Chapter 50

I showered to ease my muscles and rid my body of the sweat from the work that I'd done in the gym and chose a Rangeman uniform to dress in. Maybe I thought by doing that I was supporting Ranger in what he was doing and trying to give him some of my strength because in the back of my head I had a very uneasy feeling.

I exited the elevator on five and went straight into the conference room that I'd set up all the information in. Maybe a fresh look might reveal something, something that I'd overlooked last night.

As I was sat on the table reviewing my work when I realized that I didn't have that much information on Pagna Khemara. I hadn't thought that it was important before as it seemed that only Maia had been drawn into the charade that became that rendezvous. Maia hadn't mentioned her mother at all, not even as someone she could ask for help from. That both Maia and Pagna were using what I would see as a maiden name it made me curious as to who the husband and father had been.

Sitting on a chair I started up the laptop and input Pagna's details. I had a name and age and a place of birth so hoped that would be enough, who knew what records were kept in Cambodia, there certainly hadn't been a lot when I'd looked before.

As that was running, I took down the financials for Sean Daraldson and his company. I knew that I hadn't done them or even looked at them so assumed that maybe Hector had. The one on the company confirmed what Desilva had told me when I was at that house. Outgoings far exceeded income and it was on the point of bankruptcy. The financials for Daraldson's private account didn't give much away either. He rented two very expensive condos, one in New York City and another on the west coast near Los Angeles.

He also seemed to have expensive tastes, like the clothes he bought and where he ate out. Strangely Hector had highlighted several private jet hires which had the name Las Vegas written next to them. That implied that maybe Daraldson was a frequent gambler. There were no patterns to his spending that implied that he had a mistress. Maybe he had an affair years ago and only found out recently that the woman had become pregnant. It made sense to me, I mean he was married but wouldn't have wanted his wife or her family to find out, he'd have lost everything.

I found the search that Hector had done originally saved in the search program files and reset the dates for a new search for Daraldson's financials. As that ran, I picked up the information from the printer on Pagna. Reading through it I discovered that her husband, Kenji Long, had been killed in a mugging nearly twenty years ago. Was this a dead end? I just couldn't accept that, I just knew that I was on to something. Kenji Long, I'd heard that name before, it hadn't come up in a search and for some reason I hadn't written it down anywhere. So where had I heard that name? Then it came to me, Tao Long was Narong's assistant. I was on a roll as I input both names into a search and discovered that Tao was Kenji's younger brother. He was 46 years old and was listed as an IT specialist.

It was too much of a coincidence for me. Maybe Pagna had also kept in touch with her brother, it would make sense as to why Maia was involved. But then why involve Maia and ask her to find a place for the rendezvous to take place at? Unless Pagna wasn't in the country. I went back to Pagna's information to see where she was now, but that information wasn't there. Maybe it was something that Hector might be better at finding.

I messaged Hector her name including her married name and maiden name and pinned her information onto the board then connected her to Maia and Tao. Pieces of the puzzle were coming together but there were still others that were illusive. Picking up the printout on Daraldson's earlier financials I was definitely feeling more anxious and decided to go to the control room to find out what was happening with Ranger and the teams. As I entered there were a few men there, Hal and Slick were sat at the monitor with Tank stood behind them. It was Hal who noticed me enter the room and turned to me.

"You okay Steph?"

"No. Something doesn't feel right"

I knew saying that to Hal wouldn't be taken seriously but Ram was soon stood next to me asking me to explain.

"I have a horrible feeling that it's a trap Ram"

I watched as he approached the comm unit and talked into the mic.

"Teams be aware of a trap"

"Why do say that Ram, do you have some new intel"

"No, well yes. Steph's here. She's feeling it man"

"Tell Beautiful all looks quiet. We're going in"

I was waiting for someone to talk, to be able to hear what was happening and looked to Ram hoping he would know why it was quiet.

"Radio silence while they enter the building"

Okay, I could understand the need for that, the men could enter a building without anyone seeing or hearing them. The silence though was killing me, and I started to shift my weight from foot to foot. The eruption of voices had me jumping and that anxiety shot up to panic as I picked up what some of the voices were saying.

"Shit, gas"

"Santos. Man down"

"It's a trap"

"Can't breathe"

"Been hit"

It was Tank's booming voice that resounded across the room.

"Teams 3 and 4 head to Ranger's coordinates, men downstairs with me, suit up"

I wasn't too sure who Tank was talking to but wasn't surprised when most of the men around me suddenly turned and headed for the stairwell. I walked up to Hal and nudged him on his arm.

"Go, I'll watch the monitors"

"Are you sure?"

I just nodded my head because as far as I was concerned the more men that went to the rescue the better, and I really needed Ranger to be safe. I sat down at the desk looking at the screens but not watching them, hell I hoped there wasn't a break in because I wasn't too sure I'd see it.

"They'll be fine"

Shocked at the voice beside me I turned to see Miguel sat next to me. I knew he was trying to offer some comfort and I appreciated him trying but it didn't make me feel any better. I wasn't sure why there were no voices coming through, surely the teams had got there, and Tank must be somewhere close. Time dragged by, every time I looked at the time on the monitor it didn't seem to change. The suspense was killing me.

"There on their way back. Bobby's there. Some have injuries and are on their way to the hospital"

How had I missed someone reporting in? And who was hurt, was Ranger okay?

"Ranger?"

"No names, sorry. They'll be here soon"

It was as Miguel turned to me and placed a hand on my shoulder that I noticed the bud in his ear.

"You could hear everything?"

"Sorry Steph, Tank's orders"

Now that just pissed me off. I stood up quickly causing the chair to fall over backwards and quickly made my way down to the garage. I'd be there when Ranger and the men returned and make sure for myself that everyone was okay. Once in the garage I started to pace back and forth as I waited. When the doors started to open, and cars pulled in I was almost opening the doors to find Ranger. It was when Tank held me by my shoulders and stopped me that I knew that Ranger wasn't here.

"Is he hurt, which hospital?"

"He wasn't there"

I know I frowned as I heard what Tank said and couldn't compute what he was saying.

"Where did he go, is he heading back?"

I felt Tank pulling me into him and it was then that I knew something had happened to Ranger.

"Little Girl. it was a trap. Once the men were inside detonators rigged all over the building triggered gas canisters to explode. There were some shots fired and when the backup team went inside everyone was unconscious. Ranger wasn't there"

"Someone took him?"

Came out as a whisper because I wasn't sure I could bare to hear that someone had taken him.

"It looks like it"

I know my head was shaking back and forth and I was saying "No" over and over again. This couldn't be happening, not again. I felt arms lift me up and carry me but the tears flowing from my eyes stopped me from seeing who it was.

"He'll be okay Beautiful"

Les, oh no, not Les to tell me bad news again. I squirmed to get out of his hold, so much that Les lost his grip on me and I ended up on my hands and knees on the floor.

"I just found him Les"

Hands cupped my cheeks and I ended up kneeling on the floor with Les squatted down in front of me.

"Beautiful, we'll find him. You have to focus and help us. You know who the people involved are better than anyone else"

As I looked at Les all I could see was the intensity of his gaze, he was feeling the same as me. He'd lost Ranger before as well, so I knew I had to pull myself together and do as he'd said. Focus on the goal and find Ranger, that's what Ranger would do if it was me that was missing. That's what Ranger had done in the past so I could do it as well.

Taking the tissue that Les handed to me. I blew my nose as I got to my feet. I took Les's hand as we started to climb the stairs coming out on the fifth floor. Walking through to the conference room I looked at the board, a new despair coming over me because I had no idea where to start.

I wasn't aware of the door opening or of men walking into the room and sitting down until a voice behind me pulled me from my thoughts.

"Steph"

Turning all I saw were the men sat in silence looking at me. Okay, I had the information so now I needed to come up with some places where we could start to look for any sign of Ranger.

"The Daraldson house"

Tank took on board allocating a team so where next?

"Eyes on Narong, so far I don't think that anyone knows where he is, but don't frighten the residents"

"Where Steph?"

"The place where my grandmother lives"

I was sure there were some grimaces from some of the men who'd had run ins with my grandmother, but Tank picked two men and give them credit, they didn't say anything, as they stood up and left the room.

"What about the man you were after?"

I looked at Les as I said that because I wasn't aware of seeing anyone being dragged from the cars when they came back.

"Dead. Shot through the head"

Damn it, we were counting on him to try and find out who he'd been working for.

"Lafayette Street"

Came from my lips as I remembered when this had started.

"The offices where Hisence worked from and the address where Chan Roan lived"

"Good call Little Girl"

Those were the last places that I could think of that were local. I mean we had no idea where Juan, Troy or Jin were, or how they were involved.

"Do we know where Troy is?"

"I'll chase that up Beautiful"

"Maybe we need eyes on the street because I'm sure that Juan and Jin are around"

I watched as Hector nodded his head and left the room. Of anyone here he could ask around and find information from people that scared the shit out of me.

"Charnley?"

I looked to Tank as I said that name not knowing how much Charnley would know or if he could help, hell I wasn't too sure that I trusted him. Tank nodded his head so I knew that he would find out where Charnley was.

"I've brought back the devices so will work on those"

I looked at Ram and nodded my head. I'd exhausted everything that I could think of so sank down into a chair. With my head in my hands, I possibly knew what would happen next but to be honest was scared of the reaction that might come.

"They'll call and ask to talk to me"

"They think you know where that information is?"

"Bobby, how's Mooner?"

"He's doing okay. In fact, being in the hospital and not having had any drugs he's probably better than what he was before"

"Can you go talk to him and try to find out what he told those men"

"I can do that"

"Beautiful, why is that important?"

"They know I know where that information is and I'm betting they'll ask for an exchange"

I didn't want to hear what the guys were going to say so standing up I left the room and went into Ranger's office. I curled up on his couch as I thought through the implications of what I'd just said. I knew that I wouldn't survive if anything happened to Ranger, but I also knew that he wouldn't want me to give in to their demands. There had to be a way through this but for the life of me I couldn't figure one out.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there trying to figure something out. Maybe it would be best to do what I always did, make a decision on the spur of the moment. I sat up as the door opened and Tank walked in. The automatic lights came on with the movement making me blink up into his face.

"A call came through asking for you. When I said I'd have to find you he said he'd call back in ten"

"He?"

"Not sure, they're using some sort of voice changer"

I took the phone from Tank's outstretched hand and stared it at like it might explode. Sighing I went over to Ranger's desk and sat in the leather chair. I wanted to feel strong and give the illusion that I was in control even though inside I was breaking to pieces. A few minutes later the sound of the phone ringing had me dropping it onto the desk but as I went to pick it up Tank's giant hand came over mine.

"Let it ring six times before you answer"

Okay I understood why he was saying that because no doubt someone would be trying to trace where the call was coming from. After the sixth ring I picked up the phone and pressed the green button to accept the call.

"Rangeman security. How may I help?"

"Miss Plum, so pleased that you could be found"

Tank was right about the voice, it sounded like the male voice that a sat nav would use with no indication of an accent and sounded monotone.

"Who am I speaking with?"

"That's not important but what I want from you is"

This person was being economical with their words, but I was going to stretch this conversation out as much as I could.

"I'm sorry, but not knowing who you are doesn't give me much to go on"

"Let me get to the point Miss Plum. I propose an exchange. The hard drive for Mr Manoso"

I knew he would say that so said almost the first thing that came into my head. I said almost, because at the tip of my tongue were several rude names that I wanted to shout down the phone at him.

"How do I know that you have him?"

"He is missing Miss Plum"

"That's what the other man said as well"

"Other man?"

I may not have been able to detect the change in the tone of his voice but there was a definite moment of hesitation before he spoke again.

"What are you talking about?"

"The man who called twenty minutes ago. He said something very similar to you"

I think he was definitely worried now and as I looked over to Tank, I could see that he was enjoying what I was saying.

"I do have him Miss Plum"

"Then I need to see or speak to him"

"I could send some hair or blood"

That had me closing my eyes as the memory of Bobby talking to me came back to me. That they'd identified his body through DNA from his hair and blood.

"I need proof of life not death before I even believe that you're holding him"

"Very well, Miss Plum. I'll call back in an hour"

As the phone went dead, I looked over to Tank to see him listening to his phone. As he finished the call, I was on my feet looking at him.

"Well, could it be traced?"

"Somewhere down on Stark, but Hector was in the area and guess what he saw?"

I had absolutely no idea and given that Tank said what Hector saw, not who, just puzzled me.

"A pale blue BMW 3series"

I pondered that, trying to think why that car would be significant when I remembered that Les and I had picked up that car tailing us. It made sense, but how did that help?

"It was a BMW that tailed us weeks ago wasn't it? Didn't you find it?"

"No. The plates were false and to be honest on the camera footage it looked old and dirty. The one Hector saw was clean and new and a dark blue "

My mind was buzzing with that small piece of information and I was already thinking ahead to how we could use that information.

"I've got Cal checking ownership against the names we have, and Miguel is checking on stolen cars"

"Rentals, lease cars?"

Were two other suggestions that I had, which had Tank giving me a strange look before he disappeared from the room. I wasn't too sure if the look was to say, good idea Steph, or we aint stupid and are on it.

I was on my own again and hated the idea of waiting for an hour. I worried that I'd pushed the kidnapper too far then worried that he might not call. As the time dragged by, I was worried that he would call and what he might say. Tank came back into the room, so I knew time was running out. Precisely one hour after the last call the phone rang again. I waited until after the sixth ring before I answered it, praying that I might be able to talk to Ranger, to hear his voice.

"Hello"

"Miss Plum. I've thought about what you said"

I closed my eyes really hoping that he had decided to let me speak with Ranger.

"You have one minute Miss Plum"

There was the sound of material crinkling and muffled sounds from the phone before I heard a different voice.

"You have one minute Manoso"

I could hear the faint sound of breathing and had to believe that it was Ranger so immediately said his name.

"Ranger, are you okay, are you hurt?"

"Babe. I'm fine. Don't do as he asks, stay safe Babe. Te amo"

His voice was whisper soft as he said that, but I knew it was him. What I didn't know was if he was really okay. Him saying he was okay didn't make me feel any better about the state that he might be in. I was interrupted by the mechanical voice and that's when realization came to me.

"Miss Plum. I've done as you asked. I'll call back in an hour to arrange the exchange"

As the phone went dead, I stayed very still, not aware that I was biting my lip until I felt someone pulling my chin down. I looked up to see who'd done it and saw Les stood in front of me.

"Well?"

"He's alive, I heard him"

"What did he say"

I was too busy trying to think that I didn't respond to Les's question but heard when he shouted out my name.

"Steph?"

"Sorry. He said he was fine"

"Was that all?"

I wasn't going to repeat what else he'd said so just nodded my head. I was sure the conversation would have been recorded and someone would be analyzing any background sounds. I didn't need that because I'd been very aware of the sounds that I'd heard.

I spent the next hour going through local papers looking for what events were happening in the next few days because I had a plan, well the beginning of one but I needed to iron out the details. Yeah, me looking at details. I found the exact event that was taking place the next day so decided that maybe it was time to involve other people with what I was thinking. I only called the men that I really trusted, Tank, Les, Bobby, Ram and Hector but I wasn't too sure whether or not they would agree with what I was proposing.

"I'm going to insist that the exchange takes place at a very public event"

"How will that help Ranger Beautiful?"

"Because he'll need to be able walk by himself and not have any obvious injuries"

"Where are you thinking of Steph?"

I handed out the sheets that I'd printed out giving the purpose of the event and the location and watched as the men started to read through them.

"I'm not sure Little Girl. There'll be a lot of people around"

"I think it's brilliant, are you sure you can get yourself in?"

"Already done Les, Brenda is more than willing to help us out"

The plan so far was to ask for the exchange to happen at a fashion show where Brenda was playing presenter. The people who attended these things wouldn't be interested in people they didn't know, the rich were only concerned with looking good and flashing their money to make an impression. The fashion show was taking place at an old detached hotel outside of Trenton with all proceeds for tickets and an auction going to charity. Brenda had a suite on the first floor with a large lounge area that would suit my purposes and Brenda was going to allow me to use it.

There was one catch, wasn't there always, and I hadn't been able to squirm my way out of it. I was to be the final item that was to be auctioned. Yeah, you guessed, a day with me. So, what else was I planning? You'll have to wait for that.

By the time I'd run through the basics of my plan I was aware that my next phone call was due. I could only hope that they would agree with me.

"Miss Plum. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes. I'll make the exchange. Tomorrow night, 8pm, suite 9 at the Merewood Country House Hotel"

"Why would I agree to that?"

"Because you want that drive"

"Why there?"

"Because you'll have to make sure that Mr Manoso can walk on his own and looks good enough to get inside the building"

I waited with my fingers and legs crossed, hoping that being proactive and forceful that he'd agree.

"And if I don't like that idea?"

"No hard drive. That's the only offer you'll get from me"

"I could kill Manoso and come after you"

I closed my eyes as the thoughts went through my head, would he actually do that? Could I allow that to happen? I had to be strong and bluff this out even though my hand was shaking as I held the phone.

"You do that, and I'll destroy that disk and then I'll come after you and everyone that you hold dear to you"

"With your reputation I can believe that. Okay, I agree. 8pm, suite 9 at the Merewood Country House Hotel"

I didn't want to hear anymore and letting out my breath I ended the call, my hands shaking so much I dropped the phone onto the desk. Even as Les placed his hands on my shoulders the door came open with a very flustered looking Hal.

"Hal"

"Sorry, but we have a problem down in the garage"

I was pleased that Tank stood up and turned to Hal but was almost cringing as Tank spoke to him.

"You're a fucking soldier, Hal. Deal with it"

"But"

Poor Hal, he didn't seem to know what to say or do and ended up looking at me as though I could help him out.

"Steph a blue Buick just drove in with your Grandmother inside. She's demanding to see you"

I'm sure my eyebrows shot up to the top of my head when I heard what he'd said. Why on earth would Grandma be coming here, had something happened, was she in danger.

"Bring her up here Hal. I'm sure we can resolve her problem"

"Err, would you meet her at the elevator please"

"Sure"

I assured him as I inwardly laughed. Who would think these men could be so frightened of a small elderly woman. As I stood by the elevator and the doors slid open I was sure that Hal had been a very smart man. He'd probably remotely opened the elevator doors down in the garage and once she was in brought the elevator up to five. There wasn't a Rangeman to be seen but as my Grandmother walked out of the door, I was very surprised to see Narong accompany her.

"We can talk in the office Grandma"

"Where are those men in black, they should be here. They work here don't they?"

"They're all busy Grandma"

As I stepped into the office and let them enter, I closed the door, effectively trapping Les and Tank in. I almost laughed to see them both retreat to behind Ranger's desk as I lead my Grandmother and Narong to the couch.

"What's wrong Grandma, why did you come here?"

I sat down in a chair opposite them feeling a little stressed out. I had enough to deal with at the moment planning for tomorrow without having to sort out any trouble that Grandma had gotten into.

"You tell me. These hot men in black turned up watching my place so I knew there was a problem. I never get a guard unless there's trouble around"

I turned to look at Tank basically trying to convey a question to him. How the hell had the team watching my Grandma been seen?

"Don't give him that look. I aint stupid, I knows how to sneak around and see things"

"Tank, maybe we need to use Grandma to train the men how to do surveillance"

I smiled at the grimace he gave me, but he knew that I was right.

"Baby Girl, you're in trouble, aren't you?"

"I'm, we're dealing with it"

I couldn't look away from her as she looked at me and suddenly all of the emotions that I'd been trying to hold in bubbled to the surface. Suddenly she was in front of me, holding me as the tears burst free.

"They've got Ranger"

Was all I needed to say because I knew she would understand what I was going through. She allowed me to cry and get it out of my system and as the tears started to slow down, she wiped my face with a hankie.

"Stephanie is this to do with what we talked about?"

I looked up to see Narong looking at me and I have to say that he looked concerned. I nodded my head not knowing how else to answer him. After all it was because of that damn drive that this was happening.

"What can I do?"

"I don't know. They want the drive for Ranger"

I could see that Grandma hadn't a clue what we were talking about and to be honest I didn't want her to know. If she knew the story, then she'd want to help and that was the last thing I needed at the moment.

"Grandma, how about one of the guys drives you back home and then Ron and I can look and see if he can help?"

I was really hoping that the excuse of riding with one of the Merry Men would be enough of an incentive for her to agree. I watched as she looked at Ron and then me, but her eyes fixed on something behind me.

"I'd love to drive that Buick. How about I take you home"

That Les had volunteered shocked me slightly as did him suddenly appearing by my side. Grandma couldn't help but get a good view of him and I saw the moment that she'd made her decision. Her eyes lit up and she pushed her shoulders back as if to enhance her breasts, though to be honest it would take far more than that to lose the sagging scene that she gave.

"I think that's a good idea Edna. You'd be bored whilst I helped out with their IT system"

Ron saying that seemed to make her mind up because she was soon stood up with her arm linked through Les's. The sight of Les making sure that both of Grandma's hands were held in his certainly brought a smile to everyone's faces but I was so grateful as they disappeared from sight.

"Look I don't mean to be rude but how do I know that we know we can trust you?"

Came from Tank as soon as the door closed. The same thought had crossed my mind but unless we started trusting someone else, I honestly didn't know how I could trick anyone with the hard drive. If it was Coleman at that meeting, then he would already be extremely suspicious of anything that I gave him. I was waiting for Narong to reply to Tank and could see that he wasn't sure of what to say.

"This is all my fault, if I hadn't devised that program none of this would have happened. I did and there's no going back but what I can do is rewrite some of the program to make it appear that the program looks to be authentic"

"It would need to be good because I already duped one man and handed over a virus"

I was pretty sure that Narong knew exactly what I'd done that it was because of that virus and the impact on the systems at Ronteah that helped to free his grandson.

"I can input parameters into it. Maybe so that it only brings up people who are already dead"

I had no idea how many that would include but at least it might keep anyone alive safe. Then another thought struck me.

"Ranger, Mr Manoso was declared dead. Would his results come up? And what if they put his name into the search, wouldn't it give away every known detail about him?"

That was the worst thing that could happen for Ranger, any enemies he had would know every detail and could use it once they realized that he was still alive.

"I can work around that. I'll set the program so that they have to input a specific name and have the search bring up the data of one of the dead agents"

"If Juan puts in his name?"

I know I was being annoying by bringing up something that could go wrong but I wasn't convinced that what Ron was suggesting would work.

"Leave it with me. I'll look at every scenario, but maybe I need someone with me who has a good knowledge of programs and maybe hacking"

Tank nodded his head and took out his phone, obviously sending a message, maybe to Hector. I needed to go up to the apartment and fetch the hard drive from the vault.