Chapter 8

I sighed and looked at Ranger. We were on the plane headed back to Trenton and reality. He looked at me.

"Deep thoughts Babe? You did really good work in Miami. I would like you to visit Boston and give your okay for the female chosen there as well. You were right about Elisa. She fits well with the team and she's a tough little spitfire like you." He grinned at me.

"Okay. A Spitfire?"

"Babe...Think about your weekend. When we get back I would like to talk more about that offer to work at Rangeman."

"I would be more comfortable if I eased into a situation like that. Maybe working part time and then I could still work with Lula and do skips for Vinnie."

"A requirement for working at Rangeman is training and fitness and you both have committed to that. Maybe we could take you both on board as employees and partners and work out something with Vinnie to take all his low level skips. You both would get good benefits. There are other areas in the company where Lula would fit as well."

"Hmm...I'll talk to Lula about that."

Ranger called Tank to check in and I headed to the divan for a nap. He woke me right before landing to get me buckled in. When we got to my apartment and we got my bags upstairs, he asked if he could sleep over.

"Of course you can stay." He brought up a bag for the next morning and we ordered Thai food take out. When it came we sat on the couch eating while watching TV.

"Ranger?"

"Yes Babe."

"I feel the need to talk about our relationship before I make a decision about your job offer."

He raised an eyebrow. "Alright, let's talk."

"Is this just a sexual relationship?"

"I think it's a little more than that. We have trust and respect."

"I don't want your men to think that I'm there because I'm the woman you're having sex with."

"Babe, they already know I have a friendship with you. They like you."

"Am I like your girlfriend now? I care about you Ranger."

"Babe, I have to make one thing clear. I can't give you a commitment, a ring, a family, or much of a future. This relationship is just what it is. We're together for right now, we enjoy each other, one day at a time, no price for what we give each other."

I felt my heart seize a little as the words sunk in. No future. I was letting myself fall in love with a man that would never be mine or part of my future. 'Position your army to deal with quick and changing positions'.

I think I just lost my fight and I'm feeling the need to retreat.

I took the lead and made love to Carlos the man that night like it might be the last time. I barely let him rest until the wee hours of the morning. When I woke, he was gone. I went to the kitchen to make coffee and there was a note on the counter with a little box. It read:

Babe,

Thank you for the weekend and a job well done.

Here is your pay and I bought these for you while

we were in Coconut Grove. Thought your eyes

would make them sparkle.

R

There was a check for $10k. Holy smokes! I opened the box and there was a matching set of diamond and opal earrings and necklace. The earrings were dainty and dangly and the necklace was the same on a gold chain. They were beautiful. I felt my heart seize again. I was going to miss this. Not the things, but the gestures. He was the perfect lover, the perfect provider, and the perfect romantic. He just didn't want to be my boyfriend and he didn't want a future with me and he was going to break my heart into tiny pieces.

I grabbed my phone and speed dialed one. "Yo."

"Yo yourself. The check is a ridiculous amount and the jewelry was enough. They are beautiful. I want to give you the check back."

"No Babe. Rangeman made good money on that job even after paying the employees. You earned it."

Here is the hard part. "Ranger?"

"Yes."

"I can't take the job. I appreciate the offer."

"Does this have to do with our talk last night?"

"Yes. I made a decision and I think it's wise for us to go back to being just friends and sometimes work partners."

"Babe, I think we may need to talk about this subject some more. I didn't expect this."

"I'm sorry Ranger. I'm back in another relationship where we both want two different things and I'm not going to drag it out like I did with Joe. It just makes it more difficult in the end."

There was silence on the line. There was a knock on the door.

"I have to go. Lula's here. Bye."

I had tears in my eyes when I opened the door. Lula looked at me and shook her head. "Damn girl! I knew you weren't battle ready yet. That trip was a bad idea. What happened?"

As we ran, I told her the whole story and about the talk last night. "It was a wonderful weekend that I'll always remember, but after what he said, I pulled my troops and ran."

"This war may not be over yet. Bet Batman wasn't expecting you to call and break up with him today even if he don't think he's your boyfriend. You can say 'You're planning your moves in a controlled environment'. You broke up with him to regroup. Give him some time to think about this. We keep doing our training and shit and hey, let's get us some sexy matching bounty hunter uniforms to go with our hot new physiques. We can go out clubbing and do single girl stuff and you need a real date or two to make the man in black jealous. I don't think he's going to want you to be with another man now."

"Hmm...Lula, the military missed out when they didn't get you. You're an excellent strategist."

"Damn Skippy I am. What's a strategist?"

I took my big check to the bank and deposited it and headed to the bonds office. We had decided to talk to Vinnie about the uniforms. We asked him if he would share the cost if we had his business name on the back of our shirts and we came to an agreement. Connie only had a couple of new skips and we had a few days to apprehend them, so we scooted our chairs next to Connie while she looked up uniform places on the Internet.

She found us black t-shirts and jackets for cold weather that we could get personalized. I refused spandex pants so we agreed on leggings and bike shorts for summer and leather pants for winter. We ordered some cool Converse tactical boots, two kinds of utility belts, and we went a little crazy on the gear and gadgets.

We found an Internet store just for law enforcement and they had tons of cool stuff and gadgets. Lula got a mini stun gun lipstick and perfume in cheetah pink, lipstick pepper spray in fire engine red, and pink handcuffs. We got mics, earpieces, and walkies, and I invested in several pairs of thumb cuffs because they were cheap and just mean. I got a mini stun baton and a pink lipstick pepper spray and a couple pairs of new cuffs. Connie got the bug detection pro to put an end to Vinnie's spying.

Lula said, "Shopping makes me hungry girlfriends, let's go eat lunch." I agreed. We decided on Birdie's diner and the 'big ass salad' with everything and the light ranch dressing.

"Girls, the food in Miami was awesome. I cheated a few times. I had some desserts that will last in my memory forever. It's going to be slow getting back into our healthy eating groove. You know though, I feel good and have more energy now."

"Me too girl. Better than that, I got lots of fine ass men checking me out lately. I'm feeling real good about myself."

"Yep." Then I told them about wrestling the shark and the goon in Miami. They both were making fish mouths like Ranger when I finished.

"Girlfriend, Gordy is gonna' shit when he hears that."

"Gordy?"

"Yeah. He don't like it much, but it fits him. I been tryin' to work some of that grouch out of him. Friday I left him a little bag from the drugstore on his desk with a box of suppositories and a box of condoms to give him a little hint. Even got him the Magnum XL's to boost his ego." I busted out laughing. I could picture Lula torturing him Friday and all weekend. He'll probably be glad to see me tonight.

When we went to class that night, Gordy met us at the door.

"Ladies."

"Hey Gordy," I giggled.

"Funny Plum and I told you to can that shit Lula!"

Lula ignored him, "Gordy, wait till girlfriend tells you what she did this weekend."

He grinned. "I already know what she did."

"How?"

"Ranger paid me a visit today. He and I partnered for that book I wrote. Hell of a soldier and leader and one dangerous adversary. He was real proud of you."

"He was?"

"He didn't seem real happy though. Asked me to look after you. Something happen on that trip?"

"Something happened when we got back. I don't understand men. Why do you have to be so complicated?"

"Men are complicated? Are you shittin' me Plum?"

"Hell yes! How about you write a new book? The Dirty Dozen Excuses Why Men Chicken Out of Relationships!"

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing! I just let him know I didn't just want to be a friend with benefits. Jeez, I didn't ask him to marry me. He has a problem with just being a stupid boyfriend."

"What was his excuse?"

"No future. Evidently the only relationship he does is for sex. I respect myself more than that and I don't want to invest and get hurt later. I'm glad I found out now and I told him that I just wanted to be friends again. I care about our friendship."

"From where I was standing today Plum, that didn't go over well."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't think this story is over. I think he's in a relationship already and doesn't realize it. Maybe you should fight for him."

Lula said, "See girl. I told her. Regroup. We goin' back to step one of The Art of War girlfriend."

"What? Don't tell me you two have been seriously studying that?" We both nodded. He put his head back and laughed out loud. He put his arms around both of us. "You gals are somethin' else."

Lula looked up at his smiling face. "Which one was it Gordy? The suppository or the rubber?"

"Lula, you'll cease that shit right now or I'll partner you with Stanley tonight."

"Oh hell no! Not again! Fucker farts every time you kick his ass. Person needs a gas mask to spar with him. What's that word? He almost 'fixated' me Friday night. I never smelled so many varieties of fart in my life. That last one of the night smelled like somethin' done crawled up in his ass and died. I was traumatized. Felt like I been sprayed by a skunk and needed a tomato bath to get the smell off me..."

Lula's nose was turned up and she had a big grimace plastered on her face. I was bent over laughing so hard I couldn't get my breath and Gordon was laughing too.

We finished our class and we headed home. I showered and fell into bed. About 3AM I woke up and I felt the tingle that always accompanies the man in black. I didn't open my eyes. He wasn't in the bed so I guessed he was sitting in the chair next to my dresser. He stayed for two hours and then very quietly got up and left the apartment and a little piece of my heart went with him.

A week later, I woke in the night to the same tingle. "Ranger?"

"You avoiding me or don't you need my help anymore Babe?"

What a strange question from him.

I sighed. "I'm just doing my job more efficiently. I'm not wasting your time or money anymore. That's a good thing."

"I want to hear from you."

"You'll always be my friend. I care about you."

"Can I stay?"

"No…you have to stop breaking into my apartment and coming here like this. I want to start meeting new people and dating again. I want more than you're willing to give."

"I don't want you dating other men."

"I'm sorry. I'ts human nature to want a mate and I want one too. I'm easy. I don't have any rules for said mate. You have too many and I'm not a possession that you can use and throw away later. If that makes you uncomfortable then maybe you should just stay away from me for now. I'm not a super hero, I'm human and we generally like having futures."

He sat there for a few minutes looking at the floor and then growled as he got up and left the apartment. I couldn't tell which character was struggling to come out of him.

The next morning my phone rang before Lula arrived for our run. "Hello?"

"Bomber, this is Tank."

"Can I help you Tank?"

"Yeah. You can tell me what the fuck is going on with Ranger."

"Tank. I don't know and what's wrong?"

"He came in last night and tore his apartment all to shit. It scared Ella this morning and he's missing. Won't answer his phone."

"He was here in the middle of the night. He wasn't out of control then. Well he did growl on his way out."

"What did you say to him?"

"Tank, that is none of your business."

"It is my fucking business! I help him run a multi-million dollar company and you better talk to me!"

"This is not my fault dammit! We came back from Miami and he told me that he didn't want a future with me. I told him that I didn't want to be with him because I do want a fucking future. He broke into my apartment last night and I told him to stop coming around and let me go because I wanted to start dating. That's my fucking perogative. I didn't choose to have my heart ripped out and torn to shreds Tank!" I disconnected and threw the phone across the room.

Lula knocked on the door and I let her in and told her about the call from Tank and the visit last night. She rubbed her hands together. "This is a good development girl. The enemy is losing his focus. This is good shit."

"Let's run and have some breakfast. I'll make omelets when we get back and we'll stuff the shit out of them and eat lots of fruit and some toast too and I'm going to put real butter on mine because I'm pissed."

"Good plan. Butter the shit out of that toast."

We ran and came back and ate our breakfast. "What's the plan today?"

"We got one more skip left this week." I pulled the file over to me and opened it. I read it and laughed.

TBC