"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I thought just because you don't have enough manners to show me where you work, I would show up and familiarize myself with it." Evan answered, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded.

"And I would be inclined to show you where I work because?" Lucky asked slowly, leaning back in his chair.

"What do you know about Steven Webber's hit-and-run?"

"It happened a few months ago. He was on his way to tell the commissioner he got married. Other than that, not much." Lucky shrugged. "Why are you interested?"

"Yesterday afternoon the car that hit him was discovered on a desolate road on the edge of town. There were dents on the passenger side and dried blood stains on the rearview mirror where Mr. Webber was struck." Evan told him.

"Good. I'm still waiting to hear how this involves you, let alone me."

"Well the car was registered to one Lucas Lorenzo Spencer Jr. You."

"What are you, the police?"

"That's right."

"You're a cop." Lucky said slowly. His sister sure knew how to pick 'em. He'd give her that much. Just wait till his father found out about this development.

"Cop. Policeman. Detective. I go by many names. Do you want to tell where you were that night?"

"I was at home." Lucky answered shortly. "And what car? Elizabeth had hers at her grandmother's. And I drive either the Jeep or the truck."

"A red nineteen eighty-six Oldsmobile Cutlass." Evan clarified. "Ring any bells?"

"How close are you to my sister?"

"Relevance?"

"Because I don't understand why you don't recognize your girlfriend's car there copper."

"Lulu's car? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I'm the one who bought it for her sixteenth birthday."

"I didn't think she had a car." Evan whispered, his eyes shifting to the crack in the doorframe. Everything was starting to add up. She never drove, was always picked up or walked. She got anxious every time he mentioned the car or the case. Did she know what she had done? Had she been under the influence at the time? Could she have been at the same party as Haley? Was Haley innocent? Oh God.

"She loves that car." Lucky continued on. "Once she got her license we couldn't get her out of it. Drove it everywhere. If you found it abandoned, it must have been stolen or something."

"Then why wouldn't she report it? And this car wasn't just taken a few days ago. It was almost completely covered in moss and grass."

"I don't know. There was a lot going on at the time. And that's when she started avoiding everyone."

"Do you remember when exactly her behavior started to change? A few days before? Weeks? Months?"

"Maybe...maybe a few weeks before. I can't be sure."

"You can't be sure?"

"No." Lucky responded shortly. "I was in the middle of a custody battle at the time."

"How long after the kidnappings?"

"I don't know exact dates. Maybe a few weeks, maybe a month?"

"Do you know when the insomnia started?"

"No. She moved back to her own place shortly after she came back."

"I know she moved out of Kelly's not too long after. Did she ever tell you why?"

"No."

"Okay, thanks. I'll let you know if I have anymore questions."

"Hold up. Why are you asking all these questions about Lulu?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Like hell you can't." Lucky stood up and moved towards Evan. "Is my sister in trouble?"

"I think she could be."

*****

Entering the apartment, David briefly wondered what exactly Samantha had been so busy with today. He had paged her a few times from the station, once in regards to the Vermin case and another just to check on her, but she hadn't called him back. Once upon a time that would mean she was either pissed at him or just caught up in her own research.

He was fairly certain she wasn't still mad at him. In fact, she had been more than understanding while he attempted to figure out what exactly he wanted to do in regards to Deliah. She hadn't pushed him to talk about it anymore than he wanted to and was more than willing to distract him when talking was pointless. So that left research. But research on what exactly?

Finding her was easy enough. She was sound asleep at the kitchen table, papers spread out around her. Research, he thought with a smirk. Picking up a piece of paper just beyond her fingertips, he stroked her hair as he scanned whatever it was she had printed. Lung cancer? Alternative treatments? "What the hell?" he asked to the air. Sam jerked awake and spun around to face him.

"Morning Gorgeous." David smiled at her. "I can see your research is a fascinating read."

"I didn't mean to fall asleep. Did you just get in?" Sam stretched her arms above her head.

"Yeah, just a few seconds ago. What has you so hard at work?"

She figured she could have lied to him, but that would have been pointless with the evidence all around her. "I found some pills of Alexis's when I was there last. For pneumonia."

"Pneumonia. Well she has been taking a lot of time off at the courthouse lately. That must explain it."

"I didn't bring it up before because I thought maybe I was just being paranoid."

"You? Never." He teased and kissed the top of her head.

"I think she's getting worse." Sam whispered.

"Worse? It's pneumonia Samantha. She'll take the penicillin, rest, and she'll be fine." David comforted her.

"What if that's not it? She's been sick. We've both seen it. What if it's more than she's letting on? Could that be why she's not the DA anymore?"

She had a point. The Alexis Davis he had known by reputation and worked with wouldn't just walk away from a job she clearly loved. Yet in the months since Kristina's kidnapping, she hadn't been as active. There had been a few months where she was right back in the fight, but now, now she was absent again. "Couldn't you just ask her?"

"I don't want to upset her. If there's something she doesn't want me to know, maybe I shouldn't push. If I've learned anything, it's that I shouldn't go asking for trouble."

"Not when you have a spectacular talent for finding it." David teased her gently as he looked into her eyes. "If Maxie was in town I'd suggest you ask her."

"Well obviously she's not, so I'm asking you."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Tell me that I'm being silly, that there's nothing to worry about."

"I thought you didn't want me to lie to you." David pointed out. "You have good instincts Samantha. I've always told you to follow them."

"Please. Lie if you have to. Please." Sam begged, brushing back a tear.

"It could be nothing, but I think you would feel better if you know it's nothing. Talk to Alexis. Talk to Mac."

"And if she's sicker than she's letting on? What do I do then? I just found her David."

"Then you fight for her. You give her a reason to fight." David pulled her gently into his arms and held her tight. "You be the stubborn woman that I know you are."

Needing the focus off of herself, she glanced down at the file he had set on the table. "New case?"

"Nothing important. More threads that may or may not tie back to Vermin." David shrugged.

"Can I help?"

"Can you pass for seventeen?"

*****

Mac tapped a pen against the newspaper until Alexis finally lowered it, presenting her wary expression. "You have to talk to me sometime."

Alexis folded the newspaper and picked up her glass of iced tea. "Alright," She said, putting both the newspaper and glass down. "You have my full attention. Go ahead."

"I couldn't tell you." Mac assured her, reaching for her hands. She pulled them into her lap and her glasses fell down her nose a little. He resisted the urge to fix them.

"Do you want the Sports section?" Alexis interrupted, thrusting the paper at him.

"Alexis, please. Don't be mad at me. If I had told you, you would have told Georgie and I didn't want her hurt if this turned out badly."

"So I can't be trusted. That's what you're saying."

"No. Not at all."

"Then explain that statement to me because I guess I'm too inept to figure it out."

"Do you remember when you first found out about Georgie and Steven?"

"That's not fair." Alexis pointed her finger at him.

"Do you remember?"

"Yes. I remember."

"Did they ask you to keep it a secret?"

"That's not the same thing."

"And you kept it from me just like I kept this from you. Both secrets revolved around life-altering changes and both secrets came out not too long after."

Mac slid his hand under the table and wrapped his fingers around her wrist. "You know I didn't lie to hurt you."

"But you did."

"I know." Mac blew out a breath. "And I'm sorry."

"I admit that there are some similarities between the two situations. We didn't want Georgie to get hurt and we handled it the best way we knew how." Alexis reasoned.

"Yes. Yes, that's exactly—"

"But we were wrong."

"We were...?"

"Yes. We handled it the way the two people who have lived their lives taking care of everyone else would have. I depended on myself and you depended on yourself. We didn't make the decisions to lie as a family."

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I'll never make another rash decision in my lifetime, nor would I ever ask you to do that."

"I wouldn't want you to. You're a cop and a damn good one at that. I don't think it's in either of us to ignore our instincts."

"So then what do you think we should do?"

Alexis squeezed his hand under the table. "We've got to be honest with each other. I don't want to lie to you."

"I don't want to lie to you either." Mac agreed.