Chapter 16 - Phone Threat

"So we're standing there, hands up, when the cops come up and like, give us a freakin' pat down. I felt like a drug dealer," Leo was explaining to the guys at the station. He, Jenny, Mike, and Ron had just gotten back from their encounter with the Thirty-third.

"What'd you do?"

Leo laughed and turned the floor over to Jenny. "Well, they found my gun first, and they freaked. I mean seriously."

"Then Ron grabbed one of the guys and held him back and Leo held back the other one—" Jenny paused to let the guys clap some "—and I pulled out my badge. They were like…stunned, or something."

"They said they were new on the job and had made some drug busts here before and thought we were dealers," Ron jumped in.

"They thought they were on our territory," Mike said.

They laughed.

"So we threatened them and sent 'em on their way. Told them if we saw 'em again on our turf, we'd report them."

The next two days were full of endless work, following and tracking Dan Gordon, and coming home in the early hours of the morning. Leo slept for two or three hours and went back to work.

He didn't talk to Piper, and assumed her sisters were taking better care of her than he could while doing all that work. He called her once, to see how she was, but they talked only for a few minutes, and awkwardly.

On the third day since she had been dropped off at Prue's house, Piper saw headlights in the driveway. "Leo's here," she said offhandedly.

Prue and Phoebe looked up, too. "Ah, let him come in. I'm one roll away from passing Go."

The girls had gotten out Monopoly and started playing a long time ago. They were determined to finish the long game before Piper or Phoebe left. It was something to keep their minds off of Dan, to keep a little laughter in Piper.

Leo knocked on the front door.

"Come in!" Prue yelled.

He came in and found Piper and her sisters sitting on the living room floor playing Monopoly. "Hey."

Piper looked over her shoulder at him. "Hey, Baby."

"Who's winning?"

"Me!" all three sisters shouted at once. They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Andy came into the living room. "Still?" he asked them.

"Yes, we're still on the same game," Phoebe answered.

"Hell."

"Hey, Andy." Leo was already sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Leo. They pulling you into the game?"

"Oh, no. I thought I was coming by to get Piper, but it looks like they're gonna camp out in the living room until this game is finished, so…"

"Want a beer?"

"Sure."

Two hours later, they were on the road, Piper still bragging about her Monopoly victory. "You know, we were playing for like five hours."

Leo nodded.

"And I only won by like…a hundred thousand dollars!"

He smiled at her happiness. "Did Prue feed you?" Piper gave him a look. With a smile on her face, she silently told him she wasn't being babysat. "Sorry," he said with a chuckle.

She slapped his arm then settled back into her seat. "No. She didn't feed me."

Leo laughed. "What do you want to eat? There's nothing at home."

"Jeez, Leo, I was only at Prue's for two days."

He smiled.

She shrugged. "…Let's go to McDonald's."

"How 'bout Taco Bell?"

She considered this. "Yeah. Taco Bell sounds gone. We haven't been there in a while."

He had a feeling she was avoiding the issue at hand, that is, Dan. But then again, he was avoiding it, too. He decided not to say anything.

They walked in the front door together, both Piper and Leo carrying three bags of food with them and in the middle of a laughing fit. Piper led the way into the kitchen and they put the bags on the counter. They looked at the six bags of Taco Bell food, then at each other, then burst out laughing again.

"Why did we buy so much food?"

"That was like forty bucks!"

"Oh, God, did you see the look on that poor girl's face when she handed all this to us?"

Leo dug into one of the bags and pulled out a Kid's Meal. He took the bag of cinnamon twists out and ate one. He handed one to Piper. She was somewhat tipsy from laughing, but then, it could have been the three beers she had at Prue's house, a reason why she didn't drive home. Without really realizing it, she blurted out, "I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Should I be back on birth control?"

This question seemed to shock Leo, but then he realized the importance of it. He couldn't believe they hadn't talked about it yet.

"Well…Uh…I dunno."

"I mean…With Dan…back…You think maybe we should hold off on trying for a baby until this…threat is gone?"

"What, does that mean no more sex?"

Piper laughed.

"If that's what it means then Honey, not a chance."

She laughed again. "I just mean…It might not be safe…"

Leo moved up to her and took her in his arms. "Sweetie, I don't think Dan will still be here in nine months, and that's assuming you conceive like, tonight."

She nodded slowly. "I want a baby."

"I know you do. I do too."

"…I think I could be a good mother, right?"

He stepped back to stare into her eyes. "Of course. Better than Marie," he said, face serious, but he was only kidding about Marie, who was a great mother.

She smiled. "Thanks." She fell into his embrace once more and sighed deeply. "I missed you…" After a silent moment, she pulled away. She grabbed a taco from one of the bags and unwrapped it. She took a bite out of it and headed for the living room. The answering machine was beeping. "Hmm, someone called…" She mused. She pressed the PLAY button on the answering machine.

The woman-like machine voice started talking. "You have…three…missed messages…First message, Saturday, June 25, 2005, 6:13PM."

A man's voice started playing over the small speaker. Piper and Leo both recognized it right away. Piper's eyes shot up to Leo's.

"Hello, Miss Halliwell. Do you know who this is?" The voice chuckled. "I bet you do…" There was a pause. "Just…calling to check up on you. Wondering if you're thinking of me…We had some good times, Miss Halliwell, didn't we?" Another chuckle. "Do you remember?" the man whispered, his voice low and eerie now. "I remember…You screamed a lot…Do you scream, Miss Halliwell? In bed, do you scream?"

Piper's breathing sped up. She felt as if she was choking.

The voice continued, low and whispering. "You scream under the blade of a knife, do you scream under a man?"

Piper's fingers were working at the hem of her shirt. She slipped a hand under it and fingered one of the scars.

The voice chuckled. "I'll bet you do…Ah, well, we'll soon find out anyway….Soon enough."

The message ended. The machine voice was back. "Second message, Saturday, June 25, 7:04PM."

Adam's voice came over the small speaker. "Leo, it's Adam. Listen, Dan didn't show up for his parole officer today. You can arrest him. I thought you might like to do the honors."

Piper glanced at the clock. "Is it too late to bring in the tape?"

Leo looked at the clock, too. It was almost ten. "It's never too late."

Piper nodded. She popped the recorded tape out of the answering machine and handed it to Leo without bothering to hear the third message. It didn't matter. They were ready to leave right away when the phone rang.

Piper's eyes shot up to Leo's again. She was silently asking him if she should answer. He nodded. Shakily, she picked up the cordless phone. She hesitated before saying, "…Hello…?"

"Hey, Piper, what's wrong?" Prue's asked.

Piper let out a deep sigh. "N—Nothing. I have to go, Prue. I'll call you later."

"Uh…Okay, but you left your purse here."

"Okay. I'll come by for it tomorrow or something."

"…Okay."

"Bye."

"Um, bye…"

Piper put the phone back on the charger and looked up at Leo. "Prue. She said I left my purse there. I can get it later. Let's go in now."

There were a dozen people listening to the tape at the station. Cortez, Adam, Amy, Jenny, Ron, Jake, Rick, Mike, and Jamie were just a few. When the tape was over, they let out a collective sigh.

"Oh, God…"

"Harassment and parole violation. We can arrest him, but we can't hold him for long. Six months in jail, no less," Adam said.

"I'll take what I can get," Piper said firmly.

They looked at her, surprised.

"We'll go right now, then."

Adam nodded.

Leo, Ron, Jake, and Rick were standing in the hallway just outside of Dan's apartment door. The landlord was with them, knocking on the door.

No answer.

The landlord looked at Leo. He nodded. The middle-aged man stuck the key in the lock and turned the knob. The door opened. Leo, his brothers, and their father filed into the apartment, guns drawn and ready.

They checked the entire apartment.

Dan was gone.