Lester's POV
I can't believe everything went so FUBAR at the last minute. We completed our mission successfully. We took out our target, no one saw us coming. We were perfect. Then, while we were waiting for our extraction, we got made. I still don't know how, but I will find out. The chopper was three minutes out, and we were fired upon. Ranger, being our team leader, told us to go forward, he would hold them off. He was doing a great job and seemed to be making headway. The chopper finally arrived, with Tank and me going in first. We both tried to provide cover for Ranger as Bobby got pulled up, but before we could get Ranger, the enemy got to him. They must have hit him with a tranq because he went down without any blood loss. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to go back down. But now, we don't know who has him or even where he is. I'm not looking forward to telling Stephanie that her husband is MIA.
We arrive in DC early on a Tuesday morning in September. We aren't given a chance to call anyone, we are shuffled directly into separate rooms for our individual debrief. Then, when the suits have satisfactorily received our information, we will go through the debrief together. Only then will we be permitted to let our loved ones know that we are home, safe, and sound. Since I made it without my cousin, I'm thankful for the reprieve. Tank and Brown are calling me a wuss, but they don't know how the Manoso women can be, and Stephanie is worse than all the Manoso women combined. Shit. This is not going to be easy.
After two days of reviewing minute details, we are finally able to leave our hold area. As much as I don't want to tell Steph at work, I don't want to be alone either. I'm afraid that if she gets too emotional, I won't be able to handle her. At least here, there are others who can help her. I walk to her section and thankfully have clearance to enter. I find her cubby, but she's not there. Instead, she's in a room, meeting with her team. I need to interrupt the meeting. As I go to knock on the door, I'm stopped.
"Soldier, you are not permitted in that room."
"I'm sorry, sir. I must speak with Lt. Plum, though. I have information about her husband that she'll be better off hearing from me than some uniform."
"You're name?"
"Lt. Lester Santos."
"Lt. Santos, give me a moment."
The unknown suit knocks on the door and enters. After a brief conversation and a wiping of the computer screens, I'm permitted to enter.
"Lester? You're back? When did you get back? Are you hurt? Where's Carlos?"
"Querida, yes, I'm back. I got back a couple of days ago, no, I'm not hurt. But I think you need to sit down." I finally get a look at Steph and notice a small bump. Fuck me! Please don't let her be pregnant.
"Les, where's Carlos? You're scaring me."
"Steph, hermanita, Carlos is…Carlos is…he's MIA. We made it to the extraction point and were minutes from being extracted when we were fired upon. We couldn't get to him. We tried, but we couldn't. I'm sorry, Steph. But he was alive when I last saw him."
I watched as my sister instinctively held her abdomen, then collapsed on the floor in a ball, sobbing uncontrollably. I sat down, pulling her into my lap, trying to soothe her the way I saw Carlos soothe her so many times before, by rubbing her back and speaking to her in Spanish. When Steph finally relaxed enough, the person leading the meeting, who was a Captain, gave Steph the rest of the day off.
I escorted her as she got her stuff from her cubby, under lock and key, of course, and then we walked to the garage. I was looking for her car when instead, I found an eight-year-old Saturn.
"What happened to your car?"
"One night, some drunk driver crashed into it and totaled it. Then, I got a nice two-year-old Buick, which was destroyed when the engine caught fire. Something about faulty wiring. So, I'm stuck with this car now."
"Thankfully, you are okay. Steph, I don't mean to be rude, but I know your body, are you pregnant?"
"Yes. I'm about four months pregnant. My due date is February 6th."
"I'm going to be an uncle? I'm really going to be an uncle. This is great, Steph. Congratulations."
"It will only be great if Carlos is home. But listen, you can't tell anyone in the family. No one knows. Well, I think Abuela Rosa knows, but outside of her, no one else knows. I want Carlos to find out first."
"Steph, Ranger is smart. I know he will survive. We just need to find him."
"Were you in Venezuela?"
"Why are you asking?"
"I was just put on a team to rescue a soldier in Venezuela. Please, am I looking for Carlos?"
"I think you might be. Look, Steph, you know I can't tell you specifics, not unless you've been read in, and I receive the go-ahead from a higher up."
"Don't worry, I won't put you in that position."
We enter her car, and she changes the subject to benign conversations about the weather, gossip from the Burg and Miami, as well as telling me about an article she read on gardening. This is not like Steph. I know there's a good reason, so I play along. When we are pulling to the driveway, Steph asks, "can we go to a park? I think I want a picnic dinner."
"Sure. Do you want to go somewhere to pick up food?"
"No, we'll go into the house. There's probably stuff we can take with us there."
Once we enter the house and reset the alarm, Steph goes to her room to change. I look in the fridge and grab some food that we can eat cold, with a few bottles of water. Steph returns downstairs with a large tote, wearing leggings and an oversized t-shirt, and sneakers.
"Les, why don't you go get changed?"
"Okay. I'll be back in five."
I run down to my room, taking off my fatigues. I carefully search every pocket, every seam for a bug, but find none. Stephanie is acting so strange and is being so evasive in her conversation since we got in the car, I'm feeling a little paranoid. I check the t-shirt I'm about to put on along with my shorts, socks, and sneakers. It seems Steph is paranoid, so will I be as well. Once I'm dressed, I return upstairs.
"Ready, querida?"
"Yeah, I'm ready."
I grab our dinner, and we head out. Steph catches me up on family gossip, also sharing some stories from the women she's met in her support group. I'm glad that Steph seems to have made a good core group of friends. We arrive at the designed park, but Steph motions for me to leave the food and step out.
"It's such a beautiful day. I'm sure there won't be many more like this now that September's here."
She pulls out a scanner that can detect bugs. She runs it over me, then I do her. We both come out clean. However, there's one in the car. Steph removes it, places it on the floor, and stomps on it.
"Come one, let's go to our secondary location."
We get back in the car, driving to a different, more peaceful park.
Once we settle down to eat, I ask my questions. "Steph, what was that about?"
"Someone keeps bugging me, the car, and the house. I think I know who it is, but I haven't been able to catch them yet. I think this person may be involved in your mission going FUBAR and Carlos being taken. If the case I'm working on now is indeed to find Carlos, then I know why I was put on that mission, even though I shouldn't be." She pauses, trying to figure out the puzzle. "He wants me to miscarry. He wants me to be a widow. He wants me to marry him."
"Who?"
"Captain Carter."
"Are you sure?"
"No, I'm not. Right now, it's just my gut. Each time that my car was incapacitated, he would be the first one on the scene to offer me a ride home, a ride to work, or anywhere for that matter. He's offered to tend to the lawn, but I told him that Luis was taking care of it. He didn't like that. Then, he offered to help me find a housekeeper, but I told him I already had one. I've avoided him as much as I can, but there is only so much. I'm afraid he'll get more desperate now that you're home because I don't think he intended on you making it home, either."
Shit. If anyone other than Stephanie was telling me this, I would yes them to death, not believing a word they say. But this is Steph, and her instincts are almost as good, if not better than Ranger. Ranger felt that someone was following us for the last day and a half. None of us felt it, but he did. Maybe if we listened to him, he'd be home right now.
"You think Carter would risk a court-martial just to get you?"
"I think he would. Even Ella thinks he's weird. She doesn't like him either."
"Who's Ella?"
"Oh, our housekeeper and my good friend. She is who Abuela Rosa recommended. She has been coming with me to my doctor's appointments. I don't know what I would have done without her."
Now, I don't want to replace Ranger by no means. After all, he is Steph's husband and the father of that baby, but I am hoping that maybe I could be the one going with Steph to the doctor in his absence. I mean, I am her brother. Just, how do I ask this of Steph without seeming insensitive? I allow my mind to wander, and I decide that if, for some reason, we are too late to save Ranger, which I pray to God that we are not, but if we are and Stephanie is a widow, I will support her. I will raise that child for Ranger, making sure that he or she knows how wonderful their father was. I will be the best uncle that I can be. I will make sure that Captain Carter doesn't get close to Stephanie. No one will hurt my sister that way.
"When is your next appointment?"
"It's in a week. I may be able to find out the sex of the baby then, but I don't think I'm going to if Carlos isn't here."
"Can I come with?" I ask tentatively.
"Sure! I'd love to have you there."
I sigh in relief. That was easier than I thought. Now, to find out more about Captain Carter. "Steph, tell me what's been happening."
"Well, I already told you about the cars, so I guess I'll tell you the rest. Carter works in the same division as me. He is in another office, on another team, but in the same general area. Since you left, he is constantly asking me for assistance or help, small things, like using a search program or in interpreting a statement. Now, I never know the specifics of the information he shares with me, but it's little things. Then, he always goes to lunch when I do. Even on the days when I take a late lunch or an early lunch, he's at lunch. He would sit with me in the cafeteria, even though I would tell him I wanted to be alone. I would call Mary Lou and talk to her, or Tia Celia, and he'd still sit there. He never took the hint. Finally, I just started to go shopping, but he would find some reason to go with me.
"After about a month, I became friendly with a few other women who work here, so we started taking lunch together. Finally, he started to back off. But then, he ramped up at home. No matter when I try to go for my run, he's going for a run. If I'm gardening, he comes over to talk, to assist, or offer advice that I don't ask for. Mariela came to visit, and he sat with us the whole time. It was creepy. Even Mariela was weirded out by him. I'm not sure he knows I'm pregnant, but I think he suspects that I am. I have only told my direct supervisor at work so I can leave early for my appointments, but other than him, you and Ella, no one else knows.
"I've been wearing Carlos's Ranger's t-shirt so I can feel closer to him. Every time Carter sees me in it, he passes some disparaging remark. He says things like 'training and brawn only get you so far' and 'just because he was the top dog doesn't mean he's the best.' It's almost like he's trying to plant doubt in my mind so that if something were…that I wouldn't question it. I'd think that Carlos did something wrong. But he doesn't know that I know that Carlos is the best. I had a feeling he was in trouble. I can't explain it, but I woke up a few days ago in a cold sweat. I know he's still alive. I just hope he's okay."
"Stephanie, Carter is a stalker. He's going past all boundaries. Look, I'm going to take you to and from work, and I'll meet you for lunch until further notice. I don't trust Carter. I'm going to see what digging I can do on him. Cal has an uncle with high clearance. I'll see if I can call in a favor. I know Cal has spoken highly of both you and Ranger to his uncle. I think his uncle was the one who approved you going to MI school instead of serving your tours like you were supposed to."
"So, I'm not crazy?"
"No, Steph, you're not. Once again, your instincts are spot on. Do you mind if I sleep on the couch? I don't want to be far from you. I don't like the vibe I'm getting."
"No, I don't mind. You can use the office if you want to. I put a day bed in there. I find I like to review the files and go over the intel there instead of at the desk. It helps me think clearer."
"Okay. That's where I'll sleep. Stephanie, there's no need to worry. I'll do everything in my power to make sure I'm home until Carlos returns. I won't leave you alone right now. Te amo, hermana."
"Te amo, hermano."
