Sacrifices

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

A/N: Thanks to everyone reading this story, and to everyone that's reviewing. If you're not, please do. I'd love to know what you think. Thanks to Jenrar, beta extraordinary, for everything she does. To Angie who helped plot part of this chapter.

Steph's POV

I got back in the car and drove towards the airport. I would put the headpiece on after I parked the car. The less time in this crap, the better. He knew me well enough to know anything but this outfit would be okay.

I was trying to be mindful of my speed, since getting pulled over probably wouldn't bode well for the whole "under the radar" escape plan. And since Ranger had obviously worked so hard planning it out to the letter, screwing it up now would be a shame. Insert eye roll here. Still, any cop I passed would be suspicious, just based on the way the car looked, not to mention the fact that any sane person would be at home asleep at this hour.

I pulled into the long term parking lot and finally found space G455. I sighed as I placed the white coif and black veil on my head, and cursed Ranger under my breath. I pulled the purse out and checked the contents. I thumbed through the cash, checked my ID, and snorted. He couldn't be serious. I checked the battery on the sat phone before stepping out of the car. I tried to keep my head down as I walked away, and shook my head in amazement as the car locked itself automatically.

I weaved my way inside and found the counter for Continental Airlines. A young man was half asleep behind the counter, and I cleared my throat to get his attention, causing him to almost fall out of his seat.

"Yes … uh … how may I help you?"

"I have a ticket here waiting for me."

"Oh … okay … I'll ummm … I'll need your ID." He looked at my outfit and threw in a, "Please?"

I rolled my eyes as I looked down to pull out the identification, and mentally chanted over and over that Ranger was a dead man. The boy handed me my tickets and told me to hurry over to security. I handed over my license and ticket at the checkpoint before baggage check, and the guard smiled at me.

"Aren't you too pretty to be a nun, Sister Mary Katherine?" He held out my documents and handed them to me.

I smiled politely, remembered to play the part, and replied in a demure voice, "Thank you," before walking on ahead to baggage check. I placed my purse on the conveyor belt and walked through the metal detectors.

The guard holding the wand motioned to my purse. "Traveling light, Sister?"

"Yes, this trip was very sudden. I'll figure it out when I get there. Thank you for your concern."

Thank goodness they'd bought it. I thought they would figure out my ID was fake, or some disaster would happen and Trenton PD would show up and recognize me. I yawned, and finally realized just how tired I was.

Finally arriving at my terminal, I checked in for the flight and was told they were boarding in ten minutes. A yawn escaped my lips, and the late hour finally started to catch up to me. I walked up to a drink machine, pulled some dollars out of my purse, and hit the button for a coke. The machine told me they were out. I pressed another button and got the same response. "Stupid fucking machine!"

As the words left my mouth, an older man walked behind me and laughed. I immediately realized my mistake. Nuns don't curse.

"How many Hail Mary's is that going to cost you?" he asked as he got his laughter under control.

"A few, I'm sure. This …" I motioned down the robes, "is all kind of new to me."

"Yeah, the fuck gave you away." He smiled. "So who you hiding from? Ex-boyfriend, cops, loan shark?"

"Ummm … some friends." Why was I sharing this with a complete stranger?

"It's okay, sweetie. Your secret's safe with me."

I sighed as I headed off towards the line.

"Forgetting something?" the old man asked.

I turned around to take the drink from him and smiled. "Thank you!" Before taking my place in line, I chugged the soda down and threw away the bottle.

When we got on board the plane, I sat in my seat and almost instantly fell asleep. It seemed like no time at all before the flight attendant was gently shaking my arm, trying to wake me. I walked out into the terminal, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I glanced around, not seeing him anywhere. Who the hell was I kidding? The man was smoke.

I took a few steps, and jumped as he walked up beside me. "It's nice to see you, Sister Mary Katherine," he said, flashing his two hundred-watt smile.

A flight attendant walked in front of us, catching Ranger's smile, and tripped over a set of luggage in the floor. "You're a priest, for Christ's sake." I looked at the lady in a heap and sighed.

The people around us gasped, and Ranger quirked his eyebrow at me. "You'll have to forgive the Sister. Her father was a sailor."

I leaned up to whisper in his ear. "Forgive me? I'm pretty sure you are the one that should be asking for forgiveness." I smiled up at him. "You're so dead!"

He grinned at me.

"You think this is fucking hilarious? I'll show you hilarious." I smacked him, and realized that I'd only accomplished hurting my hand.

A woman with a young boy walked by, muttering, "What's this world coming to?" She covered the boy's ears and pushed him past me.

"Babe, let's get out of here," Ranger whispered in my ear as he surveyed the crowd gathering around us. "We're getting too much attention."

I turned around and glared, with my hands on my hips. "Who says I'm going anywhere with you?"

"Mary Katherine!"

"Don't you 'Mary Katherine' me!"

Ranger's eyebrow quirked at me, silently challenging me. I could almost hear him say, You want to do this here, Babe?

Frustration was starting to build up as I turned on my heel and stalked towards the exit. I was within a few feet of the door when I tripped over my robe.

Mocha latte arms caught me, and I muttered, "Great … just great. Stupid fucking robe."

He chuckled, pulled me close, and crashed his lips to mine. I moaned and melted into his embrace. Wait a minute. I'm mad at him! I shook myself out of it, shoving him away. I slapped him one more time for good measure, and stalked out of the airport.

TBC …

A/N: So can you guess why I picked Katherine for her alias? Next chapter, I think we'll check in with Tank. What do you think?

P.S. – I've never flown and have only been inside an airport a few times, so the whole airport thing is a guess.