Evangeline and John sit on her hospital bed – her head resting on his shoulder, his arm around her, soothing her.

Making her feel safe – safe from the danger and safe enough to let go.

Evangeline doesn’t know how long they’ve been sitting just like this. She doesn’t know what happened or why. All she knows is that when she saw the mug shot of the man who shot her that night at the Palace restaurant – the night she almost died – when she saw that face again, all of a sudden this crippling sense of panic came over her. She could barely speak. She felt as if her heart would pound its way right through her chest – so much fear all at once.

But John was there – understanding, his comforting arm around her as she cried until the tears finally stopped. She doesn’t know what she would have done without him at that moment.

She lifts her head from its resting place on his shoulder. He kisses her forehead.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah. I’m okay. I don’t know what came over me…”

“Being shot,” he answers. “That’s what came over you.”

“Yeah well…” She inhales deeply and exhales slowly. “I’m better now – back in control.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Well,” he begins, “if you ever need another shoulder…”

“I know just who to come to,” she says, acutely aware of his strong and supportive arm falling away from her. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being there for me – like always.”

For a moment, it seems to Evangeline as if he’s about to say something else.

“You’re welcome,” he finally says, standing up.

“What is it?” she asks.

He shakes his head.

“Nothing,” he lies, unrolling and re-buttoning first one shirtsleeve and then the other. “Just thinking, I guess…”

“You’re not still doing that ‘I-should-have-been-there’ thing, are you?” She can tell by the look on his face that he is. “John, don’t.”

“How can I help it?” he asks. “I look at you in that hospital bed and I know what you’ve been through and…I know I could’ve kept it from happening -”

“I survived it,” Evangeline insists. “You’re here and I’m here and I survived it. Besides there’s no guarantee that we both wouldn’t have been shot that night.”

“Evangeline -”

“Look,” she interrupts, “I know that if there was anything you could do to take all of this away, you would. But you can’t. This is just something I’m going to have to deal with…and I’ll deal with it. I will.” She takes a deep breath and exhales, pushing thoughts of her earlier insecurity as far away as possible. “And I won’t fall apart like that again.”

“It’s okay. You know, sometimes…sometimes it’s nice to know that somebody you care about…needs you…”

She looks at him, not sure how to respond at first.

“John -”

The door to her hospital room swings open and her mother steps in and then stops suddenly.

“Oh,” she says on seeing them there together. “John…Good morning. The nurse didn’t tell me you were still here…”

“Good morning, Mrs. Williamson,” John says. “She probably just forgot. I’m…gonna go check in with Officer Stokes.”

“Okay,” Evangeline responds as he walks past Lisa and out the door into the corridor.

“Did I…interrupt something?” Lisa asks, noticing the thoughtful look on her daughter’s face. “You two have an argument or something?”

“No, Mom. We didn’t have an argument or anything. I just…had what you could call a meltdown, I guess and…John was here for me. He helped me get through it.”

“Good,” Lisa says. “And I know you don’t think that I like John -”

“Do you?”

“Look, all I know is that he’s doing everything he can to take care of my baby after what she’s been through. And I appreciate that and…I can see that he really cares for you.”

Evangeline glances down at the foot of her bed – where John’s jacket lies across her feet, still almost able to feel his arm around her.

“Yeah, Mom…He really does…”

At that moment, the door opens and John comes walking back into the room.

“Okay, everything’s set,” he reports. “Officer Stokes will be here until around 3 or 3:30 – when his relief shows up.”

“Okay,” Lisa says.

Evangeline watches as John reaches for his jacket.

“Mom,” she begins, “can you excuse us for a minute?”

“Oh,” Lisa says. “Of course. I’ll be right outside.”

She opens the door and leaves.

John shrugs his shoulders.

“What’s up?” he asks.

“About what you said before?”

“What was that?”

“About me needing you. More specifically…about how sometimes it’s nice to know…”

“Oh, that,” he says. “What about it?”

“John, something like that…well…it’s really hard for me…”

“I know…Don’t worry about it.”

“But…” she continues, forcing out the words she genuinely feels – words that are so very hard for her to say but words that she wants him to hear just the same, “I do. With all my heart…”

John’s eyes find hers in that moment. He knows how difficult that admission was for Evangeline Williamson, the force of nature – the fiercely independent woman who fears nothing and doesn’t need anything from anyone because she can do it all for herself and do it well.

But she stepped out of that persona and allowed herself to be vulnerable for just a little while – just for him.

“Goes both ways,” he admits. He leans toward her. Their lips meet gently – once, twice, three times. His head rests against hers for a second afterward. There it is again – that overwhelming feeling of being so close to another person that you swear you feel them inside of you.

He never thought he’d feel it again – that is, until Evangeline came into his life. And then no matter how he tried to fight it – no matter how many times he warned himself away from her – there it was.

And no matter what happens from this point forward, no matter what happens or doesn’t happen between them – no matter whether they end up growing old together or going their separate ways, John knows that this connection to her will be with him for the rest of his life.

“So,” Evangeline pipes up, intentionally breaking into the intense feelings she’s having at that moment, “you should go home and get some sleep.”

John smiles as he picks up his jacket and puts it on.

“Apparently you’re not the only one who thinks so,” he admits. “Bo ordered me to take the day off.”

“Did he? Well, that’s good. You must be exhausted by now.”

“Hmm…”

“And working from home doesn’t count, McBain.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The door opens slowly, Lisa tentatively poking her head around it.

“Need more time?” she asks.

“No,” John answers. “We’re good. I’ll be back later.”

“After you get some sleep, right?”

“Whatever you say.” He leans over Evangeline, his lips briefly touching hers. “See ya later.”

“Yeah,” she says. “See ya.”

Lisa steps into the room, holding the door open for John.

“Thank you,” he says before stepping past her and out.

Lisa comes further in, watching Evangeline as she does.

“You know, Cookie,” she teases, “you light up like a Christmas tree whenever that man’s around.”

“Whatever, Mom…” she dismisses, feeling the flush in her cheeks at the idea of being so very transparent. She thinks for a moment. “But I am worried about him, you know? What with working this case and worrying about me and trying to protect me…I just don’t want him to have a meltdown of his own…”

---

Danny quickly opens the door to his motel room and rushes in, followed closely by Ray.

“Close the door, man!” Danny demands.

Ray closes the door, doing as instructed.

“Damn it!” Danny fumes. “You see any cops outside?”

Ray cautiously pulls back the curtains and peers out the window at the quiet parking lot below.

“No,” he answers. “It’s quiet.”

“Good.” He paces for a minute before picking up the cheap wooden chair at the equally cheap desk and hurling it against the wall with a loud crash. “I knew I should’ve smoked that Williamson chick that night – when I had the chance.”

“You think she ID’d you for the cops?”

“What do you think?”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

“I want my money!”

“You saw what happened,” Ray says. “The cops picked up Kubek. He’s the one who’s got our money. Who else is there?”

“What about that guy Joey?”

“I don’t think he can come up with that kind of money…Man, I never saw so many cops at one time coming from every direction.”

“Guess Miss Williamson’s got a lot of clout with the Llanview PD…”

“You’re sure you heard ‘em asking about you?”

“They had Kubek up against the wall, asking him if he knew me. They said my name, Ray. Good enough for you?”

“Alright then. We gonna get outta here or what?”

“What ‘we’?” Danny asks. “You don’t have to go anyplace. She didn’t see you that night.”

“Yeah but it’s just a matter of time before they connect the both of us to Kubek and then to Mason and then -”

“I know the chain of command, Ray,” Danny interrupts.

“Well then, we need to get out of this town today! Now!”

Danny takes a deep breath and exhales. He walks slowly over to the side of the bed and sits, picking up the lone cigarette that lies on the night table beside the bed. He puts the cigarette between his lips, picks up the cheap lighter from the desk, and lights the cigarette before taking a long, slow drag.

“I’m not going anywhere without my money,” Danny calmly announces in a detached tone. “Kubek owes us and I’m not leaving without it.”

Ray is horrified.

“But what about the cops?”

“Once Miss Evangeline Williamson is dead, she won’t be able to identify me or anybody else. She’ll be no good to the cops.”

“What the hell are you talking about? You couldn’t get to her last night. You said yourself that there’s a cop guarding her hospital room.”

“Just have to wait for the right time, that’s all,” Danny says. “I’ll get her. Don’t worry.”

“Don’t worry?” Ray questions. “You know what, man? You’re on your own. All I wanna do is get outta this town before the cops come knocking at my door.”

“Fair enough,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’m the one who screwed up that night. I’m the one who’s gotta clean up the mess.”

Ray eyes him suspiciously.

“And you’re not mad or anything?”

Danny shakes his head no.

“Everybody’s gotta look out for themselves, right? One thing, though,” he continues, “I think I left a whole carton of Newports in your car. Can’t exactly go running around town to get more now, can I? You taking off now?”

“The sooner, the better.”

“Well, let me get my stuff out of the car before you go.”

Ray shrugs.

“Okay.”

Danny stands and walks to the door. He pulls it open.

“No hard feelings then?” Ray asks, warily.

“Nah, man. You do what you gotta do,” he says, “and I’ll do what I gotta do…”

---

John finishes dialing and stands up from the sofa in his apartment, holding the cell phone to his ear as he wanders over to the window.

“Hey, Manny!” he greets after the familiar voice comes over the line. “Johnny Mac…Yeah, it’s been awhile…Who, me? Still on the Llanview PD. You know – doing the job. How’s that beautiful wife of yours? Yeah well, you tell Maddux and Tommy Boy for me where they can go…Listen, I’m calling in that favor you owe me. I need everything you got on a local politician by the name of Mark Krakauer – K-R-A-K-A-U-E-R. I got a hunch he’s dirty and I need to know what I’m dealing with…This is his town. I’d never be able to get the information I need here without somebody paying the price for giving it to me. That’s why I’m calling you…Actually, I need it yesterday, man. It’s important…Thanks. You know where to find me…What? Uh…actually…there is somebody…Yeah, finally…She’s beautiful and she’s smart…She’s a lawyer, if you believe that…Yeah well, my relationship with lawyers has improved over the past year or so. What can I tell you? I don’t know…Maybe…Maybe we will make it down there one night – let her meet all you losers…Anyway say hi to Enid for me…and thanks, man. I’ll look for your call…Later.”

As John takes the phone from his ear, there’s a knock at the door.

He goes to the door, opens it, and sees his brother Michael standing there.

“Hey, Johnny!” he greets.

“What are you doing here, Mikey?”

“Well, I called the station to say hi and they said you had the day off.” He waits for a moment. “You gonna invite me in or what?”

John glares at him, leaving the door open and going over to sit down on the sofa.

“So what happened?” Michael continues, stepping into the apartment and closing the door. “What act of Congress made you take the day off?”

“It was an order.”

“Ah now, that makes sense.” He plops down in the chair. “So shouldn’t you be asleep or something smart?”

“I got a couple of hours.”

“A couple of hours. Most people need more than that, Johnny – especially a week or so after their girlfriend gets shot twice in a restaurant.”

“Can’t sleep, Mikey,” John tells him. “Too much to do. Evangeline’s counting on me.”

“Whoa! Don’t you mean that you’re counting on you? E doesn’t seem like the type to sit back and expect to be protected.”

“Fine. I need to do it, okay? I let her down that night. I let this happen to her…”

“It wasn’t your fault, John.”

“I should’ve been there, Mikey.”

“And what does E have to say about it?”

John sighs.

“That I should stop beating myself up about it.”

“Smart lady,” Michael says. “Maybe you should listen to her.”

“Can’t,” John says, shooting to his feet. “Evangeline could have died, okay? I can’t forget that…and I can’t let this guy get close to her again. We might not be so lucky next time.”

“And so you’re gonna take it all on yourself, right John? Jeez, what is it with you? Why it is always up to you to fix everything?”

“Well, I can’t fix everything…but I’m damn sure not gonna let the woman I love get hurt again.”

“Hey! Hold on a minute,” Michael says, standing. “The woman you love? Did you say ‘the woman you love’? You did say that, right? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say those words before – about anyone.”

John rolls his eyes, already sorry he said it.

“Come on, Johnny!” Michael teases. “You can’t just throw something like that out there and then just leave it. You told her?”

He sighs deeply.

“Yes,” he admits. “I told her.”

Michael breaks into a grin and slaps John on the back.

“Well, good for you, Johnny! About time you spoke up. Wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

“No,” John answers quietly. “I had to let her know – especially after what happened…I promised myself that if she made it…if I ever got another chance…I’d let her know how much she means to me.” He thinks for a moment. “That’s why I can’t let anything happen to her, Mikey. I can’t let her go through what she’s already been through just to let this guy get another chance at her. She’s been through enough.”

“Hey, take it easy, John,” Michael tells him. “You won’t. You won’t let her down.”

“I can’t, Mikey,” John insists. “Not this time. It’s too important…” He wanders over to the window and looks out. “It’s too important.”

---

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