xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Steph moves around in the kitchen of her apartment, carefully cutting the slices of jicama, roma tomatoes and haas avocados into even, small cubes and scooping them into a large bowl. She shakes the glass jar of lime juice, olive oil and smoked half sharp paprika and gets ready to drizzle it on the veggies to macerate. She is interrupted by a gentle knock on her door. It is probably Mrs Galliano returning the set of Raggedy Anne and Andy books she borrowed to read to her granddaughters. Wiping her hands on a kitchen towel, she heads over and answers the door.
They followed me. He followed me.
A slow burn starts at the back of Steph's neck as she stands and stares at the four big men crowding the hallway in front of her door.
Breath in. Nothing is important. Breath out. Nothing is changed. Breath in, breath out.
"What."
"Joe told me....us that there is a problem with Rangeman."
"You lie." She moves to shut the door.
"I don't lie."
"Joe died in March. You lie." She starts to shut the door again. Ranger moves into the doorway so she has to stop or risk shutting the door into his body.
"Steph. I do not lie. He left me a message last May. I...we have been totally out of communication with everybody except our handler from when we left until we returned last week, and we have been in debrief until this afternoon."
"And? Nothing about Rangeman and you is of any importance to me and has not been for a year. Go away."
"Please."
Nothing more, nothing less. The magic word.
Breath in. Nothing is important. Breath out. Nothing is changed. Breath in, breath out.
She looks at each face, for once no blank faces, no empty eyes. Hope, pleading, worry and pain. Stepping back she lets them in and walks to a closed door. Opening it, she points in. The four men file in to a study with a kitchen table and six chairs turned into an office. There is a closed laptop at one end, and a large pad of cheap newsprint and the 128 count box of crayons. A well used doggie bed covered with rusty hair is in one corner.
"Sit."
Steph leaves to go into the kitchen, she retrieves 4 bottles of water from her fridge and returns. She sets the bottles on the table, moves over to the file cabinet under the window and retrieves a file. She turns and slaps it onto the table and leaves. She heads back to the kitchen as the long case clock left to her by her Grandma Mazur chimes six.
Oh bother.
She unplugs the crock pot, pulling the crock out and setting it on a tray, gets 4 plates, sets of utensils and paper napkins and adds them to the tray. She sets the bowl of veggies she dresses with the lime and olive oil dressing, and opening the fridge pulls out a plate of corn cakes covered with a piece of cling film and adds that to the tray. Picking it up, she goes back to her study and plunks the tray at the end of the table and walks out.
Heading for her living room, she flops down, rolls face inward to the back, and heads for the land of Denial. From the other end of the couch comes a very doggie sigh.
Time After Time - Cindi Lauper
Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick,
And think of you
Caught up in circles confusion -
Is nothing new
Flashback - warm nights -
Almost left behind
Suitcases of memories,
Time after -
Sometimes you picture me -
I'm walking too far ahead
You're calling to me, I can't hear
What you've said -
Then you say - go slow -
I fall behind -
The second hand unwinds
[Chorus:]
If you're lost you can look - and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you - I'll be waiting
Time after time
After my picture fades and darkness has
Turned to gray
Watching through windows - you're wondering
If I'm OK
Secrets stolen from deep inside
The drum beats out of time -
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Beware of the Handshake
"Is that Ella's Ropa Vieja? - that smells sooooo good," Les reaches for the crockpot lid and lifts it and sniffs at the steam.
"I think so, smells just like it. Ella here?" Bobby deals out the silverware and napkins and Ranger makes a grab for the plate to see what was on it.
"Arepas, just like Ella makes, but if she was here she didn't say anything," Ranger passes the corn cakes over to Les who pops a couple on each plate and ladles some of the well stewed Cuban spiced beef on to each plate. The men grab their plates, and Ranger adds some of the veggies to his plate.
Tank looks confused "If Steph didn't want us here, why is she feeding us?"
"Burg hospitality, it is 6 and it is dinner time. Think of it as a Pavlovian reaction from 35 years of Burg motherhood." Ranger jokes.
"I don't care if it makes her bark and drool as long as she is giving us Ropa! This beats the hell out of leftover pizza!" Bobby comments around a mouthful of corncake wrapped around the shredded beef.
For a few minutes the room is filled by the sounds of eating, then the dishes being put back on the tray.
"So, let us see what is in this folder." Ranger shuffles through, laying out the documents in order and they start at one end. "So, her contract, and all the assorted medical, tax and licensing. Look - her concealed carry license and the New Jersey bounty hunter licensing."
Lester happily makes a grab for a Rangeman specific form "She passed her qualifications for weapons skills, and her levels meet or exceed the APFT FM21/20 guidelines we use. Is there anything about her self defense? That was a fantastic two person takedown she did."
Bobby pokes around the remaining paperwork 'No, nothing on that. Just these two left, some letter from Ranger and this form." He passes the letter over to Ranger, and starts scanning the last form. "No idea what this is, it is stamped for the bulletin board in the break room ...." and his voice trails off as he sees a terrible work evaluation with a release of employment form stapled to it. Both had the tiny holes indicating they had been posted. "Guys, I have no idea what the fuck, but this is all wrong. We don't use this form, we generate ...." He stops as Ranger has dropped the letter and taken the forms out of his hands.
"I don't know what Diego is playing at, his signature is on this and I left him in Miami. Did something happen to both Zip and Cal?" Ranger drops the paperwork "Stay here, I need to speak with Steph alone." He walked out of the room and closed the door.
Tank picked up the letter and read it. Then he read it again aloud - "Steph, I spoke with Diego and my accountants. You are simply not working out for Rangeman, or for me. Please leave and for once don't give me any grief about this. Ricardo Carlos Manoso, CEO Rangeman." What the fuck - I know for damned sure that no matter what problem Ranger has with Steph he would talk things over, not Dear John her like this."
Les took the letter and examined the signature. "It looks like his signature, even uses that funky extra black ink that comes with his fountain pen."
"Les, for once I am worried. What the fuck has happened here - Joe dead, trouble going on for the past year, Steph seems to hate us. What are we going to do?" Tank sits down and looks pensive.
Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend
Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don't tell the truth uh
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof
The truth is in the eyes
Cause the eyes don't lie, amen
Remember a smile is just
A frown turned upside down
My friend let me tell you
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don't tell the truth, uh
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof
Beware, beware of the handshake
That hides the snake
I'm telling you beware
Beware of the pat on the back
It just might hold you back
Jealousy (jealousy)
Misery (misery)
Envy
I tell you, you can't see behind smiling faces
Smiling faces sometimes they don't tell the truth
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don't tell the truth
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof
(Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes)
(Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes)
I'm telling you beware, beware of the handshake
That hides the snake
Listen to me now, beware
Beware of that pat on the back
It just might hold you back
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don't tell the truth
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof
Your enemy won't do you no harm
Cause you'll know where he's coming from
Don't let the handshake and the smile fool ya
Take my advice I'm only try' to school ya
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Give us time to work it out
"Stephanie" Ranger kneels in front of the couch, looking at the small dense lump of sadness crunched facefirst into the corner.
Dios, if I touch her, will it make it worse? How can I not touch her. What do I do now.
Scrubbing his hands along his face, he leans his forehead on the couch near Steph.
"Stephanie, please talk to me." The magic word brought a stonefaced Steph into a sitting position on the couch. Feeling the movement, Ranger sits back onto his heels and looks Steph directly in the eyes. Taking her movement as permission he begins.
"I know you have never lied to me." Relieved at the microscopic nod he continues "And I have never lied to you about anything I could discuss." Again the microscopic nod. Relieved, he continues. "Going through your file, I saw all the paperwork you signed to work for Rangeman, and everything looked exactly as it should with two exceptions."
Steph reached for the bottle of water Ranger brought over to the couch for her, cracked it open and drank part of it. She nodded slightly so he continued. "I do not use that style of evaluation sheet, I use the standard BUPERS 1616/26 Evaluation/Counseling record form. Makes it easy on the guys - we computer generate them and it is in a format they understand. None of the other offices use that style either. Yes we do make comments both good and bad - you can't get better at a job if you don't know what you are doing wrong. However these forms are kept private between the reviewer and reviewee, they would never be posted on the board in the break room." Again with the small nod.
Dios, this seems to be going well. Keep it businesslike, Carlos, keep it businesslike.
"Second problem, I never wrote that letter, I never asked Diego to come to Trenton and take over, and I would never cut you off from Rangeman and never ever discuss problems between us with anybody but you. In general once we are in the wind, we have absolutely no contact with anybody in our civilian lives as it is too dangerous for both them and us. Sometimes we can pass messages through our handlers and rarely get messages passed to us through our handlers but we have been totally out of contact with everybody for the past 18 months."
Steph uncurled more upright and a tear made a silver track down along her nose. "So what is Diego doing here?"
"I don't know, but I need to find out. Did you know Joe called and left me a message about a year ago?"
"No, how did he leave you a message that Diego didn't intercept?"
Good, her spidey senses seem to be working.
Leaning forward, holding her face in both hands, wiping away the tear with a thumb, "Please don't get mad at him, but he had noticed that you call my personal cell number when I am in the wind, and you had called a few times using his phone. He called the phone company and requested records using the excuse they were part of an ongoing investigation and went through to find my number." Sitting back, I see little creases forming between her eyebrows as she thinks.
"Personal number?"
"I kept the number I originally gave you - a burn phone - specifically for you. Until Joe discovered it, you were the only person that had it. Ever. When I am away, it rolls into a computer program that saves the messages for however long it takes me to get back so I get every message, no matter how old."
"I guess if Joe felt he needed to call you I can't get mad at him. Why did he call?"
Now this is the Steph I know and love.
"He said, and I quote, there was something hinkey going on at Rangeman. Now I know Diego is up here, and first sidelined you into the file room and then fired you for what I know to be totally bullshit reason, and providing a forgery to back it up, there is definitely something hinkey going on." Steph leans back and gets her considering face on. Leaning even further back, she drapes her head back on the sofa in an upright version of her thinking pose.
"Are we OK?"
And can we be us again or am I really too late. Please not too late.
"It was Dickie, and Joyce and the Divorce from Hell, and all those public fights with Morelli all rolled into one. And at Rangeman, where I felt *safe* because you told me I was. I walk in and have the rug pulled out from under me all over again." Eyes closed, head leaning back Steph breathes slowly and gently as if she is waiting for something bad or painful to happen.
"Is there any way I can make this right? I did not mean for you to be betrayed, but it happened on my watch. You depended on me and I failed to keep you safe."
"Kill Diego."
Suddenly, the sound of Lester going "Yes!" followed by a slap and "ow" and "shhsh!" come down the passage from the study.
Steph snickers and lifts her head and looks at me. "I think the kids are listening in on Mommy and Daddy."
"Call them in and discuss what happened while we were gone?"
"If we don't they will sneak in to evesdrop. We might all just get comfortable here. I don't think this is going to be easy to fix." She pulls out her phone and sends a short text.
Well we know where we're goin'
But we don't know where we've been
And we know what we're knowin'
But we can't say what we've seen
And we're not little children
And we know what we want
And the future is certain
Give us time to work it out
[Chorus:]
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Takin' that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
I'm feelin' okay this mornin'
And you know,
We're on the road to paradise
Here we go, here we go
[Chorus]
Maybe you wonder where you are
I don't care
Here is where time is on our side
Take you there...take you there
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
There's a city in my mind
Come along and take that ride
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
And it's very far away
But it's growing day by day
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
They can tell you what to do
But they'll make a fool of you
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
It's A Neighborhood Reunion - Part 2
"Steph says the kids can come and join Mommy and Daddy in the living room," Ranger calls out. Les, Tank and Bobby come out to join Ranger and Steph in the living room. Steph rolls her eyes at him.
"I sent my partner a text, he should be up here shortly - he lives in one of the apartments on the floor below us." Steph notices a flicker of jealousy in Ranger's face and adds "His boyfriend is working tonight so he may have gone out to get something to eat."
"Partner?" Ranger asks.
"All part of what happened in the 18 months you have been in the wind." Steph's stomach gives a huge growl, startling the guys.
"Shit, we ate your dinner, didn't we?" said Tank.
With a laugh Steph replied "You guys probably ate my dinners for the next week. I do the whole cook in bulk and freeze thing. I was planning on Ropa and Arepas for a few meals."
"What is that, Ella brought you the crockpot of stuff?" Les asked curiously. "I thought you couldn't cook."
"Nope, again all part of what happened" Steph was interrupted by the lock tumbling and the door opening. Tank turned and partially drew his sig.
"You need me for something Estefania?"
Seeing Ranger he pulls a knife and starts to close in on the living room with a deadly look on his face.
"Hector!" Steph yells "Stop! It wasn't Ranger, it was Diego screwing with me for some reason."
"Only for my Estefania. If she says it is not your fault for her broken heart, I believe her." Hector puts away his knife, and moves over to one of the seats at the kitchen work table.
Steph starts "Let me explain. [pause] No, there is too much. Let me sum up."
Bobby shakes his head "She must be feeling better, she is quoting Princess Bride at us."
"Things started out OK - I was doing more and more research for Rodrigues, with Joe hooking up with this cute redheaded nurse named Anita, Mom finally started backing off from pushing Joe, but she started with the Bachelor Trenton show again. Grandma Mazur kept running off to gamble, which made Dad happy because she wasn't there." Steph got up and headed to the kitchen and rummaged for something that got nuked. Heading back, she sat down and started eating some sort of stir fry.
"We heard your voicemail that she died - I am so sorry we weren't here for you. Was it a stroke?" Bobby asked.
"No she had an aneurysm in her brain explode. It was fast. We were in the ER, and they moved her upstairs to take pictures and she died in the machine. She just thought it was a horrible headache." Steph looked sad. "I would have liked you all to have been here, but Hector and my regular guys were here with us."
"You said everybody is dying, who else died?" asked Tank.
Steph snickered. "Well you are going to like this, it is pure Grandma Mazur."
Steph put her bowl down on the table and finished off her bottle of water. The guys all shifted around on the couch and got comfortable. Ranger sat next to Steph with some space between them. He laid his hand on the surface of the couch so his fingers were a bare inch from Steph's leg. Hector wandered into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Steph absentmindedly reached down nd took Rangers hand.
"I went to Stiva's to make the arrangements, Grandma Mazur had left an envelope with me for when she passed on. She told me she didn't want Mom making the arrangements because she would put her into some old lady rags and have a closed casket funeral. When I got there, Dave and Scooter had already brought out a small suitcase that had her wedding portrait, and her favorite lavender track suit, and her favorite lavender Keds hi-top sneakers. I was afraid to ask about underwear. I really didn't want to visualize my grandmother in a purple thong." All the guys made sounds of agreement.
"Well, I got home and found poor Rex had died while I was gone. I was pretty broken up and I called and asked Scooter if I could stop back, wrapped Rex in a paper towel and put him in a plastic bag and headed back. Hector met me in the lobby and went with me. We got there, and I asked if we could tuck Rex down at the foot of the coffin. I just couldn't toss him in the garbage, he meant so much to me so I thought that he could keep Grandma company."
Hector brought Steph a cup of coffee fixed the way she liked it and headed back to the kitchen.
Drinking some coffee, she continued "Scooter agreed, he said he thought that Grandma Mazur would find it absolutely hysterical. I also brought along that paracord rosary you made me to show me how to make them for the Ranger Rosary project. I swapped it out for the ivory one she normally carried. Hector gave Scooter his bandana to replace the white lace hankie Burg propriety would have her holding. He said he would wrap Rex in it and have her holding the paracord rosary."
Tank looked confused.
"When a woman gets buried in the burg, she will always be holding her rosary and a lace hankie in her hands." Steph explained.
"So ... you grandmother was buried holding a dead hamster wrapped in a gang bandanna and a paracord rosary while dressed in lavender hi tops and running suit?" Ranger asked curiously.
"And her hair had been chopped to 3 inch spikes, dyed blackberry with orangy red tips." Steph added. "My mom had a cow the Friday afternoon when she saw it."
Everybody started laughing. Steph got up, went to a box on the mantle and retrieved a small purple velvet bag. Sitting back down, she handed it to Ranger.
Ranger opened it, and an antique ivory rosary slithered out into his palm.
"I want you to have it, she always liked you and thought you were my best friend."
"Thanks, Babe, it actually means a lot to me." Ranger tucked the rosary back in the bag and pocketed it.
"And my guys were great, the eight of them and Hector showed up and stuck with us until closing. Two guys always stood up with us near the coffin and the others wandered around making sure everything stayed quiet. Joe and a lot of the cops also showed up, and Joe of course glared at all my friends. Hector was there, and we even had Vito and Harry the Hammer show up for a bit. Some of Hectors friends, and Lula and some of her ho friends came too. They were pretty nervous with the cops being there but it meant a lot that so many people showed up. Lots of Grandma's friends from the burg showed up too."
"I bet Joe was pissy," commented Bobby. "He doesn't like any of us."
"Saturday was about the same, though my guys all showed up in dress uniforms - 6 Army and Hal and Cal in Navy uniforms. My dad was thrilled, he didn't realize almost all your guys were military."
"Well, some are from the penal system as Joe likes to point out," Ranger said.
"He sort of shut up when he saw the uniforms and all the medals. The other cops also looked surprised. Mom still kept whining about all the thugs and disrespect. Can't please her so I stopped trying."
"Proud of you, Babe."
"Though I am not entirely certain what it meant, each of my guys gave Dave a pair of those shorts you guys wear in the gym, and a picture. Something about getting groped enough times they figured she earned her panties?"
Lester fell off the couch laughing. "Holy shit, the "package contest" pictures."
"Do I really want to hear this, Santos?" Ranger commented.
"We all got really bored one evening, and Grandma had kept asking Steph who had the best package, so we got one of the cameras and everybody took pictures because nobody wanted to hold a short arm inspection in person."
Ranger sighed. "So your grandmother is also buried with 8 pair of soffee running shorts and pictures of my guys junk, a dead hamster wrapped in a gang bandanna and a paracord rosary wearing a lavender track suit, lavender hi tops and with her hair dyed purple with orange tips."
Steph looks like she is thinking about something. "Yup, pretty much sums it up."
"So, normal for her?"
"Yup."
"Open casket?"
"Yup"
"And you mom's head didn't explode?"
"Nope, but I bet she was ironing the toilet paper when she got home."
"Babe."
I've seen a lot of sights and traveled many miles
Shook a thousand hands and seen my share of smiles
I've caused some great concern and told one too many lies
And now I see the world through these sad, old, jaded eyes
So what if I threw a party and all my friends were there?
Acquaintances, relatives, the girls who never cared
You'll have a host of rowdy hooligans in a big line out the door
Side by side with sister barbara, chief wells and bobby orr
I'd invite the flannigans
Replace the window you smashed out
I'd apologize to sluggo for pissing on his couch
I'll see mrs. mcauliffe and so many others soon
Then I'll say I'm sorry for what I did sleepwalking in her room
You may bury me with an enemy in mount calvary
You can stack me on a pyre and soak me down with whiskey
Roast me to a blackened crisp and throw me in a pile
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style
You can take my urn to fenway spread my ashes all about
Or you can bring me down to wolly beach and dump the sucker out
Burn me to a rotten crisp and toast me for a while
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style
You may bury me with an enemy in mount calvary
You can stack me on a pyre and soak me down with whiskey
Roast me to a blackened crisp and throw me in a pile
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style
You can take my urn to fenway spread my ashes all about
Or you can bring me down to wolly beach and dump the sucker out
Burn me to a rotten crisp and toast me for a while
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style
You may bury me with an enemy in mount calvary
You can stack me on a pyre and soak me down with whiskey
Roast me to a blackened crisp and throw me in a pile
I could really give a shit - I'm going out in style
Spread all my ashes about
Dump the sucker out
Toast me for a while
I'm going out in style
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
This Wasn't In Your Plan
Shaking his head in disbelief Tank asked "So you got the apartment while we were gone. From the money from Rangeman?"
"No, actually Grandma Mazur had some money and bought the building, and I got everything from her. Well, almost everything."
"Almost everything? What else did you get?" asked Lester. "And how does Hector fit in?"
"Well, about the time Grandma Mazur died, and things started going to hell at work - Diego shuffled me down to the file room, and I did mail, files and front desk. Hector he more or less left alone for a bit."
"When did Diego arrive?"
"Beginning of March, just barely 3 months after you all left. He showed up with a bunch of paperwork and some sort of notes from you telling him some changes you wanted to make. General stuff at first - he sent Cal back down to Miami, and swapped some guys between branches. Oh, and he had everybody given some sort of physical."
Hector looked grumpy at some memory "The doctor was not a good person. Tattoos does not mean drug use."
"Ah, yes, Hector and a couple of the others with tattoos got weekly piss tests - for insurance purposes, in case of drug use. As if anybody working for Rangeman would do drugs and risk losing an excellent job." Steph looked vaguely offended at the whole idea.
"So you actually own the whole building?" asked Ranger. "That is a fairly big investment. Did you hire a manager?"
"Actually there is a real estate company managing the rental part, and Dillon ended up out of a job when the guy sold off our old building. So he has an apartment on the ground floor and is the maintenance manager, and I have the whole top floor. There are 20 other apartments total. I actually got to design my place myself." Steph looked happy. "I finally have a bathroom that isn't a refugee from the 70s!"
"How big is it?" asked Lester.
"Well, I have the two main bedrooms for me and my nieces, we each have our own full bathrooms and walk in closets. They come and visit me fairly often though they don't spend the night all the time. If I was not careful I think Val would dump them on me all the time. I have two guest bedrooms that share a full bathroom as a Jack and Jill suite. And you saw my work room. I also have a nice utility room with the largest washer and dryer and chest freezer I could find." Steph finished her coffee. "The whole thing wraps around the center of the building, where the stairs and elevator are so it preserved the original hallway, and gives me emergency access to the hall from every part of the apartment using the original entrance doors for the four apartments that originally were on the level."
"Wow, this is huge. Did you plan for it to be this big?"
"Well, I figured that I had the space, if I had the guest bedroom for the girls, there wasn't any reason I couldn't add a couple extra guest rooms - the building has an emergency generator so that when the power goes out we still have electricity so my parents and Val and the Clown and kids can come over and we can weather out the snow storms."
"That is an excellent idea, Babe. And I even like the colors. The cream and oatmeal are a good overall background and the accent colors really work. Very restful but still light feeling."
"So, how does Hector and you actually cooking fit in?" Tank asked curiously.
Steph sighed "Well that sort of happened when someone nuked the bond office."
"Demolition Man" Manfred Mann
Tied to the tracks and the train's just coming
Strapped to the wing with the engine running
You say that this wasn't in your plan
And don't mess around with the demolition man
Tied to a chair, (and) the bomb is ticking
This situation was not of your picking
You say that this wasn't in your plan
And don't mess around with the demolition man
I'm a walking nightmare, an arsenal of doom
I kill conversation as I walk into the room
I'm a three line whip
I'm the sort of thing they ban
I'm a walking disaster
I'm a demolition man
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
And I'm Feelin Good
"I beg your pardon?" Ranger asked, nonplussed.
"Well, I don't mean an actual nuke, but the police said that it was a command detonated binary explosive from the stuff that was left over. It was made of stuff that you can find at mining locations and road construction so it doesn't look like anything military. "
"Was anybody hurt?" asked Bobby.
"Well, Connie was off bonding out Mooner and Dougie, and Lula and I had just left to pick up lunch. Unfortunately that left Vinnie, and Joyce had just shown up for a nooner."
"Holy shit, did they live?"
"Nope, so the police think it was specifically targeted because the three of us had just left."
"So someone had it in for Vinnie?" Lester looked unsettled. "I know he was pond scum, but he didn't deserve to die."
"And as much as you hated Joyce, she didn't deserve to get blown to pieces either," said Ranger.
"Joe said he doubted it was anybody at Rangeman, the job would have been done a lot neater and with different explosives."
"Thanks, I think ..." Bobby scoffed.
"Well, it is true." Steph sighed. "So Harry the Hammer decided that he would like to reopen the bond office, and so we started negotiations. I knew I wanted to make some major changes, and we needed to replace the damned building again so I got my lawyer and he got his and we hammered out the details." Steph timed the word 'hammered' for when Les was drinking to get him to snort his water through his nose then snickered.
"Bitch..." Lester laughed.
"Well, we had Harry buy Mary Maggie's building and tore it down even though it was only slightly crispy, and combined the property with the bond store, that gave me the space to add a two car garage for the Bond Office vehicles. We use Big Blue to get skips, and we have a passenger van for doing courthouse runs."
"Courthouse runs?" asked Tank.
"Yup. The major change I made was in *everything*! The office still makes it's money from bonding out felons, but all four of us are salary and the money from picking up skips is split between Hector and I, but it really isn't enough to pay someone to pick up skips, really. We work with the Clown - he gives our felons their legal service. We call a week before their trial date to remind them to get paperwork and clean clothing ready. If they don't have a ride, we pick them up in the van and take them to court. Cuts down on missing by accident. We also prefer to bond out frequent fliers - we give them a discount rate for behaving, and Harry and Connie with 'family' ties make sure that the family bondees show up, and Hector and Lula make sure that our Comstock and Stark Street fliers behave, and I help make sure the burg fliers behave. If they give us trouble, they work on a three strikes policy. Each time they give us trouble, they lose their discount, and the third time, we refuse to bond them out again."
"Damn, that is sensible. And you really have fewer people skip out?"
"Yup. And with Hector as my partner, and with the training I have less trouble with those that do try and skip."
"Speaking of training, Beautiful, where did you learn that takedown move?" asked Lester.
"State of New Jersey has decided that all bond enforcement needs to get training and licensing, so the four of us took the course that they suggested over in Philadelphia. They brought in a bunch of trainers from local dojos and did a show and tell so everybody could see what was available. Connie and Lula decided to stick with yoga, Hector decided he was fine with his street skills and I went through and tried a couple different styles. I decided to stick with systema because it was all about the pushing, and shoving, and kicking.."
"Ah, so Black Friday Sales technique" laughed Lester. "Ow!" as Steph whacked him on the back of the head.
"And we worked a deal with Sunny's for a discount on using the range and selling back the used brass for reloads for target practice. My godfather Joe Juniak helped us all get concealed carry licenses, and we decided on uniforms - cargos in any color and polo shirts and a jacket when weather is cold, in any color with the Plum Bonds logo embroidered in them. We had a locker room with shower and laundry added on the second floor so we don't have to go around covered in crap."
"But that doesn't explain the cooking" said Ranger, looking fascinated.
"Well, the company we picked for the health insurance had a program where we go to Area 51 and have the aliens probe us.."
"What?!"
"Well, that is what it seemed like. They had some clinic give us every test known to man and I swear someone snuck in an anal probe in there somewhere. Once they figured out our overall health, they did a nutritionist consult, and set us all up in a neat cooking for idiots class so we could eat properly..."
"I'll believe that when I see it..." grumped Bobby.
"Hey, I wasn't the one who ate my weeks dinners ..."
"Ok, fine." Bobby heaved a sigh.
"So, self defense, shooting, cooking, running the bond office. Still, what happened with Rangeman? asked Ranger.
"Well, shortly after you guys left, Diego showed up with a bunch of paperwork, sent Cal down to Miami, Zip to Atlanta and a bunch of new guys replaced some of our guys. Then he started shifting us around and then a bunch of us got fired. I was able to hire Hector since I knew I had the bond office in the works, so the four of us were ok while it was being rebuilt. Last I really knew, Rangeman was still only handling the seriously high bond skips from True Blue bonds, Diego had some sort of contract with Les Sebring, and Plum handles up to about 50K and frequent fliers."
Hector added "We do not want some of the high bond skips that Rangeman still handles. I am not insane."
Steph added "And we really don't know what is going on with Rangeman. We got kicked, and life got strange and we have been running full tilt since then. I don't think it has really settled into anything like normal yet. Though I am glad you guys made it back alive."
"Feeling Good" - Nina Simone
Birds flyin' high, you know how I feel
Sun in the sky, you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me.
Yeah, it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me, ooooooooh...
And I'm feelin' good.
Fish in the sea, you know how I feel
River runnin' free, you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree, you know how I feel
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me,
And I'm feelin' good
Dragonfly out in the sun, you know what I mean, don't you know,
Butterflies all havin' fun, you know what I mean.
Sleep in peace when day is done: that's what I mean,
And this old world is a new world and a bold world for me...
Stars when you shine, you know how I feel
Scent of the pine, you know how I feel
Yeah, freedom is mine, and I know how I feel..
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me
[scat]
And I'm feelin'... good.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Birds flyin' high, you know how I feel
Sun in the sky, you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me.
Yeah, it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me, ooooooooh...
And I'm feelin' good.
Fish in the sea, you know how I feel
River runnin' free, you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree, you know how I feel
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me,
And I'm feelin' good
Dragonfly out in the sun, you know what I mean, don't you know,
Butterflies all havin' fun, you know what I mean.
Sleep in peace when day is done: that's what I mean,
And this old world is a new world and a bold world for me...
Stars when you shine, you know how I feel
Scent of the pine, you know how I feel
Yeah, freedom is mine, and I know how I feel..
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me
[scat]
And I'm feelin'... good.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Nest of Bad Men
"And that leaves us needing a way to figure out what Diego is up to, and how to regain control of Rangeman. Is there any reason to think that the guys and I can't just walk up to the front door and in?" asked Ranger.
"Good question, theoretically it should be possible but do we want to go in blind?" Tank leaned back and looked thoughtful. "Do we have anybody inside we can get intel from?"
Steph looked thoughtful as well. "I really have tried moving on, so I really have no idea. Hector?"
"Well, why do we not use your issue laptop to use the observation system to look around?"
"What?!"
"Estefania, you have your Rangeman issued laptop sitting in your study. I installed and controlled security for the computer system at Rangeman. Do you really think I would not have put in back door access for myself in case of emergency?" Hector looked at Steph with amusement.
"Let's get to work then!" Ranger got up from the couch, held out a hand to Steph and aided her in getting up and they headed back to the study. Hector headed directly to the laptop, flipped it open and turned it on. The rest of the guys all grabbed chairs and sat, with Bob padding in and curling up on his cushion.
While Hector logged through various screens Ranger took time to look around more carefully.
"Looks like you babysit the girls a fair amount. I always wanted the big crayon pack but we always got the 32 or 64 packs. Lester, stop playing with the crayons."
"Val helps Albert out now the girls are old enough to come over after school. I can usually manage my days so I can do 3 pm quitting time a couple days a week if I need to. She keeps Lisa with her at Albert's office. I can do research here just as easily as at the office, and Hector's partner Matt works from home, so working up here is fine with Hector as well."
Hector announces that he is in, and chatting stops as he flips around through the internal feeds.
"Well, it is evening, it is fairly quiet. The usual four guys are on monitor. I don't recognize the duty manager," freezing the feed on an office with a mid 30s looking man with medium length blond hair wearing Rangeman black working on paperwork.
Ranger looks closer to make sure "Max from Miami, not one of Diego's really close friends that I know of. He was hired by Rafe about two years ago, Navy."
"SEALs?" Tank asked.
"No, Torpedoman and rescue diver. If you can pull up personnel records we can see if he had any specialties further than being able to pass the Rangeman quals. I seem to remember he preferred MMA style."
Hector resumed flipping through feeds. Ella headed back to the elevator with the kitchen cart, Brett and Gene driving into the garage, Vince and someone Ranger didn't recognize offhand heading out.
"We could try just showing up and talking our way in, but I would prefer to fob our way in. None of us have our fobs, and I bet Diego changed the programming on them in the computer locking us out."
"Not a problem," Steph said. "Field trip!" She got up and made little come along finger waves at everybody. Looking puzzled, everybody got up and followed her out. The little parade wended their way down the stairs and out the front door, through the park where they ended up back at the bond office. Steph fobbed off the alarm system and unlocked the door, and flipped on the lights.
The office looks absolutely nothing like it had before. The walls and ceiling were painted a soft cream, the floor was covered in a light bamboo flooring and the seats were comfortable looking office seating enameled in the same cream as the walls with dark plum colored microfiber cushions. There were two desks facing each other, and another two desks, one set up as a receptionist's desk and one tucked behind that. A small washroom was neatly placed under the stairs up, and beside the receptionist's desk was a small coffee station for customers. Steph went over to her desk and bent down, hidden from view so Ranger wandered over to watch. She reached down and flipped up a section of flooring and exposed a small floor safe which she opened. She pulled out a small zippered Hello Kitty pencil case, then closed and locked the safe, and flipped the flooring back down.
Looking up and seeing Ranger watching her "What?"
"Nothing Babe, just looking. I like what you did with the place. Lula is working out as the receptionist?"
"Yup, we do everything on computer so there is no physical filing, Connie takes care of the collateral and collecting the money for the bonds, and drops the cash off at the bank on her way home in the evening. We store the collateral upstairs, and that is also where the locker room and break room are."
"Very nice. I am not afraid of getting some random STD here any more!" Lester joked.
"I agree, never knew what Vinnie might have lurking in his office back then," commented Bobby. "Looks more upscale too. Not like a 'felon of the month' clubhouse."
"Well we still do have a lot of felons through here, we just tend to get locals and lower level ones. We really do try and work with them to keep them from skipping. The salary part makes it nice. They seem to prefer working with us and not getting hassled." Rolling her chair back closer to the desk, she zips open the case and pulls out her black Batman cell phone, and her fob, and lays them on the table. Looking up at the guys watching her with some amazement she commented "Diego asked for my *issue* fob, phone, stun gun and weapon. Ranger gave me these himself - these were not issue, so they did not have to be turned in. I left them here in case there were trackers on them someone might think they were here when the place blew and they got buried."
"Damn, that was an excellent idea, and yes they actually do both have trackers. So, Hector, is this something we can work with?" asked Ranger.
"Yes. We could go in now, but that wouldn't give us Diego. I think we need to keep an eye on things for a few days and see when we could catch Diego. Do you think we could try to reach Ella or Luis?"
"Well, we could but I would prefer to wait until they were outside of the building, at Costco or someplace we could speak with them away from Rangeman and not in a Rangeman vehicle," Steph said, thinking out loud. "The Rangeman issued phones can perhaps be listened in on, we already know the vehicles have trackers and dash cams that also record sound that the control room can listen in on. If we approach them when they are out shopping, as long as there isn't anybody with them we can probably manage to get away with it."
Ranger sat and thought for a few minutes.
"OK, how about we put the phone and tracker back for now, and head back and keep an eye on the office. We need to find a time when we can roll in and get Diego, or pick him up outside the office. If Steph doesn't mind us setting up in her office, that is. Though we could borrow the laptop and go back to Tank's house if she prefers." Ranger walks back and forth. "I hope that we can get this mess resolved as soon as possible."
Steph thought briefly.
Great. Though he is giving me the choice to help him or not.
"I do have the spare bedrooms that the four of you can use, go ahead and get your clothing and meet back at my apartment. I will put these back in my hidey hole and close up the bond office."
The men leave, heading back to the parked vehicle. Steph reopens her stash and puts the little zippered bag back, and secures it. She closes down the bond office again and heads back across the park to her apartment.
"And that leaves us needing a way to figure out what Diego is up to, and how to regain control of Rangeman. Is there any reason to think that the guys and I can't just walk up to the front door and in?" asked Ranger.
"Good question, theoretically it should be possible but do we want to go in blind?" Tank leaned back and looked thoughtful. "Do we have anybody inside we can get intel from?"
Steph looked thoughtful as well. "I really have tried moving on, so I really have no idea. Hector?"
"Well, why do we not use your issue laptop to use the observation system to look around?"
"What?!"
"Estefania, you have your Rangeman issued laptop sitting in your study. I installed and controlled security for the computer system at Rangeman. Do you really think I would not have put in back door access for myself in case of emergency?" Hector looked at Steph with amusement.
"Let's get to work then!" Ranger got up from the couch, held out a hand to Steph and aided her in getting up and they headed back to the study. Hector headed directly to the laptop, flipped it open and turned it on. The rest of the guys all grabbed chairs and sat, with Bob padding in and curling up on his cushion.
While Hector logged through various screens Ranger took time to look around more carefully.
"Looks like you babysit the girls a fair amount. I always wanted the big crayon pack but we always got the 32 or 64 packs. Lester, stop playing with the crayons."
"Val helps Albert out now the girls are old enough to come over after school. I can usually manage my days so I can do 3 pm quitting time a couple days a week if I need to. She keeps Lisa with her at Albert's office. I can do research here just as easily as at the office, and Hector's partner Matt works from home, so working up here is fine with Hector as well."
Hector announces that he is in, and chatting stops as he flips around through the internal feeds.
"Well, it is evening, it is fairly quiet. The usual four guys are on monitor. I don't recognize the duty manager," freezing the feed on an office with a mid 30s looking man with medium length blond hair wearing Rangeman black working on paperwork.
Ranger looks closer to make sure "Max from Miami, not one of Diego's really close friends that I know of. He was hired by Rafe about two years ago, Navy."
"SEALs?" Tank asked.
"No, Torpedoman and rescue diver. If you can pull up personnel records we can see if he had any specialties further than being able to pass the Rangeman quals. I seem to remember he preferred MMA style."
Hector resumed flipping through feeds. Ella headed back to the elevator with the kitchen cart, Brett and Gene driving into the garage, Vince and someone Ranger didn't recognize offhand heading out.
"We could try just showing up and talking our way in, but I would prefer to fob our way in. None of us have our fobs, and I bet Diego changed the programming on them in the computer locking us out."
"Not a problem," Steph said. "Field trip!" She got up and made little come along finger waves at everybody. Looking puzzled, everybody got up and followed her out. The little parade wended their way down the stairs and out the front door, through the park where they ended up back at the bond office. Steph fobbed off the alarm system and unlocked the door, and flipped on the lights.
The office looks absolutely nothing like it had before. The walls and ceiling were painted a soft cream, the floor was covered in a light bamboo flooring and the seats were comfortable looking office seating enameled in the same cream as the walls with dark plum colored microfiber cushions. There were two desks facing each other, and another two desks, one set up as a receptionist's desk and one tucked behind that. A small washroom was neatly placed under the stairs up, and beside the receptionist's desk was a small coffee station for customers. Steph went over to her desk and bent down, hidden from view so Ranger wandered over to watch. She reached down and flipped up a section of flooring and exposed a small floor safe which she opened. She pulled out a small zippered Hello Kitty pencil case, then closed and locked the safe, and flipped the flooring back down.
Looking up and seeing Ranger watching her "What?"
"Nothing Babe, just looking. I like what you did with the place. Lula is working out as the receptionist?"
"Yup, we do everything on computer so there is no physical filing, Connie takes care of the collateral and collecting the money for the bonds, and drops the cash off at the bank on her way home in the evening. We store the collateral upstairs, and that is also where the locker room and break room are."
"Very nice. I am not afraid of getting some random STD here any more!" Lester joked.
"I agree, never knew what Vinnie might have lurking in his office back then," commented Bobby. "Looks more upscale too. Not like a 'felon of the month' clubhouse."
"Well we still do have a lot of felons through here, we just tend to get locals and lower level ones. We really do try and work with them to keep them from skipping. The salary part makes it nice. They seem to prefer working with us and not getting hassled." Rolling her chair back closer to the desk, she zips open the case and pulls out her black Batman cell phone, and her fob, and lays them on the table. Looking up at the guys watching her with some amazement she commented "Diego asked for my *issue* fob, phone, stun gun and weapon. Ranger gave me these himself - these were not issue, so they did not have to be turned in. I left them here in case there were trackers on them someone might think they were here when the place blew and they got buried."
"Damn, that was an excellent idea, and yes they actually do both have trackers. So, Hector, is this something we can work with?" asked Ranger.
"Yes. We could go in now, but that wouldn't give us Diego. I think we need to keep an eye on things for a few days and see when we could catch Diego. Do you think we could try to reach Ella or Luis?"
"Well, we could but I would prefer to wait until they were outside of the building, at Costco or someplace we could speak with them away from Rangeman and not in a Rangeman vehicle," Steph said, thinking out loud. "The Rangeman issued phones can perhaps be listened in on, we already know the vehicles have trackers and dash cams that also record sound that the control room can listen in on. If we approach them when they are out shopping, as long as there isn't anybody with them we can probably manage to get away with it."
Ranger sat and thought for a few minutes.
"OK, how about we put the phone and tracker back for now, and head back and keep an eye on the office. We need to find a time when we can roll in and get Diego, or pick him up outside the office. If Steph doesn't mind us setting up in her office, that is. Though we could borrow the laptop and go back to Tank's house if she prefers." Ranger walks back and forth. "I hope that we can get this mess resolved as soon as possible."
Steph thought briefly.
Great. Though he is giving me the choice to help him or not.
"I do have the spare bedrooms that the four of you can use, go ahead and get your clothing and meet back at my apartment. I will put these back in my hidey hole and close up the bond office."
The men leave, heading back to the parked vehicle. Steph reopens her stash and puts the little zippered bag back, and secures it. She closes down the bond office again and heads back across the park to her apartment.
"Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)" - The Hollies
Saturday night I was downtown
Working for the FBI
Sittin' in a nest of bad men
Whiskey bottles piling high
Bootlegging boozer on the west side
Full of people who are doing wrong
Just about to call up the DA man
When I heard this woman sing a song
A pair of 45's made me open my eyes
My temperature started to rise
She was a long cool woman in a black dress
Just-a 5'9, beautiful, tall
With just one look I was a bad mess
'Cause that long cool woman had it all
Saturday night I was downtown
Working for the FBI
Sittin' in a nest of bad men
Whiskey bottles piling high
Bootlegging boozer on the west side
Full of people who are doing wrong
Just about to call up the DA man
When I heard this woman sing a song
A pair of 45's made me open my eyes
My temperature started to rise
She was a long cool woman in a black dress
Just-a 5'9, beautiful, tall
With just one look I was a bad mess
'Cause that long cool woman had it all
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