Disclaimer: Everything familiar belongs to JE and the creators of Criminal Minds.

Warning: Adult Situations

Chapter 8: August 20th, 1100-1200

Hospital

Alvez POV

Tara, Reid, and I arrived at the hospital at 0900. We found Ms. Martine's room, and looked in on her. She has three broken ribs, a broken arm, bruises all over her body, a black eye, and vaginal tearing. The poor girl is a mess. She is in a medically induced coma to help her body heal. We speak to her Aunt who is with her.

"Ms. Komer, what can you tell us about your brother and his family?" We asked her after introducing ourselves.

"Ron was a wonderful family man. He worked as an accountant in the firm of Winston and Meyer. Rachel spent her time home with her children, working part-time as a cashier for the local supermarket. They both dealt with having bodyguards follow them around, and Julie, since that maniac kidnapped her three years ago. Her biological father is a no-good son of a bitch. He knocked up Rachel; then when Julie was six months, he divorced her. When Rachel found Ron, he signed away his parental rights, allowing Ron to adopt that girl. I swear, that girl caused a load of trouble between Ron and Rachel. The only reason why Ron put up with Julie and her sperm donor was that he would send five thousand dollars a month for her and paid for the private school all three kids attended. Joselyn and Ron Jr., or RJ, were wonderful children who never got in trouble. They were kind-hearted, playing soccer and being in girl and boy scouts. Julie takes martial arts and goes to the gun range. Not what proper kids should be doing, but her bodyguards take her. But, now that she's my ward, that will all end." Rita states. I can tell there was no love lost between the Martine's and Ranger, and I'm confused.

"Did your brother have a security system?" I ask.

"Yes. Rangeman monitored my brother's home, the company Julie's sperm donor owns. I thought with them monitoring they'd be safe. I guess he wanted the family out of his way, so he wouldn't have to pay any more money for them. He also purchased the house for Rachel and Ron when they got married."

"Okay. Do you know if Julie's biological father will be here?" Tara asks.

"Yes, he probably will be here, but I have no intentions of allowing that thug to see Julie," Rita answers bitterly. I look at my team and thank the aunt for her help. We decide to head to the cafeteria to get some coffee. We ask the nurse on duty to let us know when Julie's father arrives.

When we sit at the booth, we start discussing what we have learned so far.

"There's a lot of animosity between the Martine's and Julie's biological father. Some of what she says about him is hard for me to believe, knowing LTC Manoso's reputation. When I was a Ranger, he was already becoming a legend. He was the class before me and broke almost every record there was to break. His team is considered the top Ranger team ever. We all wanted to be Carlos Manoso." I state.

"It's a strange dichotomy. On the one hand, the aunt calls Manoso a thug and a sperm donor, but he has supported his daughter with thousands of dollars, paying for the house of his ex-wife and school for his daughter and two children that he has no claim to at all. Technically, once he signed away his parental rights, he didn't have to support Julie at all." Reid responded.

"I don't think he was involved, though. Julie's father provided her with bodyguards to keep her safe, made sure she lived in a safe neighborhood in a house with good security. He protected his daughter. Things don't add up." Tara states.

At that moment, my cell phone rings. "SSA Alvez."

"Okay, we'll be up in a few. Thanks." I hang up. "LTC Manoso has arrived."

We make our way back up to ICU to find an angry Rita Komer, three men in black, two of which are bodyguards, and a woman with crazy curly hair. Currently, one of the men in black, the tallest of the three, is consoling the woman. He looks up, and our eyes meet. Shit, it's Lester Santos.

"Major Santos, I'm SSA Luke Alvez with the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. With me is SSA Tara Lewis and Dr. Spencer Reid. We want to ask you a few questions about Julie and her family." I say.

"The person to ask is in that room right now, and I don't suggest you disturb him," Santos responds.

"Ranger only has three minutes left. If he's not out, I will call security." Rita barks. I can tell Santos is about to respond when the woman takes over. "Rita, I'll get him out of the room. Thank you for letting him in to see Julie."

"Stephanie, he's not going to want to be interrupted," Santos says.

"Don't worry, Les, I've got it covered," she responded.

We watched as she walked into the room, walking over to Manoso. She placed her arm around his shoulder as she went to kneel next to him. We watched as Manoso pulled her onto his lap, resting his head on her shoulder. I can see they're talking but can't hear what she is saying. I watch as the woman rises, allows Manoso room to place a kiss on Julie's forehead before standing up to leave the room, holding the woman's hand. He pulls her in for an embrace, kissing the top of her head as well. She leads him out of the room.

"Good, you're out. I don't expect you to return. Julie doesn't need you in her life. You cause her nothing but trouble. Thanks to you, she was kidnapped three years ago. You don't care about her. All she is to you is a mistake. Let her go. She'd be better off without you." Rita says.

"Ranger, she's not worth it. Come on; these agents are here to speak to you." The woman says. I watch as Manoso visible relaxes. The woman seems to have a measure of control over him and his emotions. Strange.

"I don't think we've met. My name is Stephanie Plum, but you can call me Steph or Stephanie. Ms. Plum is my mother." She states, shuddering at the last line.

I see Manoso studying me. Before I can respond, he says, "Captain Alvez, you slumming with the feds now?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Manoso, I'm with the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI, these are my colleagues SSA Tara Lewis and Dr. Spencer Reid," I respond as I feel myself straighten, trying to control my desire to salute.

"Santos, do you remember Captain Alvez? He was with us in Colombia; I think that was six years ago."

"I knew the name was familiar," Santos responds.

"What do you want to know?" Manoso asks.

"Where were you between midnight and one this morning?" Tara asks.

I see his body immediately tense before he responds, blank face slammed down. "I was in my penthouse apartment in Trenton, New Jersey."

"Were you with anyone?"

"No, I was alone."

"Can anyone corroborate your story?" Tara continues questioning him.

"Not directly, but there are cameras throughout my building, monitoring everyone who enters or leaves." He responds.

"Can you shut down the cameras?" Tara replies.

"Yes, but when I or any of the Core Team jams the cameras, the control room sees it and records the time along with the person who ordered it. Look, Agent, before you go any further, I received a call at 0134 from Chief Toledo of the Miami Dade PD informing me that my daughter was injured. At 0213, Dr. Farren called with her status and to get permission to operate. At 0220, I called Lester to inform him I was leaving for Miami asap and to contact Dr. Bobby Brown, our Trenton Medic and Tank Sherman to inform them of my departure. I contacted my housekeeper, Ella Guzman, to let her know I would be out of town, so she wouldn't worry about cleaning my apartment. I met with my Core Team in Trenton to update them on the situation before partaking in a conference call with my Miami office at 0300. We left the meeting room at 0330, when I called my brother, Javier Manoso in Boston, informing him that I needed him to come with me to Miami. He is an attorney, specializing in family law. I want custody of my daughter. At 0500, the Rangeman jet left Boston with my brother on board, flying to Trenton to pick me up. At the same time, I arrived at the home of Detective Joseph Morelli, with the Trenton Police Department, where Ms. Plum was staying, asking her to come with me to help me with my daughter. When Scrog kidnapped Julie three years ago, Stephanie helped me to save her. Julie and Steph have a special connection, and without Rachel, I felt that she would be able to help Julie adjust and cope with what happened. We arrived at Stephanie's apartment at 0525, where we spent 25 minutes gathering her stuff to come here. We were on board the plane a 0615. It that enough information for you?" Manoso finished.

"Yes, it is. Thank you for being so thorough." Tara responds.

I join the conversation, "Colonel, can you join us back at MDPD headquarters? I know your company was monitoring the house, and it seems that the system malfunctioned."

"Of course. I need to check in with my brother. We'll meet you there. Chief Toledo knows me well."

I nod — the rest of my team head out of the hospital. Once we were out of his earshot, Reid spoke. "Do you think it was wise inviting him to join us without consulting Emily?"

"Yes. Manoso has more contacts and sources than we could ever imagine. Besides, his company often works with the FBI and other alphabet agencies. He has the clearance."

"But Stephanie Plum doesn't," Tara stated.

"Look, Captain Santos and LTC Manoso are men of action. They don't do well when challenged and confronted by others, especially us feds. He was ready to walk away and not answer your questions, Tara until Stephanie touched his arm. From all accounts, nothing is going on between them other than friendship, but from their body language, she is more important to him than his daughter. We need her to keep him level and forthcoming. He will shut down and refuse cooperation if he feels threatened, she'll convince him to cooperate. Trust me, Tara, it will be fine. I'll let Emily know it was my call."

"Make sure to stifle your man crush. You looked at Manoso and Santos as if they were Gods."

"To us Rangers, they are," I reply. "Matt might have worked with one of them as well with his time in the Delta force. That one mission he referred to, he was saving my team's ass. The mission was FUBAR almost from the start. Manoso's team was ordered to get us out, and they did, with no causalities. I owe my life to him and his team."