The next day, Jim had come to a revelation. He had never seen someone the chair opposite him in the interrogation room as relaxed as he found Jake.

Jake was sitting in the stiff, hard chair with his arms folded behind his head, and his feet on the table. He was looking around with his signature smile, as if the room was some wide open field with blue skies and not a dark and dreary box.

Jim snorted. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable, Jake,"

Jake shrugged. "I don't got anythin' to hide, Boss. I told you. Jeremy's girl Sofia was a sweet girl. I mean, we only spoke a couple of times, but you could just tell. I didn't even know that she and Sara knew each other, but it makes sense… I don't see a reason for anybody to kill her. She was nice to everyone, and they were nice back,"

"Well, apparently one person wasn't so nice," Jim pointed out.

Jake shrugged again and nodded. "Guess so,"

Jim thought for a moment. "When was the last time you saw either of them,"

Jake looked to the side. His mouth twitched, trying to remember. "Two months, I think. Camping trip. Me, Jem, and our girls,"

Jim chuckled at the use of the nickname from To Kill a Mockingbird. "Did either of them seem… out of it… different, distracted? Did either of them mention any trouble at home?"

Again, Jake's mouth twitched as he tried to remember.

On the other side of the wall:

Gil leaned towards Cassandra. "His mouth twitching isn't his tell, is it?" he had let her come in to get helpful hints at reading Jake. It worked well.

Cassandra shook her head. "No. His tell's scratching his right elbow. He's telling the truth, that much I know,"

The two stood in silence for a while until they spotted Jake's phone vibrate.

Back in the Interrogation room.

Jake glanced from the phone to Jim.

Jim waved his hand, dismissing the unasked question. He glanced at the Caller I.D for him. "Max Schmidt," he informed the younger man as he handed him the phone.

Jake hit talk and brought it to his ear. " Max, can't really talk right- whoa, whoa, slow down! Who's talking to you in the background? Max, what're you- what? What do you mean gun? Max, Max…" he suddenly went pale when he heard what was undoubtedly a gunshot on the other end. He looked up at Jim, noticing even he looked surprised. He had obviously heard it too, even if he was a couple of feet away. "MAX?!" he yelled into the phone, then swallowed hard when he heard Max groan. "He's in trouble,"

Jim nodded quickly and got up walking out of the room. He got his walkie-talkie and started barking orders into it, paying no heed to Gil or Cassandra when he left.

Gil and Cassandra raised an eyebrow at each other, then noticed Jake was yanking on his jacket.

Cassandra looked down when she heard her phone ringing. She picked up, seeing it was Jake. "You're calling me and there's only a wall between us?"

"Shut up and start heading for the door," Jake replied firmly, still packing up his things inside the room. "We need to get to Max's place,"

"When?" Cassandra asked slowly.

"How's right freakin' now grab you?" Jake demanded, pressing his lips into a thin line as he looked at the wall of glass that stood between them.

"Why?" Cassandra continued to question him.

"I think Max just got shot,"

"WHAT?!"

------

Within minutes, Jake, Gil, Jim and a handful of other officers were at Max's home. Jim was quietly giving orders on who went where. They eventually got inside, looking for Max, or worse, the shooter.

Cassandra had just barely gotten into the living room when she spotted familiar dirty blonde hair sticking out from behind one of the couches. "MAX?!" She swore to herself, praying she wasn't too late, as well as hating that she was the first to find him. She ran over to the area and nearly vomited after seeing Max in a pool of blood that seemed to be coming from his side. "Oh my God. Oh my God," she heard Jake and Jim yell 'clear' a couple of rooms down, then they reached the room she was in. Jake also looked ready to vomit.

Jim pointed at Max. "Is this Max or the possible shooter?"

"Max," Jake and Cassandra replied simultaneously.

Jim nodded, then got out his cell phone and dialed a number. "We need medical help now,"

Cassandra didn't hear the rest of his request because her attention was snapped back to Max when she heard him cough weakly. "Max?!" she looked him in the eye and cradled his head, rocking it back and forth gently. "Max, stay with me. Be strong. Don't you dare leave me, okay?" she took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "I'm right here with you," she assured him, then shook her head when he seemed to attempt to talk. "Easy. Don't say anything right now. Just relax,"

Max groaned again then pointed at his jeans pocket with his free hand.

Cassandra followed his finger, then spotted a piece of paper in his pocket. She didn't believe she still had the control to ask Gil for tweezers since the man had just walked in. Gil saw what she did then handed a pair to her, curious as to why she wanted them, until he spotted the paper as well.

"Looks like a note," he pointed out.

"That's exactly why I'm doing this, Gil," Cassandra replied. As though it seemed like it should have, the comment was not sarcastic or malicious in any way. She took them and used the tweezers to get the note out, then open it.

Sidles-

Three, who knows how man left to go until you get the point. You made my life miserable. Let's see how you like it. So, you decide. How many people will I have to hurt until you finally realize who's doing it and learn from your mistakes? I hope for your sake, only a few, but don't get me wrong. I will not hesitate in hurting any of the others.

"What the Hell?" Cassandra murmured.

Gil read it over her shoulder. "… 'Made my life miserable'?"

Cassandra shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. However, as much as it seemed inappropriate, she was relieved about the note. Why? Because it confirmed her fear that someone was actually targeting her and Sara. She could stop guessing and worrying… too much. She frowned, seeing Max's head shift to the side. His eyes closed. "Max, no!" she murmured. She looked up at the others when she heard an ambulance siren. "Is that for us?"

"Hopefully," Gil nodded.

Jim nodded. "It is. They'll be here within seconds, by the sounds of it. Who's going with him in there? Jake or Cassie?"

Jake pointed at Cassandra. "She's his foster sister, I'm his friend. Sister beats friend any and every day,"

Cassandra got up and hugged him. "Thank you,"

Jake hugged back. "Any time, C.J. I'll be right behind you, anyway,"

A few more minutes passed as the medics came and got Max strapped up to a gurney and into the ambulance, then drove to Las Vegas General. Cassandra was by Max's side the entire time until he was passed through the E.R. doors. Even if she knew that it wasn't allowed for her not to go back there and it was the right thing to do to stay put, she still felt like she was abandoning him. She sighed and turned around, sitting in one of the seats in the row by the doors. She looked up when she saw Jake come through the entry doors, followed by Gil and Jim. However, she didn't expect to see Nick come through another set of doors that went into the room they now were all in. Nick looked as confused as they were. Cassandra hurried over to Nick. "Nicky, what're you doing here?!"

"Me, what're you doing here?!" Nick asked, meeting her halfway.

"Max got shot, what about you?" Cassandra asked, then noticed Nick frowned. "…What?" she leaned back to study him more.

Nick closed his eyes and exhaled sharply. "I'm sorry to hear that, and then I have news that's gonna make this night even worse,"

"What is it?" Cassandra asked slowly.

Nick glanced over at the E.R doors, then hung his head again, kicking at the floor tile he was standing on. "…Max isn't alone in there,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cassandra demanded.

"Warrick, Cass. It's Warrick. He's been shot, too,"