Reviews seemed to have dropped off on this story. Are people still interested in reading the end? I'vethrown in another problem for Danny and Mary to get through so please let me know what you think.

-41-

Danny, Mike and Ed sat around the speakerphone in Ed's office listening intently to the covert operation being conducted on the other end. They'd managed to set up a sting using O'Dell's bugged cell phone--making arrangements to apprehend Myers all the while knowing that the call would be intercepted. The truth was the FBI had already taken Myers and his girlfriend into custody and placed two agents in their place. Now they were all just waiting for their faithful assassin to show up and try to eliminate the witnesses.

A small part of Danny had wanted to be there to see the capture of the men who had caused them all so much pain, but it wasn't worth the risk. There was no way he'd do anything that might take him away from his girls. After several heated discussions with the Director and Agent Davis, they were more than confident now that the FBI had the situation under control.

The chatter of the agents increased and the three men looked at each other–knowing that something was about to go down. Suddenly, a hail of gunfire erupted through the speaker and Danny jumped to his feet–startled and feeling a bit helpless in the situation. Very little could be heard over the explosion of bullets, but Danny could barely make out the sounds of squealing tires and crunching metal.

"ALL UNITS REPORT IN!" Davis' voice boomed across the connection and the sound of various agents giving the all clear followed. Everyone breathed a small sigh of relief that all the good guys had apparently come through unscathed, but the room was still heavy with anticipation. Had their plan been a success?

Finally a voice crackled across the line, "Suspect secure."

Mike pumped his fist in the air, silently cheering that this whole thing was almost over.

"Mr. Deline?" Agent Davis questioned, trying to make sure they were all still on the line.

"We're here, Agent Davis. Is our understanding correct-- you have the suspect in custody?"

"Yes, sir. I'm not close enough at the moment to make a positive ID, but it looks like Paul Ford."

"No sign of Chester?"

"No, sir. I'll contact you as soon as we've interrogated him further."

"Thank you, Agent Davis. We'll be anxiously awaiting that call."

Ed disconnected the call and looked at Danny–his face a mixture of relief and trepidation and Danny understood immediately. Three down and one to go, but by all accounts the last one was the most dangerous of them all.

---

"I still need to run to Saks. You almost done?" Sam and Mary were enjoying a rare day off together as they browsed the shops at Fashion Show Mall.

"Why don't you go ahead," Mary told Sam as she carefully set her items on the counter at Janie and Jack. "I want to grab a few more things and I still need to check out. How about I meet you over by Godiva?"

"Godiva?"

"Yeah, I've been craving one of those chocolate covered raspberry ice cream bars."

"I hate you," Sam scowled and Mary couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's for the baby!" she jokingly tried to argue.

"Yeah, whatever. Twenty minutes?"

"Sounds good."

---

Mary finished up the last of her ice cream bar and tossed it in the trash. She hadn't taken as much time as she thought since she'd pretty much decided on one of everything. She knew Danny would think she was crazy, but she just couldn't bring herself to choose. That would definitely be the first lesson she taught her little girl–sometimes boys just don't understand. As she stood in the middle of the mall, looking towards Saks to see if she could spot Sam she heard someone call her name and an icy chill ran up her spine. When she turned around she saw the source of the voice and her heart jumped to her throat.

"Hello, Mary, long time-no see."

Mary stood there in shock, unable to respond. How could he talk to her like they were long lost friends? How could he pretend that the hurt and the pain and the horror he'd inflicted on her so many years ago never happened?

"Honey, this is my daughter Mary," he said conversationally to the woman next to him. "Mary, this is my friend Susan. We're here chaperoning a field trip with the youth group from our church." It was only then that Mary noticed all the children around them. Her gaze met his again and any thought she had of screaming–of telling him that she had stopped being his daughter the minute he put his hands on her died on her lips. As the woman walked away, chasing a stray child, Mary realized she needed to leave. It wouldn't do anyone any good to make a scene here–especially in front of all these innocent children. Innocent–she wondered if that was still true or if he'd tainted any of them the way he had done to her.

"Looks like I'm going to be a grandpa," he gushed, reaching out to put his hand against her stomach before she could react. "Is it a girl?" To anyone else the question would have sounded perfectly innocent, but the evil gleam in his eye made Mary flinch and she immediately pulled away, taking several steps back and swatting at the hand that still pressed against her child. In that moment, her instinct to flee took over and she turned to get away from him. Unfortunately, in her haste she lost her footing and stumbled. A collective gasp rose from the few passersby who took notice as she managed to catch herself on the back of a bench–effectively stopping her fall just as Sam appeared at her side.

"Omigod, Mary. Are you alright?" Sam screamed.

A man who had been sitting on the bench stood to help and together they managed to get Mary back on her feet and moved to the bench, while another woman picked up Mary's shopping bags and handed them to Sam.

"I'm fine," she said, trying to catch her breath. "I just lost my balance. I'm okay."

Sam turned to glare at the man she had recognized as Mary's father, but he was gone. Mary had never told her the whole story about what went on between her and her father, but just the fact that he had upset her before and she obviously wanted nothing to do with him was enough to send Sam running as fast as her Prada boots would allow as soon as she saw them talking.

"I'm calling Danny," Sam said, taking out her phone and pressing 5 on her speed dial.

"No."

"Mary, you fell."

"Sam, I didn't fall," Mary tried to reach for the phone, but Sam had already connected with his voice mail.

"Danny, it's Sam. Mary and I are at the mall and something happened. I need you to call me as soon as you get this message." Sam disconnected the call and turned back to Mary, "I think we should call an ambulance."

"I'm not going to the hospital. I'm fine and I just want to get out of here okay," Mary raised her voice almost hysterically–finally attracting the attention of a mall security guard.

"Is everything alright?"

"No, it's not," Sam told him. "A man assaulted my friend and caused her to fall."

Mary looked at Sam in disbelief as the security guard crouched in front of her with a pad and pen, "Ma'am, can you give me a description of the man?"

Sighing in frustration, Mary answered, "He didn't assault me. He just startled me and I lost my footing. It was nothing."

"Just the same, we'd like to have a word with him."

"He was with a group and they've obviously left so I'd really just like to go. It was….it was an accident. My friend is just overreacting."

"MARY!"

Mary put her hand up to stop Sam's protest and gingerly rose to her feet, "Thank you for your help, officer, but I'd really just like to get home."

---

"Where is she?"

The front door flew open and Danny bounded inside, startling Sam from her seat on the couch. He'd called back when they were on their way home and much to Sam's annoyance, Mary had only given him the edited version of what had taken place. Despite Mary's sugarcoated sequence of events, it had been enough to bring Danny rushing home and Sam supposed that was all that mattered.

"She's in the shower."

"How could you let him get near her, Sam?"

"We just split up for a few minutes, Danny. I needed to run to Saks and she wanted to stay in Janie and Jack. It looked like they were just talking, but I got there as soon as I could."

"Just talking?"

"Yes, and Mary seemed okay–not thrilled, but I could tell she was trying not to cause a scene, but when he touched her stomach…"

Danny had started to move towards the bedroom as Sam finished relaying the story, but her words brought him to a sudden stop. He turned to look at her, fury filling his eyes.

"He touched her?"

It was in that instant that Sam knew. She knew without being told what that man had done to Mary and the thought made her sick.

"He put his hand on her stomach and said something about the baby. I was just walking up and didn't hear what it was."

"Son of a…," Danny headed back towards the front door, his hands clenched tightly into fists and Sam knew she needed to stop him.

"Hey!" she yelled, grabbing his arm and turning him to face her. "I know you want to run off on one of your macho, beat the bad guy tirades, but Mary's really upset right now and you need to worry about her."

"I am worrying about her."

"Then take care of her," Sam's voice was firm, but she suddenly softened her tone, "She needs you, Danny."

---

Danny could still hear the water running as he entered their bedroom. He'd apologized and thanked Sam for her help before sending her home. Even though Sam had a pretty good idea of what was going on, he knew that his wife probably wouldn't truly open up as long as someone else was around.

As he pushed the door to the master bath open, he felt an ache in his chest. Through the glass shower door he could see that Mary was curled up on the floor, her knees pulled as close to her chest as the baby would allow. Wet strands of hair clung to her face and neck as she stared blankly at the tile. Sighing, Danny grabbed Mary's robe off the hook and reached out to open the shower door. The steam that had once covered the glass had started to dissipate and Danny realized that the water had most-likely gone cold. Still lost in thought, it took Mary a moment to notice his presence, but when he reached in to turn off the water she finally met his gaze.

"Hey," she said weakly, trying to manage a smile.

"Hey, baby. You gettin' cold in here?"

"A little I guess. I didn't realize I'd been in here so long."

Danny crouched down to wrap the terry cloth around her body and gently pulled Mary to her feet. Once her arms were through the holes, the sash tied securely and a towel wrapped around her head he scooped her up and brought her to the bed.

Curling up next to her, Danny held her close before asking, "You wanna tell me more about what happened?"

"I promise I'm okay, Danny. If I thought there was any chance the baby might be hurt … I caught myself before I fell--it was just jarring and my shoulders ache a little."

"I still think you should take it easy the rest of the day–stay off your feet."

"I think that's a good idea–I just feel drained for some reason. Probably too much shopping," Mary tried to lighten the mood, hoping Danny wouldn't question her about anything else, but he wasn't going to let it go.

"Tell me what happened with your father today."

"It was nothing--a fluke meeting. I just overreacted." She'd gotten good at making excuses for her father and even after all these years they rolled easily off her tongue, but Danny knew her better than anyone.

"You don't really believe that, do you?"

Mary shook her head from side to side and Danny pressed on, "Did he hurt you? Did he say something to you?"

Mary's breath hitched and the tears she'd been trying so hard to tamp down started in earnest. It was difficult at first for Danny to understand everything she was saying, but when she told him about the comments her father had made his blood began to boil. Mary held onto him tighter then and he wasn't sure if it was for her own comfort or for his since Danny was sure she could feel his body vibrating with rage.

"How could he know about her, Danny?" Mary asked quietly. "How could he know?"

"He doesn't, sweetie," Danny tried to reassure her, placing soft kisses against her temple. "He was trying to scare you because he's a sick monster. I promise you that he is never going to come near her–NEVER."

Somewhat calmed by Danny's assurances, Mary continued her story, "I called the church as soon as I got home. I saw the name on one of the kids' shirts and I called them."

"That's good," Danny was glad that Mary was finally overcoming her fear enough to try to stop her father from doing damage to anyone else. He knew she'd told her stepmother a few years ago, but he hoped this latest call was another huge step in her healing process.

"Not really. They were expecting my call. Apparently, he'd told them all about me."

"He actually admitted to everything?" Danny asked in disbelief.

"No, he told them we were estranged. That I'd had a lot of problems growing up–drugs, promiscuity--and when he'd tried to reign me in I'd lashed out by making up horrible lies about him."

"That's outrageous, Mary. How could anyone think…," Danny was stunned. He couldn't understand how anyone could believe the lies that spilled from that man's mouth.

"It doesn't matter. It's my word against his now. I should have gone to the police when it happened, but I was too ashamed–guess things haven't changed much, huh?"

Danny tightened his embrace, trying to give her as much support as she needed, knowing that any hope of a breakthrough for Mary was all but gone.

"I just want him gone, Danny. I just want him out of our lives forever," Mary said softly, finally succumbing to the exhaustion of the past few hours.

Danny held her until he was sure she was asleep before tucking her in securely and leaving the room. Picking up the kitchen phone, he dialed a familiar number.

"Hey, Mitch. I need you to find me an address."