Chapter 32

SPOV

It was a few days before I was able to call my husband again. I was too busy chasing down a lead. This man I'm trying to find has infiltrated various groups to push his cause. He should have died 6 years ago, but he somehow survived. I'm not sure how it was even possible. They confirmed he was dead. Someone obviously helped him. All that time I spent finding him in the first place seemed like a complete waste of my time.

Much to our surprise, Binkie was assigned as my partner. I usually worked alone or with Dad. Being paired with someone else put me at risk. Dad was working with Uncle Bernie and Uncle Andy to plan out the Rangers mission to neutralize this man. I was running an additional search on all men involved with the mission. Carlos, Bobby, Tank, Lester, Cal, Hal, Ram, Manny and Junior were on Ranger's team. A ground troop of 15 men assisted them.

Binkie was fixing some programs as I continued digging for this man. My spidey sense was humming. I knew my Merry Men weren't involved, but I still needed to check into their backgrounds. One of the men on the ground was either bribed or threatened into helping. My money was on a bribe. "Hey Bink?"

"What did you find Mitch?" he asked reverting to my military name.

"I'm not entirely sure, but it looks like someone tried to hack into the computer to change some information. They didn't do a very good job either," I said as he moved closer to see my screen. I started running through the database to find more anomalies.

"Where did you learn that trick?" Binkie asked.

I've been running on fumes for the last few days. This mission had me so consumed I answered without thinking, "If you look here, you can see the original information lying just beneath the change. Once you clear out all the nonsense, you uncover the truth."

"No fucking way! Oh my God, I'm such a huge fan," he stated. I could tell he was very excited. "You have more layers than I realized. How did we not know who you really are?" he asked. Crap!

"It was a carefully guarded secret," I replied honestly. "I'm not used to having a partner other than my dad."

"You can trust me. I've been trying to figure out which member of our troop was the elusive Eclipse. It never occurred to me it was you," he stated truthfully.

"Everyone underestimates the woman," I mumbled. Unfortunately it was true. Women can do anything a man can do. Binkie has skills and they've been utilized to help maintain Rangeman's databases and programs. However, I'm so much better than him.

"Remind me to never underestimate you again. Can I call you Eclipse?" he asked me grinning. He was watching me quickly write and insert code to 'scrub' this part of the database to uncover information this other person hid.

"No. While we're here, you need to call me Mitch or Michelle," I answered. We were working in a secure room so our conversation was completely private.

"You're right. So when you're working alone or with your dad behind the scenes, I can call you Eclipse?" I bumped my shoulder against his. He knew I was giving him permission to use my secret name in that scenario.

"Exactly," I said to clarify.

Later that night I called my husband. I really missed him. It was strange sleeping alone in my bed. He probably missed me as much. "Hey," he answered.

"Hey lover," I said my usual response. "I'm having problems sleeping without you."

"Me too. I've been using our gym more. Your friends have been keeping me out of trouble," he told me.

"Out of trouble? Well that doesn't sound like them at all," I joked. Lester and Bobby were nothing but trouble. Hector and Roger were a little more reserved. I could see them sparring with him to burn off energy.

"They miss you too. You've only been gone one week and it's the second time you called."

"I know. I've been very busy. Between the exercises and searches, I barely have enough time to eat," I complained.

"So are you two partners?" he asked, referring to Binkie.

"We are. He has serious skills. Why aren't they utilizing them at work?" I wondered aloud.

"Like you, he doesn't like being stuck behind a monitor every day. It makes him stir crazy," he answered. Ah… Binkie and I were alike in many ways. "Not to mention your skills are superior."

"Thank you," I laughed. "I wasn't fishing for a compliment." We talked for a few more minutes until exhaustion started pulling me from consciousness.

"Good night my love. I love you," Lucas said when he heard me yawn.

"I love you too. Night lover. I can't wait to see you again," I said before hanging up. A tear ran down my cheek as I stroked my naked ring finger. I couldn't shake the feeling my life was about to dramatically change.

Binkie and I worked tirelessly for 4 days to write the program to fix the database. He would test each portion as I wrote and edited each line of code. Finding the right combination to delete falsified data and recover old data was a gruelling task.

"It's fortunate the database administrator keeps every backup copy," Binkie stated. He apparently uncovered the backups.

"Smart man, you found my stash," I said as I continued to write the program. I was creating a complex query to compare the new data to previous back ups. After I wrote the final line, I installed it for Binkie to test on the 'practice' database server. He ran the program and gave me the thumbs up. We can run it live.

It took almost an hour for the program scrub to work. Binkie was monitoring the progress as I continued to filter through the remaining records. "Mitch… we found something." I moved to his terminal to see what his display showed. Binkie retrieved the military photo along with his personal information.

"You have got to be kidding!" I practically shouted.

"I'm not. He's the one responsible. It looks like he made the changes using someone else's criteria. At least that's what your program uncovered," Binkie explained.

Staring back at me was the picture of a man named Damien Dietz. There was nothing remarkable about this man. He was average looking and wouldn't stand out in a crowd. I needed to warn Tank. Dietz was gunning for Ranger. "Binkie, Tank needs to know. I think Dietz was hired as a contract worker in Miami. We have to catch him now."

Following correct protocol, Binkie contacted our CO. Bernie arrived within a few minutes. "What did you find?" he asked.

"Take a look," I said, pointing to Binkie's computer monitor.

"Well I'll be damned," he said while reading. "I knew partnering you two would find this fucker." Uncle Bernie called Andy and dad, ordering them to our location. I didn't have the heart to tell him partnering us was not a wise move. From one seemingly simple pairing, my secret was blown wide open.

Dad entered the room and smiled at me. He knew I could locate the inside man selling military secrets. Bernie's face hardened as he read more about Dietz. When dad read the information on Binkie's monitor, his face changed from smiles to outrage. Andy's face mirrored dad's when he read the intel.

"Do you think he knows?" I asked dad referring to Damien's father.

"I doubt it," he answered. "We need to plan this carefully as a precaution. I don't want him to warn his son." I wasn't as optimistic as dad. My spidey sense hummed in warning. General Dietz could not be trusted. Unfortunately for me, Dietz is Binkie's handler.

I listened as they planned their operation. The more they planned, the more panicked I became. We need to continue our original plan. It's the only way we can capture this other man. Binkie pulled me into his arms. "What's wrong?" he whispered into my ear.

"Everything. If we go after them now, we'll miss our opportunity to capture the man we really need to neutralize. My secret is already out there. It's just a matter of time before someone comes after me," I whispered back.

Dad noticed the expression on my face and immediately stopped talking. "Pumpkin, is it wise for us to arrest General Dietz and Damien?"

"No. It's going to tip off Compton. You'll need to wait until the Rangers capture him first," I answered.

"What are you suggesting?" Uncle Bernie asked. I told him everything I would do to capture Compton then the Dietz men. My spidey sense was telling me there was more than meets the eye, but I needed more time.

Bernie took my advice and contacted Ranger. I remained silent as he also called Tank, Bobby, Lester, Ram and Hal. They were to report early tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LPOV

The call finally came in. Stephanie has been in DC for almost 2 weeks. She only managed to talk to me twice in all that time. I wanted to call her, but it wasn't permitted. We all know the protocol. Ranger returned to Trenton a few days ago. He was holed up in his private apartment with Tank, Lester and Bobby for hours after his return.

Rangeman apartments weren't wired. If you wanted to have a private conversation, you went to your apartment. I wondered what they were discussing. It was obviously big since they met again today for a few hours.

Tank called everyone in for an emergency meeting. Cal, Woody and I were in charge of Rangeman during their absence. Nobody inside the walls of Rangeman Trenton were to discuss the whereabouts of the core team to anyone else. To do so would mean immediate termination… definitely big, I thought to myself. Somebody within our Rangeman family must be doing something they shouldn't be doing. I doubt it was our full or part time staff. My gut tells me it's a contract worker.

Ranger stated, "Utilize our Trenton permanent staff. Under no circumstances are you to contact the other Rangeman offices for assistance or use contract workers. All vacation time is cancelled effective immediately."

We knew better than to complain about the edict. There must be a very logical reason for the order. If anyone is told, it would be me, Cal and Woody since we're being left in charge. As though he could read my mind, Ranger said, "Rodriguez, Cal, Woody, follow me."

Once the other men returned to their stations, I followed Cal and Woody into the elevator. We met Ranger outside his apartment. He opened the door to grant us access. I sat on the couch with Cal and Woody.

Ranger sat on the coffee table in front of us. "What I tell you cannot leave this room. We received intel that one of our contract workers has been selling or leaking intel to some of my enemies. All Rangeman Trenton employees have been cleared. Boston and Miami permanent employees are being investigated. Around half my employees have been cleared, but I don't want any of the contract workers to be notified."

"Are you saying one of the contract workers is directly responsible?" Woody asked.

"That is exactly what I'm saying," he stated.

Cal whistled, "He seriously just fucked himself." I couldn't agree more.

"He's a dead man," Ranger said through clenched teeth. Absolutely nobody messes with Ranger's life and gets away with it.

"How far is his reach?" I had to ask.

"All the way to the top," he answered.

"Is your mission in jeopardy?" Cal asked.

"More than usual." Ranger really shouldn't have answered, but we need to know the risks. Tank knocked on the door before entering with the Rangeman lawyer. A thick file folder was in Tank's hands. Lester and Bobby entered a few minutes later.

Ranger reached for the folder and opened it. He signed the documents before Tank, Lester and Bobby followed suit. "If anything happens to me, Stephanie will inherit my shares in Rangeman and become CEO. Rodriguez will take over as interim CEO until Stephanie returns from her leave. Cal is your second, Woody your third." I signed the document before passing it to Cal and Woody. Once all copies were signed, we were dismissed.

We silently took the elevator back to the Rangeman apartments. Cal and Woody followed me into my apartment. I grabbed beers from my fridge and passed them around. "This shit is serious," Cal stated. "It's the first time he put me as a second."

"I have to admit it's the first time I have ever been considered to take over. It feels kind of strange," I confessed.

"Usually Ram and Hal are left in charge," Woody stated.

"They're needed for this mission," Cal reminded us.

"It must be pretty bad if they're pulling all the top guys. Well almost all the top guys," Woody said as he looked at me.

"My contract ended a few years ago. I don't have any unresolved undercover missions, so I won't be deployed again," I told them.

"Woody and I still have a few years left on our contracts."

We drank our beers and talked about the next morning. Ranger and his team were leaving in the early hours. A helicopter would be arriving at 0200 on the Rangeman roof to take them to DC. I said goodnight to Cal and Woody and locked the door behind them.

Two knocks sounded on my door minutes after the men left. I opened my door to find Ranger standing on the other side. "Ranger," I greeted him.

"Rodriguez. May I enter?" he asked. I opened my door wide for him to enter. He took a seat in the arm chair. Raising my eyebrow, I took a seat on the couch across from him. I waited for him to talk. "I know about Babe."

"What about her?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow before making his way to the door. "Eclipse. We'll protect her," he answered before leaving my apartment. My wife's secret is about to become public knowledge.