A/N Super long chapter but it needed to be all one chapter. 29 pages long and 10,000 words. Honestly no one complained about the previous long chapters. In fact, you all seemed to like them. But I have read other writers who go on and on and your eyes bleed and you're just like please… get to the fricken end. But if it's interesting and draws you in, you get to the end in no time at all. So, I hope it's like that for you. Enjoy…
Also I want to thank everyone for their Awesome reviews. I love every one of them! I meant to do this earlier but here goes. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! To all my wonderful reviewers: baileygirl12, Vulcan Rider, daxandpat, EvaMIA, melyons, GarbanzoBeans, shoegirl01, Vicki Snyder1, trhodes9, JB, Caren47, misty23y, bb2020, ChristinaS, jkgk, aruvqan, Karaleejh66, DragonflyFriday, spikeecat, Tamalakia, MnGrammaX3, JudoMom, Buddygirl, txbabefan, Geatsi, judyshue809, divawife. And of course, all my wonderful GUEST reviewers!
Chapter Fifty-seven
Thursday April 17, 2014 - Day 156
Ranger POV
At 7:00 AM, Ranger called Hector and asked him to meet in the holding cell, with the DVD of the video. When they arrived, Hector and Ranger walked in full swat mode; mean and menacing. Stanley was laying on the floor in a small, dried up pool of blood, by his battered face, cradling his right arm next to his body. His hands weren't cuffed but his legs were shackled.
Ranger loomed over him. "Do you know who I am?" he demanded loudly.
Stanley just shrank back from him and as he got a clearer look, he could tell he'd had the crap beat out of his face and body.
He reached down and picked Stanley up by his shirt collar and got into his battered face.
"Do you know who I am?" he demanded again.
"R…R…Ranger."
"That's right and that was my woman's car you bombed yesterday."
Stanley just cowered away from him whimpering.
"Do you know WHY YOU'RE STILL ALIVE?" Ranger roared in his face.
Stanley's whole body began shaking violently, but you could tell he was shaking his head no.
"YOU'RE ALIVE TO TELL EVERYONE OF YOUR TERRIBLE MISTAKE! You tried to kill my woman. You blew up her car. Not only do you owe me $200,000 dollars. You owe me your life for trying to take hers. So, this is what you are going to do. You are going to confess everything to the cops and then you are going to become MY Angel of Warning. Telling EVERYONE who will listen that Stephanie Plum is MY woman and I will destroy ANYONE who threatens her. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
Stanley was shaking his head Yes, vehemently and Ranger dropped him back to the floor. He landed with a whumph and a howl of pain.
When they left, Ranger thanked Hector for his fine work on Stanley and asked him to make a copy of the DVD, to play for Joyce. Then he took the original DVD to Tank, and asked him to have Stanley escorted to the hospital by two men, at his convenience. That there was no hurry. Then when he was released to call Lula. She could escort them to the police station to turn him in, but he was to make sure new charges for blowing up Stephanie's car and attempted murder, were added to his charges. He emphasized that Stanley should not be given another chance to make bail. He also asked Tank to question Connie on who Joyce was currently married to. He knew Connie was in the gossip loop.
He instructed that Joyce was to be left handcuffed to the interrogation table and shackled to the floor. Someone should show her Stanley's confession but not talk to her or question her today. She was to get two meals and several bathroom breaks but in between she was to be kept handcuffed and shackled all day and all night. He wanted her to realize that she was at his mercy. That he knew she was responsible for the bombing and to worry about what he was going to do to her.
RSRSRSRSRS
At nine o'clock they were sitting in Magistrate's Hameshire's court waiting to be called. He was reminded that in children's court they are not judges, but magistrates. Tom Anderson met them outside the court room with all the paperwork. He had Ranger sign the papers officially requesting Julie to come live with him permanently. Stephanie signed papers stating that she had been caring for Julie for the past five months and now she was his fiancé and going to be caring for Julie full time as his wife.
He was shocked that Rachel wasn't here yet, but as time went on and their case wasn't called, he realized that Mrs. Cotswallow hadn't given him all of the correct information. At 10:30 Mrs. Cotswallow entered the courtroom followed by Rachel and a man in an expensive suit, carrying a leather briefcase.
Rachel cried out as she saw Julie and made a big show of coming over to our bench and trying to climb over Ranger and Stephanie to get to Julie that was sitting in the middle of the bench. Ranger grabbed her arm and stopped her progress.
He turned to Julie and whispered, "Julie do you want to see your mom?"
She looked up and mumbled, "Hi Mom."
"Julie come sit with me." Rachel pleaded and he could smell vodka on her breath. He shook his head. He had never noticed her slurring her words during the past two months, when she talked to him over the phone, but if she was drunk at ten o'clock in the morning obviously, she had a serious problem.
"Mom, it's not that I don't love you but right now in my life I'm going to stay with dad." Julie loudly whispered, aware that there was an active court case going on.
She held her hand out to Julie, and tried to step around him. "Come sit with me, and tell me all about your time away." She smiled warmly at Julie, and
he could tell that she loved her; even if she had blindly followed into what Ron was involved in.
Ranger's hand tightened on her arm, and pulled her down next to him. He didn't know what she was thinking; she was starting to draw attention to them, and this court case was taking three kids and giving them to their grandmother, because the mother was on drugs. They were hotly discussing visitation rights.
He was more than glad for Rachel to visit whenever she wanted but Julie was not going down there until it was safer for her or unless he was supervising the visitations.
"Rachel come sit with us. We have more things to discuss." Said the well-dressed man who had come in with her.
Ranger let go of her arm, and pushed her towards him. She rubbed her arm where he had held it, and glared at him narrowing her eyes, and sending what she might think was an angry look, but it had no effect on him. He just ignored her, and she finally got up and went to go sit with the man. The unknown man, whom must be her attorney, found an empty seat, placed his briefcase on his lap, and opened it up. He pulled several sheets of paper out and held them out to Rachel, pointing at several sections for her to peruse.
At 11:23 The Magistrate's Associate handed their mass of paperwork to the judge. Ranger knew it was his because he could see the RangeMan logo on the top page. The bench clerk called Martine VS. Manoso and countersuit Manoso VS. Martine. These are both suits for custody of Julie Martine. Mrs. Martine and Mr. Manoso please come before the judge.
They all stood. He took Julie's hand and brought her across Stephanie to stand next to him. They all made their way to the front bench and Tom sat down on the end. Ranger walked past him and brought Julie around to sit on the other side of him.
After several long moments the judge looked up and looked puzzled at Ranger and Julie.
"Mr. Manoso and Mrs. Martine stand and address this court. I realize you both brought legal advisors but, in my court, we hear directly from the people involved. I have read each of your petitions and I have a few questions." Magistrate Hameshire started.
"I've had cases of runaways," he continued, "even some rich kids that took their parents money and took off around the world. I deal with too many children whose parents hurt them in some way, and runaway to escape the abuse. But I have never had a parent threaten to kidnap their own child to get ransom money from a parent that had essentially given up all their rights. So, we are going to go over the facts of this case thoroughly. I want to make the best decision I can today; since each parent is here and seeking full permanent custody."
"To start Mr. Manoso, you have copies of a transcript included in your file and state that you have a digitized copy of that phone call. Will you please play that for me?"
Ranger took his phone out of his pocket. He turned on the recording and played it for the courtroom. It was chilling listening to Ron's voice talk about the kidnapping and murder of his own daughter. His daughter! His flesh and blood! How the cabrón thought he could do that and get away with it astounded him and once again he was filled with gratitude and love for Stephanie, that she would give up everything in her whole life to go rescue Julie and keep her safe. (asshole)
Part of him wished that he had been home and it never would have been necessary but now; seeing the confident, armed – not for court but the rest of the time – well trained, Stephanie that had come back with Julie safe and sound; he's not sorry for what they had gone through.
Still Ron got off too easy. Hector had sent two men and they had grilled Ron. The fact that there were no obvious marks on his body didn't mean that they had not tortured every bit of information he'd needed as well as a complete confession from him before he met his end.
The recording finished and the magistrate turned to Rachel.
"Mrs. Martine was that your husband?" He asked.
"Yes" Her voice warbled and slurred at the same time. The fear that crept over her as she listened to the recording – that she didn't even know existed until that moment – paralyzed her, and she was overcome. Realizing that her petition that she'd had such confidence in was on less than thin ice: it was about to sink.
"Where is Mr. Martine?" Magistrate Hameshire asked, just wanting to clarify what Ranger knew was in his paperwork.
"He's dead your honor." Her voice was barely over a whisper and it was very obvious that Rachel had not come prepared to discuss Ron, and what he had been up to. Beads of sweat were popping out on her forehead which was surprising in this very cold room; they must have the thermometer set about 68 degrees because he was very comfortable wearing his tailored Armani suit. Her hands were clutched tightly in front of her as if her grasp on them was required for her to hold on to this case.
"Without his income how are you going to support Julie if your petition for full custody is granted?" He seemed no nonsense, but he was obviously following Ranger's line of inquiry as to Rachels motives and intentions.
"Well Carlos pays child support." Her voice wavered again, and she was now twisting her hands in a nervous gesture that screamed she was losing this case.
"From the paperwork I have here, it says that his support is to go towards her private school payments, after-school activities and weekly tutor. I notice in your paperwork you are asking for an increase in child support from $6000 a month to $10,000 a month. How do you justify this change?"
The expression on Ranger's face darkened as he realized that Rachel was really trying to shake him down. She was crazy if she thought he was now going to support her and her kids, as well as Julie.
"The increase will cover rent, utilities, food and clothing for Julie." She desperately tried to justify her outrageous request.
"Mrs. Martine you are honestly asking a man, who you insisted give up his rights 11 years ago, to support you fully while you raise his daughter?"
"Well he has always helped to support her," She defended.
"I see how much he has paid in the past 12 years – supporting you since you told him you were pregnant. He gave up his rights and yet has always helped to support Julie for the last 11 years. Paying for 100% of her private schooling since she started there in the second grade. That is more than many fathers do. Can you give me one good reason why I shouldn't grant his petition for full custody?"
"You can't do that!" She was outraged and then realized she hadn't answered his question continued. "He is always gone on missions for the government for months at a time and there would be no one to care for Julie."
"Obviously, you have not spoken to Mr. Manoso about this but his paperwork states that his contract is over, and he will no longer be leaving for long periods of time. Is this correct Mr. Manoso?" The magistrate looked directly at him and he looked directly back.
"Yes, your honor." He spoke loudly and clearly and watched Rachel deflate with his words.
"He says now that he is a civilian again, he will have plenty of time to devote to raising his daughter. Is this also correct Mr. Manoso?"
"Yes, your honor." With every word Rachel seemed to crumble a little more and a little more. He hoped she knew he was not specifically doing this to hurt her, but he was doing what was best for Julie as well as fulfilling Julie's wish and personal desire to stay with him and Stephanie. Of course, all of that might change in a few years when she will want to start to date and hang out with friends, but for now, he hoped that they would be able to be the parents Julie needed.
"Plus, he has now gotten engaged to Mrs. Plum; the woman who took Julie out of the country for four months to protect her from your late husband, Mr. Martine. How much did you know about Mr. Martine's plan to kidnap and ransom Julie for millions of dollars?" The magistrate leaned over to stare at her.
While he was talking all the color had drained from Rachel's overly rosy, he suspected alcohol infused, complexion.
"I…I… didn't know anything about it." She stammered.
"Both Ron's phone call and Julie's statement suggest that he discussed it with you at some length." He argued.
"Well, he may have mentioned something crazy like that, but I didn't think he was serious. I thought it was like winning the lottery, something you talk about but doesn't ever really happen." Rachel whined, trying to defend her actions.
"Can you explain why your daughter went to a friend to protect her; instead of coming to you with her concerns that her father was trying to get her kidnapped?" The magistrate pushed.
"I didn't know anything about it until Stephanie kidnapped my daughter and left the country." She whined.
"Mrs. Martine, that is my point. When Julie felt her life was being threatened, she turned to people she felt she could trust and who would believe her. But she didn't tell you because she overheard you discussing it with your former husband, and she didn't feel like you would believe her or protect her."
"That's crazy, of course I would protect her. I didn't even know what all Ron was up to," Rachel defended.
"I think you have hammered home my point. You were living there and discussing her kidnapping with Ron and never felt the need to stop him and protect your daughter."
"But he promised that she wouldn't be hurt, and it would give him the money he needed. He said without that money he would be killed so it was a choice between my daughter and my husband, and I couldn't lose either. It seemed like the lessor of two evils." Rachel was now waving her arms to punctuate and emphasize her points, but Ranger just wanted to kill her and he could so easily dispose of her for agreeing to a plan where Julie gets kidnapped for money.
If Ron had been man enough to come to him about his troubles; he could have made them back away and protect Ron from getting killed but when he decided to trade Julie's life for money, he lost any hope of Ranger helping him out of his mess.
"Mrs. Martine based on your testimony I am granting Mr. Manoso's petition for full custody. I will say that if you both lived in the same state, I would try to create some kind of joint custody because I believe in keeping families together. In his paperwork he states that he will come with Julie to visit you four times a year. Including a week at Thanksgiving, a week at Christmas, several days over Spring Break and if it corresponds to Easter – he will include that holiday and two weeks every summer. That is very generous and more than what is required under the circumstances. I am awarding full custody to Mr. Manoso with all the stipulations he has included in his paperwork and dismiss his previous agreement to pay child support." He hit his gavel on the desk.
Ranger smiled and nodded to Magistrate Hameshire as the bench clerk dismissed them and called the next case.
He took Stephanie's hand and put his arm around Julie and following Tom, led them out of the courtroom. They were ten feet down the corridor when they heard Rachel running towards them and crying out. "Nooooooo!"
Then she was standing in the middle of the hall, blocking their way; her arms held straight out on each side to stop their progress down the hall.
"Julie, you can't go with them. Not with him. He never cared about you. He took off to the army and left me to raise you alone." Her voice dropped to almost a whisper. "You can't leave me now." Bringing her arms down and aiming them towards Julie as if to take her into a hug but Julie buried herself into his side, letting him know, without words, what she wanted.
"Rachel." His voice interrupted any reply Julie might give. "When does you're plane leave?"
"Our plane leaves at 3:30. Because I already bought a ticket for Julie to come home with me." She insisted, looking like she just barely withheld stomping her foot.
"Rachel, when you agreed with Ron's plan for Julie to get kidnapped so he could bilk millions of dollars from me, you lost your rights to Julie."
"I never agreed." Her eyes were pleading, and her arms were still outstretched hoping Julie would come into them.
"You did nothing to try to stop him, that is the same as agreeing." Ranger explained his rational to her. She could try to justify her behavior to him, but he didn't really want Julie to hear all of this. She didn't need any more confirmation that her mother was complicit in the horrible act of her kidnapping and possibly being killed for money.
"I didn't even know that there was something to stop." She had gotten close enough that Ranger could smell the alcohol on her breath. It was time to put his plan into motion.
"Stephanie,' He pulled out his keys and offered them to her. "Take Julie back to Haywood. I'll bring Rachel along to visit with her before she has to leave."
While we were talking, Rachel's attorney came up behind her.
"Mrs. Martine, may I speak with you for a moment?" He asked.
This distracted Rachel and Stephanie took his keys and hustled Julie out of the courthouse.
"Kirk, I have to talk to my ex-husband." Rachel cut him off obviously upset at the interruption."
"I just wanted to tell you I will take my usual fees out of the retainer you sent and return the rest back to you." Rachel's attorney spoke quietly as everything seemed to echo in the barren halls.
"You said you'd do the case pro-bono!" Rachel shrieked, her shrill voice reverberating through the hard floors and concrete walls barely broken up by the occasional portraits of important people.
"You said you were taking your poor daughter away from an abusive and dangerous ex-husband. You said your husband had just died and you couldn't afford my fees." He defended his decision.
"I sold Ron's car to get that money. I need it back to pay my bills." Rachel demanded.
"Well you forgot to mention that it was your husband that wanted to kidnap and kill your daughter and that it was your ex-husband keeping her safe." Kirk the pissed off attorney laid it out.
"But all the other money is gone. I'm left with nothing." Rachel sounded defeated as tears came to her eyes, and she started to cry.
"Mrs. Martine I will give you a discounted rate and send you back half of what you paid me but considering the reality of the situation, you deserve to pay full price for this work. I don't work for free when I am lied to, and I work for the wounded parties not the parties trying to ransom their daughters to scam millions of dollars away from their ex-husbands." Her attorney sounded angry with her but in Ranger's opinion, he was being more than fair.
"Fine" She sobbed. "No one seems to understand that I am the wounded party here. I'm the one that has lost everything."
"Rachel," Ranger tried to sound sincere, "Julie has lost her father and her mother because the two people who should have been protecting her were the two people planning to trade her life for money." He put his hand on her arm in an attempt to calm her down.
"I was planning no such thing." Rachel insisted yanking her arm away and balling her hands into fists; looking like she wanted to hit him.
"Well, Ron was, and Julie found out about it and ran away to save herself. Now she is going to the only place she feels safe and because of what you did, it is not with you." Ranger dropped the bomb again, hoping it would get it through her thick head that she was responsible for her current situation.
"Fine I'm going to have to move in with my parents and sell the house and everything we own." Rachel cried, shoulders slumped, looking defeated.
"Rachel, I want to help you. Where is your rental car?" He was wondering because she seemed to be wandering the halls.
"In the parking lot on the side. There was no parking when I got here. I had to pay to park." Rachel seemed to be inflamed by this, on top of the rest of the bad news she had received today.
He took her arm and steered her to the parking lot. When she pulled the rental key out of her purse, he took it from her and pushed the unlock button and watched for flashing lights. There was a very economy Kia Rio that he was sure was the cheapest car she could find to rent.
"Come on Rachel, we can talk while I drive." He suggested, his tone letting her know in no uncertain terms that he was not getting into a car with her drunk ass driving.
She walked around the car and got in the passenger's side willingly. As soon as she was in the car, she took a sip from the travel cup that was in the cup holder, and she relocated it to the passenger side cup holder.
"I know you're not going to suggest joint custody and still pay me money every month so I can't imagine what you have to say to me." She started.
As soon as she started talking, he could smell the liquor and he picked up the cup and opened the lid over her objections. It looked like watered down coke but smelled like straight vodka. Ranger opened up his door and dumped it out on the parking lot over her chorus of 'don't' and 'you can't'.
"Rachel who has the kids?" He asked but he was certain her parents had them. Her father still worked but her mother had been retired since having Rachel thirty years ago. She has been a stay at home mom and has often been available to take care of the kids for Rachel and even had them come over for the weekend so Rachel and Ron could have little getaways.
"My mom" She slurred, and she was picking up the glass he'd just dumped out and opened up the lid to glumly look inside, at the missing contents.
"We need to stop at a convenience store so I can get something to drink." Rachel continued, as if he had asked her what she was doing.
"I have soda at my apartment you can get something when we get there." Ranger started. He wasn't sure how well this conversation would go because she was so drunk. He couldn't be sure how much of the conversation she could comprehend. "Rachel how long have you been drinking every day?"
"I don't have a drinking problem," She replied.
"You are drunk at ten o'clock in the morning. Unless you have been up all-night drinking and are just still drunk you have a problem." He stated emphatically. In fact, if she had been up all-night drinking, she probably still had a problem.
"I'm not drunk." She insisted. "I've only had a drink or two with breakfast."
Oh, she had a problem and he didn't feel like he could do anything for Olivia and little Ronnie unless Rachel agreed to get help. Ranger started the car and began the drive to Haywood.
"Rachel what I have to tell you is secret and cannot be repeated to anyone. This is very important, and it is about Ron and what he was involved in."
"I don't know anything about what he was involved in," Rachel insisted and he was certain that Ron would have never been honest with her about his dealings, but he wondered what lies Ron had fed her to get her to agree to the kidnapping of Julie.
"Well what did he tell you? He must have told you something to get you to go along with his plan." He was very curious now to know what would allow her to go along with such crazy and dangerous schemes.
"Well Ron wasn't exactly clear about things. He said he needed more money for investments for the company and the retirement program. Then he said he needed to come up with a million dollars or he was going to get killed. That some really powerful people needed him to pay them this money or they were going to kill him." She had started out looking at me, but she turned her head away and was practically mumbling by the end while her hands nervously fiddled with her purse strap.
"And you believed him enough to go along with him kidnapping and killing your daughter. OUR daughter?" He still couldn't believe that the sweet, ever loving Rachel who had done such a good job of raising Julie for the first ten years had gotten sucked in and agreed to this.
"I'm not sure I believed him, but he was so worked up over it and telling me it was the only way. In the end I just kinda went along with it, because he kept telling me they were going to kill him, and he was definitely scared and making such a big deal out of things. I felt lost and unsure but he kept saying it was the only way." She was mumbling and repeating herself at the end and he felt like she had said as much as she knew or could remember. Being drunk all day she probably only got half of what Ron had been willing to tell her.
"Rachel look at me." He needed to get her attention so that she could absorb as much of this as her vodka soaked brain could comprehend.
"What I'm going to tell you is important. Really important. Can you focus on me?" She was looking at him, but he wasn't sure how much she was actually seeing.
"Rachel, Ron owed the wrong kind of people money. A lot of money- "
"I told you I don't know anything about what he was involved in."
"I'm telling you what I know because I am going to help you, so listen closely. I know that Ron did not commit suicide." Ranger wasn't sure how to start this conversation, but he needed to get her interested and get her to pay close attention to what he was saying.
"What are you saying? You don't know anything. I answered the door the next morning to the FBI and they found him dead in his office. After they called the police and had the body removed; I had to clean that mess up." She was turning green just from the memory. He had seen lots of gunshot victims up close but poor Rachel had probably never seen anything like it and hopefully if he helped her the right way, she never would again.
"Rachel, I know for a fact, that Ron was not alone in his office when he died. I know that he was taken at gun point to his safe and forced to get his gun out. I know that he owed a lot of bad people a lot of money. Millions of dollars. Money, he didn't have. That's why he took all the money from Julie's accounts and why he stole the retirement funds from his company. He was involved with an investment broker that offered phenomenal rewards for every person that Ron sent his way. He paid Ron for every thousand dollars that they invested with him. But the broker eventually stole all their money and said it was lost on bad stocks. These people were not nice people and they went after the broker, but he had all their money hidden overseas so they couldn't get it back legally or illegally. Then the broker disappeared, and they went after Ron. I don't know what they expected Ron to do because he didn't have their money. But he emptied Julies accounts and he took all the retirement funds from work and gave them all that money, but it wasn't enough; they weren't happy. They wanted more. So, he promised them three million dollars if they just wouldn't kill him. He hatched the plan to kidnap and kill Julie and took out more life insurance on her, than any company, should write on an eleven-year-old kid."
He turned to look at Rachel and she was watching him eyes wide obviously never understanding how deep into the hole Ron was.
"When Julie ran away Ron tried to appease them by filing a lawsuit against my company and he hoped to get the money that way. But I will tell you, I have the best attorney's money can buy and he was never going to get one red cent by suing me. When Julie showed back up, but came into my care, the people that he owed money to, knew he was a dead end, and they came and killed him. I have video of it because they are threatening me now that they will hurt Julie if I don't pay them the money."
"What do I do if they come after Olivia and Ronnie?" Rachel interrupted.
"They know that they have already drained Ron dry. So, they know you don't have any money, which is good because if you did have any money, they would come kill you and the kids and take everything that is left. But they tortured Ron before they killed him, and they knew there wasn't any money left to get. I can give you a portion of the video that proves Ron didn't kill himself. You can use it to get Ron's life insurance to pay out and you can file for Social Security using their birth certificates and Julie's adoption papers to see if you can get a little help there."
"Okay great!" Rachel's mood was much improved, and she was looking rather happy, but she didn't know the caveat that was going to put a major crink in her style.
"But you have to do one thing before I will give you that video and it is an absolute, no way around it thing. You must do it, and I will pay for it and all your bills for one month, but if you don't do it, I will not help you at all." Ranger insisted.
"Fine! Obviously, it is something that I don't want to do, otherwise you wouldn't be blackmailing me to do it. What is it you want me to do?"
"Get clean." Ranger knew he was being obscure, but if he just blurted it out without making her think about it, she wouldn't take it very well. Who was he kidding, he knew she wasn't going to take it very well.
"What are you talking about. I am clean. I took a shower in my hotel room this morning, and my clothes don't have a stain anywhere on them."
"Rachel you're being obtuse. You had a cup of alcohol in the car. In Ron's phone call, he talked about you drinking yourself into rehab. You have been drunk for months and it is going to stop now. You find yourself a clinic to check yourself into for thirty days. One full month and get yourself clean." He demanded.
"What! I can't do that! I don't need to do that. I'm not addicted, I just like to have a drink now and then. I'm not doing it." She crossed her arms over her chest and was acting petulant. Then another thought crossed her mind and she started in on him, arms waving, spittle coming out of her mouth as she screamed. "I'll go to the police station and tell them you have evidence you are withholding in a murder case. Then they will come down on you, and arrest you, and I will get Julie back, so I am thinking that is the way to go. I'll get Ron's life insurance and you will have to pay me child support again." She was smiling and almost gleeful. The happiest he had seen her all day. Obviously, she had talked this idea up in her head and thought it was a good one.
"I will tell them to give you a breathalyzer test and you will be arrested for drunk driving and you will go to jail and loose Olivia and Ronnie as well as Julie. Don't even think about fucking with me on this Rachel. I already don't think you deserve to live." Ranger was stopped at a light and gave her a real death glare. The look that men see right before he kills them, and she went pale and started to shake.
"I'm so pissed that Ron talked you into the kidnapping and ransoming of your own child, on his assurances that she would be okay and not hurt; while he was totally planning on having her killed, so he could collect on her life insurance. How stupid could you be to fall for that crap?" He was asking her but he knew the real answer: Rachel didn't want anything in her life to change and if Ron was killed for money it would hurt her life more than if her daughter was killed for money.
"The reality of that phone call, that Julie recorded, was clear Rachel. Ron was going to have your daughter killed for the money, and then he was going to leave you and take the kids. So, there is no question that you are better off with him gone. You just have to pull yourself together and do what is best for all your kids. Julie is safer living with me, and you can make arrangements for your mother to take care of Olivia and Ronnie for a month while you get clean and get your head back on straight. You get your head on straight and I will help you out of the financial mess Ron has gotten you into." He was willing to help her get back on her feet. She would probably have to work now, but Olivia is in school and her mother could watch Ronnie during the day, and Olivia after school. They could work something out, to get her life back on track.
"Carlos, you know I can't do this! I can't just drop everything and go away for a month. Besides my mother wouldn't understand. She drinks every day and doesn't think there is anything wrong with it." He hadn't been to her parent's house since Julie was born but he knew her parents were strict Catholics and wouldn't fall into being drunk all day every day.
"Rachel your parents have a glass of wine with dinner. There is a big difference between having a few glasses of wine and being drunk at ten o'clock in the morning." The more she denied having any kind of problem, the bigger a problem she probably had.
He knew a guy in the Rangers who married this lovely young girl. They were so much in love but then she got pregnant and he was constantly being deployed and he came home to a stressed-out woman that couldn't handle being essentially a single mom. Then she got pregnant again and after the second baby was born, he started seeing the signs.
Beer cans all over the house and bottles of alcohol in the recycling bin. He tried to talk to her, to confront her. She said it was just the stress of him always being away. He stayed home for a few months, but she just tried harder and harder to hide it from him. He noticed that every time he left the house to work or do errands and things, she would be stinking drunk when he came back home.
The house was falling into constant disarray and the babies were not being cared for. Every day when he came home, they would both have dirty diapers and be in their room crying while she was passed out on the couch. He forcibly took her down to a clinic and admitted her against her will. After she detoxed when she finally started coming around, she admitted how bad it was. They both agreed that she had been dealing with anxiety and depression and as a result she started getting counseling and taking medications that helped her deal with her problems in a manageable way.
Ranger had no doubt that Rachel was going to need counseling, and he hoped she would consider medications to help her become sober and stable and help her deal with her post-Ron life.
"Fine then I will limit myself to a few glasses of wine." Rachel announced. But he knew if she was this far gone to be drinking practically straight vodka at ten in the morning, she would be drinking several bottles of wine, not glasses.
"Rachel thirty days detox is my only offer. This is not negotiable. You do this or you end up out on the street with nothing." He knew he had to come down hard on her or it wouldn't do any good.
"Bastard." She swore at him and he inwardly smiled. "You always had to do things your way. You got me pregnant because you were determined to have sex more than once that night and you said we had to get married. Of course, my dad was saying the same thing, but my mother was so ashamed. Then after the baby, you said we had to get divorced even though I didn't want to. The only thing you ever did that I wanted you to, was give up your rights to Julie. And now you have taken Julie from me and threatened to take Olivia and Ronnie too. Everything is always your way."
At least she knew it and was accepting it. The more she knew and accepted the faster this little train could get on the tracks. We pulled into Haywood. He got out and Rachel leaned into the backseat, where she had stuffed her overnight carryon bag ,that she had brought, and grabbed a quart sized clear bottle of vodka and shoved it into her purse. Ranger walked around the car and waited for her.
As soon as she closed her door and started walking to the elevator, he took up step right beside her. When she wasn't looking, he reached into her purse and took the bottle.
"Hey!" She yelled grabbing for it, and it echoed in the cavernous garage.
He held the bottle over her head, "I will have one of my men drive you to the airport and he will return the bottle to you at that time. I will have your mother waiting for you at the Miami airport to drive you home- "
"No! Not my mother!" She was shrieking again. "My mother doesn't know anything about what has gone on and she can't ever know. If she knew what Ron was going to do, she would disown me. Her grandchildren are her life. She has been bugging me every week to put up more posters for Julie, and to create a reward for her safe return. There are already several hundred posters all around Miami and her picture up in every police department, but she wanted more. Then every week she wanted me to call the detectives in charge, and the FBI guy in Florida would only say the same thing every week: that there have been no new developments in the case. And she has been making me crazy to see Julie once she has returned. In fact, she wanted to fly up here with me and the kids to come to this hearing and – "
"Enough!" Ranger shocked her into silence. "Fine I will have one of my men meet you at the Miami airport and drive you home. You have probably been driving drunk for so long you don't find anything wrong with it but I'm not having you killed on my watch. Julie might be mad at you for what you were going along with, but it would still hurt her for you to get killed."
He looked around the garage and noticed Stephanie wasn't back yet. A little ripple of fear went down his spine, but he refused to give into it and pulled out his phone and with the push of one button got Stephanie on the line.
"Hello." Oh, her sultry voice. Every time he heard it, it did things to him.
"Where are you?" Since she answered her phone, he relaxed a bit knowing that she probably was okay.
"We are just leaving my apartment. Julie wanted to see it again and I needed to turn in a nonrenewal notice. I talked to Dillan, to let him know that I'm breaking my lease."
"We are at Haywood waiting on Julie so don't take too long." Ranger encouraged. He wasn't looking forward to entertaining Rachel without Julie here. He led the way to his apartment informing Rachel that Julie would be back in half an hour.
She started to grill me about Ron, but Ranger just put his finger to his lips and pointed with his left hand to the camera. All the way up he was debating what he could and should tell her about Ron. He knew there was a video because Hector had forwarded him an encrypted email with an attachment. The reality was that he had only watched the end of the video on fast forward. So, he would have to be vague about what he knew, until he watched the whole video. Once we were in his apartment, he turned to her.
"Rachel I'm not going to make you stop drinking today. Soda is in the fridge. There are glasses in the cupboard to the right of the sink. Make yourself at home." Ranger told her as he set her bottle of vodka down on the kitchen counter.
He went to his desk, with it pushed into a corner he didn't have the privacy he needed to watch that video. Thankfully at that moment he saw Stephanie pulling into the garage. Ranger turned his big screen TV on PBS, having no clue what was on television, at this time of day. Fortunately, it was Animal Planet and he left it playing.
A few minutes later, Julie entered the apartment, followed by Stephanie. Rachel was right there, cup in hand, to hug her daughter, but Julie just coolly walked by her, and came into the living room. Ranger was aware that weeks ago, before he had even left for Russia, the rug had been cleaned and returned to the floor and there was a brand-new identical coffee table in front of the couch.
Julie flopped down on the couch and her mother toddled close behind. Wanting to facilitate as good of an interaction as possible he said, "Julie why don't you show your mother your room?"
She looked at him blank faced and rolled her eyes. He hadn't realized until that moment, how much damage had been done to her and Rachel's relationship. It was going to be a strained hour, but maybe it would be better to give Julie and Rachel a chance to clear the air.
He walked over to the living room and stood in front of Julie and the couch.
"Rachel why don't you come have a seat." He waved his arm to the other side of the couch. Rachel came around the couch and tried to sit by Julie who got up and sat in the chair, glaring at her mother. Rachel looked a bit lost but scooted over to the end of the couch and reached her arm out to take Julie's hand, but Julie put both of her hands in her lap.
"Rachel do you have something to tell Julie?" He thought he knew how Julie felt: betrayed by this woman that she loved and trusted. But now she just didn't trust her anymore, and she still loved her, but probably wished she could get rid of that emotion as well.
She smiled big at Julie, "So baby, how are you? How was your trip?" She sounded forced and overly cheerful. But Julie's expression turned dark as she glowered at Rachel.
"Why do you care? You were all for me getting kidnapped so Ron could get money from MY DAD." She pointed at him. "The only person who has supported me MY WHOLE LIFE!" Julie was yelling at the end spitting out the words at Rachel who looked shocked. A mix of emotions crossed Julie's face as she talked: hurt, disappointment, frustration but it stopped on anger which was the most prevalent one. Then she hopped up and ran to her room slamming and locking the door behind her.
Ranger just wanted to strangle Rachel for approaching her like that. Maybe it made sense in her vodka-soaked brain and maybe she didn't really know what she had done wrong; because she now looked upset and close to tears. Stephanie saved the day as she had watched the whole ordeal, and decided to step in a lot more gently and gracefully than he would have.
"Rachel," Stephanie started as she came to stand next to him. "You do understand that Ron – your husband – planned to get Julie kidnapped and killed right?"
Rachel sat there looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "I..I.." she hesitated and looked at the ground. "I heard that recording in the courtroom but I can't believe it." She looked up at him and Stephanie, "Ron has always loved Julie, like she was his own daughter. He has always taken care of her. In fact, a while back he started taking her to all her therapist appointments because I had to have Olivia and Ronnie sitting with me in the waiting room. They could never sit still, crawling and moving all over the office. Olivia would get all upset and start acting out having to sit there quietly two hours every week, week after week."
"Rachel, Wake the FUCK UP!" He raised my voice to her, hoping Julie could hear me too. "Ron started going to those appointments to pay her doctor to change her diagnosis, prescribe her meds that she didn't need and write false notes in her charts." Ranger growled at her. "He spent six months planning her kidnapping and finally made a deal with someone that had contacts in South America to do it. My God, he had already bought the tickets to Cozumel! He was forcing her to take drugs that she didn't need every morning. He was even slipping you drugs and was planning on leaving you and taking the kids away from you! What Ron was, was a good actor. He was practically living a double life. Pretending to be a loving husband and father all the while planning on trading Julie for money to get him out of his money problems and planning on leaving you behind as well. He was no saint. He was the bad guy here!"
Rachel opened her mouth to refute what I just told her when Stephanie jumped in.
"Rachel, after we got settled in Puerto Rico, Julie listened to that recording every day for a month. When I asked her why, she said it was to remind her what was really going on in her life, and who she could really trust. She may still love you, but she doesn't trust you, because in her mind you were on board with her getting kidnapped and killed. She will never feel safe living with you again because you were in cahoots with Ron. Ron says himself that you didn't know everything, but you knew enough to know that Julie was in danger." Rachel was just listening to Stephanie wide eyed like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Stephanie just kept going.
"What kind of men do you think kidnap little girls for money? Nice men or bad men? They may have raped and hurt her, before they got around to killing her. They could have tortured her and starved her. Tied her up and beat her. These were not nice men. This would not have been a vacation even if she wasn't going to be killed. She would have been terrified. She WAS terrified. So terrified she BEGGED me to come get her and take her away." Tears were now streaming down Rachels face. Obviously she never thought about bad things happening to Julie as a result of her being kidnapped, besides the threat of getting killed. Stephanie just kept going.
"She was so terrified that she was willing to fake her death with me; so, we could move back to the United States and live under fake id's. Because if she was dead, Ron wouldn't be looking for her anymore. Listen to this recording again and think about being Julie and knowing that both your parents were for you getting kidnapped and killed."
"I was never for any of it but Ron said there was no other way." Rachel tried to excuse her actions.
"Just listen!" Stephanie repeated sharply and played the recording again and Rachel paled. I think when she heard it the first time, in the court room, she was so shocked she didn't believe it but hearing it again, maybe even imagining she was Julie hearing this, she looked ready to hurl.
"As long as I am alive," Stephanie pointed at herself, "Julie will never come back to live with you again because you only see her as dollars and cents." Stephanie pledged as she pointed at Rachel. "If Carlos couldn't get custody, I would take her, and we would leave forever. Because you cannot be trusted to do the right things for Julie." Stephanie was emphatic even as she kept pointing at Rachel, "You only think about yourself and where you are going to get your next drink. I saw that bottle in the kitchen and I can smell the alcohol on your breath. You need to accept Ranger's deal and get clean or I will help take your other kids away from you as well." Stephanie was glorious in her fury; fighting for Julie as if she were her own daughter because as far as Stephanie was concerned Julie was hers.
"Rachel what you need to do is apologize to Julie for not protecting her and not telling Ron to go to hell. Then you need to go back to Miami and find a clinic you can check yourself into." He insisted.
Rachel pulled her weeping self-off the couch and slugged over to Julies door.
She leaned up against the door and started. "Julie…" sob, "baby…" sob, he could see her take a deep breath as she tried to pull herself together. "I'm so, so sorry and I'm so very confused. Ron made it seem like Stephanie took you against your will. He made her out to be the bad guy. I've been soooo very worried about you for months. Worried if you were being taken care of and if you were safe. I've been praying for your safe return, for months. I didn't know that you ran away to save yourself. Ron said that Stephanie was after the money. She just wasn't smart enough to send the ransom while Carlos was gone. He said she was stupidly waiting till Carlos came back home. He kept saying that we needed to find you before Carlos came back home, and she sent the ransom; because Carlos would only pay one ransom to get you back and if she ransomed you first, he wouldn't get the chance." Rachel started stroking the door like it was Julie's hair and she was calming her down.
"I…sob…I didn't know about the second life insurance policy. I didn't know he was planning on you getting killed. I would never have agreed to that. I know it may not seem like it, but I love you! Dearly love you! You are my baby and I would do anything for you. Can you forgive me for what I was going to let Ron do? Please! Please forgive me! I never meant for you to get hurt. Can you at least give me a hug before I leave? I know I don't deserve one but it's going to be a long time before I see you again. Please… just one hug?"
Rachel had started out plastered against the door and slowly like she was melting, she was sliding down the door. With that final statement she collapsed into a sobbing heap onto the floor.
He took Stephanie into his arms and held her close. What he was going to say was for Stephanie but he spoke loudly so Rachel and Julie could hear him.
"I love you Stephanie. I've loved you for a long time. But when I found out you took Julie to protect her and save her." He paused to take in a deep breath and get his thoughts in order, because he wanted this to come out right. "Stephanie," He leaned back to look at her, in her eyes. "It's like my heart, my chest, expanded two times bigger and somehow I loved you even more. When I thought you died…"
He had to take another deep breath to keep his voice steady. "Part of me died inside. But I understood your sacrifice. Last year when I walked into your apartment to save you and Julie. I didn't want to die, but if that's what it took for them to safely rescue you, I was willing to lay down my life to save you and Julie. To know that you love my daughter enough to sacrifice yourself for her makes me feel…." Shit he didn't even have the words…. "that… somehow I love you even more than I did before. I have always loved you more than my life but now I feel like my life is dependent on yours." He took a deep breath to hold back his tears and whispered, "Don't ever leave me." He wrapped her tightly in his arms. The last statement was him begging, pleading with her, with the universe, with god that he could always have this woman in his life.
Julie cracked her door open and looked down at Rachel, then quickly stepped over her and ran into the living room, and wrapped her arms around both of them. They each took an arm and wrapped them around her. This was it. Exactly what he needed to feel whole again. To feel healed. Both his girls in his arms and knowing that it was going to be permanent. That he could have this every day now was overwhelming.
A few random tears slid unbidden from his eyes and his heart overflowed from his chest and that stupid Christmas story about the grinch popped into his head and he understood what they meant; because his heart felt like it had grown three sizes too. So big it was going to burst with joy. Second to the day Julie was born he didn't know if he had ever felt this happy, this much love, this much peace. At that moment everything was right in his world and he felt like a million dollars.
"Okay ladies, this is worth celebrating." He looked down at both of them. "Go get dressed up and I'll take us out someplace nice to celebrate!"
Rachel had pulled herself up off the floor and was on her knees her hands on the arm of the couch staring wide eyed at the trio.
"Sure Dad," Julie said and headed back towards her room till she saw Rachel and stopped dead in her tracks. Rachel turned to her and Julie was stoic.
"Mom I do still love you, but I don't trust you. You didn't care about me staying with Dad, till you realized that there was no money without me. Then you didn't ask me what I wanted. You didn't ask if it was safe. You decided that you needed his money, so you were going to force me to move back with you. All I am to you is what I was to Ron: a way to get money out of my dad." She pointed at him. "Well I'm a person, not a paycheck! And NO, I don't want to give you a hug." She marched past Rachel and slammed the door in her face.
Rachel's face crumbled as the tears once again fell in streams, but he didn't feel sorry for her at all. She had made this bed and now she needed to sleep in it, wallow in it, accept that she created it, and if she wanted something different; she had the power to create it. He had been making his bed too. By always supporting Julie and sending gifts and visiting when he could, she knew that he was a soldier and essentially married to his job, but he would give her as much of him as he was able, and now that he could give her all of him: she welcomed it with open arms.
Ranger got men to drive Rachel to the airport, and he got ready to take his girls out to eat. He knew his girls were in the closet because Julie didn't have anywhere to hang things, so she was sharing space with Stephanie. He would wait till they got dressed and while he waited, he called and made reservations at Rossini's. It was the middle of the afternoon and reservations weren't strictly needed, but it was his way of announcing to the world that he'd won.
It was 2:00 when they left, and he knew Burg tongues would be wagging with the news of the court case. But this show was as much for his enemies, as his friends, to know that these were his girls, and he was back fulltime to protect them.
To be continued…
A/N I really need a bunch of replies to this so add them to the end of your reviews. The next chapter is a problem. It is 43 pages and 16,500 words. I didn't mean to make it that long. I'll be honest I forgot we needed to deal with some things and it added quite a few pages to my already 30-page chapter. This chapter was 10,000 words, so we are talking half again longer. I can easily break it up into two 8,000-word chapters but that would mean renumbering all my other chapters. I don't mind it wouldn't be all that difficult. But I'm going to leave it up to you.
So do you want me to break it up into two more readable chapters or post it as is?