PT20

Matt and Marc continued down the hall and out the door.

"Marc, I appreciate all you're doing and..."

Suddenly, a shot rang out.

"Matt! Look out!" Marc yelled, pushing him aside. Both men were trying to see where the shot came from. Marc was looking on. "Matt? These men, the ones you say were your friends. Just how well do you know them? I mean just how good of friends are they?"

Now unsure. "Marc? What's troubling you?"

"Oh, well…"

"Look, you got something on your mind. Say it straight up."

"Well, Matt, just before I pushed you out of the way, I thought I saw that friend of yours. Sam Benson. He was in my office earlier. He claimed he was husband to the woman Joey…"

"McKay." Nodding. "Yeah, seems Sam and Joey married some time back. Marc, we were all friends back during the war. I haven't seen them in years. A lot can happened to folks, if you know what I mean."

"Well, Matt, he seemed to be pretty fired up about you um, holding it against this Joey for what happened to Kitty. He left in quite a tither when he found out I wasn't releasing her."

Furrowing his brow, "Marc, you don't think Sam was the one that just shot at us?"

"No, not at us. At you. Matt, he seems to have some kind of grudge." Marc headed back to the office to check on his prisoners.

Matt went back to the room to check on Kitty and Grace.

Grace had just convinced Kitty to get some rest. Hearing a knock, she opened the door.

"Be real quiet, little lady, and no one gets hurt." Sam walked her back into the room.

"Who are you and what do you want here?"

"Names Sam Benson. You might as well know. Soon as Matt gets here, you'll know anyway."

"What do you want?" Grace demanded.

"Just sit down over there. We'll wait."

Kitty heard the voices. She was now coming into the outer room. "Grace? Oh, Sam. Matt's not here. He's with Marc Jennings. Sam?" She was not sure what to say to him about Joey. I'm sorry you and Joey are mixed up in this thing with Harriman." He just huffed out a laugh. "Sam?"

"You don't get it, do you, Kitty?"

"I guess, I don't." She said, puzzled at his response.

"She had me fooled. All these years she had me fooled. I thought she loved me and all along it was him."

"Him?" Kitty repeated.

"And when Harriman made us this offer, to work at getting Matt on his side, and that meant getting you out of the way, why she jumped at the chance. That was her chance to get him back in her life. Oh, she told me it was just a job and foolish me, I believed her."

"What are you saying?" Grace asked. "My poppa doesn't want Joey. He loves my momma. There's nothing between them."

"Well, he hasn't exactly discouraged her."

"Are you crazy?" Grace was now losing her temper.

"Grace, Sweetheart, calm down, please. Look, Sam, I can't account for how Joey feels but I know Matt. And I know he doesn't share her feelings. He told me all about how he met Joey. Sam, it was a long time ago."

"You know Marc Jennings is charging Joey with kidnapping?"

Nodding, "Yes, I know. Sam, they could have killed me. You said yourself she..." Now Kitty swallowed hard.

Suddenly, "Benson? What are you doing here?" Matt bellowed.

Turning, "Why, we're waiting for you, Friend."

Now Matt noticed the gun in his hand. "Kitty, Grace? You both ok?"

Nodding, "Yeah, Matt, we're fine."

"Benson, what are you doing?"

"I missed outside, but I won't miss now."

"What!?" Kitty asked in surprise.

Jennings Office

Marc Jennings returned to his office to find Joey pacing.

"Oh, Constable Jennings, am I glad to see you."

"Is that so?"

"I need you to help me. Please? It's my husband. We need to stop him."

"Stop him from what?" Jennings asked.

"He's going to try and kill Matty. I tried to tell him he was wrong but... Please, help me convince him. I think he went to find Matty. Please let me out of here long enough to... Oh, so we can find him."

"Look, Sam, think I talked him into working for Harriman here." Pointing to Harriman. "So I could win Matt Dillon back. He thinks I'm still in love with him and that I wanted Kitty out of the way. Oh yeah, that'd be nice, in a dream world, but all ya gotta do is look at them and see… Sheesh. Besides, I love Sam. Please, help me?"

Sitting and thinking about what she said, he unlocked the cell door. "Come on. Let's go see if we can find them."

The two headed for the Winsor Inn.

"Sam, listen to me. There has never been anything between me and Joey. She was always a good kid but nothing more. You know that. I've never given her any other idea that there was anything else between us. When I saw you both again here, she told me the two of you married and that she was happy. And as for what the two of you did, working for Harriman, I'm not sure I will or can forgive that in as how you hurt Kitty. Sorry, but that's just the way it is."

"I don't expect you to, Matty." Joey said, now standing in the doorway. "Sam, what are you doing? This is all wrong. You know that." Now walking over to him. "Sam, you're wrong. If you'd just listen to me. Yeah, when we were kids, I was crazy about Matty but…"

"I know it showed." Sam began.

"Shhhhh! Let me finish." Placing a finger on his lips. "It's you I love now as a woman. You are who I want to make my life with. We have some mistakes to pay for but... Matty, Kitty, I don't expect you to forgive me, us, but I'm apologizing anyway and promising to stay out of your lives. Take them," she was now waving her hand between Grace and Kitty, "home so you can live the life you deserve. Constable Jennings? We're ready. What's next?"

"Well, back to jail then there will be a hearing. You will be needed to testify about your involvement with Harriman."

TBC