Monica and Jake walked into Frank's hospital room to see Michelle fast asleep in the chair next to the bed. The two smiled at her as they stepped up to the bed.
"Imagine, Frank Donovan having a way with teenagers. I never would've thought it," Monica whispered to Jake.
"Yeah," Jake quietly agreed. "It's something, indeed. What's been getting me, has been his behavior in the past 24 hours."
Monica narrowed her eyes. "How so?" she wondered. "Sure he's been acting slightly different than what he usually does..."
"That's my point! He started off very angry at the girl, but look at him now! He risked his life for her. I first started to wonder about Frank the moment her agreed to take her in for the night, even though he couldn't stand the fact that shew stole his wallet. Then after he got shot, he calls her Michelle? That might not seem odd but it does when he'd been calling her something else the entire time," Jake explained.
"I agree with you Jake but how will we ever know what goes on in that mind of his? You know how stubborn he can get," Monica replied.
"I know. That's what's bothering me now," he replied as he looked over at Michelle.
He left the room, leaving Monica wondering about what he just said.
00000
Jake met up with Cody and Alex, who were in the waiting room. They stood up once they saw him heading towards them.
"How is he?" asked Alex.
"Still the same. Listen, we've got to catch this guy before he really does kill Michelle and Frank. He almost did tonight. I say we meet up at The Nest first thing in the morning and figure out what we have and what we need to get about this situation," suggested Jake. "What do you say to that?"
The others nodded in agreement as Monica came into the room.
"We better get some sleep. We've had a long day," she told them
00000
At The Nest the next morning, the four sat down, the case papers in front of them.
"So the guy we're after is Joseph Denner, a local man with no current criminal record," Alex started.
"Though he will have one when we finally get him. I watched this tape last night. It's the same man who's after us all right and it looks like she hid in the same spot she hid from Frank in Death Alley after we gave chase," Monica continued.
"And he's willing to do anything and everything to cover up any evidence linking him to this murder and any others that he's done," Jake said. "If he knew about this tape, I don't know what would happen now and I have a feeling Frank knows something we don't."
"What makes you think so?" wondered Monica.
"His attitude, that's all," replied Jake.
Cody wasn't listening. He was glued to the computer screen, looking for anything of value for the case. His eyes scrolled down the screen until he came to something interesting.
"Hello, what are you?" he said to no one in particular as he began punching on the keyboard.
"What is it Cody? Did you find something?" asked Alex as they hurried over to him.
"I think I might have! Look at this; 'Couple found dead in Chicago alleyway'. What do you make of that?" he replied.
"What does it say Cody?" Monica said.
"It goes on to tell how these two people, a man and woman, were killed in Death Alley. That there were no clues, no leads, no witnesses. Until now that is," Cody told them.
"Cody, we already know all that. Where're you going with this?" Jake said.
Cody didn't answer. Instead, he walked over to the table and picked up the folder with all the case info in it. He opened it up and shook his head, giving a laugh. "You know, we should've seen this sooner. I think Frank might've made the connection and we didn't realize it," he finally said.
"What?" the three asked.
"The two that were killed two years ago? Their names were Michael and Savann Hana," Cody said, dropping the folder onto the table, showing them the pictures and names of the man and woman. "And they had a daughter."
00000
Michelle sat by Frank's side with a sigh. "I don't knowwhy you're doing this Donovan. I wish you could tell me," she told him as she put her chin in her hands.
She stared at his gentle breathing and emotionless face.
"He looks so peaceful," she whispered to herself
She stepped out the door, accidentally running into Alex and Monica. All of them were slightly surprised as Michelle put a hand on her chest.
"What're you two doing here? I thought you and the others were figuring out stuff about this case," Michelle told them.
"We are. Michelle, why don't you come in here with us?" Monica replied, leading her back into Frank's room.
She followed them, curious about what they wanted to discuss with her. "What is it?" she wondered as Monica and Alex stood at Frank's side.
Alex looked over at the curious teen. "We just want to ask you a few questions about that night two years ago. First, did you know the people that were murdered?" she asked her.
"Yes, I did. They were good friends of the family," she replied, looking away from them.
Michelle's eyes saddened as she sat down in one of the chairs. They both noticed immediately but neither thought it was the best time to say anything.
"Why would you Feds want to care about whether or not they were friends anyway? Why would you want to care about me for that matter? I'm just a teenager pretty much living on her own," Michelle replied, now looking out the window.
"Because we want to help you, that's why. Even Frank, in his own strange way," replied Monica as Michelle glanced over at her before staring back out of the window.
"Joseph will be back. I know of it. Once he finds out that we're both alive, he'll come back and attempt to kill us again," Michelle said, out of the blue.
Alex and Monica looked at each other, knowing what the four of them had to do.
TBC...
