Chapter 22

1999 was the year that Jenson had left the firm and moved across the country. I quickly looked into some of the notes that I'd made on the Peralta family. That was when Trevor started to change the focus of his work and eventually closed down the New York office. Had Jenson been a victim of redundancy? Probably.

"No such thing as coincidence"

I said to myself and then jumped when I heard a voice behind me.

"There usually isn't, but it can happen"

I turned to see Ranger with his arms against the back of the couch, a slight smile on his face. Probably because he'd caught me unaware of his presence yet again. For some reason I wasn't feeling it when he was close to me, that tingle that I would get down my neck.

"The family, the one associated with grandma and that viewing. Well, it turns out that Jenson used to work with the older brother"

Ranger walked around the couch and lifting my legs sat down with my legs stretched back out over his knee. I got distracted for a moment when he began to knead my feet then realized that he was talking at the same time.

"It must have been a long time ago. Greg trusts him so I assume that he sees him as a good man"

Which was exactly my impression of Jenson as well. I went back to enjoying my feet being massaged but Ranger suddenly turning up and being so quiet started to unnerve me.

"What's come up? Have you learnt something new?"

"Ram sent me his report. Turns out that the gun that Crocker had in his possession was used in a murder over a year ago"

"So he was more violent than you thought?"

It was rare for Ranger to be wrong on something like that and I was sure that he'd be annoyed with himself. It was probably a good job that I hadn't had the chance to go after him because I wouldn't have known that he might use a gun. Joe had been lucky to get a shot in first before Crocker fired at him.

"No. That gun was used to kill a drug pusher and the man was caught and convicted. That gun was supposed to be in the evidence lock up awaiting to be picked up for it to be moved into the archives"

I had to work that through to fully understand exactly what Ranger had said and its implication. Not a lot of people had access to the evidence lock up and Crocker wouldn't have been one of them. Only a policeman, and one with the authority to enter the place could have removed it.

"So an officer took the gun and sold it on the street or"

Joe had stolen it and planted it on Crocker after he'd shot him. I wasn't sure what to think as that last scenario went through my head. Joe had really screwed up if that was what had happened, and it all came back to him trying to scare me into quitting my job, so I'd agree to settle down with him. I must have been totally insane to have ever got involved with Joe. But why would he do that? I was pretty damn sure that it had nothing to do with love. No one did something like that or treated someone that badly if he truly loved them.

"What now?"

Because somehow, I'd dragged Ranger into this mess with me and he wasn't the type of man to let Joe get away with something like that.

"I need to go back to Trenton"

I closed my eyes as I heard that because even though I knew that would be his answer I didn't want him to leave me.

"When are you leaving?"

"This evening. The jet should only take an hour and a half so I can get things moving first thing in the morning"

I had no idea what Ranger had in mind because whilst he had the evidence of where the gun had come from it still didn't prove that Joe had set Crocker up to set fire to my car.

"I want you to come with me Babe"

Now I was staring at him, all thought of my feet being massaged disappearing. Was he mad, how did he think that I could go back there?

"Maybe it's time to face your demons, Babe. You can't keep hiding from them. You had nothing to do with the death of your grandmother and going back and helping to prove that will free you"

I opened my mouth to argue then closed it as I considered what he'd said. Was he right? I knew now that I had no reason to feel guilty even after what everyone had said. Could I just disappear again and start somewhere else knowing that only I knew the truth? I wanted choices, a choice on how and where I lived, would going back to Trenton allow me to choose what I did next? Facing Joe wasn't high on my priorities but neither did I want Joe to think that he could control me either. He'd win in a perverted way.

"Okay"

I was slowly drawn into his chest, his arms surrounding me as I heard the words that I had really missed.

"Proud of you Babe. We'll work everything out but remember that there's someone looking for you, so we need to figure out who that is and why"

I suppose it meant that the men here from Rangeman would be going back as well and I wasn't naive enough to ignore the fact that someone had been looking for me and probably still were. I still had no ideas on why, only that it meant that I'd possibly be in danger of being found. The safest place that I knew of was Rangeman.

I was quiet during lunch and fortunately no one pushed me to talk. Going through my head were all the reasons for not wanting to go back to Trenton. Could I face those voices and faces that haunted me in my dreams, my mother, father, Val and Joe. Then there was Mary Lou. She'd been my best friend forever, since we went to school together. I'd always been able to rely on her but after grandma died, she believed what was being said. She never came to see me, that I knew of, and ignored me at the funeral, turning her back on me when I was so desperate for a friend.

"Annie?"

I looked up realizing that I hadn't eaten very much to see Xander sat next to me.

"I know that this is going to be hard for you, but you deserve for people to know the truth, to be able to stand up for yourself and tell them what you think of them. You owe your grandma justice"

It was him referring to my grandma that jolted me. I'd never even considered that I needed to do this for her. It wasn't revenge or payback for what I'd been put through that was important it was finding out who had killed her and making them responsible for that action. So, okay I'd go back for her, to seek out justice for her, after all no one could do worse than what they'd already done to me and when it was over then I could choose to disappear again if I wanted to.

Xander had left me with my thoughts, maybe he actually knew me too well and what to say to me. Knowing his story, he probably had a lot of regrets with no way of going back and putting them right and yeah, I would probably always regret it if I didn't go back.

I spent time sorting out the papers that I had into files and with the laptop pushed them into my rucksack. I'd found a note on the bed from Ranger when I'd gone to the bedroom to pack explaining that he was arranging our return to Trenton and speaking with Greg so would meet up with me at the airport. It also said that there were clothes for me at Rangeman so not to pack anything. The clothes in the closet would be packed up and shipped over to Trenton, making sure that there was no trail to follow. I wasn't sure how to feel about that, I suppose grateful that he'd even thought about it because I owned very few possessions now. I hadn't even considered what had happened to my apartment or the contents.

I rode in a blue SUV with Hector, Bobby and Zander. Ranger and Les would be meeting us at the airport so maybe they'd visited Greg at his office. I was surprised that we didn't follow the main directions for the airport but on remembering that Ranger had said something about arranging a jet wasn't surprised when we drove in through a private entry. The car drove right up to the steps of a small sleek silver jet. I suppose the reality of what I'd agreed to do hit me then as I stared out of the window. My door opening surprised me so before getting out I made sure that my jacket was fastened up before pulling up the hood. I took hold of Bobby's hand as helped me and then stood and watched as another blue SUV pulled up in front of us.

Ranger and Les got out along with another man who I didn't recognize so I watched interested in where he would be going. He got into the driver's seat of the car that we'd arrived in and as Bobby led me to the steps leading up to the plane I watched as both cars drove away. It was Ranger who walked behind me as I took one step at a time through the open door into the plane. I hesitated as I looked down the plane before I felt Ranger's hand on my back pushing me forward.

He led me past double leather seats toward the back of the plane and then turned me to sit down. I was in the center seat of three that curved around a low table. I had never imagined that the inside of the jet would be so luxurious. Soft, cream colored leather seats, dark grey carpet gave a feeling of opulence. Les sat down between me and the window as Ranger fastened a belt over my lap. Once done he lowered my hood before taking the seat on my other side.

I watched as Bobby lowered and engaged the outer door before feeling the engines vibrate around me. I wasn't too sure about this mode of transport, yeah, I still had a fear of flying especially in such a small plane. Surprisingly with not being able to see out of the window the forward movement of the plane was smooth. I was only aware that we were at the end of the runway when we came to halt and the engines started racing. I felt my hand being taken by Ranger preparing for what would be the take off.

It was fast, almost pushing me back into the seat and then as I looked up the plane we seemed to be at a steep angle.

"You can open your eyes Beautiful"

I hadn't realized that I'd closed them and seeing and feeling that we seemed to flying level I slowly released my tight grip on Ranger's hand. Les got up and disappeared but Ranger stayed where he was with some of the men coming to him and talking. I was glad of that because I wasn't quite ready to be left sat on my own. Les reappeared and placed a tray down on the table in front of me.

"Coffee, just as you like it and I even managed to pick up your favorites on my way to the airport"

I looked down at an assortment of doughnuts set out on a plate. I hadn't touched a doughnut since that fateful day when grandma had died. Lula's first stop on our way to collect our skip had been at the Tasty Pastry for a box full of assorted doughnuts. I looked up at Les as he stood there and knew that he was expecting me to say something.

"Thank you for thinking to do that Les"

I was glad that he disappeared because I didn't think that I could face eating one. I was glad of a distraction from Bobby who sat next to me and as he started to remove the gloves from my hands. He very gently rubbed some lotion onto the burnt skin before he pinched a doughnut and disappeared. I was surprised that he hadn't said a word to me. I knew that the redness and irritation from them had lessened considerably. There would probably be scarring there and on my neck, but I felt more confident as the area on my lower cheek and jaw had become less noticeable. My hands, there would be worse scarring there but the lotion that Bobby had given to me was helping. Turning my hands over I flexed my fingers, noting that the tips of my fingers were damaged, probably from when I'd tried to release the seatbelt from the locking mechanism.

Ranger's hand moved over to mine as I looked down, gently rubbing his fingers over the damaged skin.

"If those still bother you then Bobby suggested looking at laser treatment once the skin had finished healing"

Did they bother me? I suppose that they must if I still wore the gloves, but I did that more so that other people wouldn't look and ask questions. I didn't say anything instead picking up the coffee and drinking it. After half an hour the doughnuts had all gone. Word must have got out that there were some on the plane so one by one the men who had been to speak with Ranger were leaving with one in their hands. Hopefully Les wouldn't notice that it hadn't been me who had eaten them.

As the plane began its decent that was when I started to feel a racing in the pit of my stomach. It had nothing to do with the plane landing, it was knowing that we were close to Trenton. By the time that the wheels touched the ground, and we were taxiing from the runway I was a nervous wreck. As I heard the release of seatbelts from those ahead of me, I just wanted to stay where I was and never move. It was Les who pushed me to my feet for me to follow Ranger down the aisle, so I took that opportunity to pull my gloves back on, tighten the coat around me and pull the hood back up. Maybe the men would think that I was trying to conceal who I was, but I knew that it was a way warding off the outside world away from me, of hiding.