Chapter 58

RPOV

I was pretty sure that I had a smile on my face as I went down in the elevator to five. I'd gone up to the apartment last night so worried that Steph's father had called her and told her his news. As I'd walked into the apartment, I'd seen her sat on the couch and knew instantly that my fears were real, that her father had told her his news. I was quiet as I toed off my boots and as I walked over to squat down in front of her. It was almost as though she knew I was there and looked up as my hands held her cheeks. What surprised me was the defiance in her eyes making me wonder just how she was coping. There were some tears and I suppose some soul searching, obvious some heart ache but it was the determination and her strength that both surprised me and made me feel so proud of her.

It was as if a weight had been lifted from her after that. The way she had moaned through dinner, as she savored every mouthful of that chili, had every part of me rejoicing, and stirred inside of me a deep love for that woman. Her mood was different as she disappeared into the lounge and I couldn't resist her as she swayed to the music. Dancing with her so close to me, her body molded to mine felt so natural.

When her mouth started to nuzzle my neck and her hands were following the contours of my back I was totally lost to her touch. I couldn't believe that she took total control and that I allowed it. She had no idea just how much power she had over me. I couldn't resist her at all and making love to her after that had been akin to me worshipping her. Did I regret what happened. No, it had been perfect and what we both needed, almost a confirmation of we felt about each other.

I messaged Hector to be with Steph today and told him to be prepared for packing some of her things at her apartment to bring back here. Getting rid of her apartment told me volumes of her devotion to me and I wouldn't let her down or make her regret it. As I came out onto the fifth floor I headed to my office, almost wincing at the amount of paper piled up on my desk, how did it seem to grow overnight?

I settled down and started working my way through it and had just signed off on two new clients when there was knock at my door. I didn't look up as it opened but heard a chuckle that could only be from Tank.

"How about we start looking at men to take on the roles here in Trenton"

"What do you have in mind"

"I've drafted out a couple of emails that I want to send out"

"Did you get a response from the other offices from our proposal?"

"Oh yeah, they love it. They want to see how it goes here in Trenton first before they get started"

I stood up from my desk and was soon sat next to Tank in his office reading through what he had written. The first email was one that the core team had put together explaining that a restructure of duties was imminent. The second email Santos and Tank had written, with the format of the structure. Attachments gave details of pay and responsibilities each level of leadership would require and an invite for interested men to contact Tank for job descriptions. We'd agreed that it would be better if we knew which men were interested in each position.

"That looks fine Tank, you need to give a timeline and cut off dates for applications though"

I watched as he added those to the email and then as he hit the send button that would go to every man who worked here in Trenton. Once done I went back into my office, surprised to see a note from Steph. Shit, as I read the note I agreed with what she was thinking, it sounded like Parker was still here in Trenton.

"Santos"

He was here almost in an instant.

"What's wrong?"

"Steph had a message from the owner of Sophia's apartment. It sounds like Parker might be there"

"I'll take a team and head over there and take a discreet look around"

I nodded my head knowing that Santos would do what was necessary and that he'd report back if he got a sighting of Parker. Me? I wanted to know where Steph was and give Hector the heads up to be careful and to let him know that a backup team was on its way. As I walked from my office toward the monitoring room, I saw Cal and Slick as I passed the breakroom so decided that they could be the team to go.

"You two, I need backup for Steph. She's with Hector"

"Where?"

Was the response that I had come to expect from my men.

"I'm just checking now"

They followed me into the monitoring room and watched as I pulled up Steph's tracker and then as the monitor zoomed in on the tracker's location.

"Bank down on High Street"

Was what I said and watched as they turned and left the room. I don't know why I did it, but I retrieved my phone from my pocket and opened the app that would mirror the output from Steph's watch. Seeing the output for her heart rate at zero made me hope that it was a mistake, that somehow Hector had made a mistake when he'd set the damn thing up.

"Call Hector"

I told Miguel as I hit Steph's number. There was no answer and it was soon going to voicemail. A look at Miguel and it became obvious that Hector wasn't answering either.

"Shit"

Not the type of language I expected from the men working here but hearing it now I knew whatever he'd seen or heard wasn't good.

"Woody?"

"Police band are reporting a robbery at the bank on High Street"

I was instantly moving, shouting out as I headed for the stairs. In my head I knew that Hector was with her and a team was on its way to their location but there needed to be more men near to her especially if Parker was out and about.

"Tank, with me"

Had the desired result of him rushing from his office. Maybe he could see it on my face as he had done so many times before, because he never said anything as we raced down the stairs and came out into the garage. I drove, knowing that I would break every diving law in the book, but not caring until I found the way ahead of us blocked.

The street was full of cars at a standstill, people stood talking as they looked around. Ahead I could see the flashings lights coming from police cars so parking the car in an empty space I was out and running toward them. As I came closer to the scene it was then that I noticed police going in and out of the building. Did that mean that the alarm going off was a false call or had the situation been resolved.

"Your man's okay Ranger"

I turned to see Eddie looking across at me so decided he probably knew what was going on.

"What happened Eddie?"

"Two guys held the customers at gunpoint. They never asked for money, just stole things from the customers"

"Did you get them?"

"Nah. That's why your man is on his way to the hospital. They knocked two people out and put a mask and hat on them. The thieves just walked out with the rest of the customers"

"Where's Steph?"

I watched as a frown came over his face and he started to shake his head, and in that instant, I knew that she wasn't here.

"I haven't seen her. Was she supposed to be in there?"

"Yes. She was with Hector"

I noticed Tank talking with Cal so went over to see what they'd found out. For some reason I was feeling very nervous as I looked around and the sound of the low purr of an engine caught my attention. Looking around I realized that it had already turned the corner and was heading away from us. My attention was back on Cal hoping that he had better news for me.

"Cal?"

"Hector is out cold, I've let Bobby know and he's on his way to the hospital. There's no sign of Steph"

"Boss"

"What have you got Slick?"

"I spoke to one of the women who works here, Clara. She was behind the counter so saw everything. Two men wearing hats and masks made everyone take off their watches and jewelry and then emptied their bags of any valuables. They took their disguises off as everyone ran out the door"

"They got away?"

"Yeah. The police thought that the two unconscious men still inside the bank were the robbers. I spoke with a woman called Sonya who was behind the counter, she said that Steph seemed to faint as she reached the door and this guy picked her up, though she has no idea where the guy came from. He wasn't with the customers in the bank"

"Cal give Eddie the coordinates for Steph's watch"

At least then the police would be able to locate the thieves fairly quickly, maybe they'd taken Steph with them as some sort of hostage.

"Slick find someone who was outside and see if they saw anyone with Steph"

I headed to two men who were talking just by the door, the bank manager and the Chief of police.

"Ranger, sorry to hear about your man"

"Bobby is with him at the hospital"

"The chief and I were just talking about the gall those two men had, just walking out with their own hostages"

"Were you in a meeting Mr Jones?"

"Yeah, waste of time but I couldn't get out of it"

"Who was it?"

"That cop of yours, Eric. He's a mess, I didn't recognize him to start with"

I was still trying to work out who this cop was when it suddenly came to me.

"Morelli?"

"Yeah. He wanted a loan but to be honest I had to refuse him. He went down ahead of me when the silent alarm went off"

"Sorry Boss, but you need to hear this"

We all turned as Slick came up to us, but I felt that I already knew what he was going to say.

"There were some folks outside waiting to go into the bank when the doors opened, and people started to run out. One of them saw a woman being carried out. The man said she had fainted and that she was his wife. He said the man had a hat on over long scruffy hair and a thick beard"

"Morelli"

Was all I needed to hear from Mr Jones before I was turning and heading back to my car. Pounding of feet behind me followed me to the car and I was surprised as I opened the car to see the Chief of police getting into the backseat while Tank got in next to me so told him what orders needed to go out.

"Radio the teams and have them meet us at Morelli's house"

I thought that having the Chief with us would give us the authority to speed to where we needed to be and was pleased when he didn't say anything. Instead when I looked briefly into the rearview mirror he was on his phone.

"Gazarra found those men, followed a tracker. One of yours Ranger?"

"Steph had one in her watch. You know one of those new iwatches"

I just hoped that the Chief had no idea exactly how they worked. I saw him smile as he answered me.

"Yeah, amazing what they can do"

The breaks brought us to a stop with a loud squealing sound and we were soon stood outside Morelli's house. I looked at the Chief not sure that he would appreciate me breaking the door down.

"Go for it Ranger. He's kidnapped Miss Plum again. I'll have him for this"

I tried the door handle first surprised to find that the door was unlocked and swung it open to get a view inside. It was very quiet inside as Tank and I started to move into the hallway. We both kept low and to the walls, our guns held in front of us. Tank stepped to the first door and swung it open as I went to the side and stepped into the room.

"Clear"

Was all I needed to say as we then approached the door that went through to the small lounge area where the kitchen was as well. We repeated the same procedure with me rolling through the open door this time, all the time looking around the room praying that Steph was here. The sound of groaning came from behind the couch so being particularly careful I went around to take a look. My heart was beating so hard at what I might find but seeing Morelli in a pool of blood was not what I had been expecting.

I heard the echo of shouts from upstairs knowing that the rooms had been cleared and that no one was here. The Chief, Eric stood next to me looking down at Morelli and raised his eyebrows.

"I can't see Stephanie being able to do that. Looks like someone beat the crap out of him"

He bent down next to Morelli and pushed him over onto his back, tapping the side of his cheek as though trying to wake him.

"Where's Stephanie, Morelli?"

"Where is she?"

Morelli may have tried to open his eyes and he certainly tried to talk though even from where I was stood, I could see that his jaw was broken.

"Mano. ."

"Are you trying to say it was Manoso?"

"Yeah, bast . . beat . ."

I turned my hands over for the Chief to see, they were clean, no bruising or cuts and my arms were free of blood.

"Nice try Morelli but it looks to me like you're lying"

"No. Dar . . hair . . eyes"

I turned to Tank as a thought crept through me, a thought that turned every nerve in my body to high alert.

"Talk to Santos, now"

The house was slowly filling up with both Rangeman and police. I had to get out of here and find Steph. If that man Parker had her then I wasn't even sure I could even consider what he might do to her. She would be absolutely terrified.

"Cal, you and Slick go to that farmhouse and check it out"

"Tank, send another team to where Beth Routledge lived"

As my eyes landed on Ram and Binkie, I knew immediately of somewhere else to look.

"Ram, you and Binkie go the club. Tear it apart"

I was running out of ideas when I spied Seb and Nate stood beyond the front door. They were supposed to be following Morelli so how the hell had Morelli given them the slip? I walked out the front door and stood in front of them and knew by the looks on their faces that they knew that they'd screwed up. I didn't need to say anything to them, maybe my anger was enough for them to understand how I felt.

"We tailed him to the bank. He went inside through the side exit. We checked, there was no other exit for where he was going, the only other door he could have used was the one down into the public lobby and that's kept locked"

"His car, didn't you keep an eye on his car?"

"It's still parked at the bank"

That's when I saw a beat up ford parked out front. Had Morelli stolen the car and given Seb and Nate the slip? Did Morelli know he was being followed? There was no way that he knew that Steph would be at the bank when she was. Shit why did things always have to happen when Steph was there?

"Find out who the owner of that car is and let the Chief know, tell him he can add auto theft to Morelli's wrap if it's stolen"

"Boss"

"What?"

"When we knew that he wasn't at the bank we came straight here. I didn't think anything about it at the time, but there was a dark blue Jaguar F type that had just set off down the road. Real throaty engine to it. We tried to follow, but man, whoever was driving it, he had some major skills"

"Where did he head for?"

"We lost him after he'd turned off Broad Street, there were so many streets down there"

"Tank, let's head back to Rangeman"

"What're you thinking Ranger?"

"I think Parker has her"

And I was almost sure that maybe that car that Nate had described had been near the bank when we'd arrived. Surely a dark blue Jag F type wouldn't be hard to find, would it? The question bugging me though was who he was following, was it Morelli or Steph?

Two hours later all the men who weren't rostered to work were sat in the conference room. I knew that Hector was probably still at the hospital, but he was someone who refused to rest. Bobby was keeping an eye on him, but I knew Hector, he was like me he wouldn't give up on finding Steph.

"Santos report"

"The apartment was quiet and when Tank called, we broke in. There was evidence that someone had used it, dirty dishes and take out but no one there and no evidence to give us a lead"

"The take out?"

"Deli from down the road"

"Santos talk to Ella. Maybe Parker has a taste for middle eastern food now. Check out any suppliers and ask around for someone with his description who may have ordered food to be delivered or paid with a card"

"Cal"

"The farm's deserted, no disturbance to anything. No new tracks or signs that someone broke in. The FBI locked it up tight"

"Ram"

"Same with the club. No broken locks or evidence of a break in. Inside was dusty with nothing out of place"

"Tank"

"Nothing. Again, locked up tight with no signs of anyone being inside. Power is cut and neighbors haven't seen anything"

"Boss"

I turned to look at Woody wondering if he might have an idea but saw immediately that he hadn't.

"I checked that motel. All rooms were either empty or had couples inside, they checked out when we asked for ids"

"I checked Steph's apartment just in case, but it was empty"

"Thanks for doing that Miguel. Bobby"

"Hector discharged himself. He probably has concussion, but I have no idea where he went. Morelli, I'd say every blow inflicted on him did severe damage. Broken nose, cheek bone and jaw. Two broken ribs, ruptured spleen and a bad facture of the femur. There were no other bruises from being hit"

That surprised me because it meant that Parker was deadly with his skills. I doubted any man here, including me could do what he'd done to Morelli with such accuracy and strength. It also had me comparing those injuries to the ones that Steph had received. Similar locations but thankfully Steph's had been relatively minor compared to Morelli's. I focused back to the next report that I needed.

"Seb"

"The car outside Morelli's had been stolen. It belonged to a young man who'd been waiting outside during the robbery. He'd been so keen to get closer and see what was going on he left it open with his keys in the ignition. I let the chief know. I have a program running for any property under the name Parker or Richards. Nothing so far on that"

I didn't think that he would use any name that could be found out. He wouldn't want to be found by anyone and as he probably had a great deal of money and computer skills, I wasn't optimistic of us finding where he was through property searches.

"Nate"

"No Jaguar F types available anywhere close to rent. I did some searches for new ones bought and those are still running"

"How far back are you going?"

"Three years"

"Go back further, to when he came back to the states and met up with Ferdinand"

I noticed the surprised look on Nate's face, but Parker could have had that car for years and rarely used it.

"I'm going through camera footage from the area where he was last seen. Miguel keep a close check on any emails that come in. Tank can you reach out to Chief Watson, there could be more to find out from the bank robbery"

"You think he was there Ranger?"

"Maybe"

I stood up effectively bringing the meeting to a close and headed back to my office. That Parker could have been at the bank had me thinking that it might be easier to backtrack from there. When he'd left Morelli's with Steph, he knew he was being followed and made a lot of evasive maneuvers, he might not have been as careful before then.

There were more cameras where the bank was located, and we had clients close by that had external surveillance. We'd found that by having surveillance onto the street that we were more likely to pick up any vehicles that might be used for a break in. I pulled up a map that had our clients marked on it and then thought back to where I'd been stood when I heard that car, which direction it had seemed to come from, and I also had a time frame. I hit lucky with the cameras from the third client that I looked at. I saw the Jag heading in the direction of the bank well before Steph even got there, so maybe he'd been after Morelli for some reason. That gave me the information I needed to try and back track where it had come from and also get the license plate number.

I was surprised as I continued to search through cameras on the streets where I thought the Jag would have come from, that it never came into view again. I enlarged the map that I had in front of me and sat back to really look at it. Where would I have a property that I wanted to keep hidden, yet still have access to routes out of the area and maybe even to an airport.

My gut was taking me in the opposite direction to where I was looking. I'd want somewhere that would meet the criteria that I'd just thought of, but then the actual building would need to camouflage it's true purpose. It would be somewhere that people wouldn't give a second look at, maybe an old derelict building. It would need to be a reasonable size and have access to a large garage and space around it that could serve as a boundary to the outside world.

I went back through the file that Jerry had given to Steph looking for the dates that Parker and Ferdinand were working together when they were charged. I put in my criteria to search out property sales, buildings that were bought since 2010 that fit in with what I thought.

I honestly didn't know what else to do, I felt helpless as I sat there, frustrated with a deep feeling of anger surging through me. I decided that maybe some time in the gym would help me to focus and gain some control. I had to close down my emotions before they pulled me apart otherwise, I would be no good to anyone, least of all Steph. As I started down the stairs to go to the gym I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and looking at the screen saw that it was Hector.

"He's not in city"

"No one's seen that car?"

"No"

"Where are you?"

"At the bank"

I thought through where I was intending to go and decided that it wouldn't achieve anything with the search.

"I'll pick you up"

That done I called Santos, knowing that he was in the building.

"Nothing Ranger"

"I have a search running. Contact me the minute the results come through"

"Where are you going?"

"Following a hunch"

40 minutes later Hector was sat next to me as we travelled across town and headed toward West Trenton.

"Why out here?"

"Close to main routes and airports and anonymous. A car like the Jag wouldn't look out of place around there"

"So a large property?"

"Yes, but not the usual. I think he'll have bought something old or derelict and then used it as a way of hiding where he is"

"I don't have many contacts this way"

"I know, but we're going to do this Steph's way. Talk to people"

I could see the slight smile that showed on Hector's face and chose to ignore it as I slowed down and parked in front of a restaurant. The notice in the window said that it specialized in middle eastern food. I left Hector in the car as I went inside and spoke to a woman behind the bar.

"I'm looking for a friend and he said to meet him at his favorite restaurant. Thing is I can't remember where that was. Do you recognize him?"

I asked as I showed her a photo of Parker. She looked carefully at the photo and shook her head.

"I think maybe he's been in here, but not for a while. Try Kobobs further down"

I thanked her and returned to the car feeling that at least we might be in the right area.

"He's been in there, she said to try the next place down the street"

"Santos called. He said the search has finished and he's checking through the results"

"Did he have anything else to say?"

"Si, what the fuck were we doing in West Trenton"

I suppose that I'd left without saying where my thoughts were taking me, hell, it was something that Steph would have done.

"I told him your reasoning. There are two teams heading out to help"

Hector went quiet, which whilst that wasn't unusual, I just had the feeling that he needed to say something.

"What is it Hector?"

"I could never understand why Estefania always managed to get herself into trouble. I know after the Gatling case there was talk amongst some of the men saying it was bound to happen"

"But?"

"I was there today, she didn't do anything, only be inside the bank"

I knew what he meant because that was Steph, she just seemed to attract the crazies wherever she went. I didn't respond to Hector but was annoyed that the men had spoken about her like that. Then again Tank was one of them and he now saw her in a different light, so I hoped the rest did as well.

"Why did you follow her to that motel?"

"I was worried for her so made sure to keep an eye on her, I wanted her to know that she had someone that she could call on. Being there for the third time, didn't seem good to me"

I was grateful to Hector for being there for her and showing that someone did care for her.

It wasn't long before we parked up in front of the next restaurant. Looking at the frontage this seemed a less illustrious place to come to, my type of place, so maybe it served better food. Once again Hector stayed with the car, though I did notice him getting out of the car. Once inside I went to the counter and waited until the young couple in front of me had given their order before I was once again asking about Parker.

"A friend said he'd meet me here, has he been in or am I early?"

I showed the woman a photo of Parker and knew straight away that he was a regular here.

"You got the wrong day. He was here last night. I provide him with enough to last a week and he probably freezes some up"

"Do you know when he'll be back in?"

"Nah. He calls an order in but it can be months between visits"

I nodded my head as a way to thank her and walked out of the place, though I had to admit that the aromas did smell good. As I closed the door behind me, I noticed that Hector was talking to a couple of kids on the corner of the building. They looked like teenagers and were dressed like would be gang members so if anyone could get information from them no doubt Hector would be the one who'd be able to do it.

I waited inside the car for Hector to finish his conversation and was aware of a car pulling up behind me. A flash of their lights let me know it was one of mine and I watched through the rearview mirror as Santos got out and came over to my window. As I lowered it, he leant through and started to open a file, pulling out two pieces of paper and a map.

"Two possibilities. This one was bought early on and the owner comes up as an entrepreneur. It's never been touched as far as far as the records show"

I looked at the original sales information and in my head was looking at it as a prospective safe haven. It didn't work for me, there were too many buildings close by and one large office block that could well overlook it.

"No, what about the second one?"

"Bought five years ago which coincides with when Parker was released"

He started to speak as I was looking through the information, but I was too intent on reading through the information to listen to him. I was sure that this was the place.

"It hasn't been changed since it was built?"

"No, I got that photo through Google maps"

"It probably gives a better impression from that distance. See the wall around the outside area?

"Could have some wires running along the top"

"It would be ideal, the weeds growing up the stonework and the shrubs springing out from the gutters, it has the illusion of being abandoned"

"Except for that smooth section of ground"

"That could lead to a parking area"

I turned as Hector opened the passenger door and climbed in. He'd found something out from the expression on his face.

"Old abandoned candy factory, about three miles from here. The kids thought they could use him for an initiation ceremony for some new recruits. They had the recruits follow his new looking Jag and they were supposed to jack the wheels. One kid swore blind he just disappeared, and it happened outside of that building"

It seemed we had two leads pointing in the same direction, but I knew we wouldn't be able to walk in, in fact I think we'd be lucky if we could storm the place.

"Santos, it will be very well monitored with lots of security"

"We'd have to set teams up to check it over"

"We don't have time"

"What are you thinking Ranger?"

I was thinking something very similar to what I'd thought a few years ago. I had to go in and alone. I had to distract the man or even try to overcome him. But it was the only thing that I could think of. I'd never come across him before and other than to get Steph back I had no issues with him. I hated to think of the reasons why he'd taken her and with every minute passing by I was becoming more afraid for her.

"Hector go with Santos, check out power supplies to see if they can be cut"

"Santos set up teams in the vicinity full combat gear and ready to storm the place"

"What are you going to do?"

"Go and talk to him"

"Are you mad?"

I just looked at Santos and waited for him to calm down.

"If you don't hear from me in 90 minutes then take command"

As soon as Hector had exited the car and closed the door, I hit the switch to close the window and slowly pulled out of the parking area onto the street. It didn't take long to travel the three miles to the abandoned building that Santos had found. Even though it was starting to get dark there were no signs of lights coming from inside any part of the building. I was only able to drive along two sides of the enclosed area, but it gave me enough information to know that I was in the right place.

The outer fencing whilst giving the illusion of being in disrepair was sturdy and there were multiple signs to dissuade a wanna be intruder from coming inside. From warnings around the safety of the site and the dangers of falling masonry, to the use of surveillance to deterrents being used. I found the most likely place where to try and gain access. Parking sideways in front of what seemed like gates I opened the car door hoping that the interior lights would show who I was and what my intentions were. I wasn't stupid at seeing some of the security systems that had been installed, maybe a layman would have missed the very well concealed cameras and sensors.

Unfastening the velcro on my vest I made a show of disarming myself. I removed the utility belt from around my waist and unfastened the belt that held my gun secured to my thigh then lifted it up in the air before placing it down in the footwell of the car. The gun from my waist followed next and I lifted my shirt above the waistband of my cargos, turning around to show that I had no other concealed weapons on my body. Bending down I lifted my trouser leg and removed both a gun and two knives from my ankle. The only thing I had on me was my phone and watch and I wasn't prepared to lose those just yet. Closing the car door, I stood with my hands up high and waited.

There was the audible sound of a lock releasing before a smaller gate within the large gates swung open. It was large enough to walk through by stepping over a lower wired section and as soon as I was clear of the gate it swung closed behind me. The sizzling in the air telling me it was electrified once more. I set out walking toward where there was an opening that looked to lead into the building. A walk that took me over cracked concrete and rubble with the odd weed that had endured the conditions. Had I been wearing infrared glasses I was sure I would be able to see a criss cross of beams covering the ground.

Looking up at the building it might have looked bad in terms of structural integrity but there was evidence of new concrete and even some metal supports. I continued inside seeing a large open expanse with large wooden benches and a variety of what could have been machinery. Wires and pipes littered the ground amongst large chunks of rotting wood and concrete. First impressions would definitely be of a derelict building but the thickness of the wall that I'd come through had the possibility of hiding a more solid framework behind it. I was surprised to see that the roof was missing in places with the last light of the day falling through. It was only in a space to one end of the building, where I was walking toward, that looked to have floors above it.

As I approached the far wall, I found myself looking through the doors of an old fashioned elevator, the space below filled with garbage but to anyone looking they'd see the greased metal ropes that operated an elevator. A sound from above had me looking up the shaft to see the metal floor of the elevator coming down and I stood waiting for it to reach the ground level. I pulled the caged outer doors to the side turning to close them and then to pull down the inner frame. As soon as that happened, I felt myself moving up. I wasn't too sure how far up I travelled but there were no openings onto anywhere else. What did happen, which surprised me, were large metal sheets sliding across underneath me before the elevator juddered to a stop.

This was it. I was inside the lion's den and knew there wouldn't be an easy way to get out again. The inner cage opened easily but it seemed that the outer cage doors were locked. I held my head up and squared my shoulders and with my arms hung loosely at my side as I waited. Ahead of me was one metal door which opened slowly allowing me to see this man Parker in person.

As he approached me, he used a fob that unlocked the metal outer caged door which I moved to the side, allowing me to step out of the elevator onto a floor that seemed to have been painted a dark grey.

"Welcome to my humble abode Mr Manoso. If you'll follow me, we can talk in more comfortable surroundings"

I wanted to shout out at him, for him to tell me where Steph was and demand to know what he wanted but as he turned his back on me, I never got the opportunity to vent my feelings of anger and rage. I wasn't the type of person to attack someone from behind, unless of course he needed to eliminated. Following him through the metal door I was surprised, and I suppose impressed with what I saw. The door opened into a very large space that had polished wooden floors and areas for cooking and relaxing. Hell, there was even a dining table made from what looked to be an old polished bench. Couches in leather faced a central area that house a TV and other electronic systems. There were large beautiful rugs on the floor that I was sure were original pieces from Afghanistan. At the back of the room were three closed doors that I assumed were bedrooms or bathrooms.

I turned back to see Parker watching me, maybe he was unsure of what I would do. Before I even said anything, he was answering the question that I wanted the answer to.

"Miss Plum is asleep at the moment. She was totally panicked by the time we got here so I, err, gave her a drink to help her to calm down. I'm sorry, I had no idea that it would knock her out"

My instincts were screaming at me to attack this man stood in front of me but what he'd told me had me both concerned and curious. Had he drugged Steph, but then why would he be apologizing for it?

"What did you give her?"

"Arak"

I almost shook my head at hearing that, yes it would calm her down, but seeing as Steph's tolerance of alcohol was so low then it would have had a hell of an impact on her. Arak was a distilled alcoholic drink favored in the Middle East. Commonly served in social settings and gatherings, the drink is famous for its potency because it has a particularly high alcohol content, so water and ice are almost always added to dilute it. The strength of the drink was responsible for its nickname "the milk of lions" in the Middle East.

"She's lightweight when it comes to alcohol"

"I took her through to the bedroom, why don't you go and see how she is"

He pointed to the door at the left of the room, so I turned from him and walked over to it. Not really sure why he was being so cooperative. In my mind I was so keen to open the door and see her but hesitated as I took hold of the handle. Was this a trap, a way to lock me inside of a room or was he telling me the truth.

"Mr Manoso. I have no qualms with you or Miss Plum. The door and room are safe, and I would very much like to have a conversation with both of you when she wakes up"

I opened the door, feeling less anxious especially as there, laid on top of the bed with a loose covering over her, was my Babe. Her face looked flushed but even from the doorway I tensed when I saw the start of swelling across her cheek. I swore that if Parker was responsible for that then he would definitely know what my wrath could bring.