Chapter 11
Casey didn't cry when the priest poured water over his head. He blinked as he looked into Ranger's eyes. Nicky agreed to be Casey's godmother. She wasn't intimidated by Carlos or Hector, which goes to show her strength and confidence. I guess growing up surrounded by cops helped.
My dad, Danny, stood beside me, smiling like a proud grandpa. I squeezed his hand, silently thanking him for being here. He raised an eyebrow when I rubbed my abdomen. "Yes," I whispered. Dad draped his arm across my shoulder and squeezed it.
Ranger held Casey until he had to leave. I hugged my friends before they left for their mission. Woody took Casey from Ranger so I could hug my best friend. "Don't get shot," I whispered.
"Don't go crazy," he responded. He kissed my forehead and hugged me tight.
Work was going to be busy without Cal and Zip on my team. I had Hawk and Denny to help in the department, but I still needed more help. "You could hire more veterans," Woody suggested. "Frank said he knows more men looking to work a few hours a week. We discussed options before you hired your uncle. It could help fill in the gaps."
"Hmmm. You gave me a lot to think about. I'll need to meet with my team," I replied.
"Darlin', you make the rules," Woody said, laughing.
I grinned before taking Casey from his arms. Before I could get Casey settled on my shoulder, dad took him from me. "Hey," I complained.
"You get to see him every day. I have to get my fix whenever I can," Danny stated.
"Okay, Dad. You can hold him," I conceded.
Tank, Lester, Woody and I met for brunch on Sunday morning. Casey was visiting with his Uncle Hector. "Is this a working brunch?" Lester asked, taking the seat across from me.
"Maybe a little. I wanted to bounce around ideas. All of the Rangeman branches are expanding. A few clients have associated businesses in LA. They asked if we planned to open a branch in the area. Other areas of interest are Phoenix, Las Vegas, Houston and Nashville. Woody suggested we hire other veterans, such as retired or disabled, to work with clients, monitor duty, searches, and Human Resources," I stated.
Lester grinned. "I've been telling the others that we need to expand the business. Ranger is the CEO, and he still has a military contract. How will this impact his workload?" Lester wondered.
"That's the roadblock that I hit. He manages everything from equipment, medical supplies, office supplies and other items that an office manager should be handling. The roll of CEO should be managing a team of executives. I understand Ranger likes to have control and he can still maintain the control, but have other people do the grunt work," I replied.
"I like how you think, Little Girl. Getting Ranger to agree with the shift in job responsibilities would present a challenge. Who do you have in mind for the executives?" Tank asked.
"Tank, you'll be in charge of the Accounting department. I know you manage payroll for all of the Rangeman offices. I recommend hiring a person at each branch to prepare payroll that you review biweekly and grant approval. They submit a monthly report outlining employees, wages issued, and hours worked. Bonuses or hazard pay get calculated separately and paid weekly, so it should get included in a separate report," I answered.
"It would be easier for the accounting team to separate the expenses," Tank replied.
"Lester, you handle sales and client contract negotiations. Do you also write the contracts?" I asked.
Lester proudly replied, "I most certainly do."
"Why?" I wondered. "Rangeman has a legal team. What do they get paid to do?"
"Most of the contracts are standard. I just have to fill in the security terms specific to the client."
"Again, why? Rangeman pays a lot to the law firm. Why doesn't Rangeman have a legal team on staff?" I always wondered why they paid a flat rate per month. "You'll get more bang for your buck if you had your own legal team. If you open more branches, you'll need them. Would Mark Hudson be willing to work exclusively for Rangeman, leading a team?"
"He's been thinking about starting a firm," Tank answered. "Hudson liked rescuing you from the New York precinct. At the time, he asked if Rangeman would consider opening a legal department." I laughed because I liked Mark rescuing me too.
"We could hire veterans with law degrees," Lester added.
"Rangeman would need to revamp their physical fitness requirements," Woody reminded me.
"Yes, that needs to get overhauled too. You can't expect a physically challenged veteran to take Ranger to the mats. I can work with Juan Jimeno to create a protocol for amputees, age groups, that kind of concept," I suggested.
"Physically challenged. I like that. It's better than calling them disabled," Lester stated.
"And that's why I'm in charge of Human Resources," I joked. My stomach grumbled. "Okay, enough business, I need to feed the fetus."
"You're pregnant again?" Tank asked.
"Yes. This little pumpkin is our last one," I replied.
"Are you sure? I thought Casey would be an only child," Lester wondered.
"It takes a few months for the swimmers to stop swimming," I joked. "And you can get pregnant while nursing."
"Are you going to have a girl this time?" Tank asked. I shrugged because it didn't matter to me.
"We should know in a few months," Woody added. Lester was excited to start the baby pool. I rolled my eyes when he said they had to get the birth date, time, weight and length to win.
I took a bite of sausage before immediately spitting it into the napkin. "You can't eat sausage this time?" Woody asked.
"Nope. I doubt I could eat any pork," I replied as I stole a slice of bacon from Tank's plate. The bite of bacon joined the sausage. "I'm right. No pork."
Tank returned the favour by taking all of the sausages off my plate. "Hey, Tank. I was going to eat those," Woody said, his southern drawl heavier than usual.
My job got increasingly busier over the next few months. I investigated the cost of hiring a legal team versus adding work to the firm Rangeman used. Rangeman would save thousands in legal fees.
"Are you okay, Little Girl?" Tank asked when I groaned.
"I have a kink in my neck. Did you know that Brown, Bruner and Stevens charge us a monthly fee to keep them on retainer, then charge between one and six thousand for every call?" I asked, pointing at the report.
"Huh. Is that why you asked for the lawyer expenses from the past two years?" Tank wondered.
"Yes. If we want Rangeman to have a legal team, I need to justify the expense to the CEO," I replied.
"Little Girl, I'm the acting CEO. How much did we pay in legal fees per month, on average?" Tank asked.
I referred to the spreadsheet and replied, "12K in Boston, 16K in Atlanta, 23K in Miami and 14K here. That's a total of 65000 per month, 780000 per year. We could hire a team to handle all of Rangeman's needs for 600000 per year if we hire paralegals to do the grunt work."
"Hudson dropped off a new contract yesterday," Tank announced. "We have thirty days to sign or hire a new company."
"Hmm," I groaned as I stretched my neck. Tank moved behind me to massage my neck. "Feels so good," I moaned.
Woody laughed when he entered my office. "Time to go," he said, tapping his watch.
"Thanks, Tank. Think about the law department. Ask Hudson if he's interested in working exclusively for Rangeman. Don't sign the contract. I have a few people in mind," I said. "It's the gender reveal time."
"Tank's going to be happy," Woody said, staring at the sonogram image.
"I know. He wanted me to have a girl. Tank, Manny and Erin?" I asked.
"Yes. I like your choices. What about her name?"
"Since we named Casey after my biological mother. I was wondering how you felt about Daniella."
"After your dad and Ella?" I smiled when he guessed correctly. "Her middle name?" Woody asked.
"Do you remember the Twilight Saga books?"
"Sure. You read Breaking Dawn a few times, then made me watch the movies," Woody laughed.
"Ya, and you were a good sport. I like the idea Bella had when she combined Renee and Esme's names to get Renesmee. How do you feel about combining our first names?" I asked, unsure how he would react.
"Are you thinking of mashing our names as the book, or did you have a different idea, Darlin'?"
"I was thinking Rowanie," I replied.
"Rowanie," Woody repeated a few times. "Daniella Rowanie Johnson." I patiently waited for him to react. "Darlin', I love it."
"Thank goodness. Oh, I need to call Ella," I suddenly remembered. "Hi, Ella."
"Hija, how was the ultrasound?" Ella asked.
"Great. Set up box A," I replied.
"I'm so happy for you and Woody. Meet me in the control room," Ella said before hanging up.
"I assume box A contains pink helium-filled balloons?" Woody unnecessarily asked.
"Obviously," I replied. "Did you see the betting pool?"
"Yup. About half the men guessed girl," Woody replied.
I wasn't surprised. The men got their Rangeboy and wanted me to have their Rangegirl. As Casey outgrew his Rangeman onesies, Woody and I found replacements in a bigger size on our desks. It was silly, but it kept the men happy.
Woody got cleared for full duty, except in the field, earlier that morning. He lost some flexibility in his left wrist, but he could still do his job. Juan was confident that Woody could regain full motion through target therapy. He explained that some exercises repeated multiple times a day could potentially stretch the ligament.
When you continuously hyperextend your wrist, you could stretch the ligament to make it longer. Juan said he injured his left thumb on a mission. He hyperextended his thumb, stretching the ligament too much. It never shrunk back to its initial length. His theory stated if you purposely hyperextend your wrist daily, you could expand the ligament enough to regain full motion. Woody winced when he performed the exercises. I'm not a kinesiologist, so what do I know? However, it seems to be working.
All of the men were waiting in the control room for the gender reveal. Some of them looked as though they got dragged out of bed. I let Woody rip off the wrapping paper and pull open the flaps. Tank cheered when he saw the pink balloons float from the box. He pulled me against his chest and swung me around in circles. "Congrats, Little girl. You're going to have a mini-Little girl," Tank happily stated.
"God help us all if she's anything like me," I joked.
Tank, Lester, Binkie, Hal, Manny and I reviewed a lot of resumes and applications. We got interviews lined up for our legal team. Mark Hudson had completed his contract at Brown, Bruner and Stevens. They offered him a partnership, but he politely declined. Hudson quickly signed on for Rangeman's head of legal. I was impressed he had a list of veterans looking for a job.
We hired more men than I anticipated, but none of the veterans wanted to work full time. I created a job share concept where the part-time lawyers could tag-team their work. A few weeks after working with his team, Mark requested a meeting. "Is there something wrong with your employees?" I asked when he sat in the chair across from me.
"Nothing is wrong. I don't know how you managed to recruit men who work together like a well-oiled machine," Mark replied.
I laughed. "I relied on my spidey sense," I confessed.
He raised an eyebrow. "I heard about your spidey sense. Manoso said it kept you from seriously getting injured," Mark shared.
"Sounds about right. Did you get the contracts ready for the new accounting team?" I asked.
"We're working on them this week," he replied. I gave him the guidelines for physical fitness tests for the new hires based on their age and physical abilities. Mark read the requirements and asked, "Are you sure about this?"
"Juan talked to each man and compiled comprehensive physical requirements for the retired and physically challenged veterans. Most of them insisted on meeting the standard Rangeman requirements," I replied. I was impressed when each new hire met the goals. A prosthetic arm or leg, even the wheelchair, didn't stop the men from hitting the goal. I had no idea the wheelchair could move that fast from arm power.
"They want to get treated like everyone else," he said, understanding.
"If you read their final physical test, they have to get through Manny or Junior on the mats, with the option to spar with Ranger," I pointed to the information.
"Why Manny and Junior?" Mark asked.
I smiled before replying, "They trained me and knew to pull their punches and kicks. I want these men to stay for a long time. Too many people gave up on them, and they're still young." Most of the men hired were between twenty-five and forty. Much too young to sit at home without gainful employment. Mark excused himself to return to work.
The men I hired, closer to my uncle Frank's age, worked monitor shifts a few hours a week. They were surprisingly spry for older men. It got them out of the house and interacting with other veterans.
Tank, Lester and I scouted for locations to open a new Rangeman branch. I set my research team free to gather information on the cities and potential clients within the regions.
I felt Dani kick, and I rubbed my abdomen. My days were getting too long. At this rate, I'll need to hire a personal assistant. Victor Carpenter quickly came to mind. He got hired as the office assistant, but I could use his help.
"Do you need me to get you anything, Steph?" Victor asked.
"Hey, Vic. Did I conjure you?" I joked.
"Ah. You're trying to poach me," he replied, smiling.
"You bet I am. We should get a few men to work a few hours on the front desk," I suggested.
"Or you could unload more jobs to your HR team. You and I both know they can handle the extra work," Victor replied. He was correct because my team could handle the responsibility.
"Thanks, Vic. I knew your advice would come in handy."
"No problem. I'll bring you some soup," he said before leaving. A few minutes later, Victor placed a bowl of soup in front of me and motioned to eat.
I contacted the other branches, asking them to help with researches. Binkie got the wonderful job of coordinating the regions surveyed. It would be a waste of time having more than one team working on investigating the same region. When a city gets selected, we could do a more in-depth search. Finding a location for a new branch was exhausting work. I could understand why they avoided the process.