FicWad

Almost three hours after Gerard made the call, Frank was still in the interview room. Exhausted by all the questions he slumped across the desk resting his head on his folded arms. Alone and tired, he had been harangued for over an hour and was beginning to feel more like a criminal than a victim; he just wanted to leave. What only made matters worse was that the others hadn’t been allowed into the room with him and although he knew he was safe, he was feeling increasingly anxious by the isolation. Stirred from his thoughts, he jerked his head up sharply as the door opened without warning and a Styrofoam cup filled with what might have been coffee, on a good day, was placed in front of him.
“So you know this guy?” Detective Silburn asked again standing opposite with a similar cup in his hand.
Frank’s shoulders sagged; hadn’t he been through this already?
“No,” he replied tiredly, “he says I know him, but I’ve never seen his face, only heard him.”
“And you didn’t recognise the voice?”
Frank shook his head. “No, it wasn’t familiar at all.”
The detective took a mouthful of the coffee and frowned with distaste. Noting his reaction, Frank pushed his cup away a few inches with his fingertips; if the smell was anything to go by, the detective’s scowl was more then justified.
“To be honest with you,” the detective shrugged, “there’s not much we can do.”
“Until I’m actually dead?” Frank replied dryly.
“Until he does something illegal…”
“He held a gun to me in my car!” Frank cried in frustration. “How much more illegal would you like?”
“Did you see it?”
“See what?” Frank asked.
“The gun, did you actually see it?”
“No, but I felt it!”
“Okay,” Silburn nodded as he rounded the desk.
Frank gasped as he felt something cold and hard pushed into his back.
“Did it feel like that?”
“What the hell are you doing!” Frank shouted, at once furious and panicked by the cruel reminder of his ordeal.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Silburn returned to face Frank once more and placed a small metal stapler in front of him. “So I guess we can say it might not have been a gun?”
“Have I been here this long just so you can ridicule me?” Frank asked, still trembling.
“Look, Mister Iero, you don’t know what he looks like, you can’t give us a description, there’s no apparent motive. The most we’re certain he’s done so far is break into your car.”
“And threaten my life!”
“Okay,” Silburn conceded, “we’ll watch your house for a couple of days, until you go on tour. We’ll be discreet, if we see anything unusual, we’ll check it out.”
“What about Saturday?”
“We’ll review the case on what turns up in the meantime.”
“Thanks,” Frank replied with as much sincerity as he could muster. They didn’t seem to be interested, apparently believing it to be a gross over-reaction on Frank’s part. He knew he was lucky enough to be able to afford his own security, and he knew that Brian was already arranging it. The tour security was in place and had been for months, but Brian was insistent that he should have an additional guard for the last few days before they left. In fact, they would be surprised to find that they all did.
Frank wanted to leave now more than ever. Little had been achieved, but it had to be done.
“Can I go?” Frank muttered as he pushed the cup absently.
“Yeah,” Silburn replied grabbing his jacket off the chair and opening the door. “Give your details to the sergeant over there first.”

*

Having completed all the repetitive and apparently pointless forms, Frank headed out to the reception area where he knew the rest of the band were waiting.
“Frank!” Ray spotted him first. “How did it go?”
“Let’s go,” Frank shook his head.
“W..wait!” Gerard took his arm. “What happened, what are they going to do?”
“They…” Frank shrugged. “They’re gonna watch the house for a couple of days.”
“That’s all!” Gerard turned and started back down the corridor determined to get answers.
“No!” Frank called after him then ran to stop him when he didn’t even look back. “Gee,” Frank pleaded with his eyes, “I just want to go home, please, let’s go.”
Gerard nodded sympathetically. “Okay, but you can’t go home.”
“Gee…” Frank’s brow furrowed as he felt control of his own life slipping from his grasp.
“Listen to me! Brian’s set something up, we’re gonna go there, we’re all gonna go there, you won’t be on your own, you’ll be safe. Okay?”
Frank took a deep breath, and smiled faintly as he looked at each of his friends in turn. There seemed little option but to give in; even though, deep down he knew it was for the best, he hated to hand over control like that.
“Thanks, guys.”

*

In the furthest corner of the police precinct parking lot, a dark haired man smirked as the band emerged to claim their cars. Lighting a cigarette, he nodded and spoke quietly to himself; his voice dripped with venom.

“Very well, Frankie, we’ll play it your way. This was just between you and me, but if you want all your friends involved, I can accommodate that. Perhaps this is more fitting as a payback for what you did. Them first, Frankie, while you watch! Then you. I’ll see you Saturday!”