Cabe and Allie head back to the beach to talk and then Walter and Paige have the same idea. Meanwhile a surprise visitor brings new information to Sylvester that just might help catch the killer.

I'm so sorry it's taken this long to write another chapter. I've just been very busy these past few weeks, but I'm hoping to be able to post more regular updates from now on. I hope this chapter has been worth the wait. I really do appreciate all your reviews.

Chapter 12

"Please come and sit down, Cabe."

Allie dug her toes into the sand and watched as Cabe stood at the shoreline, skimming stones across the waves. He didn't answer her.

They'd decided to go to the beach after Happy and Toby had left. The afternoon air was warm and still and Allie had changed into a flowery dress with spaghetti straps that she knew Cabe liked. She had packed a bottle of wine and some cheese and bread and she'd hoped they would sit together and talk and watch the sun go down, but so far Cabe had been even more distant than he'd been for days.

Allie contemplated calling his name again, but she knew he wouldn't reply so she got to her feet and walked towards him. He didn't seem to notice her approaching as he picked up another stone and weighed it up in his hands before sending it skimming across the waves.

"I've never been able to do that."

Cabe spun round at the sound of her voice. "Oh," he said, momentarily startled at having his solitude interrupted. "Let me show you." He handed her the stone and stood behind her, demonstrating the wrist action that his grandfather had first taught him as a young boy. "That's it," he said with a smile as she copied him, but he couldn't help chuckling as she sent the stone flying into the air before it landed with a splash in the ocean. "I guess you need more practice," he said.

Allie smiled, the sound of his laughter lifting her spirits like it always did. "Shall we open that wine now?" she suggested, slipping her hand into his.

Cabe nodded. He was well aware that they had come to the beach for a reason and it wasn't so he could teach her to skim stones. They walked back towards their picnic rug in silence. Cabe's mind was racing and he didn't know why. Allie was the love of his life, she completed him, she was the missing piece he didn't even realise was missing until he met her and now he was starting to think he might lose her and he couldn't risk that.

They settled on the rug and Allie handed him the bottle of wine and the corkscrew and he quickly uncorked the bottle. She produced two glasses from her bag and he filled the almost to the top. It was red wine from a local vineyard Toby had recommended to them a while ago. Allie smiled as she remembered the afternoon they'd spent touring the vineyard and how Cabe had complained that the wine tasting session was a waste of perfectly good wine.

Allie put her glass to her lips, but before she had a chance to drink Cabe took it from her hand and placed it on the sand, partially burying the stem so it wouldn't fall before doing the same with his own glass. "Baby," he said. "I love you."

It was simple declaration and one she had heard from him many times since he'd plucked up the courage to say it for the first time after they'd helped save a young couple from a plane crash, but Allie knew this time it meant so much more. "I love you too," she replied.

They kissed, Cabe's strong hand caressing the back of Allie's head as he gently pulled her closer. Allie's body tingled at his touch, the way it had they first time they'd kissed. The way it always did.

"And… and the last thing I wanted when I suggested we think about becoming foster parents was to cause you all this heartache," Allie continued when they broke for air.

Cabe took her hand in his. "This… this isn't your fault," he said. "As much as I hate to admit it, the Doc's right. When I lost Amanda…" but the words caught in his throat and he had to stop talking for a moment. Allie squeezed his fingers as he composed himself. "When I lost Amanda," he continued eventually. "I didn't know what to do. So I left, I walked away from Rebecca and the life we had. I took the easy way out."

"There's no easy way after something like that," Allie tried to reassure him. "I'm sure you did what you had to do. I can't imagine what you must have been going through."

Cabe shrugged. "Look, I don't know what all this means," he continued. "I don't know why it's all come back to me now. I figured it was in the past and… and I guess I thought it wasn't supposed to be like this after all these years. And it wasn't, for a long time, but now…" he trailed off and his eyes filled with a sadness that broke Allie's heart.

"Talk to Toby, please," urged Allie. "He can help you, you know he can. He did it before."

"It was different before," replied Cabe. "I had no clue that I was supressing memories about what happened to my father. Toby figured it out and you know how grateful I am for what he did for me. This ain't the same at all."

"No, it isn't," agreed Allie. "But I guess talking about fostering has stirred up something. I'm so sorry I did that to you."

"Hey, no, this isn't your fault!" exclaimed Cabe. "Oh, baby, no, please don't think… Look, I was having some trouble sleeping before you even mentioned fostering. Nightmares, I guess. Old memories, I don't really know. Probably just 'coz I'm gettin' old."

Allie ran her hand over his thigh. "You're not old, Cabe," she said with a warm smile.

Cabe smiled back. "What's that old saying? You're only as young as the woman you feel?" he offered, with a wink.

"Something like that," replied Allie.

Cabe tenderly placed his hands around her slim waist and she leaned into him, resting her head on his chest. "Right now I'm feelin' about fifteen years younger," he said. He let out a long, slow, sigh. "I don't want anything to ruin what we have," he said eventually.

"Maybe you could find another therapist?" suggested Allie.

"A stranger? No way!" exclaimed Cabe. "If I've really gotta talk about… y'know… personal stuff, I'd much rather do it with a… with a…"

"A friend?" Allie finished, her lips twitching into a smile.

Cabe sighed, Allie was right. Of course Toby was a friend. They bickered all the time, certainly, but Cabe trusted him. "So I'll…" he began, realising the inevitable. "I guess I'll… "

Allie pulled away from him, looking into his eyes expectantly.

"I'll go see the Doc," finished Cabe. "See if he can't fix this for me."

Allie didn't say anything, she simply kissed his lips.

"And then," continued Cabe. "Then we'll see if we can't take on a foster kid or two."

Allie threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Cabe," she breathed. "One step at a time, please. Fostering can wait, forever if necessary."

"I guess it all depends on what Toby finds in my head this time," replied Cabe with the merest hint of a chuckle. "But if it means anything to you, I think you're right. About becoming foster parents, I mean. You and me, we're a great team, Allie and if we can help out a kid in trouble, make their lives a little better, then we should try. We already parent a bunch of geniuses every day, how hard can it be?"

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

A short while later, Allie and Cabe had finished the bottle of wine and Cabe rolled up the rug as Allie slung her bag over shoulder. The sun was still just about visible over the horizon and Cabe took her hand as they began walking back towards the bus stop at the far end of the car park – neither of them would even consider driving after the wine they'd had so they had decided to catch the bus home. Allie leant her head against his shoulder as they walked. She was so happy that Cabe had agreed to try therapy again, but she knew it wasn't going to be easy for him. She made a silent promise that she would be there for him, whatever happened.

Just then they noticed a familiar vehicle pulling into the car park. "Isn't that Paige's car?" asked Allie, squinting in the fading light.

"Um, yeah," agreed Cabe.

They walked over to the car just in time to see Paige and Walter get out. Paige waved and smiled as soon as she saw them. "Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Actually, we're just leaving," replied Cabe. "And we could ask you the same thing," he added.

"We've just signed all the paperwork," explained Paige. "For the new place."

"Oh that's wonderful!" exclaimed Allie and she hugged first Paige and then Walter.

Walter was still a little uncomfortable with physical displays of affection, but he was much better at it than he used to be and he even felt a sudden rush of emotion as the older woman wrapped his arms around him. "Yes," he agreed when Allie finally freed him. "Yes, it is wonderful." He glanced at Paige and smiled, matching Paige's delighted expression.

Cabe shook him warmly by the hand. "Congratulations, son," he said. "Looks like you're finally growing up."

Walter laughed and grasped Paige's hand tightly. "I… I guess I am," he said.

Paige had once accused him of having the emotional maturity of a sixteen year old. He knew now, of course, that she hadn't really meant what she'd said – at least not in the way she'd said it - and they'd long since resolved almost all of their issues, but Cabe's words made him think. He was only a few years away from being forty and yet he still lived alone in a loft apartment over his place of work. Now his life was about to change in a big way and yet somehow it felt completely natural to him. Any doubts he'd had at the start of this process were gone and he couldn't wait to wake up with Paige every morning. Now it was just a question of whether their perfect family could, or should, grow.

"You OK, son?" asked Cabe.

"Me? Oh... y...yes, I'm fine," replied Walter, realising that he'd become lost in his own thoughts.

"Great," grinned Cabe. "Well, me and my girl are headin' home. I guess we'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, kids."

"Didn't expect to see those two here this evening," commented Paige as they set off towards the beach. "I think something's been bothering Cabe lately, but he seemed much more upbeat just now."

"Nothing serious, I hope?" asked Walter with concern.

Paige shook her head and slipped her feet out of her sandals. "I don't really know," she answered. "But I'm sure Allie has everything under control. She's so good for Cabe. The old Cabe would never have gone for a romantic walk on the beach. Although," she paused, a smile spreading slowly across her lips. "Neither would the old Walter."

"P...probably not," agreed Walter. "I... I just thought, as it's such a lovely evening, that... that we could..."

Paige pressed her index finger to his lips to stop him talking. "You don't have to explain," she said. Then she moved her finger and replaced it with her lips, gently brushing against his and lingering for as long as she could.

Walter closed his eyes and allowed himself to get lost in the moment. When they eventually broke apart he took both of her hands in his and smiled warmly.

"Do you remember what I asked you this morning?" he queried.

"Walter, I may not have an eidetic memory, but I think I can remember what happened a few hours ago."

"Oh, right, of course."

"So... so I guess you want a proper answer," continued Paige. "I kinda brushed you off earlier, I'm sorry about that."

"I admit I was a little confused by your reaction," replied Walter. "But... but since this morning... that is... um, I guess what I mean is..."

"Hey, why don't we sit down?" suggested Paige.

Walter nodded and they found a sheltered spot beside a large tree. The sun had disappeared below the horizon now and the evening breeze was cooler than it had been earlier in the day. They made themselves comfortable on the sand and Paige sat close to Walter, allowing his body heat to keep her warm.

"I assume you don't m…mind coming back to this beach?" he asked her. "It's not far from… from where Charlie Snyder's body was found."

"It's far enough," replied Paige. "And besides, from what Kimberley's told us about Charlie, I don't think he'd want us to stop coming to one of our favourite place just because of what happened."

Walter nodded and slipped his arm around her shoulder. The only sounds were the gentle lapping of the waves and the leaves rustling in the breeze. They stayed like that for a while enjoying the tranquillity, neither of them wanting to interrupt each other's thoughts until finally Paige spoke.

"Are you happy?" she asked, seemingly out of nowhere. She knew she didn't need to ask, but Paige had come to realise that her insecurity would never completely go away and she just needed to hear him say it.

Fortunately, Walter was used to this now. She often needed his reassurance and he understood that now. He understood her and it didn't frighten him anymore.

"Paige, I'm so happy, I… I can't even begin to put it into words," he replied.

"I still think about what happened," said Paige. "How we almost threw everything away. I don't know what I…"

"Sshhh," Walter interrupted her. "We're s…so far away from what happened a year ago. Look at us! W…we're moving into our own home. You, me and Ralph. This… this is my dream and I don't think I even realised it until now."

"What you asked me this morning, about having another baby…" Paige began, but she didn't know how to finish. "Um… I…"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," said Walter with a smile. "That's why I wanted to come here this evening. Y…you see this morning I was simply asking out…out of curiosity," he tried to explain. "I wanted to know if you'd thought about it. About h…having more children. It's not something I've ever really considered myself. Not really. Occasionally, perhaps, b…but not seriously. Then this morning, when you didn't give me a direct answer, I… I began to realise that… that…" He trailed off, aware that he was starting to ramble.

Paige smiled at him. "My direct answer is yes," she said. "Yes, Walter, I do want another baby."

Walter's eyes lit up. "You do? That's… that's w…wonderful, Paige! B…because I do too! And I didn't know it until this morning, but I really do. Don't get me wrong, I love Ralph and I always will, but, well I… I can't say I understand how I'm feeling right now… I suppose it's a primal instinct to procreate – I guess I'll check that with Toby – but I want to have a baby with you. Our child. A…and I don't want to wait. I want to start trying right now, because there's always the… the possibility that we could have difficulty conceiving like Happy and Toby in which case w…we'll need to look at fertility treatment. I guess the probability is low, b…but it could happen and…"

"Walter, stop!" Paige held up her hand to silence him. "Please," she added.

Walter could have kicked himself. Even in the moonlight he could tell by the look on her face that he'd gone completely over the top, rambling about fertility treatment of all things. "I'm sorry," he said, quietly.

"It's OK," she tried to reassure him. "It's just that I guess I wasn't expecting this from you. I kind of assumed you didn't want a biological child. I don't know why? I guess because we've never talked about this before."

"You're right, we haven't," agreed Walter. "But…but it was an oversight. This is exactly the kind of thing we should talk about. This is important, Paige."

Their relationship had been far from straightforward, but Walter felt they were ready to make this commitment. To create a new life together, to nurture a child together. Paige was right, they hadn't talked about it before, but now Walter was almost overwhelmed by emotions he couldn't make sense of and he really needed to talk about it.

Paige smiled and cupped the side of his face in her hand. "Oh, Walter," she said. "It is important so… so that's why we shouldn't rush into anything. I'm just not sure if we should start trying for a baby straight away."

"I…I sort of assumed we'd at least wait until we got back to the garage," joked Walter, trying to hide his disappointment.

Paige laughed. "I'm not talking about forever, I just need time to process this, that's all," she tried to explain. "I promise I won't keep you waiting too long. I do really, really, want us to have a baby, I just want the timing to be right. When I had Ralph the timing was so wrong and… and I guess even though everything is different now, those memories are hard to shake off. Does that make any sense?"

Walter leaned in and captured her lips in a kiss. She was wearing flavoured lip balm – cherry, if he wasn't mistaken – and the taste heightened his senses. A wave of emotion engulfed him and he found himself having to pull away to gather his thoughts. "I…I didn't mean to put any p…pressure on you," he said. "This time yesterday, the… the idea of having a b…baby hadn't even entered my thoughts."

"Then maybe you should take some time too?" suggested Paige. "This isn't a decision you're supposed to come to in less than twenty four hours."

"You're right, of course," agreed Walter. "B…but I think this is what I've always wanted. I just never understood before."

Paige threw her arms around him. "I love you, Walter O'Brien," she said and he held her tightly.

"Reciprocated."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sylvester double-checked the door of the garage for the third time. It was definitely locked.

Definitely.

No doubt about it… except…

He tried it one more time. Just to be sure.

"Good," he mumbled, satisfied at last that the building was secure. "Don't want to keep her waiting."

Sylvester had spent almost two hours preparing for his date with Kimberley, over half an hour of which had been styling his hair. His hair wasn't really something he usually spent time on, but this evening had been different and he'd combed, styled, gelled and sprayed it to the point of no return. It was at that moment he'd remembered he'd left the chocolates he'd bought for Kimberley at the garage and he'd raced back to collect them. Now he just had enough time to catch the bus and still be on time to meet her.

He turned to head towards the bus stop, but almost jumped out of his skin as he came face to face with someone he didn't immediately recognise in the semi-darkness.

"Sorry, sir," said the young man he'd almost bumped into. "Didn't meant to, like, scare you or anything. I'm looking for Scorpion?"

It was then that Sylvester recognised the face. "Oh my, it's you!" he exclaimed. "You're Josh! The one who drowned! I mean, of course you didn't actually drown, at least not in a fatal way. Was that insensitive? I'm sorry."

Josh stood with his mouth open as Sylvester spoke all in a rush, without leaving him a chance to get a word in edgeways.

"I'm just surprised to see you, that's all," continued Sylvester. "Are you OK? Do you want to come in? I was just leaving, but I can catch the next bus. I have a date. I'm kinda nervous, I shouldn't be, she's very sweet, we've already talked a lot and I got her these chocolates as a gift. Do you think she'll like them?"

Josh waited for a moment, just to be sure that he'd finished talking. "Um, yeah, like, I guess," he replied eventually. "See my friend told me you guys are, like, investigating the murder of that lifeguard," he said, determined to say what he had to say while he had the chance. "Y'see, I've been having, like, nightmares and I figured it was normal 'coz, like, I almost died, right? And then I realised today that I've actually been, like, remembering stuff and it's kinda weird and so I figured I should, like, tell you guys 'coz on TV they always solve a homicide with totally random clues."

Sylvester frowned in puzzlement. "Are you saying you have information that may be pertinent to this case?" he asked.

"Um, I dunno about that," replied Josh. "But I do know that I was, like, tangled up in, like, this stuff underwater and that's why I couldn't, like, swim back up and that's never happened to me before."

"Tangled?" repeated Sylvester. Then his eyes widened as he realised the potential significance of what Josh was saying. "Tangled in what, exactly?"

"I… I have no idea."

"Do you think it could have been seaweed?"

"Um… like, I guess."

Sylvester fumbled in his pocket for his phone. "I need to call Walter. I just hope he's not too busy making a baby."

To be continued...