Ch. 4
Meanwhile…back at the station…
Joe was stalking around the office again, just as he had been for the last few days. Five if he was counting correctly. He was in a foul mood. Unofficially, everybody knew that Joe had set his wife up in a safehouse, although nobody knew where. Joe wasn't telling anybody anything. Despite the fact that the Captain wanted Joe to have nothing to do with the case, Joe had single-handedly taken over and was now insisting on handling all the details himself. When the desk phone rang, Joe quickly answered it. "Morelli here," he growled into the phone.
"Ah, Mr. Morelli, just the person I wanted to speak with," came the voice over the phone. Joe silently motioned for one of the officers to turn on the tracing equipment. "My guess is you're attempting to trace this call so I'm going to keep this brief. You took my son from me, now I have plans to take someone who is precious to you. I'm going to hang up now. But, before I do, I'll give you something to think about. I'm closer than you know." The line went dead and Joe dropped the phone into the cradle and his head into his hands. He knew the call hadn't lasted long enough to be traced and days' worth of suppressed rage boiled to the surface. He cursed and shoved the phone next to him off the desk.
"I'm going outside for some air," Joe called to the other officers in the room. "I'll be out back in the lot. If this idiot calls again, I am to be retrieved immediately. Got that?" All officers present nodded their agreement, too wary to speak.
In the lot, Joe pulled some fresh air into his lungs, trying to calm his frayed nerves. Joe thought about Steph, knowing she was probably going crazy already. Joe hated this, hated that it was his fault. The least he could do is call Ranger and update him on the development so Ranger could offer Steph some assurance in turn. Joe pulled out his cell phone and dialed Ranger's number.
Ranger recognized the number on the display. "Hello," he said, keeping his greeting innocuous enough to conceal his identity.
"Pino's? I'd like to order some take-out."
"Sorry, but you have the wrong number," Ranger mumbled into the phone, and then quickly terminated the call. But he had gotten the message loud and clear. He was to go to Pino's and order take-out and there he'd find Morelli.
Arriving at Pino's several minutes later, Ranger immediately spotted Joe at the bar. He sauntered to the bar himself, putting several patrons between him and Joe. After placing an order, he slowly made his way to the back to wait. A few minutes later, Joe joined him.
"Contact's been made."
"And?"
"And I'm positive that we were right about the target. But there's still no lead on a location for the jerk," Joe said tensely. "Just…
"I got it. Not to worry." Joe nodded his head. He wanted to ask about Steph, to find out how she was coping through all this. But it was safest not to prolong the conversation, so instead he walked off in the opposite direction before anyone connected him with Ranger. He was feeling worse than he could ever remember feeling before. Steph was a bigger part of him than he may have ever realized until now, and feeling helpless to help her was not sitting well with him. Joe decided to return to the station. He was determined to do something to get a break on this situation, even though at the moment he had no idea what that might be.