Warren Atkins, Attorney-at-Law, sat next to Ellie in the interrogation room. Jim was on the wrong side of the glass wall as far as he was concerned but Atkins had assured him that it was best that he not be in the room. Sam Vega was conducting the interview. It didn't take much for Ellie to start talking.

I met Mike O'Toole in Los Angeles. He heard some of my friends call me Jersey and started talking to me. Turned out we were from the same town. I introduced him to this guy I know, Frankie Salvino. Frankie helped him arrange to buy some guns…you know, quietly."

"You knew there was no way this was legal, right?" Vega asked.

"Well…yeah." Ellie looked at him disdainfully. "Anyway, Mike wanted to stay in the background and suggested to Frankie that I finish the deal. So I put Mike's money in my car and drove to the meeting. Nicky Thermopolis had two of his guys put the weapons in my car and I started to hand over the money when this big SUV comes barreling in and Mike's driving. He blocked out Nicky's guys and jumped to my car and started yelling for me to get in so I do.

We headed out of town and I asked where we were going. "Got any ideas?" he asked.

I told him I knew my way around Vegas a little. So we headed here. We found a vacant house and he jimmied the door and that's where we stayed for a few days."

Ellie stopped talking for a minute, nervously looking around the room. "That's when Vince showed up. Mike had hired him off of Frankie and Vince followed us to Vegas. Mike started talking to Vince about this crazy idea about kidnapping a kid and I got scared. That's when I took Mike's money and got out of there."

"You took your car, right?"

"Yeah."

"The guns were still in your car?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't thinking about that…I just wanted to get away."

Jim stood on the other side of the glass, fists so tight his knuckles were white. Running away….always running away, he thought. Well, this time you can't run.

Ellie continued. "I took off but Vince followed me. He knew I was staying at the motel. He said for me to stay there, away from Mike. He said Mike was bad news. Said he knew him from Jersey…that he knew my Dad."

Jim wondered how much Vince knew about his connection to Mike O'Toole. Well, at least Jim had something better to tell his aunt; Vince died trying to help Ellie, trying to save Jim's daughter. That would make Aunt Barbara feel a little better…maybe.

"I hung out at the motel, waiting to hear from Vince that Mike was leaving town. Then Vince called me and told me that Mike had kidnapped Dad's wife and son. Said Mike was trying to pay him back for sending him to prison….said he was using me taking the money and guns as a reason. Vince was upset. He was going to try to get them away from Mike and then he'd call me. But he never called. I got scared that something had happened to him so I went back to the house. That's…that's when I saw them, Dad's family. She was…so scared. And his little boy," Ellie fidgeted with her fingers a moment, "Jeb was so cute. I could see Dad in him. I knew I had to do something."

"Was Mike there?"

"Yeah…asleep. So Vince gave me the kid and he was going to take the woman and put them in the car. But Mike woke up. Vince shoved me out the door with the wife behind me and then I heard shots. I had them in the car and when Mike came out, I took off. We went back to the motel while I tried to decide what to do."

"Never occurred to you to call the police…or your father?" asked Vega.

"I….Dad is the police. And I …" Ellie suddenly got very quiet. Jim knew what that was about.

"Anyway, somehow Mike tracked us down and showed up at the room. I told him he could have the money and the guns. I told him to leave the woman and kid there, that we had time to get away. He went all nuts. He said that that wouldn't satisfy his revenge. I asked why he wanted revenge. He told me about Dad turning him in….that he'd been a cop in Jersey too. That Dad had him busted for being dirty. He spent years in prison and he said Dad owed him for taking him away from his family….his daughter."

Jim shuffled uneasily in the other room. So O'Toole knew that Ellie was his…and he never said a word, until now.

"I tried to tell him he had his revenge…that Dad had sweated the whole kidnapping thing and was shitting bricks that I was involved. I told him that I had talked to Mom and she told me that. He got all angry at me….and then he asked me if she told me…."

"Told you what?"

Ellie glanced up at the glass. Sensing who was behind it, she shrugged and then continued her story without answering the question. "Anyway, I grabbed the kid and yelled for the woman to run. Mike shot her. I put the kid down and charged at him. He aimed at me but the woman lunged at him and knocked him down. The gun fell and I grabbed it and shot him. That's when I called Dad. The woman…she wasn't his wife, she told me that before she died. She was worried about Jeb, afraid he'd been hurt." Ellie looked down at the table. "Imagine that…she's choking on her own blood and all she can think of is some pukey little kid."

"Yeah…imagine that," replied Vega. "Ellie I have to arrest you. You were involved in a lot of stuff here. The D.A. will have to sort it all out but for now the charges will be possession of illegal weapons. Of course, the L.A. cops and the FBI will want their chance at you too."

Ellie turned to Atkins. "Some help you are," she spat.

"The only way I can help you is through the truth. That you were trying to help the kidnap victims will go a long way, but I won't deny that you will probably be spending some serious time behind bars. Without your version of the story, however, all they had was the evidence and it implicated you in the kidnapping." He turned to Sam. "Detective Vega, are you charging her with kidnapping?"

Sam glanced over his shoulder at the glass wall before answering. "Not at this time. Like I said, it's up to the D.A. But I believe Ellie's story."

Jim relaxed some. Kidnapping charges meant that Ellie would probably spend most of the rest of her life in prison. Without those charges, she was looking a only a few years…at least in Nevada. He walked around the corner and opened the door to the interrogation room. "Sam, could I have a minute with my daughter?"

Sam looked across at the lawyer and quietly they both left. Jim stood, looking at Ellie, not quite sure knowing what to say. She looked back at him, sadness emanating from her. "Mike….told me. About him and Mom….and me. Is that why?"

"Why what, Ellie?" Jim asked tiredly.

"Why you left. You couldn't stand to look at me anymore, could you?"

Jim sat down next to her and took her hands in his. Looking at her in the eyes, he struggled for what to say. "I told you, baby. I love you. I have since the day you were born. I've never thought of you as anything but my daughter, but as rocky as things got, I'll admit it scared me that you might find out that I'm not your biological father. As for me leaving…I tried to stay, honey. I really did. But things were so bad….the job was killing me and your Mom…well, she kept looking in other directions. I couldn't stand to look at her anymore. But more than that, I couldn't look at me in the mirror anymore. I was drinking, had an affair of my own, and just didn't recognize the guy that stared back at me every morning. I had to leave. I had to start over. Leaving you hurt but if I stayed, I would lose you anyway because I was losing myself."

Ellie looked at him in a way she hadn't in years. "I'm sorry Daddy; I'm sorry that I did all those things….all of it."

"I'm going to do everything I can to help you but Warren is right; you're looking at prison."

"Yeah, I got that." She looked down a moment. "Is this…is helping me…will that mess things up with your wife?"

Jim shrugged. "It ain't gonna make it easy," he smirked, doing what he always did, using humor to help him deal with fear. His was scared of how things would be when he did get home. "But Sofia understands that you are my kid. She left me at the motel because she knew I needed to see this through with you. She said she and Jeb will be there when I get home."

"She…she makes you happy?"

"Yeah, she does. After I was shot, things were just…I dunno, I was slowly dying. But she gave me a new life. And Jeb….I'm trying to get things right with him…trying to learn from my mistakes."

"Yeah…he's a cute kid. I see a lot of you in him." She chuckled,"he's got your snarkiness."

"Like I said, trying to raise him right," he shrugged.

"I'm glad you are happy….I really am."

"Thanks. But right now I would be a lot happier if this was behind all of us."

"You'll visit me?" The hope in her question went straight to Jim's heart.

"Every chance I get. I'm here for you, Ellie. For as much as you need me, I'm here for you."

A uniformed officer entered the room and stood by the door. Ellie glanced up and realized he was here to officially arrest her. Sam Vega stood next to him. She stood up and looked at her father, who rose with her. Tears formed in both of their eyes as Ellie, for the first time in years, reached for her father. He hugged her, holding her close. Then she let him go and walked toward Vega, holding out her hands for the cuffs. Jim watched sadly as Sam issued the Miranda and the uniform cuffed her. His heart filled his chest as he watched his daughter being led away.

Sofia watched Jim as he walked through the door. Her own emotions were twisted and tangled but at least Jeb was home and safe, asleep in his bed. Jim just left his daughter in jail. He looked at her and his dark blue eyes showed the weariness and the fear that he was feeling. Crossing the room quickly, she engulfed him with an embrace. He held her like a lifeline. Suddenly all the emotions of the last few days spilled over in him. His sobs shook his entire body as his fingers clinched at her back. Her hands wound behind his head, pulling him closer to her as she whispered his name. "Jim, shh….it's okay. Jeb is safe and I'm safe. And even though she has a lot to answer for, Ellie is safe. The rest, we'll deal with."

He straightened up and looked into her bright blue eyes. "I've been so scared. It was all so much. I'm sorry…about the tears, I mean."

"I think the tears are justified. Only real men cry and admit fear."

"Right," he smirked. "You…" he looked around, "you didn't pack up?"

She looked at him, confused. "Pack up?"

"I was afraid that since…well, with Ellie in the middle of it… and me going to PD instead of coming home…I was afraid that you…"

"Jim Brass," she grabbed his shoulders and shook him in anger. "When will you get it? I'm not going anywhere. This is our life, the good and the bad. I wanted you to come home with us but I understand….and Ellie needed you. You are here now and you've been here through it all. And I'm here too. That's the way it is; you and me together." She looked into his eyes, watching as they seemed to clear and lighten in color. Changing her tone she asked, "Hungry?"

A small smile teased the corners of his mouth. "For food? No."

"You sure?" she asked as her hand ran down the front of his shirt. "I could fix something quick."

"What I'm hungry for isn't in the kitchen," he said, his eyes growing smoky.

"So…where is it?"

"I'm looking at it." His expression was tender.

She took his hand and led him to their room. After they were on the bed, she began to rub his shoulders, feeling his tension melt away. Soon his shirt was gone and her fingers ran over his chest that she loved so much. There was such power there, she thought. His eyes never left her as she continued to massage and caress. The lust he felt at her touch competed with the intense feelings of love and gratitude that he also felt. She kissed him, gently at first but desire took over and the heat intensified. His hands roamed her body, relishing the smooth feel of her skin and what it did to his body. They couldn't caress enough, kiss enough, or get closes enough. They needed the closeness, as much for their souls as to satisfy their bodies. When the passion was spent and the calmness after the act settled on them, they still lay close, quietly clinging to one another, pressing against the warmth that the other offered. "God Sofie, I love you so much. I don't know what I would do without you," he whispered.

Softly she answered. "Lucky you, because you don't have to. I love you Jim and this is the only place I want to be."

"Yeah, lucky me," he sighed contentedly as he drifted off to sleep.

Sofia smiled quietly to herself. She thought about his eyes, how the color changed with his mood and decided that smoky was still her favorite shade of blue.

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Hope you enjoyed. For something that started out to be a short one or two shot, it kind of got long, lol. Thanks to all who reviewed. And as always, I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter.