Summary

Nick was told that Diaz killed his mom, brother, and caused his premature birth. Nick spent his childhood bouncing around the foster care system, being constantly abused by addicts. As a detective, Nick tries to take him down but loses his job, his partner in the process. More determined than ever, Nick decides to take down the crime ring that made him lose it all.

Nick won the drug lord, Diaz's trust, killing ten addicts. He hopes to get rid of more when he's stopped by the police, with drugs in his car. He squirms out of that but finds himself facing armed, gorilla-like men. After a long struggle, he kills them with his deadly pen.

With his phone MIA, Nick fears his crime spree has been discovered. He ends up stranded in the middle of nowhere trying to cover his tracks.

His cop buddies give him a lift into town. Nick discovers his plan isn't compromised like he thought. He thinks everything is a go when he realizes Diaz sent his men to kill him. He and his friend Steve try to escape from Diaz's retched manhunt. 

Joe struggles with his feelings for Rachel finally telling her the truth. Receiving some evidence on Diaz, they obtain a warrant to search his home and business.

 Rachel has an unexpected visitor in her hospital room.

***

Joe hears sirens wailing from all directions as he opens his eyes. What just happened? He tries to recall the chain of events that engendered him unconscious as he pulls himself up.

He looks up to find the house is completely engulfed in flames. He then notices several of his men coughing as they stagger across the lawn. I've got to help them. He tries to climb to his feet; halfway up, he falls back down. He starts to attempt it a second time when he sees Jerry motionless a few feet away.

"Jerry, Jerry, come on pal, you need to get up. I really could use your help." Joe anxiously glances at the grave situation ahead. "Come on, Jerry, the guys are counting on you." The detective still doesn't budge. Panicking, Joe crawls towards him. He places both hands firmly on Jerry's shoulders and shakes him. "Come on, bud, you need to get up." The sergeant's chest slowly rises and fall. Joe starts to joggle him again when he notices a large puddle of blood pooling under his head. I have to stop the bleeding. Joe takes a hanky from his shirt pocket and applies pressure to his wound. "Stay with me, Jerry, help should be here soon." Joe gazes towards the road and then back to his friend.

Slowly opening his eyes, Jerry glances towards Joe. "What happened, boss?"

"We were thrown from a burning building."

"Is everyone alright?" Jerry tries to sit up, Joe pushes him back down.

"No, no, you need to stay put until the paramedics get here." Joe watches them pull up to the house.

"But..."

"Stay where you're at and that's an order." Seeing the EMTs walking across the yard, Joe flags them down. "Hey, over here." The paramedics run to their side. "The sergeant has a large gash on the side of his head and he was unresponsive when I found him but he seems to be alright now."

"We'll take over from here, Captain, thanks."

A second paramedic walks towards them. There are over a dozen officers out here and they all need some sort of medical assistance."

"We better let dispatch know."

***

After a long, exhausting argument, Diaz finally agreed to allow Julie to collect a few belongings.

"Only grab what you have to have and don't take too long about it, either," Diaz instructs.

"Grab only what I need. Doesn't he realize that all my stuff is valuable to me? Probably not. I think he'll be happy to know that I kept it to a bare minimum." Her back seat is crammed full floor to ceiling and the trunk is just as packed. "It wouldn't be fair to me to lose all my stuff because of his screw up; trusting Nick with the business secrets after we agreed not to."

She pictures the young lad in her mind. She then recalls all the times she had to explain the simplest things. "I just don't think Nick would do that to Diaz or anyone else for that matter. I certainly don't think he's smart enough to find the evidence he needs. 

Julie notices someone dash across the road a few feet ahead. "What the hell?" This person starts barreling towards her when she gets closer. Julie slams on her breaks, the car skids sideways as it comes to a complete stop. Angry, Julie rolls down her window. "What the hell are you thinking, running toward me like that? Do you want to get yourself killed?" She realizes who it is as he gets closer. "Nick?"

He looks up to see Julie glaring at him. She's probably after me too. Wouldn't she have hit me if she were? Maybe she's taking me back to Diaz, let him take care of me. He hears several engines racing down the road a few miles away. Enemy or not, she might be my only way out of this mess. He pulls the Glock from his pocket as he continues towards the car. Shoving his arm through the open window, Nick presses the piece against her head. "Move over, now."

"But, I..."

"Do as I say, and you won't get hurt; try something stupid and I'll kill you." She scoots over. He throws her car door open and climbs inside.

"I... I've never seen you act this way, Nick."

"Why is Diaz and his men trying to kill me, Julie? Huh, why?" he asks as he puts her car into gear.

"He thinks you turned him in."

"I didn't do that, Tony did. He's also the one responsible for killing all those customers." He notices the skeptical look on her face. "I have pictures to prove it." Pulling his phone from his pocket, he hands it over. 

She quickly scans the photos. "Have you shown these to Diaz yet?"

"I've been too busy trying to stay alive."

"I'll do it then." She presses a few buttons. "I knew you weren't responsible for this. I even told Diaz as much, but he'd much rather believe that moron. Tony than his partner." She sees a car pull in behind them. "We've got company, Nick."

He looks back to find Tony is right on their tail. He then notices police cars lined up on either side of the road and a line of vehicles stopped a few feet away. "He's just the beginning of our problems." Nick points to the roadblock ahead.

"What are we going to do, Nick?"

"There is only one thing we can do." He does a donut in the center of the road, Tony follows behind them. "That should get their attention." He glances back and sees flashing lights behind them. "Hold on." Nick presses the accelerator down further, Julie falls against the seat."

"I told you to hold on." He laughs.

***
Rachel continues to sleep peacefully in her room, unaware of the unwelcome visitor creeping towards her.

I'm going to make sure that you'll never hurt anyone again. She gently pulls Rachel's arm over and inserts the tip of her syringe inside the IV portal. This is for everyone whose lives you've destroyed. Smiling, she pushes down on the plunger.

Rachel wakes up to a burning sensation, running down her arm. She glances up to find the fugitive she's been hunting for weeks messing with her IV. Frightened, Rachel reaches up and pushes her away.

The invader stumbles across the room. "You're going to pay for what you did one way or another." Grabbing a knife from her pocket, she charges across the room.

***

Joe decides to check on Rachel while he's waiting for the doctor to finish Jerry's stitches. He hears a woman scream when he's halfway down the hall. He then sees several staff members run into Rachel's room. What's going on? Joe races towards the noise. He finds a nurse restrained to the bed with varying pieces of linen. The detective is beside her, explaining what had just occurred.

"I'm so glad you're here, Joe. This... This woman tried to kill me. First with poison and then with a knife." She hands them both over. She notices the concerned look on his face. "Don't worry, they're giving me an antidote to counteract her poison." She glances towards her nurse.

"That should do it, Rachel."

Joe shakes his head. "Trouble seems to find you no matter where you go."

***

Nick and Julie are speeding down the back-road trying to elude Tony and the cops.

"I hope you have a plan, Nick."

"Don't I always?" A cocky grin spreads across his face. He glances back to see Diaz and his men coming towards him. "I was hoping they hadn't given up yet." He pushes the pedal to the floor.

"What?"

Nick laughs. "This is an old trick I learned years ago." He races past them. Realizing who it is, Diaz turns his car around. Seeing his boss cross lanes, Tony tries to stop but he ends up crashing into the side of Diaz's car.

"That's how it's done." Nick laughs.

A Year Later

Julie is in front of her TV holding an infant in her arms. Anxiously waiting for the news. "This is what I've been waiting for." She turns up the volume.

"In national news, Diaz Ortega and Tony Rodriguez were found guilty on all counts. They will be serving their thirty-year sentence in Forest City Federal Corrections."

Julie clicks off her TV. "Maybe your daddy will come back now that this whole mess is over." She glances at the infant. "You look just like him, you know; you have his eyes, his smile, his hair. I just hope you don't have his love for adventure. Because two thrill-seekers is more than I can take. The baby laughs. "You have your daddy's sense of humor too." She hears a knock on her door. "Who could that be this late?" Putting the baby in his swing, she opens the door. She was shocked to see who it was. "Nick," she exclaims. Wrapping her arms around his neck she gives him a big kiss.

"I told you I'd come back."

"We all came back." A deep voice replies. A tall, brawny man steps out of the darkness. She immediately realizes that he's one of Diaz's goons"

"Aren't you going to ask us in, Julie?" He questions as he presses a gun against Nick's head.

*** 

Characters

Nick, ex-cop determined to take down Diaz and his crew

Jenkins, Smith Nick's cop buddies

Diaz, the drug lord, part of the cartel

Julie, Diaz's partner in crime.

Tony, Diaz's right-hand man

Tito Greco, Luigi's twin Bruno Greco's son. Bruno and Luigi were killed by the police in a hostage situation.

Anna, Tito Greco's mom

Mary a charge nurse

Berryville PD

Joe Bower, Captain

Jerry Andrews, Sergeant

Rachel Webb, Detective, the captain's girlfriend

Max Webb Rachel's father, the commissioner.

Jeff Montgomery, Detective.

Sharon, Medical Examiner

Kirk, Forensic tech