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"The course of true love never did run smooth." - William Shakespeare

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Chapter 41

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Martin yawned and wandered over to the coffee maker for his umpteenth cup of coffee. If he could have it fed to him intravenously he would but liquid in a cup would have to do. Between the lack of sleep and a gray sky day where all he did was fill out reports and other tedious paperwork he was having an incredibly difficult time staying awake. He headed back to his desk holding his coffee in one hand he rubbed his eyes with the other.

"Hey Martin," James beckoned. "I called my buddy at Moto and you are in luck, he was able to get you a table for two tomorrow night."

"Thanks," Martin replied as reached his desk and sat down. "Now remind me why I have to take her to Moto, isn't that place a little pretentious and trendy?"

"Martin," Anna chimed in from her desk. "Since you won't give us all the details on what your fight was about – which is driving me crazy by the way – all we can do is help you woo Sam so you can get back into her good graces. And to do that you need to take her someplace exceptional, somewhere unlike any place she has been before and Moto is it."

"Just be sure you eat before you go, their food is supposed to be expensive and foo-foo which means you are still hungry after dropping two-hundred bucks on a dinner that is supposed to look like art." Charlie commented as he leaned back on his chair watching them all amusedly.

"Don't listen to him Martin. I like their food and my wife was so happy that I took someplace so special that she was thanking me for weeks if you know what I mean." James shared with smug look on his face.

"No, we don't know; you're too subtle, please tell us." Charlie replied sarcastically and James glared at him annoyed. Charlie turned back to Martin and said, "Now, I have hooked you up my friend," He gave James a hard look but there was no mistaking the humor behind it. "I called my friend, Tony, over at Jilly's Piano Bar. He has not only reserved a table for you near the dance floor but it's in the VIP section so you don't have a bunch of schmucks bumping into you when it gets crowded. I also got him to play up the Rat Pack angle so make sure when you get there you tell the guy at the door you're a friend of Tony's."

"I'm a friend of Tony's, got it." Martin replied, making a mental note.

Anna slapped her hands together and said, "Okay, so we have all the ingredients for a wonderful date: dinner at an elegant restaurant and then some dancing at one of the legendary clubs of Chicago."

"Hey, what's your contribution?" Charlie gruffly asked.

"I already played cupid when I started this whole thing by inviting Sam to dinner." Anna replied matter-of-factly.

Martin laughed and was about to say something when Louisa walked in with a somber look on her face. She put her hands on her hips and said, "I just got a call from Milwaukee PD. Carl Battarbee was released early this morning."

"What?" Martin asked incredulous. "How in the hell could that happen?"

"It seems that there was some clerical error during shift change." She exhaled a frustrated breath and continued, "I tried calling the Mosconi's at home but there is no answer." She looked at Martin and said, "You and Charlie head over and check on them. James, I want you to contact local PD and have them go to the house, give them Carl's description and make them aware of Dominic's hearing impairment. Anna, keep calling their house." Louisa turned and headed to her office saying, "I'm going to raise some hell when I find out who fucked up."

Martin and Charlie grabbed their coats and hurried to the elevator. As they waited impatiently for the elevator Charlie said, "And here I thought it was going to be a nice boring day away from the kids."

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Charlie parked the car in the front of the house. They glanced around and saw no sign of Chicago finest but they did see a blue Ford Explorer with Wisconsin plates.

"Uh-oh, that's Carl's car." Charlie said as he glanced around for any signs of distress.

"Yeah," Martin replied as he started to exit the car. As soon as he opened his door and stepped out a gunshot was heard.

Both he and Charlie took cover as they hurried cautiously towards the Mosconi's house. They crept along the side of the house, the snow crunching beneath their feet. Martin raised his head a little so he could peek through the living room window.

Inside he saw Dominic lying on the floor bleeding from his shoulder as a weeping Erica cradled him in her lap. Carl was pacing the length of the room like a feral cat. He looked extremely nervous and was holding a revolver in one hand. He was saying something to Erica but Martin couldn't hear what was being said.

"We have to handle this now, Dominic looks pretty bad." Martin whispered.

Charlie nodded and asked, "How do you want to handle it?"

"Follow me." Martin replied as he crouched low and made his way to the back of the house. They stepped onto the back porch and Martin reached for the doorknob. Thankfully it turned and Martin pushed the door open. He winced when the door creaked but it didn't seem like Carl heard anything. Martin gestured for Charlie to enter through the dining room while he went down the hall.

He crept slowly towards the living room, Carl's voice growing louder with each step.

"This is your fault, Carmela! If you hadn't run away we could have been a family!" Carl seethed. Martin could hear desperation and fear in Carl's voice. "Just tell me where my son is!"

"Carl, please, Dominic needs an ambulance." Erica pleaded.

"He'll get an ambulance after you get me my son." Carl replied furiously. "I want my boy!"

Martin reached the end of the hall and looked in the room. Carl had his back to him so Martin carefully positioned himself at the entrance and raised his gun to announce himself when Erica spotted Charlie and gasped. Carl noticed and aimed his gun towards Charlie and fired. Charlie fell forward and Martin could see blood pool around Charlie's arm.

Martin quickly shouted, "FBI!" and Carl turned around to face him with his gun held high. Martin fired and Carl fell back from the force of the shot.

Erica started screaming just as the police arrived and stormed in the front door. Martin raised his hands and said, "Don't shoot, I'm a federal agent. My name is Martin Fitzgerald." The officer nodded his head and Martin continued, "We need medics in here right away! There are two injured civilians and one agent."

An officer retrieved Carl's gun and as Martin rushed past he knew that Carl was already dead. Erica was clutching Dominic tightly but his eyes were wide open and Martin could see a look of relief on his face.

Finally Martin reached Charlie and rolled him over, "Charlie, come on man, be okay….."

Charlie's eyes were closed and Martin started to panic when his friend smiled and said, "Oh, this sucks."

Martin laughed as a wave of relief washed over him and said, "So I've been told."