Chapter 10

Stephanie's POV

I was just about to toss my cell phone in my purse when it beeped, telling me I had an incoming text. I winced as I looked down to see it was from Joe, wanting to get together for dinner tonight. It wasn't that I didn't like Joe or that he wasn't basically a good guy… He just didn't do anything for me in the sexual attraction department. Not like Ranger had the two times I'd seen him. Now there was one fine specimen of manhood. I wouldn't mind doing anything that man wanted. I'd had some really hot daydreams that involved the Cuban Sex God, and I was more than willing to play each and every one of them out.

My phone beeped again, and I grimaced as I realized I'd left Joe hanging in the wind while my mind had taken a trip to Ranger Land.I let out a sigh as I typed out a response letting Joe know that I was tied up and wouldn't be able to make it. The second I hit Send, I started a mental countdown starting with three and had just said one when the answering text came back.

I could swear I could see the steam coming out of Joe's ears through his text. I was going to have to have a talk with Alexander soon so we could figure out what we were going to do with Detective Morelli. I wished for the day we had everything we needed from the police database, and there was no longer a need to keep Joe around. Of course, I respected Alexander enough to let him make that call.

I was smiling at the thought of being able to tell Joe that I didn't want to see him anymore, when my phone rang. I looked down to see who the caller was and frowned as I saw that Alessandro was calling me. Even when Luci and I were living in Asheville, North Carolina, while she was a day student at the boarding school there, Alessandro hadn't contacted me more than a couple of times. Whatever he had to say must be important for him to contact me directly.

I hit Answer andtentatively said, "Hello?"

I winced, pulling the phone away from my ear as Alessandro's rage came through loud and clear. "Who is this dead man walking who's hurting my baby girl?"

I scrunched my eyes together, knowingthat what I was going to tell him wouldn't go over well. Seeing no way out of it, I admitted, "So far all roads lead to the Pentagon, and I've been blocked from going any further. I can assure you, that won't be the case for long. I will find out exactly who he is, and you'll be the second person to know."

I didn't have long to wait for his reply. His tone was deadly soft as he said, "Second?"

I rolled my eyes, bit beforeI could say a word, he broke in with, "Don't you roll your eyes at me, missy."

My eyes widened at how accurate he was, even though there was no way he could see me. I bit my bottom lip—an action that was second nature to me when I was nervous—and said, "I'll be the first to know."

Even though I couldn't see him, I could swear he was narrowing his eyes at me through the phone as he said, "Want to try again?"

I took a deep breath and said, "I owe it to Alexander to tell him first."

There was quite a bit of swearing on the other end of the phone, and even though I had my phone at arm's length, I could hear every word as if he were standing in the room with me. After several seconds, there was absolute silence, whichwas scarier than the yelling in Italian had been, and then he said, "You're lucky I appreciate your loyalty to my old friend."

I hesitated for only a fraction before I said, "Just so you know, I'll also tell Luci what I find out. Good or bad, she has the right to know."

He growled. "As much as I want to protect my little girl, I know you're right about that. He just better hope I don't run into him anytime soon. And, Stephanie…"

I nodded, even though it was a wasted gesture. "Yeah?"

"You have my protection. Find out by any means necessary."

I hesitated for a second, knowing what he was telling me. It's what I'd been planning to do anyway once I'd talked to Alexander, but knowing that I had the go ahead and that Alessandro would handle any fallout so that Alexander wouldn't have to was a relief. I said, "Understood."

The dial tone told me that Alessandro had hung up, so I tossed my phone into my bag and pulled out my keys as I opened the door to my latest POS car. I wanted to get home and check on Luci before I got out my trusty laptop and went crashing through the back door of the Pentagon.

It took me only about twenty minutes to get back to the apartment complex I shared with Luci, and less than two minutes later I was opening our door. "Luci?"

The sound of sniffles drew me to the back of the apartment where our bedrooms were, and I headed in that direction. I knocked on the door, and for a brief moment, there was silence and then a muffled sob followed by Luci's tearful, "Come in."

I opened the door to see Luci lying on her side on the bed, hugging her pillow as tears rained down her cheeks. Clenching my jaw, I moved forward and sat down beside her on the bed. "I had a talk with your dad."

She turned her head to look up at me. "Uh-oh."

I smiled at her. "Uh-oh is right. He wasn't any too happy. I just wanted to check on you before I called Alexander and got started on a project I've been toying with."

Luci's eyes widened. "You're going to do that voodoo that you do with the computer and get answers on just who Lester is, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yes. Ranger called him Santos at the fundraiser, and since then I've been digging up whatever I can on Lester Santos. So far all roads have led to a brick wall known as the Pentagon."

Luci let out a deep sigh. "So, now what?" Her eyes widened. "You aren't going to…" She paused and then said, "Are you?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"Oh, boy!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You get some rest, and I'll see you in a little while. Maybe I can ask Vinny to swing by Pino's and bring us some spaghetti for dinner."

Luci shook her head. "I'm afraid it will remind me of that witch Sheryl and what she said. And then there are the texts from Les I had to deal with."

I frowned, wondering why Lester would text her when he was with Ranger's group on the mission Alexander had sent them on. Of course, he could have sent the text before they left. Deciding to ponder over that later after I had the information I wanted, I stood and made my way out to the den where my laptop was all set up.

Once I had everything I needed for a prolonged session of delving for information—secure, spill-proof glass of icy Coke, phone settled on a docking bay next to the laptop, and notebook with several pens to the right of the computer—I sat down at my desk and went to work.

The first try was a bust. I didn't get any further than I had the last time, but that didn't deter me. It only made me more determined to find my way in. I tried a trick I'd learned when I was first learning the ropes hacking into databases, but that didn'tget me the results I wanted either. Not one to give up easily, I switched to the latest trick I'd added to my repertoire, and sure enough, I slid through the door and I was in.

From there it was easy enough to find where they kept the files they didn't want anyone seeing. Most people would assume to go in the direction of the most resistance, but they would be wrong. No, the files that I wanted were hiding in plain sight, and it only took me another few seconds to have all the information I wanted downloading to my flash drive.

Of course, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and not only did I get the information I wanted on Lester, but I also got the lowdown on everyone else on the team. I hadn't gone into this thinking I'd get the goods on Ranger, but there it was, I had them. Now I had to decide what I was going to do with all this extra information I had.

I was just getting ready to hit the exit button when every hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I felt like I'd touched a livewire. On the screen were the words: I see you, and I know who you are.

My bottom lip moved between my teeth, and I bit down enough to cause me pain. Now I had to decide if hitting the exit button was a trap or if I could really escape that way. As I sat there debating the pros and cons, my phone chirped telling me I had a call. Glancing at the caller ID, I saw that it was Joe Morelli calling. I hit Answer beforeI could think better of it.

Not waiting for me to speak, Joe said, "Stephanie, whatever you're doing, I hope it's not what I think it is. And if it is, get out of there… Now!"

Before I could say anything, there was a dial tone. My gaze went back to the screen, and I closed my eyes for a moment so I could concentrate on what I needed to do to get myself out of the frying pan I'd just jumped into.

I opened my eyes and looked once again at the message on the screen, and then I chose the only door that didn't have an exit sign over it. When the screen went blank, I panicked for a heartbeat until the following words displayed on the screen: Thank you, Colonel Manoso, please come again. Iremoved the flash drive from my laptop and shut the system down. I waited for several minutes before turning the computer on once again, and then I purged everything that told the story of where I had just been.

I was still a bit freaked out once I'd finished with all of that, so I unplugged the laptop and put it in the briefcase I used when I traveled with it. Next I made my way through the apartment and down to the parking lot, where Vinny was sitting in the limo waiting for his replacement.

As soon as he saw me, he exited the vehicle and came over to where I was standing.

I smiled up at him, and making sure my smile stayed in place, I spoke to him out of the side of my mouth so that he was the only one to hear what I was saying. "I need you to get rid of this laptop so no one will ever be able to get anything off of it."

His eyes narrowed as he looked at me. After several seconds, he nodded his head and said, "I'll take care of it."

I didn't wait for him to get in the car and leave before I turned around and headed back into the building. By the time I'd reached the apartment, I was feeling better about the whole situation. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Vinny was capable of doing what I'd asked him to do. Now I just needed to call Joe back and feign ignorance about the phone call and what it all meant. Piece of cake.