Chapter 27
SPOV
Monday morning rolled around much faster than I anticipated. My weekends with Lucas always passed too fast for us to notice. We didn't schedule date nights. Not that we didn't go on dates because we do. It's just because our relationship was very easy. We were content to be in each other's space.
Yesterday, Lucas wanted to see if he could hack into the Rangeman program and detect the precise moment when he downloaded the sniffer program. Ever since he realized I am Eclipse, he's shown more interest in programming than before. He was fairly decent at it, but not nearly as good as Silvio, Hector or myself.
I was itching to help him, but he passed my newest book to me. It's called 'Cuff Me by Lauren Layne'. It was a very intriguing read. The homicide detective, Vincent Moretti, was in love with his parter, Jill Hansen, but neither one realized their feelings until it was almost too late. I must have read the hand cuff scene in the kitchen several times. Maybe I could talk my husband into giving it a try? Boy was he more than willing. Let's just say we acted out that scenario at least once last night.
Shaking my head from my dirty thoughts, I concentrated on my project at Rangeman. We were hiring for our Boston branch. Ever since I signed my contract, our other branches opened a BEA department. Rangeman was the leading fugitive apprehension agency. We captured more high bond skips nationally than any other bond enforcement agent. Partly because once the criminal sees one of the Rangeman men, they stop running. Mostly it's because of my intel and Luke's apprehension strategy. We make an unstoppable team.
An interesting resume crossed my desk. Tank would give me partial resumes to see if I could detect anything amiss before providing me with the name. From the details in the resume and CV, I had a feeling I knew who this person is. Using my desk phone, I contacted Tank. "Yo," he answered.
"I need the name for this CV on my desk. The military record is stellar and she would fit into the Rangeman Boston branch," I quickly stated.
"Are you sure it's a female?" he asked.
"Positive. I even think I know who she is," I replied.
"Who would that be?"
"Mallory Price," I answered. I silently added 'my sister' to my response. He hung up the phone as my email showed a new email from Tank. I smiled to see I was right. Using every program at my disposal, I learned she would be a better fit in our Trenton office… with me. Maybe one of our guys would transfer to Boston. I knew Sampson has family in Boston, but when he was hired at Rangeman, there wasn't an opening. None of their men were willing to transfer.
After completing my searches, I forwarded all the data to Tank with the recommendation for her to work in our office, while possibly transferring Sampson.
A few hours later, I felt someone staring at me. Sampson sat on the edge of my desk and excitedly asked, "Did you seriously find my replacement?"
"I'm not sure. It all depends if the bosses think she'll be a good fit here," I replied, hoping my sister would be moving to Trenton.
"She's coming into town for an interview tomorrow. It seems Trenton is her first choice of locations," he informed me.
"Why would she want to move here?" I asked, hoping it's for the same reason I wanted her here.
"Says she has family in the area. Wants to get to know them better," he said with a shrug. "I hope she's hired so I can return to my family in Boston." Me too. I hope she was hired so I can get to know the sister who is so much like me.
"Speaking of Boston, I need to complete these searches for their BEA team. They need the information by tonight," I said subtly asking him to leave. Catching my hint, he gave me a perfunctory nod before retreating to the break room.
My cell chimed when Sampson left my desk. 'Hey sis, I have an interview at your job tomorrow. Is that alright with you?'
Me: Mallory, it's more than okay with me. I would love to have you in town.
Mallory: Me too… I applied for Boston hoping I could work in Trenton.
Me: You didn't mention leaving the army on Saturday.
Mallory: My contract is nearly done. I figured it was time to be close to my family.
Apparently I wasn't the only one to feel an instant connection to my sister. When we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, I felt a sense of loss.
Me: Have dinner with me tomorrow?
Mallory: Only if the rest of our family is there.
Me: I'll make the arrangements.
Mallory: See you tomorrow. We can sort the details then.
After our quick goodbyes, I smiled and waved into the camera. I could feel Lucas watching me. My husband is an amazing man. How did I ever get so lucky?
"I'm the lucky one," I heard from behind me.
"Hey Luke, what are you doing up here?" I asked.
"Can't I randomly visit my wife?" he joked. We both knew he never came to my office. He usually stayed in his office on the second floor.
"Of course you can. You just haven't visited me here before now," I quickly replied. It took awhile for my Merry Men to get used to seeing me with my husband. They always thought I would be with Ranger. After seeing Lucas and me together, they could see how well we were suited for one other.
"Have you heard from Mallory?" he asked. I had a feeling he already knew the answer.
"I have. She'll be here tomorrow for an interview," I answered. "I invited her for dinner tomorrow. We just need to invite the rest of the family."
"Valerie, Albert, the girls, dad and Helen?"
"Not Helen. Mallory doesn't want to have anything to do with her. I imagine she will eventually visit her, but on her own terms," I replied
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LPOV
I'm worried Helen would show up uninvited at our home. It wouldn't take long for her to discover where we live. Asking the right person, like Albert or Valerie, would lead Helen to our front door. I listened as Stephanie invited her sister Valerie to dinner. Like Stephanie, Valerie was angry she never met her other two sisters. Valerie's squeal of delight could easily be heard. Stephanie pulled the phone away from her ear until Valerie stopped screaming. She gave Valerie a time and said to bring the girls and Albert. I had a feeling Albert would decline the invitation.
"It's just going to be Val and the girls. Albert thinks it would be too weird visiting a skinner, more athletic version of his wife. The girls are going to find it difficult too," she stated, confirming my theory.
"If it helps any, I would find it strange meeting your identical twin too," I admitted. I could tell it made her feel better about Albert not coming to dinner. He was delaying the inevitable, but that's his problem. Eventually he'll need to meet his wife's twin. Maybe Angie and Mary Alice can help him see the error in his hasty decision.
She started laughing. "It's easy for you to say now, considering you'll never get the opportunity to meet her," she joked before her face became sullen.
"Sweetheart, are you alright?" I asked.
"I am. It's really is a shame I never met her. Mallory said she was an amazing woman. She's everything I'm not. More like Valerie than I am," she wistfully answered. "I'm more like Mallory."
"My lunch hour is nearly finished. I should probably grab some food then get back to work."
"You have leftovers in the kitchen," she said with a smile. I held my hand out to her. She grabbed my hand and led me to the kitchen.
When we arrived, she leaned into the refrigerator and pulled out a large Tupperware container I recognized from home. 'Stephanie' was written on a piece of masking tape stuck to the lid. I watched her loosen the lid and place it into the microwave. The tantalizing smell of her pasta salsa dish filled the break room. It's a good thing Ella always left extra plates in the cupboard.
She dished out some for both of us and carried them to the table. Several men entered the break room, following the scent of our reheated lunch. Lester entered the room and groaned, "Please tell me there's more of that."
"Nope," Steph answered. "There was only enough for me and Luke." He grabbed the fork load of food and popped it into his mouth.
"Wow. That was absolutely delicious," he moaned. "Did you make this Rodriguez?"
"I wish, but no," I answered. He looked at Stephanie and shook his head, not believing she could possibly cook something so yummy. I happen to know it's one of Stephanie's comfort meals. She makes this specific meal when she's stressed.
"You're not telling me…" Lester trailed off, pointing to Stephanie.
"Why is it so difficult to believe I could cook?" Stephanie asked Lester.
"Because the last time you cooked for me, you burned dinner," he answered. She laughed. I have a feeling it was intentional.
Stephanie loaded our empty plates into the dishwasher. I watched her lean into the fridge to move around a few items. She pulled out another container of food. Passing it to Lester, she said, "This is for you. I made it. Enjoy."
He opened the container and sniffed the food. "Ah man, this smells good cold too," he jumped up to reheat the food. We waited until he sat back at the table to eat. He started shovelling the food into his mouth and mumbled, "This is so good."
She leaned down to kiss his cheek. "I'm glad you enjoy it. Next time I make it, I'll bring some from you again," she quietly told him.
"That is exactly why you're my best friend," he said in between bites. He was really enjoying his pilfered meal. I shook my head and followed my wife as she left the break room. She stuffed our empty container into her desk drawer.
Giving her a quick kiss, I left her to finish her work day. We have a lot of searches to run for the Boston and Miami BEA departments. Nobody gathers quality intel like my wife. She has this ingrained natural ability to find the needle in the proverbial haystack. Just a tiny detail typically overlooked by everyone else will trigger her spidey sense and lead her in the right direction.
To test her abilities, Ranger or Tank would get Hector to plant misinformation in the database. Every single time she would detect the falsified information regardless how realistic it appeared. It got to the point where she refused to do any searches until they stopped their attempts to trick her. Pulling the wool over my wife's eyes is simply not a wise decision. She hates to be mislead or lied to. I can't say I blame her. For her entire life, she was lied to by her own mother.
At the end of our work day, we met in the employee garage where I parked our car. She greeted me with a huge smile. There was only one reason why she would be smiling. Our buddy Hector didn't detect the sniffer program. He is going to be one very pissed off man when he discovers what my wife did.
I waited until we were back home before I asked her, "Did Hector figure it out?"
"Not yet, but he will in about 15 minutes," she said before laughing. "I can hardly wait for him to figure it out."
"Are you sure he won't retaliate?" I asked.
"He wouldn't dare. It would be difficult for him to know it's me. I covered my tracks quite well," she replied. She's right. There's no way he'd know it was her unless he uncovers her secret. It's possible, but not too likely. If anyone could hide her true identity, it would be her. She's managed to keep this secret for the last decade, I imagine she can keep it a secret longer.
Tonight I cooked dinner. I made grilled chicken with roasted potatoes and vegetables. Stephanie moaned throughout the meal. We cleaned the dishes together. I was about to pull my wife into my arms when the door bell chimed.
Stephanie opened the door to a very frantic Hector. He looked frustrated, angry and frantic. I wasn't entirely sure why he was here. Hector spoke rapid Spanish telling us what happened.