chapter 71

word count: 1546

john hunt approached room 704 with caution.. the truth of the matter was he was more than a little apprehensive about meeting up with buzz miller after having lost track of his only boy while he and trudy were supposed to be looking after him.. 

sure,, buzz was laid up,, but somehow  that fact gave john little cause to relax.. he had seen all the news reels,, heard all the stories.. buzz miller was one tough cookie,, and john couldn’t help but feel that the far reaching arm of his wrath was about to come down on him for not having had the presence of mind it took to keep track of two small boys without allowing them to disappear in plain sight.. 

as he approached the room,, he saw elliot and detective hank bower standing just outside the drawn privacy curtain.. 

“hank!” john exclaimed,, pleased to see he had someone there to run interference should it be needed.. 

hank spun on his heel,, put his finger to his lips,, and silently ‘shushed’ john,, as he lead elliot out of the room by his hand..  he motioned for john to follow him down the hall,, a fair distance from room 704 before he said anything.. 

“hey, john, good to see you.. thanks for coming up.. the boss is having a private moment with his boy, and i just didn’t want any of this to interrupt it..”

“no problem,” john said as he reached out and tried to put a reassuring arm around elliot’s shoulder.. elliot twisted and pulled himself out from under johns attempted embrace.. 

“hey, buddy, whats going on?? why’d you guys take off like that?? i was making you some pancakes,, and the next thing i knew,, you were gone!”

elliot stared blankly at john from under the curtain of dark bangs that hung loosely,, nearly covering his eyes.. it was evident to both john and hank,, now was not the time to discuss it.. 

just then,, hanks cell phone rang.. as he fumbled to silence it,, he noticed the display.. it was the commish.. “i gotta take this.” he said as he headed for the stairway so he could duck in and take the call in private.. 

“goddam it.” hank said under his breath as he entered the stairway and the heavy fire door closed behind him.. “that fucking johnson,, just couldn’t wait to drop the dime.”  hank thought to himself,, surmising johnson had called in to report that he was with gil on department time,, and evidently consulting on some case or another while he was supposed to be on administrative leave.. 

“bowers!” he barked into the phone,, his voice echoing off the cement block walls of the stairway.. 

“yes, sir.”

“i understand, sir.”

“you’re not gonna regret this sir!!” hanks demeanor changed visibly.. 

“ i’ll get with bettencourt right away sir,, and we’ll get right on  this.. simmons.. i am in shock.."

“thank you sir.. i won’t let you down!!” hank echoed into the phone as he disconnected the call,, and immediately dialed gil..

“bettencourt” gil barked into the speaker phone that lay on the seat between him and the adorable young uniform that was accompanying him in route to the new alabny county jail with lichtenstien carefully in tow.. 

“gil!” hank exclaimed, recognizing by the background noise that the phone was on speaker.. “pick up.. official police business!”

gil fumbled for the phone,, as he attempted to cross two lanes of traffic and bring the car to rest on the berm.. “what’s going on?” 

“just got off the phone with the commish!!” hank sang merrily into the phone.. “i’ve been officially reinstated!!

“alright!! gil exclaimed, “i had no doubt..” 

hank cut him off mid-sentence.. ” but that’s not the reason i am calling.”

“talk to me brother,, “ gil needed to cut to the chase.. there was not a moment to spare,, he had to deliver leichtenstein  safely into custody asap.. 

“the forensics on the human remains found in the aftermath of the miller home explosion have been identified!! our worst suspicions have been confirmed,, the body has been positively identified as none other than our own detective brenda simmons!!” hank continued breathlessly..

“god damn!” gil exclaimed into the phone.. “meet me at the precinct,, i am in route with leichtenstein. let me get this under wraps,, and then you can give me all the details."

“i don’t have many details,“ started hank. “you finish that up,, while i hit forensics.. i’ll meet you in the squad room.”

“on it!” gil barked into the phone,, as he disconnected the call,, and eased back into traffic..

gil’s train of thought moved effortlessly from the delectable young uniform seated next to him,, to the shocking news hank had just delivered.. 

‘wouldn’t you know it,’ he thought to himself, ‘i finally get to haul this animal leichtenstein in,, and i can’t even savor the experience..’  

this was turning out to be one hell of a crazy day.. and gil had the feeling,, it wasn’t over yet!!

as hank stepped out of the stairwell and back into the seventh floor hospital corridor,, he saw john squatted down,, trying to have some kind of meaningful interaction with elliot.. it was clear from his body language,, elliot was having none of it.. 

torn between his desire to stay and help ease the boys into some semblance of comfort with their respective fathers,, and yet knowing he had to heed the call of duty,, hank approached john and elliot.. john rose to his feet to meet hanks perplexing look head on..

“police business.” hank stated abruptly, knowing he just had to dissociate himself from this,, after all it was a family matter..  no matter how much he wanted to help, on a personal level,, none of it was really any of his business.

“i gotta take off. you got this?” he asked john.

“oh yeah,, we’ll be fine..” john tried to assure him,, even though he had as of yet been unable to convince himself of the same.. 

“hey,, and thanks for the heads up!! thanks for everything!” john called out to hank as he disappeared down the florescent corridor.

“you got it!” hank said as he made his way toward the elevators. he pressed the down button and fidgeted uneasily as he waited on the doors to open.. 

hanks enthusiasm over being reinstated was marred only by the unsettling news that detective brenda simmons had in fact been confirmed as the most likely suspect in the explosion that had leveled the bosses house in his absence.. 

“what the hell was going on between those two?” hank wondered aloud as he stepped into the elevator and began his descent.. knowing all the while,, that was a redundant question.. buzz was screwing her.. he had to be.. 

‘that bastard!’ hank thought to himself. his ire for the way buzz had continually mistreated jeannie rising once again unto his throat like so much acid.. 

“that fucking bastard.” he said aloud,, causing the elderly woman waiting just outside the opening elevator doors to shoot him a disapproving look, as he lumbered off the elevator and toward the hospital reception desk.. 

“i need a cab!” hank yelled out,, as he flashed his badge and made his way to the head of the line. 

“pronto! official police business!”

“uhm,, yes sir.” answered the startled candy striper at the reception desk.. 

“if you’ll excuse me.” she said hesitatingly to the young mother she had been helping to locate a room number. “this will only take a second.”

hank stepped out of the air conditioned lobby and into the thick humidity that waited for him on the other side of the sliding doors.. 

he looked impatiently at his watch.. wouldn’t you know he would be without transportation at a time like this??

“come on!!” he called into the dank unyielding air that surrounded him. 

“i don’t have all day!!”

as gil eased the unmarked car into the precincts underbelly,, he radioed ahead for backup.. 

“could i get a couple of uniforms down here to the booking lot? got a live on here! and i intend to keep it that way!”

as gil waited anxiously for backup to appear, he glanced up into the rear view mirror.. to his horror he realized leichtenstien had somehow or another slipped his cuffed hands under his person and over the seatbelt.. his head dangled on his chest like a macabre necklace,, the cuffs twisted tightly around his throat..

“fuck!!” exclaimed gil, as he jumped out of the car, desperately hoping it was not too late.. 

officer simone turned,, and seeing the twisted unmoving body of leichtenstein strapped firmly in the seat behind her,,  head dangling as it was in a most unnatural position,,  quickly followed suit.. 

“fuck this bitch!” gil raved, as he loosed leichtenstein from the seatbelt and dragged his lifeless body out of the back seat of the unmarked car and laid it gently on the steaming cement of the precinct’s parking lot.

it was then that he noticed the maniacal grin that graced what was left of leichtenstien’s mutilated face.. 

a cold chill ran down gil’s spine as he realized that this sick demented bastard had indeed had the last word..