Chapter 27
I couldn't stop smiling all the way to my building, amazed at what Val and the girls were doing, at how Mary Lou had stopped to talk to me. The whole scene with my mother faded into the background and I was no longer worried what she thought. As usual Ranger found a space right outside the door to park in. I suppose because of me we headed for the elevator, though I was surprised that Mrs. Bestler wasn't there. I hoped nothing had happened to her. As usual I handed my keys to Ranger for him to make sure no one was hiding in my apartment, pleased when a few moments later he opened the door for me to go in. The first thing to hit me was the smell of lavender, the second was how clean and tidy the place was. Ella had done an amazing job of cleaning the place up, though I had no idea what state it had been in. I left Ranger in the kitchen and went through to the bedroom, finding a bag in the bottom of my closet which I soon filled with clothes and shoes. I threw in a distraction outfit, maybe I'd need one, and then did the same with things from the bathroom. Once full I went back into the kitchen to find Ranger talking on his phone. "Everything okay?"
"Yes, the client for the meeting this afternoon has just confirmed"
"I think I have what I need"
"Babe, what do you want to do about your apartment?"
"The lease is paid up to the end of the month, maybe Grandma might like it here"
"I was worried you might want to come back here"
"No I don't. Don't get me wrong, I want to move in with you, but this has been the only place that I could call mine. No one could ever throw me out of here"
"Not anymore" I didn't have time to register what he'd said because he'd picked up my bag and was heading out of the door. Once I'd locked up and left the building, we were soon on our way back to Rangeman. As I fingered the keys in my hand, I was surprised that I didn't have any regrets or feelings of nostalgia at turning my back on the apartment. No, it felt right that I was moving on, in a good way.
Once back at Rangeman I was wondering what the Merry Men might think of my moving in. I'd done it before on a smaller scale so maybe they'd just see it as one of those times. We went straight to the breakroom to choose something for lunch surprised that there were so many men sat around. I knew Les, Ram, Slick and Miguel would be in Colombia by now and just prayed they'd be okay. Cal and Hal both kissed my head as they left, and Woody tried the weird hand shake he'd been trying to teach me. That left two men still sat at one of the tables. At a look from Ranger one of them got up muttering about monitor duty and the other came and stood next to Ranger leant against the counter. Both seemed to be looking at me, a quick glance behind me told me there was no one else there. "Babe this is Caleb"
I looked at the man to see if maybe I'd seen him before but nothing about him seemed familiar. "You wouldn't have seen me Miss Plum and I probably looked a bit different in Bogota"
"Steph. No, I really don't have any feeling that you're familiar"
"I've died my hair back to being blonde and got rid of the facial hair"
Okay, that would make a difference. He was the same size as Ranger, though not with the same muscle definition, not that I was looking! His eyes were honey colored and his skin tone was as though he'd spent a lot of time in the sun, a dark bronze color. Maybe having him with me would work out okay. "So, err, will you be shadowing me or with me in the car?"
"Shadowing to start with, we'll see how much attention you attract first" I wasn't too sure what he meant by that or whether it was a compliment or an insult. "Babe, Caleb was in the caves with the group following us"
"I'm sorry Steph, I should have been closer but I really didn't understand exactly what Ranger meant when he said you could attract trouble"
"It wasn't anyone's fault, it just happened. Though I would love to know who it was that set off that explosion"
"I went through the camera footage afterwards but there were so many tourists there it was impossible to work out" "Well that was there. I'm sure there won't be any problems here in Trenton"
I saw Ranger raise an eyebrow at me as if to say "Yeah right" "Babe, don't forget that skip. We'll talk through the best approach once you've done the research" "I'll do that now while I eat my lunch"
I picked up a sandwich and granola bar along with a bottle of water then walked out to go to my cubbie. I was surprised that there weren't any files in my in box, maybe someone had already picked up todays work. "Babe why aren't you using the other work room?"
"I thought that was just for when I worked on the other stuff?"
"No, you deserve a room of your own so use that one"
I picked up my lunch and found the other room, all the toys were still there from when Les had moved them. I left the door open, not wanting to close myself away and booted up the computer. The file for Drapson was sat in the in box, though I had no idea how it had got there. I thought back to when I'd last had it and could remember putting it in my bag when I got it from Connie. Maybe I'd left it out in the apartment on seven and Ranger had moved it down here. That meant he'd probably read through it as well. I opened the file to find what information Connie had dug up on him.
Drapson was in his late twenties, not such a good looking guy. What stood out was that he was very well off. That made me wonder what it must be like to be rich but not that good to look at. Would women be attracted to his money rather than who he was? He had his own apartment within a new complex and was listed as self employed as a software designer. I ran a search to explore that further and found out that he had made his money through his own company selling software, mainly apps and games. There was no record of any previous arrests. He'd been born here in Trenton and came back after attending university. His parents were both alive and lived locally so nothing seemed out of place other than the crime he'd been charged with. I had a weird feeling about this and needed information that couldn't be found in a search or from the file. I found my phone in my bag and switched it on, ignoring all the beeps indicating missed calls and messages. There was one person who could maybe provide me with the answer I needed. "Hi Eddie"
"Hi to you too Steph. Where've you been, we've missed seeing you"
"And if I were a betting person I'd say the stakes are running high"
"Nah, to be honest it's been real busy here and with you not being around people are losing interest"
"Glad to hear. So Eddie, this FTA Drapson?"
"Yeah, the girl was a real mess Steph"
"Who is she, is she okay now?"
"As far as I know she was only in the hospital a short time. Vanessa, Vanessa Wodsworth"
"The girl below me at School?"
"Yeah, though I didn't remember her. She looks totally different. You're going to get some help with this one aren't you Steph?"
"Yes, Ranger insisted. I just wanted to know what injuries she had before I started to look for him"
"Lots of cuts and bruises from being hit and obviously signs of a sexual assault"
"How did they know it was him?"
"Camera had them leaving a bar and he admitted he walked her home. Then there was skin under her nails"
"No, err, semen?"
"Not that I know of. Maybe he used a raincoat"
"Okay, that helps Eddie. At least I'm aware he's a scrapper when fighting and uses his fists and a knife"
"Be careful Steph. Steph do you know where Joe is?"
"No, he just said he'd taken some leave. I have no idea where he is"
"He could probably do with a vacation. Talk soon"
"Yeah, bye"
I hadn't known Vanessa that well at school. From what I could remember she was quiet but sneaky. She kept to herself and didn't mix with some of the larger groups of girls. I put her name into the search program, not really knowing why, but feeling that there was more to her than she was letting on. There wasn't very much that came up. She tended to wait on in bars and had moved around a few of them. Her finances and spending matched up to her earnings and she seemed to live within her means. Though like me she could rack up a hefty credit bill at Macys. She lived with her mother on the outskirts of Trenton so out of curiosity I input the mother's name. I was more than shocked when I reached her police record. She'd been in trouble with the police a lot, though the last few years were quiet. A look at the charges she'd been in trouble for and I was soon seeing something that had my spidey senses tingling. She was a con artist, scamming people out of money by any means possible. She reminded me of the two women from a film I'd seen, The Hustle, where the woman had a penchant for defrauding gullible men out of their money. Larissa Wodsworth had tried to do the same but obviously wasn't that good at it because she kept getting caught. I wondered if her daughter Vanessa had taken over when her mother retired. Or maybe she hadn't retired, she'd just gotten better at it. The problem now was working out who the innocent party was in this. Hell, Ranger would be annoyed with me if he thought I was delving into this too much. He'd always said that it wasn't up to us to make any judgement, just get the FTAs back into the system. The problem was that doing just that wasn't me. What I couldn't understand was why Drapson had missed his court date, doing that only made him look more guilty. I checked for where he did most of his spending discovering that he must spend a lot of time at home or at his parents because he bought everything on-line and had it delivered to his apartment. Maybe that was a way of getting to him. I printed off my searches and closed down the computer, it was time to head out and visit the office. I made sure I was wearing my watch and had trackers in my bag. I didn't have a gun, but I had Caleb and handcuffs.
I found Caleb sat with Cal on monitor duty, I wasn't sure if he was just passing the time or Cal was showing him what was involved. As I moved behind Cal they both looked up at me.
"Hey Steph, what you up to?"
"Not much, calling at the office and then looking for skips"
"You want company?"
"Already have it Cal, sorry. Caleb here has been assigned Bomber duty"
"He know what that can entail?"
I looked over at Caleb seeing him smiling at Cal, yeah I think he had a pretty good idea.
"He looks like a fast learner Cal"
"Shit, he may need to be"
"Hey I don't ask for trouble"
"I know, just be careful. You got all the gear?"
"Yes sir. Watch, check. Trackers, check"
"Get gone woman. I'll keep an eye on where you are from the monitors"
Caleb left Cal and joined me on the elevator. He didn't look like a Merry Man, I mean he was dressed in jeans, a sweater and a long trench coat that was probably hiding an arsenal underneath.
As I moved toward my little blue Buick, I saw Caleb getting into a rusty looking Toyota, I think the same one that Les had driven. I wasn't too sure how well Caleb knew Trenton, so I went at a reasonable speed hoping he'd keep up with me. Who was I kidding he probably a GPS up in the car with my tracker displayed on it.
It felt weird to be back driving and on my own. Not that I felt nervous or anything, it was just that I'd spent so much time being with Ranger it felt strange to be on my own. I must have been driving on auto pilot because I found myself outside of the Tasty Pastry. Thankfully there were no other customers inside, I'd forgotten that maybe being within the radar of the Burg might not be a good idea, I wasn't ready for anyone to start grilling me about Joe. I knew my engagement to Carlos wouldn't be out there yet but wasn't too sure what the gossipers were saying since Joe had seemed to have left town. With a dozen assorted doughnuts on the seat next to me my next stop was the Bonds office. Hopefully Lula and Connie would be so busy eating they wouldn't ask me too much. Who was I trying to kid? The minute I walked in the door Connie was looking me up and down. My hands were holding the pastry box, so I got away with her first inspection.
"Steph where the hell have you been, I've been worried about you"
"Yeah, an me as well. Don't go an say you went away with Officer Hottie"
"No, I didn't"
"So where you been?"
"Working for Rangeman"
"Well we have files piling up and that last one I gave you only has a couple of days"
"Drapson? I'm on that"
"Good, because Vinnie is threatening to bring in Joyce"
"No way. Who are the new files?"
I reached out to take hold of the files surprised when Connie kept hold of them and we ended up pulling them back and forth.
"Sheesh, Connie. If you don't want me to take them then . . . ."
"You see what I see Lula?"
I looked toward Lula and saw her eyes fixed on my hand, my left hand.
"White girl who, is that, you went an got a ring?"
Connie was now looking at me with a look in her eye that said I had to tell them everything. No way was that going to happen so with a sigh I went and sat down on the couch.
"So not Morelli?"
"No, that finished a while ago"
"Dam skippy it did"
"Lula"
I needed to reign in Lula's enthusiasm before she said too much. If Lula let on to anyone that she and Leroy knew that there was a woman in the back bedroom at Joe's house that could cause them a lot of trouble.
"Okay. I'll tell you but only the basics. Ranger and I got together and we realized we were in the same place"
"You're going to marry Batman?"
I nodded my head to Connie and saw her eyes go wide and felt Lula sink down on the couch next to me and almost smother me with a hug. Seeing as she was so close to me I managed a quiet whisper in her ear.
"We need to talk, so don't say a word"
"I hear you girl"
"So when's the wedding?"
"We haven't decided yet Connie"
"Does your mam know?"
"Yeah, she wasn't exactly enthusiastic about it"
"Well everyone knows that Joe was stepping out with Gilman, I'm sure your mum knew as well"
"She did but that doesn't mean she doesn't think I should be with him"
"I aint seen him around"
"I haven't either Lula and that's how I want it to stay"
"So what's it like with Ranger?"
I know I blushed, but no way was I going to say anything to these two. As soon as I left the office, I was sure they'd have their phones out telling anyone they knew about my engagement to Ranger. I stood up and picked up the files from Connie's desk and looked through them.
"Why is Eula back in here?"
"It was a disaster that day. Somehow she managed to leave the station before I rebonded her out so the judge is saying she's now FTA again"
"But surely the receipt you had would prove she'd been brought back into the system?"
"It should have done but remember that new officer who filled in the paperwork?"
I nodded my head remembering that I thought he'd been super-efficient.
"Well he didn't fill in the paperwork properly"
"Okay, it may take a bit of persuading to get her there, but I'll give it a go"
"The other one's an old fella, you shouldn't have any problems with him"
Yeah right, the old ones could be the worst. They had an uncanny ability to make a capture as difficult for me as possible, probably because they were old they thought they had nothing to lose.
"Okay I'll see what I can do to get Eula"
"On your own white girl. I'll meet you at Pinos after, then we can go get the old man"
"Connie if I call will you get to the station quickly?"
"Sure Steph"
Once I'd left I made a special visit to a deli close to the station and then armed with only some of the food I went into the station in search of Eula. I had no idea where Caleb was though was sure he was around wondering what the hell I was up to. I checked in the usual places for her, to be honest there weren't that many homeless people to see. I just hoped that the security hadn't cleared all of them out. I couldn't find her in the main area so started to head down the stairs to where some of the lines were. I was surprised to find Eula sat at the bottom of the stairs so went and sat next to her.
"Hey Eula, I didn't expect to find you here"
"Those security men keep trying to move me"
"So is here a good place to avoid them?"
"Sure is. I just pretend I'm struggling to get up the steps and they leave me alone"
"Where are your bags?"
"I aint got them. I think maybe they're out back"
"Should we go look for them, I brought you some food and there's more in my car"
"Why you here, you was here last week?"
"Paperwork Eula, apparently we need to do the paperwork again"
"Stupid kid, I told him he'd done it all wrong"
"Connie can take you to the shelter afterwards"
"I needs my bags"
"Come on let's go get them. You eat this on the way"
She had one arm linked through mine and the other she used to eat the food with. I'd bought her a chicken wrap that had barbeque sauce, and some veg inside which she seemed to be enjoying. As we came to the top of the stairs, I had no idea where she meant by "the back".
"Eula you'll need to tell me where to go to get to your bags"
"Over that way"
She led me past the McDonalds and then turned to go down the side of it. The smell hit me as soon as we got past the building. Obviously, the back was where all of the rubbish was taken. There were dumpsters for the rubbish, and they were full and overflowing with black plastic bags. I looked around hoping Eula's bags were easy to see, but seeing as Eula could use any plastic bag she came across I wasn't hopeful.
"Any idea on where they are?"
She pointed to the dumpster at the end and started to walk that way. Once there she just stood and looked at the dumpster.
"In there"
"What does your bag look like Eula?"
"It's special, real pretty, it's got a rainbow on it"
Okay maybe that would narrow it down, I seemed to remember seeing a bag from a shop called Rainbow shops and they were white with a rainbow of colors across them. I sat Eula down on a back step and then standing on my tip toes tried to look over the side of the dumpster. Thankfully the food shops didn't seem to use this dumpster, so it didn't smell too bad. I looked around for something to stand on and using an old bottle crate leaned into the dumpster. I moved some of the bags at the top and would you believe it there was a rainbow bag. Maybe a bit further away from where I could reach, so I hoisted myself up so that the top of my body was over the inside of the dumpster making the bag within my reach. The first I knew that something wasn't right was when my toes lost contact with the crate and I felt myself toppling into the dumpster. I could hear someone shouting but that was overshadowed by a loud beeping noise. A shudder from the dumpster had me thrown off balance and I was heading head first for the bag. As I managed to grab hold of the bag I felt something around my thighs and realized someone was pulling me out. As my feet hit the ground the dumpster was lifted into the air and swiveled, making me duck down. I watched as it was slowly tipped up and over and the contents started to empty into the back of a large wagon.
"You okay?"
A look behind had me seeing Caleb still holding on to me.
"Yeah, thanks for that"
I bent down to pick up the bag that I'd dropped to see something whizz over my head and hit Caleb on the shoulder. A look from where the missile had come from brought Eula into view and she was hurling the contents of a black bin bag. Caleb let go of me, so I moved to the side hearing Eula swearing and cursing him.
"You leave my girl alone you fucking lout"
"Get away from her"
I moved toward Eula, dodging food as she continued to throw it and once I had her attention shouted at her.
"Eula, stop. It's okay. Look I've got your bag"
She stopped the throwing and took her bag, then started to walk away. Amazingly nothing had managed to land on me but a quick look at Caleb told a different story. I left him to it and raced after Eula, taking her elbow and directing her back through the station to the main entrance.
"I've got the rest of your meal in my car Eula"
"I aint having no one have a go at my girl"
"It's okay Eula, he was actually helping me. He stopped me getting tipped out into that truck"
"He was grabbing hold of you"
"Look there's my car, let's get in and then Connie can take you home"
As Eula settled in the car with a large piece of cake and as per her usual a hot chocolate, I messaged Connie. I managed to get us to the police station without any incidents and was soon handing her over to Connie. I was a bit surprised that I couldn't see any sign of Caleb when I came out but then maybe he would need to get back to Rangeman to clean up. My trackers would show him where I was. A message to Lula and I was on my way to meet her at Pinos, though to be honest the idea of food after smelling those dumpsters was the last thing I wanted.
Surprisingly Lula was already waiting for me when I walked into the restaurant. There was no one I knew inside the place. I walked to the booth she was sat in, surprised at how empty it seemed to be, probably too late for lunch and too early for dinner. Lula looked up from the menu as I sat down then passed it to me.
"Meatball sub for you as well?"
"No, I'm really not that hungry. I'll just have a strawberry shake"
"You smells okay, did you get Eula?"
"Yeah, Connie's with her at the station"
Lula ordered her meatball sub with extra fries and I ordered my shake. Once we were alone again, I decided now was the time to talk with her.
"Lula, you have to keep very quiet about what we found at Joe's"
"Why"
"Because Terry knows I took her rucksack and she's not pleased. I don't want you or Leroy in her sights"
"You kiddin me?"
"No. So not a word to anyone Lula"
I saw Lula gulp and maybe even with her dark skin go pale.
"You mean she'd get me if she knew I knew"
"Yeah, that about sums it up"
"I aint saying a word to anyone"
"Good. So how are you and Leroy?"
"I aint seen him. He's been away working"
"What does he do"
"You'll like it, he's one them men who work for an insurance company. He an assistir, aseror"
"An assessor"
"Yeah, one of them"
"So where's he gone?"
"New York City, some fire there in one of them big buildings"
"You know when he's back?"
"Nah, he tries to phone"
I could see that Lula was trying very hard to convince herself of that. I just hoped he hadn't dumped her without telling her. She'd be miserable just hanging around expecting him to call her.
"I knows what you're thinking"
"What's that Lula?"
"He aint gonna come back"
Lula was doing well to keep her emotions in check, but I could see she was struggling to hold it together. I held my arm around her shoulder as we sat in silence. Trying to give her some support.
"It'll work out Lula"
"I know. If he don't come back then he aint worth worrying about"
I continued to drink my shake as Lula started in on her meal. Even how she was feeling it didn't hamper her appetite. I'd just stolen one of her fries as she finished them and was surprised when she went still, a fry half-way into her mouth. I followed her line of sight and then looked down at my empty glass. Stood in the doorway looking around was Terry Gilman. I knew from the movement that Lula made, that Terry was headed this way so trying to look nonchalant I turned to Lula as though having a conversation.
"Where is she Lula?"
"Heading this way"
I felt her stood on the opposite side of our table so looked up at her and half smiled.