Chapter 52

"Babe, I've never been so pleased to see you. You scared the shit out of me when I couldn't find you at Rangeman. I thought Lambert, I was so worried that he'd taken you"

I melted against his body as he wrapped me in his arms, momentarily forgetting why I'd decided to leave the building when I had. As that thought came into my head I put some space between us and looked up into his face. The worry lines had gone and maybe the darkness to his eyes, instead he looked, I don't know, at peace?

"I was scared"

Was the only excuse that I could think of but regretted saying that when I saw the sadness cross his face.

"Things happened and got out control. I had no way of letting you know what was happening without putting us both in danger"

I believed what he was saying because I had to, I had to show him that I trusted him even though I had run away. I allowed him to pull me toward the bed but was adamant there was no way I would let him take advantage of me. I needed answers and knew that if he kissed me again, I'd be totally lost to his touch and all thought would vanish. I ended up sat across his knee as he sat on the bed with a hand against his chest, probably an action that didn't go unnoticed.

"I was scared and hurt Ranger, the way that you behaved didn't exactly make me feel comfortable, not after"

I hesitated because I wasn't sure whether to tell him that I'd seen that video.

"Not after you were missing all night and how you spoke to me. How's your new Babe, is she around?"

I felt a sigh escape from his mouth before he leant backward onto the bed which ended up with me laid down beside him.

"It's not what you think"

Those five words sparked a fire inside me. Those were the words that Joe had always said when I questioned his infidelity. I quickly rolled away from Ranger and was stood next the bed staring at him. Hell, I even had my hands on my hips I felt so pissed off.

"Don't you dare use that as an excuse. I know who you were with that night, you stank of her perfume. I won't be the woman who's easily placated just because you think you can blame me. You, mister, have a lot of explaining to do and I won't be lied to"

I was ready to walk out of the room I was that annoyed but didn't get to even turn around before I was suddenly swept off my feet and landed on my back on the bed.

"Then stay still and I'll explain everything to you"

Okay, maybe having Ranger holding my hands above my head and feeling the weight of his body on mine did things that I wasn't happy about. I tamped the desire down and stared right back at him hopeful that he would see how annoyed I was.

"I overheard Lambert talking to one of the other men on the floor about how he hated women who tied their hair into braids. As soon as he saw me, he shut up and I'll be honest with you, what he'd said didn't register at the time. After the client meeting, I met up with Hector to find out how things had gone with Elaina. He told me that she needed to see me and gave me the address of a motel. Before I got there, I received a call from Gregson. His excuse for calling was to check up on the progress of finding Elaina, that he'd spoken to Raynor who was very vague about the progress"

It seemed that a lot had happened while Ranger was out of the building so maybe I could understand why I knew nothing about it.

"I told him that my part in the job was over and that was when I adlibbed"

I was still trying to work out why Gregson would call him when the word adlib penetrated my skull.

"Adlib?"

"I just had a feeling, maybe a gut reaction, that Gregson was the rogue agent. I'd toyed with the idea, but I could never prove that Gregson and Hubbert were the same person. So I told him that I was pissed off, fed up of the jobs and the shit I was asked to deal with. That maybe I'd be better off doing private contracting for the highest bidder"

Okay I'd heard about men who did that. They weren't called contractors though, they were referred to as mercenaries.

"When I reached the motel, Elaina was all over me. How we could work together, take on high paid jobs. She'd obviously spoken with Gregson and was trying to suss me out"

If he did what I thought that he did then there was no way I could be in a relationship with him. Okay I'd done distractions and pretended to flirt with men in order to get them to walk out of a bar with me, but I couldn't have gone further than that just to get a job done. Having to endure them even touch me made my skin crawl. I felt myself go tense and maybe my stare turned into a glare because Ranger obviously knew that he'd said the wrong thing.

"I only ever held her and kissed her on the cheek. I would never do anything with any other woman"

He'd better be telling me the truth or so help me he'd never see me again. I'd disappear with our baby and, and live our lives alone.

"I played along saying how I needed a woman who would understand me, that you were stifling me and trying to trap me. Of course, that only encouraged her, so to distract her I started to talk about the kind of jobs that we could do together, especially with the contacts that I had. Yeah, I used Gregson's name letting her know that I was aware of their working relationship. She never denied it. That woman is insane. It's as though she's acting out this spy role. She told me that she was involved in a job at the moment, one that would be over in a few days and that there was a role that I could take on"

I was momentarily dazed with the anger from Ranger. I assumed it was because of what Elaina had said and done. Feeling cold I watched as Ranger went over to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water. He downed his in one go but it was as though he was trying to put out a fire that was consuming him. Throwing the bottle in the bin he returned back to me, but this time he was laid on his back next to me.

"I knew for certain then that she had lied to us again, that she was working with Gregson and Lukavic. I suggested that we continued with our meeting with Lambert, that I knew he was in on everything. What threw me was when she told me that he'd been disappointed that we hadn't used the laptop in the apartment just to check on the EMPs again"

I suppose I had to come clean now, though the fact that I'd called Hector and not him might not go down too well.

"I worked that out. I, err, asked Hector to check the apartment. I reckoned the only way for anyone to have the password was if they could watch me opening up the program. Lambert knew we were in Miami but needed the password, so didn't take the laptop when Silvio opened that package. When he discovered that we were heading up to Trenton, he probably overheard all of the details and got word to"

That had me stopping because it was Raynor and Markovic who had been on that road and taken the laptop. Did that mean that Raynor was in on this because surely Gregson would have wanted Lukavic to have it.

"It doesn't make sense unless Raynor is involved as well"

How the hell had I missed seeing that? Shit, that was important.

"I didn't come home to you Babe because I needed to get more information from Elaina. We'll get to Raynor, so are you ready for a long, convoluted story?"

I raised my eyebrows at that, hell yeah, I wanted to know what the hell had happened.

"Gregson discovered that Markovic had, un beknown to anyone, built three more EMPs. Markovic was a very bitter man because he hadn't been treated well when he came to America, they didn't provide him with the wealth and respect he expected. So after he built up his business he placed those three EMPs where they would do the most damage for revenge.

Gregson knew this because he became responsible for Markovic, keeping an eye on him. Finding out about Elaine and who her father was gave Gregson the information he needed. He sent Elaina to Serbia to make contact with his brother, a brother that Lambert had heard of through his job and for her to uncover information about the devises. Unfortunately, only Markovic knew that the only way to detonate them was with a specialized detonator. In the meantime, Markovic became aware of how ill he was and that he needed a transplant, not easy with a rare blood group, so Markovic contacted his brother for help and between them they started the operation to find a match. That was when Gregson realized that he could use Elaina as a way to blackmail Markovic. When Elaina came back home a plot was hatched. Lukavic wanted control so was happy to work with Gregson and they sent a ransom demand, his daughter for the detonator. I'm pretty sure Markovich had no idea that he was being double crossed by Gregory or that Gregory was working with Lukavic"

I was following this, and so far, it seemed to make sense to me. Elaina had told me that she'd met a relative that she thought was an uncle. I hadn't really taken notice of that because she'd seen the photo of Lukavic and told me that she didn't recognize him. It also had me wondering why Elaina had got me involved.

"So why was Elaina hiding out in Trenton?"

"I think her part of the plan was to find victims for their operation but maybe she also became obsessed with who her father was"

I suppose there would be a part of her that would want to know who he was and as I'd found out later a part of her who hated him. Hell, that woman must have held onto so many conflicting emotions inside herself, no wonder she found it so easy to lie. Each story that she told me held parts of the truth.

"Why was she at that warehouse then, I mean it looked as though she was about to be killed?"

"I don't know. Maybe the men who were taking women took her by mistake, they wouldn't know who she was and remember that Markovic had men looking for her as well. She probably alerted Gregson which was who the FBI did the raid"

"But Gregson gave Lukavic the heads up"

I sat up taking a sip on my water knowing that what I was really feeling was hungry, but I'd wait, because I wanted Ranger to finish his story.

"Why me?"

Shit, that sounded like something my mother would say.

"You did save her at that warehouse Babe, and take her back to your apartment. Maybe she became obsessed with you, maybe she really liked you"

"Maybe. I think that she was worried about what I'd found out and might say something to the agents that could blow the whole thing"

I suppose I might never know the answer to that, maybe Elaina would never understand why she followed me when the FBI carted me off. I was pretty sure Gregson was there though and that he wanted me out of the way. What better way than to spread rumors that I'd run away with Joe.

"I bet Gregson was Joe's contact and Gregson saw him turning up as a way to get rid of me. The car breaking down, that was too much of a coincidence. Had Elaina not turned up when she did, then I think it would have been me with Joe"

Which of course implied that Gregson along with Lukavic had killed Joe and dumped him with some poor woman. I felt Ranger lean over and kiss my head, his hand resting gently on my stomach. I wasn't sure what he thought my feelings were for Joe being killed. To be honest I felt a bit nostalgic when a memory would jump out at me, but I had no regrets and no guilt, he was simply an old friend who had made some stupid choices.

"I'm okay with what happened. I'd moved on from him, it was his choices that got him killed"

I was pleased that Ranger didn't press for any more about Joe, and that he was continuing what he thought had happened.

"Finding those passports and money gave Elaina the opportunity to look for the detonator that Markovic alluded to. She was right when she concluded that Markovic didn't actually have it and it could be back in Serbia. Savic, he hated and admired Markovic and maybe he always knew that there was something important that had been designed. When Elaina turned up and then Lukavic, he started looking. I have no idea where that original EMP was, but Savic found it and decided to cash in with it. I'm pretty sure that Lukavic would have found out, he would have information on what any arms dealers were selling"

"The explosion on the yacht? I can't see Elaina or Lukavic doing that"

"Maybe another dealer or someone that Pavkov had upset. I don't know who killed Savic either, maybe Pavkov wanting the detonator. JC reckoned with the tablets he was carrying that he may have had a heart attack when the casket was empty, and he was threatened because it wasn't there and whoever was with him left his body there"

I thought that made sense because Savic had been really annoying with the questions he was asking us. Maybe he'd worked out where the detonator was but was hanging onto that information in order to sell it for a high price. He'd obviously discovered the EMP, though where that had been hidden, I had no idea and Petco had never mentioned it to us, Petco obviously thought that the laptop was the crucial element.

"Petco gave me the real laptop, the detonator. He knew more than he was saying. Maybe he thought if someone found the decoy it wouldn't cause a disaster. I suppose dying made him have a conscience"

"Whose idea was it to look for the EMP?"

I wasn't sure now, I mean it just seemed to evolve.

"I don't know. Maybe curiosity, or maybe Elaina thought Lukavic and Gregson would want her to find it. It was only because we were in Istanbul that it even occurred to us. I don't think Elaina realized that Petco had talked me through how to deactivate it"

When I think about it, I really don't know why we did what we did and me being me there'd been an explosion but this one had nearly killed me. I needed to move on away from remembering that. That Elaina had been the one who was working against us, using us had a lot of pieces fall into place. She'd always been with me when I opened the laptop, pushing me to tell her the passwords. Stanley had been the mediator on that one, saying that if Elaina kept the laptop that we had safe, and I knew the password then if anything happened, we could keep them apart.

I'd asked Elaina to chase down the car and the boat not thinking anything about it when she told that me that she came up blank. Then there was the moment that the alarms went off in the beach hut. We all assumed at the time, well I did anyway, that some sort of alert had been sent out, backtracking the signal.

"Elaina had us evicting the beach on Belize. She must have panicked when she realized that I'd actually managed to track Lukavic down, hell, she probably thought that I wouldn't be able to do it"

"Then she was stupid, you are one of the most intuitive researchers that I know"

I wasn't comfortable with anyone being so complimentary, but I was getting there.

"You never did tell me about Raynor"

"For a Colonel he can be so blinkered. Lambert obviously got word to Lukavic or probably Gregson"

"And they told Raynor who for some stupid reason gave it to Markovic"

I finished for him. That was probably why Elaina had killed Markovic, not because of a deep seated hate but with Markovic out of the way Lukavic would be able to get his hands on the detonator, and probably all of Markovic's wealth.

"So what happens now?"

A question that I'd been afraid to ask. I wasn't sure if Ranger would be leaving soon to meet with Elaina or even Lukavic. This needed to be finished and he was part of doing that.

"Now, you get dressed, while I sort out some lunch"

I had a smile on my face as I went through the bags to find some clothes to wear. I was feeling so relieved and so happy with what Ranger had told me. He was trying to get more information and he'd succeeded, though so far, he hadn't asked me anything from when I'd left Rangeman, which I had to admit was unusual. I chose a pair of the black jeans and a cream sweater to wear and then waited for Ranger to return with our lunch. I was just placing some glasses and water on the table when I heard the door opening and turned around expecting Ranger to be there.

"Now that I've let him have his last fuck with you, it's time to go"

To say that I was shocked to see Elaina stood there was an understatement and what the hell did she mean when she'd said she'd let him. Was that how Ranger had managed to get away from her, by saying that he needed one last fuck?

"We need to go. The first disruption is due to go off soon"

Facing a gun that was pointed at me didn't give me much choice but to do what she asked. I was hoping that if we used the elevator or stairs then we'd go past Stanley's and then Lizbeth's room, but no such luck. Instead, she pushed the gun into my back making me walk in the opposite direction toward the fire escape. Thankfully it was in better condition than the ones that I was used to. To be honest this would have been when I would have done some crazy stunt in order to escape but all that I could think of was that I had to keep my baby safe. Falling wouldn't be doing that.

As I walked down the spiral metal steps it gave me a chance to work out where we were. Obviously the back of the hotel, judging from the garbage bins, but there were cars parked there so maybe someone would come out of the hotel. I could hear the noise from the kitchens, voices shouting and pans being clattered but no one came out as we walked across the ruble area toward the street. I suppose that I shouldn't have been surprised to see Lambert leant against the side of what to me looked like a New York City cab. As he opened the back door and Elaina pushed me inside, I heard him laugh and then whisper across to me.

"Love the curls, they suit you better than those braids"

I knew now that he'd been watching me, but then the idea that he'd seen Ranger and I come out of that box had me mortified. He was like a peeping tom, a voyeur and with that thought I really started to hate him. Being in the car with these two people had me feeling very uneasy. I was pretty sure where we were heading for, well the general area, not exactly where or how we'd get there. I was also worried about Ranger. He'd never made a move to touch me sexually so I was pretty sure that he'd made the excuse so that he could see me. But how did he know where I was?

I was so busy thinking, that seeing a taser approach my hand took me by surprise, I was too slow as I felt the zing on my hand and all I can remember is looking over to Elaina's smiling face.

Hell, I felt awful as I tried to open my eyes. I seemed to be leant against something but at the same time felt like I was walking. As my eyes focused, I saw concrete under my feet and then steps going down. I actually thought that I was dreaming because everything seemed to be in a haze, even sounds seemed muffled. I noticed a sign but only caught the word station as I moved past it. I shook my head trying to get rid of the buzzing and that was when the events I last remembered came back to me.

Ranger talking to me, him leaving to find us some lunch and then Elaina. That bitch had tasered me. Looking to my side I could see the dark jacket of a man and then the face as I looked higher. His arm was underneath my shoulder, half lifting me as we went down the steps. I was surprised that there weren't that many people around, catching a train or leaving the station and that was when I felt and heard a shuddering around me. I looked up and noticed the archway above me and had a horrible feeling that we were in a section of the underground that wasn't used anymore. The place was totally empty.

I'd heard that there were disused stations and tracks, some that were now part of the museums that tourists could visit, but this one seemed too cold and empty with lights that were strung from wires. I wasn't sure where we were but knew now that we were heading to that facility that Randy had talked about, the one that Ryan Correll hadn't disputed existed. The lights seemed to stop partway down what had been the platform and that was where we stopped and turned off the platform into a makeshift tunnel. Ludavic must have spent a lot of time and money excavating this out.

I felt better but not okay. I'd been zapped before so knew that the aftereffects would diminish so made the effort to walk by myself. Lambert kept his hand around my arm, why I wasn't sure. It wasn't as if there was anywhere to run to, footsteps behind me assured me that Elaina was there, no doubt holding her gun. We seemed to walk for miles, at times going down metal steps, ending up even deeper underground. The air became cold and I was sure that I could smell the mustiness that I associated with damp soil. Underfoot was uneven and there was the sound of water dripping making me hope that this makeshift tunnel wasn't about to collapse.

The end of the tunnel came abruptly at the end of yet another set of steps, with a crude door ahead of us. I could see where the metal had been cut with a blow torch, the black surrounding the outer edges. If this was supposed to be a high security facility, then I would have thought they would have used a stronger metal. As Lambert pushed the door open, I saw the red light of a camera and stepped into a brightly lit area with another opening ahead of us. Stepping around what seemed to be a large machine I realized that we'd arrived at our destination.

It was the brightness of the light and the incessant buzzing noise that had my attention. I wasn't wrong in imagining what this place might look like, but the computers didn't look anything like I imagined. In fact the whole place wasn't as big as I imagined either. My attention was drawn to a man sat cross legged on the floor holding a laptop that had cables running into one of the machines. He didn't look around at us entering but continued scrolling down his screen, stopping and opening files to do it all over again.

"Miss Plum. We meet again"

The voice was behind me and I recognized it, yeah, that sounded like Lukavic, so I didn't bother to turn around. Lambert though turned me to face Lukavic though at this meeting I noticed he kept his distance from me.

"Passwords"

"I thought that you had them"

Had I just said something that he didn't like?

"Just give him the passwords Stephanie"

Walking out of the darkness like an avenging angel I watched as Ranger came over and stood next to Lukavic. I watched as he whispered something to Lukavic and then walked toward me. I backed away, Lambert releasing my arm and sniggering as he walked over to the man sat on the floor. When my back hit a bank of machines, I knew that I had nowhere to go. I felt Ranger's arm around me, but I have to admit that I was beginning to panic. His breath on my face and then on my neck did nothing to calm me.

"It's okay Babe, Correll has it covered, just give him the passwords and find cover"

No sooner had he whispered that into my ear than he took my hand and led me back to Lukavic. I looked from Ranger to Lukavic unsure of what to do. All I could think was that I had to trust Ranger, he said that he loved me and our baby, that he would never do anything to hurt us.

"Miss Plum. The passwords"

Lukavic handed me a pad of paper and a pen then stepped back so I started to write down the numbers as they needed to be input into the program. Somehow, I thought that Lukavic already knew the first two but the third? I wasn't sure that anyone had risked progressing with the program to realize that a third word, not numbers was needed. My hand was still shaking as I passed the pad back to Lukavic, but I remembered what Ranger had told me, I needed to find somewhere to hide. Of course, all attention was on Lukavic as Elaina stood there holding that damn laptop. Elaina looked surprised as he input the passwords, maybe she hadn't realized the need for the third one or that it would be Einstein.

I moved backwards slowly until I was next to the man on the floor just waiting. I wasn't sure how long we'd be waiting for. Five, ten minutes later it happened. I jumped as machines came to life and lights started to flash. It didn't last for long before they silenced, and the flashing lights disappeared.

"We have incoming. Preparing data for upload"

My eyes were on Ranger, who was standing quietly, but from his stance he was on alert, and I could imagine the arsenal he had hidden beneath the dark suit that he was wearing, the same one that he been wearing when he came to me at the hotel.

"Have you finished?"

"One more to do and then we're a go"

"Good"

Lukavic was stood to my side talking to the man on the floor and from what they were saying I was assuming they were going to be blowing the last EMP. At a nod from the man on the floor Lukavic returned to where Elaina was and took the laptop from her hands. He was inputting the passwords into the program which meant that he was activating the second EMP. I didn't think that I was in the right place, I wasn't hidden, so slowly sank down onto the floor and started to shuffle backwards.

If Correl had this covered then I wasn't too sure what to expect. Had the EMP been neutralized so that there wouldn't be a connection to upload the data with? But that wasn't what happened because the computers suddenly came back to life. I felt so disheartened, so afraid for what had happened outside to all the people on the streets and those who lived here. But most of all I felt frightened for what was going to happen next. The man on the floor packed up his equipment and walked through the door that I had come through and Lambert was slapping Lukavic on the back. They never gave me a backward glance as they too started to leave, but I saw the look that Lukavic gave to Elaina. A look that had my skin go cold as she smiled back at him and then turned to look at me. Where was the cavalry when I needed them, what was Ranger doing?

"Go to her Carlos and say your goodbyes"

I was surprised when Ranger stayed where he was, as though he was trying to work out what she was about to do. I almost felt like shouting at him, to get out while he could.

"You never planned on me leaving here did you Elaina?"

I saw her raise her eyebrows at him but to be honest I couldn't work out what they were saying.

"Oh Carlos, for such an intelligent man you can be so stupid. You gave us a perfect opportunity to be rid of you and take the heat off us. Gregson has all the evidence that's needed to have you charged with what's gone down here"

"What evidence would that be Elaina?"

"Trying to find the detonator, chasing after her, sending your men to scope out buildings, oh and let's not forget that your prints are on this detonator"

I wasn't sure how that could have happened but then I remembered that it had been Ranger who had repacked the laptop all those weeks ago and Elaina was now wearing gloves. I had no idea what Ranger was thinking and maybe he was reticent to do his usual military stuff with her pointing a gun at me, so Ranger did as she asked, he walked up to me and enfolded me in his arms protecting me from Elaina. I wrapped my arms around his waist as his came around my shoulders, totally afraid of what was going to happen. I knew that Ranger was between me and Elaina and I knew that he would do anything to protect me, even put himself between me and a bullet. Hadn't that been what he'd done on that fateful day in my apartment? He'd walked in, unarmed prepared to die for Julie and me and he nearly had done.

It's weird how many thoughts can pass through your mind in a split second. I knew that when Ranger's right arm lifted slightly from my shoulder that he would go for the gun in his shoulder holster, that was when I suddenly knew what I had to do. Elaina was a good shot, and she wouldn't hesitate to fire if she saw his movement. I wasn't prepared to lose him like that, so as my mind thought of coconuts my hand was around the grip of his gun at the back of his trousers, the safety catch was pushed off and I fired a single round at that image of a coconut. As soon as my finger had pulled the trigger, I shifted my weight pushing us both to the side. If I'd missed her then maybe her returning shot wouldn't find a target.

All I could see as I lay on the floor was Elaina laid looking back at me. I was watching as the blood started to fall, one drop at a time, forming a small rivulet down her forehead. Maybe I was shaking, my breathing sure went up and that was when I realized that I was suddenly being swept off my feet, being carried toward the back of the room where a door opened. I had never remembered seeing that door before so had no idea where we were going.

Ranger never stopped, the men in front of us were moving out of the way. Men who were wearing black vests, helmets and had rifles in the ready position. I had vague memories that we were inside an elevator, as I started to calm. Maybe my breathing slowed down, and my heart didn't feel like it was going to erupt from my chest, but I felt like shit. As the doors opened into absolute silence, I was aware that where we were was deserted. I had tears in my eyes, why I wasn't sure, maybe the shock from what had happened. A large sliding door stood ahead of us that slid to the side as we approached it. As we passed through, I squinted against the brightness of the sunlight and felt the cool air against my cheeks.

It was the noise that puzzled me, people talking and laughing as they passed in front of us. People were going in and out of the shops with food in their hands. It was normal. Even the flashing lights from an ambulance which I thought was a strange thing to see on the street confused me, until the doors opened, and Ranger climbed inside. I know that I hadn't said anything so far, but why the hell was he lifting me into here?

"You haven't eaten or drank anything, you're as white as a sheet so I want you checked over. No arguments"