This takes place after Fearless Fourteen.
CHAPTER 11
Ranger needed to know everything. I saw how the two of us together knew so much about the situation, and what I knew would provide a new angle. I looked up at Ranger and gave him a small smile and a squeeze on his hand. He went back to his seat across the table. He spoke first.
"One of the notes that was left on your car mentioned your family." I nodded soundlessly. "I've
hired additional men and I have six around your parents' house. I'm assuming you don't want to alert your family?"
I shook my head. That would not go over well. They felt safe in their home. They wouldn't even put a chain on their door. The Rangeman employees wouldn't have a tough time keeping up with them, their lives were pretty uncomplicated. It sounded like they were protected. If Ranger trusted his men I trusted his men.
"Rex is here with you, he's safe. And Lula has been with Tank since their date. He's taking a couple of days from duty here and staying with her. I cleared it with Vinnie that Lula has the time off as well. She's taken care of. That leaves you. No safe house, I know. I'll make you the same deal I made you when we were looking for Dickie. You and I work together on this. You don't go off on your own, I include you in everything, and you include me in everything. No more secrets. Or I leave you here with instructions to be stunned if you try to leave. Deal?"
I didn't feel as if I had a whole lot of choice, but in the past working as Ranger's partner had worked out for me. I knew how much it took for him to even offer me this when what he'd really like to do is lock me away.
"It's a deal," I told him. "I've got a lot to tell you."
He nodded, came around to my side of the table and helped me to my feet. "The couch will probably be more comfortable for you. You should put your toe up anyway so it doesn't swell as much." We made our way to the living room. Ranger helped me sit down before he retrieved some pillows from his bed and put them against the arm of the couch. He helped me maneuver so that I was sitting with my legs outstretched and my back against the pillows. He sat at the other end, putting my feet up on his lap. In another time this would have been a prelude to an evening filled with sexual tension, but tonight it was just the easiest way for him to keep an eye on me and for me to be comfortable with my various injuries. The pain medication was still working, the cry had been good, and I found myself relaxing. Everyone was safe. This was going to work.
I started. "Today is Thursday. Sunday evening my mother asked for my help. Friends of hers, Sandra and Ronald Rizzo, were missing their niece. They had reported her missing with the police, but without a permanent address or a residence history anywhere there was no way for the police to start a search for her. So the Rizzos asked me to check into it. I haven't gotten much closer to finding Elizabeth at all, but I found that she'd been working officially for DMNC, Inc. for the past three years, but I suspect that she's been working for them since she was 15.
"Sandra and Ronald are – were – caring for her daughter, Paige. Paige is four and a half years old now. Elizabeth hasn't actively been Paige's mother in four years, but she sends letters, calls occasionally, and whatever money she could spare she would send. Anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands of dollars."
Ranger nodded but kept silent. I knew he was probably thinking of his daughter and his relationship with her and her mother and stepfather. I could see he had picked up on the tense change, but he didn't ask any questions yet.
"With what you told me it sounds like Elizabeth is one of Conzitto's girls and her movements and pay depended on who he had given her to at that current moment. I don't know why this situation came to a head now, but I believe that Conzitto found out that Paige is his daughter. I've seen pictures of both of them. They have the same eyes. Sandra and Ronald had a note on their doorstep too, 'I want what is mine.' Elizabeth had left the father's name blank on Paige's birth certificate, but if you look for it you can see it.
"I was going around trying to get information about Elizabeth from her friends when I found Emily and Lizzie's bodies. Emily's was a complete accident. Lizzie's was too, but I wasn't as surprised and I didn't want to get involved. So I called it in anonymously. Morelli doesn't even know for sure that I was the one who called it in.
"That was my Monday. Tuesday I went to the office and did some computer work. I bought a new car, and stopped by Sandra and Ronald's. They weren't home at all. So by now I had gone looking for Emily and Lizzie and found them dead. Sandra, Ronald, and Paige weren't home. I had gotten the address of DMNC, Inc. and thought that should be my next stop. I drove down to the warehouse and asked to speak to Elizabeth. I was told to wait, and after I asked two more times over the course of an hour I watched where the receptionist went and went around the outside of the building, hoping to find a different entrance into Conzitto's office.
"Instead, I saw a ring of men standing around Sandra, Ronald, and Paige. There were about 30 men there. Another bunch of men came in and took Paige away. All of them were armed. They looked like street thugs. Actually, when I had Alberto Mancini in the car the next day I asked if he had been at work and he said he had. I don't think he knew I'd been there, though. But there were 30 Alberto Mancini types in the room around Sandra and Ronald. As soon as Paige had been taken away they opened fire." I felt the tears welling up again. "I-I couldn't turn away fast enough. I tried but I couldn't. I saw the whole thing!" I couldn't help it. Tears were flowing now and I was sobbing again. Ranger moved my legs off of him and leaned forward, putting his forehead to my forehead, stroking my cheek, wiping away the tears.
"Babe," he said, finally speaking for the first time since I started. "I'm sorry you saw that." He blew out a mouthful of air. "Now I know why you were so anxious not to be alone the other night, why you needed the Valium to sleep. You were also tossing and turning and sweating early this morning when I broke into your apartment. I wish you would have told me. When this is done I want you to talk to someone, even if it's just my men. Part of the Rangers training is psychological. We can help, and you're already comfortable with us. Even the police have to talk to someone when they witness someone being killed."
I was calming down again. I nodded. Ranger leaned back again and put my feet back up on his lap. I took a deep breath and resumed my narration.
"I got away from the warehouse as fast as possible after the...incident. I had to stop at the first parking lot I found to pull over and throw up. After that I wanted Tastykakes. I can think much better with Tastykakes running through my system." He grinned at that. "I was in the store when my car exploded. I knew that if I stayed around I would be questioned by the police about where I had been, and that might get back to Conzitto. He had just left the note about going after my family a couple of hours before. I had just bought the car, so no one knew that it would be mine. At least not right away. A lot of what happened right after the explosion is a bit foggy, but I remember that I needed to get away so no one knew I was there. The next thing I know I'm here, with you."
"You went to the
drug store on the next street and called me, Babe. You were in
shock, you couldn't even walk when I found you. I gathered that
since you had left the scene rather than stay you didn't want to be
found. And like you said, the car was new, so only Morelli was
looking for you right away."
"Morelli? Why would he be
looking for me? Did you talk to him?"
Ranger nodded. "He called your cell several times. He didn't know that it was you, but given your history of blowing up cars I think he just wanted to hear your voice. I told him you were with me and that you'd talk to him later. It's long past the point, Babe, where we can't help but think of you when we hear about a car fire." He grinned.
Wow. I'd really been out of it. I had no memory of any of this. "Thanks for taking me away from there. You were right, I didn't want to be found." I took a breath and jumped back into the story.
"You know what happened that night. I stayed here, and the next morning I went to work. I did computer work and found the pictures of Conzitto that showed me that he was Paige's father. I learned a little bit about the company. Lula and I took care of some FTAs, one of whom was Alberto Mancini. It was just fate that he worked for DMNC, Inc. So I casually asked if he had been at work the day before. He told me he had. I'm positive he was one of the men holding a gun. I wouldn't be able to identify him, though."
I could see Ranger working through that piece of information. That was something he might be able to use.
"Alberto grabbed me and told me that he would see me later when I released him from the cuffs. Tank stepped in to help with that. I spent a few hours with Mary Lou, then went back to the office. Just as we were closing up I saw that there was a press release from DMNC, Inc. say that they were dedicating a new child center at the warehouse on Thursday. Today. Conzitto was going to be there. I figured that if I had just kidnapped my daughter and killed the only people she knew as her parents that I'd want to get myself on her good side pretty quickly. So a big party with toys and food and ice cream would be the way to do it. I was positive that Paige was going to be there with him, even if he never presented her as his daughter. His name isn't on her birth certificate. He hasn't got a legal leg to stand on. Paige was born when Elizabeth was 17, a minor. If he admits paternity then he admits to rape. Plus with Elizabeth missing he can't exactly drag up the whole story of her parentage. But he wanted her to like him. I guess kids are easier to keep under control if they don't hate you. Though he's going to need to think of a more long term situation than a party. I can't see him as a full time father.
"I didn't have a concrete plan, but I was going to go into the warehouse this morning during the dedication and take Paige from him. It's wasn't a good plan, but it was all I had. I had looked up Conzitto's real estate holdings. He didn't have any. And DMNC, Inc. had too many to go through. The child center dedication was my best bet to get Paige. But then you came to my apartment this morning, and now here I am."
Ranger sat and digested what I had said. After several minutes he asked, "Do you know if Alberto Mancini was rebonded again already?"
"Vinnie was bonding him out at the end of the day yesterday. So he should be back at his house by now. Why?"
"I, we, need information about Conzitto's movements. I've found in the past that his employees are usually good sources of intel, provided you motivate them properly."
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.
"I need you to look up Alberto Mancini for me, make sure he's home. I also want you to run constant searches for Dominic Conzitto and DMNC, Inc. I want to know any time those names come up on the radar." He ended that call and immediately started another. "Yo, it's me. Have you gotten anything back from Steph's clothes yet?"
My eyebrows went up when I heard this. I knew that Ranger had put me in his clothes, but I had just assumed that the clothes I had been wearing were with Ella being washed. None of my wounds had involved blood, so there would have been no reason I couldn't have worn them again.
Ranger watched my face as he listened on the phone. He nodded, then I could feel his body tense, even as he kept his mouth and voice constant. Suddenly, he handed the phone to me. I looked at him questioningly.
"Morelli," he said.
I put the phone to my ear. "Joe?"
Now it was his turn to let out a mouthful of air. "Cupcake. How're you doing? Are you feeling ok?"
"I'm ok right now. Bobby gave me some pain meds and he helped patch me up. I'm no expert, but it seems like he's done a good job."
"We analyzed the clothes you were wearing when you were attacked. Something came up that may be helpful to Ranger. He may not have said as much, but I could tell. What are you and he up to?"
"Are you asking that as a cop, or as a friend?"
"Shit, Steph. Does there have to be that distinction?"
"I'm sorry Joe."
"You've told Ranger, but you won't tell me? Again?"
"Joe, it's not like that. You're a cop. And the cops can't be involved in this. It's nothing personal, please realize that. Just as there are parts of your job that you can't tell me about, there are parts of mine that I can't tell you about. Ranger and I work together. I don't get jealous that your partners know more about what's going on at any one time than I might. That's just the way it is." I stopped. I wasn't in the mood for this argument again. I knew where it was going. That Morelli was unhappy that I had to make this choice sometimes, that he didn't like that I worked with Ranger, or that I was a bounty hunter.
"Joe, I'm hurt. I'm tired. I don't want to go through this again. Let's just leave it at this tonight, ok? Please?"
I could hear him getting himself under control. My comparison of our jobs rang true, and even though he didn't like it he would react with professionalism.
"I love you, Cupcake. I don't like seeing you hurt, knowing that your life is filled with this shit."
"I know. I don't like that my life is filled with this shit either. Some days I wish I still bought lingerie. But you know me. I've always wanted to do something different. I don't regret this, Joe. This is my life, and most days I enjoy it."
There was silence for about 30 seconds. "Joe? Are you ok?"
"I'm fine." He sighed. "I love you. I'll talk to you later, ok? Put Ranger back on."
I handed the phone back and watched the rest of Morelli's conversation with Ranger. Ranger's eyes never left mine, but he only spoke three words. "Yo... I understand."
He hung up with Morelli, and before I could start asking him questions he was back on his phone. "Me again. Find out where DMNC, Inc. has real estate. Let me know if there's anything north of Washington Crossing."
After he hung up I started pressuring him. "So, what did you find out?"
"Morelli mentioned three different ways he would cause me pain if I allowed you to be injured, or worse, if I made a move on you. Also, there was dirt on your shirt and jeans that comes from only one area around Trenton. There's a quarry north of Washington Crossing. Bruno apparently had ridden on those roads on his way to meet you and had it on his pants and hands. Otherwise it would have brushed off somewhere. They also found small blond hairs on your shirt, freshly cut. I suspect that Conzitto has Paige at a house near the quarry and they cut her hair to help disguise her. Bruno is Conzitto's right hand man. He's probably the only man who knows Conzitto's secret, so he'd be there at all times."
We digested this information in silence for a few minutes. Then Ranger's phone rang.
"Yo." He sat and listened. "Understood...We can use that. Get a false dossier up for Ella and brief her. I want the usual equipment on her; a GPS pen and a panic button. Have her set up an appointment. Get a non-Rangeman car ready for her, with tracking, for the morning." He hung up.
"Alberto Mancini is dead. His body was found this afternoon in the river. He'd been executed."
I sucked in my breath. While I didn't particularly like Alberto or his wandering hands at all, I hadn't wanted him to be killed. "What else? What about Ella?"
"You were right about the long term solution to being a parent. Conzitto has advertised, in a roundabout way, for a nanny position. He's accepting applicants. He doesn't know Ella, and she's an accomplished undercover agent when the need arises. She used to act." He smiled at this. "I want her to go and check it out and report back. Even if she's not hired we can find out what Conzitto is looking for, where she would be expected to work, and how many people there are milling about in his inner circle. Like you said, he can't acknowledge paternity. So there aren't going to be too many people he trusts knowing he's hiring a nanny. He's not going to just have open interviews in the warehouse. So we'll send Ella in and see what she can find out for us."
I was nervous for Ella. She always seemed like such a sweet and innocent lady. I guess she must know what goes on here, after all she helps keep the men comfortable and her husband takes care of the building. But putting her into the lion's den seemed quite dangerous.
Plus my stomach churned for Alberto. He was sleaze, but he didn't deserve to be executed and dumped in the river. The more I thought about it the more confused I was about that. Ranger must have known what I was going to ask.
"Alberto had talked to you. He had been brought to jail by an enemy of Conzitto. You could recognize him, you knew his name and where he lived. And you had been asking after the Rizzos. My guess is that you're right. He was one of the shooters of Sandra and Ronald. He was too great a risk to be allowed to live, just in case we got our hands on him.
"I know you're tired, Babe, but let's get you up and walking a little bit. It'll help your recovery to get your body in motion. Plus the exercise will help you sleep. I have a boot for you to wear on your foot. Focus on standing up straight and walking as normally as possible." He retrieved what looked like a clown shoe from by the front door and put it on the foot with my broken toe. On my other foot he put on my sneaker so I wouldn't have to hobble. The pain meds were still working in full force, so other than some throbbing I felt ok. I wanted to do this too. I wanted to go with him when he rescued Paige. Not if, I told myself, but when.
After my foot was booted we left his apartment. "Where to?" I asked him. I didn't feel much like going outside. Plus I was still in his sweats and tee. He had joked that his men would never let him live it down if they saw me in his clothes, so I guessed we weren't heading to the control room at all. Too bad. I wouldn't have minded seeing the merry men.
"I thought we'd go down to the fifth floor. You could walk on the treadmill for a few minutes, then we could check in on the control room. I want to see what has turned up. I wouldn't mind your help with some of this searching as well, if you're up for it. You mentioned you had already looked up DMNC, Inc.'s real estate holdings. I have some men narrowing it down, but they could use your eyes and knowledge."
I raised my eyebrows. We got into the elevator and Ranger pressed the button for five. Once again I was reminded of the differences between Ranger and Morelli. Ranger respected what I did and what I could bring to the situation. Even though I wasn't the best bounty hunter I had my strengths. Morelli just saw that I wasn't good at it and pushed at it to make me want to quit.
"I thought you didn't want your men to see me wearing your clothes? That you'd never hear the end of it? Those were your exact words. And what do you think I can bring to this investigation that your men can't?"
The doors opened and we walked slowly toward the gym at the end of the hallway.
"The other night, Babe, you had shown up in an emotionally fragile state. Having you then parade around after a shower in my clothes would have seemed like I might have taken advantage of you. It's none of their business if I'm up here sleeping with you or not, but it seemed inappropriate to have you in front of them like that. I need them to follow my orders and respect me without question. I don't want them even thinking about what I may have appeared to have done in that situation, even if it's none of their business. My men know what happened to you today. Tank and Lester investigated, Bobby helped patch you up, and I sent Hal and Cal with the clothes you were wearing, plus the notes, to Morelli. Today is different. So if you're comfortable, I'd like to have you walk for a while and then we'll go to the control room and work."
We walked into the gym and up to the treadmills. Ranger helped me onto one, putting the emergency stop onto my free wrist and pushing buttons to get the machine started at a flat slow walk. Then he got onto the machine next to mine and put his angle a bit higher, and his speed much faster. I was about to prod him to answer the second question when he did it himself.
"As for what you can bring to this investigation, you think like a woman. And while you don't admit it, you understand parenting better than anyone in the control room, myself included. None of us are parents. I have a child, but I don't raise her; I don't live with her. I don't know what the day to day lives of children involves. You grew up in an area where family is very important, where Paige would have been raised with the same values. There are always kids around the Burg, and you hang around your nieces. Even without being a parent yourself you know quite a bit about the subject. You knew Conzitto was going to need a nanny, you deduced the motivations for having a party so quickly. These are things none of my men would have thought of."
My face flushed at his words. I didn't consider myself terribly good with kids. Give me a hamster instead of a kid any day. But everything he said was true.
We used the treadmills in silence for fifteen minutes. Me slowly, doing just half a mile, my ribs and toe throbbing with each heartbeat. Ranger did three miles and had still barely worked up a sweat. He helped me step down from the treadmill and we went to the control room.
The mood changed as soon as Ranger and I walked in. The men had been alert before, but they practically snapped to attention in their seats and silence fell across the room.
"Report," Ranger barked.
"We have narrowed the list of properties down to 15 within ten miles north of the quarry on both sides of the river. They are different types; condos, single family homes, tract housing. The address to which Ella is supposed to report to for her interview in the morning is one of these homes. It's a condo in Lambertville."
"I want men in place first thing in the morning in the guise of work people in and around that building. Show them Paige's picture, make sure they know Conzitto and Bruno, but they are NOT to engage with any of their men. Surveillance only." Ranger gave orders like a military commander. Which I guess he had been at one time.
My gut was saying, though, that Paige wouldn't be there. I went to another computer, my computer when I work at Rangeman, and carefully sat down. I did a search for the building address. It was slow to type. I wasn't the world's fastest typist, but I was used to using two hands and all ten fingers to do it. Now I was limited to one hand. I quickly ran down the list of owners and the size of the units, but I wasn't really interested in who owned it or what it was used for. I was wondering what amenities it had and how it presented itself. A quick search showed two units in the building for sale. Both were well kept but dated. The building didn't have a pool, no fitness room, no playroom, no concierge. Both units were one bedroom units. It was kind of like my building. My building had a couple of kids, babies really, but mostly it was people who liked the quiet and secluded feeling of living in a small building.
I looked at a map now for the area around the building. There wasn't a park or a school within a half mile. This wasn't a place to take a child who was grieving and lonely.
I glanced up to see Ranger watching me from his position near his men. When they saw him looking at me they stopped talking and waited. "What did you find?" Ranger asked.
"I don't think she's going to be at the condo. When you hire someone to watch after your kids you narrow down your applicant pool before you let your kids meet them. That way you only present people you are satisfied with to your kids. This building is full of one bedroom units. No one owns two units, so there's no worry about any of them having been combined. There's no playroom or pool or anything for kids to do. There's no park nearby. Paige won't be there. She'd be impossible to control and keep quiet."
Ranger nodded with a small grin on his face. His men took a few seconds to absorb that information before they looked back at their list with renewed interest. Lester caught my eye and flashed me a big smile. "Way to go, Bombshell," he mouthed.
"Give the rest of the options to Stephanie, let her look them over. Anything else you can think of right away, Babe?"
"Can we get a copy of his recent purchases? I'm wondering something."
"It'll take us a few minutes. We'll get it for you."
I nodded to him and looked at the list of homes I had in front of me. Of the 15 they had found I was able to eliminate four for being boring condos where a kid would be hard pressed to stay quiet. Three were multifamily buildings, so I eliminated those as well for the same reason. That left me with eight possibilities. Two wouldn't have brought Bruno down River Road past the quarry. Down to six. Two were tract houses, one was an isolated house down a long dirt drive, and three were homes outside of neighborhoods, but fairly visible from the road they were on.
Ranger came over with a packet of papers. He sat down in the spare seat in the cubicle as I flipped through them. Conzitto had bought nothing himself, but DMNC, Inc. had made some purchases. There were your usual wholesale office supplies purchases, the electric and water bills, what looked like Casual Friday's lunch, but the first thing that stood out was a 49 purchase at Target. I had no idea what he bought, but on a whim I searched for the code beneath the purchase and a little girl's bicycle with training wheels popped up. Ok then. That was helpful. Training wheels don't work so well on a dirt driveway. So strike the isolated house with the dirt drive.
One bike for 49. No helmet, though. Why would he risk that she would be injured or ticketed for not wearing a helmet? New Jersey has a helmet law for kids, after all. He must have her more secluded than in the tract houses. Also, the kids living near my mother were always ramming one another with their bikes, preparing to grow up and become New Jersey drivers. They didn't aim for little kids, nor did little kids often join in, but there were casualties often enough with a big kid being knocked into a little kid, or a little kid going where they shouldn't go. So no helmet meant that he felt pretty confident that she was not going to be falling off or being knocked off of her bike. He couldn't risk taking her to an emergency room. I was pretty confident that the tract houses were not likely. Plus with so many children around he would have to explain why all of a sudden he had a four year old, and she may become friends with kids whose parents worked outside of the company. I focused my attention to the last three houses.
The next purchases, on a different card, were at Home Depot. No codes this time to put into the computer. There was one for 685 and one for 150, put through within a couple of minutes of one another.
I thought about that for a while. Then I remembered when Mary Lou had bought a swing set for her older son. She said that she had paid a second fee for set up and delivery. I bet that Conzitto had bought a swing set for Paige. Sure enough a search on the Home Depot website found a swing set for 685. But which of the three houses did it go to? All had big enough backyards for one, and they all had paved drives for her bicycle.
I leaned back, then jumped forward again when the pain reminded me of the broken bones in my chest. I felt Ranger's hands reach out and gently knead my shoulders. With my good hand I turned around to face him.
"How goes it, Babe?"
"I've gotten the list of houses down to three. But now I'm not certain where to go from here."
His eyebrows shot up. "Three? Down from 15 in 20 minutes? Babe. It would have taken a team of two men two days to eliminate 12 choices on the list going door to door."
Now it was my turn to be surprised. I hadn't expected to have had such success compared to Ranger's men. So I explained it to him. "The condos and multifamily houses were out because of the noise factor. Plus he probably wants to keep her hidden and not have to explain to a bunch of people how he suddenly has a child. Two meant Bruno wouldn't have gone past the quarry. Conzitto bought Paige a bicycle without a helmet. She's not going to be around any other neighborhood kids, and her driveway is going to be paved. That eliminated the two tract houses and the isolated house. Now it's down to the three houses with paved driveways and backyards big enough for a swing set."
"A swing set?"
"Yeah. There are two charges from Home Depot on here, one right after the other. I remember where Mary Lou bought her set for her older son. She complained about the fee to deliver it and set it up. But once she saw what work had to be done she wasn't as upset. Those guys were there for about three hours setting up the swing set." I chuckled at the memory. "Actually, that was nothing compared to what her husband and some of his friends did for a week before the swing set came. They were out back every night with shovels and beer getting her backyard level so the thing wouldn't be sideways..." My voice trailed off. I turned back around to the computer and pulled up a topographical map of the three properties. One was just far too hilly. The backyard would practically need to be blasted to get a swing set back there, and the driveway could double as a ski jump. The other two were a little more difficult. One had a slightly bumpy backyard but a flat front yard and a long flat paved driveway. The other had a much shorter driveway, but was flat throughout the property.
I looked back at the purchases. A credit card charge to a small equipment company had come through the same day as the Home Depot purchases. A quick search online showed that that company rented out bobcats. So they had to level the backyard after all. And of course Conzitto wouldn't use shovels, he'd just move in the big machinery.
I turned carefully again and looked at Ranger. "The house with the long driveway. I'm almost positive she's there."
He flashed me his full smile. "And you wondered what you could contribute to this investigation, Babe." He helped me to my feet. We started walking past the rest of the men in the control room. As he passed each one Ranger put his fingers to the man's shoulder and he would rise and follow us. We headed as a convoy to the conference room. The chairs here were far more comfortable and I was able to sink into one without discomfort.
When everyone had sat down Ranger started. "Stephanie believes she has found the house where Paige is being kept." Six pairs of eyes turned to me, mouths open. I guess Ranger hadn't been exaggerating when he said that it would have taken them two days. They turned back to him when he started to speak. "There's a swing set going to be delivered soon to the house. I want Lester and Bobby to find out what type it is and read the manual so you can learn to set it up. Stephanie will get the brand for you. Woody, how long would it take you to hack into DMNC, Inc.'s calendar and find out when the swing set is going to be delivered?"
Woody thought for a moment. "They have a pretty complicated system, Boss. I haven't been able to get in whenever we've tried in the past. Give me 24 hours and I might be able to get in."
Ranger started to nod when I interrupted. "I can have that for you by 9 tomorrow morning." This time seven pairs of eyes stared at me as Ranger joined his men. "I'll just call Home Depot and tell them I forgot to write down what time they were coming. No problem. It'll have the added bonus of confirming the address for us."
Ranger grinned. "Ok then. Lester, Bobby, you have until 9 tomorrow to make yourselves experts on the swing set. I want you to borrow the truck and set it up yourselves. Surveillance only. Do not interact with Conzitto any more than you absolutely need to. Make the normal small talk about who the swing set is being put in for, but otherwise don't push for information. Get a layout of the house, get the land, see how many people are coming and going. Report back here as soon as you're through. We'll get uniforms for you tonight and I'll have Ella take care of the details.
"Anything else?"
I started to raise my hand, but stopped when it hurt. I had their attention as soon as I gasped, though.
"Try not to move too much through the torso yet, Steph," reminded Bobby. "It'll be a few weeks before your ribs feel 100 again." Great.
"I'll remember. Thanks, Bobby. What I wanted to say, though, was that I still haven't found Elizabeth." I fished out her picture from the packet of papers that had been brought down from Ranger's apartment. I passed it around. "Her two best friends were killed in their homes, and her aunt and uncle were murdered at DMNC, Inc.'s warehouse. I doubt she's alive, but if she is she's probably at one of Conzitto's properties. I think if I was going to kill someone and make them disappear, then burying them in the backyard when it's known I have a bobcat rented and earth moved around for a swing set coming in would be a convenient time to do it. No one would question random mounds of dirt laying around."
No one had anything to say at that somber statement.
Ranger looked around the room. "Men, you have your assignments. Dismissed."
We made our way back to Ranger's apartment. The pain medication was wearing off and it was getting hard to breathe again. I just wanted to climb into his bed and go to sleep. He had the best bed in the universe, even if he wasn't in it. I was tired, I was stressed, and I hurt. I couldn't shut down my mind, though. I felt so much better that we had narrowed in on Paige, but I was still no closer to finding out any information about Elizabeth. The chances that she was still alive were slim to none, but I held out a little bit of hope.
When we got back inside I made a beeline directly for the bed. Ranger helped me pull off my boot and my shoe, and in a completely platonic way he helped me get the sweatpants off as well. It hurt far too much to bend over for me to do it myself. As soon as I was in clothes comfortable enough to sleep in – not too many and not too few – Ranger helped me lay back. Heaven. I still hurt quite a lot, but not having to hold myself upright made a huge difference.
"How's the pain, Babe? Do you need something for it?"
"Right now I don't want to get up and I don't want to bother Bobby again tonight. So I guess I'm ok."
"It's no bother, Babe. It's his job. But if you're ok then that's fine. I have Tylenol here in the apartment if you just want to take some of that."
I nodded. My eyes were getting heavy. I heard Ranger go into his bathroom and open a cabinet, then heard water running for a few seconds. He came back and helped me sit up enough to swallow the pills. That took the last of my strength. I laid back and just stared at the ceiling, looking at my eyelids falling.
Ranger's POV
I sat on the edge of the bed and watched as Babe fell asleep. Passed out was more like it. She was exhausted. She'd been working on this case alone for three full days, going up against Conzitto's full organization solo, even if she didn't realize it. He'd been watching her, playing with her. And then he sent Bruno to hurt her. This had to end. These were bad people. I'd heard through the grapevine that Stephanie often told people that she thought I only killed bad people. It's true, I'd killed before. Abruzzi hurt her, and I killed him. Ramos hurt her, and I stunned him and sent him to jail. I couldn't kill him and make it look clean. I'd been trying to get Conzitto for 10 years. Before it was business. He was bad for it. He created a lot of problems for me. But now it was personal. He had hurt Stephanie. I was tempted to go to the house she had chosen right now and blow his brains away. I knew that wouldn't work, though. I knew he had security and he was on constant alert. Especially now, since he was in the middle of this sick game with her. I pulled my mind away from thoughts of revenge and thought about how to protect Stephanie. I had told her I wouldn't leave her behind. But she was wounded. She wouldn't be able to move quickly. Maybe by some luck she would see my reasoning and stay at Rangeman, but I needed a plan in place for when she inevitably decided that she was going to be right in the thick of things, like always.
Tomorrow we were going to have reconnaissance missions happening in two locations. We were going to get the house and the condo scanned. I had six men protecting the Plum family, plus a man on Lula. Probably on her in more ways than one, I thought with a sigh. There would be four at the condo, two at the house. That left me with not many people here at headquarters. Maybe it would be better to take Stephanie and just have her sit in the truck and do surveillance with me.
Conzitto was starting to have people show up for the nanny position at eight. Ella's appointment was at 10. I wanted men in place by 7:15 to avoid suspicion. I went into my office and sent out assignments to the men and quickly received acknowledgments. I still didn't know what time the swing set was going to be delivered. Hopefully not first thing, but better safe than sorry. I mapped out the most logical route for the truck to take from Home Depot to the house and sent the information to Lester and Bobby with instructions to be standing by as early as seven. I sent Tank a message to continue whatever it was he was doing, and then sent messages to the six men guarding the Plum family to keep it up and stay alert. I sent Ella a message with her information and thanked her ahead of time for doing this. She was my housekeeper, that's why I hired her, but she'd come in handy once or twice before.
I turned off the computer, got out of my combats and crawled into bed next to Stephanie. The alarm was set for five. I wanted to reach over and hold her, but I knew I would hurt her if I tried. I was about to drift off when I felt her body change. She stiffened and started sweating. She was having a nightmare. I touched her good hand and tried to wake her up. "Babe?" She didn't wake, but at the sound of my voice she seemed to calm. "Ranger?" she mumbled in her sleep. "I'm here, Babe. You're safe." I fell asleep holding her hand.
I woke up the next morning to the alarm going off. I quickly silenced it and looked over to see if it had woken Stephanie up. She was still asleep, laying in the same position as she had fallen asleep in. She was still holding my hand. I smiled at that. I pulled my hand away and watched her for a moment. When it didn't look like she was about to slip into a nightmare I quickly got up and showered and dressed. When I came back she was still asleep peacefully. I went into my office off of my bedroom and checked my messages. Bobby and Lester had their uniforms, they had read the manual front to back and back to front, and they had discussed a tactic for getting the truck away from the actual delivery men. I read over their plan, approved it and sent the message back. I checked reports from the men stationed on the Plum family. All had been quiet. Well, normal, anyway. Tank had checked in and reported that nothing had been quiet, but all was good. I smiled at that.
I checked my reports from my other bases of operation, and just as Ella was bringing the breakfast tray in at seven Stephanie stirred. I went into the bedroom and looked down at her.
"Sleep well? Any nightmares?"
"There was one, but it was cut short. I feel a million times better today." She tried to sit up and I watched her wince. I leaned in to help her. "I can do it," she said. And with quite a bit of effort she pushed herself up to sitting. No mean feat with three broken ribs and one arm in a sling.
"Well," she said. "Maybe not a million times better. But better." I could see that the change in position hurt her, but she didn't mention anything, and I didn't bring it up. My respect for her continued to climb.
"We have a busy day today, Babe. I was going to ask you to consider staying here as a favor, but I realized that you would be far more helpful if you come with me. Most of my men will be watching Conzitto in various ways, so there won't be too many people here. I could use your eyes and insights on the road. Ella has brought up breakfast and she's gone to change and get ready for her interview at 10. I've already got men arriving at the condo so we should start getting reports back shortly. As soon as Home Depot opens you'll find out the time of the delivery and confirm the address. I want to be watching the condo when you make that phone call, though. I have a feeling Conzitto will be there for a while."
She watched me rattle off the day's events with an odd look on her face. She wasn't as used to working with me in a group situation. This was probably slightly unnerving for her. But true to form she stood her ground and went with it.
I went into my closet and pulled out some spare clothes she had left. All Rangeman black. I helped her out of the swathe and sling, put a new bandage on her bullet wound, and with her permission I eased the tee shirt off of her. Her bruises looked far worse today. There seemed to be many many more than yesterday. The tape was holding for now.
"Turn around so I can see your back." Bobby and I had looked it over yesterday, but I wanted to see what it looked like now. She had crossed her arms in front of her chest. Some of the tape was starting to peel off of her ribs, and her back looked like someone had been using it for target practice. The skin above her kidneys was nearly black and there were dozens of smaller bruises. I don't know how she had slept on it.
I realized while looking at her that there was no way she was going to be able to get into her bra by herself. Or get the rest of her clothes on and off, for that matter. Another time this would have filled me with a nearly incapacitating amount of desire, but today it fueled the fire against Conzitto. I gently slid her arms through her bra straps and hooked it on its loosest setting. I put a Rangeman tee on her, then got her arm back in its sling and put the swathe on snugly. She gasped and hissed several times during all of this, but said nothing else. She stepped into some jeans and I helped her pull them up, then I got her boots for her. When she saw the boot for her toe she shook her head.
"No way am I going out on a job with that clown shoe. If I need to run I won't be able to do it in that.
"That's sort of the whole point of it, Babe. I don't think you can run."
"Just in case. Humor me. We'll just pad my toe and I'll just wear my regular boots, thanks."
I shrugged and did the best I could before lacing them up. I helped her to her feet.
"Babe, I want to see you eat a good breakfast today. I don't know when later we'll have time to eat, and you've barely eaten in days." I took her good hand and led her out to the kitchen. Probably a little faster than she wanted to move, but I wanted to push her so she knew what she could do. She didn't protest the speed at which we moved.
"I'm just not hungry, Ranger. I don't want to eat anything. Nothing sounds or tastes good."
I turned and looked down at her, and without warning I wrapped my arms low around her waist and lifted her. I held her for a few seconds and then put her back down.
"Babe, you're losing weight. I can see it in your face and I can feel it when I lift you. Ella is a fantastic cook. Something here will look good. Find it and eat it."
Her eyes flared at me. She didn't like being told what to do. But she carefully sat down, picked up a bowl of fruit and started eating. I could see it was physically uncomfortable for her to do, but she ate the entire bowl. Except for one piece. That piece she took over to Rex, and staring at me defiantly the whole time, fed to him rather than eat it herself. Wise ass. I grinned and shook my head. I grabbed the bagels off of the tray and wrapped them up to take them with us. I snatched my SEALS hat and a hat that said Rangeman on it for her, a couple of windbreakers, a med kit, her shoulder bag, and it was time to go.