"Oh God..no…please….are you sure?" Linda gasped as A.J. put an arm around her, his eyes burning. Rick felt sick to his stomach, as the room became silent.
"That was Lt. Nixon on the phone, he wanted you to find out before the news crews got there. I'll drive you and Pop and Auntie down…." Robbie explained calmly, only his sad eyes betraying his feelings.
"Thank you, Robbie. I'll get our coats." A.J. replied, releasing his wife as Laurie came forward and embraced her.
"I'll stay here with the children and pray, Linny…pray that whatever you find ….it's not what we think." She said, and Rick silently thanked God that Laurie knew what to say.
Already his brother was back with their jackets, and with a quick hug for his wife, Rick caught up his coat and followed the others out the front door.
As they piled into Robbie's cruiser, Rick looked up into the clear early morning sky, wondering why it looked so normal. As if hearing his worries, Laurie's reassuring "thoughts" filled him, and he realized that he wasn't alone in his feelings.
Making good speed on the highway, it was only 15 minutes before the Simons came into the hospital parking lot, pulling in and parking next to the ER entrance. Before Robbie could even turn off the motor, A.J. and Linda had bolted out of the truck cab, and were inside the lobby before Rick could even move.
"Go ahead, Son. I'll park the cruiser." Rick told his son, who patted his arm then went into the hospital.
When Rick walked into the waiting room of the emergency center, he saw A.J. and Linda holding tightly to each other, with Robbie nowhere in sight.
"A.J.?" He started, then spotted Don Nixon in the doorway of the trauma unit. His sad eyes spoke volumes, so immediately he went towards him.
"Don?…" he said, then felt like he was punched in the stomach at the first words his old friend uttered.
"Rick, I'm really sorry, but your nephew didn't make it….he died about 5 minutes ago.
"Oh, God…no."
A.J.'s voice echoed behind him, then Linda quietly asked, "Are you sure it was Ricky? It couldn't have been someone else?"
Nixon slowly shook his head. "Robbie's in there now to take a look, but the vehicle, what's left of it anyway, had plates registered to Richard Jackson Simon….and we found a letterman's jacket with his name on it. I'm afraid he was burned pretty badly."
Now Rick knew why his son was in the trauma unit, and his mouth went dry.
"I don't believe it….what if it's someone else.." A.J.'s voice filtered through his shock and pain, and he turned to see his anguished brother shaking his head.
"Wait a minute, Don….there's a way to know definitely if it's Ricky in there…" Rick said, catching A.J.'s attention. Nixon looked at him compassionately as he continued,
"Ricky has a special watch….a transmitter like A.J. and Laurie and I wear. Oscar….Laurie's father..gave him and my grandson Andy one each last year."
As if to give credence to his father's words, Robbie came through the door of the emergency room, and his face spoke volumes.
"Pop….I…I don't know….he's the same height as Ricky….but " he took a deep breath, "there's no way I can tell…his face is so badly burned..".
"Robbie, listen…did you notice if he had on Ricky's watch, you know, the one Oscar gave him?" Rick interrupted, then a spark of hope flared in Robbie's eyes.
"No, I didn't look…." He said, and immediately A.J. turned on his transmitter. Before he could say a word, a familiar figure strode through the waiting area door.
"Rick…there you are….I tried to reach you guys." Ron Johnson came toward them, then turned and called over his shoulder, "Your folks are in here."
Immediately Rick whirled then caught at his son's arm as a disheveled Ricky Simon followed the chief through the door.
"Ricky? Oh, my boy…." A.J. choked, then he and Linda brushed past the others as Ricky reached out for them, his expression relieved.
"Dad…Mom…" Tears of joy filled Rick's eyes as he watched Linda break down in tears as Ricky patted her back.
"Mom, I'm okay, just a bruise….I'm so sorry you were scared… how did you guys know?"
Rick wanted to laugh at the puzzled look on his nephew's face, but settled for hugging his nephew as Ron filled in the blanks.
"Rick, no wonder Laurie sounded so upset…I called to tell you Ricky was carjacked at the Heritage, but she told me you guys had gotten a report that he'd been in an accident and that the four of you were here." He said, then tensed as Don Nixon came forward.
"I'm sorry, Ron….I'm the one who called Robbie…" he started, then explained what he and the responding officers had thought. When he finished, there was a moment of quiet as Ricky absorbed the news, then looked at his parents as they clung to him.
"I'm sorry, Dad, Mom….I should have called or tried to reach you sooner, but …I was kind of dazed…I didn't think the guy hit me that hard…but one minute I was opening my car door, the next….I was on the ground. I went to grab the guy's leg and he kicked me in the shoulder and I went down. By the time I was able to get back up…my car was gone." Rick saw his nephew swallow hard as it registered where his truck ended up. "I managed to stumble back to the hotel entrance where the security guard got me a seat and called the police."
"Ricky, don't be sorry….when you think the worst has happened…" Linda said, a watery smile on her face, "it doesn't matter…you could have been killed….but you're all right."
"Thank you, honey, for putting it in perspective…" Rick began, then realized the end result was still the same.
"But who was the carjacker? And what happened to the driver of the wrong way car…you said the passenger was killed?"
"Yes, but unfortunately the paramedics and police were so busy with the injured….no one saw him slip away. The cold-blooded creep left a woman to die in the car, to boot!" Ron explained, anger in his voice. Robbie shook his head.
"Just when you think you've heard it all….." Seeing the state his family was in, Rick decided to break the tension.
"Well, I know what we're doing next…", Rick added, leveling a meaningful look at his nephew, who just grinned ruefully.
"Okay, Uncle Rick…..Uncle Rudy can have a look at me….anything to stay out of the hospital!"
As A.J. and Linda followed their son to Robbie's cruiser, Rick told him quietly, "I'm going to catch a ride with Ron…something's not right here."
"You're right, Pop. Was Ricky's carjacking just a coincidence?" Robbie said, " or was someone after him and got the wrong guy?"
"I'm going to find out, call me when you get back to the ranch, son…I'll call your mother too, so she can tell the others."
"Thanks, Pop." Robbie hugged his father, then went out the door. Seeing them leave, Rick turned to see Ron animatedly talking to someone on his radio.
"No, I want that accident scene gone over again, understand, McKensie?"
Just then his watch beeped, and Rick hit his transmitter. "Laurie?"
"Rick, darling….what's happened? A.J. just called…Ricky's all right?" Her voice
was emotional, and he hastened to reassure her.
"Yes, sweetheart…he's alright, except for a couple of bruises. He was carjacked and the guy who took his car is the one they took to the hospital. Robbie's bringing him and A.J. and Linny home now."
"Oh…thank God, love! I knew…oh I so prayed that Ricky wouldn't be taken from us." she quavered, then managed to get control of her voice when Rick replied, "Prayer works, darlin'…so everything's okay now. You get some rest and I'll be home as soon as I can."
"I will, darling….thank you for taking care of Ricky and being such a good big brother." Laurie told him. "I love you."
"And I love you more, princess…be good." He whispered, then turned off his transmitter just in time to see Ron smiling at him.
"What?….I needed to call Laurie-let her know about Ricky." Rick growled, then smiled
reluctantly as his friend needled him.
"And tell her you love her…yes, Rick..that's okay. Now, I need to bounce a "what if?" off of you…."
"You mean, what are the chances Ricky was the target of that "accident"?", Rick asked, and saw Ron's jaw drop.
"Damn, Rick…how do you do that?"
Deciding not to mess with the chief of detectives, Rick explained how he and Robbie had come to the same conclusion.
"So, I think, if we nail down who the "hit and run" suspect is, we'll find it's more then a coincidence."
Ron's face was a study in concentration, and it was a moment before he spoke.
"Okay, I'll get Homicide on it…but in the meantime you sit on Ricky and have him stay put. Tomorrow, I need you and A.J. to go through you files and see who's still in jail from one of your cases, and I'll do the same on my end. And…ask Ricky if he's had any recent threats or disagreements…just in case."
"Got it, Ron…." He replied, inwarding dreading the task of reining in his nephew.