Chapter 5

Even though the flight from Washington to New Orleans was short I still hated the up and the down parts. It was a fair distance into the actual city and when the taxi stopped I actually looked at him thinking, where the hell is the hotel? I'd been booked into the Frenchmen Hotel on Frenchmen St, and I had to admit I loved the intimate feel of the place. It was actually based through an archway and had rooms on either side of a long yard, with a very small pool and lots of tropical plants. My room while not overly big had the softest, most comfortable bed I had ever bounced on. The feel was of old world, elegant décor and wood furnishings. There were modern features like Cable TV and air conditioning and I had a private terrace. Yes, I felt safe inside here, there was a rooftop bar and food was also served up there, so I didn't need to leave. Except I did. I needed to pick up a parcel from a post office, the French Quarter Postal Emporium on

Bourbon Street. I asked for directions at reception and was told it was easy to find, turn right out the hotel, then third left, after the third cross street it was on the left, easy! As I walked down the street, much as I found the buildings and scenery really interesting, I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I stopped at a shop window and looked in the reflection to see if there was something or someone that was out of place. The closer I got to the post office my spidey senses were off the scale. I walked past it and slowed to turn around, no one obviously following me, so I decided to just get this done and walked into the place. Nothing untoward happened and five minutes later with another box in my hand I speed walked back to the hotel and into my room. I was hot and sweaty and shaky. I really wanted to get out of here. The box was the same as the others, except there was only an envelope inside; strange why not just leave the envelope, why go to the trouble of a box? Inside with the letter was a single key, and flight tickets.

"My dearest Stephanie

Your last leg of the journey is almost here. In the morning take the flight to Miami; this is where your journey ends. There will be a motorbike parked in the long stay park at number 375, you have the key. You will find a helmet and leathers in the pillion box. Drive out to Key Biscayne, as you go over the bridge take the first left turn, then left and finally left to arrive in front of a large metal gate. Use your date of birth to open the gate and the same code to get into the house; a safe is in the master bedroom closet, sunk into the floor, use the same code to retrieve my last letter. I'll speak again when you are there.

Beatrice"

Yipes these were a hell of a set of instructions, not even an address, what if I got lost or couldn't find the house? I placed the letter with all the others, Beatrice had told me to get rid of them, but something told me not to, then they went in a leather wallet in a zipped section in my rucksack. The end of another day, but the same routine as before, a shower and room service, I was now keen to get this thing finished with, the excitement of the chase was beginning to wane, and I felt lonely. As I lay in my bed I could hear music from the streets, I wish I were strong enough to go out and enjoy the nightlife and walk the streets. A tear fell down my cheek, how I wished for Ranger to be here.

Since I was supposed to wear leathers and ride a bike I decided on black hipster jeans for my journey. I just didn't realize how hot and humid Miami would be, the bike was exactly where it was supposed to be and now donned in leathers and a helmet I sat astride the Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Classic, good job I had a motorbike license, how on earth did Beatrice know that? The engine roared to life and the sound inside the confines of the parking area caused my heart to hitch up in pace, now this could well compete with my lowly showerhead massager. There was a sat nav with the bike so I put in the name of the Key where I needed to be, dropped the clutch, engaged the gear and I was off. The sky was a hazy blue, with wisps of cloud floating high in the sky, and it was sunny and warm. Traffic was manic compared to what I was used to, but on a bike it was easy to nip in and out of lines of cars. The buildings were brighter and there were lots of people meandering along the sidewalks, going from the shops or bars, all in skimpy sun wear. I was too intent on watching where I was going to look in the side mirror but when I did, I realized another bike had pulled out coming up behind me, a car between us. I maneuvered around the car in front of me and accelerated away but that didn't shake the bike. Another look and I realized that there was also a pillion passenger as well. Would I get done for speeding in Miami? I tried turning down side streets and pulling in front of cars, and although the sat nav must have thought I was nuts, I couldn't shake them. It was a good job this wasn't a low rider bike because I was ducking and diving using the weight of the bike to almost slalom between the traffic, and at one stage I ended up doing the same into on coming traffic, then I hit a left turn causing a car to skid along the road. I caught the underside of the bike on the road damaging the plastic. That did the trick though, because the bike following me got caught up in the bedlam. I accelerated away and the good old sat nav got me going in the right direction. Over the bridge, left, then left, and at the end of the road I came to a large metal gate. Not wanting to dismount I pulled up close to the metal box and started to enter the code, my birthday. The gate opened and as I drove through started to close, I brought the bike to a stop in front of the door and quickly pushed it up on the stand, entered the code to open the front door, then I grabbed my rucksack, flung the door closed behind me and sank to my ass against the wall. With my knees to my chin I realized I had a severe case of the shakes and felt so cold. I must have dozed, passed out maybe, because when I became of where I was, it was starting to get dark outside. I stood with my bag tight to my chest and wandered down the small corridor coming out into an open plan room. I didn't want to attract attention by switching on any lights, but from the ambient light coming in from outside I could see couches, a TV and bookcases, possibly pictures. But for now I needed somewhere safe, somewhere I could find my zone. There was a staircase to the side that led up to a mezzanine with three doors leading from it, I opened the door facing me and walked into a massive bedroom, obviously the master suite. I tried the light switch but nothing happened, surely there was electricity in the house. I found the closet but without a light I wasn't going to try and open the safe. Another door revealed a bathroom and this time the light worked, strange? I stripped my clothes as I moved inside and while I ran the bath checked the cabinet for some soap or even shampoo, yes, both and even conditioner. Sitting in the bath I slowly teased the braids from my hair, god that felt so good on my scalp, then washed, and lay back in the hot water trying to soak away the events that had happened. I stirred as the water cooled down, and quickly applied conditioner then stood under the shower to rinse all the soap off me and rinse my hair. With a towel around my body and one around my head I headed back into the bedroom and heard the bed calling my name.
Chapter 6 The day had been quiet as far as days went, the morning meeting reported on a couple of alarms that had gone off, but in each case it was the client who had entered the wrong code. Set ups for new systems were underway for new clients and surveillance had been unusually quiet. There was no update on Steph and by now a lot of the men were showing signs of being worried, they missed her as well, what's the saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" As I was approaching the break room I stopped outside the door when I heard one of the newbies, Hickman I think, talking. "So what's all the talk about this woman not being here, is she the hot one with the amazing blue eyes?" "Yeah, that's Steph and I'll tell you now to treat her with respect" "Why you banging her?" "What? Of course not" "Hell I would if I got the chance, maybe I'll try my luck when she gets back" "I'm warning you, you stay well away from her"
"Or else what?" That was the final straw for me, I slammed the door open acknowledging Hal, who by now was beginning to go red with anger. "Boss" "Hal give me a minute alone, if you don't mind" I turned to Hickman fully realizing that my blank face showed absolute anger. Hal quickly left the room and the newbie had the nerve to ignore me and turn toward the fridge. I grabbed him by the arm and swung him to face me. "If you disrespect Stephanie again, speak to her or of her, you will have me to deal with, do I make I make myself clear?" "Err yes I suppose" "You suppose what soldier?" "Yes sir" With that I walked out before I smashed my fist in his face. I was fuming when I sat down at my desk and slammed my fist on the surface; Santos of course chose to walk in at that exact moment. "Something got you all pissed off?" "Yes, that newbie, Hickman" "What's he done?" "Mouthing off about Steph to Hal" "Well there's a saying primo "love 'em or lose 'em" you decided which one yet?" "Santos!" "Just pointing out that if you're going continue to play around with her, someone else is gonna come along and sweep her off her feet, you're lucky Morelli's such a prick that she's dumped him, or maybe they'll get back together again. That might be the only option she'll have if you don't step up primo" I looked at him with a glare and at least he had the decency to leave the room. Shit he was right though, I needed to man up and start undoing some of the damage I'd put her through, because yeah, I couldn't carry on without all of her in my life, the problem I had was how did she feel about me? Cal called in on his way back from town, he was changing clothes at the house he rented on the next block, he'd said he didn't want anyone to recognize him leaving this building, which made perfect sense. Tank came in a minute later. "How did you get on Cal?" "Made some progress, found the bar where some of them hang out, so mooched around, showing my face, but not getting involved with any talk. I'm back there tonight, so if my face is familiar that may just enable me to get closer in to listen in on their conversations" "Good plan man, make sure you're covered" Both men left the office and I was hoping to get some paperwork done. I was feeling off and realized I'd stared at the same report for twenty minutes without reading a dam thing. Something was wrong, I could feel it, another ten minutes and my phone went off, strange, it was Juan from the Miami office. He's my older brother and is in charge of that office. "Juan, what's wrong?" By now I was worried something had happened with Julie. "This is a strange one Carlos, do you remember that account you set up years ago out on Key Biscayne?" "Hell just, I think it was someone Abuela Rosa knew from church, she was really quite, I don't know, had an attitude that she was better than anyone else" "Could be, well the intruder alarms gone off. I sent someone out and whilst there's no alarm sounding or flashing it's still going off here and we can't shut it down" "Hold on, let me bring the file up on my computer" "You got it?" "Yeah, Charlotte Rains, only wanted us to pick up if the house was breached, it isn't on our usual monitoring, shit, it's programmed in for my digital retinal scan" "Why the hell would you do that?" "Hell Juan, it was when we first started up the office down there. She had more money than sense and Abuela insisted that I take personal care of it" "So you're gonna have to get down here then aren't you ASAP" "Shit I don't need this now" "Tough little brother you shouldn't have made yourself so indispensable should you?" "I'll use the private jet and be there in about three and a half hours, have a car for me at the airport for when I land, and I'll go straight to the house" "Done, I'll speak to you when it's sorted" The flight to Miami was quick and quiet, hell it should be for the money it cost. I reviewed the file on Charlotte Rains, she must be in her late seventies by now, I wonder if she has a husband still alive? Nothing had come up on the original search, but in those early days Silvio wasn't the go to man for research, and programs weren't as invasive as they are now. Come to think of it, I didn't take to the woman, but Abuela Rosa had insisted she was a pillar of the community and it would be very good for business. Her payments, while high considering we didn't monitor as such, were still being paid but the system was still top of the range. Once I had landed, I was met by Henri and handed a set of keys to a black SUV; I entered the address into the cars sat nav and drove through streets still bustling with nightlife, Miami was never quiet. The road leading up to the house was empty, no one would need to be here unless visiting the property, and hopefully the old woman had triggered the alarm off herself. I stopped by the gate and sat confused at the entry system. As I studied the plate there looked to me as if someone had added an additional entry system, I took out my phone to check. "Juan, have you updated the entry system?" "No, I didn't even know that account existed, why?" "Someone's added a second entry pad to use a code on, doesn't look like one we'd use" "No idea hermano" "OK then I'm on my way in, I'll get back to you when I'm finished" The gate opened with my retinal scan and I drove up to the entrance of the house. Strange, that there was a motorbike right outside, and there seemed to be some damage to it, no lights on in the house but I didn't like the feel of it. With a Maglite and a gun in hand I quietly opened the door, nothing unusual. It sounded quiet and inspection of the first floor showed no signs of forced entry, everywhere was exceptionally tidy so no burglars? Onto the upstairs and I began to get a familiar feeling, I'm not sure why, I cleared the first two rooms and decided that the last door could hold the answer as to why the alarms had been activated. I shut off the Maglite and stealthily opened the door, and looked through the gap, I didn't want to give the old lady a heart attack, but it was my heart that kicked up in pace when I saw a body stretched out over the bed with sheets barely covering them. The ambient light from the moon coming in through the window shone over the figure that was definitely not old, but was female from the shape. I moved quietly into the room and held my breath. Long legs flowed from underneath a towel that barely covered her ass, but it was the dark curly brown hair spread across the pillow that caused my breath to catch in my lungs. She was lying on her stomach with her left arm curled around the pillow by her head that was facing away from me. The other arm was tucked under her body and her left leg was bent, with the other straight. I quietly walked and knelt in front of her face. My Babe was safe and fast asleep; I felt my heart swell as I tucked a stray curl from her cheek behind her ear. She was so still, it unnerved me, and Steph was never this still even when sleeping. A quick scan of her body showed no injuries, so maybe she was absolutely exhausted, that may account for her stillness. I went back downstairs and reset the alarm, then sent a text to Juan. "Sorted" I re entered the bedroom, now noticing clothes dropped on the floor, then moved to the side of the bed. Even here Steph chose to sleep on the left side of the bed, as I made to raise a cover up over her she stirred and mumbled in her sleep, I stilled as she moved and brought her right arm free and turned her head to face me. First I wanted the comfort of holding her. I toed off my shoes and placed my gun and torch by the side of the bed then I lay down by her side and placed my arm over her waist, I smiled as she instinctively moved toward me and hooked a leg over mine snuggling into my chest. God how I had missed her, how I felt complete now with her in my arms, I needed to, no, I wanted to tell her just how important she was to me. As I relaxed I could feel her nuzzling my chest and knew the instant that she was becoming aware of my presence, her breathing increased, as did her heart rate, then she became absolutely still as if trying to work out what was different. Her eyes came open showing total panic and for once my Babe was speechless. "Hey you're OK, I'm here, it's safe" "What are you… how did you … why are you here?" "For you, I'll explain everything later and you can tell me all about your adventure." "Oh, I must have fallen asleep, what time is it?" "Only 1am, so we need to sleep, OK?" "Mmm" I returned to lie on my back and was pleased when she tucked her head over my arm onto my chest and moved herself as close as she could possibly get. My arms automatically entwined around her, holding her, and it wasn't long before we both fell asleep.