Yay! First post of 2013!
Sorry this is later than I intended. (Long day ... good, but long.)
Thanks again to my faithful readers, reviewers, and beta (Shaz1). You're all awesome.
Enjoy ...
Chapter 9
Hudson woke Wednesday morning, trying to hold onto a dream that was quickly fading away. In moments all that was left was a residual feeling of comfort, but the content of the dream was lost on him. Was it of his wife? Children? Siblings? He growled in frustration as he sat up, pushing aside the mound of blankets that had kept out the chill of December.
"Well, aren't you Mr. Sunshine today," Wolf quipped, pouring a bit of batter into the frying pan.
"Shut up."
He looked around, but didn't see Riley. Then again, he didn't see Sandy either. The two must be on a walk, Hudson concluded before taking his seat by the fire.
"Remember anything new?" Wolf asked, as he had the last two mornings.
"A hockey game," Hudson rubbed his temples. "Skipping rocks with a kid, but that one's fuzzy. Um … ignoring a movie with a hot brunette-"
"Isn't your wife blond?"
"Yeah, that would be a memory I'm not sharing over the dinner table."
"Unless you like eating in the dog house," Riley chuckled, joining them beside the fire. "No offense, Sandy."
The mutt seemed far more interested in Wolf's pancakes than Riley's comment, causing the younger man to try and fight her off while the older one launched into the history of the hush-puppy. As they argued about whether or not they had enough batter for a pancake hush-puppy, Hudson closed his eyes and fished around the foggy void for anything else he could dig up. As always, the boy with the green backpack came right to the top.
"Remember something?" Riley asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Just the same kid," Hudson muttered, rubbing his face.
"Still no name for him?" Wolf inquired, handing over a burnt pancake.
"No, nothing," he sighed, picking the blackest parts off his breakfast. "And since my partner and my family say they have no idea who he is, I'm getting nowhere."
"Maybe we should try a different approach," Wolf suggested.
Hudson looked up at his friend, curious to see what he had in mind. After all, their last few ideas had been helpful, even if one did result in him giving his own brother a mild concussion. Still, as Wolf explained his idea, Hudson began to have hope that he could really find this kid. Of course it was a long shot and would probably take a few days, New York was a big city, but there was still the best chance they had.
*B*B*
"Come on," the man in the minivan prodded. "Don't you have any Christmas spirit?"
Jamie sighed inwardly as he continued to write out the ticket. For some reason, people seemed to believe a sale on laptops justified ignoring traffic laws. Gotta love the holidays.
"Just keep an eye on those red lights, or you might not make it to Christmas," Jamie advised turning over the ticket.
Not paying attention to the grumbled curses that followed, Jamie headed back to his squad car where Renzulli was waiting. His partner just shook his head and climbed into the car.
"What?" Jamie questioned, sliding behind the wheel.
"I think that guy had a point. Maybe that knock on your head made you lose more than a couple of days work."
"I'm fine," he insisted, pulling the car back into traffic.
"Kid, we have been riding together long enough for me to know when something is bugging you. Is it your brother?"
Jamie fell silent, pretending to focus on the road even though he was sure Renzulli wasn't buying it. Danny had been living on the streets for almost a week now. As much as he wanted to drag him home, he couldn't. His dad said to give him space, and that's what they were doing. But Christmas was on Sunday, only four days away. What if he didn't remember before then? Where they just supposed to leave him out there in the cold? The radio crackled to life, pulling him out of his depressing thoughts with a report of suspicious characters hanging around a playground.
"This is 12-sergeant, show us responding," Renzulli said into his radio. "Looks like you got saved by the call, kid."
Jamie turned the car around and headed for the park, trying to get thoughts of Danny out of his head. As worried as he was about his brother, he couldn't let his own problems interfere with his work. As the two arrived on scene, they were approached by a concerned mother, towing around a small girl by her hand.
"Thank you for coming so quickly, officers," she whispered, pointed to a pair of dark figures in the trees. "They're over there, just watching the kids. I'm afraid to let my little Annie near the swings. You know how quickly someone can just-"
"It's alright, ma'am," Renzulli assured her. "We'll take it from here."
Jamie approached the pair, his hand resting on his gun. The men looked ragged, in long black coats and wool caps. Still, something about them seemed familiar …
"Excuse me," Renzulli called out. "You two mind stepping over here for a minute."
One of the men tensed at the question, but the other just turned and gave them a look. Instantly Jamie relaxed, wondering if he wanted to laugh or hit him. In the end, he just setting on asking a question.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"It's a nice day," Danny shrugged, looking back at the kids.
"Do you cops have to sneak up on people like that?" Wolf grumbled. "Make more noise when you walk."
"What are you talking about?" Danny shot him a look. "I heard them just fine."
"Well … you're trained for that."
"Maybe your hearing just sucks."
As the banter continued, Renzulli shot Jamie a questioning look. The rookie shrugged, before explaining to his sergeant who the homeless man was and how he was connected to his brother. He had barely finished before Danny started laughing. Looking over to see what was funny, Jamie noticed that Wolfric was now glaring at him. But what did he do?
"You're name is Elmer," Danny snickered. "Wow. No wonder you hate names."
"Well at least I can remember mine," the other man grumbled.
"So can I; it's Reagan."
"You cheated, it's on your brother's name-tag."
"As entertaining as all this is," Renzulli cut in. "What are you two doing here?"
"We're looking for the kid with the green backpack," Danny answered, turning his gaze back to the playground. "And maybe it's just the amnesia, but I don't recall a law saying a couple of guys can't hang around a park."
"May not be a law, but you are scaring some parents," Renzulli commented.
Though Wolfric looked like he was going to protest, Danny grabbed his arm and shook his head. Huffing in annoyed defeat, the homeless man headed away from the playground, muttering something about demons on a power trip. With one last look at the kids, the amnesic detective moved to follow.
"Danny?"
His brother stopped to give him a questioning look, but what question did he want to ask him? Did he remember him yet? Was he coming home soon? Was he getting enough to eat? Was he warm enough on the streets? Of all the things he wanted to know, only one thing came out.
"It's good to see you."
"You too, kid," Danny replied, his classic smirk in place.
With that, the two ragged men disappeared into the trees. But Jamie just hoped it wasn't another three days before he saw him again.
*B*B*
"I don't know what I'm saying," Hudson growled, as he and Wolf approached that camp. "I'm just saying that EB is starting to feel more familiar."
"But, does this mean you are going home?"
"No."
As firmly as he said it, doubts were beginning to creep in his mind. He didn't remember his family, but something about seeing his brother felt … he didn't even know. But it didn't matter anyway. The kid was the one in trouble not … Jackie? No, that was the partner …or was it his son? Damn it, why did their names have to be so close?
"Maybe if you spent more time with the rest of them, you might change your mind."
"I'm not planning a trip to Staten Island anytime soon, if that's what your aiming at."
"I don't think you'll need too."
Hudson looked to where Wolf was pointing and stopped dead in his tracks. A table had been set up next to Riley's camp and several members of his family, and a whole group of people he didn't recognize, were serving a hot meal to the residences of the various hobo camps. This alone would not bother him, except the fact that the members of his family spearheading it were his wife, sister, and the kids. Where were all the cops? Who was protecting them? And on top of that ...
"What the hell are you doing?" he growled, pulling his wife aside.
"Would you relax," she sighed. "It was the kids' idea. With the holidays here, we thought it would be a good idea to let them give back."
"Then go to a soup kitchen."
"You aren't at a soup kitchen," she shot back.
Hudson opened his mouth to argue, when Pixie appeared at his side. Forcing himself to smile at his niece – she was his niece right? –he made a mental note to finish the conversation with Linda later. No need to cause any problems in front of the kids; especially when he saw how happy the teen was.
"Isn't this great?" she grinned. "I never knew there were so many hungry people out here. We should do this every year."
Hell no! But before Hudson could make his protest, Pixie had gone back to serving bread rolls, while Thing One and Thing Two ran over.
"Dad!" they cried in unison.
It was just as it had been four days prior when he had arrived at his house, only this time he managed to keep from flinching back when they wrapped their arms around his waist. The feeling of having the boys – his boys – so close brought back a feeling of comfort, a feeling of being loved. Of course, this made the fact they were out there even worse. He didn't want his sons out here when he didn't remember caring about them; now that it was starting to come back he was starting to get scared. Looking around, he tried to catch sight of the people that had been watching Thing One – Jamie? No. Jackie? No. What was his name? – on Sunday.
"Look how many people came out to help!" Thing Two – Sean –said excitedly. "Kids from the neighborhood and a bunch from Jack's football team."
Jack! That was his name. One mystery solved, and about a thousand more to go. And there were the guys who ave him a bad vibe, right at the edge of the group. As long as they stayed there, he could keep his cool. But if they got any closer, he was going to start bustung heads.
"You hungry, Dad?" Thing One – Jack – asked.
"I made the cornbread," Thing Two – Sean – added.
"Well, then I guess I'm gonna get some cornbread."
For the next hour, until they finally ran out of food, Hudson stuck with his boys and tried to keep an eye on the dangerous looking trio. No easy feat when half the kids there wanted to drill him with questions about being homeless or having amnesia. How a head injury or sleeping in the cold was a novelty, he had no idea, but it was for the kids. Of course, it was worse with the parents who either talked to him like nothing was wrong or treated him like a two year old.
"Bye Danny," a blond woman waved, loading a couple of kids into a van. "See you around."
"Bye," Hudson waved back, plastering a smile on his face before turning to his wife. "Who was that?"
"Sue Grayson," Linda replied dryly. "Her son Travis plays football with Jack."
"We friends?"
"She thinks you are."
Based on the look on her face, it would probably be a good idea to avoid Sue Grayson. Linda may be a virtual stranger to him, but she was still his wife and amnesia was no excuse for getting friendly with the neighbors.
"Hey, Danny," a black haired woman said gently. "How are you holding up?"
"Fine."
"Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out. Anything at all. You too Linda."
Both smiled and nodded as the woman ushered a girl a bit older than Jack into a van with another family. As soon as they pulled away, he looked to Linda for an answer.
"Grace Turner, Sean's teacher."
Casual tone, normal expression; Grace was not a threat. Neither was Joan, Megan, or Laura. Sheila was a gossip, but relatively harmless, and it was Hudson that warned Linda to watch herself around Patricia Mallory. There was just something about that woman that did not sit well with him, not to mention the way her husband was so attentive to the other moms. But he had bigger things to worry about than his neighborhood drama. And now that everyone was gone but his family, he could finally get them to safety.
"Good turn out," his sister commented, as he helped her pack up the last of the dishes.
"Yeah, but do you think you can keep the kids home from now on?"
"Danny, they miss you."
"I know it's just …"
He let out a frustrated sigh, looking back at where the boys were playing with Sandy. The feelings of love were faint, but there. Still, protective instincts were stronger and as much as enjoyed their time together, it was better for everyone if they just stayed away for now.
"Look, I'll be home just as soon as I find that boy with the green backpack. But until then, you need to promise me you'll keep those kids out of this area."
She gave him a sad smile and turned away.
"If that's the way you want it."
"Thanks sis."
As he walked away, he thought he saw a tear on her cheek and it was like an ice pick to the chest. This was another reason his family needed to stay away, being around him did nothing but cause them pain. But soon his memory would be back and he could be there for them again … at least, he hoped so.
What do you think so far?
Feedback is always welcome and I will get the next part up just as soon as I can. (Been having technical problems with my computer. :P Stupid technology.)
