"Good evening, Ms. Rollins."

Recognition was instant as she stared into the cold face of Henry's murderer.

"Help! Officer! Help! He's a murderer." Frantically, she crossed the room to the other side of the table to put distance between herself and the menacing agent.

"Even if they could hear you which they can't I can't imagine they'd be surprised at your calls for help. I'm the FBI, Ms. Rollins. They all know how much trouble you're in now."

In a fluid move, the surprisingly nimble agent vaulted the table, his arm straight as he aimed his service revolver directly at her chest. "You shouldn't have gone for my gun like that."

The next two seconds seemed to pass in slow motion. In terror for her life, Spencer lunged forward, both hands reaching out to push the gun away. The sudden blast reverberated off the concrete walls as a hammer hit her chest and a fire erupted in her belly.

In the next heartbeat, Elena and Chad stormed through the door, the latter's weapon already drawn. On their heels were the duty officer and the two patrolmen who had brought her in.

"Spencer!" The female agent rushed to the crumpled figure.

"She went for my gun," Akers declared. "I had to shoot her."

Elena rolled the woman over to check her wound.

"Bullet-proof, my ass," Spencer hissed, the pain in her gut greater than any she'd ever known.

Elena lifted the sweatshirt and saw the perforation. Even the highest grade of body armor couldn't handle a bullet from point blank range. She lifted the vest to see blood dribbling freely from a wound just above the pelvis.

"Get an ambulance!"

The desk officer returned quickly to his station and placed the call. Never lowering his own gun Merke ordered the two patrolmen to take Akers into custody.

"No fucking way." Calvin Akers placed the barrel of his gun against his temple and pulled the trigger.

CHAPTER 28.

THE CLUNKY SOUND of plastic dishes stirred the unfortunate occupants of the sixth floor of the FBI field office. Ruth pushed herself up on the rigid cot and swung her bare feet to the cold tile floor, angry at herself for being hungry enough to eat. To her thinking, if she refused to participate in this incarceration, she would be spared the memory when she was finally freed. It was bad enough that they'd dressed her in this orange jumpsuit.

How frightened Jessie must have been at spending the night away from her. At least Spencer was there with her, and the bond she'd seen growing between those two was her only real source of comfort. Between Spencer and Viv, Jessie would be protected from her mother's probable fate, a return to the dismal place from which she'd fled.

Sitting now in the stark environs of the eight by six concrete room, Ruth couldn't help but turn her thoughts inward; though introspection at this juncture was moot. Going out on a limb to see Spencer to safety was not an action she would second guess, unless it meant that Jessie's new life had been compromised. She hoped that her efforts weren't in vain, and that Elena was still working on bringing Spencer in. From the looks of things, there hadn't been anything the agent could do for Ruth Ferguson.

Two pairs of footsteps one decidedly female grew louder as they approached her cell, and before she ever saw the face, Ruth knew one would be the IRS agent. A tired-looking Elena Diaz waited while the guard opened the door and motioned her out.

"Good morning, Ruth." She held up her hand to silence the question on the prisoner's lips. "We're going to go to a conference room so we can talk privately about where everything stands."

Ruth nodded once and followed her down the hallway, the guard bringing up the rear. Once they were situated, he closed the door and took his leave.

"Is Jessie okay?"

"I honestly don't know the answer to that." Elena saw the frantic look and continued quickly. "We don't know where your daughter is, but I think it's safe to assume that Spencer left her in good hands."

"Spencer left her?"

"We brought Spencer in last night. She...we had some trouble at the station with one of the FBI agents Akers and she was shot."

"Oh, my god!"

"Don't worry, she's okay." The agent stretched out her hand to pat the arm of the woman across from her. It was clear that Ruth Ferguson had come to care for her friend, and from what Elena could gather from Spencer's insistence that she come here first thing this morning, the feeling was mutual. "She was wearing a vest and the bullet struck her chest plate and ricocheted to her lower abdomen. She had surgery last night, but she's going to be fine."

Ruth couldn't stop the tears that came as the horror of Spencer's close call overwhelmed her. "Is it over?"

In simple terms, Elena explained what had happened last night. The evidence in the case was frozen; and the suspects were taken into custody. All would be arraigned this morning, including Pollard, who now occupied a cell in the opposite corner of the sixth floor from her own. Akers had died instantly of his wound.

"So what happens now?" the blonde woman asked.

"You mean with the case?"

"No, with me."

Elena sighed and leaned back, forcing herself to look the woman in the eye. "A US Marshal is slated to take you back to Maine this morning. I can't stop that, Ruth. I wish I could."

The prisoner dropped her head, her lower lip quivering in frustration and worry. "And Jessie?"

"Things with Jessie are really complicated, but we have a few options to play with here. And I do have some good news for you."

Ruth looked up to see a glint of encouragement in the agent's brown eyes.

"My assistant, Special Agent Thomas Fennimore, has been up in Madison going over the books at Drummond Appliances. He found an interesting transaction a rather expensive gift to a Judge Malcolm Howard right about the time of your divorce and custody hearing. We're pretty sure it was a bribe, and I think we'll be able to force the facts out one way or another."

"A bribe!" Suddenly, it all made sense. No wonder the judge had simply accepted Skip's word. It was all arranged.

"That's right. And the real fun is going to start in about half an hour. That's when your ex-husband and his father are due downstairs to meet with the agent in charge."

"Why would they come here? I mean, I'm supposed to be sent back today, right?"

"Right, but they came to collect Jessie. At least, that's what I heard they were ranting about yesterday. But when they show up today, they're both going to be arrested, and I get to do the honors," the agent grinned slyly.

Ruth would love to see that. But it wouldn't answer the question about her daughter's fate. "So you said there were options...with Jessie?"

"I did, and this is where you're going to have to make a tough choice, Ruth. Custody issues really aren't my area of expertise, but I know that you're going to be asked to produce your little girl to the court to show that she's okay. Until otherwise decided, she's supposed to be with her father. My guess is that the Drummonds will post bail, and she'll probably be sent back there."

Ruth was already shaking her head at that scenario. No way was Jessie going back to that. She'd promised.

"Another option is that you leave her where she is. If you do that, your chances of being released any time soon aren't very good; and the odds of you ever being given permanent custody are probably nil. But if you think she's safe where she is and that it isn't worth the risk to give her up, just don't tell anyone where she is."

"But then I might not ever see her again."

"You have to decide if keeping her out of your ex-husband's hands is worth that."

Ruth needed to reach deep inside to answer that question. Winning custody for the sake of winning was Skip's game. "He beats her, hard enough to leave bruises. She's terrified of being there, and no one no one at all loves her but me."

"Maybe that's your answer then," Elena said calmly.

"To keep her hidden?" The tears poured again as Ruth weighed the ramifications of that choice.

"I was actually thinking that you needed to fight for her. If you're really the only one who loves her, it seems like she needs for you to do that," she explained. "And the bribery thing might work in your favor."

"How?"

"I think at the very least, there will be a new hearing with a different judge. I have to be honest, though. The kidnapping charge is going to work against you. But we can probably leverage what we have on Drummond Appliances to get some concessions from your ex. I like to see people like that do time, but we'll bend to get the best outcome for your daughter."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"No, really, Elena. I appreciate all that you're doing here. I know that Jessie and I really aren't your concern."

The IRS agent chuckled. "That's where you're wrong. Spencer Rollins is my concern, and what you did for her makes you my concern too."

As Ruth had noticed in the park, Elena Diaz softened at the mention of her ex-lover's name, and her brown eyes sparkled.

"You really love Spencer, don't you?" the blonde woman asked, even as she dreaded the answer.

"She told you?"

"Yes."

"I love her more than I realized. I can't believe I...well, at least we get another chance."

Ruth drew a shallow breath as she fought the mounting pressure in her chest, an inevitable despair sinking deep into the pit of her stomach. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come. Pushing back from the table, she stood.

"I suppose I should get my head ready to deal with all of this. Can you find out from Spencer where Jessie is?"

"Of course."

"And, uh...tell Spencer I said thanks for everything, and good luck."

CHAPTER 29.

SPENCER TURNED THE old Chevy Cavalier onto the dirt road, stopping to collect her mail from the row of boxes. A half mile ahead, the road ended at what used to be the Rollins property, a sprawling acre with an expansive view of Jordan Lake.

Spencer had swapped the coveted vista where her parents' house had once stood for a wooded half acre on a cove with a three-bedroom cabin. She'd hired out the renovations to one of her neighbors, a contractor who remodeled the kitchen and baths, updated all the wiring, and added insulation for year-round comfort. The finishing touches were a dock for the boat she didn't yet own, and a gazebo for the parties she would probably never have.

But the cabin was now home. In February, she finished her first six weeks of training in Albany, Georgia; after which she started her new job as a criminal investigator with the IRS, applying her skills to the hunt for business fraud. That had been Chad's idea, and one that her best friend had enthusiastically supported. The disappointment at least for Elena had been Spencer's request to be stationed permanently at the field office in Raleigh.

She needed a new start, and here she had it. Special Agent Spencer Rollins had a new career, a new home, and a new Kawasaki. And if she ever decided that she wanted to try picking up chicks again...well, now she had a gun, too.

The dark-haired woman grinned as she turned into her dirt driveway, immediately recognizing Elena Diaz's Acura sedan. Her friend had been noncommittal about the invitation to spend the weekend at the lake, so she was a little surprised, but pleasantly so. They'd gone through a rough patch right after the shooting, when Spencer realized that her ex-lover had had an epiphany of sorts about their relationship. But the magic was gone for Spencer...or rather, it was elsewhere.

"You made it!" The programmer entered through the sliding glass door on the side to find her taller friend coming in from the screened in back porch. In three quick steps, they were hugging fiercely.

"It's good to see you," Elena said.

"You too! How long can you stay?" Spencer had offered to take a couple of days off if Elena wanted to stay past the weekend.

"I'm actually not staying," her visitor squeaked.

"What? What do you mean you're not staying? What, are you here for work or something?"

"No, I just came down to talk to you about something important."

Spencer lost her smile. "Are you okay? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong."

"Then what?" Spencer followed Elena to the leather sofa and sat close, imploring her friend to explain this before her heart jumped out of her chest.

"I figured out something recently and I wanted to come share my revelation."

Spencer was intrigued, but she was going to throttle this woman if she didn't start talking faster. "What?"

"See, when things chilled with us, I kind of figured you were still under a lot of stress about being shot, and having to hide, and...and then I considered the fact that you might have been yanking my chain all along and when I called your bluff you freaked out."

"That wasn't the case at all, Elena."

"Yeah, I know that. But what I just figured out is that you were hung up on somebody else."

That her words lingered there unchallenged was all the confirmation she needed.

"Why didn't you tell me, Spencer?"

The programmer squirmed uncomfortably, unable to meet her friend's brown eyes. "It didn't matter. It wasn't...she didn't feel the same way. How did you know?"

"Ruth Ferguson called me on Monday."

Ruth Ferguson. Just hearing the name caused Spencer's spirits to drop. She hadn't even seen Ruth in the five months since their ordeal, the latter pulling away almost immediately. Their two or three phone conversations were friendly, but formal; and Ruth discouraged her from coming to Maine. There were lots of reasons she would do that, Spencer had told herself. Maybe Ruth was disappointed in her after her assurance that Elena would help. Instead, she'd been sent back to Maine in handcuffs. Or maybe she didn't want to compromise her chances for custody of Jessie by starting a relationship with a woman. Or maybe she just didn't feel the same way Spencer did. Whatever the reason, it was out of Spencer's hands.

"So is she doing okay?"

"I think she's better now than she was. She said she and Jessie weren't fitting in back in Madison, so they packed up and came back down. She's staying for the time being in that trailer out in Manassas."