"Who the hell did you piss off this time?" Ranger asked as he fired his gun towards the Rangeman garage entrance. I couldn't tell if was amusement or disbelief that I saw in his face after somehow bringing him into yet another gunfight, this time on his turf as we used the driver's side of my car for cover.
"If I knew I'd have told you already!"
"Would you have?" He asked with one eyebrow raised.
Probably not. "Yes."
"Babe." He totally knew I wouldn't. Somehow, he's always been able to see right through me. I felt helpless laying on the ground outside my car that I'd just pulled into the garage not even five minutes ago, right before the shots began. Luckily Ranger had been following me and caught on to the trouble that was waiting for us. Wishing I had my gun, I looked around to see how I could help. That's when I noticed Ranger's eyes go wide as he saw something that was out of my view. It was a look I'd never seen on his face before.
He quickly looked to Hal who had just come out of the stairwell. He apparently caught onto whatever his boss was transmitting and ran up and took his place at my back bumper. Ranger moved towards me pulling the gun out of his ankle holster and handed it to me. "I need you do exactly as I tell you. Don't question me, got it?"
I nodded. Listening was the least I could do since I brought him into this, whatever "this" was, and I didn't even think to bring my gun, which I'm sure Ranger realized long before I did.
"Steph, listen to me." My attention went back to the dead serious look on his face. "I'm gonna cover you. Run to the stairs and go up. Do. Not. Stop. Tank should be on his way down. Don't stop to talk to him or anyone else. Go to seven and lock all the doors behind you. Open the safe under my desk in my office and get the envelope out. The code is your birthday. Wait for me there and do not open the door for anyone, do you hear me?"
I started to open my mouth to answer, but I didn't have time before he said "Go". That was enough for me. I ran.
I was steps from the stairwell door when I heard the shots pick up as tires squealed out front, busting through the security gate. I turned back out of shock more than anything and locked eyes with Ranger. If I didn't know any better, I'd say there was a flicker of fear in his expression. It lasted no more than a second as he shouted, "STEPH GO". The urgency in his voice was unlike anything I'd heard before. Ranger was in mission mode and I was one of his men. Ranger always got his men out, that's what everybody said, right?
When I hit the second-floor landing, I ran straight into Tank's stone wall of a chest. He moved me to the side and continued down, not questioning me at all. I didn't think he would, but Ranger seemed to think he might've. He probably saw what was happening on the cameras and knew what was going on already. Him and Ranger always seemed to be on the same page before things ever happened, so I didn't think twice and continued my way up. By the time I reached the fourth floor landing I was winded and out of breath. I had paused for no more than a minute, bending over the railing to catch my breath when I heard the door on first floor bust open and echo up through the stairwell. That's all it took to get my ass in gear and hightail it the rest of the way up the stairs.
At the seventh floor I heard scuffles on the floors from below that my Spidey-senses screamed at me to get away from. I rushed in Ranger's door and threw the locks that I never had seen a point to because only the dumbest person would be stupid enough to break in on Ranger. I was still breathing hard and headed towards Ranger's office door when I heard the stairwell door slam open outside the apartment. That kicked my ass into gear as I shut and locked the office door and went to find the safe I never knew existed under his desk. That's when I remembered he said the code was my birthday. What in the world was that supposed to mean? Maybe he programmed different codes for different people, each person's code is their birthday. But that's not all that safe, is it? Steph! Focus!
The safe was bigger than I expected. I could fit in the safe for crying out loud. Wait. Was that his plan? To lock me in a safe? Steph! Focus! Distraction comes too easy when I'm unsure about what's going on. Where is Ranger? And why did he seem so worried? I've been with Ranger when he's in action, but I'd never seen him like this before. Steph! Focus!
After my shaky fingers finally got my birthday entered, the lock on the safe released, popping the door open just slightly. I wrenched it open and shamed myself for being nervous at what's inside. But all I saw were stacks of cash (lots of them, but it's Ranger), a few boxes, keys, papers, and right in the center was a big manilla envelope with my name on it. I double checked then triple checked just to be certain that there were no other envelopes in here. This wasn't making any sense. Why is there an envelope in his safe addressed to me? How long has it been here? Why do I need it now?
I was broken out of my string of mental questions when I heard the locks tumble on the front door of the apartment. For a minute I was nervous it wasn't Ranger, but I was quickly settled when he came through the office door and took the envelope out of my hands. I noticed he did a quick once over as if checking that I was okay.
"Ranger what's going on?" I couldn't keep the edge out of my voice. I wasn't frustrated with him, and I hope he knew that.
He was about to answer me but didn't get the chance as someone appeared in the doorway behind him and it certainly wasn't the face of any of my Merry Men. This man looked a decade or two older than me, with plenty of scars on his face that screamed danger. Ranger must've registered the shocked look on my face because he whipped around pulling his gun on the man who had already had his out. As if this day wasn't crazy enough, someone just snuck up on Ranger. I didn't even know that was possible. I would kill to know what was going through his mind right now.
Ranger's back was to me as he reached out and pushed me behind him, backing us up slowly until my back hit the wall. His silence was confusing me. I didn't recognize this guy, and Ranger's confidence was always something I could rely on, but I wasn't sensing much of that this time. What is going on??
"The girl comes with me" the big burly man grunted as he took a step forward.
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