"You want to explain that?" John asked after they heard Steve close the front door on his way to the hospital.

"Explain what?" Shane said. He leaned back in his chair.

John raised an eyebrow. When that did not prompt more of a response, he stared at Shane. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You just sent Steve on a pointless errand and I want to know why."

"It wasn't pointless," Shane said. "I told him the reason."

"Anyone could have done that," John pointed out. "Hell, you could've called Kim and asked if she's seen anything unusual."

Shane shook his head. "I'm keeping Kim out of this."

"And now you're keeping Steve out of this too." John gave Shane a knowing look. "So why?"

"You're reading too much into this," Shane protested.

John shook his head. "Cut the BS, partner. I know you too well. There's something you're not saying - some reason why you want Steve out of the picture."

Shane scowled, knowing he was not going to get out of answering. "Fine," he snapped. "It's because of Kayla. She's pregnant."

For a long moment, the room fell silent. John's shock was plain on his face. "When did they-"

"They found out a couple days ago," Shane said. "Look, I overheard and wasn't supposed to say anything, but that's the reason, okay."

John frowned slightly, then shook his head. "Not okay. . . . How does that change anything?"

Shane ran his hand through his hair. "It changes things, John. . . . " Shane knew John would never understand, so he stood up, frustrated, and walked toward the mantle. "I know Steve wants to take down Lawrence, and I understand he has every reason to want that. But what's the point of any of this if he gets killed? What's the point of everything we've been through for the past six months?"

"It's his decision," John said.

"It doesn't have to be. . . ." Shane looked at the pictures of his own family that were spread out over the mantle. I have to do this, he said to himself. Steve doesn't owe me anything. He turned back to John. "I went to Egypt and I could go to prison because I wanted Kayla to be happy again. That was the whole point of bringing Steve home, and now they're having a child. If I let something happen to Steve now because of me. . . ."

John shook his head. "It's not because of you. Steve's doing this because he feels he has to stop Alamain. And don't tell me you wouldn't be doing the same thing if you were in his shoes."

"I don't care," Shane said. "If I'm going to prison, at least something good will have come of this. So Steve's out. Just let him and Kayla have their happiness."

That seemed to cause John to scowl even more deeply, but he said nothing more. He turned away and walked over to the coffee set, where he picked up the pot in one hand and a cup in another. Then, he set the pot back down without pouring and, as he brought the cup down, it slammed into the silver tray and shattered.

"John?" Shane knew something was wrong and he had the distinct sense that whatever it was had little to do with Steve. "Would you tell me what's going on? You've been acting strange for days."

John continued to scowl. "There's nothing going on. I just slipped." He began picking up pieces of the china. "Sorry about the cup."

Now Shane was growing annoyed. "I don't give a damn about the cup. I want to know what's wrong. Is Roman still giving you problems?"

For a moment, John grew quiet and Shane thought he would open up. But then the pensive look disappeared and John said, "Look, just forget about it, partner. . . . It's nothing." He stopped then said, "Going back to Steve . . . I get where you're coming from, Shane. You've been through hell and you don't want to look back on it and think you failed. I was ISA - or at least I've got memories of being ISA - so I get it. You don't want your mission to be a failure."

Having it described like that made Shane hesitate. He did not know how to respond, but he did not have to, because John continued.

"It wasn't a failure. You brought Steve home and he and Kayla have had this time together and they're having another kid." John stared Shane in the eyes. "But you can't stop Steve from being Steve. He's not a guy you can protect. And if something happens to him, it doesn't mean you failed your mission."

Is that it? Is that what's causing me to want to shield Steve? Shane had to think about that for a minute. Was he so obsessed with the idea of "his mission" that he thought if something happened to Steve, it would be Shane's failure?

Still, Shane was torn. He was about to say something, but was stopped by the ringing of the telephone. Grimacing at the interruption, he walked back to the desk and, a little more harshly than he intended, barked, "Donovan here."

"Whoa," came a voice that Shane recognized as Jack Devereaux's. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

Shane regained his composure. "It's okay, Jack. What can I do for you?"

"Uh, yeah. . . ." It sounded like Jack was trying to remember why he was calling. "Oh . . . is Steve there? I tried his apartment and he said if I couldn't reach him, I should try your place."

"I know," Shane said. "Steve told me. But he's not here, I'm sorry. He just left."

There was a pause before Jack spoke again. "Darn. I got that information he wanted."

"About the refinery purchase?" Shane asked. That was the only thing he knew Steve had asked Jack to figure out.

"Right," Jack said. "But I probably should just wait to talk to Steve. He was the one who asked me to look into it. And it's probably not particularly important anyway."

Let me be the judge of that, Shane thought. He thought about the best way to get Jack to talk. Shane knew Jack had some deep-rooted need to please Steve, so maybe that would be the best approach. "I know you want to tell Steve yourself, but I'll probably see him first. . . . And if it's nothing important, well, maybe it would be better if it came from me." Shane let the suggestion linger - so he's not disappointed with you.

There was a brief silence, but then Jack seemed to agree. "That's probably for the best. As I said, it's probably pretty meaningless. All I found out is that the land was purchased by a corporation formed in Delaware last year. It's called 'Jacaranda, Inc.' and-"

But Shane was not listening to the rest of what Jack was saying. Jacaranda. His mind flashed to interrogating Steve in the ISA field office a few months earlier. Jacaranda had been the name of the wine that Lawrence was using to smuggle the toxin.

Jack was still speaking, but Shane cut him off. "Thanks, Jack. Look, I've got to go. . . . I'll let Steve know you called." Before Jack could say another word, Shane hung up.

Without hesitating, he found the desk key and unlocked the drawer where he had just put away his guns. He started to pick up both, but then realized he did not have a shoulder holster. It had been lost - or more likely, cut away - when he had been shot.

The momentary reminder caused him to hesitate. Is this the right thing to do? Am I being rash? He thought of Kim and his children, picturing them in this very room at Christmas in a few weeks. They had almost lost him just a few weeks earlier and now he was risking that they would lose him again.

You're doing this so you can be there with them, Shane reminded himself. He was going to stop Lawrence, so he never had to be away from them.

The doubts settled, Shane set down the M9 in the drawer and tucked the smaller handgun into the waistband of his trousers. He was already forming some ideas about how they were going to get onto the refinery property. Then he looked at John again, who was watching him expectantly.

Shane started for the door. "Lawrence bought the refinery site through a shell corporation," Shane explained. "That's where he's hiding."

John nodded. "Okay. So we go scope out the refinery. And Steve?"

Shane almost said he was going to leave Steve at the hospital, but he saw the look in John's eyes and knew he had to give in. "Fine," Shane said, picking up the phone. He dialed the hospital and asked the receptionist to transfer him to Kayla. A moment of waiting proved fruitless, because the receptionist said there was no answer. "Okay," he said. "Can you arrange a message to be given to Steve Johnson, Kayla's husband? It's urgent."

The receptionist agreed and Shane told her to get the message to Kayla or Steve. "Tell Steve that he is needed at the refinery site." Shane tried to think of how to phrase the rest of the message. "And tell him that his . . . His crew will be waiting there."

Hanging up, Shane looked at John, who smiled slightly, but still had a guarded look in his eyes. Before Shane could ask, John said, "Let's go, partner. I think I have some things in my car we can use. Some leftovers from my Salem PD days."

Shane followed John to the door. Whatever was going on, any discussion would have to wait. Right now, they had a date with Lawrence Alamain.