Chapter 25

On assignment now, Eric hurried to meet up with the other members of his team. Joining an operation already underway had become part of his job description. As it was in this case, surveillance and the gathering of Intel had already started, it was now up to Eric to assist with the seizure of assets.

Generally, this part of the operation was considered safe, easy even, to people outside of the department. It had been Eric's experience, however, that more often or not, there would be at least one person who did not want their property confiscated. Showing up to stop it from happening was always an interesting choice, after all, they would be going up against the US Marshalls.

Highly trained, extremely accurate, Eric was one of their best shots, which is exactly why he had been called in. Rumors of a coordinated effort to take back the merchandise from the interrupted drug operation had already started. Having not one, but two branches of the mob to deal with could get hairy very quickly. Pulling in the best they had was the way that the Marshalls prepared for the inevitable battle.

Stepping out of the car, Eric looked around at the scenery before him. Far from the concrete jungles or the desolate desert landscapes that were associated with drug raids and mob control, he stood on the edge of a lush green forest.

This time it was the Canadian border that was playing host to the operation. Eric let his eyes linger on the tall trees, their branches reaching up into the clear blue sky. A photographers paradise, not to mention all of the people who loved hiking and boating in these kinds of nature's playgrounds.

Righteous anger simmered just under Eric's calm features. Ruining this beauty by bringing their drug operations here was truly heinous. Eric would hold onto these feelings when he took them down. He marched purposefully into the motel that was currently serving as headquarters for his assignment.

After the briefing, Eric began his preparations. His mind staying focused on what was about to go down. As if they were following a script, key players from the mob were putting themselves into place. How dumb could they get? Not to jinx it or anything, Eric thought, but they were making it way too easy for him. He was not being cocky, he was just amazed at how predictable these guys could be.

The games were about to begin. He was ready.

. .

The call with Stephanie ended so abruptly Frank felt his fear building again. So, maybe there had not been a car explosion, or an accident to total another one of her cars, but there was definitely something happening with his daughter. "Stephanie?" he said tentatively, hoping that maybe she was still on the line. "Stephanie?" his voice a bit louder this time.

Taking another look at his phone, he confirmed that the call had been dropped. Frank took a deep breath. There was only one thing to do. He grabbed his keys and jumped back into his car. What kind of trouble was Stephanie in now? He would go and find out. If his girl needed protection, he was going to be there to make sure she got it.

He was racing through the burg now. As long as he didn't get pulled over by any of Trenton's finest, he would get to Stephanie's in record time. With one eye on the road and the other in the rear-view mirror, Frank zipped through the streets thanking the traffic gods for giving him green lights nearly the whole way.

With no place to park once he got there, Frank left his car a block away and ran to his daughter's building. Once again, fate smiled down on him. The doors of the elevator opened just as he walked into the lobby. He smiled at the little lady with hair the color of grape kool-aid. It felt odd to be exchanging pleasantries here when he felt the urgency reach his daughter. He waved goodbye when he stepped out into the hall. Frank watched the doors close again, just shaking his head. Too strange, but somehow it all fit in Stephanie's weird world.

Her door was only a few steps away and Frank could already hear loud voices from Stephanie's apartment. That tingle of fear crawled up into his throat. "I'm coming pumpkin," he wanted to shout, but no words came out.

With his urgency kicking up a notch, he did not bother with knocking. Frank grabbed the doorknob, feeling it give way when his hand gave it a strong twist. The door flew open and he burst inside. The place was so crowded Frank nearly bumped right into a huge man all dressed in black. Stephanie's friend, his mind supplied the necessary information and Frank advanced into the living room.

What greeted him was beyond comprehension. Helen was standing spread eagled with Edna curled up in a chair behind her. That kid, the cop Joe Morelli, stood there with his hand on his forehead and he seemed to be glaring at everyone. One more guy dressed in black fatigues held a phone to his ear. Stephanie and her friends were flinging papers around the kitchen while yet another man in black stood with a candle in his hands.

What in the Sam Hill was going on? "Helen!" he shouted out over the chaos. "Helen, what are you doing?"

Frank watched as Helen's face reflected first anger, then confusion, and finally relief. Her hands lowered as she sort of gave him a little shrug. Where could she even begin to explain what had been happening to her this afternoon?

Edna was awake now and she unfolded her legs to sit up in the chair. She looked around trying to shake the strange dream from her foggy mind. Helen was here? And her friend Lula? And, OMG a cop. Oh, wait. Edna skidded that thought to a halt. This particular cop was a friend of Stephanie's, Helen had been going on and on about how great it would be if Stephanie settled down with a handsome man with an important job.

So, she thought, maybe Helen had brought him here to see Stephanie. That would make sense, kind of. What made no sense at all was the look on the cop's face and his hand on his head. But no one seemed to be paying any attention to the officer. Curious. Edna turned her attention back to Helen, it looked like she was going to have a nervous breakdown. Again, Edna thought, her daughter didn't handle stress very well.

A pang of guilt reminded Edna that she had been a pretty constant source of the stress in Helen's life. She felt bad about that, she did. It was good that Frank was always there to soothe his wife. Like he was doing now. His arm around her shoulders, he was whispering soft words in Helen's ears. So cute.

Suddenly, Lula was next to Edna, her finger to her lips indicating that they needed to be quiet. Edna gave her a confused look but Lula just motioned her head toward the door. Together they circled around the men standing in the living room concentrating on the phones in their hands. The ladies were silent as they approached the door.

Lula's gaze took in everyone in the apartment. Nobody was looking her way, this was the chance she needed. Grabbing Edna's hand she opened the door just enough for them to slip through, she closed it gently. Then Lula did something she never thought she would, she raced to the stairs. There was no time to wait for the elevator. Getting caught standing in the hall waiting was not something she was willing to risk.

Just to be safe, Lula took off her shoes and started descending the stairs. Edna, also without shoes, was right behind her. Excitement mixed with a bit of fear made her heart pound in her ears. She was beginning to understand why they needed to sneak away from Stephanie's apartment. The same reason she went there in the first place was the best reason to get as far away as she could now.

It finally occurred to her that Joe the cop was not there to talk to Stephanie. If Lula's actions were any indication, someone must have discovered their involvement in that incident last night. Answering questions was not something she wanted to do right now, especially because she was still trying to figure out exactly how it had all happened.

"Quick," Lula whispered. "Get into the car," she said as she opened the door and threw her shoes into the back seat. Edna ran around to the other side of the car and opened the door. She climbed in, gently pulling the door closed without making any sounds. They both cringed at the noise the engine made but there was no helping that.

Without another word, Lula maneuvered the car out onto the street. They had made it, the getaway had gone more smoothly than Lula had hoped. Now she just had to figure out where they could go to lay low for a while.

. .

It couldn't be that simple. Stephanie looked up at Mary Lou who gave her a little wink. They had played this game when they were kids. It had been Mary Lou's idea to send secret messages. Using lemon juice as her ink and a Q-tip as her quill, the words were invisible until they were exposed to heat.

She was going to be embarrassed if she was wrong. But there was no stopping now. Ranger lit the candle and handed it to her. Stephanie carefully passed the flame back and forth under the page in her hand. One by one, words began to appear. Highlighted by the magic ink. A collective gasp showed everyone's surprise and relief that it had worked. Once cooled, the color disappeared again.

Watching the slow process of using the candle, Mary Lou dropped the paper in her hands onto the counter and rushed into the other room. Seconds later she came back with Stephanie's lamp. The shade had been removed, giving easy access to the light bulb. It was easier this way so she blew out the candle in Stephanie's hand. Page after page they heated the 'ink' and revealed the highlighted words. Excitement gave way to confusion. They had to figure out what all the random words meant.

"Page numbers," Stephanie said suddenly. "There have to be page numbers. Look in the corners."

Mary Lou squealed when a number appeared on the top right-hand corner of the page she held. "8," she said, smiling in appreciation that Stephanie had thought of it. Papers were handed to her quickly, and once the numbers were revealed Lenny started laying out the pages in order on the kitchen floor. They were going to have to keep them in order to see if there was a message in these words.

Ranger stepped back and watched the frenzy. Slick, he thought. Sending copies of the newspaper articles had not been for the information they contained, instead, they served as a source to deliver the clues. He had to give the lady credit, this had been an effective way to ensure the secrecy of her message on the off chance that someone could have intercepted it.

With the pages lined up, Stephanie and Mary Lou went over each paper, circling the words that had been marked. Not every page had highlighted words on them and that was a bit confusing at first. They double checked everything. It was slow going but at last, the message seemed to be complete.

"She wants to meet with me," Stephanie said looking up from her kneeling position. "Tomorrow morning."

Ranger stepped forward now extending his hand to help her stand. There was no way that Stephanie was going to do this alone and Stephanie got the message loud and clear when their eyes met. She nodded, she was in complete agreement. They would have to do this right, there was no way that she would endanger this poor girl who had gone to such trouble to arrange this meeting.

With one smooth movement, Ranger pulled Stephanie into his arms. In return, she wrapped her arms around his waist. Her head rested on his shoulder and for one blissful moment, the world dropped away.

When she opened her eyes, Stephanie was surprised to find that actually, they were more alone than she had realized. She looked around the once crowded apartment. Lenny was helping Mary Lou gather up at the papers. Tank sat on the couch, his feet up on the coffee table and his phone in his hands.

No one else was there. At her confused look, Ranger offered an abbreviated explanation. "Your dad came and took your mother home." She nodded and he continued. "Lula disappeared with your grandmother, a fact that upset the cop." Stephanie noticed that Ranger refused to say Joe's name and it almost made her laugh, but she kept a straight face and waited to hear what he had to say next.

"I told Hector to follow Lula," Ranger almost smiled himself at that. "He has already confirmed that it was an easy thing to do. Her car is hard to miss." Ranger did smile now. "When the cop realized that they were gone, he took off too." When Stephanie stiffened in alarm, Ranger was quick to finish his thought.

"But don't worry, the ladies had enough of a head start, he has no idea where they went."

Stephanie relaxed again after knowing there would be no more drama with her grandmother for a while. Reluctantly, she stepped out of Ranger's arms to help clean up the mess in her kitchen. He kissed her on the top of her head and walked into the other room.

Mary Lou had watched the whole exchange. She had her reservations about Ranger. He had always seemed so elusive and mysterious, not to mention dangerous. But seeing them together, she could not help but feel that they were so right for each other. Lenny heard her little sigh and looked over at his wife to see that familiar look on her face. She was s sucker for a happy ending.

He set the pile of papers down and walked over to her. Solving puzzles also made Mary Lou happy. This particular mystery, however, was far from over and they both knew it. There was nothing more that they could do today and she was going to hate waiting to see what would happen.

"The kids," he simply said. And just like that Mary Lou switched gears back into mom mode.

"Hey, Steph," Mary Lou said. "We are going to take off now." She pulled her friend in for a hug. "You going to be okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Stephanie said, her eyes strayed, looking over at Ranger. "Yeah, I think everything is going to be alright."

Though Mary Lou had been referring to the meeting with Mr. Phillips sister in the morning, she had no doubt that Stephanie was talking about her situation with Ranger. She patted Stephanie's hand before walking over to the door. "Let me know what happens." Now Stephanie understood the double meaning and she smiled.

"Okay," she said. "And thank you! For everything!"

. .