NOVEMBER 23, MONDAY

Kelley and Charlie woke up early that morning. It was the day of the trip she had been dreading, the day she was going to visit the cemetery. But first they were going to see Kelley's family on her mother's side. They headed to the kitchen for another of G's breakfasts.

"You heading to the cemetery today Little One?" G asked from the stove.

"Yes ma'am. I know it's going to be tough but Charlie, Alan, and Don are going with me. We're going to see mom's folks first." She headed to the frige to pour herself some juice. "Don, Charlie, Alan you guys want juice?" The three Eppes men had entered the room and were getting their plates ready to eat.

"You bet Ladybug." Don came over and tusseled her hair. "You know I like justice with my breakfast."

"I know Don. Just checking." She got down four glasses and began to make everyone's juice.

"Ladybug, you know we can take care of ourselves right?" Alan asked adding butter to his French toast.

"She does. She's just always been like that. She likes to take care of people. Especially the boys and Elizabeth." G said fixing herself a cup of coffee. "Pappy you want some more coffee?" She had brought the pot over to her husband.

"Yes please." He answered as she poured.

Don leaned over to Charlie and whispered. "I think I see now where she gets it."

"I heard that Don." G returned to the kitchen.

Everyone sat down and ate their breakfast. Afterward everyone got ready and Kelley drove the Eppes men to the small community her mother grew up in, and where most of her family still lived. It was a small town outside of Oxford called Water Valley. They stopped at Kelley's aunt's house where all of the family had decided to meet up.

"I wasn't expecting a family reunion here too!" Kelley got out of the car and was met by her mom's oldest sister Carmita.

"Well Hunny, we figured we make it easy on you. This must be your fella we've been hearing so much about." She gave Kelley a big hug.

"Yes ma'am it is. Aunt Carmita this is Charlie Eppes, his brother Don and dad Alan." Carmita greeted each of them in turn.

"It's so nice to finally meet you all. Now let's get inside and see everyone." She led the group into the house.

The house was crowded. Kelley's mom was the middle child of 11 kids so there were lots of aunts, uncle, and cousins to meet. Everyone was so happy to see Kelley and meet her new friends from California.

"Well you sure look good." Her cousin Angela was saying.

"You know I feel pretty good too." She gave her cousin a big smile.

"Girl, I'd smile too if I had a cutie like that." She gave Kelley a wink.

"Ha ha. Very funny." She elbowed her.

"I'm serious. He seems to really be in love with you. And you need that after all the crap you've had to deal with. You deserve someone who loves you like that."

"Thanks. He is great and his dad and brother have made me feel like one of the family." She looked at Angela just as her aunt Carmita called them to lunch.

Kelley headed to the table with her plate. It was the usual that her grandmother used to make. Ham, pinto beans, corn, and biscuits.

"You know sometimes the simplest meals are the best." Alan said as he cleaned his plate.

"I know that was so good." Don said as he pushed away from the table.

"Well with 11 kids Mamaw had to find cheap ways to feed all of them. Pinto beans were always cheap." Kelley gave the guys a smile as she took another bite. "I forgot how much I missed meals like this."

"You know you can feed a country girl all the fancy California dinners in the world but she still loves what she grew up on." Charlie smiled at her. "But I can see why. This is really good."

"I told you guys I would show you some southern hospitality." Kelley leaned over and rested her head on Charlie's shoulder.

The crew hung out at Carmita's house most of the day. They were getting ready to leave and head to the cemetery. Kelley was making her round and saying good bye to all of her family. Charlie knew it would take her awhile so he pulled her uncle's to the side.

"I need to ask you all a question. I'm not sure how traditions work around here so I wanted to ask you before I did anything." Charlie began to talk to the men gathered there.

"I think I know where this is going." Uncle Gary looked to his brothers and smiled.

"Me too." Her Uncle Rocky elbowed his brother Freddie.

"Aw hell son just ask." Freddie put his hand on Charlie's shoulder.

Charlie took a deep breath, "Ok here goes."

After all the good-byes were said Kelley, Charlie, Don, and Alan headed to the car. "Now you make sure she finishes her Master's. Kelley is the only one of the 63 grand kids to even get a Bachelor's degree so for her to keep going would mean a lot to this family."

"I don't think that will be a problem. She loves school. But I promise I will make sure she does." Charlie gave Carmita a hug.

They all got back in the car and Kelley started to drive to the cemetery. Everyone could tell she was really quiet. "Are you ok?" Charlie asked her.

"Yeah I just haven't been to my parent's grave since the day after the funeral. I was so hell bend on getting out of here. I just couldn't do it." She kept driving calmly.

"Well you have backup this time Ladybug. We're all with you." Don said putting his hand on her shoulder from behind her.

They finally reached the cemetery. They all got out and let Kelley lead the way in silence. "Well here we are." She approached a small area separated from the rest of the lots by a railroad tie square. "The James family plot." She pointed to a headstone marked with the names Jesse and Mary James. "That's my Nanny and Papaw. My dad's parents. And this.." She pointed to another. "..this is my parents." She stopped in front of their headstone. She stood there in silence for awhile as tears came down her cheeks. "Hey Mom. Hey Dad." She began to talk to them. Charlie put his arm around her shoulders. Don and Alan moved closer to comforter her. "This is Charlie, Alan, and Don Eppes. They are taking good care of me in the big city." She smiled and wiped her tears. "And don't worry Don here is in the FBI too. And if I know him, before we leave here he will find who did this to you." They all smiled at this.

"I'm gonna do my best." As he said this Don's FBI instincts kicked in. He felt as if someone was watching them. He reached for his gun only to realize that it wasn't there. "Someone's here" he thought. He remembered that Kelley and Charlie had no idea he was on the lookout for the guy posing as Baker. Of course they were all staring at him by this point. "Sorry, thought I heard something."

"Well we are in the middle of nowhere." Kelley gave him a little smile. "There are probably critters in the woods." She put her hand on his shoulder. "You're too jumpy G-Man." She smiled at him. "But I needed a laugh." They stayed a few more minutes and they headed back to G's house.

It was a warn day so for dinner G was having Jimmy grill in the back yard. They were having burgers with fries G cooked inside. Of course the boys were excited. "Don let's play catch!" Hamp called across the backyard.

"Play catch huh? Whatda 'ya think Ladybug?" Don turned to Kelley. "Should I play catch with this little monster?"

"Hmm" she thought for a second. "I don't know Hamp Don used to play baseball in the minor leagues. He's pretty good."

Hamps eyes grew big. "Really? The minor leagues? That is so cool! But it's just catch not a real game."

"You're right there." She nodded to Don. "Go ahead. But take it easy on him Hamp he's out of practice."

"Watch it Ladybug." Don pointed back at her and he was being drug by the hand into the yard by Hamp.

Everyone was hanging around in the yard and goofing off. Kelley had moved to the edge of the yard by herself and was looking at G's flower garden. Suddenly she got a feeling she hadn't had in over a year. It was the same feeling she had gotten outside of the bingo hall before the ordeal with Rials started. She began to look around into the trees behind the house. The back of the property back up to a highway but the trees had been planted to drown out some of the noise. She could see through them a little and could defiantly make out a car parked on the side of the road. She moved a little closer to the tree line. She could have sworn she could have seen someone standing beside the car. She felt a hand on her shoulder and almost jumped out of her skin. She screamed loudly which of course sent Don whirling around and reaching for his gun.

"Whoa! Sorry Little One." Jimmy had been the one so startle her. "I was just coming to see what you were looking at so hard over here."

"Gosh Jimmy! You scared me half to death!" Everyone had gone back to their fun. "I thought I saw someone by that car that's parked on the road." She pointed to where the car was just in time for Jimmy to see it speed off.

"Hmm." He thought the worst but did a good job hiding it from her. "Must have overheated or something. Nothing to worry about. Come on food's ready." He took her arm and guided her back to the group. He quickly exchanged glances with Don.

Everyone finished eating and headed inside to watch a movie. Afterwards it time for teeth brushing, face washing, and then off to bed. Hamp wanted Don to help him do all three. Kelley watched on and smiled. Charlie came up and joined her. "He is so good with kids." Kelley put her arm around Charlie's waist and laid her head on his shoulder.

"He is. Just wait until they are his niece or nephew, he'll be even better." He kissed her forehead. "You've been awfully quiet tonight. You ok?"

"Yeah just a long day is all. I do want to talk to you about something but it can wait." Don had finished helping Hamp in the bathroom so she headed in to get herself ready for bed.

After saying goodnight to everyone Kelley and Charlie began to settle in for the night. She pulled the covers back and joined Charlie as he read a math magazine. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" Charlie asked and she scooted closer to him.

"Is it just me or has Don been acting weird to you? I mean he freaked out at the cemetery and tonight when I was looking at that car in the trees he and Jimmy exchange a weird glance. Both times he reached for his gun." Kelley lay down and rested her head on his chest.

"Yeah I did notice that. What? Do you think something's up?" Charlie put his arm around her and began to stoke her arm.

"I don't know. Don's on edge a lot of the time but only when he's working an important case. Which tells me he's working mom and dad's murder but not telling me what's going on." She raises her head and looked at Charlie.

"Do you think you could be in danger?" He face grew concerned.

"I don't know. I did get this weird feeling today, when I saw that car through the trees it felt like someone was staring at me." She shivered a little remembering how it felt.

"Did you tell Don or Jimmy?" Charlie's concern was growing even more.

"No. Do you think I should?" She gave him a questioning look. "I mean I don't want them to overreact but then again if something is going on they need to know everything."

"Exactly. I think you should tell them in the morning. You can't be too careful." He smiled warmly. "Now it has been a long day and we have an even longer one planned for tomorrow, so let's get some sleep."

She cuddled close as he turned off his lamp. "Goodnight Charlie. I love you."

"I love you too. Sleep tight." Charlie pulled her close but couldn't sleep. He was too worried about the trouble that could be heading their way.