Nicole wasn't sure what time it was, but she figured it was late in the afternoon. She was laying on the bench that was held by a chain on either end. It was hard and very uncomfortable, but she didn't really have anything else to do.

At some point, Mason showed up at her cell door and unlocked it. "You're wanted." His eyes told her all she needed to know. Sadness and anger mixed together there. She sighed and got up. He gave her a last sympathetic look before turning his back to her. She followed him down the hallway and into the cell on the end near the door.

She eyed the chair and then the man stepped from the shadows. Clive watched her, a certain madness glinting in his eyes. His hands rubbed together. "That's all I require, Officer Spurlock. You may go now. I can take it from here."

Mason stiffened. "Are you sure you wouldn't like me to bring her back to her cell when you're done?"

Clive waved a dismissive hand. "I appreciate your dedication to the girl that's been your partner, but I would rather you go home. Now."

He gave a stiff nod and turned to Nicole. His eyes were too shiny. He swallowed and his eyes looked so sad that Nicole felt like she was a prisoner saying goodbye to her last friend as she was taken to the guillotine.

Once he was gone, she was alone with Clive. He motioned to the chair. "Have a seat, miss."

She sat down, feeling very uneasy. "What is it, sir?"

He leaned against the wall opposite her and eyed her in a way that made heat rush into her face. "You know how I feel about my son, I'm sure. Ash had probably told you lots of stories about me."

She swallowed and nodded. "He's told me a couple."

He nodded, as if he'd expected this, which she supposed he had. His head cocked. "Then you must be aware I am a very impatient man." He watched her. She made herself sit very still and stare right back at him. He smiled and shook his head. "So much spirit, too. No wonder my son loves you."

She frowned. "What do you mean, 'spirit'?"

He straightened and walked around her. She didn't twist to watch him. "You're defiant and headstrong and everything my son is not." He stopped behind her chair. His hands came to rest on her shoulders. "I wonder how else you're spirited," he breathed against her ear.

Her heart sped up until she thought it was about to thump right out of her chest. She pulled away as his lips lowered to her neck. He roughly pulled her back against the chair. "Don't move," he said in a voice so cold she fought a shiver. "You'll stay right where you are." He moved around until he was in front of her. "My son gets far too much."

Totally getting his implications, she spit in his face, which was really close to hers. He wiped it away. "You're going to regret that," he said, his voice low and menacing.

She grinned. "I doubt that."

---

Ashton thanked Benson for dropping him off and went up to the cottage door. He knocked. Both of his eyes were fully open, so he got a really good look at the angry face of Hailey. "What are you doing here?"

He sighed. "Are Mr. and Mrs. Downs here? I need to speak to them."

She chewed her cheek as she studied him. "What happened to you?"

He shrugged. "Someone jumped me." Which, he supposed, was close enough to the truth. "But I do really need to speak with them."

She rolled her eyes but stepped aside and motioned him inside. As he walked past her, she caught his arm. He looked at her. "Where is she?"

"That's part of why I need to speak to her parents," he said in a calm-but-stern voice. Her eyes grew a little wider and she dropped his arm. He walked into the house and Mrs. Downs peered around the door to the kitchen. "Hello, Mrs. Downs," he said in a cheery voice.

She smiled but then it froze and fell. "What happened to you?" She rushed over, concerned.

He forced a smile, even though it hurt. "It's a little bit of a long story, but I need to talk to you and Mr. Downs."

She frowned. "Okay," she said, puzzled.

A few minutes later Ashton and Nicole's parents were seated around the kitchen table and Hailey was hovering in the doorway. He sat with his hands fidgeting in his lap. The closer he got to doing this, the more he was worried about what would happen afterwards, but that wasn't going to stop him. If he just walked away now, they'd hate him. He'd hate himself even more.

The worst thought was that maybe even Nicole would hate him. He swallowed.

"The first thing you should know is that I was tricked into being taken to the station." Pause. "By, uh, Nicole. We've discussed several things and she's trying to help me, so I'm not mad. Well, my dad lied to her. Or tricked her. I'm not sure. Either way, she got me to go. Clive cuffed me and held me in a cell. At some point after that, about the time dark fell, he came and got me. He dragged me into a different cell and tried to question me. That ended with him beating me. That's how I look like this."

Mr. Downs held up a hand. "Back up a moment there, son." He sat his hand down. "She's been doing what?"

Ashton swallowed. "Well, you remember what I told you about my dad?" Mr. and Mrs. Downs both nodded. "Um, he's trying to make sure I take the fall over Taylor. I know he did it. Mason knows he did it. Nicole knows he did it. Benson suspects he did it and wouldn't put it past him. Well, Nicole's been going to them and trying to get them to help her prove my innocence." Her father sucked in air, so he spoke quickly. "I never told her or even asked her to. She just did it. I couldn't stop her, so I tried to just make sure she didn't get in trouble. I tried to keep her out of Clive's way as much as I possibly could." He shook his head at himself. "But I failed," he said softly.

"You what?" asked Mr. Downs in alarm. He and his wife shared a look.

"That's the other thing." Ashton took a deep breath and scrubbed his hair with his fingers. "She came to me this morning. She wanted to check on me. I don't honestly know how this happened – I was out cold on the floor of my cell, so I couldn't do anything, and Mason wasn't there – but when I came to, I was with her. She was talking through the bars to Mason. He said she was being held for questioning, like I was." He saw the alarm in her parents' faces, so he rushed to assure them. "He won't do this to her. He really wouldn't. I know him." He didn't know him. Not really. He just knew his dad wouldn't do the same thing to her.

Mr. Downs watched Ashton closely. "Why did you let her do this?"

"I couldn't stop her," Ashton groaned, sliding down and putting his hands on his face. "I would have if I could." He felt their pain. He knew how they must feel, especially about him. It was all he could do to not just either break down right there or walk out the door.

A hand on his arm startled him into dropping his hands from his face. Mrs. Downs was smiling sadly at him. "Ashton, dear, I know how she is. When she finds someone she cares for, she'll do anything for them and forget all about the risk to herself. I know you couldn't stop her from doing this for you. It's a way to know she really does care."

His heart swelled and his stomach sank. He couldn't believe she was being kind, especially when he really didn't think he deserved it. "Thank you," he managed to get around the lump that suddenly rose in his throat. He swallowed hard.

Mr. Downs nodded when his wife glanced back at him. "Why don't you get cleaned up, dear?" she said in a motherly tone that he'd never actually heard from his own mother. It made the lump come up again. He nodded, not trusting his voice.

Hailey made a disbelieving noise behind him. "You can't be serious!" she shrieked.

Mrs. Downs fixed her with a look that, had it been given to Ashton, would have made him retreat into a different part of the house. But Hailey wasn't fazed. She stood her ground. "Hailey, we're the ones that make the decisions on who gets to stay here. Not you."

"Everyone in town hates him! There has to be a reason that you and Nikki don't know. I mean, he's killed that girl! You can't seriously trust him."

Mrs. Downs hardened the look. It wasn't aimed at him, but it made Ashton nervous. "Hailey. You are staying with us here for the summer. We make the decisions. Like it or not, if we say he can stay, he is going to stay. You'll just have to deal." She turned to Ashton and her look turned soft and motherly. "It's down the hallway, first door on the right. I'm sorry we don't have any clothes for you to wear."

He gave her his half-smile with the good side of his face. "Thank you, Mrs. Downs." He walked off, not wanting to wait around and hear the whole argument that was going to undoubtedly follow.

Voices carried through the walls to him in the shower, the running water muting them enough that he couldn't hear what was said. About the time he shut the water off the house was strangely quiet. While he dried off he could hear a new voice, one he recognized as Mason. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. For Mason to come here, now, when he was supposed to be-

There was a pounding knock on the door. "Ashton!" he barked.

Towel around his hips, he opened the door. The man shoved his way inside, shutting the door behind him. His voice lowered and had an urgency to it that chilled Ashton. "I need you to come with me. We need to get to the station right now."

"What is it? What's wrong? Is Nicole okay?" Fear pulsed through him. Mason hesitated and Ashton had to force himself not to shake him.

"When I left she was okay," he said carefully. "She's with your dad, so I don't know how she'll be in a little bit."

Ashton did put his hands on Mason's shoulders and dug his fingers in. "And you left her?!" He fought against yelling this, so it came out in a slightly strangled, high pitch voice that was also a whisper. His body wanted to shove Mason aside and race over there, but he remembered Benson's words. They were applicable to this, too. So instead, he dropped the towel and began dressing. The moment his jeans were buttoned and zipped, he charged past Mason. "Take me now," he said, hearing Mason following him.

In the car, Mason backed out of the driveway and on the way over, explained the situation. "Clive had just come in and everyone was sent home early, except me. He asked me to bring her into cell one, but don't cuff her. He would make sure she couldn't do anything. Then, when I did, he told me to go home. I came straight here."

Ashton barely listened to him. His mind was racing, trying to think of what his dad could possibly do to her. He didn't like where it kept going. "Thanks," he mumbled. The car wasn't going fast enough.

---

Clive leaned forward again. "You underestimate me." His hand came forward and gripped her by the throat. She suddenly couldn't breathe and began grasping at his hand, prying at his fingers to try to get him to release her while she made gasping/choking noises. "Now, little girl, you're going to behave, aren't you?" She didn't do anything, so he gripped harder. This time she nodded and his grip eased. A little air began leaking into her lungs, but not enough.

"You'll regret this," she vowed, though she doubted he could hear her raspy whisper. Her eyes closed and she tried to feel his pockets. He was an officer. Surely he had something she could use.

He snickered in the ear he was nibbling. "You really think I'm stupid." He laughed.

When Ashton breathed in her ear like that, she liked it. When his father did it, she was repulsed more than if she watched someone vomit. His breath didn't even smell good. She gagged a little without even meaning to.

Clive jerked her away. "Do I disgust you?" He gave her a smile she could only call evil. "Well, we'll have to fix this, won't we?" He drew her close and mashed his lips on hers. She clenched her teeth and pressed her lips together. He bit her lip way too hard and when she gasped, her mouth opened. That was when he slid his tongue into her mouth. She bit down hard enough she felt blood flood her mouth.

When he backed up, she spit his blood onto the floor. He was holding his bleeding tongue. "Ooh it ee. Ooh eewee it ee." His eyes were wide.

The door behind her slammed open and she stood, turning as she did. Ashton's eyes grew round. She turned in time to be hit across the face.