Thank you for all the reviews; I was hoping you guys would stick with me through this:) If you recognize them, they're not mine :)

Thank you Margaret for reading ahead as my beta once again.

Chapter 38-Walking on eggshells

Hector's POV

As I got closer to the double doors of the loading dock I realized this wasn't going to be as easy as I had hoped. The doors were zig-zagged with trip lines and there were two lasers pointing directly at the over-sized deadbolt. Fuck. I wondered if these doors opened in or out? If they opened out we may be able to open them from the outside.

Wait a minute. Isn't there usually more than one truck bay on a loading dock? This had to be the last one as I had followed the wall to the back. I figured twelve to fourteen feet between bays and paced off fourteen of my feet to see if there was another door. I shined my cell phone up and down the wall looking for cracks or an industrial deadbolt. Nothing.

I thought for a second, then texted Jace again.

"How many bays are out there?"

"Five"

"Approximately how far apart are they?"

"16 of my feet," came an answer a minute later.

I'd counted off fourteen of my feet. I should have been able to detect a door two feet away from me. Something was off here. Or something working in our favor. Hmmm.

I quickly did the math then counted off another eighteen of my feet before shining my light. There it was, another door. And no trip lines or lasers anywhere near it. Not too bright, but I'm glad they didn't take multiple bays into consideration.

"I'm at the center bay," I texted Jace. "No trip wires anywhere around it, but there's a deadbolt."

"Look closely to make sure it's not a trap, then try it. We're right here and can pull a door open if it sticks."

I had nothing to lose. The deadbolt was rusted but moved when I applied pressure. I lifted it out of its base and pushed the doors. They opened out and nothing exploded. I saw Jace, Rafe and Sotolongo up on the dock. Lolo and Rafe each had a door and secured them to the outside. I was out.

We needed to take care of the Chongos before anything else. I jumped down and nodded for Rafe and Sotolongo to follow me. I wasn't sure if Jace was comfortable using a garrote but I knew Lolo and Rafe were familiar with the technique and probably had something on them like a piano wire or a guitar string with small wooden blocks on each end to save your hands from getting cut to shreds. I gestured to my neck and they both understood immediately. We needed to get dirty here.

The guys in the car had to be dealt with first. Thankfully the warehouse had a wooded area between it and the road we'd used for access. I made my way behind the car and Rafe followed knowing just what I had in mind when I pulled my garrote out of my pocket. Like a well-oiled machine we opened the back doors together and took out the two men.

I didn't know where Jace or Sotolongo went but if neither of them saw this, neither could give testimony. It was better that way although I was sure we'd be able to come up with a cover up plan later. Rafe and I then made our way through the woods towards the front of the warehouse where the four men were holding guns on Manny and Ramon. I heard a slight rustling of leaves and looked to my left. My reflexes are good and I was ready to kill whoever was there. Thankfully I looked before I acted. It was Cal. He pointed to Ram on his left. I showed him my bloody garrote and he nodded, pulling a similar object from his jacket. This was the way to go with men holding guns.

We snuck up on them, and in unison we took them out, with not a shot being fired.

I cleaned my garrote off in the dirt and put it back in my pocket for possible future use. It looked like we'd bought some time to disable the bomb, but how much before someone else turned down the road?

I was just contemplating what to do with the six bodies when my phone buzzed. Sotolongo.

"I have someone you may be interested in."

"Dead or alive?" I asked knowing he had the wherewithal to take out anyone he wanted to.

"Alive for now. We're on our way to you."

"Is Jace with you?"

"He went back to secure the building we left wide open. I found this fucker on my own."

I looked up and saw Sotolongo half dragging a man towards us. His hands and feet were bound and he looked like he'd taken a bit of a beating.

Fuck. It was Kraven.

"Fucker was watching through binoculars. I snuck up on him and when I saw who it was I thought you might want the pleasure."

He was very much alive and when he opened his eyes and saw who was standing in front of him, he spit at me.

"Save it man, you're going to need it."

"Fuck you, fairy."

Instead of getting sucked in, I sent a text to Bobby, Les and Ranger. They'd want to know who Lolo captured and that for now, the building was secure.

"Can Sotolongo ID any of the men you killed?" Ranger texted back.

"Peter and Robert Chong were the only ones he knew. They were two of the guys with their weapons trained on Manny and Sy and two of the original Chongos."

"No Ling?"

"No, no Ling."

"Don't let your guard down. I'm pretty sure Kraven paid him to photograph Steph with Morelli and also with me. He favors telephoto lenses. Have Cal and Ram search the peripheral area."

I showed the text to Cal. No way was I going to issue orders; that would be taken the wrong way. He and Ram took off to see if anyone else was lurking in the area while I went back to thinking.

I wondered if the guys had made any progress diffusing the bomb. I hoped they had something up their sleeves by now...and speaking of sleeves, I could only imagine how uncomfortable Hal and Ramon were feeling. Those suits were unbearably hot and they'd been in that room for over over an hour already. So as not to disturb them, I texted Les. This was for my own knowledge more than anything and my devious mind was already forming a plan.

"I was beginning to wonder the same thing," Les replied. "I'll go check on them. I think Ranger wants to be alone with Steph anyway."

"Isn't Bobby there 2?"

"I'll take him with me. Ranger has been sending out not so subtle hints while Bobby plays the concerned medic."

"Oh." I wasn't going there either.

Ranger's POV

Les got a text from someone and he and Bobby left to check on the status of the bomb. Good. I had things I wanted to say to Steph that they didn't need to overhear.

"Babe, I'm not leaving you. If they say there's no way to diffuse this bomb I'm staying right here with you until someone figures out a way." Or we both go up like the Fourth of July, I left unsaid.

"Don't be crazy Ranger. You have a company to run and the world to save."

"And none of it matters if I can't have it with you."

She got quiet after that.

"Ranger?" she called after a few seconds.

"Yeah Babe?"

"I love you."

"I love you too. More than you'll ever know."

"No. I know. You're marrying me. That says a lot."

"I see it more like 'you're marrying me'. I can't believe you said yes. I'm not the easiest..."

"Bullshit Ranger. It's a big act and you know it. I see the real you and he's got a hard shell on the outside but he's soft and squishy inside. Like my very own Butterscotch Krimpet."

"Babe."

"I heard Hector update you guys. They got six Chongos?"

"Yes and Sotolongo got Kraven. I think Hec is saving him for me."

"You're not going to kill him are you?"

"We can't put him back in the system, we've already done that and look where that got us? He's dead set on killing you and Hector after he tortures you first. Is that someone you want back in society?"

"No. But you have enough blood on your hands-you know with Abruzzi and all."

"I didn't kill Abruzzi, he killed himself." I knew she'd assumed I'd killed him and I wanted to set that record straight. I may have persuaded him to leave a note and I was there when he took his gun to his head and blew his brains out, but I never touched him.

"Ranger? Is that true?"

"100%."

She got quiet again, as if thinking.

My phone buzzed with a text. It was Lester.

"Cal found Ling."

"Alive?"

"Not anymore. It was kill or be killed."

"And the bomb?"

"Reyes doesn't trust using liquid nitrogen to freeze the trigger but the three are outside conferring with Eugene. Hal and Reyes will go back in with the EODs after the suits dry out a bit."

"Ramon?"

"Reyes knows what he's doing and we only have two suits. Hal pulled rank."

"Got it. How long?"

"They seemed to have reached some sort of agreement on a strategy. Hal and Reyes are suiting up now."

"Keep me posted."

Hal's POV

By nature I didn't trust bangers as far as I could throw them, even if that is just an expression and I could probably throw them pretty far, but I'd found the exception to my rule in Durardo Reyes. Not only did he have a true feel for anything with moving parts, his expertise with explosives was not just learned on the streets. Like us, he spent time in Afghanistan. Army. I questioned what he was doing as a two-bit hood with all this knowledge and his answer really didn't surprise me.

"Would you hire me?"

Probably not.

All ten of his fingers were tatted. Each finger held a different letter that together spelled out Marielitas. Not that that made him unhireable. He had huge tribal tats on his neck and I couldn't help but notice the gang ones that spanned his back and chest when he donned the EOD. No those didn't make him unhireable either. Nor would the scar that began at his forehead, crossed the bridge of his nose and deformed his left eye. No. Each of those things individually wouldn't make this man someone who didn't stand a chance of finding a full-time job with benefits. But together they did. Though if he succeeded in disabling this bomb that had us stumped, I'd put in a good word for him to be hired at Rangeman. Yeah, I was that impressed with the man.

"I can do this alone. Are you sure you want to risk going in there with me?"

"Ranger and Steph are still inside. I'll take my chances too."

"Ok but I have very nimble fingers," he said making me think he'd make an excellent pickpocket. "I do the disabling. Your big hands won't work in such a small space."

I couldn't fault him that one. I was a big man. I nodded my agreement and back inside we went, scanning for trip lines and pinpoint lasers as we made our way to the bomb room.

He'd taken pictures of the IED from every angle before we came out earlier and we had texted them to Eugene. Between the four of us we came up with a plan, although it meant someone actually handling the wires while grounded. These suits were made out of a non-static material so the 'grounded' wasn't going to be a problem. Knowing it could go off at any time was.

Reyes took another look at the bomb before stepping into a corner. It took me a minute to realize he was clearing his mind and centering himself. His mannerisms were so not like any banger I'd ever met.

"I'm good. Let's do this," he said finally. "Last chance to back out."

"Not a chance, man. You need a second set of eyes."

He tipped his head sideways. I wasn't sure if it meant thank you or it was a Marielita gesture, kind of like an eye roll. We both knew he could do this on his own.

He scanned the bomb again before taking off both of the big clumsy gloves. He was a brave man. He held on to the casing with one hand while he disconnected the wire leading to the feed with the other. It was the safe way to do this although I would have never chanced taking my gloves off. When he'd pulled the wire a safe distance away from the bomb so that it couldn't accidentally touch again, he let his left hand leave the casing. Thankfully nothing exploded.

We were diffused.

A/N: I made some of this up. I have no idea how to diffuse a bomb and goggle couldn't tell me much...but I do know how to put RAM into a computer. I figured they were similar. :)