Revenge on the Reagans

Chapter 13

His eyes stayed on his son and daughter sitting together on the hospital bed as he finished up with his officers. Frank dismissed the detectives once all was said and made his way over to his children. He looked at his daughter. He watched her wipe away the tears from her face that shed from fear and relief when she saw Danny. Danny. His son was trying to stay strong and show his sister he was truly okay, but the pain he felt was clear in his red, watery eyes. Frank and Erin had arrived in the hospital after the fact, so there was no telling what Danny went through. What that son of a bitch made his eldest son experience. It scared him, thinking that today he could have lost another son. It sent an unsettling chill down his spine. He pulled up a chair next to his children and took a seat. He looked over to his son sitting before him and thanked God over and over again that he was alive.

"I'm okay dad," Danny told him as if he was reading his mind. But he knew that the pained expression on his face was worth about a thousand words.

"What happened?" Frank asked and Danny tried to figure out where to start.

"I heard someone say my name and I woke up with the perp holding my gun to my face. Said his name was Derrick Malevsky. He's Sonny's brother," Danny explained and Erin and Frank exchanged a horrified look, "He wanted me dead as payback for Sonny's death. Started talking all this crap about what his family went through, what the Palmari's went through. He had the gun pressed against my head and.........part of me just kept wondering........why he hadn't pulled the trigger yet. What the hell he was waiting for." Danny then felt a gentle squeeze on his arm and turned to see Erin watching his with loving eyes, tears beginning to cloud her vision. He squeezed her hand lovingly, his little way of telling her that it was all okay now.

"What else did he say?" Frank asked him, encouraging him to continue.

"He said something about Palmari's father and you and the Palmari's kid," Danny continued, "he said you killed him." Danny watched his father's gaze shift to the ground and he knew that Derrick was telling the truth. But he wasn't bitter. He knew his father, and knew that this was turned into something extremely twisted. There was nothing more to it. But Frank knew that he couldn't keep that part a secret any longer. He had to tell them about  Daniel Palmari's death. Especially considering it almost caused Daniel Reagan's death.

"I was working a homicide in Brooklyn and all signs pointed to Daniel Palmari," Frank began, "we had him cornered and the kid would rather die than go to jail."

"Dad you don't......" Danny tried but his dad wouldn't have it.

"Yes I do son," he insisted, "I fired the first shot and the bullet that killed him came from my gun. Now his father wants revenge and has convinced people with a grudge against me to carry out his agenda." That left the room in silence. No one said anything. It was as if saying a simple word could set someone off. There was no telling what the right or wrong thing was to say in that situation. It was just a mess. A routine procedural arrest that went wrong in so many different ways. And now it was resulting in the unthinkable.

"At least now we know who's doing this," Danny said breaking the silence, "now we can finally end it all." Erin nodded and placed her head on the shoulder of her big brother. Frank then looked up and met his son's gaze.

"We'll get this guy Danny," Frank said, the words sounding more like a promise than a simple statement.