Jacob and I moved quickly, our footsteps silent, our hands near our weapons for the moment we needed to strike. We rounded the next corner and were met by what we were looking for. Three men, clearly heavily armed, standing with a couple crates, each with a glint of metal and silver inside, another sign that we found what we wanted.

  "Alright, how you want to do this?" Jacob whispered to me, his hand inching toward his gun.

  "On my count, we strike." I whispered back at him, the two of us nodded in unison at one another. Before I could give the signal, a loud bang from behind us made us turn around. Another tall figure emerging from the shadows, this one a little more unrecognizable, gun drawn.

  "Why look what we have here. Miami Police Department at it again. Sergeant Flint. Detective Grant! Fancy seeing you two here isn't it?" The figure's voice was smooth but dangerous. Then and there I knew who it was. Walter Ortega. A notorious armed suspect we have been on the hunt for months but every single time we had him, he got away.

  Jacob moved closer towards me, his hands firm on his gun drawn toward Ortega. "Walter Ortega." Jacob said with a hint of spite in his voice.

  "Listen, we're here taking care of police business. This doesn't concern you Ortega. Drop the gun, You know what happens if you injure a cop." I begun speaking with the most amount of authority.

  Ortega chuckled at my command, barely able to catch his breath through the wheezing. "Oh, Oh, Oh, ha. Oh my. That's a good one Grant. Ohhhhhhhhhhh..... I needed that one. Do you think speaking to me like I'm a child is going to make me drop my weapon so you fiends can capture me that easy?" He'd laugh again.

  "HA! Fat chance PD... You've both got guts, I'll give you both that. You know, you got those police officers who are strict and don't do anything without taking them down without a fight. Thennn, there's you guys. Talk it out. All bark. No bite. And hey, who said I was going to shoot one of you? I'm not that stupid. Who says this isn't my business? I'm a very financially strong businessman. I can do what I want, when I want." He'd laugh again, the wheezing continued.

  The tension in that alley could be cut with a knife. The air was thick with a chance for wicked violence. My mind began to race. What could we do to get out of this standoff with one of the most dangerous men in Miami but where we don't have to lose these three for the armed deal?

  I looked behind us towards the three men with the crates. They were huddled in a corner, all three spoke in Spanish to avoid drawing attention. They were figuring out how to escape.

  "Flint." I whispered.

  Jacob turned toward me, his vision mixed between Ortega and the three men I was just looking at.

  "We focus anymore of our attention on him, we'll lose any sort of chance we have on advancing furthermore with this case. It's a worse case scenario either one."

  I sighed, I knew that Jacob was right.

  "Get ready, on my count." I signaled.

  Before we could act any further on any plan no matter what that maybe, a shot rang throughout the alley. I felt a sudden pain searing in my shoulder. I felt as if this was a scene out of a slow motion movie, blood spattered everywhere. Everything was in slow motion. My vision was fading with every second that went by. Jacob had a look of disbelief on his face. I fell to my knees slowly. My body trembling. The final thing that my eyes caught before the darkness took over was Ortega's face, he seemed to be laughing, his face filled with a sense of satisfaction. Darkness then enveloped me.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  ___________________________________________________________________

  "91- wha- yo- eme?-"

  "Thi- i- Ser- Ja- Fli of th- Mia- Pol- Depa.-"

  "My pa- i- do-. I rep- my par- i- dow."

  "Sen- he- imme!"

  "Wha- he- na- si?"

  "De- Iz- Gra."

  _____________________________________________________________________

  "Iz?"

  "Izzy?!"

  I woke up with a sudden startle, my shoulder throbbing. The first smell that entered my nose was familiar. It smelled like disinfectant. I looked around, not knowing where I am for the most part.

  "Hey... You're awake. Finally."

  I looked over to beside the bed, it was Jacob. Surprise. Surprise. He sat beside the bed, still in his suit like always. A sarcastic smile on his face, even though he looked quite relieved to see me at least with my eyes opened.

  "Wh... Wha-" I tried to speak, but with how long I had been out, my voice wasn't there at all. The most that came out was a silent groan, not even audible.

  I cleared my throat, or at least I tried to with how dry my throat was.

  "Wha- What happened? Where am I?" I managed to get out.

  Jacob smiled, he stood and walked over to the side of my bed.

  "You don't remember?" He asked me, a hint of concern in his voice.

  I'd shake my head no. Jacob's face going from remorseful to understanding.

  "Well, I guess that does make sense. You were pretty out of it with what happened."

  He hesitated. I could see it in his face. Something big. But he seemed to be hiding it protect me? Maybe he knew I'd be angry.

  "Tell me Flint." I said.

  He sighed. "You took a bullet Iz. You were shot." He said calmly, knowing that I don't remember much and I guess I was right, he knew that I'd be angry.

  My face froze as I tried to think back to being back in that alley.

  "The- The last thing I remember..."

  "Is being in that alley. We were about to step up to the men with the armed guns... Walter Ortega had just showed up. I-" I'd pause what I was saying, rubbing my eyes with my good hand as even moving the other made my shoulder throb even more like a heartbeat.

  "Walter Ortega shot me... He shot me didn't he? He said that he wasn't going to... But he shot me, that old punk!" I said, my voice getting more and more agitated and angered.

  Jacob sighed. "Hey... Hey... Hey... You don't need to get angry. Once the shot happened and you went down. Backup was called. He ended up evading us, BUT. That doesn't mean that he's gone for good again. I have every available resource on him. I called Howard to inform him of your incident and I told him to send people out." Jacob informed me, placing his hand on my uninjured shoulder.

  I nodded, my shoulder continued to throb. I looked up at Jacob, seeing the worry in his eyes, along with the surge of gratitude for me being awake and relatively okay. He's been through these kind of incident before and always, he continued to come back, after everything I put him through. I sometimes wondered why.

  "Hey... Flint." I said, trying to reposition myself in the bed, I shrieked in pain while doing so.

  "Thanks for always having my back." I said, I reached out to grab his hand. he smiled at the gesture, He grabbed my hand in return, his touch warm and a bit sweaty, which for Jacob was completely normal.

  "Hey, don't. I know there have been some moments where we have had our close calls, but we've made it through the other side with nothing but minor bumps and bruises. And like I always say, coming into work and going on patrol with you or working on a case. I know, we are going to get into some kind of trouble. I got your back Izzy. Always."