Chapter 31
I must have dozed off because I woke with a jolt, something was wrong, but I couldn't hear anything. I pulled a gun from the side of my pillow, yes I had it with me and it was loaded, and slowly moved toward the lounge. Empty as was the kitchen, looking at the clock it read 1 am. Where was Carlos? He said he'd be here, I had a horrible feeling in my gut and returned to the bedroom, finding my phone I hit Lesters number.
"Beautiful, you OK?"
"Yes, no"
"What's wrong?"
"Ranger, where is he?"
"He should be here by now, I'll check where he is"
It took ten minutes for Lester to get back to me, and he did it by hammering on my door.
"Lester what is it?"
He led me to the couch and made me sit down, as I tried to stand up two hands rested on my shoulders stopping me. Shit I didn't even notice anyone else come in. I could feel my heart beat increasing and my breathing hitch.
"It's Carlos isn't it?"
My head was suddenly on my knees with hands gently rubbing my back, as I calmed down I sat up looking from one man to the next. Tank, Lester, Hector, Kade, and Tobi.
"No, he's got to be all right"
"Bonita we don't know"
"How can't you know, he has trackers and he was supposed to have someone with him"
"Ram's in the hospital, Angel and Bobby are there now. Beautiful someone got him, we can't find him"
OK now I was panicking. How could that happen? Who could have him?
"What do we know?"
"He went with Ram to look over a security system that needed to be upgraded, then we had an alarm go off, since he and Ram were closest they went to check it out. There was no indication that anything was wrong until a passerby found Ram in an alley injured and called for an EMT. Hell we didn't realize anything until the hospital called, they found Rams id inside his jacket."
"Bonita get the fake gems and this time we'll all use Rangeman as our base"
"Little Girl the men know you're back and our side is totally secure now, we have more resources there and you can help"
Hector came up to me and pulled me to my feet, I moved the coffee table and rug and retrieved the velvet roll from the box. All of the men were just staring. Hector laughed.
"Brillante, Estefania, now go"
With all of the jewelry back in the velvet roll I placed it my bag, picked up my coat and phone then locked up the apartment, as we entered the elevator my phone began playing the batman theme tune. My heart lifted, Carlos was calling, and he was all right.
"Carlos?"
"Oh dear how quaint, is that what you call him?"
"Who is this?"
My face must have fallen because everyone looked at me; I motioned to Hector who already had his phone out, hopefully tracking the call.
"Why it's Beatrice"
"You mean Elspeth, where's Carlos?"
"Oh you are a clever girl, maybe I underestimated you, but not any more"
"What do you want?"
"I want what is mine and I have that spick you seem so keen on"
"You got your documents"
"Did I? Those papers just seem to be a copy of a Shakespeare play"
"You need to be able to read behind the lines Elspeth"
"If you want to see your dear Carlos, then have some answers for me when I call you again"
The phone went dead and Hector shook his head.
"General area, but moving, phone dead now"
As a large group we moved from the building in silence and climbed into the fleet of cars parked at the back of the lot. I was in a daze as we travelled quickly through the streets back to Rangeman. Back at Rangeman the men didn't know whether to hug me or console me. There was a buzz of activity as men moved back and forth from room to computer to room. A large conference room had been designated as the war room and more men were bringing down all the papers that had been in Carlos's office. Smiling, Kade handed me a bright yellow highlighter.
"You can find where she has him, it won't be too far away because she wants what you have"
Tobi handed me a fresh coffee as I began at the beginning, looking for places that she might use.
'Try these addresses first, I don't think they're right, but there could be something there to give us a clue. I gave them the addresses to my parents' house, Grossmans house, and the one on Adeline Street. I also found a house in the name of Ian Langley and an apartment for Gerard Hickman. After two hours all the teams reported a negative. Oh god where could she have taken him?
I had searches running for any property assigned to any name or combination of names but after five hours we had nothing. I was running on coffee and adrenaline, and it was running low.
"The area where those bikers were, do we have an actual location?"
"Beautiful Cal's the man you need to talk to, I only heard it was somewhere near to the docks, I'll go find him for you"
Cal appeared soon after and he talked through with me what he had been doing when the bikers were around.
"I never had any information about a central location, they were just using some of the bars they hung out at, the phone I managed to get hold of has never been called again"
"Give me the addresses of the bars and I'll see what I can find"
That gave me an area, so pulling up a detailed map of the area of docks close to the bars; I started to look at each building and the owners. After five hours I had six computers running searches, I sat on the floor my back against the wall and closed my eyes, it was over twelve hours since Carlos had gone missing. I was aware of someone holding onto me, but the images that were sliding across my eyes were pulling at me and were so much stronger, two children sat on a door step but with the sound of screams and gunfire, men fighting and arguing around fires in the street, women being beaten, their clothes torn and bloodstained, and the eyes of young children hollow and dark from lack of food. Then there was Carlos blood stained his face and chest as a woman, whose face I couldn't see whipped him with a chain. I screamed for her to stop, but only heard her mirthful voice, "such a disappointment" I jolted awake and realized that Tobi was trying so hard to contain me, my tears came hard and fast as I tried to regain my composure.
"Breathe with me Padawan, feel my breath in your ear and my heart with yours"
I closed my eyes and matched my breathing to his, my heart rate slowing and my tears drying.
"You want to talk about it?"
Did I? The women and children who were walking to their death, the men being forced onto the trains, the old and young dying in the streets with no food. And those who were responsible bitter and angry, shouting and hitting with a rage I'd never felt before. The faces of Morelli, Langley and Hickman amongst the onlookers, they were laughing at the scene before them. Carlos a victim because of his color, and his heritage, all because of a hatred I couldn't begin to comprehend. I shook my head, how on earth do you rationalize those scenes of my dream into words.
"Come on you've been at this for hours, take a break"
"No, I can't, I have to find him"
A phone began to ring from the table, mine but I didn't recognize the ringtone, number not given. I swiped to listen for the caller.
"Stephanie are you ready to reconsider?"
"What do you want from me Elspeth?"
"I want what is mine"
"Explain to me what that is, because I'm not sure"
Hector came into the room with a laptop and gestured for me to keep going.
"I need to know the message in the writing and I want the jewels that my father had made for me"
"Will you let Carlos go?"
"When the task is complete"
"All right how do we do this?"
"Good girl, give me one hour to arrange a meeting, I'll call you with instructions"
The phone went dead. As I stared at it, willing it to tell me something, Hector came up to me.
"Estefania you can not meet her"
I shrugged my shoulders and turned back to the searches that were now spewing from the printer.
"Let's see what I can find, then when she phones we can plan something out, did you get a location?"
"No, I'm sorry, it's moving around the same area as before, but we know she's using some sort of program to transfer the signal, bouncing it from satellites, quite a high tech one as well"
I returned to my papers spreading them on the floor then with my new color I began the task of reading and analyzing. There were a lot of buildings in the dock area, so I ignored ones where workers would be in and out, shops and factories still operating. It still left a lot. Would she be stupid be enough to use a known name, but she wouldn't know which names I knew. I doubted she'd use one of her aliases or someone directly involved. Her father, maybe, possibly and my spidey senses were telling me yes. I found the paper that Thomas Grossman had written, Károly Riamann, and scanned again highlighting any name that might fit. After forty minutes I stood up with one sheet in my hand. Everyone in the room stopped working and looked at me.
"Bonita what have you got?"
"A warehouse down by the docks that makes jewelry called Karols Creative Designs"
"You sure?"
"No website exists for them and they don't appear anywhere else"
Kade seemed to take command.
"Tank set up a recon team, then everyone in here in 30"
"Hector, keep working on that signal"
"Jobe, you and Santos get the equipment we'll need"
"Are Bobby or Angel back?"
"No boss, but on their way, Ram's being kept over at the hospital"
"When they get back ask them to get a full med kit together. Vince can you find blue prints for that warehouse?"
There was a frenzy of activity as everyone moved to fulfill their role, voices calling out, and responses from across the room, computers humming. Then as though time had been frozen all movement and sound ceased at the sound of my phone. Kade sat me down on his knee, his arms around my waist, anchoring me, as he removed the phone from my hand, nodding to the men, he pressed the speaker option and squeezed me.
"Hello?"
"Stephanie, I want you to go to the car park, Station Plaza Parking on Raoul Wallenberg Ave. On the lowest level there is a bike, I know you can drive a bike my dear, you'll find instructions and the keys in the back box, you have an hour to get there. Bring the gems with you"
"When . ."
She'd hung up on me. I made to move but was stopped.
"Where you going, Bonita?"
"To get changed"
"All right, be back down here in ten, I'll organize men to follow and have someone at the garage"
I ran up the stairs, thinking movement was preferable to standing still in the elevator and rushing into the bedroom on seven, stripped my clothes and redressed. One last look in the mirror, black cargos and long sleeved T-shirt over my Rangeman under wear, topped off with the black leather jacket and black cat boots. No wig, too much for going under a helmet, but then again wouldn't she recognize me? No, it didn't matter, she already knew what I looked like, and combing my hair I tied it into a loose ponytail on my back and was out the door.
"Little Girl, here is the jewelry, and a panic button, there are trackers that Hector will put on you"
I placed the roll containing the jewelry into the inside pocket of the jacket and stood while Hector placed trackers in my clothes and boots, and one in my hair.
"We'll be with you all the way Bonita, wear this wire so you can tell us where she's sending you"
It was like déjà vu as I drove into that car park, the same one Scrogg had me go to, and with it came the terror as I'd watched Carlos being shot and him bleeding in my hall way, unable to get to him. Focus, Stephanie, I could hear the voice of Carlos in my head, oh god I hope I can do this, please don't let anything happen to him. In the lower parking area I had to drive around to find a bike. Some cars were parked, but only one bike.
"Found it, I'm getting out of the car, can't see anyone"
The back box was open and inside was the keys, a helmet and a note. I read the note out loud.
"Cure Insurance Arena, Hamilton Avenue, then walk to gate B"
I left my keys in the car, put on the helmet and sitting astride the bike started the engine. It was a standard BMW R line T, so was easy to handle as I maneuvered back out onto the street. The arena was close by and I parked as close as I could, leaving the keys in and helmet with it, I wasn't bothered if someone stole it.
"Walking toward the gate now, shit there're so many people here, it must be the end of a concert and everyone is leaving"
Maybe my Merry Men would be closer if they mingled with the crowd, there must be
something big happening here for this many people. As I reached the gate an arm linked through mine and started to pull me toward the entrance, I couldn't make out who it was; I didn't recognize their face only that they were wearing biker clothes.
"Where are we going?"
No response only a grunt as he handed over tickets to get us in. A few turns and I was pushed through a door and into what was obviously an office block. A turn to the right and through a door and I was in a large room with chairs stacked up against a wall.
"Put her against that wall and then come behind me. You get the gems from her"
Four men all dressed like bikers walked to the other side of the room. A woman dressed in brown trousers and a thick brown long coat was giving the orders. I studied her face, gaunt features with wrinkled skin clinging to cheek and jaw bones, hanging down in folds, white hair pulled back into a French roll at the base of her neck, but it was her eyes that drew me, cold and grey. The man who had brought me in stood in front of me.
"You gonna hand them over or do you want you me to search you?"
I shuddered at that thought, so pulled the velvet roll out from my jacket and handed them to him.
"Alright make sure you're behind me or your phones will be toast"
She pulled a device from a very large shoulder bag and pointed it at me, as she pressed a button there was a humming sound that increased in loudness, then suddenly stopped. What the hell was that?
"Every electronic device on you will be dead now"
OK that answered that question, and I knew the trackers in the gems would be working, I felt a bit braver.
"Where is Carlos, you said you'd let him go"
"All in due time my dear. That man must have nine lives, he's managed to escape twice now, the plane and that bomb in his office. He and the likes of him are scum, you are a disgrace to even be in his company, your mother was right, and you're not worthy, such a disappointment. You two take her to the suite and I'll meet you there later"
Two men approached me and while one held my arms I felt a sting in the side of my neck. I was aware of moving, maybe even walking, definitely being supported as we wove between people watching as they moved out of my way, why didn't they help me? My head was achy and my eyes only saw blurred images, my muscles moved but only because I was controlling them enough to put one foot in front of the other. Noises and voices blurred, she's ill, too drunk, came through. Why would they think that? Fresh air hit me as we exited into the darkness and then I was laid onto the floor of a van and the blackness took over. When I got the energy to open my eyes I was laid out on a couch in a bedroom suite. My head felt dizzy and I felt sick, very slowly I sat up looking for something to be sick in. Yeah even in the worst situation I couldn't just heave onto the floor. I spied a bin by a desk and lurched forward, throwing up just as I reached the bin. On my knees on the floor with the bin in my arms I continued to empty the contents of my stomach. I felt a warm wet cloth on my neck and turned to look into the face of a stranger. He actually looked concerned.
"I'm sorry they had to drug you"
"Yeah right"
"No honestly, I don't want to see you hurt"
"So what do you want?"
"We need you to decipher the papers that were in the bank safety box"
I stood up with the bin still in front of me; I could always use it as a weapon couldn't I?
"What if there's nothing there?"
"There has to be"
"Why?"
"To protect the names of our comrades"
"So you think that the papers have names hidden in them?"
"Yes, Elspeth told me that the old man had hidden them in it"
"Who are you trying to protect? Whose names do you think are hidden?"
"They are good men, fighting to put a stop to all this chaos"
"What about Carlos?"
"Who?"
"Elspeth kidnapped Carlos and said she'd let him go if I helped her. Well here I am, so you need to let him go. I won't help you with that paper until I know he's safe"
"I don't know anything about that, she told me you were sympathetic to the cause"
"You've lost me now, what cause?"
"For a pure society, to stop all of the violence that comes from the conflict because of religion and race"
Okay, was he serious?
"So your idea is to kill people and beat them up, is that your idea of stopping the violence?"
He was a nut, delusional, had Elspeth managed to brainwash this guy? He wasn't that old, maybe in his forties brown hair with the telling signs of grey flecks running through, but it was his face that told a story, he had thin lines around his eyes and lines across his forehead, he had a look of someone permanently under stress.
"No, I've seen too much violence, we have to change the ideology of people through politics and leaders, through synchrony and harmony"
"So why are you involved with this, with her?"
"She's a believer"
"She's a manipulative bitch who's kidnapped Carlos and nearly got me killed for greed"
"Who the hell is this Carlos?"
"Ricardo Carlos Manoso"
"Ranger?"
"Yes"
I was at the point of shouting at him, but at my exclamation he visibly paled and his face contorted into an expression of shock, disbelief?
"Oh god, Ranger! Oh no, why? I'm a dead man"
"Glad you understand now"
Was I being sarcastic? Hell yes I was, anything to get him to realize the dire situation we were in.
"But she told me we were finding and helping people, I even got hold of equipment for them so no one would have to be hurt"
"You better get me outta here before she comes back and help me find Ranger before she really hurts him"
That seemed to spring into action, he took the bin from my arms throwing it on the floor and with my hand in his dragged me to the door.
"Wait, are there any men outside?"
"Good point let me check"
He opened the door a fraction, looked out, and then pushed me to stand behind the door, then shouted out through the door.
"Hey, I need your help in here"
Shouting to someone out in the hallway, he stepped aside as a burly man in leathers came in, and then he hit him with a punch in his throat. The man went down, out cold. Impressive! We moved from the hallway to the stairs and out through the back emergency exit. I looked back to see where we had been, the Estonia Hotel, hell was it only a few weeks ago I'd done that distraction here? He beeped a black SUV open and helped me into the passenger seat before sliding into the drivers seat and started the engine to accelerate quickly out onto the main road.
"What's your name?"
"Don"
"So you know Ranger?"
"Yes, I've worked with him"
"So you don't know what's been going on?"
"No, I've been away from the office for a while, my doctor said I needed to rest, but then Elspeth got in touch"
"How do you know her?"
"She's on one of the committees that campaign against the use of violence to overcome serious threats against the state"
"Serious threats? How does that involve you?"
"I work for the Government, Serious crimes unit, I see so much and I can't take it any more."
"Where are we going?"
"To get Ranger, I'm so sorry, I didn't know what she was planning. She just asked me to help work with a woman on some papers"
How did I respond to that, he had obviously been caught up with her deceit and lies, maybe not a bad guy after all? When I worked out the direction he was going I realized we were heading toward the docks.
"Err, Don do you have a plan for when we get there?"
"I'm going to talk to her, she'll see reason"
Not a chance, and not only that but the Merry Men would be there, would they see Don as the enemy? I didn't get a chance to even say anything more as large gates opened, and we were driving through the open doors into a large storage area. There was a car and lots of motorbikes parked. As we exited the car two men walked through a side door and came up to us. Don walked up to them with me stood behind.
"I need to speak with Elspeth"
I could tell from the expression on their faces that wasn't gonna happen, they laughed at him.
"Don't think so, get back in the car and take her back to the hotel, you just need to do your job"
I'm not sure who moved first, Don or me, or maybe we just reacted at the same time, but as I punched the first man in the face, Don gave his a kick to the stomach. I followed up with a knee to the groin that had him doubled over, so a fist to the neck knocked him onto the floor. By that time Don's man was unconscious as well. He turned to me.
"We need to tie them up, see if you can find something"
I found some old rope hidden in a pile of rubbish and Don tied them up and heaved them behind some old crates stacked in a corner.
"Don't you have a gun Don?"
"No, I didn't think I needed to bring one. I'll go first so stay behind me, out of sight"
Right, like that was going to happen, I knew Carlos was here, I could sense him. We kept to the wall as we walked down the corridor from the where we'd come from, no other doors other than three right at the end. Shit, nowhere to escape to if anyone came out. The silence was uncanny, surely if someone was here they'd be talking? Don tried to open the door on his right, locked, I pointed to the one on the left, I knew Carlos was in there. With me to the left of the door and Don to the right he slowly turned the door handle, this one opened, so listening carefully he slowly pushed it open to look through the crack and inside. He looked at me and held up two fingers, OK I'm sure that meant two men, then he pointed at me and pointed to the left then at himself and pointed to the right. I was getting the hang of this signing. He swung the door open and quickly headed in; a moment later I followed and went for the guy on the left. There was a stand off between us; he looked at me with a smirk, as if to say, a girl? Yeah okay he probably thought I wasn't a threat, after all he was way over six foot tall and looked to weigh over 300 pounds, even the leathers he was wearing couldn't hide the fact that he was huge. I took a quick look to take in the room, quite large, maybe thirty foot long and twenty foot wide, with a double door along one wall. Unfortunately Don wasn't doing so well with the man who had attacked him, as he had fallen to the floor with the man on top, but then all hell broke loose. Men in black came in through the door we'd just used and a dozen or so leather clad bikers stormed through the double doors. Unfortunately with all the commotion I'd let that biker grab hold of me by my hair.
Chapter 32
As I became conscious I was aware of excruciating pain shooting through my chest, I didn't dare take a deep breath because I knew from experience what broken ribs felt like. It didn't help that the ropes pulling on my wrists were holding my body weight up. The only consolation was that I could put my feet firmly on the floor, and take some of the strain from my shoulders and arms. I hadn't opened my eyes yet and moved very slowly trying to judge what condition the rest of me was in. I became aware of voices, but they seemed so far way, far enough to risk opening my eyes by only a slit so as not to let them know I was conscious. My head was hung down on my chest so I only had a view of my bare feet, cargos and bare chest. Some one had beaten the shit out of my torso, dried blood and the beginning of bruises, there were lacerations across my chest that were long and deep. The floor was concrete, dirty and dusty, so not somewhere they often used. I slowly raised my head until I had a better view, there must have been a dozen or more men, sat round tables, playing cards or drinking beers, all wearing leather trousers, tattoos showing from underneath black T-shirts, so these were the men that made up a biker gang being used as henchmen? No one was really taking much notice of me. I considered my options, a lot of men to overcome, and feeling how I felt I knew I wouldn't last five minutes. My head was swimming, my were eyes trying to close, until I felt my legs give way and I sank back into the blackness. A loud voice pulled me from my darkness, followed by cold water on my face and chest, another voice nearby replying.
"Yeah he's awake, douse him again"
Then my hair was pulled back so my head was lifted up and water was poured down my face, I spluttered as it went up my nose and down my throat.
"Yeah the spick's awake, here use this instead of your fist"
I heard the whooshing sound just before pain radiated from my arm, locking my jaw I refused to give them the pleasure of hearing my pain, they didn't like that because the next wave of pain came from my shoulder. As soon as the strikes began they stopped, I heard a bar hit the floor and shouts from afar.
"Where the hell did those two prospects get to?"
"What the hell, come on you one per centers we've got company"
I relaxed my legs to take my weight and struggled to see what was happening, I could sense something, but because I was still not fully working through the pain, I struggled to focus. Then it hit me, my Babe was here, outside that door where the sound of fighting was coming from. I struggled to gain some sort of leverage, to try to free myself, I had to save my Babe, and she couldn't be hurt again. The door pushed open and there she was, anger radiating from her eyes. A thug had his arm around her neck, I knew the moment she saw me, alarm, concern and outright rage crossed over her face, he changed his grip and grabbed hold of her hoping to keep her in place, if I hadn't been in so much pain I would have laughed as the scene unfolded before me. She threw her head back into his face, the force breaking his nose and blood pouring from it, clearly surprising the thug, but it gave Steph the opportunity to turn around and start to kick and punch the crap out of him, even as he lay on the floor clearly unconscious, she put her foot in his face, stomach and groin. As her presence of mind returned, she turned to me and screamed.
"Carlos, oh my god, Carlos. Kade help"
Kade came running into the room, a quick scan of the thug on the floor and knowing he was no threat then I felt him take my weight as the ropes were cut, the last thing I heard from Stephs lips.
"Carlos you don't leave me now, you talk to me, you have to be all right"