Jim did do some snooping. There were gaps in McKeen's schedule for the past few months where his where abouts were unknown. And no one seemed to know where he was the night Warrick was shot. Jim headed to CSI to see how Grissom was doing with his review of the evidence.

Catherine was walking down the hall when Jim turned the corner. His expression worried her; he had that look…the one that said he was angry…beyond angry; the expression that he got when a case really got to him. "Jim?" she said apprehensively.

His eyes met hers but then seemed to look through her. Then he glanced around and pulled her into her office. Closing the door, he spoke softly. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she answered, confused. "What…"

"McKeen been around here today?"

"Ah…no. Jim, what's going on?"

His voice was low and gravely. He was frowning, his eyes dark. "We got a break on Warrick's case."

"You did?" she was excited…relieved. The case had seemed unsolvable and it weighed on all of them. "What's the break?"

"One of Gedda's body guards…he, um…pointed the finger at McKeen."

Catherine was shocked. "Our McKeen? As in the Under-Sherriff?"

"Yeah," Jim sighed. "Listen, Gil and I are trying to work this very quietly, you know. I mean, if it is McKeen…"

"Yeah," Catherine said thoughtfully.

"Well, he's already killed one of us…I don't want you in his crosshairs. You understand what I'm saying here?"

"I think so," she said slowly.

"At some point, he's going to figure out that I'm looking into his activities…stay away from him, Baby. Don't let him anywhere near you, okay."

"Yeah…ah, okay. But what about you? If her finds out you are investigating him…won't you be a target?"

"Possibly. But I'll be able to watch my back better if I'm not worrying about you…and the kids. Maybe you could take a few days off to stay with them. Maybe get Sam's old body guard to hang around too."

"I'll see about the days off, but honestly…Sam got shot with the guy standing right there. I don't trust him with the kid's lives."

"Yeah….you got a point." His hands went to her arms, gently sliding down from her shoulders to her wrists, where he claimed her hands. "I just need to know you and the kids are safe. If anything happens to any of you, I…"

"Nothing's going to happen, Jim. I'll get the kids and we'll set up at one of Sam's places. He won't get to us there."

"Okay, good. Yeah, that'll be good." Jim said, relief sweeping through him. "Let me know when you settle so I can breathe again."

"Yeah. But you have to promise me…"

"What Baby?"

"You'll be careful. I need to breathe too."

"Yeah. I'll be careful. Nothing stupid, I promise. Just…" His hand went to her cheek, his thumb caressing the outline of it as his fingers held her jaw. Catherine saw his expression change from concern to anguish. "Just be there for me when it's over…"

Her arms enveloped him and she held him securely. "You know I will. I'll be waiting…"

Grissom was locked in one of the layout rooms with the evidence. Jim found him there and listened as the criminalist went over the evidence. "We don't have much to work with," he began. "But there was a hair on the passenger door. We couldn't get DNA from it because there was no follicle but if we can compare it to one of McKeen's…"

"So what, one of us walks up to him and says, 'Pardon me, but may I have a hair?" Jim's attitude was cocky and sarcastic.

Gil smirked and then shrugged. "We'll find a way. Also, there was a footprint near the car; if we could get into his closet….compare his shoes…"

"What size shoe?"

"Size 11 with a distinctive pattern…also," Gil said as he reached for the mold of the footprint, "look at the way the weight was distributed. The owner walks on the outside of his foot somewhat. There's more wear on that part of the sole. See," he said as his finger traced the pattern, "he sort of rolls from the heel to the toes; an easy step, not a hard one"

"So he walks lightly, not a heavy step like some men."

"Right."

"Okay, anything else?"

"Just one thing but I doubt it will matter anymore."

"What's that?"

"We found traces of burnt skin on one of the shell casings. The casing flew back and hit him on the hand or arm, most likely. There would have been a burn mark for awhile. In all likelihood, it has healed by now."

"Damn…"

"Yeah," Grissom said as he stared at the table filled with the evidence.

Catherine called Jim just before the shift ended. "I've got the kids and we are at Sam's ranch. There's plenty of security here. Mom suggested it actually. She's here too. You're being careful?"

"Yeah, but so far there's not much to be careful about." They talked a few more minutes and then Jim let her go to bed. He headed home to an empty house.

The next two days were uneasy ones for Jim. As he and Gil worked every angle they could think of, he worried constantly about his little family. He called Catherine several times throughout the day to check on them and each time, she assured him that they were okay. And when he tried to sleep, the nightmares were horrible. In his dreams, McKeen went after Catherine, taking from Jim that which he treasured most in life. Various scenes played out in his dreams, all ending with her death. He soaked the sheets as he sweated through them.

Then suddenly, the case broke open. McKeen had seen Hopkins in the hall and the prisoner's reaction to him. The Under-Sherriff tried to make the witness go away by having the charges against him dismissed. The D.A. alerted Jim, who headed for the jail. "What's going on?" he asked the Under-Sherriff. "Why are you messing with my case here?"

"Just trying to clear the backlog," McKeen told him. "This guy's been sitting here for days. We need to arraign him or let him go."

"He's scheduled to go to court this afternoon," Jim offered.

"Oh…well, alright then." McKeen was hesitant. Hopkins looked like he was going to be sick.

"What's wrong, Hopkins?" Jim asked.

"He…he um….please, don't let him take me out of here…"

Jim frowned. "Why not. I'd think you would like to get out?"

"No, not with …him. He…."

McKeen was trying to stare Hopkins down and then looked nervously at Jim. "You can't listen to him, Jim. He's rattled. No telling what he might say."

"Yeah, I know…." Then Jim turned to Hopkins. "But I'd like to hear what he has to say anyway."

Hopkins answered Jim's cue. "He…was the man behind Gedda. He….he was the one that ordered Gedda killed. That other cop, he told Gedda that right before he shot him."

"You heard that?" Jim asked. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

Hopkins swallowed and looked from one man to the other. "I thought if I kept my mouth shut, I'd be okay. But since he came after me…"

Jim looked from the prisoner to McKeen. "Care to explain?"

"He's crazy, Jim. A lunatic…"

"So if we investigate his allegations, you'll be in the clear?"

"Yeah, but…"

"But what?

McKeen blanched. "You're going to investigate me?" He looked horrified.

"Have to check out his allegations. But hey, you said you'd be in the clear, so no problem, right?

The other man swallowed with difficulty. "Yeah… no problem. Okay, just do what you need to do," he said icily before turning to walk away.

Three hours later, McKeen was stopped by the state troopers. He was on the Interstate headed south, out of Nevada. Jim drove out to place his cuffs on the man personally. Now that they had him, they could investigate thoroughly. Within hours they had the evidence they needed to pin three murders on him. He had ordered the murder of Lou Gedda, killed and buried the young cop, and finally and most importantly to Jim, they had him for the murder of Warrick Brown.

Jim called Catherine. "We got him," was all he could manage. Suddenly he felt very tired…and old.

"For real. He really did it?"

"Yeah…once he tried to run, we had him."

"Yeah." She heard the emptiness in his voice, the hurt. Once again he'd been responsible for taking a bad cop off the street. But in this case, it was a higher up…someone Jim had worked closely with at times and someone for whom he had held a lot of respect. McKeen had stood vigil at the hospital when Jim was near death. And now Jim had arrested him and helped collect the evidence that would put him away. Yeah, he was hurting….again. "Look, it's nice out here at the ranch. Why don't you come out for a couple of days to rest…relax. Then we can all drive back together."

Jim hesitated, thinking he just wanted to go home. But then he remembered; she was his home. "Yeah, I'll pack a few things and head out."

"I'll be waiting," she said, the tone of her voice telling him that he needed to hurry. She had missed him as much as he had missed her.

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Wow, you guys are fantastic! I opened the reviews for this story and there were so many on the last chapter that I did the happy dance in the middle of the floor, lol. Thank you! It really energized me to see so many responses. I hope you like this chapter too.