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Fraser pushes through the crowd as politely as he can. It's not easy. The people are packed so tightly together and there is so much noise that his "excuse me" goes unheard most of the time. He has to find Ray.
He is somewhere near the middle now. He stops and does his best to try and spot Ray over the massed heads. Even his keen sight can't pick one man out of this mob and Fraser squeezes his eyes shut and fights to stay calm. He should have made Ray come home the instant he got the letter. But by then it had been too late. Ray had already gone.
It was shoved under the door enclosed in a grubby white envelope. Fraser picked it up. Whoever this was from they hadn't really cared about fingerprints. The note inside was short and not signed. Fraser read it once and his heart sank. How did they know where Ray would be today? The arrangements had only been made yesterday. Perhaps Francesca had mentioned it to someone else. She had been very excited by the thought that she would finally get to meet one of her idols.
Fraser read the letter a second time. Perhaps it was a hoax, someone trying to scare Ray, but Fraser couldn't help feeling that the threat was real. And of course a threat to Ray would also mean a threat to Francesca. He knew how feisty the woman could be and doubted that she would stand by and let Ray be dragged away without a fight.
And so Fraser had picked up his hat, called Diefenbaker to his side, and gone after Ray.
He had anticipated the crowd which is why Diefenbaker is on the other side of the mall conducting his own search for Ray. Of course dogs are only allowed in the mall if they are on a lead but he knows that Ray would argue that since Diefenbaker is a wolf the rules don't apply to him. Fraser is overlooking them given the current circumstances.
A disturbance at the middle of the crowd draws his eye. It is probably the singer turned author that Francesca is so desperate to meet.
Diefenbaker barks and Fraser turns in that direction. There are two men moving against the flow of the crowd, obviously looking for something or someone. He thinks he can get to them although he still has no idea where Ray is.
Fraser starts to push people aside and then he realises he can see Ray. He can also see the two men, both armed, and now the people closest to them are fighting to get away. They push past Fraser and he finds himself shoving them back. There is no time for politeness now. There is only Ray, standing with Francesca behind him, arms spread wide, mouth moving as he tries to reason with the armed men. But Fraser has read the letter, Fraser knows that there is no way these men can be reasoned with.
There is a bark, a flash of white, a gunshot, and Francesca screams. The men are stretched on the floor, Diefenbaker snarling at them. Ray is bending down, securing the guns, and then he looks up at Fraser, blue eyes wide with shock and the crowd fades into the background, even Francesca and Diefenbaker fade, in that moment there is only Ray.