When she hit the water, the iciness of it hit her all at once. She'd fallen about 10 feet and landed in the middle where it was the deepest. Still it roared like a slipstream pulling her down with it.

She hadn't looked before she jumped. She just knew she had to get away again. He could never be allowed to catch her again, to touch her and so she'd taken a leap of faith laced with a healthy dose of fear. She wondered if she'd hit her head on a rock submerged under the water and drown, or break bones on the rocks that created white caps.

But she hadn't anticipated how cold it would feel against her skin. The river had been born of mountain springs along with runoff from packed snow from the very tops. She felt the stinginess of the water and then after a while, her body started to warm up even though the water's temperature hadn't changed.

Hypothermia ran somewhere inside her head cluttered with similar thoughts, random words said and images of a life lived up to a few moments ago. She wondered if Burke would run down the river banks and try to anticipate where the currents would take her, if when she'd reach the end of the rapids he'd be waiting for her. No, she couldn't let that happen…just the thought of it made her body spring to life. She began trying to swim, to control her movement down the river which bended and wound every so often. But the banks were packed with mud that had hardened, they would be too smooth and slippery without any branches or roots to grab hold of to pull herself out of the water.

She wouldn't feel her feet or hands for much longer and then her arms and legs…she had to get out soon or she'd close her eyes from the chill and then surely drown. She couldn't do that; no she'd struggled so hard to get back to Paradise again, to the people that she loved. She had so much left to do, so much to say to those that mattered. Burke had already taken so much from her already, he couldn't have her life.

The roar of the cascading water robbed her of listening for him, whether or not he'd been running on the bank to keep up with her. She knew he'd wanted to kill her and she knew why.

He had murdered Butch Walton just as he and another man had murdered Warrick months earlier. The two men had to be connected in some way but how? She couldn't put her thoughts together as they emerged in fragments while her body tried to figure out a way to escape.

But she felt herself grow colder and weaker…her breathing struggled as it became harder to keep her face above the water…and the feeling that at some point, it'd start pulling her beneath its depths as her clothes grew heavier.

No, she had to survive. She had to live long enough to tell the others who had killed Walton.

Ethan sighed as he left his office. Martha was trying to pressure him to do her father's bidding and it wouldn't work. He had a job to do, a murder to solve and so he went to the saloon to go fetch Dakota.

The deputy looked at him from the poker game.

"I've won a couple hands," he said, "and these men told me that Trevor didn't show up to play today."

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

"Trevor plays poker?"

Dakota nodded.

"Badly as it turns out," he said, "but Burke and he were supposed to show up today and neither of them did."

Ethan wasn't surprised because both men had been lying low. They didn't want to be questioned by him on what happened with Walton and Darrin didn't want them interviewed either. Ethan figured that maybe it'd come back on him if they'd killed Walton because he employed them. But if he covered up for them, he'd be an accessory after the fact. He didn't know why Darrin would want to go down that road unless there was more to what happened than he knew.

"Anyone saw them at all?"

Dakota looked over at Elmer, one of the men who did some work with Tiny.

"He did…earlier…though it was just Burke."

Ethan focused his attention on him.

"When was this?"

Elmer appeared to think about it.

"Earlier this morning," he said, "near the bank…"

"Probably meeting with Darrin," Dakota surmised, "Anything else?"

"The reporter was nearby," Elmer said, "he'd been talking to Amelia…but then I don't know what happened."

Ethan figured Amelia had ridden back to Bella's ranch by now. But had Ernie approached Burke and if so what had happened? He'd have to go find him and ask him some questions. Not that he looked forward to it.

"He's not a nice man," Elmer said, "but even if he and the other did kill that man, no one's going to care Ethan."

"I care and I'm the law in these parts and that's enough."

Elmer shrugged.

"I'm just saying what people think that's all," he said, "that's why no one's helping you or saying anything."

Ethan figured that much or that someone who might have seen something that night was too afraid to come forward.

Dakota got up out of his chair after slapping his cards down and went to go with Ethan to find the reporter.

Amelia pulled herself out of the water when the currents slowed into eddies which emptied into a part of the river that widened for a stretch. She found new strength and using her arms, swum to the shore, then pulled herself up onto the bank. It took several attempts, her arms felt stiff from being submerged in the chilly water and the roots she grabbed hold of proved loose at best. Some of them breaking in her hands…but finally she lifted herself out of there.

She sank onto the damp earth and just rested a moment, willing her heart to slow down and feeling the beginning of the warmth from the fading sun on her body. She shivered and then she lifted her head up to look around her but she couldn't see any sign of Burke anywhere. Nor did she hear any movement.

Her horse of course had probably taken off in fear and that left her having to walk on out of here…the ranch might be just over this hill or the next. She slowly stood up grabbing hold of some branches off a bush without falling.

Then a voice came out of no where.

"You thought you could get away…"

And then she felt something strike her in the head and everything went dark.

Ethan ran into Ernie just outside of the wire office. The reporter looked at him warily.

"You're not going to try and arrest me?"

Ethan shook his head.

"Any reason to do that?"

Ernie chuckled.

"No…but you seemed upset with my reporting…look I'm just doing my job."

"So am I and part of that s to make sure no one's getting harassed."

"I didn't harass her; I just asked questions," Ernie said, "You know she knows more than she's telling…"

Ethan looked directly at him.

"Maybe…but you're not going to get anything out of her by treating her badly."

"You were engaged to her right?"

Ethan felt some wariness.

"Yes…"

"But you're not anymore…"

"What are you getting at?"

Ernie just smiled at him.

"Don't stop me from doing my job. It's not personal. It's just a story."

Ethan didn't agree with that.

"It might be that to you but it's someone's life."

The two men just stared at each other and then Claire walked up to Ethan. School must have just let out and she'd be putting in some time at the mercantile before taking them back to the ranch. He looked over and saw Ben and George walking out of the schoolhouse with Mr. Lee's adopted sons.

"They have been restless all day," Claire said, "It might be best to just let them run around a bit."

Ethan nodded.

"I'll be working late tonight," he said, "I should be back home while they're still up."

She nodded back, knowing how busy being the marshal had kept him. They'd grown used to it because they knew how important his job was to the town. She had a feeling it would become more so in the days ahead. She didn't know why.

Just a feeling…