Alex was sitting in the back of the SUV, not the very back like she would have liked, because of the five foot leash she had on. She was watching the Jersey scenery pass outside the window. It had been a long time since she had been to the shore. Her mind couldn't help but think of her father, he was the one who brought her to the shore after James had a talk with him about it. It turned out to be an okay day, one of the better memories she had from her childhood. Her best memories had actually been in the karate school.
Lester's cell phone rang and Alex looked over at him. This was the first sound in the SUV in the last twenty minutes.
"Talk." Lester said into his phone.
"Do you always answer your phone like that?" Sharlene asked on the other side of the line.
"Yes, I do. If you are checking up on Alex, Mrs. Tarlton, she's fine." Lester said looking back to Alex from the passenger seat.
"I'm not checking up on her. I need to talk to her." Sharlene said in a strained voice.
"Let me put her on." Lester handed the phone back to Alex. He looked over to Ranger with his brow furrowed. Ranger raised an eyebrow, Lester responded with a shrug of his shoulders. He kept looking at Alex, he hadn't liked the sound of Sharlene's voice.
"Hello." Alex said. Her head turned back to look out the window.
"Caitlyn…" Sharlene paused.
"What's up?" Alex asked when Sharlene didn't say anything else.
"You remember when I had to get you to sign for your birth certificate because you couldn't find it in your mother's stuff." Sharlene said.
"Yes, mother didn't keep my birth certificate around. Why?" Alex asked.
"What is your father's name?" Sharlene asked, not answering Alex's question.
What is going on? Why isn't she answering my questions now? Alex thought. "His name is Michael Raphael Desenzano. Why?" Alex asked again, her voice hitching just a fraction higher.
Lester watched, he could see the tension starting to build inside Alex. Her feet were flexing, he watched as her fist kept clenching and opening. He looked over to Ranger who was glancing at her out of the review mirror.
I never pulled her birth certificate, I got his name from her school records. What the hell is on her birth certificate? Ranger thought as he made a lane change, pulling over to the right side of the highway. He could see the exit for a rest stop coming up.
"No, I have never seen my birth certificate. I told you she never kept that stuff. What is on it?" Alex asked as her spine stiffened. I want my freedom, you promised me Sharlene. You promised I would have it. Alex thought.
"Caitlyn, did your mother ever talk about a Joseph Anthony Morelli?"
What? I don't know anyone by that name. "I never heard of the guy. Why are you asking me all of this shit for?" My parents are dead. Alex thought. She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing, tried to control the anger that was building up, anger at being so close to freedom, so close to it and she knew her world was going to take a plunge. She could feel it.
"According to your birth certificate, that is your father. I have to cancel the emancipation hearing and serve him with papers on Monday and have the hearing moved to Friday." Sharlene told her.
"No!" Alex shouted in the phone, "You can't fucking do this to me, you promised me damn it."
Ranger took the exit for the rest stop. He glanced in the mirror, she is going to explode, damn she has got a temper, he thought. Ranger pulled into the nearest parking spot in the rest area and shut off the SUV and turned to look back at Alex.
Lester watched her. Damn baby, calm down. She really needs to work on that temper, not to mention all the trust issues. Lester thought.
"I know I promised, but I have to serve him with the papers. If he doesn't show up, then you are still on your own, there is still a chance of winning this. I have to do my job within the confines of the court, I have to serve him papers Caitlyn. The judge won't give it to you, if Joseph Morelli hasn't been served." Sharlene explained.
"I don't give a damn about Joseph Morelli. I want my fucking life, mine." Alex growled out and went for the door on the SUV. She threw the phone at Lester as she opened the back door and climbed out.
Lester caught the phone and tossed it to Ranger as he opened the passenger door, Alex took off and went down to the ground howling in pain from the monitor and anger at being denied the one thing she wanted the most. Lester reached her and grabbed her left leg and started extending the muscles. "Calm down." Lester told her.
Ranger caught the phone and said, "Mrs. Tarlton, this is Carlos Manoso. Miss Ramono can't come to the phone right now."
"She's angry isn't she?" Sharlene asked.
"I would classify her level of anger at a seething rage right now." Ranger told her.
Joseph Morelli? It can't be Morelli? Can it? Ranger opened the driver door and got out of the SUV.
"She still needs to make the court hearing on Monday, I have to move the time, the judge still wants to see her." Sharlene told him.
"Mrs. Tarlton, who is on her birth certificate?" Ranger asked, he wanted to make sure of the name he heard Alex use was exactly what he heard.
"Father's name, Joseph Anthony Morelli. I already have my people looking into the records right now. The dates on her birth certificate are matching to a Trenton police detective. My husband is working on his service papers as we speak." Sharlene sighed then continued, "Mr. Manoso, I know you want my services. You keep Caitlyn until this Friday and we'll sit down and discuss a contract between ourselves. I don't want Caitlyn doing anything drastic because of this set back. Mr. Santos gave me his word he'd watch over her. The judge knows she's in his hands right now. I don't know how you run your company, but I do know I'm tying up one of your men. I'll double his rate of pay so you won't be out any money on this."
I'm already down a hundred grand on this. Jesus! Morelli's kid, Ranger thought going around the SUV and watching Lester massage out Alex's calf. "I think that will be adequate pay for compensation for Mr. Santos' time. We'll make sure to have her there on Monday." Ranger hung up Lester's phone.
Joe Morelli was standing in front of Agent Jackson's desk in the FBI headquarters. "Why did you pull Shiropolli that fast off the streets?"
"We have the tape, that is all we need." Jackson told him leaning back in his chair.
"You are going to convict him on the tape and leave his stooges out on the street to keep things going?" Morelli ran his hand's through his black hair all the way through the wavy locks in the back trying to calm his temper. These are the two most ignorant agents I have ever worked with. Why do I do this job with these idiots? Morelli thought.
"He'll roll over, we've got him." Jackson said. "Good collar. Go home, take your days off and let us handle it."
"Fine!" Morelli went over to the door and opened it and turned back to him, "You are fucking stupid if you think he's going to roll over. Don't come asking for my help if anything goes wrong. I don't want to work with either you or your partner again!"
Joe slammed the door, pulled him too damn early. Joe hit the wall with the side of his fist as he was walking down the corridor. Fuck! Shiropolli is going to think Alex sang against him. Fuck!
Joe got to his green SUV and climbed inside. He pulled his cell phone out and tried Stephanie's cell number for the tenth time this morning after he had found out the feds had pulled Shiropolli. He got nothing again but for her answering service. He slammed his phone shut and grabbed the steering wheel and shook it. "FUCK!"
Those idiots are going to get Alex killed. Damn it, Stephanie. Joe looked at the phone in his hand and dialed Ranger. He knew Ranger always knew where Stephanie was. Joe knew that a warrant had not been issued, someone had Alex. He hoped Shiropolli's stooges hadn't found her. He started the SUV and pulled away from the federal building, he needed to make sure that Alex's apartment hadn't been tampered with.
"Yo!" Ranger answered.
Ranger was watching Alex with his eyebrow raised, she was now circling Lester. He hadn't felt the need to jump in yet. Lester was holding his own very well.
"Do you know where Stephanie is? Do you know if she has Alex Ramono?" Ranger heard the growled questions.
"No to both." Ranger said. Why is he so angry? I've never heard him like this? Well once, when I had to make sure Eddie Abruzzi was taken out, Ranger thought. Alex took off from the ground bringing her left foot up, her right foot came off the ground as her left went back and her right foot snapped in an aerial side kick. Lester jumped back, Alex barely missing his head as she spun and brought her left hand towards his head in back fist.
Lester caught her fist, "I agreed to work out some of your anger, quit going for blood."
Ranger shook his head. I don't know if this was such a good idea, damn she is so pissed. Just like the man on the phone cussing in my ear right now.
"What got fucked up?" Ranger asked. He took a stabbing shot that it had to do with the case he was working on.
"The fucking dickhead feds I was working with pulled Shiropolli off the street to early." Joe said.
"Not good," Ranger said, "What have the feds got?"
Ranger watched as Alex grabbed her fist back out of Lester's hand and walked back away from him, her hand's clasped behind her head. He saw the ragged breathing, looking at his watch he noticed she had gone fifteen minutes. Lester started walking around her.
"Breathe, let it out slowly," Lester said to Alex.
"A tape, a god damned tape. Shiropolli has a way of making things disappear in lock up. I have to find Alex, he's going to think with that tape that Alex rolled over on him." Joe told him.
Ranger noticed Joe was still pissed, but his daughter was coming down fast with that little workout Lester talked her into. They felt it would be better to let her get some of that pent up anger out before they got back on the road.
"Don't worry about her, I'm mandated from her lawyer for her protection till she goes to court." Ranger told Joe.
He could hear Joe breathe a little easier.
"You have her?" Joe asked.
"Yes." Ranger hung up the phone. "Are you two through playing around now?"
Alex had her eyes closed breathing, trying to get her anger to subside. She was pissed off at her mother, her mother had always done something to put her in impossible situations. Even from the grave she did it again.
Lester stopped in front of Alex, he could see her jaw muscles still working furiously as she was grinding her teeth. "It's going to be okay, keep breathing."
Ranger pushed off the SUV and walked over, he looked Alex over, she had the same coloring as Morelli, the same hair color, he knew her eyes were not like his, her nose wasn't like his, her brow was. She definitely had his temper. Her eyes snapped open the second he got within four feet of her. Ranger stopped. Wrong color, right intensity for Morelli though, too damn assessing, definitely her father's trait, Ranger thought.
Alex glared at Ranger, but if she took a step back she would be out of the range for the ankle monitor. "You're in my space."
Ranger grinned, "Yes I am. Are you calmed down enough so we can go to the shore now?"
She looked up at Lester, he was standing only two feet from her. He was grinning down at her. "I promise as soon as we get back to headquarters, I'll take you to the gym and we'll let you kick as much ass as you want too."
Alex looked at Ranger. Ranger gave a slight nod of agreement.
"Okay, I'm ready to go." Alex told them. She unlaced her fingers and took her hands off her head.
Ranger turned and walked back to the SUV. Lester stayed where he was and Alex started walking for the SUV, Lester moved only when Alex was beside him.
"You know, having a father in your life might not be so bad." Lester said, he glanced at her and saw the furrowed brow increase.
"I don't even know who this guy is." Alex growled out.
Ranger looked back over his shoulder, "He's one of the good guys, Alex. He's worried about you." I don't want to see her get emancipated, Morelli isn't a bad guy, he has a good heart. If Shiropolli gets away, he won't let him around her, Ranger thought.
Alex gave a bark of laughter, "Yeah right. If he's so fucking worried about me, where's he been my whole life?"
Ranger stopped and looked at her, "That's a question for your mother to answer. Don't judge him until you get his side Alex. You didn't even know yourself until that phone call. If he doesn't step up to the plate, I will. But I won't have too, because your father will step up to the plate, he's not going to use you like your mother did. He's not going to fuck with your head like Shiropolli. He'll protect you from the likes of them, because that is what he does Alex, that is what he is."