"Laurie, drop to the ground and cover your face!" he yelled, reaching the blocked door. He used a discarded horse blanket to grab the burning hay, dragging it away from the barn. Flinging the door open, Rick was met with a billow of smoke, almost obscuring his wife lying on the ground, just inside the doorway.
"Laurie!", he choked, reaching down and gathering her in his arms. Peering through the haze that his son had a fire extinguisher and was already blowing foam on the flames near the stalls, he quickly carried Laurie outside. Seeing Ramona at the back door, phone in hand, he told her, "Call Rudy, get an ambulance…"
"No…no….Rick..I'm okay…." His wife interrupted him, her eyes red and her voice raspy with the smoke. "I just need some water…"
"I'll get you some, Mom….the fire departments' already on the way, Dad." Ramona assured him, going back into the house.
"Darlin'….don't talk…here…" Rick sat down on one of the tables and helped Laurie sit up. "Just breathe for me, sweetheart."
Obediently she took several breaths, then gratefully sipped from a glass of water that her daughter-in-law handed to her.
"Mama, does anything hurt? Do you feel dizzy or sick?" Robbie came from the barn and knelt down beside her. She shook her head, leaning against Rick as she replied, "No…just a little shook up…..I came outside to see what Jacky was barking about and I saw him run into the barn. When I followed him inside, I saw smoke coming from the other side of the stalls, then someone pushed me to the ground and slammed the door shut. I ran to the back door but it was locked…." Laurie stopped for a moment as the full impact of what happened hit her, and she froze.
"Where's Jacky? Did any of you find him? Who could have done this?" she asked, on the verge of tears. Swallowing his anger, Rick gently told her, "I didn't see him, sweetheart…just his collar on the ground. He can't be far…maybe he chased whoever locked you inside."
Just then a siren sounded, and Robbie ran to the front of the ranch to open the gate to the fire truck from town, followed by a concerned Rudy Wells.
"Where's my girl….what happened?" The old doctor followed Robbie to the back yard, then spent several minutes checking Laurie over while the firemen finished putting out a few hot spots outside the barn. Inside Ramona and Robbie checked on the horses and filled the feed and water troughs.
Through all the activities, Rick never let go of his wife's hand, shaken at the close call she had. He was relieved beyond words when Rudy closed his bag and smiled at them both.
"Well, Missy, it looks as if you managed to avoid any smoke inhalation. I want you to take it easy the next day or so, just in case." He added, then frowned when Rick told him, "Someone locked her in the barn, and stole Jack; I think I'd better take Laurie to A.J.'s just in case, until we find out who did this!"
"Took Jack? Well, this explains why I found him…oh, hang on!" the old doctor got up and disappeared back into the house, returning a minute later with a panting but unhurt Jack. He had a scrape on his nose, but was whimpering and crying until he saw Laurie.
"Jacky! Oh, my baby dog!" she cried out, petting the excited little dog. Relieved, Rick helped her up and took her inside as Robbie hung back to speak with the firemen.
Just as the Simons entered the kitchen, the phone ring, and Rick picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Next time they're both dead"
Click.
"Son of a…." Rick started to swear, then caught himself in time as he saw his wife's curious expression.
"Sorry, darlin'….but someone just made a big mistake." Rick huffed, leading Laurie to their room and helping her lay down.
"It's alright, love…..you have every right to swear once in a while." She murmured, reaching up for him and giving Rick a kiss.
"My warrior." he growled, sitting on the bed and wrapping his arms around her. After taking some time to themselves, Rick reluctantly went to meet A.J. in his office, only to find an excited A.J. on the phone. Immediately he returned to Laurie, saying, "Come on, sweetheart, I think you ought to hear this." As they paused in the doorway, they heard A.J. exclaim, "I'm glad you caught him…..I'd have the country looking for this jerk otherwise…he tried to kill Laurie just a while ago!"
Rick plopped down in his chair, then beckoned his wife to sit next to him. "Stay here, darlin', I'm not letting you out of my sight!"
"Yes, Rick.." she sighed, perching on the desk. Curious, the two of them watched A.J. as he jotted down a few notes, then stopped, frowning.
"Wait a minute, if the officer pulled him over an hour ago, there's no way he'd be the one who locked Sis in the barn and tried to steal Jack?"
Puzzled, Rick made a high sign at his brother, who mouthed, "Ron thought they caught DiMarco in the act of sabotaging Ricky's car."
"So he was stopping Branson's kid instead of helping him? Okay, thanks Ron….we'll keep you in the loop." A.J. finished speaking with their friend, then hung up.
"What was all that with DiMarco and Matty Branson?" Rick asked, concerned. A.J. shook his head disgustedly.
"Ron had a tail on DiMarco, then the officers lost him, only to catch him in what they thought was the act of messing with Ricky's car at the academy. Only problem was, when they confronted him, Matty Branson popped up from behind the truck and ran off, leaving behind a screwdriver and a big hole in Ricky's tire. They've got an APB out on the kid now, so it looks like DiMarco did us a big favor, much as I hate to admit it."
"What gets me, is that Laurie saves the kid's life, and he's repaying it by trying to kill her, then Ricky?" Rick replied, reaching for her hand. She gently squeezed it, saying, "He probably doesn't know, love….you know what his parents are like. That boy is living on what he's been taught…and I feel sorry for him."
"That's my sis…." A.J. sighed, getting up and giving her a hug. "But we have to catch up with that little jerk, before he does worse to Ricky or Ceci."
"I know, A.J…..now which one of you is sitting in when Ron questions DiMarco?" Laurie added, bringing a smile to both brothers' faces.
"You still have it, sweetheart. I think I want Rudy to stay with you so both of us can get an idea of where that guy is coming from." Rick told her, standing up then helping her off the desk. She nodded, then wrapped her arms around him.
"I will, darling, just you two be careful…I don't want any surprise phone calls."
"And you mind Rudy…capice?" he whispered, kissing her neck. Laurie gave a little moan. "Capice, love."
"Come on, Romeo.." A.J. said from the doorway, pretending to be annoyed. The two laughed as Laurie teased, "Remind me to tell Linda how unromantic you can be."
"Nobody likes a tattletale, Sis." The younger Simon replied, dodging his brother's swat. Minutes later Rick's truck rattled off down the highway, followed by Robbie's squad car. Laurie watched them leave, Ramona's arm around her shoulders.
"They'll be okay, Mom…would you like me to make some fish and chips for you and Uncle Rudy?" Ramona asked her, and Laurie smiled appreciatively.
"Bless you, honey….that would be nice…there should be some nice fish in the freezer."
"There is…and some fresh caught in the refrigerator too, Missy." The old doctor said from inside the house. Jack's barking made both women laugh.
"Somebody else wants some fish, too." Laurie giggled, then led the way back inside.
Unseen by the Simons, a car sat across the highway, hidden by a thatch of cactus. A young man sat watching through the windshield until the front door closed, then he pulled out a radio and thumbed the on switch.
"Mom, the Simons just left for town, I'm going to follow them to find out what DiMarco tells them… I'm not going to jail and I'll finish what I started. No, Mom..you can't talk me out of it…one way or another I'm going to pay them back for what they did."
As the sports car pulled onto the reservation road and headed towards Phoenix, Rick had already radioed Ron's assistant and notified him that they wanted to sit in on the questioning of DiMarco. Stopping only for A.J. to check on Linda and change shirts, the brothers soon arrived at headquarters and were properly signed in and escorted upstairs.
"Now that's more like it.", Rick remarked to Ron as they entered his office.
"Yeah, but it took 3 calls to the watch commander's supervisor to get security beefed up." The younger man admitted, leading the way back to an interrogation room.
Already standing at the 2-way glass was Ricky, who turned at his father's greeting and gave him a hug.
"Thanks for coming, Dad. I just can't believe someone's going this far..is Auntie all right?"
"She is, son….Thanks to your uncle here…." A.J. nodded at Rick who patted his namesake's shoulder.
"I'm glad you check your car before getting into it, Ricky….seems like it saved your bacon this time."
"Yeah, and I wouldn't even have seen that guy messing with my tires if it weren't for some jerk whistling at Ceci….she's the one who yelled for security to grab Branson." Ricky explained quietly, glancing through the glass at the apparent hero. The older man, dressed in an expensive suit, calmly waited in the empty chamber, sipping a glass of water.
Just then Ron strode into the interrogation room, and took a seat at the head of the table.
"Thank you for your help this morning, Mr. DiMarco. We just want to hear one more time how you came to be in the academy parking lot, and how you know Matthew Branson."
"Of course, Captain. I suppose the Simons are also interested in what happened. Although, " he quirked his eyebrow at Ron, "I'm surprised they didn't realize earlier who was behind the attempt to harass their children."
Beside Ricky, A.J. tensed as Rick growled, "Realize? How would we have known?"
"Mr. DiMarco, please don't waste my time, and yours. What do you know about Munoz and Jones, and Matthew Branson." Ron sternly asked.
DiMarco merely sighed. "Munoz and Jones are acquaintances of Mr. Branson….they merely wanted money and some "payback" on his behalf, no more, no less. As for the young man in question…."
"Yes?" Ron prompted him.
"He is convinced that all his life's woes, his father's incarceration and his broken home stem from the interference of Rick and A.J. Simon. He was turned down for the police academy 3 times, and was attempting to try out again when Richard and Ceci Simon got the last 2 spots in the class. At that point, he reached out to his fellow applicants for help…"DiMarco added.
"But how does he know all this?" A.J. said, frustrated. The informant's next words answered his question.
"You see, Bill Branson was a comrade, a compatriot, you understand, when we both served during the Korean War. We were close, and when he was rising through the ranks of the police force, I was able to help in some small ways when arrests had to be made. In return, he made me Godfather to his son, and warned me when my business dealings could have brought me to the attention of the authorities."
DiMarco paused, then took a sip from his water. "Naturally, when Matthew's father went to prison, I tried to help Fran with the boy. I even paid for his medical care, so naturally, when he came to me for aid with his "payback", I tried to warn him off. You see…" the man smiled then looked directly at the two-way window. "I know Mrs. Laurie Simon was the bone marrow donor to Matthew. She saved his life, but he doesn't know that. He already has tried to harm her once….and I'm afraid he's so desperate for revenge, he'll try again."
