Chapter 7

June 19, 2014

Joe screamed obscenities at Stephanie. She had locked him in the back of a refrigerated truck with three dead bodies. There could be more if another body, or two, were inside the other sealed barrel. He would let the forensics team open that can of worms. His confidential informant was dead.

Stephanie grinned as she drove the refrigerated truck to the back entrance of the TPD. Everybody underestimated her tenacity. Where she lacked in skill, she made up in grit. She had asked Ranger for help a few times during the case. He had rescued her when Joe cuffed her naked to the shower bar.

She parked the refrigerated truck behind the TPD and asked for help. "Joe's locked in the back. Be careful. He is angrier than a bear," Stephanie warned. Stephanie was excited to get the money for catching her skip. Eddie promised to get her receipt for Morelli. Her rent would get paid, and the credit card paid off.

Ranger sat in his black Mercedes at the back of the lot. He noticed Stephanie driving the truck and had become curious if she had caught her man. When Eddie Gazarra opened the back, Joe Morelli launched himself towards Stephanie screaming. Ranger tipped back his head and laughed.

"Boss?" Tank asked. He was closely watching Ranger. Tank wondered what made his friend happy.

"Babe. She caught her man," Ranger replied before driving out of the lot. "I'm Professor Higgins to her Eliza Doolittle." Tank wondered if there was more between them than mentor and student.

Stephanie got her dad to help her collect her car from Morelli's apartment parking lot. He stopped at the store for her to purchase a case of oil. Frank watched Stephanie pour a few quarts of oil into her car before she got in to drive it away. He followed her home to make sure she was safe. When she got home, he waved and steered his car towards home.

Something felt off when she entered her apartment. Stephanie couldn't figure out what had set off her senses. She entered her bedroom to see the curtain move. When she bolted from the room, Jimmy Alpha approached Stephanie holding a gun. "You ruined everything," he growled. Stephanie temporarily froze on the spot.

She moved towards the door, where her purse hung on the hook. Stephanie felt the bullet rip through her left butt cheek. Ignoring the blinding pain, she grabbed her pocketbook, reached inside then fired her gun into Alpha's chest. Stephanie heard the sirens a few seconds before she passed out.

"Hey, Steph. Are you okay?" Eddie Gazarra asked. He freaked when he heard the call over the radio that gunshots erupted in Stephanie's building. The neighbour said it came from inside her apartment.

Stephanie opened her eyes to take in her surrounding. She was in a hospital bed, propped up to lay on her right hip, protecting the injury in her left butt cheek. "Why am I in the hospital?"

"You got shot by Jimmy Alpha. We found a hole in the bedroom window, above the lock," Eddie looked away from Stephanie. She wondered what he wasn't telling her.

"What are you not saying?" she asked. Eddie pointedly looked away from her.

Carl Costanza lowered his chin to his chest and replied, "We found Benito Ramirez on your fire escape. He's in jail. Ramirez had left threatening messages on your answering machine."

Stephanie's face paled from the news. Her body shuddered when she realized the implications of Carl's words. Ramirez had assaulted Lula, a hooker Stephanie met on Stark Street, and tied her to the fire escape. Lula got to the hospital in time to save her life. Stephanie refused to think what would have happened if she had not looked outside her bedroom window.

Eddie drove Stephanie home from the hospital. He had offered to stay, but she told him to go home. She took the painkillers prescribed by the doctor and climbed into bed. Every move hurt, but she knew the pills would help her sleep. "Wonderful, wonderful drugs," Stephanie mumbled before going to sleep.

~~~

Ranger heard the chatter over the police scanner. Running to Stephanie's apartment wasn't the best decision. He went to the hospital to get updated on the prognosis. "How is she?" Ranger asked Carl when he saw Eddie drive away with Stephanie.

"Steph will be fine. Our girl shot Jimmy Alpha through her pocketbook, straight into his heart. All five bullets were within an inch of each other," Carl said, grinning. Ranger lifted the right side of his mouth in amusement.

He was about to comment when his phone rang. "Yo," Ranger said as he answered.

"We need your help on a case," his handler replied. "You may select your team."

"Brown, Ram, Cal, Hal and Manny," Ranger replied.

"As you wish. I'll prepare the paperwork. Get ready to leave at 0400."

"Are you leaving?" Tank asked when they parked in the Rangeman underground parking area.

"Yes. Keep an eye on Babe," Ranger said before exiting the car.

Later that night, he broke into Stephanie's apartment to watch her sleep. Stephanie raised her arm, displaying the freckle in her armpit. "Someday, Shelly, I'll tell you that I'm Rick," he whispered. "Sleep tight, Babe." He kissed her forehead before leaving the room.

Stephanie woke up when she fell warm lips on her forehead. She rolled out of bed to see who had entered her apartment. Her movement was slow as she limped from her bedroom. The door locks, the security chain was still in place.

"Must have been my imagination," Stephanie told herself. She went into the kitchen to feed Rex a chunk of bread. Stephanie took another painkiller and drank some water. She went back to bed and dreamed about the man from New Year's Eve.

Her dreams revolved around Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Instead of seeing the man from the past, she saw the man he had become. His body still moved in astonishing ways as he possessed her body. Stephanie screamed his name as her body shook.

She dreamed about a boy who resembled Ranger except for the hair and eye colour. Stephanie felt the pain in her abdomen, through to her back, reminiscent of the day her child was born. The boy cried as the nurse removed him from the room. Her eyes popped open from the pain of rolling onto her back. "I love you, Ranger," she whispered into the empty bedroom. "I'll find you, my sweet boy."

Stephanie wiped the tears from her face as she cried for her lost boy. Deep inside her heart, she knew he was still alive. But she felt he was in danger. "Grandpa, will I know my son when I see him?" She waited several minutes for the reply she would never receive.

January 5, 2015

Rafael shivered in his light jacket as he walked to school. His winter coat went missing between Christmas and New Years Day. When he asked Mrs. Rodriguez, she claimed that she had never seen the item.

Mr. and Mrs. Manoso had bought him a coat for Christmas. He opened the closet to get the jacket, but it was gone. There was no doubt in his mind that his foster mother had sold the coat. Rafael knew that complaining would not be wise.

Mrs. Cruz pulled over to the side of the road. "Would you like a ride to school, Rafael?" she offered.

"Yes, please," he said, his teeth clattered from the chill.

"Where's your coat? Maria said she bought you one for Christmas," Mrs. Cruz asked.

"I think Mrs. Rodriguez sold it," Rafael explained. "She never lets me keep anything new."

"Not even a Christmas gift?" Yolina Cruz asked, shocked that Camila Rodriguez could be so calloused.

"I guess not. It's not the first time my stuff got sold," Rafael explained. He didn't like explaining how cruel his foster mother was acting. She had seven kids living in the house. A new kid, a fifteen-year-old boy, got brought into the house after Christmas.

Rafael suspected he was a part of the gang around the block. He maintained minimum contact with the new addition. "Who was the new boy?" she asked.

"Um. Julio Rodriguez. No relation to my foster parents," Rafael quickly added. "I think he's part of the gang."

"Oh, boy. The Manoso's aren't going to like a gang member living a few doors down," Mrs. Cruz stated.

"If he tries to recruit me, I'll leave town," Rafael stated.

"Where would you go?" Juanita asked.

"I don't know," he answered.

Yolina Cruz vowed to give Rafael a ride to school every morning. She didn't like Camila Rodriguez. Her instincts screamed that she should report the family, but she was afraid of how it would affect Rafael.

~~~

Stephanie had been stewing on a thought since September. She tried to ask her mother many times but couldn't say the words. The last time Stephanie had built up the courage to ask, her sister, Valerie, was in the kitchen. Valerie was out of the house on a date with a local boy.

Unable to move past the unexplained fear, she went to her mom's home for dinner. Stephanie waited until her mom entered the kitchen to broach the topic.

"Mom, I've been thinking. Did I have a son?" Stephanie whispered. Helen jerked her head up, nearly dropping the bowl of whipped cream. "You told me it was a girl, but I keep dreaming about a boy. Please be honest with me."

Helen placed the bowl and spoon on the counter. She hugged Stephanie and whispered, "He was handsome." Helen heard Stephanie snuffle and unwrapped her arms. She touched Stephanie's face to look into her eyes. "He's alive. I'm sorry for not telling you."

"Did he get adopted?" Stephanie asked.

"I don't know, sweetie," Helen replied. "When I called the adoption agency, they said he got placed with a nice family." She took a closer look at her daughter. "You're worried about him."

"Ya, I am. I can't rest until I find my son," Stephanie stated. "I tried calling the adoption agency, but they closed."

"You don't feel that everything went according to plan," Helen said.

"No, and I think he's in trouble. We should get dessert to daddy before he comes into the kitchen."

"Everything will work out, Stephanie. You'll see," Helen quietly said.

Helen never considered the possibility that her grandson didn't get adopted. She silently begged her father to watch over the boy. "Please, dad, keep him safe," she prayed. "Stephanie will never forgive me if he got harmed."

Stephanie had mentioned the adoption agency when she got to the hospital. Helen had only done what Stephanie planned. She realized her mistakes were not following up on the boy's placement and lying to Stephanie about the sex of the baby. Helen pasted on a smile and carried the bowl of whipped cream to the dining room table.

June 19, 2015

Rafael walked home from school. Juanita had a doctor's appointment, so he had to walk home alone. A teenage boy approached him a few blocks away from home. "Hi, I'm Tommy."

"Hi," Rafael mumbled.

"Um. Viper was wondering if you'd like to hang out with us," Tommy stated.

Viper was the leader of the Latin Nails gang. Rafael was not interested in getting recruited. He had promised himself that he'd leave if they approached him. "No, thank you," Rafael replied.

"Nobody says no to Viper," Tommy snarled.

"My foster mom is expecting me home. I'm supposed to cook supper tonight," he lied.

"Fine. I'll pick you up at six," Tommy stated before walking back down the street. Julio Rodriguez and Tommy Juarez were best friends.

Rafael got scared. The gang had recruited a few boys in his class at school. Most of the boys were troublemakers and jumped at the opportunity. Rafael was a law-abiding kid and had no interest in becoming a criminal.

He noticed a car parked in front of the Manoso home with the trunk open. Rafael quickly climbed into the back, covering himself with the blanket. It was his only chance to escape the gang. Rafael took a risk, but it was better than the gang collecting him after dinner.

Ricardo Manoso Sr. watched Rafael climb into the trunk of his daughter's car. Celia was moving to Miami and planned to stop in Trenton to leave her car with her brother. He would ship the car and her belongings to Miami while she flew. Most likely, Ric would drive her car and belongings as his friend followed in another vehicle. Ric was protective of his family. He didn't want Celia to travel on the dark highways.

Celia drove to Trenton. Her brother said to meet her at a diner in downtown Trenton. She had to park the car a block away and walk because the small lot didn't have spare parking spots. Celia walked over the uneven sidewalk, careful not to trip. Her brother, Ricardo, waited at the back end of the diner in his favourite booth. "Hi, Ric," Celia greeted.

"Celia," he said, standing. Ranger kissed his sister's cheek. "Did Jeanne Ellen come with you?"

"No. She'd be here next week. Why is she moving here?" Celia wondered.

"I'm training her to catch skips. Tia Isabella asked for a favour," Ranger replied.

"She could have stayed in the military," Celia stated.

"You know how stubborn our cousin could get," Ranger said, grinning.

Celia rolled her eyes. "Don't I know it. I hope she's not running from Lia."

"Probably. Lia broke her heart." Ranger was mad at the short blond woman. She had dated Jeanne Ellen Burrows since high school. They lived together in Newark. When Jeanne's deployment got extended, Lia met another woman. Jeanne Ellen caught them sleeping naked in her bed. Coming out to her family was hard enough. Telling them that her partner left her for another woman was devastating.

Ranger knew how painful it was. Only one woman held his heart, and she didn't even know it belonged to her. He wanted her to come to him. Ranger wasn't sure if his Babe knew he was Rick.