Chin confirmed that attacker number two was dead and then he moved to the other man who was lying in an expanding pool of blood. Kicking his gun away he rolled the man onto his back and kneeling down he grabbed the dying man by the shirt collar pulling his head off the ground.
The detective spoke angrily, "You're dying….it's over! You've got time to redeem yourself. Do the right thing, tell me who sent you!"
The man's lips moved as blood spilled from his mouth. He spoke so softly that Chin could not hear him. Chin pulled him closer to his ear, "What? Who sent you?"
With his dying breath the man said a word that sent a chill down Chin's spine, "Cccop"
'Cop', what in the hell? Laying the now dead man back onto the pavement, Chin raced back to Danny and Steve.

Steve was lying with his head in Danny's lap. Danny had taken his shirt off and he was holding it firmly against the side of Steve's head. Looking at the blood-soaked shirt Chin gasped, "Oh my God"
Danny looked up and to Chin's relief he heard a familiar voice, Steve's saying "Shit Danno, that hurts. Take it easy!"
"So... what? You want me to let you bleed to death here? Knock it off partner and cooperate"
Chin sighed deeply and knelt down, "Where is he hit?"
"It bounced off this thick skull of his"
Chin grinned, "Are you hurt anywhere else Steve?"
"My shoulder…..it's dislocated…...otherwise, I'm good"
"Danny, you okay?"
"Yeah…..you?"
Chin responded, "I'm fine. They're both dead. Guys we've got to get the hell out of here. Before one of them died…I asked who sent him them"

Danny helped Steve sit and keeping the shirt to his head the SEAL spoke, "Who?"
"He said one word, 'cop'"
Danny had moved to his knees and he held a hand to Steve's shoulder, "Shit…..they aren't only after Matty"
Steve looked at Chin, "Chin, check their truck for anything that could help us, take pictures of their ID's and take their fingerprints…..hurry"

As Chin raced away, Steve looked to Danny, "Can you help me up?"
Danny stood and then as Steve held his injured left arm tightly against his body, Danny pulled him to his feet. Steve staggered and Danny held him, steadying him. Steve's right hand had dropped to his side and the wound was bleeding freely.
Danny grabbed Steve's hand pulling it up, "Hold that shirt up there babe. Are you dizzy?"
"A little bit. Just get me into the car"
"Let me set that shoulder first partner"
Danny closed the door and he leaned Steve up against the car. The injured man's pain was obvious. His teeth were clenched tightly and his breathing came in short, pained gasps.

Danny held his hands against Steve's chest, "You ready?"
"Yeah….just do it"
Danny moved quickly and he efficiently pushed the shoulder back against the SUV while yanking the arm downward pulling it back into its socket. Steve screamed in anguished, "OH SHIT!" dropping the shirt to the ground as he grabbed the shoulder.
Danny held Steve's arms, "Okay, its' done babe….relax"
Steve's eyes were closed and he leaned his head back sighing deeply, "I'm good…I'm good….I'm good"
"Just take a minute" Danny slipped his t-shirt over his head and folding it he placed it against the head wound. "Here hold this now and DON'T drop it, I'm out of shirts"

Steve grinned, "K' sorry…."
"Okay you big goof, let's get you into the car"
Picking up his blood soaked shirt from the ground Danny used it to wipe the glass from the seat and then he helped Steve into the SUV.
"Steve, listen to me. You stay here and keep pressure on that head"
"Yes Danno"

Danny then brushed the glass from the front seats and throwing the bloody shirt onto the floor he started the car.
"Good, it's running. I'm going to go help Chin, DON'T MOVE Steven!"
"I hear you, I hear you….hurry up, we've gotta go"
Danny looked up, "Actually, Chin's coming"
With the passenger side doors crushed inward and being unable to open, Danny crawled over the seat to sit with Steve while Chin jumped into the driver's seat, throwing some items onto the seat next to him.

Danny called out, "Get us out of here Chin!"
"Hang on" Thankfully the SUV was drivable and as soon as they were back on the road Danny dialed Kono.

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"Yeah Danny"
"Kono, we were hit. Are you two together?"
"Yes….are you all okay?"
"Steve's hurt" Kono heard the SEAL call out, "I'm fine Kono!"
Danny added, "He'll live. Lock the door sweetheart, we'll be there shortly. And Kono, don't let ANYONE in, the local cops are involved in this somehow"
"Okay Danny….…be safe"
"You too"

Chin looked in the rear-view mirror, "Are you okay Steve?"
"Yeah, did you find anything Chin?"
"They appear to be just two local thugs, young punks. There was a notebook in the car…and pictures"
Danny jumped in, "What kind of pictures?"
Chin sighed "Pictures of you two"
Danny responded, "Great…..just great"

Steve added, "Chin? We're not being followed are we?"
"No, there's nobody else on the road"
"Danny, call the girls back. If local cops are involved in this we can't stay there"
"Yeah, the cops knew where we were staying"

Danny dialed Kono again, "Kono, I need you two to be ready to leave when we get there. We're going to check into different hotel…...yeah sure"
He turned to Steve, "Catherine wants to talk to you"
Steve began to move his injured arm and Danny stopped him, "Keep still, I'll hold the phone"
Danny held the phone to Steve's ear, "Cath? I'm fine...A truck crashed into us and then the men came out shooting…a bullet grazed the side of my head, that's all….don't worry baby, I've got a think skull….no one else was hit, we're all just bumped up a bit. We'll be there shortly, just be ready to leave…I love you too baby, bye"

Hanging up the phone, Danny put his hand over Steve's and then pulled his partner's hand down, "I've got you, close your eyes and rest 'til we get there"
Steve didn't argue. He hurt like hell. His head was throbbing, his shoulder was throbbing and his stomach pains from the withdrawal had been pretty intense since they had gotten off the plane.

Sighing deeply, Steve leaned his head back and tried to relax even though this head was spinning and the sensation of nausea was horrible. He must have actually dozed off and he woke as the SUV came to a stop at the side entry of the hotel.

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As Chin went inside to get Kono, Catherine and their bags, Danny asked, "Are you awake partner?"
"Yeah…..I'm kinda dizzy"
Danny leaned across him and opened the car door so the dome light would come on. He then said, "Lean back, let me take a look at you"

Steve did as he was told and Danny pulled the second blood-soaked t-shirt from Steve's head. After taking a quick glance at the wound he pushed the shirt back onto it, "Ouch….."
"Oh come on tough guy, it's not that bad! You've lost a lot of blood but it's slowed a lot. Here, keep pressing" Steve brought his hand back up to grab the shirt as Danny looked out the back window.

"You see something Danno?"
"I don't know…..a car just drove by slowly" Crawling over Steve, Danny exited the car. He pointed a finger at Steve saying, "Don't move"
Steve nodded, watching as Danny drew his gun from his waistband and moved swiftly to the back of the vehicle. They were parked next to a van and as Steve watched, Danny disappeared behind the van.

Moments later as Danny stood between two trucks a few feet from the SUV his attention was drawn to a noise behind him.
Spinning around with gun drawn he stopped dead in his tracks as he faced his partner. His heart was pounding out of his chest, "Jesus Christ Steven! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Why are you out the car?"

Blood streaked down the SEAL's cheek and neck as he responded, "I thought you might need a hand partner. What do you see?"
"You almost gave me a heart attack"
"I'm sorry, now tell me…what do you see?""
"Nothing. They might have just driven through the lot" Danny threw his hands into the air, "You're bleeding again! What's wrong with you huh? Why can't you follow simple instructions?"

"Danny, calm down…..I'm fine"
"Well you look like hell. Come on let's get back to the car"
Danny grabbed his arm and they began to walk towards the SUV. Suddenly Steve dropped to his knees and began vomiting.
Danny knelt next to him, rubbing his back and talking to him softly "Relax…get it all out….relax"
As Steve finished, his body was shaking. "Damn…..I'm sorry Danno"
"You've got nothing to be sorry for…relax buddy"
A few moments later, Steve pushed himself up onto his knees. He instantly grabbed at his injured left arm cradling it to his body.
Danny helped him to his feet and keeping a hand around his waist to steady him they walked back to the SUV.

He got him back into the car just as the other approached. Holding the shirt back to his head he told Danny, "Go help them, I'm fine"
Danny opened up the back of the SUV and as he and Chin loaded their bags Catherine and Kono went to check on Steve.
Danny opened his bag grabbing a clean shirt and soon they were all in the SUV, ready to leave.

Kono and Cath had climbed in next to Steve and Cath was attempting to clean him up with a wet hotel towel.
Danny was in the front passenger seat holding onto the evidence they had.
As Chin was backing out Danny said, "Go to the right Chin and drive slow. Someone may have followed us"
Not seeing any suspicious vehicles or anyone sitting in a car, they pulled out onto the road and drove away from the hotel.

******* Hope you're enjoying – more to follow…soon! ********