Jacob went to the bar, paid and returned with the two Coronas.

He sat and slid one across to her.

"Thank you."

Jacob held his bottle up.

"Here's to a long, dedicated partnership."

"Here's to an end to Phase One."

Jacob laughed. It was happy and unexpected. It caught Kathryn off guard. He seemed to light up from the inside. She clinked bottles with him. They each took a pull and then sat in awkward silence.

Jacob said, "So. I know you're not married, or I think I know."

"Nope. Not married."

She studied him. Wary.

"But you are, right? Jill?"

"Jill, yeah."

Another sip.

Jacob asked, "Any kids?"

"No. No kids. You?"

"Nope."

They both took another pull. Only dentistry could be more uncomfortable.

"Plan to have any?" he asked.

"Uhm, I don't know." Kathryn looked back at the pool tables, hoping to intimate to Jacob that this particular line of conversation was not one that engaged her.

"You don't?"

She faced him once again. "I don't? What? If I plan...?"

"Yeah. You don't know if you plan."

"To have kids?"

"Right."

"No ... I've never had to think about it. I mean, maybe, well sure, if I met the right person."

"Have you?"

"What?"

"Met the right guy?"

A long pause.

Kathryn finally said, "I'm not sure. Why are you asking me these questions? It feels uncomfortable."

"Just small talk."

"I didn't think you did small talk."

Jacob chuckled, and they both took another drink. Jacob got up.

"Just some things to think about. That's all. Men's room, be right back."

Kathryn watched him walk away. Nice a.s.s. But not for her.

The birthday party was over. Jill and Brodie sat in the porch swing staring up at the moon. Jill had her arm around him.

"Auntie Jill?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you somethin'?"

"Sure, little man. What's up?"

"Do you ever get scared for Uncle Jacob?"

"Do you?"

Brodie snuggled in closer and said, "Sometimes. I get scared he's gonna get hurt."

"Well, I guess I get scared, too, sometimes. But you know what? Uncle Jake works really, really hard at his job and he practices all the time to be very safe. So I've learned to trust what I know he can do." Jill wriggled a finger into the boy's ticklish side. "Like you on the basketball court ... from the three-point line."

"I rock from the three-point line!"

"I know you do, I've seen it!"

The two were quiet for a while, listening to the insects chirping in the night.

Brodie said, "If Uncle Jacob dies can we split his stuff?"

Jill looked at the boy in mock shock, then exploded in laughter. Megan appeared behind them and cleared her throat.

"Brodie, time to say good night to Aunt Jill so we can head home and get ready for bed."

Brodie kissed Jill and she kissed and hugged him back.

"Happy birthday, sport."

Brodie scurried off the swing.

"And tell her thank you for your present."

"Thank you for my present."

"You're welcome."

"Okay Brodie, go give Grandma a kiss, she's inside."

Brodie ran to the sliding door and went in. Jill stayed seated in the swing as her sister loomed behind her.

"You know, I'm not sure I want you teaching my son that stuff."

Jill turned and looked her sister square in the eye.

"And what stuff would that be?"

"This whole 'superhero' thing like Jake's got some higher calling from G.o.d. He can take a day off anytime he wants to. He just doesn't. Like we're not important enough for him to even-"

"Oh, I see. So he should come here to Brodie's birthday party, and if someone takes hostages on the other side of town, who handles it? Well?"

"Well, how should I know, but certainly there are plenty of other officers."

Jill stood and faced her sister.

"Well, therein lies the distinction. There are other officers, but there is only one sniper. He can take time off and he does. But he's on call twenty-four-seven, 365 days a year. He can't control or predict when something happens and when it does he has to go. That's why you've never seen him drunk and never will. He lives his life in a constant state of readiness. If he isn't ready, there just isn't anyone else who can do it."

"Well, obviously an emergency is an emergency but-"

"The sooner he gets someone trained the sooner he gets to have someone else who can do it, then he can be here for things like this, don't you see that?"

Jill also believed, but would never in a million years tell Megan, that Jake felt a need to get his partner trained as much and as quickly as possible before his appointment with the psychiatrist. Just in case.

"All I see is all this extra 'training time' with a female partner."

"Please don't do this to me, Megan."

"Can't handle the hard questions?"

"You know what? Talk to your son. He's got the guts to ask the really hard questions and to face the answers. But since you are clearly clueless, next time, try thinking it through, you know? Before you open your f.u.c.king mouth."

Megan's jaw dropped open. Jill stormed by her and through the sliding gla.s.s door.

At the Sidewinder, Jacob returned to the table where Kathryn had nearly finished her beer. He looked at his watch.

"Do you need to go?" She sounded hopeful.

"Just checking the time."

He nodded at her beer. "You see an end to that?"

She stared at him, then grabbed the bottle and downed the last few sips. His beer was still half full.

"Okay then. Let's go," he said and stood up.

"What?"

"Let's go. We've got stuff to do."

Kathryn slid from the booth and followed Jacob outside.

In the parking lot, Jacob marched headlong for his truck. He called over his shoulder to Kathryn, "You okay to drive?"

"Of course I am."

"Great. Follow me."

Jacob got into his truck. Kathryn ran for her Ford to keep up.

Out on the road, Kathryn struggled to keep up with Jacob who made abrupt turns in front of her until she was hopelessly lost.

They emerged on a dirt road, and she had to slow down because the dust thrown up by Jacob's truck obliterated visibility. Her Ford bounced and swayed on the rugged road. She hunched over the steering wheel, trying to see. The dust cleared all at once and Jacob was stopped directly in front of her. She hit her brakes and came close to rear-ending him. A small gate was stretched between two creosote-laden poles and blocked access to the road ahead.

Jacob walked back to Kathryn's truck. She rolled down her window.

"I've got a key. I'll swing it open and you drive around me and through, then I'll follow. Just keep going about seventy-five yards and you'll see a little turnout area for parking. Anywhere is fine."

"Okay." She rolled up her window and did as he asked. The idea of being raped, beaten, and left for dead entered her mind. After driving through the gate she watched in her rearview mirror as Jacob pulled through, then exited his car and locked the gate behind them.

Raped. Beaten. Left for dead. And all the surveillance footage from both the office and the bar parking lots (if they even had any) would show, was that she arrived in her own vehicle and drove off in her own vehicle. If anything, it looked like she was chasing him.

She kept rolling forward and found the turnout Jacob described. She parked and turned off her car. And waited for her violent s.e.xual a.s.sault. She was joking with herself, playing mind games. Kathryn could take care of herself. Even against a man as physically imposing as Jacob Denton. She wondered just what the h.e.l.l he was up to, but she didn't feel like she was in danger. Yet.

There was a small weathered shed off to the right and beyond that, a large football fieldsize area, seemingly clear, though there were hulking shadows in the moonlight. The area was filled with something, but just what that something was, Kathryn couldn't tell. Jacob pulled up next to her and cut his engine. He exited his vehicle, and Kathryn followed suit.

Jacob pulled something from the toolbox mounted to the truck bed and put it in his pocket. Kathryn stood waiting. Jacob walked over to her.

"Are you drunk?"

"Drunk? No."