"WHERE IS SHE?"  Grady yelled.

In a flash, Matthew was out of the bed and moving toward Grady.  "Hey!" he said, "Calm down!"

"Fuck you, Matthew!" Grady slurred, and it was obvious he had been drinking.

Matthew took the man carefully by the arm and pulled him into the apartment, carefully closing the door as he did so.

"What's wrong?" Matthew asked him.

"Shawna.  She never came home last night."

"Did you ask Paul where she is?" asked Matthew.

"Yeah," Grady shook his head, unsteady on his feet.  "He told me to go home.  What the fuck is happening, Matthew?"

Matthew looked over at his wife, who had gotten over her sudden shock.  She climbed off the bed, but unlike her husband, who stood in the middle of the room naked, Rhianna clutched a blanket to herself and wrapped it around her body.  She was calm, but not yet comfortable enough to be relaxed around this man in his present state.

"It's okay, Grady," she said as she got off the bed.  "Shawna's being looked after."

"It's not right; I'm her Head of House, I should be involved," Grady muttered.  Matthew rolled his eyes and helped the big man over to the chair.  Grady dropped like a sack of cement, but stayed awake.

"You okay, big guy?" Matthew said.

Grady looked up at him with red eyes.  "What's going on?" he said, "Where is she?"

"I can't tell you where she is, I don't know," Rhianna told him, "but I think you should know what's going on, for your own good at least."

Grady focused on her, and looked more alert than they first thought.  "Please do."

Rhianna told Grady about Shawna's criminal past, the robbery, the plane crash, and the dead body still on the Mountain.  She also started to tell him about Dirk when he waved her down.

"I know about him already.  So the bastard got her in trouble.  Is that him up the mountain?"

"Yes, we think so, and she says it's him," Rhianna replied.

"Shit," Grady said, his head low.

Rhianna and Matthew looked at each other.  Neither had thought Grady cared enough about Shawna to be like this.

"I guess that's why she saw the elders," he continued, "they had to decide what to do with her."  He looked up.  "Do you know what they decided?"

"I'm sorry, Grady, I don't.  When I left, they were still talking about it."

Grady sighed.  "You were there?  Did it look good?"

Matthew was interested in how Rhianna was going to answer that one.

Rhianna padded over and got down on one knee in front of Grady.  She put a hand on his leg and shook her head.  "I don't think it looks good for her," she said.  "You know the law.  She's supposed to be taken back to face the authorities, but she wants to stay.  Since she was forced into committing the crime, you might say she has extenuating circumstances, but it's a hard call.  The elders were supposed to have an announcement this morning."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Grady asked.

Rhianna shook her head, but this time it was Matthew who surprised her.

"Get dressed, Rhianna," he said.  "I think I know what to do."

---***---

 "So you think she should stay now?" Matthew whispered to her as they walked along the hallways inside the huge huts.

"Shawna is a victim, not a crook.  She was forced; her boyfriend using her addictions as leverage against her.  She needs help, not a jail term," Rhianna replied.

"Won't she get help on the outside?" Matthew asked.

Rhianna gave him a look.  "She'll be better off here.  Look, Matt, you're not kidding around, are you?  You do have a serious plan to help her, right?"

Matthew's face hardened.  "I've never been more serious."

They reached Paul Anderson's home, and Matthew knocked on the door.  It was opened presently by Lilly, who looked nervously at the three adults in the hallway.

"Dad's pretty mad right now," she said, "it might be better if you came back later."

"This is important, Lilly, let us in and go get your father," said Matthew.

Lilly gave Grady another look, then stepped back and opened the door.

The threesome had stopped off on the way to let Grady splash some water over his head.  He looked a little better now, more in control of himself, and Matthew had told him to shut up and let him do the talking.

The woman and two men entered the family-sized apartment, and Matthew pointed to the floor pillows in the living area.

Rhianna took her cue, and for once didn't argue with her husband.  She went and knelt on the pillows.

Lilly had disappeared into the back somewhere, and Paul stepped through an arch a moment later.  He looked curiously at his younger brother for a second, then he noticed Grady standing by the door and frowned.

"I'm not telling any of you where she is," Paul said, "so Grady, if you think getting my brother involved is going to help your case, think again.  My advice to you is to go home and forget about her."

"She's leaving then?" Grady said, forgetting his instructions.

"Grady," said Paul, his face softening slightly, "it's for her own good."

Matthew glared at Grady for a moment before turning to his brother.  "Paul, we all think that it's better that Shawna stays."

"That's...not an uncommon feeling," Paul admitted.  "But when it came right down to it, rules are rules.  We've never kept anyone back before when they should have been exiled."

Matthew reached out and put a hand on his brother's shoulder.  "Yes...we have!"

Paul stared at Matthew for a second, then realization struck.  "No, Matthew.  You can't do it."

"Can't do what?" said a nervous Rhianna.

Matthew turned to his wife.  "I want to go tell them about me, about my real past," he said.  "Paul says they're stuck on law; Shawna can't stay because no one else has.  Well, they need to know that it's already happened."

"Gabe told you not to tell anyone!" said Paul, talking about the original Gabe Miller, who was the only person other than Paul and Rhianna who knew about Matthew's criminal past.  Gabe Miller the first had passed away a year and a half ago, and with him went one of the strongest minds the Compound had ever had.  He was the voice of the elders, and the guiding force of the community almost from the time it was founded.

"They have to know," Matthew said slowly.

"What if they decide to exile you as well?"

Matthew shrugged.  "It's a chance I'm willing to take."

Grady stepped forward, puzzled.  "Wait a minute.  Are you saying that you're wanted too?"

Matthew shook his head.  "No.  I've done my time, but that might not matter here.  Look, Paul, are you going to set up the meeting or not?"

Paul looked at his feet for a moment, deep in thought, then he nodded.  "Wait here, I'll send for you when they're ready." he said.

Matthew stepped to one side and Paul left the apartment.

"I hope this works," Matthew whispered.

---***---

 "Two years ago, I came back to the Compound after being gone for many years," Matthew began.  He was standing in front of the assembled elders, a larger group than had heard Shawna's case the night before.  Everyone of any seniority had been pulled in to discuss Shawna, and Matthew knew that confessing to this group would be the same as confessing to the entire community.  Whatever happened after this, no one would look at him the same way again.

"As far as anyone knew here, my life on the outside was successful.  People knew I ran an import/export business, doing my bit to help the United States free market.  I stayed in touch with my brother, and through him I passed on the news of my accomplishments."  Matthew gave Paul a small smile.  Paul was sitting close to the elders and didn't return it, he was too nervous.

"I know it surprised a lot of you when I did return, and the surprise was bigger when I brought a wife with me!"  He gestured to Rhianna, who knelt with some of the younger women on one side of the classroom.

"But, what you know about my life, wasn't exactly how it happened.  I was a crook.  My import/export business just a cover for my smuggling operations.  I smuggled, across various borders, illegal artwork and historical items, business secrets and prototypes, even people who didn't want to be recorded entering or leaving the country.  I had a hand in almost everything that could be moved, but I never, NEVER, dealt in drugs or arms.  It was a profitable business, and it made me rich."  He glanced at Rhianna, who smiled in encouragement.

"Things were fine until I ran into some people I couldn't say no to.  They forced me into a deal that I didn't want to do, and it almost turned out to be worse than even I could imagine.  But I was rescued...I was caught, by a very beautiful and sexy FBI agent."  He smiled at Rhianna and her eyes began to tear up.  She knew he was risking everything by telling all this, not only for himself, but for his entire family.

"You all know Rhianna used to be in the FBI; we never made a secret of that," Matthew continued, and Shawna looked up.  She was kneeling near the center of the room, her hands still bound behind her from the night before.  She had given up hope, and had resigned herself to being taken to jail.  Now hearing that Rhianna had been a cop after all, made her think her fate was sealed.  She wasn't sure what Matthew was going on about; but it didn't matter to her.

"What none of you knew...well, most of you...was that Rhianna was the agent that caught me and put me away.  I spent two years in prison for my crimes, and then something happened to change things.

"Remember when I came here, there was a mad man killing our women."

The assembled group, shocked by what they had heard so far, suddenly stirred to life as they remembered the horrible year that they all had been stalked by a killer from the town below them.  Matthew waited until the outraged whispers died down before continuing.

"Most of you know that Rhianna was instrumental in catching that monster; what you don't know was that he was the reason we came.  I was still in prison at the time, and it was felt that someone from the outside had to come in and find out who the killer was.  So Paul talked to me, and I told him about Rhianna.  She came in as my wife, and saved us all."

"Wait a minute!" Robert Klink said.  "You mean she wasn't your wife, but here undercover?"  There was another murmur of discontent.

"Yes," said Matthew.

"But, your wedding...your marriage to her now...it's a lie?"

Matthew looked over at Rhianna for a moment before answering.  "No," he said.  "I fell in love with her long before I came back here.  As far as I'm concerned, our marriage here has never been a lie.  For Rhianna, it took a little longer, but I doubt she would have gone through with the wedding if, deep down, she didn't feel the same way about me."

"Is this true, Rhianna?" Robert asked.

Rhianna, nodded, finding it hard to stifle her emotions.  She looked directly at her husband, proud of his confession, and mentally sending him her strength.

Few doubted that their love was for real; Matthew and Rhianna's marriage was privately considered to be one of the strongest in the Compound.  No one who saw them together could fail to see the bond between them.

"Go on, Matthew," Robert said.

"I ah...well.  After that case was over, I was supposed to go back to jail.  But a good friend of ours intervened and arranged for me to serve the rest of my sentence here.  As long as I never left the mountain, the last six months of my jail term would be spent at home.  And when they were up, I left to bring Rhianna home.  The rest, as they say, is history."

There was silence in the room for a moment.

"So, you've lived a lie all these years," Robert finally said.  "Not only that, but you're a convicted felon.  I'm not sure what you thought you might accomplish telling us all this, but as we find ourselves forced to have Shawna removed from the Compound, the same reason forces us to ask you to leave too."

There was another murmur of voices from the group.

Matthew stood still, his eyes on Rhianna, who locked hers on him in return.

"Wait," said a new voice.  It was Leann Miller.  "Matthew, why did you tell us all this?"

"My wife thought that Shawna would be better off staying here," he replied.

"Well, I don't see how your confession was supposed to help her!"

"I wanted to show you all," Matthew said, turning to face everyone, "that sometimes a rule can be broken for the right reasons.  I'm told that it's only a point of law, our law, which is forcing Shawna to leave.  I think a lot of you want her to stay, and you only need an excuse to make that so.  In fact, let's take a vote right now, shall we?  Who thinks Shawna should stay?"

Hesitantly, most of those assembled raised a hand, including Paul and most of the elders.  Surprisingly, even Robert had his hand up.

"Matthew," Robert said.  "You made a valid point, but it doesn't work, I'm afraid.  You're trying to tell us that precedence has already been set with your staying here, but none of us knew about your history, so how could you have been pardoned?  The rule is in place so that we don't fill our community with those who are dangerous and untrustworthy.  You understand that we have to be very careful with it."

"I understand.  But you're wrong; in a way, I was ruled upon," Matthew replied.  "Remember how I said most of you didn't know about my real past?  The three people who did know were Paul, Rhianna, and Gabe Miller."  He looked at Gabe the second sitting at the elders' table.  "Your father."

There was a rustle of voices.

"Gabe knew?" Robert said.

Matthew nodded.  "He told me not to tell; that I had paid my debt and deserved another chance.  I took that hand he held out for me, and I don't think anyone here has regretted my coming back!"

Robert and the elders huddled for a moment.  "Considering," he said to the room at large, "the ruling that Gabe made on Matthew, it's understood that there is precedence for Shawna not being forced out, and I think another vote is called for to decide that officially.  But I must point out again, that if we vote to let her stay, we will be breaking an outside law.  We'll be harboring a fugitive.  It's something to keep in mind.

"But first, Matthew.  You showed great courage telling us all this.  I'm glad old Gabe let you stay."

"I'm glad he did too!" Matthew said, relaxing for the first time since he entered the room.

Robert stood up.  "Let's vote.  Does Shawna stay?"

---***---

The wind had picked up on the mountain, and another bank of low clouds hid the top from view.  Paul looked up, and wondered if this was how it was up here when the small plane had crashed here into the trees.

He stood silent, watching as Sheriff Kinkade, a couple of deputies, and two FBI agents from Denver went over the wreckage.  The Sheriff excused himself and wandered over to where Paul waited.

"Hell of a mess," said the Sheriff.

"Yep," Paul answered.

"And you found it just yesterday?"

"Some kids did; they came and told me."

Kinkade nodded.  He looked down at the three sacks of money sitting nearby.  "Supposed to be three million in those bags."

"I expect there still is."

"Funny, how they survived the crash unburnt."

"Lucky, I would say.  You people put so much value on that paper."

"It would have been a tragedy if it HAD gone up, true enough."  Kinkade watched his men work for a few minutes.  "You know, there's just the one body in there, no sign of anyone else in the wreckage."

"Is that so?  I didn't get too close myself, so I didn't check," Paul replied.

"Any idea where they might have got to?"

Paul turned to look in his friend's eyes.  "Wherever they are, I'm sure their misdeeds are catching up with them.  Even if the law doesn't get them, they get punished in the end."

"I hope so," replied Sheriff Kinkade, with a knowing look in his eyes.  "I really hope so."

---***---

Gabe Miller IV sat his tankard down on the table and sat next to Grady.  The two men were in the small bar that served the social needs of the men of the Compound.  Dark and quiet, it smelled of countless years of spilled beer and manly sweat, but the men loved it.  It had never seen the face of a woman.

Grady ignored Gabe for a moment; he was used to drinking alone.

"I just heard the whole story," Gabe said.  He had been attending to a birth, or he would have made the meeting too.

Grady grunted.

"I hear Matthew Anderson gave a hell of a speech," Gabe continued.

Grady nodded.

"I'm happy she's staying, Grady, but it doesn't look like YOU are.  What's up?"

"I am happy, but I'm not sure it's for the right reasons," Grady finally said.  "I didn't want her to go, yet it's hard having her around."

Gabe understood.  He had thought a lot about Shawna over the past few days, and he realized that she might not know what her feelings were for him.  Gabe had watched her looking at Grady; even he could see she was smitten.  But he wasn't going to give up on her just like that.  Shawna had stirred something within him that he couldn't ignore, and while he was willing to let Grady have a first shot at her for his own healing, Gabe wasn't going to wait around for ever.  If Grady didn't make a move soon, then Gabe would.

"You know, Cheryl would want you to be happy..." Gabe began to say.

"Oh, don't YOU start!" said Grady, pushing his chair back.

"Hey, wait.  You know it's true.  I'm not telling you to go chase after her, but I do think you need to stop beating yourself up about how you feel about her!"

Grady said nothing, but Gabe could tell he was listening.

"Grady, give yourself a chance; she might be just what you need!"

Grady sat up and took a swig of his beer.  He looked up at the old carriage clock in the corner, one of the few timepieces in the Compound.  "She should be coming out of the stocks pretty soon, right?"

"Yep, three hours a night for the next month," said Gabe.

"Maybe I'll go say hi, be there when she comes out.  I can walk her over to Leann and Gabe's."

"Don't expect Granddad to invite you in, though.  Since he took over being responsible for Shawna, he's kept her pretty close."

"Do you know why they took her away from me?"

Gabe smiled.  It was a smile of regret as to how things could have been and a smile of happiness over how things could be.  He reached out and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll figure that out soon!"
 

---***---
 

It was getting dark, the sun already gone behind the great mountains that surrounded the Compound.  Yet the sky still glowed with the last of the day's light.

Matthew and Rhianna sat on a rock overlooking the river valley the Compound was nestled in.  A blanket was wrapped around the two of them for the evenings were growing colder, and they snuggled together tightly.

They had been sitting in silence for a while now, watching the sun go down, and it was Matthew who first spoke.

"You happy?"  he asked.

"About what?"  his wife answered.

"In general.  You happy here?"

"Wonderfully," she said, giving him a hug.

"No, no bullshit.  I want a serious answer."

Rhianna looked at her husband's face in the fading light, and saw that he was indeed serious.  "Okay," she said.  "Why do you want to know?"

Matthew sighed.  "This whole business with Shawna.  I watched you.  From the moment she arrived you switched to Cop mode and you loved it.  You were ready to throw that woman in jail yourself at one point.  I saw a Rhianna I had never seen before, and to be honest I was a little concerned.  I know you don't get many chances to use those skills up here.  Coming to live on this mountain was a huge change for you.  So tell me, are you happy here?"

Rhianna sat and stared at him for a moment.  "Matthew, I can't say that living here hasn't been frustrating at times. Primitive living, and at times primitive thinking has made my transition tough as you know.  But hear and believe me when I say this.  I have never been happier in my life.  I can't say that enough, I can't make it any plainer.  You make me happy."

Matthew nodded.  "Okay then."

Rhianna giggled.  "You can be a bear sometimes you know."

"Grrr,"  Matthew replied.

Rhianna laughed.

"Do you think Shawna will adjust?"  he asked her.

Rhianna thought about that for a moment.   She was glad that Paul had set her some punishment for her crime, but happier yet that the girl would get the help she needed to rid herself completely of her addictions and clean up her life.
"I think so, unless her suitors start to fight over her."

"Suitors?"

"Oh yeah.  Don't tell me you didn't notice how Gabe looked at her!"

Matthew chuckled.  "Gabe?  Well, it's about time.  He can be  lot of fun at times, but if there was ever a guy that needed to get laid, it's him."

"Don't be so crude," Rhianna said with a smile.

"Grrr,"  Matthew replied.

"There you go being a bear again!"

Matthew turned to his wife and growled, making a fierce face as he did so.  He began pinching his wife under the blanket and with a squeal she jumped up to reveal that she wasn't wearing much at all.

Matthew got up, arms up high and with a roar made a jump for her, but she was too quick.   Laughing and screaming Rhianna ran down the trail back to the Compound with her bear of a husband roaring and running after her, while above them the stars began to shine brightly on the Compound.
 
 

The End of this Story.