Nikki was half way home before the tension in her stomach finally became painful. "Dammit," she cursed as she pulled into a U-turn. She raced back to Nora's cursing herself for not getting the other woman's phone number. As she pulled up out front she threw open the door as she killed the engine and rushed into the building. She can yell at me all she wants, she thought to herself. Pretty sure that would be the reception she'd receive. Just be there.

She knocked on the door and waited....and waited. "Come on Nora," she said as she pounded. She put her ear to the door trying to hear any movement from inside. "Shit," she muttered as she pulled out her phone. "This is Detective Beaumont could you connect me to Lieutenant Park, SCU."

Nikki began quickly once her call connected. "Lieutenant, this is Detective Beaumont."

"Yes Detective."

"I dropped Detective Delaney off about fifteen minutes ago and now she's not answering her door."

"Detective..." he tried to cut in.

"My informant told us that Masters was making threats. She told me she'd be fine but..."

"Detective...." he tried again.

"I may be overreacting but with the attempt this morning..."

"Beaumont," he said with a slightly raised voice.

Nikki jerked at the tone. "Yes sir."

"We have a tail on them."

"Sir?" Nikki questioned as she headed back out of the building.

"Delaney figured the only way to close this case would be to let Masters make a move."

"You mean she was bait?"

"They both were. Unfortunately Detective Harney had a couple of friends who were nearby when a couple of men tried to jump him, they stopped him from being taken. The unit that was watching him moved in and they apprehended Masters's men. They were just brought in and we are finalizing a plan."

"Unfortunately? That's actually good for Dan isn't it?"

"Sure but I don't actually like having Delaney there alone."

"I see." Nikki climbed back into her car and started the engine. "Sir, I'd like to be involved."

"I appreciate that but..."

"I'd really like to see this to it's conclusion," Nikki pleaded. Then a thought struck her. "If you think I had something to do with Nora's abduction I can assure you that I didn't."

She could hear the sigh through the phone. "We're pretty sure they are headed toward the south shore."

"Johnny Masters has a boat there."

"Head that direction and we'll call you once we know for sure. But stay out of the way."

"Yes sir," Nikki said as she disconnected.

**

Nora was pulled from the trunk and she immediately realized that they were at the marina. This wasn't good, she really didn't want to go for a cruise. Whatever drug she was given left her feeling slightly sluggish but at least she was aware. However if the lieutenant didn't have her back-up in place she wasn't sure being aware would be a good thing. No, she couldn't think that way, she had to assume there was a unit watching her and that they could get the harbor patrol in position before she ended up in the middle of the lake.

She forced her legs to move as she tried to walk between the two larger men, frustrated with her slow movements they practically dragged her along the dock. She struggled to focus her eyes as she spotted a small group of men waiting at the end of a pier.

"What the hell is this?" Lieutenant Simms said as they approached.

"I knew it," Nora muttered as she registered who spoke.

"When you said you wanted to meet you didn't tell me this was going on." Simms yelled at Louis Masters as he motioned in Nora's direction. She could tell from his tone that he was nervous about being left out of the extent of this meeting.

"Afraid to get your hands dirty, Simms," Nora growled at him.

Louis Masters stepped forward and clamped his hand around her throat. "I'd keep quiet if I were you. Unless you'd like me to deal with you first." Nora stared up into his eyes, her body screaming at her to fight for air but her brain not wanting to give him the satisfaction. How stubborn is too stubborn. He sneered at her as he let go and with a nod to the men at her sides they let go and she fell to her knees, drawing in deep breaths.

Masters spun on his heel and moved back toward Simms. "Tell me again why you waited three months before you let me know I had cops in my club."

"I told you to watch yourself but if I had told you they were there I would have been discovered," Simms said. "It was too risky."

Johnny Masters stepped up behind his brother. "Too risky for who?" he yelled at Simms.

Still on her knees Nora lifted her head to watch the argument. She cast a quick glance around, trying to plan her escape route. Unfortunately, being on the dock, the only way to go without getting shot in the back would be the water. How far can you swim without using your arms, she wondered. Probably not far enough, she determined. Okay, come up with plan B—stall.

"I was monitoring the situation," Simms reasoned. "Once I had a viable option I went with it. This," he pointed to Nora. "Is an overreaction."

"This couldn't be helped. My brother takes exception to people trying to kill him," Louis said casually.

"Your brother needs to think once in a while," Simms said as he pointed to his head.

Nora watched as Johnny pushed past his brother, took her gun from his waistband and shot Simms in the head. "Think on that asshole," he spat.

Louis turned quickly and grabbed his brother by the shirt. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Bastard had it coming. Besides it's her gun, let her take the fall for this."

Louis pushed his brother away. "You fucking idiot. He was supposed to take the fall for her death not the other way around."

"As long as they're all dead what the fuck does it matter," Johnny reasoned.

"Maybe I'll let you hold the bag on this one and then you'll see what it matters."

"He's already hanging you out to dry," Nora said from her spot on the ground.

Both men turned in her direction. Louis motioned toward her and the man at her side hauled her up to her feet. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about bitch."

"Come on Johnny, think about it. He's using your boat." Louis stepped forward and backhanded her across the jaw.

Johnny stepped forward and rested a hand on his brother's shoulder. "What's she going on about?"

"She's trying to turn us against each other to save her own skin. But it won't work because we are in this together." Louis turned away from her and motioned toward two of his men standing next to Simms's lifeless form. "Load this body while we wait for her partner to show. We'll dump all three in the lake. And then I'll figure out the rest."

"You think the department is going to waste time on a two-bit drug dealer with a cop killer on the loose. Every cop in town is going to be hunting you Johnny." Nora knew she needed to buy some time, she just hoped this was the way to do it.

Louis pulled a gun from under his jacket and moved forward, pushing it under Nora's chin. "Shut up."

"You wouldn't really sell me out would you?" Johnny asked uncertainly

"Think about it brother, she's playing you. When has she ever called you Johnny."

"Stupid bitch," Johnny spat as he stepped forward pushing his brother out of the way. "Let me kill her now," he pleaded as he pushed her gun hard against her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "I'll succeed where you failed," he taunted her.

"Maybe if you didn't have such a thick neck," she retorted.

He pulled the gun back and was about to smash it against her face when Louis grabbed his arm. "Wait," he said. "Look. The guys are here with the other one."

All three turned to see Dan being led down the dock toward them. Shit, Nora thought to herself.

"It's about damn time," Louis called out to them. "What took you so long?" he asked as he took a step toward them. "What the hell," he muttered when they didn't answer.

Nora noticed as Louis seemed to tense and she looked again in Dan's direction. She realized that he was walking in front of the two men with him and, that in the darkness, they seemed to be staying out of sight. While Masters and his men were distracted by their approach she took the opportunity to look around and noticed a boat silently coming toward the end of the dock. She wanted to look back along the other side of the docks to see if any others were approaching from that direction but didn't want to draw attention to herself, or them.

Nora could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She felt incredibly exposed, she was reasonably sure that Masters and his men were outnumbered but she was the one standing in the middle of them. Louis and Johnny were standing in front of her, there was still one man at her side, another standing next to the steps onto the boat and two more still on the boat with Simms's body. She took a deep breath, whatever was going to happen wasn't going to be fun.

"Something isn't right," Louis whispered to his brother. "Get her on the boat," he ordered.

Johnny grabbed Nora's arm and pulled her toward the boat at the same moment that hell seemed to break loose around her. It started with a crack in the silence and the man who had been at her side fell to the ground clutching at his shoulder. Louis crouched and began firing wildly in Dan and the other officers' direction, Nora caught a quick glance of them ducking for cover. She used the chaos to turn in Johnny's loose hold so she could bring her knee up between his legs. As he bent over she pulled away and dropped to the ground, she rolled onto her back, brought her legs up and kicked out at him, causing him to stumble backwards.

Before he had time to recover, the boat that had been approaching reached the end of the dock and four officers jumped out, guns drawn. Johnny raised his gun but before he could shoot he was fired upon twice, getting hit once in the leg and once in the arm, forcing him to drop his gun. The man who had been standing by the steps of the boat quickly dropped his gun and fell to his knees, arms high above his head.

"Two more on the boat," Nora called out to the officers. Alerting them just as the two had stepped up from the lower level and onto the deck of the boat. Stepping into the middle of the fight with four guns pointed their direction the two gave up quickly.

After a few seconds of no gunfire Nora forced herself into a sitting position so she could survey the scene. Three of Masters's men were being cuffed and led away up the dock, two were cuffed but were still on the ground due to their injuries, Johnny being one of these. Finally Nora's gaze fell on Louis Masters, he was lying on his back with his face turned in her direction staring at her but the red circle in the middle of his forehead told her he wasn't seeing.

Nora tore her gaze away from the dead eyes just as Dan knelt down beside her. "Hey partner," he said as he reached behind her to release the cuffs.

"Bout time," she said as she massaged her wrists. "Any of our guys hurt?"

"Nope," Dan said as he helped her to her feet. "Luckily Masters was a crappy shot."

"Simms's body is on the boat," she informed him. "I don't know if I'd count him as one of ours though." She wrapped her arm around Dan's waist and let him help her back toward the parking lot.

He looked down at her as he put his arm around her back. "You okay?" he asked, surprised by her willingness to be helped.

"Fine," she answered simply. Although she did need to lean heavily on him as they made their way along the dock.

Lieutenant Park made his way toward them. "Nice job." Then he cast an appraising eye over the blonde detective. "You need to go to the hospital? Get checked out?"

"No sir. I'm fine." To prove her point Nora straightened so she was leaning less heavily on Dan.

Park was unconvinced but didn't argue. "Okay. This will take us most of the night to clean up so why don't you go ahead and head home. We'll debrief in the morning."

"Yes sir," she answered. "And... thank you, sir."

"You did good Delaney. Now go get some rest," he ordered as he headed toward the crime scene.

As he walked away Nora and Dan turned back toward the lot, Nora pausing when she spotted Nikki at the end of the dock. "Why am I not surprised she's here," she muttered.

"Not long after she dropped you off she turned around and went back. Called the lieutenant and he had no choice but to tell her about the plan. He said she was pretty adamant about seeing the end of this."

Nora smiled at the thought of the other woman coming back for her.

"I guess I was wrong about her," Dan said.

"Yeah," Nora agreed. "She is good."

"High praise," Dan laughed. "Considering last night you were ready to wring her neck."

"Yeah, well..." Nora shrugged as they made their way toward the brunette.

Nikki started to reach forward as the two approached but stopped herself. "You okay?" she asked calmly, trying to mask her level of concern.

"Fine," Nora nodded. "Told you not to worry."

"Yeah, well..." Nikki shrugged.

Nora smiled then quickly schooled her expression. "At least now you're off the hook," Nora informed her. "Simms is dead," she said as she hooked her thumb back toward the boat. "Louis Masters too."

"Could've been a lot worse," Nikki said as her eyes locked with Nora's.

"Sorry I misjudged you," Dan said as he held out his hand.

Nikki smiled as she accepted it. "No problem. It was a pleasure working with you."

"You too," he replied. "Okay let's get you home," he said as he tightened the hold on his partner.

"See ya around, Beaumont," Nora said as Dan led her toward the car.

A/N: I know it's a quick and easy end to the case but I did warn you.

The next chapter will be the last--more of a quick epilogue.