After dinner, the team and I went back into the morning room to do some more work. Nick continued to look into Felix. Miguel continued to look into Ben. Dirk continued to look into Zalmai, and Julie and I took the other two terrorists identified through facial recognition who were at the bombing and looked into them some more.

Just as I was about to check out for the night, a recording of a phone conversation was sent to Nick. It was a taped call between Zalmai and Felix, and Nick saved it to his computer before he lost it. Everyone else clicked into the site and saved a copy of the call to their computers as well. When we had, everyone relaxed and got comfortable, and Nick played the message.

"I thought you said that Ben was going to go down", said Felix. His voice was angry.

"We lobbed the bomb into the auditorium", said Zalmai. "We then put on our gear, but by the time we were entering the auditorium dressed as firefighters, a woman was dragging him out of the auditorium."

"How the hell could a woman do that? He's got to weigh 160 kilos."

"I don't know how she was doing it. I don't even know why she was there. I just know she wasn't wearing a head covering, and her shoes were hooker heels. She was a disgrace to women."

"Bastard", whispered Dirk. The other men nodded in agreement.

"Was she a graduate?" said Felix.

"I don't think so. She wasn't wearing a gown", said Zalmai. "All I know is that we didn't see her, we threw in the bomb, the bomb exploded, there was chaos, and when we were able to get into the auditorium, a woman was dragging him out. She was running up the aisle. I asked her if she would like me to carry him, and she ran past me, took him to a group of people out on the grass, and collapsed. I was thinking that I could get near her and kill both her and Ben, but an ambulance came and took her to the hospital. The security at the hospital, though, was intense. It only loosened up today and when we went to the hospital to kill her, we found that she had been released into her husband's care."

"Did you find anything else about her?"

"She was American."

"Fucking Westerners always getting in the way of our business", said Felix. "I'll see what I can do to try to find her. She can't have gone far."

"Maybe she could have taken a plane?"

"I'll check the manifests."

"Thank you. Where is Ben now?"

"I don't know. He has gone AWOL and isn't answering his email or texts."

"Do you think that he's onto us?"

"I don't think he is smart enough to be onto us. He would never put together that someone was trying to kill him. Did you get rid of the gun that you were going to use on him?"

"Not yet. I thought that you would like us to still use it on him."

Felix laughed. "That's true. That gun belongs to my ex-wife. She is Muslim, but she isn't devout. I converted to being Muslim for her, but I converted all the way. Instead, my wife has gone to uni, become a lawyer, and now runs her own law practice. She divorced me because I was becoming more devout than she was. I wanted her to quit her job, wear traditional clothes, and stay at home and raise the children . She refused. She is an embarrassment. If we could pin this extermination on her, it would be fantastic. Two birds, one stone."

"Okay. So you are hoping to frame your ex-wife?"

"Yes. And then, when you are finished, I want the gun back and I will then kill my ex-wife. I'm trying to set up some meetings with her so that I am close enough to her to kill her."

"What do you want to do with Ben and this American woman?"

"Kill the American any way you want. Americans are a dime a dozen, and there are far too many Westerners in this world. No one will miss her. As for Ben? Kill him in as painful a way as possible."

"Alright. I'll call you in a couple of days so that you can tell me where the American woman and Ben are."

"Don't worry. I have a team of people on standby. They are actually in Inverness as well. They are fantastic researchers and they should quickly be able to find the American and Ben. I'll ask them to look into it tomorrow. It won't take them long to identify where they are, and you can be the retrieval and cleanup team that finishes taking care of business."

"Just remember that, in gratitude for us taking care of Ben and this woman, and for pinning it on your ex, you're getting us insider tickets to Wimbledon. We want to help create the tennis match that no one will ever forget."

"Don't worry. I have already procured the tickets for you."

"Excellent. I should go now, so that you can search for Ben and that woman. Allah hafiz."

"Allah hafiz."

The two callers hung up, and I looked at the team. They all looked upset. "I think I am being undersold", I said. "I think I am worth much more than two tickets to Wimbledon. I mean, seriously? Tennis? At least sell me for tickets to a football match." Everyone laughed. "Jules, can you get your dad and Hal? I think they would like to hear the recording."

"Absolutely", she said. She left the room quickly as I sighed, and Kai looked at me worriedly. I smiled at him. I didn't know how to tell him that it wasn't the first time that I'd been slated to be killed, and I somehow thought that it wouldn't be the last either. It was just that this time, I had a whole guard of Special Ops soldiers to protect me.

Ranger and Hal followed Julie into the room. "It's handy having your mom and dad here", he said to me with a grin. "Your mother is bathing the kids and she seems to be having a good time."

"I'm sure my dad is ready to read bedtime books as well. He used to read to me every night when I was a kid."

Ranger smiled. He sat on the armrest of the sofa again and, as Hal got comfortable, he turned to Nick. "Hit me", he said.

Nick played the recording again, and I sighed when we got to the end. My team didn't look any less pissed the second time through. Ranger looked very upset – and the fact that he was so upset and not rolling with it meant that he was still carrying a lot of upset over all the drama we've had over the last few months.

Hal took a deep breath. "We need to keep a guard on Steph at all times."

"I'm fine doing that", said Kai. "Steph and I are friends, she will talk to me and be honest with me about how she is feeling. I feel more comfortable having a doctor as her guard."

"I think we should have Kai and Grant split guarding Steph during the day so that Kai gets some time to stretch his legs", said Ranger. He turned to Kai. "As much as I appreciate your willingness to step in, it isn't fair to you. Even if it is having Grant sit with Steph while she sleeps each afternoon for a couple of hours. He'd be there for medical needs, but more importantly you'll be able to get a break. Go for a run or sleep or talk to other people or whatever."

"I'm okay."

"I don't know how long this will be going on. I don't want you to burn out. Kai, two hours each afternoon for yourself. You are still doing the brunt of the work. At night, of course, I'd like to see you get a good sleep, and I will sleep with Steph."

"Thank God", I said.

Ranger looked at me. "Thank God?"

"Absolutely. If you were going to tell me that I had to sleep with Grant, I would be doing the ixnay on that one. He looks like a snorer, and I don't do that shit."

Ranger smiled. "So I don't snore?"

"Not usually, but sometimes you let out a huge horking snort and I always wonder if you swallowed a spider."

Ranger smiled. "I don't think so."

"They say that the average person swallows eight spiders a year while sleeping. It can happen. I don't make this shit up!"

"Thank God we don't live in Australia then", said Miguel. "Their spiders are big."

The group all laughed.

"Okay", said Ranger. "I'll guard Steph during the night, Kai guards Steph during the day, and Grant spells him off for a two-hour period while Steph sleeps every afternoon."

"Okay", I said. "That makes me feel better. With these burns, I'm not able to use my signature move on any terrorists."

"What's your signature move?" said Kai.

"Nailing them in the balls so hard they throw up and sing soprano for a week."

Julie laughed as each member of the team crossed their legs and went a little white.

"What do you do if it's a woman?" said Kai.

"I slam my hand up their nose and break it."

"Why don't you do that to a man?"

"Honestly? Most men are more concerned about their nuts than their nose. The only reason they are concerned about their nose is because it is said that the nose is an indicator of penis size. Otherwise, they don't care. Nailing them between the legs seems to make a bigger impression."

Kai laughed. "I can imagine. I know that it would certainly make an impression on me."

I grinned. "In fact, I'm not sure why some plastic surgeons don't offer nose lengthening services. I'm sure that there would be a lot of men who would go for that service. They could grow their nose to be a foot long, and then see what happens when they go to a pick-up bar."

"Yeah", said Miguel, "their nose would always be submersed in their drinks." I laughed.

"I thought it was the size of your feet that indicated penis size", said Ranger.

I looked at his feet. "Nope."

All the men started laughing, and Ranger's face went red. "Babe", he groaned out.

I laughed. "Just be glad your feet are small", I said in a not-so-quiet whisper. The men laughed harder as Ranger groaned again, but since he looked more relaxed I thought that it was worth it.

I looked at Ranger. "So we are stealing Grant from the ERT and Kai, Grant and you are guarding me. I don't know the staff at Castle Force well, with having to take so much time off. You and Hal know them better. Would it be possible to have a conversation with the staff tomorrow to explain what is going on and what we want them to do about it?"

"How much information do you want to release, and what exactly do you want them to do about it?"

I thought for a moment. "What about if the director of the research department tells them that they are under new management and that all requests have to go through you rather than through her. The director is named Lilias and prefers to be called Lili, and it is my impression that she is a good person and intelligent and honourable. While I think that I can work with her, I don't know how adept she is at being undercover. I'd rather you do the work of talking to Felix."

"And you want Felix's call to go through me instead of you?" said Ranger.

"If it goes through me, he might wonder if I am the mystery American woman. Besides, because you are…you know…a man, he will talk more openly to you. I don't get the impression that he particularly likes or trusts women."

Ranger sighed. "People like that deserve to be shot."

His eyes brightened up, and I looked at him and shook my head. "No."

"No?"

"We aren't in our country. We can't go around and perform eliminations without Ben's approval."

Ranger sighed hard. "Damn", he said. "It would be so satisfying."

I laughed hard.

The three little girls ran into the room, all freshly washed and teeth brushed. I grinned to see them, and Ranger picked them up one at a time and held them to my face so that they could get a kiss and a hug. After they had kissed Ranger and I goodnight, the kids walked all around the room and gave everyone hugs and kisses. Just as they finished, Dirk's kids and Nick's kids came in for hugs and kisses as well. Kate apparently had bathed Nick's and Dirk's boys while Cindy had bathed Edie at the same time as she bathed her girls.

"Let's take five, guys", said Ranger. "Hal, if you could call the EMT together. In fifteen minutes, we'll gather in the dining room for a strategy meeting. Steph, do you want to go to bed?"

"Nuh-uh. No way. I can sleep in tomorrow, but I have to be part of that meeting, Ranger."

He sighed. "Somehow I knew that you were going to say that."

"Then why did you waste your breath suggesting that I go to bed?"

Ranger laughed. "For the record, I asked you whether you wanted to go to bed, not suggested that you go to bed." He kissed me on the top of my head. "And I am glad that you are staying up."

As the men filtered out of the room to put their kids to bed, Hal and Miguel called everyone for a muster and I stayed in the room with Kai. Kai came and crouched beside me. "How are you doing?" he said quietly.

"Okay?"

He assessed my face. "You look like you've had enough."

"When this strategy meeting is over, I will gratefully go to bed. I just have to put on the afterburners for this one. With that phone call coming in, that shit got real."

"I know. But if you want to be able to cope tomorrow, you need sleep."

"How about, when the meeting is over, I go to bed, and I sleep in tomorrow morning and work in the afternoon?"

"Fair enough. The guys will be able to do their work without you helping?"

I snorted. "The guys are more than qualified to do the work, whether I am there or not. Our team is the best. I'm just another set of hands and eyes."

Kai smiled. "Remember that."