Chapter 11
Stephanie's POV
I felt better after Bobby cleaned my wound. Tim did his best to help, but he was no Bobby. After excusing myself from the guys, I went into my room and changed for bed. Marco and I can visit Rangeman tomorrow. The shirts I stole from Ranger were on top of my dresser. But I don't remember placing them there. I grabbed them and shoved them into my garbage can. Ranger wouldn't want them back. Wearing Ranger's clothes while dating Tank was not wise. When I opened the drawer, I found a note from Tim. I grabbed the shirt beneath the letter to pull over my body. It was mid-afternoon, but I needed to feel the comfort of Tank.
Steph, I heard you and Tank are getting closer. Sherman was my mentor in the Army. I got a few of his shirts for you to wear as a nightie. The other oversized shirts are on your dresser. My friend, Axel, at Rangeman, mentioned you like to wear Ranger's shirts to bed. Given that you're now dating Tank, it's inappropriate to wear another man's clothes. I would be upset if it were me. Buck and I mean you no disrespect. Axel approached Tank to procure some shirts. I know Buck and I are strangers, but Marco is our brother. We hope one day you will see us as brothers too. Tim.
I found his words to be comforting and sweet. Tim and I are going to become good friends. He's already laid down the foundation. I hope he enjoys shopping as much as I do. Lula and Connie are fun, but sometimes a woman needs to shop with less drama.
Marco knocked on my bedroom door to see if I was alright. I asked him to enter. He pointed to the note in my hand. "Where did that come from?" he asked. Marco always seemed to know when I needed him. Some people think we're telepathic, but we aren't. It's a special bond we have that occasionally happens with twins.
I gave him the note as I played with the hem of Tank's shirt. "He was sweet to do this for me," I replied.
"Tim's a sentimental man. Talk to him about his high school boyfriend. You'll understand why he did this for you," Marco suggested. I didn't want to ask Tim personal questions. If he wanted to share, he should be the one to approach me.
"It's Tim's story, Marco. He should tell me only if he wants to share the story," I said. "I still need to call Lester and Tank. Do you mind giving me a few minutes?"
"Sure," Marco said. He kissed the top of my head and left to bake the cake he promised me.
I recalled Lester's number to phone my best friend. We haven't talked much during my absence. "Santos," he said when he answered.
"Hey, Lester," I quietly said.
"Beautiful?"
"Yup. How are you?" I asked.
"I should be asking you that question. Bobby said he was at your apartment. Is everything alright?" Lester asked. I explained that my friend, Tim, thought the wound had an infection. Lester asked me a few more questions to ensure I was fine. Once he was satisfied that I was okay, he said, "Thank you for helping us find Ranger."
"No problem, Lester. I have a confession which is why I needed to speak to you. I know Ranger carries a panic button when he goes on his missions. Well, I got the tracker number for the device. Marco and I hacked into it to find his location. I had a feeling he wouldn't be coherent enough to press the button," I explained.
"I'm not sure what to say, Beautiful. The only person with his panic button information was his handler. He said Ranger would activate it a few minutes before we arrived," Lester said. "Manny tried to pin down his location, but we couldn't detect the signal or GPS. You saved Ranger's life. We wouldn't have seen him if you didn't give me the coordinates."
"Ranger is still my friend even though he betrayed my trust and lied to me. His daughter would be devastated to lose him after they reconnected. Julie needs her father. I still need to talk to Ranger, but that conversation can wait until tomorrow. I miss you," I confessed.
"I miss you too, Beautiful. It was great seeing you. How long have you been training?" Lester surprised me by asking.
"Since the day I left. I found my brother that day," I replied. "We've been inseparable since. Oh, you can add my phone number to your contacts, Les. I forgot to tell Bobby."
"I've got your back, Beautiful. I have a feeling Bobby already added your number." Lester and I talked for nearly an hour, catching up on the past five months. He laughed when I told him that Joyce had approached my family at the IHOP. I laughed when he described Joyce Barnhardt's latest attempt to capture Eula.
The woman refused to let Joyce bring her to the TPD. Her bond expires in a few days. I'll have to call Vinnie or Connie to get her file. Eula would only let me capture her. Mooner and Dougie willingly went with Manny or Hal. "It sounds like Vinnie could use my help. Speaking of help, I need to call Tank to pull Manny and Hal off my captures," I replied. Lester and I talked a few minutes more before ending the call.
My final call was to my man. "Hi, baby," he said.
"Good afternoon, my sexy giant," I replied. "How are you feeling? Bobby said you had to drink a gallon of strong coffee to function today."
Tank laughed. "I'm not complaining. You're insatiable," he answered.
"Only when I haven't consumed enough sugar," I joked. "I can't blame last night on the lack of sweets. Before last night, I hadn't had sex for nearly a year. Refined sugars keep my hormones in check."
"Good to know," Tank replied. "Not that I'm not enjoying our conversation, but why did you call?"
"Right. Can you pull Manny and Hal off covering my job with Vinnie? I'm going to the bonds office tomorrow to start work." I answered.
"You have a shoulder injury," he said. I rolled my eyes because I wasn't going to capture the skips alone.
"I won't be alone, Pierre. You better not be telling me what to do," I threatened. "Because if you are, I'm calling you to the mats. I can take you down."
"I'm not telling you what to do, baby. I was about to suggest that Manny or Hal assist," Tank quickly said. "Ranger's in a snit. Do you happen to know why?"
I couldn't stop the laughter from erupting. It took several minutes for me to stop laughing enough to say, "Expect to hear from the Army regarding their Rangeman contract. Ranger accessed a file he had no right to retrieve."
Tank sighed. "We told him to let it go," Tank said. "I assume he researched Marco?"
"Yup. You got it in one, Big guy. FYI, any files associated with the name Plum are locked up tighter than Fort Knox," I replied. Tank understood that Marco's file would fall under his birth name. "Marco got the name Barker redacted from his military file. My dad has high clearance in the Army."
"Was he a general?" Tank asked.
"Yes. Dad also trained Ranger recruits," I replied. Dad and I talked a lot while I lived in Marco's safe house. He told me the post office conferences were a cover for his Army job. "Does the name Spider mean anything to you?"
I heard Tank drop his phone before asking, "He trained my Rangers group with Carlos, Lester and Bobby. How do you know Spider?"
"He's my dad," I replied. "I'm surprised none of you recognized him." Dad, Marco and I laughed about it numerous times. My dad hasn't changed that much in ten years. It's possible I didn't notice daddy changing since I'd seen him every day.
"Well, I'll be damned. He's a legend among the Rangers. Although, we should have realized it sooner. You have his uncanny ability to sense when things are about to go awry," Tank said. We talked for a few more minutes before saying I had to help Marco. "I'm working a late monitor shift. Sweet dreams, Little girl."
Manny's POV
Tank called Hector, Hal and me into his office. We took our seats and waited for Tank to announce that we were no longer helping Stephanie with her skips. He rubbed his hand over his bald head before placing it on his neck. "Stephanie is returning to work for Vinnie tomorrow. She no longer requires your help in the field," Tank stated.
Hector said, "Angelita got shot in the shoulder. She needs our help."
"Her brother, Marco, will assist," Tank replied.
"Stephanie has a brother?" Hal asked. I wondered how much information Tank would tell us about Stephanie's brother. We knew Stephanie had a sister that she called Saint Valerie, but there was never a mention of a brother.
"Yes, Angelita has a twin brother," Hector offered. "Marco resembles our Angelita."
"We should run a background check on him," I suggested.
"No," Tank replied. He grabbed his phone to send a message. A few seconds later, he received a reply. "Stephanie and Marco gave me permission to tell their story."
Tank held our attention as he explained the circumstances regarding Marco Plum. I was surprised to learn my friend, Marco Barker, was Stephanie's biological twin brother. How did I miss her resemblance to Marco?
I thought about the day she pretended to be my wife after Scrog shot me. When I saw her curly hair and blue eyes, I knew I could trust her. At the time, I thought Marco was pranking me until the fog cleared from my head. It didn't take long for me to confide in the woman. Stephanie was a woman to have on your side. From that day forward, I loved and respected Stephanie Plum. Heck, all the guys were half in love with her.
"Marco's contract should be up soon. We should ask him to apply at Rangeman," I stated.
Tank rubbed his hand over his head again. I realized the answer before he said, "Neither Stephanie nor Marco are interested in working for Rangeman."
"Why?" Hal asked. "Does their decision have anything to do with Ranger?"
"Yes," Tank replied without getting into detail.
There was something Tank wasn't telling us. Before I could form a question, Hector asked, "Did Ranger try to access Marco's military records?"
"He did. Our contracts with the Army and other alphabet agencies are under scrutiny. Ranger accessed Barker's files without consent from Marco or the General," Tank replied.
"Shit. Rangeman could lose millions of dollars through his stupidity," I said. Negotiating the contracts took a long time. How many times will Ranger fuck up before he finally gets a clue?
We were wrapping up our meeting when someone knocked on Tank's door. "Enter," Tank ordered.
Binkie opened the door. "I'm sorry for interrupting your meeting. I received this envelope at the front desk for Manny and Hal," Binkie said as he passed me the parcel.
I tore the envelope open, then passed a set of documents to Hal. When I read mine, I was stunned. "Well?" Tank asked.
"Stephanie is sending Hal and me to Vegas for a week. She organized some activities we'd enjoy," I replied. "Why? These tickets must have cost a fortune."
Tank laughed and said, "You wouldn't let Stephanie give you a cut of her captures. It's her way to repay you and Hal for your help. I've already cleared your schedules for a week. Your flight leaves at 0700 tomorrow."
Hector held out his hand and said, "Phone." Hal and I handed our phones to Hector. He programmed a number into our contacts and threatened bodily harm if we gave it to anyone else. I knew Stephanie's old phone number was still active. She must want to keep her past and future separate.
Hal called Stephanie to thank her for the generous gift. He was excited to get away for a week of fun. Something Stephanie said made his face turn beet red from embarrassment. He said, "I miss you," before hanging up. Tank dismissed us a minute later.
My shift ended during the meeting, so I retired to my apartment to call Stephanie. "Hi, hubby," she answered.
"Hey, wifey. Thank you for the vacation. You didn't need to buy us a gift for helping," I said.
"Manny, you and Hal worked outside Rangeman hours to cover for me. I couldn't let you do that without offering payment for your assistance. It is because of your help that I still have a job."
"Marco and I are friends," I added.
Stephanie giggled. "I know. Marco told me a few stories about the trouble you and Rodriguez got into during basic training. Did Rodriguez really take a man to a hotel, thinking it was a woman?" Stephanie asked.
It was my turn to laugh. "Yup. Jose Rodriguez and his date got hot and heavy. After giving Rodriguez the best blow job of his life, the man undressed for Jose to reciprocate. The look on Jose's face when he left the hotel room was priceless," I replied.
"I want to feel sorry for him, but I'm still angry about the pile of searches he left on my desk," Stephanie said. "Has Rodriguez had better luck with women?"
"Yes. Jose met his wife during our second tour. She worked in the mess tent. I think you and Mary would get along," I replied. "She works at St Frances hospital in the kitchen."
"So not only is Rodriguez a pain in my ass, but his wife provides the gross food in the hospital?" Stephanie asked. I could hear her wheezing from laughing too hard. "God, you can't make up that stuff." She continued laughing until she dropped the phone.
"What did you say to her, Manny?" Marco asked.
"Hey, buddy. I told Stephanie about Rodriguez's wife, Mary," I replied.
"That explains her uncontrolled laughter," he said. We talked for several minutes until I heard the oven timer go off in the background. "I have to pull the cake from the oven. Here's Steph. She's calm enough to talk now."
"Sorry, hubby. I couldn't stop laughing," she apologized.
We talked about when she left Trenton and how much she had trained with Marco. I was happy my friends found each other. They sounded happy to be together. Stephanie invited me to their house after they moved. I was looking forward to spending time with my friend and wifey.
"You saved Ranger's life," I said.
"No, I didn't, Manny," Stephanie quickly countered. "If Marco and I didn't go after Gomez, he could have completed his mission."
"That's not what I heard, wifey. You and I both know Ranger's mission was FUBAR from the start. Had Ranger read all the intel in the folder, he could have stopped Gomez from going after you," I said. Stephanie gasped when I relayed the details.
"Do you know?" she asked.
"That you killed Gomez and another man to save Marco's life? Yes, Stephanie, I know. Lester debriefed us after you talked to him. Are you upset he told us?" I wondered.
"No. I said Lester should inform the team. It's unfair to be kept in the dark regarding why it was necessary to rescue Ranger. You probably wondered why I knew so much about his mission," she replied.
"You would be correct. We've learned not to ask questions, but Ram, Slick and Zero wanted to know how you got involved. It shocked us when you knew about our rescue mission. We heard you relay the coordinates to Lester."
"I understand," Stephanie said. "I hate being left out of the loop. It made sense for Lester to tell you what he knew."
"He told us everything except you getting shot," I stated. Stephanie laughed. We talked for a few more minutes before she said it was time to help Marco make the fudge icing. My wifey is an amazing and resilient woman. I hope Tank tells her how he feels. They both deserve a little happiness.
