Chance Encounters
Chapter 24
oOoOo
Stephanie's POV
I was feeling a little breathless. This was for real. I think Hector might have an idea who it might be. I could tell by the firm, tense line of his mouth. His eyes were warm yet concerned as he told me it was time. This will be the first, and hopefully the only time, that I have to enter the safe room, for real. It was well lit and not too small. I am not claustrophobic, but as the door sealed, I had a frisson of fear prickle along my spine. I breathed and closed my eyes for a moment. Once I had composed myself, I immediately pressed the code panel to acknowledge to Hector that we were inside and then texted him with the safe word to confirm we were locked in and secure. Foxyloxy. I'll have to admit to that hesitancy in our post mortem meeting, for sure. It was only a brief hesitancy, but still.
Ranger was watching me. He offered me a bottle of water and came close to me.
"Are you okay, Babe?"
"Yes. It's the first time and suddenly this space feels so small when the door sealed shut. But I am not claustrophobic. It's just a weird sensation. Just give me a minute. And, I was just chastising myself for hesitating before I coded in and texted Hector."
"That's a perfectly natural reaction, Stephanie. Just breathe. Don't be too hard on yourself. I have seen you do it before."
"Do what? Wait. You have?"
"Breathe and compose yourself. After your car was fire bombed."
I nodded. I did and he remembered. I smiled at him. He makes me feel safe and stronger. But I'm okay. I can do this. Hector, Shorty, Cal and Tiny and I had rehearsed this. But this was the first time that I had to use the safe room in earnest. I don't know why they would call it a panic room. Safe room sounds better to me.
"What can I do to help?"
"You are doing it already. Being here is good."
I closed my eyes for a moment, inhaling his scent, that nice cologne that lingered nicely.
"So, tell me Ranger, if you don't mind me asking, … What is that nice cologne that you're wearing?"
I'm sure I blushed when I finally got it out.
He smiled a gentle reassuring smile and whispered, "It's my shower gel, Babe."
His voice was a bit husky when he admitted that. Hmm. Nice.
"Is that a confession?"
He chuckled. He smiled and took my hand, leading me to the small two-seater couch.
"I saw you swimming with Cal. You're quite fast."
"Well, I love the ocean. And I was in the swim team at college. My mother didn't like me being on the high school swim team, actively discouraging me and not enabling me to commit to the swim squad training. But each summer, I would swim at Point Pleasant … except, for that one summer. But that's history. In the past."
He nodded in understanding.
"When I lived in Newark we used to go to Point Pleasant too! Until was I moved to Miami."
Ranger's POV
We were quiet for a while, deep in our thoughts of times past. No regrets but a lesson in so many ways, for me especially. I looked around the room and noted all the necessities from water bottles, food supplies to breathing masks, a small bathroom area, a pool table, a pull-down bunk bed and a monitoring desk. Remarkably, or not, for me this was a new experience, being the one on the inside of a panic room rather than defending from out there. I needed to reassure her and distract her somehow, at the same time.
My face lit up as I watched the monitor. I took her hand gently, rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb. It gently broke her out of her funk and, when she saw my smile, instantly I had her curiosity piqued. Good diversion, Mañoso.
"You okay?" She nodded and stood up with me as I brought her over to the desk with the laptop and the monitors.
I sat on the chair and pulled her onto my lap and thankfully she snuggled in nicely. We watched the monitors and then I zoomed in on the one where all the action was taking place.
"That's Shorty's vegetable garden and his prized herb garden. What's he looking at?"
We watched as the men crept up to the motorbike dude from in front and behind. It was obvious that he knew what he was doing. I looked more closely at the intruder and smiled. Stephanie looked at me and smiled back. I started to chuckle and couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud, tears coming from my eyes. This was good. Priceless in fact.
"What?" she smiled, enjoying my chuckles.
"You know who it is? You recognise him?"
I nodded and hugged her tightly.
"It's all good, Babe. It's alright. Everything will be fine. No threat. Watch."
I can't believe he had kept the helmet on. We watched as they circled him and as he reached inside his leather jacket, he was obviously told to freeze.
"They've got him. You don't think it's Ramirez, do you? Omigod! You know him?!"
I laughed again at the funniness of it all.
"What's so funny?" She smiled and wriggled so I held her tighter. Dios. She felt so good, and smelled so nice. Okay. Focus, Mañoso.
"As you can see they have him surrounded and he's been told to freeze as he seems to be pulling a weapon out of his jacket." Stephanie nodded.
"Yeah. And?"
"Look."
"It's a pair of scissors! And a baggy thing? That's weird. Uh oh. And a knife!"
"He's been told to remove his helmet, slowly." I couldn't help myself. I was laughing and it was infectious as she laughed too, not knowing why I was almost in hysterics.
Motorbike Helmet Dude POV
That was a pleasant drive. I love being on my Harley. The address was easy to find, out of Trenton proper. The Den. Interesting. All four villas were close together and set back at the top of the cul de sac. I noticed the security features as I drove to the top and parked beside the shiny black SUV. I surveyed the villas and made my way to the space between the first two villas and walked to the tall gate. I didn't have to climb over it, but it would have been a challenge with the spiked wrought iron on top of the sturdy, reinforced framework. Impressive.
I quickly found the discretely hidden keypad and punched in the passcode which opened the gate to a very expansive backyard. Hmm. Nice. Basketball half court and I noticed the swimming pool. Wow. Serious thought and planning went into this space. A full Olympic length double lap lane. Looks like a great backyard for family fun.
Making my way through the garden I found my target. A large well-maintained vegetable garden beside a chicken coop which looked like a mini fox proof fortress. I had to smile at that. And there it was, the herb garden.
I sensed I was being followed but went on regardless. As I reached into my leather jacket for my tools, I was surrounded and told to freeze. I smiled to myself. Hell. I wanted to laugh and they wouldn't know. Through my tinted visor I counted four of them, one with a fucking taser. No thanks. Slowly I withdrew my "weapon" as instructed and tossed the scissors into the grass where they landed upright, the blades embedded in the grass. I then removed the little plastic bag and I tried not to shake with laughter at their stunned expressions when they saw the scissors and my little plastic bag.
Being told to remove my helmet, slowly, I was watching the taser intently, but I had to do it. I put my hands in the air slowly and with one hand I reached inside and tossed my knife to land blade down beside the scissors. For good measure, I decided to disclose my Glock and slowly placed it beside the knife. They were being very cautious and I went along with their instructions and slowly removed the helmet.
Hector's POV
"What the fuck!? He has a knife. And a Glock." Shit.
He moved with a calm confidence and poise, but slowly as instructed. He was watching Cal intently with the taser aimed at him. The motorbike helmet dude only had eyes for him. He was shaking though. But his body language did not exude fear. With the tinted visor none of us could make out his expression. One thing for sure, I was relieved to admit, he wasn't Ramirez. He was my first guess. But there is something familiar about him.
As he raised his helmet slowly we could hear his laughter. Shaking with laughter. Fucker thought this was funny!
His bandanna covered head suddenly became recognisable. However, it was mostly given away by the booming laughter.
He bent over, and doubled up as I signalled everyone to stand down. He was removing his gloves to wipe away the tears from his eyes.
"You fucking bastard!"
"Fucker!"
"You're a fuckwit, man!"
"Shit man! You had us all going there. Fucking asshole! I nearly tasered you when you pulled the knife and your Glock."
By then we were all laughing. I texted Stephanie but she and Ranger didn't respond.
Ranger's POV
I loved the sound of her laughter as she watched with me and laughed along, still curious why I found this so funny.
"Omigod! He's got something else! Is he shaking?"
I whispered to her who it was and we both laughed harder when he flipped the Glock out. He was taking the piss out of them. I could see him vibrating with laughter, certainly not fear. Watching the expressions on the defenders was so good but great that they kept in mode. Cal was on the verge of setting the taser onto him.
As his helmet came off, his bandanna tightly in place to absorb the sweat on his bald head, Tank came out laughing loudly obviously, doubled up with more laughter as he took in their stunned expressions. Hector signalled for them all to stand down as each in turn told him what they thought of him.
"Omigod! That was so much fun. I needed a good laugh. Way to break the tension." Stephanie giggled.
"Here's something else," I said huskily as I took her warm soft lips in a tantalising kiss. Having her sitting on my lap, so close and wriggling with curiosity and now laughter was very arousing. She moaned into the kiss after her initial surprise and gave back as much as I did, our tongues duelling for dominance.
"Hmm. I did say you were a good kisser. Phew. I think it's hot in here."
"Come on, Babe. Let's go down and join the fun."
I gave her another quick hard kiss. What this woman does to me without even trying. Dios.
We soon found them all laughing and swearing, replaying their moves. Hector lifted his chin in acknowledgement as we arrived, rolling his eyes in Tank's direction. I grinned and high fived my second in command.
Hector disengaged the security screens as Tiny secured the side gate. We all made our way to the deck, removing vests and weapons while Hector reset all the security devices. Tank was still chuckling, enjoying the aftermath.
"So, what the fuck were you doing in here?"
"I was just getting some herbs for Ella, until you interrupted me!" and he burst out laughing all over again.
"Usually, Luis does the herb run for her, but he was on a site with Lenny for a new plumbing job. So, he gave me instructions, and the passcode." Tank just grinned, cocky as hell.
Beers were passed around as they shook their heads, clinking bottle necks together in a toast. By this time everyone was smiling. I had my arm comfortably around Stephanie's shoulders as she leaned comfortably into me. She smiled up at me warmly.
"Tank and I almost put two and two together this morning but we wanted to be sure first. We had already considered testing the integrity of your security system. Anyway, Tank got called away. So, we decided to defer to another time to be chosen at random. It was pure coincidence that it happened today while I was here." I conceded. "We wanted to confirm it was your domain, The Den. So clever. FoxEarth. Brilliant set up, Hermano."
"Fuckers. I was thinking it was Ramirez. Asshole." Hector grumbled, with a wry smile.
oOoOo
TBC
No cliffie this time. Sorry, not sorry. I know you like them.
I hope you all had a wonderful, peaceful Christmas. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and happy holidays to you all. And keep safe wherever you are.
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DEN of iniquity or an opium Den