Chapter 12
Ranger's POV
I called General Palmer to discuss our contract with the Army. "Manoso, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" Palmer asked.
"Good evening, sir. I was researching a potential hire for Rangeman, but my request to access his military personnel file got declined," I said, carefully wording my concern.
"Whose military record?" Palmer asked.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I said, "Marco Barker Plum." I wasn't sure if they corrected his military file using his birth name.
"Manoso, I know you do not have permission to access Major Marco Plum's files. He contacted the records department to block access unless he provided written permission. Major Manoso, General Barker, General Rogers, General Adams and I will meet with Rangeman's core team to discuss our contract. I strongly advise you not to access any officer records unless you have paperwork to prove access permission. Good day, Manoso," Palmer said. I heard the dial tone in my ear.
"Damn it!" I screamed. The only intel I learned was Marco Barker's name had changed to Marco Plum in the military database. I needed to know why Marco got hidden from the world. What happened that necessitated his cover?
I decided to get caught up on the mountain of paperwork in my office. When I arrived on the fifth floor, the control room seemed quieter than usual. I checked the schedule for the monitor shifts and sighed. Tank replaced Hal for the shift. Hal and Manny were approved for vacation starting tomorrow.
It was 1800 hours, and the room was nearly empty. We usually had more men on the floor. I looked around the control room, but only Tank and Woody were on the monitors. All the cubicles and offices were empty.
When I walked past Lester's office, I saw him packing up his desk. "Are you working tonight?" Lester asked. I nodded. "Call Julie." I raised my eyebrow, hoping he'd provide more information. Lester rolled his eyes before pushing past me. When did my employees start ignoring me?
Bobby was waiting for me in my office. "Brown?" I asked as I took the seat behind my desk.
"I drew the short straw," Bobby replied. "Lester, Tank and I received correspondence from General Palmer. We decided to revoke your access to the military portion of our search engine." Bobby placed a document on my desk signed by the other core team members.
"Have you offered Stephanie a Rangeman employment contract?" I asked. We had a few available for when she accepted the offer.
"Do you honestly think Stephanie would want to work here after everything you have done to her?" Bobby asked. He left the room without waiting for an answer.
I saw the thick stack of papers in my inbox. Every single Rangeman Trenton employee requested a transfer to Boston. Those men need to stay in the Trenton office. "What have I done?" I screamed. I took a closer look at the reason for their transfer. "If I remain in the Trenton office, where Carlos Manoso works, I will kill him."
Tank's POV
I heard Ranger ranting about the lack of staff on the floor. None of the men wanted Ranger in the Trenton office. Lester, Bobby and I had received several transfer requests from Stephanie's friends. They didn't want to transfer but hoped if they bombarded the core team with requests, Ranger would move to Miami. It was the office farthest from Trenton. They were forcing Ranger to relocate to another branch.
"Do you think he'll move to Miami?" Woody asked.
"Probably. Everyone except the core team applied for a transfer," I said. Woody raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I thought it was only Junior, Manny, Hal, Cal, Vince, Hector, Ram, Rodriguez, and me," Woody confessed.
"Ella and Luis requested transfers, too," I said.
"Ranger messed up bad. He should leave before he loses the Trenton office. Nobody wants to transfer here as long as Steph lives in Trenton," Woody stated. I was surprised by the news. "Honestly, it would make sense for Ranger to leave since his daughter lives in Miami. He never visits his parents, so he can't use that as an excuse to stay."
I knew Julie was furious with Ranger. Lester must have shared what happened to Stephanie. We hoped Ranger would leave after returning from his mission, but he's stuck around. Stephanie needs the time to heal. In time she will forgive Ranger. If Ranger stays in Trenton, it will take Stephanie longer to get over the anger. He would keep bothering her until one of them cracked. I pray it won't be Stephanie.
Julie didn't know her father married Jeanne Ellen Burrows. She had tried to get her dad to date Stephanie since the Scrog incident. I tried many times to discourage Julie, but she ignored me. After Lester imparted his knowledge to Julie, she called to apologize. Julie was afraid Stephanie was mad because they hadn't talked in nearly six months. I had explained that Stephanie was out of town and unreachable. Julie believed the excuse for a while, but now she wanted to talk to Stephanie.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. We're not supposed to have our phones at the monitors. I'm part of the core team, so the rule does not apply to me. I smiled when I read Stephanie's text. "Can I eat chocolate cake off your ripped abs?" she asked.
"Only if I can reciprocate," I replied.
"Deal," she wrote. God, that woman is going to be the death of me. I have to start thinking about unpleasant things before my arousal becomes noticeable to Woody. His name didn't help matters.
"Do you have a hot date later?" Woody asked as he jutted his chin at my phone.
"No," I answered, but I wished it was yes. It wasn't Woody's business to know about my relationship with Stephanie. I grinned when I wondered how long it would take for the men to make the connection. Stephanie and I could make a game out of who will uncover our secret first.
"Is Ranger working tomorrow?" Stephanie asked.
"Yes. The boss has monitor duty from 0500 until 0900 when we have our meeting," I replied.
"So… I can drop by at 10?" she wondered.
"That time will work. Bobby, Les and I can keep him for a core meeting," I suggested.
"Sweet. See you tomorrow, sexy. I'll wear my shortest skirt for you. ;)" Stephanie wrote.
"Good, God," I groaned.
"I don't care what you said earlier, Tank. But I know you've got a hot date later," Woody joked. Something caught his eye on the monitor. "Ram, Cal, please report to the warehouse district zone four for an armed B . I repeat, report to warehouse district zone four for an armed B . Junior, Vince, please assist Ram and Cal at the warehouse district zone four. The men are armed." Woody notified the other men in the field to be on the alert.
"Trenton Police, Gazarra speaking," I heard when I called the police station.
"Eddie, we got a B in the warehouse district near the pier. The suspects are armed. We've dispatched two teams to the area," I said. I waited as Eddie dispatched a few cars to assist.
"We have a few cars in the area. How long until your team arrives?" Eddie asked.
"Four minutes," Woody replied.
"Got it. Thanks," Eddie said before disconnecting the call.
I sent Bobby and Lester a message to prepare for first aid in the field. Bobby ran into the control room to see where they would need treatment. He nodded and ran for the stairs. I knew Lester would be waiting in the garage when Bobby arrived.
Using the keyboard, I changed the cameras on my screen so I could see the garage. When Bobby exited the stairwell and jumped into Lester's car, I pressed the button to open the gate. Lester wouldn't need to stop or use his fob to leave. We were efficient when dispatching our teams.
Ranger heard Woody's announcement and appeared behind me to view the warehouses. He went to the third monitor to watch the affected building. Woody returned to his view of monitoring the other Rangeman business accounts. I switched my screen back to the home security accounts.
Stephanie's POV
I was almost asleep when Marco woke me up. "Steph, we need to get to the hospital," he said urgently.
"Tank?" I asked. I hoped it wasn't my Big Guy. Losing him would devastate me.
"No. It's Lester. He got shot," he replied. I jumped out of bed and quickly dressed. My best friend was in the hospital. Lester needed me to be there for him.
We got to the parking lot, and I noticed my car was gone. "Did you replace my car already?" I asked. Marco grinned and nodded. "I have the best brother ever," I said while squeezing him around the waist.
"We're going to blow up your old one," he said. It would be the first time I purposely exploded a car. I was excited to get to work.
My phone rang as we drove towards the hospital. It takes fifteen to twenty minutes to get to St Frances from my apartment. Since most roads are empty, Marco got us there in twelve minutes. He parked the car in the closest spot, and we ran into the emergency room.
"Hi, Steph. Who are you here to see?" Evelyn asked. She transferred to St Frances from Helen Fuld last year.
"Lester Santos. He has a gunshot wound," I replied.
Evelyn looked over my shoulder at Marco and asked, "Who is your shadow?"
"Your cousin Marco Plum. It's a long story, but I promise to tell you later. We can meet for dinner when you have a free night," I quickly explained.
"Lester is in section B, pod 4," Evelyn said after checking the computer. "If anyone asks, say you're his wife." I laughed and waved over my shoulder. Evelyn was my favourite cousin. She often told the other nurses I was married to the Rangeman guys. They knew it wasn't true but didn't call us out on the lie either.
Marco followed me towards the area, Evelyn indicated. He got stopped by the nurse, who questioned our relationship. "I'm Lester's wife, and Marco is my brother," I quickly said. She nodded, then let us go behind the curtain.
"Beautiful," Lester said when he saw me. I saw the bandage on his chest above his heart. Didn't he wear Kevlar? "Armour piercing bullets."
"Oh, Lester," I cried. I wiped the tears off my face and climbed into the bed beside him. "How close did the bullet get?"
I heard the curtain open. The doctor replied, "It missed his heart by one centimetre. I need to take him into surgery to remove the bullet. Your husband will need to stay in the hospital for two weeks."
"Okay, thanks. I'll see you after surgery, Les. I love you," I said before kissing him on the lips, then hopped off the bed.
"I love you too, Beautiful," he replied. The orderly arrived and wheeled Lester away for surgery. Marco wrapped his arm around my shoulder, then guided me to the waiting room.
"How is he?" Evelyn asked. I shook my head because I didn't know.
"The bullet entered one centimetre above his heart. He's going to surgery to remove the bullet. I've seen men injured this way before. Most of them make it through surgery," Marco replied.
I noticed my Merry Men surrounded us to receive an update. "Where's Bobby?" I asked. My favourite medic was noticeably missing. Nobody answered my question. I started panicking, thinking the worst had happened to Bobby. "Someone, please, tell me. Where is Bobby?" I screamed. Marco pulled me into his arms and held me as I cried.
Nearly an hour later, someone pulled me from my brother's arms. "Hey, hey, hey, Steph. I'm right here, sweetie. I haven't gone anywhere," Bobby replied.
"I thought. I thought," I tried to talk.
"I know, sweetie," he said as he held me. I cried on his shoulder. Bobby rubbed my back until I started to calm down. He was close enough to whisper, "Tank is at Rangeman with Ranger. We had to sedate him when Lester got shot."
"Why?"
"Lester and Ranger are cousins. I think Lester told you a few years ago," Bobby replied. I suddenly remembered him complaining about his cousin not going to family gatherings. "Ranger didn't take the news well."
"I forgot because they're complete opposites," I confessed.
"Most days, Lester would like to forget they're related," Bobby added. He made me laugh.
"How long will Lester be in surgery?" I never thought to ask the doctor.
"The procedure can take as long as five hours, depending on the damage the bullet caused," Bobby answered. I liked having my friend explain the doctor speak in layman's terms.
"She trusts you," Marco said, his voice breaking through the fog.
"Steph knows I'm on her side. I will always have her back," Bobby replied.
"You love her," Marco added.
"I'm in love with her, but she doesn't feel the same. Stephanie is in love with Tank. She loved him for at least a year, but never acknowledged how she felt until recently," Bobby said.
Did I love Tank for the past year? He was always there for me. I often called him to chat. Tank never said much, but I understood what he tried to say. I've told Tank I love him and it didn't scare me. The light bulb turned on in my head. Tank had done many things since we met to show he loved me. Bobby's right, I've been in love with my Big Guy for a while. I love Lester and Bobby too, but it's a different kind of love. Now I should explain a few things to Bobby and my brother.
"I'm glad she has you," Bobby said.
"I think I'm the lucky one. For as long as I can remember, I felt that part of me was missing. It felt as though an important connection got severed," Marco said. He was trying to come up with an adequate analogy.
"It's like the kids in the book, The Golden Compass when they got separated from their daemons. Most of the kids died. The survivors were soulless, and the separation extracted all meaning from their life," I said after yawning. "When Marco got sent away, I became reckless and had the urge to fly."
"Do you still want to fly?" Bobby asked.
"Duh, do you really have to ask?" I said. "But now I have the skills to fly without being reckless. I don't have the urge to prove to myself that I'm alive."
"Stephanie, I didn't know that's how you felt," Bobby said.
"For as long as I remember, I felt alone. Valerie and I never got along. Since I found my twin brother, those feelings went away. I'm free to love and live," I confessed. "Bobby, none of you missed anything, so stop beating yourself up. Marco and I were fated to meet as we did."
Marco nodded, agreeing with my analysis of how lost I felt in my family. Bobby surprised us by adding, "Some studies with identical and fraternal twins show a special bond between the children as they grow. I've heard of one twin getting injured while the other felt the pain. Twins have a certain way of communicating non-verbally. They know how to comfort the other when needed. I can tell you and Marco have that bond. Now, what are we going to do until your shoulder heals?"
"Steph and I are going to be BEA partners. Until she heals, I'll manage the takedowns. My sister knows everyone and has a way with people. The two of us together would be unstoppable," Marco replied.
"You can always work at Rangeman, Stephanie," Bobby said, but I was already shaking my head.
"If you need help finding a high bond skip, I will use my skills to assist. I'll even do distractions when necessary. But I will not sign a contract with Rangeman," I sternly said.
Before I could continue my rant, the doctor appeared. "I'm sorry," he said. I started to cry. Marco pulled me into his arms. The doctor looked embarrassed before continuing, "Mr. Santos is in recovery. His surgery was a success. I apologize for not informing you when he got out of surgery over an hour ago. Another gunshot wound victim arrived at the hospital, but he didn't survive."
I launched myself into the doctor's arms, surprising Marco and Bobby. "Thank you for saving my best friend," I whispered. He patted my back and gently pushed me back toward my brother.
Bobby, Marco and I went to see Lester in the recovery room. He looked pale.
I ran my fingers through his hair. His eyes opened to look at me. "Beautiful," he whispered.
"Hi, Lester," I said before kissing his lips. "You scared me."
"Sorry, won't happen again," he said before yawning.
"You can't make that promise. The man who shot you died on the operating table. His friends took him to a clinic ill-equipped to tend his wound. They got him to surgery, but he had lost too much blood. The hospital gave him the maximum permitted for a transfusion," I explained.
"Good. I'm glad I killed the bastard," Lester said. I ran my fingers through his hair and said it was time for me to confront the angry Cuban-American. "Don't let him bully you," Lester said before closing his eyes.
I was exhausted. Marco and I had to visit Rangeman to speak with the boss.
