Thank you sooo much for your fantastic reviews - so many of you were pleased that Mungo didn't go all vindictive. I just reckon he is a realist!
Please enjoy this latest chapter - hopefully you'll enjoy it enough to give me your feedback (hint, hint!)
o0o0o0o0o
"So, what's new?" Steph asked sometime later as she rolled onto her front on her bed with her phone tucked against her ear. She bent her knees and crossed her feet at the ankle while pushing the crumbs from her bagel round in a pattern on her plate.
"Wellllll, I might have some news…"
"Spill! Come on, I want some gossip – there' so little here." She added melodramatically.
"Aaah, poor Baby!" came the amused reply. "Well, last night I might have been out with my woman aaaannnnddd…"
"What! What? Tell me!"
"Ipoppedthequestionandshesaid yes!"
"PARDON!" Steph squealed, as she punched her pillow. "Did you just say you are engaged?!"
"Uh huh…" came the smug yet slightly confused reply.
"Tell me all, give me the details, spare nothing…"
As Steph finished her call once she'd gotten all the news, she grinned. Rees and Vera! Who would have thought they'd be engaged – and so quickly! If only…
She shook her head, it was too soon to be having that kinda thought, she reasoned. Yeah, but if she'd not flown off the handle and had actually talked to Ranger, gotten to the bottom of his suggestion. Not only might she have saved herself so many months of heartbreak, but maybe she would be closer to having what Rees and Vera now had… commitment… complete understanding of where they were both headed… sigh…
Not that marriage was her ultimate goal, but if they'd gotten their shit together all that way back when, perhaps, just perhaps she'd be more certain about her future. Well, maybe a ring would be… nice… a little voice inside her head whispered.
"Deep thoughts, Babe?" Ranger asked, as his face loomed over hers on the bed.
Steph grinned and opened her arms.
Breakfast? Check
Gossip? Check
Kiss the Boss? Yum…
o0o0o0o0o
"Ranger…" Steph whispered nervously, as morning changed from mid and towards lunch time. She traced round the edges of his chin with her pointer finger. They were lying in a post-coital tangle of blankets, comforter and pillows on the floor where they'd ended up after yet another acrobatic and aerobic workout. Steph didn't even want to know what had happened to the plate. Or the crumbs…
"Hmmm?" he replied, shifting his face slightly to meet her eyes, an almost smile lazily ghosting his lips.
"I know this sounds weird, but could you make yourself scarce for a few days?"
Ranger's brow furrowed and he shifted so that he was leaning up on one elbow as he looked down at her face. "Trying to get rid of me already, huh?" he asked, a slight look of surprise and confusion in his eyes.
"No, silly!" she smirked, pushing his hair away from his face and over his shoulder. "But Connor and I are nearly ready to announce our team line ups and I don't want Tank or anyone else to think you've helped in anyway. That's all."
"Babe, what's Tank got to do with anything?"
"Well, not so much, but when you announced the competition I did phone and try to get information out of him on the men here and he was less than forthcoming. I suspect part of it was not knowing the guys, but I don't want him or any of the other teams to think I've gotten an inside scoop, especially when we win."
Ranger smiled his wolf smile then leant forward to kiss her nose. "Babe! Do you really think I'd help you?"
Steph pretended to look slightly hurt at his comment.
"It's not like that, Babe." Ranger added, kissing the tip of her nose. "Tank knows I wouldn't get involved in this any more than I already have. He and I made a pact to stay completely impartial and keep right out of everything. As much as you have the most wonderful ways of getting under my skin, I'd never tell you anything that would compromise your standing either here or in the other offices. I've been tortured by the best, Babe, and never ever revealed anything." He looked smug as he raised his eyebrows and finished his statement of self-importance.
"Not even if I do this? Hmmm?" she said softly as her hand travelled down his body. His eyes closed and he took in a leisurely deep breath as she walked her fingers over his skin but they jolted open again and his adam's apple bobbed up and down as her hand reached its destination and she began to work her magic.
Bingo!
"Dios, Babe! Carry on doing that and I'll even join in…" he growled out. Steph giggled and continued her ministrations as she watched her lover's eyes dilate.
"I may have the… strength" he stuttered out as he leant over her, trapping her hand between them "But you definitely have all the power…" he added as he leant in for a bone melting kiss.
o0o0o0o0o
"Ok, Babe." Ranger said, striding into the kitchen just after lunch, shrugging his suit jacket on.
"I'm off for a get-together with the architects working on the building I'm quoting on and apart from that and a meeting I've scheduled with Connor I promise I'll make myself scarce for the next few days. Okay?" He leant down and kissed her damp curls as she sat at the breakfast bar sipping from the enormous coffee cup she was holding between two hands, elbows firmly planted on the table top.
"K" she replied happily as she put her cup down and tipped her head up to look at him. Ranger grinned and leant in for a promise-filled kiss.
"Thanks, Boss…" she added when they'd come up for air. He shook his head as a soft chuckle escaped his lips. How on earth had he thought he could live without this woman, he wondered. He drank in the sight of her, dressed only in his overly fluffy, large white bathrobe as she consumed her brown beverage. His heart danced with delight.
Ranger's phone rang, snapping him out of his reverie and he pulled it efficiently off his hip. "Yo"
"…"
"I'm there." He replied before shutting it off. "Gotta go, Babe. My chariot awaits. See you later."
"Don't get shot…"
"Don't go crazy…"
o0o0o0o0o
The next morning Steph, Connor and Mungo looked at the list they'd compiled on the white board and gave it a final once over. They'd expanded each heading and decided what they thought Ranger had really meant by each activity.
"So, boys." Steph said as she dabbed the board with her pen. Mungo and Connor sat forward in their chairs slightly, neither reacting to the salutation she'd used. Truth be told, they kinda liked it, but neither was about to admit it so they just stared calmly at her as if everyone called them 'boys'.
"I reckon we're about as ready as we'll ever be." She added. "Do we all think we've nailed it?" she added quizzically as she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. Mentally, both men groaned as they watched her nervous affectation but thought about dead puppies and grinning, slack mouthed grannies kneeling before them, pulling their zippers down…and suddenly their problems seemed smaller, somehow.
Steph sat down and ran through each task, out loud, detailing what Ranger had given them, what they'd decided had been left unsaid, and the guys that would be handling each one. At the end of each task they all made their final, final tweaks then nodded their agreement whereupon Connor wrote down the final version.
The list now looked like this:
Shooting contest (using different firepower from a selection) Chase/Tibbs
Driving skills (evasive driving on various terrain with different weather conditions and possibly under fire) Ian/Frank
Suspect surveillance (in both urban and rural locations), perhaps concurrently
Leo/Jed Ralph/Ian
Skip apprehension (closed social group) (from insular 1950's style neighbourhood) Steph/Mitch
Skip apprehension (crowded environment) (bar/distraction) Steph/Various
Body guarding for a young child (at their own birthday party) Steph/Various
Body guarding for a local celebrity (someone with attitude, gross stupidity)
Tibbs/Jed
Planting evidence (on a moving or unsuitable target for evidence,ie bicycle etc)
Ethan/Al
Assault course and march Physical challenge (assault course with long distance cross country march wearing weights) Mungo/Conrad
Bomb disposal (neutralisation and disposal from a parked vehicle in a shopping mall parking lot) Pike/Robo
Building refurbishment (removal of undesirables and securement of building) Steph/Mungo/Various
logistics (total system crash on a client site and rebuild within 4 hours)
Ink/Connor/Various
Mungo looked at his two co-workers and grinned. "We're gonna nail this!" he added, determination lighting up his face as he rubbed his hands together.
Connor grinned. Yeah, Ranger was a clever bastard, he thought! Nearly two week's ago his life was in the shitter and his office running on anger, mistrust and testosterone. The two miracles he'd been given seemed to have lifted everyone out of the funk they'd sunken into. Now all they had to do was win.
"I think we need to muster the troups!" Steph said as she stood up to stretch her legs and headed for the door.
"Hooah!" came the enthusiastic reply.
o0o0o0o0o
The next few days seemed to go in a whirl of activity. Connor and Will, the Rangeman accountant, methodically went through the worst affected accounts and then picked a handful of the ones that had made their way down to 2 for storage so that Connor could explain how he selected each victim and what he did to hide his evidence. He also admitted that the building 'renovations' had been less expensive than the paperwork suggested and that alone had given him nearly $150,000.
Once Will had all the information he needed, he knew he would have to call in his own team to sift through everything, but at least, now he had a clear of idea of how to brief them all.
He extrapolated his forecast based on what he now knew about the redecorating costs and small time stuff and added it to the original $835k he was certain about and blew out a soft whistle as he looked at the final figure. Nearly $2million dollars!
If it hadn't been that the money belonged to Rangeman, he'd have been very impressed at how clever Connor had been. Now to tell Ranger…
In the meantime, Mungo and Steph worked with the men on planning their strategy, coming up with all the scenarios any of them had ever encountered and working out the best way to tackle or implement each idea they had. There were moments of frustration and the odd clash of personality, but each evening the whole office went to bed with renewed faith in their colleagues, the company they all worked for and the values Ranger held so dear.
Slowly but surely friendships were being built or re-established and Rangeman Atlanta began to heal.
o0o0o0o0o
Connor sat nervously in the small office, opposite Ranger and next to Will, the Rangeman accountant.
Ranger passed a document to him and nodded. "Connor, you need to read it through before signing it. It's a letter of termination and lists all the stipulations that you need to honour in order to avoid charges being brought. There are a couple of key elements within it that you need to think over carefully. The main one being that you will stay in bereavement counselling at a designated residential facility, as chosen by Bobby until he and the therapists decide you are fit for release. Additionally, there is a redundancy package. Please note, however that it will only be made available to you if you immerse yourself in and complete the programme. It is all detailed on the back page. Page 8."
Connor nodded in understanding and flicked quickly to the back page and sucked in a breath as he looked at the figures. "No! You can't be serious! Ranger this is too much!"
Ranger raised his hand and stopped Connor in his tracks. "Think of it as a guilt payment if it makes you feel any better. I should have been there for you. You have been hurting for too long and I have done nothing to help you. I want my old friend back and if I have to stoop to bribery and corruption then I will. Think of it as a way of clearing slates, both yours and mine."
Connor looked at his once best friend as tears welled up in his eyes "But it's more than enough to pay Rangeman back, to cover everything I've taken…"
"It's up to you to decide what to do with it." Ranger added softly, giving him a deep and meaningful look.
"Thank you." Connor said huskily. "I won't disappoint you."
"I'd rather you didn't disappoint yourself." Ranger replied gently.
At that moment, Ranger's phone rang and he paused with his hand over the handset "why don't you two go and discuss this together in Conf Room 4?" he suggested before picking up the receiver.
"Yo?"
Will and Connor got up to leave and Ranger waived to them as they left the room. They shut the door silently behind them to leave him to take his call in peace.
o0o0o0o0o
The week of the tournament was suddenly upon all the offices and each one was sent information on where and when the contest would commence together with a budget for "appropriate equipment and supplies".
Connor immediately called a meeting.
"OK, everyone. As I see it, the contest starts the moment we spend any of our budget. Over to Mungo for what he's managed to find out so far."
Mungo stood up and pressed a button on the remote he was holding. Immediately a satellite image appeared on one wall of Conference Room One. "OK. The airfield where the tournament is being hosted was last used some eight years ago to fly small privately owned commercial planes. At the time it was also used by a couple of flying clubs. A new, and more user friendly site was built about this time and everything except the airstrip and the hangars were stripped out. Since then, it has been pretty much left to Mother Nature who has reclaimed the area with a vengeance. Additionally, much of this area here" he said, pointing to a large area of what looked like open scrubland "is on or just below the water table and is therefore prone to flooding. We will need to consider the terrain when we plan what to take as although we will only be there for five nights, the temperature is not likely to be above 8 degrees in the hours after dark."
"Thank you, Mungo." Connor added before turning to Steph. "OK, so many of you will be aware that Stephanie knows Ranger and the rest of the core team very well and has some insight into the way their minds work so she will be outlining the sorts of things she thinks they may throw at us when we first arrive. Once she has added her particular slant we will need to brain storm what we need to take with us.
"The rules stipulate that we are only allowed to take a maximum of 20 people to the airfield with everyone else running the offices. Any shift shortfalls are to be covered by previously approved contract workers. So Stephanie would you please give us what you've found."
Steph stood up to face the men. Not many weeks before she had been met with a sea of aggressive faces, but not now. Now they all accepted and trusted her and had begun to appreciate the qualities she bought to the building. Some had begun to regard her as a little sister, others saw her as a friend and one or two might have imagined her in their beds. But Ranger's 'almost presence' in the building kept her protected from any enthusiastic suitors.
"Ok." She began "Trenton's core team's military reputation for being one of the best is based on their ability to think outside the box and to assess for every eventuality." She looked round the room and noticed several heads nodding in agreement. "I think they'll try to mess with our plans once we've made any concrete decisions so that we'll be on the back foot. Flexibility has to be the key here. Chances are they're going to push us into the least hospitable parts of the airfield – areas of poor reception and plenty of surface water, with little or no cover from the elements. Places that mean we have to transport our equipment over distance before we even begin the day's challenges. They will probably run a few things concurrently…"
"But we're there for 5 days…"
"Yeah, but like I said they'll be out to test us. I think we'll have times of total inactivity and others that are high pressure and multitasking. I also think they'll be planning to try and mess with us in other ways. Perhaps dawn raids to steal vital equipment, maybe using weird or inappropriate times of the day for what they really have planned for each event. I wouldn't put it past them to set up things that grind us down – loud noises to break up our sleep patterns for example. I think they'll be all about chaos in this tournament. After all, there's a lot at stake."
A soft mumble of agreement swept through the crowd.
"Lucky for you, I'm the master of chaos, though I'm the one who normally causes it."
A few chuckles danced off the lips of her audience.
"As you can see, we have lots to think about and a week to get ourselves battle-ready." Connor said, standing up and snapping the lid off a whiteboard pen he was holding. Walking over to the board he turned to his co-workers "Ok, ideas please."
Oooh, time to let battle commence, but sadly it will probably be after Christmas now!