Lucy bit her lip as she looked down on the sleeping form of John tightly wrapped around Scott.

It was a rare role reversal for the two boys, and one she cherished as such. Normally Scott would be the one doing the comforting, but those men had badly scared her five-year-old, and three-year-old John had immediately curled around Scott once she'd settled him on her bed.. Virgil, of course, was dead to the world as usual…Lucy winced as the remark felt a bit close to home.

Thankfully Val Casey did not knock on the door. Instead she called and Lucy answered her phone quickly so as not to disturb her sons. As it was Scott opened an eye, but as she smiled and held her finger to her lips he smiled and went back to sleep as she slipped from the room.

She opened the door to see Casey and two strangers in suits standing there. The well-cut suits told Lucy that the men were important, so she held the door open and showed them to the kitchen.

'Lucy, this is Colonel Jeremiah Downey from NASA's Office of Investigations, and Sheriff Gabriel Dewitt. They will help me with investigating what happened here and what happens next.'

Both men nodded to Lucy, but as she went to move Val placed a hand on her arm and stopped her.

'Have you called Ruth?'

'No, no I didn't know if that would be allowable.'

'It is, and I think that you should do that now. We don't want the boys stumbling back into…'

'Yeah, ok. I – I'll call her now. Excuse me a moment.'

'I'm sorry, Lucy, but we're staying right here with you.'

Lucy nodded. Of course they couldn't leave her alone until she'd given a witness statement. She picked up the phone and called up Ruth, knowing that Jeff's Ma was a light sleeper. Sure enough Ruth picked up on the third ring.

'Lucy? Are you and the boys alright?'

'No. No we're not. I can't say over the phone but we need you. Can you come?'

'Grant's firing up Bessie as we speak. We'll be there as soon as I can get the jet in the air, around two hours give or take.'

'Thank you, Ruth. I'll have coffee ready for you both.'

Two hours was a long time, but Lucy felt that time had already taken on a different feeling. The attack had only been 90 minutes ago, yet it felt like a lifetime had passed already. And she needed to wait another two hours…

'Val, what do you want me to do? Ruth and Grant won't be here for a couple of hours. Do you want to wait until then for my witness statement or shall we do it now?'

'Is Scott likely to wake up again before they get here?'

'I doubt it. He's had a fright and is now curled up in our bed with John wrapped firmly around him. We should be good until his grandparents get here.'

'Ok. That's good. Sheriff, Colonel, do you want to examine the scene before you talk to Mrs Tracy or afterwards?'

'I think before. We can get a good idea of what happened without being accidently biased by hearing about it first. What do you think, Sheriff?'

'I agree. Are you going to stay with Mrs Tracy, Major Casey?'

'I will. We will not discuss what has happened until you gentlemen are ready.'

'Good. Can you show us the room, Mrs Tracy please?'

'This way.'

She led them to the living room, pausing as her hand shook on the door handle before pulling herself together and opening the door, standing aside to let the two men in. Lucy returned to the kitchen where Val pressed a coffee into her hands. The warmth was helping to steady her hands.

There was a quiet knock at the door and she started, spilling the coffee over herself and the table. Val passed her a cloth and went to open the door, letting in several more people with firm admonitions to be quiet.

More police helped to process the scene and remove the men, and by the time the ME was wheeling out the body Ruth and Grant had arrived. They both were frowning as they were asked to wait on the doorstep until given the go-ahead by the sheriff to be escorted through to the kitchen.

Ruth immediately folded Lucy into a tight hug and then Grant kissed her forehead and took his turn to hug her. He kept hold of her while his wife turned to Jeff's friend.

'Val. What can I do?'

'We still need to interview Lucy but she and the boys can't stay here. Processing the crime scene is going to take a few days. Usually we wouldn't like them to cross state lines, but it's that or put them up locally in a hotel. But with the boys so young both the Sheriff and the Colonel have agreed that staying with you would be the best option.'

'Good. Lucy, Grant and I'll go pack some clothes and get the boys ready. We'll take them to the diner until you call us to come and collect you.'

'Thank you, Lucy.'

She watched Jeff's parents go to her children. Lucy was still standing there as Grant came down the stairs with Scott just waking up in one arm and still-asleep John in the other. Ruth came down behind him with Virgil in one arm and a suitcase in the other. They smiled as Lucy kissed her boys before they left.

Lucy turned to Casey.

'I'm ready. Let's get this over with, please.'