Chapter 27

As I woke, I recognized that I was curled up on Ranger and immediately thought that I was exactly where I wanted to be. It seemed lighter than I was used to so slowly started to open my eyes. Yep, one very good looking man was still my pillow which had me smiling until I remembered what had happened between the night before.

"You're looking a bit worried Babe"

That was an understatement, but I'd make up a story to cover the real reason for me being worried.

"While you've been away, I've been waking up at 3 in the morning and doing some work in the gym"

I felt him lean toward me and kiss me on my head.

"Proud of you Babe. Not for the early mornings but for going to the gym. Were you working on your own?"

"No, Juan decided that he'd do some training with me"

I felt Ranger tense under me and was suddenly regretting having mentioned Juan, not sure if it was because Juan was still at Rangeman or because he had been the one training me.

"I was under the impression that he'd left"

I shrugged my shoulders because I didn't want to get involved between the two friends but seeing as we were talking, I thought that it was a good opportunity to ask how he turned up last night.

"Why were you there last night?"

"I'd only been able to call anyone once I landed and Tank was the one to reply to me. He told me about the distraction at that club, so I decided to be the one who was there for you and messaged Santos for the details"

Had he called me to let me know that he was back? I had no idea and was seriously struggling to remember where the hell I'd put my phone. It was probably still in my bag and probably out of power, but it would be nice to know if he did try to call me.

"Your phone went straight to voicemail"

Even though Ranger couldn't see my face I felt a smile tweak at my lips because knowing that he'd called made me feel so much better and that at least he had been thinking of me.

"How did it go down in Washington?"

I almost regretted asking because it was none of my business and he probably couldn't tell me anyway.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to ask that"

There was a moment of silence which told me that I'd overstepped with that question, and I was immediately regretting being so nosey.

"A lot of the time we went through the debrief from the last mission, trying to work out how we were found at such a critical point. Then I had some time to discuss with my commanding officer any future missions"

My heart sank as he said that because it meant that when he was cleared medically, he'd likely be called away again.

"Luke was there, and he supported me when I asked for a medical discharge from any further contractual obligations. I'm getting too old for that shit and there are better, younger men coming through. I don't need to do them anymore"

Wow, did I say something or not because if I was hearing right then he wouldn't be going off in the wind again. Back was the smile on my face as I thought through the impact of that happening. What did he mean though when he said that he didn't need to do them anymore? Would he be more involved with bringing in FTAs or even some of the FBI miscreants? A man like Ranger needed to stay active, to get that adrenaline rush so what would provide him with that?

"I want us to stay here while Tank tries to find out who hit the SUV last night. He's got Hector looking at the street cameras. Santos is bringing some supplies out, is there anything that you need?"

"Clothes"

I knew there weren't any files to look into which only really left the mystery of Sully. Okay, maybe I'd spend a couple of hours on that before I really did file it the "to forget about" box.

"There's a file in the middle drawer in my office with the label Sullivan, if Les can bring that then I'll have another look at it"

I just lay there with my head on Ranger's chest wondering whether or not to ask where we were and decided not to, because I didn't like the idea of this being a safe house, then again as safe houses went it was pretty cool.

"Babe?"

"Yeah"

"Is Sullivan a skip?"

Oh hell, how did I explain why I was looking into Sullivan when I hadn't mentioned anything about him to Ranger. He knew that I'd found that package in my jacket, but I just never got around to telling him about it.

"No. You know that I got that package right, in my jacket pocket? Well the only person who could have put it there was the older man at the bank. It had a book inside with a lot of verses written down but to be honest they just didn't make sense, so I put it to one side"

"No name or who wrote it?"

"No. Then when I was at the office Vinnie was going on about a bounty hunter who he used to work with, because there was an article in the paper about him dying"

I knew that I wasn't good at explaining things and that the pieces that I'd come across were pretty random, so I turned to look at Ranger to see if he was following me. At his nod I carried on to the next discovery.

"Well, the photo in the paper was an old one but there was something familiar about it so when I added the features that I remembered from the bank I was sure that they were the same person. I spoke to Mandy who worked at the bank, and she confirmed that a man named Sullivan had come in to check out his safety deposit box. So, I did some research on Sullivan and then on the reporter who wrote the article, before I met with her. She'd known him from years ago when her father was FTA and Sullivan was looking for him. Apparently, her mother and him had an affair but the father was released from prison and died soon after and then Sullivan just disappeared."

Okay, I was pretty sure that I'd said everything that I knew so waited for Ranger to ask me questions in order to make it all seem more logical. I mean saying it out loud it did seem a bit weird and full of coincidences.

"So, you think that the man in the bank was this Sullivan. What's so important that you needed to do some research and meet with that reporter?"

I suppose that he had a valid point to make but it wasn't that simple.

"What he wrote. You need to read it to understand why"

As far as I was concerned there was nothing more to say on the subject until he'd read those verses because I could already sense that he thought I was paranoid about Sullivan.

"Did you meet the reporter on your own"

That was said with a hint of annoyance and to be honest I was angry that he didn't think I was capable of staying safe enough to do it.

"Yes and no. That whole business with the shooter was cleared up but I asked Miguel to take me"

And I had a tracker on me and my gun. Sheesh I was allowed out on my own, wasn't I? Or would Ranger take his protection stance to a whole new level? I wasn't sure if I could cope with that.

"I read the report from Tank on what happened with Bella and how she'd asked her cousin to basically assassinate you. Did something happen that made you nervous about going on your own?"

I knew that I'd told Juan about that grey car but hadn't told anyone else so none of the core team knew anything about it. I probably should have told them because now Ranger would be annoyed with me for not saying anything.

"I went home to my apartment one night but as usual woke up at 3 so decided to go to Rangeman and to the gym. I don't know, but I felt spooked with a car sat parked by my building"

I waited for him to have a go at me but instead I felt his hand stroking my arm as though he was thinking through what I'd said.

"You did the right thing taking Miguel with you, but maybe we need to be more careful"

I suppose that he was right especially thinking about what had happened last night with Les, though to be honest I hadn't really been anywhere to attract any attention. There was no point in worrying about that now and seeing as I needed to use the bathroom I made to move away from Ranger. He moved at the same time but went downstairs as I used the facilities glad that I didn't have company listening to me. This open plan thing might look good, but I wasn't quite ready not to feel embarrassed.

I found some underwear, jeans and a sweater on the bed when I came out making me wonder where the hell they had come from. They were brand new and fitted me perfectly, but I did wonder if they were here then who they belonged to. As I went downstairs, I could smell the enticing smell of coffee brewing and from the bottom step watched as Ranger pulled out cereal boxes and milk cartons from cupboards.

"Not a lot of choice for breakfast Babe"

I walked over to the counter to look at the choice and poured out some granola before drowning it in milk. There was a breakfast bar with stools that was the ideal place to sit while the coffee finished and was pleased when Ranger sat next to me and passed me a mug.

"These clothes, who's are they?"

"Yours. I made sure there were some here for you"

That surprised me, unless of course it was Ranger being prepared if he needed to bring me to a safe house quickly. I wisely didn't push for any more information instead focused on eating my cereal.

"Santos should be here this afternoon. If you want, you can explore outside"

I hadn't even thought about anywhere beyond the walls of the rooms that we'd used. In fact, looking around now I couldn't even see any windows to look out from, the light for the room was coming down from the skylights set into the slope of the roof. Ranger must have seen my confusion because he was picking up a remote and pointing it toward one of the walls. I watched fascinated as a section slid down over the wall to reveal a view that had me captivated. Walking toward it I was looking at fields and woods making me wonder exactly where we were.

"There are no windows because of the structure of the building but each room has several screens that show the image from a camera outside"

I had to admit that it was like looking through a window and the screen even gave the room the effect of light coming in.

"I'd like to explore outside"

Because it had seemed like an age since I'd just been outside breathing the fresh air.

"At the back of the garage there's a door that leads to a laundry room. There are boots and a jacket in there and a door that leads outside"

I nodded my head then turned to head downstairs, feeling Ranger stop me by my arm.

"A fob to open the door. Don't go beyond the stream because it's easy to get lost. I need to spend some time catching up on work that I've missed"

I stood outside in the middle of the meadow allowing the breeze to blow my hair around my face. The grass had never been cut so was up to my knees but at least if I followed where I'd flattened it by walking through it, I should be able to find my way back. With my arms by my side, I swept my hands over the tips of the grass almost laughing at how such a simple gesture felt so freeing. Turning around gave me a view of the house which totally surprised me. From here it looked like a run down stone building and seemed wider than I was expecting. I could see the door that I'd come out of and decided that the property we were in only accounted for probably a third of the building. It was weird to think that the beautiful space that we were in was inside that.

Beyond the meadow there was the remnants of a small stone wall that I navigated before the trees began to take over. In the woods the sounds were so totally different and even the wind didn't dare venture too far beyond the branches. Above was a different matter as the leaves cascaded down on me from above, their colors highlighted by the sun as it broke through the canopy. I wandered with no idea of where I was going, for once just enjoying my own company that was until I stood on an area and heard that squelching sound that indicated mud and water.

I knew that I hadn't crossed the stream, I mean I wasn't such a city girl that I didn't know what a stream looked like, so why were my boots covered in slimy mud. Forward or backward was what I needed to decide on because on either side of me were bushes that seemed thick and impenetrable. I was about to turn around, something that I thought was the most sensible solution to my problem when I started to hear noises. I stilled, unsure what wildlife I might have disturbed but the noise of breaking twigs and rustling of the undergrowth seemed to get louder.

I've been bowled over plenty of times by skips in the past and landed winded and dirty on the ground. Usually, the skips took advantage of my position and ran. Not this assailant, I had two dirty paws pinning my shoulders down and a slobbering tongue moving toward my face.

"Hey, cut it out. Down"

Came from me as a last attempt to move what seemed a very heavy, large dog. Surprisingly the dog moved off me and then laid down with his body over my legs which had the effect of trapping me. A look down at my jeans and jacket and I knew that I probably looked as dirty as the dog, with mud splattered everywhere. It was almost a comical situation if I weren't stuck in the mud and brambles with a dog sat on me.

Until that dog's head suddenly shot up as though he'd heard something. His ears were pricked forward, and I could swear that I could hear a low growl coming from deep in his chest. I stayed perfectly still because I believed that dog knew what it was hearing, and it didn't feel good. I tried to pull my feet underneath me in order to get up and at least the dog moved and sat next to me, but it seemed somewhere between me being stood up and being knocked to the ground I'd lost a boot. Then we both heard the sound but this time the breaking of branches and the steady rhythm that could only come from someone running.

I knew that it wasn't Ranger because he never made a sound when he moved, besides he was busy inside the house working, he wouldn't know of the dilemma that I was in. The dog had moved closer to me now and was stood next to me his lips pulled back and his teeth showing. This was one pissed off dog and his whole demeanor was beginning to frighten me.

"Get back here you fucking dog. I aint finished with you yet"

Was what I heard just before a man appeared several yards away from us. He looked to be middle aged, overweight and from how he was breathing was totally unfit. As he bent over with his hands on his thighs, he was looking towards us with small dark eyes that seemed to pierce through me. His black hair was lank and greasy, and his face was round and podgy giving me the impression that he was an evil man. It was when he stood up that I saw the shotgun slung over his shoulder and how he deftly pulled it under his arm and into a firing position.

"That dog is a dead dog, so get the fuck away from him unless you want some buck in that pretty face of yours"

I squirmed backwards, as though that would do me any good because the thorns were now sticking into my jacket.

"Why, why do you want to kill him?"

Was all that I could think to say. I hated the idea of any animal being shot so wanted to know the reason for his anger toward the dog.

"He bit me, the son of a bitch bit me"

Yeah, and I bet he had a damn good reason for doing that, was nearly shouted by me. I refrained because this guy was mad enough already and I didn't want to end up being shot as well.

"If he's no good to you, let me take him off your hands"

What I would do with a dog like this I wasn't too sure about but what I was sure of was that the dog didn't deserve to die.

"No, nobody, no dog turns on me"

As he raised his gun to his eye, I closed my eyes afraid that he was actually going to take a shot at us.