Chapter 30

Joe walked in RangeMan alone, as promised. I watched him as he came up to the front of the building, and I buzzed him in. Joe was working the homicide table. He got the job without wearing the suit. He was the Morelli family's good apple on a tree of mixed fruit.

John Sexton stood next to me at the security desk. He was a temporary transfer from the Atlanta office. John was all business. He had come in a few days before. His shoes were military, his clothes were pressed. He was clean shaven no matter what time of the day it was. He had dark hair cut to a one, and dark eyes that said very little. He even stood up straight. Tank told me he only spoke in one word sentences. John reminded me of a walking cyborg. He had Joe fill out a paper on a clipboard, and handed him a visitor tag.

"This is new." Joe said, clasping the alligator clip onto his shirt.

"They do it different in Atlanta." I said. "Just go with it. When they get the new team in, it will probably go back to the way it was." I told John "thank you", and I got the nod response. I pressed the button on the elevator taking us up to three.

"What happened to the team that was here before?" Joe asked.

"Tank let them go. Too many coincidences."

"Wasn't Jeremy Canon heading?"

I nodded, "Yes."

"He is a nice kid." Joe stated.

"I liked him, too, but if you go with statistics, his team was off the chart with problems. We thought it would be better to replace everyone."

Joe was silent. "We?"

"What?" I said, not understanding.

"You said, "We thought it would be better to replace everyone." Not "They" had to replace everyone.

"So?" I said.

"So, you are working here now?" There was a tinge of irritation in his voice that I pretended not to notice.

"No- maybe." I cracked my knuckles.

Joe raised his eyebrows.

"I'm not sure what I want to do, but the offer is on the table."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I suppose it would be a step up from Vinnie's Bonds. Might not be safer, but it's a step up."

"Yeah, well just 'cause the offer is out there,doesn't mean I will take it. At Vin's I work for myself. Here, I would be working for Ranger. It would be...weird."

The doors slid open. The third floor is the brain of RangeMan. It is one gigantic long room. The elevator opens to the middle of it. It was not very secure for a business like this, but when this was a casino, It was perfect.

"It always comes back to that, doesn't it? You hate it when other people tell you what to do." Joe said sarcastically.

I squinted my eyes at him. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing." Joe said, as we stepped into the conference room together.

Joe had his phone recorder on the table and his notepad in front of him. He was busy writing out what Ranger had told him about the boat.

"Are you sure it was Les Sebring's family you saw?" Joe asked. His pen poised, waiting.

"No. It is an assumption. I have never met his family. The woman was probably in her forties, the two girls were young teens. Maybe 12 and 14." Ranger stated.

Joe opened the file folder that was in front of him. He thumbed through a few pages, then slipped an 8×10 color picture out of the thin stack and slid it across the table towards Ranger. It was a portrait. The kind everyone gets at least once in their lifetime. The picture was of Les and his family. The background suggested it was winter. "Christmas at the Sebring's." Was printed in gold lettering across the bottom. In the picture, Les and his wife were standing. The two girls were sitting on a green painted bench. Snow was on the ground and in the surrounding bushes and trees. In the background was a blurred image of a horse and sleigh. The whole thing obviously done in a studio. It was a nice picture of what looked to be a happy family.

"Are these the people you found on the boat?" Joe asked.

Ranger studied the picture for a moment. "Yes. The girls were older." He studied the image once more before handing it back.

"What about the man you saw?"

"He was in his sixties. Gray hair. 6'2 or 6'3. He had on gray slacks and a collared white shirt. Looked like he could have been working upper class."

"He might have been dressed to look that way." Joe remarked.

"His hands were soft. Manicured. He was white collar. I would check with missing persons if I were you." Ranger explained.

"From what you saw, how were they killed? If you can remember anything, it might be helpful."

Ranger leaned forward. He studied Joe for a moment. "Les Sebring's wife was strangled. I can't tell you if she was raped before of after, but it happened. It was rough, and there was a lot of blood. I would be guessing, but I think she was killed during the act. If you need more than that, I can make a formal statement privately with a forensics team."

Joe glanced at me for a moment. "What about the two daughters, Kylie And Jenna?" He asked cautiously.

"Nothing that I could see. I don't think they were violated if that is what you mean, but I didn't spend a lot of time checking. I was looking for a pulse, then moved to the next." Ranger answered.

"And the man?" Joe asked.

"He was beat up. His neck might have been broken." Ranger said.

Joe flipped a page in his notebook. "Tell me about the bomb."

"It was a pipe bomb. I couldn't see it very well, It was cylindrical, 4 pieces of pipe wrapped with what looked like electrical tape. gray metal. I was focused on the timer. It was digital. I knew it was real. I ran up the stairs and jumped off the boat. It exploded before I hit the water."

"Where was it located?"

"Under the captain's chair. I think there was more than one. Two more explosions went off after. One near the back of the boat, and another close to that one. Maybe one was a bomb, one could have been the gas tanks. They sounded different."

Joe finished his notes. "Jones and Foster are the leads on this case. They will want to hear what you have to say. I'm sure they will have more questions. I was brought in to consult, but I am not suppose to get too involved. The district attorney's office made that very clear."

Joe Paused. I could tell by the look on his face he was unhappy that it wasn't his case, and that Ranger was involved again.

Detective Jones is a good cop. He is thorough. Foster is his side kick. Whatever Jones does, Foster follows along like a puppy dog. He is a descent detective, but he doesn't like to lead. Jones had high hopes for the part of cloth they found. It is not going to be easy to convince them that you were not involved." He picked up the notepad. "This will help, but until you come in to give your statement, they won't take it seriously. If this was my case, you would be at the top of a very short suspect list."

Ranger slouched in his chair. It was obvious he was unhappy with that statement. His dark eyes turned serious. "If I come in to give them a statement, can you guarantee they won't hold me?"

"At this point, I can't guarantee my socks match."

"I need to be out looking for Sebring." Ranger snapped.

"No, the cops need to be out looking for Sebring. Right now, everyone thinks Sebring is dead. You are the key witness. You have to come in and give a formal statement. You need to explain why your hat was on that boat. They will issue a warrant once they get the results from the cloth."

"I will come in for questioning when I can be sure that I can walk out of there. I gave you everything I know. They can work with that."

Joe shook his head. "You know that's not how it works. They get something off that hat, they will come looking for you."

They would need to catch me first." Ranger mumbled.

Joe smiled, leaning forward. "I can catch you."

Ranger nodded, cautiously watching him.

"You know I didn't kill those people, Morelli." Ranger said, quietly.

"I still would have a civil duty to bring you in, if a warrant was issued." Joe stated.

"Then don't let that happen." Ranger demanded. He was not going to back down. I really couldn't blame him. I mean, the last thing I would want is to go back to jail again for something I didn't do.

Joe leaned back in the chair. He tapped his pen on the table as he stared down at his notes. Finally he took a deep breath. "The problem is this. Who is going to collaborate your story? We talked about this when I released you. You go out on your own, something happens, No one is going to have your back. I know your not stupid, so I am not even going to ask you if you remember that conversation. You were suppose to contact me if you saw him... You didn't. If you would have, I could have at least been able to back up your story, and the Coast Guard would have known to look for Sebring when he headed for shore . The lone wolf routine was a mistake. It's not going to be easy to convince Jones or Foster that you are just an asshole and not the killer."

Ranger and Joe were at a standstill. I had to do something. It was all Mano a Mano in the room. My hair was frizzing with all the electricity in the air. I thought at any moment Ranger would body slam Joe right into the partition wall. I had never heard anyone tell Ranger off. I had done it a few times, but I thought being a girl may have given me the advantage. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. I had to say something quick before they started throwing fireballs at each other. I cleared my throat. "What is happening with the bodies. Any positive ID matches yet?"

"No." Joe said, taking his focus off Ranger. "Not yet, it is slow going. The bodies are in bad shape. Especially the male. He was almost dust. But I think you should be more concerned with your new stalker pal than anything else."

Shit. I had momentarily forgotten about that, and talking about it was going to make it all the more scary.

Ranger slid his eyes in my direction. "Are you sure that the man you saw was Les Sebring?" Ranger asked.

Right at this moment, I wanted nothing more than to be wrong. "It looked like him, the only thing that threw me off was his hair. Dark brown instead of gray." Maybe it was just some random person checking out the dark and ominous building across from the park.

"When I saw him, his hair was dyed dark brown." Ranger said to Joe.

"Tell me again what you saw." Joe said. "I need to get this down."

I thought back to what I had seen, trying hard to remember even the smallest details but at the same time making it sound like I could have been completely wrong. Inside, I knew it was Les. Outside, I didn't want to it to be true. "He was standing next to the biggest tree along the sidewalk across from the building. He was looking straight up at the seventh floor. He was tall. It looked like Les Sebring with dark hair. That is why I called Tank."

"That could have been anyone, Babe." Ranger said.

"Except Stephanie told me she had also received a threatening phone call." Joe stated.

Rangers eyebrows went up, I saw concern flash over his face. "You never told me about a call."

"I told Tank." I said, backpeddling. "He sent Hal and Les to the park to check it out. They didn't see anyone. All they found a ripped up picture of me with writing on it." I threw that out there with a shrug. No big deal. A picture of me torn up is old news. Lots of people have that happen, right? I was beginning to worry that I was going to be the one who would be locked up if I wasn't careful.

"I sent it to the lab." Joe said. "I haven't gotten anything back yet, but the timing is right. You need to be careful." Joe said to me.

I had both of them looking at me like I should be locked away in a vault until they could figure out what was happening. That was not going to happen. I didn't do well in confined quarters. I literally climbed the walls.

"Why would Les Sebring go through all the trouble of blowing up the boat to make it look like he was dead only to come back and taunt me?" Maybe the picture of me was just a coincidence. Maybe it was a random stalker. I had lots of those. It didn't mean Les Sebring was around.

"It's possible leaving isn't his goal." Ranger stated. "Maybe he wants to be a ghost."

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"Could be that this entire operation, the boat and the bodies was to make the police believe he was dead, then he could move around without anyone looking for him. Maybe you were the target from the beginning."

Say what? "Why me?"

"Maybe he blames you for ruining his plans. Think about it, he had everything planned out perfect. Retiring, divorcing his wife, and floating away with Jeanne Ellen to start a new life. He then you come back into town and everything falls apart. Jeanne starts acting strange, and he gets suspicious, and things go into a downward spiral. Clearly he has lost his noodle. But it is possible he thinks you are the cause of his downfall. As much as it is not true, he could still think it is your fault." Ranger said.

"Great. Les blames me for not getting his happily ever after. That is fantastic. So what happens now?"

"Next, I take this information back to the station." Joe looked over at Ranger. "Bring Rosewall with you if you need to, just come in and give them a statement. Everyone needs to stay on the same page if we are going to catch him before he does anything else."

"I want to look for the second boat." I said to Joe. He might be staying on it.

"The boat could be a dead end. It was probably sold years ago." Joe said.

"Look for it." I said. "I think that boat meant something."

Joe gathered the file together and headed for the door. "I will see what I can find on the boat. Be careful with her, Carlos."

Ranger nodded. "I got that covered."

I walked Joe to the elevator. He hit the button and turned to look at me. "You are going to be cautious, right?"

"Yes. I promise."

He smiled, stepping into the elevator, and hitting the button for the first floor. "Make him come in today. We need that information."

Ranger was still in his office. I grabbed a cup of coffee and went in. His desk was littered with files from the raid from Sebring's office. I sat on the edge of his oak desk and watched him shuffle through them.

"Do you still believe that I was wrong to leave you and the team out of the loop?" Ranger asked.

He was reading the very direct file on himself that Jeanne had written. It was difficult to read mine, I could only imagine what it would be like to read his own.

I weighed the question before I spoke. "You have a group of people who are not only your friends, but they work for you, they are loyal. You should have trusted them. You should have trusted me."

"Now on, you stay in the loop." He said, watching me. "No secrets."

I nodded. "Okay, no secrets."

"So, Since we are doing the "no secrets" thing, are you going to go in and give your statement to the cops?"

"Yeah. But I am bringing in Rosewall."

"Do you think they really will arrest you?"

"No. But I wanted to see if Morelli thought they would. I know Foster. He acts like a lapdog, but he has a high success rate for solving crimes. He knows a lot of the same players as I do. I think he will believe my story, but I will remain a suspect."

Ranger eyes studied me, I could feel the cogs of his complicated brain turning. "Have you thought about what we discussed before this mess happened?"

"About what?" We had discussed a lot of different things before Jeanne was killed. I didn't want to jump to any natural conclusions.

"About RangeMan. Working here. Working with me."

I plopped down in the chair across from him. Joe had a point, I couldn't imagine Ranger being my employer, telling me what to do. I hated that shit.

"I don't know about you being my boss. How would that work?"

"As fun as that sounds," Ranger said smiling, "you would be my partner, not my employee."

I crossed my arms, leaning back in the chair. "Partner? Tank should be your partner."

"Tank is my partner, Stephanie. So is Hal. The rest of the team are employees. Eventually, if they want to step up and become partners, the ball is in their court. Right now, they chose to be what they are. No strings attached. They want it that way."

"So partners have strings attached?" I asked, flirting. Ranger mentioning strings was new. I wanted to take advantage of it.

Ranger leaned back in his chair. He were like two gunfighters, neither ready to draw. He was holding his gold Cross pen, his fingers flipping it back and forth, his dark eyes focused on mine.

He gave me a sliver of a smile. "Partners have strings." Ranger said.

"Hum," I said. "So what kind of benefits would come with this merger?"

His eyes dilated. He slowly got up out of his chair and went over to the windows and drew the blinds. He picked me up, pulling me to him and swept all the papers off his desk with one smooth stroke.

Ranger was in the middle of telling me all about mergers and acquisitions when my car alarm went off.

He lifted his head up and reached across the desk, and grabbed his cell and dialed.

"Who's ever car that is, don't let anyone go near it." He said, quickly.

He went rigid. "John? You need to tell him to stay away from it."

An explosion shook the building. Ranger dropped to the floor rolling me with him under the desk.

"Talk to me." He screamed in the phone.