Saturday morning, the shooting range at the Salem PD was pretty empty. That suited Shane just fine. No distractions, at least of the external kind. Inside, Shane had too many thoughts whirring in his head.

Since his meeting with Bowers and Carly, Shane had been plagued by the images of his friends and family suffering like that pitiful creature on the television screen. He had spent the day before and most of the night once again going through every file and report they had on Alamain's facilities. They now had people inside three of the research labs, but they still had no clue where the toxin was being finalized or how Lawrence would be bringing it into the country.

We'll find out. We'll stop Lawrence, Shane pledged silently. If it's the last thing I ever do, I'm going to stop Lawrence.

Those thoughts did not help right now. Shane was trying to clear his mind, not get it whirring again.

Just shoot something, he told himself. Some target practice would clear his mind.

He pulled out the M9 and decided to start with that pistol. Readying his grip and releasing the safety, he aimed at the target, took a half-breath, and began firing. When the magazine was empty, he studied the target. It looked good. Apparently, having his mind on other matters did not stop him from hitting the bullseye with every shot.

As Shane reloaded the gun, he thought, What will happen if I picture the target with Lawrence Alamain's smug face? He smiled slightly at the mental image, aimed, and began firing. Shane reached for the button to replace the target with a fresh one. But just as he began to push, he felt a hand on his left shoulder. Shane spun around and found himself face-to-face with Roman.

"You startled me," Shane said.

Roman replied, but only his mouth moved; Shane heard nothing. Then Shane realized he was still wearing his headphones. He pulled them off.

"Sorry, partner," Roman said. "You're one of the last people I expected to see here today. Especially not so early. What are you doing here?"

Shane tried to figure out how to respond. The true reason was that he did not want to run into Kim. He had avoided her completely since Thursday night when he had fought with Steve, other than a brief exchange the night before in which she told him that she would not fight the school over Andrew. She had hinted that there was more to her decision than Mickey's advice, but Shane had reminded himself that he had to maintain the boundaries, so he had apologized that he could not talk and disappeared into the communications room for a few hours. And he had slipped away this morning before she was awake.

But that was hardly the best thing to say to Roman. "I've just been too busy," Shane lied. "This is about the only time I can get away."

"Like you need the practice," Roman said, rolling his eyes as he studied the target down-range. Most of the head was missing. "You're probably the best shot in town." He leaned against the barrier that separated the shooting lanes. "So what's really going on, Shane?"

Shane debated telling Roman about Dr. Bowers' report on the toxin, but Shane had been trying to wipe the images of the dying monkey from his mind. He had barely slept the night before as he kept picturing the image from the video and then his loved ones and friends suffering the same way. Then Shane thought about the disaster that Steve caused, but decided against raising that specifically. Instead, in a noncommittal voice, Shane said, "Let's just say it hasn't been the best week, Roman."

"I gather. The Alamain investigation?"

"Sort of. We had something of a. . . ." Shane searched for the right word. ". . . setback." That's as good a word as any.

"Does this have anything to do with a certain fake fire-truck showing up at the Alamain mansion?" Roman gave Shane a knowing look.

"I figured Marais would have checked with the department." Shane said. Lawrence's right-hand was not stupid. He probably tried to find out from the Salem FD if they dispatched a truck in response to an alarm. "Did you cover?"

"Yeah. I'd given Chief Bishop a head's up, but you owe me, partner. I'm thinking a good bottle of scotch. Or maybe Yankees tickets."

"I suspect that's going to include airfare too." Shane laughed, but only for an instant. It felt foreign and it dawned on him that it seemed like a long time since he had laughed and things felt "normal." Probably not since the night he had come home from Iraq and he had fed quarters into the games so Andrew could win that little toy at Alice's restaurant. Since then, there had been little to laugh about.

"You okay?" Roman was looking at him closely.

Shane nodded. "Yeah . . . just thinking about something." Shane figured he should change the subject. "How about you tell me the latest with Marlena?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you about that," Roman said.

"Shoot. . . . Pun intended, of course." Shane set his gun on the rail.

"It's about Doc and trying to find out what happened to her." When they had met a few days earlier, Roman had told Shane about how he and Marlena planned on checking out the island from where she escaped.

"That's San Cristobal, right?"

"Yeah, partner." Roman frowned. "I'm not sure what else to do, but if we go down there, I don't want to go in blind."

Shane knew what Roman was getting at. "You want me to check the ISA for the latest intelligence on San Cristobal."

"Can you?"

"Sure," Shane said. "I'll check it out when I go to the field office. I'm going to be there all day." Despite it being a Saturday, he had a slew of meetings and an afternoon call with Tarrington. Somehow, Shane doubted his boss was going to forget the threat he had made the other day.

"Thanks. I-" Roman stopped. "Wait a minute. That doesn't sound right. You're spending all day on a Saturday at the field office. I know you, Shane. . . . You're not going to help things with Kimmie if you spend all your time at work."

"Who said anything about Kim?" Shane suddenly felt warm.

Roman rolled his eyes again. "You can't just avoid her, especially if she's living in your house. So what happened that you're trying to avoid her?"

"Nothing, really," Shane lied.

It was obvious that Roman did not believe that for an instant. "Come on . . . out with it."

Shane sighed. "There's not that much to tell. The other night, Steve said something to Kim that got me so mad I hauled off and decked him. Later on, when I tried to talk to Kim about it, she told me that Steve wasn't saying anything I didn't already think."

"What was it?" Roman said.

Shane paused, wondering if he should say anything, but then answered, "That Kim slept with Cal too soon after my 'death.' That's more or less the gist of it."

Roman took a step forward and started to say something but stopped. Then he took a step back. Shane could tell Roman was pissed. "Steve said that to Kimmie?"

"Not really. He said it to me. He didn't know Kim was there." Shane doubted that would mollify Roman.

Surprisingly, Roman just pursed his lips. Then he raised his eyebrow again. "And then Kim got angry at you because she thinks you're a hypocrite?"

"More or less," Shane said.

Roman eyed him for a second. "Are you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shane snapped.

"I mean 'are you a hypocrite'?" Roman said. "Do you think Kim hooked up with Cal too quickly?"

"Come on, Roman. . . ."

"No. Answer my question, Shane." Roman was not taking 'no' for an answer, as he insisted, "Did Kimmie move on with Cal too soon?"

Shane looked away. "I'm not going to discuss this with you."

"You are." Roman's voice rose. "So tell me, damn it, did she move on too soon?"

"Yes! Okay? She did!"

Shane froze, realizing what he had just blurted out. A few feet away, Roman stood in stunned silence. Neither of them said a word for a long time.

"I can't change the way I feel," Shane said quietly. "Two months, Roman. It was two months. How would you have felt if you'd found out that Marlena had hooked up with another man two months after Stefano pushed you off that cliff? What would that have said about her? And about you?"

Roman stood silently for a little longer, then slowly shook his head and gave an exasperated snort. "You think she didn't love you. That's what this is all about. You think because Kim slept with Cal, she didn't love you." Roman stepped forward so he was directly in front of Shane.

Shane tried to step around Roman. "Let's not do-"

"No, we are going to do this," Roman said. "Listen to me, Shane. Kimmie was a wreck when she heard the news. She tried to hold it together for Andrew and Eve, but if not for them, she wouldn't have gotten through it. It took her weeks to even accept you were dead."

Shane had heard that all before, but it did not address the real issue. "Yeah. . . ." Shane turned away and looked down the firing range. He placed both of his hands on the rail and leaned over it. Bitterly, he said, "So it took weeks for her to accept it, and then just another week or two to get over it."

"It wasn't like that," Roman insisted.

Shane spun back around to face Roman. "Then why did she sleep with Cal? Why did she bring him into our bed?"

"Because the man's a master manipulator," Roman said. "I know. I saw what he did to Diana."

"She could have stopped it." Shane spoke softly, knowing he sounded hurt. "She could have said 'no,' Roman. She could have just said 'no.'"

Roman looked down. "Shane . . . you have to let this go, partner. Kimmie loves you more than anything in this world, and if you have any doubt about that, you're insane."

"Roman," Shane started to protest.

"No, I mean it," Roman said angrily. "Don't be an idiot."

"Who's an idiot?"

Shane had started to respond, but stopped at the sound of Abe Carver's voice. He and Roman both tried to cover. They each pointed at the other and almost, in unison, said, "He is."

Abe looked at the ceiling, then at Shane. "Can I just say that I'm glad you're the ISA's problem? I've got enough to deal with this one over here." As he finished, he motioned to Roman.

Shane just nodded. He hardly felt like chatting, and he glanced sideways at Roman who did not appear happy at the interruption.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything," Abe said. He looked at Roman. "I thought we were going to get that practice in right now before the recertification test on Monday."

"It's okay," Shane said quickly, grateful that Abe was giving him an excuse to end the discussion. "We were done."

"Shane-" Roman's voice was low.

"We're done, Roman," Shane repeated, ignoring the look of annoyance and frustration on Roman's face.

"Okay. . . ." Abe said that slowly, drawing out the word and indicating that he did not believe them. "Well, while I've got you both here, I actually would like your thoughts on something." When neither Shane nor Roman responded, Abe explained. "Steve Johnson has put in for reinstatement, and I wanted to know if you think we should do it."

Shane groaned inwardly. This was not something he wanted to get into. Thinking fast, he said, "Why are you asking me? Isn't this a Salem PD matter?"

"Yeah, but the ISA was involved in Steve's return," Abe said. For a moment, Shane was shocked that Abe knew anything about Steve's rescue. It was supposed to be a secret. He glanced at Roman, wondering if he had broken his promise, but then Abe said, "Didn't you hear anything from the agents in Cincinnati?"

The cover story. Of course. "Uh . . . no, not really," Shane said.

"Yeah, but you've had contact with Steve since he's been back." That came from Roman. "You've probably seen more of him than I have."

Roman was right, but Shane was still hesitant. "Look, Abe . . . Considering everything with Kayla, I'm probably not the best person to ask."

"I'm not asking for anything formal, Shane," Abe said. "I just want your impressions, since you've seen Steve since he's been back. Is it the right thing to bring him back?"

Shane turned around, so he once again faced the firing range, and thought about all of his recent conflicts with Steve. There had been the argument during Jeannie's party, Steve had been out-of-control the night he insulted Kim, he had started a brawl at the Cheating Heart earlier, and his break-in at Lawrence's hardly showed good judgment.

"Shane?" Abe was waiting for an answer. When Shane still hesitated, Abe asked, "Tell me this, at least. Would you trust Steve Johnson with your life?"

Shane felt he had to answer that. He turned back and shook his head slowly. "No."

"So tell me why?" Abe prodded.

"I just don't think he's ready," Shane said. "His head's not right, and you'd be bringing a complete loose cannon onto the force."

"Is there something specific I should know?" Abe asked.

Shane thought fast. He could not mention Egypt or England, and Steve breaking into Lawrence's was probably not a topic to raise right now, so he just stuck to the events from Thursday night. "From what Bo told me, Steve started a bar brawl at the Cheating Heart the other night." As he talked, it became easier and his reluctance to speak disappeared. "Bo said Steve acted odd and went after some guy. And later that night, he showed up at my house and was out-of-control. I just don't think he's mentally ready to be a cop again. Not yet."

Abe looked over at Roman, who shrugged. "It's your call," Roman said. "I'm probably too close because of Kayla."

And I'm not? Shane wondered. Didn't I just say that? Maybe he should have stuck to that as an excuse not to answer. Too late now.

Abe chewed on that for a minute. "All right. I'll think about it." He looked over at Roman. "So are we going to get this practice in or just stand around gabbing?"

Roman eyed Shane, but then nodded. "Yeah, I guess we should." As he walked away, he looked back at Shane. "We're not done, partner. Remember what I said."

They headed toward the other end of the firing range leaving Shane behind. He stood, silently, thinking about what Roman had said about Kim. He reached for his pistol and aimed at the heart of the target. Am I being an idiot? His first shot hit the target just left of center, outside the bullseye. He took a deep breath, trying to drive the thoughts away, but he heard Roman's voice as he fired the next shot - "the man's a master manipulator." That shot struck wide. He readjusted his grip. "Kimmie loves you more than anything in this world." The third shot hit the target below the center.

This is pointless, Shane decided as he put the gun away. He had come to the firing range to clear his mind, but now his mind was racing with confused thoughts. Shane removed his earphones and set them on the rail. Who was he kidding? There was no way he would be able to clear his mind until his family was safe and the situations with Lawrence and Kim were resolved. The problem was that Shane had no clue how to do that, and he felt his family's safety and any resolutions were farther away than they had ever been.