Author's Notes: Sorry! I do have the ending written, but I had a huge case of writer's block on how to get from where we are to there. The good news is is that it finally seems to have broken! Should only be about 10 chapters left at the most.
Chapter Seventeen
"What in the…" Mary stammered, looking at the odd group that had somehow assembled on her doorstep: Frank was smiling widely while Delinda and some younger woman she had never met before were sharing the same confused look that she had.
"Brought you some house guests!" Frank exclaimed before turning to grab the luggage from the car.
"I can see that." Mary replied, still confused but not having time to dwell on things as Delinda suddenly launched herself forward.
"MARY!" she squealed, wrapping her arms tightly around the friend she hadn't seen in months. "This is amazing! I thought that I would never see you again!"
"It's good to see you too, Dee!" Mary smiled warmly, hugging the other woman back. "Your father said that I was going to have house guests, but he never said that it would be you and…" Trailing off, the red-haired woman smiled apologetically at Piper. "And…I'm sorry. I don't believe that we've met."
"OH!" Delinda exclaimed, letting go of Mary to make introductions. "Mary, this is Piper Nielsen…or is it Piper Cannon now?"
"Cannon?" Mary repeated, recognizing the last name.
"She and Mike got married," Delinda explained, "But they…weren't exactly thinking clearly at the time, if you know what I mean. So, it's very…"
"Definitely Vegas." Mary smiled knowingly, thinking fondly of her hometown.
"I know, right?" Delinda giggled, "Anyway, she works as a concierge at the Montecito." She turned to the dark-haired woman. "Piper, this is Mary Connell."
"So, you're THE Mary everyone talks about!" Piper smiled back, shaking Mary's hand. She had heard many stories about the woman standing in front of her from Danny, Delinda, Mike and Sam, and almost felt as if she knew her herself. Her dark eyes travelled down to Connell's chest. "Oh, wow! I can see now what Sam says about your—"
"Ok." Mary blushed, knowing full well that Sam liked to point out just how prominent Mary's chest was at every opportunity, and wondering why she thought that would stop with her leaving town.
"Here." Delinda smiled, handing her cell phone over to Mary. On the screen, she had pulled up a picture she had taken a week or so prior of Danny leaning against his prized Camaro in the Montecito parking lot. "He really misses you, you know? But he tries his hardest to be Mr. Tough Guy and not show it."
"That sounds like him." Mary smiled, staring fondly at the picture of her best friend since childhood. Truth be told, she missed McCoy (and all of her friends) horribly as well, but knew it was better for everyone if she stayed where she was. Realizing that Danny would not have sent Delinda so far away if he didn't have a good reason, Mary frowned and looked back up at the blonde-haired woman. "What made him and Ed send you two here anyway?"
"Those two guys Delinda's dad and Danny have a grudge with reappeared." Piper explained, "Henderson and…"
"The Professor." Mary finished, closing her eyes tightly. "I knew it had to be them if Ed was involved." Opening her eyes again, she stared at the two women in front of her. "Tell me everything."
"There's some steaks in the freezer if you're hungry, Ed." Danny suggested half-heartedly as he walked back into the apartment with the aforementioned Ed about a half an hour or so after their disaster of an investigation. The car ride back had been an eerily silent one; both men frustrated with the lack of progress. With a deep sigh, McCoy threw himself haphazardly on the living room sofa. "Got about a half a bottle of Jack over here as well if that's more up your alley."
"I may take you up on that drink later." Ed shrugged, sitting down in the recliner Cooper had occupied earlier in the day. His blue eyes focused in on the younger man in front of him carefully. "What I'd really like is to know where your mind is at right now. You've been, uh, unusually quiet since we left."
"Change of pace." Danny grinned, folding his arms behind his head and laying fully on the sofa. "I would have thought that you'd be appreciating that I'm being so quiet for once."
"It is nice." Ed admitted, "But, as you were so kind to point out, it is out of the ordinary."
"You already know that I'm frustrated, Ed." Danny replied, looking up at the ceiling. "I mean, we're not any closer to catching these bastards than we have been since you left, and it sounds like they're going to make their next move sooner than later."
"I know." Ed nodded, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands on his stomach. "I wish like hell that we even had an inkling of what those two losers are planning to do."
"I'm just glad that Delinda and the baby are out of harm's way." Danny continued, "I honestly don't know what I would do if I lost either one of them, Ed. I mean, I saw firsthand what losing my mother did to my dad!" Sighing heavily, he shook his head. "I don't think that I have that kind of…I would never be able to do what he did."
"Well," Ed replied, thinking about making some sort of remark to tell the younger man that he was one of the strongest people Deline knew but decided against it. "Let's hope that you never have to find out."
"I guess there is something else on my mind." Danny said, sitting up straight.
"Oh?" Ed raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Danny replied nervously, having planned this eventual conversation in his mind since Ed had come back. However, all of his preparations had been for naught as he could still feel the butterflies floating around in his stomach, and found himself wondering if he was making too much eye contact with the older man. "I realize that this is kind of old fashioned and probably a bit corny. But I was planning on asking Delinda to marry me when this mess is all over, and I'd like to ask for your blessing first."
An uneasy silence fell upon the room; a silent Ed stared back at Danny with an unreadable look upon his face.
"You know," Ed finally said a few minutes later. "I think all of those times that I've smacked you upside the head have given you a serious case of brain damage." A wide smile slowly worked its way across the older man's grizzled features. "I mean, just what in the hell is wrong with you?"
"I'm sure that Sam could give you an itemized list if you asked." Danny shrugged.
"You think I couldn't?" Ed chuckled before extending his hand out for Danny to shake. "You already know that you had my blessing, Danny, but I appreciate the gesture."
"Thanks, Ed." Danny smiled, gripping the older man's hand tightly.
"You open this door right now, Edward Melvin Deline!" Jillian exclaimed as a loud pounding noise was suddenly heard coming from the front door. "I know that you're in there!"
"Oh, my God." Ed muttered, his eyes widening momentarily before he started to knead his brow. He couldn't exactly say he was excited to face his wife again after being M.I.A. for months while he worked on this. "I knew that I should have taken Delinda's phone from her!"
"You neglected to tell Jillian you were coming back?" Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Jillian and I haven't exactly had a conversation in a while." Ed replied, dropping his hand slowly. "It's a long story."
"Yeah, but you should have at least…" Danny started to say, the pounding being heard again.
"I have a lot of should haves where Jillian is concerned!" Ed snapped, narrowing his eyes at the younger man. "Just answer the damn door before she wakes up the entire building!"
"Yeah." Danny nodded, deciding not to press the issue further. He tried to put his best apologetic smile on as he walked over and opened the door as Ed said. "Hey, Jillian!"
"Don't even." Jillian replied, pushing past Danny into the room. The older, blonde-haired women narrowed her eyes at him; a look McCoy had seen on her daughter's face quite a few times. "You're not off the hook either, Daniel! Delinda already filled me in on what's going on."
"Danny," Ed suggested in a much gentler tone than when he last spoke. "Why don't you, uh, go and get some sleep while Jillian and I work things out?" He looked over at his wife, who was still silently fuming. "He hasn't slept in at least a couple of days."
"I'm fine." Danny waved off.
"A couple of days?" Jillian repeated before giving Danny a look that he remembered seeing on his own mother's face a few times in his childhood. "Daniel…"
"Ryan." Ed supplied.
"Daniel Ryan McCoy!" Jillian admonished, "You go to bed this instant!"
"Yes, ma'am." Danny replied sheepishly, glancing at Ed. "Extra blankets and pillows are in the front closet if you need them."
"Thanks, buddy." Ed smiled, patting the younger man on the shoulder as he walked past. After hearing the bedroom door shut, the gray-haired man turned back to his wife. "So?"
"So?" Jillian scoffed, quickly finding her anger again. "So, explain to me why I had to hear that you were back on this continent from our daughter, who is sitting on a plane to God knows where? Why we've been having barely five minute conversations over the phone for three months?"
"I meant to call you, honey." Ed apologized, "I really did! I meant to call you and tell you about all of…this that's been going on. I wanted to get you somewhere safe like Danny and I worked out for Delinda…"
"It's not just this!" Jillian interrupted, "This has been our normal routine since we left Vegas! I maybe get a few days with you before you're off to some strange country, doing God knows what with God knows who. I thought this would all stop when you quit…" Unable to speak, she covered her face and sank down on the couch behind her. "Do you even want to be married to me anymore, Ed? If you wanted a divorce, you could have just…"
"THAT IS THE LAST THING THAT I WANT!" It was Ed's turn to interrupt, picking up a nearby shot glass and throwing it against the nearest wall. Taking a moment to sigh heavily, the gray-haired man closed his eyes as his wife's sobs reached his ears. He sat down on the couch next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry that I've made you feel that way, Jill. You have to know that you and Delinda are the best things that have ever happened to me, and I hate that I've given you reason to doubt that. I was, uh, I was just telling Danny that I have a lot of should haves where you're concerned, and I wish that there was something I could do to make it up to you." Another heavy sigh escaped him and Ed shook his head. "I know that you've heard this whole sob story from me before, so I don't know what good it does to repeat it."
"More than you might think." Jillian smiled, finally looking up at him.
"There's my beautiful girl." Ed commented, taking a moment to wipe the remaining tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Oh, Eddie." Jillian smiled, resting her head against her husband's chest. "How in God's name did we get to this point?"
"Well, I'm, uh, I'm afraid that your mother was right after all." Ed shrugged, "I believe that she said you married, and I quote, a goddamned idiot?"
Taking the fact that the shouting from the main room had turned into laughter as a good sign, Danny smiled to himself and pulled away from where he had been leaning against the door of his bedroom. He literally fell onto his bed, not having meant to eavesdrop on the older couple but found himself not being able to help it. After all, the Delines had been a sort of surrogate parents to him for quite a few years now (especially after the death of his father), and hopefully soon they would be in his in-laws.
A buzzing coming from the inside of the nightstand drawer interrupted his thoughts. He immediately opened it, and pulled out the culprit: a burner cell phone that he had bought many months prior. There was only one person who had the number to it.
"I figured you might call." Danny continued to smile.
"Before or after your pregnant girlfriend showed up on my doorstep?" Mary replied, noticing something in the man's voice. "Someone sounds tired."
"I've just got a lot on my mind." Danny shrugged, leaning up against the headboard.
"Hmm." Mary scoffed, "Liar."
"You haven't changed." Danny chuckled, "You still know me way too well! All right. I may be coming off of a long shift or two on top of everything else that's happening."
"Daniel Ryan…" Mary started to say.
"Relax." Danny interrupted, realizing he had forgotten just how much Mary could sound like his mother when she wanted to. "Ed, my new boss, and Jillian are making me get some sleep."
"Dee told me that Ed was back." Mary nodded, glad that there was at least one person around to keep Danny in line when he needed it in her absence. "She told me everything else that's going on too."
"How is she?" Danny asked, realizing just how much he missed his girlfriend.
"She's upstairs with Piper right now, getting settled in." Mary replied with a sympathetic smile. "She's pretending to be fine, but I can tell she's worried about you." She paused momentarily. "I am too."
"I'll be fine, Mary." Danny promised.
"You need to be." Mary replied, glancing up as if she could see Delinda through the ceiling.
"I'm really sorry about all of this by the way." Danny sighed, "I know it can't be easy for you to have Delinda there."
"That's the last thing you should be worried about right now!" Mary shook her head, realizing that he was referring to seeing Delinda, who was getting everything she herself at one time thought she would have. "You know that it never would have worked out for us, Danny." She let a sigh escape her and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Getting away from Vegas and everything that's happened has given me time and space to think about it. I just…I realize that I just don't love in that way. It's more like I think of you as my brother than anything else."
"A brother, huh?" Danny repeated, realizing that he felt the same way. Although he would always love and be protective of Mary, he was completely sure that his heart belonged to Delinda and their child. A flash of movement caught his attention, and he shot a brief smile up at Ed, who had peaked his head in. "I can see that."
"Why in God's name are you on the phone and not asleep?" the gray-haired man snapped, narrowing his blue eyes at the phone in McCoy's hand.
"I'd know that grumble anywhere." Mary giggled, "I should let you go before he hits you or something."
"Don't think that would stop him." Danny continued to smile as Ed leaned against the doorframe. "It was good to talk to you, Mary. Tell Dee that I love her, and that she'll be able to come home again soon."
"I will." Mary promised as she hung up the phone. "You, be careful!"
"Ah, Jesus!" Ed apologized, rubbing his forehead. "Didn't realize that it was Mary." He paused and looked at Danny. "Should have known that you'd have a way to contact her if need be."
"A pair of burner phones." Danny replied, stashing the phone back into the nightstand drawer. "I guess Delinda told her what was going on, so she couldn't help but call. She wants us to be careful."
"Jillian too." Ed nodded, "By the way, she, uh, she took off for the house. I'm having some guys tail her and keep an eye on her."
"Smart idea." Danny nodded in return before being unable to stifle a yawn from escaping him. "Guess that I should try to get some sleep."
"Yeah," Ed smiled, "no more late night phone calls, kid, or I'm going to have to ground you for a week and take away your phone."
"Sounds like you've given that speech before." Danny chuckled.
"Eh," Ed replied, turning off the bedroom light. "I got a lot of practice when Delinda and Nessa were teenagers. Good night, Danny."
"Night, Ed." Danny replied, rolling onto his other side as the door creaked shut behind the older man.
An hour or so later, it seemed to Ed that he had finally managed to get comfortable enough on his makeshift bed on Danny and Delinda's sofa to doze off when the shrill ringing of his cellphone jolted him awake again. He rubbed his brow wearily, glancing at the Caller ID before answering.
"I swear to God, Jack," he grumbled, his usual annoyance from his former partner couple with being woken up suddenly. "This HAD better be good!"
"She's gone, Ed!" a panicked Jack Keller replied, causing any grogginess Ed felt to disappear instantly. "I don't know how they even knew about her, or where we lived." Ed could swear that he heard glass break and a frustrated sigh escape the younger man. "Damn it! I should have put her on the plane with your daughter and…I just never thought that they would…"
"Slow down, Jack!" Ed interrupted, "What are you…"
"They've got her, Ed!" Jack sighed heavily, "Broder and a couple of his bastard buddies took Catarina!"
"Catarina?" Ed repeated before remembering the dark-haired, pig-tailed girl he had met while visiting Jack all those months ago. He felt the anger in him start to rise and his grip on the phone tightened in response. "Those assholes!"
"Broder called right after it happened." Jack continued, running a hand through his hair. "Said that they want three million for her safe return, and that the money had to come from the Montecito; they'd know if it wasn't." The line went quiet before a sob was heard from Keller's end of the phone. "I swear, Ed. If they hurt her…"
"They're not going to, Jack." Ed reassured, adding the kidnapping of the little girl to his long, mental list of reasons to punish Henderson and the Professor when he caught up to them. "I'm going to talk to Cooper, and we'll get you the money these guys want."
"There's something else." Jack sighed, "Other than telling you all of this and getting the money, they don't want me to help you out anymore, Ed. It sounds like they're going to make their move soon, and I think it's best if I just stay here in L.A. rather than…"
"Yeah," Ed nodded in agreement, "just stay there, Jack. We don't want to give these idiots any reason to harm her." Hearing the bedroom door open behind him, Deline turned to see a half-asleep Danny step out into the hallway. "Can you hold on a sec? I'm going to fill Danny in on what's happening."
"Keller get some new information?" Danny asked as Ed put the phone to his shoulder.
"Could say that." Ed let out a deep breath, "Seems like our friend, Leo, grabbed his daughter."
"Jack has a kid?" a stunned Danny replied.
"Little four year old." Ed nodded, just now realizing that he had never told any of his former staff about this. "Sounds like the bastard wants a good chunk of change for her safe return as well as Jack not to help us out when his bosses make their move."
"Damn." Danny shook his head, picturing the unknown little girl in his mind. "The poor thing. She's got to be terrified, Ed!"
"Which is why I'm going to call Cooper and get the money that this creep wants as fast as possible." Ed replied before nodding his head back towards the bedroom. "Why don't you, uh, go ahead and try to get some more sleep? I've got a feeling that we're going to need you at 100% sooner than later."
"All right." Danny reluctantly agreed, knowing that sleep was impossible, but also knowing that Ed was not in the mood to argue.
To Be Continued...