Watching Bill walk out of the room, without a word, wasn't exactly how he had seen this conversation ending, but Lucas decided to take advantage of the situation and invite Elizabeth back to the saloon to talk to Jessie. Elizabeth agreed and together they left. As they were reaching the door of the Queen of Hearts, they heard a familiar voice call to them.

"Elizabeth, Lucas," Rosemary called as soon as she and Lee had come close enough to be heard.

"Rosemary, Lee." Lucas greeted them, with a smile.

"The kids are at your house with Allie, and Faith is heading towards the infirmary. Oh, and we stopped at the Canfield's on our way. They agreed to check on them shortly and take them back to their house." Rosemary explained to Elizabeth before reaching out to squeeze her friend's hand.

The four of them walked into the saloon and headed to Lucas's office. It was a sight that the townspeople had seen often enough, but this time something was different, but they weren't sure what the difference was.

Having reached the office, Lucas had them all go in, while he went to the kitchen to request some drinks be brought in soon.


"Oh, Jessie!" Rosemary squealed when she saw the woman sitting at Lucas's desk, "I am so glad to see you."

Jessie smiled, "Hello Rosemary, Lee. It's nice to see you again." Seeing Elizabeth walk in, she greeted her as well.

"Hi Jessie," Elizabeth called, excitedly, walking over to embrace her. "It is so good to see you again."

"Mrs. Thornton, I believe you just saw me yesterday." Jessie reminded her, a little confused.

"That's true, but now I know you are my good friend from school, back in Hamilton."

Jessie couldn't help the shock in her eyes, "You remember me?" she asked.

"Of course, I remember you!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "And as soon as we get whatever is going on all figured out, you and I must get together before you leave Hope valley, but for now can someone please tell me what's going on?"

Lucas had returned by this time and directed everyone to take a seat, he smiled and nodded for Jessie to return to the one behind his desk. Once they were all seated, he began, "Jessie came to me with some very disturbing information about this Superintendent Hargraves who has come to town. Jessie, would you be alright telling them what you told me?" Seeing the hesitation in her face, he gently added, "Trust me you can trust each one of these people, I promise."

With that, Jessie told them what she knew about the man in question. She concluded with, "I know it seems strange that I would know all of this and not be involved, but please believe that I am not involved at all."

Rosemary and Elizabeth could see the fear in her eyes at the last statement and were quick to reassure her of their trust and belief. Rosemary then asked, "Jessie, would you tell us how you know about all this?"

The only other person she had ever told this to was Lucas, a few hours earlier, and she wasn't sure if she could talk about it again so soon. Seeing the hesitancy, Lucas began to speak, but Jessie beat him to it.

"I'd rather not get into the details right now, but I had my suspicions about the man after I witness an event that made me question his loyalty to the Mounties. When I was able, I left home and moved to Cape Fullerton to stay with some relatives. While I was there, I started doing some digging to find out just who this Andrew Hargraves was. Thankfully, I have a relative who is a Mountie. He found out what I was doing and mentioned that he had suspicions about the man as well. Together we were able to uncover a lot of information, and none of it good. Thankfully, I had put the evidence we uncovered, well most of it anyway, in a safe deposit box in Capital City, otherwise it would have burned with the rest of my things, when my home suddenly caught fire."

Elizabeth and Rosemary gasped, "Did he burn down your home?"

"There wasn't enough proof to show for them to call it arson, so it was filed as an accident." Jessie whispered, looking down, to avoid being seen with tears in her eyes. After a few minutes, she looked up again, a fierce determination replacing the sorrow in her eyes. "We were never able to find a Mountie to confirm our evidence, so when we tried to present it to the Mounties, but it was my word against theirs. They wanted possession of the evidence so they could file it away, but I refused to let them have it."

The room was silent while each individual processed the information they'd just heard, not quite able to believe everything this woman was saying.

"Do you know who Hargraves is working for?" Lee finally asked.

Jessie nodded, but didn't say anything, so Lucas answered for her.

"Andrew Hargraves is partners with Amos Dixon." he whispered. Shame overcoming him, once again, at remembering his dealing with that man in the past.

Elizabeth inhaled sharply at hearing that name, also remembering her experience with him at the saloon just after Lucas had come to town. After releasing her breath, and trying to speak with a calm voice, she said, "I think we've established that Andrew Hargraves is a not only a criminal, but also a traitor to the Mounties. What I want to know is what this has to do with Nathan?"

Suddenly the office door slamming against the wall as it was being opened with Bill marching inside. He went right for the phone, that was sitting on the desk, and jiggled the switch. "Florence," he said, barely keeping his voice even, "Did you have a call for me a few minutes ago?"

After listening to what Florence said, he sighed before saying, "Thank you, Florence, I understand"

This time Rosemary took the lead, asking, "Bill, what was that about?"

Bill was startled when he turned around and noticed people were in the room with him. "Oh, you guys are here now, huh?"

"Yes, we are here now, but you still didn't answer the question." Rosemary reminded him.

Deciding to just say it, no matter how painful it was, he said, "Hargraves is involved with someone and has betrayed the Mounties and I think Nathan is in real danger. The problem is it is only a hunch, and even I can't issue an arrest warrant on a hunch, no matter how right I am."


Hearing those words from Bill, Elizabeth jumped out of her chair and left the room. She needed to get to the infirmary and talk to Nathan, but as she exited the saloon, she witnessed the horrible sight of Nathan being escorted into the Mountie office with Hargraves right behind him.

"Gabe?" she had called out, as soon as he exited the building, and started towards him. "What's going on?"

"Nathan did not follow orders, and therefore, is being charged as such. I am not at liberty to talk about it, so please be on your way." he said once she was close enough. "I will be heading back to my post soon, but can I say, Mrs. Thornton, it was a pleasure to meet you." With that, Gabe stuck out his hand as if to shake hers. Not sure what was going on, but seeing something in the Mounties eyes, she reached out her hand as well. Once their hands touched, Elizabeth felt a piece of paper against her skin. Seeing her shock, he continued, "Please tell Judge Avery that I have left. I had promised to stop by before leaving town." And with that, Gabe turned and headed into the Mountie office as well.

Hearing her name called, made Elizabeth turn around in time to see Bill coming towards her.

"Was that Constable Kinslow you were just talking too? What is he doing in town? I thought he was called to Union City as well." he said as he reached her.

"You didn't know he was in town?" Elizabeth asked.

"Nope." Bill answered.

"Well, then why did he say to tell you he was leaving, going back to his post?"

She looked down at the paper in her hand, realizing it had been folded. Unfolding it, she could see the words, Office, Dixon, and Valley. Seeing she had something in her hand, Bill walked closer to see what it was.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"Gabe gave it to me when he was shaking my hand, just before telling me to tell you he was leaving."

Bill took hold of Elizabeth's arm and pulled her along with him to the Jail. Throwing the door open, he marched them both inside and stopped dead at the sight. Nathan was sitting in a jail cell, with Andrews at the desk, hanging up the phone.

"What is going on here?" he demanded.

"Judge Avery, good to see you again, what can I do for you?" Hargraves calmly asked.

"Superintendent Hargraves," Nathan called from the cell, causing Bill and Elizabeth to turn around. "I would like to ask Judge Avery if he'd be my representative in this matter."

Bill was looking between Nathan and Hargraves with a confused look on his face. It was a look neither Elizabeth nor Nathan had seen before and, given the circumstances, a little worrisome to both.

"Very well, Nathan. I will leave you alone with him for five minutes. After that, no visitors, no matter who they are." And with that, Andrew Hargraves walked out the door, pulling it closed behind him.

"Nathan" Elizabeth cried, rushing to him and reaching for his hands. "What is going on?"

He had been hoping to tell her when everything was completed, but the worry he saw in her eyes, changed his mind. "It's okay, Elizabeth, everything is okay. This is just a formality. Hargraves agreed to drop the charges if I resigned from the Mounties. It was an easy choice, so I handed my official resignation, and he handed me my discharge papers."

"Nathan, no, you cannot do that!" Elizabeth cried. "You need to fight this, you can't be blackmailed into giving up on something you love."

"But you see, this means I am not longer a Mountie, that particular fear can be put to rest. I can always find other work. It means I can watch Allie and Jack grow up, and be part of their lives, not constantly having to leave. Really, Elizabeth, it's what I want to do."

"No, Nathan, you can't do this. You have to fight, it's the only way." Elizabeth was stunned. Hearing that Nathan has resigned from the Mounties was the last thing she expected to hear. Especially after what she had heard from Jessie. "There is proof. Proof that man is a traitor. In fact, there is proof he works with Amos Dixon, and has for a very long time."

"What?" he asked, "He works with Dixon, the one who had dealings with Lucas?"

Seeing Elizabeth nod, Nathan looked at Bill, "Bill, Gabe found a piece of paper in Buxton…" he trailed off when he saw what was in Bill's hand. "Office, Dixon, Valley, he said, repeating the worlds on the paper. "You don't think…?" he didn't want to finish that sentence because he saw the pieces snap together for the older man.

The clock on the wall began chiming, alerting them that the time was now 3pm. Just then, a bunch of cars could be heard, pulling up outside the office. That was followed by the distinct sound of guns being caulked and a loud voice saying, "Andrew Hargraves, you are under arrest." Followed by the sound of guns being fired, and then silence.

Bill hurried to the storage room and found the extra set of keys to the jail cells. Rushing back, he unlocked the door and pushed Elizabeth in, while Nathan came out. "Stay here, Elizabeth," Bill ordered, "Until we know it's safe. Use the bed to hide under if you need too." With that, he pulled the door shut and handed the keys to Nathan. Putting the keys in his pocket, he hurried over to the gun cabinet and took out a firearm. Nodding to Bill, they began slowly creeping to the door. Bill was about to open the door, with Nathan proving cover, if necessary, when the door flew open instead. Seeing the man come in, Nathan had risen and pointed his gun, before realizing the man was wearing a red serge, and had his arms raised above his head. Both Nathan and Bill heaved a sigh of relief and dropped their weapons as well. Hearing the urgent call for a doctor, they rushed outside, and were stunned by what they saw. A sea of red serge, all with guns pointed at the person inside the circle they had formed, and inside that circle, lying on the ground, was Andrew Hargraves, his eyes closed, and blood pooling around his arm.

"Doctor's here." they heard someone shout and then watched as Dr. Carter made her way to the injured man. Bill and Nathan rushed over, in time to hear her say, "He's alive, but is loosing a lot of blood, he needs to get to the infirmary, so I can stop the bleeding and better asses any other wounds, but can someone call the hospital in Buxton and let them know he might need to be transferred there.?"

As the Mounties began the process of moving the man as instructed, Nathan ran back inside to let Elizabeth out of the jail cell. Upon opening the door, he felt two hands grab for his arms and pulled him inside, followed by two lips crashing into his. It took Nathan less than a second to wrap his arms around the woman in front of him, and return the kiss she had started. As usual, and even though they were standing in a jail cell, their kiss transported them to that special place where only they exist and time has never started. Soon Nathan found himself with his back against the bars, and Elizabeth's lips frantically exploring his, as though she would never have the chance again. As eager as he was to continue, Nathan knew there was work to do, not to mention all the Mounties outside, so he began to gentle the kiss, hoping to slowly come back to earth. Eventually they found themselves wrapped in each other's arms, trying to regain some control over their breath.

Placing a kiss on the top of her head, and breathing in the scent that was Elizabeth, he whispered into her hair, "I love you."

He heard the phrase repeated back to him and relished the moment, knowing it might be a long time before they were able to see each other again.

Elizabeth stepped away and smiled, before reaching up and kissing him one last time.

"Be safe." she said to him.

"Always." was his promise to her.