Diane turned around and brought the sandwiches out to the table. �Oh, Jill. This is Bob Martinez. He�s the attorney from NYC Law Corporation Council Office who�s representing Denby.�

�Nice to meet you,� Jill said coolly.

�Same here,� Bob�s mouth smiled, but his eyes didn�t.

Throughout lunch, Diane was a little bothered by the change in Bob�s demeanor. He didn�t reach out to touch her once during the entire meal. Jill looked nervous, never raising her eyes unless she was talking to Diane or Kyle. Diane knew she had been through a lot. She could hardly imagine the horrors she had faced during the last twenty-four hours.

�I feel so bad that I encouraged Denby to go with this plan. I didn�t think they would be sucked into the limo or that we wouldn�t be able to pursue them,� Diane said, peeking inside her sandwich to see where the tomato had gone.

�Denby�s a cop, Diane,� Bob said. �He knows the risks of this job.�

�Yeah, but in this case, he�s facing almost certain death.� Diane was reassured by Bob�s sympathetic face. Jill sipped her coffee and looked sideways at Bob.

Diane, Bob, Jill and Kyle entered the 15th Precinct, and Jill and Kyle flew the rest of the way up to retrieve Frank, who was waiting for her in the crib upstairs. Several minutes later, their tear-streaked faces returned to the detectives� office. Jill made her way around the room, hugging Andy, Danny, Greg, Baldwin, and finally, Fancy. She couldn�t meet his eyes, but if she had, she would have seen a sympathetic, yet sad face, free of judgment. Diane and Bob whisked them out to the SUV, and they drove directly to JFK.

At the curb, Diane and Bob helped them get their suitcases out of the car, and Diane and Jill hugged tightly. Bob watched them closely from a few feet away. Diane was grateful for his sympathy and support. His mobile phone rang then, and he became occupied with his call, walking a few feet away.

�I�ll never forget this, Diane. You take care of yourself,� Jill said through tears. She walked with Diane around to the driver�s side of the car, and as Diane opened the door, Jill reached out to grab her hand. Diane looked at Jill, who had a very worried look in her eyes. Diane felt the paper enter her fingers, and for the second time that day, her heart stopped beating. She knew that this was about Bob. With her back to Bob, she stuffed the paper into the pocket inside her jacket.

�Are you and the kids going to be okay?� Diane managed.

�We�ll be fine. You take care of yourself, do you hear me?� Jill said again, more urgently this time. She turned and herded the boys into the airport, looking back over her shoulder at Bob, who waved after them with a sober look on his face. Jill did not wave back as she disappeared into the terminal.