Ranger
"Babe?" I asked when Stephanie climbed out of bed to prepare for the day. It was 0500 hours, which was too early for her to be awake. My wife loved to sleep until at least 0800 hours. Admittedly, she did get up earlier for Isabelle. Our daughter didn't have classes until close to 0900, but Stephanie enjoyed spending time chatting over breakfast. It was a dramatic change to her routine, but I could tell they both loved their time getting to know each other.
"I'm going to the gym. Hector and Lester promised to work on my hand-to-hand fighting skills," she explained. Stephanie ran her hand down my chest as she walked past me. My skin pebbled with goosebumps, making her smile. She stopped for a second to kiss my chest. Dios! The things the woman does to me.
I rearranged myself and willed the growing erection to dissipate before I got into the elevator. Her naked sexy ass swayed side to side as she went inside the closet to get dressed. It didn't help my erection issue. She returned a few minutes later, wearing a sports bra covered by a tank top and yoga pants. Stephanie sat on the bed to pull on her running shoes.
"Are you guys heading out?" Isabelle sleepily asked.
"Only to the gym," Stephanie replied. "Do you need anything?"
"Nope. Tia Ella will drop by soon," Isabelle replied. I wasn't surprised that my aunt checked in on Isabelle whenever Stephanie and I left her alone in the apartment. Isabelle was old enough to be home unsupervised. She was secure in the Rangeman building, but she enjoyed being around other people.
I kissed Isabelle's forehead, then took Stephanie's hand. She kissed Isabelle's cheek before allowing me to drag her to the gym. Isabelle giggled at Stephanie's dramatics.
"Do you think Isa and Julie would get along?" Stephanie asked as the elevator doors closed. I raised an eyebrow. "Isabelle and I talked about where to live after she finishes school. The academy goes up to grade twelve. But she wants to attend university in a warmer state."
"She's considering Miami? Isn't it too soon to decide on her post-secondary education?" I asked.
"Not really. The academy told the students to consider their options. What they take at the secondary school level determines college acceptance. Isabelle should select courses to enhance her experience and cater to her career goals," Stephanie explained.
The elevator arrived on the second floor, where the Rangeman gym was located. Stephanie quickly kissed me before exiting the lift. She glanced over her shoulder to wink at me. I shook the sexy thoughts from my head before entering the gym. It wouldn't help me if the guys knew where my thoughts had wandered.
I watched Stephanie run on the treadmill after stretching her legs. She ran for fifteen minutes before the cooldown. Hector grinned as he approached Stephanie. I wondered what he had planned for the day. My heart raced, and I was tempted to intervene when Hector gave Stephanie some knives with holsters to strap to her legs. Dios! What was Hector doing?
Lester stood in front of me, stopping my forward motion. "Let it go," he whispered. "She asked Hector to help." Lester dragged me to the weight room, where I could keep an eye on Stephanie. I didn't enjoy the thought of Stephanie having to defend herself with a knife.
They sparred for fifteen minutes before Hector pulled a knife from the waistband of his shorts. Stephanie flipped him, then pressed her knife against his throat. I barely saw the motion. Hector grinned and tapped her leg. The men inside the gym halted their routines when Stephanie stroked Hector's teardrop tattoo.
"A little help?" Lester groaned. I helped him lift the barbell off his chest. Lester sat up. "I'm going to work on my cardio. You're too distracted to keep me from killing myself." Lester walked away, mumbling about getting someone else to spot him in the weight room.
I watched as Lester approached Hector and Stephanie. He exchanged a few words with Hector, who extended his hand. Stephanie grinned and removed the knife holster from her leg. She dropped it onto his palm. Lester showed Stephanie some martial arts moves. Unsurprisingly, she caught on quickly. They practiced for forty-five minutes before Stephanie got too exhausted to continue.
Stephanie finger-waved over her shoulder as she left the gym. I knew she would shower and change before eating breakfast with Isabelle. Watching Stephanie interact with her daughter made me long to have a child. Lester caught my look and asked, "Are you two working on a mini-boss or mini-babe?" I glared at him. "That's a no." Lester's laughter followed as he left the gym.
I ran on the treadmill for thirty minutes before ending my exercise regime. It was time to shower and prepare for my meeting with General Plum. When I got to the apartment, I found Stephanie sitting on the floor with her back to Isabelle. "Babe?"
"Hey, Carlos. Isa is braiding my hair," Stephanie explained. I nodded, then continued my way to the bathroom for a shower.
They were sitting at the breakfast bar, eating bagels for breakfast when I returned. Stephanie pushed a plate towards me. "Thanks, babe."
"How can you eat that stuff?" Isabelle asked.
"Lox?"
"Yes. It's gross. Yes, dad, I tried some," she replied and rolled her eyes. It was an acquired taste. People either loved or hated salmon. Isabelle excused herself for a minute. She returned with a cup of black coffee for me.
"Thanks, querida."
"De nada, papa," she quickly replied. "Tio Hector and Tia Ella are teaching me Spanish."
"Do you speak other languages?" I asked.
"Italian. Nonno taught me," she confessed. I knew the academy taught Spanish, German, Italian and French. Hopefully, she'd take the other languages.
I checked the time as I popped the remaining bite of my breakfast into my mouth. "Wait," Stephanie said, "I'll come with you."
"Ram and Hal are my escorts," Isabelle said when I caught her eye. I went to the washroom to brush my teeth. Stephanie followed suit.
Isabelle packed her backpack and took the elevator with us to the fifth floor. She still had another thirty minutes before leaving for school. "Don't get shot," Isabelle cheekily said."Don't get shot," Isabelle cheekily said. I barked out a laugh while Stephanie giggled.
"Babe?" I asked when she released my hand, then walked away.
"I have some papers to grab from Lester's office," she replied. I needed to talk to Stephanie and Lester about the office arrangement. For now, they shared, but I was getting Luis to make Tank's and my offices smaller to build one between them for Stephanie.
If babe and I relocated to Miami, I would need a similar setup in that branch. The storage room could get moved to accommodate the extra office space required.
I grabbed the files needed for the morning meeting. Stephanie was bent over the file cabinet, retrieving something she had stashed in the bottom drawer. "Babe?" Stephanie peeked beneath her arm, then stood up.
"Busted," she mumbled as she wiped the chocolate from her lips. "I got Vince to grab some Tastykakes for me. For the record, butterscotch krimpets and chocolate bells are my favourites. I wouldn't say no to their cherry pie or the chocolate glazed pies."
"Babe, those would kill you."
"But what a tasty way to go," she joked.
I grabbed her hips and swung her around. A smear of chocolate was on the corner of her lip. I licked it off as I pressed my lips to hers. Stephanie melted into my touch. She tasted sweet from the sugar and chocolate. "You're my favourite dessert."
My watch alarm chimed, warning me that I had five minutes until the meeting started. "We can finish that later, Batman," Stephanie purred.
Stephanie returned to the bottom cabinet drawer to retrieve her files. I placed my hand on her back as we went to the elevator. We only had two floors to go down, but I wanted more time to hold my wife. That word never gets old. Wife. Stephanie made marriage easy.
We entered the conference room with a minute to spare. I suppressed a smile when the men sat straighter in their chairs. The soldiers inside each man showed their respect for my leadership. I got to the pressing business at hand.
"Tank, report," I ordered.
Tank went through the modified schedule. A potential mission threw the current plans out the window. Rangeman needed the men to adjust to the changes. "I'll post the schedule in the break room and on the bulletin board in the command room," Tank said. The men nodded their understanding.
"Stephanie, report."
She grinned at me before launching into the research and skips on Rangeman's schedule. We had three skips worth over two hundred thousand each. Stephanie went through her documents. Rodriguez and Silvio agreed with her recommendations. I would have to call Jeanelle to arrange for the distraction. Ram's watch alarm sounded. I dismissed him and Hal. They had to take Isabelle to school. We needed to wrap up the meeting. Vince left shortly after Hal and Ram.
"Lester, Bobby and Cal, you're with me," I announced.
"Dismissed," Tank added. I held Stephanie back from leaving.
"What?" she asked. I tilted my head, asking her to resume her seated position. Stephanie sat in the chair beside mine. "Is this about your meeting?" I nodded. "Carlos, I don't have the clearance."
"You're staying," I ordered. Stephanie rolled her eyes and patiently waited for me to talk.
"Men, I'm meeting with General Plum at 0900 hours. We will likely have to leave immediately. Tank, it goes without saying."
"I know, Ranger. Keep an eye on little girl and Izzy," Tank replied. "I'll get Jandro from Boston. Ghost and Deuce from Miami. They can use contract workers until you return. Anyone else I should consider?"
"What about Josef Gomez?" Stephanie asked.
"Jandro confirmed his betrayal. We'll drop him on the way," I replied. Stephanie seemed satisfied with my reply. She reminded me to shove Gomez from the plane where Mancuso sold the weapons.
Stephanie grabbed my hand as we left the conference room. "I'm coming with you," she quietly said. I raised an eyebrow. "It's time."
"Proud of you, babe."
Stephanie
Carlos entwined our fingers. Lester, Cal and Bobby took the stairs, leaving Carlos and me with the elevator. I wasn't opposed to taking the stairs. We used the elevator because Carlos wanted to hold me against his chest. His hands wrapped around me, resting on my abdomen. "Who is on monitor duty?" I asked.
"Junior and Binkie," he replied.
"With how you're holding me, they might think I'm pregnant," I explained.
"Someday," Carlos whispered. I pictured our little boy. He resembled Carlos, except he had blue eyes.
"Only one. Hopefully, we get the boy." His hands squeezed a little tighter. "But it's not going to happen for at least three months. I got Bobby to administer the injection a week early after confirming I didn't get pregnant. Bobby insisted on a blood sample to be sure," I reasoned. "We need to eliminate the threat."
"Agreed," Carlos replied.
We climbed into the Porsche Boxster. The seats were as comfortable as the 911 turbo. I melted against the soft leather and moaned. Carlos groaned and warned me about teasing him. The chime from my phone interrupted my reply.
"Jeanne Ellen agreed to do the distraction on Saturday night. I'll have to organize a team since you and Lester are leaving town. Tank, Vince and Rodriguez, with your usual men?"
"Babe, you never disappoint," Carlos replied. I knew he approved of the team protecting his cousin. Carlos opened the gate to his house in Hamilton Township. He followed the path to the garage around the back of the property.
"I don't recall this structure," I mumbled.
"It's the secondary garage. I want General Plum to park in the other one." It made sense. He was protecting his vehicles from guests.
We entered the house through the back door. Carlos typed a code into the alarm panel and pressed his thumb against the glass pad. "Your turn," he said.
Carlos entered a series of buttons, then pressed my left thumb onto the glass pad. I followed his instructions to enter a passcode and rescanned my thumbprint. "You don't mind me coming here without you?" I asked.
"It's our home, babe," he replied. "I want you to come and go as you please. I'll get Isa to set up her codes and thumbprint at the office." I lifted onto my toes to press my lips against his. We didn't get carried away because my father was supposed to arrive any minute.
Lester, Bobby and Cal had already gone into the living room, giving us some privacy when I set up my access. Carlos opened my palm. He reached into his pocket to remove a keychain. I didn't look at my hand until he closed my fingers around the keys. "I know this is a house key, but what car does this operate?" I asked.
"The navy blue Porsche Cayenne parked beside my Boxster in the garage," he replied. I grinned when I noticed the Wonder Woman keychain with a key for a Ducati. Sweet. He bought me a bike. Carlos tipped his head back to laugh. "Babe, I'll buy you whatever you want to ride."
I kissed Carlos again, then pulled him toward the living room, where the others patiently waited. It was five minutes until nine. My father hated being late, so I knew he would arrive soon.
Carlos squeezed my hand when we heard the tires on the driveway at the front of the house. He opened the door as my cousin Vince and my father approached.
"Welcome, sir," Carlos said. He stepped aside to let my father inside.
"Hi, daddy," I said in the sweetest voice I could muster.
"Pumpkin?" he asked. I saw that he wanted to embrace me, but I thought I would object.
I squared my shoulders and approached my father. My arms wrapped around his waist and buried my face into his chest. He smelled of Old Spice mixed with his natural scent. Dad's arms wrapped around my back. I melted into the comfort of his arms which I had missed more than I had realized. "I forgive you," I whispered.
His body shook as we hugged. I felt moisture on my head and realized he was crying. "I'm so sorry," he repeatedly whispered.
"Shh, daddy. Everything is fine. We can't change the past," I mumbled. "It's time to push forward. Now, I understand you have a meeting with my husband. I'll go upstairs to give you guys privacy."
"No," Frank replied. "I need your intuition." I nodded and waited for him to wipe his tears on a handkerchief.
"Sir," Carlos said when we entered the living room. I giggled when Lester, Bobby and Cal stood at attention. It wasn't a military drill. The guys needed to relax. Though, the meeting was the briefing for the impromptu mission.
"Men, we need to leave in four hours," daddy said after he provided the mission parameters. "Pumpkin? Do you have anything to add?"
I closed my eyes and described what I saw. "There's a stream flowing between two tree-lined rock embankments. Take a raft and travel for five miles. You need to pull the raft off the water when you pass the rocks on the east. There's a small path to travel. He's hiding in a crude wooden structure ten miles to the northeast. Keep low. Giacomo doesn't have night vision goggles."
"Arrive at night," Carlos said. "General, you need to stay here."
"No," dad and I replied.
"He's the only person who could get the drop on Giacomo, Carlos," I explained. Carlos looked into my eyes for several minutes before agreeing.
The men strategized for another hour before my dad declared it was time to prepare for the mission. I knew they would meet with the lawyers to arrange their next of kin should they die during the operative.