All familiar characters belong to Janet. Mistakes are mine alone.
"Hey, Boss. You got a minute?" Atlas said in my ear.
I knew I should've flushed my cell when I'd stopped Olivia from sending her bath duck on a tour of Jersey's septic system.
"Do you have something better than a date with my daughter?" I asked him.
"No."
He get points for answering honestly.
"Buuuut … I'm bettin' you'd want to advise me before I go off and handle a problem myself."
"You'd win with that guess. You still on four?"
"Yeah."
"Give me five minutes. Steph's with your neighbor …"
"Grandma Mazur or Mr. Plum?" He asked.
"Edna. I'll get Olivia packed up and drop her off with them before heading over to your place."
"Thanks. I didn't want …"
"You agreed to my terms when you took this job. If you have a problem, you don't get to solve it alone and possibly endanger my men or my company in the process."
"Got it … team player all the way now."
"Don't ever forget that. See you in a few." I pocketed my cell and stood up. "We have to go find Mama," I told my daughter. "Daddy has an unexpected meeting to get to."
Never would I have thought I'd regret having to cut short the private concert Olivia was giving me and the boys while I was looking over this month's budget report. What would normally be considered a high decibel hearing test, is already being tucked away as a fond memory. My tiny heart-stealer periodically added a 'Daddy' into whatever she was attempting to sing, pointing a little finger at me as she did just so I'd know she was watching for a reaction from me. Hearing her say 'Daddy' is right up there in emotion with Julie's 'RangeDad' and anytime Steph calls me Batman before smiling at or kissing me.
I glanced at my baby's silver 'GIRLS RULE!' T-shirt, dark denim leggings, and her ten bare toes. I couldn't help but think of Stephanie as realization dawned that I'm probably going to have to quickly get some socks and shoes on a daughter who usually requires a bit of coercion to allow that particular job to be done.
"How about we go get your butt-kicking boots like Mama's?" I asked her.
Stephanie would call her CAT boots her ass-kickers, not the pair of black motorcycle boots that Olivia has a mini-version of, but our daughter doesn't need to know I purposely went with the no-lace option. Holding her up while she sticks her feet into something is a lot less time consuming than getting her and the boys to stay still long enough to slip her sneakers on and lace them up.
She and I worked together and we were out the door and in the elevator in a matter of minutes. Not a normal occurrence. I'd bet going to find her Mama was a huge cooperation-motivator. Olive knows which door her great-grandmother is behind, so I let her run ahead of me and slap at it with both hands and the kind of enthusiasm only a toddler can drum up.
Steph was opening it a beat later, likely recognizing Olive's handiwork.
"Mama, ida paid."
She bent down and scooped her up for a hug and a kiss. "I bet you and Daddy played a lot while I was here."
Our daughter nodded emphatically, bringing to mind a fishing bobber as the ponytailed-section of her hair dipped rapidly up and down.
"Tag," I said to my wife after I pressed a kiss to her lips, "you're it."
"Hah! I knew Olive would eventually bring even Batman to his knees."
"Wrong, Babe. I was thoroughly enjoying being serenaded before Atlas called and interrupted our playtime."
"Something wrong?" She asked.
"I don't know yet, but something's definitely not right. I brought along the board of locks Slick gave her so Olivia can get in a little lock-picking practice while I'm gone. I'm not sure Edna's heart could handle the microphone and an extended-length concert."
"That's smart. We can bring it with us so Olive won't be bored while we grill Atlas."
I lifted a brow at her. "Us? We?"
"Yup. What did you ask me to do?"
"Watch Olivia while I go see what's going on with Atlas?" I replied.
"Yes," she said, placing a 'nice try' kiss on my jaw. "But no. A while back you asked me to give Atlas a chance and try to get to a place where I treat him like he's part of our Rangefamily. What would I do if you just told me that Bobby or Cal was having trouble with something?"
"Do I have to answer if I don't like the one that's required?"
"No. You can just accept the fact that I'm going with you to see what he needs without arguing with me about it. If there's something you don't want me to hear after I know what's going on, that'll be a separate and different discussion." She turned her head away from Olive's and shouted over her shoulder. "Grandma! I have to go help Ranger with something! Don't forget, dinner with us and Dad at six!"
I didn't have a chance to argue if I'd wanted to, which I don't. Steph is right ... even if she used my own words against me in order to get her way. Atlas won't be able to move beyond being 'One Shot' until he feels fully accepted as one of ours here.
We locked Edna's door on our way out and I led my ladies down the hall to Atlas' apartment. It amuses me to no end, picturing Helen's head exploding if she knew her mother is living only a few doors away from an ex-hitman for a notorious neighborhood gang. Then again, he may have her full support if she ever learned he had agreed to try to kill me.
"Do your thing, Olive?" Steph said, as we stopped at his door.
She stepped closer so Olivia could reach the door to smack, and I had an unreasonable urge to put myself between them and the apartment. My building is secure, and now because of the pandemic it would take an act of God for anyone to breach the security systems I have in place, but I'm not comfortable with the unknown. The fact that Atlas needed to call me, means his news isn't going to be anything I'll be happy to hear.
"Wow ... I get a visit from the Missus and the bacon bit too?" Atlas said, once he opened his door and found my family standing on the other side of it.
If I didn't want to protect Julie from what he could say, I would've had her on FaceTime just so I could freak him out even more. He expected me to arrive with an arsenal of weapons most likely, not with my wife and baby girl as my backup.
"Ranger said you may need some help," Steph told him. "So here we are."
Atlas glanced at her and then zeroed in on the two words written on Olivia's shirt.
"The girls clearly rule this joint," he told me.
"We tagged along because we were afraid that you're in some kind of trouble," my wife told him, "but I'm suddenly rethinking why I'd want to help out."
"Go easy on him, Babe. He's where you were when you kept refusing my assistance and my resources. He's new to relying on someone to keep his ass out of trouble."
"My apologies," he told Steph. "I appreciate you wantin' to ride to my rescue."
Steph cut her eyes to me. "Quick … remind me of something he's said about my mom so I can stop wanting to elbow him."
"He said he'd make Helen disappear, just from my building or from the face of the earth … he wasn't that specific. Plus, he suffered a head injury just to make Olivia smile. We don't want to give him another one."
"We don't?" She asked.
"No."
She sighed and moved to sit on his sofa with Olive on her lap and the board full of locks in her hands.
"Early training?" Atlas asked me, watching Olivia twist and turn a combination lock for a few seconds.
"Stephanie and I vowed to support our girls in any career they're interested in."
"Ranger …"
"I'm teasing, Babe. Chances are good that having the two of us for parents, Olivia will want to be an accountant or a bank manager just for a sense of normalcy."
Her face scrunched adorably, picturing being stuck behind a desk for longer than an hour.
She pointed at Atlas. "Sit and tell us what's wrong."
He looked back at me and I nodded. He sat, but I stayed standing beside where Stephanie and Olivia are perched. I may trust him, but I'm not relaxing until I know what I'm dealing with here.
"Remember when I said I came here before I got tapped for use of my past skills, or received blowback from some of them?" He asked me.
I gave him a slight nod.
"Well, a few people who've helped keep me alive so I could get here, are now being threatened in an attempt to flush me 'out of hiding'. Their words, not what I'm actually doing."
"Do you want to go back to that life?" I asked. "Think carefully about your answer, because I'm not going to be happy if you lie to me."
"I made up my mind what I wanted long before I showed up at your door," he told me. "From what I'd heard, I understood that you specialize in helping those who want to help themselves."
"Oooh, you need to put that on a Rangeman bumper sticker," Steph said, helping Olivia turn a key to open a padlock.
I looked over at her.
"Okay, I get it," she added. "That's a conversation for another time, but I know I'd put one on my car and Olive's stroller."
She got a smile out of both of us. I can see her doing exactly that. My mother too.
"Anyway," Atlas continued, "I came here with a new life in mind. I just don't know how to cut ties with my old one without endangering what I've got now. Those who've hidden me or helped me survive don't deserve to be punished for givin' me a chance."
"Darn … now I'm back to liking him," my wife said to me.
"He's annoyingly endearing at times."
"It's a curse," Atlas added. "Now what do I do? If I threaten - or off - anyone who targets my people ... not that I'd do that, Missus and baby girl Manoso, they have me right where they want me. If I do nothing, the good guys will suffer."
"Give me all the names you have and I'll get started on adding protection or intimidation to whoever requires what."
"Do what he says, Atlas," Steph said. "Ranger's a pro at securing and scaring people, and I can help with any phone threats or online tracking."
"I get that, but …"
"There are no 'buts' in this type of situation," I told him. "You work for me now. If you're serious about wanting to change, this is my problem as your boss."
"Boss, I ca …"
"Decide now. New life or something else, somewhere else. My company means we play by my rules."
He sighed and I noticed Steph was hiding a smile behind Olivia's bat hair tie.
"I like it here," he said.
I handed him a small notebook that I keep in one of my pockets just for times like these.
"Write down any names and addresses that I need to know, and why they're relevant."
"I can …"
I cut him off. "No ... you can't. You need to let me handle this so it can end before it follows you here. I wasn't playing. If you allow your past to come to my building, you're out. You may think you can sacrifice yourself as penance for what you did years ago, but my family is not going to be put in the middle of this. Let me do my job or leave."
"Ranger …" that was said by Stephanie, believing I'm being too hard on him.
"I have a line, Steph. I will always be there for my men, but not at the expense of you and Olivia. If Atlas wants to remain here, he has to agree to stay out of this. If not, you're gone," I turned to say directly to him.
"Listen to him, Atlas," Steph said, holding Olivia tight. "If you want a chance at a normal life, do what he says and tack on a 'thank you' afterwards. I get that you feel like this is your mess to clean up, but the great thing about Rangeman is no one here believes you have to confront your past or battle your demons alone. We're here to help and support you, but you have to let us."
He flicked his two-toned eyes to me. "She got a sister?" He teased.
"Yes. And as you know by now, Valerie's married to a Teletubby and likely won't leave him," I replied. "Give me what I asked for and let me do what I'm good at."
I relaxed when he took the notepad and began writing, not only supplying me with the names of his associates, good and bad, and where to find them, but he also included info on who's been doing the threatening and why, plus adding with astericks their potential soft spots.
"I don't like this," he said when he was done.
"I know you don't, but family watches out for every member of it. If you wanted to remain solo, this wasn't the place to run to."
He sighed again. "I'm gettin' that. What can I do to repay you for this?"
"You not needing to call me under these circumstances again will be payment enough," I told him.
"That's it?" He asked.
"Yes. And now you get to entertain my ladies while I make a few calls."
We've got each other's backs, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have to see and experience exactly what's at stake if he ever fucks up and goes back to believing his old ways are the only way to live.
