Vendetta

Part 10

Frank Saunders gulped down the glass of water. He sat the glass down on the table with a thud.

"Talk to us, Frank." Cassy prodded the man. "Tell us what happened. . .how did these men know that you could lead them to Brandt.

The nervous man shook his head. "I don't know for sure. I didn't ask. They just showed up at Mel's."

"Mel's?" Harry asked.

"A bar down on 31^st." Cassy answered quickly.

Frank nodded, affirming the answer. "These two men came in and said that they had heard that I could help them find a Jaguar." The man fidgeted nervously, "They acted like they were in the market to buy."

"What were their names?" Harry asked.

Saunders shrugged his shoulders, "Don’t know. Didn't ask."

"So what'd you tell them?" Harry pushed.

"Well, I remember I laughed and said something about Jaguars being in demand and that I had just had another order placed for a green Jag a few days before." Frank picked up the glass and drained the last drop of water from it. "It's kinda hot in here, ain't it?"

"Not to us." Cassy responded. "So Brandt stole the Jaguar to fill another order that you had taken?"

"Yeah. . .I guess. I told him about two weeks ago that I could sell a Jag for some good money if he could get me a green one. I had the buyer ready to go." Frank smiled proudly.

Harry looked at Cassy, "Tom said that the Jag belonged to the boss of the four men. Brandt must have stolen the car, not realizing what was inside."

"Costly mistake. He ended up paying for it with his life," Cassy commented.

"What? What was in the car?" Saunders asked with confusion.

"Apparently, several keys of cocaine were being smuggled in the gas tank." Harry answered. "Do you think Maney knew about this?"

Frank shook his head, "No. . .no way. Maney stole cars. . .not drugs."

Harry nodded his head, "That's what I thought." Harry handed the man four artist sketches. "Do you recognize these men?"

Frank immediately nodded his head, "Yeah. These two." He grabbed two of the pages and handed them to Harry. "They were the ones that talked to me at Mel's. Harry examined the pictures and handed them to Cassy. "These were the two that got away." Cassy nodded in agreement. "Okay, based on Tom's description and Frank's positive ID, I think we're starting to make some progress in this case."

Cassy shook her head, "What progress? All we know is that Maney and Fred were shot by the same gun and probably the same man. . .some guy named Burt. Heck, we knew that before. We still don't have a clue where to find these two." She pointed to the sketches.

"You don't know who these guys are?" Frank asked, fear in his voice.

"Well, the other two are John Does in our morgue. As for the two you met, no, we don't know who they are or where they're at. We're working on it, though." Harry answered.

"What if they come after me. . .try to stop me from fingering them?" Saunders looked around the room nervously, fighting the urge to run for the nearest door.

"It's a little late to be worrying about that, don't ya think Frank?" Cassy responded flatly.

Cassy and Harry left Frank in the interrogation room. The man was refusing to leave the station, instead asking for protective custody. Harry had a gut instinct that he should give it, but trying to get the department to pay for it would be impossible. His bigger priority was to make sure that his detective was not in danger.

As if reading his mind, Cassy looked at her watch; it was almost 2:00. "I've got to get to the hospital. I know Tom doesn't want to spend any more time there than required. I don't want him trying to make it home on his own if they release him."

"Don't worry. I told Michaels to call Tate and me when they decided to release him. Michaels has explicit instructions to not let our patient out of the hospital without one of us being there. I told him to sit on Tom if he had to. I haven't heard anything yet. So my guess is he is still under the hospital staff's watchful eye."

"I'm going to go make sure, anyway. Besides, I can fill him in on what's going on." Cassy grabbed her purse.

"You know, Cassy, I still don't feel comfortable about Thomas returning to his home. I want him kept somewhere else."

"I've been giving some thought to that. I think I'm going to take him to my place for now."

"Your place? He's not going to like that."

"Well, he's going to have to learn to like it. There's enough room in my house for the two of us. . .and frankly I think it'll be harder for someone to get to him," Cassy reasoned.

"I still would prefer a safe house, but. . ."

"But, like you said, the Commissioner won't approve it. This is the best alternative we have." Cassy made her way to the door, Harry following.

"Are you going to tell him about Jeremy?" Harry lifted an eyebrow.

Cassy shrugged, "I don't know what to do. Tom will be upset if he finds out Jeremy tried to interfere in the case. . .but I think he should know what Jeremy's thinking."

"I agree. Maybe Tom can talk some sense into the kid." Harry suggested.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, Jeremy won't see him. Maybe things will be different once Tom's out of the hospital." She started for the door.

"Do you know where Jeremy is now?"

"No. I can't believe he followed me," Cassy shook her head in frustration. "I won't let him do that again," she promised as she turned to the door.

"Let me know if you get Tom out," Harry shouted after her. She waved as the door shut behind her.

Cassy stepped off the elevator and immediately spotted Dr. Powers at the nurse's station. "Hi Doc," she said to the woman.

"Sergeant, you're just in time. I was getting ready to go visit our patient. If everything looks as good as it has the last few days, I'm going to release him to your care," she smiled.

"He'll be happy to hear that," Cassy commented.

"Yeah, he's made some rumblings about wanting out. The only thing I think he's going to miss is the therapy sessions with Peg."

"What? You're joking, right?" Cassy raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Well, maybe I should rephrase that, he's going to miss the therapist. . .not the therapy," the doctor chuckled at Cassy's crooked grin. She should have known that Thomas would hit on his own therapist. Susan continued, "In fact, I think I overheard them making a date." Cassy shook her head in mock disgust.

Then the impact of the doctor's statement struck her, "So he doesn't have to come back for therapy?"

"No. . .at least not here. I've made arrangements for him to go to a rehabilitation clinic near his home. He will need to go there daily for the first week he's home. Then we can decrease his visits. Someone is going to have to take him. He's not going to be able to drive himself."

"I'll take care of that. I intend to take some time off over the next couple of weeks to be with him?"

"What? You intend to give Peg a run for her money?" Dr. Powers said in surprise.

Cassy, shocked, responded quickly, "No! No, that's not what I meant. Besides, we've been down that road before." Susan's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she didn't ask the questions that were running around in her mind.

"Well, if you'll stay with him, at least for the first week, that will help tremendously." Then the doctor seemed to think of something else, "Wait a second, do you plan on staying with Tom because you think he is in danger?"

Cassy didn't respond at first, then she answered with a quick nod. "Sergeant, I'm not going to let him out of the hospital if he's going to be a target out on the street."

"He's going to be under armed protection. And I'm going to stay with him. We're going to move him to another location."

That'll impact his ability to get to therapy. He will need that attention." The doctor's concerned look grew.

"Just tell me where to take him, I'll make sure he gets there."

Susan's eyes narrowed with doubt, "Okay. We'll play the game your way." She grabbed a file from the counter, "Let's go see your partner."

Tom Ryan was ready to go home. He was tired of the nurses and the needles and the poking and the prodding. He wanted to lie on his couch, watch a football game and drink a beer. Nothing more. He just wanted to be free. And it was for these reasons that he had decided it was time to leave.

He knew that he was going to be dismissed that afternoon. He just decided that it was time to push the process along. He had already slipped on his FSU T-shirt and had successfully ditched the loose fitting sweat pants he had worn to therapy that morning, and was now beginning the slow process of pulling on a clean pair. All he had to do was gather the strength to bend over, grab the waistband of the pants and pull them up over his hips. Of course, he would have to make sure to avoid the incision in his hip. That was still sore, as was the fractured bone itself.

Taking a deep breath, he bent over, trying desperately to ignore the pain. He grabbed the pants and pulled up. He was able to maneuver them to the top of his thighs. "Okay. . .I can do this. . .no problem," he muttered.

Slowly, he stretched the elastic back and forth, inching the pants over his hips. There was only a moment of pain and then he realized he had successfully completed his task. He stood and smiled, quite proud of himself. Suddenly, clapping erupted from behind him. Turning quickly, he felt his face flush with embarrassment. Dr. Powers and Cassy were standing in the doorway. Both had broad grins across their faces.

"Nice performance," Cassy joked, "I give it a ten."

Dr. Powers laughed harder. "You know, Sgt. Ryan, you are one stubborn man. I was getting ready to release you, but since you've found it necessary to disobey orders and try to walk out of the hospital yourself, I'm inclined to keep you another three days."

Tom looked sick, his eyes darting worriedly back and forth between the women. "You wouldn't."

"I would," the doctor answered flatly.

"Cassy?" Tom pleaded, hoping to get some sympathy from his partner.

"Don't look at me. I agree with her. What were you intending to do? Check yourself out?" Tom said nothing. He was too busy trying to figure out if the doctor was seriously considering keeping him. Cassy continued, "You wouldn't have made it very far. Officer Michaels has express instructions to tackle you if you try to walk out of the hospital on your own. Guess it's a good thing we came along when we did, huh.

Tom gave his partner a dirty look, "Fine. You caught me. I'm sure you're very proud of yourself." Then he looked at Dr. Powers, "Come on, Doc. You've got to let me go home. I'm going stir crazy in here."

The doctor continued to smile at the patient. "Get yourself back into that bed and let me check you out. Then I'll decide whether you can take off."

Tom obediently slid back on top of the bed, deciding that it was in his best interest not to argue with the women.

A few minutes later, Dr. Powers had completed her examination of the patient and officially released him from the hospital's care. She gave detailed instructions to both patient and partner about what care he would need over the next few days. "You can finish getting dressed now, but I don't want you trying to walk out of here on your own. You are getting a wheelchair escort to the front doors. Understand?"

Tom nodded his head, excited at the prospect of being one step closer to his own home.

End Part 10

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