All familiar characters belong to Janet. Sorry in advance if there are more mistakes than usual.
"I'm sure you know why you're here," I told the fucker Hector and Hal had brought to me.
"Not really. I walked out of my rental house and two assholes grabbed me, shoved me onto a plane, now I'm here."
"Even someone as stupid as you are must know kidnapping is a prosecutable crime."
For just a brief moment, I saw fear flash in his eyes. Then bravado kicked in. "I didn't kidnap my daughter, I surprised her with a vacation to visit relatives and see her family's homeland."
"You also surprised your ex-wife, considering you didn't have permission from her to take her daughter anywhere except to your home address for two days at the most."
"I told her about it. Can't help it if she can't remember shit since the divorce."
Wrong thing to say. My fist hit his jaw in a way that didn't even begin to satisfy me. His ex, her family, and her attorney can't do anything physical to him, so this kind of lesson is where I come in.
"She remembers that she trusted you at one time. You're the coward who chose to hide behind a child to punish her for filing for divorce. What's wrong … your dick shrink when Farren dumped you and you tried to make yourself feel like a man again by stealing a little girl who loves you?"
As I'd hoped, he charged me. I didn't need to tell my men to back off. Hector and Hal leaned back against the wall of one of our warehouses and crossed their arms over their chests simultaneously. Their positions are clear, they're going to kick back and enjoy watching me make ground meat out of this fucker's face.
I hate to disappoint people. My next punch knocked him out of the chair Hector had shoved him into a few minutes ago.
"Give me a reason not to kill you," I demanded.
He spit out a mouthful of blood before turning back to face me. He has balls, I'll give him that … but it's a miniscule pair.
"You said so yourself," the asshole said, "my daughter loves me. It'll crush her if I disappear from her life."
"And what will you add to hers if you live?"
"I'm her father!"
"A pretty shitty one from where I'm standing. If my wife hadn't tracked you down, you would have cut her mother completely out of her life. Why shouldn't I do the same with you?"
Suddenly, he didn't have much to say.
"Get up," I ordered him.
He did as I instructed and sat back down on the hardwood chair, resting his hands on the arms of it in an attempt to appear unconcerned. He quickly broke character by taking one last swipe of his face and then sat motionless, waiting for what came next. Neither of us were prepared for my pregnant wife bursting into the warehouse. I almost shot Hector for pulling his weapon out and starting to aim it in the direction of the interruption.
"Sorry," she said to Hector, and then to me when she saw what my eyes were swearing at Hector. "But this is my case, I should've been told where my guy went."
"My guy, meaning the Boss or the asshole we brought back to Jersey?" Hal asked.
"My first concern is always Ranger," she said. "He can't take off and not have me wondering what he doesn't want me to know. The fact that the guy I hunted down suddenly vanished around the same time … led to some questions I needed answered."
"Where's Olivia?" I asked her.
"With your parents. Mama and Papa Manoso came to see how I was doing, but I left our daughter with them to check on you."
I know my 'guest' is secured and being watched by Hal and Hector, and also Tank who accompanied my wife ... he knows I'd kill him if he let her come alone. I took a moment to close my eyes and count back from ten so I wouldn't just pick my wife up and take her back home. This is her case, and despite my need to protect her from this side of our business, she deserves to say whatever she wants to the man she almost single-handedly tracked down.
I felt her hands on me before I reopened my eyes. She's the only one, outside of my children, who has always been able to do that without getting shot or at least the threat of a gunshot wound.
"You can stop grinding your teeth and thinking up ways to punish Tank for only doing what I asked and what you're proud of me for acting on," Steph said to me. "I'm not here to ruin your fun or make you feel bad for wanting to do whatever you can to protect my client and her daughter. I just need to say a few words to him. This is important to me."
"I know. I even considered telling you to grab your bag and come with me, but my protective instincts kicked in. I didn't want you near this shit."
"I was near it. That's why he's here. I spent more hours than I'm going to count working to give the guys an address to head to."
"You did good. The floor's yours. But if he makes any move towards you … he's dead."
She gave me a brief kiss before responding. "He's got Tank's hands holding him down in the chair. He'd have to out-strength Tank, which only you can manage, to move even a millimeter. He'd also have to get through Hector and Hal who just created a wall between us."
"Say what you need to, Steph, but from there," Tank told her. "He'll listen. We can't be held responsible for what we do to him if he's disrespectful or attempts to reach you."
"If he does, I'll shoot him myself. I'm pissed on Farren's behalf." She locked eyes on the asshole. "You're lucky she's a better person than I am. If I were in her shoes, right now your entire body would be in the process of being fed into a garbage disposal one inch at a time, with you still conscious through most of it."
"Damn," Tank said, admiration clear in his tone.
Hector appeared to have a real tear forming above the tattooed one. "Nos haces sentir orgullosas, Estefanía."
She cut her eyes to me for a translation. "You make the men proud, Babe."
"You're not worried about her saying shit like that about her kid?" Our resident asshole asked, darting deep set eyes from me, to Stephanie's pregnant belly, and straight back to me.
"No. Because I'd do worse than what she just threatened."
"And if she's directing that threat at you?"
My wife started laughing. It continued for a few seconds and ended when she curled her arm around our son, like she had to keep him inside until her humor dissipated.
"Like Ranger would ever do anything like that. He's a real man, not a pathetic douchebag who has to use a child as a weapon and a pawn to make himself feel like he's in control of something."
That got the reaction she wanted, and one I made sure he immediately regretted. Choreographed like we've done it a thousand times, because we have, Hector and Hal stepped out of the way so my punch could connect with the target it was intended for.
"Ranger," Steph said in the way she uses when she thinks she needs to calm me down, "Tank was holding onto him. He couldn't get anywhere near me."
"But he was thinking he could. That's enough."
She sighed, but already knew it was pointless to argue with me. She went from thirty years of having no one except Edna and Mary Lou defending her, to having me and three buildings full of men protecting her. I'd feel sorry for her if I didn't know how necessary that level of security is. Not only have I made my share of enemies who could try to use her to hurt me, her reputation for sensing and locating the source of criminal activity has put her in danger more than I'm comfortable with.
And when I'm uncomfortable, everyone else will be too.
She ignored my comment and glanced well above our guest's head to lock eyes with Tank. "You were right."
"About?" I asked.
"That me coming here was going to make you more … reactive. I think whatever you do to him is well-deserved, but I shouldn't add to it."
"You're fine, Babe."
"I'm more than fine, but I am going to leave you guys to your 'talk'." She looked at her client's ex. "If you have even one functional brain cell left, you'll stay away from Farren. I'll personally take you out if you cause that woman any more pain. And there will be no end to the pain you'll feel if you harm Halina any more than you already have. I've made a few contacts with a couple important people, and even if you're granted supervised visitation at some point, I'm warning you that I'll have eyes on you the entire time. The days of using your daughter are over. Test me on that … and your life will be over even faster."
She turned back to me, kissed my lips again, and spoke quietly so only Tank with his annoyingly accurate hearing or lip reading will know what she's saying to me. "Do what you have to here, but don't stay away too long. Your Mom will convince Olive that she needs a sleepover in Newark so 'I can rest' if I don't have you tempting her to stay. I'm pregnant, not tired or tired of playing with my kid."
"I'll have a word with her before you make it back home."
"I appreciate the offer, but your presence will have more of an impact."
I nodded, knowing she's telling me not to do anything that will get me held up by the cops. But I have no intention of this 'meeting' being part of any report.
"I'll be home soon. Tank will drive you back."
"I can get myself back to Rangeman."
I looked at my second-in-command and he let the asshole go. He walked to the door, opened it and scanned the outside, and then waited for Stephanie to proceed him out.
"Fine," she told us. "I'll allow Tank to keep my company."
She's never afraid to twist reality into something she approves of.
"Thank you," I deadpanned.
"Don't be too long. Your daughter already misses you."
I nodded, knowing she's not trying to make me feel guilty for not being home. Olivia really is missing me being with her. After another kiss for me and a glare at our hostage, she walked past Tank and out the warehouse door.
"That woman is awesome," Hal said in the silence that descended in her absence.
"She is," I agreed. "And since she put me in a good mood, I'm considering going easier on the asshole."
"Easier?" Hal asked. "Your 'easier' can still mean he leaves here missing a few pieces he came in with. How hard are we going here?"
"Enough to be sure Mr. Wauster's body reminds him for years to come that it's wrong to do anything to his daughter beyond loving her."
Hector pulled out his switchblade and started polishing the blade on the leg of his cargos.
"I'm probably going to prison," the fucker began pleading his case. "They always side with the mother."
"That's not true in every situation, especially if the mother has done nothing wrong except take you at your word," I told him.
"She's my daughter too."
"Why are you still talking? If you can't keep your mouth shut, I might change my mind and put a bullet in your head right here and save the taxpayers some money."
"I'm obviously not gonna see my daughter again. That's punishment enough."
"Clearly it isn't, because you risked your time with her just to get back at your ex-wife."
"I told you … it was only a vacation to show her where her grandparents grew up. I was coming back with her."
"Says every asshole who got caught," Hal noted.
"If my wife wasn't such a type-A bitch …"
He didn't get to finish that insulting line of BS. I grabbed Hector's knife and plunged it into the fucker's hand, attaching him to the arm of the chair.
"Ex-wife. You'd better learn some manners, or you'll be stuck here indefinitely. "
His mouth snapped shut. But that can be due to the amount of pain he's in more than suddenly realizing his life is in danger.
"If you do get out of prison, you'll still never be free," I told him, leaning in so he'd see the lack of emotion or compassion in my eyes. "You are now on the US Government's Do Not Fly list. Your face, fingerprints, and DNA are in every database in every country that utilizes them. And my personal team will have you under surveillance even in prison. If you can't put your daughter's well-being above everything else, maybe you'll be selfish enough to save your own ass and let her and her mother move on."
I stood up, pulled the knife out of his hand and the chair, and handed it back to Hector, not really caring about the blood that'll be coating the warehouse floor.
"Don't kill him … yet," I instructed the men. "But make sure he leaves here hurting. I have more important people to see. If he becomes problematic, get rid of him."
We all know that I didn't mean just let him go.
"Will do, Boss," Hal told me.
I left them and went home to my family.
"Daddy!" Olivia yelled, launching her little body towards me. "I goed in da car!"
"And whose car would that be?" I asked, scooping her up and giving her a careful hug.
Cases like Stephanie took on always have me feeling too much. And if I hugged my baby as much as I love her, it would cause pain. My role as her father means I have to curb my strength and my emotions in order to avoid hurting her in any capacity.
"I was right," Steph said, cradling Mado as she walked towards us. "Someone's mother is trying to lure our baby to Newark."
"To allow you to rest, Stephanie," my mother added, coming up behind my wife.
"Yeah, like I 'allowed' Tank to drive me around," she said under her breath.
I didn't get to where I am today by playing fair. "How much would you enjoy having your grandparents stay over for the night?" I asked my daughter. "They can test out Julie's new room. That way you can have them, us, and Gunny and Mo to play with tonight and in the morning."
I felt my wife's eyes on me, so I turned in her direction and watched her mouth the words 'I love you'. The feeling is entirely too mutual, and that played a part in not wanting her to be picturing me executing someone. It has happened, and unfortunately will likely happen again in the future, but not when she's been there on the scene moment's before.
Maybe I'm getting soft … or it's possible that I'm no longer angry at the world now that I've found where I belong in it.
