He'd left the door unlocked in case the Doc had wanted another look at the girl when his emotions weren't running so high and he could be a little more thorough. Now he regretted the decision. The cups he and the Doc had had coffee and brandy in were still on a table. He made a mental note to clean them when this was all over.

That's when he heard a voice coming from the freezer. It rose and fell, emotions making it waver but he couldn't make out what it was saying. As he got closer to the freezer he realized it was Molly pouring forth with a vitriol of which he hadn't thought her capable.

Finally a scream and "I hate you! I hate you! I wish you were alive so you could see the misery," her voice caught, then went on, "so you could see what you've done to Jackson. I wish you were alive so I could beat your face in…. I HATE YOU!"

There was a crash and thump and he ran in in time to see her kicking at the table the body was on. He grabbed her as she raised her fists in the air obviously intending to bring them down on Mara and yanked her away.

She screamed flailing at him in frustration and fear and managed to nail a glancing blow on his nose which resulted in a gush of blood over both of them.

He was half dragging, half wrestling her out of the freezer when Todd ran in. Seeing his wife struggling with a man he went for Westerby but quickly realized it was Molly who was out of control. Together they managed to bring her back to her senses enough to sit her at the table where she clung to Todd and sobbed into his chest.

As her sobs lessened and Westerby's nosebleed stopped Todd tried to apologize but Westerby waved him off. "Take her back to your room." Was all he'd say as he headed back to his own lodgings.

In the bathroom he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Right now it wasn't swollen but it would be. She may not have broken it but almost. He wouldn't be surprised if he got a black eye, too.

These people couldn't leave soon enough.

He contemplated beating his head against the wall when he heard the knock on his door.

"Come on in," he called out.

He walked into the living room as Molly's mother walked into his apartment. She stared at him, eyes wide and shocked. "Are you alright, Mr. Westerby?"

"I'm fine ma'am, you don't have to worry about me. Go back to your family."

"I just, I wanted…" she sighed, "I'm so very sorry for all of this."

"We all are, ma'am." He tried to smile but his face hurt and he was tired and running a bit too ragged on too much coffee, sugar and now adrenaline. He wanted to yell "go away" at her but she was the last person he wanted to hurt, she'd had enough.

"It's just that, Molly and Jackson," she paused and sighed, "they're twins you know. Twins are always so close and Mara was, well, she was… she was so very wrong for him.

"Is everything okay in here?" Hugh walked in the room. Westerby tried not to groan.

"I'm fine, Hugh. We're all fine." Laurel smiled at him, an attempt at a reassuring smile that fell very short of its goal.

"Muriel's looking for you, Laurel. Good Lord… Westerby, what happened to you?"

"Believe me, I've had worse."

On the desk the radio crackled to life. "Scotsman's Ridge Lodge, Sargent McKenzie with Scotsman's Ridge PD. Scotsman's Ridge Lodge, Scotsman's Ridge PD calling, over."

He moved to the desk and answered. "Hey Mac, Westerby here, how far away are you? Over."

"Good to hear you. We hit some weather and we'll be little delayed. Over"

Westerby's face hurt even more now. "How little is "little?" Over."

"Westerby. Really? Look out your window. If it's anything like what we've got on the road… we'll get there when we get there, okay? Just wanted to let you know we were on our way. Don't make coffee until I radio we're near the driveway. Over."

The radio crackled off as he looked out the window to watch the snow continue to fall, and fall, and fall. And his face continued to hurt.