It had been over a week and Brenna hadn't seen Herrick again. In fact no one had. He hadn't shown up for several appointments and his one and only assistant said he wasn't answering his phone. Officers had been dispatched to his home only to find it full of his things with the door swinging in the wind but no sign of the owner. The neighbor advised she hadn't seen him in over a week.

Pete put out an attempt to locate on his truck but so far there hadn't been any hits. Brenna thought he might have skipped town to avoid capture but Mac didn't believe it. He was sure it was something more along the lines of laying low and waiting for the right moment.

Despite the constant tension he had to admit it had been the best couple of weeks of his life. He'd never had anyone but Reego to return home to at night. The intimacy of meeting her at her work and asking how her day was had turned out to be an unexpected treat. The way she smiled and stood on her tip toes to kiss him when it had been good or the way she rolled her eyes and blew her breath out in exasperation when it had been a bad day. It didn't matter what response he got, he was happy either way.

She'd laughed when he'd had to call and tell his housekeeper not to come in for the next couple of weeks.

"You have a housekeeper?"

"Yes. She comes in once a week and does a deep clean. I'm just not good at that stuff."

"Whatever!" She exclaimed incredulously. "You have helped me in the kitchen and done your own laundry the whole time you've been here. You even cut vegetables for me the other day and didn't lose a finger. You were just lazy is the real story." The waggled her eyes brows at him, daring him to deny it.

"Yep. I was lazy but in my defense, it is a lot less awful when you have someone to do the household stuff with." He threw the towel he had been folding in her direction. "As great as Reego is, he's useless at chores. The paws and all."

She'd put the kibosh on his takeout habits and started giving him shopping lists.

"No more junk, but if you simply must stop at the store after work, here are the couple of things we will need for dinner."

Everything she made was light years better than his usual junk anyway. She'd even tricked him into helping her a few times by giving him menial tasks she knew he couldn't mess up. It was just natural, he wanted to be where she was and if that was the kitchen or the laundry room then he figured he might as well be useful.

She had wanted to go away for the weekend to climb through the mountain trails in search of a natural hot spring. In light of all the occurrences he hadn't discouraged the idea and so he'd hauled out all his old backpacking supplies he hadn't touched since his early twenties and they'd set out on their adventure.

Reego walked the whole way with his nose to the ground in rapt attention. They hadn't had a lot of opportunities for him to wander the woods and there were millions of new smells for him to log.

Mac had been happy to stroll along behind Brenna; the view had been very nice. They'd eventually located the spring and were happy to find it deserted. He'd pitched the tent while she'd magically conjured food from boiling water and a bag of dried meat and vegetables.

"So you must have done a lot of backpacking in the past because you seem to know a lot more about this light weight, super fancy way of doing things than I do." He stated matter-of-factly as he ate.

"I was really into it during my college years. Haven't done it in a while though. You have all your Marine survival skills." She waved off his compliment.

"It's different though, they purposefully make your pack as heavy as possible I think." He chuckled in memory. "You have 70 lbs on your back and 20 lbs on your person and most days you are just hiking until you drop."

"Sounds awful but you are smiling so there must be some good memories there." She stood up and walked to the tent and entered. "I'm still listening." She announced from its depths.

"Yes, it was hard, grueling even some days, but I enjoyed it. I have never made more steadfast friends than I made in the service. When you fight to keep yourself and the guy next to you alive, day after day, you build a bond that can't be built anywhere else. There was some fun mixed in there too. We were all idiots at that age."

She stepped from the tent with a large green towel wrapped around her body and a pair of flip flops on her feet.

"Oh my gosh it's cold without clothes on!" She announced and bounded up the short path to the rock pool of steaming water. He stared after her with his mother open before making it to his feet and following her.

By the time he'd gotten there she'd shucked the towel and was chest deep in the steaming water with her long dark hair streaming around her. "You coming?"

Mac quickly slewed off his own clothing and followed her into the water leaving Reego to whine on a large rock nearby.

"This is hot!" He announced loudly. "In more ways than one." He gave her a self satisfied smile at his own wit to which she answered with an eye roll.

"It's soooooooo nice." She swirled around in the water luxuriously and he simply watched her in admiration. "This is totally worth the hike don't you think?"

He answered in the affirmative but thought to himself that the yes stood for so much more than just the niceness of the spring or the worthiness of the hike. In his mind it encompassed anything she asked. Yes, he'd follow her no matter where she took him.

They'd thoroughly enjoyed the spring before bounding back to the tent and finishing things off between their joined sleeping bags.

He loved how alive and adventurous she was. He'd never in a million years have imagined himself up in the mountains on a cold fall evening, bounding from a hot spring to a tent with a beautiful woman in his arms. She was very much alive and she made him feel alive.

He remembered Isabelle's sneering description of Brenna and how she'd painted her as some wilting flower, damsel in distress that accumulated men to protect her. He had no idea how she could have gotten it so wrong. Brenna was strong, vibrant and intelligent. Men were drawn to her vitality and charisma. They wanted to protect her because they wanted to have some purpose in her life and a reason to be in her vicinity.

In the morning they packed up and headed back down the mountain in search of a greasy spoon diner with good hash browns and coffee. The found one in a small town neither of them had ever been to just a couple miles off the main highway.

After a leisurely breakfast and a lot of coffee Brenna suggested they walk around the town and see what it had to offer. It wasn't much but it did have a Main Street lined with quaint shops and a couple of antique stores.

Brenna confessed her addiction to fire fighter memorabilia and antique fire extinguishers and begged to browse the shops. Mac folded like a wet napkin although he was sure it would be a painful experience.

Turned out that even wading through dusty relics of the past could be fun with Brenna. Every little thing excited her. If she didn't know what it was or its purpose she was quick to whip out her phone and Google it. It seemed she had a keen interest in history in which Mac could join her.

Several hours and a couple of hundred dollars later they finally made their way back home.

Brenna dropped everything at the door and expressed her intentions of taking a very long, hot shower. She was halfway up the stairs when she turned around and questioned whether Mac was going to join her. Not one to need further prodding he was happy to follow and assist.

*****************************

Mac toyed with the frayed edge of the webbing on Reego's vest while they waited. There was still the chance the male would come to his senses, put his hands in the air and just come out of the building but he didn't sound like a very sensible guy and Mac was betting Reego was going to get a bite.

In the mean time, while the negotiator talked circles, Mac sat and thought about Brenna.

It had been 3 weeks now since anyone had seen neither hide nor hair of Herrick. The lab results had come in on the flare and surprised everyone when they'd yielded a perfect, only one edge blurred, thumb print.

Unfortunately for Anthony Wayne Herrick, he'd been arrested on a DUI charge when he was 19 and they'd taken his prints then. The print on the flare gave Webster the exact piece of evidence he'd needed to get his warrant.

The detective had strutted into her office waving his warrant like a banner and expecting Brenna to swoon at the feet of her hero, or so Lana had painted the picture for him when he'd stopped by later. He obviously wasn't too well acquainted with the object of his affection or he'd known she wasn't the swooning type. She simply sent him back on his way with the admonishment not to waste time and put his warrant to use.

Herrick, however, refused to cooperate and continued to remain elusive. Brenna was convinced he'd skipped town and was hiding out. Mac didn't believe it but had not means of convincing her and with each day felt the clock ticking behind him.

Soon he wouldn't have any more excuses as to why he needed to stay with her and yet he really didn't want to leave. They'd never had any conversations about moving in together or the proper time line of events for them. It had been all sped up in light of Herrick's behavior. He had no idea what she thought of his presence or if she wanted him to stay or go. His pride simply wouldn't let him start the conversation to get the answers either.

Men didn't do that. They weren't needy.

She seemed happy with him. They enjoyed each other and each night she curled into his body with a sigh of contentment before drifting off. After his impromptu announcement of his feelings he'd told her he loved her a few more times, not too often. She always smiled, or kissed him in return but had yet to say the words. He tried not to think on it knowing that he had absolutely no experience with moving through the passing of a spouse and how difficult that could be.

He'd made a promise to her to be patient and he intended on keeping it.

Mac's radio cracked to life. "2351 you and Reego move up. Break. Dispatch secure channel one we are going to make entry."

He briefly acknowledged the order and stood calling Reego to heel beside him before they moved toward the group of men in charge of the incident talking in low tones.

"Tullman, Reego, good to see you." Captain Renk smiled his way. "We've got a breach team assembled. They are going to head up the back stairs and take out that door. You are going to head up the front stairs. As soon as you hear them inside you'll kick the front door and send Reego in to subdue the suspect. Should be cake."

Mac nodded that he understood and he and Reego headed for the front staircase. Quietly they climbed. Mac listened at the door. In minutes there was a loud commotion across from him and the sound of splintering wood followed by men yelling commands. Mac stood with his gun at ready and delivered a solid kick to the door that sent if flying open. He gave the command and watched Reego launch himself into the room.

Mac followed and saw Reego spring to grab a man's arm in his jaws. The man screamed and began swinging his arm but that had never been a deterrent for Reego.

Mac yelled for the man to lay down and place his hands where they could be seen. He repeated the command as the breach team poured into the room. With Reego's teeth ripping into his flesh and being most certainly outnumbered the man finally made the sensible decision and laid down on the ground.

Mac called Reego off and they stepped back while the other deputies put the man in cuffs.

"Good boy, good job pal." He scrubbed Reego vigorously and gave him a treat. "Thanks for the overtime guys." He saluted a few on the way back outside.

"Ok Reegs let's go home and see Brenna huh?" To Mac that was where they were headed. Home.