Chapter 1
"Goren," Detective Robert Goren answered the phone. "Detective," a voice rasped. "Come and meet me at the shack. You know which. Come alone." Click. Bobby stared at the phone. The shack was an old building that was falling down behind his apartment building. He looked up and saw concern in the eyes of his partner, Detective Alexandra Eames. "What was that call about?" Alex asked.
"I'm not sure," he said. Some guy just called and told me to meet him at the shack behind my building…" he trailed off, confused. "Are you going?" Alex asked.
Bobby loved that about her. She never assumed, she never told him what to do; she just listened, than asked him what he was going to do.
"It could be McKellen," Bobby said. He was referring to the serial killer that they had interrogated, decided was guilty, and had to send home because they couldn't prove it.
"So I take it we're going?" she asked. "He told me to come alone," Bobby said. "So I take it we're going?" she asked again. He grinned at her. "Ya, I guess so," he said.
Bobby and Alex reached for their guns, and crept towards the shack. 1, Bobby signalled with his fingers, 2, and 3. He burst through the door. "Detective…" the voice trailed off. Neither Bobby nor Alex could see because their eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark. "I thought I told you to come alone," he said. From the light of the door Bobby could just see the figure point a gun at his partner. Before he could even think, the man had pulled the trigger.
"Alex!" he cried. The shot had hit her in the head. "No," he gasped. He felt the man pass, him, but didn't do anything about it. He just stared at Alex. He knew it was pointless, but he felt for a pulse. Nothing. He was about to pull his fingers from her neck when he felt something beneath them. He paused, and felt it again. She had a pulse! She was still alive. He grabbed his cell phone and dialled 911.
"911, what is your emergency," came the voice on the other end of the phone. "Help!" he screamed into the phone. He knew he should try to stay calm but he couldn't his partner and his best friend, lay bleeding at his feet. She was dying and he knew it, but couldn't bear it. "This is Detective Goren, Major Case Squad, my partner's been shot, please hurry!" he screamed into the phone. "What is your location?" the voice asked. Bobby was shaking now, like he wouldn't ever stop. He screamed the address into the phone, and tears fell and mixed with the pool of blood.
He threw the phone down, and picked up Alex's head and cradled it in his arms. The blood spilled over him, and his arms were soon soaked through from the blood. "Hold on," he told her. "The ambulance is coming!" he cried into her horribly pale face.
He didn't know when the ambulance came, but he threw himself in with his partner, and refused to leave her. He had only one feeling the whole way to the hospital, and only one thought. The feeling was horror. The thought was: this is all my fault.