A/N: Ella‘s meal is based on one I was served. I had Steph‘s reaction. Enjoy!
Steph’s POV
Six days on the 7th floor and I’m ready to scream! The first day wasn’t so bad because I spent it asleep. Those pills of Bobby’s are wonderful but I told Ella not to give them to me after day 2. They’re way too powerful. Anything in pill form that can put you out for 8 hours should only be taken at night.
Bobby brought up a milder pain reliever the next day which he promised would dull the pain and leave me awake. He reminded me to stay off my feet and allow Ella to help me, which wasn’t a problem because Ella has been great. We’ve talked about her life and all the things she did before she joined RangeMan. Turns out that Louis is a distant cousin of Ranger’s and when Louis was hurt in a workplace accident right after Ranger started RangeMan Trenton, he brought Ella and Louis down here, both to help with Louis’s rehab and so Ella, who was facing “empty nest syndrome”, had something to do. Since Ella is a registered dietician she is primarily in charge of meals but she enjoyed the work of housekeeping and was determined to care for all her “boys.”
“Oh Stephanie,” she laughed, “You should have seen Carlos’s face the first time he found me down on 4 changing sheets. He was fit to be tied!”
“Why?”
“Well, not only did he not want the men to get accustomed to the idea that they had a maid, but he was uncomfortable with the idea of his ‘Tía’ serving in a menial role. He read me the riot act on 6 later but he came back a week later and apologized.”
“What! Ranger apologized? Why?” I simply couldn’t imagine it.
“Well, not only were the men appreciative of my gestures, they were not taking them for granted. When I did grocery runs, they did and still do accompany me and help me get all the bags upstairs. If I’m headed to Sam’s or Costco at least 2 of the men always volunteer to go with me and I’m not allowed to carry anything except my purse. They helped stock shelves, chop veggies, anything I needed. And a few of the new hires told him that it was the first time in a very long time that they had any kind of mother figure looking out for them and it was a nice perk of working at RangeMan that they never expected.” She laughed harder. “After that, he hired a housekeeper and maintenance man for every RangeMan location. He says that after he did productivity went up 26%, fitness levels held steady and employee satisfaction was up 82%.”
“Well, I know that when I’m here the best part of being here is eating whatever you cook. Ranger has bribed me in the past with your meals.”
“Oh cariño, that is the best thing you could tell me! I tell you, it’s a pleasure to cook for you. I sometimes get tired of cooking low-fat, low-sodium, low-calorie meals. It’s fun to occasionally break loose and make a meal with some gravy!”
Ella filled me in on what’s been going on downstairs too. I knew there was something bigger than the smoke Lester and Tank were blowing. Apparently Hal, Ram, and Manny have been running the office and doing an outstanding job at it. Ella showed me the calendar that Hal set up and I had to admit it really was amazing. I also had a calendar, or at least an Outlook account and once we set it up, we realized I had a master account and could see everything. For the first time, I could see all of the activity at RangeMan, the takedowns scheduled, the “redecorating jobs” lined up, the company meetings and schedules.
I set that aside as something to think about later.
The heads of each office have been calling Hal and Ram to find out what’s going on up here, since Bobby, Tank, and Lester have stepped back from everything except financial meetings. Apparently, on day 4, they asked if it was possible that I might have information on what was going on, to which Ram had replied that I was recuperating from an injury and was incommunicado. I was amused that Ram decided that I was incommunicado but evidently everyone was told that all communication with me, outside the core team, had to go through Ella to ensure I stayed in bed and still. I was ready to go downstairs and rip into someone until Ella reminded me that the guys cared about my health and welfare and didn’t want me overrun before I was well. I refuse to argue with Ella so that was the end of that.
Ella left, reminding me to call my mother at 10AM. Bobby and Tank took my mother’s threat of an appearance seriously because if I don’t call my mother by 11AM, then Ella makes sure to remind me at noon, when she brings my lunch, and 1:30 PM. Since I don’t want to make Ella’s life difficult, I’ve taken to calling my mother at 10AM and it hasn’t been as bad as I thought. Apparently my trip to and from the house in Tank’s arms has been the talk of the ‘Burg.
“Your grandmother is telling everyone that you’re living in the building with all the muscle men and you get to pinch bottoms every day and that they carry you around the building like an Egyptian queen because you broke your leg! I’m getting calls from everyone about what goes on in that building and it’s driving me insane!” I can hear my mother banging pots and pans around in the kitchen. My eye is twitching. “Stephanie, please come home.”
“Mom, it won’t make a difference. Threaten her with a nursing home.”
I hear a horrified gasp. “Stephanie! A nursing home is out of the question. No one puts their mother in a nursing home unless they want them to die!”
I can hear my father yell, “I’ve wanted her in a nursing home for years. You should consider it.”
I love my mother, but these calls are not really about how I’m doing. They really exist to remind me of why I don’t live in the ‘Burg. I’m usually off in 15 minutes and I send the email to the guys shortly after.
I log back into my computer and start running searches. Manny and Rodriguez have had a field day sending me searches since they know I have nothing else to do. I currently have 9 sitting in my basket next to the bed. I started with 15, so clearing out 6 in 2 days has been pretty good progress and they’ve caught all 6 guys based on my info. I feel good knowing that I’m contributing to Ranger’s bottom line.
I spent a lot of time looking at the calendar that first day. Actually seeing RangeMan’s activity was a sobering experience. Before, when Ranger told me he bled money when I was in danger, I was hurt but I brushed it off. Now I’m looking at what Ranger has going on and seeing it in black and white was a pain so deep I fell into sobs, which exhausted me for the rest of the day. I’ve always been grateful, beyond grateful really, when Ranger showed up as my own personal Batman to save my life. I know he’s a busy man but I just thought he was generically busy.
This calendar is crushingly busy and every time I’m in danger, he pulls every man off their assigned duties, calls in contract employees, and redirects all RangeMan activity toward saving my life. I’ve never wanted to really examine what that might cost beyond “expensive” but I get the idea that if he pulls all his men off their assignments for 1 day to search for me, it’s costing him at least $50K-$75K. Not to mention what he actually loses in assignments and client calls. Multiple days multiple times a year…
I nearly hyperventilate at that thought.
Ella walks in when I am panicking and she calms me down and helps me breathe. I beg her not to mention this to Bobby, Lester, and Tank, which makes her laugh but she promises. I’m surprised I haven’t seen them more, but she tells me that they are holed up in Tank’s apartment and Lester’s office and are incommunicado to anyone except Core 2 (Ram, Manny and Hal), me, and her. Core 2?
I don’t want to talk to anyone but BLT didn’t get the memo because they walk into the apartment at 6PM.
“Hey Beautiful! How are you feeling?”
“My leg itches, I’m ready to hurl myself out a window, and I’m hungry.” I watch the three of them smile. I’ve had the same answer for the past 2 days.
“Sorry I can’t do anything about your leg, but perhaps we can relieve the boredom and Ella’s coming with food,” Bobby says.
Yum….Ella food….
Laughter. Yeah, yeah you laugh all you want. Ella doesn’t feed ME bark and twigs.
Ella appears with dinner, boneless beef tips, couscous, and steamed broccoli. She’s been going back through her old recipe collections and allowing me to taste test the recipes she thinks she should keep. The winners have to be under 500 calories a serving and tasty in order to feed them to the men. My eyes tell me this is a winner. We all tuck in and the table is clear in no time. Dessert is a berry sorbet; this is also a winner.
When Ella comes to pick up the dishes we compliment the meal. She smiles.
“It was completely vegan.”
You could have heard crickets chirp at that statement. Vegan?
“Yes, vegan. Not one drop of meat or an animal by-product. No eggs, no milk, nothing. So, how did it taste?”
Ella fed me bark and twigs. Ella fed me bark and twigs. And I liked it. It had gravy. I coulda licked the dessert bowl. I wanna cry.
Laughter. Ok, so I said it out loud. So sue me. I feel off. I’ve had nothing but vegetables tonight and I don’t know how I feel about that. The guys compliment Ella on dinner. Honestly, if she hadn’t said anything, we would not have known. It had gravy!
Stuffed and happy, Bobby carries me back to the couch and we get comfortable. Lester hooks my laptop up to the TV (wow, you can do that?) and they navigate to a website.
“Steph, we want your opinion on an idea. Manny suggested that we need to consolidate our files and information into one central site that is set up better than what we currently have. He’s had this demo for a while and he set it up the way he wanted, just playing with it, and wanted us to take a look at it and see what we thought. We want you to eyeball it, play with it for a few days and tell us what you think.”
“Wait, you guys own and run RangeMan, so why are you asking me what you should do?” I’m back to being suspicious and I feel a draft.
“True, but you’re the closest we have to Ranger’s opinion and instincts. We’re thinking of taking this company wide if it pans out, so we really want you to dig in deep and really look for all the advantages and disadvantages of having something like this setup and implemented across the company.”
“How much is it?”
Tank rubs his forehead. It must be expensive. “Little Girl, don’t consider cost. The cost is variable depending on what we have set up and we can afford all of it.” The draft is lifting my (metaphorical) skirt.
“Then why not go ahead and buy it?”
“Because the implementation of something like this is pretty serious, which is another reason we want you to look at it. Get a feel for what we might need if we decided to buy it. This is the kind of software that you have to think about how you are going to use it and what you need it for before you just start installing stuff.” Lester replied.
“Fine, I’ll review it. You said this was Manny’s idea?” Three nods. “OK, then I’ll hit him with the questions. When do you need my opinion?”
“A week, tops.”
“Alright. Something written?”
“Please.”
After that, we switch over to the news and just talk for a while. Tank tells me that Lula is dogging him to find out when I’ll be released from this apartment. The decision not to allow anyone up on 7 really ticked her and Connie off. Bobby tells me that the cop shop is pretty quiet right now. Apparently, Morelli has not been seen in the office for a while but he’s not undercover. This I already knew. I know exactly where he is or at least about where he is. I notice the guys giving me close looks while telling me this but I simply nod. No need to tell them anything about what happened. Lester fills me in on internal RangeMan business. Even though they haven’t been visible to everyone else, they have been listening in, the sneaks.
“Believe me, Beautiful, we’ve been laughing our asses off at the theories that the guys have come up with. Everything from a circle jerk to us joining Ranger in a ‘Stan has been considered!” Lester and Bobby are rolling on the floor laughing, but Tank shakes his head.
“Like I’d participate in a circle jerk with these two clowns. If I need a jerk, I can call—”
“LALALALALALALALA!”
More laughter. Sorry Tank. I really don’t want to even think of you like that. Or Lula, cuz I’m sure that’s where you were going.
By 10 PM, I’m yawning. Having the guys here has been great to lift my spirits and allow me to remain firmly in denial. I don’t want to think about Joe, or Ranger, or bottom lines. I just want to remain oblivious.
Day six on forced confinement finds me finishing seven more searches (will they never end?) and completing another call to my hysterical mother. My disappearance into the mysterious building on Haywood with no ‘Burg connections but a lot of hard bodies has finally intersected the realization that Trenton’s sexiest cop has disappeared. Now everyone wants to know where Joe has gone.
Am I really holed up in the building with Ranger? If so, are Ranger and I together now? Is that why Joe left? Because my leg isn’t really broken? I’m just up here having a good time with Ranger while Joe is off crying and getting drunk with strippers? Is Joe even alive? Or have the RangeMen done away with his body to clear the way for their boss?
I think the ‘Burg grapevine has intersected a Lifetime movie plot. Next thing you know, Joe’s body will wash up in the Delaware River and I’ll be the prime suspect. Again.
“Mom, I can’t control what people think. I know that Ranger is not here and hasn’t been here in almost 2 weeks. He was gone before I moved in.”
“Then why do people keep saying you’re living with him? Why me? Why do I have the daughter living in a building full of single men who won’t marry her?”
My eye is twitching. “Mom, does a single person who calls you, besides me, have any connection with RangeMan? Do any of them know any of the RangeMen? Any of the RangeMen in gossip circles in the ‘Burg?”
“It doesn’t matter, Stephanie! Appearances still matter. You are still in that building—”
“Pumpkin, ignore your mother. There isn’t anything else going on in this town besides crime and politics, so you make the better story. You look better than Chris Christie, at least.” Not a compliment; everyone looks better than Chris Christie.
“Thanks Daddy. By the way, I meant to tell you the other night at dinner: If you want to move Grandma into my apartment for the next few weeks while I stay here, I’ll send one of the guys over to the house with the keys so she can get in. Plus, I need to give Dillon a rent check.”
“Don’t worry about it Pumpkin. I’m on my way now.” Click.
Well, that should slow down the rumors coming from one house on Roosevelt Avenue. I call Ella (I still can’t believe I have to route my calls through Ella) to help me. I remove the keys from the key ring and while I write a rent check, Ella places my keys on a ring for Grandma. Five minutes later my father arrives downstairs and Ella gives him the key to my place and the check. She later tells me that my father looked as if Christmas, New Year’s and his birthday had all come at once.
Lunch brings another visit from BLT. This one is far more interesting.
“So Bomber, how do you feel?”
“Like I can’t wait to get sprung from here on Monday. It’s Saturday. I should be shopping.” Three grimaces. No Quakerbridge Mall for these guys.
“Well Little Girl, remember, you’re going from here to 5. That’s it. And we’ve had a slight change in plans. Since neither Ranger nor I are using our offices, you can use one of them. And before you start arguing, I want you to consider the fact that our offices have couches. Lot more comfort than the sling under the cubicle approach we were originally going to go with.”
I’m uncomfortable with using Ranger’s office. I’m living in his apartment, in his building, working for his company while under the care and protection of his men. Trying to contribute to his bottom line. Much more and I might as well get his name tattooed on my ass. And why aren’t you using your office? Nevermind.
“I’ll work from your office, Tank. More central to the action and I think more friendly.”
Tank raises an eyebrow. “My office is ‘more friendly’?”
“Yeah. I mean, the guys step into Ranger’s office and they immediately straighten their backs and come to attention. Hell, I’ve seen them fall into parade rest unconsciously. Ranger’s office, even when he isn’t there, is intimidating.”
This gets me a blank stare before he relaxes and nods. “Ok. I’ll make sure there’s plenty of room for you to maneuver in my office.”
“Thanks.”
“Beautiful, we need to ask you a serious question. I know you don’t like to talk about your relationship with Morelli so we aren’t going to ask you about that. We simply want to know if you know where he is and what he’s doing.”
“Any particular reason why?”
“Let’s just say the silence at the cop shop is overwhelming.”
I don’t want to answer this. How would Ranger answer this? What would Ranger do?
“Yes, I kinda know where he is and what he’s doing.” Three blank faces are encouraging me to share more details and I want to give them enough to discourage further questions. “How would you guys put it: Further intel needs to be obtain from a source with higher clearance.”
Well, that just gave it away and judging from the looks on their faces, they got it.
“Thanks Beautiful. No further questions.” Thank god. I suck at evasive. The rest of lunch passes with the usual joking and fun. I show the guys what I’ve been doing with Manny’s site. Manny caught on and has been communicating with me through it, mostly pushing fake paper and orders through the processes he set up.
I have to admit, I like it, but I don’t want it to take over the offices. Something like this could easily encourage the guys not to talk as much internally and with the other offices but I can also see how it would increase effectiveness tremendously. I can see storing notes on skips and clients in here, available for all the men to review, and storing info on ‘sources’ and cops. I think the good outweighs the negatives, but I can also see how the setup is going to be a PITA (pain in the ass) and there are some things that I don’t think Manny and Hector have considered in this little project. Lester wasn’t joking when he said you have to think about how you are going to use something like this before you buy it. But overall, I like it. I would buy it and I would pay someone else to set it up.
“OK Little Girl, you think we should go with it?”
“Yeah, I think you should. I still want to play with it for a few more days, but I think it’s a great move. I also think you’re going to need to decide how you are going to roll this out, if you are going to roll it out to the other offices—”
“Whoa! Not my job. That little bit of fun will belong to Manny. Now, have you thought about the job offer we discussed?”
Yes, I had.
Two days ago, when I had nothing to do but eat, sleep, and run searches, I thought about the job offer the guys had given me. On the face of it, it was a spectacular offer. Head of Bonds Enforcement and Client Services. I could be the face of RangeMan and still get out into the field and chase skips, just like Ranger.
Then I saw that calendar.
I removed everything except what was going on in Apprehensions, Manny’s department and I realized that I would be out of my depth. Manny truly ran Apprehensions like a well-oiled machine. Tank was right when he said that the capture rate was 93% and it was due in large part to the fact that Manny ran that department like a champ. The PI services that RangeMan had just started offering were making money hand over fist. Using my research, Manny and the Apprehensions team set up the take downs and carted them off to the cop shop within 48 hours. This month they were edging toward 100%. I was in awe of the work that Manny was doing and he was never in the garbage. Plus, now he was doing Lester’s job and apparently handling it with confidence. Looking at the calendar, it looked as if Manny really needed more men. I didn’t want to mess with that. He was doing a spectacular job where he was.
Then I took a look at Client Relations. Basically, it was sales, which would mean pantyhose. Yes, I could be the face of RangeMan but I’d never get out into the field. I could represent RangeMan and really help the guys out by softening the hard edges but let’s face it, I don’t stay clean enough for that. Plus I don’t have the personality necessary to schmooze clients for hours and make them feel better. You either wanted the best and were willing to pay for it or you went to our competitors, err, Ranger’s competitors.
I didn’t want either job. One sucked and the other already had the perfect person in charge. Now, how do I break it to the guys?
“I don’t want either job.” OK, that wasn’t diplomatic but the looks of complete shock on their faces were almost funny.
“Damn Beautiful, I gotta admit, I didn’t think you’d turn us down,” Lester said softly. “Why not?”
I explained my reasons for turning down the head of Bonds Enforcement and after a moment, all three nodded.
“I have to agree with you Bomber. Manny has done above and beyond what we expected and even after dumping Lester’s duties into his lap, he continues to excel. I understand your reasoning there. So why not Client Relations?”
I explained my hatred of pantyhose and my inability to stay clean and charming for 8 hours a day. This got some rough chuckles, but again, they agreed.
“Guys, my first thought when you offered me those jobs was ‘I get to be Ranger!’, but I’m not Ranger and I couldn’t be.” I laughed. “He told me when we met, when I was trying to capture Joe, that there was him and there was me and I would never be as good as him. He’s right. Ranger is in a league of his own.”
“Then I guess it’s good we came up with a third job offer for you, huh, Little Girl?”
“Tank, I’ll consider anything you suggest but I don’t know how you could top the Head of Bonds Enforcement. I mean, if Manny weren’t doing such a great job, I might have jumped on it, but I can’t take it from him just because I want to try. So what could you possibly have come up with that could beat that?”
“RangeMan CO.”
I’m in my thinking position on Ranger’s bed, smelling a combination of my hair conditioner, Bvlgari, and Ranger’s fading scent. I’ve avoided rolling onto this pillow just so I can keep the scent as long as possible but I need it tonight. I think Ella has figured it out because she hasn’t washed this pillowcase since I moved in.
RangeMan CO.
What in the HELL are Bobby, Tank, and Lester up to?