Finally here's the new chapter. This one has been a little difficult to write. Many thanks to Kashy for her insights and help. More about/with Steph in the next chapter. As usual, characters belong to JE except for the General and Lucia.

Chapter 12, 9-9-10

The conference room explodes. Ranger, Tank and Admiral Stone jump up demanding calm and quiet. The stunned employees grab documents and photos, with shaking heads and hands, muttering that this can not be true.

Ranger shouts to clear the room, while reaching for some of the papers on the table. Admiral Stone takes documents and photos from the employees waving them to get out of the room. Ranger stunned, looks at the papers he has in his hands.

Muffled sounds, scuffling and shouting are heard from the hall. Tank opens the door and yells for all of them to calm down and shut up . He slams it shut again, leans against it and watches the scene unfolding before him.

Lucia is smiling as she watches Ranger and Stone trying to regain control of themselves. Looking around she sees her chance, stalks toward Stephanie and with great deliberation slaps her. "You stupid woman," sneers Lucia "you never understood any of this did you and apparently you still do not. You really think you can stand between my husband and me? You think you will keep me from getting my revenge? You think you are smarter than I?"

Tank moves toward Lucia, an inch at a time. Admiral Stone nods his head toward Tank and starts very slowly to move in from the other side.

Stephanie, amazed, stands very straight and very still. She says nothing. Lucia, screeches at Stephanie, "No more interference from you. It is my company, it is under my control. Ranger is my husband. I am in charge and I will control this meeting. You, Ms. Plum, have no business here, get out now!"

Stephanie instantly reacts with unbridled rage and lunges at Lucia, fists swinging and yelling, "I'm not going anywhere you idiot! It is not your company, you are not in control, Ranger is not your husband. You are stupid, and sick."

Ranger is suddenly behind Stephanie, his hands on her shoulders, as he moves her behind him. His eyes are cold, his posture is rigid. "Lucia, you are delusional. Stephanie will remain in the room because this is where I want her. Do not ever touch Stephanie again, do you understand Lucia?" Stephanie is struggling mightily to get loose from Ranger but he holds her firmly, protectively.

"Explain all of this," Ranger says calmly "This is your chance. Explain your accusations."

Loud noises, shouting, fighting and scuffling are heard from the hallway outside the conference room. Suddenly the door bursts open and General Barnes lurches in, looking distraught and disheveled, a pistol at his side. Slamming the door behind him, looking at "Lucia" he screams, "You stupid useless bitch, don't you know how to keep your mouth shut? I trusted you to do what you were sent here to do. Get over here by me."

Looking surprised, Lucia stumbles toward the General, a smile on her face. As Lucia approaches him, he raises his arm to pull her closer to her. He kisses her cheek, raises his gun and shoots her in the temple. He holds her and gently lets her slide down on the floor. H7e toes her to see if she might be alive but there is no indication that she is. Everyone is momentarily stunned. Ranger lunges at Barnes, but the General sidesteps him and points his gun at Ranger. At the sound of the gunshot, there is dead quiet and then all hell breaks loose. Someone is hammering on the door, trying the doorknob and trying to shove the door open. Admiral Stone yells for those in the hall to calm down.

Back against the wall, Barnes smiles unpleasantly while explaining, "I'm sorry to do that but she is no longer useful. It would be difficult to keep her believing that you are responsible for the massacre in her village. Don't you see? I had to kill her. Don't you see? She left me no choice," he whines, more to himself than to anyone else. Sighing, and shaking his head, General Barnes mutters, "I will miss her. But," raising his head and looking expectantly at Ranger, Tank, Steph and Stone, he says, "Back to business." Still keeping his gun trained on Ranger, Barnes leans down and takes the weapons Lucia had on her body, two guns, pepper spray and a stun gun.

"You really didn't think they could keep me in Washington, did you? Ranger, you of all people should know how persuasive I can be. No doubt Washington will soon figure all of this out, but by then I'll be safe somewhere else. I just have a little unfinished business here. You are a smart man Ranger, but you should not have signed that last contract. When you made that choice, you became my perfect scapegoat."

Tank, Barnes sneers, "you can quit moving around trying to get behind me. One more move and I will kill Ranger. I may go down but I guarantee you Ranger will be dead."

Ranger with a blank face quietly demands "Why, how, did you forge all of these documents? I guess it's convenient that my men and I were in that area when you issued those kill orders. Was your whole plan already in place? Did you have allies in the village? Were you already planning to infiltrate this country with drugs and illegal weapons? Was money your reason? Did you have Lucia in on the whole thing or was she just a plaything for you? You have used Lucia mercilessly since she was just a child haven't you and now you've killed her." Leaning forward, with mounting fury and clenched fists, Ranger says "Answer my questions damn you!".

General Barnes with a smiling sneer states "I don't have to answer your questions Major, and I won't. My plans have obviously gone awry. But I can still make it out of here and Trenton. Just don't bother to count me out just yet."

"I think you have already counted yourself out General," Admiral Stone states softly as he watches Tank starting to move again. "You will be hunted wherever you go. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can get away from us. We will hunt you 24/7, and I promise you we will get you. It will be easier for you to surrender here and now. You know the Military Police are already here or on their way here to deal with you. What is your choice? If you stay here you can get the help you need. We will make sure of it. You will be safe."

"Safe, Admiral? Don't treat me like a fool." Barnes smiles while keeping his gun pointed at Ranger. "Ranger and I will walk out of here together, down to the garage and out of the building. If you make a move to stop me, I will kill Major Manoso and anyone else who gets near me."