Chapter 37

SPOV

I almost felt nervous after Ranger left the house, leaving me with the Colonel and Emma. We spent some time going through the story of what the Colonel was going to be saying to the men at Rangeman. In some ways I was almost grateful for having that because I was feeling very guilty that most of the men still thought that I was dead. If the news from the house fire had broken, then I felt even more guilty because they would think that I'd avoided getting news to Rangeman. Lose, lose situation really without the fallback of the Colonel.

The story seemed plausible to me and I was sure that no one would dare question the Colonel, so we needed to make sure that we were both saying the same thing. According to what was going to be said, Garner had kidnapped me but was ordered to make it look as though I'd died in that fire at the house. He'd used a working girl at the house to give the impression that I was there but had then had second thoughts about leaving her there to burn to death. He'd made her wear a heavy coat and hat, similar to the ones that his men were wearing and had her getting into one of the trucks just before the explosion.

The Colonel was then going to inform the men that he knew what had been happening in Trenton because he had Manning working undercover. How that would go down I wasn't sure, I'm sure there would be feelings of guilt and probably annoyance. The Colonel had supported from a distance but knew that Manning was pulling out, insinuating that his murder could have been because his position had been compromised. There was also the probability of someone else involved, Garner had slipped up and mentioned a woman but didn't have an identity for her.

That would be when Ranger would imply that it could well have been Jayce. The Colonel and a team had ambushed Garner and that was when a deal had been struck. Garner to leave the country for my freedom. On the surface it seemed to be a good plan, Emma wouldn't be mentioned, and Ranger was going to get Les to take her upstairs to the apartment while the meeting was set up with the men. So why was I feeling so nervous?

Maybe because a lot was resting on my ability to get Tali to talk, to admit to what she had done and why. Simple, except I knew that Tali was devious and probably very dangerous. Add to that the fact that she would probably be pissed as hell and was definitely totally deranged and that was why I was probably feeling a bit nervous.

As we prepared ourselves for what was coming, I found myself talking to Emma more and found myself liking her. Had she been in love with Manning? Yeah, I think she had but because they'd been such good friends for so long it was only recently that they'd both acknowledged it to each other. That sounded familiar making me feel so glad that Ranger and I had done the same. I saw the side of Emma that would attract a man to her. She was funny and smart once her defenses dropped, but she was determined that Tali paid for what she'd done, who could blame her. Emma wasn't naïve at the predicament that Manning had got himself into and acknowledged that he was way above his head and should have got out sooner, probably never got involved in the first place. But that was in the past.

Leaving the house, we had a few surprises of our own.

I hated it as we approached Rangeman and drove into the garage. I knew that this was going to be one of the most important things that I'd ever done. Almost like taking on a role when I did a distraction, making sure that everything that I said and did was believable.

"Okay Stephanie?"

I looked over to the Colonel as we stood in the elevator and took in some deep breaths.

"You're gonna be fine"

I let the Colonel step from the elevator first, aware of how all sound stopped at his entrance. He did look pretty impressive in the uniform that he'd changed into and I was sure that the Merry Men would be in awe of the man who was now in their presence. I stepped next to him and that was when all hell seemed to break lose, shouts echoing down the hallway.

"Steph, you're here'

"Steph, we thought"

"Beautiful"

The shouts merged together as I felt myself being lifted and hugged, I felt small kisses on my cheeks and head, hands touching my arms to the point that I almost felt dizzy. An absolute silence penetrated my head and I watched as the men stepped to the sides of the hallway.

Looking up I saw Ranger stood just outside his office, staring at me. We both moved toward each other, totally oblivious of the men around us before I felt those strong arms around me and the familiar feel as his hands swept over me. I clenched my teeth to hide the fact that my shoulder was hurting and moved my arms around his neck. The kiss that followed might have been for show but not for me. I put every feeling that I had into that kiss and devoured the man in my arms. As I came up for air, I could have sworn that there were tears in Ranger's eyes, there certainly were in mine. I couldn't stop looking at him, at the smile on his face.

The sound of voices filtered through and turning I watched as the Colonel made his way toward us.

"I think I need to fill you in on what's happened"

It was Tank who opened the door to the room where staff meetings happened and slowly the men followed the Colonel into the room. Les wasn't there so I assumed that he was already upstairs with Emma but the last person to enter the room was just in the hallway looking at us, waiting for us. As we approached the door, our arms around each other, I could see the smile that Tali forced onto her face, yeah, she was pissed.

"I heard that you got away from that house, how did you manage that?"

Ranger tensed slightly as she began to talk but didn't respond to her, instead he walked us past her and into the room, taking us to the front where the Colonel was stood waiting. As Ranger sat down with me still in his arms, I looked across the room. It was packed, every man seemed to be here though the few who seemed to be missing I already knew where they'd be. Tali was the last person to enter the room and she stood at the back, with her arms folded over her chest just staring at me. I ignored her, I had to, no way was I going to let her know that I was onto her, though she must have been worried because we both knew that she'd been there when I'd got into that van. I actually wondered what excuse she'd come up with for that.

"Ladies and gentlemen. I know you've gone through a lot recently and I also know that seeing Stephanie here must be a bit of a shock, so I want to inform you of how that came about"

The Colonel had everyone's attention as he started to talk, his every word being listened to and absorbed. I was wrapped in Ranger's arms and too intent on the feel of him around me, the touches and soft kisses that he kept placing on my head and face. I heard the words being said but wasn't following their meaning until the name "Jayce" came to the lips of many of the men around us. I hated that we were defiling her name like this even though I knew that it was necessary but swore that when this was finished, I'd put that right. I really couldn't understand why she'd had to die, though if what I was learning about Tali was right, I was sure that it was because Jayce suspected something.

Further talking had me realizing that the Colonel had finished his speech and looking around I was aware as the men started to leave the room. It seemed the Colonel had been right in how to handle my return to Rangeman and I was feeling relieved with the way that I'd been welcome back.

"Are you ready Babe?"

I nodded my head at Ranger as we walked through the door aware of the hum of voices around us. The Colonel made a point of saying his farewells before turning to Ranger.

"Walk me to my car Manoso"

I waited for Ranger to turn to me, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

"Babe, I'll be up to the apartment as soon as the Colonel leaves"

As the elevator door slid open, I hesitated before walking inside, turning to Ranger and standing on my tip toes, I brushed my lips across his.

"Be careful"

Were his parting words as the doors slid closed and I felt the upward motion toward the seventh floor. I think that I was the most worried about getting from the elevator to the apartment in case Tali was there waiting to pounce on me. I breathed a sigh of relief once inside the apartment as I leant back against the door to close it. At least here, I knew that there were men hiding around somewhere and that Hector was watching through cameras. That caused a shiver to run down my spine as I remembered the cameras that had been at the pool house at Ramos's.

I walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water sat on the top shelf, leaning against the counter top as I carefully removed the plastic cap. To be honest the waiting was killing me, what if Tali didn't come upstairs? I was all prepped up ready to confront her and had a few surprises all aimed at her.

With the bottle in my hand, I wandered over to the couch and was about to sit down when I heard the handle of the door begin to turn. I stayed standing and watched as Tali came through the door, as she closed it and maybe dropped the latch. She was wearing a Rangeman uniform, that actually looked really good on her, and her hair was tied back in a ponytail. I was sure that she knew where I was, but she still made a surprised expression cross her face when she saw me watching her. I crossed my arms over my chest to show her just how annoyed I was that she was here.

"I'm sorry, I didn't have a choice"

For an opening line it didn't impress me, and I remained where I was just staring back at her.

"That man, Garner, he said that he'd hurt Jayce if I didn't help"

For a lie it was pretty unimpressive, especially as she was using Jayce as her excuse.

"I didn't know that she was working with Garner"

Okay, maybe I was pushing my luck leaving her stumbling to come up with excuses, but it sure was fun.

"You were her friend, you knew her better than anyone else. Why Tali?"

I saw as she frowned and as she thought through what I had said, probably trying to come up with a good reply. But as time went by, and man did it go slow, I saw her demeanor change. It was the little nuances that gave her away, the way she squared her shoulders and put her hands on her hips. The way her lips pulled into a straight line and the muscle on her neck tightened. She was building up to something, what I still wasn't too sure of. I just hoped she didn't try to slime her way out of this with excuses of how she'd spent her life protecting Jayce, no way was she going to burst into tears, she wasn't that type.

"You know what, I don't have to tell you anything. I'm sick of hearing about you and how you've weaseled your way into Carlos's life playing the damsel in distress"

I raised my eyebrows at what she'd said and the venom that dripped through her voice.

"You're not good enough for him"

"And you are?"

Just came out of my mouth, but I wasn't regretting it because I was starting to get to her, starting to get her to say things that I needed to know.

"Of course I am, we're the same. We compliment each other in ways that you never could"

"So you thought I should get back with Joe Morelli, nice try, but he never has been very reliable"

She scoffed at that and in that moment she was letting me know that she'd been talking with Joe because she never denied it.

"If you'd just gone along with everything, none of this would have happened"

"Oh, excuse me if I didn't like your plans, but shooting Charlie and trying to frame me that was low"

I knew that I'd made the assumption that it was her, but it made sense now. Killing Manning hadn't had anything to do with what that damn group were doing, they didn't suspect anything, but Tali maybe sussed out that he might just tell someone that it was her that had shot Charlie. That she was here in Trenton at that time would have raised all sorts of questions from her boss and Ranger.

"Is that why you killed James Manning, because you were worried that he'd tell someone? I can see how that would worry you especially as you didn't want Carlos to know you were here in Trenton"

The signs that I was right were there as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"He would have ruined everything. He got a conscience, and do you know why? You"

Okay I wasn't expecting that.

"What the hell do you mean, me. I never even met him"

"He got caught up with that hurt little girl act, with how the men here were so upset that you were missing"

Why the hell was she trying to blame me? All I was doing was trying to stay alive, I never planned on being missing or even getting involved with those men and the drugs that they were selling. But it wasn't about that was it, she was jealous of me because of how the men reacted. I remembered her telling me that she'd heard stories about me at the Boston office of how Ranger would help me out and lend me cars. She'd been hearing about me for years and all the time she was totally obsessed with Carlos and it all started when he spent one night with her. I couldn't blame her for that, the same had happened to me.

"I know you killed Jayce, you took my clothes from the van and left them next to her dead body"

Yeah, that was a mistake that I hadn't seen before and it seemed that Tali hadn't either.

"Why Tali, she trusted you, she needed you, isn't that what you told me?"

I watched Tali carefully as she walked into the kitchen area and opened the fridge to take out a bottle of water. She leant against the counter just as I had done a few minutes before, but she took a mouthful of water from her bottle. Her posture had changed, almost as if she'd decided on something, which to be honest was unnerving me slightly but there was no way that I was going to move from where I was.

"You know, I misjudged you. You see things that others would miss. I never imagined that it would be you who would finish what good old Charlie started. Hell, you even worked out the reason didn't you"

I wasn't too sure where she was going with that little speech but to me it was as though she was only just seeing me, really seeing me for the first time. I needed to get her back on track. I wanted to know why she had killed Jayce.

"When did Jayce figure it out?"

Because it was the only reason that I could think of for Tali wanting her out of the way.

"She started to get nosey about where I was, moaning at me because I was leaving her on her own. Christ it was suffocating, as though she thought that I was answerable to her. The safe house, I made the mistake of having the men pick you up from there and that was my first mistake. Then she knew that I'd left the building that night when there was a fire at the museum, maybe I still had the smell of gasoline on me"

I know my hand moved to my mouth as Tali said that because she'd just admitted to starting the fire at the museum and I was pretty sure that it was me that she wanted to kill, the drugs and weapons wouldn't have mattered to her, after all they were just a means to an end for her.

"Jayce should have been in Boston, but she stayed here. I never really did appreciate how good she was with computers, she confronted me, knowing that I was messing around inside the systems. I was good as well, over riding locks to this apartment, following trackers and swapping out a cloned phone that you had. She gave me an ultimatum, quit and go home with her or she'd make sure that Carlos knew what I was doing. I thought I'd covered my tracks in the Rangeman system, but she could probably have given Hector a run for his money"

So Jayce had only discovered what Tali was doing inside the Rangeman system. Maybe she'd worked out more, but we'd never know now. It seemed to me that Tali had told me everything that I needed to know so I wasn't too sure what was going to happen now. I actually expected the cavalry to rush in and slap handcuffs on her. Tali pushed away from the counter and as she started to walk toward me, I watched as her left hand moved to the back of her neck.

RPOV

I really didn't like the idea of leaving Steph to go up to the apartment on her own. I knew that there were two men up there in the bedroom and that Hector was watching the cameras, but Tali was smart. She wouldn't confront Steph unless she had a backup plan. The Colonel, well he wasn't a man that I could get rid of quickly and I didn't want to be rude to him. Getting off five was bad enough with some of the men wanting to talk to him, but I suppose to them he had been the one to save Steph. We travelled down in the elevator in silence, which suited me fine thinking that he'd soon be on his way. So when he stopped by his car and turned to me I knew that he wanted a private conversation with me.

"I can see why you finished your contract Manoso"

I raised an eyebrow as he said that not too sure what he had meant. I knew why I had done it but had never admitted that to him. The reasons that I had given him was that there were younger men coming through and that I was getting too old for the shit they wanted me to do. The possibility of being injured or even being killed an ever increasing concern. I had a business that was successful and enough money that I didn't need to do that type of work anymore. I'd never mentioned the real reason, that I wanted to have a stable enough life to offer that elusive someday to Steph. That would have been laughed at and brushed to the side because it wasn't something that anyone would ever consider from a man like me.

"That woman will keep you on your toes, Manoso. I would never have believed it until I started to look at her history and then met her, definitely a keeper that one"

I wasn't sure what to say but he was right, Steph was definitely a keeper, and I had the feeling that life would never be boring with her around.

"She's determined to make sure that Tali gets what's coming to her, she'll be fine. I get the feeling that even Tali will have underestimated Stephanie"

Was it so apparent that I was worried, maybe, but I was certainly relieved when the Colonel started to get into his car. As he drove from the garage, I was already opening the stairwell door on my way up to Hector's office. I didn't bother with knocking, hell no one ever gained access to his room without him knowing and was almost behind him keen to find out what was happening upstairs.

"Que carajo"

Was what I heard as I looked at the screen in Hector's hands. The view that I was seeing had my heart miss a beat, there on the screen was Tali and she had just pulled out a knife that must have been concealed down her back.

"Where the hell is Santos?"

Because the plan had been for him and Ram to enter the lounge as soon as Steph had managed to get a confession from Tali or if Steph looked to be in danger. Hector split the screen to bring a view of the bedroom alongside the lounge showing Santos putting his boot to the door. Why the hell was it locked, how had that happened?

"Lockdown, somehow the lockdown facility has been engaged"

There was no way that Steph could have managed that so it must have been Tali who had done that but to unlock it I needed to be upstairs. The last image I took with me of Steph was as she started to shake a bottle of water in front of her. I was out of Hector's room and running up the stairs, bouncing off the walls to give me momentum and bursting through the stairwell door on seven with my key fob pointed at the door.

Hearing the mechanism unlock I used my shoulder to slam open the door, my gun already in my hand ready to use. The sound of two gunshots going off had my blood running cold giving me the impetus to sprint forward and into the lounge. I was hit by a smell that assaulted my senses but ignoring the irritation to my eyes was desperate to find Steph. I spied her at the back of the lounge sat on the floor, her knees bent to her chest and her arms resting on them with a gun being held out in front of her.

I was aware of movement coming from the bedroom so knew that Santos and Ram were near, but I was too concerned with Steph to acknowledge them. Her eyes were red with tears streaming down her cheeks, but she was intent at watching the space in front of her. Kneeling down at her side my left hand reached down over hers to prize the gun from her hands while my right arm was around her pulling her to me. At someone taking the gun from my hand I glanced up shocked at who it was. That was when I think we all became aware of where Tali was. She was pushing herself up using the window to support herself leaving a smear of blood against the glass. I noticed a small crack in the window that could have been from a bullet and accounted for one of the shots that I heard. The second shot had hit Tali in her shoulder.

"Carlos she was going to kill me. I told her about us, about how we were in love"

Christ even now she was lying to cover her tracks. It certainly didn't go unnoticed by me that her face and eyes were inflamed and that she also had tears rolling down her face.

"She didn't want to believe it, I was trying to defend myself, please Carlos, I need you"

As though trying to make use of the tears falling, she brought her arm up to her face and used her sleeve to wipe it across her eyes. That was when I saw the knife in one hand and a gun in the other and that was when the loud retort of a gun echoed around the apartment.

At Steph jumping from the sound I wrapped her closer to me as I surveyed just what had happened. Tali was sliding down the window again, a bloom of wetness seeping across her Rangeman T-shirt over her chest. Maybe she looked shocked as she collapsed to the floor but to be honest, I didn't care. I did care at knowing who had shot her and looked up to see Detective Jeffreys holding the gun that he'd taken from me still pointing it at Tali.

"You sort out Miss Plum while I deal with this"

Was all he said before he walked over to the body. I didn't need telling twice and was quickly lifting Steph and moving toward the bathroom. I didn't bother with undressing either of us before standing in the shower, allowing the water to spray down onto her face. As the water hit her face, she squirmed so I dropped her feet to the floor but maintained my hold on her.

"Open you eyes Babe, let the water wash away the mace"

Because that was what I'd recognized as I'd entered the apartment. I tilted her head back, the full effect of the spray running down her face and watched as she blinked several times before those beautiful blue eyes were in view. I soaped up her hair to get rid of any residual mace and attempted to wash her hands, knowing that she'd probably instinctively rubbed her eyes and face with them. Assured that she was clear of the mace I just pulled her head to my shoulder, my hand entangled in her hair as I started to relax. She was safe, she wasn't hurt and she was with me in my arms.

"You know something is wrong with this"

I heard against my chest, wondering what was going through her head.

"What's that Babe?"

"We're both fully clothed"

Yeah, that had me smiling as I moved her head away from me and looked down into her face. I could quite easily have stripped us of our clothing and shown her just what I wanted to do, to show her how much I loved this woman. Tamping down the desire to do just that I stopped the water and brought us both out of the cubicle.

"I think that the people on the other side of that door will want to see that you're okay"