Valentine's Day, Chapter 12

Tank and I drove silently through the gray, sleety day. We headed to a neighborhood in Newark that was mostly residential. We pulled up in front of a well-kept older home with a chain link fence surrounding it. I glanced at Tank, but he just quirked an eyebrow at me and got out of the truck. I followed suit, and met him in front of the gate. Tank opened the latch, still not saying a word, and I entered the yard after him.

When we got to the door, Tank knocked politely, and stood in full view of the peep hole. This is not standard Rangeman operating procedure. A few minutes later the door was opened by a tiny, gray haired, African-American woman. She looked to be in her late sixties. She looked up at Tank and a wide smile lit up her face.

"Pierre! How lovely to see you. Willy told me you were coming," she said, obviously delighted to see him. She looked at me curiously, and then said, "And you must be the infamous Ms. Plum, the woman who managed to finally capture Carlos' heart. Welcome, welcome!"

She stood aside to let us enter, and Tank stooped to give her a hug and a peck on the cheek. "Grace, you're as lovely as ever. When are you going to wise up and dump old William and come live with me?" He smiled down at her, and I could swear the older woman blushed.

"Oh, you. Aren't you the one?" she swatted him playfully in the arm as she turned and called, "Willy?"

I heard a thumping come down the hall and turned to see. A handsome older man, leaning heavily on a cane was heading towards me. "Ah, the Bombshell Bounty Hunter in the flesh," he said with a smile. He held out his hand to me, "William Washington, at your service."

I shook his hand, and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Washington."

"Oh, honey, please, call me William. Mr. Washington was my father," he said with a smile.

"Alright, William, but please call me Steph. I haven't blown anything up in months."

William, Grace, and Tank all laughed at that. I gave Tank a little glare. I still didn't know who these people were or why we were here. As if sensing my confusion, Grace ushered us into the tidy living room and said, "Why don't you all get acquainted and I'll get us some coffee. We've got a lot of work to do."

I offered to help, but was told to sit tight. Secretly, I was glad. I didn't want to be rude, but I really wanted to find out what we were doing here.

Tank started explaining. "We met Sergeant Washington here way back when we were fresh recruits. He was as tough on us as anyone, but he was never cruel and he earned our respect and loyalty early on." Tank paused to smile at the older man. "What did you spend in the Army, Serge? Twenty five years?"

William laughed at Tank's question. "Well, now, you know as well as I do that I spent a proud thirty years in this man's Army. Trying to short change me five years, are you, boy?"

Tank returned the laughter, and continued on with his story. "After Serge left the Army, he took as position with the NSA, you know, the National Security Agency. His work there was mostly classified, but we do know that many of the missions we've been on wouldn't have been possible without his hard work. He has contacts that make your address book like a blank slate, Steph. He's retired now, but he's agreed to help us with Operation Ranger."

William looked a little embarrassed, but pleased, at Tank's introduction. "Well, I've always been fond of Carlos. I was afraid something like this would happen to one of you, and now, it has. I'll do everything in my power to help."

I didn't want to appear obnoxious, but there was something that I just didn't get. "Excuse me, sir," I began, but was interrupted by Grace's bark of laughter.

"Now, you just be calling him Willy like the rest of us, honey. We don't need any old swelled head around here." She brought in the coffee service, still chuckling and mumbling to herself, "Sir, indeed! Not in my living room!"

I smiled at her and could feel the tension just melting out of me. "So, William, what I'm curious about is, is how can you help us figure out what's wrong with Ranger?"

Over coffee, Willy told me his story in more depth, with Tank adding detail and humor along the way. Willy had been born and raised in Newark, and joined the Army after graduating from high school. In those days there was still a lot of discrimination in the Armed Services, but he had loved serving anyway and had made a career out of it. After his 30 years in the Army, he had spent another 12 years with the NSA until an injury necessitated his retirement.

"Stephanie, I can't tell you a lot of what I did in the NSA, but let me assure you of this. If I can't find out what's at the bottom of this whole mess with Ranger, I can find somebody who can. But, now, tell me, how long have you been in love with our Carlos?"

Wow, a hit right between the eyes. "Well, sir," I began, "It's complicated." I laughed at the matching eye-rolls from both Tank and William, and then continued my tale, ending with the details of "Operation Ranger" as we've been calling it.

"Alright. I can see that you are sincere about wanting to help Carlos. I hate to ask this, but are you two sure that there's really something wrong, and that this isn't just about him seeing Deb again?" he asked, looking between Tank and I.

"William Washington!" admonished his wife, "What kind of question is that to ask this young lady?"

"No, that's ok, Grace." I answered. "It's a fair question. Ever since Ranger got home this time, he just hasn't been himself. He seems empty, scary empty somehow, and sad. He doesn't seem happy to be with Deborah Fairbanks, he just seems like a shell of himself. We're not the only one to notice it. You can see it in his eyes. They're blank." I found my voice faltering by the end. It hurt so much even to talk about it.

Tank continued for me, "Ranger has never been the same since he's met Steph. Everyone knows he's crazy about her. He wouldn't have just ended things with her like this. No, sir, something's wrong here. I don't know Deb's part in it, but something is just not right. We need your help to get to the bottom of it. Will you help us?"

I held my breath while I waited for a reply. Tank looked slightly nervous as well. I spared a glance at Grace and saw she was looking at her husband intently.

William looked around the room and said, "Well, how do you want to start?"