A/N: Giving credit to Hamtor for a particular phrase in this story!

Somewhere over South Dakota

Mike and Steve had seventy-two hours to reach their witness in remote northwest North Dakota, convince him to identify the suspect and return home to San Francisco. Under most circumstances this would be an adequate amount of time.

But time was not their friend on this trip.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the tower in Minot just informed me that they are in the midst of a wave of severe thunderstorms. We've been advised to stay clear of the area. We will be circling over South Dakota for a period of time until we get our next instructions," the pilot announced.

"Great. We'll never get there at this rate," Mike grumbled as he looked at his watch.

An hour later: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we've been informed that the storms have continued, along with substantial hail. The airport in Minot has been temporarily closed. We'll be landing in Rapid City. On behalf of the airline, our apologies for the inconvenience."

"You have got to be kidding me," Mike was exasperated.

"Now what do we do?" Steve inquired calmly.

"Settle down, Buddy boy. We'll see if we can get a rental car in Rapid City and drive up."

Steve suppressed a grin. Normally, when Mike said 'settle down' to Steve, or anyone for that matter, it generally meant that it was the senior partner who needed to take a deep breath.

They had the good fortune to find a car at the rental office in Rapid City given the fact that many passengers had been stranded. At the rental counter, the agent provided a map and told the detectives the driving distance to Minot was four hundred miles. "That will take at least seven hours," Steve calculated, "but there's nothing we can do but drive."

By the time they reached Minot, it was nine o'clock in the evening. Mike kept in touch with the Sheriff's office to keep them apprised of their status. Because the storm damage drained the rescue and law enforcement resources, there was no one available to take them out to the Rollins farm until morning.

Defeated in their hopes of reaching Rollins that day, the pair opted for a late dinner and called it a night.

SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF

Minot, North Dakota

The following morning, Mike and Steve met Deputy Perkins at the Sheriff's office. Perkins, a middle aged balding man with dark hair and a moustache extended his hand to the older detective and greeted them both with a warm smile. "Lieutenant, it's a pleasure to meet law enforcements officers from outside of the area."

As the men left the office, Perkins continued, "The Rollins live almost a half hour north of here. Perhaps on the way you can brief me on your case and I can fill you in a bit on the Rollinses."

"You know them well?" Steve asked.

"I went to school with John Rollins. He's a solid, God-fearing man and he has a good family. They are tight knit. He didn't want to go out to California in the first place, but he needed to for the farm. He distributes seed for one of the large rapeseed companies out of Canada. The training was mandatory. I doubt if he would have gone otherwise."

"I understand," Mike replied. "But unfortunately, he may have been a witness to a killing. Very likely it was a professional hit. We have a man in custody, but Mr. Rollins statement is critical to make the arrest stick."

The men got into the Ward County Sheriff's police car. Both out-of-towners took off their jacket and ties and laid them in the trunk. Mike took the front passenger seat, while Steve climbed into the back.

"We're not used to this stifling heat, Deputy. I hope you'll forgive us," Mike said.

"You city folks…no one wears a coat and tie around here anyway," Perkins smiled. After a few miles, the deputy continued. "Ward County stretches up quite a ways along the Des Lac river. The end of the county is only about seventeen miles south of the Canadian border."

"Oh, we're going to be that close to Canada?" Mike asked. Steve grinned at his partner. The one big thing he learned about Mike was the he was hell on wheels to travel with. Every aspect of the trip was exciting to the older detective.

"We won't go all that way, but yes we'll probably be a half hour south of Saskatchewan by the time we get to the Rollins."

"Those were some storms that went through yesterday. They even shut the airport down. Does that happen often?" Steve asked.

"Not really, but there was hail damage and the control tower was having problems. There's another line of storms coming through this morning too. Really, it's just too damned hot right now for this area. Something has to break. Look at how threatening those skies over to the west look. We could be in for more trouble."

SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF

The deputy and his guests drove up State Highway 52 until they reached any area called Donnybrook. In the distance, Steve saw a large butte among the rocky terrain, but on the east side, near the river, there was fertile farmland. Deputy Perkins followed one of the farm roads for several more miles.

"Talk about remote," Mike mentioned.

"Yes, most of these people are native to the area. Many are direct descendents of the settlers from the 1800's."

Deputy Perkins turned onto an even smaller road and drove over a one lane bridge which appeared to cross a small creek. "Don't ever see anything like this in San Francisco?" Deputy Perkins asked.

"No, sir. Not at all," Mike replied.

The trio passed a small farmhouse on the right. Steve saw a couple of children playing and an older woman hanging out clothes to dry. "I guess those people are the closest thing that the Rollins have to neighbors?" Steve speculated.

"You got that right," the deputy said as he continued to drive. "The older woman is John's aunt," Deputy Perkins smiled.

They reached the Rollins farm a quarter of a mile later. The farmhouse was a large two story structure with a wrap around front porch. John Rollins walked out onto the porch to get a glimpse of the two police detectives from San Francisco.

"John." Deputy Perkins greeted the farmer.

"Tommy." Rollins replied. The skies had turned very overcast and the wind had picked up.

"Sure is a hot one," the deputy said very dryly. "This is Lieutenant Mike Stone and his partner, Inspector Keller. They've come quite a ways to talk to you about something you may have witnessed in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago."

"I know why they are here," Rollins answered. He then nodded at Mike and said, "Sir. We talked on the phone a few days ago. Why don't you come on in and get out of the wind and heat?" he said as he turned around and went back through the front door. Mike looked at Steve and shrugged.

"Macy, get these men something to drink. Maybe ice tea or lemonade?" Rollins said to his wife.

This was encouraging, Mike thought. At least he was being hospitable. Perhaps he was open to talk about what he saw.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Rollins came out with the beverages and served the three officers and her husband. Steve caught a quick glimpse of an older heavy set woman sitting at the kitchen table when Mrs. Rollins entered the front room through the swinging door.

Taking the drink, Steve looked around and saw pictures of their family. The couple appeared to have four young children.

"Lieutenant, I appreciate the fact that you and your partner came out all this way, but I don't think there's much I can tell you that I didn't say before."

"But you saw the men that followed Valdez and Cruz onto the parking lot?"

"Yes sir, I did."

"And did you see them arguing?"

"Yes sir, I did."

"Did you see one of the men shoot the other two men?"

"Sir, before that point I knew that nothing good was going to happen. I turned around and went the opposite way back into the restaurant. You see, I was headed out to my rental car which was parked in the same lot. I saw the four men together and then I saw the one man pull a gun."

"You saw him pull a gun?" Mike felt like he struck pay dirt.

"Yes sir, but I didn't see him shoot. I decided it was bad news, so I turned back around."

"Mr. Rollins, do you think you could recognize these men if you were to see them again."

"Inspector, after the Lieutenant called, I thought long and hard about all of this. I don't want to get involved. I don't want to put my family at risk. I've said too much already."

"But Mr. Rollins, why do you think he'd go to that extreme? You are over one thousand miles away."

"I may be a simple man, but I can tell - the gunman was working for someone. I heard him say that 'the boss said you went too far.'"

Mike's ears perked.

"Please understand that we need your statement. And if you can identify the suspect, then we'll have a very strong case for conviction," Steve persisted.

"You can't promise me that. If this man were to get off, he could come out and do harm to my family. I can't put them at risk."

Mike began to lose his patience as he responded. "Well, Mr. Rollins, if this man were to get off, he could also kill more innocent people and…."

Suddenly one of the kids came into the room from outside. From the looks of it, the boy was around twelve years old. "The sky is all purple and green. We're in for another storm. Daddy, I think we should go down to the cellar."

At that moment, Macy Rollins also came in. "John, they are saying on the radio that a tornado has been spotted near here."

Steve looked over at Mike and raised his eyebrows.

"Gentlemen, we need to go downstairs. Macy, round up the kids and let's get grandma down there too," Rollins quickly responded. Steve presumed this was the woman sitting at the kitchen table.

"Can I help?" Deputy Perkins asked.

"Sure, you can help with Grandma. We have to carry her down the steps."

"What about us?" Steve asked. "How can we help?"

"I got four kids that need to be rounded up. Can you help Macy with that?"

"You got it," Mike said.

"Let's see, we know where the boy is. What about the other three?"

"One of the kids was up at our neighbor's playing with another child," Rollins said as he and Perkins had hold of the grandmother. "They usually come down here when the weather is bad since their house doesn't have a storm cellar."

The men headed to the porch and saw two young girls running down the dirt road. The first girl looked to be around seven. She was running faster than the other, smaller girl. Behind her was the older woman who was struggling to make it. It was same three they saw at the house a quarter of a mile away.

The wind picked up considerably and debris began to fly.

"You grab the first girl and help Macy. I'll run down and get the other girl and the woman," Steve shouted to Mike.

Mike nodded and made his way twenty yards to the first girl. "I got you baby, come with me and I'll take you to the cellar," he said as he picked her up in one movement and then turned towards the house. She gave little resistance.

Mike saw Macy holding onto the other two missing children by the hand. She looked over at Mike with fear in her eyes. The winds were now making it hard to walk. Marble sized hail began hitting the ground. She and the kids ducked their heads as they ran to the porch as fast as they could.

"The storm cellar is on the side. We need to get down there," she shouted to Mike. They dashed off the porch and around the corner.

As they neared the cellar, Mike, who was still holding the scared young girl in his arms, turned to check on his partner. Steve had the other little girl in one arm and the older woman by the elbow. The three were fifty yards away but struggled to stay on their feet.

Suddenly, the defining roar of a freight train sounded.

"This is it," Perkins yelled to Mike. "Into the cellar."

"But," Mike couldn't do anything other than point. All he could see was the hail coming down harder and larger. His eyes widened as he saw a rotating wall of dust and debris in the field on the other side of Steve.

"I'm sorry. We can't help them. It would be suicide to go out there now."