The Greens of Jericho

Heather woke up a couple of hours later and lay in bed, plagued by thoughts of the events that culminated in the death of a man in her living room. She couldn't get back to sleep as the memories flashedf through her mind.

‘I was almost raped. . I felt like I was suffocating before Eric pulled that man off me. . . Eric.shooting him to save me. . .  I felt so helpless . . . Eric being captured . . . Eric saving my life again  when he pushed me into that abandoned building . . . It's my fault, I should never have stopped to talk to that woman . . . the threat of Constantino hanging over me for the past two mofnths . . . and then him being shot in front of me, in my own living room . . . to be honest I feel relieved . . . that makes me feel guilty too.... no one deserves to die like that. Then there's Jake . . . I don't know what I'd do without him . . . he's been such a comfort to me and he loves me . . . .he's been so patient with me . . . . he doesn't think I've noticed but I have, every morning when I wake up and feel him against me, how can I help but not notice . . . I wish I could give him that . .  . how long is he going to be willing wait? I can't lose him....I just can't!'

By now, Heather was too agitated to go back to sleep and she didn't want to disturb Jake. She got out of bed, left the bedroom and walked down the hall toward the living room. As she stopped at the end of the hallway, her eyes swept across the living room. The carpet that had been on the floor was gone and the coffee table and end tables had been wiped clean. Her eyes focused on the floor in front of her and she noticed a spot near the couch. ‘What's that? It couldn't be, could it? Oh my God! I have to get rid of it. I can't look at that every day!' Heather walked into the kitchen, pulled out a bucket from under the sink, poured some ammonia in it, lifted it into the kitchen sink and turned on the water. While the bucket was filling, she went back under the sink and pulled out a scrub brush.

She walked back to the living room and placed the bucket to the side of the spot and knelt down. She swished the scrub brush in the bucket before leaning over and scrubbing the spot. She kept scrubbing.  Heather knew that if she could just get that spot out, everything would be better, everything that had happened since she'd gone to New Bern would be better.  Tears streaked down her face as she continued to frantically scrub at the floor.

Jake turned over in bed and reached for Heather. His eyes shot open when he realized that that she wasn't there. As soon as he turned over and saw the open bedroom door, he scrambled out of bed and rushed down the hallway. The sight he saw in the living room stopped him cold. Heather was on her hands and knees in the middle of a puddle scrubbing a brush back and forth at a frantic pace. She was talking to herself as frantically as she was scrubbing the floor.

"I have to get this out! It can't say here. Get out! Get out! Get out! It's not coming out, need more water. I have to get rid of it! I can't live with it here! Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Jake recognized it for what it was. Heather was channeling all that had happened to her into scrubbing the floor. He understood the reaction after all that she had been through and witnessing her desperation broke his heart. He just had to do something.

He approached her and placed his hand on her back. "Heather, Heather." He called to her softly.

"Get out! Get out! More water." Heather sloshed the scrub brush in the bucket again and then went back to scrubbing the floor.

Jake stooped down beside Heather, put his arm around her shoulder and gently shook her.  "Heather," he said a little more forcefully.

"Jake?  Jake is that you?"  Heather looked at him with glassy eyes.  She loved him, and he loved her.  She desired him, she wanted to be with him, and she knew he wanted the same.  It would make things better, she was certain.  She could shut everything else out - Constantino, New Bern, Valente, all of it - if she could lose herself in him.  "Jake... Jake, I want you..."  Heather then launched herself at Jake, tumbling him to the floor. Before Jake could react Heather started sweeping kisses up and down his neck and across his face. "I want you, Jake . . . I can tell you want me . . .  please!"

Jake, as much as he had been wishing for this, knew he couldn't let it happen.  It would be wrong given her state of mind and he didn't want her to have any regrets about their first time together. He couldn't let this continue, he had to stop it while he still could. He grabbed her shoulders just as she was trying to get her hands underneath his tee shirt.  "Heather," he said rather forcefully. When he got no reaction he shook her and said in louder and more desperately, "Heather, stop! We can't do this."

Jake's words finally penetrated Heather's frenzy. She immediately stopped her quest to get her hands underneath Jake's tee shirt and looked down into his face.  The reality of what she was doing and why she was doing it set in when she saw the look of concern in his face. Feeling his very physical reaction underneath her a deep blush spread across Heather's face.  Now embarrassed, she immediately moved off of him and sat on the floor. Jake lifted himself off the floor. When he was standing he offered Heather his hand and pulled her up beside him.

He led her over to the couch and helped her to sit down. Knowing that he needed a moment to himself he bent down and kissed Heather on the head. "Babe, I'll be right back, just give me a minute, okay?" he said before walking into the kitchen. He placed both hands on the counter, leaned over it and let out a big sigh. Despite his body telling him otherwise, he knew he made the right decision by stopping things. He knew their time would come, that he just needed to be patient He took a couple of deep breaths before he opened a cupboard and pulled out a glass. He went over to the sink, turned on the faucet and filled the glass. He downed the glass of water, took a couple of more deep breaths and walked back into the living room. He walked over to Heather and held out his hand to her, she slowly reached up and took it. He pulled her up, sat down on the couch and pulled her onto his lap. Heather sat quietly there with her head down and clenched his hand in both of hers, too overwhelmed over what had happened to do anything else.

"Hey Babe . . . Heather...." Jake pleaded, "Please look at me."

Not able to resist Jake's plea, Heather slowly lifted her head but quickly lowered it again.

"Babe..." Jake caught Heather's chin with his free hand and gently raised her head. "Please look at me."

Heather slowly turned her eyes to Jakes and became overwhelmed once again, this time it was from the concern and love she saw in his eyes. Tears started streaking down her face.

Jake slid his hand from under her chin and raised it to her cheek and swiped at the tears. "Shh....shh...Babe. It's gonna be okay."

"Oh Jake . . . I'm so sorry." Heather said with a breath hitching in her voice

"It's okay, Babe. . .  Come here." Jake used the hand that Heather was holding to pull her down so that her head rested on his shoulder. "Let it all out, Babe."

That was all that Heather needed to hear. She released Jake's hand, turned her head into his shoulder. With her hands clenched his tee shirt, she started sobbing. Jake reached his arms around her and gently stroked her back while he patiently waited for her tears to subside.

When Heather quieted, Jake kissed the top of his head and said, "Do you want to talk about it?" She hiccupped as she nodded her head.  "I woke up and just couldn't stop thinking about everything that has happened since I left Jericho." She sniffled a few times and continued, "Everything that happened . . . I feel so helpless at times . . .  like I'll never get my life back . . . then what happened tonight . . . it was all too much."

"I know, babe," Jake said soothingly. "Trust me, it will get better . . .  just promise me one thing."

"Yes?" Heather asked.

"Just promise . . .  you'll talk about it if you need to . . .  don't be like me and hold it inside of you until it eats at you . . . ‘til you don't know who you are anymore," Jake said with anguish seeping out in his voice.

Heather took one of Jake's hands and brought it to lips. Then she placed it back down, resting their clasped hands in her lap. "I promise Jake. I'm so glad you're here for me."

"Me too, babe, and that works both ways." Jake said stroking her hand with his thumb.

"Jake, about before . . . I worry sometimes that . . . that . . . that . . ."

Jake waited patiently as Heather tried to get out what she wanted to say. She took a deep breath before blurting out. "I worry that if I make you wait too long to . . . you know . . . then you won't want me anymore."

"Oh Babe . . .  that's never gonna happen." Jake took his free hand and placed it under Heather's chin and gently turned her head until she was looking at him at him. A warm blush was spread across her cheeks and her eyes spoke of her love for him. She had never looked more beautiful to him. "You'll see Babe, it'll it happen when the time is right for both of us and when it does it will be perfect." He promised right before his lips touched hers.

This time when the kiss grew more intimate, Heather didn't pull away.

Cheyenne; Later that morning at the capitol

Heather stopped by the coffee station after her staff meeting, poured herself a cup of coffee and went back to her office. She sat down at her desk and yawned, thinking she had to get to bed early tonight to catch up all the sleep she missed the night before.

What a night it had been! As much as she hated Constantino, she still couldn't believe he was dead, shot in her own living room, no less.  Then she had suffered a meltdown, triggered by his death. She knew it had been a long time coming and she was relieved that Jake had been there to see her through it.

When she had woken up this morning she had felt as if a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders and had thought that, just maybe she could start looking toward the future . . .  a future with Jake. She couldn't help but smile as she pulled her chair forward, picked up her pen and started to write up her notes from her first staff meeting.

Based on the answers she had received yesterday at her one to one meetings she had concluded that her staff didn't function as a team and that there was very little exchange of ideas. She was not a proponent of this type of work environment and she was determined to do her best to change it. She favored an open work environment where there was a free flow of ideas. At the meeting she had asked each of her staff to give a status of the research projects they were working on. She then divided her staff into four two person teams and the individual projects that each one had been working on became ‘team projects'. She had told her staff that she was adding another weekly meeting to their schedule, a mini-team meeting. At these meetings, she explained, each team would be able to review any issues or problems that they needed her help with.  When she announced this change to her staff she could tell by their body language and facial expressions that they were not happy with the change but she hoped that they would soon see the benefits of being part of a team.

She checked her email and scheduled the mini-team meetings for the following week. She looked at her watch and checked the time. It was ten o'clock, in another two hours she would have to leave to meet Valente for their lunch meeting. Thinking back to the questions that had come up when Jake and she had talked about Cheyenne Farm after they returned the market, she decided to gather some information about the farm. The only thing she knew about it was what she had heard, that it was the source of the town's food supply.  She did a search of the government archives and came up with five documents related to the history of farm. As she read she began to take notes.

When she finished reviewing the documents, she looked down at the notes she had jotted down on her pad:             

• Cheyenne Farm is five hundred acres
• Location is twenty miles outside Cheyenne
• one of twenty parcels of land bought by RJ Land Development  (RJ LD) throughout the west from Jan 2004 to Dec 2005
• all parcels of land acquired are in areas not affected by bombs (locations crossed check against fallout maps that are on file)
• land Cheyenne farms sits on bought in Jan 2004
• Late Jan 2004 - Ralls Engineering and Construction do the necessary construction and development to make the Cheyenne parcel a working farm.
• Mar 2004 - RJ LD recruit staff to work the farm and take care of livestock. The farm is named Cheyenne Farm.
• June 2006 -RJ LD inform those working the farm that the land will be subdivided into two acre plots
  • on 249 of the plots  Ralls Engineering & Construction is contracted to build 2 room cottages
  •  on the last plot 3 buildings are constructed
  •  building done in stages to minimize impact on farming activities, construction is completed September 2006
• Nov 2006 RJ LD declare Cheyenne Farm a self contained village
  • offer employees a choice:  farm and live on one of the two acre plots or be let go
  • 50% of the employees agree to stay on and move their families into the cottages on the plot of land they will be farming
  • Remaining 50% of the workers recruited from Camp Cheyenne
  • 3 buildings on the 250th plot are fitted to become a church, administrative building and a store
  • stores stocked with seed, supplies, food & clothing that would be needed by the occupants of the cottage
  • wire fence is put up around the boundaries of Cheyenne Farm
  • Dec 2006 - Remaining parcels of land, bought by RJ LD that had remained dormant since their acquisition, were subdivided into 250 plots of land
  • Ralls Construction and Engineering contracted to do construction on all remaining parcels of land, the end result was 19 additional farms all built using the same model as Camp Cheyenne
  • RJ LD go to the nearest FEMA camps to each of the additional 19 farms and recruit workers, not too hard due to conditions at the camp
• Dec 2006 - RJ LD contracts with Ravenwood to provide security for the farms

 After reviewing her notes she wrote down some questions

• Where did she hear the name Ralls Engineering & Construction and RJ LD before?
• What agreements were signed between RJ LD and the workers?
• Wire fences?
• Ravenwood?

She was just about to do a search on Cheyenne farming contracts when she noticed the time on the bottom right of her computer screen, it was ten minutes to noon and time for her to leave for her lunch meeting. She tore off the two pages from the pad, folded them, put them in her purse and walked out of her office.

As she approached Valente's office she saw him standing by Tara's desk and discreetly stood back until they had finished their conversation. When they were done talking she approached Tara's desk. "Hello Tara, Chief Valente."

"Hello Heather." Tara said with a smile frozen on her face, wanting Valente to think that there were no conflicts between herself and Heather.

Valente turned to Heather and quickly looked her up and down with his beady eyes. The look did not go unnoticed by Tara. She looked at Heather with an unspoken warning in her eyes, before sitting back down at her desk and turning toward her computer.

Heather was unnerved by the look Valente had given her but the look Tara had given her made her want to laugh as she thought again of how different they were. She assumed that Valente's look was a ploy to intimidate her. It was identical to the same look he gave her during her interview.

"Hello Heather. Are you ready to go?" Valente asked.

"I am Chief Valente. Good-bye, Tara." Heather smiled at Tara before turning and walking with Valente down the hall.

"Heather, I arranged for us to eat in the reserved section of the commissary today."

She had heard about the reserved section when she was working in the Office of Reconstruction. Only those people in the upper echelon of the government and their guests could eat there. She was told that the food served there was the same quality as a five star restaurant. She had remembered wondering at the time what exactly that meant in the post-bomb world they existed in today.

"I've heard the food was excellent in that section, Chief Valente."

"Yes, it is, as you will soon find out. How was your first day yesterday? Did Tara make sure you had everything you needed?"

"Yes she did. My first day was okay. I met the staff and had my first one to one meetings with them. I announced some changes today that I hope will foster a more open work environment. It seems like everyone has been keeping to themselves."

"That's interesting, Heather." Valente replied in a seemingly disinterested tone. "You can try what you want, as long as it doesn't interfere with the research work I need from you."

"I don't think it will, Sir."

"Very good. Here we are now."

They entered the commissary. As they were walking toward the room designated as the reserved section she noticed a few of her former co-workers from the Office of Reconstruction staring at her.

When they entered the room she saw round tables, some larger and some smaller than others, with comfortable chairs surrounding them. All of the tables had tablecloths on them and a candle burned in the middle of each one, in an effort to create some ambience.  Valente led her to a table and motioned for her to sit down as he sat in the chair across from her.

Recognizing Valente, one of the waiters rushed up to the table. "Good afternoon Chief Valente, May I get you something to drink before you order?"

"I'll have a glass of your white wine. Heather?"

‘Wine? I haven't had a glass of wine in ages, I don't think I'd be able to work this afternoon if I had one---better stick with water.'

"I'll have a glass of ice water," she replied.

The waiter handed them each a menu before saying, "I'll be right back with your drinks."

They both opened their menu and looked at the choices for lunch. Heather couldn't believe selection. There were all types of sandwiches: Reuben, hot roast beef, pastrami and cheese to name a few. She also saw a wide variety of hamburgers on the menu and sweet potato fries, her favorite. She knew she wouldn't be eating dinner tonight!

The waiter returned with their drinks and placed them on the table. "Are you ready to order?"

"Heather?" Valente asked.

"Yes, I'll have a bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise and the sweet potato fries."

"I want the Rueben and an order of fries." Valente said rather brusquely.

When the waiter left, Valente started to converse with Heather the tone of his voice the complete opposite of what he had just used with the waiter.

"Heather, you do understand that you report directly to me?"

"Yes, Tara explained that yesterday. She said that it was a change; that the former senior analyst reported into her, just like everyone else in the office. Can you tell me the reason for the change? "

Valente again was impressed with Heather's gumption. Most people wouldn't question him but here she was doing that exact thing in a very assertive manner, he might add.

"Nothing that I want to go into right now. Suffice to say that you'll be working on a number of very sensitive projects with me."

"I understand." Heather said knowing that it wouldn't be wise to question him further on the subject.

"The Cabinet approved your ideas on factory retooling. I'd like you to write up a formal proposal and implementation plan."

"Okay, is there a deadline?"

"Yes, I want it done in three weeks. I want to review it before sending it to the Cabinet and then Congress for its final approval."

"I think I can manage that."

"There's also another project, a highly sensitive one, I need your help on. It's top secret, no one can know about it."

"What is it?" Heather asked confidently while at the same time feeling rather nervous.

"The government in the East has sent our government a memo related to increased drug trafficking in the East. They're saying the drugs are coming from the west and are accusing us of not doing anything about it. I want you do some research to see what you can find out, go out in the field if necessary, and then draft a reply to them memo. The memo has been highly classified. Since you now have top secret clearance, you'll have no trouble accessing it in the government archives."

‘What does he mean field work?' Heather thought a moment, ‘Hmmm... field work....where have I heard that before? I know! Rob called the work he did for the CIA field work . . . . What is he thinking?'

"Go out in the field? You mean you want me to spy?" Heather asked incredulously.

"Yes, if it comes to that."

 "You do realize I have no field work experience, don't you?" Heather asked in a slightly sarcastic tone

‘There she goes, questioning my judgment . . . standing up to me. What an attractive quality . . . ‘

"I have every confidence that you can do this." Valente replied.

‘Yeah, right . . . well, I'm sure the boys can give me some pointers, maybe even help.'

"I'll give it my best shot, Sir."

"That's all I ask Heather," Valente said. At the same time he was thinking, ‘And once you're done.  I'll be in a better position to negotiate with Goetz.'

"Is there a deadline for this project, sir?"

"I'll need you to draft a reply to the memo by the end of next week; however, in order to get to the bottom of all this, your research may have to continue beyond that date."

The waiter then appeared with their lunch. Heather's eyes grew wide as her favorite meal was place in front of her. The look didn't go unnoticed.

"Been a long time, hasn't it?" Valente asked.

"Yes, it has." Heather said smiling.

"Well, keep me happy and I'll make sure you have as many of these lunches that you want," Valente said in an almost sinister tone.

The smile on Heather's fast quickly turned into a frown as she worried about the implication of his statement. She looked down at her plate and thought, ‘No one is going to keep me from enjoying this!

They ate in silence. Valente kept himself amused by watching her eat. He didn't think he ever saw someone eating with such enthusiasm. When they were finished, the waiter came up to the table and cleared it before asking, "Coffee? Tea?"

"I'm all set. I have a meeting with the president in half an hour. Let's go, Heather."

Heather was more than happy to get out of there. Despite the excellent food, which she did enjoy, she had felt uncomfortable when she noticed Valente gazing at her with a bemused expression on her face while she ate her lunch.

Now forty-five minutes later, she felt more than uncomfortable. Delicious as it was, lunch had left her feeling rather queasy. Not only that but her lack of sleep finally catching up to her and she felt a slight throbbing in her head.

She added the two new projects Chief Valente had assigned to her ‘To Do' list. She knew that wouldn't be able to focus enough to start on the two projects that Valente had assigned to her during lunch so they would have to wait until tomorrow. She looked at the other three things on her list and decided to start with her list of questions from her research this morning on Cheyenne Farm.

No sooner did she log back into the network when she heard the familiar sound of heels clicking on the floor. ‘Not her... just what I need.' Heather put her elbows on the desk and propped her head on her hands and sighed. As the sound came closer, she lifted her head and sat back in the chair and plastered a smile on her face.

"Heather, I just wanted to drop these reports off to you." Tara said as she stepped into the office.

"Thanks, Tara,' Heather said in a dismissive tone before looking down and opening a folder on her desk.

‘Shoot! This isn't working, she's not leaving. What the heck does she want? She can't be worried about my lunch with Valente, can she? Exactly, how insecure is she? It's only my second day and I have had it!'

Heather looked up at Tara, "Is there anything else you need?" She asked brusquely.

"As a matter of fact there is." Tara stated in a defiant tone.

'Oh no! Here we go!'

"I want to know what happened at lunch," Tara demanded.

"We had lunch," Heather said in an unconcerned voice and looked down at the open folder on her desk.

 "I want to know . . ."

"Don't even ask! I told you yesterday that I'm here to do my job---nothing else. I don't report to you and I don't have to answer your questions." Heather said in a tightly controlled voice, and, then looked back down at her folder.

Tara grabbed the folder Heather was looking at and threw it to the floor. She then put her hands on the desk and leaned over and invaded Heather's personal space.

"Listen . . .  you . . . you country bumpkin, consider this your last warning. You can't have him, he's mine! Tommy and I have an . . . an . . . understanding! Don't think you can just walk in here and steal everything that I've worked so hard to get. I won't let it happen, not now, not ever!"

I heard his first name was Thomas . . . but Tommy?!  Ewww . . . Ugh, my headache it's getting worse! I have to end this.' Heather slammed her hand on the desk and stood up to her full height.

"I have had it! I'm already sick and tired of your attitude and innuendos and it's only my second day on the job. I tried to reason with you yesterday, but that didn't work. Let me make it clearer. . ."

At this point, Heather was furious. She stood up, walked around her desk, stood in front of Tara, looked her straight in the eye and enunciating each word slowly said loudly, "I - just - want - to - do - my - job."

"Just remember, Heather, I can make work miserable for you. Don't think I won't," Tara said through clenched teeth.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. I have work I need to get done and I think you do too." Heather replied in a tightly controlled voice, before walking back behind her desk. She remained standing while at the same time, giving Tara a cold stare.

"Just remember what I said," Tara warned before turning on her heels and walking out of the office.

‘Thank goodness!' Heather sighed as she listened to the clicking sound of Tara's heels fade. She walked back around the desk and picked up the papers that Tara had dropped and then went back and sat at her desk. ‘Ugh, my headache it's getting worse'. Heather then opened her desk drawer, pulled out her purse and took out the bottle of ibuprofen.

Cheyenne; That morning at the safe house

Jake entered the safe house determined to get the explanation he didn't get the night before.  "Chavez!" he shouted, spotting the other man at the table in the kitchen cleaning his gun.

Chavez looked up just as Hawkins came out of the bedroom carrying a box. As Hawkins walked by Jake he turned his head, nodded and said "Morning Jake, how's it going?" before walking to the kitchen table and putting the box down.

"How's it going? I'll tell you how...."

"Why don't you sit down?" Hawkins suggested calmly trying to head off the tirade he knew was coming.

Ignoring Hawkins, Jake pointed to Chavez, "I want to talk to you now!"
 

"What is it, Jake?" Chavez asked in an unconcerned voice.

"How the hell could you have let that happen last night?!" Jake demanded.

"I already told you. I didn't realize where Constantino was headed until it was too late. I had never been to Heather's apartment before yesterday," Chavez explained in a calm voice.

"So why didn't you do something as soon as you realized where you were?!" Jake asked hotly, "You thought that he'd lose it when he saw her and would start talking, didn't you? It was all a set up. You risked her life, she could have been killed last night," speaking each word in a louder voice.

Chavez stood up and walked up to Jake. "You know my stand on this, mission must always come first.

The fact that Jake was seeing red did not go unnoticed by Hawkins. He stood up and walked over to the two men who were facing off against one another.

"I went along with your idea to use Heather, on your word, that we wouldn't put her in danger! You totally disregarded that last night. "Jake spat back at Chavez.

"What the hell are you talking about? I made sure nothing happened to her. She's alive isn't she?" Chavez said almost flippantly.

Chavez's apparent disregard for Heather's safety was the last straw for Jake. He took a step forward and grabbed Chavez's shirt in both fists, and said in a tight voice laced with anger, "If you ever . . ."

Hawkins interrupted by grabbing Jake's arm and saying in a quiet and controlled voice, "Jake, you don't want to do this."

Jake turned to look at Hawkins, took a quick breath and nodded his head before turning back to Chavez. He sneered angrily at him and shoved him before dropping his hands from his shirt and allowing Hawkins to lead him across the room.

 "Get a grip, Jake. We have a job to do." Hawkins said in a placating tone as he released Jake's arm. "Accept it . . .  it happened . . . rehashing it isn't gonna help."

Hawkins waited a second letting the words sink in before putting his hand on Jake's shoulder. Then, he gave Jake a slight shake and said, "The important thing is that she's safe, Jake. She's safe."

Jake slowly took a breath, released it and nodded to Hawkins. "I need a few minutes; I'm going for a walk." Jake glared at Chavez before turning and walking out of the Chavez.

Hawkins turned and walked over to Chavez. "You know he's right. You knew damn well where you were last night. You made a bad call, letting it get as far as it did."

Chavez defended himself, "No, if Constantino started talking we could have learned a lot . . . "

"You know how Jake feels about Heather. Damn it, Chavez, we need him on our side. You should've never risked that. In case you haven't figured it out, we need Jake to carry out the mission or have you forgotten we're down a man?"

"I haven't forgotten, but he needs to understand that this kind of thing happens, it's part of the job. Look, I don't want anything to happen to Heather either but the mission comes first.  We need all the intel we can get."

"No you forget . . . She's a third grade teacher not some seasoned operative . . . and you know how Jake feels about her. Of course, he's going to protect her at all costs. . . "

"I wouldn't. . ."

"Don't tell me you wouldn't! If it were Dee instead of Heather I'd feel the same as Jake."

Unwilling to say more, Hawkins glared at Chavez, before sitting down at the kitchen table, opening the box he had brought out of the bedroom and looking at the contents as if he was trying to find something.  Chavez, not wanting to risk further conflict on his team, wisely decided to let the matter drop and sat back down to finish cleaning his gun.

They both looked up when they heard someone at the door and watched as Jake entered. Jake walked to the table pulled out a chair, sat down then said in a tight voice. "Let's get to work."

Hawkins was the first to speak, "Ravenwood is holed up in what appears to be an abandoned warehouse right outside of down. I say we go there and have a look around. Agreed?

Hawkins looked between the two men, who were glaring at each other. "Agreed?" He said a little louder.

Jake leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, looked at Hawkins and replied, "Agreed."

 "Agreed," Chavez responded.

"These pictures," Hawkins said as he pulled the two identical pictures out of his pocket and place them on the table. "Jake, do you have any idea when they were taken?"

Jake looked down at the pictures and his breath hitched at the reminder of all Heather had been through.

"No," he said in an emotionless voice before uncrossing his arms, standing up and walking into the living room.

Chavez shot Hawkins a questioning look to which Hawkins replied, "I'll go talk to him."

"We leave in ten." Hawkins told Chavez, before getting up and going into the living room. As he walked in he saw Jake pacing the floor clenching and unclenching his fists.

"A hundred percent, remember Jake? If you can't give that, leave now."

"No, Hawkins, I can't give you a hundred percent and I was a fool to tell you that I could. Heather has been through too much, Hawkins. We're going back to Jericho," Jake said resolutely. 

"I thought I could count on you," Hawkins said flatly.
 
"You could," Jake replied, "until Chavez became a threat to Heather. I'm sorry, Hawkins, but this isn't going to work out."
 
Jake ran his hand through his hair and continued, "The bombs gave me my life back. I've got my family and someone I love to keep safe. I'm not risking them to save thousands--hell, even millions--of Americans. If I could save them without hurting Heather or my mom or my brother, I would, but it looks like I can't."
 
Jake turned and walked toward the door, leaving Hawkins staring at his back. He opened the door, paused for a moment and looked back at Hawkins, "I'll look out for Darcy and the kids for you..." 

Reckless and headstrong Jake Green was right. The mission was becoming all consuming, just as it was before the bombs . . .  before he came to Jericho. It was in Jericho, where he had stood shoulder to shoulder with people who fought for their homes, their families, their way of life. Those farmers, bankers and teachers had made up for what they had lacked in training and weaponry with an impassioned determination that helped them and their town to survive the attacks. It was where he got his like back on track, where he became close to his family again.  He was grateful for Jake's reminder that he was fighting the war to make the world safe for Darcy, Alison and Sam.

"Jake," Hawkins said, "Wait."

Jake stepped back into the room and faced Hawkins.

"Believe it or not, Jake, I do understand where you're coming from. That same instinct you have to protect your family and Heather is why I brought my family to Jericho before the attacks."

Hawkins saw Jake's stance relax a little bit and knew that he was listening. He continued, "But, the threat has to be eliminated. Until that Heather and your family won't be safe. Taking Heather back to Jericho won't eliminate the threat. Like it or not, Heather is a part of it now. If they perceive her as a threat, taking her back to Jericho isn't going to keep her safe."

Jake knew Hawkins was right. The threat had to be eliminated; his family and Heather wouldn't truly be safe until it was. He would stay and do his part and do his best to keep Heather safe while she did hers.

"You've got to rein Chavez in, Hawkins. No more playing hard and loose with Heather's safety. Do we have a deal?"

Hawkins nodded solemnly, "I promise you it won't happen again, Jake.

 "Okay, I'm ready."

 "Good" The risk Hawkins took when he pulled out the pictures had paid off, Jake was now focused on what needed to be done, instead of what had happened last night.  "Chavez, let's go," he said in a loud voice so he could be heard in the kitchen.

"Ready." Chavez said walking out of the kitchen, following Hawkins and Jake out the door.

Cheyenne; Ravenwood base camp on the outskirts of town

"So you would recommend no change in current investment strategy?" Mike Collins asked John Carter the chief financial advisor of Jennings and Rall.

"Yes. Until the monetary system has become established our best bet is to continue to store our assets in the commodities our liquid assets were converted into before the bombs. Based on current projections, there's no need to convert these back to liquid assets. The money you expect to make from your activities will more than cover any expenses you incur. "

Mike nodded his head before John continued, "The bank accounts for your new shell, WVR Inc., were set up one week ago as planned, in time for payment on your shipment to Mexico. Once the funds are deposited they'll be transferred through your other shell companies' accounts.

"Do your operatives know where to deposit the payment?"

"Yes." Mike replied, "Everything's in place."

"Good. Is there anything else you need from me today?"

"No, all set. Same time the week after next?"

"Works for me. Here or at your J&R office?"

"J&R, we need to work on the quarterly financials from our other set of books. No need to do that here."

"No problem, how about we meet in my office then?"

"Fine by me. I'll walk you out."

Mike walked John to the entrance of the abandoned warehouse that Ravenwood had taken over two months before the bombs went off. At that time the street floor of the building was converted to office suites and after the bombs the upper two floors were converted to housing for operatives stationed in and around Cheyenne.

When Mike arrived back in his office he pulled out a set of books, that only a few of the highest echelon of management at Jennings and Ralls books existed,  from a safe that had been built into the wall during the construction of the office suites.  Just as he was returning the books to the safe the Goetz entered the office.

"Goetz." Mike greeted and motioned for his visitor to sit in the chair in front of his desk.

"Collins." Replied Goetz as he sprawled in the chair and watched Mike walk over to his desk and sit down.

"Status on Valente?" Mike asked.

"I'm keeping him in line, no additional requests for a bigger cut of the drug money. I don't know why you just don't get rid of him; he's more trouble than he's worth." Goetz replied.

"Not my decision. He's still serving a purpose according to my superiors. Until he runs out of value for them, my hands are tied."

"A big mistake, if you ask me."

"Status on the Kent farm?"

"Still on target. The electrical fence was put up around the farm last week. Fifteen workers will be transported next week and seeds will go in the following week."

"The storage facility at the farm, is it finished?"

"No, but it will be in time for the shipment from Mexico at the end of the week. The holding facility has just broken ground. Once that's complete we'll be retooling the building so it can be used to increase mortar production.

"Good. Things seem to be moving along very nicely. Anything else you care to report?"

"All set."

"Are you heading back out to the field?"

"Yeah, I have to check on a few things. Tomorrow I leave for New Bern to check on our operation there. No need to arrange a remote meeting, I plan on being back in Cheyenne in one week."

"All right. I'll walk out with you. I have to be back at J&R for a two o'clock meeting."

Cheyenne: the bus stop and then safe house, that night

Jake was waiting at the bus stop when Heather's bus pulled up. He saw her inside the bus making her way to the door and smiled, but one look at her face as he watched her exit the bus turned his smile into a concerned frown. He walked up to her, put an arm around her shoulder and led her away from the crowd of passengers who had just got off the bus. He turned to her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "Babe, are you okay?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I'm getting there."

"Is it last night, are you thinking about that?"

"No, Jake, it's not that," Heather tried to say in a reassuring voice before adding, "Nothing that traumatic." She smiled, put both her hands on his shoulders and gave him what she hoped was a reassuring peck on the lips. "I had a bad day, that's all. Come on, let's get going. I'll tell you about it on the way." She took his hand and started walking.

Jake pulled on Heather's hand, stopping her, and stepped in front of her. "Heather, are you sure you're up to meeting with Chavez and Hawkins tonight?"

"Yes, I'll be fine." Heather said before giving Jake a slight smile.

"Okay, let's go then." Jake responded still not convinced that the cause of Heather's current unrest was the result of a bad day.

The two walked hand in hand down the street. As they turned the corner Jake said, "So, tell me about your day."

"Well, it started off fine. I had my one to one's with my staff; they all had questions about the changes I told you about at supper that I'm implementing. I think they were satisfied with my answers but it was obvious they were leery of the changes but I really think they'll work to everyone's benefit."

"I'm sure they will, they make a lot of sense." Jake said in a reassuring tone.

"That remains to be seen, but, yeah, I have to agree and believe that in the end everyone will be more satisfied with their jobs.

"I'm sure they will be."

"Well, after my meetings I did some research on Cheyenne Farms, I have the notes in my purse. If you don't mind, I'll wait to go over them until we get to the safe house so I only have to say it once."

"I don't mind. Today was your lunch with Valente, how did that go?"

"We ate in the reserved section in the commissary. Only the president and his direct staff and their guests are allowed to eat there. It was so, weird Jake; it was set up just like a regular restaurant. There were tablecloths and candles on every table. The menu had a wide variety of deli sandwiches and all different kinds of hamburgers. They even had fries."

"You're making my mouth water, Babe. I can't remember the last time I had a burger and fries."

"My thoughts exactly, and don't think I didn't take advantage of it. I order a bacon cheeseburger and sweet potato fries, it was delicious."

"Oh. . . I'm so jealous." Jake said with a smile in his voice.

"Well, don't be. I forgot how greasy it was; my stomach started doing somersaults as soon as I got back to my office."

"And now?"

"It's better, I'm just a little queasy now."

"That's good. How was Valente at lunch?"

"He was okay, he told me that I was reporting directly to him and he gave me a couple of projects to work on."

"Anything you want to share?"

"Sure. He wants me to come up with a formal proposal and implementation plan for retooling the factories based on my report. That made me feel good."

"I'm sure it did. Congratulations." Jake replied, pulling Heather to him and giving her a quick kiss on her lips."

Heather smile and said, "Thanks! I'm beginning to feel better already."

They turned and started walking again. Jake prompted, "You said two projects, what was the other one?"

Heather looked around and then said in a low voice. "This one is top secret. I'll tell you about it at the safe house." Jake agreed by nodding his head and Heather continued in a normal tone, "My afternoon was just awful."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, no sooner did I return from lunch than Tara walks in."

"Tara?"

"Yeah, she's not only Valente's assistant," feeling a blush rising on her cheeks, she took a breath and quickly said, "She's . . . she's Valente's woman."  She glanced up a Jake to make sure he got the meaning of her words, and continued, "A point she made perfectly clear to me yesterday and today. She warned me to stay away from him. She thinks he's interested in me."

Jake suddenly stopped walking, pulled Heather to his side and turned to face her. He dropped her hand and clasped her by her upper arms, "What? Valente is interested in you?

 "Don't worry, Jake, there's no way he could be interested in me. If you only saw Tara you would understand. There's no way he could ever be interested in me when he's with someone like her."

Jake tightened his hold on her. "Heather, you don't know that for sure, you need to be careful."

"Jake its fine, really it is. Don't worry."

"I don't think I can stop," Jake replied honestly. "I need you to promise me that if you ever feel uncomfortable with him, that you'll talk to me about it, so we can discuss what's best for you. You've been through so much already, Babe." He said in a concerned voice.

"I know, and I promise." Jake gave her a quick hug, kissed the top of her head, took her hand and they once again started walking down the street.

"So, where was I? Oh yeah, my headache had just started right before Tara walked into my office. We had a few choice words before I literally dismissed her by opening up a folder on my desk and ignoring her. I was so relieved when she finally left. By that time my little headache had turned into a pounding one. I didn't get much done the rest of the afternoon. I was so relieved when it was time to leave."

"You did have a bad day. I'm so sorry, Babe." Jake said before he teased, "You're night will be a lot better, after all your with me!"

"You got that right." Heather replied in a serious tone.

They walked the rest of the way to the safe house in silence each happy just be in the company of the other.

The smell of the spaghetti sauce that Chavez had been cooking assaulted Heather when she and Jake walked into the safe house. As she stepped into the living room she tried her best to fight off the nausea that was creeping her way into her stomach but it didn't work. She turned to Jake and mumbled almost incoherently, "I think I'm gonna be sick," before turning and running into the bathroom.

Chavez who had been sitting on the couch, witnessed the whole exchange, and mumbled under his breath, "She didn't look good, Hawkins was right, I did go too far," as he suffered a pang of guilt.

Jake caught a couple of the words and glared at Chavez, "What did you say?"

Not wanting to admit what he had just said to Jake, "Oh, umm, nothing. Just talking to myself." Chavez replied nonchalantly as he stood up and walked into the kitchen.

Jake followed him into the kitchen and demanded, "I want to know what you said."

"You'll hear the words when I say it to the person who deserves to hear them and that sure as hell isn't you."

Jake nodded his head indicating that he understood. "Just be sure you say them," he told Chavez before leaving the kitchen to check on Heather.

Jake reached the bathroom just as Heather was coming out. Her face had taken on a pasty hue and she had a forlorn expression on her face. Jake held out his arms and Heather didn't hesitate to walk into them. Jake's arm went around her and he started stroked her back trying to provide her some measure of comfort. After a minute, Heather raised her head off Jake's shoulder and said, "I think I need to lie down for a while." Keeping one arm around Heather, he led her into the bedroom and helped her get her coat off. He then waited as Heather sat on the bed, unlaced her shoes and pulled them off.  As Heather lay down, Jake reached for the blanket folded at the bottom of the bed and covered her with it. He then leaned over and tucked the blanket around her, gently pushed a few strands of hair out of her face, and gave her a soft kiss. "Love you."

"Mmmm . . . I could get used to this. Love you too," Heather mumbled and then let out a contented sigh.

Jake couldn't help but smile as he turned and walked out of room, shutting the door behind him.

As he walked back into the kitchen Hawkins was putting plates, forks and knives on the table. Chavez had just put the spaghetti in a ceramic bowl and was pouring the sauce over it.

"Jake, you want to grab some water out of the fridge?" Chavez asked before carrying the bowl of spaghetti to the kitchen table.

Jake went to the refrigerator and pulled out three bottles of water and went to join the two men at the table.

"How's Heather?" Hawkins asked Jake as he put some spaghetti on his plate and passed the bowl to Chavez.

"She's lying down; she didn't get much sleep last night."

 "After seeing her tonight, I'm worried about her. I never expected she would take it this bad." Chavez said in a concerned voice.

Jake glared at him, as he took the bowl of spaghetti, not bothering to say the real reason why Heather wasn't feeling good. He wasn't willing to let Chavez off the hook that easily. ‘Let him stew in his own guilt awhile. It serves him right.'

Hawkins spoke up, wanting to change the subject. "Jake, that man you saw walking out with Goetz at the Ravenwood camp was Mike Collins. He's the founder of Ravenwood. As part of the purchase agreement, Jennings &Rall guaranteed Collins the position of president and chief operating office when the acquisition became final in 1995."

"He's a ruthless SOB. Take it from me, I should know." Chavez added without further explanation.

"Wouldn't surprise me." Jake contributed, thinking about the dealings he had had with Ravenwood in the past, not only after the attacks but during his time in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Want to share Jake? Hawkins asked, suspecting that there was more to Jake's comment.

"No." Jake replied before winding some spaghetti around his fork and putting it in his mouth.

"This may or may not be relevant," Chavez stated before continuing, "Judicial hearings were scheduled by Congress to investigate allegations that Ravenwood was involved in illegal activities, most notably weapons trading and drug trafficking. The hearings were scheduled to start the middle of October 2006 but then the attacks happened."

"Coincidence or not, that's the question." Hawkins said took a drink from the bottle of water he had in his hand.

Jake shrugged his shoulders, thinking what the reaction would be if told them Ravenwood was the private security company he had been investigating in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that it was his evidence that prompted the hearings. Everything he heard about Collins over the course of his investigation supported Chavez's assessment of the man.

Chavez was the next to speak up. "At the camp the other day, I went to the Placement Office. Ravenwood was advertising for security positions in and about Cheyenne. I thought it might be a good way to get some leads so applied. They offered me a job today. I'm starting next week. They're still advertising, interested?"

"No." Jake said emphatically.

"Not a good idea. Goetz knows who we are." Hawkins said in the way of explanation.

"How?" Chavez asked before putting a fork full of spaghetti in his mouth.

"He and his goons wanted to ransack Jericho. We forced them to turnaround at the Tacoma Bridge on the outskirts of town." Jake explained.

"Yeah, and you were up front and center for that one." Hawkins commented.

"Why am I not surprised?" Chavez said with a hint of sarcasm and humor in his voice.

Jake snorted at the comment, picked up his bottle of water and took a drink.

After the men had finished with their spaghetti, Chavez sat back in his chair, crossed his arms and said, "I cooked, you two clean."

"Sounds fair. Let's get to it Jake." Hawkins said as he stacked the plates picked them up along with the glasses on the table and walked into the kitchen.

Jake picked up the silverware on the table and placed in the empty spaghetti bowl and followed Hawkins into the kitchen. Chavez walked into the living room and sat on the couch waiting for the other men to finish cleaning up.

A few minutes later Chavez spied Heather coming out of the bedroom and watched her as she walked down the hallway. The first thing he noticed was that her hair was mussed up, her shirt was half tucked into her jeans and that she hadn't bothered putting her shoes back on when she got out of bed. He watched her as she walked slowly, slightly crouched over with her hand resting flat against her stomach, down the hall. When she walked by him she raised her head slightly and mumbled in a low, tired voice, "Hey, Joe." She then walked into the kitchen plopped down into the chair at the head of the table, sighed, crossed her arms on the table and buried her face in her arms.

‘She is really bad off.' Chavez thought before standing up and walking over to her. "Heather, Heather are you okay?" Heather raised her head slightly, and looked up at him. "I'm okay," she slurred before burying her head in her arms again. Joe sat down at the table and placed his hand on Heather's forearm and gave it a slight shake. "Can I get you anything? How about something to eat?" Heather groaned in way of a reply and kept her head resting on her hands.

Chavez gave Hawkins a worried look as he walked out of the kitchen holding a glass of water and took the seat on the other side of Heather. "I brought you some water." Hawkins said as he slowly slid the glass of water toward her. It took a minute before Hawkins heard Heather mumble, "No thanks."

Jake had just put on some water to boil and had been rummaging through the cabinets for something he thought he saw there the other day when Heather walked to the kitchen table and sat down. He finally found the small sealed box of herbal tea bags that he was looking for. He couldn't imagine how they got there in the first place. He doubted that Chavez had gotten them; he didn't seem the type, so he decided that they must have been left by a former tenant. Not that it matter, he was happy that he would be able to give Heather something that might make her feel better.

While he was waiting for the tea to steep in the mug, he amused himself watching both Chavez and Hawkins hover around Heather trying to make her feel better but failing miserably at it. When the tea looked strong enough he took out the tea bag and threw it away, picked up the mug and walked to the kitchen table and set it down next to Heather's head.

He crouched down next to her and gently rubbing circles on her back, he whispered next to her ear, "Babe, I brought you some mint tea; it will help you feel better." At the sound of Jake's voice Heather raised her head and gave Jake the biggest smile she could muster. "Thanks Jake."

"Anytime, Babe, anytime," he said then leaned forward and kissed her cheek. As Heather slowly sat up, he stood and walked behind her and began to gently knead her shoulders. She reached for the mug of tea, took a couple of sips, let out a contented side and said, "Mmm, this tea hits the spot and that feels heavenly. You do know how to take care of me," as she leaned her head back against Jake stomach and looked up at him.

Jake looked down into Heather's face and smiled, "My pleasure," he replied as he took a step back, bent down and gave her a soft kiss. Chavez cleared his throat, interrupting their moment. Heather raised her head and a blush spread across her face, realizing that both Chavez and Hawkins had witnessed the affectionate exchange between Jake and herself.

Jake smirked at Chavez, walked to other side of the table picked up the chair and carried it to the head of the table and placed it down beside Heather. As he sat down he turned to Heather and said, "Are you ready to begin?" Heather nodded in confirmation as Jake reached for her hand under the table. He turned to Chavez and said a little coldly, "Why don't you start?"

Chavez shifted uncomfortably in his chair and cleared his throat. "Before I start, I just want to say . . . to say that I'm . . . sorry for last night." He then looked nervously at Heather before continuing, "I went too far, I should have stopped him before he got that close. . . I just thought that once he saw you he might start talking. It was a mistake and I'm sorry."

Jake felt Heather's hand tighten in his and gave her a quick glance to make sure she was okay he then looked at Chavez and nodded his head acknowledging the apology he had just given Heather.

"Thanks, Joe. I forgive you." Heather said quietly before she laughed nervously, "I can't say I'm sad that he's dead after all he's done. I just wish it didn't have to happen in my living room." She took a deep breath and looked at Chavez and then at Jake and finished with a determined breath, "But what is done is done and it's time to move on."

Hawkins nodded his head approvingly at Heather's words. "She's right, time to move on. Jake? Chavez?"

"Agreed." Jake said as he held his hand out to Chavez.

"Agreed," said Chavez taking his hand.

Hawkins flashed Heather a quick smile and mouthed "Way to go," as the two men shook hands.

Heather smiled and looked at the three men and said, "Now, boys, shall we get down to business?"

Chavez turned to Heather and gave her a mock salute. Yes, Ma'am!"

He then looked at Hawkins and both men started laughing, obviously relieved that Heather was feeling better. Heather felt her cheeks turning red at her overly enthusiastic comment. When she turned and found Jake smiling at her, she started giggling. Jake leaned over and kissed her temple and said, "Great way to start a meeting."

Once the laughter died down, Hawkins was the first to speak.

"Heather, we need to bring you up to speed on a few things that happened last night. Are you up to it?"

Jake gave Heather's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm okay, let's get it over with."

Hawkins continued, "Chavez and I followed Constantino out of Camp Cheyenne. About forty five minutes out, he was stopped by some Ravenwood goons. They gave him a sack." Hawkins reached into his pocket as he continued, "It had a gun and this picture in it." Hawkins laid the picture down in front of Heather.

Heather drew in a quick breath. "It has my address on it! They told them where to find me?"

Sensing her discomfort, Jake spoke up, "Babe, are you okay? Do you want to stop?"

Heather took another breath, "I'm fine."

"Do you know when that picture was taken?" Hawkins asked.

Heather picked up the picture and studied it. "The shirt I had on is new. I got it when I when I first got to Cheyenne. Let me think a minute . . . Jake, did you see where I put my purse?"

"It's in the bedroom, do you need it?"

"Yes, I want to show you my government I.D. badge." She said as she let go of Jake's hand and pushed her chair out, getting ready to stand up.

"No, you stay, finish your tea. I'll get it." Jake said as he stood up, squeezed her shoulder and walked out of the kitchen.

Heather picked up her mug and managed to have a few more sips before Jake walked in and handed her the purse.

Heather opened it and pulled out her government I.D. badge and put it down next to the picture.

"It's the same picture." Jake confirmed.

"Yes, that picture was taken during my orientation the day I started work at the capitol. They must have gotten the picture from my HR file."

"Valente," Jake hissed.

Heather saw the concern in Jake's face. "Don't worry..."

Jake looked at Heather incredulously, "Not only is your boss trying to seduce you, but he wants to have someone kill you too. Of course I'm gonna worry!"

"He is not trying to seduce me." Heather said through clenched teeth, enunciating each word. She was annoyed that Jake said Valente was interested in her in front of Chavez and Hawkins.

Jake realizing his mistake, turned to Heather. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it. But don't tell me not to worry. Of course I will. As long as you're in Cheyenne, I'm gonna worry!"

She took his hand in hers and looked him in the eyes as she said in a reassuring tone, "I know you are but I'm fine, Jake, really I am."

Hawkins spoke up. "You don't know for sure the picture came from Valente. Even if it did, we don't know why he gave it to them. It could be as simple as he wanted an additional check into her background."

"Yeah, the right hand doesn't always know what the left hand is doing at the capitol and that can work for us." Chavez added.

 "But that's only if we can find out what they're both up to." Jake mumbled to himself.

Heather had heard Jake's comment and was anxious to change the subject. She looked at the three men, smiling, and said, "What's next?"

"I followed Constantino while Hawkins followed the Ravenwood goons. Hawkins found their base camp. We went there today. Didn't see anything that unusual."

"Heather, you heard about the Ravenwood contingent who wanted to ransack Jericho who we stopped at the Tacoma Bridge?" Jake asked.

She nodded her head yes. "That was the day Emily was going to get married, right?"

"Yeah, Goetz, their leader, is in Cheyenne. We saw him today."

"Jake, I heard about what you did on that bridge. He knows who you are. Did he see you?" Heather asked worriedly.

"No, we were well hidden." Jake reassured her.

"Good." Heather replied, relieved.

Chavez continued from the point where Jake had interrupted him. "I thought it might be a good idea to infiltrate them, that it might give us some leads. I applied for and got a job working with one of their security forces. I start tomorrow. I told Jake and Hawkins while you were sleeping. I figured it might be a good way to learn what both sides are up to. I'll keep an eye on Ravenwood and Heather can keep an eye on Valente."

The look that came over Jake's face at Chavez's statement wasn't lost on Heather. Trying to head off another possible conversation like they had earlier, she decided to change the subject for a second time that night.

"Well, I learned a few things today." Heather said.

"Care to share?" Hawkins asked.

Heather smiled at Hawkins, "Sure." She lifted her purse off the floor, opened it and pulled out the notes she had taken earlier that day. "I did some research on Cheyenne Farm. Let me give you the key points from my notes." She then summarized her notes for the three men.

"Do you mind if I take your notes? I'd like to enter them into our files." Hawkins asked.

"No problem. I do have some unanswered questions. I'm going to try to do a little more research tomorrow."

"What are they?" Jake asked.

"Well, the names Rall Engineering and RJ Land Development both sounded so familiar like I heard them before."

"Remember the story I told you about Camp Cheyenne, Heather?" Chavez asked.

Heather thought about it a minute and then her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "I remember now! That was the company you told me about who won the government contract to construct the camps, right?"

"Yes."

"RJ Land Development is the company that Darcy told us about, the one that's in Jericho trying to make a deal with the farmers." Hawkins said.

"Rall Engineering is a subsidiary of Jennings & Rall." Chavez said then thought out loud, "I wonder if there's a connection between RJ Land and Jennings & Rall?"

"That should be easy enough for me to find out." Heather volunteered. "I'll add it to my list to research tomorrow. My next question is what the workers agreed to, when RJ Land handed over the plots of land for them to farm."

"Now that's a good question," Jake chimed in. "Especially, since  it appears that they'll be offering the farmers back home some kind of deal."

"My last two questions were why they constructed a barbed wire fence around the property? And what's the Ravenwood connection?"

"They'd probably tell you that barbed wire protects from the outside world, which we all know is not a friendly place today. Of course, it also conveniently imprisons their employees." Hawkins said in way of an answer to the first question.

"Ravenwood is owned by Jennings & Rall, which may or may not indicate that RJ Land is also connected to Jennings & Rall." Chavez said attempting to answer the second question.

"All worth looking into, Heather. Good job!" Hawkins said.

"Thanks, Rob!" Heather said as she smiled at him and handed him her notes.

"Anything else, Heather?" Chavez asked.

"Yes, there's one more thing Valente wants me to work on, it's a top secret project. The Eastern government sent a memo to Cheyenne related to increase drug trafficking in the east. They're claiming the drugs are coming from the west and they're accusing the government here of not doing anything about it. Valente wants me to find out what I can about it and to go out in the field if necessary to get more information."

"He wants you to be a spy?" Jake asked incredulously, before saying emphatically, "No way in hell!"

Heather gave Jake an annoyed look and turned to face Hawkins to continue her report. "I told him I had no field work experience and his reply was simply that he had confidence that I could do it."

"Heather...." Jake interrupted.

"Jake. Please, not now," Heather said through clenched teeth, so only Jake could hear, before locking her eyes on Hawkins and saying, "I told him I'd give it my best shot while thinking to myself that I didn't have to worry. After all I have an expert spy at my disposal and two other men who can help me and give me pointers."

"Damn straight," Hawkins replied smiling back at Heather.

"Hey, you know he's not the only expert here. I have the same amount of experience as him!" Chavez exclaimed, he couldn't help but feel a little miffed that Heather didn't think of him as an expert too. "But hey, at least I'm good for a few pointers."

Hawkins snorted at Chavez's comments then assured Heather, "We'll help all we can."

 "The same memo came through in my intel file. It's the one I told you my superiors asked if I thought there could be some connection to our investigation. I told them that I didn't think there was a connection but I'm thinking now I may have to revisit that in light of the importance that Valente is putting on Heather's project." Chavez stated.

"Sounds like you may have to," Hawkins agreed and then added, "Well is there anything else? If not, we have a phone call to make."

"All set here." Heather said.

"Jake, Chavez?" Both men shook their heads. Hawkins then took the phone out of his pocket and called home.

Jericho; the Hawkins house

Darcy and Gail were sitting at the kitchen table enjoying a cup of tea.

"Thanks so much for inviting me to dinner. It's good to get out of the
house." Gail told Darcy.

"It was a pleasure having you. I hope Sam didn't bother you too much. He
does ask a lot of questions."

"Not at all. He is so cute; I had a lot of fun with him tonight. Now that Johnston is gone and Jake is in Cheyenne, it's so quiet at the house. This was a nice change."

"Well, we'll have to do it more often then."

"Allison and Sam must be missing their father."

"Yes, I think they do, Sam especially. Rob hasn't been around much since the time he was about two years old. That changed when we moved here.

"Did Rob travel a lot for work in his old job?" Gail asked.

Darcy was glad to have another woman to talk to. It had been so long since she had a friend. She was happy that she and Gail had hit it off. Despite their new found friendship, she knew she couldn't tell Gail the truth so she settled on a half-truth. "Yes, it was very hard on our marriage. We were separated for four years. When we got back together, we wanted a new start, and ended up in Jericho.

"I didn't realize," Gail said sympathetically.

"Rob and I are closer now then we've ever been. We did have a rough patch just a short while ago, put now we're very much on track."

"I'm glad to hear that. Putting something back together is never easy."

"Well, getting back to Sam, during the four years we were separated Rob constantly traveled for work. Maybe he saw the kids four times a year. Sam never really got to know Rob. Since we've been in Jericho though, the two have gotten a lot closer."

"That's good, and I'm sure once Rob is back they'll become even closer."

"I'm sure they will. I just can't wait until he's back home and we can be a family again."

"I know the feeling. You know, Jake and Johnston didn't get along from his teen years until the time he came home to Jericho. Johnston loved Eric and Jake dearly, and he expected a lot from them, but never more than he knew they could give. Eric seemed to pride himself in being the Mayor's son but with Jake it was just the opposite he rebelled under the scrutiny, he went as far in the other direction that as he could. Adding to that they were both very stubborn, neither wanted to give an inch to try and make things better."

Gail lifted her mug and drank the last of her tea before continuing. "Jake, ended up working for Jonah Prowse . . . something happened that caused Jake to leave home. You know the day Jake came home, the day of the attacks, was the turning point in their relationship. Johnston said he came back a changed man, but you know, I think Johnston changed too. Well, whatever it was, Jake and Johnston became a lot closer. Johnston was so proud of him. It breaks my heart, though, they lost so much time and they were just getting it back when he died." Gail pulled out a Kleenex and dabbed at her eyes.

Nodding, Darcy reached out and squeezed Gail's hand.

Gail sniffled and said, "Thanks dear. I'll be okay."

"Can I get I get you another cup of tea?"

"That would be wonderful."

Darcy returned a minute later with two fresh mugs of tea, after placing Gail's in front of her and sitting down with hers she smiled at Gail. "So what's this I hear about Jake and Heather, is it? Miss Lisinski? I don't really know her, but I liked her when I met her. Before," she explained, sighing. "She was going to be Sam's teacher."

"Yes, Miss Lisinski and Heather are one and the same." Gail explained then chuckled, "Well, they're together. That's about all I know. Jake was like a caged animal before he left for Cheyenne, he couldn't get out of here fast enough. When I talked to him last week and he told me Heather was safe, he sounded so relieved. I'm hoping everything works out between them."

"That day Jake came over and asked for Rob's help, we both suspected he had
feelings for her. You should have seen him, caged animal is right!" Both
women giggled.

Darcy then asked Gail, "Sam and I like to go for nature walks. We're planning one for Sunday, would you like to come?"

Gail smiled brightly and said, "I would love it!"

"Great, we usually leave around eleven o'clock and walk for about an hour. We'll stop by your house on the way."

"That sounds fun. When we're done with the walk we can go back to my house for lunch. Stanley brought over some vegetables the other day, I'll make a soup."

"That's sounds wonderful. We'd be happy to stay for lunch. Thank you."

Their conversation was interrupted when the doorbell rang. Gail looked at her watch. "It's quarter to eight. That must be Eric." Both women got up and walked into the foyer. Darcy answered the door, "Hello, Eric."

"Good evening, Darcy. Mom" Eric said before walking over and giving his
mother a kiss on the cheek.

"How was your day, dear? Gail asked.

"Busy. Gray was a handful today bragging about the part he had in getting
the incentives from RJ Land Development. I can't believe how dumb he is, Dad
would've seen right though what they are trying to do."

"He sure would have." Gail said wistfully, the sorry she still felt keenly showing in her eyes.

"Are you okay, Mom?" Eric asked.

"I'm fine dear, where's Stanley?"

"He said he'll be here at eight, but you know him, he's always late. I know he
spent a lot of time today talking with the farmers who haven't signed up for
services yet."

"Well, let's hope he succeeded," Darcy said before asking Eric, "Can I get
you a drink?"

"No, thanks. I'm fine."

"Well, it's a few minutes before eight. Why don't we get settled in the
dining room? I think with Stanley coming we'll all be more comfortable in
there."

On the way to the dining room, Darcy stopped in the living room and went to
the shelf where she had hid the phone and pulled it out. She went into the
dining room and joined Gail and Eric at the table and placed the phone down.

Exactly at eight o'clock the phone rang. Darcy answered, "Hello, Rob. I'm
going to put you on speaker phone; we have a few things to tell you." Darcy
then turned on the speaker and placed the phone in the middle of the table.



Cheyenne; back at the safe house

Hawkins turned on the speaker and placed the phone in the middle of the
table. "Dee, we have Chavez, Jake and Heather here."

"Eric and Gail are here and we're expecting Stanley." Dee replied. "There's
the door bell now. That must be Stanley, I'll be right back."

The group in Cheyenne could hear the shuffling of chairs while room was made
for Stanley at the table.

"Jake, you there old buddy?" Stanley said.

"Yes." Jake said, smiling.

"How's that girl of yours?"

The look Jake gave Heather warmed her to her toes. "Ask her yourself."

"Heather's there?"

'Yes, I'm here." Heather replied, smiling.

"You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," she replied, looking at Jake. "I couldn't be better." She was rewarded for her comment by a quick kiss from the man sitting next to her.

Chavez rolled his eyes and Hawkins spoke up, "Let's get down to business. Constantino is dead."

Jake leaned over and whispered to Heather, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she replied, squeezing the hand that still held hers under the table.

"He was in Cheyenne?" Eric asked incredulously.

"He was looking for Heather. Ravenwood told him where to find her," Jake replied.

"What happened?" Stanley asked.

Chavez gave a brief run down of the events of the previous night to the Jericho contingent. While he was talking, Jake let go of Heather's hand, resting his on the table. A few seconds later he started to drum his fingers lightly against the wood, clearly agitated by Chavez's account of the events of the prior evening. Heather seeing Jake's reaction, reached over and covered his hand with hers, stopping his action. Heather then clasped it reassuringly, looking at him. Jake saw the questioning look in her eyes, he looked down at their clasped hands, and then at her. Looking into her eyes he mouthed, "I'm okay, now." Heather beamed at him.

"Ravenwood, So they are involved in all this." Eric concluded.

"Yes, to what extent we can't prove yet. We're working on that." Hawkins said in way of a reply.

"Eric, make sure Russell knows, okay?"

"Will do, Jake. Speaking of Russell, he was elected mayor of New Bern at their special election this week. He's coming to Jericho for a meeting Monday. I'll tell him then."

"Tell him that Heather and I say ‘congratulations'". Jake requested then asked, "So how did the meeting go last night?"

"Not as well as I would have liked." Eric commented, then continued, "The rep, a Jim O'Leary, tried to steam roll the farmers into buying services from RJ Land & Development on the spot. He was somewhat successful; thirty percent of the farmers had signed up for services by the end of the night."

"Thanks in no part to Gray," Stanley said sarcastically.

"What about Gray?" Jay asked.

"We'll get back to him." Eric replied then continued, "Some examples of the services they offer are equipment rental, management, consultant and labor services and discounted seeds and livestock. There are different service packages all of which were being offered at a discount for any farmers who signed up."

Heather asked the next question. "How do they expect to be paid for their services?"

Eric explained, "They're offering services on credit, on what they call generous terms, and they are telling the farmers they can pay them back when their crops come in or their livestock is sold. They're guaranteeing that they will buy back crops and livestock as long as they are on their approved list from any farmer who buys their service."

"I don't trust them as far as I can throw ‘em. Wait until you hear about the contract." Stanley interjected.

Eric continued, "Last night Darcy gave me one of the contracts. I reviewed it this morning. It's a huge risk for the farmers. Those credit terms I was telling you about? Well, there's small print in the contract that says if services can't be paid from crops or livestock then the farmers would be required sign over a percentage of their land to the company that is equivalent in value to the services contracted for."

Heather was the first to catch on to what Eric was saying. "But Eric, land values are way down, no one has the money to buy land. If they can't pay with crops or livestock, they could lose their farms."

"That's right, Heather, and to make matter worse, farmers who sign the contract are agreeing to let RJ Land handle all record keeping and are agreeing to let RJ Land have the final say in the settling of all disputes." Eric replied.

Heather thought a moment before speaking up. "Hmm . . . I wonder . . . I did some research today on RJ Land. Between January 2004 and December 2004 they bought twenty parcels of land in the west. I'm wondering if this is part of bigger plan to create some kind of farming monopoly."

"Sounds logical." Chavez muttered.

Darcy spoke up. "There might be some information I can find out at work, let me poke around see what I can find. It might be interesting to find out what other towns they've approached."

"At the meeting last night, Eric and I tried to convince the farmers at the meeting not to sign up. Today I spent all day talking to farmers that haven't signed," Stanley interjected.

Following up with what Stanley had just said, Heather asked, "What are they saying, Stanley?"

"They're scared, they feel backed into corner, like they don't have a choice. They want to make sure their families are taken care of. The company's guarantee to back the crops and livestock is making it really appeal to them. I told them what Eric said about the contract. I got most of them to promise to think about it, to hold off a day or two before they make a final decision, but I don't know. If it hadn't been for Gray last night we would have been more successful, I never saw him work a room like he did last night."

"What about Gray?" Jake repeated his earlier question.

"He's really gung ho on getting the farmers signed up." Stanley said.

"'I'll take it from here, Stanley." Eric said, then continued, "Before the meeting the rep met with Gray they drew up a list of town needs. They promised incentives to the town based on the amount of revenue generated from the services provided."

"You didn't know this before the meeting?"

"No, Gray pulled me aside right before the meeting started. I asked him how he knew it was in the best interest of the farmers. His statement was, ‘There are more citizens in town than on the farms', they have to be our first priority."

"Well, I know who's not gonna get a share of my crops this year," Stanley quipped.

"Stanley, keep doing your best to convince them not to sign anything. I'm with you, I don't trust them either," Jake stated then asked, "Eric, do you think Gray is getting some kind of a kickback from them?"

"Wouldn't surprise me, Jake. I'll try and feeling him out some more, see if he'll tell me something."

"Good. Is there anything else?" Jake queried.

"Yeah. I mentioned this to Eric last night. This guy, Jay Kent, who bought the farm next to mine, has put up a barbed wire fence around the property. The other day when I was out in the field that border his property I saw two vans pull up and watched as about twenty men and women getting out with their gear. My gut's telling me something's fishy is going on out there." Stanley explained.

"Agreed. Keep an eye on it will you? Anything else?" Hawkins asked.

"Sure thing and I'm all set, Eric, Darcy?"

"No." "No." Darcy said, echoed by Eric.

"Darcy, I'm going in the other room hold on." Hawkins said as he turned off the speaker stood up and walked into the bedroom for some privacy as he spoke with his wife.

"Rob, how are you doing?"

"Good. All things considered."

"And the investigation?"

"We're making a little progress. Now that Heather's in place things should start moving faster."

"That's good. The sooner the better, I miss you and the kids miss you."

"I miss you and the kids too," Hawkins replied, before asking, "How are the kids?"

"They're fine. Sam is doing really well in school. So is Allison, but she has an incentive. I told her that she couldn't do border patrol unless she does well in school. I saw Jimmy the other day. He says that she'll be done with her training next week. She's really excited. Jimmy is going to put her on the schedule for Saturdays."

"Good. I know you're worried about her being out there, but she'll do fine."

Darcy chuckled before saying, "I am a little worried, but you're right, she'll be fine. You know, Rob, she's a lot like you."

"Yeah, she is," Hawkins said a little apprehensively but not without some pride in his voice.

"She was asked to do a solo for the spring concert. I think she would like if you could be home for it."

"When is it?"

"I think it's in three weeks. It's the day before Stanley's wedding."

"I'll be there, Dee."

"I told Allison chances are you won't be there, that you'll still be working . . . . you said you'll be there?

"Yeah. Jake's in the wedding, he'll be going home for it, even if we haven't finished here. I'll go with him."

"Oh...Allison will be thrilled. If you're not finished by then, you'll be going back?

"I might have to Dee . . . probably, we'll see."

"Whatever you think is best, Rob."

"How's Sam?"

"You know Sam, he misses you,

"Yeah, well I miss him too. Dee, you be careful at work."

I will, Rob."

"I know I can't stop you but I do want you to be careful when you start snooping around.

 "You know me too well . . .  and I will be careful," Darcy said before teasing, "And Rob, you don't know everything about me . . . I have one skill, you sure don't have."

Hawkins snorted and said, "Oh yeah, what's that?"

"I can play office politics!" Darcy chuckled and said in a more serious tone, "I used office politics to get ahead, to expand my authority in D.C. No reason I can't do the same here.

"I'm sure you can but Dee...,"

Darcy interrupted, "Allison and Sam just walked in the room, they want to say hi. Here's Allison."

"Hey Dad!"

"Allison. How are you?"

"Good. Guess what?"

"What?"

"I got asked to sing a solo in the spring concert!"

"Good for you." Hawkins replied not wanting to let Allison know that Darcy had already clued him in.

"Do you think you'll be home for it?"

"I wouldn't miss it."

"Wow, that's great Dad."

"Your mom says you're doing well in school."

"Yeah. I don't have a choice. Mom says if I don't do well, no border patrol," Allison complained.

"She's right."

 "Yeah. Yeah. I already got that message, Dad."

Hawkins snorted at the remark and then asked, "So you're almost done training for border patrol?"

"I finish up next week!" Allison replied brightly before adding, "Jimmy's putting me on the schedule for Saturdays. He said when school's out then I can have more hours."

"Listen, Allison, remember what I told you. Things are better now, but things can still happen. Always go out there expecting something will happen, keep your senses sharp, you never know when danger will strike."

"I know that, Dad. Listen, I have to run I have to finish up a project for school. Bye, Dad."

"Bye, Allison."

"Okay, here's Sam," Allison said before handing the phone to Sam.

"Hi, Dad!"

"Hey, short stuff, how ya doing?"

"I miss you, Dad. When are you coming home?"

The question pulled at Hawkins heart, it reminded him of all the time he missed out on with Sam when Darcy left him when he told her he had an assignment where he'd have to go deep undercover. Since they came to Jericho, he had worked hard to establish a relationship with Sam and his effort s had just begun to be rewarded when the war with New Bern happened. He just hoped that after this investigation was finished he'd be able to get their relationship back on track.

"Soon. I'll be home for the spring concert. Are you in it too?"

"Yeah, us little kids are going to sing a couple of crummy songs. The high school kids get to sing all the good stuff." Sam complained.

"Well, when your older, Sam, you'll get to sing the good stuff." Hawkins said chuckling to himself.

"Yeah. Yeah. You sound just like Mom. Guess what, Dad?! I got a hundred on my spelling test!"

"Good work, Sam. You keep doing that well and you can be whatever you want when you grow up."

"Thanks Dad. I went to Mr. Taylor's house the other day and played football with him and Woody. It was a lot of fun, Sam said and then added, "But not as much as playing with you."

"We'll play when I get home. I miss you, short stuff."

"I miss you to Dad. Love you."

"Back at ya."

"Dad, Mom wants to say good bye. Bye, Dad"

"Bye, Sam."

Hawkins waited a minute as Sam handed the phone back to Darcy.

"Dee?"

"Rob, I just wanted to say good bye."

"I love you Dee. Remember, be careful."

"I will and I love you, too."

"Hold on a sec, Dee. I want to go back in the kitchen and ask Jake and Chavez something."

"Okay."

Hawkins walked back into the kitchen and held his hand over the speaker. Looking between the three people sitting around the table, he said, "I'm going to tell Dee, that we'll call again on Monday, maybe Heather will have more info on RJ Land.   Agreed?"

Jake, Heather and Chavez all nodded their heads. Hawkins then removed his hand from the speaker and spoke to Darcy.

"I just checked with Chavez and Jake. We want to call you on Monday. We think Heather may have more intel on RJ Land and if you have anything by then you can tell us. Okay?"

"Sure, I'll let Gail and Eric know."

"I'm going to hand the phone to Jake now. Good bye, Dee."

"Bye, Rob."

Jake stood up and took the phone from Hawkins.  Stanley was the first to get on the phone.

"Jakey. How the heck are you?"

"Fine Stanley," Jake said as he started walking toward the bedroom. Suddenly, he turned and spied Heather still sitting at the table. "Hold on a minute, Stanley." He walked back over to the table and held his hand out to Heather.

Heather said quietly so Stanley wouldn't over hear her. "It's okay, Jake. You go talk to your family."

Jake replied quietly, "I want you there." Heather beamed up at Jake, took his hand and followed him into the bedroom.

"Stanley, I'm back."

"So you and Heather, huh?"

"That's right," Jake said as he smiled at Heather.

"Good for you buddy. You're a lucky son of a gun."

Jake snorted then said, Yeah. That's what they keep telling me."

"How's our girl?"

"Hold on, I'll let you her tell you herself."

"Cool."

Jake handed the phone to Heather.

"Stanley?" Heather said into the phone.

"Hey, Heather! It's good to hear your voice."

"Yours too."

"Are you okay, Heather?"

"I'm fine now that Jake's here."

Heather turned and smiled at Jake who had moved onto the bed. He was sitting, leaning against the headboard, with the pillow he had pulled out from under the bedspread behind his back. When he saw her looking at him he patted the spot beside him.

"Hey, Jake told you me and Mimi are getting married, right?" Stanley said .

"Yeah," Heather said as scooted over on the bed so that she was sitting next to Jake.

"Well, consider this your invite. You'll come with Jake, right? ‘Cause you know, he needs a date."

Heather laughed at that and replied happily, "He already asked me, so there. And I wouldn't miss it."

"Well that's a relief. I've been trying to get Jake dates for years."

Heather laughed again causing Jake to look at her with raised eyebrows. "What's so funny?"

"Stanley, hold on." Heather covered the mouth piece with her hand, smiled sweetly at Jake, "Private joke," she said solemnly before starting to laugh again.

Jake realized that the joke was on him, but the effect was worth it. It had been a long time since he heard Heather's spontaneous laughter and was grateful to his friend for being the catalyst of it.

The sound of Stanley's voice came from the phone, "Heather? Heather?"

"Sorry Stanley, I'm still here."

"Tell Jake to take good care of you."

Heather looked at Jake as she spoke into the phone, "I don't have to tell Jake to take good care of me, he already does." On hearing the comment, Jake smiled at Heather, wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple.

"I'm gonna give the phone to Eric now."

Heather moved the phone from her hear and said to Jake, "Eric's getting on the line now."

"It's okay, you can say hi," Jake murmured.

Heather lifted the phone back to her ear to hear Eric say, "Jake?"

"Hi Eric, it's me."

"Hi Heather, how are you after all that's happened?"

"I'm okay."

"You can depend on Jake, he can help you through it."

"I am depending on him. He's been taking good care of me," Heather said, earning another kiss, this time on the cheek, from Jake.

"He knows everything now?"

"Yes."

"You're coming back with Jake for Stanley's wedding, aren't you?"

"Yes, it will be so good to see you again."

"Same here."

"Talk to you soon. I'll put Jake on now. Bye, Eric."

"Bye, Heather."

Keeping his right arm around Heather, Jake reached over and took the phone from her. Heather settled herself more comfortably against Jake, resting her head on his chest and wrapping her arm around his waist. Jake absentmindedly stroked his hand up and down Heather's side while talking to Eric.

"Hey, Eric," Jake said into the phone.

"Jake, how are you?"

"Okay. Busy but things are good, overall."

"Heather?"

"Coping."

"You know Jake, you are lucky you have her. She's the best. I don't know that you deserve her, but you got her. You better take care of her."

Jake replied, slightly annoyed with the comment, "What do you think I'm doing Eric? And don't you think I know how lucky I am?"

Heather could tell from the sound of Jake's voice that he was annoyed. Trying to calm him, she lifted her head, when Jake turned to look at her she whispered to him, "No, I'm the lucky one." She then gave him a quick kiss on the lips before settling her head down back on his chest. Jake gave her a quick squeeze and turned his attention back to Eric.

"Jake, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

"Let's just forget about it. Heather told me what you did for her in New Bern. I owe you for that. Thanks for keeping her safe."

"I did my best. She's a great girl and doesn't deserve all that's happened to her."

"Yeah you're right, she didn't. But none of us have. You must have your hands full with Gray," Jake said wanting to steer the conversation away from Heather.

"Sure do. It's been a tough couple of days. Something doesn't seem right with him lately; I can't put my finger on it."

"Well, keep an eye on him."

"I will. "

"How's Mom?"

"She still has her moments, especially since she's alone now that you're gone. I've stayed over a couple of nights since you've left and I'll keep doing that ‘til you return."

"Good idea. Heather and I will be back in a few weeks for the wedding. Hopefully, we'll be done here and won't have to come back, but I'm not counting on that."

"Talking about Mom, she's anxious to talk to you. I'm going to put her on now."

"Okay, talk to you soon."

"You too."

Jake gave Heather another squeeze and a quick kiss while waiting for his Mom to get on the phone.

"Jake?"

"Mom, how are you?"

"I'm okay, Jake. I do miss having you around the house. I'll be glad when you're back."

"Me too."

"How's Heather doing? That poor girl having to go through what she did last night."

"Yeah, I know. It was hard on both of us."

"Well, she's lucky to have you!"

"Thanks, Mom."

"And you're lucky to have her!"

"I am, Eric said the same thing," Jake said while thinking, ‘But it's much easier hearing it from you, Mom.'

"I've been seeing a lot of Darcy lately. She and I are becoming good friends. It's nice to have someone to talk to. I had dinner here tonight. Sam was so much fun, he reminded me of you when you were that age, always asking questions! I'm going for a nature walk with Darcy and Sam on Sunday and then we're having lunch here."

"That's nice. It's good that you found a new friend."

"Heather is coming back with you for the wedding isn't she?"

"Yeah, she'll be there."

"Well, tell her she can stay with us. It will give me a chance to get to know her."

"I was planning on it, Mom."

"You know, your Dad, told me about what happened before you left for Black Jack. He said if there was anyone who could handle you it was her. He said he admired her spunk for calling you out that day."

Jake snorted and said hoarsely, "I always wondered what he thought about that whole scene. "

"Well now you know. He also told me about your reaction when Heather left for New Bern. Even if you didn't know it yet, he said, your future lay with Heather. I didn't believe him when he said it, but looks like he might have been right." Gail said then sniffled.

"Well, he was right, Mom. Absolutely. I can't even . . .  Mom, are you going to be okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Gail said than sniffled again, "It just that sometimes..."

"I know Mom. It's going to take awhile but it'll get better. I still think of him a lot too. I'm glad we had those last few months. They meant a lot to me."

"I know, dear. Well, I better not keep you any longer. You tell Heather for me, that I said for her to take good care of my boy."

"Aww, come on. I'm not going to tell her that."

"You tell her Jake, tell her to take care of you."

"No." Jake said, rolling his eyes.

"Jake..." Gail teased.

"Okay, okay." Jake turned to Heather and said a little sarcastically, "She says for you to take good care of me."

Heather smiled, "Let me talk to her for a minute."

Jake handed her the phone.

"Mrs. Green? I just want to assure you that I will take very good care of your son." Heather said seriously and then smiled up at Jake before adding,  "And he's taking very good care of me."

"I know you will, dear ... and I know he is. I just couldn't resist teasing Jake a little bit.  By the way, call me Gail."

Heather chuckled, "Well the teasing worked, and you should've seen the blush on his face when he told me what you said." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jake roll his eyes and then smirk.

"Just what I thought his reaction would be!  Jake says he's planning on asking you to stay with us when you come back for the wedding. I just want to let you know you're welcome to. It'll give us a chance to get to know each other better."

"Thanks, Gail. I'll be looking forward to it."

"Good. Well, I'm going to say good bye now. I have an early day tomorrow. Good night, Heather."

"Good night, Gail. It was nice talking to you."

"You too, dear."

"I'll put Jake back on."

Heather handed the phone to Jake.

"Jake, I'm going to say good night. I have to be at the med center early tomorrow."

"Okay, Mom. Good night"

"Good night. We'll talk soon."

Jake turned off the phone and placed it on the nightstand next to the bed. Heather than shifted herself so that she was laying half on Jake with both of her forearms resting on his chest she looked into his eyes. He lifted his hand and while curling a piece of her hair in her fingers said wistfully, "Gail, huh?"

"Yep," she said, her smile reaching her eyes, making Jake smile back at her.

They gazed at each other and saw the love they shared mirrored in each other eyes. Entranced, Heather lowered her face to Jake's tentatively touching her lips to his.

Jake was pleased by Heather's assertiveness, glad that she was beginning to feel comfortable with the physical side of their relationship. He deepened the kiss, enjoying the feeling of her relaxing against him when he pulled her closer.

They both became so lost in each other that they didn't hear the knock at the door, followed by the creaking of the door opening. It wasn't until Chavez cleared his throat, embarrassed that he had walked in on them, that Heather and Jake realized they were no longer alone. They quickly pulled away from each other. Heather, blushing furiously, buried her head in Jake's chest. Jake looked at Chavez with eyebrows raised, silently questioning his presence.

"Uh....yeah...right . . . uh....sorry," Chavez stammered with a bemused expression on his face, before making a hasty retreat out of the room.

As soon as the door closed, Jake started laughing.

Heather raised her head and playfully swatted Jake's chest. "That is so not funny!"

"You'd be laughing too, if you saw the look on his face when he walked in!"

"Jake..." Heather warned, the blush deepening on her cheeks.

"What?" Jake asked before laughing again.

"This is what!" Heather said before she pressed her lips to his, effectively silencing his laughter.

Again they both became lost in their kiss, when they finally broke apart both were breathing heavily. Heather laid her head on Jake's shoulder while he made gentle circles on her back.

"We should go soon, I'm getting sleepy."

"Yeah, just give me a minute."

They lay quietly for a few minutes more before Jake murmured, ‘Ready, Babe?"

"Yeah," Heather replied.  When she got out of bed, she started looking for her shoes that she had taken off earlier in the night, when she had lain down for her nap. Finding them, she picked them up and sat back down on the bed and put them on. In the meantime, Jake got out on the other side of the bed and waited patiently for Heather to finish. Once she was done Jake took a hold of Heather's hand and pulled her up. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close while Heather wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Love you, Babe."

"Love you back."

Jake gave her a quick kiss and pulled her into a hug. "Ahhh . . . you feel so good, Babe," he said. He picked up his head and leaned his forehead against her, "Ready?"

"Yes, let's go, I'm sleepy." she said a little breathlessly.

When they pulled apart from their hug, Jake took Heather's hand in his and led her out of the bedroom. They walked into the kitchen where Chavez and Hawkins were sitting.

"We're going to get going." Jake announced.

"Okay." Hawkins said.

Chavez, who had regained his composure, after leaving the bedroom, looked at the couple and said a little suggestively, "Have a good night."

Jake glared at Chavez before turning and leading Heather back into the living room.

Jake picked up Heather's jacket from the chair where he had left it when he had carried it out of the bedroom earlier that night. He helped her into it and then picked up his from the same chair and put it on. "All set?"

Heather hooked her arm through Jake's. "Sure am," she replied tiredly as she rested her head on Jake's shoulder and yawned.

Chavez handed Heather her purse. "Here you left this in the kitchen."

"Oh, thanks Joe." Heather replied before taking the purse and yawning again.

"Are you feeling better?" Chavez asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah. I'm just tired and my stomach was giving me trouble earlier."

Chavez couldn't let this chance to rib Jake yet another time go by. He plastered a surprised look on his face and said, "Geez, you can't be pregnant already!"

A puzzled look came over Heather's face. "What did you say?" she asked tiredly.

At Heather's question, Chavez felt some regret at his comment. It wasn't only at Jake's expense, it was also at Heather's; he wished he thought of that before he blurted it out.

"Never mind, Babe," Jake soothed. "He didn't say anything worth repeating," he added before kissing the top of her head, turning to Chavez and giving him a cold stare.

Jake looked at Hawkins, "I'll be here after I drop Heather off at the bus stop. We'll take the car and ride out to the farm, see if we can learn anything."

"Sounds like a plan. Now, you better get our girl home and into bed." Hawkins replied.

Heather smiled at the comment and lifted her head off of Jake's shoulder. "Sounds like a good idea." She yawned again. "Sorry."

"Come on, let's go, Babe." Jake said giving Chavez another death stare as he led Heather out of the safe house.

As they were walking out, Heather turned her head. "Good night, boys."

"Good night." Chavez said

"Night, Heather," echoed Hawkins as he shut the door behind Jake and Heather.

 "That bedroom? From now on, that's Heather's and Jake's room. Trust me on that. You don't want to sleep there." Chavez said to Hawkins as soon as the door was shut.

Jake and Heather walked arm in arm in silence back to Heather's apartment. Heather too tired to participate in any meaningful conversation and Jake's mind too occupied with thoughts of the future. Like it or not, Chavez's comment before they left had affected him.

When they arrived at the apartment, Heather took off her coat and threw it on the chair next to the couch. Jake walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders and then began to gently run his hands up and down her arms. "Let's get you to bed."  Heather nodded her head gratefully and let Jake lead her to the bedroom. "You get ready for bed. I'll be back with at glass of water."

"Okay," Heather said as she turned and walked into the bedroom.

By the time Jake returned to the bedroom, Heather had changed and was in the bathroom washing up. Jake put the glass of water on the night stand on Heather's side of the bed and pulled down the covers.

Heather walked into the bedroom, saw Jake and went to him; put her arms around his neck. "Good night," she said before giving Jake a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Night, Babe," Jake replied before pulling Heather into a hug. When they pulled apart, Jake led Heather over to the bed and watched as she lay down. He then pulled the covers over her and rubbed soft circles on her back while she fell asleep.

When Jake was sure that Heather was sleeping soundly, he got up, walked into the kitchen and pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. He went back into the living room and sat on the couch. He placed the bottle on coffee table, leaned back and raked his hand over his face.

The comment that Chavez made about the possibility of Heather being pregnant, even though he knew it wasn't possible, had affected him in an unexpected way. It made him think of the future of what lay ahead for him, Heather, and their family. It made the burden he already felt for their safety and well-being weigh more heavily on him than it ever had before.

Knowing he would have a hard time getting to sleep, and not wanting to disturb Heather, he took off his shoes off and stretched out on the couch. Riotous and conflicting thoughts about the future filled his head as he fell into a restless sleep.

Early the next morning, Heather woke up, turned and reached for Jake. When her hand couldn't find him she opened her eyes. He wasn't in bed. Concerned, she got up and walked into the living room. She found him on the couch, on his back with one arm resting behind his head and the other laying on his stomach. She quietly walked back into the bedroom, pulled a blanket off the bed and returned to the living room. She bent over and covered him with the blanket.

Just as she was turning to go back into her room Jake's hand reached out and grabbed hers. Heather turned to see that he had rolled to his side and was holding up the edge of the blanket in an invitation for her to join him. Heather lay down next to him. His right arm was resting just below her neck and his left arm found its way to her waist. Heather lifted her eyes to his; despite the semi-darkness, she could see the look of despair in his eyes. She raised her hand to his cheek and gently stroked it. "Tell me, Jake," she said simply.

In that instant, looking in Heather's eyes he thought he might find the answer he was looking for if only he could just tell her. He took a deep breath and started talking. Heather quietly listened as he talked to her about his fear of what the future held . . . of his overwhelming concern for keeping her and his family safe as well as his concern for the welfare of Jericho. He hesitated, not knowing how to say what he wanted to tell her next. 

Seeing Jake's struggle, and guessing what had brought this conversation on, she decided to take the bull by the horns.  "Jake, I heard Chavez's comment tonight, but when I saw the look in your eyes, I decided to pretend that I didn't, I didn't want to add to your worry. That's what this is all about, isn't it?" she asked before looking at Jake's face.

Grateful that Heather understood, Jake nodded his head and ran his hand up and down Heather's side. She raised her hand to his cheek and continued passionately, "We can't live in the present, being afraid of the future. We just need to trust in each other and know that whatever happens we'll face it together."

"Oh, is that all?" Jake asked with a chuckle before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a hug. He held her close for a moment, feeling her gentle breaths against his cheek, before he pulled away, looked into her face and said solemnly, "How did you get so wise? I love you. I trust you. I know everything will be fine as long as you're by my side. Don't ever leave me."

 "I'll never leave you, Jake. I love you." Heather said as Jake pulled her in for another hug. 

As Heather relaxed in the comfort of Jake's arms she decided that now would be the perfect time to tell him the one thing she had been holding back. She had started to tell him a couple of times but she just couldn't get the words out; with the way things were progressing between them she knew her window of opportunity was quickly closing.

 "I need to tell you something," she said softly into Jake's ear.

Jake released the arm that he had wrapped around her shoulder and pulled away just enough so that they lay side by side, looking into each other eyes. "What is it, Babe?" he asked quietly.

Heather took a deep breath, before she replied somewhat embarrassed,   "You know, it's inevitable that what Chavez said will happen one day, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," he lifted his hand to her face and brushed her cheek with his thumb and gave her a chance to continue

 "I just . . . I just want to tell you that when it does you'll be my first," Heather said as she felt the blush spreading across her face.

Jake's eyes widened slightly in surprise and he took in a sharp breath. He felt a little overwhelmed, not only by her love, but by the trust she was placing in him.

 "That will make ‘our first' all the more special," he paused then added , "when you're ready, Babe"  and  continued to brush his thumb along her cheek.

"And Jake?"

"Yes?"

"You're going to be my last, too." Heather said, smiling shyly.

"That's what I'm counting on, Babe," Jake replied as he brought her close for a kiss. In the middle of the kiss Heather started to giggle.

Jake lifted his head. "What? What's so funny?"

Heather managed to get out, "Sorry - I'm sorry," before breaking into another round of giggles.

Jake found the giggles contagious and couldn't help but laugh before saying, "Heather, tell me what's so funny?"

Heather finally managed to compose herself. Wiping the tears from her eyes she looked away and told him shyly, "Well, I got this picture in my mind . . . . of what our son would look like."

"Yeah?" Jake asked. He'd never really thought about having kids, until now, with Heather, and he was surprised to realize he liked the idea. 

She turned her eyes back to Jake's, "Yeah. Imagine having a little Jake running around," before she started to giggle again.

 "God forbid," Jake laughed as he rolled his eyes. "We're only having girls, and they are all going to be just like you!"

"Maybe, maybe not," Heather said with a smile on her face. She lifted Jake's hand and looked at the time on his watch. "Oh my goodness, it's seven o'clock, I have to go get ready for work!" She sat up swung her legs over the side of the couch. She patted Jake on his leg and asked, "Will you put the coffee on?"

"Sure," he replied as he watched Heather stand and walk down the hall.

With a smile on his face, and a new determination to live each day in the present, he got up and walked into the kitchen to put on the coffee.