I would have gone to Rio whether the US government and their military came after me or not. I was aimless and restless. Searching for something I didn't know. As it was, they had the perfect opportunity, the perfect leverage to have someone gather intelligence in a destination they had failed to infiltrate every time before.
For my part? I was told that whatever information I gained, and the more I gained of it, could be used to prevent the balance of power changing, and therefore, stop anyone coming after Ranger.
I had no idea that Alejandro had been watching, and waiting in the dark. They sent me in blind, senseless. The only mercy in the situation was that Alejandro didn't care about Ranger in the slightest.
I never stop to think about what my future is. I never stop to think about what life I could have led instead of following this path. I try not to think about it all. I go through the motions, and every day I get a little closer to securing Ranger's safety.
It's enough. Even if I'll have nothing when it's over.
"Why Trenton?" I looked lazily at Rhodey, only half listening. Rhett and Carter seemed to be on the same page.
"Why not?" Leo had always had the more determined work ethic, though.
If I had favourites, they would be Rhodey and Leo, or Leonardo as his mother named him. They had been noticed by Alejandro from afar as he spent those years incognito, drifting like a ghost through his own little kingdom.
When the time came that Alejandro decided to come back, and come back with flair, he needed a right hand. His previous man, Alex, died with his brother (as if the man needed another reason to be on a murderous rampage). Who could he choose that would be loyal, trained to be better than anybody else and sacrifice themself for him in a heartbeat? Who could he trust?
Unfortunately, the answer was apparently Stephanie Plum. And this is how I accidentally rose to the top of one of the biggest crime cartels on this hemisphere.
You couldn't make this shit up, I mused. I was idly flipping through a copy of Cosmopolitan I'd picked up at the airport. I was also waiting for Alejandro to pick up the damn phone.
"Shit" Leo was sitting wide eyed, the wrong way on the chair so the back pressed to his chest. We were still in the warehouse by the river, a good ten miles from the 'burg. I hadn't wanted to secure accommodation in the hopes we would be right back on a plane within twenty four hours. We'd all stayed awake far longer than that before, it came with the job.
But here we were stuck in what passed for an office for a disused tyre warehouse, sitting as if we were having tea and cake.
"What is it now?" I asked, too bored to really care about the answer. We'd left James and Emilio with Gaultier and Chekov. Julian was watching the perimeter as was Isaac, a fairly new introduction to me but a man Alejandro had promised had very few morals and owed him his life. The way he said it made it sound like a promise he could never think about going back on whatever he'd agreed to with Alejandro.
I wasn't kidding myself. Although I usually worked solely with Alejandro, or alone, when it came to 'tasks' like this it was as a group or not at all. They were here to make sure I didn't kill myself just as much as to make sure I remembered whose side I was on.
"It's too much of a coincidence. We are twenty miles from Chambersburg" Leo's accented English made it sound far more exotic. I pretended I wasn't bothered by the word.
I shrugged my shoulders in a 'so?' gesture. It was too coincidental for comfort, but I was trying very hard not to care. At all.
"Does anyone here have a link to Gaultier?" Leo looked at each of us in turn.
I started to shake my head, "Course not, his things is drugs mostly, prostitution, but not…" I tailed off into silence.
No. It couldn't be.
"Not what?" They both stared at me as I sat there, pulse thudding in my ears as the implications of what I was about to say sunk in.
"Not weapons" I sat up, discarding the magazine and starting to think. Connecting the dots.
"And who do we know whose thing is weapons around here?" Rhodey had taken over, the older, more experienced of the two as Leo sat patiently.
I studied a small, almost unnoticeable scar on my wrist, thought about how it got there.
"Ramos. Alexander Ramos"
We'd gone after Gaultier for a very simple reason. He was the small fish at the bottom of a very long chain. Drugs don't just drop out of the sky. Money doesn't just grow on trees. But you'll find for everything that's selling, somebody's buying.
Men like Gaultier need a supplier. They need contacts. They know people who know people. And it just so happened that Gaultier had come a little too close to comfort. Alejandro had enjoyed being the one to tell me that a minor bullet graze Ranger had suffered a few years ago had come from a raid operation that implicated Gaultier. Although a significant chunk of his operation went down that day, Gaultier didn't, and neither did his 'business'.
Alejandro always knew which buttons to press. He was lucky that I was on a one woman mission to save Ranger. I was lucky Alejandro hadn't killed me yet.
As I was well aware of the Ramos family had made a pretty penny off arms dealing in the past, I also knew from first-hand experience Arturo Stolle went down after his ill-advised dalliance with Homer Ramos. We all know from how that went, that the redrawing of boundaries causes' chaos. Which is why when the opportunity presented itself so nicely, Ramos took over some of Stolle's business. Gaultier would have provided the perfect opportunity to delegate, take most of the profits and avoid most of the trouble of actually following through. The Ramos name was still alive and strong.
I was faced with making the decision that if I stepped anywhere near them I'd be stepping into territory where I could be recognised. Within a few miles of everyone I loved. Of Rangeman.
I needed to get close to Alexander Ramos. And yet I couldn't. Not only did the thought of coming so close to all the people I had left behind terrify me, but I was a fugitive. I hadn't contacted my US government 'handler' in over six months and even then it was for them to tell me I was getting a little too integrated with the natives. As you can imagine, I wasn't in a rush to give them what they wanted when Alejandro had me tucked neatly into his side.
Finding Alexander Ramos was to risk being arrested. Thrown into a jail with the key thrown away. For all intents and purposes, I was one of the bad guys. You can't blame them really, but it wasn't making my job any easier. I'd have to be quick.
I was saved from my musings by the buzzing of my cell. Finally.
I picked up. "Took you long enough"
"I was indisposed. I take it you have something for me?" There is no background noise like there was earlier. There is none of the playfulness.
"Gaultier sang enough for us to find out he's been working with Alexander Ramos"
"So?"
"You know damn well Ulysses Ramos was holed up in Rio until you chased him out. Alexander operates in the heart of New Jersey. Gaultier's a nobody but Ramos has dealt outside the US for years. He's well established, unbalanced or not"
"So go talk to him. We both know just how persuasive you can be".
I blow out a breath, squeezing my eyes shut for a second in the hopes the inevitable outcome will change. "You knew. Before you sent me"
"Of course I did Bonisa. I wouldn't have sent you if I didn't need to"
I say nothing. Taking a moment to peek through the blinds of the closed office door to look through into the main space of the warehouse. I couldn't see Isaac or Emilio but Leo and Rhodey were still alive and well. The same couldn't be said for Gaultier and Chekhov. Rhodey was just as persuasive as I was, and we'd had to find out from the horse's mouth if he had links to Ramos. Supposedly it was meant to be safer in the US then back home, despite the ever creeping closer threat of being taken into CIA custody. It was becoming more and more dangerous by the second.
"Isn't this what you wanted Stephanie? To face your fears?"
I turn my back once again on the warehouse, an illusion of privacy than anything else. I swallow past the lump in my throat. "I did face my fears. You made damn sure of that"
"That's not quite true, is it?" It's the sudden softness that sends discomfort trickling down my spine. "Even after everything, you still have heart. I thought I could tear it out of you if I put my mind to it but you truly are one of a kind Stephanie" he sounds amused, like he's enjoying a good joke.
"I have no use for it" I say honestly. There's no way anybody would want me back now. Not my mother, not Morelli, not Lula or Connie. Not Rangeman. Certainly Ranger wouldn't want anything to do with me, despite the lengths I was going to keep him safe.
"If that's true you'll have no problems going after Ramos. I understand the man offered you marriage once" I can hear the smile in his voice now.
Neither of us say anything for a few minutes and I go back to watching as the others bundle our guests into the back of an explorer. They'll be taken somewhere secure, Carter and Rhett will take care of that. We may still have use for them after all and once we're done, maybe I can send them to the men in suits as an appeasement gift.
"I'll be quick. Ramos has always been chatty. He still operates out of his compound in Deal, I'll be miles out of the way. There's no need for anyone to find out I was there. Besides we need to get a lock on Ulssyes, he may be useless to his father but he's obviously useful to someone else we know" I warned.
"You can deal with Ulssyses when you get back. Wrap this up and get on the next flight" he pauses, "And Bonisa, don't get caught"
I don't bother to reply. I have limited time and even less patience.
It's a little too easy to get to Alexander. Old habits die hard for most career criminals, and Alexander Ramos has always loved luxury and money before anything else. Of course he has security, hiding behind not one, but two electric gates and guard posts. He's upgraded since my last visit, although given what happened I can't say I blame him. The men on watch are easily enough discarded with a tranquilizer. Alejandro has no patience for attention where it's not necessary.
The guards posted directly at the front of the house reach for their weapons but Isaac and Leo have already circled from the back and are ready. Seamlessly, they seal a hand over each guard's mouth respectively, then each sink a dart into their shoulders. They go limp within seconds. Hard hitting stuff, but no effects that will last longer than a day or so. They gently lower them to the floor and retrieve their weapons.
Having made it to the house in near silence we simply walk in. And of course in typical Ramos style, rather than being rattled, he's delighted to see me.
"Stephanie! I hear you've moved up the world" his smile is wide and he throws his arms out in a welcoming gesture. "Or should I say Estefania?" I resist the urge to sigh as he whispers my god awful nickname. If Alejandro survives this whole thing, I'll kill him myself (since I have him to thank for it).
Rhodey gives me a pointed look that I ignore. "Mr Ramos, I have a few questions"
His smile dims, but his eyes are alight with interest. He doesn't look much different from the first time I met him. Thin as a rake, grey hair and dressed like he was on his way to a dinner event.
"Stephanie I hope you're not hear to ask me about my friends" despite approaching his seventies, he still possesses the eerie calm of someone used to getting their way through a single word.
I smile without humour. "Alexander your sons have caused enough trouble for you in the past. I will find Ulysses with or without your help, but I cannot guarantee his safety"
Ramos covers his surprise well but its clear whatever he'd heard about me, he hadn't heard everything. After a moment of deliberation, he shrugs. "Fine" he folds himself into a baroque style armchair. "What do you want to know? I don't like having guests for long" he sighs.
I glance around the enormous Ramos study. It's practically a living room. "Why work with Gaultier, he's a bit arrogant for you isn't he?" I catch the irritation in his still eagle keen eyes.
"Necessary evil. I wanted the money and the opportunity was practically handed to me. Call it compensation for the mess that foolish son of mine caused"
"You didn't fancy taking the reins of Stolle's corner directly?" I asked.
"I'm not dead yet despite what Hannibal may think, but even I can admit I'm not as young as I used to be. The work doesn't interest me, the money does. I prefer to focus on my own business, after all I built it with my own hands" It's a good job he's staring off into the distance reliving some kind of memories because he misses the gesture I make to Rhodey. He slips out of the room, Emilio taking his place. We'd known there was a good chance Hannibal was still in the game but we'd hoped he was in Santa Barbara with his wife.
We could adapt if necessary. But I was running short on time for such inconveniences.
"You'll have to replace Gaultier I'm afraid" My idle comment brings Ramos's attention back to me in a heartbeat.
"Not a huge loss" he waves his hand in a flippant gesture as if to say 'what can you do?'
"You seem to be doing very well for a man who was at the centre of an investigation not that many years ago" I watch him carefully.
A slow smile spreads on his face. "Not half as well as you are Ms Plum" He looks pointedly at my escorts.
I shrug. My patience is running thin. "Who's your friend?" I reach for the frame on the desk, Ramos's son Ulysses with a man I know all too well.
I can feel the weight of his eyes on my back. "Does it matter?"
I put the picture down and turn to face him. In the same moment I've pointed one of my favourite pieces complete with silencer at his head. He stares back at me without any sense of urgency.
I raise my eyebrow and he decides to speak again. "You don't really want to kill me, would Alejandro really want the attention?" there's a curl to his lips like he thinks he's got me.
"Alejandro doesn't care" I say dismissively, pressing the barrel to his forehead, directly between the eyes. Now he's paying attention. "I don't need your answers, I can find them in other ways. You however, probably cannot replace your brain. When did you last speak to him?"
His mouth is pinched into a grimace. "A week ago. Something must have pissed him off, he's been more demanding than usual. Usually I just talk to a minion, never the boss" despite the gun to his head he examines me for a moment, "you must have been causing him trouble Estefania, has he fallen in love with you too?" he asks with a salacious smile.
My answering smile is sharp enough to cut steel, "Hardly. He should hope he's the better at hide and seek. He won't like it when I find him, and I will" I promise.
I remove my gun and Ramos falls forward slightly with relief. Guess he fears death more than he claims. Nearly everyone does. "I suggest you find someone else to play with, Alexander. For your sake" The look he gives me would be worrying if he weren't so pale. I take a step back, motioning to Emilio.
I take one last look round the room, pausing to say farewell. "I hope I never have to see you again"
I turn on my heel and am halfway out the door when a badly aimed bullet tears into the door frame inches from my left shoulder. I don't look back, and I don't stop moving until I'm in the car.
There are far worse things than death that I fear.
Ta-da! It's a bit rough but we're starting to clear things up, bit by bit! And finally, in the next chapter you will get to see what you have waited so long for!
I am sorry I couldn't get this to you sooner like I wanted to, but I've made a bit of a mess of my own storyline that took some sorting, and also a re-reading of Hot Six for which I needed for Ramos. Most of the details about him come from the book so even if I'm butchering canon that should be ok.
As always, thank you so so much for sticking with me. Your comments and your lovely reviews make my day and give me new ideas about where to take this. I hope you're still enjoying it!
Title comes from the song by Lana Del Rey, which inspires much of this fic. Nickname 'Bonisa' will be explained in future chapters and is an inexcusable butchering of the Spanish language.
17/6/16 - Please note I am in the process of editing and moving chapters around so you may notice some changes. This is just to help with the flow of the fic and future plot developments. It hurts to admit I have wanted to update ever since I posted this chapter but I have written this fic out of order so it's just not possible yet.
Further - I did not realise that the changes I've been making would show up as an update so I am really sorry if anyone got excited for a new chapter! I did not want that to happen. Please rest assured that QE is coming along nicely I'm just trying to get a few chapters lined up so that we can carry on steadily. Thank you so much to my most recent reviewers for their support and kind words!