I do not own any of the characters involved in the series Blood Ties. Also, this is my very first attempt at Fan Fic so please be constructive with your comments.

The Attack

Thursday

Mike entered his apartment feeling more weary than he had in a very long time. As he loosened the knot on his tie, he thought about the last two days. Vicki had disappeared late Tuesday evening and there hadn't been any sign of her since. Henry had arrived to find her office door open. Two chairs had been laying on their sides and papers, presumably from her desk, were tossed around on the floor. Her asp had been found in the corner fully extended. Shortly after this discover, Henry had called him. He had been reassured that there was no blood in her office. Since Henry was the expect on all matters blood related, Mike felt confident taking his word for it. Pulling in some favors, he had Vicki's office fully dusted for fingerprints less than three hours after the discovery. Unfortunately, there were no unexpected prints at the scene so that didn't help with the investigation.

He, Henry, and many members of the Force, had searched for Vicki nonstop without any success. It wasn't until several comments from his coworkers, about his appearance, that he had decided to make this quick detour. He knew that a shower, a shave, and an hour or so of sleep, would give him the strength to continue the search. Henry, forced by daylight to retire earlier in the day, would rejoin him at dusk. Since that was only about an hour away, Mike focused on making his way to his bedroom to grab some sleep. His tie slipped from between his fingers and landed on the floor. Not a messy person by nature, he leaned down and quickly scooped it up. During that motion he noticed marks on the hardwood floor that hadn't been there two days previously. Touching the sticky liquid left him with stains on his fingers that he quickly recognized as drying blood. Being a homicide detective made him familiar with blood in all of it's forms. Pulling his gun from it's holster, he straightened and his eyes quickly followed what he now realized was a spotty trail of blood. There was only a drop here and a drop there which is why he hadn't noticed it when he first arrived. He slowly made his way into the bedroom with cautious strides. He quickly noticed the stained, torn clothes that were tossed in a pile in front of his closet. He recognized them as Vicki's. More spots of blood stained the front of the painted white wood on the bifold doors of the closet. On the floor to the left of the closet, he saw the small gun safe where he kept a backup revolver. It was open and the small gun was missing. Mike gently eased open the right closet door. His first glance confirmed that he wouldn't be needed his gun. He quietly put on the safety and returned it to it's holster. Crouching down he looked at the small figure curled on the closet door. Sliding the left door open, he was able to get a better view. She had changed into one of his shirts and was resting on a pile of others. In fact, there were only a couple of shirts remaining on their hangers. While awake her personality made her seem so strong and self-assured. Now in her rest, he was reminded just how slender and delicate she really was. Not that he would ever even tell her that thought had crossed his mind. Her face was hidden by the fall of her hair, and her glasses were crushed on the floor. Her left hand held his gun while her right was curled under her cheek. Reaching forward, he slowly slid the gun fom her grip and put it aside.