A/N: Yay it's Friday! This chapter's a bit longer than my usual so I hope you enjoy it! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Previous Chapter: My airbags burst out and pummeled me slamming me back into the seat with my seatbelts locking me into place. My heart was racing a million miles a minute as I tried catching my breath. I blinked a few times trying to clear the cobwebs from my head and tried pushing the airbags from my face.

I turned my head as I heard an engine rev up and saw the truck's headlights shining right at me as it approached me and slammed into the passenger side and the splintering sound of the wood electric pole as it came tumbling down onto the hood of my car. I raised my hands over my face shielding myself before blacking out.

And my last thoughts were, "Damnit, I never got to attempt that fling in Miami…"

Chapter 5

"Fuck…" I groaned, prying my eyes open, "Who the fuck hit me in the head?"

"You were in an accident, Beautiful," Les spoke up stroking my head gently.

"You're a lucky woman, Ms. Chau," an older gentleman's voice entered the room. "From what I hear, you were in a pretty nasty accident but you didn't suffer any major damages. Just hit your head but the swelling should go down within a few days and your body may experience some discomfort from the impact."

"Can I go home then?" I asked the doctor.

"I'm just going to run a few more tests then you can be released," he smiled, nodding at the nurse.

Les took me home later that night, fed me and tucked me into the cozy covers.

"Were you able to get any description of the person that did this to you?" he asked plopping himself down next to me in bed.

I shook my head, "No, and the weird thing is that I don't believe the person in that car was a part of the hit on my skip. It seemed like whoever it was, was targeting me specifically and it just happened to be a coincidence. Did you learn anything on scene? The rookie cop at the hospital who took my statement wouldn't give me any info."

"We don't have any leads. The car that hit you was a stolen vehicle and wiped clean. The only lead that we got was that when the cops arrived on scene, they say the suspect took off. And one of the newbies said they looked like a kid."

"A kid?"

"Rookies don't have a keen eye for detail yet. But my guess is that he meant the person was of a small frame. Perhaps a female? I don't recall you having any outstanding FTAs."

"Nope, Tommy Schaefer was my only open skip left and I wasn't even planning on taking him in last night. I was just staking him out. I had a few more days. I haven't brought any attention to myself with him yet. But he's dead isn't he? I saw those men shoot him."

"Schaefer was involved with a bank heist a few towns over and apparently squatted on more money than was reportedly stolen and pissed off his team. That's who went after him."

I shrugged, "Makes sense."

"I'm pretty sure I lost a few years on my life today, beautiful. Your car looking like it went through a trash compactor."

"I'm sorry."

"You can make it up to me," he wagged his eyebrow and slipped under the covers and pulled me into his body.

I laughed uncontrollably as I struggled against his tickling fingers.

^o^ * ^o^

"Well, get rid of it!" I squeaked in a higher pitched voice than I intended it to be.

We both stood staring at the decapitated black ball of fur staining the carpet in front of my apartment door. I returned to my apartment today after a lovely rendezvous with Stacey Pinkert at the Donut Paradise the next morning.

I thought, "Hey, I could kill two birds with one stone this morning and be exceptionally productive! Stacey worked at the local Donut Paradise and I could stop for some breakfast."

But the brat decided she didn't want to go quietly. Instead she decided to throw a whole tray of powdered raspberry jelly filled donuts in my face. She certainly wasn't worth the trouble. She was charged with destruction of private property at local gas station. She was on the rag and the tampon machine ate her last quarter.

And if you're a female and you're in dire need of some feminine hygiene products, you can relate to her frustration. But the Station Owner decided to press charges against her. The judge released her on a low bond and she was really only worth $30 to me. And that certainly wasn't worth the laundry bill for my wardrobe and the chase through the back kitchen.

After dropping her off at the precinct and unsuccessfully dodging Carl's relentless jokes, I raced home to shower only be greeted by a headless rat the size of a cat at my doorstep. I can only imagine that it was a gift from Mrs. Bestler's cat, Fluffy…her way of thanking me for rescuing her off the fire escape the other night.

"Why didn't you just ask your Super?" Vince asked turning up his nose.

"I tried but he's not home."

"This is gross."

"And you're a pansy," I teased at him as he pulled out his gloves and a bag.

"This coming from a girl who called the Control Room because she didn't want to touch it herself," he gave me a sideways glance.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Hasn't anybody told you it's better to eat your breakfast and not wear it?" he grinned at me as he disposed the carcass into the black plastic bag.

"Ha ha. You're so funny."

"You sure got a lot of animals dying around you lately, Bomber. You sure it's just a coincidence?" he asked tying up the bag.

I scrunched my nose, "You know you're right. Are you trying to tell me that I could've possibly been cursed?"

"Uh, I don't believe in curses. I was thinking more along the lines of a new stalker."

"I haven't gotten any threatening notes or messages. And I don't know who would be stalking me right now. It's been quiet and most of the people who hate me are either in jail or dead," trying not to plant unwanted pictures in my head as I said it.

"Still, you should be careful. Probably wouldn't hurt if you give Ranger the heads up."

"If it continues, I'll run it by Tank," I grumbled at the thought of Ranger.

I haven't heard from him since his last phone call. Not that I was expecting him to call me again. But he didn't even bother to call and check up on me after the car accident which I'm sure someone would've informed him about. Ranger is only but a passing memory to me now.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No, thanks for coming out, Vince," I slugged him in the shoulder not knowing what else to do since he had a dead rat in his hands and I was covered in powdered sugar and jelly filling.

"Anytime," he retreated down the stairs and let the door slam shut behind him.

I finished my shower and checked my phone for missed calls or messages as the red blinking indicator light blinked on my phone. One text message bubble showed up on the screen.

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE LIKE THE RAT, BITCH.

Well, that solves that mystery — Not a coincidence. I sat down on the bed and stared at the message trying to rack my brain for any clues as to who would be mad at me right now and couldn't come up with a single clue.

Buzz. Buzz.

Binkie's picture flashed up on the screen.

"Hi," I greeted happily.

"You free tonight for dinner and movie?"

"Ugh that sounds amazing but can't. I have a night shift at Rangeman tonight."

"Raincheck?"

"You bet!"

"Maybe I'll catch you at the office when you come in on your shift. See you later, Alyssa."

Click.

A Merry Man with polite phone manners? Be still my heart. I smiled to myself.

^o^ * ^o^

I pulled up in front of a worn down single-family home. It looked like it could use a little bit of tender loving care but was well lived in. A few toys littered the yard and wicker porch furniture on the stoop.

I was looking for Kit Johnson. I swung by the address listed in his files for his cousin's apartment but no one was home. So I called up Connie and asked if she could run a search on where his previous home address so that I could go and talk to his wife about his possible whereabouts. His wife, Kristen, pressed charges against him for domestic abuse after the police were called by one of the neighbors. He unfortunately was released on bail but a restraining order was set up for him to stay at least 500 feet away from her and their two children.

I stepped out of Les' beloved electric blue Camaro he lent to me since my car was suddenly out of commission. I started making my way up the walkway when I heard loud shouting followed by a "pop pop" sound.

I quickly jumped into action and ran up the creaky wooden stairs and tried my luck with the door. The door swung open as I turned the knob. I was immediately greeted with the sounds of loud crying.

"Get out here!" a man yelled menacingly in the back of the house.

I followed the voice to what I believed to be the bedroom and saw the back of a man looking into the closet, a woman whom I assume to be Kristen lying on the bed with a fresh bullet hole in her forehead, a little girl with big poofy pigtails who looked to be about five years old huddled in the closet holding onto an little crying boy who looked about two.

The man grabbed the little girl roughly and smacked her across the face several times. "STOP CRYING!" he demanded, angrily.

He then aimed the gun at the little boy and pulled the trigger. My heart bout leapt out of my chest as I fully charged at him with my baton flicked out and whacked the man hard in the back of his knee bringing him to his feet.

Heat immediately rose through my body when I saw the poor little battered girl's face and the crying baby on the floor. Thank God for his poor aim.

"Bitch, who the fuck are you?" he shouted falling forward on his knees.

"Someone you don't want to mess with," I grit out kicking him with all my strength into the stomach and sent him crashing into the dresser drawers and kicked the gun out of his reach as I turned to grab for the kids.

"Come on, kids, let's go!" I waved at them to hurry out the door as I retracted the baton and shoved it back into my bag. I swept the little boy up off the floor and bundled him into my arms and quickly pushed the little girl towards the front door.

The little girl tripped and fell forward hard scraping her knees. She glanced behind her probably to see if her daddy was coming after us.

I grabbed her arm and lifted her back up to her feet and spun her back towards the door, "Don't look back, sweetheart. Just keep running. Run to the blue car."

"Fucking bitch!" I heard Kit mutter knowing that he was starting to regain his balance and come after us.

I pushed the little girl along faster and ran down the stairs. "Get in the car!" I shouted at her urgently as I reached the passenger side door and yanked it open.

With Kit cursing up a storm, yelling obscenities behind me, my heart was racing a million miles a minute. The little girl sat frozen in the leather seats. I knew she was terrified because I certainly was!

"You're being such a brave girl," I told her calmly. "Let's be safe though and buckle you and your brother, ok?"

She nodded her head slowly. I deposited the baby into her tiny arms. I quickly reached over and buckled them in.

I felt a bullet ricochet off the side of the door as I finished buckling them in, I dodged a flying bullet and scrambled to the drivers' side.

"Keep your heads down for me, ok?" I said with a slight firmness but tried to keep my voice calm and steady as not to frighten the children more. The boy started crying and the little girl's lips began to quiver.

"It's going to be ok," I tried smiling to reassure them. "I'm going to bring you to a safe place. You're both being so brave."

Thank God I was driving a Les' car which he knowingly customized for bulletproof glass.

I sped off towards Haywood. I was driving down the street like a mad woman breaking all kinds of traffic laws in the process even though I knew he wasn't following us. But it was always better to be safe than sorry.

My adrenaline was pumping and for some reason my body ached like it was burning up. But I tried not to focus on my problems and kept my focus on getting these kids to safety. It was my top priority I reminded myself as I could see her little cheek starting to swell up.

"What's your name, sweetheart," I asked, trying to keep my voice gently and soothing.

"Mia," she said quietly, "and this is my brother Michael."

"My name's Alyssa. We're going to meet some people that are going to help us, ok?"

I saw her pig tails bob up and down from the rearview mirror.

"How are you feeling? Does it hurt?"

"A little but I'm ok," she tried saying bravely. "Is my mommy going to be ok?" her voice cracked slightly.

"Oh, sweetheart, your mommy is resting now in a better place," I replied as I could feel my heart breaking for the two kids.

"My daddy's a bad man," her tiny hands swiped at the tears in her eyes. She turned to her wailing brother who was sadly flopping around in the back seat. She propped him back up and held his hand, "It's ok, Mikey, I'll take care of you like mommy does now."

I turned my focus back on the road to keep us from getting into another bad situation and also because I honestly didn't know how to respond to her. I had to agree. Her father was a terrible man.

I dialed out on the Bluetooth and I turned onto Haywood.

"Control Room," Hal's voice came over the stereo speakers.

"Open the garage gates, Hal, and have Bobby meet me at the garage!" I said urgently.

"Affirmative," he responded quickly as I made a sharp turn abruptly into the Rangeman parking deck.

I put the car into park and jumped out grabbing the kids. Bobby and Cal met me at the door and Mia immediately started screaming as she quickly ran behind me and clutched her tiny hands into the back of my jacket.

I reached around and held her to me, "Mia, it's ok. These men are going to help us."

"He has a scary monster on his head," she cried into my side.

"Yes, but he's very nice. He's my friend and I trust him. You can trust him too, ok?" I tried reassuring her.

She sniffled and stepped from behind my legs and walked over to Cal's open arms and let him scoop her up into his arms gently. We took the elevator up to the Bobby's infirmary. Michael was breathing heavily in my arms, passed out from the exhaustion of crying so hard.

The elevator doors opened and we were immediately greeted by Binkie and Ram.

"What happened?" Binkie asked, concerned filled his eyes the moment we stepped off the elevator.

"I'm ok. We need to take care of the kids first," I reassured him quickly and carefully handed off Michael to Bobby.

Mia turned to look at me terrified.

"It's ok, sweetheart. They're just going to take a look at you and make sure you're ok. Bobby is like a doctor. If you're a good girl, he'll give you a lollipop, ok?" I smiled at her.

She nodded her head trying to bravely keep the tears from falling from her tiny eyes.

"Ram, call the TPD and have them send a squad and emergency vehicle to 8597 Cherry Wood Avenue. Tell them that Kit Johnson murdered his wife and attempted to kill his two kids. is on the run, armed and dangerous."

Ram gave me a firm head nod and turned away to make the call.

"Report!" Tank joined us in the hall and demanded.

"I went to go look for my skip, Kit Johnson, charged with domestic abuse. I went to talk to his wife to see if she would know his whereabouts and when I approached I heard gunshots and crying from inside. So I ran in and found his wife with a bullet to the head. He then became physical with the two kids so my first priority was to get them to safety. I'm sorry if I've caused problems, Tank, but this was the first safe place that popped in my head to take them."

"You did the right thing, Little Girl. You need to go have Bobby check you out as well. You're pale."

"I'm fine, really," I objected.

"That's not a request. That's an order," he turned and walked back into his office.

Binkie pulled me into his arms and embraced, "Thank God you're ok."

I hugged him back. "I'm ok, Binkie. Just a little tired and cold for some reason," I said confused as I pulled away from him.

When he stepped back, my eyes grew wide in shock.

"Binkie, you're bleeding!" I exclaimed at the sight of blood on his arm.

"That's not my blood," he exclaimed immediately and placed his hand on my side. "You're bleeding, Alyssa."

I looked down at his bloodied hand next to my side. "Oh, I suppose I've been shot," I responded confused and a cold chill rushed up my spine. Allowing myself to close my eyes, exhaustion swept over me as I collapsed into Binkie's arms.