Chapter 26

"You went to Serbia?"

Steph just nodded her head. Which had my pulse quicken thinking of what they would have found when they got there. When the team had gone to Belgrade, we'd had one goal in mind and that was to find the detonator. It had never been in our thoughts to try and find Elaina's mother, Malina Rašeta.

I couldn't believe the story that Steph and Elaina had just told us but the fact that they had been in Serbia was definitely a surprise. I think we were all going through what we'd learnt, well I was, because I was trying to sort out in my head some sort of timeline. I realized that Steph and Elaina were probably out of the country when I had returned to Trenton and that it must have been just after that when Morelli had died. Did Steph know that Morelli was dead?

"Babe, Morelli"

Maybe it was the way I said it, but I felt her shrug her shoulders so knew immediately that she was aware of his death.

"I know, Correll was all too keen to tell us. I think he thought that we'd done it, but he was alive when we left him"

I wasn't too sure what to say, would Steph be upset? Of course she would be. He might have treated her badly, but they'd known each for years.

"I'm sorry Babe"

And meant it, not for Morelli, but for how she would have felt about it. If Morelli had taken money in return for finding Elaina, then I wondered who it was that he was working for. Immediately I remembered Gregson saying that they had a mole in the FBI but could it have been Correll as I'd thought? It could be, he could have been hiding Steph and Elaina until someone came for them, but why keep Steph alive?

I was pretty sure that Morelli had every intention of making himself and Steph disappear and had taken the money with that in mind. He was probably never going to look for Elaina and maybe that was his undoing. He'd double crossed someone, and he'd paid with his life. That he was found with a woman who may have been killed for her organs suggested that the group running that operation were definitely still involved, desperate to get Elaina for Markovic. Was it an order from Markovic? I didn't think that he would be that concerned about Morelli because he was focused on finding Elaina. He must have been extremely annoyed when he found out that she'd slipped through his fingers. So who had sent the ransom note because they definitely didn't have Elaina to bargain with or were they so sure that they could find her?

I wanted to know what the two of them had done in Serbia but was aware of Steph yawning and of her leaning back into me. She was tired and needed to eat and then sleep, the telling of her account so far was taking its toll on her.

"I think we need to eat and then rest. We can come back to your story in the morning"

"Definitely, I'm famished"

Came from Elaina as she stood up and came over to Steph.

"Come on, let's see what there is to eat"

CJ and I watched as the two women disappeared from the room. I sat back, still a bit shell shocked from what I had heard and so damned annoyed at myself for being so slow to realize that Steph was in danger. I was also wondering who the hell had been on reception when she'd called Rangeman, though I knew that what he'd said to her was protocol. It was our way of diverting salesmen and cold calls, both of which could be extremely annoying and time consuming. I could understand why she hadn't given her name, hell I wouldn't put it past the FBI to think that they could tap our phones.

"Who was this Morelli because he seems like an asshole"

I raised an eyebrow at how well CJ had described Morelli but also knew that maybe he was owed some sort of explanation.

"He was Steph's on and off boyfriend"

Okay it was CJ's turn to eye me quizzically.

"He'd known Steph for years, since they were young kids. He was seen as the bad boy of the area and was a player as he got older. He"

I stopped what I was saying trying to find the words to best describe what he had done to Steph at the Tasty Pastry so many years ago. I didn't think that he'd raped her but neither did I think that she had been totally willing.

"He convinced her to have sex with him when she was sixteen on the floor of the local bakery and then left for the navy the next day. Let's just say that Steph got back at him when he came home by hitting him with her grandmother's Buick. Steph had a failed marriage and was made redundant from where she worked so was out of work. She took on a job for her cousin as a bounty hunter. That's how I met her, and Morelli, then a detective, was her first FTA, wanted for murder. Short version, she helped clear his name and he started dating her"

I wasn't sure what CJ thought of that story but was waiting for him to say something or ask a question.

"So you and her?"

That hadn't been what I was expecting but then again maybe I had been keen to find her and since finding her had been very protective of her. What did I say? The truth or a version of the truth?

"Ranger, you can't pussyfoot around it. Hell, the way you were so keen to find her and then worried about her, hell you've hardly left her side. You need to man up before you lose her"

It seemed I didn't need to say anything, because CJ was obviously totally aware of my feelings for her. I hadn't realized how transparent I'd been. He had basically said the same thing as Elaina had, so maybe I needed to make my position clear to Steph, but did I do it before she finished her story or not? I didn't get the chance to contemplate that problem for any longer because the shouts coming from the kitchen was telling me that a meal was ready. I hadn't expected that, instead I was ready to cook something that the women had found. The kitchen was empty as we looked in there, but I spied the two women and Ethan sat at the dining room table, a large ornate dish in the center.

Sitting down I watched as Elaina started to serve the food into our bowls.

"Chicken traybake. Whole grain gnocchi, with chicken, broccoli, peanuts, curry paste and onions"

I had to say that it smelt good and tasted amazing. I was actually surprised that Elaina was such a good cook.

"Steph and I, well let's just say that we had some time on our hands so we agreed to improve some skills that were lacking. We both had a hand in this"

"It tastes amazing girls. So what other skills were you working on?"

I was glad that it was CJ who had asked that question, not that it hadn't been something that I was interested in, but the look that Elaina gave Steph was enough that we didn't get an answer. To be honest that only made me more curious. Once we'd finished, I knew that I was due to take my turn downstairs monitoring the cameras. CJ was heading upstairs to catch some sleep before he took over from me so that left Ethan and the women to tidy away. I actually felt guilty for that because I had wanted time with Steph before she went to bed.

Once downstairs I knew the systems would be good enough to deter any visitors and also knew that we would be aware of anyone who got close to us. I was watching the screens but not totally focused on them, so maybe that was how I was immediately aware of someone being in the den with me. I was aware though, I felt it like a change in the atmosphere, like a run of electricity through my body. Turning I was looking at Steph watching me.

"I couldn't sleep so thought I'd keep you company"

I held out my hand to her and as she took hold of it pulled her down to sit on my knee. Turning the chair, I was once again facing the screens.

"This feels like being on monitoring duty at Rangeman"

I could detect some nervousness in Steph's voice as she tried to make light of what we were doing but knew not to push her for information. She wasn't ready for that yet.

"Why the two men and not anyone from Rangeman or are they from the other offices?"

How the hell did I explain being on a mission without frightening her?

"We're working a job and there are only certain men that I can choose to be with me, Santos is part of the team but he's working on something else"

"A mission. I never imagined that they would happen so close to home"

"They usually don't, but I had a personal mission to follow so it fit in with what I needed to do"

I could see that had puzzled Steph, it had meant to, because I also wanted her to think carefully about what I'd said.

"So two missions, one for the government and one, what, because you needed to do something?"

I could almost see the thoughts swirling through her mind and waited, hoping the next question would allow me to come clean with her.

"So the government mission was what, to find Ellie?"

"It started as that yes, I needed to be sure that she was safe"

"Is that what you do, save people, like Correll said"

Shit I had totally forgotten that he'd spoken to her about what I'd done. He was totally out of order for doing that plus he'd given her a totally warped version of what had actually happened. Maybe though this was my opportunity to tell her my version, the truth of what had happened.

"I was sent to Venezuela to find a young boy. He was the American Ambassador's son and had been kidnapped. The group was demanding a ransom for his return, but no one was hopeful of ever seeing him again and America has a stance of not paying ransom demands. Too many kids had never been seen again even after the payment was made"

"So were you just supposed to free the boy?"

I knew she was thinking of what Correll had told her, that we were sent to kill the men and show others an example of what would happen to those who did the same.

"Yes. They were good at evading us, or our intel was too slow getting to us. It took us longer than it should have done to track them down. When we found their hide out the boy was in a bad way"

I stopped talking as the image of that boy came to me. His hair was disheveled, and his face was covered in bruises and dried blood, the tracks of where his tears had rolled down his face evident. It was his eyes that captivated me, large and so frightened. His clothes were dirty and torn but it was the dried blood on his trousers that told me the story of the horrendous things that those men had done to him. I had found it very difficult to maintain my control and not to lose my temper.

"They'd, they'd sodomized him, beaten him to near death and yet they used him to shield themselves and wouldn't release him. They fired at us so we returned fire, but we couldn't fire near to where they were holding the boy. I went in to try and talk some sense into the two men that were left, instead they attacked me"

I lifted up my T-shirt to show Steph the now healed wound on my abdomen and watched as her fingers gently followed the scar that was there.

"You were nearly killed"

"Yes, I had to kill them. There was no other option if we were to get the boy out and stay alive. I'm sorry but that's who I am"

I watched as she frowned at me almost certain that now she knew that yes, I had killed people, taken their lives. Not always because I had wanted to but because I had to.

"I know you Ranger, I know that you've killed people before, but I also know that you would never kill someone for self-gain, you'd only do it to protect others"

I was in awe of what she'd said and couldn't quite believe that she'd said that. Did she really understand what I was, the demons that haunted me from those deaths? I felt her hands as she cupped my face and saw those deep blue eyes look into mine.

"You carry too much, let it go. You're too good a man to allow those memories to drag you down"

The intensity of her look brought a calm to me, like she always could do. She was the balm that soothed those demons, they would always be with me but with her they were but a murmur that could be quieted.

"Babe, you were always what I needed. I only agreed to do the mission because I hoped that I would find you"

"Me. I once said to you that you might not like what you find"

There was regret as she said that making me understand her better than ever. Wasn't that what I had thought, that no one should love me because of what I'd done and yet here she was.

"It doesn't matter what you tell me. You are important to me Babe. I always took for granted what you meant to me, like the air that I breathe, the light I see with and the sound of my heart. I'll never do that again, I promise"

As tears came to her eyes, I pulled her around so that she was straddling me and her lips, such sweet lips were mine to devour. I wasn't going to take advantage of her because this wasn't an appropriate time. She was emotionally fragile, plus she had a wound across her stomach that needed to heal. I pulled away and tucked her head onto my chest very aware of how much that had affected us both.

"I don't want to hurt you Babe and I won't take advantage of you. When you're ready"

I wasn't too sure what I expected from her, maybe her saying something that would reflect how she felt for me? Had I just made a callosal mistake in saying what I had? Had Elaina and CJ totally misread her? As I felt her relax against me, I had to believe that she needed time, time to trust me. How many times had I rebuffed her with stupid excuses and in some ways supported her being with Morelli? It would take more than a few words for her to believe what I was saying. I would have to be patient and I was good at doing that.

While Steph slept in my arms, I watched the screens wondering what Santos was up to and what he had found out. He was due to be here tomorrow evening, someone that I was sure Steph would be pleased to see. I hadn't realized that the time had passed so quickly and was surprised as CJ came into the room. He didn't seem surprised to see that Steph was with me or asleep in my arms.

"All quiet"

I told him as I stood up and made my way upstairs to the bedroom.

It was a peaceful night. Steph never showed any signs of having nightmares which meant that for the first time in a while I slept well. So well that I wasn't aware of her leaving the bed. I have to admit that I felt slightly panicked when she wasn't in the bedroom or bathroom so dressed quickly to check downstairs. Walking into the kitchen I was looking into an empty room but had to take a second look at the clock on the wall. I checked the time on my watch and sure enough it was only 0600. So where the hell was Steph? I walked through the house checking each room and decided I would have to check on the monitors, the fear that she had left rising to the surface. Ethan greeted me as I walked into the den, maybe surprised to see me.

"All quiet Ranger. Is there something wrong, you're looking a bit stressed out"

I shook my head not quite believing that he could have missed Steph leaving. But why would she do that? That was when I heard it, coming from somewhere close by, music that didn't sound familiar. I walked out of the den following the sound of the music and stood at the entrance to my gym totally amazed at what I was seeing.

Some of my equipment had been moved to make way for pieces that I would never have considered. Well certainly the tall metal pole would never have been something that I would ever have dreamt of installing. There were two step platforms, one of which was being used by Elaina and a soft gym mat which was where Steph was. Wearing a tight lycra vest and knee length shorts I could now see what I'd felt was different about her. Her muscles were more toned on her legs and arms and whilst she had always had an amazing figure the way her buttocks clenched as she moved, and the flatness of her stomach made me realize that she had definitely been working out.

Seeing her arch her back, as though she was going to then use her hands and arms to support her on the mat had me moving quickly. I saw her flinch when the stretch started to pull on her stomach and was immediately knelt beside her to support her shoulders. Bringing her back up to her feet I was sure that she was embarrassed, a deeper red spreading across her face.

"Thanks. I never thought"

"I know what it's like to have a wound like that and how easy it is to overstretch"

I watched as she looked around the gym seeing Elaina on the step, it was almost as if she was trying to decide what equipment she could use safely.

"Do you want to run outside?"

I asked hoping that she would agree to that even though I knew how much she had hated running in the past.

"Can we? I mean I thought that we had to stay inside?"

I shook my head recognizing the enthusiasm from what I suggested.

"Let me change"

As I went into the small bathroom area, I found some shorts, a vest and some trainers and was quickly back in the gym. Steph was sat down on the mat tying the laces of her trainers and looked up when she saw me. Holding my hand out to take hers I pulled her to her feet and walked over to a door at the side of the gym. After inputting the code to open the door we were soon outside, with me trying to decide the best route to take.

The house had extensive grounds some of which had been formalized as a garden in the past. Now everything was overgrown so I would need to choose where we went carefully. After we crossed the grass, I followed an old gravel path that wound its way through the forested section of the property. Letting go of Steph's hand I was quickening my pace to a steady jog hearing her footsteps behind me. The conditions were ideal for running, dry with a cool freshness in the air, and I was soon absorbed in setting a pace that I thought wasn't too fast for Steph. After ten minutes we came to a fork in the track so I slowed down deciding that Steph could decide which path to take. I have to admit that I was surprised when she didn't look to be out of breath.

"That takes us further around the property before it comes back to the other side of the house or this one is a shorter route that joins it"

I was surprised when without a word she started for the longer route, and I found myself running behind her as she quickened her pace. I now fully appreciated the scene in front of me and was cursing for not having allowed her to lead earlier. Her pace was faster than we'd been doing before, even as she found a rhythm that she was comfortable with. To be honest this run was going to be shorter than I'd hoped because it wasn't long before the house came into view. That was when she was suddenly pulling away from me.

It seemed that Steph was sprinting the last section of our run and I wasn't going to be left behind so upped my speed to keep up with her. As she reached the house she came to a stop, bent over slightly with her hands on her knees, as though trying to get her breath. I stopped next to her and waited for her to stand up seeing the sheen of sweat across her chest and forehead, and a strand of hair that I couldn't resist tucking behind her ear.

"Proud of you Babe"

Was all I needed to say to get her to smile.

"Shower, breakfast and then we'll continue with where we left off yesterday"

I'd meant to say that just to establish the schedule for the day but immediately regretted it when the smile fell from Steph's face.

"Babe, you have nothing to be worried about, remember what I said, it doesn't matter to me what you tell us or what you did"

As soon as we stepped inside the house Elaina was there waiting for Steph. I'd hoped to get a chance to continue our conversation from the previous night, but Elaina and Steph decided to have breakfast while I showered and then they went up to shower and change. I didn't see Steph again until we were back in the lounge.

I was pleased that she returned to the seat next to me, giving me some hope that maybe she was beginning to trust me. Ethan was with us this time, while CJ was down watching the screens, but Ethan's presence didn't seem to bother either of the women. It was Elaina who sat forward so I assumed that she and Steph had planned in advance who would be responsible for saying what had happened to them. If I remembered correctly, they had used the two passports that Morelli had with him, making me wonder how he had managed to get them. I really needed to know where Morelli had got the names David Galbacci and Gareth Fernetti.

In some ways I felt saddened by the fact that these two women had embarked on a journey that I wasn't aware of. In the past I'd always known where Steph was and had frequently found her. I suppose I'd wanted to see her, to touch her but at the time I used the excuse to myself that I was just making sure that she was okay. That Steph came to me whenever she felt threatened had been an unusual act for me to come to terms with to start with, but I wouldn't have wanted her to go anywhere else. It was weird how habits had formed, like how I would always find her if I was going to be out of town. I would feel more settled when I returned and could view where she was through her trackers. I wondered how Tank had viewed it when I left strict instructions that he had to keep an eye on her. Did he see more than I had done, probably?

I was keen to hear what they had done but had a feeling of trepidation run through me as Elaina started to recount their visit to Serbia.

"So, as we said yesterday, we used the passports that Steph found with Morelli and made sure that we went through security separately, we didn't want one person to realize that the two photos were the same. It was a long flight and to be honest I was worried about my mother. With being hidden I hadn't had a chance to catch up with her. We found a hotel close to the address for where she lived and then went looking for her"

"Belgrade is like any city, areas with poor areas where I'm sure that crime is abundant. That was where we'd ended up. Rows of concrete apartment buildings with men and young kids hanging around. I was grateful that I spoke the language seeming to be able to talk and joke with them and it had the result that they left us alone"

Maybe Elaina was similar to Steph, that gift to talk to anyone and be accepted.

"I found out that she'd gone to stay with an old friend because her husband was critically ill and needed some help and probably some emotional support. He didn't have long to live, and any treatment wouldn't have helped and was too expensive. It turned out that he had worked with my father a long time ago so was keen to have our company as he lay in his bed. It was almost as if he needed to let go of his anger at him, so he told me some of what had happened between them. Petco had been a brilliant scientist, very ingenious with his work. He'd developed something that he was sure was before its time. The problem was that my father found out about it, and he stole his designs before he left the country"

Interesting, it made me wonder if that was why he had been extracted from the country, that our government thought that he was the engineer that had produced the designs. The question was what was it that he had designs for, though my thoughts immediately focused onto his field of work, that of nuclear physics.

"Petco was afraid that there were people after a prototype that he'd built so after Markovic left the country with the designs he had hidden everything hoping that with time people would forget about it.

When men started to follow his wife, he was afraid of why it was happening. Apparently, there were two of them, asking questions about him. We didn't see them, so thought that maybe Petco was overreacting, given what he had told us"

"Petco died suddenly but peacefully so we decided we needed to stay longer to help support Petco's wife, Anya, and my mother. At the funeral the friend who I'd met on my previous visit turned up which at first, we were happy about. He was someone they saw as an old friend but afterwards he was really pushing for answers about what had happened to Petco's work"

I had no doubt that Petco had been a victim to a cancer. He had worked with Markovic so he would also have been focused on nuclear research for most of his life. I was more interested in who this family friend had been and was on the verge of asking that question when Elaina continued and gave me the answer that I needed.

"This man, Dura Savic, told us that there was something very important, that had been hidden before Markovic had left the country and that the institute would be grateful to have it back. Maybe he thought that Petco would know about it but I don't think that he realized that it was Petco's work or that he had been the one to hide the prototype. I really wasn't sure why he was suddenly asking me questions about it, and I told him that I had never even met my father. Needless to say, we didn't trust his motives so we took my mother and Anya to a rented house at Beograd, out of the city where they would be safe, and arranged a year's rental for them. It was a small house that was private but with shops close by and then once the women were settled, we tried to decipher what this friend of theirs was after."

Savic, the man who we had found dead in the cemetery and the man who we discovered had sold something to an antique dealer in Istanbul. He'd obviously worked out where Petco had hidden his prototype, but was he aware that there was another piece of equipment that was needed for it to work? He must have realized that later because he had gone to the cemetery to look for it. I wondered how he had found out where the prototype and detonator were or if someone else had told him. Had Markovic been in contact with Savic asking him to find the detonator or had he been the one to tell Markovic? The problem I now had was knowing who had this detonator and where it was.

"We hadn't wanted to scare my mother or Anya so had to word our questions into a normal conversation. The only tenable lead that we found was that Petco and Damir Markovic had a common interest, they idolized other scientists, which was how my mother knew what name he would take on when he moved to the states"

"We spent hours in the local museum, which was actually really interesting looking for any scientist that might match someone that Petco would aspire to. Finding anything personal about them was more difficult. It was by pure chance that Anya mentioned a cemetery, Groblje Vinča, as a place that Petco would often visit. It also seemed a good place to start looking especially as it wasn't that far from where the two men had worked"

I felt Steph shift and look over to Elaina as though something had just occurred to her.

"We got caught up in the puzzle I suppose"

I wasn't too sure if she now regretted her insatiable curiosity for finding out what it was that Savic was so keen to find or if their decision was simply because they didn't want him to find what seemed so important to him. Looking across to Ethan I knew his thoughts were similar to mine, had they found the detonator first? But most worrying of all was if they were responsible for Savic's death? I had to stay very quiet and still as Elaina continued, but in my mind the same words were playing around in my head. What the hell had my Babe done that she felt that I wouldn't like?

"Steph and I spent several hours looking around that place and eventually decided that the only real candidate was a mausoleum where a scientist called Jovan Petrović was buried"

I wanted so much to ask questions but stopped myself. That timeline kept playing in my head and I only hoped that Ethan had been right with his estimation for how long ago Savic had died.

"It took us ages to break the seal around the door. We had to go back there over several nights to eventually be able to move the door"

"It was creepy having to work during the night"

Came from Steph as she smiled at Elaina. I could just imagine the atmosphere they'd felt when there, having been there myself. The silence as the dark surrounded you interrupted by the sway of branches nearby and the skuttle of creatures who came out at night. Yeah, Steph would have been a bag of nerves being in a cemetery at night. She had too many bad memories from cemeteries and that wasn't including what Stiva had done to her by locking her inside a casket.

"We weren't too sure what we expected to find or really thought about what we would do with anything. I was half afraid we'd find a stash of radioactive materials, given where Petco and Markovic had worked"

I found it interesting that Elaina was referring to her father by his Serbian name showing that she had no respect or love for him.

"The place was empty except for a stone casket so we managed to slide the cover over. I think we were both almost afraid a body would pop up"

Both of the woman laughed as Elaina had said that, but I was pretty sure that they had been scared of what might have been inside the casket. If memory served me right, there had only been bones, the flesh and body of the occupant long ago turning to dust.

"Underneath the bones we found an old leather bag"

I felt Steph shudder as she said that, obviously remembering having to delve through that casket. I have to admit that I wouldn't have welcomed the experience. But had they found the detonator?

"We scarpered with the bag, knowing that we had found something, but wanting to be somewhere safer and with better lighting before we opened it. Okay, we replaced the casket lid but there was no way we could reseal the door so made sure that it was closed. Once back at the house we knew the older women wouldn't be awake for a while, so we opened that old leather bag"

I was curious about the message that we had found and was surprised when Elaina didn't mention it, not sure if she was purposely not telling us or it hadn't been her that had left it. That message had looked like a written gesture to Savic that he wasn't going to find what he wanted, to say that someone had beaten him to it. If it wasn't Elaina then who else could it have been? I was so relieved that they hadn't mentioned Savic being there and felt that they had nothing to do with his death. Maybe he'd worked it out in the end but when he got there it was gone. It would be interesting to know how he had died though. I have to admit that I had no idea what form the detonator would take and no one had been able to enlighten me. I was extremely curious to know what the woman had discovered and if it was important or just some wild goose chase instigated by Markovic.

"We were both surprised when we found a really old looking computer, well I suppose an ancient laptop. Of course, it was dead and there was no power lead with it. I was surprised that the keyboard was the standard QWERTY keyboard used in the U.S with some addition keys at the bottom. I had no idea what it was that we'd just found"

That was an interesting observation that Elaina had described, having me trying to remember what degree course she'd followed at university.

"We needed a power lead so after sleeping and hiding the laptop in the house we went into the city to take a look around some of the secondhand shops"

"That was when we saw Savic, hell we were lucky Ellie, that we hadn't found the cable before then"

"Yeah, we were, but he seemed really upbeat and even offered to treat us to coffee at a local café. He never once asked us any questions referring to Petco or even asked where Anya and my mother were. It was as though he already had the answers"

Steph nodded her head in agreement, but I was sure that I already knew the answer to that. He'd somehow found the missile and made a deal that would make him very rich.

"He had a wad of brand new notes that he used to pay for the coffee which had alarm bells ringing for us. All I could think of was that he'd already found the secret that Petco had hidden, and we'd wasted our time and found some old laptop that someone had buried with that scientist"

Of course, I knew differently, and that Savic had definitively sold something of importance, though from what we'd found out in Istanbul the warhead hopefully was at the bottom of the ocean where it couldn't do any harm. But what of the detonator, if that was what the women had found, what had they done with it?

"When he went to the restroom, Ellie went through his jacket pocket. Hell, I had to follow him and stop him coming back too quickly to give Ellie enough time"

"You're excellent at distractions Babe"

Because that was basically what she had been doing and she was very good at putting on an act to have the sole attention of a mark.

"Maybe. Ellie found a business card, Dünya Antikaları or World Antiques, based in Turkey. We didn't think much of it and presumed that maybe Savic had sold some old family antiques to raise some money, so didn't give it much more thought. Getting that laptop up and running was more important, and we managed to buy an old lead from this store on the market"

I was sure I held my breath when Steph mentioned about finding that business card on Savic, hell that would have led to an arms dealer, so I was pretty relieved when she said that getting the laptop up and running had been more important. Though when I considered that I wasn't really sure about that either.

"It was an old machine but man, the programming on it was so sophisticated. It had a 20 digit encrypted password, designed to shut down after 5 attempts. Steph and I debated for hours what it could be, but to be honest we didn't want to risk inputting the wrong password"

It made sense to me and to be honest I was glad that they hadn't been able to access anything from what I assumed was the detonator and was almost sure that they had no idea about Savic.

"We decided to make the most of being on that side of the world, so we booked ourselves onto a flight to Cyprus. I found a great retreat there where we could relax and rejuvenate"

I saw the look that Elaina gave Steph, almost a smugness to it that made me wonder what that particular place was all about.

"I need something to eat and to clear my head"

Was all Elaina said as she stood up and left the room. It was almost as though Elaina needed us to hear her side of the story. She gave us no opportunity to ask any questions or delve for more detail. Having said that it might be difficult to do that without giving away that we'd been sent by Markovic to retrieve a detonator that could very well be the laptop that Elaina had spoken about. But if the warhead was destroyed then the detonator would be useless, so why did someone still want it? I was really curious as to what they had done with it. Ethan followed Elaina leaving Steph still sat next to me so as she made to move, I held her where she was.

"You two get on really well, don't you?"

I heard a sigh before I heard an answer.

"She's a lot younger than me and looks at life differently to me. I was pretty mortified when we turned up in Cyprus, I was thinking of golden sand and blue skies"

Steph had completely avoided answering my question but then I wondered if it was because of where they had gone to in Cyprus. My immediate thought was that they would take advantage of the late summer weather and relax.

"What did you get instead?"

I asked because I was curious what else they might do on the island, unless of course Elaina was more into hiking.

"Euphoria Retreat and Elaina's idea of a relaxing time. But not how you think and definitely not what I expected"

I had a feeling that Elaina had found a retreat that provided all round fitness as a way of destressing, not exactly what Steph would have envisaged, especially if they included detoxing as part of their program as well.

"How long were you there for?"

"Nearly four weeks and I suppose that at the end I did feel better about myself"

Did that mean that Steph hadn't felt good about herself before she went? I hadn't expected her to say that. I'd noticed the improvement in her physical fitness so what else had she done while there to make her think that? I turned her around so that she was facing me, trying to work out what it was that she felt had been wrong for her to say that.

"Babe, what do mean?"

I watched as she looked away from me as though she wasn't sure what to say or even if to say something.

"We did meditation and yoga with a trainer. She made me feel uncomfortable to start with. It was as though she knew me, not who I was but. Sorry I'm not making much sense, am I?"

"What did she ask you to do"

Because I had to admit that I wasn't sure what Steph was trying to explain to me.

"To think about who I was and who I wanted to be, and then to use yoga as a way of focusing my mind to achieve those changes. Then of course she had me doing exercises. Okay, the step was fun, and I actually enjoyed trying to get to grips with the pole, though hell I got some nasty bruising from that"

I still wasn't too sure why she seemed so despondent about it. I appreciated taking a holistic approach to ones well being. So, what wasn't she telling me?

"You don't sound very convincing Babe"

Hoping that was enough to have her explaining more.

"I don't want to be someone else. I'm happy with who I am, okay there are aspects that I knew I needed to improve on. I feel better that I actually managed to get fitter and being away I probably ate healthier and have better skills. It gave me a chance to see what Ellie was trying to do, to be someone that she wasn't and that doesn't sit well with me"

I was almost relieved hearing what she'd said, and I understood where she was coming from and why. Her curiosity, stubbornness, independence and loving nature were who she was, what made her so individual. Much as sometime those traits could annoy me, I wouldn't want her to change those.

"The way you are Babe, that's what I love about you. Okay I'm pleased that you've changed some aspects of your lifestyle but not who you are. Is that what you meant when you said that I wouldn't like what you were going to tell me?"

I hoped so, but deep down I knew there was more to come.

"Some of it. I thought changing who I was would make me, I don't know, maybe a better person"

I gently lifted her face to mine and brushed my lips across hers, nothing passionate but I felt it impressed that I cared for her.

"You are exactly who you are meant to be. Curios, stubborn, independent with a loving nature and amazing instincts. I wouldn't want you any other way"

I'd meant what I'd said and hoped that in some way I'd lightened the worry that she was having. It did have me wondering who Elaina truly was or if she was portraying a person that she felt other people wanted to see. For the first time since I'd met her it had me telling myself to be more guarded around her, asking myself if she wasn't what she seemed.