Chapter 6: The Art of War
The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence under no circumstances can it be neglected.
Sun Tzu
Lester’s POV
All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
This has been one hell of an interesting week. The one thing Bobby, Tank, and I agreed on from the beginning was that Stephanie’s changes had to be genuine. She had to want to make the changes; we were not going to bully or force her to do it. Considering how angry Bobby was over why Ranger is still accepting missions, we agreed that we were not going to be the ones to help her improve (and to tell the truth, I am still more than a little frustrated and angry too).
She’s been turning down the assistance of the best, Ranger, for years for little more than bullshit reasons so we were not getting involved. We were not teaching her self-defense or how to shoot. We were not going to spend time teaching her offensive and defensive driving. We were not going to bully her into improving and we were not going to volunteer to help her. Our duty was to RangeMan since Ranger was gone.
If she really meant to change, if she really wanted to learn, she would have to accept help from those we left behind. Then we would know she meant it and she was doing it for her, not for us or Ranger.
That didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to stack the deck though.
Sun Tzu wrote “Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” It’s my favorite quote in dealing with all people but most especially those who I know are going to give me trouble, like Beautiful. She is truly a wily and cunning adversary, extremely unpredictable, and trying to maneuver her is all the practice I need in order to maintain my edge as a tactical leader and commander. This psyop required I pull every bit of skill I possess, expect the unexpected, anticipate her possible countermoves and cut off all avenues of retreat and misdirection. I think I’ve done a damn good job of it.
I expected her to accept the offer to live at RangeMan while she recovered and it was crucial that she did; the psy-op hinged on getting her out of her apartment. We need to be able to control her total environment. All her other options were terrible and I made sure that Tank and Bobby were gentle in pointing that out. Her conditions were completely predictable too and since I had the good fortune to have been up the longest, Bobby and Tank had the joy of pulling “dinner duty.” Bobby’s face still has a haunted look to it and it should. He ducked that particular bit of hell for a long time. Now that Beautiful’s mother has made it clear that she expects contact with him, not Ranger or Tank, he’s living in constant fear of having to accompany Steph to dinner more often.
The decision not to allow anyone, aside from ourselves and Ella, up on 7 was not just practical, it was tactical. When Ella isn’t around and we don’t show up for meals, then Beautiful’s all alone up there, surrounded by Ranger and his life, his world, and having to confront her true feelings and thoughts. We know that Ranger’s done some dumb things regarding her, said some incredibly stupid shit, but the man’s actions tell a different story.
Why on earth do women say they want the actions then pretend not to understand when they get them? Talk is cheap. The way he bleeds the company, his personal bank accounts, and his very body dry for that woman demonstrates a level of love and attachment for her that the words “I love you” are a mere shadow for.
Besides, who declares undying love to a woman who continually runs back and forth with another man? Ranger might be in love but he still has his pride; he’s no Morelli substitute. I love Beautiful, in ways I really shouldn’t, but I’m not ready to bleed like Ranger does without a much firmer commitment. Ranger looks at Steph the way a woman on a diet looks at a candy bar. She knows she shouldn’t touch it, it probably isn’t good for her, and one bite will not satisfy. She wants the entire candy bar. Ranger wants all of Steph. It’s clear he’s had the bite and now he’s just waiting for the other fucker eyeing the bar to walk away. Problem is, he isn’t sure what to do with the bar once he has it. Fucking idiot. I’ll run a psy-op on him if necessary, but later. Gotta plan that one out. Definitely wouldn’t be able to make any mistakes with him.
Meanwhile Beautiful has to confront her true feelings about both Ranger and Joe and we’re stacking the deck in Ranger’s favor. Left alone with nothing but searches to do, no skips to chase, and no one to really come and relieve her mind with chattering bullshit means all she has to do is think about Ranger, and Joe, if she must. I asked Ella, when she goes up to chat, to make sure that her conversation contains references to Ranger. Not only am I aware that she soaks up any stories or references to Ranger but I want to put him forefront in her mind because she has to make a decision. She needs to look objectively at her life, the men in it and her decisions and make some. She can’t continue to tuck and roll from this situation. Two weeks of forced confinement? I couldn’t ask for a more heaven-sent opportunity.
Nor could I ask for better circumstances. As usual, when Beautiful is involved in a situation, the residual fall out is spectacular. Normally it’s exploding cars or dead bodies but in this case, I’m referring to Manny, Ram and Hal. Bobby, Tank, and I, have been blown away by the ease with which they’ve run Trenton and the ideas and suggestions they have for making the company better.
At first, we expected to take the reins back after 72 hours. Then, after watching the way they handled the first 48 hours, we realized that we could give ourselves some real planning time by letting them take point for a full week. Now, with one day remaining, we’re in a quandary. To allow them to run point for 2 straight weeks, without a declared state of emergency, is going to send this company into a tailspin. We are aware of the constant questions from the other branches and the quiet feeling of panic in Trenton. Normally when we aren’t running point for this long, either Beautiful’s in trouble or we’re about to join Ranger in the field. Neither is the case and we’ve been walking around looking relaxed, trying to get the men to calm down, but it isn’t working. They know Steph’s upstairs safe and sound and we aren’t running around with ready packs, checking ammo and living in the range, so we aren’t joining Ranger. So what in the hell is going on?
Again, Sun Tzu: “The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals, he takes individual talent into account, and uses each man according to his capabilities.” Ram has bloodshot eyes from checking and rechecking the “Bomber” files and he isn’t making any connections, so he’s trying not to panic in front of the men. Hal is keeping his head down and running point like Tank would, a true military man, following orders, waiting to receive more information.
Only Manny appears less concerned. We made a point to listen to C2 right after Tank sent the email about ‘Core 2’ running point for a week. The fact that Manny considered, rejected, and latched on to the correct assumption so fast shocked the shit outta me. This man is really wasted just doing apprehensions. We need to develop his strategic and tactical abilities and set him loose. Moreover, he had the balls to ask me about it directly, no faking, no bullshit. Yeah, I like the idea of leaving Manny right where he is and letting him have more strategic and tactical duties.
I think Ram is a little concerned that maybe he had put himself out of the running (if Manny is right about this being a job audition) because he hasn’t presented us with some great idea yet, but he couldn’t be further from the truth. He’s done a great job mentoring and backing up Hal and serving as a liaison to the other offices. He has the ability to give just enough information to the other offices to keep them from calling back (except Mark, nosy fucker) but not enough to divulge the true status of RM Trenton. That’s a gift. Besides, I can see on his face that he’s starting to think about ideas and suggestions he might want to bring up to us.
We knew that Hal was a stickler for details (reading his reports, you almost feel as if you were there; never read his Bombshell reports) but the calendar was an excellent idea. Having a visual for the work, instead of all the spreadsheets we were using, was both creative and practical. I wasn’t sure about their decision to have Hal serve as XO; Hal’s naiveté is legendary. However, Tank said to let that one work out and now I see why. Hal is great as XO; he just needed confidence, same situation as Beautiful. I think Tank’s gift really made him feel like he was trusted which boosted his confidence. His performance after that was outstanding; he was settling into the job as if he owned it and I now have no qualms about leaving Hal in charge as XO. I also get the feeling that the calendar isn’t the last idea we’ll see from Hal, but we need to encourage him to loosen up and feel he can contribute ideas that we will listen to. Actually we need to do that with all the employees.
The calendar idea did what nothing else could: it forced Beautiful to look at what she costs RangeMan and what Ranger’s juggling in his life without anyone putting pressure on her or directing her to it. Her own curiosity drove her to examine the calendar. Again, Sun Tzu said it best: In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.
Ella said she spent hours staring at those calendars and she had a panic attack that we aren’t supposed to know about. I’m guessing she did the math and realized what she costs. Ella swore us to secrecy about that but in the end she decided to tell us because she is also in favor of Steph joining Ranger’s life and is willing to do whatever is necessary to push her towards the right decision. The vegan meal this week was a prime example. Ella, Beautiful’s paragon of womanly achievement and the person most likely to defy Ranger’s orders regarding her diet, fed her a meal full of bark and twigs and she loved it. She ate every bit of it. The vegan meal was completely out of left field (Ella didn’t even tell us) and she’s eaten every low calorie, low fat meal Ella has placed in front of her this week so she can’t say that she couldn’t stick to a modified diet. Even the doughnuts Ella has given her have been baked. I’m thankful that Ella decided to participate. Indirect methods lead to victory.
So now, because Core 2 has done such a great job and we’ve gotten spoiled with all this planning time, what to do? My vote during last night’s planning session was to bring each XO up to Trenton for 3 days, explain that we were going incommunicado for about 4 weeks, and introduce Beautiful as CO. I already know that she will accept the job, mostly because of the way I plan to sell it to her, but she needs time to have a rhino moment and visit Denial. She knows that Tank and I are blowing smoke up her ass by only giving her bits and pieces and it’s pissing her off but if we aren’t directly in her face when she starts blowing up then she can’t storm away (or in this case, scream at us to leave).
This is basic tactics, simple shit the Cop could’ve implemented years ago, but he’s Italian too so they just feed each other. Ranger’s spent so much time trying not to give himself away that he doesn’t realize that the blank face just irritates her. She has to be able to see emotions in order to decide how to respond. Blank faces cause her to default to frustrated or angry. Mostly angry. The hardest part of going to talk to her is reminding Tank and Bobby to use the blank face sparingly and to actually talk; she won’t scream at us because she respects us too much but that blank face puts the plan behind. Tank returns to his apartment and hides under cold compresses after every visit, which I find hilarious.
Anyway, dealing with her rhino mode is simple: Present an idea designed to tick her off and either cut her off with an explanation before she can truly get going or remove yourself from the premises until she has time to calm down. This time, we cut out, mostly because we knew the job offer would overwhelm her and no amount of explaining would calm her down.
Tank and Bobby were stunned when I said that Beautiful wouldn’t accept either job offer once I was aware she was looking at the calendar. They were certain that they were looking at their next head of Bonds Enforcement. I pointed out that if you just looked at the Apprehensions department, which is what she would need to take to create a “Bonds Enforcement” division, the level of work there is just overwhelming. Manny’s already got it down to a science because his law enforcement background has taught him how to juggle it all.
Plus, as we so kindly pointed out, she’s shit at apprehension. So we already have a head of Apprehensions, Manny, and a head of Research, Jose Rodriguez; what would there be for her to do? Trainer? Nope, that’s office work. She wasn’t going to take Client Relations because it would require pantyhose. Yeah, there were other reasons too, but it really just boiled down to the pantyhose. I already knew what her personal reasons were: working full-time for RangeMan meant spending more time with Ranger than she was comfortable with, especially when she and the Cop were ‘on’. Plus, she’d have to actually meet the standards. When she and the Cop were ‘off’ being around Ranger depressed her because he won’t commit to a relationship.
However, CO is a job she can do and do well. She wants to be Ranger, regardless of what she said. I said it before: adrenaline junkie. Being the CO of RangeMan while we bring up the San Antonio office would (a) guarantee that she stayed firmly under RangeMan protection, (b) force her to get the training she’s needed for years without anyone demanding she do it, (c) give her a taste of being Ranger for a while, (d) allow her to oversee some of the projects we have going on in house (or will soon), (e) keep her out of the ‘Burg gossip for a few months, and (f) ease the rest of RangeMan LLC into accepting Beautiful as a permanent eventual part of the Leadership Core Team, because I’m not stupid enough to think that Ranger hasn’t had that idea in the back of his mind forever.
Besides, it will signal to the men exactly what is about to happen. Leadership Core Team will not be at RM Trenton, there is a CO and a new Core team in place at RMTrenton and something big is about to happen. There is only one CO in all of RangeMan and that’s Ranger himself. To declare Beautiful CO under our orders will signal not just her importance to Ranger but to the Leadership Core team and RangeMan as a whole. It’s important to distinguish that she’s CO, not Acting CO. Acting CO implies that RM LLC just has to put up with her until Ranger returns. The smarter individuals will realize that not even Tank has been designated CO in Ranger’s absences; Tank has simply been Chief XO, the one everyone reports to.
Some of the offices will wonder if we’ve lost our minds here (or if Ranger is dead) but it will work. I just need to know if Ranger’s orders have fully started or if we have time to get him on a video conference in front of the XOs before he has to cut all communication.
If I’ve been thinking about it, I know Ranger thought about it, plotted it, and was just waiting for the right moment to execute. He’s the only man I know who rivals me in strategy and tactics and (I’ll never admit this aloud) he does edge me out. However, he’ll be gone for a year and I have time to implement my plan. So of course, when Beautiful turned down both jobs, I felt vindicated in my assessment. It felt even better to actually hear her say that her first thought was “I get to be Ranger!” Yeah, in some things, Beautiful is truly predictable. So Tank offered her the CO role and, just as I suspected, she was shocked speechless. We kissed her cheeks and high-tailed it back to my office to plan.
Tank’s POV
“What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.”
OK, I’ll admit it again (in my head): Santos is a fucking genius. He’s called everything right so far and I’ve gone from believing that he’s just lucky to realizing that he really doesn’t get enough opportunities to exercise his brilliance. We just left Little Girl on 7, in shock at the idea of becoming CO for a year. Bobby and I sit at Lester’s table and wait to hear the next step. Now, where did I put my cold compresses?
“OK, let’s call Ella. Comfort food, lots of dessert, and a couple boxes of Kleenex. Dinner solo. She’ll accept the job offer tomorrow, but we’re going to have to talk about San Antonio with her. Tank, any chance we can talk to Ranger tonight? We need to tell him what we’re up to now and he’s going to have to talk to her tonight. She won’t accept until after she’s talked to him.”
Damn, crying? More crying? If we offered CO to any man in the company they’d jump at it. Steph will have to be dragged but we’re willing to take the chance. Bobby calls in the dinner order to a thrilled Ella, I page Ranger to call me back (cb sp ASAP def5 ywfine: Call back, sat phone, As soon as possible, DEFCON 5 (situation normal), your woman is fine) and we start finalizing the move. I call 5 and tell Junior to tell Hal to run the 1300 solo, no Core (i.e., the Core Team won’t be down for the 1300 mtg. Core 2 is on their own). I get a message back: sp 1730 (Sat phone at 1730). I show Les and he grins. Perfect. We’ll have Ranger on board before we go talk to our Little Girl tomorrow.
We’ve scouted out three security companies in the San Antonio area that are going under. A lack of proper planning, increased burglaries, a loss of clients and a failure to understand the market are forcing each of these companies to close their doors. The best part of the job will be the amount of Bonds Enforcement and Fugitive Apprehension work available. It’s physical, difficult work, but the payoff is spectacular.
Getting this office up and running will ease financial concerns across the company as a whole and really allow us to take this company to the next level. Because we had the plans in deep freeze for so long, we really only needed to determine what men from each of the offices to take. Since we have an existing company, pulling men from the existing offices and offering them a short-term relocation to San Antonio will ease concerns about hiring and staff. We can move quickly into making money and hiring staff at our leisure over the year instead of having to really pray that we get the right ones. Plus, seeing our men on the streets will immediately make the right impression on those we want to hire.
San Antonio has a strong military presence and being able to recruit directly from the military men there is a great perk. Plus it’s close to the border and nothing says money like “Federal Fugitive.” Some of our best money comes from captures we’ve made for the FBI, DEA, ATF, ICE, you name ’em, we’ve hauled skips in for ’em. Plus, unlike most security companies, we like hiring ex-cons and ex-gang bangers, as long as they’ve completely cut ties with their former life (or, in Hector’s case, are still so feared on the streets that retaliation is not a factor). These guys have no fear, a different way of looking at problems and situations, and they have what we like to term the “Plum mentality,” i.e. a way of getting intel that the military can’t begin to touch. Integrating these populations can sometimes be difficult, but we’ve done it successfully three times. We know what we’re doing.
I’m not thrilled about not having my eyes on my Little Girl and leaving her here under someone else’s care, but Lester believes that an essential part of showing her we believe in her is leaving her here with the RMTrenton Core Team to direct. I don’t think Bobby is truly convinced about this yet but Lester will get him there; besides, we both know Lester is a tactical genius. If he says it will work, then it will. I don’t think there will be any challenges to their leadership here in Trenton. All three men can hold their own on the mats, an essential part of leadership in RangeMan, and every man in this office loves Steph like a little sister. Providing protection will not be a problem. Although we don’t particularly like it, if we left Ram, Hal, and Manny to coordinate Bombshell’s protection I have every confidence that it would be done and done as excellently as they’ve handled everything else this week.
The XOs and the men in the other offices might have a fit, but we’ll put those down quickly. I’m already resolved that challenges to her leadership are both a challenge to my leadership and an insult to Ranger and his leadership. I want someone to get it in their head to challenge her.
I need the exercise.
Bobby’s POV
Lester had to talk me into naming Bomber as CO. I was completely against it. No way, no where, no how was I naming the most accident prone, contraband eating, exercise ducking member of RangeMan to lead the whole shebang. Didn’t we just have this discussion? Impulsive, shit at takedown, quick to anger, won’t listen to anyone when she’s in a mood, even when it’s her own safety at risk? Her? The real reason Ranger keeps accepting these assignments? Her? The single biggest reason this branch is having problems staying profitable?
NOT A CHANCE! NO FUCKING WAY!
However, as usual, Lester got his way. He simply pointed out that this entire psy-op would fail (and our move to San Antonio would die) if we didn’t. I’m still not truly convinced about this; I’ve merely given in because Lester has never failed before. Then again, he’s never run a psy-op against Bomber before.
“Think about it Bobby. We’ve already modified her diet. The only doughnuts she’s seen have been baked and Ella has been feeding her meals in line with RangeMan standards. Low-fat, low-sodium, low-calorie. She can’t make the argument that she can’t follow the diet and she hasn’t been begging Ella to bring her other stuff. Plus, if she wants to eat something greasy, like Cluck in a Bucket, she’ll have to leave site to do it and for the next 11 weeks, her mobility is limited.”
“Yeah, 11 weeks and then she’s back to making chicken runs with Lula! Sneaking to Tasty Pastry, hitting the grocery stores for Ben and Jerry and TastyKakes! And you know Bomber. She’ll either lie about it or try to deflect, except that all the men will see that the CO doesn’t follow guidelines and they’ll know it because she has trackers on her car, in her purse and in her earrings! NO!”
“Bobby, calm down! There are ways of dealing with this. The biggest advantage we have is Ella! Ella can feed Beautiful anything and she’ll eat it. She’s still eating Ella’s meals now and Ella fed her a vegan meal! That’s trust. Being CO means having to succumb to healthy meals and if Ella is cooking them, she’ll eat them. Besides, it’s not like she can’t have her junk on occasion. We have Shorty’s every so often. It’s about moderation and we have to teach Beautiful about moderation.”
“Fine, we’ve modified her diet for the moment. But I think you underestimate Steph’s devotion to her junk food. The woman makes no bones about the fact that dessert makes up the base of her food pyramid! She’s never met a meatball sub or pizza she wouldn’t eat. Ella’s an advantage but she’s not a miracle cure! And diet modification doesn’t make up for the lack of exercise and the lack of range time.”
Tank is watching this discussion with interest. I can’t wait to see how Lester’s going to explain this.
“Look, Steph eats like that because it’s cheap, easy food and she’s perpetually low on cash. The dessert thing is a function of her family. I think Ranger once said something about her mother showing love by making pineapple upside-down cake so she equates sugar with love. With Ella to cook her meals Steph doesn’t have to make any decisions about what to eat. Ella’s made no secret of the fact that she’s feeding Beautiful healthy meals and she’s still eating whatever Ella puts in front of her face.
As for the exercise, she has 10 weeks forced physical therapy for the leg. That’s 10 forced weeks of exercise and who says she can’t do some exercises right now? There have to be some exercises she can do while still on bed rest. Remember, we promised her flexibility. Right now, she runs from the gym, but in another week she’ll have to be down there for the leg. Let’s find her a physical therapist slash trainer who can work with her using non-traditional exercises, like ….I don’t know, Zumba!”
“Zumba?” Tank asks. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s a new exercise thing, combines dance and martial arts. I heard some women talking about it at the grocery store and apparently they love it. I only paid attention because one woman said that she hated exercise but she loved that.”
I raise an eyebrow and Lester smiles without shame. I bet money he paid attention because he was checking her ass more than he was listening to her words.
“And from what I hear, aquatic exercise is low impact, which is great for her leg, but high resistance, which is great for weight loss and strength training.”
“Fine. That’s true. Alright, I can see how the physical therapy would lead into exercise. I’ll give you that one, but I’ll add that you’re assuming that she sticks with it after her leg heals. Range time?”
Lester’s grin is reaching massive proportions. “We’re leaving her here with the best sniper in the company, Ram, who will become liaison which means he’s Core Team. Knowing that she has to set an example, we just need to slip a word into Ram’s ear that he needs to convince her to make time for the range. Maybe go with her and make it into a competition. Make it fun for her. That man loves his guns. We’ll make it his job to see that she becomes proficient with them.”
I hate that Lester has an answer for everything. I really hate that all his answers are good.
“Fine. You’ve convinced me on diet, exercise, and range time that we have a solution. Hand to Hand? Trackers?”
“I think she will voluntarily wear the trackers. I’m hoping that if we can get Ranger to talk to her, he’ll insist on the trackers, not that we plan on allowing anyone to get close enough to kidnap her, but ya never know. Hand to Hand we’ll leave with Manny and Hal. Besides, every man in the company would love to get on the mats with Steph and teach her what they know. Mat time with the CO could actually become something to look forward to instead of something to dread.”
“You’re assuming something big here. You’re assuming that she remains on 7 for the next year. She’s run from 7 the moment the threat is gone every time and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”
Lester is smug now. “Bobby, give me a real argument here. First the job of the CO is exhausting. The first few weeks Beautiful’s going to be too tired to do anything besides sleep and eat. Once she gets accustomed to it, she’ll recognize the value of staying on 7. That’s why I had Tank tell her that it’s Ranger’s preference for her to stay there. Let that seep in and she’ll start getting more comfortable with the thought. Second, I never thought I would say this but Edna Mazur is our ally.”
Tank and I shiver. My balls tingle. They don’t even like the sound of her name.
“Edna is moving into Beautiful’s apartment, an apartment where she is still paying rent so Beautiful still has all the advantages of having a place to disappear to if she starts to feel smothered here. However, she doesn’t like staying with her Granny either. And Mr. Plum is thrilled to have Edna out his house. The idea that Edna has to move back into his house because Stephanie wants to move back into her apartment when she has full run of an apartment here will kill him.
Let him get use to 10 weeks of peace and quiet. Beautiful will do anything for him; she’s a Daddy’s girl. When she sees, week after week, how happy her father is not to have Edna in his house, she’ll cave and stay on 7, where she has all the delights of Ella and no possibility of stalkers and dead bodies.”
“Fine. New wrench. 11 weeks of therapy, then she marches back to Vinnie for her old job.”
“Not gonna happen. Three months gives Vinnie a lot of time to find a new BEA and he will. Harry is backing him; he can’t afford to be without a competent BEA for that long. Otherwise he’ll have to get back out there. Of course, that’s not to say that I haven’t already paid Vinnie a very quiet visit at home to ‘encourage’ him to find another BEA.”
Lester’s grin is evil. Amusing. “Not that he needed much encouragement. He’s already had to pull two back in himself. Beautiful had a full load of skips and her injury could be financially devastating for him. According to Connie, he’s already made up his mind that if he finds someone, Steph’s done for. That’s why Connie’s been calling here so much, to give Steph the heads up. So, we aren’t even out of week one and she’s been confronted with the knowledge that what we said in her apartment a few days ago is true: Vinnie is already trying to replace her and there’s nothing she can do about it.”
I shake my head. Lester has given this a lot of thought. “You’re assuming a lot.”
Lester stops smiling and is completely serious. “Yes, I’m assuming a lot but that’s because in any given situation, you have to account for all variables and determine, based on your knowledge of the subject, how they will best respond. This plan is based on the knowledge that Beautiful thinks that she needs to prove that she’s not incompetent as a BEA. It proves to her mother, the cops, and Morelli that not only is she not incompetent as a BEA but that she is a highly skilled security professional and it proves to her that we believe in her as much as Ranger does. It just gives us the added value of making sure she gets trained without us having to do it personally.”
Lester smiles and slouches in his seat confidently. “That’s why I know this plan will work. We’ve already told her we want her to come work for us. We offered her two jobs which she turned down, one for valid reasons, one for bullshit but I think the pantyhose thing is just a woman’s issue. This works even better. When it comes to company matters, can you think of anyone you trust more than Beautiful?”
No, I can’t, so I shake my head. Stephanie Plum has earned my trust and I don’t give it lightly.
“So, we offer her the CO spot, which she will take, believe me. Accepting the position means accepting that she has to lead by example. It means that she has to become proficient at every single RangeMan standard. It means she has to make the decision to do it. We are simply offering her an opportunity she will want to take, but it has strings attached, strings she will want to but cannot duck.
Since we won’t be here for her to ask, she will have to accept help from the men to meet the standards. We will come back and evaluate her before we release her back into the field but we won’t train her. She’ll have to do it on her own. Genuine change. No half-assed motions. No being bullied by us. She has to motivate herself in order to lead the company. And every man here and everywhere else will be watching. She doesn’t like to fail publicly.
She’ll make the changes. It will be her decision and we get the joy of watching Ranger return to a ‘Babe’ who has finally gotten the training she needs, has led his company, and if we’re lucky, has increased the bottom line. Wins all around. Hopefully at the end of it Ranger removes his head from his ass and makes it official with her, because I think I’ll be sick if I did all this work just to watch her run back to Morelli.”
“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”
I didn’t want to be convinced but he did it. Leaving Bomber in charge meant she would have to lead by example. We wouldn’t be forcing her to do anything she didn’t want to do. She would finally get the training she needed only she would be doing it because she wanted to and had to, not because we forced her to. It wouldn’t be our demands that made her meet the standards; it would be our belief in her abilities that would force her to prove us right. We would lead the horse to water. She would have to decide if she wanted to drink.
I really hate when Lester is right. I wonder what those pirates are up to.
The call is completely unexpected. It’s patched to my cell from 5 and Junior is kind enough to tell me not to answer with “Yo!”
“Hello?”
“Bobby? This is Helen Plum. How are you?” Scared, that’s how I am. You can’t want anything good.
“I’m fine Mrs. Plum. How are you?” I’m a southern boy, raised right. I know my manners.
“Helen, please. I’m fine. I’m calling to invite you, Stephanie and Tank to dinner tomorrow. Six PM sharp. I’m planning on pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy.”
You really like your mashed potatoes and gravy, don’t you? Will I have to sit next to the man-child or your mom?
“I’m about to call Stephanie and let her know but I do expect to see her tomorrow. It’s been a week and I want to see how she’s doing.”
“Yes, ma’am. We’ll coordinate this with Steph. I appreciate your invitation.” No I don’t, which is why I haven’t agreed to attend.
“Wonderful. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodbye.”
I don’t want to go. I refuse to go.
We’ve been invited (summoned) to another Plum family meal. I no longer have any doubt; Mrs. Plum has some tactical skill.
If the enemy is taking his ease, harass him; if quietly encamped, force him to move; if well supplied with food, starve him out.
Hal’s POV
My week as XO is instructive, exhausting, and enlightening. Never again will I question anything that comes out of Tank’s mouth. As far as I’m concerned, Tank is the most brilliant, organized, together man I’ve ever known. If I have a question about a decision I need to make, I ask ‘What would Tank do?’ If I still don’t know, I go ask Ram for advice, make my own decision and pray I did the right thing. I’m not getting any ‘you screwed up’ emails from Tank, so I guess I’m in the clear. My Bible has been cracked multiple times this week but I stopped worrying so much when I reached C2 on Day 5 and found a new Bible and a copy of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War in front of my seat. Manny and Ram looked over at me when I picked up The Art of War and found a note attached.
For every general. It is my daily read.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
Tank
I finally relaxed that day. I understood the message. He trusted me to use my judgment to carry out my assignment. The enemy was self-doubt and I could fight that. So I began to review all Tank’s assignments as XO and I realized that some of the things I was doing really belonged to a CO. I know Ram said he still hadn’t given me 25% of my job, but I began to wonder if part of what he hadn’t given me were the duties of a CO. Nevertheless, I looked at what was on my plate currently and realized that a lot of this stuff needed to be reorganized.
For example, we have an entire Apprehensions department, so why am I the person picking up the bond files? We have to turn in body receipts each day, so why not make that one trip for someone from Apprehensions? And now that I have the schedules on the grid, why not let the coordination of the jobs and the Apprehensions department stay in that department? As long as it is on the calendar and I can see it, does the XO really need to be involved in that?
I pull my new leather folio out, the one I’m using just for questions I want to ask and changes I might want to make and add that to my list. I think Manny is right; we are auditioning for these jobs. I still don’t know if I want Tank’s job but I won’t stumble while I have it. I’m determined to do this right.
I spot King out the corner of my eye. Is this fool really trying to sneak in late with…doughnuts?
Ram POV
I’m officially a dead man walking. I can’t determine what the threat is. All the intel at my disposal says there is no threat, but. . . I can’t account for the past week. Bombshell’s on 7, apparently fine. The speed with which she’s tossing back those searches is amazing. Her leg is healing and, according to Ella, she’s been paying attention to her emails and the calendar. She’s playing in the virtual RangeMan world, to Manny’s delight. He’s pushing paper with her and trying to direct her to his favorite bits of the software. He’s determined to make her love it.
The core team is walking around with smiles on their faces. That’s truly scary. They seem pleased about something and they aren’t sharing. They spend most of their time holed up in Lester’s office or Tank’s apartment. I bet against the circle-jerk but. . . no, I’m sure I’m right about that. At minimum, Tank would’ve called Lula.
Manny is in a world of his own, the lucky fucker. He convinced Tank, notorious for his tight-fisted control of money, to spend almost $50K on a collaboration platform that will take months to implement and since it will be implemented company wide, that means he’s just created ass-loads of work for me. Assuming I live and assuming that I keep this job. If he’s right, and we’ve been auditioning to keep the job we have, then he’s got his job. I’m not so sure about me. I’m still in the weeds trying to see the sun. I have ideas, but the core team hasn’t been around lately for me to attempt to present them. It’s like they’re here but they aren’t.
Hal and I have agreed that pulse checks lately have bordered on the hysterical. Every XO and liaison wants to know what the threat level at RM Trenton is. There is none. Fine, fine, it’s DEFCON 5.
Why they can’t get the Core team on the phone. Not our business. Need to leave a message?
Why we are now being called Core Team 2. Ask the Core Team. My bad. You wanna leave a message?
Are they supposed to implement a Core Team 2 in their offices? Were those your orders? No? Then no.
The first few days after the announcement came out were the toughest. Even our own colleagues at RM Trenton were giving us the side eye. The morning Hal caught Roger King sneaking in late, Day 5, doughnuts in hand was classic.
“King!” Half the office jumps. King whirls around, doughnuts in hand.
“Shit, Hal, you scared me! Whatcha want?”
I slammed the blank face in place. This was about to get very interesting. Hal didn’t say anything. He simply glanced at the clock visible behind Roger’s head then at the doughnuts in hand.
“What time are you supposed to report?” King looks confused, then indignant. Hey pissant, you haven’t been here long enough to be indignant.
“0900.”
“What time is it now?”
“0909,” he snarls.
Oh he isn’t making this any better and Hal is not amused. The man is tired. Being XO is exhausting. I still haven’t given him the other 25% of the work.
“Who do you want to report to on the mats, me or Manny?”
Now there’s a hush over the entire bullpen. King looks astonished. There is no correct answer for this question. For all his size and weight, Hal moves like Tank. As a matter of fact, Hal spent lots of time on the mats with Tank, voluntarily, to learn how to be that graceful and agile in order to counter the idea that big meant blundering. So between Hal’s ability to slam those ham-sized fists into your face and Manny’s ultimate street fighter/kickboxing abilities you just have to decide how you want your ass whooping to be served to you.
Thankfully, or unfortunately, for King Manny has caught the entire exchange from the doorway. “No need to choose, King.” He smiles and King smiles back. He thinks his boss has just saved him. “Hal, you actually caught him, so you can have him first at 1200. I’ll take him at 1700. Right, King? And since you’re late and insubordinate, we’ll push a request to dock your pay.”
You coulda dropped a SBD and we still would have heard it at that point.
The rest of the morning passed in absolute silence. 1155 found almost every available man in RM Trenton in the gym. Hal was standing in the middle of the mats, arms crossed, calmly waiting. I was standing behind him as his second and that fucker was channeling Tank. So of course, when the Core Team walked in at 1157 there was great interest in seeing if they were going to call it off. Nope. Tank walked directly over to me and nodded to the side of the mats. I moved off and Bobby moved right next to me. I look over and Lester is standing next to Manny. There’s no question about the Core Team’s allegiance.
The next 45 minutes are instructive. Hal bounces King all across the mats, just fucking with him. King occasionally lands a punch but for every punch he lands Hal sends his head bouncing. After 45 minutes, I guess Hal got tired of fucking with him because he just starts pounding. Tank is not stopping him.
The message is being sent to all of RM Trenton: We set these men in our places. We gave them the authority. They have our support. You will respect their requests, their decisions, and their punishments as if they were our own.
Hal finally leaves King alone when the man is smart enough to stay down. Bobby motions Zero forward, the backup medic, to check on him. Bobby checks Hal, bandages his hands and hands him a bottle of water and two pills. He nods to Hal, slaps him on the back and turns to leave. Lester and Tank repeat the action and, without having said a word, they walk calmly out the gym.
Hal grabs his shirt, turns to me and Manny and says, “I’ll be 5 minutes late to the 1300. Begin without me.” He walks off toward the showers and we turn to leave. Manny stops by Zero, who informs us that King has a concussion and will definitely be out for a day or two. King is conscious, so Manny leans down over him and says, “Concussion or not, you and I still have an appointment, so the moment you’re cleared, we’ll meet.” We leave without a word to anyone else. The story and accompanying video immediately make the rounds of RangeMan, LLC and by the time we reach the 1500 pulse checks the questions are all about the “sparring session” in the gym. Again, we supply no answers to anyone. Not your business; concentrate on your own offices.
He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
Our authority is no longer questioned. The hysteria in the calls backs off. Whatever Core is up to, it is clear that we are in authority here in Trenton and Core will back us to the hilt.
Manny’s POV
Fa-la-la-la-laaaa-la-la-la-la
Yeah, this is Christmas in March for me. I’m still in charge of Apprehensions, but now I’ve added on the duties of …whatever Lester’s title is. I’m being worked from dawn to dusk and yet….this is the happiest I’ve ever been at RM Trenton. And I know why.
These jobs are permanent. Core Team is going to open an office somewhere else and that’s why they’ve stepped back. They’re watching and waiting to see if we can handle our assignments and I feel quite certain that we can. The only person I was concerned about was Hal, mostly because he was doing the job as if he were afraid that Tank would walk in at any moment, question everything he did and then bounce his ass across the mats. Walking into C2 at 0700 yesterday and seeing the gift that Tank left for him eased my worries. Watching him bounce King across the mats made me feel good. Watching him do it with Lester standing by my side and Tank at his back made me feel like a fucking champ! We were being watched. Closely. We were doing the job and doing it well.
My ‘gift’ from Lester was an afternoon of client calls to our mid-range clients. I didn’t catch the solo part until I walked into C2 on Day 6 and found a box of new business cards in my seat proclaiming me VP of Investigations and Bonds Enforcement at RangeMan Trenton. Attached was a note:
‘Mention this and the naked trip to the ‘Stans is still yours. Knife optional. Check your calendar and have fun.’
No need to guess who that came from but it took everything I had not to smile. I immediately frowned. If Wifey turned these jobs down, then what in the hell was her status? The situation with Wifey is one I’m not sure about. Instincts say they’ll name her CO but that’s so out there I don’t know if I trust my own instincts, mostly because I can’t come up with one rational reason why they would, but still the instincts are screaming they’re sure about this.
In any case, regardless of what’s going on that’s Ranger’s woman. She is my ‘play-play’ wife and I will protect her with my life. She will not be injured or starve on my watch. Ram is certain he’s not finding an active or latent threat against her so I told him to back his search from DEFCON 2 to DEFCON4. He’s a damn good liaison and strategist in his own right and I don’t need him to fall asleep standing up. I do need to pass him another bottle of Visine though, and maybe some Preparation H for the suitcases under his eyes.
I’m kinda concerned that there hasn’t been any sort of outreach from Bobby to Ram. Then again, the guys don’t know that there’s been any outreach from Lester to me, so it’s possible that Bobby and Ram are in communication and I don’t know. I’m kinda doubting it though. Bobby is a pretty up front individual, much like Ram and the lack of calm in Ram’s eyes is starting to bother me. On the surface Ram looks poised, confident, and relaxed. Look into his eyes for a few minutes and you can see the barely-concealed panic. I’m hoping it’s just his worry over Wifey but I decide that we need a moment alone.
“Ram?”
“Yeah man?”
“I got an afternoon of client calls, so you wanna head out early and grab some lunch?”
I can see the confusion on his face. Why leave and pay for food when we have Ella…ah…he gets it.
“Where to, my good man? Please, no Shorty’s. Acid reflux is killing me.”
“Kebab House?” I know Ram is a sucker for Middle Eastern…snipers usually are. Middle Eastern or South American, three guesses why.
“Hell yeah! Let’s go.” We update Hal, who shakes his head and smiles, then leave. He can’t stand Middle Eastern, but I’ll make sure Ram gets him a gyro. He does love those. The trip there is quiet. I hand Ram a bottle of Visine from the infirmary.
“Yeah, I know. That bad huh?”
“Few more hours and they’d think it was special effects, possibly a Sith.”
I get the finger for my opinion. We order gyros and I take a moment to really look at him. Yeah, away from the men he’s free to exhibit all the panic and fear he feels. I think it’s time to give him some ease.
“There is no threat to Wifey. Core is doing something with her, I don’t know what, but that’s why they aren’t panicked and that’s why they aren’t helping you. They’ve said nothing to me or Hal. I’ve just worked this one out on my own.” He nods and relaxes somewhat. I’ve confirmed what he didn’t want to accept, just in case he was wrong. “We have been auditioning to keep our positions. Again, they’ve said nothing to me, but yesterday’s appearance on the mats was as good as confirming it. I don’t know with certainty what they are up to, I have guesses—”
“Your guesses have been dead on. Level. What do you think?”
I’m not sure I want to level with him on this. He reads my face and gives me a half grin. “OK, better question, where do you think the new office will be?”
HAHAHAHAHAHA! I can’t stop the grin on my face and I get an answering one back. OK, I’m right! “If I had to put money on it? Texas. Memphis and Detroit are close seconds, but all that money in Texas….close to the border, big towns, lots of military? Texas, mi amigo.”
“I was trying to decide between Laredo or San Antonio.”
“I’ll put $20 on San Antonio. Lots of military there. Close to the border, but not on it like Laredo. Field offices for lots of feds.”
“Suckers bet. I’m not taking it.”
Our meal arrives and we take a few moments to chow down. Finally, I look at him. “Feel better?”
“Yeah man. I thought I was losing my mind. No contact directly with Bomber, Core acting all mysterious, the other offices driving me up the goddamn walls…I was about 5 minutes away from losing it completely.”
“Yeah, the busted punching bag is testament to the fact that you were losing it. If it ever gets that bad again, lemme know. I’ll spar with you.”
Ram grins. “Better you than Hal! Shiiiiiit, I wondered for a moment if he was going to kill King! One of your boys, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. I think that simply knowing that Tank wasn’t going to pop up to beat his ass gave Hal his confidence back. You see he’s been writing in his folder again.”
With that, Ram sits back, troubled. “Yeah I saw. I’m worried too. I haven’t had a chance to show any of my ideas or abilities in a Core meeting, so I don’t know what my status is.”
“You got a list?”
“Mental.”
“Put it on paper. Hal and I just had the luck of catching them before they disappeared from sight, but we’re being watched and watched very closely. Think about it. A Bible and a book show up out the blue for Hal just when Hal needed the confidence most and they walked in moments before the sparring match. I’m certain they’re listening to us in C2 and I know Bobby has patched into your pulse checks because Lester has popped into mine. If you weren’t doing the job, they would’ve replaced you by now. So put every idea you’ve ever had on paper and be ready when they ask. And get some sleep.”
We return to Haywood and my mind, and probably Ram’s too, is set at ease by the item left in his seat. Hal is grinning, waiting for Ram to pick it up. Bobby left a Jawbone Bluetooth headset and a bottle of Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia. Shit. $100 headset and $100 bottle of the best tequila. There’s a note:
“Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.”
Congratulations on the new job as VP of Client Services. Coordinate with Manny on this.
Bobby
Nice.
