Shane was still holding Andrew as Steve and Kayla left. He knew Roman wanted to go look at the scene and had some theories to discuss, but Shane was torn about leaving his family. No, that's not right, he reminded himself. It's not really your family anymore. Your only family here is your son.

Andrew rested his head on Shane's shoulder. The boy was growing tired as the shock and fear faded away, replaced with exhaustion. Meanwhile, Shane was trying to contain his fury; he did not want Andrew to see his anger, but he knew he was failing to keep it from his face.

Roman looked at them. "Hey, partner, if you want to stay here-"

"No, it's okay. I want to take a look." Shane knew he had to do it. He had to see what they were up against. He took a deep breath, forced a smile to his face, and looked down at Andrew. "Listen, Sport, I need to go with Uncle Roman for a little while. Can you stay here and look after your mom?" He glanced over at Kim, who still looked rather shell-shocked.

Andrew responded with a solemn nod. "Yes, Daddy."

"That's my good boy," Shane said. He carried Andrew over to Kim, who pulled their son onto her lap. Shane looked Kim in the eyes, "Are you sure you're okay?" For a second, he started to raise his hand to touch her cheek, but stopped himself.

"We'll be okay." Kim was still shaken, but Shane knew her well enough to see that she was trying to put up a brave front.

"If you want, I can take Andrew tonight," Shane offered. "You can get some rest."

Kim shook her head. "I'm perfectly capable of caring for my son."

The harshness of her tone surprised Shane. He obviously did not mean to suggest she was incapable of taking care of Andrew. But rather than get into an argument, he just nodded, "Fine. I'm going to go with Roman." He leaned over and gave Andrew a kiss on the forehead. "Andrew, I'll come back to see you after I talk with Uncle Roman."

Shane followed Roman out the door. Neither said anything until they reached the street, but that was when Shane could no longer contain his anger. "Now tell me what the hell's going on!"

"Shane, I know you're angry-"

"Angry! That doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling!" Shane yelled. "Someone tried to kill Kimberly and almost killed my son in the process. You're damn right I'm angry."

Roman stood there and looked at him. "Look, I don't know much more than you." He turned and began walking down the street. "Pop's talking with some uniforms, so maybe he has some more information. We can take a look at the scene."

Shane ran a hand through his hair. He knew he had no business getting angry at Roman. It was hardly his fault. Shane nodded as he followed. "I'm sorry, Roman. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Hey, partner, trust me, I understand. I've been there more than a few times."

They turned a corner and Shane saw Shawn talking with a couple of uniformed officers. Some other men and women were crouched down in various spots around the street. Collecting evidence, most likely. Shane wanted to start interrogating everyone, but reminded himself that this was Roman's crime scene.

"What were Kim and Andrew even doing over here?" Shane asked.

Roman said, "According to Steve and Kim, they ran into each other on the pier and were heading to Ma and Pop's when they ran into Pop with Andrew. I guess they had gone to Pop's boat."

They reached Shawn, who looked at Roman. "I'm glad you're here, son." Then his expression turned stony as he said, "Shane." Without waiting for Shane to even respond, Shawn started explaining what had happened: how Kim and Andrew were in front of Steve and Shawn when the blue car pulled out into the street and sped toward Kim and Andrew. Shawn described how Steve pushed the others out of the way and was hit by the car, which never slowed until it turned right at the corner.

"Did you see the driver, Pop?" Roman asked.

Shawn shook his head. "Just a hat, a black baseball cap."

Shane studied the spot in the street where Shawn said Kim and Andrew had been standing. He stood there a long time, picturing the scene. Shane had no idea how much time had passed when Roman walked over.

"So what do you think?" Roman asked.

Shane pointed to the street. "No skid marks. The driver never slowed down."

"Yeah," Roman said. "There's some rubber down the block where the car was parked. He pulled out in a hurry."

"So he was waiting. He must have known Kim had gone to the pier." Shane looked at Roman. "Did she say if she went from the house?"

Roman nodded. "She said she got home from work and decided to take a walk to the pier, where she ran into Steve."

"So the driver knew she was there and knew the route she had to take to get back to Shawn and Caroline's." Shane paused as he thought. "Did anybody notice the car when it was parked?"

"Nothing more than what Kim told us. The driver had on a ball cap and sunglasses. Three witnesses said he was Caucasian. A fourth said he was Hispanic. And a fifth said he was Black."

"That's just great." Shane let out a deep breath. "That narrows it down to about 48 percent of the population of Salem. At least, that's assuming everyone's agreed that the driver was a man?" With a rueful shake of his head, Shane added, "If not for Steve. . . ." Shane could not finish the sentence out loud. If not for Steve, I would have lost almost everything important in my life.

Roman reached out and patted Shane's shoulder. "Hang in there, partner. Andrew's fine." Almost hesitantly, he added, "And so is Kimmie."

"And the next time?" Shane looked at his friend. "How do we protect Kim from the next attack?"

"You don't know there's going to be a next time," Roman said.

Shane rolled his eyes and felt the anger boiling up again. "Oh, come on! We both know what the bloody hell's going on here! And we both know who's behind this."

"We don't know, Shane." Roman turned to face him. "We can suspect Alamain all we want, but we don't have any evidence."

"Evidence! You and I both know how good he is at covering his tracks. We can search from now til doomsday and not get enough evidence to put him away." Shane knew he was ranting, but he could not contain his frustration. "And in the meantime, he's going to keep taking shots at my family. What's it going to take before you do something? Kim in a bodybag?"

Roman grabbed Shane by the lapels of his jacket. "Listen to me, Shane. Kim's my family and I'm not going to let Alamain or anyone else hurt her. You're not the only one who's worried."

From behind Shane, Shawn spoke. "Kim's more your family, Roman, than his."

Shane jerked away from Roman and wheeled around. For much of the past year, Shane had endured Shawn's angry outbursts over his relationship with Kayla and his failed marriage to Kim. "Don't start, Shawn. I don't want to hear it. Someone just tried to kill-"

"That's right!" Shawn bellowed. "Someone tried to kill Kimmie, who was out here on her own instead of at home with her husband where she belongs. You're supposed to be the big hero, but where were you when your wife and son needed you?" He pointed at the bruises that were still evident on Shane's face. "You were probably off on some grand adventure so you can brag about fighting the bad guys, but where were you while Steve was protecting Kimmie and Andrew."

Shane started forward, but Roman pulled him back and stepped in front of him. "Pop . . . This isn't helping."

"I don't care if it's helping or not!" Shawn yelled. "He walked out on his responsibilities and look what could've happened because of it!"

Roman spun around and stopped Shane before he could move any closer. In a low voice, Roman said, "He doesn't mean it, Shane," even as Shawn insisted that he meant every word. "Just calm down. You're not doing Kim or Andrew any good by losing your cool."

Shane knew Roman was talking sense, and knew it was pointless to take out his anger on an old man. One of the uniformed officers pulled Shawn aside and began walking him back to the Fish Market. Meanwhile, Shane turned back to the street and looked at the people collecting evidence.

With a sigh, Shane said, "You know they won't find anything."

"Probably not," Roman conceded. "But we might get lucky. Look . . . There's really nothing more for us to see here. Let's go back to the house and you can say goodnight to Andrew-"

"And hopefully avoid another confrontation with your father," Shane muttered.

"Yeah, that too." Roman looked at him carefully. "But, seriously, Shane . . . Let's go take care of that and then let me buy you a drink. We can discuss Alamain, and there's something else I want to talk to you about."

From the tone of Roman's voice, Shane knew whatever the "something else" was, it was serious. And a drink would probably do him some good. Shane nodded and they turned and walked back to the Brady house.

When they arrived, Shawn was in the kitchen, pacing around and muttering angrily to himself. Shane did not have to guess the subject of his ire. Kim was trying to calm her father, and she glowered at Shane as he followed Roman into the house.

"Stay here, Papa," she said, then came into the living room. "That's just what we all needed, Shane. Did you really have to start another fight with my father?"

Shane took a deep breath and counted to 10 before he replied. Keeping his voice as even as he could, he said, "I didn't start anything, Kimberly. And I have no intention of arguing with your father. I just want to see Andrew."

"He's asleep," she said. "And I think it would be better for everyone here if you left."

"I just want to see . . ." Shane stopped himself. There was no point to having another confrontation. "Okay, Kim. You win. I'll go. When Andrew wakes up, would you tell him that I came back, and that I love him?"

She nodded, and a little of the hostility seemed to evaporate.

"Good," Shane said. "And you'll take care of yourself?"

"Don't worry, partner." Roman spoke before Kim could. "I'll have a squad car outside the house. Nobody's going to do anything to hurt my sis." Roman put a hand on Shane's shoulder and steered him toward the door.

"Shane," Kim said from behind him. Shane stopped just before he reached the door and turned back to her. "Andrew's first day of kindergarten is the day-after-tomorrow. You'll be there, won't you?"

Shane was caught unaware. He had not even put it in his schedule, and with his trying to come up to speed on the Alamain investigation, he had no idea what the next few days would be like. "I . . . I don't know. . . ."

"Shane," her voice rose and her tone took on more of an edge.

"I don't know right now," Shane said, more harshly than he intended. He sighed and lowered his voice. "Kim, that's the best I can do." Before Kim could lash out with another angry outburst, he turned and headed through the door.

Roman caught up to him just as he reached his car. Shane put his hands on the hood, took a few deep breaths, and wondered if things would ever get better between Kim and him. Then he stared out toward the street where the attack had happened, andthought, Your relationship with Kim is the least of your worries. You've got to keep her safe from Lawrence.

From a few feet behind him, Roman said, "Come on . . . I don't know about you, but I could really use that drink."