Gaining Forward Momentum

This takes place after Dancing Outside the Lines.

Thank you so much for all the positive feedback and nice reviews you've posted for this story. I really appreciate it. You guys are the best :)

And thank you for all your kind words and condolences on the loss of my dad. They all meant a lot to me.

M Rating

Extra special thanks to Margaret for Beta-ing my story and deeming this chapter good to go :). Thank you Margaret :)

I don't own the characters, just taking them for a spin :)

Reviews and suggestions are always welcome.

Chapter 26 —Ramos' to the Rescue

I went over to kiss the older man hello. "Hi Mr. Ramos. How are you?"

"Chickie, are you trying to give an old man a heart attack? What are you up to?"

"I thought I'd go blonde for a distraction. The person we're trying to get has met me before and I needed to look different."

"Oh you'll be able to distract him alright. I almost didn't recognize you. And what are you doing with all these men?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Ramos, I guess you haven't heard. Carlos and I are engaged."

"Carlos Manoso? Ranger?"

I shook my head yes. "Yes, Ranger. We've been together for a while now."

"Well, congratulations! And please call me Alexander. Why don't you join us? We're finished talking business."

"Thank you Alexander, but there are seven of us. We can't just barge in and make ourselves at home at your table. Stop by ours before you leave though."

Alexander agreed and I joined Carlos and the guys at their table in the back.

"Babe, you were having quite a discussion with Ramos."

"I invited him to join us later. Hope that's ok?"

"Of course it's ok. Did he say anything interesting?"

"I just told him about our engagement and he congratulated us. He asked us to join him, but we're seven so I didn't feel comfortable. And I thought we had more to talk about and wasn't sure you'd want him to hear. He's still in the gunrunning business isn't he?" I lowered my voice to add.

"Yeah Babe, but he's mostly retired now. Homer seems to have taken over the gunrunning now that he's clean and sober," he whispered back.

We ordered dinner, some wine and a few bottles of beer. While we were waiting for our drinks to arrive I noticed Hector giving me some odd looks across the table. I shot him an 'ok, give' look back and he picked up his phone.

A few seconds later my phone buzzed that I had a text.

HECTOR: "You can use your relationship with Ramos to our advantage."

STEPHPLUM: "Meaning what?"

HECTOR: "He knows a lot of people. He can get to different people than we can. I think you should ask him about Flumerri."

I tapped Carlos on the arm and showed him Hector's text. Carlos looked over at Hector and then at me. "You invited Ramos over, want to invite him again? Maybe Homer too?" he said.

"Sure. It looks like they are done eating."

I put down my napkin and got up. I walked over to their table, leaned in casually and invited both Ramos' over to have coffee or another drink with us. Both accepted and said they'd be over in a bit. When I got back to our table our food had arrived, so we ate while we waited for the older and younger Ramos to join us.

The guys, except for Bobby had either wine or beer with dinner. Bobby had declared himself our designated driver for the trip back to Belmar. Carlos never has too much to drink and doesn't seem to even be impaired by what he does have, but he was one-handed, so I appreciated Bobby's offer.

I have to say our food was fabulous. Oh God. Now I don't usually like fish; but I love how Greek restaurants prepare Mediterranean sea bass, so I ordered it as my main. It came with roasted lemony potatoes; sautéed strings beans and a salad. It was heavenly and after a few moans on my part I had the entire restaurant looking in our direction. Oops.

We had just finished our main dishes when Alexander and Homer came over to our table. Alexander brought a chair over and sat between me and Carlos. Homer squeezed in on the other side of Carlos, next to Bobby.

Alexander congratulated Carlos on successfully stealing me away from him and the cop. Then he joked with me about sneaking out for cigarettes and ouzo next week.

Our waiter came by to clear our table and to take our dessert orders. Most of the guys ordered American coffee and baklava. However Alexander, Homer, Carlos and I ordered Greek coffee and I had my favorite Greek dessert, galaktoboureko. This is a heavenly combination of creamy custard and flaky phyllo dough baked to golden perfection then drenched in a sweet lemony-infused syrup. It has a yum factor of 20 on a scale of one to ten.

"So Chickie, is there anything I can help you with? What is this distraction you told me about? Is it here on the Jersey shore? Can I be of any assistance?"

"Thank you Mr. Ramos…" My thoughts, which were still mainly on my dessert, were distracted by Alexander Ramos butting in.

"Alexander, please."

"I'm sorry…Alexander."

I looked past Alexander and over to Carlos for help. Although I got the feeling we were going to try to use Ramos' influence, I wasn't quite sure how much information to give away.

Carlos took the lead and told the Ramos' about Briggs and our plan to stop his missile from getting anywhere near Ft. Jackson. I remembered Hector's text so after Carlos finished with the details of his and Tank's courts martial and introduced Jason to the Ramos', I asked about Flumerri.

"Alexander, do you know an ex-Trentonite, Francis, Frank, Flumerri? His ex-wife still lives there."

"Yes I know him. He tried to butt in where his nose didn't belong. I'm pretty sure I helped send him away. Is he another person you're trying to distract?"

"I guess in a way you could say that. He's a member of the Border Patrol and was working with Briggs. He promised to play a double-agent role in return for qualified immunity. But I just don't trust him. I've had a bad feeling about him since his name popped up on a search I was running and for about fifteen minutes we thought he might be my dad."

"You care to explain that one?" Homer asked.

I gave Alexander and Homer the abbreviated version of the misspelling, mistaken identity thing and tried to move on.

"Are you sure it was a case of mistaken identity?" Alexander asked. "Maybe Flumerri was hoping people would mistake him for your father. How many people know your dad's name was Plumerri before it was changed?"

"Maybe a handful. He didn't hide it, but he didn't talk about it either."

"Something to think about," Homer added.

I wasn't sure what to think. They could be right. An ex-Trentonite with almost the same name? Possibly he was trying to make my dad into the fall guy or he was trying to direct some attention away from himself. Either way it was certainly something to think about.

"Want us to make sure Flumerri is out of the way while you go after Briggs?" Homer asked.

"Uh, you wouldn't hurt him, would you?" I asked, not wanting to feel responsible if anything happened to him.

"If you don't want us to, we won't. We can just detain him," Alexander added with a big smile on his face.

That would actually make me feel better. Flumerri was an unknown factor. I didn't want him showing up unannounced while we were trying to get at Briggs. And if the Ramos' were offering, I was accepting.

"Thank you. I'd feel so much better if I knew he couldn't interfere."

"Then don't think about it again. Just let us know when you plan on making your move and give us any information that you have on Flumerri and we'll take care of him. I have a little unfinished business with him anyway," Alexander added, handing me a card with his name and cellphone number on it.

I was sure he didn't hand out his cellphone number to just anyone and I felt privileged to have it.

"Thank you Alexander. We should have a plan in place in the next couple of days. I'll call you when everything's finalized."

"You can call me anytime Chickie. And if you can dump this guy for a few hours," he said gesturing to Carlos, "call me and I'll meet you at Sal's. They still have my cigarettes and a bottle of ouzo behind the bar with my name on it. And I'd rather not smoke and drink alone. My sons are still giving me a hard time and I'm not even on that medication anymore. Here's a word of advice: if you want to enjoy your old age, don't have kids."

"Maybe it's just your over-protective kids," I whispered to him, not wishing to believe all children were like his.

"They're trying to kill me off, I'm telling you. No booze, no smokes; they just want my money. Are you sure you don't want to marry me and move to Greece?"

"Thank you, but I'm sure."

"You love him?"

"I do. Very much."

"Well the best of luck to the two of you then. Dinner is on me. I own this place."

"Thank you so much and we'll go to Sal's once this thing with Briggs has blown over. I promise."

Alexander kissed Carlos and I goodbye with a kiss to each cheek and I promised to call him with information once we had it. He and Homer went back to their table and the four men got up to surround the Ramos' as they left the restaurant. I couldn't exactly see how he'd be able to help us when he needed all this protecting himself, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

About twenty minutes later we were ready to call it a night too. Carlos asked for the check and as Ramos promised, it was taken care of. For all seven of us.

As we drove back to Belmar I snuggled into Carlos and he put a protective arm around me. "Can we trust the Ramos'?" I asked into his ear.

"Yes Babe, Alexander always keeps his word. They will detain Flumerri for us while we tackle Briggs. And I see you got a phone number?"

"Carlos, please. He's an old man."

"An old man who just proposed marriage and a move to Greece."

"This isn't the first time he's asked me. I think he just wants to get away from his sons."

"Babe, you are so naive at times. He thinks you're a beautiful woman who would look good on his arm. But I understand other than money, he doesn't have much else to offer," he added in a whisper, nuzzling my neck and kissing that area just below my ear that always gives me goose bumps…and sends a rush straight to my doodah. God.

Ranger's POV

I had heard that Alexander Ramos was staying at his complex in Deal and when Stephanie suggested going to Niko's tonight I had a feeling he would be there. After all, I knew he owned the place. And I was hoping Ramos would extend an invitation to help. Not that we couldn't do this on our own, but their association with some of the east coast's seedier individuals could prove very beneficial.

I hadn't expected to see Homer there though. It seemed like the Ramos' had patched up their family feud. Homer had always been the scum of the family but I attributed most of that to his drug use. I had heard from a reputable source that he spent a few months at the Betty Ford clinic and kicked his cocaine and heroin addictions. He looked clean tonight and I noticed he wasn't drinking either. Perhaps he'd decided that living was better than dying. Either way, he was always the Ramos to most look out for and yet he was the one who extended the invitation to detain Flumerri. I needed to put my mistrust aside and accept his help, as the Ramos family's Florida connections with the under-belly of humanity were well known.

I had Alexander's cellphone number, but I was very surprised that he gave it to Stephanie. There are very few people he trusts; obviously my fiancé was one of them. Yes, I'm jealous. I admit it freely. But I wasn't particularly jealous of Alexander Ramos' affection for Stephanie. It did make me happy to hear her say she loved me very much and wasn't interested in his marriage proposal or in moving to his villa in Greece though. I'm not at all insecure but a man does need to have his ego stroked every once in a while. Well…among other things.

I have to admit, I had been worried about Lula and Stephanie's ability to take down Briggs. Had they not practically hog-tied me this evening, I'd still be worrying. Obviously Antonio is very good teacher and they did catch me off-guard. Shit, I must be getting soft; no one has ever caught me off guard like that before.

And what about that THAAD missile? I wasn't so sure Briggs was going to use it to take out Ft. Jackson. THAAD missiles do not contain warheads, they use kinetic energy built up from velocity to strike and detonate incoming missiles' warheads from a safe distance. That was what they were designed to do. It just wasn't practical for Briggs to use it to destroy the fort. But just what did he have in mind for it?

"Carlos, are you listening to me?" Stephanie asked, taking me out of my thoughts.

"I'm sorry Babe, my mind was someplace else. Something is not quite right about Briggs acquiring a THAAD missile. What did you say?"

"I was just saying that I was surprised to see Homer Ramos. Last time I saw him he was looking a little crazy and then he shot me in the arm."

"He's been through rehab. He probably doesn't even remember shooting you. He just wanted the money that he thought you had."

"Mooner's money."

"What Babe?"

"Nothing. How did he get out of jail when he told me he murdered Cynthia Lotte and he confessed to Joe that he killed Junior Macaroni?"

"Good lawyer and not enough evidence. What did you say about Mooner?"

"I never told anyone, but Dougie and Mooner found the gym bag filled with money. Cynthia threw it away at the car wash and the guys retrieved it. She told them to keep it."

"Another mystery solved."

"Carlos, what did you say about something being off with Briggs?"

It seemed like both of us were in rare form today. I wasn't paying 100% attention to Stephanie and she was half-hearing me. I hoped this wasn't any indication of what our life was going to be like in thirty years.

"Babe, I was just thinking. Without being retrofitted a THAAD missile is not equipped with a warhead. Briggs wouldn't be able to take out the fort. I think he has another plan for it."

"Like what?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I want to talk to David and Bobby."

Even though we were all in the same house, we had called it a night and everyone went off to their respective rooms. I took out my iPhone and texted first Bobby and then David. As we all know many heads are better than one, so while I was at it I texted Hal, Hector and Jason. I suggested we meet in my office in ten minutes.

"Babe do you want to join us? Something is off and the sooner we hash it around the better. Ten minutes in my office?"

"I'm ready now, I just need to put my clothes back on. I thought we were going to have some time alone."

"Babe. You know there's nothing I'd rather do than make love to you, but this is important. Something is off. Will you take a rain check?"

"I guess that makes us even. Remember the time the Bond's office caught on fire?"

"I'll make it up to you," I promised her, pulling her in for a kiss and running a finger between her breasts and down to her stomach where I let my hand linger.

"God Carlos. Um, we have eight minutes."

"I like to satisfy my woman, Babe. Let's go out and meet with the guys."

Bobby and Hector were already in my office when we got there.

"New info?" Bobby asked.

"Missing info is more like it. Let's wait for the others to get here. I'd rather only go through this once."

Hal, Jason and David arrived while we were talking. My men kept military time and ten minutes was always five. Better to be early than on time. Late just didn't factor.

"I'm sorry to get you out of bed," Carlos began once everyone was in his office. "But I was just thinking about the THAAD missile and Briggs probable involvement…"

I explained what the missile was capable of and what it did. Also its range and lack of a warhead. Bobby, Hal, David and Jason who were all military knew as soon as the words came out of my mouth that something was off. Big time.

I noticed Stephanie had her iPad out and was searching for something online. She has a gut instinct almost as good as mine, so I was pretty sure I knew what she was looking for.

"Carlos, I have it. Tiangong-1. The experimental Chinese space station. The first Chinese woman to go up in space is scheduled for end of next week. It's the first manned mission to Tiangong-1. And knowing Briggs' obsession with women in the military this looks like something he'd want to shoot down."

"Babe, let me see that," I asked her, taking her iPad for a closer look.

This was China's bid to establish a permanent space base in orbit. It certainly seemed like something Briggs would be against: a communist, female ex-air force pilot who would be leading China's first manned space flight to their experimental space station. I passed Steph's iPad around for the other guys to see.

"This seems feasible," Bobby said, reading the news story. "But the one thing lacking is a warhead."

"Wouldn't necessarily need one if his main purpose was to throw it off-course and into an irreversible spin back to earth," David said, taking the iPad from Bobby to read the story himself. "And who's to say there wasn't going to be one on board? The Chinese government wouldn't broadcast that and it seems to me they would want a warhead or at least a missile with warhead capabilities onboard their space station. Maybe that's part of this mission. I think we need to put a call into the president's office or Petraeus. If something were to go seriously wrong, he could alter the earth as we know it."