Chapter 16: Without A Trace

Stephanie sat in the SUV for a few minutes. Her doors were locked and she was parked a distance from the nearest car, and under a halogen light, so she felt safe in the waning daylight. She sat and tried to figure out her next move. It came to her suddenly and she acted without further consideration. She pulled the SUV out of the library parking lot and headed to Slater Street. She needed the speedy cooperation of the TPD, and she knew of no better way to ensure it than to have Joe Morelli pull some strings.

She knocked on a door she no longer had a key to and heard the familiar and comforting sound of Bob's greeting. Morelli opened the door and showed mild surprise as he stepped back to let her in.

"I didn't think you were doing bond enforcement any longer," he said, motioning to the utility belt around her hips. "You must be seriously after someone."

"I'm not doing bond enforcement," she told him. "And I'm seriously in need of your help." She bent to hug Bob who was excited to see her.

They sat on his sofa as they had done so many times before, and she told him about Ranger's disappearance.

"Who's on the case?" Joe asked her.

"I have no idea. Tank is dealing with the police, but I think it's connected to my abduction, and tonight, I found the place where they held me. I'm sure Ranger's there. I need your help. We've got to get him out of there."

"Call Bouchard," Joe said. "He's running your case."

"I know he is," Stephanie said. "But what I don't want is some big SWAT operation coming in and blowing the door off, and then us finding Ranger inside, dead. I can't get into the place without shooting off the locks and alerting whoever is downstairs. I thought maybe you could … help."

Joe sighed. He ran a hand through his hair, and Stephanie distractedly noticed he was in more need of a haircut than usual. It had been a while since she'd been at his place, but it felt normal. Almost like walking into her own home. He'd been such a part of her life for so long, she thought he'd help her, and she wasn't wrong.

"Let me call Bouchard. We'll try to go through the guy upstairs. I know the area you're talking about. Long's Janitorial Supply has been the subject of investigations before. During my old man's time it was a front for the numbers game. Recently, it was linked to a neighborhood protection racket."

"Thanks, Joe." Stephanie stood. "Let's go."

"Hold on, Cupcake. You asked for my help. I'll help, but you have to stay out of it."

"But …"

"But nothing, Stephanie. You can come along, but you stay in the car until the room is open and Ranger is out. Understand?"

"Yes," she said. And this time she meant what she said. She would stay back and let them do their job. She wouldn't compromise Ranger's safety.

It was all so anti-climactic. The two detectives, Morelli and Bouchard, disappeared into the janitorial supply store, which was still open even though it was now approaching eight o'clock in the evening. She was sitting in Morelli's truck, half a block down the street when the two men came out of the store along with the guy in the coveralls Stephanie had seen earlier. They disappeared under the stoop, the three of them together. The guy was going to let them into the basement! She wanted to jump out and run to the stairs, but she'd promised Joe she wouldn't, so she stayed put.

The headlights of an approaching vehicle momentarily obliterated her view of the storefront. The car drove past the janitorial supply building and parked, illegally, on the street across from her. It was a dark, nondescript sedan and even without being able to see inside clearly she knew who'd be getting out. Someone had called in reinforcements and now the FBI was on the scene.

Her attention, which had been momentarily diverted, went back to the storefront as she saw Joe emerge from the stairs. The streetlights in this block weren't halogen, and there were dark shadowy areas, but she could see well enough to see Joe was alone. He motioned to her. The FBI must have thought he was motioning to them and as she opened the door and slid out, Jason Black emerged from the car across the street. He was working solo tonight, it seemed. Joe reached Stephanie's side and took her arm, and without saying anything, began to move her toward the building.

"Joe?" She hated the wavering weak sound of her voice.

"The room is empty, Cupcake. No sign of Ranger, or that he's been there."

Her heart broke into tiny pieces and, abruptly, she stopped walking. Jason Black came up on the other side of her. "Ms. Plum, are you okay?"

Joe's arm went around her. "No, she's not," he told Black. "Go on ahead, we'll be there in a moment." When Black walked ahead of them, Joe leaned in and spoke quietly to Stephanie. "Bouchard wants you to look at the room, Steph, to have you positively ID that it is the place where you were held."

"Okay," she said, "But Ranger…"

"He's not here," Joe told her again. Her disappointment was almost paralyzing. She'd been so sure, and now what? Where did she go now? She moved forward with Joe's gentle urging.

Bouchard was standing in the doorway. "We need you to ID this place. Come take a look and tell us if it's where you were kept."

She stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked inside. A feeling of nausea came over her as she saw the dimly lit room and the ancient sofa. She looked at the toilet and saw the small stack of wrappers she'd saved to use as toilet paper still waiting on the floor. She saw the metal rings on the wall where she'd been chained. She turned and ran back up the stairs to the sidewalk where she bent over and vomited. Tears blurred her vision as she turned toward the wall of the building, and waited for the overwhelming nausea to subside.

She felt a hand on her back and a handkerchief was slipped into her hand. "You okay, Cupcake?" She nodded and put her hands over her face.

"I'm taking that as a positive ID that it is the place you were held?" Bouchard's voice came from behind her, and she pulled away from Joe's arms to answer him.

"Yes, it is. The chair that's broken ... it's the chair that I dismantled and used to hit Ski Mask Man. And the trash, by the toilet, I put it there to …" she let her voice trail off. But she took a deep breath and tried to focus. "Yes, I'm sure it's the place I was kept."

"We'll get someone on this right away," Jason Black said. He seemed kinder tonight, Stephanie thought. Now that he'd seen where she'd been held, it was as though he finally got it. She was the victim.

"I don't think we need anything else from you tonight," Detective Bouchard said. "You need a ride somewhere?"

"I've got her," Morelli told the other detective. "Her vehicle is at my place. I'll get her back there."

They rode in silence, until Morelli pulled up behind the RangeMan SUV still parked in his driveway. "You okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Stephanie said, but she was lying. She was trembling so hard her voice was shaky. "It's just ... I thought Ranger would be there, and when he wasn't … Now I have no idea where he might be. Or if he's safe. And then I saw the room and it sort of hit me, that I'm lucky to be out of there and …"

Joe leaned over and gave her a hug. "Spend the night with me, Cupcake. This isn't a time to be alone."

"What?"

"Spend the night with me. I can help you forget about that room. I can give you something to remember other than your prison."

She was astonished, but she shouldn't have been. Joe had been kind and comforting, and she'd almost forgotten he was motivated by his own desires, always.

"What would your new friend, Alison, think about that?" Stephanie asked.

"She's away on a business trip. She won't be back until day after tomorrow." He let his fingers stroke her arm. "It's not as if sleeping with you is cheating, Cupcake. We have a history."

Steph leaned back against the door and stared at him, unbelieving, for the longest time before saying, "Some things never change, do they, Joe?" She opened the passenger door and slipped out. "Back your truck off the drive, and I'll get my SUV out of the way. I'm going home. Thanks for the help, but no thanks to the offer."

Joe shrugged and put his truck in reverse. She should be offended at the ease with which he gave up, but in truth, she was relieved. She wasn't emotionally strong enough to deal with Joe tonight. She was struggling with the fact that Ranger was still missing, and she had no idea where he was.

She got into the SUV and made her way to RangeMan where she'd have to deal with a pissed off Tank on five and an empty bed on seven. She had to let Tank know what had happened tonight, to let him know everything she knew and everything she suspected.

And what exactly did she suspect? She'd been careful not to mention Terry to Joe, because they had no solid proof it had been her. She'd needed Joe's help and she hadn't wanted to antagonize him by accusing his ex-lover. And maybe it wasn't Terry, because—why would Terry take Ranger? And how could Terry take Ranger? Could there be someone else out there? She'd heard all the statistics. Victims usually knew their attackers. Who did she know that would do this to her? To Ranger?