Inside Cascade Storage Warehouse, Cascade Washington

Blair made sure the strap holding the box to the lift was secure, then motioned to Lee, who maneuvered the lift away from the truck. As he watched the young man move the box, he wondered again that it was odd for them to be unloading the truck when they still had not heard from the buyer. But Lee swore that Gray's instructions were to go ahead and unload the truck as soon as they arrived, so they did.

When Lee had set the box down next to the others, Blair turned back to the truck to pull the next box forward. With a shout, he jumped as he almost walked into a tall redheaded woman who had walked up behind him. "Can I help you?" he asked shakily, wondering how she had managed to sneak up on them.

The woman laid a well-manicured hand on Blair's arm. "I didn't mean to startle you." She almost purred the words, stepping close to Blair. "With the noise of the machinery, I guess you didn't hear me come in. She slid her hand down Blair's arm to grasp his hand. "I'm Nadia Harford."

"Blair Sands," Blair said, noticing the soft smoothness of the hand that held on to his. "I'm the new driver working with Lee."

"Sands," the woman repeated thoughtfully. "Have we met before? You look vaguely familiar."

"No ma'am," Blair answered, working to hide his growing nervousness. "I doubt it. Several years ago I was at Rainier, but I've been living in Southern California the past 2 years or so."

"Ms. Harford!" Lee called out, walking up and interrupting the conversation. "I see you've met Blair. We just hired him to drive the route out of Southern California, and he's working out to be the best driver we've had in a long time."

Nadia smiled, although it seemed very cold to Blair, not reaching the beautiful woman's bright blue eyes. "Very good then. Hello Lee. When you gentlemen are finished, you must come out to the house. There are some pieces I need delivered before tomorrow night. Plus, I'd like to give you a special bonus." She smiled, this time reminding Blair of a Cheshire cat. "That is, if you don't think Erik would mind."

Lee shook his head. "I don't think he'd mind. Our instructions were to bring the merchandise here and to assist you in any final preparations."

Any further discussion was halted as two men dressed in dark outfits burst into the warehouse, pushing two disheveled looking men in front of them.

Blair bit back a gasp as he watched Jim and a detective he thought he recognized from Bonita being herded into the warehouse.

"What is this?" Nadia nearly shouted at the interruption, gesturing towards the two men. "What the hell are they doing here?"

The two guards shoved the detectives to their knees. Lee stepped up and, after a quick search, handed their weapons to the guards, holding two billfolds in his hand. He glanced at them, before handing them to Nadia. "Local cops." He sighed. "Any guesses on why they were lurking outside?"

Nadia grabbed the billfolds, scowling at the ID's inside. "Oh, I can tell you why they were outside. They are the detectives who are investigating the robberies that have been occurring near my house."

"What?" Lee shouted.

"I thought it was part of Erik's operation. Several homes have been broken into and pieces of art were stolen. It happened at the same time that I had several pieces removed in preparation of the arrival of new pieces. A former member of my staff told a neighbor my house had been robbed. The neighbor told the police. These gentlemen came to investigate and I thought I had them convinced." Nadia stared at the two men on the floor.

"Obviously not," the young man muttered.

Blair worked to bury his concern as to how his partner had been taken and why he hadn't heard them coming. His main thought now was to keep Jim and the other detective safe until backup arrived.

"So now what do we do?" he asked quietly. He caught the look that Jim shot in his direction, before the detective's eyes moved back to Harford and Carver.

"We make sure they don't go anywhere. Tie them up, keep them quiet and lock them in the office," Nadia said. "After we're gone, someone will find them. Eventually."

Carver frowned. "That won't do. The problem is they can now ID us, especially you. We can't take the chance that they'll talk later. The only way to do that is to permanently silence them now."

Nadia paled. Seeing a chance, Jim spoke up for the first time since being shoved into the warehouse. "What's the matter, Ms. Harford? Can't handle the idea of killing an innocent person in cold blood? Or is it that you hadn't realized you were now in a business that often ends in murder? The only difference when someone OD's on your drug you don't see their glassy eyes staring at you."

Without warning, Carver lashed out, punching Jim on the side of his head. The stunned detective fell limply to the floor. From his spot beside the truck, Blair fought an internal battle to stay still rather than to run to his partner's side. If he moved against Harford and Carver now, he would be out numbered five armed people to one unarmed cop.

Applause rang out, causing Nadia to jump at the unexpected intrusion. Erik Gray walked in, a broad smile on his face. "Bravo! Bravo! Well-put Mr. Carver."

Gray moved to stand beside Nadia and laid a hand on her shoulder. She jumped at the touch, causing the man to chuckle. "Nadia, dear, calm down. Everything is under control." He chuckled again at her look of disbelief.

"Mr. Sands and Mr. Carver." The tall man looked from where Blair stood, across to Lee. "You've both done an admirable job of getting my merchandise delivered on time. If this fool woman hadn't made too much of a mess, I'm thinking of relocating to Cascade. Quaint little town."

He walked over to Blair and handed the nervous young man a leather wallet. "Here is the agreed upon amount plus a bonus for a job well done. I realize that this may all look very intimidating but, I assure you, everything will be handled and we can get back to business as usual."

"Thank you, Sir," Blair said quietly, mentally hoping that Simon showed up soon or that he would get an opening to get Jim away. He longed to ask Gray just what was going on, but between his reluctance and Gray speaking, he kept his silence.

"Before I explain and offer you long term employment, there is one small task that I want you to perform."

"Task?" Blair asked. "But I thought that getting the truck here was the test. I'm a truck driver..." his voice trailed as Gray turned to glare dangerously at him.

"Things change!" Gray interrupted. "This is an ever changing world and we must be able to adjust to its changes." The man motioned to his bodyguard who took Jim's gun from Carver and handed it to Gray. "Since we talked in Bonita, the situation has become more complex."

He handed the gun to Blair, who stared in shock at the weapon, a knot forming in his throat. Blair had a very bad feeling of what was coming, but now he was at least armed.

"It's quite simple though, you do this and we have no problems. As I said earlier, I like loyalty from my employees and this is one way of ensuring it. Kill them." Gray waved his hand towards Jim and Ken.

"What?" Blair blurted out. "I can't kill cops. Hell, I can't kill anyone. I'm not a murderer." He looked at Jim, the detective's eyes full of worry. Blair handed the gun back to Gray. "I can't kill for you."

"I'm sorry, it's not that easy," Gray told him. "If you don't shoot them, then you will die along with them. It's about trust and loyalty, and if I can't trust you, then I can't use you."

Blair stammered, his eyes going wide with fear. "I won't tell anyone, okay? Just let me walk out of here and you'll never see me again."

Gray laughed loudly. "Right, my boy. I'm going to let you walk out of the middle of one of the biggest drug deals of my career. You see, the truck you drove here is loaded with antiques and art from other countries. Packed with each is a new drug, very strong, virtually undetectable by the current methods."

He walked over to Nadia, draping an arm around her shoulders. "Dear Nadia is going to be the first of my Pacific Northwest contacts. Her party tonight will serve as the introduction of the drug to Cascade." He beamed, trailing his fingers through her hair before walking back over to stand in front of Blair.

"So you see, Mr. Sands. I can't let you leave. I can not let anyone leave that is not 100% loyal to me." He held the gun out to Blair. "You have one more chance to redeem yourself." As Blair took the gun from him, Gray motioned to the guard that came in with him. "Watch him. If he fails, kill him first. Then those two."

Blair was very much aware of the gun pointed at him as he stood with a clear shot at both his partner and the other detective. His eyes met Jim's as a desperate plan entered his mind. All he had to do was try to convey it to the two detectives.

Holding Jim's gaze with his own, Blair brought the gun up to point it at his partner. His mouth went dry as he fought to keep his hands steady. He heard the shocked gasp from the officer kneeling on the floor next to Jim, but he refused to shift his eyes from those of his partner. Unblinking, he aimed the gun at Jim's head.

"Very good. Very good," he heard the business man/drug dealer murmur from behind him. "Now get on with it, Mr. Sands. I haven't got all night."

Taking a deep breath, Blair glanced quickly from Jim to the gun and back to Jim. Please understand, Jim. Okay? His eyes locked with Jim's, he shifted the gun minutely, praying that it was not enough to catch the notice of those watching him. But that it was enough for a Sentinel to see. He saw a glint in Jim's eyes, an indication that he was ready for whatever Blair had in mind.

Another deep breath and, this time, Blair held it and squeezed the trigger. The bullet passed close to Jim but didn't hit. The detective never noticed as he lunged towards the guard closest to him who had a gun held on Blair.

Chaos erupted as, at the same moment, the door to the warehouse burst in and the commanding voice of Simon Banks was heard.

"FREEZE! CASCADE PD!"

"Damn you!" Gray screamed as he reached for Blair, one hand burying itself in Blair's dark hair, pulling his head back. With his other hand, Gray drove a punch into Blair's side, causing the startled young man to gasp for breath.

Struggling against Gray's hold, Blair twisted and tried to elbow the man, but Gray was too fast and grabbed Blair's arm, pulling it high behind him.

"Let him go," Simon ordered, his gun trained on the two men. Behind the police captain, Blair could see uniformed officers take Lee and Nadia into custody. Jim delivered a final punch to the gunman he'd jumped and turned with a murderous look on his face.

"I don't think so, Captain," Gray said. "I get the feeling that the detective and this young man know each other. I don't know why, but Blair here refused to shoot."

"Gray," Jim spoke low and dangerous. "You won't make it out of here, I'll see to that. Let Sandburg go."

Gray laughed. "Sandburg? So that's his real name." He jerked back on Blair's hair, causing his hostage to hiss at the pain. "How did you manage to get past our checks to get in?"

"Let him go, Gray. Slow and easy now," a Scottish accented voice spoke from behind Gray and Blair. Blair heard the sound of a gun being cocked. "I said let go of him."

Erik Gray savagely shoved Blair forward into Jim and Simon, nearly knocking all three men down. He gave a very ungentlemanly yelp as Ken Christian grabbed an arm and pulled it behind Gray's back.

"That's an odd definition of slow and easy, Mr. Gray," Ken observed as he handcuffed Gray. He handed the drug dealer to two uniformed officers who read him his rights as they led him outside.

"Are you okay?" Simon asked the detective, stepping up and laying a hand on the young man's shoulder. Ken closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before answering.

"Yes, Sir. I'm fine. Just knocked around a bit. Nice entrance there, by the way, Captain."

"Thank you, Christian. I've had lots of practice," Simon said, turning to look at his best detective team, reunited for the first time in over a week.

"How about the two of you? Anyone seriously injured?"

"Fine, Sir."

"Still here," came the two tired responses.

Jim and Blair stood grinning at each other. "Good shot, Chief," Jim said, breaking the silence.

"Thanks, man. I just kept praying that you would figure out that I wasn't actually aiming at you. And that you wouldn't jump in the wrong direction."

"You did good." Jim draped an arm over Blair's shoulders, leading his partner outside, following Ken and Simon.

" You did pretty good yourself. Except for the getting jumped part." Blair eyed his Sentinel. "You are going to tell me how that happened, right?"

"It'll be in the report." Jim smiled evilly. "Which you get to help write since you've been considerate enough to show up in Cascade."

"Gee thanks, Jim." Blair groaned good-naturedly.

In front of them, Ken laughed. "Are they always like that?" he asked Simon.

"No, they're not," Simon answered. "Sometimes they're worse."

Stay tuned next week when Simon Banks vanishes without a trace in "A Priori" an all new The Sentinel.

With much help from Lori Wright, many special thanks for working with me on the plot and allowing me some time in her episode. Also, thanks to the editors and staff of Black Panther Productions for allowing me to play and for making this a better story with their input.

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