Chapter 12

"McCormick!" Hardcastle cried, reaching forward to separate the men. Matt fell flaccidly off of Mark, his shirt covered in blood. Still alive but unconscious and clearly badly injured, the bullet having struck him in the chest, he didn't appear to be a threat for the moment. Hardcastle quickly pushed away the gun out of reach, then turned to Mark, who too was covered in blood. "C'mon, kid, talk to me!" he pleaded as he rapidly assessed him.

Mark slowly stirred with a groan. "Judge?" he said hoarsely, struggling to sit up.

"Yeah, kiddo, it's me. No, just lay there, don't move."

"Ooh … Hope you got the number of the truck that hit me," Mark rasped, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Ssh, you're okay," Hardcastle soothed. "Just be quiet and let me check you out."

"Matt!" Mark eyes suddenly flew open in alarm, and he tried to sit up as he looked around frantically.

Hardcastle pressed him back gently but firmly. "He's over there, but he's not going to hurt you or get away. Relax."

Mark shook his curly head, his eyes becoming clearer. "I'm okay, Judge," he murmured, pushing again to sit up. "It's just my arm." He looked down at himself and the blood that covered his shirt. "I think most of this is from him."

"Hmmm," Hardcastle snorted, but he allowed Mark to sit up slowly. "Your nose is bleeding," he observed gruffly, handing him a handkerchief.

"Thanks. He head butted me," Mark said wearily, gingerly pressing the handkerchief to his nose. Now that the adrenaline rush was over, the bruises were really throbbing and his arm burned fiercely.

"Well, you're a sorry sight," Hardcastle sighed. Still, he was thankful the damage wasn't worse. He examined the nasty gash on Mark's arm where the bullet had ploughed through, grazing his skin, and winced. "Bet that hurts."

"Like hell," Mark agreed with a grimace. "What –" He stopped when he saw Frank's car, followed by a squad car, suddenly appear on the scene, screeching to a stop near them. Frank hurriedly exited his car and ran over to them.

"What happened?" he demanded. "Are you two alright?"

"We're okay," Hardcastle answered. "McCormick is a little beat up but he'll be fine. You'd better call an ambulance for Matt, though."

Frank told one of the cops to request an ambulance while the other watched Hollins. He then turned to Hardcastle and Mark and gave them a quelling look. "I thought I told you to wait until we arrived before approaching Hollins."

"Hey, we didn't start this!" Mark protested. "He suddenly took off after firing a shot at me."

Hardcastle placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Easy, McCormick. Just sit quietly until the ambulance gets here … and Frank, he's right." He went on to briefly explain how things unfolded.

Frank slanted Mark a look. "You okay if Milt takes you in to the hospital, or do you want me to call for another ambulance? I don't really want you to ride in with Hollins."

Mark shook his head. "I don't need to –"

"You're going," Hardcastle interrupted firmly. "That arm needs to be stitched, and you took quite a knock on the head. It's okay, Frank, I'll take him."

Frank nodded, his lips twitching as he viewed a pouting Mark. "Okay, then I'll finish up things here and will call you later. I'll be in touch tomorrow to get formal statements from both of you."

"Sounds good," Hardcastle replied, helping Mark to stand and nudging him towards the truck.

"Oh, no, I'm not leaving the Coyote sitting here on the side of the road!" Mark protested, refusing to move from the spot. He swayed slightly, and the judge steadied him, rolling his eyes with a slight shake of his head.

"Fine," Hardcastle sighed. "Well take the Coyote, but I'm driving. Frank, can you get someone to drive the truck back to the estate?"

"Sure, no problem, Milt," Frank replied, holding out his hand for the key.

"Thanks. Okay, hotshot, let's get moving," Hardcastle said, pointing to the Coyote.

Frank smiled as he heard Mark whine, "Aww, Judge, we don't have to go to the hospital," and Hardcastle's gruff, "Do you ALWAYS have to give me a hard time? I don't know why you can't just …"

Yep, seemed like everything was okay again with the Lone Ranger and Tonto.