Joyce sat with Harry in her home as they checked the security equipment she'd had installed, it all looked fine, everything was operational. 'We have some leads on Fiorelli, it's difficult to disappear completely and most people re-visit old haunts.'

'Agreed,' Harry sipped a glass of wine. 'Is Watson outside?' She hadn't seen him but she knew he'd been assigned. Hargreaves and Watson had grown into a strong partnership over the last couple of years and it reminded her of the old days with Dempsey which she missed.

'Yes, he's checking all the cars in the vicinity and radioing them into Fry, so we'll know if there are any suspect vehicles. Dempsey should be along in about an hour, he got called into a meeting with the Super just as I left. I have to say the current workload is unreasonable they seem to give our department all the screw ups from the other divisions as well as our own mandate. Sometimes I think the Chief Inspector is too good at his job.' She laughed wryly. 'Don't ever tell him I said that.'

Harry smiled and agreed. 'I know, he is a very good copper, I told you that in another lifetime or so it seems. She cooked dinner for four and left some in the oven for Watson and Dempsey as both men should be with them shortly.

Harry and Joyce sat down and ate the pasta bake and were eating fruit for dessert when the security alarm alerted them blaring loudly, and they jumped up in shock and looked at each other. Both women took their weapons out.

'It's at the rear of the property,' Joyce's checked the monitor. 'Watson,' she attempted to get hold of her partner on the RT. 'There's something going on at the rear of the property do you copy.' There was no answer and Hargreaves frowned.

Suddenly it was like the fourth of July in Harry's garden a cacophony of sound joined the blaring alarm. 'What's their game plan, are they're trying to make us go out the front,' Harry said as she tried to work out what was happening.

'I think we should stay put,' Joyce shouted so that she could be heard over the noise. She radioed into control only to find the frequency didn't work. 'Damn it,' she bit out. 'They're blocking our communication.'

The sound of a gunfire going off caught their attention. 'Dempsey's magnum,' Harry recognised the sound. 'Pile the furniture against the doors and windows,' they carefully constructed cover for themselves as a minor war was happening in Camberwell Gardens. 'The neighbours are going to ask me to move,' the Detective Inspector said tersely.

'Yes, well I can see their point,' Hargreaves glanced over. It wasn't every day a gun battle went on in a well to do, leafy suburb of London. 'Let's hope SI10 are in control of whatever is going on out there.'

'Oh my God,' Harry cried out as some kind of battering ram was being used on the front door, the sound of splintering of wood was deafening. She looked around the living room and then moved behind the couch with Sergeant Hargreaves.

Five men stormed into the room wielding an impressive amount of hardware and faced the two policewomen. Fiorelli was behind them and he pointed at Harry, 'you, come with me or your friend will be a dead woman.'

Joyce caught Harry's arm in warning as she didn't want her friend to be abducted by the Italian gangster.

A tannoy confirmed Dempsey's presence. 'Police, lay down your weapons, you're surrounded come out with your hands above your heads.'

Fiorelli sniggered. 'We may be surrounded but we have two hostages so your colleague is hardly likely to shoot. Now we can stay holed up here with one dead cop and you and I can have some fun or you, Harry isn't it, you can come with me and your friend can stay alive. I've got nothing to lose how about you?'

Makepeace bit her lip but then jumped as a shot was fired just short of Hargreaves, 'okay, okay put down your weapons, I'll go with you.'

'Harry that's suicide' Joyce protested but she could see the determined tilt to Harry's jaw and knew she was going to sacrifice herself rather than see her friend and colleague shot in front of her.

'You,' one of Fiorelli's thugs shouted at Hargreaves, 'put the gun on the floor and kick it over here.'

As they were outnumbered the Sergeant did as she was told and then it all went black seconds later as she received a blow to her jaw.

Fiorelli shouted to the Chief Inspector that he had the girl and that if he wanted her to see tomorrow he'd better back off and let them leave.

Dempsey groaned as he saw Harry dragged out of the house with a guy's arm around her neck and a gun to her head. He turned to Chas, 'I don't want them leaving here with her.' He was tortured with what might happen to Harry if that thug had her at his mercy. He'd read the file on Fiorelli's activities and it weren't pretty.

'We need to get out of this area it's too heavily populated Jim, civilians could get hurt in the crossfire, we've got a chopper up monitoring the scene they can follow the car,' he was relieved when Dempsey nodded in agreement.

At that moment, a rather smart new motor drove up and Spikings got out. 'Stand down Chief Inspector, I'm taking over this operation,' he turned to Chas. 'What have you got D.I. Jarvis?' He listened patiently as Chas briefed him.

Dempsey was boiling over with fury and glared at Jarvis as he was pretty sure where the call to the boss had come from. The American was terrified of what might happen to Harry and didn't want anyone else getting in the way of the retrieval. 'Boss….

'Don't be stupid Dempsey, you must be well aware that you can't run this operation; she's your fiancée as far as the Chief Superintendent's concerned. I'll keep you informed, you can sit on my shoulder if you like, I've always wanted a parrot, but you cannot lead this.'

The American cooled down albeit he was still glowering, Fiorelli's cars moved off and the chopper followed giving the team directions as to where the D.I. was being taken.'

Spikings arranged for the team to be followed by a series of SI10 drivers and when the tail was in place he called off the chopper. 'They need to think we've lost them,' he ran a hand over his short prickly hair. 'It looks like they're heading out of London, does Fiorelli have any known residence outside the city?'

Bradshaw came forward, 'he has a boat on the Thames sir; it's a big gin palace moored at Henley,' he saw that information didn't exactly delight Spikings but he was pleased to have intel that his American, gung-ho, senior officer didn't have.

'Henley, I can see the newspaper headlines now, the Royal Regatta's on this week so that will be lovely. We'd have been better off upsetting the luvvies and lefties here than taking on an operation outside the manor. Get me the Oxfordshire police, head of; I need a word.'

'You ain't letting a bunch of local uniforms handle this,' Dempsey interjected just to receive a Paddington Bear glare from his boss. 'Worst they deal with is a bunch of chinless wonders getting naughty after too much fizz!' The Yank wasn't pleased.

'Well let's hope he takes the boat out of the town and to somewhere we can affect a rescue if that's where they're going, it looks promising from the intel we're receiving; Fiorelli's heading in that direction. 'Get the chopper to come down and we can get there before they do,' Spikings barked.

Dempsey, Spikings and a hand-picked team of six were transported out of the city by air in two helicopters and made their way swiftly to Henley-on-Thames to meet with the local force. The Yank got stuck with the job of cajoling the local Inspector to play ball which took a lot of tact and that was hard for him but then Harry's safety was at stake so that kept him polite.

They reconnoitred the boat and waited for Fiorelli to turn up which he did and he bundled Harry on board much to the consternation of local passers-by. That caused something of an altercation and the crew hastily cast off the boat and headed up river towards Wargrave and Sonning.

Spikings requisitioned a boat and they followed with the SI10 officers assisting the crew as they kept one lock behind the 'Dolce Vita,' which was Fiorelli's boat.

'I could go faster walking along the bank,' Dempsey complained to no-one in particular as they slowly motored by the expensive houses in their riverside estates.

'We're not in the equivalent of a car chase Chief Inspector, we're obeying the rules of the river and keeping in contact with the villains' boat. When they moor up we'll take action.' Spikings would have dearly liked to dump the Yank on the bank but unfortunately needed to keep a close eye on his protégé.

'That scum could be doing anything he likes to Harry while we're crawling along like this, pull alongside and I'll go in.' Dempsey fear was growing as he hadn't seen Fiorelli on deck and that made him antsy.

'I'm sure Makepeace can take care of herself she's used to dealing with yobs with an Italian heritage,' Spikings remarked tongue in cheek. 'They're mooring up, we need to go past them and moor up further on,' he informed the man at the wheel. He looked over at Chas. 'Find out who owns the land at this point we may need access to the property along the bank.'

Jarvis had a rapid conversation with the guy driving the boat who knew the river well and made a few calls, they were given access to the land the Dolce Vita had moored on and rapidly took position. Dempsey checked his Magnum and caught Spikings glare. 'I'm working under your instruction boss, I ain't leading this.'

'I'll handcuff you to the boat if I have to Dempsey. I have not gone through the pain of getting you fit for purpose for your current position just so that you can throw it away because you don't trust your colleagues.' He saw the Yank's struggle with that, they were his men and he couldn't show a lack of confidence in them.

'Get her back for me boss,' his dark, tortured gaze met the older man's. Spikings gave a curt nod and set about retrieving Detective Inspector Makepeace.

-oOo—

Dempsey kept his binoculars on Fiorelli's boat and his interest was caught by one of the windows which seemed to be opening.

Spikings was occupied with a discussion with the landowner about the best way to surround the boat and the likelihood of bringing a police boat alongside.

Whilst the boss was occupied Dempsey stealthily left the boat they were on and made his way down the bank and got nearer to the Dolce Vita. Yeah, someone was unscrewing the window and efficiently moving the whole window out onto the fibre glass hull of the boat. He saw a flash of blonde hair and smiled to himself. 'You're doing great, baby.'

Harry crouched down on the hull and took off her jacket and slowly lowered herself into the river and slid soundlessly into the water.

Dempsey watched her disappear under the water and started to get concerned when she didn't come back up and then just as he was pulling off his trainers to dive in she bobbed up near the bank and started to swim along it. He saw her approaching a shallow beach and rapidly made his way along the riverbank towards it. He pulled off his sweatshirt as it was a relatively warm evening but she'd be cold after being in the water.

'C'mon honey,' he softly encouraged the blonde officer as he crouched down near the shallows ready to haul her out. He saw her still and wondered what the hell she was stalling for and then realised she might not recognise him from that distance so he beckoned to her.

Harry saw a dark shadow near the bank and got ready to fight but then the figure waved at her and she recognised Dempsey's familiar outline. She increased her pace until she was near enough for him to haul her out. He grabbed her under her arms and dragged her out of the river and behind a clump of trees as sounds of alarm could be heard from the direction of Fiorelli's boat.

'You okay,' he quickly unbuttoned her wet shirt and dealt with her bra and then pulled the sweatshirt over her head and she hastily thrust her arms into the sleeves.

'Thanks, yes.' She rubbed her arms to get rid of the chill and then took off her sodden jeans as the sweatshirt reached mid-thigh on her. She saw Dempsey quell a grin as his masculine gaze ran over her bare legs and gave him a knowing look. 'I had to leave my shoes on the boat,' she said in a soft voice looking dubiously at the gravel path.

'No problem,' he swung her up into his arms and carried her over the gravel to the grassy bank while she hung on around his neck. Harry was quite impressed by the ease with which he'd carried her and had to admit that James could easily figure as a romantic hero in this kind of situation as she enjoyed their close proximity and the warmth of his body. When he put her down she had cool grass under her feet as they made her way back to the boat Spikings had commandeered.

'How's Joyce,' Harry asked the dark American as they neared the boat. She was worried as her friend had been unconscious when she left.

'In the ambulance last time I saw her, she'll be okay Hargreaves is a tough broad.' He turned to her and caught her arm in a firm grip, 'what happened to you? Did Fiorelli touch you; cos if he did he's a dead man.' His face had a menacing set to it and Harry really didn't envy anyone who got on the wrong side of Dempsey and she had to admit to a dark frisson of delight that her protector was the hard man of SI0.

'Relax,' she reassured him covering his hand with hers, 'he was too busy losing the police tail to be shall we say romantic. I just got pushed into the cabin which you presumably saw me breaking out of. Fiorelli's team can't have been very familiar with their boat as they didn't seem to be aware that the windows can be completely taken out,' Harry answered somewhat smugly.

'I didn't know that either cos I never had the privilege of cruising down the Hudson as a kid,' he answered sarcastically depressing her pretensions but appreciating the brief caress. 'Boss is in control of the operation; I had to take a back-seat cos of our relationship.'

'I can see that,' Harry said in a dry tone as Dempsey had been the one that had obviously taken the most interest in her escape by virtue of the fact he'd had the boat in sight every second she'd been on it. It made her feel warm inside that James was always there for her.

Spikings had discovered Dempsey was missing and was suitably irate until he saw his two most competent officers making their way to the boat. He sighed with relief to see Harry out of Fiorelli's clutches.

I won't ask,' Spikings said acerbically. 'Glad to have you back with us D.I. Makepeace, you can come to London with me and since Harry's no longer involved you can apprehend the villains, Dempsey. Try not to damage the boat too much as the owners will want it back.' He got into his new car, a well-earned perk of the promotion, and put a blanket down for Makepeace to sit on and gave her a bag to put her wet clothes in as he didn't want a stain or the smell of river water in his new motor.

Fry, who'd had the job of following the helicopter borne team out of London in the Superintendent's car, warmly welcomed Harry as he fired the engine and headed for the SI10 offices. Makepeace had a change of clothes back at the factory and since the door to her home had been completely destroyed it wasn't considered safe for her to go back there until they'd manage to secure it.

'You may as well get your version of events down while they're fresh in your mind,' Spikings informed her, 'and then we can add abducting a police officer to Fiorelli's crime sheet. He'll never get out of prison,' the older man added grimly.

'Well I'll need to go home at some point as my handbag is there with my keys and credit cards,' Harry pointed out. She was happy to go back to the offices because that's where Dempsey would return to and she wanted to know he was all right. Besides if she couldn't spend the night in her own home because of the damage then she would at least want to go to Dempsey's.

'Fry can take you there after you've completed your report,' Spikings growled in his usual manner. 'I expect Dempsey will call in sooner or later or more likely Chas will.'

'Definitely more likely,' Harry agreed in an even tone. Dempsey's way of dealing with authority was to avoid it. And knowing that, she doubted he would update Spikings unless he needed the Superintendent to do something on his behalf.