Andromeda cursed as she read her email. Mike had sent her three.

The first was that the cop was going to be okay. He'd sustained a head injury, but it wasn't too bad. He would be okay to testify in court.

The second email was to tell her that he hadn't heard from the defendant's counsel. They had until Monday at noon to decide whether or not they were going to take the plea deal. Otherwise the trial started on Wednesday.

The third email was what made her curse. The cop recovering from the head injury had been found dead in his hospital room bathroom, apparently the victim of strangulation or poison.

Tears started in her eyes and she rested her head in her hands for a moment. Officer Tracey had been a good, true blue cop, husband and father with two small daughters. He'd been one of those guys that had gotten into police work for all the right reasons, to help people.

These terrorists were leaving a trail of destruction in their wake that would be felt for generations, and they just didn't care. Andromeda wanted to believe that everyone had a place in their beautiful country, but when terror groups took advantage and started waging war against their hosts, it was just too much. This group was in her home city and she wanted them gone.

She put a Skype call through to Mike, hoping he was in his office.

"What the hell is going on up there?" she demanded. "I thought you had him under protection?"

Mike scowled, his smoothly shaved face wrinkling. His iron gray hair looked mussed, like he’d been running his fingers through it. "We did. I had two cops on him at all times. He was being discharged and he'd gone into the bathroom to change. We're not sure how long the attacker was in there or even how he got in, we're looking at surveillance tapes now. But he killed Tracey then offed himself. We found a needle at the scene and we're testing it now."

"We look like jackasses, Mike. I'm down to one witness."

"I know, Andromeda. I don't want you to come back into town until Wednesday morning, right before court."

"You don't think he'll take the deal?"

Mike scrubbed a hand over his face. "I'm not going to hold my breath, I'll tell you that much."

Yeah, she wasn't either.

"Is your guy still good to go?"

"Yes, he is."

"Still have your SEAL protector with you?"

"Yes."

They were silent for a moment.

"I don't have to tell you to be careful," Mike said eventually. "I know you will be. Take care of that witness."

She glanced up as Mac walked into the room. "I will do my damnedest."

They hung up and Andromeda sat back with a sigh.

"How much did you hear?" she asked Mac.

"All of it."

Mac sighed as he sank down beside her on the couch. "This one is going to get hairy, isn't it?"

She nodded her head, staring into the middle distance as she thought about what she needed to do.

* * *

Parker ran a bucket of soapy water and begged a few rags from Roz, then went out to clean Andy's car. They were going to need it in a couple of days.

He cleaned for a solid half hour before dropping the final rag in the bloody-watered bucket. He'd known he'd lost a lot of blood, but damn. That had been a lot.

He left the doors open so that it would air dry and tossed out the water. He rinsed the rags at the outside spigot, but he doubted they would ever come completely clean again.

Parker went into the house and gave himself a shower next, then headed to the kitchen for leftover pizza. Roz glanced at him as she stood at the counter peeling potatoes. "Dinner will be in a couple hours."

He gave her a grin. "I know. This is just a snack."

She shook her head at him.

"Where did Andy go?"

Roz gave him a narrow-eyed look. "Not sure. Maybe she needs some alone time."

Parker sighed. "I just want to talk to her."

"I think she'd have found you if she was interested."

He tried not to let her words hurt, but they did.

"Listen, Parker. You seem like a nice enough guy, but in two or three days you'll be gone again, and I'll be here with a bottle of wine picking up the pieces you leave behind." Her pale eyes flashed. "If I can head that heartache off at the pass I would like to do just that. Do you understand? I've seen the way you look at Andromeda. You would consume her if you could, I see that. And I realize it's not just one sided. But you are going to break her heart when you leave."

He clenched his jaw and looked out the window, not liking what he was hearing but understanding that her friendship wouldn't allow her to sit idly by as her friend walked into a potentially hurtful situation.

And she was completely right. Andromeda would never leave her job and it would be very hard for him to leave his. He'd just gotten on at Lost and Found within the past two years, and he enjoyed the people there. They all had physical issues so there was an understanding there that he would probably never find anywhere else. Not unless he created his own agency. And hired the same type of people.

"I know there's probably not much chance of anything happening between us," he told her eventually, "but I need to be sure, Roz. I know she's your friend but this attraction isn't just one-sided."

She blinked and looked down at the table. "I know, Parker. But you need to do everything in your power not to hurt her."

He gave her a sad smile. "If things go the way they did last time I'm going to be the one walking away with a hole in my chest."

* * *

Andromeda knew he would come.

She looked up from her computer screen to see Parker limping down the bank to the bridge. The short dirty blond hair was dark, like he'd just taken a shower, and it looked like he'd changed clothes. He wore a pair of blue jeans today, not the black BDUs from the first day. The jeans looked good on him, though he moved like he was hurting. He wore an olive green t-shirt. Looked like something military. And his weapon was on his hip in a slide holster.

She didn't even notice the irregularity in his face anymore. She'd gotten used to it. It was just Parker, handsome as always.

The crazy part was, he moved like he was in pain, but she didn't get the feeling that it was pain from his gunshot wound.

"Are your legs hurting you?"

He blinked as he stepped up into the gazebo and sat down on the bench about a foot from her. "Saw the scars, huh?"

She looked at him askance. "Kind of hard not to. What happened?"

He clenched his jaw and she knew she shouldn't be asking. Hell, what had happened to him might be classified, but she was damn curious. It looked like someone had just started cutting on him.

"I was in Yemen on a mission that went bad. I was wounded and got captured. I was a guest of the Taliban for two days before my boys managed to find me and get me out. My interrogator was well known for his knife work, and he'd recently developed a Misery-type hammer fetish." His gray eyes darkened as he scrubbed his hands together. "I don't remember much of that week after they grabbed me and took me home, but I remember waking up when the sedative wore off and they were x-raying my legs. The bones were so broken that they looked twisted on the scans. My ankles looked like bags of marbles."

She cringed, her stomach clenching with nausea at the thought of how he'd been injured. "I'm so sorry, Parker. My god."

He shrugged nonchalantly, but she could see the pain in his eyes. "You needed to know. I'm never going to be that cocky bastard that used to carry you everywhere. I can barely carry myself through a doorway."

He gave her a look, as if considering how much to tell her.

"What?" She asked.

"I dreamt of you when I was in there. It was the only beautiful thing I had left. My mind. And the things we did together. The bastard couldn't take that away from me."

His voice got rough at the end and she could see he was fighting some strong emotion. That made her feel emotional too. She scooted closer and gripped his hand. "What did you think about?"

He gave a harsh laugh. "Everything. The way you would swing your hair over your shoulder and braid it. The way your skin glistened when you stepped out of the shower and into the towel I held for you. The way you used to ride me. And no matter what I had been out doing, as soon as you saw me you opened your arms to me. Those visions kept me sane."

"That was so long ago, though. Haven't you had other relationships?"

Parker immediately shook his head. "I've had hookups not relationships. Those two weeks we had together are the most vivid two weeks of my life. The memories of our time together got me through torture in Yemen, and the pain of recovery, which was almost as bad. I have to thank you for that."

Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to the back of it, then let it rest on his thigh. "I did a lot of things wrong back then, but I want you to know that I loved you with all my heart. Yeah, I know I didn't have the maturity I needed to, but I did have the emotion."

Andromeda blinked, her eyes suddenly awash in tears. "Thank you for telling me that, Parker. I loved you too, but you scared me. Everything was so carefree and fun, and you made me forget all about the plans for the rest of my life. If you had asked me to run away with you I probably would have."

He looked at her in surprise. "Really? Wow," he breathed. "What a tempting idea. The government would have been on my ass, though."

They chuckled together, and she leaned more into his shoulder. "I wish things had turned out differently."

"I do too, Andy."

They sat like that for a long time, listening to the water in the stream and the sound of each other's breathing. It was the most relaxed she could remember being for the past two days. No, the past week. Parker had matured over the years and she appreciated that.

That maturity had come at a price though. She couldn't imagine the torture he'd gone through to receive the scars he had. It had to have been horrendous. What kind of person would do that?

The same type that would try to kill children at an art fair.

"What are we going to do?" She asked quietly.

"Well," he heaved a heavy breath, his shoulder moving against her own. "We're going to get back to Ohio and you will win your court case. Are you sure this guy won't take the plea deal?"

Andromeda shook her head. "I don't think so. They're so loyal to each other and their cause, I doubt that he's even considered it."

Parker was quiet for a long time. "What are the details of the plea deal, can I ask?"

Andromeda gave him an outline of what they were asking for. Mozi had tried to carry out a lone wolf attack and he'd completely screwed it up. She knew he would not name his father as one of the planners of that attack. But the Christmas parade, on the other hand, was a different story and he just might. That had been a successful attack in their opinion and worthy of praise.

Andromeda thought that Mozi's father was trying to protect him, even though he was only a fourth or fifth son. The direct witnesses at the art fair crime scene, other than Mac, were all dead, but they still had security footage of Mozi in the truck. All of the effort the al Fareq family was going to in order to extinguish the witnesses was in vain.

Something hit her then. "I wonder… if I let it be known that we have footage of Mozi in the truck, I wonder if his family would back down."

"That is an excellent thought," Parker told her. "It's not public knowledge?"

She shook her head. "We released a generic clip of the truck, but not the one of him getting out of the truck with a gun in hand."

Andromeda tapped a finger to her lips. "I need to call Mike and have him put out a press release."

Turning to Parker, she leaned up and gave him a kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Thank you for making me talk about this. I think if the family will disavow him, he'll retaliate by taking the plea deal. Oh, this could be good."

She turned away, then immediately spun back. "Thank you for telling me about Yemen. I know it wasn't easy."

Pressing another kiss to his cheek, she looked at him for a long moment. Without another word she left the gazebo and jogged up the hill to the cabin.

Mike was surprised by her call but seemed excited about her plan. "Let me make a few calls and see if I can pull a few strings at the Columbus Dispatch. We might be able to make this work."

Andromeda waited for a while, then started pacing. When Roz asked her what was going on she explained.

"Oh, that's a good idea. I hope it works."

Less than an hour later Mike returned her call. "My contact said she would be more than happy to do up a little article for us and sprinkle in some key details. It will be front page in tomorrow's Dispatch and featured on all their social media accounts."

"No way," Andromeda breathed. "Oh, that makes me very happy. If we play this right his family could completely disavow him. Will his attorney see this article?"

"Oh, I'm sure. Pete Mancuso gets his coffee and paper every morning at one coffee shop. I know for a fact he'll see it."

"Did Mozi tell his family they had him on tape?"

"I seriously doubt it. I don't think they realize how much evidence we have against him. If they did, they wouldn't have tried to get rid of all the witnesses. This is a good plan, Andromeda."

She laughed lightly. "I had help working this out."

"Stay near your phone. Hopefully I'll have some good news for you tomorrow."

"Okay. Later, Mike."

* * *

Parker drowsed on the padded bench for a while before moving to the couch thing. He worried that he would be too big for it, but it actually was very sturdy. And damn comfortable. He felt safe enough that when his lids drifted shut he allowed himself to relax and drift off to sleep.

"Parker Quinn."

For a moment he was disoriented, but when he looked up into Andy's smiling face he knew he was okay, wherever he was. She grinned down at him, then leaned down to press a kiss to his lips. Without hesitation he cupped her head in his hands and kept her mouth on his own, tasting her, remembering her. If she had shown the slightest hesitation he would have let her go, but she didn't.

"Oh, Andy," he whispered. "You feel like home to me."

Blinking, she looked down at him in surprise. "What?"

"You taste just so much better than I remember. And I feel like we belong together. This feels right."

Bracing a hand on the back of the divan, she leaned down to kiss him again, tilting her head to lick at the seam of his lips. Parker cupped her waist, then her ribcage and her shoulders in his hands, rubbing them up and down.

When she pulled back, he let her go. He didn't want her to feel pressured in any way.

"Dinner is ready, if you're hungry. If you're comfortable I'll let you sleep but you've been down here for several hours."

He shook his head. "No, I'm good. I was just sitting in the sun and being warm and the next thing I know you're waking me up."

She grinned at him. "You were pretty cute laying there, your mouth hanging open and snoring."

He scowled at her even as he shifted up to a sitting position. "Whatever," he laughed.

"You were! I heard you as I was walking down the trail."

Embarrassment warmed his cheeks and he hoped she was exaggerating. He never used to snore. It was a safety issue for SEALs. It had been too long since he'd left the teams.

They walked back up the hill together and the mood was definitely lighter. Parker was feeling better in general and Andy's mood had improved after talking to her boss about the plan to release info. "It would definitely be nice to get to the courthouse without having to run a gamut of bullets and people trying to kill us," he murmured.

Andy wrapped her arm through his elbow and he couldn't decide if she'd done it for him or for her. He appreciated the balance she gave him, but he didn't want her treating him like he needed help. That was one of the most aggravating things about the injuries he'd received in Yemen. They were visible, and people tended to treat him like he was less of a man.

Even if he was, in fact, less physically capable than the man he’d been, he didn't want other people treating him like it.

She didn't say anything, though, so he chose to believe that she just wanted to touch him as they walked up the slope together.

Mac and Roz were at the table eating dinner already. It looked like Roz had made pork chops, potatoes, and buttered corn. Some of her phenomenal biscuits were in a basket in the middle of the table. After settling Andy into a seat he took his own chair.

After they'd taken the edge off their hunger, they started talking about inconsequential things and he realized sitting there that he enjoyed all of these people. Roz was a little prickly about things, but he could understand why with her background. Mac took the middle of the road in everything just to keep from getting into an argument. He listened to everyone’s opinions or positions and managed to state his position calmly, using neutral language without animosity or heat. Parker appreciated that because it was so easy to spew anger at people these days, or to try to force your opinion on other people. That was the entire reason they were in this situation. The al Fareq family had tried to force their opinion on the community that housed them. And now the community was fighting back.

Parker hoped that Mozi would take the plea deal. It was good for everyone involved. Well, except for the Fareq family. That wasn't his concern. Getting them off the streets was.

Andromeda's phone pinged with an incoming email. She swiped a few times, then sat back in the chair to read. "Oh, damn this is good. They did it. It'll be in the morning paper."

Parker reached over and squeezed her hand. "That's excellent."

"Now to hope they take the bait and cut him off," Mac murmured.

They all looked down at their plates, hoping.

* * *

Andromeda's phone pinged with an incoming text message super early that morning. Mike had sent her a link to the actual article. Sitting up in her dark room she paged though the document, excitement brewing in her. This was fabulous. The details the woman had released were subtle yet worded in a way to bring attention to the fresh information. She'd done an excellent job.

Too excited to go back to sleep, Andromeda headed out to the kitchen for a glass of water. When she passed through the living room she realized there was a shape sitting in the darkness.

"Parker?"

Crossing the room, she lowered herself to the cushion beside him. Sitting up with his head in his hands, he glanced at her.

"Hey. What are you doing up?"

Andromeda looked at him in the meager light. His hair was mussed and his eyes seemed a little dazed.

"Mike sent me a link to the article,” she told him. “It's incredible. I hope it does what I need it to."

"Good, good," he said softly.

Then he looked into the coals of the fire again.

"Are you okay?"

Reaching out, she rested a hand on his back and gasped. His t-shirt was wet with sweat. "Are you okay? Do you have a fever?"

She reached up to press her fingers to his forehead, but he captured her hand and folded it into his own. "No fever. Just... well, I have dreams sometimes. Flashbacks. They wake me up."

Her heart swelled with empathy for him. "I'm sorry, Parker. I can't imagine living through what you did."

He shook his head. "You know, we're trained for exactly the thing I dealt with, but it's very different when it actually happens to you for real. They don't tell you that your tormentors will go home with you, or that there's no magic pill that will make all your demons go away. They don't tell you about the aftermath. There are times that I wake up swinging and fighting… and I worry about even being in a relationship. How would I feel if we developed a relationship and you woke up at night with me punching you? I think hurting you would damage me even more than anything else I've been through. I would never do that to you."

Andromeda felt like her heart was going to shatter in pain. How had he dealt with this?

"How long ago did this happen to you?"

He sighed. "It's been almost four years. I got out of the Navy at thirty-one."

She shook her head. "That is so young. You gave so much to them."

Blinking, he looked back at the coals. "Yeah," he sighed. "But it was worth it. I'd do anything for the guys in my team. They literally carried me out."

"I'm sure."

She wanted to be there for him now, but she wasn't sure how. They were in such a chaotic situation right now that they barely knew what was going to happen minute to minute, let alone a week from now.

It worried her that he didn't have anyone. It sounded like his parents were gone a lot of the time and when they were home, Pennsylvania was a long way from Denver.

"And what about the people you work with now?"

His frown faded and he gave her a smile. "I haven't been there very long, but the guys are all incredible. The boss is amazing, the jobs are amazing. They don't make more out of our disabilities than we have to. If something doesn't work, we figure out a different way to do it, we adapt and overcome obstacles. I feel more useful now than I have in a long time. I actually feel like I have a career again."

That was good. Everyone needed that kind of fulfillment.

"That's invaluable."

"Yes," he agreed softly, but there was a hesitation in his voice.

"What, Parker?"

"Nothing." He squeezed her hand again. "Thank you for checking on me. You should probably go back to bed. We still have a couple of hours before dawn."

"Why don't you come lay down with me?"

Andromeda blinked, wondering where that had come from. It hadn't been an offer she'd actually thought about issuing. It had just fallen out of her mouth.

Parker seemed too lonely sitting on the couch here in the dark.

His eyes glinted in the light from the banked fireplace. "I don't know that that would be a good idea. I already know I'm going to have a hard time giving you up again."

Damn. He really was breaking her heart.

"Come on. I just want you to hold me again like you used to. I know you're worried about hurting me, but I don't think it's as big of an issue as you think. You would never hurt me, Parker."

He cleared his throat and swallowed hard enough that she could hear, but he seemed unable to tell her no as she stood and held her hand out to him. He followed her into her bedroom and watched as she closed the door. She was wearing the t-shirt and sleep pants she'd bought at the store, conscious that there were other people in the house. Now she pulled the blankets back on the bed and motioned for Parker to crawl in. Moving gingerly, he lowered himself to the edge of her mattress and reclined, holding his side. Once he was settled she crawled in beside him and pulled the blankets over both of them. Then she stretched her arm across his belly and nestled her head against the cup of his shoulder. Immediately his arms went around her, and they both sighed. There was a little bit of light from the connecting bathroom, just enough to see.

"I never thought I'd feel this again,” Parker murmured to her. "When my former commander called and told me you were on something hot, I didn't know what I was getting into, but I knew I couldn't leave you in danger."

"I can't tell you how happy I was to see you. Shocked, but happy."

He tightened his arm around her back and she felt him bury his nose in her hair.

"I love this cut on you," he murmured. “And you smell like peaches.”

"Thank you. Cheap shampoo from a box store,” she laughed. “And I’ve had this cut for a few years."

"Mm."

Andromeda's eyes were getting heavy, but she didn't want to fall asleep just yet. It had been so long since she'd held him in her arms. Parker was a big, earthy man and she loved feeling the play of muscles under his skin, and the feel of the hair on his arms tickling her arm. Her fingers started to move, just drawing lazy circles on his belly above the t-shirt fabric. Then, somehow, her fingers found bare skin.

It was like they'd both hit a live wire. Her fingers stilled, as did his breathing.

"This is dangerous," he whispered.

Yes, it was, but Andromeda couldn't imagine peeling herself away from him now.

Moving up onto an elbow she looked down into his eyes. Parker looked resigned and worried, but a little excited too. Andromeda pushed the blankets down until she could expose his lean torso, then she pulled the t-shirt up a bit. Running her fingers over his skin, she watched the muscles tighten in response to her touch.

"Ouch," he whispered.

"Oh, sorry."

Moving away from his abdomen she pushed his shirt higher, up over his pecs. In the weak light from the bathroom she could see light striations on his skin. Scars from the torturer in Yemen. Leaning down she pressed a kiss to one of the deeper ones, then moved to another one. Parker sighed beneath her and she could feel the thud of his heart accelerate. She pressed another kiss to the flat disk of his nipple, but she was surprised when he caught her hand.

"This is going in a really dangerous direction. As much as I would love to make love with you, I don't know that now is a good time, for several different reasons."

She sighed, knowing that he was right but hating to admit it. Just that little bit of touching had warmed her body. “I know. I just kind of lost myself there for a minute."

"Let's revisit this in a few days, after the court case. I don't have to get back to Colorado right away."

Nodding, she pulled his shirt back down and nestled back into his chest. Then she pulled the blankets up again. She would have to make do with just cuddling tonight.

The fact that she'd been ready to jump his bones kind of shocked her. She hadn't slept with a man for several years, not since that junior partner from a local law firm had taken her to a Christmas party. He'd been smart and ambitious, but they'd had differing opinions on too many things. Jason had been at least five years ago.

Five? Damn. Maybe that was why her body had woken so quickly. She was in a hell of a dry spell.

Parker was right, though. Now wasn't the time or the place, as much as she hated to admit it.

Once they settled down, they slept like children, curled around each other for comfort.

* * *

Roz gave him a frown as he walked out of Andy's room the next morning and he couldn't help but grin. "I didn't do it," he said as she swatted him with a dishtowel. Mac looked up, a considering smile on his face as he coated a stack of pancakes with syrup. Andy came out of the room right behind him.

"Be nice, Roz. All we did was sleep."

She scowled at Andy but just shook her head. "You're old enough to know what you're doing."

Parker held a chair out for Andy to sit down, then started helping himself to the pancakes and bacon. He groaned as he stuffed a strip of meaty, salty goodness into his mouth. "Roz, you're wasted up here on this mountain."

She laughed as she sat down with her cup of coffee. "I don't think so. I'm happy in my own little world up here."

"I love it as well," Mac said softly. "The silence is golden."

Parker was surprised when Roz grinned at the big man and nodded her head. Mac seemed just as surprised, but he grinned back at her, then tucked into his pancakes.

Parker was very aware that Andy watched him almost constantly. He looked up, catching her eye, and gave her a smile. In the yellow morning light she looked soft and sexable, her hair hanging over her forehead and her skin free of makeup.

She'd held onto him the entire night last night, and he'd woken several times slightly alarmed. But as soon as he remembered who he was holding he would relax and fall back to sleep. She was such a wonderful armful.

It had been one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do to turn her down last night, but there was no way he was up to performing the way he wanted to with her. There was more work that needed to be done on their relationship, or connection… whatever it was right now.

And he needed to think about what he wanted if they did move forward. They had always been compatible sexually, but what would happen long term? They were each in careers that they loved. She'd invested her entire professional future in the Columbus Prosecutor's office. No, he hadn't been at Lost and Found as long, but he'd found the same camaraderie and brotherhood that he'd had in the Navy. That was invaluable to him.

He had a lot of thinking to do. What he knew right now was that it would be very easy to fall in love with her again. If he hadn't already...