Last Heir (Part 2) A Dempsey and Makepeace fan fiction

Spikings entered the hospital room and folded his arms across his chest. "Put her down Dempsey!" His voice startled them both and Makepeace jumped up guiltily, sliding off the bed and standing in front of him, fiddling with her ear lobe. He looked from one to the other. "You both misjudged something here, you were very lucky today. I'm not loosing my best team on this!" Then he was rubbing his head and his tone softened. "You two almost gave me a coronary, glad to see you both alive!" His voice reverted to its usual authoritative self. "I suggest you both take some time off this, at least a couple of days, and then we need to put our heads together and reassess." He paused and then began again with emphasis, pointing a firm finger at both of them. "And before we go any further, I want to make one thing very clear. I don't want to hear whisper that you two have done anything on this case unless I know about it. Do you hear me Dempsey? There'll be no unnecessary risks on this one from now on, or it could be our very last case."

"I hear you boss."

"Lock is now officially missing, can we assume that the Russians have him?" Dempsey suddenly sat up with a frown. "That could be just what he wants us to think but I gotta a gut feelin' it's more complicated than that. The guy who jumped me was also Russian, so if Lock aint nowhere to be found then my hunch is that Lock is working with them." Spikings looked interested. "What makes you think that Lieutenant? If the Russians wanted Lock, and the man who handcuffed you was Russian, then where's the complication?" He threw his hand in the air. "Well for a start, Lock showed no fear of the Russians getting to him in the conversation we had." He shook his head and tapped his temple with a finger. "Now that didn't figure to me. And second, the men wanted me dead, that's for sure, but Harry here didn't get the handcuff treatment. I think they wanted to take her alive but gave up when she fought back. They knew the explosion was commin' and wanted off the boat." Spikings look quizzical. "So what would the Russians want with Harry?"

"Nothing, that's my point. The only person who had an unhealthy fascination with Harry was Lock, those guys were obviously workin' for him. And I bet he has other connections with Russians too." Makepeace looked at him unconvinced. "That's absurd! If Lock was working with the Russians, why on earth would he risk taking me? His biggest concern would be the British finding out, considering his occupation, surely he would want me dead as much as you."

"I'm tellin' you Harry, he wants you." She laughed. "Well I'd be flattered if I hadn't just almost drowned to death."

"Hey, this ain't no joke! This Lock guy gives me a very bad feelin'."

"Dempsey, he doesn't even know me, your theory is full of holes." He turned to her adamantly. "You ever heard of obsession Harry? Cause I've seen it before, and I saw it in Lock." Spikings cut in. "Wait, he might be onto something here. Suppose Chapman found out he was working for the Russians, feeding him false intelligence about defense in Russia, he'd want Chapman dead pretty damn quick then wouldn't he? Also the ballistics confirmed that the weapon was indeed Russian and it would be in the Russian's best interests to take care of Chapman for Lock." Makepeace nodded. "Okay, I see that, but this idea of Dempsey's about Lock being 'obsessed' with me seems a bit far off." Spikings looked at Dempsey and then to Harry. "Don't be so sure Makepeace, let's not rule anything out on this one ay." He paused as if turning something over in his mind. "All things considered, I'm going to organize a safe house for you two. You are both clearly in danger, don't leave this hospital until I have arranged it." He turned to leave the room but caught the sound of an annoyed sigh from Harry. Swinging back abruptly, he gave her a steely look and pointed a finger at her." Harry! You stay in the hospital, do you hear me?!" She looked to the floor. "Of course Sir."

When Spikings left, Makepeace looked down at the hospital robe she was wearing. "I had better go and change." She said, leaving the room and making her way back to find the nurse. She was given some clothes to put on and went back into the private room to change. A figure stood behind the door, but was hidden as she opened it. She suddenly dropped an item of clothing on the floor and stooped to pick it up. The figure tensed, waiting for her to enter. She walked into the room and made her way to the chair. Before she could react, she felt a hand clamp around her mouth and drag her backwards. She went to struggle free but a pair of firm arms held her in a vice like grip. "Don't struggle, just listen. You aren't safe here; someone will try to kill you. Get out now." With that she was released and she swung around to look as the figure left the room. She caught a quick glimpse of the side of his face, through a glass window in the door, as he exited. "Lock!" She said aloud in surprise. Then her thoughts went to Dempsey and she fled out of the room.

She had no more than passed the exit to the room, when she saw the armed man at Dempsey's door. At that moment voices could be heard approaching down the corridor and the man turned, noticing Makepeace at the same time. Fear filled her then as she had no way of protecting herself, or Dempsey for that matter. She froze, her eyes focused on the gun in his hands. The man hesitated, as though unsure of how to proceed. Then he glanced down the corridor, past Makepeace and seemed to make a decision. He turned and fled.

She ran in to check Dempsey, her heart pounding, and he looked up in surprise as she entered. "Thought you were changin'." She sighed with relief to see him safe and began to pace the room, her mind in confusion. Dempsey watched her, astonished. "Makepeace, I thought we'd already done this scene. It's okay I'm alive, remember? And then I get you on the bed, and then…"

"Shut up you idiot, you just almost got killed again."

"Yes, yes I know, if I didn't let you up…" She stopped in front of him with a frown, throwing her arms in the air. "What are you talking about?"

"Is this some kind of delayed reaction or somethin'? You bang your head on that boat?" She continued with gritted teeth, pointing at the door. "There was a man outside your room just now, with a gun."

"Sure you aint seein' things now?" She growled. "Just be quiet and let me think." She began pacing again.

Suddenly the door opened and Makepeace froze, but sighed when she saw Spikings enter. "Hey chief, Harry's loosin' her mind, I knew it would happen eventually," she glared at him and he grinned back, "just hoped it wouldn't be this soon." She turned to Spikings. "There's been a development Sir." He looked at her warily. "Go on."

"Someone outside this room just now wanted Dempsey dead." Spikings ran a hand over his head. "And there's more." He looked up. "More?"

"Yes Sir, I've just had another visitor too… Lock." Dempsey sat bolt upright then. "Lock was here?"

"Yes, and I hate to have to admit it but your theory about Lock not wanting me dead was right. He warned me to get out, said someone wanted me dead too."

"This just gets deeper and deeper."

"Okay, but he only warned you, am I right?" Dempsey questioned. "Yes but he'd know I would warn you anyway."

"Hmm, but did he actually say that I was in danger too?"

"Well, not as such."

"And where is he now?"

"Come to think of it, he didn't want me to know it was him. It just happened that I caught a glance of him as he left."

"Right, so he wants to stay incognito then." Spikings cut in." What's on your mind Dempsey?"

"Well, it's just hit me that if what we thought before was true, and Lock plans to disappear, say because the British government are on to him, then he could have a problem with the Russians too." Spikings added, as realization spread over his face. "Yes, well done Dempsey, because if he's suddenly running out on them then they'd have no more use for him." Makepeace added. "So I guess the Russians don't want us on the scene, making things worse for them."

"Right, but Lock knew he had no bargaining chip to play anymore and he also knew that you'd be in danger, so he came to warn you. So I was right all along, he does have a thing for you." He said with triumph. Spikings interrupted with a serious tone. "If Lock is running scared from the British and the Russians then he'll want to leave as soon as he can." Dempsey added. "Sure but I still say he wants Harry, so he'll hang around for a bit."

"One thing I do know is that you two need to get to this safe house a.s.a.p." Spikings passed Makepeace a slip of paper with the details on it. "Telephone me when you get there, get some rest and we will pick this up again tomorrow."

Dempsey and Makepeace reached the safe house later that afternoon. They took it in turns to shower and change and then Dempsey cooked them some food, which they ate quietly, both lost in their own thoughts. After the meal, Makepeace sat on the sofa with the Lock files in her hands, a deep frown on her face as she studied the pages. Dempsey glanced across at her and moved to the sofa. She was oblivious so he snatched the file out of her hand suddenly and she looked up with surprise. "Hey!" He shook his head. "You aint gonna get nothin' more outta them now Harry. Besides, you heard Spikings, we should be relaxin' for a bit." She reached for the file again. "Fine, but…" He whisked it out of her reach. "No buts, I'll put a movie on and there's a bottle of wine in there, maybe that'll help you to forget work for a bit." A look of resignation passed over her face. "Do you know you can be quite bossy sometimes?"

"I'm only bossy with extremely stubborn women Harry." She pulled a face. "Touché."

He collected the rest of the files and went to the kitchen to get two glasses and the bottle of wine. Makepeace sat in the corner of the sofa, her legs curled under her, and Dempsey joined her after putting a film in the video recorder. He handed her the glass of wine and sat at the other end of the sofa with his feet up. "What's the film?"

"Not sure, it's the first one I picked up, there aint a lot of choice over there." She took a sip of her wine and watched the film begin. He glanced across at her with a grin and prodded her with his foot. She turned back to him, rolling her eyes. "Do we have to go through this sort of thing every time we watch a film together?" He laughed out loud. "Well you shouldn't be so much fun to tease then Harry." He searched her face thoughtfully then. "What's going through that dark mind of yours Dempsey?" He paused for a moment. "You'd've stayed in there and drowned with me wouldn't you, you crazy woman." She shrugged. "Well I know you can be incredibly annoying at times Dempsey, but I don't want you dead." He studied her, pulling back his head. "Hey, I wasn't goin' nowhere but that don't explain why you wouldn't leave." She looked down momentarily but then glanced up at him with a challenging look, turning to him and resting her elbow on the edge of the sofa. "You said I was special." She raised an eyebrow. He wasn't fazed; he simply reached across to her dangling hand and began gently playing with her fingers. "You wouldn't leave." He smiled. "You said you cared about me." His fingers entwined with hers. "You wouldn't leave." He repeated, his gaze never faltering. "You said you really cared." He ran a finger up her hand and rested it on her wrist. He could feel her pulse racing. "You wouldn't leave." His eyes were intent as he watched her waver. "I think you've over stated that point now Dempsey."

"You aint explained to me why yet Harry." There was a brief silence and then in desperation she took her hand away and turned to the TV. "Shut up and watch the film." He studied her for a few moments, a slow smile spreading across his face, then he eventually looked at the TV.

They finished the bottle of wine and Makepeace put down her glass, resting her head against the arm of the sofa and pulling her legs out from under her. It wasn't long before her eyes began to close and she was asleep. Dempsey noticed this and looked at her as though he was trying to decide what to do. He hesitated but eventually put his glass down and moved to the space between her and the back of the sofa, nudging her across slightly. She stirred then and looked back at him in bewilderment. "Shh." He said, making a point of looking engrossed at the TV. She paused for a moment but then turned her head back and closed her eyes.