A/N: Once again, thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate every one of them. This chapter is longer and there's a lot of dialogue, so I hope I handled it okay. Enjoy!

Shawn's breathing seemed to improve after Juliet had wrapped his wrist, and that was at least a little reassuring, suggesting the difficulty he'd had breathing before was more a result of the pain than the decompression sickness.

They had moved him to the couch so he could lie down and get more comfortable. The pain was no longer relegated to his stomach but had now spread to his knees and shoulders, making the movement to the couch that much more difficult. Gus had explained that joint pain was quite common for people suffering from decompression sickness, but it didn't make Juliet feel any better about the situation. None of their cell phones had service and the storm outside had increased in intensity over the last hour. They were effectively trapped.

Juliet had pulled up one of the armchairs and was sitting close enough to Shawn so that she could hear him breathing. He seemed to be sleeping pretty soundly, though every now and then his breath would catch and his face would pull into a wince. Gus was dozing on another chair, his feet stretched out on an ottoman. Juliet closed her eyes, the sounds of Shawn's breathing and the pounding rain outside lulling her to sleep.

Minutes or hours later - she couldn't be sure - she was awakened by the sound of a phone ringing from Gus's direction. Not immediately registering the significance of that sound and still drowsy from sleep, she kept her eyes closed. "Gus, your phone is ringing," she mumbled quietly, still half-asleep.

"Wha?" Gus answered, not moving to pick up the phone.

"Your phone -" Juliet repeated, then jolted awake. "Gus! Your phone!"

Juliet's reaction got Gus's attention and he shot up, grabbing his cell phone. "He-hello?" he asked, praying he didn't lose service.

"Gus, where is Shawn?" It was Henry Spencer, and he was mad. For a second Gus thought he knew about the truck, but that was impossible.

"Mr. Spencer? What time is it?" Gus asked, still drowsy. He saw Shawn stirring on the couch, knowing the commotion had probably woken him up.

"It's 5:30 in the morning. Gus, what did I tell you two about taking my boat out?" Henry asked, voice raised.

"Tell him we need help," Juliet whispered harshly, moving to stand near Gus.

Gus put his hand up, indicating for her to hold on a second. He put the phone on speaker, hearing Henry still yelling. "Gus!"

"Sorry, Mr. Spencer," Gus apologized. He was going to deny that they had taken the boat, but Henry could always tell when he was lying. "How did you know?" he asked instead. Shawn had been struggling to push himself up into a sitting position and Juliet had gone to his side to help him.

"Gus!" Shawn whispered loudly, using his right-hand to gesture for Gus to cut off the conversation.

Henry let out a laugh that was terrifying to Shawn. "Your best friend and my idiot son left his wetsuit in the bathtub, that's how I know, Gus."

Gus glared at Shawn, who responded with a half-hearted "whoops" and a chuckle that ended in a gasp of pain. Gus would've killed him if he didn't already look like death warmed over.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Spencer," Gus apologized. "Shawn said you would never find out."

"I don't think you're making it better!" Shawn whispered.

"I always find out, Gus." Henry said matter-of-factly. And Gus couldn't really argue with that.

"It was for a case. We found the bodies that Rodrigo Estevez dropped into the Pacific, if that helps at all. They got enough to hold him now."

Henry paused for a second, seemingly processing the information. "They didn't get enough to hold him, Gus. They released him last night."

"What?" Juliet asked loudly. "Why?"

"Is that Juliet?" Henry asked, hearing the blonde detective's voice.

"Hi Mr. Spencer," Juliet said, going to stand by Gus. "You said they released Estevez? Do you know why?"

"I only briefly heard it on the news this morning. Something about improper processing of evidence."

Juliet cursed quietly. "Why didn't Lassiter call me?" she murmured.

"I've been trying to call all three of your cell phones since last night," Henry spoke up, providing an answer to her question. "The service is spotty up there. Sal and I always have problems. Are you three in the den?"

"Yes," Gus responded.

"I think that's probably your best bet if you need to make a phone call. The ranger station has a landline, but that's a bit of a hike."

Shawn shifted on the couch, groaning involuntarily. And that reminded Gus how urgent their situation was. "Actually, Mr. Spencer, we have a bit of a problem up here." Gus watched as Juliet returned to the couch, sitting down next to Shawn, their shoulders touching.

"It's Shawn, isn't it?" Henry's voice was still slightly annoyed, but Gus could hear a tinge of worry as well.

Gus nodded. "We think he has decompression sickness. From the diving."

It was Henry who cursed this time, his voice echoing loudly in the room. "What are his symptoms?"

"So far, pretty bad joint pain. And dizziness. He had trouble breathing earlier, but that's improved."

"Any headaches or nausea?" Henry asked. Shawn held up one hand and gave the so-so sign, choosing to let Gus answer for him.

"A little. How do you know so much?" Gus asked, curious since he had no idea Mr. Spencer knew anything about SCUBA diving.

"I went diving a few times with Jack. He got the Bends once. He was pretty miserable for a day or two, but eventually it went away on its own. Is Shawn there with you? Is he awake?"

Shawn shook his head, but Gus ignored him. "He is, but he's on the other side of the room and I don't want to move and risk losing service." Henry seemed satisfied with that answer and Shawn mouthed a silent thank you.

"How bad is he?" Henry asked quietly, almost as if he didn't want to hear the truth.

Gus's answer was ambiguous. "He ascended too quickly from his last dive, which was about 100 feet. And being up here at a high elevation certainly isn't helping."

"Are you planning to come home today?" Henry asked, logically. Gus hesitated, and Henry seemed to catch it. "What is it, Gus?"

"Well...we had a little accident on the way here," Gus said quickly, praying Henry wouldn't explode.

"You crashed my truck?"

"Technically, Shawn did."

"Gus!" Henry and Shawn both shouted.

"It isn't that bad, Mr. Spencer. But the truck is in a ditch. We had to hike the last mile to the cabin."

Henry was silent for a few moments. Finally, he sighed loudly. "Are you all okay?"

"More or less. Shawn may have broken his wrist though and he hit his head pretty hard."

"Dammit, Kid," Henry mumbled, mostly to himself. "How is the weather? You were supposed to get some pretty bad storms last night and today."

Gus looked outside, having forgotten the torrential rain from the previous night. "We got hit pretty hard last night, but it looks to have stopped. For now, at least. I think Juliet or I may try to hike to the ranger station to see if they can pull your truck out. Though if I have service, I guess we can try calling again." Just as Gus said those words, the line started to go staticky. Henry was saying something but Gus only caught snatches of the conversation. He heard "SBPD" and "careful," but then the line went completely dead.

"Dammit!" Gus shouted as the phone betrayed him. He stood up, moving around the room, staring at the phone, willing it to regain service.

"Nothing?" Juliet asked dejectedly.

Gus shook his head. "Well this is just great."

"Leave the phone on your chair in case Henry calls back." Gus did as she said. His stomach grumbled, reminding him he hadn't eaten in hours.

"I'm going to go make some breakfast for us," he told Juliet. As he turned to walk into the kitchen, the sound of heavy rain outside started up again. "Just perfect," he mumbled, shaking his head. "This trip couldn't get any worse."

"Detective, you need to stop beating yourself up over this." Marsh had been dismissed and Lassiter was sitting in the chief's office, still amazed he could have been so stupid.

"It was a rookie mistake," he responded. "I should have been more careful around a suspected murderer."

Chief Vick didn't respond immediately, knowing Lassiter wasn't even listening to her reassurances. "We have officers posted around the roads leading up to the San Rafaels. He won't even get close to the cabin."

Lassiter pulled out his phone, dialing Spencer's and Juliet's phones again. "Dammit!" he shouted, gripping his phone hard. "I need to do something," he said, standing up.

"I need you here, Detective. There are plenty of officers on it. You need to let this go for now. It was an honest mistake."

"My 'honest' mistake may have put my partner and two other SBPD employees in serious danger and you want me to just let it go?"

"For now, Detective," Vick said tightly, trying hard not to lose her patience with her head detective. "In the meantime, I will have frequent updates coming in. Why don't you try and get in touch with the ranger station up on Big Pine?"

Lassiter grumbled something unintelligible but stood up.

"What was that?" Vick asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I said, yes, Chief," Lassiter said, sincerely.

Vick nodded. "Good, that's what I thought. Report back to me after you speak with O'Hara. Until then, I don't want to hear another word about you blaming yourself. That won't help us find Estevez and it certainly won't help our team on the mountain. You're dismissed."

Lassiter walked out of the office, head down. He dropped into his desk chair, pulling out the piece of paper that held the information Juliet had given him earlier. He quickly dialed the number for the ranger station, cursing at the busy signal that responded. Lassiter suspected his efforts to contact O'Hara would be futile as well, but he dialed her number again anyway. "C'mon Partner," he whispered, willing Juliet to answer. When that failed to work, he dialed Shawn's and then Gus's cell phones, receiving the same result.

Lassiter spent the next hour calling around to other ranger stations in the San Rafael Mountains. Half of the calls were answered with busy signals and the calls that did go through were at stations located considerably far away from Big Pine. When Lassiter had voiced his frustration about the calls not going through, one timid ranger had offered up an explanation.

"There have been some very bad storms up on Big Pine these past two days, sir. I think some of the phone lines have been knocked out."

"What kind of amateur rangers are you? Don't you all have another way of communicating?" he asked, annoyed.

"Well ye-yes sir, we do," the ranger stammered. "But the station that you indicated isn't answering radio calls either."

Lassiter tightened his grip on the phone. "What could be a possible explanation for that?" he asked evenly.

He could practically hear the ranger shaking. "No idea, sir."

Lassiter thanked the ranger for being of no help at all, then hung up. He had a bad feeling and it wasn't going to go away until he actually talked to his partner. He was in the process of dialing her number again when he saw Henry Spencer heading to the chief's office.

"Henry!" Lassiter yelled, stopping the older man in his path.

"Lassiter, I need a rescue crew to go up to Big Pine."

"What? What happened? You've talked to Spence-Shawn?"

Henry nodded. "I talked to Gus about a half hour ago. They got my truck stuck in a ditch and Shawn's sick. I lost the call and haven't been able to get through since." Henry looked around, seeming to just notice the amount of activity in the station. "Is this all for Estevez? Why don't you just have a few officers keeping tabs on him?"

Lassiter looked towards the chief's office, but Vick was on her phone in what looked like a pretty heated conversation. He so didn't want to have to be the one to tell Henry about the screwup. "We did have officers watching Estevez...but he managed to evade them. We're not sure where he is right now."

Henry looked surprised but not especially angry, and Lassiter realized it was because he didn't know of the danger Estevez's escape posed to Shawn. "Well do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

"It's possible..." Lassiter trailed off. "We think he may go after Shawn for his part in finding the bodies."

Henry snorted, "I guess it's a good thing they're stuck on the mountain." When Lassiter didn't respond, Henry narrowed his eyes. "What is it, Detective?"

"Estevez knew Shawn was going up to Big Pine. We posted officers near the exits for the mountains, but no one has spotted him yet. I've been trying to call O'Hara for the last two hours, but I can't get through."

"How does Estevez know where Shawn is?" Henry's tone was accusatory, and Lassiter couldn't blame him.

"It was my fault, Henry. I screwed up. And you can ream me for it later, but right now we need to get in touch with my partner up on that mountain and warn her that they may have company very soon."

A flash of anger crossed Henry's face, but he nodded at Lassiter's suggestion, knowing it wasn't going to help his son if he lost his cool right now. "The service in Sal's cabin is spotty, but there are some places where calls will go through. If I know Gus and Juliet, they'll figure something out." Lassiter nodded, but he didn't seem completely satisfied with that. He was about to suggest something else when his cell phone started buzzing on the desk.

Lassiter scrambled for the phone, answering it after one ring. "O'Hara!" he shouted into the phone.

Juliet immediately pulled the phone away from her ear at Lassiter's shout. "Carlton?" she said, "Oh thank God, it worked. Gus!" he heard her yelling. "I got through!" Lassiter could hear footsteps and a shuffling noise. "You're on speaker," Juliet told him.

Henry had his ear practically up to Lassiter's, and Lassiter stepped away, pressing the button to switch to speaker. "Are you three okay?" Henry asked.

"Dad?" Shawn's voice sounded weak, but Henry was just happy to hear him.

"Hey kid," Henry answered.

"O'Hara," Lassiter cut Henry off. "I need you to listen to me. Estevez escaped and we have reason to believe he may be heading up the mountains to the cabin."

"But how would he know where we are?" Lassiter heard Juliet pause, and he knew she was remembering the same thing he had. "The interrogation room," she said in realization. "Oh I'm such an idiot."

Henry looked at Lassiter questioningly, but he waved him off. "Shake it off, O'Hara. I need you to concentrate. You have your gun?"

"Of course," Juliet said a little more quietly, and Lassiter knew she was blaming herself.

"Hey Lassie?" Shawn asked, his characteristic smarm still present even in his weakened state.

"What is it, Spencer?"

"How'd Estevez manage to escape?"

"Robertson and Marsh were assigned to watch him. He cold-cocked Robertson while Marsh was taking a leak in the woods," Lassiter explained quickly. He heard Shawn chuckle a little.

"Wait, Robertson?" Shawn paused and Lassiter heard a slight wheeze coming from the phone.

"Yes, Officer Daniel Robertson. He's going to be fine - mild concussion I think."

The line was silent for a minute, and Lassiter checked to make sure he hadn't lost the call. "When was the last update you got on him?"

Lassiter looked confused. "He's fine, Spencer. It was just enough to knock him out."

"No, Lassie, listen!" Shawn insisted. He gasped in pain and Lassiter heard more movement.

"Shhh, you're okay," he heard Juliet whispering in the background.

"Shawn! What's going on?" Henry asked.

"It's his head, Mr. Spencer," Gus answered. "It's been bothering him for the last hour."

"Dammit," Henry murmured. "We need to get them off the mountain." Lassiter looked at him questioningly, and Henry remembered he hadn't told the detective about Shawn's decompression sickness. But there was time for that later.

"Jules," Shawn was whispering frantically in the background.

"Spencer, what is it?" Lassiter asked loudly.

"Robertson was one of the divers - ah - right?" Shawn asked, his voice indicating the level of pain he was in.

"Yes," Lassiter answered, beginning to see where Spencer was going with this. "Oh no," he whispered, already turning to head to the chief's office. Henry was close behind him, shouting his name. He burst into the office, receiving the expected glare from Karen Vick.

"Detective, what in the name of..." She started, but he cut her off.

"Call the hospital," he insisted. "Check on Robertson. Trust me," he insisted when she hesitated. Karen narrowed her eyes, but picked up the phone to dial.

"Carlton, what's going on?" Juliet was asking through the cell phone. Her voice was beginning to get garbled and Lassiter was worried he'd lose the call. He heard Karen's clipped side of the conversation and knew the news was bad.

"Robertson's gone," Vick answered, placing the phone back in the cradle. "He took his things and left without telling anyone. Detective, what is going on here? Why in the world would he sneak out of the hospital?"

Lassiter hung his head, about to answer her when Shawn's voice, as clear as if he was standing in the office with them, finished his thought for him. "Because he's Estevez's partner."

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think! I will try to get this next chapter up soon.