Chapter 17

The apartment was small. There was a queen sized bed in the bedroom. I noticed the dishes were a little chipped and scratched. When the men furnished the apartment, they made it look authentic. I would assume the woman living here was strapped for cash, that she has difficulty paying the bills on time.

Hector hugged me from behind and whispered, "They put clothes in the closet and dresser. You have discount shoes in the closet."

"How did they know what I would wear?" I was surprised they nailed my style perfectly.

"Your cousin, Shirley and her husband, Eddie Gazarra helped," Hector whispered.

A tear ran down my face. I haven't seen my cousin or best friends in such a long time. Eddie, Mary Lou, Carl and I spent a lot of time together before dad sent me away. They helped me through so much turmoil. When I moved to Jacksonville, I wasn't permitted to call Mary Lou. Dad wanted to protect me from my mom, Helen. I knew I could trust my friends, but sometimes a clean break is best.

Obviously my friend, Eddie overcame the hurt I caused by leaving. Perhaps he knew there was more to the story.

Hector lifted me into his arms and sat with me on the lumpy sofa. I giggled when he complained. Manny passed me the laptop so I could catch up on the lives of my old friends. To play my role well, I needed to reconnect with my friends.

I decided to research family first. It didn't surprise me that Valerie was living in Trenton with Helen. Her husband basically robbed her blind and ran away with the barely-legal babysitter. I have two nieces, Angie and Mary Alice. Valerie was pregnant again. She was in a relationship with a too-scared-to-do-his-job Albert Kloughn. He looks like a balding, short pillsbury man.

Mary Lou has two boys and one girl. Her husband is Lenny Stankovic. She had a crush on him for the longest time. I was happy they were together. I used the apartment phone to call her.

"Hi, is this Mary Lou?" I asked.

It didn't take her long to realize who was speaking. "Stephanie? Is this really you?" she asked.

"Yes, Lou, it's Stephanie. How are you?" I asked. She immediately told me all about her life since I left.

I was surprised when she asked, "How's your child? Is he or she in college now?"

"My twins are in university," I answered without divulging too much information.

"Morelli has twins?" she practically screamed.

"No, Lou. My twins are only 15. They're geniuses. I didn't have a child with Morelli," I quickly corrected.

"What happened to Joe's child?" she wondered.

"Miscarriage, but don't be sad. I was relieved when I lost him." I needed to change the subject. "Lou, I'm calling to ask a favour. Could you spread that I'm back in Trenton?"

"I'm sorry for upsetting you, Steph. I won't tell anyone about your children. Telling people you're back in town would be very easy to do. Take care, honey. I'll start spreading the rumour," she said before we ended our call.

The next call I made was to Eddie. He too, was excited to hear from me. "The Rangeman guys kept me informed," he confessed. "How are Lory and Curt?" he asked, proving how much he knew about my life.

"Great. They went away for school. I miss them terribly, but I'm also happy for them," I replied. "Lory looks like I did at her age. Curt resembles his father."

"I hope Shirley and I could meet them sometime. Your number has a Trenton area code. Does this mean you're in Trenton?" Eddie asked.

"I'm in Trenton. Do you know the ugly red-bricked apartment buildings on the eastern side of Trenton?" I asked him.

"In the small business area?" he asked, narrowing down the area.

"Yes, on St James," I confirmed. "Bring Carl," I added before ending the call.

Eddie arrived with Carl, Robin and Big Dog. They were all on duty and brought their partners. Carl pulled me into his arms and swung me around. "You look absolutely gorgeous, Steph," Carl stated.

"Thanks, Carl." I pulled away from him so I could give my cousin-in-law best friend a hug.

"I'm so happy to see you," Eddie whispered into my ear.

"Ditto," I replied. "I have pictures of my children. Would you like to see it?" I asked Eddie.

"Always," he answered. I unlocked my phone to pull up a recent photo. "You weren't kidding. Lory looks like a mini-you. Curt is very handsome. How old are they again?"

"Fifteen," I answered.

Manny smirked when he noticed the look of confusion on Eddie's face. I attempted to explain, "Curtis looks exactly like Jeremy, his father. Let me guess, you thought my twins were Joe's?"

"I did until you said, 'like Jeremy, his father'," he confessed.

"To set the record straight, once and for all, if my children belonged to Morelli, they would be 17, not 15. There is no Morelli spawn," I snapped.

Robin approached me to whisper, "Men are such idiots. It's obvious they don't belong to Morelli."

"I like you," I admitted. She smiled brightly. I guess being a cop didn't give her many opportunities to make friends. "Hubert?" I asked while approaching the last officer.

"It's big dog. Nobody calls me Hubert anymore," he quickly corrected me. Robin giggled. She must not have known his given name. I winked at her, causing her to laugh louder.

We sat at the rickety dining room table for our debrief session. I shared the information I gathered with the TPD team. Eddie was impressed with my intel. "I thought he was responsible," Eddie admitted.

"He isn't. This man isn't Ranger," I said while opening the CCTV footage from the local convenience store in Miami. "Ranger is 5'10', this man is only 5'8'." I pulled up the feed showing his reflection in the mirror. "He's going bald. Ranger has a full head of hair. It appears this imposter is trying to mimic Ranger. We're still trying to determine why he's portraying Manoso."

After we ran through the list off possible reasons, my Burg manners finally kicked in. "I'm sorry. I didn't offer you drinks or introduce you to the other men. Eddie, this is Manny Ramos, Hector Hernandez and my husband, Michael Ramsey."

"Pleasure to meet you," each person said as they shook hands.

Robin leaned into me to whisper, "Your husband is so hot. I wouldn't say 'no' to Manny either. He's hot too."

Big Dog and Carl were called away to handle a domestic dispute. Eddie and Robin hung around to hammer out the details to find Julie. They were assigned to locate and arrest Ranger for kidnapping.

"Our primary goal is to find Julie," I stated. "Everything else will work itself out. Ranger is innocent. I just hope we find Julie before this man devolves."

"We'll keep our ear to the ground. If we hear any chatter, we'll keep you informed," Eddie promised.

"In the spirit of full disclosure, I'll keep you informed too," I reciprocated. After exchanging phone numbers, Eddie and Robin left.

"Why did everyone assume your children were Morelli's? Did they know you were pregnant after he raped you?" Michael asked when we were alone in bed.

"Probably. I wouldn't be surprised if Helen spread the rumour," I answered. "Did I ever tell you about Dickie Orr?" I asked.

"You mentioned his name in passing, but didn't provide any details," he replied.

I told him all about Dickie Orr and his involvement leading up to my rape. "He convinced my co-worker Tina to leave work early. It was a slow shift and Tina really hated cleaning. I wasn't overly fussy either, but it was part of the job. Dickie picked up Tina and placed a call from the pay phone. He didn't mention any names, but it was only 15 minutes until Morelli arrived," I paused.

"Orr called Morelli?" he questioned.

"I can only assume he did. Dickie said, 'She will be alone for the rest of her shift. You need to make your move tonight.' I wasn't sure what he was talking about until Joe entered the shop and locked the door. Dickie didn't do the act, but he set the mood for Joe."

"Do they still live here?" he asked.

"People rarely leave the Burg. They are born, raised and die in the Burg," I explained. "Morelli's a detective at the TPD."

"Are you afraid of running into them?"

"I'm certainly anxious, but not afraid. They can't hurt me anymore," I answered honestly.

We made love before falling asleep. In the middle of the night, I heard a noise. I pulled Michael's shirt over my head to hide my nakedness. Michael woke up when I left the bed. He pulled on his boxers and followed me.

Ranger was sitting at the table with his laptop and other supplies. "Hey, Batman. Are you okay?" I asked while approaching him.

"I'm doing alright. We need to find this bastard," he barked.

"We'll find him and your daughter. He won't hurt her," I attempted to reassure him.

"He rented an office space in Georgia," Ranger stated.

"Do you know his name?" I asked.

"No. The office was rented to Ricardo Carlos Manoso. He's married to a woman named Carmen," he said. Ranger showed me a copy of the marriage certificate. The ID produced looked like Ranger, but the man's hair was a bit longer and his nose was slightly wider. I knew it wasn't Ranger.

"Have you searched her maiden name?" I asked.

He nodded before saying, "Tank will search the office in Georgia to see if he left anything behind."

Tank sent several emails with attachments. Our friend talked to Carmen's family to get more information. It appears this man was trying to get into the police academy. He was rejected when he failed the psych evaluation. Another message arrived with his name.

Edward Scrogg worked at a record store in Georgia. He saw Ranger and Tank apprehend a criminal in the shop. When Edward asked about the shorter man, Ranger, he noticed the resemblance and decided to become Ranger. He wanted to take over Ranger's life.

"There's more," Ranger stated. "Tank's bringing the photos he found."

The following afternoon, Tank entered the apartment with a file folder. He passed me the folder. I was surprised when I saw the images. It was obvious Ranger was in love with me, you could see it written all over his face. Even if I had known, it wouldn't have changed a single thing. His womanizing ways wasn't attractive to me.

Other photos showed a beautiful little girl. She was the female version of her father. One day, she's going to break a lot of hearts. "Julie," Ranger confirmed.

The last photo showed Ranger with his daughter. They were sitting on the patio of a cafe. She was drinking a milkshake while he was drinking water. "Do you visit her often?" I asked.

"Whenever her mother permits me," he replied. I wanted to know how Mr always-aware-of-his-surroundings missed this man following him. "I'm always a little blind when it involves Julie."

"Is this why you say 'your life doesn't lend to relationships'?" I asked. He nodded. "I understand. It would tear me apart if anyone kidnapped my children." I gave him a hug. He buried his face into my neck. His tears moistened my neck. Michael motioned for the men to follow him into the living room, giving us a little privacy.

"Babe," he whispered.

"Just let it all out, Carlos. We know who he is now, so he should be easier to find," I stated. I pulled the leather tie from his hair and ran my fingers through his thick, silky hair.

A few minutes later, he pulled himself together. We worked together to track down Scrogg. "His wife's in Trenton," I announced. "Crap."

"What did you find?" Michael asked.

"Scrogg's wife has been asking about Ranger at Vincent Plum Bail Bonds," I replied.

"Is he related to you?" Tank asked me.

"Yes, he's my cousin. His dad and my dad are brothers," I replied.

"Which makes him Vince's second cousin too. I can't wait to tease him," Michael stated after reading Vinnie's propensity for inappropriate sexual encounters.

"He was always a sexual deviant," I added. I was disgusted by the intel the Rangeman Trenton employees compiled. "I shouldn't have admitted we were related," I groaned. He seriously had relations with a duck? Boys? Joyce Barnhardt? Eww… she's gross. Even in high school Joyce was a skank.

"You need to talk to Vinnie," Ranger stated.

"I know," I said as I involuntarily shuddered.