Page 69 of Silent Road

Sheila sat up straighter."Where?"

"Trying to break into his cabin.Needed supplies, I guess.Gave himself up without a fight—said he was too cold to run anymore."Barnes glanced at her notepad."He's already talking about pleading guilty.Says he wants to explain his 'artistic vision' to the world."

"Of course he does," Sheila muttered.At least that nightmare was over.

A shadow crossed Sheila's face."What about Mark Davidson?How is he?"

"Stable," Barnes replied, checking her notes."They airlifted him to County General during the storm.Multiple lacerations, hypothermia, but the doctors say he'll make it.His family's with him now."

Sheila let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.The thought of Mark had been gnawing at her throughout her own recovery—another victim she'd been forced to leave behind in the chaos."Good," she said softly."That's...that's good."

After Barnes left, Finn moved to sit on the edge of Sheila's bed."You okay?"

"Yeah."She took his hand, warmth spreading through her finally-thawing fingers."Just thinking about Tommy."

"We'll find him," Finn promised.

Star put down her magazine."What he did...why did he do it?"

Sheila shook her head."I don't know.But I'm going to find out."She squeezed Finn's hand."We'regoing to find out."

They sat together in comfortable silence, the hospital machinery beeping softly in the background.Outside, snow continued to fall, covering their small town in a blank white canvas, hiding whatever secrets still lay buried beneath.

"I want you to know," Finn said, entwining his fingers in hers, "that I'm sorry for being jealous about you working with Tommy."

Sheila stared at him, surprised."You were right to warn me.He was dangerous."

"But that wasn't why I warned you.I warned you because… hell, sometimes this just feels too good to be true, you know?The life we have together.It feels like, any minute now, the movie's going to end and I'm going to be thrust back into reality."

"I get it," Sheila said softly."I feel the same way, too, sometimes.Working this case without you… it was like leaving my heart behind.But you can't really do that, can you?If you try, if you deaden your emotions, you become unresponsive to the people around you.You miss out on what's going on in their lives—just like I've missed out on so much of Star's life."

She glanced at Star, but Star seemed to be too engrossed in her magazine to notice what was being said.Either that, or she wanted them to think she wasn't listening.

"You're being too hard on yourself," Finn said.

"Am I?I want to be present with her, with you.And that means I can't compartmentalize like I used to.I need to be all me, all the time."

Finn smiled and rubbed her knuckles with his thumb."Works for me, because I just so happen to like all of you."

She grinned back."Allof me?"

"Well…" He made a show of tipping his head back and forth as if considering.She playfully punched his shoulder.

The door opened just then, revealing Gabriel Stone.He stood awkwardly in the doorway, still wearing his heavy winter coat, snow melting on his shoulders.His eyes moved from Sheila to the IV in her arm, his face a mixture of concern and discomfort.

"Dad," Sheila said, her smile slipping away.

Gabriel cleared his throat."Heard you had quite a night."

The tension in the room was palpable.Finn stood, touching Sheila's hand briefly."Star, let's get some coffee."

Star looked like she wanted to protest, but something in Finn's expression made her follow him out.The door clicked shut behind them.

"You look terrible," Gabriel said, moving to the chair Finn had vacated.

"Thanks."Sheila managed a weak smile."You should see the other guy."

"What happened out there?All I got was that there was some kind of incident at the research facility."

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