Chance Encounters
Chapter 49
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First of all, I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Ms Margaret for having my back and recognising the timely need for me to withdraw and prioritise family first. Secondly, thank you for all the wonderful comments and personal messages from you lovely reviewers out there in FanFiction Land. I have really appreciated all your support and encouraging remarks. Thank you for standing by me, and your understanding. I felt the love, the good vibes and the prayers, giving me strength. Your thoughtfulness and patience is greatly appreciated.
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Tank's POV
Frustration and confusion prevailed as I watched my two Core Team colleagues. Bobby and Lester were trying to figure out Ranger's moves in the Rangeman building. Where was he? They couldn't get a hold of him and could only leave a text or an email messages. They suspected something was amiss, especially after checking the shift rosters, his listed meetings, the gun range, the garage, the gym and scheduled installations and whether he was off-line.
Lester and Bobby combined, had nothing like Stephanie's spidey sense, but just a hunch that there had been a significant change in the universe, involving Ranger and the Vixen. It was all sort of like a cat and mouse game, a clever subterfuge, right under their very noses. I winked at Cal as he passed me some files, leaving with a sly grin and a barely detectable shake of his head watching the two knuckleheads muttering about their snooping's lack of success. He knows. And he knows that Bobby and Lester are perplexed. Taking advantage of this situation, we're just having a bit of fun, at their expense, with just a bit of misdirection, every now and then, you know, just feeding their snooping. Confirmed sightings of one or both of them in the gym, the breakroom or the gun range, were some of the many wild goose chases. It was like a return to hazing with these two idiots. For smart, scary Rangers, they could be so dim sometimes.
After the unequivocal success of the Marauders' overnight foray, sorting out the three rival gangs, all our pent-up tension was settled with said overnight activities. The exuberance and exhilaration of a successful suburban ops was palpable. Nothing like a bit of hand to hand combat to burn some of that suppressed energy and tension in a totally satisfying physical manner. After a debriefing and the team reports, Rangeman maintained its usual routine, working the FTAs and doing our usual security and surveillance, as if nothing had happened. Marauders? Who were they? Where did they come from? Of course, as a result of the overnight activities, word was out on the street already, projecting those very questions, just like planting a seed. Something about the mysterious Marauders sorting out the rival gangs. Our men on patrol might have added to the mix, just to create another dimension to the gossip with their "confirmed" sightings and reports to Eddie and Big Dog directly, while in the field, and at the TPD, catching and bringing in skips. Being seen out there doing their usual thing. It was all part of an elaborate ruse.
Leaving each of the three gangs in a nice puppy pile as per designated gang, ready for the TPD to collect ... Yeah, that was a nice touch. And right near the "nursery centre" in the middle of their collective territories, the high school. I have to concede, flex-tying them by their ankles as well as their hands, not facing the same way, made the chain gang very challenging to move into the TPD collection vans. That was my fondest memory. Our Hector does like to mix things up. The report came back, with visual confirmation, amid laughter, how comical it was and very embarrassing for the young punks. Confusion prevailed with all three gangs questioning how this all happened on their very own turf. That they were surprised to see their rivals in the same predicament was tangible. Bewildered was more like it. Stunned and speechless. It was all part of the big mind fuck. Subterfuge. Gotta love it. Marauders was muttered around in hushed and wary whispers.
Originally, we had planned just to decimate their headquarters simultaneously, after taking out the sentinels and guards. Removing their cell phones was essential and immobilising their vehicles was necessitated to stop any escapes. Disarming their arsenals and likely drug storage and supplies was a deliberate action in bringing them down to scratch level. Originally, we did plan on this not being a round up, per se, but this worked to our advantage with a three-way simultaneous mindfuck of the three gangs. We moved stealthily in the dark like shadows, in Marauders black, intimidating the shit out of them catching them totally unawares. The puppy pile was good, leaving most of them in a state of unconsciousness. We minimised the use of our guns, only using them as a last resort but without any fatalities. We were not in a massacre mindset.
I did not envy the TPD with all three rival gangs being brought in, clearly in full view of each other. This added to their confusion mainly because there was no communication between the gangs, obviously. They noted the same sort of M-shaped cuts and wounds on their rivals. Confusion was compounded by the lack of leadership to calm them down, and rally them, despite a few shit stirrers and panic merchants winding each other up, trying desperately to save face. There was wariness, profound fear and suspicion of these Marauders. The stench of fear was very evident.
St Francis was busy dealing with the gang leaders' more serious injuries, under guard. These punks resented being handcuffed to the side rails of their beds and some needed to be restrained with straps. Extra TPD staff were brought in to manage the more dangerous gang members, and especially to protect hospital staff. But they urgently needed the extra man power at the station. Rangeman was asked to provide a security detail and we willingly obliged. The TPD knew we could say and do things which red tape and protocol made it impossible for them to enact. The law has its limits. The TPD staff mostly returned back to the station to add support there. Telling a couple of the so-called lieutenants to "Shut the fuck up!" right in their face till they almost pissed their pants, was part of the job, so the doctors and nurses could treat them without the constant disrespectful diatribe. The need to be more physical and add to the mind fuck with further threats, made them settle for the safer option. One of the doctors suggested they might administer stronger medication to keep them sedated and more subdued, which was unanimously agreed upon. Staff safety was paramount and each of these patients was classified as a Code Black, because of their aggressive and violent behaviour. Besides, the nurses had difficulty cleaning and treating their wounds, because with all their raging and ranting, the blood flow increased. "Quit your bitchin', punk! You wanna bleed? Keep it up. You wanna get fixed? Then let the nurse do her thang, fucker!"
Adding to the Marauders' mystique, Vince and Woody had a not so quiet conversation within their hearing range, about these Marauders and how they had heard about these pissant gangs that were homing in on their turf. Retribution was on their agenda and last night was just a little sample of what they would do. And, so the mindfuck continued.
"The Marauders apparently resented these pissant gangs placing bounties on the Vixen and Ranger. The Marauders will want vengeance, for sure. If these guys think this was bad, getting on the wrong side of the Marauders will be like a death sentence. Nobody messes with the Marauders."
Much to our relief, word spread quickly that any bounties on the Vixen and Ranger were completely withdrawn, making a feeble excuse of mistaken identity or misdirection. Whatever. The bounty was off, but we decided it was best for Ranger and the Vixen to lay low for some time, but no longer under lockdown.
Which brings me back to Brown and Santos, with the hide and seek game, which followed, once the dust had settled. My patented blank face gave nothing away, although with Cal and Hector chuckling in the background, I almost folded when Lester rolled his eyes and gave an audible growl of frustration as he hit another dead end.
"Are they off line?" he asked on an exasperated sigh.
"Nah. We would have been notified," answered Bobby, equally perplexed, scratching his head.
"I saw them in the gym this morning …," Hal added as he passed by.
"And I saw Steph in the breakroom …," Zip confirmed.
"Maybe they're up on seven having some afternoon delight –" which resulted in Lester getting hit upside by both Cal and Hector.
"Respect!" Hector retorted. He was very protective of his Vixen.
To put them out of their misery, as a distraction, call it a diversion perhaps, I dispatched them to the Den to assist Hector, Cal, Manny, and myself of course, to complete an all-inclusive security check to ensure that nothing was compromised while Ranger and the Vixen were under lockdown. All four villas needed to be checked. It was a good diversion for our two dimwits.
Hector met us at the door of his villa, issuing us the comprehensive checklist on our tablets, for each villa. As we went through all the features in pairs, it was in villa two, the Vixen's villa that something distracted our two amigos, but they continued to process each room. Cal and I never let on, and I could see Manny nudging Hector when our two amigos spotted Ranger's leather jacket on one of the chairs in the dining room. When they discovered Ranger's laptop in her office, they were still dumbfounded, but their curiosity definitely was piqued. Because of the seriousness of our task, they maintained focus. But they had obviously planned to come back to that evidence with that minuscule nod they gave each other with another furtive glance at Ranger's laptop. I had to turn the corner quickly to hide my grin at their "sneaky" tactics.
Upstairs, the rooms were checked methodically. We made sure that our two confused amigos had to check the master bedroom. Cal and I were checking the guest room and could hear them whispering intently. I had to elbow Cal to stop giggling. Giggling? What the fuck. Shaking my head, and yes, I had to facepalm. Since when do our Rangemen giggle?
"Where is this alleged safe room anyway? Is it really a panic room?" An edge of excitement and wonder laced Lester's inquisitive voice.
"I don't see it on the plans here," muttered Bobby, scrolling through the plans.
Manny and Hector came from the impressive shoe selection, acknowledging that the safe room was in lockdown and secure.
"Maybe it's on a time lock, you know, like vaults in a bank," Lester pondered.
Hector just raised his eyebrow with a slight nod. It was Manny's secret grin that gave it away.
"Occupied," Hector mouthed from behind Lester and Bobby's backs with a wicked wink.
Someone, and we know who, was occupying said safe room. Thankfully it was soundproof.
"What the fuck?!"
"Santos!"
"Well? How do you explain this?" he said, indicating the expansive walk-in wardrobe with his arm outstretched indicating Stephanie's clothes on one side, and, with a more dramatic show of his outstretched arm like the Wheel of Fortune chick, all Rangeman black uniforms, Armani suits and other Ranger attire on the other side. Not what they expected.
Cal couldn't contain himself any more which sent us all into fits of laughter and snorts. Lester and Bobby looked a bit stunned, but joined in soon enough. We had been laughing at their expense. Finally, the light bulb flashed … well, for one of them it did.
"You mean to say … Ranger moved in? Here? At the Den? Not Steph on seven?" Lester was finally connecting the dots. Must be the blonde tips slowing him down. He turned with a big shit-eating grin to his partner in crime, Bobby.
"Man! How did we not see that?" Bobby responded, grinning as well.
"Holy shit! You guys knew? All along? Well, shit. That explains a lot."
We all nodded and grinned. We continued with the security check with all the villas, finally meeting back at villa three, with Hector and Manny who were setting out some well-earned refreshments. The Den was uncompromised, safe and secure.
"Cheers to that."
We clinked bottles.
"Salud. I'll drink to that."
Hector had surreptitiously disengaged the occupied signal for the safe room on the master tablets, mine and his. Of course, the safe room was not evident on the blue prints, Hector made sure that it was secret and secure with an encrypted link. As we were shooting the breeze, enjoying the outlook, Ranger and Steph entered from the patio, joining us for lunch, with their hair still damp, obviously freshly showered. Stephanie and Ranger looked very mellow and happy. And smiling, a lot, holding hands.
Suddenly, Lester spotted the rings on their left hands as Ranger grabbed a beer.
"Whoa! What are these?"
"Rings, Lester," Stephanie smiled warmly.
"Holy shit! Why did we not see them before?" Bobby asked inquisitively.
"Well, if you must know, because of a certain unexpected skip capture …"
"Ah! In that jewellery shop! They were some cool moves there, Bombshell. You caught him unawares."
"Yeah, well. I was just in there to pick up our rings with the engravings, when I noticed the skip. Ella and I were having one of our girl time afternoons, and, you know the rest." Stephanie shrugged her shoulders with a twinkling smile.
"Hey, Boss. How come we don't get guy time?"
Ranger just stared at him blankly. Lester's silly ass remark earned him another upside.
"Okay, okay. Stupid thing to ask. So, when are you planning to get hitched?"
There was a pause and I'm sure we could hear the mental gears engaging. Crickets were in chorus. Bobby nudged him hard in the ribs.
What is it with these two lately? They're acting like Dumb and Dumber.
"Ha! Oh yeah. Bet you thought you had me there. When? Vegas? A quick day trip?"
"Oh my God! You are married already!" remarked Bobby this time. Sheesh!
Cal snorted. Facepalm! I shook my head. Somebody had really scrambled their brains, and their mouths. I rolled my eyes. Stephanie chuckled. Hector, Manny and Cal were grinning at my reaction. Ranger just smiled.
"Oh, a couple of weeks …," Ranger casually replied.
"Weeks?! Why were we not told?"
"Who knew?"
Everybody grinned.
"We weren't invited?"
"I'm crushed, Cuz."
"Did you propose?"
"Or did Steph propose?"
They were like two ping pong players, firing questions one after the other.
She smiled. Ranger looked at Steph indulgently, and smiled, but they still had not answered any of their rapid-fire questions specifically. This scenario just confirmed why they decided to have a small, intimate wedding ceremony.
"Oh, man."
"You did it, right under our noses?"
"But, you've been under lockdown."
They looked at each other, confused. And then it was Bobby's turn for his light bulb moment.
"Ohhh … you were hitched before that?"
This is getting worse. I looked imploringly at Ranger to put them out of their misery.
"Yes," and he smiled that indulgent smile to Stephanie, "we married in a private ceremony, in a garden somewhere near Point Pleasant. Neither of us wanted a big wedding, and, you know Mama would have wanted all the family and we just didn't want that. We did it our way."
Stephanie graced us with a winning smile, leaning against Ranger as he put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the temple.
"We are going to have a post wedding reception here, like we did for Hector and Manny."
"Oh. Well, that's okay then."
"So, when did you move out of Rangeman?"
"Remember the day of the brownies and cookies?"
"Ah, yes. That was a day or so after Stephanie's spectacular yoga demonstration …" and he ducked quickly from any potential upsides swinging his way.
"Really? That many weeks back? How did we not know or see?"
Stephanie giggled. "We had Ella create her magic with the Cookies and Brownies Day. And Tank caught you all red-handed with that contraband. But, just in case, Hector and Manny here made a loop on the feed so you wouldn't catch Ranger dashing up and down the stairs and loading the truck in the garage. Cal was in the lobby, so we had all the angles covered." She grinned by clinking bottles with Tank, Cal, Manny and Hector, before snuggling into Ranger's arms, with her back to his front.
"Well, shit, eh?"
"Yup," she replied smugly, popping the final P. "It was an in-house tactical ops manouevre."
"You guys are so sneaky. Any more surprises we don't know about?"
"Zero was there, too, to capture our special moments. And Luis was his assistant." She looked up at Ranger expectantly. "No, no other surprises." She winked, which set Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum off with gleaming eyes of mischief and curiosity.
"Not yet," Stephanie replied firmly to their watchful eyes as they scanned her figure deliberately, framing their fingers for a photo angle.
The rest of the day was mellow and relaxed. We deserved that after the last couple of weeks. And, our two informed amigos were sworn to secrecy.
"You blab and that will bring your Uncle status into question, when they go there. Get the picture?"
"Loud and clear." They both nodded vigorously, zipping their lips. I glared down at them intently and I knew we had an accord. I like using my superior size even with these two dimwits.
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TBC
What? You ask. No cliffies? Hahaha. Just for a change my Muse wanted to go easy on you.
One more chapter to go. NOT. My Muse has been patient and indulgent and is very happy to have me almost back to full flight. (But of course, the Muse is entitled to be contrary. And full flight took a lot longer than I expected as RL went totally FUBAR.)
Take care, be safe, and keep connected.
Posting weekly now. This story is complete.