Chapter 22

They found Cally and Luke watching a movie, a bowl of popcorn sitting between them on the sofa. Cally's eyes met her mother's and Stephanie knew Cally was concerned for her. She would spend the next day with her daughter. They needed time together, but it was the end of the most eventful day in her new life and all Stephanie wanted was solitude. She beckoned her daughter who left the movie to come to her side. Stephanie embraced her in a tight hug.

"Tomorrow, Cally. Tomorrow will be our day. Right now, Ranger wants to talk to you and Luke and all I want is my bed. I'm exhausted." Cally nodded and returned the tight hug. She stepped back to watch her mother walk up the stairs.

Ranger watched Cally watch her mother's ascent. He could see she was worried. He was worried too, about Stephanie but also about her daughter. The day had gone downhill from the moment Cally had come through her front door. There was no fixing the situation at the present time. They'd have to move forward and hope that time would ease some of the adjustments to the new reality.

"Tank and I have developed a working plan, of sorts," he told Luke and Cally. Luke picked up the remote and turned off the TV, his attention focused on Ranger and what was to come. Cally was still distracted, Ranger could tell.

"I need to explain some things, Cally. Are you up for it?" he asked her.

"Sure," she said as she refocused and looked toward him. "What's happening here?"

Ranger motioned toward the sofa. "Get comfortable," he said. "We've got some things to go through, starting with the fact that I'm leaving in the morning. Tank will be here, and I'm counting on the two of you, Luke, to help keep these women safe." The instant the words left he saw Cally react.

Cally stopped midway in the room and said, "Thank you, Carlos for your concern, but my mother and I can take care of ourselves. We don't need babysitters." He hadn't seen that attitude from her before, but he recognized it from her mother. He'd made the mistake of talking over her and not including her.

"Hey," Luke said. "I object. I am not a babysitter. I'm a trained personal security agent."

"You are," Ranger agreed. "And you, Cally, are capable of taking care of yourself. I know you have a concealed carry permit. Were you able to bring your firearm on the plane?"

"Well, no," she said. "I didn't even try."

Ranger took the armchair and nodded toward the sofa. Cally sat next to Luke and Ranger noted the casual way Luke's arm went around her shoulders. He remembered the way she had shrugged off the arm of her co-worker. She seemed to have no aversion to Luke's touch. Possibly Luke's aversion to being called a babysitter was personal.

"Look, Cally, I know you're capable. I'm capable and yet I didn't see the person who ran me down. Luckily, Tank did. A second set of eyes is always good. Right now, I want all the eyes on you and your mom I can muster. I want you safe. So for the next couple of days you'll have Luke and Tank's company." She remained silent and he took that as a good sign to continue.

"Stephanie will need someone watching her back after this weekend. You two will be going back to Trenton, Tank is going to spend some time with Silvio and then most likely with Althea in D.C. I'm going back to put my affairs in order and will try to be here within the week, but in the meantime, there needs to be someone else involved. I'm bringing in your father, Luke."

Luke sat forward on the sofa. "That's great! He'll be thrilled to learn that Stephanie is still alive, and he needs something like this to get him out of Trenton. That place is full of memories, and not good ones."

"You're telling someone else from Trenton that my mother is still alive?" Cally questioned. "Is that wise? It seems the more people that know, the more likely it is that my mom's family will find out of her existence. She doesn't want that!"

"I agree with you that the number of people involved needs to remain small," Ranger said. "Cally, you're the one who brought Luke fully into this. I asked him to watch you, but you're the one who made the decision to tell him the entire story."

Ranger saw her stiffen and again noticed the resemblance to her mother as her chin jutted forward. "Before you take offense, I'm not blaming you for telling Luke," he said. "Under the circumstances it was the right thing to do. We need more manpower though, because as Tank and Althea dig deeper into Brian Gregg's past, this whole thing could blow up and both you and your mother could be in imminent danger. Luke's father is the logical person to bring in. I trust him with my life. And I trust him with your mother's life as well. Questions?"

"Does my mom know Luke's dad is coming to stay here?"

"She does, and she's looking forward to seeing him. They were good friends, once upon a time," Ranger said.

"What do you think the threat is at the present?" Luke asked. "In Trenton, you said you thought it might be vehicular, like a hit and run attempt. Are you expecting that here?"

"I'm not expecting anything here, but it's a good idea to be vigilant, to be aware of your surroundings. I'm hoping by the time Gregg or Terry Gilman know someone is poking around for information, I'll be back here. When that happens, it will be crucial for you to be careful, Cally. I don't know if Terry Gilman knows of your existence or if that's a secret Gregg has kept from her. We'll have to assume she knows."

"There is so much uncertainty," Cally said. "If I hadn't met you, Carlos, and figured out the connection would I still be in danger?"

"I don't know," Ranger said. "But we can't take any chances. This connection between Gilman and Gregg has to be figured out, because it's time for your mother to quit living in fear. That's all I have for now. The next time I see you will probably be in Trenton. I'll keep both of you posted on what's going on."

He stood from the chair and walked toward the stairs, and he felt Cally's gaze upon him, so he wasn't surprised to hear her feet behind him as he made his way up.

He turned and waited for her to climb to meet him. She'd been watching him closely the entire time he'd been downstairs. As they stood facing one another on the landing he could see she was nervous, which was unusual for her. There had never been any tension between them, since the first time they'd met. He stood quietly until she was ready to speak. Her eyes left his face to scan the closed door of her mother's bedroom and then the open doorway into hers and finally back to him. He knew what was coming.

"I was w-wondering," she said with a slight stammer. Her eyes slid from his gaze and focused on his feet. "I was wondering if you'd like to sleep in my room tonight." The words came out in a rush and he could tell she was embarrassed. He said nothing and the silence lengthened until she finally looked up from the floor to once again meet his eyes. He raised a solitary eyebrow and gave her an appraising stare. He felt like a bastard for making her think he had misunderstood her suggestion, but there were things she needed to understand.

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed, color flooding her cheeks. "Not with me, I mean, not like that. Oh, crap! I, uh, you know I'm not coming onto you!" She stamped her foot in frustration and Ranger had to bite back a smile. For the first time he was seeing what the younger version of Cally must have been like. Much like her mother she'd probably been a force to be reckoned with. "What I meant was that I could sleep with my mom and you could take my room."

"Do you not want me to sleep with your mother?" he asked. "Surely when you encouraged me to let her know of my existence you must have thought of this possibility."

"Of course I did," she said. "And I thought that would be great, it just…" her voice trailed off. She took a deep breath and continued, determination and nervousness making her rush her words. "I did think that. It's just that this morning when I saw you kissing her, it seemed like…" She shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head to the side to suggest that he knew exactly what it had seemed like.

"You walked in on us this morning and interrupted our lovemaking," he said bluntly. "And suddenly you saw both your mother and I as something different than the people you'd known. Is that right?"

"Yes, that's it exactly," she said. "I can't even explain this to myself so I don't know if I can make you understand. From the first time I met you, before I had any idea who you were, I felt a connection to you. And quit looking at me that way...I don't mean that kind of connection. Sort of like you were a long-lost uncle, or…"

"A long-lost father?" he asked.

She blushed furiously. "Well, yes. And then this morning when you and mom were…"

"When your mother and I were kissing you saw a woman and a man with needs, and that's not the way you were used to thinking of your mother, or me either."

"Yes." Her voice was small and suddenly she seemed impossibly young to him. Her eyes were firmly focused on his shoes and her cheeks were burning. He placed his fingers under her chin and gently lifted her face until she was once again looking at him.

"You're very important to me, Cally. You have been almost from the moment we met. I felt that connection too, and it strengthened when you had the courage to tell me of your mother's existence. You gave me the greatest gift…a second chance at life after years of only half-living."

He paused and gave her a small smile which she returned. He drew her to him and hugged her tightly. He loosened his hold and let her step back slightly and then he continued. "In a moment I'm going to go into your mother's room. What does or doesn't happen behind that closed door will be between your mother and myself. Any decision we make about a future relationship will be mutual and anything that happens between us will be consensual. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes," Cally said, rolling her eyes in a way that was completely familiar to him. "You're telling me to butt out and mind my own business, and I'm going to take your advice."

Ranger smiled broadly at the expression on her face. "You're a smart girl. Now go back to your movie with Luke."

She stuck her tongue out at him and turned to go back down the stairs. "I may think of you as a father, but I didn't say you should talk to me like I was a recalcitrant daughter!"

Ranger was still smiling when he tapped lightly on Stephanie's door and entered her bedroom. She was curled into a fetal position, facing away from the door, much as she had been two nights ago when he'd come into her room. That night her sleep had been aided by alcohol. Tonight, he thought it was complete exhaustion.

He undressed and slid under the covers and turned toward her. His arm went around her and he pulled her back into him, spooning her. He felt her body relax against his. Her breathing remained slow and deep and she showed no signs of waking. That was probably for the best.

"Babe," he whispered, but she didn't respond.

Intense longing for her thrummed through his body and even as he tightened his hold on her, he knew he wouldn't act on his wanting. The pleasure of holding her, of once again having her in his life was nearly as intense as his desire. He could wait until it was just the two of them, until the time was right for them to become one. When that happened both of their lives would change irrevocably. He settled in for a sleepless night, but despite the burning desire, he slept.

Four hours later he awoke when the watch on his wrist vibrated. A message from Tank at this hour was unusual and probably not good news. He slipped from the bed and smoothed the covers over her, tucking her in. He read the message and grimaced. He had planned to leave early in the morning, but he had hoped to be able to tell her goodbye. He'd have to text her when he knew for certain what was going on and what his plans were. He dressed quickly in the dark and gathered his few possessions.

Tank opened the hotel room door to Ranger's knock with an apology. "I'm sorry, man. I may have been premature. I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

Ranger thought the last statement was more of a question. He ignored it. "What does 'premature' mean?" Ranger asked. "Have you found the son-of-bitch or not?"

"Silvio thought he'd found him. He found a first-class reservation to Hanoi, but since I messaged you, he looked closer and Gregg never boarded the plane."

"Vietnam?" Ranger asked. "What the hell is he doing in Vietnam?"

"Nothing," Tank said. "Silvio just called and said Gregg never got on the plane. Reservations weren't cancelled, he just didn't show. And guess where he was flying out of?"

Ranger shook his head.

"Newark, man! And his flight was just two days after your hit and run accident."

"Well, that confirms what we suspected," Ranger said. "We now know who ran me down, but we still don't know why."

"There's more," Tank said. "Silvio is a genius. When I told him that he said it was true he was a genius, but also that Gregg was an idiot. He kept detailed records of what he was doing, thinking they were secure, but Silvio is proof, nothing is secure. We might know the reason Gregg was going to Hanoi. He has a Vietnamese wife."

Ranger moved from the doorway of the room to a large velvet sofa and sank onto it. This was a lot to consider. Why had Gregg come after him all these years after he'd tried to kill Stephanie and Cally? And why had he wanted them out of the way in the first place? Lots of question and no answers.

"The more we learn the more there is to learn," Ranger said.

"Yeah," Tank agreed. "He had a wife and a woman on the side. Just like Morelli, and they both had the same side piece. "

Ranger sighed. His leg ached, probably because he hadn't been wearing the brace or doing his regular exercises. His head ached probably due to lack of sleep. His groin ached and he damn well knew why. This situation had to be resolved. He suddenly became aware of the plush velvet under his hand on the arm of the sofa. He looked around the dimly lit room and frowned.

"Am I paying for this place?" he asked Tank.

"Indirectly," Tank said. "I put it on the RangeMan tab. It's the honeymoon suite." At Ranger's continued stare Tank shrugged. "I thought Althea was going to be staying a little longer."

"You'd better be careful about what you put on the RangeMan card," Ranger said. "I signed a non-compete clause."

"I get that," Tank said. "We're not doing home or commercial security. You retained the rights to the name for personal security. And what's more personal for you than Stephanie?"

Again, Ranger ignored the question. "Basically, we're right where we started," he told Tank. "We don't know where Gregg is. And now we have the complication of Vietnam."

"I was planning on going to see Silvio and go over everything he's digging up," Tank said. "Maybe I should go to Vietnam."

"No," Ranger said. "I don't want you that distant from the investigation. Don't we have a connection? Someone that could check out the wife for us."

"I could probably find someone. I think we know someone who knows someone who could look into it for us, securely. It will be costly though."

Ranger raised an eyebrow. "Put it on the card," he said dryly.

"Does this make you wish RangeMan was still operational?" Tank asked.

"No. I don't need a corporation behind me. I just need more information and then I can move on it."

"We can move on it," Tank said. "We're in this together. This may not be the time to ask, but I want to know. What are you going to do about the RangeMan name? If you move all your stuff to Georgia will RangeMan really become history?"

"RangeMan is already history. I left instruction for the name to stay intact so that the possibility of restarting a personal security service existed. I have no plans to do that, but it comes in handy to have the capability to pay Luke, Lester…and you."

"You're not paying me, brother. I'm in this for you and for Stephanie. Getting that SOB will be my reward."

"And yet you put this suite on the card," Ranger said.

"Get screwed," Tank muttered.

"Yes, I can see that's what you were trying to do. Sorry Althea had to go back to find Gregg. But since you have the space, I'm going to use it to make flight arrangements. I'll let you clean up the mess here and make sure all the car rentals get returned. When I come back, I'm going to be looking for property. I'll probably just have the few possessions I need sent later."

"I'll take care of things," Tank said.

"Good. Let me use your laptop for a bit to get myself on a flight home."

"You didn't come on a roundtrip ticket?" Tank asked.

"I came down here on a private jet compliments of Uncle Sam. It's a story I'll tell you some other time."

"I think it's one I'll want to hear."