Here's chapter three! :)
It's a long chapter this time, it's the longest I have written so far and I hope you like it. In this chapter the story behind Adam is told as well as some of the others. Also Ranger get his ass kicked by a girl, should be fun ;)
Thank you for the reviews and special thanks to Emelie Martel, I love you all
Not mine, not making any money
Stephanie POV
I remembered that day well. It had been a week after I had hired Adam. I was feeling sad as it was my mom's birthday and I couldn't contact her in anyway. Adam had suggested that I sent a letter to her, as Ranger probably wouldn't have the resources to monitor her mail. Or that I sent it to Lula who would give it to her. I had agreed on the later one and had spent a whole night trying to tell her everything that I could without giving crucial information in case it got to wrong hands. Or in Rangers.
I poured my heart into that letter, and I cryed, threw things and laughed until I cryed again. The paper was smudged and dirty as I had fallen asleep on it. Adam had found me in the morning laying on the kitchen countertop and had mailed it for me.
"Dear Mom.
I love you and I'm okay. I had to leave as things got hard and the person I thought I could trust didn't earn my trust. I can't tell you where I'm but trust me, I'm fine. I'm so sorry to put you through this and I wish I could call you and talk to you. I didn't know how much I needed you until I couldn't call or visit you. Tell Dad I said hi and tell him not to worry. It's lovely here and I wished you could see it. I have made new friends which I could trust with my life. I'm sure that they wouldn't lie to me. Don't be mad or sad. Be happy, because I am. I wish from the bottom of my heart that I could be there to give you a hug. Be strong, mom, show them what we are made of. And please don't show this to Ranger or Joe. My feelings about them are not so kind, if you know what I mean. I love you and always will! Even though there are distance between us I believe that this will be fine one day. I love you. Please don't worry, I hate to think that I cause you any more trouble than I have already done. I miss you terribly and I wish you were here. I love you.
Try to keep dad from killing grandma.
-Stephanie.
PS. Ranger if you're reading this then F. you. You are a very sad man!
PS2: I'm sorry about the language, mom."
I wrote a small letter to Lula as well telling her what to do and told her about Ranger, ranting on and on about how I hated him and what I wanted to do with his lousy ass. Lula would understand. Lula would hunt him down and kick his ass. I had laughed at that, enjoying it. I was full of revenge, with what happened with Joe and the pouring all of my trust into Ranger and him throwing it away.
And now months later I was still angry. A lot had happened since then. I had worked on my anger with Adam, he let me kick his ass and let me cry against him. He had been the best friend I had needed and had stood besides me since. As though I was close with the whole core team and the rest of the guys, I was the closest with him. He was my Tank.
I had only started my business when I had seen him. I was working on my laptop in the cafe just outside the house I used to live in. It was a lovely place, small and intimate, decorated with vintage furniture and had very old newspapers on the tables. I used to sit in a blue, armchair in the back of the cafe. There was about ten tables and they all were different, mine was a small one, made out of pine tree. It was always empty. That day I had noticed that this long, brown haired and kind looking man was watching me from the front of the building and I had smiled at him. He had gotten up and sat down with me.
"Hi, I'm Adam." he said to me offering his hand to me. His voice was softer than I had imagined it to be and he didn't seem uncomfortable just sitting with a random woman he met in a coffee shop.
"Charlotte." I answered, remembering that I wasn't Stephanie anymore and shook his hand.
"So why are you so far away from home?" he tilted his head slightly and looked at me.
The question caught me of guard and I spilled my coffee on my new pants. I had had to buy new clothes as I hadn't had time to take with me my old ones. I had jumped on a train and gone to Washington DC and flown from there using a fake passport I had gotten a few years ago. I hadn't used it before that time and when I got to Europe I had gotten my self a new identity. I was Charlotte Brown, married to Charles Brown. We had both gone to University of Oxford and had gotten married soon after that. After the marriage we travelled around Europe. My parents had been killed in a car accident when I was nine and after that I had lived in a boarding school and in the summer with my grandmother Julia. She had tragically died from a heart attack when I was twenty. Charles had come from a small family in northern Scotland and his father had left him and his mother when he was 4. His mother had killed herself after that and he had been brought up by a church and he had worked non stop to get to university. We had met there on a maths class and it was love at first sight.
As soon as I hit London I rented a room from a nice family. I had gone shopping and started my new business. All my clothes were different from what I wore in Jersey. My wardrobe was more elegant and sophisticated and.. mature. The jeans I had spilled on were my favourites. They fit me like a glove and made my bum look very good. I stood up and tried to wipe the coffee away with a napkin having no luck with that.
"Oh man, I'm so sorry about your jeans!" Adam said now standing and offered me more napkins.
"That's okay." I said and sighed. I had to go and buy some new jeans. And some shoes. Maybe even a purse. I sat down and looked at the guy.
He was in his thirties and was very muscular. His hair was medium long and slightly wavy. His eyes were blue and they seemed to look me right down to my soul. They were kind but also like they had seen a lot of hard stuff. When he smiled, he smiled with all his face. He wore a red t shirt and jeans and sneakers. He was looking at me smiling and leaning on his hands.
"You're married to Charles Brown right?" he asked me and surprised me yet again.
"Yes. Why?" I asked him with a surpriced voice. Who was this guy?
"I'm looking for a job." he said and sighed. "It's hard you know? I don't want to waiste my time on some stupid job, like working in a fast food restaurant. I heard that you guys had opened a bonding company and I really need the job. I was the top of my class in the army and I like to do some physical work. "
I looked at him. Could I trust this guy? I could need some extra hands as I was getting more and more bonds. This guy seemed to tell the truth, his face lit up in a funny way when he talked.
"You know, my husbands out of town." For ever. "So, I'm managing the business. Why don't you take your coffee and come with me to the office, so we can talk in peace?"
He agreed to come with me and we returned to my office. We talked and I started to trust him. He was a honest guy and I hired him right away. I haven't been disappointed with him to the date. He was good at what he did and still managed to small talk. I loved him more as days passed and when I got shot, I had to rely my life in his hand. He got me to the hospital and brought the guy we had been busting back to jail. While I was recovering he managed the business and he did that great. I signed the bonds and he busted the sorry asses. After that I had told him the truth about me but he hadn't left and I was thankful for that.
A little while after we had decided to bring someone else in. We had found her after five days of interviews and she was the last one we interviewed.
"Michelle Jordan. I'm sorry I'm late." We shook her hand and after a long interview we knew that she was our next employee.
She was beyond happy as I told her the good news. She was about my height with ruby red, curly hair and chocolate brown eyes with the longest eye lashes I have ever seen. She drove a fast, black BMW and was a brilliant addition to us. She looked sweet but was really good in kickin'-ass and she could shoot an apple from the other side of a football field. During her day off she was relaxed and very happy, always laughing and smiling. We used to go to the mall together and one day I went with her to the hair salon. She talked me into dying my hair black and when I looked in the mirror I couldn't recognize myself. That was good as I was terrified that Ranger would come and drag me back to the States. When I had bought the house outside London she had helped me decorate it. We are very close.
Then the next were Cindy Queen, Mark Andrews and Oscar Steel. Cindy was a killer make-up artist. She used to transform us when we went undercover as well as being unbelievably good at doing searches. Oscar and Mark where mostly on the field as they were strong and big guys. Oscar was great in captures and Mark was head of the security branch. These five were the persons that I counted on the most and they were also my closest friends in the UK.
When I was finished making the arrangements for the guys from RangeMan I walked upstairs to Cindy's apartment. Her place was decorated with silver's and blue's and she had turned her office to a make-up studio. I got her always the most recent make-ups so that she could do her magic.
I knocked on her door and walked in when I heard the "come in!" . Cindy was shorter than I was and blond. She was one of the smartest person I know so I don't know about that dumb blond thing. She was wearing pink yoga pants and a top so I assumed I had interrupted her. The door opened to a small hall and you could see the kitchen and livingroom. Two doors were on the left side, one for the bedroom and on for the office.
"Don't worry about that, honey. Now you had some undercover issues to talk to me about?"
She led me to her office and sat me down at the salon chair she had in the middle of the floor. There was enormous amounts of make-up and hair products on the shelves that covered all of her walls. A large mirror was beside the door and I could see our reflections on it. I turned the chair so that I could see both the window and door. A small shower was in the back.
She sat down on a wooden chair beside a huge desk.
"So, Ranger's coming. Michelle told me that they'll land in about two hours and I can count with one hour to find us."
"I understand. So you don't want him to recognize you?" she giggled and started to rummage through the make-up to find something.
"Yes. Until I know what to do with him." I shifted nervously in the chair.
She laughed and pulled her brushes. I felt nervous. Not about Cindy, but about Ranger. Even after several months I wasn't that sure about my feelings for him.
"Do you have a picture of you when he last saw you?" Cindy said to me as she put on her working shirt. It was one of Marks old collar shirts. She used to use it when she dyed hair to protect her own clothes.
I nodded and looked at the picture I had brought. It was taken the day before I left. In the picture Ranger was hugging me and we both laughed. My brown curls where all over the place and I wore only mascara and lip gloss. I gave the picture to Cindy and closed my eyes. I had three hours to mentally prepare myself. In three hours I would be looking at Ranger's eyes. I swallowed hard.
"Do your magic Cindy. I trust you." I sighed and enjoyed the feeling of someone brushing my hair and doing my make-up.
Ranger POV
As soon as we landed at Heathrow Tank rung our informant in London. He gave us the address to the town office Charles Brown had. It was closed as we drove past it but I didn't feel discouraged. I called Hal back in Trenton to run a search for houses in the name of Charles Brown. We sat silently in the car as we waited for him to call us back. I started to drum my fingers on the steering wheel and Lester shifted.
I took the letter out of my pocket. It was a copy of the letter Stephanie had sent her mom on her birthday. I smiled at the F. you at the end. I brushed my fingers against the letters, almost seeing her writing it. You could see small spots on the letter, and I suspected that she had cryed when she wrote it and I felt terrible taking her privacy away from her. Still the letter gave me hope and everything I needed to make it through the day.
I watched an old lady rush over the street towards us. She looked carefully at us and clearly thought about calling the police. Good thing I had my fake badge! I took it out of the glove department and showed it to her. She visibly relaxed and waved at us. We waved back. Lester chuckled in the back seat. My phone rung.
"Charles Brown don't own any houses but his wife Charlotte does. She owns a large house, almost like a mansion just outside the city. About 30 minutes drive, I'll send you the address."
Stephanie POV
Cindy was beyond good. She had finished early so that I could have more time to choose my clothes. I stood in my walk-in closet, wearing only a lacy underwear set. I had my hand on my hips as I looked at the clothes. I wanted to wear something sexy, just to provoke him but at the same time I wanted to wear my sweat pants and my gym-shirt. This was just a business meeting and there was no need to worry. It wasn't like he was the president. No, he was Ranger, and that was probably worse. I walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.
My hair was pulled in a relaxed bun which was still formal. Cindy had boosted my black hair color and now it was as dark as it got. She had made my face seem more heart shaped and I wore midnight blue contact lenses. They looked eery against my pale skin and black hair. She had elongated my lashes and they were huge, still looking natural. My lips were fuller and painted with a slightly red lipstick and my teeth were whiter. I turned around to see my back. She had painted a tattoo on my right shoulder blade. It was a Chinese sign for peace. She had made my bust a cup larger and I now had the perfect hourglass figure. I traced my hand across the small scar on my stomach wher I had been shot, it was lighter than the rest of my skin. I sighed and realised that I was now the smoking hot Charlotte Brown not Stephanie Plum. I was sure that they wouldn't recognize me, as it was hard for me too.
I walked back to the closet and pulled out a specially made evening gown I had bought for situations like this. It was blue, almost black and was full length. It was strapless and fitted until it reached thighs where it flared slightly. There was a huge slit to as high as it could get without showing my panties on the left side. It was simple, elegant and sexy. I pulled it on and chose a pair of silver high heels with real diamonds embedded on the heel. I loved the way they sparkled as the light hit them. I glanced at the mirror and walked to the hall closet, pulling out my favourite gun, strapping it on my left thigh so it showed when I walked. Man, I was mean.
I called Adam as I walked back to the bedroom.
"Hi handsome!" I said with a nervous voice.
"Don't worry about him. Our contacts say that they have landed about twenty minutes ago and are heading this way. Disarm them?" His voice was tense, but excited in the same way. I shook my head and smiled. Adam loved a good fight.
"Yeah, don't want any trouble." I answered him and stopped in front of my pillow cup board. I fell silent and tried to figure out what emotion I was feeling.
"I would choose red if I were you." Adam said to me, knowing what I was doing. I heard the smile in his voice and glanced at the list of colors and their meaning which was taped to the inside of the doors. Red, the color of love, warmth, hatred and worriness. It also made the human mind to make faster choices.
"Thanks." I replied to Adam as I dragged the pillows and blankets on the bed, returning to the cup board with the light blue ones. I heard him laugh in the other end. I picked blue towels for the bathroom, blue meaning harmony and calmness. As I threw the used towels in the laundry chute I heard him tense up. His breathing was more regulated.
"They're coming." his voice showed more excitement than worry. I giggled.
"Have fun. Don't kill anyone."
"Yes, mom." he chuckled and hung up. I hurried to my office where I had monitors of all of the security cameras. I looked at camera one. A black SUV was nearing the gate.
Ranger POV
We drove to the house and exited the freeway onto a small drive way. The road was paved and large oaks grew on the both sides of the road. This was as British as it could get. There were open fields on both sides but as we drove forward it was replaced with trees. The view was gorgeous. As we had driven for a couple of minutes I slowed down. The sight in front of us was magnificent.
A huge Victorian house appeared in front of us. It had three stories and a huge front yard. Three cars were parked by a garage at the right side of the house. A large fountain was placed in the middle of the yard. I stopped at the open gate. This was a bounty hunters worst nightmare. Large windows and trees, there was about one hundred ways to hide from our sight. I noticed that Tank was agitated. He glanced at me.
"This don't feel right." he said to me and I could hear the strain on his voice. I nodded to him and glanced at the two sitting in the back. They too, were worried.
"Let's just hope they aren't that hostile."
As soon as I said those words my car door was opened and I was forced on the ground. By the groans and upset muttering, I wasn't the only one. Somebody held a gun to my head and patted me down for any guns. They removed all three. Dammit, I was held at gunpoint by strangers, in another country and I had no weapons. Could this get any worse?
Stephanie POV
I watched with mixed emotions the gate-camera footage. I was worried, happy, angry and strangely calm all at the same time. I shifted my weight and bite my perfectly manicured nails. Cindy was going to throw a fit.
Luckily the take down went smoothly. They didn't even see it coming. I beamed, proud of the guys taking down worlds second best bounty hunter and his top team. I saw them drag them towards the house and that Frank drove their car to the garage. I took a deep breath and exited the office. As I walked down the stairs I could hear some upset muttering from the first floor. I paused at the second floor to gather myself and with a deep breath I walked down the stairs, stopping halfway to admire the sight in front of my eyes.
Ranger had Tank, Lester and Cal with him. That didn't surprise me at all, he was too much of a coward to come alone. They were all standing by the door surrounded by my team. Adam was near Ranger and I saw in his eyes that he would like to hurt him. Michelle, Oscar and Mark where standing with Frank, securing the rest of the guys with out even cuffing them. Ranger would have cuffed us if we tried to break into his office. As I descended their eyes focused on me and could feel them staring at me. I couldn't blame them, I was beyond sexy. Adam broke the silence.
"Look what the cat brought in, darling." he said to me and smiled at the reaction Ranger got. He glanced at Adam and then back at me. I descended the rest of the stairs stopping at the bottom. The stares continued.
"Well, well, well." I said. "It's our colleagues from America who think they are better than us." I was angry at them, well only at Ranger but they had came with him. I controlled my voice and smiled.
"Not so tough now, are you?" I said and walked towards them. Their eyes focused now on my thigh, or probably the gun there. I stopped a few steps from them, crossing my arms.
"Why are you here?" I asked them, still with the controlled anger. They all looked at Ranger. He looked at me and smiled.
"Very nice. I assume that you are Charlotte?" I felt like punching him. I looked him straight in the eye.
"Yes. And you are Ricardo Carlos Manoso from Trenton NJ also known as Ranger. You have a daughter in Miami and family in Trenton. You are divorced from Rachel who lives with your daughter in Miami. She's remarried to a man named Ron. You founded RangeMan, who until recently was the best security company in the world. You have buildings around the states, including one in Trenton, Miami, Boston and Atlanta. You have with you the man you call Tank, Lester Santos and Cal Stevens. They all work for you in the Trenton office. There is seven floors on the Trenton office, and the seventh is your personal apartment. Can I stop here or do you want the full layout of your offices?"
I watched how the smile was replaced with a grimace of horror. I had to fight the urge to laugh. I know, that was evil but I couldn't help it. His arrogant expression when he had asked if I was Charlotte had pushed me of the edge. I saw that Adam was trying hard to control the urge to laugh. I composed myself.
"Now why are you here?" I asked him again, now with a harder voice.
"I.. I don't know what to say.." It was the first time Ranger was the loss of words. He stood there with his mouth open staring at the floor. I turned my attention to Tank.
"Can you tell me why you are here before my patience runs out?"
"We decided to come here to check you guys out as we didn't know you. We thought it might be for the best if we met and discussed business." His voice was controlled and he looked me straight in the eye as he spoke. He told me the truth, no silly non-sense and I was glad about that. I smiled and nodded thank you for him.
"Do you want to stay here with us?" I asked Tank again. "It's a horribly dull drive from London and the hotels aren't worth the money you pay for the room. I have a guest house if you would like to stay?" I asked him kindly. "Follow me and we'll give you a little privacy so you can talk freely." I led the way to the formal living room just across the hall. It was decorated with whites and greens and the back wall was glass so you could see the lake and the spacious yard. In the middle of the room were three white couches and a light green chair. Large paintings of the sea and hills hung on the wall. I opened the double doors to the room and let them go in, then I turned to go back. Before I exited the door, leaving them alone I turned to them.
"Don't run, we wont be as kind the next time." I said and gave them the sweetest smile. I walked out and closed the door. I turned to the guys standing in the hall.
"Frank, Oscar watch the door. Michelle go out back in case the notice the doors to the yard. Be discreet. Mark search the car." I said to them and smiled. They smiled back.
"If I didn't know you I would be scared to death." Mark said to me and chuckle. "That's the way you handle things."
I laughed with him and then turned to Adam.
"Yes?" he stated and took my hand. I glanced back into the room and saw that the guys were still looking at us. I smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you for everything. Now let's go make some tea."
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