Disclaimer: The characters are property of Janet Evanovich and I am not making any money from this story. The story line is mine.
Sequel to: Finding Yesterday
Warning: Angst and High Drama
Bed of Lies
Chapter 4
By Elissahara30
Boston, Massachusetts
Here I was reliving the life I'd left behind in France, staying in another apartment waiting, and wondering what roll I'm to adopt next. I sat on the single twin sized bed in the bare white walled apartment. My duffel sat on floor and I had my oil cloth rolled out before me with my gun cleaning kit, cleaning brush and my Sig Sauer P220. This particular weapon was a wedding present from Ranger and I've been very thorough of its care.
I could almost hear Ranger's voice in my head and feel his hands as he guided my hands against the P220. I closed my eyes as my fingers glided across the cool surface, dismantling the weapon with practiced ease and remembered back to the very first time Ranger has showed me how to clean my gun.
"Babe the first thing you need to do is," Ranger held my P220 in his capable hands, "Push the recoil spring guide forward, raise it carefully and remove the recoil spring with the spring guide from the slide."
"Right the spring guide from the slide," I said as I smiled at him, because really I didn't have a clue.
He gave me his barely there smile as he moved to sit behind me, he took my hands and placed them on the gun, "This long part here," he slide the top of the gun forward showing the channel inside, "This is the slide." With my hands in his he helped me remove the recoil spring & guide from the P220 slide.
"Hmm," I commented, I didn't like guns yet the feel of Ranger and the pistol in my hand, and I started to feel very warm inside.
"Now we remove the barrel from the slide," and he demonstrated picking up the barrel and pulling it out of the slide.
Ranger set the disassembled parts of the gun on the cloth in front of us, "Lubricate the cleaning brush with gun oil and insert it into the barrel through the chamber."
I think I stopped breathing as he guided my hands again using the oiled brush to remove dirt and powder residue from our target practice session earlier. Ranger picked up another cloth and gently started wiping the powder residue and oil from the barrel. I felt myself get dizzy as he used my hands to clean the slide & recoil spring. My breath hitched as we wiped away any excess oil and grease off the gun.
With his lips next to my ear he said, "Once you check to make sure that there isn't any debris inside the pistol."I looked at everything and nodded my head mutely, "now insert the barrel back into the slide, then the recoil spring on the recoil spring guide."
I couldn't help it as my hands started to tremble and my breathing quickened as my hands did as ordered. "Now insert into the slide," Ranger's lips caressed my cheek.
Ranger took the partially assembled P220 from my hands, set it on the oil cloth and kissed me breathless.
I shook myself out of the memory and looked down at the now cleaned re-assembled P220 in my hands. I set the gun down and stood up to get some space. I hugged my arms around myself to get control over my emotions. I paced around the room before I grabbed my lap top out of my carry case and booted it up.
I held the flash drive in my hand, amazing that something so small and harmless looking could be either nothing or hold something very, very painful. I had asked for the information here and I do need to know, but really I'm not sure I want to know. It's almost easier to close my eyes and pretend that Ranger was still in Miami. That he's just taking his time before catching his flight, and that he was going to be home real soon.
I could hear DM moving around in the other room, doing a sweep he said. This wasn't his place, he told me. True, it was mine. Ranger had let me pick this apartment, set it up the way I wanted. Funny my biggest criteria, was clean.
I closed my hand around the flash drive again and walked toward the window, I could see Pinckney Street below and noticed how quite it was tonight. Boston could almost be a world away from Trenton. I won't be quite as far away as France, hopefully not as lonely, but still not home.
I turned away from the window and headed back to the bed and sat down and pulled the laptop to me. I pushed the flash drive into the USB slot and closed my eyes briefly. This was my last chance to not read the files, to just go on thinking that my husband will find his way out of where ever he was being kept and come home to me.
I booted up the directory and opened the first file and started reading. When I finished the all the files on the flash drive I carefully closed the laptop and sat back on the bed. I didn't know what to feel at the moment and right now I needed the numbness. I stood up slowly and made my way to the front room and DM turned to me and waited for me to speak.
"What do you know about the Petrovich Edict and how it seems to involve you, The Christian, Ranger, NSA and Agent Jones?" I leaned carefully against the door behind me.
DM looked past my shoulder not meeting my eyes, "its classified Jersey."
"Bullshit," I said.
His eyes met mine with a fire I had never seen before, "Those papers are dangerous and I'm warning you now not to go down that road."
"Maybe Agent Jones can tell me about them," I threatened knowing that I was treading in very murky waters right now.
The muscle in DM's jaw twitched as he continued to look at me, "He'll do everything in his power to get his hands on what Ranger had to do to secure . . . damn it Jersey if you. . ." he paused to breathe out sharply, "If I'd known Jersey . . ."
"If you'd known would you have warned Ranger in time?" I felt the first real sense of feeling creep into my stomach.
"Yes," he stressed.
"Then tell me DM how the hell am I going to get him out of GitMo?" I wanted to scream it; they took my husband to the very last place any sane human should ever be taken. Because God only knows what is happening to my husband now. And there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it.
"I don't know if you can," DM confessed.
"I have to do something, I'm not letting Ranger just rot away there, if I have to . . . I'll expose what I have." I threatened, feeling hot and my knowing my control was slipping away.
"Ranger would never forgive you if you did that," DM warned.
And damn it I knew it was true; Ranger had kept that disk out of certain hands for years. It was the one rule I knew I had to obey, meant letting Ranger stay in prison.
"There has to be someone DM, The Christian is there something we have on him? There is no way in hell I'm going to let this go." I moved away from the door and made my way over to the little kitchenette. I opened the fridge and pulled out a beer and popped the top and drank deeply.
I closed my eyes against the sudden sense of loss, I leaned my head against the cupboard and I didn't move as DM came closer. "There is one person who we should talk to, but it means going to DC."
I turned my head and just stared at DM for a long time, "Who?"
He turned his face away from me again and somehow I wasn't going to like what he had to say to me, "Eleanor."
I pushed away from him and the kitchenette violently, "Fuck no!"
DM came closer and grabbed my arm, "She has contacts we can use," DM shook me hard, "You think I like having to even talk to her, and do you know what it's costing me to even consider what we have to do to get her cooperation?"
Shaking my head I pulled away, "No," I said.
"What happened to you wanting to do anything to get Ranger free," DM mocked.
DM was a bastard and we both knew it and it just ate at me. I was contemplating doing something so detrimental to national security to get Ranger free was unforgivable. But Eleanor was evil, plain and simple and I hated the very air she breathed. I thought briefly to my P220 in the bed room and how much I would love to use it on her.
"Why DC, I thought she's a resident at Lexington." I said.
"Once I knew what happened to Ranger, I contacted someone who owes me a favor, had Eleanor transferred to the Central office in DC," DM said.
"How very pro-active of you," My thoughts drifted back to Scrog and I sneered at DM, "Make sure it's her and not some look alike okay?"
"I need you to be on board with this Jersey," He reached out and touched my arm briefly before pulling away, "It won't work otherwise."
I hated not having any choices, and I turned away and went back into my room. I went to my sweater and pulled out the card that Agent Jones and slipped in and held it in my hands. He was part of the problem and possibly the solution to getting Ranger out of prison. I moved to my bag and put the card in with my IDs and closed it.
