Chapter 7

Morning came soon enough but I maintained my usual routine of visiting the gym before making myself known on the fifth floor. I stood at the back of the room as Tank gave the early morning meeting feeling positive with the reports that were being shared. As the men began to disperse, I stayed back and caught up with Cal as he left the room.

"Cal, do we have any take downs planned for today?"

If he was surprised at me asking him that, he never displayed that emotion on his face, but I felt the need to add some reasoning to my request.

"Just need to flex some muscles and take stock of the atmosphere on the streets"

"I was just heading out with a team to Lucky Larry's. We have a skip, Eason, who'll be leaving after a night of poker. You want in on that?"

I nodded my head and was soon walking into my office in order to pick up my vest and jacket. Five minutes later I was sat next to Cal reading the file on Eason. I memorized his face and characteristics as I began to read through the research that held his life history. He was a big man, tall and definitely overweight. His face was podgy, with small eyes and rolls of fat that had me wondering if he even had a neck. Eason was a high bond because of previous convictions and showed an escalation in his behavior toward young boys. No one liked a pedophile, and it seemed the man who ran the all night poker game was all too happy for Eason to be locked up so had been willing to pass on information to Rangeman. Yeah, this was more like it, getting the vermin off the streets.

"Bravo team at the back, ready and waiting"

Came through the earbud that Cal had provided for me. Looking up from the file I was aware as Cal stopped the car on the opposite side of the street, facing the front entrance to Lucky Larry's. It was a non descript place belying what happened behind the closed door, a building that sat between a travel office and an empty shop.

Cal, Hal and I exited the car and made our way over the street to take up our positions on either side of the door. I would be making sure that I would be the one that Eason would see first with Cal and Hal coming up behind him. We didn't have long to wait until the sound of bolts sliding told us that the patrons would be leaving. Eason was the third man to tumble out of the door, the previous two still awake enough to sense that something was about to happen and making a quick escape. I stepped in front of him, staring into his face as he looked around him wondering what was going on.

"Frederik Eason, I represent Plum Bail Bonds. You missed your court date so we're here to escort you to the police station"

As I said that I moved forward, taking his wrist in my hand and fastened the cuff, thankful that Cal had provided me with a pair that were extra large. Cal pushed him on his shoulder to turn him around allowing me to catch his other wrist. To be honest it was an easy capture, but I knew that Cal would have put in a lot of man hours researching for the best place to apprehend him. As Cal and Hal escorted the man to the car, I walked besides Cal.

"Good work Cal. You made it easy, but I know how much work you've put into finding this skip"

I got a nod back from Cal before he was securing Eason to the leg shackles in the back of the car and heard as he told the backup team that the capture was successful and that he was taking the skip in. I was back in the passenger seat as Cal began the drive to the station, going through in my mind which officer would be the best to talk to with regard to Steph. I was just hoping that he would be there and I wouldn't have to talk to Morelli.

I left the skip to Cal and Hal and walked ahead of them through the entrance and out into the area that served a multiple of functions. My eyes were scanning the faces of the officers congregating, presumably before they went out on their patrols. As I walked across the room, I was greeted with head nods acknowledging me and eventually spied Eddie Gazzara on the far side of the room. He was just the person that I needed to see. He was good friends with Steph and lived in the Burg so would be the one person who might know where Steph had gone. Fortunately, Eddie looked up as I approached him, and his smile intimated that he seemed keen on having a discussion.

"Hi Ranger, good to see you back"

I shook his outstretched hand knowing that he was being sincere with what he was saying.

"Yeah, it took longer than it should have. I seemed to have missed some goings on in the Burg"

I hoped that I was subtle enough that Eddie would catch on with what I was talking about, after all he of anyone knew how much I looked out for Steph.

"Yeah, if you mean young Danny. Stupid kid ran off and had everyone looking for him. We've no idea where he is"

That snippet of conversation at least backed up what Steph had said in her letter. I waited sure that he had something else to add and from how he looked down at the floor before looking back at me I was assuming that it was something that I wouldn't like.

"If you're looking for Steph, well, rumor has it that she, err, left town with Morelli"

Okay, I did not expect that. That didn't make sense to me, not with what Steph had written, nor with what Tank had told me about her and Morelli

"Both of them?"

I saw Eddie roll his eyes so waited patiently for what was sure to be an interesting story.

"I know. I thought that they were finished but Morelli was adamant that they'd work it out"

I was quiet after hearing that, unsure now as to what to believe.

"Maybe Morelli went looking for Danny. He'd know how good Steph was at finding people, especially after she found Evelyn and her daughter"

I closed my eyes momentarily as I remembered that whole fiasco. Hell, that had been when Steph had attracted the attention of Abruzzi and the mad games that he'd inflicted on her. That she got out of that alive and sane was a miracle.

"Zook was the one that came up with the idea that Danny had got involved with some chat site"

Okay, so far what I was hearing from Eddie was that Steph had Morelli with her but thinking through his answer Eddie had totally avoided telling me why Steph had ended up with Morelli. Surely if the kid had called her for help to get home it should have been easy enough to do. Had Steph decided that she needed Morelli with her?

"Morelli spoke to the chief who gave his okay to him taking some time off"

"Where were they headed for?"

Eddie shrugging his shoulders wasn't what I wanted to see because it meant that he didn't know.

"No idea. They should have been back by now and the chief is really pissed with Morelli. Do you think that they ran into trouble?"

I didn't respond because that was what was worrying me now.

"Thanks Eddie"

I made my way back over to where Cal and Hal were still waiting for their body receipt going through what I'd just learnt from Eddie. In her letter Steph hadn't even mentioned that Morelli was going to be with her, why had she excluded that bit of information?

"You ready to head back Ranger?"

Interrupted my thoughts as I reached Cal so with a nod of my head we were soon heading back to the car and then to Rangeman. Looking at the board as I came onto five told me that Tank was dealing with a break in, and Santos was meeting with a client which left Bobby in charge for the time being. I decided to make the most of the time that I had so once inside my office sat behind my desk with my phone in my hand.

I knew that if anyone knew more about what Steph was up to then it would be Mary Lou. Her and Steph were old friends, and I knew that Steph would seek out Mary Lou's opinion or support if something was bothering her. I had Mary Lou's phone number in front of me and was debating whether or not to speak to her. Would she tell me any more than Eddie had, or would she see me as someone who was as close to Steph as she was? I sighed, yeah sighed and muttered what the hell, before I touched the screen and brought the phone to my ear.

"Hello"

Of course Mary Lou would be wary of who was calling her and I was pretty sure that she wouldn't recognize my number.

"Mary Lou, it's Ranger Manoso. I wanted to talk to you"

I knew that she was too well mannered to just finish the call so waited as she decided what to say.

"Okay. Why would you want to talk to me?"

"I'm worried about Steph and as her best friend thought that you might know what she's got herself involved with"

I was waiting again so was hoping that Mary Lou would at least be honest with me.

"I'm not sure even Steph knew what she was letting herself in for. She came to see me before she left so that at least one person knew what she was doing"

I was sure that Mary Lou was hesitant in saying more and I was struggling to understand why.

"Look, she knew if she left town that the Burg would start up the rumors, but she wasn't bothered about it, surprisingly"

Was I missing something here? Steph hated that people gossiped and spread rumors about her. So what was the truth and what were the rumors?

"Mary Lou, did Steph have Morelli with her?"

"Oh hell no. I suppose it was coincidence that he was going to be working out of town and everyone just assumed that they'd left together, her mother included. To be honest there are so many rumors going around and none of them are true"

I was trying to sort through what Mary Lou had said with what Eddie had told me and realized that I had far more faith in what she was saying. What was puzzling me was whether Morelli was out of town working or if as Eddie had said he had taken some days leave. Rumors, had been what Eddie had said. Rumors started by gossipers because they had nothing better to do with their time. I realized that I'd been quiet for too long and I really hoped that Mary Lou had some idea of where she'd gone.

"Mary Lou, I would never ask you to betray her confidence. When was she supposed to be back?"

"She said a couple of weeks tops. It's already been three weeks since she left, she should be home by now, but I haven't heard anything from her"

Okay, this was someone else saying that Steph should be home by now which had that edge of worry ratcheting up a bit.

"Do you know where she was going?"

"No. Steph wouldn't say"

That could literally be anywhere either close to home or miles away.

"She did complain that she'd have to pack her walking boots along with jeans and hoodies. Oh and she was driving some truck that didn't have air conditioning"

Definitely not a city then. Why the hell hadn't I checked out her closet to see what was missing? I put that down to me still being tired and probably not fully concerned yet with her leaving Trenton. Walking boots implied hiking so she was probably somewhere forested or mountainous which accounted for a lot of areas in the states. The truck, well that was news to me because I knew that she had been with Tank to buy another car that was still parked at her apartment.

"Mary Lou, I'm worried as well. If she contacts you, would you let me know"

"Will do"

Was the last I heard before my phone went dead. Had the conversation helped to ease my concern for Steph? No, not really and I needed to know why Steph's bag had been left with Connie and why Steph hadn't taken it with her. I was scrolling through my contacts for the Bonds Office when the phone on my desk began to ring so knew that I needed to answer it.

"Sir, I have Agent Ashcroft on the line for you. Do you want to take the call?"

I didn't recognize the voice so assumed that the man on reception was a contract worker or one of the new employees that Tank had taken on and was soon responding to his question.

"I'll take the call"

Then waited for the call to be transferred through to my office.

"Carlos Manoso speaking. How can I help Agent Ashcroft?"

I wasn't sure how to feel at receiving a call from this man. He was the agent who tended to be the one who liaised between us and the FBI so the call could be something simple, like sourcing out information, or something bigger, like a job. We'd taken on contracts from the FBI in the past because our skills out in the field were far superior to some of the agents employed in the service. Was I prepared to be taking on a contract from the FBI? I wasn't sure but would need to listen to him first.

"Manoso. Glad that you're back. Look, we're in a bit of a bind, so could do with some help"

Ashcroft sounded a tad bit anxious as he greeted me which had me thinking that this was about more than just information that he was after. I waited him out because he hadn't asked a question or even said why he was calling me.

"We got an alert from Interpol that a man suspected of having something to do with several bombings might be here in the States"

"Bombings?"

Because even I knew that for some of those that I was aware of, the authorities concerned had already made arrests.

"Yeah. One in Istanbul that involved a bag left near to a bench killing 6 and injuring 81 others and then one outside the Ministry of Affairs in Afghanistan. The police arrested a woman in Turkey but the authorities there are sure that she was made to do it"

I knew that the bomb in Afghanistan was a suicide bomber, so was sure that there were other people involved in that. The others were news to me.

"Interpol has been reviewing terrorist attacks that have taken place over the last four years. Remember the one in Mali, where a bus carrying civilians was bombed by unknown militants, killing 31 and injuring 17? Then in Somalia, a suicide car bomb exploded outside a school? They started to pull together all of the forensic evidence and it supports that the same type of build and materials were used"

I was following what he was saying but was waiting now for what he wanted us to do. If this person was known to have entered the country, then surely, they would have some idea of where he was.

"What do you have?"

"That's the thing. The name that he's known by is Chevré, well that's what Interpol came across. He doesn't seem to have any affiliations to any groups or organizations, but his signature devices have been found in cases that wouldn't be seen as terrorism. The thought is that the same person has provided the explosive device"

I assumed from what Ashcroft was saying that it seemed this man was selling his devices to those prepared to pay. He wouldn't be seen as the perpetrator of the crime because other than providing the explosive he would keep himself distanced from the final outcome.

"So what's your reason for calling me?"

I had a good idea of what was coming but needed to hear it from Ashcroft.

"For you to find him"

I sat back in my chair as I considered what he was asking. As a contracted job for Rangeman it would be lucrative, and we had the resources for doing it. The problem lay in the quality and validity of any information that was available. Finding men like this wasn't an easy task to take on.

"How sure are you that he's here in the States?"

Because no way was I prepared to be chasing all over the world looking for him.

"Interpol have done extensive work trawling through flight manifests, car rentals and hotel bookings. They narrowed down the names of any men who were in the area for some of the explosions and then after ruling out genuine travelers were left with five options. From there they started to pull CCT footage and passport control information. One of the names booked a flight from London to New York so they're pretty sure he's the one"

Interesting and it also gave me an understanding of just how much work had already been done to identify this man.

"So you have a face?"

Feeling that this might not be as hard to do as I first imagined.

"A face to go with the name, Keargen. That's the one that Interpol were pretty sure was their man, but it was probably just another alias. Somehow, we lost him, either at the airport or as he travelled into the city"

I didn't think that this man would be stupid enough to allow himself to be identified and picked up that easily. It was very easy to change your looks on the flight especially if you travelled first class. Some other minor changes and he could have had a new face along with another passport. The question now was whether or not Rangeman took on this contract.

"Send me what you have so that I can consult with my core team. I'll give you our decision as soon as possible. I assume that the remuneration will be in line with the severity of the case?"

"Of course. My boss will even cover any necessary expenses"

Which only emphasized how desperate the FBI were for our help.

"I'll get back to you"

This was what I'd meant about not regretting finishing my contract, though I have to admit that it had come sooner than I'd expected. My computer showing an incoming email had me opening it up to see that it was from Ashcroft. The bastard must have had everything ready to send and had been sure that I'd take the bait from what he'd told me. I spent the rest of the morning going through the attachments, finding myself caught up in the thoroughness of the details. It was only hearing the knock at my door that I looked up from my computer to see Tank walking in.

"You feeling okay, you've been hard at it all morning"

I watched as Tank sat down in the chair in front of my desk, no doubt curious as to what I'd been doing. I raised an eyebrow, just to annoy him, though I had every intention of telling him about the call from Ashworth.

"I spoke with Ashworth this morning. He has an interesting job for us"

Yeah, Tank was interested in knowing that, so as he sat there, I forwarded the email to the core team, asking them to read the attachments and be prepared to discuss it at 1800 hours.

"Read the email that I sent to you and get the message to Santos and Bobby"

Tank was quick to leave no doubt keen to get to his computer. I was once again sat back in my chair when the phone on my desk went off. Why was it that I was being interrupted again? Answering it I wasn't surprised to be hearing the man on reception.