Chapter 61

RPOV

Being the boss of a company had its benefits, but it also came with annoyances. Rangeman had been after a high bond skip for a couple of months and one of the men doing the research had eventually found a trail as to where he could be found. Apparently, he enjoyed playing high stake poker and there was going to be a game near Newark. The problem was that some of the other players were not the type of men not to be without their bodyguards. Jones had assured us that Barnet, the skip, was always the last to leave these games. The reasoning behind that was he didn't drink so as the night progressed the other players tended to become less focused on the game.

The game didn't start until 2230hrs and even though we were in position by 2200hrs we missed him going inside the bar. The game took place in one of the back rooms so having established that it was actually taking place we quietly sat waiting. According to Jones the game normally finished about 0300hrs, with some players leaving earlier. Because the bar had closed it was much easier to see the players as they left. We had three teams on this capture, each team positioned around the bar, so each exit was covered. Jones was with Cal, Miguel with Woody which left Hal with me.

It was 0330hrs when a message came through the ear buds from Jones.

"Suspect exiting through side door'

"Follow through alley, Hal and I will intercept at the other end"
As Hal and I reached the other end of the alley the man we were after was almost to us, so as I spoke to him identifying ourselves as bond enforcement, Hal tackled him.

"Jones, we need backup he's putting up a fight and he has a bodyguard with him"
I took on the bodyguard with no problem and Hal and Cal had subdued the suspect when Jones eventually turned up. As Cal was lifting him from the floor the expression "Oh shit" came from Jones.

"What's wrong?"
"We got the wrong one Ranger"

"The wrong one?"
"Yeah, that aint Barnet. Though it sure looks like him"
To say I was annoyed was an understatement. We had the problem that we'd just assaulted an innocent man, but we also didn't have the man we were after and his bond would be forfeited by the day after tomorrow.

"Jones you have some explaining to do"
"Cal release this gentleman"
"I don't know who the fuck you are but you aint getting away with this"
"I'm sorry, it was a case of mistaken identity"
"And just how sorry are you?"
"If you give me your name I'll make sure you're compensated for the trouble we caused"
"Cash"
"Pardon?"
"I want cash now. I lost a grand back there. You can cover the loss"
I mentally rolled through any other options we had. The man could be connected to Family which might bring us issues I didn't want to have to deal with. If we didn't pay up, then our reputation could be brought into disrepute and finally if he decided to involve a lawyer to sue us it would cost more than $1000.

"Gentlemen empty your wallets"
"I have $600"

By the time the rest of the men opened their wallets I was able to hand the money over to the man but had one final question for him.

"Was a man named Barnet in the game tonight?"
"No, never heard of him"
"I apologize for tonight Mr?"
"Burnet"

"Jones my office 1800hrs and bring your research papers with you"
By the time we got back to Rangeman it was 0400 in the morning. Steph was sound asleep and didn't even stir when I got into bed next to her. After 3 hours sleep I knew I had to get up, but I wanted to ask Steph to do some research on Barnet to see if she could uncover anything. At 0730 I gently woke her, knowing that she really wasn't ready to wake up.

"Babe are you awake?"
"No"
She pulled the covers over her head in an attempt to go back to sleep. So quietly laughing at the mood she was in I started to lightly tickle her ribs. I felt her squirming next to me and immediately regretted the action, shit I was getting turned on just from her movements. Being ever the opportunist, I moved my hands lower and began to gently caress her thighs and up to her mound.

"Not fair"
"All's fair in love and war"
"Are we at war?"
"No but we're definitely in love"
"Mmm, I like that"

I could feel her body pushing against my hand so stroked through her curls to her entrance and using circular movements pushed two fingers inside her. My mouth was on her breasts paying homage to her nipples as I felt her climax roll through sheer feel of that happening had me hardening even more, I was very close to losing any control that I had. I didn't waste any time as I pushed her onto her back and very slowly eased myself inside of her. A satisfied groan came from me as I stilled to allow our bodies to take advantage of the deepness. I caressed her lips with my fingers, moaning as she sucked them into her mouth and her hands trailed down my back using her nails to create friction. My mouth replaced my fingers as my arms went under her shoulders for better leverage. God she felt so tight as I moved and with her hips demanding more I increased the pace. I was very close to exploding so with my thumb rubbing on her clit gave the final thrust to allow me to release into her. Our cries mingled together as our mouths moved apart slightly and as we both came down from an orgasm, I rested my head on the pillow next to hers.

"Are you awake now?"

"Maybe, but you could always wake me up some more"

"Shower"
Thirty minutes later we were extremely clean and well satiated as we dressed for the day in the bedroom.

"Babe would you work your magic and find a man named Jesse Barnet. He's one of our high-level skips"
"I thought you went after him last night?"
"Jones made a cock up"

"So you missed him?"

"Yes. His bond expires tomorrow"

"Yeah, I'll pick up the file and do it straight away"

"I appreciate that"

We went down to five together and after giving Steph the file she needed waited for Jones to turn up. He was five minutes late when he eventually knocked on my office door, something that definitely put a black mark against him. Once I asked him to enter he then had the audacity to seat himself in the chair opposite me. Another black mark, my men know they stand and wait to be asked to be seated.

"Why did you have us pick up the wrong man?"
"It was the search program, for some reason it ran a search on Burnet instead of Barnet"
"So how did you know we had the wrong man?"
"The original file had a photo. Short guy with blonde hair and a beard. The guy last night had a beard and in the dim lights he looked like the right guy but when Cal was holding him the streetlight showed he had brown hair. Our guy has a scar across his eyebrow. It was only when we were in the light that I noticed there wasn't a scar"

"So, you've spent two weeks looking for the wrong man?"
"Well as I said the search program picked up the wrong name"

"Jones you cost me $1000 and pay for 5 men for 5 hours plus we're down on the percentage of the bond. He needed to be captured sooner. We only have today to find him"
"You want me to try again?"
"No. You're on monitor duty for the next two weeks. Fuck that up and you'll need to find another job"
I couldn't understand why he looked surprised, if a little indignant at what I'd said. No, he had too many black marks against him. I didn't like his attitude or work ethic. I'd have to talk to Tank about this man.

"Dismissed"
As he ambled out of my office without comment I messaged Tank to look into his work record because he'd fucked up a take down. I then turned my computer on to take a look at the quarterly reviews for all the men here in Trenton, starting with the ones employed recently. Two hours later I felt a little deflated. The men we had employed recently were not working to the level I would expect. I hadn't been involved in any of the interviews or decisions, although the three men in question came with excellent references and had all interviewed well. There was a short knock before Tank walked into the room and sat down.

"Jones. He the one that's got you upset Ranger?"
"My personal impression?"
"Yes"
"He's lazy, lacks discipline, has no regard for authority and lacks pride in his work"
"I can see he made a hell of an impression on you"
"What I can't understand is how his references and interview were so good"
"I think maybe he thinks he's entitled, he's riding on his past record and knows what to say in an interview"
"His physical fitness has gotten worse as well"

"I agree. He hasn't finished his probationary period yet"
"Read him the riot act, give him a month to improve. If he doesn't, he's out"
"I'll get onto that"
Tank made as if to be getting up from the chair.

"Not done yet Tank"
"Shoot"
"There two others of a similar ilk. Harris and Neublo. Do the same with them"

"Do we need to look at recruiting?"
"Yes. Where are we with Zeph?"
"He was released from hospital two days ago. Bobby's been keeping an eye on him"
"Can you go through the search on him again?"
"You worried he's another Ash?"
"Ash's behavior threw me. I never had a bad vibe for him but now I feel as though anyone we have working for us has to prove themselves before we employ them"
"I know where you're coming from. Hell what with Gannon as well, we screwed up"

"Tank what would you say to having Steph working on our skips"
"Research?"
"I was thinking. Seeing as Vinnie is struggling to find a decent bounty hunter that we could take mid-level skips for Steph and a partner to find and bring in and then if Steph does the research on the higher bonds we use the usual teams for those captures"

"You gonna insist on the higher percentage for all of them?"
"Of course"

"I like the idea, Steph's good and with a partner would be brilliant"
I sat back in my chair pleased with how the conversation had gone with Tank. As he reached the door, he turned back to face me.

"Oh yeah, congratulations"

Maybe all the men needed retraining on observation, hell Steph had been in the building for a few days now and they had obviously only just noticed. A few minutes later there was faint knock on the door that I recognized as Steph. She was holding a file in her hands and had a smile on her face.

"You found him already?"
"Yeah, the search and a couple of phone calls. If you have a team available then we could go get him now"

"Now?"

"Yeah, he'll only be there for an hour"
"Where?"
"Well I know his rap sheet is pretty long and he's wanted for armed robbery, but it seems he has a pet dog in at the veterinary"

"A dog?"
"Pit bull who the staff refuse to feed or walk because of his temperament"

"So no home as such?"
"The address he gave the police doesn't exist and he was evicted from the last place because of the damage the dog did"

"Okay, give me fifteen to get a team. You head down to the garage and I'll ask Hector to set you up"
She placed the file on my desk, I assume so that I could find the papers needed at the police station. A message to four men was all it took before I was joining them in the garage. I'd made sure to add to Hector's message that Steph would need to be kitted out, but I wasn't too sure she'd appreciate the extent that Hector was trying to push her.

"Tell Hector that a helmet is just not necessary. Eye protection? I don't think so. I'll wear a vest and carry but that's it"
I had to agree with Steph because as far as I was concerned, she wasn't going anywhere near Barnet. Once she'd given the address to the men, I gave her an ear bud and mic. The ear bud would pick up talk from all of the men so it would be interesting to see how she coped with that. Ten minutes later we had one team at the rear of the property and one team plus Steph and me at the front watching and waiting. I'd had copies of Barnet's photo with all the men because I didn't want a case of mistaken identity again.

"How about I go in and see if he's still there?"
"I don't think so"
"He may have been and gone or isn't coming today"
"Why don't we go in together then?"
"Probably because you'll frighten the nurses"

"Okay, you go in and I'll be right outside the door"
"That works for me"

We walked across the road to the veterinary, I stood outside the door as Steph walked in and then listened as she began talking with the receptionist.

"Hi, I was wondering if you could help. My ex left his dog with me and it's real difficult to manage"

"What breed is it Ma'am?"
"I think it's one of those fighting dogs, you know a pit bull"
"Not a good dog for you to be looking after"
"Yeah I know, but he's so cute"
I heard a door open and close before the receptionist continued.

"This gentleman has a pit bull maybe he can help?"
"Help with what?"
"The lady has a pit bull and needs some suggestions for managing it"
Shit, not what I wanted, but maybe if we turned this into a distraction and Steph could walk out with him, that could work.

"Distraction job, team A to front with me"

There wasn't anymore talking which concerned me, in fact there were the sounds of scuffling and a loud thump.

"Steph?"
"He's down and cuffed waiting for you"
I quickly walked into the reception area to find Barnet face down on the floor, mumbling. His wrists were cuffed at his back and his feet were in shackles. Steph had one foot on his back and was talking to the receptionist.

"The scum bag obviously meant to dump that dog on me"
"That aint right, you get him girl"
"You mind if my boss takes him out?"
"Hell no, just tell him if he don't pay his bill that dog of his will go to a rescue center"
"No problem"

I pulled Barnet to his feet and passed him over to Tank for him to take the trip to the station. I didn't think Steph was ready for a visit there just yet.

"See what I mean, and she aint finished her training yet"
Was the comment I got from Tank. Once back in the car I heard Steph's phone go off and listened to her side of the conversation as I drove.

"Hi Dad"
"Yeah I could do that"

"Now?"

"Yeah I think I do remember"
"Okay, I'll get Carlos to drop me off"
"Will do"

As she put her phone back in her bag, she turned to me to speak.

"My Dad wants me to meet up with him"

"Where?"

"It's a small café at the sculpture garden just on E State Street"

"Now?"
"Please"
"Okay, do you want me to stay?"
"No Dad said he'll take me back to Rangeman"

I changed lanes and took a right heading toward where she was to meet with her father, I was curious as to why he'd asked to meet her.

"Did he say why he wanted to meet you?"
"Not really, but my Uncle Andrew's in town for the day"

"I didn't know you had an uncle called Andrew"
"Well he's not related but he's an old friend of Dads"
As we pulled up in front of the café I really didn't want to be leaving her here alone. She'd sense if I stayed anywhere near and that might annoy her or make her think I didn't trust her.

"Be careful"
"It's just my Dad"
"I know"

"I have lots of trackers on me courtesy of Hector. I shouldn't be too long"

Once back at Rangeman I kept an image of her trackers on my phone, checking every so often to see if they'd moved. It was three hours later that they began to move and I watched intently the direction they were taking, relieved as they were heading in the direction of Rangeman. I wouldn't seek her out to ask how her afternoon had gone. I'd wait until she came to me, which she did immediately. When she entered the office her face was unreadable, something I'd never experienced before.

"Babe?"
"You mister have some explaining to do, but not now, later. Now you need to call together your best team because we have a mission to plan"