Kris had noticed Kelly on the deck for the last 10 minutes wondering whether to approach or not. It seemed, Kelly had shrunk in the last week between the grief, the overwhelming amount of people that had to be included, the public decisions that had to be made and the 'correct' way to remember and bury a high profile senator assassinated in office. For a private person like Kelly, Kris knew she hated how the cameras were staked out across from her house. Every decision she made was reviewed in the media. She had always felt close to Kelly and they were friends but she always felt Kelly still saw her as Jill's little sister. When ever Jill was around Kris felt like an outsider looking in. Kris tried to rationalize it, she had worked at the agency longer than Jill had and had worked with both Sabrina and Kelly at the agency longer than Jill, but the bond the 3 of them had developed at the police academy and in the first year with Charlie was still strong after all these years. While she would never want to hurt that bond, she would like to be included.

Kris sighed right now Kelly was the priority and she was worried about her, but she had to be careful how she expressed her concern or Kelly would clam up, this was so frustrating and sad. With a heavy heart Kris decided she needed some air and if she checked on Kelly in the process that was a bonus.

On the other side of the room Sabrina had also been watching Kelly too. Sabrina caught Jill's attention and motioned toward Kelly, Jill nodded her head, excused herself from a racing executive she had been talking to about the European racing circuit. They made their way across the room and out the French doors onto the deck.

"Hey Kel. You okay." Sabrina asked as she knelt down beside Kelly. She put her hand on Kelly's leg, shaking her a little.

"Have you eaten anything?" Jill broke the silence. Sabrina smiled as she thought about how many times she and Kelly had teased Jill about always being ready to eat. Sabrina hoped Kelly would be able to joke with them again soon; she was worried about her too.

"Kelly" Sabrina said again gently.

It took Kelly a minute to realize they were there, "What?"

"When was the last time you slept, Kel? You have to keep your strength up, you know." Sabrina reminded her.

"I'm fine."

Sabrina looked up at Jill with concern in her eyes, neither one believed her, but it was Kelly and arguing with her would not accomplish anything.

"You want to get out of here for a while, take a ride up the coast, my rental is a convertible." Jill tried to coax Kelly to join her with a smile.

"That sounds like a great idea, Kel, we could go up to that little bed and breakfast you liked so much, what was the name of it?" Sabrina added.

Kelly looked at Jill like she had lost her mind, "Jill it's pouring down rain outside and you want to go riding in a convertible!"

"Well, we will put the top down when it stops raining." Jill amended as she flashed her smile, hoping her crazy idea would at least make Kelly smile.

"Jill, you are crazy! I can't leave now, do you know how much there is still to do?"

Sabrina put her hand on Kelly's shoulder, "You need to take care of yourself so you can take care of all that later. It will be here when you get back, it's not like we are talking about going away for a week, just the weekend."

Kelly gave them a little sad smile that never made it to her eyes, "I really appreciate it, but Jill like you said when Steve died, I can't forget Carl because the scenery changes, I need to deal with this now, I have put it off long enough."

Jill nodded as she sat down in the chair across from Kelly, remembering how devastated she had been when her fiancé had been killed and like Kelly said she had not wanted to get away. She had wanted time alone and to find the killer.

Kelly looked over at Sabrina, "Can you call Charlie, and then talk to Bosley and the rest of the girls about meeting me here in the morning,"

"Yeah I can do that." Sabrina nodded, trying to catch up with the change of subject.

Kelly stood up, straightened her shoulders, you could almost see her putting on that unemotional tough mask she showed the rest of the world. Sabrina looked at Jill and shook her head they had seen this before and there was no arguing with her. They knew she was hurting but when Kelly went into her shell all you could do was wait and be there when she finally let you. Kelly looked at them, her voice formal and sharper than normal, "We have a case to solve. I want to ask everyone if they will help me find out who killed my husband."

"You know we will do whatever you ask Kelly, we are in this together" Sabrina said as she squeezed Kelly's arm.

"That's right we are here for you and we will catch the killer, I'm sure everyone feels that way, too" Jill added rubbing her hand comfortingly up and down Kelly's arm.

Kelly smiled at her friends and thought how much she had depended on them through the years, how much they meant to her, and how lucky she had been the day she started the academy and found them there.

"I love ya'll you know" Kelly said with tears in her eyes.

"We love you too" Sabrina and Jill responded getting choked up too. They gave Kelly a hug, it wasn't often Kelly verbally expressed her love for someone. Sabrina and Jill never doubted she loved them, she showed it all the time, but she rarely put it into words. It touched both of them.

"And we will catch whoever did this, trust us Kelly, we will catch him" Sabrina reiterated, trying to regain her composure, Jill nodded in agreement.

A cough was heard behind Jill and Kelly looked up to see Jonathan Taylor, Carl's chief of staff, "Kelly there are some people that would like to talk to you if you have a minute?"

"Sure, Jonathan, I will be right with you." Kelly looked each of them in the eye and nodded then walked inside with Jonathan.

Kris walked up to Sabrina and Jill, she had been standing back in the shadows listening, "She okay"

"Yeah, she's hurting, but she will be okay" Jill responded quietly and looked at Sabrina

"She's a fighter, she'll be okay" Sabrina agreed softly.

"So what is next?"

"Well, Kris, Kelly wants us to investigate Carl's murder. She wants us to meet her here tomorrow morning. I'm going to call Charlie and let Bosley know. Can you tell Tiffany and Julie for me?"

Kris took a deep breath and nodded. They each looked at each other, here we go. Sabrina walked inside to call Charlie. As Jill started inside Kris pulled on her arm.

"You okay, I thought this might be bringing up some bad memories."

Jill slowly nodded, "It is, but I'm okay. You know it just feels strange, the circumstances are similar, almost like déjà vu."

Kris reached over and drew Jill into a hug, "You know I'm always here if you need anything, I love ya."

Jill hugged Kris back thinking how lucky she was to have a sister like Kris, "I love you too."

"Now, what was that you said about if I ever need anything?" Jill started with a mischievous grin on her face, "I think that new cashmere sweater you bought in Germany last week would really look better on me."

Kris started laughing, it was good to laugh and only Jill could turn a tender moment into getting a new sweater. You had to admire her, she never stayed down for long. "The white or burgundy one." Kris asked trying to keep a straight face.

"Oh definitely the white one, I look good in white don't you think, or maybe the burgundy one, I mean Christmas is right around the corner and burgundy would look good at all the Christmas parties." Jill and Kris walked back into the house arm and arm smiling.

5