Sorry for the delay in posting the next chapter but life is kinda crazy.

Thankyou to everyone who has taken time to review. If you are reading this story I'd love to know what you think.

Chapter Nine

The muffled sound of someone yelling was the thing that finally broke through the haze. It was ingrained for a cop to go to the aid of someone in trouble and it sure sounded like someone was in trouble. Hutch lifted his head off his chest and struggled to get to his feet. His head pounded and a sudden spike of pain in his midriff nearly knocked him back to the ground. He slowly pulled himself to his feet and stumbled back slightly before managing to get himself steadied. He glanced around at his surroundings and briefly wondered where he was. It was short lived though as another yell ripped the cold morning air and he staggered towards the sound. Whoever was doing the shouting was female but that was as far as his mind could process. It was coming from uphill a little and he half climbed, half crawled up the slope towards the sound. A moment later he saw the overgrown entrance to an old drainage pipe and his suspicion was confirmed when angry words echoed through the opening.

He looked around for a weapon before settling on a short but solid length of tree branch. The effort of getting that far was taking its toll and his vision was beginning to blur over again. Before he could go any further he saw a boy of about 13 or 14 come running out of the tunnel.

It was scarcely moments later that a girl appeared out of the trees and ran towards the tunnel entrance. She didn't even glance in his direction but he noticed that the shouting had stopped. He stared at the tunnel entrance for a minute as his brain tried to catch up with what he was taking in. The shouting had stopped.

Instinct quickly kicked in again and he stumbled towards the tunnel again. The shouting had stopped. Maybe whoever had come running out of that tunnel had made sure of that. Under normal circumstances it would have only been a few long strides to reach the top but today was far from normal. Hutch found himself wheezing as he pushed back the scrappy vegetation over the tunnel entrance and eased inside. He could hear voices echoing off the walls but couldn't make out the words. He had just about reached the limit of his energy and he leaned heavily on the wall as he followed the tunnel a little further.

A scream bounced off the walls and again it was more instinct than anything that made the detective stop in his tracks. He caught sight of two figures ahead of him and realised the screaming was coming from the one closest to him. Maybe the boy he'd seen running out had returned and he automatically slipped into defense mode. The only weapon he had was the tree branch and he raised his arm while turning back to see who was behind him.

A hard shove from his right was enough to send him flying towards the tunnel wall. He was too slow to react and he felt himself being slammed against the wall as an explosion of pain ripped through his side. He had a vague idea that the ribs he had cracked the night before had just given out but he grunted in agony and made a feeble attempt to swing the tree branch towards his attacker. He raised his arm again and suddenly the teenager beside him began to back away. He didn't think he was that threatening but for some reason the girl suddenly looked terrified. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew there was another one but right now he could only focus on the one in front of him.

"Don't … I mean … man there's no reason to … " The last words trailed away as the girl turned and ran to grab her sister. It took a moment for it to register that the teenager had seen his gun holster. He subconsciously reached in to pat it but his fingers came up empty.

Hutch leaned against the wall and tried to draw a breath. His stomach was on fire but now he also found it impossible to pull a breath without his vision blurring over. Pain spiked through his chest and he felt himself sliding down the wall.

Another voice rang out but his mind couldn't process the words. As he passed out the last thing he saw was two terrified young faces staring at him.

Nikki grabbed her sister by the arm and yanked her away from the stranger on the ground.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Nikki muttered, more to herself than anything.

"I dunno where he came from. He just, he just …." The words drifted away as the distressed young girl gave in to the panic that overwhelmed her. Her sister hugged her tighter and stared at the stranger. Something about him was familiar but she didn't think she had seen him around their makeshift camp. She knew most of the homeless people in the area by sight even though she tried hard to avoid actually speaking with any of them. The boy who had been rummaging through their things was someone she had only seen once before but this guy was from somewhere else.

It was a good ten minutes before either of the girls had stopped shaking and they slowly disentangled themselves from each other. The stranger hadn't moved from where he had dropped to the floor. While Jess seemed to be unaware of why he had collapsed, Nikki had heard the groan of pain before he fell. She had only pushed him into the wall and she knew he certainly hadn't been hurt by her.

Her mind was racing and she finally decided she needed to take advantage of the fact he was still unconscious. She gently pushed her sister aside and scooted over towards the man. If nothing else, she needed to remove whatever weapon he had that he could use against them. Her heart was in her mouth as she grabbed hold of his jacket and she was surprised to find it was damp. She swallowed down her fear and pulled back the jacket to get to his gun holster.

"What!"

Jess crouched down beside her.

"It's empty." Nikki sat back on the ground and shook her head. "Who wears a holster without a gun?" Suddenly another idea sprang to mind. "Maybe he stashed it in his belt or something." She had seen enough television shows and movies to know that people sometimes concealed weapons.

It was one thing to pull back a jacket but quite another to search a grown man. Nikki glanced at her sister before pulling at the man's jacket again and reaching around his waist. She came up empty handed but then quickly reached into his back pockets in the hope that he wouldn't wake up any time soon. Her fingers seized on something leather and she quickly slid out a brown wallet. At least now she would know who he was, even if it still didn't give her any idea why he was there.

Just like the rest of him, the wallet was soggy and she quickly flipped it open. What was inside wasn't at all what she had been expecting and she dropped it like it had burnt her. The shiny metal shield glared at her from the ground and she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. Michael had sent someone after them! Why else would a cop be here and trying to hit her with a tree branch? The erratic thoughts kept bouncing at her for another minute or so before she realised how ridiculous she was being. After all, Michael was dead!

Jess reached out and picked the wallet up off the ground. The picture inside of a blonde man looked nothing like the man lying on the ground in front of her.

''Detective Sergeant Kenneth Hutchinson." She stared at the stranger before looking back at her sister. Nikki didn't seem to have heard her and she was just about to repeat it when she grabbed the wallet out of Jess's hand.

"Hutchinson?" She stared at the ID photo and screwed up her face.

"I thought you might be hungry."

The words had been spoken a lifetime ago. At least that was how it felt after weeks on the streets.

"Nikki?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you, what's wrong?"

She shook her head as if she could shake away the memory.

"Nothing Honey. I just … I mean … he's a cop! And we need to get out of here before any more of them show up."

She stood up and shoved the wallet into her back pocket. Jess was still crouched down beside the stranger and she grabbed at her shoulder to make her move.

"C'mon! Grab everything and let's get out of here."

"But Nik … what about him?"

"He'll wake up soon enough and when he does he'll call for help. Before you know it this place is going to be crawling with cops and we have to move!"

Jess reluctantly stood up and began to follow her sister's instructions. After all Nikki had kept her safe since they had left home. If Nikki said it was time to move then it was time to move. She watched her sister head to the back of their temporary home and begin to stuff their few possessions into a backpack.

Somebody had turned up the furnace. He needed to tell them to dial it back but he couldn't seem to find anybody to tell.

Jess watched intently as the man on the ground groaned again. He had seemed to be asleep but now she wasn't so sure. He muttered something incoherent and waved his arm feebly as though he were swatting away a fly.

Jess didn't like being anywhere near the man but she wasn't sure if it was because he frightened her or worried her. Maybe it was both. She crept over closer but still managed to keep out of arm's reach. It was safer that way. She leaned in to see the man's face and noted that it was flushed.

"Just like Michael's," she thought bitterly. "Are you just a drunk too?" As she whispered the words to the blonde stranger he shifted slightly in his sleep. The movement seemed to cause him pain because he cried out and his eyes flung open. For a moment he stared around wildly and tried to take in his surroundings.

Hutch locked eyes with the young girl in front of him and frowned in confusion. It took a moment to register that he was lying on the ground but once it did, he began to pull himself upright. The movement caused a sharp spike of pain down his side and he hissed in a breath through gritted teeth. He tried to breath through it but that just made him dizzy. He gave up on trying to sit up and just concentrated on stopping the world from spinning instead.

Before he could examine the cause of his pain he looked up to see the girl backing away from him in fear. Something in the back of his mind asked why she would be looking at him with fear plastered all over her face and he tried to speak to reassure her. Nothing would come out and he realised his tongue felt like it was glued to the top of his mouth.

Jess scooted as far away from him as she could and pressed herself up against the wall. The man reached out a hand towards her and she tried to push herself even further into the wall but there was no give in the hard concrete. He mumbled something about not hurting her but she'd heard that one before. When the stranger raised his arm she got another glimpse of a gun holster. Nobody carried a gun if they weren't prepared to use it.

Jess barely stifled a scream as someone grabbed her from behind. She hadn't heard her sister approach and she breathed a sigh of relief as Nikki tried to push her down the tunnel and away from the stranger.

"C'mon! We have to go. Now!" Jess grabbed hold of one of the backpacks and hefted it onto her shoulder. As she rounded the bend in the tunnel she glanced back over her shoulder. The stranger was asleep again.