Author's note: Another long chapter. Some language and a fight, but not really graphic. Hope you are enjoying this! I'm anticipating about four or five more chapters, just FYI. Thanks so much to everyone who is reading! :)

January 7, 1974

Flick's Tavern, 3:40 pm

Flick looked around the bar. Right on cue, business was picking up a bit as New Year's resolutions were broken by those who simply couldn't help themselves. Junior Kissel and Ron Smith had returned and sat together in a booth, along with Patty Simpson and Andy Becker. A few others had come and gone, only half-way in violation in their resolutions. And at the bar sat Flick's favorite patrons, Ralphie and Schwartz. He wiped down glasses and listened to his best buddies.

Schwartz was particularly animated. "I can't wait to tell Janey about the job. She'll be excited." He grinned at Ralphie and Flick. "She liked the shop's logo. Said it'll look good on my chest. Right here." He patted the left side of his chest just below his shoulder.

"When do you start?"

"Wednesday. Which is good. I need something to keep myself busy."

Ralph grins at Flick, then at Schwartz. "A long time till Friday. You going to survive without her?"

Schwartz gave a good-natured smile in return. "Are you surviving without Sandy?"

Ralph nods. "It's tough."

"It really is."

Flick shook his head, drew two more glasses of beer, and set them in front of each of them. "All right, you big babies. Maybe more beer will help ease your loneliness."

They all chuckled.

The bell over the door rang, and Flick glanced over. A man walked in, someone Flick didn't recognize. He was tall, maybe about 6 feet, and dressed a bit fancier than might be expected for a bar on a weekday afternoon, dress slacks and a button-down shirt under his plaid winter coat. Flick noticed that the man seemed to search the room, noticed that his gaze locked on Schwartz for maybe just a little longer than necessary, but didn't think too much off it. The man walked up to the bar and took a seat next to Schwartz.

Flick gave his best welcoming smile. "Hey there. What can I get you?" The man looked worn out, truthfully, and Flick figured he might have to play psychologist for this one.

"Something strong. Real strong."

"That kind of day, huh?" Flick reached for his best bottle of tequilla and a shot glass. He filled it and set it in front of the guy. "Here you go."

The guy glanced at Schwartz, who gave him a friendly grin and a nod. "Yeah." He gave a heavy sigh. "My wife ran out on me a few weeks ago. Just found out she's shaking up with some other guy. A real piece of trash." He downed the shot.

Flick winced and poured another shot. "Oh, man. Sorry to hear that. Have another." He set the shot down in front of the poor sap.

The stranger glanced at Schwartz again. "Can you imagine? I'm a cop. A detective. Someday I'll be captain. And she leaves me for this unemployed bozo who lives with his mother and spends all his time in some podunk dive bar."

Schwartz shifted on his seat. His eyes met Flick's briefly, and then he looked away, toward Ralphie but down at the bar top. Flick frowned. Something odd was going on here, and suspicion began to churn up in his gut. He looked at the stranger warily.

"Ever heard of anything like that?" The guy stared at Schwartz, which made Flick stop what he was doing and stand in front of them.

Schwartz put on a grin that was clearly fake and shook his head. "Can't say that I have. Sorry it's happened to you."

The guy downed his second shot, then shook his head. "Sure never expected it from Esther Jane. Thought she was a better woman than that."

Flick managed to keep his own shock masked, but unfortunately, Schwartz didn't. He turned to look at the guy, surprise written all over his face.

"Esther Jane?"

So, so odd, because the guy looked like the cat who'd caught the canary. It was like he'd baited Schwartz, expected this reaction and had gotten it. But how in the hell did he know who Schwartz was? How in the hell did he know Jane?

"Her name ring a bell for you, buddy?"

Schwartz quickly looked away, looked at Flick and Flick shook his head just slightly. Schwartz's face had gone pale when he'd heard her name but was now flushing.

"No. I mean, yeah, I used to know a girl named Esther Jane. We went to school with her, but that was a long time ago. Haven't seen her in years."

Flick glanced at Ralphie, who was looking around Schwartz and looked as concerned as Flick felt.

Whatever was going on here wasn't good. Wasn't good at all.

The guy turned his chair so he was facing Schwartz completely. "Really. It's been years since you've seen her. Funny, because I've seen you with her. Recently. Going into her hotel room and staying there all night. And now I guess she's got an apartment. That's where you stayed Saturday night, isn't it?"

Flick pounded his hand on the bar top. "Who the hell are you?"

The guy didn't look at him but kept his stare fixed on Schwartz. "I'm her husband."

Schwartz, to his credit, looked the guy dead in the eyes. "Ex-husband."

The guy chuckled. "Oh, I see. She told you we're divorced. Well, we're not. Not by a long shot. Let me guess. She told you her last name is Alberry, right? It's Carson. Esther Jane Carson.

Flick watched Schwartz, whose face went pale again and who stared at his half-drunk beer. And the look on the guy's face, Jane's husband or ex-husband, turned rougher, suggested murder, and Flick stiffened up. "Okay, look, the drinks are on the house," he said to the husband. "But I think it's better if you went on your way now."

The husband glared at him. "Why? All I'm doing is having a conversation with the asshole who's screwing my wife."

Flick shook his head. "All right. I tried to be nice. Get out now, or I'll call the police."

"You're still married?" Schwartz spoke so quietly Flick hardly heard him. He still stared at his beer. And now there was a familiar look on his face, one Flick knew all too well. Resignation. Disappointment. Heartbreak.

"Still married. And I hate to tell you this, buddy, but you're nothing but a midlife crisis for Esther Jane. She'll be coming back to me as soon as she gets bored. And she will. Soo. She may have grown up here, but she grew out of it. She's got big city tastes now."

Ralph had gotten up and now came to the other side of the husband. "The owner of the bar asked you to leave, so why don't you?"

The husband glanced at him with a smirk, then gave it to Flick. "Again, all I'm doing is talking. I just came to tell this guy one thing." He turned back to Schwartz. His expression turned cold and hostile, just as his voice did. "Stay away from my wife, or else I'll make you."

A threat if Flick had ever heard one.

Schwartz didn't move. Didn't appear to hear, but Flick knew he had.

"That's it," Flick said. "I warned you." He turned and went to the phone, picked up the receiver, and as he did so, the husband stood up, suddenly all smiles.

"No need for that. I'm leaving." He pulls a wallet out of his back pocket, pulls out a few bills and tosses them on the bar. "I've said my peace."

"I'm not going to stay away from her."

Flick shook his head at Schwartz, but Schwartz didn't see him because he stood up and turned to face the husband. Flick left his hand on the receiver of the phone. Just in case. Because this could easily go wrong. Schwartz now looked angry, and the smirk quickly faded from the husband's face.

"What?"

"I said, I'm not going to stay away from her." Schwartz took a step toward the husband. "Not unless she asks me to. And she won't. You can trust me on that."

The husband took a step toward Schwartz. At this point, the two were separated by less than a foot. "Did you not hear me? I said that I'll make you stay away from her. And I mean it."

Schwartz cocked his head. "Go ahead and try."

To Flick's relief, Ralphie stepped in between the two and pushed both of them back. He turned to face the husband. "Okay. Get out. Now."

Flick caught Ron Smith's eye and lifted his chin. Ron took the hint and stood up, came to stand behind Schwartz. Junior stood as well.

"How cute. You've got yourself a bodyguard. Does Esther Jane know you're this much of a pussy?"

Schwartz's face exploded in anger and he tried to move around Ralph, only for Ron to grab his arms and hold him back. Ralph turned around and put his hands on Schwartz's shoulders. "Get out of the way, Ralphie."

They started scuffling.

Flick picked up the phone and dialed the police. He spoke quietly, and kept an eye on what was going on, and the dispatcher told him an officer would be there shortly.

Ralphie turned back to the husband, keeping one hand on Schwartz's chest. "I'm only going to say this one more time. Get out. Now."

Flick raised his voice. "Cops are on the way."

Ken shook Ralphie off and backed up, holding his hands up in mock surrender, still with the smirk. "Fine. No skin off my back. But you…" He pointed over Ralphie's shoulder at Schwartz. "You better watch yours."

He turned and left, but Flick's attention was drawn back to Ralphie, who was again holding Schwartz back with Junior's help

"Christ, Ralphie, let me go!"

"No. Just sit back down."

Flick had never heard this sort of anger from Schwartz, this raw and untamed, and he'd heard him angry quiet often. This was different. And he gave Ralphie and Junior a hard time – he must be full of raging adrenaline. Flick said a silent prayer that Schwartz would calm down.

"Let me go!"

"Only if you sit down, Schwartz."

"Fine. Whatever."

Flick breathed in relief as Schwartz sat down, but his heart ached for the guy. His eyes looked swollen as if he'd been crying, though he hadn't. His face was a sickly sort of pale, greenish-white. He looked around, up toward the ceiling, and it seemed to Flick that he couldn't really tell where he was.

He looked lost.

Ralphie sat down next to him, where the husband had been sitting, angled toward Schwartz.

"You should have let me go after him."

Ralphie shook his head. "Why? What good would that have done?"

Schwartz glared at him. "A hell of a lot of good."

Flick pushed a glass of water to Schwartz. "Schwartzy." Schwartz treated him to a nasty glare. Didn't phase him. He was used to it. "You've got a job to start in two days. That guy's not worth it."

The look on Schwartz's face softened. "But Janey is." He sighed and looked up again, then closed his eyes. Bowed his head. Shook it. His hands tapped on the bar top. "I'm such an idiot. I should known it was too good to be true. How could I have actually believed that it was real?" He sees the water in front of him, but reaches for his unfinished beer, grabs it, and drinks the remainder of it.

Flick and Ralph looked at one another. Ralph puts his hand on Schwartz's back and gives him an easy pat. Flick sighed. "There's got to be a reason Jane told you she was divorced."

"Yeah. A midlife crisis."

"No." Ralph shook his head. "Look, Schwartz, talk to her before you decide you know what's going on, okay?"

Flick thought he heard the bell, but the look on Schwartz's face worried him too much to look away.

And then everything happened triple speed.

The husband appeared behind Schwartz. Spun the chair around. Pulled Schwartz up and off the chair by his shirt.

"I don't think you understood me, buddy, so I'm going to say it again. Stay away from my wife."

Threw a punch that sent Schwartz stumbling backwards into the jukebox. Schwartz was stunned but managed to lunge forward and land his own punch on the husband's jaw. Before long, the two had pushed each other towards the front of the bar and tangled up in a duet of flying fists. Flick rushed around the bar to help Ralphie and Junior and Ron break it up, but it proved to be hard to do. Both Schwartz and the husband spewed obscenities and threw punches with surprisingly strong wills, and it was a challenge for the others to pry them apart.

They did, and just as they did, the front door opened and Officer Scut Farkas and his partner, Bill Howard, walked in.

Scut frowned and rushed to assist Flick and Ralphie in holding a still struggling Schwartz back. "What the hell is going on here?" Schwartz tried to elbow Flick in his effort to get away, which earned him a glare from Farkas. "Enough." He glanced over that Junior and Ron and Bill, who were holding back the husband, and pointed at him. "Enough!"

Schwartz stopped struggling, but Flick kept his hold around his waist. His left eye was already swelling up, and more blood than was really a good thing came from his nose. His mouth was cut in a few places. Flick worried that if he let go, Schwartz would fold like a house of cards in a breeze.

Farkas and Howard stood in between the two groups. The husband had worn out, too, but Junior and Ron kept a hold of him. "Okay." Farkas spoke with authority. "What happened?" He looked at Flick. "Flick?"

Anger boiled in Flick's gut. He pointed at the husband. "That jackass came into my bar and sucker punched Schwartz."

A murmur of agreement came up from the others who had gathered around.

The husband shook his head frantically. "Oh, no. Wasn't a sucker punch." He looked imploringly at Farkas. "That guy is screwing my wife. I've got every right to beat the hell out of him."

Farkas frowned. "Not in a bar, you don't." He looked at Schwartz. "That what happened? He threw the first punch?"

Schwartz grimaced and nodded.

"Are you…involved with his wife?"

Schwartz stiffens, and Flick squeezed his side. "Ex-wife."

"Current wife."

Flick cleared his throat, and Farkas looked at him. "We're not sure if she's his ex-wife or current wife."

Fury distorted the husband's face. "We are sure. She's my wife."

Schwartz started to pull away from Flick, and so Flick tightened his arm. Even so, Schwartz spit out words laced with rage. "Well, she damn well doesn't want to be!"

Farkas holds up his hands. "Okay. Okay. Ralph, what happened?"

Ralph had his arm around Schwartz's shoulder. "Schwartz was just sitting at the bar having a beer. This guy comes in, pulls him out of his chair and throws a punch. Schwartz was just defending himself."

Flick nodded. "And he threatened Schwartz. Told him to stay away from his wife or he'd make him. Then he blindsided Schwartz."

Farkas raises his eyebrows at the husband. "Did you threaten him?"

The husband rolled his eyes. "Did you not hear what I said? He's sleeping with my wife. I told him to stay away from her. That's all."

Flick smiled sarcastically. "Or you'd make him. Don't forget that part."

Farkas shakes his head and looks at the husband. "Seems to me it's pretty clear you started this whole thing."

The husband stared at Farkas, and Flick thought he could see wheels turning in his mind. The guy was obviously struggling to find a way out of this.

"Look, Officer, I'm a cop. A detective in Minneapolis. I'm a brother in blue, and I know you're just doing your job here, but come on. I just found out my wife's sleeping with another man. Can't I just…I don't know, apologize, pay for any damage, and we forget all about this?"

Farkas stared at the husband with an unreadable expression.

Flick wondered which way this would go. On the one hand, yeah, they were both cops. A brotherhood there. On the other hand, the husband was a stranger, not from Hohman and even worse, from a big city, while Schwartz was one of Hohman's own. One of Farkas' own. Competing loyalties.

"You think I'm impressed that you're a cop in a big city? I hate to disappoint you, but I don't give a damn where you're from or what you do. You assaulted this guy. You get to answer to the law for that." He nodded at Howard. "Arrest him." He shook his head at the husband, then looked at Flick. "Flick. Ralph. Get Schwartz to the hospital. And Schwartz, I'll meet you there. I'll need a statement from you after you get checked out. The rest of you, line up. I need statements from all of you."

Flick grinned. Hohman won out.

Hohman Hospital, 5:14 pm

Flick walked back into the waiting room from the lobby and sat back down next to Ralphie. "I convinced Mrs. Schwartz she didn't need to come down and that he's just a little banged up."

"Took a little while."

Flick nodded. "There's a certain way I have to talk her down when she gets hysterical about Schwartz."

"You've gone it before, huh?"

"More than a few times."

Ralph elbowed him lightly, and Flick looked at him to find his friend giving him a slight smile. "You've been a good friend to him."

Flick shrugged. Truth was, he owed it to him. When the chips were down, Schwartz was always around. Comic relief when he needed to be. A listener when he needed to be. When Alice died, even in the midst of his own struggles, Schwartz had made it his mission to keep Flick busy. To keep him from following Alice right to the grave. Nothing against Ralphie, because Ralphie had been great about staying in touch by letter and phone, but he'd gone of to Chicago and lived his own life. Schwartz had been here, right here, in the worst of times. "He's been a good friend to me, too. I mean, when my dad died, he was…you know, he really helped me get a handle on running the Tavern. I know we argue all the time, and God, he really does drive me crazy sometimes, but…" Flick sighs. "He's a good guy. Good heart. I can't understand why this crap keeps happening to him."

"I know." Ralph sighed, then furrowed his brow. "I think it's more complicated this time, though. We've both seen Jane with him. He's not just a midlife crisis to her. She's in love with him."

"Yeah. There's got to be a reason she said she was divorced."

"Her husband said she ran out on him." Ralph looked at Flick. "Maybe she ran away from him."

Flick raised his eyebrows. "Like maybe she had to?"

"Yeah."

"But why?"

"I don't know."

The door to the examining rooms opened and Flick stood up when he saw Schwartz walking slowly out to them. Ralphie stood up, too. Schwartz had a bandage over his eye. He was still pale, and that made the bruising on his cheek and the cut lip stand out even more. Flick hoped he'd prepared Mrs. Schwartz enough. "You okay, brother?" he asked when Schwartz reached them.

Schwartz shrugged and looked at it, though it seemed to Flick that he didn't really see him. "Sure. No concussion. No broken nose. My girlfriend's husband knocked me around, but hell, at least he didn't kill me. I'm just fine and dandy."

Flick patted his back. "You knocked him around right back, Schwartzy."

Schwartz said nothing and stared at the floor.

Flick couldn't think of anything helpful to say, and he looked at Ralph.

Ralph took Schwartz's arm. "Come on. You want to go get a drink?"

Schwartz shook his head. "I just want to go home."

Flick and Ralph exchanged glances. "Okay," Flick said. "Let's go, then."

As he drove towards Schwartz's house, Schwartz in between him and Ralphie in his truck, Flick noticed that Schwartz was trembling, even with the heat in the truck.

He said another silent prayer, this time that Jane had something damn good to say for herself.