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Chapter 14

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John Smith lifted the black case onto the table top. He had to admit that he was impressed with the amount of security he had to go through to get the RangeMen to release this equipment to him. Even if he had nearly been at the point of irritation with their diligence, he acknowledged that they were every bit as good as the general had said they would be.

With precise movements, he opened the case. Carefully removing the device, he set it on the table, admiring it just for a moment. This high tech sensor was a work of art, as were the drones that it was built to track. He was very proud of it, of his part in developing it, and now it was time to let it do the job it was designed to do.

Contrary to what Miller thought, Smith was not at all distressed about not being included in the mission that had taken the team to Nicosia. Under the direction of General Kinkaid, he had lived and worked there for the past decade and he knew what they were getting themselves into. His job had included butting heads with government and resistance leaders, but it had also allowed him to work with some of the most brilliant inventors in the world.

Because of his talents and skills in science and technology, it was his cover to be an engineer in the petroleum industry. He had worked for the GlobalGas company, a conglomerate that had been privately established by the heads of several top secret agencies, including Kinkaid. The company attracted many of the best minds from around the world with the challenge, the support, and the money they offered. It was Smith's job to join with these people to invent the newest and best technologies for exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas.

As a bonus, the company and the general, who had controlling interest, encouraged all kinds of extracurricular activities among their engineers and inventors. That is where the drones were made, and by design, the company had access to all of the projects that were done in their labs. The sensor that Smith was about to put to use was one of their latest contraptions. Of course it had to be invented because of the creation of several worker drones. It had been a safety measure so that none of the drones could be used undetected.

It was fortunate that it had been completed before any of the drones went into use. As it turned out, Smith had been using this device to follow the unauthorized activity of two of the most sophisticated robot drones. Smith was still amazed at the dexterity and the complex movements that these small machines could perform. Unfortunately, the ones he was tracking had been programmed to carry out some very illegal activities. And now he was involved in some cat and mouse games, trying to find them and stop whoever had stolen them from the labs in Nicosia. In the week since the theft, these drones had been busy, leading Smith through parts of Europe and over to the United States.

The majority of activity that he had detected had been in Washington DC. But when some strange readings were picked up locally, Smith had followed the trail to Trenton. Tapping into the drones own cameras had been the most ingenious part of the sensor, and it was the footage they had recorded that had led them to Haywood Street. The last activity recorded had been yesterday around noon, and because of the location, the general had sent Smith directly over to check it out.

Smith was convinced, as was the general, that it had been no coincidence that the drones had shown up here at the same time Kinkaid had asked for Ranger's help. In their business, there were no coincidences. It irked Smith that someone close to the general was feeding information to the operators of the drones. Too much was at stake.

Adjusting the delicate antennae, Smith powered up the device and watched the readings on the small screens. Nothing was happening. Everything seemed to have been abruptly ended just after the spike of activity yesterday, and he was afraid that unless something else happened, he was not going to find the exact location of the drones, or the trail back to the people who had stolen them.

As if on cue, several red lines appeared on the screen. Smith jumped to attention, they were back in business! How could they be so lucky? He tried to tune into the camera, but the image he could see on the screen made no sense. All he could do was watch to see if anything changed and became recognizable. In the meantime, he tracked the longitude and latitude readings to find the location. His calculations were almost complete when the screens went blank again. It appeared that something had happened to the drone.

In frustration, Smith tried to chart the location from the last readings it had recorded. When he got it mapped out, he was more than surprised to see that the coordinates showed the very location where he was currently staying. This was hard to believe, who could he confirm it with? Smith took his map and made his way up to the fifth floor. He had been briefly introduced to several of the men on duty, and he hoped that one of them could help him see if there was anyway it could actually be here.

STEPHANIE sat back and looked at Hector. She held up her phone, indicating the conversation that she had just had.

"I have to go in a few minutes, but I have time to tell you what I found on the roof," she said.

Hector nodded and she quickly filled him in on the details. "After the first crash, I ran up to see what was happening. I heard another crash when I reached the roof, and this is what I found." Stephanie pointed to the box. "There was a flock of birds that looked like they were attacking it," she said, a touch of wonder in her voice. "They were small birds, but they were all on top of it." She and Hector exchanged a pensive look.

"Could the birds have been too heavy on it?" he asked, as if just thinking out loud. "If they landed on it, the extra weight might have been too much. He stood and walked around the table, looking at the box from every angle. Still talking to himself, Hector noted the navigation controls, and the robotic arms. They were all broken, whether from the fall, or from the damage the birds caused he did not know. But he was fascinated by the design.

It was the answer he had been looking for. This remote controlled mini robot had all the elements needed to hover and perform simple tasks. The camera would allow the operator to see what he was working on. And while he figured it could possibly be sophisticated enough to have the commands programmed in, he was not convinced that it would work on its own. It made more sense that someone was controlling it. That meant that they would have to be near to be able to transmit the signal. He immediately got to work trying to figure out if he could activate the signal and locate the source.

Stephanie watched him work. She had no idea what he was saying, or what he was doing, but it looked like he was on to something now that could help find whoever had messed things up for them yesterday. She stood, debating whether or not to interrupt him long enough to say that she needed to go. Suddenly he stood up straight and stared right at her.

"Esta aqui cerca," he said.

Smith heard him as he walked up to them. In one quick glance, he took in the look in Hector's eyes, the box on the table and the modified scanner that was picking up a frequency. He knew exactly what was happening, and he had to try to hide a small smile. It was almost never this easy. He was starting to really like it here at RangeMan.

"Vamos a recogerlos," Smith said, revealing his excitement with just the gleam in his eyes.

Hector nodded fell in step with Smith as they turned and headed across the room. Stephanie followed them to the elevators where they stopped to talk to Rodriguez. As the man in charge while Ranger and the team was gone, Rodriguez agreed with their plan of action. In a matter of minutes Hector had Smith and Cal in tow and they all headed down the stairs. Stephanie watched them leave and turned to face Rodriguez.

"Uh," she started, feeling reluctant to have to ask this favor. "Um, I need a place to talk with someone," she said. "It's kind of private and I was hoping that I could meet them in the small conference room down by the front door."

Stephanie had been uncomfortable asking, she was afraid that Rodriguez would ask her all kinds of questions about who she was meeting, and why. But he simply nodded and smiled at her.

"Binky is on duty at the front desk. Just tell him you are expecting someone," he said. Noticing her relief, he smiled at her and started to walk away. Before she got to the elevator, she saw him turn around. "Oh, and just be sure to turn off the lights when you're done," he said with a wink. How did everyone around her always know what was going on?

A few minutes later she was standing by the front desk with Binky when Joe showed up at the door. Binky walked over and opened it for him. Joe walked through and silently followed Stephanie as she walked a few steps down the hall to the conference room. A smile played on her lips as she turned on the light and walked into the room. She leaned against the table and looked at him. It had been so long, and he looked good. Joe stayed by the door, casually smiling at her.

Any nervousness she had had about meeting him evaporated, Stephanie knew exactly what she wanted to say. It had been a long time in coming, but she had never been more ready to let him know exactly how she felt. Clearing her throat a little, she was about to speak when Joe moved forward and took her hand in his.

"Stephanie, I have something that I have been wanting to say to you for so long," he said. His gaze was steady and Stephanie just stared back at him. Swallowing, she tried to start again, but he kept on talking. "You know I love you Steph, don't you cupcake?" He reached for her other hand. "I will always love you." Stephanie could only stare at him now, eyes wide.

"We have been playing a game for too long Steph," he said. She nodded in agreement. "In a game, you can take time outs," he continued. "In fact, sometimes the whole game depends on them, but a relationship is not a game. You are either all in or all out, all of the time."

He took a deep breath and Stephanie was ready to make her speech to him, but he surprised her as he dropped her hands and backed up a step or two. "Steph, I'm sorry," his dark eyes held hers for a long moment. "I can't play games anymore," he said. "It's not working between us, so I have to say, I'm out, for good."

Stephanie could not believe it, Joe had practically taken the words right out of her mouth. She nodded, he was right. It somehow amazed her that they had both come to the same conclusion this time. It was over and they were both in agreement.

How ironic that practically the only thing that they had ever agreed wholeheartedly on was that it was time to stop playing games with each other. She opened her mouth speak, but closed it again and smiled. What else was there to say?

"You're ri…" Stephanie did not get to finish the only words she had finally attempted to say. There was shouting from the front, and suddenly Cal was at the door. He looked at Joe, "We could use a cop," he said, and both men were out of the door before she knew it. Shaking her head, she stood and slowly walked to the door. She turned off the light and closed the door behind her.

This had definitely not gone the way she had planned, but so what? All she could think of now was that she was free. No more Joe, no more games. No matter who had said the words, it was really over now and she had never been so happy.

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