Chapter 6

Lester's POV

My team arrived at the Cortez compound. We couldn't find anyone alive on site. Jeanne Ellen was barely recognizable in the small shack where she got stashed beneath some garbage. I only knew it was her by the tattoo on her hip. Bobby shook his head as he pulled the body bag from his pack. Stephanie was right, Jeanne Ellen was dead. How she knew blows my mind.

Ram, Zero and Bobby worked to fit Jeanne Ellen's remains inside the bag. Manny, Slick (Tino) and I searched to ensure our initial assessment was correct. "It didn't take them long to abandon their camp," Manny said. "All valuables are gone."

"It explains Jeanne's missing jewelry," I said. I used my GPS device and entered the coordinates Stephanie gave me for Ranger. Zero and Ram carried Jeanne Ellen towards our rendezvous location as Manny and Slick provided cover. Bobby followed on my heels, watching my back.

We only got ten feet into the trees when I found the fallen tree on the ground. "Are you sure this is correct?" Bobby asked.

"The coordinates are correct, and Stephanie said Ranger was under the fallen tree. I'm not sure how he could fit, but there must have been enough room to squeeze beneath. You have to admit, it's a good hiding spot," I replied.

"How do we get him out?" Bobby wondered. I sighed and packed my GPS device away.

"Ranger, it's me, Lester. I'm going to reach under the log to get you, okay?" I lay on my stomach and reached into the space. My hands connected to Ranger's head. I shifted my hands to follow beneath his shoulder. Fear washed through me when Ranger didn't respond.

"Fuck," Ranger groaned when I hit his shoulder wound. I was relieved he was still alive.

"I'm going to pull you out, Ranger. It's going to hurt," I said. It took me a few minutes to pull Ranger from his hiding place. Before his arm cleared the tree, Ranger reached back to grab his gun. I grumbled when I almost lost my grip on him.

Bobby immediately cleaned Ranger's shoulder as I watched his back. "Why is the wound dirty?" Bobby asked. I heard a twig snap to my right. Instinctively, I shot my gun into the trees. I checked to see if I hit the target. A man in his early twenties lay dead on the ground. His weapon dropped beside him as he fell.

"Mud. Stop. Blood," Ranger managed to say. Bobby shook his head. There was no telling if Ranger contracted a parasite.

"Bobby, slap a bandage on Ranger, give him an antibiotic shot and something for pain. We need to get out of here," I said, suddenly feeling anxious. I wanted to get out of here before the dead man's buddies started to look for him. Bobby grabbed a compression bandage and stuck it to Ranger's shoulder. I slung Ranger over my shoulder as Bobby repacked his medic bag. We hightailed it out of the forest. I ran towards our rendezvous location with Bobby close on my heel. We got to the extraction site and radioed for the chopper to collect us.

The helicopter hovered a few feet off the ground. I waited for Bobby to climb inside before heaving Ranger inside. Zero and Manny watched my back as I climbed inside. We retrieved Jeanne Ellen's body and rescued Ranger. I waited until we were far away from the compound before contacting base. Ranger needed immediate medical attention to clean out the wound.

Stephanie's POV

Uncle Sam called when Lester arrived at the hospital with Ranger. I called Lester to check on Ranger's condition. Ranger was under observation for infection. I was dry heaving when Lester explained Ranger packed his wound with mud. "Won't he get an infection?" I asked.

"It's most likely," Lester confessed. "The doctor wants to be sure Ranger didn't pick up a parasite."

I could tell Lester wanted to ask another question, but I wasn't sure if he'd like the answer. Sighing, I said, "Just ask the question, Les."

"Beautiful, since Jeanne Ellen is dead, does that mean you'll date Ranger?" he asked.

"No. Ranger's my friend. After his betrayal and lies, I don't trust him with my heart," I answered honestly. "My life changed since I left Trenton. I'll invite you to my house to explain when you come home." I missed my friend.

"Promise?" Lester asked.

"Yes, Lester. I promise," I replied. He hung up after saying he'd visit when he returned. I was surprised a Merry Man used phone etiquette.

"Don't expect that all the time," Marco said as he laughed. "In the Army, we didn't mince our words. Everything we needed to share got said using a few keywords. Pausing to exercise pleasantries was the difference between life and death." I must have commented out loud.

Having their phone etiquette explained made more sense. When time is limited, you waste less by getting to the point and moving on. "Thanks for explaining it to me. It always annoyed me when people hung up, and I never knew the conversation had ended."

Marco laughed before hugging me. "Don't take it personally, sis." It would take me a while until it stopped hooking my annoyance.

I started laughing with him before yawning. Marco lifted me to carry me to bed. "Are you going to tuck me in and read me a bedtime story?" I asked, pretending to be a child. He laughed before dumping me on my bed.

"No. We're too old to have that kind of relationship," Marco joked. Marco kissed my forehead. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too," I said before letting sleep take me away. Meeting my brother made my life better. Heck, it made me stronger. I can accomplish everything when I set my mind on the task.

When I woke up the following morning, Hector was in the kitchen talking to Marco. He dropped off our copy of the offer on our house. The lawyer received his copy to complete the title search and process the purchase. We could move into our house in a few weeks. I had agreed to live with Marco in his hideaway until our home was ready.

"Would you like to see what Marco showed me?" I asked Hector. He raised an eyebrow. My shoulder was still sore, but I could push through the pain. Hector pointed to my shoulder. "I don't need my arms." I knew Hector was confused, but he followed me to the gym.

Marco followed us to the gym so we could display my kickboxing abilities. Hector was surprised I could lift my leg high enough and pack enough strength in the kick to knock Marco off his feet. I laughed when Hector swapped places with Marco. He wanted to ensure my brother didn't throw the fight. I kicked Hector in the chest after telling me not to pull the punches. He fell backwards when I kicked him in the chest. Hector smiled and praised me for my acquired skill. "How long did you practice?" he asked.

"At least two hours every day since I got here," I replied. I confirmed my training started the day I left Trenton. Hector was surprised I got good in a short time. I explained that I had the correct motivation to keep me going. He said I should be proud of myself.

Hector stayed for a few hours before returning to Trenton for his surveillance shift. I kissed his teardrop tattoos and hugged him. Marco was amazed how the hardened ex-gang member practically melted in my arms from the affection. He told us about Emilio. I grinned because I knew Emilio and Hector would hit it off. Before Hector left, he promised to install a security system according to Marco's and my specifications. I could hardly wait to move into my new home.

Bobby's POV

We got stuck in DC debriefing for our rescue mission. I wondered why another team got involved to handle Gomez. Neither names nor the reason for the additional special op were mentioned. It had me wondering if the secondary team got involved because of geography or necessity. My thoughts brought me back to Stephanie. Was she involved? I shook my head from the thought.

General Palmer debriefed Ranger in the hospital after his surgery. They had to cut into his shoulder to remove the bullet lodged in his shoulder blade. He would be out of commission for special ops for at least three months until the physiotherapist cleared him for regular duty. The doctor prescribed a strong antibiotic to counter the potential infection.

The hospital on the Army base was busier than usual. I sat up straighter when a doctor approached with the lab results. "Are you Bobby Brown?" he asked. The doctor wore a white jacket over his fatigues.

"Yes. I hold Carlos Manoso's medical power of attorney," I quickly confirmed.

"I'm Dr. Heath Procter. Mr. Manoso is a lucky man. I detected no parasites in the mud he packed into his shoulder. With the antibiotics, he'll heal from the trauma in no time," Dr. Procter stated.

"Thank you," I said when he passed me a copy of the results. I could see Lester from the corner of my eye. He had his fist shoved into his mouth, attempting to stop himself from laughing. "How long until we can travel home?"

"Mr. Manoso will get discharged tomorrow. I understand he has a funeral to plan for his late wife," Dr. Procter replied. Since he didn't have further instructions, he went to complete his rounds.

Luckily, Lester had the good sense to wait until the doctor was out of earshot before he commented, "Dr. Procter, the proctologist. Try saying that ten times fast." Lester waggled his eyebrows. Leave it to Lester to make light of the situation.

As Lester and I made our way toward Ranger's room, we got stopped by General Barker. "How's Marco?" Lester asked. We met Marco Barker during one of our extractions. He was our pilot.

"He's doing well," Barker answered. "How is Manoso? I was visiting his room, but the nurse gave him something to help him sleep." I listened as Lester and Barker talked. After a few minutes, I stopped listening. Barker grabbed my attention when he said, "Marco recently reunited with his sister."

"I didn't realize you had a daughter or was Marco adopted?" I asked.

"Ah. I'm sorry, but that's Marco's story to share," Barker said. He turned around to leave the floor. Over his shoulder, he called, "See you later, men." I was curious how Marco had a sister and why he never met her until recently.

"Since when did Marco have a sister? How old is she?" Lester asked. I shrugged because I had no clue. Lester continued with various ideas on how Marco could have a sister. I laughed when he suggested Marco got adopted by Barker, then Marco's biological parents had a girl and decided to raise her. "Maybe we should research Marco Barker at Rangeman to see if he has an adoption record."

"Lester, it's none of our business. Unless he applies to Rangeman, we can't access his service records," I reminded Lester.

"You're no fun. I bet we can talk Beautiful into researching him," Lester added. I shook my head and raised my hands in resignation. Once Lester gets an idea in his head, it got difficult to dissuade him from carrying out his plan. "Why was Barker here?" Lester finally asked.

"He's Jeanne Ellen's uncle. Ranger, Marco and Sam are her only family," I replied. Lester seemed to think about my words.

We entered Ranger's room to check his chart. I transferred the information into my file. The nurse smiled when I updated his vitals. "Have you thought about working here?" she asked.

"I enjoy my job at Rangeman," I replied. It wasn't the first time I got asked to work at the infirmary. I loved my job at Rangeman and hanging around my friends. Rangeman had a better medical insurance program than any government agency I researched.

Lester and I excused ourselves to return to our assigned quarters. We sent Manny, Slick, Zero and Ram home after we got debriefed with General Palmer. They took the Rangeman chopper back to Trenton. Lester accompanied Jeanne Ellen's body to the coroner when we returned. I watched over Ranger.

While Ranger was in surgery, Barker said he would make the funeral arrangements for Jeanne Ellen. Marco was her beneficiary and next of kin, but he could not handle the plans for personal reasons. I wondered if it had something to do with his sister. Maybe she had a grievance with Jeanne Ellen, but I couldn't determine how that would be possible. Lester and I would attend the funeral service with Ranger. We knew Ranger should make an appearance as his husbandly duty.

The following morning, I noticed Ranger was running a fever. I paged the nurse to get Tylenol or Advil to lower his temperature. "Oh, dear, I was afraid this would happen" the nurse said when she checked Ranger. I raised an eyebrow, silently questioning what she saw. "He's probably built up a resistance to penicillin. I'll see if the doctor can prescribe him some vancomycin."

"Couldn't you give him a stronger dose of penicillin?" I asked.

"I'm afraid it won't work. Manoso is already on the strongest dose," the nurse replied. She left to page the doctor. Within fifteen minutes, the doctor ordered the new medication. He got the nurse to inject the antibiotic into the IV port.

"We'll know within a few hours if it's working," he said before leaving. The nurse increased the flow of the IV drip to push the antibiotic through Ranger's system.

Lester and I sat beside the bed playing gin rummy until the nurse returned four hours later to check Ranger's temperature. "Robert, his fever broke. The new antibiotic is working," she announced. I updated Ranger's chart, indicating that penicillin should not be used for a while.

A few days later, the doctor released Ranger. I had Tank bring our dress uniforms to DC. Barker had asked Tank, Lester and me to perform the three-volley salute at Jeanne Ellen's funeral. He decided to add it because she got killed during a mission. It was a sign of respect for our fallen servicemen.

I helped Ranger pull his dress uniform over his wounded shoulder. He had his arm in a sling under his coat. Once we were ready, we left for the cemetery. I watched as Ranger slammed down his blank face to hide the pain.

The funeral progressed as scheduled. Tank, Lester and I took our spots for the gun salute. After the last shot got fired, we waited as the flag got folded to get presented to the family. General Palmer took the trifold flag and presented it to General Barker. I recognized Marco Barker standing beside a woman. She had her arms wrapped around Marco and pressed her face into his chest. Marco rubbed a hand over her back in comfort. She appeared to be crying.

Lester, Tank and I followed the progression to the grave. We watched as the coffin containing Jeanne Ellen Burrows got lowered in the ground. The woman standing beside Marco dropped a white rose onto the coffin, following Marco's lead. Everyone gasped as we saw the startling resemblance between Marco and the woman. "Is that Stephanie?" Lester asked. I looked at Ranger and Tank.