It was well after midnight by the time Jake made it back to the Sherriff's office. Cleaning up the mess at the crossroads took time. They couldn't afford to be sloppy. Jake had sent the rest of the rangers home and was waiting for Beck's return from New Bern. He knew a confrontation was coming. Just how far would Beck push back? It was then he heard the door open.
"Jimmy, I thought I told you…" He stopped mid sentence when he looked up and saw Heather standing in the doorway. She was drained of color and by the look in her eyes he could tell it wasn't good.
Heather could sense what he would be asking and didn't give Jake any time to ask his question.
"I saw Emily at Bailey's, she told me what happened. Is Stanley going to be o.k.?" Heather saw the anguish in Jake's eyes.
"Looks like Mimi is going to make it, that should help but I don't know if he'll ever be the same Stanley again." Jake knew this from experience. Once you crossed a certain line, there was no turning back.
Heather nodded. It seemed there was a lot of that going around this town lately.
"Russell and Mike came to see me tonight." she blurted out and quickly looked to the ground.
Jake looked back at her, the concern evident on his face. He had seen first hand that the Russell that he encountered out at the crossroads today seemed different from the one that had helped them back at BlackJack. "What did he want?" Knowing that her answer contained another problem that would be added to his list.
Heather hated asking for help. She had been on her own for such a long time and had become self-sufficient. It had been her against the world but the world had drastically changed. And after what had happened in New Bern, she knew Constantino's threat was something that she couldn't take lightly. She was scared and for the first time she was going to ask for help.
She decided that there was really no way to say it without sounding like she was in some movie. It came flowing out of her fast, at an almost incoherent pace. "Constantino wants me dead. It seems there's a price on my head. Russell came to warn me."
Jake wasn't sure he had heard her right. The surprise was evident on his face. "Heather, what…"
Before he could continue she interrupted. "Russell took Goetz back to New Bern?" waiting for Jake to confirm what Emily had told her earlier.
"Yes, he brought the body back." He never broke the concerned gaze he had trained on her.
"Russell said that if he brought Goetz back that it would buy me some time." How much, I'm not sure." She looked up to find Jake still staring at her. She held his gaze searching for some sign that he believed she would be all right. If he believed it then maybe she could too.
Jake approached Heather and placed both arms on both sides of her head to make sure she understood him completely. He could sense her fear and need for reassurance. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Do you hear me? It's not going to happen."
With that said he wrapped his arms around her. Now what in the hell was he going to do?