Because of You – Part 5
Last Time:
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
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NORA: Oh god. He has Matthew.
BO: Let me see the note.
Nora hands Bo the note and she starts pacing around the room. Bo reads the note quickly then pulls out his cell phone and calls Hank and Antonio and tells them to get over to Nora’s as soon as possible. He walks over to Nora and pulls her into a tight hug. He feels her sobbing against his shoulder.
BO: We will find him Nora.
NORA: How? We don’t even know who this guy is or why he is doing this to us.
BO: Have some faith in me okay?
NORA: I do Bo but he is just a little boy.
BO: Hank and Antonio should be here any minute. I’m going to look around to see what I can find. You want to come with me or just sit?
NORA: I’m just going to sit. Holler if you find something.
BO (kissing her gently): I will.
Bo starts wandering through the house being careful not to touch anything. When he gets to Nora’s study he opens the door slowly and finds Mary Ann lying unconscious on the floor.
BO (yelling): Nora… call 911 and get an ambulance over here right away. Mary Ann is knocked out.
Nora calls and then runs into the room.
NORA: Mary Ann, can you hear me?
BO: She’s out like a light. She’s not coming around.
NORA: Did you keep looking for Matt? Maybe he’s still here.
BO: Honey…I don’t think so. He’s not here.
NORA: I know you’re right but I’m going to keep looking.
BO: Okay. I’ll wait for the ambulance.
The ambulance, Hank and Antonio all arrive at the same time. Mary Ann does not regain consciousness as they load her into the ambulance. Bo tells the paramedic to have Dr. Woleck take care of her and that he will be calling him soon to get a report on Mary Ann’s condition.
Bo walks back into the house and takes Nora in his arms. Antonio and Hank are looking at the note.
ANTONIO: I have the force on full alert looking for Matthew. We took the pictures from Bo’s desk and made copies so everybody knows what he looks like. The airport and bus terminal are covered as well. He will not be leaving the city.
HANK: What is with this guy? Now he takes Matt and brings Nora into the loop? I just don’t understand this.
BO: Neither do I but in a way this should help us eliminate some more suspects. These notes mean something. How many people have we put away that all three of us were involved with?
Over the next couple of hours, the four of them start looking through the files though Nora is really not paying attention. Bo notices her distraction, sits down on the couch next to her and slowly rubs her back. She lays her head down on his shoulder and starts to cry. He slowly wraps his arms around her and rocks her slowly.
BO: Shhh Red. It’s okay.
NORA: It’s not okay Bo. He has my baby.
BO: I will find him and bring him home.
NORA: Promise?
BO: I promise. Maybe you should go upstairs and sleep for a while. We’ll hold down the fort.
NORA: No…I need to keep working on this. We need to find this creep.
They keep looking through the files trying to find the perfect candidate. They’re starting to make progress but there are still too many potential “candidates.”
ANTONIO: Man…I cannot make heads or tails of these files. Any one of these could be our guy. I’m ready to give up.
BO: Is that any way for a future sergeant of the Llanview PD to talk?
HANK: Antonio….you’ve been studying for the sergeant’s exam?
ANTONIO (smiling): I have. It’s a lot harder than I thought. I talked to Andie last night and she said the same thing.
NORA: How is Andie?? When is she coming back to Llanview?
ANTONIO: She’s doing well. We’ve actually been able to have some civil conversations the past couple of months. She keeps saying that she misses us all but she’s not ready to come home yet.
NORA: Well tell her hello from me the next time you talk to her.
BO: Of course !!!
He starts rummaging through the files looking for something.
NORA: What are you looking for?
BO: Our killer…Nick Manzo.
HANK: Of course. That makes perfect sense. Where’s his file?
BO: It’s not here. There is no way that I would have missed it if it were here.
ANTONIO: I can’t believe that we overlooked him. Someone probably figured he couldn’t possibly be a suspect because he was a cop.
BO: So everyone is agreed…Manzo is our likely candidate?
Nora, Hank and Antonio all nod their heads.
BO: Okay…I’m going to make a couple of calls to see what I can find out. (to Nora): Honey, why don’t you call the hospital and check on Mary Ann again.
Bo calls prison warden while Nora calls the hospital. Both hang up at the same time.
BO: Any change?
NORA: No. Mary Ann hasn’t woken up yet. Larry says that we need to be patient. He feels that she will be fine and wake up soon. I hope she’s okay. I hate to think that she won’t be. What did you find out?
BO: Manzo was released from prison six months ago. He hasn’t checked in with his parole officer for the last three.
HANK: Why didn’t anyone let us know? What were they thinking?
BO: Hank, calm down. Do you know how many thugs skip out on their parole meetings? We couldn’t expect them to call us on every one could we?
HANK: I know…you’re right. I am just so mad right now.
BO: Well reign in that anger and let’s try and figure out where this guy could be.
They work for a couple more hours making phones call and trying every contact they each had. Unfortunately it was late and no one was in their offices or answering their phones at home. The four of them were physically and emotionally drained.
HANK: We need to call it a night. We’re not getting anywhere. We all need to get a couple hours sleep and we can get going again fresh in the morning.
Hank and Antonio leave both promising that they would be back first thing in the morning. Bo takes Nora in his arms and just holds her.
BO: I should get going too. You need to sleep.
NORA: Can you stay? Please…
BO (kissing her gently): Sure Red. I’ll crash here on the couch.
NORA: No….can you hold me instead? I just need to feel your arms around me tonight. I need to feel safe.
Bo takes her hand and slowly leads her upstairs. He gets Nora settled in bed and he wraps his arms around her as she softly cries.
BO: Sleep tight Red. I love you.
NORA (smiling softly through her tears): I love you too Bo.
Bo wakes before Nora up the next morning. He looks down at her, as she lies sleeping in his arms with her head nestled in his shoulder. Yep…this is the life he wanted. The life he would have. He kisses the top of her head and quietly eases himself out of bed. Nora mumbles a little but falls back to sleep. Bo heads to the kitchen to get breakfast started. About an hour later, Nora wakes up and reaches for Bo. She frowns when she doesn’t find him in bed with her but smiles when she smells the coffee. She makes her way to the kitchen where she hears Bo on the phone.
BO (on phone): You call me if you hear anything. Anything. I don’t care how small you may think it is. Okay…I’ll talk to you later.
NORA: Who was that?
Bo jumps a little. He takes her in his arms and kisses her gently.
BO: Antonio. Before you ask, he doesn’t have any news. I was just going to call Larry to see if he has any news on Mary Ann.
Just as Bo picks up his phone to dial, it rings.
BO: Buchanan.
LARRY: Bo, it’s Larry. I just wanted to let you know that Mary Ann is waking up. You can talk to her if you want.
BO: Larry, that is great news. We’ll be there as soon as we can.
Bo hangs up.
BO: Mary Ann is awake and ready for visitors.
NORA: Come on. Let’s go. She may be the key to all of this.
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At the hospital – Bo and Nora head to Mary Ann’s room.
Nora hugs her as soon as she walks in the room.
NORA: How are you feeling?
MA: I’m fine but I feel so awful about Matthew.
NORA: Tell us what happened… if you remember.
MA: Matt and I came home from grocery shopping. I put the groceries away and told him to go get changed for his game because you would be home soon to pick him up. When he didn’t come down, I went to look for him. Just as I walked out of the kitchen somebody hit me from behind with something and I fell to the floor.
BO: Do you remember hearing anything?
MA: It’s a little foggy but I think I remember the man saying something to Matthew about going to live at a nice lake and not to be scared. That’s all I remember until I woke up here. Mrs. Buchanan, I am soooo sorry.
NORA: Mary Ann…this was not your fault. This is just a crazy man that hates Bo and I. You have been a big help. I want you to rest now and don’t worry about Matthew. We will find him.
Bo and Nora leave the room. As soon as they are in the hallway Bo is on the phone.
BO: Antonio, we just talked to Mary Ann. She said Nick mentioned something about living at a lake with Matt. Get on that right away. Did he or his family have a place?? Did a friend? Check all of the real estate records. Talk to anyone that knew him when he was on the force. Call Andie. They were partners. See if she remembers anything. Nora and I are on our way into my office. I want news by the time we get there. Even before that would be better.
Bo pulls Nora into a tight hug.
NORA: Could this be it?
BO: I’m betting money on it. We will have that little boy home before tonight.
Bo and Nora race to police headquarters. Antonio meets them as they walk into Bo’s office.
BO: Talk to me.
ANTONIO: I was just going to call you. Manzo’s brother has a cabin on Forest Lake. We have the address. The chopper is standing by. We can get close and then the sheriff’s department will have cars ready for us. Hank is in his office and ready to go.
NORA: What are we waiting for?
BO: Red…
NORA: Bo Buchanan don’t even think about trying to talk me out of coming with you.
BO: I wouldn’t dream of it. I just wanted to warn you that he might not be there. I don’t want you to get your hopes up.
NORA: Oh…okay. Just as long as you weren’t going to talk me out of coming.
BO (kissing her gently): Never. I love you.
NORA: I love you too.
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Before they know it they are at the lake. The sheriff’s department has it staked out. They haven’t seen any activity but there is a car in front. Bo pulls their car across the top of the driveway. The cabin is about 100 yards away. Bo, Nora, Hank and Antonio get out of the car and Bo gets the rundown from the deputy.
BO: Has anyone tried to make contact?
DEPUTY: No. We decided that we would wait until you got here.
BO: Do we have a phone number for the cabin?
DEPUTY: We do. We checked with the phone company and they say that the line is active.
BO: The trick will be to get him to pick up.
Bo dials the phone. In the cabin, Nick jumps when he hears the phone but he answers it.
BO: Nick, it’s Bo.
NICK: So you found me. Now go away.
BO: Nick you know we can’t do that. How’s Matt?
NICK: He’s fine. Just fine.
BO: I want to see for myself. Can you send him out?
NICK: Do you think I’m a fool??? Matt and I are going to start a new life together. He’s staying here with me.
BO: Then I’m coming in.
NICK: No you’re not.
BO: Yes I am Nick. I’m coming in unarmed. All I want to do is see Matt. That’s all. I have no intention of hurting you. I just want to see Matt.
Bo hangs up the phone and grabs a police vest from the sheriff. Nora just stares at him with tears in her eyes. Once Bo has the vest on he puts his hands on Nora’s waist and pulls her close. They rest the foreheads together as Nora cries harder. She runs her fingers through his hair but never looks him in the eyes.
NORA: Bring my baby out... okay?
BO: I will.
NORA: Bring you out too.
BO: I will. I gotta go.
NORA: I love you Bo.
BO: I love you too.
Nora pulls him into a deep kiss and then holds his hand until the last second as he walks around the car and towards the house.
BO: Nick…I’m coming in.
To be continued…….
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