Not beta-ed so all mistakes are mine alone.

Disclaimer - I own nothing related to The OC

The Accidental Hero

Chapter 11

Sandy had driven to the station and met up with an old poker playing buddy from his days at the PD's office, he also happened to be a Sergeant on the force and someone Sandy knew was as straight as a arrow, this guy wouldn't accept so much as a coffee from a store owner in case it was construed as a kickback. He had handed over the letter from Ryan and watched as Roger's face had turned to stone. The next thing he knew was he was taken down the hall to an office. Sandy had spent enough time in police stations to know these men reeked of internal affairs. So they were already here.

Sandy answered their questions the best he could, he was getting more and more frustrated by the minute that they were hell bent on concentrating on the cops involved and ignoring the Ryan side of things. He felt stupid sat in his baggy shorts and his day-glow tee shirt; it was like he had suddenly dropped half his IQ points just because he wasn't wearing a suit. It had been hours but they were still treating him like a mushroom…keeping him in the dark and feeding him on shit. Kirsten rang constantly to see what was happening but he had nothing to tell her or Seth. He was going to start throwing his weight around soon unless someone told him something.

Roger found him by the auto-vend machine trying to decide whether the coffee he'd just requested was safe to drink. Sandy threw his coffee in the trash as he saw his face.

"You've got news…what is it?"

"Let's take a walk Sandy." Roger didn't let Sandy argue.

They sat in an empty interview room. Roger tried to wipe the fatigue out of his face.

"As you know by the internal affairs boys being here that there was a suspicion that someone on the force might be involved in the break-ins…these are high security residential areas Sandy, it was the next logical step. They were in the process of tracing log sheets to find out which cars patrolled the areas that were affected on certain nights. Ryan's letter confirmed what they found. It seems that Parker and O'Farrell weren't stupid and realized that the game was almost up…neither of them turned up for their shifts this morning and their cribs are empty. Looks like they left in a hurry."

"That's not what your here to tell me though is it?" Sandy had played poker with him long enough to read him like a book.

"No…we got a match on Cody and Pete."

Roger pushed over two buff files to Sandy.

Sandy looked at the faces of the two men that had torn his family apart in such a short space of time. Cody Berman and Pete Corso. He read their rap sheets; Corso's was mainly sex offences interwoven with petty theft and drunk and disorderly arrests. Berman was another story; he'd spent almost half of his sixty years on earth inside for a series of brutal assaults and robberies. There were several dead bodies that had mysteriously showed up at the same places Berman did but the police could never pin anything on him; he always had an unbreakable alibi when questioned. Sandy saw the same phrase being used again and again, 'shows signs of classic psychopathic behavior'…This was 'boots'… the man that he'd not wanted Ryan anywhere near that night. This was the man that had scared the hell out of Sandy with his cold, dead stare…this was the man that had beaten the hell out of Ryan then prayed on the boy's weaknesses and blackmailed him into this mess. He shut the folders and pushed them back to his friend.

Roger took a deep breath.

"That's not all Sandy, the police raided Corso's an hour ago, they found Pete Corso's body, he'd been shot at point blank range in the head, it was not a pretty sight."

Roger paused before he continued.

"A witness places Berman and a kid that matches Ryan at the scene."

Sandy shut his eyes.

"A neighbor saw them exit the building shortly after she heard what she thought was a shot, she couldn't say if Ryan was there under duress or not but she said he looked agitated. I'm sorry Sandy. We've got cops staking out Berman's place but they haven't shown yet…. I don't need to tell you that we are extremely concerned for Ryan right now. Berman is a grade one psycho. What the hell was the kid thinking? "

Sandy got up from the table.

"That's the thing Roger…I don't think Ryan cares anymore. That's why we've got to get him out of this."

Ryan was glad of the womb like darkness the bar offered, it helped to mask how much he was rattled. Every time he shut his eyes he repeatedly saw the red bloom of spray as Pete's head had exploded like a watermelon. What made it worse was that Cody was acting like nothing untoward had happened…acting like he hadn't recently blown his friends brains out with a Colt python in cold blood. He sat laughing with a woman he obviously knew, making jokes at Ryan's expense regarding his age and how green he was like they were old buddies…which regarding Cody's recent actions was not remotely comforting. All he could do was smile weakly and hope he had the nerve to see things through this evening. If he could then things would finally be over.

Ryan felt sick to the stomach, he had hated Pete with a passion for what he had tried to do to Kirsten…for what he had done to other women. It had brought back issues for him…issues that were too close to home and as much as he had wished him dead, he wouldn't have wished that end on him. No matter how many 'shot 'em up' films Seth had insisted they watch nothing could have ever prepared him for the reality.

On film, violence seemed larger than life, the gun always loud and smoking, the blood and gore splattered dramatically but in reality it was more macabre. The only other time he'd been near a shooting was when Marissa had shot Trey but he had been semi-conscious on the floor, that had been like a dream sequence and he hadn't been in much of a state to take things in. The fact that Trey had survived had taken the edge off that incident…this would be imprinted on his brain forever. There had been no dramatic, swelling music to signal impending danger, the gun going off had sounded strangely hollow like a fair ground pistol used to gain a cheap fluffy toy for a loved one and the blood and matter had been very liquid and fine not like the syrupy, viscous red of the movies. It was the mundane quality of the scene that had made it horrific, the blood soaked pizza boxes lay testament to the fact that this man had recently enjoyed a meal and hadn't a clue that that would be his last.

Ryan took a long pull on his beer and wondered if this would be the last beer he would ever drink. He looked at his watch…it was almost time. Cody had kept him close all day, which was probably a good thing…it meant less chance of him getting cold feet.

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"Sandy you're not coming…there is no way that they are going to let a civilian along on this one."

Sandy paced.

"Please…I've got to be there. Ryan needs to know I'm there, I'm telling you Roger you don't know this kid like I do. He feels like he let us down…he's got nothing to lose, that this is his fault."

Roger placed a hand on Sandy's back.

"I know…I know, trust me Sandy. I won't let anything happen to him. I promise."

Sandy knew he wasn't going to win this one.

"Roger don't let him do anything stupid."

"I won't."

They pulled up outside Caleb's mansion, Caleb might be dead but this place would be forever known in Ryan's mind as Caleb's. Ryan felt the tight knot in his stomach intensify.

"Sweet…who did you say lived here again?"

Cody switched of the engine.

"My ex-girlfriend." He responded flatly. It wasn't a lie; he couldn't see Marissa wanting anything more to do with him after this got out.

"They're away for the weekend at Monmouth, I know how to get in and I know the code for the alarm, it made things easier for me to pay her late night visits without her parents knowing."

Cody studied him.

"How do you know they haven't changed the code …how ex is this ex of yours?"

"Recent and they won't have changed the code…it took long enough for her mom to remember this one. So, are we waiting for Parker and O'Farrell?"

Cody chuckled.

"Nope, we're flying solo on this one…why split things four ways when two is such a nicer number."

Cody handed him two pairs of thin latex gloves.

"Put both pairs on…you still leave latents with just one pair."

Ryan put the gloves on. He led Cody up the back stairs and in front of a set of double French doors. He glanced at Cody then rattled the door and lifted at the same time, he'd seen Marissa pop the door out of it's runners on several occasions when she was sneaking in past curfew, if she could do it with her body strength then it should be no problem for him. He thought that Julie would freak if she knew that she had weak security or such shoddy doors. He gave a hard push upwards and the door slid off its runners like planned. Cody looked impressed.

"Wait here while I go and sort the alarm."

Ryan shot across the room and down the hall as the first piercing bleeps of the alarm sounded. He punched in the code and the alarm fell silent. Cody switched on his torch and joined him.

" So you know your way around…where's the good stuff?"

Ryan nodded to the door behind him.

"That's the study…Jimmy keeps cash and bonds in there. There's some good silver too."

Cody appraised Ryan.

"I'm impressed…I think you and I are going to get along just fine."

Ryan turned on a small side lamp and Caleb's old office was illuminated in a soft light. Ryan was relieved to see that it was as he remembered and Julie hadn't turned it in to a spa room.

Cody set about opening the drawers; Ryan was in the process of removing some of the silver snuffboxes from the sideboard when he heard a noise. He bit his lip and turned.

Cody stood up and put his finger to his lips, he swiftly walked over to the lamp, and his hand was near when they both heard the static from a police radio from outside the door.

Ryan watched as Cody's eyes flashed with anger as the realization dawned.

"You little bastard…you set me up!"

Ryan recognized Cody's arm movement from earlier and swallowed hard.

Cody stood and pointed the gun.

"You're fucking dead…no one screws me and gets away with it."

Ryan shut his eyes and waited. He had no more pieces left on the table…this game was over.

Tbc.

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