Mistake

by Kristine Williams

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute."

  "Okay." Jim left Blair in his room and returned to the kitchen, keeping an ear tuned in just in case. He could appreciate his friend's frustration, and he knew it wasn't completely due to the slow recovery of serious injuries. Jim had been surprised at Blair yesterday morning, letting the argument drop so quickly. He'd expected quite a fight, and he was prepared for it. Blair never gave up an argument, and could be very adept at changing Jim's mind when he wanted to. But this subject wasn't one he wanted to be changed about. It was just too dangerous for Blair to be out there with him in the field. If he had died...No, he needed his Guide, but he needed Blair alive. It would work out. It had to.

  He looked up and watched Blair come out of his room, slowly walking to the kitchen table. "Coffee?"

  "Yeah."

  Jim poured a cup and brought it out. He could see Blair's mood wasn't improving. "Do you need me to pick up anything at the University? I can drive by there on my way home."

  "I need to call Professor Kinyon, find out who's been taking my classes. Maybe I can get over there tomorrow and..."

  "No way, Chief." Jim turned and walked back into the kitchen. "The doctor said 2 weeks."

  "Jim, I can sit at a desk. The doctor was talking about police work," Blair replied somewhat heatedly. "Which you don't think I'm qualified for anymore."

  Jim shook his head. "Sandburg, I've never said that."

  "Then what's the problem, Jim?"

  "The problem is you getting hurt."

  "Which was a freak." Blair leaned forward, his hands back to their expressive state of entreaty while his arms at least remained somewhat still. "You're the one who keeps telling me we need to stick together."

  "And we will, just not in the field." Jim was trying to keep his voice level, but he could feel Blair's attempts to get under his motives and tear them up in front of him.

  "Dammit, Jim, I have to be there with you!" Blair was putting his entire attention into an argument he was destined to lose.

  "Well, you're not going to, Chief. It's too dangerous." Jim could feel his anger rising and he tried to maintain control. He couldn't give in, not this time.

  "Just like that, you decide what's best for me? When do I get a say in this?" Blair's temper was rising to meet Jim's determination. "I've got a stake in this too, you know."

  "Sandburg, you're in this for a paper, nothing more. Your publishing isn't worth dying for, is it?" Jim flipped the eggs over, taking a few seconds to check his temper. This wasn't going well. He'd never expected that it would.

  "That's what you think? After all this, you still think I'm in this just for the paper?" Blair stood slowly, holding his right arm close to his side. "Jim, we've been over this before. If I was just in this for the paper...Hell, I would have gone to Borneo with Dr. Stoddard if that was all this was about!"

  "Maybe you should have." Jim knew that wasn't the right thing to say. Before Blair could react to it, he continued. "Listen, Sandburg, I want you here, safe and alive, where you can help me and not risk your life doing it." He'd turned off the stove and was now holding the pan, looking at Blair. "You're a big help with the cases, Chief, you know that. And you still can be, just not out there."

  Blair was shaking his head, his face in one of the most disagreeing poses Jim had seen yet. "No, Jim. I made that choice already. It's not that simple."

  "Yes, Sandburg, it is that simple. If I have to, I can have Simon revoke your ID."

  "Just like that, huh?"

  "Just like that."

  Blair took a step forward, then put a hand on the counter for support. "This isn't about you anymore, Jim. I've got a stake in this, like it or not. I've devoted the last year to you and your Sentinel senses. That's a year I can't get back. I'll be damned if I'm throwing it all away now!"

  "You've got plenty of stuff for your paper, Sandburg. Maybe you need to find another subject." That damn paper again. Jim stopped himself from adding more. Blair was angry, and upset, and he was playing into it. If he went any farther, he could lose the friendship he was trying so hard to save. Blair might not be able to separate the issue from the relationship, but Jim could. He could stay in control, and not let his emotions take over.

  "This really sucks, man!" With that exclamation, Blair nearly doubled over, teeth tightly clenched as both arms covered his injured side.

  Dammit! Jim set the pan down and hurried around the counter, putting both hands on his partner's shoulders. As soon as his hands touched Blair, he straightened up and glared at him. Jim refused to let go. "You're right, Chief, it does suck." There was intense pain in his friend's eyes. Pain that he couldn't hide by clenching his jaw and not uttering a word. Jim pushed on his shoulders until Blair relented and moved towards the chair he had just vacated. "Sit down."

  He shrugged both arms, removing Jim's hands from his shoulders. "I don't want to sit down, Jim." The anger was still obvious, even through the pain that was causing his voice to quaver slightly. "You don't understand, this is bigger than both of us."

  "What the hell does that mean?" Jim had let go of Blair, but remained right beside him.

  "Jim, your senses, you've used them countless times to save innocent lives. You can't just stop using them."

  "I don't plan to stop using them. You can still help me with them."

  "Jim, I need to be with you."

  "You can be at the Station, Chief."

  Blair shook his head again. "No, Jim, that won't work."

  "It'll have to." Jim could feel his anger coming out again. His friend just wasn't willing to see reason here. He put a hand on Blair's shoulder and it was immediately shrugged off. This time the movement elicited a cry of pain from his partner and Jim took him by both arms and forced him gently into the chair. "Would you just take it easy, please?" Blair sat down, and within a few seconds had regained control. He nodded, but said nothing, so Jim released his arms and walked back into the kitchen to finish breakfast.

  "What are you going to do if you're out on a case and zone out, huh?"

  "I'll handle it." He'd known Blair wouldn't take this well, but his voice was quieter, probably due to the pain. And yet he still wasn't giving up.

  "No, Jim, you won't handle it. Without me to watch your back, you could zone out and get shot before anyone else knew what was happening."

  "You'll just have to teach me how not to, then." Jim was determined not to let Blair provoke him further. The decision had been hard enough.

  Blair shook his head emphatically. "You can't avoid it. That's what you need me for, Jim. Zoning out is part of being a Sentinel, it's natural."

  Jim sighed, putting down the pan. "Listen, Chief, this has just gone too far. You could have been killed. Then what would I do?" He picked up two plates and filled them with the eggs, then caught the toast as it popped up. "You can come to the station and help with the cases, but no field work. And that's that." He carried the plates out to the table and sat down.

  "Jim, I can't work with you, with your senses, if I'm not with you when you need them." Blair's voice was taking on his instructor's tone, trying another track. "It's your job as a Sentinel to use the senses, but it's my job as your Guide to help you figure out how best to use them and watch your back while you do."

  "And it's my job as a cop to keep you safe and alive. I'm not out there watching for wild animals, Chief. I'm chasing killers, going after psychopaths. It's not the same." Jim finished his sentence by placing a forkful of fried egg into his mouth. He could tell Blair was nowhere near ending this, but he did seem to be losing steam, by the tired look in his eyes. He watched Blair's eyes as his partner shook his head, preparing for another try. For an instant--one instant--he saw those eyes change. Jim's heart nearly skipped a beat; it happened so fast, he wasn't even sure he'd seen it. Blair's eyes, for one heartbeat, were those of a cat.

  "...you'll feel differently in a week," Blair was saying.

  Jim blinked, trying to rid himself of the image of Blair's pupils changing shape
. "We can talk about it then if you want another argument, but my mind is made up."

  Blair shook his head, but said nothing more. They finished breakfast, then Jim cleared the table. His partner was still being quiet, and he knew he'd be in for another round of complaints later that day. It seemed both Simon and Blair felt Jim would change his mind in a week or two. He didn't see how. A week wouldn't change the fact that Blair could have died. No, he'd come around, and see that they could still work together this way. And work or not, he still wanted Blair as a housemate. They had developed quite a friendship over the many months together, there was no reason to believe that would have to change.

  "I'm gonna go in for a few hours. Do you need anything?"

  Blair was still sitting at the table, a look of frustration barely hiding behind his eyes. He pursed his lips and shook his head in reply.

  "What are you going to do?" Jim found the cordless phone and picked it up.

  "I've got some work to do on the computer. Get some of my notes typed up. Seeing as how that's all I'm qualified for anymore."

  Jim nodded, refusing to rise to the bait, and handed Blair the phone. "Out here?"

  "Yeah."

  "I'll bring it out." He walked into Blair's room, found the laptop and several notebooks on top of it, and carried them out. Blair rolled his eyes and looked even more frustrated. Jim ignored the look. "What else do you need?"

  "I'm fine, Jim." The anger was still there, barely held in check.

  "I know you are, Sandburg. What else do you need before I leave?" He knew better than to take his friend's frustration personally. It wasn't easy being in need of help. It was made even harder to tolerate when you were in pain, and had just lost an argument. He needed time to cool down.

  Blair shook his head and refused to look at Jim. "Nothing."

  Yep, definitely needed some cooling down time. "Okay, I'll just be a few hours." Jim retrieved his coat. "You call me if you need anything." He pulled on his jacket and fished the keys out of his pocket. "Let me know if you want me to stop at the University." He paused, one hand on the door knob, waiting for Blair to acknowledge him.

  Blair looked up, anger and frustration still showing plainly on his expressive face. "You going to dictate what I can and can't do there, too?"

  Jim sighed, flexing his jaw muscles for a moment as he fought to control his voice. "I'll be back around noon."

  Part 10

  * * *

  On the drive to the Station, he flipped on the radio, searching for news. Each station he settled on immediately went to commercial. Frustrated after seven tries, he switched it off. By the time Jim reached the Station, he was beginning to feel irritated and somewhat disjointed. He parked the truck and walked to the elevator, seeing no one on the way. The ride up seven floors was slow, adding to his irritation. When he reached his desk, he decided it was due to having been out of the loop for several days. That feeling that he was missing something was probably due to his having missed so many days of work.

  "Hey, Jim." Simon approached the desk just as Jim sat down. "Agent Mills is downstairs. He's taking those two to the Federal Building in Olympia."

  "Yeah, I'd heard."

  "How's Sandburg doing?"

  "Better. I just thought I'd come in for a few hours, get some paperwork out of the way."

  Simon nodded. "Did you change your mind about him coming back?"

  "No." Jim shook his head, preparing for yet another argument.

  "Listen, Jim," Simon sat on the edge of Jim's desk. "It's your decision, and you know I'll back you on it. But I still think you need to re-think this one. Give it some time. This whole thing is still too fresh."

  Jim sighed, resigning himself to having to agree with his superior, for the time being. "Okay, Captain, I'll give it some thought." There, that should satisfy him for a few days. Maybe when he'd managed to get Blair to calm down and see the light, Simon would also. Jim's line rang then and Simon nodded, then got up and returned to his office.

  "Ellison."

  "Jim, I need you to stop by the U on your way back."

  "Sure, Chief. What do you need?" His tone had improved from earlier that morning, maybe he was calming down?

  "Professor Kinyon took my class the other day. There's some papers I need. She's got them."

  "Professor Kinyon?"

  "Yeah."

  "She's got them?" It had to be her.

  "In her office, yeah."

  Great. "Okay, Chief. I'll stop by there around noon."

  "Thanks, man."

  "No problem." Jim hung up the phone then rubbed his eyes. Great, no problem. Maybe she'd be out to lunch, and he could get Blair's papers from her assistant or something. This was probably his way of punishing Jim for that morning.

  He set his mental clock for 3 hours, then settled in to tackle the reports that had begun to pile up. An hour later, Simon came out of his office, looking upset.

  "Jim, Agent Mills just phoned in. He's been attacked."

  "What?!"

  "Come on, I'll tell you what I know on the way."

  Jim grabbed his coat and followed the Captain to the elevator. "Edwards and Patterson?"

  "They're dead." They reached the garage floor and Simon headed straight for his car, Jim right behind. "Mills radioed in to Olympia that he had a flat tire. A few minutes later, he was attacked while changing it."

  "He didn't wait for backup?"

  Simon started the car and shook his head. "He said he was hit from behind. When he came around, Patterson and Edwards were dead."

  They arrived at the scene, along with a few other FBI cars and a forensic team. Jim saw Agent Mills talking with two other agents and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing him apparently unharmed. The two bodies were still in the backseat of his sedan, and the car still jacked up, right rear tire flat and hanging on the rim. Jim glanced inside at the bodies first, noting the bullet holes in each man's head. They were still both handcuffed and locked in the back seat. The front passenger door was open, and judging by the angle of the wounds and the position of the bodies, that was where the shooter had entered. Jim's jaw muscles flexed at seeing the two men who had been responsible for Blair's injuries sitting there, dead.

  "Ellison."

  "Hey, what happened here?" Jim looked up as Agent Mills approached.

  "I made a rookie mistake, that's what happened." Mills looked disgusted as he rubbed the back of his head. "Got a flat, called it in, then figured right here, out in the open like this, with them both secured in the back, why not fix it myself?" He nodded towards the offending tire. "Well, if there was ever a question about a third man, I think we have our answer."

  "Did you get a look at him?" Jim walked closer to the tire and bent down, examining the rubber.

  "No. I was jacking up the car, didn't even hear anyone come up." He glanced behind them. "Must have come from over there. No car pulled up on the shoulder, I'm sure of that."

  Jim turned and glanced behind them. There was a small stretch of grass, then the back of an industrial park. "If he came from there, he must have known when you'd have a flat and where." He returned his gaze to the tire. There was a large hole in the rubber, with its edges sticking out. Jim reached out and felt them, noting the multiple fragments. He felt around inside the deflated rubber, and was just pulling his hand back out when he heard a soft, deep growling behind him. He spun his head around and found only Agent Mills, watching him.

  "What's wrong? Did you find something?"

  Jim shook his head, trying to recover his composure. "Just fragments," he replied. He pulled his hand out and stood, glancing once again across the grass towards the buildings on the other side. Something large and black moved through the tall grass, then disappeared. Jim's heart skipped a beat, and he searched the waving strip of overgrowth.

  "Forensics thinks there might have been a small charge inside the tire, set off remotely."

  Jim turned back to Mills, then a movement once again caught his eye and he loo
ked out across the strip of grass, in time to see a crow jump up and fly away. He sighed. "I take it they haven't found anything inside?"

  "Not yet. The killer probably removed it before he left."

  Jim turned away from the grass and looked once again at the car. "So, he comes up behind you, knocks you out, kills them, then leaves?"

  "I know, why leave me alive?" Mills shrugged. "Dumb luck, maybe? When I was coming around, a highway patrol car was pulling up, maybe he scared the killer off before he could finish the job?"

  "Maybe." Jim moved back to the passenger door and peered inside. There was something about this he didn't like. More than something, but what exactly it was, he couldn't quite finger just yet. He leaned inside and took a closer look at the dead men. Just as he was backing out, he heard it again. Low and deep, and right beside him. Trying not to move quickly, Jim turned his head and scanned the area, opening his senses as he did so. Again, nothing. Before he could begin to question his sanity, Simon approached.

  "They'll be taking these two and the car back to Cascade for forensics to go over, seeing as how you're only twenty minutes out," the Captain was saying to Agent Mills. "Your people are on the way over, to use our labs."

  "Sorry about the imposition, Captain. Seems this case just didn't want to be over quite yet."

  "Jim?"

  "Yeah." Jim followed Simon back to the car, then got into the backseat as Agent Mills got in front. "Is anyone canvassing the business park?"

  "Two of our agents are," Mills replied. "Plus we've got two others trying to find any witnesses that might have been driving by at the time."

  "What about the DOT cameras?"

  "Whoever did this, his timing was perfect. Not only did he stop me at one of the few sections of road that can be reached by foot, but he timed it so I would stop just out of range of the last camera passed, and too far away for the next one to pick up."

  "A pro." Simon shook his head. "He must have been the brains behind the whole kidnapping operation. I never did believe those other two capable of anything more complicated than tying their shoes."

  Jim's eyebrows knitted together as he contemplated the evidence. "But then why kill them? Why not break them out, so they could continue on? After netting 8 million, they had something profitable going. Why end it?"