Stephanie ran through the forest as fast as her heavy limbs permitted. She tripped over tree roots as she attempted to outrun the beast that chased her. Breaths hitched as pain ripped through her lungs. Stephanie didn't know how she ended up in the forest. Her survival depended on the strength of her legs and lung capacity to get to the highway.
Someone driving past the thick trees would surly save her. All she had to do was get to the road. The small stones and rotting leaves cut into her bare feet. Stephanie wondered where she had left her shoes. She willed herself to wake up from the nightmare. It was only a dream, but her eyes refused to open.
Twigs broke a few feet behind her as the creature gained ground. The beast closed the gap. It was getting harder for Stephanie to catch her breath. She forced her legs to continue moving, pushing beyond the fire burning through the muscles. Fear gripped her mind and heart as the cold hand snared her arm. Stephanie screamed before everything went black.
Her eyes opened wide as she sat up and looked around the bedroom. It was just a dream. Stephanie tried to focus on the objects beside the bed. She looked to her right. Her chair was gone. Where was the chair? Stephanie's heart raced when it wasn't to her left either.
She pushed the blankets off her lap to swing her legs off the bed. Chains prevented her from completing the motion. Stephanie's screams pierced the air. Nobody came to rescue her. Stephanie knew she had to relax. She forced the oxygen into her lungs by taking deep breaths. "Wake up. Wake up. It's just a dream," she chanted as she prayed what she saw wasn't real. Stephanie reached for the lamp on the bedside table. It was just out of reach.
Cold cuffs cut into the skin on her wrist. The reality of her situation was bleak. Someone kidnapped her from her bed. What she thought was a nightmare had actually happened. Her feet were caked with mud. All she wore was Ranger's black shirt and blue lacy panties. Stephanie was scared for her life. She didn't know where she was, other than somewhere in the hot jungle. When she rolled onto her back, she felt the lump of her ponytail against the pillow. Stephanie silently prayed that Hector would find her.
-SMSMSMSM-
Ranger leaned against the tree in the rainforest of Brazil. He swatted at the mosquitos that buzzed around his head. His arms, face and neck got covered in mud to protect his skin from the bloodthirsty insects. The hat he wore barely kept the annoying insects out of his hair. Ranger felt a shift in the atmosphere. Stephanie was in danger. He had to get to her. First, he had to shut down the drug cartel.
Lester shivered in the heat. His skin prickled. It was a sign that something had gone terribly wrong. Without sparing a glance at Ranger, Lester knew Stephanie was in trouble. It felt as though the universe had sent them a warning. Lester slowly walked until he joined Ranger behind the tree and pulled the satellite phone from his pocket. He turned it on, entered the codes to access the device and sent a coded message to Tank at Rangeman. Ranger raised an eyebrow but watched his cousin's back. He knew Lester loved Stephanie too. Completing the side mission, Lester quickly turned the satellite phone off before someone locked onto the signal. It was neither wise nor safe to use the phone before their extraction. But Stephanie was more important than their godforsaken mission to neutralize Pedro Fernandez.
Inside Rangeman, Tank received an encrypted message. He assumed it was from Ranger or Lester. Neither man was supposed to use the satellite phone until they required an extraction. Tank called an emergency meeting as he deciphered the text. He ran from his office to the control room sound system. Tank shouted, "All hands on deck. I repeat, all hands on deck. This is not a drill!" He sent a message to Manny and Vince on patrol to check on Stephanie. Tank knew before receiving their report that Stephanie was already gone.
The stairwell door slammed open, leaving a permanent dent in the wall, as the men from the fourth floor thundered up the stairs. Rangeman's all-page system sounded through the onsite apartments like a fire alarm, waking the men off shift. Ella and Luis appeared from the elevator. She was wearing a robe to cover her nightgown. Tank knew Ella would do anything for Stephanie.
"¿Qué?" Hector asked. (What?) Hector vibrated in anger. He could feel the disturbance in the atmosphere. It was thick and cloying, making it hard for him to breathe. Hector pushed Cal away from the monitor at the computer terminal. He typed in the codes to Stephanie's trackers. All but one showed Stephanie was at home.
Manny called before Tank could announce the reason for the emergency meeting. "Report," Tank barked as he connected the call for everyone to hear.
"The apartment got ransacked. Stephanie isn't here. Her purse, keys and clothes are where she left them. Vince and I are bringing Rex back to Rangeman," Manny replied.
Speaking Spanish, Hector asked, "Where is the black hair band?" He knew the answer and prayed it remained undetected by Stephanie's captor. It was Rangeman's only homing beacon to locate Stephanie.
"Give us a second to check," Vince replied. Manny and Vince searched in the bathroom, bedroom and living room beneath the clothes, cushions, and pillows that got tossed around after taking copious photographs.
"Not here," Manny informed them. Vince grabbed a garbage bag and shoved the take-out containers inside. He wanted Binkie and Junior to test them in the lab.
Hector grinned. "My sister grabbed it," he announced. Tank raised an eyebrow. Hector took a minute to explain that Stephanie asked him for an inconspicuous tracker. One that was undetectable using the scan wands. Hector was working on a prototype which he inserted into her hair elastic. It was flexible enough to go unnoticed.
"Little Girl willingly wore a tracker?" Tank asked, amazed.
"Yes," Hector explained. "I found it." He pointed to the map with the blue dot blinking.
"Fuck!" Tank yelled. "Cal, Hal, Brown and Ram, suit up. You're joining Ranger and Lester." They nodded and ran to get their gear.
"Where is she?" Ella cried, unable to hold back the tears.
"With the enemy," Tank replied. "We'll bring her home, Ella. Luis, take your wife back to your apartment. I'll send you with a team to clean her apartment and bring everything to Rangeman."
Ella touched Tank's cheek. "Bring the daughter of my heart home." Tank nodded. He knew Stephanie would be happy to know Ella considered her a daughter. The murmured requests to adopt her never went unacknowledged. Ella leaned in and whispered only loud enough for him to hear. Tank's eyes opened in shock.
He waited until Ella and Luis were on the elevator before assembling more teams. They had to rescue Stephanie before Pedro exchanged her for his freedom. "Hector, call Silvio. I want you, Silvio, Rodriguez and Marco to find everything on Pedro Fernandez. I need to know how he discovered Ranger was on his trail and his knowledge regarding Stephanie."
Tank ran a hand over his bald head. How did everything get fucked up? Ranger was going to kill him. Fifteen minutes was all it took for someone to snatch Stephanie from her apartment.
Manny went to Tank's office when he returned to Rangeman. Tank motioned for him to sit. "Vince and I found food containers and a receipt. Stephanie ordered Thai for dinner at 1730 from Thai Chow. It takes them around twenty minutes to prepare a carryout order. She only ate a third of the food," Manny said. Tank's eyebrows moved toward the top of his head. If he had hair, it would have blended into the hairline.
"Forensics?" Someone must have spiked her food, making her too tired to eat her usual amount.
"One container had a power-like residue. Binkie and Junior are on it," Manny replied. "Tank, it looked like wifey crawled onto the bed before someone took her. The blanket wasn't pulled back, and I found her yoga pants tossed behind the chair."
"How do you know she threw the pants?"
"Wifey asked me to move the chair a few times. It's too heavy for her to push out of the way to grab the clothes she accidentally throws over the back when she's too exhausted to pay attention." Tank nodded, accepting his explanation. "The pants were a pair Vince and I saw her wearing when we started our shift at 1600."
"Were they the ones with Rangeman embroidered on the waistband?" Tank asked.
"Yes. She didn't have any others in her room. They had to be the ones she put on after borrowing Ranger's shower."
Tank called Ella and got her to check the inventory in Ranger's apartment. She responded with an affirmative. The Rangeman yoga pants, a Rangeman tank, Ranger's sweatshirt and the blue lingerie were missing from the apartment. Stephanie had left her soiled jeans, shirt and undergarments inside the bathroom hamper.
Bobby was the first to return to the conference room. "Anything new?" he asked.
"Take extra supplies, including antibiotics," Tank replied. Tank whispered the information from Ella. Bobby's face paled.
"I'll meet the guys in the garage," Bobby shouted over his shoulder. He had to add the other items to his medic pack. Bobby briefly glanced at his locked cabinet. His internal debate lasted a minute before he unlocked the door and removed the sedative.
Ram, Cal and Hal paced inside the garage, waiting for Bobby to arrive. Tank arrived a minute before Bobby. "What's taking Bobby so long?" Ram asked.
"I had to grab a few emergency items for the medic bag. We don't know what's waiting for us. I wanted to have a few contingency plans," Bobby replied, causing Ram to jump. Tank's lip twitched in amusement.
"Load in," Tank ordered. He contacted his buddy, Ace, to fly the men to Brazil. "Ace has parachutes on the plane."
"Did you call Ranger's handler?" Hal asked.
"No." Tank gave Hal a satellite phone. "Use this for your extraction. We can't have anyone know you're with Ranger and Lester on the mission."
"Is the intel solid?" Cal asked. Tank raised an eyebrow. "For Ranger's mission."
"Stephanie did the research," Tank replied. Cal assumed that was the reason for kidnapping her. "I have Hector and the others searching for a connection."
"Do you think someone told the kidnapper about Stephanie and Ranger?" Ram asked, his question laced with disgust that someone would betray Stephanie or Ranger in that manner.
"Definitely. The question is who," Tank replied.
-SMSMSMSM-
Joseph Morelli stroked the naked back of Gabriela Ferreira. He met her a few months earlier at a new club outside Trenton. Gabriela slightly resembled Stephanie and immediately grabbed Joe's attention. Joe stretched his arm to caress Gabriela's natural 36D breasts. She moaned as he rolled her nipple to a point. Pretending to be half asleep, Gabriela asked, "What was your girlfriend's name?"
"Stephanie, but I wouldn't call her my girlfriend. We're more or less friends with benefits," Joe replied, attempting to get the woman to stop asking about Stephanie.
"Do you want her gone?" Gabriela asked. It wasn't the first time Gabriela asked the question. He changed the subject a few times.
Joe shifted his position to slide into her from behind. "Yes," Joe said as he plunged into her warmth. Gabriela smiled as she pretended to enjoy sex with the man behind her. She moaned and squeezed her muscles, fooling Joe into thinking she had an orgasm. Joe kissed Gabriela's shoulder. "Why did you ask about Stephanie again?"
"I only want to ensure she won't get between us, baby," Gabriela purred. "Don't you want to play with me?" She pressed against Joe's crotch. Gabriela smiled as Joe got hard again. "I know how much you like to play." She rolled onto her stomach and raised her hips off the bed. Gabriela positioned herself with her legs spread wide, giving Joe access to her ass.
He reached into the nightstand to grab the tube of lubricant. Joe concentrated on rubbing the gel onto her ass. He didn't notice Gabriela sending a text to her uncle.
Gabriela received the message that the baggage had arrived. She grinned as she asked Joe to go faster. Reaching between her legs, she played with her clit as Joe pumped into her ass. "Baby," Gabriela screamed as she orgasmed. She thought Joe's penis was too short and narrow to satisfy her during vaginal intercourse. Through the back entrance, he had the ideal length and girth. They didn't use prophylactics, but she couldn't get pregnant. She had her uterus removed during her late teens. Getting pregnant and having children was not an option Gabriela entertained.
Joe screamed her name and collapsed on her back. His alarm sounded, reminding him it was time for work. "I've got to shower. Care to join me?" Joe asked.
"I'm sorry, baby. I have to go. My friend is wondering where I went. I was supposed to return to the hotel," Gabriela lied. Joe kissed between her shoulder blades, then crawled out of bed. She accepted his offer of a ride when he finished showering. When he disappeared into the shower, she called her uncle.
"¿Donde esta ella?" Gabriela asked, referring to Stephanie. (Where is she?)
"Atada," he replied. (Tied up)
"Gracias." (Thank you)
"De nada," her uncle replied before hanging up. (You're welcome)
Gabriela grabbed the wet ones from her purse to wipe herself. She'd thoroughly clean once she got home.
The previous night…
Gabriela had followed Stephanie to a Thai restaurant. She listened as Stephanie placed the order. Stephanie smiled at the teenager behind the counter and said she was using the washroom and would return soon. Gabriel approached the boy. "Hi, I'm Lindsay. I got asked to help box the food for the dinner rush tonight. Is Dinh here?"
"One moment, ma'am," he replied. He disappeared into the kitchen and returned to the counter with the man Gabriela had met the night before.
"You made it. I could use your help boxing the take-out food. A few of the staff called in sick. Follow me," Dinh said. Her cousin had successfully drugged the two teens.
Gabriela smiled at the attractive man. She entered the kitchen, pulled the hairnet over her head, then washed her hands. Gabriela boxed the take-out orders. She boxed the Pad Thai, Yum Nua and Thai Crispy Egg Rolls. Gabriela ensured nobody was watching and emptied the powdered sedative in the Pad Thai and Yum Nua. Gabriela didn't know how much was needed to complete the task. Once Stephanie collected her order, Gabriela slipped out the back door.
Pino's was a few blocks away. Gabriela walked to the Italian Restaurant where she knew Joseph Morelli would purchase a meatball sub or pizza for dinner. She called her cousin to nab the asset from the dark red brick three-story apartment building at the corner of St James and Dunworth. "What apartment?" he asked.
"Two fifteen. Her apartment has a black metal fire escape which overlooks the parking," she replied, speaking Spanish. Nobody would think to link Gabriela to the kidnapping. She had the best alibi.
"Hey, sexy," Joe said when Gabriela approached the counter. She grinned and greeted him.
Back to the present…
Gabriela released the dog into the backyard. She attached his leash to the spike in the ground. "Be a good boy, Bob," Gabriela said. After a quick glance around the area, Gabriela mounted the motorcycle she had asked her cousin to leave the previous night. Joe was too focused on sex to notice the bike in the garage.