What a Pain! – Chapter Seventeen
Cap paced the kitchen floor, nearly tangling himself in the phone cord, impatiently waiting for a response from the other end. He kept a wary eye on Mike, who still sat at the table, his head resting on his folded arms. Every now and then, Mike would release a shuddering breath, but aside from that, he made no sound.
The first call Cap made was to the police and as they waited, he decided to take Mike's vitals again. As he released the pressure on the BP cuff, he said, "Hmm, Mike they're both reading kinda' high right now, even considering the scare we've had. I'm going to take them again after the police officers leave and if they're still high, I'm either callin' Dr. Early or we're goin' to Rampart."
"Okay," Mike mumbled in defeat and lay his head back down.
In a few minutes, two of the officers who had patrolled the street were at the front door. Hank let them in and led the way to the kitchen.
"Mr. Stoker?" one introduced himself, "I'm Officer Blake, this is Officer Piper. Are you feeling okay enough to tell us what happened tonight?"
Mike lifted his head and the officers could see that whatever had occurred had taken its toll on the man. Mike's face was red and blotchy, his mouth wore a forlorn frown, and his eyes had a clouded look. It was now nearly 1:00 a.m. and Stoker felt like he had just been pummeled. He nodded and motioned toward the garage door. Sir Pain came out from under the kitchen table and began sniffing at the officers' shoes. Officer Piper leaned down to pet Sir Pain, but the cat shied away from the officer's hand, refusing the affection.
"Y-yeah, I can," Mike whispered, then cleared his throat. "C'mon, I'll sh-show you." Wearily, Stoker stood up and leaned on the crutch for a few seconds. His expression never changed as he led the officers through the door and into the garage. The policemen were aware of the reason they had been assigned to patrol that street, and they cast a wondering eye toward each other. Although Officer Piper was relatively new to the force, Blake had been a police officer for more than a dozen years and had seen more than his share of panicked people. He genuinely hoped this would be a case of Stoker's overactive imagination, but somehow, he already knew it wasn't.
Sir Pain followed the men to the garage and leaped to the workbench to observe the goings-on, staring intently at the officers. He had calmed down since the garage incident, but now seemed on alert again. The fur on his back was raised, his tail swished urgently and now and then he would emit a short, low growl. Cap patted Sir Pain on the head as he walked past, "Calm down, pal. You're alright."
Mike sighed dejectedly, took up the flashlight and entered the backyard. "Here's th-the fresh mud I first s-saw," he told them, "and h-here, you can sssee where his footprints went through th-the lawn." He shined the light across the grass and then to the fence boards. "Then I s-saw the mud streaks on the f-fence." Mike paused then said quietly, "Nnno one has been out h-here since I've b-been home from the hos-pit-al...except mmmy cat."
Blake took as many photos as he could in the dark, and Officer Piper wrote down all that Mike told them.
"Let's go inside for a moment, Mr. Stoker," Officer Blake told him. "I'd like to go around to the front of the house."
The four men and the cat filed into the kitchen and slowly walked through the living room to the front door. With his foot, Mike blocked Sir Pain from exiting. "Nnno, Pain. You stay h-here."
Sir Pain jumped to the windowsill and watched the men take their lights to the side of the fence, looking for more footprints. As the grass was still damp, it was easy to see where the blades had been bent over with the weight of a foot, and several prints were found leading up to the fence where someone had scaled the side. When the policemen were finished, they walked back into the house. Officer Piper had wandered back through the kitchen and into the garage once more, and Sir Pain followed him. Piper nosed around the workbench, then walked back out to the yard, shining a flashlight around again. Sir Pain cocked his head sideways and flicked his ears, wondering what this human was doing.
Standing in the foyer with Cap and Mike, Officer Blake said, "Mr. Stoker, is there somewhere you can go for a while, or will you be having someone stay with you? Until we're certain who we're dealing with here, we'd prefer you not to be alone."
"I'm staying here tonight," Cap quickly interjected. "He's recovering from a serious head injury and isn't to be alone for more than two hours anyway."
"Hm, well, that's good to know, Captain Stanley, but I might suggest that you ignore that 'two hours rule' and make sure there's always at least two people in the house at all times," Blake replied.
Mike looked down at his sock-covered feet, now damp from the lawn, and said, "Cap, you d-don't have to st-stay. I don't w-want you to b-be in danger, too."
"Right, Stoker," Hank grimaced, "forget it. I'm not going to turn tail and run from this creep. Officer Blake, you can be sure that there will always be someone here with my engi, uh, with Mr. Stoker."
"That's fine, Captain, thanks. Mr. Stoker?" Officer Blake leaned forward to shake hands, "we'll be in touch." Noticing the other officer wasn't around, he called out, "Piper? C'mon, we gotta get going."
"Yeah, I'm comin', Blake." Piper walked briskly back to the foyer, "Sorry, I, uh, forgot where I laid my pen. 'Night, Mr. Stoker, Captain Stanley."
When the officers left, Mike sat down on the sofa and hung his head down between his legs. Sir Pain wandered over to join him, leaping up and crawling behind him to rub up against Mike's back. Cap sat down beside him. "Stoker...if this really was Eddie Jordan, you're going to have to go somewhere else to stay. You know that, right?"
Mike shook his head. "I...c-can't, Cap. What would I t-tell Jeannie and my mmmom? Mom's already worried s-sick about me. I-if I tell her s-some guy is tryin' to k-kill me, she'll fall a-part." Then he pounded his fist on the arm of the sofa. "Dammit, Cap! I d-don't even know th-this guy! I c-couldn't pick him out if you paid mmme to!"
"I know, Mike. I'm real sorry this jerk is doing this to you," Cap consoled. "I do think I should check your blood pressure again, Mike. You wanna lean back a little here? I'll go get the stuff and be right back."
Mike closed his eyes and leaned back against the sofa cushions. His eyes hurt, his head hurt, and he knew without checking that his BP would be through the roof. Sure enough, when Cap was finished he said, "Michael, your BP is 150 over 95. Dr. Early needs to know about this."
"Yeah, okay," Mike answered weakly, not opening his eyes. Hank got up and went to the phone.
In the patch of trees and shrubs in the front lawn of the house across the street, Eddie Jordan sat, hiding. He had indeed scaled that fence, trying to get into the garage. He needed to make certain the house belonged to Stoker and he now had his proof. He smirked now, watching the police officers leave. Officer Piper turned slightly toward Jordan's hiding place and tapped his badge twice as he walked back to the squad car.
"Perfect," he snarled, "two guys in the house. Thanks for the tip-off, Piper."