I am so sorry I didn't update last week. I sat down to write this chapter which is the last one before the ending and I couldn't get what I wanted to happen. I'm still not loving this chapter but I didn't want to go another Friday without updating. It's not my best and I'm sorry for that…


"How is she?" Jay scratches at his arm, doing his best to sound casual. It's been two days since he told Hailey that Booth was close. Two days since he's seen her…since she told him it was more important now than ever for her to keep her distance. The distance that was only there because he put it there.

"Honestly? It's hard to tell." Vanessa looks out the windows of the shop towards the cafe. "She's putting on a brave face but I'm not blind. If she is sleeping, it's not much." She hasn't heard Hailey during the night, but she has awoken the last two days to find her roommate curled into the corner of the couch fighting sleep. "I keep…" Worry fills the sigh she lets out. She's afraid to say the words as if putting the fear out there will make it come true.

"You keep waiting for her to leave?" He'd been expecting it to.

Vanessa gives a dark laugh, nodding. "I wake up most mornings thinking that this is the day she's going to be gone. I just wish there was more we could do. That we could be more…proactive I guess. It feels like we are just sitting around, waiting for him to get her."

That's another thing Jay has been thinking about. The problem with being proactive is that it leaves Hailey exposed. It's doubtful that Booth would come out for anyone but her and there's no way he's putting her in a situation where that could happen. Maybe he'd give Officer Atwater a call, see if he's got any ideas of how to get to him without Hailey.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Vanessa." Levi adjusts the straps on his soccer bag as he comes into the coffee shop.

"Good, I just need to run up and grab my bag. Be right down." She nudges Levi on her way out, encouraging him to talk to his dad. She knows how guilty Levi feels about the things he said to his dad. It breaks her heart to see them hurting so much.

Jay and Levi watch her leave, both wanting to talk to the other but not sure how.

"Good luck today. I'm really sorry I can't be there." It's the game before the Championship game but Jay has to work.

"Yeah…It's okay. You've uh…It's the first game you've missed this season." Levi scuffs the floor with the toe of his shoe, wishing things weren't like this.

"Dad, I…" Levi starts but stops as Vanessa comes back.

"Ready?" Vanessa stops short, her gaze flickering between the pair. She interrupted something. Great…shooting Jay an apologetic look, she ushers Levi out with promises of being safe.

Jay watches them leave. The silent treatment ended after Jay had spoken to Hailey the other day, but things are still pretty strained between father and son. The conversation is short and to the point. There's no chatting just to chat. It's hard for Jay because as much as he wants to tell Levi that he should just accept the situation and move on, he wants him to know that it's okay to be sad and angry. He should be able to feel what he needs to feel so for now, he lets it go, even though he misses him.


When Vanessa makes it home after dropping Levi off at his friend's house after the game, she's surprised to see Hailey out in the living room.

"Hey." Vanessa plops down on the couch next to Hailey.

"How was the game?" Hailey offers a Red Vine to her, smiling when she happily accepts and starts to talk around the bite in her mouth.

"Seriously…that kid is an olympian in the making. And I know everyone says that about their kids and stuff at this age but man…he's just really good. Scored twice today, including the winning goal in stoppage time. You should have seen him." She winces as soon as the words leave her mouth. "Sorry…"

"He is amazing. So…the championship game is in two weeks?" She's hoping that there will be a large enough crowd that she can go and watch him play without Jay or Levi seeing.

"Yep. You want me to sneak you in?" Even though she's grinning, she's serious. She knows how much Hailey misses spending time with Levi.

"Yeah…maybe." Maybe things will have worked themselves out by then. She's got a plan in the works, but she isn't sure how well it is going to go over. "I was um…wondering if I could borrow your car tomorrow after work?"

"Sure. Where you going?" Vanessa watches the way Hailey looks away quickly, but not before she sees the guilt flash in her eyes. Before she even gets an answer, Vanessa knows whatever she is about to say is going to be a lie.

"Just need to run a couple of errands. I won't be long." She can feel Vanessa's gaze and knows that she knows she's lying.

"Vanessa, I…"

"I'll come with you." Hailey flinches, but Vanessa doesn't look away. "Whatever you've got planned…I'm not letting you do it alone."

"But the shop…"

"Look…either I'm coming with you or I'm telling Jay that you're about to do something stupid. Your choice." It's not much of an ultimatum. She should probably tell Jay anyway.

Hailey sighs, staring at the television. This was about her. She doesn't want anyone else involved, but she definitely doesn't want Jay to know. "Fine. You can come. And I'm not doing anything stupid…I just want to talk to the officer who brought those files."

"I thought Jay said he'd let you know if he heard anything new."

"Yeah, he did but I also think he wants to keep the worst from me and I just…I need to know for myself what's happening." It's not about trusting him because she does.

"Then it's settled. I'll drive but you can pick the music." Vanessa grins at Hailey hoping this isn't a mistake.


"You sure you want to do this?" It's just after 3 in the afternoon and Hailey and Vanessa have just arrived at the police station where Officer Atwater works.

Hailey only nods before climbing out of the car. "I can do this on my own. You can wait out here if you want." She looks at the front door of the station then back to Vanessa over the top of the car.

"Nope. I'm coming in. Let's get this over with." Vanessa bumps her shoulder against Hailey as they walk into the building together.

"Can I help you?" A young officer asks from behind the front desk as soon as they walk inside. He seems a little impatient, like they've interrupted something important.

"I'm…We're looking for Officer Atwater." This station is much busier than where Jay works. Even with the open floor plan, Hailey can't find him.

"I'm sorry, he's out on a call right now. I can give him a message if you leave your name and number. He can get in touch with you when he gets back." The officer quickly slides a memo pad across to Hailey but Vanessa pushes it back.

"We'll wait, thanks." Vanessa gives him a smile that's anything but sweet and grabs Hailey's arm, dragging her back outside. "You know what he looks like?" There's a little restaurant across the street with outdoor dining. "We can grab something to eat and wait for him."

Somewhere after her second cup of coffee, Hailey finally sees Officer Atwater heading into the station.

"That's him." Hailey takes a final sip of her drink before standing, dropping some cash on the table. Less than ten minutes later, they both are sitting in front of him.

"What can I do for you, ladies?" Kevin sits, folding his large body into the too-small chair in the interview room. His office is full of files for an upcoming case which left little room for anyone but himself in there. He has a pretty good idea about why Hailey is here. He's been expecting at the very least, a call from her.

"I know you're probably really busy and I won't take too much of your time. I was hoping to ask you a couple of questions about Ronnie Booth." Saying his name has a small tremble working through her body but she shifts quickly in her seat hoping to mask it.

Kevin stares back at her for a moment, then over at the brunette with her. She hasn't even said anything but from the way she is staring at him, it feels like he's getting the shakedown. "I'm Officer Atwater, but you can call me Kevin…most people do." He reaches across the table to shake her hand, smiling when she slips her hand into his. If they weren't here at the station, he'd definitely lay some of his charm on her, but now is not the time.

"I already told Jay everything, I assumed he'd tell you." Shifting his focus back to Hailey, Kevin sits back, almost reluctantly letting go of Vanessa's hand.

"No, he did. I guess I have some questions that he wouldn't know. He said that Booth was here. Have you seen him again?" Her palms are suddenly damp.

"No. Just saw him that one time here. I understand you got yourself people looking out for you back home, but that guy…He ain't right. Like something missing in his head." Kevin is a large man, seen a lot of bad things, but this guy gave him major creep vibes. "You should think about going somewhere safe for a while."

"She's safe where she is." Vanessa snaps at him. "You aren't leaving. No." She grabs Hailey's hand, preparing to tell her all the reasons leaving isn't the answer but Kevin speaks first.

"I'm not trying to force you into going, that wasn't my intention. Let's go back." He waits for Vanessa to calm down some and for Hailey to not look so pale, but that could take a while so he pushes on. "I didn't tell Jay this, but when this guy came in to talk with me, he kept going on and on about making you pay for what happened to his son. He's deranged…obsessed with you. You need to be careful."

"I'd like you to contact me first if you see or hear from him." Hailey stands, wishing she never came here. She wasn't sure what she was hoping to get out of meeting with him but this wasn't it. "Thank you for your time." A moment later she's out the door.

"Was that necessary? She came here for answers and you made it worse." Vanessa starts to leave but Kevin steps in front of her, blocking her exit.

"She needs to know what she's up against. That guy that came in here a couple of days ago? He isn't the guy from Chicago…he's worse." He apologizes again before stepping aside to let her pass. "If she has any other questions or if she just…needs to talk, this is me." Kevin hands his card to Vanessa, watching as she slips it into her back pocket before hurrying after her friend.


Sweat rolls down his back as he walks Main Street. The heat, even at dusk, is relentless. It's creeping up his legs from the sun-heated pavement but he walks on. Ronnie had been getting restless waiting for that cop to give him some sort of clue of where he needed to be and just when he was about to confront him again, she appeared.

Hailey…She stepped out of the passenger side of the car and for a moment he swore she was looking right at him but she had turned away again and then walked right into the station. The cop had lied to him. He had suspected it, but finding out that it was true angered him still. He was no one's fool.

After weeks and weeks of searching, he had her. He wasn't stupid enough to try and take her right in front of a police station though. Instead, he waited for her and the other girl to exit and then pulled out his parking spot after them, keeping a safe distance between them the whole way.

When the car pulled off the highway and continued to this little town, he backed off even more, driving through when he saw them park in front of a coffee shop. By the time he made a second pass on the road, they had disappeared inside but he wasn't sure what building they went inside or if this was where Hailey had been hiding all this time. That's why he's walking, hoping to catch a glimpse of her again.

" 'scuse me." A boy with freckles and hair that's neither red nor blonde stands just in front of him, carrying a large pizza box. Stepping aside, he starts to let the boy pass but then calls out to him.

"Hang on a second, I'm looking for my friend. Maybe you've seen her." Ronnie reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the wrinkled picture of Hailey and his son. "Her name is Hailey." He studies the boy as he looks at the picture, watching as a curious look crosses his face.

"Sorry, I haven't seen her."

Ronnie lets him walk away knowing the kid was lying. He knew Hailey. This was where she was. All he needed to do now was figure out the best way to get her.


Smalls greets him the second he walks through the front door, nearly knocking him over. "I was literally gone for 5 minutes." Levi sets the pizza on the counter just as his dad and the officer from the day he and Hailey were nearly in an accident enter the kitchen from the back deck.

"Thanks for picking up the pizza, why don't you put Smalls out back and then we can eat in the living room." Jay starts to grab plates and cups as Levi does as he asks.

"Alright, alright. Let me get you more water. It's hot out tonight." After hooking him up to the leash, Levi turns and reaches for the water bowl but the file on the table catches his eye. He shouldn't look but even though it's closed, a couple of the pictures are hanging out. His hand reaches out, pulling one of the photos out for a closer look.

It's Hailey but it's not. The Hailey in this picture is pretty skinny and has darker hair, like the picture that guy showed him but her eyes are the same. Why would his dad have a file on Hailey? No longer caring about what he shouldn't be doing, Levi hurries to open the file. There's more pictures of Hailey inside and some of the words jump out at him. Murder…she's wanted for murder. It's got to be a lie. Even if he's mad at her, he wouldn't believe this. Never.

"Pizza's getting cold, Levi. Hurry up!" His dad shouts from inside causing him to drop the file.

"Be right in!" He drops to the ground, hurrying to pick up the contents of the file when the last picture makes him stop. The man from the street stares back at him and the coldness in his eyes sends a shiver through him despite the heat. What does all this mean?

He needs to see her. He doesn't care if his dad won't allow him. He's going. He's racing off the back porch seconds later, hurrying towards the coffee shop.

He never even notices when the man from the photo falls into step behind him, his footsteps muffled by the sand. All he cares about is finding out what this is all about.

If he'd been thinking clearly, he might have told his dad he was leaving. He might have told his dad that the man in the photograph was here. He might have stopped what happened next.

He should have told his dad.