Chapter 8

Wasp

I was prepared for removing myself from the life that I'd had, other than my job. I closed accounts, cancelled phones and internet at the apartment. Bills were prepaid for six months cutting all ties. Everything was ready in a new home for having the boy with me, though the poor kid didn't know what to make of it. It was almost as though the space frightened him, even the idea of a bed and bedroom of his own didn't seem to calm him.

The morning after we arrived it took me two hours to find him. I searched all of the usual places and was on the verge of going out onto the streets in case he'd run away when I considered where he might feel safe. I eventually found him tucked away in one of the empty cupboards in the kitchen. I couldn't be mad at him and had I had a name to call out to him maybe he would have appeared on his own.

I changed the layout of his bedroom to accommodate the insecurities that he had by changing out the bed for one of those cabin beds. His mattress and sleeping area were in the lower section with the staging, accessed with a ladder, full of books and toys.

That day I introduced him to the books that I'd bought for him and started to teach him the magic of using a computer. I still found it so strange that he could read so well and understand everything, yet never spoke. Maybe he just hadn't mastered the skill of forming the sounds needed because he'd never been encouraged by his mother, her communication with him non existent.

My intention was for him to choose a name that he felt comfortable with. It was a week later that he showed me the names that he was considering, all of them taken from characters from books that he'd started to look through, his choices included names like Peter and Joe, Alexander and Nate. It took some explaining for him to appreciate that his name was something that should belong to him, not to emulate characters that he'd read about. His choice came down to two, Mylo and Eli. In the end he went for Mylo which was okay by me, I had no preconceived knowledge of anyone called by that name.

Mylo seemed to like the new house, each day he would explore further and was becoming less dependent on having me close to him. I'd managed to keep up with my work and found it feasible to leave the house to call in at the office and do any site visits that needed to be done. I felt that it was time that I explained to him why he was he was now living with me and that he was in fact my son. It was difficult emotionally for me, the guilt and pain so hard to overcome so I was humbled when Mylo simply hugged me and held me afterwards. When I asked if he wanted to visit his mother, he was adamant at shaking his head that it wasn't something that he wanted to do. I never raised the subject again.

As we settled into a routine, I wasn't sure what to do about the information that I'd collected over the last few months. It would be easy to simply put it behind me, after all it had no bearing on our lives now. There were times when my thoughts would go to Mylo's mother, but she'd made her choices and Mylo seemed happy with the decision.

A month after was when things took an unexpected turn. Development was booming and builders were quickly buying up property for renovation, so it was as I was on my way to look at a potential property that needed to be put on the market that I realized I was in her neighborhood. Maybe I was curious, or some unknown force had me do it, but I ended up walking down the street where her building was. As I walked past the alley between buildings, I was aware of people collecting at the opening and couldn't help but overhear what some of the locals were saying.

"She had it coming"

"Why'd you say that?"

"I've seen her meeting up with them men"

"Men?"

"Yeah, them ones selling that stuff on the corner"

I didn't want to believe that it was her but I was almost certain that they were talking about Mylo's mother. I backed away as the two old men talked, suddenly afraid that they might recognize me, after all I had been a frequent visitor to her building. I watched as two uniformed policemen started talking with another man, though his dress did confuse me, that is until he turned around and his badge and gun were evident underneath the shirt that he was wearing over his jeans. I decided to head to a new café that was on the opposite side of the road wondering just how much that detective would find out about her and consequently Mylo and me.

The detective, if that was what he was, surprised me when he came inside the café, I was half afraid that he was there for me until he sat at another table with his back to me. He looked as though he kept himself fit though how he was presented looked, well I suppose unkept. With brown wavy hair that definitely needed a cut and a five o'clock shadow. Not a cop that I'd be happy to cross with the scar across his eyebrow. As he waited for his order his phone went off and he didn't seem to care that he could be heard.

"Yeah, I'm on it"

"Nothing. I checked her place out, no id, no nothing. Just a mess"

"Locals had seen her around"

"No friends, no family"

I took that as a sign for me to leave, seeing as he was juggling his attention between his phone and the waitress serving him. Did I feel any guilt for leaving her to cope on her own? No, because I knew that she would never have changed for me or for her son. I actually felt vilified in removing Mylo from being with her. As I left, I actually felt relieved that there was nothing to tie her to me or Mylo. I hadn't been able to rescue her from the life that she'd fallen into and the only regret was that Mylo would never know his mother. I rushed to get to my meeting at the property, a conversion that included four exclusive apartments above what would be an upscale restaurant.

It was as I approached that I saw a man that I recognized, one of the men who had loaded that van so many weeks ago. I was ready to turn around and run but decided that I needed to make this meeting. Running would only make me suspicious and to be honest the money I would make would be useful.

I was introduced to a man who looked respectable in his well fitted suit, a Mr Orr, and shown around the place. The spec on the apartments was good with moderately expensive furnishings. I had no doubt that I could rent them out but had to admit that maybe the area they were in might put people off. As we exited and looked at the external area, I noticed a man dressed in black on ladders working to secure a black box to the side of the building. It seemed the place was being fitted with a state of art security system from a company that I recognized, so at least the developers had thought about the potential for trouble.

I was on edge after that, scared that someone would find us, so that's when I began to formulate plans. I knew which houses and apartments were empty, so I made sure that they were stocked with provisions. All that was important to me at the time was to protect Mylo. It came as I expected, cars suddenly watching the place, somehow, they had found me. How I had no idea, but it didn't matter. I panicked, because I didn't know how they even knew to look for me and destroyed any photos that I'd collected by burning them in the open hearth fire. Computers, cameras and phones were dumped into an old oil tank in the back yard. I couldn't let them find out just how much I had been watching them. If they knew what I had learnt about them I knew they would be relentless in chasing me down. We took what we needed and moved to the next house hoping to outsmart them.

That's when my fear turned to something else, anger and the need to try and stop them and that's when I found out just how deep this organization went.

SPOV

I finished reading realizing that dawn was just about upon us. I turned off the interior light of the car and looked behind me. Mylo had somehow managed to fall asleep in the back where the seats should have been, how he was comfortable on the hard uneven floor amazed me. We were parked in a parking area close to the beach but also close to a diner. I'd been hoping the place would open early but maybe with the tourist season being over I had a feeling we'd be out of luck. I knew we needed to move soon, before people started to appear on the street so leaning back gently shook Mylo's knee.

"We need to go sleepy head"

I climbed across to get out of the passenger door, holding the door open for Mylo. As we started to walk down the street his hand latched onto mine. I wasn't sure if Mylo had ever been to the beach before, from my point of view it was a place that all children should visit.

"I used to come to the beach with my family. I love it, the sound of the waves as they crash onto the sand. Have you been to the beach before Mylo?"

I was pleased when he nodded his head and was sure that it had probably been Charlie who would have brought him. As we approached the end of the street, I could already smell the salt in the air and pulled my hat further down over my head to keep my hair from flying around with the breeze. I checked as we crossed the street that ran parallel to the beach to make sure there was no traffic. All was quiet at this time in the morning, maybe one or two people were jogging along the pathway but there weren't enough people around to have me worry. I was sure that no one would think to look for us here and probably the way we looked would put people off from approaching us.

We started to cut across the beach, diagonally toward the water and then were walking south above where the waves came to. I was cheered by the fact that Mylo let go of my hand and started to investigate the sand, picking up stones to throw into the water or collecting shells that he gave to me to keep. I felt myself relax as we walked, the sound from the waves like a subtle balm on my frazzled nerves. I hadn't realized how on edge I'd been and though I knew I wasn't out of danger yet, I felt that I could breathe a little easier.

I sat down where the sand was slighter drier and with Mylo in my sight, absorbed the feeling of where I was. I'd always come to the beach when I felt that things in my life were getting out of control. Hell, it didn't seem that long ago since I'd done that. Those past worries seemed insignificant now, probably something that I'd go back to sometime in the future. I allowed my breathing to calm, absorbing the atmosphere around me, because I needed to sort out in my head everything that had happened to me over the past few days. I ordered my thoughts into some sort of logical order and started at the beginning.

From reading the book Charlie Watson had been trying to investigate an organized group who were trafficking and supplying drugs. He'd become involved through a chance meeting with an ex girlfriend and discovered she'd had his son. After removing his son Mylo, the tendrils of that group had found him. So how was it that Charlie was arrested? My instinct was to say that he was framed. Charlie had thought he could stop that group by collecting information about them unaware that they probably already knew about him.

I had a funny feeling that maybe it was Joe who had picked up the case of the dead woman in the alley. People were always reticent to talk to the police, but I was sure that Charlie's regular visits to that apartment hadn't gone unnoticed to the people who lived there. It was probably them who had divulged that information when someone threatened them.

When Charlie realized that he was the focus for this group finding him and that he might not get the chance to finish what he'd started he decided that I might be a person who would finish the work for him. That actually annoyed me when I said it out aloud, that he'd never considered that he was putting me in danger as well. Would I have agreed to help him if he'd have had time to talk to me? I wasn't sure. Though knowing me I was probably too curious to let it go, maybe Charlie found that out about me.

Charlie was well organized, he planned ahead. Yet the men looking for him always seemed to find him. I know that I'd found him so maybe they didn't suck at what they could do but they must have a hell of a good way of sifting through information or a lot of people working for them. Unless of course they had a lot of contacts on the streets.

That brought Ranger into my thoughts, something that I was sure I didn't want to think about but knew that I had to. Ranger, Carlos Manoso, the man of mystery who was probably the person that had always supported me through all of my disasters and successes. What was worrying me was that I think Charlie might have thought he was somehow involved. And yeah, maybe the evidence might suggest that. I mean what I'd heard at that warehouse and the fact that he was there didn't bode well for me. That Charlie had seen Rangeman security being fitted at those apartments and that those buildings were clients of Rangeman would certainly have had me thinking that they were involved as well.

The thing is, I trusted Ranger, more than anyone else that I knew. Okay, he'd always told me that he worked in the grey area, not always legal but morally right, but this was way beyond being a grey area. I just couldn't believe that Ranger would knowingly support an organization like this. I didn't want to believe it and to be honest I didn't believe it. If it were true, then it would shatter everything I had ever felt for the man and if that happened then I wasn't sure that I could carry on working here in Trenton. A notion that I'd toyed with not long ago and if it hadn't been for Ranger then I might just have followed through with that notion.

I was debating the wisdom of where I was going. I'd have preferred to have driven straight to the Rangeman building, then again would I get anywhere near to it if the police or anyone else were keeping it under surveillance. In my heart I just knew that Ranger was someone that I could trust but I also knew that that group of men had him in their sights. Trying to get a message might be dangerous for me and him helping me might be dangerous for him. A lose, lose, situation, which was why I wasn't going to involve him with me and had decided on the course of action that I was taking. Was it any less dangerous, I didn't know, I sure as hell hoped so but with me you could never predict anything.

I was brought from my internal dialog by the sight of a wave suddenly reaching my feet and scrambled backward quickly to avoid getting my shoes covered in water. A laugh behind me had me turning to see Mylo laughing at my dilemma. It was probably time we continued with our walk because I wasn't too sure how long it would take to get to my final destination.

Ten minutes later I looked up at the sky, hoping against hope that the dark cloud above would pass over quickly. It didn't seem likely as everywhere I looked the dark clouds just seemed to be collecting, darkening the sky and dropping tiny drops of water as a mist fell over and around us. As the feel of the wind across my face increased, I had the horrible feeling that a storm was brewing. I pulled Mylo closer to me, ensuring his jacket was fully fastened up and his hood was covering his head before increasing our pace, hoping to hell that we were somewhere close.

Walking from the shore toward a fence I felt tired, wet and cold and suddenly extremely stupid. Why did I think coming here would be a good idea? What would I do if I was turned away or worse if the police were called? I watched as two men who were wearing thick waterproof jackets came out of the little hut that was stood next to the gate in the fence. I'm sure they were thinking I must be mad to be out here on the beach in this weather.

I stopped a few yards away from where they were stood, very aware of the way their hands were inching toward the pockets of their jackets. I knew there'd be guns in easy reach and just hoped that they'd listen to me first before they started to shoot.

"I, err, really need to talk to Mr Ramos"

I saw how they looked at each other, that they were surprised that I knew that Alexander Ramos lived here. I was just hoping that he was here and not sunning himself on some Greek Island.

"Please, just tell Mr Ramos that the lady who drove the blue Buick, that helped him out is here"

I knew that I was begging but I was getting desperate now. I also didn't want to give my name in case these goons decided to let someone else know that I was here. I knew that we both looked a mess and not someone that would usually be welcome here.

I was hopeful when one the men stepped away and pulled out a radio. As he spoke, he kept looking at me before he finished and placed the radio back into his pocket. He said something to his partner who then turned and opened the gate, indicating for me to walk through. Mylo was locked onto me, my arm around him as we walked through the gate coming to a stop at the sight of two more heavily armed men. One of them turned and started to walk up the path so I followed feeling Mylo's head turning from side to side as he looked around us. I had to admit that it was impressive, the beautiful pool even with the drops of rain forming ripples on it. I was focused on where we were heading and wasn't surprised when a machine gun came across my chest to stop me from getting any closer to the house.

I watched as another man opened a door that led out of the house, seeing Alexander Ramos walk through it. He looked disheveled to me and probably the fact that he was still dressed in pajamas with a red silk robe wrapped around him accounted for the look. He looked at me, as though he had no idea who I was. I realized that maybe how I was presenting myself wasn't the best introduction so pulled my hood down and took off the hat, running a hand through my hair.

"Stéfani?"

Even as I nodded my head, I could feel tears coming to my eyes. I wasn't too sure why, hell, he could still just kick me out onto the street.

"Agapité Theé. What has happened to you?"

I shrugged my shoulders not really knowing what to say, I was sure he was aware of the stories about me, but I just hadn't prepared myself for what I would say, stupid really, and another spur of the moment decision by me that I hadn't really thought through.

"I just need, I didn't know where else to go"

I hadn't even thought about what I would do if he turned me away, I had no idea where else that I could go.

"Nico, show them to the summer house and get Maria to find some clothes for them"

I heard what Ramos had said and felt relief wash over me but knew that manners were important and not to leave before he told me to.

"Stéfani, you looked tired and wet. The summer house is yours to use, come see me for breakfast in an hour. Nico will show you the way"

Ramos turned and walked back through the door while the man I assume was Nico stood next to me. Nico wasn't as tall as I expected as he led us back down the path, yeah he was big and solid but I didn't think it was because he ate doughnuts. Nico led us to a small building to one side of the grounds, away from the main house but still in view of the pool. Opening the door, I tentatively looked inside, amazed at how beautiful the place was. Looking down at my feet I toed off my boots, looking at Mylo for him to do the same. No way did I want to dirty the tiled floor. Taking my coat off I was surprised when Nico took it off me and hung it just outside, underneath the small porch. Yeah, it was dripping with water.

Once Nico had closed the door leaving us on our own Mylo and I spent ten minutes walking around taking note of where we were. It was bright and simplistic, which surprised me given all of the statues outside. The kitchen was equipped with every gadget I could think of and probably some I couldn't think of. The cupboards were a white painted wood with a marble worktop that complimented the rest of the furniture in the open plan area.

We found two bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and were deciding on which one to use when I heard the door open. I watched as a small woman walked into the room with piles of things in her hands and deposited them onto the couch. She turned and smiled at me, her smile genuine as she spoke to us.

"There are towels in the bathroom along with any cosmetics you might need. Clothes are here but let me know if you need anything else"

I was staring after her as she left and watched as Mylo walked over to the couch. He carefully separated the clothes into two piles, obviously those he saw as his and those that were mine.

"Mylo, go take a shower and then we'll have some breakfast"

I was pleased that he did as I asked because I so wanted to get myself clean. Walking into the bathroom I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I almost didn't recognize myself. My hair was stuck out all over the place and looked dull while my face actually had streaks down it from where the rain had run down my face through the dirt. As I undressed, I was sure the best place for my clothes was probably in the garbage. The water was hot and the pressure from the jets was amazing, so I allowed myself to stand there and enjoy the feel on my skin. I had to wash my hair several times to rid it of all the dirt that had collected and whilst some conditioner worked its magic, I lathered the soap all over my body. I even found some razors and tended to my legs and armpits feeling totally decadent.

Once dry I looked at the choice of clothes and decided on some black fitted trousers and a white sweater. There was also a pair of ballet shoes in the pile that I slipped onto my feet. As I inspected myself, I was pleased with how the clothes fit me, maybe a little on the large size but then again, I hadn't been eating very much lately, especially any tastycakes or doughnuts. My face though, it looked pale, and I noticed the dark circles under my eyes. I used the makeup that I found and did my best to bring a fresh and natural appearance to my skin.

Once ready I suddenly panicked, I had totally forgotten about Mylo. I'd been so preoccupied about getting myself ready that I had totally forgotten about him, he never entered my head and now he'd maybe feel that I'd abandoned him.

I had no reason to worry because when I went through to the lounge area, he'd made himself at home. The TV was on with cartoons, and he had a book in his hands.

"You ready Mylo?"

He looked up from his book and nodded to me and then walked over to me. He looked so cute in the dark jeans and the dark green hoodie, he even had white trainers on his feet, and he'd combed his hair.

"You look handsome little man"

He looked away as I made that comment and I'm sure he was little embarrassed. As I opened the door to leave, I was amazed that Nico was stood there. Had he been there all this time? Probably. He opened a large umbrella that kept the rain off us as we walked quickly up to the house. Once inside we were led to a door that led into a large kitchen. I was amazed to see the figure of a man at the stove and raised my eyebrows when I recognized Ramos stirring something in a pan.

"Sit down, the food's almost ready"

I spied a table in the alcove by the window so led Mylo over to sit down, guiding us to the window seat while I watched Ramos start to bring plates over to the table. The smell was incredible, and my eyes must have been wide open as I scanned the choices in front of me. I looked up at Ramos as he chuckled.

"Help yourself, you two look hungry. Then we can talk"

As I finished the last piece of croissant, I felt stuffed. Everything had tasted so amazing after the days that I'd had. From the bacon and omelet to the pastries and the amazing coffee.

"Thank you, that was amazing"

As we sat there drinking our coffee, Mylo rested his head on my knee and with his legs pulled up onto the seat I felt him relaxing, my hand automatically stroking his head. He fell asleep immediately and it wasn't until I looked up that I saw that Ramos was watching us.

"He trusts you, but I know he can't be yours"

"No. His father was injured so he needs me to look after him"

I had to decide what to tell Ramos, did I tell him the truth or skirt around the story and try to decide whether or not to trust him.

"Stéfani, I know of the trouble that you're in. I for one do not believe what the papers are saying"

"I didn't shoot him, Mr Ramos"

Blurted out of my mouth without even thinking about it.

"Call me Alex. Stéfani why me, why did you feel that you could come to me?"

I suppose it was a good question, so I tested the water with my answer.

"I've been drawn into some nasty business. I know your business is mainly arms and this business is to do with drugs"

"True. I keep out of that, the power play for drugs I leave with the others. Though I hear that something is disturbing the balance of power"

I looked at Alex as he said that, not too sure if he would want to hear what my story was, even if he had said that he keeps out of that area and probably wouldn't want to be seen interfering. I held back saying any more, deciding that I would only tell him what was absolutely necessary

"Manoso. I hear that he's still looking for you"

Now I really wasn't sure how to respond to that. I thought back to the ideas that had gone through my mind when I was sat on the beach and knew in my heart that Ranger would help me.

"I don't want to get him involved with this"

I watched as he raised an eyebrow at me, thinking why was it that I still couldn't do that.

"You need to rest; you look beyond tired. I will see what I can find out and then after dinner tonight we can talk again"

I nodded my head knowing I was already overstaying my time talking to him. I was sure he had plenty of work to do but maybe he might have some suggestions for what I could do next. As I made to move Alex had lifted his hand up to stop me and I watched as Nico approached the table. Before I knew what was happening Nico had lifted a sleeping Mylo from the seat into his strong arms.

I followed him from the house back to our rooms, Alex was right, I was so ready to sleep and hoped that maybe being here would help. Nico took Mylo through to one of the rooms and as he laid him on the bed removed his shoes before pulling the covers over him. Mylo never stirred and as I thanked Nico I went through to the other bedroom. I knew I was tired, but my mind was still buzzing, thoughts constantly coming to the front of my mind, so as I lay on the bed, I pulled out Charlie's book to see if I could glean more of what he had found out.

RPOV

Five days and we didn't have any leads on where Steph might be. I knew that I was in a foul mood. The men were avoiding me and going to Tank or Santos for fear of them being on the receiving end of my temper and to be honest unless they had something to report that was pertinent to finding Steph I wasn't interested. When Tank and Santos walked into my office together, I honestly thought they were bringing me some bad news. I picked up the file on the gambling establishment along with what I had found out and handed it to Tank.

"Read the information in there and then we need to talk"

I wasn't in the mood to have to explain to him what I had found out, when him reading it would cover all of the details.

"Zero came back to me this morning"

I looked at Santos, not being able to read him, for once he looked serious which had me wondering what the hell could be so wrong.

"Robyn told him that she was worried about Steph. She knows the type of skips that Beautiful goes after and some of the stupid things the skips do to avoid her. A few weeks ago, Steph seemed to have a week from hell. Every skip she brought in had gotten the better of her one way or another"

I looked intently at Santos because I hadn't been aware that she'd been hurt.

"Nothing serious, she wasn't hurt bad. But Robyn just felt that it was getting to Steph. She was quiet and seemed despondent"

Okay, I knew that Steph went through times when the job got to her, when she felt that she was no good at it and even considered stopping with the bounty hunting.

"That's not what had Robyn so worried. What had her concerned was when she overheard two of the younger officers talking during their breaktime. She overheard them talking about Steph and how one of them should have followed up on what someone had told him, then Steph shooting Watson wouldn't have happened. When the other cop asked what he was supposed to have done the response was that he'd been told to stop Steph while she was driving on some stupid misdemeanor and then do a routine search, that he'd find her carrying concealed"

"Steph doesn't have a permit to carry concealed"

It was one of things that I'd never really pushed her on especially as she was so reticent to carry her gun at all.

"She'd lose her license, wouldn't she Ranger?"

I looked at Tank trying to figure out if that would be the case. Most of the cops turned a blind eye to anyone who was seen as enforcing the law and that included Steph. Most Judges wouldn't follow through with that threat, but there were some who didn't appreciate the way that Steph worked.

"Steph would never willingly carry her gun"

I looked at Tank as he started to talk and was thinking through how his sentence might end.

"Are you saying that maybe someone could have pushed her to carry her gun"

"Or put the gun in her bag without her knowing"

I sat back in my chair playing in my mind what Santos had just said. Why would someone do that or did the bad take downs have anything to do with her gun being in her bag?

"Santos can you find out who those skips were"

In my mind I was trying to work out if I was just following up something that might have no relevance and could just be coincidence.

"What are you thinking Ranger?"

"I'm not sure yet"

It was just a hunch, but I wasn't going to be ignoring it. I turned back to Santos wanting to change the subject because what I was thinking didn't sit well with me and until I found out more then I wouldn't be mentioning it to anyone.

"Any luck with any other properties?"

I asked as I looked over to Santos. I knew he was worried about Steph as well and I think he may have understood what I was about to do. I watched as Santos placed a file in front of me.

"That man sure knew how to play the system but he wasn't that good. I followed a trail of properties that were sold and then came up for resale thinking that was how he managed to move about. The last one was a small detached house, it would have needed some work doing to it but it was habitable. I took Cal with me to look around and the place had been totally trashed. There were things there that put a man and a child as living there. Clothes, toys and books. I'd say they left in a hurry but whoever found it were obviously looking for something as well"

"So nothing?"

"Nah. No personal stuff at all. No phone or laptop but the property did have internet access"

What the hell was Watson up to that would have had people looking for him and what the hell did he have that was so important? I heard Tank sigh and knew there was nothing else to report.

"Nothing from the cameras at her apartment, I don't think she'll go there"

At the nod of my head to Santos he immediately got up and left the room while Tank remained seated reading through the file that I'd just given to him.

"I didn't like the idea of covering a business like this, though I know they're becoming more widespread. How did you tie together the names?"

"The name, Anansi. That was where Katy Jerome hung out after she dumped Watson"

"So this man, he was the only one who got released early?"

"Appears so, though without the details of the case I don't know why"

The other two owners of the original club were still in prison, along with a number of men who had worked there. Tank was right to question why the man that I'd identified seemed to get off so lightly because it seemed he could be back up to his old tricks. Then again, I might be totally wrong, and the gambling business was totally legitimate.

"Seems strange that it's the same man under a different alias. What do you want doing about it?"

"Set up a meeting with them and take Hector with you under the guise that we'll consider their request. See what you can find out"

I collected some papers together and followed Tank from my office, heading for the conference room. I set about rearranging some of the information on the board and had added the details of the research that I'd discovered about the closed down club and the new business Anansi when Santos walked in with several papers in his hand. As I raised an eyebrow at him to question why he was here he obviously knew that he needed to tell me before I got annoyed at him.

"Steph had seven skips which she took in over ten days. Some were regulars so I'm not too sure they'll have caused her more problems than she would usually expect"

"How did you get those so quickly?"

I'd have expected it take some time for Santos to sweet talk Connie and we didn't have access to her computer.

"I called Connie and she was eager to help me out. She emailed them through"

That had me considering whether Connie was being cooperative because she knew we'd look into them and maybe find something, but still not betray Steph's trust by having told us any details.

"All are medium to low bonds and none of them look violent on paper"

As Santos laid the papers for each skip onto the table, I picked them up one at a time to read through what little information was there.

Rocco Jalhoon had been charged with vandalizing his neighbors car after the neighbor called the authorities on him for beating up his kids. He was 27 years old and an investigation was still ongoing with regard to the children's welfare.

Draven Laxby was 42 years old and had been charged with auto theft after a taxi refused to take him home. Laxby had been unnecessarily rude to the driver when the taxi had pulled up and Laxby had pulled the driver from the taxi and driven away in it. Strangely though the charges had been dropped just prior to his court case. I assumed that Steph had taken him in before the charges were dropped but it was still worth following up with him.

Axel Dolby, selling and supplying drugs to minors. He would hang around parks and entice young teenagers into buying them. Aged 64.

Tyrel Bloomburgh had found a way to sneak into the back entrance of his local liquor store and steal bottles of bourbon.

"We'll start with these, the ones that aren't regulars"

At some stage I would catch up with some of the ones that would be seen as regulars. I recognized one old man who lived in the Burg whose habit of covering himself in Vaseline had always caused Steph problems. Hell, it would probably cause problems for some of my men as well.

It seemed I didn't need to explain myself to Santos and we were soon heading toward the address for Rocco Jalhoon. He lived in a duplex at the edge of the Burg, a small enclave that had lapsed in terms of upkeep and behavior. A far cry from the streets where the likes of Ellen Plum lived. The yards were littered with rubbish and the properties were falling into disrepair and yet there were still new looking cars parked outside.

As we pulled up outside of Jalhoon's house I spied two children playing on the doorstep.

"Stay here"

Santos remained in the car, after all, I only wanted to talk to the man.

"Pa, there's a man here"

Came from the older of the children as he looked at me with mistrust, so it wasn't long before Jalhoon came through the door. I was surprised by Jalhoon's appearance, the photo that was in the file made him out to be bigger than he was. This man was scrawny with untidy black hair and glasses. I expected him to be annoyed at me and was pleasantly surprised when he came up to me and extended his hand.

"How can I help you?"

After shaking his hand, I decided to get right to the point.

"I understand a bounty hunter came to see you after you missed your court date and there might have been some problems"

I watched as he looked down at his feet and took a step away from me, as though he was uncertain how to reply.

"I feel awful for what happened. I mean I know I was stupid for what I did but there was no way I could let that woman get away with what she was saying"

"Stephanie?"

What he said surprised me because if nothing else Steph always spoke politely to her skips to start with.

"No, my neighbor"

I really didn't want to know what the hell his argument had been with his neighbor, I wanted to know what had happened with Steph. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, knowing I needed to be patient.

"That neighbor told some social worker that I was unfit to be a father because I was gay"

"The bounty hunter?"

I emphasized trying to get the man back on track.

"Some guy turned up and offered to sort it out with social care if I phoned a number when the bounty hunter turned up"

"What happened?"

"I called the number when that Plum lady came and the next thing I know her tires were slashed, and someone stuffed a potato in the exhaust"

I knew that she hadn't called for help from me so was curious how she managed to get him to the station.

"How did she get you to the station?"

"A red firebird turned up"

So Lula had turned up and taken them. It did make me wonder if Steph had assumed that it was Jalhoon who had done the damage, especially after he was arrested for vandalizing his neighbor's car.

"Have you got the number that you called?"

"Sure"

I watched as he took out his phone and scrolled through his call history and while he did that, I was ready to record the number in my own phone. For some reason I wasn't feeling optimistic that it would lead anywhere but at least now I was pretty sure that Steph's bad luck with her skips had been manipulated.

I passed my phone to Santos once back in the car.

"Get Hector to chase this up"

Draven Laxby was the next on my list and I assumed that he would be working at the mechanics garage down the far end of Stark Street that was recorded in his details. Judging by the address I expected it to be a back street place and wasn't disappointed as we came to a stop outside. This time I nodded my head at Santos because I figured it might be better with the two of us going inside.

I walked over the rough earth and entered through the two opened doors inside, knowing that Santos was on his way around to the back. There were two cars raised up on hydraulics with a third having work done to the wheels. The place was cold and draughty within the rusted corrugated walls and roof and eventually a man came into view. He turned down the volume on a radio that was blaring out music and wiped his hands on a dirty rag as he approached us.

"Yeah?"

"Looking for Draven Laxby"

I saw the move of his eyes toward the man working on the wheels of the car but waited patiently for the man in front of me to respond.

"He in trouble?"

"No. I just want to talk to him about something"

Satisfied with my answer he nodded over to Laxby and then walked over to one the raised cars. Laxby, well he must have had a guilty conscience about something because he was suddenly running toward the back of the garage. I didn't run after him, instead I walked over to where Santos now had him pinned to the floor. I squatted down so that he could see me, knowing from the expression on his face that he knew who I was.

"Running Laxby, now why would you be doing that?"

He blanched as I spoke, his eyes darting back and forth between me and the ground.

"You messed with my woman Laxby and I won't tolerate that"

Laxby obviously knew who I was and maybe he also knew the word on the street in this area of town. That no one messed with Stephanie Plum without annoying me. Santos was aware and slowly raised one of the man's arms above his back, the pain in his shoulder bringing a loud groaning noise from his throat. I smiled, showing him that it could only get worse for him.

"I had to do it"

That was not the answer that I was expecting. Had he called someone the same as Jalhoon had?

"Why would you do that?"

What could have made this man turn on Steph?

"To get the charges dropped"

Surely he wasn't stupid enough to think that by avoiding capture he could somehow wriggle out of the charges against him.

"What were you asked to do?"

At his silence Santos twisted his fingers back as he raised his arm again. I expected him to admit that he'd had to call a number when Steph had appeared to take him in, so his answer surprised me.

"Just annoy her, man that's all I did"

"How?"

"I'd get a call and know where she was"

It seemed we'd found the man who had purposely made sure that Steph was harassed when she turned up to take skips in.

"Slashed tires. What else?"

"Sprinkler system in an apartment building"

"Go on"

"Paint tin over a door and she sure as hell enjoyed the car oil that I threw at her"

I heard the breaking of bone as he said that and looked up to see that Santos had broken the man's finger. I was sure that my face was showing the same anger as Santos at what had happened. My gaze went back to the man on the floor, my eyes boring into his, as he flinched, I was glad that he could see the anger emanating from me. To be honest I was so annoyed I could easily have broken his back.

"Unless you want every bone in your fingers to be broken then you'd better talk and not give us the idea that you thought it was funny"

"Dog shit on the stairs and then there were the stray dogs. They smelt the chicken I put under her car. Rotten fish thrown down the stairwell"

I was getting the idea of what he'd done and didn't think Steph would have seen the things that had happened as anything other than her bad luck.

"Who asked you to do it?"

"I don't know, honest man"

He added as he felt pressure on his arm.

"Did you talk to him?"

"Well, I guess, but it were dark and he had a hat on and a scarf around his lower face"

"You can do better than that"

Came from Santos as he exerted some more pressure on his arm.

"Maybe white, jeans, I didn't see any more. Please, I've told you what I know"

"What made you think that he could drop the charges?"

"After a couple of times of me playing tricks on that bounty hunter it happened. The owner of the taxi told the police it was a mistake, that he'd told me I could borrow it"

"Last question Laxby. Did you break into her apartment?"

"Shit no, why the hell would I do that?"

I was aware of the other man taking an interest in what we were doing so nodding to Santos I stood up and started toward the door at the back of the garage. I was sure that I heard a snap, the sound of another bone breaking as I walked away. Santos was soon at my side, his expression absolutely furious.

I gave him a look before opening the car, a look that said not to say anything yet. Not because I thought someone might overhear us but because I think that I was beyond listening. I couldn't even settle whilst I drove and to be honest had no memory of the journey back to Heywood. All I knew was that Santos was still holding onto the handle above his door as I slammed the car door shut.

Stripping my shirt as I ran up the stairs, I was more than ready to beat the shit out of something. Unfortunately, the only thing available to me was the punch bag in the gym. I spent probably thirty minutes just hammering the soft leather, no thought could break through the red haze that I was in. Then as I steadied the pace and made my punches more rhythmic the information from the morning started to filter into my mind.

For some reason someone had set Steph up. Not to fail at bringing in her skips but to make her life hell while she did it. Anyone else would have thrown in the towel, but not Steph. She was so determined to do her job whatever happened, but the stunts that Laxby had pulled must have really had her questioning why she was doing the job.

Why the hell hadn't I been to see her sooner and why wouldn't I listen to her when she'd asked for my opinion? Because I thought her dilemma was all about her relationship with Morelli. I wasn't going to get involved with that, it had to be her decision to make, her choice. She hadn't mentioned the bad takedowns but was saying something about whether to trust her feelings or not. Why the hell hadn't I taken the time to really hear her out instead of making assumptions?

Had I known what had happened to her with all of those take downs then maybe I'd have had her looking at it from a different perspective, but then again, I didn't know about the set up and might have thought it was just Steph going through another personal meltdown.

I stopped punching the bag and turned around to see Tank watching me. Turning further I saw Santos on one of the treadmills looking like he was trying to outrun the devil himself.

"I take it you found out something and you didn't like it"

I nodded to Tank as I caught the towel that he threw to me.

"Someone set it up for a man to play some nasty stunts on Steph"

"Did she get hurt?"

"No, which was why we never knew about it"

I knew that Tank wanted to know if I knew who it was but to be honest, I had no idea. Why would someone want to do that to her? It was something that I'd need to think through very carefully.