Chapter 23

Knowing that we were getting close to the house I laid Steph's head down on the seat and moved away from her. As CJ pulled up to some gates, I was already opening my door and walking over to the control box set into the pillar by the gate. To open the gate, I input a code and allowed the machine to do a retinal scan. Yeah, the house itself might need some work doing to it but it had a state of the art security system that rendered the entire property impenetrable. Instead of getting back into the truck I stood on the nerf board and held onto the roof bar as CJ navigated the winding track toward the house. Once there I tapped on the driver's window and walked to where the garage doors were located. Using a similar system as I had to open the main gate, I was soon following the truck inside. As the garage doors automatically closed the lights came on and I opened the door to where Steph was.

"What is this place Ranger?"

I didn't reply to CJ, not really knowing how to explain it. Hell, there were times when I questioned myself why I had bought it at all, especially as I hadn't done much with the living area. Yes, it had a state of the art security system, a garage that would hold several vehicles and I suppose what you would call a den attached to the garage. The den was where I used if I ever came here and was furnished as an office come living space, having a couch, bed and small kitchen. I argued that the den was necessary to house and monitor the security from, but I think I used it because I wasn't ready to start looking at the main house yet.

"There's a room down here for monitoring the surroundings but I think that we need to go upstairs and sort out where people can sleep"

CJ was quick to remove the IV from Steph's arm which was probably a good idea because I could see from the expression on her face that she wasn't happy about it being there. It seemed that Steph was feeling better as I helped her from the car but she insisted on walking, I kept an arm around her waist to give her some support. As we climbed the steps I could feel as she started to look around us and as she came to a stop as we came out into the wide hallway. Ahead of us through a wooden door was the kitchen that also led into a formal dining room and to our right was a large living area. To the left were the stairs that followed the wall and turned onto the first floor.

"It's beautiful"

I looked down at Steph as she said that, not sure what she was referring to.

"It has that, I don't know, a feel to it"

I looked to where Steph was looking seeing the dusty wooden floors, the old patterned wallpaper and the painted wooden stairs and bannisters. I remembered when I had bought the place that it had been its location and size that had attracted me and had basically written the inside off as outdated. In my mind's eye I was looking for clean lines, modern furniture and open stairs. Maybe I needed to rethink my ideas.

I helped Steph up the stairs with CJ and Elaina following us.

"Choose whichever rooms you like, except the one ahead of us. There should be linens in the closet"

Well, I was sure that there were, though what condition they were in I had no idea. The house had come up for auction after the elderly couple who had lived there had died a few months apart. Their children were grown up and settled with where they were living so they had sold the house complete with its contents. It was with some trepidation that I opened the door to the master bedroom and had the excuses for its condition ready to say to Steph. As I watched her face I was spellbound as she looked around, I'd never seen her look so enthralled before.

Removing the dust sheet from the chaise long I made her sit down before proceeding to remove the dust sheets from the bed and the wooden dresser and chair. That done I opened the closet and found the linens neatly packed away in cloth bags. It took a while to make the room and the old fashioned bathroom habitable, all of the time Steph watching what I was doing.

"You never did say anything about this place Ranger, when the other guy asked"

I sat down on the bed not really knowing what to say, how could you say that you were looking for somewhere to escape to or that that escape had had one person in mind? I sighed and laid back on the bed trying very hard to ignore the question but finding it very hard to ignore the emotions running through me. Steph knew me well, well enough not to push me for answers and I was surprised when she was suddenly laid down next to me.

"This is the Bat Cave Babe"

I eventually told her.

"It isn't what I expected. For some reason I had visions of glass and steel and sleek modern furniture. This is so much nicer"

We lay there on the bed I suppose both of us waiting for the other to say something. Eventually Steph turned her head to look at me with such a serious face that I was worried what she was going to say.

"I'm sorry"

I wasn't sure what she was apologizing for because I didn't know what she'd got involved with.

"I couldn't contact anyone, and everything just happened so quickly"

I turned my head to look at her, seeing her now looking up at the ceiling.

"I'm sure when you explain what happened I'll understand"

"Maybe not, maybe you won't like what you hear, what I ended up doing"

I was about to reply, to refute what she'd said because I couldn't think of anything she might say that would make me come to that conclusion. A knock came on the door, quickly followed by CJ walking into the room, interrupting our conversation. I sat up, slightly annoyed at the interruption, but lifted Steph so that her head was on the pillows and her feet were on the bed. I watched as she frowned and followed CJ as he approached the bed, eyeing up the box that he placed on the floor.

"I feel fine now"

"Good. I need to attend to that wound so that you can continue to feel fine"

CJ was using his serious voice which had Steph open her mouth and then close it. Interesting, maybe Brown could learn a thing or two from CJ. He gently lifted Steph's hoodie and T-shirt until the bandages came into view. Blood had seeped through, a red stain now evident on the outer bandage, and I was sure as Steph saw that then she realized that CJ was right.

"What are you going to do?"

I could see that Steph was nervous, so I sat on the bed next to her taking her hand in mine.

"I don't know what caused this but it's ragged and you still have dirt inside the wound"

I looked at CJ as he said that but was also aware that Steph never offered to say how she'd been injured, making me even more concerned with what had happened to her.

"I'm going to spray the area to help numb it, then give the area a local so that I can get that wound totally clean. Then I'm going to stitch it up. You're still feverish Steph and there's signs of infection so lay on your back and close your eyes"

Frowning Steph asked the obvious question, one that I wasn't sure she would like the answer to.

"Are you a doctor?"

"No, but I was trained to deal with shit like this. This is going to be cold"

I saw Steph flinch as her stomach muscles reacted to the cold spray, but it seemed that she wasn't put off from carrying on her conversation to find out more about CJ.

"Army, what did you do?"

"Bomb disposal. I've seen good men get hurt from flying debris and being in the field they had to be treated straight away"

"You've saved lives then"

CJ had just very gently pushed down the plunger of the syringe as she asked. Not stopping what he was doing or looking at her, he sighed before answering.

"Yeah, I suppose I have. Some devises, they cause so much damage, I couldn't save some so I decided to learn as much as I could to disarm them when I could. It's amazing how sophisticated they've become. Electronics, Wi-Fi, 4G"

By now CJ was patiently using swabs to clean out the wound, picking up a pair of tweezers he very carefully zeroed in on small black areas, removing them before cleaning again.

Steph had eventually gone quiet, so I squeezed her hand to remind her that I was still with her. As CJ started with the stitches, I knew that it was hurting her from how tightly she was holding onto my hand. We were all quiet until CJ sat back and started to repack items into the box and put the used materials into a plastic bag.

"All done. Here's some antibiotics, make sure you take them all. Keep it dry and I'll check it tomorrow"

"I don't know your name"

Of course she didn't, because I'd never really introduced her to him.

"Everyone calls me CJ"

"Thank you CJ"

I watched as Steph's eyes slowly started to close, as the muscles in her face relaxed. I pulled the cover that was at the bottom of the bed over her and followed CJ out of the room. Back downstairs it seemed that Elaina had decided to explore most of the rooms and had removed all of the dust sheets. She was in the kitchen wiping the surfaces as we entered, turning to us as we entered.

"Is Steph okay?"

"Yes. I've cleaned out the wound and stitched it"

Elaina started to open up cupboards, looking to see what was in them, why I had no idea.

"Is there any food here?"

Ah, she was hungry.

"On its way"

I said as I looked at my phone, Ethan would be here soon and hopefully would have picked up enough supplies to last us for a few days. I wasn't sure how long we would be here but knew that we wouldn't be leaving until I found out what Elaina and Steph's stories were.

Steph slept through Ethan arriving and us preparing a meal. I made sure that I plated some of the pasta to heat up for her when she woke up. As we sat around the table, I needed to be sure that we were secure yet was also conscious of not leaving Steph alone for too long.

"The equipment from the van?"

I asked wondering where it was now.

"In the garage in the van. I lost the paintwork so if we need the van again then we'll have to get some new ones"

"I'll do the first shift downstairs and keep an eye on the monitors"

I offered knowing that whoever followed me would need to know how the system worked.

"You get caught up on sleep CJ, I'll relieve Ranger"

That settled I needed to catch up with Santos and I suppose he'd need to know where we were based now, something that I had tried very hard to avoid before now. I had no idea what he'd discovered and only sent a brief message that extraction was successful. I wasn't too sure what Elaina was going to be doing so assumed that she would be somewhere around the house until she decided to go to bed.

Clearing the dishes away from the table I was glad of some help as she brought the last of them over to the sink.

"I'll sort these out"

"Thank you"

Because that would give me time downstairs to ensure everything was working properly.

"I'll sit with Steph until you get there"

I turned surprised as I heard her say that.

"Why would you need to do that?"

Elaina was filling the sink up with water ready to wash the dishes, so I was convinced that she wasn't going to give me an answer. She turned the tap to stop the flow of water and was looking down at the soapy bubbles floating on the top, her hands swirling them around.

"She's been having some really bad nightmares. She needs a light on and sometimes just someone there with her to help her calm down"

I was about to ask what happened to cause those, knowing that Steph had sometimes struggled in the past when something really bad had upset.

"She needs to tell you herself. Maybe tomorrow we can find some time, a long time, to explain everything to you"

I nodded my head, understanding what she was saying actually surprised that she seemed willing and prepared to trust me. Leaving her I was soon downstairs in the den going through the computer system that controlled the security around the house. I wasn't surprised when some of the programs needed updates so went through the tedious task of downloading those, neither was I surprised when Ethan came into the room.

"I found out that Correll has taken vacation time, apparently he was owed it"

"Any more thoughts about him?"

Because he was the one person that was at the top of my shit list. I really couldn't work him out and had no idea whether he was the inside man at the FBI. He certainly had access, but I just couldn't work out what his motives were. Maybe he felt bored with the job that he'd ended up doing, analyzing data must get boring with little job satisfaction at the end of it. Then there was his estranged daughter. Why had she been in Trenton doing Steph's old job and what were her motives in trying to get my attention? It made me wonder how long they had known about their relationship and who had sought who out.

"Not really. On the surface Correll doesn't seem to fit, but the fact that his daughter was in Trenton doing Steph's job seems too much of a coincidence to me. Then there's how Steph and Elaina ended up with him. Maybe Elaina and Steph will tell us more"

I was concerned about that and what had happened to Steph as I thought about the injury that Steph had and why she was with Elaina. That she said that she couldn't contact anyone because things had happened, had me thinking of all sorts of scenarios.

"Maybe tomorrow they'll tell us"

I said as much for Ethan as for myself.

"So, show me the setup that you have here and maybe I can add some improvements"

Ethan spent the next hour with me as I showed him what I'd added to make the house and grounds more secure. He left soon after, leaving me on my own to monitor the screens and sensors promising to do the work when he was down here for his shift. I remembered to message Santos our coordinates, using an encrypted system that only he would be able to receive and decipher. I knew that methods of spying into every word said on a phone or through the internet was becoming more advanced but was hoping for now that we were secure with our communications.

As the time approached for Ethan to relieve me, I was desperate to get upstairs to be with Steph. I hadn't realized just how much I was craving to be with her, Tank's words coming back to me. That until someone wasn't there you didn't know what you had until they were gone. The truth was, I knew what I had, I just never thought I'd lose her. I had never considered just how important having Steph in my life was. That admittance had me thinking about this house and why I had bought it.

I suppose that when I'd uttered those words "Someday" I really was thinking about her. Yeah, this was what Steph would consider the Bat Cave, did that mean that subconsciously I bought the place with her in mind? Maybe I had, but in my head, I knew that being with her was an impossibility. Too many demons still haunted me and what Correll had said to Steph was partly true, I had a lot of blood on my hands that I was afraid Steph would be horrified with. I wanted to be the man for her but was more afraid of scaring her away, that she would see that I wasn't the man for her.

Leaving Ethan to oversee the surveillance it was with a heavy heart that I made my way upstairs. I was almost tempted to use one of the other rooms, but I couldn't do it. I was an opportunist and the opportunity to be with Steph was what I wanted, if only for the time that we had, I selfishly wanted to feel the connection that we had. On entering the master bedroom, I spotted Elaina sat on the couch with a book in her hands. As soon as she saw me, she uncurled her legs from next to her and stood up. I went through to the bathroom to shower expecting her to leave the room.

I was just about to pull my T-shirt over my head when the bathroom door opened, and Elaina stepped in. Closing the door, she stood against it looking at me. I had absolutely no idea why she was there, and a variety of thoughts were rushing through my head. If she thought that she could seduce me then that was definitely out, but maybe she wanted to tell me how Steph had been. We stood in silence watching each other under the bright light of the bathroom. She looked older than her age, her angular features highlighting her bone structure which was emphasized by the short spiky haircut. It was tinged with pink at the ends giving her an impish look, certainly there was no resemblance to the young girl from the photograph that I'd started out with.

"I wasn't sure what to expect when Steph told me about you"

I remained still not wanting to ask her what it was that Steph had said because maybe I wouldn't like it.

"She's afraid"

Okay, that surprised me, and I wanted to assure Elaina that Steph would be safe now.

"No one knows where we are, and the house is very secure. I won't allow anyone to hurt her"

"She's not afraid of that. She's afraid because of you"

That totally shocked me because I would never do anything to hurt her. I was about to argue against what she'd said but was cut short when she started to talk again.

"We've spent a lot of time together these past few weeks. She's frightened of what you'll think of her, frightened that you believed the bullshit that was being put out about her when she disappeared. I might be young but I'm not stupid. She fell apart when Correll told her that those tranquilizers would probably kill you. It was then that all the pieces that she'd told me started to come together. Open your eyes and don't hurt her anymore"

Having finished her speech, or was it a warning, I was suddenly left on my own staring at the door. I remembered Santos saying that Steph had fallen apart after I was shot by Scrogg, and I hadn't seen it. Morelli had though, which was why he had tried to get her out of Trenton. I knew in my heart that what Elaina had said was true. I'd encouraged her to go back to Morelli because in my opinion he was the better man. Had I hurt Steph by doing that? So why would she be so worried about me believing that she'd left with Morelli?

Why would she be frightened by what I might think from hearing the rumors? Maybe it was time to clear the air between us and to voice my thoughts, like that was going to be easy. I hated to open up my feelings to anyone, it showed weakness and vulnerability. It also occurred to me that it was my way of protecting myself. Maybe I was reading too much into what Elaina was saying, after all, when Steph really knew the type of man that I was she might not see me in the same way. I was back to where I'd been earlier, I was the one afraid that she really wouldn't like the man that I truly was.

I quickly showered trying to stop the incessant thoughts going through my head and with a pair of joggers on went and sat on the couch. I loved to watch Steph as she slept. The slight noises and movements captivated me and, in some ways, calmed me. I had found myself seeking this out in the past. When my demons just wouldn't let go then I had found that watching her sleep had helped to ease my soul. I understood now, with everything that had happened that I couldn't just keep her on the fringes of my life, letting her in when it suited me, so the next few days were going to be a make-or-break kind of situation.

As Steph's noises became louder and her movement more erratic, I moved from the couch and pulled back the covers to slide into the bed. She was wearing a strappy top that I didn't recognize making me realize that the two women would need some clothes and probably cosmetics. Something to sort out in the morning. For now, as my hand cupped her cheek, I wanted nothing more than to calm Steph, to rid her of the nightmare that she seemed to be having. Movement surprised me when Steph rolled onto her side, it seemed that she sensed that I was there because her head came onto my chest and her arm across my stomach. Holding her seemed right and allowed me to drift into a light sleep.