Chapter 39

Urgh, I felt nauseous again, I lay very still trying to quell the feeling. I felt Carlos get up from the bed and the door close, not two minutes later and he re appeared carrying a tray. I slowly sat part way up and saw that he was holding a cup for me and had put some crackers by my side.

"What is this?"

"Ginger tea and crackers, Angel said they could help you with the sickness, she also said not to get up too quickly"

"Thank you"

"De nada"

I sipped the hot tea, not too bad really and nibbled on a cracker, after ten minutes and four crackers later I did actually feel a little better. Carlos had his two-minute shower and came out to dress, I watched as he toweled himself dry, then turned away when he caught me looking.

"See something you like, Babe?"

"Smartass"

I slowly got out of the bed and sauntered across the room, as I came level with him I playfully smacked his behind then ran into the bathroom. I heard him laugh as I closed the door, yes I felt better this morning. I dressed in a sundress and sandals for todays outing and went out onto to the terrace where Carlos was eating breakfast.

"You seem to be in a bright mood this morning, querida?"

"Yeah, the tea and crackers definitely helped"

"I'm glad, I'm sorry you have to suffer that"

"S'okay"

"I've ask Sofia to pack some light snacks and ginger soda for you on the plane, will you be okay walking round the town?"

"I'll be fine, we'll be in cars mainly so there shouldn't be a problem"

I sat down on his lap and picked up a banana, slowly pulling the skin down.

"Carlos, would you wear a wedding ring?"

"For you, anything"

I hesitated, how do I ask this?'

"Babe?"

"Could we look for wedding bands together today?"

"That was what I wanted to ask you, so yes we'll look them for today"

With that settled in my head we walked out of the front door, collecting my bag, and Carlos collecting a thin shirt, I think the shirt must have been to conceal his gun because all the other men were dressed the same.

"Is it safe in Caracas?"

"As much as any city Bonita, but we always go prepared, just stay close to one of the guys, OK?"

The flight to Caracas was less than an hour in the jet Kade had, it still amazed me that he had so many extravagant modes of transport and that Jobe was piloting along with Lester, these guys had so many skills. Once we landed there were three Black SUVs waiting where we stopped, men got out and opened each of the doors for us. Angel and I were dress shopping first and had Lester and Tobi with us, Carlos and Kade were looking for suits and Jobe and Sam were going? Not sure what they were up to. We were going to meet up at a restaurant for lunch, and then Carlos and I would be looking for our rings.

As soon as we left the airport the guys went into body guard mode, there was no bantering or joking, constantly looking around, to be honest it made me feel more nervous. The dress shop that Angel had spoken with didn't really look much from the outside but oh my, once inside there were some beautiful dresses, and not one flouncy dress in site. I was almost lost for choice, almost. When I saw the dress I knew it was the one. It had simplicity to it, with a deep V-neck that plunged down to the waist, both at the front and the back, and then clung to my hips kicking out at the knees. It was a cream color embellished down the neckline to the waist. There were some matching flat sandals; I had to remember we were getting married on the beach, and a simple matching hair comb with the same embellishment as the dress.

"Steph that is beautiful, and is so you"

"Thanks Angel, you don't think it's a bit risqué?"

"No, it's perfect. Does it have a fitted bra?"

"Yeah, there are cups inside and would you believe there's matching briefs and garter?"

"It looks as if it were made for you, it's even the right length, I could never get away with that"
"Well you need to look for a dress yourself, 'cos girl you are going to be my maid of honor"

I removed the dress and the assistant packed everything into a white box, that's when I panicked. Of Angel noticed.

"Steph what's wrong?"

"I don't have any currency to pay, I don't know how much it is"
"Oh, is that all, the shop will send the bill to the island, it's all sorted"

That wasn't exactly how I envisioned this, and now that I thought about it,I didn't really have that much money to my name. I hadn't caught a skip in weeks.

"Steph you've gone pale, do you need to sit down?"

"Oh Angel, I can't get this, I can't afford it"

"Nonsense, the reward money from those bikers and Homeland came in today, Kade just needs to sort it out, and there's enough for you to buy this"

I didn't know anything about any reward money, was she telling me the truth? I picked up my phone and pressed 1.

"Yo"

"Yo yourself, Carlos was there reward money from when those bikers were captured?"

"Let me check with Kade. Yes, came in this morning, there a problem Babe?"

"Err, no. We're heading for lunch now, so see you soon"

I closed up the phone still not sure, well, I wanted that dress so I smiled at the assistant and took my box.

We met the guys for lunch, the restaurant was outdoors but with lots of shade, a good job because as soon as I curled up against Carlos I was asleep. I felt kisses on my cheeks and across my lips and smiled, what a way to be woken up.

"Babe, you need to eat and drink something before we leave, what do you fancy?"

I smiled up at him; yeah he knew exactly what I fancied. He laughed then nuzzled my neck.

"Later"

After a light lunch we swapped cars, I was travelling with Carlos and Kade, but we didn't go to what I would call a conventional jewelry shop, it looked like some ones mansion. I looked toward Kade for an answer.

"This gentleman has the finest selection of jewelry in the city, you have to book an appointment to see him"

We were shown into a room that was more like a formal parlor, thick carpets and upholstered chairs. Carlos spoke in Spanish to an older looking man who went out of the door and reappeared carrying a velvet tray, On the tray were a selection of his and hers wedding bands. To be honest all of them looked beautiful, but I wanted Carlos to choose.

"You choose, please Carlos"

He nodded and picked up two of the rings, holding one against my finger.

"Take off your engagement ring and try this"

The ring was the same white gold as my ring and had a small diamond and two leaves engraved into the band. It matched my engagement ring perfectly, and it fit! He then showed me the other ring for himself, it looked to be made of platinum and had a single black diamond embedded into the band with two leaves engraved on either side.

"Perfect, Babe do you like them?"

"Yes, They're beautiful and elegant and because the stone is embedded it won't get caught on anything"

He spoke to the gentleman who disappeared to return with the rings now in a blue box. That seemed to be our shopping done so we then returned to the airport to fly home. The rest of the week passed quickly, I must admit I felt relaxed having a wedding planner doing all of the hard work, all Carlos and I had to do was make a choice from the options she put into an email. I was coping better with the morning sickness, mainly due to Carlos being so attentive, and taking a nap in the afternoon helped stave off the tiredness. Friday morning came and with it a beautiful blue sky. Angel had organized for us to have a massage, body scrub followed by hair and make up. This all happened in her rooms.

"I'm not sure I should even be talking to you Angel"

"Why?"

"You made me sleep here in your cottage and not with Carlos"

"Didn't I tell you, I'm a traditionalist, and anyhow it's bad luck to see the groom before the wedding"

I rolled my eyes at that one, even Carlos was annoyed at the way we'd been separated. Sophia helped me to get into my dress; she argued that without help I'd spoil my makeup or hair. She obviously didn't know how a Jersey girl could operate. As the time approached to leave the cottage I was surprised with myself, I thought I would be full of nerves but I wasn't, I felt calm and incredibly happy. This was the right man for me. Lester and Tobi were walking out with me and escorting me down to the beach toward the canopy. Angel went first and we followed, to be honest I didn't really notice my surroundings, my eyes were fixed on the man under the canopy, he looked so handsome and delicious, dare I say I had tears of joy in my eyes. He was wearing a black linen suit with a cream shirt the same color as my dress, a blue tie that matched Angels dress. In fact all the men were in suits, shirts and ties, and all of them looked incredible. Our eyes locked from the moment I walked out and within the black depth of his eyes I saw so much love and emotion. As I stood opposite him to say my vows and for him to say his, my heart swelled inside of me, god how I loved this man, he was my everything. Our first kiss as husband and wife was full of love, and passion, I could have stayed forever in that one spot, but the cheers and whistles had my cheeks warm up and we turned to face the rest of the guests. There was someone taking photographs, we'd decided that when we had our party back home we'd give each guest one. It was when I really looked out over the people sat on the chairs that I suddenly noticed my Grandma sat with Tank and Bobby. I looked at Carlos, because I knew he'd arranged that for me.

"Thank you"

Chapter 40

We had been married for a week, enjoying each other's company, and occasionally making an appearance with the others in our group. Steph was surprised when we turned around after the ceremony to see Tank stood with her Grandmother, Edna was in tears and very emotional, I'd arranged for Tank to bring her, along with Bobby, to share our happy day. Frank, Stephs father had been invited but he decided that the day was for Steph to enjoy and not to be reminded of the events that had happened in Trenton, he'd sent her a letter, explaining, wishing us a memorable day and that he would catch up with her when she returned. Today was the day for our return and I don't think anyone wanted to leave. The jet was flying in to Mercer airport to drop off Steph and myself, Bobby, Tank, Santos and Edna before Kade and Angel headed back to the west coast. I had to admit that Edna looked more frail than I remembered, she'd been very quiet for her stay with us, I suppose all that had happened were taking their toll on her, even Tank admitted she had never once attempted to grope him. Steph seemed to be managing her morning sickness but I knew we'd need to look at making an appointment with a doctor when we got back. We'd agreed to keep the pregnancy quiet until people got used to the idea that we were married. There would be a busy few weeks ahead of us, I needed to catch up and get back into business mode and Steph wanted to catch up with friends. She'd told me that she didn't want to go back to bounty hunting, which suited me just fine, I'd already discussed with Tank, Santos and Lester about her working at Rangeman. Whilst her ability to do searches was exceptional we all knew that it would drive her mad, so at some stage she needed to decide what she would be comfortable with. Too soon we arrived back at Rangeman, back to a normalcy I hoped.

"Babe, have you thought which doctor you'd prefer to see?"

"Not really, only that I don't want to see anyone in Trenton"

"Do you want me to arrange one in Newark?"

"Please"

"I'll do that today, what are your plans?"

"I'll spend the morning doing searches, have a sleep, then I'm going over to see Grandma. I'll be back by 5. What about you?"

"I've got two new clients this morning, then I have to get back to sorting through the annual reviews"

"If you need help ask, OK?"

"I'll meet you up here for lunch"

With that I left Steph to go down to five. The floor was quiet when I got there, asking at the monitors I was told all was quiet so letting reception know the clients I was expecting I went to my office to start the day. I knew the minute Steph came onto the floor, I could feel her near but for some reason the noise level always seemed to rise, she definitely brought lightness to the men at work. At the moment we seemed to have a good crew and everyone seemed to be getting on well. At 12 having secured the clients as new business I went up to seven. Steph had beaten me there because she was fast asleep on the couch, a half eaten sandwich in front of her. I didn't want to wake her so grabbed something from the fridge and left a note next to her; I'd see her when she got back this afternoon. Back down in my office I researched for a good doctor and made an appointment, in three days time. At 2pm I felt Steph coming closer, she lightly knocked and popped her head round the door.

"Babe, you don't need to knock"

"Well you might be in a meeting"

"So? You know I'd rather see you instead"

She walked over and as I pushed my chair away from the desk she sat on my knee. I bent down and kissed her stomach.

"Hola mi pequeña"

"I'm just leaving to go see Grandma, I'm a bit worried about her"

"I noticed as well, give her time, maybe she'll bounce back"

"Maybe"

"Babe I've made an appointment for a doctor in Newark, Wednesday at 4pm"

"Thank you"

She turned and kissed me, her hands in my hair, turning to deepen the kiss sucking my lower lip into her mouth, then using her tongue to tease my lips apart. God what this woman could do to me, I felt myself getting hard beneath her and I could feel her squirming against my lap.

"Babe, if you stay any longer you won't be seeing the outside of this office"

She laughed at me.

"The one good thing about being pregnant are the pregnancy hormones, I think they're almost as good as when I stop sugar"

"Babe you have stopped sugar"

"See, what did I tell you"

"Go woman"

She laughed, I was so glad to see the sparkle back in her eyes.

I'd started on the annual reviews and was on to the second one when my office phone rang, looking I saw it was reception.

"Yo"

"Boss, Vince here, there's a Don Matthews here to see you and he says it's really important"

"Escort him up to my office, then wait outside"

All my men knew if that order were given then I wanted backup at the door. Don came into the office, he looked gaunt and almost seemed to have aged.

"Don, why don't you sit down?"

He didn't, which had me concerned

"Ranger, I am so sorry for being such a prick, for not realizing what was going on"

"Don, I spoke with the Director and he said you'd been under a lot of stress, plus that woman could really twist and manipulate the truth, you had no idea what she intended"

"I know that now, I've been seeing a doctor whose been helping me, trying to sort out what's going on in my head. I should have left like you and given everything a clean break, I don't know why but I just felt that I still had so much to offer"

"Don, I appreciate you saying that, but what are you doing here?"
"Well the doctor told me one way of trying to find myself was to confront things"

"And?"

"I went to see Elspeth, in prison"

"Did that help?"

"No, because you need to know"

"Know what?"

"It wasn't just her, there was someone else involved in all of it, someone in the background"

Shit, I really thought we'd finished with all that.

"Don, did she say who?"

"No, she just kept saying that she was betrayed by her father because of him"

Hickman had said something similar when we spoke to him, but how did this affect us?

"Ranger she said he's real angry"

"Don will you please just tell me what's going on"

"She said that he's going to get back at you and, and Stephanie"

I was out the office in a flash leaving Don stood there, in the monitor room I pushed Hal to one side.

"Where are Stephs trackers?"

"At her old apartment, Sir"

"Whose with her?"

"Err, Ram"

Thank god Steph hadn't argued over having someone with her.

"Call Ram, now"

Hal called, first the car, then his phone.

"No response"

I pulled my phone from my pocket and hit 1"

Come on Babe, answer your phone"

When there was no answer I hit the alert button for Steph, this sent an alert out to all Rangeman that she was in danger and anyone near her position would get to her immediately.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

"Ranger, I'm 2 minutes out, what's the situation?"

"Santos, I'm not sure but there could be someone after her"

"Ah shit, I'll keep the speaker open"

I headed for the stairs still listening to the phone, Tank joined me in the garage and he drove as we headed for Stephs old apartment. Sounds from the phone put Santos as closing his car door.

"Ram is down, unconscious, I'm going up"

Tank was speeding now and we were almost there pulling into the car park at the back of the building. I quickly called for EMTs for Ram, and for Bobby to get here a.s.a.p.

"Ranger, the doors wide open, going in, lobby clear, kitchen clear, lounge clear. Shit I've found Edna Mazur lying on the bed, pulse steady. I've called EMTs for her. Ranger there's no sign of Steph"

My heart gave a punch and I had to concentrate to breath, Tank came behind me and with a hand on my arm pulled me through the door into the stairwell. Santos was still inside the apartment when we arrived at the door.

"Santos, you find anything?"

"Nothing, her coats here and so is her bag, she got any other trackers on?"

"She should have a panic button on her"

"Yeah well let's hope he doesn't have a zapper like that woman had"

I moved into the bedroom to take a look at Edna, she really was out for the count; I quickly looked at her arms and neck for any puncture marks from needles, but found nothing.

"Tank, have a look at anything they may have drunk"

"On it Boss"

The EMTs arrived and were taking vital signs on Edna; Bobby was with Ram on their way to the hospital. It wasn't long before they declared they were taking Edna in to the hospital.

"Tank, you find anything?"

"Only bottles of water in the trash"

"Take them and get them checked out for any drugs, and Tank can we have someone at the hospital for when Edna wakes up"

"I'll go"

"Thanks Santos"

Now what? I went around the building knocking on doors, but half the residents were out or had been too busy watching TV to notice anything. Surely someone would see a man dragging Steph out of here? I headed down to talk to Dillon in the basement. Not in, great. When I arrived back upstairs it felt that most of my men were here. Binkie turned to me.

"Boss got a team on the forensics, finger printing and searching"

"Cal"

"Yes Boss"

"Head to Rangeman and get all the files from the Elspeth Langham case and put them out in the war room. Tank head back with him and detain Don Matthews there. Hector take a partner and hit he streets, I'm heading back to Rangeman"

I thought we'd finished with this, Steph always said there was another key player, but because everything seemed to tie together with all the men and woman captured I never gave it a second thought. What the hell was the game now? Where was my Babe, and Christ, the baby! I screeched into the garage, leaving the car door open and running up the stairs to my office. Tank was just inside the door with Don pacing the room.

"Is she all right?"

"No Don, I can't find her, who Don, who was Elspeth talking about?"

"I don't know, she just said that she was betrayed by her father"

"Well her father would be dead by now, who else could it be?"

"Ranger who was her father?"

I looked at Tank, he knew what I was thinking, he'd known Don back in the days and then he was dam good at his job. Tank gave me a nod and I had to agree.

"Come on Don, time to redeem yourself, you can help"

He seemed to light up at that, so I took him into the war room where Cal was putting out the files. I knew the content of these files backwards; I'd read them enough times.

"Cal the letter that Thomas Grossman wrote?"
"Got it"

He handed me the letter and I skimmed looking for a name.

"Károly Riamann, he was Elspeth's father, and she came here under the name of Erzsébet Lange. He worked security to start with then joined the gendarmerie"

"Cal can you put some teams together and recon the addresses Steph had you search when I went missing, add onto that the warehouse and the hotel where she was taken"

"Don, ideas?"

"What if her father remarried?"
"Possible, but I know Steph didn't find anything under his name"

"So he could have changed his name to protect himself against recrimination or charges once the war ended there?"

"Don, it could be anything, plus we're looking for a son or even a daughter"

"So the offspring of this Károly Riamann would be younger than Elspeth, maybe born after Hungary became more stable"

"Go on, but this person could be American or Hungarian"

"So let's start to narrow it down, maybe after the Hungarian revolution in 1956, but lots of people fled as refugees, hell if I remember my history nearly 200,000, and 60,000 ended up here in America"

"Dom, you do what you do well, find his son or daughter"

I couldn't compute what he was saying because I couldn't see a way through, too many ifs and buts; I needed hard information to work with. We were now 6 hours since Steph had gone missing, surely we could catch a break? My phone went off and I saw it was Santos, I was praying now that maybe Edna knew something.

"Talk"

"Edna came round about an hour ago but the dam doctors wouldn't let me near her, Bobby put on the pressure 'cos Ram's awake as well, he had a dart mark in his neck. I taped our conversation, as I know she can go back and forth a bit, so you should have it now. I'll bring Ram back with me and leave Bobby here at the hospital, the lab here's trying to pin down what drug was used in her drink"

I disconnected the call and brought up the audio file Santos had sent. I heard Santos pushing her gently for answers.

"Edna, you remember me?"

"Your one of those hot fellas that works with Steph"

"Spot on Edna. Edna this is important, did Steph come see you this afternoon?"

"Well she was supposed to but I can't remember seeing her"

"What do you remember Edna?"

"Well I was getting ready for her coming, I'd baked a cake you see, I know she hasn't been eating a lot of cake, but I thought she deserved some. Then I put the kettle on ready to make a cup of coffee when she got here. Where am I?"

"I found you asleep in bed Edna, I got worried so they're checking you out at the hospital"

"Really? I don't remember going to bed"

"So Edna you put the kettle on for when Steph arrived, what then?"

"Well Ethel phoned to ask me to go to the viewing tonight, old man Golanci died last week, such a shame, I was gonna see if he was available to take me to bingo and then he goes and dies, you know . . ."

"Edna, after Ethel finished talking to you, what happened?"

"Well there was a knock on the door, I thought it was Steph but this nice young man was stood there, he said he'd arranged to meet Steph with me, now I thought it was strange, but then he said it was all last minute and he wanted to talk to us about that dam jewelry, that's all anyone's interested in"

"Edna, what did he look like?"

"Young, well maybe not as young you but younger than me, maybe fifty or sixty, hard to tell these days, but he was polite, offered to make me a coffee while we waited on Steph, couldn't make coffee though, had to add more sugar, sure tasted funny"

"Edna what else do you remember about him?"

"Why?"
"We can't find Steph Edna, and maybe he took her"

"No I don't believe that, he was a proper gentleman, spoke real posh, and had on an expensive suit"