Chapter 20
Mary Alice, Hal and my extended family helped me keep my mind off Ranger's dangerous mission. He's been gone for six weeks now. So far he's made every check in which made me relax slightly. I though Hal would be upset because I'm worrying about Ranger, but he was amazingly supportive. "He's your best friend Steph. I understand your relationship and I'm not remotely jealous. We're all worried about him," Hal stated.
"I feel guilty being so worried about another man. I'm a married woman," I tried to explain.
"If Lester, Tank or Bobby were on the mission instead, how would you feel?" he asked.
"I'd be extremely worried and stressing about their safety every day," I replied with a smile. "Fair point well made Hal."
"It's why I love you so much Stephanie. You care about all of us mercenaries. When we first met, you weren't afraid of my size. I was amazed how you readily trusted me. You treated me as though I was an old friend. The day I met you was easily the best day of my life. I'm so glad you chose to marry me."
"Gross," Mary Alice joked when Hal deepened his kiss. She loved seeing us hugging and kissing. I know it slightly embarrassed her too, but she never made a big deal about it either. More often then not, she would join our embrace. Hal and I want her to grow up comfortable in her own skin. She shouldn't be afraid of showing her affection. However, there was a time and place for everything. For example, in our own home, Hal and I openly show our affection. In public we hold hands, hug and kiss, but never to the extent as we do at home. Neither of us subscribed to the overtly PDA we see from younger couples.
During the following week, we went to the school for career day. I was talking about my job at Rangeman while Hal briefly talked about joining the Navy and SEAL training. He was very careful to keep his talk age appropriate. A few boys asked him what his worst mission was. Hal politely said it was classified. He also deflected questions regarding shooting a gun or killing someone. Bethanne decided Hal's turn was finished when the boys continued asking questions involving blood and gore.
Mary Alice had a huge grin on her face. She started giggling when Hal's face flushed pink. When I had my turn, she sat up in her seat and squared her shoulders. I could tell she was very proud of me.
"Would you like to introduce our next guest Mary Alice?" Bethanne asked.
"Sure. This is my mom Stephanie Evans. She works at Rangeman with my dad, Hal Evans. My mom runs the Fugitive Apprehension unit and she handles all the scheduling and payroll. For the last few months, she's been the acting CEO," she proudly announced. I took over to describe my responsibilities with payroll and scheduling before talking about the fugitive department.
The boys were surprised to learn I used to capture criminals and returned them to jail. "But that's not a job for a woman," one of the boys claimed.
I smiled before responding, "It never used to be a job for a woman, but I was really good at my job. Now I'm running the company. We have an office in Boston, Miami and Atlanta. The offices have their own managers, but I make all the tough company wide decisions. Every person hired or fired has to be approved by me."
"You're having a baby. My mommy says you can't have a baby and work," a snobby girl stated. A few girls nodded in agreement, while Mary Alice and her friends seemed angry.
"I am having a baby. He's due in four months. Not every woman can handle a pregnancy and work. I can handle both. Being the temporary CEO, I can do my job in the office or from home. Having the flexibility makes it easier for me to do both," I explained.
"Wow, Mary Alice. You're mom really is Wonder Woman," her friend stated. "When I grow up, I want to be just like her."
I was flattered, but I thought it was important for her to just be herself. "Do you want to know what I think?" I asked her. She nodded. "I think you should grow up to be just like you." Bethanne was nodding in agreement. She really liked my answer. I wrapped up my presentation for the next father to take over.
He's a cop with the TPD. I smiled when he explained his job and the horrible desk duty receiving FTAs. One boy asked if he was ever on desk duty when I brought in a criminal. He answered, "As a matter of fact, I did. The criminal broke her nose and cut her arm, but it didn't stop her from dragging him into the station."
The girls gasped and stared at me. "Wow," the boy who asked the question stated. "Mary Alice, your mom is definitely Wonder Woman."
I saw the snobby little girl raise her hand to ask a question, "If that really happened, then where is her scar?" Shaking my head, I approached the Bethanne.
"Officer Parker has a photograph. If it's alright with you, I think he should show the class," I whispered. "It's not too bad. He can show it to you first." She knew the class would get out of hand if they didn't see proof. After confirming the photos were safe to show, she set up the projector for him to use.
Attaching his phone to the projector, he pulled up the photos from over four years ago. Snobby girl cried when she saw my singed hair, bloody face, twisted nose and cut arm. "I'm sorry for not believing that happened to you Mrs Evans. Did you cry when it happened?"
"No. I swore and got very angry. My reaction surprised the criminal which is how I caught him," I replied honestly. Officer Parker asked for more questions before finishing his presentation. His son was very proud of him for defending me.
At the end of the day, Parker approached me. He was Morelli's current partner and wanted to pass along a warning. It was time for me to have a discussion with the Italian Stallion as he liked to be called.
Hal, Hector and Cal insisted on accompanying me. I called and asked Joe to meet me at Pino's, his favourite pizza joint. After placing a double order of meatball subs and coke, I sat in the back booth with my back to the wall. Hal, Hector and Cal were sitting in the next booth.
The food was placed on the table when Morelli arrived. "Lunch is on me," I say pointing to his sub and coke. He smiled and took a seat. We kept out conversation relatively tame while we ate. My little man started shifting as I ate. I could only eat half the sub before wrapping up the rest for later.
"Thanks for lunch," Joe said as he polished off his meal.
"No problem," I say before getting to the purpose of our meeting. "Before we start this necessary conversation, I want to warn you my husband, Hector and Cal are at the next table." I pointed to my right. "I heard a rumour you are planning to storm Rangeman to 'rescue' me."
"Being around those thugs isn't good for the baby," he claimed. "If you come with me, I'll help you raise Mary Alice and your baby boy." I wondered how he learned I was having a boy.
"Joe, Rangeman isn't employing thugs. Most of the men served in the military. Only Hector is ex-gang. The other men worked for various police stations. What do you have against Rangeman? I need a valid reason other than you calling them thugs," I calmly stated.
He mumbled something I could barely understand. I continued to stare until he said, "I applied and didn't pass the background check." It seemed strange. When I did a search on him a few years ago, he passed the background check. His mob affiliation, or I should say, his need to constantly bed Terry, would have hurt his credibility. Especially if he lied about it. If his short career in the Navy was filled with reprimands of disobeying orders, a big no no in Rangeman, you couldn't work at Rangeman.
"When did you apply at Rangeman?" I asked.
"A few months after my buddy applied. He wasn't hired either," he replied, answering honestly.
"Is there anything you lied about, or did you evade an answer? Or disobeyed a direct order in the Navy?" His face paled, giving away the truth. "I will be completely honest with you Joe. Rangeman runs off honesty and trust. If you can't follow a direct order, you can't work at Rangeman. That includes an order to see a therapist. At Rangeman, we don't go out on our own to visit a client, install a security system or capture a skip. The boss needs to know your whereabouts at all times. All the men wear trackers in the field. You're known to lie to your supervisor and go off on your own. That behaviour alone will stop Rangeman from hiring you," I patiently explained.
"So your telling me Ranger and Tank always wear a tracker and have a partner?" he asked disbelieving what I told him. I saw Tank walk up to our table.
"That's exactly what Little girl is saying," Tank replied causing Morelli to jump. He pointed over his shoulder, "Lester's my partner today. Hal and Cal are partners. Hector and Steph are partners."
Joe was honestly surprised. "So I didn't get hired because?" Morelli fished for an answer.
Lester lowered his voice and said, "You lied about your dishonourable discharge from the Navy. You were sleeping with a woman heavily involved with mob activity. You constantly disobey direct orders from your supervisor. You are easily influenced by people in the community. You never share important information with your partner. Should I continue?" He basically confirmed everything I suspected.
"So not hiring me had nothing to do with Stephanie?" he asked. I was surprised he thought I had anything to do with him not getting hired.
"You applied to Rangeman before Ranger even met Stephanie. In fact it was months before she moved back to Trenton," Tank answered. All this time I had no idea Morelli blamed me for not getting hired at Rangeman. Not getting hired explained why he was calling them thugs. I am so done with this childish behaviour. It's just like a Morelli male to blame everyone else for his own shortcomings.
"Think about everything you learned today. It's time for you to grow up and start acting like the man you want to be. You have already fallen into the trap of Morelli men... you know, blaming everyone else for your own mistakes and lash out at them… work hard to free yourself from that snare before the bear trap catches you. I really do wish you well. Maybe some day we could actually be friends," I say dropping money on the table to over our meal.
Joe watched me link my arm with Hal's and leave the restaurant. I saw him drop his head into his hands as Hal drove us back to Rangeman. Morelli learned a very hard truth today. Only he holds the key to his own success. I honestly hope he can redeem himself before it's too late. He needs to change his ways before the Morelli curse drags him past the point of no return.
Before I could put my leftovers in the break room fridge, Junior entered the room and asked if I had anything for him to eat, he returned to Rangeman a little late and missed out on lunch. "It's only half of a meatball sub," I said handing him the food.
"Better than fat free plain yogurt and berries," he said and readily accepted the food. I watched as he took three large bites, basically inhaling the food.
"You need to chew," I joked. He crumpled up the wrapper and threw it at me. Hal easily caught the wrapper before it hit me in the face. He quickly tossed it into the trash.
"Man Steph, you look ready to pop," Junior joked.
"Ha ha ha. You're such a funny man. I'm only twenty-five weeks. There's still another twelve to fifteen left to go," I reminded him. Little William was kicking a lot. He's a very active boy. Thankfully he doesn't keep me awake at night.
Worrying about Ranger is keeping me awake at night. Ranger made all his check ins except for the last one. Hal assured me it wasn't a huge deal. It just meant he was unable to safely contact his handler. We should only worry if he misses the one in a couple of weeks. I'll worry about him until he returns. I didn't get the sense anything bad happened, so I just held onto that pleasant thought.
It was a few weeks later when Ranger appeared in the doorway of his office. I was using his space because it had a nice comfortable couch for me to lay on. He listened as I said, "Now listen here little man. Mommy needs to eat in order for you to grow big and strong. I promise not to eat anymore meatball subs, okay?"
"Does he prefer healthier food?" Ranger asked.
"You're home. I'm so happy to see you. I'd jump up and run to you, but I'm afraid I'd piss myself if I try," I replied. "William prefers anything without marinara sauce."
"Wise little man," he said. "Thank you for running my company, Babe."
"Tank and Lester made it relatively easy for me," I deflected.
He took a seat on the couch beside me and grabbed my hand. We sat in companionable silence for several minutes. Ranger has never been overly talkative. I felt William move towards our joined hands. Carefully, I placed Ranger's hand flat to my stomach. William kicked where his hand was placed.
"Lester will want to train him once he's old enough. He has a strong kick," Ranger stated.
"I know. Lester already said he has dibs on training. I think we should get through this pregnancy before creating exercise plans for William," I joked. "Welcome home soldier." I gave him a kiss on the cheek. Ranger was thinner that I had seen him last.
"Babe," he whispered and pulled me into his arms. "I wish everything was different. That it was my child you are carrying." A lot must have happened during his last mission. I knew better than to ask.