Disclaimer: All characters are property of Tim Kring, NBC, and Tailwind Productions.

Nina is being written by jmkw, MADAMBETH, and jordangirl

"Drop the gun Max..."

"I said drop it..."

I stood there waiting for him; I couldn't believe this has all led to...this. Instead of chasing my tail all day, I should have home contemplating whether to do a load of whites or a load of darks. But no; I stood there holding a gun on a man whom I thought I admired. And he wasn't listening to me. This was not happening. Hallelujah, I thought as he began to lower the gun.

Then, suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw something flash. There was a quick burst of pain at the back of my head and then the dizziness. Before I knew it I was being shoved to the floor. I heard someone running down the hallway though the ringing in my ears.

Max dropped the gun he was holding and rushed to my side.

"Who the hell was that?" I said as I tried to sit up. I put a hand to the back of my head. It was just a glancing blow, just enough to distract me. There was no blood. But I did feel a lump begin to grow.

Max looked out the open door and then back at me. "James."

James, Jordan's brother. Blindsiding me must run in the family.

Through the spots swam before my eyes, I grabbed my gun. Once on my feet I stepped out to the hallway knowing full well it will be empty. I rubbed the back of my head as I walked back into the apartment. I noticed Jordan's 'Don't Mess with Me' baseball bat lying on the floor at my feet. I would have bet my next pay check the lump on the back of my head was from it.

"Max, you care to tell me what happened here." I said kicking the gun aside. I knelt down to the body and made sure that Malden was dead. "Max this is not good." There were four bullet wounds. How many shots had I heard?

Max didn't seem to hear me as he stepped further into the apartment yelling "Jordan! Jordan, are you here!"

Jordan? Was she here? I stood and looked around the room myself.

There was a muffled thud from behind the room divider at the far end of the room. I leveled my gun and pointed it toward the alcove. "Jordan. Jordan, is that you?" I asked; carefully stepping closer.

Jordan leaned around the corner, grabbing the frame as to not fall down to the floor.

Sweet harmony, she's been hit was the only thing I could think of as I holstered my weapon. I rushed to her side and half carried her to the sofa. Max was there pushing me aside to sit next to her and take her into his arms. I had to put my personal feelings aside. I could panic later. But it was hard as I reached for my cell phone. Jordan sat there and gripped the edge of sofa as if she about to fall off. At least she didn't look like she had been shot. But there was defiantly something wrong with her. I could barely dial the phone because my fingers were shaking so badly. The call connected with dispatch and I reported the situation requesting the paramedics.

"Jordan, what's happened to you?" I asked as I hung up the phone.

"Methylhexital" she said her speech slightly slurred. She sat up straighter and looked over at Malden and asked "Is he dead?"

"Yes" I said. Jordan tried to stand to look at the body. Max put a hand on her leg to keep her seated.

"Methylhexital? Jordan?" Max asked. I wanted to ask the same question. I had heard of the drug but I don't know much about it.

Jordan looked at her father as if she has just noticed him sitting there. "Never take candy from strangers ...that goes for scotch too."

I remembered the glass with the familiar shade of lipstick in Malden's office... I interrupted "...in the drink in his office."

"Yes," she said.

I began thinking My God why? Jordan could be a pain in the ass at times, but why drug her?

Jordan began to babble, "As Coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her. And she's not merely dead, but she is sincerely dead" she stopped and looked over at me, her eyes were not focusing.

I felt a wave of disgust hit me as I thought about the captain having drugged her. Jordan must have been quite out of it when Malden brought her home. And yet his driver just sat there in front of the building, like this was an every day occurrence. When I asked him where the captain was he just pointed a finger to the front door of the building and snickered. At the time I thought it was strange but now I wondered how many others Malden had brought to their homes incapacitated.

Max began to scold her. "Damn it Jordan, I told you to stay away from him."

She dropped her head to her shoulder and said. "I had to see him. He has all the answers..."

I ran my fingers roughly through my hair and grimaced when I touched the rapidly growing lump. I needed answers and needed them fast. The first unit would be arriving any second and I needed to know what to do. I tried to get their attention by saying, "We haven't got much time. Somebody had better tell me what happened here. And for the love of God you both better give me the straight story."

Jordan just looked at me and laughed. She swung her head back over to look at her father. "You know, he's nice in that wholesome white bread kind of way." She peeked at me and then wagged a finger in her father's face, "But, he wants to get in my pants."

"Geez, Jordan" Max mumbled.

In a stage whisper, Jordan continued, "You know someday I just might let him." she jabbed her finger in Max's shoulder to punctuate each word.

For a brief second I debated whether to use my powers of invisibility for good or for evil, but instead I cleared my throat to say "Ah... this conversation is getting us no where."

"Depends on where you are sitting cowboy." Jordan said leaning back on the sofa.

Max finally looked up at me as we heard the police sirens in the distance. "Woody, it's not the way it looks..."

Have pushed Jordan's comments aside I said "Great, you tell me why you were standing over the captain holding a gun, because I really would like to hear your version of the story right now. We haven't got much time."

Max looked back to the body. I had begun to think just maybe we could get somewhere when he said "When I got here James was holding a gun on Malden. They were arguing. I knew I had to do something, I tried to grab the gun away from James and it went off." Well, that explains the two shots I heard...but what about the other two I didn't?

"I sure hope you're right, because I'd really like to believe you." I said as I walked over to where I had kicked the gun. Stooping down I looked at the end of the barrel. The gun had defiantly been fired. The barrel was covered with gun powder. I wanted to believe him. I hoped the test results will show that Max was not holding the gun directly. At least it was something.

Jordan pushed her father's limp arm out of the way and struggled to stand. She must have been reading my mind when she said, "Woody, you have to believe him. It's my fault." She took a few wobbly steps over to where the body laid. "He made me take him to James." Jordan's voice began to rise in a panic "James ...Where's James... Woody!"

I stood up and looked at Jordan's beautiful face. Her eyes were dilated almost black and her soft hair was a mass of tangles. Her arms were reaching out to me. How many nights had I gone to sleep picturing her like this? But when I looked at her it only brought up a fresh wave of nausea. I chalk the sick feeling up the blow I took. Why didn't I see this coming? No, why did I ever leave Kewaunee?

I looked away from her face as the sirens stopped in front of the building. I needed more time. Frustrated, I said, "Damn it Jordan, I don't know where he is. He hit me and took off. We'll bring him in. He won't get far."

I cringed seeing Jordan lower her arms. I knew we'd have company at any moment. I tried to calm my voice down. "Jordan... honey... did you see what happened here? I really need to know...now. Please tell me so I can help you."

Jordan just stood there looking like she had just lost her best friend. I couldn't do anything but hold my breath as I saw her mind work. I had a feeling she would to try and make a run for it. After a moment she began to edge toward the open door. "Screw you Woody, just play sheriff and figure it out yourself. I have to go find James."

Before she could get passed me I grabbed her around the upper arm. "Jordan, you're just going to make it harder on yourself."

"Get your hands off me Hoyt." Jordan hissed at me. The whole situation was quickly spiraling totally out of control and I didn't know how to stop it.

Before I could reassure her a pair of uniformed police officers rushed through the open door. I noticed their name tags 'Officer's Smith and Jones' A flashback of the old TV show 'Alias Smith and Jones' came momentarily in my mind. If the circumstances had been different I might have laughed out loud about their names.

Officer Jones walked over at the body lying on the floor and said "Holy shit, is that Captain Malden?"

"Which one of you is Hoyt?" Smith said.

I reluctantly let go of Jordan and reached for my badge. "I'm Hoyt."

"Ma'am, I'm going to need your name?" Officer Smith asked Jordan.

She just rewarded him with an evil eye.

Max spoke up "Cavanaugh, Jordan Cavanaugh. I'm her father Max." At least Max seemed to be willing to cooperate.

Officer Jones walked over toward Max and said "Cavanaugh? Hey, didn't they just issue an APB out on them? Sir, you two are going to have to come with us." A feeling of panic washed over me. When did that happen? The DA sure moved fast. Jordan didn't need to go downtown. She needed to go to the hospital.

Before I knew it Jordan made a run for the door. She was quicker than I thought possible. She made it to the hallway before I had to tackle her against the wall. I pulled her away by wrapping my arm around her waist and drawing her against me.

"Don't do this Jordan. You need to see a doctor."

"I am a doctor."

"It's not what I mean and you know it." I said as I felt her body begin to relax.

"Woody, I have to find him...he's my brother."

"Please just let my take care of James."

"That's what I'm worried about." Jordan began to struggle but apparently the drug in her system made her movements futile. She did land a few good blows to my shins as I guided her bodily back into the apartment.

"Thanks Hoyt" Officer Smith said pulling out a set of handcuffs. I could see the look in his eyes. He knew this was big and he and his partner were going to be front and center.

I looked over at Max and noticed that Officer Jones had already him cuffed. Dumbfounded I asked "Is this necessary?"

Jordan pulled herself away from me. She turned her back to Officer Smith and put her hands in the air. The look on her face said it all. I knew whatever friendship we had was in serious jeopardy.

The last straw happened when Smith began to frisk her. It's all I could do not to jump him. I yelled "She's clean damn it, just...leave her alone." Luckily Smith nodded and just placed the cuffs on Jordan's wrists. I kind of wished he hadn't; because I would love to have taken my frustration out on someone... anyone at that moment.

I barely heard the Miranda Rights being read to Max and Jordan as I watched her face. All around us people seemed to be coming out of the walls. Paramedics were checking the body; Fellow homicide detectives began to comb through the apartment. I didn't doubt for a second that the DA would close in also. I could only stand there in a daze. Jordan had to realize that I was just doing my job. It was the police's job to find James. James killed Malden and most likely killed Jeffers. I reached out and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and whispered. "I'm not your enemy Jordan. You need to trust me." She only turned her face away as tears began to fall down her cheeks. I felt like the ground had just opened up and swallowed me whole.

"Hey, Hey wait, she needs to get checked out!" I yelled as they led Max and Jordan out the door.

"Sure thing, Hoyt" Jones replied. I knew in the back of my mind that they were going to take her directly to the station. I needed to catch up with them.

I was walking toward the door when a deceptively calm voice calls my name from the hallway. I looked up to see DA Walcott stride into the room. I really don't need her right then.

"I trust you can find your own way down to Interrogation." she stated without preamble.

"Yes ma'am" I said looking out the door.

"Good, because I'll need a statement from you about all of this" She barely looked over at the body of Captain Malden as the homicide unit photographed the scene. "Not that he's a great loss, mind you. In fact I always thought he was a waste of prime office space. But, we have a job to do."

"If it's any consolation I don't think either of them did it." I looked around her at the open door. The thought of cooling my heals downtown has not what I had planned.

"Save your testimony for the interrogation room detective."

It was all I could do not to leave her standing there talking to herself. Then I realized I couldn't help Jordan or Max now. It was too late. It was all in the DA's hands now.

"Yes ma'am"

Walcott then turned and walked out yelling for someone to find the captain's driver. With a deep sigh I followed close behind. I walked down the stairs trying to figure out just what the hell happened this evening. I felt like I had just done two rounds with Tyson and the bell just rang for Round Three. My head hurt like hell, my thoughts were scattered, my heart was breaking, and all I could do was stand there and wait for that final left hook. What if Max had really shot Malden? Where the hell was this James? I knew Jordan and Max would be gone by the time I could get outside. At least I hoped once I got to the station I could make sure Jordan was at the hospital.