Kidnapped
Chapter 2: El Diablo "The Devil"
The next 24 hours would prove to be the longest of Ranger Manoso's life. After Eduardo's call he'd gone into combat mode; the Plums (as well as Albert, Valerie, and Mrs. Mazur) had all been taken to Haywood and put up in two empty fourth floor apartments. At that time there had been too many unanswered questions, too many variables in the scenario to keep them unprotected. They'd all gone out the back, avoiding the black and white parked by the curb.
Ranger Manoso was igood/i, the best in any field he'd ever conquered. He had a good mind for business, figures, and logistics, and was a weapons specialist (not to mention a dozen other fields that if he told you about he'd have to kill you). But the moment Ranger got back to Haywood and began running searches on Steve Marrino, he knew he was in over his head. During his time in Mexico, Steve Marrino had started to run with the wrong crowd. Best that Ranger could make out that, with Marrino's background in business he'd been hired by Eduardo Juan Bermudez, leader of the Tijuana drug cartel. Essentially, it meant they were all fucked.
Somehow Marrino had pissed off his boss and Bermudez had arranged the kidnapping of Mary Alice as retaliation. It had only been by happenstance that Bermudez had seen Ranger's name connected to the Plums. Bermudez had done his homework well, that was for sure, the man had known Ranger would say yes before he even asked. Of course with the age of the internet, it wasn't difficult to pull up the Trenton Times' Bombshell Bounty Hunter section. They had about twenty pictures of Stephanie, and Ranger was in more than half of them. It'd been careless of him, to let his picture be taken. It was clear through the pictures that Ranger cared about Stephanie. It left them both open to attack.
He bit back a sigh and stepped into his bedroom, letting the calming presence of Stephanie wash over him. She was asleep in his bed, her riot of brown curls cascading over her pillow. He'd ordered (that of course had gone over really well) her upstairs for some shuteye around nine in the morning. She'd looked dead tired and if she lost it, than he knew he probably couldn't keep it together either.
Ranger toed off his boots, removed his weapons and climbed in beside her. Lester was running things downstairs while he and Tank grabbed an hour or two of sleep. Hector was on the phone with some of his hermanos in Mexico, trying to figure out the state of the Tijuana drug cartel's affairs.
The Tijuana DC had about 1000 foot soldiers, sold and smuggled multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana, as well as large quantities of heroin and meth. They were involved in bribery, contract killing, kidnapping, money laundering, murder, and racketeering; and they made a fuck load of money while doing it. But the cartel wasn't without problems, mostly in the form of other rival cartels. And that's apparently where he came into the picture. Bermudez had many enemies but the worst was Los Zetas. The Zetas started out as hired mercenaries for the Gulf Cartel before turning rogue; they were big, bad, showed no mercy, and they controlled the trafficking routes from San Pedro to Tuscan.
And somehow a little girl had gotten into the middle of it all.
The ability to fall asleep in any situation, to turn off his mind no matter what had never failed him in the past but now he couldn't seem to stop ithinking/i. Stephanie rolled in her sleep, murmuring his name, and he gathered her up, her face pressed into his neck.
"Is there anything new Batman?" she asked, voice noticeably hopeful even mumbled against his skin.
He closed his eyes, breathing her in (an indulgence he wished he could partake in more frequently). "Not yet Babe, but there will be soon."
Ranger felt her tears on his shoulder and he moved away slightly to brush them away with the pads of his thumbs. He kissed her then, first on each damp cheek before claiming her lips in a soft, slow kiss. She whimpered, fingers digging into his bicep as he pulled away.
One of his large hands brushed the hair away from her face. "We'll get her back Babe, I promise." He left the next part unsaid as her eyes fluttered shut and she fell back to sleep… And I'm going to get the motherfuckers that did it.
They met in Conference Room A at 12:30, nearly all of Rangeman in attendance. Stephanie was there, as well as Frank Plum, but the others stayed upstairs.
"What do you have for me?" asked Ranger, eyes on Lester.
"Hector's still on the phone, but we do have this so far." Lester slid a thick file folder down the table. "Our man's name is Eduardo Juan Bermudez, they call him 'El Diablo' down in Mexico. He took over the Tijuana Cartel a couple of months ago after his brother Antonio was killed by an unknown assassin while eating in a restaurant. Rumor on the street is that the Gulf Cartel wanted Antonio dead. Bermudez owns a large estate in Ensenada, the old family compound from when his father ran the cartel, and several buildings in Tijuana."
Ranger nodded, opening the file. "Why did they want Antonio dead?"
"Apparently Antonio got a little frisky with Gabriela Hernandez, and the Hernandez family runs the Gulf."
"Any word on what Marrino did?" Ranger asked.
Lester laughed sarcastically. "Stupid little shit was skimming money off the top. Hector's cousin Jose works for the Gulf and said that people who crossed 'El Diablo' more than likely ended up dead, he couldn't believe that Marrino wasn't at the bottom of the Pacific already. And he's most definitely still alive, we have confirmed sightings of him last night in Tijuana."
Mr. Plum cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt but what does El Diablo mean?"
Lester turned, apparently having forgotten that he or Stephanie were there. "Sorry, it means 'The Devil.'"
Mr. Plum's eyes widened. "That doesn't sound good… w—why is he called that?"
"He has a bad reputation for liking to hurt his women… among other things. The number of dead prostitutes along the coast has tripled in the past three months," he replied, looking uncomfortable at the older man's scrutiny.
Mr. Plum paled, shiny sweat appearing across his forehead. "Jesus."
Stephanie, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, spoke as well. "But I don't understand why they didn't kill Steve, if Bermudez is as bad as they say…."
"Very good Babe, that's what we have to figure out," Ranger uttered, looking at Lester expectantly.
Lester shook his head. "That we don't know, not yet."
The room was silent for several long, tense moments. Ranger continued to flip through the file, what Bermudez had said on the phone early that morning running through his mind. They needed more intel, without it, they'd be going in blind.
"If Bermudez was going to target one man or organization, who would it be?"
"That's hard to say man, it's the nature of a cartel to have lots enemies, other cartels, the police, disgruntled gangs. The Tijuana Cartel controls trafficking from the Pacific to as far east as Alamogordo."
"That means that the Los Zetas' routes overlap with Burmudez's," Ranger realized.
"That's right Boss, they're bumping elbows. The violence between the two is spilling over into Arizona and New Mexico, two border cops have already been shot," he explained.
Ranger nodded. "Does Bermudez have any allies?"
"There's no such thing as a strong alliance down there, they're formed just as quickly as they're broken. What matters most is profit, not loyalty. But right now Tijuana is friendly with the Juárez Cartel, but Hector says it isn't going to last for long."
"Tell me more about Los Zetas."
Lester turned to his laptop, played with the keyboard for a moment and a picture of a thirty-something Hispanic man appeared on the projector screen in the room. "This is their leader Felix Delgado, he was first hired by the Gulf as a hired assassin to take down rival cartel leaders in the 1990s. He was originally GAFE but the Hernandez family could pay him substantially more than the Mexican Government. Eventually he hired more soldiers, the men that originally served under Delgado before his involvement with the Gulf. First Los Zetas were an army for the Gulf before they went independent earlier this year, now they're enemies."
"Gafe, what's gafe?" Stephanie wondered aloud.
"GAFE stands for Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales," Ranger supplied, the Spanish rolling off of his tongue smoothly and easily. "They're Mexican Special Forces Babe; I met Delgado once, a long time ago."
Ranger stood, back to the rest of them as he studied the picture of Delgado. "Does Hector have any contacts in the Zetas?" he asked the room in general, still studying the picture.
"No Boss, just in the Gulf."
Ranger was silent another long moment. "Does anyone have anything else to add?"
A throat cleared behind him. "We should take advantage of this, they're all enemies of each other right? If we play them right then we might be able to turn this in our favor," Vince stated. "Use them against each other to get the little girl back." At Ranger's continued silence he became nervous and kept talking, his lips moving quickly. "I mean, you know, we're in pretty good standing with both the Gulf and the Zetas, what with Hector's contacts and the fact that you actually met Delgado… or was it just in passing? I mean did you actually meet him? Because that could really –"
Ranger cut him off with one raised eyebrow. "Vince."
Vince took a deep shuttering breath. "Yes, sir."
"You can stop now."
"Right Boss, sorry." Vince sat lower in his chair, and pressed his lips tightly together, looking embarrassed.
Lester, who was sitting beside him, chuckled and punched him in the shoulder. "Talk about verbal diarrhea man, that was fucking funny. You started to turn blue."
The room broke out in low chuckles, effectively breaking the thick tension, and Ranger shook his head exasperatedly. "Alright men, let's focus." The room snapped back to attention.
Ranger mulled over Vince's words. "I met Delgado during a joint operation in Columbia – considering that I saved his hide in the jungle, he's likely to remember me."
Tank nodded. "I remember that, he owes you Ranger."
"That does give us one hell of an edge," Lester added.
Ranger turned back to the room, face serious. "What we do next depends on what Bermudez says, we'll reconvene here at 0530. Good work today men, keep it up." Next he addressed just Lester. "If Hector finds out anything more, call me."
They dispersed after that, the men filing out of the room. Stephanie hung behind, waiting for Ranger. Mr. Plum left, heading back down to the fourth floor to tell the rest of his family the things he had heard. When the room was empty besides Ranger and Stephanie, she stood from her chair and went to stand beside him; she mirrored his stance, with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I never imagined it was so bad down there; you hear about the drug war on the news… but it's like a whole other world down there."
He nodded, watching out of the corner of his eye as she bit her lower lip worriedly.
"I smell something burning Babe."
She groaned in frustration. "I just don't get it, Steve ran off with the babysitter, yeah he was an asshole husband to Valerie, but I never imagined he'd go off and get himself involved with a drug cartel."
"Lesser men have done more for a fatter paycheck," Ranger said.
They stood silently for a moment."
"Where's Morelli? I was surprised he wasn't at Valerie's last night," he asked, waiting for her answer.
Stephanie shrugged, a flash of anger appearing across her features. "Oh, Joe had to go on assignment a couple of days ago. Something about the FBI, he didn't know when he'd be back."
"You mad about that Babe?"
"What? No, we just had a fight before he left, the usual," she responded, looking uncomfortable; given their history there was an unspoken rule that they didn't talk about her and Morelli being a couple.
Ranger nodded.
"Ranger?"
"Yeah Babe."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to go get your niece any way that I can," he replied simply, like it was the easiest thing in the world. "I'll know how to do that when we hear from Bermudez tonight."
She reached out and touched his skin just below the hem of his black sleeve, her palm flat against his arm. He turned to her then fully, not expecting to see the tears glistening on her eyelashes.
"Don't get shot," she whispered, voice thicker than normal.
He did his almost-smiling thing. "Don't go crazy Babe."
At four in the morning they went back to Hoovington Street to await Bermudez's call. Just like he said, at 4:15 on the dot the house phone rang. Valerie and Albert tensed on the sofa as Ranger reached out to answer the phone. Zero gave him the go ahead and switched on the voice recorder so that they could listen to the conversation again if the need arose. Ranger answered the phone with a curt "talk."
"Ah Mr. Manoso it's such a pleasure to talk to you again, I suppose that you've come to a decision?"
"I have, tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it."
The man laughed giddily, bordering on crazy. "That's fantastic Mr. Manoso! Now then, I am sure that in the last 24 hours you and your little army of hombres have been gathering intel like the busy little bees that you are. So, you will undoubtedly know that the Gulf cártel has been causing me… severe problems."
"And what do you want me to do about it?"
"The Gulf is headed by Sergio Hernandez, his brother Raul and I have come to something of an agreement."
Ranger's eyes cut to Zero, who was listening in with big headphones plugged into the recorder. Zero was noticeably stunned, but Ranger's face stayed as stoic as ever.
"Really."
"Oh yes, dear old Sergio won't ever know what hit him. Once Sergio is dead Raul will gain control of the Gulf and we will combine forces, and we will span from coast to coast. I don't care how you kill Sergio, I don't care if it's messy or clean, in fact the messier the better. I just want him dead. Can you do that Mr. Manoso?"
"Yes."
"Very good! I expect you and Ms. Plum in Tijuana in two days. I'm sure that will give you enough time to sort things out at your end. I will have a car waiting for you when you arrive."
"I will be coming alone, Ms. Plum is not accompanying me."
"But I think she is Mr. Manoso, I have quite a hankering to meet the famous 'Bombshell Bounty Hunter,'" Bermudez crooned into the phone. "If Ms. Plum is not with you, than I'm afraid that Ms. Marrino will be returned to her family, noticeably damaged. Do we have an understanding?"
With Ranger's teeth clenched so tightly together, it was a surprise that he could speak at all. "Yes."
"Excellent, I will see you in two days Mr. Manoso, it would be most unfortunate for you to be late." Bermudez hung up with a soft, yet resounding click.
Ranger, his knuckles white from holding the phone is a vice like grip, hung up as well.
He still wasn't holding all the cards in Bermudez's game, still didn't have all the control in the situation. But what Bermudez didn't know was that they didn't have two days, they had only one, because meeting Felix Delgado would have to come first.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed :).