Chapter 3

Wasp

I continued with my visits and was pleased each time that the boy was still in the room when I arrived. My first breakthrough came when I turned up with a bag of food from McDonalds and managed the situation so that the little boy stayed to eat with us. It worked in as much that it gave me the opportunity to watch him, to see how he interacted with his mother and me.

By the end of my visit, I was confused with his behavior, trying to decide if there was actually something wrong with him. He never spoke a word and refused to make eye contact. He seemed nervous and edgy as though waiting for something to happen, but what worried me the most was that he wouldn't allow me anywhere near him.

I spent the next evening at the library reading up on different behaviors that children displayed. In the end I think I convinced myself that he was probably autistic though he didn't present with enough symptoms for me to be sure. He didn't show any repetitive routines or express any frustration and wasn't upset with noise or lights.

I suppose it was his inability to communicate, either verbally or through actions that had me stumped. In the end I decided to give the boy the benefit of doubt and started to ponder if it was the way that his mother treated him that brought out such strange behaviors. In other words, emotional abuse.

That decided I pushed harder to become a part of their routine, but she became angry and anxious with me. When I suggested that we all went out for a picnic I thought she was going to attack me, and the poor kid just retreated into his cupboard obviously scared at her outburst. In between the screaming and shouting I discovered that she had a very important meeting and some things that she had to do. That raised my curiosity enough that I apologized and begged her to forgive me for making the suggestion.

The following morning, I made sure that I wasn't in the office working because I wanted to know what she was going to be doing. I had plenty of properties on my books so being out of the office wouldn't raise any concerns. Between thinking of all the possible scenarios that she'd gotten herself mixed up in I was mad and yet surprisingly a little excited for the chase. I managed to be close to her apartment the next morning. I'd had great fun devising a disguise and was confident that even if she saw me then she wouldn't recognize me. Which was a good thing because the first thing she did was to walk into the diner where I was sat and order a take-out coffee.

I followed her for several hours as she went to different places, met up with different men, seeing what she was doing. By the time she'd returned to her apartment and me to mine I spent an age trying to figure out what it was that she'd been doing. I came up with all sorts of suggestions that made her behavior seem normal but in the end I couldn't. I had to face the fact that she was moving things around from one person to the next, what she was moving eluded me but my instant thoughts, judging from the time I saw her on the street meeting with those men, was that it was drugs and money.

SPOV

I sighed as I finished reading, knowing all too well what he was talking about. Hell, how many times had I taken in women who had been arrested for doing just that. The fact that there was mention of working in an office dealing with properties only confirmed to me that Wasp was Charlie. The question that plagued me was whether Charlie had got so involved that he started to help her and that was when he was caught by the police and charged. My instincts were telling me that Charlie wasn't the type of person who would do that. He would try to stop her, help her find a way of living safely, because it was sure as hell a dangerous occupation for her to be mixed up in.

I turned as Ed came up to me and closed my book, putting it back into the pillowcase and watched as he looked at the shelves with the food on. Yeah, it was definitely time to eat. Standing up next to him I brought down a tin of baked beans and a tin of spaghetti hoops and held them out in front of him. Of course, he chose the spaghetti, so the contents went into a pan and I added some hot dogs. I wasn't too sure how nutritional the meal was, so decided we could have some tinned fruit afterwards.

I supposed that it was okay and was surprised with how quickly Ed finished everything off and presented me with clean bowls. I was actually smiling as I cleaned them up and put them away, almost forgetting where we were, almost but not quite. Maybe I could get Ed to tell me what he knew, though I knew that was going to be hard to do given the fact that he didn't really talk.

I was feeling lonely down here and worried that we could be here for a long time. I felt so sure that someone would have found me by now or was I being delusional? I hadn't spoken to Ranger for weeks so I wasn't even sure that I would be on his radar. The last time that I'd spoken to him he'd told me that I needed to work things out. I know I hadn't bothered him when I'd had my week from hell because I felt embarrassed. Then after he'd spoken to me felt that maybe I could actually sort out my problems like he'd said Did he think that I had made up with Joe? Shit, I hoped that wasn't the case because that definitely wouldn't be happening.

As I turned to where Ed was usually sat, I was surprised to see him putting his books inside a rucksack, suddenly worried that he thought he could sneak out of here without me. I watched as he picked up the pillowcase and put that inside as well. Okay, so for some reason he'd decided that we were leaving, which was a good thing.

Ed pulled out a jacket for himself from the pile of clothes that we'd looked at and pulled it on, then handed me another much bigger jacket, along with a hat. I needed to know what he was planning, where he was thinking of going. That is if he had a plan or knew where to go.

"Are we leaving?"

Yeah, I'd learnt the best way to get answers from him was to ask questions where he could either nod or shake his head. He nodded his head and then walked over to the door that we'd first come in through and turned on the lantern before turning the electricity off. I was feeling really anxious as we both pulled back the bolts of the second door. Not surprised to find us inside another tunnel.

I had no fight left inside of me, as though I'd relinquished every decision to this young kid. With a sigh I closed the door to the room we'd been in behind me and reflexively bolted it before turning to follow Ed down yet another tunnel. This one wasn't as clean as the ones we'd walked through before and there was the sound of water dripping down the sides. I was grateful that I was wearing my cat boots as I stepped through puddles. This time Ed wasn't as certain of which way to go when we came to junctions, stopping as though trying to remember. I had images of our bodies being found down here years later.

Walking gave me clarity, strange how easy it was for your mind to become lethargic if you weren't doing anything. Now I felt that I needed to go through everything that my brain had refused to ask. I had no idea how long we'd been down here for but was sure that it was long enough that someone would be worried.

Every time that I'd been kidnapped, I just knew that Ranger would eventually find me, okay when I was locked in a cupboard, I was giving up hope. But he was there when I was thrown off the bridge, when Abruzzi took me, so where was he now? I was sure that he wouldn't have abandoned me, that he'd be looking for me, following threads, what he would find this time though I wasn't too sure about. I had been so convinced that someone would start trying to break through the door of that room and when it hadn't happened, I'd just told myself to give them time. Surely finding the hatch over those stairs wouldn't be difficult, not for Ranger.

Okay, maybe he'd explore different routes but surely, he'd catch up with me. Obviously, that wasn't going to happen and now I had Ed with me. Ed. I didn't like that name and I don't think he did either, it didn't suit him, but that was beside the point. What would happen to Ed now? His father could be in prison or worse dead and did I want him to go back to his mother? No, I would do everything I could to stop that from happening.

Thinking made me worry what other people were thinking. My parents may not even realize that I hadn't been around as I'd only just been there the evening before. Realizing that, I was sure that they wouldn't expect to see me for a few days. Dinner had brought with it conversations that had me leaving upset, though I'm sure that my mother hadn't noticed. I wasn't even too sure what she would think if she knew that I was missing. Would she be worried about me? I wasn't too sure about that and thought that she'd probably be more annoyed with the gossip infringing into her life.

My Dad, I hoped, would just be happy to see me, and my Grandma, well if she got details from me then that would make her day. She'd have the latest gossip for when she went to the Cut n Curl. I suppose Connie and Lula would be worried because it was rare for me not to call in at the office. Joe, I wasn't too sure about him. Yeah, he'd want to find me, but I wasn't too sure that I wanted it to be him.

As I looked forward, I could tell that Ed was slowing down and as I came up behind him, I could see the dilemma he was having. We'd reached a section of the tunnel where it looked as though part of the wall had collapsed. If the only exit was beyond that, then we would have to move some of the stones out of the way.

That's when I realized that the material of the walls had changed. I was sure that originally it was made from concrete but now it looked to be built from square blocks of stone. Strange, maybe where we were was an older section. Maybe, just maybe this was the end of the tunnel and we'd find ourselves outside. That gave me the impetus to start moving the stones and rubble.

It was hard going, lifting those stones not to mention dirty and dusty. I'd had to remove my jacket because I was getting hot and sweaty. Ed did his best to help, and I suppose him moving the smaller stones helped. It was after I rolled a particularly large stone down the pile that I was sure that I could feel a cool breeze on my face.

"I think we're almost there"

I said out loud as I studied which stone to move next.

"Move out of the way, so you don't get hurt"

Because the last thing I needed for Ed was a stone rolling onto his foot or leg. Seeing as the light didn't move, I turned to see him stood in the same place. I was about to tell him to move when a smile crept across his face which had the effect of both puzzling me and annoying me. I hated when people laughed at me, but seeing his smile, the first one I'd got from him made my anger dissolve. I bent down in front of him I'm sure with a frown on my face wondering what had caused him to smile.

"What's so funny little man?"

His small hand reached out toward me and very gently he ran it down my cheek. When he turned his hand toward me, I could see a black smudge on the tips of his fingers. I wasn't sure where the black had come from, but I wiped my cheek with my finger and then ran it down his cheek.

"Now you have one as well"

His face lost the smile and I almost panicked when he looked about to cry. Instead, his hand was suddenly on the end of my nose and I ended up going cross eyed to see what he'd done. That's when I heard it, music to my ears as he started to laugh. I froze for a second before I made a funny face, raised my hands in front of me and made to move toward him.

He did what any child I had ever known did, he turned and ran with giggles echoing from the walls. I laughed as I chased him and without thinking lifted him up at his waist turning him into my body. He surprised me because I thought he might hate being touched but his little legs came around my waist and his arms locked around my neck.

I just held him for a minute relishing the feelings that somehow, I'd managed to get such a normal response from him. Then walking back to the stones, I placed him on his feet next to the pile of stones.

"Okay, let's get out of here"

I worked with a smile on my face as I struggled to move those stones. My hands were sore and there were several cuts, but I didn't care. The hole I was making definitely led to somewhere where the air seemed fresher.

RPOV

I was assured by Ram that he would have processed the things that Tank brought back from the house within four hours. What I was asking for was the profile from the child's DNA to be matched against the one from Watson and then to put what should be a profile from the mother into a data base to see if he could identify her. A long shot because even I knew that could only happen if her DNA was already held by the database. I did suggest to him to include every database he could get access to, legally or not.

I was in the conference room looking at the crime scene photos when Tank eventually joined me. I watched as he added more photos of the house and added the leaflet that he'd downloaded from the real estate. I studied that leaflet more carefully, going back to the photos of the rooms, comparing them I noticed that something didn't add up.

"What're you seeing Ranger?"

"According to the square footage from that leaflet the upstairs front room is slightly larger. Did you find a cellar?"

"No, there was a small cupboard under the stairs but that's accessed from the kitchen. There was nothing inside to indicate that there was a cellar"

I wasn't totally convinced but then again it could have been that whoever measured the rooms made a mistake.

"Is there anything else we can do?"

"No, Hector has word out on the street if anyone sees her, we're monitoring phones of people she's friends with and patrols are keeping their eyes open"

"Hector still running the program on street cams?"

I nodded my head not knowing any other way to find her, except to chase up any leads from Watson and those were becoming hard to find.

"Ram's going to let me know when he's finished those DNA comparisons"

"What was with that anyway?"

It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't informed anyone else of what Silvio had discovered.

"I had Silvio do a deep search on Watson and from what he discovered he suspects that Watson might have a kid. They'd maybe be 8 years old. Watson's habits changed 8 months ago and then 3 months ago he dropped off the grid"

"I don't follow"

"He cleared his accounts, stopped using a computer or a phone. Then he took leave from work"

"You think he took the kid and made to disappear?"

It certainly fit the facts but there was nothing to back up that theory. If he had taken the child in order to set up a new life somewhere, then why was he still here in Trenton? There was also the whole issue of him being arrested to factor in as well. The sad fact was that so many children disappeared it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack to work out who the kid was.

"I'll put together a spreadsheet of children aged 7 to 9 that went missing from 4 months ago"

I nodded my head to Tank pleased that he would do that. In the meantime, I was going to be looking through that attachment of Watson's phone record. Maybe a friend of his might remember who Watson had been seeing that long ago.

I spent three hours going through those phone records, trying to identify numbers that he'd called with any regularity over the time interval that I had. The records only went back 5 years, maybe Watson had changed phones or his number or provider. Of course, a lot were for take away places and taxi firms, his place of employment or work colleagues.

I'd identified regular calls made to his parents and wondered if the police or hospital had informed them of what had happened. That left three names of men a similar age to him. I found it strange that he didn't have a regular girlfriend though there were short periods when he'd obviously been seeing someone. None of them lasted very long, maybe he hadn't found the woman that suited him.

It made me wonder what an analysis of my phone record would show, what patterns of behavior would become evident. Of course, Tank, Santos and Brown would be seen as men that I had a strong friendship with. Family, they'd be there, but it was mainly them that called me.

Then there was Steph. The only woman that I'd had regular contact with over a long period of time. That had me wondering if she'd be seen as someone I was in a relationship with. Was I in a relationship with her?

Over the years we'd certainly become good friends and she was someone that I could rely on and trust. She'd always been there for me when I needed her and even when I hadn't asked, she'd still been there. Ramos was the perfect example. She was the only one to call asking me if I was okay and if I needed anything. She'd put herself willingly into crazy and dangerous situations for me, Scrogg and Orin coming to my mind.

It would be interesting to look at Steph's calls and see where I was compared to Morelli? I shook that thought from my head wondering why the hell I was even asking that. Hadn't it been me that had told her that Morelli was the better man and to go back to him. Wasn't it me that told her that I wasn't relationship material? So why would I feel jealous if she spoke to Morelli more than she did me?

I focused back onto the work in front of me, the names of the three friends of Watson. I ran searches on each of the men discovering that two of them had lived close to where Watson had grown up and the third was a cousin of one of the men. I really needed to talk to them but not in a confrontational way, maybe if they used a local bar then that would be less threatening. I'd have to come up with a good explanation for asking details of Watson's life, especially as I wanted information of an ex girlfriend from maybe 8 years ago.

Going through various scenarios in my mind I was interrupted by a knock on my office door.

"Enter"

I sat back in my chair pleased that it was Ram coming through the door, not surprised when Tank, Brown and Santos followed him in. No doubt Tank had filled the other two in on what I'd asked Ram to do. Seeing as there were a few of us I stood up and walked over to the table where there were enough chairs for us all. Once settled I sat back and looked at Ram, ready to hear what he'd found.

"There was enough on both brushes to get samples from. I'd say they'd been used very recently"

"There was a child in the house?"

I looked over to Tank as he asked Ram that question because I had never really considered where the child would be or where he was now. My thought was that he would be with the mother.

"A boy. I used 15 DNA markers which gave me two alleles, these are measures of short tandem repeats on the gene. One of the STR alleles comes from the father and the other from the mother"

"So, if you have the DNA and can isolate these alleles you know who the parents are?"

I turned surprised as Santos asked the question wondering why he was so interested all of a sudden.

"Only if he has something to compare it to"

I wasn't surprised that it was Brown who answered Santos's question. It did make me wonder why Santos looked so worried, but then again with the number of women that he bedded as one night stands maybe he had reason to be worried that a woman didn't turn up one day with a babe in her arms. I resisted the smile that was threatening to come to my lips and looked back to Ram.

"There was a 99.9% match that Watson is the father. I then ran the results against all data bases, and I think I've found the mother"

I hadn't expected that, because I had never expected the mothers data to be on record. The only reason that I could think of was if she had been seriously ill and the hospital needed them, or maybe she'd volunteered as a donor.

"Where was her data?"

"I, err, used the data base from the coroner's system and the match came back to a Jane Doe. They'd done a DNA test as part of a study in trying to identify people"

Shit, not only was she dead but we were still no further in knowing who she was. How the hell was I going to ask about a woman when I had no idea what she looked like or what her name was? Maybe we needed to get hold of the file on her.

"Brown, there'd be photos wouldn't there? Can you get the file from the coroner?"
I was pleased that Brown didn't say that would be a problem. In general Brown had a lot of contacts in the medical field and they were usually cooperative with any of our requests.

"She won't look so pretty Ranger"

"Get Hector to extrapolate a likeness"

That was the only way I could think of to have an idea of what she had looked like.

"How did she die Ram?"

"No idea, Tank. The file would give us that"

I presumed that the amount of information that Ram had access to was limited to what he found in the database. We needed to know the cause of death and when she had died.

"Brown get onto that first thing in the morning"

As the men left the room, I was beginning to feel very despondent and frustrated. We were no further forward in finding Steph and all we were doing was finding more puzzles to solve. Even though it was late there was no way I could sleep. My eyes were tired from reading all day, so I wasn't prepared to do any more at my desk. The gym was where I needed to be so that I could work out the emotions that were threatening to take over. I needed to be calm and in control in order to find Steph but that was becoming increasingly hard to do, it was over 48 hours since she'd gone missing now.