She seemed seriously upset. Should I give her a minute or...?

He walked over to shut the front door. As he began to close it, a man crashed into it. Jack moved instinctively. He grabbed the man's shoulder with his right hand as he yanked him forward.

Keep him off balance. Use his momentum.

Jack twisted at the waist. As he pulled with his right hand, his left hand grabbed the man by the belt. The move launched the man through the air, into the apartment. The man crashed onto the floor in a heap as he slid into the wall. Jack's gun was instantly in his hand.

"DON'T MOVE," Jack bellowed.

The man lay in a ball and then lifted his trembling hands and face to look up. He appeared to be in his late forties; he was short, fat, and balding. His eyegla.s.ses rested at a strange angle on his face while his lips quivered in fear.

"Why were you chasing her?" Jack roared.

"Uh..." the man stuttered.

"Jack!" Replacement ripped the bedroom door open and stepped back into the room when she saw Jack with his gun out.

"Get in the bedroom. NOW," Jack ordered.

"Jack, no," Replacement screamed as she rushed forward.

"Get away from him, Alice. He just crashed into the apartment trying to chase you down."

"Jack, I know him. Put the gun away." Replacement crouched over the man and shielded him with her body.

"What?" Jack pointed his gun toward the floor as he took a step forward.

Replacement helped the little fat man to his feet. "Are you okay?"

He took off his gla.s.ses and nodded.

"Who the h.e.l.l are you?" Jack snarled. "And why did you just barge in through my door?"

"Don't yell at him, Jack." Replacement looked ready to cry again.

"Who is he?" Jack thrust his hand out. He could feel the anger and frustration build inside him. He walked toward the little man, who seemed to get even smaller as he approached. "You answer me. Who are you, and why are you here?"

The man shifted his weight from foot to foot. He wiped his hands on his pants as he stuck his hand out. "Darren Taylor. I'm here to see her." He pointed to Replacement.

"It's all my fault." Replacement leaned back with a thump against the wall.

Jack exhaled and then glared at Darren. "Continue. Why?"

Darren stood in front of the bedroom door and rubbed his arm. He looked down at the gun, still in Jack's hand, and then back at Jack, and swallowed. "She showed up at my work. She said she was going to tell my wife I was having an affair, but I'm not. I swear it."

You've got to be kidding me.

Jack holstered his gun. He rubbed the sides of his head as he walked into the kitchen. Replacement moved closer to Darren.

"I know you weren't having an affair. I'm so sorry. I was...I was..."

"Wrong," Jack added.

"Yes. Wrong," she admitted, crying.

"Then you believe me?" Darren asked.

Replacement nodded. "I thought you were at the restaurant to see another woman, but when I went looking for you and found you washing dishes, I...I..."

"Stop crying." Jack grabbed a gla.s.s of water. "Let me guess; he took another job to help his wife?"

She nodded as she sobbed. "His wife Susan is sick, so he took a job to help make ends meet."

Her eyes seemed even bigger as she looked at Darren, who shifted uncomfortably.

"How do you know that?" The confused man looked at Jack.

Jack shook his head. "Your wife hired her." He pointed at Replacement.

"What?" Darren's mouth fell open.

"Jack." Replacement held up her hands next to her head. "You can't tell him who hired me. Client confidentiality."

"Just get this over with. I want to take a shower." He picked the aspirin bottle up off the floor, opened it, and took another one.

"What happened to your face?" Replacement rushed over to him.

"No. Stop." Jack knocked her hands away as he turned to Darren. "Here's the Cliff's Notes version of what's going on. You must be working as a dishwasher because your wife got sick and had to stop working her job, right?"

"I'm looking for a different second job, but I needed one right away and-"

"Don't talk-nod, okay?" Jack held up his hand.

Darren nodded.

"Well, you must not have wanted to worry your wife so you just said you're working your regular job but have to work late. Right?"

Darren nodded.

"So, your wife gets paranoid-" Darren started to speak but Jack held up his hand. "Sorry, she gets concerned, so she hires a private investigator."

"Hires her?" Darren's face fell.

"Darren, don't feel bad, but your wife's sick and probably thinks you're distant. Her being sick is hard enough on both of you, but now you're working two jobs so you're tired, too. Your s.e.x life has to have tanked...you come home late, and now you don't tell her what you're really doing. Women can sense when you're lying."

"But it was for a good reason." Replacement sniffled. "He took another job."

"Because he couldn't get overtime?" Jack asked.

Darren nodded.

"Problem solved. Now, please leave." Jack pointed to the door.

Darren nodded and ran for the door but stopped halfway. "But she can't tell my wife." He looked at Jack.

"Of course she's going to tell your wife." Jack rubbed his forehead.

"She can't. There's no way my wife can work, and we need the money. She'll get so upset. Please?" He turned back to Replacement.

"Listen, Darren. Trust me. Your wife will understand you're being a stand-up guy a h.e.l.l of a lot better than she'll understand you getting some action on the side, and-"

"Jack." Replacement stamped her foot.

He looked at Darren. "Darren, go tell your wife you love her so much that you took a dishwashing job. Believe me, she's going to go crazy in a different way than how you think, and you can thank me later. For now, get the h.e.l.l out."

Darren practically ran for the door. "Thank you. Thank you very much," he mumbled as he left.

Jack grabbed his phone as it buzzed again. It was another text from Kendra.

SO NOT FAIR!!!!! HOW CAN HE suspend U?!?!?!

He tossed the phone down as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Life isn't fair...

Jack opened his eyes to take a good look at Replacement. She stared at the text on his phone, and her face said it all. Her eyes were rounded in concern; her little hands were tightly balled into fists.

I should let her go give Collins a piece of her mind.

Jack sighed. "I'm taking a shower now."

He walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind him. As he emptied his pockets on the bureau, he paused.

All my life I wanted to be a cop. Have I just thrown it away?

No, no, no...

As Jack peeled his shirt off, he winced.

"Snap." Replacement exhaled. "What the h.e.l.l happened to you?"

Jack leaned against the sink as he looked back at her standing in the bathroom doorway. "Can't I get any privacy, kid?"

"You're not doing anything I shouldn't see, and you're hurt." Replacement opened the medicine cabinet and began to take things out. "You need to wash that sc.r.a.pe off now. It looks like you cut yourself and rolled in a mud puddle."

Good guess.

She turned on the shower and pulled the curtain back.

"Pants." Replacement reached for his belt buckle.

"I got it. Turn around."

"No. I can't take care of you with my eyes closed. Here," she handed him a towel, "just think of me like a nurse, okay?"

Jack called her bluff and let his jeans drop to the floor.

She looked up at the ceiling and grinned while he wrapped the towel around himself.

That didn't work.

"Lean down. Let's start at the top. Let me see your face." She turned the water on in the sink and got a washcloth wet. Jack shut his eyes as he leaned over.

"I feel like I'm four," he muttered.

"Open your mouth." Replacement tilted his head toward the light. "You got a big cut in your mouth, too. You'll need to rinse with salt.w.a.ter."

"Yes, Mom."

She dabbed at the cut on his lip; he winced. "What hit you?"

"A broom handle to the lip and bra.s.s knuckles in the face."

Replacement made an awful face.

"What's the other guy look like?" She turned him around so she could work on the dirt in his shoulder. Jack groaned and gritted his teeth.

Surprisingly, she looks pretty good.

Replacement felt around his shoulder with the tips of her fingers and then gingerly pulled out a thin shard of gla.s.s. "Darn it, Jack. You might have to go to the hospital."

He rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, you might need a shot or something."

"I need a shot of something. I'm going to go get one when we're done here."

"You getting drunk won't help anything. I can't get this clean this way. Get in." She pulled back the shower curtain. Jack grudgingly got in the shower but, once safely behind the curtain, tossed the towel on the floor. He hated being pampered, but he shook when the water hit his wounds.

Replacement walked out of the bathroom, only to come back a moment later wearing one of his T-shirts.

"You had today off. What happened?" She shrugged , grabbed the sides of her pants, and yanked them to the floor. The long T-shirt covered halfway down her thighs.

Jack's mouth fell open as he watched her taking her socks off. "What're you doing?"

"You won't do a proper job." She handed him a towel. "Wrap it around you." She waited for a second and then pulled back the curtain so she could step into the shower. He moved back, blinking rapidly as the water sprayed off her body, into his face.

"I have a shirt and panties on, so don't worry about it." She grinned as she held up the washcloth. "Turn around." Jack complied.