Chapter 30
I'd had every confidence in Santos's ability to avoid being tailed and as we made the approach to the village where the house was felt assured that no one had followed us. As we entered the drive I saw Hector, knife in hand prepared to tackle any unwanted visitors that might know of where we were staying. Brown followed me upstairs as I carried Steph up to the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. Of course, she was waking up now, which probably wasn't a bad thing if Brown was going to check her over.
"Bobby? I must be dreaming"
I smiled as she lay her head back down and closed her eyes.
"Hey Bomber, you gonna let me check out that shoulder of yours?"
I could see her shake her head slightly and then as Brown's voice seemed to permeate through the half asleep stage that she was in. Suddenly her eyes darted open and were looking straight at Brown. She was definitely confused and was looking around the room until her eyes fell on me.
"Shit, I thought that I was back in Trenton and last month was some weird dream"
I leant over the bed and kissed her lips softly.
"No dream Babe"
I didn't care that Brown was watching me because I needed to reassure Steph that what had happened between us wasn't a dream. As I pulled away Brown was quick to get done what he was here for.
"How about you show me your shoulder first"
I helped Steph to sit up in the bed and then carefully pulled the shirt over her shoulder to fall down her arm. Seeing the white bandage around her arm I knew that I needed to find out what the hell it was that had been in her arm. It worried me that maybe it was a subdermal tracker, and there were too many possibilities of who could have inserted it.
"I need to speak with Hector and then I'll be straight back up"
Leaving the room I wasn't too sure who to feel the most sorry for, Steph for having to endure another medical or Brown for the grief that she would give him. Downstairs I found Hector in the room that we'd used as an office looking at a laptop. As soon as he saw me, he looked up and as soon as I saw his face I could tell that something was bothering him.
"Grant Jackson is in the hospital but he's in a bad way. He's in ICU and it's touch and go whether he'll survive"
That was quick for Hector to have already found out, so I pushed for what else he knew and how he had found out.
"Report Hector"
"Sorry. Santos messaged me that Steph had said that Grant was injured so I hacked into the hospital system. They know who he is now, but I don't how. He was brought in by helicopter from a place referred to as a ghost town, Consonno. A couple of hikers called it in but there was mention of a woman who was with him that seems to have disappeared"
I'd heard of the place, it was about half an hour from here, and was where some millionaire decided to build some sort of Las Vegas town. He'd died and the place fell into disrepair visited by hikers or youths who wanted to hang out there. I thought that the road was impassable after a landslide but maybe a four wheel drive could make it up there. What I was finding difficulty to understand was why Grant had been up there. Had he been hiding out? and how did Steph end up there. Shit did that mean that she'd never been near Allegro's apartment. But why wouldn't she tell me that she was following up on a lead, or had she been taken there? So many questions were going through my mind, but I knew where I'd get the answers.
"Hector, find out what the hell this is"
I passed the small piece that had come from Steph's arm over to Hector and headed back upstairs. Santos was keeping a watch of the house outside, so it was time to get some answers. I came across Brown at the bottom of the stairs and seeing him smiling knew that he wasn't worried about Steph but stopping him he knew I wanted an update.
"Bruised shoulder and back from where she told me she fell. I left a bottle of antibiotics next to the bed but from her attitude to me checking her over, she's fine"
It was me who was smiling as I went up the stairs. I knew Steph could give Brown a hard time when he wanted to check her for any injuries and she thought that she was okay. Walking into the bedroom I watched from the doorway as Steph was sat up in the bed and knew the minute that she'd decided to get up.
"Going somewhere?"
Yeah, that surprised her and had her leaning back against the pillow. I went over to the bed and sat next to her with an arm around her waist. I had the need just to hold her, to be sure that she was actually next to me.
"You want to know what happened right?"
I nodded my head and pulled her closer to me, being careful of her arm and shoulder and waited quietly.
"I'm sure that Allegro, Tomas and some American man are up to something. They were the ones who took me from the garage. When I woke up, I was in this locked room. The American man was there and said he was sorry, that he never meant for it to end that way. I had no idea what he was talking about, and I tried to plead with him that I didn't know anything, but he knew that I'd seen him with Tomas outside Scintillante"
"Is that who you were listening to?"
I watched as Steph nodded and looked down at her hands, maybe she was worried that I'd be annoyed with her for doing that because that was usually how she ended up in trouble.
"I think so. He said that there were too many threads for me to follow and as I'd seen him and you were here then he didn't have a choice"
Why was me being here a problem for him? I hadn't come across an American whilst I'd been here and if Steph and I were going back to Trenton then what would be the problem?
"Do you know what they're doing?"
I waited as Steph mulled that over sure that if she didn't know exactly then she'd have some ideas.
"Allegro has another enterprise going and the American was providing her with something, pieces, was the word that he used. They mentioned Dario and it was obvious that they disliked what he was he was doing but it does have something to do with that necklace. They seemed relieved that Dario had taken a copy and not the original one"
I was trying to figure out what on earth the necklace had to with anything when Steph was talking again.
"He pushed a tray full of food through the door, I think he was going to just leave me there like he had Grant. Is Grant still alive?"
"Just. Hector is keeping track of him, but it doesn't look good Babe"
To be honest I was feeling my annoyance rise through me at the thought that Steph had been locked up and left. I would never have found her in that ghost town, and she would have starved to death. That man may not have personally hurt Steph or injured Grant but what he had done was far worse. I pulled her tight as thoughts of what might have happened to her washed through me.
"You managed to get out though"
"Yes. I found Grant. He must have been in there for weeks. They'd just left him to die"
Yep, that man was in for a world full of hurt when I got my hands on him. So why Grant, what was Grant doing that attracted this American's attention?
"Diamonds, blue ones. They'd be worth a fortune to buy, wouldn't they? I can't remember seeing any expenditure in Scintillante's accounts for precious stones that expensive, so where do you think Allegro would get them from?"
I was struggling to keep up with Steph's thinking and where it was taking her but I had to admit that I hadn't seen that either and was about to message Hector when Steph was talking out loud again. That she spoke what she was thinking had always fascinated me, it was as though she was pulling those threads together verbally, sometimes she was wrong but more often than not she was usually on the right track. Her reasoning always gave me new directions that I could follow up on.
"I never saw any huge amounts in the income either that would account for expensive pieces of jewelry being sold, other than the ones that she sells from the launch. She must be selling those pieces through another avenue because maybe they aren't legally obtained"
If the American was obtaining the stones for Allegro and she was putting them into jewelry that were sold on the black market, then it would be a very clever way of fencing stolen jewels. That meant that both siblings were running illegal operations separately.
"Quite a family you have there, Babe"
I hadn't meant to say that to hurt Steph and felt awful when tears came to her eyes. I bent over and kissed each eye as a way of apologizing, feeling like shit for what I'd said.
"Maybe my grandfather had the right idea when he decided to cut ties with his family and live in America"
I had no response to that. Was what she'd said a way of trying to separate herself from what looked to be a family that had turned to illegal ways to make money or could there be some truth in it, that her grandfather had seen that his brother was getting involved in things that he wanted no part of? It might be interesting to find that out. I made myself think about what Steph had said and repeated as much for myself my understanding of where her thoughts had taken her.
"So we'd need to find out how Allegro sells her jewelry and look for any unsolved thefts that involved large stones"
That was not something that was going to be easy to do. Okay I had the resources at Rangeman but it could take hours of work to tie the two together but what would we accomplish? Hopefully I'd be able to get my hands on that American and that was enough of an incentive for me.
As I traced circles on Steph's arm it also had me remembering the meeting with that detective at the hospital. His reaction when he'd seen me carrying Steph out had surprised me and seeing that I'd agreed to include Steph in everything I supposed that I needed to tell her about.
"When we were leaving the hospital today Detective Enzo Perreti was coming in through the door. He recognized you"
That had Steph's attention and she was frowning as she turned and looked up at me.
"Did he say anything?"
"He asked what I was doing with you, so I don't know if he knew me or not. When I told him that I was taking you to somewhere safe, his response was that he'd clear the way for me"
Saying it out loud now gave it a different emphasis, as though he knew that I would take care of her and him saying that he needed to check up on the id of a patient and set up a guard, had me immediately thinking of Grant Jackson. Someone had identified Grant Jackson at the hospital so had it been Enzo Perreti?
"Babe, I think that Detective Enzo Perreti may have known Grant Jackson. He asked me to call him, that we needed a conversation"
"Are you going to?"
I leant my head back on the pillow as I considered that and decided that yeah, I'd meet with him and see what he had to say. We were back up to four men here, so we had the man power to ensure our safety, my problem would be that Steph would want to be involved and I wasn't sure that I was willing to compromise her safety. Those three, Tomas, Allegro and the American wouldn't be pleased if they knew that Steph had managed to get both herself and Grant out of their prison. Okay, Grant was in no condition to talk to anyone but Steph was so she would pose a definite threat to them and their operation.
"You know how you say that you can see smoke coming out of my head, well you have a volcano erupting in yours right now. Spill it, what are you planning?"
I was busted so could only go with the truth because she knew me too well to try and omit anything.
"I think Perreti knows Grant Jackson and what he was doing in Milan"
"In a good way?"
That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it, which was why I needed to talk to him and find out whose side he was on.
"Possibly, so I need to talk with him. We have three men here now, so we have the backup, but I don't want you anywhere near him until I know for sure. Tomas, Allegro and that American guy will want you out of the way for what you know so I need to know that you're safe. I don't think I could cope with another day like yesterday"
I regretted that as soon as I'd said it because I still hadn't told Steph what had happened at Allegro's apartment or how it had affected me. Maybe though if she knew then she'd be more willing to cooperate with staying in the background.
"Yesterday, I followed you to Allegro's apartment building. When you went into the garage, I lost the signal from your mic, so I decided to go up to the apartment thinking that you were there. There was an explosion inside it, and I thought that"
I stopped and took a deep breath remembering how devastated I'd been with the idea that Steph had been killed.
"You thought that I was inside?"
I nodded my head but couldn't find the words to describe how broken I'd been or that I'd totally lost it.
"That's why Bobby is here. Santos was worried about me and how I was reacting"
I felt as Steph wrapped her good arm around my neck and pulled me to her, the tears from her eyes wetting my cheek.
"I'm so sorry that you had to go through that, I didn't know that they were planning that. Oh god Carlos, I understand, really. If anything were to happen to you, I don't know how I'd keep going without you. I love you so much"
Hearing her say those words, words that I'd longed to hear for such a long time took my emotions to a whole new level. Who knew that loving someone so strongly could bring with it such deep feelings? Worry, hurt, joy, love and total devotion and dependency. I now understood exactly what my father had tried to explain to me.
"My soulmate, the other half of me that makes me complete. I love you too Babe"
The kiss was different to any I'd experienced before. It was slow, loving and caring with no sudden sexual arousal but an arousal that came from deep within me.
The next morning had Steph totally focused and eager to follow what we'd talked about the evening before. Despite her ordeal she was bright and enthusiastic, chatting to the guys which had Santos worried on a whole new level.
"Is Steph okay or is she building herself up to have a total breakdown?"
I watched as she laughed with Brown and as she voluntarily allowed him to remove the bandage from her arm and examine the wound from the doctor's incision. As Brown reapplied a bandage, I could see that she was deep in conversation with him. Santos had no idea what had happened to her so maybe now was the time for her to put forward to the men what she was thinking.
"She's okay. I think what happened at the apartment shocked her, but you need to listen to what she may have stumbled onto"
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when Santos didn't say anything because he'd know as well as I did the way that Steph always managed to come across things. I nodded to Brown and went over to Steph as she was stood talking to Hector.
"Babe, we need to plan what we do next"
I took her hand and led to her to the table as the men took their seats but knew for the meeting to progress then everyone had to know what had occurred the day before.
"The explosion at Allegro's apartment was a distraction, to make everyone believe that Steph had died. That way they thought that no one would look for her. Allegro, Tomas and an American man were responsible, and they took Steph to Consonno, a ghost town, where they locked her up with enough food to last for several days"
I looked at Steph as I described it as she'd told me wanting to know if I'd missed anything out. I was surprised when she cleared her throat and continued the story on her own. I sat back and watched her, so proud of strong she'd been.
"Eventually I managed to escape but there was another locked room where Grant was. He was close to dying so I knew that I had to get some help. It was a weird place but luckily a couple of hikers turned up"
I waited as Steph looked and around the guys and even I could see on their faces how proud they were of her, though I knew that Steph had omitted to tell them how she'd been left in there, never to be found. The men would be as furious as I was about that so maybe I'd tell that them that piece of information later.
"Way to go Beautiful. So what the hell are those three up to that's so important that they wanted you off their scent?"
I waited and watched as Steph drew a long breath and took her hand in mine.
"I know it seems a bit far out there"
"Estefania, trust what you know"
That was all that Steph needed for her head to come back up and smile at Hector before she continued telling the guys what she knew. He'd voiced what we all believed about her uncanny way of seeing a pattern developing.
"I think that the American steals diamonds and precious stones which Allegro then puts into pieces of jewelry and sells. I'm not sure where Tomas fits in but I'm sure that there'll be a connection somewhere down the line"
I was waiting, like Steph, for someone to say something and could almost sense the thoughts going through the men's heads. They'd believe her and be thinking through what she'd said and what questions we needed to be asking.
"Follow the money is one way to tie them together, we never did find out what Tomas was up to after he left the AISI"
Santos was right, we'd taken our eye off him because he had been so cooperative with bringing in the agency to arrest Dario.
"Santos find out what you can on that time scale. Babe, maybe you can focus on Allegro and see if there any connections there. Hector?"
I looked across to Hector because I was still concerned about that object that was in Steph's arm.
"Not a tracker, but an RFID, Radio-Frequency Identification tag. Once I cleaned up the casing I discovered that it was made out of silicate glass. Information can be stored in the memory of the RFID chip. I'm in the process of identifying the EPC number needed to access the information"
I was speechless at hearing that and judging from the way that Steph's mouth opened and then closed so was she.
"Information? Are you saying someone jabbed me?"
"Bomber. It's a very small devise probably delivered with a syringe. When did you first notice the bruising?"
I knew that Steph had told me that the bruise was always there because people were constantly grabbing her around her arm. I watched as she rubbed her hand over the bandage where the devise had been removed from.
"I suppose after the break in at Allegro's apartment"
I could see that Steph was trying to remember that incident but to be honest she hadn't given me a lot of detail about what happened. As I watched her I was sure that she was trying to remember the incident and that we needed to know more detail of exactly what had happened.
"I was on my own when I went back to Allegro's apartment but nothing seemed out of place. Someone was in the room that I was using, behind the door, and grabbed my arm, yanking me into the room. I was knocked out while the thief went through my things and the apartment. Why would a thief inject that into my arm?"
Yep, she was annoyed now, and I could understand why, someone had inserted that devise into her arm without her knowing. What was puzzling me was why. Why Steph? The decision for her to come to the wedding had been last minute and she'd only been in Milan for just over a week and hadn't had any reason to suspect that anything was amiss.
"Hector, how long?"
"Over 4000 combinations, so it will take time"
Time that we didn't have if Steph was to remain safe. I was actually considering finding somewhere a long way from Milan where no one could find her when I saw her looking at me.
"No"
Was all that she said, since when had Steph become so good at reading me? I avoided a confrontation that I knew I would never win and moved the meeting to what I saw as our next move.
"Detective Perreti asked me for a conversation so I'm going to arrange to meet him"
"Is that a wise move Ranger?"
I knew that Santos would always have my back and I suppose him asking that was his way of ensuring that I'd thought it through.
"Yes. I'll pick out the time and place for him to be and then use several calls to lead him to me. You'll tail him"
So that if he was thinking of ambushing me then we'd know about it. While Santos Brown, Hector and I organized that, I was pleased that Steph kept herself occupied on one of the laptops, probably trying to find out anything on Allegro that might give her a clue as to how the trio had formed.
Two hours later we had a plan so I was ready to call Perreti and put our plan into action.
"Perreti"
"You asked me to call you"
I was pretty sure that he knew exactly who I was without me having to say my name.
"Yes. We need to talk, but not on the phone"
"Plaza Santa Maria car park, 1400hrs"
Was all that I said before finishing the call.
"Santos, drop a phone in his pocket and watch as he starts on the route. Bobby pick him up along Via Gian Antonio Boltraffio until he reaches the metro at Via Alserio. Santos be ready for him getting off at the Via Valtellina stop and keep him in sight until he reaches the rest rooms at the cemetery. I'll be watching him as he walks toward the Edicola funeraria di Giuseppe Baj. Remember be on the lookout for anyone following him and him having another phone"
I turned to watch Steph as she continued to work, noting that she was now reading through paper versions of any reports and making notes, always her preferred method to work. I knew that she'd want to be part of this rendezvous so I was trying to work out how I could accommodate that without putting her in danger. Hector must have been watching me because he was suddenly talking in Spanish to me.
"I'll bring Estefania to that cemetery. We'll come in through the entrance on the west side, the whole area has a lot of mausoleums to keep us from being seen. We'll have comms units so will know what's happening"
I looked at Hector and debated what he'd said, if anything happened to her in that cemetery.
"She'll be safe with me"
I had trusted my men with my own life before now so had to acknowledge that Hector would do the same for Steph, besides we would probably know before Perreti reached the cemetery if he was trying to ambush me. I nodded my head at Hector and then went over to Steph leaning on the back of her chair.
"How's it going Babe?"
Her head came up and rested against my stomach as she stretched her arms above her head.
"There's something here, I can feel it, but I can't see it"
"How about a diversion and then you can come back to it fresh"
I saw how her eyes darkened and the sexy moan that came from her probably agreeing that what she was thinking would be an excellent way to spend the afternoon.
"I was thinking that you might want to be close by when I met with the detective"
That had turning around and looking me straight in the eye, as though she was trying to work out if I was being serious with her.
"I thought that you didn't want me there?"
"If you want to there then you can be, but, you'll stay with Hector"
I watched as the smile came to her face and as she knelt on the chair so that she was level me.
"Thank you"
Was all she that she said before her arms were around my neck and I was being pulled toward her. I'd let her thank me as often as she wanted if it resulted in the kiss that she gave me.
