Clive and Anne were beside themselves with worry by the time they showed up and understandably so. "Oh my darlings," Anne gushed upon seeing us safe and sound. She seemed to accomplish the impossible, gathering the two of us into her arms. "We leave for an afternoon and look what happens. I'm so sorry."

"Nothing you could have done, Mum," Harry assured her. "He was set on getting to us and he did."

"What happened?" She asked, sitting down with us with Clive hovering as close as possible, his eyes wide with concern.

"Um, well Jules was sleeping and I got a call from the front desk saying that there was a package for me. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone but I didn't know." He looked like he was about to tear up.

"It's fine, sweetheart," his mother reassured him. "You couldn't have possibly known it was him."

"So, when I got down there, Theodore was there with an envelope and I...I didn't know what to do. I started to turn back towards the room, but he lied and told me, 'Harry don't be afraid. I have something for you.' I'm sorry," he said again and I grabbed his hand. "He started to come closer and I asked what was in the envelope he was carrying. He got real close and stuck his hand inside; that's when I saw the gun."

"That son of a bitch!" Clive muttered loudly.

"I'm sorry," Harry said for the third time and started weeping.

"Harry, he's a liar and a thief. It's not your fault, okay?" I encouraged him, rubbing my hand up and down his quivering back.

When he collected himself, he said, "He whispered to me that if I didn't bring him back to my room, he was going to shoot everyone he saw."

"What the hell was the front desk staff doing at that point?" Clive demanded.

"There was only one person when I got there and she was on the phone. I could hear some other people in back but I didn't see how many people were there. None of them had any idea what was going on," Harry said, obviously still feeling very guilty. "I shouldn't have led him here, Jules," he said, sniffling. "I should have brought him somewhere else and just let him kill me."

"No, Baby, you did the right thing. We got him, didn't we?!" I said triumphantly.

"He almost killed you," Harry whispered.

"But he didn't," I insisted. "And you might not have been able to take him down by yourself after his gun jammed."

"Wait! What happened?" Anne asked.

I looked at her apologetically, not wanting to give her more fuel for the worry in her heart. "He had the gun pointed at my head and...." I swallowed a lump in my throat. "...And he pulled the trigger."

Anne gasped and Clive belted, "Oh my god!" I don't even think he was thinking clearly as he flew to me and encased me in his strong arms.

"So, yeah, if the gun had fired, I'd be dead," I said and it was when those words left my mouth that I realized how close I'd actually come to dying. I started to feel woozy, the room started spinning and my ears started ringing. "I...I don't feel good," I said and slumped over against Clive's chest.

The next thing I knew, Anne was patting my face with a cool washcloth while Harry cradled me with one arm and rubbed my arm with his other hand. "You okay, Jules?" He asked.

"I almost died," I whispered, somehow more shocked now than I had been when it happened.

"Here, drink this," Clive said, handing me a glass of ice water. I took a sip and tried to shake the fog out of my head.

"You have both been through more than anyone should ever have to go through in their lifetime," Anne said. "I can't wait till that man is in prison for life."

"Same here," I said. "The good news is that I don't think he knows you're here," I told her. "We can bring out our secret weapon at the trial."

She laughed lightly at my words, calling her our secret weapon. Still, she shook her head and said, "I wish I had been here, I probably would have killed the man myself!"

"Do you want to hear the rest of the story?" Harry asked.

"Not if it's going to upset you two any more," Anne replied.

"It's okay," I said and Harry told them about the moment the gun jammed, how I wrestled it out of his hand and Harry knocked him to the ground. Then we took turns telling how we called for help and how Harry got a few good punches in. At that point, his pride over defeating Theodore was beginning to win out over his regret.

Clive and Anne were chuckling a little at the end, especially when I told them about the coup de grace I delivered to Theodore's manhood. It actually made me feel better to tell the tale of our ultimate victory.

"After this, you two will be able to face anything together," Anne said, seeming almost happy, but I could tell she was still very shaken.

I couldn't imagine what my parents were going to say. "Do you think we have to tell my mom and dad?" I asked feeling somewhat foolish because I knew I had to tell them. "I just hate that they keep getting news like this when they're so far away."

"I can talk to them, dear," Anne offered. "Would you like me to do that?"

I thought about it for a moment and said, "No, thank you. I think I should call them. I just really don't want them to worry."

"Well, you can't get away from that, kiddo," Clive said fondly. "They're your parents. They're going to worry no matter what. We all worry about you."

When I made the call, my father indulged in some pretty serious cussing while my mom cried and asked me repeatedly if I wanted her to come back to Vancouver.

"Mom, I honestly think the worst is over." Part of me really believed that, while part of me was still in absolute shock about what had just happened. "He'll be in maximum security until the trial, and he'll have a tether during transport from the hospital to the prison."

"But I think someone on the inside helped him escape last time," Dad expressed his concern.

"Yes, but the Vancouver police seem like they've been waiting for a shot at this guy. Just because he had the Victoria police in his pocket doesn't mean he's going to get away with anything over here."

"Well, that's good," Dad said. "I'll be sure to give my thanks to the officers who came to your aid."

"Yeah," I said. "There were like fifty cops here, either in our room or around the hotel. It was pretty epic."

Mom had given Dad the floor and now she wanted to say more. "Juliette, don't you think maybe you should just come home until the trial? You probably need a break from the stress and you don't have to be in hiding here."

"I'm not leaving Harry," I stated plainly. Harry looked at me questioningly. I just shook my head and mouthed I'll explain later. "Plus, now that Theodore is actually in jail, we don't have to lay low so much anymore."

"Well at least consider it," she said. "Maybe Harry can come with you."

"What about Anne?" I asked.

"Anne can come, too," she insisted. I knew she was still feeling anxious, especially since she wasn't coming back to Vancouver with Dad. It was completely understandable; in the past six months her daughter had been manhandled, threatened, held captive, shot, and then almost shot again. But I reassured her that it would be great to have Dad here and that we would be fine and that as soon as the trial was over, we would all come home. I wasn't sure if it would be to visit or to stay for good, but I couldn't see that far ahead yet. I could only see as far as the trial, whenever that would be.

Dad returned early the following week and we celebrated our American Thanksgiving with Harry, Anne and Clive at a nice restaurant rather than trying to cook in our kitchenettes. It was nice to have that bit of familiarity, celebrating a festive occasion with family - and I considered them all family - instead of the worry and angst we had been through in the past several weeks.

Even with the break in the drama, we all strove to collect ourselves and wrap our heads around the magnitude of what happened that afternoon. And what almost happened. None of us wanted to trivialize the fact that Harry and I almost died. But we didn't want to dwell on that either; neither did we want to dwell on Theodore's misdeeds and the proceedings for the trial, which were a constant topic of discussion between visits with police officers and our lawyer.

We hungered for normal life, although life would never go back to being what it was after this. Harry and I had found each other and planned to be in each other's lives for good; Anne had suddenly discovered her son was still alive after 18 years, which turned her life in a completely different direction.

And Clive, well, I think Clive was looking forward to building a new normal as well. In fact, I think he had his eye on someone in particular, hoping she might like to join him in finding his new normal and maybe starting a new life together.

As the days went on, I was pretty happy with the way that Harry and I seemed to be handling everything that had come our way. There were moments we both felt a little scared and out of sorts, but in general, we brought out the best in each other. And there were always good memories and stories being shared between mother and son, bringing us all into their rediscovered relationship.

When another Monday morning arrived, so did Nathan and this time he had bigger news for us. "At this point," he began, "we're hoping the trial will be set as soon as February, but that's if everything goes according to plan."

"February?" I think Harry, Anne and I all spoke at the same time.

"It often takes several months for a case of this magnitude to go to trial. We're pushing for something as soon as possible because of everything and everyone involved. There is a lot that has to happen before we can put Blake or any of you on the stand. We've been talking to the former nannies and the house staff, but as of yet, we still have to get the formal deposition from all of them. Unfortunately, there haven't been any significant findings in Mary Lemke's case, but that should speed things up a bit."

I slumped back on the couch and sighed in frustration. But Nathan eyed us carefully and asked an intriguing question. "Are you ready to return to the house?"

* * * * *

Thank you to everyone who continually votes & comments - you make my days so happy!!!

I've had people gush over my work and I'm truly honored. My goal, seriously, is to have my books on the shelves some day and become a New York Times bestselling author! And for those of you who have said you'd want to see this in a movie - ME TOO! That would be the icing on the cake if I ever wrote a book that was deemed movie-worthy. Move over, Nicholas Sparks, lol!