Because you love her- by jersey girl in oxford (sue)

Chapter 8

It had been twenty four hours since anyone had heard from Tank. Tank had disabled the GPS unit in the Rangeman SUV because he didn't want Ranger to know where he had gone. Ranger had been so tied up with an account he didn't even realize Tank had been missing for a while. Ranger called his cell but only got his voice mail. Damn voice mail! He started to get an unsettling feeling. All he got was Stephanie's voice mail too before she died. He asked his men if anyone knew where Tank was. All they knew was he left yesterday after lunch time and hadn't been back. He looked around on Tank's desk and found the photo of the Harley and the information on Starlite. Ranger took the file to his office to investigate further.

Morelli got off the elevator and headed to the conference room that was set aside for the Stephanie Task force. He nodded to the men stationed at the monitor bay as he passed. A few minutes after settling in, Ranger appeared in the door way. "Have you heard from Tank?" Morelli shook his head. Ranger tossed the file to Morelli. "Do you know about this?" Morelli opened the file and quickly scanned the photo and information.

"No. I don't think we've looked at anything in New York yet. When was the last time anyone's heard from him?" Morelli asked.

"Yesterday around noon. I don't like it. I've got a bad feeling about this." Bobby and Lester entered the conference room. They just found out that Tank was MIA. They nervously exchanged glances. "Talk!"

"Okay, Tank told us not to mention this until he checked it out. You….both of you…well…" Bobby trailed off.

"Brown!" Ranger warned.

"We saw the guy that Stephanie was with at a club in the city," Lester offered. He looked back at Bobby. Ranger and Morelli's heads snapped up.

"When? Why wasn't I notified?" Ranger was furious. The first break in the case, and they kept it from him.

"I think you better sit down, Ranger, because there's more," Bobby insisted. Ranger locked eyes with Bobby for a few seconds but complied. "He was with a woman. I'm not saying it was her, but…..it….it looked like Stephanie."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Morelli growled. "She's dead. He's probably moved on to someone that looks like her. Why the fuck didn't you grab him?" Ranger put a hand on Morelli's shoulder.

"How do you know it was Stephanie?" Ranger asked calmly.

"It was Stephanie," Bobby said softly as he leaned forward palms down on the table. "We called her name. She turned and looked directly at us and smiled. She even did that little wave with her finger that she always does…uh…did. That's when I took the picture." Morelli held up the photo of the bike.

"Oh…you mean this?" Morelli just shook his head. "Nice bike but what's this got to do with anything?" Lester and Bobby again exchanged looks.

"They were sitting on that Harley when I took those pictures. That guy didn't show up when I took their picture at DuJour's that night. Only Stephanie came out…..because she was still alive then," Bobby explained. There was a long and uncomfortable silence. Morelli studied the photo. There was something odd about it. The Harley appeared to be holding itself upright. The kickstand wasn't down, and the bike wasn't leaning. Morelli looked up at Ranger.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Ranger just shook his head.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." He pulled the paper with the address for Starlite out of the stack. Without another word or backwards glance, Ranger strode out of the room. Morelli, Bobby, and Lester followed.

"Where are we going?" Morelli asked him as they caught up at the elevator.

"New York City," Ranger responded.

There was silence during the entire drive to New York. Ranger drove with Morelli sitting shot gun. Bobby and Lester were in the back seat. No one knew what to expect. It wasn't like Tank to not check in at all. Ranger understood why he did it. Tank was protecting him from more heartache. Tank was the only person who knew how he really felt about Stephanie. Tank knew all about the fucked up deal he made with her over DeChooch. Tank knew how he pushed her away and back into the arms of Morelli. Tank knew how much he regretted that night ever since. Tank knew how devastated he was over her death. Now, something happened to Tank. Ranger felt it. Tank threw out the rules to protect his best friend. He went in without back up, and something happened.

There was a parking garage a block down from the address for Starlite. By luck or by fate, it was the same place that Tank parked. Ranger spotted the Rangeman SUV immediately as he turned on to the second level. The hood was cool to the touch. The ticket was on the dash. Tank had checked in to the garage yesterday afternoon. It was unknown if he had come back to the SUV for any reason. "Let's check out Starlite," Ranger told them.

The address for Starlite was an abandon building. Bobby pointed to the side entrance down the alley between the buildings. Ranger didn't want to be seen breaking into the building from the sidewalk. They were surprised to find the door unlocked. Tank's foot prints in the dust of the floor were clearly made out. Ranger drew his gun followed by Bobby and Lester. They followed the single line of foot prints to a back room on the first floor by the staircase. A second set of what looked like a man's print was found as well as a smaller set. Ranger guessed it was a female's due to the size and that it looked like a high heel print. Tank's prints turned to scuff marks, as if he shuffled backwards. This led to a small pool of blood. Then nothing. The foot prints of the other two stopped. There were no drag marks. Tank was a large man. Even Ranger needed help to carry him. There were no foot prints leading away from the blood. Not one. "What the fuck happened here?" Ranger muttered.

"Should we call NYPD?" Morelli asked. Ranger nodded.

"First, Santos…Brown….check out the rest of the building. I don't want any evidence disturbed until we look at it first," Ranger ordered.

"Yes sir!" they answered in unison and began a floor to floor search. All they found were Tank's foot prints. Ranger nodded to Morelli who called the police. He told the officer who he was and gave him a little information about Tank.

"Jesus," Morelli muttered. "When?" They looked at Morelli expectantly. "Detective McBrady? …Okay, tell him we'll meet him there." Morelli snapped his phone shut and swallowed hard. He looked Ranger in the eye. This was going to be hard on him. First, he lost Stephanie…now his best friend. "They found a headless body in the river…by Battery Park. Tall African-American. Dressed in black. It's just a couple blocks from here." Bobby and Lester looked at Ranger. Blank mask was in place. "I'm sorry." They all waited for Ranger to say or do something.

"Let's go," he finally replied and headed to the door.