Caller on the Line

Part 2

by: Savage

Who Loves ya baby!! Here is part 2 of our story. Love it or hate it,

Let us know what ya think.

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          Chris opened his eyes the next morning and starred at the ceiling. "Not again" he said in a horse groan. "That is the third night this week. This has got to stop Lorenzo." He sighed heavily as he ran his hands through his hair in mild frustration. He was just about to get up when he suddenly felt an arm encircle his waist. Chris immediately looked down and focused on the face of the person who was now resting quietly on his chest. His eyes widened as he realized who it was. A sudden wave of emotions over came him all at once as he remembered the events of the previous night.

     "Woah." Was the only word Chris could think of as he relived every moment of last night. He slowly slid out of his partners arms, sat up and swung his legs around the side of the bed. He looked around for a moment and couldn’t help but smile as he remembered how they ended up in his bedroom. Chris picked pair of old sweat pants up off the floor and slid into them as he stood up. He glanced at the clock on the night stand before he headed towards the stairs. It was 6:22 so they had a little more than an hour before they needed to get to the shop. Chris decided to make a pot of coffee before waking Rita up. As he waited for the water to boil he kept trying to thing of what to say to her when she woke up. Chris realized that this was going to change every thing---but for better of for worse was yet to be determined. Chris was so lost in thought he didn’t even notice that the coffee pot had started to whistle. After a few seconds he snapped out of his trance and removed the pot from the stove.

     Upstairs Rita was waking up. The moment she opened her eyes the memories of every thing that had happened the night before flooded her mind. She sat straight up in bed and wrapped the covers around her. She looked around the room and quickly concluded that Chris was down stairs.....she also remembered that her clothes were as well.

     "Oh God I can’t believe this." She groaned as she got out of bed. She pulled the sheets along with her as she tip-toed over to Chris’ closet. She picked out one of his white button-down shirts and put it on. She turned to the mirror on her left and quickly straightened her hair before she headed down stairs.

     "Morning." Chris said looking up from pouring the coffee.

     "Morning." She walked over and sat down across from him at the counter.

     "Coffee?"

     "Sure thanks." She took the mug and nervously began playing with it.

     Neither of them had a clue of what to say or do next. They both knew there was no way to tip-toe around the situation, but neither of them quite knew how to face it. After several seconds of tension filled silence, Rita finally decided the best way to handle this was to take the direct approach.

     "Look, Chris, about last night......we need to talk."

     "Yeah," He said with a blushing version of the Lorenzo smile, "we definitely need to talk." Chris decided to let her go first. He patiently waited while she once again fidgeted with her mug.

     "Sam," She looked up again. "what happened between us....was a mistake."

     "What!?" Chris was shocked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She thought it was ‘a mistake!’

     "Your kidding right?" he looked at her grinning in disbelief. Her eyes dropped and the smile quickly faded from his face.

     "Your not kidding. Sammy... h-how could you say that?!!" His voice grew more hostile as he continued. "I poured my heart out to you last night and you say it was a ‘mistake’!!"

     "Chris," She said getting a little annoyed with his irrational attitude " maybe this isn’t the best time to talk about this." She got off her stool and began to leave the kitchen. Chris ran around the counter and blocked her path.

     "Rita, this is the perfect time to discuss this." He stated sternly but then his voice grew softer. "How could you say it was a mistake Sammy?"

     "Chris," She began softly as she took his hand in hers "this just cant happen. It’s not us Sam." She released his hand and walked passed him. "There’s just too much at risk."

     "I know Rita but...." He turned to follow her.

     "Don’t Chris, ok." Rita knew she was hurting him, but she couldn’t take the chance of ruining every thing that they already had together "I’d better go." She picked up what she could find of her clothes and her car keys off the floor. She turned and walked passed him towards the door. He followed.

     "We can talk more about this later Ok?"

     "Sure, no problem Sam." Chris said, desperately trying to sound like he was really ‘Ok’ with everything.

     "Good. I’ll see ‘ya at the shop then."

     "Yeah see ‘ya." With a heavy sigh Chris closed the door behind her and trudged up the stairs to get ready for work.

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     When Chris walked through the double doors of the homicide division he immediately spotted his partner already at her desk. Her lap top was up and what ever was on the screen had her undivided attention. Chris quickly deduced that she obviously had some very interesting information on the case---hopefully about their mystery caller, Destiny.

     ‘Ok Lorenzo you can do this.’ Chris thought to him self as he approached her desk. ‘No problem.’

     "Hey, what ya lookin’ at?" He asked as he leaned over behind her to have a look.

     "What!" Rita quickly turned to see who was looking over her shoulder. " Oh! Geez Sam, you sacred me...." Her voice trailed off as their eyes met. Chris was about to respond but his voice froze in his throat. He unconsciously leaned forward a little, lessening the already small amount of space between them. Resisting her was proving to be a more difficult task than he had planned. Rita could feel his lips against her own even though they weren’t even touching. It took about every shred of self control she had just to keep from kissing him right there in front of every one.

     "Umm..." she began as she forced her self to turn back to the screen, "forensics ran some of the prints we picked up from Richard’s place and from the house on Ocean Port."

     "And what, we got a match?" Chris said as he forced himself to focus.

     "Yeah not only that, but, they ran ‘em through the national directory and check this out." Rita hit a few buttons on the key board. A second later an Arizona file appeared on the screen. Chris’ brow crinkled into a frown when he saw this.

     "Arizona?"

     "Yep." She hit another key and a portfolio came up. "I think we found our caller."

     "Laura VanBurren," Chris read from the screen. "arrested in Tucson for manslaughter..." Chris nodded his head as possible connections between the cases were made in his mind.

     "Yeah, and that’s not the weird part," Rita began

     "WHAT, what’s the weird part?" A demanding voice cut in. The two detectives turned around to see their captain approaching. "I heard forensics ran some prints, what did we come up with?"

     "Well," Rita began as she stood "we got a name, a face and a past to go with our mystery caller." Lipshitzs nodded and gestured for her to continue as he took a sip of his antacid.

     "This woman that calls herself Destiny, well, her real name is Laura VanBurren. She was arrested in Tucson, Arizona three years ago for vehicular manslaughter. She was released and the case never went to court on a technicality."

     "Well, who was killed?" Chris asked as he leaned against the desk.

     "A woman named Shelby Adams, she was the wife of Tom Adams. Three years ago, he had a popular state-wide, morning T.V. show."

     "What happened?" Harry asked looking over his glasses

     "The same thing we’re seeing here, Cap. A woman calling herself Destiny began calling into the show, two months later, Shelby Adams was hit and run over by a car."

     Lipshitz’s eyes widened when he heard this. "Were dealing with a first class lunatic here detectives," He began, his composure growing more and more serious as he continued. "I want this wrapped up quick. How do you two plan on handling this?"

     "I think we should definitely put a car out by the place on Ocean Park." Chris stated as he folded his arms in front of him.

     "Yeah, I’m gonna call Garrison as well and let him know what we have so far."

     "Good, Good I also think you two should get some print-outs of this VanBurren woman. Hand ‘em out around town and see what you can find."

     "Sure cap." "Yeah that sounds good."

     "Well---what are you waiting for!! We have a murderer to catch here!! MOVE IT!! GO!!"

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     About and hour and a half later, after reviewing the information they had on Laura VanBurren, and a few calls to the Tucson P.D., Chris and Rita were on their way to meet Richard and Steven. They had agreed to meet at a restaurant on Bayshore Ave., due to the fact that it was the most popular area in Palm Beach. They knew they would turn something up.

     The morning had been so busy that neither Chris nor Rita had any time to think about the conversation they had back at the loft. This came to Chris’ attention when they were walking through the parking garage.

     "I’ll drive Sam." He said simply as he jogged ahead of her to reach the car first. But instead of immediately opening the door he hesitated a moment and then turned to face her. "Uhh...we need to talk Rita."

     Before he had even finished speaking Rita saw right away where he was going with this. "Chris this isn’t the best time, Richard and Steven are waiting and..." She started to walk around the car but he took her by the arm to stop her.

     "No Rita!!" Chris stated firmly. "You can’t keep making excuses. We need to talk about this--now."

     Rita was truly surprised by his commanding tone. She glanced at his hand on her arm then back up at him. Chris caught ‘the look’ and quickly removed his hand and shoved it in his pocket.

     "Sammy," his voice was softer now. "I just don’t think last night was a mistake."

     "Chris...." She said, shaking her head.

     "No, let me finish." He took her hand and pulled her closer. "Last night, every thing I said... well, I meant all of it.....every word." Chris drew in a deep breath and held it as he waited for her to respond.

     "Chris I know you meant what you said but....I don’t think I was ready to hear it."

     Chris could almost feel his heart sink to the ground. "Why not Rita?" He almost choked on his words. He pulled her closer and forced her to look at him. Rita stared up into eyes that were quickly filling with tears, tears that she desperately wanted to kiss away, but her fears kept her from doing it.

     "Because I don’t want things to change--- I don’t want to lose my best friend." Her voice trembled a little.

     Chris couldn’t stand it a second longer. Holding her there in his arms, they were so close, and yet, it seemed as though she were a million miles away. He had to bring her back. He leaned forward a little and let is lips brush lightly against hers. Much to his surprise, she didn’t push him away. "You’re never gonna lose me Sam....never." He whispered gently. He ran his fingers through her hair before pulling her closer and kissing her fully.

     No matter how hard she tried Rita couldn’t resist him. It was like an uncontrollable force prevented her. She pushed him back a little, pinning him to the car as she deepened the kiss. A sudden rush of energy surged through Chris as he felt her body pressing against his own. He couldn’t stop his hands from wandering all over her. He desperately needed to satisfy the overwhelming desires that were raging out of control inside of him.

     They were lucky that the parking garage was empty, they had both become completely oblivious to the world around them. It wasn’t until Chris’ pager went off that they snapped back into reality. The Loud beeping quickly brought Rita back to her senses. She quickly pulled away, and nervously tried to fix her clothes and hair.

     "Umm, you should get that." She said, not really looking at him. Chris quickly removed the pager from his belt and hit the button to end the persistent beeps.

     "Damn it." he mumbled, half to himself and half out loud. "That was Richard. They’re waiting for us at the restaurant." Chris fumbled a little as he reattached the pager to his belt, then he looked back to her. "We should get going."

     "Ok, great." Her voice had a sort of nervous trill to it. She practicality ran around to the passenger side of the car. "Let’s go then.

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     About ten min. later the two detectives arrived at the street-side restaurant on Bayshore. Steven and Richard stood and waved them over when they saw them approaching.

     "Hey, thanks for meeting us." Rita said with a smile

     "It’s no trouble at all." Steven gleamed as he rushed around the table. "Believe me, we want to do every thing we can." He then pulled out a chair for Rita and watched her sit down.

     "We appreciate your cooperation Mr. Evens." Chris stated through gritted teeth. He had to force himself to sit down. Every muscle in his body was throbbing with and uncontrollable urge to beat the crap out of this guy.

     "So, I hear you got a possible suspect." Steven said, more to Rita than Chris.

     "Yeah. We came up with some very interesting information about a woman by the name of Laura VanBurren." With that Rita took out the print-outs and handed a stack to every one at the table. Strangely, Richard hadn’t said a single word the entire time. It wasn’t until Rita handed him the print-outs that he finally spoke.

     "Is this her?" His voice was low, quiet and solemn. "Is this the caller?"

     "Yeah we think so." Chris stated as he became more aware of Richard’s condition. The man really didn’t look good. "Umm, Are you sure you’re up to this Mr.Garrison. After last night I mean, It wouldn’t be a problem for Rita and I to...."

     "No, no." Richard said raising his hand "I’ll be ok, really."

     Chris nodded and decided to drop the issue. He and Rita then began to fill Richard and Steven in on the other evidence they had uncovered. After that, the four of them spent the rest of the morning handing out the flyers around the Bayshore area. Chris also checked out some of the local clubs in hopes of finding a lead. The whole "leg work" process was slow and tedious. It wasn’t until about 1:00 that they finished.

     "So is that it?" Steven asked as he approached Rita and Richard.

     "Yeah, at least for now."

     "Wait, you mean there is nothing more we can do?" Richard said with a hint of impending hysteria in his voice.

     "Richard," Rita said placing a consoling hand on his shoulder. "The best thing you can do now is to go home and try to get some rest." Steven nodded his head in agreement.

     "Yeah man, let me take ya home."

     "But....." Richard began to protest.

     "No buts....go." Rita stated in a firm but kind manner. Richard nodded his head as he realized resistance would only be futile.

     "I’ll meet you at the car Rich." Steven said as he watched Richard’s retreating figure. Then he turned back to Rita.

     "I really want to thank you for all your help."

     "It’s no problem Steven, really."

     "Umm...Once this is all wrapped up...uhhh..." He hesitated a moment, teetering back and forth from one foot to the other. "Maybe I could buy you dinner.....or something."

     Rita couldn’t help but be charmed by the boyish mannerism of the man in front of her. But no matter how charming or attractive he was, the thought of her partner was the only image in her mind. It was then she realized she could never be with any one else.

     "Steven, I’m flattered, really." She gently took his hand, as an attempt to let him down easy.

     "Then say yes." Steven stated simply as he pulled her closer.

     Chris had been watching this entire exchange from a distance. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but what he saw made his blood boil. He couldn’t bear it a moment longer, he quickly jogged-- no, sprinted towards the two. He came up behind them just as their conversation was ending.

     "That’s fine Rita." Steven said with a smile. "Look I’ll see ya later then, ok?"

     "Sure, bye Steven." With that Steven left and Rita turned around to find her partner standing right behind her.

     "Chris!" Rita said slightly startled "You know better than to sneak up on a cop." She gave him a playful shove, but Chris didn’t move. He was staring down at her in a mixture of anger and disbelief.

     "What?" Rita asked innocently as she walked passed him towards their parked car. Chris followed his anger growing slightly with each step.

     "What the hell was that!" He asked, still fuming.

     "What was what?" They stopped when they reached the car and she turned to face him.

     "That. Back there with you and Evens, I saw you two." Rita caught on and was a little surprised by his reaction.

     "Chris your being crazy." She said in attempt to shrug off the entire conversation.

     "Am I Rita?" Chris looked her dead in the eye and waited for her answer. He was dead serious but Rita couldn’t keep the smile from spreading across her face. It wasn’t long before she was laughing hysterically. Chris’ jaw dropped and a confused frown quickly overtook his brow.

     "Did I miss some thing here Sam?" Rita managed to stop laughing to answer his question.

     "That is so adorable Chris." She said smiling up at him.

     "Huhh?"

     "You’re jealous." She poked him in the stomach playfully.

     "Jealous!? Me? No way Rita." Chris was shaking his head and trying to avoid eye contact. He knew full well she was right.

     "Yes you are." She said simply as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. "You’re jealous." She whispered before reaching up and placing a soft lingering kiss on his lips. This took Chris completely by surprise. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. But then he gently pulled away.

     "Uhhh Sammy....." Chris began to say but he was silenced instantly when Rita placed a single finger over his mouth. She gently traced the out line of his top lip and then let her finger fall to rest on the bottom one. All the while using her other hand to guide him back down to her. She kissed him again, deeper than before.

     Chris couldn’t fight it any more. He gladly gave in to her unyielding seduction and let her have her way. There would be time for questions later. She ended the kiss (a little too soon in Chris’ opinion), stepped back and smiled at him. Chris didn’t know what to make of the situation so he decided to let her explain.

     "Chris," she began as she took both of his hands in hers. "You know this morning in the garage,"

     "Yeah." (How could he forget!!)

     "Ya know how I said I wasn’t ready to hear the things you told me last night?"

     "Yeah." There has a hint of pain in his voice.

     "Well, I’ve been thinking........and...." She took a deep breath. "I..ahh...I think I’m ready now." She smiled nervously as she waited for him to say something.

     A huge grin spread across Chris’ face as the words she had just spoken began to sink in. His heart started beating so fast and so suddenly he thought it was going to explode. He was gleaming from head to toe. "Really Sammy?...You’re sure about this right?" He spoke in a whisper as he pulled her closer.

     Rita managed a quiet "Yeah." Just before his mouth descended on hers. Rita’s hands went immediately to his shoulders as she felt his strong arms encircle her waist. It was like a fire of overwhelming desires was raging endlessly between them. Chris had to use ever bit of self control he had to pull his mouth from hers, and even still he was only able to manage an inch or two.

     "Umm, is there some place we can go?" Chris asked in a pleading, breathless whisper.

     "Chris!" Rita said as she attempted to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her go. "We gotta get back to work." She had to whisper the last words because it seemed as though her breath had been stolen from her when Chris began placing a stream of soft but burning kisses down her neck.

     "We can go back to the loft...or to your place." Chris suggested hoarsely between kisses.

     "Chris..." Rita said weakly in another attempt to resist him, but it was to no avail.

     "Do you know how crazy you make me." He groaned in to her neck before continuing his hot breathless kisses. His words sent chills up Rita’s spine. She wanted so desperately to give into him, but she couldn’t, at least not now.

     "Chris," She said as she pulled away, her voice was a little shaky but determined. "We have to go back to work." She took a step back and straightened her hair.

     "Work?" Chris hadn’t fully come to his senses yet. "Oh yeah....work." A look of disappointment shadowed over his face as he ran his hands through his hair.

     "Com’on Sam," Rita said as she walked around to her side of the car and opened the door. "There’ll be plenty of time for that later." she threw him a playful, yet very seductive smile.

     Chris eyes widened when he heard this. A mischievous smile spread across his lips as he imagined the possibilities.

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     When Chris and Rita arrived back at PBPD thy headed straight for their captain’s office. Chris had come up on a lead at one of the clubs he had checked out. The manager of a club called Night Life reported renting a spare room above the club to a woman calling herself Destiny. She was a perfect match with Laura VanBurren. Now the three were trying to figure out their next move.

     "Well one thing’s for sure," Harry began as he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "she’s not gonna stay there forever. She’s gonna move, soon."

     "Yeah we gotta do this quick." Chris said nodding his head "I say we go in tonight."

     Lipshitzs slid his glasses back on as he spoke "So what are you thinking, a stake out?"

     "A little more than that cap." Rita began "I say we get about three teams in the club tonight, Chris and I included."

     "Yeah that way we can cover every angle." Chris agreed.

     "Good. Good." Harry said standing. He walked around to the front of his desk and removed his glasses once again. "I’ll see how many people I can spare. In the mean time I want you two to work on a step by step procedure on this thing. I don’t want any mistakes tonight."

     "Ok Cap." "Sure thing." They said in unison

     "Alright get going, let me know when you’re done."

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     Several hours later, after making the necessary arrangements at the club, and bring Richard and Steven up to speed on the situation, Rita was waiting at her apartment for her partner. She had just finished feeding her fish when there was a knock at the door.

     "It’s open Sam!" she called out.

     A second later Chris burst through the door fumbling with a large stack of files, a bag Chinese food, and a six pack of sodas. Rita plopped down on the couch and watched him stumble his way over.

     "Thank’s for the help." Chris said with more than just a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He dropped the load on the coffee table.

     "Sure, no problem." Rita said in a slightly mocking tone. Chris rolled his eyes in defeat and sat down next to her.

     "So, did you get the club lay-out?" She asked as she turned her attention to the endless stack of files on the table in front of her.

     "Yep, it’s in there some where." Chris said focusing more on the bag of food than the paperwork. As Rita began to sort through the files, he proceeded to take out the small white cartons. "Let’s see, we got egg rolls, lo mein, cung pow chicken, rice and...." His voice trailed off when he noticed Rita was staring at him with a look of confusion and disbelief.

     "What!?" Chris asked innocently as he took a bite of an egg roll.

     "Ya know, you’ll never cease to amaze me." She shook her head and began to sort through the files again.

     "Why is that?" Chris said with a mouth full of food.

     "Well," She began as she turned back to face him again. "We’re going in for a major bust tonight. We only have a three hours to, finish all this paperwork, get our game plan together, and brief Cap and the other teams, and you’re scarfing down Chinese."

     "But I’m hungry." Chris said as he swallowed. At the same time he flashed her the most pathetic puppy dog look he could muster. Rita melted like butter. In all the years she had known him she was never able to resist that look. She leaned over and placed a soft, but extremely alluring kiss on his lips.

     "W-what was that for?" Chris sort of stuttered once she pulled away. Rita didn’t answer immediately, instead she moved closer to him. She stared for a moment into his deep blue eyes and watched them quickly darken with desire.

     "Nothing." She finally stated quietly, just before she brought her mouth back to his. Chris immediately pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. He realized that he was quickly developing an addiction to this woman. To her touch, her smell, her taste. There wasn’t a thing about her he couldn’t get enough of. He laid back on the couch and pulled her down on top of him, allowing himself to give in to his growing desires.

     Rita could feel her self slowly going over the edge. Chris’ hands were all over her and were sending shivers up and down her spine. Suddenly, the stack of files on the table didn’t seem that important. It was only out of the need for air that she was able to pull herself away from him. Chris let out a disappointed groan as she pulled away and sat back on his lap.

     "Sammy....." Chris whined as he threw her another sad puppy look. "I don’t wanna stop." He couldn’t keep himself from running his hands up and down her legs, that were now on either side of his lap.

     "Who said any thing about stopping." Her voice was so enticing it sent chills up Chris’ spine. His eyes widened as he watched her hands, which had been resting on his chest, come up to her own. Chris couldn’t keep his entire body from flinching as he watched her unfasten the first button of her blouse. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest as he saw her hands slowly fall to the next. An amused grin spread across Rita’s lips as she watch Chris’ reaction as she unbuttoned it. Ever muscle in his entire body was tensed and his eyes were fixed on her hand’s next destination. He swallowed hard as he watched her hands come to the third button, Chris was more than obliged to let her continue, but for some unexplainable reason, the thought of work suddenly popped into his mind.

     "Uhh Sammy." Chris croaked as her put his hands up over hers, stopping her from unfastening her third button. "You shouldn’t do that." Chris took in a deep breath, hating himself for what he was saying.

     "Why not?" Rita whispered. She was now finding it hard to control herself as well.

     "B-Because..... we have work to do." Chris made a half-heartedly attempt to get up, but much to his surprise Rita wouldn’t let him. She gently pushed him back down and had him pinned to the couch with her hands on his shoulders.

     "Are you sure about that Sam?" She whispered as she began to slowly run her hands down his chest to his stomach. Chris tried to answer but his voice froze in his throat as he felt her hands reach his belt. She unbuckled it slowly and then unfastened the button of his jeans in the same manner. Rita was trying her hardest to maintain control as she waited for some kind of answer from Chris.

     "Do you want to stop?" Her voice shook a little as she asked again. Chris couldn’t stop now even if he wanted to.

     "Don’t stop." He finally answered in a ragged whisper "I don’t think I can stop..." This was all the encouragement Rita needed, and with that, she slowly began to unzip his pants. Chris tilted his head back and closed his eyes as he felt the zipper come down. This was almost more than he could bear. He couldn’t prevent a deep moan from escaping his lips as he felt her body begin to press against his already heightened arousal. Chris couldn’t stand it a moment longer. He wanted, no, needed her right then and there. He reached up and gently pulled her back down, catching her mouth with his own as he did so. The moment their mouths collided everything else seemed to melt away. The paperwork, the case, everything was forgotten. They were in their own world. A world in which only the two of then existed.

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     A while later Chris and Rita were still on the couch, however their apparel had slightly altered. Chris was resting with his back against the arm rest, stripped of every thing but his boxers, and Rita was now wearing Chris’ shirt.

     "Hey where ya goin’?" Chris asked when she arose from her reclined position on top of him.

     "Chris, we really gotta get back to work." Rita said indicating the untouched files on the table. Chris groaned when he realized an entire hour had passed and they hadn’t even began on the paperwork.

     "Rita we’re never gonna get through all this." Chris said with a hopeless look on his face.

     "I know, I can’t believe we wasted a whole hour."

     Chris suddenly sat up when she said this. "Well I don’t think it was wasted. I actually consider it to be time well spent." He had a small pout on his face and his voice had sort of a hurt tone to it. Rita couldn’t help but smile. She leaned over and placed a tender kiss on his lips.

     "Do you know how much I love you?" She said as she playfully began to run her fingers through Chris’ already messy hair. Chris’ heart suddenly began beating a mile a minute as he realized this was the first time she had ever said that.

     "Sammy....." Chris’ voice was in a trembling whisper "I love you too." He took her hands in his. As Rita stared into his deep blue eyes she suddenly became aware of what had just transpired. Now, it was her heart that was racing.

     "Wow!" She turned away from him and took a deep breath. "I didn’t think it would be that simple." She looked back at Chris who was now grinning from ear to ear. "So that’s it?" She asked, smiling equally as large.

     "Yep, that’s it." He pulled her close and let his lips brush lightly against her before kissing her fully.

     "Chris....." Rita began as she pulled away and turned from him.

     "What is it?" He made an attempt to kiss her again but she avoided him.

     "You know if we keep this up we’re never gonna get any work done."

     Chris let out a heavy sigh "Yeah you’re right. We gotta get this plan for tonight worked out." He picked up his jeans off the floor and slid into them.

     "Ok, let’s see," Rita said as she found the lay-out of the club on the table. "The main entrance is here." She pointed to the paper as Chris sat down to have a look.

     "Ok, so I say we put team one there, as bouncers maybe."

     "That sounds good. We can have team two inside with the crowd, and that will leave us covering the back."

     "That covers all the entrances but what if she gets past us. Look," Chris pointed to the paper. "She’s got this whole ally open."

     Rita nodded as a solution quickly came to her. "We can put a black and white there. It’ll be too dark to notice, she’ll never see it until it’s too late. And as an added precaution I’ll take one end and you take the other."

     "Brilliant Sam." Chris leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

     "Why thank you Sam."

     "So how much time we got?" Rita glanced at her watch on the coffee table.

     "Less than an hour." She reached around behind her and grabbed her jeans. She slid into them as she stood up. She quickly changed out of Chris’ shirt and back into her own, five minutes later they were out the door.

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     It was exactly 9:52 when Chris looked at his watch. A cold breeze blew through the dark ally in which he stood. He pulled the zipper of his wind breaker up a little higher before stepping into the shadows.

     "Team one, is every thing set?" He spoke into a walke-talke

     "We’re good to go here Chris." The voice from the speaker answered.

     "Team two?" Chris asked into the machine. There was no answer. A frown quickly appeared on his face as he clicked the button again. "Team two do you read?" He stated once again, a little louder than before. Again, only silence. Chris shook his head and sighed in frustration.

     "Rita, are you picking up team two?" As he spoke he turned to look down the ally where she was positioned. After a second or two of silence he saw her figure appear in the pale blue street light, then he heard her voice:

     "Yeah Chris, I’m getting them."

     "Great." He stepped into the light as well and waved at her. She waved back and then returned to the concealment of the darkness. She wasn’t that far away from him, if wasn’t even 100 yards, but being separated from her gave Chris and uneasy feeling all the same.

     At the other end of the ally, Rita was feeling the same way. It made her nervous that she couldn’t have her partner in sight. The thought that they were able to communicate by voice was a little soothing to her, but not much. It had not yet been five minutes when Rita’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of foot steps.

     Suddenly becoming alert, Rita crouched further back into the shadows. "Chris, I think we got something." She said quietly into her radio.

     "Alright Sam. Team two come it." Chris also spoke in a hushed voice.

     "We read you Chris." The voice was barely audible.

     "We got something back here, get in position."

     "10-4." In hearing the response Chris began to quietly but swiftly creep his way down the ally.

     As the foot steps grew nearer Rita could definitely identify them as being that of a woman. She clipped her radio to her belt and drew her gun. She could now see the figure approaching. Chris could also see the woman coming closer. He ducked down into the shadows in the perfect position to cover Rita. He was less than ten yards away from her and had both of them in sight.

     Rita held her breath as the woman approached. Her heart pounded in her chest like a drum as the woman stopped walking, and for a second, stood directly in front of her. As the woman continued her path Rita let her get about three steps past before she sprung into action. Chris acted simultaneously.

     "Hold it!!" Rita shouted as she came up behind the woman.

     "Police!!" Chris lunged in front of their suspect, blocking her path.

     "Put your hands on the wall!!! Do it NOW!" Rita pushed the struggling woman against the building.

     "What in the Hell!!..." The woman shouted as she struggled to make an attempt to turn around. However she was quickly turned back by Chris who now had the barrel of his gun to her head.

     "Quiet!" he stated as he began to get out his cuffs. By that time team two had arrived and the woman was screaming frantically. Chris quickly snapped the cuffs on and spun her around, for the first time revealing her face clearly to the light. It was not Laura VanBurren.

     "What is this about!! I..I don’t understand!! Please!!!" The woman sobbed.

     "Oh man!" Chris groaned

     "I don’t believe this." one of the team two officers said with a sigh.

     "Ma’am, I’m sorry about this." Rita said as she removed the handcuffs. "We mistook you for somebody else." The woman was still sobbing hysterically.

     "I’m very sorry we frightened you like this." Chris said in a sincere attempt to calm her but his efforts were only futile. "Charley, could you take her to the car and let her calm down a bit." Chris sighed.

     The officer he was addressing nodded.

     "Ma’am how about you come with me..." He led the woman down the ally to the patrol car stationed at the other end.

     "This is great." Rita stated as she re-holstered her gun.

     "Yeah I thought we had her." Chris stated as he started to do the same when suddenly their conversation was interrupted.

     "LANCE!!! LORENZO!!!!" A desperate voice boomed fro Rita’s radio.

     "Lance here." Rita said into the speaker as she redrew her gun and clicked the safety off.

     "SHE’S INSIDE!!!" The voice was becoming more and more frantic "WILLIAMS IS DOWN!!" Chris, Rita and the third officer made a mad dash for the club’s entrance up the ally.

     "SHE GOT PAST US!! SHE SHOT WILLIAMS!!"

     "She’s headed up stairs!" Chris stated at they approached the door.

     "He’s bleeding pretty bad!!" The voice from the radio was trembling uncontrollably.

     "Trent stay with Williams OK!" Rita yelled into the speaker as they reached the door "We’ll go after Destiny!!"

     "I...I... think he’s...." The voice from the radio trailed off and Rita suddenly felt a cold chill come over her. It was like she was frozen, unable to move. Only a couple of seconds passed but when Rita came to her senses she realized that Chris had already gone inside. She quickly darted through the door and followed.

     Chris tore through the crowds of panic stricken people. He saw the stair way leading to the second floor ahead of him. He glanced back just as he reached the stairs and saw Rita and the other officer trying to make their way towards him through the thick mass of people.

     Chris took the stairs two at a time and quickly came to the door at the end of the short hallway. He didn’t hesitate to kick the door in and burst into the room with his gun drawn. At first glance the room appeared empty, but through the darkness the silhouettes of a few pieces of furniture could be seen. The only light was from the moon which shone through a single open window. Chris cautiously entered the room further. He couldn’t see any one but he suddenly got the sense that some one was there with him, behind him! Chris spun around just as he heard the wisping sound of a silenced pistol going off. Chris fired in the direction of the sound but was immediately knocked off his feet and into darkness. Rita had just reached the top of the stairs when she heard Chris’ gun go off. "Chris?!" She shouted as she and the other officer burst through the door. The officer behind Rita clicked and the light as they entered.

     "Oh God!!" he gasped

     "Chris!!" Rita flew to her partner’s side. Chris didn’t move. His eyes were closed and he lay perfectly still in a pool of blood. "Get the paramedics in here!!" Rita’s voice cracked in fear and hysteria. The officer nodded and bolted towards the stairs.

     "Don’t do this to me Christopher, please." Rita begged as she desperately searched for his pulse. She found a weak one and then listened for his breathing. "Can you hear me Chris? Come on wake up." Rita’s voice trembled as she urgently tried to get a response from Chris. There was none.

     "Chris hold on OK." She whispered as she began to gently stroke his face. "Please...." She tried to stop the tears that had now spilled over and were running down her face. "You can’t leave me Sam.....not now." She took his hand and interlaced their fingers "We haven’t had enough time..." She brought his limp hand up to her face as she spoke these last words. A second later the paramedics, wielding their equipment and white gurney burst through the door.

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HA HA!! You guys must hate us now!! Well too bad because your still gonna have to wait for Part 3!! Aren’t we just terrible!