I sat behind Hal in his car since I needed the least legroom. Hal, with his enormous Halosaurus size, needed the most room and Cal and I let him have the front passenger seat.

"What's going on?" said Joe. "Are your earbuds still on?"

"Yes", I said. "I figured it would be a good idea for the guys on the van to know what we are saying and to hear how you are planning on playing this out."

"Okay. So I don't have to call Ranger's cell to include him in the conversation?"

"Nope", I said. "He's able to hear you."

"Loud and clear", said Ranger. I repeated that to Joe.

"Excellent. What's going on?"

I explained to Joe the sequence of events. The parents, and what happened three years before, and the proof that I had found that Richard had been the one to steal the money. I explained what Todd had said, and how he was being forced into performing the extortion to let him leave the club. And I explained why there was the fight over the leadership, and why Richard felt the desperate need to get rid of Todd's parents and blame them after they were jailed. "Todd is tired of the whole thing and just wants out", I said. "He asked if the police would be willing to work with him. I also think that he realized today that he is in a lot of trouble, and all the fingers are pointing to him."

"That was my impression as well", said Cal. "I was looking at him when his uncle was refusing to admit to knowing anything about the extortion, and he looked crushed. Through Steph's research, we have discovered a much bigger case than a simple extortion. In many ways, it is a blackmail case rather than extortion. Sure it was extortion when Todd was trying to get the property titles from the shop owners, but the bigger issues are the other cases. First is the bribery case, where Richard asked his brother-in-law and his sister to step down from the leadership run in return for Richard paying the medical and college fees. The second is the theft case, the theft of the money from the Night Terror accounts that Richard did. He stole money for Todd's medical procedures, for his college tuition, and for his new chopper."

"I did a quick overview of the finances, but Dirk is going over the different accounts with a fine-toothed comb today", I said.

"Thanks", said Joe.

"The other case is Richard saying Todd could only leave the membership if he came up with seven hundred thousand dollars", Cal said. "Todd is frantic and personally I don't think that he has it in him to actually torch the stores to the ground. From what I can see, he is a little sickened at having to scare people in the first place. My impression is that he is a good man stuck in a bad situation and he doesn't know how to get out."

Joe sighed. "If only people trusted the police more, they might come to us before it ever got to this point."

I patted his shoulder. "I know, Joe. But at least we are getting him the help now."

"That's not all", said Cal. "It appears Richard set up his family to take the fall for the drug bust. Think about it. According to the arrest report, the drugs had just been moved into the headquarters that evening and although people said the orders came from Todd's parents, no one actually talked to Todd's parents personally about it. And no one knew who made the tip to the police. No one knew why Todd's parents were in headquarters that night. They were supposed to be out of the building. No one was supposed to be in the building, according to Richard's testimony."

"So can we get him for perjury?"

"Possibly, if Todd's parents were willing to make a statement telling what happened that night. If, for example, we were able to find out that Richard had called them into the building, that they had been coerced into the building, we would have something to go on. But, if we don't have their statements and they continue to keep quiet, we can't charge Richard on it."

"Then it sounds like we need to talk to Todd's parents", I said.

"Babe, you don't need to be going into the prison to talk to felons", said Ranger.

"But Ranger", I said, "there won't be any danger to me. There are prison guards all over the place."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't have a good feeling about it", said Ranger.

"Did Ranger say no?" said Joe.

"Yes." I could feel my lip go out. "Sometimes I hate that he's my boss. If he was just my husband, I could ignore what he was saying."

"Don't I know that!" said Joe. "Steph is pouting, Ranger."

Ranger laughed. "Whether you like it or not, whether you are pouting or not, I am your boss, babe. And I say you aren't going. Yes, you are our Research Director and you have been approved to work hand-in-hand with Cal and the Investigative Department. You specialize in doing this weird mix between research and investigation, and you do a great job at it. However, you are a behind-the-scenes person. You don't need to be going into jails. You have caught too many people in the past who might recognize you. They could cause problems. Let Cal and Joe handle it."

I sighed.

"You know I'm right, babe."

I sighed again. "I know, but I don't have to like it."

"Damn. I hate not having an earbud", said Joe.

"You just want to hear what Ranger said so that you can sympathize with him", said Hal with a laugh.

"Hell yeah", said Joe. "At one time, Steph was giving me a hard time and trying to force her way into my operations."

I sighed. "You should, when you meet his parents, push the thought that Todd will be affected if they don't do what they can to expose Richard's role in their own arrest. You can tell them a little bit about what you think has happened to their son, and what you suspect is Richard's role. I think you will be able to shock them into cooperating. From what I understand, they were a very close family. Richard has worked to wreck those bonds by telling Todd lies about his parents. Those lies are the same lies that he told his club. He has turned everybody against them. The upshot is that Todd's parents call Todd every week and he refuses to talk to him. He misses them, and he is hurt to have thought that they stole money. The second thing is that Richard is trying to steal from Todd. He gave four hundred thousand to Todd's parents, and told Todd that he had to reimburse him to the tune of seven hundred thousand. I think that knowledge will get his parents to cooperate as well."

"Who did you find that information out from?" asked Joe.

"Most of it came from Todd. Tank taped that for you", said Cal.

Joe pulled up to the Rangeman building. "Okay. If the three of you could write up reports and shoot them over to me as soon as possible, I would appreciate it, and if you could get Tank to send me a copy of the tape, that would be good as well. Cupcake, I'd appreciate it if you can outline all your thoughts on what we could use to convince Todd's parents to talk. You have an uncanny instinct at how to work with people and get people to open up to you. I will clear all the Rangeman staff and get their statements, and then send them on their way. You might want to designate a Rangeman staffer to pick up people and drive them where they need to go. I'll let you know what is going on, but today is Friday and it looks like I won't be able to get into the prisons until Monday. Are you available, Cal?"

"I am", I said with a grin.

"NO!" said Joe and Ranger at the same time.

I giggled, and I could just see Ranger shaking his head.

"I'll get that report to you", said Cal, "and I'll keep my day open on Monday so that I am available at any time."

Joe stopped outside the building, and I took off my seatbelt, leaned forward and gave Joe a hug as I slid over the back seat and climbed out of the car. As I climbed out, I said, "how is Trace feeling?"

"Pretty brutal. However, she was only running a slight fever this morning so I think the antibiotics are working."

"Thank God. Give our love to her."

"Will do."

As he drove away, I said, "Ranger, we are back at the Operations Tower. We'll write up our reports, and then I'll be going back to the apartment."

"Very good", he said. "The girls and I will meet you there. We just have to wait until the little ones finish their hot dogs." He sighed. "Tia has informed me that it is her favorite food, and she wants them again for dinner." He sounded pained, and I laughed.

"Tell her that I'd like hot dogs for dinner as well."

Ranger groaned.