At ten the next morning, I walked into the conference room and immediately noted how Ranger, Tank and Bobby were already there. Guess I get to cover monitor duty the next time someone is on vacation or gets sick.

"You're late," Tank said from where he sat.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," I shot back earning me a growl from the big man. He really is in desperate need of a vacation. "Again, when exactly did you lose your sense of humor?"

"That's it, Santos-"

I'm sure he was about to call me to the mats before Ranger held up a hand, stopping him. "Let it go," Ranger's warning to his best friend had all three of us raising an eyebrow. It wasn't like him to involve himself in our little tiffs. Especially, when I was so blatantly goading Tank. "All three of you have had a lot on your plate lately and you're all a bit testy and tired."

Tank shot me another glare, then gave Ranger's explanation a nod of agreement.

"Santos," Ranger began. "You know the drill for being late."

"I do and I'll honor it," I said as I eased into my chair and looked directly at Tank. "I'm sorry I was late, but knowing this could be a lengthy meeting, I wanted to check on Casey first."

Tank held my gaze for a moment before breaking his silence. "She, okay?"

"She's fine," I replied. "I'm still a little antsy about leaving her alone for long periods of time."

"As she gets more settled and works more with Doctor Cochran, her mood should continue to improve," Bobby offered. "In turn, you shouldn't have to worry as much."

"I hope so," I replied. "But we're not here to talk about Casey. So, let's get to it."

"Actually, before we get into the other business," Ranger said. "I wanted to let you know that Steph is already working on the Wishing Well case. She's doing a deep dive into Maddie and Izzy's backgrounds. She's hoping maybe something from their pasts will lead us to them now."

A small sliver of relief slid through me. I knew if anyone had a chance in hell at finding the girls, it would be Steph. "Good."

"We also agreed that it would be good for her and Casey if they had breakfast together every morning."

"Perfect. Having Steph around will be good for Casey."

"Agreed," Ranger said. "Okay. So, let's get to it. We have a lot to cover today."

We spent the next half hour of our meeting bringing Ranger up to speed on all the things we didn't discuss yesterday before he finally laid fresh news on us.

"While Steph and I were away, I tried to stay offline as much as possible, but I did check my voicemails and emails every day. I have a few interesting developments."

"Which would be?" Tank asked.

"I got a call from our liaison to the Alphabets. Apparently, the new FBI director is interested in contracting Rangeman on a semi-permanent basis."

"Skips, most wanted or both?" I asked.

"Both," Ranger replied. "It obviously wouldn't be everyone on their list but select criminals. We would also have the right to refuse any case we feel is over our head or we weren't comfortable for whatever reason."

I smirked. "Over our head. Ha. The government sent us into situations that were many times way over our head. Dealing with criminals should be easy, compared to some of the drug lords and dictators we've had to take out."

"Agreed," Ranger replied. "Still, I like the idea of having the ability to say no. Plus, I got a call from Harry the Hammer."

"Vinnie's father-in-law?" Bobby asked.

"Correct. As you all know, he owns Vincent Plum Bail Bonds," Ranger said.

We all gave a nod of agreement.

"Well, it appears that Lucille has finally had enough of Vinnie's bullshit, and she's decided to divorce him."

Bobby and I exchanged shocked expressions. Honestly, I thought Lucille should have left him a long time ago.

"Harry is ready to sell the bond's office. He remembered our conversation and has offered first right of refusal to Rangeman."

"We getting in the bond's business, Primo?" I asked.

Ranger glanced between us. "I think it makes sense. We already go after all Vinnie's FTAs. This way we won't just get a percentage of a percentage."

"Both of those outlets would create an entirely new division," Bobby said.

"It would," Ranger agreed. "A new division that could be very lucrative for us."

"We'll need additional insurance and someone who can write bonds," Tank said.

"I've checked with our agent. The insurance isn't an issue. As far as writing bonds, Connie has that ability now. I'm pretty sure I can talk her into working for Rangeman."

"We could get Little Girl to get licensed too," Tank said.

"Actually," I added. "This is perfect for Beautiful. She could run the division without ever having to leave the office. Plus, we all know how good she is at searches."

Ranger nodded. "Agreed. Though we will need to get her cleared with the Alphabets if she's going to run searches on any of their criminals."

I waved a hand at him. "Technicalities."

"In the meantime," Ranger continued. "Connie can write bonds while we get our paperwork in order."

"Are you going to leave the business where it is or move it to Rangeman?" Bobby asked.

"I would like to move it to Rangeman," Ranger replied. "I believe it would be in our best interest to keep everything in one place."

"We're definitely going to need more space than we have now," I said.

Ranger nodded. "You're right. Which leads me to the last big development."

"Which would be?" Tank asked with a hint of impatience. Yeah, he definitely was overdue for some time off.

"I got a call from our realtor, Delany. Old man Jenson is putting the apartment building next door up for sale."

My spine straightened at that as we all took turns casting glances at each other. We'd been eyeing Jenson's apartment building for the last couple of years. Hearing he was now putting it up for sale was the opportunity we'd been waiting for to expand.

"What's the plan?" I finally asked when nobody else spoke up.

"Rangeman buys the building, and we get it rezoned for both commercial and residential use. Then we move the bail bonds onto the first floor. Second floor would be designated for the apprehension team, including all the Alphabet work and any FTAs for the bond's department."

"And the rest of the building?" Tank asked.

"Would remain apartments. The core team would remain living here, but everyone on four would be relocated to the new building."

"That would open up the fourth floor," Bobby said. "What's your plan for it?" He motioned to us. "Because we all know you have something in mind."

Ranger actually grinned. I have to say, being married to Steph definitely has relaxed him just a bit. "The most realistic and smart thing to do is to move Sales to four and open up the rest of Five for more monitors."

For the first time, Tank shook his head. "I think I have to disagree with you, Ric."

Ranger arched a brow. "About?"

"I think it would make more sense to keep the apprehension teams and bond's department in this building. Instead, we move the downstairs conference rooms and sales to the other building."

"Why?" Ranger asked.

"Because all the weapons are stored here. The fleet garage is here, and the surveillance teams work out of here. This could be the building where the grunt work gets done. The other building could be made to look sophisticated and professional for potential clients."

Ranger cocked his head to the side and looked from Tank to me and Bobby. "Brown? Santos? Thoughts?"

"Tank is right," Bobby said, and I nodded in agreement. It was a rare occasion that we went against a Ranger plan. Not that we were really going against it per se. Just changing it a bit.

"I have an idea," I said as I looked around the table at them.

Ranger motioned to me. "Go ahead."

"The building next door is one story higher than this one, right?"

He nodded.

"Okay. So, first and second floors would be all about sales and clients. That leaves six floors for apartments. What if we made the third and fourth floors one bedrooms like we have here, but we turn the remaining four floors into condos?"

Ranger's brow knit as Tank huffed out a confused sounding, "Condos?"

I raised a hand, gesturing for them to let me finish. "Just hear me out. We could divide up the square footage on each floor, then sell that square footage to any of our men who might be interested in owning their own place. We have them work with an architect and contractor that we provide, but they build their units however they see fit."

"So," Bobby began to speak. "Someone single, like Zip, might choose to have it designed as a one-bedroom unit with a den."

"But," Tank interrupted. "A couple like Hal and Kristina might want to design two or three bedrooms in the same space."

I touched my nose with one hand and pointed to them with the other. "That's it exactly. They would pay us for the square footage, then pay the contractor to build the place to their specifications."

"What if one of them decides to leave or gets fired?" Ranger asked. "We can't have them putting their places up for sell on the free market."

"The contract they sign for the purchase of the square footage would state that Rangeman would buy the unit back at whatever fair market value would be at that time. Then we have the right to resell the unit as is to the next employee who might want it."

Silence met my statement as the guys cast curious glances at each other. "It would save Rangeman some significant working capital," Bobby said. "And we could easily work out the details for how to handle all the utilities," he added.

"It could work," Ranger said, then looked to each of us. "So, are we buying the building?"

"What about the current tenants?" Bobby asked.

"According to Delaney there are only a handful left, which is part of Jenson's problem. He's getting up there in age and can't physically keep up with the maintenance. The building is starting to fall into disrepair, and he can't keep up. Because of that, the tenants are slowly moving out. If we buy the building, we can break the leases of the remaining tenants and pay to relocate them."

"Even with potential buy in's, we're about to tie up a lot of Rangeman's working capital," I said.

"True, but I firmly believe the returns would completely outweigh the investment," Ranger replied.

"That means hiring more men," Bobby added.

"I guess it's a good thing we upgraded the infirmary," I said. "You may become a very busy man."

Bobby leaned back in his chair and grinned. "What the hell? I say let's do it."

We had no sooner agreed to the building purchase when Bobby's cell phone rang. He looked down and hit the button. "Talk," he said. A moment later his face contorted into a frown. "Fuck. Okay. Make sure they take her to St. Francis. I'll meet you there." He hung up and looked at all of us.

"That was Zip. He and Junior were with Ella while she did some shopping this morning. Apparently, some teenagers, were being little assholes and were skateboarding through the Quaker Bridge Mall. Ella stepped out of one of the stores and was run over by one of them. Zip thinks she might have a broken ankle and a concussion."

"Shit," I grumbled as Ranger let out a curse of his own. Both our mamas would kill us if we allowed anything bad to happen to Tia Ella.

We were out of our chairs and racing for the door before our curses had cleared the air. "I'm riding with you," I said to Bobby.

"You're both riding with me," Ranger corrected.

"I'll stay and hold down the fort," Tank offered, his voice already fading as we burst through the door leading to the stairs and elevator.

We were in Ranger's Cayenne and heading to St. Francis when I looked over my shoulder at Bobby. "Did Zip happen to say if they got the little bastards that knocked her down?"

"He said Junior had the kid snagged by his baggy ass pants before he could get up and make a run for it," Bobby replied.

"At least there's that," I said. "Hopefully, she's not hurt too bad."

We were at St. Francis in no time. Ranger dropped us at the emergency entrance then went to park. Once inside, Bobby flashed his credentials at the duty nurse. Then he headed through those damn Authorized Personnel Only doors. I headed for Zip and Junior.

"Report," I barked, more than a little pissed that I was once again back waiting at the hospital for someone I loved.

Before Zip could answer, Ranger appeared behind me. Good. At least I wouldn't have to repeat the story to him and be the one in the path of his ire. "So, we came out of Macy's," Zip began. "And we were heading back toward the JC Penny, where we parked. When we came around the corner three boys, probably between the ages of thirteen and fifteen, were being chased by mall security for skateboarding inside the building. The leader was looking back at security. So, he never saw Ella and ran right into her."

He angled a thumb toward Junior. "The kid started to scramble up and away, but Junior caught him by his belt buckles. His two buddies got away, but we handed the kid over to mall security with orders to call Lawrence Township Police. I gave them our number. So, I expect to hear from them soon."

Ranger folded his arms over his chest. "Knowing Tia Ella, she probably won't want to press charges. There's a valuable lesson to be learned here, so I'll push her to do it."

Bobby appeared back through the doors, and we all turned to look at him. "Well?" Ranger asked.

"No concussion. Just a slight bump on the head," Bobby replied.

"Thank God," I said.

Bobby held up his hand. "Don't thank him just yet."

"Why?"

"Because her ankle is broken and is going to require surgery to fix."

"Shit," I grumbled, then looked at Ranger. "Who's gonna tell our mothers?"

He arched a brow. "I think you should take on that task."

"I'd rather face you and Tank on the mats," I replied, pulling a grin from my cousin.

"Tell you what?" he said. "You tell your mama and I'll tell mine."

"Deal."