A/N: I did write a sequel to this story. But I'm now rewriting it while doing my writing class, and it's a lot better than the first draft. I expected to post it directly after I finished posting this one, but that's now highly unlikely. I hope it'll be worth the wait.
Newbie: I'm glad you enjoyed the "Elevator Flashback" scene. There are not going to be any more direct flashback scenes in this story, but stay tuned for the sequel. I do know that the subject rears its ugly head again there!
Linda flicked a piece of hair back from her forehead. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"I think it's a great idea."
"And you promise you'll get plenty of rest?"
Danny adjusted the eye patch. Can't wait to get rid of this stupid thing! "Can't imagine Jamie will be up for running marathons today, any more than I will."
"So sofa rest and television then?"
Danny nodded, rapped twice on the door and walked in.
"Hey!" Henry greeted his grandson and granddaughter-in-law with a hug. "You can't have got much sleep." He looked pointedly at the clock. "It's not even nine o'clock yet. Coffee?"
"Linda had to get to work and the boys insisted on going to school. So I had to wake up before I was ready and come now or spend the day at home, alone." Danny swiped his brow with the back of his hand and swooned. "The sacrifices we men make for our families!"
"He's on strict medical instructions." Linda told Henry of the conversation she'd had with her husband in the car. "How's Jamie?"
"Still sleeping." The three adults sat around the dining room table sipping their hot drinks. "I'm glad you're here, Danny. That boy-"
"Is awake." At the sound, Linda and Henry both got up, Linda to hug her brother-in-law and Henry to fetch him a drink.
"Hey, Bro." Danny greeted his brother. "Bad night, huh?"
Jamie laid his head in his arms and sighed. Then he sat up and accepted the hot beverage. "Thanks, Pop. And, no, Danny. My night wasn't 'bad' as such. Just annoyingly uncomfortable. Couldn't settle, couldn't sleep, couldn't stop thinking. You know the drill."
Seeing Danny about to make a sarcastic reply, Linda spoke up. "Are you still in pain?"
"Bit stiff," Jamie admitted. "Not surprising, since I was probably hogtied and gagged most of yesterday. I was going to slip into the hot tub. But I smelt coffee, so I got dressed and came down here instead."
"Thank goodness for that." Linda got up and put her cup in the sink. "No strenuous activity today, then?"
"Not going to be running any marathons," Jamie promised. He was rather nonplussed when Danny and Linda laughed. The couple then shared a chaste kiss and Linda left.
"You need something to eat before you get in that tub otherwise you'll fall asleep and drown," Henry decided. He rattled off a menu, took Jamie's order, and gave in to Danny's pleas to make him some too.
"Want some help, Pop?" Danny offered.
"And risk the wrath of both your father and your wife? Not a hope." Henry chuckled. He hustled through the kitchen to assemble the ingredients for ham and cheese omelettes, French toast with bacon, fried vegetables, with orange waffles and hot chocolate for dessert
When he got back, the dining room was empty. He listened, grinned, and returned to the kitchen. Loading up a trolley he pushed it into the lounge room. "You two are supposed to be resting," he scolded over the noise.
"Sorry, Pop." Danny apologised as he put down the game controller. "Here, let me help you with that."
"Yee haa! I win!" Jamie crowed and pumped his fists in the air. Then he jumped up beside his brother. "Thanks, Pop!"
"For the food, or for distracting your brother?"
"Both!" Jamie grinned and speared a forkful of bacon and toast.
"Something smells good."
Henry and Jamie grinned when Mac and Frank walked in.
"What are you here for?" Danny wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Henry threw him a cloth. "They're here for Jamie's statement."
"Is it that time already?" Jamie patted his pockets. Damn, my phone must still be upstairs! I wonder why I didn't hear the alarm?
"Yep. Scotch or coffee? You hungry?" Henry asked.
"Coffee's fine." Mac said.
Frank nodded his agreement. "Jamie. Are you sure you're up to this? We can come back this afternoon."
Jamie shook his head then rubbed his neck.
"Here." Henry gave Mac and Frank their drinks, then passed Jamie two pills and a glass of water. "This should help."
Jamie smiled his thanks and swallowed the medication. "Why do we need to do this? The woman who took me is dead, isn't she?"
"The woman we found you with is dead. But we have reason to believe she wasn't working alone. We need to find the other person or persons responsible. It's the only way to make sure you and your family aren't in any more danger. When you're ready," Mac prompted, laying out a recording device and clipping a microphone onto Jamie's collar.
"Nothing untoward happened that day until Erik Wilson and I had an argument in the Precinct after we returned from a crime scene," Jamie began. "He stormed out of the Precinct and I followed him to Cutler's Cafe since we were partners until the end of shift. Anyway, he seemed to be over it by the time I'd ordered my lunch and set down with him."
"What was the argument about?"
Jamie briefly narrated the incident. "You don't suspect him, do you?"
In lieu of an answer, Mac motioned for him to continue.
"Just as we were finishing our meal, Probationary Officer Mason Dunnery came up and said that Captain Mollie wanted us to split up for the afternoon. I was to go with her and Erik was to wait for Caelson. I threw out the rest of my meal. Best 'Burger and Fries with the works' I've had since Mom," he mourned. "I exited by the side door that leads into Montwell Plaza. I've often wondered who named it that. It's pretty small to be called a Plaza in my opinion."
Recognising the change of topic as a diversionary tactic, Mac pulled him back on track. "Where was Officer Dunnery at that time?"
Jamie took a deep breath. "She'd gone out the same door about thirty seconds before me. I was approached by four youths, three male and one female, aged between sixteen and twenty. They got between me and her and distracted me for a few minutes when they started singing acapella a song that reminded me of stuff." He swallowed.
"Acapella? Stuff?" Danny ignored his father's glare.
"Without music, Grandma Betty. Oh, and they were dressed like members of a local street gang. So I initially had my hand on my gun. But I relaxed. I shouldn't have, I know I shouldn't have and I'm sorry." He buried his face in his hands. Danny laid a gentle hand on his brother's back to calm him. A couple of seconds later a glass was nudged into his hand. He gulped it down, spluttered and choked. "That's not water!"
"Thought you could do with something stronger. Don't worry, it's not enough to interfere with the painkillers." Frank clinked his coffee mug against Jamie's empty whiskey glass.
"I'll need the name of the song and the gang," Mac interjected.
"What are you going to do? Storm their headquarters and get everybody to sing it without words?" Danny joked.
"If I need to."
"As I started walking to the car, I pulled out my phone. But before I could use it I saw a body under the bushes. I must have got jumped when I went to check it out. One second I was crouched down next to a drug addict, the next I woke up manacled to a wall."
"Where were you hit? Front or back?" Mac leaned forward.
"I don't know." The creases in his forehead deepened and his cheeks hollowed out. "Back. I don't remember being hit, but I do remember the paramedics treating a laceration on the back of the skull."
"That could also be from you hitting your head if you fell backwards," Frank reminded him.
Jamie's whole body slumped. "I don't know then."
"Can you tell me anything about your attacker?" Mac read the next question on the list.
Jamie shook his head. "I can tell you that the drug addict was female, white, bald, missing a tooth on the left side, and she had a tourniquet and needle sticking out of her left arm. Definitely not the woman in the second room."
Jamie described the room he was first kept in as well as he could. "After a while, someone came in and forced me to drink something. When I woke up, I was in that other room."
"Do you think that person was either your attacker or the woman in the second room?"
Jamie closed his eyes. "If they were female, possibly the woman in the second room?" he said uncertainly. "Similar height and build, anyway."
"Any distinctive smells, textures, or tastes at any time?"
"The second room was really musty. I'm amazed anybody's interested in buying that house. It's got a major mould issue."
"What about around the time you were attacked?"
Even though Jamie's eyes were closed, everyone could see his eyeballs moving downward in defeat. "Nothing, sorry. Not even the clichéd chloroform smell."
"Stop apologising!" Henry admonished. "You're doing the best you can."
"What about from the Plaza to the house? How long did it take to get there? Was is bumpy? Smooth? Were you in a van or a car? Trunk or seat?" Danny fired questions at machine gun pace.
"I was drugged, out of it, dead to the world," Jamie snapped.
"But surely-"
"Surely nothing." Henry shut Danny down abruptly.
"I think that's all for now." Mac stopped the recording device and unclipped Jamie's microphone. "I'll call you if we need anything else or have any news." He shook hands with everybody. "Frank, are you coming with me?"
"I'll drop him back," Henry offered. "I have to go to the shops. We're having a midweek family dinner tonight. We deserve after the week we've had."
Frank nodded. Message heard and received, Pop. Don't be late. My family needs me here more than the investigation needs me anywhere else.
During the interview, Danny yearningly glanced multiple times at the TV screen. Jamie's screen name, Adrastus Aeacus, flashed mockingly at the top of the "Best Scores" list. Oh, how Danny longed to wipe it away! But he knew he'd be in big trouble if the dishes were left unwashed in lieu of entertainment, orders or no orders. So when they'd finished he reluctantly piled up the dishes and directed Jamie out to the hot tub. Overthrowing Adrastus Aeacus would have to wait an hour or two. "I'll join you soon."
True to his word, he loaded up the dishwasher, stripped to his shorts, and was slipping into the water before the heat had had a chance to work its magic on Jamie's muscles.
"You gonna go commando?" Jamie raised his eyebrows.
"Nah, zips hurt too much."
"Sunbathing it is then."
They floated together in comfortable silence for the duration of four songs from Danny's iPod.
"So, have you forgiven Dad yet?"
"I gave him a hug yesterday." Danny brought his hand down sharply, causing water to splash over both Jamie and the patio.
"Let me guess. You'd just found out I was kidnapped and you were fearing for my safety." Jamie sat up and looked his brother in the eye.
"Something like that." Danny shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway. I'm home now, so I can look after my family myself."
"It does matter," Jamie corrected him. "It matters because he's family."
Danny stepped out of the pool. "I know. We're okay, honest. I'm going for a beer. You want one?"
"Are you sure that's wise?" Jamie squinted as the sun haloed Danny's head.
"Yes, I'm sure." Danny's voice hardened. "This way, when I lie awake in bed tonight, I can blame the headaches on my own choice, not on that of some crazy whacko. Do you want one, or don't you?"
"Sure."
When Danny returned, he handed Jamie an open drink and they both sat on the patio steps to dry off.
Danny cringed when he saw the marks on Jamie's wrists and ankles. "I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"This all my fault. The bombing, the kidnapping, all of it. I put you, Linda, Jack, Sean, and heaven knows who else in danger." Danny swallowed half the can in one go.
"I said the same thing to Dad the other night." Jamie sipped his.
"Oh yeah? And how did he react to that little bit of information?"
Jamie grinned and set his beer down. He grabbed Danny around the back, tipped him over, smacked him on the ass twice and ran away laughing.
"Hey!" Danny scrambled up from his knees. He glanced longingly at the spilled beer but decided to run after Jamie instead.
"You asked, I answered!" Jamie taunted.
Danny stopped. "Seriously? He spanked you?" he chortled
Jamie whirled around. "You call that a spanking?"
Danny considered all the times he'd got his own butt tanned. "You got a point. If it was a spanking, I'd have heard you bawling all the way from the hospital. And since I didn't it's not."
"Exactly." Jamie faced Danny with his hands on his hips. "I'm also going to tell you exactly what dad told me. Nobody would have been hurt if the crimes hadn't been committed. No bomber, no bomb. No bomber, no injuries. No bomber, no hospital. No bomber, no danger. And no kidnapper, no kidnapping either by the way." He wagged his finger. "Not that they've found a correlation between the two crimes apart from the fact that Trixie and Mason were realtor and prospective buyer. Yes, Eddie told me about that. But there's no evidence yet to suggest they worked together. Neither is there any evidence of criminal activity at your home or work. As far as we know those instances were just a consequence of old age." Laughing some more, he took off again before Danny could catch him. They rounded the house, where they almost ran into Henry as he approached the front steps.
"You two are supposed to be resting!" he castigated.
"He started it!" Danny pointed at Jamie.
"You chased me!"
"You ran!"
"Well, now you both can get your butts inside and help me get things ready for tonight." Henry shifted the grocery bags he was holding into a more comfortable position, before walking inside with his two grandsons following close behind.