***Big thanks to all who have contributed and shared so many wonderful thoughts! This update is a little quicker than last week's. I've become inundated with music commitments for the next several weeks. However, I will still try to get a chapter up each week. Thank you all!
This is the chapter with "the plan." Language used in this chapter. Oh, and I don't own those familiar characters (in case you were wondering)***
Previously...
"Hmmm. Let's stop off at Shorty's. She's probably hungry and I want her to be in a good mood when I tell her what she's going to be doing."
"News travels fast man." Tank said as he made a turn at the light.
Ranger opened an eye and looked at Tank. "You're right. She most definitely knows that I was arrested and she's going to be in quite a state when we get back. It was her skip and she's probably blaming herself. Better make it Pino's."
The smell of pizza wafted through the control room gradually lifting Stephanie's head from the file. Her eyes closed as she sat fully erect, her head turning to follow the imaginary pizza-scented-vapor-fingers pulling her nostrils towards the greasy goodness.
Stephanie suddenly snapped out of her trance feeling her neck tingle. She rubbed the her head and shook it. "Huh? Pizza?" She rose from her chair and looked around the floor. "Bobby?"
"Yeah, Steph?" Bobby rolled his chair across the floor and stopped in front of her cubicle.
"Did you order pizza?" Stephanie looked quizzically around.
"Sure didn't. But that would be nice wouldn't it?" Bobby grinned. "Maybe they serve pizza in jail, you should ask Ranger."
Stephanie smacked Bobby in the arm who gave her a big smile in return. "That's not funny at all! Oh god! What if they convict him of Garvin's murder? This is all my fault!"
"Relax, Steph. It's not like they are going to give him the death penalty or anything."
"Death penalty!" Stephanie's voice sounded something between Betty Boop and Minnie Mouse.
"Hmmm. Go talk to Lester. He might have something to do with your pizza."
"Huh?" Stephanie gave him a queer look.
"The pizza? You asked about pizza." Bobby kept grinning at her
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just…I mean, I was thinking about prison. Or, I, you know, Ranger and…geez, how could I forget about the pizza?" Stephanie was starting to breathe heavy and was getting flustered. Bobby stood and gave her a big hug.
"Go find Lester, he might have an answer for you." Bobby rolled his chair back to his desk and shook his head, chuckling to himself.
"Lester?" No response. Stephanie heard her stomach speak as she looked at her watch realizing it was after six. Knowing that Lester was in charge, she walked down to Ranger's office to inquire. She tapped on the door and Lester's head shot up.
"Shit, Beautiful! Sorry. You startled me." Lester looked around and tapped the keyboard a few times until the screen was no longer black.
"Lester?"
"Yeup. Yeah, what's going on?" Lester ran his hands over his face and shook his head.
"Were you…sleeping?" Stephanie almost whispered as she looked around the office and down the hall.
"Hell yeah! Ranger's office isn't monitored so this is the best place to sleep when he's not around. Don't tell anyone though. What's up?"
"Obviously not you." A gruff voice came from behind Stephanie causing her to yelp and turn around grabbing her heart. Stephanie squealed again when she realized who was standing behind her.
"Ranger! Oh my god!" Stephanie flung her arms around him and then quickly stepped back. "I thought they were going to book you for Garvin's murder! And then when Tank left and he said he'd be back within the hour and it's been almost four hours now and I looked…"
Ranger held his hands up and Stephanie stopped rambling.
"They let you go?" She asked.
"Yes."
"No charges?"
"Not one."
Stephanie rested her hand on her cheek and let out a loud sigh. "Thank god!" Stephanie felt Ranger's warm hand rest on her arm and she decided to not continue on any further rambling. She gave him a shy smile and looked down at the ground. Lester took this moment to quietly stand and begin sneaking towards the door. "I'm just glad you're back and not spending the night in jail."
Ranger gave her an almost smirk, "Hell would have to freeze over before that happens." He stuck his arm out and blocked the doorway. "Not so fast, Santos."
"Ahh, come on, Boss!"
"Sleeping on the job is not tolerated. You can work graveyard the rest of the week, in addition to your normal shift."
"Gee, can I?" Lester mocked.
"And you will meet me on the mats tomorrow after your shift." Ranger spoke with finality and Lester swore under his breath. Ranger turned and directed his attention to the control room. "I want everyone in conference room B." All the employees stood from their cubicles and respective locations and began to walk towards the conference room. Lester got a hop to his step but stopped as a strong hand stalled his progress.
"What?" Lester threw up his hands in defense.
"You are on monitor duty, Santos." Ranger stated flatly. Lester frowned and mumbled something as he walked over to the monitors and slumped into a chair. Vince smirked and let a snort out as he walked by Lester and stopped when he noticed Ranger staring at him.
"Since you find humor in Santos' predicament, you can commiserate with him for the next hour." Vince dropped his head and turned on his heels muttering as he dropped his muscular frame into a chair next to Lester. Lester smacked him on the back and laughed, ignoring the glare from Ranger. "You both will be filled in shortly."
"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" Stephanie asked as she waved to Lester and Vince.
Ranger's answer to her question was a slightly raised eyebrow.
"Men. Never mind."
"Get off me Santos!" Vince shrugged off a laughing Lester.
"We get to share some quality time, man." Lester said tapping on the keyboard.
"Yeah, but you didn't have to drive Binkie to his sister's house today. When Tank asked for a driver to get Boss, I lost the toss to Woody."
"I hear she's a looker." Lester gave him a huge grin.
"Only if you count looking the other way." Vince ran a hand over his face and visibly shuddered.
Stephanie listened to the exchange and shook her head. Ranger turned around and guided Stephanie to the conference room. The smell of pizza was overwhelming as they walked into the sounds of chatter uncharacteristically jovial for RangeMan.
"Ranger! Did you do this?" Stephanie turned around and looked wide-eyed at Ranger, her mouth dropping open.
Ranger said nothing and proceeded to the head of the table. As he sat down, the chatter immediately ceased. All the employees eyed their boss and the fifteen extra-large pizza boxes sitting in three stacks down the middle of the table with a large salad at one end closest to Ranger. Ranger held a steely stare around the room and placed his elbows on the table. The Rangemen quickly snapped to attention and scuttled to find a seat around the large conference table, scraping chairs and bumping into each other. Ranger continued to wear his blank face as everyone assumed business mode; Ranger began.
"Just in case anyone chooses to make a comment that will land them on monitor duty with Santos or the mats at 4am for the next week, I was arrested this afternoon and kept in an interrogation room, alone." A few smirks could be seen, but quickly vanished. Ranger clearing the air.
"As you are aware, we are going to be assisting TPD with information searches correlating to their ongoing investigation of the SA case."
Stephanie raised her hand. Ranger closed his eyes and took a breath in through his nose. "Yes?"
"What's an SA?"
"Special Artillery." Stephanie gave him a scrunched look and shook her head. "The guns."
"Ah." Stephanie slumped back into her chair.
Ranger continued. "Anything that is asked of any RangeMan employee by the police, whether it be a search, form, information, computer analysis, a date, anything, you will notify me first as to the reason for your search. TPD have been instructed to come directly to me when wanting any information, but that doesn't always happen. Any information you run will come back across my desk. Nothing will be sent to TPD without my consent. If am not present and Tank or someone else is acting primary, it will remain on my desk until I personally pass the information. Anyone who violates these orders will be subject to immediate termination."
Ranger looked around the table at the blank faces all nodding in various degrees of a head bob. "We are willingly but selectively assisting TPD. The highest degree of sensitivity must be taken when dealing with this information. We believe there is a mole in the operation. I don't care if it is local PD shit they are asking of RangeMan. I cannot stress this enough: Do not become complacent." As the air sat quiet waiting for Ranger to continue, Stephanie's stomach roared through the silence.
Slumping down even farther into her seat, she felt her face grow very hot. "What?" Stephanie stared into the faces of all the Merry Men.
"Babe,"
"Well, you can't expect me to sit in a room with fifteen boxes of pizza mocking me and expect me not to be hungry." Stephanie folded her arms tightly under her breasts. Bobby let out a small snort and Cal choked trying to stifle his laugh. Ranger tilted his head up and glared at the two men.
Standing, Ranger said nothing and walked towards the door. He turned around facing his employees and nodded to Tank who took one stack of pizza boxes and the salad as he left the room. Stephanie's mouth dropped open and her eyes got very wide. She moved her lips to speak, but Ranger held up his hand.
"I trust everyone understands. Proceed as usual with your tasks at hand. Brown, Cal, Steph, come with me. Everyone else, you have thirty minutes until you report back to the floor. People slapped one another on the back and stood talking amongst themselves as they scattered the pizza boxes across the table and grabbed pieces of greasy goodness from the open boxes. Stephanie tried to grab a piece as she walked behind Bobby but Ranger grabbed her hand and guided her to the door.
"Man, Boss! You should get arrested more often!" Ram yelled from across the room. He raised a piece of pizza as a salute."
"Tomorrow, four." Ranger glared back. Ram shrugged and grabbed another piece from a near empty box.
Ranger walked a short distance down the hall to another conference room. This room was significantly smaller than the other conference room. The table was large enough to comfortably seat six, eight if needed. Six chairs were around the table and two more were placed against the wall. Ranger flipped the light on motioning for the others to enter. Once they entered, Ranger stepped back towards the control room leaving the three of them alone. Stephanie looked back longingly towards the door and pizza and sighed as she joined Cal and Bobby at the table. Cal sat across from Bobby and Stephanie sat in a chair next to Bobby. She looked down at the table feeling dejected and hungry. Bobby reached over and squeezed her hand, causing her to look up and give him a forced smile.
"It's because I spoke out in front of everyone, isn't it?" Stephanie tapped her heel impatiently. "And because you two laughed."
"Guess we're all on the shit list." Bobby grinned and stretched his legs out and laced his fingers behind his head. "Just try not to say anything when he gets back. Think of all the wonderful rabbit food waiting for us down the hall in the break room.
"Easy for you to say. You can eat that Army crap in a brown bag and call yourself satisfied." Stephanie shot back.
"Brown bag? You mean MRE's?"
"Yeah, those military things they pass off as food."
Bobby shrugged, "They're not that bad, especially if you trade around with other people."
"Yeah, and you can make a hell of a bomb with your little magnesium food warmer, too." Cal added.
"Yeeeah." Bobby and Cal bumped knuckles and Stephanie sat shaking her head.
After several minutes Ranger returned with an armful of water bottles. Stephanie rolled her eyes and sat up. "Water, Bobby!" She hissed into Bobby's ear. "They get pizza, we get water."
Ranger placed the bottles on the table and took the chair next to Cal. The three sat silently watching Ranger. Stephanie placed a hand on her stomach in an attempt to stifle the beast and reached for a bottle of water.
"You three are here for one reason. Before we discuss your purpose, we should probably settle a few things." Ranger motioned to the door and Tank walked in with the five pizza boxes and the salad. Stephanie instantly felt her mouth salivate as Tank meticulously placed the boxes side by side the length of the table, stacking one. He took his place between Cal and Bobby on the end and signaled to Ranger. "It's been my experience that food creates better listening capabilities, for certain people."
Stephanie immediately stood up and grabbed the doubled up box, pulling them towards her. Flipping the lid open, her moans caused everyone to stop and stare.
"I'm sorry. I'm just really hungry and this is sooo good!" Tank chuckled as he took a slice from another box. Ranger seemed content with his salad and the rest of them managed to deplete the pizza supply without a problem. A short while later a lone piece was left in one box and well over half a pizza was left in the box Stephanie was hoarding to the side. Stephanie reached for the lone piece, placed it in her box, and closed the lid slipping it on her lap. She looked around and shrugged. "What?"
"Babe, really?"
"They're for Lester and Vince. Withholding pizza from anyone is practically a crime. They'll need it when they get off monitor duty." Stephanie said. Ranger looked at his watch and nodded to Tank. Tank excused himself. "They'll forget that you even brought pizza and will be thanking me for saving them some food."
"That is true, Rangeman." Bobby said wiping his greasy hands on his cargoes leaning forward ready to deal business. Tank returned with Lester and Vince in tow. Stephanie beamed at them and placed the pizza box on the table.
"Ahh, Beautiful! I can always count on you to take care of me!" Lester gave Steph a peck on the cheek and the two men ravaged the pizza box. Bobby gave Ranger the 'I told you so look' and Ranger took that moment to snap into business mode.
"Those of you in this room are part of a privileged information group."
"Like a secret society?" Stephanie asked.
"Not exactly, Babe."
"So we're going to share the information with everyone else?"
"Not exactly."
"Then how is our information not secret?"
"Because you are still going to work with the other guys."
"But how can we work with the other Rangemen if we have to keep our information secret?" Stephanie kept shooting off her questions and the other guys were watching the bantering back and forth like a tennis match, heads moving and all.
Try as he might, Ranger worked extra hard to not let a sigh escape. Ranger knew, as did his men, that Stephanie was the only person who could be a smart ass to him without repercussions, even in front of his men.
"Because it's not."
"Oh." Stephanie took a sip of her water and puckered like a fish.
"The information that we are going to discuss is not necessary for all the other employees. I don't want the whole company scrounging for information and tying up all our resources. Past experience has shown that when the whole company is looking for sporadic leads with vague information, a lot of information tripping and excessive work occurs. It's counterproductive. I don't want that. I want to be as efficient as possible. While we are working this case, everyone else is going to be working on the logistical police shit."
"Zo vare dof 'at put uff?" Lester mumbled through a mouth of cheese and grease.
"That puts us with the specific shit. Walker and Garomin are going to try to hang us."
"More so you." Tank added in a deep voice.
Ranger nodded and continued, "But we're not going to give them that chance."
"So, what is it that we are going to be doing that is so special?" Cal waved an arm around the table indicating the 'we' aspect.
Ranger's demeanor turned icy as he considered his reply, "Our efforts are going to be targeting the people involved within the departments."
"What? Plural?" Came a few conglomerated replies.
"That's right. You're going to be pulling everything on the Miami ATF, Miami PD, Miami FBI, Trenton PD, Trenton FBI, and RangeMan.
"Say what?" Vince gave Ranger and incredulous look.
"What are you talking about? RangeMan? We're looking internally?" Stephanie couldn't believe she heard Ranger right.
"We need to eliminate anything and everyone who is not suspect. Starting with us. Once we decrease the size of the pool, we will be able to work jointly and more efficiently."
Lester let out a low whistle and leaned back in his chair. "How deep does this go, Boss?"
"We don't know."
"But you do know that it is not just some run-of-the-mill gang banger scum?"
"Yes. He or she probably has minions. Cal, you are Miami PD, Vince, you are on Trenton PD." Both men nodded. "Steph, you will look at Miami ATF and your skips."
"I'm sorry. My skips?" Steph bit her lip.
"Yes. They are all dead aren't they?" Steph nodded. "Then find a connection. Santos, RangeMan Miami. I trust you to work silently on this?"
"Absolutely, Boss." Lester nodded completely serious.
"When you are finished you will partner with Stephanie working Miami ATF and her skips." Ranger looked over at Bobby who had a gleam in his eye. "Bobby, Miami FBI."
"Ahhh, Rangeman, I knew you loved me." Bobby gave a big smile and raised his eyebrows. "I really do hate that bitch, you know." Everyone grumbled in agreement.
"Tank will work RangeMan Trenton. I'm sure we're clean Tank, but don't be complacent. You will also handle Trenton FBI."
"You got it." Tank replied.
"Though it is not likely, if another employee inquires as to what you are doing, remember, it is not a secret." Ranger made a point to look at Stephanie and emphasize the last five words, "Correspond with them, with the exception of Tank and Lester's initial searches, as they may have information that can help you. We are working together, our target searches are just specific. Commiserate with those in this room frequently." Silence fell and everyone looked around the table at their coworkers, an uneasiness settling in the air. "It goes without saying, make sure that Steph is protected at all times." Stephanie shot Ranger a look she couldn't quite discern the message she was trying to convey. "No matter how careful we are, somehow, somewhere, someone on the outside is going to catch wind of what we are doing. I don't want her to be the target of their revenge. Get to work."
Everyone stood and filed out talking in hushed voices. Stephanie didn't move. Instead she remained planted to her chair, assessing Ranger. She kept thinking back to her conversation with Tank and felt unsatisfied.
"Babe?"
Stephanie didn't respond; she held a vacant stare.
"Babe?"
"What, Ranger?" She blinked several times and had an edge to her voice. Ranger walked back to the table and sat next to her. 'Damn it, why do I always have to explain myself to Ranger and drag information out of him?'
"Steph, are you not comfortable doing the searches? Lester can run it on his own."
Stephanie sighed. "It's not that." She figured now was a good a time as any to ask. "Ranger, what about the information we are going to send to…you know, the stooges?"
This got a grin out of Ranger, or rather, a slightly upturned mouth.
"Tank wouldn't tell me. He said it was too good and that you should tell me."
"He did?" Ranger asked.
Stephanie nodded.
"I'm not keeping things from you, Babe, if that's what you think. I figured there was an awful lot going on I didn't want to overwhelm you."
"Are you kidding? Ranger! I've been waiting since before you got arrested! So, how are we going to pin them?
"We're not exactly pinning them, Babe."
"We're not?"
"No. You wanted to feed them the stuff, give them more than they deserve."
"Well, yes. So?"
"We know that there is a mole and it's not some random person." Ranger talked slowly and decisively to make sure Stephanie completely understood. "Right?"
"Yes."
"We're going to give them the information." Ranger now gave a Stephanie a wily smile. "We're going to lead them back onto themselves."
"What? But, how is that going to work?" Stephanie shook her head confused.
"Think about it. If the stooges are convinced that we are trying to hide something and are hoping to implicate us, they are going to be digging up that information themselves, not asking RangeMan for the intel. All the while they are going to try and access RangeMan hoping to grab something on us. However, when we push information that suggests they are dirty, they're either going to get pissed and deny or back off. All the while we're giving them the real deal and we still have our asses covered for not withholding information."
"Whoa." Stephanie slumped back into the chair her eyes big blue orbs. "Holy shit, Batman! That's better than any plan I was devising."
"You started it, Babe." This got a smile out of Stephanie. Ranger stood and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "You should be able to get a little bit of information this evening."
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Stephanie looked up at the clock and stretched. She had started running her skips and pulled up preliminary files on all three. It was well past eleven and she decided to turn in and make a phone call.
"Yes?"
"Hey, Joe."
"Cu…Steph?" Joe's voice came through.
"How's it going over there?"
"Got a hell of a report to do as you can imagine."
Stephanie rolled her eyes at this, thinking of Morelli arresting Ranger. "I understand. I was getting ready to turn in myself."
"You're staying at RangeMan, yes?"
"Those are the orders." Stephanie felt a tug at her chest and couldn't help but feel the conversation was incredibly stilted and emotionless. Her breathing began to increase and she felt her chest tighten further and eyes begin to feel dry.
"Yeah, well, I should get going. I just started my second report. I'll talk to you later." Joe spoke flatly and Stephanie could hear him writing while he was talking. She turned in her chair and placed her elbow on her desk.
"Joe, I would…" Stephanie stopped herself and laid her forehead into her hand. "Alright. Bye."
"Stephanie?" Paige asked Joe as she sat next to him writing her own report.
"Yeah." Joe threw his phone onto the desk and sighed. "Fuck."
"Hey, it's all good, Joe. Worse things have happened. Hurry up, I'm ready to leave anytime, I'm reported out." Paige drooped her arm across Joe's shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Me too. Hopefully another hour tops." Joe and Paige put their heads down and painstakingly continued their reports.
Stephanie closed her phone and brought her other hand up, cupping her whole face. "Shit." She muttered as she wiped her eyes with her middle fingers. Stephanie stayed at her desk for the next few minutes composing herself thoughts and whispering into her hands like the angel and devil Steph were sitting on her shoulders. "He arrested Ranger. But we've known each other for so long. I shouldn't feel this shitty. Still, he's my friend. But friends aren't suppose to make you cry." Taking a deep, non-soothing breath, she wiped her eyes, pushed her chair in, and exited her cubicle. The floor was relatively empty with the exception of a couple of men sitting at their desk on the opposite side and Lester on monitor duty. His figure was illuminated green from the instrument panels and the screens. She smiled to herself thinking of how he got himself into the current situation.
"Goodnight, Les." Stephanie waved to him as she passed by on her way to the elevator punching the down button.
"Night, Beautiful."
"Try not to fall asleep." She giggled as the doors opened and she stepped in, pressing '4.'
"Har, har." Lester watched the doors close and turned his attention back to the monitors watching Steph in the brief elevator trip. Her head was lax and her shoulders internal monitors showed empty halls and mostly vacant desks. The client monitors showed even less activity. Lester reached for the phone base and pressed the intercom button. Replacing the earpiece to his head, he listened to the beeps waiting for an answer. The tones stopped, indicating the phone was answered.
"I don't know how much longer she can hold it in. She's strong, but…I don't know, man."
There was no perceptible breathing or even a reply so Lester went on, "Tonight wasn't a good night."
"And?"
"It isn't a matter of time any more, it's a matter of days now before she finds out." Lester looked around the control room. "You need to tell her."
"No."
"Fuck, man. She needs to…"
"Find out for herself. It's the only way for her."
"She's getting ready to lose it. I saw that tonight." Lester blew out a sigh.
"Keep an eye on her."
"Sure thing, Boss." Lester disconnected and leaned back in his chair. "Damn."
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Was Ranger's plan what you were expecting? Should it have gone a different way? I've had so many curious people I couldn't let it hang out another chapter. And what about Ranger's decision to let things be with Paige/Joe/Steph? Thank you all so much for reading!