The Merger – 34

 

"Talk about perfect timing," Josh said when he walked into lobby of the precinct house and saw that Mike had already arrived. "Did the desk sergeant let Detective King know you're here?"

"Yep. He said he'd be out in a couple of minutes."

Josh was about to take a seat when King appeared. He beckoned for them to join him, then took them to the squad room. "Have a seat, if you will," he said, and when they did, he handed them copies of their statements from the previous evening. "Please read these to make certain they're correct and tell me if you want to add anything."

The two men did, agreed the statements covered the facts as they'd related them to King, then signed them.

When they'd finished, Josh said, "I presume Comstock is still in the hospital."

"He is," King replied. "He underwent emergency surgery last night and will have a second round of surgery to repair his broken collarbone. Before you ask, we have officers guarding his room. As soon as the doctors say he can be moved from intensive care, he'll be in the hospital's prison ward until he's healed sufficiently to be moved to the prison. At that point, he'll be booked in then face arraignment and a preliminary hearing."

"Twenty to one, he's already gotten a high-powered lawyer," Mike said.

"Of course."

"You probably can't tell us, but is what you found in the safety deposit box enough to convict him of…multiple crimes, I suspect?" Josh asked.

"That's up to the prosecutor to determine," King replied. "We know the identity of the person who rented the box."

"Who's undoubtedly, from what Comstock said, dead."

King nodded. "Probably, but that's yet to be proven. Now, unless you have more questions, I have work to do and I have a feeling the two of you do as well."

Josh and Mike took that as the signal that they were dismissed. King escorted them back to the lobby, thanked them for coming in, and they left.

"I'm going by the hospital to see how George is doing," Josh told Mike as they walked to their cars.

"I'd come along but I've got a client due to arrive at nine thirty."

"All right. I should be back by ten, just long enough to pick up what I need for one of my clients."

They left it at that before Josh took off for the hospital. When he got there, the woman at the front desk told him what floor Stanton was on. He took the elevator up then checked with one of the nurses at the nursing station.

"Mr. Stanton is in room 401," she told him. Shaking her head, she whispered, "He's being a real grump."

Josh chuckled as he made his way down the hall to Stanton's room, saying as he entered, "You look better than the last time I saw you."

"After all the crap they put me through, I'd better," Stanton grumbled. "You'd think I was hit by a howitzer, not a damned slug that went straight through and didn't even hit a rib."

"Consider yourself lucky," Josh replied, pulling up a chair.

"I do," Stanton told him sourly. "I'll feel even luckier when they let me out of here. I hate being idle."

"Don't I know it? When are they springing you?"

Stanton growled. "Tomorrow morning, if I'm a good boy and eat all my vegetables."

"Then do it," Josh replied, trying not to laugh.

"I hear you got hit, too," Stanton said. "How come you're out and about already?"

"It was just a flesh wound—and barely that."

"So was mine," Stanton muttered.

"Uh-huh. Is someone going to pick you up?"

"Yeah, my daughter." He shook his head. "She kept fussing over me, so I told her to get to work or I'd fire her. Kids."

This time, Josh did laugh. "You're not fooling me. You know you like that she cares that much."

"Yeah," Stanton admitted grudgingly. Changing the subject, he asked, "What's the status on Comstock?" When Josh filled him in on what Detective King had said, Stanton's only comment was, "With luck, the judge won't grant him bail. Then he can rot in jail until the trial—and for the rest of his life when he's found guilty on all counts."

"We can only hope," Josh replied before standing. "Now that I know you'll live, I'd better get out of here. Behave and don't give the nurses any more grief than you have so far."

"Me?" Stanton asked innocently. Then he grinned. "I'll try not to, but damn…"

"Read a book. Watch TV. That'll keep you out of trouble. I'll see you…well, whenever."

"Next time that you need an expert to help you and Mike out on a case," Stanton replied, earning him a raised middle finger before Josh left.

The Merger – 33

 

Osborne didn't back down, telling detective King, "I wasn't going to take any chances that Comstock might find out I'd brought in the police against his orders. Mr. Harte, with the able assistance of the bank's security expert, Mr. Stanton, did what was necessary tonight without any loss of life."

Mike could tell from the detective's expression that King wanted to say the police would have done a better job of things. Instead, King had the common sense not to argue, only telling Osborne, "I understand why you asked Mr. Harte and his associate to take the job. Next time, however…"

"There's not going to be a next time," Osborne replied tartly. Then he barely smiled, adding, "But if there were, I'd still do exactly what I did and hire Mr. Harte and Mr. Aston."

Mike nodded in thanks then asked King, "If you don't need anything more from us, may we leave?"

"You may," the detective replied. "All of you are to come by the precinct in the morning. I'll have your statements ready for you to sign."

Thad immediately took off, saying he was going to the hospital to see how Stanton was doing. Osborne couldn't leave until the police had finished their jobs, since he needed to reset the security system.

Mike and Josh opted to exit by the back door to avoid the reporters who had arrived en masse. They were gathered in front of the bank, TV cameras rolling, cameras snapping, while they badgered the two officers stationed outside the doors to keep them and any onlookers at bay.

One clever reporter had figured he might do better checking out the alley behind the bank. He quickly accosted Mike and Josh, tossing questions at them. He deflated when Mike replied, "We've been ordered by the police not to say anything as it might prejudice the case against the men involved in the robbery."

Of course the reporter grabbed onto that, saying, "So it was a robbery. Were the two of you hostages?"

Ignoring the reporter, Mike put one arm around Josh's shoulders, hustling them both out of the alley then down to where they'd parked their cars. Josh looked pale, in Mike's estimation, so Mike told him, "You're to go right home. Got it?"

"After I get some food in my stomach. In case you missed the memo, we haven't eaten since lunch." Josh frowned. "I did eat lunch, didn't I?"

"Josh…" Mike shook his head. "We'll both stop somewhere."

"Together?" Josh asked, his lips quirking up.

"Yes, together." Mike swatted his good arm. "Do you know Merker's? It's open until one."

"Yep. I'll meet you there."

They arrived moments apart, parking in the lot behind the restaurant. Given the late hour, there were very few customers, so they didn't have to wait to be seated.

They ordered meals and drinks—coffee for both of them. When the waitress was gone, Josh leaned back, saying, "We didn't do too badly tonight, thanks to George's help. I hate to think how it would have gone without him."

"We'd have won," Mike said with certainty. "A bit more bloody, but we would have. You're making a real believer out of me with the Tasers."

"Good," Josh replied. "I can't say the same about guns. In the long run, tonight, they didn't do much good and caused a lot of harm. If George had been using a Taser, he'd have been able to deal with Comstock without either of them getting hurt."

Mike smiled dryly. "I think everyone we tased felt a lot of pain."

"You know what I mean," Josh said, rolling his eyes. He thanked the waitress when she brought their coffees then took a deep drink. "I needed this."

"What you need—what we both need—is a good night's sleep. We have to play catch-up tomorrow on the jobs we cancelled from today, and that's after we go down to the precinct to sign our statements."

"I wonder how long it'll take for Comstock and his cronies to make bail."

"What I wonder," Mike replied, "is who that safety deposit box belonged to. From what Comstock said, he's dead now."

"I'm sure the police will figure it out and add a murder charge to all the others the bastard will be facing."

Their meals arrived right after Josh had said that. They dug in, more intent on eating than talking. When they'd finished, Josh stretched, saying, "Now, I feel almost human."

"You look very human," Mike replied with a grin. "Under different circumstances, I'd take you home and put you to bed." He wondered if he shouldn't have said that when Josh's eyes opened wide in disbelief. "To make certain you actually went to bed," Mike added quickly. "You look like hell."

"You just said I looked human," Josh teased. "Make up your mind."

Mike tapped his fingers together. "Thinking of Hell brings up images of devils. You look devilishly hand…human."

"Uh-huh. Now you're reaching, Mr. Harte." Josh flagged down their waitress, asking for their check. When she brought it, Mike snagged it before Josh could, saying he'd use the agency credit card to pay and add the expense to Osborne's bill.

With that taken care of, they finished their coffees then left the restaurant. Josh put his arm around Mike's waist as they walked to their cars. When they got there, he said, "I think I can safely say this has been the most interesting date I've ever been on," and winked.

"Let's keep it that way and have less exciting ones from now on," Mike replied without batting an eye.

"Works for me." Josh put his hands on Mike's shoulders, looking at him for a long moment before kissing him. It deepened when Mike returned it, until of one accord they broke apart.

"If I wasn't so tired…" Mike said a bit breathlessly.

"I agree. But you are, I am, and as you've pointed out more than once tonight, we both need to sleep." Josh hugged him, whispering, "Maybe we can pursue this in more depth on our next date."

"Tomorrow night," Mike replied. "Well, tonight. I think it's after midnight by now."

Josh took out his phone, checked, then said, "Nope. Not for half an hour. What do we want to do?"

It took a second for Mike to figure out what he meant. "Go dancing again? Go to a movie?"

"A movie sounds good to me," Josh replied. "We'll figure out which one in the morning." He kissed him again, quickly, before opening his car door. "See you bright and early."

"Not too early, since we have to go sign our statements, first."

"There is that," Josh said, sliding into the car. "Drive carefully and don't fall asleep at the wheel."

Mike laughed, replying, "You, too," before heading to his car—and from there, home.