All the characters from the Plum world are courtesy of JE.
Fredda (Rangergirl1234), I can't thank you enough for working as the beta on this story, even with my crazy writing schedule.
Amy (beancounter74) thank you for being the inspiration for Dr. Amy Walker below.
Chapter 21 – The Action Sequence
As soon as Steph and I walked in Ranger shut the door and sat at the head of the table to give us the information he called us up for. "I just got a call from a contact of mine in DC. Apparently, Herbert Stewart was murdered in his bedroom, and the body was just discovered. I trust his opinion when he says it was a professional hit with a single bullet between the eyes, no sign of struggle, no forced entry. This is going to be kept under the radar for as long as possible."
I looked around and saw relief on Steph and Bobby's face, but Amy's face was unreadable. "What's up doc?" I asked with a smile because I was quoting Bugs Bunny, and I always thought he was a great cartoon character.
She either didn't care much for cartoons or was too focused to pick up on the quote because she shook her head and asked, "Where are Miguel and Mateo?"
"I've got some calls to the guys I know in Columbia to see if they know," Ranger replied, understanding why she was asking. "But even if they're there, that doesn't mean they weren't the ones behind the hit."
"I know. It was just so quick and so cleanly done, it makes me wonder if they even had time to hear from Maria, get in touch with a hit man, and pull it off," Dr. Walker explained.
"It could have been one of Maria's guards," Stephanie offered as a viable explanation for how fast Stewart was taken out.
Dr. Walker thought then shook her head no. "Maria is in New York. Stewart was in DC. Geography would make that unlikely." I guess she had a point, but if Maria had access to a private plane, the timetable might be workable.
"Whoever did it," Bobby cut to the chase, "Does it mean that these two are safe now?"
Nobody had an answer to that question, at least not one they were willing to verbalize. "I'm guessing that I'm not going any where alone for a little while still, right?" Stephanie asked. I knew how much she hated sacrificing her freedom like this when the crazies set their sights on her. And in this case, it was a hundred percent true that it wasn't her fault.
I took her hand in mine and ran my thumb along the back of her thin wedding band. "I'll be doing the same thing," I offered as a concession to make her feel better. I was glad to see her relax a little.
We spent the next few hours talking through various possibilities, and Steph decided to monitor the press and the websites where she'd gotten information on Maria's schedule to see what kind of moves the family made in light of the recent "death" of her fiancé.
After we had reached the end of what could be done this evening we all stood up to leave. I caught Ranger's eye and asked, "Any reason why we can't go back to my condo for the night?"
He silently considered it and then shook his head no. "Too exposed. Why don't the four of you go to the Point Pleasant safe house for a day or two to relax while we wait this thing out? You'd have around the clock monitoring, and no one would expect you to go on vacation right now, so that should help too."
I looked at Stephanie to see how she felt about the idea of staying at the beach for a few days and the excitement plastered on her face made it all too clear that she was on board. Bobby and Dr. Walker were doing some kind of silent communication thing, and after a shoulder shrug by her, a head nod by Bobby, and a smile from the doc, they were ready to load up and join us.
"I'll go down with you, do an initial sweep, and help you get set up for a couple of days," Ranger volunteered.
"Thanks for letting us use the house," Stephanie said once all the details were sorted out.
He smiled at her, giving her a look that only she received from him and he told her, "Anything for you Babe."
I swallowed twice to keep the possessive growl from coming out. Then I had to turn and look away when Stephanie smiled in return to his comment and then kissed him on the cheek. I glared at Ranger as he grinned at her contact.
Ranger then laughed, which was a pretty rare sound, even to me. "What's so funny?" I asked, completely annoyed at how comfortable he was getting kisses from my wife.
"Hey, she's a part of the family," Ranger said as though it were a defense.
"Try again," I told him. "You don't let Aunt Alyssa kiss your cheek." Of course, the fact that Aunt Alyssa's mustache was thicker than her husband's could have been part of the reason why that was.
He grinned once more at replied, "Haven't you ever heard of kissing cousins?"
Dr. Walker muffled a laugh and Stephanie took my hand in hers once more. I grumbled through the elevator ride to the forth floor to get a bag for a few days away. Steph seemed to find my complaining more humorous that anything else, so I eventually gave up, figuring no one was going to see it my way.
Three exhausting hours later we were in the safe house at North of Point Pleasant with a private strip of beach and a mile on either side with no adjoining neighbors. It was a great location. The house sat up on a hill, preventing anyone from getting close without being seen from the house first. As far as houses go, this was a nice one with windows facing the ocean and a nice wooden deck out back. There were four bedrooms, three on the second floor, and one on the main floor. Because of my injuries, Steph and I took the suite on the ground floor to keep me from having to navigate any steps. Bobby and Dr. Walker took a room upstairs, and I couldn't help but notice they took the room on the opposite side of the house from the place where Steph and I were sleeping. I was relieved, as it would give us all more privacy that way.
Ranger came in and helped us bring in our luggage and the food Ella prepared for us to have on hand, along with the laptop that was fully loaded so Steph could continue keeping tabs on the Hernandez family's activities. It was agreed we'd hang out here for two to three days and then see where things stood as far as us resuming our normal lives. Hopefully, in that length of time, we'd be able to determine if Steph and I were no longer on anyone's radar screen for knowing too much.
There were only a few hours left before sunrise, so Ranger decided to stay at Stephanie's insistence and slept in one of the rooms upstairs. Of course, he chose to sleep in the room directly over where Stephanie and I were sleeping. I couldn't speak for Steph, but it definitely took away my desire to take advantage of the time we had alone in the room before breakfast.
It was probably for the best as by the time we all said goodnight and went to our prospective rooms, Steph was just barely staying awake. I took off my t-shirt and tossed it on the bed and then sat down to pull off my sweat pants to sleep in my boxers alone. Steph stripped down, picked up my discarded tee, and pulled it over her head as makeshift pajamas. "Did you forget to pack something to sleep in?" I asked.
She colored slightly and then replied, "No, but after you left I took to sleeping in your t-shirts, and I'm more comfortable in them than my pajamas."
I climbed in bed and stretched out my arm for her to assume the position we seemed to sleep in. She put her head on my shoulder, her hand on my chest, and her leg draped over my hip. I placed my hand over hers and I think we both went to sleep immediately.
The next morning I heard voices coming from the kitchen two rooms over and realized Ranger, Bobby, and Dr. Walker were all up. When I looked down Steph was in the exact position we'd gone to sleep in, so I pulled myself from underneath her, rearranged the covers to insure no one got a free show, and then went out to see why there was so much commotion.
"That stuff will kill you," I heard Ranger tell Dr. Walker.
"Look, it's not my fault you don't understand that food is not only to sustain us, but to be enjoyed," she retorted from the stove.
Apparently, they were debating the appropriate way to make an omelet. Ranger made his standard: egg whites only with low-fat cheese, spinach, onions, and peppers. The good doc had hers with the whole egg, two different kinds of real cheese, crumbled bacon, onions, tomatoes and peppers. Of the two, I had to agree that Dr. Walker's looked better.
"I have more protein, therefore I have more fuel for the day," she continued to argue.
"But you also have ten times as much fat and more unnecessary calories," Ranger tried to reason with her.
"Which I more than worked off with a morning run," she countered once more.
Those two were like oil and water. I didn't think they'd agree on too much. It worried me that Ranger would refuse to use her for our RangeMan assessments on that basis alone, and I hated what that would mean for Bobby. The way he looked at Dr. Walker was eerily similar to the way I looked at Steph. A long distance relationship wasn't going to work for those two; they needed to be together.
Before I could take the thought process any further, the glass across the front of the house shattered in a catastrophic wave of sound and motion. A small impact explosion went off, breaking down the barrier at the back of the house and allowing two people to come in. I was enough to the side of the kitchen that I was not seen. I backed up, never taking my eyes off the direction they were entering until I made it back to the bedroom. Steph was sitting up in the bed with a look of pure panic on her face.
I put my finger over my lips indicating I wanted her to be quiet, and then I went to my duffle and grabbed three guns; the small Sig went to Steph's nervous hands, but I watched her focus and steady herself as she pulled that determination I so admired up to the front to master her fear. "That's my girl," I mouthed to her with no sound. She understood and gave me a half smile before crawling out of bed not making a single sound.
I needed to get back out to the main room but I didn't want her following me. I held up my hand and tried to give her my most convincing stare urging her to not follow me. She shook her head no and looked to the door and back to me. Of course she wouldn't hide in here if her friends were in danger in the other room.
I tried a second time and her response was to step out in front of me as though she were going and I could be the one to stay behind. Oh hell no! I hobbled in front of her quickly and put an arm out to force her behind me. She placed her palm on my back, not pushing, just letting me know she was there, and that is how we made our way silently out of the room. Before we could get more than a few steps away from the bedroom we heard three rapidly fired shots and then Bobby call out, "Damn it!"
There was no reason to be quiet. I figured if Bobby were responding then the whole thing must be over so we moved quickly the last few feet down the hall and saw the gruesome scene in front of us.
Whoever it was that attempted to attack the house were both presumably dead in the scattered glass in the den. Bobby and Dr. Walker were both on their knees in the kitchen with their Glocks in one hand and their other hand on Ranger, who was on the floor in a substantial amount of blood.
I had to assume the three shots we heard were made when one of the intruders tried to take out Ranger, and Bobby and/or Dr. Walker took out the assailants.
Bobby jumped up and ran over to the cabinet where his medic bag had been tossed last night. I'd know him long enough to know he never went anywhere without it. Even on vacation there were certain supplies he absolutely refused to leave home without.
He started pulling out objects and then he asked Dr. Walker, "What do you need?"
Her hand was on Ranger's chest. Actually, most of her hand was on his chest, but it appeared a finger or two was literally in his chest. "It hit an artery. We've got to go in now or he's going to bleed out."
Bobby didn't hesitate in giving her a scalpel. She looked at Bobby and said, "Shouldn't you be doing this, you're field trained."
He shook his head no. "My training doesn't include cardiology."
Seeing there was no other way to save his life she put one hand firmly on his chest, as though she were going to hold him down, and then proceeded to cut directly into his chest where the bullet entered. Bobby started filling a syringe with something and injected it directly into Ranger's neck. "That will keep him out for a little while, so you don't have to worry about movement," he explained what he'd done.
The two of them worked together like they had been in multiple field surgery situations. If it hadn't been my cousin and one of the closest friends of my wife, I might have dwelt more on how seamlessly they complimented each other and how fast they maneuvered.
Finally, I had to tear myself away and went to check on the two people bleeding on the floor in front of us. The first one was a male, maybe thirty and of Latino coloration, but I didn't recognize his face at all. A quick check of his pulse proved that he was dead. I rolled over the second body and was surprised at how light it was. When I ripped the mask off the face, I sucked in a quick breath. I put my fingers on the neck to prove what I thought was true. Maria Hernandez was dead on the floor at my feet. Apparently, she had no need of her cousins avenging her fiancé's death; she was perfectly capable of doing it herself.
"It's still leaking. This artery is like tissue paper. How many hits to the chest has he taken?" Dr. Walker asked, pulling my attention away from the scene at my feet.
"Can you resection or bypass it?" Bobby questioned.
"Not on the floor of the kitchen. This needs somebody with skills greater than what I've got," she argued, looking defeated.
"Amy, you know as well as I do he'll never survive transport to the hospital. At best, he's only got an hour before he bleeds out, and I'm betting it won't take that long. You can do this, he'll fight to keep going while you try, now what do you need?" Bobby was trying to get her to step up.
She didn't hesitate. "Get a cell phone and dial this number," she commanded. Bobby followed her instructions as she went through his bag and pulled out possible supplies.
A familiar voice answered the phone, "Dr. Walker," his cool voice answered giving nothing away.
"John, it's Amy. I need your help," she began, keeping her voice even.
"Where are you?" He asked, sounding more engaged.
"I'm in New Jersey, in a field situation with a gun shot wound to the chest. I've got him cracked open, and I've removed the bullet and closed the artery that was nicked, but it's still leaking. The artery tissue is paper thin; apparently this guy has taken shots to the chest before," she explained. I held my breath, hoping the brilliant surgeon would respond and not the embittered brother-in-law.
"How are you outfitted?" He asked, giving me hope that he would help.
"I've got a standard Army medic bag and everything you'd expect in a well equipped kitchen. He's on the floor, and I'm relatively certain things are clean, but this is about as far from an ideal situation as you can get. I'm also guessing based on his BP and blood loss I've got about half an hour tops to get this right," she leveled with him.
"Alright," John took control and began to talk Amy through the process of saving Ranger's life. She followed his instructions without hesitation, obviously trusting him completely and proving her skills as a surgeon. It is rare to see someone so accomplished, and to think that she was equally comfortable inside the body and inside the mind was amazing.
At the twenty minute mark John said, "Okay sit back and watch it to see if he's leaking."
I saw Bobby and Dr. Walker both looking from different angles, and Bobby spoke up first, "It's holding now."
John's breath came out over the line, proving he had been nervous that after all his best advice, talking her blindly through a very difficult surgery, that they wouldn't be able to fix this. "Close him up, and then you're going to need to get him a pint or two. Getting him some fresh blood will help his pressure and keep the shock from being as severe to his body."
"I'm not exactly close to a blood bank," she said with a little sarcasm.
"Haven't you ever watched MASH?" John said, making what had to have the first joke I'd ever heard him make. "Do a direct transfusion if you've got somebody with a compatible type."
"Thanks John," Dr. Walker said with a little more emotion in her voice. "You were the only person I knew that would talk me through this instead of trying to talk me out of it."
"Shit Amy, don't get all sentimental on me, or you'll force me to say something like the only person I'd trust something like this to other than myself would be you. Whoever the guy is, he was damn lucky you were there. Most people would have let him go." I smiled at the slight thawing between those two.
She hung up and then looked at Bobby and asked, "Any ideas what blood type he has?"
Bobby nodded. "I keep everybody's type on file at RangeMan. The only match between us is Stephanie."
Steph didn't hesitate. She walked from where she'd been standing behind me and entered the kitchen. "Where do you need me?"
Bobby jumped up and grabbed a towel from the hall bathroom and spread it out on the floor, so Steph wouldn't have to sit in the pooled blood there. She stretched out her arm, and Dr. Walker got a vein on the first try, hooking her up to Ranger's arm and beginning the process of giving him something to increase his chance of survival.
I went over to the edge of the make-shift OR and picked up the cell phone from the counter and called the control room, asking to be connected to Tank. I gave him the full run down of what happened, and he said he'd get an ambulance there as well as a team for clean up and analysis on the intruders. I hung up, relieved that the big guy was there. No one was a good as Ranger, but after having served as his right hand man for so many years, Tank was a good second in command. He'd take care of everything.
Eventually Amy pulled the tubing from between Ranger and Steph and talked to Bobby about various antibiotic treatments they needed to administer. I knew the conditions were less than sterile, so it made sense to want to do something soon to increase his chances of pulling through.
Stephanie made her way back to my side on shaky legs. I couldn't tell if it was from the blood she'd given or the stress of the last hour. I was grateful that my leg seemed to be holding me so that I could support her and take some of her weight as well to keep her upright.
The rescue squad arrived and Bobby and Dr. Walker worked together to get Ranger loaded in and both of them jumped in the back to ride to the nearest hospital. It was a high stress situation, but they were both level and calm. Ranger was stable, and considering how close he came to death just an hour earlier it was hard to imagine how they were coping with the adrenaline pumping through their systems.
Tank, Ram, Cal, and Hector showed up as the ambulance was pulling away. I figured it was probably for the best, so they didn't have to see the boss the way he was. I filled everyone in on what happened, stressing what Dr. Walker had done in fighting for Ranger's life.
Cal was the first to speak in the cold silence that followed my story. "Now that's just not fair that you get Steph and now Bobby has somebody that is nearly as amazing. There's only so many good catches in the world, and I'm worried that everyone else is getting them, leaving none for me."
Steph gave him half a smile and told him, "Lucky for you, you're such a great guy I'm sure there is a special woman out there that will rock your world."
The guys started processing the scene and I was worried about how weak Steph was looking, so I got Ram's attention and said, "Can you see if there's any juice in the fridge."
He looked at me strangely and asked, "You're thinking about breakfast with the mess in here?" Ram was pointing at the gruesome floor, thinking I was one twisted dude.
I tried to temper my anger and set him straight. "Not for me, I think Steph's blood sugar is dropping and after giving Ranger a pint or so after his surgery, I'm worried." The fact that I was able to explain all of that with her close to me, not disagreeing, only furthered my panic that she wasn't doing well.
Ram shut up and switched hats to be an excellent waiter. He found a jug of juice, poured her a glass, and banged through the cabinets to locate a straw. He tried handing it to Steph, but she had a blank stare on her face and wasn't responding.
I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to ease her form the trance she was in. "Beautiful," I called to her, taking the juice from Ram and holding the straw to her lips. She didn't respond verbally, but she did take the beverage, and I relaxed when she took a few long draws on the straw. At least she was getting some nutrition in her.
Tank called the sheriff's department to come secure the crime scene, figuring it was such a clear case of self defense that it was better to let these deaths go on record instead of letting the guys do one of their clean up jobs. Besides, we'd already gotten everything we could from the scene, so there was nothing left that we could do.
After the cops took our statements, Tank offered to drive Steph and I back to Trenton. She still wasn't talking, so I figured it was a good thing to get her back home so that when she finally snapped out of this she'd be in familiar surroundings.
The ride back was uncharacteristically silent. Just as we pulled into the garage at Haywood Steph looked at me and said simply, "Ranger nearly died."
I pushed her crazy hair back from her face and agreed. "Yea, Beautiful, he almost did, but Dr. Walker and Bobby worked hard to save him, and then you gave him a piece of you- which means he'll survive for sure." I sent up a quick prayer that the last phrase was true, because I didn't completely understand the bond between my wife and my cousin, but I knew it was deep, and if he died she'd fall apart.
I led her to my apartment and took us straight to the bathroom for a shower. Despite my instructions to keep it on, I took off my brace completely so that I could stand under the spray and take care of Stephanie. Since she arrived at the VA in New York, she'd been taking care of me, and for the first time in our marriage she clearly needed me. I was going to do everything my body could handle to be what she needed.
I pushed her under the spray and let the water wash away the blood that was on her skin from the safe house. I was rinsing out the shampoo from her hair when I saw what I thought was the first tear running down her face. It was a little hard to tell with the water all over her from the showerhead, but the pain in her eyes convinced me I was right. She was waking up from the shock of what happened and it was hitting her now. I didn't even feel the pain in my leg and knee as I pulled her to me and she sagged in my arms, forcing me to hold her up as she sobbed for what had happened.
I have no idea how long we stayed that way, but once I was pretty sure she was all cried out, I shut off the water and wrapped her in the large towel hanging up outside the shower. "I'm sorry," she attempted to apologize.
"Nothing to be sorry for," I corrected her, tying a towel around my hips as well.
"I don't know why I fell apart like that," she seemed confused by her outburst, but I wasn't. Hell there were plenty of times in my career that I felt like if I just had a way to get the emotion out that I'd be able to handle the stress of the situation much better. But I'm a guy, we bottle, we don't pour. Something told me it took a lot more strength to let it all out, and that was just one more piece of proof that Steph was the strongest person I knew.
We put on some comfortable clothes and cuddled up on the sofa in the living room. I checked my phone and saw I had a text from Bobby saying they were at the local VA with Ranger, and that the doctors there were pleased with his condition considering what happened. He also commented that Amy was currently ripping some poor orderly a new one for his careless handling of Ranger, and he figured she'd be running the joint within the hour.
Steph finally relaxed when I shared that news with her. We stretched out with her spooning her back to my chest and with my arms wrapped around her. I whispered, "Just settle down Steph and try to rest a bit. I'll be right here."
Her eyelids lowered, and she let out a soft sigh as her features relaxed. I felt honored that she trusted me enough to rest so completely with me there to protect her. Then I realized she had every reason to feel that way; I'd willingly give my life to protect hers. The threat that had followed us from New York had been eliminated, but I knew how her life generally worked, and it was only a matter of time before something new came up to cast a shadow over our lives.
Right now, there was no shadow. There was a faint light from the windows, and the stillness of uninterrupted time with her in my arms. My heart was full, my body was touching hers, and I was confident that when the time came that we needed to worry about our safety again that we would face it together.
For better or worse, sickness and health, 'til death do us part was nothing. What we had would endure everything life could throw our way, and when death tried to separate us, I knew it would only be temporary. An eternity wasn't long enough for me to love her.