Jennifer and Jonathan had already been up for hours. Out on the terrace, they had been having a leisurely breakfast-coffee, English muffins, and some fresh fruit. Jennifer had never been much of a cook, though since Max's death even Jonathan would have to admit she had come a long way. She was far from being a culinary genius, but for someone who previously had trouble boiling water, she had made remarkable strides. They sat there, she reading a manuscript that an aspiring young writer had sent her, and he scanning the business section of the newspaper which had been delivered that morning at the crack of dawn. It was a familiar morning ritual for them, though usually it would happen a few hours earlier as he liked to be at Hart Industries by eight-thirty or so. After breakfast, he would head off to the office and she would work on whatever project she was engrossed in at the moment. Or if her schedule allowed, she might fill her day with some of the various charities she was actively involved with. But today was Saturday, a day that they had been planning to spend in New York. Jennifer couldn't help but reflect on how much things had changed in a day.

Jonathan finished reading the paper and, after taking a sip of his coffee, asked Jennifer, "Do you think we should wake her?"

"No, darling, she needs the rest. She had quite a day yesterday. Come to think of it, we all did." She paused, deep in thought. "I think Max really would have loved her…if things had been different…if he had only known."

"I'm sure he would have."

The sound of the sliding glass door leading to the terrace notified them of their guest's arrival. Scampering behind her was Freeway, barking softly.

"That's quite a security system you have," she laughed, looking down at the pup who was unsure of what to make of her. "He was waiting for me when I opened the bedroom door. Cute little guy."

Seeing that Jennifer and Jonathan weren't upset by their guest, he calmed down and settled into a chair opposite Jonathan, his nose sniffing in the direction of the food.

"He thinks he's human sometimes, " Jonathan told Andie, breaking off a piece of his muffin and feeding it to the grateful pooch.

"Jonathan! You know he's not supposed to get food off the table!" Jennifer assumed the role of disciplinarian with Freeway. She had often wondered if it would have been the same way had they decided to have kids.

Jonathan and Freeway both tried to look innocent, causing both Jennifer and Andie to stifle laughter. Jennifer rolled her eyes at him, and decided it was useless to argue with him.

"How did you sleep, Andie?" Jonathan was anxious to change the topic.

"Very well, actually. I never sleep this late. You must think I am the laziest person."

"We were hoping that we wouldn't have to wake you," Jonathan continued, "But Lieutenant Grey called this morning and asked if you could come down around eleven o'clock. That doesn't give us much time. Maybe you could tell all of us the story at once? Unless you feel uncomfortable with that?"

She thought for a minute. "No, that would be fine. Though I am not sure how much help I will be to the police. I mean…I can tell them what has been happening…and who I think might be behind it, but I am really not sure if it will give them anything to go on."

"It's worth a try, Andie." Jennifer looked down at her arm. "Whoever did this to you needs to be stopped."

"Okay, let's go then. I want to get this over with."

Jennifer's eyes moved from Jonathan to Andie. "And maybe after we're done at headquarters we can convince Jonathan to take us for an early dinner at Chassens." She gave him a look she knew he never could resist.

Jonathan perked up, "Dinner with two beautiful women? You're on! Let's get down to Lieutenant Grey's office."

Grabbing a piece of fruit to satisfy her hunger, Andie and the Harts set out for police headquarters.

The offices of the Los Angeles Police Department were always bustling, even on a slow crime day. They were quickly escorted to Herschel Grey's office by a desk sergeant, who informed them that the Lieutenant would be with them in a few minutes, he was in a meeting with the Captain about an early morning homicide that had been discovered on the east side of the city.

Andie shifted in her seat, looking out through the glass partition which separated Lieutenant Grey's office from the busy outer office. Though the air conditioning was running, the room seemed stifling to her. Maybe it was just nerves, she thought. She just hoped that the Lieutenant would be here soon, she hated waiting.

Just then the Lieutenant entered the office. "Hello Jonathan, " he said, extending his hand. "Hi Jennifer." Looking at the other woman in the room he commented, "You certainly look better today. You must be Andrea Brenner." He reached out to take her hand, "I'm Lieutenant Grey."

"Hello." She spoke softly.

"Jonathan has already told me what he knows about your situation so, if you don't mind, maybe we could just take it from there." He moved around his desk, taking a seat, and pulling a notepad and pen from the top drawer of the metal, city-issue desk. "Perhaps you could tell me what brought you to the Harts?"

Andie cleared her throat, not entirely sure that words would come out. "Sure," she said, surprised by the steadiness of her own voice. "For the last few weeks, some really strange things have been happening. At first I thought it was a string of bad luck, but then I realized it had to be more than that."

"What do you mean?" Lieutenant Grey's voice filled the small office.

"Well…first, when I was still living in San Diego, about two weeks after my mother's death, I was driving home one night and I was run off the road…I thought it was an accident at the time but the driver of the car seemed to be taking deliberate action. Fortunately, I am a pretty good driver, and was able to stop my car. I was on a cliff and I hate to think what might have happened…"

"Did you file a report?" Lieutenant Grey inquired.

"No, like I said, I didn't think anything of it until I put it together with the other incidents. I didn't even see the car well enough to describe it anyway so I thought it would be useless."

"What other incidents?" He was getting interested now.

"Then, shortly after I moved to Los Angeles, I received a threatening phone call. A man…at least I think it was a man, his voice was disguised…the man told me that I should just disappear if I knew what was good for me. I didn't know anyone here, I almost thought maybe it was a prank phone call, or a wrong number. Who would want me to disappear? It just didn't make sense. It wasn't until last week that I started to piece it all together and realize that these weren't isolated incidents."

"What happened then?"

"I came home to my apartment one night, after doing some shopping, only to find someone waiting there for me. I entered, and someone grabbed me, threw me down on the floor and began wielding a knife…it looked like a kitchen knife…" She was shaking now and Jennifer pulled her chair closer to her and took her hand, hoping to give her the strength to continue. The touch of her new friend helped immensely and she resumed her story. "He was wearing a ski mask. He was about to hurt me when my landlady entered the door, which I had never shut behind me. Thank goodness it was the first of the month and she was collecting the rent money or who knows what might have happened."

The Harts and Lieutenant Grey were mesmerized by her story and urged her to continue.

"He was startled by the sound of Mrs. Anderson's voice and when he turned his head to see who was there, I was able to pull the mask from his face. He looked as if he didn't know what to do…he looked almost panicked…And then he just grabbed the mask from my hands and ran."

"Did you get a good look at him?" Lieutenant Grey looked hopeful now, the eagerness in his voice intensifying. "Were you able to describe him to the police?"

She looked down at her hands, which were trembling with fear. "I…I didn't call the police."

"Ms. Brenner, I don't understand." He was becoming frustrated with her. "Why wouldn't you call the police?" The Lieutenant's hopeful look had changed to one of bewilderment.

"Mrs. Anderson was going to call them, but I asked her not to."

Jonathan now spoke up. "Andie, why wouldn't you call them? If you could describe him, maybe they could have caught him."

The Lieutenant had seen cases like this one before, usually the victim was trying to protect something, or someone. He suspected that this was the case with Andrea Brenner. It was something more than fear that was causing her to keep quiet. She knew more than she was telling. And he knew he was going to have to pry it out of her.

"Andrea," the Lieutenant began, "Did you recognize the man who attacked you?"

She stared at the clock, ticking loudly, wishing she was anywhere else but there. She knew she had to tell the truth now, or she might not get another opportunity. "Yes, I did."

Jennifer uttered an audible gasp. She and Jonathan looked at each other in disbelief. A few seconds later they turned their attention back to the woman whose story was enthralling them all.

This time when he spoke, Lieutenant Grey's voice had softened, "Who is he, Ms. Brenner?" He thought maybe the sympathetic tone to his voice might help.

She had gone this far and Andie knew she had to tell the rest. "I don't know who he is, I just know that I have seen him before. One day, shortly after my mother's funeral, I was working late at night at the office when I noticed a light on in Derek's office." She explained further for the Lieutenant's benefit. "Derek is my step father. No one knew I was there, I had been finishing up some financial reports that Derek wanted on his desk the next morning. I didn't want to interrupt so I just went back to my office and continued working. I heard some loud voices a few minutes later…it was too garbled for me to understand what was being said though…and a couple minutes later I saw the man walk slowly by my office door, carrying an envelope. He looked in at me…he looked surprised, but not alarmed… and then he quickly left."

"And this was the same man who attacked you in your apartment?" Lieutenant Grey was starting to feel as if he were getting somewhere.

"Yes, it was. I would recognize him anywhere."

"How can you be so sure?"

A picture of the man flashed through Andie's memory. She would never forget that face, the face of the man who had so violently attacked her. "It was him… believe me. He had a scar on his right cheek, from just below his eye and going almost to his chin. I have never seen anything like it."

"Do you think you could pick him out again? My suspicion is that he isn't a true professional. It is likely that he has been arrested before, considering the sloppy work he does. I'd be willing to bet we have his face on file. But with a good description of him, we can probably narrow our focus and save a great deal of time. Would you be willing to look through some books of mug shots to see if maybe you could ID this guy?"

Andie looked at Jonathan, as if to seek his approval. He nodded to her, letting her know he thought it was a good idea. "Sure, why not," she responded.

She gave him a more thorough description of the man and the Lieutenant sent a young rookie cop down to the basement to pull out the appropriate books. They had started computerizing these records, when complete it would be a real time saver, but for now he wanted to use the books to be sure that no suspects would be overlooked. As long as they were waiting for the books, he figured he would see what other information he could pull out of the reluctant Ms. Brenner.

"Andrea, what type of business is your step-father in?" Lieutenant Grey was suspicious of the man who Andie had known as her father. Jonathan has already told him of the man's possible violent streak, and of Andie's history with him. He knew that she had recently lost her mother and discovered that her father was not who she had always thought him to be.

"He is a building contractor. His name is Derek Sanders. Sanders Construction. Used to be called Sanders & Whiting, the Whiting being after my maternal Grandfather but after my mother's death Derek shortened it. Derek's father, Charles Sanders, and my mother's father were business partners. When Derek's father passed away Derek inherited his half of the business. A few years later, when my mother's father died, she inherited his portion of the business and immediately turned it over to Derek. After my mother's death, he dropped the Whiting from the name."

Grey thought this would be his opportunity to push a little more. "You mentioned seeing this man who attacked you leaving your stepfather's office. Can you think of any reason why your stepfather would want to kill you?"

She knew that she would be asked this question. But she didn't have an answer for him. "The only thing that I can think of is that he is unhappy that I know the truth about him not being his daughter. I didn't tell him that I knew, I just left, but he probably could have found out. See, I always went by the last name Sanders, but just recently had it legally changed to my real father's name, Brenner. But why would he try to kill me? Disown me, maybe. But to kill me?"

Jonathan interrupted. "It does seem a little extreme, Herschel. I know it looks like he is involved….could we be missing something here?"

"Andrea, is there anything else you haven't told us? Anything at all?" Herschel Grey felt as if he were missing a crucial piece of a very large and complicated jigsaw puzzle.

"I can't think of anything…I have been racking my brain for the past week trying to come up with something. It doesn't make sense. He and I have never been close, not like he and my cousin Michael, but I can't believe he would hurt me like that. Emotional wounds are more his style."

Jennifer wondered what could be motivating Andie's stepfather to take such drastic actions. "Have you had any contact with him since you left?"

"Not really. I have spoken to him on the phone, mostly about a couple of business related matters that I was handling at the time I left. Mostly things related to this big contract that he had just secured to build a new hotel downtown. I was handling all of the financial details for him. I felt a little guilty leaving him hanging like that so I wanted to at least try and wrap up loose ends. See, I just decided one day to leave, and I did. I called him the next day, he was furious, wanted an explanation. I just told him that I needed space, that things weren't 'as they appeared to be'. He was confused, understandably so. I know it looks bad for him but…"

A knock on the glass from outside the office stopped Andie in midstream. Lieutenant Grey motioned for the rookie cop who had been gathering the suspect information to enter.

"Here's all of the ones I think you'll need, Lieutenant." He looked towards the others in the room. "They are organized by physical description so I was able to narrow it down. There's still about 10 books for you to look through but hopefully you'll find him in there."

"Feel like getting started, Miss Brenner?" Herschel Grey hoped that her search would prove fruitful.

"Might as well," she said hesitantly.

Several hours passed, yet Andie continued to flip, page by page, through the musty smelling books. The smell was starting to make her feel sick to her stomach. Maybe she just needed to get out of this room, she thought. The Lieutenant had left them to work on another case, but the Harts had remained with her. She was still surprised how far they were willing to go to help a total stranger. But she realized that they probably weren't doing it for her, they were doing it for an old friend. She appreciated it just the same though.

"Can I get you a drink or something," Jennifer asked her. Jennifer had left her chair, needing to stretch her legs, and she would have welcomed the opportunity to leave the cramped little room, if just for a moment. She looked to Andie for a response but was alarmed at the expression on the other woman's face. The color had seemingly drained from her face, and the look of boredom that had been on her face had changed to an intense stare. She was motionless, even her eyes didn't blink. She stared intently at the face of a man in the book, waiting several seconds to speak.

"That's him," she said, raising one hand slowly to point to a photo in the endless stream of suspects. She turned to look at them, her eyes wide, a look of fear radiating from within.

"Are you sure?" Jonathan asked her. "Let me get Lieutenant Grey." He quickly left the small glass-enclosed cubicle and seconds later returned with the Lieutenant.

"You found him?" Lieutenant Grey sounded optimistic, for the first time that day. He was working several cases, all of which seemed to be at a dead end. All he needed was a break…

"Yes, right there, " she said, pointing at the book, "I'd know him anywhere. That's the man who attacked me." She now sounded stronger and more confident, as if picking the man out of the book had somehow made her feel safer.

"Number 9852077." He read from below the photo that Andie had selected. "Let me find out what I can about this guy." He grabbed the doorknob and opened it with such force that the window seemed to shake. "Be right back."

Andie paced the room, the wait for the Lieutenant seemed endless. Finally, he reentered the room and sat down at his desk. Andie and the Harts waited while Herschel Grey looked over the file he had carried in.

"Hmmm…..Not much here to go on. He's been busted several times, mostly small-time stuff. Burglary, aggravated assault, even a jaywalking charge." He chuckled faintly, "Nice to see that he is a well-rounded citizen. He spent several years in the state pen…looks here like he got out about six months ago." He paused and looked deeper into the file, "Last known address is in San Diego, but he has failed to check in with his parole officer."

"Anything else?" Jonathan asked.

"Nope, nothing. Just a name." He stopped and flipped back to the top sheet of paper, "Anthony DiMarco."

"Tony DiMarco?" Andie nearly jumped from her chair. She looked shocked, as if this revelation had caused her to face something she had hoped had been a mistake. "Did you say DiMarco?"

Jennifer was the first to break the silence. "Andie, does that name mean something to you?"

"Yes," she said weakly, taking her face into her hands and covering her eyes as if by covering her eyes she wouldn't see what was right in front of her. She came up to face them, tears streaming down her face, a look of alarm evident on her face. "It is true, he is trying to kill me!"