Halloween is coming and with it, is the holiday story writing muse so I got creative and wrote a shorter piece in a couple parts which takes place about 16 years after Glimmer of Twilight and is based on that storyline (including Mustang Madness, A Circle of Women and some shorter pieces).

The pumpkins sat on the table waiting to be sculpted into something scarier with a paring knife. The day before Halloween had always been the time when the four children would spill into chairs around the dining room table and work on their Jack O Lanterns after returning home from school.

Gracie who at 14 was the oldest often oversaw their practice of this annual tradition when their parents were busy with work. Royal and Ethan who were several years younger than her would mostly start working on their pumpkins and then soon get distracted enough to chase each other through the house leaving her with most of the work.

Her younger sister Stephanie Rose who was almost three stayed with their mother working upstairs on a project in her office. She still worked in Houston but spent a few days a month working on a manual at home. Dad worked in Houston too but had been helping some businesses in the nearby town install new security systems after a rash of burglaries.

She watched her two brothers working diligently at least for now, as she pulled her thick dark curly hair back into a ponytail. Her clothes were after school simple, worn jeans and an even more worn chambray shirt on top of a jersey she wore because she spent so much time taking care of her animals in the barn. Her gelding Shadow, two calves for a club project and an assortment of others on days when she didn't have to stay after school for the honors club she'd been invited to join or volunteering in the library.

Her brothers played sports, little league baseball, football and ran around from sunrise to sunset and she had learned through the years to look out after them. Just as their parents looked out for them because she knew from a young age, they didn't live a normal life.

"I want to make mine a zombie…"

She glanced over at Ethan who rolled his eyes at his older brother Royal, both of them dark haired and full of mischief at the moment.

"No…mine's the zombie…yours can be the vampire."

Ethan just shrugged and picked up the knife, argument over. Then he glanced up at Gracie.

"So when's the party?"

She picked up a knife to start working on her pumpkin which hopefully by the time she finished it would resemble a clown. Gracie didn't much like scary things and her brothers knew better than to tease her about it.

"Tomorrow afternoon, like I told you," she said, "Chris and Dan are going to help set up."

Ethan and Royal looked at each other and then Royal looked back at her with a smirk.

"Danny's going to dress up as a werewolf?"

Gracie shrugged, still focusing on her pumpkin as she cut the crown off the top of it so she could scoop out the innards.

"That's what he said," she said, "unless he's changed his mind."

She figured he'd stick to his original plan because he'd been working on his costume for the past two weeks. Danny had been her best buddy since they'd both been too young to remember ever meeting. But they'd shared every class together at two different schools so far and both belonged to the honor society. Danny had gone out for junior high football and track, the training caused his lean frame to start filling out with muscle. She remembered her parents telling her that he'd been very ill as a baby and had needed surgery to fix his heart.

He looked perfectly fine right now; in fact he had started attracting the attention of other girls in their class. Gracie didn't pay any attention to that, being very busy with more important things than worrying about boys. She had friends from school and the neighborhood but still spent much of her free time with her animals taking care of them and Danny at least seemed to understand that about her.

"Who else is going to the party?"

Gracie shot a glance over at Ethan who had accidently given his vampire two mouths. Well, it just made it more unique she thought. Her clown had turned out quite elaborate with the eyes becoming shooting stars and the ears larger.

"Oh our friends," she said, "and maybe Butterfly will show us a movie when she shows up."

She hoped that the girl who had babysat her while she grew up would bring one of her vintage home-made zombie movies. Butterfly had just finished a fellowship shooting a documentary in Central America and would soon most likely start a new project something with their mother. She had tackled a lot of serious issues including drug dealing in high schools and poverty in countries like Guatemala and El Salvador. But she would be sticking around town for a while working on a film that would be paid for with grant money. Gracie didn't know much about it but her mother sounded excited when talking about it. Like she did when she was preparing her gelding for the gymkhana or one of her calves for a showing at the county fair.

In other words, whatever her mother did, it meant very much to her though Gracie didn't really know much about what she did only that she did some work for the government and had helped women and girls like herself.

The table wobbled as two young boys pushed their chairs away and took off running, leaving their pumpkins unfinished. Their attention spans clearly stretched to their limits. They ran out of the room and down the hallway and somewhere in the house Gracie heard one of the dogs bark. She sighed as she continued working on hers, thinking not for the first time that boys were so overrated.

With maybe an exception or two of course.

C.J. sat in front of her computer after having read the proposal that Butterfly had sent her for the film. She'd be landing in Houston International in an hour and heading to Chris' house to crash for a while before she'd start on her new project. C.J. had seen her documentaries, marveled how her style had grown as her films progressed, yet seeing the young girl's talent still prominent in her work.

She heard some noise downstairs which told her that her two sons were running around again. Gracie had them working on their pumpkins but she knew that they wouldn't stay interested in that for long. She gazed over at the floor where her youngest, Stephanie had fallen asleep surrounded by her stuffed frogs, having played herself into exhaustion.

The filming would start as soon as she compiled the scheduling of interviews that needed to be conducted and that hadn't proven to be easy so far. Many of the women hedged on whether they wanted to share their stories at all with the camera as an audience. A couple of them said they wanted to think about it more carefully and then get back with her. She just nodded and said that'd be perfectly okay, understanding where they were coming from.

After all, she had been in that same position herself.

She rubbed her forehead, her eyes no longer catching the silvery lines which wove a criss cross pattern across her fingers, etching into her palms. Many of the women bore their own scars and like her, some were more visible than others. But this project meant a lot to her and once she had sold it to Simon and several of the representatives from ICE, she'd been given a green light to go through with it. Matt and Dan had agreed to help her with the sound equipment and lighting.

The phone rang suddenly and she reached for it, seeing it was Rhonda, her friend who lived with her husband and three children up just outside of Dallas.

"Hi there…."

"Happy Halloween," Rhonda said, "Although officially that's not until tomorrow…I've been busy setting up for the party at the community center."

C.J. remembered that Rhonda had partnered up some time back with Alex Walker to start a battered woman's shelter which had been expanded to include children.

"Sounds like you're busy," she said, "We're holding a smaller party here with the neighborhood kids."

"Sounds like fun….Listen I called because Jonathan got back from Miami and found out more information about that book that's being released."

C.J. sighed.

"You mean the one that Scott wrote while he was in prison."

"Yes…now that he's out on parole, he's searching for a publisher."

C.J. leaned back in her chair, feeling the tension in her neck triggering a headache. She'd been stunned along with Matt to learn a few months ago that Scott had made parole and would be released from the federal penitentiary outside of Miami and into a halfway house. After spending less than 10 years in the slammer on convictions for conspiracy and the commission of other crimes against her and other individuals…the reasoning being that he didn't have a previous criminal record.

"For his book…the one where he's the wronged person being scapegoated for an entire human trafficking ring…"

Rhonda paused.

"I thought it was against the law for him to publish his book."

C.J. ran a hand through her hair.

"It is…under the Son of Sam law but there must be a loophole somewhere he can exploit."

Rhonda paused again.

"So what are you going to do?"

C.J. had thought about that a lot lately since she had heard the news.

"I'm going to live my life…just like I've been living it," she said, "I'm not giving anything more to him than he's already taken."

Suddenly she heard someone in the hallway and then stepping into the doorway. She looked over and saw Matt standing there still dressed in his business suit. Stephanie began to squirm awake and he went over to pick her up and hoist her over his shoulder while she rubbed her eyes looking around the room.

"Listen Houston just got in…I'll talk to you later," she said, "Say hi to everyone for me…"

She hung up the phone and got up to where Matt had sat on the lounge chair with their daughter who grabbed hold of his neck with her hands. The resemblance between the two of them, the dark short hair, their eyes and his mouth…she was definitely her father's daughter already. When she settled next to him, he reached to kiss her softly on the mouth, brushing a strand of her hair away.

"Missed you…."

She smiled at one of his favorite catch phrases and as he wrapped an arm around her, she settled against him.

"Yeah, so how was your day?"

Stephanie began tugging at his ear so he sat her down on his lap.

"I worked on the schematic for the security system at the bank," he said, "Have to meet with the board when it's done."

"It's so nice having you work here," she said, "I'm glad it's going well."

"How were the kids," he said, "I saw Gracie down there trying to finish three jack o lanterns."

C.J. rubbed her forehead.

"I told her that she didn't have to do the boys," she said, "It's their responsibility to handle their own Halloween decorations."

"You know Gracie…she wants everything to work out for the party tomorrow."

C.J. knew that her eldest daughter had a perfectionist streak in her that matched her own before she tempered it a bit. For now, Gracie tackled everything with that same intensity.

"She reminds me a lot of you, you know."

Yes she did, because sometimes she looked at the little girl who had grown into a lanky teenager and saw herself at her age. She had been more into her schooling and her work on the ranch than in spending time with boys and at parties. Except for the fact that her best friend had been a boy. But then Gracie had been best friends with Danny since before either could remember.

"She's more driven than I was at that age," C.J. said, "You know she wants to be a vet."

"She'd be very good at it," he said, "She loves animals…"

C.J. nodded.

"I know that but I want her to have fun too…you only get to be this young once."

Matt felt Stephanie squirm against him.

"Yeah but she's good at doing both," he said, "better than I was at her age."

Ethan rushed into the room, his face animated.

"Dad….Royal's not doing his share of the chores…"

Matt looked at C.J. and the both of them just smiled at each other as they got up off the chair, Stephanie still holding tightly onto her father. Definitely another normal evening in their household, they thought as they walked downstairs.

Gracie sat on the living room floor, with her computer and an essay she had to finish up for school. Royal and Ethan were outside still playing with the dogs after finally finishing up their jack o lanterns. Matt had helped them stick candles inside their cavities and light them up before placing them on the front porch outside. The sun had already set and the lights cast shadows in the darkness. Animal noises could be heard in the brush and occasionally from inside the barn.

She'd check her animals before heading off to bed but she had to get most of this essay finished by tomorrow's history class. First she had to go into the kitchen to get herself some juice from the refrigerator. Her parents were standing in the kitchen by the sink, washing and rinsing the dishes before settling them to dry on the nearby rack. Something they often liked to do after dinner together which Gracie considered to be a bit strange but then there were things about adults she didn't understand.

"We could try to get an injunction on the book."

C.J. turned off the water tap.

"It won't stop it from getting published," she said, "it'll just keep the profits from going to him."

Matt sighed.

"So Scott's going to donate it to some foundation to circumvent the law?"

C.J. shrugged.

"Apparently…Houston…I can deal with the book's release," she said, "We both can…I don't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that we're so worried about what he's writing that we'll try to stop him."

Matt placed another dish on the rack.

"Neither do I but there must be something we can do."

She shook her head.

"I don't really want to discuss it now," she said, "Like I said, I'm not giving him anymore of my life."

Gracie stood by the doorway listening to them, rather than walking to the refrigerator. She heard what sounded like anger in her mother's voice, mixed with other emotions she couldn't quite figure out. Her father on the other hand, just looked concerned, like he did when something happened to them like when Royal fell out of the tree house when he was seven. Suddenly her mother looked at her.

"Gracie, you okay?"

She nodded, looking at both of them.

"Fine…just working on my essay and came in here for some juice..."

She moved past them to get a glass out of the cabinet and then to get the juice out of the refrigerator. After pouring it into the glass, she sipped it thoughtfully.

"What were you talking about," she asked, "what's this about a book?"

Matt and C.J. looked at each other, and Gracie knew they were working on an answer for her. Grownups did that sometimes when they didn't want to talk about something.

"You can tell me," she said, "I'm not a kid."

C.J. smiled at her warmly. Matt stood beside her with one of his hands resting on her back.

"No you're not, but this isn't anything for you to worry about honey."

Gracie felt impatience prickling at her forehead.

"I'm not worried, I just want to know that's all," she said, "You talk about it a lot…lately."

Matt sighed.

"It's just a book a man's writing about something that happened…some years ago…before you were even born."

Gracie processed that piece of information. She knew her parents had secrets, all parents did or so Danny had told her. But then he had been reacting to finding out that he had needed surgery to save his life when he'd been just a baby. What she saw on her parents' faces when they thought no one was looking, that seemed different.

"What man…what happened?"

C.J. rubbed the bridge of her nose with her finger in a way that seemed familiar to Gracie. She often did the same herself when her parents asked her a question she didn't want to answer. Maybe that's why they had busted her more than once on something she had been trying to keep from them.

"Did he give you those scars…the ones on your hands?"

C.J.'s eyes widened slightly but Gracie had often wondered why her mother's hands had felt roughened in spots when she had touched or held her.

"No…no he didn't,"C.J. answered," Gracie…why are you asking these questions?"

Gracie sighed putting her glass down on the counter.

"Because I've known you longer than I remember and…sometimes I don't feel like I know you at all…"

"Gracie…"

But the younger girl just looked at her mother.

"Sometimes the way you look at each other….or react to certain things…like the girl in my school who no one can find…."

C.J.'s face softened.

"Gracie…whatever's going on….it has nothing to do with you…it's in the past."

Gracie rolled her eyes at her parents, her body tensing. But then they had tensed first and she didn't know why.

"Then why can't you tell me," she said, "I'm 14 now; I can handle it…whatever it is…I want to know the truth."

Her parents just looked at each other again and then at her, when suddenly they heard someone cry out. C.J. looked towards where the noise came from.

"I'll go check on her," she said, "Gracie; I know you're not a child anymore. You're growing into a young woman but some things…you're just still too young to hear them. When you're older…"

Gracie shut down when she heard those familiar words. They told her that the door had been closed and she wouldn't be getting answers to her questions. She folded her arms looking at her mother, mirroring her in so many ways but feeling so separate in others.

Including right now, she thought watching her mother leave to tend to Stephanie. Matt watched her go and then looked at Gracie rubbing his jaw line with his thumb.

"She'll tell you when she thinks you're ready," Matt said, "But part of it is that she needs to be ready herself."

"I'm old enough…."

Matt smiled.

"Then you're old enough to be patient," he said, "and let her take the lead on it."

Gracie knew there was no arguing with her father so she nodded and then went to pick up her glass of juice to take it back to the living room.

Grownups just made no sense most of the time.

But hours later, when the moon shone brightly on the clearing in front of the barn, she walked quickly to where Danny would be sitting on the corral fencing waiting for her. She had climbed out of her window, sliding down a tree next to the house to where she'd land on a patch of grass. From there, a short walk to the meeting place and since the house had appeared quiet when she left, no one to catch her meeting with her best friend.

Sure enough, Danny dressed like her in his jeans and a jersey was waiting for her. She climbed up on the fence to sit next to him looking out into the quiet darkness.

"God parents can be so clueless sometimes."

Danny looked at her, they sat close enough for their shoulders to brush.

"I know…I want a motorcycle and my parents said no."

She shrugged.

"Well motorcycles are dangerous and besides you have to be older to ride one."

"I already can…Logan taught me last summer by the lake."

Gracie nodded, remembering the guy who had been going out with Butterfly during the two months she had spent in town. He'd been working a summer construction job before heading back to graduate school at University of Texas El Paso in the fall.

"Still, he's just not wanting you to crash and get banged up."

Danny narrowed his eyes at her.

"Whose side are you on anyway?"

She flashed him a look of irritation.

"No one's…but it makes sense to be careful…not like in my case."

He leaned back enough so that the fence creaked, breaking the stillness.

"So what did your parents do?"

She didn't answer at first, not sure how to put it into words. The sense she had that she didn't know everything about her parents.

"Nothing…but I overheard them talking about some guy who wrote a book…someone they don't like…but when I asked about it, they wouldn't tell me anything."

"Maybe it's no big deal…my parents don't tell me everything that they ever did."

She sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"I know…but this is different," she said, "This is something major…and they won't say anything about it or what happened."

Danny paused for a long moment and Gracie knew he was thinking hard about what she had said. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"What…Danny do you know anything about it?"

He didn't say anything at first, just looked out across the clearing into the thread of trees.

"I was going through my dad's desk once looking for some scotch tape," Danny said, "and I found a folder of clippings that fell out…including one where a car bomb blew up in your dad's office building."

Gracie looked puzzled.

"You mean the one that Murray runs," she said, "or he did before his wife had triplets."

Danny nodded.

"Yeah well my dad was nearly killed when the bomb went off," she said, "but he wasn't the target…it was another man."

"Who…my father…"

"No your father said the FBI was investigating," Danny said, "the target was a man walking with that fed Jonathan."

Gracie nodded, knowing him all of her life and Rhonda and the kids.

"So who was this man…the one that was supposed to die?"

Danny paused, clearing his throat.

"Some shady lawyer…Scott…I don't remember his last name."

Gracie took a deep breath looking at him.

"I think that's his name," she said, "I heard my dad mention him just tonight. He must be the guy who wrote the book."

"Maybe…you looking forward to the party tomorrow?"

She just looked at him incredulously.

"Danny…I've got to find out what's going on with my parents and what they're hiding from me," she said, "Will you help me?"

He looked at her startled.

"Gracie…"

"Look…you just said someone tried to blow this guy up and your father was the one nearly killed," she said, "Don't you want to find out why…and who did it? If it were my father…"

Danny tilted his head.

"Hey my father's alive and so is yours," he said, "That's what matters…not what could have happened in the past."

She shook her head at him, her thick ponytail moving.

"It does matter because whatever it was…I see it on their faces," she said, "Like tonight…and that's not the only time."

He sighed impatiently.

"Maybe they don't want you to know Gracie," he said, "Maybe you're not meant to know and if not, they must have their reasons."

"Like what…what could possibly be a good enough reason?"

He just looked at her uncertainty in his eyes.

"I don't know…but there must be something."

She jumped off the corral fence landing softly on her feet.

"I don't care…I'm going to find out what happened," she said, "whether you help me or not."

Danny followed her down off the fence. They faced off together surrounded by peace and quiet.

"I didn't say I wouldn't help you," he said, "but let's do it tomorrow…before the party. It's getting late."

She nodded and they said goodbye before she started heading back to the house. The jack o lanterns still glowed on the front porch where she passed on the way to the tree by her window. As she climbed up it to her room, she tried to figure out a plan like her parents did when they worked on a case together back in L.A. where Great Uncle Roy still lived with his wife.

If her parents thought they could keep her in the dark like a little kid, they would soon find out how wrong they were about that.

C.J. lay in the darkness snuggling against Matt as the moonlight streamed through the window. His arm wrapped around her and pulling her closer to him as they both waited for sleep to take them. But C.J. couldn't get her mind off of her earlier conversation with her oldest daughter.

The one with so many questions all of a sudden about the past her mother had kept maybe not so much as hidden but apart from the rest of her life. After closing the book on that painful chapter of her life, she had been more than ready to move forward.

To raise her family without the past hanging over them like a shadow.

But she had born a daughter just like herself in terms of her determination and drive to find the truth in just about everything. Matt sensed the change within her.

"You okay?"

She nodded against him but finished her answer with words.

"Houston…I'm going to have to tell her…someday I mean."

He hesitated in his own response.

"I think you'll know what to say when you're ready."

She wished that were true. She'd been struggling long enough to find the right words already.

"I don't know…the truth's too awful…too ugly for a young girl. I know she's growing up and she's got a lot of questions but I still don't want her to see that part of the world."

Matt stroked her arm.

"I don't think you have to tell her all at once," he said, "but I do think you should start sharing it with her. There's ugliness there but there's a lot of good too including all the work you've done."

She considered that and knew the truth behind it.

"I know…and if Scott's book gets published, it'll be back in the news again."

She remembered all the press coverage that had been generated from the breakup of one of the world's largest human trafficking rings and the criminal prosecutions that had followed. She had felt during those tumultuous times that so much of her life had been placed under a microscope…when most of her life she'd done nothing to draw such attention to herself.

"We can tell her together if you'd like," he said, "Whatever part you decide to share."

She felt his arms tighten around her and she melded against him.

"Maybe I should do it…she already knows about my work," she said, "She's come to the office enough times when growing up…"

She just didn't know what had driven her mother to commit so much of her life to what she did helping other women who had been victimized in ways even worse than what she had faced.

"That might be a good way to start."

She nodded.

"Okay…I'll talk to her after the party tomorrow…after we clean up."

It grew silent between them not long after that even as she snuggled against him, feeling embraced by his warmth. Yes, there had been so much ugliness in what she had survived but Matt had been right about the blessings within the most traumatic time of her life.

The most wonderful of them had his arms wrapped around her, while his breath warmed her skin.

Outside where they slept, someone deposited a manila envelope in the mailbox before creeping away silently in the night.