Hello, thank you so much for the kind reviews. It certainly has encouraged me to continue!

Thanks again to NighOwl22 for the comments, to improve my writing.

I really hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and I'm looking forward to reading your reviews again.

Chapter 2: Un(h)armed?

Harry had so much hoped that Dempsey would be at her doorstep, and was slightly disappointed to look into the eyes of Spikings and Chas.

What would they be doing here at this hour? They already needed her at the office? Surely, they knew she wasn't supposed to come back until Monday! As the next two days, she would still be occupied with the last preparations for the exhibition at the museum. Or maybe something had happened? No, that's impossible. Joyce would surely have told her.

At Harry's request, Sergeant Joyce Hargraeves had kept her up to date on SI10's latest investigation and especially about Dempsey's whereabouts. Joyce had told her all about the big operation and how intense it had been at SI10 these last few days. All detectives had worked together to catch some major arms dealers. They had been occupied with surveillances, undercover operations, and ultimately the big raid on the warehouse yesterday evening where they had caught the arms dealers red-handed.

Harry had been musing about her work with SI10, and could imagine the atmosphere at the office during such a big case: the excitement, the action, the tension building up. It was at these moments when you could feel the adrenaline flowing through your entire body, and you were too wired to feel the fatigue. She regretted deeply that she wasn't involved in the case. But most of all she feared Dempsey would get himself hurt. She knew how reckless he could be at these moments. He absolutely had no restrictions when doing a raid. He'd just barge into the place and arrest every crook he could find on his way, regardless any possible danger around him. When she had reprimanded him about it for the umpteenth time after their last raid together, he had put his arm loosely over her shoulder and stated with broad grin "Well, partner, this is where you come in! I'm countin' on you to cover my back, and you can leave the rest to me." She had simply rolled her eyes at him, knowing it was pointless to argue with him about his recklessness.

Joyce had told her laughingly that Spikings kept a close eye on him and how frustrated Dempsey was, feeling the boss breathing down his neck the whole time. Upon hearing this, Harry had raised an eyebrow as she feared it would result either in the boss having a heart attack, or her partner going through the roof. Eventually, Spikings had him teamed up with Watson and Dave, hoping they would be able to keep him in check and restrain him if necessary. Nevertheless, Harry wasn't sure if they would be able to stop him from doing stupidities.

She knew that the big raid had taken place yesterday evening. She'd had that gnawing feeling all day that something had gone wrong. She couldn't concentrate at work, and she thought about going to the office to check on the operation. But she was afraid of the questions and laughter of her colleagues, and she didn't want to stir up the gossip even more, about her and her partner.

So, when Joyce had called her that evening to tell her everything had gone well and nobody had been badly injured, words couldn't have described the feeling of relief she'd felt. It was all over, and he was safe! She wasn't in the least surprised to hear that Watson and Dave hadn't been able to restrain him. As a matter of fact they had let themselves be influenced by him, just like he had always managed to do to her while working together. In the end, Dempsey and Watson had ended up with some bruises and Dave had been shot in the arm. But, after all, it could have been a lot worse, she comforted herself. Harry gently shook her head - she could well imagine Dempsey's cavalier behaviour. Would he ever change?

Although Joyce had assured her that everything had gone well, she so wanted to see Dempsey to see for herself that he was unharmed. She'd had a strange gut feeling all day that something wasn't right, as if she could sense that he was in trouble.

And now, she had this unexpected visit from her boss and Chas! Spikings was certainly not in the habit of visiting his detectives at home if it wasn't really necessary. Even more odd was the fact that he was accompanied by Chas! So Harry had an anxious feeling when she saw them at her doorstep.

"Good evening, Sir. Chas," she greeted. Trying hard to disguise her trepidation, she stood to the side. "Please, come in. To which I owe this visit?"

"I'm afraid we have some bad news, Sergeant", Spikings said, his eyes darker than usual. Harry looked at Chas questioningly, but he avoided looking into her eyes. The grim tone in her boss' voice and Chas' reaction made her stomach clench.

Had Joyce hidden something for her about last night's raid?

Spikings and Chas followed her to the living room. They both sat down on the couch while she took a seat facing them. Spikings was fidgeting his hands as he continued "It's about Dempsey. He didn't show up at work this morning. As a matter of fact, nobody has seen him since last night." He paused for a brief moment to see her reaction. "Early this morning, his car was found near the Albert Bridge. At first sight, it seemed as if it had been involved in an accident."

Harry's eyes were wide open and she brought her hand to her mouth "Oh my God! Is he alright? Has he been taken to hospital?"

Spikings ignored her reaction and carried on "I'm afraid there's more to it than that. Further investigation has pointed out that his car had been hit by another car. Deliberately or not, we don't know yet. But it was definitely a hit and run as the other car had fled away. And we've also found evidence of a gunfight, so the boys of forensics have investigated the scene thoroughly. They found Dempsey's gun on the street near the water, with empty chamber. We suspect he must have run out of bullets."

Harry had been listening to him in silence, and looked at him in disbelief. Dempsey and his gun were inseparable. She was convinced he even slept with the damn thing. He never would leave his gun behind unless… "And where is he now?" Harry asked with growing concern.

Spikings shook his head. "We don't know yet. As I said, no one has seen him since last night. Apparently he hasn't been at home all night. But we're watching his apartment, in case he turns up there again."

She picked up on the reserved glance that crossed between Spikings and Chas. There's more, they were hiding something. "What's wrong? What are you not telling me?"

"Harry…" Spikings hesitated for a moment, a deep frown forming on his forehead. "There were some traces of blood found in Dempsey's car and also on the street."

Her heart skipped a beat. "Is it Dempsey's?"

Spikings confirmed. "Yes, according to forensics..."

Upon hearing this, Harry's blood drained from her face and she felt sick to her stomach. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes and she quickly blinked them away, trying hard to hold her composure in front of her boss and Chas.

Spikings continued. "I can assure you that we will do everything we can to find him. After all, Dempsey is one of us. And you know what he's like, he's a fighter!" The boss tried to reassure her. "As for now, we don't know exactly what has happened or who was involved. But we are following every possible lead."

At that point, Chas came back into the living room, after fetching a glass of water for her in the kitchen. He confirmed with determination. "All of the guys are trying to find him, Harry. But maybe you can help us, as you know him best. Can you think of a place where he would go to, if he's in trouble?"

With trembling hands, Harry took the glass Chas offered her. She gently took a sip of water, trying hard to think. "Besides his apartment, my place or the office, I can't think of any other place. But if he's injured, I'd say someone would have taken him to hospital?"

Chas shook his head. "No, we've already contacted all hospitals in the near vicinity, but he hasn't been hospitalized. They will contact us immediately, however, if he shows up there or if someone brings him in."

They were silent for a while, thinking about the other possibility but neither of them dared to mention it, except for the Chief Superintendent. "We have also contacted the morgue, but nobody matching Dempsey's description has been brought in."

Makepeace let out a sigh of relief, but Spikings continued straightforward. "And we've had divers searching the Thames around the Albert Bridge area, but they've found nothing either. They will continue their search in the morning."

Harry looked at him with panic in her eyes. She refused to think that maybe he was dead. However, taking into account all the facts, there was indeed a possibility that he hadn't survived. She tried hard to hold her composure and she remembered her partner's words after the murder on her best friend Sarah Hacket over a year ago. You have to stand back and think like a cop, the words echoed in her head as if she could actually hear his voice. She tried to focus on the investigation, it was the only way she could help him right now. In her mind, she went through all the information she just received and searched for any possible leads. As long as she kept her mind busy, it was easier to put up a brave front in front of Spikings and Chas.

"What about the other car?" she asked with trembling voice.

Spikings replied "A few miles down the road the police found a car which was completely burnt out. We don't know yet for sure if this is the other car, but all evidence points in that direction. Unfortunately, the car had been reported stolen yesterday morning, and there were no traces or fingerprints found in it."

She let out a deep sigh. Oh no, another dead end. "Were there any witnesses?"

Chas shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, we don't have any witnesses so far. The local police questioned the whole neighbourhood, but no one saw anything. Maybe they're afraid of possible reprisals." He paused briefly to look at her. "Some people believe they heard some noise late at night, but they didn't even bother to take a look outside! It must have been around 3 AM, so the streets were probably deserted."

"What on earth was he doing there at that time at night?" she exclaimed.

Chas responded. "We had celebrated the successful closing of the case. Dempsey also had a few drinks, but he certainly wasn't too drunk to drive. At least, he reckoned he was still able to drive home."

Harry stubbornly continued to search for a lead to her partner's attackers. "Do you have any idea if he was followed or threatened by someone, lately? Maybe someone Dempsey had previously arrested and wanted to take revenge? Or do you know if there's been someone recently released or escaped from prison, who had a grudge against him?"

"If he was followed or threatened by someone, he certainly hasn't mentioned it to any of us. But, nevertheless, we are looking into this." Spikings confirmed. "I've also made some inquiries overseas, with the NYPD. So far, we haven't received any useful information".

Again there was an awkward silence. She'd run out of questions, but they had so little information to go on with. No witnesses, no suspects, no fingerprints… nothing, besides the unsettling news that he was missing and he was probably injured.

What on earth had happened to him? But even more disturbing, where could he be?

Spikings looked at his watch "We'd better go back to the office. Maybe someone has come up with a lead. I can assure you that finding Dempsey is our top priority at the moment. I've requested help from other departments to cover other major cases on our docket, so we can concentrate on recovering him."

"Sir, I'm coming to the office with you, I want to help search for him!" Harry stood and went to fetch her coat and shoes. "I can't just sit here and do nothing".

But before she had the chance to leave the room, Spikings stopped her. "No Sergeant, you'd better stay at home. Maybe Dempsey will try to contact you. After all, I think you'll be the first person he would come to if he's in trouble, don't you think?"

Harry was unsure. She didn't want to just stay at home. She needed to do something for her partner, to search for him! But on the other hand, she knew that Spikings was right. Her partner had no one else in London where he could go for help. So, eventually she gave in and decided to stay at home, after Spikings had solemnly promised to notify her immediately if there were any new developments in the investigation.

Once Spikings and Chas had left, it was as if Harry could feel the earth slip from under her feet. She sat on the couch, staring blankly ahead and recalled the information she had just received. It all seemed so unreal. It felt as if she was in the middle of a terrible nightmare, and she only wanted it to end as soon as possible. Her work at the museum suddenly wasn't of any importance any more. What only a few hours ago had been her main occupation, had now faded into the background. The only thing that mattered now was to find out what had happened to her partner, and where he could be. She cursed herself for having abandoned him when he apparently had needed her most.

Oh God, I should never have left him alone! If I had been with him, together we may have been able to stand up to his attackers! Maybe I could have prevented this?

She'd never felt so helpless before. Normally she always knew how to conduct an investigation or she relied on Dempsey to come up with an idea, no matter how crazy his ideas could be. But now, she couldn't think straight and he wasn't there to help her. She so wanted to pick up the phone and dial his number, as she had done so often before. Only this time, she knew she wouldn't hear his familiar voice on the other end of the line. This time, he wouldn't be able to come and think things through with her. He wasn't there, to encourage her to 'think like a cop'. She was on her own, for the most difficult task of her career. Would she ever hear his voice again? Would she be able to look in his soft eyes, and see his mischievous grin when he'd said something cheeky to her?

It wasn't until now that she realised how much she depended on him. Sometimes it seemed as if they had become each other's shadow, over the years. His moves had become hers, her thoughts had become his and vice versa. They didn't need words to understand each other and to know what the other would think or do. Mostly a single glance was enough to know what she had to do. She recalled the gnawing feeling she'd had yesterday and she realised how much she had failed him.

After a while of endless thinking and worrying, she broke down. She had held her composure while Spikings and Chas were there, but now she could no longer hold back the tears. She lay down, curled up on the couch and started sobbing uncontrollably. After a long time, she finally fell asleep on the couch, exhausted and feeling completely numb.

(TBC)