Virginia Safe house

Lester

In the five days since we found out Ranger had a child with Ana, Beautiful has been looking at everything we've collected over the last few months and going over every interview and picking apart every small detail of every recalled conversation. She even told Ranger they were not getting married until they found out what happened to his child and why, after all this time, things were blowing up all around us. Connie is traveling here so Beautiful came talk to her about all she remembers about Ana.

I knew it was only a matter of time till she circled back to the blood donations. And ask me why I wasn't on the list. I knew it was coming when she looked at the list during the meeting with all the Feds. She hadn't said anything while we were in the room, but I could see her face as she reviewed the list and couldn't find me.

'LESTER SANTOS!" Stephanie shouted across the room- she was waving the blood donor list and I knew I would need to come clean, but I was not looking forward to it. Not one little bit.

"You donated blood that day."

I remained silent. Because it wasn't a question, it was a statement. A true statement.

"I know, because I was on the cot next to you and they talked about how you were CMV-, whatever that means. You need to explain."

I reached for the easier explanation, "I haven't had a CMV infection, so my blook can be used to transfuse neonates."

Beautiful scowled. Yeah, I didn't think that would work. "You are being purposely evasive."

And I was.

Finally, seeing no way to avoid it, I told her the truth. "Steph, I use one of my alternate identities whenever I donate. It's a safety feature to keep Black Ops operatives from being identified."

"And Ranger does the same? He just becomes Mark Pardo or some other non-person?"

This isn't something I want to get into. If Ranger never talked to her about the wet work required on some of our missions, it really wasn't my place to….

"I am waiting for an answer." Beautiful was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Ranger doesn't donate blood in the larger system. He only ever does directed donations, if one of the guys need blood in his type. This way nobody has his DNA…"

Beautiful stands with her arms crossed, knowing there is more I am not saying. Damn it.

"We… mostly me, Tank, Ranger, Alamo, Halo, and Ramon… but sometimes some of the other guys do work for the Feds… we have to…sometimes we do some pretty dark things on our missions- fucked up things that we can never talk about, so we can't have it coming into our home lives." I blurt it out and stop. Waiting. Waiting for her to ask the next question. "We have to avoid a DNA match. We can't get jammed up because of the work… so sometimes we need to be someone else."

"Who else on the list is an alias?"

And I tell her the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Everyone I mentioned to Beautiful had identities for emergencies. And when Hector set them up, he included on other person. And I told her… Because it all should have been shared a long time ago, when Vito first asked for our help with his "nephew", Salvatore Bava.

Hector created Salvatore Bava from scratch, made him an orphan with no family closer than making him a second cousin once removed to Vito. This way, Sal could hide his "mother" (His aunt) and his "nephew" (who must be Ranger's son) in the States with no links to him. We had no idea who this woman and child were, at the time, but when Hector created their family, Hector had an ID for Sal as well, in case he ever had to visit, as well as an alternative ID for Sal to keep him anonymous when DNA might be collected- hospitalizations, incarcerations and of course, blood donations.

"And if Hector created all their identities, he can link them to whichever ID they are currently using." I finished. "So we have the ability to find Ranger's son and protect him and the woman who is helping him hide."

Steph shook her head. "We can't risk outing him to these people who are clearing hunting for him. And I think they were able to access Sal's DNA, to confirm he was in the Trenton area, and because you and Ranger are first cousins, that there was a familial match also in or around Trenton…"

"And you think that's why they are targeting people from Trenton?" Beautiful nodded. She was so smart. She put it all together when all the Feds missed the links.

Steph continued. "I just don't know how they got Ranger's DNA for comparison. Or how they even knew for sure that there was a living baby… And when? It's all really bugging me. Sal and his aunt have no blood ties to the boy. His grandfather would have no issues proving his relationship to Ana, but how did they make the link to Ranger." She shook her head. "I need donuts so I can really think about this."

And with that, she walked away from me.

On the road to Virginia

Connie

After receiving Stephanie's e-mail, I made arrangements with The Family to transport me to the Virginia safe house complex. Stephanie is convinced I know something I am unaware I know and she wants to talk to me about college and Ana and Ranger… And I feel like shit that I never said anything even knowing how close she was getting to Ranger. But my Uncle Jimmy said it was life and death, even all that time later and I never went against my uncle. God, I wish Jimmy was here. I wish he could fill in the blanks for me. Because he certainly knew more about this whole mess than he ever told me.

Ana and I met my first semester at college. She complained her father didn't like the guy she was seeing. In retrospect, it seems he was dead right in his assessment of Felix, but Ana was a woman in love. And then she stopped talking about this mystery man and I didn't pry, as it was none of my business. If she wanted to talk about the break-up, she would.

I should have asked Ana, but I still don't think she would have told me they secretly got married. God, I wish I had asked.

Still, I was surprised at first to see her hook up with Ric. He was younger than both of us, hot and smart, but not yet the muscular man of everyone's dreams. That came with his time in the military. Back when he was with Ana, he was lithe and strong and just beautiful. And Ana lit up his world.

I remember going to Seaside Heights with them on a Saturday, spending time in the arcade and being amazed at how good a shot Ana was. Ric and I were excellent and we all won stuffed animals. Pinball, bowling, how good Ric was sinking basketballs… the cotton candy, the Jet Star, hot pretzels with extra salt. Making crazy faces in the little photo booth on the Pier and swimming in the still so cold Atlantic. Ric was a great swimmer, I was happier on the sand, praising the photon gods. Ana was just soaking it all up. She hadn't been to the beach before we took her, had only swam in pools. The tides fascinated her. And Ric- he fascinated her too. We got back to the dorms sunburned and exhausted but it was the best of times. We were so tight. I loved Ana, Ric was like my little brother, they were like family…

I was dreading sharing my memories of that time with Steph- when Ranger was so very mush in love with someone who wasn't her.

Nico rousted me from my thoughts. "This is our exit- we'll be there in fifteen minutes."

I decided to tell Stephanie everything I remembered from time I spent with Ana. We needed to find Ranger's child. It was long past time for the truth to come out. I owed it to Ana... and the kid… and Ranger too.