Chapter 15

Noble sat down on the plush sofa and glanced up at the television, the volume was turned down low so he could listen out for any signs of movement next door. He picked up his gym bag from the coffee table in front of him and rummaged around inside to make sure he had everything he needed. If all went according to plan, he'd be out of the city by morning. He wasn't certain yet of where he would end up, but it would not be Colorado, of that he was sure. Maybe California, he thought. That would be a real change of scenery.

He then palmed the gun sitting next to the bag, snorting at the soft whimpers coming from his bound companion curled up on the other end of the couch. Noble looked down at the item in his hand, marveling at how much the air pistol resembled the real thing. He had Leah crying every time he handled it and all it was missing to prove it was a fake was a stupid plastic tip. It might not be as easy to fool a couple of cops, but he was banking on not giving them enough time to figure out it was a fake.

"I'm really sorry about all of this, Leah," he sighed, turning to acknowledge the frightened woman. After he'd come home with her, they'd had one last hurrah before he'd focused on the business at hand and he'd transformed from the seemingly perfect boyfriend she had been totally consumed with into the sadistic animal that had bound and gagged her, terrorizing her in her own home with the constant threat of violence, drugs and guns if she didn't follow his instructions. She was still his ticket to luring the Reagans away from the safety of their apartment. Seeing the terror in her red, weepy eyes, he was sure she'd do whatever it took to save herself. "I really like you, Leah, that part was true, but I won't be in town much longer. I really had fun with you, though. I just needed a way into your building, the last thing I expected was that you would be right next door to the Reagans. What luck!" he said with a sick smile that had the woman shirking away from him, her legs already pulled up to her chest trying to keep as much distance between herself and the stranger sitting next to her. "Now, what I need from you is to have you bring one of them down to the rear of the building. I already got your car parked back there. If you don't do what I say or you tip either of them off, I promise to come back for you and it won't be the good times we've had the last few weeks," Noble threatened as he reached out and gripped the young woman by the back of her neck to look her directly in the eyes. "Got it?"

Leah nodded weakly as fat tears ran down her cheeks and disappeared into the gag wrapped around her head. He'd gone from sweet and loving to physically violent and psychotic. She didn't understand his obsession with her neighbors. They were a boring couple, the husband was kind of hot but she didn't have time to be messing with a married man, especially one who's wife carried a gun. Now, they seemed to be the reason she was in this mess and she was willing to do anything to get Eric away from her.

"Good. Now we wait as long as it takes," Noble said, laying back against the back of the couch and putting his feet up. They'd be back eventually.

Danny sighed as he stepped onto the sidewalk in Harlem alongside his partner. It had been a hell of a day so far and he was hoping something would finally go their way with the investigation. The name 'Richie' scribbled on one of the articles had been the only lead they were able to locate in Noble's hotel room.

He and Baez had said their goodbyes to Jamie and Eddie back at the hotel with promises to call if anything positive came of the search for the famed dealer. The young couple planned to head back to their apartment to clean up the mess left behind by CSU and TARU but not before they checked in with the officers sitting on their building.

Danny and his partner went back to the squad and, luckily for them, it hadn't taken very long to get a location on the dealer Sanfino had put into the hospital after Jamie went undercover to sniff out underage drinkers. Ricardo Garcia was very well known to the guys over in Narcotics.

"Hey, that's our guy," Maria pointed to a tall, dark-haired Hispanic man who was just walking out of a residential building.

"Yeah, it is," Danny agreed, increasing his pace before the man in question cleared the staircase of the building. "Ricardo Garcia? Detectives Reagan and Baez, NYPD. We'd like to ask you some questions."

Garcia looked nervously between the two detectives, turning to glance at the now closed door to his building and contemplating whether he would have an opportunity to run if needed. "About what?"

Maria held up a photo of Noble Sanfino from the Marshal's file. "Have you seen this man recently?"

Danny was certain Garcia knew something about Sanfino. It was too much of a damn coincidence that his name was found in the hotel room, plus Danny might need to punch someone if they walked away with squat on the bastard harassing his brother. "Why do you look so nervous, Richie? Can I call you Richie?"

Garcia shrugged and looked everywhere but at the detectives right in front of him. "I-I haven't seen him," he stammered.

"You sure about that, Richie?" Maria pressed.

"Listen, detectives, the last time I saw him was right before he forced a trio of drugs up my nose and I ended up in the hospital. I hope I never see him again," Garcia replied honestly.

Danny faced his partner and gave her a look of doubt. "Do you believe him, Detective Baez?"

Maria studied the other man carefully before answering. "No, I don't believe I do, Detective Reagan."

Danny shook his head emphatically. "Yeah, neither do I. Alright, you leave us no choice. We have reason to believe you've been in contact with Mr. Sanfino sometime in the last few weeks," he accused Garcia before turning to discuss the next course of action with Baez. "I'll call in for a search warrant and see what we can find around his apartment to prove it."

"Wait," Garcia requested with a look of alarm.

"The boys in narcotics were really interested when we mentioned we were looking for him," Danny said with a thumb pointed back at Garcia. "They said he probably has a real treasure trove hidden away up there."

Maria's eyes widened in anticipation. "Ooh, maybe we could add another felony collar to our belt."

"Alright," Garcia said loudly.

"Maybe I'll invite them along," Danny said as he pulled out his phone and began dialing a number. "We shouldn't be the only ones to have some fun."

"Good idea," Maria praised.

"Wait. Okay. Wait. He called me, alright, but I had no clue it was him until he walked up to me," Garcia confessed as he stared nervously at the detective's thumb where it hovered over the call button on his cell.

Bingo. "When was this?" Danny asked.

"A few days ago, okay," he admitted. "I should of known it was him right off the bat."

"Why's that?" Maria asked.

"He was looking to score, uh," Garcia paused as he realized that he was basically confessing to a crime he absolutely did commit, but the female detective was a little scary looking and he didn't want to mess around with her, so he told them the truth, "certain products, the same ones that ass forced on me. It should have just clicked, but he's been gone forever and I worked real hard to forget that night."

"The same ones that landed you at King's Medical?"

"Yeah."

"Did he say anything else?" Danny questioned, his stomach clenching at what Noble might be planning to do with those drugs.

"He had that same smug look he always had on his big, stupid face, the one I'd like to punch right off."

"Get in line. What did he say? Anything that can help us find him?" Maria prodded him along.

"Nothing. His hair was lighter. Said he was only in town to take care of some old business. Told me not to say anything to anyone. I thought the guy was crazy before, but now I'm sure of it if he's willing to step foot in this city after what he did to his family."

"He's crazy, alright," Maria muttered, the creepy collection on the wall was still stuck in her head.

"And did ya?" Danny asked, knowing there was no honor amongst thieves.

"Did I what?"

"Did you let anyone else know he was in town?" Danny gruffed.

Garcia avoided both detectives' eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes," Maria guessed.

"Let me guess, some of the old Sanfino/Cavazerre crew that didn't end up locked behind bars?" Danny said, worried that Garcia's big mouth could add another wrinkle to the case.

"Hey, that jerk put me in the hospital. If anything happens to him because he's back in town, that's his own damn fault," Garcia defended.

"Yeah, it is," Danny agreed for the most part. He just didn't want to think about having to protect Jamie and Eddie from both Noble and some mobsters should Noble lead them back to his brother.

I know it's been a slow build up and I appreciate everyone who's stuck with this story. Everything begins to really heat up next, so stay tuned.

Now it's time to focus on what's really important...football! Happy Super Bowl Sunday! :)