In the hospital, Ralph and Pam entered a room and went behind a partition put up a few feet from the doorway so the two could say goodbye in private. They found Aidan lying deathly still on the bed, in her regular clothes. The scrapes and cuts had been cleaned and her hair was wet.
Ralph and Pam then walked over to the bedside. "Ade…" said Ralph quietly, touching her face gently with his hand.
"Why did they have a student nurse clean me up? I felt ridiculous getting my face cleaned and hair washed," said Aidan, making a face and opening her eyes. She smiled when she saw the two.
"Hey, look at it this way, you look much better with your wet hair and clean face than all bloodied up and your eyes rolling up in their sockets," chided Ralph, who then shuddered at the memory. It had reminded him of that night when she hit her head on the desk at their house. 'If she didn't have the suit on when she was hit today…'
"That convincing huh?," she said, and the two nodded.
"Yes, but we knew you were acting. Now, as far as Dylan, we saw his reaction to your condition… smirking all the way," said Pam. "I've seen lawyers with that same sick look."
"That jackass. No respect for the injured or dead," said Aidan bluntly. "So, how did he take the bait?"
"Pardon the cliché, hook, line and sinker," said Ralph with a smile, only to frown when Aidan shook her head. "What do you mean 'no'? We did a good job pretending that you were gone."
"Well, not sinker yet. That'll be when he finds out that I'm alive and ready to show that money, especially wanting blood money, won't lead to happiness… just a trip to the hoosegow."
---------------------------------------------------
While for most the events seemed hectic, in reality Ralph and Pam knew that Aidan was all right all along. After the attack, there was a flurry of activity outside the Hinkley house as Ralph, Pam and Tony dashed over to Aidan. While Ralph and Pam knew she was wearing the suit, they weren't sure if she was unconscious… or worse. They had been fortunate that none of the neighbors had come out to see what had happened, or they'd really have fun trying to explain things.
Tony kept Ralph and Pam back as he kneeled to check her pulse. Aidan jerked back a bit at the touch, startling the agent. "Did you get the number of the train that hit me," she said, slightly muddled. She had a few scrapes and cuts on her face from the broken glass that had come down with her when she rolled off the car. Tony noticed then a glimpse of red under her shirt.
The other three sighed in relief that she was alive. "Are you all right Aidan?" asked Pam.
"Yeah just waiting for the caboose to come," she said wryly as she moved her legs just enough to test them.
Ralph, frowning slightly at her remark, wanted to be sure she was fully alert. She had done this one other time around him, and she really had a concussion. "You're weren't hit by a train Aidan, so no caboose," he said, chuckling to hide his concern. "Now, you know the drill… name, age, day and location."
"Aidan Hinkley, 28, Saturday afternoon, Los Angeles… lying on the ground in front of your house talking about trains."
Ralph smiled, knowing she was really just joking. "Good. Now did you…"
"Lose consciousness," she said the same time as Ralph did, and Aidan chuckled softly. "No, and guessing the next question, I feel fine considering a car ran me over. Now what?"
Pam looked around and smiled as she found the antenna. Carefully picking it up with one of Ralph's folded up handkerchiefs, she handed it over to Aidan. "See if you can get any vibes off this."
"Sure. Place it in my hand," said Aidan. Though slightly confused that Aidan didn't get up or grab the item, Pam did as she was told and put the item in Aidan's hand.
A holograph phased into view and solidified. "OK, I've something… it's the car, and Dylan's inside. He was the one who hit me," said Aidan roughly. "When I got the holograph of him on the phone, I didn't know where he was."
"Damn…" said Tony.
"Waitasec, I'm hearing something…"
"Ya know, good thing that Jackson creep failed in his duties afterall," said Dylan. "Too easy and fun just to run her over like the bitch she is. Now, all I have to do is wait a few minutes to call those bastards about that little brat. If she's still alive…"
"Why that dirty son of a …." said Aidan, only to have Ralph gently clamp a hand over her mouth.
Twitching her face slightly in annoyance, Ralph chuckled softly. Realizing, while most of the time she remembered, the friendly gesture to keep her personal comments to herself during the holograph so she didn't miss anything, she nodded as she listened in on the talk.
Once it faded, Aidan handed Pam back the antenna and Ralph uncovered her mouth. "What did you find out," she asked.
"Dylan's coming back to make sure that I'm either dead or nearly dead. He's going to call you guys and pretend to be concerned," said Aidan, who swallowed hard. "After he knows I'm 'dead,' he's going to try and get my inheritance."
Tony frowned. "Not if we stop him first. Any ideas Ade?"
"Well… one, but you guys aren't going to like it," she said hesitantly as she finally sat up and took off her shirt to reveal the tunic and cape. She then took them off, replacing it with the shirt, and then lay down on the ground again in the way she had fallen. "Pretend I'm out and call the paramedics..."
Ralph and Pam looked at each other and knew what she was thinking. Even Tony realized that Aidan was going to use the accident to their advantage. "Aidan, ya sure ya wanna do that?" he asked. "Ya know how you are with needles and such."
"Yes, or he won't stop and he'll go after Ralph and Pam," said Aidan.
"After us?" said Ralph, confused.
"Well, possibly if he thinks you guys have a hunch about the will, and that's why I haven't tried to follow him. If he thinks he's won, we can use this to our advantage."
Realizing what she was implying, Tony smiled. "OK, I gotcha Cub. Now … how badly injured do you want to be?"
"Enough that there's a scene here, and that I appear critical. Now, Ralph and Pam, you're going to need to be ready for anything you're told. Tony, you call Cyler and let him know that…" The other three listened in on Aidan's plan, and knew it'd take quick thinking and acting in order for it to work.
After discussing the issue, Tony called Cyler and filled him in on the situation. The head agent told Tony he'd contact the police and ambulance and explain to them the situation. Knowing about the suit, Cyler told them that Aidan had been shot, but was wearing a bulletproof vest. He then told them to claim that she was in a hit-and-run accident, as the person was so demented he thought that he also ran over Aidan.
As Tony was relaying the information to Cyler, Ralph and Pam acted as though Aidan had been seriously hurt and acting like worried godparents to keep up the ruse in case Dylan returned. Within a few minutes, the ambulance and officers were turning the corner and went through the steps of taking care of a critically injured woman. There was one exception to the ruse: She wasn't given an IV for real, as they knew she had the phobia and didn't want to reveal she was actually awake. After being loaded into the ambulance, it sped off toward the hospital.
Tony, Ralph and Pam followed the ambulance in Tony's car, when they heard Aidan's cell phone ring. Seeing it was Dylan's number, Ralph opened the phone and answered. Dylan, knowing he had injured Aidan, pretended to wonder what was taking her so long. Ralph convincingly told Dylan that Aidan was seriously injured and they were taking her to the hospital… not knowing if she'd survive. The young man asked Ralph where they were taking her, and Ralph told them. After hanging up the phone, they knew it would be only a matter of time before they heard from him.
Once the group arrived at the hospital, they continued their ruse, including having Tony call Cyler again to get a tail on Dylan's car, knowing he'd have a new one now to not arouse suspicion. This way they could follow the man to the end of the sting. Even Dr. Braden was in on the sting, having the orderlies, paramedics and doctors roll Aidan into a private room near the OR to give the illusion that she had gone into surgery.
After Aidan "died," the student nurse went into the room to appear as though she was cleaning Aidan up from the failed surgery. She cleaned and dressed Aidan's minor scrapes and cuts, and much to the young woman's disdain, the nurse rinsed off Aidan's hair to keep up with the ruse should someone not in the know entered. After she was done, the nurse left, leaving Aidan to wait for Ralph and Pam. Now that they had proven Dylan was guilty of the attack, all they had to do was wait until they caught Dylan in his own game of cat and mouse.
