Steve was very ill for several days. As the doctor had predicted, he developed pneumonia despite the antibiotics. He suffered from a constant thumping in his head, even though he was given regular painkillers. The returning circulation in his hands had almost driven him mad the first night, but by the second day, his fingers, although still slightly swollen, were back to a normal colour and tests showed that there was no permanent damage. Jeannie spent every moment that she could by his bedside, gently bathing his face with cool water as his fever spiked and holding his hand during his nightmarish dreams. After a few days, the antibiotics won out, Steve's fever broke and he fell into a natural, healing sleep.

When he woke, he was as weak as a kitten. It took several more days before Steve ate more than just the odd mouthful and it was a full week after his kidnapping before he was allowed out of bed. After that, he made rapid progress, although the skull fracture kept him in hospital for another week after that, for monitoring. Jeannie and the kids stayed with Mike in the city and Jeannie took leave from her work. Berkeley was very understanding about Steve's absence and told him not to worry about being off.

When Steve was released from the hospital, he, too, went to Mike's house, instead of the big, old rambling house that he and his family shared near the university. Cord's trial had been postponed until Steve was well enough to testify. Initially, there had been fears that Steve's head injury might have affected his memory, but luckily, he remembered pretty much everything. In some respects, Jeannie thought that was a pity; she knew that she would never forget those tortured hours.

On the morning that the trial started, Steve set his alarm slightly earlier than he really needed to, just to give himself a little extra time to get going. He found that if he did things too quickly in the mornings, his head began to ache and the last thing he wanted was a headache when he went into the court room. Jeannie rose with him and made him a cup of coffee. To his chagrin, he wasn't allowed too much caffeine at the moment. He had got into the habit of drinking several cups of the stuff per day when a cop and the habit had followed him to the university.

When Mike stumbled into the kitchen, Steve went to get showered and dressed. Jeannie roused and fed the kids and got them organised to get to school. They knew what was going on, but Jeannie refused to allow them to sit at home just waiting. It was better for them to be kept busy and she made sure that the school was kept abreast of what was happening.

They were met at the courthouse by Dan Robbins, Mike's last partner. "What are you doing here?" Mike asked.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here?" Dan countered. "I wanted to see this guy Cord put away. The guys at work have talked about nothing else since I got back."

"You sure picked the right time to go on vacation," Steve told him, smiling at the dark haired man.

"That's a matter of opinion," Dan replied. "How are you, Steve?"

"I'm doing all right," Steve replied. "Better every day. I hope to get back to work in the next week or two."

"Well, we'll get Cord put away today and then you can put your feet up for the next couple of weeks and let your gorgeous wife tend to your every need," Dan agreed, grinning at Jeannie.

"Seems you've forgotten all I taught you about women's lib," Jeannie retorted. "I wait on nobody hand and foot." She shot Steve a look, knowing that he could say she had done just that while he had been ill, but he wasn't going to say anything about that.

"Let's not stand out here yabbing," Mike complained. "That's a cold wind." He wasn't bothered by the wind himself, but he thought Steve might be. The younger man was wearing only a sports coat over a shirt and tie and Mike thought he ought to be wearing something warmer.

"You've gone all soft since you retired," Dan teased as they went inside.

It was a familiar place for them all. Jeannie had come to the courts to meet Mike and Steve many times over the years and they had lost count of the occasions they had come here for work-related purposes. The grand marble hallway was as imposing as ever and the stairs still dominated the area. Mike headed for the lift. Steve was not walking one step more than necessary.

Touched by his father-in-law's thoughtfulness, Steve hid the grin he wanted to let loose and obediently followed him. They were whisked to the second floor in moments and walked along the carpeted corridor to the court room. They were ushered inside and took seats just behind the DA.

A few minutes later, Cord was brought in through a side door and the handcuffs he wore were removed. He sat at the table with his attorney and gave Steve a broad grin. Steve pretended to ignore him, but he could feel a flush crawl up his neck. Jeannie's hand was holding his and she squeezed his fingers slightly. Steve glanced at her and smiled.

Everyone rose for the judge and the trial began. Steve barely listened to the defence attorney's opening statements. He knew that his own character would be called into question and there was no point in getting annoyed before things really got going. He knew himself well enough to know that he still had a temper and losing it would play into Cord's hands.

Various witnesses were called, who set the scene for what had happened that night. Steve knew his own testimony would be last. Waiting was hard, though. It was tough hearing what his friends and family had endured because of Cord's desire for revenge.

Jeannie was called to the stand. She answered the questions she was asked calmly and clearly, keeping her eyes on Steve throughout. Once her testimony was finished, she was excused the stand and walked back to her seat. As she reached the swing gate that separated the court area from the public area, Cord made a move.

Everyone had been expecting something, but as time went on, they had all relaxed a bit. As Jeannie paused to open the gate, Cord leapt from his feet, shoved his attorney aside and made a grab for Jeannie. Jeannie screamed, the judge banged the gavel and Cord totally ignored him. His hand fastened on Jeannie's arm.

Already half out of his seat to allow Jeannie to pass him, Steve made a lunge for the criminal. He knew it was the last thing he should do; there were plenty of bailiffs and cops in the room, but they were all further away than he was and nobody was going to harm Jeannie – least of all this scumbag.

Evidently, Cord had hoped that Steve would make some kind of mad move. With amazing speed, he reached out his one free hand and caught Steve around the throat. With the other hand, he drew Jeannie in close and put his arm around her, covering her mouth with his hand and gripping her nose. The hand on Steve's throat started to squeeze. Steve choked.

"You'll go out together," Cord hissed. "And I'll have had my ultimate revenge!" He laughed wildly.

Steve was well on the road to recovery, but he was not back to full strength yet. It wasn't his own plight that worried him, although he could feel the world growing dim as Cord's hand tightened around his throat, cutting off his air. His whole being was intent on freeing Jeannie and he raised one hand and punched Cord heavily in the face.

The blow told, but not enough. Enraged, Steve started kicked and punching with both hands. He was never sure which blow was the one that freed his wife, but it was also the one that he knew spelled his own death. As Jeannie fell to the floor, gasping loudly for breath, Cord regrouped and punched Steve heavily in the stomach. The little breath that Steve had left whooshed out of his body. The room was dark now, and Steve wondered why nobody else was doing anything. As he blacked out, he vaguely heard a loud bang. I'm dead, he thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When he opened his eyes again, some time had clearly passed, but exactly how much was a mystery. Jeannie was sitting beside him, crying and clutching his hand. She looked beautiful to Steve and he longed to tell her so, but his throat was so sore that swallowing was agony and speaking was out of the question. Still, he tried, but all that came from his mouth was a tortured croak. Jeannie half-laughed, choked and sobbed anew.

"Don't talk, Steve," urged a familiar voice. "Not until you've been seen by a doctor." Glancing up, Steve saw Dan Robbins leaning over him, his gun in his hand. "Jeannie, are you hurt?" he went on.

"No," Jeannie sniffed. She accepted a handkerchief he handed her and gingerly wiped her nose. Steve squeezed her hand to make her look at him and raised a tentative eyebrow. "I'm all right," she assured him. "What were you thinking?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Mike agreed acerbically. "In a court room full of cops, you had to tackle him!" Mike shook his head. "No, don't try to answer me. I know what you're going to say!" He let out a laugh that had a hint of something else in it – tears? Steve wasn't sure, but Mike knelt by them and swept them both into his arms. "I'm so glad you're all right," he choked.

Staying on his back seemed to be a good idea for the moment, Steve decided. His head was aching again and he guessed he had overdone it. He glanced down at his bloodied knuckles and then craned his neck to see what had happened to Cord while he had been having a nap. The movement hurt and he desisted at once, but Mike guessed what he wanted to know. "Dan shot him," Mike reported soberly. "Cord's dead."

As the paramedics crowded around him and Jeannie, Steve felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. He knew Dan would not have shot to kill, but Cord was most likely a moving target and the detective knew that he had to take the first shot that presented itself to prevent further harm to Steve and Jeannie. Their family was safe; Cord was gone for good.

As Dan looked down on him where he lay on the stretcher, Steve reached his hand out. "Thanks," he mouthed. "Thank you very much."

Smiling, Dan nodded. He slipped away into the crowd as Steve and Jeannie left the court. Mike followed closely behind them. Revenge might have been a dish that Cord was serving very cold, but it had backfired against him and his victims were alive and would carry on living. Steve knew his injuries were not serious; he would make a full recovery and that, he decided, was the best revenge possible.

The End