Steve smiled wickedly with a low chuckle. "Well, I have a sneaking suspicion that our Mr. Johnny Seddon lived under the benefit of… shall we say, powerful family connections."

Mike lowered his head slightly and stared at his partner from under a furrowed brow. "So you're thinking that what he tried to do to Jeannie…" he paused and swallowed heavily, "that it wasn't his first time?"

The smile gone, Steve nodded slowly.

Mike's eyes slid away and his focus turned inward for a long beat. "I've been thinking the same thing." He took a deep breath then looked at the younger man again, nodding at the phone book and the local paper. "So you want me to go through those to see if I can figure out how big a hold the Seddon family has over this town?"

Steve shrugged slightly. "It's a long shot but -"

"No no no," the older man interrupted gently. "I think that's a great idea." He put the coffee cup on the floor then reached over and picked up The Eldred Gazette. "You never know what you can discover reading between the lines, right?"

Steve grinned. "Right."

Mike laughed softly. "Great idea, buddy boy. I'll get started right away." He took the phone book out of his partner's hand, smiling.

The younger man stared at him warmly for long second, grateful that he could bring Mike in on his own defence, even if it was only in this small way. "Ah, listen, I gotta get outa here. I want to find that house I've got to go to tonight. I want to make sure I know exactly where it is so I don't have to stumble around in the dark trying to find it. That would hardly be 'discreet', would it?"

Mike looked up at him with a frown. "You be careful, all right? I'm worried about you out there on your own, especially now that we suspect the whole damn town may be in on this."

Steve chuckled as he got to his feet, pushing the cot back against the far wall. "Don't worry, I don't intend on either becoming a victim or ending up in here with you."

"Your lips…" Mike intoned quietly and the younger man chuckled.

"Listen, uh, anything you want me to tell Jeannie when I go see her?"

Mike stared at him expressionlessly then pursed his lips and shook his head slightly. "Just tell her I hope she's doing okay and that I love her," he said softly.

Steve smiled. "I will. Listen, ah, I'll try to drop in again tonight before I head off to my… rendezvous." He turned to go, then stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot." He reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a pack of gum and the Milky Way. "Here. A little treat."

The older man stared at the items in his partner's hand then looked up, a smile building as he took them. "Hey, thanks, buddy boy."

"You're welcome. I got a Butterfinger for Jeannie."

"Oh, she'll love that. Hey, ah, thanks for the coffee too."

"You're welcome. Maybe tomorrow I can bring you one that's actually hot." Chuckling, Steve walked to the cell door and rattled it. "Doris, I'm done in here!"

# # # # #

Feeling a presence hovering over his desk, Haseejian looked up. Devitt was staring at him with a worried frown.

"Has anybody heard from Steve yet?" the grey-haired captain almost snapped.

Biting back a sarcastic and woefully inappropriate 'Good morning,' the Homicide sergeant shook his head. "Not a word yet."

Devitt exhaled loudly and quickly. "I don't like the sound of that. He should've gotten down there mid-afternoon at the latest yesterday. He said he'd call as soon as he had something to tell us." He snorted softly. "I don't like this at all."

Haseejian nodded. The gravity of the situation was wearing on everyone in Homicide. There were a lot of very worried cops both in the office and out on the streets.

Devitt stared into space for a long second then spun around, heading into Mike's office and crossing around behind the desk. He threw the top drawer open then froze, his shoulders sagging. "Does anyone know where the pad with the map on it is?!" he shouted towards the bullpen.

"I think Steve took it with him," Healey offered as he appeared at the office door, coffee cup in hand.

"Great. So does anyone know where they are?"

Healey glanced over his shoulder as Haseejian joined him, both of them shaking their heads. Devitt scanned the bullpen through the windows; all the detectives and uniformed cops present were shaking their heads as well.

"Great," Devitt muttered under his breath, looking down at the desk, his hands on his hips. He closed his eyes, trying to remember what was written on the pad when Steve showed it to him the other day. "E," he said, opening his eyes. "I'm pretty sure the name of the town near where Mike was camping began with an E."

"There's a lot of towns south of here that begin with an E," Healey ventured tentatively, not wanting to poke the bear.

Devitt's head snapped up, scowling. "I know that. But this one's just on the other side of the San Bernardino National Forest, isn't it? So that narrows it down quite a bit, doesn't it?"

"I'll find a map," Haseejian said quickly, turning away and hurrying back to his desk.

# # # # #

Steve was looking for Elmira. He didn't remember seeing it on any street signs he had noticed between the grocery store and the police station, but then again, he hadn't been paying much attention. He decided if he passed it on the way back to the motel, he would check it out. If not, he would spend some time with Jeannie first and then try to find it early afternoon.

He was half-tempted to ask one of the locals he passed on the sidewalk, but nixed that idea, not trusting anybody. His paranoia was starting to run deep, he thought with a mental chuckle, then realized that it was really only paranoia if it wasn't true. If the whole town actually was in on a big conspiracy, then he was just being carefully circumspect.

Buoyed by the self-diagnosis, and hiding behind his dark glasses, he let the soft smile that curled his lips linger as he continued down the wide concrete sidewalk.

# # # # #

There was a loud pounding on the door and the unpleasant voice she was becoming familiar with yelled, "Yer lawyer's here again, sweetheart! He's comin' in!" She heard the lock slip off the hasp and the door opened.

Shooting a look of controlled anger over his shoulder, Steve stepped into the room and the door shut behind him, the lock snapping shut again. Jeannie was sitting on the bed, staring wide-eyed at the door. She tried to smile when she saw him, her bottom lip starting to tremble. He stood just inside the door and smiled at her warmly.

She pushed herself away from the headboard and crawled across the bed then stood and slowly wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her close and rested his cheek against the top of her head. He rocked her for several long seconds before he whispered, "I'm sorry it took so long for me to get here." He hugged her tighter. "Are you okay?" He felt her nod then she pulled away from him and looked up into his face.

"It's okay… I know you've got a lot to do. How's Mike?" She tried to control the worry in her voice but wasn't totally successful.

"He's doing great. I've put him to work on something I'll tell you about a little later. He really loved the note, by the way." He chuckled softly. "He didn't share it with me…"

She smiled then pulled him towards the bed. He sat; she crossed to the TV and turned it off, then sat beside him. "So, what have you been doing? Have you found out anything?"

He held up both hands to slow her down. "Whoa, whoa…. In my role as your lawyer," he snorted, rolling his eyes, and she chuckled, "I need to ask you all about last Saturday first. I need to hear what happened from your perspective, see if you can add anything to what Mike told me. Then I promise to tell you all about my last twenty-four hours."

"Ooo," she dragged out the vowel, her eyes crinkling, "sounds intriguing. I can hardly wait."

He laughed, relieved to see she was showing signs of her normal feisty self. "Well, preserve yourself in patience, my dear, or something like that." She frowned at him and he laughed then reached out to touch her cheek near the still slightly swollen eye. He nodded at the stitches in her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

She bobbled her head. "I'm okay. I think I'll need to get the stitches out soon but I guess the doctor is still on vacation."

"I wonder if he's in Hawaii too?" Steve muttered under his breath and she frowned in confusion.

"What?"

He chuckled. "Nothing. I'll explain later." He took a deep breath. "Well, hopefully we'll be home in a couple of days and we can get a real doctor to look at the both of you."

"A couple of days? Do you think it'll be that soon?" Steve smiled encouragingly. "I sure hope so. But first, I need to hear about what happened on Saturday from you."

She nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay."

# # # # #

He had pulled the second cot closer to use as a desk. He spread the local newspaper out, and balanced the pad on his knee, a pen at the ready in his right hand. He was still surprised, and grateful, he'd had the foresight to put his reading glasses in his duffle bag.

The Eldred Gazette had proved to be an interesting read. It was a combination of local news events and gossip, and columns about hiking, fishing and travel from regular contributors. He had already made a number of notes, and he hadn't even cracked the phone book yet.

He reached down with his left hand and picked up the half-eaten Milk Way off the top of the duffle bag, not wanting to put it on the blanket beside him; he preferred his own germs and dirt to someone else's. He straightened up to take a bite then froze, catching his breath. Dropping the pen, he grabbed the left side of his chest with his right hand, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Dammit," he growled through clenched teeth, mad at himself. He shouldn't have been bent over the paper for so long; his ribs hadn't healed enough to do that yet. His right hand still against his chest, he put the Milky Way down, picked up the pillow from the end of the cot and stuffed it against the wall behind him then leaned back, closing his eyes again as he tried to drag long, slow breaths into his lungs, hoping the pain would subside.

# # # # #

"I was washing my hands when someone knocked on the door. I thought it was someone who just wanted to use the bathroom… but it wasn't…" She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, facing him but not looking at him. He was perched casually on the corner, one foot on the floor, the other knee on the bed, his hands clasped casually in his lap, trying to keep his presence as low-key as possible. He knew that even though he was a friend, it was going to be hard for her to open up to him completely.

"I shouted that it was occupied but a couple of seconds later they knocked again. I yelled again and that's when he kicked the door in. Before I could even move he grabbed me, he put a hand over my mouth and pulled me down to the floor…. It was so fast… and he was bigger and stronger than me…" She was staring into space, her eyes unfocused.

"I tried to call out… to call for Mike… but he kept his hand over my mouth… my arms pinned to my sides…" She swallowed heavily, briefly biting her bottom lip. "He'd done it before, I know he had. He knew exactly what to do and exactly how I'd respond…" She blinked quickly several times and her eyes slid slowly in Steve's direction. She stared at him for a long silent beat. "I wasn't his first victim… I know I wasn't…"