Chapter 31
SPOV
I think I knew that the body found had been Shane, I didn't know how I knew, it was just a feeling. I couldn't let myself feel guilty about it because it had nothing to do with me. I was worried now about someone else. What I needed to know was where Sarah Heap had been for the last six months.
I picked up the papers that I'd been reading and placed them on the desk as I sat down. I wondered what Cassie would suggest about seeing Mr Heap and realized that I hadn't seen her today. To be honest, I wasn't sure about seeing Cassie so soon after coming back to Trenton because I was still slightly annoyed at her for being with us when we'd driven out of town. Her excuse of being there for me didn't really happen and I was sure that she'd slipped me a sleeping pill at that motel. So why was she there? I didn't think Lester would compromise the plan that was put in place, hell it sounded like it was a plan that had been devised ages ago. He wouldn't bring a civilian with him no matter how much he fancied her.
Then there was how a tail had picked us up. Ranger and the men were too organized for that to have happened, especially as we'd been clear for such a long way. I wasn't too sure I liked where my thoughts were taking me and suddenly thought how easily I'd fallen for Tasha and her lies. Had I done it again with Cassie?
I shook my head to clear those thoughts and focused on the laptop. If Sarah Heap was missing would Eddie know anything about it? After all her father was a policeman so I was sure that kind of information would be out at the station. I stood up and went around Ranger's desk and sat in his chair. I hesitated with my hand over his phone and then made the decision to talk to Eddie.
"Eddie Gazarra speaking"
"Hi Eddie, it's Steph here"
"Hey girl it's good to hear from you. How are you doing?"
"Okay, I think I'm doing okay"
"Are you staying at your apartment?"
"No, but I'm somewhere safe"
"I know, the caller id came up as Ranger's"
Damn, I never even thought of that, maybe it was a stupid idea to call.
"Don't worry, honey, your secrets safe with me"
"Eddie I know what I'm going to ask may seem a bit weird but I have my reasons"
"Shoot. I'm never surprised where your mind takes you"
"Sarah Heap, is she missing?"
"Jerry's daughter?"
"Yeah"
"She isn't in trouble is she?"
"I'm not sure"
"She's abroad, working with one of those volunteering groups, you know medics who help out abroad. Why the hell are you asking about her?"
"Where did she go to?"
"Not sure, Middle East or somewhere like that"
"I don't suppose you know which organization?"
"You suppose right. Steph you need to focus on yourself right now, I know you, so forget it. Don't try to solve a puzzle when you could get hurt again"
"I suppose you're right. Joe keeps trying to talk to me"
"I'm not sure what he's up to. He's not picking up the usual cases, though from what I hear he's investigating the death of that FTA you were looking for. Is he bothering you?"
"I hope not. We finished weeks ago but he still thinks I'll go back to him"
"He'll get the message, give him time"
"How are you doing anyway?"
"Same old. Shirley and the boys are doing okay"
"Glad to hear. Thanks for talking Eddie"
"Anytime Steph"
I was really surprised at what I'd learnt from Eddie. It had never occurred to me that Sarah might have been out of the country. I suppose being a nurse and single it was something she could do. How did her being out of the country have any bearing on what was happening? It certainly would account for why her father hadn't reported her as missing. Was I right in assuming that Jeremy Heap knew anything more or that he had been the one to assault Sophia? No, that idea was slowly beginning to feel wrong but then the connection to Ethan Parker just seemed to shout out at me. Maybe the disappearance of Sophia had nothing to do with this, maybe I was trying to tie everything we knew together when in fact the incidents were totally unrelated.
I needed to go back to those faces that were in the file that Sophia's lawyer had sent her. That had me realizing that he was the one who had led me to her apartment. Was he the one to tip someone off that I was likely to go there? Shit there were so many possibilities and to be honest I didn't trust anyone, how sad was that? Except for Ranger, Tank, Lester and Bobby. Oh, and Hector Cal, Ram. Okay the Rangemen that I'd known for a long time. Then there was that man Fin, did I trust him to be telling us the truth? I couldn't find it in me to trust him though I'd trust Ranger to keep an eye on him.
I opened the file that I'd retrieved from Sophia's apartment and sat there looking at the faces in front of me. I honestly had no idea if one of these men had been responsible for the assault on Sophia. I knew I still had one name to find, I'd got sidetracked by Heap when I'd started this when we were with Leo and Larri. The last photo looked familiar to me so maybe I'd seen him at the station when I used to take my skips in. To be honest I knew he hadn't come up when I'd done that image search of news articles so wondered how the hell to identify him. I suppose the answer was simple really, so I took a photo of him with the laptop camera and then sent it to Eddie via email with the question. "Who is this?"
Mat Westall was the other officer whose photo was part of the file, so I input his name into the search program. As the information came through, I discovered that he'd transferred through from a place called Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It had been a promotion for him, and he'd moved to Trenton with his wife and three children. He was currently working with the narcotics department which was a new role for him. A look at their family and I saw that his wife's family were here in Trenton. I found nothing in his history or finances to suggest that he was anyone who could be of interest, no travel or unaccountable money in his accounts.
I sighed as I realized that I was nowhere nearer to solving the mystery behind Sophia's assault, unless of course the lawyer hadn't included everyone. An incoming message caught my attention and I smiled as I saw that it was reply from Eddie. Opening it I had to say that I was disappointed. The last man that I didn't know was called Alan Cleater and he was on medical leave following a shoot-out with drug dealers on a bust. Damage to his spine had meant that he hadn't been in work for over six months and the Chief had already appointed someone to take over his duties, none other than Mat Westall. The PS made me smile though, apparently Sarah Heap had gone to Yemen as a medical volunteer.
I had absolutely no idea what Yemen was like and even had to look up exactly where it was on the map. I had never really considered that Yemen was a country where organizations would go to, but as I started to research Yemen I discovered that I was totally mistaken.
At least 56,000 civilians and combatants had been killed in armed violence in Yemen since 2016. The war had resulted in a famine, affecting 17 million people. There was a lack of safe drinking water, caused by depleted aquifers and the destruction of the country's water infrastructure, which had caused the largest, fastest-spreading cholera outbreak in modern history, with the number of suspected cases exceeding 994,751. Over 2,226 people had died since the outbreak began to spread rapidly at the end of April 2017. The ongoing humanitarian crisis and conflict had received widespread criticism for having a dramatic worsening effect on Yemen's humanitarian situation, that some say had reached the level of a "humanitarian disaster" and some had even labelled it as a genocide. It had worsened the country's already-poor human rights record which was already characterized by rampant torture, extrajudicial killings, and limited civil liberties.
Three American missionaries had been shot and killed in the Yemeni city of Jibla. These incidents, only the latest in a series involving Yemen, reinforced its image as a weak and lawless state with porous borders, a sanctuary for al-Qaeda operatives, a country with tenuous government control over vast parts of its territory and dominated by a culture of kidnappings and endemic violence.
A shiver went through me as I read through the information on Yemen and wondered how safe Sarah would be there. Surely though the organizations responsible for the medical volunteers would ensure they weren't in any danger. I'm not too sure but for some reason I printed out the information I had found and then put it neatly into the tray on my desk. I'd had enough for today. All the time that I'd spent doing the research had led to nothing, unless of course I just wasn't looking in the right place. Maybe I was no good at this, hell, why did I think that I had the skills to come up with some information that might give us something to follow.
As my stomach growled a look at the clock on the wall showed that it was mid afternoon. I'd been so busy that I hadn't realized how late it was and that I'd missed eating or drinking anything. I was surprised that Ranger wasn't back yet but decided to go to the breakroom and see what was left. Ella usually kept the food stocked up for the men that were in and out.
The room was empty when I went inside and as I opened the fridge, I didn't see much choice. No way was I interested in eating a cheese salad. As I stood up, I looked out of the window and my eyes immediately went to the small diner across the street. As I stared at it my mouth was watering thinking about what they could be serving.
I knew that Ranger hadn't said that I had to stay in the building, and I assumed he just thought I would. I thought I would as well because I wasn't feeling too confident of walking down the street. Then again it was only across the road and at some stage I knew I would have to go outside sometime soon. Maybe I could get one of the guys to go with me on this first trip, hell, how pathetic was that.
RPOV
I hadn't realized how long I'd been away from the office for. It seemed that everyone who saw me needed a few minutes from me. Hector needed to me to look at a different supplier for the sensors that we currently used and after listening and looking at the spreadsheets I had agreed with him. Going up the stairs it was Louis who'd cornered me, wanting to check out the changes I'd asked for with a storeroom on five. I probably spent more time than I should have but the change was for Steph, so I felt that it was important. Once on five I'd made the mistake of heading into the monitoring area and being asked my opinion of the events unfolding inside a client's store. The fact that the store was a jewelry shop and the owner was an important client meant that I then spent some time coordinating with a team in the area as to how they needed to approach the situation.
By the time I eventually returned to my office I was surprised that Steph wasn't there. Maybe she had gone up to seven. I picked up the papers that she'd printed off, passing by the first set as I was already up to date with most of them. The second set of papers was information on the photos of the police officers that were in Sophia's apartment but as I quickly ran through them it seemed that Steph hadn't uncovered anything. The third set of papers made my blood run cold because I couldn't work out why Steph had been researching Yemen.
My mind went back to the last mission that I'd been involved with and how the whole thing had left me feeling uncomfortable, annoyed even. Then again it did mean that I got back to Trenton sooner than I envisioned and that meant being here to find Steph. What I couldn't find amongst the papers was why Steph was interested in Yemen. I needed to go up to seven and have that conversation with her because if Yemen was somehow involved in this then this could be a lot bigger than I was reckoning for. And there was bound to be a lot of fall out with the shit that would come with it. I replaced the papers on the desk and left my office, heading up the stairs to seven. As I reached the exit to the sixth floor my phone started to ring so taking it from my belt, I continued to climb the stairs.
"Boss, Hal here. Is, err, Steph supposed to leave the building?"
I suppose Hal was very wary of that happening, seeing as he had never lived down his moment of glory when Steph had stunned him. I couldn't work out why he was asking.
"Hal, explain"
"Well Steph just walked out through the front lobby"
"On her own?"
"No, Ram's with her"
I turned and started back down the stairs as I kept the phone next to my ear.
"Use the external cameras and tell me where they go"
I was now taking several stairs at a time in order to get to the lobby as quickly as possible. Once through the lobby and doors I stood looking up and down the street.
"Hal"
"They crossed the road and headed north. They're out of camera range"
My phone went back on my belt as I dodged cars to cross the road and then started to walk in the direction that Hal had told me. All the time I was scanning ahead of me, people who were walking past, cars on the road and then I saw it. A sign for a small diner so as I passed it, I looked inside. There sat at a booth at the back were Steph and Ram. I breathed out a sigh of relief as I walked in through the door. A waitress had just left a plate in front of Steph and both had mugs in their hands. Ram at least had seen me, but Steph was too interested in what was on her plate. As I slid into the seat next to her, she looked up and smiled at me. Shit I couldn't be annoyed at her.
"Hi, why are you here?"
"We missed lunch Babe"
"Yeah, I was hungry and there was nothing really to tempt me in the breakroom. I saw this place from the window and it just seemed to call out my name"
I nodded at Ram and watched as he stood up, he would wait outside for us and keep surveillance on the street. When the waitress came up, I ordered a sandwich and sat back with my arm around Steph's shoulder suddenly feeling steadier.
"Did you ask Ram to come with you?"
I sincerely hoped so. Steph had always been impetuous, never really thinking ahead or seeing what dangers might lay around her.
"Yes. I didn't feel confident coming outside of the building but then decided it was something I needed to do"
I couldn't be annoyed with her logic and she had brought Ram with her. I suppose in some ways she was right, she was still regaining confidence in so many areas and being out on the street was a big step for her.
"Proud of you Babe. How do you feel now you're here?"
"I felt awful coming out of the building, as though every person I saw was going to grab hold of me. I felt better once inside but still nervous"
I pulled her to me and kissed her on her head, nodding as the waitress brought my sandwich and a mug of coffee.
"I'm sorry Babe, if you want to go somewhere then we'll make it happen"
I felt her relax as I said that and we both spent a few minutes eating. I noticed that Steph had the same filling in her sandwich as me, tuna and sweetcorn. It was very quiet in here, probably not the time of day for many customers, so I broached the subject of what she'd been doing.
"How did you get on today?"
"Mainly brick walls. I don't think Jeremy Heap has anything to do with this"
"What makes you think that?"
"He didn't report Sarah missing because he thought she was in Yemen volunteering with a medical foundation"
That accounted for why she'd been looking at Yemen, but it also sent alarm bells out for me. Was it coincidence that Sarah was in Yemen and that's where that damn mission had been? I didn't believe in coincidences but what the hell was I going to do about it?
"Ranger, you've gone quiet. What's wrong, was it something I said?"
"Maybe, but I'm not sure I can explain"
"Because you can't or you won't"
"Both"
Her taking offence to what I'd said shouldn't have surprised me. I knew that I didn't always tell her everything, but it was usually as a way of protecting her. Was keeping quiet about this protecting her? I just didn't know, and I needed to think very carefully as to what I did next. We ate in silence after that and once we'd both finished eating, I left enough money on the table along with a tip. Steph was already at the door about to walk outside, not waiting for me was her way of telling me she was annoyed at me.
I reached the door as it swung back closed and could see Steph stood on the side of the street ready to try and cross it. Ram was already on the other side waiting for her, no doubt assuming that I'd be next to her. I think we all turned at the sound of screeching brakes, frozen to the spot as a car stopped in front of Steph. I was suddenly running forward as Ram ran from the other side but even as I made it to the car, I heard as Steph screamed.
