Title: Un-Forgotten
Author: HAPPYBUNNY13
Rating: PG-13 (Swearing and mild violence in later chapters)
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Early Edition and never will.
Summary: Bostwick (Samuel Bostwick) is back and Gary is in danger.
Note: No real note. Read and review
Un-Forgotten
Chapter One: The News
"Excuse me... have you seen my sanity... I think I lost it."
He smiled to himself as he watched the guard fall to the floor. He was on his way to freedom and on his way to revenge. He had worked way too long and way too hard to fail now.
"You ruined everything," the man said. It didn't seem like he was talking to anyone, but in his mind he knew exactly who the statement was directed at. He had spent many months in the institution and it had taken a toll on him. The staff didn't doubt at all that the man was crazy. Anyone who spent five minutes with the man wouldn't doubt he was crazy, but then again that number was few because not a lot of people were brave enough or stupid enough to spend any time at all with the man.
He stepped over the dead man lying on the floor and walked toward the door. It was clearly marked exit, but to him, it said freedom. He casually spun the king ring around his finger and stepped up to the door. He inserted the key into the lock, but when he turned it, the door refused to open. The man choose a different key and tried again. The same thing happened. Nervousness arose in the man and he hurriedly went to the next key, and the next, until he was down to the last key. He breathed a sigh of relief when the lock turned easily. He pushed open the door and the sirens went off. He looked at the keypad on the other side of the door and swore loudly. He dropped the keys and took off running. He ran as fast as he could hearing people behind him.
He saw the cliff coming and without even stopping to think, he leapt off into the icy waters of the river below.
!&!&!&
Gary shivered. The paper had said it was only supposed to get down to 40 degrees, but he knew now the paper had been wrong. He looked at his watch and then at the path through the park. A jogger was supposed to be raped, but he hadn't seen any joggers or people who looked like they lurking in the shadows. "Excluding me," he thought. He would have laughed, but he was too cold.
He saw a woman running down the sidewalk and decided she had to be the person. He hadn't seen anyone else. "Where is he?" Gary asked himself. He was about to check to the paper again when he saw him. He was standing close to a tree and would have be practically invisible in the night had it not been for the white tennis shoes he was wearing.
He stepped out from the trees and was about to grab the woman when Gary shouted, "Look Out!" The woman turned toward Gary and then the man he was pointing at the man. Before she could he even react, the would be assailant took off running. The woman looked nervously at Gary and then took off running much faster than a jog. She had no idea if there were two weirdos in the park that night.
Gary sighed and started back toward the bar. He was cold and tired. The day had been busy. He had to wait for an electrician at the bar earlier and after that he had to get across town to prevent a child from getting abducted at the supermarket. After a few more minor cases, including a dispute at a bar, and a small car crash that held up traffic for hours, Gary had to get back to McGinty's to check to see was needed done with the electricity. The last thing he needed to do was prevent the woman from getting raped.
Gary sighed and looked at his watch. He had told Hazel he would meet her at McGinty's at ten and it was already ten-thirty. "Stupid paper," Gary muttered to himself the paper had been forty-five minutes off about the time and he had stood out there freezing.
Gary tried to catch a taxi, but none of them would stop for him. "Probably think I'm a maniac," Gary thought. That time he did laugh.
When he finally got back to the bar, it was five to eleven. He went into the office and saw Marissa sitting at the desk.
"Did Hazel stop by?" he asked her as he hung his jacket. He actually would have preferred to keep it on, but hung it up more out of a force of habit.
"No," said Marissa. "You're lucky she never showed up. You're almost an hour late."
"The paper had the wrong time," replied Gary in his defense. "Wait, she never showed up."
"No," said Marissa. "I thought it was weird too. I thought she might have called you, but apparently not."
Gary sat down at his own desk and tried to think of a reason she wouldn't have shown. The door to the office opened and Gary looked up to see Hazel enter. She was out of breath and her face was pale.
Gary thought it was odd that she was pale when the air outside was so cold, but he would have been pale had he known what she did.
"Sorry," she said. Her voice was quiet and it didn't sound like she was having the easiest time talking. She cleared her throat. "I'm so sorry I didn't show up. I um....got a pretty bad phone call."
"Is everything okay?" asked Gary. He would have been glad she didn't know he hadn't shown up, but the look on her face had him worried.
"I don't know," replied Hazel. "I don't know at all."
"Did have something to do with your family?" asked Marissa.
"No," said Hazel. "I got a call from one of my friends from the FBI. My old boss actually. He told me Samuel Bostwick escaped. He jumped into the river near the institution when he was running away. They dragged the river and everything, but they didn't find his body. He may or may not be dead. They just wanted us to be on guard."
Gary looked at her face and saw that there was more to the story. "What else?" He wasn't sure if had actually wanted to ask that question, but he did anyway.
"He killed one of the guards," continued Hazel. "In his room, they um...found some papers. They pretty cryptic; they think he might have been writing in his own code. There was one constant about the pages though."
"What?" asked Gary and Marissa. Gary wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer.
"Your name was on everyone of them," Hazel said to Gary.
Gary felt his stomach drop. The last time he had seen Samuel Bostwick, he had nearly killed him. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "They sure he's alive?" he asked after a few minutes.
"No," said Hazel. "They're not sure of anything. They just wanted you to be careful, but you haven't been officially informed yet. Anderson wanted me to give you a heads up. Alright?" Gary didn't give her an answer. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," said Gary. He wasn't sure he believed his own words.
"I'm sorry," said Hazel.
Gary looked at her. "About what?"
"I don't know," said Hazel. "It just feels like this my fault."
"It's not your fault," said Gary. He turned toward Marissa who had been quiet for the past few minutes and saw her just sitting at the desk. She had stopped working and was just sitting there.
"Are they trying to find him?" she asked after there had been a few minutes of silence.
"If they're not," said Hazel, "I'm going to kick their asses." She looked over at Gary and said quietly, "Please be careful. They don't think he's got all his marbles anymore."
"Alright," said Gary with a nod.
"I'm gonna get going," said Hazel. She walked out of the office and Gary followed her. "I'll see you tomorrow," said Hazel when they reached the entrance. "Promise me you'll be careful."
"I promise," said Gary.
"Thank you," said Hazel. "Good-bye."
"Bye," said Gary. He watched Hazel walk out of the bar and then quietly walked back into the office.
!&!&!&
Gary collapsed onto his bed with a sigh. He was sore and tired and the news Hazel had given them was bothering him. He rolled onto his side and looked at the orange tabby that was sitting in the windowsill. He bright green eyes stared at him and Gary closed his eyes trying to ignore it.
He struggled to fall asleep and finally settled into a fitful sleep, plagued with unnerving dreams. He dreamt about his last encounter with Samuel Bostwick and at one point in time, woke up struggling to breath. Finally, at 4:30 a.m., Gary gave up on sleep and sat on his couch waiting for the paper to arrive.
!&!&!&
Gary yawned as he walked down the stairs to McGinty's. He was still sore from yesterday and to add on to that, he could barely keep his eyes open. He yawned again and accidently bumped into a bar stool.
"You okay?" asked Marissa who had just stepped into the bar.
"Yeah," replied Gary almost forcefully. "Just tired."
"Be careful today," said Marissa.
"Trust me," said Gary. "I will be." He walked out the door and Marissa sat down on heavily on a barstool. She was worried about him. She was always worried about him, but today it was worse. "Please, be careful, Gary," Marissa thought to herself. "Please." Marissa sighed and to up from her seat.She had work to do before the bar opened
!&!&!&
Gary hurried to the destination printed in the paper. 'Infant Chokes to Death on Toy,' was the title of the article. "I'm not going to make," was the thought that kept coming back to him. He broke into a jog and continued toward his destination.
Gary arrived at the apartment building and rushed inside past the doorman. He heard him shout a few choice words at him, but Gary ignored him completely. "Apartment 7B," Gary muttered to himself. He looked around at the numbers on the apartment doors and then rushed to the elevators. The doors closed just as he reached them. Gary swore to himself and then turned toward the fire stairs. He took the steps two at a time and burst into the hallway. He nervously scanned the apartment numbers and found the one he was looking for.
Gary pounded on the door with the palm of his hand and waited nervously for the person inside to answer. The lock on the other side of the door rattled and a petite woman answer the door.
"Can I help you?" she asked Gary politely.
"Um....," said Gary. He was struggling to come up with what to say. "Your son left out his plastic soldiers out, your daughter is going to choke on one."
"What?!" said the woman. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Your daughter is going to choke," said Gary. The woman stared at Gary and then turned her head to look into the apartment to look at something. Gary couldn't see what she was looking at. The woman walked away from the door and Gary saw a small baby crawling around on the floor. The woman scooped the child up in her arms and looked inside her mouth. Gary heard a gasp from her as she pulled out a small plastic soldier. She turned toward Gary, but he was already gone.
!&!&!&
He was cold. There was no doubt about it. He was cold. His cloths had finally dried, but he couldn't get the chill out of his bones. That cold would be there forever. He walked tiredly down the street. He had to get to Chicago, but he couldn't afford to hitch a ride or even try and get a bus ticket. He face was everywhere. He had been sitting in a diner the night before and his face had come up on the news. For awhile, he had been worried he wasn't going to make it of there.
"Be ready," he said to himself as he continued down the sidewalk, he hands shoved deep into his pockets. "Be ready. Because I will find you."
!&!&!&
Once gain, sleep wouldn't come easy to Gary. He tossed and turned, but he couldn't seem to fall asleep. He was once again plagued with the nightmares from the night before. Gary could still remember how cold he felt in the house, the pain in his side, and the pounding in his head. All of a sudden, he couldn't breath. He struggled to get air, but was failing.
Gary sprang up in his bed and gasped. His chest hurt, but he was finally able to take in a deep breath. He looked at the clock. "Two," Gary said to himself. He closed his eyes and then got out of bed. He knew he wasn't going to get anymore sleep that night.
He sat down on his couch and tried to clear his mind. Gary closed his eyes and tried to relax. The dreams had been unnerving and his chest still hurt from the lack of air. Gary opened his eyes and looked at the glowing red letters of the alarm clock.
"Five?" said Gary confused. The last time he looked at the clock it was two. He still felt tired, but the extra few hours had helped. He continued sitting there waiting for the paper to arrive.
!&!&!&
The man saw his chance coming. His chance to get out of the cold and closed to his goal. When the old pick up stopped at the red-light, the man quickly climbed into the back. He prayed the driver hadn't seen him and breathed a sigh of relief when the truck started driving again.
!&!&!&
"You look terrible," Hazel said to Gary as he sat down next to him at the bar.
"Thanks," said Gary sarcastically.
"Sorry," said Hazel. "I speak before I can think."
"It's okay," said Gary. He was trying to hide the tiredness in his voice.
"Any reason why?' asked Hazel.
"What?" asked Gary looking at her.
"Any reason why you look terrible?" replied Hazel. He gave her a funny look. "I said I think before I can speak, doesn't mean I won't have follow up questions."
"I didn't get a good night's sleep," replied Gary quietly. "That's all." Hazel could tell he didn't want to talk about the subject anymore. "You heard any news."
"Nope," replied Hazel. "They won't tell me anything. It's weird, I feel like an outsider to them. For the first time, I wish I hadn't quit. At least then I would know what the hell is going on."
"I thought you said you called your friend Anderson?" said Gary.
"I did," said Hazel, "but every time I try to talk to him, he gets called and has to hang up." She ran a hand through her hair. "I just wanna know what the hell is going on out there." She looked over at Gary and saw him resting his head on the bar. "How much sleep did you get last night?"
"Enough," replied Gary.
"That's bull," said Hazel. She was becoming irritated.
"I'm fine," said Gary.
"Yeah," said Hazel, "and I'm Queen of France."
"It's just the whole Bostwick thing has me on edge," Gary answered. "It's not a complete lie," Gary thought to himself.
Hazel sighed. "I'll tell you the minute I hear anything," said Hazel.
"Thanks," said Gary quietly.
"No problem," said Hazel.
!&!&!&
A week went by and Hazel heard no news about Bostwick. Gary was quite so edgy anymore, but he still found himself looking over his shoulder every once and awhile. For the first time in awhile, the paper had barely anything he needed to do. The only real emergency he had to prevent was a mugging at eleven o' clock.
"Are you sure you should go?" Hazel asked Gary.
"Go where?" was Gary's reply.
"To the mugging," answered Hazel. "It's pretty late."
"I've been out later," said Gary.
"Not when a crazy guy with a grudge against you was out of the mental institution," said Hazel.
Gary sighed. "I can't very well let the mugging happen."
"I'll stop it," volunteered Hazel.
"I can't ask you to do that," said Gary.
"You're not asking," said Hazel. "I'm volunteering."
"I'll be fine," said Gary. "I'll be very careful. Okay?"
"Fine," relented Hazel. She looked up at the clock on the wall and said with a sigh. "I have to go to work. I guess I'll see you later."
"Bye," said Gary.
Hazel left the bar and Gary walked back into the office.
"You're still going, aren't you?" asked Marissa. Gary gasped in surprise and looked over at his friend. He hadn't known she was in the office.
"Yeah," he said after he had calmed down. "Why not?"
"It's late," said Marissa, "and it's dangerous."
"I'll be fine," said Gary. He was getting frustrated.
"I just bad feeling about it," said Marissa, "that's all."
"I'll be careful," said Gary. "I promise."
Marissa sighed. "Okay."
!&!&!&
Gary walked quickly down the sidewalk trying his best to ignore the cold. "Why can't anything happen someplace warm?" Gary muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
The paper said the mugging happened at eleven, but it was eleven fifteen and Gary had been pacing the same part of the sidewalk waiting for the victim or the mugger to show. Gary looked at his watch and let out a frustrated sigh. He grabbed the paper out of his back pocket and turned to the page with the article. "Where is it?" asked Gary when he saw the article had been replaced with a store ad.
"Maybe the mugger changed his mind," said a voice behind.
Gary's blood ran cold as he dropped the paper. He tried to say something, but he couldn't come up with any words.
"Miss me?" asked the man with a laugh. Gary suddenly felt a bust of pain in his head and he sank to the ground unconscious.
!&!&!&
Hazel was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels. She couldn't seem to focus on anything thanks to the message on her answering machine. "I shouldn't be telling you this, Hazel," Anderson had said in the message, "but we're almost positive that Bostwick isn't dead."
Hazel sighed and changed the channel again. She looked over at the clock. "Eleven forty-five," she muttered quietly to herself. "Maybe I should see if he's back."
She got up from her spot on the couch and walked over to the phone. She dialed Gary's number and waited while the phone rang. First ring, "Hasn't reached the phone yet." Second ring. "Can't find the phone." Third ring, "Tripped and fell." Fourth Ring. "Downstairs in the bar." The answer machine picked up. "Paper had the wrong time."
She shakily hung up the phone and walked back over to the couch. "I'm sure he's fine," Hazel kept saying to herself. "Maybe the save took longer than he expected." Wadsworth looked up at her and made a small whimpering sound.
"I'll call in a little while," Hazel said quietly to herself, "and he'll be there, and everything will be fine."
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