Chapter 26: When it rains, it poors

Thanks again to Vera Steine for suggesting some 'improvements' to Ranger's day! J

I hit the brakes with all my strength and leaned on my horn, praying that I wouldn't hit the car in front of me while my tires screeched and I felt the car sliding. I was ready for the blow, but luckily the Bronco stopped exactly 1 inch from the rear fender of the Jaguar in front of me. To my surprise the woman in the fancy car in front of me just flipped me off while I could read the word 'Pig' clearly on her lips. What the hell?! In response I flashed all the lights on the truck, including the big ones on the roof, but since it wasn't dark it didn't have much effect. And she had already put her foot down on the gas pedal and zoomed off. Bitch. She had cut right in front of me on an intersection without looking left or right and my reflexes had prevented a nasty accident, and now I was a pig?

I closed my eyes for a second to get both my anger and breathing under control when the car behind me honked. I checked my mirror and saw somebody making wild gestures at me, probably wanting me to drive on. For a moment I thought about getting out and asking what this guys problem was, but decided against it. I had a meeting to get to, and with my luck today I would probably get arrested and lord knows what else would happen. I just put my foot to the pedal and drove off, hoping that I would survive this day without getting killed… or killing anybody myself out of frustration or anger. I missed my Babe, especially today…

XXX

I parked and went in while glancing at my watch. Good timing, I was 5 minutes early. The lady in reception took her time checking me out, but finally she walked me to the office of Peter Moore, the prospective client. Peter was sitting behind his desk reading some papers, but got up the moment he saw me.

"Carlos, good to see you again! What happened to you?" he asked, while he rushed his big body from behind the desk with surprising speed for a 350 pound man.

"Peter." I didn't feel like explaining my day to Peter, so I left it at that. We shook hands and Peter gestured to the corner of his office where he had a few comfortable chairs and low table.

"Oh, Suzy, could you get us some coffee? Black for you, right?" Peter said, while looking at me. I just nodded. This day required something stronger than tea.

"And could you bring me some lunch, please? I'm starving." I was starving too, but I didn't want to ask for lunch. I had no idea what Peter ate, and considering his weight it probably wasn't something that was on my menu.

"Have you had lunch yet, Mr. Manoso?" Suzy was looking at me expectantly.

"I'm fine, thank you" I said, but Peter had other ideas.

"Of course Carlos will join me, Suzy," he said, while jovially slapping my arm. Of course he slapped the one that got stuck between the elevator doors this morning. I gritted my teeth and managed something of a smile in the direction of Suzy. She nodded and closed the door behind her.

Business went okay. Peter drove a hard bargain, but in the end we agreed on a nice price. Thing is: they know I'm good and they know I have a waiting list. If they don't want to pay my price, that's fine with me, I have enough people waiting. And most of them don't want to wait any longer. Makes negotiations a whole lot easier for me. But lunch was another disaster. Turns out Peter eats the same kind of lunch my Babe likes. Fastfood. Lots of it. Not one leaf of lettuce or piece of tomato in sight. Suzy put down a tray with a cheeseburger and basket of fries in front of me and a large cola. Shit. The burger was dripping fat, the fries were covered in ketchup and mayonnaise and the cola wasn't diet, but regular. I took a bite from the burger and slowly chewed. It tasted awful. Somehow I suspected that this wasn't fresh. More like reheated in a microwave or something. The bread was soggy, the fries were soft in stead of crispy and to say it was lukewarm was pushing it. Peter seemed to think it was just fine, and I didn't want to spoil his lunch so I said nothing, slowly taking another bite from the burger.

Splat.

As soon as I heard the sound I knew what had happened. I slowly put the burger down, keeping my blank face firmly in place and looked at my pants. A great glob of sauce was laying on my left charcoal grey pant leg. I wiped the sauce off with a napkin, but the grease stain still remained clearly visible. Great, I really hoped that the grease would come out. I paid a fortune for this suit.

I was still thinking of ways to explain to Peter why I wasn't eating my lunch when my phone buzzed. I checked the read out and saw it was a message from the control room. To contact them a.s.a.p. That usually meant something had gone wrong. I excused myself and called them. Turns out Hal is in deep shit. He went after an FTA that shouldn't have been a problem, but the FTA had somehow managed to close the door on Hal and had proceeded to shoot at Hal's car. The car didn't work anymore and Hal didn't know what to do. The neighborhood wasn't exactly a friendly one and I was closest to his position, so if I could please go and rescue him. Fine. I really had to everything myself in this company! I told Peter that I had an emergency and had to go. Peter said it was okay, the contracts had been signed anyway and I suspected he was after my leftover lunch. Well, he was welcome to it.

I drove as fast as I could. Situations like this can turn nasty in minutes. When the neighborhood realizes that Hal is defenseless and has no means of getting away, they can easily kill him. I arrived after 6 minutes and saw Hal squatting behind his car, weapon ready, looking at the house where the FTA was inside. I quickly shrugged into a bulletproof vest and boots and secured my utility belt before exiting the car and running to Hal. As soon as I was visible from the house, a gunshot sounded and while I dove for cover behind Hal's car, I heard the telltale 'bing' sound that signaled yet another hole in Hal's company car.

"Report," I barked.

"FTA is inside with a shotgun, he shoots at everything that moves." No shit. I just gave Hal a look and thought about how to solve this. We would have to distract this guy somehow while we get inside and surprise him. Bulletproof vests usually don't protect you much against close range gunshots, so it had to be a surprise attack. I called Tank, and he told me he was just 2 blocks away. When he had arrived, we decided that Tank would stay where he was, distracting the guy, while Hal and me would go in and surprise this guy.

The surprise part worked out and Hal and I managed to grab him before he could point the gun at us, but the guy put up a hell of a fight and soon we were rolling around the floor. Then a lot of things happened.

I heard Tanks' footsteps on the stairs. Hal screamed something to me just when Tank entered the room and the FTA whirled around furiously to see who the new attacker was. Just as I realized that Hal was holding his can of pepper spray, my eyes suddenly were burning and stinging and I screamed in pain and surprise. I couldn't see anything anymore, I lost my grip on the FTA and felt him kick my hip hard while yelling 'swine' at me and I heard Hal shout 'fuck'. While I blindly tried to move away from my attacker, flaying my arms around and hitting a wall, it was suddenly quiet except for the labored breathing of Hal, Tank and me. I still couldn't see a thing, so I had no idea what just happened until I heard Tanks voice.

"He's down, Ranger. I stunned him." I heard cuffs click into place and somebody was dragging the FTA out of the room. That better be Hal leaving the room with the FTA, because the next time I saw him he was gonna pay. I was furious! How stupid do you have to be to want to use pepper spray when your partner is directly in the line of fire? All the FTA had to do, and did, was to move his head and you spray your partner!

A bit of blurry vision returned, but I still couldn't see a lot because my eyes were tearing so much. I could feel tears running down my cheeks and I wiped my nose on my sleeve, realizing too late that I was wearing an expensive button down shirt that went with my suit and not my usual long-sleeved t-shirt.

"I need to wash out my eyes," I croaked and Tank grabbed my arm and led me to another room. I heard water running and he guided my hands so I knew where it was. I poured water on my face until the burning subsided a little bit and I had some vision again. The tearing still continued, but wasn't as bad anymore. I closed the tap, blew my nose and slowly leaned back against the wall. Tank was watching me observantly.

"You okay?" Tank asked.

"I'm good" I croaked, blowing my nose once more and wiping some new tears away.

"Cal, Lester and Rob are here. I sent Rob to go with Hal to the police station. Al's on his way to pick up Hal's truck." I just nodded, thinking that Tank probably sent Hal away so I wouldn't kill him straight away. At least one of my men still used his brains.

"Let's go back to the office. Lester and Cal will secure the truck until Al arrives and Lester can drive my truck back to Rangeman," Tank said. I just nodded and walked downstairs. We secured the house and I walked straight to my car. I felt no need to talk to anybody right now. Tank got behind the wheel and drove off while I blew my nose and wiped my eyes yet again.

Stephanie POV

I fixed myself some lunch and went straight back to the book. I found it really fascinating to read these things. I recognized a few things and felt like I understood Ranger a bit better now. Still, a few more chapters to go before I could call Aurelia and ask about Rangers' past.

The next chapter was about 'prevention' as the author put it. Certain behavior from the woman could trigger 'pig' behavior. If you knew which behavior that was, you could act differently yourself and prevent your boyfriend from turning into a pig.

If he is a slob, and always has been a slob and he has no problem with that, what do you think are the odds of you turning him into a neat freak? Not very high, I can tell you. Nagging at him will not do you any favors, it will only turn him into a pig. Doesn't mean you have to accept everything, but pick your battles and your time to battle. Because let me tell you, ladies. Nagging is something every man HATES. It is, excuse the expression, a very female thing. Men usually tell you straight what the problem is, solve it (or try to) and then consider the subject closed. So if you've told your boyfriend that you want him to clean up after himself, and he has explained to you that he is a slob, that means to him that subject is closed and that he doesn't see any need to change. I'm not saying that this is right or wrong, but if you tell him to clean up after himself every day, or even 3 times a week, when he already told you he's a slob, he will be wondering what you are going on about. To him, this subject has been discussed and closed.

So therefore, when there is something that is bothering you on a regular occasion, first of all realize why this is bothering you. Is it maybe because you aren't used to it like that, and find it hard to adapt to a new situation? Ask yourself if it is fair that you expect him to change his ways so you are completely happy, regardless of his routine? He has to adapt to you just as much as you have to him. Try to find a compromise that is acceptable to both of you and then LEAVE IT ALONE! You can't first agree to e.g. him taking the trash out on Sunday night and then ask him on Friday if he can't do it right now because you think it looks messy.

One other thing: nobody's perfect! Especially after the first lovely 'I'm so in love, he's perfect' months of dating, you no doubt will find some characteristics that are not perfect about him. Maybe he's a slob, maybe he can be impatient, maybe he spends a lot of time on a hobby and maybe he has friends that you don't like. Realize that maybe he feels the same way about you. Doesn't mean you can't love each other to bits and live happily ever after and doesn't mean you have to accept everything, but don't make a big deal out of things that aren't that important. Take a step back now and then and think about what really matters. How important is it that he folds his t-shirts if the house burns down? How important is it that he takes the trash out if you get seriously ill? How important is it that mows the lawn every 2 weeks in the summer when his father dies?

If you can count on him when it really matters, then allow him his little imperfections. Realize you have your own imperfections and be willing to compromise on those (mainly domestic) topics, and let it go. You'll both be a lot more comfortable that way!

I sighed. Wow, there was a lot of truth in that. Ranger didn't strike me as the type who wanted to waste a lot of time on domestic chores. He had a full time housekeeper who cooked, cleaned and bought his groceries! I was a big slob, and he had sometimes commented on that. But somehow I didn't get the impression it was a big thing for him. He accepted me for who I was, and I could always count on him when things got rough. So maybe I should simply accept his choice of food…

But only if I didn't have to eat it myself! There are limits!

Chapter 27: When it rains, it poors

Thanks to Vera Steine for suggestion parts of Ranger's day.

When we arrived back at Rangeman I felt ready to call it a day. This day was just unbelievable. I'm sure I would be able to laugh about it some day, but that wasn't happening anytime soon.

"I'm going to take a shower. I'll be down in the control room in 20 minutes," I said to Tank while I got out of the car. Tank just nodded and took the stairs to the 5th floor. I waited on the elevator to take me up to the 7th floor.

When I opened my apartment, I felt some anger and agitation leaving me. The apartment was quiet and clean, just the way I liked it. I walked into the bathroom and started the shower while I undressed myself. Since I had no more business meetings today, I could dress in something slightly more comfortable than a suit after I finished my shower. With a contented sigh I stepped under the warm water. Finally, my first warm shower of the day. I faced the shower and braced my arms against the wall while I closed my eyes and let the warm water cascade down my body. My headache subsided a little and I felt my tense muscles relax. This was what I needed.

After a few minutes I decided that I had been doing nothing for long enough and I grabbed a bottle of shampoo. I opened the bottle and poured a bit of shampoo in my hand and started washing my hair. I like this shampoo… I like the look that Stephanie gets in her eyes when she smells this shampoo…

I had just ducked my head back under the spray to rinse when the sound of something falling on the floor made me instinctively open my eyes and look around. I realized that the sound had been that of the shampoo bottle dropping to the floor, because I had placed it too much on the edge of the small plateau in the cubicle and then the shampoo entered my eyes. Goddamn it! The shampoo stung in my already agitated eyes and I quickly put my head back under the water, desperately trying to rinse the soap out. After a minute I gently wiped my eyes, feeling the tender bruising from the bullet casing earlier today and tried to open them again. They were still tearing, but vision had returned. My eyes felt swollen and irritated, I didn't look too good right now. It was a good thing that I didn't have to go to any more clients today, I would probably scare the hell out of them. I let some more water run down my face and then decided I had sulked long enough. It was time to get on with this day. It could only get better!

At least I hoped so…

Stephanie POV

I grabbed a pint of Ben & Jerry's and I padded back to the couch. Only 2 more chapters to go before the book was finished. Next chapter was about 'cultivating the man, ignoring the pig'. Hhmmm, wonder what that was all about.

In previous chapters we discussed situations that could trigger 'pig' behavior. This is unwanted behavior, so now is the time to focus on how to stimulate more appropriate adult behavior and to ignore the pig for a while.

There are a few golden rules when training a dog: reward good behavior, ignore unwanted behavior and punish bad behavior. Men are just like dogs, so the golden rules apply here too. You just have to make sure you know what they like to be rewarded with and when they feel left out and ignored. This approach may take some time, but it has serious plus points:

- you will get to know him better because you have know what he likes and dislikes and vice versa

- he will focus energy on the right thing because he will want that reward

- when done correctly over a longer period of time, it will lead to an open and healthy relationship in which both partners take the other one into account before making any big decisions and are willing to compromise

A little piece of advice here: realize that what you might consider 'unwanted behavior' could be the best reward you can give him. An example: maybe you don't like it that he watches baseball all the time. Then you might think: I shouldn't encourage anything related to baseball, because it will only increase this unwanted behavior. WRONG!!! When he loves baseball, it is unlikely you are going to change that. But you might be able to get him to watch less. To pick out certain games instead of watching all the time. And the best reward you could give him would be tickets to go and see a game. Remember, you really have to place yourself in his position! When he realizes that you will let him watch a big game in peace or with friends without a negative comment from you if he has done something that you asked him because it mattered to you, he will become more willing to do so.

It is important that he weighs your request about equal with his request: give and take. If he feels that what you want him to do is much more than what he is getting back, he will not be motivated to do it. Let's face it, neither would you! So you could even assign a value to a request and reward. Say it is really important to you that he walks the dog late at night because you feel uncomfortable, you might value it 9 out of 10 on the scale of "wanting that to happen". He might value to ability to watch the World Series with friends also at 9 out of 10. When you ask him to walk the dog every night and you explain to him that this is as important to you as the World Series to him, he will understand you are serious about your request. But maybe he feels that walking the dog every day is "more" than watching the World Series. To him, they aren't equal in importance. Then it is time to bargain, and to find out what he would accept in return for walking the dog every day. Maybe a ticket to a game, maybe a night out with friends once a month, maybe… you name it, be creative! (And it doesn't always have to be sex!) This is not about monetary value! It is about how something makes you feel. It is about understanding each other's wishes and respecting each others wishes.

Also, don't sell yourself short. If something is really important to you and he says it could never be THAT important, don't give in! Men are excellent dealmakers, and probably more ruthless than you think. Realize he might be trying to see how much more you are willing to give him before he accepts a compromise. If something is a 10 out of 10 for you, it means it is important. No discussion about it!

Last but not least: I'm not saying that everything should be a deal! So don't turn it into a sport. What I am saying is to find out what is important to him and let him know what is important to you and make a healthy compromise.

This was advice that I could use in all my relationships, not just with men. My mother for instance! And when I was still seeing Morelli, this book could have made a big difference, because we were never willing to compromise, to bargain or to see the importance to the other person. Morelli wanted me save, almost at all costs. And I wanted to be free, almost at all costs. Neither of us ever sat down and talked about it in a calm and rational way. It always ended with ultimatums, arguments and break ups. Including the final break up.

Even though I don't see many shouting matches happening between Ranger and me, I do know that something that is high on his list is to keep me safe. Just like a little bit more openness from his side is high on mine…

Something to remember…

Chapter 28: It just keeps getting worse

I sat down on the edge of my bed and slowly leaned my head in my hands while sighing deeply. I felt like shit, there was no other word for it. After the shower I had gotten a pretty good look at myself, and had seen the damage that this one day had done to me. My ankle was blue and stiff, my knee was swollen, there was a big bruise on my hip, my hands were grey with ink, my upper arm was showing the impression of the elevator doors in blue and green, my eye was black and I had a black ink tear under the other one. Both my eyes were red and swollen from the pepper spray, my nose was running and I could only breathe through my mouth. My headache was killing me, every ray of light was hurting my eyes and all my muscles felt stiff from the cold shower this morning and the throwing up after the yoghurt incident. And so far today, I had only one bite of a soggy hamburger to eat and two cups of coffee to drink.

And I hadn't seen or spoken to Stephanie at all.

So before I left my apartment to face no doubt another problem and injury, I grabbed my phone and called her. I just wanted to hear her voice, listing to her activities of the day, hoping she could make me smile at least once.

No such luck, her phone went straight to voicemail. For a second I wanted to leave a message just to get her to call me, but since I had no real reason to call her, other than just wanting to hear her voice and that was not something I would ever say out loud, I hung up. I slowly laid down on the bed, my feet still over the side and closed my eyes for a moment. I had really hoped that she would run into me today, secretly hoping she would take over and take care of me. Like she did that afternoon when I was discharged from the hospital after Scrog shot me. I still remembered that afternoon like it was yesterday.

She had come in with cake and flowers, and we had chatted for a while, sitting next to each other behind my desk. After an hour or so, she had gathered the dishes and had walked off to the kitchen. I heard her rummaging around while I painfully got up from the chair to find a more comfortable position. My rib was hurting with every breath I took, but for the first time in days I hadn't noticed it. My Babe's presence was the best medicine I could get. However, after sitting behind my desk for two hours, even my Babe couldn't make me forget the pain anymore. I was slowly maneuvering myself around, taking measured breaths when Stephanie suddenly appeared in the doorway with a piece of paper and a few boxes in her hands.

"It says here that you are supposed to be in bed," she said, waving the paper. I suddenly realized that I had dropped the instructions from the hospital and the pharmacy bag in the kitchen and had gone straight back to work. I had a ton of emails to answer and a few bullet wounds weren't going to slow me down.

"And you should take these painkillers," she continued when I didn't respond.

"Don't need them."

"Of course you don't. You just grimace for fun with every breath you take."

I don't know why things were different today; normally she would never invade my privacy and would never tell me what to do. Usually, I was the one doing those things. But maybe because of everything that happened in the past few days, the balance had shifted. Because she handed me the painkillers and the instructions and then gently put her hands on my sides and turned me around, pushing me into the bedroom.

"What are you doing, Babe?" I asked softly, in a sexual tone.

"I'm taking care of you because you won't do it." She sounded very decisive, and for the first time in a long time I felt okay with someone taking over control…

For a few hours, that is.

She pulled back the duvet on the bed and patted on the mattress.

"Get in."

"Babe?"

"Come on, lay down. Do what the doctor told you to do." She pushed on my good shoulder to get me to sit down on the edge of the bed and went into the bathroom, coming out of it with a glass of water in her hands. She grabbed the medication and read the instructions. There were three boxes. Painkillers, antibiotics and sleeping pills. The combination of the three would knock me out cold for a few hours, so I hadn't planned on using them.

"I don't need the pills," I gritted out, still riding out the wave of pain from sitting down.

"Of course you don't," she said on a smile, and took the pills out of the boxes anyway. She held them in front of me and after a moment I reluctantly took them and swallowed them down with water. But I didn't lay down. I wasn't giving in that easily.

"Let me help you get undressed," she said, and her hands moved to the front of my sweater. I had pulled on my grey sleeveless sweater because it had a zipper, and was one of the few articles of clothing that I could put on myself without being in too much pain. She pulled the zipper down and grasped. I realized that this was the first time that she saw my chest after I was shot and particularly the bruising from the impact of the bullets. She had visited me in the hospital, but I had always worn a t-shirt there, so the large blue and purple bruises on my chest were new for her. The guilt was clearly visible on her face.

"I'm okay, Babe. Really." She just nodded, not looking at me.

"It wasn't your fault," I said a little more forcefully, while lifting her chin to get her to look at me. When her eyes finally met mine, I placed a soft kiss her lips and gave her a small smile. After a moment, she smiled back and nodded.
"Can you help me take the sling off?" I asked her.

"Sorry, Ranger. It says here that you have to keep it on," she said, while waiving the instructions at me. Damn. She gently lifted my feet up on the bed, but I still didn't want to give in completely, so I leaned back on my elbow, to ease the pressure of my ribs and shoulder. I could feel the painkiller and sleeping pills were starting take effect, because a very fuzzy feeling came over me.

"Come on, lay down. Get some rest," she softly said, and started pushing me down. The movement was painful and I was glad when my head hit the pillow. I closed my eyes and took a few careful breaths, waiting for the pain to subside. I felt her covering me with the duvet and then her hand was going…

BEEP BEEP BEEP

The harsh beeps made me realize I had fallen asleep, dreaming about that one afternoon that seemed a very distant memory. Oh, for fuck's sake! There weren't many times that I hated my demanding job, but today was one of them.

"What?!" I barked into my phone.

"Ranger, you coming down?" Ram.

"Why?"

"We have a problem."

"What else is new? Why don't you just do something about it?" I snarled. The moment the words left my mouth I regretted my loss of control. I was a professional, I should behave like one.

"I'm coming down," I quickly said and ended the call.

This day WILL end, it has to…

Chapter 29: Getting closer to the past

I had grabbed a quick snack and settled down for the last chapter. It was already past four in the afternoon, but I couldn't stop now. Not with being so close to the end and the reward that that would bring me: information about Ranger's past! So for the last time today, I picked up the book and settled in.

The final chapter was about "Do's and Don'ts". Basically the author gave lots of advice on how to deal with men who had a tendency to show pig behavior.

A lot of pig behavior comes from uncertainty. This is a huge difference between men and women. When women aren't sure about something, they will usually express this doubt, and ask friends for advice. When men aren't sure about something, they usually feel incompetent. But instead of expressing their doubts, they usually get more forceful in their answers, to cover up this uncertainty. The worst thing to do for a woman is to confront him with his uncertainty, even if she is sure that this is the case. Best thing to do is to let him stew for a while. Let him know you trust him, and that you think he has a lot of qualities. Boost his confidence. I know it sounds pathetic, but men just like to know that somebody thinks that they are great. Don't we all?

I didn't think that Ranger had many doubts about anything. Although… That probably wasn't true. On occasion, especially during very stressed times like when he was FTA or when Julie was kidnapped he had been especially forceful on occasion. And he had said a few things that could indicate some uncertainty. After all, he was human and even though I think he had a higher than average dose of confidence, he probably had some doubts on occasion as well.

Allow for differences. If he likes to do something in a particular way, why not? Doesn't mean you have to start doing it that way, but why would he have to change his way? Don't wish to do everything together and in a similar way. You have a whole life together ahead of you, you will do so many things together! So don't see it as a bad thing if he wants to go out on his own on occasion. Don't sit at home moping about it, call your friends and have a girls night out! Because in a good relationship there should be enough trust to know that the other party is not cheating on you as soon as you aren't there. (And by the way, if he does: ditch the bastard, you are way too good for him)

Trust was something that Ranger and I always had had. And I knew that cheating was not his style, he had made that perfectly clear. And I wasn't going to cheat on him either, that much should be clear to him. I suppose we would do things in a slightly different style. He was very thorough, very organized and very professional. I was a slob, very unprofessional and my life was utter chaos. But Ranger still found a way to help me, and I would like to think that I was some help to him as well on occasion.

Last but not least: enjoy each other. Don't let the bad times get in the way of the good ones. Learn from mistakes and arguments, realize that everybody makes mistakes and argues on occasion in a relationship. That's natural, and it's good, because when resolved it will bring you closer together. Don't be afraid to take a stand, ignore the pig and use the information in this book and you will turn him into a loving man in no time.

Go get him, woman!

With a sigh I closed the book. Yeah, I wanted to get Ranger. So I powered up my phone again, and called Aurelia.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Aurelia?"

"Yes. Stephanie?"

"Yes, how are you?"

"Good, how are you?"

"Good… I finished the book…"

"Wow, that was fast!"

"Um… yeah." What can I say… I'm curious.

"You want to talk about Ricardo's past now, don't you?" I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Yeah…"

"How about we have dinner at my parents place tonight?" Dinner with Ranger's parents while talking about Ranger's past? I wasn't sure.

"Don't worry, Steph. But they want to tell part of the story as well, and they want to get to know you…" Aurelia said softly.

"Um… All right, then…" I suppose…

"Great, see you there in about an hour?" Aurelia asked.

"Yeah, that's okay."

"Bye," Aurelia said, and she hung up.

I looked at my display and saw I had missed one call. Curious, I checked it and gasped when I saw it was from Ranger. He had called about an hour ago, but he didn't leave a message. I contemplated calling him, but I didn't know what to say, so in the end I decided against it. I'm sure he had things under control.

Chapter 30: The past revealed

Warning: serious subjects! A part of Ranger's past is revealed…

When I entered the control room, there was a lot of activity. My eyes found Tank and he walked up to me.

"We finally got a lead on John Wilder, but there is a problem," Tank said.

John Wilder was an FTA that we wanted to get badly, and not just for the $500,000 bail. He was linked to a long list of crimes and I wanted him off the street.

"What's the problem?"

"He's at the house of someone we know, but we're not sure with how many others. Reports vary."

"Vary?"

"We heard that he was in there alone and we heard that he was in there with 3 others." Great.

"Who's house is he in?"

"Vincent Gruber's," Tank said softly. Shit. We picked up Gruber about 6 months ago for a murder charge, but we heard after 2 months that for some reason he hadn't been convicted and he had muttered some threats towards Rangeman. We had paid him a visit and the threats had ended, but Gruber was a man with a grudge. And for some reason I didn't think that it was a coincidence that Wilder and Gruber were in the same house. This could get real ugly.

"Anything else?" I asked Tank.

"No."

"Okay, get Lester, Bobby, Ram and Cal and get dressed. Meet me in the conference room in 5." Tank nodded and left. I walked to Hawk and told him to get us all the information about Wilder, Gruber and the house asap and then I walked back up to the apartment to get my gear. Looked like this day was going to finish with a bang.

Stephanie POV

I was nervous when I rang the bell. After all, I had only seen Ranger's parents once. I was glad that it was Aurelia who opened the door and gave me a quick hug.

"Hi Steph, good to see you again!"

"Hi Aurelia."

I hung my coat and we walked into the living room where his mother and father were sitting on the couch. They too gave me a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Welcome Stephanie."

"Thank you, Mrs. Manoso"

"Please, it's Juanita and Carlos, dear."

"Okay."

We all sat down and Aurelia walked in with a plate filled with little snacks. They looked delicious and I felt hungry.

"Would you like a drink, Steph?"

"Yes, please."

"What would you like, soda, wine?" Mmm, considering the subject and me being a cheap drunk, I decided to stick with alcohol free beverages tonight. This was one night that I wanted to remember.

"You have cola?"

"Sure." Aurelia left again, and after a few moments she returned with a tray with 4 glasses. Two held wine and two held cola. Rangers' parents got the wine, and Aurelia gave me a coke and took the last glass herself and then sat down as well. She offered me the plate with snacks and I took a particularly attractive looking half egg filled with some tasty mix of curry, cream and herbs. Yum.

We talked about unimportant things for a few minutes, until Aurelia shifted and cleared her throat.

"Let's not keep you waiting any longer, Steph. I know you came here to hear about Ricardo's past." I felt my face turn red and just nodded. What could I say, it was the truth… Both Aurelia and Juanita smiled.

"You have to promise that everything you hear today will stay in this room," Aurelia said seriously.

"I promise," I said and wondered what they could possibly tell me that required such secrecy. On the other hand, they were related to Ranger, so… It was Juanita who started the story.

"The story starts years before my Ricardo was born. I met a man, fell in love and married him. I thought that we would start a family, live happily ever after, but I was wrong… after a while I found out that he…" Juanita's voice waivered, and Carlos grabbed her hand and held it. I just remained silent and waited. This was obviously difficult to tell for her. After a minute, Juanita took a deep breath and continued.

"After a while I found out that he wasn't a very nice man. He worked a lot, so he was away from home often. But when he came home, he was… abusive. He would shout at me for anything and everything and after about a year he started… hitting me." I grasped.

"I'm so sorry," I said. Juanita gave me a small smile.

"Thank you, dear… Well, after a while, more and more people realized what was going on in our house and one day, my neighbors called the police when they heard him shouting at me again and me screaming for help. The police came and arrested him. But I didn't dare to press charges against him, I was too afraid really…" She gave me another watery smile and stared ahead for a moment, obviously reliving the horror of those years. I was really surprised. Ranger's mother came across as a very strong and loving woman. I'd never thought she was the victim of abuse… But then again, maybe she became so strong because she survived it.

"This situation continued for a while, the neighbors calling the police whenever they heard him hit me and me withdrawing charges after a day or so out of fear. It might have continued for quite some time, if I hadn't met Carlos..." She looked at him with a loving smile, which he returned immediately.

"Carlos was the complete opposite of my husband. He was kind, loving and intelligent… And we fell in love. After a particularly brutal beating I ended up on his doorstep and he took me in, no questions asked. He took care of me, healed my wounds and told me it was time to get out before my husband would kill me. He told me I deserved more than this and that he would help me. He supported me and for the first time I realized that maybe there was a way out... It still took a lot of persuasion to get me to press charges against my husband, and the court case was horror, but I managed… because of Carlos." They looked at each other, eyes full of love and shared memories. It was touching and yet very private and I almost felt like I was intruding. So I turned my head away for a moment and took a sip from my coke.

Wow, what a story. I could see why they didn't want this to become known. This was something very private and very painful. But I wasn't sure how this related to Ranger's behavior. However, Juanita wasn't finished yet, and after a moment she continued, her voice steadier now.

"I got a divorce and thought that that would be the end of it. I moved in with Carlos, we married during a very short, quiet and private ceremony and for me a life started that I never knew could exist, full of love, friendship and kindness." Her face showed a much happier smile now.

"But life is full of surprises and after a few months, I found out I was pregnant. That in itself wasn't that much of a surprise, we wanted children. But after the first tests, the doctor informed us that I had been pregnant for much longer than we thought. Carlos couldn't be the father…" Pain clearly showed on both their faces and they were quiet for a while, lost in thought.

I got a hunch of where this was going. Ranger was the oldest son. What if Carlos wasn't his biological father?

"We didn't want an abortion and we soon decided we would raise the baby as our own. We even put Carlos' name on the birth certificate, because I wanted to have nothing to do with my ex, and I certainly didn't want my children to have anything to do with him. To me, he was dead…" A bitter look crossed over her face, but soon it changed into something much softer.

"And then Ricardo was born. He was a perfect little baby, so sweet… and he even looked a bit like Carlos. Soon we had other children as well and we never even mentioned the fact that Ricardo had a different father than the others. There was no need really, because Carlos was his real father. Carlos brought him to school, taught him how to ride a bike and took him to football and hockey games… But when Ricardo became 14, 15 years, his behavior changed. He became difficult to handle, stubborn and got into fights. He said he felt different, that he didn't fit in, that he was angry. I suddenly recognized some characteristics of my ex, and knew we had to do something before it got out of hand... So we made a very difficult decision, and we told him about his biological father. We hoped it would help him, that he would be willing to see a counselor about this… But we were wrong. He felt horribly betrayed by us… by Carlos… and he left the house after a huge fight… I thought I'd never see him again, he was so angry…" Two tears dripped down Juanita's cheeks, and I felt my eyes getting watery as well. I couldn't imagine what Ranger must have felt when he heard his biological father was a man who beat up his mother. Hell, I couldn't imagine how I would feel if my parents told me my father wasn't my real father…

Carlos hugged Juanita and gently rubbed her back while he started to speak.

"We didn't hear from him for days, and when we finally did it was because he was arrested. He had to go to prison and when he came out he was still angry with us. He would pick fights, especially with me. He would continuously remind us of our betrayal and how he couldn't help his behavior, it was in his genes and so on. In the end we saw no other solution than to send him to his grandmother in Florida, because our other children suffered as well. We hoped that a different environment would calm him down… It did, in the end… He finished high school there and then returned to us to go to college. He never spoke about the subject again, he started calling me 'dad' again and we thought that that was the end of it." Carlos too was lost in thought for a moment and I couldn't help but wonder how this story would continue.

Because somehow I got the feeling that this wasn't the end of it… at all.