Thanks to JE for letting us use her characters. All mistakes are mine.
Chapter 23
Vinnie received a phone call from his contact.
"I got the key and went into the house. I went through the house looking for the son's bedroom as you directed. I tossed the room looking for a bunch of comic books, and finally found one in the night table. I've sent it back to you COD."
Vinnie rubbed his hands in anticipation. He had done some rudimentary research and comic books were actually selling for quite the large sums of money. Who knew that an old comic book might be worth money?
He stood up and walked around the desk to the door. Opening it, he saw Connie filing her nails and Lula sitting on the couch reading a magazine.
"There'll be a package coming. Let me know as soon as it arrives."
He couldn't help himself and barked. "I pay you to work, not sit around doing your nails or reading."
Lula and Connie gave him an identical finger and otherwise ignored him.
Vinnie slammed the door and stamped back to his desk.
He was getting too old for this shit.
~~~o0o~~~
Ranger and Stephanie drove back the next day. Ranger had been prepared to stay even longer, wanting to spoil Stephanie even more, but she was adamant that she needed to get back and continue her work finding more family.
As they drove up to the building, Joe Juniak phoned Ranger.
"Mary Margaret Morrison, the lady with pictures that looked like your wife made bail."
Ranger nodded and thanked the chief for keeping him in the loop.
"Thanks Chief. What were the conditions?"
Joe could be heard rustling some papers. "She's allowed to travel between here and Philadelphia. The court date is booked for October 20th."
Ranger mentally nodded his head.
He'd contacted Tank and had been told that there was already surveillance on the house. They wanted to keep an eye on Mrs. Mary Margaret Morrison. Larry would never know about RangeMan watching his mother. NOBODY was going to harm Stephanie Manoso.
~~~o0o~~~
Larry along with Woody brought the box of comic books up to Ranger's office. He had quickly looked through them to make sure that they were all there. Yup, there was the copy of Wonder Woman, the copy of Superman, the copy of The Hulk, and the copy of Captain America. Years ago, he had talked to his dad about the comics and he knew that these were his favorites.
John had given Chuck some too but he hadn't expressed any interest in them and one day told his dad that he had sold them to a pawn shop for some gas money.
John had phoned the pawn shop but they'd already been sold. There was no sense in getting angry. If he didn't look after something that his own father had given him, well, then he really didn't deserve to have them anyway.
Woody looked at the comics laid out on top of the desk. He looked at Ranger and there was almost a secret discussion going on between them.
Woody turned back to Larry and he couldn't help but blurt, "You've got a #9? Man, you have no idea what it's worth and you had it stored in a simple cardboard box under your bed?"
Ranger, Tank and Stephanie literally looked back and forth at both Larry and Woody, waiting for an explanation.
Woody gulped and brought out his phone, pressing some buttons.
"At the last auction, a Superman #9 in mint condition sold for $1.2 million."
Larry looked like he was going to faint and Tank grabbed him and shoved him into a chair. Larry mopped his face with his hand and looked up.
"I heard they might be worth a few bucks someday, but I never thought they were valuable. I mean, for crying out loud, it's a comic book!"
Woody looked at Larry and had to ask. "Larry, did you ever try to find out if these were worth money or did you just keep them because your dad gave them to you?"
Larry looked from the books to Woody and back. "My dad and I didn't have many things we liked to do together, but well, comic books were something that I felt I could read without embarrassing myself and dad liked them since he was such a superhero fan. We bought comic books and sat outside reading them and Dad would help me pronounce the words. He told me once that he bought a bunch of them at a comic book store that was closing out. They were all in these plastic baggies, and he re-sold the ones he didn't like and kept a bunch in some boxes."
Woody was typing on his phone again. He turned around the phone and showed Larry, then both Ranger and Tank. Stephanie took a peek and shook her head.
"You've got a #8 Wonder Woman. This copy isn't in as good a condition but in mint condition, at auction, it's worth close to a mil."
Larry shook his head. "Dad really, and I really mean liked Wonder Woman. I think he tried to get as many of that series as he could. I know that he gave Chuck the #1 through #3 on that series."
Ranger phoned Bobby. "My office, and bring your bag."
They could hear boots running and Bobby burst into the room without knocking. He looked around and noticed Larry slumped in the chair and moved to him. He looked at Ranger and blurted, "What happened?"
Ranger nodded at Larry. "He just heard some news that I think has most definitely changed his life."
Larry gulped, and blurted. "Dad and I kept joking that one day these would be worth money and we chuckled that I could buy a pack of gum with them. He loved comics and loved to collect them."
He chuckled and then began to laugh and then to cough, doubling over. Everyone looked at him in alarm.
Bobby held a paper bag out to him and he put his face over the opening and began to breathe in and out. At first the bag barely moved, but as he calmed down, the bag vibrated with his breathing.
He pulled the bag away and nodded his head.
"After Dad died, Mother threw out the boxes with all his comic books in them. I'd moved away and when I heard, she and I had a huge argument that she shouldn't have thrown them away. I would have taken them all."
He looked at Ranger. "Mother always loved Chuck more than me and I thought at the time that it was just another slam at Dad and me spending time together."
Ranger looked at the third comic and he nodded at Woody to look it up.
"Well, Captain America #1 seems to be gaining popularity again and at the last auction, in mint condition, the copy sold for $343,000. That Hulk #1 sold for $125,000 at auction a couple of years ago, but interest may be picking up again on that one."
Everyone looked at the man slumped in the armchair. He'd had a tough life so far, but here in front of him was quite possibly his meal ticket for the rest of his life. So, what was he planning on doing with it?
Ranger looked at Bobby and he nodded. He helped Larry to his feet.
"Let's head down to my clinic. I want to keep an eye on you for a little bit. That's quite the shock to anybody's system and I think you need to let this sink in."
Woody looked like he was getting ready to leave, but Ranger stopped him with a look. He looked at Tank and Stephanie to also stay. He had something else he needed to talk to them about.
Bobby put his arm under Larry's arm and they headed out, closing the door behind them.
When they were alone, Ranger pulled out his phone and paged through the pictures until he came to a picture.
Motioning Tank and Woody to step closer, he turned the phone around and showed them the picture.
"So, we found this in the shoe box in Chucks' room under the pictures that we suspect Mrs. Morrison made copies of and sent to Babe in those envelopes."
Tank looked at the picture then at Ranger.
"Is this the comic book that Vinnie is using for Mrs. Morrison's bond?
Ranger nodded his head. "I suspect that Vinnie has already checked out the value, but can you give me an idea what this one's worth?
Woody looked at the picture and started to press buttons on his phone again.
"Well, The Green Lantern was not that popular and it's not a #1, and it's not in a protective sleeve either, but it looks like it's worth about $1,200."
Ranger looked at the picture, then closed it down and put the phone back into its holder on his hip.
He nodded at the men and they stepped out the door.
Stephanie gave her husband a kiss on the lips and walked out of the room. She wanted to do more searching.
Ranger walked back to his desk and gathered up the comics. He put them in a folder on his desk and sat down. He pulled a folder toward himself and started to work. He really needed to get this pile of paperwork down.
~~~o0o~~~
Stephanie came back from lunch to a Facebook message on her computer.
'A friend advised me that you are looking for a Patricia Lawrence. Why?'
~~~o0o~~~
Mary Morrison walked into her house. It had been a long few days and she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was to sit down in her chair in the living room and relax for a few minutes. The sun had set but she was unwilling to turn on many lights. Energy cost money.
Heading to her chair, the doorbell rang. She sighed and changed direction, automatically pushing the curtain aside and peeking out. If this was a door to door salesman, well, they would be getting an earful about wasting her valuable time.
Mildred Bellamy was standing on the stoop. Mary let the curtain slide back down, turned the handle and opened the door.
Mrs. Bellamy stayed still. She hadn't been invited in, but well, they weren't close friends either. They would nod the occasional hi, but visiting each other and having tea had never been on either agenda.
Mildred spoke. "I saw some activity at your house late last evening and decided that it was suspicious enough to phone the police. I saw them drive up, talk and then leave again."
Mary looked at her and waved her hand motioning for her to continue.
"As I was putting out the cat, I saw a brown car drive into your driveway and Larry and another man get out. Later a truck showed up with two more men. It was way past my bedtime but I couldn't go to bed without knowing some more, so I watched as well as I could, considering it was near midnight."
Mary was trying not to tap her foot getting Mildred to finish her story and leave.
"So, what else did you see?"
Mrs. Bellamy almost took a step backward at the angry look on Mary's face.
"Well, I saw the four going back and forth from the house and putting boxes into the back of the truck. They put a blue tarp over the top and tied it down, and just then the police showed up."
Mary got a funny look on her face but she tried to stay calm.
"I'm sure it was fine, Mildred, but thank you for telling me. Larry's phone seems to not be working but I'm sure he'll phone me soon now that I'm back home."
Mrs. Bellamy stepped backwards turning at the same time and then turned back.
"We should have tea sometime."
Both ladies knew that neither of them would ever initiate this tea request, but they were both polite.
"Yes, that would be lovely," said Mary and closed the door on her departing neighbor.
Passing the chair, Mary walked to the stairway downstairs and turned on the light. Holding carefully onto the railing, she slowly walked down the stairs. She noticed right away the boxes that had been stored in the corner holding all Larry's possessions when he had moved back home were missing.
She saw the now empty box from the steel cage leaning against the wall. Scrawled on the box was printed in big letters: YOU FIRST MOTHER. It looked like it was in Larry's printing.
She walked to the door to his bedroom and turned the handle. Opening the door, she looked around. The room had been completely cleaned out, leaving only the stripped bed and the night table. She walked to his closet and opened the bifold doors. It was completely empty except for the hangers. Snapping her fingers, she walked to the bed, got down on her hands and knees and peeked under the bed. The box was gone.
She turned off the light and walked up the stairs, Heading to her chair, she was lost in thought.
It certainly looked like he had gone. At the same time, if he was gone and she was out on bond, what was used to secure that bond?
She stood back up and walked down to her son, Charles' room. Taking a breath for strength, she turned the handle and opened the door.
Laying on the bed was the shoebox that her son had put his treasures in so many years ago. The pictures that she had made copies of were scattered on the bed. She walked to the box and looked inside. She didn't see all the trinkets and mementos from his childhood and adolescent sexscapades.
The only comic book in the brown bag that Charles had kept from his father was missing.
Mary dropped to her knees and began to cry. "No, No, No!"
