Ranger
I spent an hour making love with my wife before meeting with Marco, temporarily making Stephanie the CEO of Rangeman. "Why me? Tank should be filling the role," she asked.
"He will assist you," I promised. I could sense the apprehension about running a national company. Stephanie could do the job and build the company while I'm away. She has excellent business sense. Tank and I had already changed our paperwork protocols with her guidance. Besides my second in command, Tank, there was no one I trusted more to run Rangeman. Stephanie chewed her bottom lip for several minutes before nodding.
"If anything, it would be a good distraction," she mused. I was relieved she agreed.
My phone rang as Stephanie signed the papers. I smiled, seeing Isabelle's number on the screen. "Hi, Isa," I greeted, making Stephanie smile. Stephanie was pleased Isabelle and I had already formed a bond. How could we not? Isabelle was very much like my wife. She was tenderhearted and kind.
"Hey, dad. I only have a few minutes. Stay safe, okay?"
"I will, querida. Keep your mom from going crazy," I replied.
Isabelle giggled. "I'm sure you're asking for a miracle, but I promise to try. Watch nonno's back. Trust no one except each other," Isa warned.
"Noted. Get back to class," I said. A smile passed over my face when Isabelle groaned. She was supposed to be in her English class. I pictured Isabelle rolling her eyes.
"Fine. See you later, dad. Bye." I told Isabelle that I'd see her later, then hung up. Stephanie watched me. Her head tilted to the side. I raised an eyebrow.
"You are capable of proper phone etiquette," she teased. "Are you planning to call Julie?"
"No. I only contact her if the mission is dangerous. Hunting down the bastard hired to kill you doesn't fall on the spectrum of what I would call a danger." I tugged on Stephanie's hand.
Marco was inside Tank's office with Lester, Bobby and Cal. They signed their documents, leaving Stephanie as their next of kin, though she didn't know it yet. The men loved her as they would a sister. Everyone knew Stephanie didn't need the money and trusted her to reinvest in Rangeman. "Sign here, Steph," Marco said.
Stephanie mumbled about making medical decisions and added her signatures to the medical proxy pages. "Why?" she asked after signing the last document.
Tank assessed Stephanie before asking, "Do you like staying in hospitals?"
"You all know I don't," she replied, glaring at Tank.
"Neither do we," Bobby said. "We need your intuition to keep us safe when we're down." Stephanie's stern glare relaxed as Bobby explained the merits of having her as the medical proxy.
"Don't you guys have somewhere to be?" Stephanie asked. I watched as Lester, Bobby, and Cal hugged, then kissed Stephanie's forehead. They left to give Tank, Stephanie and me some privacy. "Stay safe." I captured Stephanie's bottom lip between my teeth as I kissed her. She moaned as I licked the lip and deepened the kiss.
Tank cleared his throat a few times before I broke the kiss. Stephanie's face was flushed, and I saw the desire in her eyes. "We don't have time for what I want to do, babe."
"Pity," she replied. Stephanie squeezed my ass before releasing her grip. "Run along, Carlos. Go play with your adult-sized GI Joes." Tank snorted at Stephanie's dismissive tone. I kissed Stephanie again, then left Tank to go over the Rangeman paperwork. He had to ensure Stephanie understood her CEO role.
The men waited at the elevators for my arrival. I carried my duffle in my left hand then I called the elevator cart. It opened a few seconds later. We exited the elevator on the seventh floor, then used the stairs to access the roof.
Lester bounced on the balls of his feet. It was his way of preparing for the mission. "Sir," I greeted General Plum. He got escorted to the roof by Vince.
"I brought the rafts," Frank replied, pointing to the packs. I nodded and passed one to Cal. He shoved it inside his duffle, then slung the bag over his shoulder. Lester grabbed the second pack.
We loaded into the chopper, where Alf sat in the pilot's seat. I greeted the man and sat in the back with the others. Lester grinned when he saw his childhood friend. "Hey, Stan. How's it hanging?"
"To my knees," Stan replied, using Lester's standard response.
"Why did Ranger call you Alf?" Lester asked.
"Because he's an annoying little fuck," the copilot replied.
Lester gave Alf a blank expression before a smile showed on his face. "I can see it," Lester deadpanned. Everyone laughed, reducing the tension inside the helicopter.
"I'm flying you to Miami, where you'll catch the cargo craft to the destination. Ace has parachutes waiting," Alf said once everyone buckled into their seats. He turned on the blades, then completed the pre-flight checks before lifting off.
Nobody talked for over an hour. Lester fidgeted in his seat, making Bobby nervous. I watched Lester closely. He seemed to grow more anxious as we got closer to Miami. I raised an eyebrow when he caught my eye. "What if it's a trap?" Lester asked.
"It very well could be, but pumpkin would have warned me," General Plum replied.
"Izzy told me to watch your back, sir," I added. Frank raised an eyebrow and nodded.
"Then it's settled. Relax, Santos. You're making Brown anxious," Frank said. Lester relaxed after hearing the message from Isabelle. He knew her intuition matched Stephanie's skills. The tension inside the helicopter was reduced to a manageable level.
I ran Stephanie's instructions through my mind several times. We memorized the maps and travel directions. The compass on my watch was accurate. I noticed the other men remembered to swap their wristwatches for the ones I got Hector to make. The lens got made from durable, scratch-resistant plastic. Light won't reflect off its surface.
The helicopter touched down at the private airfield. We waited until the blades stopped before hopping from the interior. Ace waited outside the cargo plane for our arrival. Everyone climbed aboard and automatically arranged ourselves to distribute the weight evenly. "Strap in, boys," Ace yelled from the cockpit. The co-pilot, a man I recognized as Jag, started the pre-flight checks.
Once the plane levelled at an appropriate altitude, we unbuckled the seatbelts to strap the parachutes onto our backs. I attached a third knife to the holster on my hip. The others raised an eyebrow in question but quickly followed suit. They selected knives to cut through the parachute cords. We had to hit the ground running. The copilot left his seat to open the door to the cargo hold. Lester, Bobby and Cal jumped from the plane, followed by Frank and me. Everyone opened the chutes in quick succession. We landed on the open space, a few hundred meters apart.
I yanked on the parachute and shoved it into the pack. The cords likely got tangled, but I didn't have time to repack the chute. Cal's and Lester's parachutes got tangled when they landed. Bobby and I ran to their position, efficiently cutting them free. Neither man could reach their knives to cut themselves loose.
Frank's knife whipped past my ear, sinking into the target with a thwap. The cry of the razorback rents through the air, breaking the silence. Frank ran to the wild pig and removed his knife. He wiped the blood on the pig's back and sheathed the blade. I nodded in thanks. Feral pigs are vicious. We vacated the area, knowing the other razorbacks would arrive to eat their own.
In a single file, we touched the shoulder of the man in front. I led the men, and Lester was at the back. It didn't take long to find the stream Stephanie mentioned. Cal opened the raft, then pulled the cord for it to self-inflate. I let everyone get inside the flotation device before I climbed aboard.
Cal and Lester used the friction oars to maneuver the raft down the stream for five miles. I tapped Cal's arm, then pointed at the dark space to the east. He nodded and removed his oar from the water, allowing Lester to steer the dinghy to the embankment. I climbed onto the shore and held the rope for everyone else to step onto the ground. Cal used his knife to puncture the rubber. When the raft deflated, Cal pulled it from the water and tucked it inside the pack.
I led the way along the path. We stopped after five miles. Everyone sat in a circle with our backs to each other as we ate. Stephanie would call our food twigs and bark. It was nuts and dried berries. I tucked the garbage into my pack and stood. The others mirrored my motions. We hiked the last five miles, keeping ourselves low. My back ached from maintaining a hunched position. I tapped Lester's arm, then pointed to the left. Bobby got assigned to the right. Cal took his station at the back. Frank and I waited a few minutes for the men to get into their positions.
We quietly breached the threshold. I stayed behind Frank to watch his back as I had promised Isabelle. The glint of a knife blade entered my peripheral vision. I swung Frank around to face our target. Frank raised his arm in time to prevent it from entering his chest. I disarmed Giacomo Pacini and held my gun to his head. "You don't know who you're fucking with," Giacomo growled.
"I believe you got that backwards," Frank snapped. Frank raised his gun. "You fucked with the wrong family Pacini."
Giacomo laughed, "You're not going to kill me."
Stephanie
I woke up suddenly. My heart raced, afraid something had gone wrong. I searched my mind for the reason behind my fear. "Mom, are you okay? I heard you scream," Isabelle asked. She climbed into the bed beside me.
"Maybe?" I replied. "Something went wrong."
"Grandpa's safe. Dad and the others will find their way home. Keep the faith," Isabelle said. Isabelle pushed me back onto the pillow and rested her head on my shoulder. "They have to take a long way home."
I closed my eyes and searched for the connection to Carlos. His annoyance was prevalent in my mind. After burning the shack containing the charred remains of Giacomo Pacini, they travelled northwest, then hid inside the forested area. "I see that," I replied. Isabelle kissed my cheek, then rested her head on her stepdad's pillow.
"Do you think uncle Tank's awake?" I turned onto my side to look into Isa's eyes.
"Probably not, but he'd want to know what's on our minds sooner than later," I replied.
"That's what I thought, too."
I checked the clock on the nightstand. It was 2 am. Much too early to be awake, but I couldn't fall asleep after the images I saw in my mind. "Come on, sweetie. We should get dressed," I said, pushing the hair off her face.
Isabelle climbed out of bed, then disappeared into her bedroom. She met me in the living room. I patted the spot on the couch beside me. Isabelle cuddled into my side. It was time to call Tank. I hoped he was in the apartment on the fourth floor instead of at home with his cats.
"What?" Tank answered.
"Hey. I'm sorry for waking you up three hours early, but Isa and I couldn't sleep. We need to talk. Can you bring Hal, Hector, Junior, Vince and Manny with you? I think Vince and Junior are on monitor duty," I replied. Tank said he'd call in a few guys to take over watching the monitors. I knew the men would receive hazard pay for working unscheduled hours.
Tank entered my apartment within five minutes, with the men at his heels. "Little girl, what's wrong?"
"Carlos and the guys are going to take two weeks to get home," I replied. "Does the name Elroy Dish mean anything to you?"
"He's the youngest of the generations of Dishes that Vinnie has bounded out. Elroy's specialties are armed robbery and domestic violence. He is capable of almost anything. When drunk or drugged, Elroy is fearless and wicked crazy," Tank explained. "We received the file while you were offline with Ranger."
"Clean and sober?" I asked.
"He's just plain mean. Dish hangs around the Blue Fish to drink. It's in the middle of Dish territory, so you can't just march inside to grab him," Tank explained. "How did Elroy Dish land on your radar?"
Isabelle replied, "He got hired to kill mom if Giacomo dies."
"Who is to say one of the other Dishes won't take over?" Vince asked.
"They don't know the plan," I replied. Isabelle nodded. She could feel the truth in my statement. I heard Hector tell someone to clean the smallest dish. Hector caught my eye and winked.
Speaking Spanish, he said, "Puma will find him."
"Make it appear to be a gang hit. Sweet," Isabelle said. She leaned over to fist-bump Hector. I shook my head at her acceptance of someone getting killed. "I'm not condoning murder, mom. It's the only way to keep you safe."
"I know. It's my job as your mother to worry about those things." Isabelle leaned her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her back.
A few days later, Puma sent Hector a message that Elroy Dish got buried in the swamp of the Pine Barrens. The other Dishes had dumped their relative in the bog to keep the police from asking too many questions. They would never survive a gang war. The Dishes were many things, but murderers they were not.
I was relieved to be safe from harm. The men wouldn't let me leave Rangeman until the threat got neutralized. Kenny Mancuso was still at large. He was challenging to pin down. Everywhere I saw him, Tank notified the CID. The agents messed up, and Mancuso slipped through their fingers. I knew the only way to capture the criminal was to catch him myself.