FicWad

Frank woke with a start. It hadn’t been a particularly restful sleep, which went some way to explaining his confusion as a ringing sound filled his ears. Forgetting where he was, he reached out to switch off what he believed was an alarm clock and rolled with a heavy thud off the sofa and onto the floor.

“Wha…?” he muttered as he gathered his wits. The memory of Gerard’s kidnapping and all subsequent events flooded back into his mind. Reaching for the source of the incessant ringing, Frank answered the phone.
“About time!” the angry voice shouted. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Ray?” Frank replied, bewildered.
“I just spoke to Brian, he told me they’re doing the ransom drop today. Oh, and big news you didn’t bother to tell us… you apparently know where Gee is!”
“I don’t know anything about the ransom drop, what… I mean, how… I haven’t heard anything!” Frank stammered.
“Never mind that,” Ray continued. “Where’s Gee and more to the point, why didn’t you tell us? We’re at the hospital, not Outer Mongolia, you know!”
“Ray, will you just shut up for a minute!” Frank yelled in return. “I’m not keeping anything from you. Mikey worked it out last night from the photo they sent.”
“What photo?” Ray growled.
Sam entered the room from the kitchen with a tray of coffee and toast.
Frank’s shoulders sagged; he saw it from Ray’s point of view and this didn’t look good.
“I’m sorry, Ray, they sent us a photo of Gerard, he was wearing a straitjacket. Mikey figured that they probably had him in that old psychiatric hospital that closed about two years ago. We told Brian, but…”
Placing the tray on the table, Sam calmly turned and plucked the phone from Frank’s hand.
“Ray, it’s Sam,” he began, “don’t blame Frankie for the lack of information. We gave everything we had to Brian; he suggested we let you sleep and he’d to call you in the morning. He didn’t want you and Bob up all night worrying when there was nothing you could do.”
“Oh,” Ray replied flatly.
Frank signalled energetically for the phone to be returned to him.
“I’ll put you back to Frank,” Sam added handing the phone back.
“Ray?”
“I’m sorry Frank, I should’ve known you…”
“What’s this about the ransom drop? This is news to me!”
“Brian had a call last night from Gee’s cell phone. How much, when, where – everything. I asked him what he was doing about knowing where Gee was and he seemed really cagey about it. I was kinda hoping you’d know and…” he paused as he thought about it a little more, “and that I’d yell at you till you told me.”
“I don’t know anything about that,” Frank sighed, “hang on.”
Moving the phone away from his mouth, Frank looked up at Sam as he poured out a mug of coffee.
“Sam, do you know anything about a ransom drop?”
Sam shook his head as he handed the mug to Frank. “I expect Brian’s going to call you too. I’ll see how Mikey’s doing.”
Frank nodded as Sam headed upstairs.
“I don’t know. But I agree, he was acting really strange last night when we told him about Mikey’s theory. We put it down to maybe he was tired, but he didn’t seem all that keen to discuss it. I’ll call him.”
“Okay, let me know what you find out,” Ray replied with a sigh.
“How’s Bob?” Frank asked, feeling guilty that it wasn’t his first question.
Ray chuckled lightly. “He’s got a drip feed of sedatives and painkillers. I shouldn’t laugh, but he’s really out of it. ‘Incoherent Bob’ isn’t the most stimulating conversation!”
“Could you tell the difference?” Frank asked with a smirk.
“I’ll tell him you said that, Iero!”
“Go for it, I doubt he’ll take it in anyway.” His brief chuckle faded into a deep breath. “I better call Brian”
“Sure, let me know.”
Frank hit the relevant speed dial and waited for a reply as Mikey descending the stairs.
“Hi Frank,” Brian greeted him. “I was just about to call you.”
Mikey’s eyes widened at Frank’s next words.
“Yeah? About the ransom drop today? And why were you so cagey about Mikey working out where Gee is?”
“Yes, I am going to tell you about the ransom drop, but I wanted to be sure about the other.”
“Sure about what?” asked Frank switching to speakerphone so Mikey could hear.
“My phone has a tracer on it, I got a call last night from the kidnapper about the ransom drop and he was on long enough to get a pin down on the general area. Mikey was right, it looks like he’s in the psychiatric hospital.”
“A tracer?” Frank queried in dismay. “A police tracer?”
“Yeah,” Brian’s voice dropped low as he made the admission. “I’ve been in touch with the police almost from the beginning, they’ve been very discreet.”
“And the press?” Mikey asked, shocked by the news.
“No,” Brian insisted, “not the press, I was as shocked as you guys to hear they’d found out.”
“They said, no police,” Frank continued. “You put him in danger!”
“Frank, the chances are very slim that they’ll release him, I had no choice, this is the only way, trust me.”
“We don’t have much of a choice, do we? You’ve done it already.”
“It was a difficult choice to make, but I believe it’s the right one. Frank, Mikey, this is not a decision I made lightly.”
“Okay, yeah,” Frank conceded. “Must have been a tough call, but I hope you’re right, Brian, I really do, not just for Gerard’s sake, but for yours.”
“The drop’s happening about now and the police are on their way to the hospital.”
“I guess we have to wait then?” Mikey part asked, part stated.
“Yeah, and pray,” Brian replied, his voice little more than a whisper.

*

Kay sat alone in what had once been one of the doctor’s offices and checked her watch for the fourth time in the last few minutes. Stubbing out yet another cigarette in the already overflowing ashtray, she stared, unblinking, at the phone willing it to ring. He wasn’t late, not yet, there were a few minutes remaining, but the wait was agonising. When it finally came the combined sound of the ring and the vibration on the desk startled her.
“Hello?” she ventured tentatively.
“I got it!” Came the excited reply. “All of it, the whole six million, it’s all there!”
“And you’re away safe? No one followed you?”
“No, there’s just me and a case full of cash!”
Kay sighed with an odd mixture of relief and dread.
“What? He asked, suddenly edgy. “You are going to do it, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am!” she snapped. “Doesn’t mean I enjoy it, does it?”
“No, well, this should be the last, maybe.”
“I think I can just about live on three million dollars,” she replied, her voiced dripping with sarcasm.
“Well, do it now and I’ll meet you in thirty minutes.”
Kay stuffed the phone into her pocket and picked up the gun that lay beside the ashtray. Walking slowly down the corridor, she wanted nothing more than for the walk to be endless. This was the part of the job she hated. He wouldn’t be her first kill, but she hoped he would be the last.
Unlocking and opening the door to his cell, she noticed that Gerard had edged his way to the far wall and was now sitting up and leaning against it. As she entered, Gerard’s lips parted as if to speak, but closed again as he saw the gun.

“It’s time,” she said sombrely.
Gerard found his voice.
“You’re really going to kill me?”
“Yeah,” she nodded trying hard to sound indifferent, “they just paid. In about ten minutes they’ll probably realise we’re not contacting them to tell them where to find you. Now, get on the floor, face down.”
“You’re going to shoot me in the back?” Gerard asked in dismay.
“I…” she sighed deeply. “It’s the straitjacket; I can’t get a clear shot to the heart. I don’t want you to suffer.”
“Well,” Gerard choked back his anger and distress, “you’re too late for that!”
“On the floor!” she yelled, angry with herself that this wasn’t already over.
“Wait!” Gerard fixed her with a pair of wide eyes and a heartfelt plea. “Let me speak to Mikey before you...”
Kay stepped forward and grabbed a handful of his hair, dragging him away from the wall and pulling him forward until he lay face down on the floor in front of her. Gerard closed his eyes, filling his mind with mental images of his family and friends.
“I love you, Mikey,” he whispered.
Moments later, the sound of a single gunshot reverberated around the small room.