Chapter 21
Two hours later I was walking hand in hand with Ranger down the street. I had fought with my hair to contain it underneath a straw fedora hat and was wearing copper tinted sunglasses that concealed the color of my eyes. Black jeans and grey jacket completed the outfit to give a nondescript look. Walking next to Ranger though there was nothing nondescript about him. He may have been wearing torn jeans and a loose black shirt, but I was sure that whatever he wore he would always look hot and sexy. We were both wearing mics on our jackets but only Ranger was wearing an earbud so even as we walked, I knew that he was listening to the other men.
Les had already entered the building and was going to be telling us when the stairs were clear so that we wouldn't be seen by any other residents. I wasn't too confident of that happening, given the number of floors that we had to climb but no doubt Ranger would have a plan for that. I knew that I didn't.
There were quite a few people on the sidewalk even though it was late in the evening, no doubt people returning to their homes after a meal or meeting up with friends, so it didn't feel that we were out of place, but I could sense that Ranger was very aware of who was around us. I felt Ranger let go of my hand before his arm came around my shoulder and stopped us in front of a boutique. The window showcased several outfits, from dresses to jeans and tops but it was what Ranger was looking at that attracted my attention, but one look and I was pushing him to continue walking along the street. Yeah, you guessed. The shop was obviously selling items from the Ania range, so my face had been staring back at me. To be honest I wasn't aware that shops would carry my photos for promotion, so that made me feel stupid and quite embarrassed.
"Babe, the photo in there, it shows who you are, how I see you. A woman with natural beauty, a love of life and a free spirit. Never be ashamed of who you are"
I didn't know what to say to that. I mean how could he see that, or even say that? I suppose there was no response to give because maybe that was how he saw me. Did other people see things about us that we didn't see in ourselves? An idea that was a bit too philosophical even for me. So instead of answering him I wrapped my arm around his waist and leaned up and kissed his cheek. I must have done the right thing because his lips were on my forehead.
"We have the all clear"
I heard whispered in my ear, so knew that we would be approaching the door that led inside to where Tania lived. Les had made sure that the door was unlocked and as the stairs were just inside, we were soon climbing from floor to floor. As we reached the fourth floor, I knew that I was lagging behind and was silently cursing myself for being out of breath. I may have changed what I ate but I was supposed to do exercise as well. Fate played her hand as I bent over on a landing when a door to an apartment above us opened and an elderly man started down the stairs. I found myself up against the wall with Ranger's leg between mine and his mouth plundering mine. I may have been shocked to start with, but I was totally overtaken with the heat that ignited between us. My hands were in his hair trying to pull him as close to me as possible, every part of me wanting more of him.
"Prendi una stanza"
Came from behind us at which Ranger pulled away and replied.
"Devo scaldarla all'idea prima"
I wasn't sure what had been said but listening I could only hear the sound of laughter disappearing down the stairs.
"What did he say?"
Because I couldn't understand why the man had been laughing.
"He told me to get a room, so I replied that I needed to warm you up to the idea first"
I wasn't sure that I should have asked but now that Ranger had moved away from me and there was the threat of being seen again we were soon back to climbing the stairs. At least I could blame Ranger now for me being so out of breath. I stood to the side of Tania's door while Ranger picked the lock. According to Tank the bedroom lights had been turned off half an hour ago so the rest of the apartment would be empty. Stepping inside after Ranger I almost bumped into his back as he scanned the room and then realized just how small the place was. It made my old apartment in Trenton feel spacious.
Now came the tricky part, getting Tania's attention without scaring her half to death. I tiptoed over to the bedroom door thankful for the small amount of light coming through the roof lights and then twisted the handle very slowly. The door swung open without a sound but as I stepped inside, I couldn't help it.
"Oh shit, I'm so sorry"
Came out of my mouth as I quickly shut the door. I closed my eyes trying to get rid of the scene that I'd walked into not surprised when the door opened behind me and Tania came out wearing a short white silky robe.
"Girl talk, Baby, you go to sleep"
Was what she said as she closed the bedroom door before she was suddenly lunging toward me and hugging me.
"You came back, I knew that you would"
Ranger had disappeared somewhere, so I was just stood with Tania looking at me.
"Why the hat and glasses? Are you trying to stay incognito? Yeah, I suppose with your photo everywhere it might be difficult moving around"
I took the hat and glasses off wondering why I had even bothered because obviously Tania recognized me straight away.
As Tania moved to the fridge, I took a seat at her small table and nodded my head when she held up a tin of coca cola. I hadn't had a soda since leaving Trenton.
"Is your father okay now?"
I suppose I should have expected her to ask that, after all that was what had been uploaded onto Scintillante's website, the problem I was having was whether to let her continue believing that.
"Talia, after Bria was shot"
"Oh carissima. It was not your fault"
I felt Tania take hold of my hand almost sighing as she misunderstood me.
"I know. Talia, you told me that she had a new boyfriend so something bad must have happened. Why did you say that?"
Talia frowned back at me making me worry that maybe I'd heard her wrong or even that she'd only said that to make me feel better.
"I knew that she was pregnant, when you work as closely with someone as I do, you notice the little things. She was feeling nauseous a lot of the time and her breasts were slightly larger. A few weeks after that she told me that the father had made her get rid of it, that he didn't want kids. She seemed to bounce back, told me it was over and that was when she just seemed to be dropped from the team. No one seemed to know why and Allegro and Lucio were furious, but I bumped into her at the Sunday market. She was with this guy and they were all over each other. Mario, my boyfriend, he was with me, so we went for a drink"
I saw Tania nod toward the bedroom thinking that she was referring to the man in her bed as Mario and was surprised when she got up from the table and walked over to it. A minute later she returned holding her phone and was showing me pictures of Bria and a man. She looked happy, they both did, so why had she left Scintillante?
"She made me promise not to tell anyone that I'd seen her, she seemed scared when she told me that. Said that she'd figured something out, but wouldn't tell me what it was"
Come on Tania she had to have more than that surely?
"Did she say what she was doing?"
Maybe that might give me a clue.
"She'd been helping out with some youth work in her old neighborhood, but I got the feeling from her boyfriend that he wasn't keen on her doing that"
Her old neighborhood had been Quarto Oggiaro, so why did I feel that the name was important, what the hell was I missing?
"Do you know who the father was?"
"No. It wasn't anyone at Scintillante. She said he was smart and successful and had an amazing apartment that they lived in. Bastardo, one minute she was living with him and the next minute he'd sold the place, just threw her out and told her he wanted nothing to do with her"
Which was what Bria had told me. I was a bit disheartened because I wasn't sure that we'd learnt very much when Tania suddenly sat up in her chair and her eyes went wide.
"Is he with you?"
I turned to where she was looking and saw Ranger walking toward us and smiled as he came and squatted down next to me.
"Yeah, he's mine"
"Wow. Are you a model?"
Another woman who was bested on first sight with his looks, though I knew exactly what she meant especially when he removed his clothes. Not going there, I said to myself as I focused back onto Talia. It was Ranger who asked the next question as she continued to look at him.
"Talia. Did you have a number for when Bria was with the man who she lived with, you know the father?"
I watched as she opened her phone and as she gave it to Ranger for him to see and was wondering if Hector could trace it back to the provider and then to the person who paid for the contract. That could work as long as it wasn't a burn phone.
"Have you seen her boyfriend Talia?"
"No. There was a small service but not many people were there, mainly the kids that she'd worked with, oh and Lando"
And there was that name again so why would he be there, though I suppose he could argue that he had known her. I looked to Ranger to see if he had any questions that he wanted to ask Tania, watching as he stood up and took my elbow.
"Talia, no one knows that Steph is back in Milan, and we need to keep it that way. Someone wants to hurt her. Can we trust you not to tell anyone?"
I watched Tania as Ranger told her that, as she frowned and then as she nodded her head.
"I'm off work for a week and we were heading down to meet Mario's parents, so I won't see anyone, let alone talk to anyone. Is this serious, is this to do with Bria?"
"Thank you, Tania"
I said as Ranger led me toward the door. As we slowly made our way down the stairs, I was busy trying to push my hair back into my hat thankful when Ranger stopped and tucked in the last few curls. I hadn't worn a sling for this excursion and my shoulder was definitely beginning to ache making me wonder how long it would be before I had more use of it. My arm was aching a bit so unconsciously I was rubbing it.
"Babe?"
I hadn't realized that Ranger had noticed me doing that and just shrugged as I gave him my answer.
"Everyone seems to have grabbed me by my arm. When someone broke into Allegro's apartment, Yaser's men"
It seemed such a stupid thing to be complaining about but was something else that was taking its time to heal. Maybe this getting older had something to do with it.
As we reached the front door I was held back while Ranger looked outside before we were walking across the sidewalk to the black Merc parked up waiting for us. Ram was driving with Hector sat beside him and as we pulled away, I saw another car stop behind us and Les get inside. I was just hoping that we could trust Tania, though from how she'd spoken and what she'd said nothing was causing my spidey senses to think otherwise.
"The bugs are planted so we should know if she calls anyone or talks. I also managed to clone her phone"
I looked at Ranger as he said that because I was unaware of that happening, then again this was Ranger that we were talking about, and he'd make sure that we covered all bases. While I acknowledged that if he'd done that to me that I'd be pissed off I was also pleased that he'd done it, maybe because it would clarify whether Tania was involved. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, well that was what I was telling myself. I snuggled up against Ranger as his arm came around me, the heat inside the car and the drone of the wheels on the road lulling me into sleep.
I woke aware of a change around me and realized that we'd parked up outside the house. I felt surprising awake but was glad of some help in getting down from the car. Once inside of course everyone went to the office as though there was something new to discuss. I was pretty sure that the guys had been listening to every word when we were inside Tania's apartment, but it seemed we still had to listen to the recording. Of course it had to be Les who raised the question of why I'd sworn out loud and judging from the smirk on his face I was pretty sure that he knew the reason.
"Beautiful why the, oh shit, I'm so sorry?"
Was I embarrassed? Yes, and to be honest it was a scene I wanted to wash from my memory. Bursting in on two people in the throes of passion wasn't what I'd expected and seeing what they were doing was reminiscent of some of the descriptions that Lula often tried to inflict on me. I did wonder if Tania was still wearing the leather G string and bustier underneath her robe when she was talking to us in the kitchen. Shit, it had left me feeling so frustrated, it seemed like forever since I'd last had an orgasm.
"I didn't realize that her boyfriend would be there"
Or at the sight of him behind Tania ready to do the deed, but Les was not going to be told that snippet of information. I was aware of the look that Ranger gave to Les so maybe he'd guessed some of what I'd seen but at least Les wasn't looking as if he expected me to say anymore. Once the recording finished, we left Hector to work on the phone, all of us aware that he needed some space to work.
Once upstairs in the bedroom and as I started to undress Ranger was there to help me.
"Dressing"
Was all I heard as he pulled me down to sit on the bed between his legs and felt as he gently pulled the dressing away from my shoulder.
"Well?"
Because I still hadn't really seen the damage that had been done because it had always been covered up.
"It's healing well Babe, maybe after tomorrow we can risk leaving a dressing off. How does it feel?"
That was a leading question but as I thought about it I knew I needed to be truthful. In the past I might have just said fine regardless of how something hurt.
"It can ache, but I think that's as much to do with not using my arm properly"
Having my arm immobilized was a real annoyance so I was hoping that he might suggest just a support from tomorrow. Feeling him press a new dressing onto my skin and his hands run down my arms I turned on the bed until I was kneeling and facing him.
"How about just a support sling instead of the other?"
Okay I tried to use a low sexy voice because I knew that I'd need to persuade him somehow, so what was wrong with doing that. Except that I must have pushed him slightly with my hands on his shoulders and I ended up on top of him as he fell back onto the bed. It was too tempting having my face so close to his, so my mouth was soon nibbling along his chin toward his mouth. Maybe it was how close we were laid together, who knows, but the kiss deepened, and my hormones took over. I was blatantly rubbing my hips against him and was well aware of the effect that had on him and on me. There was no way that I could fight it and everything that I'd told myself went out of the window. I wanted him, to feel him and experience that release that only he could satisfy. I moved my legs to either side of his, a move that didn't go unnoticed by him.
"Babe?"
My interpretation of that one word? Meant that he was worried at what I was doing and was aware of where I was taking this.
"My speed, remember?"
Was all I said as my hand pushed underneath his shirt and felt the taut smooth skin over his chest. I felt as his hand reached behind me and was suddenly tracing his fingers over the top of my panties and the moan that left his mouth. A touch and a taste as his mouth devoured my neck had every fiber of my body on edge and needing more. I wasn't sure what he was planning when he slowly sat up, his arms cradling me, taking my weight but I felt as he guided himself to the promised land and then slowly lowered me down. Panties, who cared, as long as they were out of the way. I sighed into his shoulder, my injured arm between us and my other around his neck as he supported my hips and continued to lower me.
Once fully inside I knew that I was so close to an orgasm, and it seemed that he was as well. Gone was the slow seductive build up to get to this point because after only a few thrusts I felt my muscles clenching around him and felt his final thrust before the pleasure burst throughout me.
As we lay there afterwards, I was thinking about how I felt about what I'd instigated. Was I annoyed or disappointed with myself? No, after all we'd been through together and what Ranger had said to me since being with him, I saw no point in holding back.
"Did I hurt you?"
"No. I know now that making love with you is a part of who we are, a part of what we share. Sorry, I didn't mean to rush things"
"Rush all you need Babe. Maybe it should be me who should be apologizing for going so fast, I missed you Babe, that intimacy, I lost control"
I raised my head to look at him wondering why he would say that. I mean he was a lover who could take his time and was the master at self control.
"The last time that I made love with anyone was with you"
I remembered that last time all too well, hell it seemed an age ago now and I suppose that it was, but what also occurred to me was that he was the last time for me as well. Joe had tried to get me back in his bed, or mine, but it never seemed to happen. I was too busy, or he was busy or for some reason I always made excuses or even tried to avoid it by starting an argument. How had I not seen that, been aware of what I was doing?
"Same here"
I mumbled not sure whether I should have admitted to that.
"Talk to me Babe"
I knew that I was biting my lip because I felt as Ranger used his thumb to tug it from between my teeth before he moved up the bed pulling me with him. It felt like he was getting us comfortable in order to hear me out which I have to admit was making me nervous. Then I realized what I'd just done and what I promised myself I wouldn't do.
"You are the only man that I've slept with outside of a relationship. Maybe that was why I was questioning myself. I've err, only ever slept with four men. After what happened when I was sixteen, when Joe took me behind the counter at the Tasty Pastry, well life was hard for me after that. What with my mother constantly watching me and then men constantly harassing me after reading Joe's poems that he wrote all over Trenton, I was very wary of anyone trying to get close to me. At college it was easier, no mother and no one from Trenton and I met a guy that I trusted. We were together for nearly a year, but he didn't see us as being serious"
Remembering that time brought sweet bitter memories. I suppose we sought each other out, two lonely people who were trying to fit in. Was I emotionally involved with him? Maybe, but I think saying that we emotionally supported each other would be a better way to describe what we had together. Luke, he outgrew me, became more independent and rebelled against what his parents wanted from him. He changed courses to aeronautical engineering, which of course meant that he moved to another university.
I felt Ranger's hand moving down my arm as I lay next to him so knew to move on with the rest of my story.
"I met Dickie when I was at the end of my course. My mother loved him, and I suppose he represented stability to me and could offer me a proper relationship, well so I thought. You know how that ended but it left me feeling like a failure, depleted I suppose. Being with Joe was comfortable, but with you, it made me feel alive, something I hadn't felt before. Lula once told me that for her sex was part of the ritual, that it didn't take anything away from her, but for me it was like giving away a part of myself. When I didn't see you and had no contact, I honestly thought that you were putting distance between us. I decided that I was hurting myself by sleeping with you, getting too emotionally involved, which at the time I knew wasn't what you were wanting"
I knew that I wasn't ready to open up anymore, to say how much I loved him. Maybe I was still protecting my heart.
"Tienes mi corazón y mi alma, nena"
I'm sure that I frowned as he said that because I had no idea what he was saying, so many languages that I should have made an effort to learn, but I think Spanish was a priority.
"You have my heart and soul, Babe"
I smiled as he translated what he'd said to me because it meant so much to me and decided to try and repeat it back to him.
"Tienes mi corazón y mi alma, Carlos"
That earned me a full 1000 watt smile before he was pulling me to him and kissing me. Mmm, maybe I should say that more often, or was it because I called him Carlos?
I relaxed and dozed after that, thinking how good life was. Yeah, that bubble soon burst when I started to think on where my life was at the moment and what we were up against, I wanted this business in Milan finished with. I was wide awake as I lay there and knowing that Ranger was fast asleep didn't want to wake him by tossing and turning. There was something niggling me at the back of my head, you know what I mean. When you knew it was there but just couldn't quite bring it to the front and remember.
I very carefully moved away from Ranger and slipped out of the bed before pulling on a robe around me. I was intent on going down to the work room but was worried that I'd wake someone up so was extra careful as I passed by closed doors. Once downstairs I turned on the lights thinking that maybe if I read through all of the information again it might jog my memory.
An hour and a half later it came to me as I was reading through the information on Gaia. For some reason the reference to my grandfather had me remembering those photos which in turn had me thinking about the strange conversion between Gaia and my father. The talk of grandchildren and her obvious envy for my father but her hope for Dario now that he was married. Chiara didn't have to work but she filled her time doing voluntary work in a rough area of Milan, Quarto Oggiaro. The same neighborhood where Bria had lived. Maybe I was making a very big assumption and maybe it was coincidence, but I'd never believed in coincidence before.
The rest of the night was spent doing the search on Chiara and then finding out as much as I could about the charity that she helped out with. After printing everything that I found was when I started to look for the threads.
As I opened my eyes, I was surprised at the mess of papers scattered around me. What was even weirder was that my head was on a pillow, and I was sure that I had a blanket over me. I raised my head slightly and was looking at Hector as he peered over the top of the table and then looked down to what he was doing. Using my good arm, I pushed myself up and leant against the wall rubbing my hand over my face. As I looked around me at the papers I knew now that they weren't scattered in a haphazard way, they were organized into an orderly sequence starting from my left.
Movement had me looking up to see Ranger enter the room and come and squat down in front of me. His hand cupped my cheek before he actually said anything, but I knew from looking at him that he'd been worried.
"You scared me when you were gone when I woke. Busy night?"
I nodded my head and then looked over to where Hector was sat, knowing that he had probably been the one to find me and make me comfortable so that I could sleep.
"Hector told me to let you sleep"
And then probably let Ranger know when I woke up.
"I found the link and know how he does it"
That had Hector popping his head up again and Ranger? Well, he just raised his eyebrow at me.
"How about you get changed first and then you can explain it to everyone"
Oops, maybe that was why Hector had covered me up, not to keep me warm but to make sure the parts of me not covered by my robe wouldn't be on view. Ranger helped me up along with the cover, wrapping it around my shoulders, before he made sure that I got up to the bedroom.
I showered quickly before dressing in a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt, mentally reminding myself to ask Ranger where all of the clothes had come from. I called in at the kitchen for a coffee and a bowl of cereal before going back to the work room. I could eat and talk because I was keen to let the others know what I'd found out.
"How do you know him Ram?"
Was what I heard as I entered the room. All of the guys were looking at Ram who was looking at a photo of a man on the board. Okay, what was this all about, but I only thought that, I wasn't going to say it out loud because I knew that the answer would come.
"He was a seal. Really good as well, but he went through a hell of a bad mission. He was discharged on medical grounds but then I heard that he got a job with the FBI"
By now I'd managed to weasel my way between Tank and Ranger and was looking more carefully at the man they were talking about. I knew that I was frowning because I was pretty sure that I was looking at the man that Tania had said was Bria's boyfriend.
"Ram, find out if he was here on a job or for personal reasons"
A job? Why would the FBI be here in Italy? As far as I knew they wouldn't get involved with looking at a man who was trafficking women, would they? Surely it was the job of the Italian authorities. Ram was quick to leave the room no doubt to find out some answers, leaving everyone just stood there being very quiet. Me going and sitting down seemed to snap them out of whatever they were thinking, and the four men soon followed my cue.
"We'll deal with that when we know more"
I wasn't too sure what to think of what Ram had said so I agreed with what Ranger had said, though for some reason it did make me nervous.
"Babe. What have you found?"
I wasn't used to talking in front of people and would have preferred for the guys just to read what I'd found but judging from how they were looking at me I guessed that wasn't going to be happening. I cleared my throat, straightened the papers in front of me and felt Ranger's hand squeezing my thigh. I could do this.
"Bria Abano was born in an area called Quatro Oggiaro. There are pockets of deprivation found there with the usual kids on the street and drug movement, higher unemployment and families struggling. Authorities in Milan are keen to try and improve standards so have made available money for charities to bid for. Projects vary but one of the charities that was successful was Zona Giovani who have set up what they call a safe zone for kids. They offer counselling, health advice and a variety of workshops that the kids can take part in. Chiara Frusco, nee Marrota, Dario Frusco's new wife, works there"
"So she would have met Bria?"
"Probably. I did some research on what was offered, they published it in their annual report, and they offer a photography course run by our friend Lando"
Okay, so why was I met with absolute silence? I thought that was important.
"When I delved more into the charity's reports they gave a quarterly breakdown, you know to see if they were hitting their targets and okay, the numbers are small but as a percentage noticeable enough to highlight their new targets for this year. It highlighted the number of girls who drop out and seem to move out of the area for no apparent reason"
I let that sink in and was ready now for the silence, but it was Tank who was scratching his head as though confused.
"Little Girl, what are you saying?"
"I think that Lando uses that position to find suitable girls and then encourages them, maybe telling them that they could be models like Bria and then Dario takes them to his buyers"
"Is the wife involved?"
Good question really seeing as she was part of the charity and obviously knew Lando and was married to Dario.
"I don't think so. If Dario was seeing Bria he'd want to make sure that the affair was finished and certainly wouldn't want an illegitimate child if he was going to be marrying into a wealthy and influential family"
I watched as Ranger turned over some pages and was obviously reading them and waited for him to say something.
"Tania said that Bria had been helping out with some youth work in her old neighborhood but got the feeling from her boyfriend that he wasn't keen on her doing that. Maybe Bria was starting to put the pieces together"
And maybe Bria had unknowingly encouraged some of those girls by being a role model. She would have been mortified if that was what she'd worked out and as mad as hell with Dario. Or was she involved as well, and it was only after Dario kicked her out and she was dropped from Scintillante that she wanted it to stop? Did she think that Dario would try and get me to do the same? Was that why she was so annoyed at me? So why hadn't she alerted the authorities to what was going on, unless I was right in thinking that she was involved and knew that she could end up in prison with the rest of them.
"It would be difficult to access that youth zone, too many child protection issues to overcome. Hector, could you hit the streets there and find out what the rumors are?"
I understood where Ranger was coming from. A man turning up even to help out would need checks run on him and that would take time, time that we couldn't afford to lose. I wouldn't be any good because my face was too well known and if Lando was hanging around I was sure that he'd see through any disguise that I came up with. That had me thinking of Lando. He was a creep as far as I was concerned, always there watching. I bet that he was the weak link. I was brought out of my thoughts as I tuned in to what Hector was saying.
"Vodaphone was the contract provider, but no address associated with it. I'm waiting for the latest program to finish to find out who paid"
"Tank, anything on Tania?"
I held my breath waiting for Tank to answer because I would be so annoyed with myself if Tania had in any way talked to someone about me.
"No calls and no discussion of her visitor in the apartment. The tracker puts her at the airport"
I was relieved to hear that and hoped that Tania and her boyfriend were doing as she'd said, that they were going out of the city for a week. The problem was what would Ranger feel needed to be done next, maybe I could suggest something.
"Lando, he's the weak link"
At the look from Ranger I wasn't sure that he agreed with me but hey, I had to try.
"You don't like him do you Babe?"
I shook my head, not realizing that I was so obvious about it.
"Okay, let's get eyes on him and look at where he lives"
Everyone looked up as Ram came back into the room and even I was curious with what he might have found out. He sat down first before saying anything, but his expression was giving nothing away.
"I woke up a friend, we're five hours ahead of him so he hadn't left for work. He's going to ask around and get back to me"
Damn, that was not what I was expecting to hear.
"If we head into the city, Steph and I will check out Lando's house. Tank, you and Santos cover the house while we go in and then find and tail Lando. Comms at all times so you can give us a heads up if he returns"
I was smiling, so pleased that I'd been included, then again Ranger probably knew me too well and thought that if I was with him then I wouldn't find trouble. Yeah right.
