Chapter 29

Ranger's POV

Stephanie Michelle Plum needed to be mine. I desperately needed to feel her writhing underneath me and get her out of my system. My interest in her was purely physical and I would make sure that I accomplished my mission of getting in her bed. Then I would be gone before she woke up the next morning and onto my next conquest. I knew I was wearing her down; no one could resist the great Ranger Manoso for long.

I had it on good authority that Cal was due back into town tonight and I wanted to throw a monkey wrench in his planned homecoming. If I can just get him to believe that Steph and I are involved, it will create enough of a wedge between them that I can pounce and be there to comfort her. It will be an easy task with his history with Madison. Her being so vulnerable would make it the perfect time to get her in the sheets. Then I could leave for Miami in the morning under the guise of handling business and leave everyone else to clean up the mess.

I saw the moment Cal left the airport on my tracking app and watched him closely. He was making good time and should arrive at Steph's just after midnight, assuming that's his current destination. As attached as those two were at the hip, I can't see him going anywhere else after being away on a mission. My plan was to quietly slip into Steph's house undetected and walk out the door, appearing to be doing the walk of shame, when Cal was arriving at her front door. That would give him the impression that I had been cozy with Steph and send him running. I got out of my car and closed the door quietly so as not to rouse suspicion. I walked up to the porch and hid in a dark corner as I dug my lock picking kit out of my pocket. Now I wait for Cal to get closer.

Steph's POV

I tossed and turned in my bed but couldn't seem to quiet my mind enough to go to sleep. Something was setting off my spidey sense. It was almost as though I could feel Cal but the mere idea of that was preposterous. As far as I knew he was still god-knows-where waiting for his flight back home. Still, I couldn't force myself to sleep and wasn't sure why.

I sighed and rolled over into my thinking position, sprawled spread eagle on my bed, and stared at the ceiling for several long minutes. I almost jumped out of my skin when my phone buzzed quietly on the nightstand and I instantly tensed when I recognized the vibration pattern. Ranger was close enough to trigger the alarm I had rigged up to go off anytime his cell phone signal was within a certain radius of my house.

I crawled quietly out of bed and pulled on sweats and a hoodie and shoved my feet into my sneakers. Then I checked my Glock and shoved it in the back of my waistband. A quick peek out the kitchen window told me Ranger was standing on my front porch with a small tool kit in his hand. The asshole was going to do a little B . I picked up my phone and dialed Les.

"'Lo?" he answered sleepily.

"Les, its's Steph. I need you here quickly," I whispered, careful to ensure that Ranger couldn't hear me from outside.

"I'll be out the door in under sixty seconds. What's going on? Do I need a team?" Les asked quickly. I could hear him rustling on the other end of the phone and knew he was getting ready.

"I don't know if you need one, honestly. It's Ranger. He's on my front porch and I'm pretty sure he's about to pick my locks."

"Fuck. Is your alarm set?" Les asked as I heard a door slam and the thundering of boots running down a hallway.

"Yes, it's armed and I have all of the locks engaged so he'll have his work cut out for him if he can even get through those. That floor lock is no joke; I can't imagine that he can disengage it."

"Good. You ready to defend if you have to?" he asked.

"I am," I assured him.

"Alright, I'm gonna grab a couple of the guys and roll. Stay on the line with me but I'm going to be putting on comms and assembling a team so I won't be talking to you for a minute. I'll be able to hear you, though."

I could hear Les talking to someone and what sounded like a very unhappy conversation. There was lots of rustling and moving and then I heard static. I grabbed my Air Pods and slipped one in and then turned off my phone screen and slipped it in my pocket so I had my hands free. A minute later I heard Les in my ear.

"Alright, Steph. I've got your call forwarded to our comms so we can all communicate and you know what's going on, too. I have Tank, Bobby, and Ram loaded up and we're heading that way in two SUVs. We're going to park on the street behind yours and come in on foot so we don't tip Ranger off. Are you still okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. So far I don't hear any noise from outside; I'm not sure what he's waiting for," I answered him.

"I'm not either, but we'll all figure it out together once we get there. Our goal is to hang back and wait to see if we can catch him in the act of breaking in and then subdue him. You'll know our every move," Santos assured me.

"Thank you," I replied quietly. After a couple of minutes I heard his voice again.

"Alright, we're parking on the street behind you. We should be within visual range in under 90 seconds," Les assured me.

I heard my deadbolt tumble and took a deep breath. "He's gotten through the deadbolt," I told Les. I reached in my waistband and took my gun out, prepared to use it if I absolutely had to.

"Going radio silent," Les whispered. "Incoming in ten seconds."