SEVEN
"Thank you kindly for assisting with these mattresses, Melvin," Fraser told the landlord as they and Adrian lugged the mattresses up the stairs toward their apartment.
"Explain to me why you need five of them?" the landlord complained, almost dropping his end.
"I need backups," Adrian told him, "Just in case."
"In case of what I don't wanted to know," the landlord grumbled. They pushed it into the apartment and set it against the wall. "I need a drink," the man said, "I'll be back up in about five minutes."
He walked out. Immediately both law enforcement men because aware of the sobbing still going on next door. "I'd want to tell her I'm sorry," Adrian said, looking abysmal, "Can you tell her for me?"
"You can't tell her in person?" Fraser asked.
"I don't think she'd accept it right from me," Adrian grimaced, "She'd say I didn't get it. I know how it is; I went through the same experience with Sharona once."
"Well, that's not necessarily how she'd take it," Fraser pointed out. Seeing this didn't really make Adrian any more optimistic, he added, "Well, if you'd like to wait in the hall and listen in, I suppose that might be an option."
Adrian nodded to this suggestion. Fraser strode across the hall and knocked on Natalie's door. "May I enter?" he asked.
"Sure, come on," came Natalie's response. From his vantage post around the door, Adrian watched as the Mountie walked in and sat down on the floor next to Natalie, who was glancing somberly at a photo of Julie. "I should have stayed in San Francisco with her," she said ruefully, "I shouldn't have let him talk me into coming out here. It would never have happened."
Diefenbaker, who'd been lying on the floor next to her, rose up and licked her face sympathetically. "Well, it's rather unfair to suggest that present circumstances would be any different had you been there rather than here," Fraser said, "In all likelihood, you would have been taken into captivity as well, Miss Teeger. It would also be unfair, I must tell you, to deflect blame onto your boss, upset though you may be with his earlier remark, which I'll admit was out of line for the situation. I sympathize with your feelings though; I've gone through many similar abduction cases both here in Chicago and in Canada, and I know how the parent or parents would feel…"
"He's standing outside listening, isn't he?" Natalie asked abruptly.
"Yes, he is," Fraser admitted. "Get away!" Natalie yelled at her boss, "You hurt me and insulted my daughter, you unsympathetic…!"
"I'm just as concerned with Julie's safety as you are," Adrian said, looking uncomfortable at being in an argumentative situation, "I've been thinking about her all day. And I promise we'll bring her back, alive and in as few pieces as possible."
Natalie gave him a glare that told him he'd goofed up again. "Or in one piece, that's even better," he said quickly.
"Miss Teeger, there's an old Inuit saying," Fraser said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "'He who eschews bitterness toward others serves only to poison all his own wells.'" He frowned. "Or at least it goes something like that. But the point is, by choosing to be bitter toward your employer Mr. Monk despite his sincerity toward the situation, you are only creating an emotional chasm between the two of you. And we will be unable to help your daughter if that chasm exists."
Adrian finally got the nerve to walk into the room. "I'm sorry Natalie, I really am," he said quickly, "I didn't mean to cause you any pain."
Natalie let out a deep sigh of release and realization. "It's okay," she told him, her head in her hands, "It's more my fault. I'm just so worried, I don't know how else to act."
"No, really, it's my fault," Adrian said.
"No, it's mine."
"No, it's mine."
"I see you two are able to connect again," Fraser cut in to the self-guilt tripping, "All one has to do in a situation such as this is realize the other side's viewpoint. I've seen it many times; anger is not an independent emotion. Once the parallel emotion it's connected to in each circumstance is dealt with, it can die on the vine. "Why don't you come in, Adrian?"
The detective walked in and squatted, apparently unwilling to take the chance that Diefenbaker had been active with the floor. "You want me to fix you anything to eat?" he asked his assistant, "Make the bed, get you a blanket, run out for a paper…?"
"Why are you acting like a butler?" Natalie asked him, confused by his sudden shift in behavior.
"I'm trying to empathize," Adrian said, pulling a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her—after looking over it thoroughly to make sure Diefenbaker hadn't done anything with it, "That's what people do to make up with people. That's what I did with Sharona when she…"
Natalie sighed deeply. "Mr. Monk, we've been over this before, I am not Sharona."
"I know, I know," Adrian looked frustrated at this continuous pattern of his, "It's just…so hard to avoid the parallels." He walked over to the refrigerator and took out the milk. "So, do you do anything today besides mourn?" he asked in an overly bubbly tone.
"Not much; I'm not that thirsty," Natalie shook her head when he tried to hand her a glass of it, "The wolf kissed me more times than I could count."
Diefenbaker nodded in pride. "Here's the wipes in case you want to wash yourself off," Adrian handed them to her, "We met with Constable Fraser's father; he gave us contradictory advice."
"His father?" Natalie shot Fraser a strange look, "He said his father was dead."
"He is," Adrian said, "He looks good, though; apart from being dead and all, that is. He really hasn't decayed at all, and…"
Suddenly gunfire ripped through the apartment. "Everybody down!" Fraser yelled, smothering everyone. After about thirty seconds, the spray of bullets stopped. Fraser ran to the window to see a masked gunman starting to run away from the ledge of the apartment across the street. "Dief, go," he ordered his wolf, which took off out the door. The Mountie started climbing out the window. "Are you serious?" Adrian protested, "You know how high up we are?"
"Come on, we'll lose him," Fraser said as he ran up the fire escape out of sight. Adrian started to follow…and promptly froze up at the sight of the alley a long way below. Whimpering, he pulled out some wipes and grabbed on to the railing with them. "Well, aren't you going after him?" a frustrated Natalie asked him.
"Oh, I think Constable Fraser's got him already, he doesn't need us," Adrian said in a weak voice, "Carry me back in, I can't move; too high up."
Natalie rolled her eyes. There was a screech as Vecchio's Riviera pulled up underneath the building. "Monk, what's going on?" Stottlemeyer asked, sticking his head out the window.
He was partially answered as Diefenbaker tore out of the building, barking as loud as he could. He and his associates followed the wolf down the street with their eyes. "Up there," Disher pointed up the block, where Fraser made a spectacular leap between buildings on the trail of the suspect. "After him," Stottlemeyer told Vecchio, who threw it in reverse and tore back up the block.
Upstairs, Adrian finally managed to pull himself through the window. He took several deep breaths to get his composure back. "OK I'm ready," he said, rushing out the door and down the stairs.
"Better late than never, I suppose, right?" Natalie asked sarcastically, hot on his heels.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Adrian said, bursting out onto the street, "It's been a while since I've been in hot pursuit; I guess I'm a little rusty.
"Heads up Monk; he's coming your way," came Stottlemeyer's shout from up the street. Moments later, the suspect swerved around the corner, smashing through a pile of garbage laid out on the street for the trucks. Adrian stepped into his path and held his arms up, blocking his path…only to turn aside at the last minute and let the fugitive run by him. "What the hell's the matter with you; you had him dead to rights!" yelled Vecchio as he pulled up alongside in his car.
"He had garbage on him; I can't touch…" Adrian tried to say.
"Ah, never mind, just get in!" Vecchio jerked his finger toward the back seat. Adrian climbed in. Vecchio gunned after the suspect, who now had a substantial lead on them. "All units, we're in pursuit again!" the Chicago cop yelled over the radio, "Everybody head to East Racine to…" wait, never mind, situation under control, keep up the good work."
Fraser had taken a swan dive off the roof of the liquor store on the corner and knocked the suspect down into even more garbage. The gunman tried to squirm away, but found a growling Diefenbaker cutting off his exit on the right. "Police!" Vecchio yelled, aiming his gun at the suspect as he ran up, gun in hand, "Off with the mask, buddy!"
"Go to hell, cop!" the suspect told him off.
"We got him?" Disher asked as he and Stottlemeyer ran up.
"Yes, Leftenant, he's now in our custody," Fraser said. The Mountie reached down and pulled off the mask himself. "Well, well, Timmy 'the Stallion' Garbani.'" Vecchio told the glowering shooter, "What a surprise. You know, I was kind of hoping you'd be connected with this."
"You know him?" Stottlemeyer asked.
"Yeah," Vecchio said, a huge smile on his face, "Garbani here happens to be one of the top aides to my old pal Frank Zuko."
"This suspect allegedly tried to kill Detective Monk and myself," Fraser explained to the San Francisco police.
"Allegedly? I'd say that was a pretty solid attempt at murder, Constable," Natalie pointed out. She was still breathing heavily from running a block and a half after everyone.
"Well, the dictum is innocent until proven guilty, Miss Teeger," Fraser pointed out.
"What's Zuko's connection to the Fleming kidnappings?" Vecchio demanded, shaking Garbani, "Talk to me, I know you do nothing without his say so!"
"I ain't saying another word without my attorney, Vecchio!" Garbani snorted as Disher cuffed him.
"You'd better, or else…!" Vecchio warned him.
"Ray, the Fifth and Sixth Amendments clearly state that he has the right to remain silent and to council," Fraser pointed out, "It would be in our best interests to abide by those principles."
"He's right," Adrian added. The detective was grimacing heavily from the garbage all over the shooter.
"All right, we're taking a ride down to the station, pal," Vecchio hauled Garbani to his feet and dragged him into the back of the Riviera. "Everyone in," the Chicago cop. He noticed Adrian hanging back. "Now what's the problem, pal?" he had to ask.
"I can't get in with him," Adrian said in a pained tone, "The garbage, it's…"
"All right, we'll take HIM through the car wash!" Vecchio groaned, "Front seat, and touch nothing!"
He put the siren on the roof—and Adrian promptly picked it up with the wipes and moved it. "I said don't touch anything!" Vecchio protested.
"It's OK, Detective, it has to be centered," Stottlemeyer said, touching Vecchio on the shoulder, "Trust me, it's important."
What followed was a tedious five minute wait as Adrian tried to get the siren perfectly centered on the Riviera's roof. Finally, he got it in a position he wanted and hopped into the front passenger seat. "This Frank Zuko guy, he's an old friend?" the former detective asked as they pulled back out into traffic.
"He runs the rackets on the South Side," Fraser explained, "He and Ray have had a long and icy relationship back to when they were young, a relationship that was recently heightened by the accidental death of Zuko's sister at his hands. Ray once had…"
"Please, Fraser, let's leave Irene out of it for now," Vecchio held up his hand, a pained look on his face at the memory of losing the woman he'd once loved. "We've been trying to nail Zuko for years," he explained to the others, "He's always managed to stay one step ahead of us, though. If you can connect him to this case, you'd be doing a lot of people down here a big…."
"Red light," Adrian cried out as they went right through one. Vecchio shot him a harsh look. "We have a siren, we can go through it!" he snapped.
"Well that begs the question; if he is responsible for the kidnapping, why did he do it?" Disher inquired.
"Well it's possible that Sharona or Benjy witnessed something they shouldn't have, and this guy Zuko ordered them put under wraps," Adrian said, "I don't know why he'd ask for a ransom, though…could I have some air over here, it's really warm."
Vecchio hit the switch for the air conditioner, muttering under his breath.
"If he's a big guy, he'd have connections to mob people all over the country," Stottlemeyer said, "He could easily have called his buddies in California and have them pick up Julie."
"Well, once we get Mr. Garbani's story out, we'll know more," Fraser said, looked back at the disgruntled suspect in the back seat.
"If he talks," Vecchio grumbled, "And first thing tomorrow, we're paying Zuko a little visit."