Chapter 18 - The Distraction

LPOV - The 1985 Bar

"Stop fussing, she's gonna be fine." I said to Ranger, slapping him on the back and proceeding into the bar after Stephanie.

Tonight we were going after a high dollar skip by the name of Edward Thomas Winchester the Third. He's from England and was wanted for conning members of wealthy families out of thousands of dollars up and down the east coast. We weren't sure why he was committing these crimes since his family back in England was already quite wealthy so we could only assume that he was doing it for fun.

According to the file he would be at the 1985 bar in Atlantic City looking to pick up his next target. His MO was to go to a upscale bar, find a rich divorce, widow, or woman willing to cheat on their husband. Typically he spent a few weeks integrating himself into their lives meeting their friends and families getting them to invest in various phantom stocks and businesses.

We decided to set up a distraction led by Steph who was going to play the role of a wealthy divorcee looking for her next husband. Ranger always got nervous before her distractions but today I noticed he seemed more anxious. This was the first time Steph was doing a distraction since they officially got together.

I took my place in a booth at the back of the bar. Hal, Ram, Binkie, were also stationed around the bar and Woody was bartending. We were the inside team since we all fit the profile of the men who frequented the bar. Tank, Hector, Cal, and Ranger were covering the exterior. Steph was sitting at a bar stool drinking an espresso martini which I knew was just coffee.

"A priest and A rabbi walk into a bar" Hal said into my earpiece.

"Not the Time." Ranger Growled

"Not a Joke Bossman" Ram replied. I looked over and sure enough a Priest and a Rabbi approached the bar and said hello to Steph.

"Father, Rabbi" Stephanie acknowledged the two newcomers. She turned and chuckled into her mic along with the rest of the men.

"Target in sight, approaching the bar from 10:00." Tank said into the mic. Everyone straightened up a little and silence took over. A well tailored englishman who happened to look a lot like the tenth Doctor. Too bad Bobby wasn't here right now. He loves Dr. Who.

As expected the target approached Steph almost immediately. He offered to buy her a drink and she slipped her leg out of the slit in her dress before agreeing.

"Haven't seen you here before. Where are you from darling" Winchester said.

"New York. It's my first time in town." Steph replied.

"What brings you down to Atlantic City?"

"Business." Steph drank the rest of her drink. Winchester signaled Woody to get her a second.

"I've never met a woman like you who does her own business. Most have a husband or relative who does their deals."

"I'm not like other women. Besides, I took this business from my husband. I intend to see it succeed."

"I like a woman who can take charge. Tell me what kind of business are you in?"

"Keep buying me drinks and you might find out. Now it's my turn to ask questions. I can tell by your accent you're also not from around here so what brings you to town?"

"Same as you but I'm also looking for a little pleasure too. Are you interested?"

I could see Steph holding back the eye roll from where I was sitting. Before she answered the question the glass at the front of the restaurant shattered. Steph ducked to the ground taking the target down with her as the Martini Glass sitting on the bar was shattered. Woody jumped over to help the priest and rabbi who were caught in the crossfire.

"Shots fired! Mission compromised all men, secure the premise! Lester get to Stephanie!" Ranger ordered into the microphone.

The whizzing of gunshots whipped past my ears as I made my way towards Stephanie. Chaos was ensuing as the other patrons were running for the back entrance to the hotel the bar was attached to.

I made it to Steph who had secured Winchester via handcuffs to the bar at the bottom of the bar where your feet go, never to be one that lets the man get away. To be frank I don't even know where she was keeping those cuffs in the tight dress she was wearing. She was now applying pressure to the Rabbi's shoulder as Woody applied pressure to the priest's abdomen.

"Does anyone have eyes on the shooter?" Tank asked into the com. No one affirmed his question.

"Ram start from the bar, take Cal and Hector to track down the shooter." Tank barked. I knew that even if they didn't find the shooter they would at least find where they were shooting from.

The rest of the room was mostly cleared out now with only the Priest and Rabbi being seriously injured. I took over Stephanie's role as Ranger picked her up and rushed her out of the room through the back.

RPOV - Trenton

Stephanie was breathing hard, covered in blood, and trying to calm down as we escaped from the bar area. "Oh my god! Are they gonna be okay? What happened? Was I the target?!" She exclaimed.

"Babe." I took her hand in mine and squeezed it to try and give a little comfort as I put her into the 911.

I knew Tank would secure the suspect and the scene and then would return to Rangeman to regroup. Normally, I'd say that we should stay at Rangeman but I had a feeling it wasn't safe enough. So we were just going to go pick up a few items and Julie. I called Ella and explained the situation as we were on our way so she could get our go bags out and get Julie and the dogs ready to go.

I was finally going to take my family to the house I had built for us. When I first met Stephanie I had lived offsite in an underground bunker an old army mentor owned. At the time I was in the height of my Black Ops contract and still had many active enemies so I needed to be off grid. Overtime as I was working on starting Rangeman many of our enemies were taken out allowing us to build the company under our real names. However had they still been active we had several aliases ready. In fact only members of the core team know that the secret investors are actually just us.

About a year after we bought the building on Haywood, when Steph found Rangeman so I started spending all my time there in hopes to come home to find her in my bed. My mentor eventually moved to Wyoming after completely retiring from the Army and sold me the property. Since then I have completely secured it by building my dream house on top of the bunker. I added security fencing around the entire property, had Ella completely furnish it but left the decorating for Steph and Julie, and worked with Hector to install the top of line security system.

The house sits on 5 acres of land and is halfway to Princeton, NJ. I haven't taken Steph to it yet since it was only recently finished. Then Julie came to live with us and we all got settled into the apartment at Rangeman. Staying at Rangeman also allowed us to be close to the office.

I broke several traffic laws speeding back to the Haywood. I pulled into the garage where Ella, Luis, Zero, and Julie were waiting with Rosa and Bob. We both got out and immediately hugged Julie. After that Steph and Julie worked with Ella and Luis to load the supplies and dogs into a blue SUV we would be taking to stay under radar. It was equipped exactly like all of our other vehicles but wouldn't stand out as a Rangeman vehicle. While they were doing that I got a report from Zero.

"Bobby left immediately after he heard shots were fired, to assist. The injured parties are in stable condition and on their way to the hospital. Tank and Lester have secured the scene and are working with the local police to determine what happened. Ram's team didn't find the shooter but they did find the location that they were shooting from was an abandoned building about 5 blocks over from the bar with a clear line to the building. They are assisting the local police in collecting evidence."

I nodded. "Rangeman is now on alert level black. Myself, Steph, Julie, and the dogs will be leaving now and only the Core Team is to call only on the secure satellite phone attached to protocol alpha charlie tango four seven. We will be taking surveillance vehicle three. When we leave we expect the other three surveillance vehicles and two Rangeman SUV's to exit the garage in 3 minute intervals we will leave fourth." He acknowledged the commands associated with the high alert level. He would pass on the protocol to the core team as they were the only ones with knowledge of the protocol I just implemented.

I shook hands with Luis and hugged Ella before getting into the SUV.

"Is everything gonna be okay daddy?" Julie asked calmly petting both of the dogs who were curled up on either side of her in the back seat.

"I hope so mija." I tried to give her a reassuring nod through the rearview mirror.

"Where are you taking us I thought we would stay here?" Steph asked.

"I don't want to risk the possibility of an attack on Rangeman. Someone knew where we were going to be tonight. The accuracy of the events points to this benign a targeted and planned event. As for where we're going you might refer to it as the Batcave."

Steph nodded along to my explanation the worry lines across her forehead getting deeper as she heard my logic but when I mentioned the batcave her eyes softened as she turned to give a small smile to Julie. About fifteen minutes later I pulled up to the wrought iron gate. It was the only entrance to the property which was surrounded by mostly trees and a 10 foot brick wall that had hidden spikes on the inside to deter intruders. We had no neighbors as I owned most of the surrounding land.

I drove up the long driveway and pulled into the garage that was attached to the house. Inside was the Mercedes I used to drive but moved out of the Rangeman garage to give Steph a spot for her formally POS cars. We parked the car and everyone put on a backpack of their own clothes and grabbed a box or bag filled with supplies. The dogs waited idly next to Steph. We made our way to the door that connected the garage house we entered into the mud room. I directed the girls to set the supply boxes down in the room and then entered in the sequence for the security system. The system then scanned my retina and fingerprints. I took Steph's hand and entered her retina and fingerprints into the system before adding Julie. Then I took both of them one in each hand and led them through a tour of the house.

The mudroom was at the end of a hallway that had a laundry room on one side, a bathroom across from that, a door that led to a storage closet, and a final door that led to the basement which was still waiting for furniture. This hallway led into an open area where to the right was the kitchen and the left was the great room. The middle part of the first floor was open concept. The kitchen had state of the art appliances and a fridge that was hidden in the cabinetry. I took them into the large walk-in pantry that was also hidden. I showed them the hidden panel at the back of the pantry that would open into the bunker I once lived in. I told them we could explore that later. Back out in the kitchen they looked all around the different cabinets that were mostly pre stocked. We took some of the bags Ella had given us and put them away in the fridge and freezer. In between the kitchen and great room was a large dining room table. The great room had a couch made for ten people in a u shape facing the tv and media center that had tons of movies stocked for Stephanie and Julie to enjoy.

On the other side of the great room was a grand staircase that had split staircases leading up to the second level balcony that overlooked the first floor. Additionally the main entrance was housed there. It was a beautiful double door that was made with reinforced steel in between two different lawyers of wood. All the windows on the property were made with bulletproof glass and had several locking mechanisms. On the other side of the main area were three rooms. The one in the middle was a home office made for two people, the room at the front of the house was a smaller sitting area slash library, and the back one was a four season porch.

At the back of the first floor were several windows and a large accordion style door that led out to the backyard. There was currently a reinforced wall in front of most of the doors and windows to protect us. In the backyard that they couldn't currently see was an entertainment space, pool, garden, and large yard for the dogs.

We made our way up to the second floor. On one side of the balcony were two bedrooms with a jack and jill bathroom. On the other side of the balcony were two bedrooms each with ensuites. They were all pretty much the same currently with off white walls and queen beds. Julie chose one of the rooms with a private bathroom. We left Julie in her room to put away the items she brought and I took Steph and the dogs who were still following us up to the third floor via the staircase at the end of the hall on the same side of Julie's room. The staircase looped around to a landing that Ella had furnished with a small console table with a painting above it and a small sitting area across from it. Then there were two large white double doors leading into the bedroom.

Steph didn't hesitate to open the door to find the large california king size bed with the same sheets that we had at Rangeman except a cobalt blue color. There were his and hers closets basically the size of the rooms downstairs and then a large bathroom with a dual vanity, walk-in shower, and a large Jacuzzi tub. Steph stripped down naked and stepped into the shower. I didn't blame her as her clothes were covered in dry blood. I quickly shed my own clothes and followed her in. We had a quick shower not taking the time to make love this time since we still had many things to discuss.

We made it back to the kitchen fifteen minutes later in clean clothes. Julie joined us and her and Steph each grabbed a pint of ice cream as we sat down on the couch to discuss what was gonna happen next. First we told Julie what happened tonight. Then I told Julie and Steph about the house and why I had waited to bring them here and the original plans I had to take them here which was going to be a surprise after Steph finished her training. We also talked a little bit about decorating each of the spaces.

"Okay so now for the protocol. We are currently under alpha charlie tango four seven. That means that only the core team is privy to our whereabouts. They will work together to track down the shooter. They will do background checks on all of the men and slowly clear them to be involved in the case but I suspect that there is a mole within Rangeman. Ella and Luis also know where we are and will leave supplies for us in the shed on the other side of the property that can be accessed through the bunker. I will go with the dogs to retrieve the items. As for security you can see that I currently have everything reinforced when the threats are lifted. We can enjoy the windows when the protocol is lifted but we can't take any chances with the shooter being a strong marksman. As for the internet we can only use the secure computers in the office and the satellite phone in there or the bunker. I have already taken the sims cards out of all of our phones and turned them off. I will take the dogs outside to go the bathroom a few times a day but I would prefer if you two stay inside until we learn more about the threat. If needed we will return the dogs to Rangeman. Okay any questions?" I pulled Steph back into my chest and held her tight.

"What about our families and friends can we let them know?" Julie asked.

"The core team will inform that we are currently safe and that they will be provided updates when available."

"Can we help with the investigation or background checks on the men?" Steph asked.

"Yes, once I get an update I will have Hector work on getting us the information we need on our secure server."

"Thanks for keeping me informed dad, Can I go to bed now?"

"Yes mija you may go to bed." She stood up and we each gave her a hug and said goodnight. Bob got up and followed her to bed while Rosa stayed with Stephanie. We sat on the couch holding each other before I got up to get the satellite phone and She put in ghostbusters as we waited for Tank's call.

Unknown Rangeman - The Basement Storage Room

"Hey man I don't know what you've got me into but I don't want to be apart of it anymore." I said into my phone to Blade.

"Everything is gonna workout and you're gonna get your money now. Where did the Ranger take that slut?"

"I don't know man the core team came back pissed as hell and Ranger and the slut left immediately after they returned. Now the core team is held up in the conference room and they've locked down that entire floor. When they left the building all the cars had their locations turned off and I was stuck on monitor duty so I couldn't follow."

"You said you could get me insider access"

"Well you also neglected to tell me that you planned on shooting up the bar and killing the slut. Of course the protocol has changed."

Blade paused and grunted into the phone "You have 24 hours to get me knew information or you can consider our deal expunged and you will not receive any payment."

I was getting angry now after all I basically did just lose my job. I needed this money. "Hey we had a deal! I get you information on a time where she would be approachable and you took it too far. How is it my fault everything is in lockdown?!" He didn't answer and now I was listening to the dial tone signaling he had hung up.

Shit. I needed to think of a plan quickly. Suddenly I hear loud thundering footsteps approaching. Fuck.

TPOV - Rangeman

"Shit how did this all go FUBAR?!" Lester was pacing around the room angrily expressing all of our thoughts.

"It doesn't make any sense. That was a planned attack on Stephanie. Who would be after her?" Bobby tried to calmly ask.

"Hector pull up the file with all of Stephanie's known enemies." He nodded and put the file on the screen. Across the screen were several men who Steph has had a hand in bringing down during her time as a bounty hunter. Additionally The Morelli's and Joyce Barnhart were included. "Start running the background checks and determining the locations of these suspects and Cal start running Ranger's known enemies as well."

"There has to be a mole!" Lester interrupted my commands. "Here me out If this was a targeted attack then the suspect would have had to know where we would be tonight so they could scope out a location to shoot from." We all nodded knowing that he was right.

"Fuck. Ram start running background checks on all of the men. I knew there was a reason Ranger wanted this specific protocol he would have only done that if he thought there was a threat at Rangeman."

"Uh Tank there's something you might want to see." Hal cut in and then signaled to the screen where he projected the surveillance cameras across the building. There were several locations in the building that had hidden cameras that only the core team had access to and some that not even the entire core team knew where they were. Hence why Lester and Bobby didn't realize making out in the basement supply room wasn't a great idea. That was the camera we were looking at now.

In the room was Rodriguez talking to someone on the phone. I signaled for Hal to turn up the volume. We listened in as we realized he was the mole. We didn't have to worry about it being recorded since Hector always recorded everything so everyone except Hector rushed down to the basement to confront the traitor.

I kicked the door down and with our guns leading we entered the room. "Don't move! Hands in the air!"

He slowly moved his arms behind his head and turned to face us. We took him down to the holding cells and locked him up. Ram and Cal stayed guarding the door until we cleared the rest of the men. Once we returned to the conference room I called Ranger to give him the update.