Chapter 22

I was so focused on my thoughts that being back at Rangeman almost surprised me. I had the day planned out in front of me with client meetings and then the monthly core group meeting. I was also annoyed at where the hell Flynn and Ajax had disappeared to. I had no need to change as I was already wearing a suit so rode straight up to five in order to collect the file for my meeting. In fact, I had thirty minutes before the appointment and was glad that I'd scheduled for it to happen here in our building.

The meeting was more of a formality as the two owners of the jewelry company had already had the plans and the contract explained to them. They were here to return the signed contract, ask any last minute questions and for me to provide a start date for the installation. I was smiling as I opened the door of the ground floor conference room, passing them onto Avery to escort them out to where their limo was waiting. I was just collecting together the papers ready to be acted on and the contract to be filed when I heard Avery at the door.

He was another man that Tank had hired while I was away but unlike Oslow, he was army through and through. He'd taken retirement but found that being a civilian wasn't how he expected it to be. No wife or family and very few friends, with little prospect of being employed in anything that was meaningful. That was when he'd found his way to us.

"Sir there's a man in reception that insists on speaking to you. He insisted on waiting until you'd finished your meeting"

I was curious who would be so keen to see me but seeing Lester stood just outside of the room had a bad feeling come over me.

"Do you have a name?"

"Detective Morelli, Sir"

That had me looking to Lester, sure that he was here because he already knew who my visitor was.

"Show him in here, but be sure that he signs in and leaves his weapons at the desk"

This would be interesting, but I doubted that he was here to tell me anything new. Lester remained by the door as I sat down waiting for Morelli to be escorted into the room. He wouldn't like that in the least and would probably be annoyed, but to be honest I was ready for his shitty outbursts. As I became aware of movement I looked to the door and had to admit to being surprised. Yeah, he was annoyed as I'd predicted, but he looked like shit. He had a white dressing across his forehead with several cuts and bruises apparent on his face and instead of the usual swagger in his walk he was limping, favoring his left leg.

"Morelli"

I said whilst remaining impassive with his appearance but curious as to what the hell had happened to him. He remained stood at the other end of the table where I was sat but used the back of a chair to lean on. As he looked at me, I could see the anger in his eyes and maybe a touch of the pain that he was in. I waited as he gathered himself wondering why the hell he was here.

"Where is Stephanie? Is she hiding out here, because if she is, then I want to see her"

Interesting, so he had no idea where Steph was and yet he was here demanding to see her.

"She isn't here. I was told that she left town the same day as you did"

At least he had the decency to look slightly confused so I would hazard a guess that he had no idea of her leaving town. So why was he here now, three weeks later? Where had he been that he hadn't kept up with the rumors going around town?

"According to the rumors she left with you though I know for a fact that she kicked your arse into touch weeks ago. Why so concerned Morelli? Do you know something that you're not telling me"

I rose from my chair as I put those questions to Morelli making sure that he saw just how pissed off I was with him. He took a faltering step back and turned to look at Lester before facing me again. I was close to laughing if he thought that Lester would say anything. Not that Lester knew anything about Steph.

"Are you saying that she isn't here, that you don't know where she is?"

I could hear a hint of confusion, and maybe annoyance in his voice and for a moment he looked down at the desk as though working out what to say next. I preempted anything else that he might say by stating my position.

"I have no idea where she is"

Which wasn't a lie. I could feel my temper rising as I looked at him and was fighting to rein in my control. Why the hell was he so keen to find Steph? Did he really think that she'd go running back to him or was there something else that he needed to see her about?

He actually blanched as I said that to him, but as quickly as it came his cop face slammed down in place before he turned and pushed himself past Lester. Lester raised his eyebrow before following him, hopefully to ensure that Morelli left the building. I remained where I was until I'd calmed down, annoyed with how Morelli had just turned up here assuming that Steph was with me. I wasn't sure whether to be worried that Morelli was looking for her or not. Could he genuinely be concerned about her safety or was there an ulterior motive wound into him looking for her.

Knowing that I needed to get back to my office to complete the work on that client contract I made my way up the fifth floor, detouring via Tank's office first. I'd hardly stepped through the door before he was throwing questions at me.

"What the hell happened to Morelli and why was he here? Is little girl back?"

I sat down in front of his desk, my eyes immediately landing on that damn ceramic pen holder. That had my anger coming back to the front. Keep it simple, went through my mind, even if this was Tank that I was talking to. No doubt every man in the building was aware that Morelli had been here and the state that he was in.

"In answer, I have no idea what happened to Morelli. He was here demanding to see Steph"

Yeah, that surprised Tank, so I waited while he processed what I'd said.

"So he doesn't know where Little Girl is? Is she back here in Trenton?"

"I have no idea"

Which wasn't a lie, after all she could be staying anywhere.

"Are we going to be looking for her?"

A normal reaction from Tank because in the past if Steph had gone missing then I pulled out every stop in trying to find her. Usually, it was because she was in trouble and was being held against her will, though there had been times when a stalker had decided to just frighten her.

"Let me ask around first. If she's back in Trenton, then I'm sure she'll be in touch"

Tank opened his mouth to say something but maybe it was the look that I gave him that had him remaining silent. Shit, I hated that I was keeping so many secrets from my friends, but no way did I want our conversation being picked up by that bug. Feeling the need to leave the room I placed the paperwork that I'd been carrying onto Tank's desk and was soon walking out of the door. I'd needed to at least be acting as though I was looking for Steph to ensure to give that illusion to anyone watching me.

Once changed into my Rangeman uniform I took one of the Cayennes to trawl the places that Steph would frequent. Her apartment was first on my list and as I parked by the door, I made sure that there weren't any cars that looked out of place. Taking the stairs, I was soon stood in front of her apartment door but instead of picking the lock as I normally did, I was busy looking intently at the lock. To me it looked as though someone had picked it, badly, leaving marks against the brass fitting. Did Morelli still have a key, could he have been here already?

My gun was in my hand as soon as I had the door open. The place seemed quiet and at first glance looked the same as it had been on my previous visit. Not wanting to take any chances I cleared the living area before very slowly pushing open the door to Steph's bedroom. Checking the closet and any other hiding places I was satisfied that there was no one in the apartment so began to survey the area with a more critical eye. There were definitely some difference from when I'd last been here. The pillows on the bed weren't neatly stacked against the bedhead and the bed cover didn't look quite as smooth as how I'd left it. In the closet, shoes were piled up rather than being in their boxes and her sweaters were creased as though they'd been pushed back into the drawers. Someone had definitely searched the place, but I had no idea what they could have been looking for.

My next stop was at the bonds office. I knew that Oslow had been here earlier this morning, probably with Cal, who would have collected any files for Rangeman. Parked across the street I took a minute to check the sidewalks and then looked through the large glass window into the office. I could only see Connie at her desk but that didn't mean that Lula wasn't laid out on the couch. I wasn't looking forward to seeing Lula. Something about what she'd told me when I'd visited her apartment and then hearing Mac's surveillance of her had me dreading the idea of having to talk to her. I think it was more the idea of how upset Steph would be when she found out what Lula had been up to than my own opinion of her.

I'd always accepted Lula for who she presented herself as. A large black woman who had dreadful taste in clothes but seemed to get away with it. In some ways I'd admired her for changing her life even if she was such a loud outspoken person. Okay I hated that Lula was usually Steph's partner and knowing that Steph actually gave her some of the payment infuriated me, especially when Lula would abandon Steph or even cause more trouble than necessary. A lot of times it worked for them even if the process of catching a skip was far from ideal, but Steph was so fiercely independent that she would hardly ever ask for help from me or the guys. Getting out of the car I beeped it to lock it before walking across the street and into the office. I almost let out a breath of relief when it was only Connie inside.

"Hi Ranger. What brings you here?"

Not one for idle chatter I got straight to the point.

"Morelli called in at Rangeman looking for Steph. Is she back?"

Before she could she even answer me, Connie was pulling a hankie from the box in front of her and sneezing several times.

"Damned flowers. Give me a moment"

I watched as Connie picked up the offending vase of flowers and disappeared through the back door only then realizing that I recognized the vase.

"Lilies make me sneeze"

Pleased that when she returned her hands were empty.

"A secret admirer Connie?"

I quipped hoping she'd say where the flowers and vase had come from. I should have felt bad for asking when her cheeks blushed, but I didn't.

"That new fella of yours in the wheelchair, Garret. He sometimes comes in with Cal. Maybe I was too nice to him, and he took it the wrong way"

I doubted that, but I wasn't going to be saying that to her.

"Anyway, no I haven't seen or heard from Steph. Morelli was in earlier asking the same thing. I didn't care that he looked like shit because as far as I know Steph finished with him weeks ago, so I gave him a piece of my mind"

After a slight nod I was about to turn and leave when Connie interrupted me.

"I called her grandma just to check if she'd seen her but none of the family have heard anything. I wonder what excuse Morelli will give to Steph's parents when he visits them"

That would certainly be an interesting conversation to hear. Maybe I'd talk to Edna Mazuur myself because I was certain she'd be privy to Morelli visiting the Plum's house.

Knowing that Steph wasn't around I began to exit the office and walk back over to my car. What surprised me was seeing Mac stood close to it with his back to the wall. Being in plain view wasn't an ideal opportunity to talk to him and as he made no move in my direction or to even acknowledge me, I ignored him before getting into the car. I knew that Mac was staying at Lester's house so hopefully Lester had mentioned that the mole inside Rangeman had breached our security. Maybe he'd send a message via Lester. Shit, I hated the feeling that I had to watch my back everywhere that I went in case I was followed or listened to.

I needed a break with what we knew in order to do something constructive and I needed to know where the hell Ajax and Flynn had disappeared to. For some reason I hadn't wanted to raise the topic with Tank with that damn ceramic pot sat between us.

The break that came wasn't what I was expecting. Okay, it was break from the confines of the office and usually it wouldn't be something that I'd partake in, but from how Lester had told me that I should accompany him tonight, I was reading more into it than just a night out at Shorties. Having spent the latter part of the day driving past the homes of people that Steph was friendly with I felt that I'd laid enough of a trail that no one would suspect that I knew that Steph was hiding out somewhere safe. After showering I decided to dress casually and go with jeans and a thin sweater. Not my usual attire but knowing that this evening would be attended by any men from Rangeman who were off duty I felt that I'd blend in better. Looking at my reflection in the mirror as I added my two guns, I smiled at the idea of what Steph would say. She loved it when I digressed from the usual black of cargos and T-shirt. She'd have loved to have been able to go with me to enjoy the pizzas and the banter of the men. I would have loved to have taken her.

Once down in the garage, where I was meeting with Lester, I was surprised when he nodded toward one of the Cayennes that Hal was driving.

"Hal's driving us there before his shift starts"

No doubt Lester had a way for us to get back from Shorties, though usually he'd assign a dedicated driver who would abstain from drinking for the evening. Walking into Shorties I was surprised at the number of my men who were here though it did make me realize that I hadn't attended one of these gatherings for a very long time. Sat in a booth at the back of the dingy looking restaurant I took note of who was here. I knew that Bobby was in charge with Tank on call if an emergency came up, but to be honest, I wasn't drinking so could easily take up any slack.

There were three tables now full of rowdy men with pizzas and pitchers of beer which totally overtook and intimidated the other patrons here. Observing these other patrons, they were certainly quieter than usual and had congregated on the far side of the room. I suppose the number of men here from Rangeman was intimidating. The talking and laughing was loud as jokes were shared and funny stories retold. I listened as I picked at the salad in front of me noticing that the man Oslow was here, sat next to Cal. For all intents and purposes, he appeared to be involved with the discussions around him, but he wasn't. His glass of beer, whilst he looked as though he was drinking from it, wasn't getting any less and like me he was taking in everything around him. Too bad he wasn't good enough to know that I was interested in watching him.

A touch of my elbow had me turning to Ram who in turn pointed toward Lester who was sat on my other side. Lester had his head on the table and seemed to be clenching his stomach.

"I don't think he's too good"

I nodded my head at Ram agreeing with his assessment. The problem that I was having was believing it. I'd known Lester for most of our lives and there was very little that Lester ailed. He could eat or drink anything and his digestive system just seemed to take it in its stride. No, Lester was pulling a distraction. I leaned down to him with my hand laid on his back, as though offering him my support.

"What're you up to?"

I whispered letting Lester know that I knew that he was up to something.

"I called a taxi. Get me out of here"

Not what I was expecting to hear but then again Lester was always good at planning ahead.

"I'll get him to the bathroom before he throws up all over the place"

Making sure that I said it loud enough for the men closest to hear. I shook my head at Ram as he made to stand up to help, not wanting him to become involved in whatever scheme Lester had devised. Placing an arm around Lester, I carefully lifted him to his feet trying to ignore the groans that he was making. I knew that every man was watching our progress so made sure to allow Lester to continue his playacting. Once inside the men's rest area I propped Lester up against a sink while I checked out if there was anyone inside. A door opened and a biker walked out, took one look at Lester who was pretending to throw up in the sink, then quickly left.

"All clear"

I said as Lester stood up and grinned at me.

"Let's go. Send a message to Ram and tell him that we took a taxi back to my place"

Even as we walked out of the back exit, I was already messaging Ram wondering what the hell Lester was up to. The sound of an engine starting up had me looking at a taxi slowly driving toward us, so I assumed that this was all part of Lester's plan. I was feeling a little anxious not knowing what was happening, not knowing what Lester had planned but followed him into the back of the taxi. The driver had a hat pulled over his head but as I looked toward the front, I noticed that the meter wasn't running so focused on the id that was hanging from the knob. What the fuck was Lester up to?