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Hal shut down the instant message program, closed his PDA and clipped it to his belt. He tossed his garbage in the can. Grabbing a fresh bottle of water from the refrigerator, he returned to the control room. Ram was at the command desk.
"What's the status?" Hal asked as he sat down and plugged in his headset.
"Tank's at the cemetary watching for Grabowicz. Grabowicz's girlfriend said he'd probably show up for the Barroni funeral. Woody and Junior are answering a panic call from a client. Looked like a false alarm, but they should call in a few minutes to confirm. If they need backup, Bobby and Lester are on call." Ram unplugged, rolled back his chair and stood up. "I'm going to Fennick's for lunch. Want anything?"
Hal eyed the other men intent at their workstations. "Bring me one of those big cookies."
Ram grinned. "Just because Ranger's not here to see you eat it doesn't mean it won't make you fat."
Hal flushed and flipped a finger at Ram, who chuckled. After Ram left, Hal settled down to verify the status of the on-duty teams. He made his way down the list, checking GPS locations and reviewing them against the work assignments. If any team encountered an emergency the command center had to be ready to send backup at a moment's notice.
Noting that Stephanie was not yet back at her desk, Hal called up the GPS signal from her motorcycle. The Ducati was stationary at Stiva's funeral home. Stephanie had probably decided to attend the Barroni funeral. Rangeman's interest in the Barroni case had ended once Benny Gorman's body was found, but Stephanie had close ties to the Burg families involved.
Hal wished he could check his brother's location as easily as he could monitor Stephanie's. But military GPS units were heavily encoded, and for good reason. At least Hal and his brother could touch base frequently. Not like their father's war when letters took weeks to travel home from the front.
Woody called in. The client was embarrassed. His elderly mother had pushed the panic button, claiming the Green Goblin was looking in her bathroom window. Woody and Junior had searched the grounds and verified there were no intruders present. Hal could tell that Woody suspected the old lady had sounded the alarm just to stir up some excitement. Hal logged the report.
The phone lit up again, Tank's number displaying on the caller ID.
"Command desk," Hal answered.
Tank's deep voice sounded in his ear. "No joy at this party. Grabowicz never showed."
"Think his girlfriend lied about him being there?"
"I think Grabowicz changed his plans after his girlfriend tipped him off. Switch me to Stephanie's phone. She knows these people. Maybe she can give me a better idea on Grabowicz's location."
"Isn't Stephanie there?"
"At the cemetary? No. Why should she be?"
"Her Ducati is parked at Stiva's. At least, it was half an hour ago"" Hal's shoulders twitched as he punched in Stephanie's GPS identifier. "It's still there. I thought she decided to attend the funeral."
"I didn't see her at the memorial service, and she definitely wasn't at graveside."
"Maybe she got a ride with someone else."
"What time does Ranger's plane touch down?" Tank asked.
"Fourteen twenty-three, Philly airport."
"Maybe you want to verify Stephanie's location before Ranger calls in."
Hal swallowed. "Yeah."
"Tank out." The line disconnected.