Chapter 3:

Oakdale Police Department, Hal's office. 8 am.

Tom knocks on the door.

"Hey Tom, come on in." Hal says as the phone rings. "Let me take this real quick."

Hal answers the phone as Tom sits down,

"Lt. Munson, Oakdale PD," Hal says when he picks up the phone.

"Hi Hal, it's me, Margo. I thought I should let you know that I'm leaving for Martha's Vineyard in about two hours." Margo says.

Hal looks up and sees Tom sitting there.

"Thanks for letting me know. Can I call you back in about 20 minutes?" Hal asks.

"Yeah, I am doing some last-minute packing. I'll be here for another hour. I'll talk to you then" Margo says.

"Thanks. I'll talk to you soon. Bye." Hal says, mindful of Tom sitting there.

"Have you heard from Margo?" Tom asks.

"No, I haven't talked to her since I brought her home yesterday. Are you here about the Kramers case?" Hal asks.

"Yes. It looks like Margo left notes for Jack about what she uncovered in the beginning stages in the investigation. Is she going to be available if I need to call her to the stand at all?" Tom asks, looking at the file.

"No, Tom. She's not." Hal informs him.

"Why not, Hal? If she started the investigation, I need to be able to call her to the stand if need be." Tom retorts. "Hal, you know that if one detective starts an investigation and then turns it over to another detective that my office needs to be notified. You also know that detective needs to be available in the case that they need to be called to testify."

"Tom, you saw her yesterday. Margo obviously hasn't been feeling well. What I didn't tell you is that she's been this way for the past several weeks. All I can say is that her doctor told her that she needs to take it easy for a while and I agree with that assessment. She's been under a lot of stress for the past three months and I decided that it would be good for her right now to take some time off. I don't know if she's planning on holing herself up in the house for the next several weeks or if she's leaving town. I don't know. As of right now, she's on vacation. She's not available. Besides, I know you called yesterday and she believes that it was just a pretense to bug her about the separation papers." Hal tells him.

"No, I was concerned after seeing her yesterday. I do have to admit, she didn't look anything like herself. I didn't think the separation was going to be this hard on her." Tom says as his cell phone rings, seeing that it's Casey.

"Tom Hughes." Tom says as he answers the phone.

"Hey Dad, I'm in the nurse's office at school. We were playing flag football in gym class and I got my hand stepped on and the nurse thinks my finger is either dislocated or broken and she wants me to get it looked at by a doctor. I tried calling Mom's cell phone, but all I got was that her phone was temporarily shut off for the time being." Casey says, in between gasps.

"Yeah, I'll be right there, Case." Tom says as he gets up.

"I've got to go. It looks like Casey injured his hand or finger in gym class and it's bad enough that they want him to go get it looked at." Tom tells Hal as he grabs his brief case and coat from the other chair.

"Tom, I'm sorry that Margo's not available to testify. If her doctor tells her that she has to take it easy, then I have to abide by that—as her boss." Hal replies.

"I'll figure something out." Tom says as he walks out the door.

Hal grabs the phone and dials Margo's home phone number.

"Hey, Margo. It's me. Sorry about that. Tom was here and I didn't want him to know that you were going out of town for a while. He's not too happy that you're not going to be available for the Kramers case. I told him that I didn't know what your plans were, except that you were under doctor's orders to take it easy for a while." Hal says.

"Thanks. It's not going to matter to him anyway if I'm here or not. Besides, he doesn't need to know where I am going." Margo replies.

"So, when are you leaving for Martha's Vineyard?" Hal asks.

"I have to be at the airport here in about a half an hour. My flight takes off at 11:30 this morning." Margo replies. "I already talked to John and he's already talked to his doctor friend who deals with high risk pregnancies to let him know I am coming up and what my situation is. I already talked to Dr. Samuels this morning and she's alright with the trip. She thinks it will do me some good to be able to relax. I already picked up the refills of my meds that I am going to need while I am gone." Margo informs him.

"Good. By the way, your car is still here at the station. If you want me to, I can pick you up and take you to the airport and see you off." Hal suggests.

"That would be great. At least I can see you before you leave. By the way, when Tom was here, Casey called to let him know that he suffered a hand injury while in gym class and that he needed to go see a doctor. I thought I should let you know about that." Hal says.

"I hope it's not serious-something that requires surgery. But then, like he's going to want me around anyway. I'll see you when you get here." Margo says.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes" Hal says as he hangs up the phone.

"Margo's taking this separation harder than I thought." Hal thinks to himself as he leaves.

"Jack, I have got to take care of an errand. "I'll be back in about an hour." Hal tells Jack as he puts his jacket on.

"Hey, is Margo coming in at all today?" Jack asks, looking over at her desk.

"No, Jack. She's going to be gone for a couple of weeks. It has to do with her not feeling well for the past couple of weeks. Her doctor advised her to take some time off and that is what she's doing. Oh, and if Tom asks, do not say anything to him. Margo doesn't want him knowing." Hal replies.

"Is it her HCV?" Jack asks.

"It has something to do with it. I'll discuss it with you later. I've got to go." Hal says as he walks out the door.

Margo's house, 10:05 am:

Margo is at the house, making sure that she has packed everything she needs for the trip to Martha's Vineyard. She grabs the white envelope from the desk and sticks it in her purse when the doorbell rings. When she sees it's Hal, she lets him in.

"You know you don't have to do this for me. I was going to call for a cab when you offered to take me to the airport." Margo says.

"I know, but I figured that at least I would make sure that you got to the airport alright and see you off. By the way, are you aware that Doc's trial is starting tomorrow? They moved up the start date on that trial." Hal informs her.

"No. I wasn't aware of that. I have been deliberately trying to avoid anything that has to do with him or what has happened. So, it's better that I am leaving town today because of that, uh?" Margo replies as she sticks the new John Grisham paperback novel in her purse to read on the plane.

"Yes, I would definitely say it's a good thing. By the way, Jack was asking about you when I was leaving. Do you want me to tell him anything?" Hal asks as he brings Margo's suitcase over by the door.

"Just tell him that I need to get out of Oakdale for a while. Don't get into the details with him. I don't want to take the chance that he says something to Tom." Margo says as she puts on her shoes.

"Are you ready to go?" Hal asks.

"I am definitely ready to get out of Oakdale for a while." Margo tells him as she grabs her purse and turns the security alarm on before she walks out the door.

"I think the only thing I am really going to miss—besides my own bed—is you, Hal." Margo says as she locks the front door.

Hal brings her suitcase over to the car and puts it in the trunk. Margo gets in the passenger seat of the car.

"Hal, quick question for you?" Margo asks.

"Shoot." Hal replies as he gets in the driver's seat and starts the car.

"What are you going to do with my car?" Margo asks.

"Well, if you would like me too—I can keep it in my garage until you get back. That way, you know where it is." Hal suggests as he backs the car out of the driveway.

"If you don't mind." Margo implies, looking back at the now-empty house.

"No, I don't mind. I don't mind at all." Hal replies as he proceeds down Pinewood Lane towards the Oakdale Airport.

The Oakdale Airport is only a fifteen-minute drive from Margo's house. Margo looks out the passenger side window. As she watches the trees and the other houses go by, she thinks about Tom, how he doesn't know about the baby and that she's leaving town. She did this once before to him, when she couldn't confront either Hal or Tom when she couldn't tell either one of them that she was pregnant, and how Tom found her in Greece—pregnant and in labor. She knew this time was going to be very different, that Tom wasn't going to be looking for her. Then she thinks back to Tom lashing out at her after finding out, "I can't believe you would go so low and do this to me after everything that we have been through in the past several years. I can't believe you would do something like this to me…. Enough with the excuses, I have had it and I am done with you!"

The car coming to a stop at the passenger drop off area at the Oakdale Airport is enough to bring Margo back to reality.

"Hey, we're here." Hal says as he gets out of the car to get Margo's suitcase out of the trunk.

Margo grabs her purse and gets out of the car herself. She walks to the back of the car and takes her suitcase from Hal.

"I guess you're going to need this." Margo says as she takes the car key off her key ring to give to Hal.

"Thanks, even though I already have the spare." Hal tells her.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for the time being." Margo says as she smiles at Hal.

"For the time being. You have a safe flight and do me a favor, call me when you get to Martha's Vineyard." Hal implies.

"I will definitely do that. Take care of yourself." Margo tells Hal as she gives him a hug.

"You take care of yourself and that baby. Take it easy and get some rest. I'll see you when you get back." Hal says as he returns the hug.

Margo lets go, then grabs the handle of her suitcase. As she walks toward the entrance of the airport, she looks back and waves to Hal. He waves back to her as he leans against the car, thinking to himself that she shouldn't rush coming back. Hal gets back into the car and heads back towards his house, to drop off Margo's car, and take the squad car back to the station.