. .oOo.

Chapter 12

The hum of the engines, and the soft thudding of Kinkaids footsteps as he paced were the only sounds in the cabin of the plane. Everyone waited, wanting to know how any of it tied in with what they were doing. Would it help them find who killed Chef?

Ranger sat back, keeping his blank face in place. He appeared calm, but he had a thousand questions going through his mind. From the moment Stephanie had let him know that Cal and Lester were pretty sure that Nick Ellis was in the picture, he couldn't stop wondering why.

Way back when, Nick had trained with them for a spot on the team. Ranger remembered him as being skilled enough, but he had not been exceptional or particularly memorable most of the time. Except for his temper. The smallest things seemed to set him off, and he kept grudges forever.

That Kinkaid was so worried about Nick had Ranger more than curious. Ellis may have been a bit of a hothead, but what did it matter to them, he had not even made the team. As far as he knew, he had been reassigned somewhere else and had gone on with his life, keeping busy just like the rest of them had.

Since their days of training together, Ranger had only seen Ellis one time. In fact, he had saved his butt in an assignment that had gone FUBAR for Nick and the men he was working with. So he was having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that now this guy wanted to do as much damage as he could to the whole team. Bottom line was that he didn't even know them. Why would he want to hurt them?

There was another part to this story that Kinkaid had not told them yet. If the general didn't get to it soon, Ranger knew that he would be ready to have Stephanie do her thing and search out the answers for him.

Just the thought of Stephanie coming into his mind made him feel all warm inside. Two hours into the flight home, they were closer now, and he knew that he would be seeing her soon. If he closed his eyes he could even imagine that he could feel that prickling on the back of his neck, that always told him that she was near. That was one of the things that he loved so much about her. He had never had that kind of connection with anyone else. He missed it so much when he had to go away.

He missed a lot of things about Stephanie, but mostly he just wanted to get back to her so that they could finally have the talk that had been delayed for too long. He had so many things that he wanted to say to her. So many things that she needed to know. So many answers he needed to his questions. That warmth inside of him gradually spread, and hope with it. Hope that she would be there waiting for him when he got back.

Forcing his mind back to Kinkaid and the discussion they were about to have, Ranger focused his attention on him. He could see the hesitation, the dread in his eyes. This was so out of the norm for the general. After all that blank look they had all developed had originated with Kinkaid years ago.

Before the plane landed, Kinkaid needed to explain this new bit of information to the team. He knew that it would mean revealing details that he had preferred to keep buried forever. Time was getting short, they were halfway home and he needed to just get it out so that they all knew what they were dealing with. His pacing stopped and Kinkaid took his place at the front of the cabin so that all of the guys could see him. With one hand gripping the top of the seat for some support, he took a deep breath. And then he started speaking.

The background information that he was giving them was nothing new. Still they all listened intently, keeping their own opinions to themselves until they heard all that the general had to say. For some of them, all of this was a reminder of the part of their life that they had left behind. For others, it only served to bring back to mind the way the military worked. So many times, they had to operate on a need to know basis, only being given the intel that was deemed vital for them to complete their objective. But they all hoped that this time the general was going to be straightforward with them. So far nothing that was being said was of any particular help.

Ranger looked up when the general paused and the talking stopped and all he could hear was the hush of anticipation from the guys as they waited for the general to continue. Kinkaid had resumed his pacing, which let Ranger know that he had something that he really didn't want to share with them, but that he knew they had to know.

This was an interesting turn of events. Kinkaid had all kinds of secrets that he liked to keep close, that he had to share one of them was obviously wearing on him. Ranger leaned forward in his seat, anxious to hear what the general had to say about Nick Ellis. Hoping that whatever it was, they could use it to find the man and figure out what he had to do with any of this.

Minutes later, that is exactly what they had. Like Ranger, the guys had been wondering why a man that they had not known that long would want to do them harm. None of them had any memory of a time when they had upset or hurt him, and they all knew that it was a big piece of the puzzle that was still missing. They definitely needed some more information to find this guy.

. .oOo.

He had worn this key around his neck for more than two years now, and finally getting the chance to use it was making Zurie Burian feel almost giddy. He tried hard to keep the grin off of his face as the taxi approached his new home. Almost breathless, he stared up at the stone facade. It was magnificent. The photos of the place had certainly not done it justice. He couldn't wait to see inside.

Now that he was here, his transformation would be complete, and Zurie was looking forward to holing up inside of this perfect palace. Almost feeling like he was hiding in plain sight again, he had to admit that Vasya had good taste. Zurie laughed out loud, there was no one that could trace him to this place, not even if he had still been going by the name Vasya Kostenka.

It had been a few years ago when he and the chef had done some amazing financial maneuvers to secretly sock away as much cash as they could. That had been the one gift that Vasya had given to Chef Ben. He told himself that it was all in appreciation of his wonderfully detailed work, that it was the best thing he could do was to make sure that his favorite contact would always have the money that he had earned. But deep inside, Zurie had liked Ben, like a brother. Like Ben was part of the family that Zurie had never been allowed to have.

It only felt right to let Ben in on the secrets that he had discovered. Neither of them had ever been to Lichtenstein before their weekend excursion. Ben said that he had never even heard of it, but he was as excited to go as Vasya had been. It was funny, Ben kept thinking that he should not trust Vasya, their work relationship was anything but normal. But it had not been that way.

In fact, he had felt almost from the beginning that both he and Vasya had been thrown into this crazy situation together, but neither one really wanted to do it, and that proved to be the strongest bond of all. So he found that he did trust him, and he went along with the plans, getting all dressed up in the most excellent disguise he'd ever seen, complete a new identity and a passport. Though they had not traveled together, because Zurie felt it was too risky, they had still been together in purpose and that had made all the difference.

They had both journeyed over to set up their accounts. Once the money had been in placed in brand new family trusts, it was easy to make the Real Estate purchases. It went like clockwork, smooth and easy and painless. Money can do some amazing things when you have a lot of it, Zurie often mused.

The only identification that was associated with any of the properties that he had bought here were just a series of numbers. Untraceable numbers that only he had possession of now. The chain with the key, and a small metal disk, that held those numbers, was pulled out from underneath his sweater. Shivers raced up his spine as he slid the key into the lock heard the click as it opened. The taxi driver had already unloaded his luggage, so Zurie paid him quickly, wanting to be alone now.

After dragging everything inside, he left the pile of suitcases and bags in the entryway. He would deal with them later, right now he wanted to explore his new world. Piece by piece, he discarded his disguise as he moved through the house. A mustache here, a wig there. Horn rimmed glasses ended up on the elegant side table in the hall. The hat and oversized coat landed on the ceramic tile floor as he passed through the kitchen to the terrace at the back of the house. By the time he reached the doors, Zurie had emerged as himself. Vasya was gone, and so was the life he had led.

Trading solitude for popularity, and books for an endless amount of friends, Zurie knew he could be content alone here for a very long time to come. The old stone balustrade of the balcony was smooth under his hands as he took in the view of the mountains that surrounded him. If he had to get lost somewhere, he reasoned, it might as well be in a place like this. Maybe it wasn't the view he'd had in DC, but he could definitely get used to it.

Now that he had explored his home, his first order of business was to try out the small safes hidden throughout the property. Zurie pulled one of the big suitcases into the den. It was an amazing room, three of the walls were lined with bookshelves, the wood gleaming with years of polishing. Since the house had come furnished, thanks to the trust fund that had controlled it for decades, every shelf was filled with leather bound books.

As he rolled back the oriental carpet to reveal the first safe, set into the floor, Zurie marveled at the clever way this country had of trading assets. Buying property would have been very difficult, if not impossible for a foreigner such as Zurie or Ben. But the establishment of family trusts, was another thing entirely. All Real Estate transactions were passed through the trust and their numbered accounts, leaving the identity of the buyer completely anonymous. All anyone cared about, it seemed, was that the wonderful old properties were passed on to someone who could, and would take care of them.

The code for the safe had been reset for Zurie. It took only a minute to open the door so that he could take a look inside. As expected, it was a simple fire-resistant steel box fit with several waterproof containers for valuables. Humming as he worked, Zurie removed the containers and set them aside with their lids open. He then opened the suitcase. All of the contents were pushed aside so that he could get to the secret compartments in both the top and the bottom.

He had been preparing for this for a year now. The day the chef had disappeared he had decided that it was time for him to plan his own retirement. Siphoning off cash from his accounts had taken time, but now he had nearly one million dollars worth of the universally accepted Swiss francs hidden in the compartments of this suitcase alone. More cash was in the other luggage as well. Zurie swiftly transferred the bundles of cash to the containers. Once he was done, he closed the lid securely and replaced the rug.

Repeating the process in the bedroom, with the safe behind the painting that looked like a Monet, and then in the large walk-in safe that had been installed behind the pantry in the kitchen, he hid the money that he had earned over the past two decades. All told, he had accumulated over four million dollars, transferring them into the francs so that he could live here without leaving a paper trail for anyone to find.

Zurie hoped that the chef had done the same thing a year ago. That thought had made him happy all year long. In fact it had been his inspiration the whole time too. Giving him the hope that he needed to believe that he could sever ties and disappear when he was ready.

The risk had been great. Though he had never been the conventional spy, in any sense of the word, he had always known what the end game would be. Could be, if he did not do what he needed to, to change the outcome. That the chef had taken a chance, and ended his 'career' on his own terms, had inspired Zurie to make his plans to do the same.

The blood in his DC apartment was left there to throw off not only the police who investigated his disappearance, but the men who would be charged with implementing the company's 'retirement' plan. An investigation had created the cushion of time that he had needed to leave the country and assume another identity.

As far as Zurie knew, the investigation was still going on, and the longer Vasya's potential kidnapping or death was in the news, the more time he had to establish his new persona. He would set up his computer and catch up on the latest news in a little while.

For now, he was watching the sun set over the ridges of the snow capped mountains. A spectacular sight that almost left him speechless. The golden glow reflected off of the frost of his glass as a myriad of emotions played through his mind and heart. It all felt so perfect.

Zurie had been sitting on the terrace for over an hour now basking in knowledge that he had gotten away with his biggest con ever. He was alone, but he was himself again and he felt like celebrating. Lifting his glass to the sky, he thought about what it had taken for him to get here. He nodded his head in a tribute to the chef, where ever he was. "Za Vas!" he said. To you!

. .oOo.

Silence ruled the cabin as the plane taxied down the runway to meet with the vans that would take them to Trenton. It had been decided somewhere between Kinkaid's presentation of the facts about Ellis as he knew them, and Ranger's question session of said facts, that it would be best to keep the team together at RangeMan rather than to go into DC. There were too many variables that were unknown with Ellis in the picture.

Most of them readily agreed that if and when Ellis showed his face, they would confront him as a group. So far that was as much of a plan as they had. Add the fact that they would have all the equipment that they would need at their disposal, to continue their search of whoever it was that killed Ben, would be the best set up that they could hope for.

Now that cells phones were back on, Ranger looked around to see that nearly everyone had their phones in their hands, sending the necessary texts as wives and families were being informed of their change in circumstances. He had his phone in his hand too, having just sent Stephanie a message of his own.

There was one person however who was just sitting and staring off into space. His arm had dropped down by his side, his phone just being held loosely in his fingers. Ranger moved over to sit in the seat next to Tank. He did not have to ask, he didn't say a single word.

"I'm a bigger idiot than I give myself credit for," Tank said, his voice a low rumble. "In the rush to leave, I didn't even ask Nia for her number."

Tank held up his phone "All I can find is the number for the operations building," he said,

"Did you call?" Ranger asked.

"Yeah, I called," Tank said. "She's off duty, won't be back until tomorrow."

"Then, you call her tomorrow," Ranger answered, giving him a slap on his shoulder as he got up. He felt for his friend. Not finding Nia to talk to right now, was just the beginning. It was not going to be easy to try and have a long distance thing going. He was afraid that Tank was going to be having these kinds of disappointing experiences frequently in the future. But he did not say a word, after all, who was he to give out advice about relationships.

By the time the plane came to a stop, the men were lined up with their packs ready. The moment the door opened, they were out and moving quickly to the waiting vehicles. No one expected any trouble, not here. But it would have gone against all their training if they weren't prepared for the worst at any given moment.

The next few minutes passed quickly and without incident. Everyone settled in for the ride to Trenton. Once again, it was nearly silent, each of the men lost in their own thoughts. The tension was nearly palpable, as they were all acutely aware that they had not found what they had been looking for yet. Chef's killer was still out there. All that would change before they made it to RangeMan.

. .oOo.

The buzz in her pocket let Stephanie know that another message had been delivered to her phone. Wasting no time, she opened it and read the words silently. This time Ranger was just letting her know that they were back, but she already knew that. The barely noticeable tingling at the back of her neck had started, and she knew that he was getting closer.

For a moment, she just closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation. This connection with Ranger was one of the things that she always missed so much when he was gone. It was also one of the things that had convinced her that they had a connection unlike anything she had ever felt with anyone else.

At first all of her thoughts were about how it was going to feel when Ranger got back, wondering if they were going to get the chance to have the talk they had been needing for so long. Anticipation of telling him what she had been holding back for too long had her heart racing.

Slowly, however, reality started to sink in. Preparations were going on to house the team that was coming here with him. This was not over, not by a long shot, and she tried not to be frustrated about that. They were probably not going to have private time together any time soon. So she switched gears.

There was a lot of information that Ranger had not been given yet. Now that they were back in range, she was going to have to let him know what they had been finding out since Aban got here. She dialed his number and put her phone up to her ear. She was about to be the bearer of bad news again, and her stomach clenched in fear. But it would not stop her, because now she realized that no matter how bad the news could be, it was always better to hear it from a friend.

. .oOo.