Chapter 26—Decision Made

Wednesday, April 14

Ranger's POV

Our new offices on Haywood were just about ready to move into. State of the art phone lines and computers, and monitoring and alarm systems for our clients' properties had all been installed on the fifth floor. The rest of the building still had a ways to go.

A building manager and housekeeper were going to be a must to keep everything running smoothly. The sixth floor would provide permanent housing for those positions. My apartment on the seventh floor was undergoing some special structural modifications I'd ordered (to accommodate the heliport on the roof), and then it had to be furnished. A series of employee apartments on the fourth floor were still in the design stages. The gym and gun range still needed to be built out and furnished.

The first three floors were primarily offices for RangeMan and for other businesses that needed high tech security and could afford our exorbitant lease fees. There were separate elevators and stairways for the first three floors. Access to floors four and above required special key cards for RangeMan employees only. Of course, access to the seventh floor would be restricted to partners only.

RangeMan now owned the entire building including the underground parking space. I owned seventy percent and my three partners split the remaining thirty percent.

Of course, there was also the arrangement with the Quandt family regarding our supply of vehicles. Being a mercenary allowed one to aid desperate people in ways governments could not. These grateful families, reunited with kidnapped loved ones, often showed their appreciation for 'services' rendered in lucrative ways. Of course, the sensitive nature of the 'service' and the Quandt family demands for privacy meant that the source of our vehicles could never be disclosed.

Currently, I was spending an inordinate amount of time negotiating leases with other businesses for office space on the first several floors of the building, but these leases would bring in considerable revenues regardless how well RangeMan performed. My partners were maintaining our security contracts in New Jersey. We'd soon be expanding into Boston, Miami, and hopefully Atlanta.

Professionally my life was just where I wanted it—successful, in control and running smoothly. I'd never worried about my personal life until recently. I saw my family once, maybe twice a year. I sent money and gifts to Florida for my biological daughter, but stayed out of her life at the request of my ex-wife and her husband. There were a few discreet women in my life who were content with an occasional 'visit' from me.

So why was I in such turmoil? One word—Babe! There was something about her I couldn't seem to shake. She had this vitality about her and unpredictability, and the hopeful way she looked at life. She brought laughter and light into lives where I saw only misery and darkness.

The more time I spent with Stephanie, the easier it was to see life through her eyes. I found myself wanting more. What 'more' meant in regards to Steph, I hadn't quite figured out. Just when I was contemplating pursuing her, this Hunter character joined the chase.

After meeting Michael Hunter yesterday, I placed a call to my contact in the Air Force. It didn't take me long to find out about Hunter. I was impressed. I knew he'd been a PJ because of the green footprint tattoo on his backside and sure enough, he'd started his military career as a Pararescue Jumper (PJ), an elite group of airmen who'd completed The Pipeline or 'Superman' school.

Steph would get a kick out of that. She called me Batman and she'd be thrilled to know Hunter was 'Superman.' These guys were trained to do everything from combat, advanced parachuting, helicopter insertion/extraction, mountaineering, field surgery and combat trauma tactics. Their motto was "That Others May Live."

Basically, PJs were the guys who came to the rescue of guys like me. My Ranger unit had been saved more than once by PJs.

Hunter had been quickly promoted to Combat Rescue Officer commanding a team of pararescuemen. He then was promoted to Tactical Air Control Party. TACP airmen were attached to Special Forces such as Navy SEALS and Army Rangers as well as multi-national Special Operations task forces.

In other words, Hunter was the crème de la crème in the international underground war world.

After he lost his legs a few years back, the Air Force assigned him to strategic planning, advisory commands and teaching duties. He was also always on call to serve on an international team that did the 'behind the scenes' organization of covert rescues for top secret missions. I wondered if he'd ever planned any of my rescues. He still served a critical function, but for an active man like Hunter, still in his prime, field assignments were in his blood.

I couldn't imagine how I'd react if I was in his situation. I'd come to terms that I might die during one of my missions, but I refused to contemplate Hunter's outcome for myself. And yet he seemed happy, even content with his life. Stephanie obviously found him interesting and wasn't bothered by his handicap. Another testament to her remarkable character.

As to what Hunter was doing in Trenton, I'd no idea. According to my sources, Hunter didn't have a home base, but had regular assignments in the States and overseas. It appeared he traveled for pleasure between jobs. Trenton didn't seem like a likely vacation destination.

So this was my competition. Hell, what competition? I shouldn't start anything with Stephanie. The smart thing was to walk away from her. She was a relationship waiting to happen. So why couldn't I get her out of my head?

Maybe it was time to rethink my relationship ban. My life was changing. Field combat and out of country undercover missions would soon be a part of my past. I was becoming a businessman, a wealthy businessman at that. I couldn't see totally giving up fieldwork, but the dangerous combat missions would soon cease.

Did I really want to spend the rest of my life alone? The bigger question was 'could I let a woman into my life on a permanent basis'? And if I could, was Stephanie the one I wanted to share my life with?

I thought about my parents and my grandparents. The men in my family prided themselves on their fierce independence and masculinity, but they also acknowledged the power that the women in their lives had over them. I'd grown up watching these subtle interplays of struggles for position and dominance between the sexes, balanced by the obvious love my parents felt for each other.

There was never any meanness or pettiness between them; it was more like a dance, a beautiful dance of give and take. Each partner bending and stepping back or forward as the music dictated. Too much force or control by one person and the dance fell apart. And being Cuban, the dance was all important. I wondered if Stephanie liked to dance?

If I waited too long, the choice would be out of my hands. Hunter would have her. Damn, wasn't life supposed to get easier, not harder?

I'd spent all day yesterday at the Center, working with Caesar on the installation of the perimeter cameras. I kept looking for Stephanie, but she didn't seem to be anywhere at the Center. Sunny finally informed me Steph had left early in the morning with Hunter. Surprisingly, a pang of jealousy shot through me. An uncomfortable feeling to say the least, and distracting. Too distracting.

Ever since I'd met Steph, I knew I was attracted to her, but hell, I'm a man. I'm attracted to a lot of women, but never enough to want to sleep with them more than once. But for some reason, Stephanie Plum kept my interest up. A part of me said I should just bang her and get it over with, but I didn't think it would be that simple.

As much I tried not to, I cared about her and not in a brotherly way. For the first time in my life, my feelings for a woman went beyond just wanting to fuck her. I'd always avoided emotional entanglements, until she came into my life.

I knew Joe Morelli had his eye on her. I'd watched them flirt and go hot and cold with each other for months. It never bothered me because I knew it was just a temporary thing. Morelli was a decent cop, but no way in hell was he the right man for a woman as vibrant and wonderfully eccentric as Stephanie. He'd smother her and kill her spirit.

Michael Hunter, on the other hand, seemed a good match for her. The way it looked right now, Steph might feel Hunter would be an even better match than me if he could commit to her. And that made me think twice about my own actions.

I'd arrived with my men at the Center at the crack of dawn today. I told my team it would give us time to work on the more sensitive installations before people were moving about. But really I wanted to see Steph, even if just from a distance, I told myself.

A couple of hours later I saw Stephanie as she left her cottage and walked up the path to the main house. She was wearing outlandish stars and stripes hi-top sneakers and she was skipping. I nearly smiled.

I told my men to take a break and join the other vets for breakfast. The hell with just watching her, I wanted to be with her, look into her sparkling blue eyes, and hear her laugh.

I found Steph carrying platters of food to the dining room joking with a couple of the men she was serving. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, she had no make-up on, and she was wearing form-fitting jeans and a clingy t-shirt. She was laughing and incredibly sexy, seemingly oblivious to the desirous looks on many of the men. I asked her if she would join me at my table.

Ten minutes later, Stephanie sat down across from me with her plate heaped with eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes. To stay so trim, she must have the rapid metabolism of a hummingbird. She certainly didn't exercise.

She asked me how the security installations were coming. I talked while I watched her inhale her breakfast and moan with every other bite. Dios, she was sexy even when she was eating pancakes.

When she finished eating, she sat back and studied me for a minute, a small smile starting at the corners of her mouth. "You look like the cat that swallowed the canary, Babe."

The smile spread across her face. "After what happened to me yesterday, I feel as if I could conquer the world. I think I got a tiny glimpse into how you must feel when you're out saving countries, Batman." I knew her good mood must have something to do with her day with Hunter and that pissed me off.

"I fulfilled my lifelong dream yesterday. I became Wonder Woman…" Steph shot her sneaker-clad foot out from under the table and pointed to the white stars on blue background. She started talking animatedly, without a break between sentences. I could practically feel her body vibrating with excitement.

"And I flew! Ranger, I literally flew through the air yesterday." She gestured with her hand diving and swooping across from upper right to lower left, a look of pure joy on her face. "I jumped out of an airplane and soared through the air. It was incredible. Who knew I'd love skydiving? The adrenaline rush was practically orgasmic!" A rosy blush crept up Steph's creamy white neck and spread to her cheeks.

I'd never seen her so happy. The only bad thing about it was I hadn't been the one to make her feel that good. I could have taken her skydiving. I didn't know flying was her lifelong dream. Hunter did, and he did something about it.

Oh, I knew all the facts about Stephanie Plum. I knew her birth date, height and weight, her relatives, her educational background, her job history. I was aware of all the data a computer search could dig up, but what did I really know about Stephanie, her hopes and dreams, her fears?

Mañoso, you'd better make your mind up, and fast. Either get in the game or walk away. And if you decide to play, know that it's for keeps. Not a prize you win and stick on the shelf. My heart's telling me Stephanie could be the one. So the remaining question…am I ready…am I willing to go for it?

Damn, Hunter's forcing me to come to terms with an issue I thought I could put off…what, Mañoso…indefinitely? You thought you could put off making a commitment for, what…years? You've made life and death decisions in a split second. Don't start vacillating now.

Stephanie was still talking, raving about her skydiving experience. She was so expressive. She'd accused me of having ESP, but anyone watching her face and body language could tell what she was thinking.

She was refreshingly open and guileless, especially to a guarded, closed-off bastard like myself. She opened up a chink in my self-imposed armor, filling the dark corners of my soul with light.

I couldn't help smiling when I was around her. Dios, she had me laughing until my sides hurt. Stephanie Plum brought pure joy into my life—something I hadn't felt since I was a child.

Like a kid on Christmas morning, that was Stephanie every day. And I wanted her!

A calmness flowed over me. Finally, decision made. A big smile spread across my face as I reached for Steph's hand.

Unfortunately, Stephanie was looking past my shoulder and smiling at the man now standing at my side. She rose and hugged him before sitting back down. I could feel my blood pressure rising.

"Mañoso, good to see you again," Hunter extended his hand to me. We shook hands and he joined us at the table. Steph immediately started talking to Hunter about their day yesterday. Hunter had his hand on her back, making small circles and softly rubbing back and forth. It was a seemingly natural gesture, but one that made my blood boil.

I watched the two of them together and a shock hit my gut. I realized I may have decided to make Stephanie mine, but was I too late? Were they already...? Suddenly, I found it hard to breathe. I excused myself and left.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

All's fair in love and war. I considered this a combination of both, seeing how Michael was a combat soldier, a worthy equal, with winning Stephanie's heart as the mission, the goal. This wasn't a quick battle, but a long war. I didn't want to conquer Steph, I wanted her to choose me…as her champion, her lover, her mate. The part I couldn't contemplate right now was accepting her decision if she didn't choose me.

I'd developed my strategy over the last few hours. Observing Michael's courtship technique convinced me that wasn't for me. I didn't do picnics, leisurely walks and trips to the zoo. I had to compete on my own terms.

Since the original basis of my relationship with Stephanie was our professional connection, I needed to figure out a way to use that to my advantage. We worked together to apprehend fugitives and I mentored Steph in her bounty hunting techniques.

I needed a pursuit strategy and I needed it now. I had to find a way to 'up the ante,' to manipulate situations where Steph and I could spend a little bit of 'work' time together, combined with a lot of 'pleasure' time. Pleasuring my Babe, I liked the sound of that. But this had to be about more than just sex.

I'd had firsthand experience observing what a good relationship was all about. My parents were still happily married and, at times, could still embarrass me with their romantic behavior. My father was a very different man around my mother than he was when it was just he and my uncles, but both sides of him were true to his character. If I could have the kind of life with Stephanie that my parents had, all changes I'd have to make in my lifestyle would be worth it.

RangeMan always had a number of high bond skips we were working on. The current case we had, Arturo Petrucci, was a serial murderer. Petrucci, a successful stockbroker, had originally been arrested for beating up a prostitute. He'd made bail and then dropped off the radar. The woman had died and the charge was changed to murder.

Three other deaths, all beaten and strangled prostitutes, had now been attributed to him. All four women had gone missing mid-week. TPD was trying to keep a lid on the case to avoid an all-out panic.

I pegged Petrucci as an arrogant, over-confident psychopath. He'd vacated his residence and his office and hadn't contacted his family or friends. I was sure he was still in the area and pursuing more victims. He liked 'wine, women and song' and was known to frequent the hottest nightclubs.

My plan was to have my men stake out the more popular clubs in town and when Petrucci was spotted, send in a 'distraction' to lure him out into the parking lot where we'd be waiting to arrest him. Trying to arrest a dangerous criminal in a public place, especially one as crowded as a dance club where people had been drinking, was not a wise practice.

Using a good-looking woman dressed to appeal to a particular skip's tastes was much safer for both the public and for my men. RangeMan retained a couple of women skilled in takedowns we normally used for such dangerous cases. But tonight, I thought Stephanie would make an excellent 'distraction' for Petrucci. He seemed to go for attractive brunettes.

I met with my team and arranged the stakeout for tonight. That was my 'work' strategy. Then I made reservations for two for later at an intimate 'By Appointment Only' restaurant for my 'pleasure' strategy. If all went well tonight, Stephanie would be mine before morning.

Now, I just had to convince Stephanie to accept the job. She might as well get paid for 'distracting' men, because it came so naturally to her. She had me so distracted I couldn't think straight.