Recap: The team gets ready to go into the club and take down their target

Stephanie

The club was far more crowded than it had been the night before, even though we were there earlier. People were also more dressed up, and there was a stronger air of pheromones. It was obvious that Fridays were for fun and relaxation, Saturdays were when the serious stuff happened.

We went through the check in procedure again, though there were different people at the desk tonight. This time I noticed the ID that Ranger handed over. As a guy, his clothes had pockets, and mind didn't, so he had my wallet. But it wasn't my normal driver's licence, and what he handed over for himself said 'Marc Pardo'. I couldn't see mine well enough to see the name, only that it was a different picture. When the woman at the counter handed them back, I snagged them, looking as nonchalant as I could about it. Ranger raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. We moved to the line for the weapons check, and I looked down at them. I knew Marc Pardo was one of Ranger's aliases, what I didn't know was that he had made one for me using my employee picture. It was a much better photo than the one on my driver's licence, due to me not spending 2 hours at the DMV before taking it. But it was the name that caught my attention.

"I'll explain later" Ranger whispered in my ear as we stepped up to the bouncer, and I managed to not mention it in front of the guy who was checking for weapons. It was the same one we had seen the night before.

"Back again?" He asked, smiling at me while he patted down Ranger.

"Yup. Had such a good time last night we wanted to come again. Um, I mean, enter again. I mean, shit." I was babbling again. Not that it would be a bad idea to distract him. I couldn't imagine Ranger didn't have at least one weapon on him, especially with a takedown tonight.

The bouncer smiled. "Glad you enjoyed yourself."

He didn't frisk me. My outfit wasn't leaving much to the imagination. So he didn't notice the tiny Semmerling LM4 tucked under my breast, hidden by some padding stuffed into the large cups. I hadn't been aware there was a way to make an underwire even more uncomfortable, but apparently there was.

The gun was about the size of an index card, and I couldn't believe Ranger could even get his hand into it. Luckily he wouldn't have to be accurate. In a space with this many people, flashing lights, and gyrating dancers it could only be used in extremely close proximity. It was unlikely we would even need it. We had a lot of muscle to take down Williams, who was just about as muscular as you would expect a hedge fund guy to be. Probably couldn't do any exercise more demanding than golfing with a cart and a caddy.

Bobby and Susan were behind us, and as we got waved in, I saw the bouncer peering with a flashlight into her 'bag of tricks', as she's referred to it. It was sex toys, all perfectly natural to have in a club like this. I pulled Ranger into the large room with the mattresses. Much like the night before, it was empty this early in the night.

"Why does my ID say Stephanie Pardo?"

Ranger

Shit.

"Security, Babe. Didn't want a record of you here, in case anyone realized that we were kidnapping a guest, even though it's legal. Places can get picky about that."

"Why would we care?"

I saw some motion in the corner of my eye, so I pulled her close to me and kissed her, keeping my eyes on the tour guide showing around the new couple. They looked around for about 30 seconds while I deepened the kiss, then carefully reached between her breasts and snagged the tiny gun there. As the other people left, I tucked the weapon into the inner pocket of my suit jacket, and immediately felt much better. I felt more naked without a gun than I did without clothes, even though this tiny gun was moke like dressing in a Borat-style swimsuit than my prefered black shirt and cargo pants.

"Ranger? Why would we care what they think of us here? We have the paperwork for the capture."

She hadn't forgotten her question. I would bet that she hadn't forgotten the other one either.

"Well, I was hoping you might want to come back here, or a place like it, and if our names aren't in a computer that would be easier. They can only remember faces for so long, and cameras aren't welcome in a place like this."

"That explains why you wanted us to use fake IDs. Not why you have one with me as your wife in Miami."

Shit shit shit. How much to tell her?

Stephanie

Ranger seemed to ponder for half a second before checking the door again and whispering to me. "Ever since you started getting death threats when you were chasing Abrutzi I've known there was a possibility of you being targeted by the wrong person. There was always the chance that at some point there would be someone even I couldn't protect you from. And in that case, you would need to run. You would need money and papers, and you would need them quickly. So I had Silvo make you an ID you could use to travel. If we were presenting as a married couple we would be less memorable."

"So you were what, going to spirit me to Miami and drop me off there?"

"No. I was going to run with you."

That stunned me for a moment. He had thought of every contingency, and was willing to drop his life, his business and his reputation, to keep me safe.

"There were times I fantasized about running off with you. Back when you were with the cop. Something making you turn to me to keep you safe, and we would ride off into the sunset together."

There was something so caring, and so Ranger about what he was saying, I wrapped my arms around him again.

"Now, now kids. No funny stuff tonight. We have work to do."

I looked up to see Lester, Marie, Lula, Tank, Bobby and Susan had joined us. Lester has a large grin on his face, as usual. Tank looked stoic. The others had a variety of expressions ranging from nervous to excited.

Susan set her bag on a table and pulled out 5 sets of handcuffs, each with a fuzzy sleeve made by Ella while we had hashed out our plan. The easiest way to sneak in cuffs had been to do it in plain sight. The fuzzy fabric hid that they were regulation strength, and if we played it right we could cuff Williams without him realizing that was what had happened until it was too late. It had seemed safer for Susan dressed as a dominatrix to carry all 5 sets than each of us have one, so she'd .put them in among her lube and ball gags and whatever else she had in there. We hadn't wanted to push the boundaries of credulity, so only those of us who were used to cuffing people had some.

We had just gotten everyone geared up when our earpieces crackled to life. Silvo's voice whispered to all of us. "Just heard from Binkie and Zip, Williams has been spotted leaving his house. ETA is 10 minutes."

Ranger tapped a wire behind his ear. "Roger that, we'll get into position. Over and out."

It was showtime.

Tank

Lula and I went back out to the room with the dance floor and grabbed a table where we could see both bars. She went to the buffet to grab something to eat, and I went into scan mode. I was hoping one of the other groups would attract William's attention. Lula simply wasn't predictable, and she got carried away easily. My hope was that it would be Ranger and Stephanie, since she had more experience taking down an FTA than many of the Rangeman guys, and certainly more than all the other dates we had brought.

Lula was trying to get me to try some kind of creamy pasta and shrimp dish when I heard a familiar voice.

"Fancy meeting you here again! I guess you feel safe now that you know where the fire exits are?"

It was the couple from last night. I couldn't remember their names, except that they both began with N.

"Um, yeah. We had a lot of fun last night. Wanted to come back."

Both of them sat down at the table next to us, and proceeded to chat. Lula kept up my end of the conversation, so I just had to nod occasionally. I was keeping a close watch on the door without appearing to do so, a trick security people learn early on. It's easier to do in sunglasses, but the room was no brighter than a moonlit night, and I would have looked ridiculous trying to pull off that look in here.

12 minutes after we had been given the warning, Williams walked into the room. He had his wife with him, who looked about 20 years younger than his 45. She would have been in high school when he had made his millions fleecing old people.

I was about to get up when the woman next to me said "Honey, isn't that Martin Williams?"

Shit. Might have to head off any civilian interference.

"Who?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Martin Williams. Philly's own cross between Pharma Bro and Bernie Madoff."

I pretended to look at him nonchalantly, while in fact staring intensely and forming a plan to keep these people away from him. The woman looked like she might want to get up and give him a piece of her mind, and he might leave if he knew he was recognized. Time to distract them. Maybe small talk would keep them occupied.

"You said you were in the Navy, I was an Army Ranger. Where did you serve?"

Marie

Lester and I were sitting at some small bar tables watching the entrance when he came in. Williams wasn't a bad looking fellow, despite his nasty crimes. I watched him go to the bar, then took a deep breath, pushed my revolution to the back of my mind, and got off my stool.

Lester was three steps behind me as I walked up to the bartender. Far enough it wasn't obvious we were together, close enough he could be there in half a second if something went wrong. I stood close enough to Williams that my arm brushed against his as I gave my order. "Rum and Diet Coke please. Bottle number 42."

As the bartender went to make my drink, I casually leaned over to Williams. And then my mind went blank. How did one flirt with a person you hated? 'Come here often' sounded trite. Nothing better came to mind. He was looking at me, and I had to say something.

"Um, you smell good. What's your aftershave?":

He gave me a look that I probably deserved after so lousy a pickup line. "I don't use any aftershave. You might be smelling my body wash."

"Oh, really? What's it called? I might want to pick some up. It smells lovely."

Williams looked me over in a way that almost made my blood run cold. It's cliche, but he was evaluating me like I was a piece of meat, and apparently one he didn't find appetizing. He especially looked contemptuous of my outfit which yes, I'd gotten off the clearance rack at Target, and some of the stitching was a little uneven, but I thought I looked nice. He didn't agree though.

"Trust me, you couldn't afford it." he said with disdain in his voice.

At that point the blessed bartender came back with my drink, and I was able to scurry away to avoid more humiliation. Lester hurried after me, following along until I'd gotten out of sight of the wretched man.

"Are you OK Honey?" he asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me to him.

I threw back my glass and took a big gulp before I realized that it 1) wasn't alcoholic and 2) Diet Coke and iced tea was a strange taste combination. I grimaced at it, then looked at Lester. He looked genuinely concerned about my feelings. His eyes were soft and searching. This man really did care about me, something I hadn't been completely sure of after last night. But he did. He had let his target out of his sight to make sure I was OK.

"I'll be alright. But I'm looking forward to arresting this asshole. Can I kick him once he's in handcuffs?"

"It's generally considered bad form to abuse the FTAs once they're in custody, but if you happen to accidentally trip him, I won't tell."

I smiled at him, and he kissed me on the top of my head. Then he tapped the wire to broadcast. "Marie and I struck out, and Tank seems to be stuck keeping civilians occupied. Ranger, Stephanie, Bobby, and Susan? It's up to you."