Chapter 11

Danny knew there was a rhythm to the water's movement. He could see the pattern. A wave came in and the bubbles went out; the dock floated up and the dock sank down. It was an aquatic dance as old as time. It was a motion that brought out the giggles in small children, for crying out loud. Yet Danny would be damned if he could get his legs to cooperate and keep in time.

He looked over to Mrs. Salvator who was holding him firmly by the left bicep. He couldn't catch her eye, her gaze focused downwards. Other than his stumbling feet on each rising swell, he didn't know what there was to watch so intently.

The old lady finally looked up, with a quick look towards their destination she let out a quiet hum. "It'll be alright." Mrs Salvator's hand was warm as it made soothing circles on his fore arm. "I'll fix it once we sit down."

Trying to contain a moan, Danny only managed a quiet grunt for a reply.

They were being herded along by angry words and the occasional prodding of the gun to Danny's ribs. They weren't allowed to stop, but Danny knew his wobbling gait was setting the pace. The dock ahead of them seemed empty so they were unlikely to get any Good Samaritan help from innocent bystanders.

The soft murmur at his side caught his attention. Mrs. Salvator was talking to him but he only heard the tail end of her whisper, "…I'll fix it."

Bless the old lady's heart if she thought she had any part of their predicament under control. He would like to offer a few reassuring pats to the hand holding tight to his upper arm, but the handcuffs made that impossible.

"It's bleeding again, but it doesn't look like much."

"What?" He moved his head enough to catch sight of Mrs Salvator's lips, hoping she would repeat herself and maybe he could figure out what she was saying.

Concerned brown eyes drew his attention. "The towel has come loose. Your leg is bleeding again."

"Oh." Danny looked back to his thigh. There was more red showing through and with every step the towel peeled away from his skin, pulling on the dried blood and allowing more red to ooze out. That explained the agonizing spikes from that area of his body.

There was a swishing of water from below and the dock seemed to jump under Danny's slow moving feet. It took all of his concentration to stay upright and not fall onto the kind lady still doing her best to hold him up. He was, however, unable to contain a keening moan from rushing passed his lips. Before he could blink back the tears, there was a painful, vice-like grip on the other arm and Danny now felt himself being propelled along the wooden planks.

"Move!" The word thundered into his ear. They made it a few harried steps before another voice was ordering them to stop.

Danny really wanted to complain – loudly and in great detail – about the manhandling as he was spun and bodily grabbed from behind. He could hear wild panting in his ear and a hairy arm was pushed under his chin. Now if only his vision would clear enough so he could see what was going on. He kept blinking, hoping to push back the encroaching grey fog that distorted anything more than a foot or two away.

"Stay back!" Wayne yelled.

The shouting and shoving was becoming too much. Danny couldn't even take a deep breath to calm the rising nausea. If he broke his 14 year streak because of this stupid kid he was going to make sure he aimed for one of Wayne's shoes.

More yelling and Danny was dragged along as Wayne increased the strength of his hold as he stepped back. He could hear loud voices but couldn't discern one from another. Danny wanted to check on Mrs. Salvator but there was a darkening cloud across his eyes. Getting air past the tight hold on his throat was quickly becoming his biggest problem. He pulled ineffectually at the arm around his neck with his cuffed hands

After several minutes the pulling stopped. He was no longer being dragged backwards along the dock. There was a new pressing pain to his headache, but it rated less than the agonizing spike from his leg when he was being dragged, so he counted that as a win. The arm was still wrapped around his throat, but without the pressure of being pulled along, he could breathe easier. The black dots cleared to the edge of his vision and the relief almost made Danny smile.

The improved vision gave Danny the chance to look around as he tried to figure out his new predicament. There were Steve and Chin, arms steady with weapons pointed right at him. Well, not him, but the owner of the arm still holding him by the throat. He'd been pulled out of Mrs. Salvator's helpful grip and she was left behind when he was head-locked and dragged away. She was a good several meters away and if she stayed quiet and dropped down onto the bouncing dock, she might just stay out of the line of fire. So why was she still upright and stepping closer with her hands outstretched?

The loud voices were confusing his already scattered thoughts. Danny was just so tired of it; he was ready to drop on the very spot where he stood but he knew he had to wait until Mrs. Salvator was safe. She was still following in his wake like a lost puppy. He tried to tell her to stop but the arm around his throat tightened when he tried to speak. He loosened his hands from their grip on the wrist at his neck and held them out to her, begging her to stop following.

The yelling in his ear became more incensed and suddenly a gun flashed through his view. The arm was no longer pressed as hard across his throat and the angry yelling became guttural bellowing. Mrs. Salvator had finally stopped in her tracks, but the look of utter terror on her face was like a physical punch to Danny's gut. He had to help her. Gathering his waning energy, working out the necessary moves to make his hopefully-not-final act of protecting the innocent, Danny twisted his torso and gained access to the body behind him. He drove his elbow as hard as he could into the unprotected ribcage and then using his shoulders he shoved back to push Wayne further off kilter. With his neck finally free of arms, Danny leaped at the older woman, his cuffed arms lifting high enough so he could wrap them around Mrs Salvator's shoulders. He had just enough momentum to pull her down, over the side of the dock and into the safety of the water.

~H50~

Chin couldn't believe his eyes. He and Steve had arrived at the tour office just in time to see Danny whisked away down a dock for expensive looking pleasure craft. He heard Steve call out his partner's name then the ex-SEAL was racing toward the dock as fast as his pain medicated body would allow.

With a grin and a shake of his head, Chin began to understand some of Danny's complaints and would permit the man a bit more freedom in his tirades, as it took some actual effort to keep up with his boss. And this was the man still recovering from surgery and on medication.

With an extra burst he managed to reach the entrance to the dock at the same time as Steve. He could see Danny and his small group about halfway down the 80m dock. From this distance Chin recognized Mrs. Salvator's small frame, and from the description of build and hair color, he felt certain they had found Wayne Roesler.

"What's the plan?" Chin asked.

Steve grinned, "We go ask Danny why he's not answering his phone."

"Shit," was all there was time to reply before Chin had to break into a sprint to catch up once more with Steve.

Their combined weight running along the dock sent warning shock waves along the wooden planks. They hadn't gotten far when the Roesler kid looked over his shoulder, grabbed Danny and started pushing the detective faster along the dock with Mrs. Salvator being pulled along in their wake.

It was then that Chin noticed Danny's odd limp and that Mrs. Salvator wasn't being pulled so much as she was pushing Danny's other side to stay upright and keep moving. Even from the distance, the contrast of the rust coloured rag tied around Danny's thigh was easy to see. Chin was starting to guess at the reasons Danny had been unreachable throughout the morning.

"Steve," Chin wanted to point out the likelihood of trouble, but the Navy SEAL recognized the same signs. Chin brought his Sig-Sauer out and pointed it down the dock.

"Stop!"

Steve's shout only stopped the other group for a brief moment. Before either officer could bring the situation to a close, Wayne Roesler spun Danny around and was using him as a shield. So savagely was Danny pulled from Mrs. Salvator's grip that she was still stumbling along after them as Wayne back-pedalled further along the dock.

"Stay back!" Wayne yelled.

Neither Steve nor Chin were about to holster their weapons. Even with one arm in a sling, Steve managed a steady hold of the Smith and Wesson. They both continued a slow walk, edging further apart; each waiting for a clear shot to end the stand-off.

Wayne tightened his grip around Danny's throat and the detective's face changed from a pale grey to an ugly shade of red. Their friend looked absolutely awful and when his cuffed hands rose up to slap at the arm holding him, Chin really began to worry about the Jersey man's state of health.

"Stay back or I'll finish off the cop!" Wayne pressed the tip of his gun into the side of Danny's head. "I mean it!"

Steve nodded to Chin and both men slowed their pace even more, each short step forward was also a large step to the side. They kept moving, kept watching and kept inching further apart. Wayne's eyes flashing from one officer to the other; he was visibly upset with the two weapons pointed at him. He stopped moving backwards so he could take a quick look at his surroundings.

Danny finally managed to get his fingers between his neck and the arm pulling on him. He must have wedged enough space to give himself a little breathing room as his colour was showing some slight improvement.

"You!" Wayne shouted at Mrs. Salvator and the frightened woman almost jumped out of her skin. "Come here. And keep between me and them cops."

"Let her go," Steve stepped toward the older woman.

"You're just like this one," Wayne pushed the end of the gun further into Danny's temple, "Always trying something. Stop movin'!" He looked back to Mrs. Salvator. "Just keep walking this way, Mrs. S. We're gonna go for a nice little boat ride and these cops are gonna stay outta our way."

Danny's eyes grew round and Mrs. Salvator began to cry as she took tentative steps towards them. He managed a garbled "No!" before his voice was choked off once more. He was still trying to speak as he let go of the arm around him and held out his hands to ward off Mrs. Salvator's approach.

It was probably a mix of seeing his partner manhandled so viciously and the look of terror on the old lady's face that had Steve moving again. The motion drew the attention of the young man and his gun. Suddenly there was some high pitched screaming and before Chin could make a move to disarm Wayne Roesler, Danny was moving. Both Danny and Mrs. Salvator disappeared from view with a large splash.

Wayne flailed his arms, but couldn't prevent his hard crash onto the dock boards behind him. Steve rushed to immobilize the weapon while Chin was quick to flip the incensed young man onto his stomach and slap cuffs onto his wrists.

"Where are they, Chin?" Steve had his weapon trained on the restrained man, but his eyes were searching the immediate area for his lost partner.

~TBC~