Chapter 12
And I thought Ed catching me in bed with Delinda was the worst day of my life! Danny thought as he tried in vain to reposition himself so that he could kick the tail light of the Camaro out to signal help. However, it was one of those moments where being as tall as he was worked against him. A slight pain was starting to radiate through him for being trapped in such close quarters. Whoever had attacked him, they had clearly done their homework on him!
Thinking of his assailants brought Danny's mind back from his current situation to what had just happened in the parking garage. He just hoped that Mike and Cooper were doing all right, and felt a slight pang of guilt that they had gotten caught up in a situation where he was clearly the target. If they weren't all right, Danny would never forgive himself or the people behind this operation.
Suddenly, the car came to a complete stop. As the engine was killed, Danny could feel himself getting ready for a fight; his muscles were tensing up and his mind clearing. This is it! He thought, as he heard the car door slam and the sound of footsteps approaching.
He managed to kick his legs out as the trunk opened and someone grabbed a hold of them. Unfortunately for Danny, he didn't feel anything except air! He tried again as he felt someone jerk him into a sitting position, but got the same result. As the hood was yanked off of his head, Danny could see that only one of his assailants (by the stance and build, it was the first man who had attacked) had made the trip. However, Danny felt as if he couldn't relax quite yet; the man now held a large hunting knife in his right hand and their destination had apparently been the desert surrounding Las Vegas.
Every horror story Danny had heard growing up about people making trips to the desert and never coming back started to play in his head, as well as an image of Delinda and their unborn child. He had to survive if for no other reason than for them! Furrowing his brow in renewed determination, the former Marine got to his feet and swung his arms, hitting the other man in the neck. As the assailant staggered sideways, Danny made a grab for the knife. The man recovered just in time to step out of the way. His balance impaired by the binds around his ankles, McCoy fell forward to the ground. He turned himself over and tried to get back up; only to face the masked man pointing the knife towards his throat. Danny kicked his legs out again, but the man caught them and held them in his free arm.
Much to Danny's confusion, the man then cut the rope binding his two legs together!
"What the hell?" Danny said, slowly getting to his feet. He felt his guard rise again as the other man stepped towards him. He started cutting the ropes that bound McCoy's arms together. "Who are you?"
As McCoy's now free arms landed at his side, the masked man simply stood in front of him in silence. The two stared at each other for a moment before the masked man reached around and smacked the back of Danny's head!
"What…" Danny started to say as the man took off his mask.
"I'm only gone for 6 freaking months," Ed smiled back, tossing his mask to the floor. "And you completely forget what my voice sounds like? What in the hell kind of friend are you?"
"The kind that doesn't jump their friends in a parking lot." Danny fired back.
A momentary silence fell over the two men as they looked at each other. It wasn't long before they shared a good laugh and embraced each other tightly.
"It's good to see you again, kid." Ed said.
"Good to see…" Danny laughed, "Hell, old man! I thought I'd never see you again. Why didn't you call and let me know you were coming?"
"I have my reasons." Ed replied as the two broke apart. McCoy could tell by the tone of his mentor's voice that what those reasons were exactly would be answered at a later time. "Sorry about this whole, uh, thing by the way. You all right?"
"Car ride was a little uncomfortable." Danny admitted as he rubbed his jaw. "And you still have a pretty mean right hook for a…."
"You continue that sentence with anything age related," Ed warned, "and I'll be happy to show it to you again. How's Delinda?"
"She's doing great." Danny replied, leaning against the bumper of the Camaro. "Baby's doing just fine. Jillian's been checking up on her every once in a while."
"I'll have to see her before I leave again." Ed nodded.
"Knew this wasn't a social visit." Danny started to reply as his cell phone went off; Cooper coming up on the Caller ID. Anxious for news on Mike and the other man, Danny immediately answered it. "I'm all right, Cooper."
"I know." Cooper said, "Your friend left some acquaintances here. Mike's still a bit shaken up from being tased, but he should be fine."
"Poor Mikey." Danny said.
"Tell your friend that we'll be waiting in a private suite for you guys." Cooper said, "And yes, I've made sure that he shouldn't run into anyone who would recognize him and blow our cover. A guy named Frank said he would meet you and lead you up here."
"Understood." Danny said, "We'll see you soon."
"I'll have to get Mike something nice to make up for this." Ed said as Danny hung up. "And beat the ever loving hell out of Keller for pulling out his taser in the first place. Anyway, sounds like we'd better get a move on. By the way, I CAN tell you one reason I did this."
"Yeah?" Danny asked, heading for the driver's seat.
"It's been too long since I've driven that car." Ed replied with a smile.
"Could have just asked." Danny laughed, throwing the keys to Ed.
"Hey!" a black haired, aged but still muscular man greeted as Danny and Ed walked into the Montecito through an employee entrance; the main one too crowded to smuggle in Ed, who was already wearing a hat and sunglasses to conceal himself. Danny recognized the man as an old accomplice of Ed's who went by Frank the Repairman.
"Hey yourself." Ed said as they headed into a nearby elevator. "You trying to let everyone know we're here?"
"See," Frank said, "that just proves what I was saying earlier about how you need to drink more tea, Eddie. It will really mellow you out." He turned towards Danny. "Sorry about the whole deal earlier, kid. Hope I didn't hurt you too bad."
"Frank was the guy restraining you." Ed explained, "So, fill me in on this Cooper guy?"
"He's cool." Danny said, "He can be pretty hard to read though."
"Your favorite kind of person, Ed." Frank joked.
"Shut up." Ed said, "Go on, Danny."
"Really not much else." Danny said as the door opened. "Former Marine. Did some Black Ops stuff in Vietnam, and earned a bronze star."
"I had heard some of that." Ed nodded as they headed towards the door of the suite.
"He was asking me about the whole deal with Henderson and company earlier." Danny said as they paused outside of the door. "I took the liberty of filling him in. I guess he has a history with the Professor, but, typical Cooper, he wouldn't tell me what."
Frank and Ed glanced at each other briefly before Ed shook his head. Danny was about to ask the pair what that was about when Mike opened the door from the other side. Cooper and Jack Keller were both standing in the main room, looking like they had just been discussing something.
"Mr. D.!" he greeted, pulling the older man into a hug. "You sure know how to make an entrance."
"Hey Mikey!" Ed smiled, hugging him back as the door to the room shut tightly. "Good to see you, buddy. Sorry about getting you messed up in all of this. You okay?"
"I could go for some compensation..." Mike teased.
"Oh, boy." Danny interrupted, rolling his eyes.
"Hey. Don't be drinking the hater-ade over there." Mike replied.
"All right," Jack said, getting the group's attention. "Can we please cut the crap and get down to business?"
"Not quite yet." Cooper said, taking a step towards Ed and extending his had to shake. "Honor to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you from your former employees."
"Nice to meet you too." Ed said, shaking his hand. He jerked his head towards Danny and Mike. "I hope, uh, these two knuckleheads haven't given you too much trouble."
"They have their moments." Cooper smiled as Keller cleared his throat.
"All right, Jackie." Ed said as the men sat down around the main room. Danny, Mike and Cooper on one side; Jack and Ed on the other. Frank milled by the door. "I think we've been stalling long enough. The reason we came back is that we've heard rumors that Henderson was recently spotted in Lake Havasu City."
"Lake Havasu." Mike repeated, exchanging worried glances with Danny. "That's only a couple of hours from here!"
"There's more." Jack said, pulling a photograph out of his bag and handing it to Danny. The photograph clearly showed Leo Broder lounging outside of a hotel. "That was taken a week or so again in Henderson."
"I know that hotel." Danny said, "We…"
"Have already checked it out." Ed interrupted, shaking his head. "No sign of that bastard. We did talk to some people though; said he showed a real interest in the Strip, the Montecito in particular. Asking people if they recently stayed there, what the staff was like, and if they had any encounters with hotel security."
"Trying to see if anything's changed." Mike nodded as Danny handed him the photo.
"We would have noticed if he had come on company property." Danny said, "We added him to the facial recognition system a long time ago." He looked into Ed's eyes. "You think they're planning something?"
"I'd bet on it." Ed replied, "That's why Jack and I hightailed it back here. I didn't want to leave you guys alone when they do attempt whatever it is they're planning."
"You mean you didn't want to be left out." Danny grinned.
"That too." Ed admitted, starting to get to his feet. "I think our first step should be…"
"Hold on there, old man." Jack interrupted, "You're not going to tell them the other reason we came back?"
"Other reason?" Mike said, looking from Jack to Ed.
"I, uh, thought it was rather obvious, Jack." Ed said with a slight hint of nervousness in his voice. Danny could tell that whatever Jack was referring to, Ed didn't feel like sharing it quite yet. "I wanted to see how my daughter and future grandchild were doing…"
"Oh, come on." Jack rolled his eyes, "You can do better than that!"
"Listen," Ed said, starting to raise his voice. "You call me old man again, Keller, and it'll…"
"You're hiding something, Ed." Danny interrupted, not taking his eyes off of his mentor. "What is it?"
"Oh, you're going to question me now?" Ed scoffed, feeling trapped. "I thought you knew better than…"
"Answer his question." Cooper warned, narrowing his eyes at Ed.
"Come on, Ed." Frank chimed in from where he stood near the door. "From everything you told me, the kid deserves to know."
"Fine." Ed said, sitting back down. Knowing what was about to happen, he closed his eyes. "The Professor has managed to slip out of our grasp; we have no idea where he is."
"Have you seen Danny?" Delinda asked as she walked into the surveillance room. Having finished up her business at Mystique, the Montecito's restaurant, she was hoping to surprise her boyfriend by seeing if he wanted to get dinner.
"Haven't seen him or Mike in about an hour." Mitch replied, wheeling his chair around to face her. "I was about to call you and see if you knew anything. Between their disappearance and one of our cameras in the garage going out, we've been in panic mode up here."
"That's really odd." Delinda said, starting to fill nervous. "He's not picking up his phone. And for Mike to be gone too? You don't think something's happened, do you? When was the last time you saw them?"
"Mike headed out of here, said something about meeting Danny and Cooper in the parking garage." Mitch said, "Someone had popped the trunk on the Camaro and they were going down to investigate. Mike told me to keep an eye on things; in case it got hairy. But that's the camera that went out…we've almost got it back on line."
"So, the three of them head down there, the camera goes out, and you don't think to call the police?" Delinda said in disbelief. She turned and headed for the door. "Remind me to talk to Danny about firing you!"
"Delinda, wait!" Mitch called after her as the door slammed shut. "Damnit."
To be continued...