never had to deal with a scene like that before, not in his life. He had thought he und

he loved his mother and how much it had affected him. He could remember how much it

t believe it as the loss hit him with such an impact that he had not ex

he had to break the news of the loss of their loved ones to. After all, he had de

iven the position of sergeant because of his

een active in street raids and surveillance, so much so that some had expected his promotion in no

equipped him to deal with Aria's grief, nor had those of her parents. After taking Eric's body to the state morgue the night b

sen him as his partner in Tomas Dorricelli's case. It had been a surprise to Jordan when Lance approved his selection. Jord

rdan had asked in amazement that day. Normally, he would avoid the pompous, peacock cop as muc

ting on his ass or going about having fun had ended up as an inspector, but it was not in his place to ask such a question. He

e post of Chief of Police? Well, it must be that he is quite useful in his current position." Eric had answe

clean uniform that Jordan doubted had ever seen any action in the past months, he gave Jordan a wolfish smile "Is that too hard for you to comprehend, Mr. Alarick? Would you prefer I

ordan thought before thankin

cied that every junior officer was there for his use. The more reason why he had not been in good rapport with Jordan since the latter had not tried to s

ordan sa

e. You are not to make any decision or take any step without my permission. That is an order from your superior, Sergeant.

ere times to give in, and this was it. Lance had the authority to deny his request, so if the bas

n't stop the urge to place the same emphasi

plant a facer on the arrogant man's over-pampered baby face, but he gue

The hapless boy had gotten to their base before he realized what his friend had led him to. After confidin

brains were spattered over the spaghetti bowl on their table. They were at dinner when the men came in,

had seemed miffed, but officers had been surprised when he said not a thing about it and more surprised when he gave Jordan

ittle detail. Jordan had tried at first to withhold some information, but he had no i

ard to explain what her brother had told her and

g at her father's shop the following day at daw

the sister's testament, had made them find out about one

ugh backup for them and had blamed Jordan for being useless when it yielded nothing. Jordan

ome of the gang members, but at th

operation, he told them when they called for backup that all the officers were on duty and there was no backup at the moment. Jo

ng. He looked around furtively before entering the place. Jordan thought back that that should have been enough red flags for them, bu

to the man, Eric signaled to him that there was a form of movement in the house and now would be the right time to act. They hadn't detec

en too late for Eric. His partner had ended up dead, and all he sustained was a shoulder injury. The bullet had grazed his shoulder, taking with it a chunk of flesh. That had prev

hould have argued more when Eric offered to cover for him. There had not been time, though, for thinking and analyzing. They had a split second to take action. actions that

scribable anguish he had felt in the beautiful home tha

he an