Stephanie POV
Carlos took me over to a glass bowl of a room. The wall facing in towards the cubicles was made of glass, even had a glass door. I guess it was for sound control, but someone can walk by and see the other wall, which was full of monitors. The desk held three stations for workers to sit and deal with so many button, dials and switches; it's what I imagine the NASA control room to look like. How does Carlos expect me to handle all of that, it's gonna take forever to learn.
We walk in with two guys maneuvering in some sort of weird techno duet. Carlos clears his throat; two set of eyes look up and acknowledge us with a nod then go back to their duties.
"Stephanie, on the left is Calvin Hobbs and on the right is Halton Crawford. Cal, Hal this is Stephanie Plum a prospective RangeMan recruit." Damn Carlos is being all sorts of well mannered, it's kind of hot. Whew ok Plum get yourself under control, I put a smile on my face and extend my hand, that's when I get a good look at these guys and holy shit are they huge. Cal has tattoo of a flaming skull on his forehead, that is so freaking cool and Hal is maybe two of me put together holy Halasuarus…
"It is very nice to meet you both. I hope we aren't disturbing your work but Carlos is showing me around RangeMan and I have to admit it is very impressive place. Please don't let us bother you too much." Each of them smiled then nodded at me then put their attention back to screens and control desk.
We walked back out of the control-room and into the break-room. There were already three guys in there. Damn there must be a requirement to be on the cover of Men's Health or GQ, these are some fine looking men.
"'Sup Beautiful what are you doing with these two stick in the muds, come over and talk with a fun guy?" wiggling his eyebrows.
"Oh you must me the resident Mr. Flirt, nice to meet you I'm Stephanie Plum."
He just started laughing "Beautiful I am Lester Santos, at your service these other two goof balls are Bobby Brown and Manny Ramirez."
Like I did earlier in the control-room I placed a smile on my face and extended my hand to shake each of their hands.
"It is very nice to meet you Ms. Plum" Bobby said.
"Likewise Mr. Brown so how do you guys deal with the Mr. Flirt on a daily basis?" I asked them.
They all started laughing which in turn made me giggle, that must have startled some of the guys in the cubicles because as we were talking three more guys came in.
"Ms. Plum this is Woody Wilson, Raul Silvio and Binkie Smith, guys this is Stephanie Plum rangeman is showing her around." Lester introduced the newcomers.
I nodded to each of them and extended my hand, "Gentlemen I am pleased to meet each of you."
"So tell me what do you all do here? Do you each work in the control room? Do you get to drive around in those incredible cars I saw downstairs?" I lowered my voice "Tell me what is it like to work for Carlos and with Hector?" I glanced around the room at the guys and they each had a smile and were shaking their head.
Out of nowhere, I hear a loud voice; it was so loud it made me jump "BACK TO WORK". I look around the guys and I see a mountain of muscles standing there. But with those three words each of the guys except Hector and Carlos walk out of the break room.
"Babe, you've got to be more aware of your surroundings."
"Carlos, we're in your building, with how many of your men between us and the big bad scary world? Why would I need to be aware?" I start waving my hands around.
I see a twinkle of amusement in his eyes, "Babe, I like to introduce you to my second in command and best friend, Tank Williams. Tank please assist me in convincing Stephanie Plum into working for RangeMan."
Damn, he could eclipse the sun if he was standing outside; Tank is such a fitting name for him. So I tell him that "It's a good thing your Mom named you appropriately, I can't imagine a man your size being named Tiny and I have to say you must need to be a Tank in order to keep these two out of trouble." I use my thumb to point towards Hector and Carlos.
A very loud and deep laugh came out of this Tank of man; it was so contagious I couldn't help but giggle with him. Then he says "Little Girl I think you and I are going to get along just fine, just fine indeed."
The next thing I know he throws his arm around me and guides me out of the break-room towards the office two doors down from Carlos'. I look behind me and I see Hector and Carlos following us.
We reach the door and Tank guides me in then turns to stop Hector and Carlos but instead speaks to them, "You both have had your time with her, now it's mine. Go work and I will take care of Ms. Plum." He ordered them then shut the door.
He then spins around and looks me in the eye "You are certainly have those two wound up, how about you and I sit and get to know each other." He motions to the half of his office that has a sofa and chairs. I sit on the sofa while he sits in one of the chairs. God I hope it's frame has re-enforced steel running through it so it doesn't buckle from the shear muscles of this man.
"So what would you like to know?" I ask him.
"How about I tell you what I know about you so far and you can clarify the information."
I shrug my shoulders "Sure sounds good."
"How about we start with the most current info, you were recently employed at EE Martin working as a lingerie purchaser until the business was closed down due to mob connections by the FBI. You have had your car reposed today and are about 2 months behind on your power bill and rent."
"Wow, that's pretty accurate." I am amazed by what he knows so far and a little scared to hear what else he's got.
"How about you tell me how you met Ranger, then will go into how you know Hector. From what I could tell neither of you were of the same walk of life."
"Um, I met Carlos at my cousin Vinnie's office, Plum Bails Bonds. I was talking with Connie seeing if there were any positions open, but they filled the filing position. So while Connie and I were talking Carlos came in, he was actually there when my car got repo'd. He offer me a ride, but first we went to my Aunt and Uncles place for a bit to eat."
I take a deep breath, "Now Hector I met him years ago and as much as I like you I am not going to tell you the specifics on that meeting because it is very personal. We had been friends for a few years before we lost touch with each other until I saw him here earlier."
"Understood. Now as far as I can tell Ranger wants to employee you here, but not necessarily for field work. You graduated from Douglass College with a degree in Business Administration. Born and raised here in Trenton in a suburb called Chambersburg. That's where I would like to explore for a job here at RangeMan. As it stands I am the only administrator here, we have a legal and accounting team on the second floor. But I am the one in charge of schedules, submitting hours for payroll and really most Human Resources requirements. I need help and I hope that with your purchasing background that also may help with some of our vendors. Also that community is so tight knit it is hard to step a foot in there for either clients or information. What do you say do you think you could work for me?"
A/N: The characters contained in this story are not mine; I make no money out of this adventure. The only thing I get is the satisfaction of writing it and hopefully providing entertainment to you the reader! For the one who makes money of these characters please see Janet Evanovich.