Chapter 41
RPOV
How the fuck did I end up in the back of a van? What the hell had happened for that to happen? As I moved my head, I felt a jolt of pain pass through it and suddenly everything came back to me clearly.
I'd been stood outside of the ladies room waiting for Steph to come out, becoming a little concerned at how long she seemed to be taking. I was about to open the door and shout for her when the door opened, and a black woman walked straight into me.
I remember thinking that she reminded me of Lula, with tight braids throughout her hair and lots of colored beads that clicked as she moved. Her breasts looked large underneath a bright pink shiny top that looked fit to burst at any moment. As I took a step back to apologize that's when something had come down onto my head with full force. Enough to render me unconscious. I had been totally distracted by the woman and hadn't been aware of someone behind me.
That realization had me cursing now, how could I have been so stupid. How could I have left Steph unprotected? Where was she and was she hurt or worse? I had to tamp down the feeling of nausea that threatened to erupt with those thoughts. I had to get out of here.
I tried to move my arms and found that I couldn't, not only were my wrists secured together but it seemed that someone had gone overboard with the tape. Shit, I felt like a mummy wrapped up in duct tape. Okay, assess the situation. I must be inside a van that was moving, judging by the bumps that I was feeling through my side. The van looked to be empty of anything else as far as I could see. That I could see light coming in through the gaps between the doors meant that I probably hadn't been in the van for very long.
I had to get free though because I had no idea what had happened to Steph. My mind was verging on panicking, a feeling that I was all too familiar with from the countless times that I'd had to find her or protect her. As I'd done then, I tamped down those feelings to get control back, I had to. I cleared my head of everything but what I needed to do and focused on that.
The van had slowed down and I felt myself rolling onto my back deducing that we must be turning from the road that we were travelling on. The movement though put me up against the side of the van so using my muscles I pulled myself up so that I was sat up against it. That my ankles and legs were free gave some maneuverability and it made me think that whoever had tied me up had totally underestimated me.
I was pleased to feel the edges of metal behind me so pushing myself hard against the framework started the arduous task of moving back and forth in an effort to try and tear at least some of the tape at my back. It made me thankful that I hadn't put the cast around my arm because it would have limited my movement. I was aware of us stopping but not of the engine turning off so stopping my movements I listened. I was surprised that I couldn't hear any talking coming from the front of the van. What I did hear though was the indistinguishable sound of an explosion.
I had no idea what had caused that, but as I considered what might have happened, I had the terrible feeling come through me that it may well have been some of my men following me. I had a tracker on me, I always did unless away on a mission. Today I was wearing my watch with a tracker inside, similar to the one that Steph had in hers. That made me realize that my men would know where she was, and I was really hoping that she was their priority.
The van started to move again, shaking me from my thoughts of what might or might not have happened. A sudden movement, maybe a wheel hitting a hole in the road thrust me hard against the metal paneling. I cursed as I felt metal biting into my arm but then rejoiced at what that meant. At least I'd managed to rip some of the tape, and it did feel as though my arms were able to move a little. Spurred on by that revelation I worked harder and faster until I heard the tape begin to tear. I used all of my strength to expand my chest and move my arms, pleased when the effort resulted in freedom from the restrictions of the tape. Another few passes against the metal and my hands were free. I was soon pulling the tape from around me even as I felt the van slow down and come to a stop.
As the engine was turned off that was when I became aware of voices coming from nearby.
"He secure?"
"Yes."
"Good, because I'm not a violent man myself"
"He's out cold and trussed up. He isn't going to give us any trouble"
"Give me a hand to get him inside then"
"I'll do that and then you need to keep him here"
"Then what?"
"It seems the guy pulling the strings wants this one around"
"This one?"
"Yeah the others have been dealt with"
"I don't understand, why would you need to grab him, what the hell's going on?"
"Above your pay grade. Just do as you're told"
My breath caught in my chest as what they'd said sank in, Steph, was she who they were talking about? How, when? Was this what it was all about? To get rid of Steph because she knew too much, but what the hell was it that they thought she knew? As the back door to the van swung open, I was like a raging bull. I'd lost all sense of reasoning, thinking that they'd done something to Steph. She was my soul mate, the balm for my wounded psyche, the reason I could breathe.
I rammed into the man in front of me, pushing him back into the second man. I wasn't seeing faces, just a red haze in front of my vision. I was punching and kicking with everything I had trying desperately to push what I'd heard out of my mind. Even knowing the two men were on the ground I didn't relent from my endeavors to beat them to a pulp. I didn't care whether they lived or not.
When I felt arms band around me, my head went back, and my elbows came around as I turned and let my fist fly with a punch.
The next thing I knew there were four men on me, all of them pinning me to the ground. I continued to try and fight, straining to use my arms and fists but as another man suddenly knelt on my shoulder, I felt the fight ebbing from me.
"What the hell Ranger, what's got into you?"
I was looking up into the face of Santos confused with what was going on. Then my world crashed around me as I thought of Steph.
"Get off Santos"
"No chance, what the hell's wrong with you?"
"Those bastards"
"They're out cold. Shit Ranger you nearly killed them"
"Let's get them back to Rangeman, we can't leave Steph on her own much longer"
I stopped struggling and turned to look at Tank who was the one locked around my arm and shoulder.
"What did you say?"
I think the fact that I went still and was staring hard at Tank had him slowly easing his grip on me.
"Get them back to Rangeman"
"No, Steph, where is she?"
"Back at the car. We had no idea what the hell we'd find when we got here. That seemed the safest place for her"
It was then that I noticed exactly who was surrounding me and that they were all heavily armed ready to kick ass. Ram and Cal were lifting the two men that I'd attacked and were carrying them to an SUV parked close by. Hector was walking into a house, along with Binkie and Junior. I felt the pressure holding me down release and accepted Tank's hand as he pulled me up.
"Everything okay Ranger?"
I closed my eyes as I took in a breath, not quite knowing what the hell to believe. Opening them I was looking into Santos's concerned face and felt I owed him an explanation for my behavior.
"They said that Steph was dead"
"Nah. They tried. Hell, it's not everyone who can say that their car was blown up by a drone"
"A drone?"
"Yeah. We were following you when it appeared out of nowhere. I bailed out with Steph, then Hector and Ram got out just before it blew"
Christ, what the hell was going on? How many people would have access to a drone that could fire missiles and would have the gall to use it?
"I need to make sure Steph's okay"
I watched as Santos turned to Binkie and then looked over to one of our SUVs, it seemed like every man from Rangeman was here making me wonder who the hell had been left in charge. As we passed Binkie, he gave the keys to Santos and it wasn't long before we were driving away from the buildings surrounding us.
"A team is taking those two men back to Rangeman and two teams are going through the farmhouse. Hector wants to set up some surveillance cameras in case anyone comes here"
I felt a little bit guilty that I had absolutely no idea who those two men were, and it wasn't because I didn't recognize them it was because I'd never taken a good look at them before losing it.
"Tank?"
"Yeah, he took command as soon as we knew you'd been compromised"
That's why I trusted Tank as much as I did, I knew he would always have my back. As we slowed down, I could see the nose of an SUV protruding from the front of a small hut that was surrounding by an outcrop of tress. As the car stopped, I opened my door, expecting to see Steph coming from the car, surprised when that didn't happen. Maybe she was so worried over what had happened that she hiding inside until someone she knew came and got her.
As I opened the front passenger door I was greeted with silence and looking further into the car I couldn't see a sign of Steph.
"Santos, where the hell is Steph?"
"We asked her to stay with the car"
I watched as Santos walked around the hut and then as he bent down and picked up something from the ground.
"Shit"
"Santos?"
"It's Steph's watch"
"You're telling me she's missing?"
"She wouldn't have walked away from here, hell it's in the middle of nowhere"
"The farm?"
I knew that hadn't happened because we'd just driven from it, so where the hell was she?
We spent hours scouring the area looking for any sign of Steph. It was as though she'd just vanished into thin air and the longer that she was missing the more worried I became. How did this always seem to happen to her, surely she was due a break from all the mayhem? I couldn't believe that she was missing again.
Darkness was what took us back to Rangeman and everyone involved in the search were of the same opinion. Someone had turned up or even followed us and she was with them now. As I got out of the car in the garage I headed to the elevator and went down a flight into the sub basement. A fob was required to access this area of the building because this was where we had four cells as part of the business of bounty hunting. Often, we were asked to bring in people from out of county and sometimes it was easier to hold them here overnight. As I went into the observation room, I saw Hector watching the screens. His gaze was intent, as though he could access information just by looking at them.
I knew Hector would be annoyed that we couldn't find Steph and knew that these two men could have some answers, maybe they knew more on who might have Steph and where she could be. Hector had some very effective ways to make people talk and to make sure it was the last thing they ever did.
As I walked in Hector looked over to me and pointed to another screen that was lit up.
"Keith Randall. Lawyer. He hasn't stopped sniveling since we got him here. Keeps trying to tell us he has rights, but he knows he's in big shit"
"The other?"
I had an idea of who this was from the searches that Steph had done.
"Alan Andrews. Makes out he's a hard one, but he has weaknesses"
"I'll talk to Randall first"
I could remember the conversation that I'd heard from inside the van and was betting that Randall was the one who didn't like violence. Shame really because that was exactly what I was going to inflict on him.
I walked through the door that Cal had opened, stopping to stare down at the man sat in front of me. He immediately looked up at me and started to open his mouth, no doubt to tell me what I could and couldn't do legally. He must have seen how I was looking at him because his color faded, and his eyes looked away from me.
"No one knows that you're here Mr Randall. Not the police, not your friends and not your family. You could disappear and no one would be any the wiser"
"You can't"
"You took me and bombed a car that had my woman in it"
"No, no. I was just the driver"
"Really. You were complicit in a kidnapping and murder"
"That wasn't me"
I couldn't believe what a coward he was, constantly denying any responsibility. It was time to let him know exactly how I was feeling, and I was feeling pretty pissed off.
I slammed my fist into the side of his face, watching as his head bounced away from me. His hands automatically came to his nose. It seemed that Randall didn't like the sight of his own blood as he looked down at his hands.
"Now, let's try again Mr Randall. The man with you"
"I only know him as Ryland. He's the one that I have contact with"
"What the hell are you and your friends planning to do?"
"Make money. That's what they promised me"
"Killing innocent people, how does that fit in?"
"I don't understand, no one's been hurt"
"Shane Cooper?"
Randall obviously looked totally confused with what I'd asked and for the first time I wondered if he was being used by the people he worked with.
"No one's been killed"
He had the nerve to almost laugh which had me backhanding the side of his face.
"It's just money. We use the club as a front to run a scam, that's all that's going on"
"You were driving the van with me inside"
"I was told that you were threatening to turn us in and needed to keep you somewhere secure"
"Who was being spoken about, who did you think had been dealt with?"
"Some of the girls, they were getting edgy, something to do with their clients asking questions. Ryland told me he was going to threaten to sack them if they didn't just do their jobs"
That had me wondering if Sophia had been one of those girls, if she'd suspected what was happening but instead of threatening to sack her, she'd been made to disappear.
"Is Sophia one of those girls?"
"I don't know. She was never one of the girls that I, err, got to know"
Everything that Randall had said sounded so plausible except for one thing. That one thing had me believing that he was lying, everything he was saying was a lie.
"I don't believe you Randall. You were the one that sent people to her apartment"
"Me?"
"After Steph contacted your father"
I could see by his eyes that he knew he'd been caught out in a lie. He may not be a violent man himself, but he was like any other lawyer I'd ever come across. His weapon of choice for attack and defense were his words.
My fist slammed into the side of his rib cage with enough force that I was sure at least one had been broken. The look on his face was close to terror as I brought my fist down hard on his thigh. I remembered every bruise that had been inflicted on Steph and swore that by the time I'd finished he would know exactly how badly hurt she had been.
His whimpering and tears didn't affect me as I stood back and watched him, in fact I was disgusted with the sniveling wretch in front of me. I felt absolutely no pity for him.
"From the top Mr Randall. Who else do you work with?"
"It's just Ryland, honestly, that's the truth"
I lifted my fist as though to punch him again, knowing I had a cheek bone to break yet.
"Ryland asked me to keep an eye on what was going on between my father and Sophia. Rylands told me that some bounty hunter was sticking her nose in and he wanted any information I could get hold of. I don't know what was going on but Ryland was getting nervous, especially with that damn stupid assault charge. I told him she'd disappeared and that that bounty hunter had been talking to my father. He sent someone to the apartment to make sure there was no evidence there"
"Go on"
"That's all I know"
Maybe now we were getting somewhere but I still needed to know if he knew where Steph might be. The problem I was having was that I didn't want to tell him any of the names that we knew. He'd probably deny knowing them anyway.
"Where's the bounty hunter?"
"What? I don't know. What the hell has she to do with this?"
The sound of his cheek bone cracking was the last sound that I heard as I walked out of that cell. I was wasting precious time talking to Randall when I could be looking for Steph. To be honest I had no desire to interrogate Andrews but knew that it had to be done. As the door to Randall's cell closed, I was suddenly aware of Hector and Bobby rushing into the adjacent cell. Following them in I watched as Bobby laid Andrews on his back on the floor, and as he used a stethoscope to his chest.
"Bobby?"
Bobby turned as he stood up.
"He's dead"
"How?"
"I've not seen it for a long time, but judging by the smell and vomit around his mouth I'd say a cyanide tablet"
I hit the door hard with my fist as I walked out of that cell. The bastard had known he'd been caught, and he had taken the cowards way out.
I needed to find Steph and I felt as though I'd wasted my time so far. Once back on five I went straight to the conference room that we'd been using as a sit room. I moved the name Ryland and placed it underneath Alan Andrews and then turned to a room full of men silently watching me. Walking to the head of the table I sat down and barked out what I needed from them.
"Report"
"The farm house was derelict inside but I'm sure that's where Steph was held"
"Ram, evidence?"
Because that's what I needed to hear.
"Inner room had mattresses on the floor, blood on both which I'm testing now. A back room had been cleared out and bleach was all over the floor. No fingerprints or anything else"
"Who owns the buildings?"
"It's been derelict for years, the owner died years ago and no family stepped forward to take ownership"
"Check the records Santos. They must have known about it"
I watched as Santos nodded his head and then turned to Hal.
"What happened behind Pinos?"
That Hal looked away from me when I spoke to him told me that he was embarrassed by what he'd let happen. Hell he was a soldier who was supposed to be keeping watch outside a restaurant.
"Hal"
I didn't raise my voice, but my tone was sufficient for him to sit up and start his report.
"Two cars pulled in tight to us and the back window was punched. A gas canister was thrown inside but we couldn't get out. The cars were reported stolen an hour before it happened. No prints in the cars"
"Binkie?"
"Tire treads had been brushed over in the farm yard but there were fresh ones near to where Steph was. I'd say a truck from the width of them, worn but not illegal. The tracks led through a narrow lane that then joined onto the road"
"Tank, anything from the explosion?"
"Military issue, but that's not a lot of help. There are a lot of those things on the market now and they have a long range"
"Does anyone have anything as to where Steph might be?"
I was met with absolute silence as each of the men lowered their heads.
It had been four hours since Steph had gone missing and yet it felt like longer. Surely we could find something that might give us something to follow up on. As the men got back to sorting through what we already had Santos came and sat down next to me.
"Cassie went to that house this morning and planted the bugs. We recorded everything said and didn't hear anything to suggest that she told Beth what was happening. As far as the cameras go, they show that Beth hasn't left the house"
"I think she was there at Pinos today"
"Yeah, Steph said as much. But how?"
"Maybe they have access through neighboring houses"
"I've told Cassie to go stay somewhere safe, I'm worried that they may have found the bugs"
I nodded my head at Santos, understanding where he was coming from. I suppose what I'd asked her to do could have been dangerous. The problem was that listening into a room didn't always tell you exactly what was going on. It precluded communication through writing.
"Where's she going to stay?"
"At the hospital on base. There's an apartment she can use, and she'll be able to continue working with her patients. We have a tracker in her phone so will know if she leaves there"
I was pretty sure that Hector would be able to record any calls she made as well but wasn't sure if Santos needed to be told that.
As Santos got up, Bobby took his place, looking over me as only a medic can.
"Miguel?"
"Through and through. Stitched up and resting in his apartment"
"Where did Andrews have the cyanide tablet?"
"Hector thinks it was inside a cygnet ring. What do you want doing with him?"
Good question. I didn't want anyone to know that he was dead or that we had taken him which left me with the dilemma of what to do with the body. I was pleased that Bobby had a solution that we could do for now. Getting rid of a body wasn't that hard to do if you had the right skills and I knew I could ask a couple of the men to help with that if necessary. My thinking was that having him here might be to our advantage in the future.
"How about I put him in cold storage for now?"
"That's probably the best way to go"
"Okay, I need to get you cleaned up, you have cuts all over you and a gash on your head that's still bleeding"
I was about to refuse to that and say that a shower would suffice when I heard shouts from outside on the corridor. Getting up quickly I walked to where the noise was coming from and stood mesmerized at the view of the reception and lobby area on the monitoring screens.
It looked as though someone had driven up and over the sidewalk and had come to a halt just about touching the front window. A large truck was stationary with its driver door flung open and our front entrance door appeared to be open as well. From the angle of the cameras all that could be seen was the back of a Rangeman with his gun help out in his hand ready to fire.
Unfortunately, his body was blocking the view of whoever he saw as a threat. I didn't wait to see what happened and was soon racing down the stairs with several men behind me. It was only as I rushed through the ground floor door and reached to my back that I realized that I didn't have a gun on me.
