Ryan climbed in the car, pulled out on the road and headed for Burly's apartment. Once there, he backed into a parking space that had a good view of the entire lot. Twenty minutes later, she pulled in. She drove the truck onto the grass and sidewalk, parking it at the base of the stairs.

She was running on pure adrenaline, taking the stairs as if she'd never been injured. Crime scene tape still covered the door to the apartment, causing her to stop for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she tried the key and pushed the door open. The air inside as frigid as out.

Burly adjusted the thermostat and went back to her bedroom. She searched through the closet, pushing clothes around until she found what eluded her. She pulled the bullet proof vest down and laid it on the bed. From there, she went to the dresser and grabbed a tank top from the drawer.

Her back to the open bedroom door, she stripped off her shirt. Clad only in her bra, she drew her gun and turned around. "You shouldn't sneak up on somebody like that, you'll get yourself shot."

Ryan opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. He raised his hands, surrendering.

Burly replaced the gun in the holster and continued to put the tank top on. She watched Ryan stand there, mouth open, staring. After tucking it in, she proceeded to put the bullet proof vest on, securing the Velcro fasteners. She grabbed her shirt from the bed, pulling it on over the vest.

Taking the gun from the holster, she pointed it at Ryan again.

"What are you doing?" His shocked look turned to fear looking down the barrel of her gun.

She pointed to the bed. "Sit down."

He took a few steps to the bed, sitting near the pillows.

"I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of me. I especially don't want you out there."

She took a step toward him, gun still in her hand but not pointed at him anymore. He leaned back.

"Detective, have you thought about what you're about to do?"

She nodded. "I have no other options right now. I don't want you to get hurt. I want to find Ruckus, alive. Just stay here, I'll be back."

He shook his head. "I'm coming with you."

"No, Ryan, you're not." She took another step toward him. Replacing the gun in the holster with one hand, she reached behind her back and quietly pulled the handcuffs out of her belt with the other. She leaned into him, kissing him. With her body, she pushed him against the headboard.

He raised his hand to her neck, she grabbed it and secured it in the cuffs to the headboard before he could react. She sat back, breaking the kiss.

He pulled on the cuffs, testing the strength of the wood and metal. "Take this off, now."

"I can't. I told you, I don't want you to get hurt. If you follow me, that's what will happen. You have to stay here. Please."

Ryan hung his head, defeated.

Burly grabbed her jacket, left the room but not the apartment. In the kitchen, she took out her cell phone. Opening it, she pushed her contact button and scrolled down the names until she stopped on Greg's. She took a deep breath and pushed the send key.

"I want to know if he's still alive, Greg."

She listened, hearing Greg say something she couldn't quite make out.

"I'm okay, Burl. A little shaken up, but fine."

"I heard a gunshot."

"It didn't hit anyone, I promise."

"Whose handprint was on the car?"

"This conversation is over, Detective Robertson."

"Wait, Greg. Don't hang up. We need to talk."

She waited, listening to him breathe on the other end of the line.

"Meet me at the fifty yard line, just like I asked you back in school."

She nodded to herself. "Okay, fifty yard line. I'm on my way. You can have me, but you have to let my partner go."

"We'll see when you get here."

She closed her phone and put it back in her pocket. Taking a look around her apartment, she nodded to herself then left, locking Ryan inside.

Without thinking, she ran down the stairs to the truck. Small drops of frozen water fell on her face before she climbed in the cab. "This is going to get messy."

She backed the truck onto the main parking lot, turned and pulled out on the road heading toward the high school. Looking down at what she wrote on her hand, she knew they didn't have to go anywhere. According to Verizon, Ruckus' phone was there.


Ryan sat on the bed, listening to Burly in the other room on the phone. She was going to a football field, but he didn't know where since he couldn't hear the whole conversation. He looked around the room. From his spot on the bed, there was not much he could reach. He could very easily pull the handcuffs through the wood on the headboard, but thought against it for the sake of his relationship.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone, quickly dialing the direct line to the police department. When someone answered, he spoke in a hurried tone, "Captain Ross, please. It's an emergency."

A moment later, his call transferred, he spoke to him. "She went to some football field, but I don't know where. I take it she hasn't called you."

"No, she hasn't called. Where are you now?"

Ryan took a deep breath. "She handcuffed me to her headboard, to keep me safe. Any idea if she keeps a spare cuff key around."

"I'll send an officer over to free you, just wait there."

'Like I can go anywhere,' he thought to himself. "Yes, sir. I'm in the bedroom, but I don't know if she locked the door."

He closed his phone. Waiting for any length of time was agonizing. His girlfriend was heading into certain danger, and there was nothing he could do to help. "Please be careful, detective."

Ryan leaned his head against the wall, trying to relax for a moment while he waited. He had let his own guard down and she had got the best of him. Some kind of soldier he was, letting a woman best him.

A knock on the door, then a shout. "Police, anyone in here?"

Sitting up, Ryan bellowed from the bedroom, "Back here. Try the door."

He could hear the doorknob rattle, then the door open. A uniformed officer entered the bedroom, stopping in the doorway.

"Go ahead and laugh, it's funny."

The officer walked over and pulled his keys out of his pocket. He reached over and unlocked the cuffs.

"Do you know where she went?"

Ryan nodded, "To a football field, but I don't know where. I'm new to this town, so I don't have a clue."

"Come on, I think I know where they went."

The two men quickly left the apartment, descended the stairs and practically ran to the patrol car.

"How long since she left? Is she still in the truck?" the officer asked as they backed out of the space.

"I don't know, maybe ten, fifteen minutes since she left. Yes, she's still in the truck."

The officer picked up his radio, pressed the button and put out a BOLO- be on the lookout, for Ruckus' truck. A moment later, another officer came across the radio, he had seen a truck heading toward the high school just a few minutes earlier.

"Tell them to head that way, but be quiet about it, I don't want to spook them. Everyone needs to come out of this alive."

Depressing the button on his radio, the officer relayed the instructions to his coworkers. They all agreed to back her up, but not to make a scene.


Burly parked the truck near the stadium entrance. She got out and carefully took in her surroundings. The place seemed deserted, not a car or person around. The raindrops were falling faster now, wetting her hair and freezing on all surfaces. She looked up at the sky, dark clouds loomed for as far as the eye could see.

"Better go and get this over with," she said aloud to herself as she started walking toward the field.

Inside the small football stadium, she saw Ruckus sitting in a chair on the fifty yard line. He was bound and gagged. Without thinking, she started toward him. He shook his head violently from one side to the other, tried to yell something to her that she could not hear or understand.

Beside him, she pulled the gag out of his mouth.

"Why did you come here, Burly? Now he's going to kill us both."

"No, he's not."

She started working on the restraints on his hands.

"Watch out, he's watching us," Ruckus whispered to her.

Without looking up, she asked him, "Where is he now?"

A strong arm snaked around her neck and placed her in a headlock, dragging her backward. She lost her footing after a step or two, dropping her whole weight onto his forearm. Instinctively, she reached up grabbing at him, trying to ease the pressure on her throat.

"You're not as smart as you think you are, lady detective. I know all your weaknesses and I am about to play off all of them. Starting with this one."

The two of them were about thirty feet behind Ruckus now, Greg's arm still around her throat and her hands pulling at him.

"Let me go!" she shouted.

She could see Ruckus struggle with his hands behind the chair. Rain fell, making the ropes harder to work with. He twisted in the chair, trying to see where they were going.

From behind his back with his free hand, Greg drew out a gun. He raised it in front of him, pointing.

"No, don't shoot him!"

Bang! The gun went off, pointed right at Ruckus. His body jolted at the impact, then slumped forward in the chair. Burly fought with Greg, clawing at his arm trying to free herself. He tightened the grip around her neck. Her air supply cutting off, she stopped struggling. She tapped his arm in submission.