Thank you for your kind reviews. Many thanks to Janet Evanovich who allows us to use her characters. I bet she never dreamed we would give them so much depth.

Chapter 17

Mary Morrison drove to the police station. There was no available parking in the visitor lot so she just parked in an open spot and headed in.

Marching to the front desk, she put both hands on the desk and stated, "My son came to Trenton and now he's missing."

The duty officer passed her a form to fill out and Mary stared at her with her mouth open.

"You mean I have to fill out some stupid paper before you even do anything?" Her voice raised, and she shouted, "MY SON IS MISSING!"

People stopped doing what they were doing and listened to the outburst.

"My only living son is missing and you want me to fill out paperwork?"

Another officer arrived. It was the duty sergeant and he was trying to control the scene playing out in the room.

"Ma'am, you need to keep your voice down. If you fill out the form then we can get some information to go on here. Right now, we have no idea who you're talking about."

Robin Russell passed by and stopped. "How about this, ma'am. You seem upset and I can understand your concern. How about we go into a room and you and I can talk about this, and fill out the paperwork together. Then we can better understand what we are dealing with."

Mary Morrison grabbed the papers and spun on her heel.

"Well, at least SOMEONE wants to help me."

She followed Robin to a small room and sat down in the only available chair behind the table. Robin closed the door. Unfolding the chair that was behind the door, she opened it up and placed it so that her back was against the door.

Robin started to talk, trying to keep the conversation on an even keel.

"I'm going to record this so we have a better understanding what's going on here. OK, let's start with the basics. What's his name, date of birth and where does he normally live."

Mary grabbed her purse putting it on her lap and opened it. She rummaged around digging in the bottom of the large purse. Robin noticed a few cellophane bags containing dainties peeking out. Finally she pulled out her wallet and took a picture of a man who looked a bit rough from one of the plastic inserts. "His name is Larry Michael Morrison, his birthdate was July 10, 1963 and he lives with me in Philadelphia."

Robin wrote down the particulars then looked up. "So, when did your son come to Trenton?

Mary grumbled, "He came here five days ago. I called him morning and night, then suddenly, nothing. He isn't answering and I'm worried."

Robin nodded her head and wrote down the information on the crumpled form on the table. It looked like the woman in front of her was still too upset to mark anything down legibly.

Mary answered the questions but her snarling attitude was getting a bit calmer.

Robin pressed on. "Was he here for business or pleasure?"

She noted the slight hesitation and her own spidey sense began to ping.

"He was here to look around town and take in the sights."

Robin wrote down something then spoke again. "Was he staying in town with friends or relatives or at a rental?"

Now Mary started to fidget. "I booked him into the Ladybird Motel and he had a rental car. I have a friend who owns Rent-A-Wreck in Philadelphia and he arranged it for me here in Trenton. It was originally registered until today. When I checked with the car rental agency, they noted that the car was dropped off two days ago in a night deposit lot."

Robin looked at Mrs. Morrison. "So, your son checked out today and he dropped off the car two days ago. Doesn't this sound like a grown man making a normal return to you? I mean, someone who's missing wouldn't have done those things without attracting attention? Usually a missing person would just have dumped the car, say, on the outskirts of town, and left their motel room in a mess."

Mary hissed to herself. Even to her it sounded a bit lame that she was blowing this out of proportion.

Robin gently asked, "Are you sure your son is missing, or maybe is he just avoiding you?"

Mary glared at the police officer. "He's my son. Of course he wouldn't be hiding from me. He lives with me dammit! He has no money, and no job. He depends on me for everything. If I don't give him money, he has nothing. I am his everything!"

Robin dutifully wrote it all down, glad that the tape was continuing to run. There was something off about the whole thing, but she had yet to find out what it was. She spoke again.

"Could he have come into contact with someone? A military friend, a former lover, or school mate? I'm just trying to ascertain if he wants to stay under the radar for a while and have a good visit before he gets back to you."

Mary shrugged her shoulders. "We don't know anybody here, and that's all I know. So, when will you get moving and find my son? I'm worried."

Robin finished writing out the report and turned it around for Mary to sign. She scrawled her signature on the bottom and slammed the pen down.

Robin took the paper and was about to shut off the recorder but stopped.

"I'm not sure you realize this but there is a 48 hour waiting period to search for an adult reported missing. Probably he will contact you soon, and if so, please let us know."

Mary jumped from her seat. "What, you make me jump through all these hoops and then tell me that you wait for two damn days before starting to look for him? He could be lying in some ditch!"

Robin tried to calm her down, but to no avail.

"Mrs. Morrison, your son is an adult. Could it be that he is needing some privacy and space from you for a few days?"

Mary glared at the officer.

"How dare you accuse me of abusing my son so that he needs to get away from me! I should report you to your Supervisor for such slander! I want to see someone who actually cares in this two-bit excuse for a police station! Philadelphia is so much larger, but I believe that they would be concerned enough to get right on this!"

Robin stood up, and snapping off the recorder, she gathered both the recording device and the papers, folded up the chair, placing it behind the now open door. She turned back and looked at the woman standing there. She had what could only be described as wild eyes and her mannerisms gave her a very angry demeanor.

"Mrs. Morrison, you have given us your cellphone number and we will get back to you as soon as we can."

Mary stomped out the door and headed for the exit. She slammed into two men dressed in black on the way out, muttering that the police weren't doing their job, and the young people of today were rude enough not to get out of the way of a senior citizen.

She marched to her car, glaring at the ticket under the drivers' windshield wiper. She had totally ignored the sign stating that the space was reserved for the Chief of Police and would be ticketed.

Taking the piece of paper, she crumpled it up and tossed it on the ground.

Climbing in, she started the car, revved the engine, put the car in reverse, and stomped on the gas. There was a screeching of tires and a bang. Her car shook from the vibration.

Carl stepped out of their patrol car and strode to the car now lodged in their patrol car's front door. Big Dog was clamoring over the centre console having to exit through the front passenger door. He stayed back taking pictures of the mess and Carl wrenched open the drivers' door.

"Ma'am, you just hit our police car, you are parked in the Chiefs' private parking space, and ma'am, have you been drinking?"

~~~o0o~~~

Leo and Franco followed the noise outside and watched as Carl was trying to handcuff a struggling Mary Morrison. They watched as her handbag swung around and slammed into Big Dog's chest, knocking him back a few inches.

They looked at each other and Leo put the phone to his ear.

"Tank, we're at the police station picking up a receipt and Larry's mother seems to be in some difficulty at the station. Right now it looks like they're attempting to arrest her, and, for an old lady, she's fighting pretty good."

He listened and smiled. "Yeah, Franco's recording it on his phone. Roger. Returning to base."

They waited a minute more watching as the two officers and Mrs. Morrison were struggling. Finally they managed to get her into the police station. They could hear a number of expletives coming out of Mrs. Morrison's mouth.

Climbing into their vehicle they drove back to the building.

Getting a beep on their phone as they arrived, they ran up the stairs to five and knocked on Rangers' door.

Hearing the order to enter they opened the door and marched in, standing at parade rest in front of Rangers' desk.

Larry was standing to the side of the desk and Maurice was with him. Tank was standing off to the side.

Ranger spoke.

"It appears that your mother has caused a bit of a disturbance at the police station. While I am not wishing to get involved in this matter, what are your thoughts about what to do, Mr. Morrison?"

Franco passed over his phone and Larry watched the video in silence. He tried not to smile but couldn't contain himself and a loud guffaw escaped.

"I know she's my mother, but it couldn't happen to a nicer person," he murmured.

Ranger waited. Larry spoke again.

"I guess I have to go and try to contain the situation, but I have no money to bail her out even if I wanted to."

Ranger looked at him and spoke.

"Actually, we were just talking about you a little earlier and we were going to offer you an opportunity to phone your wife and talk to her and your children. We were tossing back and forth if we were willing to help you out a bit financially if you wanted to go there and be reunited with them and to get out from under your mothers' influence."

Larry looked at Ranger and one could almost see a tear glisten at the side of his eyes.

"I stalk your wife and here you are trying to help me? I just don't understand why you would even think of helping me."

Ranger looked to the door just as there was a soft knock.

He smiled as Stephanie walked in and headed to her husband's side.

She spoke to Larry.

"I did a search and I found out where your wife works. She has today off due to her shift work. She's probably picked up the kids from school by now and they have a free evening from all the activities they are signed up for. I have her number and, if you want to, you could give her a call."

Literally everyone looked at Ranger. He nodded to Stephanie then responded.

"How about you go into one of our conference rooms and phone your wife. Maurice needs to be in the room too, but he can stay by the door as you talk."

Larry nodded his head. "I'd like to. I haven't talked to them for a long time. I didn't want mother to try to drag them back into my personal hell."

He looked at Ranger. "What day is today?"

It was a strange request but Ranger spoke.

"It's Friday, October the 6th."

Larry looked down.

"It's my wife's birthday today."

Ranger nodded at Larry. "Well then, that's all the more reason to phone her and wish her a Happy Birthday."

He nodded at Maurice and they moved to the door. Ranger spoke to him. "Use one of 'those' phones."

Maurice nodded. That meant a burn phone that was untraceable to RangeMan.

The door closed.

~~~o0o~~~

Chief Juniak phoned Ranger.

"Hello Ranger. We arrested a woman today at the station for an incident which snowballed to a number of charges. On her person were some photos of a person who very much looks like Stephanie."

Ranger was sitting at his desk and his phone made a complaining noise from his right hand squeezing the unit.

"Yes, Chief, we are aware of the incident and as a matter of fact we also know of this woman who arrived in town yesterday."

Joe paused. He already knew about this woman and he already sounded like he knew that she was in possession of pictures? What didn't RangeMan know about the going-ons in his town?

Joe spoke. "She's facing some serious charges; assaulting a police officer, driving without due care and attention, refusing a breathalyzer and littering, to start with. She originally came into my station stating that her son was a missing person."

Ranger contemplated how much to tell him.

"Well, Chief, I wouldn't work too hard on the missing person case. We are in communication with Mr. Morrison and he is right now trying to decide what he wants to do about his mother. I do know that he does not have the money to bail her out under any circumstances."

Joe fell silent. It sure sounded like a domestic situation and he really did not want to get involved.

"Well, she's booked to appear in front of a justice of the peace later this afternoon."

He chuckled. "I'm feeling a bit sorry for the personnel down in holding right now. She's not a very nice person."

Ranger stayed silent.

After passing on the usual pleasantries, they both hung up.