Chapter 20

I found both Ranger and Xander sat in the living area talking. Maybe Xander had taken it on himself to discuss what he'd found with Ranger so the news that I had would be relevant. I detoured via the fridge and collected a bottle of water before sitting down next to Ranger.

"I called that number"

"The one that Anya kept calling?"

Xander sat forward on his seat some eagerness showing on his face which I was sure would soon disappear.

"Yes. A woman answered and from what I could gather from what she said, she's Anya's mother"

That Ranger never responded didn't surprise me, but I could see that Xander looked disappointed.

"Xander. I don't think that Anya had anything to do with why we were followed"

"I just never expected that. I suppose that I wanted to be right and that we'd have an answer"

If only everything was as simple as that but even I knew that sometimes you had to follow those dead ends in order to disregard them. In the end you'd find the right one, though it may take time and not be the answer that you were expecting.

"I'll get onto that other work then"

I wasn't sure what work he meant but maybe if he'd been talking to Ranger then Ranger had suggested something. I was surprised when Ranger added a comment as Xander disappeared through the door.

"He's very good with computers but has a lot to learn on how to see through what he finds. I've suggested to Hector that he mentors him"

That seemed like a good idea because I knew that Hector had the ability to know what to look for. At the moment I felt lost with where to go next, there were too many things going on and I had no idea where to start with them. I felt Ranger pull me to him as we sat on the couch and just relished the quietness.

"Tell me what you found out about your grandmother"

I think I remembered saying to Ranger that I'd started to look at what she'd been up to the couple of weeks before she died, and I know that I hadn't told anyone where I'd got to.

"She'd been to a viewing for Trevor Peralta and from what I could work out had hooked up with Trevor's younger brother, Lawrence"

"Christ Babe. She sure could choose them. I heard that there was quite a commotion at that viewing"

I inwardly groaned because if there was a commotion at a viewing and my grandmother was there then chances were that she'd had something to do with it.

"What did she do?"

Not sure if I even wanted to know. If it had been a closed casket, had she tried to open it?

"Not sure, only that poor old Trevor had ended up on the floor"

"Go on, it's worse, isn't it?"

I was pretty sure that the way Ranger's mouth tilted up into a smile that he'd found it funny.

"Well, there was talk of a woman landing on top of him. I'm sorry Babe, I just heard the rumors and never considered that it was your grandmother"

I was probably smiling as well because I could just picture the scene. It had always been nerve wracking to have to act as chaperone when I took her to a viewing. That she'd made a move on Lawrence didn't surprise me. As long as a man was breathing, she'd see them as fair play regardless of their past history and I suppose Lawrence was of an age that his bad days might be over.

"Could her seeing Lawrence have anything to do with what happened?"I realized that maybe I was grasping at straws in trying to find a logical reason for her to have driven to the docks, but I also knew that I'd have to do some more digging.

"I don't know. I know that the two brothers hated each other, and it had something to do with their father, some sort of family feud"

"I'll see what else I can find"

That course of action seemed to be where I could do the most so leaning over, I kissed Ranger on the cheek before standing up and walking out of the room.

I spent an age struggling with a program to try to follow up on the activity of my grandma's phone. Once I'd mastered the program, I then had to work out who belonged to each number. I recognized my parent's home phone number and my mother's mobile number so crossed those off the list. I discovered Mabel's and another friend so dismissed those. The Clip and Curl and a place that provided manicures cropped up but one number confused me until I Googled it to discover that it was one of those sex talk places. There was another number I just couldn't find an ID for and as grandma had received a call from it on the morning of the fire, I felt that it was important. It was as I came to the last call that she'd made that I recognized that it was my number.

I sat and looked at that for an age because I couldn't remember her calling me yet according to the report the call had lasted for a couple of minutes. Could she have called when she was already in the car, when my phone had been in my bag next to her? But why had the call lasted for so long, had someone been in the car and answered it? Nah, that was a stupid idea. Then it suddenly occurred to me, what if she'd left a message on my phone?

I jumped as hands rested on my shoulders and felt myself being helped to stand up.

"Let's go for a walk. You'll stiffen up being sat for so long"

I wasn't sure if Ranger had been aware of the sadness that I was feeling and decided to distract me or not, but it seemed that he was intent on getting me outside. I actually welcomed the change of scenery and the feel of a slight breeze as we stepped outside onto a large decked area. With his arm around my waist and me holding on tightly to a fence we navigated down some wooden steps that ended at a large wooden gate. Through the gate was a sloping area with trees and grass before the scene in front of me changed.

Stepping down onto the soft sand all that I could do was to stare out at the expanse of water in front of me. That it was a lake surprised me because I could hear the soft lapping of waves against the shore. Maybe I was going to step toward the water feeling its draw, but Ranger obviously had other ideas and taking my hand was soon walking me slowly along the beach. It was very calming just walking along the quiet expanse of beach though I wasn't unaware of movement ahead of us. Neither did it worry me because the figure who was trying so hard to stay out sight looked like Cal and I knew that he would be keeping watch ensuring our protection. Relaxed as I was I couldn't stop thinking about what I'd discovered from my Grandma's phone records.

"Grandma called me just before the fire"

Ranger stopped and stood in front of me his hands on either side of my face, his eyes searching mine as he asked me to continue.

"I didn't know that you'd spoken to her. What did she say?"

"I don't know. I can only think that she called my phone when she was in the car, and my bag was in there. I think that she may have left a message"

And now I would never know what it was that she wanted to say to me.

"I can ask Hector if he can retrieve the message if you want?"

I was sure that my eyes went wide at hearing that and felt my heart lift at the idea of knowing what she wanted to say to me.

"He can do that?"

I almost shouted back, knowing that Ranger wouldn't have suggested it if he didn't think that Hector could do it. After he kissed my forehead, he turned me so that we were once again walking along the beach. It was strange really because usually I would have been keen to fill the silence but maybe the time away on my own had inhibited my usual talkative demeanor. As we reached the point where rocks and straggling trees came down to the water Cal moved from where he'd been positioned. I wasn't too sure what to expect from him when he walked right up to me and was aware as he seemed hesitant.

His arms being held out to me gave me the impetus to walk up to him, the gesture from him surrounding me with his large arms and body reassuring. As he stepped away, I held onto his shoulders and from my tiptoes rubbed the tattoo on his head, something that had always felt intimate between us.

"I'm so happy to see that you're safe Steph. I, well, all of us were so worried about you"

I nodded my head unable to find the words to say back to him, my eyes watering with what he'd said. All too soon he was stepping away and after a nod to Ranger he was disappearing back into the tree line. It was as we were walking back along the beach that Ranger broke the silence.

"All of the men at Rangemen were worried about you. They felt guilty that they hadn't been able to see you and were all on board to look for you, as long as it took, Babe"

"I missed them. I wasn't sure what was going on in those days before I disappeared. It was like living in a nightmare"

All that I knew at the time was the pain that had engulfed me and the thought that it wasn't going away.

"Babe. If you ever feel that way again, if you thought that you couldn't see a way out, talk to me. I have too many "What ifs" to live with and I wouldn't cope if you became one of them"

"You know"

Was all that I said as images of being stood on the bridge came to me and the memory as the water from the sea engulfed me. I saw him nod his head but couldn't look at him. He truly was my best friend.

"I didn't know what else to do to take away the pain and guilt. I haven't felt that bad since. Well, since my swim when Jenson dragged me out. I know now it wasn't the answer but at the time it seemed like the only way out, the only way to stop the pain and guilt"

I closed my eyes as I finished what I'd said. I wasn't sure what Ranger thought of me, if he saw me as weak or some pathetic person who wasn't strong enough to cope.

"There's always another way out, I know. I've felt the same way as you did. Friends who died in the name of the government while I walked away. Their ghosts still haunt me sometimes, but I get through it because of those around me, especially you. You brought hope, inspiration and yes entertainment that was missing in our lives, so I want to do the same for you"

It was on the tip of my tongue to question what he'd meant by entertainment. I'd always assumed that some of the things that had happened to me was what he'd meant by that. That they were funny and entertaining but how Ranger had used the word made me rethink. That entertainment had been a way of bringing life and normalcy into the world of Rangeman and I could accept that and hope to do it again.

I may not have my birth family supporting me, but I felt that I had a much stronger family supporting me now, one that looked out for me and actually cared for me as a person.

I felt so much more settled with myself as we headed back to the house and more confident with how I felt. One way or another I would be a part of working out what had happened and reclaiming my life back. If that meant cutting all ties with my family and supposed friends, then so be it. I'd survive what they'd tried to do to me and come out of it a much stronger person.

No more words were said between Ranger and me, maybe none were needed, and as he led me back into that workroom, I knew what would be happening next especially when Hector looked up and nodded his head to Ranger. Maybe there were some nerves at the idea of hearing my grandma's voice and I was sure that there would a lot of sadness, but I told myself that I would be listening to her as much for myself as for her.

"Let's go to the bedroom where it's quiet and you can listen to that message"

I hadn't thought that it would happen so quickly but then again Hector was magic when it came to electronics. Once in my bedroom and as I sat on the bed I watched as Ranger pulled out his phone.

"Hector sent the message to my phone. Do you want to be on your own to listen to it? You can delete it afterwards"

I shook my head knowing that I wanted Ranger with me, hell, I was close to tears already, so pulled myself up the bed to lean against the headboard. Ranger toed off his boots and settled behind me, his legs pulled up on either side of mine and his arms around me as he held the phone in front of me.

"Okay, do it, play it"

So, closing my eyes I prepared myself for what grandma's last words were to me.

"Hi there Baby girl, ah crap, I hate leaving a message. Okay, it wasn't what I thought, though he had a nice package, well for his age. It's safe until I'm sure you are. Hell, I aint making sense. I gotta go and well I took your car. It's my mess to sort, not yours. It was when . . . an accident, I didn't know. Now he's mad. I'll explain when I"

Tears were slowly flowing down my cheeks as I listened to her voice, memories of the times when I'd been with her. It was as though she was with us here in the room, her last words that I would ever hear. I felt as Ranger tightened his hold on me knowing how much just hearing her voice was upsettting me. After a few moments I wiped my face because I knew that what she was saying was important but I know that I was frowning because I wasn't sure that I'd heard right. I had to focus, the time to grieve would happen when I knew why she had died.

"Can you play it again"

This time I focused so hard on her words. It was as though grandma was trying to say as much as possible in a short time so what she did say sounded disjointed. I knew that she hated to leave a message and when she did it usually only consisted of one or two words. This time she'd run out of time, but I was sure that she would have explained to me what she'd got herself into when she saw me or at least when she thought that she'd sorted out the mess that she thought that she was in. It did clarify two things for me though, one, she had driven my car away and two, she'd been on her own. So how did she know where to go? What was so important down by the docks?

"I need to know who it was that called her before that. Maybe it was someone telling her where to go and to meet them"

The only accident that I knew about was when she'd been at that viewing and managed to knock over the casket with Trevor Peralta inside. I assumed that she was talking about the brother Lawrence, but it sounded as though while she thought Lawrence was interested in her at the same time he wasn't.

"It sounds as though she accidently got caught up with something"

"Yeah, maybe something to do with Lawrence Peralta. What the hell did she mean that it's safe until I'm sure you are?"

My mind was going all over the place and for a moment I even considered that maybe she thought that I was in danger. Why would she think that? Then again there had probably been far too many times when she was right. That week though, I knew that I hadn't been in danger unless she'd overheard something about Crocker. But who would be mad at her, Crocker? No, I couldn't see that.

"Babe, why don't you find out more about Lawrence Peralta and I'll do some research on the numbers on your grandma's phone?"

I agreed to doing that because to be honest I wasn't good with that program that looked into tracking phone calls and numbers. Now research on people I could do, and I'd already made a start on that. The problem was finding where those papers had gone. I remembered that I'd had them when we left Atlanta in my rucksack and I was pretty sure that I'd seen it in the closet, here in the bedroom. I owed Xander a thank you for finding the rucksack and bringing it here.

Preferring to work outside I read through the information that I'd found on the Peralta family to familiarize myself with what I already knew. What I'd printed out was a summary, so I knew that I needed to do a more in depth search on each of the men. I was using a laptop provided by Zander and decided to start with the father Albert Peralta. I input his details into the program and watched as the screen began to scroll down as the information was collated. It was going to take some time to sift through everything and as this was me, I hit the print button at the end.

It was as I saved the file that I groaned to myself because I had no idea where the printer was, so on a whim I did the same for a search on Trevor and then Lawrence.

"Beautiful, I think these must belong to you"

Turning I saw Les holding out a lot of paper for me to take hold of.

"Thanks Les, I didn't realize there'd be so many sheets of paper"

"I brought you these as well"

I smiled up at Les as he handed me a set of highlighter pens grateful that he knew me so well. Even as he retreated, I had started to read and became totally engrossed in the history of Albert Peralta. He'd been born in New York City 1910 a childhood full of events that I'd only read about. The sinking of the Titanic and production of Ford cars. The start of World War 1 and when women were given the vote. Albert had avoided conscription through medical grounds, as he had suffered badly with asthma as a child.

After attending Yale University to study law, he'd completed his supervised practice and applied for an Unrestricted Practicing Certificate which then enabled him to work independently as a lawyer.

I suppose that he was in the right place at the right time and took on who he thought were the right people. Being a smart young lawyer he'd set up his own practice, Peralta Legal, Headquartered in New York. That was where the American Mafia got its start in the '20s and hit its peak during the '40s and '50s. Throughout that time, the mobsters ran a brutal, bloody, and illegal operation, mostly under the radar and when they were arrested Albert was there to literally bail them out and have their arrests overturned.

His cases were too numerous to go through each and every one of them, so I continued down to his personal life. Albert had married his childhood sweetheart and had provided him with a son, Trevor, but fate dealt a heavy blow when she died during childbirth. He'd married five years later to a woman ten years his junior, who was an up and coming performer on Broadway. Lawrence was born a year later but I assume because Trevor was sent away to a private school the two brothers never had a chance to form any brotherly attachment and no doubt Lawrence being the baby of the family was spoilt by the new mother. Albert had continued working and from the suggestions in his search had various mistresses, but he had always stayed married to his wife. He was killed at the age of 59, shot on the steps of the courthouse. The culprit was the father of a young man who had been killed by an enforcer for the Mafia, and Albert had just secured that man's release.

I paused as I looked at the highlighted areas on the papers. Okay, Albert had some serious clients that he took on, but one had stood out for me. He wasn't the usual client that Albert worked with and only ever seemed to be involved with petty thefts. Maybe the two of them had a strange friendship going because Samuel Chiconi was appointed executor of Albert's will.

The sun was beginning to slowly sink, and it wasn't as warm outside as it had been. Taking that as a good time to stop I replaced the papers into a file then took everything inside. I was really curious what anyone else had been up to because the house seemed unusually quiet. With the file and laptop on the coffee table I wandered into the kitchen curious with what we might be having for dinner. I'd just opened the fridge and was looking inside when I heard footsteps behind me so turned seeing Ranger carrying a box.

"Chinese takeaway. I thought that everyone would appreciate not having to cook"

Putting the box onto the table, I had to admit that smelling the aroma made me feel very hungry. Then I wondered how he'd managed to get the food here.

"How did you manage this?"

I started to find plates and cutlery and place them onto the table while Ranger walked over to the door to the annex.

"Meals ready"

It didn't go unnoticed by me that he hadn't answered my question, but I could wait because I was soon surrounded by some very hungry people so didn't want to miss out on my favorites. It was after everyone had finished eating that I realized we were going to be having an impromptu meeting