Author's Notes: As always, thank you for all of the reviews! It really means a lot to me. Special, ultra-big thank you to Mackenzie (Lil Grrl Bleu) for coming up with the finish for a particular line in this chapter when my brain just couldn't find the words. Thanks again, girl.
Chapter Nineteen
"Oh, God." an obviously worried Jillian said before rushing forward. "We've got to go find him!"
"Mrs. D., no!" a firm Mike replied, stepping in her path. "The last thing that Mr. D. needs right now is you showing up just when he's confronting whomever the hell kidnapped you."
"I think I know how to find out who that was, Mikey." Danny growled before turning swiftly on his feet and charging back into the other room. Knowing what his friend was planning, Mike quickly raced after him and grabbed the brown-haired man's arm. Mary, Nessa and Sam simply looked over.
"Danny! Danny!" a firm Mike said, quickly placing himself in front of the ex-Marine. "The Professor's not going to be able to tell us anything right now, man. Not after what you did to him!"
"You think so?" Danny grinned slightly as he walked towards the Professor. With one swift motion, he yanked the still unconscious older man to his feet and held him in place by his collar. "Tell me who's behind this, you sonofabitch! Huh? I know that you can hear me!"
"Danny!" Mike exclaimed, pulling McCoy away. The Professor sank to the floor once more. "Thanks to you, man's probably got severe head trauma! I doubt that he'll be telling anyone anything for awhile."
"Bastard." Danny spat, kicking the Professor in the stomach. "It's what you deserve."
Hearing squeals of delight from behind them, both men turned to see the tail end of the Deline women's reunion with their female companions playing out. Clearly overjoyed, Sam and Nessa hugged an equally happy Delinda tightly to them, while a concerned looking Jillian knelt down near the injured Mary. Exchanging a glance with Mike, Danny ran over to the latter pair.
"What happened?" a worried Jillian inquired as a wincing Mary struggled to sit up.
"Kind of got thrown into that." Mary replied, holding a hand to the back of her head as she nodded towards the pillar now to the side of her. Kneeling down, Danny held the red-haired woman steady in his arms. "I'm so glad to see that you and Delinda are all right."
"We need to get you some medical attention." Jillian stated before glancing up at Danny. From one look in the older, blonde-haired woman's eyes, McCoy could tell that she was silently reprimanded him for not doing that sooner. He gulped and smiled nervously. "Seems like we're going to need to split up."
"Yeah." Danny nodded, "Mike and I will go after Ed while you get the girls out of here." He looked down at Mary, knowing that she would most likely protest his doing something so dangerous. With a confident smile, he gripped her hand in his casted right. "Don't worry about me. I'll turn out all right."
"I know you will." Mary smiled back as Danny slowly helped her get to her feet. The brown-haired man held onto the woman until she was stable. "Just go get Ed, so we can get out of this nightmare."
"Don't worry." Danny promised as Nessa took over the role of helping Mary to walk. "Everything's going to be just fine, I promise."
"You're the one behind this?" a puzzled Ed said as he looked at the confident man in front of him. The gray-haired former CIA agent shook his head in disbelief. "No. No way in hell! What about the Professor?"
"Please!" Henderson replied, rolling his eyes. "As if that idiot has anywhere near the intelligence needed to pull something like this off." A chuckle escaped the man with a blonde mullet. "Of course, he's probably already miles from here by now with the reward I promised him." He flashed an evil grin at Ed. "Not that you'll be needing pretty boy McCoy after this."
"Danny." Ed whispered, not even wanting to think about what the Professor may have done or was about to do to his protégé. He growled in anger. "You'll pay for this!"
"Oh, Ed, Ed, Ed." Henderson said, slowly shaking his head. "Are you too stupid to even realize that there's nothing you can do right now to even help yourself, much less someone else?" A chuckle escaped him. "After all, I still hold the safety of your precious little family over your head."
"That's another thing that you're going to pay for!" an unafraid Ed replied, taking a step forward. "See, I thought that you knew all about me, Henderson." He shook his head slowly, maintaining his gaze on the blonde-haired man. "But the truth is, you don't know squat! You love to prance around screaming about decency and morals but when it comes to actually having them, you wouldn't know decency and morals if they bit you on your ass!"
"Big words, Ed." Henderson chuckled, rolling his eyes. "But I'm not so sure that you can back them up." He suddenly held a walkie-talkie in his hand. "Especially when all I have to do is say a few words into this, and poof! No more Jillian and Delinda!"
"You asshole!" an enraged Ed roared as he lunged forward at the other man. He had almost had his hands around the cocky former Senator's throat when he felt something hard collide with his back. Crying out in anguish, Deline sank to his knees and looked behind him. A young, brown-haired man stood a few feet away holding some sort of pipe. "You!"
"How's it going, boss?"
"All right." Danny stated after watching as the last trace of the group of women disappeared. A look of determination appearing in his brown eyes, the battered and bruised, tall man looked at Mike beside him. "Let's go get Ed!"
Just as Mike was about to reply, the duo heard the sound of retreating, heavy footsteps emanate from behind them. Quizzical looks appeared on both of their faces before they realized that it had to be the Professor escaping! Both men turned around just in time to see the bloodied, older man opening a secret door, leaning on the frame to support his body weight.
"No!" an angered Danny called out, ignoring his own injuries and running as he noticed the door starting to close.
"Another day, Danny." the Professor promised with a firm look just as the door closed, separating the two men. Not willing to give up, McCoy banged on the object a few times with his healthy, left hand. Eventually, he quit with a sigh of defeat and turned away.
"Another day." Danny whispered in agreement.
"Leo?" a puzzled Ed replied, too sore from getting hit in the back to move. The young, brown-haired man behind him just smiled as he walked over to the senator's side. Ed had recognized him instantly as Leo Broder, a former employee in the surveillance and security department of the Montecito. "What in the hell…"
"Come on, Ed." Henderson chuckled, running a hand through his blonde mullet. "You didn't think that you were the only one in town with a young protégé, did you?" With a proud smile, he put a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Leo here's been with me from the very beginning."
"That's right." Leo nodded, banging the pipe in his hand against the opposite hand. He smiled a toothless smile at Ed. "The only reason I was even at the Montecito was to learn everything that I could about you and your staff." He chuckled slightly. "And may I just say, Ed, your little casino was way too easy to infiltrate."
"You arrogant son of a bitch!" Ed growled, not believing his ears. The former CIA operative shook his head. "I should have listened to Danny when he said that you were a douche bag!"
"You know," Henderson remarked, looking at Leo. "I don't think that our friend here understands his position." He fingered the walkie-talkie in his hand. "Maybe I should show him why mouthing off to the ones who hold his wife and daughter's safety in their hands is a bad idea."
"No." Ed whispered, feeling like a fool for forgetting that the two men in front of him knew where Jillian and Delinda were, and held their safety in their hands.
Suddenly, a bullet whizzed just over Henderson's hand, causing the blonde-haired man to drop the walkie-talkie to the floor instantly. He, Leo and Ed all looked to see a visibly angry Danny holding a freshly fired pistol in his hands and not relaxing his aim in the slightest.
"You." Henderson spat, glaring at Danny.
"Hey." a grinning Mike replied as he also entered the room. "You should be lucky that he took that shot and not me." The bald, African American man shrugged his shoulders. "Otherwise, you'd be missing a hand."
"Are you okay, Ed?" Danny asked as he and Mike rushed over to their employer's side. While McCoy maintained his aim on the two other men, Cannon helped Deline back to his feet.
"I'm fine." Ed nodded, looking at the two men beside him. He could see that dried blood spatters now covered the white, plaster cast on McCoy's right forearm, and the end of said cast seemed to have broken off, allowing him to form a complete fist. With a slight shrug, the silver-haired man decided that what happened was a question to be asked later. "Don't do anything stupid, you two. These two morons still know where Jillian and Delinda are."
"So do we." Mike revealed with a wide grin, "Last we saw, they were heading outside with the rest of the girls."
"What?" a surprised Henderson growled as Leo readied himself for the fight he knew was coming.
"That's right." Danny confirmed with a cocky grin. "Not only did we free the Deline women, but I made it so that your associate, the Professor, won't be much help even if he does show up."
"Looks like it's the end of the line, Henderson." Ed smiled triumphantly.
"Hmm." Henderson scoffed, "That's what you think!"
To be continued...