Author's Note: All previous disclaimers still apply. In this chapter, you'll finally get Red's account of what happened on the night of the fire. Obviously, since the events surrounding the fire haven't been revealed in canon yet, this is total conjecture on my part. The details are crafted specifically to serve this story, but I don't think they exceed the realm of possibility.

"a prayer for the lovers

beneath the stars and the moon

the palm trees and the bay breeze

of a graveyard's croon

a lament for the eyes

full of gaze and swoon

taken by the charm of the holy city"

(Lyrical excerpt from Holy City, by Jump, Little Children)

Chapter Ten

Moments after touching down in Charleston, a towncar arrived to pick them up. Lizzie overheard Red giving their driver an address in James Island, and she couldn't resist the urge ask, "James Island? I thought we were going to Charleston."

He responded with the type of smirk that used to infuriate her, and replied, "Our safe house is on James Island, but we ARE still going to Charleston. However, if the safe house isn't to your liking, Charleston does have a few hotels that meet my standards."

With her index finger, Liz traced a little heart shape on his palm. "You always have a backup plan, don't you?"

"No, not always," he replied, "but surely you can see why it's adventageous to make everyone think that I always do."

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up to a gated mansion with a long, U-shaped driveway. "If you'll excuse me for just a moment," Red said, slipping out of the car. He pressed a button on the call box in front of the gate. "Anders! We're here."

A voice boomed from the box, "The password?"

Red put his palm over his stomach and chuckled. "Pocketbook jellyfish."

"You remembered!" the voice from the box shouted. With a buzz and a click, the iron gate slowly swung open. Red reclaimed his seat beside Liz, taking pleasure in her confused expression.

"Pocketbook jellyfish? Seriously?" she asked.

"Not exactly... The last time I stayed here, Anders tried to set me up with a beautiful but extremely drunk woman who barely spoke a word of English. When she tried to ask me to go to bed with her, somewhere in the garbled request, she actually said 'pocketbook jellyfish'. When I told Anders about it the next morning, I thought he'd never stop laughing. He decided that it would be the perfect gate entry password. God, that must have been five or six years ago. I can't believe he actually remembered it."

Liz's jaw lowered, incredulous, wondering why she had to ask. A sudden wave of jealousy compelled her to say, "So... did you?"

"Did I pocketbook jellyfish her, you mean?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

Goddamnit Red, she thought, but only said, "Yes," again.

"Well, it's a little embarrassing for me, and I didn't tell Anders about this part, so I'll appreciate you keeping it to yourself, but... and like I said, she was very, very drunk. I was quite inebriated, myself." He sighed. "So the answer is 'no'. She actually passed out, ah.. mid-pocketbook."

Liz bit her lip and turned away, failing miserably in her attempt to suppress her laughter. Red crossed his arms and waited for her to finish, but fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. Her laughter was cut short by the realization that they had arrived at their destination. Liz wiped a tear from her eye just before Red came around to open the door for her. A portly, overly-tanned man wearing a grey silk robe swung the mansion's front door open. While the driver unloaded their luggage, Red took Liz's hand and lead her toward the man. "Anders!" He shouted enthusiastically and hugged him. "Lizzie, I'd like you to meet Anders. Anders, this is Lizzie."

She extended her hand, smiling. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Please call me Liz."

Rather than shaking her hand, Anders brought it to his lips and kissed it instead, and replied, "No no no, the pleasure is all mine, mon ami." Liz shot Red a sideways glance, and Anders turned toward him, "Red, how is it that we get older and uglier, and all the women just get younger and prettier?"

Red shook his head chuckled. "Baffling, isn't it?"

Liz took his hand and planted a chaste kiss on his jaw. "You're not ugly."

Seeing that the driver had finished unloading their things, Red stepped aside and paid the man, declining his offer to bring their bags inside.

After meeting Anders, a hotel in Charleston was looking like an increasingly-attractive option. Liz hoped that Red was seriously willing to go if she asked.

Anders lead them inside and interrupted her thoughts. "I hate to be such a neglectful host, especially since we haven't had a chance to catch up yet, but I was just getting ready to leave for Cannes. You're more than welcome to help yourselves to anything here." He pointed to a small panel on the wall. "These are in every room in the house. If you need anything at all, just press the button to talk to my groundskeeper, Lester. If you want to go somewhere, he'll notify my driver to come pick you up."

"Anders, you are a prince. Thank you." Red replied, patting the man's forearm.

"We'll have to catch up soon, Ray." He turned toward Liz and winked. "Watch out for this guy, Lisa. He's an animal," Then he turned and sauntered down the hall.

Nonplussed, Red picked up his suitcase, and gestured for Liz to do the same. He placed his hand on the small of her back, "Come Lizzie, our room has a spectacular view of the Atlantic. You'll love it."

Liz soon found that their room far exceeded her expectations. After they settled in, Red used the call box to request a driver. While they waited, Liz changed into a knee-length white linen dress, and paired it with strappy brown leather sandals. Red's eyes lit up when he saw her, and he pulled her into a gentle embrace. "You look resplendent." He cooed into her ear. Liz sighed and leaned against him, momentarily weakened by his tone.

The driver dropped them off in downtown Charleston, near the open air market. The humidity was stifling, and Liz wondered how Red could possibly be comfortable in his suit. He lead her by the hand to a booth where several women were weaving intricate baskets out of sweetgrass. "They make hats too." He said, and pointed to a wooden rack that was lined up with at least a dozen handmade hats of various styles. His eyes quickly scanned the selection, and settled on a fedora that was embellished with a brown band and a white feather rosette. He picked it up to inspect it more closely.

"Red!" Liz chided, "Don't you already have like a million hats?"

He shook his head, smiling. "A man can never have too many hats." Then, in one seamless motion, he plopped it on her head and turned her toward a small mirror. "But this one is for you."

Liz shook her head, pleasantly surprised. It actually looked pretty good on her. She liked it.

Red didn't wait for a response. By the time she finished inspecting her appearance in the mirror, he had already paid for it. She turned around in time to see him putting his wallet back into his inner coat pocket. "Thank you. I love it." She leaned in to kiss him, but accidentally bumped the brim of her hat against his, knocking it off of his head.

He caught it and grinned. "You're welcome, but we'll have to work on that."

"So, now that I have a hat, does that mean we're skipping the shady 'palmetto haven' thing?"

"Oh no." He shook his head, "Not at all. You'll see what I meant soon. We're going to the battery. Do you mind walking?" He paused and glanced down at her sandals. "I find that the holy city is best viewed on foot."

"Lead the way!" she replied.

They strolled down the sidewalk, arm-in-arm, and Liz listened with interest while Red took on the role of her personal tour guide, in his quintessential troubadour style. Historic facts were blended with personal anecdotes from his time in the navy. Liz couldn't help noticing that she liked his stories when he wasn't using them to distract her.

When they reached the end of the street, a clearing that was peppered with ancient live oak trees came into view. Red lead her through them, to a metal railing overlooking the water, and he pointed out Fort Sumpter in the distance. They leaned against the railing and rested, taking in the view.

After a moment, Red turned toward Liz and lifted her hand to kiss the scar on her wrist. "I thought this would be a good place to tell you about the fire."

Liz closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. When she opened them, the worry etched on Red's face made her swallow, but she was ready. She was more than ready. "Tell me."

"It started with my wife, and my daughter. You're right that I didn't abandon them, but I also don't know what actually happened to them, either. That's another story in and of itself. When it became clear that they were taken by someone extremely powerful and dangerous, my only chance, my only hope, was to enlist the help of people that were equally powerful and dangerous."

He went on, "I discovered an alliance of corrupt politicians and white collar thugs that should have been able to help, but nothing is ever free, and I wasn't a wealthy man. They gave me an accomplice and an assignment: to make one of their enemies disappear overnight, by setting fire to his house."

"I later learned that they believed that they were sending me on a suicide mission of sorts, because the man was very much like the one who took my wife and daughter. He wasn't just an enemy of the alliance. He was an enemy of everyone, and I was young and sloppy and unskilled. I thought we would just use an accelerant, sneak inside while he slept, clock him on the head, tie him up, and hope the smoke killed him before the fire turned him into ashes. I wasn't a monster yet."

"And everything... everything was going so smoothly at first. Too smoothly. The arrogant sonofabitch didn't even lock the back door. I just let myself in while my accomplice dumped the accelerant. Then, I didn't even have to find his bedroom, because he was passed out drunk in the living room. I whacked him in the head and started tying him to a kitchen chair. But he..."

"But he came to, seconds later. I didn't hit him hard enough, and the fire had already been set. He started yelling that his daughter was in the house, and I didn't believe him, because no one had ever said anything about him having a daughter. I thought he was supposed to be alone... but then I..."

Red paused for a few seconds, taking a deep breath, trying to stifle the sob that refused to go away.

"Then I heard you scream, from the other side of the house, and everything else was just.. I was on autopilot. I cut the ropes, so he could go find you, and I ran outside. But a few seconds later, your screams changed. They were just.. pure terror. I thought you were trapped, or burned, or something. I went back in, and ran upstairs. I couldn't even see through the smoke, but I tripped on something in the hall. It was the man. And you had stopped screaming. You were just sitting on top of him."

"While I was trying to get you out of there, something dropped from the ceiling and landed on me. My shirt caught on fire. The pain was... it was excruciating. But I got you out."

"I left the man, your father, on the floor, so.. the job was done. I left my accomplice behind too, to find his own way home, because he didn't know that I had you."

"Lizzie, I never.. I swear that I wouldn't have done it, if I had known about you. When we left, the only thing I knew was that the alliance and all of your father's other enemies would believe that you had died with him, and the only way to keep you safe was to make sure it stayed that way. It was all my fault, so it became my priority to protect you. That's why I can't tell you his name, and that's why I brought you to the most trustworthy man I knew."

Liz took off her hat, dropped her head against Red's chest, and said the only thing she could choke out, "Sam."