Chapter 33

SPOV

I was compiling the data Binkie and I gathered for the Rangers' mission. Dad, Uncle Bernie and Uncle Andy were organizing everything so Ranger and Tank could create a tactical plan.

Binkie and I weren't permitted to return to Trenton until their mission is complete. It wasn't safe for us to leave. I'll be away from my husband longer than I want. General Dietz is currently in Miami visiting his son. He's on vacation for the next few weeks, which leaves little time for us to get our men into place. Ranger and his team need to be on top of Compton before anyone can go after Dietz. I had a feeling Ranger wanted that honour for himself.

We finished with our initial job and gave the team the information. Ranger and the team entered our secure room to be debriefed. When he saw me, his lip curled into a tiny smile before saying, "Pleasure to meet you Major."

"You too Major Manoso," I said with a small smile.

Bobby, Tank, Lester, Ram and Hal were wearing matching smiles. "I knew it," Bobby said before pulling me into his arms. I was passed around the team for hugs. We took our seats around the table to discuss the mission.

Dad took point on our meeting, "You men know who we are?"

Ranger replied, "Sly Fox and Eclipse."

"During your time here, she must be referred to as Michelle or Mitch," dad informed everyone.

"When did you piece everything together?" Bernie asked.

"A few days after Mitch left," Ranger answered using my Army name.

Uncle Bernie looked at Tank and raised an eyebrow. I guess he was going around the room to determine when everyone knew. We needed to know if anyone knew prior to my deployment. "When she announced her leave of absence," Tank replied.

Andy jumped in, "Did you tell anyone?"

"No sir. I told nobody, not even my boss," he answered.

"I made a joke during our meeting about Mitch being with Binkie. Other than the roomful of Rangeman staff, I haven't told anyone else." Lester answered.

Bobby stated, "During the meeting Santos mentioned. I whispered my suspicion to her husband. He's the only person I told."

"Also during the meeting after Santos joked about Mitch and Binkie," Ram stated.

"It was the same time for me, during the meeting," Hal stated.

"Did either of you tell anyone?" Uncle Andy asked.

"No sir," they answered at the same time.

"Keep it that way," dad sternly told them. "Now we need to go over the plans."

I was so pissed these men uncovered my identity. It was a guarded secret for many years. Someone obviously wanted to expose me… likely someone holding a grudge against Eclipse. I must have uncovered something or close to uncovering something they wanted to remain hidden. There was no hiding from me. Dietz must have a lot of skeletons in his closet and I'm just the person to rattle the bones.

For the next few hours, Ranger and his team were brought up to speed. Dad went over the mission parameters. Watching my Merry Men in this capacity seemed almost unreal. A few times, they looked at me and smiled. Lester was practically vibrating from excitement.

As they were finalizing their drop off point, I interrupted. "Ranger, you need to be dropped here. It's a bit farther than your target, but it will keep you away from the ambush here," I said pointing to the area on the map. He didn't question my modification to their drop zone. It would add another hour on foot, but it would keep my friends safe.

"You need to tell him," Ranger stated. I knew he was telling me to call my husband.

They reworked their plan as I stepped away to place my call. "Hey," he answered.

"Hey lover," I said lacking enthusiasm.

"You can't come home," he stated.

"Not yet. I have to stay here to help," I truthfully stated.

"I know Sweetheart. Take care of them. They need your help," Lucas said. He is an amazing husband and I really miss him. I wanted to tell him how much I love him, but I couldn't form the words. Lucas needs to know I'm off the grid until the men return. I'll be permitted to call once every 2 weeks to check in.

"Honey," I started.

"We all know the protocol. You can only check in," he stated for me.

"Yes. It may be me or my partner. I have to go now. Love you," I said. We hung up after he reciprocated.

Binkie's arms wrapped around me. "Mitch, you'll see him soon.

"Thanks Bink, I really needed a hug," I whispered into his shoulder. I never really knew Binkie outside of Rangeman. Working with him during the last few weeks was very easy. He's more outgoing than I initially thought. I learned he has a younger brother and sister. His sister is a nurse and his brother is currently serving in Afghanistan. In turn, I told him more about my family. Binkie is like the younger brother I've always wanted.

"Due to the sensitivity of this mission," Uncle Bernie started, "Only people in this room knows of its existence. Andy, Frank and I will be running our own op to capture General Dietz and his son. When I receive the orders from Mitch, we are off the grid. If this mission goes sideways, you're on your own. Report to Mitch every second Friday. Does everyone understand their mission?"

"Yes sir," we all replied. He handed everyone a secure satellite phone to use during our mission. My phone had 2 preprogrammed numbers. One was for the Rangeman satellite phone, the other was Dad's number. The Rangers' phones only had my number programmed. You couldn't recall the number and it wasn't stored as speed dial 1 either. Pressing the number 8 button would directly call my phone. It would need to stay with me during their absence.

Each man gave me a tight hug and kissed my cheek before exiting the room. They were leaving in a few hours. "Proud of you Babe. Don't go crazy," Ranger whispered into my ear.

"Don't get shot," I quickly replied.

The moment he left, I realized I wasn't so angry about the men learning my secret. I really hate secrets. It was nice to finally have this one in the open. Now all I had to do was keep myself alive.

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

LPOV

I had a feeling Stephanie was going to be away longer than we originally thought. Her brief call confirmed my fear. She can only check in once every few weeks, only talking enough to let me know she's safe.

Hector knocked on the door before entering Ranger's office. "She'll be okay hermano," he said while closing the door. He used his fob to scramble the camera feed. "All camera access from the other Rangeman branches is disabled. Silvio will monitor the Miami branch. I'm monitoring Boston."

He carried out my orders to perfection. We cut the feed and put a program in place to notify us if anyone attempts to bring them back online. I wonder where he found that program. "Angel," he answered. "She wrote the program."

"I have to ask… did you know she served in the Army?" I asked him. If anyone knew that piece of her past, it would be Hector.

"Si. I found out when I first met her," he answered honestly.

"Her name isn't anywhere in the database," I muttered.

"She hid herself well. I checked all combinations of her name. When I found her, the information suddenly disappeared before I could dig deeper," he added.

"Is that why you reversed my search into the military database?" I asked.

"A little. Mostly it was to protect her. I didn't know she was Eclipse until a few weeks ago… when she transferred my money."

"I think she wanted you to know. She's tired of keeping secrets from you," I told Hector.

"Angel will be angry when all the men find out," he stated.

"Maybe at first, but I think she'll be happier in the long run." I sensed the truth of my words. Stephanie would be so much happier if all the men knew she was one of us.

Hector reactivated the cameras and left Ranger's office. It felt strange working from his office, but I needed to stay visible to the men. Being in charge meant using the boss' office. Cal was managing the payroll in Tank's absence. Woody took over Lester's job with client contracts. We all had our temporary roles and worked from the respective office.

Stephanie called to inform me she'd be gone longer than anticipated. I decided to stay in our Rangeman apartment to make it easier for the men to contact me. Woody and Cal came into my office before calling it a day. "I tried to get information on their mission and was stonewalled," Cal announced.

"It sounds like they're playing it safe," I stated.

"When was the last time an active Ranger couldn't get info on a mission?" Hal asked.

"Last year," I answered. I wasn't sure if they knew about the special op mission involving the kidnapping of the 6 year old Prince of Spain. His parents left him in the care of his nanny. A few hours after she put him to bed, he was taken. It took several weeks to discover his location in Scotland. The child was traumatized and beaten. If they didn't find him when they did, he'd be dead. Given the timeline, Stephanie was working the case. She discovered the boy's father had an affair with the former 18 year old nanny. When he ended their relationship, she was pregnant. Unfortunately she miscarried and it triggered a mental break.

"Right, the kidnapping," Cal made the connection. He was involved with the mission.

"Nobody would tells us anything," Hal shared his memory.

"Her accomplice was a former US soldier," I stated. "The government didn't want this soldier to notify the ex-nanny."

We chatted for another hour before grabbing some food from the break room. Ella made her low fat empanadas. Stephanie will be upset she missed these. "I'll make some for hija when she returns," Ella whispered before patting my cheek.

Several weeks passed without hearing from Ranger or Stephanie. She was due to call this evening for a check in.

Mallory started at Rangeman this morning. It didn't take long for her to catch onto the work we left for her. Before she left, Stephanie created a manual for searches. Any searches involving military checks had to be sent to me or Hector. Since I'm acting CEO, they landed on Hector's desk.

As I prepared to finish the day, I received a call on the Rangeman satellite secure phone. "Yo," I answered.

"I don't have much time," Stephanie quickly said. "Get my sister, now!" she commanded.

Muting the satellite phone I used the desk phone to speak over the intercom. "Mallory Price, report to my office now."

She came running into the room. "Is it Steph? Frank? Is something wrong?"

"Steph and Frank are fine, I think. Close the door." I used my fob to scramble the cameras, then put the phone on speaker.

"Did you get her?" I heard my wife ask.

"I'm here. What's wrong?" Mallory asked.

"Mal, you don't know this, but I'm in the Army. I'm on a mission right now. The guys are in trouble and I don't trust anyone else besides Bink. Mal, can you please help me? We need your personal connections," Stephanie pleaded.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"A plane. Mal, do you still fly?" she asked.

"I do and I can borrow a plane. Where are we going?" Mallory asked.

"Afghanistan," she replied.

"Pick up in DC?"

"No. We had to leave base. Pick us up at Pilots cove. Do you know where it is?"

"I do. I'll be there in a few hours."

"I love you Luke. Come alone Mel. Hurry," she said before hanging up.

"Lucas, I'll bring her home. Do you have clothes for Binkie and Steph?"

"Leave it to me. Use the office and this phone to place your calls," I said as I gave her the Rangeman satellite phone.

I ran to Tank's office to grab Cal. "Hey Cal, can you organize a bag for Binkie. He needs dark clothing and twice the amount of weapons."

"Done," he said before leaving to gather the items. I heard him bark an order to Woody to grab the weapons.

Running to my apartment, I met Ella just outside the door. She already packed a bag for both Stephanie and Mallory. "Lucas, I already have her bag," she stated as I opened the door.

"How did you know?" I asked her.

"Carlos asked me to prepare her duffle in case of emergency. I have 2 identical bags packed. Mallory and Stephanie wear the same size." She handed me the duffles. Ella went down a few doors and knocked on Binkie's door. With a quick wave to me, she entered his apartment.

I caught Mallory on the elevator. "This bag is for you. Ella packed," I say handing her the duffle. Mallory lived off site in an apartment. We didn't have any rooms available at Rangeman. Once Frank's new house closes next month, she'll be moving in with him.

"It saves me a trip home. I found a plane big enough to handle the flight. She said to come alone, but I need a copilot. Do we have someone here?" Mallory asked.

"We do. Manny has a current pilot's license. Follow me," I directed her back to the fifth floor. As I passed the monitors, I tapped Manny's shoulder. "Junior, find someone to replace Manny. We need his help." Junior nodded and Manny followed me to Ranger's office.

Cal and Woody met me in the office. "What's up boss?" Manny asked.

I ensured the cameras were scrambled before I started, "Steph and Binkie need Mallory's help."