Anyway, takes place sometime during season 2 after Mary gave Danny the ring back. Just pop it in wherever you see fit. :) Hope you enjoy
-
Ante Up
-
Chapter One
-
Stopping to catch his breath sounded like a great idea! Putting his hands to his knees, Danny McCoy's dark eyes focused on the desert ground beneath him. The ex-Marine and current Head of Security at the Montecito Resort and Casino was out on his usual morning run, which typically ended along this same uninhabited stretch of desert on the outskirts of Las Vegas. However, his mind was still at his pretty spacious two-story house, where his best friend since childhood, Mary Connell, was moving in. The woman with shoulder-length, red hair had said that she was only doing so to help Danny with the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder he had been diagnosed with upon coming home from fighting the war in the Middle East. However, Danny hoped that it was a little bit more than that.
The sound of a car pulling up behind him jolted Danny from his thoughts. The tall, brown-haired, above-average looking man turned to see a black, stretch limousine parking itself behind him. Quite an odd sight considering where he currently was, and McCoy instinctively raised his guard. Any attempts to peer into the limo and find out who was inside were blocked by the black, tinted windows. One on the front passenger side, however, eventually rolled down and someone pointed a pistol out of it. As he looked down the barrel of the gun, Danny froze instantly.
"Get in." the gun wielder ordered in a firm tone. The pistol waved towards the back door.
Considering the harm that could come to him, McCoy immediately contemplated not following the man's orders, but just as quickly dismissed that thought as foolish. There was neither witnesses nor immediate help around if the man did shoot him. With a sigh of reluctance, he opened the back door and got inside the car.
A man with black and gray, curly hair was already sitting inside and smiled at Danny as he sat down in the facing seat. Catching sight of him, the Montecito employee gasped in absolute shock. It was a notorious cheat known only as the Professor, who Danny himself had scammed into believing that he was joining with the older man's organization to take McCoy's boss, Ed Deline, down. To best of Danny's knowledge, The Professor was supposed to be in Nevada State Penitentiary, and not in the back of some limo.
"Surprised to see me, Danny?" the Professor asked knowingly, smiling at the amazed look on Danny's face.
"What in the hell are you doing out?" an angry Danny asked as the limo started to move.
"I'm afraid that prison just didn't agree with me." the Professor casually remarked, leaning back in his seat. "So, I've accepted a business venture elsewhere. I'm leaving Las Vegas and the continent tonight."
"The hell you are!" a firm Danny exclaimed, shaking his head. "I'm not letting you go anywhere."
"Yes, I thought that you might say something along that line." the Professor nodded, reaching into his coat and slowly pulling out a pistol. "And that's why I don't plan on leaving without taking care of two final pieces of business. One doesn't require my personal attention, leaving me free to attend to the other, more important one." With a smirk, he aimed the pistol directly at Danny's forehead. "And that, my young friend, would be teaching you a very painful lesson about double-crossing the wrong people."
-
"Are you sure that you can't come with us, Eddie?" a disappointed Jillian Deline inquired, looking at her husband as the pair walked out onto the driveway in front of their luxurious house. The older woman with shoulder-length, blonde hair looked directly into his eyes. "Actually spending some time with your family would be nice for a change."
"Shopping isn't my thing." Ed replied, slowly removing his arm from around Jillian as they came to a stop. Looking at his wife, the gray-haired yet still powerful looking man couldn't help, but smile. A twinkle appeared in his clear, blue eyes. "Besides, you know how much I hate leaving Danny and Mike alone. I'm surprised that the Montecito is still standing!"
"They're more capable than you give them credit for, Eddie." Jillian grinned, knowing her husband's relationship with the two younger men. With a slight giggle, she quickly kissed Ed on the cheek.
"A peck on the cheek is all I get?" a surprised Ed asked as Jillian pulled away. With the speed of a cheetah, he wrapped his arms gently around the woman before shaking his gray-haired head. "I don't think so."
"Can't give you too much or I might not get away." Jillian smiled, putting her hands on his shoulder.
Just as the pair leaned in for a kiss, a car horn was heard honking from behind them. It was their adult daughter, Delinda's, not so subtle way of reminding the older couple that they were still outside in broad daylight and that she could see them just fine from where she sat in the silver Ashton Martin sports car.
"Can I still send her to her room?" Ed asked with an annoyed sigh.
"She'd only break out." Jillian chuckled with a shake of her head. She quickly, yet passionately kissed Ed on the lips before heading to the car herself. "We'll be home later tonight."
"Okay." Ed replied as he opened the car door for his wife. "Don't spend too much of my money."
"You know us, Daddy." Delinda grinned from the passenger seat.
"Exactly why I said it." Ed replied, returning her grin as Jillian started the car. Waving one last time to the pair as they pulled out of the driveway, Ed headed for his own vehicle: a red Hummer H2 that was parked nearby.
Opening the door, Deline immediately cursed himself for forgetting to organize some papers he had brought home from the Montecito the previous night, some of which now lay on the passenger side floor. He reached inside the car to collect them, which diverted his attention from the road in front of his house and prevented Ed from seeing the mysterious black car that was now tailing his wife and daughter.
-
"Ed!" a worried looking, red-haired woman exclaimed as she rushed over to him. Deline, who had just stepped foot into the Montecito, stopped immediately as the woman came up to him. It was Mary Connell, the Special Events Coordinator for the casino, but that title didn't explain the worry on her face. "Have you seen or talked to Danny this morning?"
"No, I haven't." an honest Ed replied, shaking his head. The gray-haired man quickly regretted this action as the fear in Mary's eyes only seemed to increase. "Something wrong, sweetheart?"
"It…it could be." Mary nodded with a shaky voice. "I went to pick him up at the end of his usual morning run, but I didn't see him at all." She paused to glance at her watch. "He also should have been here by now, and he's not answering his cell-phone."
Digesting those tidbits of information, Ed could feel worry arise in himself as well. Missing work wasn't like his protégé at all, and Danny definitely would have told someone if he was going to change his usual route. As thoughts of the many enemies himself and McCoy had made filled his mind, Deline rubbed the back of his head. Could one of them have…
"He'll turn up." a confident Ed said, dropping his hand. The only thing he could do right now was calm Mary's fears. "He just probably lost track of time and doesn't have his cell-phone turned on." His hands found their way to Mary's shoulders. "I'm sure that Danny's just fine."
-
The broken gate was the first indication to Larry McCoy that something was wrong. Parking his truck just outside the fence, the brown-haired, older man tried to figure out why someone would mess with his construction company's latest job site: the renovation of an old warehouse. Although he thought that it was just the work of some teenage punks, he decided to get out and take a look around before calling the police.
A horrific sight greeted Larry as he raised the main door to the interior. A man was lying unconscious and facedown in the middle of the warehouse with his left arm outstretched towards fragments of something that also lay on the floor. The man's clothes were torn in several places, revealing the bruised and bloodied skin underneath.
"My God." a stunned Larry whispered to himself, wondering who the man was and how he had gotten there. A groan suddenly erupted from the man, and his left hand clenched into a fist, giving Larry an indication that the man had resumed consciousness. He rushed over, knelt down and put a hand on the injured man's back. The man looked up, allowing Larry to see his face and, to McCoy's surprise, it was one he knew all too well. His eyes widened in absolute terror.
"Danny?" he heard himself whisper.
"Dad?" a weak Danny asked, partly hoping that he wasn't hallucinating and partly hoping that he was. While his father being there meant that he would eventually get medical attention, Danny didn't want his father to see him like this. Rolling onto his back, the tall, brown-haired ex-Marine felt as if a million knives were stabbing his entire body and found himself wincing in pain. "God…"
"I'm right here, Danny." Larry reassured, cradling his son's torso in his arms. "What in the hell happened to you?"
"Some guys beat the crap out of me." Danny replied, still trying to deal with the pain he was feeling. As his eyes closed tightly, the ex-Marine began hyperventilating. "I've got to contact Ed."
"No, we've got to get you some help." Larry corrected, shaking his head. In an instant, the elder McCoy was on his cell-phone. "Yeah, I need an ambulance and the police. My son's been mugged…"
To be continued...