Thank you for everyone who's jumped onboard with this story already, especially those who've reviewed or added it to their favourite or alerts list. While it would be nice to get an actual Season 3, it would kind of render this story redundant... At least I'll probably finish mine first.

CHAPTER TWO

Emma had made two cups of hot chocolate and handed one to Mads. She was sitting on the sofa now, calmer and having managed to fill Emma in on most of the evening's key details. "Alec's really..?" Emma hesitated.

Mads nodded. "I think so. Your dad seemed pretty sure." She gave a deep sigh and looked close to tears again. "This is so messed up, Dad's dead and I'm…"

"And you're..?"Emma prompted.

"And I'm just so worried about Jordan,"Mads concluded. "Does that make me a horrible person?"

"No, it doesn't,"Emma reassured her. "It just means you care about him. Have you any idea what's happening?"

Mads shook her head. "The police took him away, I went back inside to get Dad and…I just saw him, lying there, your dad checking over him and saying it was no use…and then I ran." She gave her friend a weak smile. "I ran here."

Emma gripped her hand. "It's okay."

"They're the two most important men in my life, along with Thayer…" Mads stopped. "Oh god, Thayer, he doesn't know, someone should tell him…"

Emma hesitated. "It might be best to leave him for now."

"Why?"

"I…I was around there earlier, I told him that it was over between us and he…he got upset. I think he needs to be on his own for a while."

Thayer sat on the floor in the centre of his room, calm in the chaos about him. He would have to clear things up soon but for now he was taking a moment to gather his thoughts, to keep the anger at bay. He was glad Emma had left. He wouldn't have liked to get angry when she was there.

He heard the knock at his door and it brought his mind back into focus. His eyes fell on the rusted tool lying near his hand. "Just a minute!"he called, as he returned the tool to its hiding place. The state of the room he could explain but the tool might make people suspicious.

He opened the door, enough to see the person standing there but not enough so the person could see into the room. It was Ted. He looked awkward. "Thayer, there's something I need to tell you."

Thayer nodded. "Okay. Go on."

"Can I come in?"

"No,"Thayer replied sharply. If he could avoid Ted seeing the mess in his room, he would. "Just tell me."

Ted took a deep breath. "Your dad. Alec. He's dead."

"What?" Thayer's mind was racing. What had gone wrong? "How?"

"He fell through the roof at the club. The police have arrested Rebecca, they found her on the roof, they think she might have pushed him."

Thayer was struggling to make sense of it. It wasn't what Alec had told him would happen. He managed to latch onto a thought. "Mads. Where's she?"

Ted shrugged. "We don't know. She disappeared around the same time."

"I think I know where she is. I'll find her." Thayer left his room, pulling the door shut behind him.

Dan looked at Rebecca hard. "Let's go over this again…"

"No, let me make this simple for you,"Rebecca retorted. "I did not kill Derek. I did not kill Theresa. I did not kill Alec." She blinked away tears. "Please, I've told you what happened. Alec did all this to frame me…"

"So who did kill Derek and Theresa?"

"Alec."

"I've heard that story before. You two seem to be very good at blaming each other."

"I'm telling the truth! I told him I'd bring him down, prove I'd been framed. And he said he'd make sure I was put away even if it was the last thing he did. And then he jumped."

Dan looked at her. She seemed convincing. But then a lot of stories he'd heard recently had sounded convincing. He sighed and got up. "Interview suspended."

He headed out into the corridor where Ethan was sitting. His younger brother stood up. "What's going on?"

"She says she didn't do it."

"Do you believe her?"Ethan asked. Dan shrugged. "Well, what are you going to do?"

"Charge her. Let the DA sort it out once we've actually got a DA again." Dan looked at Ethan suspiciously. "That's not why you're here, is it?"

"Sutton asked me to go and see Emma, tell her what happened. But seeing how you feel about her…"

"Yeah but it's not about me, is it? It's about how you feel about her." Dan sighed. "You know, Theresa thought Sutton was good for you. Whether that means Sutton or Emma or some weird combination of the two, I don't know." He saw Ethan looking awkward and rolled his eyes. "Just go."

Ethan only had to knock once on the cabin door before Emma answered. "There's something I need to tell you,"he began. Then he looked past her and saw Mads sitting on the couch, favouring him with an ironic smile. "But I guess you already know."

"About Alec? Yeah." Emma ushered him in. "Not what we were expecting."

Ethan approached Mads. "How are you doing?"

Mads smiled. "I'm getting there." She gripped Emma's hand. "Emma's helped."

Ethan glanced at his ex-girlfriend. "Yeah, she does that."

There was another knock on the door. Emma raised an eyebrow. "Wow, suddenly I'm popular." She answered the door again to find Thayer standing there.

"Is Mads here?"he asked. Emma gave a nod of confirmation and gestured for him to come in. Thayer stopped when he saw that there was someone else there. "Ethan,"he noted, almost making it sound like a challenge.

Ethan gave a curt nod in response. "Thayer."

Thayer turned his attention to his sister. "Are you okay?"

Mads shrugged. "I really don't know."

Thayer helped her to her feet, putting his jacket round her shoulders. "Come on, I'll take you home. I'll stay the night with you, okay?" Mads nodded in agreement. He glanced at Emma. "Thanks for helping her." She gave him a brief smile in acknowledgement as he led Mads away.

Emma and Ethan were suddenly alone. Ethan gave an awkward cough. "So, anyway, I just wanted to let you know about Alec and Rebecca…"

"Woah, hold up, Rebecca?" Emma looked at him, bewildered. "What's she got to do with this?"

"You don't know?" It occurred to Ethan that Mads had left before Rebecca was brought out. "She's back in town. Dan found her on the roof right after Alec fell." He shrugged. "Guess that's three murders she's up for now." He walked out, leaving Emma with a shocked look on her face.