"I've called Morelli and told him that we need the paddy wagon pickup", said Tank in our earbuds. "He's on his way."

"Good job, guys", said Ranger.

"Yes, but now they know that something is going on. I screwed up", I said quietly as I walked off by myself for a moment. I was shaking slightly. I wasn't a natural fighter. If I had a choice between fight and flight, I would always pick flight. The only problem was that my flight abilities were sorely lacking.

Of course, so were my fight abilities.

"Keep all talk on the purchase of the stores", said Ranger. "If people ask, tell them that we are a private security firm that has been hired by the different stores to find and arrest the people responsible for the extortion. Tank, please let Morelli know and ask him to spread the news to the other TPD members."

"Will do", said Tank.

"Who the hell are you?" said Richard. He turned to Todd. "Did you lead the police to us?"

I walked back to the group again and laughed. "I'm not a member of the police. I work for a private security company. The stores all banded together and hired us to look into the extortion. I can tell from the way that Todd was deferring to you that you are the head honcho."

"I don't know anything about it."

"Uh-hunh. That's why Todd told you that I had one of the stores and was interested in selling it to you?"

"He thought I knew something about it."

"You must have. You threatened me and told me that I had to sell."

"I was basing it on what you had said. He's my nephew, and he wanted to buy your store?"

"Do you know what he wanted the store for?"

"No, I don't. As I said, this was the first time that I found out about it. If I had known that my nephew was committing extortion, I would have stopped him."

I had to counsel myself not to hit him. The man was lying through his teeth and throwing his nephew under the bus. I found it shocking as to how much he was willing to climb on top of his family members for power. It was so different from the way that the Rangeman family worked. My personal family might. Or at least, my sister might. But I don't think she would go so far as to blame me for criminal activity. Truthfully, I couldn't see Valerie committing a crime. Although there was the time that she made a pass at Ranger and the many times she verbally assaulted me...

Okay, maybe she would commit a crime after all.

My grandmother would happily commit a crime, if she could only get away from her caretaker during the day. She would be quite gleeful about it - as long as she wasn't caught again. The last time she was arrested, she had to sit cuffed to uncomfortable benches for twenty hours. She had to pee in her pants and sleep upright. I heard that sleeping upright wasn't a problem - after all, she did it every night in front of the television, although she wouldn't admit to it. She would just say that she was resting her eyes. But she hated peeing in her pants. The docket officer watched over her for me, and he said the worst thing was the snoring. Every time she started to snore, another person would beg the docket officer for pain relievers for their headache. They would frequently wake her up out of desperation for relief. Since I knew from experience that her snoring was loud and irritating and sounded like a bandsaw being operated right beside your ear, I could understand the reaction of all the other felons and their need for relief. However, since she had assaulted me at the time, I didn't have much sympathy for her.

The experience was good for her. It gave her a story, but it wasn't one that she talked about much. She still didn't see what she had done wrong, but she knew that other people did, and the first time that someone shunned her after hearing her story, she decided that it probably wasn't a good story to tell. In fact, if you ever wanted to upset her - or even to leave an area quickly - all you had to do was say, 'did I ever tell you about the time my grandmother got arrested for assaulting me?' My grandmother would be out of the area and ready to go home faster than you could say 'felon'. It was actually quite impressive to see considering she was about eighty according to her birth certificate, although my grandmother maintained that she was twenty and that people believed her when she said it. Personally, the only people I thought would believe her were the brain-dead or comatose. But even then I wasn't certain. They might not be fooled either.

Joe showed up with a number of police. He walked over to me, Cal and Hal, and smiled. "Hey", he said. "What do you have here?"

"Extortion", said Steph. "I don't know if you know of my company." I looked at Joe and I could see that he understood what I was saying. "We are a small security company, and we've been hired by a number of stores to address some extortion that they were experiencing."

"Why didn't the stores go to the police?"

"From what I understand, the stores were threatened that, if they went to the police, their stores would be burned to the ground and their livelihoods ruined. Our clients have been scared for their lives."

"Tell me what's going on?"

"The person buying the stores, Fat Tony there", I said as I pointed him out, "is a member of the mob. He has offered to buy each of the businesses, but the amount that he is offering is below market value. The owners understandably have refused. Fat Tony then told them that, if they didn't sell, he would burn their businesses to the ground. He hasn't yet, although our clients are terrified."

"So if that is Fat Tony", said Joe, "who are the other people?"

"I would assume that they are part of the mob." I took out my phone and texted Joe. "Call me as soon as you are alone. And treat 'Fat Tony' as a criminal - but I don't think he is. I think he is a victim as much as his parents were."

"Do you have somewhere that you have to be?"

I smiled. "My husband is at a restaurant, and he was wondering what time I could be finished and come for lunch."

"I'm sorry if I am getting in the way of your meal."

"It's okay. I just always like seeing the expression on my husband's face when my daughter orders a hot dog. He thinks they are made with ground up human body parts or something equally as heinous, but my daughter thinks that they are delicious and enjoys watching her father's face as she licks her lips and fingers to get every last piece of hot dog into her mouth."

Joe swallowed back a laugh. "I could just imagine my oldest niece doing the same thing."

I grinned.

Joe looked up. "Aw, shit", he said.

"What's up?" I said. I purposely didn't turn around. It was one of the hardest things that I had ever done.

"There are about twenty gang members walking towards us, and they look like they are spoiling for a fight." He looked up and yelled out, "everybody, take the whole lot into the station, the so-called vigilante security guards as well as the captured people committing the extortion. It's starting to sleet, and we might as well be dry while we sort it out."

I could hear Ranger sigh. "I knew at some point in my life I would be paying bail for you."

"Guys, if you can't come up with the bail, call Vinnie", I yelled. "He will help."

Joe looked at me and laughed. "You're promoting a bail bonds company?" he said.

"Might as well. My sister works there."

"Oh, yeah? Who's your sister?"

"Lula. You might know her. We don't look much alike." I could hear Ranger snort in the background, and I tried to hold back a grin. I wasn't as successful as Joe was, but I could definitely see his eyes dancing.

Joe directed Hal and Cal and I to the paddy wagon, and when we got to the wagon I looked at the small size of it and the number of people. "Fuck! I'm not going in that. I'm scared of small spaces, and twenty people in a van of that size will be awful. I'm claustrophobic. I'll scream. I'll pass out. I'll shit my pants. I'm not doing it. Nuh-uh. No way, Jose. You'll have to shoot me to get me in there."

Joe sighed theatrically. "How many seats are in the van?" he said.

Eddie put his head into the fan and counted. "Eighteen, detective."

"Okay", said Joe. "I'll take these two men and this woman into the station in my car. You take everyone else, and I'll meet you in the precinct. Cuff everyone to the bench in the docketing area, and I'll get to each of them and talk to them individually this afternoon. Thanks, everyone, for your help and I'll see you at the station." He waited until the men and the gang members were settled in the van, and then he turned and guided us down the street to his car.