After six months on the job, Crane finally asked for a day off. This being an odd sort of request from someone who never asked for time off and rarely left to go to town, it was granted easily enough. She left before breakfast and drove down to Tahoe. Matt still didn't know what to make of this retired Gunnery Sergeant who never said a word about being assigned jobs that it seemed everyone railed against but did anyway. She was private about her life and some nights they'd sit around, trying to figure out if they knew anything else about her. Usually there was very little that was let slip which left them wondering even more about her.

When they tried to get her involved in discussions about family life or growing up, she did little to add to the conversation. Their information of her family extended to the fact that she was an only child. Her parents were both dead. Her father had been a Vietnam Vet but cancer took him early in life. Her mother had been a cook for a ranch and did Chuck Wagon cooking for cattle drives too. They knew she had been lived some of her life in Wyoming but where or when, the details were few and far between.

Matt wasn't sure if he should check her out further but instead he made a quick call to the local Sherriff to see if he had anyone to keep an eye out for where she went to on her day off. It was easily enough to convince the Sherriff since he owed Matt several favors. Mac did it himself and went touring around town on his rounds, looking for her old Ford truck. He spotted it outside a small café before calling in one of his deputies who was off duty and asked them to go in and do a little 'spy' work.

The morning passed as the Sheriff waited to hear the results and by two in the afternoon, he saw Crane leave the café and head over to her truck, climbing in and heading off somewhere else. He put his personal car in gear and began to tail her. She headed to the local box store and came out a few hours later with a cart of groceries and other necessities. When she pulled out of the parking lot, he noted that she was heading towards the Ranger station. His job was done for the most part. He had to get back to work and also have a chat with his deputy.

--

"Are you sure you heard correctly?" Mac asked his deputy.

The guy nodded, "Yeah. I had my laptop in there with my back to the wall in the booth next to them. I had the auditory sensors plugged in as if I was listening to music but it helped me pick up what they were saying at times. I typed up what I could."

He pulled up the file on his laptop and let Mac begin sifting through the conversation. "I think I need to contact Matt and I need to pull a records report with the military on her. If what you caught them saying is true, Matt needs to know."

Mac picked up the phone and dialed Matt's number, letting it ring. When Robin answered, he asked for Matt in a friendly tone. When Matt answered the phone, he explained to him that he was sending him a transcript of what his deputy was able to record in the café she'd been sitting in with another man for several hours. He needed to look it over and that Mac was going to pull her file up through the military and any thing else he could.

--

Matt's stomach sank when Mac told him about the file he was sending and how he was going to pull military information on her to verify if the information was true or not. His headache that had started earlier that day seemed to get ten times worse in the length of that one conversation that he simply sighed and told Robin he needed some time to review a few files before he was available again.

Robin looked at him questionably but nodded and shrugged. She was due any day now and he could only hope that things had hit a lull before then. He shut the door and went over to his computer, pulling up the file that Mac had sent him. He skimmed through the first few pages before realizing he really needed to start at the top. What he was reading so far was a bit confusing if he didn't have all the facts.

'Miguel, you know I love you like a brother but you worry too much for your own good.' said Crane.

'And you worry too little Gunny. This is serious.'

Crane sighed, 'If I took everything as seriously as you make it out to be, I'd be hiding in the back of a closet somewhere, afraid to move for fear someone would be out to get me.' she stated.

It was Miguel's turn to sigh now, more of a sigh of exasperation. 'Gunny, we miss you and we know why you retired but … you would have at least been safe within the protection of the Military. Out here with these back woods hicks, you've got nobody to watch your back like we could.'

Crane looked Miguel over with a gentle gaze. 'They would have gotten out whether I'd stayed in or not. You're acting like I'm a Private out on my first tour. I'm good at improvising, overcoming and adapting to anything life throws at me. It's why I'm still alive.'

'Hoorah' was all Miguel said to that.

'Besides, they aren't back woods hicks…well maybe Izzy but the rest are pretty good at taking care of themselves. I like it here….' She said but was interrupted soon enough by Miguel.

'Yeah, but do you fit in here? You always were the odd duck. We were all a little shocked when you decided to retire and then just disappeared off the face of the earth. It took me two months alone to track you down. If I can do it, so can they.' His voice sounded worried again.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked at Miguel, 'Then explain to me once again, for my dense civilian head that can't seem to wrap around it, why I should worry about these yahoos.' She asked.

Miguel looked like he wanted to reach across the table and strangle her. 'Because you put them away for life, Gunny. You still limp a little when the weather's damp and rainy don't you? Have all the cuts and scars healed over yet? Don't you remember what they did to you!? If we hadn't found you when we did, I'd be visiting your gravesite with flowers every year. It's because of you that Frank made it back to see his baby boy for the first time. It's because of you that I made it back to see my sister graduate from college, not to mention the other guys in the platoon that have family. They beat you until there was hardly anything left to piece back together and yet you sit across from me telling me you're not worried that they've gotten early parole due to some technicality and a slimy lawyer. You know they'll be coming to find you to get even. It's just who they are.'

She sighed a little and grew quiet. Finally she looked up at him, 'I appreciate you telling me Miguel but honestly, I can't be crippled by waiting for them to find me. I promise to be careful, but if or when they make an appearance, there's nothing I can do right now to stop them and I'm not going to go into hiding.'

Miguel grumbled something under his breath. 'You know Max said he'd kill you if he ever got out.'

There was an unladylike snort from the other side of the table, 'And Max was the biggest blowhole of them all. How can I take a threat like that seriously?'

Miguel took a drink from his cup of coffee that had started to get cold. 'Nothing I say is going to convince you to disappear for awhile, is there.' He stated more than asked.

'Nope…so you might as well get on with telling me the gossip and how everyone else is doing. I don't get out much and since I haven't published where I live, its hard to get post if no one knows where you are.' She joked, finishing her cup of tea.

Matt skimmed through the next few pages which just turned out to be idle chatter in regards to catching up with what had been going on in the last six months and who was doing what, promotions, transfers and retirements. Finally they had parted ways and she made mention of needing to get back to the ranger station after stopping and picking up some supplies.

Miguel had shaken her hand and hugged her before heading out. She'd paid the bill, left a nice tip for the waitress and headed out herself. What worried him was the discussion about someone being out to get her or get revenge on her. That could potentially put them all in danger if these people obviously had done something serious enough to be sent to military prison for it.

But the legal system had been thwarted again by some slick lawyer. Matt needed information on who had gotten out and what they had done to her. His gut told him he needed to know and soon to be best prepared for what might come. He called Mac and asked him for anything he got on her and her records and to pull strings or favors if need be. He needed to know more before he went to talk to her. She obviously would hardly broach the subject with one of her own men, how could he expect her to confide in him about something like this.

Mac gave confirmation he'd let Matt know something as soon as he knew anything but it might take a few days to get what they were looking for if the files weren't deemed classified. Until then he and Matt agreed to keep a low profile on the whole thing but to keep their eyes open for anything out of the ordinary.

--

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