Chapter 7

I was pleased that Santos never engaged in conversation while surveying the warehouse, I think we were too wrapped up in our own thoughts. It was dark and dank as we sat in the car and watched for anything to happen. Being at the end of a street close to the river meant that there were no passing cars or people. Anyone seen down here would be up to no good, but maybe we'd see someone skulking around the warehouse, someone who might give us a lead as to what the place was being used for. The building showed no movement or lights inside, in fact it seemed deserted to me. The infrared binoculars showed no heat signatures, but I was pretty sure that the internal structure was not what we were assuming.

When Hector and Tank arrived, I was confident that we'd be able to set up some cameras that Hector had provided for us, along with some other electronic equipment that included sensors and mics. Three of us spread out around the building to set the equipment up. Using mics and earbuds we reported to Hector any relevant information. My position was near to the loading dock ,so ensuring that I wasn't seen I checked it out. For an old derelict building there had been reinforcement added to the structure suggesting that it had been recently used, for what I had no idea. Adding two cameras and motion sensors I made my way back to the car reporting to Hector where the equipment had been positioned.

"Looks empty to me"

Was Santos's opinion from our surveillance. I agreed with him but was sure that there was more to that building than we knew about.

"The loading dock had been reinforced, maybe that's the way that the building was accessed"

I saw Santos look across at me, yeah, whoever had been using the place had gone to a lot of trouble to maintain the illusion of it being derelict.

"You know, the one thing that I didn't see was any break ins, you know the type kids or homeless folk would do"

He was right, the only defacement had been from graffiti on the walls, even any windows boarded up were intact. I had a feeling that the dock would be the way to enter the place.

It was late when we returned to Rangeman, and I knew that I would need some hours of sleep for the next day, but to be honest I wasn't that tired. I spent some time logged into Hectors electronic surveillance and spoke with Tank as he continued watching the place but as time passed by it seemed that there was nothing happening at the building. In the end I laid down on the couch in my office and willed myself to sleep.

I woke suddenly and reacted automatically by reaching for my gun at my back. That it wasn't there surprised me, until I noticed it sat on the coffee table in front of me. I turned to where the sound had come from that had disturbed me to see Santos stood at the door.

"Sorry Ranger, I was looking for you"

I stood up, stretching my back and neck before turning to face Santos. He had a folder in his hands which he held out for me.

"Ram asked me to give you this. His report from the items in the bag"

Taking the report I went to the table and sat down before opening the file. If nothing else Ram was extremely efficient. He'd photographed each item and added notations next to them. As Ram had expected the clothes had coverings from dirt to food stains, with a note that the dirt contained oil. He was still awaiting analysis of the type of oil. The clothes were all recently purchased, being this years range from designer labels, so had made the assumption that the girl had possibly come from a well off family or she was a damn good thief. The photo looked to be taken in a large garden area, maybe someone's back yard but there were no features to indicate where that was and annoyingly, we still had no idea how long ago the photo had been taken or which of the girls might have been Lainey.

I looked at a copy of the photo that had been enhanced, trying to judge how old the children would have been at the time. The only experience I had of that was from my memories of Julie.

"How old would say these kids are?"

I asked Santos as I held the photo out to him.

"This one maybe sixteen, she's begun to develop, you know breasts and hips, and she looks to have taken time with her hair and how she's posing. The other one, a couple of years younger"

The problem was that I didn't know which one was Lainey or even how old she was now. I continued to read the final sentence from Ram telling me that he'd taken hair from the brush and was running a DNA test and would compare the results to any data bases when it was finished. Not a lot of information to go with, which made me wonder if Steph had removed something from the bag to use when looking for the girl. Maybe there had been a more recent photo or even some form of id.

"I ran that search, the one on that new bounty hunter"

I looked up from Ram's report waiting for Santos to continue, though as he didn't sound very excited, I was pretty sure that there hadn't been anything out of the ordinary.

"Lizbeth Norton, age 34, born and raised in Hammonton, Atlantic County, New Jersey, just as Connie had told us. She'd lived with her mother until 18 months ago which was when the mother had died of cancer. It had her working for Osbourne's Investigations, but he retired six months ago and the business closed. From the website, which is still on line, he dealt with minor work, you know, lost possessions, divorce cases. Her finances showed that she only got paid per case, no sizable amount. Moved here to Trenton a couple of months ago and did some bar work before starting at Vinnies"

"Did Connie get any references?"

"Nah. A testimonial written by Osbourne that she handed over. Seemed Vinnie was more than happy with that. I tried to contact the man but the message on the answering machine repeats that he's retired and has taken himself off on a world cruise"

I didn't know how to feel about the information on that woman. She could genuinely have assumed that the benefit of help from Rangeman came with the job, or she was trying to be Steph and emulate the life that she'd had.

As there was nothing more to really discuss Santos left me on my own. I went through my normal morning rituals, gym, shower and then breakfast before returning back to my office. I actually had a full day with meeting two potential new clients, another day of being stuck in the building.

It was 2000hrs when the team met again, this time to review the surveillance that had been done and for Hector to give us a report on the background of the building. I'd decided to add two more men to the team to give us additional back up, so the meeting was happening in the conference room next to my office. As I entered the room Hector had already pinned up the schematics for the building and there were photos taken from the cameras that gave a more detailed view of the area.

"First watch had negative sightings, though when I fitted the camera at the back of the building, I'm pretty sure that the dock has had some work on it to reinforce the structure"

I was sure that being done was important and it was Tank who suggested a reason.

"Maybe whoever used it last used it to access the building from the river"

I nodded my head in agreement, waiting for the other teams to give their reports.

"Nothing. No one interested in the building or even walking past it. I did a bit of reconnaissance in the buildings that overlooked it. No sign of anyone keeping an eye on the building in terms of cameras but I did find evidence of someone camping out in one of the rooms"

I looked to Ram as he said that. I was sure he was waiting for someone to ask what he had found but a look from me and he was soon talking again.

"It was in a building one over, but from the room there was a good view of the side of the warehouse and the dock. There wasn't much to find but the disturbance of dirt and dust showed that someone had spent some time by the window. There were crumbs as though someone had been eating up there. I collected some samples and dusted for prints on the floor and on the window, which had been opened slightly"

"Any idea of how long ago?"

Thinking that someone could have used the place to sleep in months ago.

"Recently, because the rats hadn't got there and there was no new dust"

It made me wonder if that was where Steph might have been, but then again, the positioning of her tracker was very accurate in pinpointing her position and it had definitely put her in that warehouse.

"Did anyone see anything out of the ordinary?"

I asked the rest of the men wanting to proceed with the evenings activity. Acknowledging that no one had anything else to report I proceeded to plan out an operation for us to infiltrate the building. If nothing else, I was curious as to what the hell it had been used for.

"Tonight. Santos and I will evaluate the dock access and make entry there. Brown, you and Ram, team 2, take the side entrance with Tank and Hector, team 3, at the front"

Seeing heads nodding at me I proceeded to the next level of back up that I wanted which would involve the other men that I had included in the meeting.

"Miguel and Cal, team 4, to take a position on the road leading down to the warehouse. There's only one access road that leads down there so you'll be there to give us a heads up for any movement in our direction. Hal and Binkie, team 5, I want you to take up a position across the river and maintain a visual for any traffic that might be from a boat"

"What we looking for Ranger?"

"I have no idea"

Which was the honest truth. There might be absolutely nothing to find there, and this could be a wild goose chase. All I knew for certain was that this warehouse was the last place that Steph's trackers put her before she returned to her apartment. For all I knew something had happened at her apartment that spooked her. It occurred to me as I gave that answer that I was actually becoming more worried about Steph and the need to know that she was okay was starting to knag at me. It also had me wondering where the hell she and Morelli were.

"I suggest we leave here at 2300hrs. Use different routes through town and park up beyond the perimeter. Be ready in positions at 2330hrs. Fully kitted out gentlemen because we don't know what we'll find"

A look at Brown and his returning nod assured me that he would have a medical field kit on hand and a look at Ram assured me that he'd have a forensic kit with him. We had three hours to prepare ourselves, plenty of time.

Driving through the streets of Trenton toward the river enabled me to gain the control that was always needed for an operation like this. Maybe I was feeling more cautious than usual after what had happened on that last mission, so was mentally preparing myself. As a group each team knew what to do and where they would need to be. All of us wore black without any Rangeman logos in view with a vest over the top. We were armed with hand guns, knives and Miguel with a sniper rifle. Each of us were connected through the comms system using earbuds and mics so overall I felt that we were prepared for anything. Woodie was manning the operational command center and had eyes on our trackers and ears on our communications. Yet I felt that there was some unknown factor that was eluding me and that was what we might find inside that warehouse.

Parking the SUV several streets from the river Santos and I made our way quietly toward our destination, keeping to the shadows and aware of everything around us. By 2320 we were at the side of the dock ready to move into position at the rear entrance only waiting for our watches to move toward the 30 minute time. As 2329hrs approached I heard the other teams confirm that they were in position, ready, and mentally counted down the seconds for me to make my move.

On time Santos and I moved stealthily toward the door and using a set of picks soon had the padlock open allowing the door to open slightly. We went still, either side of the door, in case there were alarms or booby traps and on hearing nothing slipped through the door taking up positions low to the ground. I couldn't believe just how dark it was inside so taking out a penlight passed it along the floor until it came to a dark wall. That had not been what I was expecting and as we approached the wall, I heard reports coming to me from the other teams.

"Can't really gain access to the inside, there's a metal wall blocking any progress"

"Same here, padlock opened the outer door, but it's blocked"

As I continued to use the penlight around the small area that we were in, it looked as though the wall went from wall to wall and up to the ceiling. It was Santos who discovered the double doors to the side.

"Team 3, move to behind us"

I ordered wanting a more effective backup at what appeared to be the only door that actually led inside and also needing Hector's expertise in unlocking the doors. Whilst the locking system only used the input of digits into a pad it wasn't a system that I could easily break, there were just too many combinations, and I had no idea what might happen if we input the wrong one. It could lock us out or send out an alarm.

I moved to the side as Hector came in and waited as he attached an electronic decoder. Santos was stood by the door while I assumed that Tank was outside keeping watch. As the light on the lock turned green Hector pushed one of the doors open. It was what I imagined it would be like if opening up a tomb. Pitch black with a coldness in the air that seemed to permeate every part of you. Even sound seemed to be sucked into its depths.

Stepping through the door I used a more powerful flashlight to scan the floor and walls surprised at seeing that everywhere was painted white. I watched Hector as he moved around the walls and was aware that he was videoing what he was seeing. What he was seeing was lost on me for the moment as I continued further into the room. It was like walking into a large box that was totally empty.

"Power points and air conditioning"

Came from Hector as I stepped around a solid partition that effectively separated the room into two areas. In front of me there were two doors that opened into empty rooms. Just like the larger room there was nothing there to help work out what they had been for. It was as we were continuing to study the place that Tank's voice came to me through my ear.

"Team 5. Recon area 120degrees. Bandits"

That implied that someone had eyes on us from across the river.

"Team 2, do your thing"

We needed to get out of here as quickly as possible but there was no way that I was forfeiting finding anything here. As Ram walked into the room a look at Santos and he was soon following me back outside. Hector and Ram would know to collect as much information and evidence as they could. Brown was squatted down next to Tank at the side of the dock and as we approached them, we were almost crawling to where they were positioned. The only sound was the quiet lapping of water against the wooden columns holding up the dock. Looking across the dark surface of the water it was as though all light was drawn into its depth, seeing anything on the other side was just about impossible.

"What have you got Tank?"

I whispered as I came alongside him, taking off my night-vision device (NVD) from the velcro strap on my jacket and holding them up to look across the river.

"Reflection caught my eye. There's a town car parked next to that dumpster, and it's been sat there for too long"

I was able to focus the NVD on where Tank meant and sure enough that town car was just sitting there.

"Two people in the front"

I said to confirm with Tank what I was seeing. I saw his head nod up and down and scanned further along the bank satisfied that there was only signs of the one car watching us and no one else.

"Team 5. Have bandits in view but they're spooked"

Sure enough, the town car began to reverse from where it was parked and after doing a three point turn started to drive away only turning its lights on as it disappeared around a corner. I was confident that Hal and Binkie would be able to tail the car without being seen and even maybe pick out a plate number.

I was aware of Hector and Ram coming out of the building so was confident that they had collected what they needed. The outer door was closed with the padlock back in place meaning we could get the hell out of here. I gave the order to all teams to fall back and return to base wondering what the hell it was that we had stumbled across.

Normally after a job like the one that we'd just done we would regroup in the morning to go through what we had found, unless of course we found something that needed immediate action. There was nothing to infer that we had to move immediately on something but for some reason when I walked into the conference room, every man was there watching as Hector was adding photographs to the screen on the wall. Hal and Binkie looked to have been waiting for me and were quick to walk up to me. Why they wanted to talk to me now rather than during a debrief with all of the men was actually worrying.

"Err, Boss. That car. We trailed it back to the FBI office"

That quietly passed on piece of information certainly had me thinking. Now why would the FBI be watching that building and had we just burst in to one of their cases? I nodded my head at the two men knowing that I would have to be careful with how we followed through with this.

Only a select group of men were aware of the reason that we'd gone in tonight, to try to discover why Steph had been there, with the intention of finding clues to find Lainey. I wasn't sure that it would be a wise move to inform all of the men that I was trying to find Steph. They might not understand my motives and to be honest I wasn't too sure that I understood them myself. That the FBI were watching the place had alarm bells going for me. Had they seen Steph or even Lainey here at the warehouse? Had Steph uncovered what was happening there and that was why she had left Trenton? Surely though if she thought that she was in danger then she would have called Tank or even Santos, after all she knew that she could come here to where it was safe.

Walking up to the screen I started to look at the photographs and soon had Hector and Ram on either side of me. Hector had a schematic for the area that we had been inside of, but I was keen for them to give me their opinion of what we were looking at.

"The walls were in sections, bolted together to form a sealed area. Including the walls, floor and ceiling"

"Metal?"

I enquired as I puzzled over the construction.

"Yes, and then coated with what we think was an antimicrobial paint. There were power outlets equally spaced along the wall and a state of the art ventilation system that was fed through from a gap that separated the internal walls from the original building"

"Any ideas what it was used for?"

Thinking that maybe it had been somewhere that maybe drugs had been distributed from. Pure cocaine came in a salt form which is then neutralized with a solvent to make a white powder. The conditions would be ideal for that process before cutting and packaging before distribution.

"Not really, other than it would have been a clean room"

"Everywhere had been wiped down with bleach so there were no residuals to find"

That information from Ram was disappointing, leaving me guessing as to what the hell it had been used for. Walking closer to the screen I was studying an enlarged image that had been produced. To me there looked to be round indentations in the metal with small areas where the paint had fragmented. If I was right in what I was seeing, then these looked to be where bullets had hit the wall. I felt as Santos walked up behind me and touched the screen as though he would be able to feel the damage on the wall.

"Damage from a bullet?"

Confirmed that I wasn't the only one to draw that conclusion. Looking at more of the photos highlighted the evidence that whatever had happened in that building had resulted in a shootout, with someone cleaning up the place to get rid of all of the evidence.