Life for One

Chapter 9

I walked the perimeter of the property once more. I doubled back and stopped where Ram was working near the west side of the security fence. He had a laptop plugged into the circuit on the fence, and was watching data cross the monitor. He looked up at me as he punched a few keys on the laptop.

"He left one blip on the footage before he used a remote computer to hack into the security code."

"Did you change the code?" I asked.

"Yes and I routed the security to the computer at RangeMan. Now if you get a breech it will be picked up there as well. I also added a fingerprint pad to the security system on the fence and the main house."

"Have you checked the firewalls and made sure the encryption hasn't been broken?"

"He hasn't been able to penetrate the main server at RangeMan, but if he has the capability of hacking into the security you have here, anything is possible."

"You think his hacks are untraceable?"

"It's a strong possibility."

"Fuck."

"Yeah it doesn't look good man."

I walked into the house and saw a light on in the kitchen. I motioned for Ram to go to the basement where Lester, Bobby and Hal were waiting. I walked into the kitchen and saw Stephanie sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hands. She was staring into space and had no idea I was even in the room.

I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. She reached up and covered my hand with hers. She looked out the window over looking the back yard.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"I need to meet with the guys and then I'll fill you in."

"Someone was here today while we were at the funeral."

"Yes."

"Were they in the house?"

"No just around the perimeter of the property."

"So where can I go to keep Luke safe if your house isn't even secure?"

"I've took precautions to make sure it doesn't happen again."

She looked up at me. "I'm trying very hard to be strong. I know I have to keep it together for Luke's sake, but I can't lose him. If I lose him, my life means nothing. Do you understand that Ranger?"

I understood far better than she would ever know. I felt the same way every time she had a new psycho in her life. No matter how hard I tried, I felt it deeper with each disappearance. Focus is the goal, but even though I trained to block out everything but what it takes to decipher the situation, no amount of training teaches you how to factor out that life won't mean shit if it all goes bad.

I bent down next to her and traced my finger down the side of her face.

"I promise I will do everything in my power to keep you and Luke safe. But you have to trust me, and do as I ask."

"I trust you with our lives, but I can't promise that I can emotionally handle the strain of it all right now."

"You need to concentrate on feeling stronger; I'll take care of the rest."

"But I don't even want to take care of Luke right now. I've never felt that way since he's been born. I don't understand what has come over me."

"It's called grief Babe."

"A part of me can't accept what happened to Joe. I'm numb one minute and so fucking angry the next minute that I'm shaking. I knew what he did before I married him so he's not to blame. I am."

I cupped her chin in my hand and looked into her eyes. "You aren't to blame for what happened to Joe. He was in deep and he ran out of time."

"I have to find out what went wrong. I'm not going to have closure until I have answers."

I felt like a broken record repeating reassurances, but I had to help her find a comfort zone. "I'm going to find your answers, just give me some time."

She stood up and headed for the doorway to the back stairway. She turned and looked at me.

"All I ask is that you be honest with me. If I find out you're keeping information from me all bets are off."

I looked across the table at Ram. He had some information pulled up on his laptop.

"So what have you got?"

"I've tried to trace every way he could have possibly hacked into the security at Racine industries and on your security fence. I've got nothing. He's definitely accessed a remote computer, but nothing is alerting our firewall or security tags."

Lester was talking on his cell as he walked around the room. He hung up and ran his hand through his hair in a frustrated gesture.

He looked at me.

"Talk."

"I reached Brian Sebastian, he no longer works at Sotheby's, he gave me a few contacts but he said not to expect much help from them."

Bobby looked at me with his brows raised. "Sotheby's?"

"When I met with Morelli on the Lucky Tide he said Brewster's next big heist was to knock off an auction at Sotheby's."

"For what?"

"War memorabilia."

"Sotheby's has more security than the pentagon." Bobby said.

I looked at Ram." Have you heard from Zero and Vince?"

"Yes they reached Nova Scotia last night. "

I looked at Bobby. "Brewster's main fortress is located on an island off the shores of Nova Scotia. He has an airstrip and a fleet of boats. But it's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"So what's the plan?" Lester asked.

"Ram is going to continue to trace the security breeches, I want you and Bobby to go to New York and scout out Sotheby's. Find any information you can on the auction and their security. Find out the location of the items to be auctioned. We need to know if they are already there or being transported right before the auction. I'm going to check out the heists he's carried off in the last year."

"How's Tank?" Lester asked.

"He's awake and possibly will be discharged tomorrow." I said.

"Are you staying in Trenton indefinitely?" Bobby asked.

"I'm staying until Tank is on his feet and we catch this motherfucker."

"Are Steph and her son going to stay here until you find Brewster?" Lester asked.

"That's the plan." I said.

Lester stood up. "You think Morelli was playing dirty cop?"

"No I think Morelli got in too deep, too fast and from what I have learned from the other two detectives on the case, he tried to make it a one man show. He was withholding information from the task force, he tried to take Brewster down on his own and it backfired on him."

"I thought Morelli was smarter than that." Ram said.

"I think he made it personal once he discovered Brewster's agenda, and who he is."

"Because of his tie to Abruzzi?"

"Yes."

"It's a tough pill for Stephanie to have to swallow." Lester said.

"She's a strong woman. She'll be fine." I answered.

I looked around the room. "Let's get to work."

They filed out of the room with only Lester lagging behind. I raised my eyebrow in question.

"Thought you should know Mia showed up last night at RangeMan. She stayed overnight in her apartment on four."

"Did she ask questions?"

"No."

I sighed as he smiled and walked out of the room.

I woke up to the sound of Luke crying. I slipped out of bed and made my way to the nursery. Moonlight was shining through the window and I could see him standing in the crib with his chubby little hands shaking the rail. I walked over and picked him up, he nestled his face in the crook of my neck and continued to cry. I didn't know if he was hungry or just had a bad dream. I was about to walk out into the hallway when Stephanie appeared in the doorway.

"How long has he been crying?"

"I just picked him up."

"I'm sorry when I finally fell asleep I must have died."

I smiled. "It's okay, you think he's hungry?"

"He doesn't eat in the middle of the night anymore. If I rock him he should go back to sleep." I handed him to her and watched as she carried him over to the rocking chair by the window and sat down.

I pulled one of the tiny chairs from the small table over next to her and sat down. I could see her grinning in the darkness.

"Big badass in a kiddy chair, I would love to have a camera."

"Babe."

"You want to fill me in or what?" She said.

"Ram is working on the security breach here at the house. We have placed tighter security around the premises. Brewster has a island off the shore of Nova Scotia I have a two men trying to locate his operation, I also have Lester and Bobby scouting out an auction in New York that Morelli said Brewster was planning on hitting. It will take some time but we'll find him."

"In the mean time what can I do to help?"

"You take care of yourself and Luke. I have Ella coming over in the morning to help if you need her. You're welcome to use my computer to do research for RangeMan if you get bored. If you want to go out I'll have it arranged, but you're not to go anywhere without an escort."

"I appreciate all the help and care for mine and Luke's well being. But I want to help with the search for Brewster. Have you found any ties from the past robberies to RangeMan, could someone from RangeMan be a leak?"

"I'm going to check into the history of some of our former employees. We know that he has hit former clients of RangeMan, he's trying to frame me not only for the heists but for Morelli's death as well."

"He has to be found before he tries to incriminate you anymore."

"He'll be found guaranteed."

"Do you mind if I do some research of my own?"

I smiled. "I don't expect anything less Babe. But I would rather you focus on Luke and yourself right now."

"You know the best thing for me is to keep busy."

I searched her eyes; saw the raw pain floating on the surface. "I know that you need to do what ever helps you to get through this."

She stood up, carried Luke over, and placed him in the crib. I walked over and looked down at his innocent sleeping form. I felt toward him exactly as I did his mother. The need to keep him as safe as humanly possible.

Stephanie looked at me and whispered. "He'll be good for the rest of the night."

I followed her down the hallway to her bedroom and watched as she stepped inside and looked back at me.

"Goodnight I'll see you in the morning." I could read the vulnerability in her eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to pick her up and carry her to my bed. All I wanted to do was hold her and tell her it would be all right, but I wasn't sure I could stop at just reassurances. Even though we were sharing a house, we were still miles apart living two very separate lives.

"Night Babe." I walked down the hallway and bypassed my bedroom. I went into the office and turned on the computer.

I had a feeling I would be spending many restless nights working while she was a resident of casa Manoso.

I knocked on the apartment door and smiled when Mia appeared.

She smiled in return. "Hey."

"Hey what brings you to Trenton, don't tell me things are slowing down in Boston." I said.

Hardly. Travis is ready to pull his hair out. He said for me to give you a swift kick in the ass."

I laughed. "I'm sure he did."

Her face sobered as she looked at me. How are Stephanie and Luke doing?"

"As well as can be expected."

"So you weren't here last night. Are you staying with her and Luke for now?"

She was cutting to the chase. "They are staying at my house for security reasons."

"Does this have to do with Morelli's death?"

"It appears some threats have been made toward Stephanie and Luke."

"You have any leads on who's responsible?"

"Some, and working on others."

"You pinpointed it to anyone certain?"

"Yes."

"You need a decoy?"

I raised my eyebrows in question. "What do you have in mind?"

"Me standing in as Stephanie to lure him out into the open."

"You would do that?"

She gave me an incredulous look. "Of course I would, in a heartbeat."

"I'll think about it, I appreciate the offer." I said.

"What's to think about. The guy wants Stephanie and Luke. I can do this."

I stepped toward her and looked into her eyes. "There's no doubt in my mind that you can, but I need to use conventional means of catching him before I resort to risking anyone's life."

"You're risking your employee's lives everyday they are out there looking for him."

"But that's their job."

"Tank almost died doing his job and another RangeMan employee wasn't so lucky."

"And putting you at risk on purpose would be smart how?"

"I can do this Ranger."

"Like I said I have a plan of action in place. I will only use a decoy as a last resort."

"You can get this over in a matter of hours if you use me as bait."

I looked at the determination on her face and remembered why I was so attracted to her in the first place. "I have a meeting I have to go."

"I have to go too. I have a meeting with Bear and Sam."

"They're doing a good job for Vinnie." I said.

"That's what I've heard."

"You still want to stay in Boston?" I asked.

"My little sister needs me there."

"Then that's where you need to be." I turned and headed for the door and had just started to step into the hallway when I heard her voice and turned to look at her.

"Can you come by later for a nooner?" She smiled and winked at me.

"Stephanie and Luke are in my apartment upstairs, we're taking him out to lunch and to the park."

Her smile quickly disappeared. "Looks like you have a ready made family."

"No just a friend who needs me."

"Ranger…"

"Mia I can't do this right now. I think it's best if we leave it alone."

"I understand." she said. I nodded and walked out.

24 Hours Later

I sat down at my desk and hit the conference button on my desk phone.

"Talk to me."

I heard Lester's voice. "Sotheby's is tight as a drum. The war memorabilia is locked up inside."

"What type of security do they have?"

"Touchpad fingerprints on each door to the auction items. During the day, the doors are open to allow visitors to view the items but security guards are posted at every door. Three security cameras are located in every gallery, five security guards walk the building at all times, and two men monitor the security cameras."

"Did you speak to the director and alert him to the possibility of a breech?"

"Yes, and he said they would beef up security."

"Is he going to allow both of you on the premises in a security capacity the night of the auction?"

"He had no problem with that; he knows the reputation of RangeMan he said he would be glad to have us on board."

"Good, so what do you have for us Vince?"

"We have possibly located the island; we hired on as fisherman and spent the day working our asses off, but found out the coordinates of the island. There is no easy way in. We can highjack a boat going to the island but it would be risky. Boats go in and out at least once a day."

"Would it be possible to commandeer a boat and coerce some information out of the crew?"

"I think we can handle it. "

"Do you have a time table on when the boats enter and leave the island?"

"Tentative times, nothing concrete." Zero said.

"I don't want the two of you on the island, it's too risky. Get information on security around the island and Brewster's agenda for the next heist. We need to know his plans for Stephanie."

"You want the crew from the boat brought to you?"

"Yes if possible."

"Consider it done." Vince said.

I walked into my office and smiled at Luke sitting in the floor at Stephanie's feet. He was pushing a boat around on the carpet making sounds like an outboard motor. He looked up at me and smiled.

"Ranger."

Stephanie looked at me in surprise. "Did he just say your name?"

"I think so."

"I can't believe he said Ranger." She said.

"He's a smart little guy, obviously he listens more than you think he does."

He stood up and toddled over to me and I picked him up. He handed me the boat and I walked in the bathroom connected to my office and ran some water in the sink. I put the boat in the water and watched his face in fascination as his eyes lit up at the boat floating on the surface of the water. He squealed and smacked his hand in the water splashing us both in the face. I laughed as he giggled.

Stephanie walked into the bathroom." You're a brave soul if you allow him to play in water."

"Bring a chair in here so he can reach the sink."

"Are you sure?"

"Babe if he makes a mess I'll mop it up."

She shoved one of the chairs in front of my desk into the bathroom. "What if he falls and busts his mouth on the sink?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "It's too late to think of that now Einstein, he's already enthralled with the boat in the sink."

"Damn, it's been too long since I've been around toddlers." I said.

Luke looked up at me. "Damn."

Stephanie looked at me her eyes as big as saucers. "You've obviously forgotten that toddlers are like parrots they repeat everything they hear."

I grinned. "Sorry, guess I need to watch my mouth."

"You're finding way too much humor in the situation."

"You have to admit it sounded kind of cute Babe."

"It will sound even cuter when he says it in front of my parents."

"Babe your parent's house is like a three ring circus, it would be a minor occurrence."

"The sad thing is you're probably right."

We watched Luke giggle as he pushed the boat across the water. "Did you have any luck today in your search?" I asked.

"Were you acquainted with Jax Alexander before he became an employee of RangeMan?"

"Somewhat, he worked for another security firm in Newark. He came highly recommended, and he is a former Ranger. Did you find something on him?"

"He was hired a few months after the Abruzzi thing went down. I checked his background and found a link to Wall Street he used to do some security for a firm of traders, and guess who worked briefly as a trader for the group?"

"Stephan Brewster?"

She smiled. "Yes."

"Fuck."

I glanced toward the bathroom as Stephanie swatted me on the stomach. "Potty mouth."

"Babe how did you ever think to check out Jax's connections?"

"Because I haven't trusted him since the day I met him."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really."

"Yep my spidy sense went off the minute he touched me."

I felt anger start to boil under the surface. "He touched you?"

"He shook my hand when we first met and I could see something in his eyes that I didn't like."

"And you're just getting around to telling me this?" I asked.

"If I would have told you sooner you would have thought I was a freak."

"It pays to listen to your intuition."

"In this case if I'm right we might have our leak." She said.

"I'm going to call Ram; Ella should have dinner on the table. I'll be down soon."

"Can we eat on the terrace?" She asked.

I smiled. "Whatever you want."

I pulled my cell phone off my belt and speed dialed Ram. I went over the information Stephanie had discovered and discussed a plan of action. We placed a tail on Jax and changed the security settings on his computer access. I disconnected the call and walked downstairs. I saw Ella and Stephanie carrying dishes out on to the terrace; I could see Luke sitting in a high chair in the kitchen. He had food smeared from his eyebrows to his chest and all the way up to his elbows. I grinned as he smiled up at me.

"Is it good buddy?"

He giggled and I went out onto the terrace. Ella was on her way back into the house; she turned and looked at Stephanie. "Is it okay if I keep Luke in here with me or do you prefer he eats with you on the terrace?"

Stephanie smiled. "He's fine inside with you, thanks Ella."

"You're welcome."

We sat down at the table and started to eat. I reached for my glass of water and noticed Stephanie hadn't touched her food.

"Babe what's wrong?"

She looked up at me. "I'm okay as long as I keep my mind busy, but when I stop all I can think about is Joe."

"Grief is a difficult thing to endure Babe. Just take it minute by minute. You have a wonderful son who needs you, just live for him when you can't think of anything else worth making you move on."

"I know he needs me, and I don't mean to sound so self absorbed, but I just need to go somewhere alone and decompress."

"I thought your mom was going to come over and watch him for a couple of days. If she can't Ella is here to help out."

"It's not that, it's the confinement. I just want to go about my day without thinking every second about safety issues. "

"Babe…"

She held up her hand. "I know that it's necessary, I'm grateful for the protection, it's just the mental strain is more than I need."

"How about I take you to the mall tomorrow?"

She looked up at me in surprise. "You would do that for me?"

"Only for you."

She smiled and I felt it all the way to my heart. I heard my cell phone chirp and I pulled it off my belt. I didn't recognize the number on the screen.

"Yo."

I heard a male voice. "How are you Carlos?"

"Who is this?"

"Stephan Brewster, I was just calling to see if you're taking good care of Stephanie and Luke."

"What do you want from me?"

"I would think that would be obvious. I want what you took away from my stepfather. I want your life."

"Tell me when and where."

I heard a chuckle at the other end of the line. "I've heard you're a man all about business. But not so fast, I'm enjoying the game far too much to end it this soon. There are several moves left on the board before you meet your fate. Like for instance the safety issue of one Stephanie Morelli."

"You won't get to her; you'll have to take me out first." I replied.

"Oh really, look across the table at your lovely dinner companion and tell me what you see."

I looked at Stephanie and saw a red dot from the laser sight of an assault rifle on the middle of her forehead. I dropped the phone and dove across the table toward her as I heard the gunfire.