Frankie Giordano began...
"Rick and I were VERY close, back in high school. He wasn't raised here but came back to visit and he and I...uh..." and he kind of stalled out.
"We know, Frankie," Feelie told him. He nodded and continued.
"Okay. Then he went to San Francisco to school and stayed. I quickly figured it was over for us and it hurt like hell but I had wished him well. I didn't see him again until his father Garrett came back here to buy property and build a house. When Rick came back he seemed sorta troubled and really out of sorts, and I kept at him until he FINALLY told me what was going on. The truth is he was scared out of his wits. He didn't tell me all of what was going on at first, and some of it not until he came back right before he was killed. But bottom line he had stumbled onto something he shouldn't have, got caught at it, and then he came back here on the run. Unfortunately they followed him and..."
"Who followed him, Frankie?"
"I'll tell you but PLEASE. You gotta keep me out of this."
Derek: "Frankie, don't you think it's a bit late for that?"
Frankie put his head down and then just sat like that for a minute but then looking up, nodded he realized it was.
"Rick had become friends with some guys that hung out at a bar he did, and as they got closer evidently they decided they could trust him."
"Do you have names?"
"Not all of them I don't think and some not specifically, but I will tell you what I know. These dudes had a thing going on. Bad thing.
They would prey on seniors and vulnerable gay dudes and extort from them, and then murder them for their assets."
"My GOD," Zeke said, and everyone else agreed.
"One of them let a bit too much slip one night after he had gotten drunk, realized later what he had done, and tried to quash the inevitable consequences by putting the at-least perceived threat of Rick away by putting HIM away. But Rick realized what was probably going to happen and fled. He came back here.
I'm skipping a bit, sorry. He first came trying to figure out if he was in serious trouble with this bunch, but then decided that maybe he wasn't and went back after Garrett finished the house. But eventually, he did realize he was in serious jeopardy and came back here...he didn't elaborate about why he felt that, just that he kinda got the impression they thought he knew more than he should. He finally came to the conclusion they were planning on killing him and that scared him shitless.
But as I said he was followed and they caught up to him and killed him."
"He was strangled and then frozen."
"I don't know all the details, but I gather from what Marcus here has gotten from Andy Fowler that they put his body in a freezer, probably to bide time until they could dispose of it. Rick had heroin in his body and I know for a fact he wasn't into drugs. I figure they did it to him to distort the cause of death.
From what Marcus has told me from what he has found out, that didn't work."
"No, honey, it didn't," Rose replied.
"The Woods brothers? Rick and they were tight close, and he had confided in them and they got concerned when Rick disappeared. They figured he had come back here, and they followed. Somehow they must have been discovered as to knowing stuff that caused them to be seen as a threat so they too had to die."
"Who is this other guy who they tried to kill yesterday?" Jake asked.
"That I don't know. I hadn't heard about that yet."
"His name was Raymond Parker, from San Francisco."
"Oh geez."
"You knew him?"
"Through Rick. Actually Chad Woods knew him better. He came back with them the summer they stayed here, for about a month or so...but I hadn't seen him since. He stayed with our bud Wilder. They had a thing for a bit I guess. But Ray called me a few days ago wanting to know if I knew what happened to Chad and his brother and when I told him what I knew he freaked out. That is all I know."
"He came back, obviously, to find out for himself I would guess. He is still alive in the hospital in Cadillac."
"Let's hope he survives. Maybe he knows more," I interjected. Everyone nodded.
"Frankie, you know Danny Shaw here?"
"We have met, yes," Frankie said, a bit icily.
OOPS.
Two lovers of the same dude...oops.
"Hey, Danny, he said and put out his hand.
Danny volunteered, albeit not enthusiastically...
"Hey yourself," and shook Frankie's hand and then Marcus'.
Ok, THAT out of the way, thanky Gawd, and now on to the big stuff.
"Think we ought to get to the hospital and see how our new buddy is doing," Derek said.
"Yeh, okay..." and we did.
JUST A REAL FUCKING FUN DAY IT IS, I thought to myself. GOD, I haven't had this much fun since the day Jesus died. or 9/11 or Pearl Harbor day or Trump's inaugural or...you get the idea. The thought of being the next of kin to someone I've never met is jest SO nawt mah idea of rapt bliss stuff. Y'know? NOPE. The joy quotient hath disappeared.
We left and went down to the hospital in Cadillac but once we got there we were told Raymond had been transferred to Spectrum in Grand Rapids and so Grand Rapids it is. Takes about an hour and a half or so, and we made good time. Butterworth Hospital is in what they call the "Medical Mile" a string of hospitals on the edge of downtown and having nestled in one of the Parking Ramps, made our way into the hospital proper.
The main desk told us after Derek identified himself as law enforcement, that Raymond Parker was in intensive care with multiple injuries of the gunshot variety, BUT was making progress and they were optimistic he would pull through. Only one or two visitors were allowed and we decided that Derek and Jake should be the two.
We found seats upstairs near ICU, and waited. And waited, and waited.
I was pretty antsy and so were everyone else, but finally Derek and Jake emerged and were immediately accosted by the Redneck Mafia, Michigan version.
"WHAT WHAT WHAT?"
"OK OK," Jake said, laughing.
"They are getting ready to move him to a regular room," Jake started. He is weak but we were able to talk to him and this is what he knows."
I leaned forward, almost falling off my chair. Then I realized my being in a room due to terminal KLUTZ would perhaps not be helpful.
"He talked to Marcus and Frankie, from what he said...and found out what had happened. He couldn't stand being so far away and came. Once he got here he began to feel he was being followed but couldn't really tell. He had been told where we are and came out to the house and that is when the murder attempt happened. That is all he knows."
"Geez," Rico mumbled.
"Geez indeed," Jake countered.
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