"Now I want you to tell me everything that's happened between you and Constantino."

"Not much, really."

He sighed in exasperation.

"Heather."

"Yes?"

"You've got to tell me. I need to know all the little details, even if you don't think they're important."

Heather had the grace to look abashed at his tone.

"Ok, where do I start?"

"At the beginning."

"Well… New Bern isn't as small as Jericho, but it's still small. I babysat for his daughter when I was in high school. After that – in college – I kept in contact with his daughter, but not him. And when I got out of college, I found a teaching job in Jericho. I still kept in touch with Alice, but now she was away at college, and I didn't get in to New Bern much."

"After the bombs hit, my first time back in New Bern was with Russell. I'd gone back as part of a deal to make windmills to generate electricity. I worked there, pretty much buried in the shop – aside from the Russell, and the others that working in the shop, I was pretty well left alone. Nobody wanted to distract me. Anyway, I needed a particular part, and nobody else was there at the time to ask, so I went looking. What I found was mortars being made. I was shocked, but I was convinced that they were being made for self defense." Beck looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Naïve, I know. I believed them because I just couldn't believe they'd attack anyone. It wasn't until I saw the map of Jericho, divvied up amongst the leading figures of New Bern, that I couldn't ignore the truth."

She paused, shuddering at her naïveté. And at what she did next.

"I stormed into a meeting and asked what the hell they were doing. God, that was stupid. Constantino looked at me – he didn't even try to deny it. What he did try to do was to convince me to join them. New Bern was my home, after all."

"I refused. He started going on about how there was no choice, that Jericho wasn't helping them, and on and on. I told him to go to hell."

"That was when he threw me into a cell. I haven't seen him since. I've heard his voice, 'interrogating' Jake and Eric, but I never saw his face. Eric was in the cell across from mine. I waited a while for him to come to me, interrogate me, but he never did. I realized that I had nothing he wanted. The only information I possessed was information he didn't want me to have. He didn't need to interrogate me."

"Just kill you." Beck said, disgust in his voice. "How Machiavellian of him."

"Machiavellian. Yeah, that sounds about right."

"The first time I heard about the bounty was when Russell came through, looking for Goetz. I guess I forgot to mention it because of everything else going on."

Beck snorted. Forgot. That's Heather, all right.

"And you haven't left anything else out?"

"Not that I can remember."

"Well if you remember anything else, you'd better tell me." His eyes bored into Heather, and his tone…Heather nodded furiously.

"I promise."

"Good. Now my men have been looking around, and found you a place. It's actually the old Ravenwood quarters." Heather looked at him in disbelief. "I know, I know. Nobody's expressed interest in it both because of the former occupants and how it looks. The truth is that it's actually still very securable. The Molotov cocktails ruined the exterior looks, but the concrete block construction is sound. Which is exactly why Ravenwood built it that way. A new, sturdy door, and it'll be safe."

Heather still looked doubtful about the whole idea.

"Well, at least it'd be convenient, it's only a few blocks from here…" she said, in a tone that said she was trying to convince herself as much as anyone else.

"And one of us from the office will walk you home every night and make sure you get in safely, and pick you up in the morning."

"Geez, am I allowed to cross the street by myself?"

"Well, you'll probably be okay going down main street to Bailey's for lunch. But if you're going outside the center of town, or anywhere after dark, I want you to be with someone armed - a Ranger or one of my men. Also, you need to learn some basic self defense moves."

"Well, I know how to fire a gun."

"What, a hunting rifle?" His tone was skeptical.

"Yeah. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. It's just pretty useless in close-quarters combat. You did pretty well last night, with that wrench, but – "

"Don't remind me." Heather looked green.

"Sorry. The point is, you need to know how to use a proper weapon – or at least enough moves to escape a grip or disarm an opponent. I can have Sergeant Dixon give you lessons."

Heather nodded, resigned to the new lifestyle she was about to live.

"I presume that I'm to move immediately?"

"As soon as we can fix it up. You can stay in the VIP tent for a couple days. And Sergeant Dixon is few tents over, I'll introduce you so you can start your lessons." He shuffled through his papers. "Ok, that seems to be all for now. Are you okay to work today? You can take a day if you need it."

"And do what else? Besides, I'm pretty sure the sheriff's office is as safe as it gets."

Edward chuckled.

"Can't argue with that. I believe you have some visitors to deal with first, though." He pointed through the glass, where Emily and Mrs. Green could be found watching her. "Go on. I think I have some resource consumption reports in my desk somewhere."