Ranger

We waited until darkness fell before leaving the hotel in the Bronx. Stephanie fidgeted beside me as I drove toward Trenton. I could see her emotions warring with her thoughts. She knew we had to take the leap of faith. It killed me to see her so distraught.

The highways got covered in snow, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Stephanie stared out the window as the scenery passed us. Lester and Vince asked to ride with us. Stephanie politely told them to return with the others.

"Babe?"

"Oh. Sorry. I'm a bit distracted." Stephanie pondered for several minutes before she decided to share her thoughts. "The day I got discharged from the hospital, you mentioned that Helen Plum and Valerie Morelli arrived at the hospital. Why were they there?"

"For you," I replied. "One of my contract workers at Rangeman Boston served with Joe Morelli in the Navy. He recognized you during his security shift."

"The hospital guards?" she asked.

"Yes. He's no longer employed with Rangeman," I growled. I never mentioned that General Frank Plum promised to handle Slick.

Stephanie furrowed her brow. I reached over to smooth the skin between her eyebrows. "Who?" I refused to answer. Stephanie tapped her lip as she closed her eyes. I don't know what she saw, but it relaxed her face. "Okay. I think I know. Tall blond, grey eyes, who kept looking into the room whenever Lester, Hector, or Tank opened the door. Goes by the nickname Slick?" I nodded. "He made me feel unsettled."

"Slick will never jeopardize your safety again," I promised. Stephanie grabbed my hand and entwined our fingers. I placed our joined hands on my thigh.

She smiled and replied, "I know." Stephanie turned her head and stared out the window to watch the dark, snow covered scenery. My thumb stroked across the back of her hand. "Where will we stay?" she asked a few minutes later.

"I have an apartment in Rangeman on the seventh floor," I answered. She nodded in understanding. "It's a secure building. The parking garage requires a remote to access. No one can get inside the building without our knowledge or approval."

"Thanks for that," she said. Stephanie turned as I raised an eyebrow. "For reassuring me. For acknowledging my concern."

"Babe."

"Batman," she sexily replied. Stephanie faced me, then leaned over the console. She kissed my cheek, touching the corner of my lips. Her tongue touched my skin and trailed down my jaw. Much too soon, Stephanie pulled away from me. "Awe. Don't worry, Batman. We can pick up where we left off when we get home."

I never considered Rangeman as my home until now. The difference was the woman I married. When I accepted the job from General Plum, I had never expected to meet my soulmate. Getting married electronically was the strangest but most exhilarating way to become husband and wife. "Do you regret it?" I asked, suddenly feeling insecure. I didn't know how the men would react to me bringing a woman into Rangeman. Stephanie wasn't just any woman. Stephanie was my wife.

"Not for even a second. Are you regretting it, sexy Cuban Sex God?" she joked.

"No, tiger."

"Why are you worried? Are you afraid the men would look at you differently?" Stephanie grinned before she added, "You do realize that blabbermouth Lester told everyone already."

"I'm going to kill him."

Stephanie laughed. "No, you won't," she replied.

"Close your eyes," I said after Stephanie yawned. She turned in the seat to face me with her hand clutching mine.

"Okay," she sleepily replied. I saw her eyes close from the corner of my eye. A smile played across her lips. "I couldn't do this without you."

"And I would never make you." I stroked her hand with my thumb. She extends her finger to brush along my thigh. Suddenly her finger stopped moving.

Panic ripped through my body until her soft snores filled the car. She fell asleep. I smiled and continued driving along the snow-covered highway toward home. I felt that sense of fear ebb and contentment fill the space.

I would never have imagined that I, Ricardo Carlos Manoso, would get remarried. Rachel's lies and deceptions tainted my thoughts on love, relationships and marriage. I didn't realize how much it damaged my psyche.

Stephanie stirred in the seat beside me. "Tell me," she whispered. Tell her what? "About Rachel and Julie."

I found myself saying, "You know I married her for the child. We didn't love each other. Rachel was a woman I used to scratch an itch. I returned home between deployments to visit her. She was my pregnant wife. Rachel lived with her parents during the pregnancy until she saved enough for a down payment on a house. We never shared a bed. Rachel tried to seduce me many times, but I never caved. Her deception was unforgivable."

Stephanie stroked my palm with her thumb. Without saying a word, she encouraged me to continue talking. "I could barely look at her through the red veil of anger. It took every ounce of control I possessed to rein in the hatred I felt for that woman. In a fit of anger, Rachel said that Julie wasn't my child."

"Is she?" Stephanie asked.

"Yes. I got a paternity test after her birth. In Florida, I would have to pay support if I was the presumptive father, putative father, or prospective father. I was presumed to be Julie's father since she was born during our short marriage. I was the putative father before Rachel married me because she said I was Julie's father. Rachel named me on the birth certificate as the father, making me the prospective father. I would be stuck paying support regardless of my claim." The part I failed to mention still caused me pain.

I felt Stephanie's eyes on me. "Carlos, when did Rachel meet Ron?" My jaw twitched.

She patiently waited until I said, "A week after our marriage."

"You don't need to tell me anything else," Stephanie said. "I know."

How could Stephanie know that Rachel cheated on me during our short marriage? "It's in the past, Carlos. Julie is the only person who matters from that dreadful union." Stephanie rubbed her abdomen. "Do you mind stopping at an all-night pharmacy?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't have feminine hygiene products with me, and I have cramps," Stephanie explains.

After contacting the other vehicles in our convoy, I turned off the highway at the Princeton exit. The CVS was the closest pharmacy. It wasn't open all night, but it was still open when we arrived. Stephanie dragged me into the drugstore to get the tampons and pads she regularly used during her menstrual cycle. I grabbed Pamprin off the shelf in the pain relief section on our way toward the cashier.

Stephanie opened her purse to pay for the products, but I passed the cashier my credit card and asked if they had a public washroom for my wife to use. The woman pointed to the left. Stephanie opened the box of tampons to grab a few. She disappeared into the washroom. I leaned against the wall across from the bathroom door. Stephanie nodded when she exited the bathroom. Her period started. Why was I disappointed by the news?

Bobby passed Stephanie a bottle of water when we exited the pharmacy. She smiled, then twisted off the cap. I gave her a capsule from the pamprin bottle. Stephanie swallowed the pill with a large drink of water. "Thanks, Bobby," she replied. I removed the water bottle from her hand and drank the rest. Stephanie kissed Bobby's cheek before walking to our SUV. I helped her climb inside before getting into the driver's seat.

We drove along the interstate until the exit for Trenton arrived. "Babe?" I could feel the tension radiating off her skin.

"I'm fine, Carlos. God knows I'm made from stronger stuff," she replied. I grabbed her hand to kiss the palm. Stephanie moaned from the contact. "Thanks for the distraction, Batman."

I released her hand long enough to press the button on my fob. The heavy gate swung open. It remained open until the final SUV pulled into the underground parking. I parked in the spot beside my Porsche 911 Turbo. Stephanie jumped from the car before it fully stopped. "Sweet ride," she commented as her hand trailed along the hood of my Porsche. Stephanie noticed the Ducati across the garage. She ran towards it, then straddled it.

Before I could exit the SUV, the stairwell door burst open. Manny and Junior stood with their weapons pointed at Stephanie. "Step away from the bike," Junior demanded. Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"No," she defiantly replied. I climbed out of the car and walked across the garage until I stood beside Stephanie. She climbed off the motorcycle. Her right arm snaked around my waist as her left hand rested on my chest.

"Stand down!" I ordered. The men lowered their weapons, then returned them to the holster at their hip. "Meeting in five."

I guided Stephanie to the conference room on the third floor. My men filled the room and talked over each other when Stephanie entered. Lester motioned for Stephanie to sit in the chair beside mine. "I told them, but I guess they thought I lied," Lester whispered. He shrugged when I raised an eyebrow.

Stephanie smiled when Vince hugged her. "The natives are restless," Vince joked.

"No shit, Sherlock," Stephanie sarcastically replied.

I held up my hand until the men stopped talking. "Last month, General Plum hired Rangeman to secure his youngest daughter, Stephanie. She's here because her apartment in New York got compromised," I explained.

"We have a spare apartment on the fourth floor," Bones said.

"Stephanie will stay on seven with me," I growl. Bones raised his hands, indicating he meant no harm. Ella opened the conference room door to pass me a velvet box. The men watched in shock.

I opened the velvet box and gave it to Stephanie. Her eyes popped open. With shaking hands, she removed the rings. I pushed her chair away from the table, then kneeled on the floor between her legs. She passed me the bands I had custom-made for her. The oval blue diamond with surrounding sapphires sits in the platinum setting. Smaller white accent diamonds complete the ring. The engagement ring sits between the double platinum wedding band. I slide the joined rings along her finger on her left hand. She grabbed my left hand to push the platinum and onyx ring over my knuckle. I kissed her ring before kissing her lips.

"What the hell?" someone yelled.

"Stephanie is my wife," I replied. My men would treat Stephanie with respect without needing to ask. They cautiously approached us to offer their congratulations. Stephanie smiled at the men and asked for their names.

Frank

I escorted Slick to an outpost near Kandahar, Afghanistan. He tried to fight me, but my buddy from the infirmary injected him with a sedative. Not enough to knock him out cold, but it had effectively loosened his lips. What I heard from Slick made my blood run cold and freeze within my veins. Everyone who hurt my daughter will pay with their blood.

Stephanie planned to join the Army when she graduated from high school. I was proud of my daughter when we discussed her decision. She was only nine, but I was still a proud father. When I returned from that mission, I realized my precious Stephanie had changed from the girl I had left a few weeks earlier. The lack of fire and spirit in her eyes worried me.

Helen dismissed my concern with a wave of her hand when I asked, "What happened to Stephanie?"

She replied, "Stephanie learned to behave as a proper Burg girl should."

I was not surprised when Stephanie overheard our conversation and did everything possible to ensure she didn't fall into the same trap as her sister, Valerie. Stephanie broke her arm when she jumped off the roof two months later. Valerie snarled and browbeat Stephanie whenever she got the chance. Where did I go wrong with Valerie? I can't begin to explain how hard I wished for my daughters to break through the Burg barrier.

Stephanie and I talked about her plan to join the Army. Helen kept saying it wasn't the place for a girl. More women joined the military every year. It wasn't an easy life, but I knew my daughter would rise above the ridicule. She would train hard to prove her worth. There wasn't anything my little girl couldn't do when she put her mind to it.

"That daughter of yours keeps asking if you're in the military. Why me? Why does Stephanie have to embarrass me?" Helen lamented.

"What did you tell her?" I asked.

"You left for the post office convention," Helen replied. She seemed proud of her lie. I didn't understand why she couldn't tell Stephanie the truth. Stephanie wasn't stupid. She probably figured it out.

I had to stop thinking about the past. It was time to deal with the fucker, Norbert Smith, known as Slick. "Another few minutes, sir," Lieutenant Sanders says. I imperceptibly nod to acknowledge him.

Sanders drives the Jeep into the compound. He parked close to the infirmary, as I requested. My friend, Cameron Bellows, approached our vehicle. "Is this the asshole?" he asked.

"Yes. Snitched to Helen." I didn't need to expand the explanation.

"How are we handling it?"

Speaking Italian, I said, "Extract every detail before terminating him. I don't care what you do to his body once done."

"Got it," Cameron said, smirking evilly. Cameron helped me unload the cargo. We carried Slick inside, then chained him to a chair.

Slick groggily said, "You won't get away with this. My mom will look for me."

"Nobody will look for you," I promised. "I sent word to your family. They believe you got deployed. Welcome to your last mission, soldier." Slick shook on the chair. He fought to loosen the chains binding him.

"I think a little truth serum is required," Cameron said.

"Nah. I got the pig to squeal. The only question he never answered was why he helped the gold-digging wench." I twisted Slick's nose with the pliers until I heard it snap.

"My friend," Slick shakily replied as blood poured from his nose. "He said the slut forged the will. The money rightfully belonged to his wife, Valerie. He promised to pay me half a million dollars."

I knew the forgery comment wasn't the truth. My mother wrote her will when Stephanie turned five. Morelli wanted Stephanie's inheritance. "What did he want to do with the money?"

"To pay the hitman he hired," Slick replied.

He wasn't telling me anything that I didn't already know. Joe Morelli, my son-in-law and father of my granddaughters, wanted to kill my favourite daughter after using and abusing her body. He planned to break her bones and torture her until she signed over the estate. Helen and Valerie willingly agreed to assist.

My soon-to-be ex-wife was greedy. She only married me for the money. I thought Helen loved me, but I learned after Stephanie's birth that my brother, Vincent, mentioned the Testa fortune to her. Helen was disappointed when Stephanie was born. She hoped for a son, guaranteeing that Valerie would inherit the estate upon my mother's death. Valerie and Stephanie were the only females born in their generation. Sure, my mother could have split the estate, but she knew Valerie would allow Helen to squander it away.

"Name!" I demanded. Slick shook his head.

I removed the knife from my waist. With a few flicks of my wrist, I opened the crotch of Norbert's pants. He doesn't deserve to keep his nickname. Sure, he was slick, but I wasn't about to let the snake slither away. "Name!" I repeated.

Norbert Smith refused to answer. I guess we had to do this the hard way. With a flick of my wrist, I separated him from his penis. "Giacomo Pacini," he screams.

"Take out the trash," I order after I released the chains. Cameron and Sanders dragged Smith to the shack behind the infirmary.

Smoke billowed from the chimney as they burned his clothes. His family would only receive the dog tags with a message stating his body was blown apart by a roadside bomb. There wasn't enough to ship home to bury.

It was time to go home and clean house.