"Fields of Bounty," Rae-Lee greeted in her slow Texas drawl when she picked
up the phone.
"Liz Raleigh, please," the caller asked in a clipped Yankee accent.
"Sure hon, and you are?"
"Her brother Daniel. It's an emergency."
Rae-Lee hit the hold button. Sure. Everything was an emergency to family. The cat ran away. The kids are fighting over who gets the last soda. Still, she dutifully hit Liz's extension. "Liz, if you're not under Brandt's desk, your brother Daniel is on the phone. Says it's important."
Liz laughed at the teasing. "Brandt's in his own office, thank you," she replied. She had come a long way with fitting in with the others here. At first they had been annoyed Brandt was bringing in his obvious trophy girlfriend to be a bounty hunter, but it was his company, so there wasn't much that they could do. Of course they hadn't met Liz the way Brandt did.
Liz had been in San Antonio doing a job for a bank. The break in went perfectly as planned. Liz went in the next morning and dutifully returned the money to the bank, giving the gathered executives and quick run down on their weak links and promised to provide a full report later. Yawn. This was getting so boring. She had only been doing it for three months and she was already bored out of her mind. Breaking into places wasn't nearly as much fun without Cameron and Janna. It was an honest living, she knew, but it was still boring as hell. But hey, it was still honest. She was going nuts.
Liz headed downstairs to get a check for services rendered. Then she was to go back to the hotel, write the report and then fly back to Seattle the next day. The check would go to Dad's bookkeeper and then it would be off to plan another security test at yet another bank somewhere in the country. Boring, boring, boring. She stepped off of the final riser and her life changed in an instant. She had been so busy mentally bemoaning how bored she was, she didn't have the slightest bit of forewarning when a guy grabbed her from behind.
"Everyone down now or the bitch is dead!" he shouted, firing a single round into the air. Liz felt the gun barrel against her head and another guy began demanding money from the frightened tellers.
"Don't you dare put a dye-pack in there," partner growled at a teller. "He's gonna shoot her dead if you do." The threat was uttered low, but Liz heard it well enough. She figured they were planning on adding kidnapping to their list of charges. Oh well, she thought glumly. At least this was slightly above boring.
Liz waited right until the guy holding her went to drag her out of the bank. He was so excited that his mind was wide open and she knew every move he was about to make. He started to try and drag her out and then all of a sudden she went from a quiet, frightened victim to hellcat in a flash. The guy was disarmed, on the floor howling in pain in half a heartbeat. His partner got distracted by the ruckus and forgot to watch his back. One of the other customers put him on the ground, unconscious, before he truly realized how bad things had just gotten.
The customer who attacked the other would-be robber pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed his man. Then he pulled out of his jacket pocket a hollow metal rectangle with a screen on one side. He jammed the man's thumb in there and noted what came up. A frown crossed his features and then he went to Liz.
"Mind if I ID him?" he drawled, eyeing Liz appreciatively.
"Whatever thrills you," Liz responded; trying to sound flippant but really feeling a little, well, squirmy under the warm gaze of his dark eyes. She wasn't trying to pry but it was impossible to not notice his mental tone at the thought of thrilling her. Nothing perverse, just, well, enough to make her squirm.
He slid the ID checker onto her crook's thumb and then smiled at the result. "According to this guy's thumb here," he said in that same lazy drawl, "we got ourselves a bail skipper here. Now you can give him to the cops or we can take him to Dallas and spilt the bounty. That's five grand for each of us."
Liz blinked. This was unexpected. But it was a very sincere offer. It only took a peep into his mind to see that. Five grand. He was impressed with it. Yawn. But he was tall with dark hair pulled back in a shoulder length ponytail and a sexy little Fu-Manchu. His sensual mouth was smiling, lighting up those dark eyes. Her cowboy here practically screamed Texas in his denim jeans and leather boots. She was willing to bet his Stetson was in the truck. Boring? Most assuredly not.
Liz's flight wasn't until the next afternoon anyways. She could do what she should do and go back to her hotel and get that report written so that she wouldn't have to do it when she got home and the bank would be pleased with such a prompt response. Or...she could do exactly what she ended up doing. It was the shortest six-hour trip in her life as she rode shotgun, getting to know Brandt Fields. The attempted bank-robber sat in the modified backseat of Brandt's SUV, attached to the restraints installed into the frame of the vehicle itself. He rolled his eyes and muttered a lot, but Liz tuned that out and just enjoyed getting to know Brandt.
He was 32, divorced, with a son, Chris who was 13. He was on good terms with the ex, although that took a few years to come by after the divorce, and it was quite obvious that he loved his son. Grew up in Texas, mother passed last year, but Dad was alive and still kickin'. Been a bounty hunter for about ten years now and had his own company with two guys working for him and a receptionist that also provided back up when needed. Liz loved hearing him talk with his rich accent and colorful expressions.
She told him about herself. Parts, at least. She was from Seattle, but had been living in Europe for a few years and just moved back to the States. Had two brothers, one being her twin, and an older sister. She worked for her father's company, testing bank security. It wasn't the exciting job like one might think. Had gotten way too easy. The guy in the back seat groaned out loud when she told Brandt how much she would have gotten away with the night before had she not been there just as a test. Liz and Brandt both smirked at his distress. They talked for hours and enjoyed some subtle flirtation. Well, it wasn't all that subtle. The guy in the back finally told them to get a room for an hour. He would wait in the car.
The trip was over way too soon for Liz's liking. They turned in their skipper and that should have been it. When they left San Antonio, Brandt promised that he would drive her back just as soon as they cashed in and split the bounty. He looked a little crestfallen when he said to hop back in the truck since a deal was a deal. Before she could think, Liz heard herself blurt out that maybe they should rest for a while and get something to eat before heading back. She didn't need to be back until the next afternoon, so it wasn't like she was really in a hurry.
So it started with a late lunch. Brandt was one of those men who could appreciate seeing a woman enjoying a meal and didn't peck at it, terrified of gaining three ounces or looking bad in front of a man. Liz was herself and if he didn't like it, piss on him them. He had to admit, he certainly liked what he saw. Before the meal was over, Liz mentioned that she had never been to Dallas before. Brandt jumped on that and offered to show her some of the sites. It was late in the afternoon, but there was still a little time.
They went over to the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens and wandered around there for a while as dusk began to settle in. It was due to close soon and most of the people were gone. Liz thought the day was too good to be true. Nothing had ever made her expect a day could start so blah and end up so incredible. And she thought she must have fallen into a dream when they were behind a column on the outside of a small building off to the side when Brandt leaned over and gave her the softest, sweetest kiss she could have ever imagined in her life. They both seemed startled by it, but then they smiled at each other and when they started walking again, her hand was in his.
They didn't get back to San Antonio until well after two in the morning. They had gone to Billy Bob's Texas Nightclub over in Ft. Worth and enjoyed some of the local "culture" there, although Liz felt a little weird being the only one not in boots. It was still fun though and both of them were slow to want to leave. Brandt barely did the speed limit the last hour of the trip, trying to prolong their time together.
And the trip had shocked the hell out of Liz in more than one way. Brandt asked her how she seemed to know when the guy at the bank was about to make a move and leave with her. It was his most vulnerable moment and she knew. Liz joked that she was telepathic. Brandt had laughed but then he got quiet. Telepathy? Ha ha, right out of science fiction. Didn't exist. Except at the bar these two guys had been glaring at each other and making threatening gestures. Liz's back was to them. She had casually stood and moved and then all of a sudden the one guy jumped the other one and landed where Liz had been sitting. That was when they had left Billy Bob's.
And then at the Gardens, they had gotten lost. The place was huge and it was easy to get lost when you hadn't been there in a long time. Liz had been looking amused and then without hesitation walked down a couple of paths that they hadn't gone down before and went right to a gardener to ask for directions. Brandt had given Liz a long look in the car after thinking about the day.
"You're not really joking are you?"
Liz jumped in her seat. She tried to respect people's privacy and didn't pry when they were thinking. She suddenly wished she had listening in on him. She opened her mouth to deny it and was stunned to hear her voice saying "Ummm...actually, not really."
"What I am thinking right now?"
Liz was flustered. "I'm not peeking right now," she sputtered. "That's rude to listen in." She paused. "Betty Lou Brenner? There really are girls with that name?"
Brandt almost went off of the road. It had been fifteen years, but if Betty Lou's brothers found out even now that he had sex with her behind their barn, they would still hunt him down. It was one of those things that he told his wife, but not another living soul. If she knew that...she was really serious. He asked her about it, and to Liz's amazement, it wasn't weird. It was actually very cool to be able to tell someone. She didn't tell him the entire truth, but said that she thought it was because she was a twin and they were so close that mental abilities developed. Or she was just weird. Who knew? Later Liz realized that the little things she had done to make him wonder were similar to things she had done in front of lots of other people, including close friends. It was just none of them had ever been really watching her before.
It made for a fascinating end to the trip, which made it go by way too fast. He walked her up to the door of her hotel room and then kissed her good night. Of all of the kisses that Liz had ever had in her life, nothing had prepared her for the intensity of what this kiss did to her.
All good sense and practicality went right out the window right then and there. One thing led to the next and Liz ended up waking up in Brandt's arms. To put it mildly, she freaked out. Brandt was amused at her protests that this wasn't like her at all to just sleep with someone. He already knew that and no telepathy had been required.
Liz was more upset that she shouldn't have done it rather than she wished she hadn't. You don't fall for someone in a day. It's impossible. Especially when you lived in Seattle and he lived in Texas. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair. She had to go home. He was so wonderful, but she had to go home.
Brandt stopped her dead with a single question. "Why?" Her expression was priceless. "If you don't like what you're doing there, then why go back?" he pressed. "Bet you'd make a great bounty hunter."
Liz had never even considered that. She didn't have a real reason to go back except for the fact her parents lived there. It wasn't like she was going to have to uproot kids. She could just go. Hell, she was living with the parents so she didn't even have to move an apartment. But a major lifestyle change based on one day and one night? She had done some crazy things before but they had always been well planned and thought out. Liz made her flight that night, promising Brandt she would think about it. And she did think about it. It took all of five minutes. The minute the plane took off, she started crying, regretting leaving already as it felt like her heart was breaking.
Talking to the parents was going to be the scary part. Liz told them what happened at the bank and the job offer. They didn't really need all the details, right? Dad didn't like it at all. What if someone found out about her past? Turning her in would net a fortune in rewards. He listed every single reason why this would be the absolute worst thing that she could possibly do. Mom didn't say a thing until Dad finally wound down.
Then her mother calmly set down her cup of tea and said "You won't be the first young woman to take a crazy chance over a young man." She smiled at her husband. "She's obviously our child, isn't she?"
Liz's jaw flapped. "Did you have someone watching me?" she demanded angrily.
Mom sipped her tea, completely nonplussed. "I may not be the telepath in the family," she said calmly, "but you are my daughter. I do not need ESP to know what is going on in your head, my darling youngest child." Liz tried to deny it, but then confessed about Brandt, leaving out the fact that they slept together. From the looks her parents gave her, it was like they had a good suspicion anyways.
Liz ended up moving to Texas and going to work for Brandt. At first the others at Brandt's company saw her as something to pretty up the place. Rae-Lee had seen the young woman come in, casually dressed, but still the jeans were designer and she had seen the bag that Liz was carrying in some fancy catalogue. It cost around a thousand dollars. They all predicated that Liz would last less than a month before Brandt got tired of her and kicked her out. The consensus was that Brandt had hit his mid-life crisis early.
Liz knew what they thought of her. Brandt had kept to his promise and didn't tell anyone about the telepathy. She was a curiosity enough; she didn't want to be a freak. Besides, even without telepathy she could tell what they thought. It wasn't easy to deal with the snide comments about her messing up her hair, but she dealt with it, feeling proud of her new maturity that let her blow such comments off. They would adjust eventually and she was enjoying being with Brandt too much to be annoyed with his employees. A few weeks passed and then it happened. The team got major info on a bail skipper that he was at a specific address and would be there all night. They made plans to go in that night to get him.
Despite what he had seen at the bank, Brandt had Liz watch the back. She had just finished the state's training course and it would be the first time she went out with the team. And the guy at the bank was slim and not very big. This skipper was a brute and had a history of violence, especially towards women. He even had Rae-Lee behind the three men going in the front just in case. Brandt wasn't worried about Liz being by herself in the back since the backyard adjoined a field with a lot of high grass and weeds. Brandt was confident that the skipper would hit that before hitting Liz.
Liz knew why he was really doing it, but she didn't want to make a scene in front of the others. He didn't realize how well she could protect herself. Instead, she made a teasing comment to Brandt that she better not get bored out there. Brandt knew what she meant and laughed it off. The others thought it was just a whiny-brat statement. On their way into position, Rae-Lee handed Liz a Cosmo and told her it was so she wouldn't get bored while the real bounty hunters worked.
Then it happened. The skipper's girlfriend pulled a gun, letting him have time to get away while they subdued her. He headed out back and made a beeline for the field. Brandt's heart nearly stopped when he heard Liz say into the ear-microphone that she was giving chase. Even the others were worried. She was obviously a spoiled brat, but that didn't mean they wanted her to get beat up or killed. They all followed and then the sound of a fight coming over the mic made all of them feel ill. Nothing could have prepared them for what they found.
The guy was face down on the ground, neatly handcuffed and very much unconscious. Liz was sitting on the small of his back, flipping through the Cosmo, reading it with a penlight. She sighed dramatically and held up a page when they converged on where she was. "Look at this!" she said, sounding terribly distressed. "Neutrals are coming back in! Argh! I'm a shimmer. I just don't know how I am going to survive until next year." She didn't dare look at any of them in the face or else she would have laughed herself sick.
After that, she was part of the crew. Her relationship with Brandt only increased. She met Marlene, his ex wife and actually found her to be rather nice. Marlene was a little surprised to see Brandt with such a younger woman, but had to admit that Liz was perfect for him. Chris, Brandt's son was going to be a heartbreaker and a half. He also began pestering his father to marry Liz after he went over to his dad's one day with two of his friends and found Liz bent over her Ferrari in tight denim shorts as she worked on the car. She was hot and not only owned his favorite car in the world, but did all of the mechanic work on it as well and told him about all of the upgrades she had done. The boy would have married her himself except he would have had to fight his two friends for the honor first. He couldn't have her; his dad was going to have to marry her. Liz would be the coolest stepmother in the world. She had driven in races over in Europe (Liz thought it best to not mention the underground racing she did in high school). She had racing trophies. And a stepson would have a much better chance at being allowed to drive her car than her boyfriend's son would.
And at work things got better when they realized how well connected Liz was. Her sister was in the FBI. Twice she had provided some information that was needed. The others weren't sure what the deal was when Liz was on the phone with Heather, telling her that she was trying to be good and that's why she needed the info, but it worked, so why question it. And then once they needed to know if a skipper was at a certain house, but there was no way to do recon. If the guy got the slightest whiff of problems, he was going to be out the door. When Brandt presented the problem, they watched in amazement as Liz had called someone and spent twenty minutes begging and pleading. She didn't sound more than fifteen as she exaggerated her 'please'. Finally she booted up her laptop and casually entered a secure military site and had access to satellite photography in real time. Every jaw in the room was on the table as Liz thanked the person on the other end and then explained she had a thirty- minute pass for the site. With some intense zooms, the house was located and their skipper was seen in the backyard. Liz refused to explain whom she called and how it was done, but by that point, they didn't really care.
The best part was that eventually, Brandt knew everything. About a month ago, Liz had woken up from a bad nightmare. She didn't have bad dreams very often, but when she did, they were monsters. Cameron...Southwood...gun shots...blood everywhere. Brandt was with her that night and asked her what she had been dreaming about. Without meaning to, she told him. Everything. She blurted out what they had been doing in Europe. It would have been best to stop there, but once she got started, she just couldn't stop. To say the least, Brandt was stunned. Liz's family was something out of a sci-fi movie and her life...it sounded like something straight out of Hollywood.
The next day was more awkward than Liz was prepared for. Brandt made some weak excuses and left before they could go to work together like they usually did when they spent the night. He wasn't there when Liz got to the office. She didn't bother going to her desk. She went straight to the bathroom and cried for an hour. The other staff was confused as hell. The day before, those two were just as happy as could be. One of the guys tried to get her out of the bathroom, telling her he had to use it, but Liz got an unexpected help from Rae-Lee who kicked him in the shin and said he could go make a puddle on the floor for all she cared. He better leave Liz alone or he was going to have to deal with her. Nobody in their right mind wanted to deal with Rae-Lee.
Brandt came in late that afternoon. He pulled Liz into the conference room and she immediately told him that she understood. It was way too much. She couldn't expect him to stay with her. She might not be able to in the same situation. It was totally understandable. He should, by rights, be turning her in. She would appreciate it if he didn't, but she'd quit working there and move back to Seattle and...and...
Brandt didn't say anything. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. He flicked it open and the glittering ring inside cut off her desperate words. "I've been thinking a lot too," he finally said. "And it hit me that I love you. I love the person that you are right now. So whatever made that person, I can deal with it. And I ain't letting you get away from me that easily." He grinned. "What do you say that we get married instead of breaking up?
For a second, Liz thought she was going to pass out. She started crying instead and he pulled her close to him. "I thought I lost you," she sniffed.
"You didn't lose me, baby," Brandt comforted her. "I didn't get lost. I just needed a minute to catch up." He reached behind him and yanked the door open, making the other three members of the team lose their balance and fall to the floor behind him and Liz.
Liz started laughing. Her eyes met Brandt's and it didn't take the slightest bit of telepathy to read his mind. "After what you put me through today," she drawled, picking up a Texan accent, "Damn straight I'm going to marry you. You're losing your bachelor privileges permanently, mister."
Brandt kissed her and the others cheered. So what if this was fast? When it's right, it's right. They set a wedding date for early May and Liz moved into Brandt's house. She didn't think anything could take her out of the clouds, but if Daniel was calling with an emergency, then it might be just the thing to put a pin in her balloon.
"Hey Daniel," she greeted. "What's up?"
It didn't take long for Daniel to outline the morning's events. For a second the world was gray and swimmy as Daniel concluded, "I called Mom and Dad first, but we need as many blood donors here as soon as possible."
"I'm there," she whispered. "I'll call Cam and we'll be hitting the next flights to New York." Daniel thanked her for calling Cameron and they said their good byes.
Liz felt like she was in a daze as she dialed Cameron's satellite phone. She was grateful that he and Emilie had decided to go after that Spanish treasure ship she had talked about back when they had all met. It took a little over three months, but they had found the thing in the Gulf of Mexico. A month later, Cameron came up from a dive with a small chest full of loose gemstones of varying sizes, but all were near-perfect quality. Two weeks later they found a large box that had been sealed in wax and pitch to make it waterproof. Inside was dozens of gold bars, but between some of the bars, there were sheets of paper. They were letters that were meant for the King of Spain. They had been put in the waterproof container for safekeeping, and by some miracle, had been preserved. Emilie was in ecstasy translating the long, richly detailed letters. Now Cameron and Emilie were determined they were going to be in the Gulf for as long as it took to excavate this site and find all of its secrets and riches.
Cameron picked up on the first ring. "What's wrong?" he greeted. He didn't need to ask who was calling. Even separated, they still knew when the other was distressed. He had actually just picked up the phone to dial Liz when it rang in his hands.
Brandt had just come into Liz's office, stopping cold at the tears running down his young fiancée's face. He listened in horror as she told Cameron what was going on. "Daniel said that Heather isn't too bad, but it's still not good," she got out. "But Cole...they just don't know."
"The helicopter is due back in about an hour," Cam said, thinking about when it left and how long it was supposed to be gone. "You go on. I'll meet you in New York."
Liz hung up, never so grateful in her life to have Brandt to go to. His arms wrapped around her and she realized that he was on his cell phone, getting a flight to New York for the both of them. She didn't have to say anything when he hung up. And she wasn't going to even think about saying that he should stay because they had a lot of work here. She needed him there with her. "We got to hurry if we want to make the next flight," he said as he hung up. Nothing else was needed as they left quickly to run home and get ready for the unknown.
"Liz Raleigh, please," the caller asked in a clipped Yankee accent.
"Sure hon, and you are?"
"Her brother Daniel. It's an emergency."
Rae-Lee hit the hold button. Sure. Everything was an emergency to family. The cat ran away. The kids are fighting over who gets the last soda. Still, she dutifully hit Liz's extension. "Liz, if you're not under Brandt's desk, your brother Daniel is on the phone. Says it's important."
Liz laughed at the teasing. "Brandt's in his own office, thank you," she replied. She had come a long way with fitting in with the others here. At first they had been annoyed Brandt was bringing in his obvious trophy girlfriend to be a bounty hunter, but it was his company, so there wasn't much that they could do. Of course they hadn't met Liz the way Brandt did.
Liz had been in San Antonio doing a job for a bank. The break in went perfectly as planned. Liz went in the next morning and dutifully returned the money to the bank, giving the gathered executives and quick run down on their weak links and promised to provide a full report later. Yawn. This was getting so boring. She had only been doing it for three months and she was already bored out of her mind. Breaking into places wasn't nearly as much fun without Cameron and Janna. It was an honest living, she knew, but it was still boring as hell. But hey, it was still honest. She was going nuts.
Liz headed downstairs to get a check for services rendered. Then she was to go back to the hotel, write the report and then fly back to Seattle the next day. The check would go to Dad's bookkeeper and then it would be off to plan another security test at yet another bank somewhere in the country. Boring, boring, boring. She stepped off of the final riser and her life changed in an instant. She had been so busy mentally bemoaning how bored she was, she didn't have the slightest bit of forewarning when a guy grabbed her from behind.
"Everyone down now or the bitch is dead!" he shouted, firing a single round into the air. Liz felt the gun barrel against her head and another guy began demanding money from the frightened tellers.
"Don't you dare put a dye-pack in there," partner growled at a teller. "He's gonna shoot her dead if you do." The threat was uttered low, but Liz heard it well enough. She figured they were planning on adding kidnapping to their list of charges. Oh well, she thought glumly. At least this was slightly above boring.
Liz waited right until the guy holding her went to drag her out of the bank. He was so excited that his mind was wide open and she knew every move he was about to make. He started to try and drag her out and then all of a sudden she went from a quiet, frightened victim to hellcat in a flash. The guy was disarmed, on the floor howling in pain in half a heartbeat. His partner got distracted by the ruckus and forgot to watch his back. One of the other customers put him on the ground, unconscious, before he truly realized how bad things had just gotten.
The customer who attacked the other would-be robber pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed his man. Then he pulled out of his jacket pocket a hollow metal rectangle with a screen on one side. He jammed the man's thumb in there and noted what came up. A frown crossed his features and then he went to Liz.
"Mind if I ID him?" he drawled, eyeing Liz appreciatively.
"Whatever thrills you," Liz responded; trying to sound flippant but really feeling a little, well, squirmy under the warm gaze of his dark eyes. She wasn't trying to pry but it was impossible to not notice his mental tone at the thought of thrilling her. Nothing perverse, just, well, enough to make her squirm.
He slid the ID checker onto her crook's thumb and then smiled at the result. "According to this guy's thumb here," he said in that same lazy drawl, "we got ourselves a bail skipper here. Now you can give him to the cops or we can take him to Dallas and spilt the bounty. That's five grand for each of us."
Liz blinked. This was unexpected. But it was a very sincere offer. It only took a peep into his mind to see that. Five grand. He was impressed with it. Yawn. But he was tall with dark hair pulled back in a shoulder length ponytail and a sexy little Fu-Manchu. His sensual mouth was smiling, lighting up those dark eyes. Her cowboy here practically screamed Texas in his denim jeans and leather boots. She was willing to bet his Stetson was in the truck. Boring? Most assuredly not.
Liz's flight wasn't until the next afternoon anyways. She could do what she should do and go back to her hotel and get that report written so that she wouldn't have to do it when she got home and the bank would be pleased with such a prompt response. Or...she could do exactly what she ended up doing. It was the shortest six-hour trip in her life as she rode shotgun, getting to know Brandt Fields. The attempted bank-robber sat in the modified backseat of Brandt's SUV, attached to the restraints installed into the frame of the vehicle itself. He rolled his eyes and muttered a lot, but Liz tuned that out and just enjoyed getting to know Brandt.
He was 32, divorced, with a son, Chris who was 13. He was on good terms with the ex, although that took a few years to come by after the divorce, and it was quite obvious that he loved his son. Grew up in Texas, mother passed last year, but Dad was alive and still kickin'. Been a bounty hunter for about ten years now and had his own company with two guys working for him and a receptionist that also provided back up when needed. Liz loved hearing him talk with his rich accent and colorful expressions.
She told him about herself. Parts, at least. She was from Seattle, but had been living in Europe for a few years and just moved back to the States. Had two brothers, one being her twin, and an older sister. She worked for her father's company, testing bank security. It wasn't the exciting job like one might think. Had gotten way too easy. The guy in the back seat groaned out loud when she told Brandt how much she would have gotten away with the night before had she not been there just as a test. Liz and Brandt both smirked at his distress. They talked for hours and enjoyed some subtle flirtation. Well, it wasn't all that subtle. The guy in the back finally told them to get a room for an hour. He would wait in the car.
The trip was over way too soon for Liz's liking. They turned in their skipper and that should have been it. When they left San Antonio, Brandt promised that he would drive her back just as soon as they cashed in and split the bounty. He looked a little crestfallen when he said to hop back in the truck since a deal was a deal. Before she could think, Liz heard herself blurt out that maybe they should rest for a while and get something to eat before heading back. She didn't need to be back until the next afternoon, so it wasn't like she was really in a hurry.
So it started with a late lunch. Brandt was one of those men who could appreciate seeing a woman enjoying a meal and didn't peck at it, terrified of gaining three ounces or looking bad in front of a man. Liz was herself and if he didn't like it, piss on him them. He had to admit, he certainly liked what he saw. Before the meal was over, Liz mentioned that she had never been to Dallas before. Brandt jumped on that and offered to show her some of the sites. It was late in the afternoon, but there was still a little time.
They went over to the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens and wandered around there for a while as dusk began to settle in. It was due to close soon and most of the people were gone. Liz thought the day was too good to be true. Nothing had ever made her expect a day could start so blah and end up so incredible. And she thought she must have fallen into a dream when they were behind a column on the outside of a small building off to the side when Brandt leaned over and gave her the softest, sweetest kiss she could have ever imagined in her life. They both seemed startled by it, but then they smiled at each other and when they started walking again, her hand was in his.
They didn't get back to San Antonio until well after two in the morning. They had gone to Billy Bob's Texas Nightclub over in Ft. Worth and enjoyed some of the local "culture" there, although Liz felt a little weird being the only one not in boots. It was still fun though and both of them were slow to want to leave. Brandt barely did the speed limit the last hour of the trip, trying to prolong their time together.
And the trip had shocked the hell out of Liz in more than one way. Brandt asked her how she seemed to know when the guy at the bank was about to make a move and leave with her. It was his most vulnerable moment and she knew. Liz joked that she was telepathic. Brandt had laughed but then he got quiet. Telepathy? Ha ha, right out of science fiction. Didn't exist. Except at the bar these two guys had been glaring at each other and making threatening gestures. Liz's back was to them. She had casually stood and moved and then all of a sudden the one guy jumped the other one and landed where Liz had been sitting. That was when they had left Billy Bob's.
And then at the Gardens, they had gotten lost. The place was huge and it was easy to get lost when you hadn't been there in a long time. Liz had been looking amused and then without hesitation walked down a couple of paths that they hadn't gone down before and went right to a gardener to ask for directions. Brandt had given Liz a long look in the car after thinking about the day.
"You're not really joking are you?"
Liz jumped in her seat. She tried to respect people's privacy and didn't pry when they were thinking. She suddenly wished she had listening in on him. She opened her mouth to deny it and was stunned to hear her voice saying "Ummm...actually, not really."
"What I am thinking right now?"
Liz was flustered. "I'm not peeking right now," she sputtered. "That's rude to listen in." She paused. "Betty Lou Brenner? There really are girls with that name?"
Brandt almost went off of the road. It had been fifteen years, but if Betty Lou's brothers found out even now that he had sex with her behind their barn, they would still hunt him down. It was one of those things that he told his wife, but not another living soul. If she knew that...she was really serious. He asked her about it, and to Liz's amazement, it wasn't weird. It was actually very cool to be able to tell someone. She didn't tell him the entire truth, but said that she thought it was because she was a twin and they were so close that mental abilities developed. Or she was just weird. Who knew? Later Liz realized that the little things she had done to make him wonder were similar to things she had done in front of lots of other people, including close friends. It was just none of them had ever been really watching her before.
It made for a fascinating end to the trip, which made it go by way too fast. He walked her up to the door of her hotel room and then kissed her good night. Of all of the kisses that Liz had ever had in her life, nothing had prepared her for the intensity of what this kiss did to her.
All good sense and practicality went right out the window right then and there. One thing led to the next and Liz ended up waking up in Brandt's arms. To put it mildly, she freaked out. Brandt was amused at her protests that this wasn't like her at all to just sleep with someone. He already knew that and no telepathy had been required.
Liz was more upset that she shouldn't have done it rather than she wished she hadn't. You don't fall for someone in a day. It's impossible. Especially when you lived in Seattle and he lived in Texas. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair. She had to go home. He was so wonderful, but she had to go home.
Brandt stopped her dead with a single question. "Why?" Her expression was priceless. "If you don't like what you're doing there, then why go back?" he pressed. "Bet you'd make a great bounty hunter."
Liz had never even considered that. She didn't have a real reason to go back except for the fact her parents lived there. It wasn't like she was going to have to uproot kids. She could just go. Hell, she was living with the parents so she didn't even have to move an apartment. But a major lifestyle change based on one day and one night? She had done some crazy things before but they had always been well planned and thought out. Liz made her flight that night, promising Brandt she would think about it. And she did think about it. It took all of five minutes. The minute the plane took off, she started crying, regretting leaving already as it felt like her heart was breaking.
Talking to the parents was going to be the scary part. Liz told them what happened at the bank and the job offer. They didn't really need all the details, right? Dad didn't like it at all. What if someone found out about her past? Turning her in would net a fortune in rewards. He listed every single reason why this would be the absolute worst thing that she could possibly do. Mom didn't say a thing until Dad finally wound down.
Then her mother calmly set down her cup of tea and said "You won't be the first young woman to take a crazy chance over a young man." She smiled at her husband. "She's obviously our child, isn't she?"
Liz's jaw flapped. "Did you have someone watching me?" she demanded angrily.
Mom sipped her tea, completely nonplussed. "I may not be the telepath in the family," she said calmly, "but you are my daughter. I do not need ESP to know what is going on in your head, my darling youngest child." Liz tried to deny it, but then confessed about Brandt, leaving out the fact that they slept together. From the looks her parents gave her, it was like they had a good suspicion anyways.
Liz ended up moving to Texas and going to work for Brandt. At first the others at Brandt's company saw her as something to pretty up the place. Rae-Lee had seen the young woman come in, casually dressed, but still the jeans were designer and she had seen the bag that Liz was carrying in some fancy catalogue. It cost around a thousand dollars. They all predicated that Liz would last less than a month before Brandt got tired of her and kicked her out. The consensus was that Brandt had hit his mid-life crisis early.
Liz knew what they thought of her. Brandt had kept to his promise and didn't tell anyone about the telepathy. She was a curiosity enough; she didn't want to be a freak. Besides, even without telepathy she could tell what they thought. It wasn't easy to deal with the snide comments about her messing up her hair, but she dealt with it, feeling proud of her new maturity that let her blow such comments off. They would adjust eventually and she was enjoying being with Brandt too much to be annoyed with his employees. A few weeks passed and then it happened. The team got major info on a bail skipper that he was at a specific address and would be there all night. They made plans to go in that night to get him.
Despite what he had seen at the bank, Brandt had Liz watch the back. She had just finished the state's training course and it would be the first time she went out with the team. And the guy at the bank was slim and not very big. This skipper was a brute and had a history of violence, especially towards women. He even had Rae-Lee behind the three men going in the front just in case. Brandt wasn't worried about Liz being by herself in the back since the backyard adjoined a field with a lot of high grass and weeds. Brandt was confident that the skipper would hit that before hitting Liz.
Liz knew why he was really doing it, but she didn't want to make a scene in front of the others. He didn't realize how well she could protect herself. Instead, she made a teasing comment to Brandt that she better not get bored out there. Brandt knew what she meant and laughed it off. The others thought it was just a whiny-brat statement. On their way into position, Rae-Lee handed Liz a Cosmo and told her it was so she wouldn't get bored while the real bounty hunters worked.
Then it happened. The skipper's girlfriend pulled a gun, letting him have time to get away while they subdued her. He headed out back and made a beeline for the field. Brandt's heart nearly stopped when he heard Liz say into the ear-microphone that she was giving chase. Even the others were worried. She was obviously a spoiled brat, but that didn't mean they wanted her to get beat up or killed. They all followed and then the sound of a fight coming over the mic made all of them feel ill. Nothing could have prepared them for what they found.
The guy was face down on the ground, neatly handcuffed and very much unconscious. Liz was sitting on the small of his back, flipping through the Cosmo, reading it with a penlight. She sighed dramatically and held up a page when they converged on where she was. "Look at this!" she said, sounding terribly distressed. "Neutrals are coming back in! Argh! I'm a shimmer. I just don't know how I am going to survive until next year." She didn't dare look at any of them in the face or else she would have laughed herself sick.
After that, she was part of the crew. Her relationship with Brandt only increased. She met Marlene, his ex wife and actually found her to be rather nice. Marlene was a little surprised to see Brandt with such a younger woman, but had to admit that Liz was perfect for him. Chris, Brandt's son was going to be a heartbreaker and a half. He also began pestering his father to marry Liz after he went over to his dad's one day with two of his friends and found Liz bent over her Ferrari in tight denim shorts as she worked on the car. She was hot and not only owned his favorite car in the world, but did all of the mechanic work on it as well and told him about all of the upgrades she had done. The boy would have married her himself except he would have had to fight his two friends for the honor first. He couldn't have her; his dad was going to have to marry her. Liz would be the coolest stepmother in the world. She had driven in races over in Europe (Liz thought it best to not mention the underground racing she did in high school). She had racing trophies. And a stepson would have a much better chance at being allowed to drive her car than her boyfriend's son would.
And at work things got better when they realized how well connected Liz was. Her sister was in the FBI. Twice she had provided some information that was needed. The others weren't sure what the deal was when Liz was on the phone with Heather, telling her that she was trying to be good and that's why she needed the info, but it worked, so why question it. And then once they needed to know if a skipper was at a certain house, but there was no way to do recon. If the guy got the slightest whiff of problems, he was going to be out the door. When Brandt presented the problem, they watched in amazement as Liz had called someone and spent twenty minutes begging and pleading. She didn't sound more than fifteen as she exaggerated her 'please'. Finally she booted up her laptop and casually entered a secure military site and had access to satellite photography in real time. Every jaw in the room was on the table as Liz thanked the person on the other end and then explained she had a thirty- minute pass for the site. With some intense zooms, the house was located and their skipper was seen in the backyard. Liz refused to explain whom she called and how it was done, but by that point, they didn't really care.
The best part was that eventually, Brandt knew everything. About a month ago, Liz had woken up from a bad nightmare. She didn't have bad dreams very often, but when she did, they were monsters. Cameron...Southwood...gun shots...blood everywhere. Brandt was with her that night and asked her what she had been dreaming about. Without meaning to, she told him. Everything. She blurted out what they had been doing in Europe. It would have been best to stop there, but once she got started, she just couldn't stop. To say the least, Brandt was stunned. Liz's family was something out of a sci-fi movie and her life...it sounded like something straight out of Hollywood.
The next day was more awkward than Liz was prepared for. Brandt made some weak excuses and left before they could go to work together like they usually did when they spent the night. He wasn't there when Liz got to the office. She didn't bother going to her desk. She went straight to the bathroom and cried for an hour. The other staff was confused as hell. The day before, those two were just as happy as could be. One of the guys tried to get her out of the bathroom, telling her he had to use it, but Liz got an unexpected help from Rae-Lee who kicked him in the shin and said he could go make a puddle on the floor for all she cared. He better leave Liz alone or he was going to have to deal with her. Nobody in their right mind wanted to deal with Rae-Lee.
Brandt came in late that afternoon. He pulled Liz into the conference room and she immediately told him that she understood. It was way too much. She couldn't expect him to stay with her. She might not be able to in the same situation. It was totally understandable. He should, by rights, be turning her in. She would appreciate it if he didn't, but she'd quit working there and move back to Seattle and...and...
Brandt didn't say anything. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. He flicked it open and the glittering ring inside cut off her desperate words. "I've been thinking a lot too," he finally said. "And it hit me that I love you. I love the person that you are right now. So whatever made that person, I can deal with it. And I ain't letting you get away from me that easily." He grinned. "What do you say that we get married instead of breaking up?
For a second, Liz thought she was going to pass out. She started crying instead and he pulled her close to him. "I thought I lost you," she sniffed.
"You didn't lose me, baby," Brandt comforted her. "I didn't get lost. I just needed a minute to catch up." He reached behind him and yanked the door open, making the other three members of the team lose their balance and fall to the floor behind him and Liz.
Liz started laughing. Her eyes met Brandt's and it didn't take the slightest bit of telepathy to read his mind. "After what you put me through today," she drawled, picking up a Texan accent, "Damn straight I'm going to marry you. You're losing your bachelor privileges permanently, mister."
Brandt kissed her and the others cheered. So what if this was fast? When it's right, it's right. They set a wedding date for early May and Liz moved into Brandt's house. She didn't think anything could take her out of the clouds, but if Daniel was calling with an emergency, then it might be just the thing to put a pin in her balloon.
"Hey Daniel," she greeted. "What's up?"
It didn't take long for Daniel to outline the morning's events. For a second the world was gray and swimmy as Daniel concluded, "I called Mom and Dad first, but we need as many blood donors here as soon as possible."
"I'm there," she whispered. "I'll call Cam and we'll be hitting the next flights to New York." Daniel thanked her for calling Cameron and they said their good byes.
Liz felt like she was in a daze as she dialed Cameron's satellite phone. She was grateful that he and Emilie had decided to go after that Spanish treasure ship she had talked about back when they had all met. It took a little over three months, but they had found the thing in the Gulf of Mexico. A month later, Cameron came up from a dive with a small chest full of loose gemstones of varying sizes, but all were near-perfect quality. Two weeks later they found a large box that had been sealed in wax and pitch to make it waterproof. Inside was dozens of gold bars, but between some of the bars, there were sheets of paper. They were letters that were meant for the King of Spain. They had been put in the waterproof container for safekeeping, and by some miracle, had been preserved. Emilie was in ecstasy translating the long, richly detailed letters. Now Cameron and Emilie were determined they were going to be in the Gulf for as long as it took to excavate this site and find all of its secrets and riches.
Cameron picked up on the first ring. "What's wrong?" he greeted. He didn't need to ask who was calling. Even separated, they still knew when the other was distressed. He had actually just picked up the phone to dial Liz when it rang in his hands.
Brandt had just come into Liz's office, stopping cold at the tears running down his young fiancée's face. He listened in horror as she told Cameron what was going on. "Daniel said that Heather isn't too bad, but it's still not good," she got out. "But Cole...they just don't know."
"The helicopter is due back in about an hour," Cam said, thinking about when it left and how long it was supposed to be gone. "You go on. I'll meet you in New York."
Liz hung up, never so grateful in her life to have Brandt to go to. His arms wrapped around her and she realized that he was on his cell phone, getting a flight to New York for the both of them. She didn't have to say anything when he hung up. And she wasn't going to even think about saying that he should stay because they had a lot of work here. She needed him there with her. "We got to hurry if we want to make the next flight," he said as he hung up. Nothing else was needed as they left quickly to run home and get ready for the unknown.