A car door slammed outside. It was followed by quick footsteps up the front walk. Stephanie checked her watch. "It's only been half an hour. He can't be back from the store yet."

"Looks like we're about to meet Steve," Jane said. He stood and straightened his clothes. "Just follow my lead."

They heard the front door open. "He knows me," Stephanie protested. "I interviewed him, remember?"

"I'm in charge," Jane told her. "I'm your boss…"

Stephanie glared at him.

"That's what he thinks, right? Let me handle this, okay?"

Footsteps sounded in the kitchen. The chair was pulled away from the door and an instant later Gary burst through the door and came right down the steps, clearly agitated. He waved his gun in Jane and Stephanie's general direction but seemed too upset to take time to actually aim it. "What did you do? What did you DO??"

Jane put on his best soothing persona. "Be calm, Gary. We did nothing. We were locked down here. What's wrong?"

Gary began pacing wildly around the room. Stephanie stood just behind Jane and the two of them rotated with Gary, trying to remain facing him.

"Who got Steve?" Jane asked.

"The police!" wailed Gary. "It's on the radio!" He stopped moving and pointed his gun a bit more steadily. The fact that he was no longer between his hostages and the stairs went unnoticed by Gary, but not his hostages. "You called them, I know you did! You called them and now they got Steve. They shot him."

Staring down the barrel of the gun, Jane was afraid to make a move for the stairs. He tried to placate Gary. "I didn't call the police. I don't have a phone, you took my phone remember?"

Gary shook his head and looked around the basement. "There's another phone down here somewhere…"

Jane steered Stephanie one step closer to the stairs by gesturing around the room. "There is no other phone down here. Look." He pointed to the walls and ceiling and moved another step. "See… no wires no phone."

Gary followed where Jane pointed but he didn't want an explanation. "They shot Steve!" He shouted. His face was reddening and he was beginning to shake. "They shot him and they killed him and now I'm gonna kill you."

Stephanie shrank behind Jane, clutching his jacket and closed her eyes. Let him handle it? This was going very well.

"Shot doesn't mean dead, Gary," Jane told him. "Did the radio say he was shot or dead?"

Gary started to cry. "They killed my brother!"

"Lots of people get shot and don't die, Gary," Jane said reasonably. "Steve might not die…"

Stephanie summoned all of her courage and moved to Jane's side. "The aliens will help him," she said.

That caught Gary off guard. "What?" he asked, confused.

Don't screw this up, don't screw this up, thought Jane. Just shut up and get back behind me.

Stephanie's voice became stronger. She had conducted the interview, she wrote the story – she knew the situation. "The aliens will help Steve, Gary. They won't let him die," she said confidently.

To Jane's surprise her tactic seemed to work. Gary grasped at the hope Stephanie offered. "Do you really believe that?" Gary asked her.

"Yes," said Stephanie. She took a step toward Gary. Jane fought an impulse to hold her back. Stephanie said to Gary, "They came all this way to visit him because he's special. They aren't going to let Steve die."

Gary shook his head. "They let Mr. Hurst die…"

"Mr. Hurst didn't believe in them. He didn't think the aliens were real; he wouldn't let me – us go ahead with Steve's story."

"He wasn't a good man," agreed Gary. "The aliens didn't like him."

Jane joined in. "No. They didn't like him. But they like Steve."

Gary lowered his gun slightly. "And me," he said. "The aliens like me because I believe. Do you believe, Mr. Bowman?"

"Yes," Jane said with great sincerity.

Gary looked thoughtful. "Then the aliens like you too." Without another word, Gary raised the gun and shot Stephanie in the chest.