Chapter 5

It was later in the afternoon that Tank came bursting into my room, his face showing some concern but also confusion.

"We just got a call from a woman named Lizbeth Norton, asking for you to go help her out"

I stood up ready to head out of the office when I stopped. This wasn't a call from Steph so why was I thinking of answering it? The words that had been said yesterday by Lula came to me as did the feeling that I'd had when I'd seen that woman. I was not going to get involved helping out another bounty hunter out of her depth.

"Send Hector"

If nothing else he might scare her to death, but he was astute enough to weigh up the situation. I sat back down watching as Tank made the call expecting him to leave my office. As he sat down, he was obviously going to question what I'd just ordered him to do. I preempted his question deciding to get in with my reasons first. Reasons that I thought were very valid.

"I won't get involved with another bounty hunter. If she can't handle the job, then she is the one who has decisions to make. Train up or quit"

I saw Tank raise an eyebrow as though he knew something that I didn't.

"It aint Steph"

No shit, I knew that it wasn't Steph and to be honest I wasn't going to get embroiled in the same situation as I had with Steph.

"That's not like you Ranger, you'd normally help folk out"

I wasn't prepared to explain my reasons any further or divulge what Lula had told me, not yet. I looked at my in box at the file from Connie and decided that maybe I should do that search on Lizbeth Norton, though it irritated me to have to waste the time when I was adamant that I'd have nothing to do with her.

Tank took my silence as the time for him to leave allowing me to return to my paperwork. It was an hour later when I was interrupted again, though it didn't surprise me when I saw that it was Hector. I sat back and watched as he took a seat in front of my desk, waiting for him to report what had happened with the bounty hunter.

"She wasn't pleased when I turned up, asked where you were"

"What did you tell her?"

"That you were busy, that often other Rangemen might turn up to assist if a call for help had gone out"

I raised my eyebrow at that because everyone here knew that if it had been Steph then I would always be there to help her.

"Thoughts Hector"

Because I could see that he had more to say.

"She was acting damsel in distress until she saw me. Now normally women can be scared of me. Not that one. She was annoyed and rude with me. To be honest she dealt with the skip herself, quite proficiently"

"So not a novice?"

Interesting, especially after what Lula had told me.

"Maybe she's got the hots for you Ranger and that's her way of attracting your attention"

If I snarled then it only caused Hector to smile, a rare thing for him to do.

"We all miss Estefania and I'm not happy with what I'm hearing on the streets"

Now why the hell was Hector picking up information about Steph, did he know something that no one else had?

"Are you asking around about Steph?"

A shrug of his shoulders confirmed that that was exactly what he was doing.

"Why?"

No one else seemed overly concerned and had believed the rumors that Steph had left with Morelli.

"I worry about her"

That had me looking at Hector with the question as to what he had heard that had made him be worried. Hector knew that was what I would ask so continued to sate my curiosity.

"Estefania was looking for someone, I'm not sure who, but she'd asked a few unsavory characters too many questions. The type that won't normally talk to me. Word is that there are people pleased that she eloped with Morelli because he was starting to ask the same questions and they don't take too kindly to the police to start with"

I pondered what Hector had said, was that why they'd up and left, because they were ruffling feathers and were worried about the backlash. I knew from Lula that Morelli had been trying to speak to Steph, was he following her trail and got annoyed with what she was doing so talked her into leaving. A possibility, except Steph wasn't the type of person to back away.

"Fancy a trip to Atlanta in the morning to talk to Morelli?"

I asked Hector on a whim, almost regretting my impulsive outburst. There was only one way to sort this out and that was to talk face to face with Morelli. Then I would decide how to deal with Lizbeth Norton before she tried to worm her way into Rangeman. Hell, the men wouldn't cope with that, they were probably still reaming from Steph leaving, feeling almost betrayed by her. Which was exactly how I was feeling. Except I didn't like what Hector had told me and like any puzzle I wanted it tidied away.

As the Rangeman jet was based near Trenton I organized for us to depart early in the morning. I sent a message to Tank telling him that I was offline for the day but didn't say where I was going. I'd taken the easy way out by messaging him, not wanting to have to explain myself. It sounded a stupid thing to be doing when I said it to myself, maybe it was, but I was sure that Tank would have had something to say. Like how he disagreed with where I was going and why.

I wasn't even sure what I was expecting from seeing Morelli but at least maybe I could satisfy myself that Steph was safe and happy. I wasn't too sure what Hector was thinking but as usual he kept his thoughts to himself. Once we'd landed in Atlanta we took a taxi from the airport to the police station, having decided that hiring a car was too much of a problem as we may not be here for long. As I paid the fare Hector disappeared around to the back of the building in case Morelli were to exit through there.

I'd already pulled up the layout of the station to study it and become acquainted with it because I had no desire to have to go through a receptionist. Instead, I made my way to a side entrance where prisoners and FTAs were brought in. It was certainly busier than the Trenton section and to be honest their security was stretched. I flashed my bounty hunter license to the man at the door and was soon inside. From there I knew that a door would lead up some stairs and into the working center of the police department. Hector had provided me with a card that would open any electronic door, so it wasn't long before I was a very large room where officers were working at desks. I stopped an officer as he passed me, hoping he wouldn't think it suspicious that I was there.

"Excuse me, I'm here to see Detective Morelli"

"Over there at the back of the room, he should be in his office"

The officer was obviously in a hurry so was soon walking away from me. No one took any notice of me dressed in black jeans a pale blue shirt and a jacket. Maybe they thought I was another officer, who knew. Walking to the office that I'd been directed to I noticed that the door was slightly open so knocking I pushed it open and looked inside. The man with his back to me turned around, not Morelli, so I assumed this man was helping himself to the coffee.

"Can I help you?"

He asked as he returned to sit down behind the desk.

"I'm looking for Detective Morelli"

Hoping that he knew where Morelli was.

"Well you found me, what do you want?"

I was speechless as he answered me, I mean this man looked nothing like Morelli. He was blonde haired with grey eyes and probably had ten years on Morelli. I looked at his desk and read the inscription on the small metal plaque. Detective Jonathan Morelli. Was this for real?

"Look I have a lot of work going on at the moment. Was there something that you needed?"

I shook my head as I listened and looked at him, almost lost at what to say to him.

"I was looking for a Detective Joe Morelli"

That response had him giving me a strange look before he frowned and gave me his answer.

"Nah, there's only one Morelli who works around here and that's me"

"Have you been here long?"

I wanted to get handle on this so decided that the more information I could get then the better.

"As a matter of fact, I transferred here about three weeks ago from Milledgeville. The wife and kids are over the moon that I eventually managed to get the post. Been trying for a few years now"

I saw the photo of his family sat on his desk and casually picked it up. As the phone rang and this Morelli answered it, I very carefully took out my phone and took a photo of it. Maybe I could verify what he'd said later. As he finished the call and replaced the phone he was quickly on his feet.

"Sorry, some info just came in on a case I'm working"

I nodded my head and took advantage of walking out with him, taking me out of his office and through the bullpen where other men were working. It felt surreal as he showed me the way to the back of the station and to the parking area where the police cars were parked. As he stopped by his car, he turned to me.

"I hope you manage to locate that other detective"

I was still thinking through what he'd said as I walked through the gate and met up with Hector. The last thing I had expected was for Morelli not to be here. Maybe Hector could detect from how I looked or walked with purpose toward the street because he never asked me what had happened. I hailed a taxi to take us back to the airport and it was only when we were in the air returning to Trenton that I decided to put Hector out of his misery and tell him the answers to questions that I was sure he was wanting to know.

"It wasn't him. The man in that police station is a Detective Jonathan Morelli"

Opening my phone, I sent the photo of Morelli's family to Hector.

"See what you can find out"

"Morelli could have given Atlanta for where he was going knowing there was already a man of the same name there. I don't think that he would have expected you to physically check up on him"

It was a viable idea. Disappear with no trace but know that should I try to contact him or Steph then there wouldn't be any clues as to where they'd gone. The problem that I was having was that Morelli wasn't anywhere near clever enough to have planned that out. Plus, the timing of Jonathon Morelli being posted to Atlanta just seemed too much of a coincidence to me. I sat back and thought through anything that we knew, coming to the conclusion that we knew nothing, because everyone had believed the rumors that were put out.

"Hector, can you pull up a history of where Steph's trackers had been?"

He nodded his head, maybe knowing where my thinking was going. I hoped so because I wasn't sure myself.

As we arrived back at Rangeman I was pleased that Tank was out visiting a client. That meant that he wouldn't be around to scrutinize my actions. Of course, Santos was quick to learn of my return and I'd hardly sat down in my office when he came barging through the door.

"Atlanta, really Ranger. What the hell were you expecting to accomplish from that?"

I was fuming with his question, who the hell did he think he was, questioning my actions.

"I wasn't aware that you'd been demoted to bodyguard position or that I had to get your permission before I went anywhere"

I saw Santos flinch and immediately regretted my sarcasm. I knew that he was worried about me and was only trying to look out for me. He was like a brother to me and had always had my back regardless of whether we were in the field or navigating personal dilemmas.

"I knew it was a stupid thing to do before I went but for some reason I had to go. I needed to know that Steph was happy with her decision"

"Did you get your answers?"

As Santos took the seat in front of my desk I leant back in the chair as the events from the morning went through my head.

"The detective working in Atlanta PD, his name is Jonathon Morelli. Joe Morelli doesn't work there"

Yeah, that confused Santos as well, but his mind went to the same place that I had visited as we flew home.

"Maybe he used that fact to keep you from following them"

"I already thought of that. But it doesn't explain how Steph left here"

I was about to tell Santos about the meeting with Lula when the phone on my desk started to ring. A look at the caller told me it was from reception.

"Yo"

"Boss. There's a woman here demanding to see you"

I recognized Hal's voice and could tell that he was struggling with the situation.

"Who is it Hal and what does she want?"

"Lizzy, I think, but she's almost hysterical so I can't understand what the problem is"

"On my way"

I nodded my head at Santos for him to accompany me, he knew from Connie that there were some things about that woman that she wasn't happy about. I filled Santos in on who was at reception seeing him grimace at hearing the name. As soon as I entered the reception area a body came hurtling toward me and would have probably tried to grab hold of me. Fortunately, Santos was quick, and he stepped in front of me taking the brunt of the impact, but was then stood with his hands on the shoulders of Lizbeth Norton keeping her at arms length.

"You gonna stand still?"

He asked the surprised woman. I watched her face as she turned to me, tears forcing their way from her eyes.

"You have to help me, there's someone following me, stalking me"

I could only look at her as she said those words. Yesterday it was wanting help with a skip and today it was help from a stalker. Both of those were reasons that I would always help Steph, so what the hell game was Lizzy playing?

"Have you been to the police?"

I asked, wondering if she was even telling me the truth.

"No, I mean, you always helped that other bounty hunter. Will you help me now, please?"

I closed my eyes for a moment as she used that word, hell it was as if she knew all the buttons to push, words to say to try and grab my attention and get me to help her.

"How about I go to the station with you, and you can tell them what proof you have. Then we can plan a way forward"

It was times like this that I knew what a good friend Santos was. He'd totally deflected her away from me and from the change in her expression I knew that she wasn't pleased.

"But Ranger, you're supposed to help me"

I shook my head and turned to leave, stopping at the stairwell door to see what she would do. Santos was still stood there and had offered to help her, but it seemed that he wasn't good enough. She turned and stomped out of the building with us all just watching her leave.

"Err Boss, who was that?"

"Trouble"

I replied to Hal, but looking at Santos. Maybe it was time to do that search for Connie because I really didn't like that woman and was struggling to rationalize her behavior.

"Does she fancy you that much Ranger?"

Santos asked as we walked up the stairs.

"Or is she trying to take over Steph's life where she left it?"

I hadn't even thought about that for a reason to explain her behavior. Were there women out there that emulated Steph's life, the work that she'd done and the people that she knew? Wannabes? I had no answer for Santos because as far as I was concerned, she would have nothing to do with Rangeman or me.

The next morning after Brown had removed my stitches, he actually declared that I was off desk duty and fit enough to work out in the field. I hadn't realized how frustrated I'd become ploughing through so much paperwork. I was doing my full workout routine in the gym and felt in good shape. So why did I feel so restless?

Santos wanted to follow up on the search on Lizbeth Norton which suited me fine. I felt that maybe I would be biased with my dealings with that woman, but to be honest I needed to do something. I hated it when there were unanswered questions. With that on my mind I was determined to find out what had driven Steph and Morelli out of town. That was what I was sure had happened because there would have been no other reason for them to leave. They both had family and friends here and maybe I could admit to myself that if Steph had decided that Morelli was the man that she wanted to be with, then I would have bowed out gracefully. Maybe gone down to Miami, after all Julie was there and we were developing a closer relationship. I would have hoped that Steph and I had a strong enough friendship that she would have talked to me, even now after time had passed. Okay, she wouldn't have known that I was going to be away for longer than planned but surely, she would know that I would worry about her, or was Morelli putting pressure on her not to contact me? I didn't like the idea of that.

The biggest problem that I was having was letting go of Steph and I would only ever do that if it was her who told me to do it. It was then that I decided that Steph was probably more important to me than I realized. I missed her.

With my mind made up I changed into jeans and a sweater, a jacket covered the gun at my back and my knife was tucked into my boots. Today I was going to talk to Eula as she had been the last skip that Steph had taken in. Maybe she was the friend who Steph was helping out. It was somewhere to start.

I drove one of the SUVs and parked close to the station. The day was cloudy with the threat of rain so there was a strong possibility that Eula would be seeking out some refuge here. It may not be warm under the roof of the station where the wind could blow inside, but it was sheltered and dry with opportunities to beg from passing travelers.

Once inside I started to walk around the main entrance, looking at the people around me and for places that the homeless could be where they wouldn't be moved on by the security guards patrolling the station. In my mind I broke down the areas of the station into grids and started to methodically search the place, not forgetting the areas behind the cafes where the garbage was collected from. From there I walked the length of each track to the end and back progressing through the track numbers.

Several times I'd seen potential sightings of someone sat on one of the benches but approaching them I soon realized that they weren't Eula. It was as I was walking along track 7 that I spied an old woman coming out of the rest room. She was huddled up, as if cold, and was carrying a couple of plastic bags. As I watched her walk toward a bench I approached and studied the face that intermittently turned to look around. It was definitely Eula though she looked a lot older than her 75 years of age. Her face looked thinner with pale skin sagging from her face. Time had not been kind to Eula, nor her way of life and it suddenly struck me why Steph was always so kind hearted toward her.

I sat down on the same bench, a few feet between us, not wanting to scare her, waiting for her to turn and look at me. I was surprised when she just started to talk as if she knew that I was there and who I was.

"I aint due in court you know"

Smiling I turned in the seat to face her, to acknowledge her talking to me.

"I know Eula. I also know that it was Steph who helped you last time"

"She did, but I aint seen her around"

For a moment I thought that maybe I'd already found a dead end to what I was looking for but decided to just carry on talking and asking questions.

"When did you last see her?"

"Not sure really, time has a way of overlooking you at my age. Probably a couple weeks after the court hearing"

Which meant that Steph had come back to see Eula.

"Why did she come back?"

That was when Eula turned and looked at me, such a sorrowful look on her face.

"I asked if she could maybe find Lainey"

"What had happened to her Eula?"

"She never came back"

I wasn't too sure if Eula was talking about Steph or this other woman Lainey, so continued to steer Eula to tell me about Lainey.

"Who was Lainey?"

Eula was just staring out onto the track, as though conjuring up images and memories in order to answer me.

"She was so young to be on the streets and so scared. She'd been keeping me company but then she wasn't there"

I knew that there were a lot of runaways that disappeared for one reason or another. Some to escape abusive parents, others who had lost them. There were even ones who decided that they just didn't like where or how they were expected to live their lives.

"Maybe she went back home or one of the centers found her a place to stay"

"No. She wouldn't leave without her bag. I asked Steph to see if she could find her and she told me all of the places that she'd been to"

"Maybe I could help find her"

I suggested hoping that this young girl might be the key to what had happened.

"You'd do that?"

I saw the surprise on Eula's face as she turned to me. If this was what Steph had been doing, then the least that I could do was try to find this girl.

"Yes"

"Maybe you'll find Steph as well"

That surprised me because it had never occurred to me that Steph had actually disappeared as well. The whole thing with Morelli had thrown everyone into believing that she was with him, voluntarily.

"That damn policeman, he came asking, wanting to know if I knew where Steph was"

Which tied in with what Lula had told me, that he was trying to talk with her.

"What did you tell him?"

"That I didn't know where she was"

From the way that Eula had said that held no doubt in my mind that she didn't like Morelli that much, so would probably not have been very cooperative with him.

"Lainey's bag, did you show it to Steph?"

"Of course, I thought that there might be something in it that might help"

I leant forward and took one of Eula's hands, she was cold and frail, her skin like paper over her bones.

"Eula, show me the bag and I'll look for both of them"

Letting go of my hand she dug through a pocket in the thread worn coat that she was wearing and pulled out a key that I recognized as a key for a locker. As she placed the key in my hand, she kept hold of my hand.

"Keep it and you find them. I know that's what you do best, and I also know that you need to find your woman"

Find my woman. I was taken aback by what Eula had said and even as I stood up and walked away from Eula that phrase was running through my head. I knew that a lot of people thought that Steph was my woman. I'd made sure to warn certain groups that to hurt her would have my fury raining down on them. It was my way of giving Steph protection when she was out on the street. Is that where Eula had heard that phrase from? And that was when I just knew that I had to find, shit why the hell had it taken me until now to get my head out of my arse? Pride, hurt or maybe denial?

Finding the locker that corresponded to the number on the key I was soon opening it up to discover a brown leather bag inside. It was more the size of an overnight bag so I decided that it would be better to take it back to Rangeman and look through it there. Maybe Ram could be of some help as he had a good eye for detail and if necessary, his forensic skills might be useful.