Chapter 41

SPOV

Ash was waiting for me as I followed Ranger out of the door and turned to escort me down to the basement. I'd been down here to the gun range but had never been aware of another room down here. I was surprised when Tank was waiting for us at the back of the range where the targets were normally placed. A section of the wall was open that led into a corridor. I had no idea what else was here especially as we passed two closed doors before entering through a third. What greeted me was something similar to the monitoring room upstairs but when I looked at the cameras more carefully, I recognized that they were all covering different areas of the park where Ranger was heading for. A screen at the end had a map on it and a red blip moving along what must have been a street.

"Is that a tracker?"
"Yeah, I fitted one to Morelli's car"
I assumed he would be heading north back to New York but watched fascinated as it turned off the road and stopped. A moment later it started to move and then suddenly it was travelling back the way it had come.

"He must have dropped the other fellas off"

I couldn't work out what Morelli thought he would achieve by trying to arrest me. I mean where the hell would he have taken me. Surely, he wouldn't expect me to stay with him, would he?

"Babe you there?"

"I'm here"

"Men are in position, can you see any of them?"
I checked the screens from the cameras trying to see where anyone was, hell they were good at hiding.

"No, no sign of them. But I can see this sexy looking man walking along the path toward the fountain"

"Smartass. Be on the lookout for Gauge or any men who look out of place"
"Will do"
"Tank you on with the rest of the men?"
"Affirmative"
"Okay we have ten minutes before he's due"

"Roger that"

While keeping an eye on the cameras I kept glancing at the screen with the map. Morelli was now travelling back into Trenton, but I was curious where he would end up.

"Gauge on route"

I focused on the camera where Gauge was walking through the park toward Ranger. He was dressed in a long coat and was preoccupied as he walked.

"No other sightings Ranger"
"Thanks Tank, team has no sightings either"

I watched as Gauge looked up as he approached the fountain and then went and sat down next to Ranger.

"Mr Manoso"
"Mr Gauge"
"I don't think I was followed"
"My men are keeping watch on the perimeter"
"That's what I hoped you'd do. I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I need some closure"

"Why don't you tell me why you asked to talk with me"
"Is Stephanie here?"
"No, I can't afford the risk, there are people after her. You're not the only one who needs this finishing"

"Okay, I need to give you an idea of where I'm coming from"
"No problem Mr Gauge. I'm listening"
"My wife became very ill about two and half years ago, hell, I was so preoccupied with running Safenet I never saw the signs. When I started to put the pieces together it was then I realized she'd lost weight, was tired a lot and the spark she emanated was slowly waning. The prognosis was bad so I told Dolby I would be selling my share of the business. He was capable along with his son and Lobin came in on the recommendation of Dolby. I didn't realize my name was still associated with the company until much later. It was hell watching Kate as she got worse and nothing prepares you for the death of the woman you love. I became a recluse after her funeral, didn't talk with anyone or go out. I had a housekeeper who kept the kitchen stocked and did the laundry, but I was never in the same room as her, she kept to a regular weekly visit and I'd stay in my room until she was gone.

I started drinking thinking that would numb the feelings, didn't eat. I was a mess but couldn't see it, that is until six months later when Adrian forced his way into the house. He took charge, forced me to talk and eventually I came out the other side. I hadn't spoken with Adrian since my sister died so had no idea of the depth of his love for her. He'd been where I was and knew how it felt. Then six months after he came to me to ask for help, hell, I couldn't refuse him. He wanted to buy a company, Hastings. He'd provide all the money if my name fronted the company. The three owners wanted out, to retire, so why not? I didn't hear from Adrian until 2 months ago.

He was both distraught and elated but he never told me what the hell he was doing. Then someone tried to break into Hastings and that's when I told you we no longer needed your services. After Adrian had died, I decided to sell the place. It seemed empty, derelict, there was no one working there. But there was an area in the basement I couldn't get into or activate, I had no idea what Adrian was up to down there. Then at Adrian's funeral this man approached me and told me I had to give him access to the place. Pompous asshole thought he could threaten me, but it made me curious. So, when I saw Stephanie, who I recognized as a friend of Adrian, at the cemetery with men from your company I thought maybe you could take a look at where he'd been working"

"Did you know Dolby is involved in this?"
"Samuel?"
"Yes"
"No, I had no idea. Why the hell would he be involved?"
"I think Adrian was developing some advanced electronics that could be used within the robotics area"
"I can see that, he was always interested in that field"
"Dolby had some robots, robotic soldiers in his building"
"But Adrian never mentioned working with Dolby"

"The man you spoke with at the funeral, Gannon, he's army. We think he was working with Dolby in developing these robots"
"I don't understand"
"Adrian somehow was drawn into a company that Gannon had set up. I think Adrian had something that Gannon and Dolby wanted that could maybe improve how the robots worked"

"Adrian would never provide the army or government with anything. He hated violence"

"Stephanie met Adrian and so they thought she had or knew where this information was, a microchip"
"It's them who are threatening her?"
"Yes"
There was a period of silence as the two men sat motionless, Ranger would be waiting for Gauge to talk and I'm sure Gauge was thinking through what he'd been told.

"We need to get into Hastings and destroy what Adrian produced"
"Probably"

"Maybe what they're after is there and Stephanie was an innocent who got caught up in this"

"Possibly"

I wasn't too sure that was the case, for some reason I thought that microchip would have been kept by Buckley. I mean it was his life's work, he wouldn't leave it somewhere to be found. I couldn't think of anything to ask Gauge but for some reason felt we needed to get into Hastings. Maybe it would give us some clues or at least an idea of what Buckley had been up to.

"Ranger I think we need to do as he's asked"
"Okay Mr Gauge we'll help. Take this phone, it has one number in it which will connect to a similar phone that I have. Doing this will take a lot of planning and I need to ensure the safety of my men whilst keeping a very low profile and not attracting attention"
"Thank you Mr Manoso. I appreciate this and I know we'll have to be very careful"
As Ranger stood to leave, he spoke again.

"My men will ensure your safety from the park and I'll have someone with you to try and ensure your safety. Do not speak of this to anyone. Lives are at risk here"
"I appreciate that and believe me I don't want to see anyone hurt"

We watched as Ranger walked away from the fountain, obviously he must have used a different channel to communicate with the men hidden around the area because he didn't say anything else.

"On my way home Babe"

As he left the park his comm unit went off.