The door to her apartment was open when she got home, just a crack, but enough, and that kind of scared her. She pushed it open wider with the toe of her boot and stared into the inky blackness of her livingroom.

“Gail?” she called softly, wondering if by some happy twist of fate Gail had gotten off early and had come home to her.

Gail had been stuck on a stake out with Traci for over seventy-two hours straight, with no relief in sight. She heard a rustling noise from the direction of her kitchen and the distinct sound of glass clinking against her stone counter top.

“Gail, is that you?” She called again, a little bit louder now. She reached for the light switch on the wall, and flipped on the overheads. Nick was sitting on a stool at her kitchen counter, half empty bottle of tequila in his hand.

“Uh, Nick…” She started

“She’s not a dyke, you know.” Nick interrupted.

“What!” Holly answered incredulously

Nick got up and swayed unsteady on his feet.

“She’s not a dyke!” He repeated, gesturing at her with the hand that held the bottle.

“Nick, what are you doing here?” She demanded, wondering who she might be able to call to remove him quietly from her home.

“You know she’s not!” He stammered, taking an unsteady step in her direction.

He was starting to make her really nervous now. He took a swig from the bottle and advanced a few wobbly steps closer.

“Come on Nick, “ Holly said as firmly as she could manage, “You need to go home and sleep it off.” She was starting to pray that he wouldn’t do anything stupid. She reached into the pocket of her coat for her phone. “Here, “ she said, trying to sound calm, “Why don’t you let me call you a cab…”

Damn, he was fast! Was all she could think before he slammed her up against the wall and tore the phone from her grip.

“NO!” he screamed. And then regaining some control he said quietly, “I know what you’re doing.” throwing her phone across the room and pinning her to the wall, his forearm pressed up against her throat. His body was pinning her, the keys on his belt dug painfully into her hip, his face was merely inches from her own.