A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I can't think of a way to introduce this chapter, so enjoy!

CHAPTER 8

Sam turned down a long dirt road that anyone who didn't know exactly where they were going would have missed. Andy had fallen asleep, but was awoken by the bumps in the road.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," Sam said, as Andy straightened out in her seat.

"How long have I been out?" she asked, jadedly.

"Not quite an hour," he responded, "…we're almost there."

She pulled down the visor and wiped her eyes. I look disgusting. She took her hair down and re-put it up. I need a shower.

Sam pulled up in front a wood cabin; it was small, but not to small. Quaint? No. Cozy.

"Home, sweet, home," Sam said, as he killed the engine and looked to Andy, "…for now, anyway."

Andy stepped out of the car, and took in her surroundings. This is beautiful. The small cabin centered a clearing in the woods, completely secluded from the rest of the world; surrounded by, what seemed to be, never-ending green and a pond. Andy walked out to the dock, the water was crystal clear. She took off her shoes, sat down and put her feet in the water.

"You alright?" Sam walked up behind her and sat down next to her.

"I'm great, all things considered," she looked over to Sam, "…this place, it's beautiful."

"I thought you'd like it."

"How deep is this?" Andy asked.

"It's deep, shallow on the shore, but it drops off," Sam responded.

Andy stood up, stripped down to her underwear and dove in. It had not even been 24 hours since everything had gone awry, nevertheless she felt like they had been on the run for days; but not now, now she felt safe.

When she surfaced, Sam was staring at her, "…what are you doing, McNally?"

"Swimming, come on in, the waters great!"

"I think I'm content right here, land is good," Sam retorted.

"What? Can't swim?" Andy taunted.

"I can swim, I just choose not to," Sam said, with a grin.

"Chicken," Andy said just loud enough for him to hear as she disappeared under the water.

A few moments later, she resurfaced, searching for Sam, who had vanished.

"SAM?" Andy yelled, panic-stricken. Where did he go? "…SAM?" she yelled again.

A moment after the second time she felt Sam come up behind her and put his arms around her, "…told you I can swim."

"You can't do that to me!" Andy said, splashing him. He pulled her close and she wrapped her arms around his neck, and they slowly moved around in the water together, fluidly, completely in sync.

"Aren't you hungry?" Andy blurted out. Sam laughed.

"What?" Andy replied, defensively.

"Way to ruin the moment, McNally," Sam snickered.

"It was just a matter of time before my stomach did, and then you would have been mad because I didn't tell you I was hungry," Andy said.

"Okay, let's go in and see what there is," Sam grabbed her hand and lead her into the cabin.

Andy stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around her. My clothes are in the car. She walked down the hallway and out the door, only to find Sam pacing the dock while talking to someone on the phone. She noticed the bags, he must have been bringing them in when he got the call, but he only made it halfway. Andy grabbed them, took them inside and got dressed.

In sweatpants and a tank top, she returned to the dock where Sam was concluding his call, "…okay, okay. Just please keep us posted," he slammed the phone shut and looked to Andy with a smile, "…you know, you really didn't have to get dressed."

"Yes, I did," she said. They walked towards the wooden swing that looked out at the water, Sam sat down first; Andy lay down, with her head in his lap, "…who was on the phone?"

"Frank."

"And…"

"They don't have a lot to go on; they checked all the places I had. The club, the restaurant, the apartments, the houses, they've all been cleaned out," his tone was discouraging.

"Did he leave the country? Go to the states maybe?" Andy asked.

"No. That's not Damon. He's in Toronto, but he is not going to surface, he's just calling the shots. Frank said my house and your apartment were completely trashed."

"So they obviously didn't find anything…" Andy added.

"Well, their looking for us. We know too much."

"But we've told everything we know to Best."

"Exactly, it's just vengeance now. Retaliation. DeFalco want's to prove a point," Sam added.

Hearing that made Andy's head spin, prove a point. Damon wanted nothing more than to make an example out of her and Sam. He wanted them dead because it would send a message.

"How're you feeling?" Andy asked, as she seen Sam pull out a white pill and take it.

"I'm good, I'll be fine as long as these last," he grabbed the pill bottle out of his pocket.

"How long do you think we'll be here?" she asked, wondering what would happen if he ran out of pills before they could go back.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I'm sure they'll be able to get something out of Stacy, she's still in protective custody," he said, "…she's been involved with DeFalco for a long time. I'm sure she knows more than I do, at least I hope she does."

Andy woke up in Sam's arms; the sun was streaming through the window. The past week had been, blissful. She loved sleeping in with him every morning, she loved that she was spending time with him. One on one time, with no interruptions, but she couldn't help wondering when they were going to be able to resume their lives; when they were going to really be able to start their life…together.

"I have to go back into the city today," Sam said.

"What?" Andy snapped.

"There was a bust last night, they need me to come in and ID a few people. It'll give me a chance to run to the clinic too," Sam stood up.

"How long will you be gone?"

"Well it's a two hours there and two hours back; it's almost noon now, probably 6 or 7ish?"

"I'm going," she got up and started to grab clothes out of the drawer.

"No, it's too dangerous. You need to stay here."

"Sam, what am I supposed to do, here, alone, all day?" she asked.

"Be…creative."

I am not a creative person. "Creative?"

"Andy, I would take you with me in a split second if I thought it was safe, you know that," Sam said, as he pushed the hair from her face behind her ear. She knew it was dangerous, which is precisely why she did not want him to go.

"Be careful," she said.

"Always," he replied. He kissed her then disappeared down the hall and out the door. She could hear the faint rumble of the engine, then nothing; complete silence.

The radio didn't pick up much, a talk radio station and a semi hip-hop station; she opted for the latter, despite her aversion to hip-hop music. She turned the volume all the way up, and cleaned. This should pass the time.

She danced around with brooms, sang into the feather duster and dried the floor dancing to Michael Jackson with towels on her feet.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something pass by the window but chalked it up to her imagination, turned the music back up and recommenced her little workout.

She could feel her phone vibrating in her pocket. Sam.

"Hello?"

"Bored yet?" Sam asked.

"Eh. I've been entertaining myself, are you on your way back yet?"

"Will be in a few, I've got to finish up this paperwork that Jerry gave me and I'll be on the road," he answered.

"Okay, I'll start dinner in a little bit then, did everything go okay?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, they've got four people in custody and Stacy's talking, so things are looking up," he said, comfortingly.

Andy heard a noise and turned to look out the window, "…did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Sam asked.

"That crash?"

"I didn't hear anything." he responded.

"I swear I'm losing my mind, Sam. Earlier I thought I saw something pass the window and now I'm hearing things, you need to hurry up and come back!" she said.

"I'll be there soon," he assured her, "…oh, hey, before I let you go, when you went with me to meet Damon, did you happen to notice the specifics of any of the cars? I mean, I've got the black F-350, the red Mustang and the silver Mercedes, but I know there were more," he paused, waiting for Andy's response.

Nothing. "…Andy?" he said.

Nothing. "McNally?" he yelled.

The line went dead.

A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger, but it was necessary. Let me know what you think! Reviews are loved and certainly appreciated!