Katie piped in, "What about his wife's car?"

"Would you two relax? In twenty-four hours we should get some preliminary reports back, on the hair samples and DNA. Until then, we'll be watching you and Taylor."

Leave it to Katie to ask the question nobody seemed to want to hear, "What if it isn't him?"

"Then we keep looking. If it isn't Taylor, then it is one of his friends and yours. We will find the connection," Danny answered her, earnestly.

Danny thought he had his guy, but he was prepared to be wrong. Rainey hoped she and Katie would not pay the price for it, if he was.

Danny laughed to himself and then said, "You know what the kicker is? JW is representing Taylor."

Rainey reacted, "You have got to be kidding me."

Katie smiled and shook her head, "It's just the kind of thing he would do," she said. "He can make a name for himself and he'll have his face all over the media. It's perfect for him."

"He must not think Taylor is guilty. I can't see him taking on a losing cause," Rainey said.

Katie explained, "Right now, it's free publicity. He can always drop out of the case, if it sours for him."

Danny shook his head, "JW has some anger management issues, that's for sure."

Rainey told Danny that the agents, outside the doors, would go with them, if Katie did get discharged and he could switch them up later, if need be. Before he left, Danny assured them, once again, that they were safe. Rainey wished she felt as confident as Danny did.

Soon afterward, Maria and Helena reappeared with a pair of pajamas and slippers, from Katie's house. Mackie had the rest of Katie's things in his Escalade. There had been no confrontation with JW, only because he was not at home.

Maria started in right away, "Katie your house is a mess. There are dirty dishes and clothes everywhere."

"It's not my house anymore. Not my problem," Katie said, not bothered at all by JW's treatment of her former home.

Helena tried to put a positive spin on things, "Your yard is gorgeous, though."

"Thank you. It took a long time to get it that way."

Once again the voice of gloom and doom, Maria said, "Aren't you going to hate leaving it, after you worked so hard to make it nice?"

Katie was not affected by Maria's attitude, "I can start over at Rainey's place. She has lots of property." She turned to Rainey, "May I plant a vegetable garden, too?"

"Whatever you want," Rainey answered her.

Katie cocked her head, "Do you have a boat?"

"Yes," Rainey said, wondering where this was going.

Katie ignored her sisters for a moment, "Can you pull me on water skis?"

"Yes," Rainey said, "I didn't know you skied."

"I love to water ski. I haven't been in forever," Katie said, excited at the prospect.

Maria, observing the conversation between Rainey and Katie, said, "Exactly, how long have you known each other?"

Katie did not flinch, "About a week," she said, happily.

"Katherine Ann Meyers, have you lost your mind?" Maria turned to Rainey, "I'm sorry, Rainey. You seem like a nice person, but my sister is not a lesbian. If you seduced her while she was being chased by a serial killer, she might not have been thinking straight, no pun intended."

"Maria, you have the wrong impression," Katie was enjoying this, she continued, "Rainey wasn't a lesbian. I turned her into one. I seduced her."

Helena slapped Katie a high five, adding, "You go little sis!"

Maria shook her head, in confusion. She said, "I just don't understand. How do you go from being not gay to gay, in a week?"

Rainey could not resist. She had to say it, "You sleep with a woman. Now, that I've done it, I'll never go back."

At that moment, Rainey learned a lesson about sisters. They can rag on each other all they want, but no one else gets to play.

Katie popped Rainey on the arm, "Be nice! Don't tease her. She's having a hard time with this."

Rainey rubbed her arm, saying, "Okay, okay. I'll be nice."

Katie's sisters visited for a few more hours and then, as Katie had requested, they headed for the airport, boarded a jet and flew back west. There were tears and hugs and promises to call and then they were gone.

Katie asked Margie, if she could take a shower. After checking her steadiness, on her feet, Margie agreed to the shower, but she still insisted on staying with Katie. Katie did not care who was in the bathroom with her, she wanted a shower and to shampoo her hair. Margie and Katie went into the bathroom together, so Rainey wandered out into the hall.

Sneaking a peek around the corner, Rainey saw that currently there were no reporters or cameras camped out by the glass entryway doors. Rainey spoke with the agents on duty, explained that they might be following her later and making sure they were ready to take on the new assignment. In Rainey's mind, there was a big difference between guarding them inside a major metropolitan hospital and protecting them out at the cottage. These agents were not rookies and seemed to be very comfortable with the move. Rainey, reassured, went back to Katie's room.

Katie was freshly showered and back in the bed. She was dressed, in blue and white striped, men's style, pajamas and beaming, as best she could without splitting her healing lips. Her bed had been remade and she looked not to have a care in the world, just a plastic surgery patient on a weeklong stay, to have a little work done.

"You look like that made you feel better," Rainey said.

Katie rolled her eyes, "You have no idea. There was so much blood in my hair, it turned the shampoo pink. I'm glad to have it off of me."

"Did you look in the mirror?" Rainey asked. Remembering the first shower and the first look she had at her face and body, after the attack.

"Yes, and despite Maria's reaction, it really isn't much worse than the car accident and I recovered from that, so it's no big deal. Been there, done that."

Rainey laughed at her, "That's a healthy attitude to have."

"I'm thinking positive," Katie said. "I'm hoping to get out of here."

"That would be nice," Rainey agreed.

Dr. Marsden arrived minutes later. He came in early to see if Katie was ready to go home. He checked her, head to toe, and made her promise to take it easy, before signing the release papers. Katie was ecstatic and impatient, at the same time, because the discharge process took nearly an hour. Finally, after stopping at the pharmacy for Katie's medications, Rainey loaded Katie into the Charger, and the short motorcade pulled away from the hospital. Rainey and Katie led the way, followed by the FBI agents, with Mackie taking the rear.

Rainey had not realized how caged up she felt inside the hospital, until the Charger broke out of the main downtown area and moved into the countryside, for the fifteen minute ride out to her house. Even though it was hot outside, they rode with the air conditioner on and the windows rolled down some, for the fresh air and to get the chill of the hospital, out of their bones.

When they arrived at the cottage, Rainey helped Katie up the stairs and into the cottage. Ernie had definitely been there. Rainey was not a messy housekeeper, but she had never seen the place so spotless. Ernie had cleaned and dusted every surface and piece of memorabilia, in the entire cottage. The refrigerator and kitchen cabinets were stuffed with food. All the linens had been washed and the beds changed and remade. Ernie even left fresh cut flowers on the coffee table.

Katie had been in bed so long, she asked if she could just stay out on the couch for a little while. Rainey got out blankets and pillows, while Freddie twirled around her ankles. He was glad to see her, but when Rainey put the blankets on Katie, Freddie curled up with her on the couch, forgetting about missing Rainey. Rainey found picnic ham and potato salad already made in the refrigerator. She sliced some of Thelma's tomatoes and fed everyone, including the agents, rewarding them for helping carry all eight pieces of Katie's luggage up the stairs. Katie's sisters were not sure when Katie would get back into her house, so they had gone overboard on the packing.

Mackie took the agents on a tour of the area, since it was this duos first trip out to the cottage. Rainey gave Katie a pain pill and left her happily on the couch, channel surfing. Rainey went to take a shower, in the big bathroom. While drying off in the master bedroom, she decided it was time to move into the larger room. With Katie living here now, there was no need for them to share the much smaller bedroom, when the master suite was empty. It also had access to the deck, through patio doors, even though she added a hasp and padlocked them shut when she moved in. It was time to move on, Rainey told herself.

Rainey and Mackie moved her dad's old things out of the master bedroom. Rainey replaced the king mattress set, last year, anticipating moving in the room one day. Basically she traded the manly furniture for the more feminine and moved her clothes into the big walk-in closet. Once finished, it almost looked like a woman's room, but it could still use Katie's touch later, when she felt up to it. Rainey saw how well Katie decorated her own house and she was happy to let her redo this old cottage, into a more livable space for two women. The thought of living with Katie was becoming a reality, much quicker than Rainey could have imagined.

Rainey left her dad's tall chest of drawers, using it for Katie's things. She hung up Katie's dress clothes in the closet and stored her luggage, in the old bedroom. Rainey wanted Katie to feel comfortable and at home, especially since this was a step down from Katie's previous home. For the first time, Rainey thought about the empty lot next door to the cottage. Her father always said it was for when she was ready to build a house. Maybe she would build now, a real house with a porch and a swing. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Rainey, she's only been here a few hours," she said to herself.

In the meantime, Katie had fallen asleep, the remote still in her hand. The afternoon had been long and tiring for her and evidently Freddie, too. The two slept on the couch throughout the bedroom switch. Mackie went back outside, to spend the night in the Escalade, something he preferred to do, rather than stay cooped up in the cottage. The stay in the hospital had made Mackie feel caged, too. He was glad to have his freedom back and opted to keep the agents company outside, while the women were locked away, behind an alarm, in the cottage.

Rainey handed out bug spray, a cooler with water and snacks and locked the door. She called Danny to check on the location of Taylor, before she went to bed.

"Where are you?" she asked.

She could tell Danny was in a moving car, when he said, "I'm in a surveillance vehicle following our suspect to... we think... yes, to his lawyer's home."

Rainey heard the car stop and someone slide the transmission into park. "What's he doing?"

"It looks like he's going in for a consultation with his lawyer," Danny said, sizing up the situation. Then he turned his attention to Rainey, "Everything all set out there?"

"Mackie and the other guys are down below, so I guess we're pretty safe up here. There are only two ways up and they have them both covered. You stay awake now. I'm going to sleep in a bed for the first time in days," Rainey said.

"Get a good night's sleep, Rainey. I'll call you in the morning,"

"Not, too early," Rainey said, before hanging up.

Rainey woke Katie up, so she could feed her again and give her a pain pill. Rainey had experienced pain pills on an empty stomach and would not do that to Katie. They shared a plate of ham, potato salad and cubes of cold watermelon. The meal finished, Rainey gave Katie her pill and took her into the newly decorated master bedroom. Katie was delighted and hugged Rainey for all the hard work.

Rainey went around the cottage cutting off lights and getting ready for bed. She checked the locks on all the windows and doors one more time and double checked that the alarm was set. When she came back into the bedroom, Katie was already in bed, but she wasn't lying down. Rainey looked at Katie's puzzled face.

"What is it, Katie?"

"Which side of the bed do you want?" Katie asked, as if it were a major decision.

Rainey thought for a second and then said, "It really doesn't matter to me, you pick"

Rainey could tell Katie had been thinking about this for a few minutes, when Katie said, "Well, I think, since you're the one with the gun, you should sleep on the side nearest the door."

"That's good thinking," Rainey said, turning her back to Katie, while she took off her tee shirt, near her dresser.

Rainey found a fresh white one and put it on, then took off her pants and socks. She was walking toward the hamper, when she noticed Katie wasn't talking anymore. Rainey stopped in mid-step, realizing Katie was watching her.

"What?" Rainey said, looking down to see, if she had forgotten something.

Katie said, "Come here."

Rainey put the clothes in the hamper and walked to the side of the bed, where Katie now sat, dangling her feet over the side. Katie put out her hands, for Rainey to come closer. Rainey stepped up close to Katie, who spread her legs so Rainey could get as close as possible. Katie took the front of Rainey's tee shirt and pulled it up, exposing the scar. She leaned in and kissed it softly with her still cracked lips. She pulled the shirt back down and looked up at Rainey.

"Rainey, when you take your shirt off, you don't have to turn your back to me. That scar doesn't freak me out or bother me. I love you, all of you. You don't have to hide it from me."

Rainey hugged Katie to her and kissed her on the head, "Okay, I won't."

Rainey climbed into the right side of the bed and Katie lay down on the left. It worked from the first moment Katie spooned into Rainey's arms. Freddie joined them, curling up with Katie. Rainey fell asleep, with Katie's soft breathing and Freddie's purring, the only sounds, in the room. She said a silent prayer, before she dropped off.

"Watch over us, tonight, dad. Watch over us, always."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

Rainey was awakened at six o'clock in the morning, by the ringing of her cell phone. She was now facing the door, with Katie behind her, snuggled up close. Rainey reached for the phone, trying not to wake Katie. She saw that it was Danny and flipped open the phone.

"I told you not to call too early," she said, sleepily into the phone.

Her heart dropped at the first sound of his voice, "Rainey, he's in the wind."

Rainey bolted upright, "What do you mean, he's in the wind. I thought you were watching him."

Danny tried to explain, "He never left JW's house, last night. Then the next thing we know, JW comes out this morning to tell us, Taylor vanished."

"How is that possible, Danny?" Rainey said, looking at Katie, who was now wide awake.

"JW said, when he went to bed, Taylor was on the couch passed out. When he woke up, Taylor was gone," Danny said. "We don't know how he got past us. We had four cars out here."

"Did JW not set the alarm?" Rainey asked.

"He said, he forgot." Danny was upset. Rainey could hear it in his voice. She could tell Danny never wanted to make this call. "I interviewed JW and he said, he thought Taylor got spooked. JW told Taylor he would get the needle, if he were convicted. JW doesn't believe Taylor did the crimes, but he thinks he was scared enough to flee the country. With his money, it would be easy."

Rainey asked, "Did you check his financials?"

Danny let out a sigh, "Yeah, he cashed a check for one hundred thousand dollars yesterday. He told his wife it was for JW's fees."

"And, I'm guessing, JW doesn't have it," Rainey said, letting out a sigh of her own.

"Bingo."

"Jesus, Danny," Rainey said, in exasperation. She could not look at Katie. She did not want to see the fear in her eyes, again.

"I know, Rainey, I'm sorry. We're checking all modes of transportation out of the area. We have a nationwide BOLO in the works. I'll find him, Rainey," Danny said, but his words, by now, were sounding hollow.

"Yeah, Danny, you find him," Rainey said, and hung up.

Rainey sat with her knees pulled up, in front of her, her arms clasped around them. Katie rested a hand on Rainey's arm. Rainey turned to look into Katie's face, "Taylor's gone. He's in the wind."

"I gathered that from your conversation. What does it have to do with JW?" Katie asked.