Chapter 1
The two head detectives of the second precinct were running along docks in pursuit of their latest suspect, who had murdered three women as well as a security officer when he tried to protect the latest victim. Shraeger was in the lead, as Walsh had gotten stuck in the middle of a fight between a group of thugs, which the killer had caused as a diversion in hope of getting the detectives off his back. It didn't take Walsh long to get out from the middle, but as he did, he looked ahead of him and saw that his partner was in trouble.
Their killer had run out to the end of the dock as he searched frantically for an escape, but as he was doing so, he suddenly heard the click of a gun and the female detective shout out, "Freeze! It's over, Martini. You have nowhere else to run. Just give yourself up and we'll do everything we can to make sure you get your fair shake. Get down on your knees and raise your hands."
The man standing in front of the detective started to do as she asked as he smugly replied, "I'm not finished yet, detective."
It was then that he swiftly picked up a broken section of the wooden dock and swung it at her more than once, successfully knocking her gun from her hands and her down to the ground, then pulled her up against him as they both struggled against each other to gain possession of the gun. Just as the killer had gained the upper hand, leaving her down on the ground after striking her across the head with the weapon, he aimed it down at her and was about to fire, when all of a sudden, Walsh charged him from behind, which caused them both to fall into the freezing cold water beneath them.
"Walsh!" Casey cried out as she watched her partner crash into the river along with the man, who had nearly killed her only seconds before. "Walsh!"
Neither her partner or Martini came back up to the surface for what seemed like several minutes, when Casey thought she suddenly heard the muffled sounds of gunfire, though she couldn't be sure. Finally, her partner burst through the water and struggled to breathe as he slowly made his way back over to the dock, where Shraeger was holding her arm out, waiting to pull him back up. As she finally grabbed hold of him, she could feel him shivering wildly from the cold.
"My God, are you all right?" Casey stupidly asked as she struggled to help him climb up and out of the river, then noticed blood seeping out from a new wound in his arm. "I can't believe…"
Jason continued struggling as he interrupted, "I'm… fi… fine. Mart… ini's dead. I managed to… turn the gun... on him… as it went off."
Casey quickly began to rip open the sleeve of his jacket so that she could get a better look at his wound, then responded, "But not before you managed to get yourself shot first. What the hell were you thinking?"
"I wasn't exactly thinking… about anything when I charged him… and then hit the surface of the… freezing cold water," Walsh answered as he looked down at his arm, then over at Casey as she quickly wrapped a makeshift bandage around his arm until she could get him to the hospital. "It's what partners do. Surely you would have done the same for me."
"Maybe so, but just the same," she started to reply until she paused as she looked into his eyes, then away again quickly, not really sure if she could have done the same type of thing, as she never really saw herself as heroic like she saw her partner, a trait she truly admired in him. "You could have gotten yourself killed. Now you're shaking from the cold, there's a good chance you could be suffering from hypothermia or catch pneumonia, or worse."
Jason smiled and then after he finally got his shivering under control he responded, "I'm fine, Shraeger. Let's just get out of here and head to the station, or better yet, let's first stop by the diner, so that I can change into something dry before we head back."
Casey quickly stood in his way before he could take two more steps toward the street and then answered, "Absolutely not! You just got yourself shot and nearly drown in that cold, filthy river and you think I'm going to just let you go back to work as if nothing happened?"
"I told you, I'm fine," Walsh answered as he scowled at her.
"Maybe so, but you'll be better if you stop acting like a tough guy and let me take you where you can get checked out first," Casey replied sternly. "Or at least I'll feel better and that's really all I care about. Now, get moving. I'm driving."
After her partner got into the passenger's seat, Shraeger walked around to the driver's side and as she climbed in, she looked back over at Walsh as he stared out the window in silence and it was then that she suddenly realized something, she should have noticed months ago, ever since he had taken another bullet for her days after he had been kidnapped and nearly killed by Cole's brother, then left to die by the younger ex detective, Navan Granger, as everyone now knew. Casey realized then that he has been acting reckless ever since the betrayal, not caring if anything happened to him. Jason had been putting himself in harm's way almost every time they were forced to take down a dangerous criminal or suspect.
She started to bring it up, when her phone began to ring, then as she saw it was their boss, and she picked up saying, "Shraeger."
The man on the other end spoke up too as he asked, "Did you two manage to catch the scumbag, Shraeger?"
"Yes sir, Sergeant, we did," she responded as she quickly looked over at Walsh, who was watching her again while the call lasted. "We're going to need a diving team to search the river for the body. We didn't have much of a choice."
"Just so long as it's our suspect's body and not one of yours," the sergeant answered. "Good work you two, now get back here right away and explain to us what happened. I really look forward to hearing about it."
Before she could explain that she was going to take her partner to the hospital, their boss had hung up, then Walsh spoke up again as he said, "It looks like we're heading back to the station after all. You heard the man."
Shraeger glared at him and then replied, "Yes, I heard him. Don't think that you've gotten off that easy. We're going to the hospital as soon as we finish up at the station. When the sergeant gets one look at you, he'll say the exact same thing."
"Whatever, let's just get this over with," he responded. "By the way, are you all right? I mean, you were also almost killed before. Are you hurt at all?"
"I'm okay, really," she answered bashfully, as she couldn't help but blush when he shared his concern for her, then quickly looked away as she stared ahead. "Thanks to you."
