A/N: Standard disclaimer applies to this story.
Highlands Girl, thank you for your encouragement and amazing editing skills. And Merciki, thank you for a swift kick in the behind. I needed that.
Everyone, thank you for reading, reviewing, and alerting this story. Your comments keep me going.
Chapter 6. Words I said when I thought they went unheard
"Holy cow!" Stephanie covered her mouth with her hand. After everything she had experienced over the last twenty-four hours, nothing should have fazed her, but a staircase hidden behind a fireplace was too much of a fixture from a spy novel.
This isn't normal. Although, has anything in my life been normal? Ever? Not since I've started working for Vinnie that's for sure. And definitely not now…
The resolve to give Batman a piece of her mind for leaving out more than a few details during their last conversation, prevailed over the conflicted feelings that surfaced any time she thought about being immortal. So, she straightened her spine and headed inside the staircase, playfully swatting away the arm Lester had offered. Expecting him to follow, she realized that he had stayed in the library only when she reached the top of the stairs. Turning around, she tried raising her eyebrow and asked, "You comin'?"
Even though her curiosity was legendary at RangeMan, it never ceased to amaze him when she charged into the unknown with such abandon. Lester shook his head, grinned, and then stepped into the domed foyer. Before following her down the stairs, he pulled on a lever sliding the wall behind them back into place to seal them inside.
Once he started his descent, Stephanie turned back to the stairs and forged ahead. As far as spiral staircases went, this one was fairly wide, but wary of her dizzy spells, she took small steps, holding on to the iron railing attached to the wall, her hand gliding over the smooth metal. Last thing she wanted was to take a tumble ass over teakettle in front of Lester, all too aware of his scrutinizing stare on her back.
I'd like to keep a shred of dignity here, thank you very much.
As she made her way down, she began to doubt her rash decision to talk to Ranger in front of his men, as she was uncertain of the outcome. Not having enough time to think through the conversation with him, she anticipated a less than welcoming reception, when she confronted him about his failure to deliver on a promise of full disclosure.
But, an increasing tension at the back of her neck and spine was making it difficult to think. The sensation was unlike anything she had experienced so far, and it was growing. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, the intensity of the current zipping through her body was overwhelming. Little black dots started dancing in front of her eyes, and she would have collapsed, if a pair of strong arms hadn't caught her in time. Before blacking out, she spotted a smaller version of the control room and heard Ranger growl at Lester, but his words never made it through the fog of oblivion.
This was the second time Ranger was carrying Stephanie up the stairs bridal style in the last twelve hours, but the stark difference that struck him was that which she had been awake the first time, she wasn't now. And feeling the weight of her still form in his arms brought him back to the night when he had thought that he'd lost her. So much so he had to remind himself that Lester couldn't have anticipated the severity of her reaction to being this close to four immortals at the same time, since his own ability in that regard was limited, and as such he couldn't be held responsible for her current state.
Ranger had suspected that Stephanie's ability to sense other immortals was a close match to his own, but now it appeared that hers was stronger. He couldn't recall a time when the tension brought on by the presence of other immortals made him lose consciousness, although he had to concede that he didn't get as much exposure as Stephanie had just experienced until his body had been well adjusted.
Making his way into the bedroom, he settled Stephanie down in the bed and tucked the covers around her body. She looked so fragile lying in the middle, her still unconscious form dwarfed by the size of the bed and her creamy complexion paled by the dark curls fanned out on the ivory pillows. Unable to take his eyes off her still form, he realized that coming close to losing her made him question every decision he'd made about their relationship.
Needing to leave because his men were waiting downstairs for a briefing on the second attempt to nab Decker scheduled for later that night, he couldn't move a muscle before he knew that she'd be all right. Regret had become a familiar companion over the last twenty-four hours. Before he could dive any deeper into self-flagellation, a pair of sapphire blue eyes locked gaze with his own.
She wanted to sit up, but he stopped her. "You suffered a sensory overload and passed out. Don't try to get up yet, or you may feel lightheaded again."
There was a note of tenderness in his voice that she didn't expect to hear after their conversation just the other morning, and dealing with it on top of everything else life was throwing her way was too much for her to bear. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a long sigh, frustrated with her uncooperative body.
Why me? I didn't ask to be immortal. I had a right to die last night.
He watched her tense up as she lay there in silence. Anger inevitably followed denial, and ESP was not required to see the direction of her train of thought, which Ranger had to derail, and fast, before it spiraled out of control. "Stephanie?"
"What?" she snapped, not bothering to conceal her exasperation or opening her eyes.
"Don't go down that road."
A part of him accepted that getting used to the idea of being immortal was something she had to do on her own, but it didn't mean he wanted to step back completely. He had hoped that she would stay in denial land a while longer so he would have time to help her work through the adjustment. Today though, the timing couldn't be more wrong.
Feeling guilty, he looked away from her face, and, through the window, caught sight of a sailboat at the horizon. A fleeting thought whether Stephanie would like to learn to sail crossed his mind, before he forced his attention back to more pressing matters.
If their intel was accurate – he had little doubt that it was – they'd get a second chance to apprehend Decker that night. Otherwise, the scumbag would vanish from Trenton with the score before the next morning and they would have to start their search over again. So Ranger could neither reschedule the takedown nor sit it out in good conscience. Instead, he would to have to settle for leaving Tank in his place to shoulder the burden and protect her if things went south.
Brushing uneasy thoughts aside, Ranger looked back at Stephanie. His eyebrows came together in a frown as he lowered himself onto the edge of the bed next to her and twisted one of her wild curls between his fingers.
She opened her eyes, glaring daggers at him, and scooted back against the headboard without uttering a word.
Am I this fucking transparent? I didn't say anything out loud. I might have become immortal, but I haven't gone nuts. Not yet, at least.
Knowing how much she hated his blank mask, Ranger allowed his face to reflect the worry he had felt for her since the shooting.
"Babe?"
"I'm assuming you have this brilliant insight into 'sensory overload' from firsthand experience?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. She wasn't being fair to him, unleashing her anger over the situation, but couldn't help it. While he wasn't to blame for what had happened, he exerted such an air of reserved all-knowing confidence while rationing information, it raised her hackles.
Appearing unaffected by her tone, he said evenly, "I've never had that strong a reaction. But you've always known when I was near." He watched her rub the back of her neck and clarified, sure of her answer, "Even before last night."
She nodded, mulling over his response, and then narrowed her eyes. Turned out she could get him where she needed without breaking Lester's confidence. Ranger didn't need to know Lester had filled her in on his superior sensory ability.
"Let me get this straight. You knew I was immortal before last night?"
"I didn't know for certain. But I suspected."
"And were you planning to tell me?"
"Babe."
He had her there: the implication 'How well do you think that conversation would have gone?' was as clear as if he'd said it out loud. Before she had a chance to respond, he rose and leaned in to ghost a soft kiss on her forehead.
"I have to go. If you want to head back to Trenton, your car is in the garage. Or you could stay here to rest, and we can finish this talk later. Maritza will have enough food to feed a small army."
"I'll stay," she agreed softly, choked up by the realization once again at how well this man knew what she needed. Unlike everyone else in her life, he didn't tell her what to do, but gave her a chance to make her own decisions. And today, he had someone drive her car over to his house from the scene in case she wanted to return to her apartment. He had also given her a place to escape her mother and the rumor mill of the 'Burg, if she wanted time to come to terms with her new reality without interruptions. Whenever she was with him, it was easy to feel in control of her life.
The sound of his voice interrupted her musings. He had made it almost to the door, before turning around. "Tank's staying here until I get back."
She swallowed a lump that seemed to have taken permanent residence in her throat, and whispered, "Don't get shot."
That got her a megawatt smile and a familiar response in return. "Don't go crazy," he answered softly and closed the door behind him.
Ranger strode into the downstairs meeting room where Tank, Lester, and Bobby were huddled by the large overhead screen with the plan of the railroad tracks at the Trenton Transit Center.
As he had predicted the night before, Rodney Alembert had no useful information about Decker, despite turning out to be his nephew. After breaking down under pressure from spending the night in the Haywood lockup, the little weasel was able to shed some light on Stephanie's presence at the scene. He copped to luring her to the warehouse to be held as an 'insurance policy' in case Ranger went after his uncle.
Upon discovering her escape, Alembert panicked and fired his gun in her direction, shocking himself by hitting her in the back, since on a good day he couldn't hit a broad side of a barn from fifteen yards away. And as all hell broke loose after he had gotten the shot off, he didn't get smacked around for his sloppy work. Instead, when his uncle left him behind to fend for himself, Cal and Junior nabbed him without much resistance on his part.
In their rush getaway, the rest of Decker's team didn't bother much with the cleanup. And when Vince and Zero returned to the warehouse to search for clues on their way to Haywood, they discovered a set of plans for railroad tracks that didn't belong with faded construction drawings.
"Report," Ranger ordered, crossing the threshold.
"How's Bomber?" Bobby asked, turning away from the group. He didn't think Stephanie needed his medical expertise, but couldn't hold back.
"She regained consciousness." Ranger paused, resisting a knee jerk reaction to rebuff Bobby's question, taking his time to settle in a chair at the head of the large table while figuring out how much to tell these men, who had over the years become as close to family as he would allow. Deciding to share his concern for the complications from Stephanie's extraordinary sensory ability, he added, "The four of us in close quarters was too much for her body to handle. She's agreed to stay here while she recovers."
Bobby rubbed his forehead, thinking out loud, "It's possible the severity of the reaction was caused by the timing of the exposure. It should taper off as the body adapts to the change. Aside from you, there's only one more person I know of who might be able to shed some light…" Wary of Ranger's reaction to seeking help from the woman, who was, for a lack of a better word, a wild card, he stopped, watching his friend. But when the blank face Ranger was sporting gave nothing away, he continued, "I haven't spoken to her in a few decades, but I can try tracking her down."
Tank and Lester sat at the table, listening to the exchange in silence. Both were just as concerned about Stephanie's condition as Bobby, but unlike him, neither had been comfortable in the company of Gwyneth Yates in the past. Finding her would be a challenge, but if Bobby thought it was worth a shot, they wouldn't stop him.
"Your call," Ranger said without inflection.
"I'll get on it after we nab Decker. The asshole is going down tonight."
The core team turned their attention to the plans of the railroad tracks, reviewing intel collected in the last eighteen hours to figure out when and where Decker was planning his strike.
At the morning meeting, Woody relayed a tidbit of information that had to be related to Decker's operation. While waiting to pick up his dinner at Pino's before his graveyard shift the night before, Woody ran into Eddie Gazarra who was complaining about having to put in extra overtime on Friday, as the TPD would be patrolling the stretch of railroad tracks from Trenton Transit Center to the state line from two to four in the morning.
Reaching out to his connections within a certain alphabet agency, Ranger obtained information that a shipment of gold ingots was dispatched from West Point Mint to the Headquarters via the railroad. A freight train with an extra armored car would be going through Trenton on its way from New York to Washington, D.C., running on its regular schedule, making a stop on approach to the Transit Center at three thirty four in the morning allowing the Acela Express to pass it on the way to Boston.
There was little doubt among RangeMen that Decker's score was inside the armored car, so they were going over the plans around the Transit Center inch by inch, looking for the window of opportunity the scumbag had found to carry out the heist.
"There." Ranger tapped on the screen to enlarge the sign for a railroad switch five miles north of the Transit Center. "When the switch is activated, the train heading down to the station is rerouted to the Marine Terminal. The tracks end here. And that's where they're going to hit it."
"Damn it, you're right," Bobby said, zooming in on area around the Terminal. "It's been abandoned for years."
"The tracks are shorter on this side of the fork. He'll be in and out before the TPD gets wind of the detour. I'll bet he's got a guy on the inside so the dispatch won't know anything either until it's over," Lester said, pushing back from the table, and rose from his chair, running his hand through his hair. "Then all he's got to do is stop the train in the dead end, blast through the armor..."
"The explosion would stun the guards inside." Tank cut in, nodding for Lester to go on.
"Exactly! And with a hydraulic lift, an incline ramp and a conveyor belt, he won't need more than seven minutes to unload and get down to the river. Boat at the ready, he's home free a few mil richer."
Lester shrugged under Bobby's intense stare. "What? That's how I'd run it."
"In teams of four." Tank's booming voice brought the guys out of their staring contest. He wasn't going in on the op, but he would make damn sure the takedown plan was foolproof this time around.
"Here, here, and here." Marking multiple spots on the plan, he covered the most likely site of the breach and all means of egress. "And a standby in a boat on the river."
Ranger gave him a nearly imperceptible nod. "Gear up at zero one hundred hours. Dismissed."
A/N: Zero one hundred hours – 1:00 A.M.