Chapter 7
I had memories of floating in water, a quietness that seemed to consume me so for a moment that was where I thought I was. It was really weird when I slowly opened my eyes and tried to focus to see the features of the bedroom around me. I had no idea what was real or not. Had I dreamt of being with Jenson and seeing Gregory. Had my imagination conjured up visions of being at Rangeman? Or was this just after I'd walked out into the sea and everything else was a dream? It was definitely déjà vu seeing Jenson sat in a chair watching me. I startled at seeing him, which of course only alerted him that I was awake.
"Hey, how you doing lass?"
I took note of him asking that and realized that I felt a bit groggy and that as I moved my leg hurt a bit.
"I'm sorry, I had no idea that being in the city would panic you so much"
So it hadn't been a dream. I didn't respond because to be honest I was relieved that Jenson thought that it was being in the city that had spooked me. Though what exactly had done was a bit worrying. Did I see right? A man who looked like a Rangeman and a garage full of black SUVs or had my imagination run away with me? I knew that I was terrified of going to Rangeman. The idea of Ranger being annoyed with me or disappointed in me was the one thing that had hurt me the most. I'd valued the friendship that we had, the trust that we'd shared. He'd mentored me as a bounty hunter, helping me out, saving me and giving me a safe place to hide. What made it worse was the pain in my chest because he was the one man that I had ever truly loved. Not that he knew anything about that. I hated that he blamed me as well for what had happened and one of his men had made Ranger's opinion of me very clear.
Maybe it was my imagination that had spooked me after all, because I knew that Rangeman and what it represented frightened me the most. Stephanie Plum had a lot to answer for which was why I had to put her, and everything associated with her out of my life.
"Chloe. Gregory read through that file. He let me know that he was sending a team to that house to check it over"
I wasn't sure how to react to that. I suppose at least Gregory had decided to follow up with what I'd suggested, I was hoping that I wasn't totally wrong. Time would tell and if I was wrong then at least no one would ask me to look for anyone again. Maybe that would be the best outcome.
"You've got a nasty bruise on your leg where you hit a car, nothing broken though"
I looked back up at Jenson as I tried to remember what had happened after the fear of being at Rangeman took over. I think that I was running, dodging people before ending up on the ground in the street but after that was blank.
"How did I get back here?"
Because I couldn't remember. Had I hit my head and been knocked unconscious? I couldn't understand why Jenson didn't answer me straight away and avoided looking at me.
"You, err, you were uncontrollable. Neil was there so he decided that maybe you needed a bit of help to calm down"
A bit of help? Okay, I knew that I was totally lost in the panic so how had he helped me to calm down? Then it hit me, what he had done. I didn't know whether to be pissed off that he'd sedated me or embarrassed that he felt the need to do it.
"Oh. I'm sorry Jenson. I totally lost it"
I think he actually looked relieved that I wasn't annoyed with him, but I didn't have enough fight in me to be annoyed. Jenson must be having second thoughts about having me around now especially after embarrassing him in front of his friend.
"Maybe I should move on, you know find another town to stay in"
"No. Why? Chloe, I know that something or someone has hurt you really badly. I also know that eventually you'll tell me your story so I'm not giving up on you. Don't you give up on you either"
That told me but I wasn't sure that he'd feel the same way if he ever found out what I'd been blamed for. He wasn't going to hear it from me, so I needed to be firmer with myself. I had to stop the past from haunting me, stop Stephanie Plum from dragging me back down.
My leg felt stiff the next morning when I woke and a look at it confirmed what Jenson had told me. I had a dark blue bruise forming on my thigh. Showering eased it slightly, but I avoided a skirt or dress and went for trousers and a blouse instead. Today was a workday. Today was me getting back to normal and not working like mad researching where a young kid might be or worrying that it was my responsibility to find him.
Imagine my surprise then when I walked downstairs to see Gregory sat at the table with Jenson. My heart sank as I acknowledged that he was probably here to say that my ideas were rubbish. That Charlie was still missing and that man, John Spencer and his wife were totally innocent. I didn't dare look at either man as I walked past them and poured some coffee out.
"Chloe. Gregory is here to tell you what he found"
I turned to look at Jenson wondering why he was making this a humiliating experience for me. Then again that was what I was used to.
"You did an amazing job Chloe. We found Charlie alive. He's back with his family and doing well"
I looked at Gregory wondering if I was hearing right, did he just say that they'd found Charlie?
"He was there, at that house?"
Because maybe I'd been partly right but Gregory had taken another clue and followed it.
"Yes. Exactly where you thought he would be, and you were right about the Spencers"
I hated that I was right and knew what he was talking about. Tears were in my eyes as I whispered my question, dreading what the answer might be.
"Kevin?"
I saw the shake of his head and heard the sigh that escaped from him.
"No one was aware of what they were doing. As you thought the woman's illness worsened and the husband started to take children for her. She couldn't look after them and the husband left her with them. She kept them in a basement, decked out like a nursery. They died of starvation. We found four so are now helping the police to identify who they were"
I sat down so overcome with grief for those lost children. They'd died so young and so alone. I felt, then heard Jenson move his chair along the floor and suddenly he was lifting up my chin.
"You couldn't have saved them Chloe, but you did save Charlie and any other children that would have followed"
I nodded my head knowing that what he'd said was true, but I couldn't look Jenson in the eye because I still felt so sad for those children who had died.
"Chloe. Could I ask if you would help us again if we need to find someone? I was amazed at the way that your mind worked to find Charlie. No one that I know would have taken the direction that you did"
I felt a familiar feeling of heat rising up my cheeks when Gregory said that but refrained from answering. Very few people had ever praised me, and it seemed that I wasn't good at accepting it.
"Of course, she will, won't you lass?"
"I suppose"
Was the only answer that I could give because I didn't know how to feel about being asked. In one way I felt elated that someone had actually taken what I'd done and run with it proving me right but on the other hand was this what I wanted? Was this the way to enlighten my soul as a way to actually give something back for all of the wrongs that I'd done. I wasn't sure but decided that maybe it was worth trying.
After a strange weekend I welcomed the normalcy of a week working. Jenson never mentioned anything about our visit to Seattle or my behavior so neither did I. I was back into the routine that I'd had before but without the distraction of research. My leg while bruised didn't hurt as much so I continued to increase the routines in the gym and walked further when I went for my evening walks. I felt that maybe I'd found a niche, somewhere where I could disappear with very few people taking notice of me, and very few people wanting to know about me. My life as I'd known it seemed to fade as I worked hard to change everything about it. I was still determined to never be so stupid as to fall into the same old traps. I couldn't deny that I missed people and places but knew that those people hated me and wouldn't want to ever see me again.
Their voices of blame seemed to quieten and somehow, I felt less devastated with the guilt that I'd been carrying around. In fact, I began to question how I was to blame for what had happened, something that I'd never considered before. Before it had been everyone around me telling me that I was to blame that had me believing them.
Jenson had been good to me and for me. He never pushed me for answers and never asked questions. Instead, he was just there for me seeming to know that I needed that space. He even included me with finding people again something that I actually enjoyed, as long as I had nothing to do with the final confrontation.
I'd helped to find a woman who had stolen someone else's identity. The victim, Christina, was being threatened by a bank for not paying a loan and the police had questioned her about a driving felony. The final thing that had happened that had pushed her over the edge was when a man that she didn't even know had sent her divorce papers and demanded remuneration of the money and jewelry that she'd walked out with. I couldn't believe how far it had gone or that no one seemed to believe that she was innocent. The thief though wasn't that bright and after working out her routines I discovered two other women who had been put into similar situations. Habits have a way of catching up with you so knowing which spa she obviously couldn't live without Jenson had the police with him when she paid using Christina's id.
Of course, that feel good, well it only lasted a few weeks before once again Gregory was visiting the office. I had a sinking feeling in my chest when I saw him, which only worsened when Jenson asked me to join them. As I sat down, I knew this conversation wasn't going to be good.
"Chloe. I've never really told you much about Robert, Anya's husband"
I was aware of that but hadn't pushed for details. To be honest I thought that Anya probably didn't like me or trust me. I was an unknown person that her father had taken in so who could blame her. What had she called me? A stray that you can take in and try to make right? I could understand what she might be thinking when I might have hurt Jenson or stolen from him?
"Anya is really concerned about him, but she didn't want me to worry. She spoke to me last night and is ready to ask for help, that's why I asked Greg here this morning"
I looked at Greg because I didn't actually know what he or his company did. Maybe looking for people was their specialty though stupidly I'd never really thought beyond that because I suppose that I didn't want to know.
"Chloe, we need to look for him and find him and I don't know anyone else who could do that"
I was frowning at Jenson as he said that because surely he didn't think that I was that good did he?
"Robert works as a freelance journalist. An investigative journalist and he sometimes follows up on environmental issues, you know, polluted water, air pollution. Anyway, he was chasing a tip about a tanker carrying toxic waste that was supposedly going to be unloading here in the states for it to be hauled by road before being dumped"
I was stunned with what Jenson was telling me, had he known what Robert was doing all of this time? Didn't he realize how dangerous it would be if the owners of that ship caught him?
"When, when did you know all of this?"
Hadn't Anya spoken to him when their son had been born? Was he following that line of investigation then?
I watched the exchange of looks between Gregory and Jenson so assumed that Gregory had already started to look for Robert. He was the one who now took over the story.
"Jenson and I have had our concerns but didn't want to upset Anya until she accepted that something was wrong. Apparently, Robert had spoken to his editor giving a vague cover for the story that he was after. I spoke to the man, Jackson Hennley, yesterday and he told me that he'd met with Robert personally. In fact, it was the night that Aaron had been born and Hennley had set it up for him to talk to Anya"
"Where was he?"
Because surely if he was here in America then he could have managed to be here for the birth of his son?
"Istanbul, Turkey"
I was trying hard to work out if the ship was from Turkey and if Robert had somehow managed to get on board, but Gregory was way ahead of me on that.
"The ship was originally from Uzbekistan. They produce 6206 thousand tons of hazardous waste per year. Robert met Hennley there in Istanbul, because apparently Robert knew that there would be a change of crew and change of registration. According to Robert it was headed for Halifax, Canada"
"Has it arrived there yet? I mean maybe Robert is on board?"
"The ship had already sailed when Robert met with Hennley"
Which meant that Robert could still be in Istanbul or somewhere in Canada. I stayed quiet thinking about what Gregory had told me, sure that he probably knew more from any research that he'd done but looked at Jenson. He looked totally defeated and I knew how much it would mean to him to have Anya's husband back home in one piece. Jenson had done so much to help me, never asking me for anything so this was one way that I could repay him.