Chapter 23

I'd dressed in gym attire and was meeting Tobi down in the gym this morning, what the hell had I let myself agree to? I had done a real good job at staying away from exercise, I just hoped he took pity on me. He led me to the mats and started to show me some stretches and moves to help warm up. I'd not really taken much notice of the guys here with Kade, they all had the same physique as the Merry Men, showing they obviously worked out, but Tobi was slimmer and probably a similar height to Carlos with wide shoulders and slim hips, he had straight brown hair which came to his collar and pale blue eyes, he must have spent time in the sun to acquire a tanned skin but there were also scars revealed when he was in his gym clothes showing the battles he'd been through.

"This is called a five minute dynamic warm-up routine, so always do it before exercise so you don't pull any muscles"

He helped to support me and encouraged me all the time, so I was feeling better. That is until we stood face to face on the mats and he had put a blindfold over my eyes.

"Steph I want you to close your eyes and use those senses of yours. Focus on only me, I'm going to move around you then I'll suddenly try to touch you, I want you to feel where I am and anticipate when I touch you"

I calmed myself, I didn't like the dark, too many memories of the dark, but Tobi seemed to sense my discomfort and he continued in a low, steady voice giving me directions. At first he was so close behind I could feel him breathing

"Breathe with me, match it to mine, good, now focus on me and my energy"

That actually seemed to work and I felt myself being aware of only him, even when he moved back away from me I could sense his presence. As he slowly moved around, I somehow how knew where he was and found myself turning towards him.

"Excellent, now if you feel I'm coming toward you raise your arm and point at me, don't worry if you touch me, that's what we're aiming for"

I liked this, I knew I could do this; I focused on only his presence. It was strange, not the awareness I had to Carlos, but something else? Hell I couldn't even find the words to describe it. After ten minutes of doing that Tobi stood still.

"Okay take off the blindfold and I'm gonna show you how to prepare with your body, then I'll go through the movement for punching"

My eyes adjusted to the light to see a smiling Tobi.

"Told you you'd be good at this, you're a natural, now if we go through these moves slowly it will give you a chance to cool down a bit"

Yeah I could feel the heat on my face and I was beginning to sweat. Tobi moved around me adjusting my feet and hips then made me bend my legs and loosen my arms, he showed me how to balance myself as I moved, almost like a dance.

"Great now the arms and fists"

He put wraps on my hands and then fitted gloves over the top and led me to the bag swinging in the corner, as he held the bag he talked me through the movement I needed to do in order to hit hard without hurting myself. After I seemed to get the hang of it he told me to speed up and use what I'd learnt with my body position.

"OK now go for it. Speed it up and change where you're going to hit"

Now I could really get into this, it felt liberating and the longer I punched at the bag the harder and more effective my shots were.

"That's good, lets cool down those muscles then go soak in a bath. We'll come back to this later this afternoon and see how you put together everything you've learnt"

He undid the gloves and took off the wrappings then led me to the stairs.

"Stairs? Don't I deserve to use the lift?"

As he laughed he opened the stairwell door and pushed me through, oh well I did try. The bath was relaxing and I felt my muscles soak up the heat; I almost fell asleep until my stomach declared it was empty. Down in the kitchen I grabbed some juice and sandwiches then retired to my office to do some searches.

Erzsébet Lange was now on my hit list, Angel had downloaded the photo we'd seen at Grossmans house, so on a whim I loaded a headshot image into a program that would age her by 65 years. Maybe not truly accurate but if I then added different hairstyles maybe I could come up with a likeness. The search on the new name I had brought up nothing so I went into Google and started surfing, "Lang may also have originated as a Hungarian surname, from láng, meaning "flame," perhaps a descriptive name for a passionate individual, Lange is the 26th most common German surname, while Lang is the 46th most common" Interesting, could be Hungarian or German. I was going to say Hungarian, based on my gut reaction to her being Catholic, because in Germany the most popular religion was Protestant. All right then who was the father of Erzsébet Lange? After spending three hours searching there was nothing to find that linked everything together, but my spidey senses were buzzing when I looked more closely at the role that the Gendarmerie played during that time in history. After the Germans occupied Hungary in March 1944, the Gendarmerie was charged with putting the Jews in ghettos and then deporting them to extermination camps. They were in charge of confiscating Jewish property. They set up a "mint" in each of the ghettos, where Jews were tortured into revealing where they had hidden their supposed valuables. The Gendarmerie men were so cruel in their treatment of Hungary's Jews that even some Nazis were shocked at their barbarity. Was her father one of these men? I couldn't find anything and only one man seemed to have been brought to trial, Sándor Képíró, and even then he was found not guilty. In fact there was almost the feeling that politicians wanted to sweep any culpability under the carpet.

So with that lesson in history I returned to the gym to join Tobi, I felt that I had moved forward with my thinking on maybe the why and who, and that I could begin to bring some threads of evidence together. Tobi had me go through my warming up exercise then immediately wrapped my hands and put on some gloves.

"Now my invincible woman, you are going to focus on your inner senses and strength to use your skills to attack me"

"You make me sound like Yoda"

"Patience you must have, my young Padawan"

All right he was asking for it now, I stood in the middle of the mat, blindfold over my eyes and focused, blanking out all stimuli other than my senses. When I felt centered I took up my stance showing I was ready. Tobi started by coming at me slowly, but as I was able to connect my gloved hand every time he came close enough, he speeded up his approach and constantly changed the direction he was coming from. Suddenly there was a change, a shift of the feelings I was getting and reactively I turned and threw a strong punch.

"Shit Steph"

I removed the blindfold to see Kade flat on his back rubbing his jaw.

"My young Padawan you have excelled with your training"

I gave Tobi a glare then bent down to Kade.

"I am so sorry I didn't mean to hit you"

"Bonita to say I'm impressed is an understatement"

The two of them decided to up the game, both donned protective head gear and mouth guards and we repeated the practice with both taking it in turns to attack, I had great fun and found as time went on I was getting better and faster. Kade stepped back.

"Enough, time to get freshened up, Angel has a date tonight, so have dinner with us Bonita and then we can listen in to her conversations with Morelli afterwards"

That could be interesting but I needed to make sure I was calm, and dare I say centered for that experience? No way was I going to let anything that scumbag say get to me.

I showered and changed into jogging trousers, T-shirt and hoodie, as I wanted to be comfortable. I called into my office pleased that the photo now had provided an aged face with several hairstyles. I opened my phone and called Kade.

"Kade do you have a face recognition program?"

"Yes, I'll have it on your computer in a minute, you got something?"

"Maybe, when I have enough, I'll let you know"

I left my computer running through faces to compare with the aged, multi hairstyle images, knowing my luck I'd end up with hundreds, then went down to eat dinner with Kade, Tobi and Jobe. The rest of his crew was supporting Angel as backup. Kade had gone all out for our meal.

"You're going to know why the west coast has the best food, Bonita"

Homemade cream of asparagus soup, shrimp and corn chowder (Locro de camarón y choclo), Apple cider roasted pork loin, Avocado and salmon tartare with mango habanero sauce, Crab salad stuffed avocados, garlic chips. We had the soup first and yes it was very good, but come on I'd had this soup before locally, but when the rest of the plates were set onto the table I moaned at the intoxicating smells. I put a small amount of each dish onto my plate to try, one at a time, to truly appreciate the flavors and had to admit that their taste was unique.

"Get that man of yours to visit us sometime and we can take you to the best restaurants in the area"

Not sure I ever wanted to go near Washington State again but I didn't want to spoil the sentiment by saying anything. We cleared the dishes back into the kitchen and then went into a small conference room to listen in on Angel on her date. I decide to sit on the floor up against the wall, not sure why, but I got the most comfort in that position. Kade and Tobi got up from their chairs and joined me on either side, Jobe looked and shrugged.

"Where's my place?"

"Here"

At that, Kade shuffled behind me, my back against his chest so Jobe could take his place. Sheesh did I look that needy? Not that I was going to complain, I felt pretty well cocooned by these men and knew they were thinking of me and maybe giving me support. The voice of Angel came through loud and clear with the hum of talking, cutlery and laughing. If I had to guess they were in Rossinis.

"Nice place Joe"

"Yeah, has a reputation for good food and the surroundings are better quality than some of the other local restaurants"

Okay I was tuning in and out of this conversation, they went through the usual chat up lines, where from, work and why Trenton. Joe didn't mention his family ties, which was interesting. Angel stuck with what she knew, which was Seattle, I bet Joe didn't even know where that was. Joe stuck to the rich creamed Italian dishes while Angel went with a healthier fish dish; good I hope he has a heart attack. When they finished even I felt the tension in the atmosphere, but Angel came through.

"So you going to show me where you live and we can have a night cap, I live where I work so no privacy?"

"Err sure, why don't you follow me in your car?"

Now why was he being so reticent, normally he'd jump at the chance, thinking they'd be in his bed in no time? Was he hiding something?

Once Angel was in the car her voice came over the speaker from her phone.

"What do you think Steph?"

"Something's off, he played down any family in the area and I would have thought he would have jumped at the chance to get you to his house, I think he's hiding something"

"Well I'm prepared"
"What?"

"Not like that, I've got a vial that will knock him for six, and he'll think he was drunk with a hangover in the morning. When he's out the guys will come in and help search the place, gotta go we're stopping"

There was the sound of doors opening and closing, and footsteps until they were obviously inside.

"This is nice Joe, you lived here long?"

"A few years, still trying to update it, go sit down, you want a beer?"

"Yeah that'll be good"

Again he didn't mention he inherited the house from his Aunt, and where was Bob? Hell I missed that big orange shaggy hound. There was the sound of glasses on the table; strange he only ever gave me the bottle.

"Could I have some ice and water as well please that meal sure made me thirsty?"

Sounds of movement and then Angel whispered.

"Here goes"

"Here you are Maddie"

"Thanks Joe, well here's to new friends"

Their conversation continued, they talked about their favorite films and then moved on to music, by this time Joe was slurring his words and Angel had been to top up his beer. There was a long time interval with nothing, no sounds then Angels voice came over through the phone.

"Okay I've called the guys in, he's flat out"

"Angel did you touch any of your drink?"

"No, why?"

"I don't know, but he never served beer from a glass before"

"I'll bring a sample in, we're on our way upstairs"

There was a lot of rummaging, doors and drawers opening and closing.

"Can't find anything Steph, any ideas?"

"The basement"

"Where's the door to get down there?"

I had to think for a moment.

"As you come down the stairs it's the first door on your right before the kitchen"

"It looks like a small cupboard with coats and shoes"

"No, it's there"

"Oh, sneaky, there's a false wall that pushes out from the cupboard, let me get a torch"

"Oh shit Steph"

"Angel?"

"It's okay, found the light switch, hell Steph everything here is about you or looks like it belonged to you. I'm gonna do a video scan to capture everything"

"Angel, is my leather coat there?"

"Sure is, I'll get it in the video then bring it back with me"

"Get out Angel, use the back door something's wrong"

I was getting an intense feeling something bad was going to happen, I was shaking and near to hyperventilating. Tobi was on the phone to the two guys with Angel giving them instructions to extricate immediately, while Kade had me in a fierce hold.

"Breathe in and out with me, focus Bonita, on me"

I closed my eyes and pulled my head down and followed his breathing, eventually calming down. Once in charge of how I was feeling I nodded to Kade and he released me, I got to my feet and started to pace, willing Angel to appear. The speaker came on, and I stood still, looking at the guys.

"Kade this is fubar, someone came in the front as we were at the back and started a fire in the front room, we dragged Morelli out and left him in the back yard, but the house is going up like a bonfire"

"Gaz, everyone out and return"

"Confirmed"

It took them ten minutes; it seemed like an hour, before the three of them walked into the room. Angel walked straight to Kade and gave him a hug before coming to me.

"Angel, are you OK?"

"Of course"

I looked at the two men who had returned with Angel, Gaz and Sam, and they nodded back to me.

"Can we listen in on the police band?"

"Good idea Bonita"

Angels phone went rang at that moment and because it was still on speaker phone we all heard Morellis voice, the room took on a deathly hush as we all listened.

"Maddie, it's Joe, are you there?"

"Joe, yeah I'm here"

"Maddie did you get home all right?"

"Sure Joe I left you asleep on the couch, you feeling better now"

"Maddie was there anyone around when you left?"

"Not that I noticed, why Joe?"

"There was a fire here, god the whole house went up"

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I don't know how, but I woke up outside"

"Maybe a fireman?"

"Yeah maybe, anyhow I'll catch up with you, but I've got to sort this out"

"No problem Joe, goodnight"

What the hell had happened at Joes tonight? What had he got himself into? The phone I was carrying went off making me jump.

"Babe?"

"Sorry the phone going off made me jump"

"Have you heard about Morelli?"

"You could say that"

"Babe?"

Yeah I now knew he was using that name to question me, as in what are you talking about.

"Angel was there with Gaz and Sam when, in their words, it went fubar, but they're here and everyone's fine. Do know what happened?"

"Only what went out on the emergency frequency, they have any idea?"

"Listen I'll put you on speaker, then they can tell you what they saw"

Everyone crowded around me, while I held my phone out in front of me.

"Gaz here, we were all inside the house, in fact Angel was on her way out, and Sam and I were clearing the area. Angel told us to leave the house, that Steph thought something was wrong. We heard the front door open then smelt the smoke and heard the whoosh, so I'd say they used an accelerant. Didn't see anyone, nor was there unusual activity outside before we went in. I'd say we were very lucky to get out, or unlucky to be there in the first place. We moved Morelli out 'cos Angel had him out cold"

"There's no other info out there yet, I'll get Tank to talk to Eddie in the morning. Angel a successful mission?"

"Yes, but I think you need to see what we found"

"Give me an hour and a half"

Then he hung up! Obviously I wasn't going to get any thing from Angel until Carlos got here.

"Well I'm going to my office to finish up something"

"Bonita, meet in the large conference room when you're ready"

I returned to my office to the sweet sound that said my facial recognition program had finished. I picked up the printed sheets, hell there seemed a lot, I sat on the floor, yeah the floor was my favorite go to place now it seemed, and started going through them. In one pile I put the possibles and on another I put the rejects. It was strange because once I started to analyze the names that had come out, the program had matched several of the images to one woman. I knew immediately I really had found our mysterious woman. Quickly I ran a search on her, I'm sure I recognized the name, Elspeth Langman.

Advocate for far and extreme right wing political groups, all right things were falling into place. I prepared everything I'd found to present to the group at our meeting and headed for the conference room.

I was first into the room so spent the time connecting my laptop to the screen, no mean feat for me, where was Hector when you needed him? People started to drift in with Carlos coming in last, he walked straight up to me and gave me a passionate kiss, who cares that we had an audience, well me, especially when the cat whistles started, we broke apart with me staying at the front. Carlos sat down next to Kade.

"I'm starting this meeting for two reasons, I have most of the whose and some of the whys and if I wait till Angel tells me what she found I'll probably be a bag of nerves"

"Go for it Babe"

As I spoke I brought up pictures and some pieces of the evidence I'd found.

"Tom Grossman brought a young girl into the states from Hungary, the names we have for her are Beatrice Lang, Charlotte Rains, Erzsébet Lange. I used a program to age the photo Ben Grossman had of his father with the young girl and using an aging program and different styles of hair found this woman with the facial recognition program, name Elspeth Langman. Advocate for far and extreme right wing political groups. She is one of the main players in this, and I think part of her game plan was personal to you Ranger as a successful businessman from an ethnic minority group. I am sure her father was part of the Gendarmerie in Hungary responsible for some brutal acts toward Jews and rich people and also for taking money, and property. I think the bank may have had details of names but I think it's more than likely it's the location of money or valuable property. I want Grossman in here tomorrow because I think she got to him and his conscience eventually won out"

"An extreme right wing group would tie in with the bikers that caused the distraction, FBI agent Langley wanted the contents of the box, so you were set up to take the fall and Hickman gave out the inside knowledge of when it would happen, Babe I think you're spot on with this, I agree with you about the names, a lot would be dead and beyond prosecution for war crimes"

Angel stood up next and took my place at the front, I walked over to Carlos, I needed his strength, he moved his chair back from the table for me to sit on his lap, his arms folding around me. Angel looked at me and began.

"According to Steph, Morelli hasn't been acting in character and I think I know why. He is totally infatuated by her and if as you say Steph, he was the one who shot you, I think he is in a state of depression brought on by guilt. In the basement he's put together, well I can only say a shrine to you Steph"

On the screen came the image from the basement, there were hundreds of pictures of me, some posed some without my knowledge, newspaper articles even photos of me as a child? Scattered on tables around the room were some of my possessions. Hell he must have broken into my apartment, my cookie jar, Ghostbuster DVD, some ornaments I'd had on the shelves and some I'd kept in boxes as keep sakes. Dresses, that little black dress he always liked, a negligee. I looked in horror as the scene unfolded on the screen, any picture with someone else and he had blacked out their face, he even had the cage that belonged to Rex with a soup can inside. I took a deep breath, how did I feel about this? OK relieved that he wasn't part of the whole group responsible for what had and was happening to me, anguish for him in seeing how badly he was coping, sad that he was so insecure, but also so annoyed because as usual all of this was about him. Carlos gave me a squeeze to get my attention and Kade gave me a look of concern, was I going to fly into a rage needing to be controlled, or hysterics needing to be consoled? Neither, I was actually in control of how I felt and having gone through my thoughts and feelings I didn't feel anything for him, so I wasn't going to display any extreme emotions. I stood and faced the group.

"All right we can discount him as part of the bad guys, but he shot me and nearly killed me so he will pay for that. Angel the coat?"

Everyone seemed lost for words as they simply sat there looking at me. Eventually Carlos came to me and loud enough, as I think he thought he was voicing the thoughts of everyone, asked me.

"Babe are you sure you're all right with this?"

"Maybe not all right, but I'm not surprised or upset if that's what you're asking?"

"So proud of you Babe, you are one of the strongest, most resilient people I know"

"Thank you, now where's that dam coat"

Angel produced the coat from a bag and handed it to me, I went into the right hand pocket and undid the small hidden plastic zip, then carefully pulled out my phone and pressed the on switch, and pressed it again, and again. Carlos prized it out of my hands.

"Babe it probably needs charging"

"Shit I want to see that video"

"Patience my little Padawan"

I glared at Tobi and Carlos raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ranger you have got to watch her in the gym, she'd put a Jedi knight to shame and she caught Kade with a brilliant right cross"

"You have it on video?"

"Oh yeah"

I gave Tobi one of my famous Burg glares.

"You wait' I'll get you back"

I moved to sit down and put the coat across my knee, as the rest were talking about what had happened at Morellis, I was stroking the leather and my finger caught in a hole. Hell that must be where the bullet hit me, so if there's a hole in the outside but it didn't go through the inside lining, I wonder? I lifted the coat up by the collar and then started to squeeze along the hem. I wasn't really aware of the others, and when I felt a small lump I jumped up.

"Yes"

Everyone looked at me as if I was losing it.

"I've found it, I can prove he shot me"

"Found what?"

That almost came in unison from everyone.

"The bullet he shot me with"

Carlos took the coat from me.

"Babe we'll get the bullet out and then have the lab carry out some forensic ballistics and compare them to Morellis gun"

I smiled, and then turned to the group.

"Gaz, would you and Sam please bring in Mr. Grossman in the morning, make it early and leave him in a cell, then after training, Tobi, maybe you and I can have a little chat with him? I'm going to bed, Carlos?"

I flounced out of the room and toward the stairs, I heard laughter as the door reopened and Carlos caught up to me, unfortunately we also heard Angel shout out at us.

"Three weeks minimum, you're only two weeks in"

Shit I thought she'd forgotten. Carlos laughed at me.

"So did I"

"Out loud?"

"Yeah"

Chapter 24

I woke early to the warmth of my Babe around me; she'd slept well and was definitely healing. Her skills at finding a thread and connecting people still amazed me, I wanted to see the video from the gym Tobi had mentioned and then be here for when some deeper questions were put to Grossman and Hickman. I'd passed Stephs coat off for the guys in the lab to work on, Tank was going to talk to Eddie and Hector thought he'd made a breakthrough with the phone so I thought we were making progress. I'd shared Stephs thoughts as to why the plane and bomb had been targeting me so had put Rangeman up to an amber alert. The FTA Steph had been given was nowhere in Trenton, Santos had scoured the streets, no doubt he was onto the next demonstration and the name and information were bogus. Why Vinnie bails out these idiots is beyond me, but maybe the bike could give us something, I sent Santos a message to call at the bonds office, check the gossip on the street from Connie and Lula then get hold of the bike. I slowly slipped out of bed and changed into gym wear to put in an hour. When I returned Steph was up and dressed.

"You going to the gym Babe?"

"Yes I owe Tobi one"

"Just be careful of your back, you still have some healing to do"

"Will do, you going back to Rangeman?"

"No I'm here for the morning, so catch you for lunch?"

"That would be good"

She sashayed out of the room, I noticed how much more confident she was. Next I wanted to watch her gym session from yesterday. I could only access it from Kade's office so I used a spare desk to see for myself how she managed to get Tobi so smitten. I watched in fascination at how Tobi perceived her intuitiveness and how she adapted so well. Kade came behind me and was also watching; I think he actually flinched when she caught him on the chin.

"You know she's absolutely in control of her surroundings"

"Yeah I can see, Tobi has really worked out how to get the best from her, maybe that's why she always closes her eyes when she shoots her gun?"

"Whey, that's scary"

"Yes, that's why we gave up in the end trying to get her on the range, the men were worried if she always closed her eyes there might be an accident"

"Why don't you go down there, Tobi is going to teach her how to block this morning"

"I'll watch first, the problem is she'll know I'm there if I turn up"

"Really?"

"It's always been like that, we can sense each other, almost connect. When she was shot I swear I felt it"

"Obviously your soul mate then, your other half, man I'm real pleased for the both of you, even if she can be so dam stubborn and erratic"

I watched the monitor as Tobi was slowly taking her through the moves to block a strike, he was very patient with her, but she was learning fast as demonstrated when he speeded up. Next he had her blindfolded, in full protective wear, she stood in the center of the mats and seemed to go calm, and then he started to move around her. Steph followed his every move and when he went to hit her she blocked and returned to her ready position. As fast as he went at her, she blocked him, she really was incredible.

"Gaz and Sam have brought Grossman and Hickman into the cells in the basement, but they need to sweat for a while"

"Thanks Kade, I'll go down to the gym first then head down to the cells, I want to observe on Grossman, but hell, I want Hickman personally"

"You got it Ranger"

I went quietly into the gym, both Tobi and Jobe were now taking shots at her, and as soon as I passed through the door she stopped held her arms and shouted.

"Stop, if you think Ricardo Carlos Manoso you're gonna join in, then the answers no"

Tobi and Jobe grinned and Tobi took a step back.

"Why don't you really show him what you can do Padawan?"

"Babe?"

I could see her smile; she knew I wouldn't hurt her.

"I'm game, bring it on"

I got rid of my boots, shirt and of course weapons and went and stood in front of her, if I could see her eyes they'd be looking right at me. I can move very quietly and did so as I began to circle her, but she followed every inch of my movement, as I went to strike she blocked, then taking me by surprise, she swept my feet from under me, causing me to fall flat on my back. I quickly flipped back onto my feet and this time was more prepared for a reaction from her. We parried for at least ten minutes after which I shouted.

"Enough"

Steph removed her blindfold and jumped at me wrapping her legs and arms around me, I barely kept my balance. Tobi was laughing.

"You know I kept a score of all body shots that found their target don't you?"

Steph shrugged her shoulders.

"Padawan you did me proud you got 8 body strikes in, Ranger you got 6 body shots in"

"Really? I won?"

"Babe you are indeed a Jedi warrior"

Steph just about danced out of the gym, she was euphoric.

"Tobi was that the right score or were you just boosting her?"

"Oh no Ranger, she beat you fair and square"

With that I went into the shower, then dressed, while a laughing Tobi and Jobe left.

Kade, Steph and I met down in the observation room looking in at Grossman. His cell was painted white with only a table and three chairs in the room. One wall had a bed folded and secured against it. The lights were bright and there wasn't any sound. We could see the insides on a large monitor showing a video feed from a camera positioned in the corners of the room.

"How are we playing this, he's already scared shitless so I don't think we need to rough him up?"

"Kade you go in first, then Steph, I'll give any ideas or questions through the ear bud"

"Fair enough, you OK with that Steph?"

"Yes"

Steph was stood looking at him and she was radiant, still slightly flushed from the work in the gym, but she was carrying herself with an air of confidence. Kade went into the cell and sat down opposite Grossman, he hadn't been shackled, as we didn't see him as a physical threat.

"Mr. Grossman, do you know why you are here?"

"No"

"Okay, I know you have some information to tell me about Stephanie Plum"

"Oh god no, I couldn't help her"

"Why do you think you should have helped her?"

"I don't know"

"Mr. Grossman did you want to hurt her?"

"No. No, I would never hurt her"

"Then who would?"

"I don't know, oh god that poor girl"

Steph turned and headed out of the door.

"Lets see if I can loosen his memory"

When she walked into the cell I thought Grossman was having a heart attack, he stared at her, his mouth opening and closing, and his breathing came out in short breaths. Of course, he'd only seen her recently in her disguise; he obviously didn't know that Steph was alive and well here in Trenton. Steph sat down next to Kade and put her hand on Grossmans, as if to prove she was actually there.

"You're alive, you're here, and they didn't make you disappear?"

"Mr. Grossman, can I call you Ben?"

"Err yes of course"

""When did she call you?"

"How did you know?"

"I know these things, so when Ben?'

"It must be about four months ago"

"What did she want?"

"She wanted to know where my father had put some documents, but I didn't know anything about them"

"And when she called you again?"

"She wanted to know everything about you?"

"Did she tell you why?"

"She said you were the key, I didn't understand her, she said you were the one, brave and strong, that you should have been her granddaughter not someone else's"

"Did she send someone to talk to you?"

"Yeah this middle aged man turned up and said I had to do as she said"

"But you didn't did you Ben? Would you recognize him again?"

"Yes I would"

"What did he ask you to do?"

"To spook you into running away, and maybe hurt you"

"You didn't Ben, so you have nothing to be afraid of from us"

"No I couldn't scare you or hurt you, I hated following you, but I kept getting messages telling me where you were, so I did follow you for a short time, then you disappeared"

"Has she, or this man, spoken to you since I disappeared?"

"No, but two women were at the house the day before, yesterday asking questions"

"Ben do you know why your father brought her into this country?"

"Not really, I was born here in America, my father met my mother here, by then she'd disappeared"

"So how did you know who it was when she phoned?"

"She told me that she was the child my father had helped to get to America, and that her name was Erzsébet"

"Ben do you have any idea who her father was?"

"No, my father wouldn't talk at all about Hungary, he was Jewish and said it was a time to forget, he had too many bad memories"

"Do know where he might have hidden any papers, or do you have anything, that your father may have left with you?"

"No he burnt everything, even articles he had written, in fact after that he didn't write anymore, he lost some part of himself, I put it down to the stress of what happened to him during the war. I don't think there's anything of his left"

"Ben, someone is still trying to hurt me, do you want them to do that"

"No. No of course not, I'll do anything to help you"

"Then you must not tell a soul that you've seen me and if she calls, or that man, you must let us know. Can I trust you Ben?"

"Yes, on my mothers grave I will help you, I'll do anything to help"

"Thank you Ben"

On that note Steph and Kade left the room and joined me in observation.

I turned to Steph.

"Babe, what do you think?"

"I actually believe him"

"Why?"

"Because he has nothing to gain from lying, and I genuinely think that woman is a manipulative bitch who wanted something in the bank, I just can't work out why she chose me?"

"Babe, I think you're right about Grossman, so Kade, let him go, but put trackers on him and bug any phones he has"

"Agreed, I'll get Gaz and Sam on it, maybe if they act real friendly he'll be more co-operative if anyone gets to him"

"Babe, I don't want you anywhere near Hickman, he could be violent and I don't want him to know you're still alive or here"

"Can I watch, maybe use the mic?"

"Yes of course you can, you're good at reading people"

Both Kade and I went into the cell, he'd been shackled because we knew he had some skills, Kade sat down while I lent against the door, arms crossed over my chest, expressionless. I would let Kade lead the conversation first; maybe Steph would have some questions to spook him.

"Hickman my name is Kade and I am investigating the disappearance of Stephanie Plum"

"So?"

"So why were you helping her to get Stephanie into trouble?"

Good Kade had learnt from my Babe, let them know you know something already.

"I don't know what you mean"

"Sure you do, and we know as well, we just need to clear up a few points"

"Then you don't need me then do you?"

"Still need to find Stephanie, and I'm sure that being a suspect in her murder won't go down well"

"She wasn't murdered"

"Oh?"

"I know she wasn't"

"So the bullet that hit her in the back?"

"He said she would just go to jail"

"Well maybe he didn't tell you that you'd be joining her"

"What, I wasn't involved in that part"

"But you were by association, and you gave him the information of when Steph was going to be at the bank"

"You don't have any proof"

I stepped in at this point bending down to talk into his ear.

"Now that's where you're wrong"

"You can't have"

"You think we're that stupid not to be able to track your messages?"

Now he was beginning to get jittery, I'd hit on a weakness. Steph spoke into my ear.

"Do you think your father will be pleased when he hears how stupid you were?"

I repeated her question and got a blank face in return. Another question came from Steph.

"He'll be so disappointed in you, and it really wasn't your fault"

And again he looked stunned.

"You know he'll just blank you out again don't you"

Now I could see the direction she was going, so I picked up a question myself.

"It must be hard when you've tried so hard to please him, to make him notice you?"

"It's not like that, he said he'd get me in to work as an agent, he said I had to prove myself to him"

"The problem is we know what you did, you failed your father"

"No she'll make it right"

"You think your father will listen to her?"

"He has to, she said she'd make things right, that she wouldn't let the same thing happen to me like it did to her"

"You mean like her father and her?"

"Yes"

"Do you know what happened to her father?"

"She wouldn't tell me, something about being betrayed"

"So how do you think you can persuade her Hickman?"

"She'll make it right, she will"

"What about Stephanie, why her, your Grandmother didn't know her"

"No but she knew of her"

"Enough for Stephanie to die for?"

"She wouldn't let her have it, it wasn't hers to have, and she didn't deserve it"

"What didn't she deserve that cost her her life?"

"I don't know"

Steph was in my ear again.

"Why don't you call her and arrange to meet with her?"

"She only called me twice and when I tried to call her back the number had been disconnected"

I felt we had all we were going to get for now so nodded to Kade and we left the room. Steph was pacing, obviously thinking through what we had learnt.

"Babe I don't think he knows anything else that's going to help us"

"I know Carlos, well at least he confirmed that Langley is dirty and that he gave him information about me, and we got the tie to Elspeth. What will happen to Hickman?"

I looked at Kade and he gave me a knowing smile, then turned to Steph to explain how he wanted him dealt with.

"I think I might just have a crate destined for some third world country"

Steph just looked at him with wide eyes, then surprised me when she simply gave him a nod. Obviously not wanting to get any more involved with that she changed the subject.

"How's it going with my phone?"

"Not sure, why don't we go find out?"

I had plugged her phone in to charge up assuming the battery had died considering it was probably still switched on when Steph was in the bank. I retrieved it from the charger and handed it to her, her eyes held so much hope as she took it and pressed on the power button. A frown came across her beautiful face as her fingers kept pressing the button. She pushed the phone into my hands.

"I can't get it to work"

I looked at the phone and probably did the same thing as she had done, but it still wouldn't power up. I looked at her and saw the disappointment spread across her face, tears welling in her eyes, she had so many hopes riding on finding some answers in this piece of equipment. I took her in my arms holding her close by her head and at her waist.

"Shush querida it will be fine, I'll take it with me now and get Hector to fix it, OK?"

She nodded her head but said nothing, her brows furrowed in thought.

"Babe?"

"I need to talk to Grandma"

"Babe is that a good idea?"
"Yes, this has something to do with my family, her family and she's the only one I know who could have any answers"

"Will she keep your existence a secret, you know how she loves to gossip?"

"Yes, if she knows how important it is, and she loves me so would never do anything to hurt me"

"All right I'll set it up, we need to meet up with her somewhere private so no one will know or see you"

"Thank you"

"Babe, would you let me talk with her first?"

"If you think that's best"

"I'll call you with a time and place and meet you there, get someone to drive you, please"

I knew she couldn't resist that request; I called on Kade on my way out and filled him in, asking if someone would stay with Steph when she met me. Then made my way back to Rangeman trying to work out how to have a conversation with Edna Mazur without Stephs parents getting involved. In the end I decided to approach the problem head on, I phoned their house. Luck must have been with me because Edna answered the phone herself.

"Mrs. Mazur, this is Ranger"

"Oh I remember you, you drive those black cars and have a nice package"

"Mrs. Mazur I really need to talk to you, but on your own"

"Really, why would you want to do that?"

"To talk about what's happened with Stephanie"

"I'm so upset, I don't know what to do"

"Well maybe between us we can solve some of your worries"

"Really?"

"But Mrs. Mazur this has to be between you and me, no one else is to know"

"Really?"

"Yes Mrs. Mazur"

"Well I'm supposed to be at a viewing tonight, then I was going to that new bingo center"

"How about if I meet you outside Stivas at 7pm, then after we have spoken, I'll drop you off at bingo"

"What a nice young man you are, always said you were"

"Till later then?"

"Yes, goodbye"

With that arranged I needed somewhere we could go that was out of the way and wouldn't attract attention. There was a safe house in Newark that should suit that task very nicely. I let Steph know and gave her the address; giving her the code needed to get in and asked her to be there before us so she could be in another room at the start of the conversation. That arranged I went down to see if Hector had sorted out the issue with the phone.

"Hector, alguna suerte?"

"No, it looks to be burnt out. Was Estefania hit with stun gun?"

"No, but we lost all of the electronics when she was in the bank didn't we?"

"Si"
"Hector could they have used something to damage them?"

"Si, a microwave pulse or electro magnetic pulse"

"If they used something like that is there any way you could access the video?"

"I try, but not good"

Dam we were relying on that to give us some answers. It was getting late so I decided to change and dress casual for my meeting with Edna, grey slacks and cream cashmere jumper, a black jacket hid my weapons so I was ready to face Edna. I decided I needed to have a conversation when she got into the car, hell I was fed up with her constantly trying to grab me. Edna was waiting in the street outside of the funeral home, for her she was dressed very demurely in dark blue trousers, blouse and black jacket and shoes. Her bag seemed light as she carried it, so hopefully no gun inside. I pulled up beside her and she was in, with the door closed, before I had a chance to get out and open the door for her.

"Drive before someone sees us"

I was confident that the tinted windows would stop that.

"Mrs. Mazur . . ."

"Edna, call me Edna"

"Edna, I need to ask you to please not to grab me like you usually do"

"Oh, that takes a lot of my fun away"

"I appreciate that, but you're not always gentle and I really don't like it, please"

"Well when you ask so nicely, I suppose I'll give it a try, just don't temp me"

We travelled in silence through the streets, I'm sure Edna was trying to work out the reason for me asking to speak with her, I was making sure we didn't have anyone following us. I knew Santos was around because I'd asked him to shadow me and I'd disengaged all of my trackers, on the car and left my phone on seven. When we pulled up to the safe house I slid out of the seat and went round to help Edna out. How the hell she'd got into this SUV at the funeral home so dam quick was a mystery. We entered the house and went into the lounge to sit on the couch. Hal had been here earlier to set up a coffee machine and bring something to snack on, then he was patrolling at the back of the house.

"This is nice Ranger, coffee and cake"

"My pleasure Edna"

"So spit it out, I'm not into needless chit chat when you've obviously gotten something important to say"

"I appreciate you saying that Edna and I'll apologize in advance if what I ask might upset you"

"Can't get more upset than I already am, I know my baby girl's all right, but I don't know where, and I miss her so much and I'm so worried for her"

"You love her very much, don't you?"

"Of course, I'd do anything for her, she might as well have lived with me when she was little"

"Edna I think that perhaps you have something to do with what's happened"

"Don't be daft, I haven't been in any trouble recently"

"No Edna, but a long time ago, in your past"

"I don't understand"

"Steph asked you about an old friend you had, maybe a cousin?"

"Yes she did, Beatty, oh how that conjured up memories"

Edna went quiet as though she were remembering.

"Edna that young girl is now a woman your age, and she is responsible for hurting Steph"

"What, how, why would she do that?"

"That's what we need to find out"

At that point Steph walked through the door and stood looking at Edna, it took a moment for Edna to realize that there was someone else in the room, but when she did she stood up and opened her arms to Steph.

"Oh my poor Baby Girl, I knew you were all right, but I couldn't bare not knowing, everyone says you're dead or in prison"

Steph hugged her back being gentle with the now frail woman in her arms. Both had tears in their eyes. Steph was the first to pull away.

"Come on Grandma, it's not often someone brings me cakes, let's sit down and I'll try to explain and maybe you can fill in the gaps"

They sat down, with Edna pouring out the coffee into the mugs and Steph putting a cake in front of each of them.

"Grandma, do you remember when I asked about your friend Beatty?"

"Yes I do, I had dreams about her that night, old memories"

"Well she got in touch with me, supposedly asking for my help, in the end she got me hurt and now I could be in in a lot of trouble"

"Oh my dear, what do you need from me?"

"To talk to me Grandma"

"Well if I can"

"Grandma you always said you're proud to be Hungarian and I never really asked much about it"

"I am proud of it Steph, but I don't remember much, I was so young when we left, just a baby really. Your Great Grandmother brought me on her own, I suppose that's why I felt connected to Beatty"

"Grandma you said she might have been a cousin?"

"That's what she said, not sure if it was just a fancy thought of two young girls"

"Grandma I really need to know about your mother and father and what happened in Hungary, why you and your mother came here, but not your father"

"Oh Steph, not again, I don't know if I can go through all this again"

"What do you mean again Grandma?"

"Your dam mother, she went on and on until I had to say enough"

"Grandma we'll come back to mum later, I'm sorry, but I really need to know your story. Be proud of where you've come from Grandma and who you are"

"All right, let me get a refill"

I watched as Edna filled up the mugs of coffee and helped herself to more of the cake, Steph hadn't touched her cake at all; Edna was building herself up to start talking, she looked to be seeing into the past, her eyes glazed.

"Your Great Grandmother, my mother and I, came over here on our own. It was the only way. We spent weeks hiding out and moving around, father wasn't always with us. Apparently we were well off, I don't know much about it, and your Great Grandfather was a good businessman. Anyhow where we lived there was a mixture of Catholics and Jews and probably Protestants; we lived together, were friends together. Then things started to get bad, any Jews disappeared, and then they came after anyone who lived in those areas and just took everything, and not in a nice way if you know what I mean. We had nothing and nowhere to go, no money and then the talk of labor camps, so your Great Grandfather got us out"

I always wondered how Edna and her family survived in Hungary, I suppose you don't relate the history you know to the people you know, especially so many years later. Steph was quietly crying, holding her Grandmother, I went over and bent in front of them bringing them both into my embrace.

"Well that was then, I am proud to be Hungarian, but those people went through hell. What people did to each other was . . .?"

"Grandma I wish you would have told me. Maybe shared some of the pain"

"No child should have to carry that type of pain, and as I said I was too little to know about it or remember"

"Why was Mum at you about it, surely she should understand how you felt?"

"She got a bee in her bonnet, apparently some solicitor had been in touch with her, asking questions and pushing for information. She was trying to put together a family tree. When I asked her why she said it was her birthright and not some one else's. In the end I refused to talk to her"

"Edna did you and your mother bring anything with you into this country?"

"No we didn't have anything at all, father said he'd get something to us, but it never happened"

"Grandma thank you for sharing your story, but please don't tell anyone you've seen me or spoken to me"

"Baby girl, they're zipped and the key's with you. You young man, take care of her"

I stood up as Edna got up, obviously she felt our talk was finished, Steph and her hugged and kissed and I returned to the car with Edna to take her to bingo. Neither of us spoke the whole journey back; as we came to a stop by the hall she turned to me.

"You get this sorted or take her where no one can find her"

With that she scrambled out and walked into the hall without a backward glance. On the return to Rangeman I placed a call to Kade.

"How's Steph?"

"Well she started to beat the shit outta Tobi until he decided he wanted to live and stuck her in front of the bags, maybe we should borrow Tank for her"

"Real interesting conversation with her Grandmother that I think has stirred up feelings, hell probably guilt, because she was so naive as to what happened to her family in Hungary"

"So what next?"

"The phone is probably caput, I think Steph needs to work through some things. The ballistics came back on that bullet and we matched it to the record they kept at TPD on his service revolver, it was a match. I think Morelli has some explaining to do, so we need to bring him in for a little chat in the morning, but I don't want Steph anywhere near him"

"I'll get Angel to get her out of the building and the boys will bring him in, 1000? Ranger he's obviously not at his house or with family, Gaz reckons he's staying in an apartment, red brick place, you know who else we might find there?"

"Shit, I totally didn't think, that's Stephs apartment"

"Not a problem I'll get Sam to change the locks on the doors after he has him, see you here"

"Yeah I'll be there"

Back at Rangeman I got Tank up to speed, Cal had not found anything on the bikers and Hector said that whoever had sent the messages had deleted them and both were burner phones. As I got to seven I called Steph.

"Babe how you doing?"

"I beat the shit out of Tobi, then the bag so I feel OK"

"I miss being with you"

"I so miss you, I'm gonna take a long hot bath and think"

"What are you wearing at the moment?"

"My pale blue skimpy briefs and a matching lace bra"

"Take your bra off"

"Are you having telephone sex with me?"

"What does it sound like? Move your hand over your breasts, describe what you're feeling"

"It feels soft and my nipple is hard and I'm wet for you"

I could hear her moans down the phone, hell I was getting hard; I moved into the bathroom and continued the conversation.

"Move your hand into your briefs, into your curls"

"Oh god I feel so hot, I'm sliding my finger through my wet slit, what are you doing, can I hear the shower? That feels so good"

"I'm all soaped up imagining your breast in my hand and my finger about to plunge inside you, my hand is moving, thinking that it's your tight opening, I'm hard for you"

"I can feel you inside, sliding in and out, I'm massaging your sacs and tasting your pre cum"

"Oh god, my muscles are tightening"

"Rub and squeeze you clit, come for me Babe"

I heard her sounds through the phone, her breathing faster, hers moans more frequent, as I ministered to my own need by using my hand around my shaft, her shout had me give a final thrust and my ejaculation came with a force. I shouted out her name as the spasm of my organism went through my body.

"Me encanta Babe"

"Te amo Carlos"

Feeling slightly better I showered and getting into bed I slept and dreamed of making love to my Babe.