Epilogue

One week later...

McKenzie leaned against the deck rail watching her dad and Steve starting the barbeque. Her parents got along with Steve even better than she thought they would. It probably had something to do with the fact that he nearly died for her, but there was definitely other common ground. Jim had volunteered to help Steve restore his dad's old car and Michelle, McKenzie's mom, wanted to learn to surf. McKenzie happened to think her mom was weird, but she loved it.

This barbeque was something of a celebration, though no one could quite agree what they were celebrating. Steve's recovery was on the list, as well as the two relationships that materialized the previous week. But McKenzie had one more to add.

"Hey," she said, getting everyone's attention. "I have good news."

"You've turned Steve into a human?" Danny asked.

Kono elbowed him, but everyone laughed.

"I'm afraid not," McKenzie said, with a grin. "But I did get the job I wanted."

"The one at Gracie's school?" Steve asked.

"Seriously?" Danny said. "That's great. I mean, you have to be an amazing teacher if you taught him to read." He jerked his thumb in Steve's direction.

McKenzie laughed, remembering how Danny had stayed at the hospital while she read the rest of The Chronicles of Narnia with Steve. When they finished, Danny asked to borrow the book to read with Grace.

Michelle went over to give her daughter a hug. "What will you be teaching?" she asked.

"Fourth through sixth grade humanities," McKenzie said. "And the only thing I'm not looking forward to is the dress code."

Danny couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "Finally, someone else around here will look professional."

"Hey, I'm surprised you're not wearing your tie today," Steve said.

"It's Saturday and it's your house."

"Oh, so I'm not important."

"To preserve my sanity, I'm going to ignore you."

"You mean you're going to try?"

"No. I am going to ignore you completely. Everyone will be happier that way."

"Then I guess you won't hear it when I tell you the food is ready?"

"Shut up."

The conversation only deteriorated from there. Finally, Jim announced that the food was ready. Most of the afternoon was spent eating and laughing. Michelle had made her famous potato salad and apple pie for dessert, which Danny greatly appreciated. After lunch, everyone went down to the beach. Steve still couldn't go in the water because his stitches weren't out yet, so he and Danny sat in the Adirondack chairs watching the others have fun. Even though he had been happy to ignore it for the last week, Steve was curious about how the case was finishing up. Danny was more than happy to share.

"I'm convinced he had an accomplice," Danny said. "There's no way he managed the first hit alone. There were too many variables."

"And you still think one of the widows had something to do with it?" Steve asked.

"Jenny Lee. The woman frankly creeps me out. Hadley killed them over some disagreement in their cult, but she claims they weren't even involved in it, which we know isn't true from what Burton told us. For a creepy cult, they keep good records."

"But their wives weren't recorded?"

"No. But I'm beginning to think a requirement for membership in this thing is misogyny. There aren't any women in their membership records."

"But they have female employees?"

"Yeah. It's weird. I'm not sure if it's relevant, but it would explain why Jenny Lee didn't show up anywhere, even if she were involved."

"An you can't find anything on her?"

"Nope. Model citizen. And any time we mention Hadley or the cult, she clams up. It could be that he threatened her, but he's dead now."

"So there has to be more to this. Did the priest guy know anything?"

"We've been in contact with him and he's trying to think of anyone else who might have been on Hadley's side. We've started checking the membership against people who have recently been here or are here now. Nothing suspicious has come up yet."

"I wouldn't worry about it." Steve leaned back in his chair. "I'm sure the fight will come to us."

"Yeah, now with you back in the saddle. At this rate, I'll be dead before president's day."

"Isn't that one of those special occasions on which I'm supposed to apologize for getting you shot?"

"Yes. I'm expecting a thoughtful card and maybe doughnuts."

"You are such a cliché."

"And what are you? G.I. Joe?"

"Have you been talking to McKenzie?"

"Define talking?"

Steve shook his head. "It's just that she called me that once."

"Take a hint."

"She also said I make faces."

"I refer you to my previous statement."

"I would be happy if you would stop naming them."

"And take all the fun out of it?"

"No. You know what's fun? The ocean. Surfing."

"Shut up. I'll throw sand in your eyes and you'll rethink how 'fun' the ocean is."

"That would require you to actually touch the sand."

"I might have to. Anyway, it's in my shoes already."

"Then take them off. No one else is wearing shoes."

"Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law?"

"Yeah. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

"Yes. If I take my shoes off, chances are I'll step on a rusty nail and then get bitten by a poisonous snake."

"Neither of those have anything to do with the ocean."

"Oh, that's on my way to the water. Once I actually get there, I'll be stung by a jellyfish, attacked by a shark, and probably drown."

"And you think I'm dramatic."

Late that evening when everyone else had gone home, Steve and McKenzie still sat on the beach, listening to the waves and watching the stars. Steve was still in the chair and McKenzie was sitting on the ground between his knees.

"What were you and Danny talking about for so long?" she asked.

"Danny talks a lot,"Steve said. "That doesn't mean it was about anything."

McKenzie laughed. "Seriously. You were talking about the case, weren't you?"

"Yes." Steve didn't elaborate.

"Danny told me the M.E. still doesn't know which bullet killed Hadley."

"It was a joint effort, then."

"Seeing as how he would have died anyway."

"Yeah... I didn't realize I'd hurt him so much."

"I'm glad it's over anyway... at least the hiding part."

"The problem is, it's not over. So I would understand if..."

"If what?" McKenzie turned around to look at Steve. "I think it's a little late to back out now, even if I wanted to. Besides, it's my fight too."

"I wish you hadn't said that."

"You know, I get it. You don't want me to be part of your world because it scary and dangerous. But I think I've proven I can handle it. Yes, I'm never going to stop thinking about his face when I shot him, and it's changed me, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"Okay. I just wanted to give you the opportunity to walk away from this. I know you can take care of yourself, but I hope you won't ever have to again."

McKenzie shivered slightly as the breeze picked up. Steve felt it and leaned forward, putting his hands under her arms to lift her onto his lap.

"Careful," McKenzie said as she settled in.

Steve laughed. "I could lift you in my sleep."

"With nearly a hundred stitches and two broken ribs?"

"One or the other. Not both."

"That's what I thought." McKenzie rested her head against Steve's neck. "So, you want to help me apartment shopping tomorrow?"

"Okay. Do I get a say in where you live?"

"I don't know. Why would it matter?"

"Well, it would need to be close enough to certain other places."

"You're going to have to battle my mom over that. She was sort of disappointed that you live on the other side of town from them. The school tips the scales in your favor though."

"Aha, the shorter your commute, the longer you can sleep."

"If that's my only character flaw, I'll take it."

"It's not."

"Thanks."

"You asked for it."

"You're asking for it right now, but because I'm nice, I won't take advantage of it."

"Or you just can't think of a comeback."

"I could if I wanted to." McKenzie's voice sounded very sleepy.

"Are you going to need a ride home?"

"Probably... this was a good day."

"It was. Only one thing could make it better."

"What's that."

"I've been thinking of how to say this since I don't know when. But when I thought Hadley was going to kill me the one thing I couldn't stop thinking of was how I would never see you again. And it's taken me this long to realize what that meant: you would never know that I love you."

McKenzie sat up, and in the dark, Steve couldn't quite read her expression. "You're wrong about one thing," she said, leaning closer to his face. "Even if, God forbid, you had died, I still would have known. I could see it in your eyes when you sent me away." Then she kissed him, and it was better than their first kiss.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Steve asked as they pulled away.

"Oh," McKenzie said, glad it was dark enough that Steve couldn't see her blush. "I suppose it's only fair." She traced the small cut on his neck. "I had a similar experience. I thought you were going to die and I realized I loved you too."

Steve pulled her in and kissed her again. "Was that so hard?" he asked.

The End...

I would like to thank all of you faithful readers who stuck with this story. I'm so glad you enjoyed it and I appreciate every review, message, favorite, and alert. I am planning to continue this plot in a new story. If you want to have input or are curious about what's going to happen, check out my forum "You Have a Face" and look under "Stories" at my last post. Feel free to leave a comment there or PM me or whatever. And be on the lookout for the next installment which will probably be called "Good Parenting."