Tomorrow Waits For No One-Installment 5

Previously, on Tomorrow Waits For No One: A medical team worked to keep Marcus from dying after someone injected something into his IV. Marcus rallied after he stopped breathing. Later, a suspicious Dr. Martinez had the IV tested. Cole arrived to find a media circus. Dr. Martinez shared with the detective that "Gian's" (Marcus's) IV had been injected with potassium chloride.

The next morning, Cole explained to "Gian" (Marcus) that he is now focusing his investigation on the attempted murder. Marcus begged him not to give up trying to discover his identity.

Frank read about the incident in the San Marcello Bulletin and decided that knowing Marcus's identity could prove valuable. He looked up Marcus's Twin Creeks address online before deciding to pay Marcus a visit. Frank was prevented from visiting Marcus by the security guard posted in front of "Gian's" room.

Rhonda and Gail clashed over Rhonda's rude behavior after her gynecology appointment was canceled due to a medical emergency.
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Installment 5:
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Sept. 5

Frank’s Apartment

From behind, a man attacks Frank. The two scuffle, and Frank rips the man’s jacket. Neither of them notices a small black book fall to the floor from the man’s pocket. They continue to struggle, all the while, Frank tries to get a glimpse at the man with whom he’s fighting. But the stranger keeps Frank faced away from him.

As they tussle, a lamp is knocked to the floor. The man picks it up and bashes it over Frank’s head, knocking him out. Frank slumps over, face down on the debris-strewn floor.

The man rifles through Frank’s pockets as he lies motionless on the floor. He rises and gives the apartment another inspection, looking for anything he may have missed. While looking through the drawers of Frank’s computer desk, he comes across Marcus’s wallet. The stranger gazes at the ID with a look of hatred.

Having found what he sought, the stranger escapes, leaving behind Frank’s lifeless body.

“Jenny, I’m at my wit’s end,” Rhonda carps as she swings her door open. “If we don’t fill this clerical position soon, I’m going to—Philip!”

“Please, come in,” she says, beckoning him into her office. “Sit down. What a pleasant surprise. I can certainly use one today.”

“I could tell,” he chuckles, taking his seat. “Still haven’t found anyone for the job yet?”

“No,” she winces as she leans on the edge of her desk. “And I’m either going to have to lower my standards or request more money to raise the starting salary.”

“As you know, dear, I am a woman of impeccably high standards and I run a tight ship,” she explains. “I am very proud of the fact that I keep this department running under budget and I intend to continue without sacrificing productivity or efficiency.”

“Sounds like you’re in a bind,” commiserates Philip. “I’ll let you know if I hear of anyone qualified.”

“Thank you, sweetheart. But that’s not the only thing irritating me this afternoon. I had such a nasty experience with a nurse at the hospital earlier,” she huffs.

    As Frank comes to, he looks around his living room, surveying the damage. He staggers to his feet and walks to the computer desk, noticing the open drawer that had been rifled through. Poking around in the drawer, Frank looks for wallet he snatched from Marcus the night of the accident.

    Frank quickly theorizes that whoever tried to murder Marcus was the same man who broke into his apartment.

    "Son of a...I guess I'm not the only one who knows Lazano's identity."

    Frank picks up the phone and dials. "Det. Washington. It's Frank Cain."

    Within an hour, Cole arrives with a forensics crew and begins to question Frank. "On the phone, you said you thought this break-in could be related to the murder attempt on John Doe last night. Why would you think that?"

    "I...well, it just seems..." Frank stumbles. "It's kind of a coincidence, don't you think? I run over some guy. Someone tries to kill that guy. Now some dude attacks me in my apartment?"

    The detective begins to suspect that Frank is hiding something.

    "Anyways, until you find the creep that broke in, I want police protection."

    "Look, I'm afraid that the evidence just doesn't support that assertion," Cole tells a worried Frank. "I'm sorry, but the city doesn't have the resources to devote to personal protection for victims of random burglaries."

    "You're telling me that you got a crazy guy trying to kill...that dude who's laid up in the hospital, and that might be the same dude who just robbed my home and attacked me, and you're not gonna do a damned thing about it?" asks Frank, incredulously.

    "We can certainly increase the number of patrol drive-bys in the neighborhood for the next few days," Cole offers.

    "Oh, great! So I'm only a sitting duck for, what, 20 hours a day?" challenges Frank.

    Cole begins to become suspicious of Frank's insistence that his break-in and the murder attempt on ‘Gian' are linked. "Could it be that there's something you're not telling me?"

    "Wh, what are you implying?"

    "I'm just saying that we might be able to provide police protection if you had some solid evidence to support your hunch that these two events were somehow related," Cole implies, hoping Frank will come clean.

    "I'm not hiding anything, Detective. This it total negligence!" Frank screams. "I'll sue the police department, and you'll lose your job!"

    "Well, you do what you have to do," Cole responds as he walks toward the front door.

    "You'll be hearing from my lawyers," Frank shouts, delivering an empty threat.

    Once outside, Cole hatches a plan. "Officer Hardwick. Come here," he beckons.

    A uniformed policeman approaches Cole.

    "I’m going to requisition an unmarked vehicle for you. You’ll change into your civvies and come back here to monitor Cain’s activities. I want to know what he’s up to for the rest of the week."

    "Yes, sir!" the cop enthusiastically responds.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe how I was treated!" she begins as she stands and begins to pace about the office. "First, Dr. Riley had to skip out on me at the last minute. Well, that's bad enough. But then, they didn't bother to call me to let me know that I was wasting my time."

"And finally, the nurses treated me with such contempt. It was all I could do to keep my composure."

"Yes! Contempt," reiterates Rhonda. She stops and issues a challenging glare to Philip.

"Well, the first nurse was utterly incompetent and she simply refused to be of any service. But then, this Nurse Renwick butted in."

"Oh, she was so high and mighty," continues Rhonda. "She was terribly condescending. 'You'd want Dr. Riley to be at your disposal if ever you were in dire need, wouldn't you?'" she mocks, imitating Gail. "How I wanted to smack that sanctimonious little trollop."

"She did look a bit slutty, yes indeed," Rhonda attests before softening her attitude. "I guess I am getting a bit more worked up than I should, aren't I?"

Philip stands and walks to her, putting his arms around her waist. "Just a tad." He tenderly kisses her.

"How about you clock out a little early today and I'll make you feel even better," he lustfully suggests. Rhonda pulls away from him, walking behind her desk.

As Cole visits a sleeping Marcus, he appreciates that this is no ordinary case for him. He admits to himself that he may feel more for Marcus than just his professional duty.

Marcus awakens to find Cole standing over him, and is comforted by the presence of the strong, attractive man.

"Ah…well, nothing directly connected to this case," Cole hedges. "Nothing to burden you with, at least."

"No news here either," Marcus tells him. "I still haven’t begun to remember anything from my past."

"I promise you, I will not rest until I discover your identity and bring your attacker to justice," Cole pledges.

Frank decides to do some digging into Marcus’s past. "So, his driver’s license said he was from Twin Creeks, Virginia," Frank says to himself as he sits down at his desk and boots up the computer. "Glad I googled his street address before his wallet got stolen from me," he thinks as he recovers the map from his computer’s recent activity file.

"195 Colonial Drive," he mutters as he jots down the address on a slip of paper. "I think I’ll pay his old place a visit," he adds as he surf’s to an internet flight reservations page to book a flight to Twin Creeks.

Using the impending wedding between her cousin Roger and Philip's sister Ann as an excuse, Gail drops by Philip's office.

Stopping before knocking on his door, she hears raised voices inside, identifying Rhonda's. Gail leans forward, trying to listen to their words but cannot decipher exactly what is being said.

Gail nearly panics when the doorknob begins to turn. Not wanting Rhonda to find her there, she quickly scans the room for a place to hide. Gail spies an empty desk and swiftly ducks beneath it.

"I'm serious, Philip!" Rhonda shouts as she walks out of his office. "You can't keep blowing me off. I simply won't have it!"

"Good afternoon, Ms. Lynn," greets Philip's assistant Donna as she enters the outer office.

"I'll need the latest report on the Bank of San Marcello case, as soon as you can," Philip asks his assistant before returning to his office and shutting the door.

"It's now or never," she thinks to herself. Gail casually stands up from underneath the desk, giving Philip's aide a start. "Oh, so sorry," apologizes Gail. Just dropped an earring. Found it though, ha ha," she nervously laughs. "I'll, uh...I'll be going back into Philip's office now."

"Oh, um, I'm Gail Renwick. Philip and I are discussing his sister's upcoming wedding. She's marrying my cousin. I'll, uh, I'll just see myself back in to continue our meeting."

"I, uh, I'm sorry to barge in, Philip," Gail apologizes. "I told your assistant it would be okay. Please don't be mad at her."

"Well, no. No, I won't," he promises. "What are you here for, might I ask?" He gestures to Gail to have a seat.

"Oh, well, I...I was here to talk to you about the wedding," she fudges as she sits down. "I assume you know that Ann asked me to be her maid of honor."

"Yes, she mentioned that to me," Philip notes as he takes a seat behind his desk.

"It sure was a surprise to me," admits Gail. "I mean, I've known Ann all my life, what with my father and yours running Benton Industries. But I never thought that Ann liked me all that much. Certainly not enough to hold such an important position in her wedding."

"It doesn't surprise me much," Philip confesses. "Annie's never had very many close female friends."

"Well, I'm flattered that she chose me, nonetheless. So, one of my duties as maid of honor is to plan the bridal shower. I was thinking of throwing a little surprise get-together."

"Gail, that would be very nice," he smiles. "I'm sure Ann will appreciate that. She'll really owe you, coordinating the reception and now this."

Emboldened by Philip's reaction, Gail relaxes and pushes the envelope. "I'm glad you think so. I, uh, was wondering if you could help me put together a list of women to invite."

"Uh, well..." Philip begins. "I don't know how much assistance I'll be. Annie and I run in very different circles, you know."

"Well, whatever information you can give me will be helpful. Names, associations, that sort of thing," she suggests. "Maybe...maybe, you and I could...meet for drinks after work and I could pick your brain?"

"Hmm. I guess there's no harm in that," he agrees. "I'm booked tonight and all day tomorrow until late in the evening. How about we meet at 5 p.m. the day after? Let's say, the Valley Towers Hotel bar?"

Officer Hardwick, sitting in an unmarked car across the street from Frank’s apartment building, observes Frank carrying an overnight bag to his car. As Frank pulls onto the street and drives off, Officer Hardwick follows, calling Cole to inform him. "Detective? Hardwick here. Cain’s on the move and I’m in pursuit."

Frank to himself: "He died in a fire at his house? That was just a couple of weeks ago!"

Cole to the SMPD dispatcher: "I need backup at University Hospital, in the ICU. The officer on duty is not responding."