Like a man possessed, Rutter crashed through the brush and he was immediately several yards ahead of the two San Francisco detectives. They quickly lost track of time but they had been moving through the heavy undergrowth at a furious clip for a long while before Steve, with a concerned glance back at Mike, sprinted ahead, managing to get close enough to the frenzied fugitive to seize the tail of his tee-shirt and drag him to a halt.

Rutter turned to him, furious. "Shit, man, will you assholes quit grabbin' my shirt!"

Panting, Steve let go and raised both hands placatingly. "All right! But you have got to slow down." Mike caught up to them and Steve, who could barely make out who was who in the oppressive blackness of the dense forest, threw him a concerned look before facing Rutter again. "We don't know these woods like you do, you're making too much goddamn noise and we're the ones with the guns, remember?!" he hissed as loudly as he dared.

He could hear Mike's heavy breathing over his shoulder. He knew his partner was in good shape and good health, but if he, almost thirty years younger, was having a hard time, he could only imagine what Mike was going through. "You okay?" he asked, and in the dark he could see the quick and forceful nod.

Rutter looked at Mike and held his gaze for a long second. Then he dropped his eyes and nodded. "Okay, okay, but we gotta keep movin'. Those Scobies, they're scary good in the bush."

He turned and started off again, Steve on his heels and Mike bringing up the rear. Steve tapped Rutter's shoulder, to get his attention again. "Do you know where you're going?"

Rutter actually smiled for the first time; Steve could see a glimmer of light reflected off his extraordinarily white teeth. "Not a clue. I'm jus' gettin' us as far away from that car as I can. Then, in the mornin', when we can finally see somethin', I'll know how to get us outa here."

Steve shrugged and nodded. That sounded logical. "We're, ah, we're on Caudill land right now, aren't we?" he asked carefully, not sure what kind of response he was expecting.

With a mirthless snort, Rutter nodded. "Yep, we sure are. So you two better stick close to me, 'cause you're gonna have to become my bodyguards if we run across any of 'em, 'cause they gonna want to skin me alive."

Steve dropped back a step, wanting to get a little further into the woods, and into the night, before pressing the little felon any further about the goings on in the hills of southeastern Kentucky.

Steve glanced over his shoulder. "You sure you're okay?" he asked Mike quietly.

He heard Mike's soft chuckle, knowing the older man was grateful for the concern. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for getting him to slow down though."

Steve chuckled as well. "You're welcome. So, ah, you gonna kick Rudy's ass when we finally get out of here and get back home?"

Mike's laugh got a bit louder. "Tell you what, I'll hold him and you can kick him."

The forest seemed to be getting thicker, and their progress slowed even more. They were pretty sure they'd been moving non-stop for over an hour when they heard the first pockety-pockety sounds from the high canopy and realized it had started to rain. The dense brush and thick stands of trees offered some protection, but as they continued deeper into the bush, the constant rain began to soak through their clothes, making everything just that much more miserable.

Mike had his hat, at least, that provided some protection and both he and Steve had their jackets, but Rutter's thin tee-shirt was soon soaked through and the small man had begun to shiver. Catching up, Steve took off his jacket and offered it to him. For a brief moment, Rutter looked almost touched by the gesture, then he shook it off. "You're gonna need that more'n me, City Boy," he spat derisively, but Steve wasn't sure there was much venom behind the taunt.

They trudged on through the dense brush in the cold rain. Steve kept glancing over his shoulder; Mike was beginning to struggle and his young partner caught up to Rutter and once again pulled him to a stop. "We need to take a break," he said urgently. "Mike needs to rest for a bit."

Rutter stopped, turned and eyed him, his expression unreadable. After staring back for a couple of beats, Steve took the look to mean agreement and he turned to Mike, who was just catching up to them in the dark. Steve could hear the older man's heavy breathing.

"We're gonna take a break, Mike. Rutter thinks we're far enough ahead that we can afford to," he lied, then cringed slightly when Rutter shot him a dirty look.

"If you're gonna talk about me, call me by my Christian names, will ya?" he whined almost petulantly. "It's Donny Lee."

At first taken aback, Steve started to smile. "All right, Donny Lee, you got it," he said amiably with a genial nod as he turned back to his exhausted partner. "Mike, grab a seat for a couple of minutes. There's a log over there." He pointed to a fallen tree a few yards away and Mike crossed wearily. The fact that the older man put up no resistance bothered him more than he cared to admit and, after he watched Mike sit slowly, he pulled Rutter a little further away.

"Listen, ah," he began quietly so Mike wouldn't hear, "I'm not sure if he can keep up this pace. Can we slow it down some more or is there somewhere we can, I don't know, bivouac for the night?"

Rutter shook his head vigorously. "I wish there was, I really do, but you don' know the Scobies. They got dogs. If I'm right about this, I think they're gonna go get their dogs an' when they find that car, they'll be after us like stink on a skunk."

Frustrated, and worried, Steve hung his head, his hands on his hips. Rutter studied his downturned face then asked quietly, "You don' know, do ya?"

Steve's head snapped up. "What?" he asked menacingly, in no mood to play games with this joker.

Rutter stared into Steve's eyes then nodded slightly towards Mike. "Your partner. He was hit."

The blood drained from Steve's face and everything spun. "What?" This time the word was breathless, as if he didn't believe what he had just heard.

Rutter's stare continued but his voice was now slightly tinged with empathy. "Haven't ya noticed he hasn't been usin' his right arm? He took one through the shoulder."

Suddenly galvanized, Steve spun on his heel and crossed quickly to where Mike was sitting, with his head lowered, on the large tree trunk. Steve fished the flashlight out of his jacket pocket and turned it on, pointing it at the ground. Wordlessly, he put a hand on Mike's left shoulder and when the older man looked up, in the reflected light Steve could see the pain creasing his strained features.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Still breathing heavily but more from pain than exhaustion, Mike shook his head. "I didn't want to slow us down."

"Damn it, Michael." Steve raised the flashlight, trying to control his growing anxiety. When the narrow beam of light illuminated the small tear in the material of the right shoulder of the dark grey suit coat, he tried to swallow the angry gasp that escaped his lips. "Let's have a look at that," he said in as normal a voice as he could muster. He felt Rutter move in closer behind him and he half-turned to the younger man. "Here." He handed him the flashlight.

Rutter shone the beam on Mike's shoulder as Steve slipped the wet suit coat off, revealing a large bloodstain on the light blue knitted vest and blue-and-white striped shirt. Mike's tie was already loose and the collar button undone. Steve pulled the tie off and stuffed it in Mike's jacket pocket then undid more buttons on the vest and shirt, pulling them open. The white undershirt beneath was soaked a deep red. Steve glanced at Mike, who was looking away with his eyes closed. "I'm going to have to rip your tee-shirt," he said gently.

Mike chuckled, keeping his eyes closed. "That's the least of my worries."

With a warm smile, Steve pulled the blood-drenched tee away from the skin, put a finger through the bullet hole and tore the cotton material, exposing the wound in Mike's shoulder. It was a small circle, still oozing blood, just under the collarbone. Mike caught his breath. "It's a through-and-through," he mumbled, "but I don't think it hit anything important, like my lung. It might have broken my collarbone; I can't tell for sure. Everything around there hurts like hell."

Rutter had taken a sideways step, moving the flashlight beam with him, and glanced at Mike's back. He caught Steve's eye and nodded. Steve reached into his pocket and took out the handkerchief that the older man had insisted he carry; now he was more than glad that Mike had been so bull headed about it. Very gently, he placed the white linen over the wound. "Here, put your hand on that," he instructed and Mike raised his left hand.

Steve moved to where Rutter had been standing. "I want to get a look at your back. I'll need to get your vest and shirt looser. It's gonna hurt. Brace yourself." Mike nodded. After pulling the vest, shirt and torn t-shirt away from Mike's shoulder, he was grateful to find that the exit wound was only marginally larger than the entrance, indicating the use of a full metal jacket military type bullet. "Your hanky in your right pocket?"

Mike nodded, his eyes still closed, and began to get up.

"No no no," Steve said quickly, "stay down, I'll get it." He slid his hand into Mike's pocket then once more gently placed the clean fabric over the open wound. Mike gasped slightly and straightened up, pulling away from the touch. "Sorry," Steve apologized, keeping his hand on the hanky. He pulled the shirt and vest back up, hoping they would keep the linen anchored in place over the wound. He heard Mike moan slightly.

Steve and Rutter exchanged concerned glances. Rutter eyebrows rose in a 'What are you going to do now?' look; Steve just shook his head with a facial shrug, suddenly overwhelmed. Rutter leaned towards him and whispered in his ear. "He's not gonna to be able to keep up. The Scobies'll be on us before we know it an' then it's game over for all of us."

Steve had pulled his head back to retort when Mike said quietly, "Leave me here."

Both younger men turned, moving so they we once more in front of him.

Mike opened his eyes and looked up, meeting Steve's stare evenly. "He's right. I won't be able to keep up." He nodded towards Rutter. "He's our priority, Steve. He's why we're in this situation. And it's up to us to get him out of it."

"But Mike –"

"I'll be okay. I can burrow in somewhere and hide. Even if they do find me, there's no reason to kill me, they're after him, right?" He gestured at Rutter with his chin, smiling slightly to take the sting out of his words.

"Mike, I don't think –"

"I can survive the night out here, that's not in question. I'm not hurt that bad, just bad enough that I can't go crashing through the bush all night. Right?" The blue eyes bored into his partner's green ones. "Right?"

Steve nodded reluctantly. "Right." The word was barely audible.

Mike pulled his stare away from his partner and looked at Rutter. "Donny Lee, you know this forest better than we do. Find me someplace where I can dig myself in and hide from whoever might come looking for us tonight."

Rutter had begun to nod as Mike spoke and had taken a step away when he turned back. "That's unless they have –"

"They have dogs, I know," Mike finished with a nod and a small grin. Rutter's initial look of annoyance turned quickly into a grin of his own and he strode off, taking the flashlight.

"I don't like this, Mike," Steve said quickly when Rutter had moved away. "I don't think we should split up."

"We don't have a choice. I'm like chum in the water, I'll attract all the sharks." Mike chuckled at his own joke but he couldn't get a rise out of his partner. "Steve, I'll be all right."

"You don't know that!" Steve hissed, his anger starting to get the better of him.

Mike looked at him sternly, and they both froze. "I'll make it an order if I have to, Inspector. Do I have to?"

Their eyes remained locked for several long seconds, then Steve blinked and dropped his head. "No, sir, Lieutenant, sir," he spat sarcastically, closing his eyes.

Mike knew the vehemence was borne of concern and his features softened. Swallowing heavily, he said quietly, "I want you to take my piece."

"No!" Steve snapped, taking a step back. "You might need it."

"For what?! To try to shoot someone who's gonna have me outmanned and outgunned!" Mike paused and regrouped, continuing quietly, "You and Rutter might need more firepower if you get cornered or something, God forbid. Take it."

Reluctantly, Steve slipped the .38 out of Mike's holster and put it in his jacket pocket.

Rutter approached them. "I found a spot."

Putting the wet suit coat gently over Mike's shoulders, Steve helped the older man to his feet and they followed Rutter to a large tree that had obviously fallen a long time ago. Rutter led them around to the side away from the 'path' they were taking through the bush; he played the flashlight beam over a hollow under the massive dead trunk. He had cleared out an area large enough for Mike to lie down in and heaped a large pile of dead leaves at one end for him to lean against.

Shaking off the offer of assistance, Mike got down on his left hand and knees, crawled into the hole and carefully laid back against the pile of leaves. He looked up at Rutter and a warm smile lit his face. "Hey, this is pretty comfortable," he said with a dry chuckle. Rutter grinned. Mike pulled his coat tighter and put his left hand once more on his right shoulder.

Rutter handed Steve the flashlight and moved away slightly as Steve knelt beside his partner. He didn't know what to say. Mike smiled at him. "Don't forget where I am, all right?"

Steve chuckled in spite of himself. "I promise." He looked down and swallowed heavily. "Look, you might want to use your tie as a sling. It'll help take some of the weight off your shoulder."

Mike nodded, grateful for the continuing concern. "Yeah, I'll do that." He stared at the top of his young partner's head.

With a deep breath, Steve raised his head and looked into Mike's eyes, his own beginning to tear up. The older man's bottom lip began to tremble and he cleared his throat self-consciously. Steve reached out and put his hand on the side of Mike's face. "I'll, ah, I'll be back as soon as I can," he said shakily.

Mike grinned, his eyes brimming. He nodded. "I know you will."