Chapter Eighteen

Ranger and Stephanie loaded into the SUV and made a show of driving through town twice. Not that it did much good. Other than a stray dog, a fox, and what might have been a raccoon, she didn't see anything. Not a single person was out in the very wee hours of the morning.

As they bumped along the dirt road towards the docks, Stephanie thought about the night. The horror and the triumph assailed her. It was always like this. They had rescued twenty-two girls and Ashley, and taken out a major bad guy crippling any number of illegal pipelines, but still it felt hollow. Her job always started after something bad happened. That was the nature of the business, but sometimes it felt too hard. Just once Stephanie would like to prevent tragedy, not mop up after the fact.

She blew out a soft breath. Tonight had been a success, and she needed to focus on the win not wallow in the horrors that no one could change. It felt an awful lot like whack-a-mole. They might take out one bad guy, but a new one that was twice as ruthless would quickly pop-up and take his place. There was too much money in K&R, not to mention human trafficking.

Ranger's hand found hers, like he knew what she was thinking. His warmth and calm energy melted through her and she flipped her hand over and intertwined her fingers with his. She could get used to this and that's what scared her. Relying on someone else made you weak. Even so, she decided she would give in, just for a little while. She didn't have the energy to fight or the will to pull away. They sat like that for a few minutes until her phone dinked.

"The women are secure. Nikko is on the way to the airstrip." Her voice sounded flat even to her own ears.

Ranger did that thing where he measured her heart rate and read her thoughts like the words on a page of his favorite novel.

"Babe," came his soft voice. Stephanie realized babe meant a lot of things, but tonight it meant what's wrong.

"How is it possible? Twenty-two women go missing. Twenty-two women are held on the outskirts of a town where everyone knows everyone, but no one noticed a thing. I don't get it."

Stephanie reached up and rubbed her forehead. The dull throb in her head was kicking up a notch to just below jackhammer in the brain.

"You think someone in the town is in on it?" Ranger asked, clearly mulling over the idea.

"No, I think specifically the municipal police are involved. I mean, how is it that the local church gets commandeered? There are guys dressed in all black with automatic rifles milling the streets and ordering tons of food, and no one investigates." Her shoulder tilted up, and she gave him a WTF look and reached for her backpack.

Stephanie rummaged around and found a couple of pain pills and a bottle of water. She cracked the top of the bottle and downed the pills. She thought it was entirely possible her head might actually split open like an overripe melon.

"What do you want to do about it? Report it to GIBS?" Ranger asked.

"What would be the point? I imagine the payoffs go all the way to the top to look the other way." Stephanie stared out the window, trying to make out the dark blobs that whizzed past.

Maybe Stephanie would ask Michail, see what he knew. What he could do. She actually flinched at the thought. What was she doing? When had contacting the head of the bratva become like calling her new BFF? She wasn't thinking straight. It had to be from the concussion. That was the only explanation. Not even Stephanie lacked that much common sense and good judgement. Except, of course, when she did.

As she picked up the phone Michail had given her and banged out a text, she realized it was scary how easily she had slipped into this world, his world. How her perception had changed so quickly. The people she trusted considered her friends. She couldn't quite suppress the shudder that worked its way through her. There were so many bright red lines that had been crossed, and she had blithely skipped across each one of them without a backward glance.

Her phone dinked back, with a cheerful little chirp that seemed ominous. Stephanie was almost afraid to look at it. Getting cozy with Michail was like cuddling up to a panther, a dangerous proposition and one that didn't end well for her. She took a deep breath and checked the display.

"On it." She couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile when he followed it with a fox emoji.

Against all better judgement, she liked Michail, even if he was a multi-faceted puzzle. In the space of twenty-four hours, she had seen his dangerous, ruthless side, the playful flirty side of him, his love for his family and his humanity. He was a flawed and complicated man, but a good one.

She vaguely wondered if that's what people said about her. People that knew her more than just superficially, anyway. She could be ruthless. She had taken out two Albanians, Vivek and one of his guards to save herself, to save Michail, and a boatload of women that needed someone in their corner. Did that justify what she had done? She told herself it did. The truth was, she slept like a baby and would do it a hundred times over if it saved even one innocent person. Maybe she was a lot more like Nikko and Michail than she would like to admit.

That was the thing that gave her pause with Ranger. Well one of about a hundred, anyway. Ranger was just like her. When a magnet touched its opposite, it pulled together. If the two sides were the same, the magnets pushed away and repelled from each other. She and Ranger were the same. Would they eventually repel, maybe even hate each other?

Her thoughts floated back over the night. Something was bothering her, niggling in the back of her mind, just out of reach. When she asked Nikko about Gabriel, his answer had been oddly precise. Too precise, really. Nikko had said "I don't know an operator that goes by that name."

By that name, not he didn't know of Gabriel. Stephanie thrust her hand through her hair impatiently, pushing it away from her face. Maybe it meant something, maybe it meant nothing. Stephanie was probably just grasping at straws off her game. This place brought back so many memories. She saw Gabriel's ghost around every corner. Surely that's what it was. She'd seen Gabriel's death with her own eyes. They'd recovered his body, what was left of it, anyway. So why did it feel like the truth was hovering around her just beyond her grasp? Something big, something sinister. Something that had the power to wreck her life. Again.

"Babe?" Ranger queried. His brows knitted together in concern.

Stephanie gave him a weak smile. "Michail is going to look into it."

"What's wrong?" He pressed.

"Nothing, just a headache, that's all."

Ranger made a noncommittal sound that said he didn't really buy what she was selling, but he let it go, and she was grateful he didn't press. How did you tell someone you thought you had seen and heard your very dead fiancé without sounding as crazy as you probably were?

They pulled into the docks and made their way down the pier. They planned to take a cargo boat into Dresden and then meet Luca and Les at the nearby airstrip.

This part of the plan had been crafted before Alexi had fallen into Nikko's web and before Vivek had been sent to hell where he belonged. It probably wasn't necessary, but it was better to be safe than sorry. While someone might be watching, there was no one left to report the information to. Still, Stephanie and Ranger made their way onto the boat at a quick clip, ever mindful of potential threats.

Ranger went to speak to the captain, and a few minutes later the rumble of the engine coughing to life broke the silence of the night.

Stephanie settled on bags of grain stacked on the deck, giving her shelter from the wind that had turned downright cold, and cover from snipers. The snipers were unlikely, but it always paid to be vigilant. Getting her head ventilated wasn't at the top of her list of activities for the night.

Ranger dropped behind her and pulled her into his arms, unzipping his windbreaker and wrapping it around them both. She rested her back on his chest, and he dropped a soft kiss on the side of her head. The man was like a furnace and she snuggled into him a little, letting his heat and strength envelop around her. She closed her eyes and relaxed, letting her heart sync with the slow steady rhythm of his. The ache behind her eyes receded, and her body hummed from his nearness.

They were tired, filthy, sitting on bags of grain, chugging down the river on a cargo ship that had all the speed and agility of a barge, and Stephanie thought this might just be one of most perfect moments of her life.

"You know that partnership offer is still on the table." Stephanie heard Ranger's deep voice rumble against her ear.

Stephanie's heart gave a vicious lurch and her stomach dropped like she had just crested the top of a rollercoaster. She knew he'd felt the sudden tension when he squeezed her a little tighter, like he might be afraid she would squirt out of his arms and throw herself into the river.

"I'd want to bring my team." She told him as she stared straight ahead, wondering how the captain could see anything on the river in the dead of night, as she worked to control her galloping heart banging against her ribs in quick staccato bursts.

"I'd expect nothing less." Ranger said easily.

"Even Luca." Stephanie clarified.

"Especially Luca." Ranger retorted. "Luca is a world-class negotiator and we would be lucky to have him. A K&R team needs an excellent negotiator, otherwise it's incomplete."

Stephanie relaxed a little. The possibility of partnering with Ranger and running her own K&R division felt a little more real. She realized it was something she wanted, and now it wasn't just a fantasy, it was a real possibility. Sure, there would be a lot of terms to hammer out, in particular she would have a controlling interest in the division, but Ranger welcoming her entire team cleared a major hurdle.

"I would want the final say for the division." Stephanie figured she'd test the waters. Ranger was as much about control as she was. This was one of those moments where being alike might repel them apart.

"Naturally. It would be your division, babe. A subsidiary of RangeMan, with separate accounting and leadership. You, and your team if you want, would have the majority stake. Other RangeMan resources would be at your disposal, but the cost for those resources would be charged to your division. Profits would be split. This is business, not charity. You would put up the majority of the capital."

That was all doable and an attractive offer. She swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat. There it was again. That insidious little creature called hope. She cleared her throat, praying her voice didn't completely fail her. There were things Ranger needed to know. She would not go into this with any secrets between them, especially ones that could affect the team or how Ranger felt about her.

"Ranger, you should know, Luca and I…" Her voice trailed off. She and Luca, what? She considered her words for a moment. "We have history." And right now, history, not a future, was what it seemed like.

"I know." She felt him shrug. "Babe, I want to partner with you because of who you are, your skill set and what you bring to the table. As much as I want you in my bed, in my life, that is separate. If you want to be with Luca, or someone else, I can respect that, but it doesn't change the offer that is on the table. I didn't make the offer to lure you into a relationship. I made the offer because it is good business. K&R is an area I want to expand into because it is lucrative. If I'm going to do that, I want to be successful, which means I want the best."

An invisible weight lifted off of her chest, and Stephanie took a deep breath, pulling in the smells of the river. The fish tainted water; the earthy muddy smell of algae mingled with diesel fuel grounded her.

"I'll think about it." She finally said.

In fact, she would more than think about it. Jack was already in, now it was just a matter of broaching it with Luca. Spending Thanksgiving with him gave her the perfect opportunity. She knew Luca had an interest in branching out, the only question was whether a K&R group within RangeMan was a dealbreaker. They had a lot to talk about and Stephanie wasn't sure she was ready for some of it, but she couldn't put it off any longer. They needed to settle this thing, whatever it was, between the two of them. It was time to get out of the rut she had been living in. It was comfortable, and it was safe, but the only thing she could see was the sides of the ditch. She wanted to explore what was beyond those barriers. It was time to stop existing and start living.

"You could come to Trenton for Thanksgiving." Ranger hedged.

Stephanie felt a tug of disappointment. She would like to see her parents and spending time with Ranger over the holiday held a lot of appeal.

"I can't, I have plans." Her voice sounded tinny and uncertain.

"OK, maybe Christmas then."

"Maybe."

Stephanie turned around and claimed Ranger's lips. Partly to shut him up and partly because she desperately wanted to taste him. If he kept talking to her in that silky rumbling purr of his she would promise him the world. Whatever he asked she would say yes. She craved everything about him and it seemed like a lifetime since she had felt his soft lips on hers.

This is how destruction started. One little soft spot and before you knew it the whole structure was infected. That's how this felt. A slippery slope to dependence. First, they dominated your thoughts, then you craved their touch, and before you knew it, you didn't want to live with out them. She was more than a little afraid she'd already crashed through all those gates with Ranger.

She pulled back and searched his face, drinking in the sheer perfection of him for a moment. No man should be that beautiful and perfect. She saw his lip twitch up into an almost smile. She knew he had read the thoughts plastered all over her face. Eh, what the hell, in for a penny, in for a pound.

She kissed him deeply, passionately. All the uncertainty, the frustration, the indecision poured into that one kiss. He nipped along her bottom lip and up her jawline and nuzzled the soft, sensitive spot just below her ear. She exhaled and with her breath, the air around them shifted. When his lips found hers again, the kiss was different. It was laced with passion and something that felt a little like love.

She pulled back startled by the thought and stared into those gorgeous brown eyes and she saw the truth. He knew exactly what she was thinking, exactly what she was feeling, and it didn't scare him. It echoed back to her with a certainty and intensity that swept through her like a hurricane, upending everything in its path. Destroying everything she thought she knew. Everything she thought she wanted. Her objections and her reservations left in the rubble.

Stephanie shifted away from Ranger. She couldn't think when he was this close. Everything about him dominated her senses and robbed her of good judgement, maybe even her sanity. Stephanie was not in love. That was crazy. She didn't know him, she reasoned, except she did. She knew the important parts of him. She could feel it in every fiber of her being. But that didn't matter. She still didn't do love, and that's not what this was, it couldn't be. It had been a crazy week with some outstanding sex sprinkled into the mix. She was riding a high and like all highs, it would eventually crash.

"I don't do relationships." She whispered into the night sky. They both knew she was trying to convince herself.

"Then come to Trenton and have a non-relationship with me." Ranger's lip tipped up. "We can have sweaty, screaming, dirty sex instead." He gave her a wolf grin.

OK, so that held some appeal. His words had gone straight to her core and suddenly it didn't feel cold out anymore.

"Babe, we don't have to put a label on it. We don't have to call it a relationship. We don't even have to make it official, but you and I both know this isn't going away. I spent a few days away from you and I was miserable the entire time."

"I don't know Ranger, I'm not any good at relationships." Stephanie hedged. She vaguely registered she'd said she wasn't good at them, not that she didn't do them. That was a change.

"Then just agree that you will come home to me in between jobs, and call it whatever you want. I'm not asking you to change, I'm just asking you to fit me into the in-between parts of your life. Let me fill in the cracks. Give me a chance." He gave a little shrug.

Stephanie reached up and traced his face. She didn't need to memorize it. She already knew every plane, every angle, every contour.

"You'll come for Christmas." Ranger pressed.

"Yes." The word escaped before she could stop it.

She waited for the panic to set in, the regret. It didn't. All that bloomed in her chest was hope.

Ranger gave her his 1000-watt smile that turned all of her insides gooey like a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. She was doomed, and she knew it.

When they docked in Dresden, Luca and Les were waiting. They piled in the car and made the quick trip to the airfield.

"Nikko and Jack took off with Ashley about two hours ago." Luca informed them as they drove.

Stephanie took in the mood in the car. For once, Les had nothing to say, and she wondered what had gone wrong. He stared morosely out the window, lost in thought.

"Did something happen?" She asked.

Luca met her eyes in the rearview mirror. "No."

Luca, king of the one-word answers. Stephanie really wanted to ask more questions, but it was pretty clear whatever it was would stay between Luca and Les.

They pulled through the gates. Both the RangeMan jet and the Praetorian jet were parked on the tarmac. Stephanie's stomach flipped nervously, dread building in her chest.

"See you Steph." Les gave her a half-hearted wave and slunk towards the jet, his shoulders slumped. Everything about him dejected and conflicted.

"What's up with him?" Stephanie asked Luca.

Luca just gave her a half shrug and a look that said it's not my story to tell. Luca was like a vault. He never betrayed confidences, and most of the time Stephanie appreciated that quality and admired it. Right now, it just irritated her.

Luca could easily read her irritation. Luca was also a smart man. "I'll see you at the jet. I'm going to let the pilot know we are ready." He told Stephanie and jogged off towards the hangar without waiting for confirmation or anymore questions.

Stephanie looked down at the ground, studying the little cracks in the asphalt and then back up at Ranger. Stephanie took Ranger's hands in hers. "Whatever happens or doesn't. I'll never be sorry, you know."

"Babe." That one word caressed her like velvet, sending a tingle through her that felt like a thousand little pinpricks.

The gentle brush of his knuckles down her cheek caused her eyes to close. She wanted to savor his touch, memorize it just in case. She stepped closer, conscious of her limits. If she got too close, she would lose her resolve and be lost forever. She wanted to get on that plane with him, throw caution to the wind and give the whole relationship thing a go, but she wasn't a child anymore. She didn't believe in prince charming or happily-ever-after. This wasn't a romance novel, and she was no leading lady.

His lush, soft lips grazed her jaw and pressed little kisses on all her favorite spots. Her body gave a delicious shiver.

Ranger's eyes locked with hers. "I'll see you for Christmas." The command in his voice rocketed through her.

Stephanie opened her mouth to tell him maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Ranger pressed his fingers to her lips to stop her words.

He gave her a sly smile. "Trust me. I'll make it worth your while. I think you'll really like your present."

The heat in his eyes told her it wouldn't be an ordinary present. Desire liquid, hot and scary, coursed through her.

"Want to give me a hint?" Her voice was breathy and definitely sounded like sex.

"You'll be naked."

Stephanie's knees went weak, and she licked her lips. Ranger's gaze dropped to her mouth and his eyes dilated almost black.

"And you'll be hoarse from screaming my name." He winked at her.

A bolt of tantalizing heat streaked through her, settling low in her belly and she made a strangled little sound of need.

"I'll see you for Christmas."

"Definitely." Stephanie pulled him down for a kiss. It was brief, wild, and breathless. A prelude and a promise.

With that, Ranger jogged to the plane and for the second time in a week, Stephanie watched Ranger climb the stairs. This time it was easier, but not by much. This time they had made plans, ones Stephanie thought sounded like perfection. They had inched a little closer to something she couldn't or wouldn't name. She was transfixed, incapable of looking away, as the plane took off into the morning sky wishing she was on it.

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A/N: The General Inspectorate of Security Forces (GIBS) is a Czech independent government agency tasked with investigating crimes of the officers of the Police of the Czech Republic, Customs protection, Prison Service, inspection workers or civil employees of these institutions.