Chapter 26

SPOV

I am so happy grandma was in the dark with me, dad and Valerie. Not 'happy' happy, just glad she would never keep such a huge life altering decision from me. If she had previous knowledge or was involved with mom's scheme, I don't know what I would have done. Grandma has always been there for me. It would have been the ultimate in betrayal.

Lucas pulled me into a hug when we returned to his office. I was so happy he was with me while I talked to grandma. He is a very supportive husband. "I'll always stand beside you Stephanie," he said kissing my cheek.

Grandma needs to meet with Mallory too, but too many people too soon isn't the way for her to meet us. Mallory agreed to meet with me and dad, but unleashing grandma on her seemed almost mean.

Dad and I were on our way to meet Mallory in Princeton. We were planning to take separate cars, but I thought it was ridiculous. We're heading in the same direction. She was waiting in the coffee shop. Her mouth dropped open when she saw me. "Emily?" she whispered. I shook my head no.

"Stephanie, Emily's twin," I corrected her. I knew she looked like Valerie, but she was in better physical shape than her twin.

"Right, I forgot."

"Mallory, this is Frank Plum, our biological father," I introduced them. It seemed very strange to be introducing dad to my sister. We had a very good visit. She's so much nicer than Valerie. Mallory was surprised she followed in dad's footsteps with her military career. The only difference was the special ops program. She was more interested in working on base once she was too old for deployment.

"I'm so glad we finally got the chance to meet," she said. "What's my twin Valerie like?"

"From what I heard about Emily, Valerie is just like her. Valerie is perfectly happy to stay at home and raise her children. All she wanted from life was to get married and raise a family," I explained.

Mallory groaned, "Wow. She sounds exactly like Emily. I tried to tell her there was more to life, but she was content being engaged and pregnant."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," I told my older sister. I know Emily was my twin, but I never knew her. I'm sad I never got the chance to meet her.

"Emily was your sister too," Mallory reminded me. "Don't dismiss your loss." I really like Mallory. She's very down to earth.

"I hope we stay in contact. Next time we should meet at my house. You can meet your brother in law Lucas and maybe grandma too?" I asked.

"Thank you Steph. I would really like that," she said. "I have your contact information. Next time I have a weekend leave, we'll get together. I would like to meet Valerie and her girls too."

"I can arrange that. Grandma wanted to come with us, but she's a little… unconventional," I said.

Mallory started laughing, "She honestly couldn't be worse than my mom."

We said our goodbyes and promised to meet up again. Dad drove us back to my house. He came in to visit and discuss our visit with Valerie. I could tell how hurt he was missing out on raising such an amazing woman. Both of us were sad to miss out on knowing Emily. All our lost time and missed opportunities was because of on selfish woman… Helen Mazur.

"Are you seriously divorcing mom?" I asked dad.

"She had more than enough chances to come clean. It turned on the lightbulb in my old brain. I never realized how manipulative she was until she lied when presented with proof. I'm sorry for not sticking up for you sooner pumpkin," he said as a tear dropped from his chin.

"Oh daddy. You've always had my back. It may not have been obvious to most people, but it was obvious to me." I sat on his lap and wrapped my arms around him. "Taking me to Italy after my undergraduate degree was the best decision ever. I love you." Mom never knew I really joined the Army. It was a heavily guarded secret.

"I love you too pumpkin. I never say it enough, but it's true. I'm selling the house," he surprised me by saying.

"Are you sure that's what you really want to do?" I asked.

"There's a house a few blocks away from here. I put in an offer," he surprised me by answering. "Sly Fox and Eclipse will be able to work together again." I wasn't aware it was an option. We haven't worked together for several years. There's been a few special ops where we were asked for our expertise, but those have been far and few between.

"Steph," he started. He glanced at my husband and raised an eyebrow. Lucas made some excuse of going for take out. When we heard his car leave the driveway, dad continued his thought. "A dangerous special op is being organized. It involves your friends at Rangeman."

"Do I need to take some time off?" I wondered.

"It's a possibility. Will they ask questions?" he asked.

"No. It's in my contract. They're aware I may be asked to leave at the drop of a hat. The men are very intelligent. I wouldn't be surprised if they already know who I really am," I explained.

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LPOV

I stayed away from home as long as humanly possibly. If I stayed away any longer, Stephanie's stomach will consume her. I laughed at my little joke. Steph has a very healthy appetite. She can easily eat more than our Rangeman friends.

A part of my brain is telling me a mission was coming Stephanie's way. Her father's announcement that Sly Fox and Eclipse will be working together again seemed almost ominous. My father in law is aware I know their secret. It isn't mine to share, but it certainly is my secret to keep. I've already completed the terms of my own government contract and wondered how many years she remaining.

Stephanie always says Ranger is generous and kind, but nobody is more generous than her. I'm not too sure she even realizes it's second nature for her. It's very rare to find someone who is genuinely nice. She gives everything of herself and expects nothing in return.

My wife is an amazing woman. Only someone as kind as Stephanie would accept a long lost sister into her life with open arms. From what I heard about Mallory, she seems like an older version of Stephanie. Both women have a life in the military. Mallory in the field, Stephanie behind the computer. I wonder how many of Mallory's deployments she provided intel on. If I asked her, she would answer my question, but I also know she's unable to provide much information. Confidentiality limits how much she can share.

I parked in the driveway of our home. Frank Plum was still visiting. My phone chimed when I hesitated to leave my car. 'You can come in now,' Stephanie texted me. Looking up from the car, I saw her watching me from our front door.

She smiled when she recognized the bags from her favourite Chinese food restaurant. As I walked towards her, I heard her stomach grumble. "Hurry Luke, I'm starving," she joked.

The table was already set for three when I entered the dining room. I raised an eyebrow to Stephanie. She pointed towards her dad. "It was my insistence," Frank replied. He would never be the one to pass around take out containers to share. I shrugged my shoulder and unpacked the food. Stephanie dished her food before passing the containers to her dad. Once he finished, I was able to serve myself. We exchanged small talk as we ate dinner. Frank ended our conversation by saying, "Don't keep any secrets from each other."

"I understand she has some secrets she simply cannot share," I reminded him.

"Son, you already know the most important one. Everything else is less… confidential," he retorted.

"Fair point well made," Stephanie said with a smile. We didn't have a lot of secrets between us. After discovering her true identity, I realized she has higher military clearance than I do. If I wanted to share the details of my assignments, I could do so without fear of retribution. However, my clearance level is lower and she's still bound by the confidentiality regarding her missions.

Frank and I cleaned the dishes and tossed the trash. Stephanie was typing on her computer. "What are you working on?" Frank asked when we entered the living room.

"Oh… fixing some holes in the Rangeman search program," she easily replied. "I did a complete rewrite, but I'm checking the hole I left for a hacker."

"Did someone hack into the program?" he asked to follow up.

"Code King," she said with a smirk.

"Do you know who 'Code King' is?" I asked. It was one of the hackers who warned me not to delve too far into the dark web asking questions about Eclipse. I discovered Hector was Code King several years ago.

"Of course I do. I also know who the 'Black Queen' is. I'm just wondering how long it would take for code king to find the sniffer program he inadvertently downloaded," she said before laughing.

"Hector is going to be furious," I said on a laugh.

"Why is hacking a Rangeman program funny?" Frank asked.

"Because Hector is Code King. I can hardly wait to see his frustrated look on Monday," she replied.

"Did anyone else accidentally download your program?" I asked.

"No, just Code King," she answered before setting a timer beginning from the moment Hector downloaded the sniffer program. "I want to see how long it takes him," she explained.

"Pumpkin, I hope you hid your IP address. It wouldn't surprise me if Hector retaliates."

"He won't retaliate," she stated with confidence. Stephanie and I both knew he wouldn't seek payback, especially if he were to discover the programmer was Eclipse. A smug smile suddenly appeared on her face.

I sat beside her to see what she found. This woman is very amusing. She has full access to all his banking data and emails. "Please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're about to do," I begged her.

"Yup. If he doesn't figure it out by Monday evening, I will empty out his bank account," she said, not bothering to deny what I was thinking.

"Where will you put the money?" I asked.

She typed away on a computer and opened a savings account under Hector's name. It was within the same branch, so they already had copies of his credentials. "Into his savings account. I have it set up to move Monday at 2100. If he discovers the program, I'll cancel the transfer," she replied.

"So you're basically going to point it out to him in the most obvious way possible," Frank stated.

"Exactly." I made a mental note to never piss off my wife. She copied the program fix onto a brand new USB drive. Stephanie never touched the item with her bare hands. When she handed the item to her dad, I noticed they were both wearing latex gloves. So that's how she managed to mail the programs. I must have said my last thought aloud, because she stated, "It's dad providing the mail packaging complete with marked postage stamp and Ella delivering it directly to Hector for me. He doesn't have a prepared package, so he'll send this one for me. Hector will find in on his desk Monday."

"Are you saying none of them went through the postal delivery system?" I asked stunned.

"We made them 'appear' to go through the mail," she qualified.

"You are a very intelligent woman," I say pulling her into my arms.

"Thanks. I would really love to take credit for it, but it was dad's idea."

She raised to her toes to place a kiss on my lips. I had no doubt she could feel the smile on my lips. Speaking of father in laws, he slipped through the door and left while we were distracted. My father in law is definitely one sly fox.

Stephanie broke the kiss and laughed, "How did you think he earned the nickname?"

Every day I learn a little more about my wife. She is an amazing, intelligent, kind and loving woman. No matter what happens to her, she never lets it get to her. She simply opens her arms wide to embrace it. "I love you so much Stephanie," I say looking into her eyes.

"I love you too Lucas. Nobody knows me as much as you do. Thank you for keeping my secrets," she responded.

"I'd do anything for you." I lifted her into my arms and carried her to our bedroom. I'm going to show her exactly how much I love her and what I'm willing to do