"You'll do whatever I want?" Hope put her gun back in the holster. "Why don't you start by telling me what you're doing here, JJ."
"I called him," Roman replied, his features coming into relief as he stepped out of the shadows. "I'll take it from here."
Hope shrugged, looking unhappy but outranked. "I'll go back to making notifications, then."
JJ was grateful for the smooth lie and was about to say so when Roman spoke first. "Don't thank me. You're stuck here until the next ferry as it is. The way I see it: if you're old enough to risk your neck for the operation, then you're old enough to see it through. But you do it our way. No more sneaking up on armed people, understood? Put this on."
JJ caught the Kevlar vest. "You think they're in our cabin."
Roman shook his head. "They were until they started to feel the heat. Rafe found the abandoned stash. Stay back. I've got to let these campers know to shelter in place."
JJ took cover in the overgrown flowerbed of the old Thompson place and watched as Roman knocked next door. Apparently satisfied that no one was home, he started in JJ's direction.
Then it happened
"Down!" Roman shouted, a bullet whizzing by his ear, as glass from the blown-out window of the shed behind him sprayed the ground.
Footsteps approached the crouched men. "Look what we have here," Clyde drawled. "Sherlock Holmes and his pet rat."
"Let the boy go, Weston," said Roman. "I'm all you need."
"Thanks, but no thanks," Clyde laughed, grabbing Roman's service weapon off of the ground so that he was double-fisted. "See I have plans for him too. Inside, both of you!" JJ and Roman allowed themselves to be marched. "We've got guests," Clyde announced to Ben. "Tie Junior up."
"Why are you doing this?" JJ asked Ben. "My sister is having your baby. Why would you and your dad set her up?"
"The OB was clear at our last ultrasound. The baby is three weeks ahead of schedule, so I knew it wasn't mine. As for why, well, your sister's a cheating piece of trash."
"Bastard," JJ growled.
"Watch your mouth! Argghh!" Blowing air through gritted teeth, Clyde grasped his wounded shoulder, dropping both guns in the process. Hope and Rafe closed in on him, their own weapons drawn

"The police chief down in Florida can't wait to see you, Clyde," Hope smiled. "I bet we'll all be on her Christmas card list this year. Do you anything to say for yourself?"
"For once in my life, I've done right by my son." The officers looked around, but Ben had disappeared into the woods.
"JJ!" Roman shouted as the younger man gave chase.


JJ sped up when he heard a splash, ducking the last of the trees and coming into the clearing beside the bank of the Salem River. Not quite aware of himself or what he was doing, JJ dove in. "You don't…get out of this…that easy," he huffed, his jeans becoming waterlogged. "Help me!"
"My God," Roman cried as he burst into the clearing. He waded out and helped JJ drag Ben's unconscious body to shore before starting compressions. "Breathe Ben, come on!"
"Stones in his pockets," JJ reported.
"Well, it's a good thing you got to him in time." Roman loo. ked up. "You did the right thing, you know. I don't know if I would've done that at your age."
JJ shrugged. "I almost didn't, but all I was thinking about was how much he needed to pay for framing Abby and hurting Paige."
"And now he will. This is Brady," Roman spoke into his walkie-talkie. "I need a medevac here on Smith Island, ASAP! Two suspects injured. CPR in progress. "
"Copy that, Commissioner."

"I want this man on 24/7 suicide watch," Roman told the uniformed officer outside of Ben's room. "A crafty man who has lost his will to live is a bad combination."
"Roman," Justin greeted.
"Dr. Jonas hasn't cleared anyone for questioning yet."
"We have a bigger problem. We drew Judge Tyler for Clyde's murder and attempted murder case, and he's all about defendants being able to face their accusers. Now, I can squeak past arraignment with Rafe backing up Paige's written statement but sooner or later, she'll have to testify in court."
"Justin, be reasonable, the girl can't speak! You'll have to give her time."
"Trust me, I argued the point, and I was promptly reminded of Clyde's right to a speedy trial. This was one of the worst judges we could have possibly gotten. I just hope this doesn't make us lose the case."
"Here's a thought, Justin, don't let that happen."


Daniel took the blood pressure cuff of JJ's arm. "Well, the river beat you up a bit, but otherwise you're fine."
"Great!" JJ jumped off of the exam table. "Now can you tell Mom that?"
"You know what your mom's like," Daniel shrugged, "she just—"
"Smothers?"
"Worries, your mom worries. Especially when she's already stressed out, but once everybody finds out Abby didn't do the drug theft…hey, listen, are you still okay babysitting Parker? Because I have to warn you, he misses Paige. I've tried to explain to him why she can't babysit right now, but first, I'd have to explain it to myself."
"I know the feeling," JJ remarked. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."
"So will she," Daniel said, stopping JJ in his tracks. He let go of the doorknob and turned around to face Daniel, who continued, "I met with the speech specialist her grandfather called in from California. He seems like the type of guy who hits the ground running. Have faith, okay?"
"Yeah, right," JJ muttered. "Faith."
"I thought I heard your dulcet tones, nephew." JJ looked up to see his Uncle Steve sitting in the waiting area.
"It's not my best day," he admitted. He swung his arm across his body and connected a sucker punch to Steve's good eye. "But now, I feel a hell of a lot better."
Steve took a step back "What's the matter?" he chuckled. "Did you want us to have matching faces?"
"There was a time when I might have been interested to know why you've decided to show up now, you know, instead of when Dad died and we really could've used you around here. But since I know you'll probably feed me a load of BS, I'll just cut to the chase and save both of us a lot of time. Get the hell out of Salem," JJ stomped off to the elevator.
"You know the guy, Steve?" The voice belonged to a man with blond hair and a sharp, chiseled jaw.
"You could say that" Steve answered. "Now it's my turn to ask the questions. How do know my name? Have you been following me, dude?"
"Don't be paranoid."
"Being paranoid is part of my job description."
"Well, you can relax, my name is Nate Bridges and I work for Dr. Hunter."
Steve's tone changed slightly. "Oh yeah? How's Hollywood treating the homie?"
" I'll tell you over some grub. You should at least let me buy you a steak for that eye and maybe you could tell me what that was all about."
"All right, you're on."