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 :)
This is the final chapter of this story. I wanted to pull it all together by letting us hear from all of the major players. I hope it's not too all over the place. This is not the end of this particular interpretation of JE's characters though, as I plan on one more story in this trilogy. Stephanie and Ranger need their day, and the last badass must be eliminated.
M Rating
Extra special thanks to Margaret for Beta-ing my story and deeming this chapter good to go :). Thank you Margaret :) Huge kiss.
I don't own the characters, just taking them for a spin :)
Reviews and suggestions are always welcome.
Chapter 36—Talking Amongst Ourselves
Ranger's POV
I hated seeing Stephanie vulnerable. I hated what post-traumatic stress did to her. And I mostly hated that I couldn't have what I wanted, well, when I wanted it. She was right of course, waiting to share our 'someday' as she calls it, with our friends and families was the right thing to do; but if I could keep her safer by giving her my name now, I would. Problem with that fucked up thinking was it could work either way; she'd be safer, or more vulnerable. Things with Stephanie were just so unpredictable.
David hadn't said anything to any of us yet, but I knew someone had to give testimony at Briggs' court martial on Monday. I was hoping Albertson would be enough, being he was CIA. Unfortunately the next logical person would be Hector. Although Hector manned the cameras and caught Briggs' clandestine meeting both on video and in person, his methods weren't sanctioned and could get Rangeman into a whole lot of hot water. I wasn't going to open my mouth and volunteer Hector unless we had no other alternative. But I wanted to prepare him just in case.
"Hector you know there is a pretty strong possibility that you'll be called to testify at Briggs' court martial," I began, once we were back in the living room at the condo.
"Sí, I already thought about that. I can show the real CIA papers David had made up for me for today's takedown. There is no date on them; they just say that I'm CIA. They are not high clearance, but they might be enough to let the court tink I just 'walked' into the Pentagon."
"I didn't know David gave you CIA authorization. Can I see what he gave you?"
Hector came back with genuine documentation. Thankfully we wouldn't need to use his forged papers and hope no one checked them out under a microscope. I felt better about Hector going on the stand—but then again, only if he had to.
"Neither Tank nor I are going to the hearing. We don't want Briggs thinking we had anything to do with this. If he saw me and thought about it long enough, he might be able to picture Stephanie as the curly-haired brunette that was with me the on day of our meeting. I'm not sure how far his sphere of influence travels and Stephanie doesn't need to be a target for any of his fanatics."
"Sí, I agree with your tinking but she was the one who came up with the Chinese woman astronaut as Briggs' most probable target. I can say that came from me, but I not feel so comfortable lying under oath."
"You have no other scruples, let that one go too. Stephanie stays out of this."
"You know I'm right here," Stephanie said, coming into the living room. "What were you just saying about me?"
"I just don't want you involved in Briggs' court martial, Babe. If anyone from Rangeman has to be there, I'll send Hector or Brett."
"Sí, Brett recorded everyting. He has three days of audio. His testimony is probably more important than mine. And he not have to lie."
"We'd still need a voice recognition assessment done and you've already carried that out on the audio from the boat. We'd either have to pay to get that done again or you can allow yours in as praecognita. In which case you'd need to be there anyway. You're not getting off that easy Santiago."
I wasn't actually angry with Hector, in fact just the opposite. But if we were going to make him a member of the core team, which was just a vote away, I wanted to know where his loyalty stood.
"Sí. I good. I can rearrange statistics a little," he said grinning that evil Hector grin.
Just as we were getting comfortable again after my little 'discussion,' the doorbell rang. Stephanie beat us to the door and looked through the peephole. "It's Brett?"
We certainly weren't expecting my future brother-in-law to show up, but of course he was always welcome.
"Hey man, what's up?" I asked, getting up from the couch and pulling him in for a thug hug.
"Chester and I were just interrogated by the FBI. We were on our way to the airport when our car was pulled over. What the fuck is going on? I thought we were sanctioned?"
"Where is Chester?" I asked, seeing just Brett at the door.
"I dropped him off at the airport so he could get the next flight out. Bobby gave me your address here."
"Come in."
Brett's POV
I remember that evening well…probably better than I remember my wedding. The feebs pulled us over with guns drawn. There was no reason for that. We were acting under CIA authorization, although there was no doubt in my mind that the two investigative divisions of the US government rarely, if at all, spoke.
We were frisked, our guns removed and we were thrown over our car, legs spread and uncomfortably held at bay.
"Who the fuck do you guys work for?" came the booming voice over my head.
I could only answer it truthfully. "Rangeman," and that brought a side of someone's hand down on my neck in a most uncomfortable 'chop.'
Two things came to my mind; either this was retaliation or we had been set up. We knew what to do in either of these situations, give away nothing and listen hard to what our adversaries had to say.
"Do you have authorization papers?" the same voice boomed again.
"Left breast pocket," I said. Thankfully everything we do at Rangeman is signed, documented and verified.
He pulled the papers out of my pocket, jabbing me in the side with his gun at the same time.
"CIA. I thought you said you worked for Rangeman?"
"Rangeman is our employer. The CIA commissioned us to apprehend a man they've been watching for years."
Our papers were in order and if they held us any longer after reading through the description of what Rangeman had been commissioned to do, we'd be justified in investigating them.
"Do you have permits for these guns?" he asked.
"Same pocket."
After another jab in the side and a kick to the back of the knee, the papers for everything were shoved back into my hands; we were given back our guns and released.
Ranger said nothing as I retold my story.
"Do you need to be looked at?" he asked after a few seconds of silence. "Your neck or your knee?"
"I'm ok, I'll probably have some bruises, but I'm ok. Chester too. They knew enough to not do damage. The name of the guy that interrogated me was Roberto Hernandez. I told Bobby about him too. I'd like to check out if he's legit. Something felt off although he did shove a badge in my face. I got the feeling we were being held in retaliation."
"Babe, want to check Hernandez out?" Ranger asked Steph. She came back with her laptop and entered his name into one of her search engines. I noticed that Hector was also running a search for something on his.
Hector's POV
I knew Stephanie wanted to see me happy. But her idea of happiness had always been different than mine. I knew she'd like nothing better than to hear that Miguel and I were a couple, but we were not. Yeah we had some good times, clubbing, fucking and just hanging out. But we were really very different people, and probably not that well suited for one another.
Yeah we both used our hands. Mine to kill, maim and disfigure, his to sew, stich and alter. I make things ugly; he makes things beautiful.
So I knew what I had to say when Stephanie and I were alone in the living room of Maryanne's parent's condo and she asked me again how things were going with Miguel.
"Chica, sometimes tings are not meant to work out. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yeah. Like me and Joe. As many times as we broke up and as many times as Carlos or my mother tried to get us back together I always had the feeling that something wasn't quite right. I loved him, but I didn't love him. If it wasn't that we, well, uh, you know, it would be more like a brother/sister thing."
"Sí Chica, similar. But it's ok. I'm not unhappy with my life. I have my job and I have good friends like you and Tank, Lester, Bobby and Ranger. And someday I'll figure it out, just the way that you and Ranger finally figured it out."
"I understand what you're saying Hector. I really do. Um, can I ask you something else?"
"Sí Chica, anything."
"Do you know what's going on with Lula? Carlos said that Tank needed to work on her self-esteem...away from me."
Tank POV
I don't know what happened. I thought everything was going fine until Lula called me the afternoon before the takedown.
"Tankie, I'm just not in their league. They so much better than me," she began her phone call.
"Lula, what are you talking about? What happened?"
"We were just working with Maryanne. I can't keep going with this lie anymore."
"Lula Baby, what lie? What are you talking about?"
"Stephanie and Hector are just so much better 'an me. And everyone knows it. But instead of saying it to my face, they just givin' me lesser roles. Know what I'm sayin'?"
"No I don't Baby. Try again."
"Ok, so instead of me and Steph doing the takedown, it's become Steph and Maryanne. And I get that black/white thing, I really do. But I don't think that's all there is to it. I think they see me as inferior and this is just an easy way a lettin' me know."
"Lula, Ranger wouldn't have hired you if he didn't think you could do the job. He's just not like that. The three of you successfully completed the training program—and you learned how to take down a 250-pound man, you earned that position."
"So that's why I've become a traffic cop?"
"What?"
"David gave me CIA papers, but I'm just wearing a big ol' jacket with CIA on it and I'm stopping traffic before it crashes into a tree."
"Do you know how important that job is Lula? Do you know what would happen if there was an accident during a takedown? The consequences? Don't underestimate the importance of the job you've been given. You play a vital role."
I wondered what had happened to turn my woman into this insecure person? This was not the sassy Lula I loved.
I called Ranger once we hung up.
"I just got a call from Lula. Do you know what's going on down there?" I then took him through the conversation I just had, almost word for word.
"I think we'll be able to get on a plane tomorrow morning—he probably won't keep tabs on us once his plan is in full-swing. I think both Steph and Lula could benefit from us being around once the takedown is complete. I'll get a plane for 6 am. Meet you at Mercer."
"I'm bringing my grandmother with me. She wants to go back to Biloxi now that the threat is over. Maybe Lula and I can spend a few days at her house and I can get to the bottom of this."
"Take whatever time you need man."
Lula's POV
Something just snapped in my head. One minute I felt like a part of the team and the next I felt like a bad joke. I'm far from stupid and I can pick up on things easier than most people. Being a ho had it's advantages; you learn to read people. And if you don't read them well, you could end up dead.
When Maryanne was showing us that Systema move, I got the feeling I was being set up. She first took on Hector to show us just what to do, and I was more than ok with that. Better he than me if you were going to show us a quick death. And then it was Stephanie's turn. Steph wanted to get it so they practiced in slow motion, which was good for me…I got to see the technique up close and personal, know what I mean?
Anyway when it was my turn, I thought I'd surprise her by going right for her. I guess that was bad judgment on my part because she caught me off guard and got me on my ass. She had told us that there was no way to block that move, so what the fuck was that all about?
"Huh? You said you can't block this, what did you just do?" I asked her, getting my sorry ass up from the ground.
I remember her response clear as a bell. "I didn't let you make the move."
I just knew she fixed it so I'd end up on the ground. I'm not a 'big woman' anymore, so why am I still the brunt of everyone's jokes? And then they give me traffic duty? Uh uh, no way, I don't do that no more.
Ok, and one other thing. I know she wanted to work with Hector all by hisself. She really didn't want Steph or me, but Hector just didn't see it that way. He's a good friend, and he stood up for us. But he was the only reason she would even considered working with us; if she didn't get us, she didn't get Hector.
Hector's POV
Stephanie asked me why I thought Lula wanted to get away from her. She seemed pretty disturbed by that fact.
"It's not you Chica. She's just feeling uncertain about her abilities right now. I knew Maryanne wanted to work with me, by myself; she wasn't hiding it. But I thought that would be worse for Lula self-esteem, so I made a point of not letting her separate us."
"She's not a hurtful person Hector," I looked at her strangely. I knew Lula wasn't a hurtful person.
"Maryanne, I mean."
"I know. She just saw something in me that she thought she could bring out. I might ask to work with her one-on-one, if that's ok with you and come back to Trenton in a few days. Now that Lula isn't here her ego won't get more bruised."
"It's fine with me. You know I'm all for us bettering ourselves."
"I'll talk to Ranger. If he's on board with it, I'll pull Maryanne aside in the morning. She told me they were going to stay here through the weekend. David has to be in DC on Monday for Briggs' trial and I tink she wanted him to take a short break before he had to relive that bullshit."
"I get that. Boy do I get that." Stephanie seemed to pause for a minute. It was as if she had something else on her mind and was trying to find a way to talk to me about it.
"Hector?' she finally asked, "are you as worried about going back to New Jersey as I am?"
"No chica, why are you worried? Brett and Lauren are getting married next weekend and it seems like the perfect time for a party. Briggs is in custody and will very likely be going away for a long time."
"I'm worried about Mickey Kraven. The last we heard he was in Bergen County recreating his house of torture. What if he comes after me again?"
"Estefania. We are a team. If he comes for you, he'll have to deal with me. I will kill him just like I killed his henchman. You are safe with me, you are safe with Ranger and you are safe with any of the men. No one will try to hurt you when we are with you."
"You guys can't be with me all the time, and his torture devices scare the shit out of me."
I noticed she was shivering when she brought up Kraven's name; he really scared her. I was sure a good part of it was her losing the baby when he threw the cannonball at her. Unfortunately that was something I couldn't fix.
Kraven's POV
The bitch deserves to die and so does her knife-wielding friend. What I wouldn't give to see Ranger's face when he finds her spread-eagled and bleeding out from every orifice.
I think I'll save the 'cradle' for her Spanish-speaking friend. Que Dios me ayude* will take on new meaning when he has his balls punctured. I wonder just what Ranger will do when he finds the two of them.
And I'll be sure to record the whole thing. It will give me such pleasure.
*God help me.