Arrest

Looking up from his desk, a smile spreads on Rick's face as he sees Janet. "Hey, you." Seeing the supper, his eyes light up. "Mm... you're too good to me, you know that?"

Reaching up, he takes her hand in his, leaning his head against her for a moment, and giving a sigh, showing he was weary, but knowing he couldn't leave just yet.

Turning at Janet's question, he looks at Scott for a moment and shakes his head. "Not good."

Even though Scott is sleeping, Rick keeps his tone quiet. "I hope this counselor can help him... he's just getting worse. Each day goes by, I can just see everything building up inside of him. I would have thought in the beginning he was going to be okay... but watching him digress... then after what happened with Austin... I don't know, Janet... I just don't know."


Reese looks up, suddenly realizing that there had been a knock at the door. Setting down the picture frame, he rises from his easy chair, stopping and listening again. Hearing nothing, and having not heard a car, his caution is heightened. Feeling safe without any interior lights on, he moves toward the door, reaching to his back to pull out his handgun. Holding it up in front of him, he cocks it, then reaches for the doorknob.

Cracking the door, he sees nothing. It’s dark outside, and his porch light had blown out last week. Slowly opening the door further, he can finally see the sidewalk. Suddenly realizing just who it was who was there, he immediately uncocks his gun and blinks, just looking at her for a moment.

Finally a sheepish grin surfaces, and he leans up against the doorframe, looking out at her. And for once, he just lets silence be for several moments. He didn’t need to ask why she was there. If it had been an emergency, she would have tried harder to get his attention than just knocking on the door once or twice.

Not even thinking about the fact that Angelica didn’t normally see him this way, in old jeans and a t-shirt, he steps from the door, putting his gun to his back again. “Awful late for you to be out here roaming the neighborhood.”

He cocks his head. “Coffee?”


Axel swallows his own embarrassment for his predicament, settling back to just let Jess talk for a few minutes. He wasn't sure why she was sharing with him... what might have prompted her to trust him with that information... but something about it made him feel good. Part of it hit him hard though. He'd talked to Carson once recently about her, and he knew what had happened with her and Peter. Those kinds of things never had set well with him, and even though he didn't know Jess all that well, he could feel the pain.

He lets the pause linger for several moments, just trying to get warm, while letting Jess' words sink in. Looking down, he realizes one of his hands is closer to her than intended, and he withdraws a little, shifting his weight towards his own door.

"Carson moved in with his sister today," he mentions casually. "He's probably at her place."

Glancing over to her again, he cocks his head, reverting back to her more serious words. "Sometimes traumatic events are the rainclouds in our lives. But...without the rain, rainbows wouldn't exist."

He looks back out the windshield, seeing they were fast approaching the auto shop. "The rain may seem to stick with you, but let your light shine through. The result will be the rainbow you need to brighten that corner of your life."


...Across town, shouts echo through the street, and a shot rings out. Sirens wail, on call for the little quick mart at the edge of town. Surrender was necessary and intentional. The local jail was next on the list.