CHAPTER 38

Danny paced nervously in the small walkway between the hospital and adjoining medical building. He was beginning to have second thoughts about involving Mary in this plan.

"Dude, give it a rest. You're making me dizzy," Mike told him, annoyed, as he sat on a nearby bench.

"This was a mistake, Mike. She's taking way too long."

"It hasn't been that long. Just relax," before Mike could finish the glass door opened to reveal a smiling Mary, dangling a Nokia 6682 from her left hand.

"I got it," she proclaimed, triumphantly.

Mike took the phone and immediately began disassembling it while Danny pulled Mary aside.

"I was starting to get worried."

"Yeah, well, I had to build up to it. I figured if I just went up and asked to borrow his phone it would be too obvious."

"Good thinking. So, how did you get it?"

"I just did, Danny," Mary turned away from him and started to walk towards Mike, but Danny stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"You didn't…you know…promise him anything, did you?"

"What? Like sexual favors," Mary raised one eyebrow, her words laced with amusement.

"MARY!"

Mary knew she was driving him crazy, but she couldn't help it. He was just so adorable when he was like this. Despite his professed faith in her ability to scheme with the best of them, Mary knew that Danny didn't really think she was capable of pulling something like this off without slipping up. She supposed his worry should offend her, but she couldn't really blame him. The cloak and dagger stuff had never been her forte, but she had gotten better at it. Having to keep a cool head and straight face while dealing with irate hotel guests and drunk conventioneers over the years had helped a lot.

"Look, Danny, I gave him a sob story and then asked if I could borrow his phone. It was surprisingly easy. Men are such suckers."

Mary gave a teasing wink to which Danny rolled his eyes. She still wasn't answering his question and that made him wonder. "What kind of sob story?"

"You're really not going to let this go, are you? You're the one who wanted me to do this."

"I know, I'm just curious," Danny tried to sound nonchalant, but he was failing terribly. He expected Mary to use her charm and obvious assets to get what she wanted, but this was something he wasn't prepared for and he was dying to know how she'd pulled it off.

Mary sighed. She really had been hoping to avoid telling Danny the content of her conversation with the FBI agent, but she knew she was going to have to fess up. "I turned on the tears and told him that no one cared about me and that my cell phone battery was dead because my horrible, mean husband who obviously wasn't concerned about his pregnant wife being without any means of communication had forgotten to charge it."

"MARY! I plugged your cell phone in last night and whenever yours is out I let you use mine."

"Danny, honey…," Mary laid her hands flat on his chest and looked into his eyes, trying to hide her amusement. "…it was all just a story to get him to feel sorry for me. I knew he would freak at the hormonal pregnant woman bit so I went with it."

Danny's lips quirked in a smile. Of course she hadn't meant it, it had just been unexpected to hear the words coming from her mouth. "Did you have to make me sound like such a jerk?"

Mary chuckled before standing on her tip toes to give her husband a soft kiss. "Believe me, I think he probably feels sorry for you now. I was really neurotic up there. He practically threw the phone at me."

Her eyes were sparkling with laughter and Danny smiled back, leaning down to place a tender kiss on her forehead. He was about to move to her lips when they both heard Mike exclaim, "Bingo!"

"You found one?" Danny asked, taking Mary by the hand as they moved closer to Mike.

"Yep, just like the one in your phone. It's activated when the phone is in use so any incoming or outgoing calls are recorded and monitored." Mike held up the tiny device for both Danny and Mary to see. "You want to smash it?"

"No, put it back."

"What? Danny, why?" Mary questioned.

"Because now that we know for sure that it's there we might be able to use it to our advantage."

Mike shook his head in agreement and began the process of putting the phone back together—bug intact.

"You're going to set a trap, aren't you?" Mary asked, wrapping her arms around herself as she suddenly felt a chill creep up her spine.

"Something like that," Danny replied distractedly.

"Danny, I don't think that's a good idea. You need to let the FBI know that their phones are bugged and let them deal with it."

Hearing the hint of fear in his wife's voice, Danny turned to look at her, "Not yet. And despite what he said this morning, I'm pretty sure Agent Davis knows the leak is on their end."

Agent Davis had been furious during their meeting—accusing Danny and Ed once again of trying to sabotage the investigation--this time by getting a key suspect and potential witness killed, but for all his blustering Danny could tell that he was worried. He knew as well as Ed and Danny that whoever had shot at them and killed Hinojosa had discovered the location through the Bureau, but it would be a cold day in hell before he'd actually admit it.

"I don't want to get another phone call in the middle of the night."

"I know," Danny placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes, "but I can't stop until I make sure they're not a threat to anyone anymore—especially you."

Mary nodded her head. She couldn't fault Danny for wanting to protect her, he'd always felt a sense of duty when it came to her, but this was different. This was his life and if it was a choice between living her life in fear with Danny by her side or being safe without him. She'd choose the fear any day.

Danny kissed her forehead again before turning to Mike, "You said you might be able to figure out where the receiver is for this thing?"

"Yeah, I don't know if I can pinpoint it, but I can probably get a general area. I don't have any of the right equipment here, but if we can get Agent O'Dell back in Vegas and using his phone in the Montecito I can try to figure out who's monitoring his calls. Here ya go, Mare," Mike handed Mary the phone back and she immediately took a few steps away from Danny, dialing a number and putting the phone to her ear.

"Hi, this is Mary McCoy. Can you confirm my appointment time for tomorrow?" She listened a moment before replying "thank you," and disconnecting the call.

Danny and Mike both looked at her perplexed. "You said your appointment was at 2 tomorrow."

"It is. I just thought I should call someone in case Agent O'Dell checked the outgoing calls. It would look suspicious if I borrowed his phone and didn't make any calls."

Mike nodded his head appreciatively at Mary's thinking and Danny put his arm around her as they walked back inside. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"Well, I learned from the best."

Danny smiled proudly before kissing her on the side of her head. "Thanks, sweetie."

"I was talking about Sam."

---
Most of the color had returned to Ed's face and he looked tremendously better, even since that morning, but the fact remained that he could barely move without severe pain. They'd had to crack open his chest and you didn't recover from a surgery like that overnight. Ed had weeks of therapy ahead of him and during that time Danny was going to have to step up and keep things running smoothly.

"Okay, find Myers, but don't approach him. It's obvious they know what all of us look like and they'll run the minute you start snooping around. Get with Frank. Now that we have a name, photo and a general location, he can help you track the guy using some of our old sources."

Danny, Mike and Mary were all scheduled for an 8:30 flight back to Vegas, but Ed had insisted on speaking with Danny alone before they left. So while Mike and Mary had gone over to the hotel to eat a quick bite with everyone else and grab their stuff, Danny sat alone at the side of Ed's hospital bed, soaking in every last morsel of guidance before he had to leave.

"As for the Montecito, Casey will be in Vegas for a couple of days, but then he's got to head back to Hong Kong. You okay running things for awhile?"

"Yeah, sure. It's not like I haven't done it before," Danny was confident in his abilities, but there would always be that small part of him that was afraid of disappointing his mentor.

"Delegate as much as you can. Mike and Mitch can handle security since you're going to have a lot of other stuff on your plate. I know I don't have to tell you, but Mary is excellent with just about every aspect of the hotel so anything you need--check with her. Go to Lawrence if you have any gaming issues and don't let Sam and Delinda walk all over you."

"Ed," Danny scoffed, "I think I can handle Delinda and Sam."

"Yeah, right. I'm serious about the delegating thing, Danny. Don't try to do everything yourself. I know you're perfectly capable, but I don't want you neglecting your personal obligations."

Danny nodded his understanding before a heavy silence settled over the room as he tried to muster the courage to say what had been on his mind for the past two days. Ed knew him too well and he refused to let the silence remain for long.

"I know you want to say something so just spit it out, kid."

"I…," Danny took a deep breath, trying to find the words to express what he was feeling, "Ed, I'm sorry I got you involved in this. I'm sorry that I almost got you killed."

"Christ, Danny. Is that what you think?"

"You wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for me. This is my fight and I should have handled it on my own."

"Danny, I want these guys as much as you do. They messed with my family and no one does that and gets away with it. You should know that about me by now."

"Yeah, I just…," Danny dropped his head, unable to meet Ed's eyes when he whispered his next words, "I was scared."

Ed reached out, placing his hand over Danny's where it rested on the bed. "I know you were, son…but I'm okay. I'm a tough old goat and it takes more than a bullet to keep me down. You got that?"

"That's exactly what Mary said."

"She's a smart girl, you should think about keeping her around."

Danny nodded, smiling through the tears that now filled his eyes. Taking another deep breath, he tried to avoid any more embarrassing displays. He had been expecting Ed to ridicule him for being so emotional—so girly, as he would call it, but the fact that he'd understood Danny's pain spoke volumes. The incident had obviously scared him too.

"Hey, kid?"

"Yeah?"

"You were right. What you said in the car…nothing is worth leaving your family behind. They need to be your priority. Not just keeping them safe, but getting to be there for all the little things in between. I want these guys caught, but I want you to see that baby of yours come into this world and everything that comes after that."

"Yeah," Danny responded quietly.

"So, no more going off rogue--for either of us. Once we get enough information I want us to go to the FBI with everything we know. We'll let them help us set up the trap for these guys. You got that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, now get outta here. I'm not paying you to sit around crying like a pansy." Danny chuckled a bit as Ed brought them back to familiar ground. Despite the seemingly harsh words, a sincere and understanding smile never left the older man's face.

"Ah, I thought we were bonding," Danny couldn't help but tease as he stood up—moving the chair back against the wall.

"You're pushing it, kid. Go…now!" They both laughed as Danny left the room and Danny was still smiling as he headed out of the hospital and across the street to meet Mary and Mike for the trip home.