Steph’s POV

Bobby speaks out

Thirty minutes later Bobby walks in, looking happy and content. He immediately hugs me, a long tight hug. Bobby and I joke around a lot but he’s more a side-hug man, so to get a big bear hug from him is really surprising and touching. I start to sniffle and he chuckles and passes me his handkerchief. 

We sit down on the couch and he pulls me close.

“It occurred to me this morning, as I walked around my empty apartment and office, that I’m not going to see you very much over the next year. No seeing your smile, or watching you eat your junk, or responding to your distress calls. I realized how much I was going to miss it.” He smiles, a full on Bobby smile. I don’t spend nearly as much time with him as I do Tank and Lester, and I’m regretting it now. Bobby has a way of making you feel that everything will be OK. “Knowing you has kept my skills fresh, Bomber.” We both laugh.

“Always glad to be of service, Bobby.”

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Steph’s POV

Lester dishes the dirt

It’s Friday afternoon. The guys told me last night that they each wanted to talk to me one on one about important issues they felt needed to be discussed. So I’m not completely surprised to hear a knock at the door after lunch. Lester is first, full of energy. He has frosting in one corner of his mouth and I glare at him and point at it. He goes to the bathroom to remove it and returns with a sheepish smile.

“Sorry.” He grins. “Alright, grab a legal pad and get comfy. I’m giving you the scoop on every office and XO and anything else I can think of.”

I pull another legal pad and grab a blanket to curl up on the sofa. Finally, someone willing to dish the dirt. I should’ve assumed it would be Lester. I need all the help I can get.

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A/N: Because this chapter is all over the place, time-wise, brownc0at thinks I should inform you that it’s late Friday morning. Don’t want anyone to be confused.

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Steph’s POV

The past week has been hell.

On Tuesday, I met with each XO for an hour. My meeting with Mark was awkward; the meeting with Armando had my spidey senses tingling. My best meetings were with Trenton Core, Danny and Javier. Hal really had thought about how to streamline processes and I couldn’t wait for our Monday meeting to discuss how he wanted to accomplish it.

While I was meeting with the other XOs, he, Manny and Ram had gotten together to discuss their goals for the branch. Since they had no intentions of keeping secrets from each other, they wanted to meet as a group. Their ideas are really good, centering on Private Investigations and Client Services. They also said they would like to hire a few female employees and want my opinion on what the hiring process for women should be.

“You guys want to hire RangeWomen?” I was a little surprised.

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A/N: Plot? What plot? This chapter has no plot. Smut warning people. That’s all I’m saying. Smut warning.

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Steph’s POV

This day has been exhausting. If this is a sample of what I have to look forward to for the next year then accepting this position has been a vast mistake. At 6PM, I’m finally free for the day. I’ve been up for over 12 hours, and all I can think about is a nap. I wheel myself upstairs and open the apartment door to the worst surprise ever.

Ranger is packing.

He turns to look at me, and I see his lips twitch.

“When?”

“Wednesday, 0900.”

So I have tonight and tomorrow night. That’s all for the next year. Well, I don’t have time to waste. I strip, right there in the living room, and hobble to the bathroom. “I’m taking a shower. Join me?”

I love that you never have to issue an invitation twice with Ranger.

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Ranger’s POV

I’m happy to see that the Trenton men are taking Steph’s elevation seriously. More importantly, the video of this little party is being broadcast live to each RangeMan office so they all know that the email was not a joke and that it should be taken very seriously. If they have questions, their XO is also here, standing in the background during this party. More importantly, the new CO has the backing, faith, and confidence of the entire Trenton staff and threats to her will not be taken lightly. I’m sure Lester is getting great shots of this party so that there are no questions about Steph’s legitimacy or her importance.

I’m covertly watching my XOs. The guys were listening into C3 and they report that Steph’s elevation was not really commented on after we left. Danny offered Babe some good advice, which she appears to have taken on board, and she’s running the meeting with a firm grip. Good. I wanted her to take control from the beginning.

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Manny’s POV (All conversations in Spanish)

After the meeting, Ranger asks me and Hector to follow him to his office- Wifey’s office, whatever. My brain is on overload. Ranger is headed into a completely FUBAR situation. I think it will take some time to process everything I’ve heard, but one thing is certain: I have a very good guess on who might be the New Jersey moles.

Ranger looks at Hector for a long moment. Hector, in turn, stares at me for a long moment, assessing. He turns back to Ranger and nods.

“Manny, Hector and I are trusting you with information we never want to hear discussed again. Your background in law enforcement and the FBI leads me to believe that you and Hector, more than anyone else in this company, might be able to help me piece together the information I’m going to receive in the streets. Plus, I may need you to tap back into the feeb network for me. If you feel helping me is going to violate your principles, leave now.”

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Hal’s POV

On the way from Haywood to the Plum’s last night I got a call from Junior telling me that all the XOs from around the company had arrived at Haywood and were looking around for Tank. I told him to put them in Conference 3 and I would inform Tank. Tank said to call Junior back and tell all of them to go back to their hotels and return to Haywood by 0800 the next morning. I went home, got a good night’s sleep and prepared for the first day of the rest of my life.

At 0500 the email hit. The news of our promotions was now public, and by the time I arrived at 0650 I had 12 congratulations emails in my box from the overnight guys. This was going to be interesting. The news about Steph’s promotion wasn’t there yet so I assumed they intended to tell the XOs first then send out a company-wide email. This was going to be a fun day.

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Steph’s POV

I’m stranded. I can’t go have a cigar, so I have to face the inquisition alone.

“I’m not fully buying that he can’t find anyone else to run his business, but if he’s chosen you I’ll accept it. You didn’t answer my question about bounty hunting. Are you still a bounty hunter?”

“Yes, Mom, I’m still a bounty hunter but until my leg heals, I can’t do the job. And since Ranger left me in charge, I have to meet the requirements of his company before I’m cleared to bounty hunt.”

My mother puts down her glass. I notice that she hasn’t had a drink all night. “What does that mean? Does that mean they have to train you?”

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Bobby’s POV

At 1745, we pull up to the Plum family domicile. The curtains in every surrounding house start fluttering, and I’m sure that the word is out.

An invasion force just pulled up to the Plums’! Everyone, come look! Lots of men with hard bodies just exited three SUVs! And Stephanie is being carried again! The rumors are true!

Mrs. Plum stands alone on the front stoop. Her eyes widen when she sees us and I can see she’s counting to make sure we’ve all arrived. She smiles when she sees me. I’m not sure when, where, or how I became her favorite RangeMan, but I’m not sure I’m happy with the designation. I like to limit my interaction with Mrs. Plum.

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Ranger’s POV

I don’t believe it. She’s willing to make the changes. She’s giving Hal the authority over her safety. She’s negotiating to work her way up to RangeMan standards. Lester is a fucking genius and I need to buy Hal a bottle of the best bubbly before I leave. When did he acquire those balls?

As I headed down to Tank’s apartment I was sure that I was going to have to cajole her into agreeing to the conditions. I was not looking forward to it. Being in my life, being part of my life, comes with risks and for the past four years I’ve been living a paradox. I don’t have time to babysit someone who won’t make the changes but I can’t leave her on her own because then she’ll end up over her head and dead.

I’d made a lot of plans, come up with different strategies to run to bring her to my side but they all required that I demand she change. They all demanded that I oversee her. They all demanded that I bully her into it and the last thing I want is to bully her into doing something for her own good. Just as I wanted her to choose me over the Cop of her own free will, I wanted her to choose to take her life seriously so I could start thinking about Someday.

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