Chapter 3

"Docket 101-607, People v. Ronald Seymour, the charge is aggravated assault in the 1st degree and criminal use of a firearm in the 1st degree."

"How do you plea Mr. Seymour?" Judge Arthur Cohen was his usual dry self.

"Not guilty, Your Honor."

"Miss VanMeter?"

"Your Honor, the people request remand. Mr. Seymour has history of violent crimes and is facing 25 years. Not only is he a flight risk, but most importantly he's a threat to the public." Harper knew remand was a stretch, but she thought she might as well go for it.

"Your Honor," public defender Peter Fetzer's tone was incredulous, "Mr. Seymour has significant ties to the community. He's not going anywhere. Remand is excessive."

"Excessive? Judge, Mr. Seymour's alleged victim is at Mercy General in a coma. She may never wake up."

"OK then, she'll be safe in her hospital bed Miss VanMeter. Bale is set at $50,000. Next…"

Harper knew she hadn't really 'lost' the bale dispute. There was no way Ronald Seymour we be able to make bail that high, but the result still stung a little.

As she gathered her belongings Fetzer approached her. "Better watch out. Looks like you're in trouble…" He glanced toward the back of the crowded courtroom. Harper followed his gaze to D.A. Jack McCoy leaned up against the far wall. Fetzer had a Cheshire Cat grin on his face. She shrugged nonchalantly. "Or maybe 'Don Juan' McCoy has taken a liking to you." Fetzer snickered, not knowing how close he was to the truth.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Fetzer." Harper started towards the back of the courtroom, towards Jack.

"Oh, counselor…" Fetzer tapped her on the shoulder with the familiar folded blue paper of a motion notice. "My motion to suppress the gun." He glanced over her shoulder at McCoy and grinned, "Be good…."

Annoyed she took the notice and continued toward Jack.

"Harper."

"Jack." She held up the folded paper.

"Motion to suppress." He wasn't asking a question.

"How'd you know?" He always knew-it could be very irritating.

"I'm wise and learned." He smiled his crooked smile and snatched the motion from her hand. Over the last couple weeks that smile had been known to make Harper's heart skip a beat or two on more than one occasion.

The two walked through the courthouse discussing her case against Seymour. Harper was sliding into the role of apt pupil with ease. She'd always found it difficult to accept help from others, but once she knew McCoy respected her and her abilities as a prosecutor she found it easier. On the other hand all the one-on-one time with him wasn't helping her little crush. More than once she'd actually forgotten what she was saying mid-sentence when he'd leaned over her shoulder. She was learning a lot from him and she appreciated the mentoring. She just wished it didn't have to be a the expense of her blood pressure.

"So you're sure it's solid?" Jack and Harper had made their way outside the courthouse. He spotted a hot dog vendor and headed that way.

"Without a doubt." Her voice rang with the enthusiasm that Jack had become so fond of. He motioned for two dogs from the vendor while Harper continued about the case.

"Harper…" she was jarred our of her tirade. Jack smiled, "What do you want on your's?"

She blushed at her own aloofness. "Oh… kraut."

Jack dressed his with mustard and walked toward a bench. Adding mustard to hers Harper quickly followed and continued her argument for dismissal of the suppression motion. "OK, OK. I'm sold. You're solid." He held his hands up in defeat. He'd enjoyed the time he'd spent with Harper over the last two weeks. He'd forgotten what it was like to be young and excited about the law. Teaching his A.D.A.s always gave him a lot of satisfaction and Harper was a good student. She soaked up everything he had to say like a sponge. That's not to say she always agreed with him and she certainly let him know it when she didn't, but she was eager to understand every aspect of everything.

"Mustard, huh?" She peeked over at his half eaten lunch. He continued to chew looking at her quizzically. "I once read an article about personality traits in correlation to hot dog toppings." She smiled and took a bite of her own lunch.

"And?"

"Mustard… laid-back, easily satisfied, doesn't mind if their partner takes charge…" she glanced up as he raised his eyebrows and smiled, "flexible by nature."

"And does that sound like me, counselor?" He had an amused twinkle in his eye.

"I'm not sure. I don't know you that well, Jack." She smiled and of course blushed which was pretty much permanent when Jack was around.

"And what did your article say about kraut and mustard?" he said eyeing her disappearing lunch. He enjoyed the teasing nature their conversation had taken. They stood and continued their walk to One Hogan Place.

"Loyal, dedicated… introverted, a love of routine."

"Well," Jack tried his best to sound surprised, "there may be some validity to this hot dog science after all."

Harper smiled at his teasing, "And you think you know me so well, Mr. McCoy?"

Jack stopped and turned to face Harper, shoved his hands in his pockets, and bent down slightly as to look her in the eyes. "Miss VanMeter, you may be smart, quick witted, sharp tongued and beautiful to boot, but you, my dear, are hardly an enigma to an old hand like me." With a wink he turned and continued towards his office building. He was bluffing of course. She was an enigma to him. Much to his dismay his attraction to Harper was growing by leaps and bounds. He knew he should distance himself. He'd been in this situation before and knew he could, but for some reason he just couldn't seem to stay away from this woman.

Despite the cool winter air she was suddenly very warm. A part of her wanted to be offended, there were plenty of men who thought she was an enigma. As much as she wanted to she couldn't be mad for one simple fact: he called her beautiful. Jack McCoy just called her beautiful and winked at her. She'd always been a sucker for a winking man.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Harper finally spoke on the elevator.

"Are you going to Connie's tonight?"

The office had been abuzz all week about Connie's party. She'd just moved into a new apartment in Tribeca and had invited the whole floor over for a housewarming. Harper usually dreaded such events, but the possibility of socializing with Jack had kept her anticipation high.

Her big brown eyes tugged at what was left of Jack's heart strings. They reminded him of a puppy dog you couldn't say 'no' to.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it." Truthfully, he had only planned on stopping by for a moment and had almost talked himself out of that. "You?" He tried not to sound too interested.

"Uh huh. I'm going over early to help her get everything ready." Knowing Jack was going to be there calmed her nerves about all the possible hurdles the night may hold. She didn't understand it, but just being around him seemed to settle the chaos she felt inside.

The elevator stopped at their floor. They exited and each headed their separate ways.

"Thanks for lunch. I guess I'll see you tonight," her shy smile saying much more than she'd intended.

"I don't know, Connie. It's shorter than I thought." Harper noticed the whining tone in her voice and tried to tone it down.

"Come out, let me see!" Connie had been trying to coax her friend out of the bathroom for five minutes now. It was hard to believe she was really this self-conscious.

Harper walked out of the bathroom and Connie was floored. She looked amazing! She wore a jersey dress, chocolate brown, very simple with short sleeves, a v-neck that showed just enough cleavage and a hem that stopped about an inch longer than indecent . The outfit was finished off by a very smart pair of brown knee high boots. She wore her light brown hair down. Connie had never seen Harper with her hair down. It was long about three inches below her shoulders and it had a slight wave to it. She quickly soothed her friend's frazzled nerves. Harper was never one to have many friends so the friendship she and Connie had developed meant a lot to her. Connie assured her she looked great and teasingly reminded her that a certain Detective Lupo would be in attendance tonight.

Harper and Cyrus had gone out once since their meeting two weeks ago. He called her up a few days after Shaunessy's. They'd gone to dinner and then caught a Buster Keaton film festival in Central Park. They had a good time, but he hadn't called since and she really hadn't been inclined to do so either. She told herself it wasn't the right time to start a relationship and left it at that.

Soon guests began arriving and within an hour Connie's apartment was full of her colleagues and friends. Harper was proud of her attempts at mingling, helping Connie keep up with drinks and other guest courtesies helped. Regardless of how busy she kept herself she never failed to hold her breath whenever the doorbell rang. She seemed to be setting herself up for disappointment.

"Looking for someone?" Cyrus' deep voice whispered in her ear.

She was startled, not having seen him come in. "Hey… no. Why?"

"You nearly break your neck every time that bell rings." He smiled a cocky smile like he knew a secret.

They fell into an easy conversation with a couple of other guests and Harper actually began to enjoy herself. She must have been on her third glass of wine by the time Jack walked in the door. She tried to not pay too much attention to him being greeted by Connie and the others, but it was futile. She hoped it wasn't too obvious to her companions. They made eye contact across the room and when he smiled a silent 'hello' Harper thought her knees were going to go out from under her. Connie walked through on her way to the bedroom with Jack's coat and asked if she'd mind getting him a vodka on the rocks. Harper was relieved at the chance for a breather. She excused herself from the group and headed towards the kitchen to make the drink.

"Is that for me?"

Recognizing Jack's smiling voice behind her, she exhaled quietly before speaking. "It is," she smiled and turned towards him, "would you like a lime?"

"Yes, please." Jack had to catch his breath when Harper turned around. She looked remarkable. He knew he shouldn't have come tonight. This whole 'staying away' thing just got a lot harder. Her cheeks blushed at his obviously positive assessment of her appearance. "Connie's place is nice." Jack knew he should at least glance around the apartment when saying this, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her and he was pretty certain it was beginning to be noticeable.

"Yeah, it's great. She got a good deal from what I understand."

She was well aware of Jack's attention. Harper's insides were beginning to ache and the tension in the air was palpable. Seemingly unable to control her actions she started to take a step closer to Jack. She didn't have a plan, but she couldn't take it any longer.

"There you two are!" Connie came jubilantly into the room, stopping Harper in her tracks. "Jack, I want to introduce you to someone," she locked her arm inside his and turned to Harper, "and I think Cyrus is looking for you."

At the mention of Detective Lupo Jack looked at Harper with a knowing grin and raised his expressive eyebrows. He also felt like he'd been kicked in the gut.

Their paths crossed several times in the next half hour. Gratefully, by their own design or not, they both seemed to settle within the same group of people: Connie, Harper, Cyrus and his partner Kevin, Mike, Jack, and two other A.D.A.s. They all conversed back and forth about one subject or another. Harper was just glad to be close to Jack without having to worry about controlling her actions. Kevin's phone rang with the news he and his partner had to go. Cyrus making a deliberate display put his hand on Harper's waist.

"I'll call you OK?"

"Yeah." He bent down and quickly kissed her on the cheek as he headed toward the door. She smiled and felt flustered by the surprise contact. Everyone in the group took notice and she literally thought she was going to die of embarrassment. Harper excused herself to the kitchen in hopes of catching her breath and calming her nerves.

"You OK?"

Jack. She poured herself a small glass of vodka and turned to face him. He smiled sincerely and she immediately felt better.

"Of course." She sipped her drink.

"Detective Lupo seems nice…."

She couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw him roll his eyes slightly.

"Yeah… he is. He's really great."

Her answer was drawn out and Jack wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself. He got his answer.

"He is…. It's just…," she sighed. "It's... it's complicated." She tried not to let her look linger to long, but looking away from his kind eyes was difficult to say the least. She took another sip from her glass.

"Well, I'm not really one to give relationship advice. Just… listen to your gut."

He took a step closer and Harper thought she was going to start hyperventilating. He reached over and gently took her drink from her hand and smiled perceptively at her. Without taking his eyes off of her he turned the glass upright, drained it, and set it on the counter. Then he turned and walked out of the kitchen.

An hour later Harper decide to call it a night. The party was still going strong, but she'd already had too much to drink and staying any longer would make the morning just that much harder. She headed to Connie's bedroom to get her things and found Jack rummaging through a pile of coats on the bed.

"Leaving so soon?" She'd startled him unintentionally.

"Yes. I hadn't intended to stay so long."

"Well I'm glad you did." Harper was immediately mortified when she realized what she'd said, "I mean.. I.. I know Connie really appreciates it."

Jack smiled at her stumbling words. He knew she'd had too much to drink. "You seem to be going somewhere yourself."

Harper slung her bag over her shoulder. "Yeah, it's late." She gathered her courage, "Mind if I walk out with you?" Normally she would worry what others would think of their leaving at the same time, but at this point in the evening she didn't care.

"I've never been the one to turn down the company of an attractive woman." Jack only wished he could blame his flirting on too much alcohol. She blushed and he smiled knowing he'd caused the sudden color in her cheeks. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground.

They each quietly said their goodbyes. Thankfully there were still plenty of people in the apartment so their leaving together was really only noticeable to Mike and Connie.

They silently rode the elevator to the lobby. Jack leaned against the side wall openly watching Harper with a smile. He commented on the amount of people who'd come and Harper agreed the turnout was excellent. She was well aware of his eyes on her and she delighted in acting as if she didn't notice.

"Not riding your motorcycle tonight?" she asked casually.

"No. Not tonight."

"That's too bad." She smiled and looked over at him.

He chuckled lightly at her bravery.

His smile touched his eyes and she relished it. When the doors opened he put his hand over the doors allowing her to exit first, as always. They casually walked out into the cold night air.

"Where do you live?" he inquired.

"The East Village on East 16th. You?"

"Upper East Side, share a cab?"

Harper was relieved just be able to spend a little more time with him. "Sure."

Jack briskly walked up to the curb to hail a cab while Harper hung back closer to the building out of the cold air. Out of the corner of her eye she was suddenly aware of someone standing there. She glanced at him trying to decide if he'd been a fellow guest at Connie's, deciding quickly that he hadn't.

"Got a light?" he asked quietly.

"No, sorry." She didn't feel very comfortable talking to the stranger and Jack's words to her earlier in the night seemed to be ringing in her ears. Trust your gut….

"Hey.. I know that guy… from the papers. Is that Jack McCoy? The D.A.?"

She stared straight ahead, "Yes." Her answer was barely audible.

"You his girlfriend?" The stranger snickered ever so lightly.

"No, he's my boss." She wanted to walk away, whether it was fear or the alcohol her feet didn't seem to be working.

"Hmm.. Well good night." With that the stranger left and the tension in the air seemed to ease slightly.

Before Harper could regain her composure a masked man grabbed her from behind. With his hand over her mouth he drug her into the shelter of the nearby bushes. Grabbing her by the upper arms he slammed her against a concrete column. Her head bounced off of the concrete and she was suddenly unable to focus on anything around her. She tried to scream, but his hand easily stopped any attempt. The assailant gripped her throat tightly with one hand and produced a large knife from his jacket with the other. He held it up to Harper's face menacingly running it along her cheek.

"I've got a message for your boss…." His breath was hot on her face and she instinctively tried to recoil from it. She tried in vain to focus on any detail she could, knowing it would be valuable later.

"Tell McCoy, it would be to his advantage not to go nosing around in Sal Misiano's business. It could be detrimental to the health of those around him."

His knife slowly moved down the outside of her knee-length trench coat. She shivered in fear, making her assailant laugh in response. Suddenly she felt the cold blade of his knife on the inside of her thigh and she began to struggle harder against his advances. He tightened his grip on her throat and slammed her head against the column again. Her head pounded in pain and she was suddenly aware of warm sensation running down her back. Blood. She struggled not to panic and stay conscious.

"And believe me, I would love to come back and pay you a visit."

He quickly and expertly used his knife to cut her underwear off. He tightened his grip on her throat and she began to lose consciousness.