Chapter 10 Miami
A few minutes later you could hear the engines ramping up and suddenly we were going down the runway for several long seconds until we just jumped vertically into the sky.
Some of the adults gasped, some of the boys squealed. We continued that vertical climb for about thirty seconds. Out Stephanie's window I could see the ground peeling away from us, buildings shrinking at an incredible rate. Then we were over water and then like the engines caught their second breath they launched us forward at a steeper rate than before and it sounded like liftoff, we were blasting straight up into the sky.
It took almost ten minutes before we leveled off and started flying straight. The captain came back on, "Congratulations you have just had your first ever supersonic take off. Now you can sit back and relax we have reached our cruising altitude and I am turning off the seatbelt sign. You are free to get up and move about the cabin. In a few minutes, Emile and Sabine will start passing out lunch."
The landing in blue sky, white puffy clouded Miami was smoother than our take-off, the Concorde slowing way down and gliding in for a long distance before touching the ground. Some of the kids were upset they couldn't finish their movies and promises were made about watching it later, knowing all the kids have seen these movies a gazillion times. But like Saturday morning loony toons it never gets old.
The funny part was watching my men. There were several of them that had turned on one of the cartoons. These were movies that have come out in the past ten years but my men had never seen before. It was surprising to watch them get disappointed when the movies were turned off several minutes before we started the approach for landing. Hal, Cal, and Junior three of my biggest men looked like lost puppies that had their bowl of food taken away.
It was sunny and hot out as promised, the air crisp and clean compared to the Trenton smog. We loaded all forty-one people and endless bags of luggage into twelve black SUVs to transport everyone to the hotel. Beachside Suites of Miami was a ten story, slightly pink, sandy colored building. White trim and reddish-brown accents covered the front and side of the building that was located just south of Miami on the beach. Skylar had reserved all the suites on the top two floors for my family and men, even having extra trundle beds reserved for the families larger than four. We were so close to the beach you could smell, and practically taste, the salt in the air.
I checked us in, while my men and family stayed in the SUVs. I found out that Ron and Rachel, as well as Abuela Sanja, had already checked in and my Miami men reported they were out at the pool. I sent eight men upstairs to clear the rooms, and when I got the signal ushered my family in groups with their protection detail to the beige with dark red trimmed elevators. I passed out hotel keys to each adult, asking everyone to stay in their rooms until all the luggage was brought up and sorted.
There were ten sandy-pink doored rooms on each floor and I assigned rooms to each of my siblings, my parents, and put both my grandmothers together, with one room left over. I offered the last room to Leyla and Isabella for the oldest children, Becky, Maggie, Chris, and Julie if she wanted to, that could be left alone without supervision to sleep, so they wouldn't have to sleep on extra roll-in beds. Each room was a large suite with a living room area, furnished with a couch and love seat or two chairs done in tasteful gold, yellows and greens, with a dark walnut credenza topped by a 55-inch smart TV. This led to a bedroom with two queen sized beds and two dressers flanking the beds, with a night stand topped with a lamp between the beds and additional lamps on the dressers, finished with a balcony out a back-sliding glass door.
The bathroom with a two-sink area was off the bedroom with the white toilet and shower in a little room, tiled with a cute geometric yellow, black, pink and green pattern, off to the right. The large closet space held a safe, hangers for your clothes, and a place to put your suitcases once they were emptied. I was disappointed to find that Stephanie's and my room, like all the rest, had two queen size beds and that she had staked out the one closer to the door with her purse.
I collected Junior, Eddie, Vince, Zip, and Zero and took them downstairs to introduce them to their targets and run a perimeter around the pool. I found Julie and Abuela Sanja in the pool and Rachel laying out on red and white striped loungers, shaded by a tall umbrella watching the kids play. I hugged Julie's wet blue one-piece covered body tightly even getting a little wet but I didn't care. I hadn't seen her since December and even though we talked more now since the Scrog incident, so much happens in her life in small spaces of time I quickly get left behind. I promised her that we would spend some time together during this vacation and told her that Stephanie was here too, that I was finally trying to make her my girlfriend. She squealed with delight. She had hoped that after Scrog; Stephanie and I would get together.
I quickly made the assignments: Junior – Julie, Eddie – Rachel, Vince – Abuela Sanja; and let them know the rest of the family was upstairs. I mentioned that Stephanie was here too, that she had been kidnapped and attacked, and for them not to question the bruises on her face. Once all the luggage was brought up I dismissed the Miami Rangemen, keeping the keys to ten of the big black Chevy Suburbans.
By the time I got back upstairs kids were running around in bathing suits as parents got ready and tried desperately to cover everyone in sunscreen. I walked up to Marc, who was standing outside of my room, "Report."
"It was overheard that you took men down to the pool and now everyone is getting ready to go swimming."
It was still early afternoon, the heat of the day, we would be better to have indoor activities for another hour or two and avoid the blazing sun that is beating down right now. I knew this from my teen years living in Miami. Julie and family would be more use to the Florida sun, but Angelia's children were quite a bit lighter than me and more likely to burn. Not that telling her would change anything.
I bit my tongue and walked in my room preparing to get some water when I walked in on Stephanie. She had her back to me, half changed into her blue bikini, her top and cover up laying on the bed. I could only gawk at her flawless skin as she smoothed sunscreen all over her front and then tried to reach her back. I stepped forward.
"Here let me," I murmured and she jumped never having heard me come in. I took the bottle out of her hands as she covered her breasts, like she was hiding something I had never seen or touched or tasted before. It felt like Hawaii to me. Prepping her to go out onto the beach, I just needed my black swim trunks. But I was not going to let my guard down that much until we were on the island. I gently massaged the lotion into her creamy peach skin. Making sure I got every inch from her swim suit bottoms to the edge of her curly brown hair that I was holding off her neck with one hand while massaging the lotion in with my other.
"Babe." I handed her back her lotion.
"You shouldn't be in here." She said as she tied on her top and turned to face me.
"Babe it's my room too."
"This is my room, how is it your room?"
"Babe we are sharing a room."
"I need my own room. I can't share a room with you."
"Babe we've been sharing a room. This is even easier because we have two beds."
"But there is no dressing room. I have nowhere to change." She picked up her cover-up and waved it at me as she went into the bathroom leaving the door cracked open so we could keep talking.
"Babe, it's not a problem. You don't have anything I haven't seen before." I know I've used this line on her before, it worked then, maybe it will work again.
"Ranger, it's not acceptable for us to be in the same room because I'm in a relationship with someone else and you want to have a relationship with me."
"That's no different than the last two nights that we shared a bed together."
"I was staying with you for safety reasons. This whole floor is safe, I don't need to be in a room with you." She said as she slipped her geometrically patterned cover-up on.
"Babe, you are in my room and in my bed every night. That doesn't mean we are having sex. We have shared space before and not had sex."
"Ranger can't you see it's not right? If I was dating you, you wouldn't let me spend the night at Joe's house."
"That's because the only reason you spend the night at Morelli's house is to have sex. I spend the night with you for a variety of reasons besides sex. Many having to do with you being safe and the fact that I sleep better when you're around."
"I'm going down to the pool. While I am gone, you have to draw some boundaries. You need to figure out another place to stay. You can go down and stay with your men, but you are not sleeping in my room." She put the 30 SPF Coppertone sunscreen in her pink beach bag, slipped her feet into her tan flipflops, slung the bag over her shoulder and left.
I just stood there knowing anything I had to say right now was going to make this worse. She was on a stubborn streak and the more I pressed her, like a tick on a dog's hind leg, she would just dig in deeper. I also knew the reason she was being so adamant about physical space was because she was losing her internal battle to stay away from me. She wanted me and she wanted me bad. But like a fish on the line of an experienced fisherman's pole, the more she struggles, the more tired she becomes and the sooner I can reel her in.
I opened the door to find Marc standing there. "Report"
"Your parents, sisters and their kids have all gone down to the pool."
"Stephanie is ready to go down, you are on for the afternoon. Do you know where the electronics and my other bags got put?"
"All extra luggage was put in the men's rooms on nine. The SUV's were unloaded by the Miami guys and they weren't sure where to put everything."
"Stay close to Stephanie." I was already jealous of my men that were around the pool and going to get an eye full of her, but that didn't serve my purpose right now. Right now, I had to get the cellular network and Internet running before my family started logging on to the hotel's free wireless and giving our location away.
I went down to nine and into the second door on the right. I immediately saw a huge pile of bags, my box of electronics, and all the plastic beach toys I bought. I had to wonder what they thought the Trenton men were going to do with a bunch of plastic buckets and shovels.
I collected the electronics and my Sergio go-bags and headed back up to, not mine, Stephanie's room and began setting everything up. Five minutes later everything was green lit and I pulled out my laptop and logged on to the Manoso network. Everything worked just fine. I texted all the adults to let them know the internet was working, give them the name and password, and warn them against anyone logging onto the free hotel network and giving our location away.
I left the room realizing all the men were downstairs by the pool, except for the night shift who would now be sleeping. I took this time to call Haywood for a report. Sybo told me none of the prints belonged to any of the known men. They thought they had identified two more men from the video. They were the Hispanic sidekicks shooting up the front door and hitting it with the sledgehammer.
Filipe Batres and Santiago Menchu were both Kaibiles, a Guatemalan Army special forces unit trained in jungle warfare. In 2011, the government reorganized the Kaibiles when a four-man team was finally brought to justice for the slaughter of a peaceful village of 200 men, women, and children in the 1980's. These two were let go as part of the house cleaning and instead of fighting the drug trade for the government, they turned to helping them get past the border patrols.
We now had the names of all six men, the only one we were missing was the elusive Boris. I was certain that he was not a hired mercenary, but a part of Sergio's private entourage here to carry out his bidding. I was also fairly certain that Mukhtar was not sent home, and none of these men would get paid a million dollars. Sergio is a cheap skate who is tight with his millions. He would make the offer but then have Boris kill all these men off rather than pay them.
The muggy evening went by quietly once everyone came up from the pool. We ordered room service in mass, my men collecting and checking it before delivering it to the rooms. Stephanie had made friends with my sisters, while sitting around the pool getting sun and was now spending the evening with Angelia, Oshanna and Julio. My three-musketeer nightmare. Angelia left my parents to babysit Shanna and Kendrick to hang out with other adults so I couldn't very well barge in and insist Stephanie leave to have dinner with me. Even though she was ten years older than Oshanna, shopping and maturity wise they weren't that far apart.
I knocked on Ron and Rachel's room and did the credit card, ID, and phone swap with them. I got a big hug from Julie for her new phone and she picked out the phone case with the big furry brown dog on it. Grandma Sanja was totally cooperative over her credit cards and ID, but fussed about her phone. She was used to using it all day long, knew all the functions, and had all of her favorite apps right on the front screen. I spent half an hour downloading apps and setting up her new phone so the front screen looked like her old phone. I showed her the contact list with everyone's numbers preprogramed in and she smiled, accepting the phone from me.
I was finally settled on the pink paisley bed covers, leaned back against the wooden headboards in my room, worked on my laptop and waited for Stephanie. I was surprised when she showed up about seven, with her bathing suit cover up on, grabbed her three bags out of the closet and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"Oshanna has an extra bed in her room and she has invited me to stay with her." She explained as she tried unsuccessfully to carry all three of her bags with her purse.
"Let me help you." I offered standing.
"No. I got it." And she dragged her luggage to the door where Marc was standing, dumping the heaviest two bags at his feet and kept walking. I grimaced hating all the things my siblings were telling her about our family, but especially about me growing up. Half an hour went by and I couldn't take the not knowing. I headed down to Oshanna's room, uncertain if they would even let me in. Julio answered the door and then tried to close it in my face.
"Sorry bro, private party."
I could smell the booze on his breath and knew he had been into the minibar. I've faced killers and madmen. Dictators who have committed genocide against their own people. Drug lords who sell to children to get them hooked on smak. War lords who buy and sell weapons on the black market to be used against innocent civilians. I can stand up to my younger pain-in-the-ass brother. At least that was what I was telling myself.
"Haven't hung out with you in forever." (Like never.) "Thought it would be a good chance to get caught up." We didn't get along as kids and as an adult while I came back to go to Rutgers, he was finishing high school, driving a car he didn't have to pay for, with insurance he wasn't paying for, filled with gas he wasn't paying for.
I had worked every afternoon, after school and on weekends to have my own money and buy my first car. My parents paid for it all for him, as long as he took my sisters to and from school every day, because the neighborhoods had become rougher and they had been harassed walking to and from school. On the weekends, he went out with friends who had money and no car who would take him out and pay for everything as long as he would drive.
He was a mooch I couldn't stand then and he is an even bigger one now. "Working" for my dad as a site supervisor means he drives around all day, in his white company truck and checks that jobs are on task. Anyone else would have it done in the first two hours of the day and get back to the office to get some real work done. He, however, drags it out and makes every day a joyride from one site to the next, never actually doing anything. And he complains to my dad that he doesn't make enough money so he has consistently given him raises every year since he started working there the summer after high school.
It's now been twelve years and he is nothing but a leach on my father's backside. Three years ago, he got married to a nice young college girl out here on a scholarship. He immediately got her pregnant and when she realized he only married her so he would have a woman to take care of him while he screwed around, she divorced him and moved back to live with her family in California. When he started having to pay child support he once again hit my dad up for a raise and, knowing it was going to his grandchild, my father obliged him.
I drive all Porsches, wear Armani suits, and run my own company, that has four offices, thousands of accounts, and over two hundred employees. I can own as many designer clothes as I would let Ella buy for me. I have a decent stock portfolio. I am affording this whole getaway for everyone and round the clock protection. None of my siblings can hold a candle to my success. But together they make me feel like that short little long-haired boy that used to get beat up by bullies.
I moved into the doorway not giving him a chance to close it on me. Making him step back from me. I could care less what my siblings said to each other and other members of the family. But I want to know what they are telling Stephanie about me. I closed the door behind me and went to the brown minibar partially checking how drunk they might be and to get myself some liquor.
If I was going to have to tolerate my siblings I was going to need a few drinks. I poured myself a vodka rocks, in a clear plastic cup and drank it down in two gulps. I poured myself a double vodka and followed my brother back into the bedroom. I couldn't understand why they were in the bedroom instead of the living room, but I found Oshanna and Angelia on one bed, with a tray of steak with mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and a roll in front of them, that they seemed to be sharing. Stephanie and Julio on the other bed, a partial burger, fries and a chocolate shake in front of her, with Julio sitting way to close for my comfort, and leaning in closer to snag a fry.
I took a golden yellow chair out of the living room and dragged it into the bedroom and sat down with my drink. Stephanie, I observed, had changed into one of her night outfits of grey sweats with an older blue Ranger's t-shirt. I realized that I knew nothing of these three siblings that didn't come from my mother, father, or other siblings. The hard-working people in the family. I hadn't spent fifteen minutes talking to any of them in the past several years so there should be lots to talk about but I couldn't think of one thing I wanted to know. There was a pregnant pause in the room and everyone resumed their eating.
I decided to start, "Julio how are Allysa and Jacob?"
"That bitch is always wanting more money, telling me how expensive it is to live out in California and how much daycare costs. Her mother stays home and watches Jacob three days a week and she can get off her ass and work full-time if she needs more money, instead of trying to finish school. She'll never get a degree, she should give it up and just try to find a man to marry. Someone that can take care of both of them."
"He should be two by now?" I prompted.
"Yeah, he was two in February."
"Have you seen him recently? Do you have pictures?" I asked really wanting to know. Missing Julie all over again even though I had just seen her this afternoon.
"Bro, you took my phone that had all my pictures on it. I was trying to describe him to Stephanie. He looks like his mother, very petite with blond hair and light brown eyes. He is very active. I sent him a motorized red race car for his birthday and she sent me video of him driving it around the back yard. He's so cute and such a ham." He took a few more fries from her plate rubbing his arm against hers as he did it.
"You'll have to show me pictures when we get back." Stephanie said in between bites. They must not have ordered dinner until after she came to get her bags I realized.
"Oshanna, how is New York treating you?"
"Well I'm working full time at Eliza's fashion house. I was the model for one of the new Revlon mascaras. I'm going to be on billboards and in magazines."
"That's great. It's good that someone in the family can benefit from our unique heritage." Knowing that I had been harassingly called beautiful more than once by the guys in my unit because of my long, thick, black lashes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked oversensitively.
"It means that women drool over my lashes and call me beautiful. I'm trying to be a mean badass not beautiful. It's nice that someone, who is beautiful, can monopolize on it."
"Oh."
"How are things going at work?" I asked her.
"Good, people really like me and really like my work. Most of it is mundane but I made some major changes to several designs and they liked them so much they are going to be featured in the show tomorrow. The one I can't go to." She pouted.
"I'm glad it's going well. And this is just a hump, it will pass and everyone can go back to their lives." I explained.
"Angelia, how are things going in your world?" I asked her.
"Well my life was going along just perfect, until all this happened. I have my husband, my kids, the house, my puppy that I couldn't bring." She frowned at me and flipped her red hair back out of her face. "Yoga and Pilates classes, play groups three times a week. My silver Mercedes GLC. I have everything I could want in my life and the kids are really easy so, yeah, my life was perfect before you brought some fanatics into it." Angelia stated.
"The nuts have always been there, I've just gotten to them before they have gotten to you." I told her.
"You mean you kill them before they can hurt us." Angelia said. Wow, blunt much?
"Usually it means catching them and getting them deported. Sometimes a stern talking to will do."
"What's so different about these guys that make it so dangerous we all had to leave the state?" Oshanna asked.
"I have contacts all over the world and I hear about problems while they are only whispers in the wind. By the time they materialize, I am already prepared and remove the threat. This time I heard nothing. There are six guys after you all being paid a lot of money to kill you. I don't know who they are or where they are so it was better to make sure you are all safe while we find them." I explained.
"So why is Stephanie in danger? I mean they kidnapped her out of another man's bed. Obviously, she is not in a relationship with you." Julio, the pendejo, asked while he rubbed Stephanie's arm. (asshole)
"That is a much more difficult explanation. Stephanie is currently dating someone else. But we have been together in the past and people have made the assumption that she is important to me."
"Oh, so you've done the bedroom dancing thing, even if it's not happening right now." Julio surmised. "What you need Steph, is a big strong man to guard your body, and I know just the man who can handle that position." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer and continued. "There's an extra bed in my room and big strong arms to keep you safe."
Stephanie looked directly to me, laughter in her eyes because my brother might be strong but he is a twig compared to me, and she left my room to avoid the big strong arms, and hot body, that was there.
"Thanks Julio I'll keep that in mind, but right now I'm going to stick with this big bed all to myself." and she shook his arm off her shoulders.
"Well its getting late. Angelia, I know you have to be up early for the kids and Oshanna you need your beauty sleep so you can avoid those dark circles under your eyes." I started hoping to end this little party.
"Not yet," Oshanna said. "I haven't gotten to see Angelia in ages and she was telling me about this new dress she bought for a charity event."
"Yes, you have to see it! I'll have to take pictures and send them to you. It's the newest color this season peach rose, it is mid-thigh length, with rose gold inlays around the bodice but the back is a dream with these little lace-up ties all the way from the butt to the mid back. And I have the best shoes to go with it…" I tuned her out and thought about refreshing my drink. I know this crew and midnight is early to them.
Angelia will just sleep in and expect my parents to take care of her kids. Julio and Oshanna are counting on not having to work and getting to sleep in. Stephanie, though, is not a night owl and she will want to crash out once she finishes eating and gets her plates picked back up. On the surface, she may seem to have a lot in common with these three but really, she works harder than all three put together and she has conceded most of her partying days, passing out after three drinks and waking up with a hangover.
Everyone was looking at me with anticipation like they were waiting for an answer to a question I hadn't heard. "I missed that, just running over the plans for tomorrow."
"Yeah," Angelia said, "that's what we want to know. What are the plans for tomorrow?"
"We have to be checked out of here by eleven and we can't load onto the ship till two so we have about three hours to go to the beach or something simple-"
"Like shopping, they have the Crown Center Mall right near here." Oshanna exclaimed.
"Shopping and malls are security nightmares, beside you all have full suitcases. What could you possibly need?" I asked her.
"Shoes, always need shoes, and more cool beach outfits. This is the perfect season for beach-ware shopping." Angelia answered. There was a reason I wore all black and it is more than the need to intimidate. Black is easy to match and they make everything in black, bodily fluids don't easily show up against it and I didn't need fifteen different shirts in all different colors to look good. I looked good in black, end of story.
"Sandals, I need some beach sandals. I brought two pairs but I don't really know if they are good for the beach." Oshanna continued. I kept my mouth closed. Flip flops are all you need for the beach. Anything else gets in the seawater and it will be ruined so you will have to go buy more. I got up then.
"Anyone else want a drink while I am up?"
"Yes, make me a screwdriver. The only mixers in there are OJ and Pepsi, and you know how much I hate Pepsi." Angelia said.
"Yeah a screwdriver for me too." Oshanna said.
"Stephanie?" A few drinks and she would pass out ending this party.
"I'm still working on this chocolate shake and nothing goes with a chocolate shake except for maybe Kahlua."
"Nope, no Kalua in the minibar, but on the ship there are several full bars so keep your credit cards handy." I told them. I went into the other room to fix the drinks. Things were going well and I wasn't leaving till Stephanie was in bed to sleep. Talk continued for another hour and all the dishes got put back out on the cart to go back to the kitchen. Around ten thirty, Stephanie's eyes were dropping and she finally announced that she needed to go to bed. I was hoping they would try to keep her up and she would return to our room, but they all said their goodnights and left except Oshanna who obviously wanted me to leave so she could get ready for bed too.
I got up and pulled Stephanie into my arms, "Babe." I put so much meaning into that word. 'I love you, I want you by me, I hope you sleep good tonight. I'll see you in the morning.' I kissed her on the forehead and left. I left the chair in the bedroom knowing that in two hours, unable to sleep, I would seek her out.
I showered, dressing for the gym in the morning, and played catch up with some emails, sending some back to Tank to handle. I am in the wind, as far as the company is concerned. I needed to let him handle the day to day things and focus on handling my family. Finally, a little after midnight, I put my tennis shoes on and with the master key I had, entered Oshanna's room. Stephanie was all curled up on one side of the bed so I kicked off my tennis shoes and lay down on top of the covers next to her. Not touching her but being close enough to smell her.
Friday April 15
I woke at 05:00 with Stephanie's head on my shoulder, her arm wrapped around my chest, her left leg and blanket thrown over mine. She always gravitates to me in sleep. It warms my heart because she is going to be mine, and in sleep she accepts it. How do I get through to her that she and Morelli are over? This is the puzzle for today. I worked to extricate myself from her grip and she woke up tightening her arm around me momentarily before realizing what she was doing, releasing me and rolling away. I slipped on my running shoes, went down to the gym, unsurprised at my men that came wandering in over the next hour and a half.
Even though everyone wouldn't be up, my men and I were all on duty at 07:00. I made the concession that they could all order hall service and eat while waiting for the families to get up. The hotel offered a free continental breakfast downstairs as well as a dining room breakfast where you can order whatever you want, but I had everyone order room service again. It is just safer and easier to protect everyone in their rooms. By 08:30 Isabella's family, Leyla's family, Rachel's family, my grandmothers, and my parents with Angelia's kids were up, eaten, packed, and ready to go for the day. Easy when you go to bed early.
Stephanie made an appearance to pull in her room service cart, her hair, sticking up in all directions, looking like she had just seen a ghost. I talked to Leyla and Isabella about what we could do for the next five hours and since we were headed to spend two weeks at the beach, they didn't want to go to the beach this morning. Finally, the zoo was brought up and out of all of the options, like Monkey Island and the Aquarium, it seemed the best choice for the large group, the kids and security. I sent Zip and Zero as additional security to the seven guards and six SUVs they had going.
I was left by choice with the dozing crew. They weren't going to get up until someone made them and that sounded good to me, the longer they slept the less I had to deal with them. By 09:30 Stephanie was a new person, in dark blue shorts, a tangerine t-shirt and sandals, ready to hit the day but the rest had just gotten up. I offered to take her to the Zoo to meet up with the rest of my family. I left orders that Oshanna and Angelia were to leave together and that they were all to be brought to the zoo once everyone was packed up and ready to go.
I packed Stephanie's luggage in the back with my luggage and all the electronics and we left with Marc in tow. The bright Florida sun was out with a few puffy white clouds as we cruised down the palm tree lined streets. It was already in the eighties expected to hit mid-nineties by noon. I hope everyone that needed it was covered in sunscreen, several hours under this intense sun and the kids would be fried.
"Babe, did you put on sunscreen?"
"Of course, I have been to Florida before. I know how fast you can get burned here." She smiled at me as she pulled the bottle out of her purse.
When we arrived at the zoo I sent Marc to find my family and secretly told him not to come back, to text when he found the location. I walked the zoo with Stephanie, seeing the animals through her eyes. For someone who never had many animals of her own, she really cares a lot about the fate of the endangered animals, and especially enjoyed seeing them feed the elephants. She loved the friendly, well trained rhinos that could be fed and petted and got a thrill out of feeding the giraffes with their 14-inch long purple tongues. We spent time looking at all the tigers running around and playing in their pool, and laughed at the howler monkeys swinging around in the tall trees.
Her favorite thing was the red panda, which doesn't look anything like a panda. They are small scurrying creatures, that are reddish with white faces and have long reddish ringed tails. But they have beady black eyes and it got Stephanie thinking about her baby, Rex, back home.
After we had been wandering for almost two hours I received texts from my men that everyone was safely at the zoo. The men texted each other their locations so that the stragglers could catch up with the rest of the family. Stephanie caught the flurry of texts and I explained that everyone was now at the Zoo and she wanted to catch up to them. I read their last location and we headed off in that direction, choosing to take the light rail to get there faster.
Finally, at 15:00 I signaled the group that it was time to leave. We had an hour to get to the ship and get unloaded. I knew that for the ship we would only be allowed to carry stun guns. I gave my men orders by text to load all live ammunition and weapons in the crates with the LSATs.
All the luggage and family were lined up, with each person ready to get their own ship ID. There was a problem at first because we had a bunch of rooms reserved but they weren't assigned and no one could get on board and get their IDs without assigned rooms. I sat down with the map of the ship and the ship's steward, in his crisp blue uniform, to get all the rooms assigned and extra cots for the kids ordered. Smiling inside the whole while because Skylar had put my brother in an inside room three floors down, far away from Stephanie and the family.
When he complained, I told him it was the last room available and if he didn't like it, he could share a room with my men and I would give his room to two of them. He slunk away muttering under his breath that I was trying to get back at him for coming.
Finally, everyone was able to board with their luggage. They wanted each passenger to carry his or her own luggage. I hadn't realized that Angelia had brought four suitcases for herself and two each for her kids. She couldn't possibly carry all that luggage, I got approval again from the steward that my men could help her with the luggage. When it came up that she was exceeding the limit for bags per person, I explained that my men only brought one bag each so she was just compensating.
It was after 16:00 when we finally had everyone on board and settled. Stephanie knew we were in the same cabin, with one queen sized bed, but wasn't pitching a fit about it. I told her previously that there were limited rooms on the ship and that we needed to share. It was a relief to know she was beginning to seem more accepting to the fact that we would be spending time together. Her accepting this situation, for me was the biggest win of the get-a-way.
To be continued…
A/N: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you all for your reviews! They are all loved and appreciated. I have two more chapters this week then it is going to go to weekly updates.
As always big THANK YOU to my beta Sassysaint who makes my story's more readable. You are AWESOME! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Second Big THANK YOU to my sister, Jonelle. Who is giving my stories a thorough technical analysis (ie deep proof reading) and fixing all my commas, apostrophes, making great suggestions and fixing all my many other mistakes. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Finally, on-board the ship and almost to the safety of the island. Can you feel the anticipation building? Can Ranger get his family settled and safe enough so he can go after Sergio? Please read and review.
Ranger's Family Album
Mother's Mother – Abuela Rosa, Father's Mother – Abuela Sanja Manoso
Mother – Maria Father – Javier
Siblings and family 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 Allysa – Jacob 2
Isabella (27) & Diego Diaz – Chris 8, Shylia 6, Parker 3
Oshanna Manoso (22)
Rachel & Ron – Julie 12, Fredrico (Freddie) 9, Cassandra (Cassie)6
Trenton Merry Men Assignments (20 Men)
Abuela Sanja – Vince
Abuela Rosa – Manuel
Maria – Erik
Leyla – Hal
Angelia – Woody
Isabella – Cal
Oshanna – Lester
Rachel – Eddie
Julie – Junior
Stephanie – Ranger, Marc
Extra's – Bobby, Ram, Zero, Zip
Night's – Chester, Chet, Gino, Mario, Ramon, Ryan