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Chapter 7

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Tank stood outside of the conference room, phone in hand, and nodded as he listened. He had a good view of all three occupants in the room and had just reported their status to Ranger. Tank had to smile when he was told that the meeting was going to be delayed for an hour. Stephanie seemed really shaken up after that attack, and he had no doubt that she could use some of Ranger's help for a while. It was about damn time, if you asked him. Tank had known that Ranger had some deep feelings for Stephanie, but for years he had been avoiding them. He had also suspected that Stephanie felt the same about Ranger, and it had puzzled Tank to see her bouncing back to Joe Morelli time after time. After his talks with Ranger over the past week, and now this latest development, Tank was hopeful that things were about to change for Ranger and Stephanie.

Inside of the room, Mr Turner stood and started pacing. Tank could see that he was on edge, and he couldn't blame him. The events that happened this morning could do that to a person. Miss Miller watched Turner with a sad look. And Smith seemed to be ignoring them both. With his eyes still on them, Tank put the phone in his pocket. Then he motioned to Lester to remain on guard duty with Hal, and he walked down the hall. It seemed that Ella was right, again. How did she always do that? She had wanted to bring in some water and perhaps coffee and something to eat to their guests. He had told her no before, when he thought that they might only be waiting for half an hour or so. But it had already been that long, and they certainly had the time for it now, with another hour ahead of them to wait. He was just going to have to concede that Ella's hospitality might be appreciated, in more ways than one. After watching their guests, over the last thirty minutes, Tank was convinced that, no matter what they may have thought, these three people were strangers. Far from being a team sent here to meet with Ranger, Tank could see that their body language told a different story. This day just kept getting stranger and stranger.

SHE WANTED to ask questions. She most definitely wanted the answers, but Stephanie was finding it hard to keep her eyes open. While she was annoyed with herself about it, she had to admit that she was tired. The combination of sleep deprivation, an adrenaline crash, and the feel of Ranger's arms around her, worked as a most potent sedative. With all the crazy going on, Stephanie thought that there was no way she could get any rest, and she found it incredible that she could actually fall asleep. But here she was, dropping off, after being lulled into the most amazing feeling of comfort that she had ever experienced. Her last thoughts before drifting off included the wonderful realization that while everything had felt so wrong before. Nothing could feel more right that being here with Ranger. A smile touched her lips as her head fell back onto his shoulder and her eyes closed in blissful slumber.

Ranger felt her melting in his arms. It all been too much for her and Stephanie was falling asleep. He was sure that she needed it, attacking someone did that to a person. That brought a smile to his lips. She had wanted to protect him. Somehow she had convinced herself that these people could be a danger to him, and she had wanted to stop them from reaching his office. Her obvious discomfort when she had admitted this to him revealed the depths of her feelings, and it touched him. Now he had what he had been wanting for so long. And he was having some thoughts of his own, much in the same vein as Stephanie. It felt so right to be here with her in his arms. The time had come for him to stop avoiding the relationship that he had always wanted with Stephanie. Ranger had been giving it a lot of serious reflection lately. Over the years he had kicked himself countless times over the stupid move he had made. Sending Stephanie back to Morelli, after the most perfect night he had ever had, rated right up at the top of his list of the stupidest things he had ever done. In the end, all it had done was start a miserable cycle of an off and on relationship between them. One that had frustrated everyone concerned. It had been the most painful experience he had ever had, to watch her be hurt every time they split up. He knew that he was the one to blame for the whole thing. Stephanie did not want to be with Joe, how many times had she shown both of them that simple fact through her actions. But Ranger now understood that he had never stepped up to give her the alternative that she needed. No, instead he kept encouraging her to go back to Morelli. His own fears had been getting in the way for much too long. He needed her. He loved her. Now it was the time to let her know that.

If Stephanie's behavior this morning was any indication, he could believe that she felt the same way about him. Another smile formed and stayed on his lips. Updating their relationship status was one thing, but there was something else that he knew she needed. When she woke, he would share the insight that he had found by investigating her questions. "How can someone hide their life history like that?" she had asked. Smith had no links to his life before his appearance twelve years ago. That was just not possible and Stephanie had been kicking herself all night for not being able to break through and find the thread that would lead her to who he really was. Her intensity had impressed him, and made Ranger start going down new pathways in his own thoughts to find the answer. It had been so close, he had almost reached it when the altercation had happened. Now he was pretty sure that he had figured out a big piece of the puzzle. It had been the general himself who had inadvertently given him the clue he needed.

"You won't know what we don't want you to know until we want you to know it!" the old man had grumbled. Ranger had dismissed his bloviating as just more posturing by the general ,until Stephanie had said nearly the same thing in her frustration over Smith's past. That was it, that was the key he had been looking for. Ranger had remembered something from that last mission. Though their focus had been on Asli, their contact, Beyza, had been talking about some other people that she was worried about. She thought that there was someone infiltrating the most profitable industry in her country. Her group of patriots believed that there could be a disaster,big enough to ruin her country, if Asli turned his focus to the new methods being researched for horizontal drilling. The tools being developed for the process could be dangerous in the wrong hands. Her people had been covertly protecting a small group of geophysicists and petroleum engineers that had been commissioned by the government to prepare feasibility studies for the next phase of oil production that they needed. Ranger had not seen these men, it was not relevant to their mission. That is probably why it had taken so long to recall the details that he had now been seeking. It had simply been part of a discussion they'd had, one that had been interrupted by the attack in the hotel. Now that connection was starting to make sense. He let those details, long forgotten, come back to mind. The explosion at the hotel, that his team had thought was directed at Beyza, had been discovered later to be part of a plot against some special government workers visiting that part of the country. To be exact, against a small group of scientists in the petroleum industry. That could not be a coincidence. It would be time to have another nice little chat with the general real soon. But not until after he had a chance to talk to his visitors. Ranger knew that the early arrival ploy was taken directly out of the general's playbook. "Keep'um guessing" isn't that what he always liked to say?

While the names and basic information about the three people in question had been given freely, the reason behind their arrival in Trenton had not. His recent conversations with General Kinkaid had revealed that he was asking for a favor. Not directly, of course, the general never did that. But it explained the nervousness he had been unable to disguise. As agitated as Kinkaid had seemed, Ranger knew that this was much more important than he had let on. So what had happened that had set these plans in motion? There were still plenty of questions to ask, but Ranger was looking forward to giving Stephanie some of the answers that she needed.

While she slept, Ranger let Turner, Miller and Smith sit it out and wait for him. It was only slightly a power play on his part to establish that he was running this current operation. Even if it was a favor to the general, they needed to understand one another if they were to work with each other. It was going to be interesting to see what their side of the story was. By twisting his wrist slightly, he looked at his watch. It had been nearly an hour now. It was time to go in and talk to his visitors. He hated waking Stephanie, but he knew that there was no way she wanted to miss out on this. Shaking her slightly, Ranger kissed her cheek, eliciting a moan from her that nearly did him in.

"Babe," his hoarse whisper exposed his reaction to her, and he had to take a deep breath to regain some of his composure.

"Mmmhmm, she responded, her eye fluttering open. Stephanie turned to see Ranger's face. His smile melted her and she wanted to cuddle back into his arms, she had never slept so well in her entire life. Her own smile lit her face as she let herself agree that this was something that she could definitely get used to. She slowly sat up and Ranger stood, extending his hand to help her stand.

In the next few minutes, she watched as he pulled up the video feed of the conference room on his computer. Ranger let her know that she could watch the meeting from here. She would be able to see and hear everything. Stephanie sat in the big leather chair. This was perfect. She had wanted to be part of this, but there was no way she wanted to see Smith again for a long time.

"Thanks," she whispered, looking up at him. Ranger kissed her on the cheek and winked at her.

"Let the games begin," he said. Ranger looked at her, once again, from the doorway. He smiled and then disappeared down the hall.

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