Chapter 19

Tank leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath. "None of what you've found so far gets Ranger out of deep shit. Actually, I think you're sinking him. I want to believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel here, but so far, all I can see is a one way ticket to screwed." Tank folded his arms and looked at the control center. Keeping an eye on everything was a full-time job.

"Why do you think that she had a file on Edward?" Tank asked. "Do you think Jeanne Ellen was keeping tabs on him too?

I didn't have an answer for him. I wish I did.

"If there is ever a next time, swipe the file." Tank said. "We can give it back later."

"Could Jeanne Ellen have kept information on Eddie because she was using him to get to Rangeman?" Lester asked. "We had directed her calls to his desk, maybe she sweet talked him into looking into the business. Maybe he was her mole. It would explain how she was able to get through our security so easily."

"That's a good point. If it's true, she must have been grabbing at straws. We have been running legit for years now." Tank said looking over at me. "Still, our main concern is getting my boss out of jail. We need those tapes."

The file on Eddie Montoya bothered me. I couldn't get past it. I walked over to his desk. It sat undisturbed in the corner. His family had not been here to claim his things. There was no rush; there were plenty of other desks to use. Plus, it was still an open wound. The fact that no one noticed he was missing, gave people pause. Eddie was family, as I was. No one wanted to be the person who put his things away. Suicide was hard. Not only for the family of the person, but also for the friends and co-workers who felt they didn't do anything to stop it from happening. No one had questioned the police or coroner's report. Eddie committed suicide. There would be no investigation. It was a closed case. If Eddie had secrets, maybe there would be clues at his desk. It was worth a shot. There had to be a tie in for him and Jeanne.

I sat down in his chair and leaned back. I swiveled back and forth trying to imagine him sitting here doing his work, answering phones and possibly hiding things. If he had a relationship with Jeanne, or if he was trying hard to impress her, he would want to give her things that she asked for. He probably wanted to please her. He was a young kid. If she showed him any sort of attention whatsoever, it might have been all the encouragement he needed. Of course it was possible he had something in his past that made her suspicious of him, and she could have been just keeping an eye on the new guy.

I had used his desk numerous times in the last week. When I couldn't sleep, I worked on some of the reports that sat in the inbox. His desk had one long drawer that was positioned below the blotter and the standard three desk drawers that sat on each side, left and right. All the drawers were either almost empty or had normal office supplies. There were some files for the company, forms and documents. There was a drawer that had unused software, instruction manuals and a box for a mouse. No secret compartments. Nothing suspicious when I pulled the drawers out completely.

I got up, still not satisfied that I had looked everywhere. I pulled out the chair and looked under the desk. In grade school, this would be where you stuck your discarded bubblegum. I lay down flat so I could see the underside from all angles. When I looked underneath the desk, I found a tiny mark that I had to squint to see.

Ramon crouched down on the other side of the desk. He was looking at me strangely. "Are you ok?"

I slid out from under the desk. "There has to be a connection between Jeanne and Eddie. I thought I would search his desk."

"Find anything?"

"Slide under there." I said pointing to the underside of the desk. "I think I see something carved."

"Something carved? Under the desk?"

I moved out-of-the-way and Ramon slid under. "J+E. Does that mean Jeanne + Edward?" He asked. "What the hell." I saw him touch the carving. "It's a false bottom." He moved the bottom of the desk some more and it slid out, dropping fairly easily. Inside was paperwork, keys, keypads, manuals and what looked to me like blueprints. I found a box. We dumped everything inside.

"What was this kid up to?" Ramon said as he looked through the box.

I picked up keys and keypads. Each one was labeled with a number. "I wonder if these work for the Rangeman vehicles. What is all this stuff?" I asked.

Ramon thumbed through the paperwork. "It looks like most of this is from Rangeman. Not normal paperwork either. This is personal shit. It's not supposed to be out in the open. I think Tank needs to see this."

We found him just as he was about to leave for his dinner with Lula. He had changed his clothes and now wore a button down black and white shirt and black dress slacks with black loafers. Ramon gave him the box and told him where we found it. He called security. Then he called and canceled dinner. Lula wouldn't be happy. She was hoping to attach another dinner coupon to her meal schedule.

Tank picked up one of the sets of keys. "We need to find out if these are dupes of our keys." He pulled out his keychain and began examining the similarities. There were fifteen keys that looked like car keys. He handed one of the keys to Ramon with his own car key. Ramon looked at it closely. "Looks like a match to me."

The security guard on duty was named Jeremy. I had only seen him in the security booth and not standing up. I never realized that Jeremy was so tall. He was a monster of a man. I felt like an honest to God dwarf next to him. He had to be at least seven foot-two. I think I came up to his kneecap. Jeremy was the supervisor of the team that worked security detail for Rangeman and because of this, he was a little on edge. There was a team of five that watched the building, not including Jeremy. Two were always at the monitors. It was a little overkill, but since the breach with Jeanne, everyone had doubled up. No one was comfortable with the knowledge that Rangeman was taken down so easily.

Jeremy checked the contents of the box. "What exactly am I looking at here?" He said picking up some of the paperwork.

Tank stood next to him. "Looks to me like things that shouldn't be hidden in employees desks."

Jeremy picked up what looked like a computer printout of names and numbers. It was very possible these were Social Security numbers, credit card information or possibly codes for getting into the computers. His face flushed red. "Show me where you found these." He said in a booming voice.

He crouched down and tried to look under the desk, but he was too tall to get his limbs to cooperate at that level, so he lay on the ground as I did, and held a small penlight up into the bottom of the desk. "If this guy was doing construction under his desk, why wasn't it caught on tape?"

Tank looked around. "The video camera is right there. You guys had an eye on him 24/7, you tell me."

Jeremy looked uncomfortable. He took out his phone and called to the main floor. He walked away from the crowd so he could freak out on his people in private. As he did, he walked over to the camera and stood on a chair so he could see it up close. He closed his phone.

"I think I know how this went unnoticed." Jeremy said, getting down from the chair. He left us standing by the camera for a moment. When he came back, he had a ladder. He climbed up to the camera and disassembled the device that held it to the wall and took the camera down. It looked all right to me, but there was something attached on the back. A little black box.

"This." he said pointing to the box. "Is not supposed to be here. It is possible that the feed from this camera is being directed to another location, and sending a fake image to us in the booth."

Tank and Ramon stood looking at the box. "That's old school equipment." Ramon said. "The newer stuff is much smaller and harder to detect. If Eddie got this stuff, he got it second-hand." He turned it over in his hands. "If he was able to do this, that means he could have hacked into our systems the whole time he worked here. Why would Rangeman hire that much of a security risk? I would really like to know how he managed to get a job here if he was that capable of mutiny." Ramon said, looking back at the desk and the box of secrets.

"Is there a way to track where the feed was coming from?" I said, looking closely at the device attached to the back of the camera.

Jeremy nodded. "We have a technician flying in regarding the breach. They should be here in the morning. RangeMan has been breached three times in less than a month. There are a lot of customers who are not going to be happy with that kind of record. If you will excuse me, I have some work to do." He thundered off, taking the stairs. I could swear the floor shook with his every step.

There was a lot of confidential paperwork lying on the conference table in front of me. Sifting through it, I noticed that Edward had a bunch of blueprints folded neatly in the rubble. It looked like original works and not copies. I had worked briefly with the county office in Trenton. They had numerous original blueprints of buildings throughout the city. There was a certain look to the originals that copies did not have. Unfolding them I found five sets. One was a large map blueprint of the RangeMan building. It had circled out sections. I looked at them closely. Edward had circled all the exits and from what I could tell, all the places that had safes. Next to these were the codes.

I picked up another set of blue prints. From the address on the top of the document I knew these were from Les Sebring's office. Another, for the police station, and the other two were buildings I didn't know. Hal and I tried to separate Rangeman documents from the others. There was financial records for both RangeMan and Seabring. Statements and copies of pink slips, deeds, and court records. We stood looking at the information on the table. What was he up to?

Tank called Les immediately. It was professional courtesy. Les was being watched, just like RangeMan. It was no surprise that he wanted a meeting. He would be here within the hour. I thought I would sit this one out. I couldn't imagine he would be happy that the FBI was back in his office today. Especially since I didn't give him a heads up.

I stayed in Ranger's private office. From here I could see Les walk into the conference room. He had changed from his business suit to casual clothing. A Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants with loafers. I could smell Rangers Bvlgari scent still on the chair I sat in. I touched the armrest, wishing it was him. I closed my eyes hoping that when I opened them, Ranger would be here. Of course it didn't work, even when I clicked my heels together.

Tank walked Les out an hour later. He shook Tank's hand and hit the button for the elevator. His hands went to his pockets, and I watched him until the doors closed. Tank came in to Rangers office. He leaned on the door jam.

"So, how'd it go?" I asked.

"Ok." Tank said. "He's pissed off about the warrant. Now, he is even more pissed off that one of Rangeman's employees had information on him. We may be looking at a lawsuit."

"Did he seem overly upset about Jeanne being friends with Edward?"

"Hard to tell. But his body language tells me he is furious."

"Did you show him a picture of Eddie?"

Tank shook his head yes. "He didn't act like he recognized him. He was concerned about the information going out to the police. I told him our lawyer Mr. Rosewall would handle it and make sure there is nothing that goes to the Feds that could be evidence against him or us. I also told him it would be a good idea if he changed all the security codes in his building."

Tank got on the phone. Michael Rosewall needed to be here to take care of all the legal issues. I was aware that none of this information did anything to help with Rangers case. One thing for sure, Edward didn't kill Jeanne. So who did?

I went up to Ranger's apartment and I called the police station and asked to talk to Trisha. I was transferred over to her desk. She must have caller I.D.

"Stephanie, how are you?" She said and then whispered, "Officially I am not supposed to be talking to you. There was no file that had his name on it."

"What do you mean?" I said surprised.

"Just what I said. The file cabinet had some skips files and projects she was handling for Les, but nothing that you asked me to look for was there. I am sorry, I have to go." She hung up.

I was left slack-jawed and silently cussing. I sat there staring at the phone, trying to wrap my mind around what she just had said to me. There were at least fifty files. It wasn't possible that I was mistaken. Those files were there. We left Jeanne's office unattended and went down stairs to call Joe. For two hours it was probably open for anyone who wanted to walk in and take them. If Trisha was telling the truth, someone snatched that file before the police came in. Saying that I was pissed off at myself for not getting that file would be an understatement. On the other hand, it meant that Suzi or Les Seabring were probably the only ones who could have swiped the files.

I called Trisha Back "When you went in today, did you see any other employees besides the receptionist and Les?"

"We saw the receptionist. We didn't see Les. Suzi told us that he had left for the day."

I wanted that file. It was possible it was still there. Maybe in Les's office. I needed to figure out a way to get into Seabring's without anyone knowing. I would need help doing it.

I went downstairs to tell Tank that the file was missing. He was standing with Hal, Lester, and Ramon. They were talking quietly as they stood watching over the control center. Even running at minimum, RangeMan had at least ten employees on the floor. Some of them I knew by first name, and some I had only said hello to once or twice. They all knew who I was well enough. I had worked here many times. There was a certain amount of trust that came with working with these people. They never held back with anything. Ranger had told them I could be trusted, and that was all they needed.

Tank saw me walking over; he made room in the circle for me, welcoming me as part of the team. They had totally accepted me as part of the group."Michael will be here at nine." Tank said looking at his watch. "We are going to be running late tonight. I already started a pot of coffee." He looked at me and folded his arms. "With all the developments to this case, I think we need someone from the police to know what is going on. We are getting too much information too quickly. It would be a good idea if you could arrange to have Morelli and Trisha join us for the meeting. We need someone we can trust that is in the department."

"I just called Trisha. The file wasn't there. Someone took it."

"Well…" Tank said. "Who was on that floor, just Suzi and Les? Seems like we have two people who may have something to hide."

"I want to go back and search the 4th floor." I said looking at the whole team.

"Let's talk about that after the meeting." Tank said quietly.

I walked over to one of the cubicles and called Joe's cell phone.

"Don't tell me... Let me guess, you've solved the case." Joe said sarcastically.

I took a deep breath. If it was my choice, I wouldn't include Joe at all. "Hello to you too. What time are you off tonight?"

"If you call something else in, I may never see the inside of my house again." He said in a frustrated tone.

"I'm serious."

"Yeah? Well so am I. I've been off duty for three hours. I am still at the station, doing paperwork. Do you know how long it has been since I have gotten to sleep in my own bed? Three days, Stephanie. Three days. Do you realize I have had no alone time with my girlfriend in over five days? Do you get where I am going with this?"

Yeah, I got it loud and clear. I took another deep breath. "So you want me to apologize for you not getting laid? Is that what you want Joe? An apology?" I yelled back into the phone.

There was silence on the other end. "What are you calling about?" He said in a more civilized tone.

"Tank thinks it's time we brought someone in from the police. He isn't ready for it officially. He said since Ranger and I trust you, I should call and arrange a meeting. He said Trisha should come too."

"When is this supposed to happen?"

"Tonight at Rangeman. Nine. There will be passes at the security desk for both of you."

"That's in twenty minutes. We'll be there."

I went upstairs. I wanted to take a shower and eat something before the meeting. My head was pounding with all this new information. I wanted to be able to make some sense out of it all. I sat down on Rangers couch and grabbed my notebook. I proceeded to write down everything I could remember about the case.

Nine o'clock came quickly. I hadn't written much down. I grabbed the notebook and ran downstairs. I was five minutes late. Tank started the meeting as soon as my ass cheeks hit the chair.

"I want to first, thank everyone for coming in on such short notice, and I want to apologize for any inconveniences. Everyone here at RangeMan appreciates this immensely. We have found out more information and we would like to make sure that members of Trenton P.D. and our acting attorney have everything we have."

Joe looked tired. I think he had been working long hours with little sleep. I knew it wasn't just our case that was keeping him busy, but I knew that calling in details and tips was making more work for him. Joe leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. Trisha sat close next to him, but she sat forward waiting to hear about what we had learned. She had on a white business suit. I couldn't see that she was even showing yet. I knew her pregnancy was a big deal to Joe and his family. I also knew he was probably being edged towards marriage by his mother. He always wanted that anyway, and I wondered if he had popped the question yet. I looked at her finger. There was a ring. It was white gold. I hadn't noticed it today because she had on gloves for the search. I glanced back up. Joe was watching me. I smiled at him, happy he had asked and that she had said yes.

Tank began to speak again and I directed my attention back to him, grateful for the interruption. "Stephanie made contact with someone who may supply us with surveillance tapes from the night of Jeanne Ellen's murder. Apparently there was a lot going on in Jeanne's life. There was a tap on her phone and a man watching her residence. We have not received the tapes yet. If and when we do, we will be sharing them with the police and our lawyer, Mr. Rosewall. We are hoping these may help us to identify the killer of Jeanne Ellen Burrows and take Carlos Manoso off the suspect list."

I could tell by the look on Joe's face he thought that was an impossible scenario.

"Upon going on a routine check to Jeanne Ellen's workplace, Stephanie also found out that she had a private office no one knew about." Tank continued. "When Stephanie was there, she saw a file for a RangeMan employee by the name of "Edward Montoya." She did not take the file or disturb any of the others that were under it. Instead, she called the police, namely Joe Morelli and he sent over the crime lab to dust and pick up anything important. It is my understanding that the file is now missing. There was more than just the one file. Stephanie says that there was a stack. Possibly fifty or more, all labeled with names. She didn't go through them; she was interrupted by Les Seabrings receptionist Suzi Crawford. Stephanie had opened a file cabinet without permission, and apparently Suzi thought that she would get in trouble for letting them in the office to begin with. She escorted Stephanie and Lula out before they could look at the files or take any others with them.

There was a two hour window from when Stephanie went downstairs to when the police showed up with a search warrant. The only people who had access while Stephanie was downstairs as far as we know were the receptionist Suzi Crawford and Les Seabring."

Michael sat with his assistant. He had a recorder on and was taping everything Tank said so he could review it later. On the table was a pad of paper. He was jotting down notes as Tank spoke.

"Edward Montoya was an employee of RangeMan until a few weeks ago." Tank continued. "Ranger hired him personally. He was from his neighborhood, and he was doing well in school. He had expressed an interest in our company, and when he was old enough, Ranger brought him in as an intern. He has worked for us for about three years. A few weeks ago, Edward didn't show up for work. Ranger and Stephanie went over to check on him. They found him dead in his apartment."

Joe looked up with interest. He had been listening, letting it all flow though. When someone mentions death, that's his cue to listen more closely. He works homicide. It changes things.

"His death was labeled a suicide. Now we are wondering if that's the case. When Stephanie came back from Mr. Seabring's she searched Edward's desk here at RangeMan. She and Ramon found a false bottom underneath his cubicle with an engraved J+E. When Ramon touched it, the bottom shifted. He was able the slide it open. There was a large amount of unsecured data inside his desk. He had sets of keys, security codes, access numbers, and combinations for the office safes. Financial records, and even personal pink slips."

Tank paused, and brought out a large file folder. "He was not only collecting data and keys for RangeMan, he also had the same information on four other buildings. Les Seabring's office and the Trenton Police Station were two of them."

Tank handed it over to Joe. "That you may keep, The other files will need to be checked out by our attorney Mr. Rosewall before we can give them to you. I think it is possible that Edward Montoya's death was not a suicide. He could have been murdered, maybe because of what he was doing."

Joe picked up the file folder Tank had given him and opened it. "What is this exactly?" He started reading through the papers. "Access codes and alarm codes for the Police Station? How did he get these?" He picked up the blueprint and opened it.

"That is a blueprint of the entire police station." Trish said, holding part of the map. "Holy crap. How did he get this? What are these circles?"

"We think they are the codes to get into safes and maybe computer systems." I said.

"It's just a guess, but the blueprints he made for Rangeman had the same type of codes and numbers. All our codes listed on one map." Tank said.

"This needs to go to Internal Affairs. This is a really big deal." Joe said. "What did Edward Montoya do for you at RangeMan?"

"He did grunt work." Tank said. "He ran security checks on employees and also ran checks for our clients. He did the same job that Stephanie does when she works for us."

"When you hired him, did you have any idea he had these special skills?"

Tank shook his head. "We had no idea. We never had a problem with him. We just found out he rigged one of our security cameras. This is a big fricken' surprise to put it mildly."

"The J+E." Trisha said. I am assuming that Jeanne Ellen and Edward may have had an affair? Maybe he was giving information to Jeanne?"

"That is entirely possible." Tank said.

Joe took a deep breath and unfolded his arms. He grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, clearly not happy with what he was hearing. We were adding more to his already full plate. "The Edward Montoya case was not in our jurisdiction." Joe said. "You said it happened a few weeks ago? By now, his apartment may be rented out. It could be a crime scene." He started taking notes. He was shaking his head and muttering colorful words under his breath.

He looked up at me. "Stephanie, if Ranger isn't the one who killed Jeanne, you better watch your back. You're going to piss someone off. They will come after you." Joe said looking at me, worried. "If this Montoya guy was murdered and so was Jeanne Ellen, you could find yourself at the wrong end of a gun." He paused for a moment from writing. "Pierre, are you protecting her? Sounds like a lot of heat is on. She is going to be a target."

"She has her vest, and Lester is her shadow." Tank said, not fazed by Joe's use of his real name.

Joe turned his eyes to me. They where deep pools of brown. He looked concerned. Very concerned. It made me slightly uncomfortable. The room got too heavy. I was now the center of attention. I have no idea how we went from figuring out clues to focusing on me. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. I don't think it mattered who was in the room. His eyes were serious, his voice was calm. "I know what you're thinking. You are getting a lot accomplished in a short amount of time, but you are putting a target on your back to get it. If Ranger's not the killer, than you are at serious risk."

It irritated me more than a bit to be the object of his concern. Maybe it was the tone of his voice, or maybe it was because it was late, but I didn't think that he had the right to tell me I wasn't being careful. "I've been careful, and I have kept you informed of everything, according to you, more than I should."

"You are digging into a case without backup."

"I had backup. Lula was with me."

Joe shook his head. "Lula? That was your backup?" He put his head in his hands trying to get a grip. "Look. I will give you this; you are really good at deductive theory. You have the uncanny ability to find out things before we do, but you are not paying enough attention to whom you are pissing off. You are not at all concerned about your well being. That is what scares Carlos, and that is what scares me. You take a lot of risks. It's scary being next to you when you are out in the field. I always felt like a target. If someone were to tell you to go jump off a cliff, I sincerely believe you would think about it."

I sat back in my chair, a little defeated. I glared at Joe. Sure, he was trying to make me think about my safety, but I had no threats on my life. No one was out to get me that I knew of. He needed to chill out.

The room was silent. Michael laughed. "You guys have no idea, do you?"

I looked over at him, surprised at his outburst. He completely threw me off guard.

"It's one thing to fear for someone's safety. It's another to treat someone like a second class citizen. You guys are borderline here. Stephanie is a first-rate detective on this case. She seems like she has everything under control and it seems to me she has done all the work. All you seem to do is complain about it. She is like a hound after a scent. I don't know many people with that much passion. Give her some martial arts training and a course in police tactical maneuvers. Train her. Don't belittle her. She has skills. I just hope Ranger realizes it more than you seem to."

I think my face turned beet red. I couldn't believe he said that.

Tank and Joe just stared at him. "Let's just go with what we were discussing." Joe said. "I don't believe Michael has had the pleasure of the full Stephanie Plum effect yet. He hasn't felt the power of the dark side. Let him idle in the moment. Lets see if he feels the same way when he has had three or four cars blow up, His house firebombed, his garage explode and had his life in danger. Let's not forget having to find a kidnapped Plum five times." He held up his fingers for effect. "I don't think he can justly decide in this matter."

When it was put that way, I did not look like such a hot detective… Well. It was nice while it lasted.

Joe turned his attention back to the group. I guess he made his point pretty clearly. "I don't know what I can find out about the Edward Montoya's apartment." Joe said. "I do know that if it has only been a few weeks, then the apartment might still be held. Trisha doesn't work that area, so if we get anything from it, she will be last to know.

Until we know this is connected to Jeanne Burrows, I am not included in the findings. I need to go in and give all this information to my lieutenant. I am sorry, but I am not doing that tonight. Tonight I am going home. Don't call me. I am officially off duty and I am not answering the phone. Call someone else. Call Eddie Gazarra, call Carl. Just don't call me. Tomorrow, maybe."

Joe and Trisha said they would get back to us about anything that they found out. Joe said he was doubtful that his lieutenant would be keen to us getting any information, but Joe said he would do it anyway. He took the folder and they walked back to the elevator hand in hand.

I watched them go, and then I thanked Michael for coming in.

"You know, if you weren't already spoken for, I would ask you out. You are one interesting lady, Stephanie Plum. I look forward to helping you out of any other problems you end up getting into."

I watched him walk away.

"You know, I am not sure that was a compliment, or an offhanded way to say your insane." Ramon said standing next to me.

I turned and smiled at Ramon as I walked away. "Maybe it was a little of both."

I looked at myself in the full length mirror in Rangers bathroom. I had on black cargo pants and a black tank top. I pulled on a solid black hoodie, black socks and my black Cat boots. If I was going to be doing this, I didn't want anyone to see me. I had to say, I looked pretty wicked in all black. I admired myself in the mirror. I posed pretending to be James Bond, then I posed pretending to be a super sexy cat burglar. I needed red lipstick to complete the effect, but I didn't have any. To bad. I had been running just about every morning with either Lester or Ramon. I could see the difference the routine had made on my body and I was thankful that they had pushed me to continue the routine even when I wanted to quit.

Tonight we were going to break into Les Seabring's office building. I knew that there was always a chance we would have to leave in a hurry. Being in better shape would keep me from getting caught. I holstered my Sig Sauer in a black nylon strap-on leg holster. I put my mini pepper spray and my knife in the pockets of the pants and I pulled on a black skull-cap. I took a deep breath. A tiny black pen light went in one of the last pockets.

I walked down the stairs of RangeMan and met Tank and Ramon. Lester was staying behind to check our progress from RangeMan, and Hal was driving. Tank and Ramon were the smallest of the men at Rangeman. It wasn't saying much, because Tank was a big guy, just not as big as the rest of them. Ramon was the best electrician in New Jersey. He could arm and disarm a security system in less than a minute. He couldn't be big like the rest, or he wouldn't be able to do a lot of the work they needed him to do. He was the one who installed most of the security systems for the company. He had to be normal size to fit into small places and do complicated work for hours at a time. Lester and Hal were a lot bigger than both of them. Harder to hide, and slower.

We had all of Les Seabring's private codes and his keys, but we didn't want to take any chances. Ramon would disable everything. We were all dressed in black. We looked like The Mod Squad. Tank handed me a bulletproof vest. I put it on under the hoodie.

We climbed into a black SUV and headed out. Hal was to drop us off at a safe distance. Close enough for us to get out quick but far enough away to not look suspicious. If a police officer happened upon us looking like this, I don't know if we could talk our way out of being arrested. We looked like trouble, plain and simple.

He stopped the truck in between two buildings. He was going to stay mobile. We all had trackers, cell phones, and radios in our ears.

"Ok, here's the plan." Tank said quietly, crouching down next to the SUV. "Seabring's office has security cameras and a lightweight alarm system. According to the blueprints Edward had, Ramon knows exactly where those are and how to disarm them. He will disable the alarm and signal us. We are walking in the back door. Wear your gloves. Once inside we take the stairs to the 4th floor. RangeMan will be calling in to me in a few minutes. I had a heat scan run over the entire building. I want to make sure no one is home."

Tank's phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked at the text he received and put it back. "It's clear, let's move."

We each turned our radio's on and started off towards Seabring's. I walked fast, staying clear of sidewalks and lights. We were dropped about a mile from where we were going. I followed Tank down alleys and breezeways, keeping out of sight as much as possible. It was still warm outside even for 2 am. I was starting to sweat.

We were deep in the business district of Trenton. Tall glass covered buildings loomed overhead. As we walked through, sprinklers started coming on as we made our way towards the target. Some of the buildings had lights still on, making me wonder if there were actually people at work this time of night, or maybe a midnight cleaning crew. I wondered if Seabring had crews come in every night. It was something we hadn't thought of.

We crossed Hamilton, continued down Olden heading straight for Seabrings Securities and Bonds. Lights were on in some of the offices on the 4th floor. My heart skipped a beat as I worried about running into Les or someone else on that floor. I started getting scared about what we were about to do. I wanted to turn tail and review everything, but we were already in position, there was no turning back. This was our chance.

Ramon changed direction and Tank and I waited in the shadows for the signal that told us everything was disabled. My cold feet were getting colder, and I had to hold my tongue. I was seriously freaked about breaking into Les's office.

A car pulled into the parking lot. Over the radio I heard Ramon swear and Tank do the same. "Rosie's Cleaning Ladies" was written on the side of the car.

"Shit." Tank said. "Visitors. Ramon, heads up."

"I almost have the system down." Ramon said through the earpiece. "They won't notice when they use their passcards. Having them in the building is actually good, I will stay with them," he whispered. "Go now, through the back door."

We sprinted across the cement, avoiding the sprinklers. Tank and I stood in the shadows next to the door. He whispered "Back Door".

"Now." Ramon whispered. "Stairs are to your left."

Tank opened the back door ahead of me. Trying to control the butterflies in my stomach, I moved forward when I was told, scooting too close the door in fear that some unknown person would see. I was relieved when it closed and I was undetected. We moved forward towards the stairs. Tank was quick. He moved fluidly into the stairwell and he was up to the second floor before I navigated the first 4 steps. He was taking three steps at a time, I was taking one. I tried two. My legs would have to forgive me; I needed to stay with him no matter how much it hurt. By the time I got to the 4th floor, my legs were burning and I realized I was still no athlete. I knew why I had never joined the Army. I would have been laughed off the base. I was trying hard to catch my breath. Tank waited for me patiently. Cat burglars must have a healthy relationship with a gym.

Slowly, Tank opened the door to the 4th floor, telling Ramón where we were. He looked both ways before entering, checking to see if we were truly alone. My heart was pounding so loud from the run up the stairs I forgot I was scared.

"Which one is Les's office?" Tank whispered.

"Last door on the right from the reception area."

"Where is Jeanne's office?"

"Left, first door from the reception."

"Let's go there first." He said, stepping away.

Jeanne's office didn't have crime scene tape or any tape on the door telling you to keep out. The door was a jar. Inside was Jeanne's desk, but not a lot more. Everything had been removed.

I thought about the false bottom on Edward's desk at RangeMan and I ducked under hers to see if maybe they both used the same hidden storage. Sure enough, there was a hidden cubby. I was elated. I pulled it down and retrieved a stack of folders and papers and I handed them to Tank. The stack was at least 5 inches thick. He looked at it surprised and unzipped his pack and dropped them in. I looked for more, but found nothing else of use.

Next we moved into the reception area. Suzi's desk was neat and organized. It did not have any sign of a false drawer or bottom. Nothing to indicate she was part of any dastardly deed. Just a normal desk for a woman with a normal life.

We moved on to Les's office. He was a clean, neat man. The office was pristine. I was just about ready to give up the goose in his office when I spotted a picture that was on his desk. It looked strange. It didn't seem real, like a picture you would buy with a frame. I picked it up and opened the back. Inside, I found another picture hidden under a family portrait. It was a picture of Jeanne Ellen and Les Seabring on his boat "Whatever the Sea Brings". They held each other smiling into the camera lens. They seemed to be very much in love. She was wearing a white and red tank top and white shorts; He had on a green Hawaiian shirt and white shorts. The wind was blowing and they looked happy. The date on the back said it had been taken in May. Four months previous. I put the photo in my pocket. I was positive I now had the missing boyfriend and probably the father of Jeanne's unborn baby.

Tank walked in from another room with a trash can full of paper shreds. The paper looked like the ones we had just gotten from Jeanne's desk.

"I found a shredder. Someone used it on the folders." Tank said disappointed. "I will take the paper shred with us, but I don't know if it will help us much."

I showed Tank the picture I had found.

"The missing boyfriend" Tank said. He gave it back and I put it back in my pocket for safe keeping.

So Les was the boyfriend. He was probably the one who stole the files from Jeanne's desk, but was it to cover for Jeanne or to cover for himself? Before we left, we did quick searches of the remaining offices on the 4th floor. They were either empty or used for storage. I thought it was safe to say that we found what we were looking for. Now we just needed to get back out.

Tank talked to Ramon. "We're done. Anytime, Bud."

"Fifteen minutes. Wait for my signal. Then take the stairs quickly. Don't call me Bud." Ramon said quietly back.

We waited patiently for the signal. Ramon came back on the line whispering. "Someone else is here. They are pulling into the lot. Unknown people. By the look of the car, it might be your undercover FBI."

"How many?" Tank said concerned.

"Five. Leave now. I will meet you out back. Be quick."

We ran down the stairs. I almost fell I was moving so fast.

"Resetting alarm in one minute, get out the door." Ramon whispered in a hurried voice.

We flew out the back door and into the shadows. My legs were shaking badly. I watched as men in dark suits went to the front and back of the building. We watched as two men disabled the alarm that Ramon had just fixed.

I turned and almost jumped out of my skin. Ramon was next to me. He put his hand up to his mouth saying "shhh..." We were close, hiding behind a hedge. They were standing twenty feet away from us. We saw the men show the cleaners their badges as they opened the doors and walked in quickly.

I knew they were after the files we just took. We silently scurried away from the building hoping to be long gone before they realized the files were not there. Tank located Hal and we piled in and quickly got the SUV rolling.