The front door opened and the two new guards stepped outside. It was lucky for us that they shut the front door and then stepped out next to the other two guards. Shots from my men took out the four very quickly and quietly. We made our advance towards the front of the house and reached the guards. We all grabbed one of them and drug them out of view and then I clicked my mic to signal the team in the back to take down the four guards in the back as they changed shifts. Within seconds I heard the confirmation mic click and two of my men in front with me circled around to the back door so now we had four of us coming through the front door and four of us coming through the back door. Another mic click to signal they were in place and then silently counting down in my head and with one last vision of in my head of Steph, 3..2..1 , I clicked my mic and we stormed through the doors simultaneously.
A swift kick from my boot took out the front door at the same time as I heard the back door crashing. We stormed in with our weapons drawn and looking in the room, saw the hostage tied to a chair with the bag still over his head. He was struggling to get free and one of the guys headed over him right away. The rest of us cleared the rooms one by one. Son of a bitch, the target was not here.
While the medic of our group checked over the hostage, the rest of us tore that building apart. We search every inch and spent time looking for trap doors and hidden passage ways. We questioned the soldier who had been the hostage and he knew nothing. His last memory was a brief jog around the boarder of the base and then nothing. We radioed into command and share the news, or lack of news about the target. Command decided to send in a team to clear out the building. Something had to be here, why else would there be eight guards in an empty building. We came to the conclusion that the hostage was taken as a backup to whatever they were planning.
Once the new team arrived, we headed back to the pickup spot with the hostage and flew back to the base camp. I was not happy. Not finding the target, or even any trace of the target, pissed me off to no end. I was starting to think more and more about Steph and I knew I had to get her out of my mind before we headed out again. Hopefully the scout team would have a new location for us to head to and end this mission.
I met with the commanders and they understood my anger and frustration. I insisted that I be allowed to get a message back to my team at RangeMan to let them know that I was okay and that it wasn't over yet. It took a few hours, but finally they relented to let me make one phone call. I prayed that Steph would be at the office so I could hear her voice, but if not, then one of the guys could at least tell her that I was okay.
For being as far away as I was from Trenton, the call went through quickly. Tank answered on the second ring, "What?"
"Well, if that's how you're going to answer the phone, maybe I should have call Lester instead."
"Ranger, that you?"
"Who else would it be dumbass? Where's Steph?"
"Gee, once upon a time, you used to worry about your company and now it's just all about a girl."
"Tank, I don't have much time. How is she? Is she there so I can talk to her?"
"I'm getting her, just a minute. The company is fine by the way. She showed up about two days after you left and I got her to sign the contract a day later. She made the Kloughn look it over and then made a few changes and signed. Training is going well, no explosions and the cop has moved onto someone else. She seems okay with it. Talked her into moving into the building. We all feel better knowing she's out of that apartment."
"She there yet? I'm running out of time."
"Ranger?" said Steph.
"Babe, I'm so glad you're there. I only have a few minutes, but I wanted to let you know that I'm fine. We ran into a few issues and have more work to do, but I just needed to hear your voice. I miss you Babe."
"Oh god Ranger, I miss you too. I haven't stopped thinking about you since you left me that morning. Your note made me cry and I read it every night before I go to bed. How much longer do you think you'll be gone?"
"Babe, I don't know how much longer. We've hit a few snags, but hope to get back out in the field and get it over with soon. I am so happy to hear that you've joined RangeMan and moved into the building. I'm proud of you Babe."
"Ranger, don't worry about me. Just get the job done and come home to us. Please hurry home. I miss you so much."
"Babe, I miss you too. Listen, I've only got a minute left and I need to talk to Tank again. I'll try to call again when I can. Please take care of yourself and be careful. I love you Babe."
"Oh Ranger, please be careful. I love you too." She handed the phone back to Tank and then ran out of the office, holding her hand over her mouth. Tank put the phone up to his ear and said, "You okay RangeMan?"
"Yeah, I'll be okay. She really okay? She sounded a bit off."
"She's okay, just got something to deal with, but she's doing a good job. We're watching over her and helping when needed. Is this mission as bad as they told you going into it?"
"It's had its moments. Right now, we're dealing with bad intel and trying to figure out where to go next. I've got to get going. Take care of yourself and Steph. I appreciate all that you're doing for me. Got to go, I'll try to call again when I get the chance. Give her a recording of our conversation from this call if you think she'd like it." With that, the call disconnected and Tank sat holding the receiver for a minute. Steph had run out of the room and he needed to go check on her. First, though, he cut the audio of the conversation between Ranger and Stephanie and sent it to her phone. Then he got up and walked out to check on her. He found her sitting at her desk with her head laying down. Tear tracks were drying on her face and she was sniffling.
"Hey, you okay? He sounded good, didn't he?"
"Oh Tank, I'm so glad I got to talk to him. I just wish he would have said he was on his way home."
"So why didn't you tell him?"
