Dee Dee sat down on the couch in front of the TV with her pile of paperwork. It was Friday night but she really didn’t have anything better to do. Rick’s pile of paperwork was still sitting on the chair. She had told him she’d think about doing his too but only if she got around to it. She had also told him not to count on it. It was insulting the way he just assumed that she had nothing better to do, even if she didn’t. He of course had a date with one of his 5’8” willowy blond model types as usual. Where he found those women she’d never know but they were always following him around. He didn’t even seem to mind that they were usually mindless and so infatuated with themselves that they would never care about him. He almost seemed to want it that way. The more she thought about it the angrier she got. She wasn’t sitting here because she had to; she was sitting there because she chose to. She did not however choose to spend the whole evening working on Rick’s stupid reports. She pushed her own reports aside and got up. There was no reason that Hunter should have all the fun on the weekend.

            The midnight blue dress fit like a glove. She had been saving it for a special occasion but with her dating track record recently it didn’t look like there was going to be a great occasion. There was no sense in letting it go out of style, not on her cop’s salary. It was the perfect thing to wear anywhere. It was classy enough for an expensive restaurant, casual enough for a bar. Dee Dee had never worried about going out and being alone. She could walk into a bar and have all the company she could stand.

When she finished accessorizing she slid into her car and headed to Flannery’s, an upscale bar fairly close to her house. When McCall wasn’t on duty she didn’t frequent the same bars as the thugs that she and Hunter busted all day. Those guys didn’t take too kindly to having her around both day and night. It was a refreshing change of pace to be somewhere where everyone didn’t know that she was a cop. She could just be a regular person for a while. She didn’t even have to think about Hunter.

She slid into the parking spot lost in thoughts of rest, relaxation, and if she was lucky a little good company too. She didn’t even notice the big green clunker parked a few spaces away. If she had seen it she may have never gone inside.

The bar was dark but it was clean and quiet. It took a minute for Dee Dee’s eyes to adjust to the lighting. She took a seat at the bar and ordered a glass of wine. She could always take a cab home, it wouldn’t be the first time she had taken a cab home, Hunter had this special way of leaving her places with no transportation. Why did he always get the car? She shook her head slightly. When was she ever going to get that man out of her head? It wasn’t like they weren’t friends, they were, good friends even. He had always been there for her when she needed someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on. He had even killed for her. He was her partner though, her coworker. She had to stop thinking about him and live her life; the way she knew he was living his.

Hunter spotted Dee Dee when she walked in the door. Melody was talking about makeup and how her pores would close if…Hunter didn’t know and really didn’t care what she was talking about. He had already been talking on autopilot but when Dee Dee came in he turned into Neanderthal man and his half of the conversation had more grunts than words in it. His partner was absolutely gorgeous. He was surprised, he had been under the impression that she was going to watch MacGuyver reruns and eat popcorn while she was doing his reports. She’d been a little snappy at work today so he wasn’t sure whether he should go say hi or not. He didn’t want to look like he was spying on her, but he didn’t want to seem like he was ignoring her when she inevitably saw him. He wondered if she was waiting for someone.

Just then a man walked up to her and sat down beside her. Even Hunter had to admit that this was no ordinary man. He was well over six feet tall though not as tall as Hunter. Hunter could tell that his dark sport jacket hadn’t come from Sears either. This guy was suave. She turned and he could see her smile at him. Hunter was surprised at how much anger he felt toward this unknown man. He didn’t like it when Dee Dee went out with all those scumbag attorneys but that was because Hunter already knew they were scumbag attorneys. He didn’t know this guy. He could be great. Hunter had to admit that he looked pretty great. He watched as the man ordered her a drink and she took the margarita from the bartender. She hates margaritas, he thought to himself. I couldn’t get her to drink one. He turned back to Melody in a huff. She was still talking about make up usage. He didn’t appear to have missed much of the conversation.

Dee Dee smiled at Drew. He had potential. He bought her a drink. It was the worst drink she’d ever had but most men made the assumption that women liked margaritas. Hunter had made that assumption too. Dang it, she still couldn’t get Hunter out of her head. With a guy like this sitting next to her Hunter should be the farthest thing from her mind. She was determined to enjoy this evening with Drew and not think about Hunter for another second. She excused herself to use the restroom. Before she had gotten there she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around and there, towering over her, was the last person she expected to see tonight. Rick Hunter.

“Hey McCall,” he said casually. “What’cha doing?”

“I’m on a date Hunter. Why are you here? Are you following me to make sure I do your paperwork?” She tried to sound lighthearted but she knew that the rest of the night would be futile at this point. She was never going to get Hunter out of her head now so she might as well just go home. This is why she didn’t date.

He looked at her with that hurt little boy look she couldn’t resist. “You said you were staying home McCall. I’ll let you have fun too, but if you’re going to be there anyway…” He let the sentence trail off. He motioned to the bar with his head. “Who is that guy anyway?”

“None of your business Hunter.” She hoped against hope that he hadn’t seen Drew walk up and introduce himself to her.

“Well why don’t you guys come sit with us. There is plenty of room.” And I can’t take any more of this girl I’m with.

“Um, yeah sure. I’ll meet you over there in a few minutes.” McCall went into the bathroom. I give up, she thought. I can’t get away from him. I can’t stop thinking about him and then he shows up wherever I am. It must be fate.

Dee Dee explained to Drew that Rick was her partner and he and his girlfriend had a great table so they went over and sat down. Melody and Hunter had been sitting across from one another so Dee Dee naturally sat down next to her partner. The four had more fun together than either couple would have had alone but finally it was time to go. They walked outside to find that what had been a nice evening had turned into a torrential downpour. Dee Dee’s car wasn’t parked far away but the rain would have ruined her dress so Drew offered to get her car for her. She handed him her keys and he handed her his jacket. He unlocked the car and got in. Dee Dee watched her lights come on. She turned to say something to Hunter who was standing there waiting for the rain to taper off. Suddenly there was a brilliant explosion in front of them. Fifty foot flames and car debris was everywhere. The force of the explosion pushed Dee Dee back and she felt the windows of the bar shatter behind her. Hunter turned toward her and pushed her to the ground, shielding her body from the flying debris. Dee Dee was too numb to think. The only thing that registered in her mind was how good Rick Hunter smelled.

After what felt like an eternity of having flaming car parts falling on them in the rain everything became quiet. There was only the crackle of the fire and the occasional clap of thunder in the background. Dee Dee pushed on Hunter, signaling him to get off of her but he didn’t move. McCall’s heart stopped. If he was hurt trying to protect her she didn’t know what she’d do. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud groan from Rick. He gingerly rolled off her onto his back. She sat up and looked down. “Well, that’s the end of this dress,” she said dryly. Then she looked at Hunter. He was still lying there with his eyes closed and his face tight with pain. She leaned over him. “Hunter?” she said with concern in her voice.

“Help me up McCall, I’m alright.”

She did as he asked, struggling to pull him to his feet. She had to lend him her shoulder as he started to wobble. That was when she noticed that the back of his head was bleeding profusely. “Hunter, we need to get you to a doctor.”

“What?” He reached up and touched his head and pulled back bloody fingers. “Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll be fine.” By then they heard the wiling of approaching sirens.

Dee Dee decided it would be easier to let the paramedics deal with him than to try and force him to do something he didn’t want to do. She looked over at her car. There was very little left that made it recognizable as a car. She was still holding the sports jacket that Drew had handed her. He was dead. No one could have survived that blast. She barely even knew the guy and she had gotten him killed.

When the ambulance pulled up Hunter resigned himself to letting the paramedics dress his wound, but only because McCall had glared at him and said she wouldn’t work with him if he bled all over everything. He really didn’t feel that bad. Melody had only a few cuts and bruises to show for the bombing and he had called a cab and sent her home. He was back in detective mode, the peace of the evening forgotten. The paramedics released him with the warning that he might have a concussion and to take it easy, a caution that went in one ear and out the other. There were bad people out there and they didn’t take the night off because he had a headache. Someone had planted a bomb in McCall’s car and he was going to find out who it was. It occurred to him for the first time that if it hadn’t been raining he would have been investigating his partners murder instead of the murder of a stranger. Someone had tried to kill her. He had gotten her into a lot of dangerous situations before but usually people came after him, not her. He wasn’t sure what they were working on right now that could have gotten them in this much trouble. She turned from talking to some uniformed cops and looked his way. She smiled at them and walked over toward him.

“Hey Hunter, how’s the head?”

“I’ll live McCall. Did you get any useful information out of them or were you just discussing the weather?” Hunter joked with her to reassure her that he was really all right.

“They didn’t know anything. We’re going to have to wait until tomorrow to get at the car.” McCall motioned with her head toward the firemen who were still working on the car. “It’s late and I just want to go home.”

Hunter noticed her shivering. It was chilly and she was wet, but it wasn’t cold enough for her to be shivering the way she was. “Hey, are you okay?” He looked at her with concern.

“I’m just a little shaken up Hunter, it’s not everyday that my car gets blown up, someone meant that for me you know.”

“I know. I’m staying at your place tonight.”

“I’ll be fine alone,” she said but she didn’t mean it.

“I know you’ll be fine, but those guys said I probably had a concussion and I should be woken up every couple of hours. Who better than you for the job.” Hunter knew that she didn’t want to be left alone but she would never admit to being scared. She was strong but she was also human and smaller than almost all the thugs out there. Physically she was no match for them without her gun. She wasn’t however, without her pride. She didn’t want to need him.

Her eyes softened. “Does it hurt?” She asked.

“Yeah,” he answered truthfully. Then in an uncharacteristic move for Hunter he said, “Come on McCall, let’s get out of here, we’re not going to learn anything tonight.” He could tell he needed to get her home before she lost it. She was still clutching the dead man’s jacket.

Hunter didn’t even think about touching his car. Whoever planted a bomb in Dee Dee’s car had access to his car too and his cars were dangerous enough without the threat of a bomb. They hitched a ride with one of the cops who happened to be going that way.

They went inside and Dee Dee turned on all the lights. Hunter sat down on the couch and closed his eyes. He waited until she wound down. He felt her sit beside him.

 “I didn’t even know his last name,” she said quietly. Hunter opened his eyes. He put his arm around her and squeezed gently as she continued to talk. “I wasn’t really out on a date with him, I just met him at the bar. He was so nice though, I didn’t expect him to offer to get the car, he just did it. It should have been me you know. That bomb was meant for me.”

“Dee Dee, it wasn’t your fault,” he said gently. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you tonight so don’t worry about anything.”

Her smile was faint. “Sometimes I’m not sure if I should kiss you or kill you. You drive me nuts, but you always know the right thing to say when I really need you.”

He looked at her and saw tears in the corners of her eyes. He knew she would have to feel the anguish that existed beneath the surface, but she was too drained at this point. “You’re tired. Why don’t you let me help you make up the couch then you can go to bed. I’ll be fine out here.”

“That’s silly Rick. We’re adults and we’ve slept in the same bed before. You look like you could use a good nights sleep and not the kind I know you get from scrunching up on this couch. Besides, that way I don’t have to come out here every two hours to wake you up.”

Dee Dee looked like this made complete sense and that it wasn’t out of character at all to ask her partner to sleep in her bed with her. So Hunter did the only thing he could. He accepted. He told himself over and over that this did not mean anything except that his partner was a very generous, loving woman who took pity on him when he couldn’t walk after sleeping on his couch. It certainly did not mean she was in love with him. He crawled into bed before her, making sure he stayed on his own side of the bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Dee Dee slipped into a sweatshirt and a pair of leggings to sleep in. She had invited Hunter into her bed and she wasn’t sure what she had been thinking. She just wasn’t able to think clearly right now. She couldn’t escape the responsibility that she had been the cause of another person’s death. She hadn’t done it deliberately, but this was still her fault. The other thing that would not leave her mind was the fact that it could have so easily been her that was dead right now. It was fluke that she was alive. She crawled into the bed next to Hunter who was already sleeping. She was glad he could sleep; she knew he’d had a hard evening as well. She climbed in next to him, her thoughts spinning out of control. She too fell asleep quickly. It was so late and she had been tired when they started leaving the bar.

Dee Dee dutifully woke up in two hours to check on Hunter. She had a great internal clock that hadn’t failed her yet. He groaned and tried to roll over but she was insistent. He had to sit up to assure her that he wasn’t suffering any ill effects from the bump on his head.

“McCall,” he groaned. “How many times have you told me I had a hard head? Then when I try to prove it you don’t believe me.” 

McCall rolled her eyes. “Go back to sleep Hunter.”

Hunter rolled over and fell asleep. It didn’t seem like he had slept very long when a strange strangling noise woke him up. He rolled over, suddenly wide-awake. Dee Dee was clawing at the covers, mumbling incoherently. In the faint light shining in the window from the moon he could also see tears flowing freely down her face. He grabbed her and held her tight, rocking her and whispering soothing phrases that didn’t mean anything. She slowly stilled and he knew she had freed herself from the nightmare. He didn’t let her go though. He held her in his arms and slowly she relaxed.

“Why did this happen?” She whispered softly.

“I don’t know.” There were very few words that needed to be said between them. There were only questions that neither had the answer to. He stroked her hair and she made no move to leave his arms. Neither of them wanted to be anywhere other than where they were right then.

When morning came they found themselves lying on the bed wrapped in each other’s arms. Neither of them remembered falling asleep. The situation was awkward for a moment while they untangled themselves. Dee Dee looked down at the covers. Hunter cupped her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. His eyes told her that everything was fine. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. For a moment electricity held their gaze. Too soon reality set in and they knew that they had to get up and solve the case of Dee Dee’s exploding car.

Hunter and Dee Dee walked into the office together. On Hunter’s desk was a report from the bomb squad that said his car was clean. “Would you look at this? Someone takes your car and doesn’t do anything to mine.”

“I told you Hunter, your car scares away even the bad guys. Did they find anything else?”

“Well they did find one interesting thing. Did you have flowers in your car? Or was Drew going to give you flowers?”

“That’s a strange question Hunter, you know he didn’t have flowers and why would I have flowers in my car?”

“Because they found part of a flower box from a florist. It was partially under the seat,” he said reading from the report. “And they were able to salvage it. It had roses in it. No note recovered.”

“Why would someone leave flowers and a bomb? I just don’t get this Hunter.”

“Who did you scorn this time Dee Dee?”

“No one,” she said absently as she sorted through the papers on her desk. She lifted an envelope gingerly. She reached for her mail opener without saying anything and Hunter watched her with interest. She paled and dropped into her chair without a word. Hunter went over and stood behind her. He put one hand on her shoulder and read the two lines on the page.

No one can protect you.

Next time pretty girl

There was obviously someone very deranged who was after his partner. He wanted to comfort her but he didn’t know how. The reality was that this was not a comfortable situation. “We’re going to find this guy McCall. I promise, we’ll find him.”

“It’s just too strange, I don’t know who it could be.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you down.”

Two weeks later Hunter was still sleeping on Dee Dee’s couch and being woken up at least once a night to wake Dee Dee from the nightmares that were becoming a habit. He looked at her over his first cup of coffee and noticed not for the first time how tired, thin, and pale she looked. She wasn’t eating and she was under far too much stress. Each day around eleven a note similar to the first one was delivered to her desk. She opened them herself sometimes. Other times she handed them to Hunter and without a word walked away, trying to collect her thoughts. There hadn’t been any more attempts on her life but twice when Rick went out to get the paper there was a flower box on the porch filled with dead roses. He had no choice but to tell her what he had found. She was quieter than usual. She ignored the opportunities to insult Rick and his car that she never would have before. Hunter was worried about her and had stepped up his investigation into the mysterious man but there were virtually no clues. He and Dee Dee had been through her list of possibles a dozen times and come up with nothing.

“Hunter,” she said suddenly. “I’m going home. I’m not doing you any good and I’m exhausted.”

Hunter was relieved that she was going home to rest though he would miss her company. “Take it easy. Make sure you lock your doors and I’ll be by after work. Do you want Chinese food?” he tried to entice her appetite with one of her favorite foods.

“That sounds great Hunter, thanks.”

Dee Dee got in her new car and drove home. She knew Hunter was worried about her but she couldn’t change the way she was feeling. Everything in her life that had been so secure now had a feeling of fear associated with it. She walked into the house and was distracted by all the things weighing on her mind or she would have noticed that everything seemed a little off in her house. She went over to the refrigerator and looked inside. How had Hunter been living in her house? There was literally nothing to eat here. She reached in and grabbed some leftover Mexican food. She didn’t remember eating it the first time but suddenly she felt hungry. She warmed it up in the microwave and sat down on the couch to eat. Fifteen minutes later she was doubled up on the couch in agony. She wasn’t sure what was wrong. Maybe the Mexican food had been bad, but she didn’t think so. This was worse than any food poisoning she had ever had, and when someone believes that the four food groups are canned, frozen, order in and take out she was fairly familiar with food poisoning. She lay down on the couch prepared to wait it out, at least until Hunter got home. She realized that she was getting extremely comfortable with the idea of Hunter being there. He was the only person in the world she felt completely safe with.

            Hunter, at long last, had a lead on Dee Dee’s case. It seemed that before they had become partners Dee Dee had taken down a hit man. Everything had gone by the books for a change and Rizzoli had stayed locked up for a long time. Now he was out on parole but his parole officer hadn’t heard from him in weeks. This guy sounded like a likely suspect. If Dee Dee remembered this guy maybe they could get a line on him. He reached for the telephone and started to dial her number but then he stopped. He called the Chinese place instead and ordered dumplings. He wanted to surprise her with the good news that something was finally happening.

He walked up to her door with the Chinese bags in hand and tried the knob out of habit. He assumed she had locked it but she hadn’t. A bolt of fear and adrenaline ran through him. He went inside. He found Dee Dee curled in a fetal ball on the couch gently rocking back and forth in pain. He was instantly glad he had come home early. He sat his things down and went over to her. It took her a minute to realize that he was really there and she wasn’t dreaming. She let him pull her into a sitting position and he wrapped his arm around her when she started shivering.

“Hunter,” she said weakly. “When did we eat Mexican?”

He scrunched his face in thought. “I don’t think we ever ate Mexican.”

“Well I cleaned out the refrigerator last weekend so where did it come from?”

Hunter got up and walked through the house. He found an open window. The windows had all been shut and locked this morning. He closed it absently. Surely someone wouldn’t be dumb enough to plant leftovers in Dee Dee’s refrigerator and think that they would get eaten. But then, he though to himself, they had gotten eaten. He picked the white Styrofoam box up out of the trash and looked inside. There on the inside of the lid where it wouldn’t be seen unless someone was looking for it there was black printing it said ‘This is only the beginning’ Hunter’s heart beat loudly in his chest. He understood that the crazy person who was after Dee Dee hadn’t been trying to kill her this time. If he had been trying he would have succeeded. Dee Dee’s house was compromised. She shouldn’t be left alone under any circumstances. Then and there Hunter made it his mission to not only catch the guy and make him pay for what he had done, but see to it that he didn’t hurt her anymore before they caught him. He walked back into the living room where Dee Dee still sat. “I know you’re not feeling so great right now honey, but I think this has turned into a game for this guy. He had no intention of killing you. Just getting your attention.”

“You mean this food was planted?”

Hunter nodded. “Yeah, I found the windows open.”

“So now what do we do?” Dee Dee looked childlike, frightened. She was used to being in danger, it came with the job, but she wasn’t used to being the target for something like this.

“Now you come to my house. You’re not safe here. Not even with me around. I would feel more comfortable if there was at least a chance that this guy didn’t know where to find you. Then we wait for this bug you’ve got to pass and we go find this guy okay?” Hunter sounded more together than he felt. He couldn’t even think of what he would have arrived to find if this guy hadn’t decided to play cat and mouse with his partner. Hunter threw a few things in a bag for Dee Dee and carried her out to his car.

All evening she lay on the couch with her head in his lap while he rubbed her back and told amusing police academy stories that she was too sick to listen to. She never asked him to stop though. The sound of his voice comforted her like a warm blanket. Hours after Hunter had first come home he felt her relax and knew that for the moment at least the pain had subsided enough for her to sleep. Loathe to move her but loathe to leave her where she wouldn’t be comfortable Hunter opted to carry her to his bed and hope he didn’t wake her. He was going to have to get up at some point anyway and she would be so much more comfortable under his covers than out here. By some miracle Hunter managed to get his sleeping partner tucked into bed without her so much as stirring. He then crashed on the couch, almost as tired as she was.

In the morning he called both of them in sick and for once no one gave him the third degree. They all knew what was going on with the brass cupcake and no one took it lightly. He let Dee Dee sleep in. He was sitting on the deck looking at the ocean when she emerged.

“Hey, thanks for everything,” she said as he handed her a cup of coffee.”

“How are you feeling?”

“A lot better. As crazy as it sounds I slept better last night than I have for a while now.”

He looked at her with knowing eyes. “”You were too tired to dream.”

She nodded once and sat on the arm of his chair. “Hunter, what are we going to do now? I can’t hide out in your house forever.”

“You could if you really wanted to.” He smiled mischievously and it lightened the mood. “Look McCall, I’m going to find this guy and we’re going to put him away for a very long time. I’m not going to let him hurt you anymore. You aren’t going to leave my sight until we catch him.”

“You mean you’re not going to try and make me stay home, Hunter?”

“Like it ever works anyway. Hey, do you remember a hit man named Rizzoli?”

“Yeah, the name sounds familiar, why?”

“He’s a hit man you busted a while back, he’s out on parole and he hasn’t been heard from in a while. Think he could be a suspect?”

“I don’t know, he was out for blood, but he didn’t seem vengeful, he just did what they paid him to do. Could be though, you never know.”

After McCall decided she was going to live they headed out to the street. Hunter thought Dee Dee should wear one of her cute homeless woman disguises, but the dirty look he got at the suggestion was enough to kill the idea. They went down to the street to look for a source but they didn’t find anyone who had heard of Rizzoli. Suddenly Hunter realized that they were being followed, or more likely he surmised Dee Dee was being followed and he was along for the ride.  He didn’t look unusual, he was a nice normal looking guy, but everywhere they went there he was. Hunter tried to make casual conversation with his partner and at the same time maneuver them so that he was in front of them instead of behind them. He sent Dee Dee into a boutique without telling her what was going on. She looked at him funny but didn’t question him. Hunter grabbed the suspect once Dee Dee was out of sight. He wrestled the struggling man to the ground and cuffed him behind his back. “Why are you doing this to her?” Hunter screamed at him. He drug him to his feet.

Dee Dee stepped out of the shop, oblivious to the altercation that had taken place. “What’s going on here Hunter?” This man wasn’t Rizzoli, the man Hunter suspected, but someone else.

“I think this is the guy. He’s been following us all morning. Do you recognize him?”

Dee Dee looked at him blankly for a moment. Then the realization of who it was hit her. Hunter knew the minute it did. Her face changed in a way he had never seen before. She was obviously as scared as he had ever seen her. Her lip trembled and she was trying to fight back tears. Hunter wanted to go to her but he was holding onto a furious prisoner.

“Hey McCall,” he tried to speak casually to help diffuse her fear. “Why don’t you catch a cab back to the precinct. I can handle this.” She nodded and wordlessly turned away.

The prisoner, whose name Hunter still didn’t know sneered and called to her as she walked away. “This still isn’t over pretty girl. It won’t be over until you are.” Hunter saw Dee Dee shudder and roughly pulled the man back towards his car. He mirandized him, wanting to make sure there was no way he would get off on a technicality and shoved him into the back seat of his car. When he arrived at the precinct he hurried through booking even though the guy wouldn’t give his name. Hunter needed to find Dee Dee. She wasn’t at her desk and when he called she wasn’t at her house or his house. She still hadn’t gotten a chance to replace her car so he knew she hadn’t gone too far. He walked over to the park and found her sitting on the bench beside the chilli dog stand. Hunter sat down next to her and put his arm lightly around her. She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“So are you going to tell me what happened McCall?”

She closed her eyes and nodded. She didn’t want to see the concern in his eyes, it would only make her cry. “It was a long time ago. I had just joined the force when Steve pulled this guy, Joel Harding, over for speeding. Then he busted him for possession. It should have been routine but this guy was crazy. I went with Steve to the trial and Joel turned and saw me talking with Steve. He must have picked up on the fact that I was someone important to Steve. He started screaming threats at me and they had to drag him away. The last thing he said was that he was going to make Steve pay for this. He made it clear that he meant he was going to hurt Steve through me. About a month later they were transporting him to a different prison and there was an accident. The guards were killed and Harding escaped. They caught him in my house. Steve was working nights and I was home alone. I grabbed my gun and held him off until backup could get there but he said things that still make my blood run cold when I think about it. A few months later Steve was killed and I was so numb, I must have forgotten. I never even knew he was released from prison. I didn’t think to ask.”

Hunter pulled her closer to him and they sat there quietly. “Dee Dee, we’ll put him back in prison where he belongs.”

She nodded. “I just want this to be over with. I didn’t know it would still bother me this much after all these years.”

After three hours of questioning Hunter and McCall still didn’t have enough evidence to hold Harding. They were told to let him go and pick him up when they had more evidence. Hunter was furious and McCall was resigned to living in fear.

They walked out the door and towards Hunter’s car. “What do you want for dinner?” Hunter asked.

“Hunter? I’ve been thinking, you can just drop me off at my house on your way home.  I don’t want to put you in danger. This is my problem now, we know who it is and that he’s not going to go away until he gets what he wants. I don’t want anyone else to be hurt. There is already one person dead because of this whole thing.”

Hunter stopped and faced her. He grabbed her gently by the upper arms and leaned down until he was almost eye level with her. “I am not letting you become any more of a victim to this guy than you already are. He’s mad now and there’s no telling what he will do, that’s all the more reason why you shouldn’t be at your house and you shouldn’t be alone.”

“I don’t know if I can do this anymore Hunter. I’ve been shot and kidnapped, raped, beaten, and now all of this. Maybe I should just take a vacation and try to sort everything out. I can’t remember why I’m here any more.”

“Listen Dee Dee,” he paused contemplated his words carefully. “I don’t want to lose you. We’ve been partners and friends for a long time now.  You have been my best friend for so long that I have forgotten everyone else. Let me help you; don’t run from this. We can get through it together. Let me take care of you.”

She smiled, warmed at the thought of her hero, Rick Hunter, taking care of her. “Can we just forget about this tonight? I can’t think anymore.”

His smile was genuine. “Want to go dancing?”

The bar was crowded but the dance floor was big and Dee Dee found herself totally relaxed and enjoying the music. She was also enjoying the company of her partner. She understood why he always had so many women following him around. He was a complete gentleman. There were times at work when she wondered what it was about him that attracted so many women. She, of course, knew that beneath that suave yet sometimes crass was a gentle giant looking for someone to love him but she wasn’t always sure what the other women in his life were attracted to. There was a slow song playing and he put his arms around her. She felt warm and completely safe enveloped in his arms. He was so much taller than she was that talking was awkward so she simply buried her head in his chest and listened to the music. She didn’t want this night to end. She wanted to be with Hunter, not just at work but all the time. She couldn’t tell him that though. She had gotten so comfortable spending every night with him, even when they just sat on the couch and watched TV together she was content.

Hunter watched her sway with her eyes closed to the beat of the music and wondered what she was thinking. He thought she looked beautiful. If he didn’t already know he would never have been able to tell how much stress she had been under recently. He looked around him. It was a nice bar, not too close to either of their houses, not somewhere where someone would look for them. Just then as if his thought had conjured it up he saw the glint of a pistol in the dim light. Joel Harding stepped out from behind a waiter, pistol pointed at Dee Dee.

Dee Dee never saw anything, one minute she is lost in Hunter’s embrace the next minute she found herself on the ground. Hunter is standing above her with his pistol drawn screaming at someone she can’t see. Two shots were fired. Dee Dee felt a searing pain in her leg and across the room sees Joel Harding fall. He is looking straight at her and she could see the bullet hole through the center of his chest. He nods slightly at her and she can read his lips. He said “Now, it’s over.” Then he closed his eyes. Dee Dee stayed on the ground and tears welled up in her eyes from both the pain and relief that this ordeal was over at last.

Hunter walked over to him and touched his neck. Satisfied that he was really dead he turned back to McCall. He saw that she had been shot in the leg. He bent down on the ground and stroked her cheek. He couldn’t hear the sirens of the ambulance yet but he knew they were on the way. He could tell that Dee Dee was starting to fade out a bit and he took off his jacket and laid it across her. He took her hand in his. “It’s over now,” he said softly.

She nodded in response. “Thanks Rick. I owe you.”

“And you’re going to pay me back for all the stress I’ve been under.”

“The stress you’ve been under?” She said indignantly. “I think I’m the one who has been under all the stress.” The paramedics showed up then and transported McCall and Hunter, who insisted on going with her, to the hospital.

After the doctors insisted that she had only a flesh wound for the millionth time and that they only wanted to keep her overnight for observation Hunter went home, exhausted. When he got there, though he found that he couldn’t sleep. He had gotten used to having Dee Dee in the other room. He needed to have her there, close to him. That was when he knew the truth, the truth that he had been trying so hard to deny for so long. The situation had forced his hand though; he couldn’t live without her anymore. She made him whole. The time he spent without her he was simply in limbo, waiting to be with her again.

He managed to fall asleep from sheer exhaustion sometime around five in the morning. He was up again at six but visiting hours at the hospital didn’t start until ten. He went out to the beach and walked. The vacationers hadn’t arrived yet and the shells lying there were beautiful. They reminded him of Dee Dee. He idly picked them up and filled his pockets. When he got back home he put them in a glass jar.

Dee Dee was looking out the window when Rick got there. She didn’t see him hesitate at the door, carrying seashells, looking lost and unsure. He cleared his throat and she turned and smiled. He inhaled sharply; she was so beautiful, how could he have been so blind for so long? He walked over to her and presented her with the shells. “I thought you might like these,” he said softly.

She took them from him and looked at them with awe, “they’re beautiful, thank you.”

“They aren’t as beautiful as you are. Dee Dee last night I was thinking, I don’t want you to go back to your house and me to go back to mine. I don’t want things to go back to the way they were before all this. I like having you with me. I need you with me.” He said it all in a rush, afraid that he would back out and not say what he needed to say to her.

She patted the bed beside her and Hunter sat down. “You know,” she began. “They said I could go home today.” Hunter’s heart sank, she was going to ignore what he had just said and go on like nothing had happened. “And,” Dee Dee continued. “I was wondering where home was going to be. Because you see, Rick, I don’t want to be without you either. I don’t know when it happened but I am never as happy as when I am with you. I’m jealous when you’re with other people. I always thought it was because we were partners and I was protective because I could see the fatal flaw in whoever you were dating. I can’t kid myself though; it’s more than that. I don’t want you to be with anyone else because I want to be with you.” She reached out and took his hand. They sat there in silence for a moment before he leaned down and kissed her gently.

“You like the beach house don’t you?” He grinned.

Afterward: Rick and Dee Dee knew that they loved each other but they also knew that their friendship precluded a whirlwind romance, they took things slowly but moved in together a week after Dee Dee came home from the hospital. Neither one of them could stand their house without the other. Shortly thereafter they got married. Their wedding was like a fairy tale and they lived happily ever after

The End

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