Elisha washed her face in the small sink attached to the cell wall and grimaced at her reflection. "Buck up girl. Your life goes on the line starting today." She ducked her head and ran the cool water over her face once again. "Are you ready, Mrs. Carter?" the female officer jiggled her keys impatiently outside the cell. "Yes." Elisha straightened and sighed. "When will I see my husband again? Will he be in the same courtroom?" "I think so." the officer answered curtly. "I believe both your bails will be set at the same time." They walked down the hall and into the waiting room for the bail hearing. A guard was posted outside and nodded to them as they entered. "Nick!" Elisha rushed into her husband's waiting arms. "I missed you so much last night! I didn't sleep at all!" Nick grinned and bent his head to kiss her. "I didn't either." "I can tell." Elisha ran her fingers gently along the creases under his eyes. "You look like you might fall over in a dead sleep." He chuckled and ran his arm around her waist. "I'll try to stay awake for you, okay?"

A knock sounded and their lawyer walked into the small room. "Nick, Elisha. How did you make it through the night?" Nick offered his hand to the older man before he returned to his seat beside Elisha. "Hello, Mr. Henderson. Neither of us slept much, but that was to be expected, I think." Elisha watched their lawyer pull various papers out of his briefcase. "Is all that for us, David?" "Yes, ma'am, and this is just preliminary stuff, there will be more." He settled the last paper atop the pile and folded his hands in front of him. "Now, want to fill me in on what happened with you and Amanda Williford that resulted in your arrests?" Elisha sighed and recounted the story, only leaving out the fact that she had Mandy traced by a private dectective. "Was there any other reason for Mandy to be in Kentucky, that you can think of?" Nick rolled the palms of his hands back and forth. "No, she doesn't know anyone here. She's been here with me before, but the only people she met were the Richardsons and Littrells, and they didn't like her enough to invite her back here." Elisha smiled slightly. "She just charmed everyone didn't she?" David jotted some notes. "How did she get to where you were staying do you think?" Elisha looked at Nick and he nodded encouringly. "I took her there." she said quietly. The lawyer raised his eyebrows. Everyone jerked their heads up when the guard poked his head in the door and summoned them to the courtroom. David stuffed the papers back in his briefcase. "We will need to have a long discussion, I see. Let's get you home first."

They sat side by side and nervously awaited the judges decision on their bail. "Mr. and Mrs. Carter?" He questioned, looking over the top of his glasses at them. They nodded and the lawyer said. "Yes this is Nick and Elisha Carter, Your Honor." The judge glanced at his notes and nodded. "I see this is your first offense, both of you, and I am told you are not likely flight risks. However, I must agree that the bail should be set fairly high considering the crimes you are charged with, especially you, Mrs. Carter." He cleared his throat. "Bail is set at $500,000 for Mr. Nickolas Carter and $1,000,000 for Mrs. Elisha Carter. Nick leaned over and confided to their lawyer. "It's no problem getting the amount, but it's in savings, bonds and things, what do we do?" "Your Honor?" "Yes, Mr. Henderson?" "My client has the amount of bail requested but needs to contact the bank to have it made available to him. Is that a problem?" The judge considered. "The entire amount?" Nick nodded. "Yes, sir." "The court, knowing of your profession and position will allow you to write a check for the full amount of the bail posted and requests that the money be brought to the sherriff's office by 4pm this afternoon." "Thank you sir." Nick took Elisha's hand under the table and squeezed it. "We will have it here in plenty of time."

When they returned to the small conference room Elisha sat at the table and buried her face in her folded arms. Her shoulders shook with the force of her tears. "What's wrong honey? We get to go home now." Nick rubbed her back lightly and then kneaded her shoulders, trying to relieve some of the tension he felt in her muscles. "It's so much money, Nick! The childrens school funds..." Her voice drifted off. "It's not all of our savings, you know that, it won't hurt us." Elisha sniffled and looked up. "I'm sorry Nick." "Quit apologizing already, you're driving me crazy!" He gripped her shoulder and smiled broadly and she finally smiled back. "I'm s...okay, you're right." "That's my girl!" David cleared his throat. "You are free to leave now. Nick, I need you to get the money together and contact me so that we can deliver it back here this afternoon. Elisha we still need to talk. Could we get together sometime tomorrow, say, 1pm?" "That would be fine, Sir. The kids will have had lunch and the twins should be in bed. Do you want to meet at the house?" "No, I think somewhere else would be better. I'll make reservations at the hotel for a meeting room, okay?" She nodded and shook his hand as they stood. "Take it easy, you two. Don't spend all your time worrying until we get this straightened out, alright?" They agreed and said their farewells. Nick turned to Elisha and kissed her. "Let's go call Dad and get him to come and take us back to our babies, how does that sound?" Elisha nodded. "It's sounds like the best idea I have heard in my whole life!"