Chapter 10

"Thanks, Shari." Danny called to the plump mother of three as he climbed out of the car. He waved from the Deline's driveway as he watched Mary's college roommate pull away.

Before entering the home Danny stood for a moment, letting the sunlight warm his face. It was a beautiful 80-degree day and it seemed so unfair Mary wasn't outside to enjoy it. Not that her hospital stay was completely unpleasant. Over the past three days word had gotten around about the McCoys being in town and Mary had many welcomed visitors. At first Danny had balked at the endless parade of people but the doctor said as long as she stayed in bed and left time for rest it was fine. In fact, it had been just what Mary needed to keep her mind off the troubled pregnancy.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Danny called as he made his way through the house, finding it empty.

When more old college friends had arrived to see Mary he had decided to take the opportunity to play with Ryan, maybe even take him by McCoy Construction.

"Good day, Mr. McCoy." Maria greeted the man as he entered the kitchen. "Mrs. D and Miss Nessa took the baby to the park." Maria saw the look of disappointment on Ryan's father's face. "They didn't expect you back so early."

"It's okay Maria."

"Would you like something to eat? I made fresh chicken salad." Maria smiled warmly, remembering her chicken salad croissants were one of his favorites.

"No, thanks. Maybe later." The young man turned away and headed outside. He felt the tension in his shoulders and cursed the fact he couldn't go for a run to relieve some of his stress. Mary had suggested he try and write a little but Danny found typing one handed was only causing him more frustration. Mary had even tried to help by typing for him but constant interruptions by visiting friends did little to help his writer's block.

Thinking about running had Danny missing Max, his German Shepherd and favorite running partner. It did give Danny an idea, maybe he could teach Jillian's Pomeranian to play fetch, or he would get lucky and the little show dog would already know how.

"Maria, where is Prince Edward?" Danny went back inside and looked around, realizing he hadn't seen the dog since he had arrived a few days ago.

"Oh, he growled at Sophie when she started to crawl so Mrs Deline gave him away."

"Oh." Danny sighed and headed back out toward the pool.
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Ed grasped the banister as he moved up the stairs. The house was so quiet, too quiet. He had hoped to catch Jillian for lunch before returning to the Montecito since she would be at a dinner party tonight. Nessa and Mike had plans to go out and Sam had already called dibs on Mary for dinner. The petite brunet was bringing in pizza for what she had proclaimed 'a girls night in.' Ed figured Danny could use some downtime with his son alone so he had decided to spend the evening at work, not that he didn't have enough to do there.
Ever since Sophie had come to stay with them Jillian had laid down the law and enforced a new schedule. She limited her countless woman's charity functions and gatherings to once per week and Ed had to be home for dinner at least three nights a week and once on the weekends he worked. The arrangement forced Ed to slow down a little and enjoy his family time, something he had missed out on too often with his daughter.

Movement out the beautiful floor to ceiling windows caught the old man's eye and he stared for a moment to make sure what he was seeing was real.

Standing at the back of the property overlooking the Strip was Danny, forcefully throwing something into the valley below. Even though he was using his left hand Ed knew the action must be jarring his bad shoulder.

"What the hell is the matter with him?" Ed muttered with fatherly concern and headed down the steps.

----

With each rock he threw Danny could feel the pent up stress fall away. He let his mind wander back to his visit yesterday to the Belaggio and how weird the morning had been.

He had gone to see Mike to help with a final system analysis on the casino's security and check up on his best friend. He knew Mike was still upset about the accident and Mary had insisted Danny go and reassure his best friend once again. When Danny showed up they had talked about not only the accident but about Mike's cousin's murder.

The cold case agents had some definite leads and Mike was hopeful an arrest would be made soon. As they finished up the two men heard John Ashden, head of Security for the Belaggio, and a familiar voice enter the surveillance room.

"Let me get my clubs." John headed up to his office and Ed glanced around, locking eyes with his former employees.

"Hey, boys. How's it going?" Ed's expression did not give away the longing he felt to have the two back in his own surveillance room at the Montecito.

Mike was a little speechless to see Ed and Danny glanced around to make sure he wasn't dreaming, that they hadn't time warped to the past. 'No, we're not at the Montecito', he reassured himself.

"Good, Mike should have it done in a few more days." Danny said awkwardly.

"That's great." Ed responded and asked Danny how Mary was this morning. He had planned to see her himself later in the day when he knew Danny would be getting Ryan down for his nap. Ed kept his expression neutral while he waited for John so they could get to their tee time.

"We have detected illegal electronic equipment on the floor, Sir." A security agent called to John as he exited his office.

Danny, Mike, and Ed turned in unison to the monitor that focused on blackjack table 29.

It had seemed like old times as the three men watched closely then remembered a similar scenario at the Montecito a few years back.

"Push in on camera p14, er, the camera above the last slot machine." Danny corrected himself after stating what the camera would be referred to at the Montecito. Ed smiled to himself and pointed out who he thought the perpetrators were. Danny, Ed and Mike took turns explaining what had happened at the Montecito and how they had caught the cheats.

"Triangulating the signal will be even easier now with this new program," Mike showed John and the rest of the staff the upgrades he and Danny had designed and implemented.

10 minutes later everyone cheered as the Belaggio staff hauled off the three criminals, an action that left Danny, Mike and Ed wishing they hadn't caught them so soon.

Ed had worked late that night and Danny hadn't seen him since. His trip to the Belaggio had been the first time he had been back to the Strip. Seeing the skyline had caused the conflicted man to do a lot of soul searching, something Danny had avoided since his return to Vegas.

Danny sensed Ed's presence more than actually heard him as he crossed the yard toward the younger man.

"Not bad for a leftie." Ed said casually as he approached the end of the property.

"Thanks," Danny gave him a half-hearted smile and wondered to himself how long it would take for Ed to tell him he wasn't doing his shoulder or broken arm any good. Danny had been thinking hard about his interactions with Ed over the past several days. When Danny had expected the older man to be pushy or demanding he had been nothing but caring and considerate. Maybe it was time to take his wife's advice and stop keeping Ed at arms length. Yesterday his wife was more than happy to point out his habit of pushing others away when he should be holding them close. It was something he had learned not to do with his wife and son but he still had work to do regarding everyone else.

"I'm sorry if I've been a jerk, Ed." Danny said without turning toward his former mentor.

"You haven't been," Ed lied but felt relieved at the same time.

Yeah, right. Danny gave Ed an apologetic smile and threw another stone down into the valley. He watched it skip over the dirt and bounce into some brush. "It's just that I have had more drama in the last two weeks than I've had in the last two years. I guess I'm out of practice."

"Everything is going to be okay." Ed said sincerely, hoping to ease Danny's worries about the baby. He saw Danny's appreciative nod and remained silent.

"Jorgen Fedora, huh?" Danny changed the subject to the prime suspect in Mike's cousin's case.

"The evidence is all circumstantial right now, but they'll find something." Ed commented and watched Danny pull another stone out of his pocket. He's using my landscaping stones.

"Do me a favor, don't let Mike do anything stupid after I leave."

"I thought Mike would be heading back to Tahoe with you and Mary….you said the work at the Belaggio was almost done?"

"Yeah…..but I doubt he comes back to Tahoe." Danny wiped some sweat from his brow and glanced at Ed. "He hasn't said anything, I just have a feeling."

"Hmm," Ed began to mull the thought over in his mind. "Nessa."

Danny smirked and threw one last stone, rolled his shoulders and felt a small burn in the right one. The small physical exertion felt good and he was beginning to feel like his old self again.

"Hey, how 'bout we get some lunch?" Ed asked, trying not to get his hopes up that this conversation meant that he and Danny were turning a corner in their relationship. Just when he thought Danny would pass on the invitation the kid spoke up.

"That sounds good." Danny smiled and followed Ed toward the house.