a/n - part II of yesterday's chapter. Thanks for your support.

Chapter 10

Ed Brown looked up at the apartment building and saw the lights of the main room flip on as a lone figure barreled down the front steps. The man was not steady on his feet as he lumbered down the first set of steps. By the time he turned with the stairway, he lost his balance, crumpled and fell the remaining way to the landing.

Quickly opening his car door, Ed made it halfway across the street when he saw the driver of the rental pull out in front of him.

"Police! Hold it!" he yelled as he retrieved his gun from his holster. The car swerved to avoid hitting the officer. The action allowed Ed to follow the path of the car with his aim. "Hold it!" he warned one more time.

With no other alternative, Ed opened fire, aiming at the rear driver side tire. Hearing a pop, he knew he hit his target. The car could no longer be steered and Billy Ray Dean crashed the Ford into another parked car.

Fran was only steps behind Brown as he pulled the man out of the car and spun him around, slamming him in to side of the car.

"I've got him, Ed. Go check on Keller," Fran assured her partner. "Back-ups should be here in no time." Seconds later she could hear sirens and a ruckus heading down the hill. While she knew other officers were close, she was shocked to hear that they were already arriving.

With his gun still drawn, Ed ran to the steps leading down from the apartment. His initial thoughts proved to be correct; the man at the bottom was not Inspector Keller. It was Harper Dean.

Dean moaned and rolled over as he grabbed a bullet wound that was in his shoulder.

"Come on, get up!" Ed ordered. "You're under arrest." He reached down to pull the assailant on to his feet only to find that the man had gone limp. Rolling him over, Ed saw what now appeared to be a grave injury. Realizing Dean was bleed profusely from his abdomen, Ed flinched as he saw only the handle from the Bowie knife protruding. He reached down and felt the injured man's pulse. It was weak and thready. Not much time, Ed thought to himself.

Ed heard footfalls coming down he steps behind him. Behind him stood a pajama and robe clad Keller.

Keller looked down at his would-be attacker. "You were a cop once. Didn't you carry a piece? Or are you just that stupid to attack an armed cop with a knife?" Steve took his police revolver, still warm from the shooting and stuffed it in his pocket.

Ed knew the end was near for Harper Dean. No matter how bad the person was, he felt compassion to the dying. It went back to his time in the war. He looked back at Steve severely and shook his head.

But Harper Dean would not go out quietly. He inhaled deeply. "Too bad I didn't do you like I did that professor. Know-it-all broad. But you should have heard her when she knew she was dying. She…"

The anger inside of Keller swelled and he placed a well positioned kick into the hip of the dying man. If he could get away with finishing the man off, he scared himself with the idea that he probably would. Ed, perhaps reading his mind, placed a warning hand on the younger man's chest.

"Chicken shit pinko," were the last words Harper Dean uttered. He closed his eyes as his head lolled to one side.

By this point, Steve was breathing hard. He was enraged and wanted to inflict a certain amount of pain on someone, anyone. He looked back down on Dean's body and then turned to see Fran reading Billy Ray his rights. Steve turned on his heal before Ed knew what he had planned and made his way to the man who stood against his car with his hands behind his neck.

Spinning around, Billy Ray lost his balance and fell backwards against the rental car. Fran jumped as she realized the arrest had been interrupted.

"Keller!" Fran Belding scolded. "You can't do this."

Steve didn't hear a word and instead grabbed the taller man by the hair and dragged him forward.

"Come on. You want to have a go at me, go right ahead." Steve pulled the gun out of his robe and handed it to his colleague. "Just you and me."

"Steve, this is out of line…" Fran warned again as she accepted his gun.

"Come on," Steve motioned to his face. "For your brother. Your dead brother," he added cruelly.

"No, Harper's not dead. He just fell over trying to get away. I told him we should leave, but he wouldn't listen."

"He's dead, all right, and what are you going to do about it?" Steve said as he slapped Billy Ray in the shoulder. "Come on, let's go. You want me as much as I want you."

Billy Ray, overcome with grief, took a swing at Keller. It was all Steve needed. He delivered a sharp right hook to Dean's jaw and then quickly slammed his fist into the bigger man's gut. Dean regained his footing and answered with his own left punch into Steve's jaw, knocking the younger man on to the street.

Quickly up, Steve ran back to tackle the man only to be pulled back by four waiting hands. "What? What are you doing?" Out of nowhere, by his side, were Ed and Mike. Steve could not process how Mike managed to materialize at that point.

"Enough!" Mike Stone yelled into his partner's ear. "He's under arrest. Let them finish the collar."

While Fran and Ed finished the arrest, Mike grabbed Steve's arm tightly and dragged him away from Dean. With his mouth right up to his partner's ear, Mike continued to rage. "You listen to me. You are in enough trouble as it is. I do not need for you to put this arrest in jeopardy. Understand me?" He shook Steve's arm again for effect. The younger man nodded his head. He looked at Billy Ray who was now in handcuffs and being led away from the crashed rental car.

Close to finally breaking, but still keeping it together in front of his colleagues, Steve walked away from Mike and flopped himself down on the curb. He barely noticed that the car Dean crashed into was his own 911 Porsche.