Chapter 39

RPOV

I knew that Declan wanted me at the meeting with this client, but we spent over three hours going over what in effect was an excellent security system. By the end there was nothing that needed changing, he had a top of the line system that couldn't be improved on. I was feeling anxious and put it down to not being with Steph this morning, okay I called Santos knowing he'd keep her safe, but as the meeting finished, I couldn't wait to get back upstairs just to make sure for myself. Santos had brought my phone up with him and I knew there were no missed calls or alerts but even Declan gave me looks as I headed up the stairs. Once on three I made my way to find Santos to make sure there wasn't anything I needed to know. As soon as I eventually found him in a spare office, I could sense that he had something to tell me.

"What happened?"

"She's fine, she's upstairs waiting for you"

"Santos"

I knew the tone of my voice and the look I gave him would have him spilling whatever he was trying to cover up.

"There was an elderly man there, well he was attending the grave one over from where Steph was, and he was on his own. She was upset so I thought he was just being friendly to her. Once he sat down with her on a bench, I recognized him, it was William Gauge"

"You let him near her?"

"She told us to stay back, that she was fine, and they were just talking"

"How could you let that happen?"

"Look Ranger he wasn't threatening her in fact when he left and Steph came to us, she seemed fine, I asked if he'd threatened her and she said no"

"What did he say?"

"I've no idea, she wouldn't say only that she'd talk to you about it when you got back"

I raced up the stairs to five and quickly walked into the apartment. I was annoyed, I knew that, probably at Santos but when I saw Steph's face change from smiling to nervous and her take a step back from me, I had to stop and close my eyes. I had to rein in the red haze that was threatening to consume me. I was surprised when I felt her hand on my cheek, slowly sweeping it down to my jaw and then returning it to rest on my face. The tension in my body immediately began to ease, my heart rate was slowing down and when I felt calm enough, I opened my eyes to see hers looking at me with so much concern. I covered her hand with mine and brought it to my lips, kissing her palm and wrist and then pulling her into me. As my face rested against her head, I needed to allay her fears.

"I'm sorry, Santos just told me you ended up talking with Gauge, so I was annoyed at him, not you, for allowing that to happen"

"He's not a threat Ranger, he wants to help"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, let's sit down and I'll go over with you what he told me"

As she stepped away, I toed off my shoes and threw my jacket on the back of the couch, next I lost the tie and pushed the sleeves of my shirt up, now I could sit down and listen to what she said. I was surprised when she brought two glasses of wine with her and placed them on the coffee table before she sat across my knee with her arm around my shoulder. I automatically leaned back and pulled her with me.

"It was a total coincidence that he was there today. He was paying his respects to his wife who died a few years back and is buried next to his sister Josie. He met Buckley through his sister when she was at university. He said they fell deeply in love with each other. Josie had said that Buckley was her soul mate and knew they were destined to be together. Anyway, Josie was helping some professor with a research project, though he felt she was probably doing most of the work. The project had to do with trying to map out the part of the brain that was responsible for making the person who they were. Consciousness of one's self and how it developed thoughts and ideas. I got a bit lost with the words he used. Anyway, they were using a technique to record the activity and Gauge thought that Josie had set it up on herself. It used a sophisticated computer to direct some sort of signal to specific parts of the brain and sensors to pick up the activity. It was him who found her dead and for one reason or another he removed all evidence of her experimentation. He heard someone coming into the facility, so he left quickly not realizing it was Buckley.

After that he lost touch with Buckley but then about two years ago Buckley got in touch with him and asked if he'd help with resources. Buckley said he'd made a major breakthrough in defining the way a computer would manage thinking processes. Gauge eventually agreed and he let Buckley work at Hastings, giving him a secure area to work in. About six months ago he started to get worried because Buckley was saying there was a new company that could help him with the last stages"

"Herichlon?"

"Yeah. But he thought Buckley was losing it, Gauge couldn't get access into the area Buckley was working in and then Dolby started to spout on about a super robot"

"Did Gauge say why he was an owner at Safenet?"

"No, neither did he say what happened at Hastings to the men who were the original owners"

"So what did he want from you?"

"He wants to ask you if you can get into Buckley's research area at Hastings"

"Hell Babe before that happens we need a few more answers from him"

"I know and I told him that"

"What was his response?"

"To meet with you and I somewhere neutral and somewhere safe"

The fear of Steph being anywhere near Gauge was still close to the surface and I knew I had to think this through very carefully so sat back and closed my eyes playing my fingers through Steph's hair.

"What are you thinking?"

"That I want to fly you to the other side of the world away from all of this"

"Oh no you don't, no safe houses Ranger"

I pulled her closer to me and brought my lips to hers, hell if anything were to ever happen to her, I wouldn't know what I would do. That this woman had totally captured my heart confounded me but then I remembered something that Gauge had said, yeah Steph was definitely my soul mate.

"The fact that they found us up in Maine suggests that no safe house would be safe anyway"

"I know Babe and that worries me"

"So, Gauge?"

"Okay I'll meet with him, but I don't want you anywhere near"

"Why not?"

"Babe for some reason people think you have something or know something, and I don't trust Gauge yet"

"Okay, I can see where you're coming from. Where do you want to meet?"

"How are you supposed to contact him?"

"An ad in the Trenton Times"

"Original, what does it need to say?"

"I told him the meet would happen at one of three places. Place A is Rosendale Park. Place B New Hope Boat or place C is Point Pleasant"

I tilted my lips up at the last place she gave me and felt a halfhearted punch to my arm.

"Hey, he chose that not me"

"Okay so that one's out, too many people around and to be honest I don't like the idea of being on a boat in the middle of the river"

"The park then?"

"You know this means we have to go back to Trenton?"

"Yeah I know, but I want this ending"

"Okay I'll get Zeph to pick us up this evening. What else needs to go in the ad?"

"The day and time to meet, a phone call to the paper gets the ad in for the next day's paper, oh it needs to go into lonely hearts from Wonder Woman"

I couldn't believe what she'd set up, hell if anyone knew it was me at the meet, I'd never live it down. I moved my hands down to her waist and as she relaxed into my hold I began nipping and pinching at the skin on her ribs and stomach causing shrieks and laughter to burst from her. As she squirmed away from me, she ran to the other side of the couch with me stalking her. As she moved to avoid me, I simply jumped the couch grabbing hold of her which ended up with both of us on the floor. Of course, I made sure that I was the one to land first with her on top of me. What I didn't expect was her straddling me and then feeling her mouth coming down hard and wantonly on mine, with her hands holding my head and her body pushing seductively against mine. I had never let a woman take control before and it was the last thing I expected of Steph, but to be honest I found it a turn on and decided to wait and see what she would do next. I felt as her hands pulled my shirt open, buttons flying everywhere, and as they skimmed the skin on my chest. Then her mouth moved down to my neck and that beautiful mouth moved down my chest. I tried to hold her head, to feel her hair in my hands but she sat up and gave me a sly smile, what the hell was she up to? I felt the zip on my trousers slide down and then her hands around me. Shit I wasn't sure how long I could keep control of myself especially when I felt her lips sliding up and down my erection. Her teeth grazing and her hands pumping evoked such strong reactions in me it was all I could do to stop myself from thrusting myself into her mouth. This wasn't the way I wanted this to happen, I needed to be inside of her. That thought had me tamping down the deep desire inside of me for release and I sat up taking her by her shoulders.

"I need to be inside you Babe, to feel you come around me"
Undoing her jeans and sliding them down to the top of her thighs my fingers immediately went to her folds, hell she was already wet and ready for me. The jeans had to go so kneeling I soon pulled them out of the way and pulled her to me, her knees wrapping around me, allowing me to lay back down on my back and bend my knees to support her back as I slid inside her. Such ecstasy went through me as her walls surrounded me and raising my hips, I entered her fully, I'm sure touching her womb. As we moved, she leant back and I felt her hands massaging my sacs, enticing the tightness to increase. Pushing her back further I changed the angle between us and rubbing her clit I felt her walls contracting around me. A final thrust had my shouts mingling with hers as we each felt the orgasm roaring through us. As I started to gain control of my limbs, I lifted my knees and pulled her down to me, kissing her as if my life depended on it. As we lay in the hallway, both trying to gain some sense of feeling I heard her laughing against my chest.

"Babe?"
"I hope Eva doesn't have a habit of just walking in because she'll get a hell of a shock"
"Maybe we should move this to the shower then"

I hadn't mentioned to Steph that Zeph had the helicopter close by. He and Ash hadn't detected anyone following them and had landed at a private location that was owned by a friend of Zephs. They'd spent their time changing the appearance of the helicopter and adding new features inside and out. I had no idea what they were up to but Zeph assured me he'd be on the rooftop of the Boston office at 2200hrs. All I had to do now was make sure Steph was prepared for the flight to Trenton. Tank was prepared for our arrival and would kill the cameras on the rooftop and our route into my apartment and then Zeph and Ash were finding another place for the helicopter. Tank assured me that there hadn't been any sightings of Gannon, so I just hoped he didn't turn up trying to arrest us again. I'd been in touch with the newspaper ensuring it would be in the paper in the morning edition giving the day and time for 1400hrs at the park. I'd made the date for tomorrow hoping that gave little time for Gauge to set up an ambush, but Cal and Hector were there to make sure we would have the area covered.

I think Steph was aware of what was going to happen when I led her from the apartment up onto the rooftop. The rooftop here at Boston was much larger than Trenton so there was plenty of space to stand to the side and await the arrival of the helicopter. Santos was flying back with us, but he'd wisely stood back away from us.

"Ranger why's Les stood back there?"
"I think he feels you might not like the idea of flying in the helicopter"
"Why'd he think that?"
"Maybe because you hate flying so much"

"Well I still feel nervous, I mean I know I have to trust the pilot, which I do, it's just the idea that a piece of metal, that weighs like a ton, can stay up in the air"
"Do you want to sit up front with Zeph?"
"No, I want him to concentrate on flying"

We watched as the lights of the helicopter came into sight and as it headed our way, I hit the lights on the rooftop giving them the exact spot where to land and watched as it started its descent. A closer look up at the helicopter had me pushing Steph back behind me and crouching down with a gun in my hand. The helicopter wasn't the one I was expecting and as I started to back up with Steph behind me, I could see Santos from the corner of my eye making the same movement as me. Shit I'd had Declan close down the cameras up here, so they wouldn't know that anything was wrong. As the helicopter landed I pushed Steph behind the air conditioning unit and with my gun now in my left hand looked around the corner to try and catch a glimpse of the occupants. Imagine my surprise when I saw Steph running toward the helicopter and then standing in front of the cockpit door that was opening.

"Ranger, it's okay, it's Zeph and Ash"
She turned back to the opening door and I saw Zeph jump down, lifting her up and twirling her around. I stood up, my gun now at my back and walked over as Ash came around from the other side.

"Where did you get this one from?"
"I told you he wouldn't recognize it"
"You mean it's the same one?"
"It's pretty"
"Not the image we were going for Angel"
I frowned at the use of the name he'd given to Steph and then looked more closely at the decals on the helicopter. The color was now a shiny black, which I appreciated, but down the side was an image of an angel, a blue angel, her wings swept back behind her, did they honestly repaint it with Steph in mind? I shook my head at that thought as we boarded, again surprised at the changes. Instead of hard seats along the sides there were now three rows of seats that looked comfortable and there was even a hard-wearing carpet on the floor. Above the door there was a winch system and I noticed a basket suspended from the wall at the back, at least they'd kept the important features.

"How the hell did you guys manage this?"
"I told you Ranger, we know people. They didn't charge us a fortune because the owner owes me"
"So the decal?"
"That was all on Ash"
Ash just smiled and turned away from me, obviously he had no intention of explaining that to me. I sat with Steph next to me and ensured her seatbelt was buckled before nodding to Zeph that we were ready. The take-off was smooth and surprisingly quiet so no doubt it was more than just the appearance that had work done on it. The trip was smooth and uneventful with Steph sat trying to look out of the window. To be honest she seemed quite relaxed which pleased me. I could see the lights of New York City on our right and assumed Zeph was flying out over the water before heading inland to Trenton. As we approached Trenton, I felt our altitude lower and Steph's hand gripping mine. She wouldn't be familiar with the roof tops as we passed over them, but I knew exactly where Rangeman was. As Zeph started the descent I could see lights on the rooftop and before I knew it, we had landed.

"Stay low folks, I'm not stopping the blades, we need a fast turnaround"
I helped Steph down from the cabin and then with my arm on her shoulders walked her away from the craft watching as Santos closed the door and followed us. Tank was waiting by the stairs that ran down to the hall outside of my apartment and once we were all inside, he called down to Hector to reset the cameras.

"Hell Ranger, it's good to see you, but why the hell are you back here?"
"Intel changed, I have a meeting with Gauge tomorrow"

"Gauge, why?"
"Steph made some more connections and came across him in Boston"
I saw Tank look over at Steph, assessing if she was okay"
"Tank, he was friendly, I'm fine"
I had to smile as Tank digested that piece of information, after all for her to meet an unfriendly usually meant she was in trouble.

"Is that why you asked Hector to do surveillance on the park?"
"Yes. That's where we'll meet"
"You sure it isn't a set up?"

"No, but we have to move this forward and meeting him seemed like the best way to go"
"Okay, we'll need to plan it out"
"Any sign of Gannon?"
"No. In fact it's been real quiet. The other players haven't put a step out of place"
"Dolby?"
"No sign of him since the explosion"
"So he's one to be careful of"
"Yeah I'd say he's waiting to make his next move"
"Anything else?"
"The usual from Mrs. Plum and would you believe Morelli"
I saw the frown cross Steph's face as she took in that piece of information.

"Why would they be calling here?"
"Not sure Little Girl"
"Okay, I'll call my mother and see what she wants"
"You do that Babe while I head down to the conference room to set up for tomorrow"
"Can I come down when I finish?"
"Of course"
I walked up to her and with my hands on her face kissed the top of her head before turning and following Tank out of the apartment.