Chapter 12
"Myla Martinez worked distractions for Rangeman Atlanta. She got angry when Carlos refused to sleep with her," Mateo replied.
"Huh," Stephanie said as she entered Myla's name with Rangeman as the employer. Stephanie saw a pretty Latina woman. Martinez turned twenty-five a few days earlier.
Her spidey sense screamed troublemaker and gold-digger. Stephanie assumed Ranger recognized that trait immediately. Perez hired the woman to work distractions. Her employment at Rangeman started a few weeks after Stephanie and Ranger spent their first night together.
Stephanie's mind went back to that night. Carlos told Stephanie that he'd ruin her for other men. Stephanie had ruined him for other women. Once he slept with Stephanie, other women didn't interest him. Stephanie and Ranger had chemistry before they spent a night together. When they finally connected, it was magic and so much more. Ranger couldn't get aroused by anyone other than Stephanie.
Mateo grabbed the other papers and read through the information Stephanie printed. He noticed Myla had a child a year ago. "If she had a child on April 1, 2014, when did she get pregnant?" Mateo said to snap her attention back to the research.
Stephanie used the calendar to figure out the timeframe. "Between June 11 and July 16, 2013, depending on if she had her baby at 36 or 42 weeks," Stephanie stated. Stephanie linked into another database that provided medical information on all Rangeman staff, past and present. Stephanie discovered the woman's sonogram image indicated she got pregnant at the beginning of July. "Why did Myla claim Carlos was the father?"
"I have no idea. Carlos claimed he never slept with her. Martinez got fired a few months later when Carlos returned from his mission. What did you find?" Mateo asked. Stephanie thought it was undeniably more than Martinez would want her to find.
After a few more clicks, she found the application to request a change on the birth certificate. Martinez changed the name from Darius Perez to Ricardo Manoso. Stephanie was annoyed. Why did Martinez change the father's name?
"Carlos and I spent our first night together at the beginning of June that year. Ranger left on a mission a week after our night together and returned after his birthday," Stephanie replied without thinking. "Unless he lied about being gone."
Mateo and Stephanie both knew Ranger wouldn't lie about leaving for missions. She tapped into the military database since she still had clearance to check the files. Carlos was on a mission and met his checkpoints overseas. There was no possible way for him to be stateside while in Afghanistan.
Stephanie pointed at the screen for Mateo to read. If she printed the document, it would go on record. "He's not the baby daddy," Mateo stated.
"Nope," she said as she accentuated the p. "Carlos is my baby daddy."
It got late, and Ricky would wake up to get fed soon. Stephanie yawned and stretched before she walked to the kitchen to drink a beer. She offered one to Mateo. "Should you be drinking?" Mateo asked.
"I can have a few sips," she replied. Mateo waited until she drank half the bottle before he finished her beer. Stephanie rolled her eyes but didn't complain because Carlos did the same thing. They heard Ricky fuss over the baby monitor. Mateo placed the bottle into the recycling bin and followed Stephanie up the stairs.
Stephanie lifted Ricky from the crib and moved towards the changing table before she laid him down. Ricky smiled at his mom. "He's a happy baby," Mateo stated.
"My little man only cries when he needs a diaper change or food," Stephanie responded. "Ricky's very content." If he screamed all the time, she wouldn't know what to do. Valerie got flustered when Angie and Mary Alice were babies. Stephanie assumed her baby would be more of a challenge.
"It's because you're a good mom," Mateo offered as an explanation.
She laughed and shook her head. "Even great moms could have a colicky child. It tries their patience. Ricky makes it easy," Stephanie added.
Darius was relieved when Ranger didn't return after lunch. He noticed the laptop Ranger used wasn't in his office. They checked every inch of the building, and it didn't turn up. He called his second in command into his office.
"What's up?" Javier asked.
"Did Ranger stay on four?" Perez demanded to know.
"No. Ranger stayed at an offsite location. Before you ask, nobody knows where he went. His trackers were offline the second he left the parking area," Javier replied.
Perez was furious and dismissed Javier. He didn't accept that equipment disappeared on his watch. Perez sent a message to his IT department to get a notification if Ranger signed onto the laptop. He didn't think to check other login credentials.
Javier didn't understand Perez's reaction. Ranger was the owner of Rangeman. If he wanted to take every piece of equipment home, it was his prerogative. He went to his office and searched through emails and memos to see if ownership changed. When Javier tried to dig deeper, his access got denied. Javier shrugged his shoulders and assumed he wasn't permitted to know the intricate details of Rangeman operations. He didn't consider there could be another reason to get blocked.
Darius and Javier were childhood friends. He knew Javier's loyalty was to him, not Ranger. During the past four years, Darius systematically transferred men Ranger hired to the other branches. He replaced them with his friends.
Ranger had the helicopter land on the roof of his Trenton branch. He met with Tank, Lester and Bobby. It was time to bring them up to speed without the mention of his child. "I found Stephanie. She's safe. This stop was unscheduled, so I only have a few minutes. Sign these documents," Ranger stated.
Tank read the documents that listed Stephanie Manoso as in charge of Rangeman. "Should I send a company-wide announcement?" Tank asked.
"Not until you get Stephanie's permission. Whatever she wants, give it to her," Ranger replied as the men signed the paperwork. Ranger removed the wedding band from his hand and asked Tank to keep it safe. Lester smiled like an idiot. His cousin, Carlos, finally pulled his head from his ass and married the girl.
Carlos and Lester aren't technically related. Their parents are close friends, and they classify themselves as family. Lester called Ranger's parents Tio Rico and Tia Maria. They were family by choice.
Myla Martinez struggled to get Selena to bed. Selena got too tightly wound to sleep. The terrible twos kicked Myla's ass, and she wondered how other single mothers handled their children. It had been too long since Myla got a decent night of sleep. "You are like the energizer bunny," Myla told Selena.
The little girl giggled. "Bunny," Selena said before she ran away from her mom. "No bed." Myla felt everything was about to fall apart. She got antsy and wondered if Selena was picking up the vibes.
When she gave birth to Selena two years ago, the baby seemed to emulate her moods. If Myla was happy, Selena was too. Myla didn't know the first thing about being a mother. Her mother passed away a few years after she was born. Myla's father raised her until she ran away from home at twelve. He died a few months later when the police raided her childhood home.
Selena ran around the house for a few more hours before she crashed beneath the coffee table. Myla sighed as she moved the object to collect her naked daughter. She walked through the messy house to put Selena to bed. Luckily, Selena didn't wake up when Myla laid her down.
Myla didn't like an untidy home. She returned to the main floor to put everything back in its place. Selena pulled the books and DVDs off the bookshelf in the living room. It didn't take long to replace them. The dining room chairs got lined up in a large rectangle, the blanket from the couch got draped across them to create a fort. Myla smiled as she put everything back.
"It's not so bad," Myla murmured before she walked into the kitchen. She froze mid-step. Selena took a bag of flour, poured it everywhere. She mixed water into the flour to create a hard crusty coating on everything. Selena's soiled clothes were in the middle of the mess. It took a few minutes to notice the footprints on the carpet that stretched from the kitchen to the dining room. Myla sunk to her knees and cried.
Five hours later, Myla got the kitchen cleaned. The crusted footprints on the carpet would take longer to handle. She was too tired to continue. Myla was tired as she climbed the stairs and climbed into bed. A few minutes later, Selena joined her.
Early the following morning, Myla went to her home office and made sure Selena didn't destroy anything in the room. She was relieved to find everything clean and organized. The locked file cabinet was untouched, and the key was hanging on the high hook. Myla knew it was stupid to leave the cabinet key in the room, but Selena tended to flush small objects. She couldn't risk the key getting flushed.
Myla opened the cabinet to check the certificates folder in the drawer. Selena's baptism and modified birth certificates were the only items in the file. She moved the original one to her safety deposit box at the bank.
Mateo and Stephanie poured over the documents after breakfast. Stephanie highlighted several items while Mateo laid his nephew in the playpen that Ranger set up a few weeks earlier. Mateo raised an eyebrow when Stephanie suddenly grabbed her phone. When Hector answered the call, she shouted, "I need all correspondence involving Darius Perez now!" She turned to Mateo and asked, "Who has control over Rangeman while Carlos is gone?"
"I assume it's Tank. He typically gets left in charge," Mateo replied. In any case, Stephanie needed help from her trusted Rangeman Trenton friends.
"Yo," Tank said as he connected Mateo's call. Tank was surprised to hear from Mateo. Ranger's younger brother rarely contacted anyone at Rangeman.
"Tank. Who did Carlos leave in charge of Rangeman?" Mateo asked as he put the call on speaker for Stephanie to hear their conversation.
Tank looked at the document they signed several hours ago. "Stephanie," he replied.
"Whatever you do, do not send a company-wide memo. We have trouble brewing in the Atlanta branch," Mateo stated.
"Give me the phone," Tank heard Stephanie demand. Tank smiled when Little Girl's voice echoed through the line.
Stephanie read the correspondence Hector forwarded to her hidden email account. "Tank, I need Lester, Bobby and you to come to Atlanta immediately. Leave Ram, Cal, Hal and Vince in charge. Get Hector and the others into Ranger's apartment. I'll wait," Stephanie ordered.
Tank followed Ranger's direction and did as Stephanie asked. Within a few minutes, the men were in Ranger's apartment. Stephanie switched their call to video. "Steph, Stephanie, bomber, Little Girl, Beautiful," the men greeted at once.
Mateo sat beside Stephanie for the men to see both of them. "Tank just informed Mat that I'm in charge of Rangeman. Please do not tell anyone the details of this meeting or share what you learn through my disclosure. We planned to keep this secret, but you guys need to know what's at stake," Stephanie stated.
The men could hear a baby cry in the background. Stephanie waited for Mateo to return with Ricky. She passed Mateo the phone while she positioned Ricky on her breast. Lester gasped when he realized why Stephanie escaped.
"Carlos and I have a four-month-old son. I named him after Ranger. We got married on Valentine's Day," Stephanie said as Ricky released her breast. Mateo made sure the men didn't see any boob shots. Stephanie turned the boy around for his uncles to see him. "Ricky, these are your uncles. They're going to help us."
She put Ricky back on her breast and stroked his cheek until he latched. "Now, back to the issue at hand," she continued. "Ram, Hal, Cal and Vince, I'm placing you men in charge of the Trenton branch. I need Tank, Lester and Bobby in Atlanta immediately. The Atlanta branch manager siphoned funds from Rangeman. He claimed equipment expenses but never used the money for equipment. Perez gave the money to Myla Martinez as support payments from Carlos."
"Ranger never slept with Martinez," Bobby stated. "And I have a copy of the paternity test. Carlos is not the father. The child belongs to Perez."
"That's what I uncovered, too," Stephanie replied. "Martinez only met Ranger one time, which was the day he fired her for intentionally endangering his men. Perez had the Rangeman Atlanta ownership changed to his name and hired Dickie Orr to file the documents with the courts. Someone else forged Ranger's signature. He was away on a mission when the transfer got signed. Perez and Orr are working to steal Rangeman. They used the Atlanta branch as a test to see if they could get away with their scheme."
"Holy crap!" Ram shouted.
"Ram, Cal, Hal and Vince, you are getting left in charge because I trust each of you. I know you are capable of operating Rangeman Trenton. Lester, ask your brother, Axel, at the Miami branch to help in Trenton. Tank, Bobby, likewise for your cousins, Hunter and Marlin, in Boston. I know it would leave the Boston office down an extra man from Miami, but we need their help. You have your assignments. Dismissed," Stephanie ordered.
Mateo was surprised Stephanie knew Hunter and Marlin were related to Tank and Bobby. They didn't have the same last name. Axel, Noah Santos, Mateo could understand how she made the connection. "You're great at finding stuff," Mateo praised.
"It's my specialty at Rangeman," Stephanie confessed.
Stephanie called Hector as she waited for her team to arrive. "Hermano," she greeted.
"Is this regarding your order?" Hector asked.
"Yes," Stephanie replied.
"I know what to do. Adios," Hector said before he hung up.
"What is Hector doing?" Mateo curiously asked.
Since she needed Mateo to know everything, she told him. "Myla Martinez listed Ricardo Carlos Manoso as Selena Martinez's father on the birth certificate. Hector will redact the information and change it back to Darius Perez. Martinez has a safe deposit box at the Delta credit union. I suspect she placed Selena's original birth certificate in the vault. We can't access the information until we have a search warrant. Martinez never sued Carlos for support payments," Stephanie explained.
"Because she didn't sue Carlos for financial assistance, there's no court record to suggest he's the biological father," Mateo stated.
"Correct. We can charge Perez with embezzlement. He siphoned over 50K before he stole Rangeman Atlanta. Orr isn't licensed to practice in the state of Georgia, so we can have the property transfer overturned."
"But that's not what you're going to do," Mateo said as he took Ricky from Stephanie. The boy smiled at his uncle before burping. "Let me put you in bed, little man." Stephanie smiled as Mateo laid her son in the playpen.
Stephanie was exhausted. She had trouble sleeping without Carlos. Mateo offered to grab them coffee from the kitchen. Stephanie closed her eyes as she leaned her head back. She was asleep on the couch when Mateo returned to the living room. Stephanie is a gorgeous woman, Mateo thought.
Her dark eyelashes rested on her pale cheekbones. Stephanie's long, curly hair was loose around her shoulders. Her porcelain skin tone and dark hair were in perfect contrast. Together, they illuminated her blue eyes.
Mateo watched her sleep for a few minutes before he read through the documents Stephanie highlighted. Stephanie left a note for him on the last page. "Death is too good for this man."