Disclaimer: If you recognize the character as a J.E. character, they are hers. The original characters are mine and I take full credit for them. They are part of my imagination.
Spoiler Alert: I could use anything from the 18 books that are out.
Special thanks to Deanna - AKA RampsAngl for helping me to remember my two trips to Seattle and tweaking my facts so they are more accurate. I appreciate all the assistance and suggestions you gave me on these chapters that take place in Seattle.
I would like to thank all of you who have reviewed. I try to respond to every review, but there have been some guest reviews as well as those who have PMing turned off. I want to let you know that I read all the reviews and appreciate all of them. Special thanks to the reviewer who asked how Casey was able to spend so much time with them and wondered what his job was. Oops!
Chapter 12: Rand's Surprise
Rand's POV:
I left Snoqualmie Falls and headed back to Seattle. Since I had lost them, I figured I might as well go into the office and send out the search so I could find out who the hell those two were. I parked in my usual spot and stalked into the building. There was the usual crew on today and I heard several of them call out but I ignored them wanting to get to my office and find answers. I slammed the door and sat in my chair. Once I got my computer on I started the search engines and plugged in the information. While I was waiting for the data to come in I got out the folder I was currently working on. I couldn't put my finger on it but there was something off.
I had used Jillian to get in with the right group. I waited till I no longer needed her to get rid of her. I shook my head and closed the folder. I leaned back and sighed. Damn! My eyes narrowed as I thought about what I had going on this week. I was close to the answers I was looking for, I could feel it. Tomorrow I was flying the group down to Mexico. It was the first time we were going below the boarder. I was hoping this would break the case wide open. I was busy working on a game plan for the next day when my phone rang. I lifted the receiver and was surprised to hear from the head of the whole branch. He demanded my presence in his office 5 minutes ago. I stood and made my way to his office and knocked on the door.
"Enter."
I opened the door and stepped inside, "You wanted to see me?"
"Who the hell did you piss off Rand?"
"What do you mean sir?"
"I just got a call from the director of the FBI. He called me on the carpet because of a search that came out of this office. I assured him that I knew nothing about a search and he assured me it came from here and he even pinpointed who was running the search. I don't know who you are investigating Rand but I am ordering you to cease and desist."
I frowned, "I can't see where they would be important enough to have someone like the director watching over them."
"I don't care who they are. I'm ordering you to stop."
I nodded, "Of course."
I stood and listened to my boss rant for another 20 minutes and then made my way back to my office. Just as I was standing to leave there was a knock on my door. I opened the door to find my sometimes partner standing there. I smiled, "What's up Heather?"
She smiled and walked into the room. Heather was what is commonly known as a blonde bombshell. She stood 5' 10" tall with a sleek models frame. Her brown eyes were smoky and she had a lovely face. If we didn't work together, Heather would have been in my bed ten seconds after I met her. She was just my type. I had a policy about dating people I worked with though. Heather sat down and I went over and leaned against the front of my desk.
Heather smiled, "I saw you had come in and was just wondering how the case was going?"
I shrugged, "Its coming along. I'm flying them down to Mexico tomorrow. I'm hoping it will crack the case wide open."
Heather laughed, "You always did have the best luck. Well, I have a hot date tonight. Are you still seeing Jillian?"
"No. I got rid of her earlier today."
She shook her head, "You're nothing if not predictable Rand. No female lasts long with you does she?"
I smiled, "Women have their uses, but I'm not interested in a long term relationship."
Heather gave me a once over and said, "What a waste." and with that she sauntered out of the room.
I waited a few minutes and then left my office and headed out of the building. As I passed Heather's office I noticed she was talking on the phone. As I neared the office she paused and gave me a glance before going back to her conversation. Once outside I walked to my car and headed to my apartment. As I drove I wondered again who the two people around Casey were and why the director of the FBI would be ordering me to stop my investigation of them.
The trip to Mexico proved to be a dead end. It was like they were always one step ahead of me. I set up another trip, this time to British Columbia. We were taking a Catamaran to make the trip and there would be other people around. Not an ideal trip and too many chances of innocents getting hurt. I had a couple days to do damage control though so maybe it wouldn't be as bad. I stopped and picked up a pizza on my way home and tried Casey on the phone. When it went right to voice mail I figured he was still with the others and his phone was turned off. I regretted suggesting he take the summer off to recharge his batteries. I had a couple places I was hoping to get him into a job with but the openings wouldn't happen for a few weeks. With any luck his new friends would be leaving soon and once again Casey would be safe.
I got up early on Saturday morning and dressed in the clothes necessary for the assignment I was on. I knew I looked like I was running guns or drugs, that's the image I needed to project. I headed downstairs and made my way to my destination. I checked in and noticed my contacts were already there and seated. As we were sitting there waiting for the ferry that was going to take us to British Columbia, who should walk in but Casey and the two unknowns. Shit! Just what I didn't need. When we boarded, I noticed luck wasn't on my side. Casey and his friends were joining my ride.
As we got underway the Captain came on over the loud speaker and announced we were going behind the island as there were gale force winds out today. I closed my eyes momentarily and wondered what else could go wrong. I managed to stay off Casey's radar on the trip over and gave a sigh of relief. The guys I was dealing with were bad news and I didn't want them anywhere near Casey.
Stephanie's POV:
We woke early the next day because we were taking a ferry over to British Columbia. We had eaten breakfast at Tully's and arrived to pick up our tickets for the ferry. Since the incident the night before, both Hector and I were more aware of our surroundings. As we were waiting to board the ferry, I felt a tingling all over. I looked around expecting to see Ranger. Hector noticed and asked what was wrong. I shook my head and softly told him I thought Ranger might be close by. Hector looked around and then leaned close and said that Casey's brother was here but he wasn't dressed right. I looked around and noticed Rand then. When my eyes landed on him the tingling got stronger. Shit! There was no way I wanted that kind of reaction to him.
I sat up and casually asked Casey what kind of work his brother did. Casey turned to face me and grinned. His voice was barely a whisper when he told us, "He works for some agency. Top secret."
I turned to Hector and he lifted an eyebrow. I sighed. Figures. I was betting Rand was undercover for some reason. I lost sight of him when we boarded the Catamaran but shortly before we docked in British Columbia I saw him again. I was determined not to let him ruin my day. We got off and made our way to a double decker bus that was going to take us to The Butchart Gardens. It was obvious from the time we arrived that Casey was in his element. The way he talked made me wonder if being an architect was really what he truly wanted to do with his life. He seemed to have a flare for the artistic. He commandeered my camera and was busy snapping away.
We stopped at the restaurant for lunch. When Hector and Casey ordered Caesar Salad with fresh herb grissino and shaved Reggiano cheese, I wrinkled my nose. Casey laughed and reached out his hand to my cheek. I couldn't help but smile and then I told the waiter no rabbit food for me, I wanted the Smoked Salmon Flatbread with fresh grilled naan, lemon dill cream cheese Capers and pickled red onions. The waiter went to put in our appetizer order and get our drinks. When he returned he asked if we had made our selections for our meal. I told him I wanted the Dungeness Crab "Mac & Cheese" with Parmesan and fontina cheese, Serpentini noodles, crab, and tarragon. Casey ordered the Wild B.C. Salmon with a salad of wild rice, feta, corn, cherry tomatoes and edamame Cucumber citrus yogurt. Hector chose the Charbroiled Rib-Eye Burger with a special ketchup and Kennebec Fries.
We had a great time talking while we ate. We learned Casey did in fact love taking photos and painting. He called them hobbies but the passion with which he talked about them told another story. Hector told him about his job at Rangeman…well, to a certain degree. He might have left out a detail or two. When the waiter came back to see if we wanted dessert, I rolled my eyes and told him that of course we wanted dessert. I choose the Wild Blueberry Cobbler with vanilla bean gelato. Hector chose the Chilled Raspberry Rhubarb Consomme with Prosecco gelee, and kiwi semifreddo. Casey chose the Chocolate Coconut Mille-Feuille with flourless chocolate bark and Blackberry liqueur ganache. Once we finished dessert, we headed back out to the garden and walked around some more. I got a strange feeling we were being watched and I reached out and took Hector's hand, squeezing to let him know something was up. He turned and smiled at me, giving a nod to let me know he understood. He told us he wanted to get one of the brochures from the restaurant and would be right back.
Casey and I continued touring the garden and I kept my eyes open to see if I could pinpoint what was bothering me. Hector rejoined us several minutes later and suggested we head back to the bus since it was nearly time to leave. We reached the pick-up point just as the bus was pulling up to load. We entered the bus and took our seats. Hector whispered in my ear that the problem had been neutralized. I was kinda worried I knew what that meant and just hoped we got out of here before anything was discovered. Just as the bus was about to pull away we were stopped and a police officer stepped onto the bus and walked down the aisle. I forced myself not to react as he walked towards us. I could feel myself shaking on the inside as he stopped beside us. He motioned to Hector and asked if he had a passport. Hector pulled out his passport and handed it to the policeman. He studied it for several minutes and then handed it back. Just as he turned to me another policeman got on the bus and called for the first one. He quickly made his way off the bus and as he stepped off, he told the driver to go ahead.
I took a deep breath and turned to ask Hector, "He was studying your passport a long time, what do you think he was looking for?"
Hector shrugged, "Not sure. Its good Angel. No worries."
I met his gaze and something in the way he was looking at me let me know that they weren't aware of exactly who he was. We made the rest of the trip in quiet conversation. When we got off the bus, we decided to head over to The Empress Hotel. We did The Royal Tea Experience. As well as the tea served, a new tea tier of three delectable cheeses from the famous cheese makers of Salt Spring Island served with a tawny port and a fresh serving of honey out of the honeycombs of the Chef's honey garden served at the table. It was wonderful. Once we finished our tea it was time to head out and do some shopping. We went into several stores and had the best time. When it was time to head back to the ferry, we were all ready to head back. The trip back was just as choppy as the ride over. Apparently that's how gale force winds affected a catamaran. I noticed Rand several times on the way back to Seattle. Something about the way he would glance our way and smile mockingly told me he had something to do with the policeman who had entered the bus.
When we got back into port in Seattle we stood and made our way towards the exit. I felt the tingling I'd felt earlier and looked around to see Rand near us. Hector and Casey were ahead of me and I suddenly found myself being pulled back to bump into Rand's chest. His hand was around my upper arm and he was smiling but it wasn't a nice smile. He looked me up and down and then his eyes met mine.
His voice was soft and icy as he spoke, "Make no mistake, I will find out just who you are and what your interest is in my brother."
I rolled my eyes at him and replied, "Our interest in your brother is he's a wonderful person and we've become great friends. If you're too much of an ass to realize what a great person your brother is then that's your loss Thorton Connor." With that my knee came up and as Rand bent over in pain I pulled my arm out of his grasp and walked away. When I reached Hector and Casey they were waiting for me with huge smiles on their faces laughing.
The food they ate was taken off menus found for those places on-line. The description of the tea at the hotel is from the googled source. I hope I have answered some of your questions.
