"And then there's Mrs. Martin at the end of the street," Emma finished. She had her eyes screwed shut as she tried desperately to recall the names of every person living in her private, gated community. But it hadn't been easy. She never spoke to most of the people, and those she did she speak with she only ever offered a passing greeting to on her way in and out. They were all such different people, and she knew that she wasn't the only one on the street who preferred keeping her own company to that of her neighbors.

"Okay. I think that's about all we need today, Emma. But with your permission, I'd like to come back tomorrow and speak with your neighbors, just to see if they've noticed anyone suspicious in the area."

"Are you gonna tell them about the killer?" The last thing Emma needed right then was to be driven out of her home by the people living close to her, just because they blamed her for having some dangerous psychopath in the area. But she wouldn't exactly blame them for that. She'd be just as pissed if some pop star had inadvertently put her kids' lives at risk – that is, if she ever had kids of her own.

"No, not right now. It's not in their best interests to know just yet. I don't want to risk causing a panic. We'll tell them there's been an incident in the local area and we're covering all of our bases. You'd be surprised how vague we can get away with being during an active case," he teased. But the remark didn't bring a smile to Emma's face as he'd hoped.

Killian busied himself with stopping the recording and saving their interview to his phone before he finally broached the issue that had been on his mind all evening. "Before I go," he began carefully, "I wanted to talk to you a little about possibly relocating."

Emma's eyes snapped up to meet his, but instead of the fire he'd expected to find behind her gaze, Killian almost felt like he was drowning in the myriad of emotions reflected in them.

"It would only be temporary. Just until we catch this guy. And it would be strictly for your safety, Emma. But given what you said when I first arrived here today, I think it's something you should strongly consider."

Emma took a moment to think the question over before she gave Agent Jones her answer.

"No."

"Emma, please…"

"No!" she cut him off fiercely, as she pushed herself up to her feet with another small hiss of pain. "You're nowhere near close to finding out who's behind this, Agent Jones. So while it sounds temporary to you, it could be years for me. I've already let this bastard control so much of my life since he started sending those packages, and I refuse to let him take my home from me too. So no. I'm not going anywhere." She paused for a moment to prop her hands on her hips as she looked down to the man sitting on her sofa. The fire behind her eyes died a little as she whispered, "Besides, you said that I was safe, right? That at the moment he doesn't seem interested in physically harming me."

Killian sprang to his feet and reached out for her nearest arm, offering it a gentle squeeze of comfort as he assured her, "That's right. I don't think he has any immediate plans to harm you, Emma. But… I don't want to be wrong about this at the cost of your life. I'd feel better if you let us relocate you for your own safety."

"You can relocate me if things start to change. But for now, I'm staying here," she replied firmly, leaving him absolutely no room to argue with her decision. "I have a tour to prepare for anyway, so I'll be on the road soon enough. I doubt the bastard will be flying all over the globe to track me down when that happens. And if he does… then I guess that would at least give you a suspect to work with."

"That's true," Killian agreed, with a rueful chuckle. He hadn't thought about that when she'd first mentioned her tour, but now that she'd given him the idea, his mind was already making mental notes to contact the ticket providers for lists of every single package sold. Maybe her obsessive fan was just obsessive enough to attend multiple events, and they'd finally get lucky that way.

"Well, if you're sure you wanna stay, I'm going to assign a slightly bigger detail to your home," he said, as he watched her gingerly make her way around the coffee table and over to a small desk sat in another corner of the room. "I want people watching the front and back of your house now. And if it's okay with you, I'd like to take a look at your schedule for the rest of this month. If this guy is as obsessive as his actions are suggesting, then we might get lucky and be able to pick him out of a crowd if he shows up everywhere you go. But for that to happen, I'd need your permission to have someone join you on those occasions."

Emma had been busy digging through her desk drawer while he'd been speaking. When she straightened up again and turned to face the FBI Agent, she had a large Manila envelope in her hands.

"That's fine with me. I can always tell Ariel that I hired a new bodyguard or something." She thought that statement over for a moment longer as she carefully made her way back to stand beside him once more, before she added, "Actually, that would work well if you were the person following me around. Obviously, she already knows that you're an FBI agent, but I could tell her that you were looking for a second job to help support your family?" When Agent Jones looked a little dubious about that explanation, she didn't hesitate to add, "You'd be surprised how many of your colleagues moonlight for the rich and famous. We pay better than the government does."

"Of course you do," he scoffed. He should have guessed that. "I uh… I'll see what I can do. I don't really have the time to moonlight at the moment, even if I am only pretending to do so. But I could probably arrange for either my partner or myself to be with you? That way, you'd always be surrounded by a familiar face."

"Sure. Just let me know when you have a plan."

Killian nodded his agreement and for a moment, an almost comfortable silence seemed to settle between the two of them. Emma was the one to break it when she said, "Here," and held out the envelope in her hands.

"What's this?"

"A peace offering for your niece. Moonlighting FBI agents get great perks," she teased, as she watched him peer into the envelope. It was too dark to see exactly what was inside of it, but Killian was pretty sure that he could make out the edges of a plastic CD case.

"Thanks. She'll love it. And uh… you didn't need to do that."

"It's fine. It's the least I could do," she assured him, waving away his concerns. "Thanks for coming, Agent Jones. Thanks for… everything."

"You're very welcome, Miss Swan. I'll see myself out but make sure you lock up after me, okay?"

Emma nodded her head as Killian turned on his heels to head for the front door, with her following as close behind as she could, given the pain in her legs.

"Call me if you need anything," he instructed, his hand resting on the doorknob. "And promise me that there will be no more whiskey tonight. You need water to stay hydrated and to help those burns heal."

"I promise. Thanks again, Agent Jones. Enjoy what's left of your evening."

Killian didn't offer the sentiment back. He knew that Emma wouldn't be enjoying hers, given everything that had happened that day. Instead, he nodded his head one final time before slipping outside and closing the door firmly behind himself. And then he waited. When the sound of the lock clicking into place met his ears, he finally turned away from the house to head back to where he'd parked his car.

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