Dawn Tracy
The characters you recognize belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just borrowing them for fun and pleasure.
Rating: R
Spoilers: HS through EOT,
CHAPTER TWONow I was kind of glad I forgot to check my mail last night. This would have really freaked me out. I was no stranger to threatening letters. But usually the authors broke into my apartment to leave them, or my car. How very polite of this person to send this in the mail. They must have time on their hands. I thought of my Explorer blowing up and an icy chill went through me. Why would someone mail me this? And what did Ranger have to do with it? Maybe the Explorer wasn't connected at all. It could be a coincidence.
I called Ranger even though it wasn't even seven in the morning. I left him a message. I tried not to think about the possibility of him still being in bed. Naked. Oh I really was obsessed with sex. Even when I get a strange, possibly threatening letter I'm thinking about it. It's not even eight in the morning and I'm thinking about doing the nasty. Jeez. Maybe there's something wrong with me. Could be I have a hormonal imbalance. I think I should eat more donuts.
Ranger called back five minutes later. "You're up early. Going running?"
"Not even close. I got something interesting in the mail that you should see, and I need a ride to work. I know how early it is." Okay so I was babbling a little.
"I'll be there in twenty."
I drank a cup of coffee and ate a pop tart. Breaking off a corner for Rex, I tossed that and a couple of grapes into his bowl. He scurried out of his soup can and chose the pop tart first. My hamster knows how to eat. After I ate I went back to work on my appearance. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, swabbed on some mascara and I was thinking about lipstick versus lip-gloss when I heard Ranger opening the locks.
"Good Morning." I greeted him after making quick work of the lip-gloss. Damn he looks good in the morning. I'll bet he didn't have trouble sleeping last night. "I got this in the mail." I handed the envelope to him.
"You got this yesterday? Why didn't you call me last night?" His face remained expressionless as he opened up the contents.
"I just checked my mail this morning. Does it mean anything to you?"
Still he said nothing while he flipped through the photos and looked at the letter and the envelope.
"Nothing jumps out." He said finally.
"Do you think we should call the police?"
"No. There's nothing to report. Just pictures."
"You didn't get anything in the mail like this?"
"No."
"Do you recognize where the pictures are taken?" I asked. I'd get something out of him yet.
"It looks like they are all taken at the Morrison Center. We work the night shift there doing security watching the property. It's under construction."
"All three photos were taken at the same place?"
"Yeah."
"Can you think of anything you're involved in that someone would send you something like this?"
Ranger just gave me a look. A look that said you're kidding right?
"Are you almost ready to go?" He asked me.
Ranger drove to the office in his zone. At the offices he disappeared with the letter and photos and I went to my desk and started working. If Ranger was concerned about them he didn't mention it to me again. I went on with my work like normal. Well, almost like normal. I did keep thinking about the letter, the photos, and the Explorer exploding, and about Morelli thinking I wasn't fit to take care of Bob. But it didn't interfere with my work, at least not much. I completed all the searches in my in box by the time I was ready for lunch.
I grabbed a turkey sandwich, and a bottle of water and decided to do a little personal web surfing while I ate. I glanced over at the control room and I noticed that the men were unusually tense. Tank held his cell phone to his ear and Cal and Junior were watching both him and the monitors anxiously. I wondered if perhaps there was a break in at one of the accounts. It would be bold for a burglar to strike in the afternoon. Tank said something to the other men and rushed out of the room.
I guess I am a Burg girl at heart. I see something going on and I have to find out what it is all about. Nothing gets past me. Well almost nothing.
I walked over to the control room and boldly asked. "What's going on?"
Cal and Junior exchanged a glance that said that they had been through worse than what I could put them through.
Cal answered. "Hal found a body in his vehicle."
Omigod. "Oh no. Who is it?"
"We don't know. The police are looking into it. Ranger and Tank already met him there." That might actually be the longest string of words that Cal ever said to me. He looks like he might regret saying them.
"Where is he?" I wanted to know.
"Job site. Morrison Center."
"You mean he was working?"
"Went to pick up something."
Now all I could think about were the photos. Would the person who sent the photos put a body in Tank and Ranger's vehicles or blow them up? Was this person actually following all of us? Oh God what a thought. I would much rather be thinking about choosing between say butterscotch or peanut butter Tastykakes.
I stayed and listened to the police scanner for a while. I looked at the monitors but it was hard to make anything out I recognized. I saw police cars in a parking lot on a couple of monitors. There were offices, entrances, and alleyways. I was familiar enough with the scene of a crime to know that it would take quite a while to get everyone's statement and clear the evidence.
They assured me there was nothing I could do to help, so I returned to my desk. I found no new search requests in my box so I decided to search for the Morrison Center. The building used to be a medical center. It housed doctor's offices, x-ray labs, and clinics, that sort of thing. Located off of Clinton St, the neighborhood was like a war zone. The clients were mostly those who didn't have insurance or money. There was a fire that destroyed the fairly delicate integrity of the building and the building had to be condemned twelve years ago. The property was now in the process of being remodeled. According to several newspaper articles the contracts for various aspects of the services took over two years to come up for bidding. The work just began three months ago. There were many disputes over who landed the contracts. I printed out some articles that involved companies bad-mouthing other companies or city officials. I kept looking for other articles about the site and found a couple from a year ago about a man selling arrested at the site for selling stolen computer equipment. He was allegedly part of a crime ring that operated in the area. I found a couple of other similar articles.
Frederick Rodriguez put in two searches. I worked on those and completed them just as Ranger and Tank returned. They went to the control room and talked to Ram and Eddie who were now working.
I felt Ranger before I saw him. The skin on my back and neck felt warm and something in my stomach started to tingle. I looked up and he was standing beside my desk
"Hal is okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's fine." His dark eyes looked me over and I wondered if he knew he made my insides all tingly.
"Do you know whose body it is?"
"Kid named Cesar Hugas." Ranger answered.
"Did you know him?"
"By sight. I chased him off the property for dealing. Never knew his name." Ranger did not seemed disturbed. But not much fazed him.
"Do you think he had anything to do with the letter?"
"There has to be more to it. I can't see a kid like that taking pictures and being able to connect you to me. He was 17, spent his days on the street. Was a Slayer."
"Do you think it was gang related?"
"Could be. There was another Slayer murder about a month ago. Right before we started working there. The situation was different. Man was shot behind the building in the middle of the night. Snipers were on the roof of the building. They got past security."
"Do you think the two killings are related?" Gang members probably killed each other all the time. But did they have to leave the bodies of their victims in cars of people I knew?
"Hard to say."
"What was the name of the Slayer who was killed?"
"Kevin Gorham. They called him the Axeman."
"He was local?"
"Yeah."
Knowing Ranger he knew more than he was saying. Ranger dispensed information on a need to know basis. I often practiced my questioning skills on him. He didn't always like this. But I usually got answers out of him if I asked the right questions.
This was a disgusting thing to want to know, but I did want to know. "Did they kill Cesar Hugas before they put him in the Explorer or was he killed in the vehicle?"
"It looked like he was dead for a while, I think they killed him first. Hal was only there for thirty minutes."
I'm sure there were plenty of graphic details he wasn't sharing with me. I could be spared the rest of that story. I decided to go onto different questioning.
"So that means someone was watching Hal."
"Or the property."
"Or both." I pondered. The thought was sobering.
"Yeah." He looked at me. "Have you thought about leaving your apartment? Staying here or somewhere safer than your place."
Actually I was thinking more about Boston Crème Donuts. They were safe. After work I would buy an entire dozen. Or maybe I would buy an assortment of different types of donuts. But at least half of them would be Boston Cremes. I probably couldn't eat an entire dozen. But in the place of sex I could gorge myself trying to.
"I'm fine at my apartment. The letter was directed at you and your men. I was just intended to give you the message that's all. The person even mailed the letter. How polite is that? You know, I've never received a threatening letter in the mail. They always break into my apartment or my car. I don't think who ever it is intends me any harm. I think I'll be perfectly safe."
Ranger's expression was somewhere between amused and annoyed. The corners of his mouth twitched. "This started with your Explorer blowing up. Did you forget already?"
"We don't know that is related." I countered.
Ranger stood silent for a minute. Obviously trying to decide if arguing further with me was worth the effort. "Do you want to have dinner upstairs with me? I'll drive you to your apartment after. I'm working later tonight."
"I could go for dinner, but I was actually thinking of donuts." Maybe if I didn't look at his bedroom I would be okay. Probably I shouldn't think about his bedroom either.
"I'll take you for donuts later on the way to your apartment." He offered.
"I'll hold you to that."
We went upstairs and I disappeared into the bathroom while he called Ella and told her I would be there for dinner.
I showed Ranger the articles about the Morrison Center.
"I did a search today on the Morrison Center and found some newspaper articles about disputes over the contracts for the construction that's going on. Were you involved in any of those disputes?"
Ella brought in a tray with covered plates. "Hi Stephanie. It's nice to see you."
"Hi Ella." I always felt a little awkward around Ella. She made me feel like she was someone's mother.
"Do you want me to set the table?" Ella offered.
"No just leave everything in the kitchen." Ranger told her. His attention was on the articles but he smiled at Ella briefly. "Thank you."
I followed Ranger into the kitchen.
"We are a subcontractor at the Morrison Center. A couple of the main contractors tried to make the rules harder for subcontractors but they did not overcome the city in the end. That all happened before we started working there. A friend of mine Jude Ames owns Ames Security and they hold the contract. The city owns the Morrison Center and they are issuing the contracts."
"Why does Ames need a subcontractor?" I wanted to know.
"They don't have enough man power. The Morrison Center is a challenging site."
"What is challenging about it?"
"The building was left to ruin for the past twelve years. It is not a safe neighborhood. It has become a stomping ground for all types of dealers. The gangs did stay out of that immediate area until recently."
"I thought they were remodeling that building. It used to be a Medical building."
"It is being remodeled. Construction started four months ago."
"So you're saying it's your job to stop the dealers from doing this on the property?" I asked.
"Exactly."
"Are they drug dealers?"
"Everything from drugs, guns, and anything else they can get their hands on."
"The police let this happen?"
"They catch some deals here and there. But the small stuff probably isn't worth their time in that neighborhood. "
"So how difficult has it been to work at this place?"
"In the past three months I've had six men knifed bad enough to need stitches and three shot."
Omigod. "Why don't you stop working there?"
"Jude is Tank's brother in law. He's in a bad spot trying to hold this together." No kidding there.
" Is this like some kind of macho thing?"
"What do you mean?"
"You find the most dangerous place as you can in Trenton and make sure to work there."
"That's not the most dangerous place. And we're only doing this until the end of the year. Jude is going to have to come up with another option or get out of the contract. We're starting another contract in February and I want to be ready for that."
"Why did Jude take the contract?"
"Jude is a good guy. I think he did not know what he was getting into. He's a little out of touch. He's been doing corporate security for almost ten years. He's good at what he does, but he doesn't know what's going on out on the street." Ranger sipped on his water. "There was supposed to be more support from the city in terms of police, and Jude's contract was supposed to be for twice the man power. I think the city really did a bait and switch on Jude and he didn't catch it. He trusted himself to read the contract and he signed it. Now he's stuck."
"They changed the terms of the contract you mean?"
"Yeah. Ames gets the increased manpower when the Center is fully operational, but until then he works at half power. Now is when there's equipment going in and out and the building is very vulnerable. They were thinking of cost cutting when they should have been thinking about security. Jude saw the number at the end of the contract but not the first number and he signed it. He should have shown the contract to his lawyer or someone in his company."
"Is that what you do?"
"My business manager reviews all my contracts. That's what he's paid for. I have my lawyer look at certain contracts also. "
"It seems like a shame that the men are getting hurt because Jude signed a bad contract. Maybe he should just get out of it."
"It might come to that."
"It seems like the letter and the murder relate to the Morrison Center, and Rangeman is working there, but beyond that I can't see a connection can you?" I thought out loud.
"I'm working on a few ideas."
"Care to share them?"
"Tomorrow." Ranger leaned over and kissed me.