Late Evening
Cascade Forest

Blair pushed himself forward until he had reached the edge of the clearing surrounding the small cabin. Now that he was there, it occurred to him that he had no way of knowing if Jim was inside or needed help. Neither did he know if Kraynor was inside.

"You're not going to find out standing out here in the rain," Blair muttered quietly. "Which means you need a reason to get closer in case someone looks out and sees you."

Thinking quickly, Blair tried to form a story of being a lost camper. "Like that's a stretch," he thought to himself as he eased from his hiding place to slowly approach the front porch of the cabin. As he reached the stairs he heard two voices arguing. A smile crossed his face as he realized neither voice was Jim's.

The door to the cabin flew open and a man Blair recognized as Randall Kraynor ran out, yelling at someone behind him. There was a look of terror on the man's face as he ran down the steps and collided with Blair.

The two fell into the mud in a tangle of arms and legs. Blair felt a hand on his arm pulling him upright. He winced as he tried to stand, pain shooting up from his ankle. It wasn't broken, but it hurt, probably twisted in the fall.

"Good evening," the man holding him up said. "Mr. Sandburg, isn't it? One of the lead detectives in the Westlake Mall case a month or so back."

Blair stared at the man feeling as though something very important had just been said and had flown right over his head. He was soaked through to his bones, his ankle hurt, he was cold, and he was exhausted; the last thing he could manage to think of was a case from two months ago.

He opened his mouth to attempt a reply when Kraynor yelled from behind him. "A detective? Here? Anders, I thought you said the police couldn't find me up here. What the hell is he doing here?"

"Would you believe I was camping and became lost?" Blair asked innocently. "I just need a phone to call for someone to pick me up. When the storm hit, I got turned around..." His voice trailed off as it became apparent that the man holding him, Anders, didn't believe him.

"Mr. Sandburg." Anders smiled coldly. "I seriously doubt you just happened to be out camping. The campgrounds are nowhere near here. This cabin doesn't even show up on the official maps."

"They aren't? Oh man, have I gotten turned around." Blair tried his camper story a final time, gasping slightly as the grip on his arm tightened.

"Please, don't insult my intelligence or your own." Anders roughly pulled Blair up the stairs. The detective tried to fight back, but his hours in the woods had taken their toll, plus his ankle complained if he tried to put too much weight on it. He found himself being pushed to his knees on the wide front porch of the cabin.

"Anders, what are you doing?" Kraynor asked, nervously.

"I'm going to take care of things, just as I told you." Anders held Blair in place as he pulled a gun from under his coat. "First you, then the young detective here. Detective Sandburg came after you, and you both died in the resulting shootout. Perfect, don't you think?"

Before Kraynor could say anything, a shot rang out, the bullet catching him in his chest. He stared in shock as he fell to the floor.

Anders watched him fall. "If there were to be a next time, you would know better than to cross me and steal my money. Who do you think financed Stolz's operation, him? That little toad couldn't finance a day at the circus. When you stole from him, you were stealing from me. That's something I can't tolerate."

Blair tried to pull away from the hand that quickly shifted from his arm to his hair, pulling his head back painfully. But the exhaustion from his hours in the woods had slowed him down considerably. For the first time since he'd cut it, he regretted it growing back to its former length as Anders tightened his grip to hold Blair in place. "Now, Detective Sandburg. It's your turn. Nothing personal, you understand, it's business." Anders shifted so that he stood in front of Blair and as he did so, he kicked at his captive's injured foot. Blair moaned, looking up to see Anders's gun raised and pointing at him.

"Hold it right there. Detective Ellison, Cascade PD." Jim's voice rang out across the clearing.

Anders spun, dragging the young man around so that he held Blair between himself and the approaching detective. He still held the gun pressed against Blair. "I don't think so Detective. In fact, I think you're going to let me walk away from here."

"Oh really?"

"Of course. I have your partner. You wouldn't want me to kill him, would you?" Anders called out.

"It's me you want. Let him go." Jim inched closer to the cabin. He tried not to focus on the pain in Blair's pale face, keeping his attention instead on the stranger holding the gun. It wasn't Kraynor, and he wasn't sure if it was the same man who called him.

"Honestly, Detective Ellison, I'm only here for Randall. You and your partner are just unexpected bonuses."

The man wasn't their watcher, which meant he didn't know about Jim's Sentinel abilities. Jim raised his gun slowly, sighting carefully to miss the Guide being held. "Then I'm sorry to tell you that bonuses were cancelled this year." With that, Jim fired with precision. The bullet hit Anders squarely in the hand holding the gun, sending the gun flying.

Anders yelled and rolled, looking for the weapon. But before he could find it, Jim was on him, holding him down as he handcuffed and placed the gunman under arrest. He quickly checked Kraynor and was satisfied that the injured man wasn't going anywhere.

Jim then turned his attention to Blair. His partner was sitting against the porch railing where Anders had pushed him when Jim fired. Blair's eyes were closed, clenched with pain as he tried to calm down.

"Blair?" Jim asked. "Stupid question, but are you alright? What hurts?"

"You're right, Jim. Stupid question. But the answer is that other than being wet, cold and exhausted, my ankle hurts. I think I twisted it when Anders pushed me down the first time."

"First time?" Jim moved to check the ankle and was pleased to see that it wasn't seriously injured.

Quickly, Blair related the events to Jim. As he finished, Jim stood up suddenly, staring out into the woods.

"What is it, Jim?" Blair struggled to stand up, only to have Jim's hand gently hold him down.

"Stay put, someone's coming." After a brief moment, the detective's face relaxed. "It's the cavalry, Chief. Simon must have found the rangers, and they're on their way."

Just then, a large group carrying lights and equipment entered the clearing. With them was Simon Banks. Simon waved, calling out as he climbed the stairs. "Ellison, the next time I tell you or your partner to wait for backup, I damn well want you to listen."

"Yes, Sir." Jim simply agreed with his captain. "We need some medics up here. Kraynor has a gunshot wound to the chest, but it looks like he dodged at the last second and it missed his heart. He's lost a lot of blood though. Sandburg has a twisted ankle."

The paramedics moved in, checking both patients. As they worked, Simon led Jim to the side, away from the crowd. "Jim, is that your mysterious watcher?" Simon asked pointing to Anders being led away by the state troopers that were with the group.

"I don't think so." Jim sighed, watching his partner being treated. "He didn't know anything about my senses. He said he was actually here for Kraynor. His name is Anders, probably the same guy who emailed the map. He admitted that he's been bankrolling Stolz's entire operation."

Simon stared, "He's Stolz's boss?" Jim simply nodded, too tired for much else.

"And your watcher?"

Jim shook his head. "I don't know. I have a few ideas of who it could be, one of which is almost impossible, but I don't know for sure. There are not many people who could have set up all of this. If he set it all up, he may have just been taking advantage of the situation. We may never know."

Seeing the paramedics were done with his partner, Jim walked over and helped the young man to stand up. "Okay Chief?"

"I'm fine. Or rather I will be once I'm warm, dry, rested and have my foot propped up. It's not bad enough for a hospital stay... it's just a minor sprain." Blair yawned, weaving slightly where he stood.

"Come on, Chief. Let's go home. We'll sort out the paper work tomorrow." Jim carefully led his partner down the staircase and to one of the waiting emergency vehicles. Within moments, the group had pulled away, leaving the clearing in quiet.

From the shadows, stepped the man in the camouflage jumpsuit. "So, Ellison, it seems that you can function without Sandburg, but not at peak efficiency. Impressive shot, though. I'll have to remember that for later. And I have no doubt that there will be a later."

He climbed into the black van and carefully pulled away, not wanting to attract the attention of the rangers and police. As he left, the rain started again, erasing any tracks of his passing.

Like this episode? Email the writer: vfoster@mindspring.com
Want to comment on production? Contact Black Panther Productions: bpproductions@wildmail.com

Stay tuned next week when while investigating a series of violent home invasions, Sandburg starts to exhibit very un-Sandburg like behavior in "The Janus Syndrome" an all new The Sentinel.

Produced by:

Author's Notes: I want to thank the wonderful editors and staff of Black Panther Productions for all of the help with this story. There's no way I could have finished it without them. Thank you and congratulations on a great season! I also want to thank comet and Heidi for their moral support and for listening to me babble while writing this. Thank you!!!