Chapter 20
I was suddenly being lifted out of the crate and held tight, totally unexpected by me and I felt such a fool when I realized that it was Ranger.
"Hey, it's over now. You were amazing Babe and I'm so proud of you"
I clung on tight wiping my face against his T-shirt trying to clear the tears from my cheeks. Of course he would make sure that nothing happened to me.
"We're in the clear and on our way. I need to catch a few hours sleep after all of the driving. Santos is up front if you want company. Or you can stay here with me"
Staying with him was very tempting until I saw where he was looking. No way was I going back in that crate.
"I think I've slept enough. Besides you need your sleep, so I'll go and annoy Les"
I waited until Ranger had laid down in the crate, surprised that it was big enough for him and took a look around me. I could feel the juddering below my feet coming from the engines and took in the metal round curves of the plane. There were windows but no seats which was obviously why Ranger had commandeered my crate. What there were though were huge nets attached to the sides and crates and boxes that were fastened to anchor points on the floor. It wasn't a large plane, but it seemed it was big enough, because as I turned toward the back of the plane there was what looked like a brand new Mercedes SUV. I had no idea why that would be on board other than transporting vehicles was part of the job that Torrez did.
Moving through the crates was harder than I thought it would be due to the movement of the plane, so I resorted to holding onto the edges of the crates until I reached an opening. I could see straight through and to where we were flying, the clouds below us and even glimpses of land. I had never been in the cockpit of a plane before so was looking forward to the experience. Stepping forward I could see two seats ahead of me where I presumed the pilot sat and noticed that Torrez and Les were talking, but wasn't close enough to hear what they were talking about. As I approached Les turned around and smiled at me, holding out his hand for me to take.
"Beautiful, may I introduce you to Torrez, pilot extraordinaire"
I smiled at Torrez, taking in his brown hair that was swept back from his face and pale grey eyes, his smile almost as contagious as Les's.
"Beautiful? I can see that, but is that a name that everyone calls you?"
I shook my head as all the names that people called me went through my head. Babe, Beautiful, Pumpkin, Bomber and White Girl were just a few. That didn't include the names I seemed to have attracted recently.
"Steph, is fine or Stephanie if you prefer"
Though Stephanie was usually the name my mother called me when she was annoyed with me. By now Les had stood up and pulled me down to sit in his vacant seat and he was leant back against the doorway.
"You okay Beautiful? No traumatized lizards?"
I was going to do as I usually did and stick my tongue out at Les but then remembered seeing the lizards doing just that.
"I think we all survived Les. Where are the lizards going?"
I asked Torrez wanting to change the subject and forget about having been locked in a crate.
"Private owners, some animal parks. There's always a call for exotic animals. Not my usual cargo, I'm only carrying those as a way to get in and out"
"I appreciate you doing that, thank you for helping"
That brought the smile back to his face before he looked forward to the dials in front of him.
"So where's the drop off Torrez?"
I looked from Les to Torrez not sure what Les was asking. The last time that phrase had been used was to describe how the guys had parachuted into the desert. Surely that wasn't what was planned now?
"I found an abandoned airfield up at Trentino- Alto Adige. It's a quiet area, not an easy run in but I'm sure with your skills you'll manage"
Maybe my mouth was open but before I said anything stupid, I closed it. From what Torrez had implied I wasn't counting on him landing that plane like a normal pilot.
Four hours later I was sat in the back of the Mercedes with Hector and Ram on either side of me. Ranger was in the passenger seat with Les behind the steering wheel revving up the engine. I was scared shitless and had Hector's hand in mine, I would have held onto Ram as well if my arm hadn't been in a sling. No, it wasn't that Les's driving scared me, on a road that was. It was thinking of how Les had explained how we were going to be landing, not the plane, but the car. Yeah, just like Fast and Furious, we were going to be dropping from the plane. Okay Torrez was going to be low to the ground so theoretically we wouldn't be falling far but as the plane was travelling at 150 miles per hour then that would be how fast we would be travelling when we hit the ground.
I closed my eyes at hearing the grinding sound as the rear floor started to descend, making the car tilt backwards. All we had to wait for now was the message from Torrez giving us the all clear. That happened sooner than I thought it would which had me opening my eyes to see the sides of the plane moving away from us and the ground coming towards us. Les managed the gears, brakes and steering while Ranger deployed a chute just as all four wheels hit the ground.
I felt myself being pushed back into the seat but as Les controlled the car's speed that pressure decreased until we pulled to a stop at the edge of the runway. I was watching as the plane increased its altitude and was disappearing into the horizon. My heart was beating like crazy as I heard Les shout out and bump fists with Ranger in the front and then he was driving the car at a sedate speed, back down the airfield. I was close to laughing as the feeling of relief flooded through me. Who knew that doing that would be such an adrenaline rush? Looking around now it certainly looked abandoned, cracked concrete with weeds growing through it and maybe some stones that could have come from buildings.
No one spoke as we travelled, me I was fascinated with the views of the mountains that surrounded us, the white caps as they glistened in the sunshine. Of course, being in the mountains meant that the roads were never straight, winding through the foothills and past some amazing looking houses. In some ways it reminded me of the place where Ranger had taken me by the lake for dinner.
We stopped after about an hour at a café by the side of the road. I wasn't the only one who was hungry, and I wasn't the only one who decided that today wasn't going to be a healthy day, well except for Ranger. He went with his usual salad but for me it was spaghetti with lots of Parmesan over the top. I didn't care that it was messy to eat because it tasted delicious. I even snagged a piece of Les's pizza I was that hungry and was sure that I drank a gallon of water. As I sat back and looked around at the guys, I felt so privileged and lucky to be sat here with them. No one could have such good friends than I had.
"You're quiet Babe"
I looked up to see Ranger watching me, really hoping that after all the trouble that I'd caused him, again, that he wasn't going to change the way he saw me.
"I was just thinking. How I always seem to find myself in trouble and how you and the guys always help me out. I'm not sure that I deserve to have such good friends"
I felt his hand take mine and squeeze it.
"Always Babe. What's happened recently isn't your fault"
I smiled at him saying that because that was usually the excuse that I would use, but this time he was right.
"I want to find out who else is involved and stop them. I know it isn't up to me, but I suppose I feel some responsibility. I was played and that really pisses me off. If you and the guys want to go home then I would understand, this isn't your problem"
"Not happening Babe. I spent a lot of time ignoring how I felt about you so I'm not leaving you now. These people are not going to get away with what they did to you"
I knew that with him I had a better chance of doing what I wanted and needed to do and felt more in love with the man who was prepared to stand by me.
"Men, Steph has said that if you feel that you want to return home then that's okay with her"
I was surprised when Ranger said that out loud to the guys but in a way, I was thankful that he had done, I would have found it hard to talk to them like that. I looked around the table as they looked at each other, as though each one was waiting for the other to answer.
"I'm with you Steph"
"Me too, Estefania"
"No one hurts one of us and gets away with it Beautiful"
I had tears in my eyes as I listened to their answers, they were going to stay and help, hell I was so grateful for them saying that because I knew with their help, we could put an end to whatever Dario was doing. As we made to leave the table I went to each man, one at a time, and kissed their cheek saying a thank you.
Ranger drove the next leg of the journey using the sat nav in the car for the last part. As he started to wind through narrow streets, I was curious as to where we were going not in the least surprised when we turned up a dirt track and stopped in front of a beautiful house. It seemed even now the guys knew what had to be done first, the car was unloaded of the rucksacks, and I followed them up the wooden steps onto a verandah that covered the front entrance. What I wasn't expecting was for the door to be flung wide open and to see Tank stood there.
"Tank?"
"Hell, Little Girl, it's good to see you"
I was lifted off my feet by Tank wincing as his enthusiastic hug caught my shoulder. As he put me back down on the floor, he gave me a strange look before he was suddenly talking, but not to me, to Ranger who was stood behind me.
"You never told me that she got hurt. What happened?"
Ranger had his hand to my back as he guided me into the house and as he made me sit down on a couch. Tank sat opposite me but never said a word, so I assumed that he was waiting for Ranger. Looking around I watched as Ranger walked back from a kitchen area with bottles of water. He patted my trousers where my tablets were, so I took out the bottle. As he started to unscrew the cap and then to break one in half, he started to explain to Tank what had happened.
"When I heard a message from Steph, I knew that she was in trouble. Where she was meant calling in a few favors, equipment and transport. We dropped into the desert in the middle of Saudi Arabia and had just arrived when the men hunting Steph turned up. Steph was hit in the shoulder by one of them"
I took the half tablet from Ranger's hand and swallowed it down with the water, watching and waiting for what Tank would say.
"How did you get out?"
"Ram called Torrez and he smuggled us out. All is not what it seems with the company that Steph got drawn into"
"I thought that they were family, relatives?"
They may be but there's a saying that suddenly made a lot of sense to me. You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends.
"Steph was tricked, taken to the home of a man who bought her, which was why I asked for that information and needed equipment brought here"
"You got away before, you know?"
I nodded my head not realizing that anyone would ask me that question or even want to know. I felt Ranger's arm go around my shoulder and somehow knew that he knew that nothing like that had happened.
"Steph did what she does best, she managed to escape"
"Thank god for that. So what's the plan Ranger?"
"We sleep and then in the morning we look at the research that you brought with you"
I almost laughed at the expression on Tank's face. I think he expected more details but to be honest I was more than happy with Ranger's suggestion. We left the room that we were in, that looked to be open plan with a kitchen, lounge area and dining section and made our way up the stairs. I wasn't sure where anyone was going to sleep and to me it seemed as though any rooms that were bedrooms were already occupied. A second flight of stairs led us into an enormous room that was under the roof.
"Babe, we really need to check your shoulder. Sit on the bed while I go get the kit"
While Ranger was gone, I found the bathroom and after using the toilet was just staring at the shower. That was something that I was in desperate need of.
"Babe?"
Returning to the bedroom I saw Ranger going through the bag that I knew held the medical supplies. I was soon sat on the bed wearing just my bra as he carefully began to remove the dressing. Of course it was on the back of my shoulder so I couldn't see what the damage was, only that it still hurt as Ranger removed the dressing.
"We used super glue to hold it together and it's worked well. It looks good Babe, no infection"
At least that was one less thing to worry about. I was so grateful when he put a waterproof dressing on it and smiled up to him. Now I could go get my shower.
"I'll rebandage it later"
As I stood up, I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek wanting to do so much more but knowing that the way my shoulder was it wouldn't be a good idea, and hadn't I said to myself that I wasn't going to jump straight into bed with him, to build up a relationship first. I might have thought that, but this was me and we all knew how weak I was when it came to Ranger.
"Your speed Babe, but only when your shoulder has heeled"
Did he know me that well? Obviously he did, or my face was telling him or did I just say that last bit out loud? Showering was both a luxury and a pain, literally. It felt good to lather my body and get rid of the sand and sweat but man, it took some doing with my shoulder hurting as it did. When I came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel Ranger was there to redress the wound and then helped me into a soft silky nightdress. I fell asleep feeling secure and safe in Ranger's arms, the warmth from his body and the feel of him close to me was like a balm to me and all thoughts and worries disappeared.
I knew as I woke that I was alone in the bed. I had a pillow under my arm where Ranger had been but the cool sheets next to me told me that he must have been up for a while. Sitting up I admired the room that we were in, the sun filtering between the drapes giving a warm feel to the room. The bed was enormous with a coral throw draped across the bottom over the white sheets, with that color accented in the cushions on a plain cream couch and rug spread over the wooden floor. I was surprised to see clothes draped over the arm of a chair wondering where they had come from, in fact as I took time to look at what I was wearing it hadn't occurred to me that it was new to me as well. Once I'd freshened up in the bathroom, I dressed in the cut off cotton trousers and matching cream T-shirt before going downstairs to find people, looping the sling around my shoulder. As I reached the next floor down all was quiet and any open doors that I passed showed immaculately tidy rooms.
Down in the main living area, that was empty as well but there was evidence of habitation from the hot pot of coffee in the machine and some choc au pains and fruit left on the table. I ate the choc au pain stood leant over the sink, knowing how messy the crumbs could be and then with full mug of coffee went in search of anyone. At the back of the living area, the doors were open that led out onto a verandah that overlooked a formal garden and then onto the views of the mountains in the distance. Hearing talking, I followed the sound and found another open door that led into another room. Maybe it was intended as a second lounge but from where I stood at the open door it appeared to have been transformed into a work area.
On a large table in the center of the room were three laptops and a printer and against one wall were several boards on easels, covered with papers.
"You're allowed inside Steph"
I jumped at hearing the voice behind me and then watched as two sets of eyes turned to look at me. I preceded Ram into the room wondering where Ranger and Tank were and walked over to the boards. Pinned up were names and faces that I recognized as I walked along the boards, but I also noticed that some were missing. I started back at the beginning reading the information that had been collected, surprised at the detail.
"Silvio did a lot of the research and sent it to Tank who brought it with him. What we need to do next is to analyze what we have and for you tell us who else we need to look at"
I nodded my head as Hector filled me in and went back to my reading starting with Gaia. Gaia Frusco nee Paulumi had been born in 1955 in Milan and currently resided in the home that had been in the family for generations. Her older husband had died five years ago from a head injury after an accidental fall in their home while doing renovations. It seemed that they hadn't started up the wedding venue business but the financials showed that Gaia was comfortable with a lump sum from her husband's insurance payout.
Her father, my grandfather's brother, Federico, had died 29 years ago from liver disease, at the age of 66. That reminded me that he had been my grandfather's twin, but I couldn't remember much about my grandfather because he had died when I was very small of a heart attack. Maybe that was where my father inherited his predisposition of a weaker heart.
I went back to Gaia, though there wasn't much of interest or importance to be found. That led me to Dario. Eldest son, after Gaia had experienced the trauma of two miscarriages. He was five years older than me at 39 and had also been born in Milan and lived at his parent's residence. At 19 he'd attended the university in Rome and studied law and after working in several law firms there he'd returned to Milan and was now a partner in the firm that he ran. It occurred to me that maybe we needed to look in more detail at his partners or even employees in case they were also involved with the trafficking, yeah, I'd decided that was what he had essentially done to me and was pretty sure that there had been other women in the past. There was mention of his new wife Chiara, nee Marrota, but as yet no one had done a search on her. Dario certainly earned a lot of money doing what he did but a note at the bottom of his financial record, offshore/ hidden accounts did have a question mark next to it. I assumed that Silvio had done that search so maybe he'd seen an inconsistency that he couldn't work out.
Next was Allegro, 37 years old with the same childhood background as Dario only Allegro had attended a university here in Milan and studied for a Business and Marketing degree. After obtaining her degree she'd worked at Lia Di Gregorio, a jewelry designer and producer while she also studied part time for a masters in Jewelry design at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan. She'd gone into business with Lucio eight years ago, but its success only came into its own four years ago. Her financials mirrored that with a very healthy income for the past four years.
A quick look at the financials for Scintillante seemed to show a company whose profits were healthy and had increased over the last four years. In other words, nothing to point to another source of income for either sibling which to be honest I didn't believe. I had the impression that Yaser had transferred money before to Dario so where was that?
I'd put off looking at the last search because reading about Bria made me feel saddened that she was now dead. I had so many blank spaces for Bria, especially on thinking of what she'd said to me. At the time none of it had made sense to me but I had a feeling that a normal search wouldn't fill the gaps or make sense of what she'd said. I looked at the photos that had been found, surprised that there was one of her that didn't look like a typically posed one. She looked young and had a natural beauty with little makeup on and an amazing smile on her face, her hair was tucked behind her ears, but she wasn't looking at the camera. To me it was a far better picture than the two from Scintillante's promotions. I was conscious of Hector stood behind me as I looked at Bria.
"Very difficult to find information on her while she worked for Scintillante and afterwards"
I turned to Hector wondering what he meant because there had to be information to be found. If there wasn't then that did raise concerns for me.
"There's no address for her since she started working for Scintillante. Her bank account showed payments going in from her modelling, but very little going out. Six weeks before she died, nothing"
That was strange because I would have thought that she would have taken advantage of her wage to rent somewhere for herself. Maybe she had stayed living with her parents or as an alternative she was living with the man who had got her pregnant and then threw her out. But where did she go after that? Tania had said that she'd found a new boyfriend so maybe she was living with him.
"Parents?"
I asked Hector, hoping that maybe that was the most logical explanation.
"No. There was only the mother and she died of a drug overdose years ago"
Which meant that Bria had had to survive on her own. So how had Scintillante come across her? I turned back to the search and found where Bria had been born and where she was raised as a child, reading Quarto Oggiaro, which to be honest meant nothing to me as I didn't know any of the areas of Milan. The name though sounded familiar, but I had no idea where from, maybe it was a stop on the underground? I definitely needed to find out more about Bria, no it was more than that, I had to find out more about Bria.
Walking along the board I was interested in what had been found out about Lucio. Of any of the people that I'd come across he was more aloof, as though he was trying to keep people away from him or trying to hide something. He was a year younger than Allegro and had been born in a town named Ubana which was south of Milan. He'd attended university in Rome, Istituto Europeo di Design completing a Masters in Communication and Marketing for Fashion. From there he'd moved to Milan and worked in various fashion houses before setting up the business with Allegro. From what Hector had found out he rarely visited his parents and was an only child, so what was that all about? Did he dislike them so much?
Then I saw it, the reason why he never went back home and the reason why he seemed so aloof. His partner was a 35 year old man named Niccolò. I couldn't understand why he would hide that; I mean I knew guys who were gay and they were open about their sexuality. It wasn't as though he worked in a male dominated workplace where he might be bullied, quite the opposite really. Then again maybe his parent's attitude had clouded his judgement on how people saw him, who knew? Reading on, Lucio presented as someone who had no hidden secrets, yeah, he spent his money on nice things, went to good restaurants bought expensive clothes. I had no feeling that he was a bad guy, for what that was worth.
"Who else do we need to find out about?"
I turned and looked at Hector, knowing there were more people that we needed to look at, the problem was that I didn't know their full names. I sat down and picked up a pen and a piece of paper and started to write down their names.
Lando the photographer for Scintillante , Enzo a policeman and Tomas maybe security at Scintillante and Tania, makeup artist. I added Tania because of what she'd said to me after Bria was shot. I'd leave those to Hector because I still wanted to find more about Bria.
"Can you get me into Facebook anonymously Hector?"
From Hector's smile he knew what I was up to and picked up a laptop from the table. If I didn't know better, then I'd say that Hector had already set that up for me as he handed me the laptop. I was aware that Les and Ram had put some papers into some files and stood up, stretching their arms above them.
"Where are the others?"
I asked Les, being very aware that Ranger wasn't here along with Tank.
"He relieved us on surveillance. He wants someone to keep watch on Dario. We're gonna hit the sack Beautiful, see you in a few hours, unless of course you feel the need to keep me company"
I ignored Les and watched as he and Ram left the room. I hadn't realized that any surveillance had been organized but I suppose knowing Ranger, he would want to know as much about Dario as he could, after all he was the one responsible for me being in Saudi Arabia. At the moment I also knew that me being seen by anyone would be a mistake, so I settled at the desk with the laptop and started to search for Bria Abano.
It wasn't hard to find her but from the messages that had been left it seemed that she hadn't been on the site since she started at Scintillante. I looked through her photos that seemed to be taken with friends around her usually in the evening and out on the streets or at a playground where older kids seemed to frequent. That was when I saw the photo of her that I'd seen before, she'd had it as her profile picture but then changed it to one with her friends.
I was intrigued with that photo because the quality was so much better than the others, which were probably taken on a phone. Lando came to my mind, maybe because he was the only person who I knew who was a photographer, but the style and composition, the lighting and how the photo captured Bria. Well to me it looked professional. A look at her friends didn't look to reveal anything so on a whim I clicked onto some of them.
It was the near the end of the list, well they were in alphabetical order, when I linked into Vosa that I found myself looking at Lando. It didn't prove anything though, only that Lando had photographed her. Hell, he spotted me at a wedding so why not find Bria out on the streets? I turned to Hector and showed him the screen with the photo and name.
"Your photographer. Good you have a name. I'll do a search on him"
A quick link into Lando Vosa's Facebook page showed nothing. No photos, no friends no messages, which was weird really, unless he'd deleted everything. Why would he do that? As a photographer I would have thought that he would have wanted to post some of his work.
That didn't leave me with much to do especially as I didn't have the other names for Tomas and Enzo so I decided that seeing as it was way past lunchtime then I'd prepare something for Hector and myself to eat. Don't laugh, I could throw some cold meat and bits of salad between two pieces of bread, so that was what I did. After placing a plate next to Hector, I took my lunch out onto the verandah to try and enjoy the feeling of being outside in the fresh air and sunshine. And maybe to think as well.
I wasn't sure if watching Dario would result in anything. He'd kept his distance from me right up until the last minute. The only way that we'd get anything was through his phone or computer but even then, he probably used a burn phone or a phone that wouldn't lead back to him. There had to be another way, but I was short on ideas. I went via the kitchen to wash my plate and take another pain killer and decided to see what Hector might have found. When I walked into the room, he was so focused on what he was doing that I decided not to disturb him so instead took the laptop back outside.
I surfed the net and then decided to see if there was any news on Scintillante's website, surprised when there was an announcement that their upcoming event in Rome had been changed slightly as Ania, in other words me, was unfortunately unavailable due her father's ill health. That did have me panicking slightly because as far as I knew he was safe at home. Something that I needed to ask Ranger was if he could check on him. After looking through their online site and what they were selling I decided to look at any news items, I think to see if there had been anything about Bria and her death.
Most of the papers that had any decent coverage published online every day. I just hoped that any stories covered were detailed and well researched rather than relying on just headlines. Bria had died on the Friday evening, so I started to look through the papers after that maybe hoping that a reporter had found out more than we had. I did find a report, but it was very sketchy on any details. All it said was that the model known for being one who had worked at Scintillante had been killed in an incident involving the discharge of a firearm. There was some information with regards to her being an inspiration to young girls but not a lot else. Maybe it was because I was reading an English version of the news that there was little detail.
I felt so frustrated at how little I could find and closed down the laptop. The only person that I knew who might know more was Tania. Could Tania be trusted? I felt that she could be, maybe it wasn't a lot to go on, but my gut was telling me that was the way to go. Placing the laptop on the floor I ate my sandwich and then rested my head back against the cushion.
It was the feel of soft kisses on my cheek that had me opening my eyes and I found myself looking into Ranger's beautiful brown eyes. I moved over in the lounger pleased when Ranger laid down next to me, okay it was a bit of a squash, but I wasn't complaining as his arms went around me and moved me so that I was laid across him.
"How did it go?"
Wanting to know if there was anything from watching Dario.
"Nothing. He went into work, looked to have spoken to clients and then at the end of the day went home to his wife. We checked the house out earlier after the wife left but it's clean. Nothing to suggest that he keeps anything there"
Damn, I knew it was early on in doing surveillance but somehow, I didn't think that we had much time before he was taking his next shipment to Yaser.
"I need to talk to young woman called Tania. I think she could give us some information on Bria"
Information that I was sure would be important.
"Are you sure you can trust her?"
I nodded my head, pretty certain of that but not sure at the moment how we could do it.
"Is she young and pretty, unattached?"
That had me frowning, I mean what did that have anything to do with it?
"Babe, Santos isn't called lover boy just for his witty comments"
Realization dawned on me as to what Ranger was implying. The thing was that I had no idea. Yes, she was young and pretty, but I didn't know if she had a boyfriend. She'd never mentioned having one but then we hadn't really talked about men, mainly because I wanted to avoid any conversation that would involve that subject. Hell, I wasn't even sure about any of the people that I'd met as to whether they were in a relationship. That was so not like me.
"I don't know but I can't see her letting someone pick her up like that. Besides she would never talk to him, I think she would talk to me though"
Ranger was silent, probably trying to work out how to tell me that that idea wouldn't be a sensible thing to do. Me, I was trying to figure out a way for it to happen.
"If we can find out where she lives and establish that she lives on her own, then I could be waiting for her when she went home"
Ranger's response to that was to pull my head down onto his shoulder while his fingers ran through my hair. I took that as a positive, seeing as he hadn't turned it down straight away. Maybe he was thinking of another way because so far, he seemed open to the idea of me talking to Tania. We laid quietly like that for an age, weird really for me, because I had no desire to spoil the quietness with small talk. It was Hector coming out from the office that had both Ranger and I looking up at him. He looked pleased with himself, which could only mean one thing.
"What have you found Hector?"
A nod of his head in the direction of the door was his only response so I attempted to move in order to sit up and then stand. Ranger beat me to it by getting to his feet in one fluid move with me still in his arms before he slowly lowered me to the ground. It seemed that we were both keen to see what Hector had found.
I was amazed when I walked into the room that a new board had been installed and it now had information for the names that I'd given to Hector that morning. Tomas Mele, Enzo Perreti, and Tania De Luca had now been added with information on each of them.
"That man Lando has very poor security on his sites. I hacked into his computer and found photographs from the wedding that you were at. It was easy to use the photographs to find the full names. That man"
"Is a creep"
I finished for Hector. He always seemed to be skulking around in the background, hiding behind his cameras and taking photographs.
"A lot more photos of the young women who attended than the men. There were no other photos on his system"
"So he has an offline computer"
Because I think that I might have worked out how Dario managed to ensnare his victims.
"If Lando finds women by taking photos of them and Dario likes them, then all they would have to do is to promise them a photoshoot and the promise to make them a model"
Would young women be so naive to go along with that? I suppose that I had been but then again, I was trusting the people around me who were related to me. Did Allegro have anything to do with it? I wasn't too sure, and it still begged the question as to how he found these women and earned their trust. Bria came to mind as I thought that. She'd basically been a kid struggling to make ends meet, to survive. She would have been street savvy and able to look after herself. So how had Lando come across her?
"Can you tie Lando to Dario?"
I asked to no one in particular, because they had to know each other well if they were both involved.
"Has Lando ever been arrested for having indecent photos?"
I was looking down the search that Hector had printed out, so disappointed that he didn't have any record for being arrested.
"Remember if he wasn't charged then there wouldn't be a permanent record kept"
I looked at Ranger as he said that because maybe he was thinking along the same lines as me.
"If he had a good lawyer who got him off the charges?"
I knew that what I was saying was supposition and maybe I was grasping at anything that might tie people together, but it was an angle to think about. How we could find out any evidence though would be very hard to do. I was about to move sideways to look at the information on Tania, but it seemed that Ranger had beaten me to it. He had the sheet in his hand and was opening up a laptop. I was hoping that he had seen something that would help for me to get to her and have our little talk.
An hour later everyone was sat around the table as Ranger shared reports around the room. Each man had read the searches on the main persons of interest and both teams gave a synopsis of their surveillance on Dario, so I was hoping that Ranger was ready to plan out our next move.
"Tania De Luca. Steph feels that she could know more about Bria so wants to talk to her"
"A bit risky. What if she's working with Dario?"
I shook my head at Les, I knew that he was only thinking of me and keeping me safe, but I was sure that she knew things.
"No. I'm pretty sure that she'd seen Bria recently and I know that she'll talk to me without giving me up"
I was just hoping that Ranger had included that in his plan.
"She lives in the Porta Romana district, 7 Via Crema on the top floor of an apartment block. It's a one bedroom apartment, open living and kitchen area. She lives alone, according to what Hector found. Hector, you and Ram check the building for security and then find somewhere to watch the front entrance from. Tank, you do the same for the rear but be aware that there are no fire escapes, it's quite an old building. Santos you'll be with us and keep guard on the hallway outside the apartment"
Which meant that Ranger would be with me inside. Okay, I could handle that because it might turn out that she had a boyfriend staying with her and Ranger could handle him. I could always make him stay in the living area while I talked to Tania if she felt intimidated by Ranger, though I had a feeling that she'd cope just fine with him.
