Chapter 5

September 22, 2014

Stephanie went to the chapel inside the Caesars Atlantic City hotel. She looked around the small room for the area containing a candle altar. It got moved to another corner in the chapel. Once Stephanie had found the small bench with ten candles, she lit one for her daughter. As Stephanie prayed, she thought about the baby. "What if the baby was a boy?" she asked herself. "Mom told me it was a girl, but what if she lied?"

The longer she prayed, the more questions entered her mind. "What if my child didn't die?" A sense of peace washed over her. "No, my child isn't dead. He's still alive," she said, feeling the truth of her words.

"Please keep my son safe," Stephanie prayed.

Stephanie returned to the beach. Even if her son was still alive, she doesn't want to be a mother. She gave her son up for adoption to give him a better life than she could provide. However, all bets were off if he got shunted around foster homes.

The cold wind blew around Stephanie as she sat on the damp sand. She used her phone to get the phone number for the adoption agency she had contacted over ten years earlier. When she found the number, she called and heard, "The number you have dialled is no longer in service."

She hung her head and cried. Stephanie felt the need to find out where her child got sent. Her son could be in danger. "Grandpa, keep him safe," she begged. Stephanie's grandpa Mazur died two years earlier from a heart attack. He could be the child's guardian angel.

December 31, 2013

Stephanie and Talia threw a party for New Year's Eve. She wanted a new memory for the holiday. It was the first time Stephanie had celebrated with other people since Rick.

Talia got drunk and passed out in Stephanie's bathroom. She got a few of her friends to carry Talia to the bedroom. Stephanie placed a garbage can beside the bed and prayed that Talia didn't barf in her bed.

A few men kissed Stephanie on the cheek at midnight. Stephanie didn't care for their attention though she was flattered. However, it brought up memories she tried to forget. She slipped away from the men to hide in the washroom. "Why can't I get you out of my head?" Stephanie asked her reflection. She waited for an answer. "Fine! Don't answer me."

"Is everything okay?" a woman Stephanie didn't recognize asked.

"Yes. I keep getting haunted by my ghost," Stephanie joked.

"The ghost of New Year's Eve past?" she joked. "My name is Bev. I came with Tina from accounting."

"You could say that. Nice to meet you, Bev. I'm Steph."

"Ah. You're the hottie Tina had bragged about," Stephanie said, grinning.

"Tina didn't do you justice. Your eyes are gorgeous. Are you wearing contacts to enhance the colour?" Bev asked.

"No. The colour is natural. I wonder how people would react if I wore contacts," Stephanie wondered.

Bev laughed. She pulled a package from her purse. "Do you want to have some fun?" Bev asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Stephanie took the package from Bev's hand. She started laughing. Bev gave her a bag containing new contacts and fake blood. "Oh my gosh. We have got to do this. I love Halloween costumes." Stephanie dragged Bev into the washroom. They put the fake blood around their mouths and on their neck. Stephanie and Bev put the red contacts into their eyes. Were their actions childish? Yes. Did they care? No. It got Stephanie's mind off Rick, and that, ladies and gentlemen, was all that mattered at the moment.

Bev and Stephanie howled when the women screamed. They chased them from the apartment out to the street. "That was mean," Tina drunkenly stated.

"Steph wanted them to leave," Bev replied. "You've got to admit it was a good plan."

Tina giggled. "It was. The guys didn't know what to do, so they left too," Tina said.

"Yay. Thanks, Bev. We've got to do this at the Halloween party," Stephanie stated.

"Absolutely. It's a date, right, Tina?" Bev asked.

"Whatever you want, baby," Tina replied. Tina dropped Stephanie's keys into her hand. "I locked the place to keep Talia safe. She's still asleep in your bed."

"Thanks, Tina. I'll see you at work on Monday. We have that meeting with the executives," Stephanie reminded her. Stephanie hugged Tina and Bev before going back up the stairs to her apartment.

~~~

Carlos sat in the hellish jungle of Colombia thinking about the woman from ten years earlier. He knew it was New Year's Eve and wondered how she was spending the night. His partner tapped his shoulder, signalling that they were clear to move from their position.

He straightened his legs slightly, remaining close to the ground. They were closing in on their target. Juan Jimenez was the prominent child trafficker in the region. He stole children from wealthy families to sell. Jimenez had kidnapped five boys from another trafficker. By the time Ranger arrived with his team, they were gone. The team neutralized the men at the camp after torturing them for information.

Ranger guided his team towards the compound, where they discovered the children got relocated. As they approached the southern wall, the children cried. He wanted to get them out of the camp unscathed, but he realized it wasn't possible. His heart felt heavy as he motioned for his men to broach the perimeter.

A young boy ran past Ranger to hide in the brush outside the camp. Ranger placed a finger against his lips, telling the boy to remain quiet as he hid. The boy nodded and covered his mouth with his hands. He motioned for the boy to lay low and plug his ears.

Alpha and Delta Ranger teams entered the compound. Ranger caught Jimenez as he attempted to escape capture. His team would search the office for probable locations of the other boys. Jimenez sneered, knowing the information was on the USB drive in his pocket.

Ranger grabbed his knife. He held it under Juan's chin, pressing the tip into the skin. "Hand it over," Ranger growled in Spanish. "Now!"

Jimenez reached into his pocket for the item. He shakily gave it to Ranger, hoping that the man would spare his life. "Take it. Let me go, please," Jimenez begged. Ranger felt his friend tap his shoulder as he walked past him.

"Sure. I'll let you go," Ranger stated as he slightly released his grip on the evil man. Jimenez cockily smiled, thinking that he'd go free to destroy more families. "Straight to the fiery pits of hell." Ranger ran the knife across Juan's neck. His eyes went wide as he felt his life slip away.

Ranger grabbed the alcohol from the medic's pack. He removed his bloodied top. After cleaning his face, he tossed the rags and his soiled shirt onto the fire that Axel started. Axel passed him a clean top. Ranger nodded before pulling it over his head. They had dragged Jimenez back into the compound and set it on fire.

He felt a small hand grab his fingers. The boy from the bush had come out of hiding. "Do you know where you live?" Ranger asked.

The boy nodded. "Havana, Cuba," he replied. "Take me home?" he asked, speaking Spanish.

"Yes. Are the others from Havana?" Ranger asked. The boy nodded. Ranger bent down for the boy to jump onto his back. "Hang on tight. We're going to run." He felt the boy's arms wrap around his neck. They ran a few miles to the extraction site.

His team helped the boys into the helicopter. "We're taking them to the hospital before returning them to their families," Axel announced.

"The boys are from Havana, Cuba. We should get them home as soon as possible," Ranger stated. "I'll oversee the process."

"It isn't in your pay grade," Axel stated.

"Doesn't matter. I want to ensure the boys get home," Ranger quietly said. Axel wisely remained quiet. He knew that Ranger wouldn't easily change his mind.

January 5, 2014

Stephanie and her coworkers arrived at EE Martin for the morning meeting. An executive that Stephanie had never seen before announced that Edgar Martin got arrested during the weekend for illegal business practices. Baldicott bought the company.

"Hi, I'm Felix Baldicott. We are merging the two companies but running operations from this location. The office footprint is twice the size of the Baldicott building near the airport," Felix announced.

Tina raised her hand, "Mr. Baldicott, if we're merging and all the staff are relocating to our location, what happens to the duplication in jobs?"

"Good question, miss?"

"Tina Tucker," she replied.

"Miss Tucker, my team will review all employment records at Baldicott and EE Martin. They will select the members that would move Baldicott into the leading industry for women's clothing. Thank you," Felix said before dismissing the meeting. He didn't look at Tina when he answered her question.

Another clothing conglomerate bought EE Martin. There were bound to be redundancies, duplication and jobs that are not part of Baldicott's vision. Stephanie went to her desk with the sense of dread overwhelming her.

She opened her email to find a letter from the Human Resources department at Baldicott.

'Miss Plum,

We thank you for your exemplary work at EE Martin. Your work ethics are above company standards.

With great regret, we cannot offer you a position in the lingerie acquisition department at Baldicott. The department got merged with the sleepwear department. All current positions in the department are staffed.

Should a position open in the department within the next six months, we will consider you for the role.

Once again, we thank you for the years you gave to EE Martin. You have until 5 pm to vacate your workstation. We ask that you return your ID badge and keys to Human Resources.

Sally Spivak,

Human Resources, Baldicott.'

"Happy fucking New Year," Stephanie mumbled. She didn't waste time packing her belongings. There weren't a lot of personal items at her desk, so it only took a few minutes. Stephanie grabbed the picture of her standing beside her father and the photo of Valerie with her nieces.

She noticed the other women in her department packing their desks too. None of their team got moved to the sleepwear department. It felt like their department wasn't allowed to work for the new company.

Stephanie went to the Human Resources department to turn in her key and ID. They gave her an envelope containing her last pay, plus an extra week's wage for every year she worked for the company. It was enough cash to carry her for six months if she moved back to Trenton.

Her brand new Mazda Miata would get repossessed. Stephanie hung her head as she drove her meagre belongings home. She'd expected to move to New York one day. Returning to Trenton felt like a few hundred steps backwards.

~~~

Ranger and a team of soldiers flew to Havana, Cuba, to return the boys home. He got his company, Rangeman, to locate the boys' families. The young boy he found had sat beside him on the plane. "Are we going home?" the boy had asked.

"Yes. I'm taking you home," Ranger replied. It took longer than he had hoped to get the boys home. The families were waiting at the airport for their children. He refused payment for the children's safe return. "My reward is seeing your happy face."

Carlos caught the flight back to the states. He immediately transferred to catch the flight back to Newark, New Jersey. Tank would pick him up from the airport. Ranger closed his eyes to block out the noise from the other passengers.

"Look, momma. It's a soldier," a girl whispered.

"It's rude to point," her mother said. Ranger wore his army fatigues for the trip. He opened his eyes to wink at the girl. She smiled at Ranger and waved her fingers.

Tank waited at the entrance for Ranger. He was a tall African-American man with a shaved head. Mrs. Sherman wanted Pierre to play football during college. Much to her disappointment, Pierre had enlisted into the army with his friends, Ric Manoso, Bobby Brown and Lester Santos. They had a vision of their future. The men would join the army to get into the special ops program to build capital, then open a business that hired ex-military to provide security services.

Everything worked accordingly to plan. Rangeman had opened their first branch in Miami. Their second location was in Atlanta, with the third in Boston.

Ranger had felt a pull towards Trenton, New Jersey. They were almost ready to open the fourth branch in the city. The men worked with local Bond Bail companies to capture high bonded skips.

"How did it go?" Tank asked. Ranger had changed into jeans and a tee-shirt before exiting the airport. He didn't want to wear his fatigues home.

"Better than I expected," Ranger replied as Tank pulled away from the curb. "We only found five boys. General Barker has the intel."

"Will you get deployed again?" Tank wondered.

"It depends on the information they uncover," Ranger answered honestly. "General Barker wants to hire Rangeman for research."

"We'll need to hire for our IT department," Tank stated.

"I've got an old friend in mind," Ranger added. "Drop by my old neighbourhood."

Tank drove to the Cuban community in Newark and parked on the street adjacent to Ranger's home. "I'll keep watch," Tank said as Ranger exited the car.

Ranger pulled his leather jacket over his shirt. He walked down the alley towards his old gang's territory. "Yo. You see Hector?" Ranger asked.

"I told you not to come back, Ric," Viper snarled.

"And I told you to leave the young boys alone," Ranger stated, nudging his chin towards the fourteen-year-old boy.

"Hector's in the back," Viper said, granting Ranger access to the building.

Ranger walked to the back room, where he found Hector hacking into the IRS. "You shouldn't mess with the IRS," Ranger joked said in Spanish.

In Spanish, Hector replied, "They won't know I'm there." He clicked a few keys to back out of their server. Hector managed to get a few thousand dollars sent to a secret bank account for the gang.

"Do you still want to leave?" Ranger asked. Hector nodded. "I can get you out of here."

"Thank you," Hector said.

Ranger got Hector to grab his belongings and follow him. "Where are you taking him?" Viper asked.

"With me," Ranger replied. Viper got into Ranger's face. He quickly pulled a knife and shoved it into Viper's chin. "Hector comes with me." Viper noticed the cold, hard look in Ranger's eyes and wisely agreed to let Hector go. "If you come after him, I will end you."

"He's all yours," Viper said, raising his hands.