The four watched as the building exploded into flames. All their mouths dropped as the fire

"Nobody could've gotten out of that!" Alex exclaimed, in horror.

"Let's just hope Frank and Michelle were far enough away from it before it blew," Cody mentioned.

"We can't hope just yet. We don't know how long it took them to get to wherever. They still could be in his apartment for all we know!" Monica said, sounding upset.

"We'll just have to wait and see," sighed Jake as they all looked at the destroyed building before them.

00000

Michelle groaned as she tried to push herself up, only to find something keeping her down. She turned her head to find the unconscious form of Frank on top of her. She gasped at the sight, the tears forming in her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the injuries to his back.

"Frank, what have you done?" she wondered as she stared at the burns on his back. She moved out from under him, before trying to stand on the now unstable floor. "We must have been closer to it than we originally thought but why aren't we dead? We both should be dead now."

She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked around the place. They were at the top of the stairs. She figured that they must have been protected somewhat by the nearby walls from the blast.

"What can I do? I just can't leave him here," she said before looking at him.

She knew what her course of action was now.

00000

Joseph watched the building from afar. He laughed as the firefighters put out the flames. He noticed the four nearby. "What are you going to do now? Both of them are gone and there's nothing you can do to stop me. I can do anything and not get caught. I'm after all of you now!" Joseph told himself before walking away into the shadows.

Michelle began to head towards the stairs, carefully walking down them. She knew she had to get out of there before anything else happened to them. Somehow, she managed to drag Frank's much larger frame down the stairs. It wasn't easy, and she looked back up at the area where they were just standing.

"What have I gotten these people into?" she asked herself before taking another step.

A dull pain kept coursing through her arm and knee but she didn't care as she headed for the front door.

00000

Jake sat in driver's seat of the car as Monica sat beside him.

"It's my fault. Once Alex and I found out there was a bomb, we should've gotten Frank and Michelle out first, then found that guy later. Without her, this case has nowhere to go and we were supposed to protect her!" Jake said with a hand on his head.

"Listen, it's not your fault. It's the fault of this guy that's after her. He's the one who committed these crimes and he's the one who wants to kill Michelle," Monica told him.

"Look!" came Cody's voice.

The two looked at him to see he was pointing at the building.

"What's wrong Cody?" Monica called over to him.

"Nothing's wrong! It's them! They survived the blast!" he cried.

"No, they didn't. How could they?" Jake said.

"Yes, they did!" Cody retorted as he ran for the building.

"Cody, wait!" yelled Alex, reaching out for him but he was soon out of range.

Cody hurried up to a couple of the firefighters and began talking to them, pointing as he was doing so. They looked in the direction he was aiming at and they hurried to where Cody was talking about.

"Hey, over here!" called one of the fire fighters. "We need some help over here."

He started to move some fallen rubble off the two people as the paramedics ran over and immediately began treating them.

Monica, Alex and Jake looked on as they saw the two being pulled out of the debris. They gasped when they saw it was indeed Frank and Michelle.

The team hurried to the hospital after the ambulance. They were surprised when they saw Frank alive, but by what they saw of him, he didn't look too well. They hurried into the lobby, worried about both him and Michelle.

A doctor walked up to them. "How can I help you?" he asked the group.

"A man just came in here. So did a young girl," Alex told him.

"Oh yes, them. Come with me," the doctor told them, leading the way.

The four followed him to a nearby room, where they patiently waited for news. Soon, they heard footsteps outside the room and Michelle walked in.

"Michelle, are you alright?" Cody asked her.

She nodded as she crossed her arms. "I'm fine. I'm worried more about Donovan right now," she replied as she limped over to a chair and sat down in it.

"What exactly happened?" asked Monica.

"We unknowingly passed the bomb. We were at the top of the stairs when it went off. Donovan shielded me from the blast. I don't know why he did it but he did," she told them, leaning against her arm. "The injuries I saw weren't good at all."

Cody, Monica and Jake all looked at each other with worry in their eyes. Alex's stare went over to the door to see a doctor standing there.

"How is he?" she asked him, heading over to him.

"He's in serious condition. If he's going to live, the next several hours are critical. He has severe burns on his back from the blast; the scars will probably be there for the rest of his life. Whoever did this knew what they were doing," he replied as the Cody and Jake joined them.

"Can we see him?" wondered Jake.

"Not right now, maybe in a little bit. He's still unconscious and he's lost a serious amount of blood," replied the doctor.

They nodded and turned back to Michelle, who handed Monica a videotape.

"What's this?" she asked.

"That evidence that can put Joseph Denner behind bars for good. It's the murder I witnessed a couple years ago. I managed to catch it on tape," she replied with a sigh, putting a hand up to her face. "Stupid knee."

"Not broken, is it?" wondered Cody.

She shook her head. "Just bruised, that's all. Same with the wrist," she replied.

"Joseph Denner, you say? I've heard of him," Monica told the others.

"You have?" asked Michelle, a bit surprised.

"Yes. I met him one day while I was shopping. He dropped a package and I picked it up for him. We started talking. I haven't seen him since," she replied, shocked that he would be responsible for all this. 'So he's our man?'

"We better keep guard on Frank during his stay, we don't want Mr. Denner to visit him while he's here," suggested Alex.

The others nodded in agreement but Michelle appeared to be slightly worried as she limped out of the waiting room. The teenager looked from side to side before quickly stepping into Frank's room. Her eyes showed great sadness as she gazed at his unconscious form. She folded her arms on the side of the bed and placed her head in them

"I'm so sorry I ever brought you into this," she whispered to him, a single tear sliding down her face.

TBC...