Chapter 3

My first stop before I headed out of town was the bonds office. I knew it was too early for Lula to be there, so parking down the street I watched for Connie to show up. I was dressed as I usually was in jeans, T-shirt and a hoodie along with my boots so no one should be suspicious if they saw me. The street was surprisingly busy, I suppose with people on their way to work, when I opened the truck door I had to wait until I could cross the street to where the office was.

I saw Connie as she stood at the door and unlocked it and then as she disarmed the alarm. Shit I'd totally forgotten that Rangeman kept surveillance on the office. Hopefully that camera was only looked at if there was an emergency, so I doubted I'd be seen here at 8 o'clock in the morning. Besides if I was seen then hopefully, they'd just assume that I was here early for work. Yeah right, no one would believe that. I was so caught up in how the Merry Men might view my early arrival that I wasn't aware that someone was behind me until I heard my name being called.

Only it wasn't my actual name and the word being used took me by surprise but also annoyed me. I turned around quickly and with what I hoped was a glare, stared at Joe Morelli causing him to come to a stop.

"What the hell do you want Joe?"

Not wanting to waste my time stood here talking to him.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Oh no, he was not going to answer my question with another question. Besides, what I was doing here was none of his business. My hands went to my hips to show him that I was annoyed with him.

"You were supposed to be coming with me today, not working"

He was delusional if he thought that was going to happen, but I needed a way to get him to leave.

"Joe, I have one skip to bring in. My job is just as important as yours so I can't just ditch and run"

I did have a skip, but Vinnie would have to find someone else to bring him in because it wouldn't be me. Maybe he could get Joyce to earn her favors from him. Yeah, that would interesting. I watched as Joe took a step toward me and as he looked down the street as though looking to see who was there. No doubt he wouldn't want this little scene to be broadcast around the Burg.

"Look, I can work with that. I'm going to be busy for this week, catching up with the other officers. How about I call you with my address and then you can come meet me"

I threw my arms up in the air as he spewed his lies at me. Even now he was trying to come up with excuses for why I shouldn't be around. Unbelievable.

"Do what you want Joe"

With that I turned to the office door and opened it aware that Joe had walked off down the street. I puzzled over whether Joe had seen me arrive in the truck but then decided that it didn't matter if he had. He'd just think that it was a replacement for the car that I'd probably destroyed. Any other thoughts were soon pushed to the back of my mind when I heard Connie from behind her desk, so I walked further into the office. I'd gone over what I would say to Connie but being stood in front of her all the practiced words seemed to vanish.

"Wow, this is early for you Steph. There's just one file for you, slow week I'm afraid"

As Connie passed the file to me, I took it but replaced it on her desk which had her frowning at me.

"I, err, I've decided to take some days off. Well probably longer than that"

I suppose that I'd rarely taken any time off from work, only the occasional day that coincided when I didn't have skips to bring in. To be honest I wasn't even sure what rights to leave I had. I suppose the last time that I'd been away for any length of time had been when I'd flown to Hawaii. The mere thought of that place had goosebumps coming out all over my skin as I pictured who I'd spent the entire week there with. Ranger, need I say more to explain my condition. I'd called him to ask for his help with a skip that had been missing for an age and had turned up at the airport. I couldn't legally apprehend him out of New Jersey, but Ranger could. The problem had been that we weren't too interested in catching the Rug because we were too busy being interested in each other.

"Steph?"

I tuned back into Connie who was obviously puzzled with what I was doing.

"Sorry. I'm leaving town for a couple of weeks, but I need to ask you a favor"

I knew that Connie would have a barrage of questions for me, and I didn't want to upset her by refusing to answer any of them, so I held up my hand as she opened her mouth indicating for her not to say anything.

"I need you to look after my bag for me, somewhere safe so no one sees it"

Especially not Lula or even Vinnie, though I didn't say that out loud.

"My apartment is locked up, but I don't want to leave anything valuable there. You know how easy it is for someone to break in and mess the place up"

I could see that Connie was totally confused now and I hadn't even considered how she might feel when I came here. I was making a mess of this, and I hadn't even got out of Trenton.

"Won't you need your bag for your wallet or phone?"

I shook my head knowing how seriously I'd thought that through. No, I wanted to be totally incognito or as Ranger would say under the radar. I was pretty sure that where I was going it wouldn't be a wise move on my part if it was discovered that I was a bounty hunter. All anyone would need to do was to put my name into a Google search and there I'd be, my whole life history. Well, my exploits as a bounty hunter.

"No, I have everything that I need. I don't want people to know that I'm a bounty hunter, it kinda spoils the atmosphere"

I'd tried to make a joke of it, but I could tell from the faint smile that Connie made that I'd failed miserably.

"Please, if Ranger gets back before me, just make sure that you give him my bag. He'll keep it safe"

I watched as Connie unlocked a drawer in her desk and put my bag inside before relocking it. Okay, I felt a bit easier now and was about to turn and leave when Connie started the questions that I knew were bursting to get out.

"Steph, where are you going, do people know?"

Shit, what to say. Keep it simple, keep it vague was what I needed to do.

"Out of town and I'm sure that people will work out why"

At that I was out of there not looking back. I was sure that I could feel Connie's eyes on me as she watched me walk away from the door. Once sat in the truck I had to take a moment to compose myself because what I'd just done had been hard emotionally. I hated that I couldn't tell Connie where I was going or why. Or that she, like the rest of the Burg would try to put the pieces together and be completely wrong. Okay, you knew that's likely to happen, you're banking on it so that no one will be worried about you.

That thought gave me the determination to stay with the plan. I fastened my seat belt and started the engine, using the side mirror to watch for an opening in the traffic. That was when my eye was caught by the sight of a black SUV pulling up and parking several cars behind me.

I watched surprised when I saw Lula get out of the passenger side and as she leaned through the window obviously talking to the man inside. I'd expected her to cross the street to the office so her walking in the opposite direction was unexpected. The SUV indicated to come out so even though I'd lowered myself in the seat so as not to be seen I was curious who was driving it. It looked like a Rangeman SUV and had the name in the back window, but it also didn't look like one of their usual fleet cars.

I couldn't be sidetracked by what I'd just seen so was soon driving down Hamilton Avenue. There was a lot of traffic, but it was moving steadily, if not slowly. As I neared the end of Hamilton Avenue, that was when I looked to my side. Shit, came from my mouth and I nearly hit the brakes to be able to turn off the street onto a side street. That SUV had stopped again and was parked in front of one of Trenton's seedier nightclubs. It was closed, or at least it looked to be closed, but what had a slight panic running through me was seeing Terry Gilman saunter over to the car and lean in through the window. I was overreacting I told myself, so why had I reacted so badly, because you're on edge I replied. No one knew about this truck or that I was inside, and I didn't see anyone look in my direction. Stay calm, drive past it and get the hell out of here.

1,100 miles to go. I'd only covered just over 30 miles and I was already into new territory for me. The King of Prussia Mall was behind me now and that was the furthest that I'd driven in this direction, how sad was that. Maybe I should see this as an opportunity to open up my horizons and experiences. Yeah right. This was me driving, a person who wanted to get to her destination yesterday. According to my research as I'd planned out a route, I was going to be driving for at least 18 hours, on my own, but hey on the positive side I had a working radio.

I wanted to avoid toll roads but without a sat nav I had to rely on the handwritten directions that I'd copied from my laptop. I had my laptop with me but the directions that I'd copied down seemed precise. Besides I couldn't very well pick up the laptop every two minutes. The paper was sat on the passenger seat next to me along with an assortment of snacks. I only ever wanted to make a stop when I had to, for gas or a toilet break and aimed to be over half way before I even began to consider stopping. It gave me a lot of time to think, something I didn't want to do, but knew that I had to. Nah, I thought to myself as I turned on the radio losing myself in the songs that were being played and singing along with the ones that I knew. I lost myself as I drove, something that I actually found relaxing.

I hit New Carlisle, Ohio ten hours after setting off and decided that I was definitely ready for something to eat. My legs felt like jelly and my back and arms ached as I got out of the truck. I hadn't even considered how hard the drive would be on my body. Once I'd got the blood circulating in my extremities, I made my way into the diner. That age old smell of fat sure had my stomach reacting and as I eyed up the menu that was printed large and bold over one of the walls I was lost for choice. Pizza, burger or? You know what, I was drawn to the idea of battered fish and chips. It was something that I hadn't had for a while and let's face it the pizza from here probably wouldn't measure up to what I was used to from Pinos. Finding a seat by the window allowed my eyes to gaze out of the window, beyond the cars on the road and to the fields beyond.

"Hi there. What can I get you?"

I looked to where the voice had come from to see a young girl stood in a white on black uniform with an electronic tablet in her hand.

"Battered fish and chips and coffee please"

I'd decide on dessert afterwards because I wanted to make the most of this break from driving. My eyes felt scratchy, and I knew that I was getting tired. Maybe it was time to look for somewhere to spend the night. I had thought that I'd get away with sleeping in the truck but now, sat here looking around I knew that I didn't want to do that. I was too exposed being on my own especially with traffic still moving past. I took the opportunity to ask the waitress of anywhere close to stay for the night when she brought my coffee and was relieved that if I drove around the back of this diner that there was a small motel.

I felt full after the meal and totally enjoyed the fish followed by a helping of apple pie and cream. Having paid my bill in cash including a tip for the waitress I made the last 50 yards drive to where the motel was.

I was now laid on a double bed in a room that was clean and furnished with new carpet and drapes. Even the bed and linens looked to be new, certainly a better quality than I was expecting. The attached bathroom was white, yeah, everything was white from the floor, walls and fitments to the towels. The water in the shower was hot so I'd welcomed the luxury of standing beneath the spray allowing the water to wash away the stiffness of the day. In fact, it wasn't because the hot water was running out that I made to turn off the water, it was because my fingers were looking like prunes.

As I lay there in the subdued lighting offered from the two lamps over the bed that was when my thinking state took over. I felt comfortable with what I'd done, no regrets at all, and could even say that it was a relief to be away from Trenton. No skips to find or the inevitable problems that might come with doing that, so no abuse or garbage to contend with. No mother constantly calling me up on my phone to berate me for an incident that had happened with a skip. Yeah, it was a good idea to leave my phone back in Trenton. No Joe to have to listen to as he made some pathetic excuses and no having to avoid Lula. I thought that it was typical that I couldn't even visit the bonds office without Joe turning up and was wondering why he'd looked for me. To be honest now that I thought about it how did he know where I was at that time in the morning. He knew that I wasn't an early riser. What he'd said went through my head, "I'm going to be busy for this week, catching up with the other officers. How about I call you with my address and then you can come meet me"

Had Joe really thought that I would go away with him? Was he that delusional to think that we still had something going between us? I'd assumed that he was putting me off for a week because he'd want to see someone else for a quick romp in the sheets. But what if he'd actually been telling me the truth and he was going to be busy with work. Pfft, he could try calling but he'd soon realize that I wasn't going to answer him.

Then there was seeing Lula getting out of that black SUV. I wasn't aware that Lula knew any of the guys from Rangeman that well and the only reason that someone might be dropping her off at that time in the morning was if they'd spent the night together. But then where was her car? It was too obvious to miss it and I hadn't seen a bright red Firebird. Closing my eyes, I tried to bring up an image of that SUV and figure out what it was that didn't seem right. Something felt very off about it and as I thought that, a tiny knot started to form in my stomach.

Why would Terry Gilman be talking to one of the guys from Rangeman? For some reason at the time of seeing them I was more worried that Terry would see me, but now? Oh shit, the Rangeman. I had no idea who it was, but it was bothering me now. I needed to warn Ranger without the chance of that man knowing about it. That decided made me feel better and allowed me to fall asleep.

For the first time in forever I woke from sleep aware that I hadn't been plagued by dreams. I even felt refreshed and energized as I sat up in the bed and looked around. Huh, maybe a change of air was what I needed, to be away from the toxic fumes of Trenton. After a bathroom visit, I pulled the clothes on from the day before knowing that my wardrobe selection was limited, and I didn't have the luxury of washing anything through. After repacking my bag into the truck, I was once again sat in the diner looking through the breakfast menu. It was busy so was obviously a popular stop for motorists and truck drivers, so I had time as I waited for the waitress to get to me. For the first time I wondered if Ranger had come back yet or if as I planned, I would get home first. For some reason I wanted to be able to connect with him, yeah stupid I know. He'd hopefully visit the bonds office so he would eventually have possession of my bag. Maybe he'd visit my apartment and read my letter, maybe.

I was so wound up wanting to get a message to Ranger that when I saw a payphone, I was running toward it. Then I stopped short. I wasn't sure about calling Rangeman because for some reason that black SUV came to mind. All those pissed off feelings for Lula were back, but now they seemed clearer than they had been.

Lula knew Rosner but lied about it. Rosner was working for Terry Gilman moving drugs but was then killed. Then Terry was talking to a Rangeman. What now fit into the puzzle was something else. Lula always had enough money and not from what Vinnie paid her or from what I gave her. Connie was right, Lula was always buying new clothes or paying to have her hair or nails done and her car was pristine, always being detailed or updated. Where was Lula getting all that money from? Was she back to her old profession, being a prostitute? Or? Nah, surely Lula would never get involved with drugs, would she? So where was she half the time because she only ever turned up for work when it suited her.

I felt desperate to talk to someone but knew that I couldn't, so I did the next best thing.

I wasn't sure how I felt as I continued my journey. I didn't turn on the radio and strangely found a zone as I drove in the silence, not that my head was silent. I thought of how Ranger would drive and how it made me nervous being sat next to him. I'd hated the silence so would end up fidgeting or talking just to fill in the silence. Was his zone a time when he focused on his thoughts, went through his day or even planned for a take down or a meeting? Maybe he had something if that was what he was doing, I'd have to ask him.

My zone was new to me. I usually liked to talk to people. I always thought that by talking it helped to clarify things for me, but maybe all that it did was to have me skirting the important things and avoiding the hard issues. Now as I drove, I had the time and patience just to roll everything that had happened over the last couple of months into some sort of order and then begin to look for those threads that tied things together. I suppose it was how I worked when I was doing searches for Rangeman. To me there were too many threads between people, which had me worried. I felt as though I was an outsider looking in and to be honest wasn't liking the feel for what I was seeing. I was losing my trust in both Joe and Lula.

Okay, so I had found out the hard way that I should never trust Joe, but this felt like a deeper trust issue. Why would Joe associate with Terry Gilman when she was moving drugs into Trenton? Was he setting her up in a case that he was working or turning a blind eye? Why was Rosner's death not treated as a murder when it was so obvious that he hadn't overdosed himself? Had I managed to put myself into the middle of this by asking around about Rosner? Knowing my luck probably. Maybe it was a good job that I was out of Trenton because those were mysteries that I might have wanted to solve.

"You have arrived at your destination"