Chapter Eleven: RangeMan Safehouse, Miami Florida
The mission was a success.
They found Julius Manoso.
They found him, got him out and they managed to get him back to the United States.
Which I came to see as a very narrow definition of success. A pyrrhic victory, my history professor would have called it.
To start with, Julius had some raging fevers from whatever nasty bugs he picked up in the filthy hole they found him in, so they air lifted him to Johns Hopkins. The docs there almost immediately recognized he needed more specialized care and shipped him to Fort Detrick- the place where, according to Bobby, the really bad bugs get treated. Yeah, that's not terrifying or anything.
We all got sent into Quarantine. In a safe house that resembles a hospital ward way more than a house.
And now they have confirmed Julius is infected with Machupo virus. Which is why we are going to be stuck here for a while.
I knew we were in trouble from Bobby's reaction to the diagnosis- he was on the phone with some General at Fort Detrick. "Holy good mother of God! Oh, Sir, I am so sorry sir." Well, that is not how you speak to a General… He hung up the phone and looked around at the room and announced what Julius was being treated for.
"And what the fuck is Machupo virus exactly?" Junior was regretting leaving Jersey. If I am honest, so was I.
"It causes Bolivian Hemorrhagic fever." Bobby explained.
"That doesn't sound good." Cal understated the obvious. Cal is a fainter when it comes to blood and body fluids.
"Can it be treated?" I asked- because, let's face it, that is what we really need to know. I was rubbing my increasingly pregnant belly. This is what I get for wanting to be there when the team returned. I am a complete fucking idiot. Ranger is going to be pissed when he gets back… If he gets back… I needed to pay attention to Bobby.
"Yes, it can be treated with convalescent-phase immune plasma- which is plasma from someone who had the virus and recovered from it. Unfortunately, it is in really short supply- I have no idea where we would get any. Then there is intravenous ribavirin- it might shorten the course of infection and prevent complications. Argentina has a vaccine but I have no information on it- it doesn't have FDA approval at any rate."
"Bobby, what percentage of people die from the virus?" Junior gets to the heart of the immediate problem.
"About one in four." While not Ebola numbers, they are still not great.
"And the incubation period?" I ask, because that is how long we will be locked in here waiting for something to happen. And our time would be better spent finding the rest of the team. Finding Ranger. Because we have to find him.
"Three to sixteen days." Bobby looked resigned. "I want to start all the team members on ribavirin."
"Will it be safe for Hal and Tank?"
"I don't know- with all their other injuries, I just don't know. But the virus makes treating them worth the risk." Bobby sounded tired. So was I. And so worried. About our wounded guys… about our missing guys… But I would feel it if something happened to him, wouldn't I?
It has now been seventeen days since Tank, Hal and Robert Kinsey were successfully extracted along with Julius. Thank God none of us had any symptoms of the virus- it was terrifying to wait the sixteen days. Now, with the exception of Tank and Hal, we are back at the RangeMan Miami. Those two were flown back to Trenton where they would start rehab. They were in for a long, difficult recovery.
From the after-action report, we learned that after loading Tank and Hal, who were both badly wounded, Robert brough Julius to the chopper and had just gotten him strapped in when the LZ (Landing Zone) came under fire and he had to make the excruciating decision to take off with the asset, AKA Julius, and leave the rest of the team to make their way to an alternative extraction point. The OPLAN had four sites with a date/time listed, based on the date and time of the first extraction:
1 plus 2 days, 0600 hours
1 plus 5 days 2000 hours
1 plus 9 days 0700 hours
1 plus 14 days, 0730 hours
The rest of the team failed to appear and we were now out of alternatives.
Diesel and Wulf were in the wind attempting to gather fresh intelligence, and Gabriela remained in the field with the extraction team, waiting for something to happen. Julius had been released and was back in Boston, but only in the office part time.
I have been reviewing everything from the OPLAN with Silvio, trying to figure out what to try next. Ranger and two of his guys are out there, somewhere, and I am losing my mind. When Ranger would leave and I had no details, I didn't know to worry about anything specific. It was just an all-around "I am worried" that permeated my days. But this… this was high stakes worrying. Losing my mind worrying. Worst case scenario worrying. I'm not eating. I can't sleep and Ranger's family… Ana and her children followed Julius north, but the rest of the family are still in Miami and everyone wants to "sit with me" and "learn about me" and "get to know me better"- and all I want to do is find Ranger. I want him home. I want him to wrap his arms around me and tell me I was silly to be worried. I wish he wouldn't make me wait.
And then Julius flew down from Boston. He had news he wanted to share with us in person. Bobby, Silvio and me. In the command center. Lester and Hector on the screen. He advised us he paid a ransom to get back our three missing men, but that when Gabriela went to the exchange location, only two were alive.
"The surviving men reported that Ranger was tortured before he was killed- we will need to use DNA to confirm the body is in fact him. It seems he was the target all along." Julius told us as if he were reporting the weather. Then everyone was screaming at once.
The black spots spun before my eyes and I heard Bobby shouting at Julius that he was a fucking asshole as everything went to black.
Bobby was with me in the RangeMan Miami apartment in Miami when I came to. He eased me to sitting and held me tight in his arms. I could tell he had been crying.
I felt the baby move and the grief washed over me. He just couldn't be gone.
"My child will never know how good Carlos was, how much he did for others. How can I do this alone?"
"Stephanie, you won't be alone, God every guy at RangeMan would die to protect the two of you. We will all be uncles to this precious soul."
"I want to go home, Bobby."
"Julius wants to have the funeral service for Ranger in Newark as soon as possible."
"Before DNA confirms…" I swallowed hard. "Why do we need DNA to identify Carlos."
"From what Gabriela said after viewing the body… Stephanie, I would really rather not repeat what she said."
It had to be bad if he couldn't be recognized. My chest hurt at the thought of his face being damaged beyond recognition. Oh God. Tears stung in my eyes as I swallowed hard.
"Tell Julius I am not burying anyone without proof of who they are. He can hold a public memorial service but a funeral needs a body. And that will wait for DNA. I would feel it if Carlos was dead. My soul would know he was gone." My sobbing overwhelmed me and Bobby held me tight.
"I will take you back to Trenton, Steph- I will talk to Julius about his plans. Don't worry about a thing. Lester and me and the guys will take care of everything. Just try and rest a little."
It is after midnight and I can't sleep. Hot tears run down my face as a jumble of memories run through my head. Ranger, sitting across from me, the first time we met. Ranger, not angry after a dump truck smushed his Porsche. Armani Ranger. Ranger making love to me the very first time, so hot yet so tender. Working alongside him to protect Brenda. Stolen kisses in the alley of the Bond Office. Naked Ranger. Him releasing me from the cabinet Constantine Stiva had me locked in. Ranger finding me in his bed when Junkman was hunting me. Grandma seeing him naked, him jumping in the river to save me. Hawaii. The diamond hunt with Gabriela. The memories are a swirl. Ranger walking into my apartment to face Scrog. Ranger shot… Ricardo Carlos Manoso cannot be dead. The love of my life cannot be dead. My baby's father cannot be dead. I would know it. I would feel it.
Ranger is alive. And I need to find him.