff her to the pipe behind the toilet. I also took off her shoes in the hopes of slowing her down if or when she did get free and pulled off one of her socks, stuffing it in her mouth as a gag. Then, giving her one more good zap with the stun gun, I stuffed it back in my purse.

I wanted the gun in my hand, but I didn't want to draw attention to myself, so I pulled it from my waist and held it in my hand inside the bag, ready to shoot through the material if I had to.

I made my way through the empty bathroom to the door and peeked out. I saw the man who had taken me from the cafe standing on the other side of the street, talking with the three other men I'd noticed. They weren't paying any attention to me, so as soon as a small crowd of people passed between me and the men, I slipped out of the bathroom and hurried to blend into the crowd.

~oooOOOooo~

Ranger's POV

Even after Stephanie assured me she would be fine by herself, I was hesitant about leaving her. I was sure she was right, that she would be fine and nothing would happen, but she and the babies were my life. If anything were to happen…

Shaking those thoughts from my head, I hurried back up the ramp, onto the ship.

"Right this way, sir," the young man said, leading me toward what I assumed would be Guest Relations on Deck 5.

After a couple of minutes, we walked up to the desk at Guest Relations. The messenger said to the woman behind the counter, "This is Mr. Manoso. He had a phone call waiting on line two."

"Oh yes," she said. "The phone is right over here."

She smiled what she must have meant to be a seductive smile, but all my thoughts were on Stephanie and whatever was going on at home that required a phone call from Tank. When I didn't respond, she simply handed me the phone without further comment.

"Yo," I said, keeping my voice hard so as not to betray the hint of fear I felt coiling in my gut.

I was met with dead air.

"Tank?"

Still nothing.

Turning back to the woman, I said, "We must have been cut off."

"I'm sorry, sir. Maybe they'll call back?" she said, sounding more like a question than a statement.

I wasn't going to wait that long. "How do I dial out on this thing?"

She began to look a bit nervous. "Well, uh, we don't generally encourage our guests to make ph—"

I bit back a curse. "How do I dial out?" I growled, interrupting her.

"There is an extra charge for calls ma—"

Slamming my fist down on the counter, I hissed, "I will pay what I need to pay. I am on vacation with my pregnant wife. I would not have been contacted if it had not been an emergency. Now, I'll ask you once more. How. Do. I. Dial. Out?"

The now frightened-looking woman put the phone up on the counter, hit a few buttons, and said meekly, "You just need to type in the ten digit number now, sir."

I quickly dialed Tank's direct number and then turned my back on the woman once more, staring down a couple sitting across from me until they averted their eyes.

"Yo," Tank's voice answered, sounding distracted.

"Report."

I heard shuffling and then a thump, as if his feet had dropped from the desk to the floor.

"Ranger? What the hell?" Tank's voice sounded unsure and surprised.

"Did you not call?" I asked. "I was told there was a phone call..."

"Aren't you on the boat, man? I didn't call. Everything is fine here."

"What? No, it had to be..." My voice trailed off as a feeling of dread suddenly overwhelmed me. "Pull up Steph's tracker. I.D. four bravo six two zulu."

I heard clicking as Tank complied with my demand, not even bothering to question me about having a tracker on Steph while on vacation.

"Okay, man, I've got it on screen," he said. "What's going on, Rangeman?"

"Where's it located?" I asked, not bothering to answer his question.

"The address is..." He rattled off an address, but then there was a pause before he said, "No, wait, she's on the move, heading north."

Okay, no need to panic. She's probably just finding someplace to sit, I told myself, not really believing it even as I thought it.

Just then, my watch beeped, signaling Stephanie had activated her panic button.

Fuck!