Chapter 25
I felt so annoyed yet a little bit worried as I watched Anna walk into Ranger's office. What the hell was she doing here, was she still intent on seducing Ranger? I waited and watched, holding my breath to see how Ranger would react to her. He knew I was watching so surely he wouldn't allow her too close to him, would he? Ranger looked up from where he looked as though he was working.
"Lorenzo why are you here?"
"Carlos, so formal, that's not necessary"
I think she expected him to stand up and go to her, but Ranger remained in his seat, waiting for her to speak first. She raised her eyebrows at him and came up the desk then calmly walked her fingers around the edge of the desk toward him. I couldn't see Ranger's face, but I could see the muscles in his neck tense up.
"The seat for you is there"
"I thought maybe we could have a more intimate conversation Carlos"
Ranger suddenly stood up and I could tell from how Anna took a step back that she'd seen anger cross his face. She returned to the front of his desk and sat down in the chair, making sure as she crossed her legs her skirt rode up her thighs. Ranger sat back down again.
"I heard you were in town and decided to see you"
"Why would you decide that?"
"Oh, I thought maybe we could maybe catch up, swap intel"
"I only give intel to my handler"
"I heard you were heading down to Colombia so thought how much better your cover would be if we went as a couple"
"Not happening. Who told you I was going to Colombia?"
"Nick agreed it would be a good idea"
Who the hell was Nick? I racked my brain trying to remember who he might be, then it hit me. Nick was Nicholas Marin, the handler. I was sure that Ranger said information passed to him was confidential, had she got a thing going with him? She must sink low if she went anywhere near him, but then again maybe she was a master at distraction.
"What have you and Agent Denito uncovered here in Miami?"
"I should say the same thing to you, I only give intel to my handler. But what the hell, we have nothing. I'm sick of talking to dealers and doing surveillance, I need some excitement Carlos"
As she said that she leant forward so that her cleavage showed the edges of a red lacy bra covering her breasts and her hand travelled from her thigh down her leg and back again. Ranger stood up and walked to the door, totally ignoring her. When he opened the door Les was stood there, I had no idea that Les was in the building.
"I do not want to see you again unless it is at a formal meeting. Santos will escort you from the building. Do not come here again"
I watched as she stood up, she still had the attitude as she walked toward Ranger and tried her best to get as close to him as possible. As she lifted her hand as though to touch his face Ranger grabbed hold of her arm and forced her through the door, slamming the door as her ass barely got out of the way. Now I could see Ranger's face, it was blank and cold with a hint of a threat there. Shit, I hoped he never used that look on me. Juan turned off the monitor and I heard Ranger come into the room. He stood behind me and bent down until his face was in my hair by my neck and his arms were banded around me. I reached up and cupped his face with my hand almost feeling waves of anger radiating from him. He stayed like that for a few minutes and then as he stood straight he took my hand and pulled me to my feet, I could see he'd calmed down. I wrapped my arms around his waist. I was curious as to what he was thinking.
"Was she here to seduce you or find out when you were going to Colombia?"
"The second choice. She's good Babe, she can play a distraction to the ultimate situation if it means getting information or killing the mark"
"You mean she'd sleep with them?"
"Yeah"
"So you think she seduced Marin?"
"She'd sleep with a guy to get information from them?"
How could a woman do that, I mean Anna was a beautiful woman surely doing something like that would be so degrading and repulsive. I had memories of disgust when a skip touched me during a distraction.
"Babe, we've all had to go down that route"
My head snapped up at that. Did he mean that he'd slept with women because of the job he had to do?
"Please don't judge me, it's not something I'm proud of, but it was necessary. I once told you that you that sexually I was damaged"
I wasn't sure what to think. I knew he must have slept with lots of women before me, the way he could make love was beyond anything I'd ever experienced before, so he must have had plenty of experience.
"I know you've slept with other women; I know I feel jealous of them, but you wouldn't be who you are without that experience. As long as you never have to do that again then I'm okay with it"
And I was, I knew Ranger and how he could block his emotions, maybe the work he did necessitated that, otherwise it would so difficult to detach yourself from the human element. I felt Ranger squeeze me tighter and knew I'd said the right thing. He'd once told me was emotionally and sexually damaged so maybe that was where those feelings he had had come from.
"Thank you"
"For what?"
"Being here with me, being so understanding. Para siempre, como mi pareja, amante y esposa. Mi alma gemela"
"Te amo con todo mi corazón Carlos"
"It sounds sexy when you say that"
I suddenly remembered about Juan and looked round Ranger to see where he was.
"What's wrong Babe?"
"Juan, I never heard him leave"
"He left as I came in. I've arranged for us to leave later this evening, after we've been to visit Abuela Rosa"
"Sure. Use this computer in here, no one comes in but me and I'll be in my office working next door if you need me"
I settled back at the computer and taking a guess used my password to access the system. I was both surprised and pleased when my home page came onto the screen so opened the icon for the search program. "Beautiful"
"Shit Les you scared me to death"
"Sorry, I brought you some lunch, Ranger said you were working in here"
"Yeah. Les did you find out anything about the mine at Curazao?"
"The place that guy died in the mine disaster?"
"Yes"
"Not much, we're heading there tomorrow"
I turned around to face Les to see if he was joking with me. He wasn't, his face was serious, shit I hoped he found something but at the same time hoped he didn't. "Steph, it'll be okay"
"Who's going with you?"
"Ram, Slick, and Miguel" "You'll stay safe, won't you?"
"We'll be back before you know it" I took the sandwich from Les and he brought a chair to sit next to me. As I ate, he was looking through the searches I'd run and then picked up the locket. "Long story Les, but the photo may be important"
"Why's that?" "Not sure yet" "This isn't the same woman is it?"
"No and the photo of the man isn't old enough to be Aran Fábrega. This was hidden behind the photo, but I honestly haven't got to it yet"
Les read the words written down and a small frown crossed his face. "The photo bears no resemblance to Brayan Henao and the search on him showed no evidence of another child, plus that would make the child too young. Which means I need to look at the possibility that Aran Fábrega may have had a son"
"So you think this is a photo of Fábrega?"
"Maybe. Sheesh I have a lot to do now" "Let me know what you find out"
He bent forward and kissed my head before getting up and leaving. I knew where he was going and what he was going to be doing was what he was good at, but it didn't make me worry any less.
I threw my rubbish in the bin and turned back to the computer and input the name Aran Fábrega. There were several names that came up, which wasn't very helpful, so I asked the search to cross reference the name to Anaya Henao. That reduced the number of possible men significantly, so I used filters and added, miner, Alejandra and that he'd died in 1999. I was left with one person now, so clicked for the program to run a search on him. As the information came up, I read through it anticipating finding new information. My heart fell when there wasn't anything that I didn't already know. I sat back in the chair with a pencil in my mouth and began pushing myself around in the chair, trying to find new ways to find the information I wanted. Go back to the beginning kept going through my head. I suppose the beginning for Aran was where he was born. He was born in a town called Pamploma and died in the town of Curazao which just happened to be on the border with Venezuela. I input the names from where Anaya was born and where Aran was born and died into a map. They were in the eastern part of the country with Ayana's birthplace between the other two. Not knowing the country that well I couldn't see a pattern.
Frustrated I went back to the photograph I'd found in the locket. How did I find out anything about this woman and child? Normally I'd speak with neighbors and friends but that wasn't going to be an option. I went through my bag and found the magnifying glass Ranger had given me and began to look for anything in the background that would give me a clue. She was sat on a rocky outcrop with views of water in the background. It seemed there was a hill behind her and at the edge of the photo I was sure I could see a white cross stood at the top of the hill with tall masts behind it. I went into Google and put in a search using the white cross, hills and east Colombia. I was looking through images when one caught my attention. I input the name into Google maps for a satellite image. showing the exact spot the photo had been taken. The name of the small town was Puerto Carreño. So now I knew where the woman had lived and maybe she had lived with Aran Fábrega when he was working the mine. There were always men who would have mistresses so why not a miner from Colombia. As I didn't know where to go next, I wondered where Ali had met the man she fell in love with and why she felt that he had to be found. Maybe she met him in Bogota when she started at university, but that didn't seem to fit. She'd gone home when her mother died and then gone in search of Fertelli. Wasn't there some mention of names of foot soldiers that were allowed to live when the army went in. I wonder if Ali met this man there.
A look at my watch told me it was mid-afternoon, and I was fed up of being sat in this room on the computer. My leg was aching now so maybe I needed to move. I saved my work and closed down the computer and headed for the door that led into Ranger's office. I stopped as I reached for the handle not knowing if he would want me to walk in. Maybe he was busy or was in the middle of a meeting. I yelped as the door suddenly opened, the force almost knocking me over. If Ranger hadn't seen me stumble, I would have fallen to the floor. As it was, he caught me by my waist and pulled me to him. "I'm so sorry Babe, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I was thinking about coming through to see you" "Babe you can go wherever you like. I wasn't sure you were still here. You probably need to freshen up before we have to go" "How's your leg feeling?" "Aching" "You should have finished sooner and rested in the apartment"
"I don't know where your apartment is or how to get to it"
"Let's go up then together, I've finished the work I need to do here and you must be feeling tired with working so long"
He held my hand as we walked out through his office. I have to say the floor looked similar to Trenton and like Trenton a hush fell as Ranger emerged. I wasn't too sure what anyone thought of me being here or the way Ranger held my hand, but I was sure there would be stories flying around here and to the other offices as well, about the woman Ranger had brought with him.
As Ranger drove the black Porsche Cayenne he held my hand in his, constantly fingering the ring on my finger. It was making me very nervous at the idea of meeting his grandmother. When the car finally stopped in front of a small house I looked up and down the street. "Abuella Rosa has lived all her life here and refuses to move. One of my nieces calls every day to make sure she has what she needs and the rest of the family who live here in Miami make sure she's has lots of visitors and is taken out"
"I like the feel here, there's a sense of community"
The houses on the street were all different, different styles with colors evident and beautifully kept front yards. "Neighbors all look out for each other"
"Does she know we're coming?"
"No, but I don't think she'll be surprised"
Ranger got out and was soon opening my door and helping me out. I had to admit my leg was still aching. Who would have thought being sat so long today would do that? As my door closed, I glimpsed up and saw the front door to the house open. Did every grandmother possess a radar alerting them of family arriving? Rangers grip on my hand tightened as we approached the door and we stepped inside the house as his grandmother stood to one side.
"Carlos, qué lindo verte"
"Abuella, I brought Stephanie to meet you"
"She is Abuella"
"Come sit down, we have lots to talk about"
The room we went into was small and some might say cluttered, but as I looked around I could see they were her memories of her family. Lots of photographs adorned the walls and small ornaments on the shelves. Some reminded me of the things my nieces gave to me or my mum if they'd been away on vacation. No, the room couldn't be called cluttered as I first thought, it was filled with memories that I was sure she treasured. There was even a photo of Ranger with Julie that looked fairly recent. "I love the room and your memories"
"It helps keep me young to remember each of them, though there are so many now and I don't get to see them as often as I would like"
I could see her look at Ranger as she said that and he was quick to respond to her complaint. "I'm here now Abuella, and as you asked, I brought Steph with me" "Then have you done as you said you would?"
In answer he took my left hand and showed her my ring. I was totally enthralled by this small and frail looking woman. Her demeaner hid a strong character underneath which became apparent in how she questioned Ranger. I was sure you wouldn't be able to hide anything from her which was what happened when she started to ask me about my family. I was okay with describing Val and Albert and felt proud of their girls and the relationship we had, but she was quick to distract any questions with regards to my mother to another topic, which I was glad about because I felt uncomfortable that my relationship with my mother showed how poor it was. I learnt so much when she asked Ranger to do some job for her in the kitchen and we were left alone with her talking through the many photos and ornaments in the room. It was so obvious how proud she was of her family. How she remembered the names of grandchildren amazed me, the family seemed so large.
I felt happy as we left the house, I felt accepted by Abuella Rosa. "I liked her Ranger"
"She certainly liked you"
"What did she say as we left?"
"That she could see we were meant for each other. We reminded her of how she and Abuelo Ricki were"
"She seems happy and content with her life"
"Don't be deceived by her appearance Babe, she can be very forthright and still sees herself as the head of the family"
"But she does it in a supportive way"
"I suppose, but she is very persuasive" Once back in the car I didn't recognize where we were going, I was sure we were travelling along different roads. "Are we going to the airport?"
"Yes" I settled in my seat as Ranger went into his driving zone. Traffic was busy and to be honest driving through Miami at night kept me entertained.
I should have realized that at this time of night we weren't likely to be flying on a commercial aircraft. As Ranger drove through a security gate and past hangers, I saw the array of helicopters parked up. He stopped the car in what must have been the space allocated and then immediately got out of the car. As I got out into the balmy air, I remembered it would be cold back in Trenton and my cotton dress wouldn't be warm enough. As Ranger came from the back of the car carrying a large bag a man alighted from the helicopter and took it from him. Ranger then handed me a long black leather coat. "You'll need this when we land Babe"
"Thanks, I'm not even sure where the clothes I had when we travelled to Bogota went"
"They're already back at Trenton" Sometimes his efficiency almost scared me, hell I hadn't even thought about any of my things. Once on board and belted into place I could hear and feel the engines as the helicopter started up and was glad of the earphones Ranger passed to me. I took the opportunity to watch as we flew over the suburbs of Miami and then rested my head on Ranger's shoulder.
I was going through my to do list again in my head, seeing as I hadn't even started on it the last time. Added to it though was the feeling of dread of having to visit my parents and what my mother might have to say about my engagement. Hell, she probably wasn't even aware that Joe and I were finished, it had been at least a week since I'd seen her and that particular conversation had her asking me where Joseph was and that she would expect me for dinner with him. I knew I would have to tell her, sooner rather than later. Once word was out someone would be all too eager to talk to her about it and if someone saw my ring all sorts of gossip could be floating around. "Babe?"
"Sorry, I was just thinking"
"I could tell, pretty serious thinking from the smoke coming out"
"I'll need to visit my parents and tell them about us and our engagement"
"We can do that first thing in the morning"
I hadn't considered that Ranger would come with me but felt more at ease with his suggestion. "That would be good and then when someone sees my ring, I won't end up with all sorts of gossip floating around"
"Gossip?"
I moved my head away from Ranger's shoulder and looked at him, suddenly doubt began to take over. "If you want, I don't have to wear my ring, I mean that way you can stay incognito and no one will spread gossip around"
I felt his hands on my face as he pulled my head up to look at him. "Babe I don't care who knows, I want the world to know that you and I are together"
"You know we'll get plagued by my mother about weddings don't you?"
"I'll sort that out with her. I want you as my wife as soon as possible, how that happens is totally up to you"
"So no big church affair?"
"Not if you don't want that"
"No fancy puffy dress and lots of people?"
"Whatever you decide I'll agree with. Though you in a nice dress that I can strip off you wouldn't be a bad idea"
I laughed at that but then went serious as I considered what he'd said. We'd both been married before. I wasn't sure what service he'd had when he married Rachel. I assumed maybe a small service, but mine, well that had been an occasion that I hated as soon as the date had been set. My mother was in her element planning everything out to the point where she never listened or took any notice of my wants or wishes. I hated the dress that she ended up choosing and the ordeal of bridesmaids, flowers and guests drove me nuts. "Cake, there has to be a cake"
"No problem, Ella can make you a cake"
I settled my head back onto his shoulder thinking through ideas of what my perfect marriage to Ranger could be like. I may have given the impression of being asleep, I was relaxed as we flew toward Trenton but as soon as I felt us beginning to descend, I lifted my head up to try and judge exactly where we were. I'd missed the landing the last time I'd returned in this helicopter and was enthralled that I could recognize some of the streets below us. "Look, Tank's switched on the lights on the rooftop of Rangeman" I followed to where he was pointing and could see a circle of green lights ahead of us. It wasn't long before we were firmly on the roof and the blades of the helicopter slowed down to a stop. The door slid open and Tank was stood there ready to help me down, then took the bags from Ranger. "Good flight?"
"Yeah, I can honestly say I like to fly in the helicopter" "All's quiet here Ranger. I'll give you a report in the morning"
Ranger just nodded his head before he held me by the waist as we descended the stairs to seven. Tank left our bags by the door before disappearing. As I walked into the apartment it felt like coming home, shit, how was it that I felt like that. In my heart I knew. This was the place where I felt safe, where I had come to when I was in trouble. It had an atmosphere that made me feel calm and of course it had Ranger as well. As I mulled over that I noticed that Ranger had taken the bags to the bedroom and was in the kitchen opening a bottle of wine. "Ella's left us something to snack on, go change and I'll set it out"
In the bedroom I opened the bag and found some shorts then from Ranger's side of the closet dug out one of his T-shirts. After a visit to the bathroom I joined him on the couch taking a glass of red wine from the table. In front of me were plates with cheeses and fruit, vegetables cut up into slices with dips next to them. The dips gave the slice of raw carrot a whole new taste, so I was happy to crunch through some of the other veg as well. As Ranger sat next to me, I heard him let out a breath. He was dressed in a T-shirt and joggers and looked more relaxed. "You seem more relaxed"
"I am. I enjoy being home especially with you here" I put my glass down and straddled his lap, placing kisses over his cheek and jaw, my hands working underneath his T-shirt. As my mouth went back to his I felt his fingers thread through my hair, pulling me deeper into the kiss. I could tell though that he was holding back, I was sure both of us would happily have taken it further, but it was Ranger who reminded me that my leg still wasn't healed properly. It didn't stop us from continuing to make out on the couch. I knew he was as turned on as me, but when I made a move to relieve him of the tension, he was obviously feeling his hand came down and held mine firmly. "No, our first time as an engaged couple will involve both of us. I need that wound healed properly for what I want to do to you"