"I'm sure as hell not going to get their address in there." Sam said to herself.

Back In Seattle

20. Four hours to go…

While in the elevator, Sam called Luke and told him to expect them, and to unlock the doors. Mrs. Benson followed Sam to Luke's home in her car. Introductions were made and Sam's old room was given to Freddie's mother. While Mrs. Benson was unpacking, Sam got Luke alone in the hallway and explained the situation. After Luke knew the details, Sam said:

"I've got to go to Spokane. I'm going to have Tiny watch this place and Irish head to Portland to keep an eye on Freddie. You got you're buddy?"

Luke nodded and pulled a snub nose .38 from his pants pocket, then put it back.

"Okay Luke, good. I'll need my friend on this trip." Sam said.

Luke nodded and led her into his room. Pulling a box down from the top of his closet, he opened it and removed something wrapped in an oilskin rag. Unwrapping the rag, he handed her an ancient Colt .45 automatic. Sam checked the clip and safety, cleared the chamber and put the pistol in her inside coat pocket.

Saying her goodbyes, Sam rode her motorcycle back to the house she shared with Freddie. Going into his office, she turned on his computer and then pulled out his box of greeting cards and other small items he saved from the closet. There it was, on top. The Christmas card he'd received from Lyle just a few weeks ago. It had the return address on the back of the envelope. She mapped the address and checked the weather on the computer. It was going to be clear and cold until tomorrow night. It's a perfect night for a ride. Just before shutting down the machine, she noticed a local news story that popped up on Freddie's home page. 'Local woman shot and killed in a domestic violence altercation. Maxine Shay, the wife of Spencer Shay, was shot in their home this evening and later died during surgery…' Maxine was gone.

Sam grabbed her map and left her house. Riding the short distance to the club, she stopped and explained the situation to Arnold. He told her that Tiny and Irish were at his home, waiting for him to get back after work. Sam gave him the address of Freddie's hotel in Portland. Arnold nodded and picked up the bar phone and called home. After explaining the situation, Tiny and Irish left to get to the places that Sam had asked them to watch.

Sam drank a cup of coffee and left. She had a four hour ride ahead of her. She wasn't sure why she thought she needed to warn Carly and her family under the circumstances, but she was sure Carly would do the same for her, even now. Pulling onto I-90 eastbound, she pushed the bike up to eighty and listened to the big motorcycles low roar.

Four hours to go…

She stopped in front of the house. She was in the 'burbs' of Spokane. The house was a newer two story with a perfect lawn. 'Figures', Sam thought. Sam checked her watch; it was 11:45, nearly midnight. Nudging out the kickstand, she shut off the lights and engine, and walked to the front door. The place was dark. After ringing the doorbell a number of times, she stood back and noticed lights on upstairs, they weren't on before. The porch light came on, the door opened, a man standing in the glow said:

"Who are you, what do you want?"

He sounded mad, gruff.

"I'm Sam, an old friend of Carly's. Are you Larry?"

The fellow stared at her for a moment, opened the door and motioned her in.

"Yes, I'm Larry. Hold on a moment."

Larry went back upstairs, and shortly returned with Carly in tow. Carly was surprised to say the least, and very apprehensive.

"Um… hi Sam… What are you doing here this late, is everything okay?" Carly asked.

Sam had been sitting on the couch. She stood up and motioned to the couch:

"You two had better sit down." She said.

"Is this about Spencer?" Larry asked.

"Yes, it is… and Maxine." Sam said.

"Spencer was here this evening, he seemed really upset about something. He kept trying to get Larry to go with him to different places… I don't know, he just seemed off, preoccupied and aggressive." Carly said.

"Damn, it's good you didn't go. Spencer's wanted for murder; he shot and killed Maxine earlier today, and tried to kill me. Lucky for me and Mrs. Benson, he's a lousy shot." Sam said.

Larry stood quickly, Carly wilted into the couch, sobbing.

"You can't mean that, Carly's told me you stretched the truth. Why are you here?" Larry asked.

"Do you have a computer?" Sam asked Larry.

"Of course, it's there in the corner, on the desk." Larry said pointing toward it.

Larry walked over with Sam to the corner desk. He sat in front of the monitor.

"Search for breaking news in Seattle." Sam said darkly.

Larry looked at Sam, and then typed in the query. The first response was for KING TV NEWS. Larry clicked on the header and read the latest news items.

"Carly, it's true. Maxine was murdered and the police are searching for Spencer."

Carly stood up and came over slowly, watching Sam.

"He's crazy, isn't he…" Carly said quietly through her tears.

"I think so Carl's…" Sam replied, nodding.

Sam went on to recount the entire story as she understood it. She started from the time Freddie and Carly first got together, and stopped at the point when Freddie moved back to Seattle. She also told them about the screams and gunshots she and Mrs. Benson had heard. And what Maxine told Mrs. Benson.

."…Spencer has been doping Freddie's mother for this entire time. She thought she was taking a sleeping pill. He had both of you taking it for about four or five years as far as I can tell. The stuff he was using is lethal. I'm really amazed he didn't kill one or both of you with it. He had it laced in all the food he made. Look Carly, I'm not here to patch things up. I'm here to warn an old friend and her family that their in a lot of danger. You folks need to get out of here. I'm convinced the only reason you're still alive, Larry, is that Spencer is out of ammunition. He'll get more by morning, and come back to kill you." Sam said.

"Why would he have done any of that?" Larry asked.

Sam started to answer, but Carly spoke up first.

"Spencer was really upset when Toby left me with Lyle. He ranted for weeks. He kept going on and on about how Lyle would need a dad, a good father, not like Toby. He kept mentioning Freddie as a roll model kind of. After that it all gets really confusing and I really don't remember much about that time at all. Now it makes sense why Spencer spent so much time here, when Freddie and I first moved to Spokane. He was here three or four days a week for a couple of years. Then he met Maxine… I know he loved her, why would he kill her?"

"I think it was because she and I had started to talk. He was afraid all this would come out. And, the fact that he's still obsessed with Carly and Freddie being together. In his mind, Larry and I are the fly's in the ointment." Sam said.

Larry looked at Carly: "Go get Lyle up, were going to my brother's place in the country."

Carly rushed upstairs.

"Do you own a gun?" Sam asked.

"No, we don't. We don't believe in violence." Larry stated.

"Yeah, well Spencer does, and he has a gun. Have you ever fired a pistol?" Sam retorted.

"Yes, I have when I was younger…" Larry said.

"Well, take this then and keep it on you. If you have to use it, don't forget the safety and to cock it." Sam said handing him hers.

Larry took the gun, and nodded while putting it in his robe pocket. They could hear Carly and Lyle coming down the stairs. Larry looked at Sam and nodded in the direction of the noise. Sam understood, don't tell Carly. Sam nodded.

Carly came into the room with Lyle by her side, the young man didn't know what was going on. He had heard about Sam, and was surprised she was there.

Sam walked over to him and introduced herself.

"Freddie really misses you Lyle, you should come visit us sometime, okay?"

Carly looked at Sam, her mouth slightly open…

"You and Freddie, you're really back together?" Carly asked.

"Yeah, I guess I left that part out, but why else would I be visiting his mother? We've been together for a bit now, I moved in with him just before Halloween last year… fitting for us, huh." Sam said.

Carly ran to her and hugged her, Sam didn't respond at first, then gently pushed her back.

"Look Carly, we're not back, okay? We're not good… I can't go back to the way things were, not yet anyway. We can email each other maybe…" Sam dug in her pocket. "Here's my card with all the numbers and email addresses and stuff on it. You know Freddie; he lives in front of the damn computer and checks the email about every five seconds. Just email, okay?"

Carly stood back, and smiled through her tears. "Okay…" She said.

Larry had been loading their car, when he came back in and asked:

"You came on a motorcycle? What are you doing now, where are you going? Do you need anything?"

"Yes, I came on my bike, and I'm heading back to Seattle as soon as you three leave. I could use a bathroom, and a strong cup of coffee, in that order." Sam said.

Carly showed her to the restroom, and went to make coffee. Larry finished loading the car and joined Carly and Sam in the kitchen. Carly had just handed Sam a cup and gave her the cream and sugar. Sam mixed her coffee and gulped it. She soon finished and set the cup on the counter... Sam then pulled out her cell phone. There were about a thousand missed calls from Freddie.

"Okay, are you guy's outa here? I need to get going. I don't want to be here when that nut case of a brother of yours comes back." Sam said.

"Thanks Sam… I hope…" Carly started.

"Yeah, I hope too… but let's get going." Sam said.

The four left the house, Carly and her family driving away in their car, and Sam heading off in the opposite direction.

Spencer sat in his car about two blocks away from his sister's house. He watched as Carly's family and Sam drove away. He just knew that if Sam wouldn't have been in the picture he could have gotten Carly and Freddie back together again. And this Larry guy… who did he think he was taking up with his sister. He had to go, as did Sam, but not now, not yet. Maxine had screwed that up when she talked privately to Sam. Maxine had to go. She just couldn't be trusted any longer. Maybe Maxine had introduced Larry to Carly, yeah… that must be it. It was Maxine's fault to begin with. That's when the trouble started… Maxine. She deserved what she got. And Sam and Larry do also. It had taken him no time at all to get his sister and Freddie together, with the help of the magic in the bottle. Reading about the magic was the best thing he'd ever done. Give that magic to them and they all see things his way. Maxine tricked him! Maxine was from Sam's side… yeah, from Sam's side. Sam must have sent Maxine to him so he would be distracted and not see Carly and Freddie's problems. That's it! Larry was from Sam's side too… He had to be. Sam had to go, had to go, had to go… but not yet. Now he had to wait. Maybe he should stop some cop and explain to them why Maxine couldn't be around to keep working for Sam. They'd understand then, maybe help him then. He didn't need any help though. He could do it himself, just like he did with Toby. They never found him, so he'd do this just the same way, by himself. That bastard Toby: Always fighting with Carly, always fighting about Lyle. Toby had to go, and he went. Nobody calls Carly a slut, nobody. Toby did, and that's when he had to go. Spencer sat quietly for a moment, and then started to laugh. He thought about how funny it all was. That day when he came home and heard Toby call his sister a slut while they were fighting. How odd it was that later, after Carly left to do some grocery shopping, Toby tried to hit me when I told him not to call Carly that. The struggle on the stairs, then the struggle continued up another flight to the landing. Then the push that sent Toby rolling down the stairs. Toby, lying at the bottom of the stairs, not moving, why isn't he moving? How frightened I was just for a while, until I saw that this was the way it was supposed to be. Freddie needed to be with Carly and Lyle… Yeah, good times. Good times…

Just before she got on the freeway, Sam pulled out her cell and called Freddie. After explaining what she had done, and why, he'd calmed down a bit. Freddie insisted she call him every hour she was on the road. Sam sighed and agreed.

"…be careful babe, I love you." Freddie said.

"I love you too, and I will be careful" Sam replied and hung up.

She started the engine and pulled back on the freeway.

Four hours to go…

Okee Dokee! Well, yes this is a day earlier than normal. Chapter 21 will be posted on Thursday, and the last chapter will go up on Sunday July 4th.

First, I would like to thank each and every one of you for reading. The support for this fic has been overwhelming and head swelling, but hugely appreciated.

I would love to hear you're comments in a review or PM. Let me know what you think. Thanks so much to everyone reading. Two chapters to go, but all finished by this next Sunday. :pig~