Fr'nds

"Mmm..." Reese studies the screen as Ryder points to it, showing him what had been discovered. "You're right. There's definitely a shadow there. Someone slipped in, timed themselves and walked under the cameras, thinking they wouldn't be detected."

"Exactly." Ryder straightens as he stands on the other side of the desk, and folds his arms. "There, you see? Thirteen didn't do it. It was someone else."

"And what's to say that she still wasn't an accomplice?"

"Oh come on! You can see-"

"Ryder." Reese cuts him off, showing his palm. "Enough. There is reasonable doubt here. Now... I'm man enough to admit when I've changed my mind, opinion, or been proven wrong. As it stands, there is reasonable doubt here of Thirteen's guilt. Therefore-"

"Don't put here through anymore!" Ryder insists loudly. "You're gonna-"

"Therefore!" Reese warns Ryder again not to interrupt. "I'm not going to put her through an interrogation right now. As adamant as she was about not lying, plus this evidence, she's on the suspect list, but I won't put her through anything else unless we find more that points to her."

Ryder's shoulders drop with relief. "What about Dani?"

"She's been here several times during the last few weeks. That note could have been dropped any time. I'll have Wyatt make sure she isn't going anywhere, but I don't want her tipped off, if she was involved. We'll play it cool and keep an eye on her until we either fine more evidence, or we come up with nothing else and I decide to bring her in. We're going to keep searching for Alec, and keep investigating here. We'll figure out who it was. Believe me... we'll figure it out."

After concluding the short meeting, Ryder exits Reese's office to find Thirteen in Susanne's extra chair, right where he'd left her. He forces a smile to the surface and stretches out his hand. "Come on. No one's gonna put you through any more today. Will you come back to your room with me?"


Jason shakes his head. "I've stuck with you since you got here... what makes you think I'm ready to leave now when I finally got you back?" His eyes wore dark circles, and his face was drawn. But his gaze had a new brightness to it. He wasn't going to leave... not yet.

It isn't long before the doctors are alerted, along with others who had been waiting. Jay calls Rosetta to go in together and he can't hold back his tears. A hug to his daughter just doesn't seem enough, but that's all he can do, along with thanking God over and over and over again.

Jason makes a couple calls to let other people know, and he knows that tomorrow will probably be a busier day with traffic. But after a while, the room is quiet again. Katie can go home in a couple days if nothing else happens, Jay will be returning to Texas along with Rosetta soon, and the rest of everything that went on was a fog.

Jason leans his head back in the chair, his eyes feeling so very heavy. But he just had to keep watching Katie. There were so many more things he wanted to tell her, but he'd already told her so much, he knew she must be overwhelmed. The rest could wait.

Don't ever do this again, eh? I don't think I could live through another one of these events.


"They'd be there, they said. Yesssssirree, they said they'd be there." The shot glass clanks on the bar counter. "Bartnnndrr! Gimme 'nother round!"

"Money first, wise guy."

"Ha!" The cackle is followed by a belch, which is followed by money being slapped on the counter. "Frrsttt time I got cash and I'm waishtin' the whole thing. Cheers!"

Alec grabs the next shot of whiskey and downs it all at once. He winces and shakes his head, then laughs, still talking to no one in particular, but being quite loud about it. "Said if I's ever 'n trouble to call an' they'd com'n get me, they did. Warehouse, they said, yessssir. They'd get m' out an' take me back 'cause I got loads of information!"

Somewhere in between slurred phrases, some beer is gulped down. He swivels around on the bars stool, almost losing his balance, and waves the annoyed bartender over. "Met me with a shotgun, they did. 'Bout blowed my head off. Ha! I got a group of fr'nds, I do! What're fr'nds for oth-r 'an to try'n kill you? Ha!"

This time when he spins, gravity takes over. Blinking, Alec looks up from the floor. "E'thr I jus' got a wholellot shorter or the fl'rr jus' came up 'n to meet me."

The bartender rolls his eyes. "Get out of here before you make a mess of things."

Alec can't get his feet under himself, so he just stays on the floor, clueless as to how ridiculous he looks. "And where would you sug'gest I go? My fr'nds wanna... they wanna..." He claps his hands together, mimicking a gunshot. "...my head off, r'm'ber?"