Disclaimer: I am not making any money from this, I promise.
My grateful thanks to JE for her wonderful characters, which I hope I haven't damaged too much.
I am ever astonished at the number of people who take the time to read and review my stories, thank you all.
I am saddened to report a parting of the ways between my muse and me. Despite emergency measures being taken the little bas... err, the little darling and I have decided to call it a day.
I have instead asked the nine ancient and venerated Greek muses to come to my aid, but they appear to be a little busy. So the hunt for a new one begins. Wish me luck.
Valzie
Dangerous Ground part 3
Joe's POV
You know when you're a kid and your parents are having a blazing row but they're doing it quietly as they don't want you to know? Well I just witnessed the Rangeman equivalent. Turns out that Flighter and Sin were due to be replaced by the much less friendly looking Asp and C.D. and the guys just don't want to leave me, how sweet.
The four of them were standing arguing in whispers, every so often casting a glance in my direction. Finally the two new guys stomp out again wearing identical pissed off expressions and my roomies turn round to me and grin like maniacs and it's all I can do not to laugh at them.
"So you've decided not to leave me after all, I knew you loved me" I tell Sin as he throws himself down along side me on the sofa. Today's safe house is a penthouse apartment at the top of an office block. This place is opulent to the point of ostentation with its crimson walls, overstuffed furniture and dark wood panelling. The bathroom when I ducked in earlier is a mass of white marble and gold taps and it makes Vegas look understated.
"What can I say Joe, you swept me off my feet" he shook out his girly hair so it settled around his face and he threw me the worst parody of a flirting lady I've ever seen. Batting his eyelashes and blowing me kisses "I've never had a bromance before" he winked "Besides, you are still only partway through your story Scheherazade"
"So you'll protect me as long as I still have Stephanie stories to tell? Hell, that's cold even for you" I sniffed and pursed my lips "I knew you only wanted me for one thing"
Sin has this way about him, you find yourself buying in and playing along with his outrageous remarks. As he's fond of saying 'It helps to pass the time. We know its all bollocks, so why worry about it' the man, strange as he is, has a point. I don't know if I'll even make it through the day so why shouldn't I laugh and play along with his outrageous statements.
Lester's POV
It's at times like these that I wish I had two things, one is a big black leather chair and the other is a fluffy white cat. I feel like I am channelling the eternal spirit of Ernst Blofeld. Any minute now I'm going to cackle like a mad man and say 'No Mr Bond I expect you to die'
I've been living on adrenaline and caffeine for the past 36 hours and if I have to bully or persuade any more of the guys into leaving their posts for a few hours rest and a meal then I'm going to go all Bond villain and find a shark infested lagoon to throw them in. I swear, next time this happens I'm going to the safe house with Stephanie. Shit that sounds awful, like it happens every other day. It doesn't, but she does seem to get in to trouble a lot.
Ranger isn't helping, he's the Alpha grizzly bear with a migraine and he's been stalking the floor with increasing and alarming regularity. I know he can go days without sleep if necessary, but if he doesn't go upstairs and at least get some rest I am going to attempt to put his ass in a sling. If nothing else, the few blessed moments of unconsciousness I'll get when he hands my ass back to me to me will take the edge off his mood and means I'll be telling the truth when I inform the guys that I got my head down for a while.
He's bearing down on me, his usually blank face animated with a look of glowering anger. I'm just about to take my courage in both hands and confront him, when his phone rings and he answers. I watch in amazement as the scowl dissolves into a smile and I don't have to ask who's on the other end. He dives off into the elevator and I heave a sigh of relief. I pick up my phone and dial Bobby.
"Yo" he answers, that's usually her standard greeting, but we've all ended up using it.
"Yo" I reply. "Need a favour"
"Ask, but it will cost" I can hear the smile in his voice
"Whatever the price, I'll pay" I tell him with a sigh.
"What do you need?" his voice sobers.
"Get Steph to persuade the boss to get some rest, I know he wants answers and solutions, but we can't get them if he's pestering us all the time"
"Understood, maybe I can kill two birds with one stone. She barely slept either, maybe I can send them both to bed" he sounds hopeful.
"Thanks Bobby, I owe you"
"You do and I'll remember it" He laughs as he closes the connection.
Bobby's POV
I walk over to her and tug gently on one unruly curl. "She mutters something and looks up and puts a hand over the phone "Yep?" she asks
"He hasn't slept since you left. Why don't you take that upstairs to bed and try to persuade him to at least lie down and talk to you" I keep my voice low.
Her smile lights up her face "Good idea, thanks Bobby"
"There'll be roast lamb for dinner" I offer knowing it's one of her favourites.
"Marry me" she mouthed to me as she returned to her call and made her way upstairs to bed.
"I'd love to" I mutter to her retreating back. And there's only a part of me that's joking.
With that sobering little thought stuck firmly in my brain, I head over to the kitchen.
Tank's POV
I move, gently trying not to wake her, I should have known that it would be impossible, after all she and I are in the same line of work and I too am a light sleeper.
"Where are you going?" she asks, her voice muffled against the pillow.
"I was just going to check in with the office"
She turned over to face me, the sheet moulding to her magnificent body as she did so. "I'm not finished with you yet"
"Yes Ma'am, Sorry" I grin down at her.
"Glad we've sorted out who is the boss here" she laughs.
"Nura" I whisper using her real name for the first time ever. "Come back with me to Haywood, I'll make you breakfast"
"Pierre"
I've always hated my name, until I heard her murmur it. It sounds like a caress, it sends the same feeling of pleasure across my skin as the passage of her fingers "You are breakfast" she purrs.
Steph's POV
Being without him is a physical ache, like part of me is missing. I've never slept in this bed without him before, sure I've woken and he hasn't been beside me but I've never tried to get to sleep without being wrapped in his arms. Turns out that I can't do so, my body won't rest until he's close enough to feel his warmth. I thought I was head over heels for him before, but these few weeks have shown me that I've never really been in love until now.
I've truly lost my heart to him. And not for any of the reasons you would imagine, it's all because he includes me, stupid as that sounds, I'm really just a grunt at Rangeman, but he consults me about things that are so far above my pay grade. He treats me as his equal and he asks my opinion. I've never had that sort of trust placed in me, by anyone before and it thrills and scares me.
When I do finally fall into a doze, I jerk awake as I dream he's missing. Intellectually I know he's not, he's just not here with me. But it doesn't change the fact that I can't sleep without him. I'm lying on our bed with his voice in my ear and if I close my eyes I can imagine that he's near enough to touch. He's in the same position at Haywood, he tried to tell me that he's at his desk, but I heard the rustle of the sheets as he lay down.
Ella's POV
Good, Ranger's finally gone. I baked the guys some muffins and cookies and I've had to wait until the boss is off the floor before I could hand them round. They are quickly distributed and even faster to disappear. Last one to get any is Vince who's watching the feeds to the bat cave. I hand him his coffee and the two choc chip and nut cookies that I managed to keep for him.
"Thanks" he tells me with a grin as he relieves me of my burden "Just what I need"
I look at the monitors and watch as they shift every few seconds, mesmerised by the small glimpses that I get. I catch sight of something and lean forward as it comes round again. "What's that?" I ask.
"What can you see?" he asks and moves the single camera feed to the large screen.
"There" I point "Looks like someone has tagged the place"
He leans in and looks carefully. "Yeah, but when?" he asks absently as he attacks the keyboard and the picture starts to move. It's quite comical watching people walking and birds flying backwards and it's enough to make me smile, but there's a puzzled look on Vince's face. The feed jerks back to normal and the time stamp says it's this time yesterday and we both look at the now blank wall.
He picks up the phone and dials, waits a few seconds, then he lets out a string of rapid Spanish, I only understood two words "Hola" and "Gracias"
He turns around and smiles at me "You have good eyes, maybe you should take a shift here" he's striving for his usual light and teasing tone, but his eyes are troubled. I squeeze his shoulder gently and leave him to his work.
Vince's POV
While waiting, I review the logs, only one incident, a drunk who decided to drain his snake against that wall. Maybe that isn't all he was. I check the footage and make a call to Ram who is absolutely delighted to be woken from his well deserved slumber. Once I explain though he's all business and he goes over with me what he saw.
Hector appears silently at my elbow and he carefully scrutinises the tag. I push back my chair and let him in. He makes a clucking noise and leans over and captures an image and emails it. He nods and moves out to let me back in. "Gracias" he tells me softly and heads back to his station.
Joe's POV
I've always thought the guys of Rangeman were merely thugs and mercenaries, but I'm being forced to reconsider that viewpoint the more time I spend with these two crazy guys that are risking their lives to keep me safe and help me get home. They had a chance to go, but they refused. If the roles had been reversed would I have just walked away? I'm honest enough with myself to admit that I probably would have. They actually believe that I am worth risking their lives for, that what I do is important enough to take that chance. It's kinda humbling to learn that these men have that much faith in me.
Turns out that I actually like them, Sin's infectious insanity aside, they are competent and professional and they have a great respect for each other and for Rangeman. Every one of them was personally recruited by Ranger and the interview process was a painful one as each had to face Ranger in unarmed combat before they were accepted. Each has a skill or talent that brought them to the forefront of their chosen discipline and when they retired from active duty they found a home amongst their brothers in arms at Rangeman. The pay is good, the work seems to be varied and the company is a great one to work for, according to these two, with vacations and benefits well beyond anything I could hope for.
The reason we're a bit more relaxed this evening is because our accommodations are a little unusual. We're snugly tucked away inside an old bomb shelter. It's surprisingly well appointed and because we are underground and the door is 6 inches thick the guys are having the evening off from guard duty.
Sin's amazingly closed mouthed about his past, given the way his mouth runs on every other subject and Flighter is less so. We found out the reason he got that nickname, but he swore us to secrecy. It's a cracker of a tale and just the thing to while away a few hours.
Hector's POV
This isn't a gang tag, believe me I should know, I ran with the worst of them. Someone marked that building for a reason. I draw the image and scan it in and send out the images to all the other offices to see if anyone knows what it is. On a whim I send it out to all the PDA's of the guys currently out of the office and ask my counterparts in the other areas to do the same. Someone knows what this is and I'm determined to find out.
Sin's POV
Those bastards, I've been on watch 4 hours on, 4 off each night since we got this gig and the one night that we can guarantee we won't need to stand watch and they wake me. My phone is currently doing the rumba across the nightstand and I know it's the office and that this is payback from them for refusing to stand down.
I utter my customary morning swearword and reach for it, just in time to stop it hitting the floor. I open it and find a picture and I struggle to focus. It's a picture of a wall with some paint on it and the other is a drawing of a something or other. What is that and why does it seem familiar?
In a rush of scattered images it all comes back and I can feel my side start to ache as if the wound is fresh and not the healed scar that remains. I read the attached message and my heart sinks. I dial our control room and ask to be patched through to the sender of the original message.
Shit, turns out he speaks only Spanish and I only English, bollocks, what do we do now? I hear a rush of air and a thump and then a new voice.
"Sin?"
"Aye" I tell him.
"Lester, from the Trenton office. What do you know about the mark?"
"It's not a gang sign; it's a series of for the want of a better term, runes, that gives targeting information for an attack on the building. I read it as 3 occupants, 2nd and 3rd floors, show no mercy. If you have anyone you value there, I suggest they leave, now"
"Shit. Wait one"
I could hear a series of muffled orders and then he was back with me.
"Sin, you still with me?"
"Aye"
"How do you know how to read them?"
"Because I had a run in with these bastards a few years ago"
"Hope you won"
"Let's just say that I held my own. Give me 10 to get my shit together and grab some caffeine and I'll mail you all I know about them"
"Deal. Thanks Sin"
"Not a problem, just remember this when my transfer request comes in"
"Will do"
Bobby's POV
She's finally asleep, those curls drifting over the pillow and she looks peaceful. But we have to go, Adam is checking our escape route and I am awaiting the directions to the next safe house to be sent to my PDA. I've repacked our bags and all I have to do now is rouse her. "Steph honey, wake up"
She makes an unladylike sound and I smile. "Come on, Steph we have to go"
"Tired" she tells me.
"Stephanie Plum, you have to get up now" I tell her in a stern tone.
She's upright and awake "Give me a minute" she asks and I turn around and give her some privacy. "Ready" she tells me and I turn and hand her the duffel bags and lead her to the concealed stairwell.
"This way" I tell her and hope that we won't run into any trouble.