Chapter 22
SPOV
I'd made sure my alarm woke me early, but still cursed when it went off, I had to get ready and then get through this funeral today, not something I was looking forward to. I showered and put on a robe deciding to get some breakfast first and avoid any stupid spills on my clothes. I'd seen Ella last night and could tell that she was disappointed that I wasn't staying on seven, but there was no way I could explain it to her, so I made the excuse that there were other people on four so I didn't feel quite so alone. I also asked her if she would continue with the type of breakfast she normally gave Ranger, minus the tasteless cereal he ate. So I was sat down eating an omelet, which I have to say tasted delicious. Why I had been so averse to eating something like this I had no idea.
Once tidied away I changed into dark grey trousers, cream blouse and the matching jacket. I had my watch on and my bag in my hand when I suddenly thought of Emci, I hadn't heard anything from her in days and was actually beginning to worry about her. A scan on the burner phone showed no number to call, in fact I couldn't remember seeing a number and there was no record of the previous messages or calls either. I couldn't remember clearing them from the phone. With little time left to start messing about with the phone I slipped it into my bag and headed for the garage to meet up with Les.
As I left the elevator, I'm sure my mouth was open, yikes, so many men in black, but not their usual uniform of cargos and T-shirts They were wearing suits, suits that had obviously been made for them because they fit them all so well. My next "Oh' came with a frown as I realized just how many men were stood there, did there have to be so many, hell at this rate we'd fill the church. Tank came toward me and actually smiled, hell I wonder if it came with the suit.
"Some will be inside, some outside and some covering the roads to and from the church"
"You think there'll be trouble?"
"I hope not, but I aint taking any chances, Ranger would kill me if something happened to you"
That was an interesting comment to make, why would he be so mad at Tank, I mean half the time it was me responsible for any trouble I got myself into, maybe something to think about later.
Tank drove with Les in the front and me in the back, it was an interesting drive moving from the busy streets of Trenton onto the quieter roads that passed by fields and trees. It made me think of the house where Buckley had found me, wondering where it was because I'd not really taken a lot of notice as to where that house had been. Hell, I don't think I'd even recognize it from the outside. I did know that I was just glad to be out and away from Rangeman even if it was to attend this funeral. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my phone and I realized it was the burner phone so quickly got it from my bag seeing a new message.
"Are you better?"
"Yes, where are you?"
"Around"
"Are you safe?"
"Yes I am. Where are you?"
"A friend died, his funeral"
"Do you have that man with you?"
"No he had to go out of the country"
"When is he returning?"
"I don't know, it could be a long time, I just want him home and safe"
"Stay strong"
That was the last message, which was strange, why did she want to know if Ranger was with me, or when he would be coming home. Oh shit, I really hoped that Emci was a friend and not someone who was working with the men who had hurt me. Surely, she couldn't be an enemy, could she?
I was brought out of my musings when the car turned and then pulled into the car park by the side of the church. I placed the phone inside my bag and started to look more closely at the church. It was a lovely building, with wooden doors underneath a clock tower and a large window to the side. The building looked to be built from red brick with a slate roof. The graveyard was to the side of the church and there was evidence of a grave having been dug, probably waiting for Buckley.
Tank opened my door and helped me out as the doors to the church opened and a man stepped up to us. He was older than I thought he'd be, maybe well into his sixties with receding white hair and a kindly face. He was wearing the robes of his office and with a gesture of his hand invited us into the church. He wore a simple black robe over a white shirt and black tie, black shoes showing beneath the robe.
"Miss Plum, the service we discussed is due to start at 11am. I knew Adrian well, he loved this church, it's actually older than it looks. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him since his parents died though I hear he came often to visit with them. He was a lovely man, a bit eccentric but was blessed with so much humanity. Thank you for helping with the last part of his journey"
As we moved to the front of the church, I took hold of Les's hand and gripped it tightly. I knew I was hopeless at funerals and really wished that Ranger could have been here, he knew just what to say and do to comfort me. Being sat at the front I had no idea who else had come in and I really didn't want to turn around and look. I knew there was a camera somewhere, I'd actually been mortified when Les had told me he'd been out and hidden one.
As the service started and the priest went through the service I concentrated on the coffin and the images of the man when he'd been alive. I pictured him in my mind as I'd first seen him on that morning at his house, his white wispy hair tied back in a ponytail and metal-framed glasses that were almost at the end of his nose. His eyes had been a smoky grey; they were eyes that made you want to trust him, gentle and caring with lines of age around them. Whilst he wasn't tall his sense of dress made him stand out. He'd been wearing light brown trousers with a yellow shirt, but it was the tartan waistcoat and bright red dickie bow tie that had made him unique. In fact, now as I pictured him, he was in the same clothes when he found me but with the addition of a dark brown herring bow jacket. It was his eyes that stayed with me though, as he died in my arms, the same grey but with his death the sparkle and light had disappeared.
I jolted as Les stood me up, slightly disorientated and allowed him to guide me from the church, following the coffin out of a side door and into the graveyard. As I looked around there were more people here than I realized and as to where the Merry Men had gone, I had no idea, I couldn't immediately see them. Most of the people that were stood with me were quite old and as couples, I didn't think any of these people would harm anyone; they were here for Adrian Buckley. As the priest finished, I threw a white rose onto the coffin and started to walk away, I felt totally numb inside, the tears threatening to erupt but I had to stay strong.
As we came toward the front of the church a man stepped in front of me, an older man smartly dressed in an expensive suit. Les stayed by my side and Tank was stood behind me but this man didn't seem to notice them or at least he never reacted to them.
"Miss Plum, may I take this opportunity to thank you for arranging this funeral for Adrian, I have known him for many years. I was sorry to hear of his death"
As he stepped away to turn, I stepped forward, much to Les's shock.
"I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"Gauge, William Gauge"
He turned then and walked over to the road as a large black sedan pulled up, a man got out of the car opening the door for Gauge and then they were gone. I simply stood there watching as he left, for some reason I felt the man who had spoken to me seemed genuine with the few words he had spoken. His photo I'd seen didn't look anything like him, well yes it was the same person, but he seemed to have aged quickly. Gone was the dark hair replaced with streaks of grey and his eyes didn't hold the intensity they'd once had. I'd expected him to be taller and have a physical presence about him. The man I'd just spoken to seemed to have lost any charisma and dare I say it he seemed sad.
A touch at my elbow from Les had me moving forward toward our car and all too soon we were heading back down the country roads.
The journey back to Rangeman was uneventful and quiet. I didn't know how to feel but as soon as we entered the garage and stopped, I knew I needed to be by myself and for some stupid reason I ended up in the apartment on seven. As I crawled onto the bed the floodgates opened, and the crying and sobs broke free. I didn't care that I was still dressed in my clothes. I felt so broken and guilty for what had happened to Buckley, he should be alive now and it was all my fault that he was dead. I was aware of the feel of arms come around me and being held, but I couldn't really equate that to how I was feeling, it was almost as if my mind was separated from my body. That's how I felt until the sobs started to die down and the stupid hiccups started. Bobby was there, trying so hard to comfort me.
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it"
"You did really well today, holding yourself together. You needed to cry so don't apologize"
"He died because of me, he shouldn't have helped me escape or stood in front of me"
"Steph don't blame yourself, someone else was responsible, someone else was after him"
I know I was shaking now and wasn't really listening, but I felt the small prick in my arm.
"Sleep now, everything will seem so much better in the morning"
I felt like screaming at Bobby for doing that but as a warm feeling drifted through me I hadn't the energy to shout at him, instead I felt myself drift into sleep.
"What did you give her in the end?"
"A very mild sedative, she was inconsolable, I don't think she knew I was there for a long time"
"How long will she sleep for"
"It wasn't that strong, just something to help her relax, once asleep I would hope she'll sleep through the night"
I could hear the voices coming through the door, I knew it wasn't morning yet because there was no light coming in through the blinds, so Bobby had been wrong to think it would be morning when I woke. I needed the bathroom, which is why I probably woke up, so I carefully moved to sit up. I felt tired but that was all, I did feel calmer and less like crying but I still felt so saddened by what had happened. I moved into the bathroom and undressed and then threw on a robe because I'd come to a decision, he would not have died in vain. I would find out what the hell was going on and who was responsible for his death. I sure shocked Bobby and Les when I walked out into the living area, they were both sat back on the couch, legs stretched out in front of them and heads resting on the back cushion. They just looked at me and then at each other before standing up and coming toward me. I looked at my watch seeing that it was only 5 in the morning, okay it was the start of the day for Ranger but not for me, and that made me think of Ranger and where he might be, and if he was safe.
"Beautiful are you going back to bed?"
"No, I'm up now"
"I'm sorry Steph but I had to give you something to help calm you down"
"It's okay Bobby, I didn't realize just how upset I was"
Yeah that shocked him but just to keep him on his toes I added.
"But don't you dare jab a needle in me again"
I saw them smile as I headed into the kitchen, I felt really hungry.
"Beautiful how about I ask Ella for a full breakfast, you haven't eaten anything since breakfast yesterday"
"That sounds good, but will Ella be up?"
"Yes"
As we all sat down to breakfast, I couldn't believe what Ella had provided for us and at such short notice. There was bacon, okay turkey bacon, eggs, sausages, toast and even pancakes all spread out on the table. I had some of everything which was a good job because between them Les and Bobby finished off the rest.
"What are your plans for today"
"Catch Goody as he leaves his mother's house"
Les almost choked on his food as I said that.
"Why then?"
"He's into some sort of drug that he's using thinking it helps the body building, but he's calm and quiet in the morning"
"Okay, what time you looking at?"
"Road trip starts at 8 o'clock"
"I'll get a team together and meet you in the garage at 7.30"
Well that seemed easy, I was expecting Les to argue against that idea.
I was waiting lent against an SUV when Les came down into the garage, followed by Cal and Tank. Yeah, I suppose if they thought they were bringing in a body builder then Tank and Cal would certainly be the men to have with you. I was dressed in my Rangeman uniform with a black wind breaker over the top.
I had the papers for Goody, my stun gun, though I doubted that would affect him, my cuffs were in, but I doubted they would go around his wrists, so maybe Cal and Tank would be the only solution. I just hoped nobody got hurt. Using two cars we soon arrived at the address and by 7.45 we were parked outside the Goody house, all seemed quiet, the drapes were pulled back so that was a good sign that people were up.
Les insisted that he went to the door with Cal and that I stayed out of the way, I had no problem with that, so sat on the wall by the sidewalk and waited. Les took a few minutes waiting at the door before he knocked, probably waiting for Tank to confirm he was at the back, and then I heard Les talking to Mrs. Goody. A large shadow passed over me and to be honest I didn't know what to do when I looked up and saw the large bulky body of Shamus Goody sit down next to me; okay I admit I froze. I turned to look at him, noting his leg was squished up against me, not really giving me enough room to maneuver out between him and the gate post, so I did what I usually do, I started to talk.
"Hi Shamus, how's it going?"
He shrugged and looked down at me, hell he looked so miserable. His face was slightly grey so I guess he wasn't feeling too well either. In fact his whole body seemed to sag.
"I don't know what to do"
"With your life or now?"
I really hoped he wasn't feeling like beating me up like his MO suggested he could do.
"My life, I hate it, I hate what I've become. In the morning I feel so lethargic and down so I take something at the end of the day. It makes me feel invigorated, like I could conquer the world"
"Taking the drugs will only make it worse, the crash in the mornings is getting worse isn't it?"
"I suppose, I wanted to prove to Linda that I could be the man she wanted"
"Sometimes you need to find someone who loves you for who you are Shamus. Trying to change just breaks you apart"
"I know. I think I recognize you, you live local don't you?"
"My parents live a couple of blocks away"
"My Ma, I'm hurting my Ma"
"So do the right thing Shamus, for her and for you"
"How?"
"You know you did some bad things to some woman don't you?"
"Yeah, I got so mad with them when they said they didn't like me"
"Well maybe you need to focus on the inside and forget about the looks"
"How the hell am I supposed to do that?"
"Come with me to the station and get a good lawyer. I'm sure stopping the drugs will be hard but maybe the lawyer can use the effect they had on you to lessen the charge and if you show you can stop the dependency there'll be people to help you"
"You think so?"
"Yeah I do"
"Okay"
Wow did he just agree to come with me? I wiggled to be able to stand up and saw that he was doing the same. I noticed Les and Cal watching from a distance, sure they were ready to charge in if they felt he was a danger to me, but bless him, he calmly followed me to the car. When I opened the door, he got into the back seat, and just sat there staring in front of him. I felt a grip on my arm and turned to see Les.
"Tank and Hal will ride with him, we'll meet them at the station"
I smiled at Tank who was just sat in the driver's seat shaking his head and then got in with Les for the ride to the station. Les didn't say anything at all on the ride over, strange really because normally he would have some funny comment to make.
Once we'd parked by the station entrance I went over to Tank's car as it stopped, thinking that Shamus might be better if he thought it was me taking him in. What I didn't count on was having Tank in front, Cal behind and Les on the other side of Shamus, but it seemed to be working so in formation we walked into the station. Once inside the door they seemed to disappear into the woodwork, which to some extent I appreciated. I knew people were watching me as I tried to cuff Shamus to the bench, whether they were waiting for Shamus to suddenly go mad I wasn't too sure, but Eddie came over and helped me out by handing me some cuffs that were extra-large.
"Shit Steph how did you manage that?"
"Easy, I just talked to him and he agreed to come in"
"What, no extra help from the Rangemen, or maybe some sedative?"
"No just little old me"
With the receipt in my pocket I headed back outside to find all three Rangemen lent against the car. Shit, were they annoyed at me, should I have left Shamus to them to deal with?
"Beautiful you scared the crap out of us"
"I'm sorry"
"Hell Little Girl, I aint seen nothing like that before"
"Steph you did good, you avoided a confrontation or him getting mad at you"
"You're not annoyed with me?"
"Hell no, you have a way about you that just seemed to calm him"
"Yeah well I've learned it's not always about being physical or forceful, sometimes the skips just need to know someone is prepared to listen to them and maybe understand them"
"Good job Beautiful, maybe you can work with me on some of our skips, you know work out how best to find them, where and when?"
"Sure"
Did I see some looks between them, I wasn't sure but shaking it off went to get in the car with Les. As we drove Les was more talkative telling me about some of the captures they'd done where the skip was as big as Shamus. Some of the stories were funny, especially when I tried to imagine Cal and Les being pulled along the floor of a garage workshop holding on to the skips legs and how he'd thrown oil all over them. It made me happy to think I wasn't the only one to get covered in unmentionable fluids.
I was surprised when we parked in the garage to see Hector waiting for us but didn't manage to hear what he said to Les, fortunately Les was eager to share and even came up with a suggestion.
"Hector downloaded the video from the funeral, maybe you can watch it and see what you can make from it?"
"Yeah, I can do that"
So here I was sat with my laptop in what was quickly becoming my workroom. Just as I'd managed to boot up the laptop and find the video Les burst through the door.
"Steph we've got multiple alerts going off, most of us are heading out so please stay in the building"
I looked up with surprise, wondering what the hell was happening for that to happen and just prayed it wasn't a fault in the systems again. I began to feel really nervous and I don't know why I did it, it wasn't something I would normally do because I trusted Hector's systems, but I uploaded the video onto my laptop and named the file "Alphabet". You may wonder how that name came into my mind, but I didn't want to use the name "Funeral" or "Buckley" and seeing as Buckley's full name started with an A followed by B that was the first word that came into my head.
Once the upload had finished, I went into the file that was now on my laptop and started to watch it. As the scene unfolded, I didn't want to see me and how I had looked, I wanted to find that man, Gauge, to see if he'd come with someone else or talked to anyone. It took watching the whole thing through to nearly the end when I caught him at the back of the church. I wasn't sure if he'd just arrived or been stood at the back beyond the range of the camera. I slowed down the scene and then saw that he was talking to someone, come on turn around so I can see who you are. I froze the frame the second the man turned around and looked at his face. I didn't know who he was, but I had an inkling that I did recognize him, but I had no clue where from.
Slightly frustrated I closed down the program and shut down my laptop, thinking maybe I could look again later I put the laptop in the side pocket of my shoulder bag. I suddenly felt really tired probably because I wasn't used to getting up so early. I decided a nap was probably the way to go and then maybe when I woke up Les could tell me what all the fuss had been about earlier. As I went out onto the corridor it suddenly struck me how quiet it really was as I headed toward the stairwell door.
Before I reached it, the door opened, and a man came out and looked right at me. Shit, that was the man at the church talking to Gauge and he was dressed in a Rangeman uniform.
