Because of You – Part 4
Last Time:
Hank’s secretary buzzes him telling him he has a call from the governor. Hank talks to the governor, pleading his case but the governor doesn’t want to listen. Hank hangs up the phone and stares at Nora.
HANK: He wants my resignation but he’s agreed to let me take a leave of absence until this is resolved.
NORA: I am so sorry. I will fix this. We will find out who is doing this to you. We will.
Hank starts looking through the mail on his box. He opens one envelope and reads the note:
Because of you
I lost my job
Now I've taken
Yours from you
-----------------------------
HANK: Oh jeez.
NORA: What?
Hank hands Nora the note and she reads it quickly.
NORA: I’m calling Bo and having him meet us at my house. We need to work together on this.
Nora gives Bo a call and tells him to get over to her house as fast as he can. She’ll explain everything when she gets there. Bo arrives a few minutes before Nora and Hank and just paces outside the front door until they get there.
BO: What the heck is going on?
Nora hands him the note.
BO: Who is this guy? What did we ever do to him?
NORA: According to him, a lot of things. He lost his job and his love because of something you two did to him, or at least that’s the way he sees it.
HANK: I can’t even begin to guess who this is. There are so many possibilities.
NORA: Well let’s see if the three of us can put our heads together and figure this out.
BO: Kind of like the Three Musketeers?
HANK (smiling): More like the Three Mouseketeers.
NORA: Oh…can I be Annette??
BO (laughing): I’ll be Cubby. Hank???
HANK: We all know that there weren’t any Mousketeers that were brothers.
All three of them burst out laughing.
BO: That felt good. I haven’t laughed like that in weeks.
HANK: Me either. And I have a feeling that until we find out who is doing this we may not have too much to laugh about.
BO: Let’s look at this like the investigators we all are. Obviously this is from the same person as the other notes. The paper feels the same, the font is the same, the same phrasing.
HANK: So this person probably has access to a computer and printer.
BO: Almost everybody does these days. They can go to the library if they need to. That doesn’t help us a whole lot.
NORA: But obviously this guy is very sophisticated. It would take someone with a lot of savvy to set up Hank as well as he did. Setting up bank accounts and falsifying bank records is not an easy thing to do. That should help us eliminate at least some of the people that you two have sent to prison.
BO: I’ll talk to Antonio in the morning….
NORA: Bo, you promised that you would leave this investigation to Antonio.
BO: No, I promised that I would leave Melanie’s investigation to Antonio. This note has changed everything. I’m just going to call him and ask him for all of my case files that the guys are looking at. Who will know better what these guys are capable of than Hank and I? I’m not ready to go back to the office but I need to feel productive again. And it looks like Hank isn’t going to be going to the office for a while. We can use our time to look at each of these files with a fine tooth comb.
NORA: I just want to make sure that you aren’t jumping into something too fast. You need to let your heart heal.
BO: Red, I promise. I won’t go crazy. I want to do whatever I can to help Hank.
NORA: Okay.
HANK: Okay so we’re all agreed. Bo and I will start looking at all of our old files for this guy.
NORA: Why are we all assuming that it’s a man? Couldn’t it be a woman?
BO: I could see a woman setting up Hank but shooting somebody in cold blood? You think a woman could do that?
NORA: Maybe if she hated you enough. I just think that we shouldn’t ignore any females.
HANK: You’re right Nora. We shouldn’t eliminate any possibilities.
BO: Okay, I’ll call Antonio in the morning and get the files. We can start this investigation in earnest.
NORA: You guys wanna stay for dinner? Matt’s sleeping over at a friend’s house and I really don’t want to eat alone.
BO: I’m game…as long as you’re not cooking.
NORA: Very funny. We’ll do takeout. Hank?
HANK: I wish I could but Lisa and I are going out.
NORA: Why am I not convinced that you would rather be spending a night with us eating pizza than going out with Lisa?
HANK: Okay, I’ll admit it. You two aren’t my first choice for a fun evening. Beside, I think you two could use some time alone. And with that I’ll bid you adieu.
Bo and Nora look at each other sheepishly. Both glad that Hank has decided to leave them alone.
NORA: So pizza or Chinese?
BO: Chinese. I’ll call.
Bo calls in the order then sits down next to Nora on the couch.
NORA: So…what do you think Hank meant when he said that we should be alone?
BO: Maybe he sees that same spark I see between us every time we’re in the same room together.
NORA (smiling): You mean that fire that ignites when we look at each other?
BO (smiling): Probably. Is it me or does this whole thing seem a little weird?
NORA: You mean someone going after you and Hank?
BO: No, you and me…here together, trying to figure out who killed my fiancée.
NORA: Oh, weird in the “déjà vu all over again” kind of weird?
BO: Yea. Nine years ago we were in almost this exact same spot.
NORA: Are you afraid that it’ll lead us to where it did before?
BO (taking her hand): No I’m not afraid at all. Actually I’m kind of hoping it does.
NORA (looking in his eyes): You do?
BO: Yea…I do. I’m falling in love with you Nora.
NORA: Bo…it’s too soon. You’ve just lost Melanie.
BO: Are you saying that you don’t want to try again?
NORA: No, no, no… I’m not saying that at all. Not at all. But you need to slow down. I need to slow down. It’s only been 6 weeks.
BO (smiling): Where have I heard this all before? I know this is what I want and I just needed you to know it. But I agree…we need to slow down. We have all the time in the world.
Bo leans over and kisses her deeply just as the doorbell rings. Bo pulls back as Nora caresses his face. They rest their foreheads together and smile.
NORA: Food’s here.
BO: Saved by the bell.
---------------------------
A couple of days later the three Mousketeers are working on their
investigation at Bo’s place. Antonio stops by.
BO: So what do you have for us?
ANTONIO: Nothing you don’t know already. We ran all of the notes for prints a while ago. No usable prints were found. We just got the lab report back on the paper. It can be bought at any office supply store in the state. Our printer expert tells us this was printed on a 600 dpi laser printer, probably a Hewlett-Packard. There are millions of those out there. Sorry guys…your kook knows exactly what he is doing. We don’t have anything to trace. Are you two finding anything we can use?
HANK: Not too much better than yours. We’re looking at all of the cases where Bo and I put some guy away. We’ve eliminated all of the guys still in prison. That leaves us with about 500 cases to look at. We’ll look at anyone that lost their job or their spouse but I bet that will only eliminate a handful. Not too many cons keep their jobs or wives.
BO: Then we need to look at which of these guys really has the talent to pull off what they did to Hank. This guy was no dummy. Hopefully we can get this down to a much more manageable number.
ANTONIO: Do you guys need anything from the department?
BO: I can’t think of anything. We have all the files we need. I just need to all to keep focused on your jobs. We will find the answer between us.
ANTONIO: In that case, I’m going to take off and let you guys get back at it.
HANK: Antonio wait up. I’ll walk out with you. (to Bo and Nora) I’ll check in with you two tomorrow, okay?
NORA: Sounds like a plan. See ya tomorrow.
Hank and Antonio leave.
BO: So you wanna go out tonight?
NORA: Out??
BO: Yea…you know, dinner, wine, maybe a little dancing. You know…out.
NORA (smiling): I wish I could but I can’t.
BO: Can’t or won’t?
NORA (touching his face): I would if I could but Matt has a T-ball game tonight.
BO (kissing her gently): Want company?
NORA: Matt would love that.
BO: Only Matt?
NORA: I’d love it too. Let’s go pick him up.
They arrive at Nora’s house.
NORA (opening the door and shouting): Matt?? You ready to go??? Uncle Bo is here. He’s coming to the game with us.
When she gets no response, Nora heads to the kitchen to check out the backyard. No Matt.
NORA: That’s strange. I told Mary Ann that I would pick up Matt for his game at 4:00. And it’s only 3:30.
BO: Hey Red…maybe they’re just out at the park or shopping or something.
NORA: This seems odd. Let me see if Mary Ann left a note.
Nora finds a note on the fireplace:
Because of you
I lost my child
Now I've taken
Yours from you
To be continued….
|
|
|
|