Evan paced the crowded stretch of grungy floor in front of the bar as his mind went a mile of minute. Was he making the right decision? There would be no turning back after this. Lulu wouldn't be forgiving him anytime soon. He shook his head to try and clear the image of her sleeping form from his memory. The last thing he needed was to rationalize himself out of this. He had no other option if he meant to keep her safe. Ironic how the only way to do that was to expose her.

He was proud of himself for leaving her. Though it had been even more difficult than he initially suspected, he had managed to slip away undetected. If nothing else, he was good at running away. No. He had to face this, had to make her face it. He had made a deal with a devil and the only way to remedy it was to get her out of the crossfire that would surely occur, probably a lot sooner than either of them wanted to believe. He spotted Harper walk in and scooped up the file folder from the bar.

"Cassidy." David greeted him curtly. He was more than a little suspicious as to why the detective had called and asked him to meet here.

"Thank you for coming." Evan gestured toward an empty table and they sat.

"Well you made me curious."

"I heard the dinner with the commissioner and former DA went off without a hitch." Even if it was just a rumor, he had every intention of using it to his advantage.

"You didn't invite me to discuss gossip."

"No, but I needed a better opening than 'I need a favor.'" Evan conceded.

"What type of favor?"

"I need you to take over Steven Webber's hit-and-run."

David leaned across the table. "Word is you've almost cracked that. Why give up the collar? Find who hit the commissioner's son-in-law? You could write your own ticket in the department."

"I don't think that's possible anymore."

"Well you've certainly got me curious."

"Can I trust you with this information?" It was the same question he had been warring over for the last half hour before Harper arrived. What would persuade him to go along with any plan but his own? Especially at the request of an officer who had broken every rule ever made?

"Something's got you rattled."

"The suspect brought in for questioning is innocent."

"And you're sure of this how exactly?"

"The abandoned car wasn't registered to her."

"She could have borrowed it. I heard your girl isn't real good with her memory."

"No. The car was registered to the brother of the person who did it."

"You can save yourself a lot of time if you just talk straight."

"Lulu Spencer."

"Lulu Spencer." David sat back in his chair. "How sure are you of this?"

"I have everything but a confession. My theory is that she was at the same party Haley was and ended up driving home after she satisfied her fix. The tracks from Webber's car to hers prove she got out to assess the situation, and then it's pure speculation."

"And the fact that she's missing?"

"She isn't missing." Evan corrected.

"No? She's not been to the club in weeks. Her place has been empty."

"A few weeks back she called me, panicked because someone broke into her apartment and tore it to shreds. When I went over there, she explained that she had backed out on a deal with Vermin and he had sent Underwood to give her a message."

"You're hiding her." Harper said slowly. "Samantha was right."

"I've managed to keep her clean since the night she came to stay with me and she doesn't know about any of this. I don't think she remembers."

"That's why you want me to take the case. You're involved with her."

"Starting to make sense now?"

"You screw up and sleep with your suspect and you think transferring it back to me will clean up your mess." David shook his head. "When you screw up, you screw up."

"I never do anything small." Evan admitted. "Will you? I'm no longer credible so everything I've seen, everything I've determined, is completely useless. I'm a liability to her case."

"If she doesn't remember, then she's a liablity to her own case."

"I haven't shared my theory with her, but every time I mention this particular case, she gets extremely anxious and changes the subject. There's no way to know if she'll remember or not, but I've run out of ideas. I don't know how else to help her...and the fact that I want to should be more than enough reason why I can't provide Steven Webber with any kind of justice."

"Especially if you are thinking about helping her instead of him." David agreed. "Who else knows about this?"

"Her brother is suspicious, but I'm not sure if he knows or not."

"Oh good. Going up against money. Always easy." David groaned.

"I didn't say it would be easy."

"You know if I do this, the favor you owe me is going to be huge."

"If I still have a job after this, I'll gladly help you."

"I'll hold you to that."

*****

In all his years of getting Lulu out of predicaments, this was the last one Lucky had ever imagined. He still wasn't sure exactly what all she had done, but he knew enough that it was bad. Cassidy wouldn't have come by his office, full of cocky 'got your number' bullshit, if he hadn't been sure he could make the case.

And if it wasn't for the fact Steven's hit-and-run was mixed up somehow into it, he wouldn't have even bothered coming by Audrey's house today. But the voicemail from Cassidy had left no doubt. Cassidy had transferred the case; he couldn't hold off charges any longer. Whatever was about to happen, it was going to happen soon.

He had already called Dara; she was just waiting for him to call her and send her to the station. Mac might be able to help, but he would also be accused of playing favorites. Mac had worked too long to improve the police's reputation in this town for Lulu's mistakes to undo everything. No, he had to protect her. It was his job and no one else's.

And part of his job was to try and explain everything to Steven Webber, his future brother-in-law. Try to explain it in some way that future Christmases would be the only way the twins saw their Uncle Steven. "Damn it Lulu," he swore as he knocked on the door. "What have you gotten me into?" Was there a way to do this? Without bloodshed? Lucky seriously doubted it.

"Lucky?" Steven rounded the house, surprising Lucky and smiling at that fact. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you actually. Got a minute?"

"Looking for me? Uh oh."

You don't know the half of it, Lucky though wryly. "This isn't a bad time is it?"

"Not at all. Georgie and Grams went to market, which means they'll hit three different stores on the way and be back some time around sunrise." Steven wiped his hands in a towel and met Lucky on the porch.

"Yeah Robin and Elizabeth are the same way. I feel lucky if they return the same day."

"So what brings you to this neck of the woods? It's not exactly on your way."

"No but I needed to talk to you about something."

"Are you trying to get us to name the baby Lucky?"

"No. It's about your accident."

"My accident?" Steven repeated. "Was someone else hurt?"

"No. Nothing like that." Lucky took a deep breath and met Steven's inquisitive eyes. "I think they are going to arrest someone for it."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Well that's great! I was starting to think..." Steven let his voice die away.

"That they'd never find out the truth? Yeah me too, but apparently they got a lucky break. So to speak."

"Well Mac finally quit giving me death glares." Steven reasoned.

"They think they found the car." Lucky said quietly.

"They think?"

"Apparently they are still waiting on some final tests, but they are pretty sure it's the right one."

"And you and Mac are so close he thought he'd send you to tell me all of this?"

"No. Mac doesn't know I'm aware of all this. At least I think he's not." Lucky shook his head. "No. Evan Cassidy told me."

"Is he the one that hit me?"

"He's the detective that was investigating the case."

"Was?"

"He's transferred the case due to conflict of interest."

"What are you trying to say Lucky? Spit it out please."

"Evan transferred the case because he's dating my sister. The car they found is the one that I bought her for her sixteenth birthday."

"It was Lulu?"

"I don't know. Clearly she was involved somehow, but I don't know."

Steven fell into the swing, stabbing his fingers through his hair. "I don't believe this."

"You don't believe it?" Lucky scoffed. "I'm still stuck on my sister dating."

"Could someone else have been driving the car?"

Lucky shrugged his shoulders. "According to Cassidy, Lulu doesn't seem to remember anything from that night. It's possible but I doubt she would be able to name names."

"Whatever loyalty she has to the person who was driving—"

"Believe me; if she knows anything, I am personally going to drag her ass to Mac to tell him."

"I don't understand." Steven admitted.

"That makes two of us."

"So we don't know if she was driving, only that she didn't tell anyone what happened?"

"And it was her car."

"Why are you the one telling me this? What do you want? You want me to say it's okay? That I don't want to press charges when she or one of her friends almost killed me?"

"I don't know what I want. Cassidy gave me the heads up that he had to transfer the case. Which probably means Lulu is about to be arrested. If she's in the kind of trouble I think she's in then jail might be the safest place for her right now. I just thought…" Lucky shrugged and started to pace. "I don't know what I thought, but I was hoping if I told you before they arrested her, maybe…maybe we could avoid a complete disaster."

"Safer for Lulu. Safer for Lulu!" Steven repeated incredulously.

"You have every right to hate her guts, but she's still my sister. And I still care about what happens to her. Even if she does deserve to face what she participated in. If Elizabeth was in the same situation you want to tell me you'd feed her to the wolves?"

"I would make sure she received some kind of punishment."

"If Lulu is involved then yes she needs to be punished, but you have to see what a mess this is for all of us."

"I can understand your situation, but you can't just expect me to be okay with everything you've just told me. Try and see it from my point of view. Can you? Can you imagine what it would be like not to have twins?"

"I can't. And I am trying. God Steven did you think I wanted this to be the outcome?"

"No. I don't think it's easy for you."

"I just..." Lucky slumped down on the steps of the porch. "I just didn't want you to be blindsided like I was."

"Too late for that."

"I didn't know what else to do."

"Until we know otherwise, can you not discuss this with Elizabeth or my wife?"

Lucky laughed humorlessly. "I don't see it coming up at dinner anytime soon."

"I don't know your sister very well. That said, I don't think she's capable of something like this. Why do you think she is? What do you know that I don't?"

"She's been distant for months. From the looks of it, she's dropped out of school. She's been dating this Cassidy guy for months and no one knows anything about him, which is impossible to do with my mother. She's moved to God knows where. She freaks out over the littlest things. Something's happened to make her change. I just don't know what it is yet."

"When you know, I want to know." Steven emphasized.

"After I tell my parents."