Standard Disclaimer: Not mine, not making money, yadda yaddacakes. I didn't put this in part one, but spoilers up through LMT.

Overheard Part 15

Trenton Police Department

Zero pulled the Rangeman Bronco into the parking lot of the PD. "Hey Woody, who caught the case?"

"Dunno man but we can talk to Morelli." Woody slid out of the Bronco and opened Mrs. Wheeler's door. He offered her his arm to assist her out. She rested her hand lightly on his arm and slid out gracefully. "Thank you young man. You and your partner are both so polite. Your mothers obviously brought you up right." Both men blushed. They weren't used to being around such ladies. Their only exposure to an older lady was Bombshell's Grandmother and Mrs. Mazur was in a class by herself.

Once inside, Zero approached the desk sergeant. "We have a witness here in the Sasha Cohen case. Is Detective Morelli here?" The sergeant replied "Yes, but she should talk to the investigating detective."

Zero rolled his eyes."And who would that be and are they here right now?" Andy Diller couldn't decide if he wanted to be offended or laugh. Ranger's men had a tendency to be like their boss, very arrogant and pushy. But they were good guys to have on your side in a firefight. "Marty Gobel caught the case. Let me buzz him for you."

Andy picked up the phone "Marty, there is a witness to the Cohen case that would like to talk to you." Listening for a moment, he nodded. "I'll send them back." He hung the phone up and said "Go back through this door and halfway down the hall is Detective Gobel's office. He is expecting you."

Woody and Zero escorted Mrs. Wheeler back. Woody knocked on Gobel's door. At a command to come in, he opened the door and ushered Mrs. Wheeler inside. "Detective Gobel, Mrs. Wheeler lives across from Ms Cohen. She witnessed events on the day in question I think you should hear." Pulling out a chair, he seated Mrs. Wheeler. "Ma'am, we will be waiting outside to escort you back home when you are done." Pivoting on his heel, he left the office. Closing the door behind him, he didn't notice that it wasn't latched tight. "Zero, call Vince and let him know what is going on so he can pass the information to Ranger."

Inside Gobel's office, he pulled out a legal pad and made a few notations. "Okay Mrs. Wheeler was it? I need you to tell me where you live and what you saw."

"Well, I live in the apartment across from Ms. Cohen. Monday, I had finished watching my soap. Days of Our Lives is my favorite soap. I really love that EJ Wells. Anyway, I was getting ready to take my garbage down to the dumpster when I heard Sasha yelling." Gobel interrupted her "Was she yelling for help or pleading not to be hurt?" Mrs. Wheeler straightened up and gave him a stern look. "Young man, if you wouldn't interrupt me, I will tell you what I heard." Gobel had the decency to look abashed. "As I was saying, she was yelling. Something about how he couldn't break up with her and calling his sister to tell on him. I didn't hear what the man said, but the yelling started up again. She was saying that she would get even with him if it were the last thing she would do. The door opened and he came out." Gobel interrupted again. "Who was this man?"

Mrs. Wheeler huffed impatiently. "I asked you to stop interrupting. It was the man who came over to her apartment occasionally. I believe Ms. Cohen is a friend of his sister and he helps her out. I don't know his name but I see him once in a while at the building."

Gobel pulled out a mug shot of Ranger. "Is this the man you saw?" Mrs. Wheeler fumbled at the chain around her neck and put on a pair of glassed that hung from the chain. "Yes, it is that man. You know, I thought I recognized him. He was the one that had his daughter kidnapped by some crazy guy who wanted to take over his life. Well, as I was saying, the door opened, he stepped out and noticed me immediately. She was still screaming at the top of her lungs and was throwing things at his head. He ducked and as he walked by advised me to go back inside since Sasha was upset and had poor aim. He was right so as he went down the stairwell, I ducked back in my apartment. A minute later, I heard her door slam. It sort of upset me, so I walked over to the window seat and sat for a minute to soak in the sun. I noticed Mr. Manoso getting into a Porsche and driving away. About five minutes later, I heard her door slam again and her muttering as she got into the elevator."

Gobel made a few more notations before looking up. "Thank you for coming down Mrs. Wheeler. Here is my card. If you think of anything else, please call." He stood up and escorted her to the door. He nodded at Zero and Manny and re-entered his office. Zero and Manny flanked Mrs. Wheeler like book-ends as they escorted her back out to the SUV to bring her home. When Zero went to unlock the vehicle, he couldn't find his keys. Thinking for a moment, he realized he must have dropped them when he pulled his cell out of his windbreaker. Trotting back into the station he called to Andy "Gotta go back and grab my keys. I must have dropped them on the floor." Andy buzzed him into the back.

Zero spotted his keys under the chair next to Gobel's door. As he bent down to pick them up, he heard Gobel talking on the phone. "Yeah, we've got to do something. This case is all screwed up now. We will have to find someone to take care of it." Zero wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion but figured that it was it was cop business. Grabbing them, he jingled the keys as he walked out. Inside Goble's office, he heard the sound of the keys. "Wait, I think someone is outside my door." He dropped the handset onto the desk and quietly walked to the door. Opening it up, he saw a man dressed in black clothing walk out the door. Going back inside his office, he picked the handset up. "It was one of those Rangemen. I don't think he heard anything but we need to keep an eye out. Now figure out how to make this witness go away and quickly." Slamming the phone down, he leaned back with a sigh. Grabbing the top three pages of his legal pad, he crumpled them up and threw them in the garbage. If someone had looked into the garbage can, they would have seen a page covered with many tic-tac-toe games. Each played to a draw.

Later that evening at Rangeman Headquarters

Vince was sitting at his monitor. It had been fairly quiet for the past eight or so hours. He had Hector watch his set up for about four hours while he caught a combat nap. After he had a quick shower and a delicious dinner provided by Ella, he settled in front of the monitor for the evening. At a beep, he looked up from his Probability Theory textbook. Setting it aside, he pulled himself up to the monitor. Grabbing a pad, he wrote down the information it was showing. Picking up his cell, he dialed Ranger.

On the Interstate in Arkansas

The last three hours were a silent as a tomb in the SUV. Ranger was talking even less than usual and Tank didn't have the energy to deal with trying to make him talk. Both men jumped slightly when Ranger's cell rang.

"Yo."

"Okay, thanks Vince. Anything else?"

"What??" With that, Tank looked up. He quickly sucked in air because Ranger looked like he wanted to kill someone.

"Okay, thanks again Vince. Get one of the guys to monitor your computer for the rest of the night. She is in for the evening. Go get some sleep. And I appreciate everything you have done." Ranger snapped the phone closed and threw it against the dash. Cursing, he pulled into a rest area that was just ahead.

Tank grabbed the phone and checked it over. Luckily the dash was padded and the phone wasn't broken. "So what's going on? You sound pissed. Something wrong with Bomber?"

"No, Stephanie checked into a Comfort Inn in Jonesboro. We are about a half an hour away."

"So what's got your boxers in a bunch?"

Ranger said dryly "Since we have known each other a long time, you know I go commando." Tanks chuckled. "Not something I usually think about. I leave that to Bomber."

Ranger snorted and then gave a faint smile at the thought of his Babe. She always turned into a puddle of goo whenever he alluded to going commando. Shaking his head, he replied "Vince told me that Sasha showed up at the police station, beaten pretty badly. She blamed me and apparently a number of people believe her."

Tank looked stunned. "Are these people nuts?" Ranger nodded. "Seems some of them are. Vince had Woody and Zero canvass Sasha apartment building and they found a witness that saw me leave and Sasha unharmed. So I don't need to go back to handle this and we can press on."

"So why so mad?"

"Because I am sick and tired of that bitch pulling these kinds of stunts. I made it clear to her from the first I wasn't interested and the only reason I was helping was because of Celia. I guess I need to make it clearer."

"Easy Ranger. Make sure you make it clearer with lots of witnesses. Preferably in front of the cop shop."

"Tank, do you think I am someone that couldn't find his ass with two hands and a flashlight? Because if you do, I can show you where your ass is and I will only need one foot."

Tank grinned and said "Let's get this show on the road and go get Bomber."

Ranger put the SUV back in gear and pulled out of the rest area.