Chapter 13:

Khari stared down the street toward the county morgue hoping that Aziza would come back. What had happened with her? Everything was great and suddenly it was all wrong. The slip of paper that she'd tossed on the table started to blow away and he grabbed it before it could fly off. He unfolded the paper and stared at the typewritten note.

TTA L175 14R-24L-12R-2L

Trenton Transit Authority was obvious. It was a locker number and combination. He wondered what sort of trap he would be heading into by going to the bus station. He flipped his phone open again and dialed Shiloh's number.

"Hey," she answered her voice husky. He kicked himself realizing that she had fallen back to sleep.

"Hi, Khari again. I'm gonna pick you up now if it's okay. I have a lead that I think we need to follow up on. I'm not sure what to expect and was thinking I may need some backup."

"What is it?" Shiloh asked hesitantly.

"A locker number and combination. Someone just dropped it with Dr. Houdra while I was getting coffee. Can you be ready in 20?" he asked.

"I'll be waiting," she responded before hanging up the phone. He flipped his phone shut and considered calling Joe. He decided that he was probably overreacting and headed for his SUV.

Shiloh's head fell to her hands and Bobby sat up next to her.

"What is it, baby?" he asked rubbing her bare back.

"I think I know what Lester did with the information he got when he followed us. Why the heck didn't you get it out of him? Why did you have to kill him like that?" Shiloh asked starting to hyperventilate. Bobby wrapped his arms around her and started rocking her. "What if he calls Joe - he will call Joe. We can hit Khari but we can't get them both, Bobby."

"If it's necessary I'll find a way. I told you that Lester was already dead when I got there. Why won't you believe that?" Bobby's eyes turned glassy. "Whoever did him did it just the way that I would have. It was beautiful and artistic. I wish you could have seen it. You would have loved how clean the cuts were."

"Let's remember, Bobby, that we're still in big trouble and that you're the only one who gets off on cutting people up." Shiloh made no move to hide her contempt. Bobby grabbed her shoulders and held tight bruising them. His eyes narrowed and he stared at her suspiciously.

"I love you, baby, but if I fall for this then so do you. You've been spending way too much time with Khari lately. Have you made him some promise?" Shiloh smiled seductively and ran a hand over his solid chest watching how pale her skin looked against his dark skin.

"No, Bobby. My only promise is to you. You deserve Ranger's business. Haven't I always told you that? He wasn't as business minded as he should have been. He turned down way too many jobs. He thought that they were immoral," she scoffed. "He didn't deserve to be in that position. You do. You'll be great at running Rangeman."

"We may have to change the name," he laughed.

"No, it's all reputation. It was bound to fall after Ranger," she coughed, "died so unexpectedly. We're only honoring the memory of our dear departed friend." She pushed herself off of the bed. "I've got to get ready. Follow us at a safe distance. Let's hope that Khari was dumb enough not to call anyone else." She picked a pair of jeans up off the floor and pulled them on.

"Shiloh?" Bobby asked lying back and enjoying watching Shiloh dress.

"Uh-huh?" she said as she dug in her drawer for a shirt.

"If I fall you go with me."

"Same here," she answered. She hopped on the bed and pulled him toward her trapping his mouth in a long kiss.

Joe sighed rubbing his face with his hands. Stephanie had sworn that she didn't know why Ranger would make a fake will naming her to inherit Rangeman. She didn't know why Ranger would leave her anything. He'd been her mentor and friend and nothing more. Joe wasn't sure of how much more he was willing to believe. He had gone easy with her because he loved and wanted to protect her but if she would lie to him on something so big he would never know when to believe her.

He stared at the e-mail he'd gotten through the police station website. The picture showed a black male that he didn't recognize. The man had his arm around Shiloh. What was he supposed to be seeing in the picture, he wondered.

"Cupcake?" he called. She came in from the living room. Her mouth had swollen from her refusal to stop talking and now she had no choice. She took one look at the picture and ran around the kitchen excitedly looking for pen and paper.

IT'S HIM! She wrote in big, block, letters.

"The guy?" Joe asked sitting up a bit straighter. "Do you know him?" She nodded and her curly hair bounced vigorously around her shoulders.

BOBBY - HE WORKS FOR RANGER. Joe dialed Khari's cellphone number. There was no answer. He shot a worried look at Stephanie.

"We need to find Khari and Shiloh now!" he said as he forwarded the message to Carl with a note explaining the situation.

Aziza was in a horrible mood when she returned to the morgue and noticed that Maria hadn't cataloged Baron Brown's personal effects. Aziza longed to fire Maria but knew that she couldn't as Maria was her sister, Amal's, niece. She pawed through the papers and general debris that had been found in his pockets. She found a datebook and idly leafed through it. For the 15th there was a notation that said 14:22:46 -Rman off. - S.P. She stared at it for a few moments. She did not want to call Khari but this could be something important to him.

She looked around to make sure that no one was watching and then photocopied the page. She continued to leaf through and noticed that there were other notations, one listing Job for L.S. trail S.P. She stared at the page thoughtfully and then copied all of the pages for that month which referred to S.P.

Once done Aziza slipped into her office and dialed Khari's number. No answer. She left a message asking him to call her and wondered if he would call her back in light of how much she'd freaked over the gun. He wanted her to understand him but he had to understand how many accidents she saw. She took a deep breath to calm herself. No reason to panic. Khari had been in the military. He must know how to handle himself.

Shiloh was waiting at the curb when Khari pulled up. He smiled as she slid into the passengers seat.

"Where to?" she asked turning her body toward him as she clipped her seatbelt on.

"TTA Locker 175," he said shifting the car into gear.

She smiled hoping that the tiny microphone hooked to her bra had transmitted Khari's words to Bobby.

Joe shook his head while he stared at Stephanie as they were stopped at a light.

"I just can't get my mind around it, Cupcake, why would Ranger tell his lawyer that you were demanding that he change his will if you weren't? It makes no sense." Stephanie shrugged. She looked miserable and a tear rolled down her cheek. She pointed at the phone. She had insisted before her mouth swelled too much for her to speak that Joe call Nico and talk to him again. He sighed.

"Okay. Put the phone on the cradle so we can use the speaker," he demanded. She did and he asked her to dial the number. The receptionist answered and put him through to Nico.

"Hey, man," Joe said. "I'm just wondering. Did Ranger ever indicate that Stephanie expected to be left Rangeman in exchange for sex?"

"Who?" Nico asked.

"Stephanie Plum," Joe answered.

"He never asked me to write a will in favor of Stephanie," Nico said sounding confused.

"What do you mean? You told me..." Joe began.

"I never told you Stephanie Plum. Steph is in the will but she's one of the little bequests he seems to have thrown all the people who worked for him. I have a list a mile long and I don't think I have a room big enough. Nah. The chick he needed the will for was named Shannon...Shelia...Sheri..." Nico faltered over the names. Realization washed over Joe?

"Shiloh?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yea! That's her, Shiloh. You really think someone killed him you should be hunting her down," Nico advised.

"I'm on it as we speak," Joe growled.