Things are beginning to heat up. Thanks for reading and enjoy the new chapter.

Tank's POV

We just finished packing. We packed all sorts of body armour, ammunition, firearms, night vision equipment, heat signature equipment and anything else we thought might come in useful. Bobby and Lula made sure that there were enough medical supplies to equip a small hospital and Hector made sure that we were well supplied with cool gadgets.

When all the trucks were loaded, we headed to the airport. The plane was prepped and ready for our arrival and would take off as soon as we had everything loaded. Since we were unsure of how long we'd be in Miami, everyone took a bag of clothes for at least a week. If we stayed longer, the Miami equivalent of Ella would have some laundry to do.

Even though there were only four of us, we had enough equipment to fill two vans and another SUV. As a result, Junior, Zip and Zero drove the vehicles so that the vehicles didn't need to stay at the airport. Zip was a bit upset about being excluded from this trip. I couldn't blame him, but it was too close to home for him. He had a personal relationship with the General and Ranger couldn't let that get in the way.

Once we got to the airport, I pulled Zip aside and said, "Listen, I know you think that you've been left out because Ranger doesn't trust you. That is not the case. He's actually worried about putting you into a position where you'll have to do something that you couldn't live with. He recognises that you are friends with the General and he doesn't want you to have to choose between RangeMan and a friend.

"Your expertise is needed here in Trenton. You are one of the few left in this office with the necessary technical expertise to install, fix, or spec out a new system. All of our other techs are going to be in Miami."

Zip nodded and said, "I will not let Ranger down. I understand why he wants me as far away from this whole situation as possible. I would do the exact same and he knows it. I appreciate the trust you both have in me to perform my job even while you are away doing what needs to be done. Call if you need any help and good luck."

I shook Zip's hand and then took the other end of a heavy wooden crate and helped Zip lug it to the plane. Once all of the equipment was loaded into the cargo hold, we carried our bags and Hector's more delicate equipment into the cabin and waited to take off.

I could see the excitement on Lula's face so I decided to sit across from her so that we could talk. She watched me sit and then said, "Is it normal to be nervous?"

I wasn't sure what she meant so I asked, "Nervous about what? Flying?"

Lula shook her head and said, "This whole situation. I've been thinking. Won't somebody be monitoring the RangeMan jet and where it goes? Won't our presence in Miami be known?"

I looked at her and realised that we never even thought about that scenario in all of our planning. Before saying a word to Lula, I walked to the cockpit and told them to hold off for a few minutes. My next task was to call Ranger.

"Yo."

"Hey Boss, Lula just mentioned something that we may have forgotten."

"What's that? We did come up with this plan rather hastily."

"The whereabouts of the RangeMan jet is probably being monitored. We will have to file a flight plan and then get landing clearance in both D.C. and then Miami. We want to be able to surprise West. We won't be able to do that if we fly using this plane."

I could hear Ranger swear and throw something. He came back on the line and said, hold tight. I'll call you back in 10 minutes."

I went back to the cockpit and asked, "You haven't flied our flight plan yet have you?"

The pilot shook his head and said, "I was going to wait until we got clearance to take off before bothering. Since it's such a small airport, they don't need the plan ahead of time."

"Good. We're staying here until I hear back from Ranger. There may be a change in plans. I'll let you know as soon as I know something"

I returned to the main cabin and sat down beside Lula. She looked worried and said, "Did I screw up?"

I shook my head and said, "Not at all. As a matter of fact, you probably saved the whole plan. If anyone knew we were in Miami, we would have lost the element of surprise. West would be on high alert and he would probably cancel his tryst with Rachel. Ranger is trying to come up with a solution. Until then, we're staying put."

Hector didn't make much of a fuss over the delay. He simply lay back and closed his eyes, catching a bit of sleep. Bobby on the other hand, looked impatient. He caught my eye and said, "I've never liked last minute changes to a plan. I understand why this one is necessary, but I still don't like it."

I agreed with him. To try and pass the time while waiting to hear back from Ranger, I pulled out a deck of cards and asked the other 3 if they were interested in playing poker. The four of us gathered around the table and I handed the cards to Hector to have the first deal.

The first round was quick and painful. We weren't playing for real money, but Hector cleaned up. The second hand went to Lula and the third was once again Hector's. After it was clear that neither Bobby nor I were going to win a hand playing against these two sharks, we began to relax and watch the serious taunting and showiness going on between Hector and Lula.

The game was put on hold when the phone rang. "Tank, George has a client up in Boston who has a plane that we can use. Contact the Boston office to send a two man team back to Trenton on the RangeMan jet. They can help out Cal with the manpower shortage. The rest of you will transfer to the other plane and follow the original plan. Also let Cal know to expect the extra men so that they don't turn up unexpectedly."

Ranger filled me in with the rest of the details and then I hung up. I relayed the information to the pilots and went back to join the group. I shared the plan with them and they all looked frustrated and relieved. The added distance would make for a long day, but hopefully the change in planes would keep our arrival secret.

We played poker until we landed in Boston. Two RangeMan SUVs were waiting for us. They informed us that they were not followed and that there was no active surveillance on the airfield. This meant that we were safe from spies. With the help of the 4 men from Boston, we moved the cargo from one plane to the other. When I informed Cal about the change in plan, he was happy to hear he would benefit by our oversight and have two additional men. We watched them climb into the plane and then watched it take off on its way back to Trenton.

I talked to the pilot of our new plane and explained our route. He knew the D.C. airport well, but he wasn't familiar with the one in Miami. He suggested an alternate and I readily agreed. The alternate had never been used by RangeMan, so nobody would expect to find us there.

We took off and landed in D.C. in the early evening. We had originally expected to be in Miami by now, but the change of plan delayed us long enough that we missed dinner. Thanks to Bomber and the guys in D.C., we didn't have to wait until Miami to get something to eat. She and the rest of the team came prepared for a feast.

Ram didn't want any of the leftover food to go to waste, so he spent the afternoon cooking. While everyone else was packing up guns and ammo, Ram was preparing a feast to be eaten on the plane. We had little crust free quiches, finger sausages, pigs in a blanket, cheese, homemade potato chips, dip, chicken fingers, buffalo wings and veggies of all shapes and sizes.

Lula looked relieved when she saw Stephanie. At first, I thought it was because Bomber came bearing food. I quickly came to realise that Lula was happier to see Steph than the food. Don't get me wrong, Lula was grateful for the food, but when she hugged Bomber, it was obvious that she missed her friend.

When Lula let go of Stephanie, Bomber leaned back and said, "Damn Lula, you look great."

Ranger came up behind Stephanie and did a double-take when he saw Lula. He also went up and hugged Lula. "I can't express how grateful I am that I hired you. You've been amazing and you look amazing Lula."

Lula was speechless after her encounter with Ranger, so I took the opportunity to walk up beside her and while everybody else was busy with greetings and getting settled, I whispered, "I'm also grateful for everything you've done. I'm so proud to call you a friend. I can't wait for this whole fiasco to be over with so I can take you out on a proper date."

Lula looked up at me and smiled. She really did look beautiful without her trademark bold clothing and hair. I had to let her go when Lester introduced Lula to Fiona. "Lula, it's nice to meet you. Les says that you were instrumental in rescuing him."

Lula blushed at this and said, "I was there, I don't know if I was instrumental."

Stephanie jumped in and said, "If it wasn't for Lula's quick thinking, we'd never have found the property where you were being held. She also was the one who realised that the building materials were a little off. It was that discovery that helped us figure out that there might be explosives built into the walls. With that information, were able to get you and Ranger out safely. It was a team effort, but the MVP award definitely goes to Lula."

All of the new passengers took their seats and after we were in the air, we got stuck into the food. Ram outdid himself. Even Ranger was eating some of the less healthy options, but I noticed him wince a few times. I took a closer look and noticed the swelling and nasty bruise on his jaw. I walked over to where he was sitting and asked, "What on earth did you do to yourself? It looks like you broke your jaw."

Ranger smiled and said, "Trust me when I tell you that it is not a good idea to piss off LeBlanc. I said something I shouldn't have and she caught me unexpectedly with a round-house kick that landed me on my ass. I learned two lessons. The first was to keep my mouth shut and the second was to make sure that LeBlanc is my side and not against me."

I had to laugh when he told me that Fiona had knocked in out with a kick. That must have been one powerful kick. I turned to see Bomber and Fiona talking and made my way over to them. I looked at Fiona and was about to say something when Bomber said, "Fiona, this is Tank. He's Ranger's right hand man. He's been running RangeMan while Ranger has been lying low."

Fiona stood and looked me directly in the eye and said, "Nice to meet you Tank." She held out her hand and I engulfed her small hand in mine. I was surprised at the strength of her grip, and smiled. "It's nice to meet you too Fiona. I'm just sorry it has to be under these circumstances. I'm sorry that you were caught up in all of this."

"Oh don't worry about me. I was looking for an excuse to get away from the General and this seems to have done the trick nicely. Besides, if I hadn't been involved, who would have kept poor Lester company when he was cowering like a baby in the corner of that big scary dungeon?"

I laughed and looked up to catch Lester's eye. He didn't look embarrassed or even put out to be teased like this. I looked at Fiona who was also looking at Lester and understood. Something was going on between the two of them. Something more than Lester's usual one night stand pattern. Good for him.

We cleared up the mess from the food and took our seats for landing. Once on the ground, we packed up the two cargo vans and 2 SUVs that were waiting for us. We knew that a RangeMan caravan would be too obvious so we used George's connections and rented several vehicles through the same company who owned our plane.

We quickly loaded the vehicles and descended upon a newly acquired safe house that could not be easily linked to RangeMan or Ranger. The safe house was isolated and very secure. I almost laughed when I saw that the only access to the house was a narrow bridge. This was because the house was on a manmade island just outside of Miami. There was even a dangerous rocky outcrop that blocked access to the property from the sea.

The house was more like a complex. Ranger moved around and allocated rooms to the men. Anyone who was forced to sleep on a sofa in D.C. was given priority. This meant that both George and Lester were given the most comfortable rooms in the house. In the end, we were only one room short, even with Bomber and Boss Man doubling up.

I volunteered to sleep on the sofa in the living room because it would put me close to the door so I could keep watch. Lester came into the living room a few minutes later and said, "Hey Big man, Fiona's room has twin beds so she and Lula have agreed to share so you don't have to sleep on the sofa."

I was relieved to hear this so I nodded and said, "Thanks, but I'm actually surprised that you didn't offer to share your room with Fiona."

I saw Lester frown momentarily before saying, "I did offer, but she declined. It turns out that she and Lula think that it's best that they stay away from the two of us for the time being. They don't want to be distracted."

I laughed at the look if disappointment on Lester's face and followed him to the stairs. I normally like to tease Lester about his women problems, but this once, I kind of felt sorry for him. "Hey Les, once this is all over, talk to Fiona. I see the way you two look at each other. It sort of reminds me of how Ranger and Bomber were when they first met."

Lester nodded at my suggestion and smiled weakly. He pointed to a door and I watched him walk away before opening the door and entering the room. I looked up when I saw movement. Lula was hurrying to pack her things. I smiled and said, "You ladies didn't have to double-up just to save me from the sofa you know."

I watched Lula jump and turn towards me in surprise. When she recovered from her shock she said, "No worries Tank. We all need some rest, even you. You've been working hard and I figured you'd sleep better if you were in a bed and not on a sofa. Besides, I'd like to take this opportunity to get to know Fiona. She seems like a real hoot."

I put my bag down on the floor and walked towards Lula. When I was within reach, I took her beautiful face in my hands and said, "Goodnight Lula. Thanks again." I leaned down and kissed her so gently that I wasn't sure if our lips touched at first. Once Lula kissed me back, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tight to me.

When I pulled away to catch my breath, Lula picked up her bag and moved towards the door. She looked at me sadly and said, "I am beginning to regret the whole sharing a room with Fiona thing now. Good night Tank, I'll see you in the morning."

She smiled one last time and left the room, closing the door behind her. I stood there staring at the closed door and promised myself that as soon as this thing with Ranger was resolved, I'd open up to Lula and let her in my life. I crawled into the bed and fell asleep dreaming of the woman I wanted to wake up beside every day.

The next chapter in this saga will appear tomorrow or the following day. Thanks for your patience.

L.