Sometimes they won't let you forget
AUTHOR: Aaunty Pasta
SUMMARY: Frank is kidnapped by the matriarch of a family he put away over 20 years ago, but they don't know they were followed by Frank and Henry's new neighbor, Peyton.
RATING:
DISCLAIMERS: Not Mine. All belongs to CBS et al. Please do not sue as I'll put them back when I'm done.
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A huge moving truck pulled up to the house with the realtor sign that said SOLD across from where Henry stood on his front porch. He watched the flurry of activity begin as an army of men began to carry boxes, bins and various furniture into the home past a woman who was directing it all. He watched for a few minutes then took the mail he was holding in the house.
When the moving truck left, Henry went over to meet the new neighbor. He stepped onto the porch just as the woman who had been directing things came out and gasped at his presence. "I didn't mean to startle you," Henry said.
She shook her head with a hand on her chest. "That's OK," she replied. "I just didn't expect to find anyone on my front porch." She headed toward the truck in the driveway as she spoke so Henry followed. She put the tailgate down and pulled out a cooler from next to the scooter parked there.
"Let me help you with that," Henry said and he moved to grab one of the handles only to have her beat him to it.
"That won't be necessary," she said as she turned to walk back the way she had come. "But if you really want to help, you can get the door."
"That I can do," Henry said and led her into the house.
"The kitchen is through the door straight ahead," she told him as he passed the staircase and held that door for her as well before following her into a spacious kitchen. There were still boxes scattered about the room, but a brand new coffee machine had been set up and was happily brewing a pot and filling the house with the homey smell. "Can I offer you a cup of coffee?" she asked then realized that she only had one cup out. "I think I have another cup here somewhere." She began searching through the boxes.
Henry noticed one plastic bin that was labeled "dishes" and pointed it out to her. She smiled and pulled the lid off before digging into it for another cup and washing it. "I have cream and sugar," she said as she pointed to the sugar bowl then pulled a small carton of cream out of the cooler.
"Just a spoonful of sugar," Henry replied and she dug back into the dish box to retrieve a spoon.
As she washed and dried it in the sink, she smiled at him. "So where do you live?"
"Across the street," he replied. "With my son, Francis." He paused as she filled the two cups and took the spoon from her hand to add the amount of sugar from the bowl. "When are you expecting the rest of your family?"
"Oh, I'm it," she said. "I had to jump through a lot of hoops before I could get the HOA to approve the sale so I'm glad it's just me."
"There's a reason for that," Henry began.
"Yeah, I heard that the police commissioner lives in the neighborhood," she put in. "That means it must be safe."
"Yeah," Henry deadpanned. "But he can be a hard ass."
"If that means he's a bad neighbor…"
Henry shook his head and let his façade slip. "Most of the time Frances is a puppy dog."
"Your son?"
Henry nodded. "By the way, I'm Henry. Henry Reagan."
She put out a hand to shake his. "Payton Mills," she said. "It's nice to meet you."
"What do you do for a living?" Henry asked as he leaned against the counter.
"What kind of host am I," she suddenly said. "Not offering a seat." She moved two boxes perched on the barstools and pulled them over.
Henry sat on one of the stools as Payton opened the cooler and the fridge and began moving various packages from the cooler into the fridge. She was fairly tall and had grey streaks and blonde highlights running through the long braid of light brown hair. Her blue eyes sparkled, bordered by almost imperceptible crow's feet that made Henry unable to guess her true age. She wore jeans and a hand-made-looking purple sweater and had plain white canvas slip-ons on her feet.
"I am a writer and artist," she told him. "I don't think I'm particularly good at either one but someone thinks I'm good enough that I have published a couple of books under the name Alana Powers and sold a couple works to museums."
"I take it you're the quiet neighbor," Henry said.
"Mostly," she replied as she finished her task and closed the door. "I build things as a hobby but will try not to run the really noisy tools after dark."
Henry smiled. "What's the title of your books? I might want to check them out."
"The first was released a few years ago and it was called 'Death This Way' and it is a Sci-Fi thriller about rebuilding a destroyed human race," she told him as she set down the cup of coffee she held and headed into the living room. She began to dig into a box near the door as she went on while he watched through the open kitchen door. "The second just came out a couple of weeks ago." She returned with a book that had a big Victorian house with a big greenhouse next to it on the cover.
"'The Ghost in the Garden'," Henry read from the cover. He flipped it to the back to see Payton's smiling face stare up at him.
"It's about a blended family who move into an old Victorian house on a lake where a ghost inhabits the greenhouse," she told him as he opened the book to read the front flap. "You can keep that copy if you want."
"I'm not really a big fan of horror," Henry told her. "But I'm open to new things."
"It's more a murder mystery slash ghost story," Payton said.
"Maybe I'll give it a try," Henry said as he finished his coffee and handed the cup to her.
"Then you go ahead and take that home and read it," she said as she pointed to the book. "Bring it back and if you didn't like it, I'll find someone else to pawn it off on. If you did like it, I'll autograph it."
Henry nodded. "Sounds like a good deal to me." He gestured to the door. "In the meantime, I've got to get home and get dinner started. If you'd like, I can stop by tomorrow after breakfast and help you get things organized."
"That would be nice of you," Payton replied as she set both cups in the sink. "I'll see you then and thanks for stopping by."
Henry turned away then thought better of it so turned back. "Why don't you come over for dinner tonight?" Henry invited. "Your house hasn't been put together yet and you'll probably be starving."
"That's very thoughtful of you," Payton said. "But you don't need to do that."
"I want to. I'm making beef stew," he said. "I'm famous for my beef stew."
"Sounds delicious," Payton replied. "Are you sure there will be enough?"
"I always make plenty in case one or more of the kids stop by," Henry told her. "And you can meet Francis."
Finally Payton nodded and gave in. "What time?"
"Seven o'clock good?"
"That should be OK," Payton replied. "I'll see you then."
"See you then and thanks for the coffee," Henry replied as he waved from the front door.
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Frank came in the front door and took off his coat, hanging it on the hook near the door. He walked around the corner and into the study where his father was around a third of the way through a new novel and very intent on what he was reading.
"New book?"
Henry, startled by his son's sudden appearance in the doorway, hollered in fright and threw his hands in the air, tossing the book across the room to land at Frank's feet. Henry looked up at his son, gasping and clutching his chest. "Give me another heart attack, why don't ya!"
Amusement crept into Frank's face as he picked the volume up and handed it back to his father after an examination of the cover. "Ghost in the Garden?" Frank asked. "Not your usual read."
Henry took the book and set it on the table next to him. "The new neighbor gave it to me," Henry said as he breathed in an effort to lower his heart rate. "She wrote it."
"Alana Powers?"
Henry shook his head and stood. "That's just her pen name," he told his son. "Her real name is Payton Mills."
Frank nodded. "Her background check came through my office," he said. "Sorry I'm late."
"Dinner is being kept warm on the stove," Henry said as he led Frank into the kitchen where the big pot of beef stew sat keeping warm. He glanced at the clock. "She said she'd join us for supper but she seems to be late as well."
Frank glanced at the clock to see that it said 7:30. "Maybe she changed her mind," he said.
"I hope not," Henry replied as he retrieved two bowls from the cupboard. When the doorbell rang he smiled and grabbed a third. "You grab the wine. I'll get the door."
As expected, Payton stood on the front porch. In her hands she had a plate of cookies. "I'm sorry I'm late," she said. "I was having trouble putting my bed frame together and finally gave up. But I brought dessert."
"You didn't have to do that," Henry smiled as he took her jacket and hung it on the hook.
"I couldn't come empty handed," she said. "That would have been rude."
Henry took the plate of cookies. "They look wonderful," he said. "What kind are they?"
"Oatmeal," she told him. "But I used dried cranberries because I couldn't find my box of raisins."
"That's OK," Henry said as he led her into the kitchen where Frank had set the table for three and was now pouring wine in three glasses. "Sometimes you just got to use what you have." He waved in Frank's direction. "This is Francis," he said. "Frances, this is Miss Payton Mills."
"Nice to meet you," Frank said and he shook her hand. "But Pop is the only one who calls me Francis. You can call me Frank."
"I will if you want," Payton replied. "But I kind of like Francis."
Frank smiled. "Then you can call me Francis."
"Great," Henry said. "Let's eat!" and he began spooning the stew into the bowls.
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Henry picked up the book from the table where he had left it and returned with it to the kitchen where Frank and Payton were engrossed in discussion.
Upon noticing Henry's return, Payton turned her attention to him. "You started it already?"
"I'm not even a third of the way through it and I know I want to finish," Henry said as he laid it on the table. "I was so engrossed in it that he scared the crap out me when he came in." He gestured in Frank's direction.
Payton laughed. "I'm glad you like it," she said. "I take it you would like it autographed?"
"Very much," Henry replied.
"Got a pen?"
Frank handed her a pen from his inner jacket pocket and she opened the book to the title page. When she finished, she signed her pen name in quotes then her real name underneath.
Henry took the book back as she handed the pen back to Frank. He read the inscription out loud. "'To Henry, my sweet new neighbor,' " he read. "That's nice." He closed the book. "Really nice."
"I'd better get going," she said and stood. "Thanks for dinner. It was wonderful getting to know you both. I'll have to host you when I get my house in order."
"I'll be over in the morning to help you if you'd like," Henry offered again.
"That would be nice," Peyton said. "I could use the company."
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Upon waking the next morning, Henry found that Frank was already gone so grabbed a couple of the cookies Payton had brought the night before and headed across the street. Payton had left the door slightly open so Henry went on in.
"Payton?" he called. When he heard a thud from upstairs, he headed that way to see if she was OK.
A rhythmic squeaking came from one bedroom and got louder as he moved closer.
"Harder!" Payton yelled.
When Frank groaned in response, Henry stopped his forward movement.
"You'll never get it deep enough at this rate!" Payton encouraged.
Henry suddenly thought he knew what was going on behind the slightly open door, even though he couldn't see anything. He winced as the squeaking stopped.
"Damn, you got it!" Payton said. "Keep going."
"I got it tackled now," Frank said as the squeaking began again.
Henry covered his face in embarrassment.
"Is Henry going to be joining us?' he heard Payton say over the squeaking.
"I certainly hope so," Frank replied. "He could show us how it's done."
This spurred Henry into action. "What in the hell is…?!" he began as he stepped into the room.
"Did you get it?" Payton asked Frank and they both stopped what they were doing to look at Henry when he burst in.
The squeaking stopped suddenly and he found Frank, dressed in his casual weekend clothing, standing at the foot of a bed frame holding a socket wrench. The frame was in pieces, but they had obviously been putting it together—at least NOW it was obvious.
"Something wrong, Henry?" Payton asked. She was dressed in an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants.
Henry worked his mouth a few times before speaking. "Uh, no. What can I do to help?"
Payton suddenly burst out laughing at Henry's blush. "I think that what we were doing was not what he thought we were doing," she said.
Frank considered her words then chuckled a little himself. "I guess coming in like that might sound like we were doing something we shouldn't be doing," he agreed.
"Not funny," Henry deadpanned, but Frank could tell that his father was amused at his own misconception.
Payton shook off the worst of the laughter and tried to explain. "I spent the night sleeping on my couch because I got frustrated by the stupid bed," she said as she stifled a giggle. "You remember, I mentioned it last night. That's why I was late for dinner." Henry nodded and she went on. "When I saw Francis out there getting the paper this morning, I asked him if he could help."
Henry swallowed and cleared his throat. "So did you get it?"
"I think so," Frank said and he pointed to a rail on the floor against the wall. "Why don't you grab the rail and we can give it a go."
Henry grabbed the rail and in short order, they had the bed put together and the box spring and mattress on it. Payton threw herself across it and sighed.
"Now I'll get a good night's sleep," she said. "All I have to do is put the blankets sheets and pillows on it." She looked up at the two men as they stood at the foot of the bed and looked on in amusement. She sat up and pushed herself off the bed. "I seem to remember promising someone breakfast for their help with the bed," she said. "You eat yet?" she directed at Henry.
"Not unless you count your wonderful cookies," he replied.
"Then let's head to the kitchen and see what I've got," she finished and headed out the door.
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Linda pushed the doorbell button and waited until Payton opened the door. In her hands she held a plate of lemon bars that she had made when Henry had told her about the new neighbor.
"Hi," she said when Payton opened the door. "You must be Payton."
Payton nodded as she wiped her hands with a towel. "What can I do for you?"
Danny answered from his place next to Linda. "I'm Danny Reagan and this is my lovely wife Linda." He pointed to the boys swinging on her porch swing. "Those are our boys, Jack is the one with glasses and the other one is Sean."
"Henry's grandson?" Danny nodded. "Come on in."
"These are for you," Linda said as she handed her the plate of lemon bars.
"OH, I love lemon bars," Payton said as they trailed past her into the cluttered home. "Pardon the mess. I'm still unpacking and trying to figure out where everything needs to go." She gestured to the row of hooks on the wall. "I have the kitchen put together so why don't you hang your coats and we'll go in there so I can get some coffee started to have with these."
"Pop said you're an artist and a writer," Danny said a few minutes later as he made himself at home on one of the barstools along the counter.
Payton nodded as she started the coffee maker. "I have two books out."
"Pop showed us the book you gave him," Linda put in. "It seems he finished it already."
Payton snorted. "I just gave it to him a couple of days ago." She turned to the boys, who stood awkwardly by the door. "I have some Kool-ade in the fridge. Would you like some with your lemon bar?"
Both boys nodded and she poured them each a glass and they took a bar from the plate where Payton had placed them on the counter. "You can sit at the table if you'd like."
Payton smiled as they sat at the table. "They're great kids."
"Yeah NOW," Danny joked. "While they're on their best behavior."
Payton retrieved three cups from the dish drainer and placed them on the counter as Linda poked Danny with her elbow. "Thanks," she said as Payton poured the coffee and placed the sugar bowl and creamer nearby.
Payton chatted with Linda and Danny until she noticed the boys fidgeting with the glasses in a matter that might mean breakage in short order. She gestured to the French doors. "I think I saw a soccer ball in the back yard," she told them. "Left over from the previous residents. Why don't you put your glasses in the sink, grab your jackets and go kick it around?"
They clamored to deposit their glasses in the sink then back to where they had left their coats. "Be careful," Linda told them as they ran by.
Before they could go back to their discussions, the doorbell rang.
"That's probably the rest of the brood," Danny put in.
"Good," Payton replied. "They can help us polish off the lemon bars."
Danny shook his finger at her. "I like her," he said to Linda as Payton went to answer the door.
The whole Reagan family spent the better part of that Sunday afternoon at Payton's house and when they left, Danny gave her a courtesy card and explained what it was for. He pointed out the phone number on the back. "If you need any help with anything or something's going on across the street that doesn't look right, give me a call and I'll take care of it."
Payton nodded. "I'll keep an eye out for your dad and grandfather."
"Yeah, well," Danny began. "They'll keep an eye out for you, too."
Peyton smiled.
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Over the next few months, Payton got her house in order and planned a housewarming open house and invited the neighbors. As often as she was over at Henry and Frank's home, members of their family spent time in hers. They watched her house when she went on a book tour and she helped Henry thin out the tulips in the front yard, planting the extras in front of her house so the landscaping matched.
On a warm spring evening, she found herself on the porch swing with Frank. He was talking about the arrest of a father/son bank robbing team he had led from 20 years before.
"I helped put Bart Monroe and his two boys in jail over twenty years ago," Frank told her. "When they got life for killing a teller and the customer that tried to help, he said he'd get even with me." He watched Payton's interest and took out a cigar. "Don't smoke them often, but do you mind?"
Payton shook her head, no, then asked "Don't you worry that they might come after you?" as he lit it.
He took a puff and blew a thin stream of smoke into the air. "Not any more," he replied. "One boy was killed in jail after the first couple of years the other died a few years after that." He paused to take another drag of the cigar. "I thought I'd forgotten all about them, but then their dad died of natural causes last week."
She blew a stream of air to send the smoke in the opposite direction. "So that's what brought it up… and why you seem to be in such a good mood."
She took a swig from the bottle of beer that she held in her hand then picked at the label. Frank quietly puffed at the cigar between sips from his own bottle until the cigar was too short so Payton pointed to a pot full of soil on the edge of her porch where he could dispose of it. He leaned back after he deposited it there and they just sat in companionable silence, enjoying their beers. When the evening had turned to night and the porch light, which was linked to a sensor, came on, Frank turned to see her smiling.
"What's up?"
The smile lit up her face. "I've never been able to sit with someone like this without it being awkward," she said. "But sitting here with you…" she shrugged. "Isn't."
Frank nodded. "There's no need to talk," he agreed. "I feel comfortable with you, too." He emptied his bottle and set it on the table next to him. "I'm even getting used to being called Francis by someone besides my dad." They sat for a few minutes longer as Payton finished her own beer.
"Well, Francis," Payton said. "I'd better get inside."
"Yeah," Frank agreed as he stood and helped her to her feet. "It's Sunday night and I have to go to work tomorrow."
Frank gave her his empty beer bottle. She took it with the same hand as she held her bottle in. "Good night then," she said quietly.
He grasped her empty hand and squeezed it before he headed across the street to his home. He opened his front door before turning back to wave good-night. Payton waved back at her own front door before going inside at the same time Frank did and locking the door.
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A week and a half passed and Payton came to a night when she couldn't sleep so she sat up trying to write. In a fit of writer's block, she stared out the window to see that a light in the back of Henry and Frank's house was on and filtering through the dining room window. She thought that odd, it being 2 a.m., so she turned out the light on her desk and sat watching the Reagan house. A light in one of the front windows on the second floor—that she suspected to be Frank's—went on and then out suddenly a minute later.
Payton stood suddenly, worried that something was wrong in the Reagan household. She slipped a pair of sweats and a hoodie over her nightshirt and headed downstairs where she slid her feet into a pair of canvas slip-ons. From her keys plaque, she grabbed the set of keys that Henry had given her a few weeks before. Her phone was charging on the table next to the door so she unplugged it and slipped it in her pocket with her earbud before heading to the back door and slipping outside.
Staying as much to the shadows as she could, she crossed her yard and then the street where she went around the house and to the back door. She was alarmed to find the door open and damaged. She ducked down so anyone inside would not be able to see her. She pulled her sleeve down over her hand and pushed the door open. She peered around the corner.
On the floor she could see Henry's slippered feet so she pushed her way in. She checked his breathing and heart rate to find with relief that both seemed to be strong and steady. Nearby, a rag had been discarded on the floor.
She shook him in an effort to rouse him. "Henry!" she whispered urgently.
He moaned so she covered his mouth carefully to muffle the sound but not stifle his breathing. He opened his eyes a little to see who was there. "Shh," she hushed him. "Quietly! Are you OK?"
He nodded slowly and slurred, "OK."
"What happened?" Payton asked then peeked around the island to see if anyone was coming.
"Monroe," Henry said. "Wife modder granchid. Drugged." He gestured to the cloth. "Francis?"
Payton started to pull out her phone when she heard footsteps and thudding from the direction of the stairs. She stopped and listened, realizing that they were slowly headed in their direction.
"Play dead," she told Henry and she kissed his forehead. He nodded and closed his eyes as she watched two shadowy figures drag an unconscious third down the stairs followed by a fourth. Payton bit her lip as she realized the unconscious figure was probably Frank.
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Frank had been sleeping fairly well when a crash roused him from his slumber. He threw his legs over the edge of the bed and turned on the lamp on his bedside table. He pulled a robe over the t-shirt and boxers he had been sleeping in and called out to his father as he slipped his feet into his slippers.
"Pop?" he called as he secured the belt to his robe and moved to open the door. "Is that you?"
In the hall stood a diminutive woman. "No, it's me," she said and he felt the sting of a needle in crook of his neck.
He swung his arm to hit the person with the needle just as they pulled it away, knocking them to the floor. Another person pushed him backwards into the room and against the bedside table that held the lamp he had just turned on. It fell to the floor and the room went dark. Frank fell unconscious next to it, the injection having finally taken effect.
"Take him boys," the woman ordered the two young men that had come with her. "Get him out to the van before his father wakes up. The ether won't have him out for long."
They flipped him to his back and each man took an arm. They dragged him into the hall to the stairs and started down. When Frank's feet thudded on the top stair, the woman shushed them.
"Quietly!" she hissed. "You don't want to wake his father before we can even get him to the door."
"Can you get his feet?" one asked.
The woman grasped his feet. With the boys carrying the majority of Frank's weight, she handled keeping his feet from making more noise on the stairs.
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Payton watched as the shadowy figures drug her friend into the kitchen. She moved around the island as they passed and exited through the back door. She crept back next to Henry where she touched his cheek gently and he opened his eyes.
"I'm going to see where they are taking him," she said softly as she helped him sit up. "Will you be OK?"
He reached out and grabbed her hand. "I'll be fine," he replied, the slur from when he had initially woken diminishing. "Call Danny."
"I will," she said and she kissed him on the head again.
She peeked out the back door to see that the group was slowly headed towards a van parked on the side street. Frank was a fairly big man and the two who carried him were not so it was slow going as they struggled to get him to the vehicle.
Payton debated on whether she should go back the way she had come, but thought going through the front door would keep her out of their line of sight for a longer amount of time. She sprinted to her own home and into the driveway where she hid behind her motor scooter in time to see the group drag Frank up to the van so they could load him in.
Finally, she was able to pull out her phone and dial Danny's number. "Reagan," came the man's sleepy salutation.
"Danny, it's Payton," she said into the phone. "Something is happening at your dad's house."
Danny was suddenly awake. "What's going on?" he asked then to Linda, "Something's going on at Dad's."
Payton related what had just happened. "Your grandpa's OK. I found him unconscious in the kitchen," she said. "He came around before I left him, but they drug your father off and are loading him into a van."
"Can you get a plate number?"
"It's too far away."
"You sure he's alive?"
"I think so," Payton replied. "He looked like he was breathing when they went past."
"Did they say anything?"
"No."
"What did grandpa say?"
"He said Monroe," she replied. "Then I think he said wife and something else but he was out of it."
"I'm sending a car over," he said.
A door slammed and Payton looked over the scooter. "They're leaving," she said. "I'm going to follow them on my scooter."
"That's not a good idea," Danny began.
"By the time anyone gets here they'll be gone," she said. "I'll be careful."
"You got an earbud?"
"Yes."
"Use it and stay on with me," Danny ordered. "Relay every cross street and I'll be right behind you."
"What about Henry?"
"Linda called 911 on her phone and she's getting the boys up now," Danny told her. "They'll be there as soon as they can." He paused and Payton put the earbud in her ear and plugged it into the phone before slipping it into her pocket and putting on her helmet. "Payton?"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful."
"Will do," she replied.
She waited until the dark van pulled out and around the corner before she hopped on her scooter and started it. She took off after them without turning on the headlight. At each intersection, she relayed the street that they passed then, if they had turned, the direction that they turned. Eventually, she was able to get the license plate number and relayed that, too.
"Good work," Danny said. "Sounds like you're headed into Queens."
She relayed another turn onto a street lined with brownstones and the van stopped at a building that appeared to be under construction between two others that also looked deserted. She flicked her light on and drove past the van and a short distance down the street where she parked and took off her helmet. She scurried down some stairs as if she belonged there then relayed the address she had caught as she drove past to Danny.
"Good work," Danny repeated. "Just sit tight we're on our way."
Payton watched around the corner from the dark beneath the stairs and watched as they trio unloaded Frank's unconscious form from the van. "What if you're too late?" she asked. "They're taking him out of the van."
"Keep an eye on him," Danny said. "I'm on my way." He disconnected the phone.
Payton pulled the earplug from her ear and shoved it in her pocket with her phone. Worry pierced her heart as she watched them quietly drag Frank's unmoving form into the lower door of the brownstone. She took a deep breath, then another as she listened to the pounding of her own heart in her ears. Finally, she decided that she couldn't just sit and do nothing.
She crept closer to the door that they had disappeared into but ducked into the shadows behind the building's stairs when they came back out.
"Barry, take the van," the small woman was saying as she handed the keys to one of them. "Get rid of it. Come back as fast as you can." She turned to the other. "David you stay here and keep watch."
"Yes, grandma," they said and moved to do as they were told. The woman disappeared into the building.
Payton ducked down as the van drove by then leaned her head against the cold concrete of the stairs to think. She bit her lip as her eyes focused on a 2x4 laying on the ground at her feet. It was just the right length to use as a club so she picked it up. There was a cubby beneath the stairs that went all the way through. She peeked in before she maneuvered herself through the small space. When David was turned away looking in the opposite direction, Payton clubbed him with the wood. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
Payton tossed her makeshift club aside and took a breath before going through the door. Inside, she found herself in a long hallway and, leaving the door open so Danny would know where to go, followed it to the room at the end where she hid behind a construction site locker that was pushed up against the wall.
Frank was just starting to rouse as he sat in the center of the room, bound to a chair.
"It wasn't easy," the woman said. "But I got you here." She grabbed his hair and pulled his head so his fluttering eyes could meet hers. "I bet you don't even remember me."
"Edna Monroe," he slurred.
She jerked his head. "What do you know?' she said. "You do remember. You killed my husband and sons." She released his hair. "As sure as if you had shot them."
Frank tried to lift his head but failed. "Your fault," he mumbled. "Sent them."
"You pursued them like dogs," she said as she paced the room.
He tried to lift his head again. "They killed…"
She grabbed his hair again and pulled his head close to hers. "They defended themselves."
"Rob bank…" Frank's eyes closed. "Broke the law…"
Edna roughly dropped his head and turned at Payton's touch at her shoulder. "I told you to keep watch," she got out before she realized it was not her grandson disturbing her. "Who the hell are you?"
Payton answered by punching her in the face as hard as she could. "Your worst nightmare," she retorted then shook her hand and winced with pain. "Damn, that's a cliché if ever I heard one," she muttered.
Quickly, she got on her knees in front of Frank, grasping his face in her hands. "Francis," she said. When he didn't open his eyes, she shook him and repeated his name. "Francis! Wake up!" She slapped him just hard enough to hurt her hand again, but he opened his eyes.
"Payon," he muttered as he tried to keep his glazed eyes open.
"Danny's coming," she told him. "Your dad is OK. Linda has him."
"You doing here?"
She put her forehead against his. "I followed on my scooter," she told him. "And beaned the guy at the door with a two by four." She breathed. "Stay awake and I'll try to cut you lose."
"Hancuff," he muttered as his head fell.
Payton looked behind him to see that he was indeed handcuffed. She grasped his shoulders and lay her head on one to try to think. The woman behind her began to stir and she looked back, knowing she had to tie her up. She pushed away from Frank and stood to look around.
The room was bare except for the light bulb with socket swinging above her head and a battered floor lamp in one corner. Going over to the lamp, she jerked the plug from the wall only to have a sharp pain race up her arm. Realizing that her right hand was probably broken, she wrapped the cord around her left hand and knocked the light over to stand on. She jerked the cord as if she were trying to start a lawnmower, breaking the frayed wiring off with one pull.
She hurried back to Edna and turned her roughly to lay on her front. Putting her knee in the middle of the woman's back, she tied her hands together with the lamp cord.
She sat back, cradling her injured hand as it throbbed with pain. Somewhere in the back of her mind, it registered that she could hear sirens and she went back to her knees in front of Frank.
"Francis," she tried to wake him again. "Frank!" Desperate, but afraid that slapping him again would hurt and still not wake him, she tried a different tactic. She lifted his head and kissed him on the lips.
When he began returning the kiss, she knew he was awake enough to listen to her so she pulled away. Groggy eyes looked back at her. "Do you know what they gave you?"
"No," he said. "Shoulder."
She examined his shoulder and found a small bruise where his shoulder met his neck that was where they had injected him with something. The sirens were getting closer and she looked down the hall toward the outside door to see if they were coming yet. She could see the lights, but no one had appeared in the hall just yet.
She looked back to see that his eyes were starting to droop again so she shook him. "Stay awake!" she ordered.
"I'll try if you kiss me again."
She glanced to the door once again to see the legs and feet of several officers on the sidewalk. Looking back at Frank, she found his eyes closed so she did as he had requested.
Short and sweet, she pulled away to see Frank open his eyes just as Danny's voice called from the hall. "Payton!"
"Down here!" Payton called out. She held Frank's face in her uninjured hand so she could look him in the eyes. "Promise me you'll stay awake," she said. "We don't know what or how much they gave you. Stay awake until a doctor tells you that you can go to sleep."
He stared into her eyes, the most lucid he had been since she had come into the room. "I promise," he said.
Danny burst into the room, gun drawn, followed by his partner, Maria Baez, and Jamie. "He OK?" Dannie asked as Baez moved to Edna to check her status and replace the cord with handcuffs. The bound woman moaned.
Payton stood. "He's handcuffed," she told him as she moved aside to lean against the wall.
Danny holstered his gun and dug in his pocket for his cuff keys. "They're his own cuffs," he said as he leaned over to unlock them.
"Bring in the paramedics," Jamie called back to his partner, Eddie Janko. As she rushed to follow his order, Baez turned Edna over to find that she had a broken nose.
"Danny," Baez got his attention and gestured to the wakening woman.
"You do that?" Danny asked Payton.
She nodded as she cradled her hand. Jamie came over to help with Frank so Danny took a look at her hand. "You must have hit her pretty hard," Danny said. "You broke her nose and your hand."
"I wanted to make sure I knocked her out," Payton said as her head began pounding to the rhythm of her heart.
"You OK?" he asked her.
"I don't know," she said. "I can hear my heart in my ears."
"You're blood pressure is probably sky high," Danny told her as the Paramedics brought in a stretcher to put Frank on. "Can I get one of you to take a look at her?"
"There's one more," Payton told him. "She sent him to get rid of the van."
"I know," Danny told her. "They got him as he was dumping it."
Baez and Eddie pulled the handcuffed and fully conscious Edna Monroe to her feet. Her nose was misshapen and blood covered her face. With a jerk, the two women escorted her back up the hall to a waiting radio car.
One of the paramedics took Payton's arm and led her out as two others were helped by Danny in getting Frank on the stretcher.
Outside, they took her to the back of the ambulance and took her blood pressure. "Wow," the medic said. "190 over 100." He wrapped her in a blanket and put her into the ambulance to sit on the bench then turned to help put the stretcher with Frank on it in.
He had his eyes closed and when they had him settled for the ride and closed the back doors, she reached out to grab his hand with her good one. He gripped it back. "Don't forget what you promised," she said.
"Stay awake. Got it," Frank replied.
"Francis," she said, warning in her voice.
He opened his eyes a slit and looked over at her. "I'm not asleep. I'm just resting my eyes." He smiled.
Payton hung her head in relief then lifted it to look at him again. "There's the Francis we know and love," she joked as she patted his hand.
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Frank kept his promise to Payton and struggled to stay awake until they gave him an injection that would counteract the narcotic the Monroe family had injected into his shoulder. The doctor smiled when he told her why he didn't want to go to sleep.
"Commissioner," she said with a shake of her head. "You have been cleared to get some rest." She smiled over her shoulder at Linda. "Now go to sleep."
"Yes, ma'am," Frank said groggily.
Linda came forward and the doctor handed her the chart and left the room. Frank opened his heavy eyelids to see her standing over him. "How's Pop?" his eyes closed once again.
"He's fine," Linda answered. "They put ether on a cloth to knock him out just long enough to make a getaway. Not a clean one thanks to Payton."
At the mention of her name, he opened his eyes again. "How she?" this time, he didn't close his eyes.
"Her blood pressure is down," Linda told him. "But not enough so they're gonna keep her a few hours." She folded her arms across her chest over the chart in its clipboard. "And she broke two phalanges in her right hand."
He was fading fast but still was able to ask, "When see?"
"AFTER you get some rest," Linda told him. "Now GO TO SLEEP!"
Frank smiled a groggy smile. "Yes, ma'am."
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When Frank woke again, Henry was dozing in a chair at his bed. "Pop?" he said, waking the older man.
Henry stood to stand over his son. "Hey," he said. "'Bout time you woke up."
Frank ran his hand over his face and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Four-thirty in the afternoon," Henry said.
Frank groaned. "The whole day shot to hell," he said.
"Nothing would have gotten done today," Henry pointed out. "Baker was here and told me it was a light day anyway. She rescheduled everything."
"Good," Frank replied.
Henry went on. "She also called someone to repair the back door and got a new nightstand and lamp for your room. It'll be like it never happened."
"But it did," Frank replied gruffly. "When can I get out of here?"
"They want to keep you for the night to make sure there are no after-effects from that drug that the Monroes gave you," Henry said. "So you're here for the night."
"I remember Edna Monroe in the hall and then in a cold room," Frank said. "But who was with her?"
"Her grandsons David and Barry," Henry snorted. "Took after their dads and grandpa. Can't say no to grandma."
"Now they'll be spending time in jail," Frank said. "Where they'll hopefully grow some."
Henry snorted. "Not likely."
"Where's the rest of the family?"
"Linda's working but she's been in here as often as she's been to check on her other patients," Henry told him. "Erin's making sure that the Monroes don't get released on bail… or worse on their own recognizance. Jamie went to get something to eat and Danny is making sure the paperwork is all squared away so they don't get off on a technicality. Nikki's here, but she stepped out to get some coffee.
"Did I dream Payton there?" Frank asked.
"No, she was there," Henry replied. "She followed them then cold conked David and slugged Edna in the nose." He stopped to laugh. "Broke her nose, too."
"How is she?"
"Linda told you this morning that she broke a couple of fingers," Henry said. "You don't remember that?"
"Vaguely," Frank nodded
Henry went on. "Her blood pressure finally came down and they are in the process of releasing her right now."
"Her blood pressure was up?"
"I guess she forgot to take her blood pressure pills yesterday," Henry replied.
"But she's OK now?"
Nikki chose that moment to enter with two to-go cups of coffee. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
Payton followed her into the room, still dressed in the nightshirt, sweats and hoodie but with her right arm in a sling. Her hand was in a cast from fingertips to elbow. "I'm fine," she said.
Frank pushed himself up as Henry took the extra cup from Nikki and thanked her.
"Dad tells me I wasn't dreaming about you being there last night," Frank said as Henry and Nikki exited discreetly.
"This is the evidence," she gestured to the arm. "I guess I broke her nose, too."
"What exactly happened?" Frank asked.
Payton took a breath and told the whole story without stopping. Frank simply listened and looked at her in shock when she admitted to kissing him and that he had requested a second kiss.
"That really happened?"
Payton nodded. "I was in pain and you were out of it," she said in explanation.
"You sure?"
Payton nodded her head. "Yep."
Silence fell over the room and Payton sat down in Henry's chair. The silence now was a bit awkward, but Nikki and Erin came back in followed by Henry after a few minutes of it.
"No bail," Erin said proudly. "The judge agreed that they're a danger to the community. Especially after Edna threatened revenge on the entire Reagan family and Payton there."
Payton stood to let Henry have his chair back. "No, you keep it," he said as he moved it closer to Frank's side. "You can keep him company while I go get us something to eat."
"Who's getting something to eat?" Danny's voice broke through and he appeared in the doorway with Jack and Sean.
"I suppose I'm going to need to order for the whole family," Henry said as he threw his hands up. "And Payton."
"Nothing for me, thanks," Payton said. "I've got to go."
After quieting the chorus of them asking her to stay and Frank grasping her good hand to try to encourage her to stay, she shook her head. "I've got a meeting with my publisher and agent that I postponed from this morning for dinner," she said. "It's concerning my next book and I can't miss it. But first I have to go home and change."
"Then come back after and bring some dessert," Henry replied.
Payton shook her head in frustration. "We'll see how tired I am after I get done."
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Payton was woken from her nap by the sound of the door buzzer. The sun fell across her as she lay on the couch. Confused, she looked at the clock which said 9:25 a.m. "Holy Crud!" she said as the buzzer went off again. "I'm getting rid of that thing and getting a bell," she muttered as she pushed herself off of the couch.
Frank stood on the porch holding a box in his hands. "Did I wake you?"
"When did they cut you loose?" she asked as she waved him in.
"7 a.m.," Frank replied. "I sweet talked the doctor and since I'm not feeling any ill effects of our little adventure yesterday…" he stopped and shrugged. "I was worried when they delivered the cheesecakes but you never showed."
"I fully intended to come back over," Payton told him. "But I made the mistake of stopping here to make sure my scooter got back and I lay down to take a nap and BAM. Out like a light."
"Until just now?"
Payton nodded. "I guess it just caught up with me," she said. "What's in the box?"
"I saved a couple of pieces of the cheesecake," Frank replied. "If you've got coffee…"
Payton smiled. "I have to make it," she said.
"That's good," he went on. "You get the coffee started and I'll get this dished up."
Payton dumped the cold coffee out of the carafe and washed it with her good hand before rinsing it thoroughly and filling it with water. Behind her, Frank got two desert plates out of the cupboard and dished the two slices on to them.
"So," Frank began as he went. "Dad tells me you kissed him during of all that, too."
"On the forehead," Payton said. "He reminds me of my dad."
"Ah," Frank said as he watched her struggle with the cups. He took them from her hand and placed them near the plates. "Sit down and I'll get it."
"I can…"
"I know you can," Frank interrupted. "But I want to."
Payton sighed and sat down. Frank handed her a fork and gestured to the dessert. "I haven't had any breakfast."
"Neither have I," Frank replied. "But this will do. It has fruit," he pointed to the glaze of cherries on it. "And eggs. I'm also pretty sure there's cheese somewhere in that which would be our protein. So it sounds like a healthy breakfast to me. The addition of coffee would make it a good square meal."
Payton smiled and shook her head. "Sound's good to me," she said as Frank poured them each a cup of the coffee.
He sat down at the counter next to her. "I wanted to ask you about something that you did when you were helping me," Frank went on as he set the cream and sugar in front of her then added her preferred amount of both to her coffee.
"Mm hmm," she responded as she savored the rich dessert.
"Why did you kiss me?"
She stopped then finished chewing and swallowed. "I was trying to get you to wake up and I was afraid that slapping you would hurt my hand again.
Frank seemed to consider that as he took a bite of his own slice. "If that's true," he went on. "Then why did you kiss me a second time?"
Payton picked at a cherry on her plate before answering. "Because you asked me to."
Frank feigned confusion. "I did?"
Payton nodded and took a drink of her coffee. "You did," she replied as she set the cup down. "I told you that before I left last night."
"I think I'd remember asking for a kiss," he said then took a sip of his own coffee.
Payton looked at him. "You were pretty out of it." Frank picked at his cheesecake. Payton shook her head. "Just eat your cheesecake."
Frank looked her right in the eye. "I'll try if you kiss me again," he said.
Payton looked at him wryly. "You do remember asking for that second kiss," she said.
He smiled as he took another sip of the hot coffee.
Payton set her fork down and put her head in her hand as she rested the casted hand in the countertop. "Francis Xavier Reagan," she used his whole name. "You're flirting with me."
He feigned innocence. "Me?"
"Don't stop," she said.
Frank leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "I'll try if you kiss me again," he repeated.
Payton smiled and turned her head just enough that her lips brushed his. He leaned in and kissed her. When Frank pulled away, he stroked her cheek. "I think this means we're dating now."
"You don't think you dad will be jealous?"
"No," he replied and kissed her again. "You're not his type."
After a third kiss, Payton pulled away. "Finish your cheesecake."
Frank stole one more kiss before moving back to his stool with a smile.