Chapter 47

Chapter Forty Seven

Dave walked into his office in less of a hurry than he was that morning. He found Carol and Todd sitting at his desk chatting and laughing, "Good morning." he said as he walked to his seat.

"Someone is in a good mood today." Todd said, swinging on the seat.

"Todd, stop that." Dave said, sitting down.

Todd stopped and looked at him, baffled, "You let Michael do it!"

"Because he's a five year old kid, and you are a thirty year old kid." Carol jeered with a laugh.

"That, and the fact that I like him better than I do you." Dave added looking through the papers on his desk, "These are the documents Maria emailed you?"

"Yes, I checked them and they are fine. You must have worked until the wee hours of the morning." she stood up and moved round the desk to stand next to him, "They just need both your signatures."

Dave picked up his pen and started signing the documents, "Maria typed it out and emailed it to you."

"She's really good." and then Carol exclaimed, "You don't plan on replacing me with her, do you?"

"Careful Carol, he did replace Amy." Todd joked. Dave glared at him for a moment before he turned his attention back to signing, "Maria has enough to do at home, and besides, I wouldn't dream of replacing you. You and Maria make life pretty easy for me in the office and at home."

Carol's expression softened, "Oh, you're giving me a raise, you are so sweet!"

Dave laughed and was saved from telling her no when the phone rang, "Carol, the phone is ringing." She picked up the phone and held it to her ear.

Todd's expression became serious as he spoke quietly to Dave, "What exactly do you see in that girl?"

Dave's eyes shot up to him, "What do you mean?"

"She's nothing like Amy."

"Thank God." he said, going back to his papers.

"What I mean is, she's not the type us rich brats get serious with." Todd knew he was going into dangerous waters when Dave's expression turned hard.

"So you are saying she's good to play with, but not to marry?" his voice was as hard as his expression.

"Well yes." when Dave's jaw tightened he sat up quickly in the chair and rapped out, "She's always in jeans, tennis shoes and shirts or tee shirts. Her hair is either in a pony tail, held back with a head band or left flowing down.... by the way she's sexier with her hair down."

"Todd." Dave hissed out, interrupting him.

"What I mean is, she's too simple, you and your family are very sophisticated."

Dave shot out of the chair, about to give him a tongue lashing and physically throw him out when Carol tugged at his shirt.

"One moment." she looked up at Dave, "There's a Mr. Johnson here to see you. He's on his way to your office."

Dave sat back on his seat, still very heated, but he had more important things to take care of. The PI was back, but he couldn't imagine what would make him come personally to his office and not call him like they had agreed on, "Okay, will you two please leave us alone?"

Carol put down the receiver and gathered up the papers on his desk, "Todd, you can sign these outside." she spoke, leading the way out of the office. When she opened the door, the tall stocky looking Mr. Johnson was standing there with a stern look on his face. Carol jumped back frightened, "You scared the living daylights out of me!"

"I'm sorry." he spoke fast, "Excuse me." he moved past them and stood in front of Dave, his expression unchanged.

Dave stood up and looked at him, waiting for the door to close so that he could find out what hell had let loose in Maria's life now. When the door closed with a click he spoke, "What's wrong?"

"Ricky is alive." he spoke quietly, approaching each word with caution.

Dave stared at him with raised eyebrows, confused and bewildered. How could the police get it wrong? They were so sure he was burnt to a crisp and now the ass was still alive. His wonderful morning had just been ruined by the devil himself.

"Dave." the man spoke, drawing Dave's attention back to him, "He's here, in New York." Dave clenched his jaw angrily and placed his fisted hand on the table, "We've moved from bad, to worse and now here comes the worst." Dave's eyes bulged as his eyebrows creased in frustration, "He's the one who tore up the apartment."

Dave punched the desk hard, "Damn it!" he punched the desk again before he turned to look out his huge window at the river. This wasn't just bad, it was the worst thing that could ever happen at the best time of their lives. Why didn't he just stay dead? Michael and Maria were in danger, again. He turned and kicked his seat to the far wall, "Are you sure, how do you know he's the one?"

"The owner of the apartment is in the hospital, he was poisoned."

"Ricky." Dave hissed with venom.

"I wasn't sure who he was at first, but then the pieces starting to fall into place once I found his picture, prior to his disfigurement. I followed him here and that was the first place he went to when he arrived in the city. I went back there yesterday and spotted you and Maria leaving."

"Do you know where he is right now?"

"Yes."

"Does he know where Maria is?" Dave asked, the question coming out in a fearful quiver.

"I don't know, I don't think so or he would have already broken into your house."

"How do you know she's at my house?"

The PI smiled, "It's a little obvious don't you think? And anyway, I needed to know her whereabouts in case I needed to warn her before I warned you."

Dave nodded, his mind already stirring up a plot to keep his family safe. It wasn't just Michael and Maria anymore, Izzy was in this too. He was sure Ricky would hurt her, just to hurt Maria.

"Do you want him dealt with?" The PI asked with very little reservation. As proper and principled as Dave was, he was sure he would put his values aside just this one time.

Dave stared at him, purposefully hesitating to keep from making a mistake. Of course he would gladly sign Ricky's death certificate, but it wouldn't be the right way to handle it, "Watch his every move. Have people watch my house, discreetly, just in case he decides to stop by. Next week is the kids birthday, have more men there. I'm not going to give him a chance to get anywhere near them, I'll find a way to put him behind bars for the rest of his life."

"Prison isn't always a full proof guarantee, but if that's what you want, I'll do as much as I can. Until next time." he turned and walked out the office.

Dave dragged the seat back and sat down facing the huge window. For the first time he had no idea what to do. Johnson was right, prison wasn't a permanent solution, but as much as he hated Ricky, he couldn't bring himself to kill him, he wasn't that kind of man. But he knew someone who was, and exactly why he was risking his freedom. He would do what Dave couldn't, and all Dave had to do was call Edna.

Dave smiled in realization, that's why Edna was in New York, Miguel must be with her and of course with one thing in his mind. Ricky had someone to fear more than Dave. Miguel was going to do worse things to him than Dave would.