Chapter 8 Final Touches
Wednesday Evening April 13
As soon as we get back she was going to start on the pill or shots. I'm not going to be sharing her with anyone or seeing other people when we are "off" because we are never going to be "off" and she would never see anyone else ever again. She was mine now and forever, not that I was ready for marriage but I was ready to commit to her permanently.
On our way to Haywood Steph's phone rang and she looked at the read out and rolled her eyes. After three rings, she heaved a great sigh and finally answered.
"Hello."
"Hi, mom. How are you today?"
"No, I'm mostly ok. I just have a few bruises on my face."
"Mom, you can't just listen to all the gossip-" She was quiet for a few minutes as she listened frustration growing on her face.
"No mom I know Mrs. Perlaki's daughter doesn't get kidnapped, and I AM still with Joe. I was in his house when it happened."
"No, I don't know who those men were, but it's not related to my job." She hesitated.
"Mom I was unconscious when they put me up there. Then Ranger saved me and I'm alright." She paused.
"No, I can't come for dinner tonight and you will be glad to know I am going away for a few weeks till these bad guys are caught." She explained and then listened.
"I'm glad you are relieved, I'm still not sure it is the right thing, but Ranger's got his men on it. They are going to find these men and get them off the street." She said.
"I haven't seen the video, but really mom, I'm doing ok. I just got hit lightly a few times."
"I told you I haven't seen the video but I heard the other woman died, so I am being careful." She told her.
"Yes, well I'm going away with his family. He is putting everyone in hiding till they can catch these guys."
"No, I don't know where, it is secret. We don't find out till we get there." She listened.
"Tomorrow." She said.
"I don't know, about two weeks or until they catch these guys,"
"I'll be safe tonight I promise. I'll probably have a guard or something."
"I love you too. I'll call again when I can. Good bye." She hung up the phone and turned to me. "She is very worried over the situation. Shockingly relieved that you were able to save me from off the side of the building."
She looked agitatedly at me. "I just can't believe that everyone knows what's in that video. It's like they played it on the six o'clock news. She is glad and even proud of me for agreeing to leave with your family to get away from the danger. That is the one thing helping her stress levels."
"Babe you know the burg gossip hot line is alive and well. When that woman was found dead we had to release the whole DVD to the police, but I had Tank edit out the part where they shot you up, I didn't want that going all around town."
"Thanks, yeah I forgot about that actually. It's all just a blur in my mind."
"I wasn't sure what you remembered from last night, heroin can make everything fuzzy and seem unreal."
"Well being tied up in a dark bathroom was real but I am glad I was out of it when they hung me off the building. It was scary enough to wake up like that but I would have freaked if I was awake while they did it and then they probably would have dropped me and I would be a splat on the pavement."
I didn't say anything. What was there to say? I was glad that she was drugged for most of it, she has practically forgotten it even happened, but those images from that tape and her hung off that building were burned into my heart and brain. I was going to make it safe for her and all my women and this was never going to happen again. When I got to Sergio I would send a clear message to all my enemies – you threaten my family I take you out, no discussion, it's the same as you signing your own death warrant.
When we got to Haywood I opened the door to seven and dropped her suitcases off. Took Rex from her arms, put him on the kitchen counter and ushered her back into the elevator. "Let's go find Bobby, some cream will really help your face."
We stepped out of the elevator on three and I led her into Bobby's office, where he was packing his medical bags in the back room. "Bobby, Stephanie is here to see if you have anything to help her face."
"Of course, I do. Come here and let me see how you are doing today." She walked in hesitantly, her dislike of all things medical clear on her face. "You certainly have a couple of doozies there. Hate to see the other guy." There won't be much to see once I get hold of them, I thought. She shook her head and half rolled her eyes, not remembering herself what happened she was so drugged at the time. "Let me give you some bruise cream for your face. Is anything else hurting?"
"No, except for my face I feel fine."
"No residual problems from the drugs?" He asked her.
"Not any more. I had a bit of a drug hang over this morning." She explained.
He hands her a white tube. "Put it on immediately and every four hours during the day until they turn yellowish. That's when you can stop."
I took the tube out of her hand and opened it ready to smear it on and she yanked it back out of my hands and reapplied the lid. "Thank you, Bobby," she told him and turned towards the door. "I can do it myself." She hissed under her breath at me and walked out. My phone had been dinging repeatedly and I took all the pictures I had received and forwarded them on to Bones telling him that was the last of the pictures. To text me if he needed anything more and to send me the updated digital family album when it was complete.
Dinner was waiting for us when we got back upstairs. Steamed wild rice with creamed chicken and vegetables in a creamy broth. I ate in silence, she ate with her normal orgasmic sounds, rendering a response from my lower regions that I didn't want her to see. This next part of our relationship was going to be about a committed relationship not just great sex. The sex was going to be explosive and I was excited about having her in my bed every night, particularly because I slept better with her next to me. She seemed to keep the bad dreams at bay. I made sure she had two glasses of wine at dinner and then poured her a third, once we had cleaned up the dishes, and asked her to join me in the living room.
I sat her on the couch next to me and turned on the TV flipping through looking for a game or movie we could watch. I settled on "Passengers" it said it was a romantic Si-Fi so maybe it would help set the mood. I got up and went to my closet and got the watch out of the safe.
"Stephanie, remember for Orin I gave you that watch?" She nodded at me. "Well I have a better one for you now." I opened the box and handed it to her. She gasped in surprise.
"It has diamonds." She said appreciatively.
"Yes, because you deserve diamonds." And I wasn't joking. Once we are together I am going to buy her a lot of jewelry with diamonds; earrings, necklaces, bracelets; all with tracking devices in them. I gently took it out of its box.
"The buttons aren't colored, they are all platinum so you will have to remember. "This top button sets the time. This lower button is the alarm button and when you press it a red plus sign comes on in the middle of the heart. That's when you know you are broadcasting and calling for help. The third button on the other side is a new feature we have never tried before. We have tested it and it works but you have to be totally alone, no bad guys around. When you push it, you can hear a guy in the control room talking to you. Put it on, let's try it out."
She slipped it on her left arm and pushed the second button. The red plus sign showed up and she said, "Testing, testing, can you hear me?" and then pressed the third button. "Copy we read you, time is 19:35 this is operations and we hear you loud and clear." I said "Thank you, this concludes our test." And told her to shut it off.
"Now, babe, I want you to always wear this watch, you can take it off when you are in the shower, but I want you to immediately put it back on. Wear it everywhere you go and even while you sleep. That way if someone grabs you in the middle of the night I can still find you."
"Yeah but I never would have had a chance to push the button last night. By the time, I was awake they had me tied up."
"Babe, the button signals us you are in danger, but even without it we can track you. The first thing I did when I found out you were in trouble was pull up your trackers and they were all at Morelli's. I need something that will stay on you so I can find you before you get hung off the side of a building."
"Ok, I want to say you can't always make me wear it because I feel funny with you always being able to track me but it is so beautiful. You did a great job picking this one out." She smiled at me as she looked at the watch.
I had looked at hundreds of watches to find one big enough to hide all the equipment in: tracking bug, a mini mic, speaker, extra-large battery, and one pretty enough that she would want to wear it all the time. It was a beautiful platinum watch with a circle of diamonds around the face, a diamond for each number, and a heart outlined in gold and inlaid with diamonds just below and to the left of the hands in the center between nine and six. Then another smaller gold heart to the right of center at the number four, with the date in the middle of it. She sat ogling the watch and I turned back to the TV. I put my arm around her again and she leaned against me tucking her head under my chin.
Ten minutes later she suddenly stiffened and sat forward reaching to get her cup of wine. I assume she just remembered that she was still with Morelli and didn't want to get too cozy with me.
"Relax, babe, I'm not going to bite or jump you sitting on the couch." I brought my arm back down to my side and waited for her to relax again.
This was reminding me of when, in my sophomore year of high school, I took Jennifer Cartel to the movies. I spent the whole movie making moves on her, and kept getting rebuffed. She had worn this cute little red skirt and finally after I was holding her hand against her knee I let go and started drawing little patterns on her leg as I slowly moved upwards. At a pivotal point in the movie, I slipped my hand underneath her skirt.
When she realized, she put her hand on mine letting me know that was as far as I could go. I never made it to third base that night, but two dates later we hit a home run. We dated the rest of my sophomore year and probably would have my junior year but over the summer her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona and we lost touch. But she had obviously bragged about my sexual expertise because I had a lot of girls seeking me out the next year, even older senior girls slipping me notes, asking friends to introduce them and even dropping things in front of me, bending over so I could get a glimpse of boobs or legs, showing off whatever they thought was their best feature.
I never lacked for a date and never saw anyone exclusively. By general consent the girls were willing to share to get a piece of me. I smiled at the night my senior year, I took two girls out together and neither one wanted to go home first.
That set the stage for the past ten years during which I have had women chasing me, me easily picking up anyone I set my sights on. "Dating" as many women as I could, preferring quick one-night stands and avoiding all romantic entanglements. Now all that has changed overnight and I am ready to get tangled. Actually, I am a spider weaving my web ready to catch my fly and never let her go again.
I waited till she had downed half her wine and for a slow part of the movie to start talking.
"Stephanie, I have said a lot of things to you about not ever wanting to get involved with you, that my life doesn't lend itself to relationships, but things have changed for me." She turned to look at me, wariness in her eyes. "I have had all my old beliefs shattered and I am open to having a relationship with you. A long term serious relationship with you." I explained.
She looked at me a little bleary eyed and I made a mental note to have 'The Cure' waiting for her in the morning.
"Ranger, I'm with Morelli right now. I can't just break up with him because you say you're finally ready. Besides you're just saying that because of what happened last night. What if you change your mind tomorrow or next week."
"Babe, I'm never going to change my mind. Last night I realized I have already put you in danger. I have gotten too close, you are never going to be out of danger ever again, but I can protect you better keeping you close, rather than pushing you away and keeping you at arm's length."
"So, now you want to be close after I have been taken again by one of your maniacs, trying to get back at you. Really that is not very romantic, and I'm not sure it is a good reason to have a relationship."
"Stephanie, I can protect you better than him. If you were staying here last night you would not have been kidnapped."
"So, you want to have a relationship so you can keep me safe? That's not a reason to have a relationship either." Damn, I was hoping after a few drinks she would have been more agreeable, less resistant.
"Stephanie, the reason I want to have a relationship is because I love you. I have loved you for a long time but I pushed you away because I thought I was keeping you safe. Now I realize it's too late. I have gotten too close, too many times, and my enemies know about you now. There is no longer a reason for me to stay away and all the reasons in the world for me to keep you close, be totally devoted to you, have a relationship and protect you better than anyone else could ever dream to."
"Wow, Ranger," She half smiled at me. "This is the most you have ever told me…the most you have ever opened up to me. Is your throat getting sore?" She smirked. "Because I swear this is a record for how much I have ever heard you talk voluntarily, much less open up about your feelings."
I know that I have always been a private man, but over the years I've tried to tell her a little about how I feel, without exposing myself to getting stomped on by her. Now when I am trying to open up she harasses me for it. I inwardly smile, at least I am getting something out of her, hopefully by the end of tonight we will have a shift in where our relationship stands. I won't even try to seduce her tonight, I would never take advantage of her like that, but once we are on this trip all bets are off.
"Babe," I hesitated trying to find the right words taking her right hand in mine and looking deeply into her eyes. "Besides Julie, you are the most important person in my life and it took till me seeing that video to realize I have been a fool trying to close you out and stay away from you. I did it because I felt like your relationship with Morelli deserved a chance. You deserved that chance at a Burg life. Marriage, house, 2.5 kids and a normal life where you wouldn't always be in danger. Last night flipped a switch for me and I realized that it hasn't worked. Your relationship with Morelli is not working out and I am constantly fighting myself to stay away from you. But I knew nothing was going to change unless I changed and for this to go anywhere; I have to step up, open up and tell you how I really feel."
"I don't see how you can expect me to accept you suddenly wanting to have a relationship with me? You have spent most of the time I have known you telling me you weren't relationship material."
"I have kept you in my life for a long time just at arm's length. I've found it impossible to leave you alone. I said what I said in the past to keep you from getting too close. To keep you from wanting or expecting what I couldn't give. In my heart I want to fall asleep with you in my arms and wake up with you wrapped around me. I want to see you across from me at the breakfast table and look forward to having dinner with you every night. I want to take you out and spend time together. But in my life, that puts you in a lot of danger."
"Ranger…" she hesitated, "I don't know what to say. I have waited a long time to hear words like that from you. But Joe and I have been together for longer than I have known you, and I'm not so susceptible that every time a guy shows up claiming to love me I fall for it." Her words were slightly slurred and her eyes were unfocused, but still she seemed single-minded.
"Babe, I'm not any guy, and I helped train you so you could catch Joe and you certainly were not with him at that time." My phone rang and I sent it to voicemail, they could leave a message and I would call them back.
"I've known Joe since I was a kid. He was my first, and he loves me. I can't cheat on him." She said defiantly. My phone beeped with a text. 'Target returned 19:06, captured and subdued, orders?'
"Babe, you don't have to make any decisions tonight. I'm not saying dump Joe," (actually I am) "and jump in my bed. I am throwing my hat in the ring. I am making myself a contender, a possibility, an option that wasn't there before." I paused. "This is terrible timing, Babe. I have to go, they just caught one of the bad guys outside my parent's home." I leaned forward kissing her forehead and smelling her hair. "Finish watching the movie, don't wait up; I don't know when I will be back. Don't make yourself crazy over this we can discuss it more tomorrow."
"Don't get shot." She said as she watched me walk out the door.
I called Tank as I ran down the stairs. "They caught a guy coming back for the gun outside my parent's house. Can you come?"
"On my way."
"Reschedule tonight's meeting for 07:00. Tell the men to be ready to leave at 09:00."
I called the guys back. "Report."
"At 18:58, a silver Bronco pulled in several houses away and dropped subject off. Subject made his way through backyards. We observed him entering the target's yard and flanked him. When he came back over the fence we stunned him. He is restrained and shackled in the backseat. Once we got him down Chester tried to sneak up on the driver, but he was spotted and the driver drove off."
On my way out of the building I stopped in the basement and got money out of the vault. Twenty-five thousand isn't that much but mercenaries will sometimes spill for money, especially if it keeps them from getting hurt.
Tank and I piled into the Cayenne and we drove out into the dark night that had been cooled by a light rain leaving the air smelling clean and refreshed.
"On my way with Tank." And I disconnected. Tank was a very useful guy for interrogations. He scared the begezus out of most guys and between the two of us we had a way to make men talk without ever having to get physical. But when we do have to get physical, it only takes getting hit by him one or two times to make them rethink their position and spill.
When we arrived, I flashed my lights at Chester and Miguel and they pulled out and followed me. I knew all the closest hotels near my parent's house but we were going over to Wilson street. Wilson was Newark's version of Stark street. It started off bad and slowly turned into a war zone. I was going to a hotel that was just outside of gang territory. The Little Sleeper, was a dilapidated three-story building, with flaking gray paint, outlined by what was at one time, yellow and blue trim. Now it stood up to its name as most rooms were rented by the hour, by working women up and down the street. It was exactly what we needed. It was someplace no one sees or hears anything. I got six rooms, at the end of the third story hall as far away from anyone else as was available.
We entered the room and I left Miguel and Chester outside as guards. I lugged the perp in and dropped him unceremoniously on the floor. He was middle Eastern looking with dark hair, brown eyes and darker skin wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt. He quickly rolled over and pushed himself up. This was one of the unnamed guys who hurt the unknown brunette that was killed. Fortunately, for him, he wasn't one of the men that hit Stephanie. I was going to use every excuse to be rough, but that saved him a little. Tank lifted the double size mattress up and set it in front of the door to muffle the sounds going down the hall.
"We saw what you did to that woman, and we have a mind to skip the questioning and do a repeat performance on you, without the red dress." I watched him judging the lack of reaction in his eyes. I waited a few minutes as I watched him watch us.
"I have some questions for you if you answer them I will give you several thousand American dollars and return you to the street. If you don't my friend here will tenderize you and then we will try again."
"I am no traitor," he said with a heavy accent.
"You are a mercenary, you'll do anything for money. I am offering you money for your services. Or offering you pain for your services. One of those options has you walking out alive and well. The other is to be determined." I have learned if you tell them they are going to die they become very uncooperative but you always leave the option for death on the table. He sat there wordless and unmoving trying to stare me down. "Tank would you introduce yourself."
Two hours later we left with all the information he had and my suspicions were confirmed. His name was Ohamad Koturi. He was most recently from Egypt according to his passport. There was someone running this team, named Boris, from Colombia, no last name, who was not involved last night. Said Boris was out-of-town last night, but he didn't know where.
There were seven men in total, including Mukhtar and Boris. Mukhtar was brought in to draw me out, thinking I could trust him. That he was doing me a favor so I would believe that he was telling me the truth about the two weeks. It was his idea to use a prostitute, a girl they had hired for the night in New York, named Krystal. When Boris showed up and found out about the substitution he was mad. Mukhtar disappeared this morning. Boris had said it was time for him to go back to where he came from.
They were in the US for several targets, "All of Sergio's enemies." He knew of three. I was the first one. He also knew of David Assarigo and Stephen Conklin. Assarigo was one of the geologists that found the Uranium rich land but when he learned who Sergio planned to sell the Uranium to, went back to the States and ratted him out to the government.
The third target, Stephen Conklin was now living in Seattle. Stephen had been an accountant, who had set up business accounts for Sergio, but several months after he left some of the accounts lost money mysteriously and he seemed to have become independently wealthy. They were going to have a "talk" with Steve and see if they couldn't determine the source of his new-found wealth.
He thought that there might be more targets in the future, but only knew about the first three. They had six months to get all the targets before their B-1 visa's ran out and they had to leave the country, not that they would. They were being paid $1,000,000 each and would be given tickets back to France, where they had flown in from, when the assignments were completed.
The shooting of the house, was for fun, to raise the threat level and see if they could get us to run and move the targets. They didn't have enough men to storm the house, they were waiting just outside the neighborhood with guns and trucks. They were going to shoot the drivers and get what targets they could in the chaos.
They are expecting to watch and take any opening they can for the next two weeks, raising the threat level each time. Then go get another target and come back to get the women when I let my guard down. They had an explosives specialist who was supposed to blow up my vehicles and men while they were out patrolling and eventually attack Haywood itself, attaching bombs to several vehicles or having large packages delivered and blowing up the building. I had wanted to know why the game, why not just take the women before I knew that there was a threat. He wasn't sure, only that Sergio hated me the most and wanted to torment me before I was killed.
They had very specific goals to terrorize me, make me crazy, and spend as much money as possible trying to protect my women, my men, my business. Then at the end of the game, to kill all my women and when I go to the funerals, me. Anything else they do to them is optional, but the more suffering they can cause me with each death the better.
The video and warnings were given to me to signal the start of the game. Stephanie was supposed to be first, now she was being saved for last. She was so easy to take they were sure that once I let my guard down they could get her again and next time she wouldn't get the drugs, they would torture her for days till she begged for death; recording every agonizing minute for me.
They have six men from all over, plus Boris, in their group. He only knew first names. Jack (Jacque), Felipe, Santiago, Harry, Mukhtar. They are held up in an abandoned warehouse near the river, we had directions not a real address.
After he was well tenderized and had given us all the information he had, we walked him out to the SUV's. I sent Miguel and Chester ahead to scout the location and Tank called Jim and Martin to load up weapons, equipment and meet us in Newark. If he had taken the money, or was somewhat willing to cooperate I could let him live, but he was there to hurt my women, my family and me. Nothing I could do or say would take him from his path to a million dollars, so I had to get rid of him another way. We disposed of him in a dumpster in gang no-mans-land. He was already wearing blue Crips colors; we marked the kill as done by the Bloods with an unlicensed gun.
We scouted the warehouse, while we waited, and found the silver Bronco and white Chevy truck outside, but no lights or movement inside or out. Everything here was dry, the evening rain either not making it this far or turned and headed a different direction. When they arrived, we got armed for bear and went in with stealth, two men at the front door, two men at the side door Tank and myself at the backdoor. We entered silently and searched the building finding no one, but in an office on the second floor there was a note. 'You took one of ours we take two of yours.'
Tank sent out a flash message to each security team to check in and hunker down. To watch out for an ambush, that subjects are on the move. We decided to put four men on each location for the overnight teams, two extra vehicles for Leyla's and Isabella's families.
Tank and I headed back to Trenton with Miguel and Chester following us. We sent Jim and Martin to go to Leyla's house and guard them till morning. All the way back, I thought about the plan to take Sergio out and finally confided it to Tank. I would get them all to Florida and then after a few days, leave them on the Island and go take Sergio out. I needed to know where Sergio was and our informant didn't even know what country Sergio was from. He had only ever dealt with Boris.
As I went through my reverie, I realized I had some critical shopping for the trip. Condoms. If I happened to get through to Stephanie I was going to want lots and lots of condoms. I told Tank I needed to make an urgent stop and found an all-night drugstore before we left Newark. They sold Magnums from three packs that wouldn't last me all night to a thirty-six pack which I know from the past I could go through in a week. What the hell, Stephanie was going to be mine. I bought two thirty-six packs it wasn't like they would go bad. Back in the truck Tank glanced at my purchases and raised an eyebrow at me. "Something I don't know?"
"She's going to be mine." I told him simply.
"And she's not already?"
"Not yet, she is certain that she is still in a relationship with Morelli and is not going to cheat on him."
"Isn't she?"
"Not as of last night. When she got taken from his bed, she became fair game, as far as I am concerned. He can't protect her and I can. I am no longer going to leave her protection in his hands and I'm not leaving her in his hands either."
He smirked and looked away.
"What?" I demanded.
"Your family is not going to take to you locking yourself away in your cabin and fucking her all day and all night. You have to sleep sometime and at some point, you are supposed to be leaving to take out Sergio. I'm just trying to figure out when you are going to get a chance to use seventy-two condoms. Understand I have seen you perform. It's not your ability I am questioning here it is the circumstances."
"There are no drug stores on this island. It would be worse to have the opportunity and not be able to, rather than have the ability and not the opportunity. I'm preparing for all eventualities and when we get back she is going on a better option. It might take me a little while to persuade her but I won't live in condoms like the cop."
"That's only because he is always taking detours when she breaks it off with him. And doesn't care if she is free with her wares, while they are apart."
"As long as it isn't with me."
"He just knows you have a bigger dick and doesn't want you ruining his steady thing."
"Maybe, I think he knows she loves me and that given a chance will choose me. I just haven't given her that choice."
"and now you are?"
"And now I am. She will be mine. No question. The only question is how long it will take me to convince her I am a real option that she can count on. I have spent so long keeping her at arms-length, she doesn't trust me yet."
"If you really want her I know you will eventually get her. Especially since she is booked in your cabin every night. You haven't told her that part yet, have you?"
"Maybe not yet." He just smirked. He knew I was a determined bastard and once fixated on something never stopped going after it until I got it. But he also knew how stubborn Stephanie was and that she is my weakness. I have a hard time saying no to her and not giving in to whatever she asks me for.
Once I got back to the apartment I got busy. I still had to pack, and I needed two bags. One bag for the vacation and one bag for the visit to Sergio. The second bag was bigger, filled with armament and I even added a third backpack of repelling options, including my secret batman toy. I had a real life grappling gun that could shoot over fifty feet, about four stories, hook to my rappelling gear and pull me up. I am too heavy for it to do it on its own, but it makes a great assist as I climb a wall. Finally, everything was ready. I took a shower to wash off the day and climbed into bed next to Stephanie.
I laid in bed knowing I needed to sleep some before I had to get up and deal with my family. It was hard enough to deal with them fully rested, being up for twenty-four hours tended to leave me abrasive and short tempered. I gave up the fight and pulled Stephanie into my arms. In sleep, she did not resist me and with her peaceful deep breathing lulling me, I quickly fell asleep.
Thursday April 14
I woke up at 05:00, untwined myself from Stephanie's grasp, and headed down stairs. I did my regular workout and ran my usual eight miles. I showered, dressed in my RangeMan black uniform and prepared for the meeting. I suddenly remembered and texted Angelia's men not to let her bring the dog.
When Ella brought breakfast up I checked in with her progress on the outfits. She had gone to a bulk outlet warehouse in New York and was able to get plenty of black tank tops and shorts. She was up late embroidering them all and she showed me the new design. She had turned the R of RangeMan into a pistol. The back of the R was the grip, the downward angle slash of the R was the trigger, the top part of the R extended into a barrel and a bullet flew out of the end of the barrel and stopped over the n.
It looked very attractive and I could tell she'd worked hard on it. It really added to the name and I hadn't realized a logo could add so much. I complemented the design, thanked her for all the hard work but asked her not to put this logo on our regular t-shirts yet. That I had to run it through the lawyer's office and make sure it was available to be trademarked. She smiled at me and I told her to keep a man with her every time she leaves the building until further notice. That if they can't get to the main targets they might go after her. She nodded, "I will be careful" and left. I sent a companywide text that Ella was not named as a target, but we are going to treat her like one and she gets a man every time she leaves the building.
At 07:00 I called the meeting to order. I showed them the shirts and shorts, explained that these were strictly for wearing while patrolling and guarding on the beach. Told them there was a stack for each of them, and when the meeting was over to thank Ella. Then I got down to business.
"Chester and Martin apprehended a subject last night coming back for the gun that was stashed. The bad news is that they knew we got him and have vowed to take two of ours in retaliation, so be on guard for yourself as well as the targets. We know from our information gathering session, last night that this is a long-term game and it won't end in two weeks like was previously mentioned. That they are going to keep coming till all of the women are tortured and dead, making me spend a lot of time and resources trying to protect them and then killing me in the end. Ultimately their plan is to kill me.
"Our plan is to get my whole family out of town, some place safe and fun for two weeks or until the threat is dealt with. Today we fly by private jet to Miami. Spend the night in Homestead. Board the Blue Island Cruise Ship, The Retreat after 14:00 tomorrow. We are on the ship till Saturday morning, arriving at a private island 07:00 where we will dock and unload. There are twenty-four private cabana's that we have reserved. The ship leaves the Island at 18:00. Once we are alone on the Island we can relax a little. The cruise ships come every Tuesday and Saturday to the Island. Heavy guard and restricted movements on those days. After Tuesday, I expect my family will be settled and I am going to leave the Island to go resolve the problem. You will stay on the Island with the family until I get back or until Tank says to come home. We will fly back by small plane. Everyone must have their passport."
"There are ten main targets. Stephanie, My mom Maria, My four sisters: Leyla, Angelia, Isabella, and Oshanna, and my mother's mother: grandmother Rosa. In Miami there is my daughter, Julie, Rachel, my ex-wife and Julie's mother, and my Father's mother: Sonja Manoso. Tank is passing out the schedule and personal assignments."
"Starting today you ten will each be assigned a target. You are with them all day, for everything until they are in their rooms for the night. Bones made a digital family album that has been emailed to each of you and a phone book with everyone's phone numbers. There are 27 people in my family. Read through it and become familiar with your target and their immediate families. Four of you will be guarding the group and once we are on the island, the perimeter, from 07:00 to 19:00, and the last six of you are on overnights guarding from 19:00 to 07:00.
"Everyone will wear a radio while they are on duty, binoculars, a side arm and a stun gun. On the Island, on days the ship is gone, you will be carrying the LSAT LMG's. I am bringing the cellphone broadcasting unit and an internet broadcasting unit so we will have use of our cell phones and the family can use their electronics safely.
"Finally, this is a unique request, it is for my family's comfort. There are twenty of you and they are not going to remember your names. I want them to feel like they can approach you, talk to you, not be too afraid of you. There are only going to be five other workers on the island. So, I am requesting each of you wear your name badge on a lanyard around your neck so they can know your names and be more at ease around you. Ella gave me a pile of lanyards. Pick one up with your outfits.
"When I leave, my family will be told I am called away for business. Keep to that story and tell them I will be back as soon as I can. This will not end until I end it. I will do what I must to keep my family safe. Be at my mother's house in Newark at 10:00 only take four vehicles that's five men to a vehicle and I will let you guys figure that out. There are three crates of LSAT's load them up in your vehicles. The fourth vehicle gets the extra bags. I am in charge of this OP while I am around. Marc is in charge while I'm gone. Any questions?"
Nobody raised any questions and I opened up to them. "Men this is the most important assignment I have ever given you. If you haven't seen the video it will be available on the plane. They are being paid a million dollars each to complete their mission, and these are all the women in my life, even if some of them drive me crazy, I would die a thousand times over to protect them. I am asking each of you to protect them like they are your own family. Dismissed."
After the meeting, I collected the extra piles of shorts and tanks and dumped them, next to the boxes slated to go, in my office. I followed Tank into his office and gave him Steph's remaining skip and the file I had picked up from Connie.
"Neither of these are a priority, but it would be good if you can take care of them in the next week."
"Copy that."
I finished my morning as I called the Miami office to give them the hotel name and registration and let them know we should be there by 14:30.
Now I had to go take care of my Babe. I went to Mc Donald's and got her The Cure. Then I gently woke her up while waving a French fry in front of her face. She cracked an eye, sniffed the air and opened her mouth begging for it like a little blue bird. I stuck the French fry in, watched her chew it up and open her mouth again. I repeated the process several times smiling bigger as she slowly became more responsive. Then I lifted her hand up and stuck the coke into it.
She sighed, propped herself up on her elbows and took a big sip. Then she opened her red eyes and I held the French fries out to her. She selected several and shoved them in her mouth followed by a longer swig of coke. Finally, she sat all the way up and gave me a weak half smile. I gave her my full 200-watt smile, as she calls it, and placed the container of French fries into her lap.
"Babe, it is 8:30. You have half an hour to shower and get ready to go. We leave at 9:00 sharp. I laid out your clothes for you, your toiletry bag and blow dryer are all right here. I have to go see Hector about our electronics. Can you get up now?" She nodded to me as she took another big sip. I kissed her on the top of her head and daydreamed about waking up next to her every day. No one makes me smile like she can. No one has ever brought me such joy as watching her. No one has ever chased my demons away and brought peace to my soul like she does.
Why did it take me so long to open my life up to her? I pondered that question, knowing all of the logical excuses I have used, wondering at all of the times I have sought her out for that bit of sunshine that she brings me. My mood lifted at the thought of seeing her every morning and having dinner with her every night. Of doing the mundane things couples did every day. Holding her hand, kissing her whenever I wanted. Showering with her. Making love to her. I had to stop this line of thought as I was getting hard and that wasn't productive right now. I carried my bags down and loaded them in the Cayenne.
I went up to Hector's office realizing I never texted him and canceled last night's meeting, that he probably went looking for me and found that Tank and I had left. "Los tipos malos aparecieron anoche y tuve que lidiar con ellos." ("Bad guys showed up last night and I had to deal with them.")
"No hay problema, jefe. Haces lo que tienes que hacer. Siempre estaré aquí cuando haya terminado." ("No problem boss. You do what you got to do. I will always be here when you are done.")
"Gracias. Muéstrame estas máquinas y explícame lo que puedo hacer con ellas." ("Thank you. Show me these machines and explain what I can do with them.")
"Esta es la emisora de telefonía celular. Si hay una torre de teléfono celular con-en quince millas que están en el negocio. Si no lo hay, tiene su propio sistema de células cerradas. Todos en ese sistema pueden ponerse en contacto unos con otros, pero no con el mundo exterior. Como cuando estás en el barco o en la isla. Todos los teléfonos celulares están conectados a este sistema, que automáticamente tratará de conectarse con él en primer lugar, pero si no está disponible sus teléfonos recorrerá y agarrar de cualquier sistema disponible." ("This is the cell phone broadcaster. If there is a cell phone tower with-in fifteen miles you are in business. If there is not, you have your own closed cell system. Everyone on that system can contact each other, but not the outside world. Like when you are on the ship or the island. All of the cell phones are wired into this system, they will automatically try to connect with it first, but if it is not available their phones will roam and grab hold of any system available.")
"En realidad, hay una torre de teléfono celular en la isla, pero es AT&T que hacer una diferencia?" ("Actually, there is a cell phone tower on the island, but it is AT&T will that make a difference?")
"No hace ninguna diferencia para esta máquina, y como prima usted no conseguirá ninguna carga de itinerancia. Ahora estos son el sistema de Internet. Éste," Señaló un cuadrado de ocho pulgadas, por una caja negra de ocho pulgadas con dos cables y un tapón que salía de la parte posterior de él, y un montón de luces y un interruptor en la parte delantera de la misma, "Toma su señal de teléfono celular y la convierte en Wi-Fi para las computadoras y la envía a ésta." Él puso su mano en la otra caja negra. ("Makes no difference for this machine, and as a bonus you won't get any roaming charges. Now these are the internet system. This one," he pointed at a square eight inch, by eight inch black box with two wires and a plug coming out of the back of it, and a slew of lights and one switch on the front of it, "takes your cell phone signal and turns it into Wi-Fi for the computers and sends it to this one." He put his hand on the other black box.)
"Éste", tenía la mano en una caja negra rectangular más alta, que de nuevo tenía dos cables y un enchufe que salía por la espalda, con sólo cinco luces y el interruptor en la parte posterior, "transmite la señal Wi-Fi a Los ordenadores y recibe la señal de retorno, y luego la transmite de vuelta a la primera caja," señaló la caja negra cuadrada más corta, "donde se cambia a una señal de teléfono celular y se envía a la emisora de teléfonos celulares." ("This one," he had his hand on a taller rectangular black box, that again had two wires and a power plug coming out the back, with only five lights and the switch on the back, "broadcasts the Wi-Fi signal to the computers and receives the returning signal. Then transmits it back to the first box," he pointed to the shorter square black box, "where it is changed to a cell phone signal and sent to the cell phone broadcaster.")
"¿Cómo los conecto y cómo se firman?" (How do I hook them up and how do people sign on?)
"La conexión es simple, primero se configura la emisora de telefonía celular. A continuación, simplemente conecte los dos y ejecutar los cables negro y amarillo entre ellos como este. Entonces los enciende. Usted programa el sistema conectando su computadora con este cable gris y va a . Allí usted puede cambiar el nombre y la contraseña y la señal del teléfono celular que está utilizando, como si usted quisiera que se conectara directamente con la torre de AT & T. Ya lo he programado para trabajar con la emisora de telefonía celular, por lo que si cambia de señal tiene que programarla. El nombre del sistema es Manoso y la contraseña es family1234. Hice fácil para que todos recordaran." (Hook up is simple, first you set up the cell phone broadcaster. Then you simply plug them both in and run the black and yellow wires between them like this. Then you turn them on. You program the system by plugging your computer in with this gray wire and going to . There you can change the name and password and the cell phone signal it is using, like if you want it to connect directly with the AT&T tower. I have already programed it to work with the cell phone broadcaster, so if you change signals you have to program it. The name of the system is Manoso and the password is family1234. I made it easy for everyone to remember.)
"Gracias, Héctor. Estoy agradecido de estar en sus manos capaces. Esta mañana estoy corriendo un poco tarde puede cargar estos en el Cayenne para mí?" (Thank you, Hector. I am grateful to be in your capable hands. This morning I am running a little late can you load these into the Cayenne for me?)
"Por supuesto, jefe. Se hace." (Of course, boss. It is done.)
I went to the boardroom to see if they had any new information for me. I made sure they had received all the names from last night and for them to pass the names onto Sybo.
I went back up to my office and I found two boxes, one with a pile of ID's and birth certificates attached to credit cards and five to passports, with a note that said they were complete. He was up late getting them all done, but to wake him if I needed anything more. The second box had cell phones lined up, in two lines and two lines of cases, still in their packaging, filling in the box. I stacked the extra outfits on top of the boxes, carried both boxes down and loaded them up. I packed the extra outfits in my bag so they could be transported easier. Then I headed upstairs to collect Stephanie.
When I entered the apartment, I surveyed the situation. Her black Pilates pants and blue shirt were gone off the bed and I could hear the blow dryer. I knocked on the door. "Babe, time to go." I told her. No answer. I cracked opened the door and she stepped back. "Babe, time to go." And I smiled at her. I liked her in my bathroom. I was going to make room for her make-up and hair things. Well I would have Ella make room for her thing in my bathroom and her clothes in my closet.
She smiled back at me. "I can't get my hair to behave. It's gone wild and I'm supposed to meet your parents." I could tell she was nervous about the prospect.
"Babe you look great. If you need to, put it in a ponytail. It's going to be humid where we are going so you probably need to do that anyway. Let me get all your stuff, repacked." I told her as I got her toiletries bag and started putting everything back in it. "We're leaving in five." I told her and walked out of the bathroom to pack the bag of toiletries and the blow dryer. She finally came out, wearing flat brown sandals, her shoulder length hair pulled back in a barely contained ponytail.
I gathered her and her suitcases and got them loaded into the Cayenne. I noted my men had already left. It was 8:58 and everything was going perfectly. I had everything accomplished and the plan was in motion. We were on the highway, flying through the bright morning haze, under a partially cloudy sky, when I heard a low grumbling that wouldn't quit.
"Babe, something wrong?"
"I'm awake now and my stomach is empty so it is protesting."
"You had French fries for breakfast not an hour ago."
"That was brain food. This is stomach food." She explained.
I pulled over at the next exit and my stomach rolled as she got a fried chicken breakfast biscuit, fried breakfast potatoes, and a large coke. I was going to have to work on her diet. I wouldn't try to change all of it, like donuts. That would be as impossible, as futile, as trying to hold the rain up in the clouds. But a few more vegetables and fried stuff only once a day. Little changes. She liked Ella's cooking, I would just have her eat it more. Simple solution.
To be continued…
A/N Everything is ready to go. Are you excited to go on this vacation with the Manoso's. Will his family drive him crazy before this is all over? Do you think he can get Stephanie to change her eating habits? Or is that like trying to change the direction of the wind? Hopeless and futile? Side note I couldn't find a good time to work Joe or Stephanie's family in the story so the phone calls will have to do.