Chapter 21

As we got out of the SUV I set the alarms and then turned to look around. It wasn't in the best part of town but hopefully no idiot would try to steal the vehicle. I took in the front of the pawnshop, bars at the windows and doors and lots of gaming machines and computers in the window. Inside was dark and dingy with cabinets locked up tight displaying every type of rubbish you could imagine. We waited for a young kid to finish at the barred service desk and as he left Santos turned the sign to closed and locked the door. The man stood behind the counter moved his hand obviously itching to remove the sawn off he'd have under the counter, a typical slime ball; greasy black hair hanging down to his shoulders and a face with evidence of scars. He may have been a hard guy in the past but the belly flowing over his dirty jeans revealed that he'd let his body go to rack and ruin.

"I don't want no trouble"
"Not looking for it"
"So why you here?"
"You have a watch that belongs to me"
"You! How would I have it?"
"It was stolen from a close friend of mine, and I gave it to her"
"I don't touch anything illegal"
"So find it"
I took out my phone and showed him a picture of the watch that Hector had sent and watched his face as he looked at it, yeah he knew it.

"I didn't know it was stolen and you know I wouldn't touch anything if I thought it was connected to you'

"Good to know now go find it"

He disappeared into the back room returning with a box that he placed down on the counter and then began to push things around inside, eventually pulling out the watch.

"Dam thing didn't work anyhow and I couldn't even get inside it to take a look"
There was a tag attached to the watch which he deftly removed before handing it over.

"Who brought it in?"

"That's confidential information"

I stepped to the side giving him a view of Santos who had opened up one of the cabinets and was now holding up a laptop in the air.

"Don't drop it, it's worth a fortune"

"Name"

He looked at the label then opened a program on his computer sighing, which told me he had a name.

"Joyce Barnhart"
I didn't think so, Joyce may hate Steph but I wasn't convinced she'd break into Steph's apartment and steal something that didn't work.

"Describe her, she a regular?"
"Yeah, maybe once a month maybe more"
"And?"
"Big black woman, I think she's a ho from the way she acts and dresses"

I took the watch holding the cold of the metal in my palm, Lula, why had she done it? Wasn't she supposed to be a friend to Steph?

"What about the gun?"
"Gun! No, no I don't take guns and everyone knows that"

"Has this Joyce anything else in here?"
He played about again with the computer and shook his head.

"She don't buy back as a rule"
"Print me a list of things she's brought in"

"That it then, you gonna leave me in peace?"
"Yes, but not a word to anyone or I'll know about it"

Once outside I threw the keys to Santos, there were a couple of calls I needed to make.

"Cal check the camera outside of the Bonds Office"
"Sure, what am I looking for?"
"Is Lula's firebird there?"
"Yeah parked up front"

"Keep it on screen and alert me when it moves"

I turned to Santos as he started the engine and made the second call.

"Lula's I presume?"
I nodded my head as I started to read down the printed list from the pawn shop, he'd given me the list going back a few years it was obvious from the items that Lula was systematically stealing things, where from I wasn't sure of, I knew Steph had very little of any value and what she had was either at her parents or had been destroyed in one of the many break ins or fires that had engulfed the apartment, but one caught my eye as unusual, a gold chain with a medallion of St George, patron saint of a warrior. Once we'd parked away from Lula's apartment, no point in her knowing we were around, we made our way up to the top floor apartment, the lock was simple to open and we both stood looking around while putting on gloves. It was quite a spacious place with a kitchen area and lounge along with a bathroom and two other rooms. Santos went to the bedroom as I turned to enter the second room.

"What we looking for Ranger?"
"A pair of black gloves and anything that doesn't seem to belong here"

I got a surprise when I opened the door to a small room, obviously a small bedroom but it was stacked floor to ceiling with clothes and shoeboxes, wigs and makeup. No wonder she needed the money if she had paid for everything here. I systematically went through the boxes first, expensive shoes and matching bags, then turned to a closet behind a rack of dresses. I was totally amazed at the range of BSM paraphernalia; okay I knew she'd been a ho in the past but some of the stuff here looked new, still in the boxes and bags from the shops where she'd bought them from, was she still pulling in tricks, is that how she had so much money? Yet she still tried to fleece Steph out of every dollar she felt she was entitled to. As I started to put things back onto the shelves a creaking under my foot caught my attention, as I knelt down I found a loose floorboard and using a knife at the edge eased it out surprised to find a velvet bag full of jewelry and if my judgment was correct they were worth quite a bit, then underneath that was an envelope addressed to Lula thanking her for her help. Inside I counted out two thousand dollars. My phone beeped as I was replacing the board but keeping the contents with me, Lula had left the Bonds Office and was probably on her way home.

"Santos you find anything?"
He exited from the bedroom carrying a plastic bag with woolen black gloves inside. We went back to the lounge area and sat down on wooden chairs by the kitchen bar and waited, no way was I sitting down on the couch. It wasn't long before we heard Lula stomping up the stairs muttering to her self and she'd closed the door before noticing us sat there.

"What the hell"

"Lula"
"What you doing here?"

"We need a conversation Lula"

I pressed the button on my phone and started to talk.

"Lula I know about the stealing"
"Humph like hell you do"
"Lula I have proof"
"I aint stolen nothing"
I took the watch from my pocket and held it up for her to see.

"She gave that to me"
"Really Lula?"
"Yeah really"

"So why take it to the pawn shop?"
"It's ugly as sin, I didn't want it"

"Why take it then?"
"It looked real expensive"
"And the rest of the items that you took there?"
"Things I found"
"The St George medallion that belonged to Tank?"

"I found it and didn't know who's it was"
"I know Tank searched high and low for that medallion and I know he asked you and searched around the place"
"Nah, that weren't his"
"So what about these Lula?"
I help up the velvet bag in plane sight watching how the expression on her face changed.

"You got no right coming in here and searching through my things"
"And you have no right to be stealing from people"
I stood up now knowing that my face and posture were changing to that of being annoyed, I needed to frighten her, to show her that she couldn't stand up against me.

"Where's Stephanie's gun?"
That had a look of surprise from her face; she didn't expect me to know it was gone.

"Lula where is it?"
"I don't know"
"Who did you give it to?"

"It ain't what you think"
"So tell me Lula"
"Some Dude started to get pushy with me so I brought out my gun, he laughed at me the scumbag and still wouldn't back away. Steph was getting Norbert in the car and he asked if she were carrying too, so I said she never carried her gun. He left us alone after that but then he turned up here after Steph dropped me off and threatened me, said he wanted our guns"
Were the tears in her eyes for real? I couldn't believe that she felt anything but what might happen to her.

"What did you do Lula?"
"The next day she were doing work for Rangeman and she blanked me from the last skip so I went to her apartment and got her gun"
"How did this man know you had it?"
"He came by late the next night. I didn't have a choice, he was gonna hurt me"

"Who was he Lula?"
"I don't know, I aint seen him since"

"So why pay you Lula?"
"What?"

"Two thousand dollars for a gun Lula?"

"I needed the cash"

"Lula how much cash do you get through?"
"I have my needs anyhow she was getting more money than me and I did half the work"

I walked to the door opening it letting Eddie and Detective Mason in, switching off my phone in my pocket. Lula was lying, it didn't happen like she said, her story had too many holes in it.

"You got the police onto me, you no good bastard of a thug"
I sidestepped and allowed Eddie and Mason to grab hold of her, though Lula on the rampage was something to see and watched as Santos helped them to restrain her and walk her out of the room with Eddie, leaving Detective Mason and myself on our own.

"So will you drop the charges against Steph?"

"You know we didn't actually charge her"
"Then why arrest her?"
"Oh I was gonna charge her until that fancy lawyer turned up but he had an alibi for her, seems she was out at lunch and he had a photograph and witnesses to prove it"

"If you'd just asked me when you turned up at Rangeman I could have told you that"
"Yeah well with your men looking ready for a fight and the officers with me waiving their guns I thought it best to just get her out of there"
"So who was murdered?"
"A guy named Alfonso Stretch"

"So when did he die?"

"Yesterday lunchtime"
"Why so long talking with Steph?"

"Didn't find the gun till the afternoon and then there was a back log at the lab, by the time we got the results and then located her it was today"

"Who told you where she was?"
"Morelli, I thought she was his girlfriend but boy did I get that wrong, he turned up at the station"

"You didn't ask him over?"

"Hell no"

"He say something?"
"Yelled at her and then told her she deserved it, that she shouldn't have been poking her nose in. Whatever that means"
"Who was the lawyer?"
"I thought he was the one you sent"
"No and now I can't find her"
"Shit, that's not good"
"What will happen with Lula?"
"She'll be charged with theft and at the least aiding and abetting a murder"

"Would you let me know if you find out who the man was that bought the gun?"
"I can't promise anything because maybe he's our prime suspect now, I suppose I'll have to get back to the evidence again, I thought it was too easy to pin point the killer so quickly"
"Thanks for the help"
"No problem, I hear Rangeman can be helpful to the police"
"Anytime you need our help then call me"
As I locked up the apartment and headed downstairs I played the conversation with

Detective Mason through my head, who the hell had eyes on Steph and how did they get a photograph of her? But then I suppose the events outside of Pinos went viral through the Burg with lots of people wanting to get in on the latest scene between her and Morelli, but did we have someone following us? And Morelli, why did he go to the station and blatantly lie to me? Santos was quiet for once as we travelled back to Rangeman and I was grateful for that even though Steph wasn't wanted for murder I still didn't know where the hell she was and I'm sure had she been able to she would have called me. Once back I went to the stairs and headed to Tank's office I now needed to tell him about Lula and the medallion, he wouldn't take the news well, hell I know he was literally bowled over by her but I'm sure at the time he had some feelings for her. What she'd done though would really hit him hard, undermine his faith in women, and he wasn't overly confident at the best of times with them. He was sat as usual at his desk, I really needed to get him out of the office more.

"Where'd you go rushing off to?"
"Following a lead"

"You get something?"
"Of sorts"
"Spit it out then"
"I found out that someone had stolen Steph's gun from her cookie jar"
"So the charges have been dropped?"

"Yes, plus the murder happened at lunchtime so the police have evidence of an alibi for her"
"What evidence?"
"Photos and witnesses, you know the scene outside Pinos gathered quite a crowd"
"So who stole the gun?"
"Lula"
"Lula, you're joking"
"No Tank no joking"
"But she wouldn't do that she's friends with Steph, you got it wrong"
"I'm sorry Tank, I followed a watch that was missing from Steph's apartment back to Lula and she admitted that she'd taken the gun"
"Why would she do that?"
"Money"
"Money?"
"Tank do you remember when you lost your medallion?"
"Hell yeah, I looked everywhere for it"
"Lula had it and took it in to the pawn shop"
I handed Tank the list from the pawnshop before he started to have a go at me again.

"Shit, how could I have been so stupid?"
"She was very believable"
"I know but I should have seen it"
"No one saw it Tank, so don't let it get to you. You got out of the relationship intact"
"Just. I hate that she did that to Steph, hell Steph has helped her so much, she'll be devastated when she finds out"
"I know"

"What else did you find?"
"The man who died was called Alfonso Stretch"
"The man who held her at the house?"
"Yes"

"Now what?"

"How's the surveillance going on those two places?"
"Fairly quiet at the Celestial Industries site, workers going in and out, deliveries, I'm not sure how we'd know something was wrong. Supernal Enterprise is even quieter, seems to be more offices than factory so only a few people in and out"

"Maybe I need to pay a visit tonight?"
"Maybe, you want me to set up a team?"
"Yeah, just get the surveillance teams to be sure of the security they have in place"

"Ranger we'll leave at midnight, civilian clothes"

I got up and left going through to the conference room there were detailed reports from Ram on the forensics from Steph's apartment, reports from the surveillance teams and a report from Jay. I took that one down and began to read through it, noting that it wasn't long ago since he'd put it up. He'd drawn a blank at the police station which I already knew but he'd managed to track down a camera at a local liquor store that kept the scenes on disc at the shop. The view looked from the sales counter across the shop and out onto the street giving a view of the traffic passing by. Jay wasn't sure what vehicle to look for but had made a note of five cars that had passed by where the view of any passengers was obscured by tinted glass. The problem was that the view didn't have a line of site of the plates, but at least we had something to follow with the make and model of these cars. I went to my office to shower and change, no Rangeman logo on our clothes tonight, we needed to be in and out and leave no clues of a break in. I grabbed a bite to eat from the break room but I didn't feel hungry I couldn't help worrying where Steph was and if she had been hurt. At 2355 I entered the garage to be greeted by Tank, Santos, Ram, Vince and Cal, at this rate we'd be seen for sure, there were too many men to do this quietly.

"Ranger, Vince and Cal are gonna sit on Supernal Enterprise while we hit Celestial Industries first, Ram will keep watch while we go in"

Tank handed mics and buds to each of us to use and once loaded up two cars headed out of the garage going in different directions. We were all quiet on the way, I was absorbed in running through my head the floor plans Hector had sent through to us, where the exits were and the main offices, stairways and corridors and even how their security system worked. Ram dropped us beyond the fence surrounding the factory and drove away to the place that gave him the best view of the area and we headed to the fence. Tank cut a hole large enough to slither through on our stomachs and being last Santos closed it up with wire, thin enough that it would break when we needed to get out but strong enough to pull the hole together so as not to show evidence of a break in. We stilled and put on infrared goggles scouting out the area and when we were sure there was no one in sight started to move forward. The surveillance teams had reported no security at night and reliance on electronic sensors and cameras. We waited watching the time and a beep on Tank's phone was the signal that Hector had interrupted the security system, we had twenty minutes max to get in, look around and get out. Once through the side door we each went our own way, Santos was checking out the factory floor, Tank the storage and loading areas and I was on my way to the offices. Another door to open with a pick and I was inside so using a pen light started to look through desks and cabinets. At exactly five minutes I heard Ram then Santos followed by Tank giving the all clear, I responded and continued with my exploration. I started up the computer leaving the power to the screen off, I didn't want any unnecessary light in the room, then after inserting a pen drive in the computer hit the keys as instructed by Jay. Another call in reminded me of the time and as I heard the computer shut down removed the drive and headed back down to the side door. Once I met with the others we backtracked through the fence this time using thicker wire and met up with Ram at the car.

"Santos"

"I didn't see anything out of place, they're producing circuits for washing machines and microwaves so nothing there that wasn't needed in the production line"
"Tank"
"Couple of large vans with the assembled circuits and the stock room just had boxes of components."
"Offices were clean but I have a copy of their hard drive. I think the place is clean"

That left Supernal Enterprise, that's if we were even on the right track, but I trusted Steph's instincts on this so had to think positively. As we were five minutes out we all heard Vince through the radio.

"We got movement here but not from the unit, there are two cars sat out front with us in their view, we're moving on and then we'll circle back"
"I'll pull over and wait for an update"
"Tank have we got a tail"
"Didn't have a moment ago, Ranger what do you want me to do?"
"Circle and use evasive maneuvers"

I watched from the side mirrors as Tank drove around the streets but that dam car was always behind us, when I thought Tank had lost them we were suddenly picked up by another.

"Abort and rendezvous back at Rangeman, Tank send the signal to take us to level 2"

As we arrived back at Rangeman I saw the car that had been following peel away and drive down the road then watched as the same thing happened to Vince and Cal. I raced up to five and through to the monitoring room, at level 2 extra cameras were switched on to give additional coverage of the perimeter of the building.

"Hal tell me we got those cars on camera"
"Yes boss, but none of them had plates and all had tinted windows"
The same as the car that had taken Steph, what were the cars trying to do? It was almost as if they were stopping us from going into that unit. I turned and went into the conference room where the men had gathered and sat down hard at the foot of the table. I was surprised when Jay and Hector joined us but then when I thought about it they would have been keeping up to speed with what had happened.

"Jay"
"Same cars as took Steph, but, and I might be totally wrong here, they were acting as though they were chaperoning you back home"

"Tank"

"First factory was clean and the fact that we had a reception committee at the second would suggest that's the place we're looking for"
"Hector"

"Can't get through security, they're using sensors as triggers controlled through mobile devises"

"Like you explained yesterday?"
"Yes, I say these are people we are after"
"Santos ideas on the cars"

"I agree with Jay, it was almost as if they were keeping us away from there"

I leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes as I tried to get my head around what Santos had said; the problem was I agreed with him.

"Shit, we need to find out who is controlling the men in the cars then"
I stood up and left the room, I could feel myself losing control and I needed to get it back and there was one sure way of doing that. Once in the gym I didn't bother with gloves, I needed to feel the pain in my hands against the bag, I needed to feel the air go painfully in and out of my lungs but underneath it all I needed to feel my Babe close to me. I was so engrossed in the feelings flowing through me that I wasn't aware of the three men behind me, it was only when Tank wrapped his arms around my shoulders and Santos tackled my legs that I even knew they were there, of course Bobby was on me as soon as I hit the floor threatening me with a syringe. At the sight of that I closed my eyes and tried to relax, drawing breaths slowly into my lungs, holding before releasing it. I could feel my heartbeat slowing down and finally I felt myself regaining control of my emotions, Slowly Tank and Santos released their grip allowing me to sit up, as I looked at Bobby he smiled and put the syringe away.

"Glad to have you back Ranger"
"Sorry guys"
"Get some sleep and then we can start again in the morning'

I went up to my office and used the shower in there then changed into cargos and T-shirt and laid down on the couch, somehow I remembered doing this before, and like before my dreams all centered on Steph and not being able to find her.