Chapter 21
Ranger drove down the road, his right hand on top of Stephanie's. The radio was off and it was quiet in the car. Looking over at his Babe, he noticed that she had drifted off to sleep. He smiled at the memories of her trusting him through the years as they drove. Nobody could sleep after incidents like Stephanie. Yes, he and his men would sleep whenever they could while out on missions, snatching minutes here and there, sometimes laying in ditches, curled up in a vehicle, or leaning against a structure.
He recognized that she felt safe enough to do that, and he vowed that he would protect her to his dying breath, if need be.
Squeezing her hand Ranger spoke. "Babe we're almost there."
Stephanie stirred. She sat up and flipped down the visor, checking the state of her hair and make-up.
She muttered into the tiny mirror. "So, I know the general plan. Where do we fit in here?"
Just then Ranger got a text.
"Woody just dropped off Les and Bobby at the rental office and they will wait for him to give them the all clear to head to the house. Woody and Larry will drive to the house and park. It's still early enough that any neighbors will see them and possibly come over. Larry has already delved out a plan that he and his buddy Woody are back from packing up Les and Bobby's place and they all will plan to crash at the house for the night before they supposedly head on to their new home. That will explain the car and the rental truck in the driveway. He already stated that the curtains in the rooms are heavy material since his mother didn't like people watching her, so other than a faint light here and there, nobody will see any movement."
He paused then spoke again. "Larry was supposed to figure out on the trip down what he wanted to take, obviously the box under his bed being a first priority. Later, after the lights have gone out up and down the street, Les and Bobby will creep down the street with their lights out and park, having the car hiding any movements back and forth from loading."
Ranger stopped. "We aren't even going to be there for the loading, Babe unless something happens. We came down so that you can see in the house for yourself what you want to know without any prying eyes. We'll park down the street and walk in through the back alley."
Stephanie nodded her head. She was wondering how much Larry was taking out. Was it just clothes and mementos? It sounded like he didn't have much and she was wondering if there was a bit of overkill with the truck being rented.
Ranger read another text. "Larry and Woody are at the house and a number of the neighbors are looking out the windows but so far, nobody has come over. Woody says he sees a bunch taking flash pictures with their camera phones."
Ranger noted the text to Les and Bobby to wait a bit longer. These neighbors were obviously night-owls and those inside would have to do most of the work in the house themselves.
Finally the all clear sounded and the truck was on its way. Turning off the lights at the beginning of the block, they crept down the street as quietly as they could, backing up the driveway, slowly crunching to a stop.
The front door opened and the first loads were carried out, the cardboard box being placed in the cab of the truck for safe-keeping. Load after load was brought out until finally there was nothing left in the hallway.
Ranger and Stephanie slid to a stop about a block away and they walked slowly down the back alley, keeping close to the back yard fences that might alert the neighbors to something going on down the street. Thankfully no dogs were outside this late at night to warn of something amiss.
Ranger walked ahead of Stephanie, checking for obstacles that she might accidently disturb. This was not the time to trip over a bag or stub her toe on a fallen branch.
Stephanie walked into the house and looked around. It was very plain, all things considered. The furniture was old and worn, no pictures on the table tops to alert her to any family resemblance. She was looking around when Larry materialized by her side.
"Down the hallway on the left is Chuck's room. Mother wouldn't allow anybody in there and I for one don't want to. Unfortunately the curtains in that room are not as thick, so I don't think you should turn on the light."
Stephanie looked at Ranger and he nodded. She wanted his moral support to head there. Taking her hand in his, they walked down the hallway, slowly, almost as if heading to a memorial site. Stopping by the door, she took a breath. What would she find inside that would give her any clue of her first few days?
Ranger handed her a pair of blue gloves to put on. No sense advertising the fact that they were here. A small flashlight in each of their hands, Stephanie turned the knob, opened the door, then looked in.
While the rest of the house looked like it had certainly been lived in, the room itself looked like it had been frozen in time. They could see the old-fashioned dresser with a small round mirror. On top of the dresser was a tatted runner, one like a grandma would have made many, many decades ago. On top of that was a matching brush and comb set and a ring stand with a couple of gaudy gold rings hanging there. A tube of Brylcream lay just to the right near the comb.
There was an envelope on the dresser. Stephanie lifted out the sheet of paper and read the note. She motioned to Ranger and he took a picture of the letter. It had a graph showing two distinctive lines intertwining.
Stephanie put the letter back in the envelope and placed it back on the dresser.
Ranger opened the drawers on both sides of the dresser, carefully pushing the contents back and forth. He turned the small bench seat over checking for anything taped to the underside.
Stephanie moved to the bed, noting the comforter was old but clean. She bent down and smelled it, expecting a very dusty smell but the scent coming back gave evidence that it had been recently laundered.
She pulled open the top drawer of the night table and looked inside. Just some tickets from shows or movies were laying there, probably flipped in after they were used so many years ago. She reached down to the bottom cupboard and pulled it open. There was a shoebox and she pulled it out, carefully setting it on the bed.
She had a feeling that this was what she was looking forward and whispered, 'Ranger'.
He walked over and peeked over her shoulder.
"Do you want me to do it Babe?"
Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. "No, I need to do this, but please stay here."
He nodded and watched as she slowly lifted the top off. Inside were some crafts from a childhood long ago, some smooth stones, no doubt from some adventure, a stringed bracelet in pink, a hair ribbon, a small pin, one earing, and a school necklace. In the bottom of the box were some pictures.
Stephanie looked at Ranger and she pulled the small pile of photos out and laid them one by one on the bed.
There were pictures of Chuck fishing with some buddies, some of him straddling his bicycle standing with Larry. They were both smugly posing with bare chests, and flexing their muscles like Charles Atlas used to do. Then, what she had been hoping for; pictures of her birth mother with her in her arms, standing outside the house with Chuck's arm around her. There were a couple of mother and baby in the hospital, some with the new parents looking down at their new addition to the family.
Stephanie took a deep breath. These were the originals of the ones sent to her at RangeMan. Here was proof that the stalker came from this place and Mrs. Morrison was the prime suspect.
Ranger was taking pictures with his phone of all the photos on the bed. After making sure that they were clear enough, and having taken doubles of a couple, they gathered them up and prepared to return them to the box.
As they looked in, they noticed a brown bag pushed up against the sides at the bottom of the box.
Ranger pulled it out. Opening the bag he pulled out something and also laid it on the bed. It was a comic. Taking a picture, he put it back in the bag and placed it back in the box with the photos and everything else on top of it.
They moved back to the door and Stephanie looked back. It was an old room that time had forgotten. It seemed to confirm that Mrs. Morrison had never recovered from the death of her youngest son. Well, if it gave her comfort, that was fine, but time was marching on and she was about to lose her remaining son and his family.
Closing the door on the shrine, they walked back down the hall.
Bobby walked up to them and nodded his head at a room.
They opened the door and could only stare. Pictures on every inch of one wall. Pictures from the Trenton Times were tacked as close together as they could. Stephanie walked over to the wall and could only gulp. Here and there, red circles around pictures of her. Men standing by her had a black X through them. Pictures of Charles were slipped in beside pictures of Stephanie. It looked eerie and Stephanie started to shake.
Ranger put his arms around her. He whispered in her ear telling her she was safe and he would never let anything happen to her.
This lady was seriously ill. Talk about an obsession.
Ranger took pictures of the wall and ushered Stephanie back out to the living room.
The men were standing in the hallway.
Woody sidled up to Ranger's side and whispered.
"Can you and only you come with me Ranger? I need to show you something."
Les noticed the two of them talking and looked at Stephanie then back. Ranger made a hand signal and Les nodded. He'd keep her attention away from what Ranger was going to look at.
They walked down the stairs to the basement.
Woody led him to a dark corner and pulling out a small flashlight from his pants pocket he shone the light on the now-assembled cage.
Inside was a thin pad, used possibly for a large dog. Hanging from one of the sides was a short chain with a manacle attached. The manacle was new and it definitely was not for any kind of dog.
Ranger looked at it for a minute and his facial muscles tightened.
They turned around and walked up the stairs, heading for the rest of the group.
Ranger put his hand on Stephanie's back.
"Let's go, Babe. The guys have this under control. We'll see them back in Trenton."
Ranger and Stephanie left out the back door again, walking back down the alley to the turbo. They had booked a hotel downtown and were going to stay for a day or so. Now that a major mystery had been solved, was there enough reason to stay much longer?
Stephanie looked at her husband, and he knew that she would want to be held by her loving husband tonight. He planned on Room Service in the morning and maybe even a spa service in the hotel before they headed back. His Babe deserved everything he could give her after this.
~~~o0o~~~
Finalizing the rest of their plan, the men prepared to leave the house.
Les and Bobby would hop in the truck and get the load back to Trenton tonight and have it stored in a room until Larry could arrange for its removal. Woody and Larry would stay the night and leave in the morning.
Just then, everyone froze.
There was a crunching sound in front of the house. Everyone but Larry scattered to another room and waited.
The doorbell rang and Larry looked around before heading to the door.
Standing outside on the front stoop were two policemen. They were looking at the truck that was now securely tarped, hiding the contents.
Larry opened the door and nodded at the men. "Good evening gentlemen. Can I help you?"
They looked at the truck and then at Larry.
"We got a call from one of the neighbors that there's some suspicious movement around here, and we came to check out what's going on."
Larry shrugged. "Damn neighbors, too nosy for their own good."
He shoved his hands in his pockets then removed them as the men stiffened. "Sorry, I have arthritis and my hands get cold."
He kept them in plain view as he waved down the street.
"My buddy and I just got back from packing up his place and we decided to bunk here before he takes off tomorrow."
The men looked suspiciously at the truck.
"You say you live here? Could we see some identification, please?"
Larry reached back to his right rear pocket, pulled out his wallet and gave one of the men his drivers' license. He looked at it and handed it back.
"Well, Mr. Morrison, we certainly don't want to take any more of your time, but you have to understand that a loaded truck in a residential driveway late at night is rather suspicious."
Just then the toilet flushed and Les walked out to the living room.
"Hi there."
The men looked at him dressed in black blue jeans and a t-shirt. His spikey blond hair was just tall enough that it looked very now, but rather strange in such a dated home.
One of the policemen looked at Les suspiciously. "Is that your truck?"
Les shook his head. "Well, technically it's a rental but I rented it to move some of my stuff back to my home."
Still looking suspiciously at him, the policeman on the left demanded more information.
"Can I see some identification and where are you headed with the load?"
Les pulled his money clip out from his pocket. He handed his drivers' license to the man and stated.
"I'm getting the rest of my stuff from my parents' house, finally, as they stated gleefully. My buddy, Larry here offered to help me load."
The man handed back his identification and Les put it back into the clip.
"Mr. Green, where are you headed with this truck?"
Les shrugged.
"I don't have room in my apartment either, but I plan to rent a storage spot outside Newark."
The men looked at each other, then back at the two men. Neither of them seemed to give off nervous vibes and they couldn't realistically hold them up much longer.
Thanking them for their time, the police stepped back to their car, climbed in and left.
Larry looked down the street and saw a curtain move. He was pretty sure that Mrs. Bellamy was watching.
The rest of them came back into the living room.
Larry looked at Les.
"You have extra ID?"
Les grinned. "That's one of many, man, one of many."
Bobby stepped to the window and carefully peeked through the curtains.
"I'm not sure they believed us. They took off and are now just down the street watching the house."
Woody nodded his head and sat down on the sofa. Everyone else but Larry found a place to sit also.
Larry looked around the living room, then walked out. The men heard him walking down the stairs, and then back up again.
"I wanted to take a final look to make sure I didn't forget anything I wanted."
Les and Bobby waited for another hour playing on their phones before they headed out to the truck. It was now closer to 5am and they wanted to get back to Trenton in time for the morning meeting. Hopefully they could get some help unloading the truck into the storage room.
Woody looked at Larry. He had the impression that he was starting to regret staying there any longer.
He spoke. "Did you want to take that motel room that we rented and leave later in the morning or do you want to stay here?"
Larry shook his head no. "I was thinking that we could head back to Trenton too. I just can't stay here any longer. Too many bad memories."
Woody nodded his head agreeing. He had been willing to stay at the motel, but well, he would prefer getting back to his own bed.