*Chapter 3 - Working Breakfast*
Apparently, Ric had other things on his mind than just breakfast. Before the elevator doors had even closed he had me pinned against the cold metal, his face nuzzled in my neck whispering sweet Spanish, and his hands wrapped around my thighs which seemed to have straddled him with no input from my conscious mind.
It seems the 3 times we had mind blowing gorilla sex last night before passing out at midnight wasn't quite enough for him.
Before we realised what was happening, the doors opened and a polite cough interrupted our moment. We both turned our heads, with me still pinned against the side of the elevator, to see Ella standing there looking slightly flushed.
"Sorry to disturb you Mr Manoso, I can take the stairs"
Ric let out a hearty laugh.
"The apology is all mine Ella, I'm sorry to have embarrassed you"
He straightened himself out before continuing.
"Is breakfast in the room?"
"Yes it is, and some of it is hot so don't waste any more time before eating it!"
I giggled quietly as Ric grabbed my hand and walked me out of the lift.
"Sorry Ella"
"Don't apologise Stephanie, I've never seen him so happy and in love"
I smiled again before waving her off and going into our apartment.
When I first came to Rangeman, Ric's 7th floor apartment had been beautifully decorated but it was lacking that homely feel. Now, Rex was on the counter, spending his days in his wheel and eating hamster nuggets. Some photos of our team were up and a gorgeous overhead picture of both mine and Ric's family taken at our engagement party.
It really did feel like home, even if work was only 2 floors down.
Ella had left us bowls of fruit and yoghurt, Home made pastries and hot coffee.
I picked up the tray and carried it over to the table and Ranger followed with a jug of water.
We sat down and ate in blissful silence. Well mostly silent, since Ella's cooking has always hit the spot with me and I can't help but moan whilst I'm eating.
I looked up at Ric and he had a look of concern in his eye.
"Stephanie. Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yes. I'm fine. Why?"
"You seemed a bit distracted in the meeting"
"Oh. Sorry. I had a text from mom to say grandma isn't well. I'll call her in a bit"
"You can call her now if you want babe. It's ok"
"No. It's fine. If it's an emergency, mom will no doubt call"
Grandma was fine obviously. She'll be still going when I'm long gone! I just had to find a way to stop him asking me what was really going on.
Finishing off our breakfast, he moved everything to the kitchen and got the files from his bag before spreading them out over the table.
I took 3 and Ric took 2, leaving Alec's file for us to look over together.
I opened to first file on Rebecca Blake. I read out loud.
"Top of her class all the way through her degree in Criminal Law and Criminology, as well as completing a masters in International security and Cyber Crime"
"Married to Ollie Blake. Ex Military Intelligence, injured after an IED exploded during a tour in Iraq. They set up their team together, and now execute high security clearance contracts for a variety of British Government agencies"
"Ollie has a redacted military file, medical discharge with honours before starting Code One with Rebecca. They were married not long after his accident. His health continues to improve and he's been cleared for active duty again"
"Nothing stands out at me on those two. Quite the power couple"
I continued with Abi.
"Abi Sanchez. Medical degree from Cambridge. 3 years as an Army Medic with two tours of Afghanistan before taking her MSc with Becca and joining Code One. She's the team Medic with full field clearance as well. Anything that stands out in your files?"
Ranger noted nothing in Lenny's file but both Frank and Danny both had redacted security checks which could be troublesome should there be any question of the mission at hand. I explained that I suspected they may be slightly more open in person than their files let on and it would be easier once I'd met them all and could get a better read. I'd do some extra computer work as well but if they were as good as they seemed I got the feeling I'd have issues getting in to their systems without being detected.
Ranger nodded in agreement as he pulled over the file we held on Alec O'Garra.
"40 years old, joined the Army at 18. Worked his way up to Rangers special ops, and mostly ran recovery in hostile territory. Dishonourable discharge for leading his men into a dangerous situation unnecessarily. Lost 3 of his men. Seems to have gotten involved in supply and demand for drug runners"
I stared at the picture for longer than normal.
"Steph?"
"So a power complex and a penchant for not following orders and now he's involved with international drug running. Sounds like a delight"
Ranger grimaced slightly. "He'll be hard to track since he's used to working off the grid. I'm not comfortable with the possibility of having to spend months tracking him down"
"Me either" I said with probably a little more attitude than normal.
"I have to get back to work, Let me know if you think of anything else"
And with that, Ranger left the apartment to head down to his office and I decided I'd go and take some stress off in the gym. I hated running but I enjoyed plugging my iPhone into the speakers and blasting out some Tina Turner whilst I sweated it out on the spin bike. I did 40 minutes before showering and heading up to my office for some quiet time. I'd made it pretty homely up there and it gave me a chance to have some down time away from the guys between them popping in for a chat from time to time.
I'd taken all the files up to my office so sat down to read over them again. I couldn't bring myself to look at Alec's again. I knew all I needed to know.
Then I noticed we'd missed one. Jake Bassett. Code One's agency handler. My eyes glazed over and my room swam around me. I bent over and waited for it to stop. How is this all coming back to haunt me now?! Especially since my past had basically been scrubbed from all searchable records. Shit! I was going to have to make a call. Whether anyone would speak to me was another matter but I needed to try. It looks like my past was about to come full circle and bite me in the ass.
But first, I needed coffee.
I'd just made a pot of French pressed vanilla when my phone rang. It was Morelli.
"Joe"
"Cupcake"
I smiled. He Couldn't shake calling me cupcake. I guess when you've known someone since you were children there's still an unbreakable bond there.
"What's up?"
"I've got a favour to ask. We've got a guy down here that we've picked up for 4 homicides that have happened over the past two months. Same MO, all single women, blonde, aged 25-30. All found dead in their beds from what was made to look like suicide"
"Pretty odd run of coincidences to be suicide"
"That's what we thought. Then DNA trace came back and we found a match across all 4 women. A single kiss just above the hip bone left post-mortem"
I shuddered at the thought of this guy kissing his dead victims in such an intimate area.
"So how can I help?"
"He's not talking. Just keeps saying he didn't do it. We've confronted him with the evidence and he just says it wasn't him. We're getting nowhere so I was hoping you might come down and take a look at the files. Maybe get a read on him?"
I sighed at the thought of the phone calls I was going to have to delay.
"Sure. I'll let the guys know I'm heading out and I'll be with you in 20 mins or so"
"Great. Thank you. We'll grab a coffee at the same time. Would be nice to catch up"
"Sounds great. See you soon"
I stretched in my chair and forced myself up and locked Jake's file away. I went over to Ric's office, which was just opposite mine and knocked softly.
"Come in" He said, looking up at the door.
"Babe. You don't need to knock!"
"I know. Just being polite"
He chucked softly as I went round the desk and sat on his lap.
"What's up?"
"Just had a call from Morelli. They've just pulled in a suspected serial murderer. 4 bodies in two months, but he's not talking. He's asked if I could go over as a favour and see if we can assist"
"Sure. Make sure you bill the TPD for your time though. You want to take someone with you?"
"No. I'm a big girl now. I can drive without blowing the car up and everything"
Ric smirked.
"Alright missy. Enough of the sass. Just because you're all grown up, doesn't mean I trust other people"
"Other people, or Morelli?"
Ric paused for a second.
"On second thoughts, don't answer that. I'll call you when I'm on my way back"
"Love you babe. Stay safe"
"Always"
