So sorry for the delay – really.
My huge thanks to my awesome friend and beta Dog_in_the_Manger, and to Highlandsgirl, who kept encouraging me.
Mary slammed the door, leaning her body against it and applying all her weight to prevent the two strong guys from coming out of the conference room.
Leaping over an upended chair, Delia shoved her weight against the door next to Mary. "If they bust through," she said with a grunt, "we'll have to charge them with destruction of federal property."
"And who'd want that…" Mary said, rolling her eyes, and yelled to Marshall, "Get her outa here!"
The trust, forged during the many years of partnership, had Marshall obeying Mary without question. He gently wrapped his fingers around Stephanie's arm, and herded the still stunned woman to the elevator.
Watching the doors lock behind her partner and the witness, Mary turned to Delia.
"On my count." She flipped off the fingers on her right hand down from three. "Move!"
As soon as they shoved off the door, with a loud crash, it swung open.
-o-o-
As the Bernarillo exit sign disappeared from view, Steph wondered where she was headed to now. She sat, staring at the slopes of Sandia Mountains out the window of the black SUV.
I didn't even have time to go skiing, she thought. She felt the first traces of fear churn in her stomach when it occurred to her that if Ranger had been able to track her down to New Mexico, then the mob could have done so too. How did they find me? I need to run away, to disappear; I am putting too many lives at risk!
"Let me out! I need to get out!" she yelled, pulling at the latch.
"Stephanie, calm down. Breathe." Marshall's eyes caught hers in the rearview mirror. "You can't get out of the truck right now, okay?"
"I'm putting everybody in danger! Let me out!"
"You'll only put yourself in danger if you get out of this car." He spoke, keeping his voice even to soothe her frazzled state.
"You don't know what Ranger's men could do to Mary!"
"And you don't know what Mary could do to them. Don't sell her short. " Marshall pulled the truck over to the shoulder, took off his aviators and turned to look at her, still fruitlessly trying to open the door.
"Stephanie." She did not acknowledge him, this time, trying to open the window.
"Stephanie, listen to me. The truck's locked. Both doors and windows." Ignoring her glare, he continued in his reassuring tone. "If she was alone, these men could take Mary down," he paused, "Maybe." He shook his head. "But there are fourteen other marshals on that floor to back her up. So don't worry, as long as these guys don't do anything stupid, no one will get hurt. Nor will you. It's our job to keep you safe, and believe it or not, we're good at it. Now, we'll go to a safe house for the night, and tomorrow we'll decide whether to relocate you or not."
Marshall held her eyes for a beat, waiting for his words to sink in and wipe the haunted expression from her gaze. "You're not alone, Stephanie. We won't let you down."
She nodded wordlessly, leaned back in her seat, and turned her face to the window, seemingly unaware of the tear tracks on her cheeks.
-o-o-
Beige walls, cheap furniture, and plastic blinds, turned town to ward off the sun and nosy neighbors. From the outside, it looked like another anonymous rental, and it was the perfect place to hide for a few days.
At the knock on the door of the apartment, Marshall rose from the couch and crept into the back bedroom. Catching Stephanie's eye, he gestured for her to get into the bathroom and lock the door. Slowly pulling his Glock from the holster, he made his way back to the front.
Looking through the peephole, he saw Mary standing outside. He let out a sigh, took out his phone and dialed 1. He started speaking as soon as he heard his partner on the other side pick up the line.
"Hey sweetheart, I'm working late. Can you pick up Chinese for dinner?"
"Cut the crap, Marshall, I'm alone." He heard her sigh and smiled, opening the door.
As soon as the door was unlocked, Mary stomped in, a bag of Chinese food in hand and two laptops under her right arm.
"Stan's uber pissed. I swear, he would have lost all of his hair if he still had any." After setting the laptops down on the table, she strode into the kitchen and put the bag of food on the counter. "And Mrs. what's-her-face on the first floor wants you to know that it's not gentlemanly to let me carry all the bags." She ripped open the pack of wonton chips with her teeth and popped one into her mouth with a crunch. "So, where is our woman of the hour?"
Marshall tipped his head to the bedroom door, before heading into the small kitchen to get plates and chopsticks. They were using a Santa Fe safe house to secure Steph's location, before deciding whether to return to Albuquerque or relocate their witness.
Mary went back to the coffee table and pulled out two large manila folders from one of the bags she had brought in.
"These are the files for the guys we booked. Lester Santos and Javier Manoso. You'll see, and the trail leads back straight to New Jersey. We're due for a cozy chat with Steph…"
"Manoso?" Marshall grabbed the file Mary had tossed onto the table, and flipped it open, his eyes frantically scanning the pages. After he finished, he met her gaze, eyes wide, and said, "I need to talk to you before you say anything to Steph. There are things you should know."
"Will I be upset?"
"Of that I'm certain."
Mary heaved a sigh, seeing the concern on her partner's face, the plea not to talk about the case right now.
"Great. Another load of problems coming our way. Don't tell me you slept with one of their brothers !"
"Har, har, har. You're hilarious. On what did you hold them, by the way? I haven't looked, but I don't think it was written on their foreheads that they were there for Steph."
"The blonde tried picking me up at Starbucks two days ago."
"And? Last I checked, trying to score at a coffee shop wasn't a felony."
"No, but following a U.S. Marshal around town for a few days before that was good enough for me. I spotted him at Target yesterday. They were in a convertible that was hard to miss. I saw them again when I was leaving the courthouse last night and talked to Stan about it. I suspected they would show up at Starbuck's this morning, and they did. Delia and Stevens helped book them. End of story."
"Why didn't you call me?"
"I did. You didn't pick up."
Marshall pulled his phone from his pocket, and started scrolling through menus, a deep scowl on his face.
"I have no message or missed call from you, Mary."
Sighing, Mary took her own device, pocked a few buttons, and gave it to her partner.
The screen was displayed, '7:56 Marshall (5)'
"I called you five times, Marshall. You didn't pick up once. Figured you'd call back when you're free."
Marshal's face only showed disbelief as he was staring at the two phones in front of him. He knew what it meant. He knew the only person who could have erased the messages. But believing she did it was something else.
"You know, Marshall, you'd better ask your girlfriend to deal with her issues. If she doesn't realize you're not the cheating kind by now… Because who know, one day, she might delete Stan's calls too. Just a thought."
She took her phone from the hands of her partner. "Now, don't you have something to tell me?"
Marshall shook his head, quickly recovering from his troubling discovery. This was something that he needed to discuss with Abigail in private. Not in the middle of the preparation of a contingency plan and not while trying to decide whether to relocate the witness.
His phone beeped, and after quickly looking at the message, he dismissed it. "Later. Delia and Stevens are coming over to take the night shift. You know all the blah-blah-blah about this case…"
Mary sighed. "Yeah, I know the blah-blah-blah... Hell, I live for the blah-blah-blah!"
-o-o-
There were only a few things Tank was afraid of. He couldn't stand staying in an enclosed space for too long – memories of some time spent in the Colombian jail. He was afraid of the bites of spiders – having experienced it firsthand. But what he was the most afraid of was seeing his friend and boss with a scowl. And that's exactly what was in front of him now. Ranger was facing the large window in his office, looking at the cars passing in the street. His arms were crossed over his chest, and Tank could tell, shit was going to hit the fan big time.
After a few moments of tense silence, though, Ranger turned to his friend.
"Get the plane ready. You and I are going to New-Mexico."
"New Mexico? As in Albuquerque?"
"Time to have a talk with the marshals. And get Lester and Javier out of whatever mess they are in."
"Roger that."
Thank you for reading! I'll try not to wait that long before next chapter, I swear.