If you recognize them, they're not mine :)

Thank you Margaret for reading ahead as my beta and leading me down the right path for all our favorite characters.

Chapter 28 — Like finding a needle in a haystack

Eula's POV

Maybe I'd found the key for getting a few square meals a week. All I had to do was find people in need and help them. Their families would be so relieved that I was there for their loved ones that they'd feed me. If it worked once, it could work again.

I was formulating my plan in my head when that Ella woman came back into the kitchen and sat down.

"I know this must be hard for you," she said and I looked at her cross-eyed. What wasn't hard? "But we'd like to help you," she continued, "Can you tell me what you did for a living before you became homeless?"

"Last job I had was a short-order cook for one of them burger shacks down on Pt. Pleasant. It was for the summer only. Only they didn't need me the following summer, or the one after that. I guess no-experience college kids are cheaper than me. Anyway, couldn't get anything after that. I'd already lost my apartment and was living out under the boardwalk there when someone told me if I got up to Trenton there was a homeless community that lived near the train station. It was starting to get cold living by the water, so I came north. Rest is history."

"You were a cook?"

I nodded. "And a good one too. Not just burgers and dogs. I can even whip up a Fettuccine Alfredo like the one you just made. I watched you; I can do it."

"As I said, we'd like to help you get back on your feet Eula, would you be interested in a part-time job?"

"I'd be more interested in a full-time job, but whatcha got in mind?"

"Helping me out. I'm responsible for putting out two meals a day for all the men in this building. And I'm also Ranger's personal housekeeper. It used to be easy when there were only a handful of men, but we've amassed over sixty now and I could use some help."

"Well I can work, but nobody wants to see me or be downwind of me when I've been out for a few nights straight. I can only sneak into the train station bathroom every once in a while…"

"Maybe we can set you up in one of the efficiency apartments here. I can't promise anything until I speak with Ranger but I want to help you for helping us with Stephanie."

"I ain't got no money for a deposit. I don't even know where my social security check gets deposited to anymore. I guess they got tired of changing addresses for me and it just disappeared."

"We have lawyers that can probably help you with that too, but I really could use some help. Would you like a job?"

"Can you afford me?"

"Twenty dollars an hour and two meals a day. Take it or leave it."

Looked like my luck was about to change.

Lester's POV

My heart started pounding as soon as I heard that Beautiful had been cut. Bobby and I took off for the train station immediately. Thankfully someone had applied a tourniquet and was holding it in place when we showed up. Bobby raced over to see what he could do while I listened to the buzz of the homeless community. Someone named Compton was the one who provided her with medical treatment at Eula's urging. Word was he was a Homeless Vietnam vet and once Bobby took over he disappeared. I was going to follow him but I thought it was more important that I talk to Eula since Bobby needed Cal as a donor.

I never talk about my relationship with Steph but while Ranger and Tank were serving time for their courts martial, we got even closer. Close enough that I practically overstepped my boundaries and stepped into Ranger's shoes.

I didn't. And no, we didn't. But seeing her laying on the ground bleeding didn't do my heart well.

Ranger had arrived and was holding her hand and talking to her in soothing tones. It's what I would have done if he wasn't here, but he was, and I needed to get over it. Stephanie would never be my woman. And I was in the middle of an exclusive relationship with Autumn. Well, let me clarify, we had been exclusive even when Ranger and Tank were serving their sentence in Georgia and that didn't stop me from wanting Steph. Jeez, I really needed to get over this obsession. It wasn't healthy.

I made myself useful when the ambulette drove away with Beautiful, Bobby and Ranger inside. I cornered Eula again and offered her lunch. She told me she wasn't welcome in any restaurants in Trenton so I took her to see Ella at Rangeman where I was shown the door while she was shown the shower. Sheesh. Talk about appreciation.

After being thrown out of Ella's, I went to work to find Compton. I asked a number of people where he 'lived' and was told he could usually be found in the park. I remembered seeing a red plaid shirt on him but I didn't catch his facial features. The red shirt would have to do. I searched the area for him and found a red shirt sprawled out on a park bench eating what looked like a day-old sandwich.

I approached cautiously. Vietnam vets can be quite skittish.

"You Compton?" I asked.

"Who wants to know?"

"I'm Lester Santos," I said raising my hands in a low 'I surrender' pose, "and I want to thank you for taking care of my friend earlier."

"I did it for Eula. I usually don't get involved in that shit. Comes back to bite you in the ass. Like now. What do you want with me? Looking to haul my ass off to jail for impersonating a doctor?"

"I just wanted to thank you. The fiancé of the woman whose life you saved is probably going to want to offer you some sort of a reward so I wanted to know where to find you."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say. Not getting my hopes up."

"Can I take you to lunch?"

"Just finished it."

"Can I buy you a coffee then? I want to talk to you."

"We're talking now."

Jeez. This was going nowhere. I knew I had at least fifty dollars on me so I reached into my pocket and handed over the whole wad of bills.

"Take this then, but expect us to be back to offer you something more substantial."

"I can't take your money," he said, pushing my hand away.

"Take it. It should buy you a few nights at the shelter and a couple of meals and I'll be back tomorrow with Ranger."

"Ranger?"

"Yes, Stephanie's fiancé."

"I know Ranger."

Even better. Maybe he'd know what to offer this guy. A job would be nice if we knew what he used to do.

"Can I ask you a question then?"

"Ask. Not saying I'll answer."

"Before you ended up in the park, what did you used to do?"

"I used to sleep at the bus station until they cleared us all out."

"Before then. After the army."

"I was a mechanic and a damn good one. Jeeps are my specialty. Can take 'em apart and put 'em back together in my sleep."

"Jeeps huh? Ever work on a Hummvee?"

"Yep."

"Want a job? I think I know someone who could use your help."

I was thinking that Lula's cousin Ernie, who was our in-house mechanic, was overwhelmed with work half the time. He could use an assistant.

"Where? No one hires homeless people."

"Rangeman does and I'm pretty sure we could use another mechanic to keep our fleet in shape."

"Whatever," he mumbled, taking the money I was still holding out to him.

"I'm serious, man. Ranger and I will be back tomorrow to look for you. Think about it," I said. And while I walked back towards the park entrance, my phone rang.

Jace's POV

As I was still on probation, I had to go on patrol as well as help Hector with the tech stuff I preferred doing. I was out in the car with Sybo, driving around the area just north of Trenton, Lawrence Township. Something had been bugging me for the last hour. Something was off but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Sy can we track what's going on with the rest of Rangeman from here? Something doesn't feel quite right to me and I'm wondering if our presence might be needed somewhere else."

"They'd call us if they needed us, but yeah, just press the microphone icon on the GPS app. Then you can to talk to everyone."

"What if I just want Lester?"

"Call his cell. We're all programmed into your Rangeman phone. He's on your contacts list."

"Yeah, I've called him before, just thought you might have another way."

"We don't always use the same car everyday, so cells are the easiest. I'm sure Hector could come up with something else if we needed it, but this works for us right now."

I picked up my cell and placed a call.

"Yo, Jace. What's up?" Les answered, sounding annoyed, exhausted, maybe something else.

"Is everything ok?" I asked, not knowing quite how to talk about the dread I was feeling.

"Ranger and Bobby took Steph to the clinic in Philly, if that's what you mean?"

"What happened?"

"You mean it hasn't spread like wildfire yet?"

"I don't know. I'm on patrol with Sy and I had this sense of doom, for lack of a better word, that kept getting worse."

Les told me the story about Steph going down to the train station to stop an altercation and how she was sliced. I should have listened to my sixth sense and done something earlier. I might have been able to stop this.

"Does she need donors? I'm AB."

"Positive?"

"Yeah."

"Ask Sy to drive to the cardiac clinic in Philly. I'm pretty sure he knows where it is. I'm heading there myself although my blood won't do her much good. If nothing else, our support for Steph should make Ranger feel better."

"I'll be there as soon as possible."

Damn. I really have to start trusting those feelings. I've heard Steph does.

Cal's POV

As soon as I got back to Rangeman, I went into Steph's office. She'd just started her 'Plan B' search on Whittier when Erik had called. Enough time had passed that something might have popped up by now.

I pulled the papers from her printer and sat down in her guest chair to take a look at them. Nothing felt right with this. From Vinnie not remembering bonding out the skip, to him cutting Steph. It almost felt like she was lurred down to the station on purpose.

While I was reading Ram walked by, caught sight of me and stuck his head in.

"Any reason you're sitting here in Stephanie's office?"

I told him what I knew, which wasn't much and he took the bottom of the stack from me to work his way forward. There were about ten sheets in all.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Ram asked as he scanned.

"Anything. We need to know who this guy is. Where he comes from. And what he's doing here. Eula mentioned something about him harassing her and Emelda. After we read, let's try to find Emelda. Do you know who she is?"

"No, but she shouldn't be hard to find. We go down by the train station and ask. Wait a minute…"

Ram stopped and began re-reading something on the page he was holding.

"He was arrested in 2006 for selling a number of museum-quality impalement chairs. Charges didn't stick because they weren't stolen goods; he'd bought and paid for them. Doesn't that sound like Kraven? Do you think there's a connection?"

It sure did.

"Let me see that."

Ram handed over the paper. Sure enough, the arrest was in upstate New York. Orange County; which was a little less than 2 hours north, on our side of the Hudson.

"Feel like taking a ride?" I asked him.

We clocked out, letting Hal know where we were going. The arrest was eight years ago but chances were good that someone would remember him and Orange County, New York was just slightly north of where our sites put Kraven.