CHAPTER 26

DAY 46

Thursday

AN: Well... we finally hear from Ranger and his reaction to finding Steph gone from Trenton. What do you guys think? Let me know in your review.

RANGER POV

After being gone for seven weeks, it was good to finally be on the plane heading back to Trenton. This job had taken me to South America, into the den of the Moreno drug cartel, a $40 billion dollar enterprise and one of the largest and deadliest. Colombia was a country I was familiar with. Thanks to my Cuban heritage, it was easy to blend in where some of the other operators would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Because I worked in the shadows, I could manage the danger level, but one false step, one word to the wrong person, and Moreno's thugs would have killed me. They reacted first and asked questions later in that part of the world.

General Holloway needed intel on Moreno's Lieutenants and street soldiers. My objective had been to gather information without detection and get out. If I did my job right, and I always did, no one would be the wiser. The fact that Moreno had recruited former Mexican Special Forces soldiers made his organization even deadlier than other cartels.

I tracked them to their base in the jungle where they were building Narco-submarines. At a million dollars a pop, they could evade detection instead of outrunning pursuers. Considering how vast the Pacific Ocean is, the Coast Guard rarely stumbled upon them. Anytime they found a sub, it was because someone like me risked their neck to get inside information. Catching just one sub would mean an immediate loss of $50-$180 million in product, not to mention the acquisition of the sub itself. It wouldn't cripple the organization, but it would hurt… a lot.

After a quick peak inside the workshop, I discovered detailed maps of their preferred routes. The General now had enough information to orchestrate a raid on the camp and seize the subs or wait till they were en route and seize the subs and the product. That decision was out of my hands.

I looked out the plane's window, wondering how Stephanie was doing. I was under strict orders not to contact anyone while I was gone, not even Tank. Instead of keeping me focused on my mission, it made me worry about her more. When I'd first gotten my assignment, I'd jumped at the excuse to get away from Trenton and the feelings of powerlessness that I'd been battling since Durant had abducted Stephanie. It had been hard to witness her struggling to cope with what she'd endured at Durant's hands, and I believed he did more than she'd admitted to the feds. She needed time and space to heal. It hurt to admit it, but I wasn't the right person to help her. That had become obvious when she handed me a check to repay me for everything I'd ever done for her. In case I didn't get the message, she threw some of my insensitive comments back in my face to make it crystal clear. She was angry that I didn't tell her about Morelli, but did she really believe I treated her like a whore? Under the circumstances, my leaving had been for the best.

The longer I was gone, the more Stephanie weighed on my mind. As I'd waited in the cover of the jungle, I replayed the conversation where she asked me if we could ever be more to each other. I'd wanted to tell her yes, but I wasn't ready. A woman like Stephanie deserved transparency, not someone with top-secret government clearance and a job that takes him into the most dangerous situations imaginable. The waiting and worrying would take its toll on her—on us—and we'd self-destruct. Knowing all that, sometimes I entertained the idea of someday being able to offer her more. Still, I couldn't ask her to wait around for something that might never happen.

Besides, there were things that would change the way she saw me if she found out. I have more black marks on my soul and transgressions to atone for than I could list. I've been trying to find peace for a long time, but it's always out of reach. If I tried explaining it to her, she wouldn't understand. You need to have lived my life to fathom the depth of atonement I required. If we were in a relationship, she would want more from me. More than I had to give. She would want to support me while I worked through it all, which might work for a while. Unfortunately, I'd seen too many soldier/civilian relationships turn toxic to do that to her. The only fair thing to do was to never take the chance. That way, we'd be able to at least remain friends.

I called Tank. "I should land in Newark within the hour. Have a car waiting."

"How was the mission? Any injuries?" Tank asked.

He knew better than anyone that dismantling these types of organizations was a thankless job and that I couldn't give him any details because I was under a gag order. "No new bullet holes or broken bones. Status report."

"All accounts are in good standing. We had some break-ins and problems with suppliers, but nothing I couldn't handle."

"And Stephanie?" There was dead air for a few seconds. I pictured the sweat dripping from Tank's forehead.

"She's gone, but she's okay. I talked to her when she called Hector."

"Explain!"

"Six days after you left, she took off. Her friend Mary Lou is caring for her hamster. I think she knows Stephanie's location, but neither she nor Stephanie's parents will tell me. Hector knows where she is, but he's not talking, either. None of them are concerned about her being gone, and I have Stephanie's assurance that she's safe."

The grip on my chest eased a little. I would find her and fix everything. Another thought hit me. What if she'd gone off with Morelli to get married? The possibility gutted me. "Did you question Morelli?"

"He hasn't seen her."

Relief washed over me. "Did you track her movements?"

"She doesn't have any of her trackers on her. Her car is in her lot. No bank or credit card activity. No traces of her on any flights or other public transportation. She just disappeared." Tank's tone was heavy with failure. He'd fucked up, and he knew it.

"Have the car waiting." I disconnected and took a calming breath.

As soon as the plane came to a stop, I jumped into the waiting Porsche. Tank was waiting in the passenger seat. He didn't say a word as the tires screeched out of the lot. I debated going to her parents but wanted to look through her apartment first. Clothes were missing from the closet and dresser, as well as face and hair products from the bathroom. She'd left her laptop on her nightstand. I fired it up and checked the history. There were no destination searches or anything to indicate where she'd gone. I sat down on her bed in defeat. Two questions burned in my gut: why did she run off, and where did she go?

I checked my watch, noting it was after 8pm. "Get me a location on Morelli."

As if he'd been expecting the request, Tank said, "He's home alone."

Tank was silent on our way to Morelli's. He was right to be on guard. As soon as I located Stephanie, Tank and I needed to come to an understanding. If I couldn't count on him to keep an eye on her while I was away, then we had a major problem. We were trained to live and die by the chain of command, and from where I sat, he'd failed monumentally.

Pulling up in front of Morelli's house, I made my way to the door and knocked. Morelli opened it with silent hostility, staring at me with bloodshot eyes as he slurred. "So, the mighty Manoso returns."

A baseball game was on, and several empty bottles sat on the coffee table. The dog looked up at me with forlorn eyes. I wasn't an expert on Morelli's housekeeping patterns, but this seemed unusual.

"Where's Stephanie?"

He laughed. "You're asking me where Stephanie is? Don't you know everything about her? You track her every move." He turned his back and went to sit on the couch. Picking up a beer bottle, he took a long drink.

Normally, we have an uneasy truce, but he was a wildcard right now. I was losing patience. "Just answer the question."

This time his laugh was less antagonistic and more pitiful as he flailed his arm in the air, sloshing beer. I kept my eye on the potential weapon in his hand, but he was so drunk I didn't think he'd be able to hit me with the bottle if he tried. "Haven't seen her. Thought she went off with you."

What little patience I had was wearing thin. "Do you have any idea where she could've gone?"

"If she ain't with you, I ain't got a clue." He threw his head back, laughing. "I'm a poet and didn't know it." He laughed harder.

"Sober up," I said with disgust, wondering what Stephanie saw in him.

"Don't want to." His laughter died quickly, and now he was practically choking on his words. "It hurts too much. I messed up, and she won't let me fix it." He looked up at me as if expecting me to tell him what to do to get her back.

No way in hell.

"You feel it too, don't you?" He pounded on his chest. "Hurts like a mother fucker."

It sure as hell did, but I wasn't here to commiserate with him.

"This is your big chance," he continued. "The one you've been waiting for. What are you going to do?"

That was a good question. Even though I wanted her like no woman I'd ever known, my circumstances hadn't changed. But I couldn't think about that right now. My priority was finding her and making sure she was safe. Realizing he had no information for me, I left. I still had one more place to go, but I dreaded it. I tried to limit my interactions with Stephanie's family because I didn't want to get caught up in the strings that go along with that. Still, her father was my best shot at getting answers. If he wouldn't talk to Tank, maybe he'd talk to me.

As I drove to her parent's neighborhood, it occurred to me that even though she hadn't clicked with Dr. Mereck, she might have gone away to seek help from another mental health professional to deal with everything that had happened to her. It was an unlikely scenario, but not out of the realm of possibility. I was happy if she found a place to help her. There was no shame in seeking mental health counseling. I've needed it a time or two over the years myself.

Her father was in the garage, checking under the hood of Mrs. Plum's car. He looked up when he heard me pull into his driveway. As I approached, he wiped his hands on a rag. "Mr. Manoso," he greeted.

"Call me Carlos. I was hoping you could tell me where Stephanie is."

Instead of answering me, he pulled a bottle of single malt and two glasses from behind a toolbox. "Want one?" he asked as he poured two fingers into a glass.

I nodded and accepted the glass. He had something on his mind and would only say it when he was good and ready, so I sipped and waited.

"I want you to know I'm grateful for everything you did to find my daughter when she'd been abducted." He paused, and I imagined he was thinking about how afraid he'd been. "But the woman that returned to us wasn't the same one who was taken."

He was right. She'd been different—fragile. What had I been thinking, leaving her in that state? "Do you know where she is?"

"I do." He nodded. "But she wants to be left alone—for now. Can you accept that?"

"I can appreciate her need for privacy, but surely she didn't want you to keep her location from me." He silently studied me, and I hoped he was reconsidering, but the silence stretched too long. "Can you at least tell me if she's getting professional help to deal with what happened to her?"

"You're in love with my daughter."

His statement took me off guard. I hadn't thought he'd picked up on the fact that I was in love with her. But what good was loving someone when you couldn't be with them? It was clear he wouldn't tell me where Stephanie had gone, but maybe her mother or grandmother would tell me. "I understand. Thank you for talking to me." I sat my glass on the workbench and turned to leave.

Before I took two steps, he said, "Neither Helen nor my mother-in-law knows where she is."

The man was smarter than I gave him credit for. I turned back to him. "You know she has a knack for finding trouble."

"I'm aware of that." He nodded and then regretfully added, "The only thing I can say is that she's safe." He would not betray his daughter's confidence, so I left.

I pulled out of the driveway and turned the car toward Mary Lou Stankovic's home. As if reading my mind, Tank said, "Stephanie won't like you intimidating her friend into betraying her."

He was the voice of reason because that was exactly what I had in mind. The woman was scared of my men and me. One stern look and Stephanie's friend would spill her guts. But Tank was right. I was already on tenuous ground with Stephanie. I didn't need to add fuel to the fire by using my size to intimidate her friend. But she wasn't the only one who might have answers. Turning the wheel, I went toward Rangeman. Hector and Lester would either talk or bleed for their silence.

Even though the air conditioning was on in the car, sweat was dripping down Tank's face, giving away his inner turmoil. He did his best to appear unfazed but worried about what I would do next. After working closely for years, he knew to be cautious when I was in a certain mood. While he was wrapped up in knots, I did my best to appear calm, but it was all an act. I was raging on the inside. I was angry at my men and myself. This would not have happened if I'd been here. I ignored the warning signs she was exhibiting because I needed to get out of town for a while to get my head and heart back in line. I wanted her to return to normal so badly that I bought into her act and believed she was on her way to healing. Taking up running and joining a gym were all signs of a different Steph. Instead of getting better, she'd run away, and my men had let her. Heads would roll.

"Where are they?"

Tank didn't bother pretending he didn't know who I was referring to. "Waiting for you in the gym."

I parked in my space and took the stairs to the third floor. Hector and Lester were waiting for me alone in the gym. Advancing on them, I demanded, "Where's Stephanie?" Lester smartly took a step back but stopped while Hector remained where he was with his face set in determination. Hector wouldn't give up her location, so I focused on the weakest link. Grabbing Lester's shirt, I twisted the neckline to make it hard for him to breathe. "Where... is... she?"

He gasped and went up on his toes to ease some of the pressure around his neck, but he didn't answer me.

"Tell me, and I might let you walk out of here with no broken bones." He closed his eyes, accepting that he would get a beat down. Damn, he wouldn't betray Stephanie.

"Beating him will not get you what you want," Hector said. "He only knows she is out of town, not her location. Only her father and I know that."

"Tell me." I released Lester and turned toward Hector.

"No. But I will tell you she is safe."

That's it? That's all he was going to tell me? I'll kill him. I started toward him. "This is not a good idea, Boss," Tank said.

Tank was right. Killing my employees wasn't a good idea, but neither was keeping Stephanie's location from me.

"Stephanie trusts me. Instead of disappearing, she confided in me, and I will not betray her." Hector took a deep breath, his posture resolute. "She had to get away. The nightmares would not let her rest, and she did not feel safe here. She will come back."

"You think she's in the frame of mind to know what's best for her?"

"Yes," Hector said without hesitation.

"She can't even go to the mall without having a PTSD flashback," I argued, hoping he'd see how dangerous it was for her to be out there all alone.

"I speak with her every week. She will come back better. You will see."

"I want to talk to her."

"If she asks, I will tell her you are back. The decision to speak with you is up to her."

Rubbing his neck from where I'd choked him, Lester attempted to change the subject. "Elite Security is outbidding us on every new contract and poaching our new hires."

Tank gave Lester a pointed look, letting him know he didn't appreciate him blurting that out. "We'll worry about that tomorrow," Tank said.

"Alright, Miss. Scarlet," Lester said sarcastically. "We're slowly losing market share, but sure… let's worry about that tomorrow." If Tank's scowl could have finished the job I'd started, Lester would be in traction right now, but to his credit, he didn't whither.

There was nothing more to be gained here. My only choice was to wait for Hector to tell Stephanie I was back and I wanted to speak with her. It was up to her to comply. The only thing that lessened my worry was believing she was getting help at a mental health retreat or facility. I had to keep reminding myself of that. I just wished I could be the one helping her.

Without a word, I left the gym and went up to my apartment. Defeated, I sat down, dropping my head against the back of the couch and staring at the ceiling. I was not happy being left in the cold. Her bond with Hector was getting stronger every day, almost like she didn't need me anymore, and I hated it. She had a knack for getting under the skin of the most damaged of men. I could attest to that. They didn't come any more damaged than Hector and me. We'd seen some bad shit in our lives, and she was like a breath of fresh air when there didn't seem to be enough oxygen to breathe. She brought out the protective gene in us because she would fight to her death defending her friends. She was the most frustrating woman I'd ever known. Why couldn't she just stay where I left her?