If you recognize them, I can't take the credit. :) And a big thanks to Margaret once again for reading ahead and pointing out my flaws.

Chapter 7—Meeting with the Enemy

Stephanie's POV

While Hector drove us home in the Hummer, Carlos brought me up to speed. Alexander Ramos had passed on some information that seemed to make sense to him and Bobby. To me it seemed like a lot of trouble. Why would anyone purposely involve themselves with gangbangers? I'd had my own scare with the Slayers but I heard they were child's play compared to the Latin Kings. And it was their head guy that was gunning for Tank. So remind me why they think Kraven is scary? Jeez.

We were in the back seat and Carlos was sitting close, holding my hand and playing with my ring as he spoke.

"Babe, I know I promised to be with you this weekend, but Bobby and I have to go to Newark tonight to speak with Lolo Sotolongo, the leader of the Marielitos, a Cuban gang that's aligned themselves with Fernandez. If we apply the right pressure they may turn their allegiance and help us straighten out this Tank mess. We've known Sotolongo for a long time. He can be a real prick but he's agreed to meet with us. Will you be ok with Hal and Binkie staying at the house?"

"I have Hector, I don't need them."

"Hector and Raphael are heading out to meet with Tater, Fernandez' second in command."

"Tater?"

"Nickname. Looks like a tater tot."

Eww. I got the picture.

I thought about what Carlos was saying. I knew he didn't want to leave me vulnerable (and Kraven was still sending him pictures) but I had training and I really didn't need bodyguards. Then it hit me that Binkie and Hal were more like friends than bodyguards so I agreed. And Binkie would probably teach me some more poker moves. Maybe one of these days I'd be good enough to play at a table in Atlantic City.

Once we arrived back at the house Hector seemed overly driven. He made quick work of gathering the computer and everything else he'd brought and took it out to the Rangeman SUV with almost super-human speed. Carlos said he and Rafe were meeting Tater. I wondered if he was afraid of this Tater? Nah, Hector wasn't afraid of anything or anyone.

After a few minutes of his racing around, I couldn't take it anymore and pitched in to help.

"You ok?" I asked as I gathered adapters and wires.

"Tater doesn't wait. Rafe and I can't be late. The Kings are like the military, better a half an hour early than on time. A second late and you're dismissed. It'll take me an hour to get back to Rangeman and another hour to get to Newark. And that's without traffic. I need to leave now."

Ranger was also getting ready so I tried to stay out of their way.

Hec left first, so I gave him a hug and wished him luck. He said he'd be back at the house to relieve Hal and Binkie and he'd let me know what he learned. Glad someone was keeping me in the loop.

I walked back towards the bedroom just as Carlos was coming out. I knew he was carrying his minimum two guns and a knife but he didn't appear nervous or worried about this meeting. Then again he never was.

"Babe, I should be back tonight, but don't wait up. If Bobby and I get what we want we may stay at Rangeman working out tactics but either way, I'll be late."

He pulled me into his arms and kissed me goodbye just as our gate buzzed that we had visitors. I went over to the video feed and saw it was Hal, so I buzzed him in.

"Don't go crazy, Babe," he said nuzzling my neck and kissing me again, his kiss tender and reassuring.

"Don't get shot," I said back to him before realizing it was a distinct possibility. And one that I didn't want to dwell on right now.

He kissed me one more time and then he set out. The door buzzed and I caught him fist-bumping Hal and Binkie. He left as they entered.

"Steph?" Hal called from the hallway. "We're here."

"I know," I said walking into view, "I saw you come up. Bring anything good with you?" Sometimes Hal snuck me Butterscotch Krimpets.

"Sorry...we came out on short notice. Do you know what's going on?"

I led them into the kitchen and pulled a large bunch of grapes in a bowl from the refrigerator along with a few waters. Once we got comfy around the breakfast bar, I told them what I knew.

"Holy shit," Binkie let out, along with the breath he was holding.

"Yeah. Did you know that Tank had been a personal body guard for anyone?"

Hal knew a lot so I thought maybe I could get more of the back story from him if I asked.

"Sorry Bomber, I only know about his Rangeman past. He never talks about what he did before and it usually takes a few shots of Tequila to even get him to talk about Rangeman. The man is just closed-mouthed."

Weren't they all? Look what it took for me to get Carlos to open up. Maybe I'd text Lula later.

Alright, so now what could we do? I certainly wasn't tired.

"Poker guys?" I asked; digging out the cards I'd stashed with the local phone directory.

They both smiled and Binkie pulled three beers from the refrigerator while I lowered the lights for ambiance.

"Five card draw or seven card stud?" I asked taking on the job as dealer because I liked to shuffle.

We played about five or six games before the beer and the day got to me. I guess I fell asleep on the counter because I woke up to Hal gently nudging me.

"Stephanie, wake up and go to bed."

Duh. Wake up and go to bed? That made no sense. Wished I could just magically transport myself down the hall to my bedroom. I must have said that out loud because all of I sudden Hal picked me up and carried me like I weighed nothing. This carrying stuff was getting old, I had good use of my legs, but if they wanted to play macho I guessed I could go along for the ride.

Hal stopped right outside my bedroom door and put me down.

"Ranger would kill me if he heard I was alone in a bedroom with you."

"You crazy man," I said, rubbing my hand over his buzz cut as if he were a magic bottle with a genie inside. "He'd never kill you for helping me, but thank you for the ride and I'll see you in the morning."

"Probably not Steph, we're only on till six. Use the keypad if you need us for anything."

When I woke up I was alone. Carlos' side of the bed looked like it had not been slept in. I wondered if he even came home? And then I started to worry. What if something happened to him or Bobby? What if someone got shot? What if they were executed?

I got myself out of bed, put on a robe in case any of the guys were here and padded out to look for Carlos or to learn whatever I could.

I found them in Carlos' office. Both Bobby and Carlos looked like they hadn't slept and knowing how lack of sleep can make you jumpy, I didn't want to startle them so I knocked on the door.

"How'd it go? Hi Bobby."

"Hey Bomber. We just got back about an hour ago."

"You negotiated for ten hours?" I said, amazed that anyone could stay on one topic for that long.

"No Babe. Bobby and I went back to Rangeman to talk about what happened and then we came here to talk more when the men started coming in for the shift change."

"So what happened? What did he say? Is he going to help you?"

"Yes and no. He understands our dilemma and wants to help, but he doesn't think the timing is right. Fernandez was just appointed Inca and this was his first line of business. Lolo thinks we should let him bask in his glory for a while. His guy broke through our firewall, big deal in itself, and then he got Tank to leave the country. Right now he's patting himself on the back for a job well done. Lolo thinks he's laughing his ass off that he's put one over on us; although I'm not so sure this was done as a joke. We're waiting for Hector and Rafael to show up so we can compare information."

"Are they ok? They weren't hurt, were they?"

"They're fine. After their meeting, Tater was hungry so they took him to an all night diner he likes somewhere in Westchester. Tater kept ordering shots until he finally passed out. They took him back to Newark and now they're making their way here. We keep losing Hector on his cell, so we don't have all the details."

"Is Tater always like that? I hope he didn't drive?"

"He's irratic and has been known to do things like this before. He doesn't have a license. Word is that with his extreme dyslexia he would never have passed the written, so he never tried."

Odd that he's made it so far up in gangdomland.

"Any news on Kraven?"

"The warehouses were a bust. They're going to keep looking."

"Ok. I'm going to go take a shower."

"I'll put on coffee. If we're not here when you come out we'll be in the gym."

It was at least good to know that everyone I cared about was safe.

I took a shower, did my hair and put on a couple of swipes of mascara before going out to see what I could dig up for breakfast. As promised Carlos had put coffee on. There were also fresh bagels on the table, including a couple that looked like regular bagels. Not the whole grain type or something else that might be good for me.

I cut one in half and put it in the toaster oven while I looked in the refrigerator to see what else Carlos might have brought. I found low fat cream cheese and some of that mega-expensive smoked salmon he liked so much. I took them both out and waited for the toaster to ding.

Once it did, I spread my bagel thick with cream cheese and added a piece of salmon. A Carlos breakfast, just maybe not as healthy. While I was eating there was a knock on the kitchen door before someone turned the knob and walked in. It was Hal and Binkie.

"What are you guys still doing here? I thought you were leaving at 6."

"We're waiting till Hector and Rafe get here, then were taking off," Binkie explained.

"I thought they'd be here by now."

"So did we but Rafael got a call from Tater and they took a detour via Newark. They'll be here soon."

"I heard about his 'shots' last night, I'm surprised he wasn't sleeping them off."

"He's probably still got an alcohol high and that was probably what was talking but since he was offering more information, Hector and Raphael decided to take advantage of it."

It never ceased to amaze me just how much information we could get when we tried. And since this was the case right now, I also wondered how come we couldn't get anything solid on Kraven. I had Hal's attention so I figured I'd ask.

"Have you had breakfast yet? We have bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon and Carlos put on a pot of coffee. Why don't you join me?"

"Ranger and Bobby invited us in for breakfast too, thank you."

I got out plates and poured each of them a coffee. I assumed they liked it black but just in case they didn't, I took milk and sugar out for them.

Once we were sitting around the breakfast bar eating, I pounced with my question.

"You seem to get all this gang-related information so easily, do you know why it's taking us so long to find Kraven?"

"He's not a member of a gang or any other group we can come up with. It's always easy to get information on gang-members. Either they're pissed off at someone or they like to brag. When a person has no allegiances, it's harder to find out anything. Kraven's a loner with a particularly creepy hobby. We have our feelers out, but nothing is coming back. Don't worry, he'll fuck up soon. They always do."