Chapter 21

It was after everyone had finished eating that I realized we were going to be having an impromptu meeting.

"I cannot trace the call that Mrs. Mazuur received. I'd say that the phone has had the battery removed or has been destroyed"

"What about Crocker's phone Hector?"

I rested my fork down quietly as I realized what Hector was talking about. That the phone used to call grandma was a dead end didn't surprise me, but that Hector was following up on Crocker's phone did.

"It was never switched off and is now in the evidence lock up at Trenton PD. I was able to track any numbers that it called or received a call from. One number is unexplainable, but again that phone may have the battery removed or it has been destroyed."

"Xander, any other ideas on how someone knew where you were?"

"I spoke with Greg"

Xander stopped and looked at me with an almost apologetic look on his face. Hell, I hoped that he hadn't suggested that the leak came from Greg.

"We discussed how someone would know that we were on that bus, and he told me that no one at the Atlanta office knew exactly who we were. Only that a man and woman were there to do some research on the trafficking issue that they were stumped on. He was the one to admit that Jenson and his daughter knew where we were and that we were heading up to Chicago"

Crap. I really didn't want it to be Jenson. Jenson had been the one to help me when I was at my lowest. Surely, he wouldn't betray me, would he? As for Anya, okay I had suspected that maybe the leak had come from her but had found out that she was calling her mother. Could her mother have something to do with looking for me? It just didn't make any sense. I couldn't understand why.

"He's heading back home to try and resolve that"

I suppose that Gregory would be the best person to do that though I wasn't too sure how strong the friendship was between him and Jenson.

"I paid a visit to the FBI office in Chicago"

Okay another comment out of the blue but this time I made no movement to show my surprise as I looked over to Ranger.

"I've spent a lot of time chasing Crocker, who he was, who his friends were and what he got up to. Everything that I learnt described him as a petty thief. An opportunist who pick pocketed or stole from shops. He fed a marijuana habit and was never known to be violent. Him breaking into a house and armed was out of character for him. So, I spoke to an agent who transferred here from Trenton, but who still has some pull back home. I suggested that the gun that Crocker had in his possession needed to be compared against any unsolved crimes"

I wasn't too sure where Ranger was going with this. What did it matter about the gun that he'd had?

"He arranged to liaise with Ram, for Ram to pick up the gun and then examine it. Ram has carried out forensic work for us when we've worked with the FBI before, so his results won't be questioned"

"I don't understand"

Just came from me because I didn't. Why was the gun important? Crocker could have got it from anywhere. Hell, most people that I knew carried a gun, well except for me. Then it suddenly came to me. Was it important to know where the gun had come from because then maybe if we knew who had given it to him then we'd have another clue? Except I possibly knew who had given him the gun, or at least planted it on him after he had died.

"Joe?"

I whispered so only Ranger could hear me. His response was to hold my hand tighter, meaning that was exactly what he was thinking and thinking about it made perfect sense.

"Santos did you set up what I asked?"

I turned to look at Les and watched as a grin spread across his face. It must be something devious for him to have that look.

"I spoke with Lula, man she's one pissed off woman. She's in with helping, anything to help Steph. Hal's picking up the mid level skips to help Vinnie out, so I told Lula to liaise with him. She's going to use her network, whoever they are, to try and keep an eye on Morelli. I know that we can't be seen following him or using trackers because we don't want him to know that we're on to him"

I was smiling knowing that Lula was getting involved and somehow, I just knew who her network of friends would be. She may not work the streets anymore, but those women were very loyal to each other.

"I had trouble ending the call because she wanted me to know what gossip was making the rounds. According to Morelli and Mrs. Plum, Beautiful here will come running back. They've said that she's scared to face up to the truth so it's only a matter of time before she realizes what she needs to do"

I know that Les was grinning as he repeated what Lula had told him and that Lula was only repeating what she'd heard, but I was so damned annoyed with everything that Joe and my mother were telling people.

"Beautiful, that was why she was mad. She knows the truth but she's keeping quiet. That way she hears more"

Les was serious now as he tried to placate me, but I was hoping that Lula would be okay. I knew her and how she lost her temper and said things in the heat of the moment.

"Hal will make sure that she's okay"

I wasn't so sure about that remembering how quiet Hal was. He may be a big guy, but he was one of the most sensitive of any of the Rangeman that I knew. Hadn't he believed me when I'd tricked him into giving me his stun gun? I just hoped that Lula took pity on him.

"Babe, did you get anywhere with your research?"

I'd almost forgotten about that because I still had so much to do.

"A work in progress. I'll do some more this evening"

Because I actually felt guilty that I hadn't managed to turn up anything of any importance.

"In fact, I'll get back to it now"

I ignored the look that Ranger gave me, because I had to feel as though I was contributing something. Everyone else was making so much progress in something that basically revolved around me.

I gathered the things that I needed and sat on the couch with my legs pulled up underneath me. The next person to look at was Trevor, the brother who'd died and whose viewing grandma had been to. I cringed as the story of what had happened came to me, though I was sure that hadn't been the worst of what she'd ever done. I shook my mind of those thoughts and started to read about Trevor. I knew most of his childhood from reading through his father's search and wasn't surprised that Trevor had gone to Hale university and studied law like his father.

He'd worked for a small firm of lawyers, which surprised me because I would have thought that he would have worked with his father. Trevor had only been 31 when his father had died, and it was shortly after that he'd taken on his father's business. He'd continued the business the same as his father, with some high profile cases to his name. It seemed that the man who had been a friend of his father, Samuel Chiconi, was also involved in Trevor's life as well.

I wasn't sure why, but during the late nineties it seemed that Trevor slowly began to drop his father's clients. He even closed down an office in New York and made Trenton his only office. Maybe he realized that his father might never have died had he chosen to defend a different type of client and the clients were becoming more difficult to defend. To cut off all ties to his previous business he operated under the new name Aperal Law. His new clients weren't as notorious but were still in the rich and famous category. He had married but with no children, in fact he'd retired, at sixty five. Maybe it was to look after his wife because she'd died not long after that from terminal cancer. He'd then spent the next few years travelling on his own and on return had lived a very reclusive life until he had died at the age of 83.

There were parts that I'd highlighted but mainly because I was interested. I was actually pleased that Trevor had shunned away from defending low level scum and wondered why he'd done that. It must have taken some strength of character to change his practice, to change out staff and reestablish himself as a respected lawyer.

Which left Lawrence. Looking at his photo I couldn't really see what had attracted my grandma to him, then again she always said that as long as they had all of their parts working then she wasn't too fussy. Time hadn't been kind to Lawrence, balding head and one of those men who thought sweeping a longer side growth over his crown would actually look good. He'd been born six years after Trevor and had attended the same private school as Trevor. The problem being that he was a little shit even then. He was expelled from three schools before he eventually buckled down and started to work within the education system.

He applied himself and did really well in examinations, even earning a place at university. He'd attained a business degree and had even managed to get a decent job in the city, then his father had died when he was only twenty five. That looked to be the catalyst for Lawrence. He set up his own business which had the police looking at him for scamming people though he got away with being charged because of insufficient evidence. It seemed that was when the rift between the brothers took on a whole new dimension and Lawrence was linked to some very shady dealings.

When he was fifty six his life seemed to quieten down and he moved out from the watchful eye of the police. There were even a few years when he and his brother actually communicated, so maybe he'd decided that he'd had enough of the high life and was getting too old with the possibility of being caught. Maybe he had been a harmless old man that grandma had met, and they'd decided to take advantage.

I wasn't buying that. Maybe grandma saw him as a potential honey but there was more to it than that, I just knew it. I set out all of the papers around me and looked for the threads that stood out for me.

Albert's death was a crucial time when change had happened and when I compared the next time when the brother's behaviors changed, I realized that it was when Samuel Chiconi had died. Were the two brothers so attached to Albert and Chiconi that their deaths had somehow influenced them? It was time to find out exactly who Samuel Chiconi had been.

I set up the search and laid down on the couch going through in my mind what I'd found out. I was struggling to see how any of them had anything to do with the reason for why grandma had died and yet I couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something important to discover.

I woke with a scream in my throat and the shadow of images in my mind. As I squeezed my eyes tighter, I was trying to get some control over my breathing. That was when I became aware of a warmth at my back and the comfort of being held.

"Breathe with me Babe, feel me taking in breaths and match yours to mine"

I could feel Ranger behind me, the movement of his chest as he breathed, so concentrated on trying to slow mine down.

"Good, you're doing well Babe"

I could feel his breaths against my cheek, warm and soft like a feather. Just that closeness comforted me, banished the memory of the voices and faces that seemed to haunt me in my sleep.

"I dreamt again, didn't I?"

Of course I had, that was why he was with me now. As I opened my eyes, I recognized that I was laid in bed in my room. I had no memory of going to bed.

"How am I here, my last memory was being in the living area"

"You fell asleep on the couch, so I brought you to bed"

I allowed myself to relax against him feeling totally calm now and surprisingly wide awake.

"I'm heading down to the gym, will you be okay?"

I nodded my head and moved forward allowing Ranger to move from behind me. I missed his warmth straight away and was suddenly overcome with such a strong emotion, one that I hadn't felt in such a long time. Maybe it was because he was supporting me, or maybe it was because he always seemed to know how I felt? His words had sounded so sincere and personal and had reached my heart. A heart that had forever locked away my true feelings for him.

I sighed because I knew that anything between us wasn't likely to happen. Hadn't he told me that, that he wasn't relationship material? It didn't stop those feelings from reemerging though. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the complicated relationship that I had with Ranger. There wasn't a relationship, I told myself, only a strong friendship. With that thought banished I was eager to start the day even if it was early. Feeling slightly stiff I laid on the floor to do some of the exercises that the hospital had made me do. I didn't want to go down to the gym but knew if I was to heal quickly then I had to stretch out the muscles damaged during my fall. Surprisingly I actually missed the walking and exercising that I'd started to do while staying with Jenson.

Dressed in jeans and a light sweater I headed through the dining area and kitchen feeling much more limber. The living areas were unusually quiet so I started the coffee machine and went in search of anyone who might be up. I was surprised to find both Xander and Hector working in the office area of the annex so was keen to know what they were up to, plus I had a favor to ask of Xander. Of course, it was Hector who turned to see me first, I would never have the skills to creep up on him.

"Angel, it's early for you"

Okay, so maybe that was one of the things that I'd never changed. I still usually slept until later in the morning. This morning though, I wasn't going to be giving my reasons for being up so early.

"I've been researching the Peralta family so have neglected some things that I should have been following up with. I was wondering if Xander could find me some information on Anya's mother?"

"Already done Annie. I guessed that you'd be curious about her, so I printed everything out for you that I could find"

I watched as Xander leant over and picked up a file, though I could swear that I saw Hector wink at him. My attention was drawn back to Xander and the file in his hand, though he wasn't good at hiding some concern from his face.

"Read it Annie, then we'll talk about it"

That had me worried that he'd seen something that he didn't understand or knew that I wouldn't like. I held that file to my chest as I left them, not daring to say a word. I was just hoping that whatever Xander had seen that he'd misread it or misinterpreted it. The couch became my go to place, somewhere I felt comfortable with the views beyond the glass. I was reluctant to even open the file but knew that I had to and even felt a stir of curiosity as to who Anya's mother was and why she was no longer with Jenson.

Her name had been Evelyn Morgan, born to a couple in New York City who had run a graphic design company, producing signs, cards and leaflets for other companies to use. Evelyn had taken the company into the electronic age through her studies at university. Then she had met and married a man named Jenson Wagner. She had continued to work until the birth of Anya in 1997 and then suddenly a year later they'd moved east to live in Hoquiam. They'd literally moved from one side of America to the other which had me wondering if Jenson's family had originally come from there.

There was very little while she lived there, she didn't work but then three years later she lost her unborn child, a son, in an accident. A stupid accident where she fell down the stairs at home. Evelyn had been six months pregnant, but it seemed that nothing could be done to save the baby. A look at Evelyn's medical record showed a succession of depression and two suicide attempts. I could understand how she felt that she was to blame and the emotional impact that she went through.

A year later Evelyn had disappeared never to be seen or heard from again. Her husband, Jenson, had done everything to find her but to no avail. She had been like I'd been, wanting to become a ghost and she'd done a very good job of it because even Xander couldn't find her. All we knew was that she was somewhere in New Jersey and that she was communicating with her daughter Anya. I wondered if Jenson knew that or even guessed it. Was it the memory of Evelyn disappearing that had him taking me in, hoping that someone, somewhere had done the same for her?

Xander had discovered that she'd not been in contact with her family or friends so I still wasn't sure of who she was or if knowing that would be important. It was as I turned to the next page that I suddenly became aware of what had worried Xander so much. He'd gone and done a search on Jenson. I wasn't sure that I wanted to read it because I wanted to keep the Jenson that I'd met. To me he was a kind and compassionate man who had helped me when I was at the lowest point in my life. He'd never asked for anything from me, not even information, yet gave everything.

We all had a past though, didn't we? Even me, and like me, there were people who wanted to forget their past and try to be better people. With that in mind I started to look through Jenson's past. I skimmed through his early life wanting to find what had Xander so worried. I found it, boy did I find it. Jenson Wagner had been employed by Peralta Legal working out of New York City. I could not believe it. How was it that I always ended up finding the wrong people? I took a few deep breaths to calm my annoyance down and think logically through this. Jenson didn't know who I was, he couldn't, could he? I knew that I hadn't told him anything. No details of names or places. Okay, I decided to continue reading noting that he'd worked there nearly thirty years ago, before relocating to Hoquiam. Surely enough time had passed that it was history.