Legalese: Not me.

A/N: Okay, seriously. Too much writing for me for one day.

Wood had Amanda in the station. Booker and Jackie arrived a few minutes later, in Jackie's new silver V6 Passat. They moved around silently, knowing not to assist Wood unless he asked.

"What would make you do something like this?" Wood asked her. "Why?"

Amanda glared. "I had his journal once. Your son is a bastard, sheriff. I was a reporter in search of a story, and the innermost secrets of the mighty Silverstone would have been perfect. But no. He and his little friends had to stop me."

"Don't you realize the extent of what you were doing?" Wood couldn't sit still. "That was my son! And his girlfriend. You had no right to invade on his privacy like that. And the fact that you even had a weapon is grounds for arrest."

"You think I care? All I ever wanted was to get his attention. But no. He was too busy staring at that hick Kayla." Amanda's hands chafed at the handcuffs. "What the hell is wrong with all the guys here?"

"So you had a grudge against Jett and Kayla. And you thought you'd just solve it with a knife?"

"Well sure. If she was out of his life he could have me," Amanda said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well," Wood sat back down. "I have to make notice for you to stand trial."

Booker cleared his throat. "Sir? Will you be needing me?"

Wood glanced from Booker to Jackie. "No, not tonight. Take your girlfriend home. It's been a long night."

Jackie spoke up. "You're going to need to us to file reports, sir."

Wood sighed. "I think we can leave that til tomorrow."

Jackie nodded. "Uh, one more thing, sheriff. I didn't make that arrest. You did."

Wood looked at her. "What?"

"This wasn't my case. Technically I'm off duty. Plus I'm not even in my state."

"True." Wood got Amanda to her feet. "All right. No problem." He opened the door to the cell in the station. "I'm calling your parents, Amanda."

Amanda curled her lip at him.

"Well, I guess we've been dismissed," Booker said, taking Jackie by the shoulders, and steering her out into the warm night air.

Jackie pulled off the sweater as they approached her house. The little red flag was down on the mailbox, meaning that Jackie hadn't gotten her mail that day. She pulled open the little door and flipped through the letters.

"Oh," she gasped suddenly, dropping all the papers.

"What?" Booker stooped to pick up the fallen envelopes.

"It's... it's from... oh, lord!" Jackie tore open the envelope. "It's from the Tim Rice/Elton John Company." Her eyes scanned the page and widened. "Oh..." Her voice petered out and then rose. "I did it!"

"What?" Booker looked over her shoulder at the typed paper.

"I got the lead!" Jackie was staring at the paper as if she could hardly believe it. "I got the lead in Beauty and the Beast!" She refolded the letter with shaking hands.

Booker grinned. "Congratulations."

Their eyes met, and the realization hit them at the same time.

She would have to go back to New York if she accepted. Their smiles dropped. "Not again," Jackie said, almost inaudibly.

Booker waited as she unlocked the door. "I can't believe this," Jackie put the letter down on the kitchen counter. "I mean, why don't they make life a little harder? I mean--"

Booker cut her off with a kiss. "Stop," he mumbled, between kisses. "You're mine now."

Jackie responded fully to the kiss. "I can't..." She didn't finish the sentence and Booker pushed open the door to her bedroom. "Forget it." The door closed behind them.