Thanks to Diane for sharing a script that was painful in many different ways!
Thanks again to Jen…God love ya'! I know I'm a needy fool! If I could grant you one wish, it would be that your favorite writing pen would always be filled with inspiration.
Is You Is…Or Is You Ain't My Baby?
David felt Annie's eyes follow him through the den to the kitchen. After what he did to her he was befuddled as to why she came back to LA in the first place. He had things to do and was in no mood to deal with her. Damn it all to hell…of all the things that he thought could possibly happen during his and Maddie's week of paradise, Annie was the last thing he expected the cat to drag in.
"You've reached the desk of Lou LaSalle's Special Assistant Detective Herbert Quentin Viola. I'm away doing what's important in the business of detectives, using my highly trained skills and intellect that's needed for only the finest detective work and tracking wanted criminals. If you should need to reach me, please leave a message after the third beep. If you should need my attention immediately, please leave a message after the second beep. If you find yourself in the middle of a dire—"
"Dammit Viola, where in the hell are you?" David yelled, slamming the phone down. He thought of Agnes and the baby they had on the way. "Just don't do something stupid…working for Lou LaSalle," he added with a whisper, missing his oddball junior detective and even his quirky wife.
And Richie. He didn't know where to start to track him down. His brother always did the calling, usually late at night, leaving some weird message on his machine at home.
"I just wonder…" David called his apartment. The phone rang five or six times, and just when he thought his answering machine would take over, a familiar voice answered.
"Richie? Why in the hell are you answering my phone? You are supposed to be miles and miles away from here!" David could hear someone in the background.
"Are you okay? Who's there with you?"
"Dave! I uh…I didn't get very far after I saw you yesterday."
A female voice in the background confirmed what he'd been thinking. "Richie, tell me that's not who I think it is! For Chrissakes, do you even know what you're doing? Keeping Layla Anselmo in your company has got to be the stupidest thing you have ever done! Didn't you listen to what I told you?"
"Whoa, ho…Dave! First of all…I'm not stewpid—"
"Beg to differ!" David growled as Annie appeared through the kitchen door.
"Keeping a Ms. Anselmo within fifty miles of you is taking a risk, Richie, but sharing a room, and a bed, I presume, is suicide. You have no idea—"
"It's Lewis."
"What?"
"It's Lewis. Layla. Lewis. And she's just as afraid of the Anselmos as you are, Dave." Richie sounded way to confident about the situation and he knew there was only one reason for it: A Woman.
"Layla Lewis. You said her last name was Anselmo," David queried. He saw Annie's eyes get big at the mention of her last name.
"Well…it used to be Anselmo, but she said she had it changed to Lewis…for obvious reasons…Layla, honey…not now…" Richie laughed.
David put it together. Layla Lewis. She must be the wife of the man that had shown up at Annie's house in Connecticut and the daughter of Anselmo himself. And he was looking for her and Richie. Odds were he'd show up in Brentwood or his apartment looking for them
"Look, Richie. You need to get out of there. You shouldn't be involving yourself with a married woman anyway, especially that married woman." Annie's eyebrows rose as she looked over them at David, leaning on the counter next to him.
"Layla's husband is looking for her," he added, putting some space between him and Annie.
"Her husband? No Dave, it's not like that! Layla's not married, she just changed her name is all."
"Richie, I'm telling you, she's married! And more than likely on the run! Get going! Now, while you can. Don't stay there! Okay?"
"All right, all right David! Jeez! We're going!"
"WE!! No Richie, you need to drop her like the hot little piece you think she is and go."
There was silence on the other end of the phone…more like the line had been disconnected.
"Richie?… Richie?….Goddammit!" David yelled, slamming the phone down again.
Annie came up beside him, putting a hand on his arm. "David, I think…"
He looked down at her unwelcome touch. She took her hand away and positioned herself again against the counter next to him. Why hadn't he seen this side of her before? She was like a snake, taking advantage of her prey when they least expected it.
The doorbell rang as David opened the drawer by the phone and pulled out his pistol. He was glad he had thought to tell Richie to bring it from his apartment and really glad that he had gone with Pete a few times to the practice range. Hopefully, it was Detective Donegan and not some thug who'd want to test his skills.
"You need to stay here," he warned Annie, who looked confused and frightened. "Don't come out until you're sure it's the detective from the LAPD. Got it?"
"David, wait!"
"What Annie? I need to answer the door," he said impatiently.
"Just be careful," she said meekly, looking intimidated by his souring mood.
He peeked through the peephole and seeing supposedly one of LAPD's finest, he tucked the gun in his pants and opened the door.
"Donegan."
"Addison. Good to see you…though not great circumstances again." He looked around the foyer and into the den. "Where is Ms. Hayes?" he asked, seeing Annie come from the kitchen.
David looked up at the top of the stairs, hoping Maddie had heard the doorbell and would come back down.
"She's uh…she's taking a nap," he improvised.
"Mrs. Charnock, I heard you were back in town." David watched Donegan survey the house, looking at Annie, back upstairs at Maddie's bedroom doors and then back at him… LAPD detective in overdrive. It struck David that this was exactly what Donegan was doing a year ago, monitoring Maddie's house while he was being stupid with Annie, and by the look on his face Donegan was thinking the same thing. In fact, David was sure of it.
"Do you know how to handle what you're packing in your pants?" Donegan asked none too humorously, looking at the pistol he had tried to conceal.
Annie covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
"Yes…yes I do," answering two questions in one, looking at Annie incredulously and pulling out the gun.
"Well, let's hope we won't have to see you use it. I suggest you make sure the safety is on and let the LAPD take care of you."
"Detective, I just spoke with my brother and he never left town. He's been hiding out at my apartment with Anselmo's daughter, Layla Lewis."
"Barber told me Ms. Charnock had a visitor by the name Lewis. She any relation?"
"I'm pretty sure she's his wife and he's looking for her," David answered, worried about Richie.
"If you could show me to the phone, I'd like to check in with Barber. He'll have someone go by your place and check on him, " Donegan said, watching Annie turn knobs on the stereo and pulling CD's out of the player. He shook his head and looked at David as if he had lost his mind. Donegan was good. He had the whole shenanigans figured out in two minutes.
David led him to the kitchen and handed him the phone. " Donegan, do you remember a Herbert Viola that worked at Blue Moon over a year ago?"
"Short, wild-haired, splotchy beard, quite zealous, a little over-protective of Mad—uh, Ms. Hayes?" he remembered.
"That's him. I think he may have gotten in over his head with this thing. Could you ask Detective Barber to find him?"
"Okay… I will…Addison…" he hesitated, putting the phone down. "You know…last time I was here I got the feeling that you were very important to Ms. Hayes…from the things she told me anyway…are you two…Ah, I'm just going a little overboard. You know how detectives can be sometimes."
David watched Donegan spin his detective wheels. Why was it other men were always telling him how Maddie felt? Sam had told him as much…while he lived with her for three whole days. Walter Bishop had told him the same thing once…while he was married to her for three whole weeks. And now Donegan, who was basically a stranger to Maddie a year ago. It must've been one hellava stake out.
He didn't remember having a real conversation with her about much of anything back then. A few tears in a stuck elevator one night and a little tiff in the Bimmer about talking their relationship to death just about covered it. Unless he counted the night she lectured him on appropriate behavior in front of Annie and coming to his apartment, disdainfully telling him how wrong it was to be involved with her, their communiqué was next to zilch. Had she told him that night she still had even the slightest feelings for him at all, he would have stopped the game he had been playing with Annie on a dime.
"Pardon me. Ah… I'm just being nosy… it's none of my business. I'm just here to protect and serve," he laughed.
"It's a free country…freedom of speech and all that," David shrugged, curious now as to what he had to say.
"Well, after what Ms. Hayes told me about Ms. Charnock, her cousin, and her behavior when she was here last…I'm sorry…I just don't understand how she could be in the same house with her, let alone the same room. What did you see in her anyway? I mean, with a woman like Ms. Hayes around..."
LAPD detectives. …They liked to shoot between the eyes. The arrow shook and vibrated like on Wil E. Coyote.
"Well…I should make some calls and then I'm going to post myself outside in an unmarked car." He gave David his card. "I'm just a call and steps away should you need me."
David nodded, a little embarrassed knowing Donegan had his facts straight. He wasn't sure if he was trying to find out whether Maddie was available or if he was questioning Annie's reasons for being in town again. Eight hours ago he had been fairly sure of the answer to Donegan's first implied question. At least they had something in common about the second; Annie wasn't just a snake, she was the serpent in the Garden of Eden, waiting to devour the forbidden fruit for herself.
....................
Maddie punched and fluffed the pillows on her bed and tossed them on top of the bedspread. She cradled the last one and turning backwards, flopped on her back with a huge sigh. She had managed to pick up clothes and put them away, rearrange her countless number of shoeboxes, cleanout her cosmetic drawer and aimlessly organize her many bottles of beauty products in the bathroom. All the while, trying to put a finger on exactly why she was so angry.
She had shortened her list to one word: Trust.
Maddie understood why David didn't tell her about Pete's phone call. He'd been trying hard to reignite their relationship, to make the last three days matter. And she'd have to admit, his charming ways had swept her off her feet. She rolled over on her stomach, taking the pillow with her and propping it under her chin. Still, that didn't excuse him for being dishonest.
Other than Annie, had David actually been untrustworthy in his failed relationships with other women? The two she knew about he'd had his heart trampled, not the other way around. Just who was she having trouble trusting anyway? The answer became very clear. She hadn't trusted herself to let go.
And she hadn't trusted what her heart had been telling her all along.
Maddie sat up on the edge of the bed as a sinking realization hit her. She had given David every reason not to trust her and yet there he was, back again with arms wide open, accepting her high-strung temper and emotions without batting an eye.
She could hear music filtering through her bedroom speakers, stopping and starting again; music that she and David had listened to the last three days, music that had played softly as she slept in his arms.
And a certain someone probably had her paws all over it.
....................
"David, when did you start listening to Sinatra and show tunes?" Annie shouted through the den, laughing and tossing CD's aside. "Blech!" She turned more knobs and tuned in a local radio station, increasing the volume as Little Willie John cranked through the den.
David pushed through the kitchen door and stopped. Annie was kicking off shoes and pulling a clip out of her still damp hair, dancing to the music and smiling at him. Two glasses of bourbon sat on the liquor buffet.
"What are you doing? You should turn that down," he cautioned over the music.
This is KMIX in beeeuutiful downtown LA on this beeuutiful and finally rain free evening. That was Little Willie John singing his classic song "Need Your Love So Bad". I hope someone out there got some needed lovin' too. Up next a just released album from Bonnie Raitt. Her new single is sure to be a hit so grab you somebody you love right now for Bonnie Raitt's new single " Love Me Like A Man".
The men that I've been seeing, baby
Got their soul up on a shelf
you know they could never love me
When they can't even love themselves
"Oh David, knowing Maddie, she's probably got the covers pulled up to her chin or a pillow over her head. She used to always do that when she was mad or upset. She hasn't changed a bit since we were roomies in New York!" she exclaimed loudly over the music.
David brushed by Annie to turn the volume down and she grabbed his arm.
"David, you know what you need?" she suggested, getting closer and gliding her hands up his arms.
"I'm sure you're gonna tell me," he answered, trying to holding her off.
"You need to have a drink, lighten up a little and have some fun like you used to. You've been cooped up in this house too long with the Wicked Queen and forgotten how is all." She turned the music back up, louder than before, and started to dance, pulling him to her. He could smell the bourbon on her breath.
Annie giggled and locked her arms tightly around David's neck as she moved him to the center of the den. Stumbling into her, Donegan's words echoed in his ears. He knew there was every reason to get away and get away quick.
"Annie, knock it off, okay?" he said, trying to separate her body from his.
And I need someone to love me
I know you can
Believe me when I tell you
you can love me like a man
"Oh, come on David, let's have some fun," she whispered in a sultry voice, close to his ear.
Oh they want me to rock them
like my back ain't got no bone
I want a man to rock me
like my… backbone was his own…
And then she kissed him. A bourbon filled, wet, opened mouth kiss. A bring a man to his knees kind of kiss. And all David could think of was something wasn't right, not in just the kiss, but in how quickly Annie had tried to seduce him. Even he had never worked things that fast.
....................
Maddie hit the bottom of the stairs and turned the corner into the den just in time to see David unlatching Annie's lips and hips from his own. She noticed the poured booze on the table and felt the burn rise in her cheeks.
"You always did like a good party!" she said with fire. If looks could kill Annie would be dead for sure. Maddie suddenly felt ill.
"Maddie, wait a second!" David said, pushing Annie aside with a look of disgust. She relented and let him go, but not without adding her venomous opinion of the situation.
"Hey, Maddie…why are you so upset? It's not like you've claimed David for your own or anything. Why should you care what we're doing anyway—"
"Annie shut up!" David interrupted, chasing Maddie to the foyer.
"C'mere!" he demanded, grabbing her by the arm.
"Let go David!" Maddie squirmed.
"No Maddie, this is not what you think!"
"Shut up?" Annie yelped.
"Yes, shut up!" David said again.
"David, I have eyes and I saw what I saw!" Maddie said angrily, tears threatening.
"Yeah, David! She has eyes and she saw—"
"Shut up Annie!" Maddie screamed at her cousin.
"Yeah? And did you see me kissin' her or her kissin' me? Because there is a huge difference!"
"Maddie, how dare you tell me to shut up!" Annie vehemently replied.
"Then let me dare…SHUT. UP!" David repeated. "Maddie, I didn't do what you think you saw. She's a little snake who--"
"A snake?" Annie hissed indignantly.
"Yeah, a snake!" David repeated
"A snake is an understatement!" Maddie intervened loudly, putting herself in between David and Annie.
"So you didn't see what I thought you thought you saw?" David concluded thoughtfully. She knew what she saw. Her cousin was giving him something the French had perfected
"Does Mark even know what a little tart you've been the last year?" she spewed, backing Annie into the bottom of the stairs where she plopped on her behind.
David's jaw dropped, surprised that Maddie would suggest such a thing, and to a family member, no less.
Suddenly the music volume rose to a deafening level. The Guess Who's "American Woman" blared through the house.
American woman, get away from me
American woman, mama let me be
Don't come knockin' around my door
Don't wanna see your shadow no more…
David pulled his gun from his pants. He was stunned at having been fooled. And he felt foolish for being caught off guard…with both situations.
"David, what are you doing with a gun?" Maddie shrieked, as he pulled her and Annie against the wall, peeking around the corner.
"Maddie, I want you to stay here, do you understand?" He looked at Annie. "You too! The two of you stay put," he ordered, his face close to Maddie's so she could hear him.
Maddie smelled bourbon and Annie's perfume on him and saw the remnants of her lipstick on his face. Her stomach rolled as she looked at Annie dropping her eyes to avoid hers.
David crawled into the den behind the sofa to get a better look.
…Now woman, I said get away
American woman, listen what I say..
The stereo pumped as Maddie watched. For the first time that week she was scared.
"David, be careful," she warned, knowing he couldn't hear her. A lamp rocked on an end table and crashed to the floor. The den was cast into darkness.
"David?" Maddie cried. Unable to stop herself, she followed his path on hands and knees.
"Maddie, he said to stay here!" Annie shrieked.
Maddie hid behind the sofa. David was struggling with a large man and a gun.
"David!" she panicked, as the gun went off. Maddie ran to him and the intruder sat up, pointing the gun at her. She fell to her knees as David lay on the floor. He wasn't moving.
"David!" she cried, putting her hands on his chest, trying to see in the dark. "What have you done?" she screamed over the music, the man now standing over them.
"David, can you hear me?"
"Maddie?"
She saw his lips move, but could hear nothing but blasting music. The man went to the stereo and turned it down.
"Oh, God! David, are you okay?" she wept.
David opened his eyes and looked at her. "Maddie?" he grimaced. "I told you to say put…"
Maddie ripped his shirt open, fearful of what she would find. And in the dark, she felt it…a thick vest wrapped around David's chest with one bullet hole to the shoulder.
"Ms. Hayes, step away now!" the trespasser ordered.
"Oh, good luck with that one…" David tried to quip, losing his breath.
"David…" she said as she tried to pry the vest off of him.
"Owww! Blondie, not now honey," he tried to joke, sucking air into his lungs. "Maddie…do what he says…" gradually sounding more like his old self.
The man loomed over them, grabbing Maddie by the arm and pointing the gun at David.
"I guess you want me to get up now, huh?" he said with as much glibness as he could muster.
Maddie helped David as he struggled to his feet, able to see now that he had worn a bulletproof vest under his shirt with LAPD on the shoulder, all frazzled from the bullet that had hit him.
"It's your lucky day, Mr. Addison. The boss said to take you alive, but if provoked, do what I needed to do…and I guess I did," the thug said in an East Coast accent.
"Yeah…yeah, that you did," David retorted, looking him in the eye.
The scumbag grabbed Maddie roughly and pulled her up against him.
"Hey!" David said angrily, making a move for the man. He pulled the hammer back on his gun with a deadly click.
"David! Don't!" Maddie pleaded.
"Unless you want to get shot for real, I suggest you do what your girlfriend says," he replied firmly.
"Okay, let's go. Everybody upstairs…NOW!" he said gruffly, making Maddie jump and pushing her in front of them.
David put his arm around her as they walked towards the stairs. Rounding the corner they found Annie, still sitting against the wall, tears streaming down her face.
"Mrs. Charnock…you did a good job…now up you go too," he ordered.
"That's Ms. to you buddy," David taunted, looking at Annie and then back at the tall, over-bearing east coaster, sizing him up. "And you, I presume, must be Mr. Lewis."
"Mr. Lewis?" Maddie answered, perplexed. "That would mean that Annie…" and then she stopped herself from saying what she didn't want to believe. Annie had led the Anselmos right to them.
....................
…Oh, what a night.
Late December back in `63.
What a very special time for me,
`Cause I remember what a night.
Oh, what a night.
You know, I didn't even know her name,
But I was never gonna be the same.
What a lady. What a night…
David sat in the middle of the bed propped up with pillows, his hair standing on end from his scuffle with Lewis, his hands tied behind his back and the LAPD vest scrunched up his neck to his chin.
"At least the guy has a fairly decent taste in music," he said, teeth clenched from the confinement of the vest. "I use to do a fair imitation of Frankie Valli in front of the bathroom mirror when I was growing up."
When he heard no response he looked to his left where Maddie lay, propped up on pillows, her hair in disarray and her hands tied behind her back.
"Stuff it Addison!" she said through clenched teeth…no vest…rolling her eyes.
David nodded slightly and then looked to his right. Annie laid beside him, propped up on pillows, her hair finally dry from her conspiracy in the rain, but a little on the frizzy side for her. Tearstains streaked her cheeks and her hands were tied behind her back…the traitor on the other side of the bed. She had put them all at risk of being hurt, physically and quite possibly, emotionally. She looked at him and then hastily pulled her eyes away.
…Oh, what a night.
Why`d it take so long to see the light?
Seemed so wrong, but now it seems so right.
What a lady, what a night!
And then Maddie started to laugh.
"Want to share the joke?" David asked with a scrunched jaw and a squint of his eyes. She couldn't seem to help herself.
"Maddie?… I fail to see what is so damn funny!" frustrated that he had allowed the situation they were in get to this point. She hadn't worked the Anselmo case and apparently hadn't read the file on them he had turned in at Blue Moon. His and Bert's work had been proven; the East Coast and the West Coast Anselmos were real and scary.
When she didn't let him in on the inside joke he started to squirm and bounce on the bed, attempting to free his hands, making Maddie and Annie rock and fall over on top of him
"David!" Annie said grumpily, rolling back over.
"Okay, okay," Maddie relented, trying to straighten back up on the pillows.
David frowned as the two women on either side of him worked to get upright.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Maddie quipped.
"Half of it," he said, not taking his eyes off of her and feeling Annie's scathing look.
"Do you want to know what I was thinking about…what made me laugh?" she asked.
"I was thinking about the last time we were tied up in my house and Mr. Simon tried to feed us sausage for dinner."
David laughed slightly with a little nod. He really found no humor in their situation then or now. "Yeah, and look where that got him."
"Yeah, all purple and blue in the back of my car!" she shuddered.
"Those were some crazy days then, weren't they Maddie?" he said, remembering the day he first laid eyes on her in his office, a few days before the sausage burning. He had to get them out of there. He couldn't let something happen before they could get things straight between them and he'd never forgive himself if something happened to her.
"And this day isn't crazy? How would you classify this day, Addison?"
"Just plain nuts….and stupid," he said, blaming himself again for their predicament.
"David, you couldn't have done anything about what happened tonight. It seems to me it was going to happen no matter what," she consoled, sneering across him at Annie.
Annie sneered back.
"You know, that wasn't the last time we were tied up here. I seem to remember a cold shower that involved knotted pantyhose and shampoo for lubrication."
"Well… the first time was different," she shrugged. "We weren't together then," Maddie said, looking at him. He guessed he should be thankful. She wasn't calling him a sissy fighter.
"And we were together the second time? Because I don't remember a whole lotta' togetherness back then," David said as a matter of fact.
"David, I don't want to have that conversation right now."
"See, that is exactly what I've been saying all along. You two weren't together then and you certainly don't seem to be together now!" Annie shifted hard on the bed with a loud sigh, bouncing David and Maddie around.
"Do you mind?" David said to her irritably. "This is none of your goddamed business so butt out!"
"David!" Maddie breathed, sounding a little surprised at his language.
"Butt out?" Annie yelled
"Yes!…With both cheeks!" David and Maddie said together.
David looked back at Maddie. "You said I have been tiptoeing around. I want to know what you think I've been tipping and toeing, Maddie!"
The room became quiet except for the soulful blues of B.B King piping though the bedroom. Maddie wouldn't answer him or look at him, which fueled his anger even more. The situation was ridiculous.
Is you is or is you ain't my baby…
He decided to focus his attention on Annie. "How much?" he asked pointedly, tilting his head, wanting to look her in the eye.
She wouldn't look at him either.
"What? Now you clam up? Let's see… Was it more than say…hooker money?" he said angrily.
"David!" Maddie interjected.
"Maddie, she put us here, in this situation. Don't tell me you can just sit there and let her get away with this because I know better!" he blared.
He couldn't stand the silent treatment.
"I know. 'Not now David!'" he mocked angrily. "Maddie, now may not look like the right time," he said looking back at Annie, "But we may not have a choice in the matter!" he finished with exasperation.
… A woman is a creature that has always been strange
Just when you're sure of one…
David looked back at Maddie, who a moment before was making light of their situation, but now had tears in her eyes. He was sorry now that he had lost his temper. She was scared and he knew it.
…Just when you're sure of one
You find she's gone and made a change
Is you is or is you ain't my baby…
"Maddie, as soon as this is over, there's a beach with our names on it. We'll go make a week's worth of paradise in the sand somewhere…don't worry…" he said softly. "We'll get out of this," he reassured, wishing he could wrap his arms around her.
"I know that!" she said with a sniff.
"Then what?"
"I was so scared, David… that you'd been shot…" she said, biting back the tears.
"Guess I was lucky that my gun was hanging in the closet with the vest, huh? I owe Richie for throwing it in with the rest of the stuff he brought over. And Pete for giving it to me."
"David…if something had happened to you… I would never forgive myself."
"Forgive yourself? What does that mean?"
Annie sighed loudly and shifted with a big bounce on the bed again, as if annoyed that she had to listen to their conversation.
"Okay! That's it!" David declared.
He bounced hard on the bed towards Annie, making her rise and fall until she made it to the edge. With a little nudge she slithered off the bed and landed with a soft thud.
"Maybe that'll do it!" he said, looking over the edge of the bed at her frowning face.
He scooted back over next to Maddie with a few grunts, bouncing Maddie around in the process. "Now…Goldilocks… don't say things like that. I don't understand."
"I guess I've been doing some of my own tipping and toeing," she confessed, eyes glistening.
Annie's head suddenly appeared over the top of the bed. "And that is exactly what I said the last time I was here!" she said, fork tongued.
David turned and glared, making her slowly coil behind the bed with a hissing sigh.
He turned his attention back to Maddie, looking into her teary eyes. "I love you David," she whispered.
…A woman is a creature that has always been strange
Just when you're sure of one…
You find she's gone and made a change
Is you is or is you ain't my baby…
He'd spent the last six months, planning, dreaming… plotting. He'd spent the last six months wanting to hear her say those words. He didn't plan the last six months for those words to be some sort of "farewell good-bye I love you too" kind of words.
But, she'd said them.
He nudged closer to her, the best he could do under the circumstances. Maddie leaned her head over and laid it on his vested chest.
"Maddie, I've never stopped loving you," he said gently.
He just hoped it would be enough when they were released from bondage.
…Just when you're sure of one
You find she's gone and made a change
Is you is or is you ain't my baby…
The room grew quiet again until a knocking noise came from the bathroom.
David started struggling with the rope around his hands. "Maddie, we have to get out of here," he said, rolling over on top of her to get to the side of the bed.
"Ugh, David! Can't you scoot down to the end of the bed instead of going this way?"
"This is more fun, " he smiled.
Maddie turned and rolled him off the bed to the floor. "How's that for fun?"
David grimaced as he landed on the shoulder with the bullet hole. "Not much, actually," he groaned.
The noise from the bathroom sounded louder. "What was that, David?" Maddie whispered.
David rolled to the bathroom door and used the doorframe to help him to his feet. He listened to what sounded like someone outside the window. The music stopped which could mean only one thing; the fat thug was on his way back. He struggled with the rope again, but couldn't quite get his hands free. Looking again in the dark bathroom, he saw what looked to be a man struggling to climb through the window. Taking advantage of the newest intruder's head being down, he circled around and waited, diving on top of him headfirst. They landed hard on the floor and he thought he'd knocked the man out, but then he started to yelp, groan, and moan …and squeal.
David rolled off of him and got to his feet as the little man lay flat on his back, holding his head.
"Viola?" David asked out of breath.
"Yes sir…" he grunted.
"What are you doing climbing through bathroom windows…now…of all nights?" He tried to be quiet, sensing another threat on the way. "Hurry up and untie me, will ya'?" he said quickly, turning so Bert could untie the rope.
"Hold it right there you two," Lewis shouted pointing his gun. "Back on the bed Addison! You too Mrs. Charnock!"
David jumped in between Annie and Maddie. With an impatient push from Lewis, Bert found himself dumped on the bed, donning leaves in his hair from the climb up the ivy latticework. A black eye was developing from his tumble with David.
"Oh, great! A foursome," David said sarcastically.
"Shut up Addison!" Lewis, Maddie and Annie said at the same time.
Sirens could be heard approaching fast. "Guess this is the end of the line for ya', huh?" David prodded, looking at Annie and then back at Lewis.
Lewis raised his gun and pulled the hammer back in anger, pointing it at Maddie. "More like for your girlfriend wise guy!"
"Maddie!" David shouted, rolling hard and pushing her off the bed, knocking her to the floor.
"Freeze!" Detective Donegan shouted at the door. "On the floor now!" The other officers swarmed the bedroom. Detective Barber followed close behind.
"Look Maddie, the good guys!"
....................
Maddie sat across from the LAPD officers who were questioning Annie.
Maddie's cousin had apparently fallen to temptation, the promise of a little extra cash for helping to find Richie and Layla Lewis, Mr. Lewis's runaway wife. With her divorce from Mark final and free to prowl…again…she figured it would be just as good a time as any to rekindle a little romance with David, despite the way he had dumped her last time.
Richard Addison had been found safely tied to David's refrigerator in his apartment, with no bruises other than his ego. Layla Lewis, on the other hand, who had duped poor Richie for his sympathy and kindness, was gone. Presumably taken by her father…or one of the Anselmos, anyway.
The LAPD managed to get half of what they were looking for, which was one-half more than they had had before…depending on how one looked at it. They put a stop to the million-dollar car theft ring anyway. What they hadn't counted on was the other million-dollars worth of cocaine hidden in some of the cars they had confiscated. So, the good, in this case, outweighed the bad.
The officers and detectives stood, seeming to have the answers they needed. Annie was read the Miranda Rights, turned around and cuffed. Mr. Lewis was already in a patrol car headed to the station.
Bert stood proudly in front of Pete Barber and introduced himself. "Herbert Quentin Viola, Assistant Detective to Lou LaSalle…uh…formerly of Blue Moon Investigations, of course."
"You did okay Mr. Viola," Detective Barber said. "Good thing Detective Donegan saw you struggling with the shimmy up the lattice or this could have ended differently. As it is, you followed orders well and was able to distract Lewis just enough for us to get in and take him by surprise."
David smiled back at Bert and gave him a slap on the back. . "Well done, Bert!"
"Thank you sir!"
What Bert didn't know was that the LAPD had been tailing him across the country the entire week because they knew he had a lead on the Anselmos. He made their work much easier and was a huge reason for them discovering Lewis's visit in LA, not to mention solving the five-year-old case…uh, half of it.
" I'm sure Agnes will be glad to get you back safe and sound," David added, watching Maddie follow Annie to the front door. "Go home Bert. Go home, kiss your wife and tell her you love her."
"Yes sir Mr. Addison," Bert said, seeing what drew David's attention.
Following Maddie out to the driveway, Annie was helped into the back of Detective Donegan's unmarked car.
"Sir? Do you really own a bar? I mean, not that it's a bad thing…but…don't you ever think about Blue Moon Mr. Addison? Don't you miss her?" he asked loyally.
"Everyday, Bert…every single day."