Chapter 33
Twenty minutes later we were back in the room from yesterday where I had first seen Troy. He was handcuffed to the head of the bed and as Ranger and I walked in he slowly sat up so that he was leant against the headboard with his legs stretched out in front of him. Ranger walked over to him and the first thing he did was to release the cuffs. Troy rubbed his wrist with his hand and moved to sit on the edge of the bed waiting to see what would happen next.
Ranger moved two chairs to sit opposite him, ones that I hadn't noticed as we'd come into the room and placed them in front of Troy. As I sat down on one, Troy was watching me intently, as though he really wasn't too sure of me or what I might do. I knew that Ranger would want to ask the questions so stopped the impulse that I had to start talking.
"Troy, we've both had time to think things through since you arrived here. I need to understand exactly what's happened and I need for you to assure me that we're on the same side"
Troy looked surprised at what Ranger had said and I watched him intently as he listened to what Ranger asked and then replied.
"Okay, I can see why you wouldn't trust me, and I don't want that, I mean we were a team working together before everything went FUBAR"
"Troy let's start at the beginning"
Troy was still looking at me but turned to Ranger as though he wasn't too sure what to say.
"Is it okay for her to hear this?"
"Troy, she probably knows more than both of us"
If that surprised Troy, then he didn't show it.
"Okay. I got a call that I was needed for a job. No information, I was just told to be at the base the next day. That's when I met up with you and Jack and we were briefed"
I turned to look at Ranger as he started to talk. It was as if he was drawing from his memories as he started to recount how he had been involved in this mission.
"They gave me one days notice to attend a first briefing. It was short and lacked any detail. I'd expected for the job to start then but all they said was to be prepared to go at a moments notice. All they would tell me was that they needed a team to retrieve an electronic device from someone in Cambodia, that it contained information that in the wrong hands could impact on national security. I was asked for the names of men to be on the team and told that Cambodia was the destination. They didn't give me a date when it would be happening, They said that they needed to organize a meet and to be ready for the call. That happened when I was down in Miami"
"So you asked for me and Jack?"
"Yes. I assumed the device would be computer related so Jack was the best man for that, and you have the ability to blend into anywhere"
"Hell Ranger, you mean you didn't have anything more when we boarded that flight?"
"No. I was given the file as I boarded and had to leave it when we disembarked"
"Shit Ranger, all they gave us was a name and a rendezvous"
I could understand now why Ranger had acted the way he had before leaving. Tank had said that as well, that Ranger was worried about this one before he went. Tank had said he was too quiet and would disappear for hours at a time. Maybe worrying about it was why he'd seemed distant. All Ranger would say to Tank was that it wasn't the usual and that he'd obviously spent time with his lawyer putting his affairs in order which only made Tank worry as to what he was being asked to do. Something was bothering me though and I wanted to know the answer.
"Ranger, why were you so worried about this mission?"
He turned to me, his eyes were so intense as they looked at me.
"The lack of information, how it was set up as a clandestine operation. It felt like we were being used as a distraction for something else happening. It felt like a suicide mission, and that we were being made the scapegoats"
"The man you met with, did you know who he was?"
"No. He knew my code name and told me his name after I identified myself. Troy did you see what happened to Seang?"
"I watched as he spoke with you and then there was gunfire. I'm sure I saw him go down"
"He did. Then I took cover just as the explosions happened"
"Yeah, come to think of it those explosions seemed almost too well timed. I ended up too close to one and the whole damn floor collapsed from under me"
"Troy when you came to was there any sign of Seang?"
I had to ask because from what they were saying it sounded as though someone was waiting for Ranger and the two men to turn up. What I couldn't understand was were they there to get hold of the disc or make sure that Ranger got it.
"No, no one was there, hell even Jack's body had gone as well"
"Ranger did the shooting start after Seang gave you the drive?"
Both Ranger and Troy looked at me, probably thinking through what I'd asked.
"No. In fact the drive was dropped onto the ground as all hell let lose, I managed to grab it before rolling away. I managed to scramble away from the explosions but was dazed. I found myself underneath rocks, just like you Troy. When I felt it was safe, I went back, but there was no one there"
That had me wondering if the other people were after the drive and took Seang thinking he still had it on him and only realized that Ranger had it afterwards. The problem I was having was working out where Maia and Juan fit into this. Juan obviously knew why Ranger was there, so was he after the drive for someone else?
"We need to talk to Juan"
Okay it was a statement from me that was a gut reaction to what we knew.
"Why's that Babe?"
"He knew why you were there but maybe not where you were meeting Seang. There are so many scenarios of what could have happened. He could have followed you, but then the explosives wouldn't have been in place. You met up with him afterwards, but he never tried to take the drive from you, but I think he might be a link to what's going on. He knows too much"
I watched as Troy looked at Ranger, as the pair of them thought through what I'd said. I'd expected a heated argument from both of them and was surprised when it was Troy who spoke out first.
"She's right. Juan is involved in this somehow and maybe we need to find out just how much"
Ranger nodded his head at Troy and as he stood up from the chair, I could see the change in him, he seemed more focused now, as though getting information from Juan would give him the answers he needed.
"I'll call a meeting in 20, main area"
I left the room and followed Ranger as he went through to the main living area. He shouted out to those still there "Meeting in 20" before picking up the laptop that I'd been working on. I sat down next to him as he read through the information that I'd collected worrying whether or not I'd be included in any of the plans that were going to be made.
"I have a set of ids that we could use"
He turned and looked at me, I'm sure he hadn't figured out yet that I'd found an the ids for both of us that he'd hidden in the vault.
"What ids?"
"For a Mr and Mrs. Pardo"
"You found them?"
I nodded my head caught by being pleased that I'd found them and embarrassed that Id looked through his things in the vault. His lips twitched as though to smile and then pulled me to him.
"Then we have a way to travel and access to money"
That gave me hope that I was going to be included in the plans.
"What about the others?"
"I'm sure knowing Santos he'll have brought some false papers for everyone. He wouldn't have used his own name in case it left a trail"
As we spoke, I could see that Bobby and Lester were taking a seat at the table and Troy had just walked into the room. From the silence I wasn't too sure how much they trusted him and was sure that one of the men would stay close to him, just in case. Sitting down at the table Ram joined us and from a look from Ranger it was obvious that he'd asked Ram to do something.
"Anything to report?"
"Tank says things in Trenton have quietened down, though he still thinks he has people keeping surveillance"
"Hector?"
"No breaches and Miami have upped surveillance on Julie"
Shit, I hadn't even considered that being on alert meant that Ranger's family would also be included. That was stupid of me because of course they could be targets, they were people Ranger might go to or people who could be targeted by any enemies of Ranger's just like I could be. I focused back into the conversation as Ranger told everyone what he'd planned to do next.
"We're going to find Juan"
"Makes sense. Where do we start to look for him?"
That had me remembering the conversation that I'd overheard between Juan and Maia when I was eavesdropping outside of their shack.
"Juan said that he was going to go to Phnom Penh and when I overheard him talking with Maia, he said that he needed to go back to where it had happened"
"Then that's where we'll go, Phnom Penh. We find the woman Maia because I think she may have some answers"
"Why her, apart from her maybe knowing where Juan is?"
I could hear the puzzlement in Lester's questions and knew that it was only Ranger and me who knew who she was. I was going to leave Ranger to explain everything.
"Steph may have found a link between her and the man, Seang. Anything else Santos?"
"That company Ronteah, they are well hidden. Hector and Silvio are trying to chase down who is in charge but they are using numerous shell companies to cover themselves with"
"Keep following Ronteah, I'm sure they will have made a simple mistake, maybe through supplies they bought and then they can follow the money"
That had me thinking of what might be useful and instead of saying anything I stood up from the table and went to the bedroom to retrieve my camera. When I came back the camera was switched on, so I found the photo of the helicopter that I'd taken from the lake and showed it to Les.
"Could this help?"
As he looked at it, I could see his eyes light up.
"Beautiful, you are a genius. Yes, I should be able to get something from this"
"What is it?"
"A photo of the helicopter Ronteah used, Bobby"
"And you managed that how?"
I could almost see the surprise in Bobby's eyes as he asked me that making me realize that I hadn't told the guys of anything that had happened to me between leaving Trenton and being rescued by Juan.
"I was on the lake when it flew over so took the opportunity to take some photos"
"Okay then, we need to get to the capital. Santos do you have false ids?"
"Yes. We all have. I even got one made up for Beautiful for taking her back home"
"Keep that one back in case we still need it. Steph has ids for her and me, so we'll use those. We need to travel separately so as not to draw attention. Troy?"
"I've got some id"
That decided, Ranger allocated jobs to different men. Bobby, Ram and Troy would take one of the cars and drive while Ranger, Les and I would take the other one. We needed to be sure that we weren't seen on the road together and arrive at different times at the meeting place. I wasn't too sure how long it would take to get to Phnom Penh but from what I was hearing Ranger was trying to ensure that we had somewhere to meet up at. I helped to repack everything back into boxes as the men hauled them out into the trucks.
It took longer than I thought it would and we agreed that we needed to eat some food before we left. It was decided not to take any of the food that had been bought because the choice of eating places in the capital would be more than enough to meet our needs. As I sat and ate stir fried noodles and vegetables, I was really hoping that there was more choice where we were going. I would have given anything at that moment to eat a doughnut or even a tasty cake.
As we eventually set off there was just Ranger and me in the car, the others I think decided that we needed time to talk and be alone together. Pulling away and driving down the bumpy track I was surprised when I saw a beat up truck parked on the side of the road.
"That wasn't there when we came here"
"Troy's. He's going to pick it up on the way past and then leave it in the nearest town with the keys inside"
I had no idea if someone would take advantage of it not but to be honest, I knew that I didn't much care. As long as it couldn't draw attention to us then Troy could do what he wanted with it.
As we drove, I was wondering if Juan had found his car that I'd left by the beach but then decided that he probably had or had found another way to get him and Maia back to Phnom Penh.
"You're quiet Babe"
I turned to look at Ranger seeing that he was focusing on driving and realized that he was right. Normally I would hate travelling for long distances and would want to fill the silence by talking.
"I, err, borrowed Juan's truck and was wondering if he'd found it"
"Borrowed?"
"He told me he was going to take me to the States and put me in a safe house. I wasn't going to let that happen, so I used it to get to the nearest town"
"What were you planning to do?"
"I hadn't decided. I just wanted to get far away from them"
"It could have been dangerous Babe"
"I know, but something just drew me to Siem Reap"
I stopped talking as I tried to find the words to explain the emotions and feelings that had overtaken me and how much I had come to rely on them.
"Before Tank told me that you'd gone missing and then was, gone. I couldn't sleep. You were always there in my dreams. It was as if I knew that something had happened to you. After reading that letter, I felt that I had to do something and talked myself into thinking it was to get back at whoever had hurt you. I suppose you were my anchor that kept me in Trenton so I did what I always do"
"Followed a hunch?"
"I suppose, maybe I knew that I wouldn't have any idea how to find any information and maybe subconsciously I was waiting for someone to find me"
"They could have killed you Babe"
"I didn't care, I wanted to quench the feeling of revenge. Then my heart took control. Grandma said to follow my heart and I knew that I had to find you"
"Your Grandma?"
Okay, I could see that maybe for Ranger he'd have difficulty understanding just how much she'd helped me but to be honest she'd always played that role in my life.
"I fell to pieces Ranger. Everyone tried to pull me out of it, but Grandma told me that in my heart I would know if you were dead or alive. I didn't feel you at the cemetery"
Ranger's hand moved from the steering wheel and took hold of mine, as though to have some contact with me.
"Babe, all I could think about when I was in that cell was you. That I might never see you again, so I would allow myself to remember. Remember your face, your eyes and hair and even the feel of touching you.
"I dreamt that you were with me"
That just slipped out, but I was too embarrassed to say that they were erotic dreams
"What happened with Morelli?"
That was a question that threw me, and I wasn't sure how to answer but knew that Ranger would need to know that Joe was totally out of the picture and I wanted to reassure him of that.
"We were drifting apart before you left and then after that incident with Dougel he was adamant that I gave up bounty hunting and any association with you and the guys. That wasn't going to happen, but it had me realizing that I needed to stop any ties to him. It was after I'd brought in a skip and he'd said that I'd messed up a case he was working on, well that was the final straw for me"
"Was he still bothering you?"
"I think he still thought that I'd come around to his way of thinking, but we actually talked, no shouting or arguing. He understands where he stands now. I still met up with him for a meal as friends"
"Did you tell him about my letter?"
"No. It's in the vault with everything else"
"The package?"
"In the vault"
I was pleased at what I'd said, and that Ranger seemed placated by my answer. There was no way that I wanted to tell him about the whole incident with the FBI and my apartment or how Joe had treated me when he'd taken me to that cabin. It was in the past as far as I was concerned and best left that way. I decided to change the direction of the conversation seeing as my mind remembered that Ranger had gone to Miami.
"Did you get to see Julie?"
"Yes. I knew this mission was going to happen and needed to see her"
"How's she doing?"
"Good, she's growing into an intelligent and beautiful young woman. She said to thank you for her present"
I smiled at that knowing that she'd make good use of the iTunes voucher that I'd sent. The last time that I saw her hadn't been the best of times for either of us as I remembered us meeting next to the grave at the cemetery. I shuddered at the thought of that, remembering how distraught she had been. Ranger must have noticed because he gave my hand a squeeze.
"Babe?"
"Sorry just memories from when I was told that you were dead"
"I know. That's one regret that I have, my family and friends and the pain they went through. I also have a feeling that maybe it was Jack who was returned to the states"
I looked over to Ranger as he said that. I suppose I should have known that it was something that he'd thought about. I squeezed his hand to let him know that I understood how that might make him feel.