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Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the plot and Annie. Even the title is borrowed from Van Morrison.

Italics - Spanish

Some bad words, some violence, and fade into black sex-scenes, nothing too graphic.

Chapter 10. Nothing messes up your Friday like realizing it's only Tuesday, part II

"It was Gazarra. He´s coming over. We'll eat lunch in the conference room. Hector, do you have anything else, for now? You´d better not speak to Gazarra about your electronics, he needs to be able to have a plausible deniability."

"I´ll try to plant some more of my electronics. I won´t eat lunch with you, but I will help to scan Gazarra."

"Thanks, Hector."

"Yes, thank you, Hector. I really appreciate your help," Annie said.

After a few more minutes trying to plan what to do, mostly regarding the Plums, Tank´s cell phone rang again.

"Yes."

"-"

"I'll be down in a minute."

Tank hung up.

"It was Zero at the desk. Gazarra´s here."

They all went down to the lobby. Hector made a quick scan, Gazarra left his cell phones with Zero, and after that Tank, Annie and Gazarra went into the conference room.

"Sorry, I'll just call Ella. I totally forgot that," Tank said.

While they waited for Ella Gazarra gave a quick summary of what they´d found at Annie's apartment.

"There was the message and cupcake on the doormat. Inside the apartment there was nothing disturbed in the living room or the kitchen. In the bedroom a bag of clothes were slashed, probably with a knife. The remains were put on the bed, and, well urinated on."

"You mean he pissed in my bed?! Or rather my landlord´s bed! Now they must have enough evidence, I mean there´s DNA. Oh, and the clothes. It must have been the ones I borrowed here at Haywood, and forgot to give you back, Tank."

"They have taken samples from the bed, the note was handwritten, and they think they have fingerprints as well. They just must be sure it´s new ones, not from the last time."

"'The last time.' Do you hear what you´re saying, officer? This is multiple breaking and entering, plus property damage. This time. Is he locked up now, or are you waiting for him to come back? And what about the restriction order?"

Annie was breathing hard, and Tank took her hand.

"I must say I agree, Gazarra. What are the TPD doing? Oh, and the clothes were spare clothes for Stephanie. Ella had worked her magic sewing machine and they all had the Rangeman logo on them. I suppose that got him even angrier. After all, the tracker says that the Plum car was parked two streets over for 45 minutes."

Gazarra sighed.

"The technicians promised me that the finds from the apartment would be processed ASAP. And I´ve put two rookies on asking the neighbors if they have seen anything, There weren't many people at home when the rookies went their round, so they'll continue tonight.

"Morelli is not locked up, but I´ll be meeting him at the police station at two o'clock. Unfortunately together with Johnson from Internal Affairs."

"And in who´s pocket is Johnson? This is one screwed up investigation."

"Johnson´s contacts are quite convoluted. I don't know if he's in anyone´s pocket, but then I didn´t think I would find myself in this situation."

There was a knock on the door, and Ella came in with a small food trolley.

"This is the vegetarian sandwiches, and the soup is vegetable. There´s also turkey and ham and cheese sandwiches on the other plates."

"Thank you, Ella, I really appreciate it."

"Oh," said Tank. "Do you still have your nephew working in that cleaning firm that has specialized in crime scenes?"

"Yes. Miguel´s still supplementing his income there while he's studying."

"Annie´s apartment needs to be cleaned, and the bed especially so. And the mattress needs to be replaced."

Tank turned to Annie.

"Do you know if your landlord's insurance will cover that until we get Morelli to pay for it?"

"I haven't got the foggiest. I have a supplementary insurance, but don't know what that will cover either."

"I'll call Miguel," Ella said. "And I can help if the firm is booked up."

"I´m very grateful Ella, but that's not the kind of work I´d like you to have to do. Obviously Morelli, or whoever was in the apartment, fouled the bed and all the things in it. Oh, and the clothes you so thoughtfully helped me with the other day."

Ella´s face got flushed. "You mean to say that he…"

She fell silent, but muttered something under her breath.

"I´ll go and call Miguel right now. Please, try to enjoy your meal."

They ate in silence for a couple of minutes.

"This is just for your ears, Gazarra. Annie will not be staying in the apartment for the next couple of days at least. We´ll place a camera at the door, plus some other things. I´ve already sent some men over. And I also think you need to know that I´ve spoken with Stephanie and Ranger. Morelli was…" He fell silent. "Let's just say that things were out of control then as well. I´m not able to give you any more details right now."

"I always thought that Steph moved away very suddenly. Even if she and Ranger finally got together, the move to Miami felt abrupt."

"No comments," Tank said.

"I won't push you – this time."

They ate the lunch, and briefly talked about different angles, but nothing concrete. Gazarra thanked for the lunch and was off to the station.

Ella came in.

"I've talked to Miguel. The firm can be there in half an hour if that works for you."

"Thanks a lot Ella."

Tank looked at Annie.

"Are you OK with going over there now? You could pick up some of your things, and we can let the firm inside the apartment."

"Yes, that sounds good. Thank you, Ella."

Ella collected the food trolley and left.

"By the way, how did the Rangeman-team get inside to set up the surveillance equipment? I still have my key, this time I didn´t leave it with the TPD."

"It wouldn't be much of a security firm if we couldn't get inside an apartment with standard locks. And I can assure you that if you were going back there right now it wouldn't be standard locks."

Annie gave him a look.

"I´m a thoroughly modern woman, but there's something about the protective vibe that gets me… Well, thanks."

She gave him a kiss, and they left for Annie's apartment.

x x x

When they got there Tank introduced her to two Rangemen she hadn't met before – Hal and Ram. Both fit the usual description, quite tall and seriously built. The only exception she´d seen was Hector, who definitely seemed able to take down people at least twice his size.

Annie shook their hands and said hello, then continued into the apartment. She went to the bedroom, shuddered at the sight of the bed, and then continued to the wardrobe where she quickly packed a bag with clothes for some days, and continued to the bathroom, where she packed the essentials. At the coat racket she picked up two pairs of shoes. Tank had stayed at the door and talked to Hal and Ram.

"Are you done?"

"I´ll just look for perishables in the refrigerator, and take out the garbage."

The entry phone rang, it was the cleaning firm, and they let them in.

As they stood in the stairwell, the neighbor two doors down arrived.

"Hello Annie, is there any problem?"

"Hello Bart. Yes, someone broke into the apartment yesterday evening."

"Really? I saw a man I didn´t recognize in the foyer yesterday. I was on my way to the gym, sometime around eight."

"Would you be able to recognize him in a lineup, or on a photo?" Annie asked.

"Oh, and this is Tank. Tank, this is Bart Stevens, my neighbor. He´s helped me find a gym, and we usually meet up there a couple of times every week."

Tank shook Bart´s hand.

"And I sure can see why you haven't had any time to go to the gym with me the last days," Bart said.

"Yes, and hands off. You´ve got Marvin, and I don't poach. I thought that was a two-way agreement," Annie teased.

"Well, when you put it like that… Teasing aside, Annie, I´ll try to help you identify the man from yesterday. He was about 6 feet, dark hair, brown eyes and a fine ass. Around 35 years, and probably Italian. And he looked drunk."

"Thank you, Bart. And I won´t come to the gym for the next days."

"I can see why", he said with a look at Tank. "Oh, do you know if there's been break-ins in more apartments?"

"I haven't heard anything, this one seems to be more stalker-ish." She shuddered.

"Oh, honey, that's not something to tease you about. Are you OK? Can I help you in any way?"

"Thank you, Bart. Not that I know of right now, but keep your eyes open, especially after the guy in the foyer. Oh, and you don't officially know that I´ve moved out for some days."

"You´ve got it." Bart gave her a quick hug. "Take care."

He nodded at Tank and went to his apartment.

Tank and Annie talked to the cleaning crew for a couple of minutes, and then they left the key with Miguel, who promised to leave it at Haywood. Tank took the bags and they left for his house.

"I´ll go nuts if I just wait around. Want to go for a run?" Annie asked.

"Absolutely."

They changed clothes and took off. An hour later they were back. After a joint shower with some extras thrown in they went down to the kitchen.

Annie smiled at Tank.

"The run was good, but I think the shower was better as de-stressing."

"I agree."

"Do you have any food at home? I brought the perishables, so we ought to be good for tonight."

They raided the refrigerator and had homemade lasagna with salad. For dessert there was ice cream. When they had put the dishes in the dishwasher there was a phone call.

Tank just said a few words before hanging up.

"It was Gazarra. He's coming over. I´ll let him in."

"All right. I'll put on some coffee."

"Ms. Morrison."

"Please, just call me Annie."

"Thanks, I'm Eddie."

They sat down at the kitchen table with their coffee. Gazarra took a sip and felt his eyes dilate.

"Sorry. Forgot to warn you. This is Swedish strength coffee," Tank laughed.

"More like industrial strength," Gazarra responded. "And I'm Italian."

"Anyway, I´ve talked to Morelli. He claims to not remember what he did last night. I took the opportunity to ask if he had driven his car, but suspiciously enough he was quite sure that he hadn't done that, even though he still claimed not remembering what he had done. When I showed him pictures from Annie's apartment he got agitated when he saw the cupcake and the message, but claimed he hadn't put them there. The DNA-result isn't ready yet, but the evidence ought to be solid. They have some fingerprints from the paper as well, but only partial, so there's about 70% accuracy. They hope to be able to get DNA from that as well. He had a solicitor with him, who had a hard time to get him to shut up. Johnson from Internal Affairs was there as well, but he didn´t say anything. Right now Morelli´s still not locked up, but the tests should come through in a couple of days. I've set it to high priority."

"Thank you, Gazarra," Tank said. "We really appreciate that you take the time to come over here and explain in person."

"Are we still on for lunch Thursday?"

"Yeah, Haywood at twelve. See you there."

They said goodbye, and Gazarra left.

"The fact that Morelli´s still not locked up seems as suspicious as ever," Annie said. "But right now I don't want to think about him at all."

"I believe I can help you to think of something else."

"Oh, I'm sure you can. Let's go upstairs."