First Impressions
Parts 21-22
By Kellie
Frank pulled out of the funeral home parking lot. Meeting Dr. Grant about the department's role in David's service had been a lot tougher than he had ever imagined.
Frank could sense that Mick was still on his tail. He was sure that Mick had to be getting impatient, but he needed to give Danny enough time to check in with his superiors and find out how they wanted to handle this situation. Mick had set his own brother up to take the fall in a policeman's murder. If Mick had overheard the fact that Michelle witnessed the hit, he would kill her and Danny to cover his tracks. They were too close to getting Danny inside one of the other families to let a loose cannon like Mick jeopardize their investigation.
"Okay, how can I keep you distracted Mick?" Frank said to himself. He thumped the steering wheel with his fingers as he drove. Coming upon the church, Frank noticed it was time for mass. "If I go to mass, that'll keep Mick occupied for at least an hour waiting for me to come out."
Frank pulled into the church parking lot. He noticed Carmen Santos entering the church through a side door. After parking the squad car, Frank entered the rear door of the church and took a seat near the back. He heard the door creak open behind him during the opening prayer. Frank glanced back and recognized one of Carmen's men escorting Mick to the back pew.
Mick rolled his eyes in disgust. He knew it was stupid to park in the church lot in plain view the man assigned to stay with his mother's car. Jimmy had immediately summoned Dietz, who practically drug him into the church by his ear. If that idiotic cop would just lead me to Danny and that pretty little witness. Mick's mind jumped between his plans for Danny and his need to get high. He was getting sweaty and wasn't feeling so great. He was craving the euphoria drugs brought to him. Somehow Mick made it through the service. He was about to follow Detective Cooper out the door when his mother stepped in front of him. "Mick, I'm so glad you decided to come to services today. It's been way too long since you set foot in the church. Come with me to speak with Father Tomas and your cousin Ray." Carmen took Mick by the arm and pulled him up the aisle of the church before he realized what was happening.
Frank made it to his squad car. He had glanced back to see that Mick being pulled up the aisle of the church by his mother. Frank quickly pulled out his cell phone and punched in Danny's number.
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Michelle was sitting at the kitchen table with Harley eating a sandwich while Harley explained her idea for keeping Rick from worrying. Danny was in the other room making calls to check in with his superiors.
"Michelle, I can't think of anyway for Mick to tap in on the hospital's general number. That line receives hundreds of calls everyday. Use Cassie's phone and call in sick for your shift and then leave Rick a message on his hospital voice mail. I'll suggest that he should check his voice mail messages when he and Phillip come back from their golf game. That should put an end to his worries about your safety."
"Yeah, that could work. The only thing is I need a story that he'll buy," Michelle remarked.
Danny spoke from the spot in the doorway where he had been listening to their conversation. "Michelle, I think that Harley's idea will work. As for a story to tell Rick, let's give him a little bit of the truth."
"What do you mean?" Michelle asked.
"I just spoke with Frank, and we agreed that you can tell Rick that Frank has you in protective custody since you're a witness to the events on the beach last night. Tell him you're fine, but no one can know anything about your whereabouts for the next few days and you won't be able to call him," Danny said.
"Listen, I've got to go. If you need anything, have Frank call me and I'll bring it out here," Harley stated as she headed towards the door.
"Thanks for bringing us some supplies," Michelle said as she stood and gave Harley a hug.
"Everything's going to be okay. I'll be a thorn in Frank's side until it is," Harley whispered in Michelle's ear.
"When are you not a thorn in Frank's side," Michelle laughed.
"Very funny," Harley replied. "You two be careful," she added before heading out the door.
Michelle turned to face Danny, "Are you sure it's okay for me to leave Rick that message?"
"Yeah, it's fine. Use my cell phone," Danny said as he passed the phone to Michelle.
After calling in and speaking with Lillian about missing her shift, Michelle then called Rick's office number and left the message. As she handed the phone back to Danny, she asked, "What do we do now?"
"Well, you're going to stay here and I'm going after Mick."
"You're what?" Michelle asked.
"I'm going to take Mick in. I've got to get him under wraps before he jeopardizes the entire investigation. I don't have a lot of time. If I don't take him in within 24 hours, the entire investigation will be scrapped. Frank and I have poured too much time into this to let it go."
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Danny silently drove past the docks looking for Mick. Seeing no sign of him, Danny turned the corner and headed for Millennium hoping Mick would be there. He pulled into the parking lot and spotted Mick's Lexus in the lot. Danny pulled around the corner and parked his car out of sight before heading in the side door of the club. Danny spotted Mick stumbling up the stairs with the club owner, Drew Jacobs. Danny waited until they got inside the door at the top of the stairs before following. He stood outside the office door and put his ear up to the door. Danny heard Mick's shouting voice. He couldn't make out what was being said. He heard the door lock clicking and the knob turning. Danny ducked around the corner and watched as Mick came out mumbling, "Damn bitch passed out. Maybe I can find some other bitch to fuck."
Danny decided to trail Mick, there were too many people in the club to try and grab Mick without making a scene. He slipped back down the stairs unobserved. Mick was at the bar hitting on some blond and getting nowhere. Danny watched as Mick finally gave up and headed out the door. Following Mick into the parking lot, Danny pulled his gun from the holster hoping to get the jump on Mick. As he approached the rear of Mick's car, Danny sensed someone behind him. He turned his head cautiously as he caught the voice saying, "Well, if it isn't my dear brother," just before everything went black.
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Michelle stood by the window studying the full moon. Normally, she would be engrossed in the beauty of the sky, but tonight she was worried. Despite Danny's reassurances that he knew what he was doing and could handle Mick, Michelle couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had. He promised to call and check in with her every couple of hours, but she hadn't heard from him yet.
Michelle walked over to the sofa and sat down reaching over to pick up a magazine to thumb through. "The waiting is going to drive me crazy," Michelle muttered to herself. She put the magazine down and went back over to the window. Michelle saw a car coming down the driveway towards the house. She recognized Frank's police cruiser as it pulled to a stop beside the house.
She heard the soft knock at the door and Michelle quickly opened it. "Frank, have you heard from Danny? He was supposed to call and check in with me and he hasn't."
"Michelle, I'm sure he's fine. Sometimes you end up in places where it's hard to make phone calls when conducting a surveillance. Don't worry."
"That's all I seem to be able to do," Michelle replied as she started pacing the room.
Frank silently watched Michelle. There wasn't much he could say to reassure her. Danny was also late checking in with him. "Michelle, if Danny hasn't checked in with one of us within the hour, I'll go out looking for him myself."
Michelle nodded as she went back to the window and looked out, "Please let him be safe," she whispered to herself.
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Danny slowly opened his eyes. He recognized the dark warehouse as one of his mother's properties. He could see Mick across the room with his back to Danny. Deciding it would be best to take Mick by surprise in a few minutes, Danny closed his eyes and decided to bide his time. Then he heard a cell phone ring and Mick answer. "Mama, I'll take care of everything. Danny will have to join the family business to avoid taking the fall for that hit on David Grant; your plan will work perfectly. Once you have Danny under your thumb, then you can use him to manipulate any FBI agents that are planted within the family."
Danny was in shock, his mother and Mick knew about his career choice and were planning to use him to jeopardize any investigations into the family's operations. Forget taking Mick in, Danny knew he needed to get away from Mick and report in. Mick's raised voice drew Danny's attention away from his own thoughts.
"Mama, I know. I'll find that Bauer girl and eliminate her. She's the only thing standing in our way. I have a plan, don't worry," Mick said.
Danny heard a door open as Mick flipped the phone closed. He slightly opened one eye and recognized the man from some briefings about synthetic drug dealing. "Mick, as soon as he starts to come to, I'll give him this injection. Once it takes effect, you should be able to get Danny to tell you where he's stashed the girl."