Gone Girl

Chapter 55 Saving Julie Again

A/N: Honestly, I just let the characters be themselves and let the story write itself and these things just keep happening. The chapters just keep pouring out on the paper. Here is another one, enjoy.

Chapter Fifty-five

Wednesday April 16, 2014 - Day 155

Ranger POV

As everyone filed out of the conference room, he gathered up his paperwork and called Stephanie. He was walking while he was talking. "Hey Batman." Came her sultry voice.

His body reacted every time he heard her voice. It was a balm to his soul and an electrical shock to his groin. "Babe, something very important has come up. I'm going to come up to the apartment and brief you and Julie, but I want you both to stay in the apartment until I get up there." Please just stay he was silently chanting hoping she wouldn't let her curiosity get to her and come down to investigate.

"Is everything okay? Is the bomber someone in the building? Are we even safe up here?" With every question her voice went higher, and he could tell she was really getting herself worked up. He needed to keep everybody calm through this legal nightmare. He was certain that he could convince this woman that the safest place for Julie was with him but if he couldn't, if she wouldn't listen; he would take her down to five where his men would distract her while he whisked Julie away.

"You are safe. There is no threat in the building. Joyce Barnhardt and one of Lula's skips were responsible for the bombing. I have men on the way to go pick them up. Don't tell Julie. This is for your ears only okay?" He knew they shared everything, but he wanted a chance to explain this to Julie before she got upset or worried about it. No matter what, he wasn't going to let anything bad happen to Julie.

"Yeah, okay."

"Rachel is threatening to take Julie back, forcefully. She has called Child Protective Services here in Trenton and someone will be here in the next few hours. Don't get upset! I'm not going to let anyone take her away; it's not safe. I will be up shortly to discuss everything with Julie. I'm not keeping anything from her. I'll just tell her a little differently." He could tell she was shocked by what he was telling her, and Ranger needed her to stay focused. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"I'll be up in ten." He was acting as quickly as possible in the hopes that Stephanie wouldn't feel compelled to share this information with Julie before he got up there. She and Julie were so close. They had shared everything these past four months. They'd had to in order to survive and stay safe. But he already knew that telling one of them meant the other one would know in short order and he really wanted to tell this to Julie himself because he understood the situation Rachel was in and why she was doing what she was doing.

"Okay" She sounded upset at the end, but he needed her to keep it together for Julie's sake.

Ranger hung up with her and he was already in the stairwell headed to the front desk. Eric was a California beach bum whose parents didn't think would ever amount to anything, so they enlisted him in the Air Force. They wanted the discipline of the military, but they didn't want him assigned to ground troops fighting on the front lines. They figured he'd learn how to fly things and become a pilot. Well he became a helicopter gunny – you know the gunman hanging off the copters firing at the bad guys. They were still proud of him and even prouder when he heroically got shot to hell in a mission to evacuate some stranded women and children out of a war zone. One of the women he helped save, happened to be a nurse. She ripped her dress into shreds and was able to make a tourniquet for his leg and his arm. With the help of some other women who kept compression on his stomach wound, they saved his life. When they put him back together, he had a metal rod in his leg and a new shoulder. The woman who saved him had stayed by his bedside. Even though she barely spoke English, she helped nurse him back to health. Now they are married with two kids and he's as much of a fighter as he ever had been.

"Eric," Ranger said his name even as he saw the police cruiser pull up to the curb outside the front door. "The police and a CPS worker are here to take Julie. As soon as they come in, call Tank, Bobby, and Lester to clear them. The police are not allowed past this lobby without a search warrant. Pretend you don't know who they are or why they're here. Just keep telling them they need an escort to enter the premises and let Tank and Lester deal with them." Ranger spoke quickly and retreated just as quickly inside the stairwell. He wanted to be on seven when they got here and not standing down waiting for the elevator.

As Ranger ran up the stairs, he called Lester. "They're here. I'll be on seven. Call Ella and have her come down to the lobby with you."

"Ten four," he said and disconnected.

Ranger had to move fast and get in front of the woman who he knew had legal paperwork that would throw a kink in his plans. Officially the hit was removed from Julie but in his gut, he still didn't feel it was safe for her outside this building. As he climbed the stairs, he sent out a text to all Trenton employees: Code Red: Be Aware: CPS in building to take Julie. Cops not allowed past front desk without search warrant. Lester & Ella to escort CPS to seven. Go about business as usual. Do not engage or interfere unless asked.

Ranger reached the seventh floor ready to explain this as concisely as possible to Julie. He had at most minutes, but he was good under pressure. However, this pressure felt like his daughter's life was in his hands. He fobbed his way in and found Stephanie and Julie sitting anxiously in the living room. "Julie, show me your room," Ranger said as he crossed over and opened the door to her room being aware of the pink curtains Ella had hung on the doors. In her room the unmade twin bed was covered with blue sheets and a purple blanket. There was a little nightstand with a small lamp on it and clothes were both on the floor and hanging out the dresser drawers.

He began putting it all to right as he talked to Julie. "Baby, Julie, you know that Ron is dead, right?" He knew that she knew Ron was dead. Because he had been the one to tell her. He had treaded carefully, unsure how she would react to the news that the man who had been her father most of her life was gone. Even if this was the man who wanted to have her killed for money. Ranger had been so unsure of how she would react and was prepared for anything except her to jump up and down pumping her arms in the air and yelling "Waaa hoo!"

He hadn't realized how stressed out she had been knowing that her "father" was gunning for her and being constantly worried that any day she would be sent back home where she'd have to fight for her life again.

Ranger put all the clothes from the floor into the white hamper. "Yeah Dad, you told me," she said as she leaned against the door jam. Steph, ever the mother bug, hovered right behind her.

"Your mom has been put in a bad spot because she no longer has a paycheck coming in from Ron. Do you understand?' He hoped she had enough knowledge of money and paying for everything to at least understand what her mother was doing and why.

"Yeah, Dad, I understand."

"She is trying to forcibly take you back to Miami. She has sent government workers to come get you and take you to a foster home until she can come get you."

"Why? She knows I want to stay here with you."

Yeah, she did and when he had explained how dangerous it was for Julie and that she needed to stay here with him, Rachel had slurred her ascent and gotten off the phone probably to go get another drink. "Because I give her money every month for you and she needs that money so she wants to force you to come back to live with her so I will keep paying her."

"But she doesn't even care about me anymore. I mean, she knew all about Ron and his plan to kidnap me and she didn't care or try to stop him."

"What?!" Ranger stopped making the bed and turned in shock to his daughter. Regardless of what Ron had said on the recorded phone call, he'd always assumed that Rachel didn't know what Ron was up to, but Julie was telling him that not only was her father – the man who had raised her - okay with her getting kidnapped and killed, but so was her mother. No wonder she was calling Stephanie 'Mom'. Steph is the one adult who dropped everything to protect her and take care of her; and she recognized it. Ranger knelt down in front of her and looked her straight in the eyes. "Nina, are you telling me your mother, Rachel, knew about Ron's plan?"

"I don't know how much she knew but I heard them talking about it."

She hesitated and he tried to encourage her. "What did you hear Julie, you can tell me." He tried to look accepting and understanding hoping that even though it had been five months since the conversation had happened, Julie would be able to tell him exactly what she knew.

"The first night I heard them, I woke up because Ron was yelling loudly at Rachel. He said the retirement funds weren't working out and he could put a lot more money in them if they didn't have to pay for my expensive schooling and violin classes. Rachel yelled back at him, telling him that you paid for all that and she wasn't going to mess with your money cause you didn't have to pay anything and they couldn't afford it by themselves."

Ranger watched her eyes carefully to see if her eyes could stay focused directly on him or if she looked up to the right or the left. It was an old trick to tell if someone was recalling a memory or constructing a lie. He was trained to know this and he controlled his eyes when speaking. You'll never catch him in a lie but at her tender age she didn't know this and he needed to be sure that she was reliving a memory and not something she thinks she heard while her brain fills in the blanks with what she wants to believe.

"Then about a week later, I heard Ron again, explaining loudly that Rachel was an idiot for sitting on a pot of gold for so long. He said that I was untapped potential and Scrog had the right idea. She looked Ranger directly in his eyes. "He said if you could drop six grand a month," she looked down at the floor as if embarrassed to go on, and then finally whispered, "for a kid you didn't have any legal obligation to..." He leaned in and heard her say, "You would drop a million easy if a situation arose."

"Julie, Nina, Baby, you are not an obligation." He put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up so they were eye to eye. "You are the best thing I've done in my life and I gave your mother money because I wanted you to have everything you needed and wanted." He put his hands on her shoulders because he wanted to keep contact with her. "The best education, the best extra-curricular activities. When I signed the forms that gave away my rights it didn't get rid of my obligation to make sure you were always taken care of. Ron was right, I would pay more than a million dollars for you, to protect you, to save your life."

Time was running out and he needed to get to the point. "But right now, there is a woman on the way to come take you away from me because Rachel has told them I didn't have room for you and that I'm armed and dangerous. You must tell her what you just told me. She needs to know that Rachel knew about the plan to kidnap you. I'm going to play her Ron's phone call and together we need to convince her that you are safer with me."

She hugged him tightly. "Yeah, Dad, I can do that. I want to stay here with you and Stephanie because as far as I'm concerned, she's my Mom now." Stephanie leaned down and put her arms around both of us and as much as he loved Stephanie for who she is, and for her saving Julie, he felt his heart expand even more to know that she really wanted to be Julie's mom. Not her stepmom, her real Mom. Not just for a few months but she loved Julie and wanted to be there for her the rest of her life.

That's how they were when Lester opened the door and let the CPS woman in. Ranger stood and walked over to the woman. She was short, maybe 5 foot 2, carrying at least 50 extra pounds and she had mousy cropped brown hair. "Hi, I'm Carlos Manoso." He smiled and held out his hand but the expression on this pinched faced, dour older woman said that she'd seen handsome men before and she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, which wouldn't even be one inch.

"I'm Mrs. Cotswallow," she said. Instead of shaking his hand, she put a business card in it. Of course, he could see her official State Picture ID hanging from her tan rumpled suit that looked like it was worn repeatedly between dry cleaning visits or maybe she slept in her office on her lunch break. "I'm here to remove this child from your dangerous household and put her somewhere she can be safe," she snarked at him.

That's fine because he can be an ass too. A charming ass with more up his sleeve than she could ever expect or believe. "On what legal grounds are you removing this child?" Ranger knew that she had no legal grounds. According to his attorney, now that Ron was dead, he became her legal father again. He'd been paying support for her for years and he had as much say in Julie's care as her mother did.

"On the grounds that you have no legal rights to this child-"

"I never gave up all my rights. I signed forms transferring my rights to Ron Martine so he could adopt her. Now, he tried to have her kidnapped so I would pay a multi-million-dollar ransom and was going to get rid of her and her so called mother knew all about it. Did she tell you that?"

"I've never spoken to Mrs. Martine," she said defensively.

"On who's legal authority are you removing my daughter?" he demanded.

"We were contacted by her attorney who provided us with the adoption papers proving you have no legal rights to Miss Martine and said that you were very dangerous and you only had a one-bedroom apartment with nowhere for her to sleep except in your bed with you." She gave him a disgusted look insinuating she knew how much of a pervert he really was.

"First of all, on who's hearsay did you hear this?" Ranger demanded.

She straightened up her back to try to stand up to him, but he already had her hornswaggled. She just didn't know it yet.

"Rachel Martine's attorney."

"Does he have a name?" He was going to be gentle till he sprung the trap.

"George Montgomery the third."

"And exactly what did the state of Florida say his credentials are?" Ranger asked because he knew from his attorney that this woman got it in her head from some unknown source that he was the bad guy. The whole attorney thing was unknown. Rachel didn't have enough money to pay for an honest attorney. Tom said that someone claiming to be her attorney called him and threatened to have Julie removed if Ranger didn't give up all his rights and when Tom wouldn't agree, admitted they had already called Mrs. Cotswallow from CPS. But when Tom tried to call them back to schedule a court date all he got was a generic voice mail message.

"I'm sorry?" She looked stumped.

"Certainly, you made him send over a picture ID before you took him seriously?" Ranger knew she hadn't, but he had to paint her into the corner. She just didn't know it yet.

"A picture ID was not required to make a complaint," she insisted.

"So, you are here based on an anonymous tip you got over the phone." He knew that Rachel thought she was smart to have her so-called attorney to make the call. But by not speaking to Mrs. Cotswallow herself; she made this too easy for him.

"It was not anonymous-"

"So, you did get a picture ID." He pushed.

"We do not require a picture ID to take a complaint, but he faxed over a copy of the adoption papers."

"So, Rachel's neighbor whom she paid $20 to, called you, and said what she told him to say. Then she faxed you from her computer. Show me your proof that any of this is not what I just said."

"Weelll, sir we have to take every complaint seriously." She persevered.

"Of course, you do." Ranger smiled genially at her. "I would expect no less from a professional such as yourself." She gave him her first smile since walking into this room. It was only halfhearted, but he was making progress. "I would expect that you would investigate every complaint fully and then do the right thing for each child you receive a complaint about."

"That's what I'm here to do. The best thing for this child who has no place in your household," she continued, prissily.

"All I request is that you give me as much respect and belief as you've placed in what is essentially an anonymous tip."

"I reserve the right to decide what is best for the child and I won't be intimidated by you Mr. Manoso or your very obvious gun," she snarked.

"Very good. What exactly is the complaint?" He had to know what the charges were so he could disprove them.

"That you are armed and dangerous – which I can see is obviously true." She had no idea how dangerous he could be.

"Ma'am, you came with several officers today, isn't that correct?" He was very carefully leading her down the path that would bring her to agree with him.

"Yes, but the men wouldn't let them come up here." Of course not, only his men were allowed to be armed in his building.

"That is because they are not needed. But you felt safe with them because they are armed. Just as Julie feels safe with me, because I am armed." This was an important point. Julie felt safe being armed herself and he had already taken her down to the gun range and found out how comfortable she was with guns. Once she had turned eight, he had taken her to a gun range to show her that he knew how to handle the gun he carried. When she was ten – over her mother's objections - he had taught her how to shoot. He had taken her twice since then and from the way Julie handled the gun on Agent Luent, those lessons and the ones Stephanie had given her had really taken hold.

"Being armed is not a requirement of being a father," she insisted.

"When your daughter's life is threatened, a good father will always arm himself against the dangers." Being armed was a constant state of being for him and he had to wonder at what age did he start letting Julie carry a gun around. Obviously, she could handle a firearm successfully but carrying regularly was a big responsibility.

"Well your being armed is not going to stop me from doing my job. I must see where Julie is staying." Of course, this is the important first step.

"You are welcome to come and inspect every room in this apartment. Speaking of every room. Let's let Julie show you her room." Ranger backed up, leading her further into the apartment.

"Julie, this is Mrs. Cotswallow. She is here to make sure you are being properly taken care of. She would like to see your room." Hopefully she would be pleased and impressed that what she had been told was wrong and Julie did have her own room. Sleep with his teenage daughter? How ridiculous, no wonder this woman was looking at him like he was deranged.

Julie smiled brightly at her and said, "my Dad had an office in here but he moved his desk out to the living room," she pointed to my desk that was now set up in the corner, "and they got me a bed." She opened both French doors to allow all of us to stand in the doorway and look.

"Louis helped me paint the room purple and blue and now Ella is going to help me pick out a bedding set that matches. For now, she just got me plain blue sheets but," Julie grabbed the Pottery Barn catalog off her dresser, "she said I could get either these paisley purple and blue sheets or these striped purple blue and pink sheets." Hell, he would tell Ella to get her both. For now, this was her room and she could decorate it and her bed however she wanted.

"Mrs. Cotswallow, I don't want to label whoever called you a liar but they are not properly informed and everything they told you was not true because obviously Julie has her own room. This room is just temporary for a month or two until we remodel and build her a bedroom and bathroom all her own that she will get a chance to help design." He wanted to make it clear he would be improving on what she had. He was hoping she wouldn't make a big deal out of the one bathroom and that she had to enter his bedroom to get to it.

Mrs. Cotswallow didn't respond she just stood there looking at the room with her eagle eyes that didn't miss anything. Ranger was actually glad that he was interrupted in making Julie's bed because with it messy it made it look more like a teenager's room than if it was all perfect.

"Mrs. Cotswallow what are your other concerns?" What other lies did my ex-wife make up to take Julie back. This visit was making him angrier at Rachel, who only wanted Julie for monetary reasons.

"Regardless that you have provided Miss Martine with her own room, you still don't have any legal rights to her."

"My attorney has already filed the paperwork for me to get full custody of Julie, but in the meantime," Ranger walked over to his desk. "He filed for temporary custody a week and a half ago, when Julie came to stay with me." He picked up the paperwork Tom had sent him. "Here is legal proof that I have current legal custody of Julie until a full child custody hearing can be held."

"Let me see that." She was actually demanding instead of asking but she came in here with self-righteous rage ready to take him on and she's finding she was fed a line of crap. Ranger walked over to her and handed her the two-page form from the court giving him temporary legal custody.

"I was not informed of this." She looked flummoxed like this had never crossed her mind and it was too unbelievable to consider as part of the truth and her reality.

"Mrs. Cotswallow, I assure you that Julie's safety and care are of my upmost concern. If you are satisfied with her room, let me escort you to my office where I have more legal documents to show the extent of my dedication to my daughters care."

"I'm sorry Mr. Manoso but I'm not leaving this premises until this matter is resolved."

"Of course not, Mrs. Cotswallow my office is in this building on the fifth floor. If you would like, Julie and Stephanie can escort us down there."

"Yes, it is common practice once the child in question is in custody to keep them where they can't be squirreled away."

"Certainly, Julie will you show Mrs. Cotswallow the way to my office?" As they passed Lester and Ella, he quietly thanked them and dismissed them. As they walked down the hall he continued talking. "Since the death threat for Julie went out, she has not been allowed out of the building unless accompanied by me. So, of course, she has access to every part of my building including the gym on three and my office on five."

"Mr. Manoso, what gibberish are you spewing now? There is no death threat against Miss Martine." Oh, Rachel are you ever so dead that you would disregard any danger to Julie just to have my money.

"Mrs. Cotswallow, do you even know what has happened in the last five months and how Julie came to be in my care?" He was certain that Rachel's attorney or whomever she had call this woman had not told her what was really going on.

"It was insinuated that you took her illegally out of her parents care and as a result of things you did, Mr. Martine killed himself." Of course, he was the one doing illegal things. He knew he had been made out to be the bad guy but kidnapping his own daughter was not something he had ever done. It was something he would do if that's what it took to keep her safe but not something he had already done.

"Julie, you know the story better than I do, will you explain to Mrs. Cotswallow how you came to be in my custody?" He had a feeling this sour woman who was dead set against him would believe Julie more quickly than if he or Stephanie told her the same exact story.

"Certainly," Julie replied as she excitedly launched into a detailed description of how she came to realize her life was in danger and how she ran away with Stephanie. While she talked, Ranger ushered them into the elevator and then down the hall to his office. He waved his arm towards the couch hoping the woman would have a seat. Then he took Julie's hand and led her to one of the two leather club chairs in front of his desk, turned it around and helped her sit.

Ranger stopped Julie's monolog to play the recording of Ron's phone call, then he told Julie to continue. During her retelling, he heard a lot more details about their time on the run and her very heroic rendition of Steph saving her after they went in the water and how it was Stephanie's big strong legs that got her up to the top of the water so quickly. While she was talking, Ranger placed his child support agreement in front of Mrs. Cotswallow and carefully laid out the details for her. During the time he was in the army, he'd only paid $500 a month. Once he became a Ranger it went up to $1200 a month. For the last three years, he'd been paying $6000 a month. But before that, since she started private school in the second grade, he'd been paying $3500 a month to cover that cost. In total, he'd paid $361,700 in child support since his divorce 11 years ago.

The payment for April of this year had already gone through, but after receiving temporary custody of Julie, Ranger had his attorney let Rachel know that he was not going to keep paying her and she could live off all the money in Julie's accounts. This angry phone call today let him know that Rachel has now discovered that all of Julie's accounts had been emptied by Ron.

As Mrs. Cotswallow looked over the paperwork, Tank came in holding a piece of paper. He handed it to Ranger, and leaned in to whisper, "The officers are waiting outside in their cars." Ranger nodded his head to let Tank know that he heard him and then Tank left.

Ranger walked over and laid the piece of paper in front of Mrs. Cotswallow on top of everything else he had laid there. He tuned in to what Julie was saying. She was winding down now, telling how her mother said last week she could keep staying with her dad and he knew she meant him and while he had never been jealous of what Ron had with her; her calling him dad and looking at him like he hung the moon made him feel 10 feet tall in a way that no successful mission ever had.

Ranger watched the woman carefully as she read the paper which was a notice from FBI agent Fuller:

On April 1st my office became aware of two contracts to kill two people related to Mr. Manoso. One for two and a half million dollars for killing Ms. Stephanie Plum and two million dollars for killing his daughter Julie Martine. Later that night it was found out that one of my agents had been trying to fulfill the two hit contracts by first shooting at them and then ramming their car sending them into the river. He was paid 2.5 million for killing Mrs. Plum. Later that night it was revealed that he had also been offered one million dollars by Mr. Ronald Martine to kill Julie Martine in order to gain from the four-million-dollar life insurance policies Mr. Martine had taken out on Julie.

On the night in question the agent chased them down and rammed the back of their car pushing them over the embankment and sending them into the river. He is in jail on charges of attempted murder. As far as my office is aware the hits are still active.

Signed

Agent Fuller FBI

She paled as she read, but he wasn't done with her yet.

"And that's why I'm still living here with my dad and Stephanie," Julie finished, and he realized he had lost track of where she was in the story.

"Thank you, Julie, I think you explained everything thoroughly. Mrs. Cotswallow, I have one more recorded message I want you to hear. This is from Rachel Martine and it was left for me today. You will notice that at no time does she express concern over Julie's well-being. Her entire focus is on the money."

Ranger played the message; he could hear Rachel's desperation. She'd never been anything, but a housewife and all their savings was gone. All of Julie's money was gone. All of their retirement was gone. All of the retirement funds that Ron stole from his company were gone, too. Everything was gone, including his insurance policy, because they weren't going to pay out on a suicide.

The fact of the matter is the people who Ron owed money to will leave Rachel alone if she's destitute. If there was any money anywhere, they would swoop in and kill her, Olivia, little Ronnie and take everything that is left. Ranger could hear her slurring her words. It would hurt Julie for her brother and sister to be hurting or homeless. So, he'd have to find some way to help Rachel that won't bring the vultures in.

"Mrs. Cotswallow, I hope you don't feel like your time has been wasted but obviously Ron Martine was planning to hurt Julie. How much of the plan Rachel knew about and agreed with we'll never know. There is still a two-million dollar hit out on Julie which is why she's not allowed to go anywhere without an armed escort. She is the safest she can be in this building. While I gave up my rights so Mr. Martine could adopt Julie. I have always sent monetary support, birthday presents and visited. Now I have court ordered temporary custody and am seeking full permanent custody. Are there any other questions you have that need to be answered?"

She pulled herself together and plaster on an uncomfortable smile. "No Mr. Manoso, it seems that Julie is a lucky girl to have a father that cares for her as well as you do. There is another hearing tomorrow morning to place Julie into Mrs. Martine's custody. Court proceedings start a nine am." She flipped over one of the pages and wrote the courtroom and judge on it. "Mrs. Martine will be there. If it were me, I would bring all of this evidence as well as your attorney and try to get permanent custody." She pulled out another business card and handed it to Julie. "Julie if you ever feel unsafe or you need help; feel free to call me."

It seems that while she was admitting defeat, she still had to get one final jab in at him. Then again, he wasn't the only danger Julie had faced in the last year and maybe this woman was just being supportive and nice. You know in case Rachel marries another asshole who wants to try to get money out of him.

"Ladies, if you will excuse me," Ranger said to Julie and Stephanie. "I'll escort Mrs. Cotswallow out." He opened the door to his office and looked at his watch. That had taken an hour out of his day. Once the woman was escorted back to the lobby and had left, Ranger gave instructions to Eric that she was not welcome back inside.

On his way up the stairs Ranger called Tom, his attorney, to relay the court information to him. Tom said he would be there with all the paperwork that needed to be filed. Ranger was to bring copies of the recording, his payments and Julie. He realized he hadn't talked to his attorney since before seeing Stephanie and told him about his engagement and that she had moved in with him as well. He congratulated Ranger and said to definitely bring her too.

Ranger checked his texts and Team Alpha had the package downstairs and Team Bravo had eyes on their target. He had a whole pile of paperwork on his desk and phone calls that needed to be returned, but at that moment all he could think about was being with Stephanie and Julie. He texted Tank to meet him in his office. When he got there, Tank was looking hard at him again.

"I know, I know I look bad." Ranger started so he wouldn't.

"You look like you've been put through the wringer," Tank interjected.

"Look, I know I just got back." Ranger felt bad because once again he was leaving Tank to deal with the business.

"Ranger, you haven't been back since you got back. Look at me and really listen to me for a moment." Tank stopped, staring Ranger down till he focused all his attention on him.

"Normally when you get off a mission, you check in and go off-line for two weeks. You got back March 15th and immediately started searching for them. Every day you got more and more wound up over trying to find them. You were barely getting any work done between searching for them. They show up and drag all of us on the car chase from hell. Then we all think Steph is dead and you drink yourself into oblivion. You find out she's not dead and you want to start searching for her again. You go to court to fight for temporary custody of Julie and finally show up here to do actual work. Then Stephanie shows up and takes you at gun point in handcuffs. Your face was stoic, but your eyes had a wicked gleam in them. You fuck her silly and go off on another damn mission; halfway around the world. The mission goes to hell and we're all captured and Stephanie drugs the man to get us loose. You think you're going to lose her again; that Ivan has her and we all go running off armed with no shoes or jackets to save her only to find her escaping all on her own. We get back Saturday but instead of resting you start the process of resurrecting her from the dead. Monday you were dedicated to her legal problems. Tuesday was your second day to show up and do actual work in the office. Then her car gets blown up today and you freak out that you just got her and then lost her all over again. You're busy trying to protect her and figure out who wants her dead and CPS shows up here to take Julie away."

Tank stopped and his hard look softened a little bit. "Look man, you are run ragged and just aren't getting a break. You need some actual down time for you to spend with Stephanie and Julie and to adjust to your new life as an engaged man and a full-time father."

"Shit and the carnival rides not over. Tomorrow we have to be in court by 9 to fight Rachel and Friday the owner of that car they stole is coming into town. He's got a list of demands I've got to make arrangements for and that's before we even begin negotiating." He played the message for Tank and Tank gave a long low whistle.

"He's not asking for much," Tank said sarcastically. "He's obviously buttering you up to play hard ball."

"I'm going to jump through some hoops to make him happy, but my cut off is half a mil. At that point I'd rather let him try to press charges. I can spend a lot less on her defense and make sure she never sees the inside of a jail cell. She didn't actually hotwire and steal the car. She just took it for a joyride. It was four years old with 56,000 miles on it. He bought it the last year they made that model. Blue book value was $115,500 before it took a bath. I can pay legal fees and restitution and it would be less than 300 thousand. But I don't want to put Steph through that. I'd rather pay more to make it all go away. But, at the rate he's going, I think he is going to push for a million or more and I'm not going to be shaken down like that. Not after what Rachel just pulled."

"That's what I'm saying. You need some down time. You're offline for two and a half weeks to deal with all of this. Take Stephanie and Julie to meet your family. Go to Miami for a week and stay at your house down there. Fuck, go to Las Vegas and get married. Take the corporate jet. I'll call Santos up and put him on your desk. I'll make arrangements for the limo, the rental and the food. You go and be with Stephanie and Julie. I'll let you know when we have package number two secured. We probably ought to talk to him tonight considering what you're doing tomorrow morning."

"Tank, thanks. I'd say I owe you, but I know how much you're getting paid." I was proud that I always paid my men well but since Tank took on the brunt of the work when I was gone, I basically gave him my salary on top of his salary during those months. Plus, he was one of the part owners and made profits every year.

"Yeah, I'm sittin' pretty. Maybe it's time I think about settling down, too. My contract will be up in October. I've got more money than I can spend. Someone to come home to would be nice." It was part of their agreement with the government that they wouldn't be called out on missions at the same time and every time the Pentagon looked at who they wanted for missions when it came to a choice between Ranger or Tank, they almost always chose Ranger.

"You've got three cats. Applepuff not doing it for you anymore?" Ranger teased. He knew he was just harassing him, but the truth was that since Tank got his cats, he was a new man. He had a reason and purpose to live beyond getting killed on his next mission, making him an easier man to be around.

"I love my cats, but I want something more." Tank looked out the window to a distant nowhere land where you dream of things you can't have except now Ranger had them. He just had to hold on to them. Get full custody of Julie, keep Stephanie alive and get Steph out of her legal problems.

"Lula's available." Now Ranger was just outright harassing him. He couldn't stand the craziness that Lula put them all through with the whole marriage to Tank thing.

"I loved Lula like I haven't felt in years till she went all crazy. Besides she snores like a freight train and won't believe it when you wake her up to tell her. She's high maintenance and needs a man to appreciate all she does to look good. I could afford her but I'm not into all that." He was grateful that Tank wouldn't be driven crazy by Lula again; it was hell the first time.

Ranger smiled at him and clapped him on the back. Then he walked to the elevator. He was off-line and for the first time in two weeks – at least since that moment Stephanie asked him to put on those handcuffs and he got so rock hard all he could think about was fucking her crazy – he knew exactly what he was going to do.

To be continued…