Chapter 39

SPOV

I woke slowly the next morning thinking how well I'd slept. As I stretched, I realized that I was on my own in the bed. I knew Ranger had a lot to do this morning and it brought back to me what he'd said. His handler wanted him to go in the wind again. My heart dropped at that thought. Partly because I didn't want him to leave me but mainly because I was worried for him. If these men Calhoun or Garcia were influencing decisions that had Ranger being away, then it might mean that he'd end up somewhere very dangerous. Was someone trying to remove Ranger to stop him from finding out more, to get to me or to try and make sure Ranger never came back? That last thought sent a shiver down my back.

I got up from bed determined that until it happened then there was no point in worrying about it, yeah denial can be useful at times. I was pleased that if I showered quickly then I'd make it to the morning meeting and was showered and dressed in record time. I made taking my contraceptive pill part of my morning routine so left them next to my toothbrush. Because I was still on my period, they'd be effective straight away, at least that's what it said on the packaging. I'd gone for jeans and a sweater this morning as wearing anything that fit snugly didn't cause any discomfort and with trainers on, I headed downstairs in the elevator. As the elevator doors slid open, I could see men heading into the conference room so tagged along behind them.

As I stepped into the room, I realized that I was probably the last to go in and that there were more men here than I thought there would be. Lester was just in front of me and turned, I suppose to close the door, and then he had my hand in his as he led me to the far side of the room. Tank was just pulling up another chair which he placed next to Ranger and that's where I ended up. Ranger was watching me, and I suppose he had asked Tank for the chair because as I sat down, he leant close to me.

"I didn't want to wake you"

"Hey, no way was I missing this meeting"

Slightly annoyed that he would have had the meeting without me being there. As the men quietened down, Ranger took that as his queue to start.

"We have a lot to go through this morning. It seems that Cassandra Morrison was inadvertently drawn into helping our perpetrators. Hector. Update on Cassandra Morrison"

"From the bugs in her apartment I heard her contacting that woman and has arranged to see her later this morning"

"Okay the woman in question is also known as Elizabeth Andrews and Beth Routledge. She's the one who posed as Tasha to Steph"

I looked around the room as some noises erupted, obviously this was new to a lot of the men, but I suppose information had come in quickly recently and not everyone would be up to date.

"Hector anything on the cameras outside of the house?"

"I have two at the front and two at the back. Not an easy place to put hidden surveillance on. She hasn't left the house or had any visitors so far"

"Santos work with Hector to keep up to date with anything picked up. Cassie should be placing bugs in the house on her visit"

I watched Lester as Ranger said that wondering how he was taking the news that Cassie had been drawn in and used by Beth. Ranger had obviously spoken to him this morning because it didn't seem that Lester was surprised at what he was hearing, maybe I should talk to him after this meeting.

"Some more intel came in last night that is helping to identify who the main players are. We have Elizabeth Andrews and her brother Alan. An ex TPD officer, Darren Barnes. A lawyer Keith Randall"

"The lawyer who called here about Sophia?"

"No, Tank. The man who represented Sophia was Randall senior. This is his son Keith Randall. It makes sense though that the son obtained information of Steph and I visiting her apartment"

"They must have been watching the place then"

I had to agree with what Tank had said but it also made me remember what those men had looked like and some of the equipment they were using. Could they have been paid soldiers? Something that maybe Ranger would have a better idea about.

"The next name is supposition, but I think we have a name for the man that hurt Steph, Ethan Parker. He dropped off the radar after he was released from prison."

"Our visitor left us some programs yesterday, maybe they'll help"

"Thanks Santos"

Did that mean that Leo had provided us access to those amazing programs that I'd used at his house, I really hoped so because they were so much faster than what we were currently using.

"Hector, set those programs up so we can all access them"

Hector nodded his head at Ranger and then was whispering something to Lester.

"Steph has done a lot of work on this and has started to bring some of the threads together. Babe, do want to explain your thinking"

I looked at Ranger, I'm sure with my mouth open. Was this his way of getting back at me for turning up this morning? I wasn't the type of person who talked to an audience, mainly because I was always worried that I might be totally wrong. I felt Ranger squeeze my knee and looking at him saw him nod his head. Ah shit, well here goes.

"Some of these people that Ranger mentioned, Parker and Andrews, were involved with cyber fraud a few years ago. So I followed through with some information from that case. It mentioned that they'd set up a company and that they got their money through phishing emails. They tried to scam the system, insurance companies and banks, so there was a paper trail and that's how they got caught."

I stopped to look around and felt my nerves begin to settle when I saw that every man in the room was watching me intently. So far then they weren't showing any expressions that I would construe as not being totally focused on what I was saying.

"I think that they've set up a new company, using Devils Delight as a front, that's what they did originally, that's their MO"

"The evidence from that case was tampered with which was why Jeremy Heap was concerned. The name Edwards was heard but again this evidence seemed to disappear. He talked it through with his daughter, so she knew why he was so concerned. Sarah's spent the last six months volunteering with a medical group out in Yemen. When Jerry's ex-partner Darren Barnes turned up where Sarah was volunteering, I think she started to put things together, and her father knows that she's disappeared"

I turned to Ranger then, not sure if he wanted to impart the information about the men who managed him when he went in the wind, not sure if that information was confidential. I knew he was thinking through what he should say and was surprised when he took over talking.

"I shouldn't have to tell you that what is said in this room is totally confidential"

I watched as Ranger looked around the room, his eyes resting on every man here before he continued. Obviously some sort of military ESP happened because he was obviously assured that everyone was aware of what he'd said.

"The last mission I went on was to gather intel so that we could put a stop to cell activity. The men were identified, and they and their generals were put out of business. The intel I had collected led me to believe that there was another group working in the shadows. My handler and his bosses didn't like it when I suggested it, even when I was quite vocal with my annoyance"

"Where Ranger?"

"Same place as where Sarah was, Yemen. I got a call last night to go out on another mission. I'm trying to stall that because the interest of one of the men in charge is questionable"

"Do we know him?"

"Probably Ram, it's either Garcia or Edward Calhoun"

"I never did like Calhoun"

I looked at Lester as he said that knowing that he was very astute with his judgement of people. The information from Ranger was certainly causing a stir from the rest of the men, each one keen to ask further questions. Ranger held up his hand and immediately everyone went silent.

"Hector, Santos. Eyes and ears on those cameras and bugs. Tank. Talk to Seb and Nate. Tell them that they are there to observe and report"

"Makes sense"

"Hal, anything on Fin?"

"No, he's gone quiet. I think he's looking for Jeremy Heap"

"Ram, what's Morelli up to?"

That took me by surprise because I wasn't aware that anyone was keeping watch on Joe. I suppose the fact that he had been here probably accounted for why Ranger was being cautious but surely there was more to it than that, wasn't there?

"From what I can work out he's heading up the investigation of Shane Cooper. I can't get information on that"

"Anybody anything else?"

"Ranger can we use this room and put up a board. It may help to understand how all the information we have sits together?"

"Good idea Tank"

As the men started to leave the room Ranger turned to me.

"Babe, you're good at visual, can you set the boards up?"

"Yeah, sure"

To be honest it would also help me as well, it was always easier to look at the connections when they were all together. As I left the room to go to Ranger's office, I noticed that Bobby had stayed behind. I was crossing my fingers that Bobby had some good news for Ranger.

Once in the office I went through all the paperwork on my desk and collected everything together. I had marker pens, string and pins but was a bit worried about returning to the conference room. I didn't want to interrupt Ranger if he was still talking to Bobby. When I got to the door, I noticed that it was open, and the room was empty thinking that maybe they'd moved to another office. Once inside I placed everything on the table and spread it out to be able to identify each part of the investigation.

I thought back to the conversation that I'd had with Ranger so started with names of the people we knew about. Beth, Andrews, Randall, Barnes and Parker went in a line across the middle. I added Jerry and Sarah just below Barnes and then Cassie below Beth. Above was where I sat Edward Calhoun and Garcia because they were the only ones that we couldn't tie in anywhere with what we had. To one side I had the information on Shane and thought that my name should probably be there as well. I was lost as to where Sophia would go, though I had no idea if she was even a part of this. Places were added next, Devils Delight, the place where I had been, which we hadn't found, the company Apollo and Yemen.

Where I had printed information, it went underneath each name and then I drew lines to show how they related together.

Standing back I was aware that I still needed to add photos where they were missing so decided that was the next thing I would do. I'd been very hesitant to look deeply for one of Tasha because of my panic attacks but decided that if I could face looking at Ethan Parker then I could look at her photo as well. I knew there would be a photo of him in the papers that Leo had brought with him. Lost in my own thoughts didn't stop me from feeling a tingle run down my neck and without turning I spoke out to Ranger.

"Have I missed anything Ranger?"

He came and stood behind me, his arms around my waist, pulling me back into his chest. From the corner of my eye I could see that he was studying the wall.

"The more I think about it the more that I'm leaning toward Calhoun"

I got that, I mean the fact that his first name Edward was probably significant so I removed Garcia from the top but left it to one side just in case we needed to go back to him. It also kinda felt right thinking about the military feel for those men who were there at Sophia's.

"Apollo. The company that's being used as a cover. Maybe that should go between Calhoun and the others"

As I moved the name to the top of the board, I could see that Ranger was looking closely at the board and knew exactly what he was going to say. I moved Parker slightly away from the others, but I held up the three names in my hand and let him read them.

"Why haven't you put them up Babe?"

"Because I don't have any proof for where I think they should go"

"Humor me"

I walked to the board and put the names Dee and Ryland between Andrews and Parker, then stood back as Ranger continued to look. I then placed Jari's name underneath the four owners of the club. He was making me nervous with how long he stood there and decided that he probably didn't like what I'd done. As I stepped forward, he held me back and kissed me on the side of my head.

"I agree, I think Parker could be using either of the names Dee or Ryland for the company records, but I think we'll find his true identity will be different again. I also agree that Calhoun is too clever to have any name linked into this, though there has to be something that he's after for him to be involved with what's going on. Why did you put Jari there and not underneath Parker?"

"I just got the feeling that Tasha was calling the shots when I was being questioned"

"Maybe that's someone we need to find out more about"

I was pleased that my instincts seemed to have paid off but now I really needed to know what Ranger and Bobby had talked about, but I wasn't sure that I wanted to come straight out and ask.

"Something's burning Babe"

"Yeah well"

"You haven't asked if Bobby came through"

"Maybe I was scared that he hasn't"

Which was probably truer than I realized, I mean if I didn't ask then he couldn't tell me that he'd probably have to leave.

"It's sorted. Bobby asked Ellery, though he had to explain to him what was going on. Bobby thought that Ellery would have written a report just so that I'd be here for you, but I suppose he deserved to know all of it. The report went through my lawyer so Garcia should be reading it now"

I blew out a breath, so relieved at hearing that, and turned so that I was now stood against Ranger. Our bodies touching from our chests down to our hips. My hands went around his neck and standing on my tip toes I ran my mouth across his and then bit down lightly on his lower lip. I knew he wouldn't be able to resist the move and was ready as he deepened the kiss. I gave as hard as I got, dueling for dominance until I had to retreat in order to breathe.

My heart was pounding as my heated blood raced through my body. I was feeling so frustrated, literally, as I remembered Bobby's words. I closed my eyes to try and calm myself down and felt Ranger's forehead resting against mine. I was actually wondering if the shower massager came within Bobby's instructions for not being active.

"No, if anyone is going to help you out it'll be me"

"Sorry"

"Don't be. I know it's hard"

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing at the double entendre of what he'd said, especially as I could feel him pushing up against me.

"Babe is there anything you want to do or go?"

I was surprised at him asking me that and considered what he'd said very carefully.

"I'm not sure that there's anything to do on this"

I said as I turned and pointed to the board. And to be honest I was feeling a bit hemmed in being inside the building. Okay I'd had lunch at the diner opposite and then a walk in the woods at night, but nothing that was, well normal.

"How about a few of us go to Pinos?"

I looked at Ranger, just to make sure that he wasn't trying to joke with me.

"I was being serious. What Cassie said made sense, you need to have some normal in your life"

Maybe it was the smile that gave away my answer, but I did want to do something normal and the idea of a meatball sub definitely felt like something that I really wanted to eat. Even if it was just for the nostalgia that it brought.

"I'd like that"

"Good, I'll source some men to go with us"

I turned to find that Ranger was still behind me so stepped into him with my arms around his neck.

"Thank you"

Was whispered into his ear as I moved my mouth across to his. A fleeting touch was all that I gave as I started for the door.

"I'm going to change"

"15 minutes Babe"

20 minutes later I walked out of the elevator and into the garage, noticing Ranger subtly looking at his watch. Okay so maybe I was 5 minutes late, but I'd had a sudden inspiration and I wanted to see what would happen. I almost jumped up and down when Ranger fobbed open his Porsche turbo, it seemed an age since I'd been inside it.

I waited for Ranger to open the door for me and as he went around the car, I fastened my seatbelt. I closed my eyes as the engine roared to life enjoying the smell and feel as we left the garage. Once on the street I was so disappointed as we hit traffic, because it meant that not only were we going slowly, there was no excuse for Ranger to rev up the engine to change gears. The extra time though did give me a chance to let him know why I'd been 5 minutes late though.

"I called my Dad before we left to see if he could meet us at Pinos"

"Good call Babe, I should have thought of that"

"He was with my Mum, apparently she'd asked him to take her to the shops, so he doesn't think he can make it"

"We can arrange to go out to dinner with him another time"

"I'd like that"

Especially if Grandma wasn't there. Don't get me wrong, I loved my Grandma, I really did, but the time that she came to Rangeman with my Dad. Let's just say that she asked me every embarrassing question she could think of about Ranger. I wasn't surprised that my Dad left us, using the excuse to take a look around and catch up with Ranger.

That's when I had to physically drag her from the bedroom because I was sure she was intent on going through every drawer and cupboard in the room. And let's not forget about her comments about Ranger's package. Okay so she'd actually caught a glimpse of it in that stupid monkey hotel but sheesh. I really didn't want to get into a conversation about sex with her, not that I'd got much since I'd been here. I felt my face warm up as that thought went through me and decided to remove my mind from the gutter.

As the traffic began to move more freely again, I caught sight of a black SUV behind us and wondered who would be joining us for a meal.

"Which men are coming inside with us?"

"Santos, Bobby, Ram and Miguel"

"Not Hector?"

Because I thought he would surely be coming with us.

"Hal and Woody are covering the back while Cal and Hector will be watching the car at the front"

If I'd have known that Ranger was going to be using that many men, then I think I might have decided to stay at Rangeman. All too soon we were slowing down to pull into the parking area in front of Pinos. Ranger stopped the car and waited for a black SUV to reverse out of a space before pulling forward and parking. No wonder he always managed to get good parking spaces, Karma had nothing to do with it. I waited for Ranger to open my door and took his hand as he helped me to get out. Ranger's attention was everywhere as we entered the restaurant while mine was trying to calm myself down.

I took a deep breath as we walked through the restaurant conscious of the silence and the eyes following us. I spied the guys sat in the booth at the back of the room and watched as Lester got up from his seat. I slid in first to sit next to Bobby, with Ranger then Lester following me. It seemed as soon as we were sat down the noise inside the place came back to life.

The waitress was quick to come up to the table and serve us and soon we were sat with our drinks waiting for the food to arrive.

"Does it feel good to be back here Steph?"

"I suppose, I'm really looking forward to the food but feel kind of awkward being in here"

"Give it time Steph, things will soon get back to normal again"

"I know Bobby"

As I finished my drink, I thought I might as well visit the ladies room before the meal arrived so tapped Ranger on the shoulder, interrupting him talking to Lester.

"Can I come past please, I just need to visit the ladies room"

Lester moved out first allowing Ranger to follow so sliding around the seat I was soon walking to the back of the restaurant. I wasn't surprised that Ranger was by my side but was not going to have him come inside with me.

"I'm only going inside by myself Ranger. It's the ladies room, you can't come in"

"Babe"

"I'll only be a minute, you can stay here right outside the door"

I jumped as the door to the room suddenly opened and an older woman walked past me, though I didn't appreciate the look she gave to Ranger as she passed him. It was a cross between surprise at seeing him and then trying to undress him with her eyes.

I rolled my eyes as I walked into the ladies room and went to the cubicle at the end. Surprised that the door was locked so went into the next one. I'd just pulled up my trousers and was fastening the top button when I heard a conversation coming from next to me. It wasn't what was being said that had me focusing, it was the voice, a voice that I knew very well. Why the hell had I made the stupid move to come to the ladies room on my own.

It was difficult to forget that voice, especially as she'd plagued my dreams and some of my waking moments. As my breathing began to increase, I reached into my bag and pulled out the black material ball that Cassie had given to me. I focused on squeezing and releasing the ball with my hand, trying to detach myself from where I was. The image of waves came into my mind and slowly I regained control of my feelings.