Seated on the window ledge of her father's den, L.K wanted to scream that Sheriff Martinez's theory was lies - all lies, concocted by people who wanted to see someone, anyone, convicted of the crimes. Especially if his name was Biersack. It had been only a few days since the fire, but Andy Biersack, the missing town hellion, had been all but tried and convicted.

Martinez filled an overstuffed chair, alternately studying Christian's silent daughter and looking through the door to the gun room at the rifle cabinet with the smashed glass front. He smoothed his big hands over knewss of pants that were already shiny.

Her father sat listlessly behind his desk, a cigar burning forgotten in the ashtray.

"The way I got it figured, Biersack wouldn't have run unless he was guilty as sin. Looks as though it's just like your boy Alex said. Jimmy Sanchez and Biersack were at blows over Abi; they'd already had a knock-down, drag-out fight at the Biersack trailer in front of Eva. My guess is the Sanchez boy prob'ly whopped the tar out of Biersack with his bat; that boy never did play fair. Anyway, he left Biersack hurtin', and once that boy got on his feet again, he tore after Jimmy."

"Lindsay said Andy was here looking for Abi," her father said without much interest. Nothing interested him much the past few days, and he'd been walking around as if in a fog, a haze medication keeping him sane.

"Maybe he did and maybe he didn't."

"Lindsay doesn't lie." Her father cast her a quick glance as she sat at the window, staring outside to the sun-bleached hills that shimmered with the afternoon heat.

"I know, but young girls, sometimes they take a notion, make things a little better than they were. The way I hear it, L.K might have been sweet on the Biersack boy, too."

"That's ridiculous." But her father's voice didn't have any of his old fight in it.

L.K sensed the sheriff's suspicious gaze boring into her back.

"They danced at the Scodelario barbecue."

L.K didn't say anything, afraid that if she began to speak, her lies would quickly unravel. If the truth ever came out, the law might find Andy and convict him. The gossip spreading like wildfire was that Andy was guilty of arson and double murder. As to the father of Abi's baby, everyone seemed to have their own suspicions but Andy Biersack was at the top of the list.

Christian sighed. "I danced with Mrs. Scodelario. That doesn't make me - how did you phrase its - sweet on her."

L.K cast a look over her shoulder.

The sheriff had the decency to blush. "You're not a teenage girl all full of romantic notions now, are ya?" He motioned with his hands, as if frantically pushing all of Christian's arguments aside. "Doesn't matter anyway. Whether Biersack stopped by here or not, he ended up in town lookin' for Abi or Jimmy or both of 'em. He probably found Jimmy's Mustang and tracked him to the mill, where Jimmy had planned to meet Abi. We all know how crazy he was about her. Biersack must've jumped Sanchez, broke a couple of his ribs, then knocked him out before setting fire to the building."

"He wouldn't have killed Abi," Christian said dully. "And Eva said the fight took place at er house - that Jimmy had a baseball bat and used it."

Martinez nodded. "Well maybe, but the way I figured it, Biersack probably didn't know she was there. Or" - the sheriff's eyes slitted - "maybe he did know. Maybe he head some discussion about the baby. He'd been seen with Abi himself and the thought that she was sleeping around on him-"

Christian's fist thumped against the arm of his chair. "She did not sleep around!" His voice was strained with the same quiet authority few dared to cross. "Whoever's baby she was carrying, she loved him very much!"

"Coulda been Biersack's."

From the corner of her eye, L.K watched her father's face contort with rage. Blind, dark rage. "Watch your step," he warned. "We're talking about my daughter."

"Who happened to be pregnant."

L.K's stomach cramped painfully. The baby, Abi's baby, Andy's baby. Her hands began to shake, and she laced her fingers together. She wanted to run from the rom, away from the discussion, but she couldn't - she had to find out anything she could about Andy.

Martinez backed off a little. "Okay, okay. Anyway, let's just say Biersack didn't even mean to do it. He smokes and could have carelessly dropped a match and that old mill - criminey, it had to have been a hundred years old-"

"A hundred and twenty."

"Yeah, well, it was a damned tinderbox and caught fire quick as a spark to gasoline. But the fire department has found a device and it looks like gas or kerosene was used. We're still figuring it out. Maybe Biersack planned to torch the place. Didn't know Abi would show up."

"I don't know-"

"Well, Chris, he didn't much like you, did he? Didn't you nearly fire him here a few weeks ago?"

Picking up his cigar, Christian admitted, "He'd been fighting with Alex."

"There ya go. Probably didn't mind burning down a historic sight, because he had a bone to pick with you."

"I think maybe the fight was Alex's fault."

"But you can't fire your own son now, can you? And come on, Chris, be truthful, you didn't like the way Biersack was hangin' around your daughter."

Her father just drew on his cigar, blew smoke to the ceiling and watched the ash turn white.

"My guess is that he took off on foot or stole that horse of yours - the one that's missing - to avoid the roadblocks."

"It's my daughter's horse," Christian said, lifting his eyes to L.K. Blushing lightly, she turned away from him to stare out the window again. It was hot outside - the storm drying up the day after the fire. Flies collected in the windows and all the puddles from the cloudburst had disappeared, leaving hornets to hover over the drying mud.

Abi and Jimmy, after autopsies, had been buried in separate ceremonies for different faiths. In Abi's case, St. John's had been packed, people flowing down the steps, citizens lining up to show their sympathy and offer their condolences. The house was still filled with flowers despite Christian's plea that money be given in Abi's name to St. Therese's Girls' School. Fragrant floral arrangements filled every nook and corner of the big house. People continued to show up each day bringing food and cards and teary eyes. Everyone in town was welcomed into the grieving Bale home.

Everyone but Eva Biersack. Dressed in some kind of Native American garb and speaking incoherently, she had been turned away at the door and told politely but firmly that her company wasn't wanted. Ever. L.K had seen her from an upstairs window and had raced outside only to watch the wide rear end of her Cadillac to roll away.

Heartsick, L.K had walked back into the house and tried not to notice that in the foyer of the great house, between the sprays of roses, carnations, lilies and chrysanthemums, was a long polished table, topped with nearly a hundred votive candles, their flames burning bright beneath a huge picture of Abi, her smile in peace, her eyes gleaming innocently. A basket of cards and donations to St. Therese's had been placed discreetly near the shrine.

Priests and Pastors visited daily, as did doctors; one dispensed with blessings and God's knowledge, offering comfort to the soul, while the other prescribed pills and rest, relief for a weary body, all of which was supposed to help Christian scale the mountain of his relief.

"Lindsay said she rode the horse that night," Christian said, still obstinately defending Andy to the sheriff.

"I did," she replied, holding up her arm with the cast around her wrist and forearm. "Got this to prove it."

"She was thrown off the colt again," her father said, his eyes seemingly acient. He tapped thw ash from his cigar. "That useless colt-"

"But Biersack, he could have found the horse and taken off on him, or . . ." His suspicious eyes regarded L.K in a new light.

"Or what?" Christian asked.

"Or he could've gotten himself some help."

L.K's heart nearly stopped. Her throat constricted and sweat trickled down her scalp. Sheriff Martinez was smarter than he looked.

"Who would have helped him? Lindsay?" Christian snorted in disgust.

Martinez pushed himself to his feet. "We'll find out. I've got the best men and dogs in the state taking off over them hills. We'll find him." He came up to stand behind L.K and stare at the eastern mountains. "He won't get far."

"It's been almost a week," Christian reminded him.

"But he don't have much money and only his two feet - the horse can only go so far if he's got it. We'll get him," he said, hitching his pants over the roll of his belly. "It'll just take a little time."

Shivering, L.K attempted to appear calm though her stomach revolted each time she thought about what would happen to Andy if they caught him.

"You still can't be certain it's Biersack."

"Maybe not yet, but we found someone who seems to be an eye witness."

"What?" Christian was suddenly interested. "Who?"

L.K's breath was instantly trapped in her lungs.

Rolling proudly on the souls of his warn shoes, Martinez kept his eyes on L.K. "Max Camarro. Found him down by the river, just staring into the water. Seems he was at the gristmill that night. Got himself a pair of singed eyebrows to prove it."

"Sweet Jesus," Christian whispered. "Max?"

Oh, God, no. Please, no - But she remembered seeing Max skulking through the red and fold shadows of the fire, in the alley.

"You think he could be involved?"

"Interrogated him every way up from sideways. His story doesn't change. He saw Andy and Abi and Jimmy there that night and he keeps sayin' the same thing over and over again. 'She burned! She burned!'" The sherrif's big nose wrinkled in disgust. "He carries on somethin' awful."

"Why wasn't I told?" Christian demanded, his eyes brightening with interest. "He lives here, you know. Over the stable. Works for me."

"I told you now. We just found him this afternoon, for crying out loud. The way I see it, Max was lucky he didn't die, too. Prob'ly got the piss scared out of him and hid in the woods. The dogs found him while we were looking for Biersack."

"Where is he now?"

"Down at the county office, gettin' cleaned up and feedin' his face. He's . . . well, I was gonna say he's all right, but he's always been a little off."

"Oh, God," Christian whispered and buried his face in his hands.

"So Max, half-wit that he is, saw Andy at the scene." Martinez seemed to figure Max's testimony was the final nail in Andy's coffin (NOBODY SHALL STEAL IT. Sorry, had to XD).

"Max's tells stories," L.K said, unable to stand the deciet any longer. Though she suspected that the sheriff was trying to get a rise out of her, in his own way questioning her, she couldn't help but come to Andy's defense. "I like Max and all, but I don't think you can take his word as testimony."

"Why not?"

She had to think fast, keep her lies straight even as she wove them into the truth. "Because Andy wouldn't have hurt Abi, ever, and he was looking for her that night. He came here; he told me he'd had a fight with Jimmy and hit him with his own bat, probably broke some of his bones." Frantic, she faced her father. "You have to believe that Andy wouldn't have killed her."

"Why not?" Martinez asked, running his tongue around his teeth.

"Because . . . because I think he loved her," L.K said, the admission tearing her apart. "I think he was going to marry her." Her voice was ragged, the words torn from her throat. "The baby - it was probably his."

"No!" Christian was on his feet. "I won't believe it-"

"Well, I'll be damned." The sheriff stared at her and rubbed his jaw. "Why didn't you say all this before?"

"No one asked and it's . . . it's only what I think."

"Well, if you think you're right, then he'd better come back and turn himself in and tell us exactly what happened. Otherwise we've got no recourse but to believe Max and the corroborating evidence."

"Andy Biersack is not the baby's father!" Christian shook his head as if in denying the truth, it would change.

"Dad-"

"She wasn't interested in him, not really."

"Oh, God, what does it matter now? Abi's dead," L.K cried. The walls of the room seemed to close in on her. Running as fast as her legs would carry her, she made her way out of the den, raced past the hundreds of flickering candles and slipped upstairs to Abi's room. The door was closed, but she pushed it open and nearly stepped back at the rush of perfume - Abi's scent - that wafted over the threshold. The huge portrait of Abi as a baby with her mother glared down at her and the dolls - Barbies, Kens, Chatty Cathy, and all the rest stood in perfect attention cases.

Grief tore at L.K's soul, and she shut the door quickly.

Leaning against the upper hallway wall, she fought tears and her knees gave way. Where was he - she wondered as she slid to the floor. Where? She buried her face in her hands but not before she saw Sheriff Martinez, eyes narrowed, reaching into his back pocket for his can of chew, looking up past Abi's shrine and the railing to the place in the hallway where L.K had crumpled.

---

L.k glanced at the calender. Over a week had passed since the fire, and the house was still in a state of mourning.

Deciding to escape her room, she stopped midway down the stairs as two of her mother's best friends, Mrs. Scodelario and Amy Sanchez, were waiting in the foyer, believing themselves to be alone. "Losing Abi will kill Christian," Scodelario predicted in a hushed whisper. From the looks of the open boxes they were carrying, they'd dropped by with homemade casseroles and a whole sliced ham, enough to feed the entire Third World, though no one in the house had any appetite. "He doted on that girl."

"Don't I know?" Ada, Jimmy's mother, made a swift sign of the cross and bowed her head, giving L.K a bird's-eye view of the gray roots she tried so vainly to conceal with hair dye. If only all the do-gooders would just go away and quit circling like vultures, showing up at any hour day or night, offering condolences and advice, wearing grief-weary faces, patting L.K's shoulder whenever she was near. As far as she was concerned, they were all fakes. Even Mrs. Spears, wife of the minister. Though Christian Bale had been a devout Catholic all his life, she seemed to consider it her duty to her husband's church and express her condolences. She'd come by, yesterday, stiff as starch, her lips drawn into a permanent frown as she noticed the flickering candles in the foyer.

"A shame . . . such a shame," she said, her eyes pitying, her bony hands fingering the cross suspended from a chain around her neck. "Such a lovely girl. I hope they find that Biersack boy. He's nothing but trouble - always has been from the time he was a baby. I should know, I tried to take care of his older brothers when he was born . . . oh, my, I'm rattling on and I just wanted to extend my most sincere condolences from myself and the reverand as well as the congregation. . ."

L.k hadn't been able to breathe while she was in the house and now, with Sanchez and Scodelario whispering in the foyer, she retreated from the banister and moved back into the shadows of the hallway toward her room, where she'd taken refuge ever since the fire. A few of her friends had stopped by, but they'd each beaten a hasty retreat once they'd said they were sorry about Abi and discorvered that L.K was still shell-locked and wasn't good company.

"Martina," the two women said in unision as L.K's mother approached from the family room. Margarita had probably answered the door -she'd taken over the role of butler as well as cook and housekeeper these days.

"We've been sick with worry." Ada's voice. Sincere. Nasal.

"Yes, is there anything I - we can do? The Judge is beside himself and swear that whoever did this, if he comes before him, will get his. Believe me."

"I hope he roasts in hell," her mother said, and L.K felt sick inside. "He's a bad seed. Always was and Abi - well, God rest her soul."

"Kaya can barely function," Scodelario admitted, obviously not afraid to sound charitable about her stepson. "He wants us to hire a private detective, hunt Andy Biersack down like a dog and string him up. I swear this entire family is falling apart."

"How's L.K holding up?" Ada asked.

"Oh, she'll be fine. Always - bounces back. She's torn up about Abi, of course, but just between you and me, it's a good thing that Biersack boy is out of our lives. He was starting to show L.K some attention - you know how his kind is, always looking for a way to be with decent girls."

"His brother, too."

"Yes, but Ashley is different," Martina hedged. "He knows his place and works hard. Christian lent that boy money to go to school, and he's working off the loan. Somehow he managed to get some sense. It's a pity he's related to Andy. It'll stand in his way."

"Will Christian be all right?" Ada aksed kindly.

"Who knows? He adored Abi. To tell you the truth, she was his favorite, over his son and other daughter. I just hope that now he realizes how lucky he is to have L.K."

Ada agreed. "A lovely girl. Maybe I should suggest that Adam ask her out."

"She'd love it," Martina said and L.K suddered at the thought.

"They could help each other through this."

No way!

"Yes," Mrs. Scodelario said. "Just like Kaya and Alex."

L.K imagined her mother smiling. "Now, if I could just convince Christian to fire that half-wit, Max. He was there at the fire, you know. Saw the whole thing. But who knows? He and Andy were friendly. I wouldn't be surprised if Andy put him up to it."

"He shoud be in an instituition," Ada agreed. "With others who are mentally handicapped."

"Christian won't hear of it. Thinks he owes that boy something. Won't admit that the retardation is as bad as it is. I tell you, there's no reasoning with that man sometimes. Well, come in and have some iced tea. We don't have to stand out here in the hall."

Insides chruning, L.K closed the door behind her. A date with Adam? Prearranged by her mother? Fat chance. She kicked off her shoes and flipped on the radio. An old Rolling Stones song warbled through the speakers. L.K closed her eyes and listened to Mick Jagger complain about painting something black. She knew how he felt.

There wasn't a knock on the door, but she felt the change in atmosphere, the movement of air as the door opened and the curtains billowed at the windows. Turning, she found Alex in the doorway. "Can I come in?" he whispered. He looked gaunt and strained, as if he'd lost twenty pounds as well as part of his soul.

Lifting a shoulder, she watched him close the door behind him. "God, I feel awful," he said, and tears shimmered in his near-dead eyes. "Abi didn't deserve this."

She didn't answer, afraid her voice would fail her.

"I loved her, y'know. She was a pain in the butt, but I loved her."

"Yeah, I know."

Alex blinked rapidly. "I-I'm sorry about the other night with the shotgun. I wouldn't have hurt you."

"I wasn't worried about myself."

He wandered over to the dresser, where he saw a photograph of L.K astride of Red. Picking the snapshot up, he frowned, then glanced at the mirror and met L.K's gaze. "Dad should have never hired Biersack." Alex's mouth flattened at the mention of Andy. "If he hadn't, this wouldn't have happened."

"You don't know that."

His hands clenched suddenly, crushing the photograph. "I can't believe she's gone!" He looked up at the ceiling as if searching for answers.

"Neither can I."

He drew in a ragged breath and pinned L.K with his watery eyes. "I'll kill him, you know. If that bastard ever sets foot near Malibu, I swear I'll kill him with my bare hands."

"Even if he's innocent?"

"He's not, L.K," Alex said, sniffing loudly. "The bastard's guilty as hell and someday he's gonna pay."

Notes

Hi... so, hi. One more chapter till Part Two comes up and the second part gets pretty twisted. If you haven't noticed, the very first chapter says, "[Part 1: 2009]" and every chapter after that has "[Part 1]" in its title, that means all of those chapters are part of Part 1 and all of them take place in 2009.

The second part or "[Part 2]" will all take place about five years later; somewhere around 2014-2015. Just an FYI. This is not the end of Andy and L.K . . . keep that in mind.

-Lauren, not LoverSunset

P.S: How to know who writes which chapter, I tend to write more bitter and more risque than Maya (LoverSunset) does. She writes all romantic and sweet, while I write the harsh stuff and sex scenes.