Stephanie
In the bedroom, Carlos gave me a pantie-melting kiss. I reluctantly broke the kiss and stepped back. "As much as I want to continue, we should return to the living room. We left Lester during his story. It was incredibly rude of me to hijack his story by sharing mine about the bike theft," I said.
Carlos looked into my eyes. I saw love, affection and understanding. "I already know the story," he mumbled.
"But I don't," I quietly replied. I straightened my shirt and turned to the door. Carlos caught me before I could turn the doorknob.
"He will understand."
"I'm sure he will, but I want him to know that his story matters to me," I explained. "He's family now. Are you okay with Hector giving me credentials for Rangeman access?"
"Babe," he replied. "I asked him to set them up early this morning. He didn't go against me."
"Okay. I didn't want Hector to get into trouble."
Carlos stared into my eyes before he moved my hand to open the door. He laced our fingers together and rejoined the group. Carlos sat beside Hector and pulled me onto his lap.
"You're back. We weren't sure if Carlos would keep you away," Lester joked. I could see the hurt in his eyes from our sudden disappearance.
"Of course, I'm back. I'm sorry for running roughshod over your story. As you were saying, you were fourteen and Carlos got sent to live with his grandmother for jacking a car. Where do you fit into the story?" I asked.
Lester smiled at me. "It's okay, Beautiful. I forgive you," Lester replied. He squeezed my knee. I motioned for him to get back to the story. "Carlos went by Ric or Ricky back then. He arrived at Abuela's house looking like he had swallowed glass. I know because I was visiting when he got there. Abuela smacked the back of his head and asked what he was thinking. Before Carlos could answer, she said, "Never mind. I know you weren't thinking." Abuela didn't let Carlos get away with anything. She got him to do odds and ends jobs in the neighbourhood, like painting, cutting the grass, and cleaning the pools. Carlos worked and studied hard because he wanted to open a motorbike repair shop. The Ducati you stole was his first big purchase. He got into Rutgers on a soccer scholarship, after graduating high school a year early."
"Ah, so you're not just a pretty face," I joked. The men snickered. Carlos lightly bit my shoulder to silence me. I fought back the urge to laugh. "Please, continue, Lester."
"When Carlos left for school, I hung around an unsavoury group of misfits. After I graduated high school, my group of misfits and I got caught wrapping the lifeguard towers in toilet paper and plastic wrap. Abuela gave me two choices. I had to join the Army like my father, or spend time in juvie. Spending time in juvie seemed to be the best option. I would serve my month-long sentence and be done. The Army required a minimum of four years of active duty and two years of inactive. Before I told Abuela Rosa my decision, Carlos came home. He finished two years of college and decided pursuing a bachelors degree was not what he wanted. Carlos announced he enlisted in the Army. He had to leave within a few weeks for basic. My decision was made. I decided to enlist with my cousin. I'm glad I didn't go to juvie." Lester paused for effect. "Most of the kids wound up as thugs and criminals," he added with a smirk.
"Let me guess why you smirked," I said. "The stuck-up Burg residents call Rangeman a building full of thugs and criminals."
"Got it in one," Tank replied. Morelli likely led the charge. When Tank laughed, I knew I had shared my thoughts.
"Why did you join the military?" I asked Tank.
"Followed in my father's footsteps. He was my idol," Tank replied. He didn't expand on his explanations, so I looked at Bobby.
"I always dreamed of becoming a doctor. A year into my undergraduate bachelor's degree, I realized I needed to do something else. It wasn't really a choice. My father died during deployment. He left my mom with my two younger brothers and a sister to raise. She didn't have the money to pay for my education. I saw a recruitment booth in the mall and enlisted. They trained me to become a medic. I'm a PA, which is a physician's assistant," Bobby shared.
Cal grinned when I looked at him. "I joined the Navy," he said. "It wasn't to follow in my dad's footsteps or run from criminal activity. The Navy was all I wanted since I was a kid. My parents own a deep diving company."
"That makes perfect sense," I replied. "I bet the skills you learned were transferable to the Navy. You'd get more practical real-life experience." I stared at Cal for a minute before asking, "Are you a SEAL?"
"Yes, ma'am," Cal proudly replied.
I touched Hector's arm to get his attention. He wasn't military. "Active or inactive?" I asked.
"Inactive, but I keep my ear to the ground and tap into the network," he replied in Spanish. "Los Hombres was my family until Ranger helped me leave."
"Is that how you got the tattoo?" I asked, then touched his cheek.
"A rival gang shot up my mama's house. It killed my mother. Two months later, Los Hombres and Phantoms got into a turf war. My sister got caught in the crossfire. I learned Los Hombres had a traitor. The man killed my mother, then my sister. I killed him," Hector replied.
"I'm sorry you lost your family and had to remove the threat," I said. I leaned over to kiss his tattoo. His face blushed slightly. Before I could ask how he got out of the gang, an image popped into my head. "Ah. They let you go out of fear."
"Yes," he replied. I whispered into his ear. He smiled and nodded.
Carlos raised an eyebrow in question. "Hermano," I said, pointing to Hector.
"Hermana," Hector reciprocated, pointing to me. Carlos nodded in approval. Men are so weird. The others quickly said I was their honorary sister too. It made sense since I married the man they considered a brother.
"I had a thought," I said when the room got too quiet.
"Are we going to like what you think?" Lester teased.
"Probably not, but you need to brace yourselves. I let Frank's words bounce around in my head. Why was Joe Morelli outside Stiva's questioning Constantine while Woody and Ram were inside? I thought Frank said he entered the building with your men," I asked.
"What's going on inside your brilliant mind?" Carlos asked.
"Frank said they found two bodies. The authorities assumed they belonged to Spiro Stiva and Kenny Mancuso. How certain are they with the body identifications?" I looked around the room. Every man wore the same confused expression. "I mean, did they compare DNA, dental records or fingerprints?" I asked.
Carlos called Vince and asked him to use his connections with the medical examiner's office for identification. I watched as Ranger's lips thinned. Whatever Vince told him did not sit well. "Are you sure?" Ranger asked. A few seconds later, he hung up the phone.
I retrieved the DMV photos of Moogey Bues and Kenny Mancuso. Moogey had darker hair and skin than Mancuso. "Did Vince have a description?" I asked. I knew it would take time to run the dental records and DNA.
"Dark hair and average height. Vince thinks Mancuso escaped," Ranger replied. I smacked his leg. He pointed to the pictures and added, "One of them is wearing a bullet hole in the forehead."
"Wow. Did Ram or Woody shoot him?"
"No. The bullet calibre doesn't match the Rangeman standard Glock 9 weapon."
I studied the background information I gathered on Mancuso and Bues. They were close to the same height. Moogey Bues had darker hair than Mancuso, but with the bodies badly burned, it was harder to determine the colour of the singed hair.
"Do you have eyes on Morelli?" I asked. Ranger nodded. He explained that he didn't trust the cop to keep Rangeman updated with their investigation. "Is there a way someone could ask Isabelle or Mary Alice?"
"You want us to question a child?"
"Not exactly. I noticed Snake has a daughter, Sally, in the same grade as Mary Alice. How difficult would it be for Snake to get Sally to ask if Mary Alice saw her dad's cousin?" Ranger got ready to dial his phone. "Stop. I have a better idea to keep Rangeman off the radar. Grandma Mazur said Isabelle knows I'm her biological mother. We should get her to ask Isabelle discreetly," I said. "I'm certain Isabelle would help us."
Instead of calling my grandmother, Ranger contacted Frank. He explained the situation and my suspicions. Frank agreed to ask Isabelle when they visit on the weekend.
I talked Hector into signing up for google notifications using Stiva's and Rangeman as tags. He showed me the Rangeman notification tag he had already set up. Hector added a few more with my birth name and Isabelle's name. "I'll protect you," he whispered. I had only known Hector for a few days, but he was important to me.
We occupied the remaining time playing poker. Lester asked to play strip poker before Tank reminded him of my skills. "Hey, I don't mind if she sees me in all my glory," Lester quipped.
"I think the only one who wants to see you naked is Hector," Bobby said. Hector winked at Lester and licked his lips.
"Okay. No strip poker. We'll play for fun," he replied.
"Good call," I said. Everyone sat on the floor around the coffee table. My phone rang when Cal dealt the first hand. I grabbed my cards before answering the phone. "Hello."
"Hey, Anie. Peter and I are coming tomorrow at 8 am. It was the only time he had a large enough block of time available. Is that alright?" Pamela asked.
"Just a sec," I replied. "Ranger, Pam and Peter are arriving in the morning. Does that work for everyone?" He tapped a message on his phone before replying that Vince and Rodriguez would accompany them in the morning. "Yup. Ranger said Vince and Jose would meet you in Newark. You're not in Newark?" Ranger waved his hand to get my attention. "Oh, just a second, Ranger's got a better idea."
"My men will collect you and Peter from his studio in New York," he said. I leaned against Ranger to listen to Pam's response.
"Um. I'm visiting my mother in Queens. Travelling to Manhattan is unrealistic," Pam explained. "Give me a second. Maybe I can get Peter to come here."
"Do I sense a romance budding?" I joked.
"Stop it, Anie. You know Peter's gay," she replied. "Okay, Ranger. Change of plans. Vince and Jose are picking us up from my mom's house. Peter will park the van with his camera equipment in the garage. Make sure the men have enough room in their car for everything."
"They'll drive an SUV. I'm sure the equipment will fit. I can have Lester and Cal meet you with a second vehicle if you're concerned," Ranger offered.
"That's a good idea. Peter is bringing a lot of lights, cameras, backdrops and props. Peter said it nearly filled the back of his van. I know Peter will flip if anything damages his equipment. Thanks, Ranger. I'll see you tomorrow, Anie. Luv ya," Pam said.
"Luv ya too, Pam," I replied. I hung up the phone and approached Lester and Cal, whose ears perked when Ranger said their names.
"What are Cal and I doing tomorrow morning?" Lester asked.
"Driving a second vehicle to Queens to accompany Pamela Daniels and Peter Lewis," Ranger replied. I wrapped my arms around Ranger's waist and felt the tension leave his body.
We sat on the floor beside each other and checked our cards. I smirked when I noticed my crappy hand. Cal, the sucker, grinned. His smile quickly turned to shock when I slid some cards to him. "Four, please," I requested. Cal gave me the new cards. I added them without looking. I should have called the game, but I wanted to see how outrageous Lester would get with his bets.
Lester's cockiness was evident when he tossed a 100 chip into the centre on his turn. I glanced at my cards; four kings and the queen of hearts. Only one hand could win against mine, which was a straight flush. "I see your bet and raise you fifty." I tossed the chips toward the rest. The others added to the pot. We went around the table and took turns to up the ante. Cal, Tank, Bobby and Ranger folded. Lester added a few more chips. Hector folded. It was down to Lester and me.
I had enough to cover his ante but pushed everything into the centre and called his bluff. He dropped his cards onto the table; four jacks and an ace. I moved to pull the pot towards me, but Lester stopped me. "Beautiful, you need to show me your cards."
"Fine," I groaned, then laid out the cards.
"What the fuck?" Lester asked. "How in the hell did you get that hand from a four-card draw?"
"Luck," I replied. "I don't know. When Cal dealt the cards, I got the king of hearts and four low cards."
We played another round after redistributing the chips equally. I traded in two cards, but my hand was still crap. It wouldn't take much to beat two pairs. I noticed my hand contained the king and queen of hearts. Was the universe trying to tell me something? I fluffed it off.
Two more hands dealt contained the king and queen of hearts. "Fine! I'm listening. What do you want?" I shouted when the game ended.
I could feel it when everyone looked at me. The faces showed concern about what triggered my sudden outburst. I needed to get out of the spotlight.
Hector passed me the laptop when I pointed at it. "Babe?" Ranger was concerned. I could see it in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my temple. I relaxed into his arms.
"I need a minute to collect my thoughts," I explained. Ranger nodded his head, then released me. I carried the laptop to the bedroom and unlocked the screen. After I typed in my credentials, I got down to business.
It only took a few minutes to find what I wanted. But more minutes passed before I used my phone to dial the number. "Hello?" the woman asked. Her voice sounded the same as I remembered.
"Hi, grandma," I replied.
"Stephie? Is it really you?"
"Yes. Are you alone?"
"I'm visiting my friend Elenor Gaspick. She won't say anything." I had to trust her word. There was no reason for grandma to lie to me. "What's on your mind?" Her voice felt like a balm to my suppressed emotions. Why didn't I maintain contact?
I told her everything that happened since Frank assigned Rangeman as my protective detail, as per her request. The smile in her reaction was evident. Grandma was pleased I found my soulmate, and we got married. She promised to keep my secret. "Then we played poker this afternoon, and I kept getting the Queen and King of Hearts. I feel the universe is trying to tell me something, but it's not about Carlos and me. At least, I don't think it is," I explained. "I've never experienced this phenomenon before. I'm not sure what it means."
"My dear, the king of hearts means you're about to go through a transition in life which would benefit others. It depicts confidence in your abilities because you have the strength and wisdom required to succeed. The queen of hearts means you're about to become the symbol of balance for people within your circle. Your resiliency and strength guided you to become the successful woman you are today. It's time to embrace your new life and leave the old behind." When I got prepared to ask another question, grandma added, "I'm not talking about leaving Isabelle with Morelli. I know she'd grow and flourish under your care. I'm talking about your modelling career. It's time to join your husband in his company. He needs your talent more than people need to see your photograph in a magazine."
"So the cards were only about me?" I asked for clarification.
"Yes. The number of times those two cards appeared in your hands was a definite sign. Listen to what the universe is telling you. I will always support your decisions and never forget how much I love you," she replied. "Don't give up on Frank. Everything he did was to protect you." The line went dead. I stared at the phone. What the hell?