Unkindest Cut Part 2

Disclaimers/notes/warnings see part 1

"There's nothing here, guys." Serena sat back from the counter where the coffeemaker lay in pieces and shrugged. "You don't really think she did this, do you?"

"Yeah, I do." Jim's hands itched to grab the thing and do his own tests, but Simon would not let him touch it. There was no telling how Jim would react if he exposed to even the smallest trace of poison, Simon argued. Jim knew he was right, but that did not help his frustration level.

"What the hell is going on here?" Samantha Chambers demanded from the doorway. "Is that my new coffeemaker?"

"New coffeemaker?" Jim stepped around Simon to confront her. "Where's the old one?"

Her eyes flickered, and her heart rate sped up. She was guilty as sin. But sentinel senses were not admissible in court. She swallowed and put on an expression of indignation. "At the city dump, more than likely. I threw it out. It was broken."

"Really? Broken? Did it break before or after you poisoned Blair with it?" No sense beating around the bush, Jim figured. She knew they knew. It was written on her face. But what was also written there was that she knew they could not prove it.

"Have you lost your mind, Ellison? Why would I poison Blair? Do you really think he meant that much to me? Get serious. He was a good lay. That was about it."

Jim moved into her space and leaned down just enough to whisper in her ear. "I know you did it, lady. And I know why. What I don't know is why you didn't come after me. I was your competition, so you say. But that doesn't matter now. What matters is, I am going to take you down for this. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day, you will screw up. When you do, I'll be waiting."

"You'd better be careful, Ellison. That sounds like harassment to me." She grinned ferally.

"Jim." Simon stepped forward and pulled him away from her.

Jim returned her grin and moved past her and out of the door. Simon joined him outside the lab a moment later. He had no idea what Simon might have said to the bitch nor did he care. He meant what he had said. One day, she would go down.

"I want her background turned inside out and upside down," Jim told his captain.

"Do it."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

Five hours later, Jim gathered together some papers from his printer and headed into Simon's office. "Simon."

"This looks serious. Hit me with it." Simon folded his hands in front of him and waited.

"Our forensics chief spent three months in a psychiatric facility at the age of sixteen for attacking an ex-boyfriend with a baseball bat. The juvie record was sealed, of course, but I went in a back door, so to speak."

"How? Was it legal?"

"Completely. School records. Her high school transcript had a gap in it with a note attached to see transcript from the Charter Lake Youth Psychiatric Treatment Center. Since she attacked the guy at school, there was also a record in her file about the attack and her statement to the principal and school counselor about why she did it. I quote, 'He deserved it. I'd do it again.'"

"Holy shit."

"No kidding. That's one of the problems with sealing juvie records. As long as they stay clean as adults, you never find out what nutcases they really are. I also have a call into the Houston PD. She seemed a little too eager to come back here, don't you think? What if she got into something down there that set her off? I mean, she was mean as hell to Blair whenever she didn't get what she wanted, but trying to kill him didn't seem to be in her agenda until now. And they weren't even dating."

"Good idea. I tried to get a search warrant for her apartment, but was told we didn't have probable cause. But if we can get signed statements from Blair about their less-than-ideal relationship and what happened in Sam's lab. And that doctor—what was her name?"

"Dr. Myers."

"Right. A statement from her about the poison and the timeframe. Then there's what we know about the coffeemaker. Add all of that to this information," Simon gestured to the papers Jim still held in his hands, "maybe we can. That record shows a predisposition to violent behavior, after all. I'll try again."

"It won't turn up anything. Even if she had anything there, she's had plenty of time to get rid of it. Oh, one other thing, I found several local places that sell strychnine and asked them to search their records for her name. I doubt she'd make that kind of mistake, but it was worth a try."

"Nothing, huh?"

"Nothing."

"Damn. I did accomplish getting her suspended, by the way. With pay, unfortunately, and the Chief is giving us a week to turn up something before he rescinds the suspension and shuts us down."

"Then I better get back to work."

"No, you'd better go see Blair. I'll wait for Houston to call."

Jim checked his watch. "Shit, you're right. See you in the morning."

"See you later tonight. I'm coming by to see him. I didn't get to see him earlier, remember?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry about that. See you at the hospital then." Jim hurried out of the office. He hoped Blair was awake. He really wanted to talk to his friend.

Blair was awake. His throat still hurt, and he was exhausted, so Jim did all the talking. He told Blair what Sam had done and dried Blair's tears. Jim smoothed back tangled hair and whispered assurances that she would not get away with it. He kept whispering until Blair drifted off to sleep again. Then he put his head down on the edge of the bed and rested there, listening to Blair's improved breathing.

The nightmare was not over. The poison had done some damage to Blair's muscle tissue and lungs, but nothing that would not heal in time. Kidney failure was still possible, less so every day, but there nonetheless. The latest tests were encouraging, though. His liver readings were near normal, too. Sometimes it was so hard to believe that Blair was getting better. He had been at death's door for nearly a week. Jim offered up silent thanks to the god that he told Orenda he was not sure existed. Apparently, Jim decided, he did exist, and he had deemed a doubting sentinel worthy of a miracle. He thanked God again.

The next thing he was aware of was that someone was shaking him. He struggled to wake up enough to focus on Simon's face. He wiped his face with the back of his hand. "Yeah?" he whispered.

"Come outside. I don't want to wake Blair." Simon walked out, and Jim followed.

"What'd they say?"

Simon sighed. "That she was a suspect in the death of a police officer."

"What!" Jim exclaimed.

"There's more. Detective Allyn Shelton was poisoned. Strychnine. There were no clues and no leads. Shelton's lover said that Samantha had been stalking Shelton. That's how she became a suspect, but there was never enough evidence to arrest her. Of course, before Shelton's lover spoke up, Samantha was the one processing anything the investigating officers brought in."

"Lover? You keep saying 'lover.'"

"His partner. They had kept their relationship secret for a while for obvious reasons. His name's Miguel Luna. He's on his way here, by the way. I spoke to him. He said that Samantha was obsessed with Shelton, followed him around and that's how she found out about them. Luna says she went crazy, threatened to out them. They told her to go ahead. Three days later, Shelton was dead. Luna came out, admitted the relationship and pointed the finger at her. Lack of evidence closed the case, though from talking with Luna, I don't think they tried very hard down there. She got a reprimand for harassment and that was that. That's when she came back here."

"Why didn't we hear about any of this?" Jim could not believe what he was hearing.

"Because the department never called to check references. Hell, she had worked for us before, so no reason to check."

Jim shook his head. "Okay, we have an identical incident which she can be linked to. Now do we have a search warrant?"

"Yeah. But I'm afraid you're right about not finding anything. I have Brown and Rafe on their way over there with it though. The DA is considering the information we have, but it's not a case, Jim."

"God, Simon, everything we have is hearsay. I am scared to death she's going to walk. What do we do? I promised him," he pointed at the door of Blair's room, "that I would not let that bitch get away with this. We have to find something."

"I know. Can I go in and sit with him for a minute or two?"

"Oh, yeah, Simon. Please, go on in. It'll mean a lot to him to know you are here."

"Well, I'm not going to wake him to tell him I'm here. You'll have to tell him. I just want to see for myself that he's better."

"You really care about him, don't you, Simon?"

Simon smiled ruefully. "Yeah, in spite of myself, yeah, I do."

"I know how you feel, Simon. I've been there. I'm there now."

Jim woke up wondering fuzzily what had interfered with his sleep. Then Blair moaned, and Jim was wide awake. He stood up from the cot so quickly that he nearly toppled over onto the bed. Blair's back was bowed, like it had been with the seizures. But those were supposed to be over. His heart was pounding as he tried to determine what was happening. He hit the call button for the nurse and examined his guide. There were no twitches, no convulsions; only Blair's back seemed to be affected. "Blair? Are you with me?"

"Hurts," came the soft answer.

Okay, not a seizure. A muscle spasm then. Orenda had warned them both that this might happen. The exercises and massages would help, but there had never been a guarantee that this could be avoided. Jim gently turned Blair on his side and began a slow, hard massage.

The nurse called and Jim asked if his friend could have a muscle relaxant. She said she would call Orenda. Orenda might say no, considering the problems with Blair's liver. It was better, near normal, which might be more of a reason not to give him any more drugs than absolutely necessary rather than a reason to give him the drugs. It was up to Orenda. Jim would not argue with her. She knew best.

He continued his massage. Blair was quiet, except for an occasional sob or moan of pain. His face was sweaty and pinched. Jim bit his lip. He wanted to dry Blair's face, soothe the creases away, but he could not stop the massage. The massage would do more to help anyway. It was just hard to see Blair in pain.

The nurse appeared in the doorway and went straight to the IV port. "Dr. Milap said he could have something. It's not much, but it's better than nothing." She inserted the needle into the port.

There was a noticeable difference almost immediately. The drug did not alleviate the spasm entirely, but Jim could feel the muscles under his hands release just a little. He kept up the massage until Blair sighed softly and relaxed completely under his hands. Jim smiled as he realized that Blair was asleep. His guide's face was now smooth, pain-free.

"You're good at that massage," the nurse whispered softly. "You're good with him." She moved past Jim, one hand caressing Jim's shoulder in a kindly gesture.

"Thanks."

"Good night, Detective Ellison." She closed the door behind herself, and Jim settled back down on his cot.

Miguel Luna exited the elevator onto the third floor of Cascade Memorial Hospital. He had come straight here rather than going to the police precinct. He wanted to see Samantha Chambers' second victim, hopefully her last. He wandered down the hall toward the nurses' station.

"Excuse me," he said softly to a very small woman in a lab coat.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Blair Sandburg."

"I'm sorry, but Blair's visitation is restricted."

"Is Detective Ellison here then?"

"Yes, I believe he is. I'll ask him to see you. Give me your name?"

"Detective Miguel Luna, Houston Police Department. Thank you."

She obviously knew who he was. He could see it in her expression. "I'll be right back." She hurried away and disappeared through the door of room 347. Moments later, she reappeared followed by a stern looking man with icy blue eyes. He strode swiftly to Miguel and offered his hand.

"Detective Luna, I'm Jim Ellison."

"I would say it was nice to meet you, Ellison, but the truth is, it's not. For either of us, eh?" Miguel shook his hand.

"No, you're right about that. Let's go down to the cafeteria and talk. Blair's asleep right now."

"Okay."

Ellison motioned toward the elevator, and Miguel took the lead.

Jim examined Miguel Luna. The man sipped his coffee and then met Jim's eyes. "I assume you know about Allyn and me?"

"Some. I know you were partners," Jim paused, "in more than one way."

"Yes. I realize that's hard for some people to understand—"

"Detective Luna, you don't owe me an explanation." Jim sat back in his chair, still resting his hands on the table in front of him.

"Call me Miguel, please."

"Miguel then. Look, I'm not going to judge you or Allyn Shelton. You cared for each other, and as far as I'm concerned, that can never be wrong. However, I would like to hear what happened. Maybe there's something that your department did or didn't do that will help me."

Miguel Luna's eyes misted over, and Jim looked down at the table, uncomfortable with witnessing the emotion. "Thank you. I appreciate your words. All right." Luna composed himself with a shuddering breath and a twist of his neck. "Allyn and I had been partners on the force for three years before we realized how we felt about each other. He was comfortable with himself, you see. But I was not. Imagine my surprise when I realized I was in love with him. When we became life partners, we kept it a secret. One reason was the general attitude on the force toward homosexuality. Second reason was the policy that says partners can't be partners, so to speak."

He smiled softly before continuing. "I know I'm starting further back than what you wanted, but you are the first person I've spoken to besides the department shrink who didn't look away and remember something they had to do when I mentioned our relationship. At any rate, we had been together for a little over a year when Chambers became our forensics chief. Almost immediately, she began flirting with Allyn. He didn't want to be rude, but he didn't lead her on either. He told her over and over that he was in a relationship, but she kept coming around. Allyn was a very handsome man, after all. He finally had to get rude. She screamed at him and threw things at him in the bullpen. She was reprimanded then, and for a while, she left him alone. Or so we thought at the time. What we didn't know was that she had started following him."

"Were the two of you living together?"

"Yes, but everyone thought we were just roommates. Apparently, however, she decided just following him home wasn't enough. She admitted to us that she had been watching us through the windows. She told us she knew all about us and that she was going to out us at the station. Allyn and I talked it over and decided that we'd let her. We even joked about moving to San Francisco where no one would care that we were lovers. We knew that we'd have to go somewhere, though. We didn't want to be separated, and we could not do what she wanted either. She actually demanded that we break off our relationship. As if we would or could. The woman does not understand love, Detective Ellison."

"Jim. Please."

"Jim." Luna smiled at him again. "So, if we didn't end our relationship, she would out us. We told her to go right ahead. But she didn't right away, and we foolishly thought she was going to leave us alone. She even apologized. We thought it was over. Then suddenly Allyn was dead. I wasn't even there. I had gone to the dentist that day. Of all the places to be when my lover was dying on the floor of the bullpen."

The man's voice faltered and Jim closed his eyes. What must Luna's pain be like? Jim decided he never wanted to know.

"I'm sorry," Luna said when he was composed again.

"It's all right. I understand."

"Is he your lover?"

"No, my best friend. A little brother maybe. And I suppose that's not the same. Maybe I don't understand, but I know what I feel about Blair. That's almost more than I can stand, so—" Jim trailed off. What more could he say?

"Allyn was everything to me. My family disowned me, you see. It had been just Allyn and me for nearly two years. He slipped into a coma and never regained consciousness. I never got to say—I never got to hold him, tell him I loved him, say goodbye. They said there was enough strychnine in his system to kill four people. At first I was too stunned to do anything, think anything. My fellow detectives were handling the investigation because I couldn't function. They were coming up with nothing. Then I remember my captain asking me who might want to hurt Allyn.

"The doctors had decided that it could not have been accidental, and there was still coffee in his stomach. Coffee and strychnine, I should say. That was when I realized why she had not told anyone about us. She took her revenge another way. She killed him. He wouldn't leave me, and he wouldn't love her, so she killed him. I told my captain everything, but by that time, she had erased all traces of evidence."

"From what my captain said, you feel as though nobody tried very hard to find anything to link her to his death. He was a cop."

"He was a gay cop. It makes a difference. My captain supported me. A few friends believed me, but they didn't get the case. I'm sorry. I didn't help, did I?"

"Well, I don't know about that. We know she gave Blair coffee. That's a pattern. She was in Houston; Shelton was poisoned with strychnine in his coffee. She was in Cascade; Blair was poisoned with strychnine in his coffee. Maybe that with her juvenile record that shows a predisposition to violence toward people who reject her advances will get us somewhere. It's ammunition in an interrogation if nothing else. You know, Blair didn't have that much poison in his system. We got lucky that Blair isn't that fond of coffee, I suppose."

"You did. Allyn never had a chance. I'm glad Sandburg does. Perhaps with his testimony she won't get away this time."

"I don't know, Miguel. Maybe. Have you gone by the station?"

"No, I wanted to come here first."

"Well, let me go upstairs and see Blair for a minute, and I'll go in with you. Mind?"

"No, of course not. But, if I could—"

Jim smiled and got up from the table. "You want to see Blair?"

"If you don't mind. I will understand if you do."

"No, I don't mind. Blair would be madder than hell if I didn't let you see him."

They made the trip back up to the third floor in silence, Miguel probably deep in thought about Shelton, Jim thinking about how lucky he was that Blair was still alive. He looked at Miguel Luna and felt a tug deep in his chest. The man looked lost. But Jim still had his guide. Sympathy, happiness and guilt all swirled through Jim's mind.

As they quietly entered Blair's room, Luna stayed slightly behind Jim. Blair was still sleeping, but Jim wanted to tell him he was going. He touched Blair's shoulder softly and whispered his name. He felt Luna step up closer just as Blair's eyes opened.

"Hey, Chief. Sorry to wake you, but I'm going into the station for a while. Didn't want you to wonder where I went."

"Uh-huh," Blair whispered fuzzily. The muscle relaxant was still hard at work, Jim realized.

"Blair, this is Detective Luna. He's here to help with the case." There was no sense going into detail right now. Blair would not remember it later.

"Hi," Blair muttered, a small smile following the word.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you." Luna returned the smile.

"Uh-huh," was the only response as Blair drifted away again into drugged sleep.

"Sorry, he's usually more eloquent. Usually I can't shut him up," Jim told the other man even as he tucked Blair's blanket more firmly around him.

"It's quite all right. I understand."

"Well, we'd better get to work." Jim let Luna precede him out of the room so that he could take one last look to reassure himself that Blair would still be alive when he returned.

Just as Jim expected, the search of Chambers' apartment turned up nothing. The warrant had taken too long to secure, giving her plenty of warning to get rid of anything she might have missed before. Chances were that there was never anything there for them to find in the first place. She was too careful. She had been brought in for questioning, however. The similarities between the Cascade and Houston incidents had satisfied the DA enough to allow that.

However, Jim would be sitting out this interrogation. So it was Simon who entered the room with Luna right behind him. From the observation room, Jim registered Samantha Chambers' reaction to Luna. While she was laughing on the outside, her heart rate went through the roof, and her respiration became shallow and quick. She was a cold bitch though, Jim thought, as he listened to her mock Luna.

"Telling stories again, Miguel? I can tell stories too. I know one about this pathetic cop who couldn't even manage to catch the person who killed his partner right in the police station. Maybe because he killed his partner? You killed Allyn. You know you did."

To his credit, Luna remained outwardly calm, although Jim heard his internal reactions ironically mirror Chambers'. It was Simon who spoke first.

"Just so there's no mistakes and no questions, you have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right—"

"I heard all of that from the officer who arrested me."

"—anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning. If you decide to answer questions without an attorney present, you may stop at any time and ask to consult with an attorney before proceeding. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you by the court at no charge to you. Do you understand the rights that I have told to you?"

"Yes, I understood them the first time I heard them, too. Can we get on with this? I have more important things to do."

In the end, it was a waste of time. She said nothing, did nothing, offered nothing. Jim had to watch her walk out of the interrogation room with a smug grin on her face. She stopped and turned to Jim. "It really is a shame what's happened to Blair. It's a good thing you have guards on his room. It would be so easy for someone to just walk in there and—well, no one could do that. Right? Oh, wait, I was there. I just walked in, and you left me with him. If I was a murderer, wouldn't he be dead now?"

Jim's heart dropped into his feet as he realized he had indeed left the bitch alone with Blair. Thank God for Orenda and her intuition. "Orenda threw you out."

"Oh, yes, I remember her. She was very rude." She seemed to wait for a response.

Jim wanted to give her a response. He wanted to reach out and wring her neck, removing that superior smile off her face once and for all.

"You know," she went on, "I should be flattered in a way. I mean, the person, whoever that person might be, must be a genius to pull off something like this, don't you think, Ellison? To poison your partner right in the station like that and leave no evidence at all? I know; I looked for evidence. I really did. It's sad. The great Jim Ellison has finally met his match. And he thinks that match is me. Yeah, I guess I should be flattered."

She looked back at Luna. "I hope you liked the flowers I sent to Allyn's funeral. You know, I never got the thank you card. It must have gotten lost in the mail." She walked away, throwing that same damn smug look over her shoulder at them.

Luna looked as if he would explode at any time. Brown passed by her and handed Jim a sheet of paper.

"I found Greg Barr," the man said in explanation.

"Who?"

"The guy she attacked in high school. He still lives in Cascade. That's his address."

"H, I could just kiss you, but you're too damned ugly."

"Look who's talking, jarhead!"

"I was a Ranger, not a Marine."

"Actually, Jim, I was talking about the shape of your head, man." He held out his hands to illustrate. He laughed as he walked away.

Luna actually snickered, and Jim shook his head. "So, want to go with me to talk to this guy?"

"Anything to help."

"Good, because my truck's still at the hospital. You have the wheels. You know, you didn't kill Shelton."

"I know," Luna muttered, looking down at his feet. "Well, sometimes, I know. Other times, I wonder. There are so many what ifs, you know?"

Jim only nodded. He understood regrets.

The man who opened the door looked surprised as he regarded Jim and Miguel Luna on his doorstep. "Um, can I help you?"

"We're here to see Greg Barr." Jim showed his badge.

"Greg?"

"Yes. I take it you aren't him?"

"No, I'm not."

"Is he home?" Jim tried to look friendly, but his patience was thin these days.

"Oh, sure. Come on in, officers. Sorry." He moved back and motioned for them to enter.

"Thank you, Mr.?"

"God, where are my manners? Danny Stillman." He offered his hand.

Jim shook the man's hand. "I'm Detective Jim Ellison. This is Detective Luna."

"Nice to meet you both. At least I hope it is. Come on, Greg's in here." He led them into a comfortable living room where another man was working on a computer in one corner. "Greg, these detectives are here to see you."

Greg Barr turned in his desk chair with a puzzled look on his face. "Why?"

"Mr. Barr, I need to talk to you about Samantha Chambers." Jim cut right to the chase.

For one moment, Barr's face took on an even more puzzled expression. Then realization dawned. "Oh, my God! That bitch? What's she done now?"

"We think she's poisoned two people."

"Are you serious? Well, never mind that question. Of course, you're serious." Barr got up and walked over to a chair next to the couch. He offered them the couch with a gesture. "I wouldn't put it past her. I guess since you're here you know what she did to me?"

"Yes. I'd like to hear about it from you though. We are still trying to get her juvenile record unsealed. I found out about the attack from her school records."

"She should have gone to jail, you know. It was because I'm gay that she didn't." Stillman sat on the arm of the chair and put his arm around Barr as the man continued. "I sort of broke up with her and came out to her at the same time. She went berserk, grabbed a baseball bat and tried to kill me. I spent three weeks in the hospital, and I lost some of the vision in my left eye. Then, to add insult to injury, the judge said that he could understand why she was so distraught. He even told her that she had his sympathy right in front of me. So, he gives her parents the option to put her in psychiatric care rather than the Youth Detention Center. Of course, they went for it. She spent three months there and was right back in school. I left. I went to a private school to get away from her. That's it."

Jim nodded. It seemed that Chambers did indeed hate competing and losing to men. The circumstances were a bit different in Blair's case, but she had lost to Jim in a sense. "Would you be willing to come into the station and give a statement to the DA?"

"Sure. Anything. So, who did she poison?"

"My partner," Jim told him. "And his." He pointed to Miguel.

"Are they going to all right?" Barr asked.

"My partner died about six months ago." Luna was looking at his feet as he answered.

Jim took a deep breath. "Blair, my partner, is alive, but still in the hospital."

"Partner or partner partner?" Stillman asked.

Jim tried to smile, knowing it was a pitiful attempt at best. "My partner and friend."

"My partner partner." Luna answered.

Barr and Stillman both grimaced. Barr reached up and took his partner's hand before turning to meet Luna's eyes. "I'm sorry. Seems she has a thing about gays, huh?"

"I think so," Jim replied absently.

"So your partner—" he started.

"No, he's straight. She blames me for their relationship not working out just the same." Jim got up. "Thank you for talking with us. I'll be in touch with you about a time to come in to see the DA."

"Okay. Like I said, anything you need. I am sorry for your loss, Detective Luna. And I hope your partner gets well, Detective Ellison." The couple walked Jim and Luna to the door.

Once they were back inside Luna's rental car, Jim sighed. "Okay, we have motive, opportunity, a history of similar violence."

"But still no physical evidence and no witnesses. The attack on Barr will be argued away as a teenage fit of angst, which she paid for. You know this," Luna pointed out.

"I know. We may be forced to try to convince a jury with what we have. If we can get a conviction here, you might be able to get your department to reopen Shelton's case."

"I don't think you are going to get a conviction, Ellison. I'm sorry. It won't be your fault, but I think she's going to get away with this one too. I don't think I can take that."

"Luna, you have to hold it together. We're not down for the count yet. I have a few more ideas."

"You want to WHAT?" Simon screamed.

"The coffeemaker's not here; it's not in her apartment. It has to be somewhere. She said it was probably at the city dump. What if she was telling the truth? Think about it, Simon. She wouldn't know what I can do. She'd think that even if we went out there, we'd never find one coffeemaker. Come on, Simon. With Blair in the hospital, you're my best shot at this."

"Are you insane? Jim, do you realize how big that dump is? And what it smells like? My god, the thought is nauseating."

"We need physical evidence, damn it! I'm desperate here, Simon. Right now, there's still a chance she could get off. But with just one piece of physical evidence to tie her to this, she's history. Please."

"Fine. I'll send Luna with Taggert. He's going to interview that psychiatrist that treated Chambers when she was a teenager."

"We got the court order for her records then?"

"Yeah, we got it." Simon smiled with satisfaction.

"Well, it's about time something went our way. Let's get going before I have time to change my mind."

Twenty-five minutes later, as Jim expelled his lunch on the ground outside the Cascade Landfill, he silently lamented the lost opportunity to change his mind. Simon stood stoically behind him, holding him up by the waist of his pants, repeating the same line over and over. Jim was starting to really hate the man as he said again, "I told you this was a bad idea. But do you listen to me? NO."

"Shut up, Simon," he gasped.

"Don't know what was worse. The zone or the aftermath."

"The aftermath," Jim mumbled as he wiped his sweaty forehead and tried to stand up straight without losing more of his insides.

"I told you this was a bad idea."

"With all due respect, sir, fuck you. I get it, bad idea, you told me so, etc."

Simon had the nerve to laugh. "Get your ass in the car, Jim. And for god sake, let's not tell Sandburg about this debacle. He'll kick both our asses."

Jim shook his head. "I can't do it, Simon. Why can't I do this? I'm a sentinel, for god sakes. It's a coffeemaker; it smells like coffee."

"So do all the old coffee grounds that people have thrown out, Jim. And even if that were not enough to cause a problem, all of this other shit smells—well, like shit. And worse."

"Oh, god," Jim fought the urge to vomit again. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I don't blame you. It just isn't going to work, Jim. If we weren't both desperate, you wouldn't have even thought it would, and I wouldn't have let you convince me that it could. Let's get out of here. You need a break. I'll drop you by the hospital so you can see Blair."

Jim nodded. Seeing Blair was a good idea. He would not mention his trip to the dump. Simon was right; Blair would kick his ass.

Jim had been at the hospital for several hours when Luna and Taggert arrived. Taggert opened the door and waved him into the hall. Quietly, he put down the magazine he had been reading and slipped out. "What'd you find out?"

"Dr. Lamar says that Samantha Chambers was prone to violence, particularly violence toward men. He was never able to get to the root of it, and he definitely felt that she was not, by any means, cured when she left. The hospital and the courts released her, disregarding his recommendation that she stay. Apparently, the insurance ran out. You know how that goes. Anyway, he says that she felt that she was in constant competition with everyone around her, and she hated to lose."

"Yeah, we knew that already."

"Yeah, we did. He had to take her out of group therapy because she got angry and violent when he spoke to anyone else in the group for any length of time. Particularly if he spent any time with the male members of the group. She saw him talking with a male patient at lunch one day and attacked him with her lunch tray. By contrast, if she saw him with a female patient, she would just interrupt. He says she might have had to compete with a male sibling for her parents' attention or even that she might have been sexually abused and then tossed aside by her abuser and replaced by a male child. I checked; she did have a brother. He's dead, drug overdose. It was ruled a suicide, but there was no note. Samantha was in college at the time."

"Was her brother gay, by any chance?"

"Thought about that since Miguel told me about Barr. Not that we can determine, but that doesn't mean much. I tried to get in touch with someone from Samantha's family, and whoever it was that answered the phone hung up on me. I figure we'll try a visit tomorrow." Joel sighed then. "So, how's Blair?"

"Sleeping a lot. Orenda says that's normal. His kidneys are better, and his liver seems to be functioning normally, so we may be out of the woods."

"May be?" Luna finally spoke.

"Well, there's still the possibility of other complications. His muscles are really weak, and he's still having those muscle spasms. And his lungs took a beating. He is better, though. You can go in and see him if you like, Joel."

"If you don't mind?"

"Of course not. Go."

When Joel had disappeared into Blair's room, Luna turned to Jim. "He is very loved."

"Yeah, he has that effect on people." Jim smiled fondly at the closed door.

"All Captain Taggert could talk about was how much everyone cared for him. Taggert considers him like a son. You are very lucky to have friends like that."

"How many friends did you lose when the truth about you and Shelton came out?"

"Came out? How appropriately put."

For one moment Jim worried that he had insulted the man, but when he opened his mouth to apologize, Luna cut him off with a laugh.

Jim smiled. "Freudian slip maybe."

"Maybe. Oh, not as many as I thought I would. I lost enough, though, that the ones I kept are constantly watching my back. If they didn't, I'd be with Allyn already."

Jim was not sure what to say to that. He sighed and put one hand on Luna's shoulder in silent understanding.

"Jim?"

"Hey, Chief. Need something?" Jim got up and moved to Blair's bedside.

"My back hurts. Hard to breathe."

Jim turned up his hearing. There, a wheezing that had not been there before. Pneumonia. It was one of those dreaded complications.

"Damn it," he whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing, Chief. Let me call somebody, okay?" He pushed the call button.

"Can you help me get on my side?" Blair asked him softly.

"Raising the head of the bed a little more might feel better than that, don't you think?"

"No, I want off my back, please."

"Okay." Jim did most of the work. Just as Blair was positioned, the nurse answered the call. "Yeah, can you call Dr. Milap for us, please?"

"Dr. Milap is actually doing an emergency surgery right now, Jim, but she left instructions for us to call Dr. Myers if you needed anything. I'll call her now. I know she's in the ER."

"Thanks. You'll like Dr. Myers, Chief. She's sort of cute in a Raggedy Ann sort of way."

"Bet she would love that comparison, Jim."

"Bet she'd schedule me for a barium enema if you told her, actually."

"That could be interesting," Blair whispered.

"Gee, thanks, Chief. I'll remember that. Does that feel better?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Dr. Myers arrived a few minutes later. After a short exam, she scribbled something on Blair's chart and handed it to the nurse before turning back to Jim and Blair. "It's not pneumonia. It's pleurisy. Do you know what that means, Blair?"

"Sort of." Blair was tired. Jim could see the white lines of fatigue around his eyes and mouth.

"It means that fluid is building up around your lungs rather than inside, Chief," Jim explained as he helped Blair turn back onto his side.

"Simply put, yes. Now I have ordered some antibiotics and something to get rid of that fluid. If it doesn't work, we may have to drain it, but I don't think that's going to be necessary. We caught it early before it got too bad. Are you in pain, Blair?"

"A little. It's better like this."

"Okay, well, I'm going to also leave word that you can have some Tylenol if you want it. Your liver is doing well with the muscle relaxants, so I don't think that a little Tylenol will hurt. If you need anything, you just have them call me, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you." Blair gave her a tired smile then closed his eyes.

Jim followed the doctor into the hall. "So, he's really okay?"

"Oh, yeah, like I said, we caught it early. He really is doing great considering."

"All right. Thanks."

"You're quite welcome." She patted his arm then headed off back to the ER. Jim watched her go. She really was quite cute. She was too young for him, he supposed. Then again, she was a doctor. Given all the school she had to get through to get that degree, she had to at least be thirty. Thirty was still young. And she looked so damn young! People would think he was out with his daughter. Just how old was Misty Myers? Maybe he could find out. Maybe he would find out.

"I can't believe this!" Luna was furious. "You have to arrest her! Look at her history. Look at her records. She did this! She killed Allyn. She tried to kill Mr. Sandburg."

"Detective Luna, I'm not saying that I'm giving up." Beverly Sanchez shook her head. "I'm just saying that it would help us tremendously to have physical evidence. A confession would even be better. But she's an ice queen. She's gone through three separate interrogations without so much as one slip. We have hit her with everything you guys dug up, and it makes no difference. So, what we do now is charge her and hope we can convince a jury. We've got a strong circumstantial case. Did Taggert and Brown get anything from her parents?" she asked Simon.

"Only that they don't want anything to do with Samantha. They've disowned her," he told her. Luna was pacing now. Simon could understand his frustration. He was feeling it too.

"Why?"

"They won't say, Beverly."

Beverly sighed. "A strong circumstantial case and a history of violence. I guess it's better than nothing. When will Blair be fit to give a statement?"

"If it's a short one, now."

"Okay, that's my next step. Simon, arrest her. Let's process her. Maybe that will shake her some. Then we need to push the lie detector test. I'll try to get the court order."

"Beverly, try hard. We are running out of time here."

She nodded and left the office.

"She's going to walk. Isn't she?" Luna asked.

"Not if I can help it, Luna."

"It won't matter. Nothing matters." Luna nearly ran out of the office.

Simon closed his eyes and said a prayer. A long one.

"Have you seen Luna?" Simon whispered in Jim's ear.

If they had not been sitting in the courtroom at Samantha Chambers' arraignment, Jim might have laughed. It still amazed him how quickly Simon, and sometimes even Blair, could forget he was a sentinel. He would have heard the whisper from all the way across the room, for heaven's sake. But he did not laugh or point out the ridiculousness of Simon's close proximity to his ear. "No. Frankly, I'm worried. I thought he'd be here."

"He was pretty upset last time I saw him. I sent Taggert to try to find him."

"He seemed okay when he came to see Blair last night. Quiet, but I think that's normal. He's a nice guy. He's been through a lot of shit lately. I hope he doesn't lose it."

"That's what I'm afraid of. He's on the edge."

Jim acknowledged his captain before turning his attention to the proceedings again. He dropped his head in disgust when the bail was set ridiculously low, especially for a murder suspect. She would be out of the courthouse almost before Jim. When he looked up again, Beverly was sending him an apology with her eyes. He shrugged a little as the judge explained that, given her ties to the police department and the community, he did not believe she was a flight risk. The guy was an idiot. It was over then.

Jim and Simon waited for Beverly. "You did what you could," Jim told her as she approached them.

"Can you believe her? She was framed? She's the victim? Who the hell is supposed to have framed her?" Beverly was angry.

"Me, probably." Jim walked away, leaving them to follow.

"You're kidding, right?" she asked.

"It would be so her." He slipped into Blair-speak.

Ten minutes later, the three of them watched as Samantha Chambers walked out of the courthouse and down the steps with her lawyer. She looked Jim straight in the eyes and smiled. Jim swore and started to turn away, but a loud crack split the air, and her smile died even as red blossomed on her suit jacket. "Oh shit."

He turned and saw the gunman run along the roof of a nearby building and then disappear. He did not need sentinel vision to know who it was.

"Jim! Did you see anyone?" Simon had his weapon drawn.

Jim pushed the gun down and met Simon's eyes. "I saw something."

"Jim?"

"What?"

"We need to go after him."

"No, we don't." Jim took a step toward the prone figure of Samantha Chambers. Her lawyer was screaming for an ambulance, but it was too late. Miguel Luna was a damn good shot.

"What? What are you doing?" Simon demanded.

Jim looked down at the woman who tried to kill his guide and felt nothing but relief.

"Let someone else go after him, Simon."

"Have you lost your mind?"

"Maybe. But I'm not a hypocrite." Jim dug his truck keys out of his pocket and focused his eyes on the big blue and white Ford. He was going to see Blair.

"I can manage, Jim. Really, I'm not that tired." Blair shoved Jim's hands away and continued to make his own sandwich. "Besides, you don't do it right."

"And you call me anal, Chief? The mayonnaise does not have to cover every tiny corner of the bread to make a good sandwich."

"Yes, it does," Blair argued.

The phone rang before Jim could respond. "Fine then, make your own sandwich," he said as he headed for the phone.

It had been three weeks since Blair was released from the hospital. They had just gotten home from Blair's physical therapy session. Since the sessions amounted to weight training to strengthen his weakened muscles, Blair was always hungry afterwards. Other than a little weakness and fatigue though, Blair had been given a clean bill of health. Both Orenda and Misty were amazed.

Speaking of Misty, he hoped the phone call was from her. She said she would call if she could make their date on Friday. She had said she would know today. Actually, he was astonished when she accepted his invitation to dinner after the way he had behaved at their first meeting. He was glad she did though. She might look all of twelve, but she was intelligent and, as he had told Blair, cute in a Raggedy Ann sort of way. Not his usual type, but given that his usual type had turned out, more often than not, to be more trouble than they were worth, maybe it was time to give someone new a try.

He picked up the cordless and hit the talk button. "Hello."

"I'm sorry, Ellison. I couldn't take the chance that she'd run or get acquitted." It was not Misty. Jim glanced at Blair who was still putting his perfect sandwich together. Jim stepped over to the balcony and walked outside.

"Where are you?" He could have been anywhere. The investigation that followed Chambers' death turned up that Luna had emptied his bank account before he ever left Texas.

"Far away. I just wanted to make peace with you and check on your partner."

"Blair's fine. I'm fine. Tell me something. Did you intend to kill her when you came up here?"

"I think so. I didn't admit it even to myself, but yes, I think I did. She killed Allyn. She didn't deserve to live."

Jim sighed.

"I'm glad Blair is all right."

"Miguel—"

"Now I just don't know what to do with myself. Don't tell me to turn myself in, Jim. I'll eat this gun first. And I have thought long and hard about doing just that. But I can't. Too Catholic. Besides, I don't want Allyn to be any angrier with me than he already is, no doubt."

Jim rubbed his face and sighed. "Are you going to be okay, Miguel?"

"I don't know. Don't worry about me though. You just take care of your partner and be well. Goodbye, Jim Ellison. Thank you for your kindness."

"You're welcome." The call disconnected. Jim stared at the phone in his hand for a long moment. He could have the phone company hunt down the origin of the call, then call the police, have Luna picked up. He went through proper procedure in his head, but his hands never placed the call. He walked back into the loft and put the phone in its cradle.

"So was that Misty?" Blair asked from the couch where he was happily munching his perfect sandwich.

"No. It was just a friend who wanted to say hello."

"Are you okay, Jim?"

"That depends. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Blair replied, his eyes confused and wary.

"Then I'm okay, Chief." He put his hands on Blair's shoulders and started a slow massage. "All is right in my world."

The End