Chapter 38
SPOV
Of course, as soon as Ranger walked out of the apartment, I knew I wanted to have a look around at where I was. I was surprised that the apartment here was smaller than the one in Trenton. The kitchen was state of the art and had a similar lay out but with a slightly larger breakfast bar. There was no dining area here, so no table and chairs but the lounge area was probably the same with the exception of having two smaller black leather couches. There was only one other room and that was the bedroom with a large closet and a beautiful bathroom. The colors were neutral creams and beiges with a deep red color in the pillows and cushions and a deep red headboard for the bed. As my hand traced across the sheets, I was pleased that they seemed as orgasmic as the ones in Trenton.
Finding the bag I'd packed, I picked out some clean underwear, jeans and a dark blue roll neck sweater and headed into the bathroom for a shower, relishing the feel of the hot sprays of water as they pounded on my skin. At least there was shower gel and shampoo available, of course both from the Bulgari range. I wouldn't be able to moisturize my skin or condition my hair and heaven knows that my legs needed a shave. Once dried I dressed and decided to braid my wet hair, at least when it dried it wouldn't be frizzy. Not knowing what to do or how long Ranger would be I found the papers I'd picked up from the house and then with a fresh mug of coffee sat against the arm of the couch with my legs in front of me.
I remembered I'd printed a search on a Josie Gauge; hell did I really think there would be a connection? Obviously at the time I must have got some feeling that something important was there to find. As I started to read through the search, I'm sure I was frowning. It said that she had an older brother called William who was just two years older than her. How the hell had I missed that when I'd run the search on Gauge, there was no mention of a younger sister. Unless of course he removed it from his personal details, I mean I knew Ranger had no details to be found on him. I continued reading noting that she had attended Harvard University to study medicine. She'd done the usual time out for travelling before completing her final year and focusing in Neuroscience. I'd need to read up on what exactly that entailed but for now skipped to the end of the printed sheets to find out how she had died. She'd been in her last year of the course she was following and had been working as a research assistant in the one of the local laboratories based on campus. The report said that she'd died of an intracerebral hemorrhage and that there were no prior symptoms that anyone was aware of. She'd been discovered inside the laboratory where she worked by her fiancé, Adrian Buckley.
I stood up from the couch as I continued to read the rest of the report, pacing back and forth feeling my spidey senses come alive. This was the key to whatever was happening, Josie was somehow very important to the whole story of what was happening now. I saw where Josie had been buried and seeing as it was here in Boston felt determined that I had to go visit her graveside. Why I had no idea and as I was trying to figure that out in my head I bumped into a very hard wall. Arms held my shoulders to stop me from falling and I was looking up into Ranger's smiling face.
"What's got you so preoccupied?"
"I found out the connection between Gaunt and Buckley"
"Go on"
"Buckley was engaged to Gauge's younger sister, but she died"
"How long ago?"
"When they were at university. Ranger I want to go to the cemetery"
"Why?"
"I don't know, maybe, it's just that, because he died instead of me, I just feel that I need to go"
I watched as he looked at me, I'm sure trying to analyze what my face might be saying, to be honest I felt I had to go. It was almost as if I were the only person who could tell her that the man she'd loved was now dead and how sorry I was that it was because of me.
"Okay but you'll definitely have at least two people with you, and trackers"
"I don't mind as long as they keep their distance at the graveside"
"Babe I can't go with you tomorrow Declan has an important client coming into the building that he feels would want to meet me in person"
"I promise that it will be there and back"
I think I could tell he wasn't too happy about the choice I'd made but I knew he wouldn't point blank stop me. It still made me wonder if I was doing the right thing and how I would feel if I didn't go and to be honest that made me feel awful. I moved into Ranger and held my arms around him, just wanting to feel his warmth.
"Babe I understand"
And suddenly we seemed to have passed that awkward moment.
The next morning, I woke alone in the bed panicking slightly because this was home turf for Ranger, would he go back to being aloof with me, holding me at arms-length? I went into the bathroom and finding a robe on the back of the door walked through to the kitchen following the smell of fresh coffee. Stood at the counter was Ranger pouring out the coffee into two mugs. I know my face split into a big grin and as he turned, he looked at me with a curious look.
"I was just coming through to wake you up"
"Thank you"
"What for?"
"Being here when I woke up"
I walked into his arms relishing the feel of him and feeling stronger for it.
"What time are you planning for your trip out?"
"Is 10.30 okay?"
"I'll sort it out, please be careful"
"I will, I promise I won't intentionally go missing"
"Smartass"
I stood back from him admiring how he was dressed in his suit; he looked so different to how he had when we'd left the house in Maine and that reminded me that I needed to shower and get dressed in order to be ready for the time I'd suggested.
"Babe I'll be in the office all morning but should be finished by midafternoon"
"You be careful as well"
The only answer I got was a raised eyebrow, so I went with something else.
"Don't get shot"
Now this time I got a laugh and mind-boggling kiss before he turned and left, "Don't go crazy" drifting back through the closed door. I wondered back into the bedroom after eating some breakfast and deliberated what on earth to wear. I had clean underwear so would have to make do with the jeans and sweater from yesterday but if we were going to be here any longer, I would really need some clothes. I felt very nervous going down to level three and was almost wishing I hadn't decided to go out. As the doors slid open, I couldn't believe who was stood lent against the wall opposite.
"Les, what are you doing here?"
"Hey only the best for you Beautiful"
"You mean no one here wanted to do Bomber duty"
"Well maybe there is that as well"
"Hey Santos"
I turned as a really tall and broad Rangeman walked towards us.
"I got lucky today and I'm with you. We've got Dan and Fritz as back-up"
"Beautiful this is Garcia, Garcia meet Stephanie"
I held my hand out as I smiled at this new Merry Man, hell he must have been a similar size to Cal but with no tattoo on his bald head. His grip was strong and as he smiled at me, I knew we'd get along just fine. I let Les turn me around to go back into the elevator and then we came out into the garage where a black Porsche SUV started to blip its lights at us.
"Garcia you drive, you know the streets better than me"
As Les helped me into the back seat, he pressed a gun into my hands, hell I didn't even have a bag with me to put it in.
"Waistband of your jeans Beautiful and here's a new watch"
I took the gun and slipped it into the back of my jeans, even though it did feel uncomfortable I knew I'd promised Ranger I'd be careful, so I wasn't going to complain or refuse. The watch actually gave me some comfort knowing that if something did happen then I could be tracked, but another thought came to me. I had no phones with me, they were all back in Trenton which made me wonder if Emci was doing okay.
I passed the information I had as to where Josie Gauge was buried to Les having spoken with someone before we left to find out exactly where to go. The ride to the cemetery didn't take that long and Boston seemed like a nice city; well from the roads we took I looked out on the low-level buildings and lots of trees and open areas. We were soon entering through the gates and Les was telling Garcia where to drive. As we pulled to a stop, I opened the door and started to walk across the grass, hell I was so focused on where I needed to go, I totally forgot that Les was with me.
"Beautiful we'll give you some space, but we'll be close"
I nodded to Les and carried on walking until I came to the gravestone with Josie's name engraved on it. The gravesite looked as though someone came by and kept it tidy, there were old flowers in a vase set on top. I removed the flowers and then just knelt down holding the cold stone.
"Josie, I know you don't know me, but I knew Adrian. You'd be so proud of him Josie. He was an amazing man and so gentle and thoughtful. I'm sorry Josie but he died, and he died protecting me and I don't know why"
I felt rather than heard someone behind me and turned looking into a kindly face.
"Maybe I can help you with that. Let's go sit down on that bench, I think we have a lot to talk about"
