Chapter 14

I left Santos with the car as I walked into the cemetery. I knew that the side gate would be open, and it gave better access to where Gregson would be. I had a mic and ear bud in place and had instructed Santos to record the conversation and he was also in touch with Cal and Binkie in case they saw anything that would want me to leave immediately.

Approaching the small garden area, I hadn't seen any signs of anyone else around and that was corroborated by Cal and Binkie. Gregson was sat on one of the wooden seats, an area designated as a quiet place where people could sit and contemplate. The flowers that normally entwined around the latticing had long since died but there was still seclusion and privacy offered from the old and gnarled branches of the climbing plants. Being late in the evening there was only the light from the standing lamps scattered around the garden, casting shadows around the area.

I sat down next to Gregson, but didn't look at him, for some reason I felt I needed to be very aware of my surroundings. Gregson seemed relaxed as he sat there in his black woolen coat, suit and shiny shoes. For a man not much older than me he seemed to enjoy the image of decorum that his position allowed him.

"Sorry about having to meet like this Manoso, but a lot is going on"

I nodded my head to acknowledge what he'd said and to also accept what he was saying.

"Is this about us being seen at that warehouse?"

Wanting to get straight to the point.

"Partly. I wasn't aware that you knew anything about it"

I wasn't happy that he was talking without actually saying anything of any importance.

"What had been happening there?"

After sighing and sitting back I waited for Gregson to decide what he was going to tell me.

"This isn't that simple"

Was anything?

"The FBI became aware that something was happening in Trenton, so we had a few places under surveillance. We had no idea what the hell was going on to start with but the set up seemed strange. Then we heard chatter, first that some of the homeless were going missing and then one of the cyber guys came across a site on the dark web that was selling human organs"

That had me looking at Gregson, to be sure that he was being serious. Was that what was happening there?

"The local ME raised concerns with some of the bodies that were found so we stepped up surveillance at several potential places, the warehouse by the river being one of them. The ME was persuaded to keep his findings under wraps. The bodies stopped turning up, so maybe they found another way to dispose of them and then we were seeing more movement by boat to that place. We were all set up to raid the place but somehow they knew"

Which meant that there had been a leak from inside the FBI.

"What surprised us was seeing that woman of yours near there and then her going inside. She came out with another woman which is when the shit started to happen. One of my men who was by the dock was spotted as the gang started to empty the place, so we brought the raid forward"

Which was what the old man had told us this morning.

"The boat got away with some of the equipment, but it ended up a shootout. Men killed on both sides and the man in charge got away before we could really identify who he was"

"Was it you that had the place emptied and cleaned?"

Remembering the use of bleach and the bullet damage.

"Yes. Had to really. There were two bodies inside, dead, with organs missing"

I had never considered that to be what was happening, but I suppose that it made sense now. People going missing and bodies that had been dumped for nature to take care of.

"Why were they focusing on young women?"

"I suppose that they tended to be healthier than the men. At least that was what we were thinking"

As the silence grew, I knew there was more to this story than Gregson was saying. He'd filled me in on what was happening at the warehouse and what the FBI had done but it didn't feel enough to warrant this clandestine meeting.

"What else, there's more"

I said, not as a question, but because I knew from what Gregson had told me that there was a lot more to his story than what he'd said.

"We had a conversation with Miss Plum afterwards, after all she'd been inside and had seen and heard things"

"As a witness?"

I asked with a slight edge to my voice. Did Gregson think that he could use Steph as a witness against the man in charge? Was that why she was missing because they had her in a safe house somewhere?

"Initially, okay yes. We needed the man in charge, but Miss Plum denied having seen anything. I was sure that what seemed trivial to her would be important to us, and it was as we talked to her, and as she told us why she was there that a whole new game emerged"

"She was looking for a young runaway"

Wondering how the hell that would interest the FBI.

"That runaway, she's the daughter of someone that we have on our watch list"

"Markovic"

I said unintentionally which suddenly had Gregson looking at me frowning. Though I was pretty sure that the search that I had done didn't include a daughter. He'd married pretty quickly after arriving here but five years later he was divorced.

"What the hell do you know about him?"

"I was part of the team that extracted him from Serbia. He came onto my radar because he'd been looking for the same girl that Steph was trying to find"

I was still confused why that had involved the FBI though.

"Christ this is a mess. That girl, Elaina, she was born in Belgrade to an unmarried woman. Not the done thing at the time, so the kid ended up in an orphanage. She was adopted by an American couple who were living there at the time before they came back to the States. When Elaina was 21, she applied for a copy of her birth certificate, and it seems the mother had added Markovic as the father. Took a while to come through and she never told her adoptive parents about it. Then she told them she was going travelling, you know a gap year, after finishing university. Seems she went back to Serbia and reconnected with her mother. She must have learnt something because she came back here and started to look for her father"

I wasn't sure how on earth this girl would think that she could find her father, he wasn't known by the name on the birth certificate.

"How did she know what name he'd taken?"

"Probably from her mother, Joseph Thomson was a famous British scientist, maybe Markovic was a fan, who knows"

I was still trying to make sense of why Gregson was so worried, and he still hadn't finished telling me about Steph.

"Seems this girl got the attention of someone because suddenly there were people looking for her. By sheer bad luck she got picked up by the crew from that warehouse, but Miss Plum got her out"

It didn't make sense to me. I knew how many men there were going by the name Joseph Thomson. How had this daughter ended up in Trenton when Markovic could have been anywhere in the States?

"Markovic found out about her because he suddenly got a message from an anonymous sender, with a ransom demand"

A ransom demand for the return of his daughter, a daughter that he had never even met. I couldn't see Markovic agreeing to pay anything.

"Gregson where is Steph?"

Because by now I was at the point where I didn't give a fuck about the whole damn story.

"Like I said we needed to talk to her, so we took her to a safe house"

I raised my eyebrow at that, hell, Steph would have hated that.

"It was only for a few days and once she'd stopped trying to bite my head off, she told me what she knew, which to be honest wasn't very much. The plan was for her to go back home, until that damn stupid cop, Morelli, turned up. He'd called in a favor from one of the guys who thought Morelli would help keep Miss Plum off the grid for a few weeks. Christ, that house was an inferno one minute and artic the next. Miss Plum was furious when Morelli turned up and said he was going to take her somewhere that would be safe while the dust settled"

Morelli had finally caught up with Steph then, but how had he ended up dead in Vermont?

"My counterpart from Washington thought that it was a good idea and had some shmuck with the same name as Morelli transferred to Atlanta. The cover story just evolved from there"

I couldn't believe that Gregson had allowed Morelli to railroad them like that and get his own way.

"You know Morelli is dead, don't you? So where the hell is Steph?"

"Their car was ambushed after they left the safe house and they both disappeared"

I closed my eyes for a moment as I tried to get my head around what Gregson had told me. Shit, I was glad that we were recording this conversation because no one back at Rangeman would believe me if I tried to repeat this story.

"Do you know who has Steph?"

"No"

"Do you know where this girl, Elaina is?"

"No, she disappeared after Miss Plum got her out of the warehouse"

"Do you know what the ransom was that Markovic was asked for?"

Thinking that he was being asked to fork out a lot of money. Getting no reply from Gregson I knew that he knew, so why the hell was he being so goddamn quiet now.

"Gregson"

I used a low, cold voice to let him know that I was totally pissed that he wasn't answering me.

"A detonator for a nuclear warhead"

I just looked at Gregson as he said that trying very hard to imagine that he hadn't said it. What the hell was Markovic doing with a detonator? It had been years since he could have worked in that field, unless of course he'd done some work for the American Government and that was why they agreed to get him out of Serbia.

"Why would he even consider talking to them?"

The thoughts from before coming to my mind.

"Seems Markovic is impotent from working with radioactive sources, that's why his wife left him. He was desperate to have children, especially as he was living his perfect life. I suppose he's protective of the daughter that he now has"

We both sat in silence after that. I was trying to figure out why Steph had been taken and praying that she was still alive. There were too many variables to say for certain what the hell had happened to her or who was responsible. My thoughts were interrupted when Gregson turned to me and started to talk again.

"I spoke with Colonel Raynor today, after you called. I'm not sure if we have a mole, too many coincidences for my liking, so I can't work this case. I know he worked at getting Markovic out of Serbia and that he had Markovic put on the watch list and oversees it. He's going to be asking you to work this. We need to find the daughter and the people responsible for threatening Markovic. Maybe you can find your woman along the way"

I knew Raynor, he'd been my commanding officer back in the day, when he was a Major, and through the contract that I had with the government I often came into contact with him. I wasn't sure what the hell to do. I suppose that Gregson might be right, that somehow Steph might be found along the way. I wasn't going to settle for that possibility because I would make damn sure that she was always my focus and make finding her important to the job. It brought back my thoughts as we'd left Markovic's house earlier.

This was what I did, what I was paid by the government to do, to find people and return them home. This was going to be one job that I was going to do for me because I had to get Steph back. There was no other option.

I took a slip of paper from Gregson, recognizing a phone number written down.

"Call that number if you need to talk to me"

There was nothing more to say between us and we each went our own way. I knew that talking again to Gregson would be difficult, especially if he thought he had an informer inside of the FBI. Walking away from the cemetery it now made sense why he had chosen that place to meet. We'd used it a couple of times before, more so that I wouldn't have to walk into the building where he worked. So sue me, I liked to have control over where I met and talked to people. That had me wondering who had been in touch with who, had Gregson got in touch with Raynor when he realized who Thomson was or the other way round. Was Gregson Markovic's contact if he felt threatened?

If this was going to be a government job than it would have to be clandestine, but I would be insisting on who worked with me.

It was with a heavy heart that I returned to the car. Santos would have heard every word that had been said so I wasn't surprised when he had nothing to say. There were too many things to think about, to sort through before I even decided where to start. I was sure that Raynor would have known that I was meeting with Gregson, so I also had to anticipate that conversation. Maybe he knew more.

I was very aware of men hovering around me when I walked onto five. I'd instructed Santos to send me the recording of the meeting with Gregson because at the back of my head I was mindful that this could turn into a government mission and as such would be classified. There were men here at Rangeman who would be cleared for that but for now I needed to be prepared with who I would want on my team for when Raynor contacted me. I just hoped that he wasn't going to dictate who that would be.

Being late and at the end of a shift it wasn't long before the floor became quiet. I spent some time at the monitors and reading through the daily logs in order to ascertain the impact of the protocols that were in place for dealing with alerts. A conversation with Hal and Miguel had me confident that they had everything in hand, so I was ready to go through other reports in my office. Entering and seeing an empty in tray I was actually glad that I had taken the time to work through it. At least I wouldn't feel guilty leaving Tank overloaded with work and he had already arranged for new clients to be put on hold and the men's reviews postponed.

There was a ritual that I always went through before going out on a mission, so I busied myself with those. Taking out papers from my safe, I started to make sure that they were up to date, though the fact that I'd only done that a couple of months ago meant that there was nothing to add to them. On the Rangeman system I was ensuring that any of the reports that I'd cleared had been uploaded to the relevant areas and then made sure that all of my personal information was up to date. There was no one to contact before leaving. Contact with my family was minimum anyway. I'd spoken to my parents when I was being treated at the army hospital down in Washington, so I was up to date with them. They hated that I still worked my government contract but were resigned to the fact that I led a dangerous life. My mother, well she held onto the belief that no news was good news. My brother, who managed the Miami office would probably find out from Tank that I was going to be out of contact for a while. I'd normally talk to Steph before I went, wanting her to know that Tank and Santos were always there to help her out, though she rarely sought them out.

That done I went up to seven and went straight to my closet. Pulling out my ready bag I ensured all weapons were stripped, cleaned and oiled before returning them to the bag and then from my closet brought out a variety of clothing options. Being stateside I knew that I might need several changes of clothing for different occasions, okay, I could still buy things if needed. Finally, from my safe I pulled out three different passports with drivers licenses and matching bank cards along with three phones.

My own phone would stay here in the apartment, but I debated whether or not to keep my watch with me. Normally I wouldn't wear it whilst on a mission, probably because I was out of the country and didn't want anyone to know my whereabouts but for some reason, I left it on my wrist. I left some electronics in the bag, after checking that they were fully charged and had charging leads before taking the bag and placing it next to the door.

To be honest I'd spent the last few hours just going through the motions of what needed to be done. If I started to think about Steph, then I think that I might just loose all control. I suppose to anyone looking on at my behavior they'd say that I was in shock and maybe I was. I was finding it difficult to understand how the hell Steph had managed to become embroiled in such a complicated and dangerous situation. Then again with her past record maybe I should have realized that nothing was as easy as what it should be with Steph. My only hope was that she was safe and that she knew that I was looking for her.

I was just opening the fridge when I heard my phone sounding and looking at the id as unknown, had a feeling that I knew exactly who was calling.

"Manoso. I hear you know the background to this conversation?"

I really wasn't in the mood for playing word games with the Colonel so took a different tack in trying to get him to actually say what he was meaning.

"Which conversation would that be Colonel?"

I heard his laugh down the phone before he became serious.

"Are we on an encrypted line Manoso?"

"Yes"

Having used that as soon as I answered the phone.

"Then you know from Gregson what the situation is?"

Most of it but there were still details that I needed to know.

"Can we trust Markovic?"

Because I didn't know the man well enough to know otherwise.

"Yes. He's behaved himself ever since he came here. He's afraid and panicking"

"Do you know where that detonator is?"

"No. He isn't being very cooperative on providing us with that information. I have no idea if it even exists"

I wasn't surprised at hearing that but had a suspicion that there was information not being shared with me. I needed to clarify exactly what the job that the colonel was asking me to do entailed. That way I would focus on that.

"Colonel, my skill set is to find the people who are being held prisoner. I take it you want me to find the daughter"

"Yes. Hopefully when you find her then we can worry about a possible warhead or detonator"

"I'll need to talk to Markovic"

"I take it that you're accepting the job"

I'd already made that decision, but I didn't want Raynor knowing that, so took an opportunity to put my case to him, a case that had been niggling at me since I'd come back from that last mission.

"I'll do it, but only if it's my last job and I choose my own team"

I waited through the silence that followed. Yeah, he knew that I was probably the best man to get this job done, well I was banking on that. Now I was wanting him to agree with what I'd said, to basically have my contract expunged. There was only a year left on it but to be honest I was finished with being called up and sent to god knows where to do god knows what for what could be weeks or months. I wanted some stability in my life, or at least not to have worry if the next time I'd be seriously injured or worse. I was getting too old for that shit.

"Okay. I'll get the papers sorted"

I was left holding the phone as he disconnected so placed it on the counter and continued to look through the fridge for something to eat. I spied a salad and had just stood up to open the drawer for cutlery when there was a knock on my door. I shouted through to come in and continued to the kitchen bar to sit down and eat.

"You going somewhere Ranger?"

I noticed Tank looking at my bag as he walked in knowing that he knew the significance of it.

"You just came back. What can you tell me?"

I continued eating as Tank went and got 2 bottles of beer from the fridge and then sat down next to me.

"Shit Ranger, why now? We need to be looking for Steph"

I continued to eat and listen to Tank, waiting, biding my time. I wasn't sure whether to tell him what my mission was but then again, I was intending to take Santos with me so maybe Tank deserved to know. Which reminded me that I needed to contact the men I wanted with me and hope that they were available.

"It's stateside"

Was all I said and watched as Tank frowned. When he didn't ask any more questions, I could see that he was working something out and was prepared for the next barrage of questions.

"Gregson, you spoke to Gregson. Shit is what we've been looking at that big?"

"I'll be taking Santos with me, but we'll be going dark"

Tank took a swig of his beer, he knew the score, hell he'd been one of us who had taken on these jobs himself before he made the decision not to continue when his contract came up for renewal. I had done, I hadn't felt ready to give up that part of my life. Maybe it was the chase, or the adrenaline rush and the money certainly helped. Or maybe it was the feeling when we were successful, the idea that I was doing something good regardless of the way it was done. This last mission was different though because I couldn't fail, I had to find Steph. In some ways maybe it was because of her that I felt the need to finish my contract, was that what had been behind my thinking? To actually start to consider that elusive someday with her. What would I do if she wasn't interested or worse still if something had happened to her? Not something I wanted to think about.

"Once I'm gone, listen to the recording from my meeting with Gregson, you'll understand better. Confidential Tank"

That recording would explain to Tank most of what had happened but also just how serious this mission could be, and I knew he wouldn't say a word to anyone.

"Tank if anything comes up that you think is pertinent then Hector has a way of getting a message to me"

I didn't usually have that as a backup but for some reason felt that it was important if I was going to be here in the States. I would never give up hope that Steph might just turn up back home. After Tank left, I made three calls. I think that Santos was expecting it and he certainly sounded both relieved to be coming with me as well as keen to be involved. The next two calls went better than I expected, both men were available and the idea of a mission in a civilized country had them both enthusiastic to be a part of the team.