Chapter 8

Andrea rode in the back seat with Kira. They arrived at the marina and saw Sam casually strolling along the sidewalk with Gina. He saw them and waved. Gina said something to him, and whatever he said in reply led to an animated discussion. She stood with her hands on her hips, her lips pursed. Sam said something, she said something and threw her hands up, and she turned away. He tried to reach out to her, but she walked to the parking lot without looking back. Sam watched her go, his brow furrowed and shoulders slumped.

"Uhoh, looks like trouble in paradise," Michael muttered.

"I hope he didn't leave anything at her place. It's always so awkward for him to have to go get it later." Fiona sighed. Despite how she liked to pick on him occasionally, she really hated to see Sam go through this time and time again.

Michael said, "I hope they didn't get to the point of her giving him a car. Talk about awkward!" As they talked, the group met Sam on the sidewalk.

"Yeah, that was Gina. She wanted to help, but I told her she should go home. This could be dangerous." Sam said as he met them. "She gets really emotional when a kid is involved."

"I think we can all relate to that," Fiona said with a smile.

"So, what's up?"

"Kyle is around here somewhere," Michael replied. "Possibly trying to get a friend to take him and his family out of the country."

Sam looked past Michael and saw Andrea with the baby. He nodded at her. "You must be Andrea."

"Yes." She met his eyes with unease, but when Kira saw him and tried to squirm out of her arms, her look softened. She even smiled. "Looks like Kira knows you."

"Oh yeah, we're buddies, aren't we," Sam said with a grin as he took Kira's outstretched hand and placed a quick kiss on it as she curled it around his finger. "So, Mike, what's the plan?"

"We find Kyle and convince him that he doesn't have to run anymore. Paxson is working with the DA to drop all charges if Kyle testifies against Harding and Lennox."

"Sounds like a good deal. Top it off with witness protection and I don't know how he could refuse."

"First, we have to find him." Michael turned to Andrea. "Do you know this friend of his?"

"No," Andrea replied with a shake of her head. "I didn't even know he knew anyone with a boat." She glanced around the marina, scanning down the long pier in front of them.

"There are four piers here. Let's work in two teams. Andrea, you better stay here. Sam, you and Paxson go together. Fi and I will take the odd piers, you take the even."

Sam nodded. "Come on. Let's try the second pier." He and Paxson walked to the end, checking each boat on their left and right, and as they came back, they swept them again and met Michael and Fiona at the wide sidewalk that led to all the piers. "I take it you didn't find him."

"No. We've still got those two piers to cover," Fiona said as she and Michael headed for pier three.

Paxson and Sam were almost to the end of pier four when a man came out of the hold of a small boat and saw them. His eyes widened and his face took on an alarmed expression.

"Hey, it's okay," Sam said. "Are you Kyle Rollins?"

He looked at Sam with an expression of unease. "Who are you?"

"Kyle! It's okay!" Andrea approached him. "It's okay, honey, these people are trying to help us."

"Who are you," Kyle repeated as he stepped up onto the pier.

"My name's Sam. This is Detective Paxson. My friends, Mike and Fiona, are coming over here." He caught Michael's eye and waved him to the pier. He and Fi lengthened their strides. "We've been taking care of Kira while you were in hiding."

Kyle focused on his daughter and smiled. Kira grinned and reached for him, and he held out his arms. Andrea gave her to him, and he held Kira, swaying with her, kissing and muttering words of love. Kyle held her to his right side, and Andrea stepped up to his left. The man had his arms around both of them, enjoying an emotional reunion that made Sam feel like an unwanted outsider, so he took a couple of steps back to stand beside Paxson. He turned and saw that Michael and Fiona were about there. He also saw a flash come from the third story of a building nearby and heard the report of a rifle, followed quickly by a scream.

"Get down!" Paxson yelled.

Sam turned and saw Kyle crumble to the pier. He lost his grip on Kira as he went down and instinctively reached for where he'd been hit in the chest. Andrea went to the decking with him, in complete shock. Sam was just out of reach to catch Kira as she fell and hit the water. Without thinking, he dove in head first. Michael, Fiona and Paxson covered the couple, trying to protect them from more shots. Fortunately, Kira sank only a couple of feet and Sam plucked her out of the water easily. She came up crying and screaming.

"Mike! Grab her!" Sam held her above the water, kicking his legs to stay afloat, while Michael knelt down and picked her up.

"Need help, Sam?"

"Nope, I'm good. Just make sure Kira is okay!" He found a piling that had a ladder built onto it and climbed out of the water. With adrenaline pumping through his veins, he looked down to see Kira was okay, crying but safe in Andrea's arms again.

"It's a miracle she didn't take in any water," Fiona said with awe.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Our more immediate concern now is him." Kyle lay in a heap on the wooden pier, his blood staining it, and Michael knelt beside him and pressed the wound on his chest with his hands. Paxson got on her phone and dialed for help.

"Fi, Andrea," Sam said and waved them away as he moved in to help Michael.

Fiona spoke softly as she gently took Andrea by the shoulders and led her away. "Come on, let's stay back so they can help Kyle."

Andrea was too distraught to say anything. She nodded and held her crying daughter closer.

"Fi, you might want to take her to the shore." Michael advised her with a stern voice.

She knew that meant things were not good. Fiona nodded and led Andrea away. By the time they reached land, several police units, a fire truck, and an ambulance arrived, and a small group ran for the end of the pier. Fiona could barely see Michael and Sam in the mass of assistance that descended upon them.

Paxson met the officers that converged on the area. She addressed a Sergeant. "I want your team to check out that building and look for anyone with a rifle."

"Yes, ma'am." He ran to the other squad cars that showed up, and within moments five officers ran toward a five story building across the street.

The initial shock was wearing off, and Andrea clasped Kira to her as she lost control of her emotions. Fiona led her to a bench where she sat with her face buried in a blanket someone brought to keep Kira warm and dry. Fiona sat with her and kept her hand on Andrea's back, just so she knew that someone cared. All the while, she kept her eyes on the scene on the pier.

"Apparently, we didn't get all of Harding's men like we thought." Paxson spoke more to herself than anyone else.

Fiona's breath stopped in her throat. "Kyle's friend. Where was he? He didn't appear to be on the boat."

Paxon's brows knit. "I don't know. They've already searched the boat and Kyle was the only one on it."

Just then, a paramedic came to check on Andrea and the baby, so Fiona and the detective stepped away to talk. The first team of paramedics was transporting Kyle to the ambulance. He appeared to be alive, which gave them both a sense of relief. Michael and Sam followed behind, their hands and clothes bloodied, and Fiona watched as the two stopped at a cleaning station that was normally used for fish to wash off the blood.

"Are you thinking that this so-called friend was really working for Harding," Paxson asked Fiona.

"Not necessarily Harding. What if he was working with Lennox? If I were doing something risky and involving someone who may be less than cooperative, I might want a little insurance in case things went wrong."

"I see. Well, hopefully Kyle will be able to answer some questions later about who this man was, because right now it seems as if he's disappeared. If he slipped away to go set up in that building and then shoot him from there, he also had plenty of time to escape."

"He could have just waited until they were at sea and dumped them all off the side," Fiona suggested. "Unless they were only concerned about Kyle. Maybe the plan was to kill only him and let Andrea see what would happen to her if she said a word."

"You know, sometimes it's scary how you think, Fiona."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Michael said as he and Sam stepped into their circle.

One of the officers called on Paxson's radio. "Detective, we found a casing on the third floor. No shooter."

"Any sign of where the shooter went?"

"A person in the building says a guy with a rifle ran out into the alley and headed north. He tossed the weapon into a dumpster. We're checking that out right now."

"Good job. Keep me posted." She sighed deeply. "Well, that's all we've got, a spent casing, a missing rifle and a missing perp."

"If he's on foot, he couldn't have gone far," Michael said. "Sam and I could go looking for him."

"No, I've got enough manpower on it. You two look like you need to go home and change."

"Not a bad idea," Michael said as he glanced at Sam. Not only was his friend's clothing covered in blood spatters like his own, he was still damp from his little dip in the marina.

Sam asked, "What's going to happen to Andrea?"

Paxson replied as her gaze shifted to the woman. She was calmer now, but still clearly upset. "They'll get her and Kira checked out at the hospital, and then I'll drive her to a safe house. Nice work, by the way, picking Kira out of the water so fast."

"What can I say? Sometimes the training just kicks in without thinking." He shrugged. "So, if there's nothing else we can do, I'm gonna go, see if Gina's cooled down yet." Sam walked toward the parking lot, his path taking him past Andrea and Kira. He stopped and spoke to her, and Andrea hugged him. Then he caressed Kira's cheek and straightened, and he continued walking toward his car.

"Michael, I want to say goodbye to Kira before we go." Fiona stared at Kira and Andrea. "I think it's best..." She took a deep breath. "I think it's best if we do this now."

He knew that she was right. They could wait until she was settled somewhere safe, but prolonging the inevitable would only make it hurt more. Andrea stopped in front of Fiona and Michael, settling the decision for them. "Thank you," she said, her voice full of emotion. "Thank you for taking such good care of Kira. Thank you for helping us, and you and your friend for saving Kira and Kyle."

"You're welcome, Andrea."

"It was our pleasure," Fiona said with a smile as she reached out and touched the drying curls on Kira's head. "She's such a good little girl. We're going to...to miss her." Fiona blinked and held back the tears.

"I'm so thankful to have her, and Kyle. He's a good man. I wish I knew how he got tangled up in the middle of this." She nodded. "Goodbye, Fiona... Michael." She gave them each a quick hug.

"Goodbye, Andrea." Fiona swallowed a lump in her throat as she reached out one more time to caress Kira's head. "Goodbye, wee little one."

Michael and Fiona watched her leave with a police officer. Neither one moved until she was inside the cruiser and it pulled away. Then Michael heard a deep, sad sigh escape Fiona. He felt a big hole inside his chest, and he was certain she felt the same thing. Putting an arm gently around her, he said, "Let's go home, Fi."

He knew that Fiona was emotionally exhausted, so he drove her car back to the apartment. He parked, looked at her and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Fine." She blinked rapidly and escaped the vehicle.

Michael watched her pound the pavement to the door. He got out, locked the car, and followed behind. Her hands fumbled with the keys until she found the right one, opened the door, and hurried inside. He almost got the door slammed in his face. But he forgave her, because he knew her heart was breaking. It didn't matter that she'd done it to herself. He knew what it was like to fall in love with an asset; if he hadn't done it himself, he and Fiona wouldn't be together.

When he entered the apartment he heard the bedroom door close. Part of him wanted to respect her privacy, but the other half that hurt with her wanted to barge in, wrap her in his arms, and let her cry. It was dangerous, but Michael was never one to shy away from danger. He entered the room and found her curled up on the bed hugging a pillow, her body shuddering with sobs. "Aww, Fi." He whispered her name and came around behind her, settling around her like a security blanket. "I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say, because nothing was adequate.

"Just hold me," she whispered through the tears.

He didn't know how long they stayed that way, but eventually she stilled and fell asleep. He changed his clothes, and while she slept he disassembled the portable crib and put it back into its case. All the other things he stacked in a corner of Fiona's living room. The sooner these things are gone, the better. She doesn't need to have any reminders of Kira around.

"Hey, Sam. Do you have time to come by Fi's and pick up the stuff you borrowed from your neighbor?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be right over."

It didn't take long for Sam to arrive looking as if the past few hours had never happened. When he came through the door, Michael asked, "How did thing go with Gina?"

"She's okay now. I just have to be a little more careful about what I tell her." He saw the things in the corner and asked, "You want to give all that stuff away, even the things you and I bought?"

"Well, I don't really want it around. We don't need it..."

"Yet." Sam finished with a smug expression.

Michael gave him a look. "Maybe. Anyway, we don't have a good place to store these things."

"No problem. I can put it in my storage space until you need it." He could understand Michael's need to spare Fiona, but he wasn't sure it was the best thing to do. "Maybe you better just hold off for awhile? Let Fi decide what she wants to do with the things that are yours. I'll take the rest back to my neighbor." He grabbed the crib carrier, stroller, and booster seat. "Can you get the rest of it, Mike?" He struggled to get a good grip without dropping anything.

"Yeah, sure. Wait, let me take something else." Michael took the stroller.

He and Sam took the things out to Sam's car, attempting to make as little noise as possible. But when the two returned to the apartment, Fiona stood in the living area with her arms crossed, glaring at them.

"Thought you'd just steal all this stuff away and spare me," she asked with an accusatory tone. "I'm not fragile, gentlemen. I can handle it."

"See, Mike? I told ya." Sam elbowed him. To Fiona he said, "I told him he might want to wait. Are you okay?"

"I don't really have any choice, do I?" She looked at the pile of things still left. "What were you planning on doing with all that?"

"Sam offered to let us keep it in his storage unit."

"Until you guys need it." He smiled at Fiona, and she gave him a tender smile back.

"Thanks, Sam." She gave the items one last look and blinked. "You can take it away and put it in storage. I'm fine." She turned away and retreated to the bedroom.

Sam turned his head and met Michael's eyes. "She's not fine."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

The corner of Sam's mouth tipped up. "Could you at least wait until I'm gone?" He laughed at Michael's expression, then stepped forward to grab a bunch of things. "We'll put this stuff into the back seat and keep it separate from the other stuff I have to take back."

It took two trips to fill up the floor and back seat. Once the car was packed, Sam said goodbye and drove everything away. Michael watched from the courtyard gate. As he turned toward the apartment door, he saw Fiona standing at the sliding glass door leading to the bedroom. The curtain dropped down when she saw him looking, and it swayed from the movement. An ache formed in the pit of his stomach as he felt her pain.

Michael and Fiona met Sam and Jesse at Carlito's. They didn't have a new job on the burner: it was just a chance to hang out and relax. While they socialized, drank and nibbled on appetizers, Michael's phone rang.

"Hello." He listened to the caller and a slow smile crossed his face. "Thanks. I appreciate the news."

"What? What was that about?" Fiona asked.

"That was Detective Paxson. She wanted to let me know that Kyle is going to be okay. They caught the shooter, and it turned out to be the guy who said he would take them out of the country. Lennox gave him up as the shooter when he was spilling his guts about the whole fiasco."

"I talked with Paxson yesterday about this case," Sam said. "It's true that Kyle had nothing to do with the plan to steal Project Condor. Lennox tried to get him involved, but he wouldn't do it, so Harding sent his goons after the family. He swore they weren't out to kill, just scare them with the threat of death, so that Kyle would do what Lennox wanted. My guess is Lennox gave the orders to kill."

"Why didn't Lennox just get the stuff himself?" Fiona asked, puzzled.

"He needed a fall guy, and he tried to get Kyle into it just enough so that he would have everything to lose if he backed out. Lucky for him it never got to that point." Sam took a sip of his drink. "So now he's a star witness and the family is being held in protective custody somewhere. After the trial, they'll be shipped out with new lives and new identities."

"We'll never get to see Kira again," Fiona said softly and sucked on her straw.

"Unfortunately, yeah, you're right. Sorry, Fi."

"Hey, let's change the subject," Jesse suggested, and with a grin added, "What's this I hear about you guys?" He focused on Michael and Fiona.

"What? What did you hear about us?" Michael looked so innocent, and Fiona grinned and kicked him under the table.

"Yeah, we both heard that you guys are engaged," Sam said with a smirk. "So when were you gonna tell us? We had to hear it through the grapevine."

"Who..." Michael asked and turned to Fiona.

"Well, I told your mother. You know we talk about everything!"

"Sam, Jesse, I was going to tell you," Michael said with an apologetic look.

"Hey, no problem, Mikey...as long as you buy the next round!" Sam laughed. "It's about time, if you ask me. I just hope you don't make the engagement last as long as it took to get to this point!"

Michael would have told them as soon as he gave Fiona the ring, except he hadn't done that yet. It was currently in his pocket, and he felt around for it, found the small circle, and brought it out. "I was hoping Fi and I would have gotten here earlier than you guys so I could give this to her, but your timing was really bad." His smile turned into a grin as he turned to Fiona. "They're right, you've been waiting for this for a long time. I'm sorry for dragging my feet... and I promise this'll be a short engagement."

Fiona held out her left hand, her face glowing. "I'll forgive you, Michael. I don't really want to wait too much longer either. That's why I called your mom this morning before we came here. She and I are meeting this afternoon to talk wedding plans."

Sam and Jesse laughed at the shock on Michael's face. Sam slapped his hand on the table and said, "Whoo boy, Mikey, she doesn't waste any time! Better put that ring on her now before you find yourself putting another one there."

Michael slipped the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly, just as he knew it would. Before he bought it, he snatched a ring from her jewelry box, the one she used when they pretended to be married, and used it to have the ring sized. Like every operation he undertook, he wanted it to be perfect. Too bad he couldn't always account for outside forces, in this case their two friends who enjoyed a little fun at their expense. Jesse offered up a toast to the newly officially engaged couple, wishing them the best of luck and many years of happiness.

"And a family of their own," Sam added with a smile aimed at Fiona. By the sparkle in her eyes, it was obvious that she appreciated the footnote.

"Yes, a family of our own." Michael's eyes were on Fiona's as he said it, and when his glass met hers, it was a promise, not just a toast.

A/N: I haven't decided yet if this story will continue or if what happens next will be in a sequel. Keep watching!