As the little ones had their afternoon nap, I made peppermint tea for the three of us, put the cups on a tray and carried them out to the family room. I sat beside Ranger and leaned into him, blew on my tea and took a sip.

"We wanted to talk to you about something, pipsqueak", said Ranger.

Julie looked up from her tea, alerted to the serious tone in her father's voice. Her forehead crinkled. "Okay?" she said.

I smiled. "It's nothing bad, Jules", I said with a smile. "You can relax."

Julie looked at me and assessed my face. Reassured, she relaxed her muscles and looked again at her dad. "What's up?"

"You had questions yesterday about Rangeman", said Ranger, "and Steph convinced me that you deserved to know and were old enough for us to share with you what Rangeman does. I am involved in much more than I am going to tell you right now, as the rest would increase the danger you are in. The rest is something that only Steph and Tank and Joe know. The other Rangemen don't even know there is a possibility for more. In fact, the majority of the other Rangemen probably aren't aware of everything that I will tell you about today."

"Fair enough", said Julie. I could see her interest piqued and I smiled to myself. Julie would make an excellent researcher. "I figured, after seeing what you did this morning, you do a lot more than simple system design and monitoring."

Ranger smiled. "Before I start, I have to remind you that you have signed a confidentiality agreement. Rangeman is a security company, and we are very secret in our operations. Many of our clients choose us because we are the best, but they also choose us because we are confidential. When we are designing big systems, for example, it is dangerous for knowledge of our employment to be made public. People could get onsite pretending to be Rangeman employees. Staff could be abducted and forced to reveal the details of the security system. While my men are good, I have found that there are very few people who are strong enough to keep things secret when losing a finger or an eye."

Julie blanched.

"It is, in fact, why our name is Rangeman. It's a ubiquitous name that hides what we do. Clients like that."

"So what do you do?"

"The core of our operations traditionally was system design and monitoring. We are thinking of getting out of the monitoring business and farming out the operation. We have done that in many cities and that system has been working for us. However, although we started our company by designing systems for individual homes and Mom-and-Pop businesses, our main bread and butter now is through the design of large-scale systems. We have all five of the large-scale system designers in the States on staff and have designed systems or revamped systems for the White House, the United Nations building, museums, arenas and stadiums, airports and so on." Her eyes grew wide, but she remained quiet. "We literally are the go-to people for complex operations to use for their security design. Similarly, we have done the systems for major multi-location corporations, corporations that employ hundreds of thousands of people. It's a very profitable arm of the corporation. I'm actually one of those five system designers, and although I don't do much of it any longer, I keep up to date on the options available and review and approve all large-scale system designs before they go to the client.

"You know about our monitoring program and, although we still offer it, the demand for our monitoring program is exceeding our ability to provide the service. We are currently choosing service providers to offer the program to our clients. It's a bit tricky finding a provider, however, that services clients with the same level of expertise and professionalism we require from our staff. We provide a touchy-feely service, a service that offers a personal component and service with a fast turnaround, and we want a service provider to offer the same thing. That is surprisingly hard to find, and we aren't willing to chance a reduction in service for the sake of reducing our workload. It is a problem that Hal and Tank are currently working on.

"The Operations Division also features four ERTs, or Emergency Response Teams. These are the trained tactical teams composed of all former Special Forces soldiers that we talked about the other day, and they are trained to do actions ranging from reconnaissance, to hostage negotiations, to eliminations, to search and rescues, and so on. They are the best trained tactical soldiers outside the military and are used to respond to crises. We are under contract to work as a SWAT team for the City of Trenton and we act in that role for them approximately six times a month, and we do everything from traditional SWAT functions to serving search warrants in high risk situations. Team members currently have a week off, work as an ERT for a week, train for a week, and work on patrol to support the monitoring program for a week. The four teams rotate through. The team you saw supporting Steph and Cal today was an ERT, and I have used them at other times as well. They are all the best of the best, and the only reason they were willing to leave the military was because I pay more and they were interested in coming Stateside again. All ERT members live in this building to accommodate the ten-minute muster time that I require.

"Rangeman works as consultants to the TPD and numerous other municipalities, the FBI, the DEA, the CIA, the Secret Service, the NSA, and so on. As I said yesterday, the FBI would like a proposal from us outlining the terms to have us augment their Hostage Rescue Team, their own tactical team. I will write into the contract that we have the ability to deny any missions that we want. We do not want to take the chance that we are forced into furthering someone's political agenda. However, doing things like dealing with school shootings or manhunts for mass murderers or retrieval of kidnapped victims? Yeah, we'll do that. Out of the four teams we currently have, there is one elite team and three support teams. I am thinking of changing the teams to two support teams and two elite teams, and in both cases not requiring them to work on patrol any longer. Instead, the teams would work one week off, one week ERT, one week training, and a final week of ERT. I am still playing around with the options. I'm also thinking that I would like to buy a large piece of property and set it up as a tactical training ground for the ERTs to practice in. It would offer a much better training program and will let the men keep their skills up.

"Those are the core functions of the company, although you could arguably say that security guards are a big part of our company as well. We have approximately four thousand staff, of which half approximately are security guards. We service a number of locations and generally train our guards better than any other company. We think that training is important, not only for the company but also for the guard. Untrained, the guard could get themselves into a dangerous situation and not know how to get themselves out again. They could end up getting hurt, and that isn't fair for any company to ask of their employee. Our Onsite Security department has done well and we are constantly in a hiring mode to add to our number of guards."

"It's too bad that the hospital didn't use your service when Tia was born."

Ranger smiled. "That's true, but we are the service provider now. Their system in their hospital is far superior to what was there before."

Julie grinned. "Thank God. That kidnapping shouldn't have happened."

"I know", said Ranger. "I made a presentation to the Board and discussed the weaknesses in the previous system and the benefits of my system, and they were climbing all over themselves to get Rangeman hired as soon as possible."

"And when the twins were born, they let you keep them in your room."

Ranger grinned. "I insisted on it, and so did our obstetrician. He reminded them of Tia's kidnapping and I went up the chain to the President of the hospital, and the next thing you knew, we were allowed to keep the babies with us. I think I would have lost my mind if the hospital administration had said anything else. After all, the hospital hadn't implemented the new system at that point. They had just signed our contract."

Julie laughed.

"So those are our core functions. We have a number of other services that we provide. There is Research, which is where you'll be working this summer. Steph is the head of the department, and she has already gone over the roles that the researcher plays." Julie nodded. "There is Cybersecurity, which designs firewalls and other security measures for technological systems. There are a lot of hackers and coders in that group. It, like Research, is a fast-growing department and works for movie houses, large corporations, governmental organizations and so on. There is Personal Security, which is a group of about a hundred and fifty bodyguards spread out through all our locations. We are constantly in demand by celebrities and the wealthy, and are a very popular service. We also have an Investigative Services department. Cal is the head of it. You heard him today through your earbud. He and Steph often work together, and there are two other investigators that work with him. That is a relatively new service, and is currently in growth mode. We are periodically hired to support the TPD and other agencies when they get overworked. That's how we were hired to work on the case today. Apparently, the TPD is overworked right now, and they thought that we'd be able to help them out. We have a good relationship with the TPD and often work hand-in-hand with them on issues. Joe is our liaison. We have similar agreements with other municipalities. We are, in reality, a total security company.

"That is the Operations staff. I don't think I've forgotten anyone. There is, however, also the Administrative staff. They are the usual: the Finance department, which looks after accounts payable, receivable, and all budgets, Legal, HR, IT, and other standard support staff. The only one that is particularly different is the Medical staff. We currently have two psychiatrists and four therapists as part of the team. Counselling is a very popular service and therapists are booked weeks in advance. I am thinking of hiring a general practitioner as well so that we have a complete in-house medical facility. The other difference in our building is the training facilities. You have seen the gym, the pool and the shooting range, and people seem to like having the ability to use them whenever they want. I have tried to make the training facilities be something that people want to use. That's why the gym is set up as a high-end gym - the relaxing colors, the hot tub, the climbing wall, the plants and the windows. I wanted it to be a place where people wanted to spend time.

"In addition to offering the training facilities, I offer regular self-defense lessons that people are required to do at least once a week, and I offer CPR and first aid certification that people are required to refresh annually. The last piece is the staff lounge. It is in Ella's old apartment, and I have put in a few pool tables, some couches and televisions and gaming systems, a small library, tables and chairs and so on. Ella and her assistants work there all day and make food for everybody, which is provided for free, and it is a good space that is open twenty-four hours a day and encourages staff to sit and socialize a bit. I prefer to hire veterans and, as you may be aware, thirty percent of vets suffer from a mental illness. As a result, vets often become quite isolated. I try to stop that from happening and give my staff a safe place for them to hang out and spend time with people who understand where they are coming from." He paused. "I'm proud of Rangeman and that people seem very happy to work here."

"Rangeman has sixteen locations across the U.S., and although head office has the best setup for staff, your dad has tried to provide support to staff in all locations across the country", I said. "For example, although other locations don't have a mental health unit, your dad covers all therapy fees for staff." Julie nodded. "In addition to running one of the most rewarding and employee-friendly companies that I have ever heard of, and in addition to working as a consultant for the various alphabet agencies, your dad is a board member of ASE. Has he talked to you about ASE before?"

Julie shook her head. "No. What is that?"

I looked up at Ranger and saw that his face was turning red, and he looked down in embarrassment. I took pity on him and kissed his shoulder. "ASE stands for After-School Experiences", I said. "It is a free after-school program that is offered to all school-aged children from roughly three o'clock to six at night. The programming starts out by offering a healthy snack to all children."

"Not hot dogs", said Ranger with a smile.

"Hunh. Too bad", I said with a dismayed shake of my head. Julie laughed. "After the kids have all cleaned up from their snack, they can do arts programs, music programs, sports programs, or homework help. Older kids can do first aid and CPR courses. The intent behind the program is to offer a supportive environment for kids to go to before going home for the night. Your dad believes that this will result in kids staying off the streets and not getting involved in gangs. It has worked well. Youth crime has gone down in Trenton, as has youth drug use. Mental health in kids has improved. Your father was a driving force behind the creation of the program. He largely pays for the program with his donations and he volunteers his time by being a member of the Board. In other cities that we operate in, your dad obviously can't run the same sort of program so he donates a lot of money to the Boys and Girls Clubs."

"That's awesome, Dad. Why do you look embarrassed?" said Julie.

"I don't do it for the accolades", said Ranger. "I do it because it is a program I believe in."

"I know, Dad, but I am proud of you for doing that. I understand why you don't want other people to know, just like I don't want people to know that I volunteer at the food bank. However, I don't mind you knowing because you are family. And I am glad to know what you do as well. I was already proud that you were my father and now I am even more so."

I looked up at Ranger, and his eyes were bright.

"How did you know how to do all that?" said Julie as she took pity on her father. "How did you learn so much about security?"

"You know that I was in the Army", said Ranger. "After I jacked the car and spent some time in juvie, I went to live with Aunt Tia, Uncle Alejandro, and Grandpa's mom. They helped me turn my life around and, partly because Uncle Alejandro had been a Ranger at one time and I had so much respect for him, I decided that I also wanted to be a Ranger. Uncle Alejandro helped train me and get me ready, and then I joined up. I quickly passed the Ranger training, and then I met your mother and became a father on my leave. When I started working as a soldier, because of you I had a different view on the importance of being a soldier. You forced me to grow up and realize that it wasn't all a game. So I worked hard at being a soldier and soon was teamed up with the Ghosts, the most elite team of the Rangers, so secret that they aren't even talked about. We were somewhat of a combination of a Delta and a Ranger team - smaller team like a Delta, but more reconnaissance, more hostage extractions, more targeted eliminations, less focus on counter-terrorism. We did a lot of difficult missions together. I was the team lead, and I was proud to lead such a capable team. However, we did one mission in conjunction with the SEALs, and we got a group of terrorists a little perturbed with us. I don't know how they did it, but they found out everybody's name and started picking us off. I retired soon after and, when I did, the government changed my name and created a new identity for me."

Julie looked at him for a moment. "So your new identity is as Ranger?"

Ranger smiled. "No. My new identity is as Ricardo Carlos Manoso. My birth name is Carlos Mateo Manoso. I am now considered the cousin of Carlos and the nephew to Grandma and Grandpa."

"So you are now Ricardo Carlos Manoso."

"Yes and no", said Ranger.

Julie looked at him in confusion again. "I don't understand."

"About a year ago, for various reasons, I changed my name again. Only about five people know of the name change. Even Hal doesn't know, and neither do Grandma and Grandpa."

"What's your new name?"

Ranger sighed. "Raul Morales. But that is definitely meant to be kept secret."

Julie looked at him in confusion again. "Are you in danger, that you had to change your name again?"

"No. I did that to hide who I was. As Ricardo, there weren't a lot of pictures of me, but there were some. I wanted no pictures of Raul Morales. When pictures are taken of me, I am named 'Ricardo' rather than 'Raul'. When the list of the twenty-five top billionaires in the country came out, I wanted to remain a mystery. I wanted no one to know what I looked like. Remaining a mystery is also why I don't want people to know my name. I need to be unidentifiable. I still go on missions, pipsqueak. I need to live in the shadows."

"You lost me. Top twenty-five billionaires?"

"A friend of mine, Tucker Tulsa, was someone who was under my command as a Ranger. He was another Ghost and, in one of our missions, he stepped on a land mine and lost his foot. I got him to safety and then, after the mission was over, I worked with him to rebuild his life. I helped him devise plans for the development of a security company. He set up his company and did well with it. He died around the same time as the twins were born and, when he died, he decided to bequeath the security company as well as all his assets to me. Since he, at one time, owned all of the Tulsa Food stores, he was quite wealthy. He shot me into the role of a billionaire, and while I am grateful for the money and houses and investment portfolio, I am even happier that I have the money to donate a significant portion to the communities I work in."

"How much do you donate?"

"About ninety percent of my personal annual income, and ten percent of the corporate income. I would donate more of the corporate income, but I decided a long time ago to turn a lot of those profits back into the company and to reward our employees appropriately. That is through all the extras - the food, the medical care, the gym, the bonuses, and so on."

"Don't forget the maternity leave", I said. "That's a big and very important benefit."

Julie looked at her dad, and he turned red again. "The government requires a four-month guaranteed maternity leave to be offered to all employees. After the four months are up, the company does not have to keep the employee's job open. That leave is unpaid, not subsidized by either the government or the company. Tank and I didn't believe such a program was fair. The protection of people is why we work so hard in our careers. Children are important. Families are important, and their health and well-being, we believe, is everyone's responsibility. So we offer up to six months off to women and up to three months off to men when a baby is born or adopted, and employees receive fifty percent of their pay for the length of their parental leave. We thought that only made sense. As you could tell by Steph's experience with your sisters, I think it makes sense for the parents to be home as long as possible to help welcome the babies into the world, and to provide the support to their spouse that is needed. Can you imagine if, with Steph's depression, she'd had money issues and was therefore forced to go back to work early? That, unfortunately, is common. It's a nightmare that should not exist for families."

Julie smiled. "I think, out of everything you have said, that is what I am most proud of you for. I just finished a paper comparing maternity leave policies around the world and the benefits of offering paid maternity leave. The impacts upon the health of the babies and their parents are incredible. The mental and physical wellbeing of the mothers, and therefore the babies, is significantly better with a paid parental leave. Additionally, I would suggest that fewer mistakes would be made at work if the parents weren't as tired when they came into work. That would be especially important for all the members of your ERTs, when being tired could result in bad judgment and potentially even death."

"That's what Steph and Tank and I thought. As Steph said, she would prefer to turn the profits back into the company and into programs that support our employees, even if it meant that there was no annual net profit, than not provide those employee programs. It's something that Tank and I agree with. I have always said that I expect Rangeman employees to work hard for the company, but I also think the company should work equally as hard for the employees. It's a symbiotic relationship and should go both ways. We have been lucky enough to be able to do both - provide a great support program for employees as well as generate a high net profit."

"I'm so proud of you, Dad. You have made Rangeman into a leader that has programs that deserve to be copied by other companies. You're doing it right, Dad."

Ranger smiled. "Thanks." He cleared his throat. "Jules, as far as the other work I do that I can't tell you about, I can tell you that the secret work that I do puts you in danger. While I love spending time doing whatever with you, the reason that we work specifically on our self-defense lessons and our shooting practices and so on when you are down is to help protect you from any dangers that are out there. I have never said this to you before, but I would also appreciate it if you don't dye your hair any weird and wild colors, if you don't get a tattoo, if you don't get obvious and unusual piercings, or do anything else to your body that won't let you blend in. As I said to Steph, I need her to drive common cars in common colors, choose clothes that are more classic than dramatic, and conduct herself in a way that she can blend in with others. Since you want to be an FBI agent, these are all things that will be important for you anyway. Basically, don't do anything that makes you easily recognizable. That is why Steph's hair isn't blue, no matter how many times her grandmother suggests it, and she doesn't have a tattoo, no matter how many times her grandmother takes her to the tattoo parlor and offers to pay for a tramp stamp."

Julie laughed as I groaned. "Don't laugh, Jules. Grandma has taken me to the tattoo parlor before. I only fell for it once. Unfortunately it wasn't to get a tramp stamp. It was to get teardrop kill marks below my eye as she thought that it would increase her street cred - her words - and she wanted to threaten people by saying I would kill them as well if they didn't do what Grandma wanted. It was horrible. She started screaming at me in the tattoo parlor that I didn't appreciate her gifts. I ended up walking out on her. I almost left her there, but she got into the car at the last minute."

"Too bad", said Ranger with a smile.

"DADA!" yelled Tia. "POTTY, NOW!"

"Gotta go", said Ranger as he jumped up and ran down the hall.

I laughed. "Funny, I think that's what Tia is saying too." Julie giggled.