Heads or Tails
by Red Skye
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
[A.R] M/F/M
NOTES:
-This is Ray's thoughts-
=This is Fraser's
thoughts=
{Meg's
thoughts}
*equals
emphasis*
***????**** denotes the
feeling of confusion
*#@*$#*
denotes mental cursing.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray's mother watched
her son unwrap the spontaneous
gift she'd given him with expectation
as he wondered what it
was and why the hell she was giving it to
him. It didn't
really matter, it was nice to see the smile back on her face
she'd
been so depressed since attending her old friends
funeral, he vowed to paste on a smile and say he loved it
whatever it was.
What it turned out to
be was a set of a very expensive
new after shave/Cologne he'd seen
advertised on television,
the commercial that always made him laugh because women
dropped like flies around the L.A stud who supposedly wore
it.
He broke into a genuine
smile.
"Ma,
you shouldn't have."
"You
ran out."
"Is
that why you brought this? This is so expensive."
She patted his cheek.
"If I can't
spoil my son once in a while what's the
point in being a mama."
He smiled and hugged
her and she watched expectantly as
he opened the bottle and sniffed
it. It took everything he
had not to rear back and hurl the offending bottle away.
-Ohgod no don't take
that smile off her face, relax..
Smile-
"There were so many
to chose from but I remembered
hearing you talking to Benton about
that."
-Saved-
He screwed the lid back
on.
"Ma, we
were discussing the commercial Fraser just
didn't get the joke..
I wasn't hinting to any one that I'd
like a bottle of it."
"I like the way
it smells."
-You
would it smells just like the cheap stuff pop
always wore-
"And the salesman
said it was a very popular scent,
that a lot of women are buying
it for their men because they
like it."
-And if you believe that I've got a bridge to sell you-
"Maybe
you'll get lucky with it."
-Ohgod
no I am not going to wear this no way no how-
"I'll
save it for my special dates."
-That
should do it-
She
took the bottle from his hand opened it then
splashed a little on
her hand and patted it on his cheeks.
-GAG ARRRGHH NOOOO I
DON'T WANT TO SMELL LIKE *HIM*-
She
capped the bottle then sniffed at him and smiled
brilliantly.
-Did you *have* to light
up like a nova *sigh*-
"It
smells even better on you.. It's supposed to change
subtly for every
man who wears it."
-Forget subtle I want
drastic *gag*-
"Smells
great."
-Please
God don't make me wear this a second longer
than I absolutely have
to-
DING-DONG
-Saved by the bell-
He grabbed the bottle
then spun to rush away and answer
the door.
-A trip, Opps, bye-bye
bottle *evil grin*-
Frannie
beat him to the door opening it to the Denim,
and silk clad Mountie
in mufti.
-Perfect witnesses to
my *accident*-
He
deliberately hooked his toe under the rug and let
himself fall,
the bottle and glass atomiser flying from his
hands and sailing through the air as his arms pinwheeled.
"Ray!"
Francesca spun to see
the bottles flying through the
air, and she and Fraser both struck
out to catch the air
borne bottles. Ray hit the floor catching himself on his
hands at the last minute with an Oomph and a groan that
wasn't feigned as he heard two slaps that told him two glass
bottles
had met palms.
"Got it!" Frannie
crowed.
"Good
catch." Fraser praised her.
-DAMN,
DAMN, DAMN, DAMN-
"Lady
Killer cologne - Ray, I can't believe you fell
for that *add* and
blew your money on this."
-Don't look at me, it
was ma-
Then his
mother was there clucking and helping him up
to his feet and dusting
at his clothes.
-You're really starting
to scare me, ma-
"I'm
O.k, I'm O.K.. I just tripped on the carpet," he
said and then
spoilt it all reached out to push her
fluttering hands away.
As his hand touched hers
and applied gentle pressure an
agonising pain shot up his forearm
and he couldn't contain
the cry of pain, or his reflex action of nursing the
affected wrist.
-Oh NO!-
Frannie and Fraser hurried
over as his mother went into
my *baby* is *dying* mode. To Ray's
relief Frannie fended
their mother off.
-I owe you one-
Fraser moved in reaching
out to take his elbow, his
sleeve was slipped back and Fraser's
hand was moving over
the injured limb gently but firmly looking for a break.
-*????* *DOWN* boy-
He couldn't suppress
the shiver that ran down his spine
at the contact and wanted to
breath in the fresh clean Earth
Forest scent that clung to everything
the Mountie wore.
-He smells like Canada
*giggle*-
Then he
registered what Fraser was wearing, Levi's that
almost moulded themselves
to his legs, a blue silk shirt
that enhanced his eyes and a thigh length denim coat cut in
the Mountie dress coat style - the coat he'd borrowed one of
Fraser's
dress coats to take to a seamstress to make, the
shirt, that coat, he'd given them to Fraser for his
birthday. The Levi's were Frannie's contribution that day.
And he couldn't remember ever seeing Fraser wear any of it
before. With a smile he opened his mouth to say something
about it.
His words were never
spoken Fraser's hand moved over
his wrist and the agonising stabbing
pain up his arm
increased ten fold. His legs buckled and his head went back
in a scream of pain. The hand left his and he felt himself
being enfolded in a supportive hold by an apologetic
Mountie.
"It's a bad break."
Then his mother
rushed off to the phone to hysterically
summon an ambulance. Fraser
transferred him to his shocked
sisters arms in a smooth move and went after his mother and
slapped
her once, hard, but not hard enough to harm. The
hysteric's ended and she ended up in his arms sobbing.
-I'm past scared now
ma.-
The Mountie
looked over her shoulder at the wide eyed
sibling's with an equally
wide eyed look.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Fraser followed the seething
Ray down the corridor
moving in every now and then to get between
Ray's plastered
hand and wrist and the various things it would have thudded
into as Ray's arms flew around in high agitation.
"The nerve of that
*Quack!* saying all my mother really
needs is to get *laid*."
=I know how the poor
woman feels *sigh*=
"Over
compensating for her lack of a sex life by
turning into super mom
to get affection Hah!"
Fraser's nose tickled.
=Ohno, not again
I must have picked up a cold=
He
fought the urge to sneeze as Ray's ranting picked up
and put himself
in front of Ray planted a hand in his chest
and stopped him in his tracks.
"I have two words
for you, Ray, Shut up."
Ray
was so amazed he fell silent.
"I
don't want to hear you calling that man a Quack
again."
"But.."
"I said enough.
Or have you forgotten that man was the
same one who dealt with your
wrist and the shape it was in
after that incompetent intern got through with it."
Ray shuddered.
"You
went absolutely berserk and if you don't stop
ranting and calm down."
Ray held up his hands.
"I know.. I
know.. They're going call for the guys with
the white coats with
long sleeves and lots of buckles."
"Exactly.
If you want to rant. At least wait till we
leave the hospital."
Ray nodded and Fraser
opened his mouth but that tickle
in his nose became a full blown
sneeze and he sneezed so
violently that he skidded a step or two back on the slick
polished floors, his hat flying off his head.
"Now that's what
I call a sneeze," Ray said as he
looked around, to find and
scooped up Fraser's hat, then
studied the Mountie.
"You're not getting
sick on me are you Benni?" Ray
asked as he reached into his
pocket pulling out a
handkerchief and handed it over to Fraser.
Fraser raised it to his
face and catching a whiff of
Ray's scent on it, inhaled deeply.
=It smells just like
him=
"It was
just one sneeze, Ray."
"Yeah
and what about the way you kept sneezing in the
waiting room.. You
just couldn't stop till that nurse came
up and put that mask over your face. You shoulda seen a
doctor about it."
"It seemed to stop
after that. They said it was hay
fever from the flowers in the room."
"There aren't any
flowers here."
He
tucked the handkerchief away up his sleeve.
"It
was just one sneeze. It's stopped now."
Ray
stepped up to him to put his hat back on his head
and patted it
down. Fraser took a discrete little sniff of
him and his hands flew back up to his face as once more he
skidded back down the corridor as the most violent sneeze so
far
assailed him.
=That *hurt*=
"Like
hell it has."
Ray
strode up, and hooked his plastered arm around
Fraser's to drag
him back up the corridor as Fraser looked
at his hands feeling something warm and fluid on them.
=*Blood*=
The handkerchief was
whipped out and applied to his
bloody nose.
"We're here, we
may as well take advantage of it and
get a doctor to take a look
at you."
=Who's
arguing?=
He
and Ray were separated as another violent sneeze
erupted sending
him skidding backwards down the corridor.
=That *really* hurt=
He looked at the
handkerchief his eyes widening in
alarm as he saw how much blood
stained the once snowy linen.
He felt a little light headed. He
could feel the blood
running through his nose now, so much blood.
=Why is there so much
blood?=
Then Ray
was back at his side and clucking.
=NO!=
He sneezed again, the
pain was incredible, and his legs
started trembling. Then Ray was
there, in front of him,
covered in blood.
=Oh no. I've ruined another
one of his suits.=
But
there was no anger only concern on Ray's part as he
made Fraser
reapply the handkerchief to try and stop the
blood that fountained out to splatter on the floor.
"Watch out, bad
enough you splattered me, don't
splatter yourself with it."
=My shirt!=
"No keep your head
up like that.. It's not hitting your
clothes.. Over this way.. That's
right there are chairs back
here."
"Sit down, here..
Now."
Fraser
sat in the chair Ray lead him too and Ray leaned
over him tipping
his head back.
"Pinch your nose,
I'll be right back with a doctor."
Fraser
let out a wail of pain as another sneeze erupted
from him as he
was trying to obey Ray's command. Ray reared
back to avoid being splattered with blood again.
"Breath through
your mouth, Benni.. Pinch your nose and
breath through your mouth."
Fraser followed his instructions,
drawing in deep
shuddering breaths.
=Hurts so much=
"Under control now?
You're not going to sneeze again
are you?"
He couldn't nod so he
gave Ray the thumbs up.
"Good,
I'll be back with a doctor, a nurse with an ice
pack.. You just
sit tight. O.K."
Then he was racing away
and met up with disaster on
that slick floor, as he slipped in the
puddle blood of that
was Fraser's. The next thing he knew he was flat on his back
his
head was ringing, his gut awash with nausea and Fraser
was leaning over him, all concern, holding that blood soaked
handkerchief
to his nose.
Then he registered how
white faced Fraser was and felt
blood dripping from that soaked
linen onto his chest.
-Gotta get up. Gotta
get a Doctor-
Before
he could act, Fraser's eyes rolled back and he
had a faint Mountie
collapsing over him. The breath he'd
just caught exploded out of him, leaving him breathless.
-Benni! Ohgod!-
The world spun as the
ringing in his ears grew louder,
his eyes rolled back and he saw
stars, before darkness
descended.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
"If you thought
she went gaga at home, you should have
seen how she reacted to seeing
you lying on the floor out
cold with all that blood over your chest and Fraser out cold
on
top of you with all that blood on his face."
"I bet she got a
doctor for us real quick shrieking, My
Baby," Ray said looking
into the mirror twisting his head to
view the shaved spot and bandage
on the back of his skull.
"A doctor, she could
have roused the dead with that
shrieking and wailing.. They dragged
her off and sedated
her. I took her home, put her to bed, Maria is watching
her."
"You shoulda stayed
with her."
"I
didn't know what your condition was when I took her
home."
"Bet it looked bad..
All that blood."
She
nodded and helped him make his way back to the bed,
he was pretty
shaky on his feet.
"You check on Fraser?"
"All that sneezing
burst a few blood vessels, and every
time he sneezed the damage
got worse. That's why there was
so much blood."
"He's going to be
all right, isn't he?"
"Oh
yes, they've got an ice pack on it and gave him a
shot to make his
blood clot faster, when the bleeding stops,
they'll cauterise it
so it won't happen again."
"Has he stopped
sneezing?"
"Yes,
for now. They put an air tube in his mouth so he
wouldn't breath
through his nose again and gave him
something for the pain and he's drowsing."
"Well that's a mercy."
"And you can
see him for yourself, when they're done
they'll be moving him in
here. He's in for the night, or
until they work out why he started sneezing so bad, which
ever comes first."
"They gotta find
out why he's sneezing *first*."
"They
will. The doctor got him to sign some forms,
they're going to preform
tests before he's moved here."
"How'd
you get so much information?"
"It's
that Doctor, he thinks you and Fraser are..
Involved."
"What is it with
that man?"
Rather
than explain that he got the idea after Fraser
had dealt with him
going berserk she decided to distract
him, if possible.
"Did you see what
he was wearing?"
"Who?"
"Benton.. He
was wearing the things we gave him for his
birthday. I thought he
looked great in it."
"Ha.. You think
he looks great in anything he wears."
"But
he does look good in just about anything."
Ray
chuckled.
"But
he looked great in that."
"That's
the first time I've ever seen him wear
something I gave him. Maybe
he had a date to make."
"Benton. *snerk*
The only person he ever dates is you."
"Hardy
har-ha."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray swung around the
door way of the exam room to see
Fraser sitting on the bed pulling
on his coat from the back
view. There was a strap around the back of his head.
"There you are Benni."
Fraser looked around
as Ray entered, and Ray winced.
What could be seen of Fraser's face
under the special air
filter mask he was wearing was a mass of ugly bruises.
"You're up."
"I thought
they were going to transfer you to the same
ward they put me in."
"I was, you must
have been asleep.. I know you were
still sleeping when they woke
me up and brought me here for
a few more tests."
"Did they work it
out?"
"It
would seem I've developed an allergy to something
in the air. I
have to wear this," he touched the mask, "and
visit an
allergist to find out what and undergo
desensitisation treatment..or leave the city."
"The *City*! It's
the air in here that did it to you,"
Ray protested.
"No, Ray.. My nose
was reacting before I entered the
hospital.. Or didn't you notice
the way I kept sniffling."
"Oh,
yeah.. You went through all the tissues in the
box."
Fraser tugged the coat
on, then picked up small gadget
with a chain attached and attached
the chain to his mask
strap before popping the gadget into the coat's top pocket.
"What's that?"
"Pollutant
gauge."
Then
he picked up another gadget and popped it into a
pocket along with
another and another.
"What's all that?"
"Analyser,
sampler and alarm."
"Alarm?"
"In case I
have another sneezing fit like that and
can't stop sneezing."
He picked up another
gadget and after he checked it,
into the pocket it went, and then
the final gadget was
collected and held out.
"This is for you."
Ray took it.
"A pager?"
"For the alarm.
The alarm will sound here, then they
will use the pager to find
out where I am, and I don't have
a phone, but you have a cel phone and.."
"This is really
serious, isn't it?"
"Well,
yes, sneezing that violently, constantly, could
lead to a broken
rib, burst blood vessels.. I could even
choke on my own blood or pass out because I can't stop
sneezing long enough to draw breath - which almost happened
in the waiting room if you'll recall."
"Yeah.. I remember
you turning blue in the face before
that nurse took charge."
"That's why they
gave me the alarm. I have to keep it
until I go through desensitisation
or leave town. Which ever
comes first."
"You are not leaving
town."
"I
may have to.. there's no guarantee desensitisation
treatment will
work if it fails I will have no choice but to
leave. Take a transfer,
back home if at all possible."
"It's
gonna work."
He
tucked the pager into his pocket and helped Fraser
down off the
bed and held onto his arm as the Mountie
swayed.
"You o.k there?"
"It's the medication..
it makes me a little light
headed."
"Yeah, well just
wrap your arm around me."
=Any
time=
"And I'll help you
out to the car."
"Thank-you."
"Let's go."
"The doctor.."
"I already
saw the doctor, I've got the medical
certificate for the Consulate.
You're spending the rest of
the day in bed, Doctor's orders, but you don't have to spend
it
here.. We've got to stop off and pick up a nebuliser and
then your coming back to my place.. You're not going back to
that
flea pit till we get that place cleaned.. And ma can
cluck over you while I take care of everything."
"Deifenbaker."
"I'll get someone
to take care of him.. You can't be
around him till this condition.."
"Allergy."
"Whatever is
dealt with. That fur could set you off
again."
"But I have my mask."
"You can't
wear that around the clock. That means no
fur, which means no contact
with Deif. I already called
home. They getting the house as clean as possible. No
flowers. Remind me to stop at the front desk the doctor
arranged for an oxy kit so I can take care of you if you go
into another fit."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
"Promise you're
not going to go gaga again on me again,
Ma, you really scared us
all when you did that," Ray said as
he let his mother pat that
detested after shave on the face
she'd insisted on shaving for him, since he'd broken his
dominant wrist.
"Did you take the
pills the doctor gave you?"
"Did
you take the ones he gave *you*?"
"Yes"
"So did I.
So are you finished clucking, I have to go
work now."
"In *your state*,
you're.."
-Here
we go again, cluck cluck, my baby, fuss fuss-
The
door opened and Fraser poked his head in.
"Don't
to forget to stop off and pick up some clothes
on your way back."
Ray took the opportunity
Fraser gave him to escape his
mother's clutches and moved in on
Fraser.
"What are you doing
out of bed? You're supposed to stay
in bed.."
"I need clothes."
"I said I'll
take care of everything. And I will."
Fraser's nose twitched
and his eyes widened, his hands
flying to his face to grab at his
nose then he was pulling
away from Ray to bolt away. Ray flew after him and was
almost knocked off his feet as the sneeze Fraser felt coming
on
hit and the Mountie came to a screeching halt the force
of the sneeze threw him back, right into Ray.
Then Ray was hustling
him back to the bedroom with his
mother's help as fast as they could.
Sneeze after sneeze
racked the Mountie's body until they got him onto the bed.
Ray worked fast to get the oxygen mask over Fraser's face,
hitting the release switch, between one sneeze and the next.
Fraser
gulped in pure air while Ray and his mother shared
concerned looks over his back.
-This is not good, not
good at all-
"Find
the filter Ma. He has to put it back on."
She
looked around then saw it on the dresser and
hurried over to collect
it. They oxygen treatment seemed to
do the trick, Fraser's sneezing subsided and he just sucked
in oxygen and shuddered while Ray stroked his head.
"It's over now,
Benni, just relax."
With
his mother's help the oxygen mask was replaced
with the filter mask
in less than a second and Fraser was
made to lie back.
"You O.K now?"
Fraser's hand went
to his head and his chest, then flew
to his gut.
"I think..I'm going
to.."
He rolled
fast to the edge of the bed as Ray dived for
the waste paper basket
and got it under Fraser's head. Just
in time, Ray ripped the filter mask off as Fraser shuddered
and threw up into the basket.
"There goes breakfast."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
With a grin Ray extended
his cast out for a lovely lady
with a pen at the precinct station
house who was the 15th
such person to offer to sign it. The cast was already
covered in saucy comments, a phone number or two and a
rather naughty cartoon one side.
-Maybe that sales man
was right about this cologne
being a babe magnet-
Huey wandered up with
a pen as the woman took her
leave.
"What's your secret
you've had more women flocking
around you today than I've seen in
here at one time."
"Must be the
after shave Ma brought for me."
Huey
signed the cast then took a sniff of Ray.
"Not
bad, it suits you."
-Thanks
muchly, not-
"What
is it?"
"L.K"
"Your mother
brought Lady Killer Cologne for you?!"
"Yeah..
She's been a really clucky mood lately, every
time I turn around
she's doing something *nice* for me, and
hugging me and I'm telling you Huey - She's scaring me with
all the attention."
Huey laughed.
"Seriously..
She went into hysteric's when I fell and
broke my arm. I mean real
hysteric's, wailing the works, she
was calling me "My Baby",
Fraser had to slap her. And
Frannie say's that when we had that
accident in the hospital
corridor."
"What accident?"
"Fraser sneezed
so hard he burst a blood vessel there
was blood on the floor, I
sat him down and rushed off to get
a doctor, only I slipped on the
blood."
He turned to show Huey
the bandage on the back of his
head, pointing to it.
"And took a tumble
- 3 stiches."
"Ouch."
"And Fraser
fainted right on top of me when he was
leaning over me and bleed
all over me.. The blood was just
gushing out. And when Ma and Frannie walked in and there's
me lying on the floor out cold with a big blood stain on my
chest and Fraser's out cold with blood all over his face -
Ma really lost it. They had to sedate her and thankfully
Frannie took her home and tucked her into bed.. Or she'd
have been clucking around my bed side all night."
"Well, considering
the scene you described, I'd say
your mother had good reason to
lose it in the corridor."
"And
this morning when I got back from dropping Fraser
back home after
they released us from the hospital, Ma's
there, cluck, cluck, cluck, fuss, fuss, fuss. She wouldn't
even let me shave myself, or pick out my own clothes. And
the trouble I had getting out the door to get in here. I
swear the shriek she let out where I said I had to go to
work made all the glass in the bathroom vibrate. Fraser
showed up at just the right time."
"What was he
doing there?"
"He's
staying at my place. He's got this allergy to
something that makes
him sneeze so bad that a sneezing fit
could literally kill him. He needs to be watched till we can
deal
with the allergy."
"Sounds bad."
"It is. He
had another fit at the house. It made him
throw up and pass out
and they cleaned that place from top
to bottom before I got him home. Which proves what the
Doctor was actually right when he said that Benni's allergic
to
the air around here."
"You mean he's allergic
to Chicago?!"
"Something
in the air. And as soon as they work out
what, he's going through
treatment."
He pulled a piece of
paper out of his pocket.
"Look
at all the stuff I've gotta do till we can get
him treated."
Huey looked over the
list.
"This
is gonna cost a fortune."
"Yeah.
Tell me about it. Oh, hey, I almost forget, I
gotta find people
to look after Deif till the treatments
completed because Fraser can't be around him. The fur could
set him right of."
He pulled out his note
pad.
"I've
already got it covered till Thursday, could you
possibly take care
of him on Friday."
"I guess."
Ray added Huey's
name to the list.
"The
doctor said it could take weeks or months for the
treatment to be
completed which means Benni can't be near
Dief till it's done can I.."
"Ask me again, later."
Ray added a "possible?"
to Huey's name.
"Vecchio!"
Ray
turned to scuttle off into Welsh's office.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Two
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
"I can't believe
she did that to me."
"Did
what?" Fraser asked from his seat as he twiddled
with his gadget's
linking one with the other.
"Made Welsh send
me home. She called him to wail in his
ear that I was sick, sick,
sick and needed to be home where
I could be watched just in case I had *another* accident and
killed
my self the next time. What are you doing?"
"Did you know the
pollutant gauge says the air in here
has more allergens per inch
than the air outside?"
-*sigh* Why is it the
only person I can get sympathy
off lately is Ma?-
Fraser leaned closer
tilting his head to read something
that had caught his eye on the
plaster.
"Yours and Mine
in 69."
"What?!"
Fraser pointed.
"That's what
it says.. Did you break your arm in 69?"
"Fraser
sometimes you are just too innocent for words."
"So
what does it mean?"
-Should
I or shouldn't I - What the hell?-
"It's
referring to a sexual position. Turn the 69 on
its side and work
out which one for your self."
=I will not blush,
I will not blush=
Fraser
blushed.
"Oh."
Ray glanced around
and chuckled.
-G-d,
sometimes he's too cute for words **???***-
"I
bet that doctor who said Ma needs to get laid thinks
it's our favourite
position."
Fraser turned an even
deeper shade of red.
"Can
you believe that man.. Calling us *lovebirds* if
my arm hadn't
been in plaster I think I might have decked
him."
=*Siiiiigh*=
"What
a bloody insult.. Calling us *gay* like that.
Just because I like
to look good doesn't make me *gay*. I
resent the inference that because I like nice clothes, I
must be *gay*. I mean For God's sake.. "
"Ray, you're babbling."
=And if you don't
stop ranting like a raving homophobe
I'm going to hit the park brake
and get out.=
"You were no help
standing there blushing like that as
if being referred to as my
lover was just too embarrassing
for words, you should have done something."
"What did you expect
me to do?"
"You
could have *corrected* him, for God's sake, I was
half tanked with
all the shots they gave me. At least I had
an excuse for not being able come up with a quick retort.
What's yours?"
"It was partly your
fault that he came to that
assumption, and it wasn't because you
wear expensive
clothes."
"Oh so why did he
make it and how was it my fault?"
"I
said partly.. When you went berserk and pulled your
gun.. "
"I did what?!"
"You pulled
your gun on the intern who was examining
you, after he turned your
break into a compound fracture.
You pulled your gun on him and threatened to blow his head
off if he didn't get out of your sight and then you
threatened to shoot the nurse who tried to get close enough
to hit you with a sedative. And we heard you screaming and
shouting and the intern was shouting he's got a gun.. and I
went in and tried to get you to put it down, but.. you were
in shock, you saw him as a threat and you wouldn't be calmed
until
he departed."
"And they got another
Doctor."
"Yes.
I tried to calm you down. At first you wouldn't
give me the gun,
but you wouldn't shoot me either and I just
worked on reducing the
level of tension, stroking your back
and arm.. assuring you that no one else was going to hurt
you until you let me take the gun."
"And he saw that?"
"Yes. That
and how I held you till the shot took affect
and you went under.
After you went under he shooed me out
and said, and I quote "Don't worry I'll take good care of
your
S.O.."
"Significant Other.
The PC way of saying Defacto
especially when referring to Gay people."
"I do know what
it means."
"So
why didn't you correct him then?"
"He
was shoving me out the door and closed it in my
face before I could.
And it was Francesca's suggestion that
I should let it slide."
"Oh it was, was
it?"
"Yes,
she said we could take advantage of it, because
the Doctor would
tell me everything, and leave her free to
take care of your mother without having to worry about you
too."
"Ah."
-Well, that kind of makes
sense. I suppose can let it
slide under the circumstances-
"And that's why
I didn't correct him. I was taking
advantage of it the same way
you took advantage of it."
Ray
smiled faintly.
"It
did have its advantages."
Fraser
took his gadgets apart and took a sample of the
air slipping the
sample into the case for that purpose and
tucked his bits away into the pockets.
"By the way, I don't
believe that I mentioned how much
I like this coat Ray."
"If you like it
so much then why haven't I seen you
wearing it before?"
"Because I lost
the key."
"Key
to what?"
"The
storage crate I packed the clothes into."
"You
*locked* your clothes away?"
"Just
the expensive ones you gave me."
"I thought
you didn't lock anything?"
"I
have a lot of expensive and valuable things in the
apartment right
now.. The storage company who were storing
all my personal effects closed down and shipped them out in
storage crates. Locked storage crates. I got the keys, via
the consulate, they sent them in a diplomatic pouch."
"Those guys take
security seriously."
"Very."
"So why did
they close down?"
"They're
relocating. It will take some time to
construct new storage facilities
to their high standards."
"And
you'll send all your stuff back when they do."
"Yes."
"I guess I'll
have to make arrangements to get it
stored away while your.. "
"Oh, it's already
stored away, at the consulate. I did
that the day before yesterday.
I've only got one crate now.
With all the things I wanted to keep with me in it."
"Really valuable
stuff?"
"One
of the parcels contains something that would be
worth several thousand
dollars to collectors. Another item
would be.. "
"You've got some
sort of collectors item worth a few
thousand *dollars*."
"Items.. Sheet
music. Over 50 pieces of it, all of it
has been autographed. They
were part of a reward that was
given to me by a musician for returning a rather unique
instrument that had great sentimental value to him after it
was stolen."
"A famous musician?"
"Very, his
band was once listed as the highest earning
performers in the world
in the Guiness book of records."
Ray
let out a low whistle.
"And
they have a great many fans who would be willing
to part with large
sums of money for items autographed by
the whole band, which the sheet music and records were."
"You
got records too."
"Oh,
no, that was.. My Partner.. He's a fan of the
band, and he helped
me recover that guitar without realising
it."
"Oh.."
"It was the *unique
sound* of the instrument. The
musician built it with his own two
hands with his father.
And my partner was always playing their music, I was
familiar with that particular guitar's unique sound. I knew
it had been stolen, the band cancelled all their concerts
after it happened and he dragged me all the way into the
capital to attend one with him.. He was in a very foul
temper about the cancellation."
"And you guys volunteered
to work on the case."
"Er..
He did, but they already had people working on
it. I just happened
to be in the right place at the right
time when I heard that guitar being played. I recognised the
tune
that was being played - badly - first, and then I
recognised the tones of the instrument. That was the easy
part.. The hard part was getting it back in one piece. I
was injured diving for it when he hurled it away correctly
assuming I'd try and catch it while he made his get away."
"So he got away
with it and made you chase him."
"He
was very fast, very agile, and knew the city like
the back of his
hand, and had it strapped over his back as
he leapt fences, ran across roofs and through storm water
drains. I think I pursued him for over 5 kilometres till he
realised he just wasn't going to shake me."
"Yeah I bet he couldn't
believe you kept up."
"I
almost lost him, twice, when he slipped into the
drains, fortunately
I found two people who pointed me in the
right direction, and he
picked up mud on his boots in the
drains which left enough tracks for me to start catching
up."
"So did you actually
catch him in the end or.. "
"No..
Saving the guitar put me in hospital."
"What?!"
"We were on
the roof tops.. There was an alley way
between us.. I could have
made the jump and by that stage
he knew it. And I was *right* on his tail at that stage. He
ripped it off and told me he'd drop it and destroy it if I
didn't give up."
"And you prepared
to jump anyway."
"I
thought he was bluffing.. After all he was a fan,
and was aware
of its value."
"And you just had
to announce that fact, so he dropped
it.. And you leapt for it."
"Exactly, I was
able to catch it.. But it was a multi-
story building and even though
I fell onto a pile of garbage
with it, it was quite a drop. I broke
several bones when I
hit it. And it's quite fortunate he didn't stick around to
see if I managed to catch it or not.. I was out cold for
some time.. He could have collected it again and made good
his escape with the instrument."
Then he frowned.
"What?"
"That wasn't
right.. He couldn't have taken it.. I
remember now, they complained..
Because they couldn't get
the guitar out of my arms.. That's right, I knew there was
a high degree of probability the fall would knock me out and
the
last thing I did before I passed out was to lock my arms
around
it.. They couldn't take the guitar away from me, not
without breaking my arms to do it."
"Is that what they
did?"
"No..
They put me into the ambulance with it, and one
of the doctor's
whispered the magic words in my ear when I
was semi conscious and I let go."
"The Magic Words?"
"He essentially
made it possible to personally return
the guitar to the musician.
Who was notified and came to the
hospital to collect it and the
Doctor returned it to me to
present it to him and made sure he was there to get his
autograph too."
Ray laughed.
"Another
fan."
"Once
he got his autograph he cleared the room out and
gave me a chance
to talk to the musician who wanted to hear
all about how I got it back and I told him all about it, and
how
it was my partner's birthday soon and how if it wasn't
an imposition.. the bands autographs would make a fine
gift."
Ray laughed.
"You
could have asked for a hell of a lot more and got
it after what
you did."
"I did get more,
we talked about other things. He
showed his gratitude on the day
by staying there and talking
with me till my partner arrived."
"So what did you
talk about?"
"Music..
Being a Mountie.. Canada.. He talked about
the band & music. And
I got to meet him again he showed up
on Dante's Birthday with the Vocalist, and they gave Dante a
complete
collection of all their records, all autographed,
under glass, for his birthday."
Ray smiled.
"He remembered what
you said and tracked your partner
down on his birthday, just to
thank-you."
"Oh they stayed
for a few days. We were stationed a
rather remote outpost, and our
cabin was big enough to hold
six men. And they enjoyed a break without worrying about
fans for a few days before the rescheduled concerts
started."
"Your partner must
have been in seventh heaven."
"He
thought it was wonderful, especially watching me
and the guitarist
play together. He always liked it when I
played. His jaw hit the floor when I started singing too.
Then he clipped my ear and said why didn't you tell me you
could hold a tune."
Ray laughed.
"I
will never forget that time.. It was one of the
happiest weeks
of my life."
"I bet."
"They said I had
real talent. And they sent us tickets
to the last show, and the
RCMP PR department set things up
with them.. And just before the Finale.. A ramp set down.
They announced they wanted the audience to thank the man who
saved
the tour when he recovered the guitar. And I rode out
on stage
in my dress reds."
"For real."
"Yes, there
was this incredible wave of sound when the
crowd roared as I rode
onto stage.. They were clapping and
cheering and didn't stop as I went through the routine I
practiced with them all morning. I almost blew it when the
vocalist slipped up behind me for a circuit on the horse.
That was prearranged - him whispering naughty suggestions in
my
ear while we did it wasn't."
Ray very carefully pulled
over, then gave into the
laughter.
"And he took advantage
of the fact I couldn't stop him
having a little grope or two - I
almost fell off the horse."
Ray
almost wet himself with laughter.
"Oh
- stop.. "
"I
got my revenge when I made the horse rear up and
turn in a circle
on its back legs. He had to stop groping me
and hold on for dear
life or fall off onto that hard stage.
The crowd loved it. So did the PR people. They had pictures
of me doing that in every newspaper the next day, and a clip
on
the news, along with the finale. When I played God Save
The Queen with the Guitarist on the Guitar he presented me
with. It was bright red, to go with my uniform."
He reached into the bag
at his feet and pulled out a
bottle of water and offered it to Ray
as his laughter ended.
"That
*really* happened.. You're not just making it
up."
"Why would I make
up something like that?"
"I
don't know, to make me laugh, I've been pretty
grumpy lately."
"Out of concern
about your mother. I thought you were
exaggerating the situation
till I saw the way she reacted to
your fall and break."
"That was the worst
she's been. By the way what were
doing there?"
"I.. wanted to talk
to you."
"Oh..
yeah.. I figured there was something bothering
you, you were so
quiet all the time, I guessed you didn't
want to bother me with your problems while I had a big
problem of my own to deal with."
"You're right."
"So, tell what
the problem is."
Fraser
looked away.
"Benni."
Fraser took a deep
breath.
"I
came to tell you I couldn't be your partner any
more."
Ray stared at him in
shock.
"What?!
They ordered you to .. "
"No..
"
"Then
why?"
"I..
don't think.. it's right.. "
"What's
not right?!"
Fraser
took a deep breath.
"Dante
was more than my partner he was my significant
other."
That shocked Ray even
more.
"You're
Gay!"
"No..
I'm Bi."
"And
you didn't think I deserved to know it?!"
"I
don't proscribe to meaningless relationships, I only
form sexual
relationships with people I have.. deep
feelings for."
"You told me Victoria
was..."
"I
didn't think you'd be comfortable if you knew."
"What
you think I'd tell you to go to hell just because
you're Gay?!"
"Bi."
"Whatever."
"Your Catholic,
your heterosexual, and you often
express what could be called homophobic
sentiments."
"Yeah, well... If
you'd told me you were gay.."
"Bi."
"I wouldna
expressed sentiments like that around you. I
don't have anything
against gay people personally I just
take offence when someone insinuates I'm gay. And if you
were so worried about how I'd take it, why are you telling
me now? What changed?"
"You were going
to find out. Everyone is. And everyone
is going to wonder about
our partnership and that is why I
can't be your partner any more."
"Who is he?! Who
is this guy who told you it was him or
me?!"
"He didn't make
any ultimatums. He doesn't even know
about you. He hasn't arrived
yet. I thought it would be
better if our partner ship dissolved before he arrived. That
way
you wouldn't be humiliated when the news got out."
"You're coming out
of the closet with this guy."
Fraser
nodded.
"I
love him. I always have. But my father had him
exiled overseas to
end our relationship."
"This isn't some
guy you've met recently. You're
talking about that Dante guy."
Fraser nodded.
"Now
Inspector Thatcher is about to take a long leave
to nurse one of
her parents, who's dying. She won't return
for some time. Dante was chosen to hold down the fort while
she's away. Because they want to see if he can handle the
position before he takes over the role permanently at the
consulate he's been stationed at all these years."
Ray looked away staring
out the window for a long time.
Fraser collected his bag from the
floor and reached for his
seat belt.
"If it works out
- you're going to leave with him
aren't you.? You're going to go
with him. I'm never gonna
see you again.."
"No," Fraser
said cutting in on what might have become
another round of babbling
on Ray's part.
"No?!"
"I already know
that he wouldn't ask me to go with him.
And he'd reject an offer
by me to go with him. He did it
when I tried to follow him last time."
"So what happens
if he doesn't want to get involved
with you again? If that happens
no one has to know about you
being Bi and we can still be partners."
"Oh. I'm sure he'll
be reluctant at first. He held me
at arms length for a year before
he finally gave in and I
know how to get through all his little defenses. I'll do
whatever it takes.. Because it will be the last chance I
ever have to be with him."
Then he opened the door.
"Good-bye,
Ray, and thank-you, for everything."
The
he slipped out of the car and walked away.
Ray
stared at nothing for a very, very long time before
he finally pulled
out and drove to a bar where he got very
very drunk.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Three
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
To his dismay Ray discovered
that not only had Fraser
cut him off, but all his friends outside
the consulate were
cut off too. What's more it seemed that even his friends and
associates
at the consulate had been cut off too. To all
intents and purposes Fraser had vanished, utterly. No one
seemed to know where he was.
It took some work, but
Ray finally tracked Fraser down,
to a medical center. He dropped
in to see him dressed in
raw unbleached cotton draw string pants, as he resided
within a sterile bubble room. He wasn't allowed near him,
all he could do was look through the observation window to
watch the miserable looking Mountie sit on a pile of bedding
on
the floor with his guitar and some sheet music. His eyes
were ringed with bruises that stood out against his pale
face.
Ray couldn't help but
notice that there was no bed or
furniture in the room. The bedding
consisted of what looked
like two or three thick quilts, covered with the same raw
unbleached cotton as his pants, so were the sheets, though
the blankets on the bed were quite colourful wool blankets.
Not the usual sort of thing you see in a hospital. Even more
interesting
was how the sheet music came in laminated
sheets.
"He's quite good,
isn't he?" Fraser's allergist said.
Ray
glanced around for a moment.
"I'm
Doctor Zacheria. The allergist in charge of his
case and you're
.."
"Raymond Vecchio."
"Ah... His
S.O, Doctor Weinstien told me to expect you,
I was starting to think
you had an allergy to hospitals."
Ray
gave a weak smile.
"How
is he?"
"We're
still trying to work out what he's alergic to
and having a hell
of a time doing it. Every time he took the
mask off he started sniffling,
within a few minutes, he's
sneezing. Sometimes, he started sneezing almost as soon as
the mask came off."
"I guess that makes
it difficult."
"It
happens no matter where we do the tests. That's why
we put him in
the bubble. It's reserved for people who have
20th century disease."
"20th century disease?"
"Around the
globe there are people who've developed
allergies to synthetics
and pollutants in the air. Some
react violently to allergens. With one exception, everything
in
the room is 100 percent natural. The bedding is 4 layers
of extra thick duck down quilts sewn together, raw cotton
sheets, the blankets are pure wool, dyed with natural dyes,
like beetroot. Everything was boiled too within an inch of
its life in purified water, dried in a sterile environment,
and vacuumed before it was transferred here. We even make
sure his food is all natural, cooked according to the
guidelines for people with 20th century disease."
"The sheet music
and the guitar?"
"The guitar is brand new, it was sterilised before we
let him
have it. The music was laminated to stop stray
strands of the paper setting him off again. We thought he
could use a break.. He'll stay there till the bruising goes
down."
"What if I wanted
to go in?"
"You
can't. No one enters the chamber and no one will
till I'm ready
to start testing him again."
"How does he communicate
with people?"
The
doctor pointed.
"Via
the intercom. Just hit the red button to
transmit."
Ray looked at it, then
through the glass at Fraser.
"I'll
leave you alone, to have a little privacy, do you
have any more
questions?"
"What if you can't
work out what's causing the
allergy?"
"The experts will
rebuild his home and turn it into a
bubble house, making it absolutely
sterile and he'll spend
the rest of his days in it."
Ray barely suppressed
a shudder at the very thought of
Fraser spending the rest of his
days a prisoner in a sterile
bubble house. When he didn't ask any
more questions, the
doctor left, giving him the promised privacy. Ray just
watched Fraser, listening to his music until Fraser happened
to
glance up and see him.
It would have been difficult
to mistake Fraser's
reaction for anything but shock. Ray moved to
switch the
intercom over to two way conversation mode.
"Hi."
"What are you doing
here? I thought I made it clear.."
"People talk...
And people were wondering why you up
and vanished. I get at least
half a dozen people asking me
about you every day. Deif is pining for you and I don't know
what
I'm supposed to do with him or tell people when they
ask about you."
Fraser looked away.
"And the Doc insinuated
that you have 20th century
disease that you might have to spend
the rest of your life
in a place like this.. What am I supposed to do about Deif?
Take care of him myself? Return him to the wild? though I
don't think it's a good idea. I never heard of junk food
growing on trees or roaming around in the wild and the only
thing that beast knows how to hunt is junk food. I swear he
could track a man with a snickers bar down from 20 blocks
away."
His attempt to inject
a little humour into things fell
flat, all it seemed to do was add
to Fraser's misery. He
heard the heavy sigh Fraser let out clearly over the
intercom, and saw his shoulders slump.
"I'm sorry.. Excuse
me while I extract both legs from
my mouth, I think I put both feet
in up to the hip. You
don't have to worry about Deif. I'll take good care of him.
Whatever happens."
"Did he really say
I'd have to spend the rest of my
life in a place like this?"
Fraser asked looking up at Ray,
his whole body pleading with the
Italian to tell him it
wasn't so.
"Only if they can't
work out what's setting you off,
but you don't have to worry about
it.. That's just the worst
case scenario, and I did a little checking
before I came.
You couldn't have checked yourself into a better place.
They'll work out what your allergic to and desensitise you.
Just you wait and see."
"I've been here
two weeks already, the only time I
don't sneeze when the filter
mask comes off is when I'm shut
up in this room."
"I'm sure he'll
find a way around that problem and then
you'll get treatment, and
get out of here, and come after my
head for letting Deif get fat
on junk food and pasta."
"You know it's bad
for him."
"Ma's
already getting the hint. She's spoiling him, in
a way you'd approve
of. She's read everything on wolves she
can lay hands on, talked to zoo keepers about them. Put him
on a diet you can't complain about, takes him for walks all
the time. And it's off to the park at least 3 times a day.
Her taking over his care has been a real godsend in some
ways. Instead of smothering me with attention, she's
smothering Deif in it and he's loving every minute of it.
You should see him, his coat practically glistens, she's
always brushing him down, and he loves it."
"As long as she
doesn't start knitting little coats,
bonnets and mittens for him.
He finds it an affront to his
dignity."
Ray chuckled.
"Well
she did get him a new collar, and a big dog
basket, that sits at
the end of the bed. I went around to
your place and got your blanket from the bed and put it in
the basket and he settled down in it pretty fast. But I keep
waking
up with him snuggled up at my back or over my feet.
It seems that he worked out how to get out of her room and
does it when everyone's settled down for the night. You
shoulda heard the shriek Frannie let out when she went down
to get a glass of water in the middle of the night and
discovered he prowls the house in the wee small hours."
Fraser
smiled faintly.
"And
last night, he dragged your blanket into my room
and onto the bed.
Beyond that, he's been on his best
behaviour, he doesn't even pull that, Lip reading, what's
that trick of his any more. I kinda got the feeling he
thinks he's being punished."
Fraser heaved a deep
sigh.
"He would.
I put him on a very strict diet because he
was getting pudgy, and
he mugged someone for their hamburger
just before I visited you.
I gave him a very stern lecture
and threatened to send him back to the wild."
"Oh."
"But there's nothing
I can do about it now. I can't go
near him and you'd never be permitted
to bring him here."
"I
know you don't want me to come back.. And there's
really not much
else to say. Promise me, the moment you get
out you'll come around and get him. And.. If you don't show
your face after that Dante guy goes back home.. I'm gonna
hunt you down and .."
"When I said Good-bye
- I meant it. I don't intend to
resume associating with you when
Dante leaves."
"Benni.."
"I'll return home
to Canada."
"You
think I care what people think, Fraser? I don't."
Fraser
couldn't look at him.
"Since
I put Victoria behind me.. I've found myself
thinking about my future..
She can never be apart of it.
Until I found out Dante was going to temporarily replace the
inspector,
I didn't think about him being part of it.. There
were two other
people.. though, who I hoped would be. The
inspector was one.. but she keeps giving me mixed signals
and I don't think it would be wise to pursue a relationship
with her. Or that she'd consider it while I remain her
subordinate. As for the other person I would never.. act on
my feelings because I know they wouldn't appreciate it.. So
it never came up..."
"You're talking
about me - I'm the other person. Aren't
I?"
"I know how the
church views same sex relationships,
and you made your opinion of
them very clear."
Ray felt like bashing
his head against something hard.
"But
even though I know your views it doesn't stop me
from.. Finding
my self wishing for your company, and it has
been getting harder to ignore.. I can't change you, it's not
your
fault.. that some of the things you do turn me on."
Ray
turned bright red and Fraser rose moving toward the
partition.
"And that is why
I'll be going home when Dante leaves.
Why I don't want to associate
with you any more. Good-bye,
Ray.."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
A month passed, during
which time Ray returned to work
with a wolf on his heels. It felt
good to be working again,
and gave him something to keep his mind off Fraser. He
buried himself in his work, clearing cases in record time,
getting himself into trouble. But having Deif shadowing him
proved to be a godsend on more than one occasion when the
wolf had come to his rescue.
Then came the morning
when he'd walked out of the house
with Deif on his heels and lost
the Wolf. He'd opened the
Riv's door and pushed the seat back for the wolf before he
realised Deif hadn't followed him. He looked around to see
the wolf standing on the grass giving him a rather strange
look, then as he watched, the wolf suddenly bounded away,
racing down the street.
He raced after the wolf,
but Deif was faster than he
was, rounding the corner, bounding out
of sight. By the time
Ray reached the corner, the wolf was out of
sight. Ray raced
on regardless and searched high and low for the
wolf till he
ended up sliding down a wall into a panting heap, holding
his side grimacing at the pain of the stich that had finally
ended
his search for the wolf.
When he finally caught
his breath, he staggered back up
to his feet and trudged home, holding
his side to be meet by
Maria who gave him what for, for scaring
them by running off
leaving his car wide open that way and wanting
to know where
Deif was.
He didn't learn what
inspired Deif's bolt until late
afternoon when his mother called
him at the precinct to tell
him she'd found two envelopes someone
had slipped under the
door when no one was home.
"There was a thank-you
card, with money."
"Fraser."
"Yes.. The
other envelope was addressed to you."
"Just
put it on my dresser, I'll look at it when I get
home."
"Why didn't he come
to the door and collect Deifenbaker
in person? Why did he have to
do it and thank us in stealth?
Did you have a fight?.. Raimondo,
I asked you a question."
Ray
was tempted to confirm her guess, it would be
easier than telling
her the truth. Instead he sighed.
"No ma.. I'll talk
to you when I get home."
He
hung up wondering how he'd explain why Fraser wasn't
going to be
around any longer and resorted to such stealthy
measures to get Deif back.
A less than subtle cough
had him looking up to find a
curious Elaine and Huey standing by
his desk.
"What?"
"Did I hear you
say Fraser?"
"Is
he out of the hospital?"
"He
must be, if he got worse, Ray'd be out of here so
fast that he'd
break the sound barrier on his way out."
"Very
funny."
"And
he's missing his furry side kick."
"He
took off this morning."
"That's
why you were late."
"Yeah.
That was my mother telling me Fraser dropped off
a thank-you card.
So I guess Dief smelt him coming and ran
off to meet him."
"He didn't say hello?"
"Benni stopped
talking to me before he went into
hospital."
"Did you two have
another fight?"
Ray
sighed. Once word got out about Fraser being out of
hospital, he
was sure to be hearing that question a lot.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
3 months passed before
Ray saw Fraser again, and it was
a sighting that left him standing
stock still in the middle
of a park, in shock.
His Fraser, laughing
as he writhed in the playful
embrace of a living Adonis in a expensive
designer clothing.
Turning in the man's embrace to kiss him, arms
wrapped
around his neck, their passion for each other blatant and on
show
for all to see. Deif bounded around the passionate pair
in excited
circles until they broke it up and gave their
attention to him and then they moved off teasing Deif with
some form of junk food.
A gentle hand on his
arm snapped Ray out of it and he
turned to see his mother's concerned
face.
"You miss him, don't
you Raimondo?"
Ray
nodded with a sigh.
"Why
don't you go after him?"
"Ma
- he's with his *lover*."
"I
noticed. Is that what you had a fight over? His
orientation? Is
that why you don't talk to him any more? You
disappoint me Ray."
"You don't care?
I mean that he's.. you know.. "
"Bisexual."
"Yeah. The
church.. "
"Say's
many things are a sin, many things that you do
are considered a
sin, divorcing your Angie, having non
marital sex with various partners.. I never stopped you
doing it. And it's not as if you're going to have that sort
of relationship with him - it's very very obvious that he's
very much in love with that Adonis he's with."
"Yeah.. He is.."
"And for that
you cut him off."
"What
do you think people are going to be thinking once
they find out
about his relationship with Mr Muscles. I'll
tell you what they're going to be thinking, they're gonna be
wondering
just how close we really were. They're wonder if
I'm Gay, if I was sleeping with him. That's what they're
going to be thinking."
"What's worse, what
people *might* think, or loosing
your best friend because you're
too afraid to accept what he
is because of what others might think?"
"If it was up to
me, I'd say to hell with what people
think."
"Then go after him,
say Hi, who's your friend - show
him it doesn't matter to you."
"Why don't you?
It wasn't my idea. It was his and half
the reason Benni ended our
relationship was out of worry how
the people around me would react
to this.. If he sees you
can handle what he is.. He might .. change his mind."
She
looked around, as did Ray.
"Damn
too late.. They're gone."
"Another
time.. They'll come back.. Then I'll do it."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray was driving down
the street, when out of nowhere
the Mountie steeped directly into
the path of his car and
planted himself in middle of the road. Ray came to a
screeching halt less than an inch away, then Fraser strode
around the car, ripped the door open and climbed in.
"Are you mad! I
could have hit you!"
"Drive..
Before you start a traffic jam." Fraser said,
doing up his
seat belt.
"What did you do
that for?"
"I
saw your car.. I chased you for three blocks till I
got ahead of
you. I couldn't keep chasing you till you
reached lights. So I made you stop."
"Why do it in the
first place?"
"You
sent your mother after me, that was a very low
thing to do."
"Oh, she caught
you in the park."
"That
cost me a black eye."
"What?!"
"Dante's a
very.. Jealous man, your mother babbled on
about how much you miss
having me around.. And he took it
all the wrong Ray.. We had a fight about it later."
"And he hit you."
"Yes."
"Leave him."
"No."
"G-d Benni,
you ought to know better."
"I
know better - that's why I told you our partnership
was over. I
knew he'd get jealous and that it'd lead to a
fight. And he's got a perfect right to act that way whenever
he
feels our relationship is threatened."
"He doesn't have
the right to hit you."
"I hit him
back and then we kissed and made up.. "
Fraser said, a cheeky
smile appearing, "Very passionately
that was the end of it.
I know how to handle his jealous
snits."
"So he's done it
before."
"I
gave him good cause not to trust me once."
"Translation."
Fraser rubbed at
his nose, then pulled the filter mask
off his belt, bringing it
to Ray's attention as he pulled it
on.
"Are you still using
that? I thought they cured your
allergy."
"They never found
out what triggered the sneezing fits,
I just stopped having them.
They decided it was an allergic
reaction to some form of pollen that was in the air at the
time... I don't believe that, not any more. I've had over a
dozen sneezing fits since I got out and I still don't know
what triggers them, but I do know the signs and I keep this
on hand to deal with them."
"And it works?"
"As long as
I get it on before it goes from a sniffle
to a sneeze. The one time
I misplaced it, I had a sneezing
fit, right in front of Dante.. That's when he stopped
pretending I was just another subordinate and started
clucking."
"Until my mother
came along and then he turned into the
green eyed monster."
"He doesn't trust
me very much."
"Why?
You said you gave him a good reason not to trust
you. What was it?"
"We weren't official
partners at first.. He was a
superior officer and I had a very attractive
woman for my
partner - in the same way you and I were. She provided an
excellent cover for our relationship everyone thought she
and I were partners of a different kind."
"And he got in a
snit about it."
"He
came home and caught me in bed with her."
"Fraser!"
"It was the
only time I ever slept with her."
"You
know I never figured you for the cheating type."
"I
wasn't cheating on him.. It just..happened, well,
I'm sure she planned
for things to end that way, but I
certainly didn't expect her to pounce.. and er... Dante and
I never made the fact our relationship was less than
platonic known to others.. and it's a very long story."
"Oh
I'm sure it is."
"She
was like Irene."
"What?!"
"Her brother
was a crime lord. I didn't know it till
that night. I was always
trying to recruit her.. I thought
she'd make a brilliant mountie. She always rejected the
suggestion.. That was the night I found out why.. She was
caught between two worlds. The world she wanted, and his
world.. "
"Was she part of
his syndicate?"
He
sighed and nodded.
"But
not.. actively.. When she refused to stop seeing
and working with
me, he *used* it to his own advantage..
Together we wiped out most of his competition - she lead me
to them, to catch them in the act, and I'd arrest them. He
gave her the information.. As long as I was useful to him
in some way he didn't try to stop her being with me. But
then, she over heard.. something she was not meant too. It
seems.. we did the unforgivable, we inadvertently busted
one of his operations up. He didn't discuss his operations
with her and she didn't know about that one or she would
have kept me well clear of it.. As she had others she was
aware of."
"So.. she did know
what he was up to?"
Fraser
nodded.
"She
told me things.. . So many things.. We talked..
all day.. Well,
actually. She talked, I just listened..
Shocked to the core."
"And then you went
to bed with her."
"Yes."
"Sometimes
I question your sanity."
"The
information she gave me that day could have put
her brother and
his syndicate away for the rest of their
sorry lives.. .She warned me about his revenge.. How he was
setting
the both of us up - along with his last enemy.. To
take care of us all in one fell swoop.. How she was going
back to get enough evidence to turn the tables on him.. The
evidence
to pin all the things she'd told me about on him.
And I asked why she was doing it.. She could have just
disappeared and saved herself.. And she hit me we something
and
said I was so thick.. The next thing.. well.. She
uh..*showed* me why she did it."
"Uh-hu.. She's
right, sometimes you can be quite
thick."
Fraser smiled faintly.
"I might have
been a fool not to see it earlier.. But
I was smart enough to realise
that.. what she knew would be
worth to the Justice Department.
She was going to get the
evidence and I was going to use it make a deal with them in
return for her evidence and testimony to put the worst of
her brothers syndicate away."
"And you blew it."
"I.. couldn't
tell Dante.. The mood he was in he would
have arrested her on the
spot.. And I realised that if we
were ever to.. get past that.. unintentional betrayal.. . I
couldn't
be involved.. I tracked my father down and dumped
it in his lap. And by the time I got back.. The trap had
snapped shut around me.. I was home five minutes.. Just
enough time to find Dante's note.. Telling me he'd gone..
and why.. When the door was kicked in and I was dragged out
in
cuffs under arrest.. I found out she.. vanished ..
That no one had seen her.. since the day she came to me.
Which made no sense, because it took me over a month to
catch up with my father and almost another to return.. "
"She
got caught.. "
"They
killed her.. I apparently learned that fact in
prison."
"Prison?! They sent
you to prison?!"
"I
was framed and set up by a master and sent to prison
and it took
three months for my Father and Dante working
together to get me out."
Ray pulled over due to
the fact that the turn the
conversation had taken was making it
dangerous to stay on
the road..
"You spent three
months in prison?!"
"Most
of it in solitary confinement and the infirmary."
"I
don't think I want to know why."
"I
was.. pack raped by a group of men who were sent
there as a result
of both my father and I arresting them."
"G-d
Benni."
"It
happened the day I arrived.. I should have been
segregated.. I
wasn't until after it happened.. I was sent
from the infirmary
to solitary.. and back to the infirmary
after I became catatonic.. I don't.. remember any of it..
Though..
I did.. discuss it.. under hypnosis once. Dante
wanted to get the names of the men.. who raped me to follow
it
up."
"So you don't remember
a single thing about it?"
"It
was.. the only way I could deal with an extremely
traumatic situation.
Block it out entirely. Even then.. I
was a nervous wreck for months. Dante took me to his new
post and helped me to recover.. To regain my shattered
confidence.. That was when he became my official partner.
It took.. a year for our relationship to.. begin again..
but it was never the same.. and even now.. there are
certain things he just won't do.. out of fear of how I'll
react. That's why he rejected me after my father got him
exiled."
"He thinks it'd
remind you of what happened in the
prison?"
Fraser nodded.
"He
didn't *know* though he suspected it at first. I
think I said or
did something in my sleep.. That's when
Dante arranged for me to be hypnotised and it all came out,
during the hypnosis session. Including the fact she was
dead. Her body has never been found and I never knew..
exactly who killed her, or who took great delight in
informing me of the fact. It was .. then.. that I lost all
hope..
And became catatonic.. Gaining my freedom hinged on
my father making
contact with her and getting the evidence
from her.. Protecting her till they were brought to trial."
"Or so you thought.
He and Dante seemed to have done it
without her."
"I don't know how
they did it. I asked, they always
said, don't ask. I gather..it
involved some less than legal
actions on Dante's part. That's how my father eventually got
Dante
exiled, by reporting exactly how Dante got some of
that evidence.."
"Lovely, the man
got you out, helps you rebuild your
life and career and your father
shows his gratitude for the
help by messing up your relationship."
Fraser's father popped
up, leaning on the back of the
seats.
"I already admitted
that it might have been a mistake
to act without getting the story
from you first."
"It wasn't because
of our relationship, though he was
less than pleased about it. It
was all due to a
misunderstanding."
"The sort that involved
bruises Dante gave you, I bet."
"Well
yes.. Dante was teaching me self defence. I
didn't take it seriously,
till he changed his strategy,
sometimes he didn't pull his blows, or I'd forget how to
take a fall safely and I'd end up covered with bruises.
Someone, I don't know who started spreading rumours that I
got my bruises another way, my father didn't bother talking
to me to find out the whole story, he just reacted."
"But you worked
things out with him, didn't you?"
"It
took three years. I wanted nothing to do with him
after I found
out who had Dante exiled. Then one night we
ended up in the same bar when a fight broke out, and he saw
me defend myself in a way he'd never seen me do it before -
but he was familiar with that particular style of fighting.
He worked out that Dante had been teaching me self defence,
made a few enquires, realised he made a mistake and
apologised for it. In his own way."
"Uh-hu."
"He needed Buck's
help to do it.. Because I refused to
have any dealings with him.."
"I'm not surprised."
"Why don't
you tell him how we did it? That'd give him
a real laugh."
"And it's.. quite
a funny story."
"Yeah..
Well, I really don't have the time for it. I
should'na stopped for
you in the first place, I'm working on
an important murder case,
and I gotta explain all the
expenses I've racked up trying to get somewhere on it. Welsh
is
gonna kill me for being late as it is. If I'm lucky the
leads I got today will get me off the hook.. But if I don't
get there soon, he isn't going to give me the chance to
justify things. He's just gonna tear strips offa me."
Fraser unbuckled.
"I just wanted to
tell you - to stay away and keep your
emissaries away. I don't need
the aggravation sending them
causes."
"Beating, the word
is beating, not aggravation," Fraser
Snr said.
"It won't happen
again.. Just give me your word you'll
let me know when he leaves.
I miss having you around,
irritating the hell out of me and I really don't give a damn
what
anyone thinks. Or what *you* might be thinking at any
given time. You are what you are and I won't hold it against
you."
"I still think that.."
Ray's hand flew
to his belt buckle, unclipping it and
Fraser suddenly found his
filter mask tugged down, and Ray's
lips on his. His eyes almost
bugged out of his head, and he
stiffened for a time before his body betrayed him and he
found himself wrapping a hand around the back of Ray's
skull, kissing Ray back, a little hesitantly at first then
with increasing passion.
It was Ray who broke
it up, pulling away gasping for
breath to look at Fraser wide eyed.
Fraser snapped the mask
back into place as he felt the overwhelming urge to sneeze.
"Well, well, that
was a real surprise," Fraser Snr
drawled.
"When he leaves,
you call me," Ray said when he caught
his breath.
"I.. I.. D.. Does
that mean..???"
"I
dunno what it means, I just.. Felt like doing that,
O.K. It doesn't
mean I wanna go to bed with you.. I just..
Want you to know.. I don't.. find the idea of you wishing
that I would, go to bed with you, totally repugnant."
The look Fraser gave
him was hot enough to set off a
heat sensitive fire alarm.
"Get out of the
car before you make a fool out of
yourself, Benton." His father
ordered.
"I don't want to
loose the best friend I ever had, O.K.
I ain't gonna sleep with
you.. Just so long as you can
accept that, then I can accept that you're attracted to me."
Fraser nodded and climbed
out.
"I'll
call you."
Then
he closed the door and walked away.
=Perhaps
sooner than you think= Fraser thought.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Four
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
Fraser sat in the park
watching birds pecking at the
grass and strutting their stuff in
mating dances. Well he
wasn't really watching them, he just appeared to be
extremely interested in their avian activities, his thoughts
though
were elsewhere. To be accurate his thoughts were on
Ray and what happened in the car, and he contradiction
between Ray's action and his words and also on Dante.
To be perfectly honest
he had once thought he was in
love with Dante, now he wasn't sure.
He'd been young,
inexperienced with a bad case of Hero worship and rampaging
hormones. Now he was older and wiser, he knew what love was,
Victoria
taught him that. Love was more than the desire to
share your body with someone, it was caring, it was a
desperate yearning to be with the one you loved, in more
than the physical sense.
He was happy with Dante,
their relationship was better
than it had been, Dante no longer
tried to hide the fact
they had a relationship. He wasn't afraid to show the world
they had a relationship, he treated him like an equal,
instead of someone who had to be nurtured and clucked over.
Oh, he still clucked occasionally. But there was also a side
to
him that disturbed Fraser, while he'd learned to handle
Dante's occasional jealous snit, and enjoyed the making up
part of the process, Dante's anger scared him.
He remembered how some
of his self defence lessons had
come during times when Dante had
been seething over some
woman flirting with him. Not that he ever responded to their
advances.
At those times, Dante didn't pull his blows,
they'd come hard and fast, delivering pain, leaving livid
bruises. On the other hand, he hadn't really taken Dante's
lessons seriously until Dante stopped pulling his blows.
He'd learned his lessons
well, learning how to block,
avoid and defend himself against such
blows. But now Dante
didn't have a way of venting his anger over perceived
betrayals. At least when they were working out together,
even if he'd blocked and avoided every blow, Dante had still
been
able to vent in the attempt to land a blow or two, and
lessons that started out with a scowl often ended with a
smile, and praise for his improvements.
Now, Dante just exploded.
He wondered how Dante would
react if he knew about his meeting with
Ray. Well, he didn't
have to wonder, he knew Dante would explode,
but how would
he react if he knew Ray had kissed him, that he'd returned
that kiss and wished it would never end.
The answer was that he
would probably resort to
physical violence and that was something
Fraser didn't want
to think about it and so his thoughts turned to what
happened with Ray again instead.
Ray's actions said one
thing, while he said something
completely different. And it wasn't
just happened in the
hear and *now*, the same thing had happened in the past.
There were times he could have sworn Ray was attracted to
him. Like the day he'd broken his wrist.
For a brief moment while
he'd been holding Ray he could
have sworn he'd felt the tell tale
evidence that his touch
had turned Ray on. But the pain, and worry for his mother no
doubt
had dealt with that. But there were other times, Ray
was a natural touchie feelie kind of guy, but before he'd
ended his association with him, Ray had seemed to be
touching him all the time. An arm draped over his shoulder
here, a hand on his arm, standing close enough that Fraser
could feel the heat of his body, feel his breath against his
skin
and smell the scents of the various toiletries Ray
wore.
Those were the times
Fraser found himself thinking of
home, particularly the long cold
winters, the ice, snow and
winds with high chill factors. Because Ray made his pulse
race and his temperature rise when he invaded his personal
space in that special way of his. And all those times Ray
had ended up grubby and stripped in front of him, to shower,
without
a second thought. He always ended up turning down
the offer to go in after him because he knew that Ray
wouldn't think twice about staying around, tending to all
those other things one did in bathrooms. If he'd stripped in
front
of Ray, the Italiao-American wouldn't have remained
ignorant about where his tastes lay for long.
But Ray had said he wasn't
interested in the sort of
relationship he was. Oh, on an unconscious
level, Ray might
find him attractive, but he obviously had no conscious
desire to purse anything but friendship. And after that
kiss, well.. Perhaps leaving was the right thing to do.
But leaving lead to the
possibility of spending the
rest of his life alone. He knew that,
and once he could
possibly have accepted it. He'd gotten used to being alone.
Then Ray had come along. Worse, Dante had reminded him how
good it felt to be in a steady intimate sexual relationship.
Fraser
sighed, his thoughts going around in circles. He
wanted Ray, but
he couldn't have Ray. He had Dante, but the
only thing that relationship had going for it was passion.
The sex was great, but there was nothing else to it. But
then again, he'd been so sure that it would end when Dante
left that he never really tried to make anything else out of
it.
Which meant he had no one but himself to blame for it.
Perhaps what he needed
to do was stop pining over a man
he couldn't have, and work to improve
the relationship with
the man he had.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Welsh was about to bite
into the sandwich Vecchio's
late arrival had given him time to prepare,
but interrupted
the eating of, when he clearly heard a loud wail from
outside the building. A wail that sounded like it came from
Vecchio. He set the sandwich down and moved to his window
opening it to look down at the street below.
There he saw Vecchio
by his car, being rapidly
surrounded by people. The Italiao-American
looked like he
was about to hyperventilate. Someone asked him a question
and he started pointing and gesturing at his car in a highly
agitated
state.
Welsh left the office
and hurried down to the street
level moving around the crowd onto
the road intending to
circle around the car. He stopped dead on the road staring
at the side of Ray's car. Both tires that he could see had
been slashed and someone had taken a sharp implement to the
paint work and most likely a boot to the body. It was full
of dents and scored clear through to the metal with deep
grooves.
That was more than enough
to catch attention but what
really grabbed and held Welsh's attention
was the fact that
there was more than dents and deep grooves in the paint
work, there was also a message carved into the side of the
car's fender. He shuffled along and squatted down, pulling
out his note book and wrote it down.
Once he had it down,
word for word, he moved around the
car and shouldered his way to
Ray's side. The damage to the
other side of the car was no where near as extensive as the
other, there was just one big deep groove. He dispatched
everyone hovering around and then showed Ray the message
he'd found.
"Mean anything to
you?"
Ray took
the note pad and looked at it. It was a
message in Italian.
"Where did you..?"
"What does
it say?"
"Next
time it'll be your face, faggot."
Welsh
wrote that down.
"Take
a deep breath, Vecchio, good, now take another
one.. That's it now
count to a hundred."
"A hundred?"
"A hundred,
and take a deep breath every ten seconds.
"I'm
calm already where did you get that?" He asked
then turned
and peered at and through the windows.
It wasn't written on
any of the car's windows. He
looked at the trunk and hood. Nothing
there. Ray raced
around the car and stopped dead in the middle of the road.
He turned white, then red and looked ready to explode. Then
he surprised Welsh by taking a deep breath, moving back
around the car, muttering, "99.. 98.. 97.. 96.. 95.." and so
on under his breath and walked to the stairs where he sat
down and continued counting and deep breathing with his
hands clenched into fists. His hands clenched and
unclenched, those long fingers unfurling and curling back up
into
a fist.
When he reached one,
he started counting back the other
way. Welsh climbed the steps
and called for another officer
and pulled out his note pad writing a note. Ripping it away
he handed it to the officer and dispatched it before he
moved to sit near Ray and watch him.
Ray reached a hundred
and kept going. He was nearing
590 when one of the forensic teams
descend on the car with
their kit and started snapping photos and dusting it down
for prints. Somewhere around 1005 Ray jumped up to his feet
and stomped into and through the building, Welsh hot on his
tail.
Ray's first stop was
the first available phone he could
find. He called the consulate
to ask if Fraser had returned
that afternoon. Welsh could tell that Ray didn't like the
answer. His response to it was to start ringing hospitals
and medical centers.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Dante returned to his
apartment, to find the lights
down low and the table set with candles.
In fact there were
candles just about everywhere. He stomped through the lounge
and
dinning area blowing out candles. When Fraser stepped
into the room, the smile of welcome on his face vanished,
and the Mountie felt the urge to duck back out of the room
and try to leave the apartment. By the looks of things Dante
was
in a foul mood.
But the masochist in
Fraser (what you haven't seen
Victoria's Secret) made him stay where
he was, to watch the
seething man approach. He prepared to block or avoid a blow,
but
Dante surprised him.
"Where were you
this afternoon?"
"I..uh.."
"Do you think
that because we have a personal
relationship that it gives a licence
to do as you will?"
"No..
I.. "
"Can
spend the next week on Sentry duty."
=All
I'll do is get Turnbull into trouble if I mention
that I did call
the consulate and leave a message that I
wasn't returning=
Dante stomped off and
Fraser relaxed.
"And
get rid of the candles, don't you know they're a
fire hazard."
Fraser started collecting
the candles, thinking so much
for trying to inject a little romance
into their
relationship.
"And get your damned
wolf off the bed, he's shedding."
Fraser
sighed and his breath caught as he heard
something crash, and dropped
the collected candles on the
table and rushed out into the hall. Deifenbaker bounded out
of the bedroom and down the hall to the lounge. Fraser
watched him disappear, then moved onto the bedroom, peering
around the door way. Dante sat on the edge of the bed by the
bedside
table. The cut glass lamp that usually sat on that
bedside table lay on the floor in a hundred one pieces.
Dante on his part was holding his head, his finger's
massaging his temples and staring at the debris. Fraser
noticed a vein pounding away in a base relief on his temples
and
quietly backed off. Perhaps taking Deifenbaker for a
walk, a long walk, would be a good idea.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray drove through the
streets at high speed ignoring
half the road rules and narrowly
avoided two collisions
speeding through intersections as he headed for the
hospital. He brought the car to a rubber burning stop, his
foot jamming down on the brake. When the car came to a
complete stop, he spun in the seat, looking back down the
street.
When his brain registered
the fact his eyes hadn't
deceived him, he parked the car, jumping
out to call out to
the man walking with the white wolf a block away. When the
man stopped, turning to look back. Ray slammed the car door
closed and marched off down the street.
Fraser stood under the
street light with Deif sitting
at his heels tail thumping the pavement
as they watched Ray
stalk up the street. The moment the cop reached them his
hands slammed into Fraser's chest, sending him staggering
back two or three steps.
"Where have you
been all afternoon?!" Ray yelled at
him.
Deif growled moving between
him and the Mountie.
"Why?"
Ray spun with an
angry follow me gesture stalking back
up the street. Fraser followed
him, rubbing at his chest as
he went. He was sure he was going to have two bruises in the
form
of Ray's hands on his chest the next day such was the
force of Ray's angry move.
He watched the angry
man move around the side of the
car and rip away a sheet of plastic
that was taped down over
the side rear fender. As he moved around
the side of the
car, he saw the length of the car was covered with plastic
sheets and tape. When he looked at the uncovered section he
saw why. The deep grooves in the paint work were clearly
evident even in the dwindling light, and so were the words
carved into the side of the car.
He looked to Ray.
"What does it say?"
"Next time
it's your face, Faggot."
Fraser's
eyes widened.
"Someone
did that to my car after I saw you.. I was in
the station house
for maybe.. half an hour, forty five
minutes. They slashed up the tyres on this side, along with
the paint work and.."
He ripped off another
sheet of plastic on the door to
show the deep dents there.
"Put the boot in.
And after I saw that message, I was
worried about your safety. I
tried tracking you down, but
you didn't go back to the consulate.. They told me the
Inspector went looking for you when you didn't turn up and
came back in a foul mood.."
"He put me on Sentry
duty for a week for it."
"That's
all?"
"I
was expected quite a different reaction.. He *is* in
a foul mood.
That's why I decided to take Deif for a walk.
To give him a chance to cool down."
Ray taped the sheets
back in place.
"Get
in."
"I.."
"You got something
better to do?"
After
a few moments Fraser moved around the car and Ray
climbed in, leaning
across the car to open the door for
Fraser. He sat back watching Fraser push the seat forward
for Deifenbaker and watched the Wolf leap in to settle down
on the back seat with a happy look on his furry face. Fraser
pushed
the seat back up and climbed in, belting up as Ray
started the Riv.
"I was heading for
the hospital when I saw you, they've
got a John Doe in who fits
your general description. Someone
beat him up bad and took a knife
to him."
"You thought it
was me."
Ray
nodded as he turned to look over the street before
he pulled away
from the curb.
"What was I supposed
to think after finding that
message gouged into the side of the
car when everyone I
calls says they haven't seen you?"
"I went to the park..
To think.. Until it started
raining, I didn't realise how much time
had passed. And I
was soaked through before I got to shelter so I went home to
change
into dry clothes."
"Home being his
place now?"
Fraser
nodded.
"I
didn't see the point in returning to the consulate
at that time..
I rang in and asked Turnbull to pass a
message on.."
"Well it wasn't
Turnbull I spoke too. He probably
forgot to pass the message on."
"Oh, no.. He's become
incredibly efficient since Dante
took over."
"He has?"
"Ever since he made
a mistake that infuriated Dante. He
called Turnbull in. I could
hear him, yelling at him, and
when it was over Turnbull scuttled out as white as a sheet
and Dante needed a new desk because he broke the one he had
in two."
"Now that would
be intimidating."
"I
saw him break a pool table in two once."
"Now
that's impressive."
"I'm
sure the fact it was infested with termites
helped."
Ray chuckled at that.
"But I was
talking about Turnbull.. He tries to avoid
Dante whenever possible,
that means double and triple
checking everything he does to make sure he hasn't made any
mistakes.. And he passes messages on to me to pass on to
Dante, or if I'm not around, he drops notes on Dante's desk
when he's out of the room rather than personally delivering
the messages."
"I bet that irritates
Dante."
"Sometimes.
I'll have to remember to leave early and
remove the note from his
desk before he sees it."
"Do you mind if
I ask.. a personal question? I've seen
Dante.."
"You have?"
"In the park
with you.. Ma called Him Adonis, the name
fits.. He must make women
drool where ever he goes."
"They tend to walk
into things because they're so busy
watching him that they're not
watching where they're going."
"I
can understand you finding him attractive.. If I
shared your tastes,
I'd find him attractive."
"What is the question?"
"Why me? I
mean that *God* puts me in the shade."
Fraser
opened his mouth to answer, and felt the tickle
in his nose that
was the precursor to a sneeze and
automatically reached for his filter mask. He only
remembered that he'd left it behind in the bedroom when he
didn't find it attached to his belt.
"Stop the car!"
"What?"
Fraser grabbed at
his nose, pinching it as that tickle
became the full blown urge
to sneeze.
"Stop the car, now!"
Ray stopped the
car and Fraser fumbled with the belt
while fighting the urge to
sneeze. Ray reached across to
unclip his belt. Fraser threw the door open and jumped out
loosing the battle and sneezed.
Ray sighed.
Fraser wound the window
down and closed the door before
he moved to the foot path. Ray parked
the car while Fraser
let out another sneeze or two. Climbing out he leaned on the
roof
and looked at Fraser as Fraser pinched his nose and
drew in deep breaths through his mouth. There were no more
sneezes.
"Where's your mask?"
"I left it
behind.. In the bedroom after I got
changed.. That's where Dante
was.."
"Are you through
sneezing now?"
Fraser
nodded.
"I
think so."
Ray
looked around.
"It's
a valid question that you asked.. It's one of
things I was thinking
about today."
"Oh.. Well, do you
think you can get back into the car
before you answer it."
"I don't think so."
Rays hand slipped
under his coat, snaking around to
pull out his gun as he kept an
eye on the group of toughs
who were heading their way. He kept the gun out of sight,
preferring to avoid a confrontation.
"This isn't the
best place to have a conversation,
Fraser."
"Something in your
car keeps setting me off, I don't
have my filter, if I get back
into your car I could have a
violent sneezing fit."
"Yeah, well.."
He watched one of
those toughs, flicking a knife open
there was no doubt in his mind
they saw them as easy prey.
"You're gonna have
a lot more than that to worry about
if you don't get in the car
now, Benni," he said with a jerk
of his head.
Fraser looked around,
and saw the group moving in. This
time he didn't argue the point.
He and Ray both climbed into
the car. Ray didn't wait for him to
belt up, he swung the
car into a tight u-turn and sped away. Fraser looked back
and winced when he saw one of the group hurl a bottle that
hit the center of the back window with an unerring accuracy
that was frightening. He winced as the window fractured.
"Great, just great..
What else can happen to my car
today?" Ray asked looking around.
Fraser looked around
in time to see the car enter an
intersection at the same time as
a car coming from the
right. One hand flew to the dash while the other ripped the
seat belt over his body.
"Look out!"
His warning came
too late. No sooner had he clipped the
belt into place than Ray's
desperate attempt to avoid the
imminent crash failed. He spun the wheel hard to the left
and the screech of brakes was followed by the impact of the
car that had been crossing colliding with them. Fraser's cry
rang
through the car as pain swept over him coming from
three different places at once. The view of the world
outside blurred and swung crazily as the car tilted onto two
tyres
and wavered there for a few sickening moments then the
car which
collided with them was reversing and jamming on
the park break. Door's opened and slammed and as the car
rocked, and started to tip, then the occupants of the other
car, were there jumping up and grabbing at the back of the
car and the handle of the door. The extra weight tipped the
balance and the Riv slammed back down on all four tyres and
shuddered. Totally white faced with shock Fraser looked
around and almost cried out in pain again as he turned his
head sending pain lancing through him.
His view of the world
swam in and out of focus. He
heard whimpering from Deif in the back
of the car, saw Ray
slumped against the door, at an awkward angle as if he'd
flopped there, and he probably had. He was out cold, his
clothes covered in sliver's of glass and blood ran down his
face, his breathing harsh and laboured. As he focused on Ray
the
trickle of blood down his face ended as Ray lost his
battle to breathe. Fraser's arm rose and he tried to reach
out toward him but the move caused him so much pain he
aborted it. And watched a stranger lean on the side of the
car to look through the now non existent window.
"Help him,"
he said weakly, wrapping his arms around
his own ribs at the pain
it brought him.
He watched the stranger
reach out to touch Ray's face
then his throat.
Fraser became aware of
a hand on his shoulder and a
voice asking him questions, and cried
out as pain lanced
through his shoulder and neck. The world spun and then the
pain and consciousness faded away.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Five
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
Fraser sat propped up
in his bed, his neck encased in a
brace his arm in a sling, a plaster
cast that ran from
shoulder to wrist, and down to his waist and covered in
signatures, lip stick marks and commentary. He smiled weakly
when
he saw Dante's head poke around the door frame to his
private room. Seeing that Fraser was awake Dante smiled and
slipped into the room to cross to Fraser's bedside.
"How are you feeling?"
Fraser tried to
speak but his mouth was so dry that all
that came out was a croak.
Dante looked around then poured
him a glass of water, popped a bendy straw from the
collection on the tray and held it up to Fraser's mouth.
Fraser drank giving him a grateful look.
"Better?" He
asked as he lowered the half empty glass.
"Much."
"Do you know
how long you've been here?"
"Several
days."
"Four.
Every time I came in you were either sedated or
sleeping. It gave
me a lot of time to think."
"About what?"
"You - *us*."
"Oh."
=Here it comes..
The I love you but I don't think we
should see each other any more
speech=
"And I kept thinking
*why*.. It's insane.. You know all
my bad habits, about my temper
and jealousy.. But you still
wanted to pursue the relationship."
Fraser watched Dante
pull a walkman out of one of his
jackets deep pockets.
"I heard this..
On the radio.. And it.. Summed up how I
felt."
He hit play and watched
Fraser.
Baby I've been watching you
(Baby I've been watching you)
watching everything you do
And I just can't help but feeling
someone else is stealing you away from me
Fraser's eyes widened.
I see it written in your eyes
and you confirm it with your lies
though the web you weave can hold me
I would rather that you told me
where you want to be
He hit stop.
"So
tell me.. Am I just being a paranoid and possessive
jerk again,
or is there someone else you'd rather be with."
=Ray=
"Because I don't
know what to think any more.. I
thought you just decided to take
Deif for a walk to give me
a chance to cool down.. But you didn't come back.. And then,
I get
a call from the consulate.. Telling me you were
involved in a car accident. And when I get hold of the
accident report.. I find out it's the car of one Raymond
Vecchio.. And that was the name of the guy who's mother
pounced in the park.. And you told me there was nothing
going on there, that you hadn't even seen him in months."
"You've
seen the accident report?! You know what
happened to him!"
Dante bit his lip and
looked away.
"Dante..
If you know something tell me. I keep asking
and no body is giving
me answers.."
"I'm sorry...."
=Nooo Don't say
you're sorry.. Don't tell me he's
dead.=
"He suffered massive
chest injuries..and went into
cardiac arrest on the scene."
Fraser stared into nothingness.
"The crash
report says he wasn't wearing a seat beat..
If he had been, it might
have been a different story."
=If only I'd gotten back
into the car sooner he would
have had time to belt up.. He'd still
be alive.=
Fraser felt Dante's hand
stroking his arm heard him
speaking but all he could think about
was Ray until part of
what Dante had to say sank in.
=He's leaving *now*!=
He looked at Dante.
=And I really don't
have a choice now that Thatcher is
back.. For some reason that woman
doesn't like me.. Within 5
minutes she had all my things packed
and literally tossed
out into the street, by Turnbull. Who I'm sure enjoyed being
given
that little task."
Dante stopped talking
and started clucking, pulling a
handkerchief out from a pocket to
wipe at Fraser's face as
tears ran down it with no conscious violation on Fraser's
part. His hand flew up to catch Dante's.
"Don't go."
"I'm not going
anywhere.. I'll stay as long as you want
me to."
"Forever."
Dante just stared
at him for what seemed the time
period in question.
"I can't stay *here*
in the states.. I have to go back
home."
"Australia."
Dante looked around
and stuck out his leg to drag the
chair close enough to sit on it.
"It's not as bad
as some people might lead you to
believe.. It's true that the heat
in summer can be
incredible, but that's why God invented air-conditioners."
Fraser gave a weak tremulous
smile.
"It's
a glorious country and I've managed to visit
every state over the
years.. I'd love to show it to you. I
used to hold the same post you have here at my consulate..
Now I've been promoted.. My old post is still up for grabs..
You
could come with me.. As more than just my S.O. And you
wouldn't be stuck behind a desk shuffling papers all day,
s'cept in summer, when you'll be happy to do just that."
"You..want
me.. to.. go back with you?"
"You
could make me the second happiest man on Earth if
you'll say you
will."
"Only the second
happiest? Who's the happiest man on
Earth?"
"The one who won
the 157,000,000 dollar jackpot in the
lottery yesterday."
Fraser gave another tremulous
smile, then broke down
again.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Have you ever seen one
of those cartoons, where the
character turns red, their eyes bug
out and steam starts to
spout from their ears? Well, at that particular time,
Turnbull thought Inspector Meg Thatcher was doing a rather
good impression of one of those characters as she faced
Inspector Mc Intire - Otherwise known as Dante. And the
reason that Inspector Thatcher was almost literally steaming
had
something to do with the piece of official paper work Mc
Intire
was holding up for her to see. Dante for his part was
looking smugly
satisfied. Turnbull started quietly backing
up.
He didn't get far, Meg
spun and stormed down the
corridor, grabbing his arm and dragged
him along, along the
way.
"Where is Benton?"
She hissed.
"In
the hospital."
"Literally?"
He nodded. She hauled
him into a side room.
"What
is he doing there?"
"He
was involved in a car accident."
Meg
looked at a speck of fluff on his shoulder, then
flicked it off.
"Find Vecchio."
"Er.. he was
apparently involved too."
She
closed her eyes pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Do
you know what either of their conditions are?"
"Fraser
has 3 fractured ribs, a broken arm, and severe
whiplash."
"Vecchio?"
"I'm not aware
of his condition, but Inspector Mc
Intire did get his hands on the
accident report, Ma'am."
"You
cleared his desk off.. Did you.."
"I
placed all the official papers in a file to sort
through and file
appropriately later, Ma'am."
"Find me that report."
"Yes, Ma'am.
If I can ask, what was that paper about?"
"He's
stealing Fraser away, he went right over my head
to get him transferred
to his consulate in Australia."
"What?! You can't
let him get away with that, Ma'am."
"I
don't intend to. Now find that accident report.. I
want to know
what Vecchio's condition is before that man
gets through packing up Fraser's things and heads out, I
want to know what Vecchio's condition is, which hospital
he's at, and if you still have that picture you pulled from
the security camera's and faxed me."
"Er.. No."
"No???"
"Er.. he walked
in.. I had to get rid of it before he
saw it.. and.. I fed it into
the shedder."
She pinched the bridge
of her nose again.
"The
tapes?"
"Have
been erased already, Ma'am."
"You
realise that when you shredded that picture and
didn't make sure
the tape it came from was saved, you
destroyed the evidence I could have used to prove he
assaulted Fraser."
"Actually Ma'am,
all it proved is that someone did it,
it didn't show the actual
assault."
"Everyone here knows
that he did it.. And you would
back me up if I filed a complaint
on his behalf, wouldn't
you Turnbull."
"Yes Ma'am. But
couldn't you use the Fax I sent you.."
"Some
idiot spilled coffee over it then tried to mop
the mess up, end
result, the ink was smeared everywhere and
you couldn't tell what the Fax relayed."
"Oh dear.."
"Get the accident
report, *now*."
Turnbull
nodded, spun and raced away. By the time she
reached her office
and sat down in her chair to reach for
the phone he was slipping into her office.
"That was fast."
He brought the report
to the desk and set it before
her.
"Find out whether
he came in a cab or a rented vehicle,
if it was the later, give
it a flat tire or three."
Turnbull nodded spun
on his heel and hurried away. She
opened the report and began reading.
When Turnbull returned
a few minutes later, he found
her staring white faced at the report.
"Ma'am."
"He's dead."
"Ma'am?"
"Vecchio. He's
dead."
She
looked up.
"Has
anyone visited Fraser yet?"
"We
tried.. He was always sedated during visiting
hours."
"Mc Intire?"
"Was visiting
the hospital morning, noon and night
Ma'am. I'm sure he's been able
to talk with him."
"And Mc Intire saw
this report.. Does he know about
their relationship?"
"What relationship?"
She stared at him.
"Their partnership
ended, Ma'am."
"Before
or.."
"Before
he arrived Ma'am. They had a fight about
something. Fraser told
us that if Detective Vecchio rang we
were not to give him any information whatsoever unless it
was directly related to his official duties."
"And they didn't
sort it out."
"Fraser
went into hospital due to his.."
"Allergy,
yes.. it happened before I left.."
"He
returned the day after you left, and reiterated his
statement about
the Detective. Then McIntire arrived.."
"And
Vecchio never once showed his face around here in
all that time?"
"Not even once."
She looked down
at the report again.
"So
what the hell was Fraser doing in his car if they
were no longer
associated?"
"I have no idea
Ma'am.. But Fraser did go missing
during the day.. After he left
to attend to some errand and
Inspector Mc Intire went looking for him and came back in
one of his moods..."
"At what time?"
"Four O'clock."
"The accident
was at 8."
"Vecchio
rang in at a quarter to five asking if Fraser
was in and Fraser
rang in ten minutes later to say he was
caught in the rain and had to go home, to change and
wouldn't be back because his allergy was making him
sensitive again."
"Did you take the
call?"
"Yes
Ma'am."
"Did
he *sound* like he did before he had that
sneezing fit here?"
Turnbull thought about
it, then shook his head.
"No
Ma'am."
"So
he lied..He could have been with Vecchio and didn't
want that big
ape to find out.."
"That would make
sense Ma'am.. Inspector Mc Intire
always looked like he'd like to
hit something whenever
someone paid Fraser too much attention. And he threw two
women out of the consulate *literally* after he caught them
trying to flirt with him. Then he dragged Fraser into his
office and yelled at him."
"What did he yell?"
Turnbull gave her
a helpless shrug.
"I
don't know he wasn't using any language I'm familiar
with."
"Is that when Fraser
got the bruises?"
"Er..
No Ma'am. He got those on his day off."
"So
you don't know for a *fact* that Mc Intire gave
them to him, do
you? You're just making a guess."
"Er.. Yes Ma'am..
but.."
"Get
out."
"But.."
"Now."
Turnbull began backing
up and Meg reached for the phone
and her Roladex. Flipping through
to V for Vecchio she ran
her finger down the card until she found the number listed
as the household phone number and dialled it.
Turnbull exited the room
and closed the door as she
listened to the phone ring. Just when
she was sure it was
going to ring out, the phone was answered.
"Hello.. This is
Inspector Thatcher, from the Canadian
Consulate.. I just returned
to Chicago and heard the news
about Raymond. I was just ringing to extend my condolences
and learn the funereal arrangements so that.."
Her eyes widened as the
member of the Vecchio clan who
answered cut in.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg stepped into the
ICU observation unit, to find
Francesca standing before the observation
window, her eyes
glued on the deathly pale figure that lay corpse like on the
bed
in the intensive care room beyond. He was surrounded by
an array of life support equipment, tubes and wire's
sprouting from his still form. One look was all Meg needed
to see that it would be impossible to enlist Raymond
Vecchio's assistance to keep Fraser from leaving with that
wretch Mc Intire.
He might have been revived,
but by the looks of it, the
only thing keeping him alive was the
life support equipment
that surrounded him.
Francesca looked around,
her face pale, dark smudges
under her eyes on her make up free face.
"Inspector Thatcher..
I thought you left town."
Meg
looked at Ray's still form again.
"I
left to be with my father before.. he died."
"I'm
sorry."
"He's
at peace now."
"How..?"
"Cancer."
"Oh."
"How is he?"
Frannie drew in
a deep shuddering breath shaking her
head.
Meg reached out to lay
a hand on her shoulder. Frannie
wrapped her arms around herself.
"I keep expecting
Fraser to walk in and then I remember
that they stopped talking
to each other, months ago.. over
some stupid argument."
"What did they have
a fight about?"
"There
was this doctor.. Who.. er.. thought they were a
couple..and even
though they both took advantage of it
later.. Ray ranted and raved about it.. he wasn't very happy
about
it.. And Benton was staying with us.. And he was
taking Fraser to some appointment.. and came home, late at
night without Benton.. He was stinking drunk.. And he said
something about Benton being Gay. Benton never came back..
Not even to get Deif.. Or thank us for looking after him..
And I didn't believe it.. About him being Gay.."
"But now.."
"After Fraser
took Dief, I heard Ray and my mother
talking and they were talking
about Benton.. He really is
Gay.. My mother wanted to try and talk to Benton.. But Ray
kept telling her to forget it and said it was a stupid idea
in the first place because Benton had already made up his
mind.. And that there was no point because he was going
home."
"Home? You mean
to Canada?"
Frannie
nodded.
"I
heard him say it twice. Benton told him he was going
back to Canada."
=:So either Fraser lied
to him, and Vecchio found out
about it the night of the accident
and Fraser being Fraser
would have gotten into the car and tried to explain it..
Which would explain what he was doing in the car if they
weren't talking to each other. The wolf was involved, he was
probably
out walking it when Vecchio drove past and saw
them...:=
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
After she left the Intensive
care ward, Meg went down
to the reception to find out where Fraser
was, and
discovered that he had checked out early that morning. Meg
spun and found a public phone with a pile of phone books and
let
her fingers do the walking. Five minutes later she was
in a car speeding toward the airport where Fraser and Dante
were waiting to board a flight for Australia.
As she jumped out of
the car the last and final
boarding call for their flight went out.
As she raced into
the airport and found out where the plane was boarding, it
pulled away. When she reached the gate, all she could do was
stand
at the windows with the friends and family of
passengers and watch as the plane lifted off the tarmac and
rose into the sky that was as dark and gloomy as she felt.
He day was complete
when she walked back to her car to
find a parking ticket under the
wiper.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Fraser stepped out of
the air-conditioned house with
views of Terrigal Beach to die for.
He was hit by a wave of
heat and looked at the thermometer that lay under the door
bell. 36 it said. It felt more like 100. He stepped back
inside, grateful for the air-conditioning and returned to
the bedroom to open Dante's wardrobe. There had to be
something in it more suited to the weather he could wear.
He regretted doing it
as he saw all the shirts with
colourful patterns it contained and
thought of Ray, who had
a collection of just as colourful shirts. He closed the
wardrobe sliding down the door pulling his legs up, wrapping
his
arms around them. His head fell to his knees and the
tears he'd managed to hold back, till that moment, began to
fall.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg stood before the
main window of her apartment
nursing a hot cup of coffee staring
out the window. The sky
was as dark and overcast as the day Fraser left the country.
She
couldn't believe that he'd left without once contacting
Ray's family, or visiting his bedside - the only explanation
for
it had to be because he didn't know that Vecchio was
still alive, even if he was hanging on by a slender thread,
kept alive by machines that preformed the tasks his damaged
organs were no longer able to preform.
She mentally chided herself
for letting that man enter
her thoughts again. Fraser had fallen
for that Earthbound
god and left everything he knew behind of his own free will.
He'd
apparently cut all his ties with Vecchio, including his
ties with
the Detective's family and associates. It didn't
seem likely that she'd ever learn why Fraser was in the car
the night of the accident. It nagged at her though. There
were so many things about the whole situation that just
didn't make sense to her.
Sighing she finished
her coffee and placed a phone call
to the hospital where Ray's family
kept a vigil over him.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray opened his eyes,
slowly focusing on the things
around him. His eyes widened when
he saw Meg sitting at his
bedside in surgical scrubs, a mask and cap, she was reading
a bodice ripper that was familiar to Ray. Frannie had been
reading the same book whenever he woke up to find her at his
bedside.
Ray made a gurgle around
the tube down his throat. Meg
looked up and put the book aside.
"Your family had
found a house to rent close to the
hospital, they're moving into
it as we speak.. I happened to
ring to ask how you were at the right
time to be roped into
sitting with you while they were busy moving in."
=Ah, that explains it..
G-d I wish I could talk.=
Meg
bent over and pulled out a bag.
"Your
sister gave me this. It's your mail.. From both
home and the precinct."
She opened the bag and
pulled out a pile of envelopes
with an elastic band around them.
"I'll read out the
return addresses and you can give me
the thumbs up if there are
any there you want me to open so
you can read them."
Then she began working
her way through the collection.
Ray gave her the thumbs up twice
and she opened the letters
and held them up where he could read them. The first one
made the heart rate monitor beep faster. She was curious but
when
he made a wave she took it and folded it up to slip it
back in the envelope and resumed going through the pile
while he lay there seething.
The second one he gave
the thumbs up to made him raise
his arm to rip the letter away from
her and scrunch it up.
He tried to toss it away but it landed on the bed, in his
lap as their wasn't much strength behind it. Meg collected
it and smoothed the letter out before tucking it back into
the envelope.
"Bad news I take
it."
The scowl
on his face was answer enough.
She
went through the rest of the pile and set it aside.
Out came five
brown paper wrapped parcels. He looked
interested in those. She read the return address on the
first and he gave it the thumbs down. She set it aside and
looked at the next. It was covered in not at this address,
try this one stickers.
"This is covered
in alternate addresses."
She
found the return address and read it out he frowned
not recalling
it.
"The cancellation
mark on this is several years old.
This parcel must have been travelling
around for years."
Curious
he gave her the thumbs up and she opened the
parcel. She found several
bound documents and a letter. She
held the letter up for him to read. He read the letter and
made a gurgle and grimaced his arm moving over his ribs.
"May I?"
He gave a faint nod and
she looked at the letter.
It
was from someone within the FBI addressed to Raymond
Vecchio thanking
him for his letter expressing an interest
in learning more about the art of building a profile of a
suspect. And the date at the top showed it had been sent out
almost
a decade ago.
"It took a long
time for this to reach you. Did you
ever study profiling?"
Ray gave a faint shake
of his head.
She
looked at the text books that accompanied the
letter and flipped
through them her eyes widening when she
realised what she had.
"Did you write to
the man who *invented* profiling?
These are case files from his
records and guide to profiling
that he wrote. It's covered in hand
written notes."
Ray looked interested.
She studied some of the notes
and looked at the case files.
"The notes refer
to the case files he included. Do you
know how hard it is to get
the FBI to share the secrets of
profiling? They don't give that information out freely. Most
likely
to stop the sort of people they use it to catch from
learning how to avoid being caught by a profiler."
He signalled at her and
it took her a few moments to
realise what he was trying to communicate.
"You want me to
read it for you?"
He
nodded.
She turned to the first
page and started reading. Six
pages in she stopped when she looked
up to see him fighting
to stay awake. Marking the page with the letter she slipped
the books back into the wrapping with the note and set it
aside. He looked disappointed as he watched her slide the
rest of the parcels and letters back into the bag. The bag
went under the chair again minus the parcel she'd opened.
"Stop fighting it,
Detective."
His
hand made a few gestures and his frustration was
clear.
"I'll be right back."
She left the room
and if he could have sighed he would
have. After listen to his sisters
prattle on about things he
had very little interest in for the last
few days, Meg had
been a breath of fresh air. And it was moments like this
that he just wanted to rip out the tubes that kept him from
being able to talk and was tempted to rip them out. But then
he
remembered how he'd tried to do just that the first time
he'd come to his senses. They'd strapped him down and
sedated him heavily.
He watched Meg return
and when he saw what she had in
her hands his eyes lit up. She gave
him a little smile then
stood by his bedside, helping him to hold the pen that she'd
collected
from her briefcase. Then she held the note pad
she'd brought along up and with an effort he started
writing.
He lost the pen, but
she retrieved it, every single
time he dropped it. Finally he let
his hand fall to the bed,
and closed his eyes letting sleep over
take him.
Meg looked at the pad,
covered in the big shaky letters
that looked like they were made
by a pre-school child.
-Thank-you. X 1000
XXXXXXXXOOXX-
She
chuckled as she sat and flipped to the next page
and made a note
to visit a stationary store and get some
supplies the next day. Then she set the pad and pen aside
and picked up Frannie's bodice ripper to start reading
again.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Six
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
Dante watched Fraser
mope around the beach house, and
sighed. All he seemed to do was
lie in bed, or on the couch.
He didn't need to be a mind reader
to know that he was
grieving for his friend. And the old spark of jealously that
would
have set him off in the past just smouldered away. He
was certain there was more to it than just friendship the
way Fraser was mourning the passing of this Vecchio was a
clear sign of it. But he'd made certain promises, to trust
Fraser more, to not let his jealousy get the better of him
again and refused to let Fraser's mourning for a dead man
get to him.
But the way Fraser moped
around was getting to him on
another level. He needed to visit a
doctor for follow up
treatment on his injuries but apart from keeping the
appointment Dante had set up the day they arrived so that he
could
meet the Doctor and go over his medical records,
Fraser hadn't bothered to return to the doctor and three
messages from his surgery had been ignored.
He wondered how to snap
Fraser out of it, but couldn't
think of anything off hand.
"Benton."
Fraser slowly turned
his whole body to look at him. His
neck still gave him a lot of
pain whenever he moved his
head.
"I rang the Quarantine
people and they said it's O.K to
visit Deifenbaker while he's in
quarantine."
For the first time since
he'd sunk into his highly
depressed state Fraser showed signs of
animation.
"Deifenbaker's alive!"
"Well yes,
didn't I mention that?"
"No!"
"Oh.. I'm sorry
it must have slipped my mind."
"How
badly was he hurt in the crash?"
"He
got off lucky with bruises and shock. I arranged
for him to be sent
here as soon as the vent thought he was
fit to travel. But the quarantine laws for animals like Deif
are
very strict. He's going to be in quarantine for some
time."
"Can we go tomorrow?"
Dante nodded with
a smile.
"Sure..
I can get a copter from the heliport and have
someone meet us with
a car at the other end."
"There's a heliport
near here? I haven't heard any
copters."
"There's a heliport
in west Gosford, you can hire a
copter there. That's how I got you
here from the airport,
one of the people met us there, and we bundled you into the
copter. I'm sure you'll enjoy your flight out a lot more
than the flight in."
"I don't remember
it."
"The
Pain killers knocked you out on the flight in you
were out cold...
That's why I asked the doctor to prescribe
something else."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg put the last of her
days work aside and reached for
her phone dialling her mother's
number.
"It's me Meg.. How
are you doing?" She asked when her
mother answered.
She listened to her mother
talk and assured her she was
fine and an idea that came to her in
the hospital returned.
"I was wondering..
Do you still have that hand & wrist
brace the nurse brought in for
Dad?"
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Dante worked in the kitchen
to prepare dinner after
their return from the quarantine center
where Deif was being
tended. He jumped half out of his skin when
he felt Fraser
wrap his good arm around his waist and give him a light hug.
"Did
I say thank-you?"
"4
times already."
"What
are you preparing?"
"Tossed
Chicken Salad. We've got lettuce, cucumber,
tomato, capsicum and
onion here," he said pointing to a
transparent green container
with layers sliced and diced
vegetables.
Its lid was set aside
and there was a collection of
spice bottles near it along with a
bottle of vinegar and
oil.
"I've just got do
the chicken and make some dressing
for it."
"You make your own."
"I had to play
body guard to some Canadian VIP's
daughter who's ex lives here with
his daughter she taught me
how to do it. She said there's nothing
worse than a man who
doesn't know his way around a kitchen."
He pointed to a shelf
filled with cookbooks before he
slipped out of the embrace to move
to the refrigerator and
fetched the barbecue chicken he'd collected on their way
home along with the milk and bread.
"The exercise book
is the recipe book she made for me."
Curious
Fraser moved to the shelf and pulled it down.
The book was dived
into six sections, Easy Meals, Fancy
Meals, Soup, Salads, Stews and Deserts. Flipping through it
he found the recipe for chicken salad. Take one small onion,
dump
in a bowl of boiling water. Take five large lettuce
leaves, slice them, take one large tomato dice it up, peel
quarter and slice a cucumber. Take one capsicum get rid of
the seeds slice and dice it. Take onion, peel, slice and
dice. Take one barbecue chicken or roast left overs. Dice
into bite sized chunks. Toss it all into a shaker sprinkle
with a little garlic salt and chicken seasoning, splash with
dressing
base put lid on shake well and enjoy (serves two).
=Simple and easy to understand=
He flipped through
and found a recipe for spaghetti
bolognaise sauce.
Take One can of Campbell's
spaghetti sauce, one small
tin Capsicums, one small tin Champignons,
one tin of peeled
tomatoes (chop them to suit), one small tin corn and dump it
all
in a *Big* pot. Sprinkle with Italian herbs, a little
parsley and garlic salt, bring to boil, then simmer,
stirring occasionally till it smells so good you can't wait
to eat it. (serves 4 - Tastes even better the next day)
"This is a very
simple recipe book."
"She
hates recipes books, she never measures anything,
when I brought
her one, she sat there going through it,
saying, get real, get real, get real.. Then she tossed it on
the
fire."
"She wasn't very
polite was she."
"She
ran a farm & only went shopping once a month.
Where ingredients
were concerned if she couldn't keep it in
a cupboard, or freeze it she didn't use it. The only
vegetables she actually grew were salad vegetables for the
summer. Everything else came in tins."
"Did you enjoy time
there?"
"It
was good to get out from behind a desk and back
outside. Her ex
was a horse breeder, she got his Australian
property. There were over a hundred horses on the farm.
Along with a dozen cows and chickens by the score. In summer
I lived
on milk-shakes and salads. And I had my pick of the
horses to ride.. And yes I enjoyed it. Until I had to ask to
be
reassigned."
"Why?"
"The girl's mother
kept making advances. I put with it
until I'd trained the girl to
defend herself. And wrote to
her father complaining about her lack of self defence
skills. She was sixteen and knew next to nothing about
defending herself. But she was an extremely fit young lady,
she had a lot of strength, and one hell of a kick.
Especially after I started teaching her kick boxing," he
said
giving Fraser a grin.
"Kick boxing? I
didn't know you studied kick boxing
too."
"Didn't I mention
I took that up too? One of the
instructors at the martial arts center
near the consulate
where I work out said I'd make a hell of a kick boxer," then
he chuckled, "when I introduced her to him and said, kick
that
bag Didi, and she put a hole through it. He started
raving about her."
"She put a hole
through a sand bag."
"Like
I said, she had one hell of a kick and I'd
already taught her the
basics. She took to kick boxing like
a duck to water, even though
she studied other forms of
martial arts that was always her favourite. She went on to
take the title of Female kickbox champion a few years later
and there were a team of Hollywood producers who chased her
around waving contracts who wanted to turn her into a
martial arts movie goddess."
Fraser chuckled.
"Not that I blame
them.. I remember one time she joined
me for a diplomatic function
I had to attend. She dressed in
a figure hugging mini evening dress.
I don't think there was
an eye in the room that wasn't on us. And
all I heard for
the next week who was the goddess with the legs you took to
the function."
He fetched plates out
and served up the salad and
handed a plate to Fraser and headed
for the dining room with
Fraser on his heels.
"You'll get to meet
her some time. She always drops
into the consulate or my chalet
when she comes back to visit
her mother. I had to give her the key
to the chalet, because
she just kicked the door in if I wasn't there
when she
dropped in and I got sick of replacing the locks."
Fraser laughed and Dante
smiled to himself, happy to
hear him laughing again and searched
his memory for stories
to keep him laughing.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg visited Ray again
that night after she left the
consulate. His mother was sitting
by his bedside when she
arrived and Ray was sleeping. Almost as if she'd sensed her
presence outside, Mrs Vecchio looked around and saw her
through the window. She turned and patted Ray's arm before
she rose and walked out.
"How is he?"
"He keeps drifting
in and out of consciousness but the
Doctor says he is improving."
"Do you mind if
I sit with your son again?"
Mr's
Vecchio patted her arm.
"Of
course I don't mind, he seemed much more animated
after your visit."
The two women left, with
Mrs Vecchio making
arrangements for Meg to sit with her son with
the Doctor.
When Meg returned in the sterile gown, cap and mask the
Doctors insisted all visitors wear, Ray's head moved and his
nose
twitched as she sat by the bed. She heard him inhale
deeply a little frown appearing on his forehead.
-O.K, there is someone
there, but it's not Ma, or
Frannie or Maria. It's not a man, it
doesn't smell like one,
that means it's a woman. (sniff) Hmm.. Not
Elaine. Who could
it be. Well there's only one way to find out-
Meg watched as his eyes
opened, and his eyes lit up
when he saw her. His hand rose and he
mimed writing. She
looked around saw the coast was clear and reached under the
gown to pull out her note book and pen.
He had trouble holding
the pen and kept dropping it,
but she kept retrieving it with infinite
patience. He
thanked her again, and covered the rest of the page with X &
O's,
and tried to flip the page. She flipped it for him and
he wrote look in the drawer. She set the pad aside and
opened the bedside drawer to find the parcel she'd opened.
"Ah, you want me
to read for you again."
When
she glanced at him he gave a tiny nod and a
hopeful look. She smiled
faintly and ripped away the paper
to pull out the book and sat, looking for the page she'd
marked and started reading.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
The day the plaster came
off, Dante celebrated by
taking Fraser shopping for clothes more
suited to the
environment. The first stop was a clothing shop on the
beach. Dante's idea of suitable clothing was to chose six
suits consisting of cotton draw string pants, matching
singlets, long sleeved shirts and coats in bright colours.
Fraser left the shop wearing a pale blue suit, minus its
coat, with the shirt open to show the singlet underneath,
much to the appreciation of several beach bunnies who's itsy
bitsy,
teeny weeny bright print bikinis left little to the
imagination.
Fraser wasn't sure who
their big smiles were for, in
his opinion Dante looked fabulous
in his Levi's and singlet
which clung lovingly to every well sculpted inch of his
lightly tanned body. Dante ignored them, wrapping an arm
around his waist and pointed.
"We can get
you some new shoes to go with your suits
there."
The women got that "all
the cute ones are gay" look on
their face and sauntered off
looking for more appreciative
company. Fraser gave Dante a smile that made his heart beat
a little faster and ideas that involved a bed and lots of
physical contact.
He gave a little shake
of the head scratching those
ideas. Just because Fraser's plaster
had come off didn't
mean he could pounce and get passionate. The doctor had
warned him to take it easy and work out a little before he
got into anything strenuous. But then again, there was
something to say about a slow and sensuous seduction, Dante
thought with a little smile and started planning just that.
Three pairs of slip on
shoes that would mix and match
with the suits and a pair of running
shoes later, Dante had
to leave Fraser alone in the shoe shop to make a quick dash
to the closest EFTPOS machine to get a little more money.
Fraser looked at a pair
of boots set on a display shelf
with a matching belt, Akubra, and
a bull whip and expressed
an interest in them. The sales person pulled them down and
showed them to him explaining how they were display only,
the boots were hand made leather and snake skin boots, of
exceptional quality. Fraser admired the work of both the
boots and the belt and got the details intending to inquire
about having a pair of boots (with matching belt) made up
for Dante's birthday once he returned to work.
A shadow falling over
him made him look up thinking the
salesman was returning with the
promised business card,
instead what he found was a woman smiling down at him. She
wore a sarong wrapped around her slim waist and an itsy
bitsy bikini top providing little or no support for her
Dolly Parton bust line. One of her long legs rose, her
dainty foot setting on the chair between his legs.
"I need shoes."
Fraser gulped and
tried to slide back as her foot began
inching closer and he saw
Dante moving up behind her.
=Here comes trouble=
Fraser thought.
Dante
tapped her on the shoulder.
"He's
not a salesman," Dante said.
The woman glanced
around did a double take then turned
to face Dante looking him up
and down and set her shoulders
back virtually thrusting her impressive breasts at him.
"Are those silicon
or saline?" Dante asked.
Fraser
choked a laugh back at that.
"100%
natural," the woman claimed.
"100%
Gay," Dante responded.
With
a pout she departed and Fraser gave Dante another
one of the wicked
idea inducing smiles.
"Oh do stop doing
that," Dante grouched pulling his
wallet out of his back pocket
as the salesman approached.
"Doing what?"
Fraser asked innocently.
"You
know what," Dante retorted and pulled out some
polymer notes
and handed them to Fraser as he rose.
Fraser paid for the shoes
and followed after Dante
juggling boxes. Dante packed them into
the back of his Jeep
Cheroke and surprised Fraser by heading out of town.
"Where are we going
now?"
"Now
we've taken care of your casual wear, it's time to
shop for more
formal clothes suitable for your new
environment."
Fraser settled back and
watched the picturesque
landscape they passed through. He sat up
a little straighter
as they moved along a familiar route.
"Are we going to
the heliport?"
"No,
though it's on their route."
"Where
are we going?"
"Sydney,
city. It's only an hour away by the freeway at
this time of day.
By the way, since I'm the one paying for
this wardrobe of yours I hope you don't mind if we stop over
at
Oxford street along the way to find a little something..
special."
"Evening wear?"
Dante grinned.
"You could say that."
==============
Writers note: Oxford
street is the hub of Kings Cross
Gay scene and there a number of
shops that cater to the
leather fetishist and bondage lovers.
=============
Fraser smiled as Dante
lead him into the R.M William's
shop near Central railway station,
and was soon the proud
owner of 3 new pairs of jeans, riding pants, cotton shirts,
two new belts and an Akubra hat. The bags were packed in the
back
of the jeep, and Dante took him for a walk across the
street. Fraser thought he was being lead to an adult book
shop as Dante lead him to a pair of stair cases between a
milk bar and a bar. The hoardings proclaimed it to be an
adult book shop with XXXX rated books. There were two stair
cases, one leading up and one leading down. Dante lead him
down stairs and Fraser was surprised to find an eclectic
collection of books that didn't fit his idea of adult books.
Dante
laughed at his obvious confusion.
"The
Adult book shop's upstairs, this is the Book
Exchange, a great place
to look for out of print books, just
wait here, I have to pick up
a book," he said before he
walked to the back of the shop to
speak to the man seated in
the open office there who was working
on the computer.
He was handed a book
and when he returned to the front
of the shop it was to find Fraser
had made like a Dodo and
vanished. He peered around the shop and found him perusing a
shelf
of non fiction books. Instead of one book, they left
with over a dozen, Fraser had selected an Australian classic
or
two, along with books on the country itself and two
dictionaries, one for Italian speakers produced by Cassel's
when he was just a boy.
He flipped through it
while Dante drove through the
city's streets. Fraser was oblivious
to the mix of modern
and classic architecture that lined the streets as he
flipped through the dictionary.
"This is an excellent
dictionary for someone who
doesn't speak the language," Fraser
said, "It includes lists
of commonly used phrases with common
words."
"Why on Earth did
you want to buy an Italian
Dictionary?"
"You never know
when learning another language will
come in useful Dante. For instance
.."
Fraser found a list of
commonly used phrases to convey
a message of love and affection
and used one on Dante.
"Don't flirt while
I'm driving," Dante said.
"You
know what I said."
Dante
translated it perfectly.
"I
didn't know you speak Italian."
"I
speak French, Italian & German, fluently, and that
includes slang,
which it never hurts to learn, and that
dictionary won't teach you. I also started learning Japanese
a year
or two ago, and I'm thinking of studying Vietnamese
or Chinese next. But then again.. I only started learning
all those languages for something to do at night."
"Perhaps you could
help me study Italian."
"If
that's what you want to do. Though I'd recommend
Japanese. There
are a lot of Japanese businessmen and
tourists around and you will occasionally end up dealing
with them. It's so much easier to do when you can speak
their language."
"I'm familiar with
Italian, I will pick that up
faster."
"Whatever your little
heart desires."
Fraser
continued to peruse the dictionary until Dante
pulled up on Oxford
street. When he looked around his eyes
widened. Dante clambered out and opened his door for him.
"Welcome to Oxford
street."
A
pair of men walked past holding hands, another couple
one with his
arms around his partner's waist, the other with
his hand tucked
into the back pocket of his partner's tight
jeans sauntered past and gave them the eye.
Dante locked the Cheroke
and wrapped an arm around
Fraser's shoulder's and lead him down
the street, while
Fraser took note of all the openly gay couples, both male
and female who strolled the streets. He was so busy taking
that in that he didn't notice what kind of shop Dante was
leading him too until he was inside and a leather clad
shopkeeper with a campy attitude greeted them.
With wide eyes Fraser
looked around.
"And
what can I do for you?" The shopkeeper asked.
"I
wants pants and a collar n' cuffs set for my Friend
here,"
Dante said patting Fraser on the chest.
"Tight fight or
loose."
"As
tight as they come."
Half
an hour later, Fraser followed Dante out the
bemused owner of a
pair of skin tight black leather pants,
that Dante made him wear, and a black leather studded "dog"
collar, with a hoop on the front, and a lock with a tiny
gold padlock on the back around his neck hidden under the
collar of his shirt which he'd pulled up and used to cover
it. The cuffs matched the collar and were hidden by the
sleeves of his shirt.
Dante packed the bag
that contained the cotton pants
Fraser had been wearing, in the
back of the Cheroke, made
Fraser undo his collar and open it to show off the leather
collar and roll back his sleeves then led him to a bar
filled with blue collar & stylishly dressed men, where they
had lunch.
No one tried to flirt
with them, though a few men at
the bar seemed interested, till they
saw the cuffs with
pointy studs around Fraser's wrists when he reached for his
drink.
"I made a booking
at a hotel for the night while you
were trying on those pants, so
we can spend the day sight
seeing. I think I'll leave the Cherokee at the Mitchell,
take a walk through the Botanical gardens through to the
Quay, and show you the harbour & the Rocks and we can finish
off
with a trip over to Taronga zoo, and the aquarium at
Manly."
"What is the Mitchell?"
Dante smiled at
him impishly.
"You'll
find out soon enough."
Half
an hour later Fraser stood outside the imposing
structure across
the way from the Botanical gardens that was
the Mitchell Library.
And while he thought it was impressive
from the outside, he thought
it was considerably more
impressive after passing through its doors to be lead to the
main
reading room.
"Well, what do you
think?" Dante asked as he waved to
the rooms high vaulted multi
level room, with row after row,
level after level of books shelves,
loaded down with books
new and old.
"They say if it's
been published in Australia, you can
find it here."
"I think my grandparents
would have been in heaven
here," Fraser said.
"Would you like
to look around?"
Fraser
looked around, then wound his arms around one of
Dante's.
"If I start looking
through the books you won't get me
out of here in a hurry and you
promised to show me the
gardens."
Dante smiled.
"We
can always come back here later, can't we?"
"Of
course. The consulate is here in Sydney, on
Harrington Street."
"And you booked
a suite at a hotel??" Fraser was
confused.
"I don't live in
Sydney, I only work here, I commute
from Terrigal."
"Why did you buy
a home so far from the consulate?"
Fraser asked as Dante lead
him out of that magnificent
structure.
"I didn't.. I used
to rent an apartment in the Cross,
but I did have a property in
Canada. I made a friend from
the French Consulate who was transferring to Canada who
owned the house at Terrigal and traded properties with him."
"Ah."
"Though the position
of Liaison officer comes with a
apartment here in the city near
the consulate. When he
retires next week, it becomes mine along with his position."
"You should have
returned to duty at the consulate when
you returned here.."
"He knows I've been
looking after you. He's been
nagging me for years to find a partner
and settle down.. if
you have no objections, we'll have lunch with him tomorrow."
"I have no objections."
"Good.. He's
worried about his daughter's decision to
stay in Australia. Once
she sees I have a S.O she should get
it through her thick skull
that I'm not interested."
"Oh... that's why
he's been nagging you to settle down
with someone, because of his
daughter."
"Exactly. Lovely
woman, when she's not being a
barracuda and speaking of big fish..
You just have to see
the Gold fish here.."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
When Meg finished reading
the profiling guide and case
history's included with it Ray dropped
off as she closed the
bound file. She wondered if he really had
fallen asleep or
just pretended to do it when he looked extremely surprised
to see her the next day. He was also curious, as she came
baring a sports bag. She leaned over him, touching his arm.
"I can't stay long,
you have another visitor, but I
brought you some things to make
your life a little easier."
Then
she pulled out a hand brace with an attachment. He
frowned and raised
his hand as instructed. She put the brace
on his hand and then pulled
out a pen and slipped it into
the attachment.
"There, now you
won't keep dropping the pen."
He
gave her the thumbs up and if he could have smiled
he would have
given her a big one when she pulled out a
computer note stand of the type that has clamps and a swing
bar. She attached it to the side bars.
"Lift your hand
and pretend to write.. Tell me when I
get the angle right."
He obeyed and she worked
to adjust it till she got it
just right for him to be able to write
comfortably and be
able to see what he was doing then she locked it into place
twisting screw joints tight. A nice thick pad of blank paper
was
placed on the stand and she pulled out a thick pile of
the same kind of pads and put them on the bedside table.
Ray covered the first
sheet in shaky X's and a big
smiley face at the bottom while she
closed up the bag. He
held the page out to her and she gave him a smile.
"You're welcome."
He raised his hand
to study the brace and gave her a
curious look.
"My father couldn't
talk near the end, and could only
communicate through writing notes.
But he kept loosing his
grip on the pen and got very frustrated and started sulking
till one day the nurse who tended to his needs brought that
brace in. I was looking for some kind of lap table for you
to put paper on so you could write when I walked past a
computer shop and saw that stand in their window display. I
realised it would be better than a lapstand and went back
and brought it."
-How much do IOU?- He
wrote.
She waved
it off.
"Don't
worry about it. I have to go now, your other
visitor must be getting
impatient."
For the first time his
arm rose and moved over the bed
rail, his hand wrapping around her
arm stopping her as she
turned away. She looked down at his hand, then turned back
and he let her go to start writing.
-Come back again please-
She patted his arm.
"Relax, I'll
be back. Tomorrow. Now I really have to go
before your visitor gets
too impatient and decides to
leave."
This time he let her
leave and watched her cross the
room to walk out. He wondered who
his visitor could be.
Since Meg had started visiting him on a regular basis none
of his family members had visited at that time of the day.
Sometimes other officer's from the precinct visited, but
that was usually during the day, and they kept their visits
short. Except Elaine she visited at least once a week and
proved to be a fountain of information about who was doing
what with whom around the station. What cases were solved or
still
open. Huey it seemed had been given half his cases,
the other half had been divided amongst the other detectives
at
the precinct.
His thoughts turned to
a case Elaine told him Huey had
taken on and was having trouble
with. He remembered it, he'd
been doing work on that particular
case on the day he'd had
his accident and hadn't been able to make up his notes. He
looked at the stand and raised a hand to start doing that.
Ray looked around as
the door opened and a man in
scrubs and mask entered the room. He
frowned, not
recognising him. The frown vanished and a startled look took
it's
place when the man crossed the room and sat down
introducing himself as the man who'd invented profiling.
"Your friend, Meg
told me you've had an interest in
learning profiling for a long
time."
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Seven
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
Fraser lay curled up
in bed, a chain looped through the
loop on his locked collar chaining
him to the bed. He
shuddered as he felt Dante's hand sliding over his back, but
Dante
mistook it for something else. The caress was followed
by the bed
dipping and Dante's lips on the sensitive flesh
on his throat above the collar that had become a sign of his
dominated
state.
He stared out the window
not seeing the view of the
harbour, as he endured Dante's affections
and regretted not
for the first time the day he'd come to this country with
the man who now controlled his life. Every aspect of his
life. From his work at the consulate to his life outside its
walls.
Every item of clothing he owned was selected by
Dante, all the clothes he'd brought with him, barring his
uniform, Dante had taken and given away to some charitable
organisation. Including the clothes Ray and Francesca had
given him for his birthday which Fraser had refused to part
with until Dante's visage had taken on that furious cast
Fraser was becoming all too familiar with.
He couldn't remember
the last time Dante had smiled, no
that was a lie, he could remember
it well. It had been the
day Fraser had fallen back in love with him. When he'd been
pampered, shown around the city, and presented with a ring
for his finger during a harbour cruise. Dante had pledged
his love, and made promises of undying love and affection,
and followed the cruise with a limo ride to a 5 star hotel
where he spent the rest of the evening showering him TLC,
making slow sweet love to him, first in the spa bath, then
in the big bed that was the main feature of the large suite
Dante had booked.
As he lay curled in Dante's
arms late in the night, he
woke to the feel of those arms tightening
around him in a
cruelly tight embrace that made it hard to breath. He heard
Dante whimper in his sleep and fought to break that hold,
and woke Dante in the process. Looking into his eyes Fraser
had gone from confused to concerned, touching Dante's face
he found it cold and clammy to touch.
He'd scrambled out of
bed and called reception who'd
sent a doctor up. By the time he
arrived Dante was sitting
up holding his head and after questioning, the Doctor
diagnosed a severe migraine and left, returning to give
Dante an injection. Dante had settled back into a restless
sleep, but after that night he'd never been the same.
He never smiled, settling
into a permanent dour mood,
he seemed to consume headache capsules
at the rate of a pack
a day, snarling and growling his way through
the day. Fraser
had thought it would pass but as the weeks passed
he only
grew worse. All Fraser's attempts to get him to see a doctor
failed
and only seemed to make him angry. When his mood
shifted from growling grump to terrifying fury Fraser called
a Doctor
who diagnosed another migraine and gave him a shot
but Fraser knew there had to be more to it.
So far Dante had managed
to restrain himself, though
his jealousy and possessive behaviour
had escalated to the
point where the other staff at the consulate were afraid to
spend any time in Fraser's company. But there were times
Fraser feared for his safety, times when Dante raised a hand
to
him, and roared at him, hurling abusive language at him,
but never laying a hand on him. He wondered how long that
would last, he'd thought Dante would cross the line that
evening, instead he'd trashed the apartment around Fraser
and chained him to the bed before leaving to take a long
walk.
The chain was strong,
and just long enough for Fraser
to be able to lie down, but any
attempt to leave the bed was
cut short. He couldn't even reach the
bedside drawer to find
something to break the tiny golden padlock.
The feel of Dante's hands
moving over him, his finger's
sliding inside preparing him for an
intimate invasion him
made Fraser want to cringe, but he forced himself to relax.
Any time he tensed up or rejected Dante's love making it
turned rough while Dante accused him of all manner of
betrayals.
Fraser bit into the pillow
and fought to hold back the
cry of pain as Dante entered him and
began seek his pleasure
with strong deep thrusts, while biting at
Fraser's throat
and shoulders. Fraser tried to lose himself in a fantasy
imagining not Dante but Ray, but he couldn't do it, he
couldn't imagine Ray using him like this, keeping him in
chains, and he was dead, suspicions and dreams would be for
naught, there would be no nights of love in his arms. The
fantasy shattered and he found himself crying
uncontrollably, his chest heaving with sobs.
For a moment he thought
his tears had reached Dante as
he stilled, then he felt Dante climax
and shudder over him
growling, "You're mine, now and forever," before withdrawing
and rolling away. Burying his face in the pillow Fraser's
sobs increased. There used to be a time, Dante would hold
him in his arms and whisper words of love instead. Now,
Dante didn't even want to hold him any more. The only time
he ever touched him was when he wanted sex and that had
ceased to bring any pleasure to Fraser though he was sure if
Dante
made the effort it could.
But it was no longer
about love, it was about
possession, and he was no longer Dante's
partner, he was
Dante's possession. Without being aware of what he was
really doing, Fraser began planning his escape. He no longer
cared
about getting help for Dante, self preservation
dictated that he get as far away from Dante as fast as
possible, if at all possible.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray's release from the
hospital was celebrated with a
big party thrown jointly by his family
and colleagues from
the precinct at one of his favourite restaurants.
Ray enjoyed himself at
first. It was good to get out of
the hospital and to see his friends,
but he couldn't keep
the mood up for long feeling a pang of loneliness as he
watched Huey and his new partner Dewey laughing at some joke
and
his sister Maria and Tony making eyes at each other over
the table.
No one seemed to notice
when he left the table, or they
all assumed he was going to the
bathroom. He wasn't. He
walked out of the restaurant and stopped dead on the side
walk when he saw his car, its paintwork gleaming and free of
dents,
gouges and all evidence of the crash. He moved closer
and peered
through the window to see that it was the same
car and not a replacement. It seemed to gleam inside and
out.
The rattle of keys preceded
the dangling of his keys
before his eyes and he took them as he
turned to see his
mother.
"She's working late
at the consulate. I'm sure she'd be
happy to see you, especially
if you come bearing this," his
mother said holding up a bag
of take away food containers.
He kissed her cheek taking
the bag, and she resisted
the urge to give him a hug, everyone had,
and it was
starting to grate on his nerves being treated like fragile
glass. He turned away opening the car and yanked the door
open, sliding in to put the food on the passenger seat.
"What the insurance
didn't cover all your friends
chipped in to cover."
"Thank them for
me."
"I
will."
She
remained on the corner watching him drive and for
the first time
in a long time he obeyed every road rule and
drove safely through the night until he pulled up at the
consulate. He saw a lone light in a window in her office as
he climbed out with the take away food. A soda can retrieved
from
the street and crushed under foot was hurled at her
window and she threw it up ready to berate the thrower and
did a double take when she saw Ray waving and holding up the
bag.
"Hungry??"
He called out.
"I'll
be down in a minute," she called back.
She
was, letting him in and leading him up to her
office. He settled
himself down in a seat while she fetched
cutlery, plates and coffee on a tray.
"I ate already,"
he said when she started opening
containers.
"I heard they were
arranging a party.."
"They
did. I went and everyone was having a good time."
"Except
you, obviously."
"It
reminded me of Fraser."
{So
you came here}
"Do
you know how he's going?"
"No."
"Oh. Well..
How are things going here? I know you've
been pretty busy lately..
I wondered why you stopped
coming."
"Fraser's replacement
makes Turnbull look like a master
of efficiency," She said,
then smiled faintly, "Actually,
Turnbull has become rather
efficient."
"Fraser said Dante
scared him into it."
He
watched her face take on a disagreeable cast.
"But
enough about them.. I want to talk about you."
"Oh."
"I don't think
I ever thanked you for arranging that
meeting with the Master Profiler."
"Did you enjoy it?"
"It was interesting..
We discussed a case of mine, he
told me what I'd have to do to get
into profiling now.. Not
that I want to be a profiler.. I just think that it would be
a hell
of a skill to have, being a detective. Did I mention,
I discussed
a case that was transferred to Huey with him and
he helped me to
put a profile of the guy together from the
information I already had. He took it home, tidied it up and
put
in all the right psycho babble, then brought it back so
I could
give it to Huey and they nailed a suspect the very
next day using it."
"All the more reason
to study profiling. And become an
accredited Profiler."
"I couldn't get
into the FBI's profiler programme, you
need qualifications that
I ain't got and it would take me
years to get them. I correspond with him now.. Not that I've
got
much to write about.. but that'll change when I get back
on the
job. He's been sending me information on old cases,
no profiles.. I had to look them over and construct a basic
profile from the information he sent using that guide he
sent me. And I've got a long list of books he recommended on
psychology
and criminology. I'll start hunting them down and
build up a collection.
I've actually got a few of the crime
books he recommended already. I got them years ago.. they're
gathering
dust in a box in the attic somewhere. I'll have to
find them."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
At some point during
the evening Ray discovered Fraser
had gone to Australia to work
as the Deputy Liaison officer
under Dante at the Sydney consulate. He wondered why he
couldn't feel happy for his friend, then Meg told him she
didn't think Fraser knew he'd survived the accident. That
stuck in his mind, as he left the consulate and tailed her
home. She came over to his car, and invited him up for
coffee, for a moment he was tempted to take up the offer,
his body singing go for it.
But he knew his family
would start to worry about him
if he didn't return home soon and
declined. She looked
faintly disappointed as she stepped back and he drove away
with her on his mind instead of Fraser.
His mind returned to
Fraser the next morning when he
visited the precinct. An immediate
return to work was not on
the cards. He had to be medically certified
fit to return to
work first and that was still some time away, and
then he
could look forward to being confined to a desk job for the
first few weeks until he passed the police services fitness
tests which were far more strenuous than what his doctor had
put
him through.
Once
that was settled, he began making nebulous plans
for how to spend
that time. Those plans became concrete when
Welsh handed him papers
concerning his entitlements
surprising him.
"You were on your
way to the hospital on police
business when the accident occurred,"
Welsh reminded him.
Between
his own private health cover & insurance and
the Chicago PD arranged
kind all his medical bills were
covered and he had quite a tidy sum left over. More than
enough to make those nebulous plans a reality.
His first stop on leaving
the precinct was the bank to
cash the cheque Welsh had given him,
then it was off to the
Australian Embassy.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Fraser sat on the floor
looking at the wreckage left in
the wake of another of Dante's fits
of temper and his own
attempts to find his papers, his passport among them. It had
been
a fruitless search. They papers just weren't there, and
he had no
idea where they could be. Without them, he
couldn't leave the country, and unless he could do so,
escaping his increasingly volatile lover would be next to
impossible. Dante had friends within both state and Federal
police networks of the country. They'd find him, and lead
Dante to him.
He needed to get out
of the country to escape Dante,
but he needed his passport to do
that and Dante had
effectively trapped him by making sure he couldn't get it.
Any attempt to get a new one would reach Dante's ears before
he
was successful and he could imagine the results. No, he
had to find out where Dante had put his papers and do it
soon, but first he had to make sure Dante wasn't aware he
was searching for them, which mean restoring the apartment
to order even if it was the last thing he felt like doing.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg Thatcher was in the
middle of reaming out the
incompetent woman who had replaced Fraser
when her phone
rang. With no hurry she answered it.
"Inspector Thatcher?"
Annoyance twisted
her face.
{After
all this time you think he'd drop the Inspector
at least. It's not
as if he's one of my staff}
"Vecchio what..
"
"Sorry
to intrude."
"I
hope you've got a good reason for it."
She
turned from the curious eyes of her incompetent
subordinate, walking
away.
"What the matter?"
"I'm in Australia..
What you said about Fraser got me
thinking.. You were right, about
Benni not knowing I made
it. I tracked him down..and.. That guy who was holding the
fort down for you."
"Inspector McIntire."
"He's psycho,
he's turned Fraser into a virtual
prisoner here.. He's terrified
of what will happen if Dante
- Mc Intire finds out I'm here.. He wants to leave but he
can't.. Dante has all his papers and Benni can't find them
or get new ones to leave this country behind. You know what
he'd need to return to America.. Do you think you can
arrange it and get them out to me so I can bring him back
with me?"
"How serious is
the situation?"
"Very..
Fraser can't leave the apartment without Dante
at his side any more.
He can't go anywhere without Dante
there.. Fraser says he sick.. Literally, there's something
wrong with him, but he refuses to see a doctor and gets
worse everyday, he's been mentally deteriorating in front of
Benni's
eyes. He's always in a foul mood, paranoid,
occasionally violent and .."
She heard him hesitate,
the rustling of cloth then
Vecchio was back.
"I'm sure there's
a lot more going on that Benni won't
tell me about.. And I ain't
about to repeat some of the
things he told me over the phone."
She sighed it was worse
than she imagined it could get.
"How
did you get to speak to him?"
"Benni
likes libraries, he warned me about Dante in the
past.. So I knew
being seen with him, by Dante would just
cause trouble. So I found out where every library around the
consulate
was and started checking each one.. Wouldn't you
know it, he's a regular visitor to the biggest library in
the state.. It's the only place Dante lets him go to alone.
I found out when he usually drops in and had to wait for
three days before he did.. He almost fainted when he saw me.
And
he promised to met me here again, but he's been a no
show and I don't wanna waste another minute.. He's terrified
of
what Dante will do if he finds out about me.. And he
swore if I could help him get the papers he'd come back with
me."
"Alright, I get
the picture, where should I send the
paperwork?"
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray hovered in his usual
place, hidden but well placed
to watch every person who entered
through the main entry of
the Mitchell library. Three days had passed since the
courier Meg had dispatched with the papers he'd needed
including the all important replacement passport. Those
papers were tucked away in the deep pocket of Ray's bright
cotton coat.
He'd arrived at the end
of the summer season, and taken
the opportunity to purchase a few
new suits, shirts, pants
and coats more suited to the Australian summer at knock down
prices.
He'd been thinking how they'd come into their own
back home during the next heat wave and been quite gleeful
once he'd done his sums and worked out what he'd have paid
for them back home. But the meeting with Fraser had taken
any delight he felt away.
Now all he felt was increasing
anxiety and concern for
his absent friend. Checking his watch, his
anxiety rose, he
gave up on Fraser arriving and stepped out of his hiding
place to stride across the wide marble floored entry hall a
tenuous plan of action taking shape in his head. A hand on
his arm drew him from his thoughts and to a stop.
He looked around to see
a well dressed aboriginal man
in a suit and recalled that he'd seen
the man enter the
library half an hour ago. The man was comparing his face to
a piece of paper in his hand.
"Raymond Vecchio?"
"Yes."
The man pulled an
I.D case from his suit and flashed
his I.D and Badge before Ray's
face and identified himself
as a Federal police officer by the name of Mandaway before
asking Ray to accompany him - To the Hospital.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Eight
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
Ray stood slumped against
the lounge room wall, arms
crossed, watching Fraser who was curled
up in a chair, arms
wrapped around his drawn up legs staring at nothing as he
rocked back and forth, swaying now and then. Deif lay at
Fraser's feet looking up at him now and again with a little
whine of sympathy.
Hearing someone approaching
Ray looked to see his
mother leading Meg into the room. Ray bolted
upright and
hurried to their side. His mother departed, to make tea, or
so she said. Meg studied Fraser, a look of sadness on her
face.
"He's been like
that since he was released from the
hospital. The only time he does
anything else is when he's
sleeping," Ray said with a sigh, running a hand through hair
that needed a cut. "That's when he starts screaming till I
hit him with a sedative to put him into deep sleep - no
dreams."
"They gave you the
sedatives?"
"Yeah..
He did the same thing at the hospital. The
Doctor said he should
be transferred to a psychiatric
facility. I had to do some fast talking to get them to agree
to
release him into my care. I had to sign a stack of
papers. And I'm starting to wonder if maybe it was the wrong
thing
to do. He just doesn't react to anything."
She reached out
and rubbed his arm.
"You
did the right thing. Being placed in psychiatric
care in a strange
land, surrounded by strangers would have
been the worst thing that could have happened."
"Oh, no, the worst
thing that could have happened is
what left him in this state. Mc
Intire lost it entirely with
him.. And he didn't just beat the living
daylights out of
him, he raped him," Ray growled in a low voice that wouldn't
carry far.
Meg's eyes closed and
he saw her shudder.
"I
don't know what to do any more. He doesn't react to
anything."
"He needs a friend
to help him get through this.. But
your family shouldn't have to
deal with it."
"I'm not taking
him back to that flea pit of his."
"I
wasn't going to suggest it. My place is.. "
"It's
not in the same place Mc Intire stayed at while
he was here is it?"
"No."
"How many rooms?"
"Two.. One's
my office.. But I can convert it to a
bedroom. If you handle him
at night, I'll handle him during
the day. We can take it in shifts. Oh.. And.. I've already
talked
to the CPD.. I know you converted your leave to
indefinite leave without pay to tend to him for as long as
it takes. You'll be covered by the RCMP from here on in."
"What?!"
"We take care
of our own. This whole mess should never
have taken place, McIntire
should never have been permitted
to come near Fraser again.. Not after what happened the
last time."
"What happened?"
"He beat Fraser...
Fraser has Battered Spouse Syndrome,
no matter how many times that
man hurt him, he always found
excuses or lied for him.. Would never lay charges. It took
his father acting to get him out of his clutches."
"As much as I despise
that man for what he did to
Fraser, I'm telling you there is no
way Benni woulda gone
back to the guy if he was a serial abuser."
"You can say that
after what he did this time?"
"Benni
told me he was sick.. The Mandaway guy from the
Fed's there, said
they interviewed staff at the consulate
and they all said, his personality had changed drastically.
Everyone who knows him said the same thing. And once they
catch him, they'll be dragging him to a hospital for a
physical before they run a psychological exam on him. If it
turns out he's perfectly fit and sane, he'll be charged for
what he did to Benni and we'll have to take him back for the
trial.
If not, they'll lock him up in a psych ward and make
arrangements to ship him home, quietly."
"I've been doing
what I can on my end.. The RCMP is
moving on this, his personal
effects are being seized, his
accounts frozen. His passport was revoked. His former
superior has returned to work with the Federal police on
this matter. Mc Intire won't get far before he's caught."
"What
about.. His mental state?" Ray asked, indicating
Fraser rocking
away seemingly oblivious to their
conversation.
"It's not the first
time something like this has
happened.. He apparently reacted to
a .. vicious assault in
much the same way in the past and eventually came out of
it.. They're moving now.. To liaise with the American mental
health
services.. to arrange for a temporary guardianship
order to be made out in your name.. If you'll accept that
responsibility?"
Ray nodded.
"Good. The papers
will be delivered soon.. Once you
sign them, I'll lodge them and
you'll become his temporary
official guardian.."
Deif squeaked and they
looked around to see Fraser
uncurling, the wolf moving away, since
he'd been trodden on.
Deif sat and his tail thumped madly on the
floor as they
gaped at Fraser rising from the chair. Meg looked at Ray and
realised
this wasn't something Fraser had done before.
Then he was approaching
and Ray was enfolded in a bone
cracking hug by a sobbing Fraser.
He awkwardly patted and
stroked Fraser's back.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg watched Ray as he
slept in her big bed, twisting
and turning, tangling himself up
in the blankets. His
restless movements causing his pyjama top to gape open and
his pants to snake down his hips.
So different from Fraser
who spent most of his day
curled up in a tight ball in bed. His
nights were spent in a
chair, watching Ray as he'd poured over Psychology
and Rape
Counselling text books by the score, most if not all which
he'd hurled into the trash can in frustration, when
attempting to follow their advice lead to no change in
Fraser's condition. Whenever Ray through a book away, Meg
always waited till he stomped off to fetch them out, clean
them up and added them to the collection which was rapidly
filling a bookcase that used to hold all her nicknacks.
Sometimes he'd go to
the collection, pull out a book
and look through it again, if it
went into the bin twice, it
stayed there. But lately Ray had taken
to sitting opposite
Fraser and just talked, all night.
He'd talked about his
life, himself, his family, his
father, his failed marriage, his
career. Meg totally re-
evaluated him. Sometimes during the hours when Fraser slept
and they had nothing better to do they'd sit and discuss old
cases.
Those pants slipped lower.
One of his hands slid over
his body and she watched as he began
touching himself in his
sleep. Something he did quite often she'd
discovered after
investigating every time she heard him crying out in his
restless sleep.
Not that every cry he
made was one of self induced
solumbulistic pleasure. Many's the
time she'd entered to
find him curled up around a pillow sobbing into it. Until
she'd inadvertently eavesdropped on one of his talks with
Fraser one sleepless night, to learn about the abusive
relationship between Ray and his late father, she had no
clues to the reasons for it.
He'd caught her, in the
room watching, flushing when he
realised she *knew* but nothing
had been said. As she
watched him and listened to his murmurings she promised
herself, they'd talk about it.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg returned from taking
Deif for one of his daily
walks to be handed a large parcel by the
doorman. More books
for Ray no doubt. When she returned to the apartment
she
found Fraser standing in the door of the bedroom watching
Ray sleeping. Instead of leading him away, she left him
there, curious to see what he'd do.
She packed away the supplies
while Deif bounded up to
Fraser. Fraser looked down at the Wolf,
and when Deif went
to the kitchen Fraser followed to watch him nudge his food
bowl. Meg waited to see what he'd do. Then when he did
nothing, she opened up a cupboard making sure Fraser saw
where she stored Deif's food, before she fed the wolf.
Deif appreciated it.
Fraser moved away to collect a
piece of fruit then wandered back
to his seat and sank down
into it to stare into space as he chomped away on his apple.
Meg
sighed and for lack of anything better to do, pulled out
a recipe
book and began going through it, planning the menu
for the next week.
She marked four recipes
and hunted down a note pad and
wrote down a list of ingredients
to purchase the next time
she went shopping. She was looking for another recipe to add
to
the menu when Ray wandered out of the bedroom, rumpled
and sleepy.
She got a glass of water
while he checked up on Fraser.
When he moved into the kitchen, she
held out the glass, and
he collected it on his way to the kitchen nook. She dumped
the parcel before him and he woke right up. Ripping the
paper away, he revealed her guess to be right. It was full
of books. There was also a letter and thick file and a
number of envelopes. He read the letter through twice.
"You've been waiting
for this?"
"Yes..
I tried ringing one of the sexual assault
support lines one night
and they gave me a number for this
counsellor to talk too."
"And she sent all
these books."
She
picked one up and her brows defected.
"He
sent them. I've been in touch with him a few
times."
"These are text
books, for a psychology course, are you
intending to become a professional
counsellor Vecchio?"
"He
said that since I've become Benni's Primary carer
it wouldn't hurt
to get some sort of professional
qualifications. It certainly won't do any damage if I have
to make an application to extend my guardianship of Benni."
"You don't think
he's going to come out of it in a
hurry either, do you?"
Ray sighed.
"The problem is
that we're dealing with an extremely
violent betrayal by someone
he loved and trusted implicitly.
It takes time to heal wounds like
that. When he's ready to
face it and accept help - I'll need to be ready to give him
the help he needs."
He sipped his water and
opened the file to study the
top sheet. Meg rose and moved to the
counter to start
preparing coffee and breakfast for Ray.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg returned from a shopping
trip to replenish the
supplies running desperately low, and was
startled to find
Fraser up on his feet, standing in the bedroom doorway
again. He didn't react to her as she made several trips from
the
apartment to the garage to collect all the shopping and
transferred it to the kitchen. On her last trip, she
collected the last bag of food and another large parcel and
envelope addressed to Ray.
She left the parcel and
envelope on the counter where
Ray would see them and set the bags
down on the table before
she approached Fraser wrapping an arm around
him and looked
into the room. Ray was sprawled on her bed, the blankets
tangled around his legs while his pyjama top had come open
exposing his chest, an arm was over his face, the other lay
dangling laxly over the edge of the bed.
When she looked away
it was to find Fraser looking at
her, his face unreadable. She gave
herself a little mental
shake and lead him away, closing the door behind her, then
lead Fraser to the kitchen setting him at the table while
she unpacked the groceries.
He reached out and pulled
out a bag of dog kibble
rattling the packet. There was a panting,
tail wagging Wolf
at his chair in next to no time. She watched as he moved
away to fill Deif's bowl, then hugged and petted the wolf as
the
animal chowed down. Deif's tail beat a loud, thumping,
excited rhythm against the floor the whole time.
She completed the unpacking,
then left the man to
commune with his wolf and returned to the bedroom,
slipping
quietly inside, silently closing the door behind her.
Creeping to the bedside she leant over Ray to carefully tug
his pyjama's back into order. He started stirring as she
buttoned them up, and lazily opened one eye, then jumped
half out of his skin when it sunk into his sleepy mind that
the Dragon lady was playing with his pyjama's.
"I caught Fraser
watching you sleeping.. Your shirt
was gaping open."
He half sat up, looking
around.
"He's
feeding Deif in the kitchen.. I just came to.."
She reached
out and tugged the blankets up.
"make sure you were
covered up."
"How
long was he there?"
"I
don't know, I had to go shopping.. He was there in
the door way
just watching you when I got back."
"He's feeding Deif?"
"He pulled
the food out and spontaneously decided to
feed him and show him
some attention. That thumping you can
hear is Deif expressing his pleasure with the attention."
"That's
a good sign.. He never showed any interest in
Deif before."
"He's showing a
little too much interest in you."
"You
don't have anything to worry about, unless he
shows interest in
you."
"Have you ever considered
sleeping in sweats and Ts?
It's not the first time I've caught him
doing it and your
top's come open every time - and those pants.. well, you've
almost
lost them a few times.. ."
"What?! Why didn't
you tell me?"
"Well
I didn't want you to get nervous and leave it all
up to me.. He
responds so well to you."
"You should have
told me earlier. You catch him doing
it again, make some noise,
wake me up.. .or just leave him
alone.. and see what he does."
"He doesn't do *anything*.
He just stands there,
watching you .. . then walks away and either
curls up in his
chair, or goes back to his bed and curls up."
"To sleep, or just
stare at the wall?"
"Both,
either."
"Yeah,
well if he does something else when he curls up,
then it's something
to worry about."
"Something else?"
"You know..
Touches himself."
"Ohhh..
"
"He
doesn't do that, does he?"
"He
doesn't even touch himself when he goes to the
bathroom."
"Speaking of which,
does he react to being bathed by
you?"
"Does he react to
you?"
"He
reacted once.. He started crying."
"He
just.. shakes when I do it."
"No
other reaction?"
"None
whatsoever."
"You
sure? He doesn't get.. turned on?"
"Yes,
I'm sure. He doesn't even react to me towelling
him down."
Ray sighed.
"Keep an eye out
for a reaction like that.. Any sign
of interest at all is supposed
to be a good sign."
He rolled and picked
up a thick tome from the floor she
hadn't noticed as he sat back
up she say that it was a
psychology text book on the subject of sexual assault.
"You should read
this when I'm done.. The guy who
wrote it has worked with sexual
assault victims of all
kinds.. Including ones who reacted like Benni."
He found a page marked
with a turned down corner and
opened the book.
"Here we go.. Blah
blah blah.. Good signs are
displays of spontaneous affection..
Hugs and crawling into
the carers bed to cuddle are all part of the process. It's
considered a really good sign when they touch their primary
career in a sexual way. Touching, kissing, and in a male's
case, getting an erection are all good signs."
He looked at her over
the bed and blushed at the look
she was giving him.
"Perhaps. I should
hire someone else to care for him at
night," she suggested.
"No.. It says the
primary carer should be someone the
victim trusts implicitly who
isn't likely to reject their
needs for comfort, whatever level of comfort that may be."
"And what are you
going to do if he crawls into this
bed curls up and gets .. "
she blushed faintly "hard on
you?"
"What are you going
to do if he does it to you? He told
me he was attracted to both
of us."
Her eyes widened.
"He told you *that*?"
"Yeah."
"Well.. I
think I can handle it if he shows
spontaneous attention to me, but
can you?"
"I'll deal with
it if it comes up."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
"I have to return
to work."
Ray
looked around from his coffee making.
"Translation?"
"I have no
leave left. I have to return to work."
"Oh..
I thought you were making a hint."
He
returned to the coffee making.
"They
want to take Fraser and place him in a
Psychiatric facility."
"Over my dead body."
He joined her at
the kitchen table handing her a cup.
She sipped at it and smiled
faintly. It was *just* the way
she liked it.
"They can't just
take him and lock him up."
"They
can and they will. Unless you can have the
temporary order that
made you his primary carer extended."
Ray
ran his hands over his head.
"Has
it already been 6 months?"
"Yes."
"G-d, we're
sunk.. He hasn't improved at all."
"I've
looked into what would be needed to get the bond
extended or made
into a permanent one. To become a permanent
order, it has to be
extended for another six months first,
and he'll be examined, we can apply for a permanent order at
that
stage."
"But how do we get
the extension in the first place?"
"Your
studies into psychology will help.. How are they
going?"
"I've got a certificate
with High Honours, for 1st and
2cnd level psychology."
"Already?!"
"It's not like
I've got all that much else to do. You
do all the cleaning, most
of the cooking, take Deif for his
walks. There's nothing left for me to do, except make sure
he eats dinner and has a bath. I talk to him for an hour or
two and study. He just sits there and watches me, till he
gets sleepy. Then I put him to bed and study a bit more. If
I can get my level 3 certificate, I can get into the diploma
courses,
and gain the certification I'd need to get into
professional counselling. And you should see some of the
courses they've got on offer."
Meg almost smiled. Ray
had developed quite an interest
in the psychological side of things.
She made a mental note
to make a few enquiries about seeing if he could study
Criminal Psychology via correspondence.
"If you get into
a diploma course by the time we ask
for the guardianship to be made
permanent it should make it
easy for us."
"There is again.
Us - We."
"The
extension will be under joint names.. Yours and
mine."
"Can we do that?"
"It shouldn't
be all that difficult. It's no secret
you've been "Co-habiting"
with me for the last six months..
They'll come through, see two
beds, wonder where the third
one is and never believe we've been sleeping in shifts."
"So..
.how do we handle that?"
"Well..
either find a bigger apartment, or.. we go to
bed.. together.
Tonight."
His eyes widened.
"Any particular
reason why *tonight* is the night?"
"I'm
ovulating."
"I'm
sterile."
"What?!"
"That's why
I've got an *ex-wife*. I couldn't make a
mama outta her."
"Are you sure the
problem was yours and not hers?"
"I
spent 8 bloody months having my sex life ruled by a
thermometer
a chart and a beeper.. Before I stomped it to
death when it went off in the middle of a stake out. No
joy."
"Oh."
He sipped at his coffee.
"Does that
mean we aren't going to have sex tonight?"
He
spurted coffee everywhere.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Nine
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
Meg sat on the edge of
the bed, sighing while Ray lay
sprawled over the bed, an arm over
his eyes, red faced. He
couldn't believe it. He'd been occasionally fantasising
about being in bed with Meg for months, and the moment the
fantasy became reality, his body refused to play along. Or
to be precise, one particular part of it.
"Sorry," Meg
said.
-You're not
the one who should be saying it. I'm the
one who disappointed you-
Ray thought.
Then he sat up thinking
- But there's more than one way
to skin a cat-
Meg felt the bed moving
and the mattress dip and there
were two hands on her back, running
over it and exploring
it.
{Mhmmm)
Then the mattress was
dipping behind her and those
hands were moving to stroke her arms
and she felt his breath
on her neck.
"I thought you said
you weren't in the mood.
"But
you definitely are.. Relax.."
His
hands slipped under her arms, sliding around her
body and started
roaming over her waist and then she felt
the warmth of his body at her back. One hand popped a button
or
two, and the other slipped under he waist band and she
arched back as they moved in unison, slipping over her
breast and sex.
{If you stop now, I'll
kill you}
She felt
his body at her back, a little shudder racking
it and then his hand
was moving over her and his fingers
slipped into her bra to start toying with her nipple, first
stroking then rubbing it between his finger's as he cupped
her breast. She arched her neck and felt and his hot breath
on her throat, . felt him give a shuddering breath as he
discovered how damp her panties were.
He started to withdraw.
"No.. don't
stop."
The
hand at her groin moved and slipped under her
panties, then he was
caressing her and she felt the bed
dipping, then he was sitting directly behind her, his legs
moving around hers wrapping around them, drawing them apart
with gentle insistence and she could feel the definite
evidence of the fact he was starting to grow aroused.
He began murmuring
in her ear in Italian and drew a
moan from her as his fingers began
to gently play with her
sex.
Then his hands moved
and they were sliding over her
body again.
"I want to feel
your body next to mine.. " He murmured
huskily in her ear as
his fingers started working on her
buttons. His hands slipped over her body again, a quick dip
to her sex, a caress then his hands were moving back over
her body and he drew away, just long enough to pull her bra
away. She heard him muttering something in Italian under his
breath
then they were together again, skin to skin, from the
waist up.
Her hands went down to
raise herself as his hands moved
over her skirt to slip it away
then his hands slipped her
panties away.
She felt him stiffen
and groan against her throat as he
saw Fraser in the door way. Not
realising what caused it she
started stroking his legs and he let
out a deep moan as she
started moving against him.
-G-d, do I tell her,
or do I just.. Finish what I
started, and hope he leaves-
The way she was moving
against him made him forget all
his intentions and his body began
moving against hers and
his hands moved over her body turning her head and covering
her mouth with his, kissing her deeply before his hands
slithered down her body then his fingers were moving inside
her making her writhe with pleasure. Her cries of pleasure
were captured and he didn't stop until she climaxed. Only
then did he pull away, drawing back and panting as he moved
back across the bed to kneel at the center of the bed, a
fine sheen of sweat covering his bare chest as it rose and
fell with every panting breath.
Then she turned to crawl
across the bed and reaching
for him.
"Now I know you're
in the mood," she said, the evidence
of the fact blatantly
obvious even though he was wearing
those baggy pants.
He shook his head and
waved his hands around. She went
to her knees imitating his position.
"No?! After that?!"
He pointed at the
door. She looked around and almost
shrieked in shock when she saw
Fraser standing in the door
way. She hadn't even noticed the sound of the door opening.
"I.. . think..
he's.. been there.. quite a while."
With
a hand to her chest, trying to slow the racing of
her heart, she
studied Fraser.
"I think.. . he's
interested."
"You
think so.. I know so. He likes both of us
remember.. "
"Take off your pants."
He raised a brow.
"Either he's
going to join us, or he's just going to
watch."
"That is so kinky."
"Right like
what you just did to me *knowing* he was
there wasn't."
"Hey, I didn't
know.. "
"Don't
give me that.. That's what made you groan like
that and go all
stiff."
"You made me do
that."
"I
didn't mean that sort of stiff - which you still
are.. So work
out what you're going to do about it. Do we
have a party or a crowd in the bed?"
Ray beckoned Fraser
and slowly Fraser approached. Ray
and Meg crawled over the bed and
kneeled on the end holding
out a hand to him, he took both hands and let them draw him
close then working together, they stripped him, slowly and
leisurely, with much kissing and caressing going on as they
did.
When he was as naked
as they, they moved back across
the bed, and shared looks. Meg's
hand slithered over Ray's
body and touched him up, his hand slithered over hers.
As they mutually pleasured
each other, Fraser slowly
crawled onto the bed and across it.
"Oh.. I definitely
think.. he wants to join in."
Two
hands were extended and he was drawn in then Ray
was moving away,
panting and drenched with sweat, trying to
control the urge to pounce on Meg as he watched her working
over Fraser.
-God, this is so kinky..
Positively, definitely,
kinky.. I am such a deviant. I'm going
to burn in hell for
this.. But ooooh, god he wants me to join them. What do I
do now?-
The unasked question
was answered by Meg and Fraser as
they both reached for him and
pulled him back down to the
bed. The pants he still wore were soon fluttering through
the air to hit the floor and then there were four hands and
two mouths moving over him, driving him wild. He was pulled,
and
rolled into Meg's embrace and felt Fraser rolling away
as her hand moved down his body to guide him home. He lost
himself, forgetting about Fraser as their bodies moved
together finding each other's rhythm and then Fraser was
back and he arched over Meg crying out as he felt Fraser
returning. Hands and mouths moving over him, legs, sliding
over and around his. Fraser's talented fingers and mouth
working in unison with Meg's.
"OHMIGOD!"
He cried and heard two satisfied little
growls.
His cries echoed through
the room as he was brought to
the most mind blowing orgasm of his
life and passed out from
sheer sensory overload.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray stepped out of the
shower to be offered a towel by
Meg who looked his dripping body
over and smiled at him. The
towel hit the floor and they weren't
too far behind.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Fraser sat in his usual
chair, before the window, Deif
curled up at his feet sleeping when
Ray walked in and set a
hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry `bout leaving
you alone most of the day, Caro, I
hope you're hungry," Ray
said as he moved away heading for
the kitchen.
Fraser climbed out of
his chair and followed Ray. Ray's
first stop was the refrigerator,
opening it to look inside
and Fraser peered over his shoulder, reached in grabbed and
apple and then walked away. Ray spun and watched him walk
away munching on the apple.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg was not having a
good day. The replacement deputy
liaison officer was totally incompetent,
she was snowed
under with work trying to sort out the trouble she generated
and
missed Fraser's efficiency in the role. Then the mail
arrived. She was working her way through it when the phone
rang.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Fraser was sleeping,
but Ray was awake when Meg
returned from work, late, he watched
her approach with her
briefcase as he worked in the kitchen putting the final
touches to dinner for her. In this case a light salad with a
thick
steak. She looked drawn and tired, but perked up a
little at the smell of the steak which was cooking as he
diced and sliced vegetables tossing them into a tossing
bowl.
"Bad day huh?"
"Fraser's replacement
is totally incompetent. Worse
than Turnbull."
"Now that's
bad. Maybe I can cheer you up. Fraser did
something spontaneous
again today."
"Oh, what?"
"Well, first
he followed me into the kitchen and got
himself something to eat."
"An Apple?"
"Yes, how..
?"
"He's
been doing that for some time, that's why I
always make sure there's
plenty of fresh fruit."
"Oh, well, he did
something else.. He bathed himself
and chose what he was going
to wear without any help from
me.. And for a change, he didn't just curl up in his chair
through the day. He watched me studying and showed a
definite interest in what I was doing."
"That's good isn't
it?"
"Yes.
It's a definite sign of improvement. Cross your
fingers. If he continues
to show spontaneous signs of
interest in his own well being and self image it'll prove
he's turned the corner and is on the road to recovery."
Meg
set her case on the bench and opened it.
"It
seems we have two things to celebrate."
"Two
things?"
She
pulled out a now familiar envelope and handed it to
him. He snatched
it from her hands and ripped it open to
pull out his third certificate and a letter. He let out a
whoop when he read the letter.
"You got high honours
again, didn't you?"
"Even
better, they've sent my records to one of the
universities who have
correspondence programs. I've been
accepted into a university run associate diploma course in
Psychology."
"I've been meaning
to talk to you about that."
"Do
you have a problem with it? Or is it because I'm
spending all my
money on getting my text books and supplies
and not contributing to the household.. "
"Nooo. I don't have
a problem with it. Since I returned
to work, you've taken over all
the household chores too..
And you're a better cook."
"Why thank-you."
"And if you
give me receipts I'll have your course
related expenses refunded,
since it's directly related to
your care of Fraser."
"So what's the problem?"
"Well I made
a few inquiries on your behalf."
"What
sort of inquiries?"
"I
couldn't help but notice that you've developed a
real interest in
psychology, and I made a few enquires and
how to get you nominated for the FBI's profiling courses,
which would help to improve your career prospects. If you
continue your studies and take up criminology courses you
could be eligible. But that's immaterial. I've been looking
into the criminology courses available.. and written to the
relevant
people about wether or not you could undertake them
by correspondence.
I've explained the situation your in,
sent copies of your certificates and told them you were
studying to qualify to study at the associate diploma
level.. One wrote back.. I spoke to the Dean on the phone
this afternoon."
"And?"
"It was a Canadian
college."
"Oh."
"But they have
an excellent course range and a mature
age student scholarship programme,
which the Dean thinks
you'd qualify for. If you pass the scholarship exam and
interview you could study criminology, general psychology
and sexual assault counselling there. They're willing to
come to an arrangement so that you can study part time,
doing the bulk of the course by correspondence. You'd have
to attend some classes.. but they have day care, and often
have parents with young children who bring them into
classes. They're a very progressive college. Since Fraser's
quiet and wouldn't cause a disruption, he could accompany
you and sit in or you could put him in day care when you
attend classes."
"That would mean
going to Canada to study."
"Yes..
But the Canadian college has the most to offer,
taking up the course
schedule they have would not only help
you to help Fraser but enhance your future career prospects.
I could
get a transfer to a post near the college, the
Inspector there would like to come to the states, we could
swap places, which would give you a chance to take up the
offer.. "
Ray mulled it over it
while he splashed a little of her
favourite salad dressing over
the vegetables and popped the
top on the bowl giving it a good shake.
"I suppose if I
agreed to that plan, it would really
help when we say we're a defacto
couple.
She took a deep breath.
"I made a statutory
declaration, declaring you as my
Defacto three days ago."
"Oh."
It didn't seem to bother
him all that much so she
pulled a sheath of papers from the case
and held them up for
him to see.
"There's a pile
of paperwork to deal with as a result.
I have to start working on
creating the right paper trail to
confirm my statement, that means,
all entitlements that
would go to my partner on my death have to be transferred to
you,
I have to revise my will.. I have to show *evidence*
that it's not just a ploy to make it possible to use your
temporary guardianship of Fraser to get a joint order. And
you have to do the same thing too."
"They worked it
out."
"It's
a pity your sterile.. It would have solved
everything if there
was positive proof of a sexual
relationship."
"If they could have
heard going on about enhancing my
career prospects they wouldn't
suspect you of having
ulterior motives for declaring me your Defacto."
She smiled wryly.
"Now all we have
to do is convince them it's a real
relationship, that means making
sure we manufacture all the
right official evidence."
Ray served her meal up.
"We can do
that after you've eaten."
He
held out the plate waving it under her nose. She
took the plate
and nibbled on a piece of lettuce as she
headed for the table.
"If you're not careful,
Vecchio, I might develop an
ulterior motive for declaring you my
defacto that has
nothing to do with Fraser."
"And I thought it
was the way to a *man's* heart."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg took Fraser to the
consulate with her the next day,
where the other staff, baring the
new deputy liaison
officer, fussed over him all day. Ray for his part, slept
half the day away before spending the rest of the afternoon
running around taking care of paperwork, getting records
from the hospital and arranging to make a joint application
for Fraser's care.
He also managed to fit
in a visit to his mother to tell
her there was a possibility he
might be going to Canada in
the near future. He wasn't surprised at being smothered with
maternal
love and affection, or at being loaded down with
more frozen food than he could eat in a month, even with Meg
and
Fraser's help.
He took a trip back to
the apartment, to place all the
food in the freezer and found a
message from Meg on the
answering service telling him she'd be late again, and to
please come by the embassy ASAP and bring Fraser's
medication. He hit himself in the head for not remembering
to give Meg, Fraser's midday dose of the medication he took
morning, noon and night. He found the pill box and counted
out enough pills to cover the midday and evening dosage and
slipped the box into his pocket.
Pills taken care of he
set one of the preprepared meals
in the sink to thaw and made a
quick check of the cupboards,
drew up a list of food to buy and
was about to leave when
the phone rang.
He raced across the apartment
to answer it before the
answering machine kicked it, but didn't
reach it in time. He
heard Meg's message kick in and snatched up
the phone
cutting it off.
"Meg?"
"No. Who I am speaking
too?" The caller asked.
"Ray
Vecchio, what's it to you?"
The
caller hung up. Ray wondered what it was about
while he switched
the machine back on, and stopped worrying
about it when he saw the time. He rushed around, snatching
up the shopping list and keys running out.
He reached the consulate
in a new personal best time
and was ushered into Meg's office where
he handed her the
pill box, and she handed him an envelope and gave him a very
thorough
kiss right in front of Constable Cooper and the new
deputy liaison
officer. They scuttled off, to spread the
news to the rest of the staff no doubt.
Ray didn't look at the
envelope till he returned to the
car and his eyes bugged out when
he found that it contained
a cheque for several thousand dollars. He read the note
attached and was amazed to discover he'd spent that much
money on his studies.
He made a quick trip
to the bank to deposit the cheque
and make a large withdrawal, then
he was off to do the
shopping, dropping into a computer shop on the way. He
walked out with a brand new laptop with a fax modem a pile
of programs, manuals and a flat bed scanner.
By the time Meg returned
with Fraser he had the laptop
and modem set up, and dinner sitting
on the table. After the
meal was demolished, Fraser followed him
over to the
computer while Meg took care of the dishes.
Fraser nudged Ray away
from the computer and began
tapping away. Ray let him play with
the computer and joined
Meg in the kitchen.
"A computer?"
"For my studies.
I can do my work on it and reduce the
amount of paper I waste writing
up my notes."
"And the scanner."
"Well when
I told the salesperson what I wanted it for,
he talked me into buying
it. He said I could use it like a
photocopier. They had a special deal on, I also got a free
printer, but they were out of stock on those, it'll be
delivered here by courier as soon as they get some new stock
in."
"Have you decided
which course you'll undertake?"
"It
depends on wether or not we can get the care order
extended. If
not, then we can't stop them shipping Benni to
a psychiatric hospital, and there's no reason for me to stay
here
or continue my studies."
He didn't see Meg's reaction
to that as he turned to
set a plate aside. He didn't want to see
her nodding, but
that's not what she was doing.
-Don't agree with me-
{Look on the bright
side, at least you didn't make an
utter fool of yourself by declaring
your undying love or
anything like that.}
"Of course if the
order is extended, then.. I'll
continue my studies. I talked to
my mother about it today,
and.. I wrote to that college you told me about, asking them
to
slot me in for the scholarship exams."
"So you're thinking
about going to Canada to study?"
{Say
yes, say anything else, and I'll kill you where
you stand.}
"It would help Benni
too, wouldn't it? And you'd be
able to spend a little time with
your family. And being back
in Canada might be good for him."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Over the next week Fraser
began to display more and
more spontaneous action, twice joining
the Meg and Ray in
the bed they now shared. On the evening of the new week Ray
returned from a shopping trip to replenish their supplies to
find
Meg and Fraser both dressed in Dress Red's their hands
behind their backs, just watching him as he carted in the
shopping and packed it away.
"Planning to take
advantage of his state to put him
guard at the door, milady?"
he teased.
He discovered a moment
later that what they had behind
their backs was more than hands,
they also hand cuffs. He
was marched off to the bed roof the have his wrists cuffed
to the bed posts, where Meg announced he had to be strip
searched for contraband and ordered the constable to proceed
slapping
a pair of latex gloves into his hands. Fraser
snapped them on and gave strip search and frisk a whole new
meaning to Ray.
What followed gave Ray
a definite taste for Bondage and
being dominated by certain dragon
lady and declaring that he
was most definitely Bi-Sexual making
them laugh. Ray tossed
Fraser's medication for the day down the sink and celebrated
his
improvement with a glass of champagne and a trip to an
expensive Italian restaurant.
The trio was enjoying
the night out until Ray noticed
someone at a nearby table was paying
just a little too much
attention to them for his liking and cut the evening short.
The next day, he opened
the door at a knock to find the
same man at his door with a woman
in a business suit
carrying a briefcase. They flashed their I.D and he let them
in
to inspect the apartment. They interviewed Fraser, who
had nothing to say. Then they interviewed him. Midway
through it his watch started beeping and he excused himself.
Fraser
disappeared into the bathroom and Ray followed him
in. He was praising Fraser when they left the room and moved
to
the kitchen where Ray prepared lunch for Fraser while
Fraser sat himself down at the table to wait. Once he had
the simple meal ready he set it before Fraser who started
eating while Ray fetched his pills and a glass of ice water
to wash the medication down with.
When he returned to the
lounge he found one of the
officers writing in a note pad.
"You have a regular
meal schedule?"
"For
Benni, yes, he's got 4 different kinds of
medication he's gotta
take, and it really should be taken
with meals and I make sure he gets a meal with all of them."
"Snacks?"
"Meg brings fresh
fruit home every few days. When he's
hungry in between meals, he
knows where the fruit is and
gets himself a piece."
"I noticed you were
praising him when you left the
bathroom."
"Well, we used to
have to do everything for him. But
he's started taking care of himself.
I try to make sure he
knows I noticed and praise him whenever he does something
for himself."
The note taking one's
pen flew over the pad.
They
asked a few more questions about Fraser's general
care, inspected
the office that had been turned into
Fraser's bedroom. Then while the female half of the team
tried to get Fraser to answer a few questions again, the
male half asked about their relationship. In particular the
sexual side of things, pointing out the fact he was listed
as Fraser's S.O in past medical records.
"The last thing
he needs sex. What he needs is
affection, to be shown he's cared
for and cherished."
"So there is no
sexual relationship?"
"That's
right."
Which
in a manner of speaking was true, while Fraser
might join in on
the foreplay side of things he didn't get
involved when it came to full on sex.
"But there is a
physical relationship?"
"Any
time he wants a hug or a kiss or to just be held
he knows we're
there for him."
"*We*?"
"Meg too.. he's
crawled into our bed a few times. He
likes to sleep snuggled up
between us. The sexual assault
counsellor I consulted said that's a sign that he feels
secure and safe with us."
"It doesn't affect
your relationship with your
Defacto."
"She feels the same
way about Benni that I do."
The
officer asked a few more pointed questions, then
turned the subject
to his relationship with Meg.
"How long have you
been a couple?"
"We've
been sharing the same bed for six months, give
or take a week,"
Ray said, telling the truth, without
mentioning that sharing meant, sleeping in the same bed at
different times for most of that time.
"So your relationship
began after you became Mr
Fraser's carer?"
"Well... yes and
no.. In a manner of speaking it began
while I was in hospital..
I almost died in a car accident
and she became a regular visitor.. And I had definite plans
to explore how far things could go after I got out, then
this happened to Benni, and when Meg made the offer to share
the
burden of care with me.. things just... fell into
place."
"I see and do you
have intentions to make the
relationship official?"
"Funny I thought
we'd already done that by statutory
declarations regarding our relationship."
"I meant, do you
have plans to marry?"
"Not
at the moment.. I'm catholic, she's not, we're in
two different
police forces. Benni isn't going to be a
zombie forever and when he's better.. I'll be returning to
my precinct.. Though, she's been talking about going to
Canada.. he thinks it would be good for both of us, meaning
Benni and I.. Him because it's his country.. And he'd feel
more comfortable there. Me because there's a college there
where I can continue my studies.."
"Studies?"
"In psychology..
I've been studying it by
correspondence, so I can help Benni.. I've
already attained
the certification I need to start studying to gain an
associate diploma, and there's this college in Canada that
she sent all my certificates too.. They're trying to get
mature age students, and they can handle Benni tagging along
with
me to classes and she can always rearrange her schedule
to take
over when I can't."
The officer asked a few
more questions about his plans
for the future, studies and how he
fitted them into his
duties as Fraser's primary carer. He didn't give any
indication as to wether or not they were acceptable and
finished the interview off by borrowing the phone to set up
a physical exam for Fraser before departing with his partner
to
corner Meg at the consulate.
She returned home in
a state of high anxiety and they
spent the rest of the night worrying
about their application
to care for Fraser being turned down all
because he chose
the wrong restaurant to celebrate in.
Meg was so tense she
ended up throwing up her
breakfast, and if she could have trusted
her deputy, would
have called in sick. Instead she left to go to work, while
Ray spent the morning pouring over computer manuals until he
heard
the door open. He looked around to Fraser walking out
with Deif on his heels. Tossing the manual, Ray jumped out
of his chair, racing after Fraser.
An hour later, Meg looked
up from another mound of
paperwork to see a sheepish Ray peering
around the door,
announcing he'd left the apartment without his keys. On
impulse Meg collected her keys and decided to take the rest
of the day off, she wasn't getting much in the way of work
done anyway.
She joined Ray and Fraser,
and made Fraser sit in the
back of the car with Deif. After lunch,
they took Fraser in
for his exam and relaxed a little when the doctor announced
that he was in fine health.
They returned to the
consulate where Meg picked up a
pile of paperwork to complete at
home and her car. They were
startled to find the Mental Health services
officer on their
door step when they arrived, and Meg's anxiety
levels
peaked. She managed to hide it well as she escorted him
inside, with the men and wolf on their heels. Fraser sat
himself down at the computer while Meg and Ray sat down with
the
MHS officer.
Nothing could wipe the
smiles off their faces when they
were informed the MHS had no problems
with extending the
order and making it an indefinite one. They considered
Fraser's care to be more than adequate and Ray's efforts to
educate himself to be a better Primary carer and future
plans didn't hurt. Neither did it seem did their unusual
relationship. The only thing that mattered was wether or not
they
were giving Fraser the level of care he required and
they were satisfied he was getting a better level of care
under Ray and Meg's supervision than he would in a mental
hospital.
Fraser's medication went
down the sink again as they
celebrated their victory and Meg made
two calls, one to the
consulate asking for specific papers to be brought to her
apartment, and one to Canada.
"Are you sure you
want to go to Canada to continue your
studies?" She asked Ray
once the paper's were delivered.
"Yes."
She presented him
with a pile of paper work and a pen.
"Then fill
in this paperwork. The offer to swap posts
with me is still open."
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Ten
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
A week later, Deif went
into quarantine and Ray sat in
his car with Fraser watching Meg
give the removalists last
minute instructions, and making dire threats about what she
would do to them if anything was damaged. When she finally
the two men in the car they headed for the airport.
"I've already made
arrangements with a relator to begin
looking for a house that will
be close to both the college
and my new post. He said there are six properties, that we
can occupy immediately that fit my criteria to look at,
we'll visit them all tomorrow. I'll take pictures and send
them to you via e-mail so you can look the properties over."
"I trust your judgement."
"Are you sure
you won't come with me?"
"I'm
not going to be seeing my family for a while, Meg,
I think I should
spend some time with them before I head to
Canada."
"Perhaps Fraser
should come with me."
In
the end after a discussion that lasted all the way
to the ticket
counter, Fraser accompanied Meg on her flight
out and Ray returned home. Half way home, his watch started
beeping at him and he could have kicked himself for not
swapping watches with Meg. His was programmed to do more
than just beep when it was time to give Fraser his
medication. The tiny LCD display also listed what medication
he
was supposed to have at those times which is why he'd
brought the high tech digital watch in the first place.
"Oh, well, she's
sure to ring me up when they touch
down to ask me what she should
give him tonight."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray settled down on his
bed, rubbing his temples, as
his head throbbed with what promised
to become a doozy of a
headache. He was rolling over and opening the bedside drawer
to
search for the pack of headache pills he kept there when
he heard Frannie shriek "Raaaay! Phone!"
With a little groan he
bolted up and raced out of the
room. He wondered who the hell was
calling and glanced at
his watch before he raced down the stairs. By his estimates
Meg and Fraser should have set down in Canada by now, it was
most
likely Meg ringing to tell him they'd arrived. He made
a mental note to discuss Fraser's medication and grabbed the
phone
from Frannie as he came to a skidding stop by the
phone.
"It's Fraser,"
Francesca informed him.
"What?!
Benni?? Is that you? Say something."
"Meg."
"What about
her? Did something happen to her?"
=Of
course something happened, it's the first time he's
spoken in God
knows how long. God, don't let her..=
"Meg fainted."
"What? Where?"
"Airport."
"Which one?"
"Don't know..
They took her away."
"Rrright..
O.K Benni, listen very closely, I want you
to think about this.
Did you get on the plane?"
"Yes."
"O.K.. Did Meg get
on the plane?"
Fraser
had to think about that.
"Yes..
but they took her away.."
"She
fainted on the plane?"
"Yes."
"Before or
after it took off."
"Before."
"And they took
her off the plane?"
"Yes."
"Great.. Look
around and try to describe exactly where
you are for me, can you
do that for me, Benni?"
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray's intention to spend
time with his family went
right out the window. He managed to get
Fraser to get an
airport official to come to the phone, and arranged to have
someone watch him. Then he tried to find out what happened
to Meg. He didn't get very far. He ended up throwing his
bags back into the car, and drove to the airport, with
Frannie. He collected his bags, opened his mouth and almost
warned her not to wreck his precious car, then the voice in
his head that he called the headshrinker piped up. Instead
of telling her to be careful, he told her to take care, that
he'd
ring when he touched down, and raced off.
He made it to the ticket
counter in time to get a
ticket for a flight he just had time to
check his bags in
for. He was settled back in his seat after the plane took
off and tried to ignore the tension headache that had taken
hold and made his head pound. Then he felt the seat move as
someone sat in the empty seat beside him. A little voice in
his head made note of the fact the seat hadn't been occupied
when
the plane took off.
He ignored it until a
hand settled down on his thigh.
His eyes flew open and he looked
around to be confronted
with the pale face of Meg.
"Meg!"
She put a finger to her
lips and hushed him. He
remembered where he was and adjusted his
voice accordingly.
"What happened?
I heard you fainted and when I tried to
find out what happened after
that.."
"They took me to
the airport infirmary, I ate
something, and they let me go."
"You fainted because
you skipped breakfast?"
"I
think I caught some kind of bug, I've been feeling
off colour for
the last week.. Or maybe it was just the
stress."
"Tell me about it.
I've got headache that just won't
quit."
"Did you take something
for it?"
"I
was about to when the phone rang and I was too busy
trying to work
out how to find you and take care of Benni."
She
opened her mouth to inquire about him, but he beat
her to it, covering
her hand with one of his own.
"He's being looked
after. He went on to Canada without
you. He's the one who called
to tell me what happened."
She
looked at him in surprise.
"Not
that he was very.. helpful. I've had far more
erudite conversations
with toddlers."
"But he talked..
he hasn't done that since.."
"I
know.. I couldn't believe it when Frannie told me he
was on the
phone. He is definitely turning the corner. The
next thing you know we're going to be wishing he'd shut up."
Meg smiled.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
It took near on an hour
and a half to sort things out
at the other end of the airport, finding
Fraser, collecting
their luggage took up most of it. Fraser wasn't where he was
supposed
to be, the official who'd been keeping an eye on
him having been called away to tend to some task. They
eventually found him at a newsstand sitting in a chair
obviously taken from the back of the stand, reading, and on
the counter beside him sat a pile of magazines.
Fraser's face lit up
when he saw Ray and Meg
approaching them. They discovered the magazines
on the
counter had been chosen by Fraser. And Ray went through
Fraser's bundle while Meg paid for them. The budding shrink
in Ray found Fraser's choice of magazines interesting. They
covered a whole range of topics, from women's glossies,
decorating, cooking, pet care, two local magazines, three
true life crime & mystery pulp magazines, a science fiction
magazine, a renovators magazine, a bridal magazine and a
literary magazine.
"Would you like
a bag for those?" The stall worker
asked.
Ray slid them into the
bag the woman held open for him,
thanked her, kindly, saw Fraser
give a faint smile and the
woman fluttered her lashes and gave Fraser a big smile.
"Any time."
Ray rolled his eyes
and took Fraser's hand, leading him
away with a loud, "Come
along, Amante," for her benefit.
When Meg caught up with them
and wound her arm around his
other arm, she was chuckling.
"So what did I just
end up paying almost 50 dollar's
for?"
"A very interesting
range of magazines."
Fraser
freed his hand and took the bag to rifle through
it and pulled out
the home decorators magazine to show it to
Meg.
Meg took it and while
they waited at the luggage
carousel she went through it. Fraser
took to standing at her
shoulder and pointed to items that he found
of interest. She
chuckled when he tapped the magazine emphatically
when she
reached the SOHO feature and pointed at Ray.
"Birthday soon,"
he said in a low voice.
She
gave him a dazzling smile and marked the page,
tucking it under
her arm as Ray approached with three cases.
"See
something you like?" Ray asked.
"In
a magazine like this, there's always something to
like, the question
is wether or not you can *afford* to buy
what you like in it."
She slipped the magazine
into Fraser's bag and went to
examine the luggage for her own and
Fraser's. Ray found a
trolley and loaded his bags on it, before rejoining Fraser.
When he did, Fraser held out a magazine, folded open to an
article. Ray took it and looked it over, then smiled. It was
one
of the true life crime stories, involving a police
detective using psychological profiling to catch a wanted
man of murderous inclinations.
"So you understand
why I came here with Meg?"
Fraser's
mouth opened, but he seemed to have trouble
expressing his thoughts,
instead he tapped the magazine.
"Learn to be like
him."
"Maybe."
"No."
"No?"
Fraser had trouble
finding the words to express him
self and it showed. Ray stroked
his arm.
"It's o.k, Benni."
"No.. It's
not."
"Relax,
it's not the end of the world. You made us
happy just by starting
to talk again."
"Hard..words..express..
can't think straight."
A
beeping alarm went off and Ray slid back his sleeve
to look at his
watch to see it was time for Fraser's
medication. He looked up to see Meg approaching with a
baggage handler pushing a trolley loaded down with luggage.
When they arrived he pounced on a bag and pulled out the
toiletries kit that held Fraser's medication.
"We have to find
somewhere to get a meal, it's time for
his medication."
"Can't we just call
room service and get a meal sent up
for him to take his pills with
when we get to the hotel?"
Ray
studied her face, which if anything had only grown
more pale and
drawn despite her pleasure at the positive
proof of Fraser's progress, then nodded. It wouldn't hurt to
put
things off a little longer.
A little longer turned
out to be over an hour and a
half as they went looking for a cab
during the shift change
over. By the time they got to the hotel and settled the
matter of a change in suites, everyone but Fraser was
grumpy. And it seemed as time went by Fraser grew more
animated as they got grumpier.
They finally got their
accommodations settled and Ray
asked if they could arrange for a
doctor to pay a 'house
call' and after the duty manager promised to arrange it, Ray
sent
Fraser up to the suite with Meg, while he made all the
arrangements for dinner.
With the arrangements
settled, Ray joined the duo in
the suite and found Fraser on the
couch, reading a magazine,
and heard the shower. Leaving Fraser
to his reading, Ray
joined Meg in the shower, more out of a desire to make sure
she didn't faint in the shower than anything else. He sent
her to bed wrapped in one of the hotel's fluffy towelling
robes, and then went in search of their bags, to find the
one holding Fraser's medication. He measured out a dose to
take into account the fact he'd missed medication earlier
and popped the pills into their cup before he checked the
bar refrigerator. The was the usual array of miniature
booze, cans of soft drink, snacks and two bottles of bottled
water.
He pulled one out and found a glass and set it on the
table with
Fraser's pills.
He left Fraser reading
his magazine, and returned to
the suite's main room to sit on the
bed with Meg. They
talked about the improvement Fraser was showing until Fraser
poked
his head around the door and told them there was
someone at the door. Ray went to answer the door and found
the Doctor and room service on the door step. He directed
the Doctor to Meg's room, and took the tray from the porter.
Once
he had Fraser seated at the dining table with his
meal, he returned
to the bedroom. Fraser looked at his pills
then ignored them to
begin demolishing his meal. By the time
Ray returned, Fraser had
not only demolished his own meal
but made inroads on Ray's.
"Who's hungry tonight."
Fraser looked up
a little guilty and stopped eating to
push the plate toward Ray.
Ray pushed it back and noticed
that Fraser hadn't taken his medication.
"Take your pills,
Benni, and if you're still hungry
after you polish off my dinner
then I'll order something for
desert when I ask them to send me
up something else."
Fraser looked at the
pills again and then pushed them
away.
"Pills are bad."
Ray pushed them
back.
"The
doctor prescribed them, if you don't keep taking
them they'll take
guardianship away from us and put you in a
psychiatric hospital.
You don't want to go to a nut house
again do you."
A vague memory stirred,
of being in a straight jacket
in a padded cell with Ray at his side
struggling to get out
of the straight jacket he was in, and Fraser reluctantly
swallowed the pills.
"Good," Ray
said with a little nod.
He
watched Fraser start eating again and hunted up the
room service
menu.
"O.K we've got a
few deserts on offer here.. Do you
want me to read out the list
or should I just pick something
out for you?"
Fraser just looked at
him.
"Alrighty,
I'll just pick something out.."
He
left Fraser to his meal while he called room service
and ordered
another meal and something simple for desert,
something he wouldn't mind eating if Fraser's appetite
vanished before it arrived. With that done he returned to
the dining table to watch Fraser eat and the budding
headshrinker in him started prodding Fraser, asking
questions designed to judge his state of mind. Fraser
expressed concern for Meg's health, and Ray assured him it
was nothing serious. Probably just stress.
"I know how she
feels.. I've got a killer headache."
"Perhaps
you should take something for it."
"I
will.. Later.. The doctor'll probably prescribe
something and I'll
have to go and find a pharmacy to pick it
up, and I'll get something
for my head ache while I'm there.
Now enough about me, how about
you. How do you feel?"
"Better."
"As opposed to what?"
"Before."
"Before.. we
got here, before you got on the plane,
before what?"
That question was a little
too difficult for the
befuddled man to comprehend.
"I see.. hmm..
Do you understand what's going on? By
that I mean, why you're with
us."
Fraser thought about
that and nodded slowly.
"I've
been sick... You and Meg have been taking care of
me," Fraser
said, his speech becoming a little slurred.
"Yes,
that's right.. So you do understand what's going
on. That's good..
We had to convince the Mental Health
Department that we could take good care of you to be able to
keep
looking after you. They wanted to put you into a mental
hospital
and lock you up.. We had to convince them you were
better off in our care than you would be in a place like
that."
"Is that why we
came here? I thought.."
Ray
smiled reaching out to pat his hand.
"It's
O.K, we convinced them to let us keep you with
us. We didn't sneak
away to keep you out of that place.
Though trust me, if they'd tried to take you away, I would
have done it. I knew you were getting better, locking you up
at
that stage could have ruined all our good work."
"I'm getting better?"
Fraser asked.
"Yes
you are.."
Something
nagged at Fraser, but it was getting harder
to think straight and
grasp the thought let along express
it. With some hard thought on the matter it came to him.
"Is Meg pregnant?"
Fraser blurted before the thought
could slip away on him again.
Ray stared at him, then
gave a sad smile and shook his
head.
"No.. I think it's
just all the stress catching up with
her. What she really needs
is a break, but she's not going
to get one.. But now you're getting better, half the
pressure will be off."
Fraser thought about
it, with a confused little frown.
"Are
you sure she's not pregnant?"
"Yes.
Very."
"Are
you absolutely positive?"
"*Yes*."
He watched Fraser
look toward the bedroom where Meg and
the Doctor were, concern etched
on his features. He was
ready to stress the point further when Fraser looked his way
again,
his mouth opening then the thought slipped away and
Fraser slowly closed his mouth with a confused look.
Ray was about to continuing
prodding Fraser when there
was a knock on the door and he left Fraser
in his state of
confusion to answer it. The knocker turned out to have been
sent up with his meal and Ray collected it and as he walked
back to the table uncovering his meal and inhaled the
wonderful scent he mused that Fraser eating the first thing
he'd ordered wasn't so bad, this meal smelled even better.
When he returned to the
dinning Area he found Fraser
had left the table to stand before
the window looking out at
the view of the city at night. With a
rumble Ray's stomach
reminded him he hadn't eaten all day and he sat and managed
to get half the meal down before the door to Meg's room
opened and the doctor stepped out, closing the door quietly
behind him.
Ray looked up and then
pushed his plate aside standing
to join the doctor.
"How is she?"
"Are you Raymond?"
Ray nodded.
"She's fine, it's
nothing that a little rest won't
cure," the doctor said pulling
out a prescription pad and
tearing off the top sheet.
"These will help
with the nausea, make sure she takes
them at least 20 minutes before
meals."
Ray took the proffered
prescription and tucked it away
in his pocket before escorting the
doctor to the door and
pulling out his wallet.
"I don't have any
Canadian yet, we only just touched
down.. Can I pay with American?"
The Doctor quoted
a fee and Ray paid it without
argument and sent him on his way.
His meal remained
forgotten as he hurried back to the dining/lounge area and
tugged Fraser away from the window. He wasted no time
getting Fraser bathed and tucked into bed then he peeked in
on Meg to find her sleeping peacefully in the big bed that
occupied the main bedroom of the suite.
A trip to lobby, a question
and a taxi ride to an all
night pharmacy later, Ray returned to
throw out the remains
of his dinner, put the desert into the refrigerator, and
downed two aspirins before he checked in on Fraser and Meg
again. Meg was still sleeping, though she'd flipped over and
was
now hugging a pillow to death. Fraser had gone to sleep
and Ray smiled to himself when he saw that for the first
time in a long time, Fraser was sleeping in a bed alone
without curling up into a tight little ball. In fact he and
Meg had something in common, they were both hugging pillows
as they slept.
Slipping into the master
bedroom, Ray filched two of
the pillows and found spare blankets
hidden in the wardrobe
that he carried out to the lounge. He tested the lounge
chair and found it held a fold out bed. In no time at all he
had
the bed out and made and crawled under the blankets
ready to try and get some sleep himself.
He tossed and turned
restlessly for an hour before he
crawled out of the bed and crept
through the suite into the
kitchenette to down two more aspirin. When he returned to
the lounge/bed he found that someone had crept out and
slipped under the blankets. it was hard to tell who, all he
could see over the top of the blankets were a few dark
curls, and both Fraser and Meg had dark hair.
With a little shrug he
climbed back into the bed to
settle down and a few moments later
discovered the other
occupant of the bed was Fraser when the half doped Canadian
snuggled down at his side and murmured slurred endearment's
that made him chuckle softly as he started drifting off to
sleep.
When he awoke Ray discovered
there was more than one
Canadian sharing his bed, Meg had crawled
in at some point
in the night and he was being cuddled on both side's by two
apparently very content Canadians if the little smiles on
their faces were anything to go by.
"How anyone can
smile after a night on this torture
rack is beyond me.." Ray
grumbled as he tried to wiggle out
of the Mountie sandwich he was
caught in.
His efforts to slip away
woke both Fraser and Meg. Meg
was the first and he noticed it.
"How are you felling?"
He asked solicitously.
"Much
better," she said as she let her hand wander over
his body.
"And you?"
Her hand wandered
lower and another hand started
wandering over his back and he felt
Fraser's breath on his
neck before his lips touched it.
"Am I the only one
in this suite who isn't feeling
frisky right now?" He asked.
"You still have
your headache?"
"No..
After a night on this, that ache migrated to my
spine. And as much
as I enjoy being a part of a Mountie
Sandwich.."
His half heart protestations
trailed off as Fraser's
hands moved over his back and neck, finding
the tension
there before he started an expert massage. Ray almost purred
as
Fraser's nimble fingers moved over his spine taking away
the aches and pains. But Fraser's hands weren't the only
busy ones. Meg's got busy too.
Meg stopped and sat up
to look at Ray when he suddenly
froze his eyes widening.
"What is it? What's
wrong?"
Ray
looked over his shoulder at Fraser who was close as
he could get.
Then the Italio-American rolled and raised the
blankets to peek
under them.
"Ohmigod."
"What is it?"
Ray laughed.
"Raymond Vecchio
if you don't tell me what's going
on.."
Ray looked at her.
"Its Benni."
Meg looked at Fraser
who looked quite content to
continue stroking and kissing Ray all
day.
"What about him?"
"How should
I put this.. He's *very* interested in this
mountie sandwich idea."
Meg frowned, then looked
under the blankets and her
eyes widened.
"Now might be a
good time to get out of bed and let me
take care of him."
Ray considered that,
then nodded before he shifted
around to give Fraser a quick kiss.
"Good morning to
you too," he said, then switched
places with Meg before sliding
out of the bed to head for
the shower leaving the Inspector to deal with Fraser.
Fraser looked around,
following Ray's movements with a
faint look of disappointment that
Meg wiped off his face
while Ray took a cold shower.
Meg jumped into the shower
while he was in the bedroom
changing, and Ray was getting Fraser's
medication and
breakfast sorted out while she changed. Meg slipped out of
the suite while he was occupied and it wasn't till late in
the day that she returned, while Fraser was taking a nap.
"Well, I hope
your day was more productive than mine,"
Ray said as he wandered
into the kitchenette to make coffee.
"Nothing
happened?"
"Not
a thing. He didn't even talk to me, or show any
interest in his
magazines either. All though he did pay
attention when I read an article or two from them to him."
"He didn't try to
get affectionate with you did he?"
"Apart
from this morning, no."
"Good."
"Maybe."
"It won't be
a problem after tonight."
"Oh,
why?"
"The
house has locks on every bedroom door, you can
look yours to keep
him out while you sleep."
"I can't lock the
door, he might want to crawl into my
bed and snuggle up next to
me."
"That's exactly
why you should lock your door from now
on. Today is *not* the first
time he's shown a definite
interest in sex."
"Are you talking
about beyond.. foreplay here?"
She
nodded.
"Why didn't you
mention it?"
"It
never went anywhere."
"Why
not?"
"Because
he looses interest pretty fast, there are so
many ways to turn him
off in an instant."
Ray handed her a cup
of coffee and hurried off to find
a note pad and pen before collecting
his own coffee.
"Do me a favour,
think hard about it, and write down a
complete list of all the things
you've noticed that turn him
off in an instant," Ray said handing
her the pad.
She nodded heading for
the dining/lounge area with Ray
on her tail.
"If you won't lock
your door. Memorise this list,
knowing how to turn him off in a
hurry might help you avoid
a situation you don't want to get into."
"Meaning Fraser
deciding he wants to have sex with me."
"He
decided that this morning. The question now is not
wether or not
he's ready to go that far, but wether or not
you're ready to cross that line with him."
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Eleven
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
Part
Eleven
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
They say the only thing
that causes as much stress as
the death of a family member or loved
one is moving house.
Which explained why Meg was grumpy as hell and his head ache
only
went away when he downed at least four aspirin to hold
it at bay.
On the other hand there
were moments in time, small
moments at that, which put a smile on
Ray's face. Like the
day he'd taken Fraser for a walk. Fraser had plucked a
flower from somewhere and watched him, walking along,
plucking the flower, muttering he loves me he loves me not
until there were no more petals left. The last petal had
been a "He love's me" one, and Fraser had spontaneously
grabbed and kissed him till he thought he'd pass out from
lack of air.
And then there were times
Ray just wanted to bang his
head against a brick wall. Fraser's
improvement was on one
hand worth celebrating, and on the other, a little
frightening. He was childlike, except for one area, sex.
Since the move Fraser had grown more and more interested in
displays of physical affection. And on more than one
occasion responding to his need for it had lead to things
reaching the point where he had to choose wether to cross
the line or not.
His decision was always
the same, he wasn't ready to
cross that line, even if Fraser was.
The funny thing was,
the more he rejected crossing that line with Fraser, the
more interested Fraser became in crossing it. In the end Ray
took
up Meg's suggestion and started locking his bedroom
door when he went to bed.
Of course Fraser got
grumpy about it. Like a child
deprived of it's favourite toy. And
it was at those times
Ray wondered if that was how things were going to be, if
Fraser was going to remain childlike for life, and felt like
bashing
his head against a brick wall.
He couldn't complain
though. His studies were going
exceptionally well. He'd made friends
with a number of
students who were studying the same courses, mostly younger
people who had found the fact he was a cop, and a detective
at that, to be awe inspiring. They were always asking him
about cases he'd worked on. He was keeping up with his class
mates
in the psych and S.A.C classes, even though he did the
bulk of the
course load at home. But when it came to the
criminology classes he was king of the hill, top of the
heap, or had been till he and the course instructor had a
very big disagreement in front of the entire class.
He just couldn't back
down, and neither would the
teacher, and it had been a rather ugly
disagreement. Ending
with Ray telling the teacher to get out of his Ivory tower
and visit the real world sometime and walking out. He'd
apologised later to the frosty teacher but ever since that
day, no matter how hard he tried, how hard he worked, his
grades for the criminology class spiralled downward. Then it
came
to the crunch, he had to do better than a pass mark, to
remain in
the class, he had to get through the criminology
classes to make it into the profiling programme. If he
failed, he was not only blowing his chances to get into
profiling, but letting down Meg, and even Fraser.
The scholarship, gaining
his psychology diploma,
becoming a certified physiologist, it all
hinged on his
being able to do well in his chosen classes, *all* three of
them. If he failed in one class, he'd loose the scholarship.
Without
the scholarship he couldn't afford to remain and he
certainly couldn't ask Meg to cover his course fees.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg found Ray slumped
on the love seat that was the
main feature of the large verandah
that faced a view to die
for. She'd chosen the house for that view and the 5 rooms it
had.
Now they all had separate bedrooms, and had converted
another into a study, the other into a library to hold Ray's
ever
expanding collection of text books.
She watched Ray and heaved
a mental sigh. The move to
Canada was supposed to have improved
their situation. She'd
thought it could only help - both Fraser and Ray. Instead,
while Fraser had improved, he'd also become definitely
grumpy. As for Ray he never joined her in bed any more. More
often
than not she found him slumped at his desk, dead to
the world, with either a text book at his feet having fallen
from
his hands, or the computer glowing away displaying some
text or
another.
When he wasn't studying,
he was clucking over Fraser,
or had his nose buried in a recipe
book. He'd started
preparing more and more extravagant meals and kept the house
so
clean even a white glove inspection couldn't find a speck
of dust.
The slim Italian grew
slimmer with every day, he picked
at his meals, when he ate, he
seemed to exist on coffee and
lots of it and had picked up the foul habit of smoking -
most likely at the college. She remembered the first time
she'd seen him smoking, it was outside the college, where he
and
Fraser had been standing with a group of students,
mostly younger men and women. Ray had put a bit of distance
between himself and Fraser and had been puffing away with
the smoking half of the group. When she took him to task for
it,
he'd snapped "you'd prefer I took up drinking instead?"
She hadn't said a word about his new habit since, other than
to
ask him to refrain from smoking around her and Fraser.
She wondered how everything
had gone so wrong and
heaved another sigh. Ray looked at her, then
his eyes
started roaming over her in a clinical fashion.
"Fraser was right."
"About what?"
"You're pregnant."
She flushed faintly.
She still had her figure but she'd
already gone up two bra sizes
and it showed.
"Did you sleep with
Fraser sometime I don't know
about?"
"No. It's yours."
"That's impossible."
"When did you
decide to start a family? Did you even
want to try at that stage,
or did you start trying because
you thought it might save your marriage?"
Ray looked away.
"It's a statistical
fact that a great many couples who
try to have children when they're
under stress fail - until
the stress is removed and they relax. But then again, most
couples in that situation break up."
"I'm surprised you
decided to go through with it."
"Why?"
"You don't
need to do it any more. They gave us an
indefinite care order. You
could have terminated when you
found out and I'd have been none the wiser."
"Termination never
even crossed my mind."
"When
did you intend to tell me?"
"I've
been trying to work out how, considering that I
knew what you'd
say when I told you. Besides which the
Doctor says that unless I reduce the level of stress I'm
under I'll miscarry."
Ray rose to his feet
and Meg found herself being made
to sit down on the love seat.
"You should apply
for maternity leave."
"It's too soon
for that and my work load is half what
it was in Chicago, the staff
under me are extremely
efficient. I don't spend half my day's averting disasters,
most of the stress is a result of worrying about Fraser and
you."
"Me???"
"You're the shrink
in training, psychoanalyse yourself.
I can't remember the last time
I saw you eat a decent meal.
You seem to exist on coffee and cigarettes. Which by the way
is
bad for the baby, second hand smoke can affect a child in
the womb."
Ray pulled the packet
of cigarettes he had out of his
pocket and crushed them.
"That's a start.
But unless you start taking better
care of yourself even if I can
take this to term, you won't
be around to see your child born."
Ray looked away.
=As if you'll want me
around when you find out I lost
my scholarship and had to drop out.=
"I don't understand
you at all. Fraser is getting
better, and you're acting like the
end of the world is
nigh."
"He's not getting
better."
"How
can you say that? He's improved drastically over
the way he used
to be. He talks now."
"The average toddler
could hold a more intelligent
conversation than he can."
"It's a start..
He's also more active.. And I think
he's grumpy because he's frustrated."
=It's called sexual frustration=
"He tries so
hard to find the words to express himself
but he can't seem to do
it, and he gets frustrated when that
happens and he can't express
what he wants to, and that
makes him grumpy."
Ray jumped up moving
away, then spun to face her.
"Do
you think I haven't tried to help him break the
communication barrier,
do you think I haven't tried re-
education, teaching him how to express himself. Face up to
it, Dante didn't just mess up his mind, he left Benni Brain
Damaged. He's never going to get better, what you see is
what you get. And all the wishes and hopes in the world
aren't going to change that," Ray snapped before he stomped
off.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg despaired of Ray
changing his ways when she found
him slumped asleep in the chair
of his office. The soft glow
of the computer screen attracted her
attention. She saved
the file he was working on without looking at it and
switched the machine off. Then her foot kicked something.
She went down on her hands and knees to pull a stenographers
note
pad out from under the desk. Half its pages were
covered with notes.
She was about to flip
it closed when she realised all
those notes were related to Fraser.
She went through it
seeing that he was keeping very clear and concise notes,
sequentially dated, about Fraser's condition, what he ate,
drank, what pills he took, what he did or didn't do. What
he, Ray, had done for him during the course of the day, What
she,
Meg had done for him. At the bottom of each page was a
0 to 10 scale each scale was marked with a red circle around
the
zero.
In curiosity she flipped
through to the last page, then
flipped back two to find the day's
date. The first page was
filled with his notes on Fraser's state, the next two were
covered with notes of a different kind. He'd turned Fraser
into a patient, the notes were his analysis of Fraser's
state and what needed to be done to improve it. There was a
list at the bottom of the last page.
Take Fraser to Doctor
for physical
Put
Fraser on diet
Design
exercise regime
Find
Magazines and spend an hour reading to Fraser,
morning and afternoon.
Involve Fraser in activities
that involve Deif, walks,
brushing down, bathing and feeding.
She flipped to the last
page and found Ray's plan
involved trialing a plan to break Fraser
of his dependence
on himself and her. She tore a page out and made a few notes
for
herself and tucked it away in her pocket before she set
the note pad aside and got the sleepy Italian up to his
feet. Half leading, half dragging him through the house, she
got
him into the bedroom and tucked him into bed before she
returned to the office to start going through the drawers.
There she found what she was looking for.
Turning his computer
on, she opened the account keeping
programme and then began sorting
through the collection of
receipts and notes Ray had made keeping track of all the
things he'd brought for Fraser.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray sat Fraser down on
a chair in the kitchen where he
made a big deal of ripping up every
recipe he'd collected
for meals he thought Fraser would like.
"That's the last
time I cook any of that."
Then
he went through the cupboards and refrigerator
throwing out all
the ingredients for those meals which he
couldn't use in other recipes. Then he pulled one of
Fraser's women's magazine from under his coat and waved it
before his face.
"You see this. You
chose this. I don't know what it was
that interested you about it.
But there is something that
interests me in it," Ray said, then poked Fraser in the
belly.
"Recipes for Lo-fat
meals. Which is all you're going to
get from now on. You're getting
pudgy because you don't get
enough exercise."
The Ray whirled and using
the magazine as a guide,
collected all the ingredients he needed
to start a meal.
"The Doctor says
you need a lo-fat diet and more
exercise so that's what you're going
to get. Tomorrow you're
going to meet your new carer, she's going
to look after you
during the day. I've got to do a lot of shopping. I'd take
you with me, only it's too embarrassing to take you out into
the
real world."
Following the instructions
he got the meal started,
then marked the page before he fetched
another chair and sat
opposite Fraser and flipped to the first article
in the
magazine and started reading it aloud for Fraser.
He marked the page he
was on when the timer went off
and served up the meal taking Fraser
through to the eating
nook and left him there while he collected a glass of water
and Fraser's pills.
He sat beside Fraser
and counted out pills.
"The
doctor told me to toss most of your pills. He said
they were what
left you feeling confused and gave you
trouble trying to think straight. That was the sort of
medication they use in psychiatric hospitals to turn
patients into good little zombies. Your system got used to
them, and they started loosing their effectiveness, that's
why you started to get your wits back. These pills are
different, well most of them are.. Now we've got vitamins,
mostly, two different kinds of anti-depressants and a
sedative, and you only get the sedative if you can't sleep
or have one of your fits."
He got Fraser to take
his pills then fed him and took
him through to the bathroom to clean
him up and started his
toilet retraining.
When Meg returned she
found them in the lounge, with
Fraser dressed in baggy sweats while
Ray directed him
through some easy exercises. She left him to it and checked
the refrigerator and instead of finding a meal prepared for
her just waiting to be eaten, or popped into the microwave,
she found the refrigerator was mostly empty. All that was
left was a few vegetables, a piece of fruit, milk, juice and
bottled
water.
She went through the
cupboards and found they'd been
half emptied too. After exploring
what was available, she
collected her keys and went back out to drive away.
Ray finished with Fraser's
exercise then called Deif
and fetched his brush, making Fraser help
him brush the
beast down.
When Meg returned an
hour and a half later, Fraser was
tucked into bed, and Ray was seated
beside it reading from a
magazine.
He joined her in the
kitchen half an hour later, to be
presented with a plate of steaming
Pasta and a glass of
juice. She watched him wolf the meal down and go hunting for
more.
"That's it."
"You didn't
make any more?"
"I
hunted down an Italian restaurant and got your
favourite meal as
take away. If you want more you'll have to
make it yourself."
He wandered away, and
she started doing the dishes. He
returned with a note pad, a pile
of magazines and book.
While she cleaned up in the kitchen he sat in the nook,
going through them making notes. When she was finished in
the kitchen she made coffee for two and joined him in the
nook.
"So how was your
day?"
"Busy.
I took Fraser to the doctor, he's going on a
diet and exercise plan"
He showed her the book.
"He loaned
me this book."
She
took it and flipped through it, finding it full of
recipes for healthy
meals, directions on how to care for a
brain damaged patient, and exercises for passive patients.
"I'm going to be
pretty busy tomorrow, I've got to go
shopping tomorrow and get some
exercise equipment, and stock
up on the right foods. Try to find
a copy of that for
myself, since he wants it back... Then I'll probably spend
the afternoon in the kitchen cooking till I've stocked the
freezer with enough food to keep him going for a month."
"What
about your classes?"
Ray
looked into his coffee cup.
"I
quit."
"What?!"
"I don't see
the point in continuing."
"No
point!"
"What's
done is done."
"I
don't believe this, I came here to make it easy for
you to carry
out your studies without interfering with your
care giving duties."
"You were the one
who reamed me out for not taking
better care of my self. Well I
re-evaluated things, like
what's important. And what's important here, is Fraser, and
making sure you have no reason to get stressed out and lose
Fraser's kid."
She wanted to deck him,
her fingers curled up and it
took a conscious command to her hand
to make it relax.
"By the way.. I
was wrong, about Benni.. He's not brain
damaged. The doctor I took
him too ran all sorts of tests.
He said it was the medication he was on and that the reason
Fraser started to improve was that he'd grown used to the
medication and his body needed more to keep him zombiefied
the way he was."
"No more medication?"
"Oh, no.. He's
still gotta lot of pills to take.. But
these ones are different.
they're not supposed to make him
docile and passive, and they'll help him through the
withdrawal period without going nuts on us. I also spoke to
the doctor about getting someone else in to look after
Fraser during the day. He's got into a routine, we have to
break it and provide the right sort of stimulus to bring
back the man he used to be."
"You're going to
need money to cover all this."
"Yeah."
She handed him a
bank cheque for a thousand dollars.
"I
opened up an account at that bank, it's near the
college. They should
have a cheque book and a key card for
you by the end of the week. In the mean time that should
cover things. If you need more just let me know."
Then she handed him another
cheque.
"What's
this for?"
"I
went through your desk last night. You should keep
better track
of what you spend directly related to Fraser's
care and your studies - since that is directly related to
Fraser's care too. You've got an account keeping programme
on your computer. I was up half the night getting all those
receipts in order and calculating what you've spent.. From
now on you give me the receipts and I'll keep track of your
expenses."
"Oh.. Thank-you..
I keep meaning to do it myself, but
there's just so much work to
do that I never got around to
it. I did try to keep track of everything."
"You did a reasonable
job of it."
"I
did a lousy job."
She
reached out taking his hand.
"I
want you to rethink your decision to quit your
studies, Raymond.
Especially in light of the fact you've
arranged for a part time carer. We can schedule things so
that he or she or I can care for Benton when you have to
attend classes or need to devote more time to studying."
He shook his head.
"It's
not that.. Like you said. I gotta start taking
better care of my
self, and something had to give. I chose
to give up the thing that was causing me the most stress.
Those correspondence courses were easy compared to what I've
been
studying here."
"I never figured
you for a quitter."
His
eyes flashed.
"I
am not a quitter."
"No..
It sounds as if that's what you're becoming. You
were ready to give
up on Fraser. You quit your studies
because they're harder than you thought they'd be."
He yanked his hand away,
or tried to. She wouldn't let
him do it, wrapping her other hand
around his.
"Something has been
eating away at you for weeks now.
And don't tell me it's just the
sheer hard work. You
wouldn't turn down my offer to look after Fraser to give you
more
time to study if it was."
He sighed, looking away.
"Tell me what
it is.. Maybe I can help."
"You
can't help."
"You
never know.. Perhaps.."
"I
lost the damned scholarship."
She
sat right back, that being the last thing she
expected.
"What?! But you
were doing so well."
"Yeah
right.. I'm not cut out to be a student.. I could
hold my own in
the psych and SAC courses, but I was never
considered anything but an average student in those
classes."
"But you told me
your mid term exams results put you in
the top five student category."
"And I studied like
crazy to get those results, but it
just came easy to the others..
Hell I remember one of the
guys going on about how all he does at night is play music
with his band or party all night.. And he got the top
marks.. Me, I had to knock myself out to get the marks I
got."
"You didn't have
to knock yourself out in the
criminology classes.. that should have
come easy.."
He gave a very deep sigh.
"Don't tell
me you had trouble in that class I won't
believe it."
"I failed the exams..
I had the lowest grades in the
whole class.. And I lost my place..
When I lost that, I lost
the scholarship."
"I don't believe
it.. How could you fail in
*Criminology* of all things. You must
know most of the
subject material back to front."
"I do.. That's why
I failed.. I had it out with the
teacher in front of the whole class
because what he was
teaching them was dead wrong.. He was feeding the same pile
of garbage that got drummed into my head at the police
academy."
"And that makes
it wrong."
"The
stuff he was blathering on about was dead wrong.
They stopped teaching
it at the academy years ago for that
reason. I corrected him and he didn't like that.. Or back
down.. He's been making me pay ever since.. It wouldn't have
mattered
if I'd blitzed that exam, and I probably did, he
had no intentions of giving me a passing mark."
"Appeal."
"What's the point?"
He asked with a little snort, "It's
his word against mine,
and he's the *expert*."
"Wrong.. You're
the expert. You're the one who's been
out there, *doing* the things
he only knows about through
books and lectures. You're the one who has *practical
experience* over theoretical knowledge. It makes no sense
for a man with your experience to fail that class. If you
make a complaint and demand an investigation, I'm sure
they'll take it seriously and look into it."
"There is no point.
I wouldn't go back to those classes
even if they made him beg for
forgiveness."
She studied him and knew
it was a point he wouldn't
budge on.
{If you won't stick up
for yourself, then I guess it's
my turn to kick a little butt}
She produced an airline
ticket and waved it before his
eyes.
"What..?"
"The semester is
over soon. I thought it was the best
time for you to take a holiday..
A break from your studies
and caring for Fraser. You were going to spend a week with
your family.. Before you joined us here.. I think you should
go
home, back to Chicago and relax, forget about your
studies, Fraser, me.. You need this - and don't tell me
otherwise.. I'm sure your mother will take one look at you
and shriek about how thin you are."
"And you shouldn't
have to take care of Fraser when
you're in a delicate condition."
"I'll have that
carer you found to share the load with,
and take Ben with me when
I got to work. I've done that
often enough during your exams to know he's no bother. He
seems quite content to sit in an office with a pile of files
sorting
everything into alphabetical order," she said and
pressed the
ticket into his hand.
"You've got a week
to think it over. I think you should
return, if for no other reason
than to get your car, I know
you hate having to get around in Taxi's. It will save us a
lot of money in the long run if you have your own vehicle
again."
He gave a little sigh
and she tried not to smile,
knowing she'd won the battle with her
last argument.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray sat on the grass
watching Fraser play with Deif in
the secluded patch of forest he'd
spent the last three hours
driving Meg's car to reach. Fraser reacted
so much better
when he took him into a wilderness area. He seemed to relax
and enjoyed himself. But for some reason, Fraser didn't seem
to
be enjoying himself as much today.
His game with Deif was
half hearted and it seemed even
the wolf sensed it. In no time at
all Deif was curling up at
Ray's side with a little whine. Ray gave
him a scratch
between the ears and watched Fraser approach to drop down
onto the picnic basket beside him.
"What's the matter
Benni? Not feeling well?"
"You're
leaving."
Ray
started.
"Going
home.. To Chicago."
"Where
did you..?"
"I
saw the ticket."
"Oh..
Well.. Meg got that for me, she thinks I should
take a break, a
holiday, to recharge my batteries.. Before
the baby comes along."
"Baby?"
"Yes.. Baby.. She's
pregnant."
Fraser's
eyes lit up.
"A
baby.."
"Yes..
Meg is going to have a baby."
"You're
going to be a daddy.. I think you'll be a good
father."
Ray laughed and swatted
him.
"Trust
me, Benni, the kid's yours."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"It can't be
mine."
"You
have sex with Meg. The baby is yours."
"I'm
not the one who goes creeping into other people's
beds when he's
feeling lonesome."
Fraser blushed a little.
"There is an
old saying.. The spirit is willing, but
the flesh is weak."
"And what is that
supposed to mean?"
"That
the baby is yours."
"Uh-uh,
no way."
"I
did not and have not.. had sex with Meg."
"Never?"
"Not the sort
that produces babies."
Ray
looked at him for a very long time.
"Meg
does not want to cross the line with me."
Ray's
brows defected.
"And
neither do you.. I was grumpy about that, but I
understand it now.."
"You do?"
Fraser looked off into
the distance.
"Have
I thanked you for taking me to the doctor and
getting me off those
horrible pills that made it so hard for
me to think straight."
"No."
"I still have trouble...but
it is easier now. I can
express myself."
"I noticed.. Taking
you to that doctor was the smartest
thing I've done in a while."
"You are the best
friend I've ever had."
Ray
smiled.
"Or will ever have."
"Thank-you."
Fraser looked at
him, then slowly started leaning
toward him. Ray made no move to
draw away, and when Fraser
kissed him, he wrapped a hand around the back of his skull
tangling his fingers in his hair returning the kiss. One
kiss lead to another which lead to other things, which lead
to Ray being grateful he'd chosen a very secluded patch of
wilderness as he let Fraser strip away his clothes to
worship his body from head to toe.
He let his friend and
lover use his hands and mouth to
bring him pleasure and then returned
the favour much to
Fraser's delight and pleasure. When it was over he looked
down at Fraser lying bonelessly on the blanket with a look
of such utter contentment and bliss on his face that any
misgiving's he'd had, when he'd elected to explore taking
things further, bit the dust.
He wasn't sure how far
he was willing to go, but he was
sure as hell willing to give Fraser
the chance to show him
just how good it could get.
He leaned over his blissful
partner and kissed the tip
of his nose, making Fraser open his eyes.
"You can say I love
you that way anytime, Benni."
Fraser
smiled and pulled his head down for a kiss. Ray
was the one to break
it up and toss his clothes at him.
"Meg's part of my
life too now.. So if you're still
feeling frisky, wait till we get
home so we can get frisky
with her, hmm."
Fraser dressed with a
nod and Ray scrambled into his
own clothes.
"I forget to ask
if.. you're O.K with that
arrangement."
"You mean.. a menage
a trois."
"Yes."
"I have no
problems with it."
"Good.
Because I'd hate to have to chose between you, I
don't know if I
could make a choice like that any more," Ray
admitted, then
leaned over Fraser to give him another kiss.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part Twelve
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
Fraser sat on Ray's bed,
watching him pack for his
break away.
"You and I are going
to have a lot to talk about when I
get back Benni. I'll give you
a note pad before I go, I want
you to use it. Write down anything
you dream about. And
anything that comes up that you want to talk about."
Fraser nodded slowly.
Ray tossed his toiletries pouch
into the case along with the latest
psychology text book
he'd acquired. The one he was in the middle of reading was
tucked into his carry on luggage and both bags were closed.
"And stay out of
trouble. Meg's in a delicate
condition, she doesn't need any more
stress at the moment."
"Yes,
Ray."
Ray's
watch beeped at him.
"Time
to wash up."
Fraser
jumped up and headed for the bathroom. Ray
collected his bags and
carried them out to place them near
the front door, ready for the next morning. He was in the
middle of selecting a meal for the day when he heard the
phone ringing. The answering machine kicked in as he rushed
through the kitchen and he stopped with his hand hovering
over the hand set as he listened to Meg's voice tell the
caller to leave a message after the beep. When he heard
Meg's voice again he turned off the machine.
"You've got perfect
timing, Meg, I was just about to
get started on dinner."
:"Don't prepare
anything for me," Meg said.:
"Oh.
Are you feeling queasy again?"
:"No,
something's come up here, and it looks like I'm
going to be here
for a while. I don't know when I'll be
getting home.":
"Oh."
:"I didn't want
you to waste food or wait up for me.":
-Well
there go my plans for the evening-
"Are
we talking an hour or two here or.."
:"Possibly
longer. Don't worry about preparing
something for me, I'll have
dinner here. I sent Constable
Williams out to get take away.":
"Oh, well.. I don't
suppose you'd be back before Benni
drops off will you?"
:"I doubt it.":
-Scratch that plan-
:"Don't worry,
I'll be bringing him in with me in the
morning. Don't forget to
set your alarm, your flight leaves
at Ten, I've already booked a taxi for you. It'll be
arriving at quarter to nine.. That should get you to the
airport in time. Don't forget to get your left over US funds
from
the safe...":
Ray listened to Meg prattle
on about what he should and
shouldn't do and a wicked impulse struck
him.
"Are you alone right
now?"
"For
the moment."
"You
realise you spoiled my plans for the evening."
"Plans?
What plans? You didn't mention any plans."
"That's
because I only came up with them this
afternoon. And Benni and I
both agreed there's someone else
in this house who deserves a little attention."
"Ooooh."
"Mhhhm.. You."
"Oh and just
what did you have in mind?"
Ray
began telling her in great detail his voice
dropping to a seductive
little purr, his detailed
descriptions peppered with the occasional bout of Italian
love talk.
:"Oh, stop.":
He grinned.
:"Or I'll end up
pouncing on you when I get home.":
Ray
became even more descriptive, describing how he
intended to carry
out her favourite bedroom activities and
heard her give a little sound that was half purr/half growl.
:"You're
all talk, no action.":
He
laughed and heard a creaking that he knew came from
the door of
her office being opened and it came through ear
piercingly clear, even over the phone it set his teeth on
edge
"God, get those
door hinges oiled."
"It's
the perfect kinetic energy intruder alert."
"Huh?"
:"Never mind.
I have to go.":
"See
you in the morning," Ray said before hanging up.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
It was a grumpy Ray who
collected his luggage at O'Hare
and stomped his way through the
terminal. He'd spent half
the night waiting for Meg to return, had to deal with Fraser
having
a nightmare, received a black eye in the process of
waking him up. Somehow got him to take a sedative which sent
the
distressed man into a deep and dreamless sleep, and
ended up lying on his bed, with an ice pack over his eye.
He didn't remember much
beyond that, he was vaguely
aware that Meg had been into his room,
he'd woken up under
the blankets minus the ice pack and half his clothes. He
groaned when he saw that he'd managed to sleep through the
alarm. That was if he'd even remembered to set it, and he
couldn't recall doing it. As a result, he bolted out of bed
with only five minutes to get dressed before the taxi
arrived. He was hopping through the house trying to get his
second shoe on, double checking that all the windows and
doors were locked when the taxi arrived. He missed his
chance to talk to Meg and Fraser before he left.
And things only got worse,
the taxi suffered a flat on
the way to the airport, and the driver
had called for
assistance, citing a bad back. Ray had ended up changing the
tire
himself, and the taxi arrived at the airport just in
time for him to check in. There was no time to change into
clean clothes. Just enough to hand his suit case over and be
directed
to the right gate to catch his flight, for which
the final boarding call went out as he ran through the
terminal.
To cap off his morning,
he discovered his seat mate was
a verbose old lady pushing 90 who
babbled on and on about
her family, showing him her collection of pictures of her
children, grandchildren and great grandchildren along with
telling him stories about each every one of them. It wasn't
that he objected to her stories, it was her voice, it had a
nasal quality that set his teeth on edge and after listening
to
it for three hours, he was ready to commit grannycide. It
didn't
help that the pilot kept announcing that a storm over
Chicago was
keeping them in the air.
He finally got so sick
of it that he slipped out of his
seat to pounce on a hostess and
begged her to let him use
one of the unoccupied seats, before he strangled the
chattering old biddy that was his seat mate. Fortunately for
all
involved, the hostess took pity on him and showed him to
an empty
window seat.
He went from grump to
foul tempered grouch after the
plane finally landed and he discovered
that even though he'd
taken the time to call ahead and arrange for
Frannie to meet
him at the airport, she'd give up waiting, if she'd
ever
arrived, which is why he stormed through the terminal with a
scowl
on his face.
His face was transformed,
as he exited the terminal to
see his car parked at the curb, its
paintwork gleaming.
Frannie was leaning against the Riv, dangling his keys in
one hand, holding up a thermos in the other. He dropped his
case by her feet, collecting his keys before giving her a
hug.
"And here I was
thinking you'd left."
She
patted his cheeks.
"Ma
is going to have a fit when she sees you. You've
lost so much weight."
He rolled his eyes and
moved away to open the trunk,
throwing his bags in.
"Don't start, Meg
nags me about it enough as it."
"Not
enough."
"Thanks
for taking such great care of my car," Ray
said, slamming the
trunk closed.
"You're welcome."
"Not that I'm
ungrateful or anything, but just forget
any ideas you might have
had about continuing to use it.
It's going back to Canada with me."
She climbed into the
car, belting up and pouring a cup
of coffee as Ray climbed in. She
reached out to wave it
under his nose, and he took it to sip at it, and smiled.
He'd almost forgotten what his favourite kind of coffee
tasted like.
"How's Fraser?"
"Getting better
every day."
"That's
good news. How are your studies going? Ma said
you were going to
.."
"Don't ask."
"Oh.."
"Why don't
you tell me how everyone's going instead."
Frannie
took the hint and started chattering away about
various things that
had gone on while he'd been away. She
was still chattering away when he pulled up in the driveway.
He
didn't get the welcome home he expected. The answer as to
why became
obvious when he walked into the silent house.
"Where is everyone,"
he asked his sister as she stepped
in behind him with the day's
mail.
"Maria, Tony and
the kids are staying with Tony's
family for the holidays for a change.
Ma won a holiday on a
cruise liner, and decided to take it while they were away."
"Oh.. I guess I
should have rang and told Ma I was
coming back sooner."
"Meg called, but
Ma and Maria had already made their
plans at that time.."
"You're not going
to vanish on me too are you?"
"Well..
actually."
"You've
got your own plans too."
She
gave him a weak smile.
"Rrright."
"Meg said you
needed a break, you'll have the house all
to yourself for at least
a week. Make the most of it. I'll
be back on Saturday, Maria and the kid's will be back late
Sunday and once they get back, you'll be wishing they stayed
away
a little longer. Why don't you go upstairs and get
cleaned up. I'll get lunch started."
Ray gave a little nod,
and headed for the stairs.
"You
don't have to worry about food while you're here,
Ma cooked up a
storm before she left, the freezer is packed,
all you have to do
is pick what you want. Which should be
fun."
"Oh, why?"
"Because she
cooked all your favourite meals."
Ray
laughed as he tromped up the stairs. He didn't
notice Frannie sneaking
up the stairs as he made his way up
the hall. The only thing on his mind was getting some clean
clothes and jumping into the shower to clean up. Those
thoughts went right out the window when he opened his
bedroom door, stepping in to stop dead in his tracks when he
saw
his bed. There wasn't a square inch of it that was
covered with a brightly wrapped gift.
"Frannie!"
"Yessss?"
She said by his ear.
Ray
jumped and spun around to look at her.
"What
is this?"
"Your
birthday, Christmas presents for last year and
your birthday presents
for this year as well. Oh, and there
are some for Fraser there too. They're the one's up near the
head
of the bed."
Ray looked at the bed
again.
"We
didn't know where to send them," Frannie said in
way of explanation
as she moved to the bed and picked up a
brightly wrapped gift and held it out.
"This is from me."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray forgot all about
Lunch as he worked his way through
the pile of gifts on his bed.
He found more than one item of
clothing, a few books, a key chain
with a tiny replica of
his car, which he wasted no time transferring his keys to,
there were three jigsaw puzzles, one of them a 3-d puzzle, a
new
set of bed linen with matching curtains, courtesy of his
mother,
a new set of Lady Killer products, this time there
was a bottle of aftershave, a cologne spray, a bar of soap,
talc and shampoo. He made a mental note to see wether Meg
liked it before he tossed it. It wasn't as if his mother
would find out.
He opened up the last
gift from his mother, and was
glad that Frannie had dashed off down
stairs to make the
promised meal after watching him open her gifts. The last
gift from his mother was a mortar board and robe, of the
sort graduating students wore to their graduation ceremony.
The note tucked inside made him feel worse than the actual
gift did and he sat back just looking at it.
With a little sigh, he
pulled out his wallet and tucked
the note into it, making a mental
promise to do what Meg
wanted him too and try to appeal the withdrawal of his
scholarship.
Setting the wallet aside,
he looked the bed over again.
There nestled among the presents was
a parcel wrapped in
brown paper, he reached out for it and looked it over,
finding his own name and home address on it. There was no
return address, but the postal stamp was for one of the
local postal branches and judging by the date on it, it had
arrived a few days after he'd moved into Meg's apartment.
Wondering who'd sent it and why his mother hadn't given it
to him when he'd returned before heading off to Canada, he
set about unwrapping it to find an equally non descript box
and opened it. With a pfft, he was blinded by a flash of
light, as a cloud of smoke, complete with a foul stench,
erupted from the box and he felt liquid splash all over his
face, chest and hands which had flown up in reflex at the
blinding flash.
The pain hit seconds
later, and he realised what the
liquid was at the same time as it
started eating through his
clothes and flesh.
-Acid!-
He staggered up to his
feet, coughing as the foul smoke
irritated his lungs. he couldn't
draw in enough air to
scream when the next wave of pain swept over him as the acid
did
its work. He fell to the floor with a thud, fighting for
consciousness,
fighting his own instincts, unable to scream
for help, barely able to draw in air between hacking coughs.
Somehow
he managed to crawl to the door way and rolled over
to his back. Kicking the door open he started slamming it
into the wall, over and over.
He heard the sound's
reverberating through the
corridor, his sister's voice, then the
sound of her approach
and nothing more as he lost the fight for
consciousness.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Dressed in his dress
reds, Fraser followed Meg, clad in
her own dress reds, with the
coat open because her bust line
was exceeded the coat's ability
to cover it. They strode
together through the corridor's of the college. It was far
from quiet, but then there were still a number of exams
being held before it closed for the holiday period.
A student puffing away
on a cigarette in the corridor,
directly under a non smoking sign,
looked up as the red clad
couple strode down the hall.
"Which way to the
Dean's office?" Meg asked.
The
student pointed and Meg continued on her way.
Fraser though stopped
,and reached out to pluck the
cigarette from the student's fingers before stubbing it out
and proceeded to give the student a lecture on the effects
of smoking on ones health, quoting verbatim an article he'd
read in one of his magazines, complete with statistics.
The student listened
to the whole lecture with a silly
smile, waiting for him to finish,
then informed Fraser it
was pot, not tobacco.
Fraser stared at him
for a good three seconds, then
made him turn around and look at
the sign on the wall, which
apart from declaring the area a non
smoking area, also
stated that anyone caught smoking in it would be fined. Then
he
hauled the student off to the Dean's office.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray slowly drifted back
to consciousness, feeling no
pain, thanks to copious amounts of
pain killers he'd
received intravenously after his arrival at the hospital. He
became
aware of the respirator tube down his throat first,
the restraints around his arms second, and the presence of
another person last.
He heard a thump near
his head, felt the touch of a
hand on his arm and tried to look
around, but he couldn't
open his eyes.
"Relax, Ray, you're
in the hospital.. You're on a
respirator, stop thrashing around
like that, or they'll
leave you restrained and I don't think you want that to
happen."
Slowly Ray settled down
as the voice of his former
superior continued telling him to calm
down, over and over
in a soothing tone. He heard a door open and the sound of
people entering. The respirator was disengaged, and he was
fed ice chips that he swallowed gratefully, after gagging at
the
horrible taste in his mouth while the doctor waffled on.
Nothing
sunk in except the fact that the tube down his
throat was gone.
He tried to raise a hand
and remembered the restraints.
He felt the touch on his arm again,
heard Welsh telling him
not to fight the restraints and turned his head in the
direction of that voice.
"Wha.." he
croaked.
"Relax.."
"M'eyes.."
"Have been
bandaged."
Ray
relaxed a tad and tried to remember how he ended up
in the hospital.
As soon as he thought about it, the memory
of that vicious surprise package returned. Welsh didn't need
to
see his face, not that he could, it was covered in
bandages, to know he'd remembered, he felt Ray tense up.
"Do you remember
what happened? Don't try and say it,
just nod if you do."
"Yeesss. Parcel.."
"There were
three nasty surprises inside, a flash bomb,
an acid bomb and a smoke
bomb. The flash bomb blinded you,
the smoke bomb chocked you, stopping you from calling for
help or screaming when the acid hit."
"Frannie.."
"Yes, Frannie
found you. And you have a lot to thank
her for, according to the
doctor. From what I hear she
worked out you'd been splashed with acid pretty fast and
slathered you with something that neutralised it fast.
You've both got mittened hands now."
"Frannie burned
too?"
"Just
her hands from pulling your coat and shirt off to
keep the acid
from reaching your skin there. She didn't
quite make it, but the burns there are considerably less
severe than the ones to your face and arms."
"She here?"
"No. You've
been under for the last three days. She
went home this morning,
though she'll back as soon as they
notify her that you've come around."
"Family know?"
"She's let
the rest of your family know. Your mother is
on her way back now."
"Meg??"
"Who?"
"Dragon lady."
"Oh, Inspector
Thatcher.. Unless your sister informed
her, then no."
"Frannie.. doesn't
know.. the number."
"Do
you want me to call her?"
"NO.
Don't.. tell.. Tell Frannie.. Not to tell Meg what
happened."
"Did you two have
a falling out, is that why you're
back in Chicago?"
"Holiday.. Said..
I needed.. a break.."
"Ah..
Well. She has to find out some time."
"Don't
tell.. I'll.. work.. out.. something.. later..
Don't wan.. her to
fin.. out.. She's.. in a delicate
condition."
"Er.. Are we talking
the kind of condition that last
nine months here?"
"Yes.. Tol me..
Doctor said.. she could loose baby if
she didn't relax.. Don' wan
her to loose baby.. Make sure...
she doesn' hear.. what happened..
"
Welsh nodded, then remembered
he couldn't see him do
it.
"I'll make sure
Frannie get the message."
"Don..
mention.. baby to Frannie please.. Juz tell her
not to tell Meg..
If she tells Meg, Meg'll fly out, get
stressed and miscarry."
"So how do I tell
her that she can't tell Thatcher
without explaining why she can't
do it?"
Ray gave a sigh that
made Welsh's skin crawl.
"Can't..
thiz is such a mess.. Got.. pad?"
Welsh
pulled it from his pocket with a pen.
"Yes."
"Call Meg..
Before she calls.. home to see how I am.
Make up some story.. to
explain away.. why.. I gotta
disappear for.. a while.. Make it good.. but make sure it
isn't something.. that'll.. stress her out."
"What's the number?"
Ray gave him the
number for both Meg's office and
home."
"We know who was
responsible for that parcel, It was
sent by the same person who
scratched that message into your
car. Forensic's went over the parcel
and found a fingerprint
to match one of the prints taken off your
car when it was
vandalised. And we've found a match for them, and went
through your case files trying to find one involving him
but.."
"Didn't find anything
there."
"No.
Does the name Dante Mc Intire mean anything to
you?"
"Yesss.. Don' tell
me.."
"He's
the one who vandalised the car and sent that
parcel."
"Noo..."
"We lifted his prints
from the car and the parcel. He's
the one who was behind it. That's
why we haven't caught him.
Apparently he was in Chicago for a few
months, and flew out
a week or two after the.. incident. He went back to
Australia, where according to the Australian Federal Police,
he's
wanted for aggravated assault, rape, and attempted
murder. They've been trying to capture him for almost a year
now."
"Noo... Muz be a
mistake."
"There's
no mistake. We came up with a name after we
ran the prints we lifted
from the parcel. The Australian
Fed's sent his particular to our guys months ago. They think
he
may have gotten out of the country, using a stolen
passport he had in his possession."
"You gotta warn
the RCMP that he got outta Australia
using Fraser's passport.."
"He stole Fraser's
passport?!"
"And
all his Id.. he had it all.. He's the bastard that
almost killed
Fraser. I bet if you can track down Fraser's
accounts here, in Chicago, you'll find out they were emptied
out
around the same time that parcel was sent to my place.
Dante got his hands on the pass books for Benni's accounts
here too.. And I knew Benni still had money in them.. He
told me he didn't get a chance to close down the accounts
when he headed down under, that he had enough money to get
by on while he sorted out the mess he was in. And he had a
trust fund set up, for Deif, so he'd be looked after if
anything happened to him.. There was a few thousand dollar's
in
that account."
"Do you know which
bank?"
Ray
gave him all the details he could think of, and
Welsh took them
down.
"Is there anything
else you can think of which might
help us trace his movements?"
"Memorabilia."
"What?"
"He had all
of Fraser's stuff.. Between them.. They had
a collection of memorabilia
worth thousands. But all Dante's
assets were frozen and his property
was seized.. Meg told me
about it.. But he had Fraser's stuff..
I never did get
manage to get it back... Fraser told me about the
collection.. Dante knows what it's worth.. He knows what
Fraser had.. I'm not sure what it'd be worth but if what
Fraser told me is anything to go by it was worth a few
thousand dollars to collectors. And there was other stuff..
I remember Benni telling me he had it all in storage.. but
the place where it was stored was closed down and they sent
it back to him.. I tried to track it down.. but.. from the
sound of it, he took it all to Australia with him."
"Do you know what
he had?"
Ray
raked his memories and told Welsh everything he
knew about it, which
wasn't much, but might have been enough
for Welsh to learn what
he needed to know and find out if
Fraser's memorabilia collection had gone up for sale.
"Personally, I hope
the Fed's down under managed to
seize it before he thought of it..
I know Benni kept it all
these years for nothing more than the sentimental value..
There are really good memories attached to it.. I'd hate to
think that bastard profited by stealing it and selling it to
the
highest bidder."
"Is Fraser capable
of answering questions?"
"About
Dante.. I don't think so.. And even if he could
answer questions,
I wouldn't recommend asking them. The only
time we mentioned Dante
around him, he cried half the
night.. He went to pieces.. and I won't be there to help him
pick
up the pieces if you send someone around to interrogate
him about
Dante. And I didn't spent the last year or so
helping Fraser to get his act back together to have some
idiot come along asking the wrong questions and ruin it
all."
"In other words,
Fraser's still recovering and if he
isn't handled right he could
have another nervous
breakdown."
"Right.. And if
anyone sets him off.. It's not just me
coming down on them they'll
have to worry about. The Dragon
lady will have their guts for garters. And if something
happens to him, she'll be placed under more stress than she
needs and if that happens.."
"I get the picture
Vecchio.. I'll do everything I can
to track this psycho down without
pestering Fraser to do
it."
Ray heard the door open,
and foot steps.
"That's
the doctor.. He'll skin me alive if I don't
leave you to get your
rest. Is there anything you want me to
do for you - other than what
we've discussed?"
"That about covers
it.."
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part Thirteen
*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*
Fraser sat cross legged
on a chair cushion on the floor
in Meg's office where Meg could
keep an eye on him as he
worked his way through a box of paper work, sorting the
papers into some form of order.
The talk with the Dean
had gone well. But then when a
Mountie (make that two) tells you
that one of your teachers
is deliberately flunking a student, and asks how a
professional detective can flunk criminology classes you
listen. And the Dean had and promised to look into and
reinstate Ray's scholarship if his investigation into the
matter proved Ray had been unfairly flunked.
Reaching for the phone
Meg dialled the Vecchio
household's number yet again. She listened
to the phone
ring, fingers crossed that someone would answer. She needed
to speak to Ray about Fraser's medication. She didn't know
which pills to give him at what time. The Vitamin's were
easy, it was the other pills she had a problem with. Then
there was the matter of Fraser keeping her awake half the
night, as he screamed his way through the night, trapped in
some nightmare or another. She'd given up trying to wake him
from
his night terrors, he tended to strike out when someone
tried to
wake him. As had been the case each time she'd
tried to call Ray over the last 3 days, no one answered, she
listened
to it ring out yet again and sighed as she placed
the handset back on the cradle. Fraser glanced up a curious
look on his face.
"No luck."
"Did you try
his mobile phone?"
"He
left that behind."
"Oh."
The phone rang and
Meg snatched it up and for the first
time in three days she smiled.
Fraser listened to the one
side of the conversation he could hear and realised she was
talking to the Dean. And if the smile on Meg's face was
anything to go by, he was calling with good news.
"Yes.. Yes.. As
soon as I speak to him, I'll tell him.
Thank-you. That's wonderful
news."
Fraser watched as Meg's
smile became a frown.
"He
failed those test too? Are you sure they're not
forgeries too?"
Meg's frown became deeper.
"Oh dear..
Yes.. I understand, but under the
circumstances.. Couldn't he be
given a chance to resit the
exam too?"
After a few moments the
frown vanished to be replaced
with a look of relief and she reached
out for a pen to take
down some details.
"Yes, of course,
I understand.. I'll talk to Ray about
it as soon as I can.. Yes..
I'll make sure he does. Thank-
you."
Fraser watched her hang
up.
"That was
the Dean, he said he investigated and found
evidence there was something
very wrong going on. He pulled
all the exam papers on file for Ray and gave them to a hand
writing expert. The expert said, all the criminology exams
he received low or failing marks on are forgeries. And bad
forgeries at that. The teacher has been fired, and they're
looking for a new criminologist to take his place."
"That is good news."
"The bad news
is that it wasn't just the criminology
exam he failed. He failed
the Psych and SAC exam too. But
the Dean spoke to the teachers. Under the circumstances,
they're willing to let him do a make up exam. If he lodges
an appeal *personally* he'll be given a chance to take the
exams again, and if he passes in all three subjects his
scholarship will be restored."
"That is even better
news."
"Now
all I have to do is get hold of Ray to tell him."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Frannie looked at the
phone in annoyance. That was the
third time the phone had rung out
before she'd been able to
reach it. Knocking the handset off the cradle she picked up
a pencil and used it to dial and fumbled the handset up to
her shoulder.
"Hello.. This is
Francesca Vecchio, my brother Raymond
is a patient at your hospital.
I asked to be notified when
he regained consciousness."
She rolled her eyes as
the telephonist told her in a
bored voice, they'd ring her when
he woke up.
"Yes, I know that,
but someone just rang but I wasn't
able to reach the phone before
it rang out."
The telephonist told
her to hold the line and put her
on hold.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Fraser placed the last
paper from the box into the
correct pile and then began sorting
through each pile,
sorting them into the correct chronological order. Meg
watched him work and made a note on her pad to have him
tested to see if he was fit to return to light office duties
in
the near future.
When the phone rang she
picked it up absently and
identified herself. She bolted upright,
giving her caller
her full attention when he identified himself as Lieutenant
Welsh.
Fraser looked around
and watched her reactions.
"Yes..
Yes.. I understand.. Yes.. I appreciate your
call.. Fraser?"
She looked at Fraser.
"He's doing
much better.. Would you be able to pass a
message onto Raymond for
me? I need to know Fraser's
medication schedule. I'm not sure if I'm giving him the
right pills at the right time. He's been screaming his lungs
out
every night and I'm not getting much sleep and Ray knows
how much
I need a good night's rest now."
Fraser watched her brows
defect.
"Oh,
he told you about that did he.. I see.. He didn't
want me to worry..
Well, you can tell him for me, that
accepting that assignment is a strange way of making life
less stressful for me."
Welsh cut in.
"Oh,
I see.. Yes.. I understand.. It can't be helped.
Forget what I said,
and tell him I also need to know which
doctor he took Fraser too.. And that if he had half a brain
he would have left me a note giving me all the information I
needed
to take care of Fraser properly while he was away."
Then
she hung up.
"Ray
isn't coming back, is he?"
"Not
in the immediate future.. He picked the wrong time
to go back to
the precinct to see his friends there.. They
were looking for someone to go undercover and because he's
been out of action for the last year he was the perfect
man for the assignment."
"And he took it."
"He didn't
have much choice.. It was accept the
assignment or take a discharge."
"Oh dear."
"He told them
he'd take the discharge, but they talked
him out of it and into
taking the assignment."
"How long will he
be undercover?"
The
look she gave him was one of sadness. That one
question was evidence
that he still had a long way to go
before he could be considered fit to return to duty. He
should have known the answer without having to ask for it.
"What's the Motto
of the RCMP, Benton?"
Fraser
thought about it.
"We
always get our man?"
Meg
ripped the note about having him tested out of her
pad, screweing
it up to toss it into the bin.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray was sitting up, holding
as still as possible as the
nurse removed the bandages, gauze and
gel that had been
applied to his face. The pain killers they kept feeding him
left him feeling no pain but he'd been warned about moving
or trying to touch his face. He had to keep reminding
himself that there was no point in trying to touch his face
because his hands were wrapped in bandages too.
He was aware the nurse
was touching his face in a vague
way. He'd also learned to take
note of every little sound he
heard, and he heard the little intake
of air when the
bandages were removed. He didn't need to be told what his
face looked like, he could imagine it.
He tilted his head and
received a light slap on an
unburned part of his arm.
"Don't move. I'm
not done yet."
More
bandages and gauze came away and he became aware
that the bandages
over his eyes were being removed. Of soft
dabbing over his eyes.
"Shield his eyes,"
he heard the doctor order.
Then
a soft touch on his arm.
"All
right, Mr Vecchio.. You can open your eyes now."
With
an effort Ray's eyes opened.
"Good,
now, keep them open."
All
Ray could see were huge blurs. His view of the
world became one
huge bright blur for a moment, then
shifted, and became a huge bright blur again.
"Follow my pen,
if you can."
Ray
blinked and tried to focus. He was aware of
something passing back
and forth before his eyes but he
couldn't focus on it.
"Everything's a
big blur," he said.
"There
are a number of tests I'll have to carry out
later, but I don't
think it's anything to worry about, just
a temporary side effect of being flash blinded. It happens
all the time."
"Yeah, right."
"Hold still.
Hmmm... This is excellent. Remind me to
find out what his sister
used to neutralise that acid."
Ray
was vaguely aware of his face being touched here
and there and then
of the doctor withdrawing giving the
nurse some directions. The click of a pen, and the
scratching of that pen across paper told him the Doctor was
making notes at the same time.
"Your burns are
healing nicely. In some cases, they've
healed completely. You have
a great deal to thank your
sister for. They could have been a lot worse."
"How bad are they?"
"15% of the
burns are 1st degree, 75% are second degree
and the remainder are
3rd degree burns. Mainly here, here,
here," The doctor said and Ray felt a light touch on his
face.
"Am I gonna need
skin grafts?"
"Here,
here and on your hands.. Yes. For the rest,
laser treatment should
reduce and eliminate most if not all
of the scarring once the burns heal. But there will be a
permanent side effect.. You'll never have to shave again."
Ray didn't laugh.
"It's going to be
noticeable, isn't it? I won't be able
to pretend it didn't happen
will I?"
"No. We can reduce
or eliminate most of the scaring on
your face and throat, but it's
going to be noticeable on
your hands. But you can always cover up the scarring there
with gloves."
"My chest?"
"Oh, well,
that's one area you don't have to worry
about, the burns there were
minimal and healed up quite
nicely."
"What's the date?"
The doctor checked
his watch wondering at the reasoning
behind the sudden change of
subject and gave Ray the date.
Ray made a few calculations.
"How long will it
take? Before I can walk out of her
looking halfway normal?"
"At the rate your
burns are healing, *halfway* normal
will be a few more weeks. With
the grafting and laser
treatment, 3 to six months depending on how well the grafts
take. And there is a plus side to the whole thing."
"There is?"
"You will most
likely come out of this looking
younger."
For the first time since
he'd opened the vicious
surprise parcel Ray felt like laughing.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Welsh walked into the
lounge and looked around to see
Ray curled up on a reclining chair,
his face was covered
with a bandage that wouldn't have looked out of place on
your average bank robber. His eyes were hidden behind a pair
of
shades that wouldn't have looked out of place on a skier
and his hands were mittened in bandages. He had a walkman in
his
lap and earbuds in his ear. A creaking floor board
alerted Ray to the fact he wasn't alone and he looked up and
around.
"Who's there?"
"It's me Lieutenant
Welsh."
He
stepped closer and reached out to wave a hand in
front of Ray's
face.
"I can see you know."
"Then why do
you need to ask who's there?"
"Everything's
a big blur of shadow's and light, and
when someone waves a hand
in my face I know it."
"Sorry."
"S'ok. I'm getting
used to it. Everyone does it to me."
He
picked up his walk man, fumbling with it, and held
it up.
"Would you turn
this off for me, before I lose my
place."
Welsh reached out to
turn it off.
"What
are you listening to?"
"Just
some boring text book about the links between
Neurological birth
defects and psychosis."
"You're still studying
psychology??"
"You're
not the only one who's surprised.. I flunked
out. Before I came
back. But thanks to Meg, and my mother I
was given a second chance. When Ma heard I was gonna be
coming home soon, she went all the way to Canada to talk to
the Dean at the college and found out what Meg did to get me
a second
chance. Now they send me all the text books on
tape, and Ma reads the papers for me and I dictate the
answers for her to write up for me. Whenever I have to do a
test, a friend of the Dean's from a University here comes
over and gives me the tests."
"I see."
Ray gave a weak little
grin.
"And
my grade average is improving, can you believe
that."
"Yes. You don't
have the distraction of having to take
care of Fraser while you
study now."
"True. But that's
going to be a thing of the past
soon."
"Oh?"
"I talked to Meg
over the phone the other day. They're
coming back."
"They are?"
"Yeah.. She
say's Fraser's backsliding and getting
worse every day. The final
straw was some dope freak
breaking into our place and trashing it."
"What?!"
"Apparently Fraser
got him expelled, hauling him up to
the Dean's office for smoking
it in the halls. He trashed
the place while they were out in retaliation. But it set
Fraser right off. He won't go back there now, and she fired
the carer I hired to help out."
"Why?"
"The whole reason
I started studying psychology was to
keep Fraser out of a psychiatric
hospital, and if that woman
had her way that's where he'd be. Or
at least that's what
Meg says, but then again, Meg took an instant dislike to
her. Right from the start.. And unless I hear it from
Fraser, I'm gonna take it with a grain of salt."
"Let's get back
to place being trashed. Are they sure,
and I mean absolutely it
was the addict Fraser got expelled?
"He
was busted for it when he tried to pawn my laptop,
they found the
rest of the stuff that went missing at his
place after they searched it."
"Right... That's
good."
"Why
do I have the feeling you didn't come to see how I
was doing?"
"Because I didn't."
"Rrright."
"Do you think
you could get Thatcher to speed up the
move back to Chicago?"
"Yeah, right, if
I did that she'd have my head on a
platter. Friday is perfect. These
come off tomorrow, *if*
the Doctor was right, I should be able to hide the worst of
it with a little make up a bandage and some gloves."
"Really?"
"Well close to it,"
Ray said pulling his sleeve back to
show Welsh that the bandages
extended all the way to his
shoulder.
"I'll need to keep
my arms covered too."
"So
you didn't need any skin grafts?"
"Oh,
no.. I needed those. Across here," Ray said
drawing a finger
from cheek to cheek crossing his nose, "and
here," Ray
continued touching his chin and brow, "and from
here to here,"
Ray went on drawing a finger from his elbow
to point where his palms
met his fingers on his left arm,
"and here," Ray indicated a patch on his shoulder, "not
to
mention from my wrist to my elbow on the other arm."
"You were shielding
your face.."
"Right..
The worst burns were on my arms, and a lot of
that has to do with
Francesca."
"Speaking of whom..
How is she?"
"Speaking
of which - You understated how bad she got
burned helping me."
"I did?"
"Yeah, the burns
went all the way up her arms."
"They
did?"
"Didn't
you ask her what happened?"
"Why
don't you tell me and then I'll tell you if what
she told me and
what she told you are the same thing."
"I doubt it.. You
see I know her story is not what
happened. She's the one who was
understating everything. Not
that she'd admit it."
"So how do you know
she's understating it?"
"After
they let me out.. And I came home, I started
having flash backs,
It all came back to me in bits and
pieces.. And what Frannie sez happened, and what really
happened are two different things.. Like for example how she
knew
I was in trouble.. She sez I screamed, but I know I did
*not* scream..
I wanted to.. But I couldn't.. I kicked the
door, over and over, hard as I could to make a big enough
racket to get her attention. I remember hearing her coming..
after
that.. the next thing I can remember is her dragging
me down the hall, she was behind me, she had her arms
wrapped around me, and she was hissing'n'cursing under her
breath, because the acid was burning her too. And she was
muttering things about what she'd do to the person
responsible if she ever got her hands on him."
"Uh-hu.. And after
that?"
"She
dragged me into the bathroom, and into the
shower.. That I remember
really clear. Somewhere along the
way to the bathroom she worked out that it was acid. She
ripped my coat and shirt off and raided the medicine cabinet
and
squirted and slathered me with absolutely everything she
could think
of that would neutralise it. Then she covered
all the burns with baby oil and wrapped me up in wet towels,
ran
back out, and got a blanket and pillow to wrap me up.
And the whole time she was talking to me.."
"So she knew you
were conscious or at least semi-
conscious."
"Yeah.. Even when
she left the room it didn't stop. I
could hear her yelling at me.
The only time she stopped was
when she was calling it in. Then she came back with a lot of
ice
and packed it into the towels. I don't think she did
anything about her own burns till she was sure she'd done
everything she could do for mine. If I could nail a medal on
her
chest for that, I would.. But I can't.. But she's gonna
find out that I haven't forgotten she saved my life soon
enough."
"Oh, what have you
got in mind?"
"You'll
find out when she does," Ray said with a faint
smile.
"And when will that
be?"
"What's
the date?"
Welsh
told him and Ray did a few mental calculations.
"It'll
be about five to six weeks?"
"What's
happening in five to six weeks."
"You'll
see."
"You're
not even going to give me a hint?"
"Nope.
It's a surprise.. Besides.. I don't know if I
can pull off what
I've got in mind yet."
"Uh-hu."
"And not that I'm
trying to change the subject or
anything."
"Which means you
are."
"But
why do you want me to get Meg to get here sooner?
When you didn't
know she was coming back in the first place,
and ask about the place
being trashed, and don't tell me
it's because of Dante."
"It is."
"I told you *not*
to tell me that."
"I'm
not saying he knows where Fraser is, though it is
a possibility."
"But you know where
Dante is.. You traced him."
"I
did a lot more than that, I found out why you were
on his hit list.
You forget to mention that he was a
Mountie, and took over at the consulate while Thatcher was
on leave and that he had a relationship with Fraser. That's
why your name's at the top of his hit list"
Ray looked down at his
lap.
"This
psycho is obsessed with Fraser."
Ray
nodded.
"You don't how lucky
you are to be alive right now. He
crossed the border and he's been
leaving a trail of corpses
in his wake."
Ray gulped.
"As for how I found
that out, those guesses you made.
You were dead on. He did use Fraser's
passport to get back
into the states, he's been using Fraser's I.D and you were
right about Fraser's bank accounts too, they were raided the
same
day that parcel was mailed. He also used Fraser's I.D
to apply for 3 credit cards, which he got. He's been using
them and leaving a trail behind. He's smart enough to keep
all his purchases on the cards small enough that they don't
check the cards. The only time he went over that limitation,
it
appears to have been deliberate.. I think he knows that
we know."
"You mean he was
trying to get caught."
"No..
He was trying to lure the authorities out, which
he did.. And they
followed him, all the way to the biggest
narcotics farm in the country."
"What?!"
"And he also blew
up three drug labs, and the whole
thing was controlled by the same
man, who's also on his hit
list. Six other's on it are dead. He's left a trail of
bodies behind him."
"And there's a definite
connection between it all?"
"Fraser.
Every one on his list is connected to him in
one way or another."
"They know who he's
after, don't they?"
"They
started drawing up a list of possible victims
after the third murder.
He proved them right four times."
"That
makes seven."
"The
crime lord behind all the drugs surrendered
himself to the authorities
and confessed to an absolutely
staggering list of crimes. He'll probably spend the rest of
his life behind bars, but he'll still be alive, something
that can't be said for the other men on that list who are in
their
own way connected to him."
"The six people
he killed are all connected to the
crime lord?"
"Yes, but don't
ask me how. All I know is what I've
been able to get them to tell
me, which isn't much."
"And what do you
know, exactly?"
"5
of the 6 men Dante's already killed were apparently
involved in
an attack on Fraser, which was linked to this
crime lord. There were 7 possibly 8 men involved, 7 were
definitely identified, 5 of them are now dead."
"And the 6th?"
"It seems Fraser
was the first, and until Dante, last
Mountie to ever find and shut
down one of his drug labs. He
didn't take very kindly to that and .."
"The 6th person
was a woman right?"
"No."
"Oh."
"Why did you
assume it was a woman?"
"I
think I know who you're talking about."
"So
Fraser told you about this crime lord?"
"What
you're telling me sounds like the one he
mentioned to me. He had
all the dirt, and I do mean all the
dirt on the guy, but he couldn't take him down. Because the
son of bitch killed his informant and set him up.. and even
though he got off the hook.. Fraser couldn't take him down.
He was barred from even going back to that guys territory or
having
anything to do with the investigation into his
activities."
"And wasn't thrilled
about it either."
"Of
course not."
"He's
lucky. Among other things, this man admitted to
killing six investigators,
and arranging the deaths of 4
mounties, had another 3 sent to prison, where they were
killed soon after, and there were apparently five others who
ended
up dead just because they happened to stumble upon the
location
of his narcotics farm."
"He confessed to
all that?"
Welsh
nodded.
"Soooo..
How did these guys Dante killed die?"
"In
all but one case, they died slowly and painfully."
"Uh-hu..and
in the other?"
"He
apparently beat the man to death."
"That
I can believe.. He came close to killing Fraser
that way."
"When he's
not hunting down Killers & Rapists which is
what all the men he's
killed so far have been, he's busy
torching places. Apart from the drug lab's, he's also
torched 16 buildings. Including two RCMP outposts, where he
served with Fraser in the past. And in every instance, there
is
a link to Fraser some how."
"That's why you
wanted to know if they were sure it was
that dope freak who trashed
our place there."
Welsh nodded.
"There
are five more names on that list.. People
they're almost certain
he'll go after next.. Your name is
there.."
"As far as Dante's
concerned, I'm history, he probably
thinks that his little surprise
package took care of me."
"Thatcher's
name is on the list too."
"What?!"
"He knows she
was involved in your attempt to get
Fraser out of his clutches before
it was too late. He wants
you dead because A.) He possibly views you as competition
for Fraser's affections and B.) You actively tried to
separate them."
"Do you know for
a fact that he knows Meg was helping
me?"
"It went beyond
that.. Once they started trying to work
out who he'd go after, there
were two things that made
Thatcher a definite target. She stood up to him and made no
secret of the fact that she'd nail his hide to the wall if
she could find something to do it with. By all accounts, she
*ordered*
Constable Turnbull to go out and slash his car's
tires to keep him from being able to leave in a hurry when
she was trying to do that."
"I don't believe
it."
"Believe
it. Once they found out she helped you, they
started back tracking
and interrogated the staff at the
consulate to find out what happened when she crossed paths
with Dante."
"And he knows about
that?"
"He's
not stupid. I'm sure he knows who was behind what
happened to his
car. And he knows for a fact that Meg was
taking action to get Fraser away from him. Some idiot called
the
Sydney consulate and told him she had made a formal
complaint about him which they intended to investigate. The
timing suggests, that the phone call is what prompted his
near lethal assault on Fraser."
"Tell me that moron
got more than a slap on his wrist
for making that call."
"I'll have to look
into it."
"Do
you know where Dante was traced to last?"
Welsh
pulled out his note pad checking it and gave Ray
the name of the
town.
"Have you got your
phone on you?"
Welsh
pulled it out and offered it to Ray. Ray waved a
mittened hand at
him, then gave him a number to dial. Welsh
helped him rest the phone on his shoulder and then listened,
a brow
raising as he did.
"It's me, I'm just
calling to see how you are... Oh,
aren't we in a snit. I wish I
was there to see it... Did I
ever mention you're simply ravishing when you're stomping
around in a snit."
Welsh snickered.
"No.. I mean it..
But then again, you look ravishing
most of the time... What's that..
Caro, don't you know
Italian men like their women big."
Welsh covered his mouth
to hide his smile and backed
up.
"What's more I can't
wait to see you and prove it.
Remember those plans I had before
I flew out... Yesss, those
plans," Ray purred making Welsh
wonder what plans he was
talking about.
"I can't wait to
carry them out," Ray said then smiled.
"Is
there a smile on your face? I just bet there's a
really big smile
on your face.. There is.. Ohh.. No.. I'm
not doing that.. Why??? Er.. I'm a cel phone, that's why..
Haven't you heard, idiots with scanners can listen to your
most intimate conversations and record them.... No. I'd love
to,
but I can't come to you. You have to come to me. Do you
think you can get here sooner... You can't... Are you sure?
Uh-hu. Oh well. If you say so... But I'm warning you, Ma's
throwing women at me."
Even across the room
Welsh could hear Thatcher's
screech at that.
"Very attractive
women.. Just last night she threw this
voluptuous vixen who was
over me like a rash. We're talking
Barracuda here... I told her, I was spoken for as soon as I
said, I wasn't married yet. She said.. Well.. never mind
what she said.. I wouldn't want to make your blood pressure
go through the roof... Well of course I told her to take a
hike.. But Ma isn't going to stop hurling her at me until
you show up and stake your claim.. One look at you my little
beached
whale and she'll stop throwing these women at me and
start planning
our wedding."
Welsh wondered what Thatcher
had to say about that,
whatever it was, it was obviously amusing
because Ray
laughed.
"You're probably
right about that.. But.. It's not
going to happen. By the way..
I forget to ask.. Do you know
what sex the baby is yet?"
Ray fell silent for a
short time.
"Say
that again.."
Ray
broke into a grin.
"That's
incredible news.. Why didn't you tell me that
the other night,"
Ray asked, then laughed at her answer.
"That'll
teach me to ask the right questions.. here's
another question for
you.. Can I pick a name for the girl..
I can.. Great.. I've already picked it.. Francesca."
"Aha," Welsh
crowed, working out Ray's little plan to
show his sister how grateful
he was.
"Yes.. I know it's
my sister's name.. And if you want
to know why I want to call the
girl after her, well, you're
just going to have to ask me to my face, Bye Caro."
He flipped the phone
closed.
"That's
how you're going show Francesca you're
grateful."
Ray nodded with a little
smile.
"I thought
her baby was Fraser's."
"It...
They are.."
"Now
I'm confused."
"Meg
and I were an item for a while... But that ended
after we got to
Canada. But she thinks I'm the father. I
gave up trying to convince her otherwise.. I'm not going to
argue with her about it. She's *thrilled* to bits that I'm
finally admitting they're mine."
"They?"
"She's having twins.
A pigeon pair, they worked it out
during her ultrasound's."
"Uh-hu. If you're
not careful, that wedding joke may
become a reality."
"Oh, Meg has no
interest in getting married. She likes
things the way there are..
or were. And regardless of what I
said to Meg, the last person my
mother would suspect of
fathering her baby is me. She knows as well as I do that I
can't have children which is why she doesn't waste her time
throwing women at me."
"I remember all
the effort you went to trying to start
a family with your wife..
That beeper of yours always seemed
to go off at the worst time."
"Yeah.. And it almost
got me killed."
"I
remember that too. And the time it went off when you
were in the
middle of interrogating some one."
Ray chuckled at the memory.
"And the way
you made him start talking.."
"How
could I forget - it took weeks to live that down."
"Did
it ever go off at anything but a bad time?"
"Just
once. I got so sick of it going off at the worst
times, that I worked
out when it was most likely to go off
next, and made sure nothing would go wrong.. I was spot on.
Just as I was about to walk in the front door it went off.
You should have heard the screech Angie let out when I
walked in ten seconds later."
Welsh laughed at
that.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Fourteen
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray blinked away as Doctor
Paul Conti pulled back after
helping him to apply the special contacts
which would
hopefully correct his vision.
"Now these aren't
*corrective* lenses, they're just
light filters, if your vision
is blurred, tell me."
Ray nodded and his hands
kept moving up and down as he
fought the urge to rub at his eyes.
The Doctor picked up his
goggles and held them over his face.
"They don't work.
Damn.. I was sure.."
"No..
I mean.. They're just.. irritating."
The doctor lowered
the goggles.
"Alright.
It takes a little while to grow accustomed to
lenses the first time.
Now do you think you can stop
blinking for a few moments and let me take a closer look at
your eyes."
Ray heard him flip his
head set piece down and fought
the urge to blink and his eyes started
focussing as the
Doctor leaned closer to examine his eyes.
"No pain?"
"I told you,
they're just a little irritating, but I
s'pose I could get used
to that."
The Doctor smiled to
himself, the pain he meant was the
pain Ray had complained about
suffering whenever he was
exposed to any light brighter than a candle flame, the fact
Ray didn't register the pen light torch's light was a good
sign the contacts were filtering out the light the way they
were meant too. Putting his instrument in the tray, the
doctor reached for the eye drops.
"Head back and no
blinking."
Ray
obeyed.
"O.K, now.. this
should take care of that irritation."
Ray
felt the doctor run something along the bottom lid
of his eyes.
"There we go.. You
can blink away as much as you like
now."
Ray did and the irritation
stopped after a few more
blinks.
"That's better."
"Hmm.. Look
around, can you focus now?"
Ray
looked around the room and slowly a smile touched
his face.
"I can *see*. Charlene
is sitting on a stool at the
back having a cup of coffee. Frannie
was right, this place
does sparkle.." Ray said.
The doctor gave a soft
laugh as he babbled away
describing everything he could see in the
room. Then Ray
looked back around and up at the Doctor and gave a little
laugh as he realised why his sister made sure she was never
late for any of her appointments. The Doctor was tall, well
built without being a muscle man and while with the cap and
surgical mask made it difficult to see his face, he had what
he
imagined women called eyes to drown in.
The Doctor held up a
hand, one finger up.
"Follow
my finger please."
Ray's
eyes tracked it back and forth and up and down.
"What
colour is my gown?"
"Claret."
"O.K. what
about this?" The Doctor asked reaching out
to pick up an instrument.
"Orange."
"And this?"
"Emerald Green."
"Close enough.."
"What do you
mean?"
"The
filter affects your ability to see colours. But
you can differentiate
between one colour and the other."
"You mean I'm
colour blind."
"No.
This is green..But it's fluro green.. The other
one is Fluro yellow,
and my gown is red."
"Bright Red?"
"Yes."
"Oh dear."
"Can't be helped..
It took them 2 months to come up
with a pair of filtered lenses
which would block out the
light but still allow you to see."
"You mean they don't
make lenses like these?"
"They
make all kinds. Including light filtering lenses.
Yours are experimental..
They've never had a request like
mine. And considered it quite a challenge. Here, can you
read what this says?" The Doctor said changing the subject
holding up an instrument still in sterile packaging.
Ray focussed on it, the
small lettering was just a blur
but he read out the brand name and
other details which he
could make out. The Doctor pointed to the blurred details.
Ray shook his head.
"I can't read that
bit. It's just a blur."
"I'll
set up an appointment with the optometrist for
you."
The Doctor set the instrument
aside and reached for a
mirror holding it up.
"But I think you
can see well enough to see what you
look like now."
Ray looked in the mirror
then frowned.
"A
little ice should take care of the residual swelling
and the bruising
will fade soon. Madeleine will give you a
make over before you leave and show you how to hide it."
Ray
raised a still mittened hand and reached out to
tilt the mirror.
"Is there something
wrong?"
"Wrong?!
I've got more hair on my head than I used to
have!" Ray almost
wailed, then he touched his nose, "And my
nose is different..
You gave me a nose job, and I look at
least.. Ten years younger, this is terrible."
"It is? Most of
my patients would be *thrilled* to look
ten years younger."
"Well I'm not!"
Ray snapped, thinking of how this would
make it impossible to pretend
nothing had happened with Meg.
"Charlene,
get the *before* snaps, please."
His
sister set her coffee aside, placing the lid on the
cup before she
walked away to find the file in question. He
walked away with the instrument tray, the whole tray went
down the incinerator chute, then he peeled off his gloves
and tossed them in the incinerator and moved to the sink to
scrub up again, before pulling on fresh gloves and heading
back to the patient chair and pulling out a new tray from
the stand to place up top.
"While we wait,
let's have a look at that arm."
"Which
one?"
"The
one with the itch your sister told me you've been
complaining itches
all the time about at home and never
mentioned to me."
"Ah so you've been
using my sister to spy on me."
"Male
patients, are the worst kind, you *never* tell me
if you feel any
unusual aches, pains, tingles or itches. For
all you know your arm
could be ready to drop off from
gangrene, all because enduring pain without complaint is the
macho
thing to do."
Ray held his arm up and
the doctor reached for the
scissors and began cutting through the
special bandages that
covered Ray's arm.
"That's why I decided
to go with you."
"What
do you mean?"
"I
mean out of all the Doctors I could have gone with
to carry out
the follow up treatment, I chose you because
Frannie said this place was so clean it sparkles. You're so
fanatical about cleanliness that there's no way I could get
an infection or anything like that."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Mrs Vecchio stood on
the porch watching as Fraser
helped Meg to alight from the cab which
was parked in the
drive. Frannie skidded to a stop beside her.
"Was that your brother?
He was supposed to be back over
an hour ago," Mrs Vecchio hissed
in an aside.
"That was the Doctor.
He said something went wrong."
Mrs Vecchio's head
swung around and she pinned Frannie
with her gaze.
"*What* went wrong?"
"I don't know,"
Franni said, smiling and wiggling her
fingers at Fraser, "He
just said, something went wrong and
he took Ray to the hospital,
for tests. He's going to be
there all night."
"I will kill him."
"Who, Ray or
the Doctor?"
"The
Doctor."
"Do
you think you can wait till he finishes treating my
burns.. One
last session and I'll be scar free."
"Fine, I will kill
him later."
Francesca's
eyes widened when Fraser moved to the side,
and she got her first
good look at Meg in over a year.
"Migod... She's
huge."
"She's
having twins. They're due within a month"
"That
explains it."
"Remember
not a word about what happened to your
brother.. As far as they're
concerned he's been undercover
these last few months."
"I know, I know..
She's soooo delicate, she has to be
handled with kid gloves, etcetera,
etcetera... Maybe it's a
good thing he's not here.. He is sooo clucky."
"Let me do all the
talking.
Frannie
rolled her eyes, and her mother gave Fraser a
big smile as he helped
Meg up the stairs.
"Welcome back, Benton,
you're looking much better."
"Thank-you..
Have you.."
"Met
Meg.. Yes. Come inside, get off your feet," Mrs
Vecchio said
as she moved to take Meg's other arm.
Fraser looked at Francesca
noticing the gloves on her
hands and the bandages that were covering
her arms.
"What happened to..."
"My arms. Let's
just say young children and matches
don't mix."
"Oh Dear."
Mrs Vecchio sent
a little prayer of thanks upwards
Frannie's "story" was
both simple and believable and hoped
she didn't decide to embellish
it, but knowing her youngest,
she was about to do that.
"Francesca take
care of their bags," Mr's Vecchio cut
in just as Franni opened
her mouth to add a little detail to
it.
Francesca rolled her
eyes and headed for the cab while
her mother took care of their
guests, almost dragging Fraser
in as he instinctively tried to assist
Frannie.
"Where's Ray?"
Meg asked.
"Ray
is out. He had some business to attend to, he
thought he would be
home before you arrived. But it seems
you beat him home," Mrs Vecchio said as she lead them to the
lounge and made Meg sit.
Fraser looked around
and rustled up a foot stool for
her to put her feet up, while Mrs
Vecchio slipped a few
cushions behind Meg's back.
"How is that?"
Meg settled back,
wiggling a little, then gave a weak
smile and a nod.
"Much better.. After
that trip, my back is killing me."
"I'll
just go help Francesca with the bags," Fraser
announced preforming
a perfect about face and marching off.
Mrs Vecchio sent
a prayer upwards that her stubborn
offspring would refrain on embellishing
her story while he
was helping her.
"Would you like
something to drink?"
"Coffee
and make it fast, before he gets back."
With
a little chuckle Mrs Vecchio bustled off.
"He's
one of those men."
"Cluckity
Cluckity cluck cluck cluck."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Fraser helped Meg down
the staircase, where Mrs Vecchio
met them, wiping her hands on a
tea towel.
"Did Ray come back
last night?"
"Yes,"
Mrs Vecchio lied, "You were sleeping when he
arrived and he
chose to sleep on the couch rather than wake
you. You missed him by half an hour."
"Where did he go?"
"I have no
idea. He was out the door before I could ask
him, though he did
say something about house hunting. Were
you planning..?"
"Meg nodded."
"Yes. It's
not that we don't appreciate your
hospitality. It's the stairs."
"I understand completely."
The front door opened
and Frannie bounded in, Ray's
keys in hand, a big shoulder bag hanging
at her hip with a
map sticking out of it.
"Good, You're up.
Are you ready to go?"
"Go
where?"
She
pulled out the map and a note pad.
"House
hunting."
Meg
and Fraser shared looks.
"There's
a great cafe near the first place on Ray's
list. We can get breakfast
there. The car's open Benton, why
don't you help Meg into the car.
And don't say it Ma, You
know exactly what Ray thinks about Meg staying here, in her
condition," Frannie said rapid fire.
Her mother threw her
hands up and walked away.
"Ray
isn't joining us?"
"He's
already seen all these places, and has his
favourite, which is last
on the list," Frannie lied, she'd
been out canvassing every
real estate agent in town to find
decent houses for rent and knew exactly what the last house
on the list looked like, it had been the one the family
rented to be near Ray at the hospital.
"He asked me to
take you around," She said, that much
was the truth.
"Why isn't he joining
us?"
"He
didn't tell you?"
"We
missed him."
"Oh..
He had to go to court.. He could there all day."
"Ah,"
Meg and Fraser both chorused.
Then
Fraser began leading Meg to the door. Frannie
moved after her mother
and cornered her in the kitchen.
"Did you see him?"
Mrs Vecchio said in a low tone.
Frannie
nodded.
"How
is he?"
"Do
you remember how he kept complaining he had an itch
was driving
him up the wall and rubbing at his arm?"
Her mother nodded.
"It was itching
for a reason, he had an infection... He
could loose his arm."
Mrs Vecchio closed her
eyes at that.
"He
said, Doctor Conti exploded when he saw his arm and
called him every
name for idiot under the sun for not
telling him about that itch before now. He shut his surgery
down to take Ray to the Hospital and he's doing everything
he can to beat the infection without going that far."
"How is Ray taking
it?"
"He's
pretty out of it.. They've got him on pain
killers and antibiotics,
he could barely stay awake to talk
to me and tell me what to do."
"We can't afford
this now.. There's no money left."
"You
don't have to worry about it, Doctor Conti is
paying for everything
out of his own pocket."
"He is???"
"They preformed
tests.. They're waiting on the
results.. The tests should tell them
what caused the
infection and once they know that they'll be able to work
out how his arm became infected.. The Doctor said, that no
matter what the results were - he would be covering
everything out of his own pocket. If the test's prove he got
the
infection at the Doctor's surgery.. Ray will be
compensated.. How much he gets depends on what the end
result is."
"We don't have to
sue him?"
"No."
"Why?"
"That's what
I said, he told me to ask him that
question when the whole matter
is settled."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray lay on his hospital
bed, which had been sterilised
to within an inch of its existence
by his Doctor's staff.
His infected arm was extended out from the bed resting on
sterile sheet, on a sterile stainless steel mobile table,
under a sterile tent that hid it from view. He could feel
hundreds of something's crawling all over his arm and kept
shuddering and wished he hadn't refused the Doctor's offer
to put him under again.
He'd wanted to be more
aware when Frannie returned,
now, even knowing that the gross treatment
his arm was
undergoing was his last chance to keep it, but revolted none
the
less he wished Doctor Conti would come back and make the
offer again.
All he wanted to do was pull his arm away and
brush the creatures consuming the bad tissue away, among
other things.
He heard the door open
and listened to the foot steps.
He recognised them as Doctor Conti's.
He listened to the
Doctor move to the side of his bed and heard the rustle of
cloth as the Doctor checked his arm.
"Oh. Yes.. This
is good.. This is very good."
"Is
it?"
"I
know what your arm looked like, but our little
friends here are
showing me just how far the infection had
infiltrated your tissue. And it looks as if it didn't go as
deep as I feared. In fact it looks to me like it's
concentrated in and around the grafts."
"My other arm?"
"Looks clean
so far."
"You
missed Frannie again."
"I
did.. And I wanted to talk to her about .."
Ray
snorted.
"You
just want to talk to her, period."
He
heard rustling, squeaks and other sounds of nervous
movment.
"You've got the
hots for my sister, haven't you?"
He
heard more nervous movement.
"She's
still a patient, I don't date patients."
"But
when you finish what you started and she's no
longer your patient,
you'd like to see her, socially,
wouldn't you..?"
"Is this when you
give me the if you touch my sister,
I'll flatten you speech?"
"No.. if you want
to date my sister, that's fine with
me."
"It is???"
"But if you
mess with her, I'll kill you."
Paul
chuckled at Ray's threat.
"I'm Catholic,
single, rich and a well respected member
of society. Who's on the
prowl - for a wife, not a one night
stand."
"Oh.. So you think
my sister might be wife material?"
"Can
she cook?"
"Uh-hu."
"What's she
like with kids?"
"Great."
"Any objections
to your sister being *courted*."
"Absolutely
none at all."
"Good,
I hate sneaking around."
Ray
heard plastic tearing then felt something attached
to his forehead.
"Let's go through
the list again shall we. Any aches or
pains in new places?"
"No."
"Any itch?"
"Yeah, my nose."
Another plastic
tearing noise followed, he felt latex
covered fingers touch his
face and his nose and checks
started to feel just a fraction warmer.
"Hmmm.."
"I *hate* hmmm's.
I think Doctor's invented the Hmmm,
just to torture their patients
a little."
The Doctor chuckled.
"Sorry.. I'm
going to move something over your nose in
a minute.. Tell me when
I touch the spot that itches."
Ray gave a little nod
and listened to him open
something else. He felt cool metal touch
his nose and gently
slide over it.
"Right there."
The faint warmth
returned for a short time then he
heard a bottle being opened and
felt a dab of chill liquid
on the spot. The itch continued for a few seconds and
vanished.
"There.. That should
take care of it. Any other
itches?"
"There's a really
maddening one that keeps coming and
going on the sole of my foot,"
Ray said, lifting the foot in
question.
He soon felt the blanket
being turned up, and then the
touch of that cool liquid being smeared
over the sole of his
foot before the blanket was drawn down and
he heard the
doctor moving about.
"Anywhere else?"
"No, thank
god.. That's the only *good* thing about
this whole disaster.. The
itch was driving me insane. Now
it's gone.. I'd be estatic if you could just make those
creepy crawlies stay off the rest of my arm."
"You can feel them?!"
"Yeah... And
it feels gross."
"I
know you're sick of hearing me say this but.."
"That's
a good sign."
"Yes,
but there's no reason you have to put up with
that, I'll give you
a local, that will do the trick."
"Could you do it,
*now*.. In some ways, that's *worse*
than the itch."
"What did I tell
you?" The annoyed doctor asked.
"To
tell you if I felt any pain, but it's not exactly..
Pain, it's just..
It's hard to describe.. the only word I
can think of is.. revolting."
Ray heard rattling and
plastic being torn, then
movement. A short time later he felt soft
swabbing and a
prick as needle was put to use. That was followed by the
sound of the needle being tossed and more plastic being
torn. The whole procedure was repeated three more times.
"There.. Now this
one is really going to hurt, try not
to go through the roof, hmm.
And don't even think of bitting
your lip, scream all you like..
but don't wreck my work."
Ray
gave a little chuckle at that then let out a scream
as the needle
plunged home.
"Migod, you weren't
joking about that hurting," He
panted. "But I s'pose you're
gonna say that's another one of
those good signs right."
He heard rattling and
felt the touch of fingers on his
arm.
"That is a good
sign isn't.." Ray's inquiry became a
loud scream and the Doctor's
hand flew to his shoulder to
stop him moving.
"Oh-god.. What did
you do?"
"Sorry."
Ray screamed even
louder and clawed at the bed with his
other hand as his arm was
manipulated again.
"OHGOD, STOP!"
Ray arched off the
bed as the next thing the Doctor did
produced the most agonising
pain yet. He thought he was
going to pass out or throw up, maybe both. Then it eased off
and
his whole arm was just a mass of throbbing pain and he
heard the rattling and plastic ripping.
"God.. Give me the
pain killer already."
He
felt the prick of a needle again, and the pain
slowly faded but
along with the reduction of pain, came the
sensations that told him it wasn't the pain killer he was
given.
"I said.. The pain
killer..not the sedative," he
slurred as he fought the sedative's
effects.
He felt the touch of
a hand, stroking his hair.
"Stop
fighting it, when you wake up, it'll be all
over."
"Don't.. take my
arm off.. Please.. I don wanna loose
my arm.."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
"I love this house,
what do you think, Benton?"
"It
is certainly the best one we've seen so far."
"We
can turn that bedroom at the end of the hall into
an office, and
that one in the middle would make a perfect
nursery."
Frannie listened to Meg
babble on about the house and
what they could do with it with a
touch of annoyance. The
house *was* the best one they'd seen, it was better than the
one
her family had rented in more ways than one. It was only
a few years
old, it was in a nice street, all the rooms were
large and it had
a chef's kitchen, a sensualists bathroom,
all marble and sparkling fixtures, a spa and pool in the
back.
"We would have to
have the pool fenced off and
covered."
"What?"
"Well once the children
start walking it would be a
death trap. Toddlers and inground pools
are a lethal
combinations, and that Spa would have to go, I read this
article that said.."
Frannie smiled to herself
as Fraser began to list all
the things that were in his opinion,
band points about the
house, including it's perfectly landscaped gardens, French
doors, that beautiful bathroom. She felt better already. If
the way Fraser was shredding the house's best features was
anything to go by, he'd *loooove* the next and last place.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg sat on the porch
stairs watching Ray's car, and
scowling at the traffic that ran
past the house in a never
ending stream. Fraser and Francesca finally joined her on
the porch, Frannie locking up as Fraser babbled.
"It is absolutely
perfect. That room at the back would
make an excellent nursery,
the room adjoining was obviously
an office once, I can see why Ray loved this place."
"I can't."
"Security,"
Fraser and Frannie said in unison.
"Can
we leave now? The traffic is giving me a head
ache," Meg grouched
Fraser hurried to her
side and helped her to her feet.
Frannie moved to help him.
"You don't need
to worry about the noise, the house is
sound proofed, you wouldn't
even notice the noise if all the
doors and windows were closed,
and the house is air
conditioned and well vented."
"The walls make
me nauseous, that wallpaper pattern is
truly horrendous, that carpet
looks older than Raymond's
car. And the whole colour scheme is disgusting."
"I'm sure that if
you take out a long term lease that
they'll let you repaint and
paper the house to your taste."
"I
am not going to waste my money renovating someone
else's home."
"It would not be
renovating," Fraser pointed out.
"The
walls in every room, and the carpet have to be
replaced."
"That may be true,
but beyond that everything else is
perfect. The house is solid,
there is a large garage and
workshop out the back, the kitchen is ..."
Frannie smiled to her
self, her prediction was spot on,
Fraser was sold on the place.
Now all she had to do was wait
for him to talk Meg around and join
in whenever Meg brought
up something that Fraser couldn't come up with an answer to.
"Did
I forget to mention that the estate agent said
that if you took
out a long term lease the owner would be
willing to recarpet the house?"
"He would?"
"Yes, the estate
agent said, that the owner had the
house completely sound proofed
the last time he had a long
term tenant. And the house was completely rewired after the
last tenants moved out. The plumbing was all replaced too.
Now that all the major work is out of the way, he can get to
work
on the cosmetic overhaul. You could probably make a
deal with him.. Do the work to your taste, in exchange for
the equivalent in rent free time."
"That sounds like
a fine arrangement."
"I'll
tell Ray to talk to him about it."
"Hmmph,"
was all Meg had to say about it.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
"Ray.. It's me Frannie.
Are you awake? I can't tell
with those bandages covering your eyes."
Ray's head moved as he
responded to his sister's voice.
"Good,
you are awake, the Doctor said you might be out
of it, you were
last night when I came back."
"My arm.."
Ray said his voice slurred.
"Your
arm is fine."
"Not
that one."
"Don't
worry the Doctor said it was all over now."
"Took
my arm off."
"No."
"Still there?"
"Yes."
"Thank god..
Thought he was gonna take it off."
"He
said, if it was his choice, he'd have amputated,
but you made it
pretty clear that it was to be the definite
last resort."
"Wha elze he zay?"
"Let's see..
The creepy crawlies did the trick, your
arm is free from infection
now, they got the tests back, it
was a bacterial infection, they're trying to work out how
you contracted that. There is no way you got it in his
surgery. Which means he's in the clear on that one."
"Zat's nize."
"You're doped
up again, aren't you?"
"Yezzz.."
"What else..
Er.. Don't even think of trying to move
your arm.. Not that you
could, it's splinted from the
shoulder down to immobilise it. He said he hopes you're
willing to pay the price for keeping it."
"What price?"
"There was
a lot of nerve and tissue damage. Once the
creepy crawlies did their
work you went into surgery, and he
went to work on your arm. You
won't have any sensation at
all in the affected area's, good or bad. You're gonna need a
lot
more work on the arm."
"Go home."
"Not yet. You've
got to go through another round of
skin grafts and he isn't going
to do it right now. And there
all these tests he still has to run,
you're not getting out
of here till he's preformed them all and got the results
back."
"Wanna go home."
He felt her hand
on his hair.
"Did
I mention that you have more hair? He must have
given you a hair
transplant and it's been hidden under those
bandages all this time..
Up the top, it's as long as you
used to wear your hair before you got that buzz cut. Long
enough to run your fingers through it. The back and sides
are longer. I bet Margaret will like that."
"Meg.. O.K?"
"She's a grump."
"How does she
look?"
"Like
a beached whale."
"Be
nize."
"Apart
from that, she's almost glowing with health, but
then she wouldn't dare be anything but, Fraser wouldn't let
her. You should see him, he's turned into a real mother hen.
She
can't do anything without him hovering around her. He
controls everything she eats and drinks. He even makes her
exercise."
"He does.. How?"
"Little dumbbells
and ankle weights that he straps on.
She lies on the bed and does
all the exercises and I dropped
them off at a gymnasium, when I
left she was hanging upside
down in a pair of gravity boots and he was giving her back a
massage
and she was saying, "I love gravity boots, a little
lower Ben..
purrrr."
Ray chuckled at that.
"She says he
gives the best massages, that's the only
reason she hasn't strangled
him yet. And I don't blame her..
He is worse than the Doctor."
"What do you mean?"
"He's turned
into a clean freak.. He spent half the
night cleaning the house,
the kitchen has never been
cleaner, neither has the lounge. The bathroom is so clean
everything gleams. He threw out the shower curtain and told
me to get a new one, and he went through your wardrobes and
drawers and organised everything to within an inch of its
life.. He did the same thing in the kitchen. He won't let Ma
wash
up, he does that and uses boiling water."
"Hmmm.. Meg mentioned
that he has become obsessed with
cleanliness and order."
"Obsessed is definitely
the word for it."
"How
did the house hunting go? Did you find anything
decent?"
"Oh, yes, there
were four houses that were quite
decent, the house she liked was
a real show home, and I mean
that literally. And the rental, well,
let me tell you,
you're lucky Fraser said I won't move into that death trap."
"Oh."
"His favourite is
the one I told you about. The one we
stayed in after your accident."
"Ah."
"She of course loathes
the place."
"Of
course."
"I
have to talk to the estate agent about getting the
walls redone.
She loathes the paper, and says the colour
scheme is disgusting."
"Leave it alone."
"What?"
"Leave it be."
"I thought
you said I should try to talk her into
agreeing to that house, because
it's an urban fortress."
"Not
gonna rent.. Gonna buy it."
"Ray
you can't afford to.."
"Can't
afford to put petrol in the car, let alone buy a
new house.."
"What?!"
"No money left..
Paying for.. all the treatment.. took
everything I had saved up.."
"I'll pay you back."
"Don wan your
money.. Don need your money.. Bank
manager.. said.. I couldn't get
a loan.. No money coming
in.. Gotta sell the house.. Talked to the real estate
agent.. He took a tour of the house while you were both
out.. He said we could get a real good price for the place..
I'm
hoping..there'll be enough left over to pay off all the
bills and spruce that place up.."
"You can't sell
the house!"
"My
house, I can do what I want with it."
"But.."
"Don worry..
You said that place has plenty of room..
Muz have if the whole family
moved in.. You and Ma..are
going to stay with us.. Where you'll all be nice and safe.."
"I don't care I
am not going to let you sell the
house."
"Can' stop me.."
"Watch me."
"Like you could
pay the bills.."
"If
you could get a loan to cover things until you can
get back to work
would you reconsider."
"Never going back
to work.."
"What?!"
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Fifteen
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Welsh was minding his
own business, which at that
moment in time was tucking a file away
in a cabinet, when a
tap on his door caught his attention. He looked around to
see Huey, with Francesca hovering behind him. At a signal
from the Lieutenant, Huey opened the door, poking his head
into the room.
"Francesca would
like to talk to you, she says it's
important."
"Send her in."
Huey ushered her
in then closed the door.
"Take
a seat."
Frannie
sat while he moved to his own.
"This
is about your brother I assume."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Huey watched as Francesca
walked out of the bullpen, he
was justifiably curious as to her
reasons for being there,
and his discovery of said reasons was preceded by a whistle
from Welsh. When he looked around, it was to see Welsh
signalling him and he hurried to the office.
"Should I follow
her?"
Welsh
shook his head ushering him in, closing the door
behind him.
"Why didn't you
tell me Ray hasn't been home?"
"He's
not there?"
"No
he's not. He's in the hospital."
"Again?
Did he have an accident?"
"No.
Those damn burns of his became infected. According
to Francesca
they came within a hair's breath of amputating
his arm because of the infection."
Huey gave a little wince
at that.
"I
just spoke to his doctor over the phone. He's
history as a police
officer. It's all over except the
paperwork. He's never going to regain use of that arm. And
his sight is permanently impaired."
"Maybe he can do
something else, he's a great profiler,
it would be a pity to.."
"Run that by me
again???"
"He's
the one who did those profiles for me."
"You're joking..
He was practically on his death bed
when you came up with the first
one."
"I know.. that's
what was so incredible about it."
"Are
you sure he came up with it?"
"The
Smitheson case *was* his case before the accident,
hell there were
details in that profile and the notes
attached to it that weren't in the records, and others that
were but they definitely weren't public knowledge, no one
asked to see the records, the only person who could have
written it was Ray."
"He couldn't even
talk how on Earth did he..?"
"Ah,
that was the Dragon Lady's contribution," Huey cut
in, "She
brought in a brace for his hand a writing stand. By
the time I visited
him he was getting pretty good with it.
Had no trouble at all communicating. I guess he wrote
everything up and gave it to her to type it up nice and
neat."
"I thought it was
done by the FBI's Master Profiler."
"No,
he just wrote a cover note, backing up Ray's
profile. He told me
the man was his profiling coach and that
if his first one helped
me to crack the case he'd be doing
it a lot more often in the future when he got back to work.
But he didn't come back."
"How did you get
the rest?"
"I
bumped into him while he was out walking Deif
around, just before
he went to Canada, he told me all about
his plans.. He even said that Thatcher had plans to get him
into the FBI's profiler accreditation scheme.. So he'd come
back to work with better skills than he left with."
"Hmmm..."
"Any way.. I used
the information I got out of him that
day to track him down when
I ran into a brick wall on the
Weisman case, he was thrilled to hear from me and didn't
mind a bit when I asked him if he could do a profile for me.
I sent
him everything I had on the case.. Two weeks later it
came back
with the profile that helped me break it.. And you
know that that
profile was even better than the Smitheson
Profile. It was so good the D.A used it during the trial.
When I told Ray that, he said he'd be happy to do it again,
any time I really needed one."
"And he did do it..
three more times."
"And
we got a conviction on all those cases, thanks to
his work.. That's
gotta be worth something."
Welsh slapped Huey on
the arm, and started leading him
to the door.
"Oh, it's worth
something alright, you may just have
saved the Vecchio's house."
"What? Is he going
to lose the house?"
"Not
any more.. Now, get going, you were supposed to
take over from Dewey
half an hour ago."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
"I know you're awake
Ray."
"I
don wanna talk to you, go 'way."
He
heard paper snapping.
"Do
you know what I've got right here in my hot little
hands?"
"A piece of paper."
"A cheque..
From the CPD."
"What??"
"And another
one from Lieutenant Welsh."
"What
did you do Francesca?"
"I
went to the station and had a talk to him. He came
around this morning
and gave me the cheques."
"What are they for?"
"The one from
the Lieutenant is a loan, you can pay him
back later, with interest..
The other is Payment for
services rendered.."
"What services?"
"He said it
was for some Profiling work you did for
Huey.. Huey forget to mention
you were the profiler who did
the work, when he found out, he talked to the Chief, who
talked to the Commissioner about it, who talked to someone
else about it, found out what the going rate for profilers
is and now - you're $9000 better off."
"I am.."
"And that's how
you're gonna pay back the loan. You're
gonna finish your studies
get your certification and become
an accredited profiler. Or else."
"Or else what?"
"The Luitenant'll
come around and put you out of your
misery, that's what."
Ray chuckled.
"Now..
About the house."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray listened to what
was for him the distinctive sound
of his Doctor crossing the room.
"Your timing's atrocious,
Doc."
"It
is, why?"
"You
just missed Frannie again."
"I
did??"
"Yeah,
she came around to do a little gloating.."
"Damn.."
Ray chuckled.
"Well.. You sound
much better. Whatever she came to
gloat about seems to have done
wonder's for your mood."
"It
did.. This is one time, I don't mind being wrong."
Ray
listened to the Doctor moving to the side of the
bed and heard the
sounds that always preceded one of his
examinations.
"She told me you
got the test results back.."
"We
can make sure the infection doesn't take hold again
with antibiotics
now."
"So do you know
where I got it? I doubt it was your
surgery, you're so much of a
clean freak, a germ wouldn't
stand a chance there."
"In a manner of
speaking I did give it to you, it was
the skin we cloned for the
grafts."
"What?!"
"It's not the first
time it's happened, though it's
never happened to me before. The
lab the cloning is carried
out in must be absolutely sterile, the nutrient solution we
clone the tissue in would be heaven to germs, they'd
multiply like crazy in it."
"And that's what
happened. All my grafts are gonna turn
black and.."
"You're talking
to the clean freak, remember," The
Doctor cut in. "I had
12 different batches cloned. The fact
that has been no sign of cross
infection is what made me
suspect it was the grafts. I was right, 3 batches were
contaminated. But I always make sure there's more than I
need, so that I can use the rest for tests.. The last thing
I want is to discover a patient has allergies to some lotion
I use
or prescribe. According to my records the batch I used
on your arm
was cloned when the contaminated batches were
produced."
"And the rest weren't?"
"They did them
in batches of four.. The last batch of
four was contaminated. Every
thing else would appear to be
clean."
"How did it get
contaminated?"
"That's what I'd
like to know.. I've reported it, there
will be an investigation,
and you shouldn't be surprised if
a lawyer comes around and tries to sweet talk you into
accepting a pittance in compensation to get them off the
hook."
"Compensation.."
"You have a
right to sue them for what happened. Now
take my advice.. He's going
to make you an offer. Nod and
say, that'll do, for starters."
Ray chuckled.
"I
have a question for you now. Why did you say my
efforts to give
you your looks back terrible? It's been
driving me crazy."
Ray smiled faintly.
"My lady doesn't
know what happened to me.. She's
pregnant and the Doctor said, if
she didn't reduce the
stress she was under she'd loose the baby. I was hoping I
could pretend it never happened with her."
"And how did you
keep her ignorant?"
"She
was in Canada.. I came back home for a break.. And
this happened..
I'm a cop, she's a Mountie.. She thinks I've
been on an undercover
assignment. But now she's gonna take
one look at my face and .."
"Is she as beautiful
as your sister?"
"In
her own way."
"In the interests
of a harmonious relationship with my
future brother in law.. I have
a suggestion.. A good quarter
of my patients are people who simply
want to look good for
their lover or spouse."
"It doesn't matter
any more. She came back here.. She
arrived the other day.. I was
supposed to be there to greet
her.. Frannie can only explain away my non appearance for so
long."
"I'm sure they noticed
her arms, what did she tell them
happened to her arms?"
"Short and sweet,
Kids and matches don't mix.. and left
the rest up to their imagination."
"Good explanation."
"She already
told them I got burned too. So they
wouldn't ask questions about
my arms. But that was before
Frannie found out what went wrong."
"I assume there
is a very good reason you would prefer
it if your lover didn't find
out the truth."
"Yeah.. We've been
taking care of a friend of ours, who
was left for dead by a guy
who's since escalated his level
of violence to outright murder.. And the same guy who messed
him
up is the one responsible for what happened to me."
"And
you're concerned he might come back to finish the
job."
"Very.. She's also
a potential target.. Right now he's
in Canada.. Which is why I'm
glad she's back here now.. And
I'd like to keep them as ignorant as possible about him for
as long as possible.. Or at least keep her ignorant until
the babies are born. He's on the mend at last but he's still
got
a long way to go.. Something set him off back home in
Canada.. And he's likely to go right off the deep end if he
finds out what's happening .. I need time to work with him,
so that he won't go to pieces if this guy isn't caught
before he decides it's time to finish what he started."
"And
when is the baby due."
"Sometime
within the next month..She's having twins
actually, and I hear twins
usually decide to enter the world
early."
"So all you need
to do is keep it from her for another
month.. Is your sister coming
back tonight?"
"Yes."
"Did you arrange
for a visit at a specific time?"
"She
said she'd be back around 6."
"Hmmmm.."
"Again with
the Hmmm."
"Sorry..
Tell me about your friend. What does he look
like?"
"Everywhere we go,
women drool.. Even Frannie does it.
And it's not just because he's
so good looking, he's oh so
polite, when the came up with the word Gentleman, they had
him in mind. And whoever said chivalry is dead never met
him."
"It will work."
"What will
work?"
"Does
Francesca know what you've been doing?"
"Yes.
I explained it all the other day."
"And
your mother."
"She
knows too."
"It
will definitely work."
"What
will work?"
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Fraser was heading for
the kitchen to make Meg a cup of
herbal tea when he heard Frannie's
voice.
"Paul says it'll
be a few more days before the bruises
fade and the swelling goes
down. Then he can come home."
"So
all we have to do is find a way to keep them from
realising Ray
hasn't been in the house for a few more days,"
Mr's Vecchio's
voice carried to Fraser's ears.
Fraser stopped dead in
his tracks.
"I'm
running out of ideas here."
"Come
up with new ones, or you will spoil your
Brother's surprise."
"I think it's a
pretty stupid surprise."
"Francesca.."
"Well it is,
she didn't fall in love with his looks in
the first place, having
cosmetic surgery to look better for
her is just plain stupid.. I could think of better ways to
spend a few thousand dollars."
Fraser's brows defected.
"Meg said he
wasn't taking care of himself properly in
the first place, his confidence
was low, you said it
yourself, when you picked him up from the airport he looked
terrible.. If having this surgery gives him back his
confidence, then it will be worth every dollar.."
Fraser started backing
up.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg jumped when Fraser
rushed into the room.
"Benton,
don't do that to me."
Fraser
looked at Meg closing the door and leaning
against it.
"What's wrong? Something
frightened you."
He
shook his head.
"I..
heard them.. Talking about Ray."
"Oh..
What did they say?"
"He
is not here.. He hasn't been here at all since we
arrived."
"What? Why would
they..?"
"Lie..
I heard his mother say he wants to surprise
you.. That he.."
"Stop right there
Benton. Just answer yes or no."
Fraser
nodded.
"Does
the reason Ray hasn't been back here have
anything to do with the
surprise he has planned for me."
"Yes."
"And it would
spoil his surprise if you told me what
you heard, wouldn't it?"
"Yes."
She raised a brow and
Fraser thought about it.
"Spoiling
his surprise would be.. bad."
"Yes,
Benton."
"Then..
I will not tell you what I heard."
"You
can tell me one th.... Owwwitch," Meg yelped her
hand flying
to her expansive belly.
Fraser gave her a suspicious
look.
"Have
you been drinking coffee again? You know that
coffee is bad for
you, when you drink coffee they become
more active and move around and keep you awake all night and
then
you're grumpy and being grumpy is not good for you."
Meg
rolled her eyes.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray got no more than
five paces into the house before
his mother descended on him, and
hugged him till he thought
his ribs would crack.
"Ma, I like to breath,"
he gasped.
"Don't
ever do that again."
"It
wasn't intentional."
She
stepped back and studied him.
"What
do you think?"
She
stepped back and took a good look.
"I
think it looks good."
"Good..
You think it looks good, I think it looks
great."
She laughed at that and
nodded.
"It
does. Now show me your arms."
Ray
held out his arms and she slid back his sleeve
revealing an elastic
brace that ran from the knuckle to the
elbow and beyond on the right arm. When she tugged back the
sleeve, his left arm was covered from the wrist to the elbow
and
beyond with the same kind of brace, but there was a
metal brace with an elbow & wrist joint over it, and his
left hand was covered completely with a medical glove, the
metal brace extending up to his knuckles.
"How long do you
have to wear those?"
"The
one on the right.. For at least a few more weeks.
The one on the
left, for quite some time to come. But this
time, I know that when they come off my arm's will look as
close to normal as Paul could get them."
"Oh, now it's Paul,
instead of The Doctor."
"Get
used to it, He's gonna start dropping in, he's got
*intentions*."
"Intentions?"
"Yeah, he wants
to court Frannie."
"What?!"
Ray chuckled.
"He is totally smitten
with her.. And it's a sure bet
she isn't going to say no to him
when he asks her out, the
man looks like Brad Pitt. Think, Interview with a Vampire
and you'll get the idea."
She looked up into his
eyes.
"You
*can* see.. You're not wearing those goggles any
more."
He nodded.
"He got me contact
lenses which filter out most of the
light"
"That's why your
eyes have changed colour."
"Right,
I can't see as well as I used to, but, I had my
eyes tested after
I got these, and he's ordered a special
pair of prescription lenses, but they'll take a while, cause
they're
a special order. But I got a script for glasses that
I can use with
these. The optometrist said they'd be ready
tomorrow."
"That's one less
thing you have to explain."
"Did..
you.. set things up for me?"
"You
know that Francesca has an inbuilt radar that
tells here where Fraser
is."
Ray chuckled at that.
"We set things
up.. He's *overheard* us discussing it
three times."
"Good."
"Is that Ray?"
Frannie called out.
Ray
looked around, to watch Frannie approach then stop
dead in her tracks,
her eye's widening and her jaw dropping.
"Oh-mi-God."
He chuckled.
"You look..."
He gave her the
wind up sign.
"Great.."
He laughed at that.
"Where are
they?"
"Up
stairs.. Fraser is Maria's room, sleeping, Meg is
in yours."
"Is she awake?"
"Yes."
Ray took a deep
breath and headed for the stairs.
"Time
to face the music."
"Hold
it right there."
Ray
stopped looking at his mother.
"I know what you
are planning to do. Move out again. In
her state.. I won't hear
of it, We'll convert the dining
room into a bedroom, that way she won't have to deal with
the stairs," his mother stated firmly.
"I knew you'd say
that.. But we're doing it anyway, the
maniac who sent me that surprise
parcel is still out and on
the loose, and after what Welsh told me there is no way I am
going
to risk the family by staying here a minute longer
than I have too. End of discussion."
"He thinks your
dead."
"We
don't know that, that damn surprise package was
meant to disfigure
not kill and he's gone from random acts
of aggravated violence to murder and arson and there's a
chance that he could come after Meg next, and if he comes
after her he's gonna find out about me and Fraser.. And
that's why we're outta here as soon as I can find a safe
place to move into. I don't want anyone else getting hurt
like Frannie was."
"I'm going to take
him over to the place we rented,
Ma."
Their mother looked at
around.
"The
house near the hospital?"
Frannie
nodded.
"In
her state she should be close to the hospital. And
It was like a
fortress."
Her mother nodded.
"Yes, I remember
that. Bars on every window and
security shutters."
"Sounds good to
me," Ray said, "The question is wether
or not it's still
available?"
"It is, I put a
deposit down, so they'd hold it till
you got out of hospital so
you could look at it."
"Fine, if it's O.K
with you, we'll take a look at it
tomorrow," Ray said.
Frannie nodded.
"Great, can we make
it around 9ish?"
"Sure,
but we've got all day."
"No,
we don't.. Paul is reopening his surgery tomorrow,
and he's got
your name at the top of his list of rescheduled
appointments.. You're
down for 10.. First patient of the
day. He wants to get your treatment over and done with."
"What?!"
"What's the
matter, I thought you'd be happy to have
the treatment over and
done with."
"I am."
"Fine.. Find something
really good to wear.."
"Why?"
"I could be
wrong, but the Doc was always sooo
disappointed when I told him
he just missed you.. I think
he's got the hots for you, so wear something nice and you
never know.. he might ask you what your doing later when
he's through."
"Isn't he married
to Charlene?"
"Charlene?
She's his sister. Trust me, this guy is
Interested with a capital
I. Play your cards right and you
could reel this one in and land him."
"Are you doped again?"
"What you think
I can't tell when a guy is interested
in my sister.. Trust me, he's
interested."
"Yeah right, when
he's got his pick of the most
gorgeous women in town strutting through
his surgery every
day. Beside's.. It's true what they say."
"What?"
"That all the cute
ones are Gay."
Ray
laughed.
"Like
Benton."
"Benton
is not Gay.. He's Bi," Ray said before he
turned and headed
up the stairs, he stopped at the first
landing and looked back.
"Oh, By the way,
I would appreciate it if we we're
disturbed, Meg and I have a lot
to discuss. "
Frannie turned to her
mother as Ray started bounding up
the stairs again.
"Translation, he's
gonna prove that Italian men like
their women big."
Ray stopped dead and
peered over the railing.
"Francesca,
were you eavesdropping on my conversation
with Lieutenant Welsh???"
"Were you talking
to him, I thought you were talking to
her on the phone."
"I was you eavesdropper."
"I wasn't eavesdropping.
I just heard part of your
conversation on my way to the laundry."
"Sure you did."
"You know if
you keep this up, she's going to fall
asleep before you get up there."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg was propped up with
numerous pillows on Ray's bed,
reading when the door opened, quietly
and Ray's hand slipped
around the frame to turn off the light. She
looked up as the
door opened all the way to see Ray silhouetted
in the door.
"How's my favourite
beached whale?" He quipped as he
approached the bed.
Her smile became a look
of confusion, and he moved to
the edge of the bed to sit at her
side.
"How are you feeling?"
She reached out
to turn the lamp on, did a double take
when she saw him in the light.
"Are you wearing
a wig?"
He
laughed and ran a hand through his hair.
"No..
That's all the real thing. I had a hair
transplant.. Among other
things."
"You had cosmetic
surgery!"
He
nodded.
"Do you like it?"
She reached out
to touch his face.
"Why
did you.."
"Now
no one is gonna ask why you're with me instead of
Fraser."
Meg worked out what his
little surprise was.
"And
I wanted to look good, for you. And I think it was
worth it.. Everyone
kept telling how terrible I looked now
it's Migod, you look great," He said smiling.
"You.. Do.."
He smiled even more.
"But."
The smile vanished.
"But what?"
"How could
you *waste* so much money.. That must have
cost you a fortune..
And your about to become a father too,
how could you.."
"Don't worry about
the money.. It didn't cost me a
cent."
"What???"
Ray held up his arm,
the sleeve fell back showing his
brace and the glove.
"Frannie told you
about the fire the kids lit and how
we got burned trying to put
it out."
She nodded.
"The Doctor we've
been seeing to get the burns treated
is a cosmetic surgeon, he's
the best around. He did the work
on my face gratis. Well not exactly
gratis, he gave me my
money back."
"Why?"
"He's got the
hots for Frannie, and thought it was a
good way to get into his
potential brother in law's good
books."
"Potential brother
in law???"
"Oh
yeah, he's gonna start courting her soon."
"He's
not courting her now?"
"She's
still his patient, and he doesn't date
patients.. But once he zaps
the last of her scars away,
she's not gonna be a patient any more. As for money, you
don't have to worry about any more.. Something went wrong
with one of my skin grafts.. I was gonna sue the pants of
the lab who's fault it was.. But Paul went and negotiated a
deal with them.. A law suit like mine could have them shut
down, permanently, over what they say was essentially a
freak accident.. They gave me a tour and explained how they
do everything and agreed to change one or two things, to
ensure an accident like that never happens again. I agreed
to take the deal they offered in exchange for dropping the
law suit.. And it was a two fold deal, they cover all the
bills that crop up as a result of what happened and
everyone's happy. And I get two pay outs.."
"Two??"
He reached into his pocket
and pulled out a cheque and
handed it to her. She looked at it her
eyes widening.
"$250,000 dollars."
"That's not
going to last long.. I'm gonna use it to
buy a new house."
"You said there
were going to be two payments."
"The
second one will be decided once we know what the
end result of what
happened is. But right now I've got
enough money to buy the house I was looking into buying, and
keep
going till I finish my studies.."
He reached out to run
a hand over her belly.
"And
set things up right for these little miracles."
He
was going to say more, but he forget what he had in
mind when he
felt a good strong kick against his hand and
Meg gave a little hiss.
"Woah.. Now that's
what I call a kick."
"Move
your hand to the other side."
Ray
did and felt a kick against his hand again, then
another.
He spread his fingertips
over the other side and felt
movement there.
"My god.. They're
having a party in there."
"I
should have listened to Fraser."
"Oh,
why?"
"He
keeps saying, you know what happens when you drink
coffee, they
always get active."
Ray chuckled and moved
closer.
"May
I?
She nodded and
he leaned over her to put an ear to her
belly and listened to the
beating of the babies hearts.
"They sound pretty
healthy... But then I'm no expert."
"I've
got ultrasound's somewhere in one of my bags. The
Doctor says, they're
disgustingly healthy. But they wouldn't
dare be anything but.. Not
after the way Fraser's been molly
coddling me. Nothing passes my
lips that he didn't approve
of first, except the occasional cup of coffee."
"Really."
"He has been collecting
magazines on the subject ever
since he found out. If I hear him
quote one more so called
expert on the subject of having children, he's going to need
a nose
job."
Ray laughed.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Sixteen
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Frannie stood on the
porch of the urban fortress
watching Ray's car, until she heard
footsteps approaching
and looked around to see Ray step onto the porch.
"What do you think?"
"I think it's
perfect, security wise. That big room out
back connected to the
office would make a perfect nursery
for the babies. And having 3 toilets, two showers *and* a
main bathroom is great, there wouldn't be any arguments
about needing the bathroom around here."
"The best thing
about it is that they all have separate
hot water systems."
"Really, that's
great. Did you notice the fittings in
that main bathroom, I'm positive
this place was converted
for an invalid, Meg wouldn't have problems."
"Except with the
colour scheme."
"I
was talking about the bathroom. The colour scheme of
the place can
be fixed. I love that office, did you see that
file room, and those
built ins, it's perfect. Or would be..
I'll have to rip out the door and replace it with a set of
French doors, then it'll be perfect.. And that kitchen's
great. I've never seen a refrigerator like that in a private
home..
It's huge and the amount of bench space in there is
fantastic. I am so sick of tiny kitchens with hardly any
bench space."
"Since when did
you care about how much bench space a
kitchen had?"
"Since I started
doing most if not all of the cooking
for our household."
"Ah, then we'll
have to get you to show us what you can
do in the kitchen."
"Scratch that, I'm
going to have to teach Fraser to be
a good cook or we're gonna be
eating a lot of take away
food," he said holding up his hands, explaining why with
that
one simple gesture.
She laughed at that.
"I couldn't
find the key for that door that leads
upstairs, what's up there?"
"Bedrooms, a study,
with in built shelves and a window
seat, a storage closet, a kitchenette
and another toilet."
"Really,
how many bedrooms?"
"6."
"6! With the
two downstairs that makes 8 Bedrooms."
"I
think this place used to be some sort of medical
center. The big
rooms downstairs were the surgical suits,
waiting room and offices."
"Ah that explains
the size of the rooms, that bathroom
and refrigerator.. How big
are the rooms up stairs?"
"Most are about
the size of the office. There are two
that are the size of the room
you're thinking of as a
nursery."
"Great, Did you
notice how big that dining room is? I
could turn that into a joint
lounge/dining room and turn the
lounge into a pool room."
"Did *you* notice
that there's reverse cycle air
conditioning in every room in the
house?" Frannie pointed
out.
"Yes. What's it
like in summer?"
"Wonderful."
"Great.. The
only thing I'm a bit worried about is the
proximity to the road..
The traffic's pretty heavy around
here."
"Don't worry, the
noise won't bother you. I think the
house has been sound proofed,
the only time we ever noticed
the traffic noises was when a window was open. Go back in
and close the door and you won't hear it, trust me."
"O.K.. I'm sold
on it.. Let's go," he said bounding
down the stairs.
Frannie shook her head
at it and followed after him.
"Don't
you even want to know what the rent is like?"
"I
already told you, Frannie, I'm not renting, I'm
gonna buy it."
"I thought we had
a deal.."
"I
said I wasn't going to sell the house to buy this
place. I didn't
say I wouldn't buy this place if I liked
it."
"So how do you think
you're going to buy this place?
with the money from Welsh and your
back pay you *might* have
enough for a deposit, but Margaret would
be the one who'd
have to keep up the repayments and she hates the place. The
only way you'd convince her to go for it would be to spruce
the place up and you wouldn't have any money left to do that
with
and..."
Ray pulled the cheque
out of his pocket and held it
out. She trailed off taking the cheque
to look at it and
stopped dead.
"Where did you get
this?!"
"It's
part of the compensation pay out for what
happened."
"You could have
got a lot more than this, Ray," Frannie
berated him.
"And I *will*. That's
just a fraction of what I'll get
in the end.. That's just hush money,
to keep me from kicking
up a stink about until it's all settled,"
he said heading
for the car again.
Frannie couldn't think
of anything to say about it, and
followed him to the car. Opening
the door she climbed in
stretching out to open the passenger side door for Ray. He
climbed in pulling the belt on, before he reached for the
door.
"Belt up."
She rolled her eyes,
belting up before she started the
car.
"By the way, I did
mention that I expect you and Ma to
move in with us, didn't I."
"I don't see why
we have too. Maria and Tony took the
kids and.."
"I didn't mean permanently,
I meant until Dante is
dealt with, one way or another."
"Did you tell her
about him yet?" Frannie asked as she
turned the car around
and waited for a break in the traffic.
"No."
"You have to
tell her sometime."
"The
lieutenant is in touch with the RCMP who are
tracking him, if he
crosses the border, he'll know it, and
he'll let me know as soon as he gets the word, if that
happens before she has the twins, then I'll tell her. Other
wise, I'll wait till the twins are born, take her out for
the night, get her into a good mood, then tell her
everything."
"Better make that
a *really* good mood, she's gonna
kill you when she finds out you've
been lying to her all
this time."
"Tell me something
I don't know.. I hope you don't mind
if I drop into the precinct
after we talk to the agent. I
gotta give the Lieutenant that cheque he gave you back and
thank him.."
"Are you forgetting
my appointment. You made it."
"Oh,
yeah.. What's the time?"
"You're
the one with the watch."
Ray
patted his pockets and found his fob watch pulling
it out.
"Hmm.. Better head
for the surgery first. God only
knows how long all the paper work
will take."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray was half way through
a chapter in one of his
psychology text books when the door of the
car opened. He
marked his page and looked around as Frannie climbed in
smiling like the cat that got the canary.
"Well how'd it go?"
"You were right,
he *did* ask me out."
He
chuckled at that.
"By
the way, you know how you said tell me something I
don't know?"
Ray nodded.
"Charlene thinks
you're cute and wants to know if
you're taken."
Ray laughed at that.
"I hope you
told her I'm spoken for."
"He
told her that you were not only spoken for but
about to become a
father. She looked so disappointed."
Ray chuckled, tucking
his bag away into his bag as
Frannie belted up.
"Paul asked me to
give you this," Frannie said holding
out an envelope with a
business card clipped to the front
with a paperclip.
"So it's Paul now,"
he teased taking the envelope, and
looking at the card. "What's
this for?"
"He wants you to
make an appointment with that
photographer, for photographs, so
he can have *after*
photographs, for your files. And unless you object he'd like
to
put your before and after pictures in his display to show
future
patients."
"Ah. Well.. I can
hardly object to that now can I."
"He
said, take a look at the *before* pictures before
you make up you
mind, you can say no if you want.. He'll
understand."
Ray pulled the clip off
and opened the envelope to pull
out the picture and for the first
time saw what the acid did
to him. He shuddered at the first photo,
which showed the
horrendous burns to his face, throat, chest and upper arms.
He flipped to the next one which showed his face in close up
and
gave another shudder then ran a finger down his nose.
"No wonder he gave
me a nose job," he muttered.
"He
did a great job on your nose," Frannie commented as
she started
up the car.
"I
had no idea the damage was this bad. The way the
Doctor at the hospital
went on I thought the burns to my
face were pretty mild."
"He understated
it."
"That's
for sure."
He
quickly flipped through the rest of the photo's each
new picture
eliciting another shudder. Keeping the facial
shot separate he tucked the rest into the envelope and
studied the facial shot, trying to remain clinical about it
as he touched his face, thinking about the way he looked
now. After studying it for a time he tucked it away with the
rest
and the envelope joined his book.
"Oooh-kay,
Let's make the first stop the banks and see
if we can cash these
cheques, then we can grab something to
eat before we go to the agent.. And after that we hit the
mall."
"The mall? I thought
you wanted to go to the precinct
to return that cheque."
"Yeah, but we can
go there later. I feel like.. Letting
my hair down.. I've been cooped
up for months, it's time for
a little fun.. So after we get through
with the agent we're
hitting the mall and going shopping, I was thinking of
taking Meg and Benni out for dinner, which means Benni needs
some
decent clothes, and Meg need's a nice dress."
"She needs more
than a nice dress, her maternity
wardrobe is all huge t-shirts and
sweat pants."
"Fine, I'll get
a few nice things. But the first thing
on the list is finding you
the perfect outfit for your hot
date tonight.. Hmm and maybe a visit to the beautician and
the hair salon to get your hair done."
She glanced at him for
a second.
"My
treat. I'm feeling grateful, milk it for all it's
worth while you
can."
"O.K, are you feeling
grateful enough to give me the
Riv, since you can't drive any more."
"Don't push it."
She chuckled.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray leaned on the counter
at the most expensive dress
shop the mall had and watched Frannie
do a twirl in a dress
that would make any red blooded American male look twice,
even if he happened to be a red blooded American gay male.
The sales assistant looked at Ray hopefully.
"Show me what the
other one looks like."
Frannie
dashed off to the change room again.
"Well
take that one too. Can you have them delivered to
our place?"
"Yes, sir."
"Great,"
Ray pointed to a white dress. And that one
too.. But not a word
to her about it. I want to surprise
her."
The assistant smiled
and started adding up the cost of
the dresses.
"And we'll have
the one in the window too."
"Which
one?"
"The
green one," he said and smiled as an idea came to
him, "I'd
like two of those.. Can I borrow your phone to
find out the other
size."
The assistant lead him
around the sales desk and waved
at the phone. Ray looked at the
cordless phone, and then
flipped it over and dialled the number.
"Can you do alterations?"
The assistant nodded.
Ray picked it up
and listened to it ring and ring, till
it was finally answered.
"Hey Tony, it's
me Ray.. Is Maria there? She is. Great.
Put her on I need to ask
her a question."
He waited for his sister
to come to the phone, during
which time Frannie came out in another
dress.
"No way. No how,
you look like a whore in that. Forget
it. Show me what you look
like in the one I picked."
"All you want to
do is cover me up from head to toe,"
Frannie declared as she
flounced off back to the dressing
room.
"I want you to look
good, not cheap. You don't need to
flaunt the flesh to get a mans
attention."
"I take you don't
want that outfit." The assistant
commented once Frannie was
safely esconded in the dressing
room.
"You got that right."
Then his sister
was on the line.
"Maria,
I'd love to chat but I don't have time for it,
I'm shopping and
the assistant here let me borrow the phone.
I was thinking.. Mother's
day is coming up soon have you got
something for Ma yet? No, great.
I was thinking of giving
her something from all three of us this year, a portrait..
You like the idea, great, I just saw a dress that would look
fantastic
on you in a portrait, give me your dress size and
I'll get it."
He listened to her babble
about not being able to
afford to buy a new dress at the moment.
"I said *I'll* buy
it Maria, this is my treat.. Trust
me, you are going to love this
dress. Now I'm going to give
the phone to the shop assistant I want you to tell her all
your details, before I change my mind."
He handed the phone over
and watched the assistant take
down Maria's details, asking for
her hip, waist and bust
measurements taking those down before she handed the phone
back to Ray.
"Yeah, I'm back..
No.. I haven't made the appointment
yet, I'll let you know when
it's all set and get Frannie to
drop the dress off, with a little something extra, so you
can get your hair down for the portrait, and buy the little
rug rat's something nice to wear. Oh and Tell Tony to find a
nice
suit. Something in green or brown. Well of course he's
gonna be included in the portrait... Oh.. Fine, take him
shopping and find something and tell them to hold it and
I'll pay for the damn suit then.. I really gotta go. I'll
talk to you later."
He hung up and rolled
his eyes making the assistant
chuckle.
"Can you make out
separate bills? I don't want Frannie
to work out I'm buying more
than one dress. I'll come back
and pay for the bulk of it after I leave her in the clutches
of
a beautician."
"I think we can
do that.."
"Great..
I'll also have that dress, that dress and that
one over there in
Maria's size."
"If I can make a
suggestion, sir?"
"Sure."
The assistant put
a hand on his back and lead him to
the door and pointed across the
way.
"They have a suit
that would match the dress you
ordered for the portrait with your
sisters *perfectly*."
"Thanks..
I'll take a look over there when I come back
later."
"And while you're
at it, perhaps you should visit a
hair stylist too."
Ray racked a hand through
his mop of hair silently
agreeing with her, it had been well over
a year since he'd
had a hair cut, he'd been intending to get one while he was
'on holiday' instead it just gotten longer.
"That's not a bad
idea. I don't suppose there's a good
his and hers salon around here?"
The assistant pointed
down the thoroughfare.
"Down that
way, take a left, then a right, it's half
way down the block."
"Ah, thank-you."
"And a dress
like that should have matching jewellery,"
she went on moving
back to the shop desk and rustling up a
card.
When Ray joined her she
handed it to him.
"That's
the card of the jeweller who supplied the
jewellery on the mannequins."
"Thank-you."
Frannie returned
clearing her throat loudly and he
turned looking around and stared
at her for a good ten
seconds.
"Got any complaints
now?" He asked.
She
shook her head, and looked at the price tag.
"Just
about the price.. It's almost $800."
"No
one's gonna call you cheap in that. Wrap it up,
we'll take it."
Frannie bounded back
to the change room with a smile.
"Now,
where can I get the shoes and accessories to
match those dresses?"
he asked the assistant.
She pulled out a pad
and pen and began writing the
details down.
"You seem to know
where all the good places to shop
around here, you couldn't point
me in the right direction to
find some nice maternity wear could
you, my lady's *very*
pregnant, and the clothes she's wearing are strictly
blahsville. I want something that'll make her look drop dead
gorgeous."
"We have a number
of maternity dresses. That Red
Velveteen dress over there for example,"
she said pointing.
Ray
looked around and checked the dress out.
"There
are ties at the back which make it adjustable."
"Hmmm..
I like it.. I'll take that too and ring you
back with the size later..
Does it come in any other
colours?"
"Yes, Emerald Green,
Sapphire Blue, Shimmering Gold,
Deep Purple and Midnight Black."
"Great, I'll have
one of each."
Frannie
popped up behind him.
"One
of each what?"
Ray
pointed.
"That.
For Meg, it's a maternity dress.. You wouldn't
have any idea what
her size is would you?"
"Gotta pen?"
Frannie asked the assistant.
The
assistant ripped the page off the pad, handing it
to Ray, then gave
Frannie the pad and pen.
"What's that?"
"A list of
places to get the accessories for that
incredible dress," Ray
said tucking it into his pocket.
The
assistant took the pad back and looked it over.
"We
can have these delivered, by Thursday."
"No
sooner?"
"Well,
the one on the mannequin is the right size, it
could be adjusted
to a woman of this size."
"Can we take that
one today?"
"Will
that be credit card or cheque?"
Ray
pulled a huge wad of bills out of his pocket and
started peeling
off hundred dollar bills, making the
assistants eyes light up.
"Cash."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray left Frannie in the
beauty salon, and carried the
myriad of boxes and bags to the Riv,
which was being watched
by a security officer he'd slipped a c-note
too to watch the
car. With the officer's help he got all the purchases
packed
into the trunk. Then it was back to the dress shop to pay
the smiling assistant for the other dresses he'd ordered and
arrange
for the ones he'd chosen for Maria to be delivered
to her current address. He got a real kick out of the
assistant dumping a society lady to rush to his side to deal
with
him. Especially when he recognised the snooty woman.
He'd encountered her at some fund raiser he'd attended with
Louise, and snob was the only word for the woman.
He headed for the menswear
shop next and found out that
the assistant was right, there was
a green suit that would
perfectly match the dresses he'd ordered for his sisters. He
snapped
it, and the accessories up on the spot and then
picked out half a dozen more suits, while he was at it,
necessitating another trip to the Riv before he wandered
through the mall, wandering in and out of shops.
Three toy shops, six
more clothing stores, shoe shops,
jewellers, a Lingerie store, three
gift shops an a Infant's
and Toddlers store and numerous trips back and forth to the
Riv later, he met Frannie at the beautician's to present her
with
a necklace and bracelet with matching drop earrings to
go with her dress. A rib threatening hug later, he escorted
her through to the hair salon where he was talked into
something much more daring than the short back and sides cut
he
asked for by his sister and two stylists. The way he saw
it, he could always ask for a short back and sides cut if he
didn't
like whatever style it was they decided was
absolutely perfect for him.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Welsh was returning from
a trip to the men's room and
wondering why things were so quiet
in the bull pen. The
answer came in the form of Huey approaching him with a thick
envelope
in hand.
"Lieutenant,
you have two visitors.. The Director of
the local branch of the
FBI and the Police Commissioner..
They're waiting for you in your office," Huey said.
"Do you know what
they want?"
"No,
but the Commissioner asked for some of my case
files."
"Which ones?"
"All the ones
Ray did profiles for me on. The Director
wanted to have a look at
them, the profiles that is."
"Did you give them
to him?"
"I
thought I'd check with you before I gave them to
him.."
"Forget about it.
The day I give that man any help
without a direct order will be
a cold day in hell," Welsh
growled before he marched off for
his office.
Elaine moved in on Huey
once he was out of earshot.
"What's
going on?"
"Well
any moment now.. I think he's going to throw the
Dictator out of
his office."
"Don't you mean
Director?"
"No,"
Huey said, turning to walk back to his desk.
No
sooner did Huey's tail hit his chair than Welsh's
door was thrown
open and the Director stormed out. Welsh
followed him as far as the door way to watch him storm out
of the bull pen then Welsh spun slamming the door behind him
as
he moved back into his office.
Elaine joined Huey.
"I don't suppose
you know the winning numbers of
tonight's lottery draw too."
Huey gave a weak chuckle
at that.
"It
was a pretty easy prediction," Huey said reaching
for a pen
and pad.
"Oh, by the way,
did I mention that Fraser's back in
town?"
"He is? When did
he get back?"
"He
arrived with the Dragon Lady, last week, they're
staying at Ray's
place."
"Not for long,"
Dewey said.
Elaine
and Huey jumped and looked around and Hewey
wiggled his fingers
at them.
"What are you doing
here? You're supposed to be keeping
the house under surveillance."
"Unless one of them
left, in which case, I was supposed
to call it in and follow them
around."
"Who left?"
"Vecchio and
his sister. She's driving him around."
"So
what are you doing here, why aren't you following
them?"
"I am, in a manner
of speaking. They're out front, He
wants her to stay in the car
and wait there, she is sick to
death of him telling her to watch the car and they're having
an
argument about it."
"You said they won't
be at Ray's place for long, what
did you do, creep up and eavesdrop?"
"No. It was pretty
easy to work it out after I followed
them.. First they went to a
real estate agent, then they
visited an urban fortress near the hospital, then it was off
to
the clinic. Where he spent over an hour in the car
waiting for her, reading a book so thick it'd choke an
elephant. After that, it was off to the bank, then back to
the agents. I pretended to be checking out the for sale
collection in the window and watched what was going on."
"And.."
"I could be
wrong, but it looked like he brought the
place he was looking at,
and paid *cash* for it too."
"You're kidding."
"Like I said,
I could be wrong. But I doubt it. I saw
the agent make a call, then
a guy in a cheap suit arrived,
and they spent the next fifteen minutes dickering and he put
his
bag on the desk and pulled out bundles of cash and start
piling
them on the desk, and the guys eyes almost bugged out
of his head,
after that there was a lot of paper work being
done."
"He paid *cash*
for a house?!"
"A
big house at that. Mind you, I saw the card for that
house up on
the display, it was going for $175,000."
"He paid $175,000
*cash*."
"From
the way they were dickering, and the way he and
Frannie celebrated,
I'd say he got it for less than that."
"How
did they celebrate?"
"They
hit the high end mall, and hit all the exclusive
designer clothing
shops, shoe shops, jewellery stores.. And
he flashed a huge wad of cash in every place."
"What?! I thought
he was on the verge of bankruptcy."
"Let's
see.. If that wad was all c-notes, he spent
something close to $5000
at the dress shop alone. Then there
was the trip to that super book
shop where he had half the
shop assistants following after him, fawning as he brought
up a copy of every motivational book they had along with
every recipe book, half a dozen books on interior
decorating, a huge stack of psychology text books, an even
bigger stack of books on crime. Then he told Frannie to pick
a few
books and she went mad in the romance section. *And*
he made their day by ordering even more books. The back of
the car is just covered with books. He must have spent near
on three and a half thousand there."
"Where the hell
did he get the money??? It was only the
other day his sister said
he was this close to going to
bankrupt, due to the medical bills," Huey said with a tiny
gesture.
"I'd say he got
it at the first and national."
"What?
Why?"
"Well,
he visited two banks before he hit the estate
agents. And he took
the bag into the First and National, and
that's where he had the
money he used to pay for the house.
And it's a sure bet he's going to be moving the beached
Whale and The Hen to that fortress before the weeks out."
"Beached
whale and Hen?" Elaine said.
"Thatcher
and Fraser."
"Beached
whale?"
"She's
pregnant."
"What?!"
"And she is
H-UUU-GE. I'm betting she has triplets."
"Twins,"
Huey said.
"Triplets,
at the very least," Dewey said.
"Twins."
"Ray's going
to be a daddy.." Elaine said, a smile
appearing.
The two men looked at
her.
"Ray?"
They both said.
"Yes.
Ray."
"Funny,
I thought it was the Hen," Dewey said.
"Trust
me, it's Ray," Elaine said.
"Well,
he's obviously in the dog house over something
then," Huey
said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, after
he got home last night, he went up to his
room, and spent maybe
an hour with her, then he spent a few
hours with Fraser, and after that, he spent the night on the
couch."
"And you call me
a peeping tom," Dewey said as he
reached out and plucked a
pen from the desk and walked away
to find the form that had to be filled out, in triplicate,
to say that nothing happened.
"I didn't have to
peek," Huey informed Elaine. "The
curtains weren't drawn,
I saw him moving around from room to
room."
"Uh-hu."
Huey went back to making
his notes, hoping she'd
disappear when Ray walked into the bull
pen carrying a bag
and looked around. A semi hush fell as people noticed him
and started doing double takes. Elaine looked around and
gaped, slapping Huey's arm. He looked around her and did a
little gapping of his own. Elaine slapped him again and
smiled, Huey sat up flipping his pad over so Ray wouldn't
see what he'd been writing. Rising, Huey smiled at Ray as he
approached.
"Who's in the office?"
"The Commissioner."
"Really, what's
going on?"
Elaine
and Huey both shrugged.
"You
look... Great," Elaine gushed.
Ray
grinned.
"Thanks,"
he said giving his hair a nervous little tug.
"I wasn't sure
about the hair style, I wanted to get it all
lopped off but Frannie
convinced me to try something a
little different."
"Don't even think
of getting it cut off. It looks
great, it make's you look at least
ten year's younger."
He
gave a weak smile at that, then Huey reached out to
tweak his hair.
Ray kicked his skin.
"It's real."
"Did you have
a nose job?"
"No."
"It looks like
you had one to me.. And Elaine's right,
you do look at least ten
years younger, and it's more than
just that hair style. What did you do tell the doctor, while
you're
at it, take a little off the nose, give me a little
more hair and take a fews years off."
Ray reached into his
pocket and pulled out a
photograph, the facial shot. He held it
before Huey's face
and watched the man recoil shuddering. Elaine peeked,
shuddered and he put the photo away.
"Laugh that off."
"Is that you
looked like before he started?"
Ray
nodded.
"He did an incredible
job."
"Yeah.
That's what you call Serendipity. Here I was
thinking that parcel
going up in my face was the worst thing
that ever happened to me..
I can't believe how everything's
working out now.. One day, I'm staring bankruptcy and the
end to my career in the face and over night my life suddenly
taken
a turn for the better."
"So you found a
solution to your money problems."
Ray
held up his arm, pulling his sleeve back to show
off his brace.
"I got an infection
in this arm, through no fault of my
doctor, or myself.. I almost
lost my arm.. I only kept it
because I've got the best Doctor in town looking after me.
He went after the people who's fault it was that my grafts
were infected, and they agreed to pay compensation without a
big
legal fight. They wanted to avoid a court case because
their reputation would be shredded if something like that
got made public. And they'd loose, because my Doctor can and
did
prove I got it via something he used during my treatment
that he
got from them which was contaminated on their end."
"So
how much did you get out of them?"
"250."
"Thousand?"
"Uh-hu."
"That's peanuts."
"I'll get more
later.. Once we know how serious the end
result of the infection
is. That was just Hush Money," he
said.
"That won't last
long with all the bills you must have
racked up."
"Well, actually,
that's why I was staring bankruptcy in
the face.. I managed to cover
all the bills for Frannie's
treatment and mine with my savings...and cashing in a few
policies.. But I was down to my last dollar and looking at
selling the house as an option to stay on top of the bills,
when Serendipity happened."
"So you don't have
any bills to cover now?"
"Nope..
Thanks to Frannie some money came in last week
that will take care
of the remainder and part of the
compensation deal is that they pay all my related medical
costs."
"So you can do what
ever you like with it."
"Well
I could.. But I won't."
"Oh???"
"I learned
my lesson. I opened up two accounts at the
bank.. I put 50 thou
in an emergency account.. And I put 30
aside to cover the usual expenses until the matter of how
big a lump sum I get is worked out."
"That leaves around
170 to play with."
"That
was part of my budget too.. Frannie found this
big house that's
more secure than my place. It was going for
175, but the owner agreed
to drop it to 150 for Cash in
Hand. Which meant I had around $20 thou that wasn't included
in
my budget to have fun with, and boy did I have fun. I
can't wait to get home and see everyone's faces when all the
things
I brought today start arriving."
"What did you
get?"
"Way
too much stuff..I think I dropped around 15 thou..
The biggest expense
was a whole new wardrobe for Frannie..
But I owe her big time anyway.. And it'll pay for itself
soon enough," he said with a grin, "My sister's hooked her
self a rich doctor.. and all the stuff I brought today is to
help her reel him in and land him."
"What do you think
her chances are?"
"Pretty
damn good," he said opening his bag and pulling
out a gift
wrapped package.
He held it out to Elaine.
"I also got
you something. A little gift, to say thanks
for visiting while I
was in the hospital."
"You didn't have
to do that," she said accepting the
gift anyway.
"Don't open it here,"
he said as she prepared to do
just that.
"Why not?"
"You'll see,
later," he said pulling another gift
wrapped parcel out of
his bag and holding it out to Huey.
"This ones for you."
"What's this
for?"
"Well
Frannie told me you told the Lieutenant about
those profiles I did
as a favour for you."
"That's right."
"Well, if what
Frannie told me is right, you might have
secured my future career
doing that."
Huey ripped the wrapping
off to reveal a large box. He
opened that to reveal a desk set,
and every piece had his
name embossed in gold lettering on it. In no time at all he
had it all set up on his desk and was reorganising it.
"I knew you'd like
it."
"What
else have you got in that bag?" Elaine asked
trying to peer
in.
Ray held it open so she
could see there was one last
gift inside.
"I got something
for the lieutenant too. Oh.. And I
haven't forgotten that everyone
chipped in to get my car
restored like new after the accident," He said with a grin.
"What else did you
do?"
"I've
got to consult my mother to find out just who
gets a big thank-you
for that. And once I have all the
names, then you'll find out what I've got in mind to thank
all of you," Ray said before he wandered over toward Welsh's
office to peek in and see what was going on.
Dewey returned to join
Elaine and Huey and checked out
Huey's gift.
"That's worth about
250... I saw him buy that at one of
those expensive gift shops,"
He said, then he looked at
Elaine's gift and grinned.
"Do you know what
this is?"
"Well,
let me put it this way. Don't open it here."
"What
is it?"
"I
could be wrong, but I could swear I saw him walk out
of a lingerie
shop with a few parcels just like that one."
"No
wonder he told you not to open it here," Huey said
with a laugh.
"Now that I've spared
you some potential embarrassment,
maybe you'll tell me how you know
it's him not Fraser who's
going to be a daddy."
"Well, it's simple.
Before he decided to disappear off
the face of the Earth Ray bounced
in, grabbed me and asked
me to help him find out what paperwork he had to file to
make sure his Defacto relationship was officially
recognised."
"Defacto.. The Dragon
Lady is his Defacto Wife?!"
"Yep."
"I heard that,"
Ray's voice drifted over.
"So
when's the wedding Mr I heard that?"
"What
wedding?"
"Oh
come on, Ray, Don't tell me you're mother didn't
start planning
it after Margaret started visiting you every
day in the hospital and gave you better bedside service than
the
nurses," Elaine said.
Ray wandered back with
a faint smile.
"You
maybe right about that, but you know what they say
about the plans
of mice and men, or in this case Mama."
"It
didn't work out.. You were so happy when you.."
"I
didn't say it didn't work out."
"Then
why are you dragging your feet?"
"Well
for one thing she hasn't asked me to marry her."
They
all stared at him.
"What,
you never heard of women's lib?"
They
all rolled their eyes.
"I
didn't call her the Dragon lady for nothing," Then
he gave
a love sick little sigh, "God, she's ravishing when
she's breathing
fire."
Elaine snickered while
the men rolled their eyes. The
sound of silence made them look around
to see the
Commissioner walking out of Welsh's office. He stopped,
looking at them, then pointed at Ray and indicated he wanted
him
to join him. Ray's hand to went to his chest and the
commissioner nodded. A little nervous and wondering why he
was being singled out Ray crossed the space separating them.
"You
are Detective Vecchio, aren't you?"
Ray
nodded.
The
commissioner frowned a little.
"Stay
off TV. It makes you look considerably older than
you are."
Ray gave a weak smile.
"I have been
discussing your situation with the
Lieutenant."
"My situation, sir?"
"Do you or
don't you intend to return to duty?"
"At
this time, I don't even know if or when I will be
fit to return
to duty."
"Physically speaking."
"Yes, sir."
"There's nothing
wrong with your faculties."
"Oh
no sir, they're working just fine."
"I've
been told you're studying psychology, S.A.C and
Criminology."
"And you were the
one who wrote those psychological
profiles that Detective Huey used."
"Yes, sir.. But
it would be dishonest to claim the sole
credit for them.. I did
have a lot of help with the first
few."
"From a highly experienced
Profiler."
"They
don't come with any higher experience than my
coach does. He's the
man who invented Profiling," Ray said
with a grin.
The Commissioner waved
at the office and after a
nervous moment Ray headed for the office
with the
Commissioner on his heels.
"I have a proposition
for you, Detective."
"A
proposition.."
"Yes,
one that will kill two birds with one stone."
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Seventeen
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray handed Meg a cup
of herbal tea, approved by the
Mother Hen and his mother, and gave
a faint smile as she
reached out to touch his nose as she took the cup.
"I wish people would
stop doing that."
"You'd
prefer I do what Ben was doing earlier?"
Ray
gave a faint smile, remembering the way Fraser kept
staring at his
face earlier.
"You'll get used
to it," he said as he sat beside her,
curling his legs up,
draped an arm over the back of the
couch behind her and rested his other hand on her belly. She
started
twinging a finger in his newly acquired curls.
"So, how did the
house hunting go today?"
"Frannie
said you saw the house I brought. It was the
one with all the bars
on the window and the really gross
colour scheme inside."
"Why do you want
that dump? There was a much better
house."
"Fraser hated it."
"Well I hate
the one you want to buy."
"I
can see it's potential. And you won't ask why I want
that place
once the painters are finished."
"Painters?
"I agree with you,
the colour scheme is disgusting. I'm
gonna have the painters in,
to strip and repaint the place..
You can pick the colour scheme..
We can do that tomorrow,
and when we've settled on a scheme we can visit a carpet
warehouse and pick out something nice for the floor."
"So how much money
do we have to play with to
redecorate?"
"Well..I've got
ten thousand left."
"What?!
I can't believe you paid almost a quarter of a
million for that
dump.."
"I paid 150 for
it..and put everything I budgeted away
in the bank.. Which when
I got the place for less than I
expected left me with some money to play with."
"Ten thousand."
"Well, actually
it was more than that.. I decided to
have a little fun today.. I
brought some gifts for my
friends and family.. And I didn't forget you either."
"Ohhh.. What did
you get me?"
"Most
of it is going to be delivered later...But I did
bring something
back with me."
He pulled a faceted jewellery
case from his pocket and
held it out to her. With wide eyes she
took it from him and
opened it to look at the eternity ring inside.
"A ring."
"I got one for Benni
too," he said in a low voice.
"I'll give that to him later,
when no one will ask questions
about it."
He plucked the ring from
the box.
"I
got it engraved, see," he said turning the ring so
she could
see the message.
-Eternally yours (love
heart) R.V -
She
reached out to run a hand along his jaw, turning
his head and kissed
him, thoroughly. He pulled back
reluctantly as her hand started wandering, and covered it,
stopping her.
"Later."
She gave a little sigh,
then held up her hand so he
could slip the ring onto her finger.
He smiled when he saw
that it was a perfect fit, and raised her hand kissing it.
"I can't wait till
we get settled down in the new
place, Frannie said it's sound proof,
and the main bedroom
is down stairs. Ma and Frannie can stay up stairs."
"What do you mean
they can stay upstairs, they aren't
coming with us.. Are they?"
"Just until the
babies are born. I'm pathetically
useless around the house right
now, you can't do any house
work, and I want to break Fraser of his obsession with
cleanliness and order.. That means I gotta rely on Ma and
Frannie to help out. After that debacle with the Carer I
hired I don't want to hire someone else. And Ma would be
offended if I didn't invite her to stay with us at least
until the babies are born."
"Of course. We'll
have to get to work on redecorating
that place straight away. With
ten thousand to play with we
can get a professional interior decorator to.."
"Forget it, Meg,
I am not going to pay someone to foist
their idea of good taste
on me.. I don't want a fashionably
decorated house, I want a comfortable
home."
"It was just a suggestion.
Besides.. I have some money
of my own. I'll pay for the decorator."
"It's my house."
"Are you saying
I have bad taste?"
"No,
I think you have great taste.. What you did with
that house in Canada
was great and I think it's a waste of
money to hire someone to do a job you can do yourself.. And
it's not like you've got anything else to do."
"Hmmph."
"I bet whoever decorated
that place in the first place
all those years ago payed some fancy
decorator to do the
work for them and look at the result.. I don't want to end
up looking around and saying ugh whatever possessed you to
chose that scheme a few years down the track."
"But a decorator
can find everything and arrange to
have all the work done...."
"At inflated prices
and rates higher than you could get
it done for if you arranged
it yourself."
"I'm not up to walking
all around town."
"I
brought some books and every decorator's magazine I
could lay my
hands on. We can spend the day going through
them *Together*, you, me and Benni.. And we'll decorate the
place *together*.. As for getting the work done.. Well.. I
can find painter's and carpet layers for myself. You want a
carpenter to do some work, I can find a carpenter.. You want
to
play musical furniture, I'll find muscle men to move the
furniture till it's just right. I'd say me and Benni would
do it, but I'm not capable of it at the moment.. But I can
find plenty of people who are who won't charge us an arm and
a leg
to do it either."
He nuzzled at her ear.
"It'll be *our*
place, we should do it together."
"Mhhmm..There's
something else we should do together,
it involves a bed and my two
favourite men.."
He chuckled against her
throat and she almost purred as
he did a little nuzzling, a kiss,
and nibble his way back to
her ear.
"What say, tomorrow
we book a suite at some place like
the Drake, where you me and Benni
can get reunited,
properly, hmmm?" He said in a low purr.
"Why don't we do
that now?"
He
sat right back and sighed.
"Raymond?"
"I can't, or
get up to anything more .. involved than a
little necking right
now."
"Why not?"
"I'm expecting
someone to drop by."
"Who?"
"Well for starters,
there's the courier who's gonna
collect half the staff I brought
today and bring it round,
then there a few shop assistant's who agreed to deliver
things to close a sale with me.. And then there's Lieutenant
Welsh."
"Why is he coming?"
"Er.. Well
I can't go back to my old duties at the
precinct... I know that..
The Commissioner made a
proposition but I had to say no."
"Why?"
"He wants to stick
me behind a desk for the rest of my
working life, I almost resigned
on the spot, I was actually
in the middle of doing it.. When The Lieutenant said shut
your mouth, go wait out there and let me sort this out.."
"And
did he?"
"I
don't know. He came out and said, he ran an idea
past the commissioner
that'd be more up my alley, and that
they just had to agree on the terms of duty, wages, budget
that sort of thing.. They were still hashing out details
when I left. He said he'd drop in or ring me to let me know
how it went."
"Do you know what
he had in mind?"
"He
wants me to complete my studies and become an
accredited profiler..and
come back and join the team again.
Where as the Commissioner basically wants me to teach cadets
how
to do it at the academy, and go over unsolved murder
case files and create profiles. The Lieutenant said there
was a lot more to his idea of how I could serve on his team
than what the Commissioner has in mind."
"Well, the Lieutenant
has the right idea. You should
finish your studies and get accredited."
"Oh, even if
I went back to work tomorrow it wouldn't
be a problem. I can earn
extra credits through work
experience, and the Dean will be happy to hear I'm returning
to
work. That was one of the reasons the scholarship
committee awarded the scholarship to me. They want to
attract more mature age students, and I'm gonna be an
example to other's that it's possible to mix work and
studies."
"I see."
"And I am not going
to quit again.. I'm in for the long
haul now."
"Really."
"Did I say
something wrong??? I thought you would be
thrilled to hear that."
"Would you mind
telling me when you sorted out the
matter of your studies? I was
under the impression that you
haven't been back to Canada, that you were undercover until
last week," she said coldly.
"Er..I finished
a few weeks ago..And wouldn't you know
it the day I get back Maria's
kids started that fire, and it
was off to the hospital.."
"I know you're lying
to me."
"Er..."
"I'm still
trying to work out why?"
"Er..."
"And how much
of what I've been told is a lie."
"Er.."
The sound of Frannie
clearing her throat loudly made
Ray look around.
"You have a visitor,"
she announced.
"Who
is it?" Ray asked uncurling grateful for the
temporary reprieve.
"Lieutenant Welsh."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray joined Welsh on the
porch, noticing the envelopes
tucked under his arm.
"So how did it go?"
"He wants you
to return to duty ASAP. Meaning
tomorrow."
"But Sir, I only
just got out of the hospital
yesterday, I still need extensive work
on my arm, I'm not
fit to return to work yet."
"You're as fit as
you'll ever be.. In that regard."
"Oh
well I was going to resign any way."
"You
haven't heard what the deal is.. You don't have
the qualifications,
a police psychologist needs, and you're
not an accredited profiler either.. Yet you're damned good
at profiling and have some form of psychology certification,
don't
you?"
Ray nodded.
"It would be a shame
to waste it, and then there's the
fact that you are a detective,
first and foremost, not a
psychologist or profiler .. So.. after much discussion, he
agreed to an official experiment, to be run through the
precinct, the post of Psych officer we hashed out what your
duties would be and there's far less emphasis on the
Psychology and more emphasis on real police work."
"Oh.."
"Now, I told the
commissioner about your studies and
that we had to come to some
arrangement that would allow you
to continue your studies and work.
He's willing to give you
six months to prove you be an asset as a Psych officer on a
part time basis.. with one or two strings."
"That's great news..
What are the strings?"
"If
you want to work from home, you have to have a
separate office."
"Can do.. We're
moving to a new place as soon as the
paper work is settled and the
painter's have been in to
change the god awful colour scheme there. It has the perfect
office,
with a separate lockable File room."
"It has to be secure."
"It is."
"I'll have
to inspect it and make that judgement for
myself. "Now.. We've
got the matter of the expenses of
setting things up," Welsh pulled out one of the envelopes
and
held it out.
"That's all the
paper work you'll have to fill out. You
can requisition whatever
you need to set up your office, but
you have to be able to justify
every expense and you better
keep good records.."
"As far as wage's
go, for the trail period it will be
something between what you got
before the accident, and what
an accredited Profiler earns. If after
the trial period is
over he decides you were worth the expense, you're wage will
freeze
until you get your diploma and accreditation. Think
of it as incentive to continue your studies and get
accreditation for your profiling studies.."
Ray smiled faintly.
"I've been doing
the advanced course, which meant I had
to study harder to finish
my studies in half the time. Right
now, I'm studying full time via
correspondence but it was
really taking it's toll on me when I had to factor in my
duties as Fraser's primary carer when he needed a minder
around the clock. I was going to talk to the Dean about
switching to part time.."
"You can continue
to study full time for at least the
next six months.."
"That will depend
on my work load."
"You
have to put in at least four hours a day at the
station, and be
on call after that," Welsh said holding out
an envelope, "This
outlines the whole deal, there are also
forms that have to be lodged..
I know you can't do paperwork
right now so I filled it in for you,
all you have to do is
sign it if you agree to the terms and duties and get it back
to
me by Friday."
Ray nodded.
Welsh held out one of
the thick file envelopes.
"Now,
this is a case the Commissioner would like you to
take. A double
murder investigation that's going no where.
It's not in our district, all the leg works been done, he
just wants to see wether or not it's worth going to the
effort of creating a new position. Consider it your make or
break case.. He can still pull the rug out from under you at
any
time.. But if you can get somewhere on that where
they've failed.. That Rug will be secure for the next 6
months."
Ray nodded.
"I understand."
"Good.. Now
this is what you asked for," Welsh said
handing over the last
envelope.
"Everything I could
get on Dante McIntire."
"Great."
"By the way,
you're going to have to get new I.D
photo's."
Ray nodded and held up
his hands.
"And
get my prints done again."
Welsh
looked at his hands.
"Half
my prints are gone."
Welsh
carefully took hold of Ray's arm and made him
hold his hand up where
he could see it in the light.
"So they are."
"And if you
think that's bad, you should see my other
hand," Ray said with
a little shudder. "I lost everything,
palm and finger prints..
Only one finger came out unscathed
and I'm going to be undergoing more grafts on that hand."
"I
thought the grafting was over."
"So
did I.. But, I got an infection in the grafts, they
were stripped
back.. and I gotta wait for a new batch of
skin to be cloned before I get the new grafts."
"Ah. That was what
your sister was talking about."
"Don't
go anywhere I had something I wanted to give to
you but didn't get
a chance to."
He spun and dashed back
into the house finding his
coat, fetching the cheque and then finding
the fit he'd
brought. He returned to the porch to hand the cheque to
Welsh.
"Thanks for the
offer, but I don't need the loan now."
"You
don't? You're not going to sell the house to pay
your bills are
you, your sister.."
"Everything has
been settled.. I got compensation for
what happened to my arm."
"Ah."
Ray held out the gift.
"And I got
you something to say thank you for
everything you did for me."
"You didn't have
to do that," Welsh said taking the
gift anyway.
"You didn't have
to offer me that loan either."
"Did
I mention that the arrest rate around the district
has dropped since
we lost the team of the Vecchio and
Fraser."
Ray smiled faintly.
"No."
"Well it has. We
don't want to loose the best team
we've had in a long time."
Ray looked through the
doorway, then back to Welsh.
"Benni's
still got a long way to go before he can take
up where he left off."
"I gathered that
when we talked last. But you've found
a new way to continue your
work, a way that attracted the
attention of the Commissioner and the local branch Director
of the FBI."
"Didn't you say
something about them ignoring a warning
about Dante."
"Yes. I did."
"Well whatever
it was that he wants he can.."
"Go
to hell?"
"Exactly."
"That's what
I told him."
Ray
grinned.
"I
bet that went down like a lead balloon."
"I
also told him he could expect to face a lot of
resistance from my
people towards assisting his people,
unless or until you receive a personal and public apology
for that piece of stupidity."
"A public apology?"
"Public as
in front of everyone at the precinct."
"Well,
I hope that didn't get you in any trouble."
"I
did it in front of the Commissioner, and explained
my reasons afterwoulds.
He said if I could prove they got
the warning *before* Dante's plane landed, or before that
parcel was mailed, he'd demand an investigation into the
whole mess."
"Can you prove it?"
Welsh gave a faint
shrug.
"All
I've got at this stage is the word of one of the
Australian Fed's..
An Officer Mandaway."
"He's the one who
helped me out, in Australia, he's in
charge of the whole case..His
word should be good enough. He
knows that Dante made threats against
me, Benni told him
everything before.. he lost it completely. And I do mean
everything. I think.. He just wanted to curl up and die at
that stage, and held out long enough to make damn sure Dante
didn't
get a chance to carry out his threats."
"Do you know what
Dante threatened to do, or was it
just a general threat?"
"He knew I was there..
He must have seen me.. I didn't
understand how he knew.. It's not
as if we ever met.. Now I
know he saw me with Benni in the Riv the day he carved up
the paintwork."
"But what did he
threaten to do."
"For
starters..." Ray glanced at the open door way, and
took a side
step away. "Carrying out the threat he carved
into my car.
If he ever saw me around Benni again."
"Which he did. What
else did he threaten to do?"
"The
usual.."
"You
remember how you told me all but one of his
victims died slow and
terrible deaths.."
Welsh nodded slowly.
"And you remember
how the exception died."
Welsh
nodded.
"That's
pretty much what he threatened to do to me."
"I
have the feeling there was more to it."
Ray
sighed.
"There is."
"Most of it
could probably be taken for ranting in the
heat of the moment.."
"What else.."
"I would rather
not.."
"Did
he threaten to hurt members of your family too."
"My
mother," Ray said in a low voice, "He knows what
she looks
like.. He met her once.. When she was trying to be
helpful. I didn't
think anything of it.. Not at the time.. I
thought they'd catch
him.. That he wouldn't be able to carry
out any of his threats.."
"Now you know better."
"I'm doing
what I can, I brought a new place, a real
urban fortress, near the
hospital."
"The old medical
center."
"You
know the place."
"That's
the only "urban fortress" near the hospital I
can think
of that would be up for sale. It's been up for
sale for years. No one seemed interested in buying it."
"Yeah
well.. There were things wrong with the place
that the owner spent
years trying to rectify. I got lucky, I
got it after all the major
problems had been rectified.. The
security on that place is great,"
Ray said, fishing the
key's from his pocket and holding them out.
"You can check it
out for yourself if you like. And
inspect the office there while
your at it"
After a moment Welsh
took the keys, nodding, and tucked
them into his pocket and pointed
across the way.
"You may or not
appreciate the fact that you're place
has been under around the
clock surveillance ever since you
received that packet."
Ray's eyes widened as
he looked around and recognised
the car across the way. Welsh gave
a signal and the door
opened, and Huey stepped out of the car and leaned on the
door.
"Huey, Dewey, Rawlings
and Davis have been taking it in
shifts."
Ray made emphatic gestures
to Huey and the dark
detective shut up the car and headed across
the street.
"Is that .. official
or.. voluntary."
"Both..
The moment he mailed that parcel to you he
earned our attention.
We won't give him a chance to finish
what he started if he comes back for you."
"That's nice to
know sir."
"In
light of his activities in Canada, this has been
given the official
green light. If we get official word that
he's crossed the border,
our presence will be greater."
"That's
good to know sir. I take it they've been making
sure all the mail
and parcels that arrive here is clean."
Welsh
smiled very faintly and nodded as Huey arrived
climbing up the stairs.
"You fraud.. You
coulda told me what was going on when
I was at the precinct this
afternoon," Ray said poking him a
few times for good measure.
"He was under orders,
to be discrete."
"Uh-hu..
Well, you can scuttle back to the car and try
to be a little more
discrete in a minute. There is going to
be a large number of parcels arriving tonight. I know where
each and everyone is coming from and who every person
delivering them will be, so you don't need to pounce on
anyone. Unless you see a muscle bound Adonis walking up with
a parcel
in brown paper. I asked for everything to be
delivered gift wrapped."
"Got it."
"Good, now scat
before someone notices you hear and
starts asking awkward questions."
"Too late,"
Meg said.
The trio
jumped and looked around to see the hugely
pregnant inspector leaning
on the door frame, a frame to her
belly.
"Oh dear,"
the trio chorused.
"Please
tell me the babies have decided it's time to
come into the world,
Caro."
She gave him a positively
evil smile, then winced
rubbing at her stomach.
"You wish."
"I'm dead,
aren't I?"
"Well
you've got three options."
"Oh,
what are they?"
She
started ticking off on her fingers.
"Start
talking, and make it good, studmuffin."
Welsh
and Huey snickered at that.
"That
does it, I'm getting the buzz cut back."
"Don't
even think of it."
"What
are the other options?"
"Start
running."
"Uh-hu,
and what's the last option."
"Do
you remember what we were discussing earlier."
"Alright,
you can hire an interior designer."
She rolled her eyes.
"Not *that*
discussion, the *other* discussion."
He
thought about it for a while.
"Right
*now*."
"Uh-hu."
"The car is
still loaded with book's and things."
She
stuck two finger's in her mouth and let out an ear
piercing whistle
that made the trio of men cover their ears.
In short order Fraser
appeared at Meg's side.
"You called."
"Keys,"
Meg said holding out her hand.
Ray
passed the keys to the Riv over. She slapped them
into Fraser's
hand.
"Empty out the Riv
and carry everything inside."
"Where
should I put it's contents?"
"On
Raymond's bed, he won't be using it tonight."
Fraser
bounded out to obey her biding.
"Aaaalrighty..Let's
just say I agree to do that.
Megatron, You gotta agree to let this
whole thing drop and
trust me."
"If you make it
worth my while, *Caro*, she said,
before she waddled off.
"Uh-hu.. Can I borrow
a phone?"
Welsh
and Huey pulled out their Cel phones offering
them to Ray. Ray reached
out and hit a button on Welsh's
then racked his memory and dialled the number of the Drake
and took the phone, waiting for confirmation he got it
right.
"Oh, Hello, I was
wondering if I can get a suite at
your hotel at short notice.. Right
away if possible.. I can,
good, I'd like the honeymoon suite, if
that's possible. It
is, wonderful. Excuse me, one moment."
He covered the mouth
piece looking around.
"Fraser, there's
a Gold dress box in the trunk with a
red ribbon around it, with
Frannie's name on it, and another
one with Meg's name on it, take
them in first. Make sure
they get the right box too, hmm. Oh, there will be half a
dozen blue boxes, with Red and Blue ribbons around them. You
can
take everything else out.. But leave those there."
"Yes, Ray."
Ray returned to
his call.
"Yes,
I'm back, what was that.. Champagne, no.. Alcohol
is a no-no..
Chocolates.. Yes, Alcohol no... Oh, that
sounds fine.. Thank-you.. You have a complimentary pick up
don't you.. Oh, Good.."
Ray made arrangements
for a car to come around and pick
up a party of two within the hour."
He signed off and handed
the phone back to Welsh.
"Which
Hotel??"
"The
Drake."
Welsh
rang the station and called for another team to
take up watching
the house.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Eighteen
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
After Welsh departed
to check out Ray's new place, Huey
helped Fraser empty out Ray's
car.
"Did you have to
buy out the store," Huey grumbled as
he moved past Ray with
a large stack of thick books.
"I need every one
of those books for my studies."
"No
student needs that many books."
"Wrong,
the rest of my class mates can just take a
short stroll to the library
after class to pick up the books
on the recommended reading list.
I'd probably have sent
Frannie out to do it for me, only my coach said never borrow
a reference
book when you can buy it, you never know when
you might need to refer to it again."
"I'm sure he didn't
say buy out the shop."
"You
haven't see the list of books he recommended that
I buy.. There
are over 500 titles on it. I'm still trying to
find half of them."
The books were stacked
beside the staircase and Huey
went back out to the car for more
while Fraser carried
another stack into the car.
"I see you are replacing
your books," Fraser said,
while Meg came down the stairs, unnoticed.
"*Replacing*.."
"Yes..Isn't
that why you brought all these books to
replace the ones that were
burned.."
"*Burned!* My reference
collection was *burned!*"
Fraser
stacked the books beside the stack Huey had
brought in, then faced
Ray.
"Didn't Meg tell
you? I thought that was why you
brought so many books."
"My books were burned.."
"Yes.. When
Dante broke into the house and trashed it..
He started a fire in
the library.. Didn't Meg tell you?"
Ray
closed his eyes, deep breathing and counting to one
hundred.
"Fraser.. Get the
rest of the books," Meg said from the
landing.
Fraser looked around
and did a double take then smiled.
"You
look ... stunning in that dress."
"Thank-you,
now go and get the books.. Before Raymond
explodes."
Fraser nodded and hurried
out. Ray turned and looked
around and lost count, Fraser was right,
the Red Velveteen
dress with it's empire styling looked stunning on Meg. She
raised her hand, the hoop from it's trailing train around
her rest, showing a flash of leg and matching red slippers
as she descended the final flight of stairs with what
appeared to be more grace than she'd waddled up them with.
Ray watched her descend
then spun around and marched
out the door.
"Fraser! Remember
what I said about those blue parcels
in the trunk.. Forget what
I said, bring them in."
"Did you get me
something else to wear."
He
turned to find her behind him and took her hand
making a little
bow over it before he kissed it.
"Fraser was wrong,
stunning isn't the word for how
Ravishing you look in that dress."
She smiled.
"The parcels I'm
talking about are some new suits for
Fraser and I that I brought
after I got that dress, from a
shop that seems to work on the "dress to match your partner"
principle and stocks suits to match the dresses of the
designer ladies shop across the way."
"So you brought
a suit to match my dress."
"Suits.
One for me One for him. Well actually it was
more like half a dozen..
But the rest are being delivered
later tonight."
Huey gave a little cough
from behind and they moved out
of the door way. Huey gave Meg the
once over, twice as he
passed through the door.
"I don't suppose
that dress comes in other colours."
"Actually
it comes in 6 different colours," Ray said
reeling off the
list."
"Great, I couldn't
get you to pick up a shimmering gold
could I.. I think it would
make a great gift for mother's
day. Just let me know what it costs and.."
"Forget it.. I still
owe you one.. I'll get the dress
and we'll consider it even."
"Deal."
Fraser came back, arms
loaded with books, followed by
the Doctor, Paul, who was just as
loaded down.
"I see you didn't
waste any time spending that money,"
Paul commented.
Ray gave him a smile.
"I got lucky,
the house I had my eye on cost me less
than I budgeted for."
"And if what's in
your car is anything to go by, you
celebrated by going on a spending
spree."
Ray grinned nodding.
"Nice hair
cut by the way, it suits you."
Meg
reached up to twine a finger in one of Ray's curls.
"I
thought so too."
"I
take it this stunning creature is your lady."
Huey
took the books from Paul and added them to the
pile, while Ray introduced
them.
"You
guess right. Meg I'd like you to meet Paul Conti,
My Cosmetic surgeon,
and future Brother in Law."
"A pleasure to met
you," Paul said, taking her extended
hand to plant a kiss on
it.
Ray gave him a mock glare.
"Is Francesca
ready?"
Ray
looked at the stair case and smiled.
"I
don't know, you tell me," he said and pointed.
Paul
turned and his jaw hit the floor as Francesca
gracefully descended
the stair case, her curls piled on top
of her hair in an artful array of ringlets, emerald drop
earings brushing her neck, the matching necklace around her
bare throat glimmering in the light, that also set her
matching bracelet a glimmer. The set not only highlighted
her flawlessly made up eyes, but the deep emerald colouring
of the shimmering medieval style velvet and silk dress with
a plunging neck line and long slashed sleeves that she wore.
Even
her slippers matched.
Paul moved to the foot
of the stair case to take her
hand and place a lingering kiss on
it.
"I am going to be
the envy of every man in the place
tonight."
She gave him a radiant
smile and looped her arm through
his.
"And here I was
thinking how I'd be the envy of every
woman."
"Didn't I tell you
he was smitten," Ray said in a
hushed aside to Meg.
The lovebirds headed
out the door billing and cooing at
each other while Huey gaped.
Ray laughed at the look at his
face.
"I hate to say it
Ray, but I wouldn't start planning
your sister's wedding just yet."
"And why not.. The
man is positively smitten with
Frannie."
"He is just the
most eligible bachelor in town,
something you forget to mention,
when you were telling us
about him."
"Well, he may have
been eligible, but he's not any
more. He's Frannie's man now.
"Not for long, every
socialite in the state is throwing
herself, or her daughter at him,
he's neck deep in gorgeous
women."
"Are you insinuating
that my sister can't be included
in that category."
"No, but she's way
out of his class."
"That's
where you're wrong. He asked me, as the head of
the family, for
permission to pay court to Frannie, he fully
intends to make her
Mrs Conti in the near future. And I
don't care if it costs me the rest of the money I got to
turn our cygnet into a swan, nobody but nobody is going to
be asking *why* he picked Frannie."
Meg kissed his cheek,
wrapping her arm around his
waist. With a wince he raised his arm
to wrap it around her.
"Am
I to take it, you don't object?"
"If
that's what you'd do for your sister, I can tell
that Francesca
Jnr is going to be spoiled to death."
Ray smiled laying his
hand on her belly.
"Along
with her mother.."
Huey
decided it was a good time to get another load of
books from the
car and Ray kicked the door closed behind
him, and stretched out a hand to Fraser who was watching
them. With a smile Fraser joined them and a group cuddle
ensued.
"I bet you thought
I forget about you."
"I
understand."
"Good,
then you won't be offended if I tell you that we
have to take separate
cars to the hotel.. and arrive at
different times."
"Are we going to
a hotel?"
"Mhmmm..
Do you remember what I planned to do before I
went away."
Fraser nodded.
"Well,
I plan to go through with that plan, tonight,
where we don't have
to worry about anyone finding out we're
a threesome."
Fraser smiled. Ray nuzzled
Meg's ear.
"That
ought to show Meg we still think she's beautiful
even if she does
have a passing resemblance to a beached
whale."
She swatted him and Fraser
laughed.
"Grab
those parcels, the one with the Red ribbon is for
you."
Fraser lit up.
"You
got me a present too."
"Well
of course I did, it's a new suit. The moment I
set eyes on it, I
thought of you.. Now shoo.. Go and get it.
The taxi I booked to
take you to the hotel will be arriving
soon and I want to see you in that suit before it gets
here."
Fraser shooed, leaving
Meg alone with Ray.
"Now,
let's talk about who's been keeping secrets from
whom. Shall we."
She blushed faintly.
"When did you
intend to tell me what happened to my
book collection?"
"I was hoping I'd
get a chance to replace all the books
first."
"It took me over
a year, and at least two and a half
thousand dollars to amass that
collection."
"I had insurance,
and don't worry, for lack of anything
better to do one day, I went
through your collection with
Fraser's help and listed all your books plus their value on
your computer. That thief didn't touch any of the files..
Your catalogue is still intact. We can replace everything."
"Why do I have the
feeling that *everything* mean's
almost literally that."
She gave a little sigh.
"It means everything
he left behind."
He
stepped away growing agitated.
"Why
didn't you tell me?! I would have dropped
everything and flown out
as soon as.."
"I *know*,"
she said in a meaningful tone of voice
cutting in on his diatribe
before he had a chance to really
get going.
"Know *what*?"
He asked hoping it wasn't what he
thought.
"About the real
reason you started consulting that
doctor. You were *undercover*
in the sense that you were
covered in bandages, after he sent you an acid bomb through
the post."
He drew in a deep breath,
closing his eyes.
"How
did you find out."
"I
know about McIntire too.. I *am* a Mountie,
remember. Ever since
your Lieutenant notified us that he
crossed the border using Fraser's I.D we've been tracking
his path of death and destruction across the country."
"Does Fraser know?"
She nodded with
a sigh.
"He
doesn't know what happened to you.. But he does
know Dante got out
of Australia and returned to Canada to
start his campaign of death and destruction. They came and
interrogated him, to try and work out who would be next when
they
realised he was killing people who were connected to
him in some way. They came back three times before he told
them anything useful."
"That's why he started
backsliding. They wouldn't let
it drop till he gave them what they
wanted."
She nodded.
"And what he gave
them was the names of all the men Mc
Intire's killed so far.. He
had the worst night terrors of
all during that period and started becoming obsessed with
cleanliness, personal cleanliness. We had to keep dragging
him out of the shower.. He was scrubbing himself raw.."
"That's
why she said he should be sent to a psychiatric
hospital.. he started
losing it again."
She nodded.
"If you knew.. The
story about me being undercover was
just a lie.. Why didn't you.."
"You were still
hospitalised when he was going through
the worst of it, what did
you expect me to do, drag you out
of your hospital bed to tend to him?"
"How did you cure
him of his obsession with personal
cleanliness?"
"I poured over your
books and notes and tried
everything they suggested when a patient
developed the
obsessions he was displaying.. I broke him of the worst of
his habits.. But nothing I've done stops him from obsessing
about the cleanliness of his surroundings.. it's as if he
transferred his.. obsession with personal cleanliness to an
obsession with his environment being as clean and orderly as
he
can get it. He actually started improving when I gave up
trying to stop him.."
Ray thought about that.
"Being able
to control the order of his environment
give's back something Dante
took away from him.. Control of
his life.. He lost that and he's trying to get it back by
controlling his environment.. He's telling us he wants
control back.. That he still feels unclean, that's why he
goes on cleaning frenzies. Instead of scrubbing himself raw,
which
doesn't work, he cleans his surroundings.. He can get
those clean.."
"It's not going
to be easy to break him of that habit
is it?"
"It's going to take
a while, but it won't be
impossible. Have you noticed any difference
in his behaviour
today?"
She raised a brow, a
thoughtful look on her face and
nodded slowly.
"Yes.."
"Good.. I had a
long talk with him last night. He isn't
going to give me a fight..
he's ready and willing to accept
my help.. It's almost frightening the amount of trust he has
in
me."
"You gave him good
reason to place that trust in him."
"I'm amazed
that he could extend it to me in the first
place.. He used to put
his faith in Dante and look what it
got him."
"You're not Dante..
You couldn't be more dissimilar if
you tried. He knows you know
what it feels like to be
trapped in an abusive relationship, you told him all about
your father."
"Eavesdropper."
She smiled faintly
and sadly.
"I
didn't have to eavesdrop on your conversations with
him to learn
about your father.. You were quite vocal in
your sleep about it on more than one occasion."
He blushed, deeply.
"You proved all
the statistic's about the children of
abusive parents wrong.. And
proved your father wrong too..
And he is putting the lessons you taught him, to rebuild his
shattered
life to work."
"He is?"
She nodded.
"I didn't pull him
out of the despair when he slid
back.. He clawed his own way out
of it. And I think you'd be
pleasantly surprised to find out just
how much he's improved
in some area's."
"Did you keep records
for me?"
"Of
course, studmuffin," she said winding one of his
curls around
her finger.
"If you keep calling
me that, I'm gonna get another
buzz cut."
"It's a compliment,"
she said moving in for the kill.
"You
left, looking like a good stiff breeze would blow
you away, even
before you left, I worried myself sick about
you.. Which is why I sent you away.. I couldn't send Fraser
away, and I knew that if I didn't act, soon.. I'd lose you
and the babies," she said reaching out to pop a button while
she started nuzzling at his neck.
"I thought, the
best place you could be at that time
was with your family, that
they'd cluck over you and make
sure you got yourself back on track."
Her hand slipped under
his shirt and started wandering
and he arched his throat to her.
"I was kept in the
dark about what happened to you
until they knew for sure that you
would pull through it.. I
know what happened. How serious it was, and I know why you
asked your superior to lie to me.. But there's no need for
the charade any more.. I let Fraser cluck to his hearts
content, and nag me into taking better care of myself, so
the reason you lied in the first place would become a moot
point."
"I didn't want..
you to lose the babies.."
Her wandering hand
passed over his chest and her
fingers began to toy with a nipple
which sprang to attention
along with another part of his anatomy.
"That is what made
all the effort worth while. You care
what happens, to them, and
me, even though you don't believe
they're yours."
"They're not."
"They are,
but I'm not going to argue the point, we can
settle the issue after
they're born with a paternity test.
Which will prove that rather than sterile you're a virile
studmuffin."
"If you keep calling
me that.."
"It's
what you are.. The last thing I expected was the
scrumptious man
who walked through that door last night,"
she continued nuzzling
at his ear.
"I'm going to be
beating the competition off with a
stick now."
"Flattery will get
you everywhere and if you don't stop
what you're doing right now..."
"You'll do what?
Ravish me right here. Go right ahead."
The
sound of Fraser clearing his throat broke in and
they both looked
around. Ray smiled and Meg laughed.
"Is this a company
meeting or a party?"
Ray
chuckled at that.
"There's
nothing wrong with his memory."
She
swatted him.
"You
look good, Benni."
Fraser
tugged at the form fitting red coat he wore over
black pants with
a yellow braid down the legs, and tweaked
at the collar of the black satin shirt he wore under the
coat.
"It's a little tight."
"Well, you
won't be wearing it for long, so that
doesn't matter, does it,"
Ray said as he slipped out of
Meg's clutches and approached Fraser
to reach up and open
the collar one handed and tweaked it up, so the stiff collar
stood
up.
"There, now it's
not choking you."
"One
of us is under dressed."
"You
wish," Ray said looking at Meg over his shoulder
as he wrapped
his hand around Fraser's arm.
"But I can take
a hint, come and help me get into my
suit."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Huey did a double take
as he turned away from the car,
to see the trio on the porch. Ray's
choice of personal
apparel was a pair of pants that matched Fraser's a black
satin shirt of the same cut, only a few size's bigger and
baggier. His red over coat was the epitomine of style,
though it too was at least two size's bigger than it should
have been, but the reason for that was obviously the brace
he wore.
Huey kicked the car door
shut behind him, juggling the
last stack of books as he approached
the porch and ascended
the stairs.
"They're going to
see you coming from a mile away."
"If
you think these are bright, wait till you see the
other coat's I
got."
With a loud blare of
the horn, the cab driver announced
his arrival, and Huey looked
around.
"This is the last
load, I'll just put it away and.."
"No
hurry, Huey."
Huey
turned and hurried into the house, while Ray
descended from the
porch with Fraser on his heels. He leaned
toward the driver pulling
out a 50 and handed it to him.
"Take him to the
Drake," he instructed the cabbie,
before he moved to the back
window which Fraser wound down.
"We'll meet you
in the lobby."
Fraser
nodded and the driver pulled out driving away as
Huey returned to
the porch looking around. A van pulled up
in front of Ray and he stepped back as the door opened and
the driver climbed out clip board in hand and pulled a
parcel out from the front seat. Huey moved in as the driver
looked Ray over.
"Let me guess, the
bandages finally came off Mr
Vecchio."
Ray grinned and nodded
accepting the clip board as it
was offered to him.
"You're looking
good."
"Thanks.
You timed it just right, Sam, I was about to
leave for a night on
the town," he said as he clumsily
signed for his parcel.
Huey tried to intercept
it, but Ray took the parcel
hugging it to his chest.
"It's just my latest
correspondence package, Jack," he
said, pointing to the address
label in the corner as Sam the
delivery man climbed back into his
truck.
"See. The only way
the contents of this would kill me
would be through sheer boredom
as I wade through some of the
most boring texts you never read."
Huey backed off, taking
his word for it.
"It
never hurts to be cautious."
Ray
headed back to the house carrying his parcel, with
Huey on his heels.
"There's cautious
and there's paranoid Huey. Cautious
is treating any unexpected package
with extreme care,
Paranoid is treating every parcel that arrives, even when
your expecting one, as if it could be another nasty surprise
package."
Ray was at the door when
the Drake's courtesy car
pulled up.
"I think your car's
here."
Ray
looked around, then tossed the parcel through the
door, pulling
it closed as he turned. He stepped away
reaching for Meg.
"Where's Fras.."
Neither Ray's action,
or Huey's question was completed
as an explosion shook the porch
and the door was blasted
outward accompanied by a huge ball of flame. Huey flew
backwards, as Ray went flying, and Meg, the furthest from
the door, was almost thrown off her feet. As Ray went flying
past,
her arms flew out to catch hold of the porch post and
clung to it for dear life to avoid being sent flying.
As Ray and Huey hit the
front lawn, the courtesy car
door flew open and the driver jumped
out, to race across the
lawn. Meg looked back wide eyed to see the
huge smoking hole
that was the door way, splintered, smouldering
wood, Ray's
new collection of books scattered everywhere in flames and
the ceiling caving in over the entry way.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Ninteen
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
The last thing Welsh
expected when he returned to Ray's
place was to find the fire department
putting out a fire,
along with the paramedics and ambulences. Pushing his way
through the crowd of gawpers Welsh found Huey sitting on a
trolley, his torso wrapped in bandages, watching the firemen
work
to put the fire out.
"What happened?"
"Another parcel
bomb, the explosive kind this time."
"You
were suppoused to intercept any parcels."
"He
got to it first."
Welsh
looked around at the house.
"He's
fine.. He didn't open it, he tossed it inside. It
must have gone
off when it landed."
"Where is he?"
"He and Thatcher
are on their way to the hospital."
"Is
she.."
"She's
fine, but the shock sent her into premature
labour."
"What's his condition?"
"He's a little
dazed, singed, bruised and in full panic
mode about the babies.
Beyond that, he's fine."
"Fraser?"
"I lost him.. They
sent him somewhere in a taxi while I
was distracted.."
"What about Mrs
Vecchio and Francesca?"
"Frannie's
going to be in for one hell of a shock when
her date brings her
home. And you'd have to ask Dewey where
Mrs Vecchio is, she left the house before I took over."
A
paramedic approached.
"What's
his condition?" Welsh demanded.
"Mainly
bruises, though he may have cracked a rib, we
want to take him to
the hospital for X-Rays."
"Do that,"
Welsh said.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
A phone call to the Drake
resulted in Fraser arriving
at the hospital. Welsh escorted Mrs
Vecchio to the hospital
after he finally tracked her down. While Welsh was checking
up on Huey's condition, Mrs Vecchio caught sight of Fraser
trying to find out where Ray and Meg were and lead him
through the corridors to the natal ward.
Fraser went into mother
hen mode, rushing to Ray's side
to cluck when he saw Ray standing
before the huge
observation window in his singed and filthy coat.
"Stop clucking,
I'm fine.. Look.. Meg had the babies."
Fraser
looked around.
"Which
ones?"
"Over
there.. In the incubators the nurse is checking
out."
"Are they alright?
They weren't due for another.."
"They're
fine.. They're perfect.. They're an instant
family, she had triplets."
"What?!"
"That's what we
said, after the Doctor delivered the
first two and said, there's
another one here.. The doctor
said the third one must have been masked. That's why it
didn't show up in the ultrasounds."
"So what are they?"
"We have a
Francesca, a Gregory and an I don't know
yet."
"What do you mean
an.."
"It's
another boy," Mrs Vecchio said.
"Ah.."
"We weren't
expecting another baby, we don't have a
name for him yet."
Huey wandered into the
corridor, with Welsh.
"How
are they?" Huey asked as he approached.
Ray
looked around, smiling.
"They're
fine, she had triplets, can you beleive that?"
"Damn.."
"What?"
"Never mind..
Congratulations."
"I
thought you were expecting twins," Welsh said.
"We
were.. The third one gave everyone a surprise. He
was hiding behind
the other two, Ray said and pointed out
the triplets incubators.
"So what did she
have??"
"Two
boys and a girl. By the way.. If you're going to
tear strips of
Jack about that bomb, don't..
"You're too late..
He already reamed me out for it."
"It
wasn't his fault, sir. I stopped him from
intercepting it. I thought
it was my latest correspondence
package, it was delivered by the same guy who delivered all
the rest.. It had all the right stamps and labels.. I don't
understand how he got to it."
"I told you, Dante
broke into the house," Fraser said.
Ray
looked at him.
"It
would have been simplicity itself for him to work
out how to reach
you.. You left all your study materials
behind."
Ray was amazed. This
was not the sort of thing Fraser
did any more. His amazement became
delight as Fraser
continued.
"It would have been
a simple task to discover you were
doing most of your studies by
corresspondence. There were
envelopes and forms that carried all the details. If he
watched the house before he broke in, he would have known
that you were no longer in residence, and worked out that
your most likely place of residence was your home here. He
may have gone on to the college and learned for a fact you
were still studying via correspondence."
"That's assuming
Dante was the one who was behind the
fire there."
"Of course he was,
they told me he was torching houses.
I'm sure if you examine the
data gathered on the other
places he burned down the evidence will prove that he was
behind the fire at our place. Though I am not sure it will
prove he sent that bomb. Though he had the motive and
oppourtunity I don't beleive he sent it."
"Why? Because bombs
aren't up his alley. I hate to
break it to you like this, Benni,
but it's not the first
parcel bomb Dante's sent."
"It's not???"
"No. We didn't
want you to get upset so we didn't let
you know.. I got the new
face because he sent me a nasty
surprise package shortly after he got out of Australia.. I
didn't receive it till I got back home and it went up in my
face. And they found his prints on the packaging.."
"It wasn't explosive?"
"No.. It was
an acid bomb.. among other things. But it
wasn't explosive."
"That I can beleive
was his work.. But not the
explosives. It isn't right."
"In what sense,
Benni?"
"To
send explosives. Something that would maim you,
yes.. But explosives..No..
Explosives could hurt someone
other than their intended victim.. And he wouldn't hurt an
innocent.."
"Benni, the man
is psycotic.. Psycho's don't care who
they hurt."
"He is not phsycotic,
there is a definate pattern to
his attacks.. He is *punishing* people..
Everything he's
done, every person he's killed, every building he's burn,
every act he's taken has been to punish people who hurt me."
"Hey, Benni, I didn't
hurt you."
"You
and Meg are exceptions to the rule, you are being
punished for coming
between us.. And he did nothing to Meg,
he torched the house, instead of attacking her, because she
was pregnant, and if he went after her personally an
innocent, in that case, the baby, would be hurt."
"Benni, Dante
wasn't the one who torched the house, it
was the Dope smoking wacko
you got expelled from the
college."
"No. He admitted
that he broke into the house, trashed
it and stole Meg's Jewelry
and your laptop and that is all
he admited too. He only admited to that after they charged
him with arson.. In his confession, he said that if there
was a fire it was an accident. He did not deliberatly light
a fire and the fire was *deliberately* lit. Dante was
responisble for the fire."
"And you're dead
certain he wouldn't have sent that
bomb."
"Yes."
"But no one else
had a reason to send me a bomb,
Benni.. I haven't been an active
cop since the accident. You
pointed out he could have found everything
he needed to send
the bomb and make it look like the parcel came
from the
college."
"I don't think it
was Dante.. I don't know who else
would be motivated or know enough
to do that.. And it makes
no sense to me, if they were concerned that he would send
another parcel bomb why wasn't the postal service warned to
hand any parcels addressed to you to a explosives expert to
be examined.."
"They were,"
Walsh interjected. "The Feds were
suppoused to be han..dle..ling.."
He trailed off and he
and Huey shared looks.
"They
did it *again*," They both growled at the same
time.
"Did what?"
Ray and Fraser both said.
"The
Feds were warned about Dante, before he sent the
first bomb. They
had a chance to catch him before he got off
the plane at O'Hare.
The Australian Fed's warned them he'd
gotten past them, and boarded a plane for the US and would
probably be using a stolen passport. They ignored the
warning."
"That's why that
damned bomb got through.. They ignored
the request to assist us
by making sure your mail was
intercepted and inspected before it was forwarded onto you.
I didn't really trust them to do it after what happened.."
"That's why he told
us to intercept any parcels that
arrived," Huey added.
Welsh nodded.
"Now,
I've got the proof I need to nail that bastard's
hide to the wall."
"Why would they
ignore warning's of such a nature I
don't understand."
"It's because we
pissed them off, Benni. We made them
look like idiots. And when
we caught the Bolt brothers after
they turned us into a walking
bomb, and made everyone look
like fools, we came out of that debacle as the hero's of the
hour
while they looked just plain imcompentant on *national*
T.V at that.
Even Meg made them look stupid. She worked out
what they were really after."
"You worked that
out for yourself, all she did was give
you the clue you needed to
do it."
"Yeah, but she worked
out there was something fishy
going on first. And did it without
all the clues we had that
something else was going down there."
"True."
Ray looked at Welsh.
"And you better
make damn sure he gets nailed for this,
or I'm gonna send him something
nasty in the mail myself,"
Ray said, looking away at the instant
family in the ward.
"And I've got five
good reasons to go after that son of
a bitch for it."
"Five.. There are
three babies," Fraser said confused.
Ray
gave a very faint smile at that.
"Meg
and Huey are the other too," Ray said, then looked
Huey over.
"You O.K?"
"Just some
bad bruises. I'm gonna be as stiff as a
board come morning."
"You and me both."
"I've got your
place under gaurd, for the moment, I can
have a team move in in
the morning to start packing up
whatever the fire didn't get after forensic's and the
insurence company are through .."
"The insurence company
won't be sending anyone out.
There is no insurence on the place
right now."
"What?" His
mother almost shrieked.
Ray
winced.
"I didn't have the
money to renew it Ma.. I was gonna
take care of that and the rest
tommorrow. But don't worry
about it.. I'll get someone in to take care of the damage.."
"With what?!"
"Don't worry
about it, I got some money.. If it doesn't
cost to much I should
be able to cover all the repairs..
Course it's gonna mean I can't spruce up the new place the
way I planned.. Meg'll loove that.."
"New place? What
new place."
"I
brought the place we were talking about last night."
"The
house we rented while you were in the hospital."
"That's
the one."
"You're
cusion Mario is a painter. And his sister is an
interior designer..
I'll call their mother in the morning
and get them on the job... If we get them to do the work on
both places we can get a big discount on them and you'll be
able to afford to do both at the same time.. Of course we'll
have
to get them to do the other place first, there is no
way we're moving back into that house until they've finished
the
work... If I make a few calls I'm sure we can rustle up
enough helpers to get the work done as fast as possible."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray discovered just how
much fun it was to be the one
Fraser clucked over after over the
next few days. He spent
the first day following the explosion in bed, every bruise
on his body making itself felt. Fraser clucked and molly
coddled him and he was in enough pain to take it without
complaint. The closest he got to visiting Meg at the
hospital was to make a phone call, making her laugh when he
told her that the way Fraser was clucking that it wouldn't
surprise him if he sprouted feathers and a beak.
He got a break from Fraser's
clucking for an hour when
Fraser, accompanied by a police escort,
went to the hospital
to visit Meg and the Babies. He returned with
a huge smile
and asked if he minded if Meg named the second boy."
"I don't mind, why
should I mind."
"Well
it is a boy, she thinks that since she chose to
name the other one
after her father that you should at least
have a chance to think
of a name for the other boy.. Since
he is your son."
Ray rolled his eyes thinking
here we go again.
"The
last thing on my mind right now is going through a
baby book to
pick a name."
"If you have no
objections, she would like to call him
Robert."
"Robert??? Why does
she want to call him Robert?"
"Well, she
can't call him Benton, that would cause too
much confusion, and
while Fraser is a perfectly acceptable
christian name, that would still cause confusion, so she
chose Robert instead, after my father."
"Oh, well in that
case, Robert is fine by me."
Fraser
smiled.
"It's
not as if I had my heart set on any other name.
And Robert Thatcher
sounds fine."
"It's not Robert
Thatcher."
"It's
not?"
"It's
Robert Benton Thatcher-Vecchio."
Ray
laughed.
"And
the other boys name is Gregory Raymond Thatcher-
Vecchio."
"And the girl?"
"Francesca
Pauline Thatcher-Vecchio."
"Pauline???"
"I thought
you chose her name."
"Francesca,
yes, but Pauline, no."
"Oh,
she said that it was after the man who turned you
into studmuffin."
Ray laughed at that.
"And if you
get a buzz cut, she's going to give you a
full body buzz cut and
the itch as your hair grows back will
drive you insane. She likes
your new hair style."
"I have no intentions
of getting it cut.. I just like
teasing her.. She can't keep her
hands off it."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
When Fraser finally let
Ray out of his clutches, he was
joined by Welsh and driven to his
new home to inspect the
work in process. As they walked through the urban fortress
dodging painters and workers as they went, Ray stopped in
his tracks and Welsh had to side step fast to avoid running
into him.
"Elaine???"
The coverall and
scarf covered woman up a ladder hard
at work ragging the paint looked
down, proving that it was
indeed Elaine.
"I don't beleive
it, what are you doing up there?"
"She's
not the only one here."
Ray
looked at Welsh.
"What
do you mean? Don't tell me..."
Huey
walked in, with a bottle in hand and Elaine
scrambled down the lader
tossing the rag onto the drop cloth
wiping her hands on her cover
alls.
"You're going to
owe us big time for this," Elaine said
as she accepted the
drink Huey presented her with.
"So you finally
dragged yourself out of bed."
"Fraser
wouldn't let me out till I stopped wincing
every time I moved. Now
I know how Meg felt when he was
clucking over her."
"With any luck we'll
have this place livable by the
time she and the babies are ready
to leave the hospital."
"Oh,
she's out.. Not that you could tell, she's taken
root there.. Watching
the babies. The only time she leaves
their side is when Fraser arrives to take over so she can
get some sleep."
Dewey, paint can in hand,
wandered past, his coveralls
and cap splattered in paint.
"What's he doing
here?"
"I
twisted his arm, I told him if he wanted his fifty
he had to put
in a little work."
"Hmm.. I have a
supicion I know why you said Damn when
I said Meg had triplets."
Huey laughed.
"After
the new's that you were A. Returning to duty
soon, and B. Are now
the proud father of an instant family,
we had a vote."
"Oh, what sort of
vote?"
"Wether
to give you a baby shower, a welcome back party
or help prepare
your new house so the work would be done
before the babies were ready to leave the hospital. The
majority elected to lend a hand."
"If I have any money
after I pay for all this work I'll
be throwing a big party to thank
you all for the work."
"Well,
you should have enough, this place is crawling
with your relatives.
I think the only person who isn't
related to you, or one of your work mates is the blond
beamouth who is doing the carpet laying. Which means all you
have
to pay for is the materials."
"There you are."
Ray looked around
as his cusion walked in a clip board
in hand and homed in on him
to draw him away asking to
bombard him with questions about colour schemes and the
like.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
3 day's later, Fraser
was jugling a pair of baby boys,
and Ray took his little Francesca
out of Meg's arms and
handed them to his ever present police escort, before he
took the boys from Fraser.
"Pick her up."
"What?"
Fraser picked her
up, and Ray kicked the front door
open, so Fraser could carry her
over the threshold.
"Voila," Ray
said as he followed them through.
Meg
looked around as Fraser set her down. Not that
there was that much
to see, since the door opened onto a
corridor, but there was a lot to see in the way of
improvements to the decor, among other things a sky tube
brought more light into the hall than there used to be,
which showed off the profressional paint job, of egg shell
blue walls, with picture rails, from which numerous pictures
from
the family home had been hung.
"You like?"
"This..is the
last thing I expected."
"Well..
You did say you wanted to let an interior
designer loose here."
"I thought we were
going to redecorate the place
together."
"You were so wrapped
up in the babies, I wasn't up to
it, and Fraser was busy clucking
over all five of us, you,
me and the babies included. Someone had to do the work so
we'd have somewhere to live once the babies were ready to
leave the hospital. Wait till you see the rest of the house,
my
cusion, Maria, really did a great job, I arrived to take
a look around at just the right time to stop her from going
over the top in some of the rooms."
She collected her daughter,
and stuck a finger in the
babies mouth as she make a feed me face.
"Perhaps you should
show me the nursery first."
Ray
handed one of the boys to Fraser, and then headed
down the hall
with the trio following.
"Oh mi," Fraser
said when he saw the nursery."
"This
is.."
"Incredible,"
Ray finished for Meg.
"Yes,"
She said as she looked around at the partioned
off room.
Each partion was composed
of thick glass, that ran from
the floor to the ceiling, the walls
were a creamy pearl
white with a rag wash molting of a rainbows worth of
pearlescent colour giving it the appearence of mother of
pearl. The floor was covered with a thick soft pile carpet
with a rainbow's worth of colour and each partioned section
held a swinging cot, and shelves that were painted to match
the roof. Soft fluffy toys hung suspended from hooks in the
roof with invisible nylon threadsm or attached to the wall
with the aid of Velcro tabs and there was a rocking chair
set in the center of the room with a table painted to match
the walls.
"Ma had the rocker
and the first cot up in the attic, I
brought one to match it when
I was on my shopping spree,
then Ma, Frannie and Maria got together and brought the
third. I got all the fluffy toys when I was on my shopping
spree. Lucky I went over board in the toy department, there
were plenty to go around."
"Why Glass?"
Ray placed his little
bundle of joy in one of the cots
and then crossed the room to pull
back the mother of pearl
curtains to show off the office behind the thick glass
sliding doors. Meg placed Francesca Jnr in her cot and then
joined Ray as he slid a door open and walked into the office
and
spun slowly waving at his pride and joy, which the
colour scheme of the adjoining nursery had been extended
into.
After he deposited the
last little bundle of joy in a
cot, Fraser joined them.
"I know who came
up with the design for this office,
Benton."
"How did you guess."
"It was in
a magazine he showed me..Those wall units
are the only thing it
didn't include, but I know they were
already here."
"I think it looks
great. He snuck in and pounced on
Maria and convinced her to have
the office done to his
specifications."
"The doors were
my idea. I was thinking French doors,
so I could see into the nursery
when I was working here and
I had a fight with Luitenant Welsh about them, because
French doors are secure enough. Maria came to the rescue by
suggesting the sliding doors. There are bolts that can lock
them into place, and it's bullet proof no one can smash
their way through it. That was paid for by the CPD, they
also replaced the window in here and the nursery with the
same glass."
"The partitions?"
"Are the same
stuff. There won't be any glass breakages
in that room. They also
ripped out the doors and frames into
both rooms, and the file room
and took down the walls around
them, the walls were rebuilt, with
cement, the frames are
security grade steel, and so are the doors, Maria did a
great job having them fitted out and painted to look like
the rest of the doors in the place. And the finishing touch
was an alarm system that'd wake the dead. Once I bolt the
doors for the night, it will automatically kick in, and if
anyone manages to get in that alarm will kick in."
"They paid for all
that?"
"Uh-hu..
And the other door way too."
"What
other door way?"
"The
room adjoining the nursery is the main bedroom,
they knocked half
the wall down and put in a door there, a
sliding door like that one. You can't even tell that it's
there."
"They paid for the
office fittings too," Fraser added.
"They
did?"
"Well,
they paid for the materials. Apparently I have a
cusion or three
who are handy with the carpentry tools. They
went over the pictures
Fraser showed Maria and reproduced
the look, and took the doors of those units and replaced
them so everything matched."
"And the locksmith.."
"Ah, yes..
And they paid for a locksmith to come in and
change all the locks
and put them in on every window, and he
installed that computer
lock on the file room. The only way
into it now is with a key card and the code."
"What computer lock?"
Ray crossed the
room to show her the lock which was
cleverly concealed behind a
fake light switch on the wall.
"The lock on the
door's for real, but this disengages
the lock - and the file rooms
alarm. Unless you use this
first, the door lock won't disengage, and the alarm will go
off. And both alarms are back to base, in this case the
precinct."
"Why did they go
to all that trouble and expense?"
"Because
this is where I'm going to work. Just as soon
as the new computer
is delivered and the phone line is set
up I'm back on duty, as the New Psych Officer."
"But you haven't
finished your studies, you need better
qualifications than you have
to become a police
phsycologist."
"I'm not a police
phsycologist.. I'm something that's a
cross between a profiler,
a police phsycologist and a
detective. It was the Luitenant's idea..It's an experimental
post..
I've got 6 months to prove I can handle it and do a
good job, if I can, it'll become a permenant position, and
I've got you to thank for it. Making me keep studying to
qualify for the profiler's acreditation course. Once I get
accredited, It'll become a full time position, and I'll be
expected to start training others. But, I'll get a big pay
raise and a promotion, and a fancy title to go with it."
"What
sort of title."
"Cheif
of the CPD Psych department. You should hear the
Commissioner, now
he's had time to think about the whole
idea, he's getting really excited about it. And I've already
got
three cases on the slate."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
The "housewarming/Thank-you"
Party was thrown the next
day, and the busiest room in the house
wasn't the
lounge/dinning room, it was the nursery as Ray's relative's
and work mates all trooped through to coo at the triplets
and gush over the babies. During a lull in the visitations
Ray slipped through nursery into his office, dragging Elaine
in
after him, pulling the curtains closed behind them to
make use of the newly installed computer.
All the records on the
three cases he'd been assigned
had been installed, and one of those
cases was Dante's.
With Elaine's help the computer was hooked up to the
internet in next to no time, via the mobile phone Welsh had
presented him with on his arrival.
With a little more help
from Elaine he contacted the
Head Office of the RCMP. Elaine slipped
away to rejoin the
party and Ray slipped into his comfy chair and awkwardly
typed out a message notifying them that he was the New Phsyc
officer
of the CPD, and detective in charge of the Dante
McIntire case stateside, and informed them of the recent
parcel bomb, which may or may not have been the work of
Dante. Then he requested to be notified of his movements,
particularily if he crossed the border and included the
number of his mobile phone and badge number.
He heard noises coming
the nursery that he'd already
come to recognise as the precuser
to a full throated feed me
wail. Sending the message he closed down
the programme and
headed for the nursery, making a stop at the tiny room that
held all the baby care parenphenilia to collect a prepared
bottle of expressed breast milk from the warmer, popping it
in his pocket.
He discovered Francesca
Jnr was the culprit and leaned
over the side of the cot to tease
her lip with a finger. She
opened her mouth and latched onto his
finger and started
suckling.
"Are we hungry,
Mia Caro?" he asked knowing the answer
as he drew his hand
back.
She made mewling noises
as he pulled the bottle from
his pocket and popped the cover off.
He was about to start
feeding her when he heard his mobile phone ringing.
"What the hell?"
Fumbling with the
bottle, he got the bottle back into
his pocket and with an effort,
wincing and hissing, he got
the baby out of the cot, shifting her to his shoulder and
carried her into the office where he'd left the phone.
Sinking into the chair, he sat cross legged and set the baby
in
his lap. Tapping the phone he picked it up moving it to
his shoulder and pulled out the bottle as he answered.
"You have reached
officer Vecchio's office, this is the
human answering service speaking."
The cap popped off the
bottle and he listened to the
Mountie on the other end identify
himself as the head of the
McIntire Task force and ask to speak
to him.
"Speaking. I thought
you were someone else.. That was a
preety fast response, I only
just sent the e-mail message
off," Ray said giving the baby the bottle, then smiling as
she latched on and started suckling hungrily.
:"E-Mail?":
"This isn't
about my e-mail?"
"Luitenant
Welsh informed us yesterday that a new
officer was taking over the
Dante Case stateside."
"That's me, that's
what my E-Mail was about."
He
awkwardly slipped his crippled hand under the bottle
to free up
his right, and turned the chair to reach out and
open a drawer, pulling out a legal pad and pen and scooted
the chair to a clear section of the desk.
"I take it there's
been more action on your side," Ray
said prepared to take down
the details.
"I've got nothing
but Bad news. Your Luitenant Welsh
informed us of the bombing at
the time, and the opinon
expressed by Constable Fraser."
"I'm aware of his
opinon."
"It
would seem so is McIntire. We have a leak."
"What?"
"There are
a few people in the RCMP who think McIntire
is doing us a huge favour,
especially after his terror
crusade netted a drug lord responisble for killing several
of our people.. I've suspect for some time now, that it's no
coincidence
that he was able to avoid the traps we set to
catch him.. I finally got confirmation this morning."
"In what way?"
"Someone on
my team is obviously among those who think
he's doing us a favour..
The new's of the bomb and Fraser's
opinon was passed on to McIntire. I recived a letter in the
mail this morning, specifically addressed to me, from
McIntire, that I think you should see."
"What did it say?"
"Do you have
a fax?"
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Welsh was laughing along
with a group of his officer's
at a joke when his cel phone trilled.
He patted his coat
down and moved away from the group to a quiet corner of the
room to answer it.
:"Luitenant, it's
me, Ray.":
Welsh
looked around the room.
:"I'm
in the office"
Welsh
heard babies squaling in the background and
smiled faintly thinking
Ray just wanted him to send Meg in
for him."
"Can you come, and
bring Meg with you. The RCMP just
got a very long letter from McIntire,
and faxed it through
to me.. I think you better take a look at it," Ray went on
to say wiping the smile off his face.
"Oh, and bring Fraser
too.. I've got more hungry
infants than I can handle at once right
now."
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part Twenty
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Once the babies were
fed and changed they were set on a
bunny rug and Fraser entertained
them. Meg joined Ray and
Welsh in Ray's office, closing the doors behind her.
Welsh was handing back
the sheath of pages that was the
print out of faxed copy of Dante's
letter the RCMP had
received and forwarded onto Ray.
"What's your opinion?"
"He's definitely
Psychasthenic."
Welsh
rolled his eyes.
"Tell
me something I don't already know."
"What
do you have?" Meg asked.
Ray
handed her the papers.
"20
pages worth of ranting. He confessed to every crime
he committed,
including at least 3 murders and 6 arson
attacks that they didn't know about. They're not on the list
I've
got."
"Why did he..?"
"They've got
a leak on their end. Someone who's
possibly helping him find his
victims.. There are some
officers who think he's doing them a big favour. Whoever the
leak
is told him about the bomb I received."
Meg started flipping
through the long missive.
"He
states 3 times that he didn't send it. Even though
he admitted he
sent the other one. He backed up Fraser's
opinion of the explosion."
"Which was?"
"That Dante
didn't send it. He kept saying it wasn't
right. That even though
Dante had the opportunity and motive
he wouldn't send explosives.
Because something like that
could harm innocents. And after reading that, I have to
agree with Fraser.. Just look at it, every page lists the
records of the scum he killed, he went after killers and
rapists. Half his victims worked for this Fitzsimmon's
character, the crime lord who handed himself over to the
authorities."
Meg handed the papers
back to him. Ray flipped through
them, and then tapped one.
"Here, he says he
lost his temper and didn't mean to
hurt Fraser and that all this
death and destruction is his
way of making up for what he did to Fraser. He says he
promised Fraser that he'd never hurt him again. And he broke
his
promise, and doesn't deserve to have a man like Benni."
He
flipped through to the second last page.
"And
here.. He proved Fraser right again.. Fraser said
he was sick, that
there was something physically wrong with
him. Dante says, he's dying, he's well aware of the fact. He
finally
did what Fraser asked him to and went to see a
doctor who told him he has a brain tumour growing in the
worse possible place. It's untreatable."
Ray tossed the pages
down on the desk.
"And
the rest of it is a rant about how he's gonna take
out everyone
who ever hurt Fraser and got away with it
before he goes. He's making sure the people who hurt Fraser
pay for what they did.""
"Does he specifically
say that you are not on his hit
list anymore?"
"No."
"But he says it
in a round about way," Welsh added.
"He
said no such thing," Ray said.
"What
do you mean?"
"I
mean all he said was that he didn't send that bomb
and wouldn't
do something like that because it could kill
innocent people. He didn't say he has no interest in taking
me out. Just that no innocents would die as a result of his
Vendetta.."
"You still think
you're on his hit list?"
"I
need time to go over all this.. You want a better
profile .."
"I didn't ask for
a profile I asked if you still think
you're on his hit list."
Ray drew in a deep breath.
"I think there's
a very high chance that I am. Benni
said to go over the data on
the other arson attacks and
compare it to the evidence they got at the house in Canada.
He was wrong about who the arson was aimed at.. It wasn't
aimed at Meg. He will never aim his violence at Meg, as far
as he's concerned Meg is just doing the right thing by one
of her men. He did the same sort of thing for Benni. Benni
was his subordinate once, and he got hurt, bad, when he
walked out at the wrong time. He took care of Fraser and
helped him after the event - even though he was really
pissed off with Fraser, with justifiable reason. In this
case he knows he hurt Fraser as bad as the bastards he's
hunting down now, and Benni was her subordinate.. So in his
view it's her duty to take care of Fraser."
"Uh-hu. And
if we take that one step further that means
that the fire was aimed
at..?"
"It was aimed at
me."
"How
did you come to that conclusion?"
Ray
sat, sliding his chair up to the computer and
clicked through his
programmes.
"Well, he's not
after Fraser, or Meg, which naturally
leaves me as the target, and
beyond that.."
Ray found the programme
he was after then called up one
that showed a floor plan of a house.
"That's the floor
plan of our house in Canada," Meg
said after a glance.
Ray nodded and pecked
in a command.
"Show
him where the library is."
Meg
pointed and a virtual explosion took place under
her finger. She
pulled her hand back, and another virtual
explosion took place, followed by another.
"Your study and
bedroom."
The
virtual flames started spreading through the rest
of the virtual
house.
"That's where the
fires started. They found accelerants
in all three places. He lit
the first fire in the library,
made his way to the study and lit that, and torched the
bedroom on his way out. They could tell where each fire
started, and what order they started by the amount of damage
to
the house and rooms around it," Ray said tapping the
screen.
"The rooms either
side of the library suffered the most
extensive damage, and ceiling
over it collapsed which is how
they know that's where he started
the first fire."
"I don't remember
him taking credit for that in the
letter."
Ray rolled the chair
back to where he left the copy of
the letter and scattered the pages
till he found what he was
looking for and tapped the page.
"It's right here,
second last on the list of places he
torched. That's our address
back in Canada."
"Oh."
"And the third last
place listed here is for a house in
Queensbourgh lane," he
said looking around at Meg.
"That was only two
blocks away."
"That's
how he found you. He probably saw you and
Fraser out walking Deif
and followed you back to the
house.."
"Yeesss.. It makes
sense now."
"Speaking
of Deifenbaker, where is he?"
"He
was sick, they've been keeping him in quarantine
until they find
out why."
"What contact number
did you give them to let you know
it was time to get him out?"
"Your family home's
phone number."
"Don't
you think you should call them, hmm? They can't
exactly ring us
there. There's no one home to take the
call."
A little embarrassed
that she hadn't thought of it, Meg
nodded and reached for his phone.
"Uh-uh.. Hands off,
that's for official business only."
She
rolled her eyes and spun on her heels walking away.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg rolled over in bed
to blearily look at her buzzing
alarm clock before she slapped it
off. Muttering about 4am
feeding's, she dragged herself out of bed, grabbing her robe
on
the way to the door and promised herself that she'd talk
Fraser into taking the early morning feeding's.
She pulled on her robe
and slid the door open, stepping
into the nursery to stop dead in
her tracks, looking around
the room. All three cots were empty and the room was lit up,
not
by its own lights, but via the lights from the office.
Trudging across the room,
she peered through the thick
glass and almost chuckled when she
saw Ray and the babies.
Judging by the blue jump suit covered in bunnies, Gregory
was lying in Ray's lap kicking his little legs and waving
his arms around as Ray held a now empty bottle to the baby's
mouth
with his crippled hand. The other two little bundles
of joy were lying in baby bouncers set on the desk either
side of the computer. Pacifier's kept Francis and Francesca
Jnr quiet as they made little swipes at the mobiles which
had been a gift and now hung stands clamped to the shelves
that surrounded the computer.
The reason Ray didn't
notice the baby had finished with
its bottle was because he was
busy intently studying the
glowing computer screen.
Both Meg and Ray jumped
half out of their skins as the
sound of the nursery door handle
being jiggled was followed
by an alarm loud enough to wake the dead. The baby bottle
went flying, and Ray spun the chair around with a hand to
the desk as Meg spun around to look at the door.
Ray slid the chair across
the floor, ripping open a
drawer and pulled out his gun, tucking
it under his arm
before he rolled the chair further across the room and
pulled out the under the desk rolling file cabinet and put
it between the chair and the door shielding the baby in his
lap with it. He held the baby carefully, moving a leg to the
floor
but keeping it in his lap, then he pushed the mobile
file cabinet forward, scooting the chair up to the doors.
Opening the doors just enough to slip a hand through, Ray
pulled the gun out preparing to defend himself and his
infants.
Meg glanced around as
the doors parted to see the gun
poke through the gap and Ray noticed
her presence for the
first time.
"Get behind the
curtains," he hissed at her.
She
slid behind the curtains without a sound and
listened intently.
Sure enough she heard the sound of
movement coming from the bedroom. That was followed by the
sound of the second slide door being nudged open a little
more.
"Freeze! Hold it
right there, or I'll blow your head
off," Ray growled
"Don't shot, it's
me," Fraser cried out.
"Benni,
Damnit, don't you have any sense?!" Ray growled
withdrawing
the gun.
Meg stepped out from
behind the curtains as Fraser
approached.
"The babies need
to be feed."
"He
beat us both to it."
Ray
pushed the mobile file cabinet away and shoved
against the door.
The chair rolled back, and he spun it
around with his foot, stopping himself from hitting the desk
with
his hand. Snatching up the phone he hit the speed dial
with his thumb as Fraser and Meg moved into the room behind
him.
"This is Vecchio..
I'm calling in about the alarm, it's
a false alarm. Fraser set it
off trying to get in to feed
the babies. We don't need a response. Thank-you."
He flipped it closed
setting it aside and spun.
"One
of you better get to the door before someone
breaks their foot trying
to kick it in to get inside."
Meg hurried away leaving
Fraser to face the now grumpy
Ray's attention. Ray ignored him as
the babies started
squalling and rolled the chair across the room to hit the
alarms controls and punch in the code to shut it down and
reset it.
"How could you do
*that* after I told you they rigged
the place with Alarms?"
"You forget to mention
they rigged the nursery door
too."
"It is one of the
ways to reach the office Benni."
"I'm
sorry.. I was just trying to.."
"Be
helpful.. I know.. I know.. So be helpful, I can't
calm down three
babies at once."
Fraser moved in to take
Francis from his bouncer and
cradled the asexual baby in his arms,
to start rocking and
crooning away to the baby. Ray pushed himself to Francesca's
spot,
brought his leg back up supporting Gregory then
reached out to bounce Francesca Jnr in her bouncer, while he
bounced
the boy on his lap.
Frannie and her Mother
arrived via the main bedroom in
short order and Frannie took her
name sake from the bouncer
to start rocking her.
"What happened?"
"Fraser accidentally
set off the arm, everything's
alright.. Except to my plan to give
everyone a chance to
sleep through a night."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, yeah,
I know.. Next time, you'll know better
than to creep around in the
wee small hours to feed the
babies without being asked to handle it."
Fraser nodded and Ray
swatted his mother's hands away
as she tried to take Gregory from
him.
"I can handle him."
Just to prove his
father right, the little bundle of
not so joyful baby settled down
and happily waved his little
legs and arms around, to latch onto
Ray's finger when Ray
reached down to stroke his face.
"Ohmigod,"
Frannie squeaked.
Ray
pushed the chair back to the computer and blocked
her view of the
grizzly picture of a corpse on the screen as
he put the mouse to
use closing the window.
"How did you hear
that alarm? I thought this place was
sound proofed."
"I left my door
open a little, so I could hear the
babies if they started crying,"
his mother said.
Frannie nodded as if
to say me too.
"With
the door to the nursery closed you wouldna heard
a thing, did you
think of that?"
From the looks of chagrin
on their faces it was obvious
they hadn't.
"You seem to
have had them all under control."
"I
checked them before I went to make some coffee and
discovered they
all needed a diaper change and decided to
feed 'em while I was at it and keep them from waking up
Meg."
"No need to ask
what you were doing up so late."
"I
couldn't sleep so I thought I'd get some work done.
I gotta start
earning a wage now I'm officially broke
again."
"You blew *all*
that money?!"
"Getting
this place fixed up, paying for the repairs to
the other place and
the bills for the triplets, I was wiped
out. Throwing that party took the last of my money, but I
figured I owed em for all the help they gave to get this
place fixed up in time to bring the babies here."
"If you had consulted
me about those hospital bills,
Raymond you would know there was
no need to pay for them,"
Meg said as she returned.
They all looked around
as she stalked into the room,
irritated. She held out her hands
to Frannie and Frannie
handed her name sake over.
"Fine, I'll give
them to you and you can get your
health fund to refund the money,"
was Ray's response.
"And while you're
at it you can show me the receipts
for the work on this place. I
know you had it redecorated
because I didn't like it the way it was."
"Trust me, it wasn't
just because you hated the decor I
thought it was pretty disgusting
myself."
"Fine, we'll spit
the difference, straight down the
middle."
"No, we wont."
Frannie and her
mother backed up and as one spun on
their heels and walked out.
"Yes, we will. It
may be your name on the title deeds
but you said this was *our*
home. And unless you stop
playing Macho games of I'm the one the one who has to
support the family, I'm going to take this instant family
you won't even admit is yours and go home to my mother who
I'm sure would be overjoyed to see her grandchildren."
"You do that."
She stared at him,
then gave him a narrow eyed look.
"You
don't get rid of me and the babies that easily.
This house is as
secure as it's possible to make a home, and
McIntire won't touch
me or the children."
He clicked his fingers
making a rats gesture.
"You
worked it out."
"You're
not the only one who studied that Profiling
Guide, Studmuffin. I
read it to you, remember. I can do an
instant profile on you any time I care too."
"You can stop bouncing
the baby now, Ray. I think he's
gone to sleep," Fraser intruded
Ray looked down to see
that little Gregory was indeed
asleep. Meg stepped closer to look
at him and transferred
the sleepy Francesca Jnr to her shoulder to reach down and
caress Gregory's cheek. The baby made a few suckling
movements and let out a little sigh.
"Did I mention
that you handled them very well?"
"Thank-you."
"Don't do it
again. You could have an accident, I
imagine your arm is killing
you after all that effort,
and.."
Ray reached up to poke
her in the sternum.
"Don't
tell me to stay out of my family's care,
Megatron."
"Megatron??"
Fraser queried and was ignored.
"I
intend to have a big part of their upraising. A
*hands on* part.
And you better get used to it. I don't care
if I can only use one
arm, or that it hurts when I have to
use both - I gotta get used to the pain anyway cause I'm
gonna suffer it for the rest of my life."
"There is no reason
to suffer pain when you don't have
too, Fraser and I are quite capable
of..."
"You're not the
only one who can threaten to walk out
here. If you try stopping
me having an active role in taking
care of my babies I will walk
and take Ma and Frannie with
me," Ray cut in.
"Oh, so now when
you want to play *surrogate* daddy,
they're *your* babies."
"I am not playing
surrogate, I know they're mine now."
"How?
I never did get around to having that paternity
test done."
"Ma."
"Don't tell me,
she said the boys look just like you
did when you were a baby and
that was good enough for you."
"No..
She knows that I didn't think they were mine,
Frannie heard me say
it and told her to stop planning our
wedding because they weren't mine. I got grilled about why I
thought
they were someone else's while they were still in
the hospital. And she did something no one else could do..
Give me a reason why all the efforts to have a family with
my ex-wife failed. And it had nothing to do with me. The
fertility problem was my ex's"
"Oh.. So you took
her word for it, when my word that
you were the father wasn't good
enough."
"No I did not take
her word for it. I contacted my ex,
told her what my mother said,
and asked her if it was true.
she confirmed it.. After she talked to a doctor."
"In other words..
she didn't realise the problem was
hers until you told her what
your mother told you."
"Yes."
"How did your mother.."
"Angie caught
the mumps from some kid she was baby
sitting and I didn't know about
it.. I got my skull
fractured when I hit in the head with a bottle while I was
trying to deal with a bar room brawl during my day's as a
man in uniform. I was comatose the whole time Angie was down
with
the mumps. 6 weeks all up - not her, me. No one ever
told Angie that mumps could cause infertility. And Ma came
across that little bit of information when she was going
through her trusty Medical encyclopedia trying to work out
what was wrong with one of Maria's kids and worked it out
for herself."
"Oh, that would
explain it."
"Ange..
My ex, tracked down the Doctor who treated her
at the time, confirmed
my mother's suspicions, then visited
a gynaecologist who had good and bad news. The Good news was
that
she's not infertile, the bad news was that she is
incapable of having children without specialist intervention
of
the kind we never had because we couldn't afford it."
"Ah."
"I'm sure my
mother thought she was just being helpful
when she told me about
Angie's problem. But I wish she'd
kept her suspicions to herself. I woulda chalked it up to
that explanation you gave.. You know the one about being
under stress. Cause even though the physical reason Ange and
I never
had a family was with her, the actual fault was
mine."
"I don't understand.
"Ange was
all for starting a family right away.. I
wasn't, for various reasons,
the main one being finances. I
wanted to have a home before I started a family, I didn't
plan on spending the rest of my life living under my parents
roof..
I wanted a chance to save up at least enough to put a
deposit down
on a house. An apartment is no place to raise a
baby. So I made
sure we didn't have any kids before I was
good and ready to become a daddy. By which time it was too
damn late."
"Oh.."
"She knows it too..
She was not pleased.. She knows I
became a daddy.. She took strips
of me for it. And I suppose
she's got a right to be angry. You and
I ain't married and
we've got the family she wanted and I deprived her off
letting my pride get in the way. I ain't gonna make the same
mistake
twice.. If you want to cover the costs of
redecorating this place. Go right ahead, but I ain't
splitting the costs right down the middle, it ain't my name
on the title deeds, it *our* names.. Your's, Benni's and
mine."
Meg and Fraser stared
at him.
"So
if you want to split the costs they gotta go three
ways."
"You put my name
on the deeds?" Fraser breathed unable
to believe what he was
hearing.
Ray glanced at the doors
and Fraser moved across the
room to close them before moving back
to the desk, to perch
on the edge.
"I told you, I'd
hate to have to chose between you and
Meg. I'm not about to go public
with the fact we're a
threesome. If it happens, it can wait till you are
officially declared fit to handle your own affairs. Meg and
I could get into serious trouble if it happened before
that."
"I..understand."
"Do you, I
mean, do you really understand Benni? Or are
you just saying that
because you think that's what I want to
hear. Every now and then
I think you're ready, then you do
something that makes me kick myself for wishful thinking."
"I do understand.
You are my legal guardians. You could
be charged with sexual misconduct
if people found out that
we had intimate relations."
"He understands
alright."
"And
I'm surprised that he does.. When so much else can
go right over
his head."
"When that man and
woman came to Meg's Apartment to
interview you and inspect the woman..
The woman tried to
question me.."
Ray nodded, remembering
the event in question.
"I
only vaguely comprehended what she was trying to do
and I couldn't
have answered her leading questions even if
I'd been inclined to at the time.. I couldn't express my
self at all at that time."
"She asked you leading
questions."
Fraser
nodded.
"Do
you remember when you broke your wrist, the day my
allergy manifested?"
Ray nodded, then he remembered
something else and
guessed what Fraser was about to say.
"They thought something
was up then, because of what
you did to be able to get to me at
the hospital, by letting
that Doctor think you were my S.O."
Fraser nodded.
"She
said, the hospital records stated that we were a
couple. She wanted
to know if that was still the case, if we
were having sex.. If you
touched me in a sexual manner, if
Meg ever touched me that way.. She even stated outright that
if
you did it was wrong, and would be classed as a
misdemeanour, that they would have you charged and take me
to a," he made a face, "nice hospital where the doctors and
counsellors would help me get better."
Ray scowled.
"I
knew I didn't like her."
"If
they suspected that why did they ever give us
guardianship?"
Meg wondered aloud.
"I think I convinced
her partner that Fraser was
getting the best care he could get under
the circumstances.
And I don't think we did anything wrong. We didn't make him
do anything that he didn't want to do.. We never forced him
to join us.. Except for..one occasion when I'm not sure of
the exact circumstances, it was always his decision to get
involved."
"You're talking
about the time we greeted you in full
dress reds."
Ray nodded.
"That was my idea,"
Meg admitted, "but I didn't make
him do it. You told me to
read that book, and I only did
what the book said. Which was to show the victim that they
wouldn't be treated the same way as they had by the abuser."
"Oh, so you decided
to use me to show him that bondage
games didn't have to necessarily
mean Domination."
"He used to.. chain
me to the bed."
They
both looked at Fraser.
"He
put a collar on me and made me wear it all the
time.. And he used
it to chain me to the bed. He made me
wear matching cuffs too.. He used those to do it sometimes..
And
he would leave me there... chained to the bed while he
went out to make sure I couldn't leave the apartment all the
time
during the last few weeks."
"Did you try to
break loose?"
"All
the time.. As soon as he left.. But he always kept
the chain so
short that I couldn't reach beyond the bed to
find something to break the lock and the chain was too
strong.. But I finally found a way.. I pocketed a sharp
knife while I was loose one night and hid it where I could
reach it and I used it the next time he left me chained to
the bed when he went out and cut through the collar and
cuffs. But it took too long.. He caught me before I could
get out.. And locked me in.. And brought new ones. And he
used those to do it.. And he didn't stop until I fought them
so
hard I passed out.. I had bruises and friction burns on
my neck and wrists that couldn't be hidden.. Or ignored
after that."
If he hadn't had a lap
full of baby Ray would have
risen to his feet to comfort Fraser,
with a cuddle and
promises that if he had his way nothing like that would ever
happen
to him again. He opened his mouth to say words to
that effect but Fraser had only stopped to draw in a deep
breath.
"That was wrong..
That was not my fault.. I do
understand that.. I understand what
you told me.. No one
deserves to be degraded that way," Fraser went on, then he
rose and moved, juggling the baby to his shoulder, to reach
out and caress Meg's cheek.
"You did the right
thing.. Even though I could barely
comprehend it at the time.. What
we did that day was not
wrong, it was not meant to humiliate, degrade or dominate.
That was.. when I learned the difference. It was just a game
with
you.. You stopped and made him calm down and took the
cuffs off when he became excited and started fighting them.
That was something Dante would never do for me. That's what
makes you different. You gave Ray a choice, and a chance to
back out of it.. I never got that choice. But if you asked
me to do it, if either of you asked me to do that, I would
agree to it, because I trust you. Because I know it would be
nothing
more than a game."
Fraser got two radiant
smiles at that.
"But
right now.. I just wish we could sleep in the same
bed together
again.. But I understand that we can't do that
right now."
"Oh, there's no
reason we can't do that now if that's
what you want, Benni."
"Your mother and
Frannie.."
"Don't
worry about them.. After that wake up call
they'll sleep in.. Besides,
if you want to get a little
frisky all we have to do is make sure *all* the doors are
closed and they won't hear a thing."
Fraser glanced at Meg.
"Well, I don't
know about Fraser, but I've been feeling
frisky for months and like
the Rolling stones say, I can't
get no satisfaction."
Ray laughed at that,
then awkwardly and with a barely
controlled grimace moved little
Gregory to his shoulder
before rising to his feet.
"Then what say we
put our instant family here to bed
and get reacquainted."
"Can we do that,
I mean, Meg just had the babies, is it
safe too.."
"I had a C-Section.
And the Doctor gave me the all
clear the other day. There's no reason
I can't get frisky if
I want to."
"Oh..well..
Let's put the babies to bed then shall we."
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Twenty One
ooOO0=@=0OOoo
After getting Francesca
Jnr settled, Meg entered the
bedroom to find Fraser under the blankets
but no Ray.
"Where's Ray?"
"He's making
sure all the other doors are closed."
Considering
it had taken her a good ten minutes to get
Francesca Jnr settled,
Meg found it a tad suspicious that
little job wasn't over and done with already.
"I just want to
get a drink of water. I'll be back in a
minute. Don't even think
of getting so comfortable you fall
asleep there," she said heading for the other door way.
He
gave her a little smile and waited until she left
the room to roll
over and reach for the alarm clock to reset
the alarm.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg headed for the kitchen
to give truth to her lie
about the glass of water, and discovered
Ray sitting on a
stool. He was staring at a small medication bottle on the
bench with a hypodermic needle and sterile swab sachet
beside it.
"Raymond?"
He glanced up at
her and back to the medication with a
sigh.
"You know that old
saying.. About the spirit being
willing."
She approached and reached
out to pick up the bottle
and looked at it.
"This isn't Fraser's."
"It's mine,
Paul gave it to me."
"It's
for your arm isn't it?"
"He
said I should use it if I was going to get up to
anything that might
make me use my arm.. Everything beyond
raising and lowering it is painful.."
"You hide it well."
"I'm always
taking pain killers for it.. But they just
keep the ever present
pain down, Sometimes.. When I move my
arm without thinking, I just wanna scream and wish he had
amputated it. It was pure vanity that made me beg him not to
do
it. I didn't want go through the rest of my life with
only one arm. He said, I better be ready to pay the price
for keeping it."
"And the price is
pain."
"Pain
I can handle.. With the pills he gave me.. The
occasional twinge
of severe pain, I can handle.. But
sometimes it goes beyond pain, sometimes it's pure
unadulterated agony," he said, heaving a deep sigh, "Like
just now.. I shut the door in the hall and reached for the
light switch near it without thinking.. Big mistake. It was
so bad I almost passed out"
She plunged the needle
through the cap of the bottle
and loaded the syringe.
"That's why you
came after this."
He
sighed with a nod and held up his right arm, his
hand was shaking
so bad that if he'd been holding a carton
of milk he could have turned it into a milk shake into next
to no time. She ripped the sachet open with her teeth and
then reached out to pull his sleeve back to swab a spot near
his
elbow where a vein was clearly visible.
"If you give me
that shot I'm gonna be pathetically
useless in bed. It's not just
pain it kills."
Her hand froze as she
reached for the loaded syringe.
"That's
why you were just sitting her staring at it."
"That
and the fact I couldn't inject myself with it
right now. I was..
hoping the pain would fade to a
manageable level."
Her hand fell on the
swab packet.
"Do
you have any more of these?"
He
nodded and waved in the direction of the
refrigerator.
"In the red container."
She capped the syringe
and slipped it into her pocket
before she collected the bottle and
carried it to the
refrigerator. She found the container he mentioned and
opened it to find a 11 identical bottles, a white pill
bottle and a packet of swab sachets. She slipped the bottle
back into the container and pulled out a swab tucking it
into her pocket and then she pulled the pill bottle out and
looked at it. His name was on the label, along with
instruction on how many to take when necessary. Opening the
bottle she looked inside to find it was close to empty. She
tapped two pills out then put it and the put the container
back where she found it.
He watched her move from
the refrigerator to the
cupboards where she fetched a glass to fill
it. Then she
joined him and tapped his lips with a finger.
"Open up."
He did and she popped
the pills into his mouth and
helped him drink.
"How long do they
take to work?"
"At
least 20 minutes."
Setting
the glass down she took his shaking hand and
tugged him off the
stool to lead him out of the kitchen.
"Do you know what
Endorphin's are?"
He
smiled faintly.
"Yeah."
"I think it's
time we reminded your body what they
are."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
"Ah, good, you didn't
fall asleep on us."
"I
was about to go looking for you."
"Ray
bumped his arm."
"Ouch."
Ray gave a weak
smile.
"It's
a little tender right now, so we just have to
make sure we don't
anything that makes him go through the
roof for the wrong reasons," Meg told Fraser.
"Oh," Fraser
said disappointed as he came to the
conclusion that meant getting
"reacquainted" was out.
Meg
pulled the swab and syringe out of her pocket and
set them on the
bed side table before she turned to give Ray
a light push to make
him sit on the edge of the bed.
"That doesn't mean
what you think, Ben, I think one of
your fabulous back rubs would
help him rediscover the mood."
Fraser
scrambled out from under the blankets and
crawled over the bed to
kneel behind Ray.
"You'll have to
remove his top."
She
smiled, kneeling before Ray to begin the slow
process of undoing
the half dozen buttons. She kissed her
way down his torso with each new button that was separated
from its button hole. The whole time Fraser's fingers
meandered over Ray's back through the thin material of his
soft cotton pyjama top. By the time Meg reached his belly
button he started forgetting about the pain in his arm and
remembering what it was he missed so much about his lovers.
"I love Endorphin's"
he murmured as she worked her way
back up his chest and gently pushed
his top away.
With a chuckle she kissed
him while Fraser took care of
getting the sleeve over Ray's brace
with infinite care. The
top hit the floor and Fraser's hands started moving over his
back
finding every point of tension and working with a
gentle skill to eliminate it. Meg's hand's got busy along
with Fraser's, moving over Ray's torso, her finger's
skittering over skin which grew warmer to touch as they
worked. Her mouth moved from his to glide over his throat
and shoulder before moving lower, trailing kisses and a nip
or two down his chest as her hands travelled lower.
He gave a pleased little
growl as her mouth closed over
his nipple and she began to lave
that bud with her tongue
and her fingers teased his skin at the waist band of his
pants. He arched, both his body and his neck when he felt
Fraser's mouth against his neck.
"Oooh yes,"
he breathed.
Meg's
teeth began to gently tease the hard bud his
nipple had become as
her tongue flicked it. And Fraser gave
him a thorough love bite.
"I...uh..think..you
better stop."
They
stopped, Fraser leaning forward to look at him,
Meg looking up.
"Or this is gonna
be all over real soon."
They
both chuckled and Meg rose, taking his hand
drawing him up to his
feet. His pants joined his shirt in
short order and they climbed under the blankets where Fraser
and
Ray turned their attentions to Meg and set about making
sure she got satisfaction, with nothing but their hands and
mouths.
"God.. I missed
this."
"Me
too," Ray said as he moved up her body to kiss her.
"Me
three," Fraser chimed in making them giggle.
"I
think me three is the odd man out, don't you."
"I agree with
Me too," Meg said.
With
that Meg and Ray pounced on Fraser and had him
shrieking with laughter
and pleasure through the means of
tickles, caresses, kisses, nips, sucks and his favourite
kind of groping.
It was during the midst
of this that Fraser's hands
stopped clawing at the sheets and sought
out Ray's body to
pull him close. A husky passionate request had Ray rearing
up wide eyed, startling Meg, and Fraser blushed from head to
toe
and rolled away.
Ray reached out to stop
him.
"Benni..
I didn't say no.. You just.. surprised me."
Fraser
looked over his shoulder, with a look that
melted Ray's heart.
"Are you sure you
wanna.. do that.. I mean.."
Fraser
rolled back, and Meg reached out to stroke his
chest, waiting to
see what happened next. She had a very
good idea of what Fraser wanted in mind, the only question
being wether he wanted to do it, or have it done to him.
"I'm sure that I
want to do it, with you. But.. do you
want to do it with me."
"I.. I.."
Fraser reached up to
press two fingers lightly to Ray's
lips.
"I might be ready
for that, but you're not, yet."
"I'm
sorry."
Fraser
gave him a tremulous smile, and then pulled his
head down.
"I understand,"
he said, before kissing Ray putting all
his longing, passion and
desire for the Italio-American into
that kiss and letting his other
hand roam over Ray's body.
Ray gave a deep moan
of pleasure and returned the kiss
measure for measure as Fraser's
hand roamed lower and lower.
The bed shifted suddenly and then Meg's
hands joined in and
he felt her brush aside his pony tail before her lips
brushed the nape of his neck.
Between them, Fraser
and Meg rolled him onto his back
without his tender arm being jostled.
He reached out to pull
Fraser's head back down.
"Later,"
he promised, and kissed the tip of Fraser's
nose, to be rewarded
with a radiant smile.
Meg's activities thoroughly
distracted Ray as Fraser
moved away. As she took him into her moist
sheath his hands
clawed the sheets and he arched under her. Then she froze
over him and after a few moments he opened passion glazed
eyes and looked up to see her straddling him, with Fraser
behind her, looking around her, both of them looking down to
his
left.
He looked down and realised
he'd moved his finger's
without being aware of the pain that usually
accompanied
such movement. Before that fact fully sunk in Meg moved over
him
and he felt Fraser's finger's on the jewels of his
manhood. Rational thought fled as together they took him to
the heights of ecstasy and pushed him over the edge leaving
him crying out in rapture.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
"Lieutenant Welsh,
good morning, would you like some
coffee," Meg greeted Ray's
superior the next morning.
"Yes, thank-you.
Is Ray up? Or is he with your instant
family?"
He expected a little
smile, he didn't get it, instead
she turned to lead the way down
the corridor.
"Ray is still in
bed, with his doctor in attendance.
Having Ray's sister here convinced
him to pay a house call."
"What's
wrong?"
"If
something was wrong, he wouldn't be here, he'd be
in hospital."
"If there's nothing
wrong then why did you call the
doctor?"
"It's just one of
the things we have to learn to cope
with.. Thanks to McIntire,"
she said, the last a low growl.
Welsh
followed her into the kitchen to find Fraser,
Frannie and her mother
up, dressed and all with a baby on
their shoulder. In Fraser's case it was Francis, who gave an
indelicate
little belch.
"Yesss.. Who's a
good Bambino," Meg said taping him on
the nose as she moved
past Fraser.
In Frannie's case, she
had a damp patch on her shoulder
and her name sake was happily mouthing
on a curl that had
escaped the bun she'd put her hair up into. And Mrs Vecchio
was rubbing little Gregory's back.
"How do you like
your coffee Lieutenant?" Meg asked as
she pulled cup from the
hooks that held and displayed a
matching set of six coffee mugs and set it before the jug to
reach
for the coffee.
He told her and looked
around as Gregory gave a belch
that put his sib's to shame.
"Now where have
I heard that before?" Frannie said in a
faintly arch tone thinking
of her father and making her
mother give a faint chuckle.
"I heard someone
set the alarm off last night," Welsh
commented as he accepted
the cup Meg handed to him.
"That was me,"
Fraser said, accepting full
responsibility. "I didn't realise
the alarm system covered
the nursery door too and tried to be helpful
by coming down
to feed the munchkins at 4 am to let Meg and Ray get some
sleep."
"Not that Ray was
sleeping."
"He
beat everyone too it," Frannie said.
"He
didn't beat any one to it, he was up half the night
working."
"Some people play
computer games while they nurse a
baby, he looks at pictures of
corpses instead," Frannie said
with a little shudder.
"Male or Female?"
"Female."
"Ah good he's
putting some time in on the Pearen case
then."
"Which one is that?
He mentioned three cases," Meg
commented as she made herself
a cup of coffee, then poked
her tongue at Fraser as he gave her a stern look.
"The Pearen case
is a Double homicide, unsolved, with a
traumatised witness we've
spent a fortune on specialist
counsellors trying to get the story out of. With no luck. It
was
when that particular case came to mind that the
Commissioner decided to run with my idea for bringing Ray
back into the fold. They've already spent more than it will
cost to run the experiment for six months trying to break
that case. If Ray can do it, he can secure his place for the
next
six months at least."
"I don't see how
staring at a picture of a corpse is
going to help him break a case,"
Frannie said transferring
her name sake to the other shoulder.
"Actually, Frannie,
you would be surprised at what a
profiler can learn about a killer
from staring at such a
picture."
"Particularly in
the case of a double homicide where
there's a second victim. By
comparing picture's he could
learn a lot about the killer's M.O.M."
"Mom?"
"Method of murder."
"Oh. I thought
that was M.O for modus operandi."
"It's
much the same thing. In this case, he could work
out the particulars
of how each person died, in so much as
what the killer did and how he or she did it, over the cause
of
death."
Frannie held the baby
out.
"You hear
that Mia Caro, get used to it. You're going
to hear them talking
like that all the time."
There were chuckles all
around at that and Frannie
rose, still holding the baby out, her
nose wrinkling.
"Who's got diaper
duty, this piccino needs a pooper
scooper."
Meg set her coffee down
moving to take the baby from
her.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg gave the baby a bath,
changing her jump suit before
transferring her to a cradle. She
heard the sliding door
open and looked around as Paul entered and stopped dead
looking around the room in admiration.
"Who's your interior
designer and is he still
available?"
"She's one of Ray
and Frannie's cousins, and if you
want to hire her you'll have to
speak to either Ray or his
mother about it. I have no idea how to contact her."
"I'll talk to his
mother about it, I *love* this room.
My patients aren't the only
things that can could do with a
face lift in my surgery. The waiting room could do with one
too."
"How's Raymond?"
Meg asked to concerned to laugh at
that joke.
"I gave him something
to put him back to sleep. He's
still awake, and feeling no pain,
but he'll drop off soon."
"Apart
from that?"
"I'm
amazed no one came in to stop me from *torturing*
him the way he
was screaming as I manipulated his arm."
"The
house has been thoroughly sound proofed. We didn't
hear a thing."
"Ah, that explains
it. Are you sure you saw his fingers
move?"
"Quite sure. They
were definitely moving. And he did a
lot more than just move his
fingers, he was using his whole
arm at one point."
"And he didn't scream
his lungs out at the time?"
"He
had other things on his mind at the time."
"Babies
or sex?"
A
faint pink flush tinted her cheeks.
"The
later."
"That'd
do it. Sex raises the pain threshold. But it
doesn't eliminate it.
Which means you have two choices, you
can either get used to him passing out on you when the pain
reaches a point when all the endorphin's in the world
couldn't dull it or convince him to wear the new brace I'll
drop around tonight. It will keep his arm totally immobile,
and have the added benefit of making it much safer to get
frisky without worrying about wether or not his arm might
get bumped."
"Is that a brace
you're talking about or a cast?"
Paul
smiled very faintly.
"You
could call it a slimline, reusable cast."
"No
offence, Doctor, there isn't someone we can
consult, about more
work on his arm, is there? An expert who
can .."
"There were two
such experts at the hospital that I
consulted. They examined him,
while I had him under, and
they both agreed on the same point. Amputation was the most
humane thing to do. But he was adamant that he wanted to
keep the arm."
"He mentioned that
you warned him it would come at a
price."
"That price may
not be as high as I thought.. Make him
keep the cast on for at least
a week, two if possible. Then
send him back to me. I'll let Francesca know when I can slot
him
in. I want to examine his arm again, if you can keep him
in the
cast I should be able to finish the grafting and all
going well, set up phsyiso sessions for him.. The fact he
was moving his arm, fingers and all suggests he might regain
movement."
"But wether he regains
it without extreme pain when he
uses it is another question."
"I'm afraid so."
"Thank-you
for coming."
"Any
time."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg sat on the edge of
the bed and brushed Ray's hand
with her finger tips. His eyes opened
to half mast, and
closed fast, his arm going up to cover his eyes.
"Turn offff z'light,
hurz.."
Meg
jumped to her feet, to cross the room in a hurry to
turn off the
light. On returning to the bed, she laid a hand
on his leg.
"It's off now. How
are you feeling?"
"Muz
better now.. gave me a zot," he slurred, lowering
his arm.
"So he said."
"Zoo-pid..zoulda
no bet-terrr."
"I
should have taken, I'm in pain in as a hint."
"Not
yourr f..ffault. All mmminne. Won' appen.. 'gain."
"He's
going to bring a new brace around to put your arm
in to make sure
it doesn't happen."
He had nothing to say
about that and she gave him a
little poke. He rolled over and mumbled
something totally
incomprehensible. She tugged the blankets up and leaned over
him,
brushing his hair back and gave him a kiss on the
cheek. Sitting back, she watched him snuggling down and
settling into sleep.
"If he comes to
finish what he started, I will kill him
for what he did to you and
Ben."
"Zat's what he wants,"
Ray muttered in his sleep.
Meg
started and leaned closer.
"Run
that by me again and expand on it, please."
"Wanz
to die... No more pain.. Izn' the zuizidal type..
He woulda killed
himzelf.. after... he realized.. what he'd
done to Benni if he was.. In pain.. Benni zed so.. He doz'n
wanna live... wouldn't be.. so e-z to track.. if he waz'n
leaving trail..to find.. wanz to be caught, wanz to be
killed.. Wanz someone to put him out of hiz mizery."
"When did you work
that out?"
"Larz
night. Thaz whaz letterz abouz. Iz a taunt to
make uz react the
way he wanz. I've done thiz and I done
that an I'm gonna keep doing it an you carn ztop me, nhah
nhah.."
Meg leaned closer.
"Do you think he
wants to kill you, or just scare you
into giving him what he wants."
"Both..Either..
one or the otherrr. Doz'n matter.. Hez
coming zoon."
"How soon?"
"Two left..onza
liz.. Arz them.. zend records.. Narzy
zonz of bitchez. He will take
them out.. He won't come..
until they're dead.. And when they are.. He'll come... and
he'll do it.. in a way that gez attention.. zo I'll know hez
comin..
and be ready to defend myzelf."
"I see.. I'm curious,
what did Fraser want from you
tonight, what did he ask you to do?"
"Wanzta go all the
way.. With me.. Thaz good.. Never
tried to do that before. He never
tried it with you..or did
he."
"No, he hasn't."
"Good zign..
great zign.. Hez not juz zaying one thing
and doin anozer.. Zed
he truz uz.. and.. that proved it. You
should try..to zeduce him..
zee if he takez you up on it. If
he doz then hez ready for the next
step."
"You're not ready
to go that far with him yet."
"Don'
know.. never.. done that.. juz learning.. thinz
az I go 'long..
Do to him.. what he doz to me.. that
workz.."
"Tell me about the
babies."
"Zair
boot-e-full..ador-e-bull..I can't believe zair
mine."
"They are."
"Yez... Keep..
pinching myzelf.. I wanned zem to be
mine.. zo bad.."
"Why?"
"Cauz I wanna be
a daddy.. Gonna be the bezt far-zer
any kid ever had."
"That's why you
*really* wanted the to be yours. There
was no other reason?"
"Juz one.. babiz
would..be a reazon to..ztay togzer..
when Benni got better.. I mizzed
tha zo muz.. You were
alwayz zic.. zo I ztudied..hard inztead.. never even tried..
to
get my noz outta my bookz.. thought.. it waz over.. "
She
leaned over him, stroking his hair and placed a
soft kiss near his
ear.
"Once or twice I
thought of putting on my naughtiest
lingerie, getting my cuffs,
luring you away from your books,
to cuff you to the bed and have
my wicked way with you," she
said and watched him give a sleepy
smile.
"Actually, it was
a lot more than once or twice.. I
thought about doing it a lot."
His smile grew wider.
"I even got
Fraser into his uniform once.. He was like
a little puppy, so excited
about the idea."
"Zo what happened?"
"I sent him
in to lure you out.. But all you did was
say that's nice Benni..
Do you mind, I've got 3 assignments
and I have to get this finished tonight."
"Oppz."
The sound of people in
the nursery caught her
attention. One of the voices she heard was
Lieutenant
Welsh's. He wanted to get his hands on Ray's copy of the
McIntire letter."
"3rd CD, from the
left zecond shelff to tha right.
Soundwave."
She frowned trying to
work out what he was talking
about then realised he must have heard
Welsh talking. She
couldn't work out what it meant, but it was sure to have
something to do with it.
"I have to go..
But I have one last question."
"Mhhm."
"You were studying
the Pearen case file too.. Did you
come to any conclusions on that
case?"
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Meg found Welsh closing
the drawer of the mobile file
cabinet and looking irritated when
she entered the office.
"Do you have a key?"
"Of course
I have a key. I have two, the master and the
spare. Do you know
where he put that letter?""
"No."
"It must be in the
file room, do you know where he put
the key card?"
"No.. Wait.."
She moved to the
computer, looked to the right, and
pulled the 3rd cd from the left
out and opened it. All it
contained was a CD. She pulled the booklet out and the key
card slipped out onto the desk.
"One key card,"
she said picking it up.
"I
don't suppose he told you the code too?"
She
walked over to the file room, pushed the fake light
switch aside
and slipped the card in, tapping in the name
Soundwave. The light turned from red to green and she heard
a beep and a click. Welsh moved in pulling out his keys and
opened the door, to enter the room.
"Did you interrogate
the Doctor?"
"Of
course."
"Whatever
he gave Raymond to put him to sleep would
make a wonderful interrogation
tool," Meg commented as Welsh
found the I file drawer and opened
it to find a lone file
there.
"What makes you
say that?"
"He's
talking in his sleep. Quite intelligently I might
add, if a little
slurred. He heard your voice and told me
where to find the key card and the code."
"Ah."
"I asked him about
the Pearen case.."
Welsh
closed the drawer looking around.
"What
did he have to say about it?"
"In
his opinion, and he did say he could be wrong,
there were two killers,
one is the second victim, the other
is the child you've been trying so hard to get to talk about
what
happened.."
"What?!"
"The couple had
a fight, one of them picked up a knife,
probably the wife, to fend
her husband off. He got the knife
off her and stabbed her several
times, in the heat of the
moment, the child came to his mother's defence, too late. In
a frenzy
of fury the boy kills his father. When he realises
what he's done, he goes into traumatic shock. That's why
there's no sign of forced entry, no apparent motive, no
enemies, no theft. It also explains why the majority of the
wounds are to the lower body. Once he got started, he went
berserk, that's why there are so many stab wounds. According
to
the records you gave him. The couple had a history. The
husband was charged with spousal abuse several times, but
the charges were always dropped. Child abuse, physical not
sexual was suspected, but not proven."
Welsh turned and hunted
down the P file drawer
unlocking and opening it to pull out the
lone file there.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Twenty Two
ooOO0=@=0OOoo
Ray slept through the
day, and the return of the Doctor
who placed his arm in the cast
like brace that would
immobilise his arm from the shoulder to the fingers. He also
slept
through the return of Lieutenant Welsh, 3 feeding's,
numerous turns at diaper duty, the bathing of the babies,
and the fruitless seduction of Fraser by Meg after Frannie
departed with the Doctor for a night on the town and Mrs
Vecchio volunteered to watch the little bambino's for a
time, while they "caught up on their sleep".
He awoke to find he had
company in the bed, the kind of
company that snuggled up next to
him, on either side. His
movements woke them up, and they put a smile on his face. A
very big smile.
Around nine he slipped
out of the bedroom and into the
bathroom to shower and shave. Passing
through the master
bedroom again on his way to the nursery Ray found them
contently sleeping each other's arms. He found six bottles
in the warmer in the baby care room, along with a pile of
freshly cleaned diapers. He then began inspecting each of
the triplets onto to find they were in no need of
immediate attention.
He spent half an hour
simply admiring and occasionally
stroking his instant family before
his grumbling stomach
reminded him that it had been some time since he'd eaten and
he
went off in search of food.
In the kitchen he found
a note on the refrigerator door
from his mother, telling him his
dinner was in the ice box
and an envelope with his name on it. Investigating the
refrigerator he found a meal she left for him and into the
microwave it went. He pulled out the milk and made himself a
cup
of coffee, carrying it and the envelope to the island
bench, returning to the micro wave to fetch his meal and a
fork to eat it with.
In between mouthfuls
he opened the envelope to find a
copy of memo from the Commissioner
to Welsh. It was short
and sweet and confused the hell out of him.
Pearen case closed. You
were right. He is too good to
be wasted. Inform Vecchio, his post
is secure for the next
six months under agreed terms - with room for negotiations,
re: our discussion.
-I don't get it. I
didn't do anything. How did they
close the case? Why does he think
it was me? and what
negotiations is he talking about?-
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
"You talk in your
sleep," Meg said when he showed her
the letter and asked if
she knew what it was about.
"I do?"
"I've been hearing
you do it since we started
cohabiting."
"Oh."
"I'm looking forward
to seeing if I can have an
intelligent conversation with you while
you're sleeping
again or wether that was just a once off fluke."
"What were you doing?
Interrogating me in my sleep?"
"Yes."
He stared at her
and she handed him a cup of coffee.
"Go
back to work. You've got two more cases to work
on."
"One really."
"Oh?"
"The other
one is Dante's. I'm supposed to write up a
profile on him."
"Well, I suggest
you get started on it. You've got
everything you need now."
Ray nodded heading for
the office.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
One week became two during
which Ray cleared away the
second case he'd been given and written
up the requested
profile on Dante and resumed his studies. Meg convinced him
to keep the cast/brace on the whole time.
On the third week Paul
arrived to drag him off to the
hospital, put him out and went to
work on his arm. He
returned home with his arm in pressure bandages encased in
the special brace for safety's sake.
He spent the next month
trying to pretend he wasn't
worried about how the final operation
went. He had other
things to concentrate one. He was handed four more cases to
work on, called out to talk 3 leapers from splattering
themselves on side walks, there were also 6 hostage
situations where he was called in. Two of the bank job gone
wrong type, four of the Husband's gone nuts and threatened
to torch/shoot/knife/kill the wife and/or kids type. On top
of that he had his studies to take care of, Fraser's
counselling sessions, which were going extremely well, and
despite the best efforts of Fraser, Meg, his mother and
sister, there were times he played devoted daddy to the
triples to the exclusion of all else.
The quartet gave up trying
to keep him from taking a
hands on approach to father hood and Meg
had a wicked idea
that she put into action.
Ray walked into the nursery
hearing gurgling coming
from a cradle and wandered to the partitioned
section that
contained the apple of his eye, Francesca junior. A few
second later he burst out laughing. Meg & Fraser poked their
heads
into the room.
Ray reached into the
cradle, and pulled Francesca Jnr
out of the cradle, with one hand,
using the cleverly
designed strap and brace system with a handle on it that had
been
strapped into place over her bright'n'colourful
jumpsuit.
Looking around as he
transferred Francesca Jnr to his
shoulder he spied Meg and Fraser.
"Who's bright idea
was the baby handle?"
Meg's
hand went up, then she entered the room, with
Fraser on her heels.
"You're the one
who insists on having a hands on part
of their upbringing. It will
make things easier for you to
do it."
"Where did you get
it?"
"Oh.
I rang several disability support centers, who put
me in touch with
manufacturers of aides for people who loose
the use of one arm,
either due to a stroke or amputation.
Most of them hung up on me when I told them what I wanted.
But the last one laughed, asked if was serious and told me
to bring a baby in. It was designed with padded straps so it
won't
harm the baby and the handle band is fixed with a
rotation frame so that the handle will move around as the
babies roll around. That's what the padded belt around her
middle is for."
Ray examined it more
closely while Francesca Jnr
grabbed a handful of his hair and started
gumming it.
"This is great..
How long will it last?"
"The
straps are adjustable. He said that unless they
become fat little
dumplings it should last until they're
about 12 months.. When we'd have to bring one in to be
measured up for a new set.."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
"It's enough to
make you wonder how they ever conceived
the Bambino's in the first
place," Mrs Vecchio almost wailed
to her friend over the phone.
Meg heard her voice,
and her words from the corridor
she had been traversing on her way
to the nursery. As she
realised Mrs Vecchio was talking about her and Ray she
changed direction to approach the lounge room door way and
plastered herself to the wall beside it.
"It's no wonder
he buries himself in his work, she does
nothing to make herself
attractive for him... I think it is
a blessing that she had triplets, because the way things
stand I doubt she'd ever lure him away from his work and
back to the bedroom to add to their little clan."
{Hmmph}
*~~~~~~>{*}<~~~~~~~*
Ray worked at his computer
tapping his way through a
report. He heard a creak from the nursery
that the rocking
chair always made when someone sat down in it. Not for the
first time, he saved his document, then reached out and
switched of the screen, angling it just so, the room beyond
appeared on the screen, reflecting off the curved glass.
Once he got the angle just right, Ray watched as Meg sat, a
baby on her lap, supported by one arm as she slid open her
zippered top.
He'd brought that top,
with its long zip for her, and
that wasn't the only thing she was
wearing that he'd brought
for her either. He got a glimpse of red
lace, and then her
hand was blocking his view, but only for a moment as she
snapped open the catch and pulled back the cup on her lacy
maternity bra.
He shifted in his seat
and clattered at the keys
pretending to be working as he watched
her fingers move over
her breast, moving to roll her nipple. He
shifted in the
seat again, feeling his sex start to grow warmer as blood
rushed to it.
"Who's a hungry
little Bambino?" She purred as her
hands moved and she raised
the baby, cradling it in her
arms.
He switched the screen
back on, feeling jealous of the
infant that was by the sound of
things latching onto it's
mother's breast and suckling on it. He cleared the document
of the gibberish he'd typed up and tried to get his mind
back on to the subject at hand.
-Its ridiculous to be
jealous of a baby - he thought as
he tried to ignore the throbbing
in his groin.
It was getting harder
to ignore as the sex free days
went by. It wasn't that he had no
interest in sex, on the
contrary, day after day he sat there, working away, being
constantly distracted from his work as Meg came in to feed
the babies. He'd lost count of the number of cold showers
he'd taken after watching Meg tend to their offspring.
Truth to tell it was
fear, of pain, of passing out and
scaring his lover (or lovers)
or worse of not being able to
preform when the time came, due to stress and fear. But then
at
times like this his body kept reminding him that he had
two interested partners who would be happy to indulge in a
little mutual pleasuring.
He forced his mind back
to the job at hand and
completed the report. He was in the middle
of spell checking
it when he heard noises from the nursery that
told him Meg
was returning the baby to it's cradle.
The spell checker found
another word to question the
validity of the spelling of and he
checked the list of
psychobabble words taped to a shelf. He clicked on add and
told himself that one of these days he'd pull down his
psychobabble dictionary and type in all the words to add
them to the spell checker's dictionary. He was always saying
that,
but he never got around to it. There was always
something more important, more necessary to do.
Like profiles to write
up, reports to write, cases to
study, study assignments to carry
out, babies to tend to.
The chair creaked, again,
surprising Ray, Meg almost
never feed more than one baby in a sitting,
preferring to
stagger their feeding's so they wouldn't all become
querulous at the same time.
"Are you hungry
too?" She cooed.
-Uh-hu-
He thought as that question reminded him of the
throbbing ache in
his groin he'd almost managed to put out
of his mind by getting his mind back on his work and off the
enticing
woman in the next room.
"I just bet you're
sitting over there thinking I want
some too."
-Huh??-
He cancelled the spell
check, saved the document,
switched the screen off and did a double
take. Meg had
turned the chair around so it directly faced the office. He
had a good clear frontal view of her. The top zipped primly
to her collar bone. As he watched, her finger hooked the
ring through the zip and then slowly drew it down.
"Yes, you, you voyeur."
-*Gulp*-
He couldn't take his
eyes off her reflection in the
screen as that zip descended, until
it reached the hem, and
then her hands slid up either side of split. He watched her
fingers run up and down the metal segments, her nails
skittering over them, before she leaned forward and started
pushing the top off. The pulse in his groin started
throbbing at a faster tempo.
"I know you're watching
me, or my reflection on that
screen."
-Yikes-
The top slid off and
was tossed aside, to flutter to
the floor. He drank in the sight
of her exposed torso, her
post pregnancy bustline encased in sexy red lace. Her once
more slim waist, her hands sliding over her pale skin.
-drool-
Then he noticed the skirt
she was wearing, it had
buttons from the waist to its knee length
hem and as he
watched, she eased each on of its buttons apart from the
button holes. All the while she kept up a litany of saucy
comments, erotic suggestions and just plain filthy come ons.
He
gave a low groan, his hand sliding off the desk top
to his lap,
releasing the button on his own trousers, and
sliding the zipper down.
-Mama Mia- he thought
when Meg's hands parted the
skirts voluminous folds to reveal her
long legs were clad in
fire red mid thigh stockings held up with
a lacy red
suspender belt and the ultimate seduction tool, a pair of
almost translucent red French knickers.
His eyes were glued to
the screen as she sat in the
chair, touching herself, those hands
he loved to feel
sliding over his body sliding over her own. Gliding over
pale skin he wanted to kiss, opening and removing the
bra he wanted to remove. Stroking the breasts he wanted to
kiss and caress, and suckle at like one of the bambino's.
His own hand slid over
his skin, pulling his now
rampant sex free of his shorts to start
stroking it the way
he wanted to feel her stroking it.
His eyes remained locked
on the screen as Meg's hands
wandered lower and her legs rose, drawing
upward, till her
feet rested on the edge of the seat and he watched her touch
her
own sex.
Almost without realising
what he was doing, he began
match the rhythm she used as she first
stroked herself, then
dipped a finger inside, and another, moving
them in and out
as he wrapped his own hand around his own sex and began
moving it up and down in synchronicity.
"Are you touching
yourself?" came her husky
inquisitive voice.
"Uh-hu."
"Well stop."
-***?!?!?!***-
"Stop doing it and
turn that chair around so I can see
you."
With a major bit of will
power he drew his hand away
from his turgid sex and turned the chair
to face her, and
watched her slowly set, first one, then the other leg down,
rising
from the chair to approach.
-She isn't going to do
what I think she's going to do?
Is she?-
She did, entering the
office, spinning to rip the
curtains closed, then slid the doors
closed, before she
strode through the room, glorious in her semi-nakedness.
-Best 80 bucks I ever
spent- he thought as he watched
her move through the room clad only
in that naughty
lingerie.
She moved to straddle
him, her knees resting on the
leather seat either side of him. Her
hands worked to rapidly
open his shirt then started sliding over
his skin.
-Oh yeah-
"Do you want to
touch me?"
"Uh-hu."
"Go ahead,
touch all you like."
His
hand rose, making contact with her hip, then slid
upwards, following
her curves till it met with the underside
of her breast. She rose
up on her knees and started toying
with his nipples. He lowered his head to nuzzle her throat,
working his way down that pale column to her collar bone,
with tiny kisses, then beyond to nuzzle at her breasts, till
his
nose found a peaked nipple.
He teased that taunt
little bud with his nose till she
pinched his and then began to
flick his thumb over the
opposing nub while his mouth closed over its mate.
He licked her nipple,
then began circling it and its
mate with his tongue and thumb, flicking
them every time he
completed a circle. She arched against him murmuring in
pleasure and her hands emigrated from his chest to his lap,
to start fondling his sex and jewels of his man hood. He
let out a moan against her hot skin, then as one of her
hands closed over his sac and began expertly stimulating it,
he
started suckling against her breast.
Her other hand closed,
tightly around his sex and began
sliding up and down its length
in perfect synchronicity with
the rhythm of his suckling. When he
was reward for his
lavish attention to her breast with a mouthful of milk, he
stopped, swallowed, and dabbed at her breast with his tongue
before
transferring his attention to the other breast. He
absently thought that his little Bambino's would be well and
truly
aggrieved later if he drank deeply of her life
sustaining fluid.
His hand skittered over
her skin, his arm wrapping
around her, sliding over smooth skin,
up and down her spine,
then gliding over her rounded derriere, his
hand wrapping
around her thigh. She began rocking her hips in a swaying
motion as his fingers teased the sensitive flesh of her
inner thigh, then slid upwards to start stroking her sex.
"Yessss," she
breathed.
Her
hands stilled over him and withdrew from his sex,
moving instead
to his shoulders to hold on tight while his
fingers moved over and inside her sex, teasing and
tantalising her, drawing little cries of pleasure from her,
until she raised her voice in a plea for satisfaction.
He lifted his head, his
hand leaving her sex to travel
up her back, to cup the back of her
head as his mouth
travelled up her throat, to nip at an ear, then along her
jaw. Then he teased her further, skimming her lips with
his tongue with feather light strokes, before nipping at the
sensitised
flesh with his teeth, and repeating the teasing
motions of his tongue.
Her hands rose, pulling
the binding from his hair
letting his curls loose, to run through
the silky waves of
raven tresses, before tangling her fingers in the hair at
the base of his skull as she let out a little growl
and deepened the kiss.
Their tongues duelled
as he let his hand go wandering
again. Up and down her spine it
went, with feather light
caresses, playing her spine like a key board, grazing the
skin with fast but light scratches, that made her arch away
bringing their bodies in contact to rub against each other.
In response, her fingers
slid free of his hair and slid
down his chest, around his ribs and
up his back. He gave a
little growl of pleasure as she returned the favour, then
guided his sex to her moist welcoming one, insinuating it's
tip within her, before his hand travelled up her back
again, to tangle in her hair, pulling her head back.
When his mouth started
ravishing her neck and
shoulders, she arched against him, then became
still as the
movement united them and his hot pulsating sex thrust deep
inside.
He began rocking against
her, and she raked her nails
down his back and rose over him. Growling
against her throat
he dropped his hand wrapping his arm around her
waist, his
hand cupped her hip in a tight grip and his teeth left their
mark
behind.
His head went back, his
eyes widening in surprise when
she thrust down and started doing
things with her pelvic
muscles that she normally only did when she climaxed. She
looked into his eyes with an almost feral look of pleasure
and mischief.
-You win-
She moved over him, pushing
him closer to the point of
ecstasy with her strong movements, riding
him hard and fast,
taking and giving pleasure. He arched under her,
his embrace
becoming almost painfully tight as his body sank back
into
the expensive leather skin of the ergonomically designed
chair. Crying out in his rapture he thrust back hard against
her
and she joined him there, sinking her teeth into his
arched throat as she came.
Panting for breath as
his body trembled in the
aftermath of their rapturous union, Ray
slid his arm back up
her body to cup her head and pulled it down
for a lazy kiss,
then he just held her close till he could string
more than a
few words together intelligently.
"That beats a cold
shower, hands down," he declared
making her laugh.
*~~~~~~>{*}<~~~~~~~*
Meg sauntered into the
kitchen, her hair all over the
place, wearing her baggiest sweat
pants, and another one of
the bright zippered tops Ray had brought to make it easier
for her to breast feed the little bundles of joy.
Mrs Vecchio was as expected
bustling around the kitchen
preparing yet another gastronomic delight
of the Italian
type for dinner and gave her a look of disdain as she opened
a cupboard
to pull out a cup and made coffee.
"You should make
a cup for Raimondo too."
Ray
walked into the kitchen unnoticed by his mother,
but he didn't remain
unnoticed for long as he reached out to
snatch up a sliver of one
of the vegetables she was
preparing for the meal. She turned and slapped his hand and
Ray jumped back and moved in on Meg to give her a
spontaneous cuddle, and nuzzled her neck.
Mrs Vecchio's brows defected.
"That's what
I like to see, my two favourite women
working side by side."
{As if, she'd go after
me with that knife if I tried to
actually do some cooking}
Oblivious to the true
state of things, Ray slipped away
from Meg to open the refrigerator
and pull out a chilled can
of coke. He slipped the can into his
pocket before he nudged
the door shut with his hip and went wandering
back out,
goosing Meg on his way.
With a smirk of satisfaction
at the amazed look on Mrs
Vecchio's face, Meg wandered out with
her coffee.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray was working away
on his computer, when Meg stomped
into the office.
"Will you make her
stop with the hints."
Ray
turned looking around.
"Make
who stop with what hints?"
"Your
mother."
She
waved a ladies magazine with a post it note
sticking out of the
middle of it. Ray took the magazine and
flipped to the page marked to discover that it was the first
page
of an 8 page bridal feature.
"Oooh."
"She keeps leaving
magazines lying around, either open
to bridal features, or with
notes. Not to mention the times
she's dragged out the family albums and showed me the family
wedding
snaps. Including those from your first wedding. And
then there are the times I hear her pretending to be
*talking* on the phone to one of her friends about this
person or that person's wedding. And while I have no
objections to advice on dealing with the babies needs or
help, I do object to being told I'm doing something all
wrong and that I should do it this way or that. And just
last night she gave me a learn to speak Italian tape and
when I said I had not intention of learning Italian, she
said, it's not for you, it's for the Bambino's."
"Oh dear."
"I don't insist
they learn my second language and I
resent the inference that because
you have Italian heritage
they *must* learn to speak the language."
"She's driving you
up the wall isn't she."
"Yes."
"I'll talk
to her about it.. But you should try to keep
your temper with her..
She's going to be invaluable around
here when you return to work."
"Not good enough,
among other things, she complains
about my cooking, won't let me
into the kitchen, I'm
thoroughly sick of Italian food night after night. And it
goes beyond that, she keeps badgering me to convert to
Catholicism, telling me that if I just took more care in the
way
I dressed that you'd get your nose out of the books and
be more affectionate, and I heard her giving Fraser a
lecture.."
"A lecture? About
what?"
"Homosexuality."
Ray almost groaned.
"What you get
up to is your own business, Benton," Meg
said mimicking his
mother perfectly, "And I do not have any
problems with your
orientation, so long as you stop trying
to seduce my son, and don't you think its time you started
looking for a place of your own again."
Ray rose from his chair
and marched out of the office
and through the nursery flinging the
door open.
"MA! Get in here!"
His mother heard
the bellow and rushed to the nursery.
"You
wanted something, Raimondo."
"Start
packing and find somewhere else to stay until I
tell you it's safe
to go home."
"What?!"
"You heard me. You're
doing exactly the same thing that
made me move outta home after
Ange and I got married. Well
this time, I'm not moving out, you are. I will not put up
with you insulting Meg or deciding when it's time for Fraser
to
move out. I chose a big house for a reason .. Benni is
welcome to stay with us for as long as he wants, you on the
other hand have stepped over the line and out worn your
welcome."
"But.."
"I'm sorry Ma, but
when you start insulting Meg's
cooking and saying she's not woman
enough to turn me on, you
cross the line. You know *nothing* about
our sex life. And
inferring it's lacking spice because she doesn't put any
effort it into it is going too far. Meg has never had any
problem finding ways to lure me into the bedroom. And as for
Fraser,
*how* dare you lecture him and put a guilt trip on
him!"
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Mrs Vecchio moved out
the next day. Francesca the day
after. Fraser became more demonstrative
in his affections as
a result.
The day Meg went to the
consulate to make arrangements
for her return to duty in the near
future, Fraser went from
affectionate to passionate. Virtually dragging Ray away from
his
work and into the bedroom. When Ray saw the array of
things Fraser had set on the bedside table he was left with
no doubts that Fraser had a little heavy duty seduction in
mind.
And heavy duty it was,
as Fraser used feathers, food,
and a few interesting sex toys as
well as his skilled hands
and mouth to drive Ray absolutely wild. He also gave Ray his
first
lesson in gay sex, teaching Ray a lesson about his own
body and
a big hint of the pleasures he wanted to introduce
him to.
Ray lay on the bed, after
the event, panting and soaked
with sweat, staring at the roof, Fraser
curled up at his
side, softly stroking his chest.
"I wonder how I
ever thought of you as being an
innocent," he said at last
making Fraser chuckle.
Ray turned to give Fraser
a peck on the tip of the
nose.
"That was incredible."
"I'm glad to
hear you say that."
"I bet you
want me to return the favour in the same
way."
"Not.. quite,"
Fraser said, moving to give Ray a kiss
then whispered in his ear
while he nibbled at it.
Ray's eyes widened.
"Benni.."
"Please.."
"I don't want
to do anything that might hurt you."
"You
won't."
Ray
stroked his face.
"I'm
still not sure about.. Crossing that line with
you, Benni."
"I'm not asking
you to let me do it to you."
"Either
way, Benni. It's not that.. I'm saying I won't
do it. It's just
that I still don't feel comfortable with
the idea.."
Fraser's hands started
wandering over Ray's body
stroking him.
"Because you're
still my legal guardian."
Rather
than admit he was just having trouble dealing
with the idea of homosexual
intercourse full stop, Ray
nodded. He didn't want to bring up the fact he'd studied the
subject
of male rape in his SAC classes and seen his fair
share of cases in his time on the force. Or that he'd never
forget the way Fraser looked after Dante violently raped and
beat
him to within a inch of his life. He never wanted to
see that look on Benni's face again and was terrified of
doing something that might cause his Benni to remember the
incident.
And rather than confessing
to all the reasons he didn't
want to comply with Fraser's request
he let Fraser tease his
body back into a state of arousal. When
he began to make
love to the Canadian, he used all the tricks Fraser had
introduced him to and using one or two of his own that
surprised and delighted his inventive lover.
The look of pure adoration
on Fraser's face as he
reached for the lubricating gel made him
feel guilty about
failing to satisfy his lover in the way he wanted. It didn't
help
any when Fraser took the tube and used it to coat his
sex "just in case" he changed his mind. The process made
Ray's eyes flutter and his breath catch.
Then Fraser was directing
his hand to his own nether
regions and laying back, clawing at the
sheets, getting
extremely vocal as he started using his hand to pleasure
him. He writhed and bucked in frustration because Ray
couldn't use both hands, and began to moan plea's for more.
When Fraser launched
up, he surprised Ray, pulling him
up, pushing him back, kissing
him with passionate desire. At
first Fraser's passion scared the
hell out of Ray, but then
as his hands and body moved over Ray's, the Italio-American
forget his inhibitions and fears swept away by his lover's
passionate acts.
He felt Fraser's gel
slick fingers slide inside him to
start massaging his prostate,
almost went through the roof
again, as he had when Fraser preformed that act earlier. The
click
of the door barely registered, but the way Fraser
stiffened a few moments later did.
Ray expected a teasing
remark from Meg about starting
without her, instead he got Fraser
scrambling away from him
and the shock of his life when he looked around and saw
Dante, standing near the bed end, looking down at him.
"And I was so enjoying
the show," Dante drawled as he
cocked and aimed his weapon.
Pure shock held Ray immobile
as Dante pulled the
trigger and he felt a stinging pain in his chest
and looked
down dumbly to see a dart sticking out of his chest. Another
joined
it a moment later and numbness began to spread
through his chest, radiating outward from the darts.
While his body starting
going numb, his mind started
racing, knowing that he would die,
and die horribly if he
didn't find a way to escape whatever fate Dante had in store
for
him. With his crippled arm his chances of fighting him
were pretty low, and he had Fraser to think of.
"Go ahead,"
he said, looking up at Dante as he saw
Dante shifting aim of the
dart gun away, swinging it in the
direction Fraser had scrambled. "Kill me, do you think I
really
care."
The dart gun swung back
his way.
-Go on,
Benni, get out of here, before I pass out-
"You've
already destroyed my life. Taking away my sight
leaving me crippled
for life," he said waving his cast
encased arm around, "with your surprise package. You think I
like living in extreme pain every day any more than you
do.."
"False bravado."
Ray gave a mirthless
laugh.
"I've
got three babies to think of.. And I thought of
them when I was
sitting here thinking of blowing my brains
out when all the stress and pain finally got to me. Did I
mention, I went out and took out 3 of the biggest insurance
policies I could get.. Policies that wouldn't be worth the
paper they're printed on if I kill myself. But I knew you
were coming to finish what you started. I don't have to kill
myself..
You'll do it for me, put me out of my misery and my
kids will benefit."
He heard the sliding
door open. Dante spun and Ray used
the last of his strength to hurl
a pillow at Dante. Ray
collapsed bonelessly over the bed as the pillow flew through
the
air, hitting Dante's arm, spoiling his aim. Ray heard a
PFFFT, then a muttered curse from Dante. He listened to
Dante move off, holding his breath, feeling the numbness
spreading through his body. Counting to five, he looked
around to see Dante moving through the door way, going after
Fraser.
Ray waited two seconds
longer, then with a supreme
effort dragged himself up, fighting
the wave of lassitude
that swept over him. Sending prayers to the lord above, he
pulled the bedside drawer open, his prayer that it wouldn't
make enough noise to be heard in the next room was answered.
He
saw the gun he'd placed there and reached in pulling it
out. He gripped it in his teeth and crawled across the bed.
When he scrambled off,
his legs threatened to turn to
jelly under him. Fighting it, he
took hold of the gun and
with an effort pulled the safety back before he staggered
out into the nursery.
The doors to his office,
which had been left open when
Fraser dragged him out, were now closed,
and Fraser was
standing behind one of the bullet proof enclosures directly
across from the office. As he watched, Fraser ripped stuffed
toys
from their places and hurled them around the partition
at Dante who was moving in on him, swatting toy's out of the
air
as they went. It didn't slow down the ill intentioned
killer one bit, but it did stop him from being able to take
effective aim.
Ray raised his arm and
rested the gun on it, steading
his aim, sending pain radiating through
his body, which
staved off the sedative induced lassitude for a time.
"End of the line
McIntire. Drop it or I'll drop you
where you stand. I won't let
you hurt him again," Ray
growled, swaying dangerously, having trouble focusing on
Dante spinning as his vision started swimming.
He saw Fraser ripping
a shelf off the wall above the
baby's cradle, then hurl it at the
office doors. The alarm
started blaring at "Wake the dead" volume and the babies
started wailing.
Between one blink and
the next, Dante was standing
before him and a booted foot slammed
into his hand sending
the gun flying.
He cried out in pain,
staggering back.
"NO!"
Fraser cried.
Dante's
leg lashed out again, this time kicking Ray in
the crotch. Ray gave
a strangled scream and started folding
up and perversely the pain gave him a few moments more of
clarity, just enough to be aware of Dante making another
snap kick, that booted foot coming his way, a split second
before it connected with his chest, and pain exploded in his
chest
as he flew back.
He hit the floor, hard.
The last thing he heard was the
sound of his children's wails almost
drowning out the alarm,
and Fraser, yelling something, but the pain
and drug were
too strong for him to fight anymore and consciousness fled
before his befuddled mind could make sense of what Fraser
was yelling.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Twenty Three
ooOO0=@=0OOoo
His world was ablaze
with agony, radiating out from his
chest, groin, arm and shoulders.
With a deep, resonating
groan Ray came back to his senses. It wasn't long before he
wished he hadn't as he discovered the predicament he was in.
He
was hanging suspend by handcuffs attached to a chain
slung over
a rafter in the garage. He knew it was the
garage, even in the darkness, because he could see his
beloved Riv stored away at the back of the garage.
That's not all he saw.
He also saw Dante, flick knife
in hand engraving words into the
Riv's restored paint job.
He wanted to yell at him to leave the car alone. But a very
dry throat prevented him, all he could was croak.
The croak was enough
to draw Dante's attention. He
flipped the knife closed, slipping
it into his pocket, and
drew a silk scarf from another. Ray's eyes widened when he
saw that colourful silk. Even in the dimness he recognised
it, it was one of his mothers.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Numerous colleagues of
Ray's swarmed through the house,
and over the main bedroom and
nursery. The nursery being
where the bruised Fraser sat in a chair, holding a folded
terry tea-towel to his temple. He watched three of Ray's
colleagues, among them Jack Huey pacing around the room
rocking and crooning to the babies trying to get them
settled down, as he tried to answer the questions that were
being fired at him.
"Yes, I'm sure it
was Dante... No he didn't get into
the office.. Ray gave me enough
time to get away, into the
nursery .. I slammed the doors closed and kicked the bolt
home to activate the automatic alarm."
"Who set it off?"
"I did. Ray
said it went back to base... I knew I
wouldn't have time to call
it in before Dante came after
me."
"What were you doing
when he broke in?"
Fraser
was glad that he'd taken the time to strip the
sheet from the bed
and replace it with a fitted one before
he threw the quilt over it. The soiled sheet was now stuffed
away
under Meg and Ray's dirty clothes in the linen hamper
which would spare Ray the indignity of having the fact he'd
been getting intimate with someone immediately before
Dante's arrival.
"I was helping Ray
in the bedroom. He has trouble doing
the house work with his crippled
arm," Fraser said, the
truth, in part.
Ray did have trouble
with the house work, and he had
been helping Ray, discover the joy's
of a more experimental
sex life. But they didn't need to know that. Ray's
colleagues knew all about Ray's arm and there were nods all
around as they accepted his story.
"You didn't hear
anything?"
"The
house is sound proofed, every room of it is sound
proof. It takes
an extremely loud noise, such as the alarm
to get past that. We didn't know Dante had breached the
security measures till he entered the room, with his gun."
"You said he shot
Ray."
"At
least twice.. But he wasn't using a standard gun..
He was using
a dart gun. I found one of the darts on the
floor in here after he left."
"I found two on
the floor in the bedroom," one of the
first detective's on
the scene said.
Fraser looked around
and identified him as Detective
Rawling's, a man he didn't know
very well. Apparently he'd
joined the team after Ray's accident, filling the vacancy
Ray's extended period of leave had left behind.
"I sent Shumacker
with one to the hospital to see if
they could identify what it was
loaded with."
Welsh gave a little nod.
"Good move."
"Obviously
the drug doesn't last long," the other
detective who insisted
on joining in on grilling Fraser.
"You were conscious when we arrived."
"He didn't shoot
me.. Though he was trying to .. Ray
and the partitions prevented
him.. Ray distracted him when
he reached a position where he could aim at me."
"So you were conscious
the entire time."
"No..
I was unconscious for a brief period.. Ray
managed to get his gun
and tried to stop Dante.. But the
drug was affecting him.. Dante disarmed him.. Using his kick
boxing
skills.. he didn't need to do anything else, Ray was
on the verge of passing out anyway, but.."
"He didn't stop."
"No.. he kept
kicking him.. I tried to stop him. Found
Ray's gun, but he kicked
it out of my hands before I could
fire and..then he subdued me.."
"That's how you
got the bruises."
Fraser
nodded.
"I
was unconscious for a brief time.. When I came to,
he was gone,
so was Ray. And I couldn't find his gun.."
"So
we know he's armed."
"He
also ransacked the bedroom drawers.."
Rawling's
nodded.
"The
contents are scattered through out the room. Was
there another gun?
Were there any more guns in the house?"
"Ray
kept one in each of the bedside cabinets, and one
in his office,
another in my room. And there's one in the
kitchen, it's hidden inside a false recipe book. There was
another one in the lounge room, inside a video case marked,
Our Holiday in Florida.."
"Anywhere else?"
Welsh asked.
"Um.."
Fraser thought about it, Ray had told him where
he'd hidden all
the guns in the house so Fraser could find
one in an emergency - such as Dante breaking in.
"The toilets.. He
taped guns to the back of the bowl in
every toilet. There is one
in the bathroom, and another in
the shower room."
"This house has
an arsenal in it."
"There
was also one in the pool room, and a shot gun.
The shot gun is hidden
under the pool table, and the pistol
in a holster he superglued to the slot behind the middle
cushion of the couch, where it can't be seen, but can be
drawn out if it has to be."
"The only room he
seems to have forgotten is the
laundry."
"It's in a fake
box of laundry detergent there. But,
apart from the guns in the
drawers, all the guns were hidden
and Dante didn't have time to
search the house for hidden
weapons."
"So we'll assume
he has at least two guns, three
counting the dart gun. Until we
search the house," Welsh
said, giving one of the Detectives
the sign to start
searching.
The detective moved off
to carry out the search.
"Did
Ray have the guns fully loaded?"
Fraser
nodded.
"But
in all the pistols, the first bullet is a blank,
and the first chamber
in the revolvers are empty. Except the
gun in my room."
"Why is that the
exception?"
"It's
filled with trick cartridges.. He said he knew
that I'd have trouble
shooting Dante, that if he broke in I
should let him disarm me and get the gun.. Each cartridge is
designed
to disintegrate on impact and leave what looks like
blood on the
target."
Welsh
gave an admiring smile at that.
"And
the gun he placed in my drawer is distinctly
different to the rest.
He fired a round off at a wall for
Meg and I to see what happened when it fired, and told us
that if Dante used it, and shot at us, not to duck, to let
him shoot and play dead. Or pretend to be wounded.."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Gagged now, with his
mother's scarf Ray could only
watch as Dante continued defacing
his car and silently fume.
On the plus side, it took his mind off
the pain. Every now
and then Ray grasped the chains, and slowly but surely began
inching
his way up the chain that held him suspended off the
floor, but
at the same time, he put himself through
excruciating pain doing it.
At one stage, he managed
twist himself around while
Dante's back was to him. Looking through
the dimness he
searched for Fraser's still form and was relieved to see
nothing out of place.
Wether or not Fraser
was dead or alive, didn't concern
Ray. For all he knew, where Dante's
motives were concerned
he might have been way off the mark but one thing he
believed, and believed strongly in, was that Fraser was
still alive, that Dante had special plans for him.
Turning back to face
the direction he'd been left
dangling in, Ray looked up to see his
watch glowing back at
him. Over an hour had passed since he'd come to his senses.
He wondered how long it would take for someone to realise
where he was. If anyone worked it out.
He wondered wether or
not he'd live to see another day.
Wether or not that happened didn't
bother him too much. Some
of what he'd said to Dante in the bedroom
was true. He had
taken out huge insurance policies, there were actually five.
3 identical
policies, each one naming one of the children as
the beneficiary.
Another, named Meg and Fraser as joint
beneficiaries.
The last one named various
members of his immediate
family, his mother and sisters being the
main beneficiaries,
with Maria's children being secondary beneficiaries.
No one
would be able to say he had covered all the bases if the
worst happened.
He'd revised his will
again, the same day he'd made out
the new policies. There were two
wills, one covering his
current assets, known and hidden, the other written to take
into account his expected settlement. Fraser knew where he
put them, which one to hand over, which to burn.
What really tormented
Ray as he dangled from the
chains, inching his way ever closer to
the beam above, was
where Dante got the scarf he'd been gagged with, and wether
or not Dante had got to his mother, first. He kept wondering
wether
or not he'd killed her or simply terrorised her and
left her bound up or imprisoned somewhere.
Fraser knew Dante, Fraser
said he wouldn't hurt
innocents, and all the evidence, discounting
that letter
from Dante, seemed to point to the fact Fraser was right.
But they were in big trouble if Dante lived by his former
superior's code, that everyone is guilty of something.
Ray hoped and prayed
Dante didn't live by that code,
that his mother was still alive
and relatively unharmed.
His fingers scrabbled
hire up the chain and met wood.
-Yes!-
Dante was still hard
at work, defacing the Riv. He
didn't notice Ray getting his hands
up on the beam, bitting
down on the gag. Using every ounce of will power to keep
back a cry of agony, Ray started swinging his body back and
forth. Finally, he had the momentum he needed and he made
one last swing, hooking a leg over the beam. He sent up a
prayer of thanks that the person who built the garage had
put in open cross beams, suitable for throwing ropes and
chains over. Not that he particularly appreciated being
connected to one of those chains.
Taking as deep a breath
as he could, he gritted his
teeth biting down on the gag again and
pulled himself up
onto the wide beam, dragging himself around. The pain as he
achieved his goal was incredible, but he pushed it aside. He
knew
his very survival depended on not letting the pain get
the better of him.
-What do you know. Paul
was right, I could get full
mobility back in my arm, if I ever learn
to live with the
pain. *If* I live long enough to learn to live with it-
Looking along the beam,
Ray spotted one of the rusty
nails that used to hold fanbelts of
various sizes. Wiggling
along the beam, carefully sliding the chain along so that it
wouldn't
rattle and catch Dante's attention. Such was the
pain Ray was already in, and his concentration on reaching
his goal that he didn't even notice the numerous splinters
that sliced into and through his naked skin.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Fraser was putting the
last now sleeping infant down in
it's crib watched by Huey, who'd
been assigned guard duty,
while Welsh spoke with the loan remaining investigative
detective. The man he'd sent to search for guns.
"I found all the
guns he mentioned, except the one in
his bed room. That one was
missing, the drawers were turned
out like they were in the master bedroom," Fraser heard the
detective report.
"That means he has
four guns, one that's no use to
him."
As Fraser turned away
from the cradle he saw the
detective nod.
"We know his point
of entry.."
"How
did he get in?" Fraser asked.
Welsh
looked around.
"The
laundry, with a crow bar."
"Oh."
"Has the garage
and workshop been searched?" Welsh
asked the detective.
"Not that I know
off."
Welsh
looked to Fraser again.
"Ray
had his car stored there, didn't he?"
Fraser
nodded.
"Check
and see if it's still there."
The
detective nodded spinning on his heel, and marched
out. As another
officer entered the room, leading Meg into
the room.
"Ah, Inspector."
The moment Welsh
used her rank title instead of her
name, Meg knew the worst had
happened. One look at Fraser's
bruised face, with its blood stained bandaid on his temple
confirmed it.
"Dante."
Welsh nodded taking a
deep breath, but Fraser beat him
to it.
"He broke in and
took Ray."
"Took
not killed."
"It
seems he used a dart gun to subdue Ray," Welsh
added, attracting
Meg's attention, "We had the hospital
identify the drug in
the darts, it's a fast acting sedative,
Ray was too the best of
our knowledge shot twice with these
darts, by their judgement, that would have sedated him fully
within
a minute, to two max. And keep a man his weight out
for over a 12 hours. If they were loaded to capacity."
"There's no satisfaction
in torturing an unconscious
man," Meg said turning her attention
back to Fraser,
satisfied that for the moment that while Ray might be in the
worst
possible hands he was relatively safe for at least
several hours.
"He didn't.. hurt
you did he?"
Fraser
shook his head.
"He
subdued me, when I tried to stop him hurting Ray,
beyond that.."
"He didn't have
time for more, Fraser activated the
alarm and set it off,"
Welsh interjected.
Meg looked at him.
"As far as we can
gather, once he subdued Fraser, he
grabbed every gun he could find
in a hurry and left the
premises, taking Ray with him."
"How many did he.."
"Three."
"The bedside
cabinets."
Fraser
nodded.
"Your
gun too?"
Fraser
nodded.
"We're
aware of the trick cartridges."
"A
fat lot of good being aware of them will do with you
unless you
know what gun was Fraser's."
"The standard .38
calibre revolver Mounties are issued
with."
"He lost that along
with everything else he owned while
he was in Australia."
Fraser nodded.
:Oh
dear: Welsh thought.
"Ray
brought a new gun for Fraser to keep in his
drawer. A Magnum .45.
That and the Colt .45 were easier to
get the cartridges for than any other gun he could have
selected."
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
Ray had reached and extracted
the rusty nail, using it
to pick the lock on the cuffs. He succeeded
in freeing his
hands and was inching his way along the beam when he heard
the sound of someone moving through the work room. He looked
back
to see Dante look in that direction and thankfully not
his own.
He saw Dante flip the
tail of his coat back and extract
a gun, then saw it was the Dirty
Harry hand gun he'd brought
for Fraser and smirked.
-Sucker- he thought as
he resumed scuttling along the
beam.
Dante moved into the
shadows to duck down behind
another of Ray's impulse purchases during
his shopping
spree, a 4 foot mobile tool chest that contained every
conceivable tool a man could need to fix his car.
And Dante wasn't the
only one to move into the shadows.
Ray reached the section of the
ceiling cavity that was in
shadows and yanked his gag down. Looking around he saw a
thin shaft of light falling on a cross connecting beam and
that beam became his destination. Making like a cat, Ray
switched to the main cross beam that would get him on the
right path to reach his goal.
If memory served him
correctly, one of the sheets of
corrugated iron that covered the
roof frame was loose. He'd
been meaning to get someone in to fix it, but after paying
out for the insurance policies he hadn't had the spare cash
to do it. Now that lack of money could prove to be a
blessing in disguise. That beam of light could only be
coming from that loose sheet.
He was half way across
the beam when the lights,
activated by the switch by the workrooms
access door, came
on, lighting up the car, but thankfully, not the whole
garage. Ray scuttled faster along the beam as he heard the
door swing open. Though he wanted to look, he forced himself
to
concentrate solely on his objective, reaching the side
wall and that loose panel.
Foot steps echoed through
the high vaulted garage, then
stopped abruptly. He heard an oath
delivered by one of his
colleagues and assumed it was at the sight of his defaced
car. The steps backed up, and Ray chanced a glance, in time
to see Dante peer around that tool chest and take aim on
the man. As he watched, Dante fired, his colleague jerked
and spun, to fall through the door way, half in and half
out.
When the man lay still
without movement, or drawing
breath, Ray smirked triumphant in that
moment, then
continued scuttling onwards toward his goal.
-Fraser's alive. He told
them about that gun-
He
heard footsteps, but didn't look around again until
he reached his
goal. He looked back in time to see Dante
standing over his colleague, gun aimed down at his prone
form. He winced as Dante pulled the trigger and fired off
three rounds into the mans back. He knew it wouldn't harm
the man, but those cartridges slamming into his back and
disintegrating had to hurt.
He saw Dante turn away,
look around, and curse.
-He
knows I'm loose now, I've got nothing to lose-
Dante
began glancing around the garage, that big gun
going up to his shoulder.
Ray braced himself and reached out
to shove against the loose panel
with all his might,
desperation and adrenaline giving him greater strength. With
a metallic
screech the panel's last rivets tore loose and
the sheet parted company with the trusses.
Dante swung the gun in
Ray's direction and fired. Ray
discovered how much being hit by
the trick cartridges hurt
as one slammed into his side and disintegrated, he was
barely aware of the pseudo blood that splattered his side.
He caught a glimpse of
someone's feet passing through
the side door, as he threw himself
threw the gap in the
roof. Another shot grazed his calf as he passed through the
gap, and then he was falling, to the thick layer of grass
outside the garage, hitting it with a thud.
His world view swam as
the breath gushed out of him,
and he heard a familiar voice crying
out his name, followed
by a second familiar voice a heart beat slower than the
first.
-Fraser and Huey- his
mind supplied.
He
heard something clatter to the cement floor in the
garage. After
drawing in a ragged breath the next thing he
heard was a door opening, and the sound of two men, running
across the cement porch, feet slapping against stairs, then
hitting the grass.
Consciousness was fading
away again, as he listened to
their rapid approach, and gun shots
rang out from inside the
garage.
One, gun, one shot, then
a second gun. Two shots. The
first gun fell silent.
-Please God, let that
be Dante- He thought as his last
sight was of Fraser, going to one
knee at his side and
reaching out to him, concern and fear etched on his bruised
and battered features.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
Part
Twenty Four
ooOO0=@=0OOoo
Welsh flattened himself
against the side wall of the
work room, gun held at the ready resting
on his shoulder,
looking down at his officer the back of who's shirt was
covered with fake blood.
Meg crept almost silently
through the workroom, the gun
she'd snatched from its hiding place
in laundry on her way
through held up at her shoulder. Stoping at the side of the
fallen officer, she checked his pulse then nudged him over
onto his back. Blood covered the downed officer's face,
legacy of a nasty looking bullet graze, but he'd live.
Movement caught Meg eye
and she glanced up to see Welsh
signalling her to take up a stand
on the other side of the
door. Signalling her agreement with a nod, she stepped over
the fallen officer. With a suddenness that was startling she
stopped
in her tracks and her arms swung around, extending
her weapon out, ready to fire.
"Freeze, or I'll
blow your God damn head off," she
barked.
Welsh slid down the wall,
into a crouch and chanced a
peek around the door frame to see Dante.
The malevolent Mountie
was holding a gun in much the
same position as Meg. Welsh recognised
the weapon as being
one of Ray's personal weapons.
"Don't think I won't
do it, you son of bitch," Meg
growled.
Welsh rose up from his
crouch fast.
:That
things loaded with live ammo, he's already fired
two shots, that
means the blank's been fired, that means if
he pulls the trigger she's dead:
"Drop the gun, McIntire!"
"Make me."
Welsh heard both
guns fire within a split second of
each other, and assumed Dante's
fired first as Meg went
flying back. His first instinct was to move after her, as
she hit the cement. To his shock and amazement, Meg sat up,
bringing the gun back up into line, ready to fire again.
Hearing something metallic
clatter to the cement floor
of the garage Welsh squatted fast to
peek around the door
frame again. What he saw was Dante with a bullet hole dead
set between his eyes, the gun he'd been holding on the
cement. As he watched, the murderous Adonis, collapsed like
a marionette who's strings had been severed.
Looking back around,
Welsh saw Meg lowering the gun,
and wrapping an arm around herself.
"Damn, that hurt."
Holstering his own
gun Welsh rushed to her side. Meg
looked up at him as he kneeled
at her side.
"Remind me to thank
Ray for his latest love token."
"What
was it?"
She
pulled her shirt open, to show off a kevlar vest
cut to mould to
her figure.
"Kevlar lingerie."
Looking at the St
Christopher pendant around her neck,
and the rabbits foot stitched
to the vest, just below the
breasts, with a four leaf clover in resin pendant, Welsh
assumed, the kevlar vest wasn't the only love token meant to
protect
her that Ray had presented her with.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
The End
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
EPILOGUE ONE
ooOO0=@=0OOoo
A trip to the hospital
revealed the extent of Ray's
injuries to be deep bruising and muscle
strain, plus a nasty
collection of splinters it took over an hour
to extract.
Fraser's head wound was
professionally bandaged and he
was told to stay off his feet, and
the injured officer was
pronounced to be suffering from severe concussion, and
stable.
Dante was pronounced
very dead.
As for
why Ray hadn't succumbed for 12 hours to the
drug he'd been pumped
full of, long term users of the
medication he took to control the pain in his arm were
notorious for their ability to shake off the effects of the
particular sedative used by Dante in the darts, Adrenaline
did the rest.
On his awakening in the
hospital, Ray was informed
Dante was dead, and no longer a threat
to anyone. His first
and only question was about his mother and once he was told
she was fine and out in the waiting room, where she and Meg
were glaring at each other, he slipped into a well deserved
deep sleep with a faint smile on his face.
*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~*
An investigation in that
day's events uncovered the
fact that the Vecchio family home had
been broken into two
hours before Dante broke into the trio's urban fortress. It
also revealed that he'd hijacked a private plane, keeping a
gun to the pilots head for the trip to Chicago. The manic
mountie had left the pilot bound and gagged in the plane
after touch down. The pilot was found when another pilot
approaching a nearby plane heard him kicking the wall to
attract attention.
The corpses of last two
felons on Dante's hit list were
found, their deaths being the grizzliest
of all.
An autopsy on Dante
revealed that he wouldn't have
lived the month out. The tumorous
growth in his brain would
have killed him by choking off the supply of blood to his
brain within a few weeks. He was also pronounced to have
been addicted to the strongest pain killers available and
two different forms of narcotics. The combination of drugs
he used to combat the pain he suffered as a result of the
tumour explained how he'd kept going right up till the end.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
EPILOGUE TWO
ooOO0=@=0OOoo
While Fraser placed the
babies in their high chairs
around the dining table, Ray set the
table and his mother
and Frannie bustled around carrying in food. Huey fiddled
with the video camera at the end of the table, while a
collection of friends and colleagues of the trio, Elaine,
Turnbull and Welsh among them chatted in the adjoining
lounge area and discussed the gifts they'd brought to
celebrate the triplets first birthday. Maria ran through the
house,
with Tony trying to catch their offspring as they ran
around with
Zap guns playing good guys/bad guys.
Hearing the front door
slam, Ray placed the last fork
down and walked into the corridor
and was forced to jump out
of the path of a rapidly moving Vecchio
child. Looking
around he saw Meg stomping down the corridor, looking well
and truly aggravated.
-Oh dear, whatever she
was grumpy about this morning,
has only gone from bad to worse-
"Bedroom, now,"
she said on reaching.
Ray
followed after her as she stomped down the
corridor, dodging another
Vecchio child, who came out of
nowhere and zapped him.
Following Meg into the
bedroom, Ray turned to close the
door, and turned to find her spinning
on the balls of her
feet to face him.
"You are going to
the Doctor. Tomorrow. I've already
made the appointment for you."
"Why? You didn't
catch something contagious did you? Is
that why you've been so grumpy
lately?"
"You are going to
get *fixed* mister."
"Fixed?"
"I'm pregnant,
*again*."
-Opps-
"Look on the bright
side, Cara Mia," he said spreading
his hands, free from scars,
thanks to the efforts of his
very soon to be brother in law.
"Bright side! What
bright side? The triplets are like a
black hole in the wallet."
"Well, Ma can't
say you don't have what it takes to
lure me back into the bedroom
again."
She stared at him, and
he gave a weak little smile.
"I'll
go to the doctor tomorrow."
"You
better. Because we can't afford to raise more than
seven children."
"Seven??!"
"That's right,
*Seven*, I'm 3 months gone, and the
Doctor says this time it's quads,
you virile Studmuffin."
Ray
fainted.
*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*
The End of Heads or Tails
Copyright April 13, 1998
Red Skye
Standard disclaimers
apply, Alliance owns the copyright
of all Due South Characters that
I didn't invent for this
story, and I just borrowed their toys to play with them a
little. They are action figures, aren't they? {:>D
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