Always Home for Sunday Dinner

T is for Targeted

"We're not taking any deals, Ms. Reagan," he stated as if it were final.

"Well for your client's sake, I would strongly consider it," she stated trying to grab the last word.

"And I would reconsider your stance Ms. Reagan," Marino interjected coldly, "For your sake." She looked at him, his words filling her with unease.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Imagine being the person with a vengeful vendetta on a man of goodness and charity," he continued, "The jury will not see me as you do. I would suggest changing your approach."

"And I would suggest if you want a chance of winning this case, that you get a new lawyer," she finished, grabbing her papers as she stood up to leave. In her firm stance, she did not notice the stare that Michael held on her as she walked out of the room.

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Later that night, Erin sat in the same place she had been in for hours with her glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose as she looked over the case files that sat on her desk. She was trying to pull out as much as she could to get out. She was almost finished when her cellphone started to go off. Picking it up, she sees Anthony's name flashing up on the screen.

"Hey Anthony I'm almost done here can it wait until tomorrow?" she asked immediately upon answering.

"No it can't," he said, "Erin you gotta get down here. Capaleri's left you a message."

"At my house?"

"At your brother's," he said, "It's Danny." She sits in shock for a moment before rushingly grabbing her things, some of them almost falling out of her hands in her frazzled state. She slammed the lights off and rushed over to the elevator to see her older brother. As she continuously punches down on the elevator button, she couldn't help her ongoing thoughts. Knowing what that man was capable of, she could only imagine the state that she would find him in. What had they done to him? Had they beaten him as badly as the men in the photos that stayed in the folders on her desk? Had they hurt his kids? Was this all her fault? That was something that gave her a yes and a no. She couldn't be to blame for this, but she did push her stance. They were people of vengeance. What he had told her in the room was not just a statement, it was a warning. A threat. And her stubbornness walked her family right into danger. 

She jumped right into her car and turned on the engine peeling out of the spot it sat in. She didn't care about street limits at that point; she only cared about her brother. She swerved around the slower cars, honking at the irate drivers who probably thought she had lost her mind. Due to her pedal touching her car floor, she arrived at her brother's house in time to get out and watch as the paramedics placed his limp body onto the gurney. She looked over to see Anthony standing with a sympathetic look aimed in her direction.

"What happened?" she asked, with barely any breath.

"The gang ambushed him when he got home," Anthony explained, "His sons too."

"Oh my god," she exclaimed, only thinking about what Danny and his boys could've gone through.

"You should wait to see him at the hospital," he tried, holding her back.

"He's my brother Anthony," she fought back, pushing past him and rushing over to Danny. As she got closer, her pace slowed down at the sight of his injuries. His face was covered in blood, lines of crimson pouring out from the cuts on his forehead and cheeks. His nose appeared the be broken judging by the bloody crack at its bridge. His clothes were rumpled, almost torn and covered in the blood from his injuries. She could only imagine what they had done to make him hurt like this. She watched his chest rise up and down rapidly as he tried to breathe through the pain, his only aid being the oxygen mask strapped to his face. She rushed right to his side, and he turned his head as much as he could to look at her. He raised his weak hand up to his face and slowly pulled the oxygen mask off his mouth to speak.

"Danny," Erin stated the guilt coming through in her voice, "What happened?"

"They just came out of nowhere," he breathed out, "they pinned me down and they --" He felt his breath hitch and soon she watched in horror as a trickle of blood came out of his mouth as he coughed.

"Danny?" she said watching him fade on the stretcher before her. He wasn't going to die there, was he?

"I could barely see any of them they had masks on," he got out finally before the paramedics moved the oxygen mask back over his nose and mouth and lifted him into the awaiting ambulance. Just as she looked away, she noticed Danny's children Jack and Sean stepping into the second ambulance across the street, Jack holding his wrist with a haunted look on his face. She turned to Anthony with an expression that said everything she was going to ask without words.

"They pinned them down in the front lawn," Anthony detailed, "Neighbour said the minute he saw it he called the police. Thought it was a break-in gone bad." The somber look after those final words spoke volumes to her, and frankly, she didn't know if she was ready to hear it.

"Don't tell me," she said and watched heartbrokenly and Anthony held up a taru card; the card of death. This was indeed because of her case, and in turn, because of her.

"You're not responsible for this Erin," he tried.

"Like hell I'm not," she said turning away from him and rushing onto the ambulance with her brother before it could leave without her.

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The room was quiet, with the only sound being the beeping of machines. She sat stiffly in her chair, practically holding her breath at her brother's bedside. She looked over his body her eyes pausing for a moment at each one of his injuries. The cuts had been cleaned up, but now she could see just how many there were. It was amazing to her that his eye wasn't swollen shut with all the bruising that surrounded it. A bandage sat over his broken nose, and a cut had planted itself into his lip. The rest had spread out across his forehead, neck and upper body. The nurses had even told her that a few of his ribs had been cracked. All because she couldn't walk away. All because she couldn't let it go. Maybe what she was going wasn't all that wrong, but what it meant. What she knew it could mean. That was all too much for her to be okay with sitting on her shoulders. Just then, her running thoughts were interrupted by a mild groan beside her, and she turned to find herself looking into Danny's glossy hazel eyes. 

"Hey," she greeted him.

"Hey," he breathed out in response.

"How you feeling?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"Like someone took a jackhammer to my head," he answered honestly. He looked around as much as he could but stopped the minute pain started the flow through his whole body.

"The boys?" he asked, his sons taking priority.

"They're in the other room," she explained, trying to put him at ease, "The doctor's just looking Jack over. Everyone else is on their way right now. They should be here soon." She looked at him with apologetic eyes, only thinking about what her role in this was.

"Danny I'm so sor--" she started, but never got the words out.

"Don't," he stopped her, "Don't apologize for this. It's not your fault."

"Then why do I feel so guilty?" she asked him.

"Because you care," he responded earnestly. 

"Look if you really still feel bad, then you can do this one thing for me," he began again.

"And what's that?" she asked, practically rolling her eyes, expecting a silly demand from her older brother.

"They made him watch," he said to her, and her smile faded, "Jack, they pinned him to the ground and made him watch. Bring those bastards to justice the way I know you can." Erin nodded with a newfound determination showing in her eyes.