Chapter 51
RPOV
I had honestly thought that I'd lost Steph, twice, and it brought home just how important she was to me. In some ways I was pleased that Frank had told Steph the truth about her mother, knowing the truth could be liberating and in turn empowering. It was Steph's time now.
As I left her with Bobby, I was confident that she would remain in the apartment. She still had pain from her injury and although the outward signs seemed minor, they belied the true extent of how serious it could have been. The bruised and swollen area in the middle of her chest was still tender and I knew she was still struggling with some movement.
There had been serious concerns when we'd arrived at the hospital and as the team had treated Steph I was going out of my mind. Bobby had mentioned myocardial contusion. Where the heart itself is actually bruised. That can affect both the nerve and muscle tissue of the heart, jeopardizing its ability to contract and circulate blood through the entire body. That was ruled out after Steph's heart was closely monitored which allowed me to believe that she'd recover quickly. That was when I'd insisted on a private room within the hospital's private facility.
That she wasn't looking to be making a quick a recovery as expected had me insisting that I be allowed to stay with her. Okay, so it cost me a large donation and some of the staff felt intimidated by me, I was sure that in the end they finally agreed that my suggestion had been a good idea. Once I was able to be with her, touch her and talk to her there was a marked improvement in her recovery. I knew Bobby was interested in how that happened but all I could say was that somehow, we were able to calm each other.
It seemed only right to accept Sarah Heap's offer to help nurse Steph. She was quite insistent that she owed Steph and that she wanted to get to know the woman who had a hand in helping her and her father. It was a win win situation as far as I was concerned. Sarah wasn't part of the Burg gossip channels and knew how important it was to keep Steph's anonymity for safety issues. Plus she was a damn good nurse even if she did insist that I left Steph for short periods of time.
When she started to wake up, I was so relieved. That was until Bobby started to tell me about Pulmonary Contusion and that this might not present itself right away but could slowly become apparent and be lethal. Apparently a forceful chest trauma could cause physical injury to the lung tissue, yielding slow bleeding and swelling. Steph could develop symptoms gradually, including shortness of breath, low blood oxygen levels, and even acute respiratory distress syndrome, which could lead to respiratory failure. This was the reason why Bobby was insisting that he saw Steph twice each day.
I knew that Parker being missing would annoy Steph and I hadn't wanted to tell her, but I knew that I couldn't keep it from her. That was why I was working upstairs in the office so that I could be there if she needed me. It also gave me a chance to start and look at how we might be able to restructure throughout the offices in order for each office to be autonomous. As I started to outline the main areas of business within each office, I was also thinking of the men who worked there knowing that I had copies of each man's reviews to support their area of expertise and skill sets.
My attention was drawn away from my desk to the door and I watched as Bobby put his medical bag down before coming in.
"How is she?"
Was my first concern and the look from Bobby wasn't doing my nerves any good.
"She's doing well. The swelling has reduced a lot and there are no signs of any internal damage. She may have a scar where the pendent broke the skin"
That had me feeling relieved and I personally didn't care about the scar. It could never distract from how beautiful she was, but I was waiting because I was sure that he had more to say.
"I've told her what to be aware of, you know Steph, she'd just push any symptoms to the back of her head"
Maybe that might have been the case a few months ago but now I wasn't so sure. Over the weeks Steph's way of pushing things into denial wasn't as extreme as it had been, plus she didn't have the worry or demands from her job.
"I'll make sure that doesn't happen"
"Okay, I've told her that she doesn't do anything too strenuous"
"How long will you keep an eye on her for?"
"A few days and then start to reduce the check-ups"
As Bobby came closer, I was sure that he had seen some of the work I was doing and decided as a core team member he really needed to know what I was thinking. In fact, it reminded me that Santos should know as well.
"I'm looking at each of the offices taking on more responsibility. For them to be more in control of themselves"
"Makes sense, you do tend to micro-manage"
"I spoke with Tank and we started to discuss the role of the core team"
"He mentioned that. Whether we each oversaw an office or an area across all of them"
"What do you think?"
Bobby pulled over one of the chairs in the room and sat down, looking at what I had on the screen.
"That it needs to happen. Hell, I spend too much time trying to do all of the medical checks. Though I would want to have an overview of any medical issues"
"So maybe both?"
"Draw up plans for both and then we can discuss it. What do you see yourself doing?"
"I have an idea for that, I'll let you know when I've solidified some of my ideas"
"Okay. I left Steph resting, hopefully she'll fall asleep"
Once Bobby had left, I went back to my work. I'd set up a spreadsheet for each office with the names of employees and the areas that they worked in and was sat with the papers in front of me trying to decide how to proceed. I hadn't realized how much time had gone by and was surprised when I heard a noise. Turning I saw Steph lent against the doorframe watching me. She looked beautiful as she stood there dressed in a long cream colored kaftan. Her hair was in curls around her face that now had lost its paleness. As she walked barefooted across to me, I turned my chair and smiled back at her.
"You look busy, what's got you so occupied?"
As Steph sat between my leg so that she was sat on one knee I swiveled the chair back to face the desk.
"Reorganizing the offices so they have more control and accountability for themselves"
"Why have all these spreadsheets?"
"They give the men who work at each office"
I watched as she looked over some of them and then as she pulled out a blank sheet of paper wondering what she was thinking. Taking a pencil from the holder sat on the desk she leant forward and started to write things down.
"I think you need to look at this from the outside. Design the structure that you would want and then if you're wanting the offices to manage themselves then they need to decide which man fits where. Maybe even have the option of the men being able to apply for a position"
"Why do that?"
"There'll be men who might feel that they could do better in another area than where you think they should be"
"Okay. How would you see the structure?"
"Have your manager at the top with two deputy managers. That way it takes into account holidays or sickness. Plus, you'll be training up two men into that position and could at a later stage enable them to move to another office"
I could see her logic and was impressed with her thinking. I had no idea that she would be familiar with this type of thing.
"So then have department heads and deputies as well?"
"Yes. But if this is what you're moving to then maybe you need to consider office support, you know someone to do the mundane paperwork, administration tasks. I know Tank hates things like that"
I watched as she wrote down the headings and began to create an organizational chart. I wrote "Trenton" at the top and as she drew out the boxes for the departments I filled in the name of the area. Here at Trenton most of our business came through home and business security with the next department being fugitive apprehension. Maybe it was time to lose our "decorating jobs" as the revenue from that was low. We'd only done those jobs in the past as another revenue of income and I suppose because there was a certain satisfaction from completing them. I added body guarding to the diagram because although we only did those infrequently, they did pay well. I was surprised when Steph added Research and Finance.
As Steph leant back against me, I completed similar sheets for Boston and Miami. Looking at them I could see how the structure was coming together and then on another sheet wrote under the title "Core Members" the names of Tank, Santos, and Bobby. That had Steph's head lifting up, probably to see what I would write down with those names.
"Where are you?"
I was wondering if she would ask, so wrote "Carlos Manoso" at the top. Then under each of the core team drew a perpendicular line underneath. Under Bobby went Boston, Trenton for Tank leaving Santos with Miami.
"Would they live there?"
"They wouldn't have to, in fact it would be better if they didn't"
"It could be too easy for them to take over"
I then added another word under each name. Security for Tank, fugitive apprehension next to Santos and medical under Bobby. I could see that Steph was busy looking at the charts and as she added medical department to each of the offices.
"Who would oversee finance and body guarding, oh and events security?"
"That's why we're only at this stage. How are you so good at this?"
"Business degree, I may not have done well in the finals, but I did learn a lot"
Maybe I was overlooking a talent that was sat with me, so I looked at the charts seeing if there was a role that Steph could play. As I did that, she'd added IT across the offices and then sat with the pencil in her mouth obviously contemplating something as though not sure whether or not to say anything.
"What are you thinking Babe?"
"I'm not sure how this goes but"
On the core team sheet Steph added Hectors name with IT and security underneath. She crossed out security from below Tank and added body guarding and events. I'd never really considered Hector's role within the company but having seen his name written down was in total agreement with what Steph had proposed.
"I know he isn't a core member but your whole business relies on him"
She was right, but I needed to talk to the other core members to gage how they felt about that. I felt her relax again as I started to type up what we'd looked at, pleased with the progress that I'd made. As I added the final parts to the core team, I knew that Steph was asleep so added a few more words under my name. I was very interested in progressing the business into new avenues and was sure that with Steph by my side then it would be a venture worth doing. I saved the work and closed down the file before settling back in the chair, pulling Steph closer for her to lay more comfortably against me.
As I sat there my mind went back to the problems that we still had to sort out. Parker was an enigma in how he seemed to disappear from sight, and I was determined to find out exactly who he was. There was something that Steph had said a while back that was probably worth trying to follow up on and that was how Calhoun had come across this group. What was it that made him believe that the plan devised would work through working with them? The feeling in my gut was saying that finding out about Parker would give us that answer and hopefully some substantial evidence against Calhoun.
"Mmm, can I smell food?"
I was so deep in thought that I honestly hadn't heard that Ella had been in to bring us lunch but knowing Steph and what she'd said had no doubt that it happened.
"What do you smell?"
"Freshly cooked bread"
"Where do you want to eat?"
Thinking that maybe Steph would more comfortable on the couch or even in bed.
"Where we normally eat"
I wasn't going to argue with her but would see how she managed, so standing up with her in my arms I walked through to the kitchen before placing her on her feet. Lifting up the cover over a tray on the worktop I could see what Steph's nose had identified.
"Fresh bread and pate"
With a plate in front of each us I watched as Steph spread some of the pate onto her piece of bread wondering if she would know what was in it. After eating her fist mouthful, she looked up to see me watching her.
"This is different, unusual and definitely delicious"
I wasn't sure whether to tell her that it was vegetarian pate and was going to wait until we'd finished eating.
"It must be healthy"
"Why's that?"
"Because you're eating it"
I knew then that I'd have to tell her what was in it and hoped that it didn't put her off from finishing what was on her plate.
"Carrot, aubergine, peppers and walnuts with sundried tomatoes and herbs"
"I should start up cooking with Ella again"
I wasn't going to agree or disagree with that, I knew that she'd done a good job with Ella but I didn't want her overexerting herself. Once we'd finished the bread and pate I cleared away the dishes while Steph went into the lounge and sat down on the couch.
"Babe is there anything you need?"
Thinking she'd maybe want a drink or the TV switching on.
"Could I have my laptop please"
Did I raise my eyebrow at her, probably, but I pulled out my phone and asked Santos to fetch it up here. In my mind I was thinking that I could take the opportunity talk to him about the reorganization.
I watched as Santos looked through the flow charts that I'd prepared trying to read his reaction. It certainly wasn't what I was expecting.
"Okay, I have to say that I expected this a few years ago. But I'm with you and I bet Tank and Bobby will be as well"
"With me?"
"Yeah. I have some ideas for those new ventures. We've grown complacent Ranger, we need new challenges"
I sat back in my chair and looked at him thinking through what he was saying. I suppose that he was right, the business that I'd built would be more self-sufficient and the thought of new challenges was appealing. I knew that my government contract was at an end and I had no desire to renew it. Would I still crave the adrenalin rush, the thrill of the chase? Probably.
"I want Steph working with me"
"That goes without saying. Her research skills and intuition are amazing, and I know that she'd started some training with Bobby. The only thing that we can't plan for is how she always manages to be in the wrong place when there are bad guys around"
I knew that, hell I'd been the one to find her on many occasions and as Santos had said her problems came from her wanting to follow clues and ending up in the sights of unsavory characters. From Ramirez to Abruzzi and finally this group that we were now after. I was brought from those memories as Santos stood up and started to head for the door.
"Call a core team meeting and we can iron out how we can move this forward"
I walked with him into the lounge expecting to find Steph on the couch but seeing as she wasn't there expected that she'd gone for a sleep in the bedroom. I heard the door close as Santos left so walked through to the bedroom.
The room was empty, and the bathroom door was open making me worried as to where she was. Surely, she wouldn't leave the building, would she? No, she knew she had to rest. My phone was in my hand as I rushed from the apartment, calling Santos as I went down the stairs.
"Check five for Steph"
"You lost her already?"
I wasn't going to even respond to that and my silence must have conveyed that I was serious.
"On it"
My first stop was with Ella, thinking that maybe Steph had gone down to see Ella, maybe she'd been serious about their cooking classes. As I knocked on the door my phone rang, and I was stuck between answering the phone or talking with Ella who had just answered. I answered the phone glad of that decision because it was Santos.
"Sleeping beauty is in your office"
I turned to Ella not sure what to say.
"Sorry Ella, I thought Steph was here but apparently she's down in my office"
"You're not letting her work, are you?"
I raised an eyebrow to Ella, hell no one let Steph do anything. If she got a notion into her head, then she went ahead and did it.
"You've got your work cut out with her Ranger, she's definitely a free spirit"
I didn't reply, knowing how right Ella was and started for the stairs again and for my office. Santos was stood outside the door, no doubt concerned if I lost her again and turned and left with a smile on his face as I opened the door. I saw Steph straight away, curled up on the couch. She had some cushions behind her and the blanket over her so at least she'd made sure that she was comfortable. I moved the laptop that was resting precariously on the side of the couch and placed it on the floor. Okay, maybe I had over reacted, but hearing Santos put into words her attraction for crazies had made me panic slightly. I knelt down beside the couch and pushed a curl behind her ear, grazing her cheek with the tips of my fingers. I hadn't wanted to wake her, I'd wanted to soak up the feeling of being close to her and watch her as she slept. Her eyes came open and her hand came up to her face, scratching where I had touched her and then those blue eyes were looking at me.
"Shit I fell asleep"
"In my office?"
"Sorry. I made sure I didn't overexert myself and that I was laid down and comfy"
"Why here?"
"I wanted to follow up on an idea"
I couldn't really be angry at her, after all she had made sure that she was careful.
