Francine glared at Benjamin. “So, this is the real you. If I’d known you were such a monster, I never would have accepted your marriage proposal. I can’t believe I even doubted that the man I’d fallen in love with could be anything but kind and gentle, even when I wanted to drag you kicking and screaming back to D.C. for just being a womanizing cheat.” Feeling her anger towards her former fiancé starting to rise to the surface, she pulled on all her training to keep herself calm as she spoke. “Then when I found out you were Carlos Veranos’ right hand man, I cringed at the thought that you were a role model for a bunch of high school kids, but I still didn’t want to believe that you could be any kind of hit man or worse. But now…now that I’m getting a chance to meet the real you…I can see that Adam Clyde was just an illusion, and I’m usually a much better judge of character.” She realized that she was probably talking too much but she knew that she had to keep her captor’s attention on her. If she got both men to focus all their attention on her, and Stephanie was smart enough to see an opening, then maybe the bounty hunter could find a way to escape. “So tell me, Benjamin, how did you know I’d show up here at Stephanie’s, or were you actually planning on kidnapping her for another purpose all together?”
“I didn’t actually know that you would be coming here, if that’s what you meant. I was actually going to use this pesky bounty hunter as bait to lure you in.” Benjamin laughed. “I bet you’re wondering how I even knew that Miss Plum would even be of any interest to you aren’t you?” He moved over to where Randolph was holding Francine and ran his finger tantalizingly along her shirt collar, all the while keeping his gun aimed in Stephanie’s direction. “You see, it really is amazing how fate works sometimes. I’ve been following you since you left my former wife’s house.”
Francine fought back the urge to show any kind of reaction to Benjamin’s taunting. She knew he was baiting her, after all, they had been intimate and he did know her weak spots. “I’m surprised that you would even chance showing your face there.” She looked closer at the gun in Benjamin’s hand and silently cringed. It was her gun he held, which meant that if she wasn’t careful, he could shoot Stephanie and pin the blame on her. Not that there wasn’t enough evidence against Benjamin, but she couldn’t take that chance. “You’re obviously smart enough to know that her house would still be being watched.”
Benjamin wrapped his fingers around Francine’s collar and pulled her face closer to his. “Well if it weren’t for the fact that things have gotten so out of control for me that I have to make sure the guns get to El Salvador, I wouldn’t have bothered.” He then planted a hard kiss on the blonde’s lips. “You still taste sweet, Francine. If I didn’t have other things to take care of, and we didn’t have this audience, I would have my wicked way with you right here and now.” He let go of her collar and stepping back a bit, looked her up and down, licking his lips lecherously. Clearing his mind of such scintillating thoughts, he shook his head slightly. “You’ve really put the hangman’s noose around my neck, Blondie. Since I know how much you love to ask questions, I’ll save you the trouble and just tell you what you’re probably dying to know. The reason that I was sneaking back into that house, is because there are some very important papers hiding in an old book that I placed somewhere in the house that not even the cops would think to look, but I’m not going to tell you where, that would spoil my best hiding place.”
Benjamin smiled cunningly at his former fiancée. “And now I bet you’re wondering how I’d know that I could even get into the house without my former wife knowing…well you see, I’ve had Eleanor followed for the last few months, so I waited until I knew she’d be going to her yoga class to make my move. Imagine my shock when I turned the corner onto Eleanor’s street and saw you and Amanda leaving her house with the Bombshell Bounty Hunter.” He nodded his head in Stephanie’s direction, never taking his eyes off of Francine. “I thought I was a goner for sure when I saw the look of recognition on Miss Plum’s face. I can’t tell you how extremely relieved I was when I saw you all jumping into your cars and going off in pursuit of that Celica.”
Francine clenched her teeth together to keep from spitting in Benjamin’s face. If her hands weren’t secured behind her back she would have been rubbing furiously at her lips, trying to remove the vile taste that lingered. How she had ever fallen in love with this Neanderthal Cro-Magnon wolf in sheep’s clothing was something she’d be asking herself for the next fifty years. She took a deep breath, pushing her disgust behind her agent mask. “So how did you manage to set the bomb, or was it one of Veranos’ men? I’m not being too presumptuous in assuming that you were the one that had the bomb placed on Lee’s car, am I?”
Benjamin smiled devilishly. “Very good Frannie. I see that not only are you inquisitive, but you seem to be very intuitive as well. You win the million dollar prize for guessing correctly, it was me who planted that bomb.”
Francine bit her tongue. If he called her Frannie one more time, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep her self-control. “I can’t help wondering, though, if you were back at Eleanor’s and we were off in pursuit of the Celica, however did you find us in order to plant the bomb? I mean I would think that you would’ve been so relieved that we hadn’t noticed you that you would have gone after your papers. Or did you decide to chase after us instead?”
“Once again, you’ve hit the nail on the head. I knew you were a woman with brains as well as looks.” Benjamin reached out and ran his finger over the blonde’s chest, letting his mind remember all the times he had enjoyed tasting her perfect breasts. Shaking his head to keep from letting his mind go down that path, he let out a reluctant sigh and shrugged his shoulders. “I hate to admit it, but the minute I saw you and Amanda leaving my old house, my brain went into revenge mode. I decided the book could wait, but I saw an opportunity to get rid of you that was just too perfect to pass up. So I joined in the car chase; however, I didn’t really need to drive like a maniac to keep up with you. I’d recognized Tommy, and I know some of his favorite hiding spots, so, based on the turns he was taking, I was pretty sure I knew where he was heading. Then when I saw Tommy’s Toyota smashed into that telephone pole, and saw the four of you chasing after Tommy on foot, I knew I’d guessed correctly. Luck seemed to really be on my side. I slipped up to Stetson’s car, planted the bomb and was gone before anyone knew I’d been there.”
Francine smiled gloatingly at Benjamin. “I bet you weren’t feeling too lucky when all the bomb did was destroy Lee’s car.”
Benjamin turned his full attention on Francine. “I was pissed. I’d set the timer for thirty minutes, hoping that you and Amanda would be in the car. Heck, maybe even Amanda and Stetson. Either way, if Amanda had died, it would have devastated Stetson, and you, and I was putting my hopes in the theory that you’d both give up your pursuit of me and keep you from nosing around in Veranos’ business as well.”
Francine mentally congratulated herself. Benjamin’s attention was now fully on her. She glanced over briefly at Stephanie, willing her to take this opportunity to run. She silently cursed, however, when the brunette misinterpreted her cue.
Stephanie caught Francine’s look and couldn’t understand why the blonde wanted her to distract this madman holding them at gunpoint. Especially, since, although she hated to admit, she was scared out of her mind, which seemed almost ridiculous, after all this wasn’t the first time she’d been in a life or death situation. However, if Francine needed her to help, she was going to swallow that fear and do whatever it took to assist the agent in getting them out of this situation. “Do you always carry car bombs on you, just on the off chance that you’ll run into someone you want to get rid of?”
Benjamin stepped away from Francine and turned his attention back on the brunette. “I learned the hard way not to keep any incriminating evidence in any of my cars. However, the car I was in was one of Veranos’. He usually keeps a small arsenal in his company cars. He’s made a lot of enemies, and sometimes he has to get rid of someone quickly. Unfortunately I guess the wiring on the one I found was faulty, because it went off twenty minutes too soon. I was really hoping to eliminate at least one obstacle, but alas, it’s not a big deal. Now that we know you all are in town, Veranos will take care of eliminating Lee and Amanda. You on the other hand,” he turned back towards the woman he’d been madly in love with not forty-eight hours ago, “will have to come with us for insurance.”
“Why not just kill me now and get it over with?” Francine noticed immediately that Benjamin was no longer pointing the gun in Stephanie’s direction and realized that if she was going to make her move, it was now or never. Taking a slight step forward, she prepared herself to take out the goon behind her.
“Because you’re going to be my insurance policy. Just in case Scarecrow and Mrs. King really are as good as everyone says they are.” Benjamin caught a slight glimmer of hope in Francine’s eyes and took two steps towards the couch. “Don’t even think about it Francine.” Keeping his gaze on the blonde, he reached down and grabbed a chunk of Stephanie’s hair. Yanking it upward, he pulled the brunette up off the couch and then shoved his gun into her ribs. “The minute you attempt to escape from Randolph, I’ll have Miss Plum’s blood spilling all over this room.”
Stephanie swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat. She hadn’t felt this sick and scared since Ramirez the boxer had been threatening her. “Who…who are Scarecrow and Mrs. King?” She glanced over at Benjamin and then turned her gaze on Francine. Then, as soon as the words had left her mouth, she realized she already knew the answer. After all, Amanda’s last name was King, and earlier today, Agent Petrakis had mentioned that Lee was the famous Scarecrow. Her only excuse was that she’d been too pissed off at Joe at the time to let the information fully sink in.
“I’m surprised you don’t know.” Benjamin glanced over at Francine. “Then I guess Stetson doesn’t like to shout his codename from every rooftop.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Francine kept her expression neutral. “So how is it that you managed to find out that little bit of information?”
Benjamin grinned at the blonde. “Oh, I know all about Lee and Amanda’s secret identities. You see, after I left D.C., I contacted Veranos and had him run a check on you, Lee and Amanda. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you guys worked for a secret government agency. Just my dumb luck to fall in love with a federal agent.” He smiled evilly at Francine. “If the famous Scarecrow and his lovely partner do manage to escape the trap that Veranos is having set for them as we speak, then I want you along to keep them in line. You are, after all, very important to them, otherwise you wouldn’t be the Maid of Honor at their wedding. Besides, I want to be the one to do the final honors of ending your life. It really is a shame that neither you, Amanda or Lee are going to make it to that happy day. Weddings really are joyous occasions.” He turned his attention on to the brunette. “And you, bounty hunter, are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Seems to be a trend with you, doesn’t it? I’m truly surprised you’re still around to tell the tales. We all would have been so much happier if you had died in that fire at Stiva’s.”
“So why do you need me along if you’re only going to kill me?” Stephanie glared at Benjamin. “You know, your grandmother would be very disappointed to know what a monster you really are.”
Benjamin tightened his grip on Stephanie “Veranos wants you alive. Apparently your cop boyfriend is getting a little too close to closing down his operation. You’re just another addition to the insurance policy Veranos asked me to gather together.” He glanced down at his watch and then back at the brunette next to him. “I think we’ve waited long enough to ensure that your neighbors are all in bed. We’re going to make our way outside and down to my car nice and quietly.” He aimed his gun in Francine’s direction. “I have reinforcements outside, just in case you’re thinking of escaping once we’ve left the confines of this rat-trap of an apartment.”
Francine silently cringed as she felt a gun being pushed into her back and mentally berated herself for thinking that the gorilla behind her would be unarmed. “You know if you’re going to be that rough, you might as well just put the bullet in me now.”
Benjamin nodded slightly in his associate’s direction. “You can ease up a little, Randolph. I have a feeling Ms. Desmond’s going to be quite cooperative.” He then pulled on Stephanie’s arm as he led her towards the front door, placing the gun in Stephanie’s side, in easy view of Francine’s gaze.
Francine allowed herself to be led out of the apartment and as they made their way down the hallway, she was about to comment about the fact that the goon with his gun in her back had left the door open, but quickly dismissed that idea. Since no one was expecting to hear from them until tomorrow morning, maybe one of the neighbors would notice Stephanie’s open door and investigate or at the very least call the cops. “We’re taking the stairs?” She asked in an annoyed tone. It was bad enough that she was being forced to give up a good night’s rest, but to be forced to walk down the stairs at gunpoint, when she was already overly tired, was just going a little too far.
Benjamin pushed the doorway to the stairs open with his foot and forced Stephanie into the stairwell. “Yes, we’re taking the stairs. I don’t want to take the chance that that batty old woman’s still hanging out in the elevator.” He glanced over at the brunette, and asked in a quiet, but irritated tone, “I think I realize the reason you like this apartment so much, everyone here is almost as annoying and strange as you are. Does your super know that she’s impersonating a department store elevator operator? If he doesn’t someone should tell him and have her sent to a funny farm.”
Francine shook her head in disgust. “I have to ask, Benjamin, was Adam Clyde just a façade, or was he in some part real, because I have to say, you suppressed this evil side of you very well.”
Benjamin turned his head slightly and grinned. “It warms my heart to know that I was able to fool one of the country’s top federal agents.” He turned back around and kept his eyes focused on their descent. “Adam Clyde, like all my other aliases were really just an extension of who I am. This evil side, as you choose to call it, only comes out when someone gets on my bad side, and let’s face it Frannie, you definitely pushed the wrong buttons. Now, enough with the chit-chat. These old stairwells echo and we wouldn’t want to wake up any of the nice, crazy old folks, would we?”
Francine glared at the man in front of her. If she wasn’t afraid of seriously injuring Stephanie, she’d have kicked Benjamin in the back and forced him to fall down the remainder of the stairs. However, she gritted her teeth and prayed that when they got into whatever car was going to transport them, she and Stephanie would be put in the back seat, alone. Thankful that she’d had enough time to place the pick back in the cuff of her blouse before all hell had broken loose, she knew that if they were left unobserved, she would have ample time to pick the lock on the handcuffs, if even the tiniest bit of luck was on their side. Granted if Amanda were with her, instead of Stephanie, there would be no doubt in her mind that Lee would be waiting outside in ambush. However, Amanda wasn’t here, which meant there was no knight in shining armor waiting outside to rescue them. Sighing inwardly, she reluctantly continued the trek of doom through the lobby and towards the waiting vehicle outside.
Plagued by a gut instinct telling him something wasn’t right, Daniel had gotten out of his car and was making his way inside to check on Francine and Stephanie, when he caught sight of them being led out of the apartment building at gun point. He stopped and watched helplessly as the two men roughly dragged the two women towards a black Mercedes. If only there’d been room in the parking lot, he would have parked there, which would have put him in the perfect position to put an immediate rescue plan into action. However, he’d been forced to park across the street, leaving him with the only possible choice of getting back into his car and following behind them. Either way, it was fortunate that he’d listened to that little voice inside his head that told him to stick close to Agent Desmond. His fellow agents loved to mock his ability to be in the right place at the right time, but the truth was, he just used good old-fashioned common sense. He’d had a hunch, especially after the car bombing, that Benjamin was going to go after Francine, which is why he’d decided to follow them to Stephanie’s apartment after the impromptu pizza party at Morelli’s house and set up surveillance.
Taking his cell phone out of his pocket, Daniel made his way back towards his car as he dialed Morelli’s number, “Stetson? Where’s Morelli? Oh never mind, I don’t have a lot of time. I’m at Stephanie’s and Benjamin’s here. He has Francine and Stephanie.” He watched as the two women were forced into the black car and quickly opened his car door. “I’m going to follow them, I’ll call you when I…” He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as his world suddenly went black.
***** *****
“Petrakis!…Petrakis!” Lee shouted into the phone and then, when nothing but dial tone responded, he briefly thought about throwing the receiver across the room, but at the last second remembered that it wasn’t his phone and slammed the receiver back down onto its base, instead. “Damn it!”
Joe had just sat down on his couch and opened a new can of beer when the slamming of his phone made him jump slightly. He glanced briefly at the phone and then up at Lee and immediately noticed the pulsing vein in the other man’s neck. “Hey, Stetson, I know you mentioned earlier that you’re not a big fan of the FBI’s, but hell, that’s no reason to take your frustrations with Petrakis out on my phone.”
Lee let out a string of curses then glared over at Morelli. “This has nothing to do with Petrakis being FBI, at least not at the moment. He was calling from Stephanie’s apartment. He said that Benjamin was there and had both Stephanie and Francine. The call was cut off before he could tell me anything else.”
Joe slammed the open beer can down onto his coffee table, its contents spilling up over the top, jumped up from the couch and dug his keys out of his pocket. He then dashed over to the front door and had it open within seconds. “Let’s go.” He held the door open as Lee and Amanda rushed out of his house and then he stepped out onto the porch, locking up behind them. No matter how worried he was about Stephanie, he was still a cop first and foremost, and he wasn’t about to leave his house unlocked. Turning around, he made his way towards his truck, where Lee and Amanda were already waiting.
Amanda nodded in thanks as Joe unlocked the passenger door. “We thought about taking Francine’s car, since Stephanie convinced her to leave it here because her apartment didn’t have enough parking, but then realized that we didn’t have a set of keys to the car, and it’s probably better to leave it here, if anything happens to her car on top of everything else she’s had to deal with the past few days, well…” She then let out a nervous laugh. “Sorry, I tend to ramble when I’m nervous or upset.”
“I’d say this situation covers both of those emotions.” Joe gave her a small understanding smile and then rushed around to the driver’s side.
Amanda climbed into the front seat and then slid over to allow room for her husband. She then leaned over and opened the door for Morelli. Once Morelli had begun to climb in, she buckled her seatbelt and then glanced over at her husband. “I suggest you buckle your seatbelt too, Lee.” She stifled a chuckle when her husband rolled his eyes heavenward, but did as she’d suggested.
Morelli reached under his seat, pulled out his police strobe and then attached it to the hood of the truck. Slamming his door shut, he fastened his own seatbelt and then turned the key in the ignition. “Shit!” He exclaimed as he peeled away from the curb. “If Steph’s okay when and if we find her, I’m going to hug her, then kill her.”
Amanda turned her head in Morelli’s direction. “Now Joe,” she ignored the barely audible grunt that her husband made at the use of the cop’s first name; this situation was way too delicate to fall back on formality. “This wasn’t Stephanie’s fault. Getting kidnapped by someone who’s really angry with Francine…”
Joe shook his head. “Oh it’s never her fault, or so she says every time something like this crap happens. Yet every time there’s even the hint of something major going on, you can rest assured that Stephanie will turn up smack dab in the middle of it.” He slammed his hand down on the steering wheel and let out a growl of frustration as he took the next turn at top speed. “My nerves can’t handle this bullshit anymore. I love her, I really do, but I don’t know how much more worrying about her safety I can handle.”
Lee understood exactly what the other man was saying, especially after what Morelli had told him during their impromptu male bonding session in the bar this afternoon. The truth was, he felt the exact same way whenever his wife was in danger. Running a hand through his hair, he let out a grunt. “I knew we should have insisted that Francine and Stephanie stay at the house tonight.”
Morelli nodded. “I don’t know how we let them talk us into letting them go back to Steph’s apartment. I knew better, that place is more of a magnet for danger than Stephanie is. I think I was just tired of fighting with her. Three rounds are about all I can stomach on a normal basis, and we’d definitely exceeded that today.” He quickly looked in both directions as he approached a cross street, and then, assured that no on coming traffic was approaching, blew through the red light.
“Will you two stop this!” Amanda glared briefly at her husband and then turned her attention on the man behind the wheel. “I have a strong suspicion that Benjamin would have found a way to get Francine, one way or another, it was just a matter of when. So there’s no use placing blame,” she glanced back at her husband, “or wondering about what ifs. Francine has been in such a mood that we wouldn’t have been able to stop her, even if we’d tied her to Joe’s couch.” She glanced back over at Joe. “And I think Stephanie needed a little space from you, which is why she was chomping at the bit to get out of the house tonight, so you’d have had to cuff her to a drain pipe to keep her at your house.” She turned her gaze forward and folded her arms across her chest. “Now, Francine’s a highly trained agent, and as long as Stephanie’s with her…”
“You’re wrong Amanda,” Lee shook his head, “Francine may be an agent, but she’s also a woman scorned, so she’s not thinking very clearly. In case you haven’t noticed, she’s been out to get Benjamin since she found out that he’d been married four times before and wasn’t exactly the man she thought he was. Add to that the fact that Benjamin is a man out for revenge and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.”
“Lee, you’re not putting enough faith in Francine’s abilities.” Amanda relaxed her arms and glanced at her husband. “She’s probably better then you are when it comes to building emotional walls and pushing her feelings behind them.”
“Normally, I would agree with you.” Lee let out a frustrated sigh. “But she’s been extremely bitter the past few days. More bitter than she was when Jonathan left the first time.” He put a hand up to stop his wife’s interruption. “I know what they say about hell having no fury like a woman scorned, but trust me when I tell you that when a man with connections to people like Veranos seeks revenge, he’s way more dangerous. Not to mention the fact that Benjamin has access to an entire arsenal of military weapons, and is very good at deceiving others. I’d say he’s far more dangerous than any wronged woman.”
Joe nodded. “Lee’s right, Amanda. When you put a pissed off gun runner on the run from the law and a woman with government training who wants to see justice done to that man together, who knows what might happen.” He pulled his truck into Stephanie’s lot and parked it in front of the dumpster with his strobe light still flashing.
Lee climbed out of the truck, and then held out his hand to assist his wife down. Once she was safely on the ground, he made his way over to where Stephanie’s car was parked and put his hand on the hood. “Car’s still warm.”
Amanda walked over and tried the door. “Her car’s locked which means that they probably weren’t grabbed out here in the parking lot, so Benjamin was most likely waiting for them inside Stephanie’s apartment.”
Joe nodded, but his attention was focused on the brown sedan with its door wide open. “Doesn’t look like the same can be said for Petrakis.” He commented as he made his way over to the car to investigate.
“Let’s head inside and see if they left any clues or signs of a struggle behind.” Lee took his wife’s hand and started walking towards the apartment building, eager to find out if his wife’s intuition was right. He hadn’t led his wife more than a few feet when a sudden blast from behind sent him flying. He instinctively pulled his wife to him and rolled her to the ground, covering her body with his own.
Joe stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to find out what had exploded. He let out a giant sigh of relief when he saw that his car was still intact, but shook his head when he saw the burning remains of Stephanie’s car. He knew she should have locked it in her parent’s garage, and he was going to enjoy every bit of the gloating the minute he had Stephanie safely in his arms again. He quickly rushed over to where Lee and Amanda were lying on the ground. “Are you two all right?” When Lee began to rise, Joe took his own jacket off and smothered the smoke emanating from the back of the agent’s jacket.
“That was way too close for my comfort.” Lee grunted as he helped his wife up and scanned her up and down for injuries. “Are you okay?”
Still too stunned to speak, Amanda simply nodded as she brushed some gravel off her pants. She hadn’t gotten very far when she felt her husband’s arms wrap possessively around her, and she immediately buried her face in his strong chest. “Someone really wants to barbeque us.” She commented as she pulled back a little and caressed her husband’s cheek lovingly as she looked into his concerned face.
Lee nodded and then leaned down to place a kiss on his wife’s forehead. “And I think it’s time we stopped sitting on the sidelines. I want to find Benjamin and Veranos.” He turned towards Morelli. “I’m sorry if this interferes with your investigation…”
Joe held up his hand and shook his head. “The hell with the investigation. This has moved out of the realm of being a simple gun running investigation and has now become a kidnapping…a kidnapping of someone who means more to me than investigating the Grizolli’s next big business deal.” He then turned and started towards the apartment building.
“How did you end up being Grizolli’s go-between with the police force anyway?” Amanda asked as she sprinted to keep up with both her husband and Morelli. This was the one disadvantage of working with tall men; she had to work double time to keep up with them, especially when they were in a hurry.
Lee held the apartment building door open for his wife. “Since Grizolli is the local organized crime boss here in Trenton, and we all know how most mob bosses like to keep their noses clean,” He followed his wife inside the building and then, picked up the pace as they made their way towards the stairs. “He uses his niece to pass along certain information for the local authorities to Morelli.”
“The niece in question being Terry Gillman, the one who had Stephanie so angry at Joe?” Amanda’s eyes grew slightly wider as realization started to dawn on her. “No wonder Stephanie gets so upset, I’d be upset too if my boyfriend…or husband,” she glanced briefly at Lee, “had to spend a lot of time with one of his exes, business or not, especially with the way Daniel was practically drooling when he talked about her.”
Joe entered the stairwell and started taking the stairs two at a time. “Look, it's a long and slightly sordid story which needs time to be told and time is something we definitely don't have right now. Plus, this is not the proper place for a conversation like that, so let’s just drop the subject.”
Lee had caught the official tone in Morelli’s voice and knew that the cop was now in charge and that the concerned boyfriend had been pushed to the back burner. He’d been in enough situations where Amanda’s life was in danger, to know just how important it was to push one’s emotions aside, which is why he didn’t make any comment about the slightly harsh way his new-found friend was addressing them, instead he turned his attention on to his wife. “I was planning on filling you in on a lot of stuff tonight, but certain matters of life and death seemed to get in the way before I had a chance.”
Amanda let out an exasperated laugh. “It’s the story of our lives.” She commented as she flashed her husband a quick, understanding smile.
Lee grinned back as he realized just how amazing his connection to his wife was. It never ceased to amaze him just how easily his wife could put his mind at ease with just one gesture or word. He wasn’t sure why he thought she might be mad at him for withholding information, especially since it hadn’t been on purpose, his only reasoning was that there was just too much frustration in the air, and a fight between himself and anyone, even his wife, wouldn’t be too far fetched. Reaching the top of the stairs, he pulled out his gun and nodded to Morelli, who had just un-holstered his own weapon.
“We want to be very quiet about this,” Joe whispered, “I don’t want any of Steph’s nosey neighbors to come out until after we’ve had a chance to inspect the scene. They can gawk all they want once the police arrive, but I want a chance to look for clues before anyone has a chance to trample all over the evidence.” Receiving a quick nod of acceptance from both Lee and Amanda, he opened the stairway door and stepped cautiously out into the hallway. His eyes immediately fell upon Stephanie’s wide-open apartment door and instinct was telling him that an open door usually meant that no men had been left behind to spring a trap, however the cop side of him was telling him not to leave anything to chance. He slowly crept along the hallway towards the open doorway, with Lee and Amanda close behind.
Reaching the open doorway, Joe raised his gun to shoulder height and then slowly made his way inside the apartment. He glanced briefly around and noticed Stephanie’s black bag lying on the floor just inside. He quickly moved over to it and picking it up, he handed it back to Amanda. He then moved further down the hallway, and catching Lee’s eye, motioned for him to check the living room, while he checked out the bedroom.
Lee cautiously walked into the living room and then, noticing that the room was empty, he motioned for his wife to join him. Since the room only had a couch, coffee table and television, there really wasn’t much for them to investigate. Nothing was overturned, and there appeared to be no visible signs of struggle.
“The place is empty.” Joe announced as he joined Lee and Amanda in the living room. “Do me a favor and check Steph’s bag.”
Amanda glanced at him curiously as she began to unzip the large black purse. “What am I looking for?”
“See if her gun’s in there.” Joe then turned and started walking towards the kitchen. He had a sneaky suspicion that Amanda wasn’t going to find Steph’s weapon in that oversized black bag, which would be one more thing he needed to discuss with his girlfriend once he knew she was safe. It was bad enough that she got herself into very sticky situations, but he’d feel a lot better about her out there tracking down FTA’s if she had her damn gun with her. Then again, if she had had it in her bag, chances are Benjamin would have it by now, whether she’d had time to dig it out, trying to protect herself or not. Entering the kitchen, he made a beeline to the counter. As soon as he reached it, he opened the cookie jar and let out a long sigh. “Never mind, it’s in here.” He wasn’t sure if he was relieved that Benjamin didn’t have it, or disappointed that Stephanie hadn’t had it on her all day.
Placing the lid back on the canister, he moved over to Rex’s cage to check on the little guy. Seeing the familiar furry critter’s rear sticking out of his soup can, he opened the cabinet and got down a box of raisins. As he deposited some of the treats inside, his eyes fell on two pieces of paper neatly taped to the side of the cage. “Lee, Amanda, I think you need to come in here.”
Joe peeled off the message addressed to him and then, as Lee and Amanda entered the small room, he took the other note off and passed it over to Lee. Opening his, he clenched his fist around the note as he read it out loud. “If you don't butt out of my business and stay away from Veranos, the bounty hunter will meet the same fate as her cars and you'll be picking up bits and pieces of your blue-eyed bombshell all over town.” He gritted his teeth and looked over at the pair of agents. “I’m guessing yours is going to hold a similar message.”
Lee noticed immediately that the paper Joe had just handed him was addressed to Scarecrow and Mrs. King, which meant that Benjamin had discovered their connection to the Agency. As he unfolded the paper, he felt his wife’s hand on his arm. He knew the gesture held a duel purpose, not only was it meant to provide a calming effect on him, but she was also seeking a bit of comfort for herself. Taking a deep breath, he began reading, “If you’re still alive and reading this note,” he felt his wife tighten her grip on his arm slightly, and wrapped his arm around her waist comfortingly, “then I suggest you take the hint, pack up your bags and head back to D.C. If you don’t, not only can I guarantee that you’ll never make it back home in time for your wedding, but I’ll make sure that my lovely fiancée makes her way back in a wooden box.”
Joe glanced at Lee and Amanda with a serious expression. “So, you guys throwing in the towel and heading back home?” He knew it was pretty much a rhetorical question, but the cop in him had to ask anyway.
Lee glanced briefly over at his wife, who was shaking her head, and looked over at Morelli. “Hell, no. Adams,” he waved the note in the air, “can threaten all he wants. I’ve gone up against guys worse than him, who had much bigger threats to hold over my head.” he pulled his wife closer to him as a brief memory of Addi Birol flashed through his mind. “How do we get Francine and Stephanie back?”
“I think the best place to start would be to head on down to your police station,” Amanda looked over at Joe, “and find a way to locate all of Veranos’ local assets. Any warehouses, businesses,” she began ticking the items away on her fingers, “or properties he might own. You know this area better than we do, but I can’t imagine he’d be holding them any place that’s too far away, after all, there’s supposed to be a weapons deal going down any day now.”
Lee nodded. “And if your databases aren’t able to dig up the information we need, I know the Agency should be able to, and we can have them fax the information over to us at the station.”
“Or we could just head straight over to Seaside Heights.” Ranger unfolded his arms and, pushing off the doorframe, he entered the small kitchen.
Lee did his best to stifle a chuckle as his wife glanced over at him. He knew, from the involuntary jump she’d made when Ranger had first spoken, that the look she was giving him now clearly stated that she didn’t find being snuck up on very amusing. He quickly regained his composure and looked in Ranger’s direction. “And just how did you get that intel so fast? Stephanie and Francine were kidnapped less than hour ago?”
“From the wire taps we had on Adams’ grandmother’s phone.” Ranger stated matter-of-factly. “Adams called about thirty minutes ago to let her know he was going to be out of touch for a long while. We traced the call and discovered it was coming from a pay phone in Seaside Heights. Guess he figured it wasn’t wise to call her from his cell.” He walked over and placed a few more raisins in Rex’s cage, watching as the critter backed out of his can and shoved the morsels into his mouth before retreating back inside his little house. “Did a little more digging and found out that Veranos bought the beach house the fourth wife put on the market right after Benjamin got arrested.”
Lee glanced briefly at Ranger, then turned his attention to Morelli. “So we head to Seaside Heights. We can set up a rotating surveillance and once we get an idea of what’s going on inside and how many men are inside with Francine and Stephanie…”
“Already got my men doing surveillance.” Ranger interrupted the agent as he leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms in front of him.
“Wonder why that doesn’t surprise me.” Morelli muttered. He may not like the way Ranger looked at Stephanie, but when it came to needing information, the bounty hunter saved him a lot of time and research. “So what’s the situation?”
Ranger shrugged. “Don’t know yet. I had just gotten their initial report and was on my way over to your place to fill you in, when I got a call about the car in Stephanie’s lot. Figured you’d be on your way over, if you weren’t already here. Told my guys that unless they hear shots being fired, to just sit tight until we arrived. I figured we could put a plan of action into place once we got there.”
Amanda could sense the tension radiating off of Lee and Morelli and now would not be a good time for things to blow up in their faces, she’d had enough explosions in the last twenty-four hours to last her a lifetime. The most important thing was to focus on their friends, who were currently in very grave danger, and if they were going to rescue them, they all needed to work together. Hearing the sound of approaching sirens, she figured now would be a good time to step in. “I think that’s our cue to get moving.” She looked over at Joe. “We’re probably going to have to go talk to an officer or two, and it seems to me, we probably want to get that over with sooner, rather than later, and get on the road. You know this area better than we do,” she glanced over at Ranger then back to Joe as she pointed between Lee and herself, “and we’re minus a car anyway, so we’ll just follow your leads.”
Joe nodded his head slightly in agreement. “Probably not a bad idea since someone is obviously trying to get you out of the way.” He turned and started moving towards the door. “I’d really love to know just how that bomb went off right as you guys got near Steph’s car, though.”
“The boys arriving downstairs will probably confirm this, but my guess is that it was activated by remote.” Ranger waited as Lee and Amanda made their way out of the kitchen, behind Morelli. Once they had passed, he followed them towards the door.
Joe nodded in agreement. “He’s probably right. It’s the only way to explain how the bomb went off at the exact moment you and Amanda were right beside the car.”
Lee turned briefly around. “If that’s the case, then that means someone’s following us or watching Steph’s apartment, so we have to be very careful how we leave the area.”
“That’ll be easy to figure out,” Ranger stepped out into the hallway behind Lee, leaving Steph’s door open. He knew the police would need to dust for prints, and he didn’t see any reason to add any fresh new ones to the mix. “You and Amanda will leave with Joe. I’ll wait and see if anyone starts following you, and then I’ll get them off your backs.”
“So we’ll meet you at the beach house then.” Amanda nodded as she made her way towards the stairs. “Sounds like a good plan.” She paused and glanced back at Ranger. “How will we know your men, and how will they know us?”
Morelli let out a grunt. “Don’t worry. We just look for a black SUV or two, and I’m pretty sure Ranger’s men know me, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem.” He caught Lee’s slightly raised eyebrows and shrugged. “Ranger seems to have a fleet of vehicles all in black, and the ones he lets his men use are all SUV’s.”
“I find black blends in better.” Ranger gave a half smile as he passed a slip of paper to Morelli. “Beach house address.” He said in way of an explanation, before continuing past the little group standing in the hallway, and headed into the stairwell. “See you there.”
Joe muttered a few curses under his breath and then let out a long sigh. “I know he’s good at what he does, but it bugs the shit out of me when he does crap like this.” He then turned and moved towards the stairs.
“You mean just coming in, giving the facts and sort of taking over.” Lee let out a small grunt as he followed behind Morelli who was nodding his head in affirmation.
Amanda let out a long sigh and shook her head as she fell into step behind Lee. She didn’t need to be a genius to realize that it was going to be a very long night and she was going to have her work cut out for her. If they had any hope of getting Francine, Stephanie and Daniel safely away from Benjamin and Veranos, she was going to have to play peacemaker, and having to contend with two-hot headed, red-blooded, egotistical men, meant that she was going to have to be constantly on her guard. Somehow she knew that Lee and Joe were going to prove to be more challenging than Phillip and Jamie, and she was thankful she had a few years of experience dealing with two teenagers under her belt, not to mention she knew just how to handle her husband. If Lee got on her nerves too much, or refused to cooperate with Ranger, well she’d just have to play the ‘no-sex-unless-you-behave’ card. After all, what was important was rescuing their friends, not in proving who was more macho. She let out another small sigh and, following the other two men down the stairs, said a silent prayer that they would arrive in time to get Stephanie, Francine and Daniel out of this alive.