It was Friday morning, Jackie's school had the day off so she had a free day. She was going to drop her kids off at her mom's house even though she didn't work because her dad hadn't known she had the day off and had taken the day off himself just so he could spend time with his grandkids.

After dropping the kids off at her parent's house she drove home to do some household chores that she had previously neglected. She was just about to throw a load of clothes in the washer when her cell phone rang.

"Hi honey." She said cheerfully.

"Hey, listen, I've had a really long night at work and I need to go somewhere to decompress for a bit, I'm going for a beer, I'll be home in an hour or so." Nick said sounding really tired.

"Oh ok, are you going with the gang?" she asked referring to his coworkers.

"No, just by myself." He answered.

"Well listen, I just dropped the kids off at my mom's house, why don't you meet me for coffee instead so we can talk about your night. It is only 9 in the morning after all, coffee will probably taste better then beer."

"Ok, we can do that if you want." Nick agreed.

"Ok, they just opened a coffee shop not far from the lab that I've been wanting to try."

"What? You are going to cheat on your usual coffee shop, it'll be crushed." Nick said in a mocking voice.

Jackie laughed

"I'll see you in a bit." She said.

"Ok." Nick said as he hung up the phone.

20 minutes later they had ordered their coffee and were seated at a table.

"Thank you." Nick said to a woman as she carried their coffees over to their table.

"Sure, enjoy." She said with a smile.

"Thanks." Jackie replied as she returned the smile.

The woman nodded and then walked back to the counter.

"How is it?" Nick asked after she had taken a sip.

"It's good, but not quite as good as where I usually go." Jackie whispered so the people working wouldn't hear her.

Nick laughed "You and your mochas." He said.

"It's not mocha, it's pumpkin." Jackie said.

"Well excuse me, my mistake." Nick said with a grin.

Jackie laughed and then she turned serious. "So it sounds like you had a bad night, what happened?"

"Oh you know, just the usual tough case. One of those cases that makes you lose faith in humanity."

"Sorry." Jackie said sympathetically.

Nick talked for a few minutes and Jackie just listened.

Just a short time later two guys walked into the coffee shop, Nick or Jackie didn't pay much attention to them, until they heard a scream. Nick looked over to the ordering counter where the scream came from.

His eyes got wide in horror.

"He's got a gun, get down." He told Jackie.

Jackie dove under the table.

He felt helpless, he was unarmed, he did the only thing he could think of to protect her, he immediately got under the table and laid on top of her to try to shield her from any gunfire.

Gunshots rang out, Jackie felt Nick flinch, and then felt something wet touch her. She realized in horror that the wet she felt was Nick's blood…..

To Be Continued.