Chapter 40: Offline, Part II
A/N: FYI I’m officially in hiding. You’ll find out why soon enough.
Conversations in Italics in Spanish
Ranger’s POV
Julie’s middle school graduation was cute. I watched, proud, as my baby went across the stage, collected her ‘diploma’ and waved to the crowd. I took multiple pictures while Steph cheered. I could see Rachel and Ron across the auditorium. I told Rachel in advance that I wouldn’t sit with them, nor would I hug Julie in public, because of the op. Good thing I warned them. I noticed a few fed-types scanning the crowd, but I’d made myself up to look more like Lester, including green contacts. Unless you got right up on me, you’d think Lester had bulked up a bit and gotten a tan, completely believable since he was supposed to be in Texas. Lester and Steph in the crowd at this event wouldn’t set off alarm bells.
I wait 20 minutes, until the majority of the crowd leaves, before I begin moving Steph toward the exits. The fed types don’t move. Either I was successful or they’re here after someone else. I do some evasion maneuvers then head to the Martine house. We pull in and Julie runs to greet us. We follow her around to the back of the house and I meet my chief annoyances.
Rachel’s family.
They hate me. They hate me for not giving up my Army career, not sticking around past Julie’s first birthday, and for the fact that my lifestyle led to Julie’s kidnapping. I had to put my Glock on the table after Julie’s kidnapping to make everyone in the room shut up. They’ve chosen to ignore the fact that my lifestyle has paid for this home (which is owned by the same shell company that owns my home), Julie’s private school education, and all the little luxuries that the Martines enjoy.
I may not have been able to be ‘Daddy’, but I’ve been a damn good ‘Papa’. My child support is never late and I keep in touch as much as possible, more since Scrog. My daughter didn’t hesitate to kill a man to save my life. She deserves much more contact from me and I’ve made sure she’s gotten it. Our relationship is entirely different now. I’m starting to feel like ‘Daddy’ again.
Time has not dissipated their feelings about me. The party immediately turns cold. Steph looks at me in confusion.
“Rachel’s family. They hate me for a lot of reasons.” Steph nods and I head toward Ron.
“Ranger, good to see you.” Ron and I shake and he gives Steph a quick hug. “Good to see you too, Steph. Let me introduce you to everyone.” He leans in and whispers, “Pretend they aren’t all staring daggers at Ranger. We told them they had to be on their best behavior. This party is for Julie, not to start another argument over Ranger and Rachel’s marriage.” He shakes his head and smiles at Steph. “That marriage has been over for more than a decade and they still act as if it was just yesterday. Pathetic.”
I smile mentally. This is why Ron and I will always get along.
He introduces Babe to everyone in the backyard, all of whom refuse to give me more than the slightest bit of acknowledgement, and they stare at Steph in pity. Thankfully, Julie returns and hugs me, and she and Steph immediately begin talking about their phones and band camp, which starts in two weeks.
“Is that the woman who helped rescue Julie?” Mrs. Molina, Rachel’s mother, asks.
I nod. “Stephanie Plum.”
“You plan to knock her up and leave her too?” she asks with a bitter smile on her face.
I smile. “She and I agree on birth control. Two forms at all times.” This reminds me, I need to pick up some more condoms.
Mrs. Molina stares at me and walks off. I hear Ron laugh quietly behind me. “You’re mean. You’re taking away their favorite whipping boy.” He walks off and returns with more hors d’oeuvres.
The party livens up again and everyone leaves me alone. Steph travels from person to person while Julie introduces her all over again, this time as “Papa’s girlfriend. I mean, she’s a friend who’s a girl, not a girlfriend.” Steph’s red and I’m laughing mentally.
“You find that hilarious, don’t you?” Rachel asks, walking up behind me.
“Only Julie.” I smile at her and I see that I still affect her. Fifteen years and another husband and I can still make Rachel hot.
“When are you going to make an honest woman out of her? Julie’s just waiting for the announcement. That’s her way of pushing you two along.”
I watch my daughter’s plotting. Steph’s smiling but embarrassed and every so often she shoots me a ‘rescue me’ look. I wave back. I smile and hug my ex-wife. “Not really looking to get married, Rachel.”
“Liar,” Rachel says softly. “Your eyes say differently. You might be looking at me right now, but I’ll bet that without turning around you can pinpoint her location in this backyard.”
I smile mentally. She’s right. Steph is by the double doors leading to the house. “Should I go rescue her before your family starts giving her advice?”
“Nope. Julie’s a big girl now. She sees the looks on everyone’s faces. She’s protecting Steph. She won’t move away from her unless Steph’s with you or Ron.” Rachel laughs quietly. “She’s so your child. The ‘Survivors of Scrog’ network looks out for each other.”
Is that what they call themselves? Cute. Wish it was unnecessary.
We stay for two hours. I eat a small bite of Steph’s cake and smile at her enthusiasm. Julie gave her a piece with a rose on it. Finally, the party breaks up and we head back to the house. Steph immediately goes to soak in the Jacuzzi while I review the intel for the past week. I knew I smelled a rat when I started this op. An ICE agent in Tampa is gunning for me. I call Madame Secretary and discuss the situation with her, telling her I don’t have all the info on the situation, but I will by the end of the week. She asks me to call her Friday and she’ll make a decision on what to do.
At 1600 I get a call. Hector.
“Yo!”
“Yo! Kid’s a plant. Joint task force with DEA and ATF. Two commendations for bringing down drug lords. How do you want me to handle it?”
Really? “He’s yours. They hired him for your area.” Once Hector’s done, the kid will wish he’d never heard of RangeMan.
“Done.” Click.
My brother is nothing if not efficient.
I go looking for Steph. I need a break from processing info, and I find her in the other study, on the phone.
“Well, if your estimates look good, Danny, I say go for it. I’ll trust you since I don’t have my computer in front of me. Now, I need your opinion on something.” She looks up and sees me in the doorway. I raise an eyebrow and she blushes. “One moment, Danny.” She places him on mute.
“What happened to offline?”
“I was curious about the numbers coming back in from Hospitality. Chase wants to talk to me about adding more venues. RangeMan’s reputation in Atlanta is growing and people are coming to them instead of them having to chase contracts.”
I grin. That’s my Babe! “Proud of you, Babe.” I walk in and kiss her. “I was thinking about dinner. Any ideas?”
Steph grins. “Might as well call it a cheat day. I’ve had cake. No going back after that.”
I laugh mentally and walk out. I scout the kitchen and decide to grill some chicken. Babe seems to like simple things if they’re grilled. I pull out the potatoes and vegetables and scrub them. Everything will go on the grill tonight.
We spend another quiet evening at home. This is what I’ve wanted to experience with Steph. I pull up the last hockey game of the season, from a month ago, and Steph and I watch in the den, Steph yelling at the stupid calls and cheering the Rangers on. I don’t care for hockey but I’ve learned to root for the Rangers. I appreciate that the team has my nickname, and they’re Steph’s favorite so that makes it easy. Steph finishes the carton of ice cream and takes a nap with her head in my lap. I’m contemplating moving her when the phone rings. 2200.
“Yo!”
“Yo.” Hector. “Lemme call Manny. You both need to hear this.” A moment later, Manny is on the line. “OK, I went to Tampa tonight. Something I found in my digging last night intrigued me. The ICE agent in Tampa is William Knox.”
“Shit!” Manny and I both curse. That was so obvious we should have put it together.
“It gets better. I had my session with Matt, real name Matt Wallace, this evening. Told him to tell his superiors that you would deliver a message when you were stateside again, Ranger. Kid told me to tell you that you are under investigation. Anyway, credit card charges suggested he, Knox, would be at Havana in Tampa tonight, so I went. Little time on the dance floor allowed me to eavesdrop his conversation.”
“Dancing?” Manny asks. I can hear the laughter in his voice. “Who was the lucky lady?
“Not important right now,” Hector replies. “The important stuff is this: your counterintel op is working. It’s widely believed you’re in Pakistan right now. They don’t have a clue what’s going on, just that six agents have disappeared. Everyone in ICE is nervous, and in the middle of the dinner they found out that Matt was uncovered, so they know they lost their spy. Matt passed on my message so they’re feeling certain you’re overseas. Since they don’t have a clue, they started looking at competitors. Maguiles and Sidwell were the names I picked up.”
I know them. Yeah, if I had turned this contract down, they would be the only options and it would take three times as long to catch the culprits.
“They considered moving against the company, but since it’s privately held, with Steph in charge and the guys in Texas, they don’t have anything to move against you with. They’re truly stuck, bro.”
I smile. Wonderful. I now have everything I need. William Knox is about to be placed on electronic surveillance. Time to tease Hector.
“So, this lucky lady on the dance floor, what was her name?” I can hear Manny laugh.
“Really? Is that all you fuckers got out this call? The fact that I danced with a woman?”
“No,” Manny replies. “It’s the most interesting part of this call. Everything else was great detective work that confirmed outstanding suspicions. Now, about this woman. Quit stalling and describe her.”
I’ve put the phone on mute to laugh. My shaking wakes Steph, who glares at me with one bleary eye. I kiss her softly and move her off my lap.
I hear Hector sigh. “Tallis. Tall, willowy, great tan, great smile, great ass. College girl, art major. We had dinner, we flirted, I took her home. I turned down the nightcap, the offer of more pussy than I could handle and a session of naughty pictures. OK?”
If Hector said anything after that I didn’t hear it. Manny and I roared with laughter. Hector described this chick in the same bored tone you’d use to describe paint drying. Steph woke with a start and I waved her off. She looked at me, perplexed, then pointed up toward the bedroom. I nodded and she left the room.
“Congratulations, Hector. You get a gorgeous woman all hot and bothered, ready and willing to give you the ride of your life, and you turn her down cold. Where’s a straight man to pick up the pieces when you need him?” I chuckle. “I salute you.“
“Fuckers,” Hector growls.
“I agree, bro,” Manny says. “You must’ve been clean and charming as hell to get this chick offering to drop panties in two hours. It did take two hours, right? ‘Cuz if it took less I’m going to hate you. I’m also going to need you to tell me how you did it, step by step.”
Hector hangs up. Manny and I also disconnect, still laughing.
I go upstairs and join Steph in the shower.
“What’s so funny?”
I smile. “Op related.”
“Oh.” She pours shampoo in her hands and lathers my hair. I lean into it. I love feeling her pamper me. Once she finishes, she takes the sponge and washes my entire body, except the obvious part. I smile and handle that while she dries off. I grab the lotion and follow her back into the bedroom.
“You know, I really don’t wear lotion unless you massage it in.”
“Really?” I’m starting with her legs. I’m an ass man and Babe has spectacular legs and a fantastic ass. I smile as I listen to her moan at my handiwork. She rolls over and I work my way up to her tummy and place soft kisses there. I’m thrilled nothing developed, but slightly disappointed. Some part of me wants a permanent marker of my ownership, and pregnancy would have been perfect. On second thought, I want to be there this time. No, I’ll trust in Babe, that’s she’s waiting for the end of this op to discuss our possible life together. I need her to make the changes. I need to see that she takes herself more seriously now.
I wonder if I can talk her into a tattoo in the meantime.
She has my heart. She’s running my company. She’s seen my real home, the only place no one else knew about. I’ve taken her with me to spend time with my daughter. She has everything I can give her.
I’m just waiting on her to make it official.
Steph’s POV
The next morning, I demanded we leave the house, so Ranger took me to the local botanical gardens. The place was massive, so we caught the tram tour. I nearly fell out of the tram staring at all the beautiful flowers. Hector had spoiled me with the different bouquets every Wednesday, and I now have a new appreciation for flowers. We stayed until around noon, when the Beast growled.
“Time to leave?”
“Probably safer that way.”
Ranger’s lips twitched. “Good looking out for the public, Babe.”
I glared at him. “Forget the public. Feed me.”
Ranger chuckled. We went to a steakhouse for lunch. I didn’t see how that was healthy, but I was with Ranger. His salad appeared: Grilled chicken breast on a salad, hold the dressing, no croutons and no cheese.
“That salad is missing all the good stuff.”
Ranger looked at his salad. “You’re right.” He signaled the waiter. “I’d like some vinegar, please.”
“Kind, sir?”
“Red wine.” Ranger sat back and grinned at me. “Good for catching that Babe.”
I glared at him. “That wasn’t what I meant.” My salad appeared. Same, but some differences. Different lettuce and I had pears, gorgonzola, and pecans. I smiled and took a bite. No dressing. The waiter appeared.
“Would madam like red wine vinegar also?”
I scowled. “What dressing is supposed to come with this?”
“Balsamic.”
I smiled. Balsamic dressing is sweet. Thank goodness. “I’ll have that, thank you.”
Ranger’s lips were twitching and I frowned at him. “I’m having a salad for lunch instead of a steak with creamed spinach and macaroni and cheese. Don’t push it.”
He nodded and we ate lunch in silence. Well, near silence. I could see men at nearby tables twitching. Oh well. I was full and Ranger was smiling.
We went to the movies after lunch. We couldn’t agree on what to see, so I sat through a horror movie designed to make me look over my shoulder. In return, Ranger sat through a romantic comedy that I cried through. He looked as if he was thinking of smiling, so I didn’t feel bad.
“Where to next, Babe?”
I sighed. It was getting late. I needed to pack, explore the house one more time, maybe get another swim in, and get ready to return to RangeMan. “Home. I need to pack. Flight leaves in the morning.”
Ranger nodded, the smile disappearing off his face. I reached for his hand and we held hands all the way home.
Home?
Am I considering this house home? Maybe. It’s beautiful, in a great location, and it’s private. I turn to Ranger.
“I see now what you mean about isolation.” He turns to me, a question in his eyes. “I’ve loved being here this weekend, where no one except you knows where I am. This was perfect.” Ranger immediately turns our hands over and kisses mine.
“I love having 7 all to myself, too. I think of it as my sanctuary against everything. When I go up to 7, I refuse to think about work or calls, or the company. I stretch out on the bed and take a nap. I take a shower. I eat ‘Ella food’,” Ranger grins at that, “and I appreciate that it’s not available to everyone. Hal’s done a good job ensuring everyone understands that once I head up to 7, I’m not to be contacted. The only person I have to worry about popping in on me once I’m up there is Hector, and he’s only done that once, to return my purse.”
Ranger nods. “So, it’s not as bad as you thought it might be?”
“Not at all.”
“Good. I knew that might be a hard transition for you.” Ranger pulls into the garage and we walk in the house. I pack and decide to skinny dip in the pool one last time. I find Ranger in his office, going through his info.
“Want me to grill tonight?”
Ranger turns around and stares hungrily at my naked body. I smile, walk in, and pull the phone from his hand. I listen, dial tone, and hang it up. Ranger has already unzipped his pants, so I work them down to his ankles while he dresses himself. He sits back in the chair, so I place my feet on either side of his legs and lower myself slowly onto his cock. I’ve never had sex in a chair before, so I’m setting the pace slowly. Ranger reaches up to grab my waist with one hand and my nipple with another.
I smile and remember to thank Sarah for making me do all those squats.
This is slow, sweet sex in his office. Eventually Ranger starts tweaking my nipples and I grind harder against him, enjoying his growls. I listen to Ranger murmur “Dulce” and “Te amo” repeatedly. I smile, grateful I’m facing away from him. Sweet and I love you. Learning Spanish is wonderful. I start bouncing up and down a little faster and squeezing my muscles to hurry him along. Ranger immediately starts rubbing my clit. I’m grinding against him, frantic, when his arm clamps around my waist.
“Stop,” he growls. I can’t, so Ranger picks me up, slipping from inside me, and places me on the desk. He rips off his t-shirt, opens my legs wide, and thrusts inside. This is like our bout of sex on top of his table and I immediately lie back and grasp both sides of the desk. Ranger is pounding away and I feel us both come at the same time. Ranger collapses on top of me and kisses me.
“Are we out of condoms?” I whisper. I’m still trying to catch my breath.
“Three left,” Ranger pants. “Got plans?”
I smile. “They require you.”
I get the wolf grin. Ranger starts sliding his fingers down my body when it happens.
GRRROOOWWWLLLLL.
Ranger looks at my stomach, looks at me, and smiles.
“OK, maybe later. Grill?” I ask.
“Don’t do it naked. I don’t want to treat your skin for burns.” He kisses my tummy and helps me up. I stand to walk away and feel something peel from my behind. I turn around. Ranger is staring at a page from his legal pad in bemusement. I want to tell him to lift his pants but I’m enjoying the view. He notices me looking and shoots me his wolf grin.
I stick my tongue out at him and leave, a little shaky on my feet. I find my coverall and walk into the kitchen. I find all the stuff Ranger had prepped for dinner tonight. More grouper! Great. I like that fish. I get the grill started (propane. Just press a button! No charcoal to make a mess) and stick everything on the grill, the fish in the grill pan I saw Ranger use. 15 minutes later, dinner is complete and I didn’t burn anything. Ranger and I eat outside and watch the sun set. He leaves to catch up on work and I stack the dishwasher and take one last swim in the pool.
I pop in a movie from Ranger’s collection and watch it all the way through. Still no Ranger. I pop in another movie and, halfway through, I go looking for Ranger. He’s frowning at his phone.
“Everything OK?”
He looks thoughtfully at his phone. “Hopefully.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Not quite Babe.” Ranger smiles. He raises the phone. “Hector. Headed to the club tonight.”
I nod. My partner loves to dance so that’s no surprise. “I have another movie in. Join me?” Ranger nods and we settle on the couch to watch the movie. When it ends, Ranger places my suitcase next to the garage door while I take a shower and get ready for bed.
At 2:15 AM, I’m woken by the sound of the phone ringing. Ranger answers.
“Yo!” His voice is quiet. “When?” He gets out of the bed and walks from the bedroom. “How many?” I pull the sheet back over my head and try to go back to sleep.
Ranger returns moments later and sits on the edge of the bed on my side. He turns on the bedside light.
“Babe?”
“Yeah?” I’m still under the sheets.
“Babe, Hector’s been shot.”
