Apologies. Some of you were slightly confused with the use of the name Jacob at the end of the last chapter. Isaac Jacobs is the full name but I've lifted the last sentence from the last chapter to avoid confusion!

Chapter 24

I was feeling very nervous with how I would deal with Isaac and how he would react to me being here.

Without turning to look at him, I decided to start the conversation.

"Hello Isaac. I see that you've refurbished the room just as it was. Looks good, especially without Mama watching"

I turned with a photo frame in my hand to see him take a step toward me. Oh my, did he looked pissed. Pfft, that was the intention, so be still my beating heart and don't show him just how afraid of him you are.

"It's a good photo of you, but tell me, why are there none of you and your brother?"

As he took another step toward me and grabbed a hold of the frame I stepped back and watched as he carefully repositioned it back on the shelf.

"You think that you're so clever, don't you. Not in my book, being here on your own was a stupid move"

I shrugged my shoulders and retreated to the chair, placing my hand on the back of it and looking out of the window. This would have been the view that his mother would have been looking at. Yep, directly at the mounds in the field which I was sure wasn't a coincidence.

"Pissed you off, didn't she? Did you have her sat here watching while you buried those women.

"They were useless just like she was"

It seemed that Isaac was keen to talk to me, maybe he needed to gloat over what he'd done. That could also be bad for me since a witness to his ramblings wasn't likely to be allowed to live. At least I knew that Isaac was responsible for those deaths, but it did baffle me by what he meant by them being useless.

"What, not up to the job of being a sex slave or having babies"

I could see that he was annoyed at the comment. His nose flared and his eyes were piercing into me. I needed him to calm down a bit, because he still had so much more to say. Deflect his anger, was what went through my head and seeing as there were no family photos with his brother here made a wild assumption that they hadn't got on very well.

"It must have been hard on you having a brother like Elijah. Always doing things that annoyed you or got you into trouble. Did your mother always try to protect him, cover up what he did, ignore you when you were so good?"

Okay, I was taking a wild guess here, but I knew there had to be a very good reason why Elizabeth had moved her and her sons to another area. I used a softer tone in the hope that Isaac would remember those times and hopefully give me some insight into what life here had been like.

"He was an imbecile, moaning and crying. He began to trap animals, bugs and butterflies at first, then lost it when they stayed dead. Mama found out when she caught him with a cat that had strayed. He told her that it was me. We got into a fight and that was when he gave me this"

Isaac moved his hand to his face to where the scar ran down his face. That must have been one hell of a fight for that to happen with a lot of pent up anger coming to the front.

"So that was when you moved here. I suppose that your mother would have been worried what the school might ask and if pets were going missing then that would have concerned her"

Isaac's whole body language deflated. It was as though he thought that I understood how he'd felt, as though this was the first time that he'd actually spoken to someone about his life as a child.

"She kept him here with her and ignored what he was doing. It was as if she was praising him"

"But ignoring you. When was the first time that he hurt another person?"

Yeah, my asking that certainly shocked him. Come on, there had to be an escalation of Elijah's behavior. Soon enough small animals wouldn't be enough.

"My first girlfriend. Stupidly she came here when I didn't know. Maybe she thought Elijah was me, I don't know. When I came back home Mama was helping Elijah to get rid of her body"

That shocked me because I just hadn't guessed that there had been a young woman murdered so long ago. We'd never looked into missing girls from that far back. How had the FBI not found her? Geez, was she in a pit somewhere, maybe underneath the house?

"So that was when you killed your mother and had Elijah go back to your original home"

I wasn't going to ask if Elijah was a part of that. I doubted it, especially if he saw his mother as his ally. Something still wasn't adding up for me but at the moment I had to focus on keeping Isaac occupied. What the hell was taking Oscar so long? It looked like Isaac wasn't going to be giving me an answer for that last question. On the other hand, he hadn't denied it either.

"But Elijah just continued, didn't he?"

"After he left I decided to leave the area, to leave him to it. Bummed my way across to the east coast. I don't know why but I came back. Ran out of money probably. Three women, he had three women in this hole in the ground. One was already dead, another near enough. He was just playing with them, so I showed him how to put them out of their misery. I didn't know what to do so I made him help me bury them and then made sure that he got a regular supply of drugs that would keep him docile before I left"

I suppose being so young it would have been hard to ignore his brother and what he'd done. Maybe there was a feeling of protectiveness from Isaac toward his brother which was why he did as he had done.

"What about the more recent victims that were found here?"

Because that couldn't have been Elijah. If he was on any drugs, then he would probably find it hard to function let alone come all the way here. Isaac laughed which didn't bode well as far as I was concerned.

"You ask too many questions. I'm sick of this game of yours"

Uh oh, I was beginning to think that he had reached the end of talking to me. Quick thinking was definitely needed. It made me wonder what Isaac had been up to after he left Elijah, after he killed those women. Did he get a taste for hurting women or did he hate women so much that he enjoyed the idea of trapping and kidnapping them in order to traffic them.

"No games Isaac. I'm just trying to understand"

It seemed that he was serious that he wasn't going to be telling me anymore and I was feeling that me being here for so long wasn't such a good idea. I anticipated him moving toward me so quickly turned and grabbed hold of the chair, putting it between us.

"We had a good business going until you showed up. Kiera said that you had a way of digging around. You're like some stray cat with nine lives. Well, by my reckoning you've used up your nine lives"

Him suddenly lunging at me had a stifled scream come from me, totally unintentionally, but it gave me the impetus to push the chair toward him. As he stumbled to avoid it, I made a dash for the door only then remembering that I had a gun somewhere underneath the hoodie that I was wearing.

I heard a shot being fired and this time it did hurt. I fell forward with the gun in my hand, reeling from the excruciating pain in my back. I felt myself being rolled by someone pulling on my arm and was face to face to face with Isaac. His sadistic smirk really pissed me off, so I forced myself to lift my free arm.

"A shame, it would have been quite the challenge to break you, to make you beg for mercy. Or better yet see you tethered waiting for the next john to screw you"

It was as if everything was happening in slow motion. His arm rising up as he took a step back in order to aim the gun at me. I knew that from his expression and movements that he wouldn't hesitate to fire that gun again and kill me. My free arm shifted and with the determination that I never knew I had, I pulled the trigger of my gun. Once, twice, three times. I lost count. I know I heard someone say, "Screw you". Maybe it was me as I watched his face change from evil hatred to absolute shock. As he fell forward onto me, that was when my head went back, when I started to violently shake and the world went black.

"Beautiful. Come on, open those eyes for me"

Urgh, what the hell? Why did I feel as though I was floating on a cloud? Why did my mouth feel as though it was full of cotton wool.

"Don't want to"

I was compos mentis enough to realize that I was laid on my stomach with my arms wrapped around a pillow. I felt my hair being swept from my face so decided to risk it and try to open my eyes. My cheek was comfortable on the smooth fabric but for the life of me I had no idea where I was. Then it came back to me. Isaac Jacobs looking down at me as I lay on the floor with a gun in his hand. I'd shot him, several times, so I knew that he was dead.

"Ranger?"

Was who I wanted news on. Had they found him, was he okay? To get an answer I slowly teased my eyes open wondering why I felt so out of it. It was Les's face that came into focus, sat in my line of vision.

"You did good, Beautiful. Oscar found him and called in the other guys for help"

Huh, well at least me distracting Isaac hadn't been for nothing. Didn't I get shot? I could swear that I'd felt a hell of a punch on my back before the pain erupted.

"Can I go see him?"

Trying to ignore asking what injuries I had. To be honest I was too afraid to ask in case it was pretty serious.

"No. Your back's swollen and bruised so the doctor wants you to rest up. Can you remember what happened?"

I closed my eyes instead of rolling them, that would have taken too much effort. Yeah, nice try at avoiding answering my question about Ranger.

"Tell me the truth Les. Was he badly hurt?"

I opened my eyes in time to catch Les looking down at his hands before looking back at me.

"Don't sugarcoat it"

I added. Hell, didn't I deserve to know how he was? Was he that seriously injured?

"He'd been badly beaten up. That wasn't the worst though. Someone had repeated strangled him, not enough to kill him but enough to cause his throat to swell up. Corey had to do an emergency tracheostomy just so that he could breathe"

If I hadn't already killed Isaac then hearing what Les had said made me want to do it again. I was pretty sure that had Isaac's MO written all over it.

"So, when can I go and see him?"

I asked again. How hard was it for Les to arrange that. Okay, I knew that I needed to move in order for that to happen but at least having the incentive of seeing Ranger would do the trick.

"You can't. I'm sorry, Beautiful. His handler swooped in and had him moved to an army hospital. Even if I knew which one, they'd never let you in. Nobody knows anything"

I didn't know what to say. What could I say? If no one knew which hospital, then there was no way for me to get to see him. Why would his handler do that? Was Ranger so seriously injured that an army hospital was the best place to take him?

"Where am I?"

Trying to look beyond Les to work out what room I was in. It didn't look familiar. Not the bedroom at the house or the apartment at Rangeman. The walls were too white, if that was possible. A hospital, oh no, I better not be in a hospital, I hated being stuck in places like that.

"The infirmary at Rangeman. Corey gave you something for the pain and swelling, but it also knocked you out. He wants you to stay here and rest"

Yeah right. Since when had I ever followed doctor's orders to rest. Never. I'd always had too much to do. Which had me remembering that we still hadn't caught all of the bad guys. Kiera and Nikita were still out there somewhere.

"Did Tank find anyone at the homestead?"

Remembering that the plan was to have two teams raiding the two places at the same time. It looked to me as though Les didn't want to answer me from how he looked away from me.

"Spill it Les"

How bad could it be? Okay if there had been nothing at the homestead then it might be bad. By my way of thinking Nikita and Kiera were hiding out somewhere.

"They found Kiera. She was in the hole at the back of the house. At first, they thought that Jacobs or Nikita must be there, but the place was deserted"

I was probably frowning at Les, because I was damned sure he was missing something out. Why would Kiera hide in that pit? Surely she would have known that everyone was aware of the place. It sure seemed a strange place to hide in. The more that I thought about it the weirder it seemed. If Isaac and Nikita weren't there, then why hadn't she gone with them? That was when the pieces began to fall together. What was it that Les had said, that they had found her.

"Is she?"

I didn't want to add the word dead just in case I was totally wrong, but Les nodding his head confirmed my thinking.

"She'd been strangled, so the assumption is that Isaac was responsible"

I was back to being speechless again as I continued to look at Les. Maybe he thought that I'd heard enough because a minute later I was aware of figure appearing at his side. Corey.

"Steph, you need your next dose of medication. It'll relieve the pain, reduce the swelling and help to relax your muscles"

Did I have a say in that? It seemed not because before I could even respond I felt a sharp prick in my arm. The lights were dimmed, and I was left on my own with my thoughts. Why would Isaac kill Kiera? Had she served her purpose as far as he was concerned? Afterall the whole baby making facility had been closed down so she wouldn't have anything to do. Then again hadn't she been living in Isaac's apartment in Los Angeles. Didn't that imply that there was something going on between them? Had I totally misread that? Or was there something more devious going on. I bet that Kiera knew all of the ins and outs of what was happening. People that worked for them, clients who they dealt with, so was she murdered because of what she knew?

But we knew everything didn't we? We knew the how, the where and the who. Or did we? A name popped out of nowhere into my head but the struggle to remember who that was became too taxing, so I allowed the sleep to envelope me.

I spent three days laid on my stomach, hugging a pillow to my chest. Okay, I was helped to the bathroom when I needed it, because moving was hard and painful. It seemed that a vest might stop a bullet from killing you, but it didn't stop the injury created from from being badly bruised.

Was I bored, not overly because I had company for a lot of the time. Hector set up a TV in my line of sight and sat with me as we watched some films. Cal would visit and play battleships, though having a voice activated screen certainly helped. Yeah, that was how much I needed the company. Ram dropped in and organized an iPod with music and audio books on, while Tank would bring me my food and sit with me while we ate. The most relaxing routine of my day was when Corey came in and massaged my muscles. From my toes to my head. Who knew that the Boston medic was an ace masseuse.

What no one would tell was what the hell was happening. If Nikita had been found or give me any of the details that had been acquired from Alina's house or the nightclub. All in good time, became their common response. I was sure that they were all conspiring against me. It was on the fourth day that I was allowed to lay on my back, but even turning to do that was still painful. With an electric bed where the mattress rose and fell it at least gave me some control of what I was doing. From then on, I worked on strengthening the muscles in my legs, which I had to admit had become lazy with little movement.

The pain in my back lessened perceptively each day after that so by the sixth day I was able to walk all by myself to the bathroom. Hoorah for me. Okay, I struggled to sit up but it wasn't going to defeat me. I had every intention of walking out of this room by the end of the week. The time on my own, which was the worst part of being here, had me thinking about what I would do next. In the end I decided that once I was mobile that I would visit Jonas. Did I still have a job? Would he be mad at me because of Kiera? Illogical I know, but since when are people logical, certainly not me.

The second week had me looking after myself in the Rangeman apartment though I was concerned that I'd probably kicked Tank out of his bed. My time was divided between the gym and a conference room on four. No way was I going to be ignorant of all of the facts or details that were responsible for bringing the trafficking down. From the information found at Alina's house, the Manor and the club I discovered that it had been one well organized operation. Details of the sites used on the dark web with contacts for the people bidding meant that there was hope for the babies. I was astounded at the depth of knowledge gained on individual women so there was a chance of eventually tracking them, if it wasn't too late for them. The one thing that had been a closely kept secret were the names of those masterminding it all. Did that matter? Alina, Isaac and Kiera were dead, and we knew about Nikita. Where he had disappeared to though was a total mystery, probably he'd left the country by now.

What did surprise me was that no one had any news regarding Ranger, and I didn't think that they were purposely lying to me. I honestly believed them when they said that they had no idea where he was or how he was recovering. That made me feel so frustrated. It was time to move on, as I'd said some months ago, but this time I had the support of the Merry Men. New and old friends.

It was a Monday morning, and I was sat in a black SUV looking down the drive to where Jonas lived. I was feeling nervous though I wasn't sure why. Then again seeing Jonas and knowing that Kiera had been murdered wasn't sitting well with me. What do you say to the uncle of a woman who would be grieving when you knew full well how evil she had been. Avoid the subject, came to my mind.

"Beautiful, are you going to get out?"

I sighed before opening the door and getting out.

"Remember that you have a date tonight. I'll pick you up from here at 1800hrs. If you need a lift before then, just call Rangeman"

A date. That brought a smile to my face. My date was with Les, Tank, Bobby, Cal, Ram and Manny. They were leaving in the morning to return to Trenton. Yeah, that had a sad feeling coming over me, though Les had said that he often came to Boston, so we'd be able to catch up then. Waving to Les I watched as the SUV disappeared around the corner before walking up toward the house. Knocking on the door I waited unsure if Jonas was even here or if I'd be talking to his housekeeper.

"Annie. You're a sight for sore eyes. How are you?"

Jonas stepped out and pulled me into a hug. It felt genuine and certainly had some of my nerves settling down.

"I'm so sorry Jonas"

Saying the only words that I could think of to convey my condolences.

"Thank you for that. It wasn't necessary. I think Kiera was lost to her family years ago. She had always been a child who was attracted to trouble and this time was her undoing. What she was involved with makes me so feel so mad and yet at the same time so disappointed"

I wasn't expecting that from Jonas, but I could understand where he was coming from. I'd fallen under her spell as she pretended to be my friend and in return she'd stabbed me in the back, figuratively speaking.

"Let's walk over to the office. I know Oscar will be pleased to see you and I have a surprise for you"

Now my experience of a surprise had always been a bad experience. Okay, when I was a kid, I loved the surprises that came at Christmas or for my birthday. As I'd gotten older my mother's surprises had always been something that she envisaged for me. Like a cookery book or sensible underwear. So excuse me if I was a little trepidatious for what was about to come.

Stepping from the elevator into the office felt surreal after been away for so long. Oscar was waiting for me and handed me the most colorful bouquet of flowers that I'd ever seen in my life before he hugged me.

"It's so good to see you up and about Annie. You really had us worried at that settlement"

Ah, that was the last time that I'd seen Oscar but he shouldn't have been worried about me. In my opinion he was the one who had the worst job to do.

"Thank you for finding Ranger"

An ex navy seal who blushed, what next? Came to mind as Oscar lost his voice.

"How is Ranger, has he recovered from his injuries?"

A look at Jonas and it was obvious from his tone that he was being sincere with his question, not just being polite.

"I don't know. He was whisked away to an army hospital. No one seems to know anything"

I replied with a sigh. Jonas brought his arm around my shoulder as he guided me past Oscar and into the main room making me remember the whole sordid affair involving Jex. It was a shame because he was good at his job and probably a genuinely good guy. That Kiera had manipulated him made me mad with her all over again. As we stopped a high backed chair swiveled around to face me and I watched as a large man rose from the chair. I knew him but him being here threw me. Who was this?

"Annie, this is Jerome. He's part of the team now that. Well now"

Came from Jonas as Jerome extended his hand to me.

"Jerome, as in the person who came to my rescue?"

"Darling, you rescued me in ways that I could never explain. Heidi is safe and back with me now. I wasn't sure how I'd cope if I never found her"

As Jerome also gave me a hug, I was racking my brains to remember what Heidi's story had been. Oh yeah. She was living happily with her boyfriend when she discovered that she was pregnant. They'd had a humongous argument with a lot of loud shouting because he'd said that he wasn't ready to start a family while Heidi was secretly overjoyed at the idea. They'd argued loudly for several days but had to attend a friends birthday celebration at, yeah you guessed, the Cat's Whiskers. Her boyfriend had stormed out leaving her with her friends and it was after that she'd disappeared.

"Heidi was never on our lists because the police were determined that Jerome had done something to her. He was their prime suspect"

Came from Oscar as he filled me in on the rest of the story. I knew that poor Heidi had given birth prematurely and the baby hadn't survived but I wasn't going to raise that with anyone now. What we'd told each other in that truck was confidential as far as I was concerned.

"Jerome here is amazing at working with computers so he's been looking at some past cases and seeing how important his role will be"

I looked at Jonas as he said that. It seemed that I was slipping back into my own role here, though hopefully any clients that we had would provide us with less risqué jobs to do. Maybe I'd had enough excitement for a while.

"I know that you're still recovering Annie. I'd like to suggest that you take a week vacation time. R and R. Rest and relax so that you're in prime shape for coming back"

I was about to object when Oscar placed his finger to my lips to keep from speaking.

"You've been through some extreme situations recently. Didn't you read Jonas's protocols? Anyone injured or after a high anxiety case has to decompress with a week's down time"

He said that with a smile and I had to admit that he had me with what he'd said. Yeah, I'd read the protocols but had never imagined that they'd apply to me. What would I do with a week's vacation time?

I spent another couple of hours at the office talking to Oscar and Jerome before heading over to my apartment. I'd been away long enough for the dust to settle but Jonas had been prepared and asked Rita to clean and tidy the place. My sheets were washed, and my clothes were folded neatly on the top of the newly made bed. All that I had to do was to get ready for my date with the Merry Men.

As I sat waiting for Les I considered my options. I could stay here and make the most of the last of the summer sunshine by visiting beaches or I could suck it up and go visit my parents and Joe. Though the real reason to visit them was seeing my grandma. I could probably pop down to Philly and catch up with Lula and maybe meet up with Connie to see how she was getting on. The more I thought about it the more the idea appealed to me so when Les arrived I already knew what I'd be asking him.

I'd put on a dress for my evening out, curled my hair and added makeup. I felt good and seeing Les wiggle his eyebrows at me knew that I looked good as well.

"Everything go okay with your boss?"

Was the first thing that he asked me.

"Yes. It didn't feel at all awkward. The only drawback is that according to his company protocols I have to take a week's downtime"

"Makes sense. It's something that we have to do after a mission. You'd be surprised at how edgy you can feel after being in a stressful situation. So what are your plans?"

Which took me straight to where I wanted to be.

"Go visit my family. Les, do you have an empty apartment on four in Trenton where I could stay?"

He didn't answer me straight away which had me wondering if I'd be looking for a motel to stay at. No way was I staying in my old room at my parent's house.

"What if I said that the only empty apartment was on seven?"

I turned to look at Les and squinted my eyes at him. Was he being serious? No way was I prepared to stay in Ranger's apartment. Okay, I'd stayed there before but only once had I done it without his agreement and that was the first time when I was desperate to find somewhere safe.

"I'd say fine, I'll find a motel"

What was it with Les trying to get me to stay in Ranger's apartment? It wasn't as if I'd spent any time with him in months. I didn't count that one night in that house because he'd taken me there to protect me and keep me safe.

"Okay, okay. Yeah, we have a spare place. Not up to staying with your parents?"

I inwardly groaned at that idea. A night maybe, but after that all bets were off. The whole fight to use the bathroom was bad enough but to have to endure my mother telling me what to do or who to visit wasn't what I wanted. I bet that she'd see it as an ideal opportunity to insist that I had all of my meals with them and then she'd start to invite any man she could lay her hands on to come for dinner. No thank you.

"I'll visit on my terms but there are other people I want to see"

Before we even got to the restaurant plans were set up for the morning. The Merry Men were flying back in a private jet, something to do with them being able to carry weapons back to Trenton. Les would pick me up at 7 in the morning.

It was as I walked into the restaurant and spied the men sat at a large round table at the back that I realized that Hector was missing.

"Where's Hector, isn't he going back to Trenton with you?"

Les never answered me as he led me over to the table and it was only as he was holding my chair out that I got an answer.

"Hector headed out yesterday"

Even when I looked up at Les expecting some more details, he turned away from me. I was sad that I'd missed saying goodbye to Hector. Over the past few weeks, I'd felt that our friendship had grown.