Disclaimer: See part 1
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Terror in the Night Part 10
Hour 6 1/2
Tom tenderly moved his jaw again, and shot a look at Cassy. Her gaze was unfocused, staring at nothing in particular. "Cassy, you all right?" he asked, getting slightly concerned. He didn't think they had hit her too hard to do any damage, in fact, he agreed with DeSavage, they had gotten it easy so far compared to what he knew they were capable of. His voice pierced through her frantic thoughts, and her eyes focused on him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" Her voice had that tone, the one that said 'don't ask me any questions right now'. Tom wondered what was going through that intelligent head of hers. "Fine, jaw doesn't hurt very much from before, and besides the stress, my headache is about gone," he trailed off, looking at her closely when he realized that once again, she wasn't listening to anything he was saying, "and of course I can see where that trip to the moon helped us out, man those little gray people sure do know how to fix your pains." Cassy just nodded and suddenly turned to look at him again, "Little gray men?" Tom smiled, "So, you were listening." "Sorta, I'm sorry, just thinking." She tried to smile reassuringly at him, but didn't quite make it. "Anything I can help with?" he asked lightly, hoping that she would confide whatever she was thinking about. "No, sorry." She shook her head again, and blinked, bringing herself back to reality. "So, do you know anything about this guy's brother?" "Well, a little," he hedged, "I mean I know what the rest of the world knows, that he helped put DeSavage in prison, DeSavage swore revenge, and the last rumor I heard was he's working as a spook now. The only thing I can say to add to that is, if DeSavage gets what he's looking for, he'll probably take out as many innocent people as he can at the same time. That's the way he is." Cassy nodded her head in agreement. "That's about all I know too. So, what are we going to tell him," she said jerking her head to the door. "The truth I guess, we don't know anything to help him out." 'The truth,' Cassy thought to herself, unaware that the same thought was being voiced in Tom's head too.
Hour 6
Harry's blossoming hope was starting to wither. They only had six hours left, and from what they could tell about who had them, he hadn't a moment's pause about whether or not they would follow through with their threat. They were still getting the run around from everyone they talked to, each person trying to cover up his ignorance. The office was now packed, everyone else had come in for their regular shifts who hadn't been able to make it there last night. He had sent not quite half of them about their regular duties. He was confident they were on the right trail, and neglecting everything else wasn't going to get them anywhere. It didn't seem like much of anything was getting them anywhere. Threats, bribes, professional superiority, and what bordered on pleading, wasn't getting them information any quicker.
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DeSavage was quickly losing patience. He had just finished checking his contacts, finding out just how close the cops were to finding out what was going on. The reassurance that so far, no one had figured out the truth did little to kill the feeling in his stomach. He always relied on his intuition and something was telling him that things were not going to go the way he planned them. Damn it! If only that stupid detective would tell him what he wanted to know. He didn't want to kill them if they were going to give him something, and he wasn't sure that they wouldn't. He didn't expect any money to be paid for his ransom demand, but he had given his word that they wouldn't die until 2 pm, and if there was one thing that DeSavage believed in above family, was you should be able to believe in a man's word, even if he was a murdering bastard. He ran down a checklist in his mind, everything seemed to be going according to his plan. No one was figuring out he was behind anything, he had made sure that the robbery/homicides had been completely random for that purpose. He just wished that he could figure out what he was missing.
Hour 5 1/2
DeSavage was making his way back to the room that held Tom and Cassy, this time by himself. This was personal now, they had lied to him. He wanted to take care of them himself.
Finally pay dirt! At last someone who listened to the voice of reason, or at least Harry's voice, but either way the result was one of good news. They now had a list of suspects: Johnny Meyers, and his brother Dan; Jack Kopec; Bryan Miller; and at last Dan's old cell-mate, Tony Demangi. Good old fashioned police work had for once paid off. Officers had been sent around the neighborhood where the killings took place and so far someone had identified Bryan Miller, and Tony Demangi as having been seen hanging around that alley. Emma had identified Demangi as the man who she had seen hanging around her building, and had jumped right in answering phones and making calls along with the rest of them. "What?" Harry barked at the young man who had just tapped him on the shoulder. "Sir," he started hesitantly, "I worked on the case that put Demangi away and I thought you should know that he was one of the best mob connections we had. It was rumored that he was the right hand man of Emilio DeSavage. If he's involved in this, maybe DeSavage is too." "Isn't DeSavage dead?" The young man stuttered under Harry's hard look, missing the fact that is Harry had honestly thought there was nothing to his point he wouldn't have asked any questions. "He's supposed to be dead, a body off the coast of Cuba was tentatively identified as his, but I for one, have never believed it was him." "And may I ask why you think it wasn't real?" "Well, sir, he was supposed to have died in a boating accident, and DeSavage was the most accomplished captain I've seen. I don't think that he would have made such a stupid mistake as driving his boat into a reef, as it is said to have happened." "So, you think he's staged his death? And that he's involved in this? May I ask what possessed you to make this connection?"
"Nothing really, just a feeling. I honestly think that if Demangi is behind these robberies, there's a good chance DeSavage is too." "Why would a giant mob boss like Emilio DeSavage be behind petty tourist robberies?" "I don't know sir, but it seems to me that Sergeants Ryan and St. John were kidnapped pretty easily for it to have been a spur of the moment thing, especially when the killers didn't have any reason to know who they really were." "So, you're saying you think this was planned? Why would they want a couple of police detectives?" his voice trailed off as a thought came to him. "Sir," the young man asked, "are you all right?" Harry didn't answer, if what he thought was true, then they were in trouble. His thoughts went to the face of one of his favorite detectives, back to when they were both younger, and the young officer had just been transferred here after helping put Emilio DeSavage behind bars. 'I hope I'm wrong,' he thought frantically, 'if that's what he's after, they know how important it is. They aren't going to tell. I can't image what's going to happen because of that, but I know they aren't going to tell.'
Back in DeSavage's Prison
Cassy bit back the scream that threatened to escape past her lips. DeSavage's face was next to her's blocking her view of Tom. She had heard him yell right before the pain had shot through her hand. DeSavage's hand moved to her next finger, holding it up next to the broken one in a silent warning. Tom was at a loss, he couldn't do anything to stop him. He had told him everything he knew after he threatened the first time. How he had once met the other DeSavage on a case, but despite his confession about where he was then, Emilio seemed to want more. "Please, stop!" Tom started begging, "I've told you everything I know, don't hurt her anymore!" DeSavage didn't turn or pause, instead the sickening crack could be heard as another finger was broken. The pain was almost too much, and Cassy was starting to get light headed. Her stomach was queasy from the fists with which had recently made contact, and her face was stiff and swollen. Tom wasn't much better off. Cassy still didn't make a sound, refusing to give him the information he wanted, knowing it would cause more death than she wanted on her hands. DeSavage had shared his fantasies about how his dear brother should meet his demise, and none had involved just his death, instead his dreams had included the death of everyone around him, anyone who had known him. His only motive for killing all those innocent people was spite, and hate. Hate directed at everyone who had had any contact with his brother recently, while he had not had any luck in locating him himself. He finally moved away from Cassy, secretly impressed with how long she had held on, but just as much angry for the fact that she hadn't told him what he wanted to hear. Cassy tried to move past the pain, more was at stake here than a brother's revenge, or at least it would be if he ever found out where his brother was. She met Tom's eyes across the room, and tried to tell him how sorry she was for allowing him to be hurt. She couldn't allow DeSavage to find out where his brother was. Tom saw her pale face, twisted in pain. He met her eyes, and could have sworn he saw an apologetic look. He hoped she wasn't blaming herself for what was happening, she couldn't help it if she didn't know anything. He looked at her again, and the look in her eyes hadn't changed. There was something else there too, something that made him wonder if she really did know more than she was letting on. 'No, she wouldn't let it go this far if all he wants to know is where his brother is,' he thought to himself. That left two possibilities for him to consider, either she truthfully didn't know anything, or more was at stake here than it seemed. His bet was on the latter. 'Well, if it's that important that she's willing to sacrifice herself to keep it a secret, I can handle it too.' He trusted her judgment when it came to their lives, if he didn't they wouldn't be very good partners, and everyone knew that that was far from true.
Hour 5
Harry had called up everything he could on Emilio DeSavage and had put his picture amongst the others in circulation. Almost immediately they had an ID, one of the local vendors had seen DeSavage with none other than Tony Demangi. There was no doubt in Harry's mind now that DeSavage was behind the robberies, killings, and the kidnapping. They were halfway there, now they had five hours to find out where they were. Every case on DeSavage was pulled out and those they didn't have with them were called up on the computers, he had ten people scanning through them compiling a list of places where anything involving him had gone down. DeSavage was one of those traditional guys, who liked to go back to the scene of the crime. The bad thing was, with DeSavage, there were a lot of scenes.
By this time Cassy was only being held in an upright position by the rope around her wrists. She watched helplessly, still fighting the ever present argument in her head, as DeSavage landed yet another punch to Tom's prone body. He didn't move when DeSavage stepped away, finally letting himself fall into the black cosmic joke of unconsciousness. Surveying his bruised and bloodied prisoners, DeSavage made his way to the door. His feeling of unease had been growing and he wanted to check for himself that everything thing was still going smoothly. Besides he thought with a parting glance, if he didn't slow himself down, his prisoners wouldn't be alive to tell him anything.
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Terror in the Night Part 10
Hour 6 1/2
Tom tenderly moved his jaw again, and shot a look at Cassy. Her gaze was unfocused, staring at nothing in particular. "Cassy, you all right?" he asked, getting slightly concerned. He didn't think they had hit her too hard to do any damage, in fact, he agreed with DeSavage, they had gotten it easy so far compared to what he knew they were capable of. His voice pierced through her frantic thoughts, and her eyes focused on him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" Her voice had that tone, the one that said 'don't ask me any questions right now'. Tom wondered what was going through that intelligent head of hers. "Fine, jaw doesn't hurt very much from before, and besides the stress, my headache is about gone," he trailed off, looking at her closely when he realized that once again, she wasn't listening to anything he was saying, "and of course I can see where that trip to the moon helped us out, man those little gray people sure do know how to fix your pains." Cassy just nodded and suddenly turned to look at him again, "Little gray men?" Tom smiled, "So, you were listening." "Sorta, I'm sorry, just thinking." She tried to smile reassuringly at him, but didn't quite make it. "Anything I can help with?" he asked lightly, hoping that she would confide whatever she was thinking about. "No, sorry." She shook her head again, and blinked, bringing herself back to reality. "So, do you know anything about this guy's brother?" "Well, a little," he hedged, "I mean I know what the rest of the world knows, that he helped put DeSavage in prison, DeSavage swore revenge, and the last rumor I heard was he's working as a spook now. The only thing I can say to add to that is, if DeSavage gets what he's looking for, he'll probably take out as many innocent people as he can at the same time. That's the way he is." Cassy nodded her head in agreement. "That's about all I know too. So, what are we going to tell him," she said jerking her head to the door. "The truth I guess, we don't know anything to help him out." 'The truth,' Cassy thought to herself, unaware that the same thought was being voiced in Tom's head too.
Hour 6
Harry's blossoming hope was starting to wither. They only had six hours left, and from what they could tell about who had them, he hadn't a moment's pause about whether or not they would follow through with their threat. They were still getting the run around from everyone they talked to, each person trying to cover up his ignorance. The office was now packed, everyone else had come in for their regular shifts who hadn't been able to make it there last night. He had sent not quite half of them about their regular duties. He was confident they were on the right trail, and neglecting everything else wasn't going to get them anywhere. It didn't seem like much of anything was getting them anywhere. Threats, bribes, professional superiority, and what bordered on pleading, wasn't getting them information any quicker.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DeSavage was quickly losing patience. He had just finished checking his contacts, finding out just how close the cops were to finding out what was going on. The reassurance that so far, no one had figured out the truth did little to kill the feeling in his stomach. He always relied on his intuition and something was telling him that things were not going to go the way he planned them. Damn it! If only that stupid detective would tell him what he wanted to know. He didn't want to kill them if they were going to give him something, and he wasn't sure that they wouldn't. He didn't expect any money to be paid for his ransom demand, but he had given his word that they wouldn't die until 2 pm, and if there was one thing that DeSavage believed in above family, was you should be able to believe in a man's word, even if he was a murdering bastard. He ran down a checklist in his mind, everything seemed to be going according to his plan. No one was figuring out he was behind anything, he had made sure that the robbery/homicides had been completely random for that purpose. He just wished that he could figure out what he was missing.
Hour 5 1/2
DeSavage was making his way back to the room that held Tom and Cassy, this time by himself. This was personal now, they had lied to him. He wanted to take care of them himself.
Finally pay dirt! At last someone who listened to the voice of reason, or at least Harry's voice, but either way the result was one of good news. They now had a list of suspects: Johnny Meyers, and his brother Dan; Jack Kopec; Bryan Miller; and at last Dan's old cell-mate, Tony Demangi. Good old fashioned police work had for once paid off. Officers had been sent around the neighborhood where the killings took place and so far someone had identified Bryan Miller, and Tony Demangi as having been seen hanging around that alley. Emma had identified Demangi as the man who she had seen hanging around her building, and had jumped right in answering phones and making calls along with the rest of them. "What?" Harry barked at the young man who had just tapped him on the shoulder. "Sir," he started hesitantly, "I worked on the case that put Demangi away and I thought you should know that he was one of the best mob connections we had. It was rumored that he was the right hand man of Emilio DeSavage. If he's involved in this, maybe DeSavage is too." "Isn't DeSavage dead?" The young man stuttered under Harry's hard look, missing the fact that is Harry had honestly thought there was nothing to his point he wouldn't have asked any questions. "He's supposed to be dead, a body off the coast of Cuba was tentatively identified as his, but I for one, have never believed it was him." "And may I ask why you think it wasn't real?" "Well, sir, he was supposed to have died in a boating accident, and DeSavage was the most accomplished captain I've seen. I don't think that he would have made such a stupid mistake as driving his boat into a reef, as it is said to have happened." "So, you think he's staged his death? And that he's involved in this? May I ask what possessed you to make this connection?"
"Nothing really, just a feeling. I honestly think that if Demangi is behind these robberies, there's a good chance DeSavage is too." "Why would a giant mob boss like Emilio DeSavage be behind petty tourist robberies?" "I don't know sir, but it seems to me that Sergeants Ryan and St. John were kidnapped pretty easily for it to have been a spur of the moment thing, especially when the killers didn't have any reason to know who they really were." "So, you're saying you think this was planned? Why would they want a couple of police detectives?" his voice trailed off as a thought came to him. "Sir," the young man asked, "are you all right?" Harry didn't answer, if what he thought was true, then they were in trouble. His thoughts went to the face of one of his favorite detectives, back to when they were both younger, and the young officer had just been transferred here after helping put Emilio DeSavage behind bars. 'I hope I'm wrong,' he thought frantically, 'if that's what he's after, they know how important it is. They aren't going to tell. I can't image what's going to happen because of that, but I know they aren't going to tell.'
Back in DeSavage's Prison
Cassy bit back the scream that threatened to escape past her lips. DeSavage's face was next to her's blocking her view of Tom. She had heard him yell right before the pain had shot through her hand. DeSavage's hand moved to her next finger, holding it up next to the broken one in a silent warning. Tom was at a loss, he couldn't do anything to stop him. He had told him everything he knew after he threatened the first time. How he had once met the other DeSavage on a case, but despite his confession about where he was then, Emilio seemed to want more. "Please, stop!" Tom started begging, "I've told you everything I know, don't hurt her anymore!" DeSavage didn't turn or pause, instead the sickening crack could be heard as another finger was broken. The pain was almost too much, and Cassy was starting to get light headed. Her stomach was queasy from the fists with which had recently made contact, and her face was stiff and swollen. Tom wasn't much better off. Cassy still didn't make a sound, refusing to give him the information he wanted, knowing it would cause more death than she wanted on her hands. DeSavage had shared his fantasies about how his dear brother should meet his demise, and none had involved just his death, instead his dreams had included the death of everyone around him, anyone who had known him. His only motive for killing all those innocent people was spite, and hate. Hate directed at everyone who had had any contact with his brother recently, while he had not had any luck in locating him himself. He finally moved away from Cassy, secretly impressed with how long she had held on, but just as much angry for the fact that she hadn't told him what he wanted to hear. Cassy tried to move past the pain, more was at stake here than a brother's revenge, or at least it would be if he ever found out where his brother was. She met Tom's eyes across the room, and tried to tell him how sorry she was for allowing him to be hurt. She couldn't allow DeSavage to find out where his brother was. Tom saw her pale face, twisted in pain. He met her eyes, and could have sworn he saw an apologetic look. He hoped she wasn't blaming herself for what was happening, she couldn't help it if she didn't know anything. He looked at her again, and the look in her eyes hadn't changed. There was something else there too, something that made him wonder if she really did know more than she was letting on. 'No, she wouldn't let it go this far if all he wants to know is where his brother is,' he thought to himself. That left two possibilities for him to consider, either she truthfully didn't know anything, or more was at stake here than it seemed. His bet was on the latter. 'Well, if it's that important that she's willing to sacrifice herself to keep it a secret, I can handle it too.' He trusted her judgment when it came to their lives, if he didn't they wouldn't be very good partners, and everyone knew that that was far from true.
Hour 5
Harry had called up everything he could on Emilio DeSavage and had put his picture amongst the others in circulation. Almost immediately they had an ID, one of the local vendors had seen DeSavage with none other than Tony Demangi. There was no doubt in Harry's mind now that DeSavage was behind the robberies, killings, and the kidnapping. They were halfway there, now they had five hours to find out where they were. Every case on DeSavage was pulled out and those they didn't have with them were called up on the computers, he had ten people scanning through them compiling a list of places where anything involving him had gone down. DeSavage was one of those traditional guys, who liked to go back to the scene of the crime. The bad thing was, with DeSavage, there were a lot of scenes.
By this time Cassy was only being held in an upright position by the rope around her wrists. She watched helplessly, still fighting the ever present argument in her head, as DeSavage landed yet another punch to Tom's prone body. He didn't move when DeSavage stepped away, finally letting himself fall into the black cosmic joke of unconsciousness. Surveying his bruised and bloodied prisoners, DeSavage made his way to the door. His feeling of unease had been growing and he wanted to check for himself that everything thing was still going smoothly. Besides he thought with a parting glance, if he didn't slow himself down, his prisoners wouldn't be alive to tell him anything.