Suddenly Jim reached in with both hands and grabbed the smaller man by the shirt collar. Jerking him forward, the detective felt a keen sense of satisfaction run through him as Merrick's body slammed forcefully into the unyielding bars. "Know this, you piece of garbage," Jim hissed into Merrick's face, his tone low, menacing, "you touch Sandburg and I'll come after you myself."

  "That's enough, Detective!" a voice drew Jim's attention. Not giving up his hold on Merrick, Ellison turned to find that the guard had moved up beside him. He stood there, glaring, his right hand positioned warningly on the butt of the service revolver that hung from his belt. "Let him go," the guard advised coldly.

  Jim shot the guard a scathing look before he turned back to the prisoner he held in his grasp. His gaze bore into Merrick's for a long moment and then Jim released the man, pushing him backward into the cot as he did so. He jabbed a finger at Merrick. "I meant what I said," he warned as the guard took his arm to usher him out. "Consider it a promise. You stay away from my partner or I'll take you apart."

  /

  /

  /

  "Oh, man!" Blair shot to his feet. A wave of dizziness assaulted him and immediately he felt Jim at his side, the sentinel's hand cupping his elbow, offering support. "I'm okay," he told his partner as the lightheadedness passed. He moved away and slowly crossed to the television, where he hit the VCR's eject button. He grabbed the tape and tossed it carelessly on the couch, his still healing left shoulder instantly protesting the simple movement. "You should have told me about this earlier."

  Jim, who had taken his seat on the couch again, shook his head. "I figured you'd only worry. And why ruin dinner?"

  Blair ran his hand through his hair. "Not my first choice in after-dinner entertainment, Jim."

  Ellison nodded solemnly. "I know. Not my first choice either, buddy."

  "What does this mean?" Eli spoke up from where he was seated on the smaller couch. "How can the two of you possibly protect yourselves against someone you don't know?" The professor spread his hands in amazement. "The man Merrick hires...he could be anyone!"

  "It's all right, Dr. Stoddard," Blair soothed as he slowly made his way back over to the couch and dropped down next to Jim.

  "All right? How can you say it's all right?" Eli protested.

  Blair looked at Jim. "Merrick's in jail, right?"

  "For now."

  Blair turned his attention to his mentor. "You see, Dr. Stoddard? Merrick's in jail. And once he's on the street, Homicide will be all over him. He won't be able to blow his nose without them knowing."

  "They can't watch him every second, my boy...."

  "No, but let's face it-Merrick's not a hardened criminal." His gaze found Jim's again. "How good can he possibly be at this stuff? I mean, look what's already happened. He got busted on his first attempt to hire a hit man!"

  "And I'm sure he's smart enough to learn from his mistakes, Chief," Jim countered.

  "Well, that's just great!" His sudden annoyance vented, Blair sighed out and reached up to run his hand through his hair again. "Sorry, man," he told his partner. "I just don't believe this, you know? I just had one psycho come after me. I really don't think I'm ready for another one just yet."

  Jim reached over and placed his hand against the back of Blair's head. "We'll be all right, Sandburg." He slid his hand down across Sandburg's hair and squeezed at his neck, giving him a crooked smile as he did so. "Hey, we're becoming old pros at this 'fending off psychos' routine. We'll beat him, buddy."

  Blair rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well if you don't mind I think I'd just like to go into denial for a bit. Pretend that none of this is really happening."

  "Unfortunately, we can't do that. Merrick's going to get out of jail, tomorrow at the latest. And I went to see him, Chief. He's not going to stop."

  Blair stared over at Jim, surprised to learn that his partner had visited Hannah's father. "You went to see him?" he repeated disbelievingly.

  Jim nodded and dropped his hand from where it rested on Blair's neck. "I had to, Chief."

  "You had to...." Blair narrowed his eyes, cocked his head to one side and studied his partner. "You threatened him, didn't you? Didn't you!"

  But the only answer he received was Jim's visibly clenching jaw and an averting of the sentinel's cool blue eyes.

  "You did," Blair stated matter-of-factly. He leaned forward and buried his face in both of his hands. "Jim, man," he groaned, "that was such a mistake."

  Part Two

  The bailiff looked down at the next docket and droned out in a bored tone of voice, "State of Washington versus Douglas Alan Merrick, case number WA0038922."

  The judge glanced over the arraignment papers. "Solicitation to commit murder, Mr. Merrick. How do you plead?"

  Merrick's defense lawyer smiled and answered for his client: "Not guilty, Your Honor."

  "Your Honor, the State requests no bail due to the serious nature of this offense," the assistant district attorney called out. "Mr. Merrick attempted to arrange for the murder of two men, one of whom is a Cascade Police detective--"

  "Your Honor," the defense cut in, "Mr. Merrick is an upstanding citizen of this state, a man whose actions were motivated by grief over the recent loss of his daughter. His deep ties to his community and an untarnished record up to this point indicate that there is very little risk of flight."

  "Well, there's one way to help ensure that Mr. Merrick stays close to home," the judge intoned. Banging the gavel onto the wooden pad on her desk, she ruled, "Bail is set at two hundred fifty thousand dollars. Next...."

  - - - -

  Near the middle of the courtroom gallery, Jim Ellison looked on stonily as Douglas Merrick shook hands with his attorney, both men beaming in triumph. Jim knew what the judge's decision meant for both his partner and himself. Douglas Merrick was free-free to move about Cascade, free to conduct his business, free to contract hired assassins....

  The detective stood. "C'mon, Chief," he said, reaching down to give Blair a hand up. He stood back and ushered his partner out of the row and into the aisle.

  The back of the courtroom was almost empty. Evidently the report of a retired attorney trying to contract the murder of a police officer and his civilian partner wasn't sensational enough to gather much of a crowd. To be honest, Jim was grateful for the lack of interest on the part of the citizenry, but he knew what waited for them just outside the doors. Extending his hearing, he picked up easily on the reporters chatting among themselves, their voices growing more and more excited as they waited for Douglas Merrick...and Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg...to emerge from the courtroom.

  He placed his hand at the small of Blair's back and leaned forward to whisper to him, "No matter what happens, you keep walking. Got it?"

  The younger man glanced back at him and nodded. Jim closed the distance between them, knowing Blair was in no condition to deal with the intrusive media. While Sandburg seemed to be stronger today, there were still moments when he had to pause to catch his breath, times when Jim saw him cringe reaching for even small objects, his still sore shoulder giving him trouble.

  Jim opened the courtroom door. The push of the reporters was instantaneous, the noise almost deafening even with his hearing dialed back to normal. He caught Blair's arm and moved around in front of him. Reaching back, he pulled Sandburg close to his side and propelled him toward the exit, using his own body as a shield to navigate through the milling throng.

  "...is it true Douglas Merrick blames you for his daughter's death...."

  "...do you take any responsibility for Hannah Merrick's suicide...."

  "...did you go to jail and threaten Merrick...."

  "No comment," Jim kept repeating as reporter after reporter asked questions that he had no intention of answering.

  And as suddenly as the crowd had swept down upon them, they were gone. Still making their way toward the exit, Jim looked back to see what had drawn the media's fickle attention. Douglas Merrick stood just outside the courtroom door, his arm thrown casually around his attorney's shoulders, both men smiling widely.

  "Mr. Merrick," a female newswoman called out. "What can you tell us about your motivation for attempting to hire an assassin?"

  "Is this about revenge?" another reporter called out.

  "Mr. Merrick has pled 'not guilty,'" the defense attorney answered for his client, "and we intend to prove that his actions were, indeed, the actions of an innocent man."

  The defense attorney's prattle infuriated Jim, and he wanted nothing more than to keep proceeding toward the exit, to get himself and his partner as far away from Douglas Merrick as possible. But a change in Blair's breathing caught his attention and he pulled his guide to a stop. Blair was gasping for breath.

  "Whoa, whoa, Chief," Jim said, pointing to a bench and moving his partner toward it. "I'm sorry, buddy. I forgot that you're not exactly up to running hundred yard dashes just yet."

  Blair held up a hand as he sat down, dismissing Jim's apology. "S'okay," he breathed out. "Just...just give me a minute here."

  "You got it," Jim said, reaching over to rub gently at Blair's back.

  "Will you make a statement for us?" The voice filtered through to Jim, pulling his attention back to the mass of people huddled near the courtroom door. The question had been directed to Merrick's attorney and the smile of satisfaction on the man's face told Jim that he was more than happy to oblige the crowd with a statement.

  "Our defense is quite simple, really," the attorney began. "We plan to prove that Mr. Merrick was overwhelmingly grief stricken after the loss of his only child. That he was, in fact, so tormented that he was temporarily rendered incapable of being responsible for his actions."

  "But why target Detective Ellison and Mr. Sandburg?" a reporter called out. "Ms. Merrick's death was ruled a suicide."

  "Yes, but Mr. Merrick feels that Detective Ellison and Mr. Sandburg are responsible for destroying his daughter. The anger-the injustice-he feels became so crushing that Mr. Merrick was forced to act inappropriately."

  "So you're going for a temporary insanity defense?"

  "That's one term for it, yes," the attorney admitted.

  "Jim?" Blair said from beside him.

  The sentinel turned and studied his guide. "You ready to go, buddy?" he asked, already gripping his arm, readying to pull him to his feet again.

  But Blair shook his head, still working to catch his breath. "Actually, I could use some water."

  Jim frowned. It had been a mistake to bring Sandburg here. The kid had insisted he could handle it but Jim should have known better. The doctor had told them when Blair was released from the hospital that it would be weeks before the Golden was clear of his system and until then, he needed rest. This kind of physical and emotional strain was not good for him.

  "There's a fountain just up the hall a bit with some cups," Jim informed his partner. "You wait here and I'll be right back." As he stood, he glanced in Merrick's direction. The man was still surrounded by reporters, his suave attorney still playing his case out to the press. Confident they'd continue their impromptu press conference for some time to come, Jim made his way to the fountain.

  He'd just finished filling a small cup with cool water when the sound of Blair's racing heart reached him. Turning, he saw what had elevated Sandburg's heart rate. In his absence, Merrick had moved to his partner and was now standing before him. Reporters pressed in on all sides, snapping pictures, shoving their mics into Blair's face, waiting to see what these two men would say to one another.

  Blair held up a hand, turning his face away from the cameras and mics. He tried to rise, to escape, but Merrick leaned down and pressed a hand on his wounded shoulder, locking him in place. Blair cringed in pain, his free hand coming up to push at the hand curling around his still healing bullet wound.

  "Son of a bitch!" Jim left the water where it was and moved back toward his partner. Clawing his way through the reporters, he couldn't help but overhear Merrick's insincere words...

  "...want to apologize. I hope you understand--"

  But the rest of his false apology was cut short as Jim grabbed his shoulder and jerked him away from Blair. "Get your hands off him!" he roared, shoving Merrick into the throng of reporters.

  As the retired attorney hit the group of people behind him, several reporters went down, cries of shock rising out of the crowd at the sudden violence. Jim ignored it all, focusing instead on Blair. He crouched down before the shaken anthropologist, touching lightly at his knee.

  "Hey, buddy, you okay? How's your shoulder?"

  "Just get me out of here," he choked out, still having trouble getting his breathing under control, his eyes wide, unblinking.

  Grabbing the sides of his arms, Jim pulled Blair to his feet, slipped an arm around his waist, and began moving him steadily toward the exit.

  "Mr. Merrick, will you press assault charges against Detective Ellison for attacking you?" Jim heard one reporter call out.

  "Detective Ellison threatened me yesterday, telling me of the consequences should I approach his partner," Merrick's voice traveled across the vestibule. "I should have remembered that threat and taken heed."

  As Jim reached the exit, he paused at the door only long enough to glance back at Douglas Merrick. The man met his gaze, a self-assured smile leeching its way across his features. A smile of someone who knows he's won. A smile of triumph.

  /

  /

  /

  Shabro's was all but empty, the lunch crowd having returned to their jobs for the afternoon. Blair stood at Jim's side, scanning the room. It was Jim who spied Eli Stoddard first, sitting alone at a back booth. Raising his hand in acknowledgment, he then pointed in Dr. Stoddard's direction. "Back there, Chief," he instructed.

  They crossed the room together, Blair working hard to keep his breathing under control. That was still the hardest part of all this. Since waking in the hospital, he'd found that he was short of breath a lot, unable to move too fast before he needed to rest. He knew the affects of the drug would wear off eventually, but with everything that was happening he had little patience for the ongoing inconvenience. He just wanted everything to go back to normal.

  Whatever that is, he thought wryly.

  Reaching the booth, Blair slid in beside Dr. Stoddard. Jim sat across from both men. Eli didn't even give them the chance to get settled. "Well?" he prodded. "What happened? Did they keep him in jail?"

  "I'm afraid not," Jim admitted in disgust. "The judge set his bail at two hundred fifty thousand, but he'll make that easily."

  Eli shook his head as he looked at Blair beside him. His brown eyes were filled with sympathy. "I'm sorry," he breathed, reaching out and patting at Blair's hand before turning his attention back to Jim. "So what happens now?"

  "Now," Jim began slowly, "we make sure Blair is kept safe."

  Eli nodded eagerly. "Agreed. I think to accomplish that, we need to devise a schedule, mark out each hour of his day and make sure someone is with him at all times."

  "Someone who can protect him," Jim added.

  "Guys," Blair said, shaking his head. "Let's not lose perspective here."

  "I know the men in Major Crime will volunteer to help with this," Jim continued as if Blair had not spoken.

  "Yes, yes, that would be good," Eli agreed emphatically. "Someone armed would be good."

  "Armed?" Blair stared wide-eyed at the professor. "No way! I am not going to walk around with an armed guard all day."

  "How long do you think they'd be willing to do this?" Eli asked Jim, seemingly unaware of Blair's protest.

  "As long as it takes," Jim replied with confidence.

  Anger pulsed through Blair as they continued to map out his future, plan his every move. Pushing to his feet, he turned toward the exit.

  "Hey!" Jim reached out and caught his arm, pulling him to an abrupt halt. "Where the hell are you going?"

  "Home." Blair shook off the hand on his arm. "You obviously don't need me here for this conversation. You've got my immediate future all planned out."

  "Sit down, Chief," Jim said, his eyes locked with his partner's.

  "Is that an order?" Blair bit out. "Because I don't take orders from you, Jim. I'm not your flunky, I'm your partner."

  "I know that."

  "Then start treating me like you know it." His angry gaze shifted to Dr. Stoddard then back to Jim. "You're both talking about me like I'm not here! And it's pretty damn clear that you don't think I can't handle this, that I can't handle myself."

  "I know you can handle yourself, Chief," Jim said softly. "But you're still feeling the affects of Golden. You couldn't even walk out of the courthouse without stopping and catching your breath. And you can't tell me that shoulder of yours isn't giving you trouble. I've seen you cringe just picking up the remote to the TV."

  Blair closed his eyes, his hands fisting at his sides as frustration wound through him. Jim was right. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew it was the truth. He did still need help getting around...and it infuriated him.

  "Sit down, Chief," Jim whispered.

  "Please," Eli added.

  Opening his eyes, Blair let out a long breath...and slid into the booth beside Eli again. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "This whole thing--"

  "We understand," Eli said from beside him. "We all feel the same way. But Blair, you have to understand, all this talk...well, we're just afraid for you."

  "And I'm afraid for Jim." He looked at his partner. "He threatened both of us, Jim, but you're acting like I'm the only one in danger here."

  "Chief, Merrick won't move on me until you're dead. He told me that."

  "And if he lied? You ever stop to think that Hannah's instability may be been inherited?" He leaned forward, pinning Jim with his most serious look. "This guy is clever. He may be using that entire 'I'm coming after Sandburg first' ploy to make you vulnerable. He knows you'd be so busy watching out for me that you won't watch out for yourself...then he has you."

  "Blair has a point," Eli said softly, frowning across at Jim.