Thank you for the lovely feedback. Some of you I've not been able to thank personally, so I'm talking the opportunity to do that now. Any feedback received is really appreciated - it warms the heart and makes all those months of work worthwhile. If you have any questions, you can do that in the review section to, I'm open to discussion. :-)
Dawn FM x
CHAPTER 4
They hadn't been able to wake Joe, despite all attempts to talk him out of it. Whatever had been put into the drink had worked well; he'd remained unresponsive and unconscious throughout the entire process of being lifted onto a gurney. Joe would have been embarrassed at being wheeled past all the onlookers in a public bar. The line 'How drunk's that guy?' could be heard said more than once.
"Do you think she meant for you to drink it?" Vanessa asked Frank quietly, as they stood watching Joe being loaded onto the back of the ambulance.
"She didn't look happy when I gave Joe the drink - couldn't get away fast enough."
"And she hitched a ride in an ambulance. An emergency vehicle makes a great getaway car. She struck lucky."
"Hmm.".
They continued to watch as they loaded Joe's onto the ambulance. The medic monitoring him climbed aboard and laid his red medical bag on Joe's lower legs. Then he made room for another passenger on the side bench.
James talked in earnest into his phone. He snapped at the person at the other end and walk off out of sight behind them. They heard him grunt and then he reappeared at their side making a rude face at the phone. "Yes Sir, although I don't know how I'm…okay, but with all due respect…I will…but if I get a black eye, I'm suing!" He disconnected the call, barred his teeth, and turned to look up the road expectantly.
Frank and Vanessa followed his gaze to see a squad car arrive.
Frank touched Vanessa's arm. "You go in the ambulance with Joe. James and I will hail a cab and see you there." He took her hand and helped her up the steps and inside.
The second EMT moved to shut the doors but Vanessa got her hand to them first. "Wait a couple of seconds." She sensed James about to say something important.
James bit his lip and took a deep breath. "Actually Frank, that's not gonna happen, at least, not the part about the cab ride."
"They won't let us all travel in the ambulance."
"You don't understand. The Chief doesn't want you to go to the hospital; he wants you down at the precinct. He's sent this car to collect us."
"What? NO!"
"Sorry Frank." He took Frank by the bicep and tried to move him.
Frank did move, but only to take a step and loom above him. "Remove your hand unless your plan on losing it."
James did move it, and quick, but he didn't back off.
"FRANK!" Vanessa said sharply.
Frank's head tipped slightly at the sound of her voice.
The last thing James should've done - to encourage Frank to move by using physical force; Vanessa knew how much Frank hated to be pulled about. "I'm sure The Chief's got good reason to ask you to go to the station. I'll look after Joe. It's not like he's aware you're here, and he'll understand."
Frank still stared rebelliously at James, not releasing him from his glare. James, to his credit, watched back, just not as steadfastly.
James' fellow police officer stepped out of the car and began to unclip cuffs from his belt, his eyes on Frank.
"You've got to be kidding me?" Vanessa spluttered "JAMES! Stop this!"
James put a firm palm up to stop his colleague's approach. "You're killing me, Frank. I've got to take you down town. The Chief's ordered me to handcuff you if you resist, but I don't want to. If you start to fight me, I'll be no match and my buddy will have to pile in. You'll give us no choice BUT to cuff you. Collig wants you put into protective custody and I'd rather do it without the bracelets. Come on Frank, it's me, your ol' mate, Jimmy. I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't important. I don't have a death wish."
Frank levelled a fierce look for a few more agonising seconds, but then suddenly grinned and said, "You got Collig-ed, didn't you?"
"Did I ever!"
Frank eyes finally left James' and went to Vanessa's. "Go." Out of character, Frank then allowed James to pull him to the car and push him in. James waited for his friend to scoot across and then dropped in beside him. The other officer returned his bracelets to their home and took the wheel.
The medic finally shut the doors of the ambulance, and passed around to the front to climb aboard.
-o0o-
Five minutes into the ambulance journey, Joe inexplicably came to with a jolt. "What's going on?" he asked, and sat bolt upright.
Vanessa jumped and the EMT lifted his hands away with a start. "Welcome back!" he said brightly. "Can you relax down for me please, Joe? I need to check you over."
Joe did as asked, but removed the oxygen tube from under his nose. "What's happened, Van? Where's Frank?" He allowed the paramedic to slide a blood pressure cuff up his arm and begin to inflate it.
"Frank's with James. They're on their way to the precinct. Ezra Collig sent a car for them. Frank cooperated fully, went willingly and without a fight."
Joe looked sideways at her. "Willingly?" a smile crept forth. "Pull the other one, Van."
Vanessa nudged the EMT. "He's fine," she announced.
He chuckled, finished his blood pressure check, and started to flick a light in and out of Joe's eyes. "Follow the light for me. Your eyes, they're a nice blue color."
"Thanks. What happened, Van?" Joe asked again, while he allowed the medic to do his job.
"The girl who chatted Frank up? He thinks she slipped something into his drink, but you drank it instead."
"Wow. Someone needs to tell her there's such a thing as too eager." The penlight went away and Joe rubbed his eyes.
The EMT's hands fluttered over Joe's buttoned front. "Do you mind if—?"
"Sure." Joe undid his shirt and pulled the two halves aside.
"Wow, quite a musculature you've got there. Do you own a gym or something?" the paramedic placed his stethoscope over his heart to listen.
"No," Joe answered and addressed his girlfriend. "What does The Chief want to talk to Frank about?"
"I dunno."
"You ought to do some modelling, if you don't already." The paramedic shifted the stethoscope to the other side and listened intently.
"Not really my thing."
The medic sat back. "You can refasten your shirt, Joe. It wasn't a seizure so I suspect your brother's correct, someone dropped something into your drink. Your system seems free of it now. Do you feel dizzy or lethargic?"
"Quite the opposite - perky." Joe sat and leaned to lift the red medical bag off his ankles. He re-buttoned his shirt and zipped his jacket up. "I feel kind of stupid wasting your time. Can you let us off so we can follow on after my brother?"
"Disappointing. I guess so, but it's the first time an ambulance has ever arrived at the ER with no patient aboard." He reached up and turned off the siren and lights, and pushed his head between the front seats to ask the bemused driver to stop. Then he moved to let the young people out.
The doors were opened and Joe jumped down onto the road, and then lifted Vanessa down. "Thanks," he said to the helpful paramedic, and shook his hand.
"I hope we meet again," the EMT continued to grasp his hand lightly, and held Joe's gaze.
"Okay then." Joe let go and slammed the doors so the ambulance could carry on its journey. He gave Vanessa a puzzled glance. "Did he just hit on me?"
Vanessa giggled. "I think he might have."
"Inappropriate!" Joe took Vanessa's palm and they ran down the sidewalk. Joe waved his hand to hail a cab.
-o0o-
As soon as Frank and James arrived at the station, the officer accompanying them used his security pass to take them through the precinct to Chief Collig's large office, where the big man waited for them. He glanced up and saw them coming through the floor to ceiling windows and lumbered up to greet them. He opened the door and ushered them through. The other officer attempted a hasty retreat. Alas, he spun back at Collig's bellowed, "WONG! Two coffees, boy. Make 'em hot, strong, sweet and bad to know!".
"We're not drunk, Chief!" James protested.
"Not so much you, but YOU—" Collig pointed at Frank, "You look blitzed."
"No. What you're looking at is a pissed off Hardy who doesn't want to be here, and should be with his sick brother. Instead, you bullied me here against my will, using James and Wong. What happened to my legally entitled freedom of choice?"
Collig drew himself up to his full height. "It flew out of the window when one of my officers found himself almost killed out on Shore Road in the wee small hours…an incident which a pissed off Hardy's a witness to." He jabbed a thumb in the direction of two chairs. "SIT DOWN and COOPERATE, or I'll arrest you for obstruction." He directed his next order to James in a softer tone. "You too Anderson, take a seat."
Chastened, Frank went to sit stiffly in a chair, and planted his feet, as James sank down awkwardly into the other seat.
Collig sat behind his desk, rested his hands on top in front of him, and laced his fingers together. He proceeded to stare silently at his twiddling thumbs, until the door opened and Officer Marty Wong entered with two coffees. He placed them down in front of Frank and James, as Collig spoke. "Drink. I need clear heads."
The young men dutifully picked up the cups and sipped the hot liquid.
Collig addressed Frank. "I know you're worried about Joseph but it sounds, from what James told me, they used a date-rape drug. If that's the case, once it's worn off and he's awake, I'll send a squad car to pick him up. Right now, my priorities lie with helping Officer Bach and also you, Frank. I think what happened to Bach is directly related to what's happening to you."
Frank shifted his weight. "It wasn't a date-rape drug," he muttered.
"What's that?"
Frank put the cup down. "At least, not in the traditional sense of the term 'date-rape'. She laced Joe's drink, yes, but the drug wasn't meant for Joe, they were targeting me. And it wasn't dropped in my drink to make me sexually compliant. The woman wanted a way to transport me away easily, to separate me from the others with minimum fuss."
James started in surprise. "What are you talking about?"
"You didn't see the other ambulance, did you? The one parked outside the bar the girl left in? Just as you were coming back in after your phone call?"
James looked baffled.
"I think their plan included waiting for the drug to take effect, then use it as an opportunity to take me away, no questions asked. I suspect their intention last night, with messing with my keypad…to put mechanisms in place ready for the most convenient moment to collect me. But I came home expectantly and wrecked their plan."
James mumbled under his breath, low and incoherent. He sunk further into the chair.
"My guess's they took my keypad apart so they could fix it and dictate when it worked and when it didn't. That way they could come back whenever they liked."
James made a strange noise in his throat, like a strangled cough and trod on Frank's foot.
Frank frowned at him, but carried on. "They probably would have taken advantage of the situation last night and taken me then and there, if Bob and Stan hadn't gotten in their way.
Collig settled an accusatory gaze on James. "I'm guessing from the way you're talking, and the way Anderson's trying to shut you up, he told you about the keypad on your burglar alarm? About it being wiped clean of prints?"
James crossed his arms and pushed his legs out in front of him to stare at his feet, very Con-like.
Frank laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "He did, and told me they'd taken it apart to tamper with it. Jimmy made a judgement call on a bad decision you made. If he hadn't shared, I wouldn't have known someone's gunning for me. Someone could've snatched me off the street. Instead, it's made me careful and I've kept people around me for protection. If you punish James, you won't get any further cooperation out of me, or my family." Frank lowered his voice, "I'm warning you Ezra, you give him a hard time—"
Chief Collig broke his gaze with James. "He won't hear anything else about it. I've realized he's matured into a fine officer, who's able to think independently and act on instinct." He switched his attention to James thoughtfully, "There's a lot of your father in you and not a lot of your uncle. You're on the right path. You should have more confidence in your abilities."
James fidgeted in his seat. "Thanks. Means a lot coming from you."
Frank gave his shoulder a squeeze and let go.
Collig's eyes ran over James and then returned to Frank. "Why do you think they want to kidnap you?"
Frank raised his shoulders. "Could be any number of reasons, given the line of work I'm in. But the girl wasn't happy when Joe started drinking the beer. And I'll tell you something else, she wore a disguise - a wig and colored contact lenses."
"You really don't know what this is about, Lad?"
"Nope."
"So what happened on Shore Road? You don't say anything in your witness statement about it."
"It wouldn't. As far as I knew, the two incidents were unrelated. From what I understand, Stan phoned you guys to report the burglary and assault. So Bach pulled me over to check me out. I should've wondered after, why one of your boys called me at Joe's houseboat to ask the same question, but I wasn't thinking coherently, my head hurt, angry still. If Bach had radioed our encounter in, there shouldn't have been a follow-up call. Did he call it in?"
"No."
Frank nodded. "As it happens, Bach and I didn't get time to talk for long because a car shot past at a ridiculous speed. Nearly slammed him into my car."
"So Bach chased after the vehicle?"
"Got straight into his squad car and drove off. I carried on to Joe's place. I didn't see anything else."
"You didn't see a stinger strip?"
James cut in, "That doesn't make sense, Chief. Why would Bach put the equipment down, get into his car, drive away, come back, and drive over his own stinger strip? Bach loves his practical jokes, but it's a joke too far even for him!"
Chief Collig sat back in his chair and steepled his hands, and pushed his index fingers into his bottom lip. "I agree. We assumed at first the stinger belonged to him, but his equipment has been found in the wreckage. The other spike strip wasn't across the road; we found it bunched up to the side and it isn't one of ours. There were tire prints from another vehicle imprinted in the grass where it had circled around to avoid it. The imprints were deep, the vehicle had been going at speed. We now believe Bach drove over the stinger, and it caused him to lose control of his car. His tires were shredded. He didn't stand a damn chance."
"Why would someone do that?" James asked.
Collig raised his chin. "I personally think Bach placed himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they needed to dispose of him. I don't think whoever put the stinger in the road intended for Bach to take the hit initially. He got in the way of their intended victim, so they purposefully goaded him to chase them. The weight of Bach's car coupled with the speed moved the equipment off the road. I think they laid the stinger to disable someone else's car. Considering it's only half a mile from the marina where Joe's houseboat's moored…well…you can work out the rest."
"Suddenly I feel real sober." Frank scrapped his fingers through his hair and over his scalp. "I drove right by Bach and the stinger and I didn't see a thing. The poor schmuck…out there all night."
"But why? Why Frank specifically?" James asked.
"You investigating anything on your own?" Collig asked.
"I don't do solo work, and there's nothing major going down at the agency. As Joe and I told James earlier, work's dry, zero excitement - cheating spouses, advice on personal or home security, small scale fraud, nothing more exciting. You wouldn't believe how boring it is. Dad and Con have taken on some consultative work until things pick up. Dad's even allowed himself to be booked to speak at a couple of conferences and he hates them, rather be out in the field."
"In that case, let's hash this out between us," Collig said. "See if we can't come up with something." He sat up straight and glanced up at the wall clock above his door. "I'll contact you fathers. Together we can brain storm the heck out of this thing." He slid his top drawer open, fished out a sticky notelet pad, and reached for a pen. "Give me their numbers."
The young men gave them from memory as Collig scribbled them down and headed for the door. He opened it wide, scanned the seated occupants in the bullpen and bellowed, "WRIGHT!"
The officer came running and Collig stepped to lay a hand on his shoulder. He passed him the post-it-note and fed him instructions while Ben Wright nodded.
Frank's phone began to play the Mission Impossible theme tune to announce a call. He fished it out and glanced at the screen. 'Unknown Number' greeted him. He accepted the call, assumed it would be the hospital. "Hello."
There ensued a long pause, until a robotic voice said, "Frank Hardy."
Frank took his turn to pause, back-footed by the alien sound.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, the voice repeated: "Frank Hardy."
Frank thought fast to try and decide how best to respond. In the end he gave a tentative but controlled, "Yes." He stood up and walked to the window to look out at the view, but wasn't seeing anything on a conscious level. His heart picked up pace and his hackles rose.
James took an interest and stood himself.
"You know us."
Frank frowned, confused. Because of the mechanical quality of the voice and speech pattern, he couldn't work out if he heard a question or statement. The lack of undulation made it impossible to hazard a guess. He couldn't hear breaths on the other end or any background noise. He turned away from the window. "You know us?" He often found if he repeated people's phrases or questions back, it made them reveal more than they wanted to. Not this time, the only effect, another long pause. "You're gonna have to give me more than that." Frank looked at James and then across to Ezra who'd returned to the room and had frozen.
"Give us the code."
Frank stopped pacing and stilled. His heart froze and his hand gripped the phone so tightly his fingers went white. "What?" he asked in no more than a whisper.
James walked over and lifted enquiring hands.
"Give us the code."
Frank swallowed hard. He didn't want to ask the question, didn't want to hear an answer that would fling him mentally back spinning into the black hole he'd fought so hard to climb out of. He connected with James for an instant and then closed his eyes. 'Please…not again!' He silently prayed. Then opened his eyelids and asked slowly, "Code to what?"
"Pandora."
The line went dead, as did Frank's grip.
