My favorite perfume is called Dragon's Blood. I buy it, along with the matching soap, every year at my states Renaissance Festival. It's fabulous. Sorry this took so long, this chapter was fighting with me, but I hope you enjoy the final project. I'm happy with it.
"Te Amo"
Chapter 9
Pov- Shilo
I didn't stop running until I was several blocks from the RangeMan building. I ducked into a small deli and busied myself with looking at the cases of food, watching the street for any sign of black SUV's.
"Hello," I woman behind the counter say's as she smiled brightly. "Welcome to Giovacchini's, is there anything I can help you find? The Olive loaf is fresh."
I opened my mouth to say no, that I was just looking, but then I had another idea. I had a list of addresses in my pocket with no way of getting around. I didn't know Trenton. It could take me all day to find one of these places let alone all of them.
"Actually I'm new in town." I told her, leaning against the counter. "I'm here visiting some friends. Do you know how I'd get to Vicente Plum's Bail Bond office from here? I've got to be close right?"
She nodded. "Sure, it's only twenty minutes from here on foot. I can make you a map."
She got a piece of paper and drew me a quick map, adding street names by memory and pointing out some of the local shop's I'd pass along the way. I smiled politely and tried not to make it obvious when I would let my eye's travel across the large front window, checking for trouble.
Five minutes later, I let myself out, checked the street, and raced across it keeping up my jog as I followed my makeshift map. I knew from stories Julie had told me that the bail bond's office was where Steph and some of the guys did skip work though RangeMan. Steph's cousin, Vinny, was the one who had posted bail on Michael O'Donnell in the first place. His systems wouldn't be as intense as RangeMan's, but I could probably get a map and directions there.
I was only a block away from the bond's office when I caught sight of a black SUV ahead of me , parked on the road. I ducked quickly into another shop. The old antique shop smelt like mothballs and wood polish. I ducked behind a shelf of old glassware and watched out the window. Three men got out of the car, all dressed in black RangeMan swat gear. Looked like a hunting party to me.
Razor was easy to spot. If his shaggy brown hair hadn't given him away, the sling on his arm would have. With him was Blaze, leaner then most of the Merry Men with his mop of blond curls he was easy to spot at a distance too. The last was more your standard issue RangeMan. Big, thick, muscle bound, buzzed hair that looked brown. From the distance, I wasn't sure who it was Probably Hal or Ram.
They went into the bond's office for a few minutes then came back out. Hal/Ram talked for a moment before motioning to the street and they split up. Blaze went up the street, Hal/Ram went down, and Razor crossed to my side of the street.
I watched as they methodically entered each shop for a few moments before moving onto the next. They were searching for someone, ten bucks it was me. I moved away from the window as Razor got closer to the antique shop. The store was one room, with a staff only room in the back, no restroom to hide in, no closest to duck into. I could sneak out the back, but then I might run into some workers who would yell and give me away.
I moved into the very back of the shop and stood behind a large wardrobe. Razor came in the front door, went to the counter and rang the small bell for service. An older woman with neat set steel gray curls came out of the back and greeted him warmly. She didn't even blink at his swat clothes or the gun on his hip. Clearly Ranger's men were well known in this town. I watched as he showed her a picture and asked if she'd seen this woman.
"No I'm afraid I haven't." She said sorrowfully. "Is she in trouble?"
He shrugged. "She might be, she went missing this morning. She's new to the area so she may also just be lost. She forgot her phone so we can't get in touch with her."
"That's terrible." She said honestly. "I hope you find her soon."
Razor thanked the woman and was on his way out, when he stopped. I sucked in a breath and ducked when he glanced in my direction. I listened for the sound of shoes on the floor, the sound of the door closing, anything. All I could hear was the pounding of my own heart in my ears. I took a couple of deep breather to slow my heart and even out my breathing. I was just getting ready to glance up and see if he'd left when a hand wrapped around my shoulder and clamped over my mouth.
It was a good thing he'd covered my mouth or I might have screamed. As it was, with his arm in a sling, it was easy to break away from him. I leapt a yard away and put a small wooden end table between us. The woman who had been at the counter had gone back into the staff room.
"Shhh," He said softly. "You don't want her to come back out and see you."
"What do you want?" I hissed.
He rolled his eyes at me. "We're supposed to be looking for you. You're going to get yourself killed going rouge out here all alone."
"You think you can take me in one handed." I asked, shifting my weight away from him, ready to bolt for the door if I had to. I didn't want to hurt him, but with his injured arm, I knew I could take Razor out quickly if I needed to.
"No," He said. "I'm not going to take you in. You wouldn't let me if I tried. Where are you headed?" He asked.
I raised an eyebrow, not sure if this was some kind of a trick or if he was genuinely trying to help me. Maybe he'd already hit a panic button and the other's were coming in through the back door.
"Why would you help me?" I asked. "You could lose your job if Ranger finds out about this."
"Are you going to tell on me?" He asked sarcastically. "Blaze and Hal are down the road, no one needs to know you where ever in here but me. What's your plan? Where are you headed?"
"Why?" I asked again.
He shrugged. "We're friends right?" He asked.
"I lied to you." I reminded him. "You got shot because of me."
"Please, I've been hit worse than this before. I'll get the sling off in a couple of weeks and it wasn't your fault O'Donnell opened fire on us."
When I hesitated he continued. "Look, I get what you're doing." He said. "You're going after Ryan. You're not stupid, you know the risks and you've decided that the chance to save him is worth it. I respect that. We don't even know if the O'Donnell's have him yet, maybe they don't."
"Unlikely, we haven't seen them for almost twenty-four hours. I bet they have him and they're hiding. Waitting for a chance to flee with him or dispose of him."
He nodded. "That's what Ranger thinks too. Only we think they're waiting for a chance to grab you too. Col. Lowry's going ape shit back at Haywood. He wants to call in some of his military contacts to help look for you."
"I'm going to get him back Razor." I vowed. "I won't let anyone stop me. Not the Col. Not you, and not Ranger."
"I'm not trying to stop you." He said. "I just want to make sure you have a smart plan. I know that things are a little weird right now." He continued. "But I don't think you lied to us for malicious reasons. Everyone's got something in their past they don't want to talk about. Ask me about my sister sometime. You're my friend now and I don't have many so I take good care of them."
I smirked at that, remembering when he called me out in the gym for not having many friends. Guess I'm not the only antisocial one here. "You're my friend too Razor. I hope were still friends when this is all over."
"Me too," He agreed. "Tell me what you're up to. What's your plan?"
I nodded. "I figured I could get a map at the bond's office. I need directions, since I don't know the area. Then I'd check out the address's we know Ryan's played at. Someone has to know where I can find him or how I can get a hold of him."
He nodded. "You have the addresses? How did you get them?"
"Talent," And a little Hispanic helper who shall forever remain nameless. However this played out in the end I'd keep Hector's secret with me until the day I died.
I showed him the list and he pointed to the second one. "Start there. Hal got an address off one of the workers. Seems he knows a couple of the guys in the band. The girl at the counter in the office right now is named, Barbra. She's Connie's niece, you know who Connie is?"
I nodded. Julie had told me about the staff at the bond office. Connie worked the desk and a couple of her younger nieces and nephews did the filing and helped out around the office.
"You can tell her you're doing work with Steph. She's smart, but she lacks street sense. Any halfway decent liar could fool her. Connie would have called Ranger and busted your ass so you're lucky she's out right now."
I nodded. My eyes flickered, out of habit, to the window behind him, scanning for black cars and I caught sight of Blaze just as he passed in front of the window. I jumped back behind the wardrobe and crouched down, partially hiding myself under another table.
The door swung open and Blaze spoke. "Anything?" He asked.
"Nope," Razor said, sounding calm and collected. Like he wasn't hiding me from everyone. I owned Razor so big for this. "Owner hasn't seen her."
"I didn't really think she'd come over here." Blaze said. "She doesn't know the area, there's nothing she could get from the office anyway."
"She knows Vinny posted bail for O'Donnell." Razor pointed out.
"Yeah," Blaze agreed and I heard them head towards the door. "But, she'd already have all of that info from the files we had. She'd not looking for his bail bond's man, she's looking for him."
They left and I waited a full five minutes before sneaking back up to the front of the store and checking the road. The car was gone, and I didn't see any big, scary men dressed in black standing watch on the corners. I calmly walked out of the store, across the street and entered the bond's office as if I belonged there.
The bond's office was small. A large desk was its focal point, blocking the door to a back office. There was an old brown sofa and a pair of chairs that had seen better days. I could hear someone moving in the back, but I kept my focus on the young woman sitting behind the desk.
Barbra only looked nineteen or twenty years old, and she had some rocking curve. Her brown hair was teased high and her lip's were glossed candy apple red. She was dressed in black slacks and a conservative blouse and hidden behind her black rimmed glasses were intelligent brown eyes. Very Italian, very vavavoom.
"Hi," She said warmly as I walked in. Her eyes flashed to my set of weapons before returning to my face. "Welcome to Vicente Plum Bail Bond's office." She continued easily. "How can I help you?"
I smiled warmly and kept my posture unthreatening as I neared the desk and dropped into one of the seats there. "Hi, you must be Barbra."
She nodded. "That's me; let me guess you know my aunt Connie." She relaxed in her seat and pulled out a nail file, sharpening her matching candy apple claws.
I shrugged. "We've never meet directly, but I know of her. I'm in town helping a couple of friends. You probably know Stephanie."
"Stephanie Manoso?" She said. "You bet I do, she's bad ass."
I nodded. "Definitely a bad ass." I agreed. "I'm helping out with the O'Donnell hunt. I was on my way back to Rangeman so I could look up some information when I passed by. This is closer to where I need to be so I was wondering if you could help me out."
"Whatcha need Honey?" She asked, spinning to her computer. Her nails started to click on the key's.
I passed her the addresses. "I'm supposed to go to these locations and flash O'Donnell's photo around, ask some questions, you know. But I forgot to get directions. I'm new in town and don't know my way around."
"No problem. Just give me one second."
Five minutes later, I was completely impressed with little Barbra. She could work the computers at RangeMan. Her manicured nails flew across the keyboard and then I had a map of the town with each of my locations circled in red. She'd printed me out basic info on each and showed me the shortest rout to the bar Razor had pointed out as my first stop.
"One of these is in Point Pleasant." She said. "That's a way's away, but the others are all local joints." She tapped one. "This is a great place to go dancing."
I nodded along and waited while she finished.
"Need anything else?" She asked as I tucked the map and my information away.
"Not at the moment, thanks for your help."
I turned to leave and was blocked as a woman came in the front door. "Yo Barb," She called out. "Where your aunt Connie at?"
"She's out right now Lu," Barbra said. "She'll be back soon, take a seat."
She turned her eyes on my and I got my first good look at her. "And who are you?" She asked, looking me up and down, noting my weapons. "Vinny get a new BEA?"
The woman Barbra had called Lu, was a full figured, African American woman with flame red hair. Her plus sized body was pressed into a cheetah print pencil skirt and a matching tan/gold ruffled blouse that had lots of chocolate cleavage. The outfit was finished with black stockings, black rhinestone heels, and giant bedazzled earrings. Hood meets businesswoman.
"She's Steph's friend." Barbra explained before I could open my mouth. "She's helping out with their big case."
I nodded. "Actually, I was just on my way out."
She moved to block me. "Hold up, I know you, you're that girl who's been working with Pierre and Ranger tracking down that boy who jumped bail and don't speak no English. He told me about you."
"Pierre?" I asked. Who the hell was Pierre?
She smiled. "Don't you be telling my Tank I told you that." She said. "I'm the only one who gets to call him that name. You call him Pierre and he'll kill you."
I bit back a grin. Tank's real name was Pierre!
"Josie calls him Pierre." Barbra said, blowing on her nail and moving her file over to the next already perfectly rounded finger.
Lu, rolled her eyes. "He's her daddy. Of course she gunna use his real name. Mostly she just calls him Papa though."
Oh! Things were starting to line up. I remembered reading in Tank's file that he'd gotten married a few years ago to a woman named Lula. They'd had a daughter together a couple of years before that named Josie. If I remembered right, she was 6 or 7 now. Lula was one of Stephanie's best friends.
"Your Tank's wife." I guessed, trying to maneuver myself closer to the door.
Lula smiled big. "You bet I am." She said showing me the giant ring on her fourth finger. The band was white gold, with a giant diamond right in the middle. Simple and loud, it had probably coast Tank a small fortune, but it did look good on her. "He's a great big hunk of love aint he?" She asked enthusiastically. "That man is to damn fine and he's all mine."
I smiled, but kept my opinions of Tank to myself. Sure, he was a good-looking guy; all of the RangeMen were. My tastes just happened to run a little smaller, softer, sweeter, and way more feminine then I could ever see Tank pulling off. Tank definitely wasn't my kind of lady.
"What are you doing here?" Lula asked. "Ranger's guys always pick up their flies in the morning. I know that on account of I used to work here."
I raised an eyebrow. Lula was a Recovery Agent?
"Don't you be given me that look." She said. "Ranger does that eyebrow thing and it's real irksome too. You don't think I could be a bounty hunter, do you?"
I shrugged. She didn't really look like a Bounty Hunter to me, but what did I know.
"You're not a Bounty Hunter." Barbra said. "You and Steph used to get in all kinds of trouble."
Lula waved her off. "We might have got in trouble but we always caught our man, dead or alive, that's the saying. I did the filing here at the office too." She added turning back to me. "Now I got a building downtown that I run. I got my degree online, figure I've got to make something of myself now that I got Tank and Josie counting on me right. She gunna be real proud of her Mama."
Barbra pointed towards the window. "There's Aunt Connie now. She had to go write bond on some guy from the Burg."
I moved away from the door as Connie came in, putting myself in a straight line for the back door. I needed to get moving, time was not on my side and I was wasting too much of it here.
Connie looked like an older version of Barbra. Lots of curves, teased hair and blood red nails. Betty Boop does Jersey and she smokes two packs a day. She stopped when she came in the door and locked eyes with me. I watched her connect the dots, someone had told her about me.
"You must be Shilo." She said presently trying to put up a front so I wouldn't bolt. Betty Boop was smart.
I nodded. "Hi,"
"Hey," Lula said. "I need to know if your still gunna help me out next week." She asked directing her question to Connie.
Connie glanced over at Lula. "Of course I'll be there." Then she looked back over at me, trying to keep me in her line of sight. "What are you doing here?" She asked casually.
I shrugged. "Just picking up a few things."
Her eyes narrowed and she glanced over at Barbra. "You gave her information. Dose she look like she works for RangeMan?"
Barbra glanced at me probably noting the lack of RangeMan uniform. "She said she worked with Steph." Barbra argued, "Not RangeMan."
I inched farther away and Connie rounded on me. "I know all about you." She said, dropping into Rhino mode. "Ranger called me earlier to keep an eye out for you. Grab her!"
Lula jumped at me and tripped on her shoes. She fell in the hall and blocked Connie who'd lunged right after here. I didn't wait to see if they were ok. I flew down the hall, crashed out the back door and took off as fast as my feet would carry me. Several blocks away I raced across the street and cursed as I passed in front of another black SUV.
The car laid on its horn and its break, but again I didn't stop to say hi. I leapt a fence and took off across lawns. I wasn't as strong at the guys of RangeMan, but I'd have speed on my side. I ran until my sides burned before tucking myself into a doorway and pulling out the print off map I'd gotten from Barbra.
I'd been watching street signs while I ran, but it still took me a few minutes to find myself on the map. I was several blocks from bar I needed to be at, but I figured if I could make it this far, I could get there.
Pov- Julie
"What do you mean she's gone?"
I rolled my eyes and spun the chair I was sitting in. What did he think 'gone' meant? Everyone was gathered on five while Ranger and Tank gave out orders. Col. Lowry had stormed onto the floor demanding to be kept up to date and then Ranger had told him Shilo was missing.
"We have to find her." He said urgently. I recognized the hard tenor of his voice. It was the same drill sergeant voice that Ranger used in the field. "They'll kill her."
"We're going to send out a couple of cars to look for her. I can't spare anymore men then that at the moment. We still have to find O'Donnell and Ryan." Ranger said. "You should know that if my men catch her I'm going to lock her up until this is done."
Col. Lowry shook his head. "When your men get her, I was her sedated and shackled. I'll take her away myself."
"That's kidnapping." My voice was low and I narrowed my eyes at him from my position in the background. For someone who claimed to care about Shilo, like a father, he seemed far too eager to drug her and drag her across the country against her will. He hadn't even asked about our efforts to find out where Ryan was.
"It will keep her safe." He stated easily. His eye's flashed to where I was sitting and narrowed slightly. "Shilo's to head strong to think about the dangers to herself in this situation. Ryan's the same way, that's why it was safer for them to be split up in the first place."
"She knows what she's doing. She doesn't care about the danger to herself." I argued. "Unlike you, she cares wither or not Ryan lives. She just wants to help him. He is her brother after all."
The Col. glowered down at me, but I refused to flinch or look away. I wasn't going to let this man get away with trying to bully me and I wouldn't let him speak ill of Shilo. "Don't pretend to know what I'm thinking girl." He said sharply. "Of course I want to see Ryan returned safely, but I will not lose Shilo to those men on my watch." He turned his back on me then, clearly stating that our conversation was over. For now, I'd let it go.
Tank was calling in contract worker to cover the building while Ranger set up teams and started handing out jobs. Razor refused to be sidelined, so Ranger added him to Blaze and Hal's team, since their job had the lowest amount of risk.
"Go to all of the local spots she might know of. Pino's, the Diner, the Bond's office. Ask around; see if anyone has spotted her. Use any force necessary to bring her in, short of killing her." He odered. Hal nodded that he understood and they took off.
"I'll call in some contacts." Col. Lowry said. "Some of my guys can come and help hunt for Shilo.
Ranger shook his head. "No, this isn't a military mater. Shilo's an adult, she's free to do what she wants and she knows the risk to herself. She's made her choice."
Col. Lowry's eyes narrowed and Ranger puffed out his chest in return. Ranger wasn't active duty anymore, having dropped his government contract when he married Steph, but he still carried the title of Col. from his time in Special Force. It was kind of interesting to watch them go head to head. My money was on Ranger.
"Fine," Col. Lowry relented with a sneer. "Your men have forty-eight hours to find her then I'm going over your head with this. And I want to help look for her in the mean time."
Ranger nodded at that. "You know her better than any of us. You may be our only chance to find her first."
I smirked. I'd only known Col. Lowry for an hour, but I was positive that I knew more about Shilo then he did. Razor caught my eye from across the floor and sent me a knowing smirk. Clearly, he thought so too. Ranger paired Col. Lowry with Bobby and sent them off to start looking at likely places Shilo would turn up.
The main task force consisted of Ranger, Tank Lester, Steph, Hector and, me. We were going to go out to the address Hal had gotten and start hunting down Ryan. Col. Lowry and Bobby would meet up with us later, once we had a strong lead. I had no doubt that we'd cross paths with Shilo at some point. I just hoped we'd get to them first.
Once the orders were out and the teams set the floor shook into motion. Ranger left to make some phone calls. I joined the other guys in the ammo room to suit up. Kevlar vests for everyone, extra ammo, my gun at the small of my back, and a second one in my boot. I felt like Rambo.
Steph meet me in the hall as I headed for the stairwell and raised an eyebrow at me. "You ok?" She asked.
I nodded. "Fine." I took a step forward, but stopped when Steph grabbed my arm. She tugged me to the side of the hall and made sure no one was watching before she swept my hair away from my shoulder.
I knew exactly what she was seeing and made no attempts to pull my hair back over the mark Shilo had left on my skin. She looked the bruise over before looking back at my face. I offered no explanation, but didn't try to hide behind a blank face either. Let her see whatever she would see in my eyes or from my posture. At this point, I had nothing to hide.
"Shilo?" She asked.
I moved a step away and shook my hair so my neck was covered as more guys moved passed us in the hall. "It certainly wasn't Blaze." Steph knew about my preference. Since Ella and Stephanie were the only other women in the building Shilo really was the only option.
She didn't seem satisfied with my answer, but she didn't press the issue. We joined a few more guys on their way to the stairs and filed into the underground garage. Teams split off, got into their cars and took off on their assigned routs and tasks. Razor gave my shoulder a squeeze as he passed by.
"Don't get shot, ok." He said seriously.
I nodded. "You too."
I watched until he was in the SUV with Hal and Blaze and then they pulled out of the garage and road off. Ranger called me over and it was only then that I realized ours was the last team to leave. We were all fitted with wires and earpieces so we could keep in touch once we had to get out of the cars.
"Mic check." I said once I was wired and everyone nodded that they'd heard me. Everyone tested their mic's and then we were ready to roll.
We piled into two fully outfitted SUV's. I sat with Lester and tank, while Steph and Hector road with Ranger. Ranger pulled out first and Tank followed him onto the street.
Half an hour later, we pulled up in front of a small house with brown sided. The neighborhood was cute and neat not the kind of place I'd expected to find a bass player for a bar band. Tank cut the engine and we all piled out onto the street. Ranger and Steph went up to the front door. Ranger stood to the side while Steph knocked. This was standard procedure for us, since people were more likely to open their door to Steph then any of the Merry Men. She appeared less threatening.
No one answered, so they knocked again. Ranger rapped on a window and Steph called out, asking if anyone was home.
"Conner Molony! Anyone home?"
Nothing.
They walked back to the cars and Lester asked the obvious. "Now what?"
"B and E." I suggested. Shilo was out there somewhere with a mad man stalking her and this bastard wasn't home. We didn't have any time to play around. "He might have a list of friends in the house somewhere. Caller ID, anything we could use to get our information faster."
Ranger nodded. "That's what I was thinking."
"The laws not on our side." Stephanie reminded us. "This man has done nothing wrong and he's not FTA. We have no reason to believe Michael will be in this house. If someone calls the police, we'll be in trouble and we're out of Trenton's jurisdiction so the officials won't be as familiar with us."
"Give him twenty minutes." Tank suggested. "If he's not home by then we go in. We do have reason to believe that Ryan is in mortal danger and that this man will have information to help us save him. The police will understand that, even if they don't like it."
Ranger nodded. "Agreed; Steph and Hector take the back. Tank will watch out front. If he doesn't show up Julie, Lester, and I will go in."
I didn't really like it, but had no choice other then to go along with it. Steph and Hector disappeared around the back of the house. Tank and Lester took one car and drove around the block. They parked a few houses down where they wouldn't look as suspicious. Ranger and I leaned against the remaining SUV to wait.
The silence between us was more pronounced then it usually was and I could tell Ranger was thinking about saying something. Let him stew for a bit, I wasn't going to break the silence for him. Another five minutes stretched on before He found the words he'd been looking for.
"Is something bothering you Niña?" He asked.
I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow in response when I saw that his signature blank face was in place. "Nope,"
"You seem on edge." He pressed.
I shrugged. "I just want to find them before this shit hits the fan."
"Even after she'd lied to you?" He asked and I knew he was looking at me, thought I refused to meet his eye. "You're still worried about finding her alive and unharmed."
I nodded. "I don't care about her withholding a little information. She's my friend and I care about her."
"I warned you about getting to close to her." He said. "Clouds your judgment."
At that I smirked just a bit, hoping Ranger wouldn't notice. He had no idea how close we'd gotten or that I'd smashed my promise to him into a hundred pieces. I knew sooner or later I'd have to tell him. I was choosing later.
Our fabulous conversation was interrupted by Tank, whose voice spoke over the earpiece we were both wearing. "Just got a text from Lula." He said. "Shilo was at the bonds office. She tricked Barbra into giving her some information and took off."
"What kind of information?"
Just then Ranger's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen. "Hold on, Connie's calling." He flipped open the phone and said. "Yo,"
Ranger listened for a while.
"When?"
More listening.
"What did Barbra give her?"
Even more listening.
"Thanks for the call."
He hung up.
"Shilo's got the addresses for the bar's Ryan's band has played at. She got a map from the bonds office so she'll be able to find them fast."
"If she goes to each one she'll eventually wind up here." Lester said. "Got to give her credit for being smart. I wonder how she got the addresses?"
We needed to move faster. I was halfway to the door before Ranger caught up with me. To my surprise, he didn't try to stop me. Instead, he pulled a pick from his pocket and let us in.
"We're going in."
It only took Ranger a second to pick the lock and then we stepped into a dark front room. Most of the shades were drawn. Ranger pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and slipped them on. "Don't touch anything." He reminded me.
I smiled. "No worries." Then I pulled a pair of my own gloves from my pocket. We moved methodically through the house, searching drawers, the desk, kitchen table. We found a small handgun in a draw in the kitchen along with a box of ammo.
Ranger played the messages on his phone. We listened as first Connor's sister and then his mother both called to ask if he would be over for diner next week. The next three calls were hang-up's. The last one was a man's voice and all it said was 'Call me.' No way to know who it was or what they wanted.
I took the stairs to the second floor and found our first clue. The master bed room was in typical disarray for a bachelor. Some clothes on the floor, bed unmade, there was a guitar in the corner that helped prove we had the right house.
"Just got a call from Ram." Tank said over our earpieces. "Shilo crossed the street in front of their SUV, while they were patrolling a few blocks from the Bonds Office. They gave chase, but lost her."
"Roger." Ranger acknowledged, without asking for more details.
A photo on the bedside table showed five men all piled together in the back of a pick-up. There were drums stacked up behind them and I recognized Connor as the man with a bass strapped to his back. The photo looked a few years old, but I could point out Ryan too. He had the same green eyes as Shilo and his messy black hair reminded me of the photo Shilo had shown me of her family.
"Find something?"
I jumped as Ranger walked up behind me and cursed softly. "Shit." It had been months since Ranger had been able to sneak up on me.
"You're distracted." He said, nodding to the photo I'd been looking at. "Looks like the same group of guys to me."
I nodded and pointed to Ryan. "That's him."
"Keep looking, I don't want us to linger here longer then we have to."
I nodded and we continued to pick through the house. Ranger was the one who final found what we'd been looking for. Down the hall from the master bedroom was another small room that looking like a studio. There was another guitar, an older set of drums and a collection of other instrument cases.
Ranger found a book that contained everything from set lists to a list of clients the band had placed for in the past. In the back was contact information for all five members of the bad, including phone numbers and addresses.
We were short on time so we took the whole book. We'd bring it back with an explanation later. We meet up with everyone back out by the car's and Ranger called our new information into Haywood. Brett was going to do a background check for us and make sure the information was current. I hoped it was since we hadn't found anything else of use.
"Alright," Ranger called. "Load up, we've got a drive ahead of us." The address listed for Ryan was on the far side of Trenton. It would take us at least forty-five minutes to get there assuming Tank and Ranger followed all of the speed limits. Yeah right.
Pov- Shilo
It had taken me nearly half an hour to get to the bar Razor had pointed out, but then I was faced with another problem. I couldn't walk into a bar, dressed to kill without getting the cop's called on me and I wasn't super comfortable removing all of my gear.
In the end I compromised. I removed all of the easily visible weapons and tucked them into my bag, pulling a windbreaker over my shoulders to hide the gun at the small of my back and the knife on my hip. As long as no one went poking through my bag, I'd be ok.
The bar was called 'Forever' I round bar in the center acted as the hub of life for a large open floor. A stage was off to the left and an open space in front of it would be used for dancing. There were tables set up all along the edges and as it neared diner time, the place was packed.
I stood in the doorway and let my eye's adjust to the dimmer light. There was no band on the stage, but a DJ in the corner was playing music over a set of speakers. The bar smelt like burgers, smoke, dancing bodies, and fruity cocktails. I grabbed a server by the elbow and pressed myself into his side to make sure I'd have his full attention.
"How can I help you Miss?" He asked, his eyes dropping to my breasts before finding my face again.
I smiled sweetly. "I was wondering about one of the bands who played here a couple of nights ago. Is there someone specific I could ask about them?"
He offered me one of the drinks from his tray, but I shook my head. "No thanks."
"If you're interested in music, I play in a band." He offered with a big smile. "You could come listen to us some night. I know you'd enjoy it."
I smiled and ran a hand down his arm. "That's so cool." I played along. "But, I really do need to get some information on a particular band. Maybe we could talk another night."
He nodded. "No problem Sweetness." He nodded over my shoulder and I followed his line of sight to a man near the bar. He was dressed in black slacks and a button down shirt and tie. Management, was my guess, but I couldn't read his tag from over here.
"That's Lenny near the bar; he sets up all of the bands that play here. If there's an answer to your questions he's got it." He grabbed my hand as I started to move away and brought it to his lips, kissing my knuckles. "My name's Max. Stop in and ask for me some night."
I smiled and promised I would. Poor, dumb, straight boy. I moved swiftly across the room and plopped into the seat next to where Lenny was talking to one of the bartenders. When he finished speaking I touched his arm and he turned in my direction.
"Anything I can do for you this evening ma'am?" He asked, professionally polite.
I nodded. "I was wondering if you could get me some information on one of the bands that played here a couple of nights ago."
He took the seat next to me. "Which one? Do you have a name?"
I shook my head. "No I don't have a name. They played here a couple of nights ago. Five men; One of them was playing a tin whistle."
He nodded. "I know the group you're talking about. What do you need to know about them?"
"My sister's getting married." I lied easily. "She really loved listening to them when we were here. I was hoping you'd have some contact information for them so I could ask if they would be interested in playing for us."
He smiled. "That's cool. I bet they'd love too, although, I don't think they've ever played a wedding before. They're more into folk-rock music then wedding marches."
"We want them for the reception, not the ceremony. So you have a phone number?" I pressed.
He nodded. "I'll do you one better. My buddy Connor leads the group you're talking about. They call themselves CloverRig. He's sitting right over there; you can talk to him yourself. I'll introduce you."
Lenny led me to the other side of the bar and pulled out the seat next to a tall man with white-blond hair. Connor was probably six foot one or two. He had a slim build, thin shoulders with strong arms. The first thing I noticed about his face was his very Nordic super blue eyes.
"Connor," He slapped a hand down on the man's shoulder and nodded at me. "Got a fan for you." He said with a smirk. "She wants to talk to you about a gig for CloverRig." He flagged down a bartender and ordered a pair of drinks for both of us before walking away.
Connor sipped at his drink for a moment. I didn't touch mine. He seemed to sense the seriousness in my posture so he sat up a little straighter. "What's the gig?" He asked. I smirked at his accent, Welsh.
I shook my head. "Actually there isn't one." I admitted. "I just needed to get a hold of you. I lucked out that you were here."
He raised an eyebrow at me and turned on his stool so he was facing me more directly. "And what exactly do you need me for?"
"I'm looking for one of your band mates." I explained. "A man named Ryan."
"How do you know Ryan?" He asked. Not shutting me down, but not giving me anything to go off of either.
"We're friends." I stated simply. "We haven't seen each other in a while. We lost touch and I was hoping to rectify that. I heard he was playing with your band so I was hoping I could get an address or a phone number off you."
He shook his head. "I don't make a point of passing out my friends addresses. What did you say your name was?"
"I didn't," He knew that. "It's not important anyway, are you going to help me out or not?" I didn't want to do it, but I'd take him outside and beat him up at this point if I needed too.
He shook his head. "Not, no offence but you've given me no reason to trust you Miss. You're not the only one who's come asking about Ryan lately and I don't like it." He tossed back the last of his drink and stood up. "Good night."
What? I jumped up from my seat and tailed after Connor as he made his way through the bar.
"Come on!" I called after him. "You've got to help me out here."
He ignored me and kept moving. I pushed myself through the crowed until I was right on his heels and followed him out a side door. Once we were outside, he stopped and turned to face me.
"Tell me why you want to talk to Ryan." He demanded. "Who are you?"
"I already told you, I'm a friend of Ryan's." I pressed. "Trust me; he'd want to know I was looking for him."
He shook his head again. "No dice, I've been getting phone calls for two days. A bunch of people seem to be looking for Ryan. Is he in some kind of trouble?"
I scowled at Connor. Beating him up was starting to sound like a lot of fun, but something was telling me that would be a bad idea. You could always be honest with him. A little voice in my ear said. This shit's already blowing up, better to find him fast, then find him dead. Damn it!
"How well do you know Ryan?" I asked, changing tactics.
Connor's posture relaxed slightly, but he kept the hard edge to his eyes. "We've been friends for a long time. Ryan's practically my brother."
I nodded. "Then as his friend you should help me find him before someone else does because he's in big trouble and I want to help him."
"Why would you want to help Ryan?" He asked. "How do you know him? I've never heard him mention anyone like you before."
"I doubt that." I said with a smile. "You're telling me that your best friend's never told you about his own family?"
Connor's eyes narrowed, giving away that Ryan had indeed told him about his family. At least told him what he believed had happened to his family. "That's a sick joke." Connor said dryly. "And it proves you don't know Ryan. He has no family."
I shrugged. "Neither did I until a few hours ago."
"I'm out of here." Connor turned on his heels again and started walking away. "See Ya." I huffed and chased after him.
"I'm telling you the truth." I promised. "Ryan's my brother, my real brother, and I need to find him before he gets himself hurt."
"How is he going to get hurt?" Connor asked, ignoring my comment about being related to Ryan while he pressed on down the street. "Do you know the men that have been calling me?"
I nodded. "Probably, and you'll want to stay away from them." Twenty bucks it was the O'Donnell's, or their lackeys, who had been harassing Connor to get information on Ryan. "You wouldn't want to run into them on a dark night."
"Who are they?"
"Bad men; If you care about him at all you won't let them get Ryan."
He stopped and looked at me. We were in the shadows between streetlights a block from the bar. It was after seven and the sun was setting fast. For the first time Connor seemed to be taking me seriously.
"Does this have anything to do with the whole witness protection thing he's in?" He asked.
Headlights turned onto the street we were on and I moved back farther against the nearest building. It would be harder to pick out RangeMan's cars in the dark. "Ryan told you about that?" I didn't know what cover story Col. Lowry had given to Ryan's foster parents, but he would have told them something so they knew to keep his name a secret.
Connor nodded. "Bits and pieces. Over the years, I've put them together for myself. Ryan doesn't like to talk about it much. Are you really his little sister?"
I nodded. "My names Shilo."
"They're the ones who've been calling me aren't they?" He asked. "The ones who attacked your house."
I nodded. "Yeah, they found him. That's why I've got to get to him first."
"You mean we've got to get to him first." He corrected me.
He started walking again and I nearly had to jog to keep up with his long steps. "No, you've got to tell me where Ryan is and then go stay with your parents until this is over. They could hurt you too for keeping information from them."
"No way." He said. "If you're the Shilo that Ryan's told me so much about he'd never forgive me for letting you out of my sight. He's going to flip a shit when he finds out your alive. He thinks you're dead! Why haven't you tried to find him before?"
"Long story." I brushed it off. "I'm serious about this Connor. You can't come with me, you'll get hurt. Just tell me where I can find him and I'll make sure he's safe. I promise."
Connor shook his head and started walking. "Nope, you need my help so I'm coming with you. You won't be able to find Ryan's house without me. Don't let this pretty face fool you, I can handle myself."
I rolled my eyes. "You're not even armed." I grabbed his arm and yanked him to a stop. I waited until he looked at me before continuing. "This isn't a joke." I pressed. "The men hunting Ryan are not nice people. They will have guns, they will have backup, and they want him dead. They want me dead too, you're in danger just by being seen with me."
He nodded. "I know that." He said. "Ryan's told me about the O'Donnell's before. That's who this is right?" He asked confidently, not waiting for my response. "Ryan's been my friend for a long time. Let me help you."
I could tell he wasn't going to let this go, for the sake of time we had to get moving. "Fine," I agreed. "On one condition."
He nodded. "Sure, anything."
"You do exactly what I say." I demanded, letting every drop of authority I had fall into my voice. "If things get to dangerous you fall back. If I tell you to hide, you do it. If I say turn around and go back you leave without asking questions."
He nodded. "Alright, lets role. I got your back girl."
I tugged him with me into a shadowy part of the road and redressed myself for the hunt. I gave Connor my vest and my second gun, after making sure he knew how to use it.
"I know how to shoot." He said. "My old man and I use to hunt and I keep a firearm at the house." That hardly counted as experience, but at least he was less likely to shoot his own foot off while I wasn't watching him.
Once we were ready, I looked to him. "Where's Ryan?"
He pulled out a cell phone and the screen blazed to life in the dark road. "He lives a few blocks over. I'll give him a call and let him know we're coming." Connor hit a few buttons on his phone and put it to his ear as we started walking. After a few moments, he hung up the phone and switched to a jog.
"No one home."
It could be a coincidence, but the dread in the pit of my stomach was telling me we were already too late. I kept up Connor's pace as he led us into a nearby neighborhood. The houses were small, but neat. Almost all of them were single stories on rectangle lots. Small front yards, with longer backyards.
"It's just up ahead." Connor said as we rounded another block.
In the distance, I could tell exactly which house we were heading towards. The one with all of the black car's in front of it. Ranger had beaten us here. I grabbed Connor's arm and pulled him off the street so we wouldn't be seen. We were moving through back yards, peeking around houses and working our way closer to Ryan's house. Connor stayed near my side, his eyes narrowed and calculating.
A small party of black clad RangeMen were milling around in the front yard and I was guessing from the open door that some were inside too.
"Who are they?" Connor asked, as we ducked into a pair of bushes near the fence roping off Ryan's backyard from his neighbors.
"They're good guys too." I told him, not wanting him to accidentally shot anyone on our side. "We just had different ideas about how to find Ryan is all."
We watched the house for a while and I saw Ranger and Julie pass in front of a window. From the looks on their faces, I was guessing no one was home. We were too late. Ryan wasn't here and he hadn't answered his phone. They already had him.
I was just trying to figure out what my next move should be when there was a loud bang, which nearly stopped my heart. Ryan's house was one of the few on the block with an above ground second floor, that second floor was now on fire. The back yard littered with debris from the explosion.
"What are you doing?" I heard Connor yell after me, but didn't stop to answer as I vaulted myself over the fence and took off across the yard, hell bent on finding Julie.
I kicked in the back door in and ducked into the smoke. The house was abuzz with noise. Flames crackled from upstairs, I could hear wood creak as the supports in the house weakened. Men from the front yard were yelling and calling orders while they evacuated their friends from inside. I found Julie and Ranger in the kitchen.
Ranger was out cold, a gash on his forehead told me he'd been hit pretty hard. Julie was awake, but disoriented struggling weakly. She had a few small cuts, but looks mostly unharmed. They were both partly buried under part of the second floor, which had fallen in the explosion and trapped them.
"Shilo?" Julie asked, as I grabbed her arm. She was yelling; no doubt, her ears were ringing. She tried to push herself forward and yelped in pain.
"Don't move." I told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I've got you." Her legs were caught under a pile of wood and I had no way of telling how badly she was injured. I check Ranger for a pulse and was glad to find one. I called over my shoulder, trying to catch someone's attention, but over the noise in the house I was doubting anyone could hear me.
Julie tugged on my pants leg. "Shilo the flames."
Julie nodded behind me were we could see flames at the top of the stairs. I threw my weight against the largest of the boards trapping Julie and Ranger and fought against the dark thoughts in my head. Even if I could get them free, there was no way I could carry them both. I was having flash backs of my childhood home burning down, betting they'd used the same type of explosion just to spite me.
I pushed again and the board inched backwards. Julie was clawing at the smaller debris, trying to help me free them. Smoke was making my eye's water and I choked on the thick smog.
"It won't move." I threw myself at it again, clawing at the wood for all I was worth.
"Shilo get out of here." Julie said, pushing against my leg. "The fire's coming, you have to leave us." The flames were still at the stairs so we had a little time. No way I was leaving her in here.
I threw myself against the board again and nearly cried when it didn't move. I was to light, I wasn't strong enough to free them. Then a heard a grunt and someone else threw themselves against the board and it gave way. I glanced over my shoulder and found Tank. He was covered in soot and sweat, and there was a burn on his right shoulder. We shared a moment of understanding where we agreed to set aside our differences until everyone was safe. Basically, he agreed not to kick my ass until we were all outside.
With Tank's help, we were able to pull both Julie and Ranger free of the wreckage. Tank tossed Ranger across his shoulders easily and nodded towards Julie. "Can you carry her?" He asked.
I hooked an arm under hers and pulled her to her feet. She was favoring her right ankle. "I'm fine." I called back. Adrenalin was an amazing thing. I hadn't been able to move the beam, but I felt like I could move mountains. Tank was leading the way towards the front door when another groan above us signaled that the second floor was coming down. There was a loud crunch over our heads and the ceiling gave out. I yanked Julie backwards, while Tank lunged forwards.
Julie clung onto me as I pulled myself back to my feet and tried to think through the fog. Tank was calling out for us from the other side of the burning rubble, but I couldn't make him out. Julie hit my shoulder to get my attention and yelled the word 'backdoor' in my ear.
I nodded and started to walk forward. The second fall seemed to have taken its toll on Julie's leg and she collapsed next to me as it gave out under her weight. I hooked an arm under her knee and pulled her up onto my back before charging blind in the direction of the backdoor. Julie's hands tightened around my neck and she stuck her face in my hair. I held onto her leg's for all I was worth. Either we were both getting out or we were going to die trying.
We got outside and gasped at the cleaner air and in my haste, I tripped down the porch steps. Julie and I crashed in a heap on the grass and I scrambled to pull us both father away from the burning house before the whole thing came down. We were halfway across the yard when I felt someone grab my arm and yank me roughly back a step.
I looked up, expecting to find an angry RangeMan, but instead came face to face with John O'Donnell. Gavin and a couple of other men were with him and behind them; I could see a black van parked on the road behind Ryan's house. There was no one else here. I could hear sirens in the distance, and when I opened my mouth to scream I choked on the smoke in my lungs. Trapped.
"We knew you'd come here." John said grabbing a fist full of my hair when I tried to jerk away from him. I cried out as he ripped it from the pins holding it up. "Grab her." He ordered, nodding in the direction of Julie. "Bring her with us."
I kicked out at him, but with my adrenaline wearing off he easily sidestepped it. He jerked me forward by my hair, pulling more of it free and slapped me. The hit knocked me back and split my lip. I spit out blood.
"Get your hands off her." I heard Julie shout as she struggled against whoever had grabbed her. I shook my head to clear it and felt my hands get bound behind my back. Another hand wrapped around my chest and I was pulled off my feet.
Julie and I were dragged towards the van and I watched as Julie was thrown in the back ahead of me. I managed to twist around in my captor's hands and got a solid kick to John's leg. Someone pulled on my hair again, but I was beyond feeling the pain. Ryan's house was burning, sirens were wailing and I was wondering why Tank hadn't sent anyone to the backyard to look for us.
A felt a pair of prong stick me in the side and a sharp sizzle before the lights went out. The last thing I remember hearing was the sound of a gun discharging.
~Darkrose
R&R
Question 7- Have you ever been stun-gunned?