Disclaimer: Please see previous chapters.

Locked Up & Pissed Off – pt 25

Frank's POV

The entire drive back to Trenton consisted of using all of my military training to keep from hunting down that Morelli bastard and flaying him alive. Even the occasional comment from my nephew failed to dim the rage I felt at learning the full extent of atrocities he'd committed against my baby, and from what I could read of Ranger, it seemed safe to assume he was having the same difficulties. I had to admire the man; he evidently focused his energies on the goal – nailing Morelli legally, which was a feat in itself.

The Morellis had a lot of pull in the 'Burg, which had afforded them relative immunity from several incidents in the past that would have had a negative impact on most other families. Case in point: Joe's rather adventurous sex life as a teenager, which had been publicly aired and laughed off as simple indiscretions of an oversexed youth. My daughter suffered immensely from this, and now looking back, I wished I'd shown her more compassion for the part she'd unwittingly played in his exploits. I also shouldn't have allowed my wife to browbeat her, since the man was legendary for getting his way in compromising more than just a few young girls. My pumpkin's retaliation for his actions had made me proud, then and now, even though her mother was scandalized.

Now, Joe's position as a police detective gave them even more leverage in keeping their family's name unscathed for the most part, and it was well past time for that to continue. I had no doubts that Ranger and his men would put a stop to that piece of shit's rampage, and I reveled in my part of their plan. I rather enjoyed the thought of playing him, of being their 'ace in the hole'. As much as I wanted to leave that part of my life behind, this would be the coup de grâce, because I could finally do something for my daughter that supported her openly. She would actually have the opportunity to fly, to be Wonder Woman. That alone would make this worth it.

Eddie dropped me off at the cab station, and I waved him away with the promise to keep him apprised of whatever information I came across that concerned any aspect of our 'mission'. I had my own net of CI's as well as accomplices to cull, and what I hadn't learned already they would be more than happy to tap their resources for the sake of my little girl. They were almost as proud of her as I was, and would be chagrined if they hadn't been offered the opportunity to contribute.

Few knew that the majority of 'drivers' that worked with me had seen their own share of action in the military and intelligence communities in the past, even if they had retired, just as I had. We all had, at one time or another, participated in several 'situations' since our retirements, although always peripherally. You never really leave the game in our former lines of work. It kept us living…in more ways than one.

I gave a nod to Sal Casigliari and Ray Martucci, two of the many 'cabbies' I've had the opportunity of working with throughout the years, and motioned them outside to where my cab was parked. When they joined me, I outlined what I wanted them to do; giving them very little in the way of information that might prove catastrophic should our efforts go south. I wasn't willing to jeopardize the hard work put in by the Rangemen or my nephew, since it was their intel and perseverance that had garnered them the mass of information that would spell the decline of Morelli's reign of terror over my daughter and others who had less or no means to protect themselves.

My lips curved when I thought about my next task. Although the antipathy I felt for my mother-in-law was well known throughout the 'Burg, I actually kind of liked the old bat. Her support of my daughters' choices; from her decision to end her marriage to that pompous lawyer my wife pressured her into marrying, to Steph's rather colorful occupation as a bounty hunter, to her rather unorthodox attempts as a child to fly. Thankfully, Edna's always vocally opposed my wife's censure of my youngest daughter, which I'm sure was a huge factor in shaping my daughter into the woman she was today. Truth be told, I didn't really mind a lot of Edna's antics. I'd just rather not have to witness them at the dinner table. Now, she could be a valuable ally in keeping my wife in check, in addition to giving us an unsuspected courier for information.

Since it would be conspicuously out of character for me to spend much more time at home to monitor my wife's activities and phone calls, Edna would be more than happy, I'm sure, to fill that role. The trick, of course, was keeping her yap zipped until the danger was over. She loved to gossip with her ladies at the Clip 'n Curl, which could prove disastrous if she let it slip that I'd asked her to play Miss Marple. However, she could very well be the key to giving us insight on Morelli's next hat trick.

I had no illusions that Ranger and his men could ferret out whatever information they needed when it came time to locate and apprehend Joe Morelli, but it could mean valuable time lost when she could easily glean that information from her cronies and pass it on to myself or one of Ranger's men with much less fanfare. She wouldn't have any trouble imparting any tidbits to the Rangemen boys while keeping herself below suspicion, since it was also well known she had a thing for copping a feel on his men and continuously looked for ways to encounter them. I sincerely hoped he paid them hazard duty when they guarded Steph, since they were subjected to the old hussy's wandering hands when she was able to maneuver herself within touching distance!

I opened the satellite phone I used for occasions when discretion was vital, and dialed the Clip 'n' Curl where I knew Edna would be having her hair done today. No one knew about this phone except for a select few, not even my wife. It came in handy when situations cropped up and I needed a secure and untraceable means of communication. This whole clusterfuck certainly called for both.

When I spoke with my mother-in-law I impressed on her the need for secrecy; that the lives and safety of Stephanie and our entire family depended on our ability to keep our heads clear, our ears and eyes open, and our mouths shut. There would be no discussion about any of our activities whatsoever with her daughter or her friends, and especially no police. I or Ranger were the only contacts I felt comfortable allowing her to impart any information to, but agreed to the possible exceptions to the rest of his core team in an emergency. She was uncharacteristically somber after I gave her a small hint of what we were looking for, and readily agreed to follow my instructions before hanging up.

I wondered how long it would take for the grand jury to convene and return an indictment. The sooner that bastard was locked up, the sooner the rest of the town could breathe easy, myself most of all. The longer he was allowed to walk the streets, the more difficult it would be for me to stand back and allow this to proceed along the proper channels. I had a feeling Ranger was experiencing the same difficulties, and he'd been cognizant of the facts for a lot longer. The man was exhibiting a tremendous amount of restraint in handling this whole mess; in fact I wondered if maybe I hadn't been shown the full extent of the file, even though I had no concrete reason to think that way. Call it gut instinct.

The more I learned today, the heavier the scales weighed in Ranger's favor, as a soldier and asa man. He obviously cared more for my daughter than he tried to let on, although I'm sure he hadn't meant to give anyone that impression. If I were a betting man, I'd lay odds he's felt that way for a long time, since he's always been there for her from the time she started this latest endeavor as a bounty hunter.

Stephanie has a rather endearing way about her, and I've seen more than my share of men and boys, both good and bad, fall victim to her unique charm. I've yet to see her encourage most of the negative attention she manages to attract, though. Since the day she was born I've watched her develop her own style, and along with my mother-in-law quietly encouraged her adventurous personality, marveling at how fascinating her seemingly random thought processes are. It's simply her ability to see things from a different perspective that she happens upon most of the situations she gets involved in, and not always in a good way. It's what makes her so lovable, so vulnerable, and also so extremely frustrating. It was my best guess that Mr. Manoso saw that as well, and felt just as drawn, if not more so. My suspicions were such that I had a feeling he was very close to professing just how deeply he felt for my baby, since it was becoming glaringly obvious to everyone, and that Stephanie reciprocated those feelings. I would even hazard a guess that this was exactly what finally unhinged Morelli.

The rest of the day proved uneventful, and also fruitless in most respects. My friends hadn't contacted me with any new information that pertained to my 'mission' yet, although they'd managed to quietly verify several facts that had been included in the case file. They also managed to ascertain one bit of information that I hadn't been made aware of by the Rangemen; Morelli's long and most certainly illicit affair with the mob princess Terri Gilman, even when he was openly pursuing Steph.

That gut feeling I'd had that I hadn't seen everything in that file now made sense. I'd have to have a little chat with Mr. Manoso. Even though I could see why that information hadn't been included, I wasn't happy it had been withheld.

It was going to be difficult to go home and act normally, pretending that all was well. I fell asleep with one thing on my mind. That son of a bitch was gonna pay.

I woke the next morning feeling more tired than when I had gone to bed. My night had been filled with horrifying visions of my daughter being attacked or victimized in a variety of ways, and I had been powerless to save her. Every single scenario had involved Morelli, either directly or indirectly, reinforcing my determination to make the man wish he'd never been born.

I was hard pressed to maintain my usual ''burg' father façade, instead choosing to escape the house and head to the cab company slightly earlier than normal. My wife didn't seem to notice, however. She'd been preoccupied the whole evening before; my guess would be she was trying to figure out where to locate Steph in order to help Morelli. Her unhealthy determination to see my daughter brought to heel and shackled to that man as he slowly killed everything that made her so special strengthened my resolve to check all thoughts of going rogue and killing the man. Helen evidently needed to have the man's true character brought to light the way this whole investigation and trial would. I also needed to make a decision as to whether I could continue our marriage. She was no longer the woman I fell in love with over thirty five years ago.

My inner musings were interrupted by the beeping of my phone, signaling a priority call. I glanced at the caller ID before connecting the call, noting it was my nephew Eddie.

"Hello."

"Hi. Just thought I'd give you a head's up. Morelli shot his dog yesterday. He says Bob attacked him when he got home. I'm thinking something's not right with the story he gave, but right now the shooting is being called justifiable. Thought maybe someone can break the news to Steph since he used to be her dog." His voice definitely had a note of doubt when he recounted the reason for shooting the dog, and I started to get a hinky feeling. Could this mean his behavior was escalating?

Dogs are notoriously sensitive to the nuances projected by those who intend harm, and I'd learned to rely on their instincts when working with them. We'd used them countless times when I was working undercover over in Europe all those years ago, and not once had they been wrong. They had managed to fleece out more than one enemy operative that we had previously considered benign. Several times they even saved some of our lives.

"I gather you aren't comfortable calling Ranger with this right now, so I'll tell him. Anything else he needs to know?" I got a bad feeling when I heard him pause.

"Morelli put in for sick leave. He doesn't normally take time off for an injury this minor, so I'm thinking he's using it as an excuse. I think he's up to something, but I can't figure it out. Might want to up your alert level." This was definitely not good news. I'd lay odds Eddie was right, and Morelli was up to no good. Ranger may need to push the DA to secure an indictment much sooner than he had anticipated.

"You keep your ears open, but whatever you do, don't go near the house, and I'll take care of informing Ranger. I don't want you any more exposed than you already are. It wouldn't surprise me if he's already watching you. I wouldn't turn my back on him either." Eddie acknowledged and ended the call as I heard the sound of someone hailing him faintly in the background.

After hanging up, I dialed Ranger's phone, knowing just how my baby was going to take it when she heard about Bob's death. I felt an ache in my heart because I wouldn't be there to hold her while she cried before she would then get mad. She took a friends' death relatively hard, even an animal's, and she considered the dog one of her friends. For her, it was a call to arms, and she could be very creative when it came to revenge. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that that Ranger's newest task of keeping Steph from leaving the safe house post-haste and hunting Morelli down was going to be more than just a test of stronger wills.

Ranger's phone picked up, but it wasn't his voice I recognized on the other end. I hesitated; I didn't feel comfortable sharing this new information with just anyone. The voice must have understood my reluctance, because he quickly identified himself as Lester, which immediately set my mind at ease. I remembered him as one of the men who occasionally guarded my daughter, as well as one of Ranger's core team and his cousin. I was curious though, why it was him answering the phone instead of the man himself. Was there something wrong?

"Lester, I've got some new information to pass along. Is Ranger available?" I'd still rather speak with the man himself, but at least this way I might find out why he wasn't answering his phone. Call me curious. It was a family trait, and one everyone thought Steph had picked up from my wife's mother. They were wrong.

"Uh, he's kinda tied up right now. Is this something I can pass along to him? I'd really hate to disturb him right now." He didn't seem too comfortable sharing that information, and it made me wonder if maybe his unavailability had to do with Steph.

"This is something he needs to hear before my daughter does. He'll need to prepare her for the news; it's not good." There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Lester would rather not be the bearer of this bad news if I told him. Besides, I had a few pointers to pass on to Mr. Manoso that he might find useful in dealing with Steph once she'd been informed of this latest development, and I'd rather not share it with her more casual acquaintances. They wouldn't stop her from wanting to kill the bastard, but it would help to dial the anger down a few notches so she could think more clearly. At least they'd helped when she was a child.

I heard Lester clear his throat and he began to speak, a note of resignation in his voice. "This is something I'm not gonna want to tell either one of them, isn't it?" He sighed as I made an affirmative sound. "Okay, do you want to hold, or can I have him call you right back? It might be a few minutes."

I chuckled. "Have him call me back. I'm guessing he's with Steph right now, so I understand your reluctance to elaborate. Just stress the urgency; I get the feeling all hell's gonna break loose real soon now." He agreed and disconnected.

Time to call in the troops.

tbc