Chapter 50

That was how it all started and after two days of planning Ranger was driving us up that long road, the US 1, toward Miami. When I say us, I mean Ram and me because Ellie was somewhere following us with Hector. It was impossible to plan anything without telling Ellie some of what we'd found, but not everything that we were hoping to discover. As she had been with the man, Lambert, who had driven her to the airport, Ellie was keen to meet up with him to find out what he knew. There wasn't a lot of choice really, if we were going to be proactive. Part of the planning was to ensure that Ellie had a good cover story and a way of winding Lambert in. It would have to be Lambert who found Ellie.

It also meant some changes to her appearance. Hector was amazing at sourcing out a wig for her so when we left her this morning, she was back to how she looked when she'd finished uni, right down to the torn jeans and the tie die T-shirt. Hell, she'd looked so young as she'd stood there waving to us.

Hector wasn't really known that well down in Miami so he would be her shadow and back up to start with. It had taken us all working together to come up with a believable story and then a way for Ellie to behave when she eventually saw him. Of course, Lambert was already under discreet surveillance, courtesy of Bobby's instructions, though they'd had to be very careful knowing how good Lambert could be at picking up a tail. Ranger had decided that the safest place for us to be, would be inside Rangeman and whilst this operation was in progress, I was going to have to be incognito. Not something that I was looking forward to.

How was that going to happen? Well, someone had the bright idea that Ranger needed a new couch and that it was going to be delivered in a large packing box. To be honest that was one the biggest stumbling blocks that I against the plan, but I knew that if I wanted to be in Miami then it had to happen that way. The closer we got to Miami the more anxious I became, all of the time remembering that horrendous journey from Guatemala. I'm pretty sure my blood pressure was going through the roof when we stopped in a small industrial estate. Fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes was going through my head as Ram opened the back door for me. I froze when I saw a truck parked up with the back doors open, because sat there was a very large packing box.

"Babe, it'll be fine, I promise"

I couldn't tear my eyes away from the box and I could almost hear my heart beating in my chest almost, because my breathing was overtaking it. I felt myself being lifted, Ranger's arm under my legs and around my shoulder. I buried my head into his shoulder refusing to see where he was going to be putting me. If I didn't see, then I could pretend it wasn't happening, right?

I was surprised when Ranger laid me down on very soft bedding and was still wrapped around me. I was grateful for him comforting me but knew that he'd eventually have to leave me.

"It's okay, I'll be fine. The sooner you go the sooner I can out of here"

I still had my eyes shut but I wasn't immune to how Ranger held me tighter. At the sound of the lid closing, I wasn't sure what the hell was going on. My eyes flashed open looking directly into Ranger's eyes. Now why was he smiling?

"I was never going to let you do this on your own"

He'd remembered how scared I was in that box, probably a phobia that had developed from being stashed in car trunks, a casket and even a cupboard.

"Thank you"

Because I was already feeling calmer and as his hands moved down my back and pulled me to him, his mouth was crashing down on mine. I knew I'd be okay, more than okay.

I think I was aware of the box being lifted but had to admit that whoever was moving us was very careful and to be honest I lost awareness of any movement or time. I'd made the mistake of wearing a sundress and wasn't sure whether to be pleased with the choice or not. It gave easy access to Ranger's hands as he warmed the skin on my legs and thighs. His mouth kept a constant pressure on mine which I was sure was to stop me from making any sounds. I had no concept of time or where we might be because I was totally absorbed in the feel of him and the touches as he caressed me. Though I was about to moan, not from pleasure but from disappointment when he removed his hands. It was so dark inside the box that I had no idea what he was doing but could feel him moving. When I felt something being wrapped around my head, and a larger section of cloth filling my mouth I thought that he was joking with me. Was he gagging me?

His movements were slow and erotic as his mouth found my breasts, teasing and tasting with nips that sent waves of pleasure through me. It only took a touch of my sensitive folds before I was spiraling out of control. Maybe it was the gag or being in the dark, but I seemed hypersensitive to his touch. When I felt him push into me, well that just about sent me over the edge again. I had no idea how he could move so slowly yet create the need inside of me, our bodies just seemed to fuse together as one. As he seemed to give a final push his mouth bit down on my already sensitive nipple and I was a goner, spirals of light flashed across my eyes as my whole body clenched and spasmed wave after wave.

Did I pass out? Maybe. Or else I was so lost in the sensations that I totally missed being moved because when my eyes finally opened, I was looking up at the ceiling of the bedroom, a warm body encircling mine. That was when sense took over making me remember what had happened and where.

"Oh shit. That didn't just happen while we were being carried in that box, did it?"

The idea that we had been making love in that box while being carried by his men had me feeling totally mortified. Okay, maybe I hadn't made my usual amount of noise, but they'd know from the movement what was going on.

"Maybe you can tell them that there was a large cat inside and that would account for the movement and noise"

A chuckle had me turning my head to look at a very satisfied looking Ranger.

"We were inside the apartment on the floor on our own. No witnesses Babe"

Huh, trust him to know where we were and when. At least I now had an extremely good memory of being inside a box.

"Did Hector and Ellie make it here okay?"

"Yes, everything will be in place"

I knew that Bobby was in charge of this part of the operation so was content to wait it out. You may ask why not just grab Lambert and throw him in a cell. Well, we needed for him to contact Hubbert. Hubbert was the illusive man, the person who seemed to be a ghost in all of this, and knowing who he was, well that was what would help to put a stop to what Lukavic was up to. I wasn't too sure if Ranger knew who it was, or suspected his real identity, it seemed though that he was making us wait and see.

Isobel seemed to be the only other person to know that I was in the apartment, obviously she needed to know for meals, but she was also as zealous as Ella was for keeping the place clean. Like Ella though she was in and out quickly, like a ghost in the night. Ranger, well as part of the plan he made himself obvious on the floors below. His message to the men was that he needed to find a woman whom he had tracked here to Miami, a woman that he was sure knew of my whereabouts. That ensured that Lambert was aware of Ellie being in the city and hopefully he would do his best to try and find her. As Lambert wasn't out in the field and relied heavily on information that he collected, Hector was able to ensure that information was available and seeing as Bobby knew Lambert's habits and where he usually went then it was only a matter of time before Ellie made sure that he came across her.

The first full day of my incarceration in the apartment I spent researching scientific and government papers. Yeah, a strange occupation for me but I needed to know what would happen if those EMPs did explode. There was some heavy reading involved with that. Who knew just how worried the government was about such things happening, not me, that was for sure. The possibility of an EMP strike wasn't being taken lightly but the main area of concern was the damage caused to the infrastructure that provided electricity and how quickly it could be repaired. That really didn't help me in trying to work out a motive for Lukavic using those two EMPs. Or were his actions one of a terrorist trying to cause as much mayhem as possible? I wasn't convinced with that theory, Lukavic didn't give me the impression that he was the type of man who would do something for a cause, unless the cause was himself.

It had to have something to do with money and the one place that had the power over money was Wall Street and since that was where a device had been replaced that place must have been important to him.

By the evening of that first day, I was half worried about Ellie and half worried about what the hell Lukavic was hoping to do. It was only when Ranger came up to the apartment for dinner that I had any way of knowing what was going on. There was no way for me to badger him when he was in his office because that would have alerted someone that I was here in the building. Hearing his keys being dropped into the tray on the hallway table had me rushing over to greet him, which of course had me up against the wall with his body pressing against mine. As soon as I came up to breathe, I was instantly asking questions.

"How's Ellie, has she made contact with Lambert?"

As Ranger stepped back from me, I could see the amusement on his face.

"And here I was thinking that you only wanted my body"

Well yeah, but only after hearing what he had to say. I followed him as he walked into the kitchen and took out two bottles of water, he was taking his time which only had me worrying. When he started to remove dishes from the oven and take them over to the table, I was ready to blow. I watched his every move as he returned to the kitchen for crockery and cutlery. No way could I eat, I was starting to feel really anxious that he either had no news or bad news. Once sat down I got that look from him so walked to my seat and sat down opposite him. Talk about wasting time, did he know what this waiting was doing to me. Maybe he did because he broke the silence.

"After we've eaten, then I'll tell you what's happened"

I ploughed through the chicken, rice and steamed vegetables but of course Ranger was taking his time. It seemed like forever before we were sat on the couch, me sat on the edge of the seat while he leant back and relaxed into the cushions.

"Lambert took the bait. He's been combing through street cams and using a face recognition program to speed it up. He found Ellie exactly where we planned, in an area called Wynwood north of Downtown Miami. There are a lot of shelters down there so it was an ideal place for her to be, plus she has a way of blending in with some of the homeless people there"

I could understand that, hell, she'd spent time on the streets in Trenton, so hopefully knew how to keep herself safe.

"He finished work an hour ago and from what Miguel reported he was heading in that direction"

"Miguel?"

"I had Tank release a couple of men to do the tailing. Cal is here as well"

Wow, he really was serious about ensuring that he kept eyes on Lambert. I knew both of those men from Trenton, probably Cal better. That he was a big man was imposing enough, but the tattoo of a skull on his forehead kept most people away from him. I knew Cal was actually a very caring man and he had always made sure to make me feel comfortable with him and in turn I never allowed his appearance to intimidate me.

"I've told her where to meet him so Hector's making sure that he records their conversation. If Elaina sticks to the plan and doesn't go anywhere else with him then we should be okay"

I knew that Bobby had somehow zeroed in on a phone that Lambert had on his person, probably a burn phone, so all we needed was for him to make a call and we'd have something to follow up on.

"What have you done today?"

"Oh, I've snacked and slept and watched TV"

Bobby had suggested that eating smaller amounts more regularly might help and he'd spoken to Isobel about our meals without letting on that I was pregnant. I was pretty sure that she wasn't stupid. I mean who drank so much ginger and peppermint tea?

"I want to get rid of these braids before my scalp drives me mad, so that's on my list of jobs for tomorrow"

I didn't want Ranger to worry about what I was up to and distract him from keeping an overview of what was going down with Ellie. I knew he was going out of the office to give the illusion of chasing up leads to find her.

"I'm looking forward to that. I miss your curls"

"Now, about that body that I miss so much"

I teased as I moved over to him, straddling his knees. It seemed he was quite happy with the braids at the moment so maybe it was how he tangled his hands through them that was causing my scalp to be a bit tender.

The following morning, I woke on my own as usual, but I knew that Ranger had been upstairs recently, in fact I could hear the water running in the shower and smell the ginger from a steaming mug next to me. On a plate next to the mug were some pretzels, yeah, they tasted far better than dry crackers yet had the same calming effect on my stomach. Sitting up slowly I took hold of the mug and began to slowly drink it wondering when this nausea would come to an end. I'd had good days and bad but there didn't seem to be a pattern to it. Bobby had told me that it could start to get better after the twelfth week, so I was mentally trying to work out how many weeks I was. Bobby was keen for me to have a scan and blood tests, so in the end we had agreed to Bobby taking some blood and urine for tests, but wanted to delay a scan in case someone identified me or Ranger. No way was I having one without Ranger being there.

1 week getting out of New Jersey. 2 weeks at the beach hut. 1 week doing the work in New York. 2 weeks in San Francisco and Mexico with 2 weeks back at the beach. A week on the run and back in Mexico before 1 week on the boat. It had then been 2 weeks since leaving the boat and staying on the Keys before coming here to Miami, which would make me about 12 weeks pregnant even 13 counting up all of the odd days travelling. That had me feeling better already.

"What are you smiling at Babe?"

I looked up to see my glorious man as he stood in the doorway of the bathroom with a towel wrapped precariously low over his hips. I was busy watching a droplet of water run down the center of his ribs and over his taut stomach before following the dark hair that led.

"Babe. I don't have time, I have to meet with a client with Marcus"

Yeah, okay, my mind had gone into overdrive with the view.

"I was trying to work out how far along I am and when the sickness might finish"

As if that had been the all consuming thoughts in my mind.

"Thirteen weeks. So it should start to ease up"

I'd just sat here working that out and there was Ranger already knowing the answer. I finished my tea and was nibbling on the pretzels while Ranger went into the closet. It was a large closet which had a vault at the back, I knew that, because I'd watched as Ranger had placed the laptop inside. When he stepped back out, I was looking at CEO Ranger, decked out in a suit that fit where it touched, everywhere, and a white shirt that only enhanced his good looks. It seemed that he'd recently shaved, and his hair was pulled back with a leather tie, which reminded me that I needed to sort my hair out today.

As he came over and sat on the edge of the bed, he pulled the end of one of the braids.

"Isobel said that she'd help sort your hair out this afternoon"

That brought a smile to my face as I thought of the hair products that Ella usually bought me and hoped that Isobel was as well prepared.

"See you at dinner. Don't go crazy"

"Don't get shot"

It felt strange saying that, because we hadn't used those phrases since I last saw him in Trenton. A shiver went down my back remembering that it was just before he went in the wind and before my whole life turned crazy.

Once showered and dressed in loose joggers and a T-shirt I found the phone that Hector had once given to me and sat on the couch trying to decide if what I was about to do was a good idea or not. In the end I pushed the buttons for the number I wanted and listened for it to be answered. One of the things that always amazed me was my memory of numbers, not that I considered it a skill or anything, but it certainly came in handy.

"Who the hell is it"

"Hey Randy"

"Shit, are you a ghost, you're not gonna haunt me are you?"

I chuckled at Randy's style of hello but then realized that he probably had no idea what had happened to me after I left Trenton. Did people really think that I was dead?

"No, very much alive Randy. I need to ask you something"

"I aint doing it"

That was always what he said but eventually I could usually persuade him into what I was asking.

"I only want to ask you something"

"It'll cost you, I don't do freebies anymore"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was after someone who knew a lot about a lot of things"

"I know a lot"

If nothing else Randy was conceited, thinking that he knew more than anyone else, but then maybe he did, which was what I was banking on.

"Randy, I need your advice. I'm working over on the west coast, and I took this guy in who to me seemed to be nuts. He kept saying the end of the world was here and I'd be safer putting my money under the mattress"

"Yeah well, it takes all sorts, but I don't think that you need to do that"

"But he said that if a terrorist attacked the banks or even Wall Street then I'd lose everything because their computers would be fucked up"

I heard a chortle down the phone and knew that I'd hooked him. Randy seemed to know every conspiracy theory going and knew every contingency that was in place.

"Like that would happen after 911. They're all geared up. A blip in the power and generators kick in, a shake of the building and every iota of data is dropped into a secured place that runs totally independently"

"A secure place?"

Now that had me interested, especially finding out where it was.

"Yeah. Supposedly there's this huge bunker that has its own generators and security that houses these super computers. After a download the link is automatically cut until another incident re engages it for a rewrite"

"Where the hell would that be?"

"New York City of course. Rumor has it that when the underground was built, they went even deeper. No one even suspected what they were doing, so it's somewhere underneath the financial district"

"Wow. But surely someone could hack into that?"

"Not when it doesn't have an external connection, sheesh have you not been listening. You'd have to be inside to do anything and that place is tighter than Fort Knox but not known about. Your money's safe. When you coming home?"

I didn't even want to think about that. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go home or that I considered Trenton my home anymore. I'd been away for so long I felt like a nomad.

"Not sure. I'll let you know when I decide"

I finished the call with that thought in my mind. I hadn't spoken to anyone from Trenton, except the Merry Men, and for the first time was feeling guilty. Okay, I'd written to my grandma and told her I was doing okay and not to worry about me but what did that say about me that I'd never tried to get in touch with my parents. I think it probably said that I was a coward. I didn't want to know what people thought of me or what rumors were going around, and I'd not missed hearing my mother nagging at me. She'd be pleased that I was eventually pregnant but not being married and Ranger being the father! That wouldn't go down too well. Maybe my father liked Ranger but at the end of the day he wasn't a white, Italian and my family were definitely biased. No I wasn't liking the idea of going back to Trenton but it wasn't happening anytime soon so I needed to think through what Randy had told me and how that could fit in with Lukavic's plans.

Isobel arrived earlier than I expected, armed with two baskets. One basket contained hair products while the other had food inside. I eyed up the food thinking that maybe Isobel expected me to eat first so I was surprised when she pulled one of the chairs away from the table.

"We need to thoroughly coat your hair in detangler and allow it time to penetrate"

So that was what happened first. I have to admit that Isobel was very efficient. She totally coated each strand at a time before pinning it up and moving onto the next one. Each braid was massaged with her fingertips from the roots to the tips until every one had been treated. It was only after she had placed what to me looked like a shower cap over my head that the food basket came out. She'd prepared small sandwiches from wholegrain bread and filled them with a variety fillings. From vegetables to salad, from cold meats to tinned fish, boiled eggs and chips along with some condiments to compliment them with. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch as we both sat and ate and was pleased to have the company.

Isobel was maybe in her forties and had a beautiful accent in her voice, when I asked, I discovered that her grandmother had left Cuba at the same time as Ranger's family had, so that was how she knew him. She wasn't related but was a long standing friend with his family. That was probably why her food always tasted so much like Ella's, because I was pretty sure that Ella was related to Ranger, somehow.

My hair felt heavy on my head when the cap was removed and that was when Isobel started the long process of teasing the hair from the braiding, constantly using detangler on her fingertips. She spent a long time at the roots before twisting the section of hair and moving onto the next braid. It seemed like hours later when I was leant backward over the sink in the bathroom feeling Isobel's fingers gently massaging my hair. First washing it and then conditioning it. That was when I thought back to what Randy had said that morning.

What if Lukavic detonated the first device at the substation? It would send a surge through the cables to everywhere connected and while that substation would be damaged, there were enough power stations in New York to cover production of electricity so that life would continue as normal. That though would cause the computers in the financial district to download their data into that secret bunker. What if Lukavic had a way of getting inside there, especially if the second devise went off. Wouldn't that render the area a dead zone and cause absolute chaos. The bunker would be protected from the magnetic pulse, and he'd be able to hack into the system and. That was where I got stuck with that idea. What could he do with the data that would enable him to get to money? That's when it hit me that I had it the wrong way round. He'd go into the computers before the second devise went off, hack the system, then when the second devise went off, the connection would open, and he could upload before the impact of the EMP hit. Then in all of the chaos he'd make his getaway. That upload could have millions of dollars being transferred to anywhere in the world.

I was feeling pretty confident in my thinking as Isobel carefully dried my hair and applied some leave in conditioner. I have to admit that I was glad to have my hair back, okay it might go curly by tomorrow, but I suppose it was a part of me that I'd actually missed. By the time that Isobel had finished it was later than I thought it would be. I assumed that Ranger was still in his suit because he hadn't been upstairs to change. Maybe the meeting was taking longer than usual. I set out the table for dinner and found some candles in one of the cupboards making the place look romantic before sitting down on the couch to wait for him.

I woke, yeah, I'd fallen asleep, to the touch of someone stroking my hair.

"Definitely how I like it"

I opened my eyes to see Ranger squatted down in front of me, his hand moving through my hair. The room was almost dark and as I looked over the table, I couldn't see any flames from the candles that I'd lit. Had I been asleep for that long? I made to sit up but Ranger's hand held me where I was and it was then that I noticed he was wearing all black, but without the Rangeman logo.

"I have to go out, but I shouldn't be too long. Make sure you eat something"

I didn't have time to ask him where he was going before he was on his feet and walking out of the door. I wasn't too sure what to think. Maybe there'd been a break in and he needed to be there or perhaps there was an FTA that was somewhere easy to capture. Of course I also thought that maybe Ellie was in trouble and he needed to get her to safety, unless of course Lambert had given some information that he needed to follow up on. I was hoping for the last situation which to me was the best one going. Yeah, maybe when he came back, we'd have some answers.

The meal that Isobel had left for us was ruined, so maybe I had been asleep for longer than I thought. A quick look through the cupboards revealed the food that I needed, bread with peanut butter and olives. I hadn't tasted that for an age and with a drink of soda it went down a treat.

After that I had no idea what to do. I was worried about Ranger, concerned for Ellie and once again I seemed to being kept in the dark. I was even contemplating watching TV but after skimming through the channels nothing caught my attention. Maybe a game of solitaire on the laptop would calm me down. It seemed even that wasn't going to be happening. The app wasn't there and Hector had set the laptop up needing a password to access the app store. Really annoyed with that and being driven to play the damn game I went through to Ranger's office. I knew his password so didn't think that he would mind.

Opening the screen, I looked through the apps available, no solitaire but what intrigued me was one labelled surveillance. What was the harm in watching that, it had to be more entertaining than sitting in a dark apartment on my own?

There were a number of options that I could take so I flipped through a few. A view of a restaurant, the inside of a hospital, possibly the A & E department, and the outside of a house were what I suppose I expected. They'd be looked at regularly to try and see whoever they were looking for, probably a skip. I suppose it saved man hours and time spent sat in a car getting bored. The next scene though had me looking closer. It looked to be inside a diner where there a few people eating. What really had my heart speeding up was seeing Ellie at the table closest to where the camera had been positioned. I was feeling excited because for once I was actually going to know what woud happen when she met Lambert. I clicked on the icon for the speaker, taking it off mute, and instantly voices came from inside.

I watched as a man came from the back of the diner, carrying two mugs, one of which he placed in front of Ellie. Yeah, that was Lambert, so had he made a call, were they expecting his contact now? As another figure came into view, I couldn't believe who I was seeing, and as he put an arm around Ellie I was shouting at the screen.

"What are you doing Ranger, he knows you. He won't say anything with you there"

And neither would Ellie. Why was Ranger there because he was going to ruin everything. We wouldn't know if we could trust Ellie now. I quietened down not wanting to miss any of the conversation, hearing Ellie's voice.

"Carlos, I've already told Jack what's going on"

Carlos, since when did Ellie call him Carlos? Jack, yeah Lambert, was looking at Ranger obviously surprised to see him.

"I have to admit that I didn't realize who's side you were on. I take it you can verify the passwords?"

My heart was in my mouth as I listened to what Lambert had said. This hadn't been in the plan that we'd talked about, what the hell were they doing? Was this another way of discovering who Hubbert was or even finding out exactly what Lukavic was planning?

"Yes, I have the first one worked out and am sure that I can get Stephanie to tell me the other"

"Maybe we need to get her to where Lukavic is. I'm pretty sure what that second password is but there's only two attempts left on the program, we have to know the exact numbers or the whole plan will fail. Lukavic is on a deadline, he needs to get the job done soon"

Why was that, what the hell was the hurry? Did that mean that if we delayed him that he wouldn't be able to do anything? That just didn't make sense to me.

"I'll take her up to New York tomorrow, then Babe, we can actually get back to where we left off"

He called her Babe. How could he do that? I thought that name was just for me. I felt tears come to my eyes when I watched as Ranger turned to Ellie and with a look on his face that I knew so well he kissed her on her cheek.

"Is Gregson up to speed?"

I knew that name, Ranger had mentioned him before though I wasn't sure when. Was he the FBI agent that he said he'd first spoken to? Had Ranger known that Hubbert was really Gregson?

"Yeah, he is. He reckons if you can't get Miss Plum to verify the password then he has enough evidence to have her arrested for the murder of that detective"

"Whatever happens, she needs to disappear. I won't get caught again by another woman wanting to trap me"

My hand went to my stomach as those words came to me. What was Ranger doing? How was this getting the truth from Lambert? It did confirm my suspicions about Ellie so maybe Ranger was using her like I did when I did a distraction? As Ellie leaned into Ranger and whispered something I could have sworn that Ranger said "Soon Babe"

I didn't want to hear anymore, what I'd heard had turned my stomach and to be honest I was frightened. Had everything that had happened between us just been a cover? Did he see Ellie as his partner? Was I means to an end? Was this part of Ranger's mission, to work with Ellie and get hold of the detonator and the passwords. So where did I fit in?

I turned off the computer too dazed to understand the implications of what I had heard. When Ranger came back, he'd tell me everything, what the plan had been and how he had worked out a way to stop Lukavic. Yeah, that was what would happen, Ranger loved me and our baby. Everything would be okay.