Blue Collar Town

"Yeah, at the hospital why?"

"Just curious. They now suspect foul play. I can't give details but it now appears the plane had been tampered with."

"Then whoever did it screwed up because it crashed just after take off. That would leave a lot of evidence it seems to me. Everything about this whole mess is amateurish."

"Have you seen or heard from Nicole?"

"I haven't and I'd be surprised if she ever came back here. Is she a suspect...never mind you can't answer that."

"Our list of suspects is long but getting shorter every day. Have you thought of anything else you saw or heard that I should know about?"

"Not a thing. I'm holed up at home with guns all over the place just in case."

"Just don't shoot the wrong person."

"If they come in uninvited they'll be the wrong person in the right place."

"I'll be in touch." I had just hung up when I got another call.

"Is this the local hero headquarters?"

"Layton?"

"How you doin' man?"

"All things considered I'm okay. I'm confined to quarters but okay."

"Why's that?" I explained my recent experiences and after a moment's silence he asked, "Want me to bring the boys and stand guard?"

"It ain't funny."

"I'm only half kidding. Can I do anything to help?"

"Not that I can think of."

"You still seeing Alana?"

"Whenever I can but this mess isn't helping our relationship a bit."

"Well stay safe and I'm serious, if you need me just call."

"I'll do that and thanks. When things settle down we'll get together for a big feast."

"Sounds good." After talking to Layton I sat there for a while and then looking at my watch to make sure it was late enough I called Alana and we talked for a while. That was the total of my social life then. Three conversations on the phone and one of them was with the FBI. A couple more days of confinement were about all I could stand and I made up my mind that come Friday night Alana and I were going out to eat someplace.

Eating alone is never a thrill and Thursday evening was no exception. I read a little of my book as I ate and then started to rinse the dishes. Between the water running in the sink and me clanking the dinnerware I almost missed the sound of one of my traps. I stopped and shut the water off unsure that I had even heard anything. Not taking any chances I reached for my four ten and heard, "If you touch that gun you'll die." I let my hand drop and turned toward him. Blonde hair that needed combing, blue eyes and if I hadn't heard him speak I'd have guessed he was short some brain cells. He had a way of standing and staring at me that didn't speak danger but his pistol definitely did.

"What do you want, I have no money."

"Don't be stupid, I don't want your money. I came for the briefcase."

"I don't have it, the police do."

"Bullshit."

"I gave it to them after my house was broken into."

"It wasn't here then either."

"No it was in my garage. Did you think to look there? I don't believe you did."

"I'm going to ask you once more and if you don't tell me I'll shoot you in the leg. The second time will be the other leg and the third time will be your heart. Now once more where is it?"

"Look I can't give it to you if I don't have it." I heard the shot but didn't feel any pain. At least not right away. I knew I was in very deep trouble but I was powerless to do anything about it. He had hit my leg but missed the bone because I was still standing but the pain was shooting up into my mind.

"Once again, where is the briefcase?"

"Look how can I prove it..."

"Dak drop the gun."

I heard the voice but I thought I was imagining it. "Drop it Dak." He turned slowly about half way so he could keep his eye on me and smiled at her.

"You don't have what it takes and we both know it." He turned back to me and pointed the gun at my other leg. She shot Dak and I watched him fall to the floor like a sack of flour. Nicole dropped her gun then and came over to me stepping over Dak on the way. She threw her arms around me and held me tightly.

"I'm so sorry all of this has happened to you." My arms went around her then, partly for support and partly because I wanted to feel her close to me one more time.

Nicole slipped down to her knees and looked at my leg asking me, "Does it hurt?"

"It hurts like hell actually." Without another word she unfastened my jeans and tugged them down so she could look at my wound. Her hands were gentle as she touched me and then said, "It went straight through and I don't think it's serious."

"Easy for you to say." She kissed my thigh in an area that was quite some distance from my wound and then stood up with a weak smile. I didn't know if Dak was dead or not and I didn't really care. I already had blood all over my kitchen floor from Dak so time wasn't all that important now. I pulled her up to me and we kissed. "You are the only woman in the world that could kiss me after I've been shot and have me thinking of things not even remotely connected to my injury." She smiled again but she had tears in her eyes. "Nicole do you know him?" There was a long pause and then she nodded and cried.

Then taking a deep breath and sniffing softly she said, "He's my brother."

Chapter Twelve

I held her close to me with my left arm and reached for the phone with my right and called nine eleven. By the time the ambulance and the police arrived I was on the couch and she was hovering over me. "Nicole you better go with your brother, I'll be okay."

"But I'd rather stay with you."

"Go with him and see if you can find out if he's been behind this all along. Call me later okay?" She slowly stood up and did as I asked. Once Dak was on the gurney and rolling out the door they tended to my wound and had me on the way to the hospital too. Once I was patched up I spent some quality time with the police...again. I'd seen so much of them I felt like I should invite them to my next family reunion. They finally drove me home and we talked some more as I pointed here and there around the kitchen to clarify my comments.

As soon as they left I called Alana and told her about the whole gruesome adventure. Once she was assured I would live she said, "You just can't seem to stay away from Nicole can you."

"I'm glad she came when she did or I'd be dead now."

"Why did she come to your house anyway?"

"I never got the chance to ask her that question."

"Why was she even in town?"

"I don't know that either."

"Okay so now you two are even, you saved her and she saved you."

"Yes now we're even but I have a lot of questions to ask her."

"Leave that to the police."

"The hell I will. I want to know about her brother, about whether or not she knew he was a loose cannon, about whether or not he's behind all of this hell I've been through and whether or not it's over now. I want my life back."

"And when will that happen?"

"Alana I just don't know. I'm going to wash up and lie down. If she calls, great I'll ask questions. If she doesn't call until tomorrow or whatever I'll ask her then."

"Call me after you talk to her okay?"

"I will."

"Have you called Mel yet?"

"No."

"Want me to call him?"

"That would be great, I'm exhausted and I'm taking a pain pill. Tell him I'll talk to him tomorrow sometime."

"Okay." I hung up and did as I had said. Except I skipped the washing up and after taking my pill I just crashed for the night.

Friday looked considerably brighter for me all things considered but my leg felt like I'd been kicked by a horse. I threw a couple of towels on the floor where Dak had bled and poured a full bottle of disinfectant on them. The thought of bending down and scrubbing the floor didn't exactly excite me right then. I had cereal and toast for breakfast and then did what I could to bathe without getting my leg dressing wet. Once I was clean and shaved I felt even better but the only thing that might put my life right would be to talk to Nicole and get some answers. I still had her number but decided she would contact me once she had the information I needed.

Late in the morning Nicole called. "I've just left the hospital and I'm on my way to your place so don't shoot me."

"I'll watch for you. Did you learn anything?"

"I'll tell you when I get there, which will be another fifteen minutes or so." I hung up and looked at the towels on the floor and decided to hell with them. I'd get to them later and poured more disinfectant on the towels creating a puddle on the floor around them. I was just too sore to be crawling around on my knees. I had the front door open when Nicole came up the walk and we shared a soft embrace before going in. I didn't even offer her something to drink. I had to hear what she had to say.

I didn't ask any questions but stared at her in eager anticipation. "Russ I better tell you a little about Dak. Well about our lives actually. Vicki was Dad's third wife. Dak is my younger half brother from his second wife and Dad doted on him. Dak couldn't seem to make it in college but that didn't matter to Dad. Dak was still very well provided for and what work he did do were just token things."

"Were you close to him?"

"Not really. I didn't hate him but I had no respect for him either."

"You didn't like any of your family did you?"

"No...well I didn't dislike Vicki but she was an odd one. We just never clicked. She went her way and I went my way. I didn't grow up in a normal household that's for sure. Tons of money, very little love and affection and what guidance I got was from nannies."

"You seem pretty normal to me."

"Thank you, sometimes I really wonder what normal is."

"So do most people."

Nicole leaned back like talking about Dak tired her and she took a deep breath before continuing. "When things started happening to you I started to wonder about all of it. How did anybody know about the briefcase in the first place? How did they know what was in it? If the plane crash wasn't an accident how did they know about the flight and which plane we would be using? So many questions and they all pointed to family or one or two of Dad's closest associates."

"Did you talk to Dak?"

"Just for a few minutes. After surgery he was pretty doped up but I tried. He didn't seem inclined to talk to me much but what he did say sounded kind of spacey to me. Something about having a jolly good time or something. Of course he could have been doing that on purpose too. He knows he's in more trouble this time than money can get him out of."

She leaned forward again and took my hand as she continued. "Not long ago on one of my business trips from here I headed back to New York and hired some private detectives to check up on Dak and his so called friends. It took them a while to get up to speed but as their reports came to me I started to believe my thoughts were accurate. But the main thing that bothers me is Dak isn't exactly cut out for scheming and plotting. His attention span just isn't long enough."

"Don't tell me this whole nightmare isn't over."

"I just don't know. Maybe he is behind it all but until he tells me one way or the other or the detectives turn something up we won't know."

I had been sitting straight on the couch but I moved toward the edge and turned to face her squarely. "Nicole I'm sorry about your brother but I'm really glad you happened to be there and saved my life."

She showed a tiny smile and said, "It had to happen. I couldn't just stand there while he shot you again."

"How did you know about my shotgun?"

"I remembered seeing it there when I was here last. I'm just glad it was still there."

"Why did you come over by the way?"

"A couple of reasons really. I wanted to tell you about the detectives,

share their reports with you and warn you about Dak. But I wanted to see you again too."

"You came all the way from New York to see me?"

"Yes."

"Why not just call?"

"I told you, I wanted to see you again." Here was a stunningly beautiful woman that had just saved my life and she flew all the way to Ohio from New York just because she wanted to see me. That realization had knocked the wind out of me. After she told me that she just looked at me for some time as I stumbled and thought about what to say next.

"Nicole I have nothing and I'm not that interesting. What could make a woman like you travel that far just to see me?"

"Russ I'm not even sure how to answer that because I don't know what the phrase 'a woman like me' means. It started with you saving my life of course. But after that you treated me normally. You never quizzed me about my money or what it's like to live in mansions. You never asked me for a dime or even tried to make love to me. Now about that last part I'm not saying that's a good thing." She smiled then and continued. "I like you pure and simple. More than I want to admit even to myself. I trust you and I admire you. You're also handsome and you are charming in spite of what you think. You are so different than anybody I've ever met. You look very sexy in your underwear too." She smiled again and kissed me lightly. Correction, we kissed lightly. I wasn't just an innocent receiver, I gave a much as I got and I had to stop doing that.

To get away from the kissing I said, "I thought you were inspecting my wound when you peeled my pants down."

"Well yes but...I couldn't help but notice more than that."

Chapter Thirteen

I didn't even ask her. I went to the kitchen and soon returned with a couple of glasses of wine. I raised my glass in a toast and said, "To a woman who grew up in a very unusual environment and still turned out to be wonderful, caring, charming and oh so incredibly tempting." We enjoyed a taste of wine and then I said, "Nicole I better say something before this goes any farther." She looked at me and I was sure she knew it wasn't going to be good.

"Okay."

"I have a girlfriend. I very nearly lost her because I wouldn't stop talking about you and how I'm so very impressed by you. When I'm with you like I am right now I start to lose my bearings. I enjoy your company but if I don't start behaving myself I'm going to lose Alana."

"Your girlfriend has a very pretty name and she is very lucky to have you. If I thought you might change your mind I'd haunt you until we could be together."

"You would tire of me before too long I'm afraid. When all of this is over I'll push ahead with my dream and start building houses with Mel. It's a simple hard working life. Not much traveling to far flung places, or high adventure. Just out to dinner, the occasional card game at somebody's house or maybe a pool party at a friend's house that is better off than I am." She put a finger over my lips and smiled.

"When two people are meant to be together all of that works itself out but I understand what you're saying. Russ I'm going to be in town off and on until this is resolved. It's because of my family that you are in this mess right now and I intend to do my part to set it straight. I also intend to come back and see you again one of these days. At the very least we can be good friends."

"I hope we always will be."

She stood up and said, "I'll keep you up to date on what the detectives learn but in the meantime be careful." I stood up next to her and she quickly put her arms around me and we kissed yet again before saying, "Okay now you can start behaving." I walked her to the door and watched her leave. If I was letting her walk out of my life I must be in love with Alana. There was no other explanation for me allowing that to happen. I spent the next half hour cleaning the kitchen floor and washed the cabinets. I saw where the bullet had gone after it went through my leg and I could see where the police had dug it out of the back of the cabinet leaving a gaping hole for me to repair. I did those things but my mind was still on Nicole and Alana.

I remembered my promise to Alana and called her as I sipped a second glass of wine. When she answered I said, "Hi it's me."

"What did you learn?" "Several things but not what I wanted to learn I'm afraid."

"Was he behind everything?"

"Probably not but nobody knows because he's not talking."

"Oh Russ how much longer can this go on?"

"I wish I knew. Nicole doesn't think Dak is smart enough to be the ringleader."

"Then what would his role be?"

"At the very least he had the information about the Gallegar family life and what their plans were. Plus there is no doubt that he's the one that shot me."

"That's all well and good but if he's not the head of this nightmare it will just go on and on."

"I think it's going to come to a head. I mean how long can the contents of that briefcase be important enough to kill for it? Or for that matter what would make them think it isn't already too late, which it is of course."

"Please be careful."

"I will. I'll give you all the details at dinner if you're up to it."

"I'd like that, our lives have been such a mess."

"I agree. Dinner at O'Hanlon's?"

"Okay but I'll shower and then meet you at your place since the restaurant is so much closer to your place." "Okay."

It was almost seven thirty when Alana arrived. "Russ tell me what you've learned before we go to eat." I was half way through the story when somebody started pounding on the front door. I quickly retrieved my pistol and sent Alana to the back of the house. When I looked through the peep hole I saw Nicole as she started to beat on the door again. I opened it and she quickly entered and slammed the door behind her.

She grabbed my arm and said, "Hide Russ he's almost here."

Like an idiot I stood there staring at her asking, "Who's coming?"

"Please there's no time now just hide."

"What about you?"

"He knows me I'll be okay."

"Nicole I can't do that."

"Okay then we'll both hide." She followed me through the kitchen as I raced to join Alana in the little storage room. Or at least I thought she was right behind me. I stopped at the little door and turned to say something and noticed she wasn't to be seen.

I was unsure what to do for a second but then realized I was armed so I turned to find her and heard somebody bust through my front door.

I stopped, unsure what to do next and heard, "Where is he? Tell me Nicole where is that ass hole?"

"It's over. It's too late for you now and you know it. The briefcase is gone, the police have it."

"I don't give a damn about the briefcase now. That bastard has ruined everything for me and I want him dead. Now move or you'll just go down with him."

"How can you say that? You know who I am."

"Hell of course I do but I don't care if you die right along with him. In fact you have to die now."

I had my pistol pointed right at him from the doorway and said, "Drop it now or die." I saw his pistol swinging toward me and I fired, cocked my antique pistol and fired again. He stood there for a second as I prepared to fire off another round and then he started to fall squeezing his trigger at the same time. I could see the flash from his pistol just as he hit the floor and then Nicole went down too. I eased out and went to kick his firearm away from his hand. His eyes were nearly closed and he wasn't moving so I turned to Nicole. She was on her back and she was bleeding from the abdomen. I quickly dialed nine eleven and then sat on the floor and cradled her in my lap. "Nicole it will be okay, help is coming." I gently brushed her hair back and she looked at me.

"Russ it hurts."

"I know but it will be okay, just stay with me." I put my arms around her and held her close as I whispered in her ear.