A/N: Thanks to the those that have stuck with the story so far. Mariel was unbelievably helpful in this chapter, so kudos to her! I'm guessing one more chapter after this one...

Xx--

Moving as cautiously as Jack had, Samantha closed the door behind her and stepped carefully down the basement stairs. Descending, she could hear Jack talking quietly. "Jack?" she called softly, drawing her gun.

"Down behind you. I've found him."

Samantha rounded the bottom of the stairs and discovered that Jack had more than 'found him'. He had Emerson pinned against the wall, hands gripping the front of Emerson's once white shirt, practically nose to nose.

Here we go. "Untie him, Jack."

"It's okay; we're having a friendly chat." Jack was using a low tone that Samantha recognized; Emerson should be worried.

Emerson looked beseechingly at Samantha. He was still gagged and breathing heavily through his nostrils.

"This is not the way to handle this," she said firmly, stepping closer.

His eyes never leaving Emerson, Jack said, "I was just pointing out to my friend Steve here that if he doesn't come clean about his first wife's death and his involvement, then I'm going to leave him here like this. And we'll walk away like we were never here, not a word said to anyone and no one the wiser."

Samantha cocked her head, looking at Emerson while she considered this. To hell with the good cop-bad cop routine. "Okay," she said, her voice light and unconcerned.

"Like I said, Steve," Jack said menacingly, tightening his hold on Emerson. "I know we thrashed this out years ago, but we couldn't prove it then. I'm hoping you'll come clean because you're a nice guy, and because you want to help us tidy this up. I'm giving you a hell of a better deal than you gave Julie." He shoved Emerson against the wall again to make his point. Emerson groaned in protest. "Am I making myself clear?" he emphasized through gritted teeth.

Samantha heard the front door slam shut upstairs. Figuring it was Lucille's son about to make an appearance, she moved near the bottom of the stairs, gun levelled. "Jack…" she warned.

He finally tore his eyes away. "Who are we expecting?" he asked, dropping Emerson not too gently down to the blankets and then drawing his gun.

"Gary Calder, Julie's brother."

Jack exhaled deeply. "Must be our car phantom." He looked down at Emerson. "You stay put."

It hadn't taken long for Lucille to inform her son that they had visitors, as the next moment the basement door flew open and Gary Calder half fell down the stairs, baseball bat in hands. He came to a halt in front of Samantha and her gun.

"I don't think you're going to want to use that, Gary," she warned in a no nonsense voice.

He held the bat threateningly, looking at her, then at Jack, then Emerson. "Shit! How the hell-?"

Samantha hadn't moved. "Put the bat down. You're in enough trouble as it is."

They could hear Lucille yelling for Gary above. He looked back up the stairs. "Aw, shit!" he breathed loudly, still gripping the bat in his hands.

Jack moved a step closer. "Stop and think about it Gary… Two agents with guns versus you and a baseball bat. What do you think the odds are we'll win?"

Calder looked at them both, then at the bat, and reached a decision. "All right..." he said finally, dropping the bat. It rolled towards Samantha, who kicked it under the bench.

"Look, you don't need those," Calder said gesturing toward the guns. "I never wanted to hurt anyone." He wiped his hand over his face. "This all just got out of hand." He paused, hearing Lucille who was obviously making her slow way to the basement door. "It's okay, Mom! Go back to your chair!" he yelled back, hoping she would.

"So would you mind telling us why your former brother-in-law came to be tied up in your basement? This isn't the Ozarks," Jack said, putting away his gun; Samantha followed his lead.

Calder looked over at Emerson, who was almost cowering in the corner. "It wasn't what I planned. It's been a mistake," he said wearily, sitting on the bottom step of the stairs.

Jack had heard that line before. "A costly mistake. Kidnapping's a serious offence."

"Hell, I know that!" Calder said, wiping his sweaty hands on the front of his t-shirt. "I met up with him a couple of years ago, when I came back, after Dad died. He helped me out with some money, not much. I didn't hassle him for any more, okay?" He held up his hands to make his point. "I just wanted him to know we were still around then. Keeping an eye on him."

"Then what?"

"A few months ago Mom and I were going through some pictures, and I saw the watch Julie wore at her wedding. Mom didn't have it, and it wasn't in any of Julie's things he returned to us after the funeral. I figured he must still have it, so I rang him at his work. He said he'd look. I rang him a couple of weeks later and he said he couldn't find it. I didn't believe him." He threw a disparaging glance at Emerson. "So I followed him from his work, pretending to bump into him at the garage. Asked for a lift and asked him about the watch again, he said he definitely didn't have it and things got a little heated... and I don't know… I punched him, knocked him out, and brought him here… Like I said, things got a little out of hand after that." Speech over, he drew a long breath. He seemed relieved in a way.

"And your mother doesn't know?" Samantha asked.

"She can't get down here, plus her hearing's not the best." He glanced back up the stairs. "She did wonder why I took her car out of the garage, as I needed to hide his; I said I was cleaning it out."

Samantha fished her phone out and brought up the photo. "Is this the watch?"

Calder blinked in surprise. "Yes! Where is it now?"

"In a jeweler's. Steve was getting it cleaned and serviced."

Calder glowered at Emerson. "You're a snaky son of a bitch, Steve. Going to give it to your new wife, huh?" He looked back at Jack and Samantha, almost weighing them up. "Look, I don't believe Julie killed herself. If anyone did it, it was him." He indicated Emerson with a tip of his head.

Jack returned the look. "Why do you think that?"

Calder shrugged. "It's what I feel...She wasn't like that, and besides, she sent me a parcel with a letter saying how she was looking forward to seeing me during leave for family Thanksgiving."

"When did she write the letter?

"It was dated a week before she died. I got it just before I left to come back for her funeral."

"Do you still have it?"

Calder nodded. They all turned to look at Emerson, who was doing his best to be invisible.

Jack turned to Samantha. "Sam, can you call for a unit and a medical team? No sirens. Make sure there's a female officer to look after Mrs. Calder."

Already dialling as he spoke, Samantha got to it.

Jack turned to Calder. "We're going to have to take you in." Calder nodded; as if he had any choice. He was looking with distaste at his former brother-in-law.

Jack went over to Emerson and crouched down beside him. "So what do you think, Steve? Shall we call this a family misunderstanding?" Emerson shook his head frantically. "We'll see about that. I'm going to untie you, but when I take the gag off, I want to hear you finally tell the truth about Julie's death." He untied the feet first, then the hands, and finally the gag.

"You crazy son of a bitch, Gary!" Emerson screamed. Face red with rage, he railed at his ex brother-in-law. "What the fuck did you think you were doing?" he shouted hoarsely. Trying to stand up, he failed, arms flailing as he tried to grasp something to pull himself to his feet with.

Jack caught him. "Steve, that wasn't our deal."

"He's a mad bastard! Christ, I've been here for days!" He pushed Jack away.

"I think he's looked after you quite well, all things considering."

Emerson stared at him in disbelief. "You're as mad as he is!"

"No, I just want to know the facts about Julie."

"She killed herself," Emerson coldly stated.

"Not without your help she didn't. Or maybe you killed her, as Gary thinks." As we think.

Emerson glared back at Jack, stubborn versus stubborn. Jack had a look on his face that meant he was going to get the truth out of Emerson, one way or another, and Emerson should realize that. This time he wasn't going to get away with anything.

"Don't lie to me this time, Steve," Jack warned.

"He's having a bad day. I wouldn't wind him up any further," Samantha pointed out. Jack shot her a small withering look.

Sagging against the wall, Emerson relented. "I need water. Please."

"There's a water bottle on the bench there," Calder indicated to Jack, who then gave it to Emerson.

After draining the bottle, Emerson took a deep shuddering breath, and after looking at Calder, he turned back to Jack. "Okay… Look, I didn't kill her. That's the honest truth... But the suicide thing -it was initially my idea. She agreed to it though. We were going to do it together. A pact. I… I changed my mind and managed to get out of the car; it was too late for Julie."

Aghast, Samantha stared at him. "That's it?" she asked.

Rubbing his wrists, Emerson shrugged. "It's more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it."

"How long had you planned it? There were no notes."

"I kept the stuff in the trunk, planning it for one day in the future. Maybe before Thanksgiving, maybe after." He shot a quick look at Calder. "We'd decided we were going to do it when it felt right. Then one day we were out driving, and I decided it was time."

Jack's face was impassive as he listened. "You decided, and you decided for Julie too…You could have told us all this years ago," he said, folding his arms.

"It wasn't all my idea. Julie was depressed, I told you that, not as much as I suppose I was maybe… It was easier that way, once I realized what we did. What's more pathetic than me being a failed suicide…?"

Jack remembered thinking that Emerson had used the depression angle a little too strongly four years ago. It was part of the reason he always suspected him. "You were happy to change the story, take the insurance money."

"Well… yeah. Once she was dead, she was dead. I didn't see any harm in having it said she committed suicide, but I did play up the depression part even more after the coroner's verdict. I'm good with money and I wrangled a good sum out of my insurers…" He scratched his lightly bearded chin absently. "Suicide was half way to the truth anyway –I mean she wanted to die; she just thought I was going to die with her. It wasn't my fault I couldn't go through with it." The look on his face showed he thought his action and response to what happened had been perfectly reasonable.

Damn accountants. "But why would you both want to kill yourselves?"

Emerson was silent a few moments, flexing his fingers as he contemplated his answer; he gave Calder a sideways look. "Bored with life, jobs… our marriage. Julie just felt she'd missed out on so much. We tried for kids, she didn't want to adopt. She always wanted so much more…" he trailed off, reflecting, before bringing himself back to reality. "Life's not too great these days either, I have to admit…"

Jack threw a glance at Samantha, remembering what she said about the bookworm and the bean counter. She was frowning, obviously unimpressed with Emerson's shallow explanation as well as his lack of repentance. He knew as well as she that this was the best they were probably going to get out of him.

Calder snorted, shaking his head at what Emerson had said. "Who's the crazy bastard now?" he muttered.

"Fuck off, Gary. At least I'm not some screw up like you."

"Hey, just because things didn't work out between Lori and me doesn't mean I want to kill us both! What sort of reason is that?" he asked in bewilderment, finally standing up. "'I'm bored. Think I'll kill myself and talk my wife into it too.' Jesus -that's my sister you're talking about, you asshole!"

Wanting to get this family feud over with and get out, Samantha asked Emerson, "What about the watch?"

For the first time, Emerson actually looked contrite. "Okay, I'm guilty on that. I was going to give it to Margaret."

Jack shook his head. Unbelievable. "You make it sound so rational… but I've had enough. Steve, you come with us. I think we can get you on one or two charges -failing to report a death, wasting our time all those years ago, conspiracy maybe, and the insurance company will want words with you too. Gary, like I said, you'll be taken into custody. Maybe your brother-in-law will ask them to be easy on you." Although from the hateful look in Emerson's eyes towards Calder he doubted that would happen.

He let Samantha lead them up the stairs; she could deal with explaining this little meeting to Lucille. He certainly didn't feel like it.

Xx—

The ride back to the office was quiet. Emerson was in the back of the car -after the medics pronounced him dehydrated but fine- killing any chance of real conversation between Jack and Samantha. But there was an unspoken mutuality between them. Case effectively over, distraction gone, their focus shifted back to themselves.

And what they needed to do next.

Xx—

Reports.

Always something to write or type out. Always something that needed to be signed off. Good cases, bad cases –it didn't matter. There was no way to escape paperwork.

Ensconced at her desk, letting Jack have Vivian's office to himself again, Samantha rubbed her eyes wearily. Her report was nearly finished. They'd found their man which was always a good thing, and a few unanswered questions about Julie Emerson had been laid to rest -if not in the most satisfactory way. There wasn't much more Emerson had wanted to add in his interview. They charged him and sent him on his way. Just like that.

It was mid-afternoon and the rest of the team was still out. From what she gathered from some other agents it wasn't sounding good for their missing person from the Mayor's office.

Getting up from her desk, Samantha decided to grab a coffee and headed off to the break room. As she passed Vivian's office she glanced in, seeing Jack head down in a familiar way typing at the computer. She didn't stop, nor did she ask him if he wanted anything.

Jack knew she'd walked past. His Samantha radar was as acute as ever.

He glanced at his watch, then quickly re-read his report and hit 'print'. He may not have written one of these particular reports in several months, but years of doing them had meant that he could do them quickly and efficiently –if he needed to. Today was one of those days.

Just as Samantha got to the break room, Rosa suddenly appeared, returned from the field, flustered and not happy. Their case had gone very, very badly. Their missing person had been found in a particularly grisly way. Things had been looking so positive earlier on; Vivian, Danny and Martin were handling the aftermath. She wanted to talk, so Samantha sat down with her for awhile, welcoming the distraction, even from Rosa.

Coffee and conversation over with, they got up to leave and, passing Vivian's office, Rosa carried on back to the bullpen as Samantha came to a standstill.

Jack was gone.

She went in for a better look.

His suitcase was gone.

His report was there on Vivian's desk with a small written note on it in his hand.

Damn him!

He'd slipped out of the office.

Without saying goodbye.

Samantha marched back to her desk. She sat down at her computer and picked up her phone. She knew what he was up to and where he was going.

If he thinks he's going to get away with this, he's got another thing coming... She got to work.

Xx--