"Get up! I said get up!" James reached out and grabbed his sobbing fiancée by the wrist and dragged her to her feet. "Who did you call? Did you call my mother?"

"It was the police, James," she responded, still in tears and trembling.

"Why? What are you doing?"

"You're scaring me!" she seethed between clenched teeth, snot and spittle spraying wildly as she choked on the words. "You shot at me."

He paused for a moment, confused. He still clenched her wrist tightly. "Yes… I'm… I'm sorry," he struggled to say. "I just want my stuff, Katie."

"I don't have it," she blared once more, desperate for him to understand—but it was clear he wasn't going to comprehend what was going on. The revelation that his stash was gone reignited the anger that had subsided for just a moment. He tossed her on the bed forcefully and then looked out the curtains down into the courtyard of the apartment complex. He could see an array of police cars, an ambulance, two suburbans and a large police truck he'd never seen before. There were dozens of people being led away from the front entrance by police officers and still more gathering in big crowds around a cordon the police had established across the street. It didn't take long…

"Damn it," he grumbled, pacing back and forth and scratching his temple with the barrel of his pistol. "What have you done, Katie?"

The Alpha element of Team One now advanced steadily down the hallway after reaching the ninth floor. Ed Lane was in the lead, his MP5 up and at the ready, the butt stock tucked tightly in the pocket of his shoulder. His eyes peered attentively down the hall above the rotating rear diopter drum of his closed type iron sights. Wordy was the number two man close behind and Jules was bringing up the rear.

"Boss, we're on the ninth floor and we'll be at the subject's apartment momentarily," Ed briefed Team One's Sergeant calmly over the radio.

"Very good, Ed. Keep it tight and quiet. I don't want this guy knowing you're there yet."

"Copy that."

Alpha moved fluidly down the hall, covering every angle. They moved in a stack, a line formation where each member stayed close behind the member to their front. It was the ideal formation and movement style in an urban setting, especially in an indoor environment. It was most commonly used by SWAT teams and military units alike.

After a few moments the trio arrived outside the apartment belonging to Katie Moore and James Webley. "We're here, boss." Ed Lane pointed the muzzle of his submachine gun at the door, holding security on it. Any possible threat had to be covered at all times; doorways, windows, and un-cleared avenues were all considered danger areas and the only way to mitigate the risk was to train your muzzle on the site and be alert for any possible threat. "Wordy, let's get a snake in there."

Wordy, wordlessly, stepped out from the stack and slung his submachine gun tight against his chest. He took his assault kit bag off his back and immediately fished around inside it looking to draw out his snake camera and the remote viewing monitor that accompanied it.

Jules glanced at Wordy and Ed both for just a moment, then kept her eyes fixated down the hall from whence they came. At the moment they believed the threat was still confined to the apartment, but there was no telling whether or not he had left and was at large somewhere inside the complex. As a result they had to provide 360 degrees of security for themselves to operate safely within, so Jules was responsible for rear security at least until they confirmed that the armed subject was still inside the apartment.

Wordy worked quickly, if not as deftly as he had in the past. He struggled a bit to piece together the various parts of the surveillance system. It was a quick routine, attach the snake cam to the monitor and any additional extensions one might need but Wordy was a bit unsteady and Ed noticed. "You doing all right?"

"Yeah," Wordy muttered as he finally attached the camera to the monitor. "Just a little amped today. Too much coffee this morning." Ed didn't respond.

Wordy finished his assembly work and began to press the miniature snake camera between the crack in the base of the door and floor. It took some maneuvering but he finally got the camera lens inside. He brought up the picture on the small monitor and studied it suspiciously. To the left of the door was a small family room, two ratty blue sofas, an old television, a black coffee table and some discarded pairs of shoes. He jiggled the camera and pointed to the right of the door in search of the apartment's occupants. To the right he saw a small eating area with a simple wooden table surrounded by matching chairs and an adjacent kitchenette with aging appliances. But there was no sign of Katie Moore or James Webley.

"I've got nothing," Wordy reported.

"Yeah, we've got a good signal down here too, Wordy," Parker replied. "Don't see anyone either. Okay, Spike, let's give the apartment a call and see if anyone answers."

"Dialing now," Spike said, handing the phone to Parker.

James was still pacing back and forth in the bedroom trying to make sense of the madness in his life. His woman, the woman he loved had betrayed him. She had taken away the only thing that had made his life sufferable. And it wasn't the first time she had done it. "I just… I just don't know why you don't care… Why you have to cause these problems for me, Katie."

"Cause you problems?" Katie asked implacably. "You act like I haven't been through what you're going through right now, baby. I know how you're feeling, I understand the control it has on you, but you have to fight it. This is for us, for our future."

"No! You have no idea about the pain I'm suffering from. It's the only way to stop the pain in my heart… the thoughts in my mind." He snapped. "You've broken our trust, you've… you've caused some serious problems for me right now." His heart was racing and his muscles ached. His mind was running a mile a minute and a million different thoughts were scattered throughout his brain. His girl didn't care about him, only herself now. She was using him for a place to stay, or his mother had gotten to her and told her not to trust him. That was it; his mother had cast him out of her life because of distrust and was making Katie do the same thing now.

Suddenly the phone rang, startling them both. James looked at it with a perplexed look emblazoned upon his face. His mouth was dry and he licked at his lips continuously trying to return some moisture to the region, but it was no good. His breathing increased and his heart fluttered rapidly. He started scratching his head severely and tugged at locks of his hair. He growled and groaned as his appetite surged deep within his bowels. "I need my fix, Katie!"

Still the phone rang, and the incessant tone aggravated James increasingly. He stomped over and picked it up, staring at it like it was a tormentor of some kind built only to exacerbate his desire for something he couldn't attain. He was sweating still and shook his head growling as he finally answered the phone.

"What?" he demanded on the line.

"James?" a voice asked plaintively. "Is this James Webley?"

"Yes, what do you want?" He was tugging at his hair again and pacing around the room while Katie watched silently. Her crying had subsided somewhat now as his attention was drawn to the telephone.

"Hi James; this is Sergeant Greg Parker with the Strategic Response Unit. I'm calling to see if everyone is doing okay in there," the voice announced coolly.

James was silent for a moment. Dodgy, red eyes darted over at Katie who sat quietly on the bed still. "Yes," he blurted with a snort. "We're fine. Everyone is fine. Why wouldn't we be fine?"

His words were slurred and he spoke at a rapid rate. Sergeant Parker believed he was under the influence of some kind of substance. He covered the receiver of his phone and spoke to his team. "Looks like our subject may have fallen off the wagon," he explained. Then spoke back into the telephone. "James, there was a 911 phone call from your apartment and gunshots were heard. I want to know you're okay."

"I told you I'm fine!"

"And Katie? Is Katie there with you?" Parker pressed. He dabbed his lips with his tongue and looked at Spike with expectant eyes. Spike's mouth hung open a bit as he awaited the reply. Was Katie dead or hurt?

James sniffed a bit and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a wobbly forearm. He looked at Katie again, trying to fight back the rage that emanated from his insides. He was furious with her. He was silent, yet his body quivered with a need that embodied his very soul. "Yes, she's fine. She's here."

"That's good, James. Let's talk about letting some officers and paramedics in there just to check on you guys okay?"

"James, please!" Katie pleaded.

He whirled on her and threatened with another slap. "Shut up!" he shouted. "No, no one is coming in here. This is between me and her. Do you understand me?"

"James I'm just here to help, buddy." Parker urged. "Can you tell me what you need to help both of you?" But there was no reply. The phone line was cut off. "He hung up," Parker reported to the team.

"Boss, I'm in position and I've got eyes on the apartment," Sam suddenly informed.

"What do you see?"

"I've got clear sightlines into the family room and kitchen, but no one is there," he stated, confirming Alpha's earlier report. There was a pause before he spoke again. "Okay, I can see movement inside the bedroom, but I can't tell who is who. Curtains are covering most of the window."

"Boss," Ed suddenly chimed.

"Yeah, Ed?"

"We've got a new development."

Spike and Parker's eyes were drawn back to the feed being piped to their screen from the snake camera that Wordy had installed. They saw James dragging Katie out of the bedroom by the wrist. The woman struggled with some effort but he struck her and she relented. He pulled her further into the hall and began to drag her toward the family room. The woman had brown hair, was young and was fairly small in stature, but what drew their attention was her physical state. Spike and Parker's eyes both widened from what they saw.

Ed's voice continued on the radio then as he reported what the two in the command truck could already see. "Boss, this lady is pregnant."