Chapter 14

" Hector, ¿ves algo en el video? ¿Puedes encontrar a Stephanie?" (Hector, do you see anything on the monitors? Can you find Stephanie?)A slow smile appeared on his otherwise grim looking face. " Sí, sé dónde está ella." (Yes, I know where she is.)I just glared at him. "Well??" I practically shouted at him, and he just calmly stared at me. Take a step back Bobby, he's not the enemy. "Hector, I love her. Please, I need to know where she is."He pointed to a video feed he had running on the monitor in front of him. I could see Bowman, a man that looked like he could have been one of our guys, and Stephanie on the screen. My heart leapt into my throat, the big guy was standing behind her, hand on her neck. "Where is this Hector? Where's Stephanie?"

Bobby's POV

Hector just sat there, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Finally he answered, in perfect English . "They are here, in New Jersey. That room is an office at the old Kat Scratch club downtown. It's been abandoned for a few years, Bowman's father owns it. I have a friend keeping an eye out for us." His eyes shifted to the bulky man standing behind Steph on screen, with his hand on her neck.

"Are you sure you can trust him?" I asked and Hector nodded.

"He's playing the part mi amigo (my friend). I promise, she's safe." He typed something out on his phone and I heard mine buzz a minute later.

As I pulled it out to look at it I had to ask him "Why are you showing me this and not Ranger?"

Hector just shook his head. "Es un estúpido imbécil. Tu y Stephanie se merecen la una a la otra." (He's a stupid asshole. You and Stephanie deserve each other. ) "Now, go save your girl Bobby. She needs you."

I clapped him on the back and took off upstairs towards the people I knew I could trust to come with me. It didn't take long to track down Lester, Tank, Morelli (Yes, I brought the cop along) and Ram. We piled into Rangeman vehicles and took off for the address that Hector forwarded to my phone. I would call Ranger once she was safe, that was the most important thing.

Stephanie's POV

The guys grip on my neck kept getting tighter , making it a tad bit difficult for me to breathe. I started panicking, Bowman wanted me dead, I have no trackers on and there is no way for my Merry Men to find me. How the hell was I going to get out of this? Bowman stood up and the guy behind me hauled me up as well, holding my wrists behind me.

"I hope you like the accommodations for now Ms. Plum. You won't be here very long, but the least I can do is give you some peace and quiet before you die." He jerked his head in the direction of the room I had been pulled from and Mr. Tight Grip shoved me that way. This guy had the same build as my Merry Men, for a brief second I thought this was all an elaborate prank done by Les or something to freak me out...that he had hired a MM lookalike to scare the ever loving shit out of me

"You can tell Lester this isn't funny… " I started in as he was dragging me down the hallway towards the room again.

Mr. Tight Grip gave me a look, one eyebrow raised, but didn't say anything until we got to the room. Then I only heard one quietly uttered phrase come out of his mouth "la pandilla tiene tu espalda" (The gang has your back.) I had spent enough time around Hector to know what he said, and that he was referring to my men when he said it. Relief washed over me and I actually relaxed for a brief second. When I turned around and looked into his eyes I could see it written on his face. He was a good guy, and I knew he would protect me as much as he could until my guys got there. I mouthed "Thank you" to him and sat back down on the broken mattress on the floor, waiting for the Cavalry to arrive.

Lester's POV

When Brown cornered Tank, Morelli, Ram and myself and told us he knew where Steph was I thought he was having delusions. Then he filled us in on the conversation he just had with Hector, and how Hector had a friend watching out for Steph. We just needed to get there and rescue her before Bowman went off the deep end. So that leads us to here and now , 5 men jumping into a vehicle , and squealing out of the Rangemen garage towards the abandoned club she was at. Hector fed the live video coverage that he had hacked in to to our phones so we could keep an eye on the situation while we drove, and talked to us through comms. Tank was behind the wheel, his dark knuckles were almost white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.

"Plan? " Morelli broke the silence . I glanced at Tank , since he was the one out of the 5 of us in charge.

"When we get there Bobby I want you going in. She needs to see you. You and I will take the front, Les and Morelli the back. Ram I want you ready in case we need a sniper assist. " We heard Hector over our comms at that moment, speaking perfect English, which surprised some but not all of us by the look on Bobby's face. Hector was staying at Haywood to coordinate and keep an eye on the situation.

"The man that is my friend, his name is Ken, but he goes by Trouble. He will provide whatever back up you need. There are only the two ways in and out of the building-" we heard him stop and a loud voice come over the speaker.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?!" We all rolled our eyes… Ranger had entered and must have figured out we left.

Rapid Spanish came across the comms as a heated exchange happened between Hector and Ranger. Hector is an ex gang member with the tear drop tattoos to show how many kills he has under his belt. Out of everyone that works for Rangeman he's the smallest but the deadliest and most feared, even Ranger usually stays away from him. So the fact he was downstairs confronting Hector told us a lot. After a few minutes of tense conversation Ranger came back over the comms.

"Let me know when you have her." And he was gone.

Ranger's POV

Did they really think they could get out of the building without me knowing? My three partners (Bobby, Lester and Tank) , Morelli and Ram all left without saying a word to me. They actually thought I wouldn't know? I had already sent teams to the bell boy and Bowman's last known addresses. I made my way to the basement and walked in to hear Hector on the comms with them, filling them in on the situation at the building.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?!" I got in his face so the guys most likely heard me. Now I'm a big guy, almost 6 foot and solid, and I don't scare easily. But Hector? He is an ex gang member and doesn't scare for shit. The guys all thought he was gay, and only spoke Spanish but I knew better on both accounts. He loved Stephanie (or as he called her Florecita) and would do anything to protect her and keep her safe. Apparently that meant telling Bobby where she was and not me, his boss. So as I stood there he stared at me with an eerie sense of calm, then spoke to me in rapid Spanish.

"No te mereces su gilipollas. Bobby la cuidará, la dejará ir." (You don't deserve her asshole. Bobby will take care of her, let her go.)

That got me hot. I know I screwed up but damn. I responded back to him that I loved Stephanie, and didn't intentionally hurt her. She knew my feelings about relationships from the get go, she shouldn't have been shocked when I told her I didn't do them. Then again I didn't explain my thinking very well (at all) when I pushed her towards Morelli, I just did it. Dammit, I hate when my men are right.

"Let me know when you have her." I told them and walked away.