Maybe St. Michael was on Pete's side tonight; Mac wasn't home. Pete left a message with Mary to have Mac call him and went back to the ball game and his still cold ice cream.

The game went into extra innings. It was the bottom of the twelfth inning. The Dodgers were down two runs, but there were two men on base and one out. Steve Garvey hit a sacrifice fly to right. Jimmy Wynn was sliding into home when there was a knock on the door. Pete held up a hand to stop Jim from answering it; he was sure that Ed had returned. The knocking continued. At least there was a commercial on.

"Pete, open up! I know you're in there." It wasn't Ed. Jim got up to answer the door to let Mac in. Pete decided that St. Michael was a fickle patron saint.

"Why didn't you answer the door?" Mac seemed a bit perturbed. It didn't help his mood much when Pete shushed him; the commercial was over. Bill Buckner hit a double to left, advancing Manny Mota to third. Two on, two out, down one run and Mac reached over to shut off the television.

"You couldn't wait for one more batter?" Pete didn't even know why Mac was there. He told Mary to have her husband call him; not come over. He was tempted to turn the television back, but even medicated, Pete knew better than to push things. "What's up Mac?"

"When were you going to tell me that there was a radio call to these apartments?" That explained Mac's mood. Apparently whoever responded to the call didn't see what had happened and didn't find a reason to knock on his door.

"There was? I didn't see one. Did you?" In Mac's opinion, his friend was not taking things seriously. Pete, who usually didn't take anything stronger than aspirin, had a tendency to be flippant when on stronger meds.

"I didn't ask you if you saw one, did I?" Mac was hovering. Not a good sign.

"Yes, you did. Didn't you hear him ask that Partner?" Pete turned to appeal to Jim for confirmation. Reed, however, was cringing at Pete's response. He was about to say something when Mac noticed the cut above Pete's right eye. "What happened to your head?"

"I'm pretty sure I hit it on the door frame." Pete wasn't really trying to be difficult. However, even in his medicated mind, he did resent having Mac in there asking questions. That wasn't it, exactly. Mainly he resented the fact that Ed was causing him more grief. When was it going to stop?

"Let me guess. You tripped over your own feet, right?" It seems that Pete wasn't the only one in the mood to be difficult. Pete was thinking clear enough to wonder how Mac found out about a 415 to his apartment complex. The responding officers would have come to his place if his apartment number was included in the call.

"Of course I did." He had, after Ed pushed him into the door. He probably should have added that part.

Jim hadn't said anything yet, but he would have to. He had been there for their argument the other day. This could easily get out of hand.

"Pete. Tell him you already tried to call to let him know what happened." Jim wasn't looking at Mac as he spoke. He was giving Pete a look that said "Don't be stupid". Pete might be pig-headed at times, but he got the message.

"I called Mary a while ago and left a message for you. I didn't know a squad car was outside." Pete started using two fingers to rub his right temple.

"When?" Mac, who had yet to sit down, stepped closer to Pete. "What time did you call?"

"I'm not sure." He paused to take a sip of soda and Mac almost growled. So Pete added, "It was somewhere around the eighth inning, I think." Pete didn't even know what time it was now. He had lost a few hours to sleep and the fog of codeine.

"That game just ended and the 415 call went out almost three hours ago. Are you saying that you forgot to call me for hours?" MacDonald didn't seem to be in the mood to listen. Had he been yelled at about this?

"Sergeant?" Jim really needed to stop this before it got worse. He pointed at Pete. "He's not trying to be difficult; He's loopy from his pain meds." Pete took offense at the term "loopy" arguing that he was only a little "Farblonschet". Neither Mac nor Jim wanted to try to figure that one out.

"We really didn't know about any 415 complaint. I was more concerned with stopping the bleeding above his eyebrow and making him take some pain medication. Also, the pizza was hot. He was going to call you right after we ate." Jim was going to continue explaining when Pete broke into the conversation.

"It's his fault. I fell asleep." Pete glared at both of them; they were laughing.

"You always fall asleep when you mix pizza and codeine." Mac laughed and took a seat across from Pete, but spoke to Jim. "If we give him coffee all we'll have is a wide awake loon. Did you see anything?"

They decided to try it anyway. MacDonald kept Pete company while Jim fixed a pot of coffee. Reed could repeat what Pete had told him happened before he got there, but the sergeant needed to get Malloy's version from him. It took another hour and two cups of strong coffee before Pete could keep his mind on the details. Mac took notes, asking questions when necessary, to get the facts straight. Pete admitted to hitting Ed, stating that he didn't have much choice. Ed was swinging a fist at him when Pete hit him in self-defense. After Jim gave his statement, Pete supplied the names of two neighbors who had seen at least part of what happened.

Pete ended the story with the assertion that he did not want to file charges against Wells. He didn't see any point to it. Ed was in enough trouble, without adding this. MacDonald didn't quite agree with Pete, but this was his call; unless Ed made an issue of things. Either way, they would have to fill in Captain Moore in the morning.

Pete was switching channels trying to find out who won the game, when he noticed Mac and Jim talking quietly in the kitchen. They kept looking back and forth at him. That was most assuredly a bad omen. When they finished, Mac brought Pete a new bottle of soda and two more pain pills. He was refusing the pain meds when he heard Jim talking on the phone with Jean.

"Oh No. I do not need a babysitter and I'm not taking any more medication." Pete stood up too fast and had to grab the arm of the chair to steady him. Both Mac and Jim saw the flash of pain on Pete's face. Mac put a hand on Pete's shoulder.

"Sit down Pete. I think someone should be here in case Ed comes back. If you don't want Jim to stay here, I'll have a unit assigned to sit outside overnight." Pete jerked away from Mac's touch. He was starting to get agitated.

"There is no reason to do that. Do you think I'm stupid enough to open the door if Wells shows up again?" He pointed at the door. "It's a metal door and a dead bolt. Ed can kick it until he breaks his foot, it won't open. Go home Jim."

Not only didn't Jim leave, he came and stood next to Mac, like a plainclothes version of the "Blue Wall". Pete had two options: dart sideways along the coffee table or sit down. He didn't feel like darting anywhere; his head and stomach hurt. Ed knocking him into the door had acerbated his injuries. So, he sat back down.

"We need a witness in case he does come back. Maybe he won't get in, but he can raise a fuss if he wants to." MacDonald paused to let Pete consider that. "What if he is out there when you leave to go to work tomorrow?"

Pete gave into the idea of Jim staying overnight. He did argue against taking any more of the codeine, but not too much. The fact that he needed to get enough sleep so that he wouldn't be tired when they took the statements from Fraser and Wells, made sense to him. Mac would have someone talk to the neighbors in the morning.

Things were quiet overnight. It had been agreed last night that Jim would walk Pete to his car before going home. If they were worried about Ed being around, they shouldn't have been; a squad car was parked by the stairs. They left when Jim held up four fingers.

There was a very large sigh when Pete bent down to touch the damaged quarter panel. He would have to deal with that today, too. Pete did have collision insurance on the car, but there was a large deductible to deal with. He had no intention of paying that himself.

The locker room was mostly empty when Pete got there. The only other person there was Mark Jackson, who was changing out of a wet uniform. He muttered something about having to buy a new shirt; uniform parts weren't cheap. Pete looked over at him and chuckled.

"Be glad it's only one shirt. My last shift I ruined two shirts and a pair of pants."

Jackson, a recent transfer, was a three year veteran. Since coming over, he had kept a respectable distance between him and the "Senior Lead". The scuttlebutt over the last few days didn't make him any more willing to be around Pete and he left as soon as possible. Pete grinned and shook his head. Captain Moore had taught Pete a long time ago, that a little respectable fear was a necessary component of a supervisor's make-up.

Pete stopped at the watch commander's office to check in with Mac. Because of Pete's encounter with Ed, they had moved up the appointment with the Captain to eight. On the way to the office, Mac shared with Pete the position Internal Affairs had taken. They determined that there was evidence of misconduct, violating regulations and endangering others, but there was nothing requiring criminal charges. That kicked the ball squarely in the Captain's ball park. Mac didn't have to point out that the Captain's decision would be influenced by their input

When they reached the Captain's outer office, his secretary asked them to wait outside. The hairs on the back of Pete's neck rose when Gladys stated the reason for the delay:

Ed Wells was speaking to the Captain.