"Mrs. Davis, I understand that you have a personal stake in seeing whoever was responsible for the explosion that injured your son caught and punished but-" Lee began in a dismissive tone of voice.

"Don't patronize me," Megan angrily interrupted Lee. "I'm a woman and a stay at home mom right now but that doesn't mean that I don't understand the complexities of your investigation."

"Mrs. Davis, my name is Amanda King." She stepped slightly in front of Lee and smiled warmly at the younger woman. "This is my partner, Lee Stetson. We're from the Agency. Please pardon my partner's manner; he gets cranky when he's hungry and he's missed breakfast and lunch today. Maybe you and I could talk in the rock garden as you suggested, while Agent Stetson goes to take a look at the spot where the car exploded?" Lee knowing when Amanda was better suited to talking to someone than he was began to stroll down the driveway without saying another word.

"How is CJ doing," Amanda inquired as she allowed Megan to lead her to the rock garden.

"He's feeling much better now that he's home." She smiled the first genuine smile that Amanda had seen since they'd met. "Thank goodness, his injuries weren't serious, mostly scrapes and bruises. My father insisted that he be kept in the hospital for observation as a precaution. I don't think that it was necessary but my father is accustomed to getting his way so I didn't argue when the doctor agreed to his demand."

"I'm glad that CJ is doing well. I have two sons, they're several years older than CJ is, they keep me very busy. I don't know how I'd manage family and my career if my mother weren't living with us."

"Your husband doesn't mind having your mother living with you?" She looked at Amanda with sincere interest as she waited for her reply.

"I'm divorced." My answer seems to be very important to her; I hate having to lie to her…for so many reasons. "My marriage to the boys' father fell apart after he chose to take a job abroad and I refused to uproot the boys in order to go with him. Mother came to live with us after Joe left although they always got along and still do."

"I wish my husband, Jeff, had a good relationship with my father. They never hit it off and now things are so bad that they don't even speak to each other. Daddy never thought that any man was good enough for me…I let his opinions about several men cost me relationships. When I met Jeff, something clicked between us, it seemed as if we wanted the same things in life. We fell in love and I accepted his marriage proposal despite Daddy's misgivings about him." Megan sat down on a bench in the center of the garden and tossed a pebble into the small lily pond in front of her. Amanda sat down at the far end of the bench and studied the pond in order to give Megan a moment to gather her thoughts. When she remained silent, Amanda attempted to draw her out.

"I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you to be faced with open hostility between the two men you love most."

"They remained civil to one another for many years. When they got on each others' nerves, my mother and I managed to smooth things over. She had a way of calming Daddy down; handling him without his even realizing it was happening." She and Amanda shared a smile but Megan's faded quickly. "We lost my mom last year and nothing has been the same since."

"I'm sorry; you must miss her terribly."

"I do…it was so sudden…she had a stroke and was gone within a few hours. Daddy was so distraught; I'd never seen him that way before. People don't see the private side of him, he loves his family dearly, and Mom was the center of his life. He was lost without her so I told Jeff that we should move into the house with Daddy for a short time so that he wouldn't be alone in that great big house."

"Did Jeff agree to the move?"

"Yes, but now I wish I had never suggested the idea, it was the beginning of the end." She abruptly stood up and walked several feet away from Amanda. "I tried to provide Daddy with comfort and companionship. I acted as hostess when he invited people to the house and went with him to social functions that he had to attend. Jeff felt neglected by me and jealous of the growing closeness between Daddy and CJ. The hostilities between Jeff and Daddy boiled to the surface and I was caught in the middle. One night I went to a fundraiser with Daddy and we didn't get home until two in the morning; rather than risking waking Jeff I went to sleep in a guest room. When I went back to our bedroom in the morning, Jeff was gone; he'd left me a note. He said that if he was going to spend so much time alone it might as well be in his own home. I understood how he felt but I didn't have the heart to take CJ and leave Daddy all by himself."

"That's a terrible choice to be faced with. Are you and Jeff seeing each other? What about CJ spending time with his father?" That poor little boy; I bet he doesn't understand what's going on around him.

"Jeff and I were trying to reach a compromise regarding all the time I was spending with Daddy until a few weeks ago. We got into a huge fight and Jeff told me that Daddy would come between us until the day he dies. There was such anger in his voice; he'd never spoken to me that way before. He truly hates my father."

"Megan, are you suggesting that Jeff is responsible for the bombing? Do you think he saw it as a way of saving your marriage?" Amanda shuddered inwardly as she contemplated the awful possibility.

"I don't want to believe that, but Jeff called me right before the bomb went off; we were arranging for him to spend time with CJ. He became really agitated when I mentioned that CJ was playing outside by himself…that never bothered him before as long as he played in sight of the house. What am I supposed to think," she asked as she wrung her hands.

While Amanda was thinking about how to respond to Megan's theory, Lee was approached by CJ as he was waiting for Amanda near the Corvette.