Chapter 10

Punching the bag felt cathartic, quietening the thoughts that were in danger of taking over. I had to approach this as though it was a job, become emotionally detached from who was involved. Yeah, that was easier said than done. Focus on the goal became my mantra. Look for Steph, find her and bring her home. Though how the hell I was going to do that I had no idea.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been in the gym, but I'd gained enough control to be aware of someone coming through the door. I was guessing it was Bobby, as he was on duty, come to stop me from destroying my knuckles. Stepping up to the bag I rested my head against it, acknowledging the sheen of sweat that was now running down my face and body.

"Jefe"

This was what I'd been waiting for, and it hadn't come too soon, so I was ready to turn around. Hector threw a towel at me as I approached him which I used to wipe my face and neck before reaching down for the bottle of water on the floor.

"What do you have Hector?"

I asked now that my breathing was under control. I sat down on the bench at the side of the gym pleased when he decided to sit down with me.

"Nothing. I checked her personal phone, her apartment phone and even calls that had gone through to Vinnie's"

I was sure that I was frowning. If anyone could track a call, then it would be Hector. How the hell had Steph gotten a call from Danny?

"If the boy made contact via Whatsapp then we'd never know"

Disappointment didn't register because I was so pissed off. I had nothing. No clues to follow or even rumors to chase up on because nothing that I'd heard made any sense. The only person that I truly believed was Mary Lou and if she was right then Steph had gone somewhere on her own. So where the hell was Morelli, could he have followed her or made her take him at the last minute? No, Steph was too stubborn to let him intimidate her and too clever to allow him to follow her. That scene outside the bonds office, I had to believe that she was pissed at him and shook him off.

Hector was aware that he hadn't brought me any good news and was quick to leave me sat in the gym. I felt drained and defeated as I left the gym and headed up to seven totally bereft of any ideas.

The next morning came all too soon but I didn't feel calm or rested as I made my way onto the fifth floor. I drew in my emotions to put on a face that belied the turmoil going on in my head. Tank was taking the lead for the morning meeting, so I stood at the back to gage the responses from the men. He was announcing a trial period for the use of PDAs by any man who was on patrol. That would include all of the men as they rotated through the job.

There was a positive feel from the men to what Tank was suggesting as they chatted between themselves, though I knew we'd have some teething problems to start with. I caught Tank's eye before nodding my head because I wanted to catch up with Ajax and Flynn. Once in their room I was quick to ask if they'd had any breakthrough.

"Any luck locating him?"

I knew as soon as I asked, that the men had come up blank just from the looks that they passed between them.

"No. We've hacked into hotel cameras, but we didn't see him. I think that he'll have headed out of the city. He could have access to so many aliases that it's impossible to chase every rental car down. Flynn is looking at where he might get the components from that he would need to build an explosive device. Some of them are very specialized and not easy to find"

I agreed that was another avenue to follow but wasn't sure just how easy that would be. I knew that a lot of those items would be through deals face to face or linking into the dark web. I left the men to work and went through to my office, pleased that there was no longer a pile of paperwork to have to contend with, unfortunately it left me with time to go through what I'd already found out about what was going on with Steph. As I sat down at my desk, I realized that to be honest it wasn't very much.

From what Lula had told me I could only assume that two boys had gotten themselves pulled into a chatline, so to me it looked like someone was grooming the kids before getting them to leave their homes. Pedophiles came to mind, but boys who were targeted were usually younger than the two who had gone missing. Moving drugs was also something on the rise, where teenagers were used to move drugs across state lines. What was bothering me were some of the extreme groups who might want to brainwash teenagers into their way of thinking, radicalization. Were these two kids so stupid that they'd just accepted and believed what they were being told or had they been tricked into going?

I needed to get access to the computer that Lula had mentioned hoping that maybe Hector could work his magic. I picked up my mobile with the intention of calling Lula but realized that I didn't have her number in my contacts. I really didn't want to ask Tank because I was sure that he would have deleted her number after the whole fiasco that had happened between them. Plus I had no intention of relating what I'd learnt about Lula to Tank. He'd be more than pissed at her. Normally I'd ask Steph which was when I remembered that I had her bag in my car. Christ, what the hell had I been thinking? I hadn't been. Would Steph have left her phone in there? It would be logical if she wanted to keep off anyone's radar and hadn't Santos said that he didn't find her phone or laptop in her apartment? So why the hell hadn't I thought to look before now, because I'd totally forgotten that Connie had given it to me. Once down in the garage I retrieved the bag and sat in the driver's seat of the turbo to look through it. I was annoyed with myself that I'd forgotten all about it.

There was so much in the bag that I ended up tipping the contents out onto the passenger seat amazed at how much stuff Steph carried around with her. Or had she purposely placed these things inside? I picked up one item at a time, looked at it carefully before replacing it back into the bag. What surprised me was that there were no old wrappers or bits of paper, as though Steph had actually cleaned out her bag and repacked it. A large envelope contained her legal papers, birth certificate, Apprehension papers, gun permit and driver's license all of which would be a pain to have to replace. Her wallet help a bank card and a credit card for Macys along with some small photos showing her nieces. Tucked into the back a photo that had me just staring at it.

It showed Steph leant against me with her arms around my neck looking up at me. She looked so beautiful with a slight smile on her face. I was holding her with one hand while my other hand was against her cheek, maybe after tucking a curl behind her ear. The photo took my breath away at the scene that it portrayed. Did I really look at her like that? Obviously, because like the idiot that I was I'd tried so hard to deny how I really felt for her. Damn it Manoso. You have to find her. I replaced the photo and continued to pick things up, a pen that I recognized as a tracker, a pair of earrings that I'd given to her for her last birthday. It was only after I'd unzipped a pocket on the inside of the bag that I came across her phone. I tried to power it up but realized that the battery was dead which was why my call hadn't gone through. That went into my pocket to take upstairs and charge up. Was there anything else unusual or that she might have left inside her bag as a clue? No, which to be honest disappointed me.

With everything returned to the bag I decided to take it upstairs and put it away in my safe. I used the elevator with the cameras temporarily blocked and dared anyone to say anything to me about carrying a woman's bright red bag. The bag went in my safe in the closet and the phone was connected to the USB port next to my bed in order to charge it. While the phone was charging, I opened my own phone up and went into my banking app. I wasn't sure why I was doing this but if Steph had been out of town for so long then she wouldn't have been bringing in any money from apprehending skips. Her finances were always close to the knuckle so within a few minutes I'd transferred some money to Dillon, her building manager, to cover her rent.

Sat on my bed and when I was satisfied that the phone was charging, I powered it up. The sound of incoming messages was overwhelming making me realize why Steph hated it when that happened. Fortunately, I knew her passcode so was soon opening the icon for messages and scrolling down the names, not really sure if I should pry into her personal life. I wasn't going to even get involved with listening to the messages that had obviously come from her mother or any of her friends.

Looking through I was curious that the last voicemail had come from an out of state landline number and thought that maybe Danny had tried to call Steph. Why hadn't Hector picked up on this? I was feeling optimistic as I went through the process of retrieving the voice message but was surprised when I started to listen to it, that it was Steph's voice that I was hearing.

Why call her own phone instead of calling my phone? Because she wouldn't know when I'd be back. Okay, so why not call Tank or Rangeman? Tank would listen to his messages wouldn't he, or would he delete it if it was an out of state number that he didn't know? Had she done this to ensure that no one would know about it? Had she left it hoping that I would think to check her phone? That thought made me feel ashamed that I hadn't thought to look in her bag sooner and check her phone. I focused back into her voice as she began to talk quickly.

"I hope to hell it's me listening to this, and I'm safely back home. I really hope that it's you Ranger listening to this. I had to go, for so many reasons but most importantly for Danny. I have a bad feeling about this trip so wanted someone to know that I'm okay. I'm at a rest area near some place called New Carlisle Ohio. If you think I'm stupid for not calling Connie or Rangeman or any of the guys there, I couldn't. I think that"

Shit, time ran out with a half finished sentence leaving me at a loss as to what she might have been going to say. If she'd tried to call again later then I was sure that her phone would have been out of power or the memory for messages was full. That's if she'd had another opportunity. I listened to her message a couple of more times, jotting down some of the things that she'd said that struck me as odd. Why not tell me what Danny had said to her or where the hell she was going. I deleted a lot of the older messages to free up some space hoping that Steph would forgive me for doing that.

Picking up my phone I went into Google maps and input Trenton to New Carlisle Ohio. It was on the way to anywhere and everywhere from what I could see.

"If you think I'm stupid for not calling Connie or Rangeman or any of the guys there, I couldn't. I think that"

That last sentence had a cold chill go down my back. Why couldn't she have called Connie or someone here? What the hell did she think that she knew that would preclude her from doing that? Was there someone here that she was afraid of? But why include Connie? What the hell was going through her mind when she made that call?

My thoughts were interrupted at the knock on the door and instinctively I pushed Steph's phone behind me underneath the pillow on my bed before going to answer it. I raised an eyebrow at seeing Santos stood on the threshold holding a tray that had obviously been provided by Ella. Opening the door, I watched as he went through to the kitchen area and divided the food onto two plates before setting them down on the kitchen bar.

I went and sat next to him uncertain what to tell him. That message from Steph had shaken me and I wasn't sure what to say to Santos. I argued with myself for a few minutes as I ate aware that Santos kept giving me sideways looks suddenly annoyed with why he was even here.

"Spill it. You're tense about something"

Maybe I was surprised with what he'd asked me, but I suppose that Santos couldn't be involved in anything seeing as he'd been away with me in Africa on that job for the last four months.

"I'm really not sure what Steph has gotten herself involved with"

He sighed before continuing to spoon the rice and vegetables into his mouth, hopefully thinking through what I'd just said.

"So her helping find that kid isn't as simple as doing just that?"

Hell, I'd hoped that it was, but I suppose with Steph nothing would ever be as straight forward with her involved. Then again was it me thinking that way, was I looking for trouble when it wasn't there?

"I can't help, if you don't let me in. What have you come across that makes you think that she might be in trouble?"

I collected our empty plates and put them into the sink before detouring to the fridge and grabbing hold of the two beers that were left from when Santos was last here. I followed Santos through to the lounge area and stood looking at him wondering where the hell to start. I suppose with the letter that Steph had left for me in her apartment. Walking into the bedroom to retrieve it I was aware of Santos following me and watching me as I opened the drawer next to my bed. Handing him the letter I sat on the bed and waited while he read it and then folded it up before passing it back to me.

"Tame for Steph but I suppose it gives the background. What did you do next?"

Santos lowered himself to the floor and took a swig of the beer while I thought about who I'd spoken to next and remembered seeing Eddie at the station.

"Eddie Gazzara. He told me the story about the kid disappearing. Said that both her and Morelli had left town. Some people have assumed that they're looking for his nephew but Christ, it worries the hell out of me, especially after her involvement with looking for Evelyn and her daughter"

Santos shook his head as I said that and had obviously remembered what had happened to Steph and how Abruzzi had terrorized her.

"You know that Connie came to see me, but I honestly think that she was genuinely concerned that Steph wasn't back. What was weird was that Steph had left her bag with Connie at the office and told her to pass it to me if she hadn't come back. I called Mary Lou, her friend, and someone that Steph would confide in"

I was interrupted by Santos holding his hand up to stop me, curious with why he would do that.

"Maybe if it was personal, but Steph would never drag Mary Lou into anything that might be trouble or to do with her job"

Part of that conversation came back to me, and I wondered if Mary Lou had withheld something because it was too personal to Steph, that certainly made sense.

"Mary Lou told me that Steph wanted her to know that she was going alone and welcomed any gossip or rumors that hit the streets"

Santos was shaking his head again which had me wondering if I was missing something.

"What?"

I asked now slightly annoyed, because it was obvious that he was seeing something that I was missing.

"Hell, I don't think that she's running into danger, I think that maybe she's running away from it"

I was speechless at hearing Santos say that because it had never occurred to me and just like that the idea of that happening had my guts churning.

"No, you're wrong. I'm sure that Steph left town to find the boy. Maybe he didn't want any of his family knowing so confided in her. The rumors are working in her favor with Morelli leaving as well, though I have no idea if he's working out of town or has taken some leave"

I didn't like the way that this conversation was going but had to admit that it had given me pause for thought. Ignoring what Santos had said I decided to move from where I was with explaining what I'd discovered.

"You know that I went to talk to Lula. She told me that another kid had disappeared. Same age as Morelli's nephew and from what she knew, the two kids knew each other. She'd told Morelli about him and wanted to tell Steph, but he'd threatened her"

Yeah, I was sure from the way that Santos frowned at me that he had no idea what Lula had resorted to doing.

"Lula has reverted to her old ways"

"A ho?"

Interrupted Santos. I nodded my head now assured that he had no idea about that and continued with what I'd learnt.

"He threatened to have her arrested for prostitution and dealing drugs if she said anything to Steph about the other boy"

It just didn't make any sense to me why Morelli would do that. I'd contemplated the possibility of youths being used to move drugs so was that what Morelli was thinking?

"He's working homicide now, not vice, so maybe he didn't want Steph to know that Lula had fallen back into her old ways. Yeah, like that makes any sense. Why keep the fact that another boy was missing from Steph?"

In response I shrugged my shoulders because that was a question that I had no answer for. Instead, I removed Steph's phone from its hiding place and found the voicemail that she'd sent.

"Steph called her own phone, probably the day that she left"

As I handed him the phone I was listening again to Steph's voice as I watched for Santos's reaction. I could see that he was puzzled by what she'd said as much as I was.

"I want to take a look at the computer that Lula's friend's kid was using. Maybe see if we can retrieve some of the information on it"

A thought that I verbalized because at the moment it was the only concrete action that I could think of doing, only aware that I'd said it out loud when Santos replied to me.

"Hector would be the best one to do that. Who was the friend?"

"Stacy"

I suppose that Hector would be the best person for the job. Not only was he a genius with computers but I knew that he was loyal to me. Plus, Steph was one of the few people that Hector seemed to accept. How that had happened I had no idea, especially as Hector only ever spoke in Spanish. I knew that he had an excellent grasp of English but part of his way of protecting himself had been never to let people know that. It served him well when he was out on the streets.

I watched as Santos took out his phone and texted wondering who he was messaging. I should have realized because Santos was one to act immediately. Aware of a loud knock on my door I was on my feet and walked through to open the door seeing Hector waiting for me.

"Ningún problema"

Were his parting words after hearing what I needed him to do. Returning to the bedroom I found Santos still sat on the floor and it did occur to me that the bedroom seemed a strange place to be having this conversation with him.

"You know, what Beautiful said at the end of that voicemail, that worries me"

Yeah, me too. The problem that I was having was whether to trust some of my men or none at all. Tank and Bobby would be pissed if we kept them out of the loop but if I was reading Steph's message correctly, then that could mean that we had a leak within Rangeman. Then again maybe as usual she felt embarrassed about having to call someone here when she had no idea what she was involved in. I really hoped that was all that it was and nothing more insidious.

Tank was looking at ways that I'd suggested to reduce the paperwork so his workload wouldn't be unmanageable, and he'd brought in new employees that I didn't really know much about. Which reminded me.

"Is Tank preoccupied with something else at the moment?"

I finished the beer as I looked at Santos. He definitely knew something, so I waited patiently, knowing that Santos wouldn't be able to keep quiet with what he knew.

"Okay. But don't you let on that you know. He's met a woman, one who loves cats"

They'd have to if they were going to last any time with Tank. Hell, he prized his cats over everything, even me sometimes.

"Has he run a search on her?"

Hoping that this time Tank was being more cautious. He had only ever had one night stands since Lula. She'd really done a number on his confidence, and he deserved to find someone that he trusted.

"Yeah, that was how I found out about her. I was running through the searches looking for the one on Harlech Industries, a new client, when I saw a search that Tank had run. He doesn't normally do them because he gets Cal or one of the guys onto them. Anyway, I was suddenly reading the life history of a woman called Maggie Peterson, she works at a local vets. I knew my mistake as soon as I mentioned her to Tank"

I was pleased for Tank and hoped that it worked out for him but now understood his commitment to reducing time spent on paperwork.

"Back to Steph's voicemail. If she'd hit Ohio, then at least we know that she was headed south west"

I'd already thought of that but to be honest had given up trying to guess where she could have ended up.

"A lot of places south west of Ohio"

I sighed because I was no closer to knowing where she'd gone and from the way Santos sank back against the wall, he knew it as well.

"We've hit a brick wall and you know it. All we can hope is that Beautiful manages to call us or that we've been worried about nothing and she's back before you know it"

I knew that he was right, but it didn't make acknowledging it any easier. After Santos left, I knew that I had to somehow put any thoughts of Steph to the back of my head. Hell, for all I knew, maybe Morelli had ended up going with her. I should have felt easier with that thought because at least then she'd have someone with her who could keep her safe. The concern that was eating away at me was if he was with her then had they made up and were taking advantage of being away from Trenton. That thought had me realizing how much I hated it. There would be nothing that I could do about it if that was the case. Suck it up Manoso. I had a high profile case from the FBI to focus on so needed to get myself more involved with that and if that bomb maker was in the States, find him.

So that was what I was going to do and in the morning after the early meeting was sat with Flynn and Ajax listening to where their research had led them. Flynn was the one who surprised me the most. It was as though he had an uncanny ability for ferreting out information and was showing an enthusiasm that was evident from his report.

"I, err, have a background with explosives so had an idea of what would be needed. I've hit every site I've heard of or could find and called every contact that I know. I can't find any evidence that materials for a device have been bought"

I raised my eyebrow at Flynn at how confident he sounded. Maybe I needed to look in more depth at his background. I wasn't sure how what he was saying fitted into finding the man other than Flynn figured we weren't likely to have things explode in the near future.

"I continued to try to find clues to enable me to find where that man went to. I used variations of the composite for the face. Changed the hair and eye color, the shape of the nose and face and then used a program that Hector provided for us and put it to work scanning faces. Hell of a program. It picks up any face in camera range and automatically scans it"

I'd seen that program being used and knew just how powerful it was. That Hector had access to it should have surprised me, but it didn't. What did worry me was if Ajax had used a variety of composites, then he could have found hundreds of people that might match.

"To start with we were overwhelmed with positive face recognitions, but it was that pendant that gave us a focus"

I was handed the photo of a man who had blonde hair cut into layers that fell to his shoulders, blue eyes and a strong jaw line covered by a neatly kept growth of hair. His nose wasn't perfect, maybe from a break and he had a scar that ran along his left eyebrow. I looked up to Ajax seeing the smile of a man who knew that he'd managed what we'd thought impossible.

"Where?"

I asked curious as to where he had emerged and then worried at seeing the grimace cross Ajax's face.

"Here in Trenton"

Okay that had me looking at the pair of them because Trenton was the last place that I would have expected him to be. What was in Trenton that was so important or who in Trenton would need his services?

"Is he still here?"

Wondering why I hadn't been informed sooner so that we could have at least gone after him.

"No. We're constantly behind him. It took us time to identify him and then we started to look through street cameras and surveillance cameras. The day after he was here we managed to locate him again and he was at the train station boarding a train for Harrisburg"

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania? That surprised me because as far as I knew that place was only a small city. What was in Harrisburg that was so important?

"I don't know what his intentions are because after that we picked him up at the airport using that alias that he came into the country with, Mat Duncan, the one in the wheelchair. The thing is that if he was flying commercial so there's no way that he could get weapons or explosives through"

Which meant that he hadn't acquired anything yet. So why come to Trenton?

"Where did he fly to?"

Almost hesitant in asking because this man seemed to be leading us around the country.

"St Louis. He did the same trick as New York. We lost him in the subway"

It seemed as though this man had an agenda for where he wanted to go. Hell, we were lucky that Ajax had determined that the men that the FBI had highlighted were decoys and we had some idea of what he looked like and where he was last seen. St Louis wasn't a big city, but he could easily have found a hotel or accommodation. Hell he could have even left there and be headed to a new destination by now. As good as Ajax and Flynn were we were always a step behind. I turned to the board to look at what they'd already found out, a hell of a lot, but not enough to pin him down to one place.

"We need to be on the streets in St Louis to pick up his trail"

I said to myself. That was the only way to really know where he was. I'd done it before and whilst it was time consuming, hard work, patience usually won out.

"Put together the different faces and names that you have and send it via email to Santos and me"

"Err, do want us to go as well?"

I turned to look at Ajax as he asked me that knowing that neither one of them was ready to be out in the field, especially looking for a man as dangerous as this, but I didn't want to demean what a good job they'd already done or what they could still uncover.

"No. Keep digging and if you discover that he's turned up elsewhere then you can fill me in"

As I left the room my mind was going into planning mode. Who to take with me, other than Santos, our mode of transport and what to take with us. I didn't want to drive to St Louis because we'd lose too much time and the clues that we were looking for would get cold, so it looked like a private charter. At least then we could take as many weapons as we wanted. My first stop was to talk to Tank. In the past he would want to be one of the men who accompanied me, but I would want to know his thoughts. I found him in his office behind his desk making me wonder how he wasn't bored stupid being sat there for so long. As I sat in the chair in front of him, he looked up and over to me.

"There's a lead on that FBI job. Are you in for being a part of the team?"

"Nah. I'll keep an eye on things here"

I'd expected for Tank to be keen to go, so was surprised at Tank's answer.

"Aren't you the man who used to complain when I went off on a government job?"

That he went quiet and wasn't looking at me alerted me to the fact that he had a secret that he wasn't wanting to tell me about. I waited, hoping that our friendship went beyond that, hell we'd been brothers in arms for years and had always confided in each other. Seems my silence was paying off and I watched as he took in a deep breath.

"Okay. Yeah, once upon a time I was like you. Lived for the action and a change of scenery but, well. I'm kind of seeing someone and I'd like to see where it goes"

At last, he was confiding in me, so I knew that what Santos had told me was right. I waited again hoping for more details and was actually pleased that he thought it was worth staying in Trenton to pursue a woman.

"I met her when I had to get treatment for one of my cats at the vet. I was instantly attracted to her and not just because of her looks. You know how Lula fucked me over, but she seems different"

Knowing what I did about Lula I was glad that their relationship had never progressed and to be honest the latest information I had on her was sending her lower in my estimation. That Steph worked alongside her when she went after skips made me more than a little worried. I turned my attention back to Tank.

"I'm glad for you, you really deserve to find that one person who makes you happy"

I was being perfectly sincere because Tank did deserve a break.

"That's prime coming from you. Hell, the one woman who makes you happy and what do you do, you hold her away at arm's length."

I could feel myself close down, holding my emotions in check, I wasn't about to discuss my personal life with Tank. Hell, I had my reasons for keeping Steph at arm's length, as he called it. What type of man would I be to let her into my life. It wasn't safe for her to be with me. I still had enemies out there that would like nothing better than to hurt her to get to me. I wasn't the type of man who could live a domestic life which I was sure that Steph aspired to. Her family and her upbringing all dictated that for her, and I was sure that once she outlived the chaos that was her life then she'd welcome it.

"Ajax and Flynn have a good lead on the man that the FBI are after. I'm going to take a team over to St Louis and try to flush him out"

Tank was still trying to shift his mind from my change in the conversation, so I took advantage of the silence to plough on with what I wanted from him, seeing as he'd be staying in Trenton.

"I've asked Ajax and Flynn to continue with their work. They work well together and have good instincts"

Tank nodded his head and gave me a smile that confused me so I was waiting once again for what he would say.

"Little Girl, she was spot on with those two. She said that Ajax was detail orientated and that Flynn, well he thought like her. Outside of the box. Bobby's pleased with the progress that he's made"

And just like that the conniving bastard had brought Steph back into the conversation. No wonder he was so pleased with himself.

"She's good. Has a natural instinct with people"

"Tank, I have no idea where she went. If she's with Morelli, then he should be able to keep her safe"

Even as I said that something inside of me was rebelling. No, she'd gone by herself and Morelli being out of town was a coincidence. Okay, the look that Tank gave me was probably mirroring my own thoughts but what the hell was I supposed to do?

"If she turns up then let me know"

Though saying that had me remembering what Steph had said in that voicemail. Would she get in touch with Tank, would she trust him enough?

"I'll keep an ear to the ground and let you know. Who else are you taking with you?"

"Santos. Then probably Ram, Brett and Bones"

"I can cover them. When are you leaving?"

I thought that through and to be honest the limiting factor would be arranging the flight.

"As soon as I can get everything organized"

There was little else to say so once I left Tank's office, I messaged Santos, Ram, Brett and Bones to meet with me in the conference room along with Ajax and Flynn. Knowing that between us we'd be able to come up with a plan.

"Henry Macdonald could help us"

I was looking at Santos totally lost with who he was referring to and obviously the other men sat around the table had no ideas either.

"Mac. How the hell can you forget him? He just about killed us off before we'd finished Ranger training"

Oh, I knew who he meant now. He was right, that man had been sadistic with how he'd put us through our paces.

"He retired with the hope of a peaceful life with his wife, but she died about five years ago which left Mac twiddling his thumbs. He set himself up as a PI. Loves that shit"

I knew that I was probably giving Santos the vibe that I wouldn't even consider his suggestion but of course Santos just ignored me and continued his spiel.

"He's working out of Columba which isn't that far away from where we're heading, and he probably knows St Louis well"

I sat back in my chair as I considered what Santos had said. It would be useful to have someone familiar with the area, but hell, how old was he now? Did that matter? He'd probably blend in better than we would and could at least help with some of the leg work.

"How do you know all of this?"

I asked curious as to how Santos seemed to have the history on Mac.

"I was down in Atlanta when we had the office there and he walked through the door demanding to talk to one of our men. Turns out the asshole was supposed to be paying child support and Mac was there to put things right. I spent the evening catching up with him and he said if ever we needed any help to give him a shout"

"Call him, but just give him the basics"

It might be that the man was too busy. By mid afternoon Ram, Brett and Bones were up to speed. Bones was a good medic but would also be in charge of any communication. Santos of course would ensure that we had the weapons that we would need, and I'd arranged for the jet to leave from the airport at 0300hrs arriving at St Louis at 0630hrs. It was as I was trawling through car rental agencies that Santos came into the room.

"Mac will have a couple of trucks waiting for us at the airfield. What time we due there?"

That Mac had agreed to help and could provide us with vehicles was one less thing for me to worry about.

"ETA is 0630hrs. Remember that St Louis is one hour ahead of us"

Which should give time for Mac to be organized. As I left Ajax and Flynn to go up to my apartment to pack, I was surprised that I'd never really had time to think about Steph. The fact that I'd been busy planning for this trip and then would be away for an unknown length of time only emphasized for me that my life really wasn't for her. It didn't make me feel any better saying that to myself because in some ways I envied Tank and his determination to change how he operated because of a woman. Would I do it, could I do it? Those were questions that I refused to think about, but it didn't make me worry any less for Steph. She was a friend, no more than that but how much more was a mystery to me and complicated.