This story contains characters that belong to Janet Evanovich.
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Scent of a Woman
Chapter 15
RangeMan's Miami office was a large multi-story building located just north of downtown Miami. Just like in Trenton, Ranger had an apartment on the top floor, but in this building that was the eighth floor not the seventh. There were two floors of apartments for employees, a gun range, control room, conference rooms, and workout room; all very similar to RangeMan Trenton. Miami even came with its own Ella and Luis. Mary and George lived on six and were responsible for maintaining the building and its men.
When Stephanie and Ranger stepped out of the elevator on the fifth floor, they were met by a very attractive man. He looked to be in his late thirties, typical hot RangeMan build, nicely tanned, maybe a couple of inches taller than Ranger's nearly six feet, sandy hair, intense green eyes and a killer smile bordered by a well-trimmed mustache and goatee.
"Carlos, how the hell are you?" The man approached with his hand extended.
"Good, Nick." They shook hands. "Nice to be back." He turned to Stephanie. "Babe, this is Nick Hodge. He runs the Miami office for us. Nick, this is Stephanie Plum."
Stephanie extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, Nick."
"Damn, Ranger, this is Bombshell?" He took her hand enthusiastically. Stephanie rolled her eyes. "It's great to finally meet you, Ms. Plum. This bastard's been keeping you locked up in Trenton far too long. It's about time he dragged your ass down here for a proper introduction."
"Well, I don't know what Ranger has told you, but most of it is not true, I assure you. And please, call me Stephanie."
Stephanie noticed that her introduction had garnered some curious looks from across the floor. It was obvious curiosity was winning out over professionalism. She wasn't sure if it was her reputation or the fact that she was with the man of mystery.
"Hell, this guy," thumbing at Ranger, "has been as quiet as a whore in confession. We hear all about you from Santos, and Brown. Tank's even spun a few tales to us about the Bombshell adventures."
"Really?" Stephanie threw Ranger a 'we need to talk about this later' look.
Ranger put a possessive arm around her waist and turned back to Nick. "What's the status on Sandor?"
"Tony filed a report this morning. I'm sure it's no surprise to you that the boy's damn motivated and has been putting a lot of his own time in on surveillance and research." Ranger nodded. "Sandor's been spending a lot of time at a bar called 'The Wild Horse Inn'. It's owned and operated by his family. An uncle, I believe. He has a lot of protection there. We don't know where he stays at night. He moves around like smoke." Nick rubbed his chin as if frustrated. "We can't get near him at the bar, even when we know he's there. He knows every one of our guys."
"He doesn't know me," Stephanie spoke up suggestively.
Nick raised an eyebrow.
"No!" Ranger was quick to reply.
"Why the hell not!" Stephanie retorted defensively.
"I didn't bring you down here to work." Ranger was calm but firm.
Nick was grinning, obviously enjoying the exchange between the mighty Manoso and his woman.
"That's bullshit and you know it!" Stephanie shouted that comeback a little louder than she intended, but her feathers had been ruffled and she was getting angry. There may have been audible gasps from some of the men across the room. All activity on the floor simultaneously ceased. Even though her eyes held Ranger's, she could feel the weight of the attention she had drawn with her response.
"We need to talk about this in my office, Babe." Ranger was giving her his 'serious' look.
"Fine." She straightened her shoulders and took three steps before coming to an abrupt halt. She swung her head over her shoulder and looked at Ranger. Holding onto her dignity by a thread, she asked, "Where is your office?"
"This way." He nodded, in the opposite direction. Stephanie did an about face and strutted purposefully in the direction of his office, Ranger guiding her with his hand resting on her lower back.
Once they entered and the door was closed, she laid into him.
"I can do this. You know I can." She said with force.
"That's not the point."
"What is the point, Carlos? Because if this is about you and I being together, and you not wanting me to be put into danger..."
"Babe,…okay, maybe that was my initial reaction. I'm trying to work on that. But it's not only us. Think about it. When I send you in for a distraction, I have half a dozen of my men inside, watching your every move and protecting you at multiple levels. We can't do that here. Sandor knows every man out there… including me. And before you say anything, there's no way in hell I'm sending you in alone!"
"I wouldn't ask you to. You make a good point."
Ranger was shocked. "I do?"
Stephanie smiled. "Yeah, you do. It would be foolish to go in alone. I know my limits in this situation. My good friend and mentor taught me that."
"Babe," He took her chin in his hand and kissed her. "Thank you."
"But, Ranger, we still may be able to work this out."
"What do you mean?" Ranger saw that look in her eyes. Wheels were turning.
"Well," She purred. "We don't have to be back in Philadelphia until tomorrow evening for my date with Andrew, right?"
"I've scheduled the plane to fly us out tomorrow morning."
"How fast can you get a few of our Trenton guys down here? By tonight maybe?"
"What are you thinking?"
"There has to be some of our guys from up there that Sandor won't recognize. He hasn't been at RangeMan that long. If they can be here tonight, they can be on the inside with me. We can still use the Miami guys for the takedown outside. We can put Marcus Sandor behind bars tonight and be on our way home in the morning."
Ranger was hesitant to agree. "Babe, nothing ever goes that easy when you're involved."
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Listen, we can try tonight. If it doesn't work out, or he doesn't show, we still go home in the morning. We'll leave it up to your Miami guys, or we can come back and try again after we finish the Giordano case." He still didn't look convinced. "Carlos, if we have a chance at getting this guy off the street, we have to try. Do you really want Marcus Sandor running around loose in a city where your daughter lives?" Stephanie was pretty sure she had him there.
Ranger flipped open his phone and pushed a button. "Tank, get Cal, Hector and Bobby on a plane ASAP for Miami. I need them for a job tonight. They'll get their assignments when they arrive. Call Nick with their itinerary. He'll meet them at the airport." He flipped the phone closed.
"That's it?" Stephanie stood with her mouth open "You just took my advice on a case?"
"It's a good idea." Ranger replied. "And I want this guy off the street. Tony's sister shouldn't have to live in fear that he'll come back again."
"You have her protected, don't you?" She said with sudden realization.
"We've had RangeMan guarding her since she was in the hospital. It's the least we could do."
"Carlos Manoso, you are the most amazing man I have ever known." She stepped up on her tiptoes and kissed him.
Ranger put his arms around her and pulled her close. "Are you sure about this, Babe?"
"Very." She sighed. "You have made the last twenty-four hours the most incredible time of my life. I want to do this for you."
"Okay then. We need a plan. Let's get Nick and set up a meeting."
"Carlos, will we still be able to meet with Julie this afternoon?"
"I think so. We can't pick her up until she gets out of school at three o'clock. We'll spend some time with her, have dinner, and take her home by seven-thirty. That will give us plenty of time afterward for the takedown."
"Why don't we take her to the mall? Girls love the mall. While we're there, I can stop by Cindy's shop and see if she can fix me up with something appropriate for tonight."
Ranger growled. "That's a good idea, Babe. I love Cindy's shop. I saw some interesting lacy things when we were in there before." He nipped at her ear. "Maybe you could pick up some of that, too."
"I'm sure that would go over well with Rachel, when her daughter reports back that while she was out with you, she watched me purchase sexy lingerie!"
"I'll distract her with ice cream." Ranger wiggled his eyebrows.
"We'll see." Stephanie giggled. Ranger stepped away, opened his office door, and called for Nick.
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Ranger and Stephanie spent the remainder of the morning working with the Miami RangeMan staff, planning the apprehension. Tony was instrumental in detailing Sandor's movements for the last two weeks. Ranger worked with Nick to put a surveillance, communications, and takedown team together. Stephanie took a file on Marcus Sandor and disappeared for a while into Ranger's office to get to know her subject and to do additional searches. At about noon Ranger walked into his office to find Stephanie poring over reports with a highlighter in hand.
"Carlos, would it be okay if I ask Nick and Tony some questions about Sandor?"
"Sure, Babe, I've told all the men to give you their full cooperation with your research. Do you want me to call them in?"
"Yeah, I found some things that I need clarification on."
Nick and Tony entered Ranger's office, and Stephanie asked them to take a seat.
"Nick," Stephanie began. "Who hired Marcus Sandor?"
"I interview and hire all the employees here."
"I know that in the Trenton office, when a potential hire is interviewed, a complete background check is also done. I take it that you have the same policy here?"
"Yeah, Stephanie, I gave you all the files on Sandor, including the background checks. What's up? Did you find a problem?"
"You gave me his service records from the Marines and his criminal background check, but not his high school or college records."
"We don't typically go back that far. I didn't know he went to college. He didn't list a college on his application.
"I noticed that, too. But he graduated from Southridge High School here in Miami in 2001, and he didn't enter the Marine boot camp until 2003. So I got a little curious about what he was doing for two years."
"What did you find, Babe?" Ranger loved to see Stephanie at work.
"Marcus Sandor was enrolled at a small college near Birmingham, Alabama from the fall of 2001 to December of 2002, when he quietly left after an incident involving the attempted rape of a girl in one of the dormitories. I didn't find the incident in his official school records, but the local newspaper ran a story with the details and names of the victim and suspect."
Nick just shook his head. "You mean this son-of-a-bitch has done this before?"
"Looks that way. His high school records show a history of trouble as well. His guardians there are listed as his aunt and uncle; the ones that own the bar. They are evidently quite wealthy, and I can only assume that when the incident at college occurred, the victim was either pressured, or paid off to drop the charges. I'm almost positive that in return for omitting the incident from his records, his uncle made a rather large donation to the university. He was even given a plaque to commemorate the event. The school paper ran a story on that as well."
'I'll be damned," Nick grunted. "None of this information made it to me. If it had, I would have never hired him."
"I know, Nick. It's just that I get these feelings when I look at a person's history, and it makes me dig in directions that most people wouldn't consider relevant. If it makes you feel any better, I'm wrong a lot. I got lucky today." Stephanie turned to Tony. "Tony, you've been doing the majority of the surveillance on Sandor, I see he drives a truck?"
Tony sat up straight. "Yeah, he drives a dark blue 2009 Dodge Ram. I've followed it several times."
"Does it have tinted windows?"
"Yeah, most of us drive trucks and cars with tinted windows, because we….
"Don't want to be seen or noticed?" She finished the sentence for him.
"Yeah."
"Are you sure it was Sandor in the truck when you followed it? Did you actually identify him as the driver?"
"Sometimes, not all the time," he admitted. "But I'm pretty sure it was always Marcus. The driver was his height and build and I recognized his clothes. We hung out enough together that I knew what he wore and how he dressed most of the time. Why?"
"Did you ever know him to drive a motorcycle?"
"I know he had one in high school. He used to talk about it all the time. But he doesn't own one now. We ran a search on his registered vehicles."
"I did a search of his credit card purchases in the last two weeks. He bought a helmet and a leather riding jacket the day after he attacked your sister." Stephanie picked up a report and glanced at it. "His cousin Jake owns a 2006 Suzuki GSX 9000. I have a picture of one here." She handed it to him. Tony grunted and threw himself back into the chair in disgust.
"I've seen a bike like this at the restaurant. I thought it belonged to one of the employees and didn't pay much attention to it other than that."
"Maybe Marcus has been driving the motorcycle and his cousin Jake has been driving the truck. They are about the same age and because they are related, they may have similar builds and stature. With a helmet, visor, and a jacket, it would be pretty easy to disguise who was driving the bike. Jake could easily be wearing Marcus's clothes and driving the truck around to throw off any tails."
"Damn, that's exactly what they've been doing. I am such an idiot." Tony was shaking his head berating himself.
Stephanie knew from experience that it wouldn't be productive to allow him to continue to wallow in self-pity. She needed him back on task. "Tony, do you have anyone following Marcus right now?"
Tony looked up, not having heard the whole request. "What?"
Stephanie repeated her question. "Who's following Sandor right now?"
Nick jumped in to answer. "We've had Alex on him all morning, but he's following the truck."
"Tony," Stephanie laid her hand on his arm. "Can you call Alex and get him up to speed? Have him check on the location of the motorcycle. Maybe we should have someone follow both vehicles for the day. We'll need to know who's really at the restaurant, if we're going to do this tonight."
Tony looked to Ranger and Nick for confirmation. He wasn't used to taking orders from a anyone else, let alone a woman. When they both nodded, he got up, and left the room. Stephanie just shook her head.
Nick stood up to leave. "Damn, Bombshell, you sure know how to shake up an investigation. Hell, Ranger, how do you keep up with this woman? She's a regular ball of fire."
Ranger just shook his head and chuckled. "I eat right and get plenty of exercise. If I ate like she did, I'd be three miles behind her all the time."
"I'll tell you, if she stays down here much longer, she's going to have this whole office going ass over teakettle." He shut the door as he left the room shaking his head the whole time.
"He's a very colorful man." Stephanie stood and put her arms around Rangers neck. "Speaking of eating, you have to feed me soon, or I won't be held responsible for my cranky attitude."
"You did good today, Babe. I 'm proud of you." He kissed her and nuzzled her neck. "I had Mary send a late lunch up to the apartment on eight. And if we go right now, we might have time for a little exercise as well."
"I don't need to be told twice. Let's go."
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At 2:30 they took one of the RangeMan SUVs and headed to Julie's school. She attended a private catholic school near her home. When they pulled up to the front of the pick-up line, Julie was bouncing on her toes. She grabbed the back door and pulled it open, tossing her backpack in first, and then climbing in behind it.
"Hi, Ranger." She leaned over the seat and wrapped her arm around his neck. Stephanie had not seen the two of them together since that terrible day in her apartment with Scrog, and the look on his face was priceless. He adored this little girl.
"Hey, Jules." Ranger roughed up her hair. "How was school today?"
"Just okay. I really couldn't concentrate much. I just wanted school to be over so I could see you guys."
Stephanie put her hand on Julie's arm. "It's good to see you again, Julie, I've missed you. How have you been?"
"Good. I've missed you, too." Julie smiled at Stephanie. "Thanks for emailing me that picture of Rex. I made it the screen saver on my computer. He is soooo cute. I'm trying to talk mom into letting me get a hamster."
"Well, I highly recommend them." Stephanie replied. "They don't need to be walked, they're good listeners, and they never talk back!"
"Mom calls them rats with personality." She rolled her eyes. "What are we doing today?"
Ranger looked at her in the rearview mirror. "Stephanie thought you might like to go to the mall."
Julie got a huge smile on her face. "Can we go to Hot Topic? They have a new Twilight t-shirt that I want to get."
"I saw the posters in your room at Ranger's house, Julie. Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?"
Julie got a dreamy look on her face. "Definitely Team Jacob. He's sooo hot!"
Stephanie saw Ranger shift uncomfortably in his seat. He looked pained.
"Me, too," Stephanie admitted in her best girlfriend-to-girlfriend voice. "I think Edward is too pretty and kind of intense. And besides, Jacob has all those muscles!" she sighed.
"Yeah." Julie leaned back in the seat and blew out a heavy sigh.
By the time they reached the mall, Ranger had realized that his role was going to be package carrier and bill payer, but he didn't mind. He loved seeing Stephanie and Julie paling around like best friends. They were the two most important women in his life and just being with them together was enough to make the mall his new favorite place. They found the treasured Twilight t-shirt first thing. Julie got one in purple, and Stephanie got one in blue. They stopped in a pet store and spent twenty minutes looking at hamsters.
"None of them are as cute as Rex," Julie stated as she looked over each one. "I like how Rex has that white fur around his eyes. I don't see one like that here. I read in a book that hamsters only live three or four years. How old is Rex?"
"He was little when I got him so he must not have been very old then. I guess I've had him for three years." Stephanie had never thought about Rex dying of old age. She remembered how sad she was when one of her stalkers put a cat in his cage, and she thought he had been eaten. She knew in her head he couldn't live forever, but….
Julie saw the sadness in her eyes and tried to pull Stephanie out of her thoughts. "Maybe if I come up for Thanksgiving next month, I can visit him?"
"I'd like that, sweetie." Stephanie hugged her. "What do you say we go get some ice cream?" She looked up at Ranger and grinned.
Stephanie slipped away from Julie and Ranger to run her errands at Cindy's shop. After Stephanie filled her in on the details about what she was looking for, and why it was needed, Cindy helped her choose the perfect dress for her distraction job later that night. She even suggested the world's sexiest boots to go with it. Afterward, she happily showed Stephanie her stores selection of lingerie.
"Cindy, I don't see a ring on your finger. Are you single?"
"Yeah."
"Boyfriend?"
"Nothing serious. I dated a rep from one of my designer lines for a while, but it never really went anywhere. Why do you ask?"
"I work with a lot of single men."
"If any of them look half as hot as your guy, send 'em my way!"
"Oh believe me, RangeMan doesn't hire anyone average. They're all hot. I have someone particular in mind, though. This guy Marcus Sandor, that we're trying to apprehend tonight, attacked and raped the sister of one of Ranger's…Carlos's men. His name is Tony Barnes. He's very sweet and drop dead hot!" Stephanie got an idea. "Hold on a minute." She pulled out her phone and hit speed dial.
"Yo, Babe."
"Yo yourself. Would it be okay if I used your card to put together a little basket of goodies from Cindy's shop for Emily Barnes as a gift from RangeMan?"
"Babe, that would be great. I'm glad you thought of that, but you don't have to ask. I trust you."
"I know." She smiled. "I just don't want you to think I take you for granted."
"That thought would never cross my mind. What else have you bought?"
"That's a surprise," she teased. "I'm almost finished. Can you and Julie meet me here in about ten minutes?"
"We're on our way." He disconnected.
Stephanie closed the phone. "Okay, Cindy, give me one of your business cards and write your hours on it for tomorrow. I'm going to give you $200.00 to play with. Put together some kind of gift basket for a 20-year old college girl. I don't know her size, so I'll send her brother Tony to pick it up and he can work with you." She grinned at Cindy. "I can get him here, but what you do with him after that is all up to you."
Cindy was so excited her curls bounced. "Stephanie, you're the best! I'll take very good care of Emily, and I know just how to handle Mr. Barnes."
Stephanie signed the charge slip and turned around just in time to see Ranger and Julie enter the store. Ranger grabbed her bags and kissed her briefly. "Missed you," he whispered against her lips.
"Nice try mister, but you can't look in the bag," she whispered back.
"Babe." He grabbed the bags, acknowledged Cindy, and thanked her for her help.
To Ranger's great surprise and delight, Julie announced that she wanted to 'expand her experiences' of her Cuban roots by eating at an authentic Cuban restaurant. Ranger headed to Molina's Ranch Restaurant in Hialeah. The atmosphere was festive, and Julie got to hear Ranger speak with the Cuban owners in their native language. Stephanie was impressed that Julie ordered a dish that contained plantains and yucca. They continued their conversations about school and friends, movies and music, food and boys. The last topic made Ranger nervous, because Julie was showing way too much interest in a boy named Adam Kelly. He made a mental note to run a background check on the family. Noticing his distress, Stephanie took his hand under the table to show her support.
They ended their visit by returning Julie home and having a brief conversation with Rachel about the possibility of Julie coming to Trenton for Thanksgiving. Rachel didn't commit right away, but agreed to discuss it with her husband and let Ranger know.
"Do you think she had a good time?" Stephanie asked as they drove away.
"That was one of the best visits I've ever had with her." Ranger relaxed with a smile on his face.
"Really, 'cause I was afraid she might feel jealous that I was along. Maybe she would have preferred being with you alone."
"Babe, she loved you. You two were like best friends today. I've never seen Julie so relaxed with me before. To tell you the truth, I think I scare her sometimes."
Stephanie covered his hand with hers. "Carlos, the girl I saw today was not scared of you. She adores you! I think it just takes time to get comfortable with each other. This relationship is new for both of you, and you don't get to see her that often. I see my father all the time, and we still aren't that comfortable around each other, but I know he loves me and would do anything for me. Julie knows that, too."
When they returned to RangeMan headquarters it was eight o'clock, and Bobby, Hector, and Cal had arrived and were getting a rundown of events for the evening. A call from the surveillance team confirmed that Sandor was at the bar. Bobby was going to head over to the Wild Horse to get settled in as a customer in order to keep an eye on things and scope out the place. Stephanie was going to enter the bar at 10:00 looking hotter than hell. Instead of seeking the suspect out right away, she was going to garner some negative attention from Cal and Hector, who would be posing as bar patrons on the hunt. The damsel in distress scenario was how Stephanie wanted to play it tonight.
"You all have your assignments. Remember this guy is not an FTA, he's wanted for arrest, and we don't have the authority to bring him in. All we can do is detain him and give the police the chance to come in and make the arrest. I've notified my contact at Miami-Dade PD and they will have officers on site to take over custody after we subdue him. Any questions?" There was nothing. "We take off at 2130 hours. Dismissed."
As the men started to leave the conference room, Stephanie caught up with Hector. "Hector, could you do me a favor?"
"Sure, Chica, what do you need?"
She handed him a small stun gun. "Do you think it would be possible to fit this inside something common? Something that would look normal to be carrying in my hand at a bar. Like maybe an empty cigarette package?"
Hector's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, Chica, you are very clever. I have never done this before, but I don't see why we could not. I would have to cut out a place for the trigger, so you could still turn it on, but you would only have to keep that covered with your finger."
"I have to go upstairs and get dressed. Would you work on that for me? Do you think you have time?"
"No problem. I will see what I can do."
She kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Hector, I appreciate it. I just have a funny feeling about this guy tonight…and the dress I'll be wearing...well let's just say there's no room for a gun."
"Don't worry, Steph, we got your back. We won't let anything happen to you."
"I know, you guys are the best, and I'm really glad you're here. I mean it. This is just a precaution." She smiled at Hector and took off to catch the elevator.
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