Raymond Lockwood started his first shift at Rangeman. His three month mission didn't take as long as projected. He was gone for a just shy of six weeks. They collected enough intel for the Rangers team to neutralize the threat. Raymond learned, during his debrief, that he had a full-time job at Rangeman Trenton where his niece, Charlie lived with Ella and Luis Guzman.

He never expected to get a job offer after the failed attempt the previous year. Client and research services were where he got placed. For the first few months, Raymond would work beside each of the founding members or core team as they preferred to be called, to learn parts of the business practices.

"Welcome to Rangeman," Ranger said as he approached Raymond at the monitoring station. Cal left his seat for Ranger to speak with Raymond.

"Thank you for hiring me, sir," Raymond replied. "Charlie told me everything she knows about Stephanie Plum. When do I get to meet the woman who cared for my niece?"

"Miss Plum is travelling for the indeterminate future. You will meet Miss Plum upon her return," Ranger replied. "She is the client and research services department head." Ranger still had to get Stephanie to sign the contract. He had a copy in his Rangeman Dropbox, waiting to share the document with her.

"Ella enrolled Charlie into a private school."

"Are you settling in?" Charlie was nervous about living in the two-bedroom apartment with her uncle. Ranger was curious if she shared her concerns.

"I'm fine, but Charlie needs a feminine hand from time to time. There are things she needs that I can't get. Charlie is concerned that Ella and Stephanie would ignore her now that I'm home."

"Stephanie calls Charlie every day. Once Stephanie accepts you as her family, you're there forever," Ranger said.

"Are the Kloughns decent people? Charlie went to her friend Angie's house for the day." Raymond noticed Ranger's lip twitch.

"Ah. Valerie Kloughn is Stephanie's sister," Lester replied. "Charlie's in good hands. We're like a big family. The guys have a schedule for taking the girls to school and driving them home or here. We take Charlie, Angie and Mary Alice on trips to play laser tag, paintball and to watch movies. Bobby and I are taking them bowling on the weekend. You're welcome to join us, but we uncles try to give the parents a break."

Raymond sat at the desk with his mouth open. He couldn't believe Lester Santos and Bobby Brown willingly hung out with children. Neither man seemed to be the nurturing type. "I don't know what to say."

"Thank you, works," Lester joked. Lester walked away, leaving Raymond still looking stunned.

"You'll get used to it," Ranger said. "Let Tank or me know if you or Charlie need anything."

Bobby Brown took the seat Ranger had vacated. "Have you heard from your brother?" Bobby asked.

"William went missing last week. I know he gave me custody of Charlie, but Will is still her father. It would hurt Charlie if anything happened to him. Maggie felt bad for not spending time with Charlie before she left Devon. Charlie asked why Maggie didn't want her. I wasn't sure what to say," Raymond confessed.

"Lester and I spent a lot of time with Charlie since she moved into Rangeman. Charlie is a lot like my friend, Stephanie. She hates when people lie to her. I suggest to be honest with your niece. Charlie deserves the truth despite how bad it is." Raymond thought about Bobby's words.

Later that evening, Raymond sat with his niece at the table. He explained that Maggie was busy at the clinic and couldn't spend more time with her. Maggie had to close out her cases at the clinic before she flew to Afghanistan to help the military medics. "When did Aunt Maggie leave?" Charlie asked.

"Five hours after you arrived at the clinic. You arrived at the perfect time for Maggie and Slick to get reunited." Charlie was disappointed that her father wasn't there to visit before he left. She knew living with him was a long shot, but Charlie didn't expect outright rejection. "Maggie is truly sorry for dismissing you. Please, don't let Maggie's attitude affect your desire to connect with your aunt," Raymond explained. He gave Charlie a card with the email address: hideyhelp(at)gmail(dot)com. "It's her personal email. She hopes you reach out to her. Maggie and I agreed to let you initiate the first contact."

"Thanks, Uncle Ray," Charlie replied. She accepted the card and tucked it into her jean shorts. Charlie wondered what Stephanie would do. She helped her uncle clean the dishes before retiring to her room. Charlie smiled when Stephanie answered on the first ring. "Hi, Steph. Uncle Raymond gave me Aunt Maggie's email address. What should I do?" she asked, getting to the point.

"Whatever you want to do, Charlie." Stephanie listened as Charlie repeated the story from her uncle. "Ah. It sounds to me that Maggie wasn't dismissing you from lack of interest. She had a lot to accomplish before leaving. Your Aunt Maggie was distracted. Have you tried emailing Slick?" Stephanie asked.

"No. I don't have his email address," Charlie replied. She got used to hanging around Slick, so when he never communicated, it hurt.

"I'll send it to you. Slick keeps asking if you're mad at him. I don't think he realized you had no way to contact him other than his mobile number." Stephanie's explanation made sense to Charlie. "Slick can't use his phone in Afghanistan. They have access to a computer and their emails. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you. So will your Aunt Maggie. I'm not telling you what to do, but consider reaching out to her. Tank, grandma and I are leaving for the camp ground. I'll send you lots of pictures. Tell your uncles I said hi."

"Thanks, Steph. I feel better after talking to you." Charlie and Stephanie said goodbye, then hung up.

~~~~~~~~~~

Stephanie dropped her phone on the table. Her heart ached for Charlie. Tank watched Stephanie from the corner of his eye. He read the intel Stephanie gathered regarding Agent Brandon Bauer. The agent worked in the FBI for eight years. He was a field agent but wanted a team leader position. Bauer got passed over many times for the role.

"Why does he have money moving out of his account within minutes of getting deposited?" Tank asked. Stephanie pointed to another icon on the desktop. Tank raised an eyebrow. "Does Ranger know?"

"The money got wired from a holding company that Emilio Hernandez owned. Yes, I sent Ranger the file containing the highlights. When I ran the searches, Bauer's name kept popping up. My spidey sense had gone haywire," she replied. "Tank, I think he was responsible for your FUBAR mission with the FBI. Why else would he remove himself from the mission?"

"He couldn't cut it as a Ranger, forcing him to join the FBI," Tank said after reading Bauer's military records. Tank couldn't figure out why Agent Rodney followed Agent Bauer's orders while ignoring SSA Linder's direct order.

"They were lovers," Stephanie said. She leaned across Tank's arm to retrieve a few photos. "Rodney and Bauer's wives don't know. I guess it doesn't really matter now that Rodney's dead."

"Little Girl, thank you for showing me this," Tank said, pointing to the laptop screen.

"No problem, Big Guy."

"When did you get the clearance to view these files?" Tank knew Ranger applied to have Stephanie added to the short list of people permitted to read the files.

"A few days ago. Most of the names and locations got redacted. So if an enemy of the state was on the watchlist, their name wasn't visible to me. Ranger could access that intel. Whenever I required information on an agent, I had to wait for approval before they released the data. It took longer to collate the intel, but I got there in the end. Will knowing this information help with your nightmares?"

When Tank told Stephanie about his nightmare, it reminded her of the case she discovered during her research. The FBI suspected a rogue agent was responsible for the high mortality rate of their field agents. They hired Rangeman to research all staff involved with joint government missions. "I was not required to dig deeper than two years, but Agent Brandon Bauer's name kept appearing. I needed to know when his disillusionment with the FBI began," Stephanie explained.

"My instincts told me Agent Bauer was responsible, but I had no proof. He taunted me during the debrief. Bauer practically admitted he was guilty. I know FBI director Sam Miller kept a closer eye on him. He kept his nose clean for the following year. I'm not sure when he resumed manipulating the mission parameters." Tank rubbed the back of his neck. He wanted to be the one to plant the bullet between Bauer's eyes. "Bauer probably hated his FBI colleagues after that first mission with the Rangers."

"We should get to our campsite." Stephanie shut down the laptop. She packed it inside her luggage. Stephanie sent a message to Hector to zap the computer if anyone attempts to hack into it. They had two attempts to get the correct password before Hector would erase the contents.

"Do we need to lock that up somewhere?" Tank asked, pointing to the laptop.

Stephanie grinned at her friend. "Nope. Hector has a way to destroy the hard drive remotely. If anyone enters the wrong password twice, the laptop would be rendered useless." Tank shook his head then went to grab his bag. When he returned, Stephanie continued, "I didn't save anything to the hard drive, and I erased the emails once Ranger confirmed he received them."

Tank was pleased Stephanie took extra care to keep her research secured. He carried the three suitcases to the car. Stephanie helped her grandmother to the car. She worried about how her grandma would manage sleeping on the ground.

They drove for just under an hour to get to the Burning Man celebration. Tank gave his campsite number to the attendant. He guided Tank around the crowd at the entrance to a location closest to the activities. Tank parked on the gravel as indicated. The area was arranged in a semi-circle with many sections. Each segment contained a mix of nationalities.

Within minutes, Tank had unpacked and pitched the four-person tent and dragged the bags inside. "It's going to be a tight fit, Little Girl," Tank warned. He didn't notice the double entendre.

"I always knew you were packing," Edna joked, not missing a beat. Stephanie tried to hold in her laughter but failed. Edna and Stephanie laughed, causing Tank to blush.

Stephanie decided to rescue Tank. "Don't worry about it, Big Guy. We're only sleeping in the tent. Grandma and I will snuggle into our sleeping bags." Stephanie helped Tank unload the SUV while Edna sat on a lawn chair. "Where did you get all of this stuff?" Stephanie asked.

"Do you remember Erik?" Stephanie thought for a few minutes, then grinned. Erik was the man Stephanie tackled in Vegas when he was looking for Samuel Singh. "I can tell you do," Tank laughed. "He filled the SUV last night."

"Ah. Rangeman delivery service," Stephanie said, grinning. "I see he packed a wheelchair for grandma."

"Not an item got missed. I have a battery-operated cooler for our food and drinks. We can leave it inside the SUV. I'll be cooking our breakfast. They have food trucks for lunch and dinner. I'm afraid we don't have a place to spar," Tank explained.

"Missing one week isn't going to hurt. But I may have to run at times." She didn't want to go alone or leave her grandma unattended.

"Erik and Ramon are watching our six. We can run in the mornings while the men keep an eye on grandma Mazur." Stephanie could live with those arrangements, but suggested Tank introduce the men to her grandmother.

How was Stephanie supposed to help Tank? Did he really have an issue to overcome? What was the other part of the story? Was Tank feeling guilty for losing his men? Stephanie's mind was processing the details of Tank's mission. She searched her mind until it popped into her mind.

"Did you figure it out?" Edna asked.

"Yes, grandma, I did," Stephanie replied. Stephanie used her phone to send Ranger a text. She wrote it in Italian, hoping someone could translate for him if he didn't know the language.

Ranger replied, "Proud of you, Babe."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Albert worked his shift on the monitors. Rangeman decided to remove the cameras pointing into Frank Plum's house. Nobody needed to see the couple getting freaky all over the house. It was surprising the neighbours weren't spreading stories. Albert thought it was more likely that Valerie told Frank to get those cameras disabled.

"Hi. I'm Raymond." Raymond worked at Rangeman for a week. He didn't recognize the man sitting at the monitor desk.

"Albert, but I prefer to be called Al," Albert replied. "You're Charlie's uncle, right?"

"Yes. How do you know Charlie?"

"She hangs around my house with Angie and Mary Alice, my stepdaughters. Well, technically, they're my adoptive daughters," Albert rambled.

Raymond remembered Cal warning him that Albert tended to talk a lot when nervous. "Are you watching commercial or residential?" Raymond asked to break the mumbles from Albert.

"Commercial for two hours, then residential for two," Albert replied. Raymond changed his displays to view the residential accounts.

"Thanks for looking out for Charlie. I appreciate everything your wife, Valerie, has done for my niece," Raymond said.

"We did it for Stephanie. She's a special woman. I'm proud to be her brother-in-law," Albert replied. Raymond wanted to meet the woman who had enamoured all the Rangeman employees. Albert shared a few stories regarding Stephanie. He said his sister-in-law would barely eat and drive cheap, crappy cars so she could give money to Valerie to supplement his income. Stephanie selflessly gave her last cent to keep a roof over his family's heads.

"Stephanie sounds like a remarkable woman. Is she single?" Raymond asked.

"Nope," Albert replied. "She's with the boss." Raymond wondered why all the good women were taken. He had heard about Manoso's woman, but he thought if she were his, she wouldn't be gallivanting around with her grandmother and one of the men. Albert could tell Raymond was thinking. "Do you know why Stephanie's travelling with her grandmother?"

"Charlie said the grandma was sick. I don't see how that could be true if she's travelling," Raymond replied.

"I've been part of the family for several years. Grandma Edna is terminally ill. At most, she has one more year to live. I hope she lives long enough to complete her bucket list. It has to be hard on Stephanie. When Stephanie met Charlie, she understood what pain Charlie experienced. Losing a loved one is difficult, but losing the only person who supported you is torture. That's how Stephanie explained it to Valerie. Stephanie and her grandmother are as close as Charlie was with her mother. I can't imagine watching my mother fade away slowly. Stephanie is the strongest woman I know. She's doing something special for her grandmother despite the pain it's causing her."

Raymond checked the time. They had to switch their client views. Albert waited for Raymond to use the computer to switch their monitors. He reminded Raymond to log the time in the book. "Thanks. I always forget that part," Raymond replied. "How did you manage when you became a father overnight?"

"It wasn't easy. Angie, the oldest, is laid back and relaxed, while Mary Alice has a lot of energy to burn. When I first met Mary Alice, she galloped around, pretending to be a horse. I guess she had trouble coping with all the changes in her life. Stephanie got mad whenever Valerie or Helen punished Mary Alice for her behaviour. It took a few years, but eventually, Mary Alice calmed down. Stephanie let Mary Alice pretend until she was ready to stop," Albert explained. "Valerie is a great mom. She got too concerned about cooking and cleaning that she didn't notice her daughter was struggling. Stephanie saw. When I started working here, Stephanie suggested I have the girls come here after school. At first, I was afraid of the men around the girls. But after a few months, Mary Alice opened up to Lester. Once Mary Alice talked about everything she saw, the horseplay went away. The men treat my girls as their nieces. It's a relief to have so many protective uncles. I never have to worry about something happening to them. We promised Stephanie to help Charlie in any way possible until you returned. I know you didn't expect to become a father overnight. If you can't handle the responsibility, Stephanie or Valerie would raise your niece."

"I only worked with a few of the guys on missions. None of them had been around children before. It overwhelmed me when Charlie shared stories about hanging out with her uncles," Raymond explained.

"The men Ranger employs are honourable. You have nothing to worry about. I can't imagine what you must have seen. Get to know the men. Accept their invitations for lunch or dinner. Charlie wants you to fit in," Albert replied. He lifted the phone to dispatch a team to the Connor residence. Albert waited for someone to respond before recording the time, date and client in the incident log. "Trust Charlie to tell you when something is wrong."

Ranger listened as Albert and Raymond talked. He could see Raymond had some reservations about Charlie being around the men. Albert put Raymond at ease. "I told you it would work," Lester quietly said as he entered Ranger's office.

"So did Stephanie," Ranger replied before returning to the contracts on his desk.