They hit the floor hard. Taking Mike's full weight, Steve was winded, the air forced from his lungs momentarily. The roar of the gunshot was so loud in the low-ceilinged space he didn't hear the sharp intake of breath and pain-filled moan that tore from Mike's lips as his body slammed heavily against his partner and the wall.
The echo died quickly and an eerie silence filled the large dark room. Steve tried to get up but Mike wasn't moving. In his debilitated state, with his hands still tied together and his partner's unnervingly limp body across his own, he began to panic. "Mike… Mike…" He could barely get the name out.
"Mike!" A familiar voice cut through the oppressive silence as fast and heavy footsteps got closer. "Mike!" Suddenly a new presence loomed over them. "Oh, god, Steve!" came the surprised utterance and the younger man's eyes snapped up. A worried but relieved Roy Devitt, holstering his .38, stared at him wide-eyed before turning his attention to the frighteningly still lieutenant.
"Mike…" Steve breathed again, his voice laced with fear, and Devitt knelt, grabbing Mike's shoulders and rolling him over, away from the wall and off the younger man.
Mike's eyes were squeezed shut and he moaned as he was turned onto his back, his right hand travelling to his stomach and pressing against the black jacket. With the others staring at him, holding their breaths, he gasped then opened his eyes. He managed to smile, his gaze finding first Devitt then Steve, knowing they both thought he'd been shot. "I'm okay," he whispered, "it missed me. I'm okay…" He managed a soft chuckle as he started to push himself up into a sitting position, trying to hide his discomfort.
Relieved, Devitt helped him sit up and patted him gently on the shoulder before turning his attention to Steve. "Am I glad to see you! Are you okay?"
Steve smiled and nodded. "I'll be fine," he nodded, glancing at Devitt while keeping a worried eye on his partner.
"Roy," Mike said through slightly clenched teeth as he tried to shift into a more comfortable position, "Craig Steen's in the corner over there. He's alive but he's gonna need an ambulance."
Devitt glanced in the direction Mike indicated, then nodded as he got to his feet. "I'll go call for one. I'll be right back." He looked at the partners. "You two gonna be okay?"
They both nodded. "We'll be fine," Mike assured him. As their colleague hurried off, Mike focused on his young friend. "Here, don't move," he instructed as he pushed himself behind the younger man, his back against the wall, then put his arms around Steve and pulled him back against his chest. He started to work on the fraying rope around Steve's hands, carefully pulling the strands away, trying hard not to inflict any further damage to the badly chafed wrists.
After a few slightly tense and uncomfortable seconds, Steve exhaled loudly and leaned back into his partner, his head against Mike's shoulder. A small warm smile curled Mike's lips as his fingers pulled at the tightly knotted rope. He looked over at the trap door; he could barely make out the black shape of the body of the, he assumed, now dead gunman at the foot of the stairs. He turned back and cleared his throat quietly. "It's a good thing the cavalry arrived," he said with a gentle chuckle, and he felt Steve's body shake slightly as he nodded and laughed. Smiling happily to himself, Mike rested his chin on the top of Steve's head and continued to work on the rope.
He had just pulled the last strand free, dropping it to the straw-covered floor, when the sound of multiple footsteps could be heard pounding down the stairs, some crossing towards them, others heading in the direction of the cage and Craig Steen. "The ambulance is on its way," Devitt announced as he dropped to his knees beside them again.
"Holy shit, are you a sight for sore eyes!" Haseejian's rough voice reached his ears as Steve felt a large but gentle hand lightly touch the top of his head.
"Let's get you two out of here, okay?" Devitt suggested, trying to keep the worry out of his voice and eyes as he stared at Mike's ashen face in the dim light. He looked at Steve. "Can you stand?"
The young inspector nodded tentatively. "I think so."
With a confirming nod of his own, Devitt reached for Steve's arm, careful to avoid the bloody and abraded skin so visible on his wrists, and, with Haseejian assisting from the other side, got him unsteadily to his feet. "Can you walk out of here?"
Steve nodded again. "Yeah."
"Okay, good. Norm, you take him up."
"You got it." Putting Steve's left arm around his shoulders and his own right around Steve's waist, the duo started slowly for the stairs. The younger man looked over his shoulder at his partner who, still sitting against the wall, smiled and winked.
When Steve and Haseejian were out of earshot, Devitt turned to his colleague and squatted. After staring at him silently for several long seconds, he asked gently, "Are you okay?"
Mike let his head drop back against the wall and closed his eyes, chuckling. "Better than I deserve to be." He opened his eyes and smiled. "I'm okay. Let's get out of here."
Grinning, Devitt stood, reaching down to grab Mike's hand and help him up. With gritted teeth, using both the wall and Devitt for support, Mike held his breath until he gained his balance then, with Devitt walking a couple of steps behind, they crossed slowly towards the staircase.
Mike paused to stare at the dead gunman, at the blood and bullet hole in the back of the black leather jacket. He thought he looked like one of the bikers that had been in the bar but he couldn't be sure. A long-barreled Buntline Special was lying on the dirt-covered floor several feet from the outstretched right hand. "Thank god you were here," he said quietly, his tone slightly awed.
Devitt was looking at the fallen man as well. "Luckily I saw him slip out of the house and followed him…"
Mike looked at his colleague and smiled proudly. "I owe you one."
"You owe me nothing," Devitt returned the smile then gestured towards the stairs.
Taking a deep breath, not relishing the climb, Mike started up the steep staircase, Devitt close behind.
# # # # #
The dark sky was beginning to lighten above the treeline when Steve and Haseejian emerged from the barn. Their breaths were visible in the chilly air and Steve inhaled sharply.
"Let's get you into our car and I'll put the heater on," Haseejian said, leading the younger man towards the green Galaxie nearby.
There was a line of black-clad bikers, mostly male, on their knees, their hands cuffed behind their backs, in front of the large white house. Cops that Steve didn't recognize were standing over them.
As they got to the Galaxie, Dan Healey approached the car. "Steve!" he yelled, a grin splitting his face as he jogged up.
As the battered and bruised inspector lowered himself gingerly onto the back seat, he looked up at his colleague and smiled. "Hi, Dan."
Not sure what to say, the sergeant glanced around, frowning. "Where's Mike?"
Haseejian smiled at his partner. "He and Devitt are on their way up. There's a big… room, I guess you could call it… under the barn. Craig Steen's down there too. Alive."
Healey took a deep breath and let it out loudly. "Thank god."
Chuckling, Haseejian shut the back door then jogged around to the other side. "Dan," he called out as Healey started back towards the restrained bikers, "the keys?"
Healey fished them out of his pocket and tossed them over the roof to Haseejian, who got behind the wheel and started the car. He glanced into the back seat as he set the heater on full and started to get out. "It'll take a couple of minutes to warm up. Sorry. I'll try to find you a blanket." He slammed the door then headed across the parking lot towards the house.
Steve leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. For the first time in days, the knot of fear in his stomach began to unravel.
# # # # #
Letting out a little groan when he finally got to the top of the stairs, Mike waited for Devitt to step up onto the barn floor. "So what happened in the house? I'm assuming everything went okay?"
The grey-haired detective nodded and grinned. "Better than okay. We really got the drop on them. They didn't seem to be expecting anything."
"So what was that shot I heard?" Mike asked as they slowly crossed to the open door. They could see evidence that the sun was starting to coming up.
Before Devitt could answer, they heard the grinding of tires on gravel as a vehicle slid to a stop in the parking area. "The ambulance is here." He returned to the trapdoor and called down, "John, the ambulance just got here! I'll send them down!" Manley and Hathaway were looking after Craig Steen.
They stepped aside at the barn door as the two ambulance attendants rushed past them with a litter, the two CSP officers right behind. Devitt turned to Mike and smiled slightly. "I see Dan has everything under control," he chuckled.
Laughing, Mike shook his head. "Doesn't he always?" They left the barn, suddenly chilly in the still crisp morning air. Mike crossed his arms and shivered. "Geez, I forget how cold it gets up here this time of year." He looked around. "Where's Steve?"
Devitt pointed to the Galaxie and the inspector sitting in the back seat.
Mike turned to his colleague with raised eyebrows. "Wish me luck trying to get him to go back to Eureka in the ambulance." Devitt fell into step beside him as they walked to the car. "You didn't tell me what that shot was all about."
"Oh, yeah… one of the State cops saw a guy going for what he thought was a gun – turns out it was – and he put a shot into the ceiling of the living room to… dissuade him. Nobody got hurt."
"That's good."
They had reached the car and Mike opened the back door. Steve, wrapped in a blanket that Haseejian had managed to find in the house, had been sitting quietly with his eyes closed and his head back against the seat. He looked up at them slowly and grinned as best he could, under the circumstances. "Hey, Mike… Roy."
Chuckling, Mike grinned back. "Hey yourself. Ah, don't get too comfortable, you're going back to Eureka in that." He pointed at the ambulance and Steve slowly followed the finger. His eyebrows shot up and he started to shake his head. "Don't argue," Mike growled and the younger man shut his mouth with a snap. "I'm still your boss and that's an order. When they bring Steen up from down below, you'll get in with him."
Steve stared at the stern features glaring back at him. After a couple of seconds of the essentially one-sided standoff, he dropped his eyes and muttered, "Yes, sir."
With a curt nod, Mike took a step back and closed the door. He looked at Devitt and smiled.
Devitt raised his eyebrows. "Well, that wasn't hard."
"Well, isn't that what they keep telling you in football – the best offense is a good defense?"
"I think that's war, not football."
"Same difference," Mike laughed as they moved away from the car.
# # # # #
Five minutes later the stretcher carrying the conscious but agitated Steen was carried out of the barn to the waiting ambulance. Devitt opened the back door of the green Galaxie and Steve reluctantly climbed out, the blanket around his shoulders. With the lieutenant's hand on his elbow, he crossed slowly and stiffly to the open back doors of the ambulance.
Mike was already there, his eyes on the young man whose life they had just saved, worried about the two young men who were still missing and possibly gone forever. He smiled warmly at his partner as he approached with a frown.
"Are you coming with us?" Steve asked hopefully.
Still smiling, Mike shook his head. "There's not enough room," he explained, nodding at the ambulance. "But I promise, Roy and I'll be right behind you."
With an understanding nod, Steve allowed himself to be helped into the back of the ambulance, sitting on the gurney beside the one Steen was lying on. The driver stepped out, slamming the doors, then circled the large vehicle to get behind the wheel. Within seconds the lights and sirens sprang to life and the ambulance left the parking lot as quickly as it had arrived.
Devitt watched it go. He sighed in relief. It was turning out to be a better day than they could have hoped. He looked towards the house, at the other officers starting to place some of their arrestees in the backs of the patrol cars; he knew other cars were on their way. He began to move towards the green Galaxie when he heard Mike softly call his name.
He turned. His injured colleague, who had also been watching the departing ambulance, was facing him unsteadily. His mouth was slightly open, his eyes unfocused and he was swaying, his right hand over his stomach. Devitt glanced down and froze; in the brightening morning light he could see that, below the jacket, the top of Mike's pants were wet with fresh blood.
"Roy…" Mike breathed again.
As Devitt began to take a step towards him, Mike's legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.