Chapter 23

After turning the handle, I used my shoulder to force the door open, this time it opened allowing me to run inside. It was a stupid idea because who ever had been shooting at us were bound to know where I had gone. I continued down the corridor and through another door and found myself in a small room. It was cluttered with old blankets and cardboard, looking as though maybe homeless people used the place, so negotiating around them I headed toward a broken window. I was beyond panicking now, the adrenaline in my body taking over it was fight or flight and I was going with flight. I prayed that this was how the people who used the place had broken in through. A quick look showed no broken pieces of glass jutting out but as I started to climb through, I could hear men's voices coming from the entrance.

"You check upstairs. Remember the boss wants her unharmed"

As I heard someone running up the stairs I slipped down into the yard and onto the ground. The whole place was filled with rubbish, black plastic bags spewing garbage all over the place. I slipped falling forward, scrambling to get back to my feet. As luck would have it my eye was caught on the gap in an old fence that was only visible from being so low down. Using my hands and feet I made for the opening, then rolled down a muddy banking.

I was breathing hard, with my heart about to burst so quickly lay down on my stomach hoping I wasn't visible from the window. A look behind me showed an expanse of rubble where it seemed buildings had been demolished, too open to run across without being seen. As I tried to calm my breathing and make as little noise as possible, I heard that voice again, quieter now so hopefully they were still in the building.

"We've lost her"

"The building is a maze so she could have got through into any of the neighboring buildings"

"We need to get out of here, the police will turn up soon"

"We'll get her, though maybe not as quickly as the boss would have liked"
"We can track her phone"
"As long as it's switched on, plus we can keep an eye on her account. As soon as that man realizes she's run away from him and we send him an email from her account telling him she made a mistake he'll take off, just like he did before"
"What if she goes to the police?"
"Oh my, you have no imagination do you. Use her gun to shoot that man out front. The original bullet was a through and through, so when they find her gun, they'll think she did it"

I didn't want to try and move in case I made a noise and attracted attention. I sank down to the ground, my back against the muddy bank, listening intently for any sound. I jumped at the sound of a gun firing, realizing that they'd gone ahead with their plan. I may have heard the sound of car doors and an engine, but I wasn't confident enough to move from where I was.

I remembered that I'd managed to push my panic button on the watch before Hayes grabbed it off my wrist. Rangeman would be here soon and then everything would be cleared up. They'd listen to my story and understand what had happened.

As I lay there, I became more and more anxious, there were no sounds to indicate that anyone from Rangeman was arriving. I didn't want to move until I heard a familiar voice just in case those men were keeping an eye on the place.

As more time passed and I lay there the thing that was breaking me apart was that Ranger would think I'd left him and that I'd killed one of his men. Somehow, I had to get a message to him, but I wasn't sure how. He'd be annoyed at me and would probably ignore me if I tried to contact him.

There had to be another way, the problem was I couldn't use my phone and I had no money. Plus, remembering all the problems with the computer systems I wasn't sure if someone had set things up inside Rangeman to intercept any calls that went there.

The daylight was slowly fading and brought out all sorts of weird sounds around me. Maybe just stray cats or dogs but it did nothing to settle my nerves. What surprised me was that I hadn't heard any more car engines around me, or police sirens for that matter and surely if Hayes had been shot Rangeman would have come here, wouldn't they? There had been no sign of Rangeman rushing to the rescue, so I assumed that somehow my watch had been broken.

Then I remembered that we had been in that damn stupid blue car, not a Rangeman vehicle which would have had a tracker in it.

As the darkness grew heavier around me, I made the decision to move, maybe the remnants of the buildings would give me somewhere safe to hide. Looking back at the buildings I couldn't see any lights, no tell-tale signs of someone using a flashlight. I very carefully got to my feet and started to move, inwardly cursing when my foot caught on a rock.

As I used my hand to keep my balance I silently swore at my own stupidity, the finger that Bobby had so carefully wrapped was screaming at me. That reminded me though that I still had my phone on me, so taking it from my pocket I dropped it on the ground and smashed a rock onto it. No way was anyone going to find me through it.

I found a section where the corner bricks were still stood up from the ground and decided that would be good enough to hide in. Sitting down in the corner with my knees pulled to my chest I leant against the bricks. I had to get through the night and then find some way to get help.

It must have been very early as the sun wasn't visible yet, but the dawn light was enough for me to look around at my surroundings. I had maybe dozed on and off during the night but the light around me seemed to energize me. I knew I'd had some strange dreams, maybe that was why I hadn't slept properly, but I didn't want to remember them, didn't want to acknowledge what my head was trying to say to me.

Between images of Jack, the body of Jinski and then the way that Hayes had fallen to the ground it was the image of Ranger that held the most pain. Especially as he had been in the arms of that woman Alicia.

I got to my feet determined to make my way out of here and determined that I wasn't too far away from buildings. As I turned onto a street, I noticed more people about, mainly homeless people so maybe there could be somewhere where I could get to use a phone.

I watched from the cover of a doorway where the homeless seemed to be heading to and noticed a large doorway down the street and on the opposite side where they were going into. Looking up and down the street I waited until a couple of women passed me and slipped out to walk behind them. They reminded me so much of Eula that I was wondering how she was doing.

I followed them across the street and along into the doorway. The sound of talking and plates clanking told me this place must be a soup kitchen. The line of people soon diminished, and it was my turn to be handed a bowl and mug. I held the bowl out at the next stop and an elderly woman poured in what looked like porridge and then another woman filled my mug with a brown liquid.

"You're new here. If you need any help our counsellors will be here in 30 minutes"

I smiled but never lifted my face to look at where the voice had come from, instead I turned and found a space away from people where I could sit down on a bench. A look at the state of my clothes explained why the woman had maybe been so concerned. I was covered in dry mud with rips in my jeans, thankfully any blood I'd got on me from when Hayes was hit seemed to have dried and mingled in with the dirt.

There was no way I wanted to eat anything but using the bowl I spotted on the table I drowned both the mug and porridge with sugar. After a couple of mouthfuls of the porridge I couldn't eat any more, it was slimy and thick and tasted as bad as it looked. As I pushed it away from me a young man opposite me looked up from his empty bowl.

"You gonna eat that?"
"No, it's all yours"

"Thanks"

I watched as he literally shoved the porridge into his mouth, hell he couldn't be that old, maybe late teens. As I started to drink what I think was coffee I looked around the room we were in. It was quite a big hall with maybe forty people sat at the tables, people coming and going as they finished their breakfast.

My eyes were drawn to the far side of the wall where I was sure there were payphones against the wall. Hell I didn't know they still existed. Okay maybe I could use one of those, but first I needed to know where the hell I was.

"Can you tell me the name of the street that we're on?"
I smiled at the young man still sat opposite me watching as a frown came across his face.

"How can you not know?"
"It was dark when I found here and I think maybe a friend can help me, but I'd need to give him an address"
"It'll cost you"
Great, if I had money I wouldn't be stuck here. I thought through what I did have on me and came up with a possibility.

"Okay, when my friend arrives, he'll pay you"
"Why would I believe that?"
"Please, I'll make sure of it, I promise"

"Deal. We're at Laurie Street, Hopelawn"

"Thanks"

I picked up my mug and walked over to the phones, just hoping this idea would work. My first call was to enquiries where I asked for the number for the Trenton Times. Once I had that I dialed the operator and asked for them to do a collect call for me to a Mr Owen Frosby. As I heard the ringing tone, I crossed my fingers, hoping against hope that Owen would accept the call. Surely as a reporter he'd be too curious not to.

"Hello, Owen Crosby"

"Owen, it's Steph, I really need your help"
"Stephanie Plum?"
"Yes. Owen I'm in big trouble, I need for someone to pick me up"
"Of course I will, I owe you. Where are you?"

"Laurie Street, Hopelawn"

"What the hell are you doing there?"
"Long story, I'll tell you when you get here"

"Where do you want me to take you?"
"I don't know Owen, I have to figure that out, somewhere that no one knows about"

"I'll figure that one out, I'll be about an hour"
"What car are you driving Owen?"

"Beat up green Fiesta"
"I'll look out for you. Thank you, Owen"

As I put the receiver down, I finished my tepid coffee and placed it on a trolley as I walked back to where I'd been sat before. The young man was watching me as I sat down.

"Well?"
"An hour"

"You expect me to wait an hour, come on"

I didn't reply, instead I just stared back at him.

Luckily there was a clock on the wall but every time I looked at it the time hadn't seemed to move. I was brought out of my musings by the young man opposite me when he suddenly got to his feet and stood there watching me.

"It's time, let's go meet this friend of yours"

He led the way out into the bright sunshine whilst I stayed back a bit.

"What car's he driving?"
"A beat up green Fiesta"

We were both watching the traffic as it streamed past us, the problem was I had no idea how long this particular street was. I was almost going to give up any hope of seeing him when a car matching the description drove past us on the other side of the street. Fortunately, the cars were driving slowly, and I watched as the young man with me raced across the road and started hammering on the roof. I'd just managed to cross the street and reached the car before Owen started to get annoyed.

"Owen, it's okay, he's with me"
"Money lady"

As I walked to the passenger door, he followed me as I got into the car,

"Owen can you give this kid some money?"

If Owen was surprised at what I'd asked him he didn't say anything, instead bringing some notes out of his shirt pocket. I passed the money to him then turned to Owen.

"We need to get out of here quickly Owen"

"You're serious, aren't you?"
"Yes. Someone's after me and they're doing all sorts of things to screw me over"

"Okay, you talk while I drive"
"Owen, I don't know the full story yet, but I don't want to put you at risk"

"That bad?"

"Yeah, that bad"

While Owen drove, I gave my account of yesterday's events, explaining the lengths that these people were going to in order to get their hands on me. My final sentence to him was really a plea.

"Owen, I need you to deliver a letter for me"
"I can do that"

"The thing is I need you to make sure someone reads it"
"Don't you think they would?"
"I don't know, maybe not the most important person"
"I've been thinking about it while I drove here. I know of a cottage near Monmouth"

"No Owen, I have to figure something out first"

"You'll need someone to help you"
"No. It's too dangerous. You'd be helping me by delivering that letter"

"What will you do?"

"Stay off the grid and try to get proof of my innocence"
"Steph, there has to be something else I can do. Money or a car?"

I thought about that but I couldn't take anything that might lead back to Owen.

"I can't use it if it has anything to do with you Owen"

I didn't know what to say to him so said nothing and started to watch where we were going. I had no idea what he was planning and seeing as he was being so vague with me decided not to push him anymore.

I was surprised when he slowed down the car and pulled into a picnic area and even more surprised when a woman started to walk towards us. I was about to open the door and run, thinking I'd been found, when Owen put his hand on my arm.

"This is Jenna"
"Your girlfriend?"
"Fiancé"

"She's pretty Owen"
"I know"

She smiled as she approached but I could see that she only had eyes for Owen. She had dark blonde hair that fell straight to her shoulders and was wearing jeans and a pink T-shirt. From watching her I judged her to be about my height as I rolled down the window to greet her.

"Hi, it's so good to meet you at last. Owen has told me so much about you"
"All good I hope"
"Of course"

I was beginning to feel a bit awkward with Jenna turning up trying to work out why she was even here. I looked at Owen and saw that he at least looked a bit guilty. What I wasn't too sure about was why he looked so guilty.

"After you called, well you have lots of friends so I worked out you must be in big trouble. Jenna and I decided to meet up while I drove to meet you"

"Why didn't you tell me what you were planning?"
"I didn't want you to run, I wanted you to believe I could do something that would help you"

I didn't know what to say to that, that Owen and Jenna would go to all of this trouble just for me, humbled me. He was right though, had I known what they were planning I would probably have just walked away from him because I didn't want him to get involved.

"Thanks Owen, but I still need to write that letter"

"Hey, you're talking to a journalist here, I've always got paper"

I watched as he lent back and brought up a briefcase from behind my seat and passed me a large pad of paper and a pen. Then he'd opened the door to the car and was walking away with Jenna.

"I'll give you some space"

I thought long and hard about what to write down. I had a feeling that Ranger wouldn't read it so focused on what I would say to Les. With that in mind I felt I didn't have to be formal or hide anything, to say it as it was.

"Dear Les. I know things in the past have happened to make you question me and my decisions but not this time. I swore I would never go back to Morelli and I haven't changed my mind. I haven't sent any emails to anyone. Something weird is going on in my life and I'm worried what will happen to me. Your man Hayes tricked me yesterday and they killed him. I'm frightened to contact you in case they have a way of listening in. They have access to my phone, my email account and bank details, so could easily find me. They used my gun to shoot him, it wasn't me, I swear, so going to the police won't help. I have to go somewhere safe to hide and try and sort out whatever it is that I seem to be involved with. Please tell Ranger, make him understand that I would never ever leave like it seems I did.

Les, if something happens to me please tell him that I have always loved him, regardless of how he feels for me.

I love all you guys.

Take care.

Love Steph"

I had tears in my eyes as I signed my name and then folded up the paper. Looking up I saw Owen stood by the car obviously eager for us to get moving. I got out of the car and stood in front of him holding the paper out for him to take.

"Owen, this has to be read by a name called Lester Santos. Tell him it's from someone he calls Beautiful. If he isn't there, then ask the same of a man called Tank"

"Steph don't worry, I'll get the message through to them. Go with Jenna and she'll take you somewhere that'll be safe"
"I don't know what to say Owen"
"Nothing. You'll work this out, don't worry"