Once Grant and Ruth had left with the boys Lucy drew a much-needed breath. Val pretended not to notice and busied herself in the kitchen making drinks. Something strong and different from the coffee Val had made earlier since that had not done the trick…aha! She spied a box of Russian Caravan tea – strong and smoky, just the thing.

The smell of the smoky tea pulled at Lucy's heart. For a second she was transported back to…there. Her mentor, seated at his desk and stirring sugar into his Caravan tea. She had hers black and plain, but he loved it as sweet as he could. She shook her head to clear the memory as Val handed her the tea.

Lucy almost dropped the tea after the first sip as the sweetness hit her full force at the same time her memory replayed that last time. Once again she still spilled some, and with a curse she slammed the cup down and grabbed some kitchen roll to mop it up.

Val took the paper towel out of Lucy's hands and finished the job of mopping up while surreptitiously watching her friend. The shaking was far more evident now, and Val sympathised. Killing someone that first time had been hard enough for her, and she'd been trained for it. She'd hoped the tea would help with the shock – after all, that's what Brits did, wasn't it – but somehow it seemed to have made it worse.

'Lucy?'

'I'm alright. I'm alright. Honestly, Val.'

'No – you're not. And no one would blame you for that.'

Her words elicited a small smile from Lucy and some of the tension seemed to dissipate, only for it to return moments later when the Sheriff and the Colonel returned from the living room.

'The CSIs are still processing the scene and the ME are preparing to move the ah…body. Do you have anywhere else we can talk?'

'We can sit at the table here, if that's alright.'

She gestured at the kitchen table, and with a nod from the Sheriff they all sat down.

'Mrs Tracy. Before we start we need to make clear to you that you are not under arrest, you are free to leave at any point and you do not have to answer any questions. Do you understand?'

'Yes.'

'All we want to do right now is establish what happened. We're not the ones who will decide what will happen with that information. Do you want to ask any questions?'

'No, I understand.'

'Do you want to call a lawyer?'

'Will you agree to having all our conversations recorded so that I can play it back to my lawyer?'

'Yes, of course.'

There was a knock on the front door. They all stayed seated and looked at each other until the Sheriff gestured for Lucy to answer it. She was surprised to see a familiar face on the doorstep.

Lester Breitenbach strode into the kitchen, Lucy following and looking very surprised at his appearance. The man was immaculately dressed and gently placed a leather case on the table that was worth more than the Sheriff and the Colonel earned in a year.

'Gentlemen. My name is Lester Breitenbach and I am Mrs Tracy's lawyer.'

He sat down before anyone could say anything, fishing out a voice recorder, a notebook and a pen, setting everything ready before clicking on the record to start.

'It is Tuesday 17th October and currently 2:15 am. Sitting at the table in Mr and Mrs Tracy's kitchen is myself, Lester Breitenbach. With me is…'

'Colonel Jeremiah Downey from NASA's Office of Investigations.'

'Sheriff Gabriel Dewitt from the Harris County Sheriff's Office, Houston, Texas.'

'Colonel Casey, GDF.'

'Mrs Lucille Tracy.'

Lester beamed at Lucy and patted her forearm.

'For the record, who is leading this investigation please.'

'This is a joint investigation between NASA and Harris County.'

'Thank you. Now, I believe you wish to ask some questions?'

'Mrs Tracy. Can you please tell us from the top what happened this evening?'

Lucy cast a look at Val before carefully answering.

'I had put the boys to bed and had curled up on the couch in the living room. I must have fallen asleep because a sound woke me up. There were four men in the room. I asked them what they wanted and they said they had come for 'the boy'.

'I stood and moved to the middle, trying to contain them to the living room. Three of them rushed me while a fourth moved to the door. I – I – Jeff made sure I knew self-defence in case something happened while he was off the planet, and as the first one came at me I remembered what my mentor had said and drove the heel of my palm up on his nose. He fell backwards and hit his head on the coffee table.

'I didn't have time to stop and check him over as another rushed me, and we fought briefly. I disabled one by kicking him in between his legs and following that up with another heel of my palm to his nose.

'At this point Scott's voice came through the door and the remaining two men turned in his direction. I rushed forward as they were closer to the door than I was. I saw Scott enter the room just as I managed to snag the closest one to me.

'I – I'm not sure what happened next, but one minute there were two men between Scott and me and then they were on the floor and I was kneeling in front of my son. He'd frozen to the spot when he'd seen the men. He seemed ok but he burst into tears and I picked him up and carried him into the kitchen, closing the door behind me.

'I made some hot chocolate in the hope of calming him down, and as the milk cooked John joined us. I moved the drinks to the table and carried the boys over and once they had finished I carried them upstairs to my bed and settled them down.

'Then I called Val – I mean, Colonel Casey. I waited at the bottom of the stairs until the three of you…'

'Please state names, Mrs Tracy, for the record.'

'Colonel Casey, Sheriff … I'm sorry, I've forgotten your names.'

'Sheriff Gabriel Dewitt.'

'Colonel Jeremiah Downey.'

'Thank you. I'm sorry for forgetting.'

'It's fine, Mrs Tracy.'

Breitenbach had taken notes throughout and once it became clear that Lucy had finished he put down the pen and smiled at her again.

'Thank you, Mrs Tracy. Sheriff, Colonels? Do you have any other questions?'

'We would like to go over the events again.'

'I'm sure you would, but Mrs Tracy has been up all night, has had to fight for the safety of her children and been forced into the unfortunate position of having to kill someone to do so. You have an excellent, clear statement. I suggest that if you are not going to arrest Mrs Tracy right now you should allow her to go to her children, find a hotel and sleep.'

The lawyer stood up, placed his notes in his case and took a card case from his jacket pocket.

'Gentlemen. Please forward your emails to this address and I will send you a link to the recording. Once I have Mrs Tracy settled in a hotel I shall also forward her details to you. Please give her the curtesy of the rest of the morning at the very least so that she can get her children settled.'

'As long as Mrs Tracy agrees not to leave Harris County and you both make yourselves available for further questioning this afternoon.'

'Agreed. Good day.'

Lester shepherded Lucy out of the house, closely followed by Val. They stopped at the lawyer's car, where he turned to Val.

'Colonel Casey, are you here as a professional or friendly capacity?'

'Strictly friendly, Mr Breitenbach.'

'In that case Val…'

He held out his hand and he and Casey shook warmly.

'I'll look after our girl while Jeff's away, Lester. I promise.'

'Good. Lucy, I've reserved rooms in The Post Oak for you all, Ruth and Grant included. They're waiting for you there. Val, can you drop Lucy off? I got some prep work to do before we appear before our friends again this afternoon, and you and I will need to have a more in-depth and private conversation.'

'Sure thing, Lester. You ready to go, Lucy?'

'Thank you, Lester. I'll see you later.'

Lucy settled back in Val's truck. She couldn't wait to hold her children again. But while she waited to arrive at the hotel another part of her brain was whirring away.

With Jeff not due back for several weeks still, maybe it was time to visit her handler and sort this mess out once and for all.