Chapter 3 – The Agreement
"Weren't they dishonorably discharged?" Angelia questioned.
"That's the best part, between his lawyer and some General they were close to they got an honorable discharge and a pension for being in the service for over 20 years. No one knows where this person had all the Top-Secret records. But they sold their house, everything in it and left DC. Then a week later classified documents started showing up online."
"I don't understand if they had Top-Secret clearance why would they get in trouble in the first place?" Angelia asked.
"Having Top-Secret clearance does not mean they can access anything they want. Most files have a code word restriction and only those people with the correct code word can have access to the information. I have clearance for files that I work on, while I am working on them. After the job is done it may be taken out of my availability. Also, I can't talk to anyone about it except people authorized to access that file. Just because I have Top-Security clearance for my files doesn't mean I can talk to Tank about any of his classified missions. I have to be authorized on his files, likewise I can't talk to him about any of my missions that are classified. This person had worked up to where they had exceptional clearance because they actually worked like a file clerk: entering, filing, classifying, and disseminating the code words of the classified files. Technically even while they worked on them they weren't supposed to be reading them."
"If they were allowed to access the information how were they caught?"
"Well like a librarian they were supposed to be handling the files, not reading or copying them. Someone walked in while they were copying files that they weren't supposed to be copying at that time. Closed missions that they had no reason to be handling. They made some excuse that some General wanted to see the file again, but the person that caught them didn't buy it and called the General on the phone right then and there. They were the one that got them arrested and is the angriest with the way the DOD handled the whole situation."
"So why haven't they caught him?" Isabella asked.
"The classified records were not online for more than three days before word got to SOCOM and they were all taken down, but they were posted anonymously from a coffee shop and they couldn't catch them. Over the years they get regularly posted again, but they are smart and keeps evading being found and captured. They only posts from public places that have no camera's and public computers that can't be traced back to them. Libraries are some of his favorite places."
"So, they leaked all of your information. Why is that causing you problems now?"
"The real problem is that someone that I did a mission against, we'll call him Emilio, found the records of who was involved in the mission stopping him. Even though he escaped, he was ruined, lost his business, all his money and his wife left and took the children. He made a personal vendetta to make every man involved pay with their lives, from the officers that approved the mission to all the men involved in the mission. To my knowledge of the original ten there are only three of us left alive right now. Four of them died in a mission that was sabotaged. The commanding officers that approved the mission were being taken out one at a time, when they realized the deaths were not accidents. I was still in special forces when it was brought to my attention that I was also being targeted.
"Emilio tried to hire men to kill me, the problem was that except when I was at my home base he couldn't find me and while I was there I was too well protected. The person who kept putting up classified documents relisted three years of my missions and Emilio got ahold of them. He decided if he couldn't get to me personally, he would make me useless for our government. My code name, but no information about my family was included with these documents.
"So, he researched me and found out some personal information about me. Like my real name, my date of birth, the last 4 of my social, my location, my army rank and number and where I was stationed, but no information about my family had been found. Because I was 18 when I enlisted, I didn't put down any family information on my forms. No information about my family was found at the time. Because I was not married when I enlisted and divorced so quickly, no information about Rachel or Julie was found either.
"Emilio decided since he couldn't kill me, he would sick other people on me. He started contacting powerful people I had done covert missions against, including people that had been jailed or who were on trial in various countries. He even went as far as contacting the families of people that got killed on my missions and made sure they knew it was me and gave them all of my personal information. But even with all these new people after me, trying to kill me, none succeeded. I became very adept at sensing traps or people intent on killing me.
"My name became well known as Ranger, because I was the commanding Ranger for many missions that were released. My name became so widely known missions I had nothing to do with were being attributed to me. I started going as Ranger but instead of making me worthless and dead, I became somewhat famous and more valuable to the government. As word of things I had done became well-known I was asked for by name.
"When I got out of the army I had a choice. Change my legal name, social, move away and never have any contact with my family ever again or go back to my life and see what danger followed me. Once I got out and I went back to civilian life I visited Abuela Sanja and I came to see you on Easter that year. Then information about my family was found and shared.
"At first I generally stayed away from the family to protect you and became a soldier of fortune doing work to raise capital to start my own business and make an international name for myself. I created a reputation for myself as a badass. A force to contend with. Someone you didn't want to go up against and someone you didn't want to threaten."
"Or you would take them out." Isabella offered.
"Well let's just say I put a hurting on anyone who wanted to hurt me until they backed off. I started Rangeman to help protect myself as well as to protect my family. I was able to hire guys who could watch my back. I continue to do government work that gives me access to information regarding who might be in the states and coming after me. I developed street contacts who knew what's going on in the underground world. I made money to buy safe houses, and one of the first things I did was buy four safe houses here in Newark, just for you, in case anything like this was ever to happen. But years have gone by, threats were removed before they could get close and I never had to use the houses. They were a tax burden and my partners and lawyers wanted me to get rid of them.
"Until now, I always heard of any threats coming to Jersey and intercepted them. I kept my distance from you to protect you. If I wasn't interested in seeing you, it would be obvious that you were not important enough to me to bother with. You would not be seen as a way to get at me. But for over a year now I have been coming to some family gatherings and talking to mama on the phone. It has become apparent that maybe I do care about mi familia and that you could be a way to get to me. I have continued to monitor threats against me, but this one did not show up until they kidnapped and beat Stephanie last night." I queued up the DVD player and turned on the TV. I showed them the break-in at Morelli's, him getting beaten and Steph being taped up. I showed them the clip of Stephanie getting hit in the face and knocked down then I stopped the video. (my family)
"I have been told point blank that this and worse will happen to every woman in my family. Julie, mama and all my sisters. I have been told to hide you for your own safety. I have been told you will be beaten, raped, mutilated and eventually killed if they get hold of you and that they are now actively looking for you. This is a game to them, a game to hurt me, because they have tried multiple, quadruple times to kill me and have failed. This is their new way to get to me, worse than death for me; to damage and kill the women in my family. I give you this long explanation because this threat is real, it has been real for years but I have kept it away from you so you could go on with your lives and not be worried about it. But I no longer have that luxury.
"They specifically named Julie, Mama, both abuelas and my four sisters saying that they had your pictures and addresses, and if they don't know your work addresses they would get them the first day you went to work. But they don't seem to want to get everyone at once, they have suggested they are going to take you one or a couple at a time, leave your dead bodies at my doorstep and then go after the next ones on their list.
"The one part of this game that makes the least sense is that they have given me a timeline of two weeks. Basically, if I can hide you and protect you for two weeks they are going to have to move on to other assignments. The truth is that one of the bad guys, who was hired to hurt me is someone I saved years ago. He sent a note wrapped up with Stephanie, that gave me the plan outline. Without his help, I would not know the extent of the danger. Without his help Stephanie would have been seriously hurt last night. Without his help you would have just started disappearing one at a time without me knowing there was a problem until bodies started showing up.
"I no longer have the houses here in Newark. I still have safe houses around Trenton, Atlanta, Boston and Miami but that is where they are going to be looking for you so I want to do the unexpected and get everyone out of town. It will be easier to keep everyone protected if we stay together. Who here has their passport?"
"I do." Said Angelia.
"Me too." Said Isabella.
"I got mine last year so I could go to a fashion show in Paris." Oshanna said.
"I don't." Said Leyla.
"Personally, if everyone had passports I would fly everyone out of the country. Without that option, I'm trying to find someplace remote, safe where we can go have some fun like a mountain resort where we can go fishing, kayaking, swimming, hiking, horseback riding.
"Why can't we go on a cruise like up the Alaskan coast or off Florida or California?" Leyla asked.
"Cruises are definitely on the menu. They are a really good choice because once everyone is on board, everyone is safe and we can relax a little. There are daytime family activities and night time adult activities. There's not a lot of shopping opportunities," I turned and looked directly at my sisters. "Angelia and Oshanna."
"Of course, there is shopping. There is lots of shopping at all the ports of call." Oshanna said.
"Except that you won't be getting off the boat and we will be checking everyone who comes back on board."
"You can't take us on a cruise and not let us get off the boat." Angelia demanded.
"Angelia, your life is at stake. This is not a game. If I say we stay on the boat, we ALL stay on the boat."
"Well then I'm not going." Angelia pouted.
"That's fine. I have a number of safe houses in Trenton for you to stay in. None of them are as fancy as your house, and you won't get to leave there to go shopping or do anything else either. So really having a boat you can freely move around on is a better option." I had never seen her house but knew that she lived in an exclusive neighborhood on the water, in a two story brownstone that was by my mother's description luxurious.
"You can't lock me away!" Angelia shouted like a broker yelling 'sell' across the Wall Street floor.
"Angelia lower your voice. We don't need to get the children excited and yes, under these circumstances for two weeks I get to lock you away."
"No, you can't, in fact I'm leaving this party right now. I don't need to be treated like a criminal, when I'm not the one who committed the crime."
I gave up all pretense of being nice and going slow, shock and reality is the only thing that will get through to them. "Who else thinks that they shouldn't get locked away right now, that running the streets are a good idea? Because I have more video for you to watch if you think that." I flicked the TV back on and queued up the section with the anonymous woman and paused.
"This video was recorded last night. They kidnapped Stephanie and did those things to her and Joe Morelli last night recording it all. Then they came to my office building shot up the front door and left this video behind. I didn't want to show you this because it is very violent and graphic. It is not a movie, they are not pulling their punches. This is real, they did this for real, to a real woman that happens to look like Stephanie. They did this to prove to me that they are here locally ready to carry-out their threats. They did this to prove to me that they can and they would brutalize and kill all of you."
I looked around the room to see who would be too squeamish to watch but all eyes just looked back at me with the wide-eyed curiosity and expectation of a two-year-old exploring a garage they aren't allowed to play in. I hit play and stepped away from the screen. I stood back arms crossed over my chest, watching my family to see their reactions, to see if this could get across to them the seriousness of the situation.
The scene opens with the woman tied across the bed, and they start belting her. I had watched it fast forwarded without the sound. Now with the sound of each crack of the belt, her yelling through her duck-tape and twisting and turning to try to get away it was even more real than when I watched it. When they practically cut the dress off so you can see all the red swelling belt marks, and lifted her dress up over her ass; Oshanna, guessing what was coming next, stood up and walked out of the room.
I knew my mama and Isabella, being nurses and seeing the horrible things that happen to people would watch the whole thing. My father, of course, would watch it to see the gravity of the situation. But I waited to see if loud mouth, I don't want to be locked away Angelia would make it through. The video continued and Angelia set her coffee on the table and sat back into the couch looking ill.
When Mukhtar pulled out his knife, I think several of them were expecting him to slit her throat and were surprised and grossed out when he stabbed her instead. No one said anything when the video went dark and I used the remote to shut the TV off. I called Oshanna back into the room.
"This woman was found this morning dumped under the Quaker Oat bridge by someone who goes around helping the homeless. She did not survive her wounds. Do you understand now why I am taking this seriously, deadly seriously? I may not show it all the time, but I love each of you and I would rather die a thousand times over than have this happen to any of you. I will do anything I can and have to do to make sure you are safe from this threat. They didn't do this for fun, they did this specifically to prove to me that they could and would do this to each of you."
The room was silent as they each thought about what they had just seen and that it could be one of them next.
Finally, Leyla spoke up, "I think a cruise sounds nice. Much nicer than being cooped up in one of your crummy safe houses." She gave me a small smile and I nodded at her.
"Look I want to make this as safe and as pleasurable as possible. That is why an out of the way mountain retreat, or a cruise, maybe an isolated beach house is my goal. Where you can have some freedoms and fun and it can be more like a vacation. But we have to make some rules to keep everybody safe because that is the main purpose." Everyone nodded at me. "First of all, from the time you leave here today you will have a team of bodyguards assigned to you. Do not lose them. They are only there to protect you. Do whatever they tell you to do. If they tell you to wait, wait, if they tell you to walk, walk, if they tell you to run, run."
"Each of you, except Oshanna, has to think not just about yourself, but your kids and your husbands. Joe, the guy in the video, was hospitalized with a broken arm, multiple bruises and a concussion, but after drugging him they could have easily killed him. If they come for you there is no telling what they would do to whomever is with you. If you get taken, it's bad for you, but who is going to take care of your children? What are they going to do if they wake up in the morning and you're gone forever? What are they going to do if you are driving and get run off the road and taken? Or shopping in the middle of the store and you get grabbed and they are left alone?"
"To these men, this is a game. You are just pieces to be taken off the gameboard and they can have as much fun with you, or in their terms torture and rape you as long as they want, before they end you. The win for them is to hurt me. That means being as mean and vicious to you as possible. Recording it all and sending it to me with what's left of you. I'm asking each one of you to give me your trust that I can keep you safe, and that you will follow any rules I make because the rules are only there for your protection. Can you each agree to that?"
No one said anything so I prompted each of them. "Papa you are not in immediate danger, but can you go along with all the rules I lay down?"
"Yes, and I will make sure everyone else does too." He gave Angelia a pointed stare.
"Thanks papa. I appreciate your support but I need to hear this from each of you. Mama, can you go along with the men I assign to you and the rules that I lay down?"
"Yes, mi'jo. I understand now and I will listen to you." I nodded to her.
"Leyla, can you obey the men I assign to you and the rules that I lay down?"
"Of course, hermano. Only for you." She smiled at me.
"Angelia, this may be the hardest for you and I understand that, but can you follow the men I assign to you and obey the rules that I lay down?"
"Yes, after seeing that video. I can."
"Thank you." I told her.
"Isabella, can you listen to the men I assign to you and follow their direction and obey the rules that I lay down?"
"Yes, anything for you, big brother." She gave me a smile. "As long as we get to have some fun on this adventure."
"I can promise you that there will be some fun."
"Oshanna can you- "
"Of course, I can."
"Will you? With the least amount of arguing as possible? Knowing that I am just trying to keep you safe?"
She gave me a huge sigh and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I will. I don't like it. But I would rather live and not have any of those horrible things happen to me." Her face scrunched up and I knew someone would tell her the parts of the video she missed.
"I have to get my travel assistant on the line and find out what is available. She should have some options for me by lunch. I am asking everyone to hunker down here until we have a plan of action in place. When you leave here, each of you will have two bodyguards until we leave town. We can order out food from where ever you want, and my men can go get it. Lunch is on me, so Mama doesn't have to worry about feeding everyone. Then we can talk about what choices there are and make some real decisions." Everyone murmured their assent and I left for the backyard, where I could talk in private.
I stepped out into the back covered patio and scanned the backyard, where the three maple trees had fresh baby green leaves on them, the grass was coming back to fill in under the well-used, white and blue swing set. I turned around to face the back of the house and admired the new growth of plants that didn't get as much sun as the ones in the front and hadn't started flowering yet. I looked up at the mostly clear hazy brown sky and pulled out my phone. It didn't look like rain right now but by this afternoon that all might change. I pressed the speed dial for one of the other important women in my life.
"Skylar, my woman, how are you? How is Danny doing? How'd he like his birthday present?"
"Ranger, nice to hear from you again. Danny loved his present. I sent you a picture by text."
"Yes, I got your text, but I like to hear in person that he squealed with delight and played with it non-stop till bedtime-"
"He doesn't squeal, he's not a little girl."
"I know he's not a little girl-"
"But Yes, he played with that GI Joe Command Center for a week straight, and kept sneaking out of bed to play with it some more at night." I watched a finch land on one of the many bird feeders hanging from the porch and trees.
"Glad to hear that he liked it. I spent hours picking out just the right thing."
"You mean you had one of your men or that housekeeper of yours pick it out."
"No, I actually went to the mall, and then shopped online, read all the reviews on half a dozen different toys."
"As busy as you are I can't believe you would go to all that trouble."
"Well five is a special age, and I wanted him to have something really special."
"Well thank you, it was appreciated. So, tell me why you are really calling. You don't just call to catch up."
"I have a big order this time, probably the most difficult thing I have ever asked of you. Forty people. Full security requirements."
"You want me to find a place for everyone to stay? How are you traveling? How long is this 'vacation'?"
"We need a private jet leaving from Newark. Two weeks leaving tomorrow. My choice would be a remote cabin in the mountains, miles away from anything, but this time it is personal. This is for my family so it has to not only be safe but fun too. A private beach resort, a quiet mountain retreat with lots of activities, or a fourteen-day cruise."
"That's a lot of options for me to check out. You said this is family. Tell me the ages, who is being protected?"
Suddenly the sliding glass door opened and Lester exploded from the house, a grim set to his face. He gave me a look that could kill and stormed past me to the far reaches of the backyard.
"Ten targets, nine women and one 12-year-old."
"Oh shit, they are targeting Julie?"
"-and Stephanie, my mother, my four sisters, and my grandmothers."
"Wow, that's a death wish if I ever heard one. A death wish larger than shooting at an angry grizzly bear with a b-b-gun. A death wish bigger than going over Niagara Falls in a cardboard box. A death wish stronger than jumping the Grand Canyon on a skateboard." She broke off laughing.
"Are you done?" I asked feeling my lips twitch.
"A death wish wilder than trying to tame a wild tiger with a pencil and a ball of string," she continued, "A death wish crazier than pissing off the Sons of Anarchy by dumping a pitcher of beer over their heads and trying to race away on a ten-speed without a helmet. A death wish stupider than swimming in shark infested waters that you just filled with buckets of chum." She broke off laughing in a deep melodious peel that sounded like the ringing of a xylophone.
I just tried not to make a face at her jokes knowing that she was more accurate than she knew. After several minutes of her endless laughter I tried to break her spell.
"Skylar, my hilarious woman, catch your breath. I have some serious work for you to do." I tried to get her attention again.
"I'm here, I'm focused, that's just the best joke I have heard in a while." She broke off laughing again. "I'm assuming this is a team after you?"
"At least six men."
"Only six? They would be better off playing Russian roulette with five bullets in the cylinder. It's going to be less painful than whatever you are going to do when you catch up to them."
"It's their boss who should be worried. I'm going to take his men apart one at a time. But when I catch up to him he will regret ever looking in their direction."
"That's a mess I don't need to see," she said, "now what did you need again besides a few wooden boxes?" She questioned me as I smirked. "Do you need me to call a few old men? I know most of the old gang has retired but for this they would gladly sharpen their rusty old kitchen knives, clean the cobwebs out of their guns, gather up the grenades they have rolling around the garage." She stated.
"No, I have enough men to deal with the situation. With this many targets I feel like the best thing to do is to get everyone out of town. So that there is no one left behind to become a target."
"Ok tell me what I have to work with." She said.
"We need to leave town tomorrow and be gone until at least Friday two weeks from now. I want a private jet that can seat at about fifty with at least two bathrooms. Too many women and children not to have two bathrooms. Some place State-side not everyone has a passport. Eight rooms for my family, as big as you can find several of them have a lot of kids."
"Ok break it down for me person by person." She told me.
"My grandmothers Rosa Escalante and Sanja Manoso. They can probably bunk together. My parents Javier and Maria Manoso. My eldest sister Leyla and Richard Gonzales, they have four kids: Becky 12, Maggie 10, Ricky 7, Michael 5. My next eldest sister Angelia and Jordan White, 2 kids: Shanna 5, Ricky 3. My younger sister Isabella and Diego Diaz, 3 kids: Chris 8, Shylia 6, Parker 3. My youngest sister Oshanna Manoso, she's 22 but acts 15. I don't have confirmation yet but I am going to ask Rachel and Ron Martine to come. 3 kids: Julie 12, Freddie 9, Cassie 6. Me, Stephanie and 15 of my men. Even if Ron and Rachel don't come I'm going to insist on Julie joining us."
"Ok I am counting forty-two people. But only fifteen men to protect ten targets? Is that going to be enough?"
"Ok make it forty-seven and I will bring twenty men. My men can bunk four to a hotel room, and in some cases six to a room, because some will be working nights and sleeping days. If it's a cruise and there are six of them we need their cabins cleaned twice a day. Once at eight am and once at seven pm. My sister's families need suites. Oshanna doesn't need a suite book one if they have it, but she can be underground with my men as far as I am concerned, of course book my parents and grandmothers a suite if they have it."
"Ok that is the family what about you? And where do you want your men?"
"If you can find a nice cabin inside or ocean view, with a king size bed book it for me and Stephanie. Book my men as close to the suites as you can. I care more about location than price. No price on this one you have my personal AmEx card, book everything on it, nothing to Rangeman." I took a deep breath as I viewed a robin flying down to the ground looking for morning worms or maybe some twigs to build a nest.
"You're paying for this personally? It's going to add up fast with that many people. How did you find out about this? I would have thought you would just go take them out."
"Well usually I have advanced notice, but I just found out about the threat last night. They recorded a demonstration and dropped it to me. Not dinner date material."
"Like a group job, everyone does Debbie?"
"More along the lines of a triple x horror."
"So, they are slashing and dashing as well. Are we talking Halloween and Jason?"
"Yeah, throw in a boxing match too, it was that bad. How fast can you have something?"
"Give me a couple of hours. I will call you when I have some concrete options."
"I told them by lunch."
"Well that's pushing it. I might need more time than that."
"If it comes to that, we'll have a late lunch." I told her.
"Ok, I'll fire up my computer, burn up the phone lines and see what I can find."
"Just work your magic, you always do. Thanks sweetheart. Good bye." And I disconnected. I took a deep breath. The hard part was over. They have all agreed to protection. Now we just need some place fun and remote. I wish my siblings were more the outdoorsy type. But my sisters are more Mall bunnies than, hillside hikers. I turned to go into the house and suddenly Lester was there.
"Why did you have to tell them all that stuff about the leaked information? Why did you have to tell them why you go by Ranger? Why haven't I seen the gory video that they can't stop talking about? You threw me to the wolves the minute your little meeting was over and you didn't warn me. I have been asked a thousand questions, none of which I have answers to and they cornered me like a treed raccoon and wouldn't let me leave. That's the last time you get me into that house until you get your women settled." Then he stormed off into the nether regions of the backyard.
If he wasn't my cousin and this wasn't family I would take him to the mats for that little outburst. But knowing I forgot he was inside and didn't warn him the meeting was over I have to give him a pass. I went back into the house to face the melee. My mother was in the kitchen with my sisters and Abuela Rosa, talking and pulling out food.
"Mama, you don't have to cook. We can order out and-"
"Well, me'jo," My mother put her hands on each of my cheeks and looked me in the eyes. "I just went food shopping on Saturday and I have a fridge full of food and if we are going away I might as well feed the masses." She released my face and I gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Gracias mama."
"Buenos días, Abuela Rosa." I also kissed her on her cheek. "¿Cómo te sientes hoy?" (Good morning, Grandma Rosa. How are you feeling today?)
"Mejor, estoy escuchando acerca de todo este problema, los hombres viniendo después de nosotros. ¿Por qué querrían herir a una anciana?" (Better, I am hearing about all this trouble, men coming after us. Why would they want to hurt an old lady?)
"Abuela, a estos hombres se les paga por herir a todas las mujeres que amo, incluido a ti. Te prometo que te protegeré. Estoy planeando llevar a todo el mundo para que todos estén a salvo." (Grandma, these men are being paid to hurt me by hurting the women I love including you. I promise you I will protect you. I am planning on taking everyone away so you will all be safe.)
"Pero lo que sucede cuando volvamos no vendrán después de nosotros." (But what happens when we get back won't they just come after us then.)
"Mis hombres los encontrarán mientras estamos fuera y los harán regresar a sus países. Una vez que son deportados no pueden hacerte daño." (My men will find them while we are gone and get them sent back to their countries. Once they are deported they can't hurt you.)
She looked at me with piercing brown eyes as if she was seeing into my soul; seeing if I was telling the truth. I knew this was her way and let her scrutinize me for several long minutes.
"Si nieto, voy a venir con la familia. Haces lo que debes hacer para mantenernos a salvo." (Yes grandson, I will come with the family. You do what you need to do to keep us safe.) I nodded at her. It was her blessing to kill or do whatever I had to do to protect the family and she would go to mass and light a candle for me because that was also her way.
I needed a place to hide until I had some options or answers. "I have to go check on my men." I walked out of the kitchen without a backwards glance. I walked out the front door to where Zip and Junior were standing on the front porch and just took a position next to them. Watching the few cars that traveled this residential road. Watching the newly growing leaves flit around in the Maple tree planted twenty-five years ago in our front yard. Watching a twenty-something neighbor, I have never seen before jog up the street. Watching an older woman walk her two large dogs.
I was trying to stand here on high alert watching everything as it went by, but I had an uneasy feeling in my gut. I felt anxious like my skin was crawling trying to get away from danger, but I couldn't nail it down. Was something bad going to happen to my family? Was it just the whole unsettling situation? Would it go away once we had a plan of action in place. After a few minutes, I couldn't keep standing still.
I decided to walk the perimeter and check in with each of my teams. I grabbed my radio, turned it on and stepped off the porch onto the sidewalk that turned left and led to my father's company truck, parked in the driveway, in front of the white two-car garage, but then I veered off it walking across the yard to my SUV that was parked across the street two-houses down. I was half way across the green manicured yard when machine gun fire broke out from the gray roof across the street, spraying the front yard at my feet.
To be continued…
Thank you to my wonderful Beta Sassysaint. If you haven't read her stories they are wonderful and worth your time to read. She has a new one "Nothing worth having is easy". I don't have a posting schedule planned. The first ten chapter's will go up faster because they are mostly written, just needing some editing. After that I'm going to try to post a chapter a week.
All Spanish conversations done by Google translate so if they say something totally off I apologize now, but please nicely let me know. Please read and review let me know if you're still enjoying this story.
Mother's Mother – Abuela Rosa Escalante, Father's Mother – Abuela Sanja Manoso
Mother – Maria Manoso Father – Javier Manoso
Siblings and families in age order
Leyla (35) & Richard Gonzales – Rebecca (Becky) 12, Margaret (Maggie) 10, Richard (Ricky) 7, Michael (Mikie) 5
Angelia (34) & Jordan White – Shanna 5, Kendrick (Ricky) 3
Ricardo Carlos Manoso (32) – Ranger
Julio Manoso (30) Ex-wife Allysa – Jacob 2
Isabella (27) & Diego Diaz – Chris 8, Shylia 6, Parker 3
Oshanna Manoso (22)
Rachel & Ron Martine – Julie 12, Fredrico (Freddie) 9, Cassandra (Cassie)6