Chapter 28

I was surprised when she just nodded her head and was very aware that Steph had gone very quiet.

"That laptop, what did you do with it?"

"I binned it, put it in a skip. It was no good without a password and to be honest I think that it was just an old laptop"

Not the answer that I expected because it was a stupid thing to have done if it was part of Petco's device.

"How did you find out about Pavkov, as an arms dealer he would be careful about information on him"

"Not when you know the clubs that he likes to party at and then get to know some of the girls that, shall we say entertain him and his business associates. He's a rich, spoilt playboy who's a drunk and an addict. His bodyguards may be more cautious, but he isn't"

And who would think that two attractive women were anything than what they seemed, not Pavkov apparently.

"What was on the boat, the thing that he was selling?"

I was worried now because my mind had taken to me to understand that it was a nuclear device, especially given Petco's work. I wasn't surprised that it was Steph who answered because it was her that Elaina had sent to check it out. Shit, did they realize just how dangerous that could have been. The radioactivity alone could have been strong enough to have caused a dose that might be fatal. Then to have purposely sank the boat. What the hell was Elaina thinking, that it would be swallowed up in the sea and never be found again? I could sense that Steph was reticent to explain what it was that she'd found, would she even know what she was looking at and be able to identify anything about it?

"I managed to get into the room where all of the men were gathered. I knew that they would be emptying the room and collecting somewhere for the bidding to happen. It was simple to hide and then take a look at what the center of attention was"

I waited almost afraid of what Steph would say, almost feeling the fear reverberate from her as she considered the words that she would use.

"It wasn't what I expected, I mean for some reason I thought that it would be rocket shaped. It was shaped more like an egg but any writing on the outside was covered with rust or lost where the outer casing had deteriorated. It was open, showing the inner workings but I'm pretty sure there were parts missing"

Steph stopped talking looking down at her hands while Elaina was busy just watching her. There could be several reasons for her thinking there were missing parts. Pavkov could have removed any nuclear material from the device to ensure that no one tried to steal it, or we may have been lucky and there had never been any inside to start with. The reason I was most afraid of, was that Steph wouldn't necessarily know what to look for and thought the internal workings inside the casing should have filled it. I wasn't sure of that and actually wished that CJ was here to talk to Steph, for her to describe what she'd seen.

I realized that I'd been too quiet for too long and Elaina moving brought my attention back to what else I wanted an answer to.

"Elizabeth Norton, how did you know her?"

I was aware of Steph looking at me, probably because by saying her full name meant that I knew of her.

"How do know her?"

"She took over your old job with Vinnie"

Steph obviously hadn't known about that, and I wasn't comfortable with how this Elizabeth was beginning to raise her profile with what we were talking about. That the connection with her was obviously through Elaina surprised me. Had Lizbeth been on the look out for Elaina as well, was that why she was in Trenton?

"I met her down at one of the shelters when I was collecting some food. She was one of the staff that brought food down to the embankment at the end of the evening from the restaurant where she worked. I liked her and she gave me her phone number if I ever needed to talk"

"Correll?"

I asked wondering if Elaina knew the connection to Elizbeth.

"I already told you. He turned up at the house just before you did. He was paranoid and made us stay in our rooms"

"What happened to Lizbeth?"

Because we weren't aware of her being at the house down in Hammonton.

"No idea. She just spoke with Correll and drove us to that house. I just assumed that she went back to Trenton"

I wondered if Correll was aware that Elizabeth knew of Elaina before she contacted him or if seeing Steph and Elaina was a surprise to him. Of course, being the suspicious person that I was had me thinking whether Elizabeth had been in cahoots with Correll all of the time. She could have tipped someone off as to where Elaina was with the homeless people, then again no one had turned up down in Hammonton except us. Damn, another person to add to the mix and the fact that she had tried to get to me in Trenton was just pissing me off even more.

When Elaina stood up to leave the room, I didn't stop her, but I was annoyed with her when she took Steph's hand and pulled her to the door with her. That was obviously her way of saying that the questions were over, but I was damned if she was going to be alone with Steph. Plus, there was one more question that I needed answering, well maybe two. I followed them into the kitchen not surprised when there was no talking from either of them. As Elaina opened the fridge, I closed the door stopping her from what she was going to be doing. And there it was, her eyes showed her anger, and she wasn't backing away from me.

"We answered your questions. We've told you what we know so what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Why did you run away from the house in Hammonton?"

I didn't say it quietly but neither did I think I was being excessively rude or demanding. It bothered me, why they felt that they needed to get away from the house. It seemed that Elaina hadn't been expecting me to ask her that and I could almost see the confusion cross her face, as though she didn't know the answer. That's when it struck me. Had they known that we were there and their decision to escape was driven by having us help them? Were we being used like some pawn in a game that we didn't even know that we were playing?

"I don't know, other than not liking or trusting Correl. I mean he just turned up and then started to take control, it was creepy because although he never said it, I was sure that he knew who we were"

"Ranger"

I turned to look at Steph and watched as she walked over to stand next to Elaina.

"Something was off, I just felt it. We hadn't asked for help other than from Lizbeth and suddenly we have a man telling us what we can and can't do. He tried to assure us that he was just keeping us safe because Lizbeth had asked him to. He was so annoyed when you arrived at the house by the sea, and he knew who you were. I thought he'd killed you"

Her last sentence was barely a whisper as she said that, and in that moment, I knew how much it had hurt her.

"I just knew you were there and needed to find you, I had to know that you were real"

"You escaped for me?"

As Steph nodded her head, I was under no illusion that it had been her who had insisted on leaving. Maybe she was afraid of Correll, her senses had obviously told her that he wasn't being straight with them, but I felt that she really had taken that opportunity to reach out to me. As I took Steph into my arms, I watched Elaina as she watched Steph, taking the opportunity to ask the last question.

"Did Correll tell you that he's FBI, and that Elizabeth is his estranged daughter?"

Elaina never reacted to what I'd said so I had the feeling that she already knew, but it was Steph who pulled back from me, surprise written all over her face. She was also looking to Elaina and picked up immediately on what I'd seen.

"You knew? Why didn't you say anything?"

There was no way Elaina could bluff her way out of this one, not with the way that Steph was looking at her.

"Okay, I was doubtful as to what his job was but I never really thought that he might be FBI. Hell, that old man, Osbourne, he really went for Correll and started shouting at him. He kept asking Correll how he thought he had a right to turn up in his daughter's life when he'd abandoned her mother and gone to work a desk job for the government in the city. I suppose I was wishing that my Dad would want to do that"

The last sentence was said almost as an afterthought with a tinge of regret leaking out. Maybe Steph was going to fall for that, but I wasn't. There were too many coincidences happening for me to blindly believe her. I needed to get away from Elaina before I said something that I'd regret, something that Steph would hate me for saying. I took Steph with me and opening the door from the kitchen walked with her outside. I hadn't really thought about what the weather would be like and was pleasantly surprised to see that the rain had stopped, hell there was even the hint of the sun trying to break through the clouds.

We walked without either one of saying anything until we reached a small enclosed area that had once been paved and surrounded with trellises. I tested out an old wooden seat by leaning down on it with my hand and then sat down. Steph sat with me, close to me with her arm linked through mine, her head resting on my shoulder.

"I didn't know"

"Why would you. Why do you think Elaina never said what she was thinking?"

I turned to look down at Steph as I asked her that, I suppose that it was something that might be bothering her. She wouldn't know why Elaina had kept quiet about something as important as Correll being FBI, but she'd worry like hell about it now. We just sat, I think both of us lost in our own thoughts. My thoughts were thinking about Steph and what I'd found out today, or at least the small amount of detail that I'd been allowed to hear. In some ways I didn't like what I'd heard but I was pretty sure that I hadn't been told everything and that everything was worrying me because I was sure that that part was what Steph said I wouldn't like.

The sun never quite made it in its attempt to break through the cloud and as the sky darkened, I was aware of small drops of rain falling on me.

"Let's head back in before we get soaking wet"

Was all I said as I stood, pulling Steph up with me, returning quickly to the house as the rain fall increased. Once in the kitchen I pulled out a towel from one of the drawers and began to gently rub the water from Steph's hair.

"I was looking for you"

Turning I saw Santos stood in the doorway the look on his face worrying me.

"What's happened?"

Because I was immediately on alert with how he was stood there.

"That woman, Elaina, she took off. Took one of the cars from the garage and drove off"

Now why would she do that? I'd thought that she was wanting to get information from me so what had changed?

"Check her room"

Was all I said to Santos as I headed downstairs into the den. I wasn't sure how Elaina had managed to open the garage door or even the gates out of the property but the fact that she had was making me worry. With her out there I couldn't protect her, but I could still see where she was going. Opening up a program on the computer I was able to pick up the trackers for my cars. I was just hoping that she hadn't taken the truck or the van that we'd used for this job because I didn't have any way of tracking those. Checking the codes against the small circles I worked out that a black Porsche Cayenne was missing from the garage. I rewound the tapes from the surveillance cameras and watched as it drove through the open gates, I knew there was a fob to open them on the keyring of the car. Widening the map, I soon picked up where the car was and waited to see if it moved when I felt Steph behind me. She sat on the chair next to me and looked at the map knowing what was there.

"She's parked up at the mall. Do you think she'll come back?"

I looked at Steph as she asked that and saw the tears forming in her eyes. I wasn't sure if she was upset because Elaina was out there or upset with relief.

"Do you want her to come back?"

I asked, because I wasn't sure anymore of how close those two had been or if Elaina had some hold over Steph.

"I don't know. I told her that you hadn't asked where that device was, I don't know what's true or lies anymore. I don't know who she is"

I pulled her from the chair across to my knee wanting to comfort her but also wanting her to explain what she meant.

"Talk me through it Babe, because I'm not following what you're saying"

"She's not what I expected and the more time I spent with her the more she puzzled me. It was the little things, like her name, wanting to be called Ellie or Elaina when her whole life she'd been called Elaine. I talked to her parents when she first went missing, saying I was a friend from school, trying to get a feel for her. You know, what she was like four years ago"

Of course Steph would think about doing that and she was the only person that I knew that would be able to chat to a complete stranger and find out the information that she needed.

"Her Mum was really proud of her, said that she'd just finished a course in child psychology and was away on a gap year. That she was quiet, and okay she didn't use the word, but conservative. The girl I met was skilled in areas that Ellie wouldn't have been. Riding a motor bike, learning a new language and then that damn holistic place. Oh and let's not forget how she looked"

"She could have changed at university, grown out of her shell"

Hell I knew a lot of kids when I was at Rutgers who totally rebelled against how they'd been brought up.

"I know and that was what I thought as well"

There was something else, something that was important that Steph wasn't saying because she wasn't sure enough to voice it.

"I spent a lot of time with Petco when he was ill. He seemed to enjoy some of the stories I told him. Just before he died, he told me something and showed me something. He said Ellie was too bossy and constantly asking him questions. She didn't do it when I was with her but there were times when she'd be on her own with him. He told me to be careful with her. Why would he say that?"

I had no idea, but I was impatient for CJ to get back to me. Maybe I needed to warn him if Elaina didn't come back, just in case she decided to contact him. That had me thinking of what I'd asked him to do, so maybe we'd have some answers soon and Steph would know if her worries were reasonable or not.

"What else Babe, what was there that worried you?"

"That laptop, she didn't destroy it like she told you, but I don't know why she was so keen to make sure that you didn't know where it was. Why would she think that you would want to have it?"

As I thought through how I would answer that my first impulse was not to say anything, that way I wouldn't be lying to her. The more I thought about it I knew I had to tell her the truth especially if I wanted her to trust me.

"From looking for you we came across that warehouse, that was somewhere that your trackers had you visiting. When we went inside it had been emptied and cleaned but there was an FBI surveillance on it. I was worried because of something Eddie had told me so Hector and I broke into Morelli's house. We found your laptop and some of the names that you'd been following"

"He had my laptop?"

I'd never given that a second thought after all she often stayed at his house so her laptop being there didn't raise a concern for me.

"Yes. I started with the last name on your list, Lapira. We tracked him down and had a conversation with him"

"You didn't hurt him, did you?"

I was quick to answer because I now knew that despite what he was doing, Steph saw something in him, maybe a lost soul that just needed help to break his behavior.

"Hector is keeping an eye on him. He had no record so passing him over to the police wasn't an option. What he did, well it had to be stopped"

I only hoped that I'd made the right decision. Lapira, he wasn't like those men who took the Ambassador's son. The way they tretaed that young boy was deplorable. Lapira reminded me so much of a young man I'd been asked to find for the FBI, a man suspected of assaulting and murdering young boys. When I eventually caught up with him and he was interviewed, it turned out that it was his father and uncles who were responsible, his role was to lure young children for them. Something that he started to do to avoid being a victim himself and something that he didn't see as wrong. That young man ended up in a psychiatric hospital but within a short time he committed suicide.

I must have done something right when I saw Steph smile as she muttered "Good"

"The name Joseph Thomson that was in your file, well Lapira mentioned that a girl called Lainey had asked about him. Lapira had a few people asking about Lainey, some were rough with him but there was also an older man, so I got Lapira to identify him from photos"

I paused for a moment considering whether I should tell Steph about the extraction but thinking it through she probably knew as much about this whole clusterfuck as I did, maybe more.

"This mustn't be repeated Babe. Twelve years ago, I was part of a team that extracted Damir Markovic from Serbia. We had no idea who he was or why, we just followed orders. He was an arrogant man and boasted what name he wanted to use. Joseph Thomson was the name, and he was who Lapira identified. I got in touch with an FBI agent that we'd done some work with and ended up having a meeting with him. Of course, he knew that we'd been to that warehouse, so he filled me in on what he knew. He told me that the government still kept an eye on Markovic and that Markovic received a ransom demand. A detonator for his daughter"

"Did the FBI know why he wanted her?"

"Not that I know"

It was something that I'd thought about, I mean in the past I was always sent in to rescue the victim. That Raynor and possibly Gregson were focused on the payment, a detonator, was unusual.

"I was sent to Belgrade to retrieve the detonator, but it wasn't there. Babe, we found Savic's body in that mausoleum"

From the frown that crossed Steph's face I knew that she didn't know anything about that, but I knew that they'd probably already left Belgrade when he'd died.

"We found out that he'd been paid a lot of money which led us to Istanbul and a man called Pavkov. All we found was a burnt down warehouse and news that his boat had sunk"

Yep, that surprised Steph, her eyes were wide as she looked at me. It took a few moments before her brain engaged and the questions came.

"What did you think Pavkov had bought from Savic?"

"We were asked to find a detonator so were concerned with what it would activate. I spoke to Ramos and he filled me in on some information that Pavkov was selling a bomb on the dark web, we assumed a nuke, given Markovic's work history"

Silence fell as Steph absorbed what I had said and to be honest given what I now knew from Elaina and Steph I was beginning to see how I'd been misled. Markovic had never built anything when he was in Serbia, but he'd stolen designs. Petco was the one to build a prototype so if Markovic had the designs why did he need the detonator, or why did the kidnappers need the detonator? What was so special about the one that Petco had built?

My attention was drawn to the screen as the black circle representing the Cayenne at the mall began to move. Even Steph was quiet as we both watched it. After maybe ten minutes I guessed that it was heading in our direction something not lost on Steph.

"She's coming back"

I said more for myself than for Steph, various feelings were running through me with that thought. Maybe she needed to calm down, think through what was happening but it meant we needed to give a solid front to her appearance.

"Babe?"

I was aware that I hadn't said anything other than that one word, but I was sure that she knew what I was asking. It was almost as if she could decipher how I said that one word and just know that I was expecting an answer from her.

"We need to confront her. Find out what she's up to because I think that she has an agenda that we're not aware of"

Did I chuckle at the determination in her voice, maybe, because the image of Steph interrogating Elaina just didn't seem right.

I turned as Santos and Ethan came into the room, sure from the look on Ethan's face that Santos had filled him in on Elaina's sudden departure.

"Nothing there, Ranger, except clothes and some bathroom products. Is that the car coming back?"

The screen that Santos had looked at now showed that the car was less than a mile away and if it was to gain access back onto the property then I'd have to open the gates. I didn't want to do that from here, I wanted to see her face as she returned and for her to know how annoyed I was with her.

"I'm going to meet her at the gate"

I wasn't surprised that Steph was with me when I walked from the house and down the drive and I wasn't going to stop her from being there. She needed answers as much as I did. Timing had it so that we arrived at the gate just as the car pulled off the road but what surprised me was when the gates started to open. If Santos or Ethan had done that from the house then they'd be paying for that, yeah, I could vent some anger out on the mats, I hadn't done that for a while.

My instinct was to pull Steph behind me and draw my gun as I saw the silhouettes of people in the front of the car. There were two people sat in the front and that had alarm bells ringing for me. Had Elaina brought someone back with her? Had something happened to her and these two people were here to confront us. All sorts of scenarios ran through my head and none of them were good. As both front doors started to open my gun was aimed at the passenger door as that had the least cover for someone to hide behind, due to us being on that side of the drive.

What I wasn't prepared for was Steph suddenly running toward the driver's door and her suddenly being engulfed in arms that were wearing a black jacket. I was so preoccupied with watching her that when I looked back to the passenger door, I was looking at Tank leaning on the door a big grin on his face as he watched Steph. It didn't take long for Tank to move around the front of the car and have Steph pulled into his arms leaving Hector walking toward me. I holstered my gun as he approached not knowing whether to be pleased to see them or totally pissed off.

"We learn from the best. We followed the sat nav to where it came from"

The way that Steph had discovered Rangeman all those years ago. But what were they doing here and why were they driving that car?

"Bring the car up and park it in the garage"

I told Hector as I noticed Tank with his arm around Steph walking back toward the house. Catching up with them I was soon overhearing their conversation.

"I knew he'd find you. Are you doing okay?"

"I am now. But why are you driving that car and where's Elaina?"

Exactly the questions that I was going to ask so walking next to Steph I was keen to hear what Tank had to say.

"Hector saw the car parked up and thought it was strange. It was open and the keys were inside with no one around, so he called me, and we decided to return it. Who's Elaina?"

Damn it, that meant that Elaina had disappeared on purpose. I wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or worried. We really didn't know anything about that damn woman other than the mixed messages that she'd given Steph but at the end of the day I did feel guilty that I'd let her get away. Reaching the garage, I noticed that Hector had parked up the car and that he was talking to Santos. We entered the house via the garage and after closing the door I led the way into the den where Ethan was still watching the monitors.

It was a bit crowded now in the small room, but I didn't want to take this meeting upstairs so sat on the floor leant against the wall while Tank, Santos and Ethan took the chairs. Hector joined me, and Steph sat cross legged by my side.

"This part of your job Ranger?"

"Yes. You two know each other don't you? Ethan, Hector"

Trying to get the formalities over with quickly. I had a decision to make with Tank and Hector being here, and that was whether to include them in what was happening or ask them to leave and forget that they'd seen us, though I was pretty sure they wouldn't forget seeing Steph.

"Tank, this has become a very complicated mission that comes with a long story"

I looked to Steph because in some ways most of the story was hers and she owned it, so it wasn't up to me to share it. I watched as she took in a deep breath, obviously trying to work how to simplify it.

"Ethan, can you bring up pictures for me?"

At Ethan nodding his head I was wondering what she was going to be saying and how much she would let Tank and Hector know. I was going to sit back and let her do her thing, maybe it would help us as well, help clarify what we needed to do next. One thing was for sure, with Elaina gone we'd have to leave here because I was worried that she might compromise the house and where it was. I watched as Steph stood up so turned so that I could see both the screen and Steph.

"Lainey, Elaina, Elaine. The girl I was looking for and found"

I was impressed with the photo that Ethan had picked up from one of the cameras. It was certainly different to the original one that we'd been following to start with.

"Joseph Thomson also known as Damir Markovic, father to Elaina. He's dying and needs an organ transplant and I think he's convinced that his daughter might be a suitable candidate. He used an illegal group who kidnap people for their organs to try to get hold of Elaina. I helped to rescue her. Ranger?"

I hadn't planned on being part of this reporting, but I suppose I had a better understanding of Markovic and his dealings with the government or maybe even Gregson.

"Markovic received a ransom demand, his daughter for a detonator. Markovic was brought to this country 12 years ago, I don't know why, but it seems that he has the attention of people in high places. I was told to retrieve a detonator from Serbia but when we got there it had already gone"

I stopped when Steph held up her hand and heard as she said the next name, not sure if Ethan would be able to find the necessary photo. A few seconds later we were looking at an old black and white photo with three men posing for the camera, all of them wearing lab coats and a serious expression on their face.

"The man on the left is called Petco, then Markovic with Savic on the right. Petco was the brains and also a bit of a philosopher, but he designed something that was very advanced. He decided the world wasn't ready for it so hid his prototype. Markovic stole his designs and probably used them to get the American government to get him out of Serbia. Savic, well he tried to cash in on what Petco had designed and sold part of the prototype to an arms dealer"

"Correll"

Steph stopped and looked at me before returning her look at the photo now on the screen which meant that I was going to have to explain who he was.

"Correll, data analyst for the FBI. I came across him following Gregson when I was supposed to meet up with him. Gregson mentioned that he thinks that they have a mole within the FBI and Correll's behavior had me suspicious. It was him who tranquilized me when you found me"

I was interrupted again by Steph as she uttered the name Elizabeth Norton. Yeah, that had the attention of Tank and Hector because they'd come across her in Trenton as a bounty hunter, in Steph's old job.

"She hasn't been seen recently, Connie told us that she'd told Vinnie what he could do with the job"

Interesting that she seemed to have disappeared, making me wonder why. Steph though didn't appear to be interested in that piece of information. She was intent on explaining who Lizbeth was.

"Lizbeth Norton is Correll's estranged daughter, though I have no idea how long they've known each other and to be honest I have no idea where or if she fits into this"

As Steph finished speaking, she looked back at me, a look that was conveying, almost resignation, though I had no idea why she would feel that. To some extent the problems that had been a part of her life for the last few weeks had gone. Elaina was missing, again, but of her own choice. There was no reason for Steph to look for her.

"You can go home Babe, there's no danger for you now"

I wasn't sure what the hell she was thinking because the look on her face seemed devoid of the openness I was used to seeing.

"Not happening Ranger"

I watched as she turned away from me and heard her mention something about the gym before she disappeared through the door. Santos was looking as though he was about to follow her, so I shook my head to stop him.

"She'll find it hard to do that Ranger, what with her not having a job, her Grandma living in her apartment, and I don't suppose she'll be ready to have to explain herself to everyone back home"

I acknowledged what Santos had said because I hadn't seen it like that. I'd just assumed she'd walk back into her old life, not thinking that the life that she'd had wasn't the same. And to be honest I didn't want that happening for her anyway. I wanted something different for her, but I wasn't about to tell her what that was, I still wasn't confident myself to know if that was what she would want.

"What do you need us to do Ranger?"

I looked at Tank as he asked that, knowing that he would help, even though this was my job to finish. Finish what, came to me. I hadn't reported back to Rayner any of what I'd found out and I wasn't prepared to talk to Gregson yet. The information that I had was still too full of holes and smoke.

"Find Elizabeth Norton and what she's up to"

Maybe that was one person I needed to know about, whether she was involved in this or had just tried to help a friend out.

"Set up surveillance on Correll"

Now he was definitely involved, but I had no idea how. That was the most that I could ask of Rangeman without them becoming entangled with what I was doing.

"What about us Ranger?"

I knew what Ethan was asking, where was the team going to focus on next? I was dubious about what Elaina had said about her actions concerning the detonator, especially after what Steph had told me, so I suppose our focus was to find her, again. CJ was still busy researching her which I was sure would throw more light on her, her habits, which would help.

"Find Elaina because I'm sure that she knows more than she was telling us"

"We need a new base Ranger, with Elaina gone we're compromised here"

I knew that but didn't want to have to set up somewhere again. Not having an immediate answer, I stood up and stretched from being sat on the floor.

"We'll head out and start working, I'll let you know what we find"

I walked Tank and Hector back to the garage and watched as they drove the Cayenne away from the house. They'd keep the car at Rangeman for now, it wasn't as though I would be needing it. Instead of going back to the den I found myself stood in the doorway of the gym. I just watched, feeling like a voyeur, as Steph worked on the pole. I was amazed with the grace of her movement and to be honest amazed at her strength as she used her thighs to maintain her position half way up the pole. She didn't seem to be hindered by the wound on her stomach as she stretched one leg away and balanced herself, with her hand held below her body.

As her knee wrapped around the pole one hand moved above her, continuing the rotation as she slowly slid down the pole until she moved both hands above her and dropped to the floor. As she bent over, I knew that her stomach was causing her some distress so walked to behind her and wrapped my arms around her.

"That was beautiful Babe"

"It helps to relax me, and I suppose it's one hell of way to build up strength"

I had to agree with that because at times she was supporting her own body weight. As she straightened up, I was ready for what she was going to be asking me.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Look for Elaina. What about you?"

I expected her to ask to come with me, after all we'd worked well in the past when we were looking for someone and to be honest with Steph's instincts and the way that she followed clues having her along with us could be an advantage.

"I have somewhere that I need to go"