oOo

Ken Melvin's day hadn't started on a very good note. He had overslept and was consequently rather late for work and when he'd finally made it to the station, he had run straight into Sergeant Peters who had told him that the chief inspector wanted to see him. Ken had not the slightest idea what Conway might want from him, but he doubted that it was good news. He was taking two steps at a time up the stairs to the chief inspector's office when he ran into Yorkie Smith.

"Watch where you're going man!" Yorkie protested as Ken Melvin came to a halt after nearly knocking him over.

"Sorry. It's just that Conway apparently asked to see me," Ken began.

"You too? Peters told me that Conway wanted to see me in his office just now," Yorkie told him.

"I don't think that's a good sign," Ken predicted. Yorkie looked at him, rolling his eyes.

"And there I thought I was up for a promotion," he joked. "Let's hurry before he comes looking for us."

A few seconds later, they were in front of the chief inspector's office, Yorkie was trying to straighten his hair while Ken took a deep breath and knocked at the door. The response was immediate, prompting them to enter.

"You said you wanted to see us, sir?" Ken began, hoping that he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.

"Well, it's nice of you two to finally show up. And don't worry, I'm not going to bite your heads off or anything. I have an assignment for you today."

"An assignment?" Yorkie echoed.

"You heard right."

Ken thought he could detect irritation in the inspector's voice and tried to look smart.

"The thing is and I don't like this any more than you'll like it, but drug's squad has requested two officers from this station to accompany a transport run."

"What sort of transport?" Yorkie asked.

"I was getting to that." Now he sounded definitely annoyed. "As you should know, evidence is normally returned once it is no longer needed. At least in most cases, with drugs that certainly isn't the case. Instead, they are taken to a special facility to be incinerated once they are no longer needed as evidence. Normally, that is drug squad business. But there has been some....concern about security. Apparently they are worried that details of the date and route of the transport might have gotten into the wrong hands, so they have decided to let someone from outside carry the risk and get the blame, should something go wrong. I frankly don't know why they have singled us out for the honor, but to make a long story short, you'll head over to drug squad and there the squad commander will brief you on all the details."

Ken still wasn't sure what it actually was that they were being ordered to do, but he thought that it was prudent to just nod. Either Yorkie Smith had been able to make sense of Conway's convoluted explanation, or he was thinking along similar lines, as he too was nodding eagerly.

"I see we understand each other. And just to make it clear, you aren't to discuss this assignment with anyone."

"Yes, sir," Ken and Yorkie replied in unison.

"Well, off you go. The drug squad commander is expecting you in twenty minutes."

oOo

Ken Melvin had driven through Sun Hill on many occasions, day and night in the line of his job, but now he was seeing their borough with different eyes. The drug squad commander had given them the details of their assignment and pointed out the route to the incineration facility, but he had also stressed, something that Inspector Conway had neglected to mention, that he didn't exactly rule out the possibility that their transport might be followed. He hadn't said it in so many words of course, but that was the distinct impression Ken had gotten. As a result, he was watching carefully for any sign that someone was on their trial, but so far had spotted nothing out of the ordinary. Their route was taking them across the city mostly through more quiet neighborhoods, probably in an effort to avoid the worst of the traffic, but still, things were moving slowly for the majority of the time.

"You know, this isn't so bad," Yorkie commented.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we could be out delivering warrants and getting ourselves stabbed."

"Why would we be getting ourselves stabbed?" Ken wasn't sure he was following.

"Haven't you heard. Brind got stabbed this morning while she was out with Sergeant Cryer. Apparently it's not looking good," Yorkie informed him.

"Oh, I hadn't heard, I'd just gotten in when Sergeant Peters told me that Conway wanted to see me in his office."

"I wonder if Conway will let us off early, after we're done with this."

"I wouldn't count...look out!" Melvin yelled, only now noticing that the vehicle in front of them had for some reason come to a sudden stop.

"Wha..." Yorkie began, but before he could finish, metal was already slamming against metal with a sickening crunch and both officers were thrown forwards by the raw force of the impact.

oOo

Ken Melvin didn't think he'd actually blacked out, but when he opened his eyes and found himself staring into the barrel of a gun, he realized that something must have happened.

His eyes quickly darted over to the driver's side of the van to see Yorkie in a similar predicament. Suddenly finding his mouth dry, he struggled to form the words.

"What do you want?" The masked man behind the gun, only cocked his head and looked over to his accomplice who was threatening Yorkie. Without exchanging a word, the man turned back to him.

"Get out of the car," he ordered.

"Okay, okay. Just don't shoot," Ken stammered.

The man moved backwards, allowing him to climb out of the car, but keeping the gun trained on him.

"What do you want from him?" Yorkie found his voice, sounding as frightened as Ken felt.

"Nothing you need to concern ourself with. Just keep still and do what I say, then I promise nothing will happen to you."

"What about my colleague?" Ken heard Yorkie ask, but he missed the answer for the man threatening him, grabbed him physically by the arm and dragged him from the van. Now Ken was getting a better look at what had happened. Unable to hit the brakes in time, Yorkie had crashed the van transporting the drugs into the vehicle in front of them. No doubt had the accident been staged, he realized now. He cast a quick look around, seeing if there was anyone around who might have seen what had happened and would alert the police. However the choice of the least populated route was working well in favor of the villains. No doubt they had chosen this spot well in advance with the purpose in mind to leave as few witnesses as possible to their crime.

The road they had been on led past an industrial estate and at the moment they were surrounded by warehouses, leaving no curious onlookers or passer-bys that might come to their rescue. Melvin and the gunman reached the sidewalk, while Yorkie and the other man remained in the van. Ken was wondering what they were planning. No doubt they were after the drugs, but why take him out of the car and leave Yorkie there.

A second later, the answer occurred to him and he didn't like it one bit. One officer was enough as a hostage. Two only increased the risk for the villains so most likely, they were going to get rid of him - permanently. As he was being forced towards a dilapidated warehouse, further and further from the street, he knew his fate was sealed. The man was going to kill him, leaving his body here where it wouldn't be found until much later. He needed to do something, He couldn't just let them kill him. His mind was screaming for him to come up with something, anything that would save his life. He considered jumping the man. Although the risk of getting shot would be high, it beat doing nothing and simply letting himself be gunned down.

"Don't even think about it or your friend's brain is going to get splattered all over the driver's seat!" the man warned, as if he had been reading his thoughts. They were no doubt playing on his face clear as day, robbing him of the element of surprise. He saw a glimmer of a chance emerge when they stepped behind a tower of crates, taking them out of view of the warehouse.

"Your radio," the man ordered, extending a hand. With shaking fingers, Ken complied and handed it over. The gunman put the radio into the pocket of his windbreaker. When Ken saw him straighten ever so slightly and his eyes met with cold determination, he knew that it was now or never.

"You'll never get away with this," he began desperately, having no idea what he could possibly say that would talk down the man.

"It might not seem like much of a consolation, but your death will serve a higher purpose." The statement seemed preposterous out of the mouth of a man who was going to kill him any second.

"What purpose would that be?" Ken plunged on, telling himself that as long as he kept talking, the man wouldn't kill him. There was nothing stopping him from pulling the trigger of course, but he needed to cling to hope for as long as he could. Hope dies last, right, he thought.

"Look you can tell me. You are going to kill me anyways, so at least let me know what great cause I'm going to die for," he challenged, idly wondering whether his voice really sounded this squeaky and terrified. It probably did.

"Look, tell me already!" he screamed, desperate not to die. He could see the hint of a smile on the man's masked face. Then, as if in slow motion, he saw him realign the gun. Ken Melvin ducked, aiming his elbow at the man's chin. Bone slammed into bone and the man let out of feral scream, as blood ran down his chin. He fired once, but missed. Ken started running. He was running for his life. He had no idea where he was running to, just not towards the road, his frantic mind instructed him. Because if he did that, the other man was sure to kill Yorkie and then they would both die. Ken didn't even turn around when a bullet hit a crate next to him. He kept running until his luck ran out and he came face the face with a solid wall. He turned around, but it was too late to turn back. The gunman had caught up with him and although his chest was heaving, he calmly strode towards Melvin, gun aimed at his head.

"Say hello to Colin Morris for me!" the man declared. The last thing Ken Melvin saw was the flash of the muzzle, then pain exploded in his head and he knew nothing more.

TBC