Chapter 35
RPOV
I felt that Steph was none the worse for wear after her ordeal yesterday and as I left the apartment to collect Tank and head down to the basement felt that she was emotionally in a better place. I could never understand how she seemed to accept what had happened to her yesterday, though maybe her resilience was one of the things that had attracted me to her in the first place. Along with her determination and uncanny instincts. It was only after knowing her for a longer time that I began to feel the light that seemed to shine from her, her open heart and wild spirit. Leaving her in the apartment this morning had been hard to do probably mainly because of how I was feeling.
I sent a message to Tank to meet me and headed down the stairs for my talk with Fin. The further down the stairs I went the more my anger began to take a hold of me. By the time I exited from the stairwell door into the basement area I had to consciously reign in my temper.
I didn't particularly like Fin and never chose to work with him if I could help it, but if he had been telling me the truth about him being contracted to work this case then I would need to control what I said and what I believed. It did cross my mind that he was being used, that there was someone within the agency who was expecting him to find intel so that any suspicion or leaks could be got rid of. The fact that he was once again close to my Babe though wasn't something that would tolerate.
Tank was waiting for me in the observation room and to be honest he looked just as annoyed as I felt.
"How do want to play this Ranger?"
"Cautiously. He won't be intimidated with physical force, but we need to somehow unravel the truth from the lies"
"What's your gut telling you?"
"That he may be being used"
I saw the frown cross Tanks face and decided what the hell, he needed to know about the last mission I'd been on and how it had finished. As I finished telling him the same story that I'd told Steph I waited for him to start with the questions.
"You think that someone in the agency is involved?"
"It's a strong possibility. Why pull me out when I was so sure that there was something else going on"
"You think this someone is using Fin to get intel?"
"It would make sense. I know Fin well enough to know he wouldn't be part of this, he's too by the book for it. Apart from the fact that he's a soldier through and through, he doesn't have the mindset not to follow orders"
"Is he dangerous?"
"He has the same skills as us in combat and he dogged in finding intel"
"So if we want whoever is involved in this then we need Fin to keep feeding him intel"
"The who is going to be hard to trace Tank. You know how the agency operates. We may only have communications with our handler but there are faceless men behind them who like to know everything that's going on"
"Okay, maybe you need to talk to him on your own then"
I nodded my head at Tank, knowing he would stay in the observation room and make sure the meeting was recorded. I nodded to Binkie as I approached the door and held my hand out. Binkie dropped the keys into my hand showing no surprise at what I'd asked for. Entering the cell, I saw that Fin was sat at the table, his hands and ankles cuffed to the chains secured to the floor. He didn't look surprised to see me, almost resigned that it was me he was going to have to talk to. I used the keys to unfasten the cuffs and watched him closely as he rubbed his wrists and stretched out his legs under the table. Turning a chair around I sat with the back of the chair to him and straddled the seat.
"Why were you at that cabin Fin?"
The fact he looked up surprised had me guessing that he'd been afraid that I'd beat the shit out of him and it was only after a few moments that that wasn't going to happen, yet.
"I went through everything I could at where that man Jari lived. It was a hovel, but he certainly knew his way around a computer"
"How did you find the video?"
"Looks like he'd sent a copy to himself. I'm not sure how he got hold of it, only that it was recorded on a Mac. Maybe he had access to the computer and decided he wanted a copy for himself"
"No indication of him doing anything else with it?"
"Not that I could find"
In some ways that was probably a good thing, though it did have me wondering if Jari had been tasked with releasing it into a public domain or if as Fin had suggested he'd decided he wanted a copy for himself. I waited for Fin to continue talking because I was sure he'd maybe found something else.
"I came across a file on a woman called Sarah Heap. Photos of her that seemed to cover a span of time"
That had my attention, especially as her father Jerry Heap was the one who had taken Steph and then given her a file to follow up on.
"Did it say where she was or what has happened to her?"
"No, but I thought that maybe she was someone I needed to find out more about"
"Did you find her?"
"No. I came up with absolutely nothing. She'd been on some medical jaunt in the Middle East, but I eventually discovered that she was back in the States. Couldn't get a lead on her though"
"What did you do then?"
"I came here to Trenton to try and talk to her father. He wasn't around either"
"The cabin?"
"I found out that he'd rented a car but not where he was. Clever bastard had disabled the tracker that the rental company had on it. I found out that he used to go hunting with his kids in that part of the forest. I wasn't sure he'd be there but thought what the hell, I had nothing else to go on"
"How did you find out about it?"
"Spoke to a couple of friends of the son. He didn't live with his old man but visited during the vacation and sometimes one of the friends would get to go with them"
"You're telling me that it was a coincidence that we turned up there at the same time?"
"That's the truth Ranger"
"What do you intend to do now?"
"My handler told me to forget that lead of inquiry"
I watched Fin and heard him sigh. It was as though he was unsure of what he'd just said. I waited, sure that he'd tell me what he was thinking.
"To be honest though I don't agree with him. I just have a feeling that I need to find that woman Sarah"
"Did your handler know about what you found?"
"Yes, I kept him up to date with what I was following"
I sat back and looked at Fin as he said that. I had the feeling that he was beginning to question exactly what it was that he was supposed to be doing and in some ways had started to maybe think beyond the orders that he was being given.
"What does your gut tell you?"
I watched as he looked down at his hands that were on the table. I knew he was finding it hard to say something to someone he saw as his superior.
"Speak freely Fin"
His eyes came up as I said that, it was as though I had given him the freedom that he wanted, freedom to say exactly what was on his mind.
"I know I don't usually do solo missions and I thought it would be easy. Just follow orders and find the people. The problem I'm having is that when I found a lead, that was solid, I got told to drop it. I'm at a point where I don't know what the fuck my objectives actually are"
I continued to look at Fin as he admitted that. I was actually wondering if he was finally growing some balls.
"Fin, part of running a mission is to follow your instincts. The problem that you have is that your handler is keeping you on a tight chain. Don't tell him everything, hold back on some of the things that you find. That way you'll have more control and seeing as it's usually you who has their neck on the line, you need to have that control"
"This is why you you're so damn good, isn't it? You follow your own path to meet the objectives"
"Yes. But it isn't always easy and sometimes it gets frustrating"
Like it had for me when I'd had to come back from that last mission. I was actually glad that my contract would soon be finished. What was it Leo had said, he was getting too old for that shit and dealing with the bureaucracy? It didn't help Fin though to tell him that.
"What will you do now Fin?"
"Keep looking for Sarah Heap, though how she ties into this I'm not sure"
I was pleased that he'd said that and thought carefully what about what I was about to say.
"Stay in touch Fin, we're both on the same side"
As he nodded, I hoped that he was following what I was saying to him.
"Why were your men at the cabin, Ranger, you never said"
"We had intel that a skip was hiding out there"
I was sure that Fin didn't believe me but at least he had the sense not to call me on it. As I stood up, I turned back to Fin and making it seem like an after-thought asked him the question that was bothering me.
"Who is your handler Fin?"
"Garcia"
"Thank you for sending the video, but Fin be careful and good luck."
"Thanks Major"
Yeah, Fin was seen as the man to follow orders without knowing or understanding why.
Maybe now he could actually develop his skills and become the soldier that he aspired to be. It seemed that Steph had been right to follow her instincts about that damn cyber case and the involvement of Barnes. How the hell she did it I could never understand which made me believe now more than ever that Devils Delight was somehow involved, how, I had no idea. The one puzzle though was whether Sophia was tied into this and what the hell had happened to her.
I walked from the cell pleased that I hadn't had time to call my handler to ask about Fin because it seemed that we both had the same handler and that wasn't sitting well with me.
"Binkie, escort our guest to the front door"
Then walked to the stairwell with Tank hurrying to catch up with me. I wasn't going to say anything to Tank until I was in the confines of my office and I think he knew that because he followed me in and closed the door behind him.
"Who's Garcia?"
"My latest handler. I don't know him that well, he was the one who took charge of the last mission I was on"
"Could he be the one involved?"
"Could be, but as I said before there are lots of men sat behind a handler"
"You just letting Fin go?"
"I don't want his handler to get concerned if he disappears. He'd only be replaced by someone else who we don't know"
"Do you think he'll find that Heap woman?"
"I hope so. Jerry Heap is clever though and obviously Fin hasn't caught onto the fraud case yet"
"I expected Fin to be more detail orientated"
"I think he's finding himself through this. He needs to develop his own way of thinking and then he'll start to see the details"
"A younger version of us?"
"I suppose he is. I know that I've had enough of it"
"Glad to hear that Ranger. What now?"
"I need to check with Steph and see what she found out from that file that Jerry gave her"
"She has an uncanny way of finding and following leads"
"She certainly has"
I left Tank to head up stairs, messaging Ella to bring up some lunch for us. I'd been pleased that Steph's appetite was improving so wanted to be sure that she didn't miss a meal again. As I entered the apartment it was very quiet. The plates from breakfast this morning had gone so I assumed that Ella had been in. I walked through to the office, surprised that Steph was still working but then noticed how still she was.
I approached her from behind and turned the office chair until she was facing me. Her cheeks were dry with tears and her eyes looked pained. As I pulled her to me, I looked at the screen over her shoulder. There was a photo of a man, maybe forty years old. I had no idea who he was or how he fit into this but was resigned when I saw his appearance that he looked to be the coloring of someone who was descended from an Arab family.
"Babe?"
"I think I found Tasha, well at least her brother"
"Is that why you're so upset?"
I felt her nod against my shoulder so held her tighter.
"She won't get anywhere close to you Babe"
"I know, it just brought back so many memories"
"Who is he?"
As she wiped her face and turned away from me Steph picked up some papers from the desk.
"His name is Alan Andrews. He was involved in that fraud case that Jerry and Barnes investigated. His search has him with a job as a salesman for IT supplies"
"So he was probably the source of the equipment that they used"
"Probably. I can't find anything on Ethan Parker after he left prison"
"What did you find out from the files Babe?"
"Jerry and Barnes investigated a fraud case. When Jerry decided to look through the files again, he found that information was missing and noted the name Edwards as being someone that seemed to have been removed. He also tried to chase up a lead that those men were up to something else but couldn't find anything. Too much time had passed I suppose. Andrews was the office manager but was never arrested. Parker and a man called Richard Fernandez were the ones who were charged but Fernandez died in prison, It doesn't look as though Jerry had much success in finding anything else out though"
"So maybe they had another scheme going back then as well"
"Yeah, it looks like it"
"When were they closed down?"
"Eight years ago, but there don't seem to be any leads to follow"
"Except Alan Andrews?"
"Yeah. Ranger, can you follow a search on his sister, I don't think I can do it"
"No problem"
I kissed her head and removed the papers from her hand before taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. I'd heard Ella come into the apartment so knew there would be some lunch for us.
"Go freshen up, Ella just brought in lunch"
While Steph did that, I made a call, one that I hoped would help her to forget what was happening at the moment. I was pleased to see that Steph had more color in her cheeks as she came back to the kitchen. She seemed like her old self as we ate the sandwiches that Ella had brought, and I felt that at last Steph was rebuilding her resilience.
"What happened with Fin?"
"He was following up on a lead that he came across, Sarah Heap, and was trying to find her"
"A lead?"
"He was following up on the man that had you in that van and found a file on her"
"So his being at the cabin was a coincidence?"
"Yes. The problem that Fin has is that he's been told to drop that line of enquiry."
I saw Steph look at me as she realized what that meant, yeah, the men that I worked for were as corrupt as the men they sent me after.
"What will Fin do?"
"He wants to find Sarah"
"Who told him to stop?"
"A man called Garcia. He's what we call a handler. They are the person that we use for communication when doing a job"
"Does that mean he's working for the bad guys?"
"Not sure, it's either him or one of his bosses that he answers to. Babe he was also my handler when I was in Yemen"
"Shit, that's not good is it?"
"No. Anyway you're expecting visitors and I'm going to work downstairs in my office"
"Who?"
"Someone who wants to see you. Don't look so worried"
I was thankful for the sound of knocking coming from the door so went to answer it as Steph sat there with a puzzled look on her face. I'd asked Hal to meet her guests and bring them straight up to seven. No detours on the way because I wasn't sure that my men could cope with Edna wandering around the building. As Frank and Edna came through the door, I heard a small scream from behind me so left the apartment for Steph to enjoy her afternoon. At least her mind would be distracted from what she'd found out this morning.
