*Chapter 12 - hunting the hunted*

Becca POV

Myself, Steph, Danny, Ranger and Lester went to check out the locker. Ollie, Tank, Ram, Lenny and Cal went to the flat. Just in case anything bad went down, Bobby came with us and Abi went with Ollie.

We all stayed on in ear comms so we could hear whatever progress was being made.

Something was definitely going on with Steph. She seemed to know more than she was willing to let on, and it didn't look like Ranger had much insight into it either. Whatever it was. I promised myself I wouldn't push it since she wasn't willing to share. As long as it led us to finding this guy quickly I didn't care. It wasn't my business to pry. Besides, my mother always said that everything comes out in the wash. It was certainly weighing on her mind so I was certain it would come out soon.

When we got to the storage locker, Steph introduced herself to the guys in the office and explained she had brought some of the team with her to get a better idea of what may be required.

"I'm so sorry, I totally forgot to make a note of our current locker number. Could you possible remind me?" Steph really did have a very convincing British accent!

They were very obliging. Once they left us to it, Danny picked the lock and the door swung open. It was a big locker, stacked high with boxes of what was supposed to be Cadbury's chocolate.

Ranger shook his head "Shit. There's got to be at least 20 boxes in here. Whatever they have planned. It's big"

Danny opened a box.

"Aerosol cans" he picked one up. "Their full"

"This amount of stock is enough to seriously injure or kill hundreds of people. The only reason the US Embassy was contained was because they had protocol to shut down air vents once an airborne attack became obvious. And it was on a smaller scale"

"Sounds like a practice run to me" Lester stated.

I looked over at Steph and could literally feel the anger radiating off her. There was something else. Fear.

"Ollie. Any update at your end?"

"Yeah. There's a drug lab in here. There's several plans for different buildings across london. I've taken pictures and sent them back to the comms room. We're getting out of here now"

"Great. We'll meet you back at the office for an update"

Just as Danny put the can back in the box, we heard voices. One American, one British and 2 of what sounded like Eastern European. They were flitting between English and what I could only pinpoint as Russian in origin.

Steph sprung into action.

"Everyone out. Go go go!" We ran to the end of the locker area where there was a small wall we sat behind. Before I realised what was going on, I turned to see Steph still standing there, pretending to fiddle with the lock Danny had just put back.

Ranger whispered into the comms.

"Babe. What the hell are you doing? Get out of there"

"I know what I'm doing just give me a minute"

All we could do was wait, without breathing.

Steph POV

I could feel my heart beating in my chest and knew that I was going to have A LOT of explaining to do when this was over but this was my chance to finally put this whole sorry mess to bed. The Company, the drugs, my job, my past.

An American voice boomed and I looked up.

"What the hell are you doing? This is our locker"

I recognised him instantly. Alec O'Garra.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I was wondering why the lock wouldn't open. I must have the number written down wrong"

He got right up to my face.

"You're playing with fire little lady. Step off"

I answered. In Russian.

я не буду. но, возможно, вам следует. считайте себя предупрежденным

(I will not, but maybe you should. Consider yourself warned)

/over comms/

/What the fuck? Was the Russian?/

/Lenny confirmed. "Yes. She said I will not back down. But maybe you should. Consider yourself warned"/

O'Garra was up in my face.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"You don't need to know that information"

At that, I spun on my heel and left, praying to god they wouldn't follow. They didn't. He obviously didn't recognise me. I hadn't recognised the two Russians but I felt like I'd seen the British guy before. I'd have to call Benji the second I had a chance.

I waited in the car. I held on to the steering wheel to try and steady my body which was shaking all over of its own accord. Adrenalin rush. I could feel my breath hitching in my chest. I was heading for a panic attack. My vision went spotty so I jumped out of the car and bent over when I felt Ranger's hand on the back of my neck.

The sick feeling subsided so I stood up slowly. My breath was still short in my chest. Bobby took me by the shoulders.

"Try to slow your breath down Bomber. Breath with me. In...2, 3, 4, 5. Out...2, 3, 4, 5. And again"

My breathing calmed down a little and Ranger bundled me in to the car.

"Let's get out of here. We need to know what the fuck just happened"

Bec POV

The comms were busy on the drive back to the office.

Ollie was pissed.

"What the fuck was that Stephanie? You could have blown the whole operation and gotten yourself and everyone else killed"

She didn't answer. She just stared out the window. Ranger was staring at her. Everyone else remained silent.

"Is anyone going to answer me?"

"Oliver. Please stop shouting when I'm trying to drive. Get off comms and get back to the office. We'll sort this out there"

"Fine" I heard his ear piece click.

We pulled up outside the office about half an hour later. Steph still hadn't said a word but it was obvious it wasn't silent in her head. This was about to blow up and I had no idea why. I hated the lack of control I suddenly felt. This whole mission felt bigger than all of us and I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to do. Ollie was going to be angry but I didn't feel like Steph was ready to talk.

Her phone rang. She stared blankly at the screen.

"Babe. Do you need to answer that?"

She sighed.

"Speak"

I blinked. The previously chatty girl had gone and had been replaced by someone who had the same communication skills as her team.

A few minutes of silence went past.

"Excuse me?l...how?...when?...Fine. I'll see you in an hour" she threw the phone onto the floor of the car and went back to staring out of the window. Ranger put his hand on her lap. Did he know what was going on?

I took a deep breath and got out of the car. We all went upstairs. Apart from Steph. She didn't seem to want to move from the car. I wondered who was on the phone. Whoever it was, they were coming here.

"I'll stay with her" Ranger stated

I nodded and went into the lift.

Steph POV.

I sat there absent mindedly circling a strand of hair round my finger. I could feel Rangers heat radiating next to me. I could hear his breath. It was calm. Steady. I felt tears well up in my eyes, threatening to fall. I berated myself. What the fuck was crying going to do? This whole thing was a big mess.

"Babe. We'll fix this. Please don't cry"

I sighed, realising my musings had obviously been out loud. Again. I turned to him.

"Are you ready to talk now?"

"I have no idea where to start Ric. This whole situation is connected to a part of me that doesn't exist anymore. It was scrubbed from almost every searchable record"

He stared at me for a second, I stared back unsure whether to carry on.

The silence stretched for what felt like an eternity when he spoke.

"Your CIA career?"

I blinked and a flood of emotions went through me all at once. I went cold to the core and then flashed hot.

Stammering I tried to speak.

"Wha, H, you're not supposed..."

"Not supposed to know?"

I nodded.

"Babe. The moment I met you in the cafe, I knew you were different. I'd already run all the usual background checks but there were a few inconsistencies. Whoever created your backstop files made small mistakes. So I did some more digging. What I couldn't understand is how a lingerie buyer who spent most of her formative years growing up in a burg household had the balls to bribe her cousin for a dangerous job that she didn't understand and then sit there and look me in the eye without an ounce of fear or trepidation. You'd handled people like me before, I could tell. Your instincts were second to none as well as you're dogged determination to get your man no matter what happened. It didn't quite add up unless you had had some kind of background. So I made a few calls. My government contracts had given me connections. They confirmed what I suspected. The only thing I didn't know was what you were involved in"

"International drug response team. I handled it from the US side to ensure that international drug runners that made it onto US soil didn't make it back again without being caught. I started as a handler for international agencies coming to collect their runners. Whether the runners actually made it back wasn't my business. Some of them didn't even make it to their escorts. That part was my business"

"I was then assigned to EE Martin under the name Charlie Henson. A cartel called Redwing had been using the company as a front for years. Moving drugs in and out of the country in the stock. It was delivered to empty businesses and collected by runners who would unload and distribute. Alec O'Garra was at the top of the food chain. Benny Martinez was my CI on the inside. Then someone snitched. I was pulled and the DEA went in under the story that the EE Martin was going into liquidation and they were making lay offs. I never dealt with O'Garra directly so I'd hoped he wouldn't recognise me at all when I confronted him at the storage locker. I knew he'd be smart enough to figure out I wasn't there alone and that anyone stupid enough to stand up to him like that would be connected. It would have blown the whole thing if he'd tried anything there and then. He was smart to walk away. But he'll be looking over his shoulder now. I would recommend we monitor the locker. I'm pretty sure he'll move it all now, so we just need to watch for long enough to find out where. The phone call was from Benji McBride. He was my partner. The company have been tracking this operation and they have intel we don't"

Ric had listened intently until it was obvious I'd finished telling my life story.

"And Jake Bassett? He knows you?"

"Yeah. I handed several British runners over to him. He always seemed a bit...off to me. The transport reports we received from him didn't quite add up but the powers that be didn't seem to care what happened once they left our custody, so I left it. I'm wondering if he has anything to do with O'Garra ending up here. But my query would be why he would let this job get past him if he was involved. I don't know. Maybe I'm over thinking it"

"Babe. We'll figure out. Let's bring it up with Benji when he gets here". He took me in his arms. "Thank you for telling me. I never pushed it as I knew you couldn't say anything. I'm sorry if you ever think I should have"

"It would have made my life a bit easier but I would have probably denied it. After I lost everything I had to start again. It didn't really go according to plan, but I'm glad I found you"

"I'm glad to. We should go in before Benji gets here and ensure that Ollie Blake isn't trying to have us removed from the country as we speak"

I laughed as I climbed out of the car and headed to the lift.

I turned to Ric. "Thank you"

"Babe"