Disclaimer: Everything recognizable belongs to Janet Evanovich. I am only borrowing them. Thank you for allowing us to use your amazing characters for fun! Thank you Heather for last minute edits to fix my numerous mistakes!
-chapter-11
RPOV
After the meeting, I head back to my room change into my board shorts and t-shirt. I only have a few minutes, so I grab a towel and head out to the boat. What a clusterfuck. The last 8 months have been such a mess. I can't seem to get control of anything. After the last time Steph was kidnapped, I almost lost it. Not being able to find her was torture. She almost died and it would have been my fault. It was my distraction that put her in danger. Thankfully her luck prevailed, and she was able to escape because I sure as hell wasn't able to save her. That's what bothers me the most.
Everything was fine until she had to push for a relationship. What a fucking disaster. I know I handled that badly, but I couldn't help it. I really can't be responsible if something happens to her because of me. The distance she has created has been hell. She didn't go back to the cop, and it seems like there never will be a reconciliation.
I haven't had a good night sleep in months. I need her to center me. I spend my free time tracking her even though she has made it perfectly clear that is not okay with her. I'm a fucking stalker. I may have to take on more jobs or visit other sites just to stay away. Something has to give. I can't stand being this close to her and have this much distance between us. I knew this wedding weekend would be difficult, so her asking for a truce was a Godsend. We have been able to see each without all the tension. When she asked me to take her home I was thrilled. When she ended up being drugged well, fuck. That was just shocking. Somehow, she landed herself right in the middle of this shit. What the hell?
As I approach the pier, I see Steph partially hidden under a palm tree rubbing lotion on her scar. I hadn't seen her much before last night and was shocked it hadn't healed well. Her scars have never really bothered her before but this one is different. They certainly don't bother me. She is still the most beautiful woman to me. Inside and out. Shit, what's he doing here? I see the junior Doc approaching my Babe. I head directly toward them. They only chat for a few minutes and she shows him her scar. Get your hands off of her! She is mine. No, asshole, she is not yours. What a fucking mess. These last several months have been hell. By the time I catch up to her she is alone again. I need to lock this shit up.
SPOV
The mood on the boat is very lively. Caribbean music is blaring, and several people are already taking cups of rum punch. The girls have already stripped down to their bikinis and the men are sans shirts. If I weren't already used to it, I would be passed out with all the muscles on display.
Les and Olivia make their way over, drinks in hand. "OK, the plan is we head out to the reef and drop anchor. Snorkel for an hour then head to a private island. At the island, there is no dock so if you want to explore, then you have to swim in. The girls will stay on the boat to suntan while we men do the water activities. I don't think the girls want to get their hair wet," Les says with a sly wink as Olivia elbows him in the waist. I like her. I like her a lot. She isn't going to take Les's crap.
I look at Olivia. "What about you? Are you swimming?" I ask her.
She gives a disgusted look. "No, I really don't want to mess up my hair." I can't help but smile as Les is trying and failing to control his laughter. Ranger even smiles at that. Les and Olivia really do make a cute couple.
"Well, I'm swimming. I really want to snorkel and explore the island." I lock elbows with Olivia and lead her to the bar. "Let's get a drink before we set sail." After we've got our plastic cups of punch, I ask her if she is ok with everything with Anna. She looks down and says she is fine. She's really hurt that her friend may have betrayed her. I tell her that people sometimes suck but there are plenty of good people out there and I think her and Les are among the good people.
The boat sets sail and we are all happily chatting and drinking. I find myself drawn in by the party atmosphere and have no trouble relaxing. I notice Ranger hasn't joined in the fun and turned to Bobby. "Go get Bossman and make him join the party."
"No way. He has been in a mood for months," he says in between sips.
"What do you mean? He's not his usual cheerful self?" I smile at him.
"No, certainly not. He is quiet, withdrawn. More withdrawn than usual. Beats the crap out of everyone. Everyone avoids him. He holes himself up on 7. His takedowns are rough. He's been keeping me very busy. Actually, I am now permanently on his takedown team." He says with exasperated laugh at the end.
That shocks me. I always thought he confided in the core guys, and that he was able to relax with them more. I sympathize, I haven't really confided in anyone either. I guess we're a lot alike. I look over at him and our eyes meet. I grab a rum punch and head his way. I am still a little mad at him, but he seems to be including me now in the investigation and I hate to admit that I still care about him and want him to be happy.
"So, are you gonna snorkel? It'll be fun," I say in a teasing voice. I hand him the punch and he stares at it with a scowl. "Just drink it. Your body's not a temple today." He tosses it back and gives me a quizzical look. "So, snorkel?" I ask as I grab his empty cup and add it with mine. "Come on, otherwise you're going to be stuck on the boat with all the ladies." I grab his hand and pull him up toward the snorkel instructor. We listen to the details and are handed our equipment. We take our stuff over to the edge of the boat and start to get ready. I turn facing away from everyone and pull off my tank to put on my long sleeve swim shirt. As I face him again, he is looking at me strangely. "What? I don't want to get sunburned."
I'm excited and a little nervous. I've been snorkeling once before in Hawaii but thinking about that makes me nervous for different reasons. This whole trip, I have been pushing thoughts of Hawaii away. There is so much that reminds me of our time there. It's too painful to think about fully. I shake my head to banish the thoughts and say to Ranger, "Let's go soldier."
I grab my equipment and head to the back of the boat where we are supposed to enter the water. I make a face as I spit into my mask; apparently it supposed to help keep the mask from fogging up in the water. I can tell he's thinking about smiling as we don our stuff and get ready to step off the back ledge.
I'm the first to get in and it's a pleasant surprise that the water isn't too cold. I take off looking for colorful fish and am rewarded with lots of different kinds of fish and coral. I remember how to bend at my waist and go down deep to look up close into holes and through the reef's nooks and crannies. A swarm of olive-green fish surround me, and I'm distracted looking at them when I swear Ranger pinches me. I jerk around to see him smiling as he points to the fish. Nice try chief, I know that was you. I shoot him a dirty look.
We're swimming along, looking at the colorful reef and sea creatures that called this reef home when Ranger touches my arm and points off to our left. There's a turtle swimming 15 feet away from us. My eyes get big, and I can't contain my excitement. We'd searched and searched in Hawaii but couldn't find a turtle. We looked over the entire Hanauma Bay area but no luck. Now, here in Florida, I finally see my turtle and I couldn't be happier. We follow him for a while at a distance and watch as he bobs up to the surface only to dive down to the reef to nibble on some coral. What a peaceful life.
After a while the swimmers in the water get few and far between so we figure it's time to go in, so we head back to the boat. I'm so excited, I can't contain myself and tell the guys about our turtle sighting. Before long, we set sail again, heading to the private island. With the rum punch flowing again, everyone is relaxing more, even Ranger. It's only about a half hour before we dock again and are given the instructions about the island. We'll be here for one hour and we can either stay on board, use the rope swing and plank, or swim to shore. The island itself is small and covered by vegetation. It has many trails traversing it, all of which lead to the water.
I want to do it all and I tell Ranger as much. I'm rewarded with a 1000-watt smile so I hit him in the arm to get his mind out of the gutter. We try the rope swing first. All of the Merry Men are in rare form, swinging like Tarzan only to let go and do graceful flips into the water. The girls can only watch and drool. Yes. Drool. Olivia and I are the only girls brave enough to try it. She's given up on trying to keep her hair dry and I'm glad. Both of us swing out just to let go but it's still fun. It's harder than I thought it would be, using lots of upper body strength. The guys cheer us on, and we enjoy the attention. The plank is the same. I just simply dive in the water but still receive many cheers and whistles.
I wanted to explore the island looking for a nice place to sunbathe but since we're swimming, we can't take anything with us. I would love to have a towel for sunbathing on the beach but that isn't happening. It's a long enough swim that I wouldn't be able to do it holding a towel over my head to keep it dry. I look at Ranger and say, "Last one to shore is a rotten egg."
Drink in hand he's totally not ready when I sprint to the edge and dive off the side. In the water, I swim as fast as I could toward the island. Now, I have been exercising and am a pretty strong swimmer, but I was no match for a freaking Army Ranger. Here I am swimming as hard and as fast as I can, and he's doing the back stoke calmly as if he didn't have a care in the world. Jerk. He could at least make it look like he had to try to catch up.
I swim to the beach until I can stand, all the while being watched by a dripping wet, glistening Ranger standing there smiling at me. Yikes. I need to get my hormones under control. We're only friends. I give him an irritated look. "Yeah, yeah. You win. Like I could ever beat you at anything."
It is good to see Ranger smile. According to Bobby, he hasn't been smiling much lately. "What do you want to do?" I ask. He gives me his wolf grin. "On this island." Again, the wolf grin. Too bad we're not in a relationship. Flirty Ranger is A LOT of fun.
"How about we go explore?" I grab his hand and pull him up the beach. I try to let go, but Ranger keeps a hold of my hand. I want to maintain a boundary here, but I'm weak and as much as I know I am going to regret this, I give in. We walk through the trails and end up on the other side of the island. We chat about the fish we saw while snorkeling and I pinch him.
"Hey, what was that for?" he asks.
"Fair play, you pinched me while we were snorkeling," I reply.
"That wasn't me. It was a fish." I give him a disbelieving look. "No really." He explains, "They are called Sergeant Majors and they are very territorial. If you get to close, then they bite. I guess you got too close, Babe." I narrow my eyes, not sure if he was telling me the truth. Laughter is gleaming in his eyes.
We walk along the beach, preferring the ocean breeze to the hotter interior. He pulls me down to sit in the soft sand. We are staring, mesmerized by the rhythmic waves, when he asks me "Are you wearing the swim shirt to cover your scars?"
"Yes. I really don't like anyone seeing them. They're so ugly. Plus, they aren't supposed to have sun exposure, so I guess I'm stuck with the shirt."
Not interested in a heavy conversation, I stand and push at Ranger and say, "tag your it!" I take off to the water, running through the waves, trying to dive into water deep enough to make my escape. He reaches me in no time and before I can dive, I'm lifted off of my feet and slung over his shoulder.
"Put me down!" I say, laughing and pounding on his back. He spins me around a few times, and I shriek. "No, I am going to throw up!" That makes him freeze. Thinking I am serious he places me back on my feet and I take off again. "Ha, you believed that!" This time he catches me by the waist and presses me against him. Running a hand down the side of my face he lowers his head and kisses me. I want to push him away but my body refuses. I lean into him and melt. He deepens the kiss, and I am lost to everything else. It's not until we need to break for air that we hear the some of the other guys yelling and whistling at us.
"I guess it's time to go," I manage to say, breathing deeply.
"Are you okay for the swim back?"
I nod unable to speak. At least I will be after I catch my breath.
Back on the boat the drinks start flowing again and we set sail back to the resort. I wonder why everyone isn't more drunk than they are. I ask Bobby and he says the drinks weren't very strong on the way out but now they will be. They didn't want anyone getting drunk and drowning. I guess that makes sense. Darn, I'd like to blame my weakness on the alcohol. We chat with the whole group and much to Olivia's dismay Les brags about christening the island. Glad we didn't stumble on that. Yeesh.
I limit my punch to one glass on the way home since it's a much stronger now and I have to work later. Ranger does the same, but I don't think I have ever seen him have more than two drinks in one sitting the entire time I have known him.
It's 5:30 when we arrive back at the resort and even though I'm not going to the beach barbeque, I want to shower and get the salt water and tangles out of my hair. I head back to my room and I'm just getting out of the shower when I get a text.
Ranger: Can you be here at 6:30? Room 240. I will order room service.
Steph: Sure. See you then.
Since I'm going out, I choose a pair of shorts and a tank top and grab a lightweight cotton jacket in deference to the AC. After a quick shower, I only put on mascara since the sun is eliminating my need for any other makeup. My hair is tamed, and I'm ready to head out at 6:15. I knock on Ranger's door a few minutes early and he answers sans shirt and hair still damp from his recent shower.
"I had to meet Javier from the Miami office to get everything we needed." I look around. He has a mini command center with monitors, printers, and wires everywhere. "I ordered room service. It'll be here in about 45 minutes."
I sit in one of the chairs and start pouring over the papers. Grabbing a highlighter, I sit back down, totally engrossed in the info. I make notes and highlight as I sort through everything. I'm startled by the knock at the door and my eyes dart toward the sound.
"The food is here." Ranger opens the door, and two carts of food are wheeled in. Several plates with silver domes cover the entire surface of the carts. Since we've used most of the available surface space, the waiter leaves the carts with us with the promise we'll call when we need them picked up. I look in his mini fridge and find a Coke and bring him a bottle of water. He's lifting lids and leaving our entree selections uncovered. He ordered a few entrees for me not knowing exactly what I'd feel like eating. He has a salad and a grilled fish with steamed veggies. How boring. I have to choose between a seafood pasta dish, grilled fish tacos, and sausage fettuccini alfredo. I take a little of each. All three are amazing and I offer Ranger a bite. He takes a piece of shrimp but declines everything else and we ate in companionable silence.
After we're done, he removes more lids and I sit there, eyes wide like a kid in a candy store. He smiles and says, "We have all night. Pace yourself, I don't want you to go into a sugar coma."
I grunt a "Humph" as I make a big plate, wanting to taste everything he ordered. I offer him a bite and he replies in a low sexy voice, "The only way I would eat that is if it was smeared across your body."
Feeling bold, I take a finger full of chocolate mousse and run it across my forearm. I look at him, issuing the challenge. He gets up very slowly and walks toward me like he has all day and I just stand there frozen in place. Holy Hell! Why do I bait Ranger? Crap, another pair of panties gone. He reaches me and pulls my arm up to his mouth and slowly and deliberately licks my forearm from wrist to elbow never breaking eye contact with me. It's such a sensual feeling, every nerve ending is buzzing. His eyes are dilated black, and I still cannot move. My brain has short circuited, and I don't trust myself to speak⦠not that I could manage any intelligible words at this moment, anyway.
Just then the phone rings. Ranger pulls his cell out of his pocket and says, "Report!" while I take a deep breath, relief floods me now that the spell is broken. This could have been bad, very bad. I need to maintain my boundaries. I cannot be trusted around Ranger. He is very good up close.
"When? Send me the file."
He hangs up and turns to me. "Anna just received a phone call on her cell; it was from a burner phone. A male. The original plan was to drug Les and get him in a compromising position take photos to blackmail him. You stopped that plan. We're not clear on the new plan. We need to listen to the recording and piece together her history to figure it out. Let's get back to work."
I spend the next two hours going over every detail of Anna's life, trying to connect her to Amelia or someone else. I listen to the phone call recording, and it's a man that she's talking to, so looking for this mystery man was a priority.
voice #1 Anna. "What do we do now?"
voice #2 male. "We have to do this another way. We still have tomorrow night. It's fine. He's still the easiest way to take them down. He will pay, don't worry.
voice #1 Anna. "Ok baby. I will be home in a couple of hours. I have to stay until the end. See you soon. Love you."
voice #2 male "I love you, too"
"He will pay. So its blackmail? Who is this guy?" I think out loud. I have to start at the beginning. I attempt to put myself in her shoes and pretend I'm her growing up in a small southern town in Alabama. I'm poor. My mother works two jobs to keep us in crappy food and crappy clothes. etc. I have never met my father. I do well in school but am passed over for college scholarships and grants in favor of the popular kids or well-connected kids. I spend a year doing odd jobs and began community college the next year. After two years of that, I transfer to University of Miami where I meet Olivia. Coincidence? Probably not. "Ranger, when we were in high school, did it make sense to wait a year before starting a community college?"
"Why?" he asks.
"I remember being offered to take community college classes while I was still in high school. It was a pretty new program at the time but Anna graduated several years after me, so it would've definitely been an option for her. It's free for high school students and practically free for everyone else. She could have taken online classes or classes at night. Why did she wait? She was smart and applied to expensive private universities and got in. She turned them down, probably money, but why wait a year?" I said out loud. I keep digging. "Her address during that year isn't a real address and it's not the same as her mothers. Look, I Googled it. It doesn't exist. It's not even a vacant lot," I say, thinking about Ranger's driver's license address when I first met him. Ranger comes over and peers over my shoulder. His face close to mine. "Focus," I tell myself as I blink hard trying not to notice his smell, his radiating warmth.
I go back to ferreting out any useful information I can find and finally hit pay dirt thirty minutes later. "She has a kid!" I shouted. "I found a hospital record of a birth during that year with the home address listed as her mother's home. Unless her mother had another baby at 50, then it's Anna's." After I get on the trail of the baby, I'm able to locate all the players. The father listed on Jacob Anthony Michaels' birth certificate is a Nathan Michaels. Anna is listed as Anna Michaels. I start a search for Nathan and Anna as Anna Michaels. I start looking at the printouts on Amelia that I had run earlier. Twenty minutes later I pulled Nathan's file off the printer. "What? Nathan works here AND he and Amelia are brother and sister!" I keep looking. "They did get married. She didn't change her social but has everything related to the birth listed as Anna Michaels. He works for the resort in the security office and has access to the grounds while Amelia works at check in and has access to all the guests. They both started within a week of each other but that would have been before Les and Olivia were planning their wedding. Definitely not a coincidence, though. I wonder if it was Anna that talked Olivia into having it here, knowing she had to have the wedding here so they could blackmail Les and Olivia."
All of the thoughts are still a mess in my head. I need to put them on paper so I can sort out the info and piece it together. I turn to Ranger. "Can you call Les and ask who decided to have the wedding here?" I ask as Ranger pulls out his cell to make the call.
I get up and go over to a white board and start a timeline. I fill in information and make the connections. I keep looking at the reports. Something is bothering me. I am missing something. Crap! Where is the baby? Why doesn't Anna have him with her? I ask myself and am interrupted by Ranger getting off the phone with Les. "Les is on his way. He said that this resort was always going to be the site of Olivia's wedding. Her father and the owner, Frank Masterson are like brothers. Also, Lester only proposed 3 months ago that's after they started working here." I think about that. Why here, but more importantly, what's the motive? Just money? Why would Anna betray her best friend? It doesn't make sense. I go back to the laptop and start it searching again.
"Wait, it looks like the baby, Jacob Anthony Michaels, died 3 years ago. He was a little over two years old. He had a rare genetic disorder, how sad." I keep digging. A knock startles me. I look up as Ranger makes his way to answer the door. Lester walks in.
"Hey guys how's the search going?" he asks as he pulls up a chair next to me.
He is looking at my timeline and I catch him up on all that we have pieced together so far. "Good. Um Les, can you look at Anna's report? I want to know if you have ever met her before. You know, given her cause to want to blackmail you and ruin your life?" I ask with a quizzical look.
"You wound me, Beautiful," he responds with a hand over his heart. He takes the file and starts looking thorough it.
"Ranger, will you hand me the report on Anna Michaels?" I ask not even looking up from my laptop.
Ranger pulls Anna Michaels report off the printer and hands it to me. Les looks up and says to Ranger. "She's pretty bossy." I glare at Les and am rewarded with a smile from both.
"Oh no! Olivia's father was the Ob-Gyn that delivered Jacob," I say, breaking the silence. I flip through more reports. "It looks like there was a complaint against the doctor." I pause as I keep reading. "Yes. There was a court case. Anna had complications from the delivery and an emergency hysterectomy was performed. The case was dismissed. That's when she transferred to the University of Miami. So why wouldn't she go after Olivia's father directly? Why go after Olivia? It wasn't her fault," I asked them.
"Her father retired several years ago. I guess if the court case was dismissed, the only damage she could do was to his reputation and since he's retired it wouldn't be very damaging. But his family, particularly Olivia, is his life. She is his only child, and he has been like a father to me. I guess hurting us would satisfy her need for revenge."
"I don't think meeting Olivia was an accident at all. Anna probably befriended her knowing she would get her pound of flesh one way or another." I looked at Ranger and Les. "So, it turned out to be revenge after all." I say feeling pretty good that we were able to piece everything together. Lester was not the real target. Dr. Fairchild was, Olivia and Les were just the means to get to him.
Ranger smiles at me "Proud of you, Babe."
"What now?" I ask, trying hard to hide the effect he has on me.
"We round up all the players, question them, confirm everything." Ranger pulls out his phone and texts someone.
"I have to go talk to my future wife and father-in-law," Les states as he gets up to leave.
Ranger looks at me and says, "I have to find Frank Masterson and Marcus Perez and coordinate with the local PD. Will you stay here and wait for me?"
"No. I think I'll head back to my room." I look at my watch. It's already 10 pm. "It's been a long day. I can't believe we have only been here for a little over a day. It seems like a lifetime," I say thoughtfully. I look around for my jacket. "Mind if I take the tiramisu home?"
"Please," he says as he walks me out. "I will walk you to your door." I try to refuse but he gives me a look that says he wasn't asking. Plate in hand we walk the main path that runs along the property getting glimpses of the beach in between the Cabanas. We fall back into the same awkwardness that we shared pre-truce; our working alliance seems to have expired. I let myself in my room and turn. "Thanks for walking me back." He nods
"Don't get shot"
"Don't go crazy."
With that, I close the door, feeling exhausted. The adrenalin rush of the investigation must be gone. All I want to do is eat my dessert and crawl in bed.
