Chapter 37

I was aware that Ranger had come to bed that night but to be honest it was so late and I was so tired from everything that happened that I think he only got a moan from me as he slipped into bed. I didn't appreciate it when he had woken me up at some unearthly in the morning I really needed to sleep longer.

"Babe. I need to leave"

That had me wake up quickly as I realized what he meant. He was leaving me and disappearing again. Maybe it was my expression that gave me away or even the tears that came to my eyes, but Ranger sat down next to me on the bed and pulled me to him.

"It won't be for long Babe, I'll be back with you as quickly as I can, but it has to happen this way"

"I know. I'll miss you"

And I'd worry like crazy in case anything happened to him.

"Santos knows what to do, he'll make sure that you're safe"

I knew that, but it wasn't the same as having Ranger next to me.

"Let's get some breakfast"

Apparently, he and Troy had contacted their handler so were on other flights heading to Washington. I suppose that they'd have time to get their stories right with each other before having to go to what they called a debrief.

As I'd walked through the house and entered the kitchen, I was surprised that there was nothing to see that would even hint that we'd been there. I supposed that sorting things out included removing any of the equipment we'd brought, and I didn't want to know what had happened to the two men that had been found inside the house the previous evening. It did have me wondering how they'd found us, so I decided to broach the subject and hope they'd leave the gory bits out.

Ranger, Les and Troy were the only ones in the kitchen and as I'd entered Ranger had walked up to me and just held me. I suppose maybe even Ranger was nervous with what was going to be happening.

"How did those men find us here?"

"The trucks that we rented from Siem Reap"

I was surprised when Les suddenly took over the explanation and judging from the tone that he used he was annoyed.

"Seems the rental company were all too happy to give someone access to the damn GPS trackers"

I would never have thought that the trucks would have had those, but I suppose they were expensive trucks, and the company wouldn't want for them to be stolen or not returned. I was just surprised that the guys hadn't disabled them, maybe that was why Les was annoyed, he was annoyed at himself for overlooking it.

"Where are Ram and Bobby?"

I asked suddenly realizing that they weren't here with us.

"They took the trucks back on their way to the airport. They're travelling back via a different route"

Came from Troy. I suppose it made sense for that to happen, it just felt so strange that we were going our separate ways.

It wasn't until after we'd all eaten some breakfast and tidied up the kitchen that Ranger and I had some time to ourselves. I was just packing some things into my small rucksack, the clothes and everything else weren't going back so I'd put them with the rest of the garbage.

"Babe, everything will be okay"

"I know"

Because I really hoped that it would be for when he got to Washington. I wasn't going to add to his worries with mine, he had enough to get through without that.

"Santos will take care of you until you get back to Trenton"

"Les and I'll have to come up with a story, so people won't get suspicious of where I've been"

"You'll need to tell people you've been somewhere sunny, your skin is well tanned"

"I suppose, Ranger?"

There were so many things that I wanted to say, wanted him to know but he must have sensed what I was feeling. Instead of words it was the way that he had held me and kissed me that conveyed so much more. My body was molded to his as our mouths explored each other, and I wanted so much for him to know how much I loved him and would really miss him.

"I'll be with you as soon as I can. I have to go"

"Don't get shot"

Came from my lips as he moved toward the door and I heard his reply "Don't go crazy" as he disappeared from sight.

Flying back to the States wasn't as boring as it had been flying out. I had Les with me, so he made sure that I was kept entertained. We had set off mid morning that day with a stop in Seoul, South Korea and weren't that far from our final destination, New York City. The closer the time came to our arrival time the more nervous I got. And no, it wasn't the thought of landing that was causing that.

I had no idea where I was going to stay. I didn't think it was particularly fair on Eula to just turn up at my apartment, we may have set off in the morning from Phnom Penh but with New York being 12 hours behind it was late evening there. I suppose my parents might not mind letting me sleep in my old room for a couple of nights until I got sorted out.

As I thought that through though I realized that there could still be people looking for me. I didn't want to bring any trouble to anyone so maybe I'd be better off just finding a cheap hotel to hide out in. Then there was the whole issue of a job. I was pretty sure that Vinnie would have scaled down who he gave bonds to by now and that would have been by losing the low bonds. Those being the ones that I relied on to pay my rent and groceries.

That had me focusing on the whole dynamic between Ranger and me. If I didn't want people to know that I'd been with him then we'd have to show to the world that we were just friends, like we had been before he'd left. I think that was what was worrying me the most.

I followed Les as we left the plane and as we headed toward passport control. Okay, I was relying on the passport passing inspection, it had done when I'd flown out. Yeah, I was Lilian Aspenall returning home from my holiday abroad. We had no luggage to collect so walked through customs and out into the arrivals area. I wasn't too sure what was happening after that but was hoping that Les had organized a ride home for me back to Trenton.

"Beautiful, I'll head back with Tank. Your ride will be waiting for you just outside"

Having said that Les just seemed to disappear amongst the crowds leaving me on my own. I had absolutely no idea who would be here to meet me and I was starting to feel abandoned. I knew it had to be that way, leaving the airport with Les would have raised suspicions and I was sure there'd be someone looking through the video footage.

Once outside I looked around at the cars parked up waiting to pick people up, imagine my surprise when I spied Hector stood next to a bright blue Porsche Cayenne.

I was soon sat in the passenger seat and was waiting for Hector to ask me where I wanted to go. When he didn't ask, I just assumed he'd take me to my apartment, which was somewhere I didn't want to go.

"Hector, I think the only place I can stay is probably a hotel"

I thought he glanced at me as he drove, but he didn't say anything to what I'd said. I made myself comfortable as we travelled but with it being so dark outside, I wasn't too sure of where we were. I was warm in the car, with the heating on, and was soon dozing with my head against the window, the passing lights adding to the relaxed feeling.

I was aware of the car taking corners and stopping and starting but to be honest the longer that I didn't see those familiar sights of Trenton then the happier I would be. As I felt the car come a stop again, I was aware that Hector had switched off the engine. I bent down to get hold of my rucksack and turned to open the door. Of course, Hector was already there holding out his hand to help me down. As I started to get out from the car, I was aware that it seemed darker than usual and actually stopped all movement to take a look around.

I had no idea where I was as I took in the scene around me. Okay it was dark but there was nothing that I recognized.

"Estefania. It's cold out here, let's get inside"

Beyond Hector was a dim light that shone out and in the under hang was the outline of a door. I watched as Hector punched in a series of numbers that I assumed was part of the security system and then walked through the door waiting for him to join me. I wanted to know where we were and seeing as Hector wasn't saying anything then I guessed it was up to me.

"Hector, where am I?"

Instead of answering me he just kept on walking, turning on lights as we entered a large open living space. The place took my breath away with the polished wooden floors and the modern furniture set around the area. To one side was a kitchen with pale wooden doors set underneath a black marble worktop with a section jutting out with stools underneath. The other side of the room had two leather couches and a pale wooden coffee table in between them. In fact the pale wood theme continued with book cases and shelves, all of them filled with things that I knew I wanted to look at.

"Hector"

I began to say but was cut off as he held up his hand.

"Estefania, it was arranged as Ranger asked. Do you not want to be here?"

Ranger and I had never discussed what would happen when I got back home. Maybe he knew how I was trying to avoid thinking about. That Ranger had organized somewhere for me to stay sent a warm feeling through me.

"Yes, but where exactly am I?"

I was becoming frustrated at the lack of information I was getting. I mean, was this place a safe house and if it was why wouldn't Les tell me about it? The internal argument I was having with myself took a different direction. It was then that I was sure about staying here. It could be ages before Ranger came back but on the other hand, I could hide out here and no one would know that I was back in the area. And you know what? I felt safe here whether it was a safe house or just one that had been rented. I looked up to see Hector smiling at me before he continued to answer my question.

"This is Ranger's house. Only a few people know of it. That's why I was asked to meet you at the airport and bring you here"

Did he just say Ranger's house? I couldn't believe it. It had always been a sticking point between Ranger and me, whether he actually had a house where he went to outside of the apartment in the Rangeman building. Was I really standing here in the Batcave?

"Estefania, I'm sure that Ranger wanted you stay here but if you don't want to do that then I can take you somewhere else"

"No, no I'll stay. I just didn't like the idea of maybe being in a safe house"

Did Hector just sigh as he looked at me before he carried on.

"Good. The security system is activated at the front and rear doors and there is a room where the camera feeds can be monitored"

"Will I be here on my own?"

I wasn't too sure if I was comfortable with that especially if someone did work out where I was. On the other hand, being on my own meant that I could fully explore the place and not feel too guilty.

"No. I am staying with you, but I will use the annex next door. I only have access to the outside cameras and motion detectors"

Did I want that to happen all of the time? No, not really.

"Hector, I don't want to be on my own. I mean, could we maybe spend mealtimes together? And what about food?"

"Estefania go look around. Get some sleep and I will see you in the morning"

As he said that I did feel tired, probably too tired to fully appreciate what was here so as Hector disappeared through a back door, I found the open spiral staircase that took me onto the next floor. There were four doors as I reached the hallway, so I opened each one to have a look inside. Each room looked to be a bedroom, nicely furnished in subtle colors but not nice enough that I thought any of them was the master bedroom. That had me wondering if Ranger thought I'd sleep in one of those but to be honest I had every intention of sleeping in his bed here. After all I'd always been welcome at his apartment so how was this any different. It was the next door that I opened when I knew I'd found the master bedroom. It was large, and was at the back of the house, though what I would see during daylight still eluded me. There was a large bed where I felt the sheets as I walked past, happy that they were just as good as the ones on seven and noticed that here there was probably more furnishings. A throw on the bottom of the bed and matching cushions with paintings hung up on the wall.

What intrigued me the most though was a picture frame by the side of the bed which of course I had to look at. I was surprised when I saw the same picture of Ranger and me that Hector had given to me that I'd sat by my bed. It helped to ease my concerns over what might happen in the few weeks that we'd be apart because Ranger had that here before he went away and that meant that he'd been thinking about me even then.

I replaced the frame and went over to one of the doors opposite the bed surprised at the size of the bathroom that opened up in front of me. A large tub that seemed to have jets, a double walk in shower and a vanity unit that held two sinks. Here the tiles were greyer, with black definition, on the floor and part way up the wall. What made me curious though was the array of hair and skin products. All of them new and possibly expensive. I left the bathroom to look into the double doors next, not surprised that it was a closet. What did surprise me was the array of women's clothing inside, but again all were new and in my size. Curious as to how they got there I decided that tomorrow would be soon enough to find out. Besides there was only Hector here to ask and he probably wouldn't know.

After a quick shower and dressing in a T-shirt and shorts that I'd found in the closet I was all too happy to slip between the sheets on the bed. As I lay there, I couldn't help but wonder how Ranger was and where he was. If his bosses were giving him a hard time because they didn't believe the story that he was going to be telling them or if he would manage to persuade them to his way of thinking. I remembered that he'd told me that this was to be his last mission so then started to worry that because this hadn't gone as they'd planned whether they'd expect him to do another.

Of course, I couldn't sleep, my body was telling me it was morning and even though I felt tired there was no way that sleep would come. All I was doing was rolling thoughts through my head and ideas of what I could do while I was here. I found a robe on the back of the door and went down the staircase into the living area. It was dark and as I reached the lower floor decided that I'd switch on a light, there was no point in hurting myself by tripping over something. After making some coffee, I know not the best thing to drink, I decided to find that room that Hector had mentioned. There was no other door from the living area, so I made my way back into the entrance way. I suppose because I was so keen to get inside when I'd arrived, I hadn't noticed the two doors to the side. The first one I opened was into the garage and I noticed the car that we'd arrived in parked inside.

The second door opened into a large room that felt more like an office. There was a long desk to one side with several computers on, all showing different views of the outside of the house, but I was more interested in the large wooden desk sat opposite it. It was so obvious from how tidy it was that this was where Ranger would work. The same theme with the pens and pencils arranged next to the monitor. I sat down on the leather chair and just looked at the monitor asking myself if I wanted to do this now.

In the end I bent down and switched on the power of the computer and waited for the monitor to come alive. Of course, it asked for a password, so I entered the same one for the laptop that I'd used in his apartment. When that didn't work, I tried the sequence for the vault, disappointed again. I didn't think that he'd use birthdays, those would be too obvious to use. In the end I gave up because I had no idea what word Ranger would use that wasn't obvious. Hell, he could have used a random combination of letters and numbers, like the ones that I'd used for that virus.

In the end I switched off the computer and the light to the room and made my way back to the living area. I thought maybe watching some TV might relax me, enough that maybe I'd fall asleep. I was part way across the lounge area when I heard the slight noise of fabric moving. Turning I saw a figure leant against the kitchen worktop and froze as a figure started to walk toward me.

"Estefania, what's wrong?"

Shit, Hector had scared me to death. I took a deep breath trying to calm myself before answering.

"You scared the shit out of me Hector"

"I saw lights coming on"

"Sorry, just me. I can't sleep"

"Jetlag?"

"It's the middle of the day as far as I'm concerned"

"Okay, I can understand that. The office?"

"I wanted to do some searches"

As if that was the most natural thing in the world to be doing at 2 o'clock in the morning. Hector just disappeared toward the front of the house making me wonder if he was going back to bed. Hearing a door close I turned and saw that he had returned with a laptop in his hands.

"Use this. I've already set up another password for you because I was sure that you'd want to use a computer"

"Is it safe to access my accounts?"

"As long as you don't add anything, no emails or posts or someone will work out that you're back"

That made sense to me and I didn't want that to happen. Hector showed me my password, smiling as he made me watch him push each key.

In my head I had a list of names that I wanted to find out more about. Seang Dara, Noah Coleman and let's not forget Juan Sullivan. Then there was Ronteah and Hisence though I doubted either of those would result in anything new, I knew that Ranger had tried and not succeeded. There was the elusive Jin Reyes, or Chan Roan as I first knew him as, because I still wasn't too sure about who he was. That had me thinking about what he'd said when he'd assured me that it hadn't been me who had blown his cover or messed up an FBI case. He'd said that Coleman had someone in the FBI who'd tipped him off and that was why the building had been emptied and Coleman had disappeared.

Maybe that was worth looking at first and I had a possible way to do it. Once into the site I wanted I input the email address and then the password. You may think I was going into an email account, and yes, I was, but it wasn't my email account. I just hoped that an alert didn't go out and Joe cottoned on to what was happening. Yeah, I knew Joe's login details all that was needed was his email address and a password. The email address was obvious and having seen the pad of paper with his passwords written down I knew those as well. Joe was a creature of habit and only used three different passwords. One for personal stuff, like Facebook or online sites, a second for more sensitive places like his bank or sites that remembered his card details. The third was for anything work related and included this email account.

In my mind I went back to the time when he'd been working with the FBI so scrolled down to the time period when I was looking for Chan Roan. I was looking for something that might have a link to the agents that he was working with. It always amazed me how government agencies always used such obvious email addresses because it wasn't difficult to find one that had been sent the day before I'd taken Chan into the station.

I opened up the email pleased when I saw that it had been copied to other agents as well as Joe. I wrote down the email addresses and who had sent it and started to read through what the email was saying. It was asking Joe to hit the streets and ask around about a prostitute who had been seen with the boss of Hisence. I seemed to remember that Joe had been to see me that night and him saying that he had work to do on the streets. It made me wonder who this woman might be and whether or not she was important.

What I wanted to know was if they had a name or a description for her that would have given Joe somewhere to start. I continued to scroll down the thread of emails but to be honest there was little more to be found. Most of them were giving times for meetings so no doubt that was when more detailed information would have been discussed. I signed out of the account not wanting to be on it any longer even though Joe probably wouldn't be awake for a while. The last thing that I remembered was looking at the names of the FBI agents on the sheet of paper and wondering if one of them was the one who had betrayed them.