This story is dedicated to Betty – with grateful thanks for all her help and support both in beta reading my stories and for being a friend. Thanks are also due to Betty for providing me with the medical information.

Author’s Warning: This story deals with the issue of drug addiction and the ramifications arising there from.?? If you are uncomfortable about such a subject, please do not read any further.

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Settling Old Scores
(The sequel to "Silent Enemy")

by
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THE PRECINCT - 5 PM

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“Lieutenant Sloan, my office NOW!”

Captain Newman’s command reverberated throughout the office, which housed Steve Sloan and his fellow officers.

“Oh, boy,” muttered Tanis Archer, Steve’s feisty blonde partner.?? “What have you done Sloan?”

“Nothing that I can think of,” came the honest reply as the detective hastened to comply with Newman’s order.

“Shut the door and sit down,” the rugged blond instructed as Steve entered his office.???

??????????? Steve sat, figuring that whatever was coming must be bad if the Captain wanted him off his feet!

“I’ve just had a phone call from the Chief,” said Newman after Steve was seated.??? “He wanted … I wanted …”

“Sir?”? Steve was confused both by the content of the conversation and the Captain’s edgy manner.

“Malcolm Trainor and Carter Sweeney escaped from the State Penitentiary earlier this morning,” Newman said bluntly.

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*****

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Steve’s first thought as he left the Captain’s office, the man’s cautionary words,? “I hardly need to tell you to be careful Lieutenant.?? You and your father both,” still echoing in his ears, was to call his father and apprise him of the situation.?? Snatching up the phone on his desk he dialled the number for Community General and, after what felt like an eternity while the switchboard had his father paged, was greatly relieved to hear his dad’s warm, cheerful voice at the other end of the line.

“Dad it’s me,” he announced.??? “I need for you to listen to me very carefully.”

“What is it?” Mark’s voice was sharp with alarm.

“Do NOT go home,” Steve commanded.?? “Go to Jesse’s and I’ll meet you there in 20 minutes – half an hour, tops.”

“Why??? What’s happened??? Steve?”

“It’s Trainor and Sweeney dad.?? They’ve escaped from the State Penitentiary.”

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*****

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“Thanks Jess,” Steve accepted the cup of coffee his friend proffered with gratitude.?? “I’m sorry if I sounded alarmist when I called you earlier,” he apologised, turning to smile at his father.?? “Trainor and Sweeney have probably already skipped the state.??? And if they are still in LA, which I doubt, it won’t be long before they’re picked up.?? Their description has been circulated to every officer who, in turn, has passed it on to every fence and informant they know.??? So,” he continued nonchalantly, “I really don’t think that we have much to worry about although it won’t hurt to be a little more cautious; vary our routines, that sort of thing” he concluded.

“That’s it?” Jesse looked at his best friend incredulously.?? “That’s all you’re going to do??? Be a little more cautious and vary your routine?”

“Well, sure,” Steve frowned at the questions.?? “What else CAN we do Jess?? I’m not... We’re not,” he glanced over at his father who nodded his approval, already anticipating what Steve was going to say, “going to put our lives on hold or go into hiding just because of those two miscreants.”

“But...” Jesse protested.

“No buts,” Steve’s voice was quiet, but firm.?? “I’m not saying I’m not... Apprehensive at the thought of Sweeney and Trainor running around loose, because I am, of course I am.?? But I will be damned,” he stressed the word, “if I’ll let them affect the way I live my life.”

“The same goes for me too,” Mark murmured.

“So, now that that’s settled,” Steve smiled at his perplexed young friend.??? “Where shall we eat tonight?”

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THREE DAYS’ LATER - 11.50 PM

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“What a night!” Jesse exclaimed as he set the alarm and closed the door to the restaurant very firmly behind him.

“You’re complaining?” Steve enquired.

“Oh, no,” came the swift response.?? “It’s great that we’re finally starting to draw in the crowds.? It’s just that,” he yawned loudly.?? “I’ve had a killer of a day.”

“The youth of today have no stamina,” Steve commented, shaking his head sadly.

“Yeah well some of us have to work for a living,” Jesse said teasingly, ducking as Steve reached out to swat his head affectionately.?? “Shall I wait for you to get in your car?” he enquired.

“Jesse!” Steve regarded the slender doctor with a mixture of amusement and intense frustration.

“Okay, okay,” Jesse held up his hands in a gesture of supplication.??

“It’s nice that you care,” Steve’s eyes sparkled with amusement.?? “But I’m a grown man.?? I can even,” he paused for dramatic effect, “cross the street on my own.”

Jesse snorted with laughter at that remark, punched his friend affectionately on the arm and then headed off to his car.???

“Shall I wait for you to get in your car?” Steve repeated the words affectionately as he strode over to his vehicle parked in the far corner of the lot, the headlights of Jesse’s VW bathing him in their soft, luminous glow as he drove past.??? “You worry too much T...” he froze as he felt the barrel of a gun jammed very firmly into his back.

“Hello Steve.?? Long time no see,” whispered Carter Sweeney.

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THE BEACH HOUSE - 12.15 AM

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“Hi son, would you like a cof...” the words died in Mark’s throat as, rising from the couch, he was confronted by the sight of Steve being held at gunpoint by a grinning Carter Sweeney.

“How very nice to see you again Mark,” he said, motioning for Steve to move forward, by thrusting the barrel of the gun even harder into his back.

“Sit down on the couch opposite your father,” he tersely instructed.?? “And you,” his coal black eyes swivelled to meet Mark’s anxious blue gaze.?? “Sit!”

Faced with no other choice but to comply, both men dutifully obeyed.

“Excellent,” Carter pronounced himself satisfied, lounging nonchalantly against Mark’s desk, his gun unerringly trained on Steve.??? “Now we just have to ... Ah, here he is now,” he announced as a car swept into the drive.

“I guess there are no prizes for guessing who “he” is,” Steve remarked dryly.

“Correct,” said Sweeney.?? “Welcome to the party,” he added in an aside to Malcolm Trainor who walked in through the door Carter had so thoughtfully left open.

“Let’s get started,” Trainor said quietly, his malevolent gaze fixed very firmly on Steve.

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*****

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No sooner had Trainor arrived than Steve was unceremoniously frog-marched into the kitchen and ordered to sit down on one of the hard-backed, wooden chairs, whereupon his hands were twisted brutally behind his back and his wrists secured with a length of rope Trainor had extracted from the small leather bag he’d brought with him.??? That done he turned to Carter.

“Over to you,” he said curtly.

Sweeney stepped forward, pausing just long enough to hand the gun over to his comrade in crime before punching Steve savagely on the jaw.

“Don’t!” Mark screamed as Sweeney raised his fist and prepared to deliver another punishing blow.??? “Leave my son alone.?? Your fight was never with Steve, Carter; it was with me.”

“True,” Carter acknowledged the veracity of that statement in a bored tone of voice, “but where’s the...” he lashed out violently landing a savage punch to Steve’s chest, “fun...” another blow to the detective’s abdomen, “in hurting you when I can cause you so much more anguish and distress by...” yet another blow, “hurting your son.”

“Please stop,” Mark entreated.?? “I’ll do whatever it is you want but please don’t hurt my son anymore.”?? He was too traumatised by the sight of Steve’s bruised and bleeding body to contemplate the ramifications of what he had just said.

??????????? “Whatever we want?” queried Trainor, arching one eyebrow.

??????????? “Yes.”

??????????? As the two men exchanged sinister smiles, Mark felt a cold hand close over his heart.

???????????

*****

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??????????? “I do believe that you said you would do whatever we wanted,” Trainor reminded Mark of his promise as, having handed the gun back to Sweeney, he turned to delve into the cavernous depths of the leather bag, returning to stand before Mark, one hand tucked firmly behind his back.?? “In which case...”

??????????? He brought his arm around slowly until both it, and what he held in his hand, were clearly visible.

??????????? “NO!” Mark reared back in horror as he saw the hypodermic needle.

“No?” Trainor tilted his head to one side, an enquiring look on his smooth, plump, face.??

“I will not inject my son with any form of drug,” Mark hissed through clenched teeth.??

“Oh, not just any form; it’s heroin,” Trainor replied.?? “I was initially planning to administer it myself while you were forced to sit and watch, but when you made your kind offer to do whatever I wanted,” his podgy face split into a malevolent smile, “well I could hardly refuse now, could I?”

“I won’t…”

“Oh, but I think that you will,” snarled Trainor.?? “That is, if you want your son to live.”

Turning to his accomplice he nodded, whereupon Sweeney crossed over to Steve’s limp form and placed the barrel of the gun very firmly against the detective’s left temple.

Mark knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Sweeney was quite capable of carrying out the vile act; knew also that there was going to be no last-minute rescue and that whatever happened next was down to him.??? While he could no more sit and watch Sweeney kill his beloved son than he could contemplate injecting Steve with heroin; the latter action would at least ensure his son would stay alive, for now at least.

“Well, since you’re clearly still undecided,” Trainor nodded to Carter who began to slowly squeeze the trigger.

“I’ll do it,” Mark yelled, at which Sweeney - with considerable reluctance - stayed his action.

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*****

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??????????? Sweeney’s last punch having rendered him virtually insensible, Steve was only peripherally aware of what was going on around him.???? He heard voices and, although he couldn’t make out the words, he was able to discern, through the miasma that enshrouded him that their tone was filled with anger and fear.?

It was this last realisation, which spurred him to fight against the encroaching black mist that still threatened to overwhelm him because the voice so full of anguish belonged to his father.??? Forcing the lead weights of his eyelids open he was just in time to see his father turn to Malcolm Trainor and bark, “Turn his arm out.”

??????????? He tried to speak; to formulate an intelligible sentence, but before he could do so the tip of the hypodermic needle had punctured the soft flesh of his inner arm and its insidious contents began coursing through his veins, sweeping him away on a tidal wave of pure, unadulterated, pleasure; the feelings - the sensations - so powerful, they were almost painful in their intensity.

??????????? “I’m sorry,” Mark whispered, even though he knew his son was no longer aware, either of his surroundings or the occupants of the room, the vile drug having entered his brain, swiftly enslaving him.

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*****

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After Sweeney had ensured that Mark was securely bound to one of the kitchen chairs, he released Steve and, with Trainor’s assistance, helped the dazed detective to his feet where he stood, swaying precariously, between them.???

“Much as we’d love to stay and chat, it’s time for us to be leaving,” said Trainor as the trio headed towards the front door.

“Where are you taking my son?” Mark enquired, his voice ragged with fear.

“I rather think that’s for us to know and you to find out don’t you?” Came the infuriating response.??

And with that the front door clicked softly shut, leaving him alone.?? Seconds later he heard a car engine roar to life and it was this sound that galvanised him into action.??? While he might not be able to free himself, so secure were the ropes that bound his arms and legs to the chair, he was able to stand up and shuffle painstakingly slowly over to the kitchen counter where the phone was situated.???? All he had to do, he reasoned, was knock the receiver out of the cradle and then find something he could use to punch 911 on the keypad.??? His frantic eyes roamed the counter for something – anything - suitable, finally alighting on the pencil he’d been using earlier in the evening to draw up a list of ingredients for the barbecue he’d been planning to hold at the weekend.???? Bending over he used his nose to roll the implement to the edge of the counter where he turned it lengthways and picked it up in his mouth, biting down firmly on the end to prevent it from slipping loose.?? Then, crossing back over to the phone, he placed the tip of the pencil under the receiver and flipped it out of the cradle.??? Slowly and deliberately he depressed the requisite keys.

“911 emergency,” a brisk voice announced.

“I need…” for a moment his voice failed him.? “The police,” he finally managed to croak.??? “My son has been kidnapped.”

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THE BEACH HOUSE - 4 AM

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??????????? Heart in mouth after the phone call he’d received from Mark in the early hours of the morning, informing him that Steve had been abducted by Trainor and Sweeney, Jesse slewed his car to a halt in the driveway of the beach house and headed inside at full pelt where he espied Mark talking to a grim-faced Chief Masters and Captain Newman.

At Jesse’s precipitate entrance the older man turned and the young doctor was barely able to suppress a gasp of horror at the sight of his friend, who appeared to have aged 20 years since Jesse had last seen him; his face haggard and ashen, his shoulders stooped and his eyes… Jesse gulped hard at the tortured look in those marvellous blue orbs.

Pasting a smile on his face, he stepped forward, nodded politely to Masters and Newman and placed a gentle hand on Mark’s shoulder.

“As I was just telling Dr. Sloan,” Masters turned to face Jesse, “I’ve got every available officer working on the case, plus every informant and drug dealer in our employ,” he smiled grimly at that last comment.???

“Why would you...?” Jesse regarded the impassive man with astonishment.?? “Mark?” he turned to face his colleague questioningly.

“I had no choice Jesse,” came the whispered response.?? “Sweeney was... He was going to shoot Steve if I didn’t...”

“Didn’t what?” The suspense of not knowing what Mark had done was agonising.??

“Dr. Sloan injected his son with heroin.”?? Newman, who, thus far, had remained silent, now spoke up.

“Yeah right,” Jesse snorted derisively.

“It’s true,” Mark softly admitted.

For once in his life the normally effusive blond was totally lost for words and could only stand in stunned silence as he tried to get his head around the enormity of what Mark had done - of what he had been forced - to do.???

“That’s why we’re targeting the drug dealers,” Newman explained.? ?“Trainor and Sweeney will have to obtain their supplies from someone.??? Sooner or later we’ll catch them.?? We have to,” he added, his voice tinged with a trace of desperation as all four of them realised the desperate predicament the detective was in.

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THE EXCELSIOR HOTEL - DOWNTOWN LA - 7.30 AM

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“Home Sweet Home.”??? Trainor’s voice dripped sarcasm as his insipid blue eyes travelled disdainfully over the interior of their suite, although - in his mind at least - suite implied something comfortable and elegant, even distinguished.???? Whereas the reality was a shabby room containing two single beds, one extremely battered looking armchair, which was peppered with cigarette burns, moth eaten curtains and a carpet that was so heavily stained it was impossible to imagine what its original colour might have been!???

To add insult to injury, the beds were hard; the shower produced little more than a mere trickle of water and the TV was broken.???

On the plus side, the place was cheap and filled with the kind of human flotsam who neither knew nor cared who - or what - their neighbours were, which suited Trainor and Sweeney perfectly.

As he lay on the bed, hands tucked behind his head, gazing up at a jagged crack running the entire length of the ceiling, Trainor became aware of a mild commotion occurring in the bathroom.??? Sighing impatiently he hauled his portly frame from the bed and went to investigate, whereupon he discovered Carter towering menacingly over Steve’s sprawled frame.

“Our friend here is proving somewhat reticent about taking his medicine,” he informed his partner in crime, before turning his attention back to Steve’s prone form and administering several short sharp blows to the detective’s heavily bruised body.?? By the time he’d finished Steve lay perfectly quiescent, all vestige of resistance gone.? He moaned softly as he felt the sharp prick of the needle as it slid into the crook of his arm.

After that he knew nothing for a very long time.

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TWO DAYS’ LATER - THE PRECINCT

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Chief Masters was discussing the progress - or rather the lack thereof - of the investigation into the whereabouts of Trainor, Sweeney and their hostage when the door to Newman’s office didn’t so much open, as implode.?? Both men’s hands went instinctively to their holsters before they recognised the dishevelled figure standing before them was not some deranged intruder intent on causing mayhem, but was, in fact, Mark Sloan.?? A barely recognisable Mark Sloan at that.??? There was no trace of the normally dapper and distinguished man they both knew and worked with on a regular basis.?? Instead, they found themselves confronted with a gaunt, unshaven, red-eyed stranger who looked to be on the very verge of collapse.

“Sit down Mark,” Newman said gently.?? “Before you fall down,” he added silently, standing up and crossing swiftly from behind his desk to force Mark’s stiff and unyielding body into the vacant chair next to the Chief of Police.?? “Can I get you anything??? A cup of coffee, a glass of water maybe?”

“No, thank you,” Mark shook his head and, in a voice that was hoarse with grief, whispered, “Is there any news?? Any progress? ANYTHING?”

Masters wished that he had some small crumb of comfort he could offer the distraught man; some lead, no matter how tenuous, which might give Mark hope.?? The simple truth was, however, that he did not.???

“I’m sorry,” he apologised with heartfelt sincerity.?? “I wish I could tell you otherwise, but the simple fact of the matter is that we have nothing.”

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THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON

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Shifting uncomfortably on the hard narrow bed, Steve was unable to suppress an anguished moan escaping his lips.??? Every nerve and fibre was alive with pain; his very skin felt as though it were attempting to crawl right off his body.

“I should imagine you’re beginning to feel more than a little… Uncomfortable,” a voice – Trainor’s – murmured into his right ear. “That’s because you haven’t had your usual fix for some considerable while.? I’m afraid you’re experiencing withdrawal symptoms my dear boy and if you don’t receive a top up – and soon - you’re going to start to feel a great deal worse than you do now.??? Soon you’ll be experiencing muscle cramps, goose bumps, involuntary leg movements, oh and let’s not forget pain in every bone and muscle in your body,” he added in a matter-of-fact tone.

“You did this to me,” Steve muttered, rolling away from the hated voice, the hated face and curling his body into a tight ball.??? “You and Sweeney.”

“No, Steve,” came the calm response.?? “Think back.?? Put your natural enmity towards myself and Carter aside for one moment and remember just who it was who gave you the first injection?”

“Turn his arm out.” His father’s voice – harsh and cold.

??????????? He tried to speak; to formulate an intelligible sentence, but before he could do so the tip of the hypodermic needle had punctured the soft flesh of his inner arm and its insidious contents began coursing through his veins, sweeping him away on a tidal wave of pure, unadulterated, pleasure; the feelings - the sensations - so powerful, they were almost painful in their intensity.

“Well?” queried Trainor, having almost seen the various cogs and wheels turning in the detective’s brain as he ruminated on past events.??

“My father,” came the dull reply.? “My father did this to me.”

“Exactly!” Trainor was barely able to keep the triumphant tone out of his voice at the detective’s admission.? “And I always thought that your father loved you Steve,” he continued, turning the emotional screw even tighter.???? “But I guess he doesn’t does he; if he could do that to you??? His own son?”

“No,” Steve replied bleakly.?? “I guess he doesn’t.??? Help me Trainor,” he entreated, rolling over to face the genial looking man.?? “I can’t…? It hurts.?? Please, give me something.”

“Quid pro quo,” came the affable response.?? “I give you something, you give me something.

“Anything,” Steve vowed.?? “Just…. Make this stop.??? Please.”

“Of course I will.”?? At which promise, Steve visibly relaxed.

“There’s just one small thing I need you to do for me before I make you comfortable,” Trainor added.

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*****

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In the small part of his brain that was still capable of rational thought, Steve knew what he was doing was wrong; that it went against every principle he had, both as a man and an officer of the law.???

Principles, however, wouldn’t ease the torment he was suffering; there was only one thing that could do that, and Trainor possessed it.????

“We need funds dear boy,” Trainor had earlier informed him.?? “After all neither Carter…” he glanced over at his colleague who was sprawled in the battered armchair reading an outdated issue of the LA Times, “Nor I for that matter, have access to our bank accounts and our limited resources are disappearing fast.?? So...” he shrugged, the meaning all too apparent.?? No money; no fix.?

Thus, armed with the gun Sweeney had furnished him with, he entered the drug store Trainor had chosen and strode purposefully up to the counter where he demanded the contents of the till from the trembling storeowner.?? The terrified man quickly complied and then somehow, despite the fear that had turned his legs to jelly, managed to stumble outside just in time to see his armed raider clamber into the back of a waiting black Sedan, which screeched away from the kerb leaving a plume of black, oily smoke in its wake.?? Not before, however, he’d managed to get a partial licence plate.

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*****

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“You did very well,” said Trainor as the trio returned to their gloomy hotel room where the rotund little man promptly settled himself in the chair and began counting out their ill-gotten gains.?? “We’ll make a criminal of you yet,” he added, laughing softly.??? “And while you were conducting your business transaction, Sweeney was purchasing what you require.??? Carter?”

“It’s all ready,” came the mellifluous response.?? “You’re not going to fight me this time are you Sloan?”

“No I...” Steve sank down on the bed, his legs too weak to support him any longer.?? His hungry eyes fell on the hypodermic syringe in Sweeney’s hand.?? He had never wanted, needed, and craved, anything so much in his entire life.??

“You’ll soon feel better,” soothed Carter as he swiftly administered the drug.??? “Until next time that is,” although he doubted very much whether the detective, lost in the drug’s euphoric rush, heard him.

“It’s time to find an alternative vehicle and lodgings,” said Trainor.???? “I hadn’t anticipated that the storeowner would show such fortitude and follow our friend here,” he nodded over to Steve’s insentient form, “outside.??? This whole area will soon have more police officers jumping around it than fleas on a dog.”

Carter nodded his agreement.????

“We’ll leave in half an hour,” said Trainor.

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NOON - THE BEACH HOUSE

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??????????? “Mark you have to eat something,” said Jesse, watching in despair as - with every other meal he and Amanda had tried to persuade the older man to eat - Mark merely pushed the food around the plate, making no attempt to transfer any to his mouth.

??????????? “I’m not hungry,” came the dispirited response.

??????????? “Just try and...” he got no further, the strident tones of the doorbell interrupting him.?? Mark’s head whipped up sharply and he was out of the chair and at the front door in seconds, returning with Captain Newman in tow.

??????????? “We’ve finally gotten a lead,” Newman informed them once they were all seated.?? “A drug store downtown was robbed earlier today.”

??????????? A heavy silence descended, which ended only when Mark enquired, “It was Steve, wasn’t it?” His heart sinking as he realised the depths of desperation to which his son had plummeted; to which his captors had driven him.

“Yes,” Newman reluctantly admitted.

?“What about Trainor and Sweeney?” Jesse enquired.

“The storeowner said that Steve got into a vehicle parked a little way from the store,” Newman replied.?? “He noticed there were two men in the car but he wasn’t close enough to see them properly, although I think we can safely assume it was them.? And before you ask Dr. Travis,” he continued, already anticipating what Jesse was about to ask.?? “The storeowner managed to get a partial licence plate.??? I’ve put out an APB on the vehicle and I’ve called in extra officers to help search the area.”

“Trainor and Sweeney aren’t stupid,” Mark sighed.?? “They’re probably already on the move even as we speak.??? They don’t want to be found yet because they haven’t accomplished what they set out to do.”??? Which comment mystified both men.

“Isn’t it obvious?” He said, noting their confused expressions.??? “They’re planning to turn my son against me.”

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THREE DAYS’ LATER

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“Much as I hate to say it, I feel I owe it to you,” the sibilant voice whispered for minutes, hours, days; he couldn’t be sure, knowing only one thing; that it was an omnipresent feature in his tortured world.?? “Your father doesn’t love you Steve.?? He never has.??? What he wants - ALL he wants - is to control you.?? Just consider how much he dominates every aspect of your life.”

“Yes,” the detective murmured, as he realised the veracity of that statement.

“He’s totally undermined your credibility as a police officer.?? Your colleagues laugh at you behind your back.?? Yes they do,” the hateful – truthful - voice persisted.?? “Your father has reduced you to nothing more than a laughing stock in their eyes.”??

??????????? “Yes he has,” Steve muttered, clenching his fists in anger.

“And then there are your friends.??? Oh, I know you’re very close to Jesse Travis not to mention the lovely Dr. Bentley - but think about it for a moment.?? They’re not really YOUR friends are they??? They’re your father’s.?? You don’t really have many – any… Friends of your own do you?”

“No.”?? Steve quietly admitted.

“Which is exactly the way your father wants it.??? You’ll never be allowed to live your own life Steve.?? Certainly not while your father is alive anyway.?? Of course if he weren’t alive…”

??????????? “He’s going to need another fix – and soon,” Sweeney informed his colleague, interrupting Trainor’s incessant murmurs to the virtually insentient detective.? “And we don’t have the resources to obtain it, that’s for sure.?? Not unless you plan to send him…” he nodded contemptuously over at Steve’s shivering frame, “out to rob another store.”

??????????? “There’s no need for that,” said Trainor.? “It’s time to reunite father and son.”

??????????? “Are you sure?” Sweeney regarded his colleague doubtfully.??

??????????? “Carter,” Trainor’s look was full of reproach.??? “I’m hurt – truly hurt – that you appear to have such a total lack of faith in my… abilities.”

??????????? “It’s not that… It’s just that…”

??????????? “You’re used to a more… direct approach, a more immediate result,” Trainor completed the sentence for his visibly discomfited colleague.?? “And there’s nothing more direct or immediate than blowing up a building is there?” he enquired, laughing heartily.

??????????? “Don’t mock me,” Carter growled.

??????????? “My dear boy, I wouldn’t dream of doing any such thing, but you must appreciate that you have your methods and I have mine.?? And mine, of necessity, given the nature of what I… What we,” he hastily corrected, “wanted to achieve, required a much more subtle – more tender - approach.”

??????????? “Tender!” Carter barked with laughter.?? “What was tender about what we did Trainor???? We abducted Sloan, fed him full of drugs, forced him to steal to ensure that he got his next fix and for the past three days we’ve just sat in this damned room,” his baleful gaze travelled around the interior of their self-imposed prison; another fleapit in an even worse area of town, “while you’ve kept him pumped full of even more drugs and all but talked his ear off.?? Not that he’s capable of hearing you,” he snidely concluded.??

??????????? “Oh he heard me,” said Trainor.?? “Of that you can be certain.?? And, frankly Carter I’m disappointed in your attitude.?? Just because you failed in your attempt to turn Steve against his father doesn’t mean I’ll fail in mine.?? My dear boy,” he continued patiently, “just wait and see.? I promise you that, when we deliver Steve back to the beach house he won’t disappoint us.?? He’ll kill his father and himself.?? By this time tomorrow, the Sloans will be history.?? Get him ready,” he snapped.?? “We leave in an hour.”

???????????

THE BEACH HOUSE – 11.30 PM

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“Go to bed,” Mark sternly commanded as Jesse gave yet another jaw breaking yawn.??

“I’m not tired,” came the mumbled reply from the barely conscious young man.

“Jesse!” Mark regarded his friend with ever-growing exasperation.?? While he was immensely – inordinately – grateful to have company, he wasn’t about to let the diminutive doctor jeopardise his own health just to baby-sit him.

“Okay, okay I’m going,” said Jesse, holding his hands up in a gesture of submission, rising slowly from the couch and, still half asleep, turning to stumble towards the guest bedroom, his progress abruptly halted as both men heard the sounds of ponderous footsteps on the deck.??

As one they turned to discover Steve standing in the open doorway, a sleek snub-nosed revolver, clutched firmly in his shaking left hand.

??????????? “Steve!? Oh, God, son, I’m so pleased to see you.?? I’ve been so worried about you.”

Mark was so overwhelmed with relief at the sight and sound of his son that for a moment all other thoughts as to Steve’s physical and mental state were obliterated.? His euphoria was, however, short-lived as Steve, his voice thick with hate, growled, “Oh, you’re good, but then they told me you would be.?? But you can stop pretending now.? I know what you’re really like, what you’ve always been like.”

“Steve…” Jesse tentatively ventured, taking a hesitant step towards his friend.

?“Don’t move.”? The barrel of the gun was raised level with the young doctor’s head.? Jesse heeded the warning and immediately froze to the spot, Mark’s words of the previous day, “Isn’t it obvious? They’re planning to turn my son against me,” echoing over and over in his head.

“Steve,” Mark’s voice was soft and low, “Whatever… issues you have, don’t involve Jesse.??? Let him go.? Please?” He entreated.

“Mark, no!” Jesse cried, horrified at what the older man was suggesting.?? There was no way this side of hell he was about to turn around and walk out; leaving the two best friends he had alone together to….

“We can help you,” he said, his mind grasping at the only straw he thought would – could - actually save them – all of them.?? “We can give you something.?? Mark has…” he glanced apologetically over at his friend and mentor, only hoping that Mark would pick up on what he was trying to do and play along, “he has stuff that can take care of the way you’re feeling,” he lied.

“Je…” Mark attempted to interrupt.

“You look like you’re really hurting,” Jesse’s blue eyes flashed fire and a very stern message to Mark to keep quiet.??? “Why don’t you let me get something to help you feel better?? Then we can sit down and talk things through.?? I know you need it,” he added, lowering his voice until it was little more than a murmur.??? “Two minutes Steve, that’s all it will take for me to get what you want and then you’ll feel so very much better, I promise.”

He didn’t want to acquiesce, wanted so very much to pull the trigger and wipe out his father and the irritating little blond who professed to be – but in actuality wasn’t - his friend; but his bodily needs far outweighed his desire for revenge and he could, he reasoned, as he slumped against the wall, grateful for its support, always waste the two of them after he’d received what he so badly needed.

“Get it,” he snarled.

?

******

?

“Please God, Please God, Please God, let this work,” Jesse repeated over and over as he raced into Mark’s bedroom and, after a few minutes frantic scrambling, located the black medical bag that was any doctor’s constant companion and which contained basic medical supplies; bandages, band aid, stethoscope, hypodermic syringes, sedatives.

It was this last which Jesse sought and with which he filled a hypodermic syringe, only hoping that his plan would work out.?? Because if it didn’t…

??????????? “This will soon make you feel a whole lot better,” he glibly announced as he returned to the lounge, holding up the hypodermic syringe, biting back the tears as he saw the raw, hot, need in his best friend’s eyes.?? “You want me to…?”

??????????? “Not you – him,” came the curt response from Steve as he nodded vociferously in his father’s direction.??? “After all, it won’t be the first time will it?” he queried.??? “In fact I have you to thank for a lot of things; the fact that my colleagues at the LAPD laugh at me behind my back, the fact that I have no friends, save those you’ve so carefully selected for me, plus the fact that I’m a drug addict.?? Gee, I guess I owe you a huge debt of gratitude don’t I?” He enquired in a voice that dripped with sarcasm.

??????????? “Son I…”

??????????? “Do it,” came the sharp command from the now dangerously agitated man.??? “Just…”?

??????????? Even as Steve issued the order, Mark stepped forward and deftly slipped the needle into the vein in the crook of Steve’s right arm.

??????????? “You’ll feel better soon, I promise you that,” he murmured as he waited for the powerful sedative to take effect.

??????????? “You don’t have to te…” A puzzled look crossed Steve’s handsome features as he felt his body beginning to crumple; felt his legs giving way beneath him.?? He just had time to turn toward Jesse and mumble, “You tricked me,” before the ground rushed up to meet him.

?

COMMUNITY GENERAL – THREE HOURS’ LATER

?

??????????? “What do YOU want,” Steve growled fractiously as the familiar figure of David Sinclair, Head of The Last Resort Clinic, a unit set up specifically to provide treatment and counselling for police officers suffering from either substance abuse or psychological problems, entered his room, smiled calmly and crossed over to the stand beside the detective’s bed.????

“It’s nice to see you too Steve,” he said cheerfully.?? “Still as surly as ever I notice,” he commented wryly, his compassionate eyes travelling over the thick leather restraints that held the detective totally immobile.

“Why are you here Sinclair?” Steve queried, pointedly ignoring that last remark, choosing instead to fix the man with a baleful glare.??? “I don’t recall asking you to come visit me.”

“That’s true,” acknowledged Sinclair.?? “But, given that you’re going to be admitted to my unit…”

??????????? “WHAT!?? OH NO WAY,” yelled Steve, interrupting the man.?? “I… You…” he spluttered furiously, as he struggled to free himself.

??????????? Watching the detective attempt to wrest himself free from the restraints which fettered him to the bed, as helpless as any animal caught in a trap, Sinclair couldn’t help but feel sorry for his soon to be patient.?? He knew only too well, having been briefed by Chief Masters, that Steve Sloan had had no control over his drug addiction.?? Nevertheless, rules were rules and they couldn’t be changed or adapted for one individual.?? At the end of the day a drug addict was a drug addict was a…. The wheel just kept on turning.??? The fact that Steve Sloan had been forced into becoming a heroin addict made no difference.? The man was a serving police officer, who had, no matter what the circumstances, committed armed robbery.? Steve Sloan had no choice but to enter the last resort if he wanted to remain with the LAPD.

“Let me lay it on the line for you Steve,” he said as he settled himself on the bed.??? “Chief Masters wants you to stay on the force.?? Captain Newman wants you to stay on the force. I want you to stay on the force.?? BUT,” he fixed Steve with a cool look.?? “That just ain’t gonna happen until you’ve completed the 90 day program and been certified clean of drugs.??? That’s the deal Steve,” he added, as he stood up.?? “Enter the program - stay in the LAPD.?? Refuse and…. Well I hear Burger King are looking for security guards.”

“Does my father…?” Steve began hesitatingly.

“It was your dad who set the wheels in motion,” Sinclair replied, at which point Steve realised all was lost – for now at least – Trainor’s words, “What he wants - ALL he wants - is to control you,” reverberating in his head.

Well his father may have won this round, thought Steve, as he slumped back against the pillows with no other choice but to accept his fate, but once this was over and he was free and able to make his own choices, to follow his own path, he’d make sure that his dad never had a chance to interfere in his life again.

?

THE FOLLOWING MORNING

?

“I guess I don’t need to explain the procedure to you do I Steve?” Sinclair enquired of the pale and shaking detective as he was escorted into the unit by two burly orderlies.

Levelling Sinclair with a fearsome glare, Steve muttered something under his breath.

“I’ll assume that’s a no shall I?”

“Yes,” came the surly response.?? “That is, no, you don’t have to explain the procedure to me Sinclair.?? I remember it well enough - or I should do,” this last comment referring to the undercover operation in which Steve had participated, which had necessitated him entering the clinic as a patient together with his partner, Reggie Ackroyd, in a cleverly constructed operation to ascertain the fate of the rogue cop’s family.

“90 days lock down; no booze, no drugs, no sex,” he cited Sinclair’s all too well remembered words.

“Excellent,” Sinclair beamed his approval.?? “Sam here,” he nodded over to one of the orderlies, “will show you to your room.???? How are you feeling?”

He’d like to have lied; liked to have said he was feeling fine, but he couldn’t - wasn’t able to deny the fact that he was starting to hurt, and badly.?? He needed - his body - needed something if he was going to be able to function without starting to climb the walls.

“Shaky,” he finally - reluctantly - admitted, hating to have to confess his weakness, his growing need.

“That’s only to be expected,” came the sympathetic response.?? “I’ll have one of the nurses get you some methadone to alleviate the worst of the symptoms.?? I know it doesn’t seem like it now but you’re very lucky you know,” he added, smiling at the incredulous look on Steve’s face.?? “You haven’t been on heroin long enough to get properly hooked.?? Your withdrawal is going to be a whole lot easier than some of the hardened addicts we get in the unit.?? Take your methadone and get some rest and, if you feel up to lunch you...”

“Know where the dining room is,” Steve completed the sentence.

?

*****

?

??????????? The first sign of trouble came at lunchtime.? Entering the dining room, Steve’s jaded gaze swept over the other occupants, his companions for the foreseeable future; a woman and two men, one of who looked all too horribly familiar.

“Well well WELL, if it isn’t the GREAT Lieutenant Sloan,” drawled Frank Jerkowski, having caught sight of his adversary standing silent and unmoving in the doorway.??? “Shot any fellow police officers recently Lieutenant?” he enquired as he stood up and strolled over until he was standing virtually nose to nose with Steve whereupon he turned and looked back at his companions who were regarding the men - and the scene - with avid interest.?? “Stay well away from this man you two,” he warned.??? “He doesn’t care whether he shoots the bad guys - or the good guys - do you Lieutenant?”

“It was self defence and you know it,” Steve informed the man.??? “Bravurn pulled a gun on me - I had no choice.”

“Oh you had a CHOICE,” Jerkowski hissed, a fine spray of spittle bathing Steve’s face.?? “You could have wounded Bravurn.?? You didn’t have to kill him.? Or his sister.”

“His sister attacked me,” Steve said wearily, wishing the man would just get out of his face so that he could sit down.?? “Now, do you mind?” He made to step around his aggressor.??

“I’m not done talking to you yet,” Jerkowski snarled.

“Let it go Frank,” one of the two orderlies on duty shouted, even as he headed over to deal with the situation.

“You heard the man,” said Steve.?? “Let it go.”

“The hell I will,” came the growled response.

Before he had a chance to react, Steve was forcibly grabbed and slammed up against the wall with such force that all the breath was driven out of his body.??? While he was trying to recover from the shock of that, Jerkowski began raining punches to his chest and stomach.?? The attack, however, was mercifully brief; strong hands reaching out to wrestle his aggressor away from him and on to the ground.??

“What the hell is going on here?” demanded Sinclair who, having been alerted of a problem in the dining room, arrived to find Steve Sloan being helped into a chair by one orderly while Frank Jerkowski writhed on the floor, pinned underneath Tony Spencer’s considerable weight as effectively as a butterfly on a card.

“It wasn’t Sloan’s fault,” Spencer pointed out.??? “Jerkowski started it.”

“Take him to his room and sedate him.?? You’d better put him in restraints too,” Sinclair added, sighing regretfully as he watched the pugnacious man being unceremoniously escorted from the dining room.?? From the moment Jerkowski had arrived at the clinic he’d done nothing but cause trouble. It was rare - very rare - that Sinclair gave up on a patient.? He was prepared to fight 120% to help each and every officer who was admitted to the Last Resort.?? However, he’d had to learn to accept that some people, no matter how much help they were offered, or how many chances they were given, simply didn’t want to be saved.? Frank Jerkowski was one of them.??

Sinclair knew that the time was drawing near for him to make a decision about Jerkowski, but it didn’t sit well with him that he would be responsible for the man losing his job in the force, his pension and very probably his wife and family too.??? Well that was something he would think about some other time, he thought, as he turned his attention to Steve.???

“Come on my friend,” he said softly.?? “Let’s get you back to your room and have you checked over.”

“I’m fine,” Steve said fractiously, pushing impatiently at the hands reaching out to help, to support him.?? “I’ve suffered far worse, believe me.”

“All right.”? Against his better judgement Sinclair reluctantly acquiesced.??? “But if you start feeling any discomfort - no matter how slight - then you call me or one of the other orderlies right away okay?”

He took the grunted response as a yes.

?

THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON

?

The rules of the clinic, while simple, were nonetheless writ in stone: no alcohol, no drugs and no sex.?? Mornings were set aside for exercise, afternoons and evenings for encounter sessions where each patient sat in the “hot seat” and talked through their problems and fears.??? Steve arrived for the first of such sessions with all the enthusiasm of a man about to face a firing squad.

“Since Steve is new to the unit, I thought he should have the opportunity to speak first,” announced Sinclair, which statement received no response from the room’s only other occupants; a glowering Frank Jerkowski, his female companion from the previous day and a cadaverous looking man who kept his head down, studiously avoiding eye contact, and nibbled endlessly at his nails.

“I’ve got nothing to say right now,” Steve said swiftly, intent on putting off the moment for as long as possible.??? “Why don’t you le...”

“I’m sorry I’m late,” an all too familiar voice interrupted.??

??????????? “What’s he doing here?” the detective angrily demanded of Sinclair as his father entered the room.

“Your father asked to attend these sessions,” came the calm response from the apparently unflappable man.??? “Do you have a problem with him being here?”

“Yes I have a problem,” Steve hissed, levelling his dad with a look that would have curdled milk.??? “You just can’t let go, can you dad?” he enquired, his voice thick with anger.

“Son I...”

“I don’t want you here,” came the angry interruption, “so get the hell out.”??? The enraged detective stood up so abruptly that he overturned his chair.

?“Calm down and SIT down Steve.”?? Sensing trouble Sinclair raised his eyes in the direction of the orderlies, who immediately moved closer; ready to intervene if the need arose.

“I’ll do both when he leaves,” snapped Steve, starting to pace the room.

The sight of his son in such an agitated state was more than Mark was able to bear.?? Wanting - needing - to offer his comfort and support, he reached out and touched him gently on the arm, never anticipating the reaction that simple gesture would cause.?? In the next instant he found himself on the ground, his son’s body straddling his, powerful hands tightening inexorably around his throat.

And then the pressure was gone; Steve was gone, hauled to his feet by the two orderlies.

??????????? “Take him to his room,” Sinclair instructed.?? “I’ll be along shortly to check on him.?? Are you all right Mark?” he enquired, turning his attention back to the visibly shaken older man.

??????????? “Fine,” Mark managed a weak smile.??

??????????? “Given what’s just occurred, I think it would be prudent for you not to attend any sessions for the foreseeable future.??? You are, of course, very welcome to observe them,” he nodded in the direction of the mirror which took up the entirety of the far wall, “but until such time as Steve has calmed down sufficiently to be able to...” he searched for the right word, “tolerate your presence, I’m afraid that’s the only option available.”

Mark readily accepted the offer; seeing his son through a two-way mirror was, after all, better than not seeing him at all and maybe, in time, Steve would, as Sinclair said, be able to tolerate his presence face to face.???

??????????? Clinging to that slender hope he returned to his office, closing the door softly behind him.?? He had no wish to be disturbed, not even by Jesse or Amanda; his emotions simply too raw, too painful, for him to talk to even his closest friends.

??????????? The strident ringing of the telephone however, abruptly shattered his hopes for a quiet solitude.?? He would have liked nothing more than to ignore it but that would have been a dereliction of his duty as a physician and he couldn’t allow his feelings to in any way affect the health and well-being of the patients in his care.?? Forcing brightness into his voice he was very far from feeling, he answered the call.

“Hello Mark.”

At the sound of Trainor’s insidious voice the hackles on the back of Mark’s neck bristled angrily.

“What do you want?” he snapped.

“Want??? Why nothing,” the mellifluous - and much hated voice - continued.?? “I just thought I’d ring up to say that, although I’m extremely disappointed that despite my very best efforts you and your son are still alive, I’m a fervent fan of the old maxim ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’.? Until next time, Mark and there WILL,” he stressed the word, “be a next time.”

??????????? And with that, he hung up.

?

THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON - 3 PM

?

“Isn’t my father joining us?” Steve enquired as - with great reluctance - he took his place in the hot seat, the others having already taken their turn.

“We both agreed that his presence here would be detrimental to your progress given what occurred yesterday,” Sinclair replied.???

“So he’s watching instead,” Steve’s eyes were drawn to the mirror and Mark, who was seated on the other side, could have sworn that his son could see him, so intent was his gaze.

The fact that Sinclair didn’t refute the statement was all the answer Steve needed.

“How did your drug addiction start Steve?” Sinclair enquired.

“Why don’t you ask my father that question?” came the sharp retort.? “Get him in here, put him in this damn chair and ask him to explain it.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

?“Because it’s my father,” Steve glared contemptuously at the mirror,? “who’s responsible for my becoming an addict in the first place.”

And with that he retreated into obdurate silence, refusing to say another word.

?

THE DOCTOR’S LOUNGE - ONE HOUR LATER

?

??????????? “Traumatic memory loss,” Jesse announced, after Mark had finished his account of recent events.?? “It would account for the way Steve’s behaving.??? His mind has shut down, blocking out everything that happened at the beach house prior to you...”

??????????? “Administering that injection,” said Mark, his voice thick with anguish.?? “God!” He groaned, running a hand distractedly through his shock of thick, white hair.?? “How am I going to get him back Jesse?”

??????????? “Well in cases of this sort there’s usually a trigger; a word or action, sometimes even a piece of music that causes memory to be restored.??? We just have to find it,” Jesse replied.

??????????? Even as he uttered the words, the young doctor realised the enormity of the task they faced, because the trigger could be just about anything.?? It would, he realised, as he refilled their mugs, be like looking for a needle in a haystack and from the look in Mark’s eyes he knew the older man was thinking the same thing.?? Nonetheless he had to offer something, give his friend and colleague some small ray of hope.

??????????? “I’m sure that, once Steve is completely free from the drug and he’s back to full fitness, everything will slot right back into place,” he soothed.

?

*****

?

??????????? But it didn’t.???? Despite the ministrations of David Sinclair and his team, despite Jesse and Amanda’s combined efforts, Steve remained obdurately convinced that his father was responsible for his addiction and ensuing incarceration in the drug dependency unit.?? While he accepted Sweeney and Trainor’s role in the events that had followed, their part was as nothing compared to the blame he attributed to his father who had, in his eyes, set him on the path to ruination.

??????????? While he tolerated - barely - visits from Jesse and Amanda, Steve remained adamant that he neither wanted to see - or talk to - his father.?? On the occasions Mark had attempted to visit, Steve had made his displeasure only too apparent.?? Not that he ever verbalised his annoyance; he had no need to; his wintry expression and ice-cold eyes, said more than words ever could.???

?

90 DAYS’ LATER

?

“Well, Steve, you’re getting out of here today.?? How do you feel about that?”? Sinclair enquired.

“Fine.”?? Came the terse reply.

?“Not, happy??? Relieved??? Ecstatic?” Sinclair persisted.

“Fine,” Steve obdurately repeated.

At which point Sinclair finally admitted defeat.???? There was, he realised, with a heavy sense of regret, simply no reaching the taciturn detective.??? And, while Steve was free of his addiction and ready to pick up the traces of his everyday life, his mind, his memories, remained closed - possibly forever - to the truth of what had really happened.

“So, Sloan, you and I are finally getting out of this joint.”?? Frank Jerkowski flashed an arrogant smile at Sinclair before slapping Steve companionably on the back.

As he watched the two men leave the unit, the heavy metal security gate clanging shut behind them, David fervently hoped that, insofar as Jerkowski was concerned, he’d made the right decision in recommending that the rogue cop deserved a second chance.

“See you around Lieutenant.??? Sooner than you might think,” Jerkowski added under his breath as Steve turned and began heading down the corridor, at the end of which, he espied Jesse and his father.

“I’ve got nothing to say to you; to either of you,” he snarled, before halting in his tracks as he realised that he did in fact require help.

“Jess,” he barked, at which authoritative tone the young doctor flinched, “I need a lift to the beach house to pick up a few things.”

“Well … I … That is…”

Jesse darted a nervous glance in Mark’s direction, immensely relieved when the older man nodded imperceptibly.

“Sure,” he said as brightly as he was able.

“Good.?? Follow me.”

Which command Jesse instantly obeyed, scurrying off after Steve’s rapidly retreating form.

?

9 AM THE FOLLOWING MORNING – THE PRECINCT

?

“Tanis, where’s the file on the Jones homicide?” Steve queried as he rooted through the huge backlog of files on his desk.? “I can’t seem to find it.”

“Well that’s hardly surprising,” came the drawled response from the cool blonde, “Jones’ homicide was assigned to Detective Martinez.?? Oh, come on Sloan,” she scoffed, noting her partner’s incredulous expression, “it’s not like we could wait for you to…. Finish your treatment.?? The case was re-assigned and, thanks to your father, Jones was convicted, end of story,” she announced, turning back to her desk.

“But I put in weeks, months of work on that case,” Steve protested, reaching up to rub the side of his head.?? He’d only been back behind his desk for an hour and he already had the beginnings of a sick headache.?? As he slowly massaged his temple, Trainor’s words:? “He’s totally undermined your credibility as a police officer,” came back to haunt him.

? ????????? “Shit,” he expostulated, reaching out and sweeping the files from his desk in one angry movement.??? The ensuing paper avalanche caused the entire office to fall silent, their gaze – as one – falling on the irate detective.

“What the HELL are you all staring at,” Steve angrily demanded.?? “Why don’t you just…?”

??????????? “That’s enough,” came the clipped tone of Captain Newman who stood regarding his truculent officer from the doorway of his office.?? “A word if you please Lieutenant,” he said in a voice that brooked no argument.

“Have as many as you like,” came the terse reply.?? “Just don’t expect me to listen to them,” he added rebelliously as he snatched up his jacket and headed for the door.

“Wh.…?”? For a moment Newman could hardly believe his ears.?? That Sloan, one of his best and most trusted officers had openly defied an order was bad – was unbelievable - enough; that he was now walking out without a backward glance was totally inconceivable.?? For a moment Newman was lost for words and then he regained his faculties, as well as his voice.

“LIEUTENANT,” he bawled in a tone that had struck terror in many an officer before now but which, to his surprise, appeared to have little effect on the obdurate detective who merely turned and withered him with a cold glare.

?

“I would SUGGEST,” Newman continued, trying his hardest to regain some modicum of control over the situation.?? “That if you wish to remain as a serving police officer with the LAPD then you come into my office right now.”

“You can SUGGEST all you like Captain,” came the sarcastic response.?? “But since I’m no longer a serving police officer,” Steve unholstered his gun, placing the weapon carefully on Tanis’ desk, before swiftly following suit with his badge, “Then you, all of you,” his angry gaze swept the room, “can go to hell!”

?

*****

?

??????????? Having burned his bridges insofar as his career was concerned, Steve headed back to the motel to consider his future plans and prospects.? Save for his business partnership with Jesse and his father, there was little to keep him in LA; if that were dissolved he could take the money and forge a new life elsewhere.

??????????? He was so engrossed in considering what his next step should be that he failed to notice that the red Subaru, which had pulled out behind him at the precinct car park, had followed him for the entirety of the journey, and now glided effortlessly to a halt beside his own vehicle.?? His mind was too full of what he needed to do next to set in motion the dissolution of his business partnership, to notice that the driver of the other vehicle had vacated the same.??? It was only as he opened the door to his motel room that he became aware of the man looming up behind him and by then it was too late.?? A sharp blow to the back of his head sent him tumbling sharply forwards where he landed heavily on his hands and knees.?? A swift kick to his side followed, causing a wave of agonising pain to radiate throughout his entire body.?

??????????? “Get up,” a harsh voice snarled; strong hands reaching down to grab him by the scruff of the collar and haul him to his feet where, through the tears of pain rolling down his face, he found himself staring into Frank Jerkowski’s maniacally grinning countenance.???

??????????? “There’s no-one here to step in and save you now Lieutenant,” whispered Jerkowski as he drove his fist into the dazed man’s abdomen, driving all the breath out of Steve’s body.?? The detective’s knees buckled and he sank to the floor where a further punch to his jaw rendered him insensible.?? He could only lay helpless, while Jerkowski set to work on him with a vengeance.

?

COMMUNITY GENERAL

?

??????????? “Jesse!”

??????????? At both the sound - and tone - of Mark’s voice, the young doctor whipped around to discover Mark bearing down on him rapidly, his face creased with worry.

??????????? “I just got a call from Captain Newman,” Mark breathlessly informed the anxious blond when he’d caught up with him.?? “Steve’s resigned.”

??????????? For once words deserted the normally verbose doctor.

??????????? “I have to go see him, talk to him,” Mark continued.? “I can’t - I won’t - let him throw his whole life away like this.?? You know where he’s staying Jess; I need the address.”

??????????? “I’ll do better than that,” Jesse said decisively.?? “I’ll show you.”

??????????? “I can’t...”

??????????? “Mark, Steve is your son but he’s also my friend; my best friend.?? So I’m coming with you okay?”

?

25 MINUTES LATER

?

??????????? When their loud knocking and impassioned pleas failed to elicit any response, the door to Steve’s motel room remaining obdurately closed, Jesse was on the verge of returning to the office to retrieve a spare set of keys.?? Mark, however, had other plans.?? With each moment that passed his anxiety grew and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Steve was in trouble and that every minute they spent pounding fruitlessly on the door, was precious time wasted.

??????????? Backing up a few paces he took a deep breath and then launched himself at the door, delivering a short, sharp kick to its centre, whereupon it sprang open instantly.?? With Jesse hot on his heels he entered the gloomy interior, where his eyes were immediately drawn to the prone figure of his son, sprawled unconscious on the floor.

?“I’ll call 911,” said Jesse, crossing swiftly over to use the phone on the bedside table while Mark knelt down beside his son and began to conduct a detailed examination.?? As his strong but gentle hands began slowly traversing Steve’s insentient figure, the detective moaned softly and his eyelids slowly fluttered open.?

Rough hands manhandled him, forcing him down on to a chair, whereupon he was swiftly restrained, arms and legs tightly – cruelly – bound.?? And then the beating had started, brutal fists pounding on his leashed and helpless body.

“Don’t!” He heard a voice – his father’s voice – cry out.??? “I’ll do whatever it is you want but please don’t hurt my son anymore.”??

??????????? “Whatever we want?” Trainor sounded like a cat that had just swallowed a whole barrel load of cream.

??????????? Despite his pain, his greying vision and his tenuous hold on consciousness, Steve was dimly aware that his father had just walked into a very subtle, very insidious trap.?? His mind screamed a warning his voice wasn’t able to emit.??????????

And then he’d felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed firmly against his left temple and he shut down, waiting for the bullet that would end his life, only hoping – praying – for some miracle that would save his father.

The sharp prick of the needle surprised – shocked – him, so sure was he that the last sound he would ever hear would be the cock of the trigger swiftly followed by the loud report of the gun.?? Glancing up he locked eyes with his father, heard the whispered “I’m sorry,” before the drug coursing through his veins swept him up in its invidious embrace and he knew no more.

??????????? As the memory of that lost time returned to him with crystal clarity, a loud groan escaped Steve’s anguished lips; a sound that had nothing to do with the pain he felt in every fibre of his being but everything to do with the fact that his father had had no choice other than to do what he did.

“Dad,” he gasped, reaching out to his father with a trembling hand, a hand that was swiftly caught and seized in a warm, loving grasp.?? “I’m sorry.?? So very sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Mark soothed.

“No,” Steve protested, trying - and failing - to raise himself from the ground, an action which caused a lightning bolt of pain to lance through his chest, “it’s not.??? I remember what happened now.? It wasn’t your fault; none of it was your fault.”?? His cerulean eyes filled with tears as he recalled the brutal way in which he had both behaved, and spoken, to his father.

??????????? “We can talk about it later,” said Mark, his concerned gaze taking in his son’s ashen pallor.?? That, coupled with the way in which Steve was struggling to breathe, confirmed his suspicion that, among the numerous other injuries he’d sustained, Steve had also suffered a traumatic pneumothorax; one of his ribs damaged during the assault having punctured a lung.

??????????? His son’s next words only served to confirm Mark’s diagnosis.

??????????? “Chest... hurts,” he muttered.?? “Can’t... breathe very well.”

“Try and stay calm,” Mark advised.??? “And take small shallow breaths.?? That will help.?? No more talking young man,” he warned as Steve once again started to stutter out an apology.?? We’ll have plenty of time to discuss everything when you’re well.”

?

LATE EVENING - COMMUNITY GENERAL

?

“Hey big guy - how are you feeling?” Jesse enquired as he bounced into Steve’s room where he discovered father and son sitting together in companionable silence.

“Sore,” came the grumbled response.???? “What did you operate on me with Jesse, a knife and fork?”???

“Oh, well that’s nice I must say,” Jesse feigned a hurt look.? “I save your life; drag you back from the jaws of death...”

“I was never at the jaws of death Travis” Steve scoffed.

“No, because I snatched you back from them,” came the swift retort from the irrepressible blond.??? “These very hands,” he held up the same for inspection, “saved your life.”

The young doctor ducked just in time to avoid the pillow that Steve hurled at him; an action the detective swiftly regretted as his body exploded with pain.

“When you boys have QUITE finished,” Mark said archly, retrieving the pillow and settling Steve back on it.

??????????? “Sorry,” they mumbled in unison, suitably abashed at the gentle reprimand.

??????????? “So is there any news yet on Jerkowski?” Jesse queried.

??????????? “Not yet,” Steve replied.?? “But it’s only a matter of time before he’s picked up.?? Speaking of time,” he looked from his father, to Jesse and then back again.?? “When can I get out of here?”

??????????? “Not for another couple of days at least,” said Mark, ignoring his son’s anguished groan.?? “And then you’ll need complete rest for at least two weeks before you return to work.”

??????????? “But I...”

??????????? “Captain Newman was very understanding considering the fact that you told both him and your other colleagues to go to hell.?? Of course you’ll have to apologise to each and every one of them, that goes without saying,” he added, his blue eyes twinkling with amusement.

??????????? “There’s someone else I need to apologise to as well,” Steve admitted.?? “And for that I’m going to need your help dad.”

??????????? “Of course,” Mark readily agreed, although he was slightly puzzled as to whom Steve was referring.

??????????? “The storeowner,” Steve elucidated.?? “I’d like to go see him and explain what happened; why it happened, and also to repay him.?? But I can’t just march in there on my own, dad.?? He’ll assume I’ve come back to rob him all over again.?? So I thought that maybe you could go in ahead of me and...”

??????????? “Ensure that your presence won’t come as a shock??? I’d be happy to,” Mark beamed his approval.

??????????? “Thanks dad.?? And now,” Steve yawned loudly, “I think I’ll...”

??????????? He didn’t even finish the sentence before he fell soundly asleep.

??????????? “He’ll be fine,” Jesse whispered as he crept towards the door.

??????????? “Yes he will - we both will,” Mark reiterated, gazing fondly at his son’s slumbering form, reflecting as he did so on the fact that Trainor and Sweeney had failed - as they or anyone else would always fail to turn the two men against one another - because the bond between father and son was one that would never - and could never - be broken.

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The End
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