Freedom

Chapter 25

Thank you a hundred times over for all of you who have reviewed my story. Your support has meant so much to me! These last couple of chapters have been a challenge to write (for this first time writer). It's one thing to imagine something, it's a whole other beast to put it on paper, trying to paint a scene, put dialogue to it and have it make sense and hopefully be entertaining. Please keep reviewing, your encouragement is priceless ( and oh, so appreciated)! Lori

RPOV

The agents from NCIS offered use of the same type of helicopter that was used in Steph's kidnapping. It was a SH-60B LAMPS III helicopter that was typically used on rescue missions and is large enough to hold the team I've assembled. We would be dropped off two miles from the house at a nearby park and drive in from there. I have a client that owns a fleet of Hummers for his business and he's arranged the use of four of them for us.

We pull up a couple houses down from the small house just as a full size silver SUV is pulling out of the garage. Morelli. Tank floored it, jerking the Hummer into high speed, stopping on the driveway, right behind the silver SUV causing it to stop or hit us. We boxed him in. Tank hadn't even stopped the Hummer before I had jumped out, punched out the driver's window, taking Morelli off guard and pulled him from the driver's seat. Quickly scanning the interior, there was no sign of Steph. I pulled him out roughly, through the window, the adrenaline coursing through my body.

"Where's Stephanie?" When he started laughing in my face, I lost it. I pummeled him, punching him repeatedly in his kidney, his chest and finally his face. Only aware of not knocking him out, I'm not conscious of the damage I'm inflicting. As much as I want to kill the son-of-a-bitch, I don't want to kill him… yet. Agent Dirks pulled Morelli from my grasp as Tank pulled me off him.

Agent Dirks pulled his gun on me when I lunged to attack again. "Let me at him!" I pulled my own gun on Dirks.

"Don't do this Ranger. You don't want to go to prison for interfering in a federal case. You leave this bastard to me! Believe me, he's going down. There's nothing you can do that will be any worse than what happens to an ex-cop in general lock-down in a federal prison. Find Stephanie."

"One more time, Morelli, where is she? What have you done to Stephanie?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Everyone, fan out, start searching! He was obviously tipped, so be careful of any booby traps."

One by one, each of my men ran returned to the front yard after searching the house, each unable to find her. I ripped open the back doors to the SUV, searching the floor boards, and finally opened the back hatch. There was a large army green duffel with other items thrown on top, luggage and a cooler. Out of curiosity, I threw the items of the duffel and lost my breath when I unzipped it. Curly brown hair… unzipping it further, Steph was in a fetal position, hands tied in front of her, bruised on her face, chest and belly. She's facing my direction, eyes closed, not moving. I carefully pulled the bag out, laying it on the grass, unzipped it all the way and carefully pushed it off her and her out of it at the same time. She was naked, and with Bobby and Tank surrounding her, we shielded her as Hal went to grab a blanket from our gear.

I covered her and lifting her to my chest, she was limp, lifeless. Bobby felt for a pulse and looked at me shaking his head. We were too late. I was overwhelmed with emotion. In one moment, I went from hopeful and desperate to devastated. I've lost the only woman I've ever loved, and the child we created together in that love.

I cried, openly wept and for once in my life, could care less who saw me. My body had never felt less my own as my emotions took over. I cradled her body to mine, as if trying to absorb her into me.

Hal and my men raced over to Morelli and tackled him, consequences be damned. Morelli, hands cuffed behind his back was pummeled him to the ground by Hal who got there first. The rest of the men circled them, ready to jump in and take their shot at vindicating Stephanie. Giving him a few minutes to vent, Dirks once again pulled his gun out and jerked Morelli back up and hauled him over to an empty Hummer, getting into the back seat with him. Morelli looked like shit, needing to lean on Dirks just to move. His face was bloodied and swollen, one of his eyes already swollen shut from the beating I'd given him.

My men started mulling about, trying to deal with their anger in their own way when I felt dampness on my chest. I looked down and saw my babe looking up at me, her eyes flooded with tears that were pouring down her cheeks, but her body still limp and lifeless.

"Bobby! She's alive! She's looking at me and crying." I laid her on the lawn as everyone surrounded us.

"Babe, I thought I lost you! Babe, are you alright? Why aren't you moving?" Thank god she has the most expressive blue eyes. I could read that something was definitely not right and she is scared.

Bobby checked over every part of her body, trying to find the cause of what was going on. He stopped when he saw several bruises on her arms. Counting seven needle pricks, he stormed off, and went to the Hummer Morelli was in. He yelled through the window, "What the hell did you give her?"

Morelli smiled at him, remaining silent. Hal and Lester started searching the SUV, tearing it apart looking for where he was storing the drugs he'd used.

Lester brought over the cooler which had a bag of drug vials in it as well as a box of syringes. Bobby looked the vials over and slumped back on his heels. "Shit! He gave her Vecuronium. It's a paralytic. They use it in prolonged surgeries sometimes when they need the patient to be 100% immobile for an extended amount of time. It's not used much since it also greatly reduces the heart rate which would explain why her pulse is undetectable. She won't be able to move for hours from when it was administered. I'm shocked she can move her eyelids."

"That's my girl." I couldn't help but give her what she calls my 1000 watt smile. I'm so damned proud of her tenacity!

"Babe, can you blink?" She blinked once, weakly. "Good job! We're going to communicate with you blinking, ok? Blink once for yes and twice for no. Understand?" She blinked once slowly.

"I need to ask you some questions before we transport you. Can you feel any pain?" She blinked twice.

"You have a lot of bruising on your face and torso, did Morelli do this?" She blinked once.

"Is this damage from him hitting you?" She blinked once.

"Did he… did he touch you?" She closed her eyes. After a few moments, her eyes were flooded again when they reopened. She blinked once.

"I know this is hard, babe, but did he rape you?" Without hesitation, she blinked twice. Her eyes seemed proud of this fact. I hate to think of how much of a fight she had to put up.

"Babe, I need to tell you something. Bobby gave me some news that I'm very happy about and I hope you are too. Remember that vial of blood he took from you that day of the interrogation?" She blinked once.

"Babe, you're pregnant. We made a baby together." Tears that seconds before had only threatened to spill were now streaming from her eyes in earnest.

"Babe, are you happy about this?" She blinked once.

"There's a reason I'm telling you now. We need you to fight, to hang on, but I have to ask. I noticed bruising on your stomach, did he hit you there?" She blinked twice.

"Did he kick you?" She blinked once. Shit! I looked away from her and noticed my men barely controlling their rage, knowing that's all it would take to make her miscarry.

It's a good thing Morelli had already been secured in one of the Hummers with the contract workers, hands on their guns, surrounding it. Lucky for him or he'd be dead right now. Agent Dirks had arranged for a transport to pick Morelli up. He would be housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City which is an administrative facility that houses pre-trial and holdover inmates. It's close to FBI headquarters, so Dirks and Samuels will be able to keep a close eye on him once they return home. The transport arrived just as we were getting up to leave. It looked like an armored vehicle you see making money transactions, and I'm grateful there's no way he can escape. Hector, Binkie and three of the contract workers will be following the transport just to make sure it arrives at its destination with no incident.

Her eyes were dancing in what I guessed was fear. "Are you scared?" She blinked once. "Don't worry babe. Morelli is in custody, he'll never see the light of day again. We've got you. We need to get you to the hospital. I'm going to carry you, I won't let you leave my side, you're safe now, babe." I turned her head so she could see the guys surrounding us. "None of us will let anything happen to you." They were all giving Steph smiles, tampering down their rage to give her comfort in the moment. I turned her head back to face me and stood, tucking her into my chest, cradling her.

Bobby came up to me and said, "Careful, Ranger. We don't know the extent of her injuries and since she can't respond to pain…"

I shot him a stearn look. "Just a little while ago I pulled the curled up, lifeless body of my fiancé out of a duffel bag. A duffel bag for crying out loud! And you pronounced her dead. Then I find out she's alive. I'm going to hold her like the precious gift she is to me. Don't lecture me about being careful!"

"Sorry, man. It's just… we all thought we lost her. We still could. I'll feel better once we're at the hospital."

Everyone wanted to ride in the same Hummer as us, but in the end, it was Steph and I in the far back where I could stretch out with her, Tank driving, and Lester, Bobby and Hal riding as passengers. We've practically become inseparable in these last few months in our efforts to keep her safe.

"Ranger, since you've got some privacy back there, can you check for bleeding?" I looked at him, questioning his thought process and then realized he was worried about the kick to the abdomen. I looked at my babe and asked if she minded me looking. She answered back in the affirmative. When I did, I was relieved there was no bleeding or sign of blood having been there.

"Looks good, no blood, past or present." Bobby exhaled. Since finding out she was pregnant, he's been a man on a mission to protect her and the baby, maybe feeling guilty for not pressing for the results before now. Not that it would have made a difference.

"Babe, you're so pale. Did he take care of you?" She blinked twice.

"Did he feed you?" She blinked twice.

Bobby reached over from the back seat and started pressing on her skin in a few different areas. He looked at me with concern. "She's extremely dehydrated." I knew what the look was for. It's more than just her now, and the dehydration was not good for the baby, even as young as it is, it's further depleting Steph, causing her body more stress.

"Bobby, she's hardly breathing, her breaths are so shallow I can't even see her chest moving. I've been watching her closely in case she wanted to communicate and suddenly her eyes rolled back and she closed her eye lids."

"She's been fighting for each breath since he gave her that damn drug. She's tired and getting weaker by the minute. We need to get her some oxygen. Patients who receive this drug are put on ventilators as their lungs can't breathe on their own. The fact that she's still breathing at all is a testament to her strength and will, but she won't be able to hold on much longer. Keep her awake. If she falls asleep, she could get too relaxed to breathe. We need her to concentrate on taking in as deep a breath as she can take."

"Babe, Stephanie, sweetie, you need to wake up." Realizing she couldn't feel me gently squeezing her hand, I whistled loudly and her eyelids snapped open. "Stay awake for me, babe. We're almost to the helicopter."

Hearing our conversation, Tank floored it and we arrived back at the helicopter in no time. Hal took Steph from my arms as I buckled in and when he handed her back, he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. They gerry-rigged some harnesses together to secure her to my body just in case we hit some turbulence. Bobby secured an oxygen mask attached to a small portable oxygen tank the helicopter had in their medic kit.

"Deep breaths, babe. Deep breaths. We'll be at the hospital soon and you won't have to work so hard to breathe. Just concentrate on me and you and our baby." I'm such a tactile person, it's so hard not to comfort her with touching, so in a low voice, I told her some dreams I have for our future. Her eyes had a twinkle to them, so I know she was focusing on what I'm saying.

We opted to return to Trenton, Tank was making arrangements at the hospital, putting Steph in a private room, secluded from other patients, under an alias. He also arranged for a private waiting area just down the hall for our friends, family, and most of Rangeman whom I'm sure are going to show up, offering their support. He also called Lula, asking her to pass along the brief info he told her to Mary Lou and Connie. Not that Steph would want to see everyone, but just being nearby would be a comfort to them all, no doubt. I'll call her Dad once I know more.

RPOV

When we arrived at the hospital, we were told it would be a couple of hours before there was any progress made on the paralysis. Bobby came back into Steph's room after conferring with the doctors. They'd never seen Vecuronium used as a weapon, a way to disable a person. They kept saying she was a medical miracle to still be alive for this long without medical support. Steph is hooked up to a ventilator to assist her in breathing so she can sleep when she feels like it. They also inserted an IV to help hydrate her. She will be able to eat as soon as the medication has totally worn off. They can't give her a feeding tube since her system is in the state it is.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the obstetrician on call hooked my babe up to a fetal monitor, and I was so relieved to hear the sound of the baby's heart beat fill the room. She was just far enough along to pick up the heart beat and it offered us all great hope. It was weak, like Steph's, but it was there. As soon as Steph heard the baby's heart beat, she looked up at me with tears in her eyes and faded off to sleep. I don't know how she hung on as long as she did. I will never doubt her strength again.

Bobby walked into the room after getting some sandwiches for he and I, Hal, Tank and Lester who were all in the room. Looks like they're all here for the long haul. The anesthesiologist we'd been conferring with on Vecuronium walked in looking a bit apprehensive of the five of us, dressed in black, armed to the teeth. "I'm a… I'm afraid I have some bad news. Ms. Plum should be able to regain some feeling in a few hours. The bad news is, when she does, it will be quite painful."

"Can't you give her something?" Bobby asked, standing in a defensive manner.

"Her body has already been compromised enough what with the street grade sedatives she'd been given over the last few days combined with the Vecuronium. I consulted with my colleagues and we agreed it would be safer for Ms. Plum and the baby to not have any pain meds that could react badly and cause more side effects. Anything safe to give her would be too weak to touch the pain. She's going to need you by her side to cope with the pain."

"Can you tell me what it feels like?" Bobby is asking questions faster than I can get them out.

"You know the pins and needles feeling you get when your hand or foot falls asleep and begins to waken? From what we know, it's like that, but about twenty or so times worse. The natural reaction for her will be to hold her breath to deal with the pain. We'll have to pull the ventilator at that point or she'll only end up choking on it as she fights for control. Once the ventilator tube comes out, she needs to concentrate on deep breathing and not holding her breath. That will only cause further stress on her body and deprive them both of more oxygen. It's imperative that she breathe as deeply as possible. We'll put in an oxygen tube in her nose to help insure her intake is as enriched as possible."

"How long will it take, from when she first starts noticing the pain until it's out of her system?"

"It's hard to say. Normally, patients have heavy duty narcotic pain meds so the pain is never felt. We don't have a good handle on time frames. I'm sorry, I wish I could do more to help. At this point it's a waiting game."

I had to ask, "will massaging or rubbing the painful body parts help?"

"It may. Look to her for your cues. Just be sure to not rub any of the areas where she has bruises. We don't know the damage yet and don't want to make any injuries worse than they already are."

I walked the doctor to the door and closed it quietly behind him. Turning to my men, I wasn't surprised to see the pain and frustration in their expressions. "I know there's nothing you wouldn't do to keep Stephanie from experiencing any more pain than she has already. Just being here by her side will mean a lot to her… and me."

Tank came up and put his arm around my shoulder. "If it wasn't for that little woman there, we wouldn't be the family we are today. You're right there isn't a thing any of us wouldn't do to take the pain and heartache for her. She's been through more than any one person should have to endure." We all looked over at the bed and smiled at how peaceful she looked for now.

With that sappy admission from my right hand man that rarely says that much in an entire conversation, much less at one time, we all sat down and ate. Soon enough we'd start a mission that would surely rip our hearts out.

JPOV

That fucking Manoso! I can't believe he found us so quickly. There was a major breakdown in my plan! I got a call from one of my best informants, whom I promised to help keep out of jail if the need arises with his drug dealing business. He said a helicopter had been sitting on top of Rangeman for the longest time and from his vantage point a few blocks away on the roof of his apartment building, he could see a bunch of men, including Manoso and someone with FBI on the back of his jacket load the helicopter. He said they were heading north-east which is our direction from Rangeman. We had to assume they were headed our direction. If Stephanie hadn't tried to escape, we'd be long gone already.

Now I'm sitting in the back of a truck with some fed, waiting to be transported to New York. I'm as good as fucked! When Manoso's men came up to the truck screaming about what I'd given my Cupcake, I could only laugh at their desperation, and I only laughed harder in satisfaction after they ran back to the truck they'd pulled me from. I couldn't believe what happened next… the fed slugged me, he fucking slugged me! It's illegal to manhandle a person in custody. He told me to wipe the smirk off my face, that Stephanie is pregnant with Manoso's child and that they were going to live a happy life together now that I was permanently out of the picture. Son of a bitch! He'd won! Manoso somehow managed to not only get the girl, but get rid of me. The bastard!

The only salvation I have is thinking I had somehow taken something of great value away from Manoso just as he had taken Stephanie away from me. I hope they lose that fucking baby! I hope the beating I gave her, not to mention the kick with my boot to her stomach had made her lose that devil's spawn.

I would've liked the chance to reprogram her, to make her forget all about him and the rest of his men, forget all about her old life. I have a feeling where I'm going, that those thoughts will fuel my fantasies on my lonely nights, at least until I get out of this mess.