Chapter 32

The shock on my face must have shown and also the fact that I'd taken a step backward because Ellie was suddenly by my side, holding onto my arm.

Seeing Ethan, I was scared to death that Ranger was with him. I wasn't ready to see him if I even got to that point, the emotion of what had happened was still too raw for me and I really didn't think I could ever forgive him for what had happened or that he would ever forgive me.

"Hey Steph. It's okay. Ethan is on his own"

I knew that at the Bat Cave Ellie had given the impression that she was sweet for CJ. As she'd said people believed what they saw and didn't look any further. Ranger would only see what he was allowed to see but it seemed that Ethan was the one that Ellie had taken a liking to, as he was now here.

"Ethan, well we hit it off at the house. I know it looks bad, but it isn't, honestly Steph"

I gave a look to Ellie as Lizbeth joined us on the porch obviously oblivious as to what was happening.

"What's going on?"

"I, he"

I didn't know what to say or how to feel. Had Ellie betrayed us to Ethan? Why would she do that?

"Ethan saw me watching Markovic's house and somehow followed me. He isn't working with Ranger anymore and we, err, got together"

"Does he know?"

I asked, looking at Ethan, not sure I wanted to hear Ellie's answer.

"He's not stupid Steph, he had a good idea of the background. He's here to help us, he has the skills that we need"

I looked at Ethan who had moved to stand behind Ellie. He looked different to what I remembered. No glasses and his dark hair had grown longer. In fact, he looked a good looking guy now, not as geeky as he had.

"Steph, I know what happened, I know what you're thinking. I want to help sort this out because I'm sure that it wasn't Ranger who arranged that meeting on that road"

I knew I was frowning at hearing what he was saying but how did he know, or did he know who sussed me out?

"Steph, Ranger, well he spent days looking for you near those woods or something that might give him a clue as to where you'd gone. Then he spent days at his house. He got totally trashed and that isn't like him"

"Maybe he felt guilty for what he did"

I spat out. My heart was hammering at the idea that I'd falsely accused him.

"No. Santos and Tank managed to pull him out of it, hell Steph he was ready to take on a long term mission, a suicide mission. It took an age for him to realize what had happened and why you left him. He understands now why you did it and he's working on trying to find out how someone found you, how Raynor and Markovic knew that you had that laptop. When he finds them, he's going to do them some damage, permanent and then find you and prove to you that it wasn't him"

I knew that my mouth opened and shut because I had no idea what to say. It didn't take him off my shit list though. Maybe he was responsible for us being found, maybe he did something or said something to someone which in my book still made him responsible, didn't it? Oh shit, what the hell had I done? Sensible Stephanie was saying that I was right to bail out on him, that it was the only way to keep myself safe from Raynor and Markovic. My heart was at war though, because I knew deep down that Ranger would never do anything to put me in danger.

"Steph you have that job to do. You have to get control, or you'll get yourself killed"

I took a deep breath and nodded my head. I knew that Elle was right and that I only had one more day here before I was going to New York. I'd spent too much time planning for it, to cock it up now and a lot of lives could depend on it.

"Ethan doesn't know everything Steph. I haven't told him. Maybe after dinner we can sit down and discuss where we're at and what we're planning. I'm sure that Ethan can help"

I knew that Ethan was an absolute whizz with computers and electronics so his help would be good, what was worrying me was whether or not we could trust him. Did Ranger know that he was here?

Dinner was at a local shack down the beach where they produced an amazing meal of fresh lobster. As we ate the conversation was light, in other words we never touched on the subject of Ranger or what we were going to be doing. It was obvious to me though that Ellie and Ethan definitely had a chemistry between them. Seeing them made me mourn my loss even more because regardless of what I thought had happened, stupidly I was pretty sure that I was still in love with Ranger.

Walking back to the cabin it was Lizbeth who took my mind back to the impending job that I was about to undertake.

"I have your clothes ready, just as we agreed, so you need to try them on before you leave, just in case we need to do any last minute alterations"

"Is Stanley up to speed?"

Because Stanley was going to be my backup while I was away.

"Yes. He'll be there for the pickup and get you back here"

I knew that everything was planned right down to the last detail, but I was so nervous that knowing me something wrong could happen.

"Steph, you'll be great. Don't worry about it"

Yeah right, was all that I could think. Approaching the cabin, I could see that Ellie had brought out some candles onto the porch making the place look so magical. There were glasses and water on the table, so I assumed that this was it, this was when we were going to be bringing Ethan into our little group. Sat around the table I wasn't going to say anything, besides it looked as though I was outvoted anyway.

"Steph, I know you feel worried about Ethan helping us, but I also know that he won't betray us in any way"

I looked from Ellie to Ethan as she said that knowing that there was nothing could be said to make me feel any different.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm finding it really hard to trust anyone new at the moment"

Ethan nodded his head at me as though understanding how I felt.

"I'll do everything that I can to help, and I'll talk you through what it is that I'm doing. I don't work for Ranger, and I've refused to renew my contract with the government, I'm a free agent now, only answerable to this group of people"

I suppose he couldn't say any more than that, and it would be me who would have to learn to trust him. I knew that Ellie and Lizbeth seemed happy for him to work with us which meant that Stanley was as well.

"Okay. I suppose you need an update on what we're doing. Ellie?"

I turned to Ellie wanting her to explain to Ethan what we had learnt so far but as she shook her head and pointed at me, I knew that wouldn't be happening.

"Okay. Petco had invented and designed an EMP bomb. He built a prototype that needed a program to activate it but afterwards he regretted having made it and thought that it wasn't what was needed. He hid them but Markovic stole his designs and the American government decided that they wanted those designs so took him to the states. The prototype EMP has been destroyed but we know that more have been built"

"How, how do you know that?"

I could hear the doubt in Ethan's voice and who could blame him. It sure was an incredulous story.

"The device that controls the prototype is the laptop that everyone is after, I think you referred to it as a detonator"

"Yeah, we were told to find it, but it wasn't where we were told"

"We have it, well maybe, and we've managed to open the program"

I could see the confusion on Ethan's face, though I wasn't too sure what was causing it, the fact that we had the laptop or that we'd managed to access the program.

"But if the prototype EMP is destroyed, what's the problem?"

I looked at Lizbeth knowing that this was going to be the hardest part in convincing Ethan with what we'd found out.

"There have been more built. It seems because Markovic used Petco's designs and programming they won't work without the laptop"

"So that was why Markovic and probably Raynor were so keen to get hold of it?"

"Yes"

I answered knowing that the next part was going to be the most difficult part to say.

"Ethan, we know where they are. The program that we opened, well it gives a location. Maybe the receiver in the EMP is like a homing beacon, or something. Homey Lake, Nevada, well there look to be three there and we're not stupid, we know that's also known as Area 51 where the army is thought to develop and test experimental aircraft and weapons systems. The problem is that there are three more"

"We think that Markovic put those there, that the government doesn't know about them"

I was thankful that Ellie was joining in the conversation because at least then it showed that all of us were convinced of what I was going to say next, because I could almost see Ethan ready to ask why.

"Maybe he used the companies that he did consulting work for, we're not sure about that, but there's one in the Museum of American Finance in New York"

Okay that had Ethan giving me "What the fuck" look or was it "You must be kidding"

I'd had enough of trying to explain what we meant because to me we were just wasting time. I got up hearing my name being shouted behind me but continued into the room that Ellie used. Inside the closet in a drawer in a box was the laptop. I took it back to the porch and sat down next to Ethan opening it up ready to input the password. Hell, I knew the numbers by heart now and waited patiently for the next page to load.

"See these boxes, they refer to each EMP"

We knew the first three were in Nevada, so I went to the fourth box and input the second password, waiting for the map to change again and show the location for number 4. I watched Ethan as he looked at the map hoping that he was starting to believe us now.

"So each time you input a password it gives the location. How does this detonate them?"

I just shrugged my shoulders at that question because no one had dared to move further through the program, just in case we hit the wrong button and activated a bomb. Not knowingwhich was the decoy laptop also posed a problem. I had a feeling though that a third password would be needed. It was something that Petco had said to me just before he'd died. He'd been in and out of consciousness and when he was awake, he rambled a lot. He'd pulled me close to him and whispered to me.

"It started with Einstein and will finish with Einstein"

I'd had no idea what was talking about but in some ways, it had made me realize just how important that scientist was to Petco. Now though wasn't the time to vocalize those thoughts, they needed to remain where they were, as my own.

"Lizbeth, show him the photos on your phone"

Closing down the laptop I waited as Lizbeth went through the photos that she'd taken for each screen that showed us something. It was the safest way to do it because we all knew that the way of triggering each EMPB could be as simple as hitting the return button.

"What's the plan?"

Came from Ethan as he looked at each of us in turn.

"I'm going to New York the day after tomorrow. I know how Petco designed those things, so all I have to do is remove two circuit boards. There'll still be an explosive inside, but it won't go off"

I watched as Ethan nodded his head though I doubted he had any idea of what I was talking about.

"What can I do to help?"

And that was how we became a team five.