"I am one fraction of an inch," Kacie held up a hand to demonstrate the margin, "of assaulting a police officer." She advanced another step, trembling from the adrenaline rush of anger. "You've been warned."
She turned to walk away, but Rezac grabbed her by the arm and jerked her roughly. "Hold it. We're not through talking yet."
"I'm through talking with you." Kacie jerked her arm free. "Excuse me. I have to get to work." She turned once more to leave.
Sara's face swelled with rage. "Well, here...let me help you," Rezac snarled, planting a hand in the middle of Kacie's back and shoving her viciously down the stairwell.
Peter saw what was happening, but was too far away to do anything about it. "No!" he shouted, and raced for the stairs as he heard a strangled yell, some thumping noises, and a painful moan.
Skalany emerged from an interrogation room in time to see Rezac's cowardly attack at the top of the stairwell. Without thinking, she spun the detective around and punched her full in the face, sending Rezac sprawling to the floor. "Damn, that felt good," Skalany commented, as she examined the barked skin on her knuckles and flexed the fingers of her bruised hand. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time."
Strenlich and Simms stormed out of the office with the Chief yelling, "What the hell is going on around here?"
Meanwhile, Peter scrambled down the steps to find Kacie rolling back and forth at the bottom, clutching her left ankle and groaning through tightly clenched teeth, "Ow...ow...ow...ow!"
"Honey, are you hurt?" Peter asked anxiously.
Kacie just looked at him a moment. "No," she said sarcastically, "I always roll around on the floor yelling 'ow'!"
Peter couldn't help but laugh at her outburst. Obviously, she was not seriously injured. "OK, dumb ass question," he admitted. "But does anything else hurt besides your ankle?"
Kermit clambered down the steps to join them. "Hey, do we need an ambulance here?"
Kacie moved body parts gingerly and winced at the pain in her ankle. "No, I didn't really fall. I twisted my ankle trying to keep my balance. I sorta skied down the steps and landed funny."
Peter scooped his wife up in his arms. "I am taking you to the hospital," he told her firmly. "And then I am coming back here to commit justifiable homicide."
"You'll have to stand in line," Kermit smiled evilly. "Mary Margaret already got in the first punch, and I got 'next'." He watched as Peter disappeared out the door with Kacie.
Strenlich picked Rezac up from the floor, and the woman wiped the blood away from a cut on her mouth. Frank glared at Mary Margaret and repeated himself. "What the hell is going on here?"
Skalany stared icily at Rezac and said, "Why don't you ask the vice queen here? And while you're at it, ask her what she knows about Peter's missing wedding ring and how it just happened to show up with her at Chandler's last night."
Rezac didn't say a word, swaying dizzily as she held onto the counter for support.
"What about it, Detective?" asked Simms, with fire in her eye.
"I got nothing to say," Rezac spoke sullenly as she looked at the hostile faces surrounding her.
"I saw her hanging around Peter's desk the other morning," Broderick reported. "I didn't pay too much attention to it, though."
"What about it, Detective?" Simms questioned coldly. "Did you take Detective Caine's property out of his desk?"
"What if I did?" snapped Sara. "It was just a joke. Jesus, as if you people don't pull practical jokes on one another all the time."
"Some 'joke'." Strenlich's face looked like he was ready to have an apoplectic fit. "We spent the better part of the morning yesterday tearing this squad room apart looking for Caine's ring. Not exactly the best use of the taxpayer's money."
Simms glowered at Mary Margaret. "Skalany, what brought on the sucker punch that I witnessed?" the captain asked. "Striking a fellow officer could at the very least earn you a reprimand, if not a suspension."
"I walked out of interrogation room two and saw this person here --," Skalany pointed at Sara. "-- Shove Caine's wife down the stairs. If you tell me I have to apologize for decking Rezac, I'll turn in my badge right now."
"That won't be necessary," Simms replied.
Kermit climbed the stairs and was reaching for Rezac when Skalany laid a restraining hand on his arm. "Easy, Partner."
He stopped, but spat out, "Rezac, I could wring your scrawny neck for what you almost did to Kacie! Lucky for you she's not seriously hurt, or I wouldn't give two cents for your survival after Peter gets through with you."
Rezac glared at them all defiantly. "Fuck you, Griffin! You and Caine and all the rest of your exclusive little club here!" The sheer rage on her face was almost frightening. "You've never once made an attempt to accept me here. You've always treated me like an outsider. No matter how good a job I tried to do, you were all always looking down your noses at me!"
"This isn't the first complaint I've had about you, Detective Rezac. While your police work has always been well done, your working relationships with the other officers have always been suspect. And now this unprovoked attack against a civilian..." Simms paused to collect herself. "Consider yourself suspended for three days as of now. I am also filling out paperwork to have you transferred out of here, unless the Caines decide to file assault charges against you," Simms voice was like ice. "Now clear out your desk and your locker."
Rezac glared at her belligerently. "I've got nothing here worth taking with me. She spun around on her heel and tottered unsteadily around the corner muttering under her breath, "You'll be sorry. You wait. You'll all be sorry."
It was well past mid-morning before Peter returned to work. He walked up the stairs with his head on a swivel, looking for Rezac. There was a murderous glint in his eye as the vision of Kacie hurtling headlong down the stairwell reran itself over and over.
Strenlich stopped him. "How's your wife, Peter?"
"Just a bad sprain. The docs in the ER wrapped it for her and told her to stay off it and ice it. She'll be on crutches for a while, though."
The chief noticed the way Peter's eyes kept scanning the squad room. "You can quit looking around, Pete. Sara's gone."
"What do you mean, gone?"
"Captain Simms put her on report and suspended her for three days. Then she's being shipped out to the Fifty-Second."
"That's clear on the other side of the city," Peter said with a satisfied grin. "I would have preferred she be sent to Siberia, but I guess this will have to do."
"How's Kacie?" Mary Margaret came up to Peter and asked.
"Just a bad sprain. Doctor says she'll be good as new in a couple of days. When I left her at home, I told her she should wait for backup next time."
"Oh, that's pretty good...coming from you," Skalany ribbed, and continued on to the front desk.
Kermit joined them momentarily and said, "I'm glad Rezac, the wench is gone. Maybe now my corneas will get a rest. She's been trouble with a capital 'T' from the time she got here. She just didn't fit in with the chemistry here."
"That's for sure," Strenlich agreed. He turned to Peter again. "Captain Simms wants to know if Kacie plans to file assault charges."
Peter shook his head. "Nah. I wanted to, but Kacie said she didn't want to be responsible for ruining someone's career." He grinned. "She also said it didn't matter how big a bitch the woman was." The smile faded. "Did you see the look on Rezac's face when she pushed Kacie down those stairs?" He shuddered and his face grew haunted. "Jesus, when I think about what could have happened..."
Strenlich looked directly into Peter's eyes. "I'm sorry, Pete. I wish I'd never gotten you mixed up in that stakeout the other night. I knew the kind of stunts Rezac was capable of pulling."
Peter looked at him quizzically.
"At least your wife believed you," the chief spoke soberly. The muscles at the corner of his jaw twitched. "Mine didn't." He turned and walked slowly away.
