This Too Shall Pass

Chapter Seven

"Maybe we should have had more wine to drink on Sunday when we were alone." Jess crawled into bed next to her husband. Cutler and Randa were in the guestroom; Matt and Robin were in the family room with their kids and half a brigade of Marines we're posted around their house.

"Would it of helped make today any better?" Derek pulled his wife into his arms. She laid her head on his chest.

"I don't think a whole Winery would have made today better." Closing her eyes Jess let the stress of the day leave her body. "I'm worried about Cody."

"Between what you said to him and what I know Sarah must have said to him, I think he'll be okay Jess."

"I know but you didn't see the look on his face when he told me he felt betrayed by his country. I didn't know he felt that way."

"I don't really think he does. I just think everything with Kitrick and now Randa has put us all on edge." Derek had learned early on that Jess over analyzed everything and this wouldn't be any different. "Let the Coronel handle Cross and let's get though the Kitrick trial and hopefully everything will get back to normal around here."

"Has normal been a state we've ever been in since you came here?"

"Okay, so we get this all cleared up so we can move on the next high mountain drama." Jess kissed her husband. For a rookie he sure was fitting in.

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"Derek, you don't have to cook for us." Cutler stood by the counter holding Skylar.

"I don't mind." He looked up at his friend. "How's Randa doing?"

"She actually slept. Me, on the other hand…" He grabbed the bottle out of the warmer and sat down and started feeding the baby.

"You're getting pretty good at that." Derek watched the older man. He was amazed how not only the Hawkes but the whole High Mountain Ranger team cared about each other.

"I always wanted a couple of kids but I thought I should stop acting like a kid before I had one." He smiled. "Now, I don't know if I could keep up."

"You ski down mountains and ride dirt bikes for a living, I'm pretty sure you can chase a baby around the yard." Derek set a plate down in front of Cutler just as Matt was coming in with Sierra. "Who needs a nanny when we have Uncle Matt and Uncle Jimmy on the job?" Soon the kitchen was full of family and friends talking about new developments and cooing over the twins. He cooked and laughed and felt like he had been empty until he had found Jess and these people who had become part of his life. They sat around the big kitchen table Jess almost didn't get because she would never need all the space.

"Thank you for talking me into the table." She leaned over and kissed her husband's cheek.

"Thank you for introducing me to the people surrounding it." Jess smiled.

"We do come together quite well in crisis, don't we?" She watched her sister in law cuddle her daughter while Matt held his son on his lap. Skylar was content on Cutler's shoulder and Miranda held Sierra close. Derek pulled his wife close. No matter how much drama was going on around them they had each other.

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The Rangers sat around the table in the conference room. They were twenty strong, independent, completely different people but in this room, they were a team. Matt stood at the head of the table. Taking a deep breath he looked out at the other nineteen people in the room.

"Yesterday Jon Cross became our problem." Matt put the man's picture on the big screen behind him. "He's wanted for crimes against his government. Miranda uncovered these crimes when she was stationed overseas. He was held at the stockade in Germany but somehow got transferred to Twenty-nine Pines and escaped. Yesterday he came looking for Randa. Today we put him back behind bars." He handed Cody files. "Lt. Coronel Mc Cullen has brought in his best search and rescue team and a team of sharp shooters. I expect you will show these men and women the respect they deserve, while you show them how it's done. I need all of you out there so Jess will be manning the radio. Also Derek I want you here to help Jess figure out what Cross is thinking. Anything minor we're sending to Highway Patrol or the Sherriff. We will find this man." Cody stood up then.

"As you know we pulled in the families and they are split between my house and Jess's. Mc Cullen has men at both houses and the security systems armed at all times so be aware if you enter without knocking." He handed out the files Matt gave him.

"He looked Jess in the eye and told her he was Randa's husband. He must have known we'd check out his story and the heat would be on."

"Maybe he underestimated our capability to mobilize." Jess looked at the man's service record. "He had made the military his life. What changed after twenty five years?"

"That's what I want you and Derek to check into." Matt looked at his sister. "A man doesn't just turn his back on his country after serving that many years without something going wrong in his life." Jess nodded. "Okay, the rest you have your assignments and the Coronel will be here with that shirt for you Cutler so we can put your dog to the test."

"Ten four boss." Matt looked at his team. They were the best and brightest law enforcement team on the West Coast but if anyone one asked they were just a bunch of ski bums and adrenalin junkies.

"Okay, let's move out. I want this bastard caught by dinner. Some of us have a big day tomorrow." Matt dismissed everyone. Jess had almost forgotten about the trip to Colorado for Kitrick's trial. The team went on their way as Jess and Derek headed to the outer office to start their probe into why a good soldier went bad.

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"Even Garcia can't find a damn thing that might of triggered Cross to switch sides." Jess leaned back and looked at her husband sitting across from her.

"He was stationed with Randa, worked with her, yet she doesn't remember him." Derek looked at the file. "My cousin Cindy was abducted by a man. He kept her captive for over eight years, had her convinced terrible things would happen if she contacted anyone outside their little cult. They kept the children so the women would obey." Jess leaned forward and touched her husband's hand. He looked up at her. "We found her and arrested him. I've seen what brainwashing can do but this is different." She always knew that family ties ran deep with her husband but as each day passed she learned just how much.

"The bombing helped the Marines take Cross into custody and Randa into protective custody. She remembers everything leading up to the bombing, she just can't remember what happened for the six weeks between being put on desk duty and turning up here or Cross."

"She doesn't remember Cross, but she was the key witness in his upcoming trial. The only thing erased from her memory is Cross and the six weeks leading up to her arrival here. McCullen told us that Cross thought Randa died in the bombing. Someone must of told Cross that Randa was still alive."

"Randa was the one who blew the whistle yet she doesn't remember anything about Cross or the crimes he supposedly committed. Derek, Mc Cullen has to be holding something back."

"He said she had been knocked out when they found her in the basement of the base." Jess looked at the file in front of her, much which had been redacted.

"They never did a blood test on her." Jess looked through some more papers. "They could have given her drugs to alter her memory or make her forget. If she ended up dead it would raise more red flags than if she just lost the part of her memory that contained Cross and the crimes he committed." Derek leaned back in his chair.

"What drug could cause permanent, selective memory loss?"

"Scientists have been messing around with memory altering drugs for years. If anyone has actually had a breakthrough in the technology it would be the government." Jess spun around in her chair and started typing her keyboard. "The government seems to be all for them, mostly to help with PTSD."

"So we won't actually get any answers from anyone we ask about this."

"Even Garcia, in all her infinite wisdom couldn't find the answer to this one." Jess turned back to her husband."So let's recap. Randa finds out Cross is selling weapons to whomever and tells McCullen. To make things easier our esteemed Coronal kills them both off and puts one in prison, one in protective custody. One night some of Cross's flunkies find Randa and make her forget about Cross and what she found. McCullen sends Randa to us and here we sit, waiting for the other shoe to fall."

"Just another day in paradise baby girl." Jess smiled.

"These days are getting pretty old sweetheart." Standing, she grabbed both their coffee cups and headed for a refill.

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Matt raised the binoculars and scanned the lower horizon. People could disappear for the rest of their natural lives in these mountains. The man had come and gone without a trace and now they all had to be on high alert. With him and two of his best Rangers leaving for Colorado in the morning, he needed to get Cross in custody so they all could rest easier.

"You would think with the station and surrounding area crawling with Rangers and Marines would make someone just give up." Robin pushed her sunglasses onto her head. "What happens if we don't catch him before nightfall?"

"Then we get up in the morning and start again. Jess, JT and I will head to Colorado and my able body brother will head the search."

"How are you feeling about that?" She knew her husband was losing sleep over testifying at Cole Kitrick's trial.

"Jess found a nanny and is feeling better than she has in a long time about work and home, so I'm not worried about her." Matt looked at his wife. "JT on the other hand has been on edge for awhile about what might go down. Let's just hope Mia has done wonders with his temperament or we all might be visiting him in the cell next to Kitrick."

"Jess won't let him do anything stupid, even if they rip her apart on the cross examination."

"Now who's overestimating my sister's powers?" Matt chuckled.

"I've seen the power she has over the men in her life. She's like the man whisperer." Robin raised her binoculars. "I wish I had that power."

"You do with me." Robin smiled.

"You're the only one that matters."

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"It sounds like they could have given her scopolamine." Jess looked up from the computer screen. "It's the new date rape drug of choice. It's better than Special K because the victim can be literally told to have sex and even convinced that they enjoyed it."

"I've heard about that. Doesn't it put the victim into a zombie like state?" Derek stood behind his wife.

"Yeah, it's the new drug of choice all around, from date rape to government interrogation." Jess spun around in her chair. "I really don't think Cross wanted her dead, he just wanted her to forget what she knew."

"If he hadn't come after her, no one but the Coronel would have known about her testifying. Somehow word must of gotten to Cross that Randa was sent here."

"Yeah well, now he's our problem."

"Why don't you head to the house and check on the girls." His wife looked like she needed to be home with their precious gifts. "Check on Randa and Cutler while you're there."

"Are you trying to get rid of me Ranger Morgan?" She stood up.

"You need to be rested for tomorrow." Derek pulled his wife into his arms. "There's no way Cross is going to get to Miranda with us and the Marine Corps protecting her."

"I know." Jess snuggled into her husband's embrace. She needed him more than she ever thought she would need anyone.

"Go home baby." He pushed her arms length away and looked at her. "I'll make sure I'm home in time to put the girls and you to bed." Jess smiled.

"I'm going to hold you to that." He kissed her forehead.

"You want me to walk you home?"

"I think I can handle it, since there is a Marine every ten feet from here to the main road." Jess grabbed her gun from her desk and holstered it. She picked up her bag and turned to her husband. "I'll heat up the roast for dinner." Kissing him one more time she headed out the door. Cody came in just as his sister left.

"You look confused?" He looked at his brother in law.

"Jess just went home." Derek watched as she headed down the path.

"I saw she left. What's wrong?" Cody looked in the same direction.

"She left without an argument or throwing a hissy fit."

"Yeah, now I know why you look the way you do. That's not like my sister to just get up and leave when there's drama."

"Well unfortunately the drama is spread all the way down the mountain side today. Maybe she just went to find some more." Derek sat back down and started sifting through some more papers.

"Well if it's out there, baby sister will find it." Cody looked at his bother in law. "We got a line of storms hitting us hard tonight, Matt wants everyone back by nightfall."

"Jess got everyone's positions about an half hour ago." Derek handed the notebook to Cody. Looking at them the younger man shook his head.

"I'll make the calls, if you need anything you can call me on the radio."

"Ten-four." Derek knew that Cody was worried about how tomorrow was going to affect Jess. They all were. Now with Randa and Cutler's future hinging on finding Cross it made Jess leaving tomorrow harder than ever.