Jerry and Oliver looked at each other at the sound of the single gunshot. Jerry pulled his gun out of his holster and Oliver did the same. They raced towards the sound but slowed when they came to the edge of a clearing. Jerry motioned for Oliver to stop then moved his hand towards the left as he circled to the right. The moon was full but it wasn't enough to see by. He didn't want to risk turning his torch on in case they became a target.

Quick footsteps, brush rustling came from Behind Jerry and he spun in time to see a couple running and dressing out of the woods.

"Freeze!" Jerry shouted. They stopped running and held up their hands as best they could. The man was holding his jeans up with one hand and the lady was holding her blouse closed over her chest. "On the floor! Now!" Oliver who had heard the shouting, came running back. The couple were on their knees.

"Don't shoot!" the man begged. "Please don't shoot us!"

"What are you doing here?"

"We heard a gunshot, we're running back to our car, its parked on the corner of Sunrise an Breezy drive."

"Did you see anything?" Jerry asked as Oliver patted them down. He shook his head at the detective as he backed away from the couple.

"No! Some guy, fucking maniac was running around earlier, he tackled me then ran off." The couple swapped glances. "When we heard the gun shot we ran."

"What did he look like?"

"I dunno…he was tall, dark hair, he had a bruise and a cut on his cheek."

"Okay, get out of here!"

The couple got to their feet and ran past the clearing to the main street where they were parked.

"Did he just say Sam tackled him?" Oliver asked as they started to walk in the direction that the couple had come running.

"Yeah, did you see their clothes? Chances are they were trying it on, Sam thought she was being assaulted…wait…Shhh!" Jerry lifted his finger to his mouth and motioned Oliver to move to the right.

Andy was all turned around. She was keeping the water on her left and walking on the main road but she knew this was the longest way back to the car. Sam was leaning heavily on her shoulder and she was struggling to keep him up. His legs were dragging and he was losing his footfall. Blood was pouring down his arm from his shoulder wound and the shirt she had padded to it was soaked through. He looked pale, even in the darkness and his eyes were drooping closed.

"Stay with me Sam, just a little further."

She urged him to keep conscious but even as she spoke he leaned heavier still. Then they heard it.

A scream.

It was loud and clear an came from the left where the water front was. Even in his sickly state Sam was immediately alert. His arm that was slackened over her shoulder flexed and he gripped her tightly as if he could absorb her strength.

The scream was obviously from a young girl and when it rang out again Sam pushed off her and tried to stand on his own two feet but he staggered and she lunged for him to keep him up right.

"You need to sit down Sam, you've going to collapse."

"Shhhh!" He started to walk towards the promenade but she stayed in front holding the gun in both hands. As they broke through the park they came to the beach front where they spotted a car parked on the promenade. The back door was open and from the internal car light she could see someone leaned over. They were clearly struggling against something.

"Stay here!" Andy said to Sam and she pushed him back towards a tree.

"Andy! No, wait!" he tried to push away from the trunk but he didn't have the energy. She hurried away from him, turning only to signal for him to be quiet then in a crouched run raced up to the car.

The man in the car was kneeling on the back seat. Andy came up behind him and pointed her gun at him.

"Police… get out of the car!" she yelled and hoped her voice was not tainted by the fear she was feeling. The man stilled. But whomever he was holding down fought harder. "Get out of the car!" she yelled again. The body beneath him fought harder then all of a sudden stopped. "Get out now!"

Andy stepped a little closer, then before she could reach in to pull him out he started to back out of the car. Andy took a few steps back but as the man put his feet on the ground he turned around with force and swung a weapon at her. Andy saw it coming and ducked, but she wasn't quick enough. The bat connected with her arm and she dropped her gun. She fell to her knees and scrambled across the ground to get it but the stranger got their first. She tackled him by his feet and knocked him to the ground, then scurried up his body. He kicked and squirmed to get out of her reach but she held fast.

Sam leaned heavily against the tree and tried to focus. Everything was swimming before his eyes but he saw her fall and knew he had to help. He fastened his safety fest tighter and pulled his jacked closed, zipped right up to the collar. He shoved the hand of his injured arm into the pocket to minimize its movement then with as much energy as she could muster, he pushed himself off the tree and raced to where Andy was fighting.

The stranger rolled over and ended up leaning back on his haunches and on Andy's chest. Her arms were trapped under his knees and her head between his legs. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Calm. Down." He spoke softly. He had her gun in his hand but he wasn't pointing it down at her.

"Get off me!" she struggled beneath his grip but his weight was too much.

"You need to calm down…" he said again and she could feel his grip on her loosen. Then they both turned at the sight of Sam running towards them.

The stranger held up the gun and pointed it at Sam who continued to run.

"No!" Andy screamed. "Sam! He's got a gun!"

The stranger pulled the trigger.

Sam felt the impact in his left arm but he kept running, the momentum was carrying him now but he fell more than ran those last few feet. He rugby tackled the stranger off Andy an used his body weight to keep him at bay until Andy could take over. She hurried to her feet and ran to grab the gun then kneeled down on the strangers back with her knee pressed to his shoulder blades. Sam rolled onto his back and lay still, panting an losing focus.

Andy pulled the strangers hands together and cuffed them with plastic strap she pulled fomr her back pocket. Then she scrambled over to where Sam was lying.

"Sam! You ok?"

"I think he shot me..." he said with a crooked smile but she was too worried to let his humou

"Lemme see…" she unzipped his coat and as gently as she could she pulled his sleeve down. "It's just a graze…But you need to get to the hospital. You are losing a lot…" she looked around hoping to see an ambulance, a helicopter, anything but it was dark and there was no one around. She looked at the open car door and froze. "Sam…" she nodded towards the car and Sam turned his head to see what she was looking at. They could see a young girl lying in the back seat. Her legs were dangling over the seat she was only wearing one shoe and her coat was crumpled on the car floor.

Andy moved away from Sam and went to the car to check on the girl. Her fingers trembled as she reached out to the touch the girls neck to see if she had a pulse and she breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the pulse slow but steady.

"She's alive."

"Andy you have to go and get help…" he said when she came back to his side. He was still lying flat on his back and the blood was soaking out of his jacket.

"No, I can't leave you like this."

"Andy…you have to go! Now!" he looked up to her and grabbed her arm with his good hand. The blood was pooling behind him and she knew she had little time left but she wasn't about to let him spend that time alone.

"No Sam, I wont leave you."

"Actually... you will." They both turned at the sound of another voice. It was the OPP agent that had been working with Jerry. he had a black eye and a bruise on his jaw where Sam had punched him. He was dressed in his usual grey suit and was carrying a rifle with a scope attached.