Hello. Once again short chapter, and so much fluff I am not sure I know how to pull myself out of it. Anyway I hope you enjoy this. I really wanted to get into the struggles that Jill is having with her emotional side. And really wanted to delve into more of what Marlin was feeling. I am trying to transition out of the big murder scene, into"normal" life for Forget-Me-Not again. More action to come in future chapters. Anyway as always let me know what you think.

As angry as Jill was at her father's comment about her and Marlin, she could not deny that she had allowed her feelings to creep in during the weekend stay in Mineral Town. She needed to be more careful. She was starting to develop feelings for her mark, it was something that Jill Barre-Timmons simply did not do. Jill needed to get her footing again. The unexpected trip to Mineral Town had brought down Jill's defenses. Perhaps Marlin was in fact behind all of this. Why was she so certain that he was not involved? Maybe he had planned on having a solid alibi for this weekend. Perhaps she had just been used by him. She hated to admit how much that actually hurt. She had lost focus of her goal, if only temporarily. She was angry with herself for allowing the idyllic setting of Forget-Me-Not to lull her into a false sense of belonging. She did not belong here. She'd had her moment of weakness in Mineral Town, but she would turn it around to her advantage. She now had Marlin exactly where she wanted him. He was as firmly in her "grasp" as he was ever going to be. Jill ignored the nagging little voice inside her head that warned her by hurting Marlin, she would only hurt herself. She didn't care who she hurt. Collateral damage had always been a part of her job. But was she so sure that was the case with Marlin? Her job had been her livelihood for so long. Was it enough? She was starting to have doubts about the one thing in her life that remained constant. This disturbed Jill more than she wanted to admit. But why did Marlin's feelings matter to her? Feelings never mattered on a case.

Jill sighed heavily. this was usually the part the Jill loved. The more complicated the case became, the more excited she would get. They were like puzzles that she needed to help solve. She enjoyed figuring out where each piece of the puzzle fit. At this moment, however, she was just tired. Tired of trying to figure out this mess that existed on Flower Bud Island. It was more than the case, she knew that. It was her life. Jill had become frustrated with where her life had been going. It had been because of that naive little blonde farmer and her happy smile. Jill had never smiled a smile like the one she'd seen on Claire's face her entire life. Why was she so jealous of a simple farmer? It did not make any sense to her.

Then there was the murder. Rock's murder indicated that the person in charge of this whole operation was far more dangerous than they had originally anticipated. If it was in fact Bob that was the man behind the operation, he had fooled everyone for a long time. Jill wondered why she had not been able to sense something off about Bob. She had always been good at determining whether or not people were trustworthy. Perhaps she really was slipping. It all made her head hurt. Rock did not deserve to die, no matter how much of a sleeze he had been.

There were whispers everywhere. Jill could not go into town without people whispering a she walked by. People had heard about her encounter with Rock. Suspicions were high, even with the solid alibi she had Marlin both had. The only person who treated her with any sense of normality was Muffy. In Jill's mind an unlikely ally, but one that Jill found herself welcoming more and more.

Ruby Dalton had become inconsolable. Jill would see her around walking in a zombie-like state. She had seen this before with family members of the victims. Especially those who had discovered the body. Jill herself had been privy to the crime scene photos. From what she had seen it had been a fairly "clean" scene, if there was such a think. But the shock of a normal civilian finding her son dead must have been horrible. People who watched too much TV often thought that crime scenes held some sort of "glamor," but in actuality the gruesomeness of some crime scenes shock often even seasoned agents. Seeing a real body that had been murdered was quite different. While Rock had certainly never been someone Jill liked, Ruby did not deserve what had happened to her. Ruby had always been cheerful and friendly, if not someone ignorant. It was all gone now. What was left was a shell of what used to be. Looking into Ruby's eyes now, one would just see nothingness glossed over with exhaustion.

Jill trudged slowly by the Inn thinking about poor Ruby's loss. She had heard that Ruby wasn't sleeping at night, and when she did finally sleep she would wake up screaming. Her husband Tim was spending more and more time at the bar, drinking away his sorrows. Jill was meeting Marlin tonight for a drink. Ever since Rock's death, Marlin didn't go to the bar quite as often. They would chose a few nights a week to meet up. It was apparent to everyone that they were now a couple. Jill had received more than a few nasty looks from Celia, but she did not pay too much attention to the small brunette. There were far more important things on Jill's mind than a little girl's jealousy.

Marlin sat in the corner booth waiting on Jill to come to the bar. Ever since their weekend stay in Mineral Town things had become a bit more serious. They had not really discussed what was happening between them, but he was falling for the girl. Poor Jill had been different ever since Rock's murder. Everyone in town had been. Suspicions flew. Many people had whispers about Nami, who had only been in Forget-Me-Not for a few years. She was a drifter.

"Can we really trust her?" Griffin had asked him earlier that evening. "We know nothin' bout her. If ya hadn't been in Mineral Town with Jill I woulda thought it was her. But what do we really know about Nami?" Gustafa was another person that people would whisper about. Gustufa was a hippie. He had come to the island looking for his paradise, and he had supposedly found it. Everyone had become suspicious of everyone. No body trusted each other anymore. There were agents from FIA all over the island. Most of them stayed in Mineral town, but a few were staying in Forget-Me-Not. The agent who had interrogated him had abruptly left after the first day. Marlin couldn't put his finger on it, but there had been something familiar about that agent. He had the oddest feeling that they had met before, even though Marlin knew that was not the case. Perhaps it was just that the man had one of those faces.

"Hello sexy," Marlin heard a voice say. Jill slid into the booth next to him. He felt a smile come to his face. She was beautiful. She was his relief from all the things that were happening as of late. He clung to her beauty as if it were a life raft and he were drowning. He wrapped his arm around his girl. He liked that thought. Jill was his girl. "What's on that mind of yours?"
"Just thinking about... everything," Marlin answered. He bit back a smile. Jill knew him more than he knew himself at times.

"Yeah," Jill replied back. She looked tired at that moment. He wondered if she was getting sleep. He knew that this whole ordeal must be wearing on her too. She had been the last person to see interact with Rock. That couldn't have been easy for her. Jill snuggled into his shoulder and rested her head on his. This was what he had been waiting for. Marlin had finally found what he had been missing his whole life. This girl made him feel like he was finally home.