Back to the meeting on the morning after the attack:

Captain Simms was an uncomfortable addition to the original group that had met yesterday before dawn. Uncomfortable, because she saw herself as an outsider included only because she had learned their secret.

Strenlich had been the one to suggest including her. As the current captain, she would have attended the funeral anyway. When they finally solved the whole puzzle, she would have to be in on it; it would become a police matter at some point. If they didn't bring her in now, they would have to explain why they didn't trust her. "She's been captain for quite a while now; she's a good captain. Is anyone here saying they don't trust her? I say we should tell her."

Caine agreed, then Peter. One by one, around the room, they all agreed. Strenlich went to request her presence.

They planned a wake at the funeral home and the graveside service. They decided what they would say, to family, friends, officials, and media, and how they would avoid answering ticklish questions, They wrote the obituary. They took some care with the wordings, knowing they would have to answer to Annie when she came out of hiding.

The wake was on Wednesday, the burial was on Thursday.

The hardest part was dealing with Annie's and Paul's families. The conspirators knew that just thinking their Annie was dead for a few days would leave emotional scars. The relatives would accept the explanations when she returned, but they would never completely understand.

***

There was a second meeting that Tuesday. Peter, Carolyn, Kelly, and Kermit stopped at a restaurant for lunch. While there, they had to decide what to do with Kelly and Carolyn.

After the shooting, Kelly and Carolyn had gone back to Carolyn's home for the night; Peter and Kermit had slept there also. No one wanted to leave Peter or the women by themselves: no one was sure there would be no further attempt on the women and Peter, although apparently rational again, had scared them too much with his reaction to the shooting. However, the McCall residence was too far out of the area, and no one was comfortable with leaving the Blaisdell residence empty for too long. Even though Todd had canceled his remaining appointments and was on his way home to his wife, he was a salesman, not experienced in providing protection.

The only answer was for Todd and his wife to stay with Kelly in the family home, at least for a while. But first the house must be made secure.

Peter and Kelly drove to the house. There were relatives coming in for the funeral who would have to be put up. That meant cleaning up bloodstains, washing clothes, dusting. Preparations.

Kermit and Carolyn had four stops to make.

First, they went to the family lawyer, then the accountant. Even though Annie was not dead, she was legally. Luckily, Carolyn had been given power of attorney before her father left, so it was a simple matter to give her access to the family funds to pay the few bills the accountant didn't handle.

While Carolyn dealt with those two, Kermit set up the next two stops.

By the time Carolyn and Kermit arrived at the Blaisdell residence, they had purchased, and received, a state-of-the-art computer, on a par with Kermit's at the Station. Carolyn had not finished decoding the messages from her father; she could not continue to work at the Precinct; it would give her something to do at home.

As they drove up to the house, a truck was parking in front of them. Kermit's second call had been to arrange an appointment at a security system provider. It did not take long to determine the types of sensors, et al, that Kermit agreed were necessary and sufficient. With his special persuasion, the company agreed to install the equipment immediately. They were prompt. After the team left, Kermit made the necessary changes to link it to his system, his car, his beeper.

With the wake tomorrow, and all the activity of the last two days, the four retired early. Again, Peter and Kermit stayed, partly to provide protection, mostly because it just didn't occur to them to leave.

Peter had the excuse that he'd lived there long enough--it still felt like home. The ex-mercenary could say that he'd had worse forty-eight hours more than once. However, none of those had visited on him emotional trauma similar to what he had been subjected in these past two days. While his conscious mind denied a need, the subconscious recognized the homey ambiance of the house and simply neglected to tell his feet to leave.

The next two days were a blur. People offering condolences, asking questions, accepting pre-programmed answers. People to console, people to thank, rites to perform.

Two nights passed in deep dreamless sleep.

Friday, Peter and Kermit went back to work. Kelly went back to school. Carolyn picked up where she had left off interpreting her father's email--Kermit had forwarded her files from his computer.

***

The call came in from an hysterical woman, reporting a body in a car parked in front of her house.

The first officers at the scene had reported the identities of the victim and the woman as Jeff Stiles and Terri Cooper, respectively. Captain Simms had sent Peter and Mary Margaret, with a warning, "Watch yourselves, detectives. The media has not forgotten Stiles or Cooper. Whatever happened at Cooper's family's house may bring them out."

At Peter's suggestion that she substitute someone else for him, she glared at him, saying, "If I don't send you now, you'll just want in later. I don't need three people working on this case."

Every police officer at the 101st had less than favorable feelings towards ex-Police Commissioner Cooper and former SWAT Commander Stiles, now in prison for killing a senator. Peter had more reason than the rest to hate the men who had tried to frame Paul Blaisdell for that murder. Paul's departure--from home, hearth, and precinct--even after being cleared-had been traumatic to Peter, his foster son. Blaisdell's death, still a secret held by very few, believed to be an indirect result of that departure, had nearly broken Peter.

The Shaolin training, restarted by Peter nearly a year after his foster father had left, had enabled him, finally, to convert the negative emotions stemming from that leaving into additional fuel for his fight to protect the innocent. It would be a long time before he could say that about Paul's death.

He, as part of Paul's family, had attended social functions with the Coopers and the Stiles. But that was before the attempted frame. Afterwards, not as a conscious decision, he had intended to have nothing to do with either of those families again. And now he was about to investigate a crime involving one or both of them.

Detective Caine drove Detective Skalany to the Cooper's house. Mary Margaret tried, unsuccessfully, to get a conversation going, concerned that this mood of his had lasted so many days. He wasn't weepy, but the atmosphere surrounding him was cold and wet. She knew the funeral was just yesterday, and she did expect him to be grieving, but this was something deeper than just grief. He was communicative enough when it came to work, but otherwise he disappeared deep into this shell of a man.

The two detectives arrived at the same time as the lab technicians and the staff photographers. Nickie Elder was right behind them with one of his coroner assistants. After a quick briefing on the crime from the officer at the door, Mary Margaret moved into the house to talk with the woman who had called in the murder. Ms Terri Cooper seemed to have calmed down considerably. She was still emotional, but had retreated from the earlier hysteria.

Peter stayed at the door to ask more questions of the officer who had first responded to the call, and then went with him to see the body.

They walked toward the car where the lab technicians and the coroner were working, Caine commenting to the officer, "I don't get it; I mean, why not leave the man's body at his own house. Why leave it here? Did Ms Cooper say why Stiles' body was left in a car in front of her house?"

"She didn't say much of anything; just that she came home, saw his car here, looked in, saw the body, and called us. She's been too emotional to add to that."

As Peter watched, the last of the photographs were taken with the body in the car. What had been Jeff Stiles was removed from the automobile and placed on the open body bag on the gurney. From his viewpoint outside the ring of evidence gatherers, the detective could see that Jeff had not died easily. The victim's face was bruised badly, his clothes were torn and bloody, and the ropes that had tied his hands and feet were dangling where they had been cut sometime before discovery.

The detective caught Nickie's eye; the coroner told him that the cause of death was not immediately obvious, but that he would call as soon as the report was ready.

"Today?"

"Most likely."

"Fair enough."

Peter moved back to the house to see what Mary Margaret had learned. He entered the house and went to the living room where Mary Margaret still sat with Terri Cooper.

Both detectives were startled by Cooper's reaction to Peter. Mary Margaret had just begun to tell her partner that Ms Cooper did not know of anyone with reason to kill Mr. Stiles when Cooper saw Peter and gave a loud screech.

She had been weeping, but still calmly conversing with Mary Margaret about her morning's activities. When she spotted Peter Caine, Cooper's complexion went dead white; she jumped up from the sofa and ran behind it as if it were a barrier. Her words were almost incoherent; her pitch rose with each word. "Peter, who, …why, …why, …don't come near me! You killed him. You must have killed him. How did you find out? Get out of here! Keep him away from me!"

She was again close to hysteria.

Another policewoman came over and led her out of the room to lie down.

Peter and Mary Margaret just looked at each other.

"Partner, you really do have a way about you, you know? Do you have any idea what that was about?" Mary Margaret had been teasing, but then she looked at her partner, and then looked again. An expression of horror had come over his face.

In this business, partners became more like family, and her relationship with Peter's father emphasized and strengthened their closeness. She went over and put her hand on his arm, and with real concern said, "Talk to me, Peter. Are you somehow involved in this?"

The expression on his face went deadpan before her eyes. Peter took a deep breath and tried to focus on her voice; but the panic in Terri's voice had brought up the memory and pain of Paul's death. Things that could not be shared with Mary Margaret. The only thoughts that were going through his head were. Did they kill Paul? And she thinks I killed Jeff because of that? Shit, if I thought they had, they'd both be dead. And no one would ever find either body! Kermit and I would've shared the grave-digging duties! Damn! I gotta talk to Kermit!

What he said, in a voice that matched his lack of expression, was, "You didn't see the body. He was worked over by someone who knew what they were doing, with a very different technique from what Kermit or I would use as persuasion, if we wanted information that badly. And someone wanted something from him that badly. I wonder if she knows what that is."

"Well, we're not going to find out right now, Peter. This is one time that boyish charm of yours is not going to work. I've never seen anyone so scared of you!"

She leaned close to him and, baiting him for any reaction, asked "Did you two ever date?"

His mind was spinning from the encounter with Terri. The exterior world ceased to exist as Cooper's words took root. This was no longer the grief-torn soul within the shell Mary Margaret had seen before. This resembled catatonia. He didn't even hear Mary Margaret. He did not see his surroundings. When he began to reason again, he would wonder what instinct had led him to think this crime might have any relation to Paul's death. Until then, random possibilities emanating from the woman's words swirled around the pain brooding in his mind, pulling his thoughts in that one direction.

Mary Margaret grabbed his arm and towed him from the house. She was worried about him; she'd never seen him turn off so completely.

She took his keys, pushed him into the passenger seat, and got behind the wheel of his precious Stealth. "If my driving your car hasn't roused you, Partner, you're in a bad way. I'm taking you to your father."

"Kermit! I gotta see Kermit. Now!" He didn't even realize he'd spoken the words aloud; they were simply part of the storm swirling in his mind.

"Well, I'd rather go see your father, but, if it's that important to you, Kermit it is." Mary Margaret pulled out from the curb and headed for the station.

When she had parked the car in the police station parking lot, she jabbed Peter to see if he was still breathing. He jumped only a little but got out of the car and headed for the squad room. Hmmm, she thought, Maybe zombie is a better description than catatonic. Mary Margaret followed behind juggling his keys. "Wonder how long it will take him to remember these?" she giggled to no one in particular.

The fourth time the keys went up in the air, they didn't come down. Kermit had come back from lunch just ahead of them. Curious about the shift in drivers, he had paused to walk up with them. When Peter and Mary Margaret went by without seeing him, he had followed them. Seeing Peter make a beeline for Kermit's office, Kermit had grabbed what were obviously Peter's keys as he passed Mary Margaret. He then pushed to catch up to Peter so he could unlock his door before Peter bruised his nose.

Kermit shoved Peter into the room in front of him. "Okay, kid. What's so important?"

No response.

Kermit pushed his face close to the other man's. Peter looked like a computer stuck in an endless loop.

Kermit opened his mouth to yell, to wake his friend up, when Peter's eyes came into focus and turned on him. Now that he was in Kermit's presence, Peter could speak his mind.

Peter switched from off to full on. In his now obvious excitement, he grabbed for the other man. The hand remembered in time to not touch; Peter leaned into the other's personal space instead. "Kermit, you'll never believe what I just heard. I'm having trouble handling it myself.

Mary Margaret and I went out to investigate a reported homicide. Jeff Stiles body was found outside Terri Cooper's house."

"And I care what the progeny of the black sheep of Blaisdell's old group does together or separately?" Kermit felt as strongly as Peter did about the men who had attempted to frame his old friend, and cared as little for their families.

"Kermit, listen! When I went in to talk with Ms Cooper, she acted as if she thought I killed Jeff. She actually accused me of the murder. She thinks I want to get her, too.

"Now, why do you suppose she would think that?" Peter leaned back on his heels.

Kermit was pensive. "Well, their parents did set your foster father up to take the fall for the murder they committed. She might think you were just getting around to take revenge, on them."

Peter didn't agree. "It's been well over a year. Why would she react right after Jeff was killed? Before any investigation at all? There could be any number of people with reasons enough to kill him, who she might not know about.

"But her immediate response, when I walked into the room, was that I must have killed him. She also said, and I quote, 'How did you find out?' I find that thought-provoking, don't you?"

Peter's words were, on the surface, calm, reasoned; but it was obvious to Kermit that all the emotions that Peter had been holding in were close to boiling over. The possibility that they had the break they needed had weakened considerably the lock on those emotions.

With no one listening, and Kermit for once being honest with himself, the ex-mercenary could admit that his state of mind was paralleling his friend's, both in the boiling emotions and in the sudden flare of hope that they had a real lead.

He mentally tightened the screws on his floodgates, to hold the emotions back a little while longer, and put his hands on his keyboard. "So little Ms Cooper thinks we're in a blood feud. Well, I didn't kill her boy friend, and you," He looked up at Peter and got a head-shake back, "didn't kill him. We know that, because they'd both be dead and there'd be no bodies ever found. So let's see if I can find out just what she and her boy friend have been up to."

He was about to ask Peter to go back to his desk and pretend things were still relatively normal. He, Kermit, would do his research and he, Peter, would wait for the coroner's report. He was about to, but Mary Margaret picked that moment to stick her head in the door.

"Peter, Nickie just called. He started the work-up on the Stiles body. He wants us there, on the double. Hi, Kermit, sorry to interrupt."

As Peter headed for the door, Kermit remembered he had Peter's keys. He caught up with the other two detectives and handed the keys to a puzzled Peter. He could see that Peter had not begun to wonder why he was no longer at the Cooper house. "Mary Margaret will explain later," he said. "And I want to see what Elder is so worked up about." His 'research' into the Cooper and Stiles progeny could wait.

Mary Margaret gave him a quizzical look but filed her query away under "Questions to ask when Peter and Kermit's latest adventure is explained."

***

There had been much discussion over the wisdom and necessity of telling Todd McCall. Yes, they trusted him, but it meant one more person knew. In the end, Carolyn closed the discussion with, "I will tell him." So when the last of the relatives left, the morning after the funeral, she sat him down and told him. They hugged each other and wept tears of joy for Annie and sorrow for Paul.

Todd had thought it strange for his wife to want to sleep in the house where her stepmother had been killed; inspection of the security arrangements eased his mind somewhat. He had finally decided that she simply felt more comfortable sleeping in the home where she had lived for so many happy years, especially since he had been not been there to comfort her. Learning the truth about who had died made him realize just how strong a woman he had married. She was not seeking comfort; she was keeping herself close to the action to help find her father's killer. When he expressed his concern for her and Bobby's safety, and suggested they return to their own home, she pointed out that they were safer in this house, if just because of the security devices.

Throughout supper that evening, Carolyn, Todd, Kelly, Peter, and Kermit worked to keep the conversation light. Bobby just sat in his high chair and played with his food.

As they were finishing their dessert, Peter told them about the body found that morning. Carolyn and Kelly had known Jeff, and were torn between sympathy for his mother and antipathy for his father. Peter then started to bring up the coroner's findings. "He was so excited, he called us down before he--"

Without warning, Kelly erupted in hysterics. Carolyn and Peter immediately rushed over to her. "How can you just sit there so calmly," she sobbed. "Father dead, Annie in hiding, and the house shot up! And you're just talking bodies and crimes as if all this happened to someone else. Oh, why did he have to go!"

She calmed down as they held her.

Carolyn spoke. "She's got a point. We've been so busy telling the mourners that cock-and-bull story about Annie; we've not taken the time to mourn for our father."

All agreed; so Carolyn pulled out the family pictures and the group spent the evening sharing their memories of Paul Blaisdell, father, policeman, and mercenary. Some stories were familiar to all; some were unique to the storyteller. All helped to ease the isolation each felt in their grief. Even Kermit, who felt he was there more as bodyguard, found himself pulled into the family service.

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