Chapter Six

His pulse was racing. His breathing was labored. His pace was just a beat faster than the perp and he was gaining on him. "NCIS! Out of the way!" Arthur shouted and the crowd made a hole for him. The perp duck into an alley way and Arthur followed; right behind him. A chain link fence blocked the way, but it was scaled by both men, Arthur being better. The suspect stopped at the end of the alley way and took aim with his gun. Arthur barely had time to react, but he didn't get a chance to and neither did the suspect. A blue NCIS Dodge hit the perp who went splaying on the hood and his gun fell to the ground. He landed on the ground, groaning in pain as Arthur drew his gun and looked to see Agatha smiling in the driver's seat. "I would've caught him," he said before trying to even out his labored breathing.

"No," she said getting out, "you would've had a bullet in your head." Agatha picked up the suspect from the ground and put his face down on the hood.

"You bitch!" he shouted.

"Hey!" Arthur shouted back. "So some respect to the lady," he said as Agatha searched him. "She could have hit you harder with the car." The suspect quietened as Agatha put him in cuffs and placed him in the back seat. "Nice job," he said.

"Thanks," she said. "You drive," she said tossing the keys to him. He caught them and climbed into the driver's seat as she got into the other side.

"I'm suing you," the suspect said from the back.

"Shut up," Arthur snapped and started to car. "It was just a love tap." Agatha smiled at Arthur as he pulled back onto the street to head back to NCIS. "Thanks," he said.

"Anytime," she said. "So, what's Gwen doing today with you out and about?"

"She's trying on dresses today," he said.

"Oh, how nice," Aggie said. "Who's with her?" she asked and Arthur shrugged.

"She wouldn't tell me," he said. He stopped at a traffic light on 14th street and waited for it to change to green.

"I hope she finds the dress today," Arthur said. "She's been looking at ones on the internet and she seems frustrated trying to find the right one."

"She'll find it," Aggie said. "Gwen always gets what she wants," she added when the light turned green.

"Yeah," Arthur said. "Maybe when she's got THE dress on it'll just hit her." Aggie chuckled before gasping out in surprise.

"Watch out!" she shouted but the truck came out of nowhere and broadsided them. It didn't stop until they were flipping over. The suspect in the back was screaming out in pain. The air bags had gone off, but it did little for them flipping over. They came to rest on the roof and Agatha was still buckled in while Arthur's seat belt had come undone and he was laying out of the driver's side window. Agatha looked over to her partner and couldn't tell if he was breathing. "Arthur!"

Two Hours Earlier …...................

Arthur and Agatha were laughing as they got off the elevator and noticed that their leader was not happy.

"What's wrong?" they both asked.

"Nothing," Jacobs said. "There is a lead however in the Browning case."

"Its about time," Agatha said while Arthur said,

"Finally." Lt. William Browning was an officer of the Navy who was murdered in his home two weeks ago. The case had gone cold, but Jacobs had gotten a call from someone who saw something. "When do we leave?"

"You two leave now," Jacobs said.

"But we just got breakfast," Aggie said.

"Well, good thing you got it to go," Jacobs said before going back to his desk. He sat down only to stand up and open his arms. "You two still here?" he asked and the two younger agents hightailed it back to the elevator.

"And to think he had his coffee," Arthur said causing Aggie to laugh.

Gwen stood up seeing the consultant coming up to her. "Gwen?" she asked.

"Yes, that's me," she said holding out her hand. "My stepmother, Camille and mother in law to be, Igraine and my Maid of Honor, Katie."

"Nice to meet you," the consultant said. "I'm Dianne, your consultant for this visit." She led the small party to a small room in the back and sat Gwen down to get an idea for a dress. "So, tell me what you want."

"Well, my fiance told me that when I see it I'll know," Gwen said. "I've looked at hundreds of dresses online and couldn't find one there so I'm hoping I can find it here and my budget is three thousand dollars."

"Is there anything you don't want?"

"No long sleeves or anything that looks medieval," Gwen said. At Dianne's confused look, she explained. "My full name is Guinevere and my fiance is Arthur."

"Oh, well, I can see why you would want to get away from the legend," she said. "There isn't a Lancelot in your life is there?"

"My ex boyfriend," Gwen said, "and I'd rather not talk about it."

"Okay, I'll see what we have that you might like," Dianne said. "I'll be right back." Gwen heard her phone ring and she dreaded answering it. Camille picked it up and sighed out in relief.

"It's the groom," she said holding out the phone to Gwen. Gwen chuckled as she took the phone from her stepmother and answered it.

"Hello, dear," she said.

"Hello," Arthur said. He sat in the passenger side of the car as Aggie drove. They were on their way to question yet another witness in the Browning case. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Trying on wedding dresses," she said. "I couldn't find what I wanted on the Internet."

"Hope you can find one there," he said.

"Oh, I will," she said. "What are you doing?"

"Aggie and I are chasing down a lead in a case. No details for you."

"Did I ask?" she asked. Arthur chuckled causing Aggie to smile as she turned onto the correct street.

"Love you," he said.

"Love you, too," she said. Arthur hung up the phone and sighed out.

"Wedding jitters?" Aggie asked.

"No," he said. "Just in love." Aggie cooed at him as she brought the car to a stop.

"We're here," she said in a singsong voice. "Put on your game face." They got out of the car and headed up to the apartment building. Looking at the names on the buzzer, they found the one they wanted and Aggie pushed the button. A few minutes passed and there was no answer. Arthur pushed it, getting a little impatient. "A little impatient?" Aggie asked.

"This lead ruined my morning," he said. "This guy better have some useful information." He looked down the street to see a familiar face. He pulled out his phone to bring up a picture and he looked at the guy again who had now stopped. "Hey, found him," he said. He got down off the steps and started to walking toward the guy. "Terrence Miller?" Arthur asked and the guy flung his groceries at Arthur before taking off down the street. "I got him!" he hollered after Aggie who jumped into the car.

Gwen slipped into the off white wedding gown that Dianne brought in as a back up. Once the consultant had her done up, Gwen turned around to see herself in the mirror. "Oh, wow," she said. "I love this dress," she added.

"I had a feeling you would," Dianne said. "I know you said it didn't have to be white because you and your fiance were already passed that stage."

"I don't care," she said. "I love it."

"It just has to pass one more test." Gwen nodded and she stepped out of the room. All three women gasped in delight when they saw Gwen and then squealed with excitement.

"Gwen, it looks stunning," Camille said.

"You're perfect in it," Igraine said. "Arthur will love you in this. It's simple and beautiful."

"I'm looking for speechless though," Gwen said.

"He'll be speechless, trust me," Igraine said.

Present time ….......

Aggie grunted as she got herself unhooked and ran around to Arthur's side. "Arthur?" She bent down to out an ear by his mouth to see if he was breathing. "Oh, thank God," she said finding that he was. She looked up to see that the vehicle that hit them had disappeared. She went to the back and looked to see that their suspect was still breathing too, unfortunately.

"Get me out of here!" he shouted. Aggie tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"I can't get it open," she said. She turned to the crowd who was starting to gather. "Someone call 911! Tell them officer down!" She crawled into the back window which was broken and got the suspect unhooked. She pulled him out of the car and to his feet and sat him on the curb next to a lamp post. She unhooked the handcuffs only to re-hook them together with the guys arms around to pole. She went back over to her partner and checked for breathing and a pulse. He still had them. "Come on, Artie," she whispered. "You can't die now. Not when you've got a beautiful girl to go home to." The ambulance sirens soon came into hearing range and she double checked the suspect who still sat on the curb.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," he said.

"What?" Aggie asked as the ambulance came up. She directed the EMTs to work on Arthur first and as soon as Arthur was being tended to by the paramedics, she walked over to suspect.

"Ma'am, we have to have a look at you, too," the one said and Aggie held up her hand.

"I'm fine," she snapped. "Just work on my partner," she ordered as a cop car came to the scene as well as the fire department. "What do you mean by that, Miller?"

"Some guy paid me to pretend that I had information on one of your lead cases to lure you out here," Terrence said. "When I saw you, I was suppose to run and have you chase me, but I didn't run fast enough to keep up the pace with him."

"There's someone out there wanting to kill us?"

"Not you," Terence said. "Just him," he said pointing to Arthur who was being hoisted onto the gurney. Aggie looked from him and Arthur before putting the pieces together.

"This guy have a name?" Aggie asked.

"Some guy called Lancelot," he said.

"Shit," Aggie cursed.