by Cindy Combs
Closing his eyes, Jim mentally pictured the dials as Blair had taught him. Carefully adjusting the images, he finally caught a whiff of what he was looking for. "This way." Blair jogged after him to a point about midway into the dam. Then Jim pointed in the gloom. "There."
"Hey man, I can barely see my hand in front of my face here. Where are you pointing?"
"It's where the old turbine used to be," Jim absently explained as he dropped down to the floor. Leaning over the shaft, he spotted the bomb. There were less than 2 minutes on the timer. Jim took a deep breath. There was no way he could allow the device to go off. "Can you hand me your pocket knife, Chief?"
Blair knelt down and carefully laid his Swiss army knife into his partner's palm by feel alone. "How much time do we have?"
"You don't want to know," Jim replied as he took the knife and pulled out the blade with the wire cutter. He leaned further into the shaft. As Blair heard him slide, he firmly grabbed the larger man's legs.
Taking another deep breath and holding it, Jim carefully clipped the wire on the thankfully simple device. The timer stopped. Then Jim yanked out the detonator. "That's done."
Blair carefully helped him up. His eyes were more accustomed to the dark so he could see his sentinel's relieved face. The two men exchanged grins. Again, they had managed to protect their tribe.
* * *
Rooftop, two hours later
The lanky man scribbled in his notebook. This little adventure had given him a lot to think about. Now that his suspicions had been confirmed, his adversary seemed even more dangerous. Ellison could prove to be a major obstacle when he was ready for his first contract in a few months. He would have to continue to study Ellison, to test him, to find some weakness before then. It would be a lot of work, but he always did like a challenge.
* * *
North side of bridge
"...even Commissioner Mathews was impressed," Simon declared to his best team. "Hopefully, this should keep him off our backs for a while."
Blair basked in the wide grin on his Captain's face. Simon was rarely that happy, so Blair decided to enjoy it while he could. Then Simon frowned as he took a closer look at his senior detective. "Jim? You still have that headache?"
"New one," Jim muttered, rubbing his forehead. "The glues on these sculptures are a killer."
"Then why don't you two head home? You can get the paper work to me later."
Blair flashed him a smile. "Thanks, Simon."
"That's Captain Banks to you, and if you don't get out of here now, I'll find something else for you to do."
"On our way." Jim gave his partner a gentle shove way from the Captain and towards freedom. Soon, the two men were walking through the festival one last time to get to the truck.
"Man, I am SO ready to go home," Blair declared as he rolled his head from side to side.
"Agree," Jim sighed. "I feel like I could down a bottle of aspirin and sleep for a week." Then he felt eyes staring at him. Glancing to the right, he moaned, "Oh great."
"What?" Blair asked in confusion.
"That woman who thinks I'm 'perfect' is pointing me out to a friend," Jim grumbled as he picked up the pace. He carefully tilted his sore head, listening in on the conversation.
"Cool," Blair teased. "You could always take her up on her offer."
"Only if you do, too," Jim retorted. "In fact, it sounds like her friend is very interested in drawing you."
"Really?" Blair immediately perked up. "Is she cute?"
Jim barely held back a smile. "I can't say. He isn't my type."
Blair's eyes widened. "HE?"
Jim nodded, a smirk sneaking across his tired face. "Yep."
Blair glanced nervously over his shoulder. "You know, if we cut in through here we could get to the truck faster."
"Right behind you, Chief."
The End
