Chapter 39: Offline, Part I
A/N: Conversation in Italics in Spanish.
Steph’s POV
After three long months, I finally get some time with Ranger. I wake to the smell of pancakes and . . . citrus?
I open my eyes and find Ranger sitting on the side of the bed, holding a plate of pancakes. His hand is in front of my face.
“Hermes D’Orange Verte.”
I sniff. I don’t remember ever smelling this on Ranger but if I did, it was subtle. Just like Ranger. It doesn’t clash with the Bvlgari; it just floats on top of it.
Curiosity appeased, I eye the pancakes. Ranger grins and starts moving backwards. I follow. It’s been a while since I’ve seen carbs, and he better put the plate down.
“Lookin’ a little scary, Babe.” Ranger places the plate on the table, where I see bacon, eggs, and orange juice. The perfect breakfast. I enjoy every moment of it and at the end, I sit back and pat my tummy. Ranger is smiling.
“Done?” I nod. “OK, shower and let’s get out of here. Where’s your phone?”
“Charger.”
I head back to the bathroom and take a shower. This shower is even better than the one in Trenton. More showerheads! An hour later, I’m ready to go. Ranger has packed bags for both of us and found all my trackers.
“No one knows where this house is?”
Ranger shakes his head. “RangeMan does the monitoring, but the house is owned by a shell company to hide my ownership. We’ll need to grab groceries on the way there, and we may need to do a little cleaning. Otherwise, it should be in perfect shape.”
We head for the door and I see Ranger scramble the cameras. We hit the elevator and he hits another button.
“Override. No one knows I’m here except Hector and Armando, and I want to keep it that way.”
I nod. We hit the garage and walk over to the Lamborghini. Ranger opens the door for me.
“You sure you want to take this car? How about the Mercedes?”
Ranger looks at me. “Babe.”
I wonder if I can work on my blank face without him catching me. “Car karma.”
“I’m driving. Nothing’s ever blown up when I was driving.”
I settle in the passenger seat and wait. Ranger slides in and looks at me.
“Babe?”
“Hmm?” I turn to look at him and he smiles and kisses me passionately.
“Glad you’re here, Babe,” he whispers. “I was hoping you’d come.”
Ranger kisses. My brain is foggy.
Ranger starts the car and we leave RangeMan behind. I’m staring out the window at the Miami skyline. This is much better than TV and the clothes are much tighter, shorter, and skimpier. I look at my outfit: shorts and tank top. Maybe I should have chosen something else to fit in? I look at Ranger’s outfit and realize I didn’t pay attention earlier. Ranger’s wearing khaki shorts and a white t-shirt.
“Nice outfit, Batman.”
Ranger looks over at me and does a slow head to toe inspection of my outfit. My nipples immediately take notice and he smiles. “I left Batman in the building. Carlos and Stephanie are offline.”
I grin. Nothing to say to that. “Are we going to the Bat Cave?”
He laughs and I love the way it sounds. “Nope. Just my secret home. Known to only one person, two with you.”
I lean back in the seat and resume people watching. “So, Carlos, what are we going to do today? Hey! How are you able to take time off from your op?” I turn back to Ranger, who looks as if he’s thinking of smiling.
“The plan for today is to get groceries, let you snoop around the house, swim, make love,” Ranger shrugs, “open ended. We’ll figure it out as we go. I’m at a quiet moment in the op. The agents are out collecting intel, so although you’re offline, technically I’m not. I’ll spend the evenings checking in with them and sifting through what they tell me. Two to three hours at most a night.” He picks my hand up and kisses my wrist. “The rest of the time belongs to you.”
I grin. I get Ranger to myself (minus three hours a night) with no set agenda. No training. No range time. I might even be able to talk him into an unhealthy meal.
We’re headed south from RangeMan and Ranger tells me to get comfortable. It takes about 40 minutes to get to his house from RangeMan. I decide to take a nap.
“Where is it located?”
“Coral Gables.”
I try to take a nap but I’m too excited. Miami is beautiful and the weather is wonderful. We pull up to a grocery store and grab the necessary items. I manage to grab ice cream and cookie dough and Ranger looks like he’s thinking of smiling.
“That stuff will kill you, Babe.”
“I’ll die happy.”
“I’d rather you not die anytime soon,” he says. The checkout girl is staring at him. He flashes a smile and she drools. I hide my face in Ranger’s shoulder and try not to laugh.
“Is that what I look like?” I whisper.
I can feel Ranger chuckle. “No. You look distracted too.”
10 minutes later, we’re back in the Lamborghini and headed to Ranger’s home. We aren’t in any hurry, and I get to examine the streets and neighborhoods. Eventually, we enter an area that is clearly home to expensive houses and, as we go farther and farther, the houses and lots get bigger and bigger. Finally, we pull up to a gate and, after Ranger keys in a code and undergoes an eye scan, we stop in front of his home.
This is stunning. I look at Ranger. “Stats.”
“Five bedrooms, five baths. Almost 6,000 square feet.” Ranger shrugs. “I’m rarely here.”
My mouth is hanging open. My apartment is 800 square feet max. 6,000? I leave the groceries for Ranger and immediately set off to explore.
Ranger’s POV
I rarely think about this house, but looking at it through Steph’s eyes, I have to appreciate it. This is a quiet neighborhood, where everyone keeps to themselves. I bought this house two years ago, when Babe and The Cop announced their engagement. I was ready to walk away then and this house seemed perfect. Quiet neighborhood, private boat slip, 10 minutes to open water, and a location no one would expect me to live in. I was here when I got the news she’d called it off.
I went to the airport straight from the house.
I grab the groceries and stash them in the kitchen. I’ve started on lunch, marinating some chicken and skewering vegetables, when I hear a shout. “Holy—“
I guess she found the pool. Or the boat. Or the master bathroom shower. Or the game room. You know, I think I better go find her.
I wash my hands and set off. I find her moments later in the master bedroom.
She found the closets and she found her closet.
She whirls around to look at me. “Whose clothes are these?”
I smile mentally. “Yours.” I watch as she examines the closet. Multiple pairs of FMPs, outfits, purses, even three bottles of Dolce Vita live here. I’ve been bringing things here for the past two years, ever since Scrog, when I knew that I’d make a move after her someday. Hopefully before she and The Cop ever got serious. Ella’s had a field day shopping for this closet.
She picks up a pair of leather peep-toes. “These are Cole Haan, fall two years ago,” she says quietly. “I couldn’t find these anywhere.” She looks at me, tears shining in her eyes.
I smile and take the shoes from her. I cup her face in my hands and kiss her softly, lovingly and taste the tears on her cheeks. “Need more time to look around?” She nods. “I’ll be in the kitchen prepping for lunch. I don’t have any set plans. This is all about what you want to do.” She gives me a shaky smile and, after wiping away the tears, I leave for the kitchen.
30 minutes later Steph joins me in the kitchen. “Need help?” She’s smiling.
“Nope. I was about to hit the pool. Join me?”
I take her hand and walk outside to the pool. I grin at the look on her face and strip. The last thing I see before I hit the water is Steph’s astonished face. I guess she didn’t expect me to hit the water nude.
I surface and laugh. “Come on, Babe! It’s only me and you.” Her face is funny. She looks torn between joining me now and running back to the bedroom to find her swimsuit.
“Are you sure no one can see us?” Her eyes are darting around, but I’ve checked. No one can see without a telescope or long distance camera lens.
“Positive, Babe. No cameras, no monitoring here. Jump in.” I swim a lap and wait for her to make a decision. I grin when she jumps in, nude.
We spend a leisurely day in the pool. I rub sun block on her body and grill the chicken and skewers. Babe stuns me by pushing me on my back next to the pool and making love to me in the open air. I’m grinning at her openness and wincing at the rash from the concrete. I grab cover-ups and the ice cream and allow her to convince me to eat two bites while we watch the sunset. We spend the evening watching a movie, and I tuck Babe in the bed before I review the intel collected today.
Hector’s enjoying this assignment. He’s brilliant at working the streets and his contacts for info. I review the info from him and Manny, grateful they’re working flawlessly as a team. Their info suggests that this sting is meant to capture me too. I’d heard chatter about an ICE agent in Tampa who was pissed that I kept refusing contracts to bring in Piman. Hector and Manny have been able to confirm that it’s true and Hector’s still working his contacts. He’s ‘interviewing’ the men he captured yesterday and he’ll send an update later.
The other agents are quietly working their contacts, but Morelli is close to pulling his man in. This will be numbers three and four for him. He’s a bastard, but he works fast. Solid work on everything he’s done so far. I was right not to bounce him. He advises me to listen to the information from his wire. Two of the three agents Manny thought were dirty talked to him, and he’s thinking he knows how he wants to follow up but he needs some info. I listen to the tapes.
“Jordan?”
“Reyes?”
“Good job. You’re right, Reyes and Garcia are gay and lovers. Threaten to tell their wives. Use the pictures I’ll email you to get everything you can out of them.”
Silence. “Jesus, Reyes! You’d use a man’s sexuality against him?”
“Nope. I’d use a man’s lies against him. This wouldn’t be good blackmail if they were out and honest about it. Instead, they’re lying about it to the world. Fair game.” I hate explaining anything to him, but he’s my best. I need us working without hostility because I get the feeling I’m going to need him on the last phase of the op.
Silence. “Understood.” There’s grudging respect in his tone.
“Anything else?”
“Nope.”
Click.
At 0600 I pull the sheets off Babe and tickle her.
“Stop! Stop stop stop Ranger!” She’s laughing and so am I.
“You were awake. Quit faking,” I growl playfully.
“I hate Sarah. I can’t sleep past 5:30 anymore,” she whines. I’m amused. Intel to the enemy, Babe.
“Come on Babe. Workout.”
“We’re offline,” she mutters, pulling the sheet back over her head.
“Come on Babe. Workouts are every day except Sunday.” I’m reaching for my sweatpants when I get an irresistible offer.
“I’ll work out only if you wear a pair of boxers and I get sex after.”
She would’ve gotten the sex anyway, but I’m game. “Done.” I drop the sweatpants and watch the hungry look on her face as I pretend to search for my boxers. I finally ‘find’ them and slip them on. “Come on Babe. You can swim for cardio. That’ll be better on your leg anyway.” I look out the window. The sun is just coming up. “Sun’s coming up. Let’s watch the sunrise.”
Steph slips into her bikini and I make a mental note to take it off with my teeth. We step outside and I hold her as we watch the sun rise. She snuggles in my arms and sighs. “It’s so beautiful here.”
I kiss her temple and smile. “Wait until summer truly hits. You’ll beg me to visit the Maine safe house.”
I watch as she attempts to raise an eyebrow and I remind myself not to smile. “That hot?”
“You could fry an egg on the concrete.”
She winces. We slip into the pool and I’m surprised to find that Babe is a good swimmer. I make a note to tell Hector to add swimming to her workout plan. We finish the workout with stretches and yoga. After breakfast smoothies and sex in the shower, I’m waiting on the plan for the day.
I’m surprised to find Steph checking email. “Babe?”
She looks around, sheepish. “Sorry. Wanted to see if Manny had sent me anything about what’s going on in NYC yet.”
I nod. NYC? I want to know what’s going on, but this is supposed to be a work-free time for us. “Well, what do you want to do? We can stay here, we can take the boat out, the only thing we can’t do is shop, Babe. It would blow my cover.”
She pouts, then perks up. “Boat?”
I nod and tell her to pack towels, sun block, and music. I throw together a picnic lunch and meet her back downstairs and lead her to the boat slip. 15 minutes later, we’re in open water and relaxing on the deck. It’s a repeat of the previous day. We swim in the ocean, have sex on the deck (we have to stop that. My ass is developing bruises), and feed each other from the lunch basket. Steph slathers on sun block and settles in for some sunbathing while I pull out the fishing poles and see if I can catch some fish. I manage two decent size grouper as the sun goes down.
We pull back into the slip and I gut and clean the fish while Steph showers. I prep dinner, take a shower, and grill the fish while Steph manages a salad under my direction. We spend the night debating our favorite music and Steph finds the DVD copy of Ghostbusters in my collection. I pretend I have no knowledge of its existence and I’m rewarded with a blowjob. I immediately cop to the Blu-Ray copy in the bedroom.
At 2000, I slip into my office and call Julie.
“Dulce?”
“Hi, Papa! Are you coming tomorrow?”
“Yes, I am. Stephanie will be with me. What time do we need to be there?”
“11AM. The ceremony starts at noon. Daddy, I got my iPhone! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Julie is thrilled with the phone, but I’m thrilled by the fact she called me Daddy. Plus, with the tracking we put on it, I’ll always know where she is. She might ditch trackers, but not a $600 status symbol.
“Thank your Mama, Dulce. She had to agree to it for you to receive it. Just remember, any apps you buy and games you play come from your iTunes account.”
“I know, Papa! I’m just glad I finally get a phone. Everyone else at school had one except me.”
Steph enters my office and sits in my lap. “Julie?” she mouths and I nod and pass her the phone.
“Hi Julie!”
“Steph! You have to give me your number. We can Face Talk!”
I listen to my favorite women (women? My daughter is still a child!) talk about their phones, apps and games. Before I know it, 30 minutes have passed and it’s time for me to check in. I motion for Steph to leave and she walks toward the bedroom, still talking to Julie.
“Yo!” Hector.
“Yo!”
“You are a definite target. I might become one.”
“Explain.”
“They’re using Rey to go after Piman. He did Rey dirty in a deal. Other Incas are pissed he has coverage from you and, based on the shit I did in ATL, apparently from me. They want that kinda coverage against the Feds.”
Hmm . . . “OK. Anything else?”
“Armando hired a kid for tech. I think he’s a plant. I asked them to get him fingerprinted.”
I shake my head. Armando will never learn. “Outside SOPs again, huh?”
“You know it. Reyes followed Nikki for a few days. She and my son hid at RMAtlanta. Danny set up the tail, trapped them and ‘convinced’ them not to follow Nikki.”
I chuckle at that. Hector’s admiration of Danny, and his arguments against putting a server farm in Hurricane Alley, convinced me to move the servers to Atlanta. “How?”
“Last thing to go on a boxer is his punch.”
At that, I laugh. It’s one of Danny’s favorite sayings. The phone beeps. Manny.
“Yo!”
“Yo! Took me forever to get away from Javi. What I miss?”
Hector catches him up. Manny laughs quietly. “I’m getting the name William Knox. I know he’s a Fed, but I can’t find the department. Anyway, he’s set up a sting in someone’s organization. I thought it might be ours, but I don’t see any new employees . . . oh no . . .”
Hector and I crack up. Finally, I answer Manny. “XO in Miami is known for going outside SOPs on occasion.”
“Shit,” Manny says.
“They hired him into tech,” Hector says.
“Oh, the poor fuck,” Manny mutters. Again, Hector and I crack up. “Look, he’s still a fed. Make sure he can walk out under his own power.”
“Ruining my fun and my reputation, Manny,” Hector says.
“Please. You don’t kill. Maim, break, scare pissless, yes. Kill, no.”
That’s true. Hector’s conscience is burdened by the lives he’s taken to get out. He won’t kill if he can help it.
“One last thing,” Hector says.
“Yeah?”
“My son can read! He read me a book tonight.”
I can feel Hector’s pride through the phone. Hector Manuel is a smart little boy who loves his uncle, and his uncle is devoted to him. Manny and I congratulate him and listen to him talk about the massive order he made for new books for Hector Manuel. We disconnect and I check in with the other agents. No new news. Great.
Steph’s standing in the doorway looking at me. I check the time. 2200. Time to make love to my woman.
