First of all: I know I've kept you in suspense for a very long time, for which I apologize. Finally I can offer you the final chapter of this story. I hope you'll like it. An epilogue will follow shortly.

Thank you again, for your patience and the wonderful reviews. They're much appreciated!

Chapter 21 : The Moment of Truth

Harry took a deep breath before following her partner into the interrogation room. Convincing Spikings had been the easy part, now came the real challenge. The female detective didn't want the confrontation between the two Americans to get out of hand. At the same time, she had to make sure her partner had the chance to obtain the information he needed. How? She had no idea. She only knew this was necessary for his future… for their future.

From the moment Dempsey set foot in the room, Harry noticed a change in the assassin's demeanour. The man sat up straight in his seat, his eyes fixed on her partner. His indifference giving way to hostility. Even now, in the safe environment of the interrogation room and in the presence of her partner, she didn't feel at ease with this man. There was something about him that frightened her. Was it his attitude? His appearance? His short-shaved hair and muscular body made her suspect he also had a military background. Just like his deceased companion. She noticed the red scar on his left upper arm, and another on his chin, partly hidden under a few days old stubble. Battle wounds? As she studied his features, his eyes met hers. She froze on the spot. Those eyes… During her abduction, they'd been staring at her through the rear-view mirror. She remembered that cold, emotionless gaze, accentuated by his dark eyebrows.

One moment of recollection, then the man raised his eyebrows in a mild surprise. "Well, I'll be damned! You're a cop? Very impressive, blondie." Smirking, he turned to Dempsey. "Seems like your new partner's got more guts than you, coward!"

Although the remark struck home, Dempsey kept his cool. In a neutral tone, he addressed the American. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

Sardonic laughter filled the room. "Didn't know you were stupid as well! Still not figured out what I want from you? No problem, just gimme a weapon and I'll be happy to show you."

His teasing voice. That mocking grin. Dempsey had to restrain himself not to grab his opponent by the collar. "In your dreams, scumbag! Where you're going, you ain't gonna get hold of a weapon in a very long time!"

"I wouldn't bet on it, if I were you. I'll get out, sooner or later, and then I'll come back for you!" The threat sounded genuine.

"Good, I'll be waiting. Saves me the trouble of tracking you down."

"Or you can let blondie here do your dirty work again," The American sneered. "Ya know, I wonder why she was willing to risk her life for you? Bet it wasn't for your sweet eyes."

Harry felt herself getting warm. Afraid she would give herself away, she avoided looking at Dempsey. From the corner of her eye, however, she saw her partner clench his fists. Knowing him, it was only a matter of time before he would lose his temper. And with that perhaps his only chance to find out the truth. She couldn't let that happen.

"You've made it perfectly clear what you want, Mister Smith. If that's your real name, of course…" Harry took over, speaking to the prisoner in a calm and controlled manner. "Now we would like to know why."

The man leaned forward, his forearms resting on the table. His face close to Harry's. "A word of advice, blondie: it's better for your health if you stay far away from him." He gestured with his head in Dempsey's direction. "People around him tend to die. He told you what happened to his previous partner?"

Harry didn't have the chance to answer the question. To her dismay, she watched Dempsey step up to the prisoner. He grabbed the man by the collar and pinned him against the wall. "This charade has lasted long enough, don't ya think? If ya got something to say to me, say it to my face!"

Sounds of shifting chairs could be heard from the adjacent room. Dempsey realised what was about to happen. "Makepeace, the door!" His loud, compelling voice made Harry run to the door. One moment of hesitation, then she turned the key.

"Dempsey, don't do anything you might regret…" she tried to warn him. In vain. It seemed as if he hadn't even heard her. He only had eyes for the man in front of him. He had waited long for this moment, and no one would stop him now!

Pushing him harder against the wall, Dempsey hissed. "Last chance, asshole! Who the hell are you, and why d'you wanna kill me?"

They were interrupted by loud banging on the door. "Dempsey! Open that bloody door at once!" They heard Spikings' voice barking on the other side. Followed by more banging on the door.

For a moment, Dempsey was distracted by the tumult at the door. The prisoner took advantage of the situation. A hard punch in his ribs made Dempsey wince in pain and release his grip. Before he had the chance to recover, the detective looked straight into the barrel of his own Magnum.

"Seems like some things never change. Rumour goes you like to carry this thing with you everywhere. Screw regulations, right Lieutenant?" The big grin on the villain's face betrayed his euphoria. He was now in control of the situation.

Petrified, Harry stared at her partner. She couldn't believe this! "You brought your gun in here? How can you be so bloody stupid?"

"Stupid's his middle name, sweetheart." When he noticed how Harry slowly shuffled backwards to the door, he aimed the gun at her. "That's far enough, blondie. Come back here, and sit down." He gesticulated with his head to the table and chairs in the middle of the room.

"Hey, this is between you and me. She's got nothin' to do with it, let her go!" Dempsey reacted when he saw Harry pull back from the door.

"No way! The broad's my ticket outta here. Don't worry, I'll treat her well." The villain smirked. Then he turned to the large glass window and shouted. "Whoever's in there, if I see one cop barge into this room, I won't hesitate to shoot a bullet through their heads!" He directed the gun alternately at Dempsey and Makepeace. "I've got nothin' to lose!"

Fearing it wouldn't take long before the cops outside would try something, he didn't waste any time. Without hesitation, he aimed the gun at Dempsey's temple and cocked the hammer. "Any last words, Lieutenant?"

"NO!" Harry sprang to her feet. "You won't get away with it. Our colleagues will…".

"Your colleagues better do as told, if they ever wanna see you alive again. Now sit down, and shut the f*** up!" The American snapped, unwilling to tolerate any further delay of the execution.

Harry felt her heart pounding in her chest. She was too far away to help her partner. She searched his eyes for any kind of sign. Usually, his gaze would tell her when to come into action. She was ready, whatever his plan was!

To her surprise, he motioned her to stand back, meanwhile addressing his aggressor in a calm way. "Look, I know when I'm defeated. At least tell me why. Why are you doing this?"

There was a short hesitation. On one hand, the killer wanted to end this as soon as possible. He knew any delay was risky, given the circumstances. On the other hand, he wanted Dempsey to know the truth before pulling the trigger! "For my brother…, for Joey."

Dempsey frowned. "Joey? That's impossible! Joey didn't have no brother!"

"Half-brother, to be precise."

"Bullshit! If Joey had a brother, he would've mentioned it!"

The American let out a dry chuckle. "Yeah, sure. A cop, with a brother on the other side of the law. What d'ya think it would've meant for his career, if your superiors had found out?

"His career?" Dempsey sneered. "Don't think he was very concerned 'bout his career when he tried to shoot me in the back!"

"Joey never wanted to kill you, but you left him no choice. You were getting too close. Too bad he wasn't fast enough."

"And now you were sent to finish the job your brother failed to complete, is that it?" Dempsey asked sharply.

Joey's brother let out a chuckle. "Fool! You really think someone had to send me to finish you off? After Coltrane told me where you were, I was on the first plane here! I even asked one of my old army friends to gimme a hand, just in case. Poor bastard."

For a few seconds he was silent, as if he wanted to show his respect for his late comrade-in-arms. Then he scrutinised the gun, feeling its weight in his hand. "Pretty ironic, isn't it? This is the gun that killed my brother. Now it will serve to shoot his murderer. Guess it was meant to be..." With these words, Joey's brother pulled the trigger. To his surprise, only a dry 'click' resounded. He swore. In no time, Dempsey had disarmed him. Foaming with anger, the man attacked the detective with his bare fists. A hard blow on Dempsey's jaw. The next one in his stomach. Dempsey staggered, but managed to stay upright. The next moment, both men were involved in a fierce fistfight.

As soon as the fight began, Harry jumped up from her chair. On her way to the door, she noticed that her partner was in trouble. He was clearly not in shape yet for a man-to-man fight. He took one hard blow after another, until he fell to the ground. His opponent instantly on top of him to keep him immobilized. Both his hands around Dempsey's neck, the assassin tried to strangle him. Without hesitation, Harry turned around. She hastily picked up the gun from the floor, Dempsey had kicked in her direction. Swift but without making any noise, she approached the killer from behind. One hard blow with the butt of the heavy Magnum on the back of his head, and the man fell down.

Coughing and gasping for breath, Dempsey scrambled to his feet. "Thanks, partner." he said hoarsely, rubbing his throat.

"You're welcome, partner." Harry helped him on his feet.

The next moment, the door of the interrogation room flew open and a couple of officers stormed inside.

"Do you think our man will come?" Joyce asked, peering at the house across the street.

"I doubt it." Harry answered, as she took a bite out of her apple. "Maybe we should take a closer look at the house."

Joyce looked at her inquiringly. "You really mean that? Spikings has explicitly forbidden us to take action. 'Observe and report', that's what he said."

This was weird. Normally it was Harry who had to restrain her partner. She had to admit, stake-outs with Dempsey were never this boring. "I didn't mean we have to go into the house, just take a look around the place. Maybe we can detect something through the windows."

"You would do that, if you were with Dempsey?"

Harry continued chewing her apple. If only her colleague knew. With Dempsey, they would be searching the whole house by now.

The mysterious smile on her friend's lips told Joyce enough. The brunette shook her head. "You've been working with Dempsey for too long, taken over his bad habits." They were silent for a few minutes, then Joyce cast a sideways glance at her friend. "How long before he's back?"

"Another two weeks."

"How did he take the suspension?"

"Not that well, I'm afraid. The way he sees it, he didn't do anything wrong. After all, he got results, and that's all that matters to him. He doesn't think it's fair that he's being punished for it.

"Face it, Harry. He had it coming. I mean, who had to explain to the Commissioner that a man in custody had to be taken to hospital with a broken nose and a concussion? Someone had to get the blame. You're lucky Spikings didn't suspend you as well!"

"I know, but Dempsey was also in a bad shape. He's still suffering from his bruised ribs, you know."

"Are you defending him again? I thought you were angry with him, for that stunt with his gun?" Joyce let out a deep sigh. "I don't get it, Harry. I've always known you as a sensible policewoman. Working by the book, never acting impulsively. But ever since you started working with Dempsey... Is he really worth risking your career for?"

"He's not that bad, Joyce. You don't know him the way I do."

"Obviously…"

Harry looked sideways at her friend. Was there a certain undertone in her voice?

Joyce continued. "I know it's not of my business, but you and Dempsey… Are you really sure about him?"

"What do you mean? Sure about what?"

"Don't play ignorant with me, Harry. Before you say any more, I have a confession to make. I overheard you two talking. At the ambush… You'd probably forgotten you were still wired."

Harry stared at her friend. "You overheard us?" Shit, how could I've been so stupid to forget about that bloody microphone?

"I'm sorry, it was stronger than me. Call it professional overzeal."

"Has anyone else heard us?" Harry panicked slightly.

Joyce shook her head. "Rest assured, I haven't told anyone either. I figured it wasn't up to me to tell. I'm just concerned that you'll get hurt again. Dempsey's a bit of a ladies man, isn't he? I doubt he's even capable of having a serious relationship."

"You're wrong, Joyce. You might not expect it from him, but he already had a serious relationship, back in New York."

"Really? What happened? She dumped him, and he never wanted to get through that kind of torment again?" Joyce asked mockingly. She obviously didn't think highly of the Yank.

"Something like that. Only, she died…"

"Aw, I'm sorry. I didn't know…" Joyce stammered.

"Nor did I, until recently. He's still having nightmares about her. I think he may still be in love with her."

"So, basically you're not only competing with every good looking female in town, but also his deceased girlfriend? Good luck to you!" Joyce responded sarcastically.

"He denies it, says I'm the only one for him now. I'm willing to give it a try, but I'm realistic enough to know this may not last forever. That's why I want to keep our relationship a secret for now. See how things evolve first. Can I count on you?"

Joyce nodded thoughtfully. "Of course you can, you're my friend. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. But if you ever need a listening ear, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, Joyce." Harry smiled warmly at her friend.

She couldn't deny she was a bit worried that someone work-related was aware of their relationship. On the other hand, however, it felt like a relief that she could share her concerns with someone. She realised a relationship with Dempsey would be a challenge, and Joyce was a true friend she could trust.

Suddenly their attention was drawn by some movement at the house. A rather tall, skinny man stepped up to the front door and opened it.

"Is that Tall Jack, do you think?" Joyce quickly took some snaps of the man.

Harry nodded and took the RT. Time to get back to work!