chapter 209

word count: 1435

hank was still visiting with stephanie when the call came in.. it was lisa.. according to elliot,, buzz miller had lambasted trudy in the parking lot of the dairy queen,, and then took off running through the woods on the opposite side of the highway.. some very nice, although slightly disheveled morman youth missionaries had seen to it that elliot got home safely on the bus,, and they collaborated elliot's story..

“daddy,, the truth of the matter is we are scared,, and we feel as if we have good reason to be.. nothing good has ever come out of either of their explosive tempers,, and very simply,, we have no way of knowing if one or both of them will come banging on the door at any minute demanding to see the boys..” whispered lisa as she tried to hold back her tears in front of the boys.

“ya did the right thing, honey.. calling me was the right thing to do.. now you just sit tight.. do not open  the door to anyone but me or gil.. give me a minute to track him down,, and then we will handle this.. just stay calm ok?? you know i would never let anything happen to you, john, or any of the boys..” he comforted her before he said, “i love you baby..” and clicked off the call.. 

“what’s up??” stephanie inquired as she could tell by the pained look on hanks face that something had gone terribly wrong..

“family problem.. that was my daughter lisa.. i hate to do this honey,, but i am gonna have to cut this visit short..” hank said as he stood up and kissed stephanie on the forehead..

“no worries,, i’ll be fine here.. just please give me a call later and let me know if you’re alright and whether or not you  were able to iron everything out.”

“you’re the best!!” hank exclaimed, truly relived that stephanie had taken the news so well. he leaned in yet again and gave he a long kiss on the lips..

“hey!! stephanie called out to hank as he made his way toward the door. “i love you!!”

“love you too!!”  hank responded,, although in his mind he was already planning what he was gonna say to gil.. after all tonight was supposed to be his big night with tori..

as soon as hank hit the automatic doors the front entrance to the hospital,, he speed dialed gil.. no answer. the call went directly to voicemail..

“fuck!!” hank exclaimed out loud,, realizing that if gil was not answering he had probably already set the gil machine in motion,, and as was his usual,, he had turned the ringer on his phone off..

as soon as the recorded message finished, hank barked into the phone, “gil.. it’s urgent.. i need to stop whatever it is you are doing and call me back, pronto!!”

not really expecting a return call from gil anytime soon,, he threw the red bubble light on the top of the car and gunned it out of the parking lot.. first stop, lisa’s.. he had to get the whole story first hand before the manhunt could begin.. manhunt.. what an unpleasant word to have to use when referring to a comrade in arms.  but when that comrade was buzz miller,, and knowing as he did that buzz knew this could very well be the crippling end to an otherwise star studded career,, a manhunt it would be..

***

with elliot having disappeared from the dairy queen while she was playing out her anger and resentment toward buzz in the parking lot,, and buzz off traipsing in the now dark woods,, trudy was forced to survey her options.. she could hop back in the car and wait for buzz to work out his little tantrum on his own,, or catch a ride out of here.. but even if she did where would she go??

home?? to an empty apartment she had not actually lived in or paid the rent on in months?? no,, too risky.. she was bound to run into the landlord and that was just not a bridge she wanted to cross right this moment..  then there was buzzes house,,  where she would no doubt have to face the overbearing presence of mrs. dunn, that dreadful woman who would surely take buzzes side and berate her over inciting him to anger yet again??

she decided the best thing she could do was get back in the car and wait for buzz. after all it was getting cold out here,, and he had to come back sometime,, he couldn’t just leave the police issue crown vic in the parking lot of the dairy queen, could he?? surely when he did return to the car he will have simmered down,, and then as was their usual they would go home to his house together and work out their differences horizontally..

trudy got back in the car,, grabbed buzzes overcoat out of the back seat and covered herself.. she then laid her head back intent on nodding off for a few,, at least it would make the time pass quicker while she waited for buzz to come back.. and had it not been for the painful throbbing in her cheek and jaw,, it would have been a perfect plan..

***

as soon as hank entered lisa’s apartment he was greeted by not only john, lisa and the boys,, but also the two mormans that had made it possible for the new albany police department to secure the diana diamond..

“well,, you two sure get around!!” hank greeted them a bit uneasily.. there was right in between little and no room for coincidence in hanks by the book mind,, and therefore he was more than curious as to what part the missionaries had played in the events that unfolded earlier in the night at the dairy queen..

“i guess so, detective bowers,” jacob piped up equally as puzzled as to how the evenings events brought them right back to the same detective that had them arrested and interrogated earlier in the day..

“you guys know my dad??” lisa asked, “how in the world??”

“yeah i guess you could say we know each other.” hank responded. “these guys were key in helping us secure a very important piece of evidence today.”

“these young men are the good samaritans that brought our elliot home safely..” john chimed in. “they are on their way to do some missionary work,, and since their original plans were derailed they needed a good meal and a place to stay for the night,, so we invited them to spend the evening here with us , in appreciation for all they did to remove elliot from the disgraceful drama his mother and detective miller were involved in in the parking lot of the dairy queen..”

“well then,, come on in boys have a seat.. i wanna hear what you saw and heard tonight as well,, every little detail will help me paint a more accurate picture of what actually went down..”

“sure detective,” enos said as he slipped into  a cross legged position  on the floor,, with jacob quickly sitting down beside him in the same fashion. “anything we can do to help..”

hank had just pulled his spiral notebook out of his overcoat, when his phone rang.. he quickly checked the display.. it was the gil machine!! thank god!!

“excuse me, hank said as he jumped up and headed for the kitchen, “i gotta take this..”

“gil!! thank god!! i really didn’t expect to hear from you because of, well, you know…” hank paused to breath an audible sigh of relief.. “i hate to do this to ya buddy,, but it’s buzz again.. and i wanna keep the lid on it till we have all the facts.. unfortunately,, we are gonna have to find him first..”

“find him?” queried gil,, not at all sure what to make of the situation,, but quickly realizing this was going to greatly interfere with his plans to thoroughly violate tori all night long..

“yeah,, looks like the went off on trudy hunt in the parking lot of the dairy queen,, right in front of her kid,, and you’re  gonna love this,, the same two mormon’s we pulled in earlier today, you know the ones that lead us to the diana diamond..”

“what the fuck??” gil was growing increasingly confused.. and that confusion caused him to lose his concentration and with it, his hard on,, leaving an even more confused tori,, kneeling in all her glorious nakedness between his thighs,, with a puzzled look in her eyes and his ever shrinking manhood in her between her lips….