02/14/2019

Ranger knew what crazy looked like. He'd seen it in the eyes of countless men, both on the battlefield and in the Burg. Hell, he'd seen it in his own eyes from time to time. But this guy was next level crazy. The kind that you hope to never come across. And this makes twice that their paths have crossed.

Ranger had been driven to an abandoned mining camp in what looked like the middle of nowhere. He had no idea where he was, but he figured he was still in the general area since a lot of these camps still existed in Virginia and West Virginia. He had pieced together that he was drugged with some kind of sedative and loaded into a delivery van shortly after he went into the basement of the office building. He wasn't sure how long he was out, but the sun was just starting to set so he figured they were about 4-5 hours from Arlington. Anything that could be used to track him had been removed – no watch, no phone. And no gun.

He was still woozy as he was forced out of the van with his hands cuffed behind his back and his ankles shackled, but he was alert and assessing what he was up against. They made their way into a cabin that was damp, musty, and half rotted away. There was no light except a small lantern on a dust covered table. There was a small wooden chair in one corner and a large bolt had been screwed into the floor. Ranger was led to the chair and was chained to both the chair and the floor bolt. His capturer casually leaned against the table and stared at Ranger.

"That sedative is strong stuff, huh?" Ranger didn't answer. "I should know. Four Winds gave it to us like vitamins." Four Winds is a mental hospital, Ranger thought. So that's the connection. "Oh, does it sound familiar to you? I spent a lot of years there. I met a lovely girl there too – Jane Lewis - you may have heard of her. Her father is a bigwig in the oil industry, but he dabbles in other things like private equity firms. Sweet girl, but really quite, you know, cuckoo." He put his finger to his ear and made circles with his finger.

"I thought you were locked up for life," Ranger said. "I thought so too. But it's amazing what can happen when you meet the right people who are drowning in money. Money really does buy power. Sweet little Janey is the apple of her father's eye. Whatever Jane wants Jane gets. And she wanted to be with me on the outside. My therapists testified on my behalf and said I was like a new person. And I was ready to face the world and live a normal life. So I was released."

"Once Jane and I were out we really needed to think about our futures and our careers. And I thought why not work in private equity? We can buy all kinds of things – like a business that really needed Rangeman protection." "So you convinced Jane's father to let her buy SE Corp?" Ranger asked. "Nope – Jane did all the convincing. She's actually quite good at managing a business. She needed a little help along the way though. She wasn't sure about wealth management, but I convinced her that it would be great to diversify. I also told her we should rebrand the company, and I even helped her out with the new name. Everyone thought that SE Corp stood for Secured Equity Corporation, but you and I know better." He winked conspiratorially at Ranger. "Your initials," Ranger said. "Yes! I thought it was quite genius if I do say so myself."

"So was there ever a data breach or was that all your doing?" Ranger asked. "It was all me. Paid some hackers to set everything up. And of course I had all the building clearance I needed. I knew it would have to be something really really big to get your attention and what better way to do that than to think that half the criminals in the country would be after you and your men." If there was any good news to this day, that was it, Ranger thought to himself.

"Why not just come and kill me? Why arrange all of this elaborate scheme? Seems a little theatrical," Ranger said. "You still don't get it, do you? You are living MY life, doing MY job, fulfilling MY dreams!" He pushed away from the table and stalked towards the door. "I realized that last time I didn't try to earn my place, I just tried to take it. What kind of person would I be if I didn't earn my spot? I've thought of nothing else since our last meeting." Ranger had a very bad feeling about where this was headed.

Calming down, he turned back to Ranger. "So I knew the only option was to make this a competition. Winner take all. But I also thought about how you would have every resource at your disposal so it wouldn't really be fair for you and I to compete." He smiled. "That's why Stephanie is helping us play." Ranger tried to lunge out of the chair, but the chains held fast. "Calm down, she's fine. In fact, to my disappointment, she solved the first clue." He opened the door to the cabin. "I'm not worried though. I'm certain she will fail and when she fails I will kill you and take MY rightful place in this world."

Ranger was left alone in the cabin. He was radiating with anger, angry at both himself and this psychopath. What kind of game was Stephanie being forced to play? Surely she's involved the Rangeman team, unless she was threatened to do this alone. Of all the times Stephanie's life was in Ranger's hands, the script is now flipped. It would be humorous if it weren't so deadly serious. Well maybe he can take matters into his own hands. And God help anyone who gets in his way of taking down this whack job.

Any plan that Ranger was formulating was immediately thwarted when the door banged open and his capturer walked in, holding another needle in his hand. "You really think I'd just let you sit out here and formulate your escape plan?" He jabbed the needle into Ranger's neck and left the cabin. Shit, Ranger thought, and then it was lights out.