"How?" Max trailed off at Jimmy's statement. "Are they . . . really?"

"It's been confirmed," Jimmy verified, watching his two deputies closely. "The bodies are being sent back here in a few days."

Kenny shook his head somewhat shocked that they were actually dead. "How? I mean no one knew where they were."

"The mysterious lawyer," Skeeter suggested. "The one who set up the adoption?"

"But why? I'm not sorry that they're dead," Max trailed off, stopping as the words rolled off of her tongue. He can't hurt me again, or my family. I'm free. "I mean . . . they were awful people, but . . . Oh I don't know what I'm trying to say."

"You may not want to tell the press that you want to dance on their graves," Skeeter commented, as he and Jimmy exchanged a quick glance. "Uh, you want to fill them in?"

Jimmy groaned internally, not wanting to do this, "Yeah. The FBI is looking for a motive, obviously. All angles are being looked at. The lawyer, some locals, some of Jen's patients. And you two."

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The two men shook hands in the darkened room, and the taller one nodded. "It's done."

"We couldn't leave any loose ends," the other agreed. "No one is going to be able to tie us to this, and I'll get what I want."

"No one will miss them anyway, after all they were child murderers. Who is going to care who killed them?"

"I wouldn't. If anything they should be overjoyed that the child's killers are dead. It's kind of ironic if you think about it."

The tall man nodded. "Now what about our assassin?"

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"What? You can't be serious," Kenny managed to get out after a minute, looking down at a shocked Max. "Jimmy?"

"It's procedure," Jimmy said calmly, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference, as they weren't thinking like cops, but mourning parents. "You know that. Just answer their questions, it's more of a formality."

"They would have to be morons to think that either of you had anything to do with this," Skeeter added, thinking that they had both been more or less comatose over the past few weeks. "We know that you didn't."

Kenny swallowed his disgust at being a suspect in a murder of all things, and pulled his wife closer to his side. She's shaking, he thought. "Uh . . . yeah. Jimmy. I don't know what to say."

"It's a formality," Jimmy stressed again, and turned to look at a silent Max. "How about you? Holding up all right?"

"What? Yeah," Max said quietly, trying to process what was happening. "They're really dead . . . and the FBI thinks we were involved with it?"

Jimmy caught the strain in her voice, and the way she leaned into her husband for support. I'm not sure how much more she can take, he thought, watching the young woman who he thought of as his honorary daughter. She brushed her long hair back off of her face and took a deep breath to steady herself. This isn't the deputy I know, he thought, this is killing her.

"That's crap," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Total crap."

"That's what I said," Skeeter cut in, hearing the venom in her words.

"How can they even think that? Do they have any idea what this has been like? Do they? Having Josh taken like that, the phone calls, not knowing for almost two months . . . then finding him like that . . . do they? They can't," Max practically spat. "Now this? I can't do this anymore!"

The three men fell silent as they listened to her emotional torment, and she jerked out of Kenny's arms, shaking as she lapsed into silence as well.

"Honey," Kenny finally started, afraid to touch her, as she cut him off.

"I can't!" she cried, leaping off of the couch, as she choked on her hysterics. It's all too much, she thought wildly, as she fled upstairs.

"Do you want to go and check on her? She seems, uh, upset," Skeeter asked lamely after a moment.

"Uh, I think I'll give her a minute," Kenny replied, his gaze fixed on the direction she had fled.

"She was due for a breakdown," Skeeter said awkwardly. "I mean, this has to be rough on the both of you."

Kenny nodded silently, and he really didn't know what to say to make this better for her. What is there to say, he wondered, Josh is dead and we're being questioned about killing the people who murdered him? Shit, I just want to hide upstairs with her. We were so happy, and everything was so damn picture perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better life . . . Max, my dream wife. Two great kids . . . now look at us.

"Uh, Morell said he'd give you a call when he wanted to come by," Jimmy finally interjected into the silence. "It's really a formality,Kenny, nothing more."

"Yeah," Kenny sighed. "Was there anything else?"

Jimmy shook his head. "I guess we'll be going then."

Skeeter eyed his defeated looking friend, and knew any amount of sympathy would probably push him over the edge as well. "Tell Max we said bye. Good luck talking to her, women, you know? I don't think I've met a rational one when they're upset about something."

Kenny merely nodded, still lost in his own thoughts as they departed.

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"They were at Josh's funeral when Danny and Jen were killed," Skeeter said quietly, as he and Jimmy reached the squad car. "C'mon Jimmy, being questioned by the FBI is the last thing that either really needs right now."

"It was a professional hit," Jimmy said flatly. "So they didn't have to be present for it to happen. Plus, there is one hell of a motive. That said, there is no way in hell that Kenny or Max would be involved in something like that."

Skeeter shook his head. "Who then? Professional hit men aren't cheap. I don't know anyone that could even afford one. Plus, no one had any clue where they were hiding."

"Money buys information," Jimmy said dryly. "Maybe one of Jen's old patients? She left them alone when she ran off with Danny . . . they might have been looking for revenge. She trained them well in that regard."

"We're missing a link somewhere," Skeeter argued. "That lawyer perhaps? Maybe they didn't pay him, and this was payback?"

"First we've got to find out who the lawyer is. So far we've turned up nothing on that, and I've talked to the authorities in Michigan and they never found any adoption papers lying around the house."

"Danny and Jen cleaned up after themselves," Skeeter commented, before pausing in thought. "What about a safe deposit box? Don't most people keep important information in one of those?"

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Kenny peaked in at a sleeping Emily before venturing into his and Max's room. Her words and expression played over and over in his mind, and as much as he hated it, he felt the same hopelessness that she did over the entire situation. Looking in that box, he shuddered, and seeing Josh . . . god, that was the worst thing I ever had to do, he thought. Swallowing back his own pain for a minute, he rapt softly on their bedroom door before opening it.

"Hey," he called softly, seeing her curled up on the window seat. "Honey?" She lifted her head slightly, and looked at him silently, as he continued nervously. "Uh, this FBI thing . . . you heard them, it's a formality, Honey."

She shook her head. "I can't . . . Why can't all of this just stop?"

He took a tentative step closer to her, his heart aching for her. "They're just trying to help."

She pulled her legs tightly against her chest. "It's just too much. We just buried Josh . . . I can't keep doing this."

"Danny and Jen, they're dead Max," he said carefully. "They won't be coming back, they can't hurt anyone else."

She shook her head. "Yeah? What about the person that killed them? What do they want?"

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"Bingo," Skeeter mumbled to himself, as he read through the report of the Robinson murder again. "How they hell did we miss this before?"

Slamming the folder shut, he rapped on Jimmy's door. "Sir? Do you have a minute?"

Jimmy waved him in. "What did you find?"

"I read through the inventory from the Robinson case that was faxed to us," Skeeter began. "And there was no mention of any legal documents, but they searched the safe in Mr. Robinson's office. No papers, but they did find a ring of keys. All shapes and sizes. What do you bet that one fits into a safety deposit box?"

Jimmy reached for the phone. "I'd stake my life on it . . . the lawyer's name has got to be there."

"And when we find him, we might get our answers," Skeeter finished, glad that they might have finally caught a break. Although, he thought, it's a little too late.

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"What do you mean? It doesn't have anything to do with us," Kenny answered, not too sure where she was heading."Whoever killed them . . . I'm just glad that they can't hurt you anymore."

Max shook her head. "Someone hired a hit man to kill them. Why? This isn't over yet, Kenny. There are still too many pieces missing."

"It could just be a coincidence," he countered.

"I stopped believing in those a long time ago. We couldn't save Josh from them," Max trailed off, as she felt herself beginning to choke up. "But I . . . If someone involved in this is still out there . . . I don't want them to hurt anyone else."

Kenny didn't say anything right away, and was torn between being glad to see her focus on something and worry over what she planned to do. She glanced out the window at the sun filled day, and wondered how she could be feeling so badly on such a beautiful day.

"Kenny? We did everything that we could, right? I just keep thinking," Max trailed off, not sure she wanted to voice the thoughts that were running through her head.

He cut her off. "Your dad was being an ass, you know that. There is no way in hell that I'm going to sit here and let you blame yourself for this. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. It wasn't. Two lunatics took and killed him. Not you. Blame them."

Max shook her head. "I keep thinking . . . what if I never went to see him? If I never need professional help? What couldn't I be strong enough to deal with my problems without a shrink? He never would have . . . I would have never known him! He wouldn't have killed all those people, raped me . . . then I wouldn't have met Jen at the counseling center, and found about her activities . . . they wouldn't have been at Cornerstone together . . . and Josh . . . he would be here."

Kenny listened to her mangled words, and seeing how hurt she was hurt him, so he treaded carefully. "You're the strongest person I know, Honey. This is gonna take time to heal from, but look. We've still got each other, and Emily. That's something."

How can he still look at me like that? "Is this how you felt? When I blamed you?"

He trailed his fingers through her hair thoughtfully for a minute. "It hurt like hell because I was already blaming myself. Hearing it from you made it ten times worse."

Max looked away briefly before she nodded, as her own guilty feelings refused to go away. "I blame me . . . and that feels pretty bad too."

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"Thanks," Jimmy was saying, as Skeeter rejoined him in his office. "Let me know as soon as you hear anything. Bye."

"What did they say? If you don't mind," Skeeter asked. "Are they going to look?"

Jimmy nodded. "They're sending a unit over to the Robinson's bank right now, and we should know what's on those documents in an hour if they are in the bank."

"We just need a few more pieces," Skeeter said thoughtfully. "But I can't help but think it's too little too late."

Jimmy opened his mouth to argue, but then just nodded. "I would have done anything to bring that little boy home. Anything. There is still a murderer out there, and he might have some answers to this that might provide comfort."

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"No," Kenny replied softly, but firmly, as she turned away from him. "Don't."

"I think I need to get some air," she countered, pushing herself up. "Um, this place feels like it's closing in."

"We've been spending a lot of time here," Kenny replied cautiously, not wanting to make her feel worse then she already did. "You want some company?"

Max shook her head, just wanting to be away from everything for a few hours. "No."

He tried not to feel offended by her bluntness. "Okay, yeah. Maybe it's time to . . . I don't know, get back to our lives. We've been holed up here for a while."

Max paused before pulling a sweatshirt over her head, and just looked at him before replying. "What do you mean?"

Kenny shrugged, trying to sound casual. "I think that we both need a distraction Max, so this doesn't keep eating at us. We need to try . . . well, to move on."

She shook her head. "How? I don't know if I can ever get past this Kenny. How do I just go back? Do I just wake up one morning, and the pain is gone?"

"It hurts, I know," Kenny replied, trying not to feel frustrated by her attitude. "And it's not gonna go away anytime soon. I know that. There is a lot that was good in life before this happened . . . I don't want to forget that."

"Yeah? I don't want to forget Josh," Max retorted, knowing that was picking a fight, but she couldn't stop the words from coming out.

"That's not what I'm saying," Kenny snapped back at her. "And you know it."

"Do I?"

"Max."

"I'm going to take that walk now. I'll see you later."

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"They found them," Jimmy confirmed to Skeeter, after he got off the phone with the authorities in Ludington. "But lawyers' name isn't there. Just some initials."

"What about a law firm name? Anything? There has to be something Jimmy," Skeeter stressed, feeling frustrated with the whole thing. "How can two mental patients set up an illegal adoption without leaving a trail? It's ludicrous."

"There's more," Jimmy continued, trying not to feel as useless as his deputy at the moment. "There were receipts attached to adoption papers, all the transactions were handled in cash. A quarter of a million went to Danny and Jen, but we know that. But another quarter mil went to the Bank of Boston before it was routed to Switzerland."

"Switzerland?"

Jimmy nodded grimly, "Yeah. Complete anonymity for the account holders."

"A good way to hide money . . . It takes a lot to open one of those accounts," Skeeter trailed off. "There were really no names on the papers?"

"Initials," Jimmy confirmed. "L.S., to go along with the Robinsons. Whoever this L.S. is made off big."

"And probably hired the hit men, or is the hit man," Skeeter picked up. "If money was transferred to Boston, that is probably where L.S. is based out of. Or at least he has some connections there."

Jimmy nodded. "Lets start looking at lawyers with those Initials who live out there. Maybe we'll find a connection."

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Kenny looked around the deserted beach, and he had hoped that he would find Max down there. Kicking a tuft of sand in frustration, he set Emily down on her feet. The little girl squealed in delight, and took off toward the water. Kenny watched her for a moment, before he followed her down the edge of lake. Sliding his own feet out of shoes he held his daughter's hand as they waded out into the water.

"Careful," he said, pulling Emily back as she waded out. "It gets deep."

"Swim?" she asked, pointing out to the lake. "Daddy?"

"Yeah," Kenny agreed, as he lifted her shirt over her head, and tossing it onto the sand. "C'mon, Sweetie." Emily giggled as she splashed him, and he lifted her up in the air. "You're silly."

Kenny had to grin at her squeals, as he lowered her back down into the lake, and just watched as she toddled through the water. She's almost two, he thought, where did the time go? I remember when Max told me she was pregnant . . . where is she?

"Daddy?"

Kenny turned his attention back toward his daughter, and tried to remind himself that she was more then capable of taking care of herself, as Emily tugged on his hand. "Daddy sad?"

He paused before replying, and couldn't lie to the adorable face looking up at him. "A little."

"I mif Jof," Emily declared.

"Me too," Kenny replied, surprised because that was the first time she had mentioned it.

"Swim?"

Kenny looked out to where she was pointing, and knew the physical exertion would be great. "Yeah, lets see what's out there."

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Max pushed the front door open slowly, not too sure she wanted to finish the conversation she and Kenny had been having. A little sore from walking around the lake, she wandered into the kitchen looking for some nourishment.

"Kenny? Hello?"

Hearing nothing, she caught sight of a note on the counter. Picking it up she skimmed it quickly.

Max,

Took Em down for a swim. Maybe we'll see you there?

Kenny

Reaching for a bottle of water in the fridge, she down half of it as the phone rang. Swallowing quickly, she snatched the ringing phone off of the receiver. "Hello?"

"Maxie? It's Mom," Hannah said, trying to sound upbeat.

"Hi, Mom," Max sighed, not up to dealing with her family at that moment.

"I thought I would check up on you. I haven't talked to you since the funeral."

Yeah, a week ago, Max thought. We didn't talk that much before. What was it? A few times a year?

"Maxie?"

"Yeah, it's been awhile."

"Are you okay? I know that this is a hard time, but are you doing all right?"

"Mom, I'm fine. Really."

Hannah swallowed, and didn't believe a word that her daughter was saying. "I was thinking that you might want to fly out here for a few days. Just for a change of scenery."

"That probably isn't the best idea."

"Your father is doing business overseas, and won't be back until next week. I don't know what happened when we were in Rome, but I know that he's upset about it."

"Right. Somehow I doubt it."

Max glanced up as the door opened, and heard Kenny and Em come back in. Pushing her hair back off of her face she wasn't sure which would be worse. Staying with my parents, or fighting with Kenny, she mused. Looking around her familiar surroundings, Max shuddered, thinking off all that had transpired there.

"I know that you and your father have problems," Hannah's voice broke in. "But I wish that you two could patch it up."

"Not likely," Max replied, thinking of the hateful things that he said the day that they buried Josh. Kenny shot her a wary glance, as he followed Em into the kitchen. "Thanks for the offer, Mom, but I gotta go."

"Okay, okay," Hannah replied softly. "Just remember that you can come anytime, and I love you. I know I don't say it enough, but I do."

"Thanks, Mom," Max said softly, touched by her words.

"Hi," Kenny said a bit nervously, as she hung up. "Your Mom called?"

"Yeah," Max replied, leaning up against the counter, as a wet Emily wrapped her arms around her leg. "How was the water?"

"Cold," Kenny replied. "We swam out to the middle . . . I think we have future Olympian on our hands."

Max hefted Emily up into her arms. "Ooh, you're cold."

"I was gonna give her a bath. What did your Mom want?"

"Um, she wanted me to fly out for a few days. My father is doing business overseas, so she thought it would be a good time for a visit."

"You going?'

"No."

They eyed each other silently for a minute, not too sure what to say anymore.

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"Interesting," Pete said under his breath, as he searched the Boston database for lawyers with the initials L.S. "You gotta be kidding me. Is this some sick joke?"

Slowly he reread the information in front of him and let it sink in. "Crap."

Hitting the print button, he knew this thing was about to blow sky high. Ripping the papers free. Leaping to his feet, he didn't pause at he shot into Jimmy's office and shut the door behind him. Jimmy glanced up at his new son in law, and didn't like the tense expression on the young man's face.

"What did you find?"

Pete swallowed. "Sir, this isn't good news, and I think I know who L.S. is now. It all makes sense now, but I'm not sure how or why this happened. It's just too sick."

"Pete."

"Linwood Stevenson," Pete began. "He's partners in a law firm in Boston that represents the rich and powerful. This firm goes back generations, and some of the people they represented . . . wow. I've read some newspaper articles, and there have been references of pay offs, but nothing that could be proven. It's all speculation."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Linwood Stevenson's law partner is none other then William Stewart. Max's dad."