"He's late," Jeannie said, as she stood beside Mike as they greeted the guests.

"He'll be here," Mike soothed her. He patted her hand. "He's an absent minded professor these days remember," he teased.

"Not that absent minded," Jeannie retorted. "Didn't you phone him?"

"Of course I did, sweetheart," Mike replied. "I warned him." Mike hated to bring up Cord's reappearance, especially as this was meant to be a happy occasion. "He'll be careful."

The guests continued to arrive and Mike was surprised by how many people came. His former captain, Rudy, started the proceedings with a speech that brought a blush to Mike's face and there was applause and laughter as well. Mike rose to respond, and all the while, he was aware that Steve had not yet arrived. Jeannie's face was tight with worry. Mike kept his remarks brief and the guests were soon mingling and picking over the buffet.

A hand on Mike's shoulder caused the detective to turn to meet Lenny's genial face. "Nice speech, Mike," he smiled. "Congratulations on your retirement." His smile faltered. "What's wrong?" Almost at once, Lenny glanced around, scanning the crowd. "Where's Steve?"

"I don't know," Mike confessed. "I spoke to him a couple of hours ago and I don't think he would forget about tonight so quickly…" He trailed off miserably.

"You think something's happened to him?" Lenny asked.

"Yes," Mike sighed. "I suppose you won't know about Cord. Leonard Cord was released yesterday. He killed a friend of Jeannie's and threatened to kill her. Steve and I hunted him down. He knocked Steve out and tied him up and when I found Cord, he wanted me to kill him. I wouldn't do that. I couldn't. Cord said he would get us."

"Steve's pretty resilient," Lenny reminded Mike, "and he can look after himself."

"Cord is dangerous," Mike replied flatly. "He was always a big, strong man and I wouldn't think he's changed – not with a gym available to him. I should've sent someone to protect Steve, no matter what he said."

"You don't know that anything's happened to Steve," Lenny objected. "He might have run into traffic or been held up by a needy student."

"You don't believe that any more than I do." Mike met Lenny's eyes and the psychologist had to nod his agreement. "You don't know Cord."

"Mike!" It was the bar tender. "Phone!"

"That'll be Steve," Lenny predicted. He watched as Mike went to the phone. It was with horror that he saw the colour draining from Mike's face and the lieutenant sank into a seat, suddenly looking his age. Lenny hurried towards him, subliminally aware of Jeannie closing in on the other side. They dead-heated at Mike's side as the receiver slipped from his hand.

"Mike?" Jeannie grasped her father's shoulder, suddenly terrified by his display of vulnerability. Tears sprang to her eyes as Mike slowly put a hand on her arm. "Steve," she whispered. "He's not…" A sob broke free of her control.

Patting her arm, Mike spoke through numb lips. "Cord has him."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wakening up was not pleasant. Steve was vaguely aware that he had been drifting in and out of consciousness for some time. Now, he found himself in a place that was completely dark. There was not a single chink of light anywhere. The air was cold and smelt musty. Somewhere there was water dripping, but Steve could hear no other sound. His hands were bound tightly behind his back and were already growing numb. A gag was between his teeth.

The intense throbbing in his head made it difficult to think. Steve remembered Mike's phone call and leaving his office and then… For a time, he could not think past that moment, but as he drifted uncomfortably on the pain, a flash of memory made him flinch as he recalled Cord's face.

Remembering that moment brought other memories to the surface. They were vague and he couldn't quite get hold of them, but he recalled being jolted around and thought that had been Cord carrying him to a car. He kind of remembered being in the trunk of a car, with a solid object – a tire iron? – sliding around in there with him. His ribs were tender enough to suggest that memory was accurate.

The thought that he was at Cord's mercy was a very scary one. Steve had suffered a concussion at Cord's hands 20 years before and the fact that he had clearly been planning this for a long time suggested to Steve that this scenario was unlikely to have a happy outcome. He would die at Cord's hands, one way or another. He would either be left here to starve, or he would be used as a pawn in whatever nefarious scheme Cord had in mind to torture Mike and would then be killed. Neither option held any appeal.

Getting out of his prison was his first priority if he wanted to thwart Cord. Steve struggled to his feet fighting the dizziness the movement evoked. He leaned unsteadily against the cold, slimy wall until his head stopped spinning, shivering with cold and injury. First things first; rubbing his head on the wall and his own shoulder, stopping frequently when the pain in his head got too bad, he was able to pull the cloth gag from his mouth.

Feeling fractionally better for that small victory, Steve straightened cautiously and took a step, keeping his hands against the wall. The floor under his feet was uneven and now that he was on his feet, Steve became aware that his pants were damp and clinging to him. His shirt was also damp, particularly the collar. Steve wondered briefly what had happened to his jacket. It would have kept him a little warmer.

Keeping his left shoulder against the wall, Steve felt his way around his prison. There was an iron door, set so tightly into the stone walls that Steve could not even get a nail between the door and the frame. He could find no handy nails so beloved by TV series to fray the ropes against. There was no window that he could find, although that didn't mean there hadn't been one and it was blocked up. Although the drip of water sounded like it was in the room, he couldn't find it. He strained his eyes against the darkness and saw nothing. He feared that he had been struck blind.

The room measured four paces by four paces and there was no way for him to get out.