Chapter 20

I don't know what brought me awake, one minute I was fast asleep and the next I was on high alert. A feel of the bed and I knew Steph wasn't there but there was no light coming from the bathroom. The clock read 0230 so too early for her to be up, I quietly left the bed and opened the door, to look in the lounge and was concerned when it was dark and empty but there was light coming from under the door to the office. I quietly opened it and stood against the doorframe, there she was sat at the desk busily tapping out at the keys whilst referring to some paper work. She jumped as I moved toward her and spoke.

"Babe, what are you up to, do you know what time it is?"
"Sheesh, make some noise will you. I couldn't sleep so I thought I might as well finish that search"
"Aren't you tired?"
"Are you kidding, all I've done is sleep"
"So have you solved the puzzle yet"
"Just about"

I was actually kidding when I asked her that but from the look on her face she was being very serious. I pulled up a chair next to hers waiting for her to say something, there was no point rushing her, she'd tell me when was sure of herself. I went to get a couple of bottles of water and returned to find her sat on the floor surrounded by papers biting on the end of a highlighter pen. She looked up as I passed her the bottle and then sat forward crossing her legs in front of her, if I didn't know better she was ready to talk.

"Okay I went back to the beginning with the man who lived at that house, James Harvey, his search seemed the most kosher out of all of them. Then I went through just about everyone he knew at university"
"All of them?"
"Well just the men he had any classes with him or were in the same social group. Anyhow I came across a man named Neil Huntington and the search found nothing on him before leaving university"

"So you think this Huntington is Colstaro"

"I don't know, I mean there were two men at university at the same time as Harvey and neither of them seem to actually exist"

"Maybe those names have been added afterwards, to give some legitimacy to false IDs"

"Can that happen?"
"Marc Pardo has an electronic history"

I knew she would remember that name, I'd used it when I was with her when we trying to find Scrogg, what she didn't know was that there was also a Mrs. Samantha Pardo with a history that could be found and had similar looks to her.

"So we have a man who uses different IDs?"
"Yes and that makes him very hard to find and even harder to discover who he actually is"
"Well there was the coincidence with Casper Huntington"

"His son, but again maybe a false name?"
"Yeah, possibly because any record of someone called Casper has been cleaned up"
"So now what?"
"Well I might just know where they are"

"Babe?"
"Well I noticed that he had a thing for heavenly bodies, you know the name Colstaro and the company Star Technologies not forgetting the house on O'Rourke. So I did a search of all new companies in the area for the last eighteen months and found two that might just be worth a look at"
"Are you going to tell me?"
She went onto her knees and pulled me down in front of her, arms around my neck and her face next to mine. At that moment in time I only had one thing on my mind and it wasn't the names of any companies. I nibbled down her neck and kissed where her neck met her shoulder feeling a shudder go through her then with my hands locked through her curls at the back of her head turned her face to mine teasing at her lips until I found entry then teasing around her mouth. I felt her hands skim down my chest and round to my back pulling me closer to her, shit there was no way I could stop now, I needed to feel her, taste her but most importantly make love to her. I moved my hands to pull up her T-shirt only breaking contact of my mouth on her skin to raise it over her head and then my mouth was teasing at her breasts, her nipples as hard as rock. I felt her grinding her body against mine and heard the whimpers as I assaulted her skin but all of that was overshadowed as her hands eased down my boxer shorts and surrounded me with her hand. I wouldn't last long if she kept doing that so I pushed her backwards gently onto the floor and let my hands move down to the elastic of her shorts. They weren't there for long before I felt her warm soft folds, enticing me to explore them, to worship them. She was so wet, and all for me. I used my mouth and finger to bring her to her first orgasm relishing in the feel of her as her muscles tensed around me screaming out my name. As I felt her breathing slow down I raised her up to sit astride my knees then slowly lifted her and guided my self inside. I moaned at the feel of her tightness around me and stilled to ensure she was comfortable and then moved slowly out, the feel of her against my skin bringing ripples of pleasure surging through me. My mouth was constantly touching her skin, lathing and kissing, I couldn't get enough of her, her movement against me, her sighs and moans and the way her hands would massage my skin. As I moved into her again I felt like I was touching her womb, so tight and so right. I knew I wasn't going to last much longer so I rubbed her clit between us waiting for that feeling of power to race through her muscles and I wasn't disappointed. I felt her muscles clenching at me and pulling me in and with one final thrust I lost myself to her, shouting out her name as a growl, sheer pleasure rushing through me. I heard my name, Carlos, and that only intensified the sheer love that I felt for this woman.

"God I love you Babe"
"I love you Carlos and that feeling inside of me when we made love grew so much I couldn't believe I was capable of so much love"
"Me too"
I held her against me, wrapping my arms around that beautiful body the contact between us only intensifying my need for her. I felt her head on my shoulder and smiled at the fact that even in this position she had fallen asleep, only she could do that. I carefully lifted her and moved into the bedroom for us to finish our nights sleep, or what was left of it.

The morning felt like I was floating on a cloud, I don't think I'd stopped smiling since waking up and it wasn't just last night it was all the little things, her washing and brushing her teeth while I shaved, her humming while she dressed and scowling when she looked in the fridge. I saw things this morning that I had taken for granted before, but not now or ever again. As we went down in the lift I suddenly remembered the search she was doing but a call on my phone interrupted my thoughts.

"Yo"
"Ranger we might have trouble, there're police officers down in reception insisting on talking to Steph"
"Are they for real?"
"Yeah, I called the station and spoke with the chief"
"We're on our way"

As I put the phone back in my pocket Steph gave me a curious look.

"We're wanted in reception"
"Who by?"
"Police"
"Do you know what they want?"
"No, they never said"

For some reason I had a sense of dread run through me as we descended to reception and it only increased when I saw six officers stood chest to chest with some of my men.

I raised an eyebrow at Tank as I stepped forward and he nodded to the men to take a step back, Steph stayed back stood next to Santos her expression showing confusion.

"Officer?"
"Detective Mason"
"How can we help?"
"I have a warrant here to take a Miss Stephanie Plum into custody"
I almost laughed at that, what the hell did they think she'd done, hell I'd been with her for the past few days.

"And what is the warrant for?"
"Murder sir, so if you'd step out of the way we'll escort her to the station"
I saw Santos move Steph behind him and the men closed ranks behind me, that didn't seem to have the desired effect though, suddenly there were six officers with guns raised and aimed at us.

"Sir I will take her in even if that means someone gets hurt, so let me do my job"
I felt Steph come to my side, she was nervous and worried.

"Ranger I'll go with him, I don't want anyone to get hurt"

"Babe I'll be there with you, Tank get Harvey straight away"

I watched as the detective walked Steph out to a car, at least he had the courtesy not to handcuff her. One of my Cayennes pulled up as they left and I was out of the door and into the car with Santos driving.

"How the hell can they think Beautiful murdered someone?"
"God knows, she hates hurting anyone, besides she's been with me the whole time"

I felt my phone in my pocket vibrating and taking it out read that Harvey was on his way, no mention of how long he'd be though. Once parked we entered the station and stood at the desk waiting to see someone, Eddie was the first person I saw so I went up to him, I was feeling annoyed and frustrated that I had no control over what was going on.

"Eddie where's Steph?"
"Sorry?"
"Officers came to Rangeman and arrested her"
"Not from here they didn't"
"Where from then?"
"What was the name of the arresting officer?"

"Mason, Detective Mason"
"Hold on while I find out where he's based"

I'd assumed he was taking her to Trenton, how could I have been so stupid? Shit she'd think I'd abandoned her and Harvey, did he know where to go? I'd started to pace by the time Eddie came back and once I saw him I was in front of him expecting an immediate answer.

"South Plainfield Police Department, I don't know what the hell they would arrest Steph for though" As Santos and I moved back to the car I took out my phone to call Tank. "Is she okay Ranger?"
"She's been taken to South Plainfield Police department, tell Harvey we'll meet him there"
"I'm on it" It was about 45 miles to travel there and even though Santos travelled quickly it wasn't fast enough for me, I was so worried about what was happening to Steph, she was on her own and alone and that made me feel like shit, I should be with her or at least for her to know I was with her. The station we pulled into wasn't one I'd been to before but luckily Santos had taken a skip in there some months ago, so he knew where the main desk was. Again I seemed to wait an age before a young policewoman came and stood by the desk. "Stephanie Plum was brought in here and I need to know what's happening"
"Are you a relative?"
Shit did that make a difference?
"No her boyfriend and employer"
Hell that sounded lame, we were so much more than that. I watched as she worked at the computer and looked and smiled. "She's with her lawyer"
"So how long?"
"I don't know, you'll just have to wait" So we waited, and it was driving me mad, I paced to start with but when the officers started to give me looks I sat down next to Santos. "She'll be fine, Harvey's good, she'll be out in no time"
"I wish I had your faith Santos, I just don't like the feel of this" As someone else came from one of the inner doors my blood ran cold, what the fuck was Morelli doing here, if he had anything to do with Steph being arrested they wouldn't find his body. "What the hell have you got her involved with Manoso?"
"Me?"
"Yeah you, now she's your plaything you got her doing your dirty work?" "She hasn't done anything Morelli" "No? That why they found her gun in the room with the victim?" "What victim?" "I don't know, they haven't given me a name, they just showed me a photo and asked if I knew him"
"Do you?"
"No, I've never seen him before" "Is that the only reason you're here?"
"They wanted my opinion as to whether she could do it"
"What did you tell them?" I saw his shoulders slump and for once he seemed to be despondent, he sat down next to me slouched forward, his head in his hands.
"I told them she couldn't do it, she never has her gun on her, she leaves it in the fucking cookie jar" I couldn't believe that he was sat there talking to me like this, maybe he did love her, but not enough and he'd taken her for granted, something I would never do. "I gotta get back to work"
With that he stood up and left leaving both Santos and me watching him leave. "Do you believe him Ranger?" "I don't know"
"But?" At that moment Harvey walked in looking flustered and walked over to us.

"I'm sorry I'm late I got caught behind an accident"
"What?"
"Where is she Carlos?"
"They told me her lawyer was with her"
"That's impossible, let me go and find out"
I watched as he walked over to the desk, as his demeanor changed to that of a man with power, the young officer didn't stand a chance against him, and that's why I paid him the big bucks. I saw as she talked to him, her eyes moving from the screen to his face and then as he started to get annoyed, when he was taken through a door behind her I let out a breath of relief, at last there would someone with Steph now and I'd pay whatever bail they wanted. When at last he emerged I stood up to meet him, looking around for Steph.

"Harvey where's Steph?"

"I don't know"
"How can you not know?"
"They said a lawyer was with her and she went with him"
"Who was the lawyer?"

"They don't know"
"How the hell don't they know?"
"He walked in and announced he was her lawyer so they let him through"
"He didn't say or sign in?"
"No"

"And you're sure she's not here?"
"They showed me every cell and office in the building"

I couldn't believe it, how the hell had someone walked in and out of a police station without them knowing who he was, and Steph did she think he was the lawyer that I said I'd get to her. Where the hell was she? I stormed out of the door feeling my temper rise; I'd let it happen, I didn't protect her from something like this. As I came to the car I let my temper erupt and fisting my hand hit the door panel, it hurt like a bitch but I deserved it. I felt Santos behind me and turned to him ready to lash out at anyone close to me.

"Carlos you need to focus all that energy into finding her"
He never called me Carlos unless he needed to get through to me and with the name came visions of my Babe screaming it out last night. I rested my hands on the roof, taking deep breaths and fighting to reign in my emotions. Once I felt more in control I got into the SUV and pulled out my phone.

"Jay hack into South Plainfield Police department surveillance videos"

"What am I looking for?"
"Someone took Steph from there"
"On it"

We drove in silence back to Rangeman, I needed to get more information like who this man was that she was supposed to have killed, then I remembered my visit to her apartment when I got back from Miami.

"Santos when we called at Steph's apartment after we visited the Bonds Office her gun wasn't in her cookie jar"
"So it looks like someone took it then?"
"Yeah"

Again I pulled out my phone.

"Boss?"

"Take a team and go to Steph's apartment, her gun was stolen from her cookie jar"
"You want prints and evidence?"
"Yes, and Ram, make sure there's a clear line of evidence, follow procedure"
"On it boss"

"Ranger how many people knew she kept it there?"
"I have no idea"

"Thought that might be a long shot"

"Set up the conference room next to my office, get everything in there from what we've been working on, it must tie together"

As I was pinning information to the board Tank came in I knew he didn't know what to say and that was all right, I didn't want him to say something that would make me feel any more guilty than I already did.

"Ram's on his way back"

As I placed a piece of evidence on the board he turned from reading it, looking at me.

"Did Steph get any further with finding out more?"
Shit, I'd totally forgotten about that, she said she may have had a couple of ideas on Colstaro, I turned and went up the stairs to seven, dreading the idea of going into the apartment and especially the office. The emptiness hit me as I went in but I pushed my self forward to the office and just stopped at the office door looking in. Papers were scattered around where she'd been sat working, our clothes still laying on the floor amongst them where we'd thrown them and the memory of our love making hit me along with the smell of her and her perfume. I quickly collected the papers together not caring if they were in the right order and then as a second thought picked up the clothes and placed them on the bed on my way out. I swore I wouldn't be back until she was with me. I was looking for the names of the companies she'd alluded to when I'd interrupted her, Celestial Industries and Supernal Enterprise were the only names that I found, so writing down where they were I headed into Tank's office.

"What you got Ranger?"
"Two companies that may be a fit, both are new and while one reads as being an electronics company the other one is vague stating it provides cutting edge manufacturing components, Celestial Industries and Supernal Enterprise"
"You want some surveillance?"
"Yes, but we need to be discreet, I don't want to spook anyone into knowing we're watching and they may be legitimate businesses"
"I'll get Hal and Miguel, and Vince and Eric on them and tell them to use undercover vehicles. Ranger I doubt she'd be at either of those places"
"I know but maybe we can start to pull together the players"

"We'll find her"

"I'm going down to see what Jay may have found"

Jay was working in Hector's office, not an ideal setup but they seemed to work well together, I knew as soon I went inside and Jay looked at me that he didn't have good news.

"I managed to get into their systems and have the scenes where Steph was taken in but ten minutes later the cameras went offline, I'd say whoever walked in had a jammer on them. I can even follow where he went from the cameras going down"
"Nothing from any exits then?"
"No, other than they must have used the rear exit into the car park. I checked the car park before and after when the cameras were working and there are no unusual cars parked there, police cars and any civilian cars check out as belonging to people who work there"
"What next?"
"I'm checking for businesses that have cameras along the street but I may have to go there and check that out as not all of them have the cameras linked to a computer"
"Jefe"
I turned to look at Hector who was working at another desk.

"Any trackers of ours she had on her are at the police station, probably in evidence bags"

The bastards had made her remove any personal items and had probably done a strip search on her, I know it was procedure, but hell she'd be mortified at that, it was a degrading experience that would have made her feel vulnerable and scared.

Next was a visit to the labs, hopefully Ram might have found something worth following up on, I needed to do something because at the moment I felt I wasn't being active, I wanted something that would help to get me out of here and following up a lead. The labs were at the back of the garage and were state of the art, I'd made sure of that especially as we were often called on by the FBI to help out with cases and Ram was seen by many as an expert in the field of evidence collection and analysis. He was working at one of the computers with another one scrolling through finger prints looking for a match.

"Report"

"Sorry Ranger I didn't hear you come in"

He picked up a file and turned his chair to face me.

"Steph's apartment has obviously been empty for awhile with dust collected but she must have had a cleaning session before Boston so it was easier to see any signs of a break in. There was evidence of the lock being jimmied but I can't say when it was done, we found fingerprints belonging to Steph, you and Lula inside. Someone had been in and carefully gone through the closet and her jewelry box but I don't know what's missing. The cookie jar had your prints on the lid and some smudging probably someone using gloves, there were black fibers caught in the neck of the lid"
"Could you match them?"
"If I had the glove then possibly"
"So someone took things but you don't know what?"
"That's about it, I took photos so if you know what she had then maybe you'd know if something was missing"

I sat down and started to look through the photos, Steph didn't really own much of any value most of what she had were sentimental to her. As I looked through the jewelry box I had a sudden idea and took out my phone to call Hector.

"Hector do you remember the watch we gave Steph on that distraction last year?"
"The one with the panic button in it?"

"Yes, I know she said that it wasn't working, something about the dials getting caught on each other. Any chance you can re activate the tracker in it?"
"Maybe, it depend if battery good, I try. Come up to office"

The watch had been used on a distraction last year and I smiled at the memory of that one. The man we'd been after was a sleazeball, wanted for assault and rape, so we'd tried to make sure every contingency plan was in place. I should have known that with Steph around I could never predict what might happen. She'd gone into the bar and was soon talking with the skip but when she made her move to bring him outside he'd had other ideas and we heard him trying to drag her up the stairs behind the bar. When we'd rushed in to help her we found both of them at the bottom of the stairs, the skip out cold and Steph dazed and trapped underneath him. I'd had to pull her away as we freed her, hell she was annoyed and was ready to kick three shades out of him. She'd used her stun gun on him part way up the stairs not realizing he'd take her with him as he fell. She had a few bumps and bruises and that was when the watch had been damaged. I offered to get it mended but she wouldn't have it, saying she'd just keep it for sentimental reasons. As I entered the office Hector had a map of Trenton up on his screen with a stationary blue dot in the middle.

"Pawn Pirate down on Kerry Street"

"Thanks Hector"

I messaged Santos to meet me in the garage pleased when he got there so fast.

"What you got Ranger?"
"Someone pawned a watch of Steph's"

"How the hell do you know that?"
"Remember the watch she was wearing on that distraction where she ended up at the bottom of the stairs?"
"Hell yeah, she was one pissed off woman"
"The watch I gave her didn't work properly afterwards but she kept it"
"Why?"
"That's Steph"
"You driving?"
"Hell yeah"