Chapter 17

It was mid afternoon by the time that I got back to Rangeman and having been out of the office most of the morning I decided that I'd best catch up with Tank before he got too suspicious of where I'd been. The fifth floor was quiet when I stepped out of the stairwell door and after nodding to a couple of men as they passed me on the corridor, I approached Tank's office. His door was open, so I walked in to find him working on his computer.

"I've already had some interest in those jobs. Just sent out the details"

Tank said that without even lifting his head to look at me. That was quick, which implied that people were very keen for a change of job or scenery.

"The closing date is for ten days after the ad hits the job site, so it'll be interesting to see what kind of people apply"

I added, knowing that Tank would be aware of that. He had a file that he would send out to potential applicants with a detailed application form, the job description and a background of what Rangeman did.

"Anything new from Ajax and Flynn?"

Seeing Tank shake his head I got the feeling that maybe Tank didn't check in with them that often and they tended to report directly to me which I saw as a good thing. I hadn't mentioned anything to Tank about my concerns with us having someone here that Steph was worried about and until I spoke with Steph, I wouldn't be mentioning it to anyone. Neither was I prepared to disclose that Mac was working for me undercover though I wasn't sure if Tank knew him or not.

"Any news on Little Girl?"

A question that I expected from him because I knew that he would be worried as well, but his question gave me the opener to what I wanted to say to him.

"No. Seems that Vinnie has someone helping with the skips"

Wanting to be the one who told him of that before any of the men jumped in first with any details.

"Yeah well, Lula certainly can't do the job. Hell, Little Girl would be a hard act to follow with the capture rate that she has"

How Tank frowned as he said Lula's name made me wonder if he knew what was going on in her life at the moment, so I decided to push my luck and ask.

"You ever hear from Lula?"

The look that he gave me was enough of an answer, but he still felt the need to tell me.

"No, don't want to either. I don't go near the bonds office because she annoys me so much. It took months to get the message across that I don't want nothing to do with her"

That was clear enough, so I assumed that he had no idea what she was up to now. I wondered what Morelli would do with the information that he had on her when he got back or if he would tell Steph. Those thoughts suddenly had connections coming into my head though. Even as I thought about it, I was thinking that I was seeing something that just wasn't there.

"Where'd you just go to?"

Not being as diligent with my silence was unusual for me and as usual Tank picked up on it.

"I was thinking about the man that we're after and what we found down in Missouri. There'd been three explosions in the area that we thought might have been him. If it was him, then he blew up a couple of meth labs and probably a hell of a lot of product. Has there been any word on the street of an increase of drugs coming into the city?"

Because those drugs were obviously intended for somewhere and hadn't our man been in Trenton before he travelled south.

Tank sat back in his chair as he considered what I'd asked and then leant forward with his elbows on his desk.

"Maybe. There's been alerts go out where it's been some kids as high as kites. I never really thought that it was because there's more on the street. Who would know that we could ask?"

My immediate thought was Hector, but I wasn't sure that I wanted him asking around in case he attracted attention to himself.

"I'll make some calls"

I said thinking through which of my contacts would be the best to ask, who would know anything and tell me. As I stood up and left Tank's office, I realized just how out of touch Tank was becoming. Once upon a time he would have been eager to hit the streets himself to ruffle some feathers. Was he becoming soft in his old age or was he so serious about this woman that he wanted to keep himself clean of the persona that he once had with the miscreants of Trenton. I shook my head at that thought because there was no way that I could detach myself like that. Part of the work that we did at Rangeman was to bring in high bond FTAs and to do that we needed an ear to the ground to know what was going on in the streets and who to talk to. That had me wondering if Cal might be the person to talk to, after all he seemed to be pretty much in charge of FTAs. Was that how Tank had organized it?

I found Cal sat at his cubbie working at the computer so decided that there was no time like the present to have a quiet word with him.

"Cal. Could I talk to you in my office"

As I turned away from him, I noticed that he seemed a bit surprised, but he was soon following me down the corridor. As I sat behind my desk, he entered my office and stood at rest in front of my desk.

"Close the door Cal and take a seat"

I was wondering how to broach the subject so decided to go with a positive comment first, to make him more comfortable.

"The two apprehensions that I've been with you on were well planned and executed"

That had him relaxing a bit so I went with my next question hoping that I could work out exactly what Tank expected from Cal.

"Are you working predominantly on skip tracing?"

"Err, I suppose that I am. I collect the files and do the research and when I have viable information for where they might be, I organize a team"

Which basically meant that Cal was running our apprehensions. I sat back as I considered the implications of that. Bringing in FTAs brought in a lot of revenue into Rangeman because the level of the bonds were high. Was it viable, I would say so from looking at the accounts, but maybe I needed to add into that equation the man hours it consumed.

"Cal. You know how many man hours are spent on those captures, so I want you to look at the costing. Income from the bond versus the cost of manhours, yours included. To me it seems that you've shown an aptitude in that area, so depending on the figures that you bring me I'll be looking at appointing you to oversee that area"

I didn't think that Cal's eyes could get any bigger or his flaming skull tattoo could get any redder as he just looked at me. Of course, then he started to think about what I'd said.

"So for me to manage those files and the men involved?"

"Yes"

As Cal made a move, I was quickly bringing up the other area that was worrying me, hoping that Cal might have some insight.

"Cal, have you detected an increase of drugs on the street. Maybe more users or sellers being charged or worse behavior on the streets?"

I suppose that it was a strange question that I was asking but Cal never hesitated to give me an answer.

"I think so. A couple of places where we least expected trouble, we've had to deal with some gatecrashers that were obviously users"

Interesting, though for the life of me I wasn't sure what the hell I was conjuring up.

"You want me to keep my ear to the ground?"

I nodded my head. Cal never said another word as he got up from the chair and walked from my office. I shook my head because I never made impromptu decisions without a lot of thought. I asked myself why the hell hadn't we thought about doing this sooner, it made perfect sense. Tank was wanting ways of streamlining operations and to me this was a perfect example of just that. I sent an email to the core team outlining my suggestion and asking for immediate feedback.

That done I turned to the files that had accumulated on my desk and began reading Tank's report on the feedback and outcomes of the men using PDAs instead of written reports. Overall, the initial roll out was positive. The men felt that it saved time though had suggested that a proforma might help to formalize the report. Hector was working on that, so it seemed that we had managed to make progress on that initiative. Seeing Hector's name had me realize that he hadn't got back to me with regard to Stacy and her son's computer, so I sent a quick text to him, reminding him that I wanted some answers.

At 21.50 I was sat inside the diner where I was supposed to meet with Mac. I'd used the turbo because I did not want anyone to know where I was going. It wasn't unusual for me to go offline so no one would question it. To be honest they could think what they liked as to what my reasons were. Maybe they thought I was visiting with family or picking up a woman for the night, both ideas suited my purpose. I'd left Santos in charge at Rangeman, well he was on call if there were any emergencies, with Bobby still working in the building. Tank had left, probably to meet with his new woman.

I'd done some surveillance of the area around the diner and once confident that it wasn't a set up or that anyone had tried to follow me had ensconced myself in a booth at the back of the place to wait. My car was parked a block away so as not to highlight where I was. At precisely 2200hrs I watched as the door opened and Mac walked in. He seemed to be as fanatical as me as he surveilled the place before coming over to me and sitting down. The place was quiet with a few people sat nursing their drinks, but it was a dive of a place. Not especially clean or hygienic so I wouldn't be touching the mug of coffee sat in front of me.

I cast my eyes over Mac as he sat down, worn jeans and a hoodie suited the look that he was going for. He now sported the beginnings of a beard to match his long white hair that was still pulled back into a ponytail and even had a diamond stud in his ear. It was unbelievable that this was the same man who had put us through our paces at boot camp.

"Man, I'm whapped. What a day. That woman, Stephanie Plum, she's a saint to put up with what she does"

I hadn't expected Mac's opening words to refer to Steph and I had to admit that not only did I feel a sense of pride for her, but I also realized that I was really missing her being around.

"Some of those skips are insane. I mean who the hell covers themselves in Vaseline to avoid being taken in or sits there naked with a hard on?"

Mac sighed as he took a sip of the coffee in front of him making me appreciate just how right he was. I knew from helping Steph out that you could never foresee the problems that might happen.

"What about the folk at the office?"

Hoping that he'd get back to what he was supposed to be finding out.

"Vinnie was all too happy to have some help, though he gave me the creeps when I was in his office"

I almost smiled at how perceptive Mac was with his first impression of Vinnie, but I wasn't going to elaborate on the things that Vinnie got up to just in case Mac refused to go back.

"Connie, she was helpful, got my papers sorted out real quick. Took a day though before she started to talk to me. That Lula though. I have no idea what the hell she thinks she's doing there"

I really didn't want to know his opinions of the two women because I had my own, that was based on experience, a few years of it, which I had only endured because it meant seeing Steph.

"Did you find out anything useful?"

"We got talking about Steph and Rangeman, though you should have told me that you had the hots for her"

Mac raising an eyebrow at me and smirking wasn't what I wanted and I'd never really thought about how I was viewed with Steph.

"She's a very good friend, Mac"

Was the most I could summon up to say. No wonder people like Scrogg had put us together if the women were saying things like that. Christ they were part of the gossipers around the Burg. Was I so obvious with how I reacted to Steph? I knew what the women thought of me, hell, I felt like a sex object whenever I walked into the office. So maybe they were exaggerating or fantasizing over what they had seen. Or were they? I mean what man takes a women, whose supposed to be just a friend, into the neighboring alley and kisses her the way that I did if I didn't have some feelings for her.

"So you say. Back to those women. Lula, she's one sneaky woman. Turns up to work when it suits her, so I took the opportunity to get an eye on her. She's brash and stupid driving around in that car of hers, easy to follow her and discover what she's up to. She's a mule, moving packages around from one location to the next and then she goes home and turns tricks"

Well shit. That did surprise me. I knew that she'd reverted back to being a ho but her moving drugs, that was news to me. Lula had implied that she sometimes sold it to her clients, but moving drugs around town, that was a much riskier occupation for her to be involved with.

"Drugs?"

Needing to know for sure that was what she was transporting and not weapons or knowing Lula knock off clothes or shoes.

"Yeah, I watched as one of the men who picked up the package opened it and cut into it"

Interesting. So my assumption may have been right in thinking that drugs were being brought into Trenton. What I was wondering was whether this was any of my concern. I had three problems to resolve and knowing what Lula was doing wasn't helping to resolve them.

"Anything on any of my men?"

Hoping that Mac could help with that. He shook his head before taking another drink from his coffee and looked at mine sat untouched in front of me. I pushed the mug over to him and watched as he added cream and sugar willing him to say something that might be useful.

"Do you do regular drug testing on your employees?"

"Yes"

What the hell did he think that had to do with anything?

"So, no users then. Thought as much. I was wondering if that Lula had any connections to your men but I aint found anything. So I started to do some research on your employees, actually Lester linked me into Miss Plum's area where she'd saved some work that she must have done for you.

I remembered her doing that an age ago when I was worried about a spate of thieving and had to rule out my men. I hadn't realized that Steph had saved her searches on the server. I suppose it would save Mac from starting from the beginning.

"She's good. Very intuitive with what she sees and kept detailed notes which are being very useful. You have some very loyal men with you but just to be sure I've extended her research to get it up to date and am looking at current relationships that they're in"

"Fair enough. I suppose you started with me and Lester?"

Referring to Santos by his first name so Mac would know who I was talking about. Mac laughed, that expression of mischief flitting across his face.

"Of course. I aint just relying on that though, talking with people is far more revealing, so I have a few sources now"

"Like who?"

Interested in who exactly he'd been talking to, not that I had any secrets to hide, well none that the people here in Trenton would ever know about.

"Came across an Edna Mazuur. Hands like a snake, mouth like a sewage and looks like a scrawny chicken"

I couldn't help but laugh at Mac's description of Edna Mazuur acknowledging that he was spot on with his description.

"She's Steph's grandmother so some of us have had to accommodate for her on a few occasions"

Yeah, her catching me naked in the bathroom after dealing with Orin would always be a vision that I would find hard to forget.

"I told her that I'd heard a rumor about some men from Rangeman. She was quick to defend you but when I said that there's always a bad apple in the basket, she got my drift. She'll let me know what she finds out"

I can't say that I was too happy about Mac involving Edna or what he'd said to her. The last thing that I needed were rumors started by her that Rangeman couldn't be trusted. That could kill people's trust in us and damage the business.

"Don't look so worried. She understood that maybe one of them could do you some damage. She's a pip and now I know that she's Miss Plum's grandmother I can see the likeness. Anyway, I talked to a cop called Eddie Gazzara, nice kid, who knows your men and what's going on in the city. Then there's your own men. They may say things to me that seems unimportant to them, but every piece of information can make up the bigger picture"

I appreciated that and that Mac was keeping me up to date. He looked around the diner before sliding over an envelope to me.

"Photos and a report of what I have so far"

Was all that he said before placing the second empty mug on the table. I paid the waitress but sat for a few minutes more before making my way back to my car. That Mac was on the job so quickly was a relief because if anyone could figure out if we had a problem with one of the men at Rangeman it was Mac.

Once back at Rangeman after my meeting with Mac I checked with the men on monitor duty to ascertain the status before going along to the conference room where Flynn and Ajax worked. I suppose that I shouldn't have been surprised that the door was locked, it was late at night, and they needed their sleep like anyone else. Using my fob I opened the door, blinking as the automatic lights came on, surprised to see that more boards had been brought in. Walking over to them I was puzzled with what I was seeing so took the time to read and observe. The board was covered with information on bombings that had occurred in Europe over the last few years along with photos. How the hell they had got their hands on half of it was something I wasn't sure I should ask. What they were looking for wasn't obvious, so I'd catch up with them in the morning to get a better understanding.

I needed a shower, and some sleep so was relieved as I opened the door to my apartment. That was short lived when I realized that a light was already on. What the fuck, no one came into my private domain without my permission and the only one who had that was Steph. I knew that it wasn't her though, there was no energy or lightness that came to me when she was here. It was only as I thought that, that it dawned on me how true it was. It was as if I could sense her presence. Maybe that was why I sometimes sought her out when she slept. Just being close to her grounded me, gave me a feeling of calm. I wondered if she ever realized that she'd had a nighttime visitor.

Hearing the rustle of paper, I was soon striding through the apartment with my gun held out in front of me. Was this the person who Steph was afraid of, who was here now looking for something? I came to halt as my eyes rested on the figure hunched over reading a paper. There were files all around him, some of which bore the government classified stamp.