"Dino Arbogast is here."
"Thank you, Baker." Frank smiled at his personal aide. But the smile dropped away when his Chief Of Departments entered. "Dino, I believe you've met Detective Mac Taylor."
"Yes, I have. Nice to see you again, Detective. Twice in one day. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Dino sat in the empty seat across the desk from Frank.
"Mac informs me that he asked you to identify this woman," Frank showed him a photo of the dead kidnapper. "And you refused?"
"Hold it!" Dino stood up, his fists clenched, and turned to Mac, who was sitting to his right. "I did not refuse! I said I didn't know her. And that's the truth!"
"No it isn't," Frank intervened. "This is the same woman I saw coming out of your house on Tuesday night, the same woman who draped herself all over you like a sofa cover. Are you really going to tell me that you let women you've never even met get that close to you?"
"I never said I never met her!" Dino protested. "I said I didn't know who she is. Different kettle of fish altogether."
"Oh, how so?" Frank raised his eyebrows. This oughta be good.
"She's an informant on an undercover case. Whenever she has information for me, she visits with another officer who knows her identity and vouches for her." Dino sat down again. "When I asked her for her name, she said it was Ginger. I knew she was lying. Ergo, Detective Taylor, I was telling you the truth. I don't know who this woman is." He took another, longer look at the photo. "She's dead? She's really dead?"
Mac nodded. "That a problem?"
"It's always a problem whe in an important case dies," Dino informed him loftily.
"You may go." Frank hoped Dino would go before someone, namely Mac, decided to deck him. "Feel free to stick around until he's left the building," he invited the detective. "I just have to make a phone call."
"I'll go, then." Mac shook Frank's hand and gathered up his belongings. "I'll make some calls regarding our mystery Ginger and get back to you."
"Hi, Erin." Frank waved as Mac opened the door to leave. "I need your advice on something."
"Sure, Dad, as long as I can talk while I'm driving. I'm on my way to pick up Sean and take him home."
"Hi, Grandpa!" Frank smiled as he heard his older grandson's voice call out.
"Hi Jack!" he called back. "Okay, Erin. It's not urgent. Just give me a ring when you can. Give my love to the boys, and remember, Danny and Jamie are both at mine."
"Will do. Talk to you later." Erin disconnected the call. What a day for both the boys to be finishing school early, she thought as she parked the car as close to Sean's classroom as she could. If only Nicky was available to help. With two invalids and two clingy but hyperactive kids, I'm going to have my hands full. She silently cursed her daughter's drive to stay on the Honor Roll, which saw the teen taking extra classes two afternoons a week. Nicky would only just get to Frank's in time for the family dinner.
"Hi, Aunt Erin!" Sean ran toward the car. "Where's Jack?"
"Where do you think?" Erin took the boy's backpack and placed it in the trunk of the car.
"He's in the front."
"Got it in one!" Jack crowed.
"Thanks for picking us up, Aunt Erin." Sean buckled his seatbelt and greeted his brother before returning his attention to his aunt. "Can we go to Whitecliff park for a while before going to Pop's?"
"Mom's going to be at work for another couple of hours at least, and Dad's probably sleeping." Jack jumped on the bandwagon. "Which would you rather do? Try to keep Sean quiet for three hours or take us to the park and let him run his energy off?" He stuck his own tongue out at Sean when the younger boy stuck his tongue out at him.
Ignoring their antics, Erin guided the car onto the road. "You okay with telling your Mom why you haven't done your homework? She won't be too happy about it, you know that, don't you?"
"What if we promise to do both before she gets home?" Jack wheedled.
"Okay," Erin capitulated. It'll give me a chance to ring Dad back without anyone overhearing me, she reasoned with herself. She winced and barely avoided bumping into another car as both boys hollered their enthusiastic gratitude. "Settle down, or the only place we'll be going is the morgue!" she warned, only half joking.
Sean rummaged around in his bag and handed a piece of paper to Jack. "Test me on my spelling words while we're driving?" he entreated.
"Sure." Jack took the proffered list. "Eighth."
" H."
"Right. Pronounce."
" E."
"Nope. Try again. Pronounce."
Sean scowled. "Pro Nounce. E."
"Right. Vengeance."
The journey past uneventfully as Erin concentrated on driving and Jack quizzed his brother.
"Here we are." Erin pulled up at the gates of Whitecliff Park, a council reserve which housed a manmade lake, walking paths, outdoor grilling areas, multiple children's playgrounds, and lawns perfect for sports games. It was to one of these that the boys headed with a baseball bat and ball. Erin sat on a bench nearby.
"I've just got some phone calls to make, then I'll join you," she called. She dialed her Dad's office. When Baker put her through to him, she got right down to business. "I don't have much time. I'm supposed to be playing baseball. What do you need?" She listened in disgust as Frank relayed the Dino situation and asked for her legal advice.
"What was your gut reaction?"
"Dismissal."
"On what grounds?"
"Stupidity."
"Well, is that's the best you can come up with, thank goodness you didn't do it!" Erin exclaimed. "That would have been inviting a lawsuit for unfair dismissal. "Did you tell anybody else about this?"
"No."
"Good. Did you warn him that could be a consequence, or threaten him with it?"
"Both."
A D A Erin Reagan-Boyle let out a frustrated huff. She had better things to do than trying to extract blood out of a stone. Like playing baseball with her nephews. "Why do you keep giving me one-word answers?"
"Because."
Erin could hear the amusement in her father's tone and it just served to irritate her more. "Will you please stop giving me only one word answers?"
She wasn't surprised to hear the answer "No."
"Then ring me back when you will." She was just about to hang up on her father when her attention was diverted by Sean sprinting across the field toward her. "Dad, I've got to go. I'll ring you back." Before Frank could answer, Erin's phone was back in her bag. "Sean?"
In between his gulps for air, Sean wheezed out, "Boy. Fallen. Not conscious."
Grabbing her bag, Erin followed Sean to the scene of the accident.
"Hurry!"
Hearing Jack's frantic calls, Erin and Sean ran faster and slid the last few inches on their knees.
Erin threw her phone at Sean. "Ring the ambulance." She felt for a pulse.
"He's breathing," Jack reported, his ear over the boy's mouth, and his eyes searching for any movement of his chest or diaphragm.
"He's got a pulse, too." She took the phone from Sean just as the call was answered. "Ambulance, please. Whitecliff Park, Gate Three, Sylvie field." She gave the address, and then her phone number just in case the call got disconnected. She looked up as Jack started gesticulating wildly. "We've come across a teenage male, unconscious, but breathing. I originally thought he'd fallen, but my nephew's just brought my attention to bleeding from his back. Yes, he's lying on it." She put the phone down on the ground and spoke to the boys. "We have to move him into the recovery position so we can see why he's bleeding." When it was done, she grabbed the phone. "He's been stabbed! Yes, my nephews are trying to stem the flow with their clothing. His color's good, he's still breathing and he hasn't vomited. I can hear the sirens. My nephew has gone to the parking to show them where we are."
With the situation finally under control, Erin was finally able to get the full story from Jack and Sean. She was just about to start questioning them when she was approached by a policewoman.
"Are you the one who reported this incident?"
"Yes, I am. My nephews discovered him while they were playing baseball."
"You weren't with them at the time?"
"I was just over the hill on the park bench, well within shouting distance," Erin said defensively.
"I'll have to talk to them, then."
"What do you want to know?" Jack dragged his eyes away from the paramedics and focused on the cop instead.
"Tell me what happened," she instructed.
"I'm Jack Reagan. I was playing baseball with my younger brother, Sean. That's him over there." He pointed to where his brother was, still engrossed in the drama unfolding around them. "We were keeping it close while we waited for Aunt Erin to join us. It's more fun with three, and we didn't want her to beat us. So no high balls, no home runs, and if you hit out of bounds you had to go get it yourself." He pointed to where four shoes were marking out a sizeable shape on the flat top of the hill that could pass for a rectangle if you weren't very good at geometry. "It was my turn at bat, and I hit the ball down the hill. I ran after it but stopped when I saw a couple of shoes near the water. I went to investigate. Then I realised it was a kid, so I yelled to Sean to get Aunt Erin. When I couldn't rouse him, I checked his breathing, which was fine. He didn't seem to be injured so I just left him there until Aunt Erin arrived." His voice cracked. "He was on his back, so I didn't even think of checking there for injuries until I saw the blood pooling out from under him."
"You must have missed his attacker by only a few minutes. Did you see anyone around, or hear anything suspicious?"
Jack joined them and heard the query. Both boys shook their heads.
"Nothing at all?"
There was a long moment of silence as the boys thought over the minutes preceding their discovery. But the answer was still no.
"Okay." She asked Erin a few perfunctory questions, then put her notebook away.
Before she could turn away, Erin, on behalf of her nephews, had another question. "I know that even if we go to the hospital, they won't tell us anything since we're not family or friends. Is there any way we can find out who he is and how he is?"
"Ring the hospital in the morning and explain the situation," she advised. "If you give them permission to, they might pass your contact information on to his family. It will be up to them to contact you." She strode toward the ambulance.
Jack perused his brother's torn trousers and his own bloodied and ripped shirt. "Forget about homework. There goes our allowance for the next six months."