"I don't believe it."
Rick looked up from his desk, hearing A.J.'s angry voice. A.J. stood in the doorway of the little room, cordless phone in hand.
"Why would they…oh, so money talked here, Ron! No, no….." his brother sighed, "I know you didn't know anything about it-and now that he's threatened us…you can pick him up, right?"
Rick tensed, he must be talking about Tony Wolf or his psycho brother Andrew Bear.
"Well, just let the District Attorney know my brother and sister-in-law will be filing a suit against the facility and we'll hold them responsible if anything else happens to our family." A.J. tersely finished, then thrust the phone at his brother and stalked out of the room.
Rick's blood was boiling, but he took a deep breath.
"Ron?"
"Rick, I'm sorry, I don't know how much you heard, but Tony Wolf got a medical furlough to see his "sick parents". His attorney took him to the hospital then traded places with him. That greedy idiot took off but the border police just picked him up." Ron stopped, as if to calm himself, then Rick quietly said, "Go on, pal."
"The Chief says he's spoken with Tony Sr., and all he'll admit to is knowing his son escaped." Rick could tell his friend's temper was growing short.
"I know, Ron, this stinks to high heaven. That brother of his is still in prison, isn't he?" Rick let out a swear word at the response.
"I'm sorry, pal. He was released to go visit his "sick parents" the same day, his psychiatrist claims he's cured and not a danger to any one. I played that bastard's tape for that so-called doctor, and I thought he was going to have a stroke. Stupid jerk."
"Okay, so we know the two of them are loose. We're going to need protection for our family, at least Robin and Ian are safe." Rick mentally thanked God that his son-in-law had taken a training gig in California and Robin, Petey and Katie had gone along.
"I've already called Rob, he's got Andy at Robbie's house, and if you can get A.J. and Linda and the kids over to your place, Oscar and the Chief said they'll take care of things." Ron's tone brooked no protest, and Rick knew he didn't have any to offer.
"Thanks, Ron. I appreciate you taking care of reaching them."
"No one hurts my friends, Rick. No one. We'll find them and put them away where they can't ever get out." The chief of detectives told him firmly, then laughed in spite of himself when Rick replied "Yeah, we'll sic Abby on them."
"Darn right. She's so mad right now she could spit. Maybe….how about if she comes and sits on Laurie while we come up with a plan?"
Rick grinned. "That's a great idea, pal. I knew you were due for one."
As both men broke up, A.J. reappeared, a puzzled look on his face.
"Uh, Rick?"
"Never mind, little brother. We've got a method to our madness. Pull up a chair, we've got a trap to set."
An hour later, both Simons sat back, tired but satisfied.
"I think the Chief will appreciate our using Wolf's parents, considering how they helped the weasel." Rick smirked, hanging up the phone.
"Telling Senior that you and Laurie are going to sue him for helping Junior, and that Andrew is planning to kill them not visiting him at the asylum….that's good, Rick."
A.J. grinned, then smiled even broader as Laurie stuck her head in the doorway.
"There you are, Abby just came over…..what are you two up to?"
Rick got up and pulled her into his arms as A.J. laughed. "What makes you think we've been up to something, sis?"
"How quiet you guys have been….oh, I'm glad I came to check on you…." Laurie giggled as Rick planted kisses on her neck. "Darling, I'm ticklish there….!"
"I know", he snickered, then kissed her again.
"Okay, okay, I'm going home so I can do my own "check up" on Linda!" A.J. chuckled, then hugged Laurie.
"Bye, little brother. I'm right behind you myself, I promised Robbie and Ramona I'd pick up Lala and Andy for an ice cream." She explained, then stopped as Rick shook his head.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. You're not going anywhere by yourself, I'll go with you and the kids."
"And I won't let my buddy go by herself, either." Abby Johnson added, smiling from behind Laurie. Suddenly she snapped her fingers. "Laurie, how about telling me that story about Kasey, the one about the wild turkeys and Lost Valley?"
Rick started to laugh. "I've still never heard the whole story, just the part I was awake for when I was in the hospital all those years ago. Tell that one."
"Well, how can I say no to that." Laurie giggled, then plopped onto Rick's lap and as he made her comfortable, said, "Now, where was I?"
A.J. perched on the edge of Rick's desk as Rick said, "Kasey and Gene were engaged and it was their first Thanksgiving, wasn't it? And she wanted to get some wild turkeys for their Church's Thanksgiving dinner."
"That's right. Kasey got mad at Gene's telling her not to because it had started to snow. She was halfway to Lost Valley when she came upon a couple of horse thieves. Kasey managed to get the drop on them, but when one of them shot at her, she made a run for home. Her horse slipped in the snow as she came to the entrance to the valley and she fell all the way down to the bottom of the slope….."
"I was laying just shy of a large spruce tree when I came to. Luckily I had missed landing on the knarled and misshapen root of the old tree, which spared me severe injury.
Dazed, I managed to get to a sitting position, then I carefully felt my scalp. Other then a small lump on my forehead, nothing else hurt.
So stupid, I was so stupid to disobey Gene's request, all I had to do was go home, but no, I had to show him I could catch a wild turkey. Now I was trapped, and if I didn't find a way out soon…..
No, I mustn't think like that. Gene would find me, and when he did, well……
But those two horse thieves, they would get away unless I got out of here. Instantly I decided to try climbing back up the slope. I grabbed a low branch on the tree, then pulled myself to my feet. At once my left ankle protested, and looking down I saw it was swelling. I held on to the trunk of the spruce until I got my balance, then tried to navigate through the falling snow to the edge of the clearing. As I came to the foot of the canyon wall, my heart sank as I could find no handholds in the ice and snow-covered rocks. I put my right foot onto a rock sticking out of the slope, and nearly fell as the sole of my boot slipped on the wet surface.
Abandoning the idea of climbing upwards, I looked to see if there was a path through any of the outer rock croppings. As I made my way around the edge of the clearing, a strange whistling noise sounded, then the wind started whipping the snow around and I was nearly blinded.
Turning back toward the trees, I tried to find my way deeper into the valley, hoping to find some kind of shelter. As I walked, I felt a strange sense of someone watching, so I called out, "Hello? Is someone there?"
"Kasey."
A familiar voice sounded, and I responded, "Where are you? Can you help me?"
"Kasey."
There it was again, then suddenly the snow seemed to stop, and a shaft of moonlight came through the clouds. Just ahead, barely visible, was a small building, little more then a shack. I stumbled towards it wearily, realizing my strength was ready to give out.
Reaching the door of the shack, I hesitated. Whose place was it, maybe the thieves I'd startled? As if to relieve my fears, I heard a voice from inside, and I pulled open the door."
Just then the phone rang, and Rick, startled, picked it up.
"Simon residence."
"Pop, it's Robbie. Someone just tried to bomb our house."
"What!"
A.J. saw his brother's face turn white. "Rick, what happened?"
"Is everybody okay, son?" Rick held up his hand as Robbie paused, then choked out "No, Ramona's hurt. Shhhh, it's okay." He heard his son comforting his wife. "Robbie, is Andy still there?"
"Yeah, he called an ambulance. Someone drove by while Andy was at the door and threw a pipe bomb toward us. Ramona had just got back from the store. The bomb, it bounced off a tree and landed on her car, then …it..it blew up."
Rick bit his lip hard, trying to keep his temper. "All right, son. I want you and Andy to pack up the kids and head to the hospital with her. Tony Wolf and his brother escaped prison last week, they're probably behind the attack. I'm afraid Bear is after all of us and your mother." Rick explained, then saw the fear in Laurie's eyes as she realized something had happened to their son..
"No, oh God, Pop---how?" Robbie's voice was suddenly furious.
"It's a long story, Robbie." Rick heard the ambulance siren in the background. "I'll tell you when we get to the hospital, just take care of Ramona now, we'll catch these two scum buckets."
"All right, Pop. Thanks." Robbie's attention was obviously on his wife, but he paused then said, "Pop, I mean it, thanks for being there."
"You're welcome, son." Rick felt his emotions starting to give way and ended the phone call.
He looked up to find Laurie's and A.J.'s eyes on him, then managed to tell them what had happened to Ramona.
"Nooooo." Laurie moaned, putting a hand to her mouth, as A.J.'s face hardened.
"They're dead, both Wolf and Bear are dead if I get a hold of them…." He broke off and gave a hand to his sister-in-law as she got off Rick's lap.
"Stand in line, little brother. We'll worry about them after we make sure Ramona's taken care of. You go home to Linda and the kids, I'll call you when we find out anything." Rick told him, grabbing his car keys, then Laurie added, "I'll bring Andy and Lala and David with me to your place as soon as I can."
"Thanks, sis." A.J. grabbed his jacket and followed his brother and sister-in-law out of the house.
Riding down the highway, Rick tried hard to focus on driving while Laurie called Oscar and Rudy to alert them to the attack. The image of Ramona lying injured, in front of his son and grandchildren…, what if Wolf and Andrew went after A.J. or the children…..
"Darling, she's going to be all right, I know it. You and A.J., you'll stop them." Laurie's head was on his shoulder, and he released a deep breath.
"Sweetheart, thank you." He said, then pulled her hand to his lips. "I'm just worried I won't be fast enough to stop them from hurting our children, or you."
"You will be, Rick. What's bothering me is how bad your knee is, what if you fall or something?" Laurie replied, a catch in her voice.
"I'm all right, darlin'….I promise after we get these animals I'll have Rudy take a look at it." Rick drove into the hospital parking lot, then turned to his wife and pulled her into his arms.
"Will that make my angel feel better?"
"Yes, Rick. And I promise not to drive you crazy with my worrying." She whispered, cuddling against him as he kissed her hair.
"Thank you, Laurie. Now let's find our children."
As they walked into the emergency room, Rick was relieved to see Ron and Abby already there, with their son Joey bouncing Lala and a burbling David on his lap. Chief Joseph and Rob were talking to Andy, who looked up at the sound of the door opening then launched himself at Rick.
"Grandpa, I knew you'd come!"
"There's my Andy, how is my boy?" Rick hugged him, then gave a grateful look to the sheriff and tribal elder.
"I'm worried, Papa said Mom would be all right, but still.." Andy started, only to stop when Rudy Wells came out of the treatment rooms.
Immediately everyone was quiet, then Laurie asked, "Rudy, how is Ramona?"
"She's fine, missy. Just a slight concussion and a few bruises, she's going to be staying in bed for a day or two, but Ramona's strong, she'll be all right in no time. I'm keeping her and Robbie here overnight." Their friend smiled as Rick's head jerked up.
"Robbie! What happened to him, he didn't say he was hurt?"
"Calm down, Rick. He's just bruised from being knocked down by the force of the blast, he'll be fine. You and Laurie can go in and see them now."
Rick never thought he'd be so grateful as the moment he stepped in the doorway of the hospital room and saw Robbie and Ramona together, each holding the other. Both of them were bandaged and bruised, and his daughter-in-law had an i.v. in her arm, but they were safe.
"Kids?" he said, then they looked up at him and Laurie.
"Pop!" Robbie called, then Ramona held out her arms, "Mom." At once Laurie was at her side, while Rick was rubbing his son's back as he wept out the story of what happened.
"I couldn't leave her, Pop, I wanted to have Andy go after the car, …but I needed him to call for help. They got away, how are we going to stop them…"
When he had finished, Rick was quiet for a moment, then pulled back to look Robbie in the eye.
"You did everything right, son. You took care of what was important, Ramona and the kids. Andy got a description, and your Uncle and I have a plan outlined to stop those two."
Robbie managed a smile. "Thanks, Pop. Now I know it'll be okay."