Chapter 31

For some reason I woke early the next morning, well early for me, so I was surprised when Ranger wasn't with me. A look at the clock told me it was 6 in the morning which if he were at Rangeman would have been when he was in the gym. Deciding to find him first I nabbed a robe from the closet and headed downstairs to be greeted with silence. Ansgar had lifted his head up and looked at me as if to say that it was far too early to be disturbed. That was when I decided to put his skills to the test. Our clothes from the night before had been collected together and were laid on the couch so I went through the pile until I came to Ranger's T-shirt.

"Find Ranger"

I instructed as I held the T-shirt under his nose. I couldn't believe how quickly Ansgar got to his feet and had to run after him as he ran down the stairs and into the garage. A left turn through that doorway and then he was pawing at the handle of one of the doors, the one that I hadn't been told about. I stepped forward before he did any damage and opened the door coming to a sudden stop.

Well shit. This property was like pandoras box with unexpected surprises popping up and I was left gawking at the latest revelation. I stepped forward to take in the full extent of the area and spied Ranger on a treadmill, but my eyes kept going back to the sight that had originally caught my eye. Walking closer to it I bent down, just to feel the water run through my hands. Then I was screaming as I was plunged head first into the cool water, spluttering and wiping the water from my face before using my hands to sweep my hair back. I was looking into the smiling face of Ranger, but he should have known that no one dumps me head first into a pool of water without me retaliating.

I splashed him, I jumped him and even tried swimming under him until the robe got tangled around my legs. To escape from Ranger, I managed to pull myself out and sit on the edge with my feet dangling in the water. Ranger swam across to me and wrapped his arms around me as he stood in the water.

"I wanted to bring you down here when you woke up. Do you like it?"

I nodded my head as I took in the gym area with the machines and weights and the pool that I'd been in.

"I bought this place four years ago, for some reason I wanted somewhere more personal here in Trenton. The whole place was a wreck but that suited me because it gives an illusion and hides the inside"

I remembered looking at the building when I was in the field surprised with the outward appearance.

"The external features are original with a structure built inside it. When I started, I used to stay in that room where Juan was, it gave me a chance to keep an eye on the contractors. The section that we're in is finished so the work is underway for the rest of the house"

So it was his house and he was making it into a place that would be safe and comfortable and judging from the outside, quite large.

"I thought it was a safe house"

I blurted out, wondering if he was ever going to fill me in with the truth. Was that just my insecurities coming through or ignorance for not asking. I sighed because he'd been so much more open with me over the last two days, so I needed to give him some slack.

"I wanted to ask you if we could go over the final plans and make sure that it suited the both of us"

Okay, that had me looking at him wondering why he would be asking me that.

"Babe, I always saw you here, as somewhere where you could escape to"

I opened my mouth to ask why he would say that. I mean I was in and out of a relationship with Joe. A finger over my mouth stopped me and I was captivated by his face as he continued to talk.

"I know, you could have married Morelli. Had that happened then I would probably have moved down to Miami, but this house would have been yours"

I blinked the tears from my eyes because this man stood in front of me was right when he said that his actions spoke louder than his words.

"I know you like your independence, to have a place to call your own and I understand your reasons"

Was I that obvious? I suppose I must have been, but after the divorce from Dickie and being left destitute with nowhere to live, well my mother might have taken me back, but with the backlash from the divorce and the gossip that went with it I doubted it. I felt that I had to have the security of having a place that was mine, that no one could take off me.

"You're on the deeds Babe, you own half of this place"

That was the last thing that I expected to hear, and I had no idea what to say to him.

"But, what, how. Sheesh Ranger, why did you do that?"

"An action that I would never have regretted because this sassy, curly brown-haired woman with amazing blue eyes showed me what life was about"

I had no opportunity to argue with him or even to tell him that he must be mad because he shut me up by kissing the daylights out of me. When he pulled away, he became all serious on me and completely diverted my attention with his plan for the day.

"We need to get dressed and have breakfast because we have an appointment this morning with Alfred Creighton"

Oh yeah, we'd mentioned that last night before we got carried away with other things. As we ate a simple breakfast, well to me croissants were simple, I read through the search that Ranger had managed to do this morning, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Alfred had been 61 when he'd sold the bonds office and he was the ripe old age of 92 now. His wife had died 13 years later but it was 5 years before Alfred decided to move from the house that had been their home. He'd bought an apartment at the building where we were going to visit him.

To be honest I'd never heard of the place where we were going, and I was pretty sure that grandma had mentioned every possible place where old folks were catered for.

"What kind of place is it where Alfred lives?"

I asked Ranger as I finished reading the search and realized that I'd finished my croissants as well.

"It used to be an old mansion that was bought by developers. They converted it into very exclusive apartments. The new owners liked the idea of having elderly people there so sell the apartments to include security and the availability of staff on hand"

Like sheltered living where the person could come and go as they pleased. The only problem that I saw was what happened when the old person couldn't look after themselves, did they have to move again into a care home?

I was very impressed as Ranger turned off the main road through some gates and onto a private drive. Ahead of us surrounded by well kept lawns was a large, impressive stone property. Ranger pulled up and parked to one of side of the large porchway that held an equally large door.

I was glad that I'd put on a dress, a dark blue woolen dress, that was more demure than I usually wore, well it had looked like that on the hanger. Once on it fit me perfectly, hugging my body before flaring slightly at the knee. Getting out of the truck had been the first time that I'd seen it in the daylight, so I was surprised that we were driving around in deep green truck. He must have swapped it out when he'd gone to Rangeman.

Ranger held the door open for me and we walked into a reception area where a young woman dressed in a uniform was sat behind a desk. As soon as she saw us, well saw Ranger, she was standing up and extending her hand to him. I suppose I couldn't blame the way that she was ogling him, dressed as he was in black pressed trousers, a black shirt with the collar loose, and a leather jacket. He did look delectable and extremely sexy.

"We're here to see Mr Creighton. Mr Manoso"

"Of course. If you'll follow me"

She used a fob to open a door to the side and led us down a wide hallway with Ranger by her side and me trailing along behind. The surroundings were very well appointed, with high ceilings decorated with ornate lights. The walls had a subtle wall paper with occasional paintings and doors leading off on either side of us. The woman was chatting away to Ranger when he stopped and waited for me, taking my hand so that I was between him and the woman. Was he using me to shield himself from her? Interesting. I'd never really thought about how Ranger felt when women threw themselves at him, did it annoy him?

As she stopped at the last door, I was pretty sure she turned and again was speaking to Ranger, totally ignoring me.

"Just knock and Mr Creighton will open the door"

Ranger waited until she'd left us before he knocked on the door and then we were waiting for it to be answered. I was surprised when I heard a clicking sound before it swung open and for there not to be anyone there.

"Close the door after you come in will you"

The voice seemed to come from somewhere inside the apartment so I assumed that was an invitation for us to enter. Ranger walked in first his posture showing me that he was on full alert taking in the surroundings. We were in a large airy room that had windows allowing the light to flood the room. It was a beautiful room set out as a living area with several high backed chairs surrounding a low coffee table. A whirring sound had me turning and I turned to watch a very old looking man approach us in an electric wheelchair.

"Miss Plum, it's a delight to finally meet you. I follow your work with avid admiration"

I'm sure that my eyebrows shot up to my hairline and I was on the verge of saying "None of it was my fault" when I stopped myself. I wasn't going to explain myself to this man because okay, I had landed in shit a lot of times, but I'd always come out on top. What surprised me was that he knew who I was, but then again maybe Ranger had used my name when he'd made the appointment to meet with him.

"Mr Creighton, thank you for seeing us. I know it might seem strange, but we thought that maybe you could help us"

Yeah, me saying that had him looking from me to Ranger and then back to me.

"Lass, I don't go anywhere or see many people, hell, I spend my time reading, internet browsing and sleeping. How could you possibly think that I could help you?"

He'd moved his chair toward the window as he spoke, so I honestly thought that was his way of asking us to leave. When he moved the chair to face us again, I'd say that he was too curious and was wanting to hear us out.

"Lad, the coffee should be finished in the kitchen, I take mine black. Let's sit by the window and I'll hear you out"

I almost smiled at him calling Ranger lad but we both did as requested, so I found myself sat in one of the high backed chairs with Alfred parking his chair opposite me. For a man of 92 he'd aged well, okay he had the white hair and wrinkles, but his stature was solid as he sat there, and his eyes spoke of a man who was sharp of mind. His attire suited the apartment, smart in his dark green trousers, blazer and shirt. The room that we were in was clean and tidy with mismatching wooden furniture that worked well over the dark brown patterned carpet. I waited for Ranger to appear because I wanted him with me when I started to ask Alfred about Silas Sullivan. Ranger was far better at picking up nuances from facial expressions or body language than me and I wanted to know if Alfred was going to be honest with us.

As soon Ranger placed the china mugs in front of each of us, I sat forward to engage in conversation with Alfred, pleased that he hadn't grilled me while Ranger had been out of the room.

"I met Silas Sullivan recently under very unusual circumstances and wanted to know some background on him. I know that he worked for you before you retired, but I got the impression that maybe he'd seen you when he was working in New York"

I had thought that Alfred would have been surprised at me mentioning Sully but waited patiently as he lifted up his mug and took a sip.

"Sully. A lost soul if ever I saw one. He kept in touch after we parted company, mainly by letter, but then it seemed to stop. I suppose I was like a father figure to him, mentored him as he began his trade as an apprehension agent so assumed that he'd moved past wanting to communicate with an old man like me"

Like Ranger had mentored me, which made sense because there were skills to be learnt and I'm sure that a bond would have developed between them.

"So when did you last see him?"

Alfred paused before he answered me, making me wonder if I'd totally misunderstood the message in Sully's verses. I watched as he looked beyond me as though remembering things from the past.

"He grew hard, working in the city. Chased the money from high dollar bonds and when that wasn't enough found new ways to achieve the adrenal rush with a chase. Then something happened that had him rethinking his choices. Guilt. He was torn apart by guilt for what he was doing but couldn't seem to escape the hold he was under. He came to see me, to ask for advice on what to do. He was a mess, drinking heavily because he couldn't see a way out. I spent a month sobering him up before we came up with a solution. Seems Sully was caught up in something big with powerful men trying to call the shots. So I suggested that he came up with, well an insurance to get them off his back. I never heard from him again until about 4 weeks ago"

Everything that Alfred was telling us fit into the assumptions that we'd made but now I was curious to know why Sully had called to see Alfred so recently. I hadn't even considered that he would have done that and by my reckoning he'd been here before the incident at the bank.

"What did he tell you Mr Creighton?"

"He's dead, what does it matter now?"

The tone of voice surprised me, it was almost as if Alfred was annoyed or even maybe disappointed. The problem was how was I supposed to answer. Alfred seemed to have been sincere with us so far so did I tell him the truth?

"Mr Creighton, Steph came across Sullivan during a very stressful incident and for some reason he passed her a book"

The way that Alfred looked from Ranger then back at me had me instantly knowing that he was aware of the book so hoped that he knew of its significance.

"That's good then. Sully, well he had added more information to that insurance that he compiled. I don't know exactly what it was, I wasn't sure that I wanted to know. We agreed that it was time for him to put things right, that too much harm had been done. I think that he realized that he would never feel at peace unless he made sure that those in power were stopped, something that I have to admit, I agreed with"

That confused me because there was no information in the book and as Sully had only visited the bank that day for the first time in 20 years, he hadn't added any new information.

"You look confused Miss Plum"

I nodded my head as I tried to figure out if I'd missed something, but I was sure that I hadn't.

"If you have his book then you have the secret of where he hid that information. I assume that after he came to see me that he updated it with what he'd learnt recently"

"You know about the book?"

Of course he would do if he had spoken with Sully recently and maybe even knew where Sully had kept it for safe keeping.

"Yes. As I said he came to see me so told me about it and where it was. Even told me that it held the clue as to where all of the information was safely hidden. Information that he updated"

I had never even considered that the book contained clues to another place but really, I suppose that it made sense if he was to have the evidence of stopping these assassinations.

"I'm glad that it ended up in your hands. I still like to keep up to date with what's going on with Vinnie. You and Sully, are very much alike. Tenacious and stubborn yet with an uncanny way of finding the truth. Maybe he had the physical strength to capture his adversaries but you, you have a way with people"

I knew that I was frowning because now I knew how he'd recognized me. I finished my coffee while watching Alfred wondering what Sully would have done had those men not turned up or what might have happened to the book had he given it to someone else. Shit, talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I looked at Ranger to see that he was watching Alfred carefully, so wasn't surprised when it was him who asked the next question, but was with what he asked.

"Mr Creighton, what aren't you telling us"

That question from Ranger surprised me but looking at Alfred I could see that Ranger had hit a nerve. His expression changed moving from surprise through sadness to annoyance. Something else had definitely happened or been said when Sully was here but I had the feeling that Alfred wouldn't be the one who would be telling us.

"Look, that's all I have to say on the subject"

The change in his tone was noticeable and gone was the pleasant man that we'd encountered when we'd first arrived. As we'd all finished our coffee by now it seemed that Alfred had told us all that he was going to. It had been helpful, filling in some of the holes of what we knew. Ranger must have had the same feeling as well because he stood up and collected the mugs before returning them to the kitchen.

"Thank you Mr Creighton, for talking to us"

"Good luck Miss Plum, but if you do intend to chase Sully's puzzle be careful. He intimated that powerful men were involved who wouldn't think twice about hurting someone"

I nodded my head fully understanding what he was saying then reached my hand forward to his, surprised when he seemed to ignore me.

"Goodbye Miss Plum. Please ensure the door is closed when you leave"

I think even Ranger was surprised to see Alfred disappear through a door leaving the two of us in his living room.

"Time to go"

I said to Ranger as I turned and walked toward the door. We were both quiet as we walked away from Alfred's apartment, me, I was deep in thought but assumed that Ranger was keeping an eye on our surroundings. If these people were dangerous would Alfred be safe? Would others have thought to make the connection to him as we had done?

"Will he be okay?"

I asked as Ranger was driving back down toward the main road.

"Rangeman provides security for the building, but I'll ask Tank to add it to the patrol routes"

How the hell had I missed that. That was probably why Ranger knew where Alfred lived because the names of the owners would have been on the Rangeman contract and also how he'd managed to arrange for us to meet with Alfred.

"Babe, what's bothering you?"

"I know that Mandy and the manager were released so maybe Sully died while he was being questioned"

"You said yourself that he was ill"

I sighed as I conceded that what Ranger had said could be true. Katrina had said that he'd died because of his diabetes but I never asked where he'd been found. I wasn't sure that I'd ever find the answer to that. What took over my thoughts was whether or not I wanted to bring closure for Sully. That he'd passed that book onto me was purely fate, so maybe Sully deserved for me to find the answer to his puzzle and put a stop to these men who thought that they were above the law. Okay this was me that I was talking about so of course my next thought was how to unravel the clue that Sully had woven into that book. Maybe he used the letters of words to reveal a clue?