I had a chance to review the case files that the rest of the team had prepared over the last twenty-four hours. As usual, they had done a phenomenal job and I was very pleased with the work that they had done.

Ranger carried me into the study and placed me carefully on the sofa. Kai checked in with me while Ranger retrieved the rest of the team and Hal, and he was happy to hear that although my pain had increased since I had woken up, it was still less than what I had reported this morning. Even so, I was looking forward to another painkiller and a nap. I hated to say it, but having a sponge bath and getting ready had tired me out far more than it should have.

Ben arrived and the rest of the team filtered into the study. "I'm sorry that I am taking up the whole sofa", I said.

"I think you have a bye on it", said Ben. He smiled at me. "How are you feeling?"

"This is the first day that I can honestly say that I have noticed a reduction in my pain level, so I am taking that as a win."

Ben grinned. "That's awesome. Makes me feel less guilty."

I laughed. "No need to feel guilty. I'd like to introduce everyone on the team to you."

I went around the circle. When I got to Julie, Ben looked from Ranger to Julie and said, "is Ranger your dad?"

Julie smiled and affirmed it.

"We don't talk about the relationship", I said, "not because we are trying to hide it but rather because thinking of Julie as Ranger's daughter belittles the exceptional work she does researching. I have over a hundred people on staff, and the people in this room comprise my elite team. Julie is just as skilled as any other person on the team, and we are all glad when she is home from university so that she can be a part of the team again. She has incredible instincts and ingrained talent."

"What are you taking at uni?" said Ben.

Julie smiled. "Criminology. I hope to become a lawyer."

Ben snorted. "It sounds like you'd become a good one."

"Thank you."

"If you ever want a job as a spy, let me know. I suspect that it would be a win to have you on our team", said Ben. Julie laughed.

"I've heard that you are basically living off the grid", I said.

Ben looked surprised. "How did you know that?"

"We listened to one of Felix's calls."

"Felix? What does he have to do with it?"

Ranger smiled. "We have a lot to tell you", said Ranger. "However, first we'd like to hear what you think is going on."

Ben sighed. "I don't know. I've been trying to figure it out which is why I've gone dark. From what I can tell, I was slated for an assassination and other than being the head of MI6 I'm not sure why. I was actually hoping to hire you to help me figure it out."

"If you have MI6 hire us, it's a deal", said Ranger. "It will hide it a bit."

"Castle Force has an ongoing contract with MI6. I could hide it in there."

Ranger smiled. "Excellent. This is what we've found. Gurus?"

I looked at Miguel, and he smiled and overviewed the people involved, the way they tied together, what they had planned for the assassination, and why Felix was doing it. By the end of it, Ben was staring at us with his mouth hanging open. "Fuck", he said. "You found out all that? How long have you been working on this?"

"Twenty-four hours", said Ranger as he smiled proudly. "Welcome to our Gurus. They are amazing, and when this case is over they are going to work with the Castle Force staff and together teach each other the skills that we each have learned. Our research team is incredible. However, when we combine talents between Castle Force and Rangeman? We are going to have the most kickass team on two continents."

"Maybe the world", said Ben.

The Gurus and I grinned.

"Thank you", I said. "I think we should play the call we captured last night." Nick brought it up on his computer and again played it. Ben looked like he was steaming just as much as we were. "So, we have a problem", I said quietly. "Felix looks like he is masterminding your demise so that he can take over as the head of MI6. He wants to marry Fatima again, but she apparently does not agree. He has become a devout follower of the Taliban and there is some question as to whether he has thrown some cases. That would require us to have a whole other level of information that we don't have but is, however, something you can analyze when you get back into the MI6 offices. All we know is that Felix is currently in a position to influence the outcome of all missions investigating members of the Taliban. We also don't know what the specific goal of your assassination was. Could it be a bid for power? Or is it a result of something that you stopped happening, maybe unwittingly, that he wanted to occur? We don't know, and we will need your direction on that."

"So, it is your opinion that Felix has become a double agent?"

"Yes."

Ben thought about that for a moment. "Some of his decisions that I thought were questionable now make a whole lot more sense."

"Like what?"

"Shutting down missions that I thought were going well, for example. I had actually written him up for a few of them and I had noticed that his file was getting large. From what I'd seen, though, it was largely filled with complaints for sexual harassment and I was hoping that behavior would disappear now that Eleanor was no longer the head."

"It sounds like that confirms our theory that he is a double agent", said Ranger. "He had been written up since Colin was the head. How would you like to proceed? After all, we have three terrorists roaming the country looking for you and Steph, we have the mastermind staying lily-white behind the scenes, Castle Force has been approached to find Steph's identity and location and your location – and that is all irrespective of the fact they are planning to bomb Wimbledon and that they are going to murder you and Steph and pin the murders on Fatima - and then kill Fatima. Where have you been staying?"

"In my car."

"Then, if you want, we have a spare bedroom, and you are welcome to it. It would be a lot more comfortable than living in your car."

Ben smiled. "Thank you. I'd appreciate it."

Ranger smiled. "The good part about that is that we have a team of soldiers patrolling the grounds at all times, and hopefully no one would be able to get to you. That means that you can sleep in safety."

Miguel stepped forward and handed a thick file folder of papers to Ben. "And if you want a little bedtime reading to look at, this is all our research that we have done over the last day. There is a lot there and much of it is irrelevant, so at the beginning of each file we have a research summary which distills the relevant information into sound bites."

Ben briefly scanned through the document. "There are numbers after many of the sentences", he said.

I smiled. "You will notice after each summary there is a sheaf of papers. They are numbered at the top and the numbers correspond to the numbers in the summary. So if the summary has a one in brackets after the statement, the corresponding proof for that statement is on the page with the one in the header. If you had the computer version, the number is hyperlinked with the exact location of the proof."

"Holy fuck."

"Steph, what do you think our next steps are?" said Ranger.

"To develop capture plans. You can hold the three terrorists on the bombing as well as the Wimbledon plans that were identified in Felix's call. Talk to the fire department to try to figure out the fuel used in the bomb at the university and correspond it to the chemicals that Zalmai is purchasing. Ben, if you can get that information to Miguel, perhaps he can do the analysis? And put a trace on Felix so that you can watch him constantly. He's going to be a wily person to catch, simply because he has been trained in evasive maneuvers. However, all four people have to be investigated according to where they currently are located and the locations they are predicted to be in."

"What is a capture plan?" said Ben.

"I come from a bounty hunting background", I said, "and I long ago discovered that the key to a successful capture is a good capture plan. I used to write them on the back of the diner napkin and shove them in my pocket, and they have come a long way since then. However, what they are is an analysis of the person and their habits. So, if in analyzing their credit card bills we find that the person is at Joe's Pub every Friday night and always pays his tab at six in the evening, you will likely be able to find him at Joe's Pub between five-thirty and six on Fridays. Alternatively, if he orders pizza from Luigi's Pizzeria every Friday at eight, capturing him while the pizza is being delivered might be another good pick-up point. It saves a lot of numb bums and cuts down on the surveillance time if you know where the person is going to be. By doing this careful research, you can usually come up with the top three locations that you'd likely be able to pick them up."

"Steph usually nails it in one", said Nick.

"So does everyone on this team", I said.

Miguel laughed. "You trained us well." He turned to Ben. "Steph is the person who came up with the concept of a capture plan, and she has done amazing things with them. She is incredibly accurate with her plans and because of that, the staff call her the Capture Queen behind her back."

I laughed. "You call me that in front of me as well."

"It's a good name, chica", said Miguel.

I laughed hard.

"It was one of the main reasons that Colin wanted to mix Castle Force with Rangeman", said Ranger. "Steph's capture plans are incredible. They can be used to direct a capture of a skip but, as you are seeing, they can also be used to direct a capture of a suspect or a felon that is eluding police. She hasn't developed one yet that doesn't work and can often find felons in a couple of days that have been eluding police for months."

I smiled. "There is always a first time for them not to work and, now that you've built the expectations up, it probably won't."

The Gurus and Ranger laughed. "A challenge", said Miguel. "I like it."

"How do you do it?" said Ben.

"You start with an in-depth analysis of the person. You look at everything you can to develop a picture of the person, from social to criminal, academic to professional, financial to medical. When you have a good picture of the person, the loves and their dislikes, the essence of who they are, you start to analyze some of the material in-depth. You develop a loose weekly schedule and look for places you can take the person. You look through credit card receipts to see if there is any repetition, and so on. It takes a while, but it is a useful tool."

"How long does it take?"

"About five to seven hours. However, our cybersecurity department is doing us a favor and developing a program to look for similarities within the lines on credit card bills. It should cut down the time as well as cut down the potential for human error."

"Incredible."

"It's both a useful and popular service. It avoids hours of surveillance and increases the chance of capturing the person peacefully the first time that you try."

"I don't know how much you want us to do", said Ranger. "However, our military tactical team that is here is perfectly able to capture people. They have done it many, many times. They are used to following the Gurus' capture plans and they work well as a unit. If you want us to pick either the terrorists or Felix up, let us know. Our team is all former Special Forces soldiers, and have done everything from bodyguarding to eliminations to captures to security to search and rescues to hostage negotiations. They are incredibly talented and would be pleased to help you out as much as you require."

"Thank you", said Ben. I looked at him, and he looked a little overwhelmed. I looked at Ranger, and I could see that he thought the same thing. I winked at him, and he smiled.

"Think about what you need us to do", I said as I turned back to Ben. "You're in the driver's seat on this. In the meantime, Gurus, can you each take a person and start to put together a capture plan for them? Kai, can you take me upstairs? I think it is time for a nap. And Ranger? Can you help Ben get his stuff and give him the last empty room on the second floor?" Everyone nodded. "Okay, everyone. See you at dinner."

"Have a good sleep, Steph", said the Gurus, and as Kai lifted me up, they all filtered out to do more work.