Chapter 17
If you looked over the fifth floor of Rangeman you would see a wave of activity. Men were running from cubical to cubical, office to office. Even the conference room had a group of men arguing. The company was under attack and they were all desperately trying to figure out who was attacking and what the next target was.
"Boss" Lester said running into the conference room, "Hector said that he finally figured out what is going on."
Ranger looked up from the plans that were spread across the table, "Well."
"Hector said someone got into one of the original building with the first CVI system we used. Then they were able to "hook"." Lester raised his fingers and air quoted. "into our system."
Ranger raised an eyebrow, "Where is Hector?"
"He is down stairs right now manually blocking each feeder system." Lester replied, "Evidently all they were able to do was get in the system long enough to turn a system on or off, not actually see anything." Lester said in a rush. "They couldn't even see what alarms would go off, it was random each time."
Ranger looked down at all the plans in front of him, if the alarms were random then these didn't even matter. What the holy fuck was going on, why would someone want to set off alarms for no reason. Not one of the properties had been burglarized or even broken into. This didn't make sense, something was going on and he just couldn't piece it together yet.
"Hector can fix it?" Ranger looked up.
Lester nodded, "Hector said it has already been blocked, now he is blocking the other buildings. He also wants to update the buildings on the first system. Safety wise they work but they are vulnerable."
Ranger looked over at Tank, Tank just shook his head. He had no clue why this was happening either. None of this made sense, 6 weeks of random alarms that caused thousands of dollars in over work and contract works. And for what, nothing that they could see. No something was defiantly going on, right under the surface.
Ranger nodded at Lester, "Go tell Hector whatever he needs, spare no expense. I don't want this shit happening again. I have a meeting I have to get to." Ranger looked down at his watch, 2:30 pm he was behind. All day he had been fucking behind. Last night he put his foot so far in his own mouth with Stephanie that he could barely concentrate on the alarms that were going off. He made it to bed at 4am and slept all of 4 hours before he came down in time to catch Stephanie entering the elevator.
She looked at him as the doors closed with a mixture of sadness and anger that nearly broke his heart. Not even 6 weeks in and he fucked up. God he was fucking tired. At least she called and talked to him, he had a feeling it was Lester that went crying to her and he wasn't even mad because in the end it made her call him. He just wanted this day to end, he wanted it to be 7 so he could go up and eat dinner with her and go to fucking bed. She thought he was a machine, always able to go and go and go. But right now he was about finished, he was out of fuel.
He got off the elevator on 7 and walked into change into what Stephanie lovingly called his corporate Ranger outfit. He had a new client meeting who would only see him, refused all others which only irritated Ranger. Then he had to have it at 4:25pm all the way across town. Frankly Ranger didn't even give a shit about the new client but it was too late to cancel now.
Fuck it he thought, fuck all of it. He sat down heavily on the bed. 5 minutes that's all he fucking needed. He laid back on the bed and took a deep breath, the headache behind his eyes was like a pounding hammer. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Stephanie, he just needed to hear her voice.
"Hayyyyy you have reached Stephanie, leave a number and maybe I will call you back…. unless you are Ranger, then I will for sure. Beep" the phone said.
"Babe." He said and hung up. When they started out a few weeks ago she had changed the voicemail. He still remembered the first time he heard it, it made him feel like a God, like he was the most important thing in her life. Plus, she never lied. Almost always within 10 minutes of him leaving a voicemail she would call or text him back. He quickly learnt though; no voicemail, no call back. So he always made sure he left a message, even if it was just one word.
"Babe."
He sat up and rubbed his hands over his face, time to get this show on the road. Within 15 minutes he was fully dressed and walking down the stairs back to 5. His face was cold and hard and set in stone. No would could see his frustration, anger and pure exhaustion. It was the equivalent to his blank face as Stephanie called it, and it had saved his life more than once. Now if he could use it more with her, things like last night might not happen.
He walked back into the conference room and looked at Tank who was going through the new forms that were being taken to the client. Tank hated doing the forms and so did Ranger, more and more he was thinking about hiring Stephanie to help with meetings and paper work. Not only did she have a degree that could help, she had a personality that put everyone at ease. He was positive she could charm his male clients and make the female client's happy and comfortable. The problem was telling her and getting her to believe that he thought she was going to do a good job and that he was not just giving her the job out of pity. He loved her but she didn't believe she was worth what he gave her. She was worth everything and her skills and determination made her formidable.
"Let's go." Ranger said nodding towards the door.
As they were getting into the truck Tank look over at Ranger irritation clearly marked on his face. "I hate suits." He mumbled, "And why the fuck is this meeting all the way across town. 50 minutes in traffic."
"Clients choice.' Ranger said.
"Of course." Tank said as they were pulling out into the road. "Anything special we need to discuss for this…" Tank shuffled through his papers reading the info. "John Markus"
"Only that he is already a huge pain in my ass." Ranger said.
Tank gave a small chuckle, "So, then say no. It's not like you need any more client's. We already need to hire a few more guys based on our work load."
Ranger nodded, "I am giving him the basic package and price. He doesn't like it, too bad. Honestly I only put up with his demands so far because he said our two biggest clients referred him."
Tank shook his head, "They are a pain in the ass too."
Ranger shrugged, "The bigger the client the bigger the pain in the ass." He looked down at his phone, still no call but he had a text.
Ranger chuckled as he read the text, "Watching a riveting episode of Scooby Do then off to bail out Mooner. Need anything special."
He quickly texted back, "Nope, see you at 7."
He looked down when it chimed again.
"See ya Babe." It said, he just shook his head with a smile, one small text and he felt better.
"Bomber talking to you again?" Tank asked with a blank face but mischief in his eyes.
Ranger narrowed his eyes at Tank. "Was it you that went crying to her like a little girl that I was being crabby?"
Tank looked over at him, "Nope… I told her to be nice to you. You were having a rough day."
Ranger raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"But you were being a little bit unbearable last night and this morning. You were like a bear that had his foot stuck in a trap." Tank said with a grin.
Ranger just gave him the bird while Tank roared with laughter nearly shaking the truck. They made it to the meeting 15 minutes early only to be shown to the table and told that Mr. Markus called to say he was going to be a little late. Ranger was not impressed and by the time 4:25 rolled around Ranger was irritated and then by 4:45 Ranger was fucking livid. He had driven 50 minutes to the other side of town and waited for this man for over 20 minutes past his appointment time when all hell broke loose and Ranger's blood ran cold.
First his phone started to ring and before he could get it up to his ear Tank's went off.
"What." Ranger growled into the phone.
"Bombers car went off line." Bobby said into the phone.
Rangers eyes narrowed and his heart started racing, then he was up sprinting to the door and truck. Tank was hot on his heels talking to Lester. Ranger hung up on Bobby and pressed one. 5 rings and he heard,
"Hayyyyy you have reached Stephanie, leave a number and maybe I will call you back…. unless you are Ranger, then I will for sure. Beep" the phone said.
"Babe answer the phone." He said his voice tight with anxiety. He pressed one again as both he and Tank entered the truck and had it in reverse tearing out of the parking lot.
5 rings again, "Hayyyyy you have reached Stephanie, leave a number and maybe I will call you back…. unless you are Ranger, then I will for sure. Beep" the phone said.
He hung up and pressed one again, still weaving through traffic, now his heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to explode.
"Hayyyyy you have reached Stephanie, leave a number and maybe I will call you back…. unless you are Ranger, then I will for sure. Beep" the phone said.
He hung up and pressed one again, five more rings and her voice mail hit again. "Hayyyyy you have reached Stephanie, leave a number and maybe I will call you back…. unless you are Ranger, then I will for sure. Beep" the phone said.
"Damn it Stephanie answer your fucking phone." He growled into the phone.
He glanced over at Tank who was still on the phone with Lester, "ETA for them is 7 minutes. It was at the bonds office. No one is answering that phone either." Tank said quickly.
Ranger pressed one again. Another five rings and her voice echoed in his ear, "Hayyyyy you have reached Stephanie, leave a number and maybe I will call you back…. unless you are Ranger, then I will for sure. Beep" the phone said.
The traffic light ahead changed to red and Ranger hit the brakes so hard Tank flew forward and slammed his fist on the dash causing it to crack. Tank didn't even look up from the phone. Fucking change…. fucking change to green he thought as he pressed one again. The traffic was too thick for him to get through, he had to wait.
"Hayyyyy you have reached Stephanie, leave a number and maybe I will call you back…. unless you are Ranger, then I will for sure. Beep" the phone said.
He hung up and pressed one again. He looked down at his phone as alarm went off and his heart stopped. Stephanie's panic button had been activated. Now he knew she was alive, but he had no clue what kind of danger she was in. And it had to be bad because the only time Stephanie pushed that button was when she was truly in danger.
"How long until they are there." Ranger growled as he shot through the red light, not giving a fuck as cars slammed on their breaks and horns blasted. It was through pure luck and a minor miracle they made it through the intersection at all. He heard Tank talking into the phone but he was pressing one again.
"3 minutes yet Ranger. All of our cars were out on calls from the alarms this morning."
Ranger's head snapped around to look at Tank and it all came together like a flash of lightening. The alarms started going off right when Stephanie was attacked the first time and continued to go off since then. And every time they went off all his men left the building, they took all the man power. This was the first time Stephanie was out of the building right after the alarms with no backup. She had been recovering, then taking men with her, she was never alone before today.
And today the appointment that he had all the way across town, the client never showing up. Ranger would bet every dollar he had that this man would not exist once he went through a better background check. He had been lured away, away from Rangeman and away from Stephanie and now she was in danger. His foot pushed the gas pedal until it reached the floor, even at this speed it was going to take another 25 minutes at least.
The phone hit the 5th ring, "Hayyyyy you have reached Stephanie, leave a number and maybe I will call you back…. unless you are Ranger, then I will for sure. Beep" the phone said.
He disconnected and pressed one again.
Tank's head snapped around, "They just got there. Stephanie's car exploded." Tank said. "But there is no sign of her. Lula is unconscious and Connie is screaming. They are trying to get her to calm down. Bobby should be there in 2 minutes."
Ranger's phone got her voice mail again. He hung up and hit one again. After two rings the phone beeped and for one single second he thought he was going to hear her voice say she was ok. Instead he heard Lester and his world dropped under his feet.
"Boss" Lester said. "Her purse is here with her phone. A few feet from the remains of the car."
"Find her." Ranger growled and hung up. Now he was starting to shake. Before he could hope she had her phone, he could pray she would answer. But now she was gone and had no means of communication. He quickly dialed Hector, "Si." He said on the second ring
"Hector, track her panic button NOW. Stop everything else, I don't care, track her."
"Si." Hector said and Ranger could hear the rapid typing of keys through the phone. His inpatients making him clench the phone to the point the screen was starting to crack. After what felt like an eternity Hector started to speak in rapid fire Spanish.
Rangers GPS turned on and coordinates were coming up on the screen. Hector had remotely entered Stephanie's tracker and panic button to the GPS, he was only 10 minutes away now, he made a right turn so sharp the truck went up on two wheels. He could hear Tank telling whoever was on the phone they were tracking Stephanie. Another right then a left and they were only 5 minutes away, Ranger glanced at the clock. It had been 23 minutes since her car went offline, and 20 minutes since her panic button went off. That was a lot of time in this kind of situation. He glanced up as the tracker stopped on the screen. It looked like the mall parking lot, fuck that meant a lot of cars. He pushed the gas harder making it to the parking lot in 2 minutes instead of the 5.
There were cars, hundreds of them and his truck GPS couldn't get any more precise then the parking lot.
Ranger looked up at Tank, "How long until they get here with better equipment?"
"4 minutes." Tank said.
"Not good enough, Hector can you get us."
"Si, Uno minuto." Ranger was grinding his teeth waiting for Hector to get a better answer, staring at every car that was coming and going. Way too many to cover for two people.
"Hurry up." Ranger snapped.
Hector paused for only a moment more when he said, "tu telefono." Ranger watched as his phone screen beeped and changed to a mini map. With a red dot and a green one, it didn't take a genius to figure out he was red and he needed to get to the green. He was less than 200 feet from her, he parked the truck and got out. He started running towards the green dot, Tank hot on his trail. 150 feet, he could hear the screeching of other cars slamming into the parking lot and Tank screaming for them to follow. 75 feet, he could see a white van up ahead and he knew that was the van that took her. He went into a full sprint and he could hear the feet pounding behind him. He dropped his phone into his pocket and pulled his gun running up to the van, Tank on his right and Lester on the left.
Stephanie was not joking when she said he didn't need to say anything to his men. They knew what he needed…. what they had to do. He watched as they each pulled guns and went on either side of the van and he went to the back. They each pulled a side door open while he ran to the back. Hal quickly ran up and nodded at Ranger before he threw the door open and Ranger stepped up to the entrance, gun drawn wanting to see who took his most important possession. Stephanie would not appreciate being called a possession, but she was HIS God dammit and it was his job to take her and protect her. He would die for her, and he would kill anyone who took her, touched her… hurt her.
When the door cleared and he stepped forward, there was nothing…. And no one. The van was empty. He pulled his phone and the map said he was right next to her. He climbed into the back of the van riffling though the blankets and towels. He saw the blood, so much fucking blood. She was hurt and then he saw her panic button. It was pressed down and covered in a thick layer of blood.
And Ranger looked around and roared at the heavens. He sounded like a man going to battle, like a man who was possessed. And his men looked on in fear, fear that he was going to snap, fear that something happened to their little sister, fear that maybe they wouldn't be able to save her. And they looked on in anger, because no one hurt their sister, their friend, their family and got away with it. Someone was going to die, and they were going to die soon. The only question was who was going to kill them because each and every man standing around that van had murder on their minds.