I use them for fun and not for profit.

Chapter 5

Ella delivered breakfast for four to the seventh floor apartment early. Ranger had told her he would have visitors, and that Stephanie was one of them. It was about time, she thought. Stephanie had been absent from Ranger's personal life for many years, and although she was important to RangeMan, there was always an undercurrent between the two of them that had nothing to do with business. Ella did the best she could at short notice. There was the usual healthy fare Ranger required and there was a little something for Stephanie.

She was wheeling the cart off the elevator when the electronic lock on the stairwell door buzzed. She turned to see Stephanie, breathing heavily, step through the door.

"Dear," Ella said. "You should have taken the elevator."

"I took the stairs for the exercise," Stephanie told her. "I started to rethink that decision about the third floor, but I made it." She blew out her breath and raised a hand to push curls out of her eyes. "Barely."

Ella fobbed the door open and pushed the breakfast cart inside as Stephanie followed. She heard Ranger's voice before she saw him. Ranger walked from the bedroom, hair still damp from a shower. He was dressed in black cargos and he was shirtless, a white towel slung around his neck. Stephanie's eyes widened as they took him in. The scar from his encounter with Scrog had faded over the years. It was barely visible. Her eyelids lowered as they followed the small trail of dark hair, which disappeared beneath the waistband of his low slung cargoes.

"Don't bother with serving, Ella. My guests will be here soon and…" he stopped speaking as he saw Stephanie's gaze on him. He looked at his watch. "You're early, Stephanie."

"Well, you made it sound like this meeting was really important," she said. She was abrupt and her tone bordered on grouchy, and he remembered mornings were never her best time.

"It is important. If you'll excuse me for a moment." He turned and walked back into his bedroom. A few minutes later he was back in the living room wearing his normal workday uniform of cargos and t-shirt. Ella had departed quietly and they were alone.

It had been years since they'd been alone in his apartment. Another lifetime ago, he thought. She was staring at him so he cleared his throat and began.

"We need to talk, Stephanie."

"I thought this was a business meeting," she responded.

"It is, or it will be. Right now there is something I want to discuss with you privately. Sit down." He gestured to the sofa and she sat.

"When I gave you a job at RangeMan I made a promise to Morelli, and I've kept it. Something has come up that might cause me to break that promise, so I need to know what's going on between the two of you."

Stephanie straightened her spine and looked Ranger directly in the eye. "You know, somehow, that we are divorced. I think that's all you need to know." And then as an afterthought she said, "What did you promise him?"

"I promised him I'd never use you as a distraction, or let you do field work."

"I'd have thought that was something you'd have discussed with me," she said.

"It was, indirectly," Ranger said. "I told you at the time I hired you the job would not involve any field work."

'I remember," she said. "But I didn't know you'd tailored the job to meet Joe's specifications." He could see her temper was rising and he wanted to get to the point before the others came.

"I need to know if you are still involved with Morelli," he said. "I know you are divorced, but you still carry his name and you're living together."

"Why?"

"Why do I need to know?" he asked. At her nod he continued. "I have a new employee who has specifically requested your assistance, in the field."

Stephanie stood, surprise evident on her face. "What new employee? And what field? What are you talking about?"

"Tank and my new employee, R.C. Madrid, will be here in a few minutes. I'll explain everything then, but for now I have to know. Do I need to keep my promise to Morelli?"

There was a knock at the door and they both turned. "I need an answer," he said.

"No," she replied. "I'm pretty much a free agent. I'm moving out soon and Joe is getting remarried. I've tried to keep the divorce quiet for personal reasons, but the news will soon be out."

A second knock sounded. Tank wasn't known for his patience. Ranger walked across the room and into the foyer. He opened the door to two men standing side by side in RangeMan black. "Come in, and let's go to the kitchen. Ella's brought us breakfast." He followed Tank and a man unknown to Stephanie, the man from the stairwell she realized. "C'mon, Babe," Ranger said softly to her. "Let's get this thing going."

There was the usual Ella breakfast of fruit, yogurt and egg white frittata, and there were a half-dozen glazed donuts stacked on a plate and set to the side. Ranger smiled at his housekeeper's propensity for pleasing his guests.

"I need to make some introductions," he said. "R.C. Madrid, this is Stephanie Plu…Morelli."

R.C. stuck out his hand and grasped Stephanie's. He didn't shake it, but gave it a quick squeeze. "I've read a lot about you," he said, smiling widely at her. Ranger noticed her widened eyes. She saw it, too. The resemblance was eerie.

Ranger glanced at Madrid. "You've already met Tank, but Tank knows only part of the backstory, so let's get started."

"What backstory?" Stephanie asked.

"I'm DEA, but I think you already know that," R.C. said, looking toward Tank. Tank nodded he was familiar with that part of the story. "I'm here undercover, with Ranger's permission. I'm posing as a RangeMan employee, and like all new hires, I am starting on the bottom floor, skip tracing."

"What about the other RangeMan employees?" Stephanie asked. "Are they going to be in on this?"

"We're starting by telling you two the entire story," Ranger said. "I plan to bring in Lester and Bobby and let them know the details. Everyone else will be on a limited need to know basis. Most people will just assume he's a regular hire. I've been looking for someone to take on more duties on the investigation side."

Tank rubbed a hand over his smooth head. "I don't know. The guys are pretty tuned in to what goes on around here. No offense, man," he looked at R.C., "but if you're not up to speed there will be suspicion."

"He is up to speed," Ranger said. "You've read his CV, Tank. His experience is real, especially his investigation experience, and if I thought he couldn't do the job, he wouldn't be here in any circumstance."

"How long is this gonna go on?" Tank asked.

"Until I reach my objective," R.C. said. He helped himself to a glazed donut and was rewarded by a smile from Stephanie. Her hand followed his and soon they were both eating donuts.

Ranger didn't eat, but watched his guests. "Do you want me to tell the backstory, or do you want to tell it?" he asked R.C.

"I'll tell it," R.C. said. "I'm looking for a man who is in this country illegally. He is a suspected murderer who is bent on forming a cult following, and we have reason to believe he's trying to base his operation in Trenton."

"A cult?" Stephanie asked. She wasn't sure why she was being included in this early morning meeting. Was this the 'field' Ranger wanted her to go into?

"A cult," R.C. repeated. "The man I'm looking for is named Naldo Montara. He is in this country illegally from Cuba. In Cuba he was a known practitioner of Santeria."

At Tank and Stephanie's puzzled looks Ranger took over. "Santeria is a religion practiced primarily in Cuba and other Caribbean countries, although its popularity is growing in this country. There are small pockets of it throughout the United States. It is, in its most impure form, known as Cuban Voodoo."

"And," continued R.C. "Naldo is practicing it in its most impure form. Santeria is associated with animal sacrifice and we think he has escalated the sacrifices from animal to human."

"Why is the DEA after him? It seems like he would fall into some other agency's scope," Tank said.

"The DEA is after him because he uses drugs in his rituals. Hashish and other, stronger, hallucinogens. The religion bears some surface similarities to Catholicism, but there are differences."

"No kidding," Stephanie said. "The only smoking in the Catholic Church comes from the incense burners and it doesn't make you high."

Ranger took up the story. "Just as the Catholic Church has saints, Santeria religion has orishas. Naldo Montara is not only a practitioner, he is a priest. More than that he's developed a cult following by convincing people that he has special powers, that he is an orisha, come down from heaven. He is Obatala. Only by following him and obeying his law will his followers make their way to heaven."

"It's not satanic," R.C. said, "but it is evil; he is evil. Montara is offering human sacrifices, we're sure of it, but we have no proof. We're not even sure he's working out of Trenton, but there's been a rash of missing young females which leads us to believe he's in the area. He preys on runaways. He gives them a purpose and makes them feel wanted. Our one good lead is that he has a partner, someone who supplies him with drugs, and that person is from Trenton."

"That person is from the Burg," Ranger said.

Stephanie's eyes widened. "Who?"

"Tinley Hicks," Ranger and Madrid spoke in unison.

"I know him," Stephanie said. "Well, I used to know him. He was ahead of me in school, but I remember him. I haven't seen him for ages though."

"I see where all this is going," Tank said. "I saw Connie's roster yesterday. Tinley Hicks is FTA."

"Yes, he is," Ranger said. "Madrid is going to start out doing some skip tracing for us because that's how all of our employees start. The advantage this time is we're hoping Tinley will lead him to Montara."

"I'm a stranger to Trenton," Madrid said. "I'll need a partner and it seemed logical to choose you, Stephanie. Would you be interested in helping me find Tinley Hicks? I understand you have quite a few connections in the Burg."

"I do have connections in the Burg," Stephanie said. "I have family and practically nothing gets by them and I know people, people that might be willing to talk to me, but not to you."

"Are you interested in helping, Babe?" Ranger said. "From something you said earlier I'm thinking this might not be the best time for you to be an obvious presence in the Burg." He could see the thought of getting on the street doing some bounty hunting and stepping away from her research desk was very appealing to her. Her cheeks were flushed with a nice rosy color and her eyes sparkled. He knew what her answer would be before she even said it. But she couldn't just go careening off to catch a skip. He was going to have to see evidence that she was capable. It had been a long time since she'd done anything like that, and truth be known she wasn't that capable when she did it as a full-time job.

"Yes," she said. "I am interested. Grandma Mazur will be in St. Michael's rehab unit for another couple of weeks before her hip is healed enough to move back in with Mom and Dad. She's had lots of visitors and she will be a good place to start." Again Ranger saw animation in her features. She wanted this badly.

"It will be a couple of days before all your licenses come through," Ranger said to R.C. "I can partner you with Stephanie and it won't look strange, especially if you are going after skips from the Burg. Tinley Hicks won't be your only FTA. You'll have to carry a full load in order for your cover to be believable."

Ranger saw Stephanie pop another bite of donut into her mouth and saw there was only one remaining on the plate. The woman was remarkable. He'd remembered her fondness for donuts, but he'd forgotten the size of her appetite, at least for junk food. There were times in the middle of a dark night when he remembered her other appetites. He looked up to see three faces staring at him and refocused.

"Tank, take Stephanie to the range sometime today," he said. "Babe, how long has it been since you've fired a weapon?"

"Not that long," she said. "Lester or Vince or one of the guys makes sure I keep qualified. They think I don't know they have a pool on how many times I'll miss the target completely, but I know." She turned and gave Tank a squinty-eyed stare. "And I know who won last month."

"Nevertheless, I want evidence you're qualified before I put you on the streets in a RangeMan uniform." Ranger told her. "We'll plan on you two partnering up day after tomorrow. That gives us time to get everything set in motion. Tank, you can spend today orienting R.C. to RangeMan. That's all I had," he finished, dismissing them.

"Stephanie, I need to talk to you privately for a moment, if you wouldn't mind staying behind." The men left and Stephanie stayed where she was at the breakfast bar.

Ranger took a small bowl of yogurt from the breakfast tray and began eating. Stephanie remained still, knowing he would speak when he was ready. After he was finished he pushed the bowl away and looked directly at her.

"I wondered if you'd be interested in having dinner with Julie and Scott tonight," he said. "I'm taking them out to a local restaurant. There's not much time to get to know him, as he is leaving to rejoin his unit tomorrow, so I thought I should spend some time with them. I know Julie would enjoy seeing you."

She didn't answer right away. When she slowly nodded her head, Ranger was pleased. "And there's something else. I need, I want to apologize. What you did for Julie and Scott was exactly what needed to be done. I talked to Rachel and while she's not happy with the situation, she was pleased Julie was settled."

"You don't have to apologize," Stephanie said. "I should have checked with you before I helped her get a job with RangeMan. It's your company."

"You did what was the right thing to do," Ranger told her. "I'm thankful you stepped up. I'm sorry I was short with you last night."

"Apology accepted."

"Now," Ranger said. "I want to continue our discussion regarding Morelli."

"Morelli is my business, Ranger," Stephanie said.

"Not entirely," Ranger said. "I want to make sure working as a BEA won't jeopardize whatever your relationship is with him."

"I can't explain it, and I'm not sure I want to," Stephanie said, "but Joe Morelli is my best friend. We are very close. Close enough for us both to realize we function better unmarried. We're almost like brother and sister." She blushed remembering the encounter in the hallway earlier in the morning. She hadn't felt very sisterly, but this morning was the exception, not the norm.

"Brother and sister?" Ranger asked. "Does that mean you've been living together platonically?"

"That's really none of your business," she said. He didn't respond. She was right.

"Joe is getting remarried," Stephanie said. "I mentioned that earlier. He is breaking the news to his family today that we are no longer married, and I'm heading over to my mother's after I leave here. Maria, his fiancée, is a nice person, and very understanding of me and Joe. But understanding or not, I have to move. I'll be homeless in a couple of days if I don't find a place. I'd like to get that settled before I start partnering with R.C."

"Take the apartment on six, the one across from Julie. You can stay as long as you need to, until you can find something more suitable for you."

"Thanks," she said, surprise evident in her voice.

"Talk to Ella. She'll help you get settled."

"I'll talk to her this morning. About qualifying, at the range…"

"Find Tank. He'll take care of it, and call Rodriguez. Tell him you'll be taking some time off and ask him to step in for you. He's been retired long enough he might want to get a fix, by being back in the swing of things."

"No."

Ranger raised an eyebrow at her quick refusal. "I can do my job and still help R.C.," she said. "I've worked hard to build a good group of researchers and I can handle the searches I need to do, and take a little time out to catch skips. It will be fun."

"Good luck with your family," he said as she prepared to leave.

"Thanks, but I know exactly how my mother will take this news. Do you need anything ironed?"