Part 5

RPOV

Chapter 53

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

As I said that I laid Steph down on the bed in the ambulance. That she hadn't argued or objected had me even more worried. She was as white as a sheet and trembling slightly as I lent down and gently kissed her lips, but even that small gesture didn't seem to elicit a reaction. I held her hand tightly as I felt the vehicle begin to move and watched as one of the men placed a mask over her face and lifted her arm to insert a needle. I looked at the bag that was slowly dripping fluids into her body. She looked so frail as she lay there but I knew just how fearsome she could be. Every time she told me what she had done she had blown my mind away and yet she was the same woman that I'd always known, kind and tender, loving with an open heart.

As the ambulance stopped abruptly and the rear doors opened, I was instantly at her side as the gurney was lowered to the ground. A nurse and doctor were immediately asking questions about her condition. At one stage the nurse tried to pull me away on the pretext of getting more information from me.

"Do you know the patient, is she a relative or a co-worker?"

I'd been asked similar questions before when I'd brought Steph into A & E never really seeing the motive of the question before. Now though I was furious at the way that she was looking at me and that a nurse was trying to chat me up.

"The woman that you should be asking about is my, woman"

That had me hesitating in how I saw my relationship with Steph. She was more than just my woman, she was my partner, my friend, my lover and my soulmate but what I really wanted to say was that she was my wife. I turned to the doctor as we continued to walk and spoke directly to him.

"She's dehydrated and hasn't eaten recently and has had a debilitating experience. She's also three and a half months pregnant and took a fall"

That wiped the smirk off the nurses face, and it seemed to spur the doctor to moving quickly.

"She needs to go up to the prenatal ward immediately. I'll page the obstetrician and arrange for an immediate scan. Once in her room we can monitor the babies heart and ensure that your wife receives the necessary fluids and nourishment. Don't worry, they'll both be fine. It's amazing just how well the baby is protected"

I wasn't going to correct his assumption that Steph was my wife because I knew that might stop me from being with her. It seemed to take an age before Steph was transferred across to a bed in a private room. I was made to wait outside while her clothes were exchanged for a hospital gown, knowing how much Steph would hate that. Once that had happened, I was back by her side and a different nurse was there checking on her vitals. It was as her blood pressure was being taken that I felt Steph move and saw her eyes open slowly, so leant over her so that she would know that I was with her.

"Hi there sleepy head"

"Hi. What happened?"

I wasn't about to go into details of the events of the day, but Steph wouldn't be happy without being told the reasons for her being in the hospital.

"You fell to the ground and were drowsy. I think maybe the fact that you haven't drank anything or eaten is a reason for how you feel"

I watched as she continued to look at me, no doubt trying to figure out if there was something that I was omitting to tell her and knew that I had to tell her what the doctor was wanting to happen.

"They want to do a scan to make sure the baby is doing okay"

Okay, maybe that wasn't the right thing to say because I could see in her eyes how that had frightened her.

"Just a precaution Babe. Besides I want to see our baby and how he's growing"

Of course Steph picked up me saying that it was a he. Why I had said that I wasn't sure other than I hated referring to the baby as an it.

"He, what if it's a girl?"

And right then and there I knew that I had my Babe back with me. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she asked me that.

"I don't care, boy or girl, they'll be perfect, just like you"

I watched as she looked around the room and smiled up at the nurse but when her eyes opened wide, I followed her gaze to the door. A small middle aged woman was wheeling in a large machine that even to me looked a bit daunting.

"My name's Suzie and I'm an ultrasound technician. Here we go luv, we'll soon be able to say hello to that one growing inside you"

After getting over the shock of hearing such a broad British accent, I looked to Steph as I realized that this was an ultrasound device and what was happening was what the doctor had recommended. Steph was listening to the woman talking to her as she pulled her gown up to her waist. A sheet was still covering her lower body, but the woman still used a paper towel to protect the sheet. I felt Steph flinch as a clear gel was squirted onto her stomach and then the show began.

"This here's an ultrasound machine so I need to move it around until I find the right position"

It was extremely frustrating that the screen was turned away from us for only the woman to see, but as soon as the woman started to smile, I could feel the excitement rising within me. I squeezed Steph's hand as Suzie turned a dial, amazed at the sound that was suddenly filling the room. Steph had tears in her eyes, and I had to admit I was very close to that as well. The fast rhythmic beat was hypnotic. As Suzie turned the screen around for us to see I couldn't take my eyes off the image in front of me. Okay, it wasn't clear, the black and white image forming shadows as I assume the baby moved. But there was no denying the shape of the head and body. Even the arms and legs were clear.

"The heartbeat is good and strong, 150 beats per minute. If you look carefully then you may be able to see how the heart is compressing and expanding, pushing the blood around. The body has elongated and is about 1/3 the size of the growing delicate changes are starting to take place, too. Not that we can see them, but on the fingertips, tiny fingerprints are taking shape. And see there the fingers are going in and out of the mouth. While your baby-to-be may not be grinning any time soon, the earliest smile is beginning to come together"

I was so absorbed in watching that image. I really wasn't prepared for what I was seeing, that the baby would be so well formed.

"Could I have a copy of the image please?"

Came from Steph as she looked at me. I nodded my head suddenly aware of the silence in the room and realized that Suzie was looking between Steph and me.

"Sorry, this is the best part of my job, seeing couples see their baby for the first time together"

I watched as Suzie removed the device from Steph's stomach and used the towel to clean away the gel. She handed a small piece of paper to Steph before she left the room with the machine, but she was telling us.

"The doctor will be here soon to talk to you"

Soon, was an understatement because the door hadn't even closed before a doctor walked into the room. Only it wasn't just any doctor. As we both just stared at each other it was Steph who brought us to our senses.

"Okay, what's going on. Do you two know each other?"

I was close to saying that it wasn't what it looked like but then remembered Steph's reaction to me saying that once before, so I went for the obvious, the truth.

"Steph, this is Doctor Maria Manoso, my older sister"

Maria was quick to respond, and I have to say that it was exactly how I expected.

"Hi Steph. As Carlos said I'm a doctor but I asked for you to be referred to me. If that's a problem, then please just tell me and I'll ask a colleague to take over"

I watched Steph as she weighed Maria up and as she obviously decided to give Maria a chance.

"No, it's not a problem, unless Carlos?"

As Steph looked directly at me, I could see that she wasn't annoyed, but she was definitely enjoying making me squirm. There were a few things that I needed for Maria to understand though.

"No one knows Maria, and to be honest I had no idea that we'd end up here, where you work. Steph has had a very traumatic few months"

"Is that why we have armed guards outside?"

I wasn't aware of that and was surprised. I hadn't given any orders for that to happen, yet. Okay it was SOP for any Rangeman and Steph if they ended up in hospital, but things had happened so quickly that I hadn't had time to talk to anyone.

"Mine?"

I sincerely hoped so, because I would be extremely annoyed if they were the police or worse soldiers.

"Yeah, but not ones that I recognize. The names they gave me were Osbourne and Wexler"

I saw the frown pass over Steph's face so decided to put her out of her misery, I knew that she was curious as to who they were.

"Stanley and Ethan, Babe"

I wasn't too sure if Steph was pleased or annoyed, but it seemed that the information wasn't going to stop what was happening in this room.

"So when can I leave?"

I smiled while Maria grimaced and what resulted was a negotiation between them rather than Maria telling Steph the length of time that she needed to be here.

Two hours later I was reclined in a chair next to Steph, her hand in mine as she slept. We hadn't talked much because Steph was so tired and there was a lot I needed to tell her, to explain to her. My constantly touching her hadn't gone unnoticed by her but to be honest it was as much for me as for her. I just needed the reassurance that she was okay. I took every opportunity to tell her how much I loved her and the baby, maybe I was feeling guilty for keeping her out of the loop but to be honest I didn't see that I'd had a choice, not if she was to kept safe.

Tomorrow she would be able to leave but only if she rested and I was going to make sure that happened. The prognosis had been dehydration, fatigue and possibly shock with thankfully no evidence of any injury resulting from her fall to the ground.

As I sat there the events since leaving Miami were flashing through my mind, everything had happened so quickly, and I'd had to react to each situation as they arose. I never had a chance to plan anything let alone let anyone know what I was doing.

When I'd come out of the bedroom of the apartment, I'd expected Steph to be sat on the couch waiting for me. I suspected that there was a camera hidden somewhere in the room so was finding it hard to act as Lambert and Elaina expected. All I had wanted to do was to wrap her in my arms and take her away, far away where she'd be safe. In my head I was planning on telling Steph all of the new developments once we were in a car leaving the Rangeman building. I'd searched the rooms and bathrooms coming to the conclusion that she wasn't there so had gone to my office and turned on the computer.

The image that I was faced with after logging in was of that diner where I'd met with Lambert and Elaina. It became obvious that somehow Steph had come across the app and opened it. I wondered if she knew exactly where the other cameras were or why they were there. They were there because I needed to know that members of my family were safe. Maria had been attacked several times when working in the A & E at the hospital where she worked. She'd transferred now, but sometimes took a shift to help out. The house was where Julie lived, no way would I ever rest easy after what Scrogg had done. A restaurant was where my brother's daughter worked part time, but she'd had problems with a boy who wouldn't leave her alone. I'd had a quiet word with that boy in a dark alley but needed to be sure that he got my message.

Then there was the diner. My heart sank knowing that Steph had probably watched this and that was when I knew that she had ran, ran away from me because she thought the worst. I closed my eyes as I remembered the interaction between Elaina and myself. Shit, why had I used the name Babe, because Elaina had asked me to and it played into what she wanted to hear. Pulling up the cameras for the building I tracked her as she took the stairs to the garage and then walked out of the gate as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do.

I was pulled in two directions, finding Steph or finishing the whole damn business with Elaina, Lambert, Gregson and Lukavic. I knew that she would be long gone by now, doing what she did best, losing herself amongst people around Miami and decided that maybe that was for the best. If Steph was missing no one, including Lukavic would be able to find her. By stopping Lukavic I was protecting Steph, I just hoped that after everything that had happened that she trusted me and had worked out what I was doing. I could only pray that she had. It didn't stop me from contacting Hector and letting him know what had happened. He'd seen the video, as I expected, and after explaining to him what I was doing he understood. When the hell had I started to have to explain myself to my men, probably when they took Steph into their hearts. Shit he was pissed with me and I knew he would be looking for her.

I'd agreed to fly up to New York City with Elaina but after spending the night with her I decided that I wasn't in the mood to put up with her for longer than necessary. Yeah, the night. After the diner we'd ended up in a bar where okay, I'd made sure that she drank a lot, enough to get her the bar was one of those that never closed had been a releif but it was the early morning before I managed to drop Elaina off at the motel where she was staying. Shit, I could only hope that Steph didn't think that I'd spent the night being intimate with her.

To be honest the idea of touching her made my skin crawl. How the hell Steph went through with the distractions that she did for Rangeman made me appreciate how she felt afterwards. It also had me remembering that disastrous night in New York with that woman. As an eager young soldier working special ops, I admit that I had used my charm on women to get information, regardless of what that might involve and had used a woman in the past to alleviate pent up frustrations after a mission. Now I knew that there was no other woman but Steph, she'd ruined me for all other women.

Elaina had confused me as she'd talked, her ramblings just didn't make sense until I looked at each of her stories separately. That was when I realized that she believed what she was saying even when she contradicted herself. It was as if she were different personalities, playing the role of what different people wanted. I was actually thinking that she was struggling with a mental health condition because she did act out separate personalities that controlled her behavior at different times. I sent a message to Bobby asking his opinion even though he had never had any personal contact with her, he'd have access to the daily reports of those who had.

It was Hector who contacted me later in the day, just before I had to leave.

"Estefania, she's safe. New development that will become apparent"

I know I swore at him, or at the silent phone. I had no idea what he'd meant or how he knew but at least I could continue with what I had planned, knowing that Steph was safe. Sat on the plane alone that evening gave me a new perspective of my life. Steph and our baby were the most important people to me and while I would always regret it, I'd give my life in order for them to have theirs. I was hoping that it would never come to that because I was desperate to be part of their lives.

I'd told Elaina that being seen together was a bad idea if we wanted Lukavic's plan to succeed. I wasn't sure why I was still being included. I knew Elaina seemed besotted by me and I was using that to my advantage. It was Lukavic that worried me, he wasn't a fool so what ulterior motive did he have for bringing me onboard so easily.

I'd booked into a small hotel for the night using a false id but it was the call that I got the next morning that totally surprised me.

"Mr Manoso, I have information for you and believe that we can mutually help each other"

I'd had no idea who I was talking with and expressed that concern.

"Who am I speaking with?"

"Miss Plum is with Stanley, Lizbeth and myself, Ryan Correll"

My heart stopped for a beat when I'd heard that. How the hell were they involved now and how was Steph with them?

"Mr Manoso. We have a plan, but for it to happen Miss Plum has to give Lukavic the passwords"

"No she doesn't, maybe he already has them"

No way was I prepared for Steph to be involved, hell what if she got hurt or she lost the baby?

"We know what Lukavic is planning. He's going to try and transfer millions of dollars into several bank accounts around the world.

As I listened, I was still at a loss as to how Lukavic thought that he could do that.

"I've arranged for those two remaining devices to be neutralized, they won't detonate. Your man CJ has made sure of that. Lukavic will think that when he activates the detonator program that the devices have exploded. The first will generate an automatic download of all Wall Street finances to a secure location, a design implemented after 911. That's when Lukavic will transfer money between accounts. At the second activation he will upload those transfers as the system once again connects, but we will be in control of that connection, it won't actually connect to any of the banking systems, but his transfer will be what we need to charge him with treason"

"Why do you need Steph?"

I could almost hear Correll sigh down the phone at me.

"For this to work he has to have the passwords so that he thinks that his plan is working.

"You want me to arrange for Steph to meet with Lukavic?"

"I need for him to have all of the passwords and I believe Miss Plum has that knowledge"

All I could think to do was to explain everything to Steph and persuade her that it wouldn't be safe for her to meet up with Lukavic. If she gave the passwords to me then I'd be able to keep her well away from Elaina or Lukavic.

"I'll get the passwords to him, but I need to know where Steph is"

That Correll didn't argue with that plan had me feeling relieved, maybe we would all get out of this unscathed.

"Mr Manoso. For this to work we need someone inside with Lukavic. We'll activate the decoy but we have to know exactly when he detonates each one"

I wasn't stupid, I could read between the lines of what he was saying. Which meant that I had to be inside this damn facility when everything happened. So much for everyone coming out of this unhurt because to me it felt very much as though I might not come out of that facility.

"Okay"

Was really all that I could say. Hadn't shit like this been what my life was about? Taking risks for the good of the country against evil. At least Steph and the baby would be safe. Correll gave me the hotel for where Steph would be and instructions to pick up a small piece of equipment that would act as a signal for me to use.

I had some time before I could go and see Steph so spent it preparing myself and talking with Hector. Whilst Hector wouldn't be going inside that facility, he was my backup until then and he had instructions for what to do if I didn't come out.

Every time my burn phone rang, I knew that it was Elaina trying to contact me so in the end I conceded to Elaina's demands to meet with her, though only in a public location. I was careful as I made my way to Central Park and watched as I saw Elaina stood outside the small café that I had told her about. She seemed nervous as she waited so being sure that there wasn't anyone watching her, I made my way over to her.

She surprised me with her attitude, she was very much on edge and quite hostile toward me making me worry that somehow, she knew of Correll's plan. That wasn't it though and my idea of her having a mental health issue would certainly have explained her behavior. She actually told me that Steph was her friend and friends didn't steal each others boyfriends.

"She's my friend, how can I be with you?"

"Maybe that's my decision to make"

Because I knew that I would only get into that secure location through her.

"But what will you tell her?"

"The truth. that I'm moving on, that she no longer interests me"

I'd moved in close to her and held her. It was as though she was that young girl that we'd first been looking for and somehow, I had to get her to flip her personalities.

"Remember our phone conversation?"

I'd whispered to her and felt her nod her head.

"Where is the woman who wants to conquer the word, who wants money and power?"

"I'm not sure"

Hell, this was not what I needed at the moment, and thought of what other way I could use to snap her out of being this demure. I pushed her away from me and allowed my anger to appear, seeing the fright in her eyes.

"Are you going to ruin everything when what you want is right in front of you? Lukavic will be so disappointed in you, I will be as well. Are you telling me that you're this pathetic woman who has deceived us all or are you going to show us how strong, sexy and dangerous you are?"

That had the anger rising in her. She glared back at me as though I'd just slapped her face and maybe I had with my words.

"No. I want that, I am that. I hate who she is,"

I wasn't sure if Elaina was referring to herself or to Steph.

"Then let's show the world that no one messes with Elaina, no one makes the mistake of not knowing who she is"

"Fuck Stephanie, she's pathetic. We're gonna do this and show everyone they can't mess with us, then you and I we can be together, right"

"Right. We're gonna walk out of this stronger, richer and powerful"

"Fuck Stephanie, she's nothing"

That Elaina suddenly expressed her anger at Steph surprised me and it was then that I realized just how dangerous she could be, especially to Steph.

I wasn't going to prolong our conversation and was keen now to get the information from Elaina that I needed, before she had a change of mind. She told me to meet her in the facility and how to enter it through an old disused tunnel and with plenty of promises from me for our future we agreed to meet there at exactly 1600hrs.