The next morning, Mac woke up and sat straight up in the bed. Christine sat up beside him and looked around her. She had almost forgotten that they were home herself. She held Mac's arm. "What is it?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," Mac said. "For a minute there, I thought I was still chained to that wall."

"And I thought I was in that chair."

Mac hugged her to him. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"Well, it wasn't your fault."

"I should have been more cautious or something."

Christine kissed him. "Oh, I've missed you so," she said.

Mac looked at her and realized how much he had been missing her too. "I've missed you too."

They shared a long, intimate kiss and then forgot that they had been scared a few moments before. Christine got up later and got a shower. She wanted to fix a good breakfast but as she stood at the stove in the kitchen, she felt almost afraid. She did not like feeling afraid in her own apartment. She and Mac had not had much time to get used to living together there in the apartment. She knew what he meant now though about everything being mingled together. She had walked into the closet and saw his clothes on one side and hers on the other and all their things in the bathroom. It just made everything feel so cozy and like home. He made it home to her and she hoped that she made him feel the same way.

When she had the breakfasts ready, she put them on a tray and went into the bedroom where Mac was still sleeping. "Wake up," she said. She set the tray on the dresser and went over to the bed, knowing that it would take her a few minutes to get him to wake up. She hoped he would get over this soon, but she did not know if he would or not. It definitely took time like the doctor said. "Wake up, Mac," she said and kissed him. "Come on. I have a wonderful breakfast fixed for you."

Mac moved a little and took a deep breath. "What?" he asked.

Christine smiled. "I said, I have a wonderful breakfast fixed for you. Wake up."

"I'm awake."

"You always say that. Come on, now."

Mac was relaxed and did not want to wake up and his brain did not feel any urgency to wake up. "Come on," Christine said. "Don't you remember that case you wanted to finish?"

Mac's eyes opened slightly then. "Huh?"

"Oh, that got your attention. The case?"

Mac looked at her. "The case," he said. "I remember, the case with the thousand year old sword."

"Yes, that case. You have to take your medicine and eat some breakfast so you can go and find that murderer."

Mac sat up and rubbed his face. "I think I was relaxed," he said.

Christine smiled. "I think you were just worn out," she replied.

Mac looked at her with a grin. "You might be right." He took the medicine and drank some water. He shivered at the taste. "Yuck, that stuff tastes bad."

"This will taste much better." Christine set the tray of food on the bed and kissed him. She sat on the bed and they ate together. "Are you going to the office?"

"I think I should," Mac said. He frowned. "I hope that there won't be trouble about all this."

"How could there be? She kidnapped you."

"But I still went in there and stole those jewels."

Christine frowned. "You shouldn't have."

Mac looked at her with surprise. "And just let her kill you?" he asked.

"No, I suppose not."

"No, and you would have done the same thing."

"Mac, they can't charge you with anything, can they?"

"I don't think so. Since I was acting in defense of you and had no intention of letting her get away with those diamonds and they were returned, I don't think the prosecutor will do anything but I could be suspended for a while."

"Why?"

"Because I'm supposed to be a trained officer and even the head of that crime lab and I shouldn't let threats make me do something illegal."

"Oh, Mac, that is absurd. Any of them would have done the same thing if they actually love somebody."

Mac took another bite of his breakfast. "This is a whole lot better than the medicine, by the way," he said.

Christine smiled. "Good," she said. "I think I will go to the restaurant today."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I know Janice takes care of everything when I'm not there but I want to go."

Mac touched her face. "I meant it when is said we were going away," he said. "We're going over to that cabin in the mountains."

"In Wyoming?"

"Yes."

"I've never been there, but from what I've seen and heard, it's beautiful."

"It is. Fresh air, mountains, streams and plenty of fish."

"Oh, we're going fishing again."

"Of course. I wouldn't want to go to the mountains without fishing. We might even hunt some jewels."

"Jewels? I think I've had enough of those."

"Yeah, maybe, but they do have this place up there that you can look for jewels."

"Anything's possible, I guess."

Mac finished eating and went to get a shower. Christine went back into the kitchen. While she cleaned the dishes, she thought about going over there to Wyoming. They would be more alone than they were at the cabin there in New York. She had wanted to go up there before all this kidnapping situation happened, but she was not sure now. She thought Mac probably needed some time alone like that so he could recover from all this. She knew he was still having problems with his memory and sleep problems.

When Mac was done with his shower, he got dressed in his gray suit and black shirt. He hoped nothing would interfere with him investigating the crime that they had been working on. He went into the kitchen and hugged Christine from behind. "Oooh, you smell good," she said.

"So do you," Mac replied and kissed her on the neck.

Christine wriggled in his arms. "Stop that," she said. "I have to get going now."

"Me too. I'll drop you off at the restaurant."

They went down to the Avalanche when they were both finished getting ready. Mac drove to the restaurant. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Christine replied. "Are you sure you're ready to go back to the lab?"

"Okay, I get your point. I think we both need to work."

"Probably, but I want to see you at lunch."

"I'll do my best."

They kissed and then Christine went into the restaurant. Mac watched her a moment but then she waved to him from inside. He blew out a deep breath and then headed for the lab. He had to admit to himself that he was nervous about her being there but he had to remember that Stella was dead and so was Ella as far as he knew. They had not found her body yet. He still had to wonder if Quinn had anything to do with that but from all indications, she was not in on it. He frowned as he thought of all those things that they had stolen from him. He wanted that stuff back but did not know how to find it. It could be anywhere.

Jo was shocked to see Mac walk into the lab. "What on earth are you doing here?" she asked. "You should be at home resting."

"I don't want to be at home resting right now," Mac said. "I want to know who killed that victim downstairs. Have you been to the college yet?"

"No, but the fingerprints on the fake sword and the display case…well, I'll let you look at it."

Mac looked at the report. There had been fingerprints from seven different people on the display case, but only two sets on the sword. Mac looked at Jo. "The victim's prints were on the fake sword?" he asked.

Jo nodded. "Yes," she said. "What do you make of that?"

"Where were they?"

"On the pummel like he had held the sword."

"And who is this Patrick Westin?" Mac asked.

"He's also a student at Chelsea University. Archaeology student."

"Archaeology?"

"Yes, and that makes a very interesting case, doesn't it?"

"What does our victim study out there?"

"The same thing."

"I think we need to go and visit the college."
"Me too."

Mac looked at the folder. "What about what Sheldon found at the victim's apartment?" he asked.

"There wasn't much there," Jo said. "The computer had a lot of college assignments typed in it though and one particular assignment was this."

Mac looked at the printout that Jo gave him. "They were making a replica of the sword of Charlemagne?"

Jo smiled. "I love it when you get that look on your face," she said.

Mac shook his head. "This is a look of confusion," he said. "Why would they make this sword…to steal the real one? But why would Patrick Westin kill Dustin Covin?"

"Maybe Covin wasn't in on the theft," Jo said. "Maybe Westin stole the sword and Covin threatened to turn him in so he just went and killed him with the real one."

"That would definitely be a charge of Grand Theft. We have to get out there to that college."

Mac put the folder in his office and they headed for the elevator. "You think Patrick Westin has flown the coup?" Jo asked.

"I hope not," Mac replied. "Maybe he won't think we would suspect him. Maybe he thinks we would suspect Brandon McFadden."

"Too bad."

Mac drove over to Chelsea University and they went into the student affairs building. "May I help you?" the woman in the office asked.

Mac showed her his badge. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor, this is Detective Danville. We're looking for Patrick Westin."

The woman stared at them a moment but then she typed in her computer. "He would be in the Natural Science building," she said. She gave them a map and pointed out the building.

"Thanks."

Mac and Jo went back to the Avalanche and went over to the Natural Science building which was a very large building. "Oh, I hope somebody in there knows where he is or we're going to be here a long time," Jo said. She looked at Mac. "Wouldn't it have been fun if we had gone to college together?"

Mac smiled. "I was already in the Marines when you were in college," he said.

"I'm sure you were."

They went inside the building and were in a large open space with a hallway directly in front of them and a stairway over to their right. There was a student lounge to the left and a computer lab to the right beyond the stairway. There was a desk right in front of them but there was no one there. "Well, I guess we go down this hall and see who we can find," Jo said.

"Looks like the only way," Mac replied.

They went down the hallway and found that there were offices down there. They came to a door that was open and the professor was in there. Mac knocked on the door and the man looked up from his desk. He had gray hair and a beard. "May I help you?" he asked.

Mac showed him his badge. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor. We're looking for Patrick Westin."

"Patrick Westin? Why would you be looking for him?"

"Because his friend, Dustin Covin, was murdered."

The man stood up in shock. "What?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but we would have thought you would already know."

"I didn't know."

"Well, we need to talk to Patrick Westin."

"What happened to Dustin? He was a bright student, making his way through college."

"We're trying to figure that out, Professor…Goldberg. Do you know of a project that Covin and Westin were working on involving the sword of Charlemagne?" Mac asked.

"Yes they were making a replica of that sword. We had studied materials and how things were made in the ninth and tenth centuries and that sword was one of the objects we studied."

"And you knew it had been sold into a private collection?" Jo asked.

"Of course. It is a disgrace that the sword isn't on display for everyone to see."

"Can you take us to Patrick Westin?"

"Sure."

Mac and Jo followed Professor Goldberg down the hall and up the stairway. They soon came to a large laboratory but instead of having beakers and all the normal things one would expect in a lab, there were dinosaur bones and other sorts of fossils and bones. They soon came to a young man who had on a lab coat. He had blond hair and wore glasses. He looked up as the professor, Mac and Jo approached him. "Patrick, these two detectives want to talk to you," Professor Goldberg said.

"What about?" Patrick asked.

"Could you come out into the hall?" Mac asked.

"Sure."

Patrick followed them out into the hall and they stopped to talk. Mac looked at him. "Do you know what happened to your friend, Dustin Covin?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Patrick asked.

"He was murdered."

Patrick stared at them. "What? Dustin is dead?" he asked.

Mac thought the guy looked honestly shocked. "I'm sorry to have to tell you, but we need to know where you were the night before last at around ten."

Patrick frowned and thought a moment. "Uhm, I was in my apartment," he said. "I had a major test the next morning and I was trying to get some sleep."

"Anyone can corroborate that?"

"My girlfriend was there part of the time. Kristen Duncan."

Mac wrote that down. "Were you and Dustin working on a project about the sword of Charlemagne?" he asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, Dustin was stabbed with the real sword and a fake had been left in the display where the real one had been. Your prints along with Dustin's prints were found on that fake sword and your prints were also on the display case. You know how they got there?"

Patrick stared at Mac a moment. "I went on the tour at Mister McFadden's house to see the sword in person," he said. "I guess I might have touched the display case, but I never touched the sword. You mean the sword was stolen?"

"Yes," Mac said.

"What about Dustin Covin?" Jo asked. "Did he go with you?"

"No. He had to work the night of that party and couldn't get off." Patrick frowned. "I can't believe he's dead."

"Didn't you notice that he wasn't here today?" Mac asked.

"Sure, but I thought he must have gone to see his mother. She's sick, you know. Sometimes, he disappears to go and see her because she's in the hospital."

Mac shook his head. "Has anything strange happened lately?" he asked. "Did he say anything about the sword?"

Patrick considered that. "Come to think of it, he was acting a little funny two days ago. He seemed to be nervous but he wouldn't tell me what was wrong. I don't know." He looked at Mac. "You mean he was stabbed with the sword?"

"Yes he was, but whoever did it took the sword with them."

"You think he knew who did it?"

"Seems like it. We don't think it was a robbery."

"What do you mean?"

"He was stabbed at his job."

Patrick frowned. "I wish I knew something to help you," he said.

Mac and Jo looked at each other. "We're sorry for you loss," Mac said. "If you do think of anything, call me." He gave the man one of his cards.

Mac and Jo turned to leave. "What do you think?" Jo asked.

"I don't know," Mac replied. "But that professor was awful passionate about that sword, wasn't he?"

"He thinks it should be on public display. It can't be now."

"But maybe he stole it and Dustin Covin found out about it."

"Well, there's one thing for sure, someone stole it and killed that young man with it," Jo said.

"And where is that sword now?" Mac asked.

"It could be here, Mac."

Mac nodded. "I think it probably is but we have to have a warrant to search for it. Whoever stole it isn't going to move it until they think we're off the trail."

"You think we can get a warrant?"

"I'm sure we can. The fake sword came from this college so it would be more likely that someone here stole that real one, killed Dustin Covin and still has that sword."

"What if the sword is at their place of abode?"

"We'll get that too. It's obviously not at the apartment where the victim lived unless it is in Westin's room. Sheldon only searched Covin's room and the parts he lived in and owned."

"Right."

"We have a lot to do. I don't think someone can keep a sword like that hidden for long. They will get too nervous and then try to move it."

"Let's hope we see them when they do."

"It's too much money to just throw it away, so now that it's a murder weapon, they may try to sell it on the black market. There are a lot of ways for them to move something like that. It could disappear and never be seen again."

Jo shook her head. "When you put it like that, it just sounds hopeless," she said.

"It's true."

"I know but do you have to say it?"

Mac smiled. "We have to face facts. Let's get back to that lab and see if there's anything else that we missed or whether…" Mac scowled. "Whether they found anything else."

Jo looked at him. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you forgetting something again?"

Mac frowned. "I keep forgetting her name," he said. "It makes me feel terrible."

"Who? Lindsay?"

Mac nodded. "Yes. How can I forget her name?"

"Oh, Mac, don't worry about it so much. You're going to recover from this."

"I hope. How can you overcome something like this twice?"

"Because you're strong and you have Christine to help you…and us too."

"Jo, if this gets out all over the precinct…"

"It won't. Don't worry about that."

Mac could not help but worry. He had trouble remembering colors and everything again. It seemed to be worse this time. Before, he had been able to remember the names of some colors but now, he felt as though he were walking through a strange world where nothing made sense. He could not feel alone, but he felt lost and he wanted to get his mind on this case. It was hard to keep his mind focused at times and right now, he needed that. He would find this killer and then he and Christine would go away together for a while…