Unapologize

By:PricklySare

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading. There are more questions, but a few answers (in a round about way) in this chapter. Now remember, this is a BHEA so know everything will work out in the end. As always, Thanks go out to Meg, my other evil half. :)

Sare

Chapter Twenty-six: The Past Comes Back to Ranger

Sonofabitch. This really couldn't be happening. I looked at the woman standing in front of me, keeping my gun trained on her. Nothing good was going to come from this meeting. Hell, it had been five years since I'd even laid eyes on her, and yet, she still had the look of a woman scorned. "Dilectio," I said my voice soft.

"Now, Carlos; is that really any way to greet an old friend?" She asked, her voice a sexual purr. "You should really call me, Natalia; you'll be screaming it again later."

Wow. Something's never change. "I see you're still as vain as you were in Puerto Rico," I said. Nothing like having a past mission sneak up and bite me in the ass when I'm already dealing with a mission that's gone totally FUBAR. This is why I don't do relationships.

"Oh, come now. You know you're only vain if you're wrong; and I'm not wrong." She brushed her long straight black hair over her shoulder exposing the naked expanse of her neck, and shoulders. The tops of her breasts were smooth and the color of caramel, and I knew exactly what they'd feel like under my hands; and that was what she was counting on. Too bad for her, I wasn't interested.

"What brings you to Mexico?" I asked, pointedly changing the subject. I didn't have the time, nor the inclination to fall into bed with her. I had things to do, places to blow up, and a woman to get back to in the states. I was on a schedule, and she was getting in the way.

"I was in the neighborhood, thought you might like a little company," she said running her hand up her stomach and across her cleavage.

I'd want her company like I'd want a raging case of the clap. I figured that wouldn't be the best way to go so instead I said, "Not your kind, Dilectio." My voice didn't offer further comment or discussion, but apparently she wasn't that bright.

"We were good together, Carlos. You loved what I could do to you." Fuck, I'm getting too old for this shit.

"Look," I said, ready to get this over with. "We weren't good together, and what you did to me wasn't anything to write home about. You were a job. End of story. I wouldn't have slept with you otherwise, and I sure as hell won't be sleeping with you now." In the dim light I saw her eyes flash in anger before she banked it down like the good little assassin she was. "Now, why don't you tell me who sent you here to kill me, and we can move on. I'm sure you're busy, and I'm not exactly on vacation."

"You think you're so smart, don't you, Nychta?" The change in her was immediate. Gone was the flirtatious Latina, trying to seduce her way into my bed. In her place was a cold blooded killer who was sanctioned by the government. Which government, didn't matter as long as they could pay her price. She was good, but not as good as me. I remained silent. "Well, you're not. I could have killed you a dozen times since you've been in Mexico."

I raised one eyebrow at her, my look indicating just how much I believed her. "Then, why haven't you?" I asked.

"It didn't fit with my plans," she said calmly.

"What? Death by tequila?" I asked her with a sardonic laugh.

"Yeah, that would have been easy, but you didn't partake of it," she said with a sigh. "You always were a pain in the ass."

"Since you're dragging this out, how about you tell me who put the contract out for me," I said. That was something I felt might be important, so that when I made it back to the states I could take it up with them, personally.

"No one you would ever think to expect," she told me. Great. Just great. She seemed to be thinking about something, her stance had changed again and I knew what was coming. "Look, Nychta, you're a great operative. The best I've ever seen, and the only reason I took this job was because I knew if I didn't someone else would." I continued to hold her eyes, my gun never wavering.

"You need to watch your back. This mission isn't all it's cracked up to be, and you've got no back up. You're on your own." Someone at the agency wanted me out of the way, the only question was, who?

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Like I said, you're the best operative I've seen. I'm not willing to go down in the books as the person who fucked the United States by killing off their very own dark knight." Her comment made me think of Steph, but I pushed the thought away. Now was definitely not the time to let my mind wander.

"You do realize that if you don't at least try to kill me, that you'll be next," I told her.

"Hey, they'll have to find me first," she said with a smile, before she turned an melted into the shadows.

"Natalia," I said, knowing she would hear me.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful out there. If you need anything, call Rangeman. They'll help you."

She gave me a sad smile, and said, "I appreciate that. I hope you make it back before the wedding." I had no clue what she was talking about, but I had a feeling I wasn't going to like it.

"What wedding?" I asked her.

"Your friend, The Bombshell Bounty Hunter. She's getting married next month," she said, and then she was gone.

My heart felt like there was a fist squeezing it. Steph was getting married. My Babe was getting married, and the only person she would be marrying was Morelli. "Fuck me," I said. I've been in some pretty bad situations, I've been tortured by Colombians, I've been ate alive by bugs in the jungles of more third world countries than most people realize exist, and nothing felt as painful as the knowledge that I'd lost the one person I loved more than anything.

Snap out of it, Manoso. I didn't have time to mend a broken heart; I had a job to do. Pushing the hurt, the jealousy, and the disappointment out of my mind I replaced my gun and headed back into the desert. I had a compound to breach.

Getting back to my gear I removed the bundle that I'd found in my informant's serape and looked at it for the first time. It was a manila envelope that had been folded around the contents. Unrolling it I lifted the flap and slid the contents into my hands, and my heart stopped. Sonofabitch. I don't know how this shit happened to her, it was fucking uncanny. She wasn't even in Mexico, and she managed to be in trouble. "Fuck," I whispered. So much for not thinking about Stephanie Plum.

There were stacks of cash totaling ten thousand dollars in American bills. Along with the money were photos of Stephanie. A lot of photos of Stephanie. There were photos of her at home, at the bonds office, visiting with her parents; there were pictures of her and me in the alley, as well as photos from the last night I'd seen her. Someone had been following her for a while. I was more than angry, I was terrified for her. Fuck! Flipping through the photos I felt my blood begin boil when I realized where some of the photos had come from. Someone had managed to breach Rangeman. There were several photos of Steph and I that couldn't have come from anywhere except the Rangeman security cameras. "Goddamn sonofabitch," I swore.

I looked at my watch, I was losing time. Panic was running through me and I was helpless to do anything about it. Steph was in Trenton, and I was in a fucking nothing town in Mexico. There wasn't even a way for me to contact the guys and have them put a detail on her. I had to get this job done and get back to the states, and I needed to get it done, now. Shoving the photos and money back into the manila envelope I shoved it into the bottom of my bag and dug out the blue prints for the compound. The informant had tried to tell me something about the blue prints before he died; now I just had to figure out what he was trying to say.

Unfolding the blue prints a passing thought slid through my mind; my informant had been hired to kill Steph. Fuck. Man, I hated the desert.