Epilogue

The spoon clattered loudly into the dish as Don sat back with a satisfied sigh. "Sid, that was excellent!"

"Mmmmm... fantastic!" muttered Danny, his mouth full as he finished off the last of Sid's Lemon Surprise Pudding. Stella and Lindsay looked at the two men with a mixture of fascination and disgust wondering how they had both managed to put away so much food. Wishing he had eaten a little more, Stella glanced over at Mac who was sitting on the sofa, Lucy glued to his side as usual. Less than twenty-four hours ago he had looked like death warmed-up but now he was smiling at some secret his god-daughter was sharing with him as though nothing had happened. The only signs of his ordeal were the cut over his eye, the fading bruise on his chin, a fresh dressing around his arm and a large bag of ice covering his swollen knee that was propped up on a stool. The blue tinge had disappeared and his face now glowed from a combination of the warmth of the fire and the generous tot of whiskey that Sid had put into his Irish coffee.

As if sensing that she was thinking about him, Mac looked up and met her eyes. She could see the lingering guilt in them. It occurred to her that he hadn't even considered how scared she had been for him. Admittedly he couldn't have foreseen the avalanche but the danger he had put himself in taking a black run at night and then skiing in the back-country made her shudder. She was surprised that he hadn't broken his neck but then Mac was Mac ... courageous, determined, head-strong, occasionally impulsive, passionate, ... and with just a hint of a wild streak. And she loved him just the way he was. She smiled broadly at him and a little of the guilt disappeared as a shy smile curved his lips.

"Well Sid, I have to admit, you haven't lost your touch. That meal was awesome." Sam leaned back in his chair and patted his generous stomach. Sid beamed with pleasure.

"It was. Thank you Sid. I'm sure Dad won't need to eat for the rest of the week. Nor will Bruce!" Sara glanced at her father's deputy sitting next to her who was blushing nicely. Stella smiled at Lindsay who was obviously thinking the same thing. A match made in heaven!

"It was my pleasure." announced Sid. "It was the least we could do to thank you folks for rescuing our good friend over there." Sid glared at Mac who looked just a little embarrassed.

"All in a day's work Sid." Jim's booming voice echoed around the room from the couch opposite Mac where he was happily keeping Mac company with a large whiskey. Jim grinned at Mac. "Though if I'd known you were such an adventurous skier Mac I could have loaned you a back-country survival kit not that you seemed to need it. That was a nifty trick with the skis propping them against the tree like that."

Mac shrugged nonchalantly. "I got lucky. If I'd been further up, there wouldn't have been any cover. As soon as I realized I couldn't outrun it I hit the nearest cover and tried to make as big an air space as possible."

Jim looked impressed knowing full well that most people died from lack of oxygen than from anything else. "So you've had avalanche survival training then?"

"Well kind of … I had cold weather training … a long time ago."

Jim sat forward his eyes narrowing. "You served?" he asked hopefully.

Mac looked surprised. "Marine Corps. The 1/8 ..."

Jim pointed a thumb towards his chest. "2nd LAR. Hot damn! Sam another marine. I knew it." Jim turned to Sam who immediately got up from the table to join them, his face lighting up.

Stella turned to face Lindsay and Sara who was rolling her eyes. The three women looked at one another, and then at the three older men who were now discussing their military service with much enthusiasm, and then at the three younger men who were discussing the dangers of skiing with Don adamant that no one was going to get him on two lengths of metal and shove him down a hill at which point Bruce launched into a lecture on the manufacture of modern skis. All three sighed in despair. Even Lucy picked up on the male oriented discussion and slid quietly off the sofa to pat Digger who was lying protectively at Mac's feet with his head on his paws revelling in the attention he had been receiving, not to mention the leftovers from the meal, and only bothering to occasionally lift his head to make sure his find stayed where it was.

Stella stood to clear the dishes and help Sid who was clattering about the kitchen making more coffee. She was soon joined by Lindsay and Sara. Sara placed the glasses on the side near the dish-washer and turned to Stella and Lindsay. "I just wanted to thank you both. What you did was very brave."

Stella smiled at her. "It is all part of our job."

"And our fault for getting you involved in the first place." added Lindsay.

"You couldn't have known that he was watching and that was what he would do. I know it sounds awful but I'm glad he's dead ... I mean … he killed Sandra and Emily didn't he?"

Stella nodded sadly. "Yes he did. Evidence indicates that he deliberately ran Emily off the road though we don't know whether he meant to kill her or not. But the evidence definitely points to him for having killed his brother and Sandra."

"And all for a book?" Sara's face showed the incomprehension she was feeling.

"Not just any book." Lindsay explained. "It contains details of his brother's illicit accounts and of his business associates: drug dealers, pimps, extortionists, gun runners and ..." Lindsay hesitated before continuing grimly. "...and unfortunately the names of people in law enforcement who have been accepting bribes. Now we know who these people are we can stop a lot of harm from being done."

"So your work isn't finished then?" asked Sara.

Lindsay smiled. "For us it is. We'll get back and there'll be another scene to process and another crime to solve but for Mac ..." They all looked over at him. "No. He'll be the one to have to deal with the political fall-out from this."

Stella couldn't help but smile as the three men discussed some training exercise that appeared to involve rappelling down a cliff. Mac's eyes were shining and he had the same look on his face that Stella remembered seeing as he seated himself in a Formula racing car. What was it he had said? It was a love for speed. As if sensing he was being watched again, Mac looked up to see all three women looking at him. Just as Lindsay had with Danny, Stella decided to wind him up a little. "I was just saying I had no idea what an adrenalin junkie you were."

Mac looked indignant. "I'm not an adrenalin junkie ..." he protested. Don snorted with laughter earning himself a glare.

"Oh Mac! Really!" Sid laughed as he leaned up against kitchen bar. "What were you thinking? Devil's Ridge is hard enough in daylight and when you know the run. Even I wouldn't dare tackle it again now. I haven't skied that run in … oh, almost ten years. "

"Nor have I!" Mac admitted causing a few raised eyebrows at his confession. Mac couldn't help smiling to himself as he recalled the exhilaration of his midnight run; the combined effects of warmth from the fire and the alcohol flowing through him making him relax and forget himself for a moment. "I'd completely forgotten about the moguls until I was almost on top of them. At least the run itself hadn't changed much and the Hunchback was still the same."

Bruce leant over the back of the couch, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the older man in admiration. "Oh man you took the Hunchback? What was it like at night? Must have been awesome!"

Mac leaned forward picking up on Bruce's enthusiasm "It was. I must admit to landing a little harder than I anticipated." Mac unconsciously rubbed at his swollen knee. "...but … agh … that feeling as the skis leave the crest and the sensation of flying…." As Mac swept a hand through the air his eyes caught Stella's. His hand stopped in mid-air as he took in her stance and incredulous look that pointedly said : What was I just saying! Adrenalin Junkie! He shifted his hand to smooth down some imaginary errant hair at the back of his head. "Guess I won't be skiing that one again … this holiday..." Stella covered a smile as she raised an eyebrow. "... ever!" he muttered under his breath.

Hearing the word holiday Lucy piped up. "Do we really have to go home tomorrow?" she whined.

Lindsay smiled down at her daughter's disappointed face. "I'm afraid we do. We all have to go back to work."

"Uncle Mac gets to stay." Lucy looked up at her beloved godfather with a pout and doe-eyes that made him melt.

"Yeah well. Uncle Mac and Auntie Stella arrived after us so they get an extra couple of days by themselves. " Danny grinned as he put an arm around Lindsay. "Though if the past couple of days are anything to go by I'm not sure whether it's safe leaving those two alone."

"Oh I wouldn't worry!" Don did his best to suppress an evil grin but didn't quite succeed. "Stella'll be fine … though … I'm not so sure about Mac ..." The assembled company looked at him curiously. "Well … let's face it, he still hasn't told her how he got that scar on his hip ..."

Stella folded her arms with a sly smile, wondering why Mac had been avoiding that particular topic. Mac threw Don a look that made him glad there was no actual proven case of spontaneous human combustion.

Sid grinned. "Oh come on Mac. Don't be shy! We all enjoy a good tale of danger, reckless stunts and narrow escapes." Danny and Lindsay turned to look at him in surprise. Sid clearly knew more than he had been letting on.

All eyes turned on Mac, the guests in a mixture of curiosity and anticipation of a good after-dinner story, Danny and Lindsay in anticipation of hearing exactly what went down that rainy Friday night in an infamous red-light district of New York and Stella who was now enjoying the fact that Mac was looking distinctly put out as he tried to figure a way out of this particular predicament. Even Digger pricked up his ears.

"Yes, come on Mac." Stella purred. "Do tell. It can't be that bad."

Feeling the colour rise in his cheeks and wishing desperately that he hadn't let Sid talk him into an Irish coffee, Mac felt like a cornered animal surrounded by predators. He opened his mouth but the words that came out weren't his.

"Oh Uncle Mac! Have you been naughty again?" Mac looked at his god-daughter in astonishment. Lucy struck a pose, one hand on her hip with her other hand raised and her index finger pointing at him, in a perfect imitation of her mother. "You know what this means …?" Lucy put on her very best cross face. "... no TV for a week!"

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