Steve felt Mike's strong bear paw reach across his chest the moment the first shot shattered the right-hand corner of the bay window. Unable to react fast enough himself, he tumbled backward, quickly losing his balance, before the strength of his friend's grasp tackled him to the ground and out of harm's way.

A second shot was fired, causing one of the ceramic planters nearby to explode into a million pieces as a haze of vaporized planting soil covered most of the floor. Steve landed hard on the dark gray carpeting near the dining room able, feeling Mike's weight on top of him, as the Lieutenant protectively wrapped his arms around the younger man.

The room fell silent for a brief moment, long enough to hear the powerful rumbling of a car engine along the street below, before a third shot was fired, this time hitting the chandelier above, then disappearing in the ceiling toward the guest room.

When he finally managed to gather his bearings, Steve brushed Mike's leg aside to reach for the .38 still holstered against his left hip. With the assortment of potato chips and glass shards crunching beneath his palms, he crawled back up onto his knees, careful to stay below their shooter's line of sight. The squealing of tires disrupted the silence as he approached the corner of the bay window and peaked down at DeHaro street, his eyes narrowed as he tried to make out the position of their assailant.

Movement off to the left caught his attention and he saw a set of square taillights leave the scene of the attack. Standing up and pressing his body against the window frame, Steve raised his revolver, momentarily considering a defensive shot but then hesitating when the increased distance to their suspect and countless spiderwebs from the broken glass caused poor visibility and shooting conditions.

As he lowered his gun, the fleeing car ran the stop sign on 24th, one of the nearby streetlights illuminating it enough to identify it as a dark blue LTD, before it disappeared around the corner.

Staying back for another few moments to ensure that the danger had passed, Steve dropped to one knee and leaned against the outer wall, breathing a sigh of relief that he'd been spared except for a few cuts and bruises.

It was then he realized that Mike was still lying on the living room floor, unmoving.