chapter 121

word count: 1401

gil started the engine,, but something kept him from pulling away from the curb.. his gut told him something was up,, and although he couldn’t quite put his finger on what, he followed his sharply honed instincts and stayed put.. 

“what gives?” asked hank, noticing gil’s hesitancy to put the car in drive.

“i don’t know.. i just got this feeling..  something is going on inside that house.. and it’s not grieving.. did ya notice neither of them even mentioned mark?? did anything about what just happened in there reflect in any way the fact that they had just lost a son?? a brother?? nope. nope..  something just ain’t right.”

“i gotta say i am with ya in this.. but i think we should pull down the block,, let them think all is well.. that we suspect nothing  and just took off,, none the wiser..” advised hank,, as gil followed his lead,,  slipped the car into gear and allowed the crown vic to glide out onto the road.. 

he took the first right,, went down a couple of blocks, and then circled around,, eventually coming to rest two blocks down the from the johnson home.. if there was any movement to or from the johnson residence they would know about it..  

“ok.. so let’s see what we got.” hanks critical thinking kicked in and he began to innumerate the facts as they related to not only mick and his mother’s strange behavior,, but also how it might relate to buzz’s seeming disappearance.. 

“let’s start at the crime scene..”

gil picked up from there. “dead vic.. one round, straight to the head.. forensics is calling it a professional hit. initial crime scene investigation seems to back that up.”

“keep goin’. keep goin’.” hank led him on.. 

“mistaken identity. i mean how the hell were we supposed to know mick had a twin brother?? i never  asked and he sure as hell never offered any information about his private life,, which in itself is weird considering the amount of time he and i spent together working on the leichtenstein case..”

“off topic,,” hank interjected,, “but then there was that phone call he made that night we got yanked into that DUI checkpoint on our way to simones.. you weren’t there, i know,, but you should have seen it.. whoever he called had the uniform’s tail between his legs in like two seconds flat..”

“so tying the two together,, we got mick,, or should we say mark takin’ what is more than likely a mob hit,, and mick having someone on speed dial high enough up the ladder to reduce that uniform to mush..”

“good. good.” hank said as he kept the ball rolling. “and then we got buzz jumping in, takin’ it upon himself to go notify the next of kin,, only to find out that mick wasn’t dead at all!! it was this mysterious twin brother no one had ever heard of that took the head shot.”

“and as far as we know,, mick was the last one to talk to buzz.. although nothing in that story he just tried to tell us fits.. he didn’t call buzz like he was sayin’ in there,, he told you buzz called him right??”

“right!!” hank exclaimed as if a bolt of electricity had hit him. “and he tried to play it off like he was the one who called you,, when i swear to god last night he told me buzz had called you,, got no response,, and only then, called him.."

“jeezus!!” gil exclaimed. “his story is so full of holes you’d think it was a turkey shoot!!”

“i feel like a scene straight out of dumb and dumber!!! how did we let this get by us?? we gotta get back over there,, and we gotta get back over there now!! if my gut is right,, they either have buzz in that house,, or they know where he is!!”

‘i’ll call it in!!” gil grabbed his cell as he turned the key and allowed the engine to idle while he placed the call.. 

just for grins,, hank tried buzz’s cell and home numbers again while gil was on the phone with dispatch..  nothing.. the cell was still going straight to voicemail,, and not even the housekeeper was picking up at the residence.. 

“the plot thickens!!” gil declared, as he clicked his phone to end the call. “seems some old lady, fitting the general description of buzz’s housekeeper,  threw the squad room into a tizzy this morning,, claiming she had a dream that buzz was in danger!! seems the idiots at the front desk thought she was some kinda loony tune and threw her out on her ear,, threatening to take her into custody if she didn’t leave peaceably!!”

“fucking desk jockeys!” hank bellowed.. “so that explains why there is no answer at the house.. jesus christ!! you don’t think they’ve got her too do ya?”

“no tellin’." gil continued, "got unmarked backup on the way..  the DA is working on a search warrant,, hope to god she can find a sympathetic judge at this time on a sunday morning..  we need to get in that house!! asap!!”

the words had no sooner crossed gil’s lips, when the two of them saw a hearse back into the driveway at the johnson house..  

“what the fuck??” they cried in unison..

“we don’t have time to wait for backup!” hank clamored as he pulled the door handle and jumped out of the car.. 

“i’m movin in on foot..  you keep your foot on the gas!!” he said as he swung the door closed and moved in close to the privacy hedge that lined every yard in this upscale neighborhood.

gil looked on as hank,, hunched down below the shrub line and made his way toward the johnson house.. he watched as hank slipped into the cover of the beautifully landscaped yard next to the johnsons,, and out of view.

“come on!! come on!!” gil rattled excitedly.. “where the hell is our backup??”

just as hank had taken his vantage point there among the hibiscus bushes in the johnson's neighbor’s yard,, he heard a screen door fly open..

“what the hell do you think you’re doing!!” yelled the disgruntled home owner.. “get the hell out of my yard!!”

“holy fuck!!” responded hank in a somewhat hushed tone.. but it was too late.. the hearse driver had heard the commotion and hank just looked on helplessly as the hearse lurched out of the johnson’s driveway nearly taking the privacy hedge with it.. 

“relax!! relax!!” hank tried to calm the homeowner.

“relax my ass!!” the irate homeowner bellowed.  “what the fuck are you doing crawling around in my hibiscus??”

“i’m a detective!! bowers!! NAPD!” hank said as he flashed his badge and motioned to the homeowner to move back towards the house.

“and you my friend have just fucked up a top level security surveillance,, and if i were you i would getback in the house and shut the fucking door!!” hank yelled at the clearly confused homeowner,, as backed warily toward the house.. 

not that it mattered now..  his cover had been blown.. whoever was driving that hearse had made a clean get away,, and hank had been so embroiled in this ridicules dispute with the befuddled homeowner,, he hadn’t even had a chance to get a good look at the driver, let alone a plate number.. 

there was no doubt in his mind,, that the johnsons had heard it all go down,, and knew the shit had hit the fan.. they had to get in there and they had to get in there now!! warrant or no warrant,, they would sort out the legal bullshit later.. buzz’s life might be on the line!!

he ran to the curb,, and flagged gil,, who punched the gas and jumped out of the still running car even before it even came to a complete stop.. 

“no time to explain, we gotta get in there!”

guns drawn, they approached the johnson home..  as they hit the front porch their backup swung into the driveway.. the well-seasoned detectives sprang out of the car and instinctively headed toward the rear of the house..

 game on.. 

“johnson!!” hank roared, “we got you surrounded!! make it easy on yourself and open the fucking door!!”

in the distance a cacophony of sirens could be heard.. 

“dear god,” hank prayed aloud. “let them be headed our way!!”