"Of course I oppose bail, your honour," Catriona said. "The defendant is a member of law enforcement."

"But not a flight risk," Chantale argued. "He plans to mount a vigorous defence."

"He does not," Colton grumbled.

She kicked his instep.

"Did your client say something?"

"Oh, your honour, he's just saying he's looking forward to defending himself against these charges."

"Serious charges," the judge pointed out, rather unnecessarily, as far as Colton was concerned. "But he deserves bail. I'm setting it high, I want an ankle monitor and I'm ordering him to stay away from the victim and her family."

As if he would ever approach her, Colton thought sarcastically. He never wanted to see her again. Even that would be too soon.

"We agree to all of those conditions, judge," Colton heard Chantale say.

"Fine, bail is set at one hundred thousand."

Colton nearly laughed out loud.

"It will be posted within the hour."

Colton felt a flash of rage. Rage followed by resignation.

The judge stood and everyone else did as well. Colton turned to Chantale. "You shouldn't be posting my bail."

She gave him a guileless look. "Oh, I won't be." Before he could say anything else, she was leaving out the front door and he was being escorted out the back.

An hour later, he was sitting in her car being driven home.

"What did you mean when you said that you weren't going to be the one posting my bail? If not you, then who?"

"Someone who wishes to remain anonymous," Chantale said simply. "Someone who stepped forward this morning upon hearing of your arrest. Since they were able to figure out I was the counsel of record, they approached me."

"Which is another thing we need to talk about," he said.

She pulled a sharp turn into Rocko's parking lot. "I'm hungry," she announced. Then, not even waiting for him, she alighted the car and headed into the diner. Colton only rolled his eyes. Well, she was going to have to pay because he didn't even have his wallet.

Sarabeth was there to greet him. "Didn't know you were seeing Chantale again," she said sarcastically. "Isn't she married?"

"Yes," he replied, trying not to notice the outright hostility. "But, for today, she's my lawyer."

"Thought she was better than that," Sarabeth said bitingly.

"So did I," Colton said. "I'm about to fire her, if that makes you feel any better."

Sarabeth's mouth twisted. "I don't think anything but you serving jail time will make me happy."

So this was how it was going to be, he thought. He would just be better off holing up in his condo and waiting for whatever fate awaited him. He slid into the booth and watched as a reluctant Sarabeth brought him his usual black coffee. As a cop, he often came in here with Dorrie or Seth and he had even brought a woman in here a time or two. Never again, he realized. He thanked Sarabeth for the coffee and turned back to Chantale to find her turning...green? He barely had time to register the look before she ran from the booth towards the bathroom.

"You make her sick?"

Colton sighed. "Actually, I can't own up to that one. May I have a burger?"

"Like always?"

"Yes, please."

Sarabeth nodded. "Tell Chantale I'll get her the spaghetti."

Colton frowned. "I'm not sure she's going to be up to eating anything."

Sarabeth snickered. "Don't know much about pregnant women, eh? Chantale's one of them that once she throws up then she can put down a solid meal. And it stays down until she's about to eat the next one. The thought of food makes her nauseous, but actually eating makes her feel better." With that, she was gone.

Chantale? Pregnant?

Well, she had been married nine months, but Colton had never seen her as the mother type. She was very career focused, and she derived most of her self-esteem from her work. But then he thought about how she was with her niece Claudette.

For reasons which completely escaped him, Seth and Jocelyne had insisted that Colton be god-father to the little girl and Chantale be god-mother. And, despite the way their torrid affair had ended, Colton and Chantale managed to be civilized to each other when in the presence of others. They even managed to have dinner as a foursome every once and a while. Once in a very long while.

No more, Colton thought. Once he went up for this, there would be no more cozy dinners with friends. And he knew what would happen to him once he was on the inside. He'd put away more than his fair share of criminals and now he was going to be joining them. Sometimes they segregated cops, but that would just be worse because they also segregated child molesters and rapists. No, he was willing to take his chances with the general population. He was a big guy who worked out and could stand up for himself. But for how long? How long before he gave up?

"Colton?"

Chantale was again seated across from him.

"I guess I should congratulate you."

She gave him a quizzical look.

"Your pregnancy," he said.

Her eyes widened then narrowed. "Sarabeth," she hissed.

"Who has put in your order for spaghetti."

Chantale's eyes lit. "Well, I guess I can forgive her."

"How far along are you?"

"Ten weeks."

Colton nodded, but didn't really understand the ramifications of that. What he did understand was the ramifications of her being his lawyer. He took a breath and said in an abnormally loud voice, "you're fired." As he had hoped, several heads turned.

"No," Chantale said, her voice even louder. "I'm now your counsel of record." She gave him a sweet and sarcastic smile.

"We've been here before," he said in a whisper. "Or do you not remember what happened when you defended Declan? Chantale, you got shot. Now you have a baby to think about as well."

"That's low, Colton, even for you." She shrugged. "Declan's case was unusual. I mean not all victims have an uncle who is a sharpshooter with the Vancouver Tactical Division."

"No," Colton conceded, "but there are people who will be just as dedicated to hurting you. Surely Declan has tried to talk some sense into you."

Another shrug. "He's tried, but it was an anemic effort at best because he knows what it's like to be falsely accused. He's not your biggest fan, but he doesn't want you to go to jail for something you didn't do."

"What if I did, Chantale? What if I did everything I'm accused of?"

She gave him a long level look. "See, here's the thing, Colton. I'm a lawyer, so I'm good with semantics and evasions. Not once have you admitted to raping Belinda."

"Don't say her name," Colton hissed. "She's a victim and her name is protected. She has the right to privacy."

"Well, I'm not sure she should," Spring said, sliding into the booth next to Chantale. She gave Colton and megawatt smile. "If she's making a false accusation then she should have to do so out in the open."

Colton felt his anger spike again. "Who says her accusation is false?"

Chantale merely shook her head, turning to Spring who was newly arrived. "Every time this comes up, he answers with a question. I'm waiting for an outright denial or an outright confession." She turned back to Colton. "So which will it be? Did you rape her or not?"

Spring held her breath. Everything was on the line and now the moment was here, she felt queasy. What if he did admit it? Where would that leave Kennedy, Autumn, Rainbow, Sunshine and the rest of the family?

"Why is this so important," Colton asked. "There is a preponderance of evidence and that should be enough."

Spring turned to Chantale. "Prevarication, again." She turned back to Colton. "Just say you didn't do it and put me out of my misery."

"Your misery?" He looked incredulous. "No one asked you to get involved."

She just gave him what could only be described as a beatific smile. "I was involved the moment the tape hit my desk. I heard a woman tell me what she did to you. In great detail, no less."

"Well, then you have your answer."

Chantale frowned. "It's far from the answer, Colton and you know it."

Spring nodded. "And the Belinda? Would that be Belinda Oliphant?"

Colton leaned in, beckoning the women to do the same. "Either or you mention her name again and I'll have you sanctioned," he said pointing to Chantale, "and I'll have you fired," he said, pointing to Spring. "Victims have the right to anonymity when they are sexually assaulted."

In that moment, Spring knew, without a scintilla of doubt that Colton was innocent.

"What's really going on," she asked. "How did this happen? Because your semen was found on her. In her," she clarified.

"That's a question you're going to have to answer, Colton," Chantale said. "Because I know you're prodigiously careful. You never once made love to me without a condom. And raping a woman? You of all people understand the concept of DNA. You must have known what was going to happen if she reported it. Or were you counting on her not reporting? Did you threaten her?"

"Or force her to stay," Spring asked. "She's alleging you held her captive for several hours."

"One burger, one spaghetti and one stuffed French Toast." Sarabeth put down the plates with a little more force then necessary. Then she put down the ketchup and syrup. "You need anything else, just holler." She then stomped away in a huff.

"And so it begins," Colton observed. "After this, I'm going home and I'm staying there."

"Not a good idea," Spring said. "You need to be seen around town acting normal."

"Or looking arrogant," Colton said. "Looking like a man who has no regard for a victim and what she's going through. And what if I happen to run into Belinda? Can you imagine how traumatic that will be for her?"

"You know, for someone who's being falsely accused, you sure have a lot of empathy for the woman who is trying to send you to jail," Spring observed.

"And you still haven't explained the semen," Chantale said, picking up on the conversation they had been having before Sarabeth had brought the food.

Colton shrugged. "I must have thought my threat was enough to keep her from going to the police. Maybe I just wasn't worried. I should have been," he added, his voice drawling indolently.

"I don't believe it," Spring said, even as she cut her French toast into little pieces. "But you say shit like that and you're just sinking yourself further and further. What are you hiding?"

"What if I'm not hiding anything?"

Chantale made a strangled sound of annoyance. "I swear to God, answer another question with a question and I'm going to reach over this table and strangle you."

"That wouldn't be good for the baby," Colton said. He smiled when Spring turned to Chantale.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you."

"I'm pretty happy too," Chantale said. "And Declan is over the moon. I think he's more excited than I am."

"You should go see Sunshine," Spring said. "I mean, if you want to know the gender of the baby."

Colton snickered and Spring rounded on him. "No one asked your opinion. She told Zephyra she was having a girl and the ultrasound proved her right."

"It was a fifty/fifty chance," Colton shot back, the contempt for his ex-wife clear.

"She's sure you're innocent," Spring said softly. "She's willing to stand up to the whole town to defend you." She shifted in her seat. "That is one of the reasons I'm here. See, you have to defend yourself because several of my sisters are putting their reputations on the line and, if asked, will say they believe you innocent."

For a moment, just a moment, Colton looked disconcerted. Then the mask came back up. "Then they're fools," he said. "Tell them not to bother, that they'll be pariahs in the community. I'm not worth it."

Spring felt a moment of panic followed by a feeling of determination. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this so my sisters will be proved right."

He eyed her carefully. "I can't imagine Torah being on my side."

She flushed. She didn't want to, but she did. "You tried to hurt Christian and that hurt her. She's never been your biggest fan, but she's not going to go out of her way to bad-mouth you. Yes, there is dissention in the ranks, but with twelve people, that's bound to happen."

Colton gave her a long look. "Do I want to know?"

"Autumn, Kennedy, Rainbow, Sunshine, and their respective partners," Spring said.

Instantly, his demeanour changed. "How is Autumn? It's been a year, right? I haven't spoken to her recently."

"She's no longer angry at you for arresting Declan," Spring said, "if that's what you're asking. The nightmares are fewer and she goes for longer periods of time without thinking about the rape. Aside from Sunshine, she was your staunchest defender. She remembers how you were with her after the attack and she only sees you as capable of compassion."

"Which is how all of your victims see you," Chantale said. "So what happened with Belinda?"

Colton turned to Spring. "You didn't tell me where you stand."

She shrugged. "Christian accused me of being a fence sitter. I'll say what I said last night. Did you rape the woman? No. Did something really bad happen? Yes."

"I'm going to tell Spring," Chantale said.

Instantly, Colton's frame stiffened. "You have no right."

Still, Chantale turned to Spring. "Colton knew Belinda. He took her report when she came in and said she'd been date raped."

Spring whirled back to Colton. "Two accusations of rape? In what space of time?"

"A month," Colton said, his reluctance clear. "She said she was drugged and then date raped by a man she met in a bar."

"That sounds like Belinda," Spring said rather uncharitably.

"Don't say that," Colton hissed. "No one deserves to be drugged and raped."

"Of course not," Spring said. "But Belinda has a reputation, Colton, and you know it."

Chantale looked blankly between Colton and Spring. "What kind of reputation?"

"Spring," Colton warned, but Spring was undaunted.

"She was in my class at school," Spring said, "and she was quite vocal about her sexual conquests. She was the one boasting," Spring reiterated, "not the other way around."

"Maybe she had reasons for being like that," Colton said.

Instantly, Spring's eyes narrowed. "Like what? What are you not telling us?"

She could see the wariness in his eyes. "Nothing of any relevance," he said. "Nothing you need to know about."

"Everything is relevant," Chantale said. "I'm going to be asking her questions, Colton, so this stuff might come out. Better I hear it from you than being surprised by her."

His dark eyes were flinty. "I'll only say this once. I will never break the seal of confidentiality I have with the victim."

"You're a cop," Chantale argued. "There is no cop/victim confidentiality and you know it."

"Is it in the report of the date rape," Spring asked.

Colton hesitated which was all she needed to see. She pounced. "All of that should have been in the report, Colton, and you know it. Did you tape the interview?"

Again, he looked uncomfortable. "Only part of it," he acknowledged. "She kept talking after the recorder was turned off and I could see she needed to get the load off of her shoulders." He turned to Chantale. "So it doesn't matter what you think, it's all hearsay."

Chantale looked mutinous. "This is your life we're talking about, Colton, and you're not taking this seriously."

Sarabeth came to remove the plates. She turned to Colton. "Something wrong with the food."

"Just not hungry," he said. "Don't tell Rudy, okay?"

Her eyes narrowed. "No appetite? That because you have a guilty conscience?"

"Sarabeth," Chantale began, but Colton cut her off.

"We're all guilty of something, Sarabeth."

The woman reddened.

Spring looked back and forth between Colton and the waitress, trying to suss out the unspoken communication. Finally, Sarabeth said, "will that be all?"

There was a pause. "It will," Spring said, filling the silence. "Thank Rudy for us. It was good."

That seemed to mollify the woman. She removed their plates and muttered something about being back with the check.

"What was that all about," Chantale asked.

"Nothing that matters," Colton replied.

"You're making it very difficult to be your lawyer," Chantale said.

"Well Hallelujah," Colton said. "Finally we agree on something. You're fired." He rose. "Thanks for lunch and I hope I don't see the two of you again." With that, he was gone.

There was a stunned and uncomfortable silence.

"Well," Chantale said, pulling out her wallet. "That went well."

"Tell me he's innocent," Spring said. "Tell me this has just been some terrible misunderstanding."

Chantale hesitated. "I think you were right when you said something really bad happened. The question is, will we ever find out?"

Spring pulled her car up to Colton who was walking down the highway. She knew it was a four kilometre walk to his house up a very steep hill, so she was giving him a lift - whether he wanted one or not.

"Get in, Pritchard."

He just kept on walking.

"I'll park this car in the middle of the highway," she threatened. "So I suggest you get in, unless you want to be responsible for a crash." They were on a blind bend and an accident was a real possibility.

He huffed...but he got into the car.

"You could give Torah a run for her money in the stubborn department," he said.

"She's stubborn," Spring informed him, "and I'm tenacious."

"I don't see the difference."

"She's liable to let emotion override common sense while I'm able to hold on to rationality. Her frustration will eventually subside while I'll just keep hanging on."

"Even if there's nothing to hold on to?"

"I don't believe you, Colton, and I can't figure out why you're lying to me."

"Who says I'm lying?"

This time, it was Spring who huffed. "This question to answer a question thing is going to get old really fast."

She manoeuvred her way up the steep incline, gearing down her little Honda to make it up the hill. It was a move she had done almost daily for the past ten years since she'd gotten her licence.

"As much as I appreciate what you're doing," Colton said, "there's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do."

"I never thought of you as a quitter," Spring shot back, annoyance lacing her voice.

"I didn't either," Colton said, so quiet Spring had to strain to hear him. "But circumstances are beyond my control and quitting is the only real option."

Spring considered his words as she pulled up in front of his condo. He lived on the first floor, so he had his own door.

"You know Sunshine is going to come," she said, trying to keep the desperation from her voice. She couldn't explain why, but she desperately wanted to stay with him. To spend more time with him.

"Tell her to stay away," Colton said, "or there will be consequences."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise," Colton said. "I don't need her trying to get into my head and believing she knows something."

"She believes in you, Colton. Truth be told, you need all the friends you can get."

"Well I don't believe in her ability," he said, placing just the right amount of sarcasm in the word.

"Her gift," Spring said quietly. "It's a gift and your derision is duly noted. I never understood why you married her, but she tried, I know that much."

He went almost completely still. Finally, at length, he spoke. "She wasn't the only one who tried. It was just that she entered the marriage under false pretences. She never told me she believed herself capable of feeling other people's emotions."

"She does feel other people's emotions," Spring said. "And I suspect you've been exposed to that more than once."

He looked like he was about to say something sarcastic, but then stopped. "She's a good person with a good heart." He hesitated. "But I have a black heart. In the end, I realized I wasn't good enough for her. I saw that I was only going to pull her down."

Spring cocked her head. "I thought it was a mutual decision."

Colton shook his head. "We let people believe that because of what happened in her marriage with Logan. After he hit her, he walked away. I know Sunshine never told people what happened, except for her family, of course."

"Of course," Spring murmured, remembering seeing her sister's black eye and broken cheek.

"But to have a second husband walk away from her? It would have looked bad for your sister. People would have talked, speculating there was something wrong with her." He hesitated. "There was, of course, but it was her 'gift' as opposed to anything fundamentally wrong with her personality."

"But you loved her," Spring persisted.

"Sometimes love's not enough." He gave her a sad smile. "You were just a kid when this happened. I suspect Sunshine tried to protect you."

"I was twenty-one," Spring protested.

"The just about the same age Summer and Autumn are now," he countered. "Would you want them exposed to something like that now? They're still innocent in the ways of the world."

"Not so much," Spring said. "Autumn was brought into the adult world quite violently."

Colton's expression turned dark. "She was an innocent."

"She had never had sex with a man," Spring corrected. "But she'd had a girlfriend."

"Not the same thing, Spring, and you know it. Her sexuality was never an issue for me. I just felt sick when she was violated so violently."

"Well, if she hadn't been interested in sex with a man before, she never will be now."

Colton gave her an odd look. "You think she would have-"

"Oh no," Spring rushed to say. "No, my sister never even looked at a guy. She says she'd known she was a lesbian from about the time she was five years old and I'm inclined to believe her. I mean, she came out of the closet to Kennedy when she was just fourteen. That took a hell of a lot of guts."

"To Kennedy," Colton asked. "Not to your parents?"

Spring smiled. "Kennedy is like a mother to Autumn. There are nineteen years between the two of them. No, Autumn felt more comfortable with Kennedy. Then Kennedy held her hand when she talked to my parents. My parents were amazing, of course. Moonshine and Brian Dixon were nothing if not great parents."

"I still can't believe I had a mother-in-law named Moonshine."

There was a ghost of a smile on his face. It was slight, but it was there.

"We're all Moonshine's daughters. All eight of us."

"And Brian's daughters as well," Colton pointed out.

"Oh, our father was the smart one. I don't know if you remember, he was a long haul pilot for the airline. He would do flights across the Pacific and be gone for days or even weeks at a time. I think it was the only way to handle living with nine women in the house."

"Did he ever wish for a son?"

Spring shook her head.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because he once told me. And I believed him," she was quick to add. "No, he adores each and every one of us. They're coming down for Sunshine's wedding next week."

"Your sister is getting married next week? God, Spring, my arrest couldn't have come at a worse time."

"You didn't get to pick the moment for this to happen," Spring pointed out.

"But with Sunshine believing in me and Torah believing in my guilt...that's got to be stressful for everyone involved."

Spring shook her head. "We're all adults and we're sisters. Dissention is expected and I think it would be scarier if we all agreed on something which is going to be so divisive in the community. We've already had dozens of emails from the residents of Mission City."

"And the verdict?"

"About eighty percent ready to condemn you and twenty percent ready to defend you."

His brow shot up. "That's much better than I would have expected."

"A lot of people are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"You know you can't use Belinda's name, right? Even if I didn't rape her, she's still a victim."

Spring sighed. "I don't like this."

"It's the way the system works."

"The system which is trying to condemn you."

"Maybe I did that all by myself."

"You are infuriating," Spring spat out.

Colton looked like he was going to speak, but he said simply, "thanks for the ride." He got out of the car and was about to close the door when he had a thought. He leaned back in. "Tell Sunshine she's wrong. I am capable of violence."

With that, he was gone.

Leaving Spring to watch him walk to his door. Chantale had returned his keys so he was able to enter the condo without difficulty. Had it only been twenty-four hours since she'd been pounding down his door? It seemed inconceivable. Sighing, she pulled away from the curb. She would head back to the office to work with the editorial staff to select which emails were going to run in the next paper. Since they were a small town paper, there were only two runs per week. That meant if something broke on Colton's case, it could take days to disseminate the information to the community.

Plus, of course, there was a whole segment of the population who didn't even read the paper. It was free, but that wasn't necessarily an inducement for people to educate themselves.

Not her problem at the moment, she told herself. She had a job to do.

Colton was surprised it took Sunshine more than three hours to appear on his doorstep - he'd expected her a lot sooner.

Of course he contemplated ignoring her, but he knew she knew he was home. Not only was his car on the street, but Spring surely had told her sister he was now out of jail and home. For how long, he asked himself as he made his way to the door. Unlike Chantale and Spring, Sunshine's knock was delicate. If he didn't answer, however, he knew she could rival her sister in force.

Pasting on a smile, he opened the door.

And was surprised. Sunshine was there, of course, but so were her fiancé Hawk and her sister Autumn.

"May we come in?" Her voice was soft, but there was steel under it. No, she wasn't really asking. So he stepped aside. She entered and looked around. "I'm glad to see you cleaned up."

"Knew you were coming," he said. "What, did Spring tell you it was a mess?"

Sunshine merely cut him a look. A look meant to tell him that she'd known his place was a mess without having to be told. So that was how it was going to be, he thought. She was going to bring her mind reading tricks over into his house today. He really didn't have the patience for this, but derision wouldn't go over so well with Hawk and Autumn.

"Spring didn't tell me about the mess," Sunshine said. "But she did tell me you were drunk."

"And would be again except Chantale emptied out my liquor cabinet."

"There's always the phone," Hawk said quietly. "Doesn't take much to get a mickey delivered."

Colton shrugged. "Don't really have a taste for the stuff." He watched as Sunshine approached him. He was wary, but he didn't back up, even though that was exactly what he wanted to do. When she placed her hand on his cheek, he tried not to flinch. It was such an intimate gesture and for her to be doing this in front of Hawk...it felt wrong. Yet it also felt good. Her hand was soft and warm. She was trying to transfer some of her optimism and goodness to him. She was wasting her time and effort, but those were hers to waste.

He looked down into her pale blue eyes. While Sunshine had the palest eyes of the seven sisters who looked identical, Spring had the darkest. Autumn's he knew, were somewhere in between. It was funny that Kennedy, the eldest, didn't look like her sisters. Whereas the seven had blue eyes and blue/black hair, Kennedy had brown hair and brown eyes. But all eight women were gorgeous. Colton would've had to be blind not to notice.

Yet, in this intimate moment with Sunshine, it was Spring he was thinking about. The woman who was so set on finding out the truth. The woman who was setting herself up for disappointment. Finally, he placed his hand on Sunshine's and pulled it away from his cheek. He held it for a moment and then let it go.

"Say whatever it is you have to say," he said in a gravelly voice, "and then be on your way."

"May we sit," she asked.

"Of course," he said. But before he could do anything, Sunshine and Hawk took seats on the chairs. That left the couch for himself and Autumn which wasn't going to work. "I'll just stand," he said casually.

But Autumn sat and patted the seat next to her. "Please, Colton, sit."

It felt wrong. She was a victim he had helped. He didn't want the intimacy of sitting next to her.

"It's all right," Sunshine said. "Autumn needs this. She was the one who insisted on coming here."

That caught Colton off-guard and he sat, keeping a decorous distance between himself and the youngest Dixon sister. She had been just fifteen during his marriage to Sunshine and Colton had always treated her like a younger sister. He looked back and forth between the sisters.

"Are you saying you might not have come if Autumn hadn't asked?"

Sunshine hesitated, but it was Hawk who spoke. "She was prepared to come here on her own. As you can imagine, that probably wouldn't look good if word got out."

That was an understatement. There would have been a dozen ways to have the visit interpreted and none of them would have been good for either Colton or Autumn.

"I would have come eventually," Sunshine said. "But I might have waited a day or two until you were calmer."

There she was again, assuming she knew how he felt. He gave her a level look. "I'm not angry. I haven't been."

"You were when someone posted your bail," she said.

He couldn't argue. "Because I thought Chantale had done it, just like she had for Byrne. And how did you know I was angry?"

Sunshine waved him off, clearly not going to answer his question. "Do you know who did post your bail?"

"I haven't a clue. Whoever it was, they're a fool."

"But you're not planning to run," she asserted. "You'll abide by all the conditions the judge laid out."

"I will," Colton said. He pulled up his pant leg to show the ankle monitor.

There was a pause.

Autumn cleared her throat. "You're probably wondering why I was so insistent on coming here."

He nodded slowly. "Spring said you stuck up for me." He turned to Sunshine. "That you both supported me. You shouldn't have done that."

Again, Autumn cleared her throat. "I had to come, don't you see? I couldn't see Declan after you'd arrested him. Couldn't be a voice of support. But I can in this case. I can come and tell you that I believe in you."

"Look, Autumn," he began, but she cut him off by laying her hand on his arm. He was so startled he didn't immediately pull away. But he knew he should. This was so wrong. But, like Sunshine's touch, it felt good.

"I never got the chance to thank you."

"I was just doing my job."

She shook her head. "You know that's not true. You figuratively held my hand through the whole process. I was devastated and you were there."

"So was Dorrie," he pointed out.

"And if she had been arrested and charged with a crime she didn't commit, I would be sitting in her house trying to talk her out of doing something stupid like pleading guilty." She squeezed her hand, applying more pressure. "This is so much bigger than just you. If you're convicted then all the arrests you made will fall under suspicion. There will be appeals and maybe some of those...those monsters will get out."

He had thought about that and was surprised Autumn had as well.

"And what about the victims," she continued. "Some of them are going to start questioning themselves. Wondering if somehow you were being disingenuous with them. Wondering if you had been looking at them as possible prey instead of victims. This is going to re-traumatize them."

"All the more reason for me to plead guilty and get this over with," Colton pointed out. "A trial isn't going to do anyone any good," he said, removing Autumn's arm and standing.

Unbidden, tears came to Autumn's eyes. Tears which slayed Colton. Then she stunned him by standing and launching herself into his arms. Colton went stock still, knowing he should push her away, but she had a good grasp of him and he would probably hurt her if he tried to extricate himself. He met Sunshine's gaze and she waved at him, clearly telling him to comfort her sister.

So he did what felt both awkward and natural. He put his arms around Autumn and let her lay her head on his chest. She felt insubstantial to him, even though she was the same size as all the other sisters. She felt delicate like china, but strong like the woman he knew her to be. She had a black belt and had fought her attacker with all her strength. But the monster hadn't fought fair. He'd punched her in the gut which had temporarily felled her. He'd used that moment to tie her to the bed. Then he'd repeatedly raped and sodomized her.

He felt that familiar burst of rage he always felt when he thought about the victims. The survivors. Despite everything, she had survived. And testified against the man who was now serving a life sentence.

Eventually, Autumn pulled back, taking the tissue Sunshine offered her. She looked up at Colton. "Don't you see? You have to fight this. For all of us."

Closing his eyes, he tried to block out her still shimmering eyes. She probably wasn't even aware of how guilty she was making him feel. Or maybe she did. Maybe that had been her plan all along.

"It's just not that simple," he said, willing his three visitors to understand.

"And you can't explain it to us," Hawk said, his voice calm.

Finally, Colton hoped he had an ally. He stepped towards the door. "Look, I appreciate the visit, but it isn't going to be good for you to be seen here."

"You're kicking us out," Sunshine said.

"Asking you to leave," he corrected her. "I have very nosy neighbours and if you're not careful, word of your visit will make the rounds.

"We don't care about that," Autumn said.

"But you should," he countered. "Because not all of you are supportive and I would hate for one of you to be mistaken for another one."

Which, to the untrained eye, could happen. Autumn had a sleek bob, but the other six sisters all had long hair which they usually wore in a braid. Sunshine was most likely to let her hair flow loose, but today it was in a ponytail. From a distance, she could easily be mistaken for Spring, Zephyra, or even Torah. No, this wasn't going to work.

"You can't come back here."

It was Hawk who nodded. "We appreciate your concern for us."

"But I can call, right?" Autumn looked up at him. "And email too, right?"

"Both could be monitored," Colton said, knowing it was possibly a lie because why would the police want to keep track of who he spoke to. Except he wasn't supposed to speak to Belinda.

He met Sunshine's gaze. She knew, he realized.

"Spring has a big mouth."

She gave him a small smile. "I know her...the woman who has accused you. Spring didn't say anything, so don't go blaming her."

Colton desperately wanted to make some sarcastic remark about Sunshine's gift, but he knew that wouldn't go over so well with this particular audience. Autumn believed and Hawk, whether he believed or not, would not want Sunshine's ex-husband impugning her. So, difficult as it was, he held his tongue.

"Thanks for coming," he said. He opened the door and as soon as the women stepped through the threshold, he heard the click of a camera. It was a faint whisper of a sound because the photographer was on the sidewalk, but it was there. Colton closed his eyes for a moment, praying for some kind of divine intervention. Like an out-of-control car careening down the street and knocking the man to the ground.

It didn't happen.

But where Sunshine would have reached out to give him a hug, Colton ducked and slipped back into his house, leaving Sunshine, Autumn and Hawk to fend for themselves. He was all kinds of coward, he told himself, but he knew how this looked.

The photographer had been a man Colton didn't recognize. Leah-something was the photographer for Spring's paper, so he didn't think the Mission City Dispatch had sent the man over. Maybe he was from neighbouring Abbotsford or even from as far away as Vancouver. Colton eased back the curtain to see Autumn talking animatedly to the man as he held a cellphone. Colton wanted to burst back out there and to smash the thing. No way should Autumn be making a comment. She was still fragile and this publicity could set her back in her recovery. When she'd been attacked, she'd chosen to speak out instead of hiding her identity. She'd had guts even back then.

Sunshine looked up and caught his eye. She'd known he was there, of course. He might not believe, but the woman had an uncanny ability to know where he was and what he was doing. Still, she was getting married in a week to a man Colton couldn't help but admire. Hawk Duhamel was a good man and clearly willing to stand by Sunshine, kooky as she was.

His phone ringing pulled him away from the window. It was his sister's ringtone.

"Hi Mallory."

"You shit!"

Colton winced. "Yes, well, I guess you heard."

"I'm at a conference in Toronto and am sitting in my hotel room, minding my own business and watching the national news and a story comes out about my brother being arrested for sexually assaulting a woman. Jesus Christ, Colton, did it never occur to you to call me?" Her anger was palpable even though she was four thousand kilometres away.

"I meant to ask Chantale to call you, but things got a little crazy. I didn't have a lot of notice they were going to arrest me. Actually, I had just enough time to shower and shave. I was lucky because most criminals don't get any warning."

"Well, that makes it all okay, then. How long have you been out on bail?"

He cringed. "About five hours."

"Since I know how you feel about swear words, I'll refrain. Know that I'm cursing a blue streak in my head."

Of that, he had no doubt. Mallory could out-swear most of the cops Colton knew and probably a few sailors as well. "I'm sorry I didn't call, Mal. I didn't mean for you to find out that way." He let that sink it. "So how's the conference going? I didn't even realize you were out of town."

"Still swearing, Colton." She paused. "The conference is really good. I'm giving a speech about restorative justice."

"And you didn't tell me because...?"

"You know," she hedged. "You're busy, I'm busy."

"But this is a huge honour, isn't it?"

Her silence spoke volumes. Finally, she said, "it's a conference of law enforcement from all around North America. Yes, it could be perceived as a big deal."

"When's the speech?"

Another silence.

"Mallory," he prodded, "when is the speech?"

"Tomorrow night," she said. "I'm wrapping up the conference. Or I was," she corrected. "As soon as we're done this call, I'm booking my flight home."

"You'll do no such thing, Mallory Pritchard. You're going to get up tomorrow and give a kick-ass speech about something you're so passionate about and which you've spent ten years pursuing it. It's about time you got recognition for the work you've done."

"Colton," she said on a sigh. "My big brother has been arrested. How can I not come home?"

"Because there's nothing you can do here, Mallory. I'm out on bail and the next hearing's not for a couple of weeks. I'll repeat, there's nothing you can do."

"I can be supportive," she argued. "I can stand beside you."

Colton sighed. "No, Mallory, you can't. I'll taint you and your work and it's too important."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Language, Mallory."

She sputtered. "Look, Colton, this is ridiculous. These spurious accusations are obviously false-"

"Are they, Mallory?" He paused. "How do you know that?"

"You're kidding, right? You expect me to believe you're guilty of sexually assaulting a woman? What did she accuse you of, groping her?"

"Rape," Colton said succinctly.

There was a sharp intake of breath. "That's serious."

"About as serious as it gets, Mallory, I'm well aware of that."

She sighed. "Two days, Colton, I'll be home in two days. My mind isn't going to be on the conference, you know."

"They won't..." He faltered. "Will they link you with me? Is this going to hurt you?"

"I don't know. It was on the national news, Colton. Mission City is such a small town..."

"RCMP, Mallory. Canada's national police force. There have been a number of scandals recently and there is a public perception that we've been protecting our own. They have to make an example of me."

"But at what cost," Mallory asked. "If you're innocent, then aren't they wrong to do this? When you're exonerated, they're going to look really stupid."

"I don't think I'm going to be exonerated, Mal. That's why you need to stay as far away from me as you can."

"You remember when dad died?"

"Of course." He'd been seventeen, Mallory had been fifteen and their father had died a horrific death of Huntington's disease.

"You remember when mom died?" Just a year after their father, their mother had succumbed to a pneumonia which might not have been fatal had she not been so consumed with grief.

"Where are you going with this," he asked testily. He didn't like to be reminded of that time in their lives.

"You looked after me," Mallory said. "You were just eighteen and you looked after me. You could have walked away-"

"Of course I couldn't have-"

"But you swore it would always be the two of us. You said no matter what happened, we would always be there for each other." She let out a breath. "Well, now is the time when we most need each other. I don't care about my career, Colton, because it means nothing if I don't have you."

He fought the stinging in his eyes. "I'll always be there for you Mal."

"From prison? Again, swearing in my head." She sighed. "You're just being ridiculous. I need you available to me whenever I need you."

"That's not fair, Mallory. You haven't needed me for almost twenty years."

"I'm not fighting fair, big brother, because you're being an idiot. Look, do you have a good lawyer? Tell me you have a good lawyer."

"I did," he admitted. "But I've fired her."

There was a long pause. Colton could only imagine what Mallory was thinking. "Tell me please your lawyer isn't Chantale Byrne."

"Well, it was, but it no longer is."

"That is just wrong in so many ways, Colton." She took another breath. "And why did you fire her?"

"Because she would be putting her reputation and her life on the line and I'm not willing to be responsible for either."

"Have there been death threats?"

"Not yet," Colton said truthfully, "but it going to happen. You know it will because it always does."

"I don't want you to die," Mallory said, her voice so quiet Colton had to strain to hear it. She sounded so young, like she had after their parents had died.

He sighed. "I'm not going to die, Mal, not for a long time." He could tell she didn't believe him.

"I'm coming over when I get home and we're going to strategize this. There has to be a way out of this."

"There isn't, Mal, and you need to accept that."

"Never," she vowed. "Even if you're convicted, I'll keep fighting.

"And if I plead guilty?"

There was a very long pause. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid in the next two days. If you can't do that then I'm on the next plane."

This, he could do. "Stay and give the speech, Mal. Try not to worry."

She snickered then sighed. "You've always taken care of me, Colton, maybe it's time I return the favour."

He was at a loss of what to say. "I'm sorry I didn't call."

"I forgive you." She hesitated. "And I love you."

"Same here," he replied. "Good luck."

"Thanks. Bye."

With that she was gone.

Colton dropped to the sofa. Was he being selfish? He hadn't really been thinking about his sister the past few days and which obviously had been a mistake. He'd always been the strong one, but, in recent years, Mallory had surprised him.

First, she had survived the break-up of a long-term relationship with Darius Evans. Colton knew it had been hard on her because she had thought they might marry. She had believed herself in love with the man, but Colton had always wondered about that. They'd fallen into a bit of a rut and it had been Darius who had ended the relationship. Colton had wanted to confront the guy, but Mallory had pointed out she would survive. And she had.

And her job? High stress with high stakes.

She was a mediator working in the restorative justice system. She brought together criminals and their victims for a sort of reconciliation. At least as much as could be, given the circumstances. The recidivism rate among offenders who went through Mallory's program was much less than the general prison population, but there were still plenty of skeptics. He'd been one at first. Then one of his victims had participated in the process. She'd confronted the man who had molested her all through her childhood. Unbelievably, she had found a way to forgive him, which had, in turn, empowered her. She also believed she'd had an impact on her molester. She'd shown him the real face of a victim and survivor. Whether the guy would reoffend or not was a question none of them could answer. He was due for release in a few months and Colton had planned to keep an eye on the guy.

Now he wouldn't be able to. He made a note to talk to Seth.

But Colton also believed there were irredeemable sociopaths who could never feel empathy for their victims. Still, Mallory pushed for the process when the victim wanted it. Like him, his sister worked with some of the worst people in society, yet she never lost her optimism. Colton admired and even envied her. He'd become cynical and jaded a long time ago.

Which brought his train of thought back to Sunshine, Autumn and Spring. They needed to be stopped. No matter the cost. He picked up the phone.

"Torah? It's Colton. We need to talk."