Chapter 16

Jenna drew her pistol, slipping off the safety as well and holding it with her elbow cocked, the barrel pointing toward the ceiling. Her heart was racing as she followed Ethan and Justin down the long hall of curtained rooms towards the end. God, she knew there was a reason she hated hospitals.

Behind the curtain, they could make out the shape of an individual standing close to where the curtain parted. Ethan pointed and then stepped back, wanting badly to grab Jenna's arm, make her stay with him while Justin took care of whatever was to take care of. But he couldn't do that to her. It would be like her telling him not to practice medicine because the man he had to treat was a psychotic killer. He had to do his job, no matter the peril, she had to do hers. But it was hard, damn hard.

Justin parted the curtain, staring at the figure of the man standing just far enough outside of the main light to keep him from being easily recognizable. He was in uniform, standing at parade rest, his eyes on the form lying quietly on the bed, her body swathed in bandages, her face swollen beyond recognition. Justin stepped through the curtain, swearing loudly as he finally could put a name to the face.

"Dammit, Worth, who told you to come out here?"

Jenna slipped through the curtain, Ethan just behind her. She stared with stunned disbelief at the man standing there. Worth, not in uniform though his badge was displayed on his belt, stood just in jeans and western style shirt, his gun on a shoulder holster like hers but not covered.

"You're out of uniform, officer," she snapped at the man, seeing the hostile glare in his eyes. That glare doubled when he saw Ethan behind her.

"You didn't send him to guard the patient?" Ethan asked Justin again.

"No, I didn't. So who did, Worth? As far as I knew, this was hush hush. I was the only officer responding to the scene, and the only other cop who knows anything about this is the chief." Justin glared at the man and Jenna moved between the two, using her elbow to force Justin back a step.

"Give him a chance to answer, Justin," she hissed.

All three pair of eyes were on the tall man. "I don't know what his game is," Worth finally said, nodding toward Justin. "He called me a little while ago and told me to come out here, that I should stand guard until he arrived with you, he said, staring down at Jenna.

Jenna turned and looked up at Justin. He shook his head, shrugging his shoulders.

"What reason I got to lie? He told me not to worry about uniform, just to get my ass down here. He didn't want the lady over there to be left alone for one minute, even if they had to take her into surgery." Worth turned a hostile glare on Justin. "You're just trying to make me look bad again, like you did before. I got a week off without pay because of you."

"That wasn't because of him, Worth," Jenna said. "That was because of you and your shoddy police work. And it wasn't Justin that reported you, it was me. Which you would have known if you'd looked at the report. Justin didn't sign it, I did."

Jenna felt the heat of his glare and glared right back. But there was something in his eyes, something black and cold. It sent a shiver through her that just down right irritated her. It also unnerved her a little, because he was looking at her as if he knew a secret. As if he knew the secret of her soul.

Ethan spoke up, staring over at the still figure on the bed. "You three need to take this out of here," he said, holding open the curtain.

"I figured as much," Worth grumbled, ignoring Ethan and pulling his hands from behind his back. Jenna took a step back as she saw what was in his hand, her eyes going from confrontational to wary in that single step.

"Whoa, Worth," she said, her hand coming up. "Just because we have problems dealing with each other doesn't mean there is any reason for this."

Justin stared at the pistol clasped in the man's hand, the pistol that was pointed at Jenna. He heard Ethan gasp at the sight, saw him reach for Jenna, a protective gesture that Justin could appreciate because he'd probably have tried it himself before he'd gotten to really know Jenna. But Worth saw it too, and he shook his head.

"Nope, doc, me and lady super cop here have stuff to discuss. So, if you don't want to see her bleeding on your nice shiny floor, step back real slow."

"What do you think you're going to get out of this, Worth? You'll end up in prison wearing an orange jumpsuit. You know what they do with ex cops in prison?" Justin asked him slowly, holding his hands well away from his own pistol. "You put that down and we'll set you up with the department shrink instead. What do you think?"

Worth snorted, glancing up from where he was staring at Jenna. "Shrinks? The whole lot of them are useless. They couldn't help me before, they couldn't stop me from... Well, they just didn't stop me."

"So what do you want, Worth?" Jenna spoke up.

"What I've wanted since this whole thing started. You."

"Wait a minute," Jenna said, stepping forward only to be waved back by the pistol. "What do you mean, since what whole thing started?"

"As if you don't know," he said. "Ask your partner there, ask him who's killing these women. He knows." Worth turned the pistol on Justin as he spoke, then back to Jenna.

"What could I possibly know, Worth? If I knew who was committing the murders, don't you think I'd haul their asses in before they could hurt someone else? Come on man, we're cops here. We uphold the law, not break them."

Ethan wanted to snort at that statement, just glancing at the bruises still visible on Jenna's throat. Instead he looked back at his patient, worried that she might wake and start a whole new problem with this situation.

Jenna glanced up at Justin, feeling his eyes on her. His narrowed as she looked at him, reading the question in her eyes and hating that she even doubted him. "And anyway, what does Jenna have to do with this?" Justin asked.

"She's the reason these murders are happening. She's the reason this guy keeps killing. This guy, you," Worth said, lifting his gun and pointing it at Justin. "You want her, she wants the doc over there. And since you can't have her, you're going after women who look like her. Why the fuck you're killing them, well that's your own deal."

"You're crazy, Worth," Jenna said, staring between the two men. "He's been my partner for years. Why the hell would I believe you over him?"

"Because I have proof. That lady, right there in that bed, she's the proof. When she wakes up, she'll tell you that he's the one that assaulted her." Worth pointed with his gun.

"So, what? You're going to keep us in this area until she can wake up and start pointing fingers? And how do we know it isn't you that's done all these attacks?" Justin stepped forward, only stopping when he felt the barrel of Worth's pistol press into his stomach.

"No. I don't care if you want to kill women. I'm tired of being treated like shit in this piece of crap town. I'm leaving. And I'm taking super cop here with me." Worth gestured at Jenna, smiling lewdly down at her. "I want to get a taste of what everyone else is getting."

Ethan growled, his body tensing. Jenna stared at him for a minute, her eyes telling him to calm down, though it barely got through his anger.

"Over my dead body," he snarled, his hands closing into fists.

"I'd hate to do that, doc. You ain't done me no harm. Not like these two have. But if I had to, I would. Now, you two shuck them weapons. I want them on the floor and kicked over there, under that bed. Real gentle like, two fingers," he warned as Justin reached under his shirt for his weapon. "Now, turn around and lift your shirts, don't want no back up weapons going off on accident now do we," he added with a chuckle.

"I need to know, Worth," Jenna said softly. "Why do you suspect Justin?"

"All them women look like you. He's got a huge hard on for you. You put two and two together."

"How do we know it's not you?" Justin said, tamping down on his anger and the rest of the emotions coiling inside of him. He had to stay calm. He couldn't let Worth out of here, not with Jenna. He finished his circle, dropping his shirt back down so it hung over his jeans. "From what you're saying, you've got just as big a hard on for her, and she's caused you grief. How do we know you aren't killing them to take out your aggravation with her?"

"For Christ's sake!" Worth exclaimed, waving his hands, his arms rising. "Who the fuck cares? I'm taking her and leaving no matter what."

"You're bleeding," Jenna said softly, staring at the bloody patch of shirt that showed on his left arm.

Worth looked down at the spreading patch and swore. "Fuck, shit, damn. Thought I got that to quit, the damn bitc..." He clamped his mouth shut, staring daggers at Jenna as he realized what he'd said. "Never mind that, it'll quit."

"Why'd you do it, Worth? Why'd you kill those innocent girls?" Jenna asked him, moving a little closer, her voice pitched low and intimate.

For a minute she didn't think he would answer, then suddenly it seemed to almost burst out of him. "Because of you, you bitch. All those years, you never even saw me. All those letters I sent you, all the nights I spent alone because of you. You're the reason my wife left me. You're the reason that I could never get it up with anyone else. And then I'd take you, over and over and it wasn't you!" He reached out, grabbing her arm and pulling her close, the pistol all but forgotten at his side.

Justin saw his chance, and he took it. Leaping forward, he grabbed Worth's arm, hoisting the pistol up. Worth let go of Jenna, pushing her backwards. She fell against some machinery in the corner, hitting her head hard. Her teeth clicked together with a noise that sounded huge in her spinning head and she couldn't see for a minute as the pain caused everything to swim in front of her.

She heard it though, the noise of two men fighting, grunts and blows, the woof when someone took a hit to the stomach. She heard Ethan grunt, felt a body fall next to her as she tried to shake off the pain.

And then she heard the shot. Putting her hand up to her head, she watched in painful shock as Justin, his eyes glazed with disbelief, fell to the floor, blood welling to flow over his shirt from a wound in his chest.

The room spun around her, she stared at his body, watching it fall in what seemed like slow motion. She could smell the fresh metallic scent of blood and the burning smell of a gun blast. And then her backup weapon was in her hand, the Velcro shook off, and she pointed and fired.

Worth jumped as the bullet struck him, staring at Jenna with eyes filled with hatred. He lifted his gun, pointing it at her and she fired again, this time striking him in the shoulder of his gun hand. He dropped his gun, his arm falling nervously to his side before he sank to the floor.

Jenna forced herself up, kicking the gun away from Worth before he could think of grabbing it again. He stared at her, his teeth gritted, a snarl on his face. She could only think he looked like a mad dog. They put mad dogs to sleep. The itch to put her gun to his head was strong, but she was a cop, first and foremost. And cops don't take the law into their own hands.

With a strength she didn't know she possessed, she turned him on his face, little caring about his wounds. Cuffing his hands behind his back, she left him there, turning to Justin.

Ethan was on the floor next to him. He had his hands inside his shirt, had ripped the tank top he'd been wearing under it off of him, using it to press against the wound to staunch his blood. "Get me some help in here," he yelled at her.

She opened the curtain, amazed at the sea of curious faces that stared back at her. "We need help in here," she said, turning to watch as nurses burst through the curtain. A gurney was rushed in and two men picked up Worth, seeing the blood on him, they got another gurney and another doctor was called.

They rushed the two men out of the room, taking them to their own curtains while Jenna stood there, her head still spinning. She had to call it in. She had to... she sank down against the curtain.

"You okay?"

Jenna looked up to see a blonde nurse staring down at her. "Yeah, just a bump on the head made me a little dizzy. Do you know how my partner is?"