A/N And here it is, the final chapter. I'm really sorry for it being so short. RL is still not going well and I've been finding it difficult to string two sentences together, let alone a decent chapter to end this story. Once again I apologize, this is not my best but it's the best I can do under my current circumstances.

Monday

Sheriff Daniel agreed to meet with them at the only diner in town, they would have to drive past it on their way back to the city, and would save him from having to go all the way to the lodge. They ordered breakfast and coffee and waited for him. When he arrived they went over everything they had discovered the day before and their suspicions that Vicky knew more than what she had told them. Sheriff Daniels thanked them and left a twenty on the table to cover their meal when he left.

Sipping at his coffee Bobby spoke "I never wanted to come here," his voice low. "But I'm glad I did."

Alex looked at him, her eyes filled with understanding. "Me too."

The drive back to New York was quiet, the radio playing softly in the background. Bobby reached over and took Alex's hand, squeezing it.

The case was still open, and they had done their part; there was nothing more they could do. The autopsy still needed to be done, and all the forensic evidence needed to be processed, and they had to trust that Sheriff Daniels was competent enough to solve it.

The following week, Sheriff Daniels contacted them; the case was closed, the murder solved, and the suspect in custody.

They agreed to meet at a Diner on the outskirts of town, halfway for each to travel.

Sheriff Daniels regaled them with the story over tepid coffee and stale doughnuts.

A mysterious guest named Charles Black emerged as the main suspect. He had been seen lurking around the lodge, though no one had officially invited him. Daniels had discovered that Charles had a history of stalking and blackmail.

His motive? A twisted love triangle that had been festering for years. It turned out Charles had been secretly in love with Marcus's wife, and when he found out about Vicky and Marcus's affair, he saw an opportunity to get rid of his rival. He just needed a way to get Marcus alone.

He found one. He had approached Vicky with incriminating evidence, demanding she end the affair or he would expose her. Vicky, desperate and afraid, had arranged to meet Marcus at the boathouse to tell him about the blackmail. Exactly as Charles had hoped. Things had taken a dark turn when Charles had shown up, his rage boiling over.

The confrontation between Vicky, Marcus, and Charles had been explosive. Vicky had begged Marcus to come clean, to save them both, Charles had demanded that Marcus leave his wife, but he had only laughed, dismissing them both as fools. That was when Charles had snapped, the anger and jealousy consuming him. He had grabbed an oar from the boat and swung it with a force that had sent Marcus over the edge and into the water.

The final piece of the puzzle fell into place when they found Charles' fingerprints on the oar and a phone with deleted messages to Vicky threatening to expose her. Charles had been living a double life, driven by his obsession with Marcus's wife.

With Charles in custody and the truth out in the open, they could finally close the book on this tragic chapter.

As they drove away from the Diner, Bobby knew that the ripples of Marcus's death would continue to spread, touching the lives of those who had loved and hated him in equal measure.

Bobby though, despite the dark turn the weekend had taken, felt a strange sense of closure. The conversation with Rachel had given him a new perspective on his past and allowed him to close a chapter he never knew was still open. Allowing him to start a new one with the woman beside him.

As they pulled into the city, the skyscrapers looming like sentinels, Bobby took Alex's hand. "Thank you," he said. "For being here, for seeing this through with me."

Alex squeezed his hand back. "Always."

Their bond had been tested by the shadows of his past, but it had only grown stronger. They were partners, in every sense of the word, and Bobby knew that no matter what lay ahead, they would face it together.

FIN