Disclaimer: Ray, Fraser, and Dief belong to Alliance not to me. No copyright infringement is intended.
Alas, I fear Ray may never speak to me again. I wouldn't blame him really. My behavior was inexcusable; I shudder to think of what I did. As I sit here writing these words in my journal, I can't believe that any of this really happened. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.
It all started innocently enough at the precinct. Ray was in the middle of giving me a finely researched lecture on the merits of never doing today what you can put off until tomorrow, when an unexpected visitor arrived at his desk.
"Stanley, well, well, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" A tiny, elderly nun (mid-eighties would be my guess) stood looking at my friend, with a twinkle in her eye.
"Sister Mary Margaret is that you?" Ray's pale blue eyes lit up as he hurried around his desk to embrace the small woman. "I can't believe it's you, after all these years!" He strightened up and turned to me, "Fraser, this is Sister Mary Margaret. She used to be my teacher at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School. I used to be a real troublemaker. I bet you wore out a half dozen rulers on my knuckle alone!" He smiled warmly at her.
"You were a holy terror, if you'll pardon the expression," said the nun, reaching up to ruffle Ray's already dishevled hair. "No one was happier than me when I found out that you had become a police officer. Frankly, I spent a good deal of time worrying that you would end up on the other side of the law. Do you mind if I sit down? I've spent the whole day trying to find you, Stanley. No one would tell me what department you worked in. I'm afraid I had to get rough with a few people."
I laughed at that remark and they both looked at me with deadly serious expressions on their faces. "Sister, I'm sure you understand the necessity of keeping Det. Kowalski's whereabouts and his purpose a secret," I said.
"Of course, Mr. Fraser was it?" she said.
"Sorry," Ray began, pulling up a chair for the nun to sit in. "This is Constable Benton Fraser, RCMP, who first came to Chicago on the trail of his father's killers. . "
"I'm so sorry," Sister Mary Margaret said, taking my hand and giving it a warm squeeze. "If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know."
What a dear lady, I thought. No wonder Ray is so fond of her. "Thank you, Sister."
"Well, Sister M&M," They both smiled at that. An old joke, I guessed. "Now that you've found me, what can I do for you?"
"There's a young man who's a student of mine at the school who reminds me so much of you that it's uncanny. And just like you, he's got a knack for getting himself into trouble. He's already had a number of minor run-ins with the law and I fear if he doesn't straighten out soon, he'll get into something serious. I was hoping that you could have a talk with him."
Ray nodded and said,"I get it. You want me to tell him how I used to be like him, but I changed and made something of my life and that he can do it too if he'll only try."
"Not exactly, Stanley, dear. I want you to scare the living daylights out of him. Show him the jail, introduce him to a few desperate, incarcerated felons, maybe give him a tour of the morgue. You know, put the fear of God in him," The old nun smiled kindly.
Ray's eyes widened in surprise. "Okay, no problem, Sister," he said. "What's the little punk, I mean the student's name?"
"Dan Briar. Here's his address." She handed a slip of paper to Ray, and stood up. "I knew I could count on you, Stanley." She grapped him by collar and pulled him down for a quick kiss on the cheek. Then she turned to me and said, "It was very nice meeting you Constable Fraser. Perhaps I'll see you and Stanley in church next sunday?"
"Yes, of course," I said.
"Yeah, Sister M&M. I'll be there," Ray promised.
After the delightful woman let, Ray collected his jacket and headed down the hall. "Come on, Frase. We're gonna scare that little snot so bad that he'll be afraid to even jaywalk."
45 minutes later found us standing in front of an apartment building on West Delver street. Ray straightened his jacket, adjusted his sunglasses, and spiked up his blond hair. He looked at me and, for some reason shook his head in annoyance.
"Can you get Dief to growl at the Briar kid? It'll scare the crap out of him."
We climbed the four flights of stairs to Dan Briar's apartment. Reaching the top, we came upon a pair of juveniles engaged in what appeared to be a drug deal. The smell of marijuana is very distinctive, but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions.
Ray on the other hand, had no qualms about taking action. "Freeze, police," he ordered.
Instead of obeying, the two boys foolishly choose to attempt an escape. They took off down the hall, with Ray, Dief and I in pursuit. They turned a corner and it appeared for a moment that we had lost them, but then Dief ran to the window, barking. The little rascals had gone out on the fire escape. We followed.
"C'mon Danny," one of them called.
Ah, I thought, that must be Sister Mary Margaret's problem student. He was a slim fair haired youth, who did indeed bear a striking resemblance to Ray.
We pursued them down the stairs, and even though they had a head start on us, I was confident that we would overtake them.
Unfortunately, luck was not with us. Halfway down, the metal of a step that Ray had just placed his foot on, gave way and his leg went through. "Fraser!" he screamed.
I caught his jacket, to prevent him from falling. He grabbed the rails and tried to pull his leg out.
"I'm stuck, Fraser," he moaned.
Carefully climbing over him, I attempted to free his leg. My efforts where unsuccessful, and made Ray wince with pain.
"You are indeed stuck, Ray," I said.
A small voice called to us from the ground. "Hey, are you okay?" Dan Briar stood at the bottom of the firescape looking up at us. "Do you want me to call someone?"
My heart swelled as once again the basic goodness of mankind revealed itself in the most unlikely situations. "Detective Vecchio is stuck. I believe we will need the assistance of the fire department. If you would be so kind as to call them, Danny, it would be greatly appreciated."
"Okay, I'll be right back." The young man hurried across the street to a payphone.
I smiled after him and then turned to look at Ray. He was clearly in great discomfort. "Are you all right Ray?" My voice was filled with worry.
"I think I broke something Fraser," he gasped.
Dief sniffed him and began to lick his head sympathetically. He grimaced and tried to brush the wolf away.
"Hold on Ray," I encouraged. "Help is on the way."
"I hope so. 'Cause this hurts like hell."
He was sweating profusely, so I pulled out my handkerchief and wiped his face. He swatted at my hands.
"Stop it, you're as bad as Dief."
"Well, I'm not licking you," I pointed out.
Ray laughed. "I guess I should be grateful for that." His laughter turned into a strangled cry of pain, as he must have moved his leg.
Seeing Ray like that; his face so pale, his eyes tearing up, I'm afraid I did the unthinkable.
"Ray," I whispered and gently kissed his lips. That slight touch felt rather like being struck by lightening, (which I have been, but that's another story).
Realizing what I had done, I quickly pulled away, my face burning with embarassement. I could barely bring myself to look at Ray. When I did, i saw his eyes wide with shock.
"Oh dear," I murmered.
The sound of sirens filled the air and Danny waved them towards us.
Everything happened quickly. The firefighters rescued Ray with commendable efficency. He was piled into an ambulance and rushed to the hospital. Fortunately, a few ligaments were torn but nothing was broken. Officer Huey arrived to drive him home and I made my way back to the consulate.
That's the whole sordid story. I endangered our partnership, not to mention our friendship, with my inexcusable behavior. I don't know if Ray will ever trust me again.
I must go now, Turnbull is telling me that I have a visitor. It's Ray! He's limping towards me. (He really should be in bed resting that leg) He's pushing Turnbull out of my office and shutting the door. He's smiling at me now; a little shyly, I think. What is he doing? Oh my, I think he's going to kiss me. .
the end
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