When everyone was gathered in his office, Stottlemeyer said, "I just got a call from Tucker Vance. One of his employees didn't show up for work today, and he's worried. He's seen this guy with Spin, Charlie and the Ramone brothers recently."
"What's his name?" Disher asked.
"Tom Bennett."
"I haven't run across that name in any of my searches."
There was a knock, and a Sergeant opened the door. "Mr. Vance, sir."
"Thank you. Come in, Mr. Vance. This is the team that's been working on this case. I believe you've met Lt. Disher. This is Adrian Monk, Natalie Teeger, John Smith and Bruce Lewis."
"Thank you," Vance said as he accepted the chair Disher offered him.
"Now, tell us about this employee," Stottlemeyer said.
"Well, his name is Tom Bennett. He's very reliable. That's why I'm worried. You see, he took a couple of days off so he could get married and have a honeymoon. He said he'd be back Wednesday morning. But when he hadn't shown up by noon, I got worried."
"You've seen him with Spin and Charlie recently?" Stottlemeyer asked.
"Yes."
"How often?"
"Just once or twice. I think they were arguing the last time I saw them together."
"Why do you say that?" Monk asked.
"I thought I heard them shouting; but when I entered the area, they stopped talking."
"Did you hear anything they said?" Natalie asked.
"No. We were on a job site with equipment going in the background."
"Convenient," Bruce said.
"How long ago was that?" Stottlemeyer asked.
"About a week and a half. I wasn't even supposed to be there. As I told Lt. Disher, since my knee surgery, I've been working more in the office. But Tom called me. Said there was something I needed to clarify. Then, when I got there and asked him about it, he said it was a false alarm. I don't think he was telling me the truth though."
"Why not?" Monk asked.
"He kept glancing at the van where Spin and Charlie were."
"You think they threatened him to keep him quiet?" Stottlemeyer asked.
"Maybe. I went over the specs for that project, and everything was fine, if a little odd. But the client approved the specs before construction commenced. I always make certain of that. I also try to please the client no matter how odd I think their requests are. As long as I don't have to violate code of course."
"What sort of odd things did this client request?" Monk asked.
"Well, he didn't want windows in any of the rooms. He said most of the rooms were going to be medical labs. You'd think even lab workers might want to look outside sometimes, but he was adamant. Another odd thing was he didn't want any doors on any or the rooms. The only door he wanted in the whole place was the front door. The weirdest thing of all was the faux brick wall he wanted along the back wall of the entire building."
"Can you tell us this client's name?" Monk asked.
"Uh, let me think. Something like Carson maybe. Or-"
"Dean Carter?" Disher asked.
Vance snapped his fingers. "Yes. That was it."
"One more question," Stottlemeyer said. "How often did you see Tom Bennett with the Ramone brothers?"
"All the time until after his argument with Spin and Charlie."
"What happened?" Monk asked.
"Well, it seemed like every time he got near them, Spin or Charlie or both of them would show up and Tom would shy away. It was almost like he was trying to tell them something, but Spin and Charlie kept stopping him. Probably not coincidence them showing up every time, huh?"
"No," Monk and Stottlemeyer said.
"Thank you, Mr. Vance," Stottlemeyer continued, shaking the man's hand. "We'll do what we can to find him."
"Thank you, Captain. All of you," Mr. Vance said and left.
"OK," Stottlemeyer said rubbing his hands together.
"I know where he is," Monk said.
"I was hoping so," Stottlemeyer said leaning on the front of his desk. "Please."
"Here's what happened. Tom Bennett knew Leon was going to kill the Ramone brothers. He tried to warn them, but Spin and Charlie wouldn't let him. On the morning Leon planned to commit the murder, Tom went to their apartment building. He had to hide in the bushes because he saw Spin and Charlie, so he knew they'd told Leon about him, and Leon had told them to watch him. "
Tom peered around the apartment building the morning of the Ramone brothers' murder. Seeing the blue Suburban, he ducked into the bushes.
"To throw Tom off, Leon went ahead of schedule. Not knowing Leon was already inside their apartment, Tom threw rocks from the graveled patio at their window to get their attention."
Tom threw a handful of rocks at a window on the second floor.
"He probably had to blow his cover to do so. Then he ran, and Spin and Charlie followed him. After murdering the Ramone brothers, Leon retrieved the rocks and replaced them on his way back to his car."
Tom ran, but didn't get far. Charlie slowed the van, and Spin got out, punched Tom, and dragged him into the van.
Inside the apartment, Leon stepped over the bodies, retrieved the rocks and left.
"So he's probably with Spin and Charlie at Oliver Enterprises?" Stottlemeyer asked.
"If he's still alive," Bruce said.
"If he's still alive," Stottlemeyer agreed.
"Why did Leon murder the Ramone brothers?" Johnny asked.
"They probably knew something and were going to blow the whistle," Monk said.
"I'm sure everyone figured out the place Dean Carter was having built," Natalie said.
"The building behind Oliver Enterprises," Bruce supplied.
"Which is only a few streets away from where my vision takes place," Johnny added.
"Now can we go there?" Natalie asked.
"We have reasonable doubt about their activities," Stottlemeyer said.
"That's a yes, right?" Natalie asked.
Stottlemeyer nodded. "We need a plan. I'm sure these people will be expecting us. Probably not us specifically, but our type. Which means they'll have people watching for us and they'll be ready to clear out at a second's notice. "
"Vera," Monk said.
"What?" Stottlemeyer asked.
"I thought maybe she was trying to escape, but she's their diversion. She's with them," Monk said sadly.
"We don't know that, Mr. Monk," Natalie soothed.
"We don't know you're not right, either," Stottlemeyer said.
Monk hung his head, and Natalie rubbed his shoulder.
"If she is their diversion, they'll be trying to get away while we go after her," Johnny said. "And they'll probably know that we suspect she's a diversion and have people ready to go after them."
"They'll probably also have someone staying behind to make sure they're not followed," Bruce said.
"Which means we'll have to be very careful and very sneaky," Stottlemeyer said.
"Well, they can't expect us to be everywhere," Disher said.
"That's it," Monk said.
"Good thinking, Randy," Stottlemeyer said.
Disher smiled. "Yeah, well."
"Ok, here's the plan."
While Stottlemeyer outlined the plan, Disher congratulated himself and basked in the praise he had received.
"Everybody clear?" Stottlemeyer asked.
"Yes."
"Let's go."
"Wait a minute," Disher said as the others left. "What's the plan?" he called rushing after them.
III
Bruce, Johnny, Natalie and Monk sat in a booth in a diner down the street from the building behind Oliver Enterprises.
Disher sat in the back of an unmarked surveillance van in the parking lot of the diner.
Stottlemeyer and five other officers sat in squad cars placed strategically between Oliver Enterprises and the street where Johnny's vision took place. Each squad car was concealed behind a bush or a building or another car.
Various other officers both in plain clothes and uniforms were scattered about.
Through his binoculars, Disher saw a group of people exit the building behind Oliver Enterprises. Two people walked in opposite directions and scanned the area. They rejoined the group, and Disher saw one man look directly at the van.
"My position's been made," he said via radio.
"Roger that," Stottlemeyer answered.
Disher watched the group disperse. Two people went back inside. All but two of the remaining people headed toward the parking lot beside the building. When they were out of sight, the smaller of the two people left behind kicked the larger one in the groin and punched him in the nose. He went down, and the other one took off running.
"She's loose," Disher said.
"Roger. Monk, you're on," Stottlemeyer said.
"I'm on," Monk said nervously.
"Good luck," Johnny said.
"Ditto," Bruce said.
"You'll be fine," Natalie assured him with a smile.
"Ok." Monk glanced at a nearby table and got up.
As soon as Vera Laney ran past the window, a man at the nearby table wiped his mouth and left the table.
III
Monk stepped into Vera's path.
She sidestepped him and kept going.
"Hey!" Monk ran after her. "Stop!"
"Leave me alone!"
"Vera!" Monk pleaded.
Vera stopped and looked back at him. "Just let me go," she pleaded and ran again.
"Vera!" Monk ran faster.
"Stay away from me!" Vera shrieked.
"Wait! You don't understand."
As Vera rounded the corner of the building like in Johnny's vision, two men jumped out from behind a dumpster and aimed weapons at Monk.
Monk skidded to a stop, grimacing at the scuffmarks he was creating. He'd have to throw these shoes away.
"Let her go," one man ordered.
Two officers appeared from around the corner Vera had just passed. They had their weapons trained on the two men.
"Police," one officer bellowed. "Drop your weapons."
The two men turned and started lowering their guns.
"Go, Mr. Monk."
Monk didn't hesitate. He rounded the corner of the building to find Vera by the lamppost with her hands on her knees, catching her breath.
"Vera."
She looked up startled. "I told you to stay away from me."
Monk could see the lights of the Suburban approaching as he slowly walked toward Vera.
"I'm here to help you."
"You can't help me," Vera said backing into the street. "You'll just get yourself killed."
She was in the middle of the street now.
The van's horn blew.
She turned to see it approaching too fast.
She froze.
The van swerved at the exact moment she regained her composure and moved. Unfortunately, she moved directly into its path again.
As the front bumper was about to impact her, Vera felt herself flying. She hit the pavement hard enough to have the breath knocked out of her.
Monk landed beside her, face down with one arm across her waist. He heard sirens and footsteps before blackness enveloped him.
III
"Mr. Monk. Mr. Monk?"
Monk opened his eyes to see three blurry faces above him.
Johnny smiled. "Hey."
"Welcome back," Bruce said.
His nose felt heavy, so Monk reached up to touch it.
"Your nose is broken, sir," an EMT said. "You've also got a concussion." He shone a penlight into Monk's eyes.
"Ah," Monk cried and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Sorry. Just checking your pupils now that you're conscious."
"Vera?" Monk tried to raise himself.
"You need to remain still, sir," the EMT said pushing against his shoulders.
"She's right over there," Bruce said as Johnny moved aside. "She's gonna be fine."
"Thanks to you," Johnny said with a smile.
Monk squinted and saw Natalie sitting with Vera on the floor of another ambulance further down the street.
Monk, Johnny and Bruce watched as Stottlemeyer led another man over to the ambulance. The man swayed, and Stottlemeyer placed a hand on his arm to steady him.
When Vera looked up, her eyes filled with tears. She leapt out of the ambulance and into the man's arms.
Natalie smiled and shook the man's hand when Vera introduced them.
Vera must have mentioned Monk because Natalie and the man turned to look in his direction. Noticing that he was awake, Natalie touched Stottlemeyer's arm, and they headed over together.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Monk?"
"Ok. Headache."
"You'll be back to normal in no time," Stottlemeyer said. "Well, you know what I mean. Nice work," he added patting Monk's shoulder.
"I'm so proud," Natalie gushed hugging Monk quickly.
"And thank you, Mr. Smith." Stottlemeyer offered Johnny a hand. "This isn't the way we usually solve cases, but we couldn't have done it without you this time."
"It was my pleasure. Thank you for coming to believe in me."
Stottlemeyer nodded and offered a hand to Bruce. "That's thanks to you, Mr. Lewis."
Bruce shrugged and shook the Captain's hand. "I didn't really do anything."
"You stood up for a friend. That went a long way in my decision to trust him."
Bruce was momentarily speechless. "Well, he's been through a lot. Gotta cut him some slack now and again. Even though he can be a pain in the ass sometimes."
Stottlemeyer laughed. "Well, if you ever run out of cases in Maineā¦"
"Thank you, Captain," Johnny said touched.
"If you'll excuse me, I've got some stuff to wrap up," Stottlemeyer said. "Monk, do what the doctors say. I know you will." He waved at them all and left.
Natalie, Bruce and Johnny turned to see Monk gazing at Vera and the man sitting side by side on the ambulance's fender. They had their arms around each other. Vera's head rested on his shoulder; his chin rested on her head.
"It's getting kind of late," Johnny said. "We should probably let Mr. Monk rest."
"Yeah. Do you need a ride?" Bruce asked Natalie.
She smiled at him. "Thanks, but I'm going to go with Mr. Monk to the hospital. They want to keep him overnight. I just want to make sure he gets settled in. He's got lots of quirks, you know."
"We saw a few," Bruce said with a laugh. "We're still on for coffee though right?"
"I'm looking forward to it. Give me a call in the morning. My number's in the book."
"Ok. Good night." Bruce and Natalie hugged. "Bye, Mr. Monk." Bruce patted Monk's hand. "Make sure they take good care of you."
"Natalie can do that."
"Pleasure working with you," Johnny said to Monk as he hugged Natalie. "Maybe we can do it again sometime."
"I think I'd like that."
"Wow, he practically asked you to be his partner," Natalie said.
"Let's not go that far."
Natalie, Bruce and Johnny laughed.
"Good night," Bruce and Johnny said and walked off.
"Good night," Natalie said.
"So, you think I'm a pain in the ass?" Johnny asked punching Bruce lightly on the shoulder. "You ain't seen nothin' yet."
Bruce shook his head. "It's gonna be a long trip home."
Johnny laughed.
Natalie laughed and turned back to Monk.
He was still gazing at Vera.
"That's Tom Bennett. Her husband," Natalie explained. "Well, he will be soon. She told me she was married to Jake Newman, BKA better known as Leon as you figured out. She found out who he was and all the 'ventures' he was involved in and wanted a divorce. He wouldn't agree to grant her one unless she helped his team test some new drug they were developing. The Ramone brothers tried to talk Leon out of using her as a lab rat and even creating the drug in the first place. Apparently, they were too bad for business, so Leon decided to get rid of them. When Tom was caught trying to warn them, Vera agreed to help them escape in return for Tom's life."
Monk smiled.
"You were right. She was doing everything to protect him."
"Yeah," Monk said still smiling.
They watched Vera and Tom silently for a while, Monk never losing his smile.
"Thinking about Trudy," Natalie asked at length.
"Always," Monk replied and closed his eyes.
AN: As promised, I finished the story over the weekend. On one hand, I'm relieved to have it finished. On the other hand, I'm sad to see it done.
Thanks for all the reviews. I hope you enjoyed it.
