"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?!" Carlos boomed at the figure before him. Jason Henderson sat in a stark interrogation room, absently looking at some unknown spot on the table in front of him.

"I…" he started before being cut off by Carlos.

"This makes you look guilty, Jason." Leaning over the table and putting his face close to the linebacker, Carlos asked, "Did you do it, Jason?"

"NO!" Jason leapt up out of his chair, sending it crashing backwards. "You know I didn’t kill my wife, Carlos!"

For a brief moment the two stood facing each other, their eyes locked together, each waiting for the other to strike. After what seemed an eternity, they became aware of another presence in the room.

"Sit down, Henderson," Ryan yelled. "And you get out, Sandoval."

Carlos finally tore his gaze away from Jason, turning and stalking out the door. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he took up a position beside his partner, behind the two-way mirror.

"You okay?" Trent asked.

"Yeah." Carlos told him through gritted teeth. His hands were still balled into fists.

"Still think he is innocent?" The question hung in the air, unanswered.

**

"Okay, Henderson, let’s review the facts here." Ryan leaned back in his chair, raising his hand for Jason to see. Raising his first finger, Ryan began. "You are the last person to see your wife alive after fighting with her." Another finger raised. "You have a sizable insurance policy on your wife." Jason tried to respond but was hushed by Ryan as he raised a third finger. "Your stepdaughter is scared to death of you and," Another finger. "You have a history of domestic abuse, and finally," the thumb raised. "You are deep in debt because of your gambling problem. How am I doing for starters?"

Jason was shaking his head, not even hearing the last count. "I didn’t kill her," he reiterated. "Okay, so I made a mistake trying to see Heather, but I just wanted to know if she could tell us who did this."

"Or try to kill her so she didn’t."

"NO! I love Heather like she was my own. I would never hurt her."

"But it is okay to beat your wife?" Ryan was baiting him.

"I never beat my wife. That charge was a misunderstanding," he sighed.

"Of course it was," Ryan said snidely. "Aren’t they always? Now, what about you’re gambling problem?"

"I don’t have a gambling problem. I don’t gamble at all."

"That’s not what we hear. Large bets have been placed in your name, Jason." Ryan was enjoying this.

"My father was a gambler. He almost lost everything we had until my mom kicked him out. I swore I wouldn’t do that to my family." There was strong conviction in his voice.

Behind the glass, the two investigators watched intently. Something nagged at Carlos.

"Something isn’t right, Trent."

"What?"

"I don’t know. But if he did it, why wouldn’t he just leave through the access way? Why dump that stuff we found and then turn around and go back through security? It just doesn’t make sense."

"Nothing about this case does." They turned their attention back to the interrogation room.

"Why are you broke, Jason?"

"I’m not broke. I make four million a year with the Cowboys. How could I be broke?"

"Well, your bank accounts say you are."

"Dave handles all my finances. He must have put it into investments or something."

Ryan motioned to the uniformed officer who had been standing behind him since Carlos left. The officer handed Ryan a large manila envelope. "We found evidence that links you to the crime at the maintenance access."

"Why would I tell you about the maintenance access if I knew there was evidence there that would go against me?" Jason asked dejectedly.

"To throw us off. Are we going to find your DNA there?" Ryan opened the envelope and pulled out various pieces of paper. Reading one, he smiled. "Hmmm, seems preliminary reports show that there was Henderson DNA on the items we found. And look at this," He pushed a picture across the table. "Does this look familiar?"

"It’s a Cowboy warm-up shirt," Jason mumbled quietly. Finally his resolve broke and anger took over. "I DIDN"T DO IT!" he yelled. "Someone is setting me up, dammit!" Veins bulged in his neck and forehead. "I don’t even have my warm-up shirt! I gave it to someone," he exclaimed.

"Who did you give it to?" All the colour drained form Jason’s face. For an instant a look of immense sadness crossed his face. "I…I don’t remember," he whispered.

"Yeah, sure you don’t," Ryan sneered.

Behind the glass, realization hit Carlos like a sledgehammer. He had seen the look and knew instantly Jason had figured out who had killed Maggie. Looking over at Trent, he realized that Trent had come to the same conclusion.

The knock on the door surprised Ryan. He was even more surprised when Carlos and Trent walked in.

"What do you guys want?"

Ignoring Ryan, Carlos approached Jason. "You know, don’t you?"

"Know what?" Jason stammered.

"Who killed her?"

"No. No I don’t know." It was obvious that Jason was lying.

"Jason, we figured it out. Henderson DNA? Further tests will rule you out but it’ll point to someone else, won’t it?" When Jason didn’t answer, Carlos continued. "When did you lend your warm-up shirt to Dave?"

The silence in the room was deafening.

"A month ago," Jason finally answered. "I can’t believe he would do this."

Turning to Ryan, Trent said, "Ryan, we need to take Jason with us. If Dave is after Heather, maybe we can stop him before it happens."

"What?! No way!" As Ryan started to get up, the two investigators were already out the door.

Trent called back. "Send the police over to Jason’s place while we go make sure Heather is okay. You can send a couple squad cars with us!"

**

Jessie sighed as she hung up the phone. She had been trying to get Trent but his phone must have been turned off. Heather had been so upset and emotionally drained after her outburst, Jessie had given her a shot to help her sleep. She had held her until finally Heather’s eyes closed. Now, she took a moment to compose herself. She was startled when the doorbell rang. It must be Trent, she thought. They must have finished at the station.

Opening the door, she was surprised to see Dave Henderson standing on her doorstep. Trying not to look frightened, she greeted him.

"Hi Dave. Carlos isn’t here." She tried to block the threshold, but he pushed past her.

"How is Heather?"

"She’s okay. What makes you think she’s here?" Jessie watched Dave carefully. It was obvious that he was on edge and desperate.

"Jason told me. He wanted me to see if she’s okay." Dave turned to look at Jessie. Suddenly it dawned on him. "You know, don’t you?"

Jessie stammered, "Know what?" Unconsciously, she stepped back when he moved towards her.

"Heather told you."

"She didn’t say anything." Fear had crept in to Jessie’s voice.

Dave began to laugh. "Well, I kinda figured I would have to do something about you, anyway. How much did she tell you? That I killed her mom and that I tried to get her, too?"

Jessie continued to back away, until she was stopped by the couch. She tried to keep her voice even. "Look, Dave, it’s not too late. You don’t have to do this."

"Yes, I do, Jessie. You see, murder is a capital crime in Texas, so if they find me, they’ll kill me."

"So it’s better to let Jason go to jail and face the death penalty?"

"Yeah, Dave. Is that what you wanted? For me to get the death penalty." The two hadn’t heard the door open and whirled around to find Jason, Trent and Carlos in the doorway.

Dave grabbed Jessie by the hair and pulled her close, raising the gun he had had in his pocket to her head. He smiled. "Hi, Bro. You figured it out, did you?"

"What happened Dave? I gave you a job, a house. We’re family, for God’s sake."

Dave laughed. "Big-hearted Jason. Always looking out for me." His voice turned to scorn. "Guess you never should have trusted me with your finances, huh?"

"How much are you in for, Dave?" Trent asked quietly.

"A million. It just started out small, ten thousand here, ten thousand there. I would win some and then lose some. Finally, I just kept losing. I used Jason’s name as collateral and they let me keep playing. Then they wanted their money and there wasn’t any."

"Nothing?" Jason was incredulous. "You spent everything I made?"

Dave’s grip on Jessie tightened, eliciting a small scream from her. "I guess it was in the genes. I’m just like the old man, huh?"

"But why Maggie?" Carlos asked. Trent was looking intently at Jessie, trying to assess his chances for making a break. Dave was watching all of them intently.

"I wanted…no needed Heather’s trust fund. It was the only way they were going to let me live."

"Did you pay it yet? You had Jason sign the paper this morning when we were there, didn’t you?" Trent recalled seeing the paper on the table.

"I called and told them I would have down payment tomorrow. Guess not."

"Dave, please. You need help. We can help you," Jason pleaded. "Just let Jessie go."

"How can you help me? If I let her go, they’ll arrest me and kill me. If I get out of this, the mob will get me and kill me."

Jessie heard the desperation in his voice and knew it was a warning. She began speaking calmly to him. "Dave, it’s okay. You’ll get through this. You have people around you that will help you. And the courts will take into consideration your circumstances. One accidental death isn’t the same as multiple premeditated murders. Please, Dave, put down the gun. We can help you."

"No one can help me." Lowering the gun slightly, Dave looked into their faces one by one, finally stopping at Jason. "I’m sorry, Jase. I’ve screwed everything up. I’m sorry."

"No, Dave, don’t do this!" Jessie screamed. "We can help you!"

In one quick motion, Dave raised the gun and fired. The sound was deafening. Jessie heard a voice screaming, finally realizing that it was her own. She was on the floor, crawling, trying to get away from all the blood. In an instant, Trent was beside her, holding her, trying to comfort her, but the screaming continued. As if in slow motion, she saw Jason Henderson pick up the lifeless body of his brother, sobbing. In one deadly instant, it was all over.

**

Epilogue

The scream shattered his deep slumber, but immediately he knew what was happening. Like he had so many times before, he gently put his arms around her, holding her, stroking her hair and calming her until finally sleep came to her again.

**

"How’s Jessie doing, Trent?" Butch, the bartender and owner of the bar below Thunder Investigations sat down across from the one of the two investigators he considered friends.

"Better. The nightmares are getting more infrequent. Problem is, she doesn’t say much about it."

"Well, it is pretty traumatic to have someone blow their brains all over you."

"I think somehow, she thinks she failed; that somehow she could have saved him."

"What about Jason?’

"He’s throwing all his energy into getting custody of Heather. They should find out today if he does." The two continued chatting for awhile until Carlos joined them with the happy news.

"Jason won custody! And he found out that the Cowboys went to bat for him and he will be able to come back next season!"

That’s great, Carlos!"

"Now, at least the healing can begin."