Chapter 4
"Who would do this to a beautiful woman?" Frasier asked as she repaired the cheekbones. Amanda kept referring to the picture on the screen. She wanted Jane Doe to look as close to how she was before the incident. It was a slow and painstaking procedure. "Her cheekbones are slightly smaller, but it was unavoidable."
"Thank you for the assist," Wallace said while setting Stephanie's jaw and wiring it closed.
"No problem, Tim," Amanda replied. "Jane has a long road for recovery. Does she have anyone to help when she gets released?"
"Louise, the woman who arrived with Jane, offered to house her at the care facility," Tim answered. "I'm keeping Jane at the hospital."
"Place her in a medically induced coma to give her body time to heal," she suggested.
Cal was on patrol near the mall and saw two men exit Stephanie's Tahoe. He called Ranger immediately with the information as he drove back to Rangeman.
"Bobby and Lester, search Stephanie's car for evidence and clues. Manny and Zero go to Stephanie's apartment. I want to know what she was wearing, who she was chasing and where she went. Cal, Hal, Vince, Zip, Binkie, and Hector, pair off and search every inch of the quadrants NW, NE, SE. Tank and I will search the SW warehouse district. Dismissed!" Ranger ordered.
Ranger and his men frantically searched Trenton for Stephanie. Zip and Binkie searched the quadrant where Stephanie's Tahoe got left. Lester and Bobby had the forensic kit to gather the evidence. Zip asked Binkie, "How did Stephanie know my name was Brian? I don't recall telling her."
Binkie laughed. "Remember when those teens broke into Rangeman's client accounts to steal products?"
"Yes, what does that have to do with her knowing my name?" Zip asked, not making the connection.
"Bomber had to rule out an inside job. She ran background checks on all Rangeman Trenton employees. Your employment file contains your name," Binkie reminded him.
Zip blushed, feeling stupid. "I didn't realize she did that," Zip retorted, pissed off that Stephanie thought they could be responsible for such idiocy.
"Stephanie felt guilty for running background checks on everyone. She was ordered, by Ranger, to search under every rock," Binkie added. "She knows my nickname is the shortened form of my last name and not a reference to a soother or baby blanket."
"I thought Binkie was your nickname because you look like a baby," Zip joked.
"Spoken from the man who earned the nickname Zip because he could never remember to pull up his zipper," Binkie bantered.
"It was one time," Zip said, exasperated. "General Plum never let me live it down."
"General Plum?" Binkie asked.
"Yes, General Franco Plum. He was my training officer," Zip stated.
Binkie grabbed his phone to pull up a photo of Stephanie and her father. "Is this General Plum?" Binkie asked.
"It certainly is. He looks a bit older there," Zip confirmed. "Why is he with Stephanie?"
"It's a small world," Binkie sang. "That's Stephanie's dad."
"She never mentioned her dad was a General in the Army," Zip stated. "But it explains why she's comfortable around us."
"Bomber doesn't share much about her family. She barely mentions her mother, nieces and sister." Zip nodded, realizing it was true. Anything most of the men learned about Stephanie got repeated by the others who witnessed the event. "I think she talked about her sister, Saint Valerie, a few times, but nothing outside of her mother comparing them," Binkie added.
"Do you think Stephanie ran away?" Zip asked.
"Nope," Binkie answered. "She never leaves town without telling Ranger."
"I hope she's safe. Nobody wants to see Ranger's reaction if she got injured," Zip added.
The last time Stephanie went missing was horrific for the men. Ranger screamed or hit anyone who crossed his path. When Ranger opened the cupboard at Spiro Stiva's hidden home, and Stephanie fell out, he thought Stephanie was dead. Everyone was relieved to find her alive. Zip shuddered at the memory.
"Zip, that man fits the description from Cal," Binkie stated. They followed the men to a house four blocks away.
"Yo," Ranger answered when Binkie called.
"Permission to capture the men from Stephanie's vehicle?" Binkie asked.
"Sit and wait. Send the GPS," Ranger replied and hung up. He ordered Tank to get to the coordinates once Binkie sent the numbers.
Tank stopped a few feet away from Binkie's SUV. They called the other teams to their location. "If these are the men from Stephanie's car, they could lead us to her location," Zip commented.
The men surrounded the house and waited for Manny to contact them. "Boss, Stephanie was looking for Don Juan Brando today. She used Google to access the map of the warehouse district where he works," Manny reported while reading the search parameters on Stephanie's laptop browser. Manny was surprised Stephanie didn't clear her search history.
Ranger growled. Brando was only in Trenton for a short time, but he had already established a negative reputation. "Send me a photo," Ranger barked.
Zero looked over Manny's shoulder. "She always clears her history. Why didn't she this time?" Zero asked.
"I don't know, but I'm happy she didn't," Manny replied while sending Ranger Brando's picture.
A few seconds later, Ranger received a copy of Brando's photo. He showed Binkie and Zip the image. "That's one of the men in the house," Binkie confirmed. It was enough for Ranger and his men to enter the building.
Fifteen minutes later, Brando got shackled in the back seat of the Rangeman SUV. They took Brando and the other man, Wally Tucker, back to Rangeman to get answers. Unfortunately, Brando didn't give any useable information.
Beating him didn't produce any additional information. He didn't know the name of the third man involved. "I work with Wally. I never exchanged introductions with the other man," he claimed. "It's the first time I had seen the man. He was talking to Wally when I arrived at the warehouse. I'm telling you the truth. I don't know who the man is. He ordered us to drive Plum's car to the mall and walk around with her trackers. We dumped them in the trash before we left the mall at the back entrance."
After Tank and Lester talked to Brando, they decided to let him go. He was telling the truth and didn't know the third man. Tank grabbed Brando and ordered Binkie and Zip, "Take this piece of shit to TPD with a copy of the capture agreement." Binkie collected the receipt. He'd take it to the bond office on Monday to collect the money for Stephanie.
Ranger approached Wally Tucker in the other Rangeman cell. "Talk," he barked.
Wally refused to answer until Ranger punched his jaw. "His name is Anthony Bianchi. He took the woman and left in a Cessna Skyhawk. I don't know where he took her," Wally shouted.
"What did he do before he left?" Ranger demanded.
"He stripped her to get rid of any trackers. Bianchi wrapped her in moving blankets and left. He never told us where he was going with the girl. Don and I didn't hear what he said to the woman. I don't know anything else," Wally stated.
Hector listened to the conversation in the cells. He was not amused by what he heard. Hector grabbed his Rangeman partner, Rodriguez, to install tiny cameras at the warehouse where Wally said Stephanie approached. They placed cameras at all entrances and exits to the parking lot. "We should tell the boss," Rodriguez stated.
"No. When Bianchi returns, then we tell the boss," Hector snarled. He wanted to find out who took his Angel.
Anthony Bianchi felt vindicated after beating Stephanie Plum. She was barely breathing when he tossed her overboard when it got dark outside. Nobody would see what he did or find her body after the sharks devoured her corpse. He smiled and said, "I killed her for you, Eddie. Stephanie Plum will never heart anyone again."
Every punch, kick and hit was payback for Stephanie getting her goons to kill Eddie. He took his barge to Kahului to unload the shipping crates. When the barge got unloaded over a few days, Anthony burned his clothes and the coffin used to transport Stephanie and attempted to remove all traces of her DNA. He took the empty trailers back to the port where he left his Cessna.
A crew arrived to remove the damaged crate to crush in the junkyard. Satisfied that nobody could trace him to Stephanie's lifeless body, he waited for a few weeks for his cut, bruised hands to heal before returning to New Jersey. Nobody could trace him back to the barge or shipping business. The business got registered under a shell company and shared among a group of men. It was nearly impossible to connect him to the organization.
Rodriguez and Silvio ran a background check on Anthony Bianchi. It took a lot of digging, but they discovered he was the younger brother of Eddie Abruzzi.
Ranger searched every known location for Bianchi and Abruzzi but came up empty. His Babe was gone. He knew she wasn't dead. It was hard to explain how he knew, but it was no less the truth in his heart. Ranger should have told her that he was in love with her. The last time they were intimate, something changed. He was ready to commit to his Babe. Hopefully, it wasn't too late to have their someday.
Neither Frank nor Helen heard from Stephanie. After he checked with Ranger, Frank went to the TPD and reported Stephanie as missing. He had to wait for 48 hours after they were supposed to meet for coffee. They had a standing date on Sunday mornings. While Helen went to church with Edna, Frank and Stephanie met for coffee and donuts.
It was a tradition they started when she started working for Vinnie. He could keep an eye on his youngest daughter without her knowing. Although he did suspect she figured it out. If she had to miss a day, she'd call to tell him. Ranger reluctantly told him she was kidnapped but was unable to locate her. "Find my daughter and bring her home," Frank requested.
"When I find your daughter, I will marry her, then bring her home," Ranger stated. "I'm in love with Stephanie." Frank gave Ranger his blessing.
Stephanie was missing for three weeks. Hector saw a small plane approach the warehouse. He immediately called Ranger to notify him. "Boss, the plane returned," Hector stated. "We need to leave now."
Ranger and Hector ran to the Rangeman garage, calling for a backup team to meet them as Ranger tore through the gates. Hector told Rodriguez to destroy the video after they apprehend Bianchi. He didn't want any evidence linking Rangeman to the man.
"Around the back," Hector directed. Ranger sped around the building and screeched to a stop a few feet away from the storage area.
They approached Bianchi as he exited the warehouse after storing his plane. "Where is she?" Ranger barked.
"Who?" Anthony asked, suspecting the man was looking for Miss. Plum. He saw another black SUV arrive and looked for a way to escape. Hector grabbed Lester when he appeared with Tank, Bobby, Ram and Manny, to remove the cameras he installed on the warehouse property.
Ranger grabbed Bianchi as he attempted to run away. He pushed the man to the ground, shoved his knee between his shoulder blades and asked, "Stephanie Plum. Where is she?"
"I haven't seen her," he lied. Ranger cuffed the man into his SUV and drove him to Rangeman. The men were lined outside of the cell to have their turn to get Bianchi to talk.
Tank and Ranger entered the room after leaving Bianchi to sit in the room for several days. The man got forced to use the toilet in the corner of his cell. Nobody brought him food or water. Bianchi was desperate to eat, but Ranger and his men refused to provide the basic necessities.
"If he's thirsty, he can drink from the toilet," Lester snapped. "Nobody feeds that asshole. We need to find Stephanie."
Bianchi never gave them an inch. His mouth remained closed regarding Stephanie's location. He was telling the truth, in his own way, because he didn't know where she was.
Hector entered the cell with his knives. He sliced across Bianchi's arm. "You'll never find her. She's dead," Bianchi said, laughing.
Tank looked at Ranger. "I don't think he'll talk," Tank said, shaking his head.
"He's crazy like Abruzzi. If Hector can't get him to talk, we have to end him," Ranger quietly stated. Tank nodded, understating it was futile to get blood from a stone.
"Bianchi says that Bomber is dead. Do you think he's telling the truth?" Binkie asked as sadness laced his tone.
"I think she's alive, but Bianchi believes she died," Ranger replied.
They listened as Bianchi confessed, "That bitch ordered one of your goons to murder my brother and passed it off as a suicide." Hector cut across Bianchi's chest when he confessed.
"I killed your brother. Stephanie never asked me to touch him. If I didn't take out the rabid dog, he would go after my Angel. I will kill you slower than Abruzzi," Hector threatened. Hector explained all the torture methods he planned to use on him. Tank and Ranger entered the room to stop Hector from killing Bianchi.
"Leave him for the night," Ranger ordered. All of the men returned to their rooms or the gym to fight through their frustration.
Ranger went a few rounds on the mats with Tank, Lester and Cal. Each man took out their frustration on their sparring partner without causing severe injuries. "Ranger, come quick," Binkie screamed over the intercom.
He pulled on his shoes and ran down the stairs to the cell. Bianchi used his pants to tie around the shackle ring on the wall. He was hanging lifeless inside his prison. "She's lost," Ranger wailed. The only person to know Stephanie's location was dead.
Hector and Lester wrapped Bianchi in a nondescript blanket you can purchase anywhere. They loaded him into an old car they had purchased for this purpose and drove him to the Pine Barrens, where they disposed of his body.