"So, this is the ship's captain, eh?" Dr. Emmitt extended his hand.

Jill narrowed her eyes but shook the doctor's proffered hand. What was up with that little remark? Oh yeah, she was steering Jake's vessel. Had it been true, she would have laughed out loud. At this point she didn't know what to think. Just what had gone on in there? Dr. Emmitt met her gaze with a kind smile.

"He gave up the goods in there." When her eyes narrowed further, he quickly said, "He says you take wonderful care of him."

Jake couldn't possibly have discussed their personal life with this stranger. "I do my best," she stammered. The doctor didn't know how literal she was being. She was doing her best and floundering. At least that's how it felt. It was as if the good news had drained her, not energized her. What the h.e.l.l was wrong with her? They were fine! Jake had just said so with those eyes. Those piercing blue eyes. She could lose herself there, and often did. Another peek at Jake's eyes confirmed his previous message and she wondered why she still felt edgy. She realized she was still holding the doctor's hand. Tightly. Way too tightly. She saw the whiteness from lack of blood flow to both of their hands. She immediately wondered why he hadn't let go.

"It was so nice to meet you."

Past tense. We're outta here!

"Thank you for your help," she said and released his hand and stepped back. Jake moved toward the exit and Jill followed. She was three steps from freedom when she heard it.

"Mrs. Denton?" d.a.m.nit! So close. And why did she feel the need to run anyway? What the f.u.c.k!? Swirling hormones, lack of sugar? What was triggering this fight-or-flight response in her? And why had she chosen flight? She'd never chosen flight in her life. She was a fighter. Jake finally noticed she was not herself, moved closer and put his arm around her. She leaned into his embrace.

The doctor still stood in his doorway watching. Jill could feel it. His eyes were trying to bore through her skull to get at the gray matter inside. Furrowing ever deeper into her head. And now he'd spoken her name. Mrs. Denton.

"Do you have a minute?" Dr. Emmitt said, motioning toward his office.

"Uhm, sure," she said, as though she were fine with it. She reminded herself they were there for Jake, not her. And Jake's eyes said they were fine, so why worry? Jill stepped over the threshold of the door to back there and into the doctor's office where he closed the door behind them.

Jacob sat down where Jill had been sitting. He could feel her in the residual heat in the chair. He picked up a magazine and held it in front of his face. The receptionist at the window, who'd been mute throughout it all, remained mute. But her eyes went wide and her eyebrows skyward when she heard Jacob mumble, "Don't make me come back there."

Jill sat in the chair Jake had just occupied. She could feel it. He lingered somehow. It had always been that way for them. They were always connected in ways neither of them understood. It just was what it was, whatever the h.e.l.l it was, and they accepted it. Safe in his lingering warmth she relaxed into the chair then looked up at Dr. Emmitt.

He'd been watching her every move. Cheeky b.a.s.t.a.r.d. More words popped into her head; pervert, peeping tom, nosey parker, Berkeley graduate. He'd been relishing her discomfort, she was sure of it. Like a predator circling wounded prey. Well, that was a bit harsh. She just couldn't work up any real righteous indignation or anger toward this man. Not now. Not after he'd said they were officially fine.

"You look comfortable there, almost cozy," he said.

She added "delusional" to his list of crimes, still trying to find fault. "So how can I help you?" she blurted.

He chuckled and said, "That's usually my line."

She was distressed to see he had a great smile. And indeed he had a warm, trusting face, with big puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry. I've been a bit of a flake."

He smiled. "I don't know if I agree with that a.s.sessment. You've got quite a grip, I'll give you that. I imagine this visit has been weighing on your mind for a while. Can we agree on 'cautious'?"

She smiled. "We can."

"How are you feeling now?"

"Good ... relieved." His brow furrowed a bit.

"But I've not said anything. How do you-"

Jill cut him off. "Jake told me." A long pause. She hated getting personal but he clearly needed an answer. "He told me with his eyes," she finally said, then added, "I'm curious to know what this is about."

"This?"

"This. Me. In here. I wasn't prepared for that. And I can guarantee you Jake wasn't, either." Maybe she could dislike this guy if she gave him enough time. But what he said next removed all hope in that regard.

"That sounds rather ominous. Should I lock my door? Put a chair under the k.n.o.b?"

She stared at him, saw the twinkle in his eye, and couldn't help but laugh out loud. "That would only slow him down and simultaneously p.i.s.s him off," she said through laughter. "And don't ask me how I know."

And that made him laugh.

In the lobby Jake had flat given up on the magazines and was pacing the floor like a caged animal. What the h.e.l.l were they talking about in there? The doctor had said he was fine and now this? Would she come out with a tear-streaked face to break the news to him? That things weren't fine after all? That he couldn't work anymore? He quickly dismissed those thoughts. He'd looked Dr. Emmitt-Sam-square in the eye. He trusted what he saw there.

He was more worried about Jill than anything else. She had enough on her plate living with him. He knew she could feel the changes in him. Changes he didn't understand himself. Like, what was this need to pa.s.s his knowledge on to Kathryn? Was it more than just wanting a partner who could relieve him sometimes? Why was he treating her differently from his other spotters? Taking special interest in her. Nothing s.e.xual about it. The fear that he was one bad shot away from ending up like Lee Staley, broken down, unable to escape the past. Taking risky shots, like when he shot through the girl's earring. Was he tempting fate? Or did he simply believe in his own capabilities? You had to believe, or you would never be able to pull the trigger. That was the job. When Cowell had asked him, "What if you had missed?" Jacob had wanted to say, "What if I had missed? I have to ask myself that question every time I perform my job. What if I had missed? And the answer is always the same. I didn't."

But what if you do, Denton? What if you kill a hostage? What then?

"I'd feel awful about it," is what he'd told Dr. Emmitt. But would it consume him? He just didn't know. And if it did consume him, it would consume Jill, too.

Maybe he should have shared some of this with Dr. Emmitt.

He wasn't happy about Jill's sudden "interview" with the doctor, either. He hadn't planned on that. He wasn't prepared. He'd exposed her to this and chastised himself for it. He should have left her at home and immediately realized the chances of her staying there were slim to none. She would have simply driven to the appointment in her own car. She was at his side, good or bad, always.

And then he heard it. It came from the office, he was sure of it. It was the unmistakable sound of laughter. Holy Mary, Mother of G.o.d. They really were fine. Officially.

CHAPTER 20.

Jake and Jill stood in the good strong late morning sunshine outside the medical building.

"Looks like you fooled another one, Denton."

Jacob said, "I reckon I did. Why did he want to talk to you?"

"No reason. Said he just wanted to acknowledge that my role as your wife could be just as stressful. That if I ever wanted to talk-" She held up one of Dr. Emmitt's business cards.

Jake held up an identical card.

"It's like we both got golden tickets to the Wonka Factory."

"I guess I'm Charlie Bucket. And that would make you, what, Veruca Salt?"

"You can kiss my Veruca a.s.s, f.u.c.kin'Denton," Jill said. "I guess this means we're both more or less sane. So, should we grab some lunch or do you just want to go out and shoot somebody?"

"Let's do the lunch thing. We can always shoot somebody later."

"And I told Oz we'd stop by the bank and say h.e.l.lo."

"Let's go."

"You got it. Hey-" Jill glanced at her watch. "We're earlier than I thought we'd be. Wanna invite Oz along for lunch? Be able to talk longer. Celebrate a little."

"Sounds good."

It was Friday, lunchtime, so Golden State Savings & Loan was busy with fast-food workers, painters, drywallers, groundskeepers, and a.s.sorted day laborers cashing their paychecks or withdrawing funds for weekend adventures.

Jill scanned the lobby looking for Oswald, but Jacob spotted him first, stationed below a street-facing window, keeping an eye on the customers in line as well as the tellers handling their transactions. Theft in a bank was far more likely to be an inside job than a gunman walking in off the streets, but embezzling clerks didn't make good lead stories.

Jacob touched Jill's elbow and nodded in the direction of the man who had taught him so much. Lee "Harvey Oswald" Staley, sharpshooter, poet, and adherent to the four F's school of dating.

Oz held a special place in Jill's heart, too. She knew he and Jake had been through the fire together. She knew that Oswald trusted Jacob Denton with his life. And vice versa. And when Oz fell, it had affected Jill as much as Jake. Because when she looked at Oz, she knew she was looking at a possible future for her own husband. A nervous breakdown. Alcoholism. Insanity. A blue recluse in training.

But it looked like Oz was pulling himself out of the tailspin. With his salt-and-pepper crew cut and crisp guard's uniform, he looked reborn. Jill crossed the lobby to him, and he smiled broadly when he saw her. In the end, they both loved Jake, and that was enough of a common bond to make them love one another as well.

"Congratulations on the job. You look great, Oz." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"It's the monkey suit. And you don't look so bad yourself. Wish I could say the same for your husband."

Oz nodded to Jacob across the lobby. The two men exchanged a look of understanding.

"Well, we're all getting older, aren't we?"

"Speak for yourself, sister."

"You wanna grab some lunch with us?"

"There's nothing I'd love more, but my girl is taking me out for lunch."

"Are you sure? She can come with us. I'd love to meet her."

"Nah. She's shy. You two go ahead. Jake's probably broke out in a rash being this deep in the Canyon."

"Well, it was good to see you, friend. We'll have you and your girl over for dinner. Sound good?"

"You bet."

Overcome with emotion, perhaps because seeing Oz like this today was proof that a bad future could become a good future, Jill reached forward and hugged Oz with all her might. She spoke warm words into his ear.

"I mean it, Oz. It's wonderful to-"

A muted crack echoed through the bank. Jill looked above and to her left and saw the plate gla.s.s window at the front shatter and the treated gla.s.s turn opaque.

"What?" was all she could say, and really, it was all any human being would ever be able to say when life as they knew it suddenly and inexplicably shifted into a new, far less pleasant reality. It was what the observers of the Hindenburg disaster said, it was what villagers said when napalm bloomed across their jungle home, it was what office workers said when they looked from their Twin Towers windows on the morning of September 11th.

Jill's head turned, looking back, back toward her husband who might be able to make some sense out of what was happening. Jacob would know. And as she turned, observers could see brown speckles of blood across the left side of her face and forehead. A man screamed, but Jill did not hear it. She saw Jake, already in motion, coming to save her. She reached up to touch the wetness on her face. Her fingers came away b.l.o.o.d.y.

Oswald?

She turned back to look at Oz. His mouth was moving, like a ventriloquist's puppet, but no words were coming out.

She saw that the bullet had entered just above his left eye and took out the back of his head. Oswald's body slumped to the floor at Jill's feet. And now Jill was the one who was screaming, but she didn't hear that, either.

The inside of Golden State Savings & Loan was controlled chaos. Cops, paramedics, detectives, civilian authorities, and customers were everywhere. No one else appeared to have been wounded. Physically, anyway, save one older man who had fallen during the initial moments and had injured a hip. He was loaded onto a gurney and then into a waiting ambulance.

An empty blue-and-white Cameron County Transit Bus was parked just outside the main door. A deputy ushered the customers and employees, who had formed a long line, onto it and spoke loudly.

"We are transferring you to a safe location. Please do not make or take any calls, texts, or any other forms of communication at this time. Please do not discuss what you may have seen or heard with anyone else. At the secure location, detectives will take your statements individually. You will be able to contact your families from there. Safety first."

The majority of people in line were in shocked silence. They boarded the bus as directed, like zombies, the walking dead. EMS lingered with a few who were more deeply in shock.

Detectives talked to key bank employees and took notes. One, the bank manager, pointed out surveillance camera locations. Officers were already taking measurements and drawing preliminary sketches. Oz lay where he'd fallen. This was where the measuring and triangulation of key markers would point back, like an accusatory finger, to the direction from whence something wicked had this way come.

The medical examiner was already on scene and would oversee the process of removing Oz's body once all the measurements and processing were completed. He had already confirmed to Cowell that it appeared to have been a single, long gun bullet that had dislodged half of Oswald's brain. As gruesome as it was, they could not rush. He had to lay there in front of G.o.d and everybody until all the details had been a.s.similated.

Jacob and Lieutenant Cowell were huddled off to one side. Jill sat, wiping blood off her face. Kathryn stood, feeling awkward, beside her.

A paramedic rolled an empty gurney by with a portable oxygen tank and a blanket on it.

"She's in shock," Kathryn told the medic and grabbed the blanket from the gurney.

Jill stared off into s.p.a.ce. Kathryn put the blanket around Jill's shoulders. Jill realized what Kathryn was doing and turned abruptly.

"No, I'm not in shock, and I don't need this." She shrugged the blanket off her shoulders. Kathryn grabbed it off the floor.

Jill looked up and saw the deputy's gold name tag, Sesak, and realized she and Kathryn were face to face for the first time. The two women in Jacob's life, Jill thought, and realized what a Danielle Steel kind of thought that was.

Jill said, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I understand what you're trying to do and I appreciate it." She reached out and touched Kathryn's arm. "I really do, but I'm fine."

Kathryn refolded the blanket and handed it back to the EMT. The medic moved away to see if anybody else required aid. Jill and Kathryn shared a small smile.

"I'm Kathryn Sesak. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Denton. I'm only sorry it's under the current circ.u.mstances."

The two women shook hands, and Jill said, "Don't call me Mrs. Denton. Call me Jill. I'm glad to finally meet you, too. I hear you like to go out drinking with my husband."

Kathryn gave a little eye roll and shook her head in resignation.

"He says you're a natural, and Jacob Denton does not say such things lightly."