Justice by InSilva
Disclaimer: Danny and Rusty: don't own. Though it's imminently my birthday...
Chapter Six: Alarm
They'd eaten the lukewarm carbonara and they'd reached a compromise. Danny got to stay, Rusty got to fool Vincente. Neither was fond of the other's choice. Both agreed to revisit their decisions if there were any further developments. Both knew they wouldn't change their own mind and both worried that the other wouldn't change his.
Now, Danny was watching Rusty and a plate of tiramisu. He knew that he was not going to get much sense out of him until a considerable portion of the dessert had been eaten and he waited patiently as he always did.
"So," he began as Rusty manoeuvred nearly the last forkful of cream and sponge into his mouth. "You planning on getting Gino off by charm alone?"
Rusty grinned and licked the fork. "I'd have a damn good try."
You would too.
"Look, even Vincente said the prosecution's evidence was damning. If-"
"How did he know?" Rusty frowned.
"He wasn't in court," Danny said, realising and wondering how he'd missed it.
"He's controlling this case," Rusty said slowly. "We need to find out what really happened."
You sure about that?
Yes. However many times you ask.
"OK. So, how do you want to play this, Columbo? Because I'm sure on that court paperwork there's something about not investigating the case."
"Yeah. Think you're right," Rusty agreed, concentrating on scraping up the last of the tiramisu. "Don't want to get into trouble with the law."
Danny looked at him, annoyed and amused. Because really, the law seemed the least of their worries. "No, we don't want that."
Rusty grinned back at him. So?
"If I'm out, I can't be in court," Danny reminded.
"I can handle court."
"I thought you were allergic."
"I'm building up my resistance."
"What about Vincente?"
"I can handle him too." And Rusty won the battle of the looks.
Danny exhaled slowly and nodded. OK.
"The girl, right?"
"Yeah. She's terrified. There's a story there. Oh, and I saw someone who must be Gino's mother. And another who was possibly his-"
"-sister," Danny finished with certainty. He'd seen them too. "I'll start with them."
Back at the Standard, and after much fierce discussion on whether or not Danny should be staying in another room entirely – which saw Danny winning that particular round – Bobby called back.
"Hope I've got good news," he said. "Gino's been in trouble a couple of times but minor stuff, nothing to put him away, only a few strong words. He's nothing to do with the Mob as far as I can see. Marcello's clean too. No history."
"Really?" Danny frowned. He had been sure that… "What about Vincente?"
Bobby hesitated. "Well, that is a conundrum."
Danny was back on high alert and he held the phone out so that Rusty could hear what Bobby said.
"There is someone matching your description of Vincente. Not on file, never been caught, he's only on the wish list. And he is Mob-related."
Rusty ignored the look that Danny threw at him.
"Third or fourth generation Italian-American. We think he acts as some sort of freelance enforcer."
Danny's look grew stronger.
"Nothing concrete, like I say, but the rumours…"
"He's dangerous, right?" Danny felt the need to make the point.
"Dangerous as a basketful of rattlesnakes," Bobby agreed. "From what I can see on file, he's got quite a nice line in intimidation." He paused. "You want me to keep digging? I still can't see a connection between the case and the Mob."
"Thanks, Bobby." Danny hung up.
"We've had the conversation and don't even start," Rusty warned.
"But he's-"
Danny's sentence was cut off by the sudden, insistent ringing of the fire alarm.
"No drill," Rusty said tersely and they sprinted.
Downstairs, there was organised chaos as guests milled through the foyer and out the door, guided by hotel staff. There was hubbub but no panic. The sense of pride within Rusty was immense as he watched his people work calmly and efficiently to evacuate, check and lock down the hotel.
Danny looked at Rusty. Don't mind me. Go to work.
Adrenaline pumping through him, Rusty saw Arthur, his duty manager, look over at him and he nodded back, reassured. Everything was orderly. Everything was calm. Everything was under control.
"Wait outside, would you?" Rusty asked casually and Danny nodded, not wanting to get under Rusty's feet.
He walked out of the main doors as Rusty crossed the foyer.
"What's the story, Arthur?"
"Alarm went off on the top floor, Mr Ryan. We're busy getting everyone out. Someone thought they saw smoke..."
Smoke. That couldn't be good.
"Mr Ryan?" It was Kirsty who seemed to have landed the perennial late shift these days. He'd have to check that rota. "The fire people are here."
The fire trucks had indeed arrived promptly and Rusty walked out of the hotel to greet them. The chief introduced himself to Rusty, checked the location indicated by the alarm panel and his men started heading into the hotel. Rusty caught sight of Danny, standing with the growing crowd, watching him and they exchanged a quick, tight smile.
After a while, the firemen emerged and spoke in low tones to their chief who came over to speak to Rusty.
"Well?"
"False alarm, Mr Ryan."
"False alarm?" Rusty could not keep the relief from his voice. At the back of his mind there'd been flames and destruction and death.
"Someone's punched the alarm but there's not even a trace of fire. Probably a drunk…"
"Someone said there was smoke..."
The fire chief smiled. "People imagine the craziest things. Count yourself lucky with this one, Mr Ryan."
"False alarm. That's good, right?" Danny said when they were back in Rusty's suite.
"I guess…"
The second alarm sounded two hours later. This time, people were emerging bewildered into the corridors in night clothes and half-asleep faces.
The alarm rang for the third time an hour and a half later, and an hour after that for the fourth time.
By the time of the fifth false alarm, noticeably fewer people were leaving the building. Grim-faced, Rusty watched Arthur trying to coax reluctant guests out into the night. Now there was no order; no plan. Now, the fire chief was calling ahead before sending a truck. Now, not even his staff had any impetus to react.
Leaving Rusty to co-ordinate operations, Danny had taken it up on himself to check out the supposedly affected areas, phoning down to confirm the false alarm each time.
Rusty could see him now, coming out of the hotel's front door, his expression matching how Rusty felt.
"We can do this all night," said a mild voice at Rusty's shoulder and he turned to see Vincente.
"All night," Vincente repeated. "Next night too. Soon, word will be that your hotel is not a convenient place to stay. And then-"
"And then one time the fire will be real," Rusty finished tightly. "I get it."
The hotel. His hotel. Up in smoke with everyone inside. Well, that wouldn't be happening. Not because of him. Rusty's mind was suddenly made up.
"Like I said, think about it, Mr Ryan. Be smart."
Locking down on the anger, Rusty raised a thin smile by return.
"You didn't need to do this," he said levelly.
Vincente held his gaze, searching for something that Rusty could not fathom.
"The trouble is, Mr Ryan, I rather think I did," he said sorrowfully. "And I hope more than anything you'll see reason. Because the alternative can get messy. Be seeing you."
He slipped away and Rusty stared after him.
"He's behind this." It was Danny, protectiveness writ large across his features.
"He is," Rusty agreed reluctantly. He heard the unspoken question and added firmly, "And the answer is still no."
"We said if anything else happened-"
"-we'd think again and I've thought. I know what I'm doing. Decision stands."
Danny kept his voice low as bystanders milled past. "You heard Bobby. You've seen what's happened tonight. What makes you think it's going to get any better?"
There was a quirky smile on Rusty's face as he answered the rhetorical question. "You have to work to make it better. You have to care to make it better. And I'm good at both of those. Always have been."
Cryptic as hell. And not for the first time in their relationship, Danny could cheerfully have punched him.