Robert Mason had recovered. He had a mission to finish. He had to avenge the death of that poor girl that had been killed. He had been told that nothing had ever been done to the responsible people. The people that put her in the situation that killed her. The girl's mamma had never gotten the justice she deserved. Robert needed the money the job would bring, but it had been a long time since he had killed. Shooting the cop and watching him bleed had given him some satisfaction, but he need to feel life leaving a body. He had gotten just a taste with Gil Grissom.

He remembered how it felt to kill. He was good at killing, that's what the military told him. In Haiti, he had heard God's voice telling him to kill for Him. This was after the village and after he had heard the screams of the women and children. His momma told him God would reveal a plan for his life. This plan was only revealed to one person, the person that had saved his life in Panama. Hollis understood and even suggested ways to make money at God's plan.

When their unit had gotten back to the states, Hollis gave him enough money to leave the army and serve God. God used Hollis to direct his path. Robert Mason had never been let down by Hollis. Hollis let him know that every "mission" was righteous, but Hollis had underestimated his need to kill. Now Robert no longer cared about the work of the Lord. He was like a junkie looking for the next fix. Hollis Waterhouse had no idea that he had changed Robert Mason from an easy to manipulate hit man into a serial killer.

Robert never told Hollis about the others. The ones he had to kill in between missions. He had to feel the life leave their body. He would enjoy the woman. He knew what she did for a living. She had felt death go through her hands, maybe they could discuss how it felt. They would have a connection. She had gotten in his way and it would feel good to kill her. He knew that Brass and the woman were together. He would wait he could get her.

When Hollis heard the news that Mason had escaped from the hospital he left town. He did what he did best he disappeared into thin air. Unfortunately this time he had some help.

Brass was sitting at his desk, he hated this , pushing papers around, supervising while others got all the action.

He chuckled at this last thought.

Remembering a few weeks before, Holly had arrived at his office just as his shift was beginning , she was on her way home. She had closed the door and opened her coat. He got aroused just thinking about the sight of her standing against his office door with nothing on under that coat. He had taken her standing against the door. He had gotten some action that night.

He fiddled with the box on his desk. Moved the picture on his desk to get a better look at it. He had never kept personal photos on his desk, but he had framed this one himself. It was a photo of the two of them at the cabin they had rented at Lake Meade. He had on that stupid fishing hat she had bought him and she was leaning over his shoulder hugging him. That had been a great week end. He fished and she sat on the pier and read. That weekend did it. He knew he had made up his mind then.

Nothing had come of the private dick he had hired. Her brother was long gone and no one else seemed to be following her. The only face he recognized in the surveillance photos was his own. She had caught on to it anyway. She came in from the hospital frightened, telling him someone had followed her home. She was afraid, what if it had something to do with the shooting. He had filled her in on all he knew. Including the info Catherine had dug up on her brother. He also told her about the private eye. Angry didn't begin to describe how she felt and she left him for a while.

She had gone to New Orleans and confronted her brothers about Hollis. They confirmed what Jim had told her. She asked what they planned to do about the situation. He brothers assured her that Hollis was no longer a problem for anyone. She didn't ask what this meant for her favorite brother. Holly told her mother about Jim. He mother had loved Blake. He had been just what she had wanted for Holly. Holly knew how her mother would react to Jim. She couldn't wait for her proper southern belle mother to meet her street smart Jersey cop.

While she was in New Orleans she put the home she had shared with Blake and Davis on the market. She walked through the rooms remembering all the good things that had happened in this house. There was not a sad memory in any room. She wasn't one to hold on to the bad. She took her licks and moved on, most of the time. Losing Davis had been harder, she would never get over her son's death, she just got to used to it. She stood in the empty room that had been the nursery. Dust moats floated in the sun. The humidity had made the room stifling. She traced the little characters painted on the wall and said good bye for the last time. She had a reason to spend the rest of her life in Las Vegas or where ever else Jim took her.

As she locked the door she turned and Jim was waiting for her at the corner near Magazine Street with a cab.

He kept fiddling with the box looking at his watch. Catherine peeked her head in the door and he snapped the box shut so quickly that it skidded across his desk and landed at her feet. She picked it up and laid a file on his desk.

"More paperwork to surf, Jim." she said as she opened the box . "How did you get a skating rink in this little box?"

"I know a guy , who knows a guy." he said relieved to have a women's opinion. Gil's opinion had be useless.

"Well, I want to meet your guy." she took the ring and slipped it on her finger. She held it up to the light.

"Lucky girl, Jim, in a lot of ways." she smiled and handed the box and ring back to him.

"I did good?" searching her eyes.

"You did good. I'd say yes." she walked out. He thought about years before when maybe if things had been different he could have put this ring on another redhead's finger.

He looked at his watch, wondering if his shift would ever be over. Today was her day away from the hospital. Their professional schedules meshed perfectly. When he was getting off work, she was at work and he could sleep, she came home about the time he woke and when he was at work she slept. They had spent enough time at one another's home to have the necessities . They could go to work as easily from his place as hers. Most of their time was spent at her place. Today he would give her the ring. He had changed his mind dozens of times trying to figure out how to ask. He was the master at asking questions to get the answers he wanted, why was this so hard.

"911. What is your emergency?" the voice asked with quick efficiency.

"I'm hurt. I think he's dead. Jim, I need Jim."