Because you've all been so nice, and the last one was so short, here's another chapter! Again, special thanks to Amy, who is doing her best to keep me on track! Thanks for all the nice reviews!

Valentine's Day Challenge, Part 18

Tank's POV

Ranger looked around the table at all of us gathered there. We're his core team. His friends. His family. Lester, Bobby, Ranger and me. We've been through a lot together. Some good, some bad, some worse. But the fact remains that we've been through it together and there's nothing we wouldn't do to help each other out.

Ranger cleared his throat, and looked almost nervous. Well, not nervous, exactly. Ranger doesn't do nervous, but he definitely looked troubled. That one little line almost threatening to show itself between his eyes always gives him away. He made eye contact with each of us in turn, and apparently finding what he was looking for, started in.

"There's one last matter of business. This one stays in this room, except for need to know basis only."

Thank Goodness! Finally he's getting to the good stuff. I was beginning to worry I wasn't going to have anything to report to Steph. Why'd I have to tell her about this damn meeting, anyway?

Ranger had our attention now. "We need to find somebody, and find him fast. Name is Aldo Pelaratti, last known address is DC. We need to reel this one in ASAP. Here's the file," he added as he slid a copy of a slim file to each of us.

"Pelaratti? Why does that name seem so familiar?" Lester asked, clearly trying to remember where he had heard the name.

"We should bring Bomber in on this. You know she's the…" Bobby began, before Ranger interrupted.

"NO! Stephanie is NOT to be involved in this. If you don't think you can do your job, Brown, just let me know. You can be replaced." I could feel the anger radiating off Ranger in waves.

Bobby didn't seem all that impressed with Ranger's outburst. "Geeze, Ranger, what got your knickers in a knot?" he baited the boss. Not a smart move.

"I'm just tired of hearing all the whining about Stephanie around here. If anyone feels they can't be loyal to me and to my company and my business, maybe they need to rethink their employment here. Is that clear? Doesn't seem to me like Stephanie is paying your salary." Ranger was being a dick, which while not unheard of, was still surprising.

Bobby still wasn't ready to back down. "Just seems to me like Steph's the best we have for backgrounds. If she can't find him, he can't be found. You know," he said, staring pointedly at Ranger, "she always gets her man."

Before Ranger had a chance to respond, Lester gave a bark of laughter, and startled us all. "Boys, boys, boys, settle down here. It just came to me: where I had heard the name before. Pelaratti is Deb's ex., isn't he? So tell us, Rangeman, is this business or personal? What's Pelaratti wanted for?"

This seemed to take all the wind out of Ranger's sails. His blank face slammed down and he was back to all business. "Need to know. Just find him and bring him in." His voice left no room for questioning.

That, of course, only encouraged Santos. "So, is this for Deb? Are we supposed to beat him up for breaking her heart, is that it? Are we, like, in high school? Honestly, Rangeman, you need to level with us. What's the deal here? He's not FTA, no warrants, what's going on?"

I didn't think Ranger was going to answer, but when he did, my blood ran cold. He only said the one word, but it was more than I wanted to hear.

"Molina." He said, then turned and left the room.

The three of us sat, stunned. Fuck. What does Molina have to do with all of this? This whole situation was starting to stink, and I was afraid of where it was all going to end.

Lester finally summed it up for us. "We're fucked," he said, before shaking his head, pushing away from the table, and leaving Bobby and I behind.

Three hours later, Bobby and I were no closer to figuring out what was going on than we were when Ranger dropped his little bomb. We decided that one of us was going to have to approach Ranger for more information. I, of course, was elected. I knocked quietly on his office door, hoping irrationally, that he had left the building. Of course, I wasn't that lucky.

"Enter," came the terse response.

I walked in, shutting the door behind me. I ignored the chairs in front of the desk, and instead, sat my ass on the corner of his desk. This way I could look down on him, maybe intimidate him a little. Hell, I'd take any advantage I could get at this point.

Ranger raised his eyebrows at my seating choice, but didn't say a word. Guess this wasn't going to be so easy.

"So, Carlos, do you want to tell me what in the hell is going on here? You're holding out some pretty important details, seems to me." I didn't really expect an answer, but I still had to ask.

Instead, Ranger surprised the hell out of me, and answered my question. "It's personal. Deb's being threatened. I need to find Pelaratti in order to stop the threats."

Interesting, I thought to myself. He didn't quite answer the question I had asked, but still gave away more that I would have guessed.

"So," I began again, "you think that Pelaratti is threatening Deb?"

By the look on Ranger's face, I knew I had scored a direct hit. BINGO! Let's see how he gets out of this one.

"Not exactly what I said," he stopped to stare at me for a minute, before continuing on. "But close enough. We get Pelaratti, Deb's safe. Enough said."

"What about Molina?" I asked. I knew Ranger wouldn't just throw that name around.

"It's complicated. But like I said, we need to get Pelaratti. Fast. I'll deal with the details once we have him."

"Listen, Carlos, this is me you're dealing with. This whole story you're spinning stinks like stink on a shit wagon. You want to come clean with me and let me know what in the hell is really going on here, or do you just want to keep pretending that this load of bullshit is the truth?" I didn't know if he would answer me or not, but I wasn't about to let him think he had me believing this line of shit he was spewing.

Ranger looked down at his hands for what seemed like minutes. Finally, he met my eyes. For the first time since he had been home, I saw something there, and it nearly broke my heart. Ranger was anguished. When he began speaking, I had to strain to make my brain understand what he was saying.

"Johnson called me in. My assignment is to hand over Pelaratti."

"Wait," I began, "then what does Molina have to do with all this?" I was more confused than ever.

"Molina wants him, too." Ranger settled his head back in his hands and sat with his shoulders slumped. I've never seen him like this. It scares me.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, hoping he had a plan.

"Find Pelaratti. That's what I need to do first. I'll decide later." Ranger looked hard at me, daring me to ask my question.

I could tell by his expression that this was all I was going to get out of him. I could have just walked away at that point, but my mama didn't raise me to be a coward.

"And then?" I asked. I couldn't resist pulling the tiger's tail.

"And then, what?" Ranger refused to make this easy.

"And then what about Deb? Do you send her on her merry way?" I held my breath while I waited for his answer. I didn't want to have to be the one to tell Steph what his answer to this question was.

"And then, as now, my relationship with Deb is none of your damn business."

Well shit. Not the answer I was hoping for.