PAYBACK

Chapter 25

Hidden safe and out of sight on top of a high-rise over a mile away, he lifted his field scope and adjusted the lens until the luxury condos across the street came into clear vision. Sweeping the scope up and down the street, he counted over fifteen undercover cop cars. Must be hell for the poor bastards to watch the bad guys and not being able to make a single arrest. Just proved his way was better. Kicking back into a more comfortable position, he reached down to pick up his bottle of water.

The next few hours passed without a problem and then just before the last rays of sunshine dipped below the horizon, Baratoli emerged from the building with a bodyguard on either side. Sitting up straight, his body coursing with adrenaline he watched unblinking as the two bodyguards stepped away from the man known as The Bear.

As he entered the back seat of the limousine, his driver closed the door. With that one simple action, the car imploded. Jake lowered his field scope and smiled: payback for Lillie's parents. Lillie had planned everyday for the last year on how to get her payback. Tonight, her plan came to a successful conclusion. The Bear would not be attending his daughter's wedding tomorrow. Whistling the theme song to The Godfather, Jake departed from his hiding place, a place free of any evidence.

Striding into the conference room at RangeMan Miami, Lester flipped the television on to CNN. The screen filled with the exciting activities outside of a posh Miami high-rise. The attention of every man in the room focused as the newscaster brought them up-to-date on the apparent murder of Anthony Baratoli, a/k/a The Bear, outside of the condo of his mistress. Lester watched the faces of the others in the room as they absorbed the information. His eyes rested on Ranger. Smiling, Lester flipped the television off.

"I take from your appearance that Stephanie knows you're alive." Lester's voice carried a note of pleasure in it. "Would have been better if she had shot your lying ass."

Switching his gaze to Tank he asked, "Where is she?"

Tank shook his head. "I told her I'd give her eight hours to sort through the pile of shit we've thrown at her."

Shoulder to shoulder Ranger; Joe, Harrison and Lester formed an angry wall in front of Tank. Tank sighed.

"Wait!" yelled Bobby as he grabbed the last bottle of scotch and a glass from the bar and pulled one of the chairs back against the wall before sitting down. "Okay."

"Calm down," Tank said, trying to defuse the human bomb standing in front of him. "She's safe and she deserves some private time." He waited, not sure whether he'd have to fight them all or if they'd listen to him. Watching the faces of the men accepted his words; Tank released a sigh of relief. "Besides, I gave her my money clip that has the tracking device in it. She's been tracked and watched ever since I picked her up outside of Harrison's."

"Damn, and I had a ringside seat." Bobby shook his head.

Lester grunted in Bobby's direction and then turned back to Tank. "Call me when she's back. I want to see her," he said as he left the room.

Joe glared at Tank. "You're sure she and her little sidekick had nothing to do with that?" Joe motioned toward the television with his head.

"Positive," Tank said. "Their plans were focused on tomorrow's wedding reception."

Harrison nodded in agreement. "Her only place of attack was at the reception. Besides, she wanted to kill him face to face."

Ranger's body became a blur as he attacked Harrison. The floor shook as the two large men clashed. Tank waited a second before attempting to break the two apart.

Joe walked over to stand by Bobby. "See, I knew this was a good idea," Bobby saluted with his glass.

"You son of a bitch, you were going to let her go through with it?" Ranger struggled to free himself from Tank's iron grasp.

Standing, but clutching his side, Harrison's eyes blazed at Ranger. "No, I wasn't going to let her go through with it." Harrison coughed. "I figured it was safer for her to think I was going along with her, safer to keep her close to me. No way would I let her go through with it. I owed you that."

Through the stillness that had settled over the room a voice said, "Doesn't anyone tell me the truth anymore?"

Lillie opened the door to Randy's van and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. "Busy?" she asked with a bright smile.

He flicked a quick glance in her direction before his eyes returned to his computer, his fingers flying over the keyboard. "I'll be finished in a minute."

"What are you doing?" Lillie asked, amazed at the speed and the unerring accuracy of his typing.

"Killing someone," Randy answered.

"Well, must be our lucky day," Lillie whispered and then kissed him on the cheek.

"How's that?" Randy asked.

"We both committed murder on the same day!" Lillie giggled. She'd have to tell him how Jake had helped in settling the score between her and The Bear for murdering her parents.

Randy stopped and looked at Lillie. "Somehow, I get the feeling you killed someone a lot more dead than I am."

Lillie gave him her little woman smile. "Justifiably."

Stephanie had sat still, listening to all the details of Ranger's 'death' followed by all his pleas for forgiveness. All in all, the heart-wrenching experience had been reduced down to just a little over two hours.

"Steph, aren't you going to say anything?" Joe asked.

Shaking her head, Stephanie looked at her hands folded in her lap. "No." Standing, with her hands unfolded at her side she looked at Joe. "I'd like to get some sleep first."

"I'll take you back to my place." Harrison started to rise from the table.

"No!" Ranger would fight every man in the room twice before he let that happen. "She can stay here."

"Sorry guys, I'm going back to the condo. Alone. Tank promised me time to think things through and that's what I'm going to do." Stephanie said with a tone that left no room for debate. She turned to leave the room.

"Stephanie," Lester called after her. She turned to look at him. "May I go with you?"

Stephanie searched his face for a hidden meaning other than wanting to be a friend. Reassured by what she saw, she nodded yes.

Ranger dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his face. Coming up behind him, Joe leaned down and whispered into his ear. "Looks like you're royally fucked, my man." Smiling, he straightened up, stretched and announced he too was going to get some sleep.