Yesterday's Tears
Part Thirty-Seven
He was dying. He was sure of it. He didn't know what it was that was killing him but he felt sure that it wouldn't be long before his body shut down completely.
He was totally helpless. He lacked the strength to move either fingers or toes and his periods of lucidness were becoming more and more infrequent. It garnered all of his strength just to stay awake for these short periods when he could think, but even then he wasn't entirely sure that he wasn't merely hallucinating. Hell, was he already dead?
He didn't know. The only thing he could focus on, the one thing that kept him fighting to stay alive, was the realization that Pilar Santos was going to get away with her evil doings without any repercussions if he didn't expose her first. Should that happen, then she would not be held accountable for all of the things that she had done and she would be free to continue her reign of terror over her brother and anyone else who stood in her way.
He knew he was going to have to account for all of his sins once he met his maker, which could just as easily be sooner then later, but he was prepared to answer for his deeds on the earth.
Dietz had never been what one might call a praying man, but as his life ebbed away, he prayed earnestly for the information he had on Pilar to fall into the right hands. Somehow, if God would only hear his plea, the lockbox that contained the bullet fired at Michelle, the tape where Pilar confessed to killing Carmen and Ben and the transaction report showing that she was stealing from Danny would be found and his death would not be in vain.
The only question that remained in his mind as he began to lose consciousness again was how?
"Come on Dietz" Frank muttered to himself, "Open the damn door will you?" He banged on the door louder this time, loud enough to wake the dead.
He had been knocking on the door for five minutes without any response but his gut was telling him to continue trying. Dietz was probably in the shower or something. His car was parked in front of this little shanty and the lights were on from what he could see.
"Damn it" he swore as he kicked the door in frustration. The door surrendered under the assault and he found himself walking into Dietz's house calling his name.
No answer. He wasn't in the kitchen or the living room. Where was he? Could he have been mistaken? The house smelled musty and foul. Dirty dishes were in the sink and the food appeared to be caked onto them as if they had been in there for days. A small brown mouse, or perhaps it was a rat, scampered across the linoleum floor squeaking it's protest at having been disturbed.
The condition of the house led Frank to believe that perhaps Dietz had left town with no plans to return. It sure smelled like it had been deserted and he didn't see any evidence of anyone living here. Still, all of his years of police training told him not to leave until he had checked out every room in the house, which he decided to do beginning with Dietz's bedroom.
Home. They were finally home. Rick's car pulled into the driveway and stopped in front of the house where he and Abby got out of the car and began to help the former hospital patients get from the car to the house.
Danny frowned at the wheelchair as Rick began to unfold it once it was unloaded from the trunk. He wanted to walk into his house under his own power. He hated being treated like an invalid but even though he was stubborn, he wasn't foolhardy. He knew he wasn't ready to be walking around on his new hip yet and being home with Michelle was the most important thing right now.
The ten days in the hospital had gone by much quicker than either Danny or Michelle had expected and their homecoming was made that much sweeter with the fact that his surgery had been a success and Michelle's injuries were healing nicely.
He sat in the dreaded chair without making a fuss and smiled when he saw Susan coming out of the front door with his walker.
Once Rick had maneuvered him up the ramp to the house, he reached for the walker Susan held out to him and with her hand supporting his back; he pulled his weight up and stood.
Michelle stood by him as he got his balance, and together, inch-by-inch, they crossed the threshold into their home.
Rick and Abby brought in their bags and carried them to their room, then took their leave citing Robin's teething as the reason. Michelle smiled at them as they turned to leave, winking to them, signaling she understood their good intentions in giving her and Danny some time to be by themselves.
She waved good bye as they left for their home and turned to see Danny as he stood completely upright on his walker and just beginning to take his hands off to stand by himself.
She made a sound of distress and shook her hands at him, begging him to grab the walker again.
Susan added her thoughts to Danny's attempt at machismo also and was rewarded with a string of curse words guaranteed to make a sailor blush.
Soon after Danny's little stunt, Susan had Danny on the elevator and on his way upstairs to rest. He didn't argue with her nor would he admit that his misguided attempt at proving that he was making progress with his hip was ill timed and he would be paying for it for the next few days.
Michelle joined them and once they were in their bedroom, she and Susan began to make preparations for Danny to rest in bed.
Susan waited outside as Michelle helped Danny to undress and put on his baggy pajama slacks. He had complained about the hospital gown that he had been forced to wear and the indignity it brought so many times while in the hospital, that the nurses had all threatened to take it away from him completely and let him fend for himself in his birthday suit if he didn't stop kicking up such a fuss.
Michelle had found all of that so amusing and when he asked her what she found so amusing, she had written on her pad that she wouldn't mind seeing him in his birthday suit all the time.
Once Danny was situated in the bed and Michelle had changed, Susan reentered their bedroom to make sure they had everything they needed.
She was laying out his medicine and pouring some water when Danny asked Susan where Pilar was.
"I don't know" Susan said. " She wasn't here when I arrived this morning and Sarah hasn't seen much of her at all since your operation. She assumed that Pilar was spending her time at the hospital with you even though we all know that isn't true" she said bitterly.
"Now Susan" Danny began in defense of his sister.
"I'm sorry Danny. I know she is your sister and you love her, but she only came to see you one time when you were in the hospital. One time Danny" she reiterated.
"I know Suz" Danny began "but she had enough of that hospital the last time I was there and I am sure she had a hard time going through it all again. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I am home now and she will help take care of us now" he proclaimed.
"Bullshit" Susan said. "Her place was by your side if she cared anything about you at all" she said and she saw by the change of expression on Danny's face that she had touched a nerve.
"Oh Danny. I am sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You are probably right. I apologize and I wont ever bring it up again. Now what can I get you before you settle in?" Susan asked, her tone full of remorse.
"Can you bring the newspaper when you go down?" he asked and she nodded her head and smiled relieved that he was accepting her apology.
"I will be right back. Michelle, do you need anything honey?" she asked.
Michelle shook her head in a negative fashion and Susan left them to go and get the newspaper she had promised.
She shouldn't have said what she did about Pilar to Danny, she realized but it made her so mad that she was being so selfish and casting her brother who needed her aside. Why on earth couldn't she have come and visited her brother and sister in law? Was she so cold hearted that she didn't care if he lived or died?
Susan shuddered as she reached for the newspaper and tucked it under her arm. She had an eerie feeling that Pilar Santos wouldn't lose one minute of sleep if her brother died and that was just the tip of the iceberg of what that cold bitter young woman was capable of and she made a vow right there and then that she would do whatever she had to in order to protect Danny and Michelle and that included taking on Danny's malicious sister if need be. There was no way in hell Susan was ever going to allow Pilar to ever hurt either of them again.
Pilar waited until she was sure that Bill was going to go home. She had hidden in the garage of the Reardon home and had heard all of their pitiful good-byes to each other. It was enough to make you sick.
Bill was going home to his precious wife and son and leaving her behind yet again. He also knew all about her and had seen that book with her name in it. She couldn't let him leave with that knowledge. She just couldn't.
Hiding in the back seat with a baseball bat was the easy part. Bringing it up high over her head and smashing down across the back of his skull was the hard part.
But she did it. The bat, upon meeting his head, had made a sound much like that of a melon being squashed. He fell over in his seat and so far, he hadn't moved.
He resisted the urge to check his pulse to see if he were alive or dead. She had to get out of here before she was spotted. It wouldn't be long before he was discovered.
She placed a kiss on the tip of her fingers and then briefly touched the top of his head where his beautiful blonde hair that she had loved to run her hands through, was now becoming matted with blood and turning a grotesque shade of red. "I'm sorry Bill. I love you," she whispered as she quietly opened the door and bolted out of the garage with the baseball bat, stained with the blood of her beloved, in hand.