Taking it to the grave
Nick sat and fiddled with his MP3 player, going through the endless mix of songs he had on there. Part of him wanted to go back into the hospital and see his brother, he felt like a jerk for leaving the way he did, but yet, he just couldn’t get himself to do it. Even though he knew that Brian was fine, there was something about the smell of the place that made him almost want to scream. To him that place symbolized death.
Besides, he knew that his big brother would understand, in fact he knew they all understood except for the one person that needed to. He let out a sigh thinking about his dad. How much he wished he could just have a normal relationship with his father. Be able to be open and honest with him about everything, but he just couldn’t. There was too much animosity buried in his soul.
When he was younger, he had created the perfect model of a father. A superhero that couldn’t be at home because he was out solving the world’s problems, defending the galaxy from harm all the while sending his baby son gifts and letting him know that even though he was out of sight, he was never out of mind.
It wasn’t until his father returned for good and he grew a few years older that he realized what his dad had done was actually abandon him and left his mother to take care of four children on her own while he ran away scared.
The hate started to build shortly after that, on days when he needed his mom more than anything and all he was left with was a guy who seemed always so preoccupied he was never willing to listen.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” Nick looked up at a man who seemed larger than life.
“No, you can sit here.” Nick moved over to allow the guy to sit down.
“Thanks.”
“Sure.”
There were a few other benches totally empty, why did this guy have to come and sit down right next to him?
“Are you here visiting someone?” And on top of that, why is he trying to start a conversation? People always seemed to do that to the youngest Richardson, he must have had that ‘I’m nice, you can tell me anything’ type of look.
“I’m waiting for my family.”
“Oh, were you sick?” Nick shook his head and impatiently glanced at his watch.
“I’m sorry; I don’t mean to ask so many questions…I recently hurt my arm.” The man said bending his arm and wincing as if to prove some kind of point. Nick tried to be sympathetic but inside he just really could care less.
“That sucks,” came his reply when he saw that the man was looking for some kind of acknowledgement.”
“What sucks is getting older. How old are you anyway?”
“Fifteen.” Nick kept flipping through his songs hoping that the guy would take a hint and stop bugging him.
“Wow, I thought you were older than that. Say…do you have a minute? I could really use your help.”
“With what?”
“Well, like I said, I hurt my arm and I could really use someone to help me grab the packages out of my car for my granddaughter. That’s who I’m here to see. She was just born yesterday.”
“Oh...” Nick looked back at the front entrance and when he still didn’t see his family surface from the door, he shrugged. “Sure why not.”
The man stood up, “Great,” He smiled but then suddenly his demeanor changed as he saw someone getting out of a car. “Oh I’ll be right back; I forgot I had to do something.”
Nick never even bothered to look up as he shrugged, “Okay…” and the man disappeared into the hospital right before he was noticed.
“Nick….what are you doing here?” He groaned again before looking up, but then couldn’t help but feel that tingle of excitement when he saw Patty standing over him. “Is everything alright?”
“Oh…hey Patty…um…yeah, everything is great.” She smiled as she watched him fall over his words.
“Do you just hang out at the hospital?”
“Yeah, when I’m not chillin’ in the graveyard, I hang here.” He said as gangsta as possible which made the girl laugh.
“Well that’s nice to know.” She sat down beside him and looked at her watch.
“Actually Brian is here, he was hurt today but not too badly. He’s being released.”
“Oh, good. I’m glad he’ll be okay.”
Nick nodded, trying not to act like he had been as nervous as he was about the entire situation, “What are you doing here?”
“I volunteer…can’t you tell by my outfit?”
He looked down and noticed the pink apron, “Very nice look on you.”
“Thanks, I candy stripe twice a week.”
“Oh, cool I guess.”
“You should volunteer too; they are always looking for extra help.”
“Would I have to wear that?”
She laughed and then playfully hit him on the arm, “I would force you to.”
“Oh, then no way in hell…sorry Charlie!”
Nick hesitated after he said that name, and she enjoyed that. It made her feel good to know he was a little jealous. She laughed once more, “Speaking of Charlie…I’m sorry you couldn’t hang out with us today. Maybe tomorrow?”
“Yeah maybe…what do you see in that guy anyway?”
“He’s special.”
“He’s a bully and a jerk, a total loser.”
“You know Nick, sometimes there’s more to people than meets the eye.”
“Not in his case Patty…”
She shook her head, “Yeah, that’s what people said about me. Maybe that’s why I like him; we both are looked at the same way. I mean look at my dad, people wouldn’t even talk to me because of the things he did. We had to change schools three times because I got teased so badly.” Nick looked at her and sighed, almost feeling the pain she expressed in her eyes.
“I’m sorry… you’re right. He might not be that bad.” Even though he didn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth, he understood how much she needed to hear them.
She nodded and smiled at him and then pointed over to the main entrance, “Looks like Brian is finally leaving, I used to have such a crush on him.”
“I remember.”
“Oh my God, is that AJ?” Nick nodded as the brothers made their way closer to the teenagers.
Nick felt a great sense of relief when he saw Brian walking totally fine and strong, his arm in a sling but other than that, he was okay. Their father was walking behind them both, head down and distracted. They stopped when they got to the teenagers. Brian looking down at his baby brother as the boy smiled, pretending not to be affected by what had happened one way or the other. Of course, since he was 15 once, he kind of figured out it was because of the girl sitting there. She was the only thing keeping the blonde from jumping on his big brother like a puppy dog.
“Patty, is that you?” Brian asked when he finally realized he knew that face.
She nodded and did stand up and give the agent a hug, “It’s been along time. I’m glad you are okay Brian.”
“Look at you! You are positively beautiful.” He winked at her and then at his little brother, who seemed to disapprove of that.
Patty blushed; maybe that crush wasn’t gone after all. “Well, I better go; my shift is starting in five minutes. It was so nice to see you again.” She said to both AJ and Brian as she gave one final glance to Nick, “And we need to get together soon, okay?”
“Sure, that sounds great.” He felt both of his brothers staring at him as he watched Patty walk into the hospital. Feeling embarrassed he turned around and rolled his eyes at them. Sure enough they both had the biggest grins on their faces.
“She looks great Nicky my boy.”
“She’s taken AJ, remember?”
“Nick, never say never.”
“I’m going to go get the car.” Kevin senior said, not once even cracking a smile over anything. He didn’t even look at his youngest son as he made his way to the car.
“I’m glad you’re okay.” Nick finally said, walking over and giving his big brother a warm, heart felt hug.
“I know buddy, I’ll be hanging with you at your place for at least a week. I hope that’s okay?”
“Absolutely! As long as we get to play some heavy duty video games!”
“I think you’ll be at a slight advantage because of this,” Brian said pointing to his sling.
“Oh, then we should play for money!”
“He’ll still kick your sorry little ass Nick.”
“Hey!”
Kevin senior honked the horn which got all three boys moving, but Nick hesitated for a second, “I was supposed to help this old guy get stuff out of his car but he never came back.”
“Wait, you volunteered to help someone carry things?”
“Why are you so shocked? Did I not help you get your damn ring out of the drain?”
“Do you know this guy Nick?” Brian gave his brother one of those looks that were usually saved for Kevin.
“No, but he said he had stuff for his grand kid. I guess maybe he is just getting his own family to help.”
“Yeah, probably…okay let’s go before dad honks again.” Brian placed his good hand on his little brother’s back and gave him an anxious glance as they ventured away from the hospital.
Kevin and Howie both stood in the interrogation room staring down at the girl who had shot Brian. She was a mess, her eyes all bloodshot and puffy from crying about what she had done. That did manage to soften the agent who had plans of going in there and ripping into her for doing what she had done. It only took Kevin about five minutes to understand that she wasn’t a threat and didn’t mean to cause any harm. She was just a scared little girl.
“So, Nadia…what exactly had you so scared you felt like you had to run from us?” Howie asked. Kevin decided to just sit quietly and observe after seeing how distraught the teenager was.
“Is he going to be okay? The man who was hurt?” She looked up with wet eyes and Howie nodded.
“Yes, he’ll be just fine. You’re lucky Nadia…it could have gone another way.”
“I didn’t mean to do it.”
“I know.”
“Please answer the question Nadia, who were you running from? What had you so scared?”
She bit at her bottom lip and then sat back in her chair, she wasn’t going to talk. Kevin picked up on that as well. Whatever had her scared was far worse than being put in jail. So he decided to move in. He stood up and walked over to the girl, “Nadia….”
You could tell she was intimidated by him, her eyes grew wide as he sat right across from her, “I understand you are scared but we won’t be able to help you, if you don’t help us. Who did you think they were when they approached you?”
“Nobody.” He nodded and then brought out a picture of her boyfriend.
“Do you miss Luis, Nadia?”
Her scared looked turned to one of pure hatred as she glanced down at the lifeless face in the picture, “Leave him out of this!”
“But doesn’t he have to do with this? Isn’t he the reason you are so scared?”
“He’s dead.”
“I know that Nadia, he was murdered and we are trying to figure out why. We are on your side. Don’t you want whoever is responsible for his death to pay?”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
“How so?”
“It just is.”
“You know who killed him, don’t you?” Kevin reached over and placed his hand on top of hers, he said those words sympathetically and he could tell that she almost opened up to him…almost.
“Come on Nadia, we can protect you.”
“That’s what you told Luis too.”
“What do you mean?” Kevin was confused as he glanced over at Howie.
“You people told him he would be safe, but he wasn’t, was he?” She folded her arms in front of her and sat back in her chair, now that scared, innocent girl was replaced by the same one that would run away from federal agents and open fire on one of them.
“Do you know who he spoke to?” Howie asked.
“He told me now that he had you people on his side, nothing bad would happen.”
This latest development both encouraged and concerned Kevin as he nodded and walked out the door. Finding Ariana in the hallway, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey there.”
“How’s Brian?” She asked, feigning concern.
“He’s doing well.”
“Thank God…so has she talked yet?” she asked pointing towards the interrogation room where her husband once again sat across from the girl in question.
“Actually no, but she said something that might lead us in the right direction. I need to go search our database yet again.”
Ariana nodded and smiled as if she was excited about this latest development. “I’ll let you get back to work then,” She said patting her friend on the back. Her smile gradually left her face when Kevin disappeared from view. Glaring in at the twosome sitting at the table, she knew she’d have to rectify this situation.
“Sloppy sloppy sloppy” She said under her breath as she walked away.
She thought she saw him when she walked into the hospital but she would have never expected him to be there in a thousand years. He hated hospitals; at least that’s what he had told her mother on one of the many nights he stayed over. He was over all the time now it seemed and she didn’t like it at all. Not that he was a bad guy or anything, in fact, she found herself almost liking him, but she refused to get attached to anyone, least of all another father figure.
She was going to totally ignore even seeing him, just in case she was wrong but when she caught him glancing over her way, she felt like she had to do something, so she walked over slowly and greeted the man.
“What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“Hello Patty, yes everything is good.”
“I thought you hated hospitals.”
“I do, but a friend of mine hurt his leg so I thought I’d pay him a visit.”
“Aw, what room is he in? Maybe I’ll go give him a free Coke or something.”
The man looked nervous, his eyes shifted back and forth and she could swear he was biting the inside of his cheek. Was he lying about the friend? Patty couldn’t help but wonder.
“Oh, it’s not important…he is sleeping now and doesn’t want to be bothered.” She decided to just nod at him, give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Well, I better go start my shift. See ya later.” She smiled at the man as she walked away but the way she glanced back at him, made him uneasy.
‘She didn’t believe me,’ he thought to himself as he watched her get into the elevator. He was mad at himself for allowing her to even see him in the first place.
His thoughts went back to Nick, It would have been so easy to have that boy follow him to the car, you would think a fifteen year old who already has been kidnapped wouldn’t be quite so naïve but she had said he would be and of course she was right, like always.
Of course that was just a test to see if he would follow, he was a gambling man, and it was an added thrill knowing that the kid’s brother and father were in the hospital only a few feet away while the other agent actually walked past him and took a quick glance in his direction. Just the few seconds that passed when that glance was exchanged was enough to give him a hard-on. Part of him wanted Kevin to stop just for a second and look in the car, make the connection, feel that maybe something wasn’t right. That was the best part of living on the edge. The thrill of almost getting caught, it happened almost eight years ago, but they let him go.
Stupid them…
He shook his head but smiled as he walked out the hospital door and back to Anita’s place. He was starting to enjoy her company, even though it was a temporary situation.
Kevin senior drove silently back to his place with all three of his children in the car. His brain was racing a mile a minute, as everything that had just happened finally sunk in. He had almost lost his son. Sure, everything ended up being okay in the end, but it could have gone another way. How could he allow his children to put themselves in harm’s way especially if he wasn’t doing that anymore?
He stopped working for Nick, he gave up his entire life for the boy and he didn’t appreciate it in the least. He was miserable not working in the field, sitting at a computer and doing stupid paperwork wasn’t what he intended to do with his life. His decision was made; he was going back in the field. He had to, now that his son was a teenager, there was no reason to put it off any longer. Plus, he just had this feeling, a weird sense that his kids were in danger.
He was sure his wife would disapprove of this choice, but he needed to do it. Now that Brian would be staying with them, he would spring it on them all over dinner. His older son would be there to cushion the blow, if anything came.
“Are you feeling okay son?” he asked when he heard a small groan come from the seat beside him.
Brian seemed to think about it for a few seconds before answering. “Yeah, I’m just a little sore. I think the pain killers they gave me are starting to wear off.”
“Well, once we get you home, you can go upstairs and get some sleep.”
“You can stay in my room Brian, I’ll take the couch.”
“You don’t have to do that Nicky; I can use AJ’s old room.”
“It’s lacking a bed though; remember I took it with me when I left.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. Why must you always be so difficult?” Brian asked through a smile. “Maybe I should just stay at my place then? I don’t want to put anybody out.”
“No! You need to stay with us Bri!” The youngest insisted, “It’s no big deal, I fall asleep on the couch all the time. It’s comfortable and I’m used to it.”
Brian turned to look at his brother and nodded, “Okay squirt.”
Nicky looked relieved as he sat back on his seat and once again that only helped Kevin senior to make up his mind.
“So he did fill out a police report, how come no one caught that?” Howie asked his best friend looking at the faxed report.
“I have no idea, but this says Luis requested a restraining order. The weird thing is that this report if full of holes. It looks like entire paragraphs were blocked out.”
“What’s the name of the officer?”
“It looks like is says Redman…something.”
“Maybe we should talk to him.”
“I asked to speak to him but he no longer works there.”
“That’s kind of curious, isn’t it?”
Kevin nodded, “What’s even more curious is look at the date he filled this out.”
Howie’s eyes glanced down at the paper and shook his head, “Three days before he died.”
“Not died Howie, three days before he was killed.”
“I’ll go talk to Nadia again; maybe she’ll be able to give us a little more information.” Kevin said, grabbing the fax and heading back to the interrogation room.
“Nadia, we found the police report that your boyfriend filed…” Kevin started but suddenly stopped when he saw her head on the table as if she was sleeping. “Nadia?” He asked, walking over and gently tapping her. Her body went limp as she fell to the floor which had the agent quickly running to the door and yelling for an ambulance to be called.
Ariana heard him yell and smiled as she picked up the phone and made the call, knowing it would be too late, just like it was for Kevin’s mom.
Just giving you a heads up, this chapter is unedited lol I wanted to get it out to you today so it's up as is. Ignore the typos towards the end lol pretend they are a figment of your imagination lmao :OP
