Chapter 42

"I think that Dresden had protection on his computer that has stopped the files from being copied over. Some of them are empty"

The words that I wanted to say were a lot stronger than those that Kinley had used but even as I thought that my heart plummeted at the futility of Anna's death. She'd done something that she'd seen as being the right thing to do and had honestly believed that her actions would put an end to what Dresden was doing.

"Some, so some are still accessible?"

I heard the optimism in Sinclair's voice so was back to looking at Kinley some hope being rekindled as I waited. I felt Ranger's arm go around me as though he was holding out for some good news as well.

"Maybe. He's used an encrypted password, so I have my work cut out. Give me some time and space"

I felt like screaming because we were no closer now to finding who was involved than we were yesterday. Would people still be looking for me? I turned to Ranger as I remembered what had happened at the bonds office.

"Why were those men trying to kill me?"

It didn't make sense to me. A few days ago, they'd kidnapped me because they thought that I knew something.

"I don't know. Give the guys time Babe, and then we'll have some answers"

The appearance of the man who'd driven us here had me tensing up, that was until I smelt the aroma coming from the paper bags that he was carrying. Yeah, I definitely needed food. Even Kinley took a break from working to join us as we tucked into a variety of dishes from a Chinese takeaway and for the first time since I'd arrived, I started to relax.

"Jarek, you're a life saver"

It seemed that Kinley enjoyed her food as much as I did and from what she'd said I now knew the name of the man who I'd managed to give a black eye to. I had to admit that I did feel bad about that and had probably purposely ignored him because I felt guilty about it. Maybe it was time that I apologized.

"Err, Jarek"

I started in order to get his attention. Once he was looking at me, I felt really embarrassed but knew that I needed to clear my conscience.

"I'm really sorry about kicking you"

Okay I'd said it now so looked down to my bowl and focused on twirling some noodles around my fork.

"No, I deserved it. I shouldn't have just grabbed hold of you. To be honest I was surprised at how good you were at defending yourself"

"That your doing Carlos?"

Came from Sinclair which to be honest annoyed me slightly because it had been me who had decided that I needed some better skills to defend myself.

"No. Steph is the one who pursued doing that, I gave her some hints, but she was the driving force"

I was so grateful to Ranger for saying that. I knew that he'd tried for years to get me to train but I suppose that it had always been down to me, for me to come to the realization of just how important it was.

"What happened for Juan to get so badly hurt?"

Just came out because talking about training brought back my nightly training with Juan. It had bothered me that Juan had got himself into a situation where he'd ended up badly hurt.

"We don't know. Juan, well he can be a bit of a loner and gets caught up with what he's doing. I'm pretty sure that he was following up with someone, but we don't know who"

Whoever it was had certainly gotten the upper hand or had tricked Juan into a situation that he couldn't get away from.

"Okay, I'm going back to work. Steph there's a room for you down the hall, second door on your right"

Which effectively finished the conversation concerning Juan, though what Kinley had said seemed sincere, that they had no ideas on how Juan had been hurt so badly. I helped to clear the dishes to the dishwasher and the food containers to the trash deciding that I was ready to find a bed so bid goodnight to Jackson and Ranger. I had no idea if Ranger would seek me out for the night, but I was hoping that he would. As I left the room Ranger was in deep conversation with Jackson.

As I showered, I was playing the day through my head. Something just felt off and the more I thought about it the more that feeling intensified. The problem was that I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. After drying I redressed in the clothes that I'd arrived in and sat on the edge of the bed in the darkness. Okay so there was some light coming in from under the door which gave me enough light in the room to distinguish shadows. I didn't know why but I had a strong need to just get out of here. Was it because I was somewhere unfamiliar or because of the people that we were with? I'd felt that I could trust Kinley but it wouldn't be the first time that someone had played me. Sinclair, well I definitely didn't trust that man at all.

That had me thinking about the contents of that pouch. Everything had centered around finding it. The people who didn't want its contents revealed and those who did. I was definitely on the side of the latter group but where did Sinclair fall? Then there was the whole issue of the files that appeared to be empty of any content. Would Ranger just hand that drive over to Jackson without looking at it first? Nah, he'd check it out and would probably have Hector looking at it. So did Ranger have an agenda that I wasn't privy to?

A look at the illuminated clock by the bed told me that I'd been sat for a couple of hours. It was time for me to move. I moved to the door and spent an age just listening for any sounds beyond it and then very slowly turned the knob hoping that it didn't make a sound. With the door open a crack I peered down the hallway and then internally swore to myself when I glimpsed at what looked like a camera positioned in the corner pointing toward me. There went that idea, so I closed the door quietly wondering what the hell to do next and also worrying as to where the hell Ranger was.

I was pretty sure that the whole house, both inside and outside was being monitored, so how the hell did I get past them? I'd worked myself up into a state of frustration now and had to get out of this damn house. Going through to the bathroom there was nothing obvious, no vents or other doors. I refolded the towel that I'd used earlier and tidied up the surface next to the sink, picking up the hairdryer to put it away in the drawer underneath. Holding the hairdryer had an idea come to me. Maybe it was a stupid idea and wouldn't work, but I was going to give it a go.

I stuffed a pillow under the covers of the bed to give the impression that someone was asleep there and then returned to the bathroom. There I filled the sink with water, plugged in the dryer and switched it on before I stood with it in my hands looking at the water. My heart was hammering in my chest with the very thought of what I was going to do. I could always say that the damn thing slipped from my hand and that it was an accident. I made sure I was an arms length away before the dryer hit the water. Then immediately closed the bathroom door at the sound and flashes of sparks flying.

The clock was no longer lit up, so I took a chance and went back to the bedroom door and opened it again. This time I decided, screw it, I was getting out of here, so walked down the hallway toward the large open area of the lounge and kitchen.

"For fucks sake, why is the alarm sounding?"

Seems that Jackson was annoyed but I had no idea who he was talking to. Then it occurred to me that there would be no point heading for the elevator because it wouldn't be working and that I needed to find another way out. The patio doors were the only place that I'd seen that led outside so I got down on my hands and knees and began to crawl across the lounge area. I stopped behind the couch, half way to my destination when a shadow passed across the kitchen area.

"What do you mean the power's down? Get the generators on, now"

If they had alternative power, then I needed to move and fast before power was restored and everything came back on. I had literally pulled the bottom of the long drapes over my head when a hand came over my mouth and I was pulled up until I was standing up. I could feel myself being held against someone and was about to try and get myself free when I instinctively relaxed.

"Let's get out of here Babe"

A whisper that had a smile come to my face as Ranger's hand moved from my face. A soft click and I knew that he'd unlocked the doors. Ranger slid through the small gap of the opening with me close behind, pulling the door closed. We kept close to the building, why I wasn't sure. Me, I would have taken off across the grass and into the darkness. I stayed very close to Ranger and mimicked his movements as he stopped, crouched down and moved. Then with my hand in his he was leading me down a narrow paved path that ran parallel to what looked like the driveway. There was a tall bushy shrub between us and the drive which I presume Ranger was hoping would give us some cover. It was a long drive, went through my head and the further we went the more optimistic I became. That was until I saw a metal gate ahead of us and heard voices shouting.

Ranger pulled me back into the bushes just as lights flooded the driveway. Shit, they'd got the power back on, now what.

"Jefe, this way"

Came from somewhere to the right of the gate at the end of the drive where I was seeing a tall stone built wall. I was soon being pulled toward that wall by Ranger hoping that he had a plan to get us out of here.

"I'll give you a leg up. Hector will help you"

Right. A leg up. I wasn't sure that was going to happen. That wall looked tall, but it seemed that Ranger had faith in me being able to get over it. Me, I didn't think that I'd even reach the top. As Ranger crouched down and cupped his hands, I put my foot in them and then pushed myself up while holding his shoulders. As I bent my knee as though to push up, he stood up and literally threw me up in the air. It took everything I had not to scream out and as my arms reached up in an attempt to maybe grab hold of the top, a body appeared from nowhere. Hands caught hold of my mine and I was being dragged up the last few feet until I was laid on my stomach over the wall. Shit it was just as far down on the other side.

"Hands, I lower you down"

Turning so my legs were now dangling over the wall I let Hector take my wrists before I felt myself being lowered. When he let go, I expected to crash down onto the ground so was surprised when I was actually caught. Okay, my landing brought out an umph as air rushed out from my savior. I didn't have time to say anything before I was on the ground in a crouched position. Flashlights were dancing ahead of us, so I assumed that wasn't good. I tensed up as they came closer to us and to be honest was ready to bolt, anything just to move and get away. When a loud sound erupted some distance away, I jumped. My heart was hammering in my chest and my breathing was far too fast. The sound had the lights disappearing away from us and shouts fade into the distance. Seemed that was our cue to move.

Ten minutes later I was sat in the back of a very dilapidated looking truck with my head leant back and my eyes closed. What the hell had just happened? Okay, I knew that I wanted to get away from Sinclair but how had Hector and Tank been waiting for us.

"How was everyone here to help?"

I asked as I realized that it had been me who had snook out of my room and made it to the doors.

"We had a plan"

I heard a rumble from next to me so opened my eyes to look at Tank. At least he had the decency not to burst out laughing.

"That was plan A, but we had a plan B all worked out as well"

"Didn't realize that we'd need a plan X, should have done though if Beautiful was involved"

I was tempted to kick the back of Les's seat for that comment but to be honest I was too busy trying to work out why Ranger had thought that it was necessary for us to leave.

"Why, what made you need to plan anything?"

That had everyone going silent, so it was then that I realized that there was something that I didn't know about.

"A few things came to light after our visit to the bonds office. Two men died and two are being held at a secure location which gave Brown and Cal the opportunity to talk to them"

Yeah, I bet that conversation was more than just asking them how they were.

"Go on"

I urged because he couldn't just stop telling me what he'd found out now.

"They knew that we were there and were waiting for us to come out through the back door and had orders to kill the both of us and get hold of whatever it was that we'd found"

I know that I was frowning because that meant that someone had been following us or knew that Sullivan had used the bonds office as his hiding place.

"They get their orders through Whatsapp and receive payment into accounts that were set up so have no idea who they are working for"

"Mercenaries, Little Girl. They were given the story that Sullivan's information was linked to a terrorist group so of national security. They have no idea what this is all about"

That made me pause and think. No wonder they were so obsessed in trying to get hold of that book or with how they had treated me. It made me feel almost sorry for them with how they been tricked, almost. Obviously, they were led by the reward of money so maybe they should have been better at researching the job that they'd been asked to do.

"What will happen to them?"

"They're okay staying where they are because they know that whoever employed them might go after them"

That made sense but it was a shame that they didn't know any more. Whoever had employed them had certainly put distance between them. What Ranger had told me was interesting, but he still hadn't told me why he was planning on leaving Sinclair's house.

"Okay, so what else? Obviously, you discovered something else if you felt that you needed Plan A and B"

"Too many coincidences Babe. Sinclair turning up so soon at the hospital when Juan was hurt and then removing you to his building. He was the only one who knew that I'd be driving back to Rangeman when I was ambushed. Then the way that he swooped in and removed you from the bonds office worried me. I had Hector make a copy of the contents of that pouch, but as Kinley said some of the files were corrupted or they hadn't copied over. I wanted to get a feel for what Sinclair was up to and had planned for us to leave in the morning"

Ooops, seemed like I'd really screwed up his plans. Then again if he'd bothered to actually tell me what his plan had been then I wouldn't have been hell bent on getting out of that house.

"Why were you wanting to leave Little Girl?"

Ah hell, how do I explain that one. A feeling, that was what I'd based my escape on, something that Tank just wouldn't understand.

"A gut feeling that I had to get out of there. I really don't trust Sinclair"

I said with a sigh. It had been a good plan though I wasn't too sure how the guys had acted so quickly in helping me to get out of there.

"So what was plan A?"

"For us to walk out and see if we were stopped. If we were stopped from leaving, then Hector was going to cut the power and set the alarms off with Santos and Tank causing a disturbance across the street. I was always in touch with Tank but had to message him that the plan had moved up. How did you manage to get the power to drop?"

I turned and batted my eyelashes at Ranger because no way was I ever going to admit to what I'd done. Fortuitously we'd come to a stop for gates to open which had me knowing exactly where we were.

I was up the stairs before anyone else realized because I was following Ansgar, I was so pleased to see him, any other thoughts became superfluous. I was rolling on the floor with him playing with a bone, when I was aware that Ranger had come up the stairs. I rolled onto my back and looked up at him seeing that sexy man stood over me and refused his hand that he offered to me thinking I was quite comfortable where I was. Seemed his mind was in the same place as mine because he knelt down with his knees on either side of my waist before his lips came down on mine.