Chapter 34

SPOV

Waking I had a gambit of feelings run through me. I could feel pain coming from my shoulder which should have made me concerned, but it was negated by a stronger feeling of being safe. Weird I know. As my eyes slowly started to open ,I recognized the décor of the bedroom that I'd been using but realized that I wasn't laid on my back or my front and what should have been a pillow was warm and solid and so familiar.

"How are you feeling Babe?"

Such a normal question but in the totally wrong setting. My eyes focused on the arm that was now draped over my hip, holding me in place as I curled against a warm body.

"How are you here?"

Okay, so not the welcome I wanted to say but still, I couldn't work out how Ranger was here laid next to me. Well under me.

"I will always find you Babe"

I suppose in my heart that I knew that, but then the guilt suddenly hit me. It had been me that had disappeared, me that had left like a thief in the night, yet Ranger had still found me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do"

"I know everything. I understand why you felt that you had to leave. Maybe I would have done the same"

I lifted my head and looked up into those beautiful brown eyes to try and figure out if he was telling me the truth. The fact that he was smiling down at me told me that maybe he wouldn't have done as I'd done.

"We both need to work at talking to each other, learn to trust each other"

I suppose that he was right and me talking to Ranger might have avoided me coming here. Then again if I hadn't come here then Lucas wouldn't have found out that Ranger was innocent, and it had been McCann who was responsible for Antonella's death.

"That was a lot of thinking Babe"

"Sorry, I know what you're saying is right but if I hadn't come here then Lucas wouldn't have found out that it had been McCann who shot his fiancé"

"But if you'd come to me, we could have given him the original report and video of what happened"

Shit, he had me there, but would we have known that it was Lucas that we needed to talk to?

"I read through those searches that you'd started, and they helped put the pieces together. That was how I knew where you were"

I hadn't even started with those so had no idea what they had revealed but was glad that they'd helped Ranger. I tried to snuggle closer but winced as a pain shot through my shoulder. I remembered being at the top of the stairs and McCann appearing in the hallway, then everything seemed jumbled as I tried to back away from him.

"Did I end up hurting myself when I fell down the stairs?"

As I said that I twisted my neck to the offending shoulder, surprised to see a bandage stuck over it.

"Not that I know. McCann got a shot off at you and caught you in the shoulder"

That had me looking back at Ranger suddenly afraid that he was now out there somewhere.

"McCann?"

"Leneghan shot him to save you, he's dead Babe"

Was it wrong of me to feel relieved that the man was dead? I would never have wanted that to have happened because of me. For some reason my head was doing a flip, did Ranger just say Leneghan?

"Leneghan, why do I know that name?"

"Tali is Lucas's sister"

I know I was frowning after hearing that and was tearing through my mind for the thoughts that I'd had the night before.

"She'd talked Lucas into the idea that if you were to die then it would be a more appropriate method of revenge"

I looked back up at Ranger remembering what my instincts had been saying about Tali.

"Everyone has been trying to get what they wanted from this. Lucas wanted closure and he thought he'd get that by killing the man responsible for shooting Antonella. McCann wanted revenge because he saw you as the man who had screwed up his life. Then there was Tali. She couldn't let her brother kill you so persuaded him that doing to you what was done to him would be a better form of revenge. With me out of the way she would think that she could take my place with you. She's infatuated with you"

I looked away as I said the last part because I was really worried that if he knew that then he might think that she was a better partner for him as well. Hell, she was beautiful and certainly matched Ranger with her skills. I felt my chin being lifted and suddenly those lips that I loved so much were against mine, teasing until I couldn't resist. As I tried to move my arm up and around his neck, I felt his hand holding my wrist, stopping any movement but it didn't deter me from tasting and teasing him.

I felt him tense slightly before pulling away from me a gun suddenly appearing out of nowhere and only then did I hear the sound at the door. Ranger turned to me and pulled up the sheet that had slipped down just as the door opened and Les and Bobby walked in.

I know I was probably smiling as wide as they were but was totally surprised when Les was suddenly leant over me, hugging me and whispering in my ear.

"I was so worried about you Beautiful"

"I'm sorry Les,"

I was almost in tears as it hit me how much I'd worried people that I loved. I had never wanted that to happen, I did it to protect them. As Les pulled away Bobby took his place, but he was far more aware of the bandage on my shoulder so was gentler as he held me.

"I spoke with the doctor as he was leaving, so I'll keep an eye on that wound"

Ranger hadn't moved away from me and his arm had snaked behind me holding the sheet up almost to my neck, what was wrong with him? I could tell by the expressions from Les and Bobby that Ranger was obviously giving them a message, to leave the room. As the door closed, I sat up and my right hand went to my left arm, it felt as though that arm wouldn't do as I wanted, and I realized it was probably because of the wound. I looked down as cool air blew across my heated skin and panicked at seeing my bare skin, my breasts on full view. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, I felt so embarrassed. No wonder Ranger had been so keen to keep me covered up.

"I have no clothes on"

Okay, that was pretty obvious, though as I squirmed I sure as hell hoped those were panties that I was feeling. I watched as Ranger leaned over me his lips grazing my breasts sending fire through me as my nipples turned hard. I closed my eyes expecting more and reopened them when nothing else happened. In front of me was a glass of water and a couple of tablets.

"That was cruel"

I said as I swallowed the tablets down with some of the water.

"Too tempting to ignore"

No, he was too tempting laid down in the bed next to me especially seeing as I was already undressed. I leant over him and started to try and pull open the velcro fasteners of his vest when he stopped me, a feeling of disappointment rushing through me.

"Babe, you've just been shot, and no doubt Santos or Brown are right outside the door"

I was sure that I pouted at hearing that but knew that he was right.

"Babe, I love you and only you. We have all the time in the world, I promise"

"I love you too Carlos"

I whispered back, loving the way that his eyes turned black. Maybe I needed to call him Carlos more often if that was the effect that it had on him, only when we were alone together though. It would be too weird to call him that in company.

When Carlos left the bed, I was surprised when he started to unpack some clothes that were meant for me and even more surprised when he helped me from the bed and started to pull a T-shirt over my head. After carefully holding my arm to help get it through the sleeve he was then bending down and pulling jeans up and over my hips.

"A bra will hurt your shoulders so wear this and it won't be as obvious"

I watched as he brought out a large triangular shawl and draped it around my shoulders before tying it below my breasts, yeah it covered me well and didn't feel too hot. I wasn't too sure what was happening next but with my hand in his we exited the bedroom. He'd been right because Bobby was stood there as though guarding the door, though he probably was. We found Les sat outside in the courtyard looking to all intents and purposes as though he was enjoying the fresh air, but I could tell that he was constantly scanning the area. A voice behind me had me turning to see Lucas walking toward us so I assumed the time had come to settle things with him.

"You look much better Stephanie"

I nodded my head, trying to find the words to thank him, it seemed such a strange thing to have to do to a man who had kidnapped me. That was when I remembered that he'd never explained about the poison.

"Lucas, thank you for stopping McCann from shooting me"

As he sat down with us at the table, he was shaking his head at me.

"No. What I did was wrong, and I'll do everything I can to make amends"

Okay now was the opportunity to ask the questions that I needed answers to, though I was concerned how Ranger would react when he heard about the possibility that I had actually been poisoned.

"Lucas, did you actually poison me?"

Both Carlos and Les sat forward but the fact that they never said anything had me believe that maybe they knew about the threat that eventually brought me here.

"Yes. You never displayed any symptoms though and when you told me about your experience inhaling the white demon, I ran some tests. It seems that the white demon gave you immunity, your body broke down the poison rendering it harmless"

"White demon?"

I'd never heard that name before and whilst assuming it was the drug that we'd come across in Trenton was curious what it was.

"I was able to synthesize a plant extract hoping that it would provide a new drug to help with the treatment of Parkinson Disease. It had adverse effects, but McCann insisted if it was added to cocaine, it would provide a new designer drug that could be distributed. That was when he started to hatch his plan to use it in Trenton"

"What will you do with that new drug now?"

Was what Les was interested in and I agreed, the idea of that drug, white demon, being out on the streets was pretty scary, hell cocaine on its own was bad enough.

"The process to manufacture it has been destroyed. I was never happy with what it was being used for. I burnt that section of the plant down to the ground this morning"

My eyes shot open, and I just stared at Lucas puzzled why he would have done that. Ranger and Les were nodding their heads as though they agreed with his actions.

"Stephanie, everything that had happened, it ran away with me, took control of me. When I got to know you better you could say that I came to my senses. Ellie, Antonella, would have hated what I was doing. You reminded me of her, your determination to be your own person, to help others, the way you open up yourself to others. What was happening needed to stop"

I was actually beginning to warm to Lucas, was that wrong? I hoped not. He'd been in a dark place so maybe now he'd found the closure that had eaten away at him and maybe someone like him would eventually find some illusive cures against some of the diseases that inflicted man.

"What about Jackson and Garner?"

Yeah what about them? I have to say that I was frightened of Garner, he gave the term mercenary a whole new definition. To me he seemed cold and ruthless with no moral principles, I hated the idea that he was out there somewhere and might hold a grudge against Ranger or me, or even Lucas.

"Jackson, well it seems he double crossed the García cartel. He reneged paying them for a shipment of cocaine, so they have him in their sights. I haven't seen or heard from him for a while. Garner, he did what he was paid to do, no questions asked because to him it was just a job. I terminated our contract. He was well paid and told me that he was going to some place in Africa to work"

I thought that through and actually felt that all those lose ends had been tied off. If I was right in what I'd interpreted from Lucas, then Jackson was probably on borrowed time and to be honest if he ever turned up, I wouldn't feel bad about tipping off the cartel where he was. As for Garner, it was sad really that the man had become so dark and damaged that his life was centered on doing such violent work for money.

I had Les sat on one side of me and Ranger on the other and felt Ranger's arm come around my shoulder. I leant over to rest my head on his shoulder feeling safe for the first time in ages.

RPOV

I felt Steph relax against me so made sure that she was secure against me, even with the arms of the chair between us. I had one arm around her, making sure that I avoided touching her shoulder and held her head against my chest because I was sure that she would be asleep very soon. Lucas Leneghan seemed to have covered all the bases. I'd researched the financials of the company that he part owned, Ecolet, and discovered that it was very profitable and that Leneghan was actually a very wealthy man. Only time would tell if he truly had changed, and I would make sure that we kept an eye on him. I wouldn't be trusting him any time soon.

There were still unanswered questions from Trenton, but I wasn't going to push Leneghan for any answers. I had no idea how he would react if he thought that I was going to be confronting his sister. What needed to happen now was for us to get back to Trenton with a very good plan as to how we confronted Tali because I think she had been responsible for a lot more than we had even thought about. Thinking of getting back to Trenton had me realizing that the jet was several hours away, and I didn't like the idea of driving a truck along those roads again especially with Steph travelling with us. I turned to Santos as someone who could probably arrange for the jet to collect us from the airport here in Guamuchil.

"Santos can you arrange for the jet to collect us from the local airport?"

Santos nodded his head and then left us to walk further into the courtyard where he could have private conversation. I was hoping that it would be easy to arrange and that we would soon be on our way home. My thoughts were interrupted by Leneghan so I looked up to see him watching me.

"Can I offer you something to eat?"

I shook my head, not wanting to overstay our visit or delay our departure. There was food on the plane which would be sufficient for our journey home.

"Thank you but no. We need to return home as soon as possible"

Thankfully Santos returned to the table cutting off the need to continue the conversation.

"On its way. He needs to refuel before we take off but expects wheels up in an hour"

"Let the men know that we'll be leaving in twenty minutes"

There was no reason for us to remain here with Leneghan and to be honest being at the airport would probably be a safer option. This compound was far too open for my liking and he had very few men guarding the place. The area we were in was definitely controlled by the cartels and if they were looking for Jackson then I didn't want to be here if they decided to visit.

Two hours later we were in the air safely flying back over Mexico toward the States. While the men had ensured that all of our equipment was safely packed in the trucks and then stowed on the plane, I spent my time with Steph in my arms. She never woke properly as I sat waiting for the trucks or during the drive to the airport. The only time she stirred was as we were boarding the plane but soon settled as once again I held her as I took a seat ready for takeoff.

"What happens when we get back home?"

Tank was the one who started that conversation because we all knew that we needed a plan. What I wasn't too sure was whether the men really understood Tali's involvement and what had motivated her. It was time for me to divulge my thoughts and for us to decide how to move forward.

"There are a number of events that we still don't have answers for. The murders of Manning and Jayce, the arson at the museum and who shot Charlie Watson"

As I looked around at the men their silence indicated to me that they didn't have any ideas.

"What if we look at a motive?"

I nodded at Ram, pleased that he had thrown in that suggestion because it gave me an opportunity to open up the discussion.

"Let's start with Charlie Watson. We know Manning was there, but he denied shooting Watson. Why would anyone try to kill Watson if they wanted him to tell them what he knew?"

"They wouldn't, they'd rough him up or threaten him, so he'd tell them what he knew"

All this time I'd never really seen it that way. Hell, it was only after Steph had told me that I knew that Watson might have information that other people would want. Looking at it now from a different perspective shooting him took on a different meaning.

"So who ever shot him intended to kill him. It would shut him up, but I don't see why they would want to do that if they wanted to know where the information was"

I looked over to Tank as he said that wondering if anyone else would take their thinking to where mine had gone. It was Hector who sat forward looking around as though the rest were stupid.

"To frame Estefania"

That was met with absolute silence, but it seemed so logical to me. Framing Steph would fit right in with their plans, and I was sure that I knew who was responsible. I changed to the next incident quickly now that I had them thinking and considering the why and hoping it would lead to the who.

"Manning"

"He knew too much or he was getting greedy"

"But he was trained, he wouldn't ignore a threat"

"He knew the person then"

Again it was Hector who was several steps ahead of the rest of them.

"He knew who shot Watson"

I raised my eyebrow at Hector acknowledging that he'd probably caught on to where I was going with this. I mean how did I say that Tali was responsible and give the asinine reason that it was because she had delusions of replacing Steph.

"The fire at the museum"

"To destroy the merchandise"

"Not many people knew it was there"

"The mob?"

Came from Ram as a possible culprit to which I shook my head.

"Ramos thought that it was me and thanked me"

"Shit, it had nothing to do with the stuff stored there. It was because Beautiful was there"

I sat back and swept my hand down and through Steph's hair, she'd be mortified if she realized that a lot of what had happened was because of her well probably because of me I suppose.

"That bitch Tali has a lot to answer for"

The voice that came from my arms wasn't sleepy or tired, it reminded me of when Steph had confronted Morelli at Rangeman. It was strong and sounded extremely pissed off.

"Hell, Beautiful, have you been listening all of this time?"

Steph slowly sat up and made to stretch her arms when she winced. That had Brown handing her a bottle of water and some tablets. I think everyone was watching her as she took a drink and swallowed the tablets and then as she fidgeted on my knee until she could see everyone. I'm sure that my eyes closed for a fraction of a second at the feel of her cute little arse rubbing against me. Shit she had no idea how she could affect me.

"Estefania, what do you know?"

"She wants rid of me"

That had Tank frowning at Steph obviously he hadn't caught onto the reason yet, so I decided that instead of leaving it up to Steph to explain that I should be the one to explain.

"I think that she sees herself with me, as her partner or whatever. Okay, I slept with her the once early on when we were in the army, but it never happened again, and we went our different ways. I was outvoted in employing her and Jayce, but I insisted that they were employed at Boston. I always assumed that she was a lesbian because her and Jayce gave the appearance of being a couple and put up with her constant flirting and how she was always trying to get close to me. To be honest I found her personal comments and her use of my name more than annoying. I refused for her to be transferred to Trenton and wouldn't allow her to be involved in any high profile cases"

"I bet you ruined her for all other men"

Came as a whisper from Steph that only I could hear, a whisper that I was sure was Steph thinking out loud. Was that true? Hell, it was so long ago I couldn't imagine that.

"Ranger, what you're saying then, is that Tali killed Manning and possibly Jayce"

I nodded my head because it all made perfect sense to me. The only part that I couldn't work out was how she knew that Steph had her gun in her bag when she visited Watson.

"Hector, can you pull up those photos from the memory card that Steph found"

I watched as Hector opened his laptop and saw the thumbnails appear across the screen.

"Pull up the one with Morelli in"

I could feel Steph tense as I said that and felt her move and walk over to stand beside Hector, her gaze intent on the image that now covered the screen.

"I just assumed it was Terry Gilman, the blonde hair and sunglasses. But could it be Tali? Hector, can you do that program, you know, the one that compares features?"

Hector was smiling as Steph tried to describe the program, but I think that everyone understood where she was going with that. Morelli could never resist a beautiful woman which had me wondering if it had been Tali's suggestion that he plant Steph's gun in her bag. That would certainly fit in with what we'd been discussing.

"Jayce is dead?"

I had totally forgotten that Steph was unaware of what had happened after she'd disappeared and was not looking forward to having to tell her.

"Tali was in the van that was parked at the back of the bonds office"

Such a matter of fact statement from Steph that confirmed Tali's involvement. Manning and Jayce had both been murdered the same way which indicated that it was the same person responsible, and Jayce would never have expected it from Tali which was how her killer had been so close. I was wondering how Tali had managed to convince Jayce to come back down to Trenton. I knew why, Tali needed us to believe that Jayce was involved, to frame her.

"Tank, get hold of Tali and Jayce's time sheets"

I looked at Steph as she stayed next to Hector, in my head trying to decide what we would do when we returned to Trenton. I was worried sick that if Tali knew that she was alive then she'd have another go at Steph. If I had my way then I'd lock Steph up in my house where I knew she would be safe, but I knew that Steph would hate that and fight me on it. As I looked at her, she looked over to me, a frown on her face. It was almost as if she was reading my mind.

"No, no safe house. I want to be part of taking her down. I deserve that after everything that she's put me through"

Yeah, she was reading my mind, but I suppose that she had a point in wanting to part of the planning.

"Okay, let's get down to business"