Sorry scottiedog – got a few more chapters of angst first before I can wind this story down.
This should have been posted last night but I've been getting an error and it wouldn't accept the document. Sorry for the delay but it wasn't my fault! Honest! Thanks Jolene! As you can see it worked!
Thanks for those great reviews…love them!
THIS OLD MAN.
By LetitiaRichards.
Previously:-
"I know. Rest now!" Sam reached over and kissed his cheek gently, making him smile. "I'll be right here!" A moment later he was well away.
Chapter 10
This old man, he played three...
Jack's legs felt like Jello as he walked into the house. The two steps down into the lounge looked to him like a whole long flight of stairs. He steadied himself against the wall as he stepped down them and then sank gratefully onto the sofa with a sigh of relief.
He was still sore from the treatment to rid his body of the effects of the drug, but he knew that would go in time. He didn't have much of an appetite yet, but that was hardly surprising after what he'd gone through.
"You want anything to drink?"
Jack looked up into Sam's concerned eyes and shook his head.
"Nah. I'm fine for now." He had a bottle of water at his side already, he just didn't fancy anything else right now. The small bottle had been his constant companion after Janet had told him he needed to keep taking plenty of fluids.
He felt tired, irritated beyond frustration and overall was not a happy camper. He'd spent a gruelling hour being interviewed by Colonel Mayhew and his sidekick earlier this morning. Then after lunch he'd had a visit from General Hammond and had to confess that he loved his 2IC and wanted to marry her. Hammond hadn't been at all surprised and had been reasonable about the whole thing, saying he would talk to the Joint Chiefs about it and get back to him.
Sam sank down onto the cushion beside him and laid her hand on his arm.
"Hey! You sure you're okay?"
He smiled and closed his other hand over hers, giving it a little pat.
"I'm fine, really," he assured her with a smile. "Just tired I guess."
"Close your eyes for a while Jack. I'll keep the hounds at bay!"
He snorted with amusement at that and nodded. He settled back among the cushions and she threw the multicoloured blanket from the back of the sofa over him when he'd begun to doze off. She knew he was still feeling a little washed out from his ordeal, but at least he was on the mend. She bent over him and brushed a sweet kiss over his brow, bringing a sleepy smile to his lips.
"Love you!" she sighed.
"Me too!" he whispered before drifting off into the arms of Morpheus.
OoOoOoOoO
"Louis Frattelli?"
"Out back!" came the terse reply from the guy stocking the fresh supplies behind the bar.
"Then would you please tell him we'd like to talk to him for a moment!" Colonel Mayhew tamped down his annoyance and took a deep breath to calm himself. He glanced around the diner, taking in all there was to see.
"Depends! Who are you?"
Mayhew fished out his ID and dangled it in front of the man's nose.
"Colonel Mayhew AFOSI."
The man straightened and glared at the two officers and then shrugged, but did disappear into the back to tell his boss that he was wanted.
A slight man of around sixty years old appeared; his olive skin shiny from sweat as if he'd been shifting heavy gear around. He was wiping his hands on a towel as he approached.
"So what brings you guys to my place?" he asked in surprise.
"You know a Gene Thomas?" Mayhew asked, watching closely for the man's reactions.
"Sure I do. We're old Air Force buddies."
"He brought a couple of friends in here last week for a meal."
"Yeah. He said they were Air Force too. They had the best damn pizzas in the house. Why?"
"Did you know them personally?"
"Nope. Can't say I recall seeing them here before, but then I haven't been open that long. And this place is swarming with Air Force personnel if you hadn't noticed. They all look the same to me."
"But you do remember these two?" Mayhew accused.
"Yeah. They were with Gene, of course I remember them. And for fear of repeatin' myself, why?"
"Because after eating here, Colonel O'Neill was taken seriously ill."
"Hey! My food was good. I ain't had no complaints yet! Just what the hell are you gettin' at?" cried Fratelli in anger, waving his arms about.
"We're not accusing your food of being off Mr. Fratelli. Colonel O'Neill was poisoned, and we believe that the substance used was added to his meal here..."
"You gotta be kiddin' me? Look Colonel, I had nothin' to do with this. I didn't even know the guy until Gene introduced him."
"How well do you know your staff Mr. Fratelli? Did anyone else handle their food or the beer they were served?"
Fratelli thought back to that time and shrugged.
"Okay. Any one of the staff could have handled the pizza and the beer," he conceded.
"Can you find out exactly who, so that we can talk to them?"
"Sure!"
He disappeared into the back again and moments later a younger man, around his mid thirties and also of Mediterranean appearance, approached Mayhew. His chef whites protected by a grubby apron where he'd been wiping his fingers after handling the food.
"Louis said you wanted to see me?"
Masters beside him grimaced at the sight of the chef's apron and turned away leaving the questioning to his CO. Instead he looked around, taking in all the sights and sounds surrounding him.
"And you are?"
"Mickey Fratelli. What can I do for you?"
The name struck a chord.
"Louis is my dad!" Mickey explained, seeing the slightly curious look on their faces.
"What do you do here Fratelli? Beside work for your dad that is?"
"I prepare the pizzas. I guess you could say I'm the main chef around here."
"Do you know Colonel Jack O'Neill?"
"Who?" His brows knitted together as he tried to think. "Can't say I do."
"Do you know your father's friend Gene Thomas?"
"Sure I know him. Dad and he have been pals for...well for as long as I can remember, although he hadn't been around for a long time. I think they only met up again a short while ago. Look, what has all this got to do with me?"
"Mr. Thomas brought a couple of friends here last week and after one of them, Colonel O'Neill, had eaten one of your pizzas, he was taken ill from poisoning. Do you know anything about that Mr. Fratelli?"
"What? No!" he gasped, stunned by the accusation. "I...I... Why would I do a thing like that? I don't even know the guy! I never even saw who Gene was with that night. Dad came out back and ordered two of his best pizzas for Gene and his guests, so that's what I did. I made two. One topped with pepperoni and the other a triple cheese. I didn't add nothin' else! I swear I didn't."
"Okay. Fine. Thank you. Could you tell me who usually serves the food around here?"
"Dad does normally, especially if it was Gene. He likes to give a personal service to his friends and his best customers."
"What about the beer. Who would serve that?" Masters asked, wondering maybe if there could be someone else involved here.
Fratelli junior thought it over for a moment.
"Roy would normally open the bottles behind the bar. He's our bartender. But then, Paul would probably serve the drinks to the customers, though I couldn't tell you if he waited on Gene that night or not. You'd have to ask him."
"Is he here?"
"Yeah. He's out back checkin' the stocks."
Mayhew waited patiently locking eyes with his colleague while Fratelli yelled for Paul. What happened next caught them all by surprise.
Paul Robinson made his way forward and stepped into the main dining area, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw who was waiting to talk to him.
Mayhew and Masters focused on his face while Paul looked like a startled deer caught in the headlights of a car.
"You!" cried Mayhew in surprise, reaching for his weapon.
A moment later Robinson was dashing back through the kitchen and out of the back door, the two AFOSI officers hot on his tail, yelling for a clear run.
Robinson leapt over the garbage littering the back alley, tearing off his work jacket as he ran.
Masters and Mayhew hot on his tail were still a way back.
"Freeze or we'll open fire!" Mayhew yelled, but Robinson kept on running.
A single shot fired and Robinson went down heavily.
All was unnaturally still and quiet as the echo of the shot died down. Mayhew hurried towards the downed man while Masters dialled on his cell phone for an ambulance.
Mayhew's fingers encountered a fluttering pulse but the chances were that their one link with the events from a week ago was about to die on them. He examined the bullet wound; it had entered the middle of Robinson's back. The man didn't stand a chance.
He died before the ambulance and the police arrived, making Mayhew curse his luck.
OoOoOoOoO
Jack, still looking a little pale but back on light duties, looked up when Colonel Mayhew and his team entered the briefing room. SG-1 was having a briefing about the results of Sam's UAV probe on PX7 294 as a possible mission for the following week.
General Hammond stopped mid stream and stood to shake the Colonel's hand.
"I just wanted to thank you for your hospitality General," Mayhew began. "We've wrapped up the case and Colonel, you should be okay from now on. When we went over Robinson's apartment, we discovered a significant amount of Doxepin in his medicine cabinet. There was also a small bottle of the medication in his locker at work too. He must have slipped the stuff into your drink that night. He was wanted for poisoning a fellow Airman two years ago and had been on the run since then. Would you believe we also found out that he must have borne you a grudge too. Seems you must have upset him way back when you served together."
"We did? Can't say I can recall his name." Jack was a little taken aback by this revelation but schooled his features into curiosity.
"Apparently you turned down his request for leave and reported him AWOL when he took it anyway. As far as we can tell, he'd never forgiven you for that. You were lucky that the Major was with you Colonel or I doubt you'd be sitting here. Fratelli said he joined the staff around four months ago when they opened the place; said he came to Colorado Springs looking for a certain old friend he wanted to look up, and where better to try and find him amongst all the Air Force personnel stationed here?"
"Wow! That was some grudge!" Daniel exclaimed, making Jack feel a little uncomfortable.
"The threat to your life has now been eliminated Colonel. Good luck with the Major here," Mayhew grinned, making Sam blush to her roots. "I hear you two are preparing for the big day soon.
Jack chuckled. He hadn't been fooling anyone, especially these people.
"Sure are." Jack turned to smile at Sam who grinned back.
"We wish you all the best Colonel. General, we'll be flying back to Bolling now. I can't say it's been a pleasure under the circumstances, but I will say it's been a privilege to meet you and your men sir."
They all shook hands after both Jack and the General had thanked them for their investigation, and then said their good-byes.
This old man, he played three.
He played nick-nack on my knee...
TBC