Chapter Four
privateradios
A/N: I should probably proof read these, huh? Anyway, I finally got this one up and I'm pretty sure I'm pleased with it all. Don't worry, this story isn't anywhere close to finish yet.
The scar is deep and he knows that it will take weeks before the flesh can heal itself. The knife was sharp and painful, leaving traces of ache in its path. Flack traces his fingers gently across the wound and he winces slightly, taking in a quick sharp of breath while doing so. He still cannot get over the fact that strangers had just taken blood from him to get back at his father. He hurts Flack emotionally and physically and he's not sure how long he can keep up with this.
His mouth is dry and his throat aches with pain. He glances up from his injured arm to watch the man who is currently keeping guard of him at the doorframe. A gun rests in the man's bulky hands and Flack has been told (many times in fact) that if he were to go against their orders, a bullet right to the head would be their only response.
So Flack leans against the wall and sighs. They had taken everything of his away except for the clothes that he was wearing from days ago. Days ago seems like forever and Flack is growing more and more concerned whether or not his team can find him, let alone know that he's missing. For a brief moment, he wonders about his sister, father and his mother. He wonders if they know anything about him and it tugs at his heartstrings. He can see his sister crying and demanding to know where he is while his father keeps a blank face and tries to go on with his life knowing that his son is fine wherever he is.
Except, Flack realizes that he has a hard time thinking about his mother's reactions. He knows that she loves him, no doubt about it, but they're not very close. When he was younger, Flack did heavily rely on his mother due to the fact that his father was out working long nights but the two of them never really bonded. Not the way Johanna and his mom do. No, instead it's him and his father. And what do you know, he's the exact same looking on the outside of his father but in the inside, Don Jr. is different.
There was a point in his life when Don Jr. did not want to follow his father at all. He didn't want to work long nights, he didn't want to deal with the fact that people murdered for pathetic reasons and he wanted to have a life where he could be there for his family twenty-four seven. His father had also seemed to develop a personality of that of a man that breathed in his work. He'd come home for dinner sometimes and small talk at the table would be shared.
Flack remembers one day when Johanna had come home with a boy she invited over to dinner. The mood was quite awkward that night and the only sound that Flack can remember was that of an old grandfather clock which clicked away with each second that barely passed by.
Johanna's boy – Flack found out later that his name was Ricky Lippy and that he had some connections to some of the gangs that Flack's father dealt with on a daily basis – was obnoxiously rude and Flack cringed every time something even bothered to escape from the kid's big lips. He had curly brown hair and dark eyes that Johanna seemed to fall for all the time. He had an accent and he used it to his advantage. Flack also noticed that tattoo's covered this kid's skin like it were an article of clothing.
Disgusted, Don didn't speak at all.
But Flack Sr. did. "Your name again?"
Johanna's grip tightened on the kid's arm. "His name is Ricky, Daddy."
Flack Sr. gave Johanna a stern look. "Johanna, I wasn't speakin' to you."
She slumped slightly in her seat, embarrassed.
"Your name."
The teenager smiled a pair of poorly brushed teeth and Don cringed again. Why did Johanna even fall for this guy was beyond him. "I'm Ricky. Ricky Lippy."
Flack Sr.'s brow rose. Yes, oh yes, the Lippy name was very familiar to him. He had a couple of Lippy's he dealt with himself during his police years and they were one kind of a family that had a rap sheet longer than any rap sheet he's seen before. "Lippy? Father's name is Harold, correct?"
Johanna rolled her eyes in her seat. "Daddy, can we not interrogate my boyfriend right now? Can't we just eat like a normal family?"
"My normal family is the four of us without Lippy here." He told his daughter firmly before turning his attention back to Ricky. "Your father owns a hefty business doesn't he Ricky? Makin' sure that things goin' smoothly correct?"
Ricky blinked a couple times before nodding in affirmation.
Flack Sr. smiled. "So, that means that he has well, how do I put it? Interesting people comin' in time to time, right?"
"I'm not like him!" Ricky suddenly yelled as he snatched his arm away from Johanna and placed his hands firmly on the table. "I ain't like my father! I don't do that stuff."
"Don't yell in my house."
Ricky's eyes flashed in anger as he quickly stood up from his seat, his chair falling behind him as doing so. He breathed heavily as he looked over at Johanna and sighed. "Listen Jo, I can't do this. I can't handle being questioned like this by your father. Maybe if he just looks past a couple of things he won't be the man he is today." And before any of the Flack's could respond, Ricky turned abruptly and left, leaving the family in awkard suspense. Don slowly gazed up at his father and watched as the man stood up from his seat and walked into kitchen, leaving no trace of his emotions behind.
Xxxx
Danny and Stella arrive at the restaurant where Flack and Gabrielle had lunch earlier the day that Flack had been kidnapped. The place is small but the excellent food makes up for it and if Danny wasn't working, he would have ordered himself a sub in a minute.
The manager is a man who gave the two hell. He doesn't speak much and when he does, it's a mixture of small words and cursing which well, doesn't help Stella or Danny much.
They finally receive the tape that they need (the manager had complained earlier that ever since there was a robbery across the street, he set up security cameras everywhere) and back to the lab they go.
Xxxx
"Have anything?" Mac asks as he joins Stella and Danny in the A/V Lab with a cup of coffee in hand.
Danny quickly turns around in his seat, smiling. "We got a vehicle. And it's the one that we're sure Don was takin' in."
Mac's brow rose and Stella takes that moment to answer. "We're watching the video and Flack walks out with Gabriella. They say their good byes and he goes to left while she goes to the right." She then turns to the screens and presses PLAY. The three watch as the black van parked to the right slowly begins to drive towards where Flack is heading before both objects disappear from the camera. Seconds later, the van speeds back the opposite way at a fast pace. Stella presses PAUSE and turns to look at Mac. "It's all we've got, Mac."
He looks at the faces on both of his co-workers faces and Flack's sisters' voice ringing in his ears and he sighs, rubbing his face with his free hand. It really was all they had and there was nothing wrong following their gut, right? "Got a license plate number?" Mac finally asks and Danny and Stella share a quick smile before nodding.
Stella hands him the case file. "Got a license number."
"And address."
TBC.
