Chapter 33
As I focused on the sounds around me, I felt a tingle travel down my neck and knew immediately that Ranger was somewhere close. I could hear some banging noises coming from the room next door that had me suddenly sitting up and looking around. It was still dark inside the room, but I had no doubt in my mind that he was near. Looking to the chair I could see a silhouette against the drapes and literally threw back the covers to get to him quickly. Fortunately, he stood up and caught me as I threw myself at him. My arms encircled his waist as I pulled him to me, his strong arms banding around me and his face in my hair.
"I knew you'd come, I missed you so much"
"Babe, has he hurt you?"
"No. I don't think he would"
"I've been going crazy trying to find you, crazy that something might have happened to you before I got here"
As I turned my head up and caught his mouth with mine I could feel him relaxing against me and then a panic filled me. I pulled away, tears in my eyes as I looked at his face.
"Please don't send me away, please don't leave me"
"Never Babe, Para siempre, como mi pareja, amante y esposa. Mi alma gemela"
I could hear the concern in his voice so stepped to Ranger's side to let him see me. "I'm good Isai"
Ranger's arm came around me as Les and Hector appeared on either side of Isai. They looked to Ranger and me as though waiting for him to give his orders but Ranger's mouth came down next to my ear and after kissing my lobe he whispered so that only I could hear him. "I had to be sure you were safe so let Santos deal with him"
He then turned to face Isai, and I knew that Ranger's face would be fearsome as he changed the tone of his voice to address him. "Be thankful Isai that they just gave you a beating. If I hadn't needed to be with Steph, I would have killed you for what you've done to her. No one messes with what's mine" Even in the dim light I could see Isai pale, I guess he now knew who Ranger was and how formidable he could be. "Is the house secure?"
"Ram and Bobby are inside, Miguel, Slick Cal and Caleb are at the perimeter keeping watch"
"We'll see you in the lounge area, take him there with you" I had lots of questions I wanted to ask but the ones that came to mind were about the injuries sustained at the shootout. "Is Caleb okay, I thought he'd been shot?"
"He's fine, it was just a flesh wound" "And Lula?"
"Through and through, she's already back home"
That made me feel easier knowing that neither had been seriously hurt, though I was sure that Lula wouldn't coping very well unless she had Leroy with her.
I watched as Les led Isai out of the room, I hoped Bobby would check him over. I turned into Ranger once more surprised when he drew back from me. I watched as his hand went to his pocket and he brought something out. With my left hand in his he slipped my ring back onto my finger and then kissed my knuckles. "You found it"
"Dillon called to say a package had arrived for you but he wasn't sure where you were"
"Thank you"
"What for?"
"Bringing it with you, coming here for me"
"Always Babe, I will always find you"
"How did you find me?"
"Your clue about Les smiling if he could see you. I had him check out the town you mentioned to him. It just took a while for him to see you but seeing the truck and armed men he followed it to Cerro de la Bandera. Once you had the tracker it was easy to find you"
"Is anyone hurt?"
"No, the security isn't good, and we worked out there were no guards here inside this house" I felt his arms come back around me and pressed myself to him, heat rushing through me as our bodies pressed tightly together. Our mouths responded to each other, the resulting kiss being passionate and almost violent. I couldn't get enough of him as his mouth invaded me. I heard a moan, not knowing if it came from me or him and all too soon his hands on my face separated us, leaving his forehead against mine. "Babe, much as I could just take you to bed now, and how much I want to, we can't. We're not safe here and we need to meet and decide what to do next"
Okay I knew that, well maybe I did. I quickly changed into something more suitable feeling a bit embarrassed that Isai and Les had seen me in that skimpy night dress. I was back in the cotton trousers and top as we walked back through into the lounge area. Both Les and Hector were stood staring at Isai as he sat on the couch. The moment I walked in I had three pairs of eyes looking at me and Hector walked over to me taking me by the shoulders. It was as though he was checking that I was okay. "I'm fine Hector, thank you"
"For you anything"
As Ranger followed me in, we all took a seat waiting for Ranger to start asking questions. He was sat with me at his side, dressed in black as usual. I could feel the tension in the air so decided I'd best introduce everyone. "Guys this is Isai Falla and this is his family home. Isai this is Les, Bobby and Hector. I think you know that this is Ranger"
"I knew you were good Ranger, but not that good. How did you find us?"
"How's not important. The problem you have now is persuading me to let you live"
"I'm sorry, I didn't get Estefania involved on purpose. I was trying to find out who'd put a contract out on Fábrega and was using an old police cruiser when reports came over the radio of gun shots being fired. I was in the area and got pulled over by a street cop to go to the scene, I had to make up a story of having just dropped off my partner and was off duty. When I came across Estefania in the middle of it, I recognized her. I thought she'd be safer out of there"
"How did you recognize her?"
"The Cathedral near Bogota, I was trying to get a chance to talk with Ali. I was too late to get to them"
"Did you break into our room?"
"No. The Cathedral was the first time I'd seen her"
"Babe?"
I looked at Ranger wondering what he was asking me, I mean I couldn't add anything could I? "You couldn't be here and not find something out"
Okay I knew I was nosey, no make that curious, but I wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. "We took a look through some of Isai's father's records and I think, no I'm sure that Ali's father, Fábrega, was somehow taking ore from the mine. The figures just didn't add up"
"Gold ore?"
"Yeah. Then yesterday Isai mentioned an old childhood friend so I was going to see what I could find out about him" I saw the look of surprise cross Isai's face and was curious why he wouldn't want to know about Tomás, after all it was Isai who had mentioned him.
"Estefania, why?"
"I don't know why, just that it felt important"
"Isai, something you should know about Steph is that she's rarely wrong when she feels something is off"
I looked over to Les, smiling at how he was backing me up. Ranger was studying Isai as if trying to get a measure of him, trying to decide if we could trust him or not. "What was his name?"
"Tomás Lorenzo, but I never saw him again after he and his family left here"
Lorenzo, why did that name sound so familiar? I could see Ranger grow tense at the sound of that name and then it suddenly hit me. That bitch Anna, her name was Lorenzo. "Did he have a sister called Anna?"
"He had a younger sister, hell what was she called. Yohana, she was really quiet and never came near us boys. Why?"
I saw the looks pass between Les and Ranger and the tension in Ranger didn't recede. I took his hand in mine to try and bring his mood down a bit. "It could be a coincidence Ranger"
"No Babe, as I always say to you. There's no such thing as coincidence"
So how the hell did she fit in with this? Why would she want Isai dead and why would she want people to think he was Fábrega? Why make Ali break away from him? "Good questions Babe"
I closed my eyes as I realized I'd said that out loud, but I suppose I'd thrown out what everyone was thinking. "Isai we really need those names"
"What names Beautiful?"
"The names of the people whose bodies were never found in the mines" Ranger looked down at his watch and I realized there would be workers arriving soon, having the Rangemen here might cause a problem. Isai was obviously into the ESP as well, hell why was it only me who couldn't do that?
"Ranger I'll tell the guards and workers that I've brought in more men to help with security, there are always new threats around here, I'll use that as a reason"
"I can work with that. Santos meet up with the team and explain what's going on. Have them set up rotas. Isai where can they set up and sleep?"
"There are rooms in the building behind here, there aren't that many men who stay here, most go home" I watched as Les and Hector disappeared and was relieved when Bobby spoke to Isai. The two of them disappeared hopefully for Bobby to treat any injuries Les had inflicted on him. As Hector came back into the room carrying a very large rucksack Ranger went over to talk with him. No doubt there would be all sorts of sensors and cameras in there that would be set around the compound. I felt a bit redundant so went through to the kitchen to start up some coffee and find some food. The men would need something, and it was all I could think to do that made me feel useful. Lina was already there, heating up some water so I reached up into a cupboard and brought down ten mugs onto the work surface. Lina looked at me, a puzzled look to her face so I struggled to find words that she might understand. In the end I held up all of my fingers and thumbs and added "Hombre" as I mimed eating. He eyebrows rose on her head as she eventually seemed to understand and then I was pushed out of the kitchen door at the back of the house. Redundant again I wondered over to the garden area I'd seen yesterday looking at the plants that were growing. I recognized strawberries and peppers but the rest weren't obvious to me.
"We grow banana, mango, pineapple, papaya, strawberry, avocado, potato, tomato, pepper. A lot of things, if we can get the seeds that is"
I jumped at the sound of the voice, it was quiet and gruff and was coming from a man sat against a tree. He could have been the man I'd seen yesterday though I'd been too far away to discern any features. I looked into sad brown eyes momentarily before he pushed against the tree, struggling to get up. His hair was long and bedraggled, now a shade of white but it was the scars that had caught my attention. The left side of his face held lines that looked to have been from surgery giving a distorted impression of his face. When he eventually stood up I then saw that his trousers around his left leg were tied in a knot, showing that at some stage he'd lost his leg. He reached up into the tree and plucked an apple from its branches, and then taking hold of a crutch made his way slowly toward me. His left hand looked scarred as well and his hold on the apple was taking some effort. He held out the apple for me to take and that's when the smell hit me. The smell of cigar smoke. I didn't have the heart to turn away from him and run, I mean how could he hurt me in the physical state he was in. As I smiled at him my heart felt for the pain he'd endured. I went over to a bench that was next to the tree under the shade.
"Why don't you sit with me?"
"You don't mind?"
"No why should I, as long as you tell me why you were in my room the other night"
He sighed as he sat down and rested the crutch against the seat, his head held low as though he were embarrassed.
"How did you know?"
"The smell of cigars, though I'm really surprised you could manage to climb out of the window"
"I have good days and bad. I probably fell out of it but landed on the grass"
"Come on, I know you have a good story to tell"
And then for some reason I just added the name I thought was his.
"Aran"
I saw the surprise in his eyes as he looked at me, then a smile that turned the corners of his mouth up on the right side of his face.
"How did you know?"
"It just made sense"
"I heard that Alejandra had died and felt so guilty that I'd pushed her out of my life. She was a delightful child but at the time I was full of myself. I wanted to provide for her and her mother"
"What happened?"
"That mother of hers, she was so cold. I think she only married me so that she'd have a husband to provide for her and a father for her daughter. At first, I thought that I'd do that, provide for her and Alejandra but then I heard she knew she had the HIV virus and she didn't care that she was passing it onto me. I was so lucky not to have got the disease, but I had to leave"
"Alejandra didn't know, at least I don't think so"
"No, Anaya would never tell her the truth, she was a beautiful child, so innocent"
"What happened after the accident?"
"It was a long time before I woke up from the tunnel collapsing. There were a few of us still alive and those that could, helped those of us who were injured, to get out"
"How?"
"We managed to find an adit, that's a drift that leads to the outside. Once free then we had to decide what to do. I was too badly injured to even move, so they just left me. Ironic that they got me out of that goddamn mountain just to abandon me on the surface"
"How did you manage?"
"Would you believe Edgar Falla found me. He was a broken man and apparently spent all his time just wandering around the mountain. I pleaded with him to let me die, but he wouldn't have it. Then I pleaded with him to let me stay dead to the world. That he agreed with and then he arranged for transport and a place at a hospital in Bogota"
"He saved your life then"
"If this is what living is"
"Why come here?"
"I spent more than a year at that hospital, I lost my leg and had bones shattered in my arm and face. I lost count of how many operations I had. Then one day they said that they couldn't do any more for me, so I was kicked out on the streets. I admit I didn't care what happened to me. I drank, did drugs when I could get my hands on them. I lost who I had been which suited me fine. Then I heard talk on the street of a man called Fábrega who was rising through the ranks of the underworld"
"Not you, do you know who it was?"
"I laughed it off at first, I mean it's a common name, but then a clarity came to me. I cleaned up my head and started to ask around"
"How did that lead you to here?"
"I went to see Fertelli. We had no argument between us and he would have known. Imagine my surprise to discover that Alejandra had been there. Hell, I must have missed her by hours. He told me about this kid that was hot for her and that she'd run away. He had no idea why but when I saw that kid, hell he was a man I was sure I recognized. I'd seen him at the workings. So, I decided to come here in case he turned up"
"He was in love with her"
"I gathered that from Fertelli. I just don't understand why she left"
"Someone told her something that scared her away"
"Who the hell would do that?"
"Someone that hates him and maybe someone who thought you were dead so you couldn't say it was a lie"
"You know a lot don't you?"
"Yeah, a habit of mine. So, you still haven't told me why you were in my room"
"Lina told me about this pretty woman, that maybe she was in danger. I suppose I just wanted to get a sense for you and I don't want another woman to die if I can help it"
"I was with Alejandra when she died"
"You're the unnamed tourist then?"
"Yeah, someone killed her Aran. I don't know what she knew but if nothing else I want her to know that we'll finish what she was trying to do"
"There's a man in black looking over here, he looking for you?"
"Yes. Come and have breakfast with us Aran"
"Nah, I'm not too sure I'm ready for people to know who I am"
"It's time Aran. The past is the past, you've paid heavily for whatever you did in the past. It's time to stand up for Alejandra"
"Estefania is certainly what you are"