A/N: Bit of a long one this time - but one I'd definitely like to know what you thought of! Thanks for reading!


FORTY-FIVE.

Letting himself into the apartment, Fulton was about to call out to let Caitlin know he was home, but he was distracted by the sound of their daughter crying incessantly and frowned in concern. "Cait? Everything okay, honey?"

Hurrying from room to room, he swore in shock to find his fiancée curled up on the floor of the nursery with tears streaming down her face, their baby clutched to her chest.

"Jesus, Cait, what's happened?" Fulton exclaimed, closing the gap between them in a second and dropping to his knees in front of them. "Is it Maddie? Baby, talk to me!"

But, while she managed to shake her head, Caitlin just moved closer to him, letting him gather her into his protective arms with Maddie secure between them.

"I've got you now, sweetie – I've got you both and it's all gonna be okay …" Fulton murmured, still worried sick over what could have possibly happened, but focusing his attention on trying to comfort his family.

"I … I thought he was g-going to h-hurt her …" Caitlin sobbed into his chest as he stroked her hair soothingly.

"Maddie? Someone was going to hurt Maddie? Who?" Fulton demanded, fighting to keep his voice from rising angrily.

"I'm s-sorry – it's my fault, I let h-him in!" she cried, "I thought he was y-you!"

"Who, Caitie?" he coaxed, "Tell me, baby, and I promise I'll take care of it."

But it was obvious Caitlin was too distraught to really focus on what he was saying, continuing with her garbled story rather than answering direct questions. "I never realised … I mean, I thought I knew what he was capable of, but I never thought … not something like that … It's been him all along …"

"Cait …" Fulton sighed, trying his best to stay calm and patient.

"Brett!" she choked out, "He was here! It's all been him – the notes, the calls … Oh god, Fulton, I think he killed Lucia!"

Stunned into silence, Fulton simply held her tighter, being careful not to hurt the child in her arms. He had so many questions but, at a loss for words, he had no idea where to start – especially when Caitlin was so obviously shaken and upset. "Sweetie …" he began hesitantly, "I think you need to tell me exactly what's happened – how about I take Maddie and get her settled first? I promise she's safe, you know I'd never let anyone hurt either of you …"

"I know …" she whispered, but he could see the reluctance in her eyes and the fear of letting their daughter out of her sight.

"We'll be right in the next room, babe – I just … I'm worried about you, Cait." Fulton said. "And it's not doing Maddie any good seeing her mommy like this."

Realising the sense in that, Caitlin pressed a tearful kiss to Maddie's forehead before handing her over to her father. "I'm so sorry, sweetie." she whispered.


Sitting alone in his apartment, he heard the buzz of the doorbell but made no move to answer it – hearing the voice calling out to him, he already knew what lay ahead. He should have known he'd regret handing out the key to his place like that …

"Brett? Sweetie, are you home?" came the call – innocent enough in itself, but it was a voice that had long since started to grate on his last nerve.

Staring into the bottom of an almost drained whiskey glass, he knew ignoring her was fairly pointless and that he was just allowing the inevitable to happen. And, sure enough, he could hear the sound of her rifling through her oversized purse before the door swung open.

"Oh, you're here!" she exclaimed brightly, "Didn't you hear me?"

"I heard you." he said flatly, reaching for the bottle on the table and refilling his glass.

"Then why didn't you let me in, silly?" she said, as if she was speaking to a child – not a tone he was too fond of having aimed at himself. "Oh well, it doesn't matter – I had my key, didn't I? So how was your day?"

"Are we really going to do this?"

"This?" she said, a half-frown half-smile troubling her face. It was obvious she was trying to second guess him and failing miserably, searching for any clue in his demeanour as to what was going on while she twirled a lock of light brown hair in distraction. He hated when she did that. "How do you mean, baby?"

For once, he decided to enlighten her. "This …" he smirked, gesturing lazily with his free hand. "The whole domestic bliss routine. I'm afraid, sweetie, the joke's getting a little stale."

"Is this supposed to be funny or …"

"Oh, it's a real riot, Andrea – but you'd need to be in on the joke to really appreciate it."

"Well, why don't you explain it to me then?" she said, the smile still fixed in place but now looking more than a little forced and doing nothing to freeze the ice in her eyes. "No? Okay, how about we start with where you were today then – I called by your office and they told me you hadn't been in all day."

"I had a little something to take care of."

"Business?"

"Personal."

"What could be so personal you can't tell me?" she asked, the smile now looking decidedly dangerous.

"You want to know? You really want to know?" he said softly, setting his glass down gently on the edge of the table and standing up, actually making the brunette step back as he advanced on her. "I was seeing someone else – a woman."

But if he expected her to look hurt or thrown by that admission, he was wrong. Her lip simply curled into a sneer and her eyes narrowed as she stepped forward again. "Her." she practically spat. "I thought you'd forgotten about her?"

"For you? You think I'd forget about her for you?" he mocked her, his hand tilting her chin up towards him. "Sweet girl. Stupid, but sweet …"

"Don't underestimate me." she growled, wrenching away from him.

"Don't try telling me what to do!" he shot back, grabbing her wrist forcefully and pulling her close. "You're out of your depth, little girl."

"I wouldn't be so sure … And I'm not worried about her – one way or another, you came back - to me! She probably told you to drop dead – she has a family now and you're not included. Oh, I'm sorry, does the truth hurt?" she managed as his grip on her wrist tightened and the look on his face told her she'd hit a nerve. "Does it hurt knowing she's with someone else, knowing he's in her bed every night …? That's how much she cares about you, Brett – Little-Miss-Perfect Caitlin Rivers dropped her panties for some other guy and let him … OW!" She couldn't quite bite back the cry as he twisted her arm painfully, but she soon turned it into an infuriating laugh. "What is it about her that's so special anyway? I don't get it …"

"You wouldn't." Brett snarled, before pushing her away from him.

"I know you'll see sense, Brett." the young woman said, trying a different tack as she straightened her blouse and rubbed her aching wrist, the overly bright look and tone appearing again – as suddenly as it had disappeared before.

"Are you fucking crazy? Take a hint, Andie, and get over it – do you have any idea how desperate you look running after her cast-offs? Men, jobs … You'll never be like her. Not even close."

"I … I don't want to be." she insisted. But he could tell it was his turn to score a point – although he couldn't quite seem to care.

"I'm bored of this now." he sighed dismissively, "Just get your shit and get out of my …"

The crash as the door of his apartment flew back and hit the wall cut him dead and both of them could only stare as armed police officers descended on the lawyer.

"Get your hands off me! Have you any idea who I am?" Brett roared.

"What are you doing?" Andie demanded, "You can't do this – don't touch him!"

"Brett Ducaine, you're under arrest on suspicion of the murder of Lucia Mendes. You have the right to remain silent, so why don't you do us all a favour and fucking use it!" a burly officer barked. "Get him out of here!"


"So let me get this straight? Your ex has been arrested – for murder?" Julie gasped, leaning forward as she perched on the edge of the couch next to Caitlin, who simply nodded numbly. "I … I have no idea what to say … Oh, thanks, Fult." Accepting a cup of coffee from her friend, she watched as he set two more cups on the table and then sat down close beside his girlfriend, his hand rubbing her knee comfortingly. "Cait, you could have told me all this stuff – about the calls and everything – you must have been so worried!"

"That's what I said." Fulton added, "Turns out I didn't know the half of what was going on …"

"I'm sorry." Caitlin said softly, "I guess I didn't want to worry you – any of you. I never thought it could be … him. And I definitely never thought whoever was behind it would actually hurt someone. God, if feel so guilty! Maybe if I'd said something … Lucia wouldn't have … she'd still be here."

"Oh baby, it's not your fault." Fulton assured her, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her temple tenderly. "You can't think like that."

"Fult's right." Julie agreed, "You didn't know – you couldn't have. At least now he can't hurt anyone else. They'll lock him up and then it'll all be over …"

"Speaking of which …" Fulton said, "We have to go down the station so Cait can give a statement – I really don't want Maddie there. Can you look after her for a bit, Jules?"

"Uh, sure." Julie said, just a little nervous at the prospect of looking after the baby on her own – but she could hardly say no under the circumstances.

"You'll be fine." he smiled, reading her thoughts. "I'll go get her ready. Thanks, Julie."


"You okay, sweetie?" Fulton asked gently as they reached the sidewalk outside their building, his arm secure around Caitlin's waist. "It's nearly over, Caitie, I promise – we get this out of the way and then we can forget about it all for good. We can get on with our lives – just you, me and Maddie."

Managing a smile for him, Caitlin stood on tiptoe to hug him tightly, breathing in the scent of him as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. "I love you – I couldn't do this without you." she whispered.

"Good job you'll never have to then, isn't it?" he grinned, drawing back just enough to kiss her lips and then cuddling her close again for a second before releasing her. "I love you too - now come on, we should get going …"

"Damn, I forgot my jacket …" Caitlin groaned, "Two seconds – I'll run up and get it."

"Okay, I'll be over by the car." Fulton said, pointing to where he was parked on the other side of the street and then heading over that way as Caitlin hurried back inside.

Leaning against the side of the car, his arms folded and his head tilted back to enjoy the sunshine, he tuned his attention back to the street at the sound of an engine revving incessantly. "Someone's gonna flood it …" he muttered, before spotting Caitlin emerging from the apartment block and smiling.

In spite of everything she'd been through, she looked perfect to him. Up close, there might be signs of worry on her face – signs he was keen to get rid of sooner rather than later – and she insisted she was having trouble shifting her pregnancy weight, but Fulton remained unconvinced. He just saw the woman he had fallen so completely in love with – a woman all the more beautiful to him for having made him a father.

Waving to get her attention, he grinned when she smiled and blew him a little kiss. In the back of his mind, he registered that whoever was revving the hell out of their engine seemed to have gotten bored with that and he could hear the screech of tyres as the car shot off – it vaguely reminded him of Portman's little-boy-racer phase back in their high school days. From the look of the expensive vehicle though, this was one kid who never grew up … Or learned how to handle a car.

"Cait!" Fulton yelled in alarm, as the car sped forward – even seeming to accelerate as it mounted the sidewalk and ploughed across it. "Cait, look out!"

But the air filled with the sound of a sickening thud even as he ran across the road, ignoring the horns that blared as drivers were forced to slam on their brakes for him. All he could hear was the twisting metal and smashing glass as the car's path of destruction was finally halted by an unrelenting brick wall.

Then silence.

He didn't know what was worse.


to be continued ...