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What if Lissa was right? asked a small voice inside him If he wasn't the murderer, then so her nose into the investigation

He took a deep breath and released it in a shuddering, frightened sigh He opened his eyes, and found Lissa still staring at him with absolute trust in her eyes

His hands started to treh his blood in a chilling, ice-cold wave

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He felt like a e of a black, bottomless pool, poised to dive headfirst into waters that held a thousand deadly terrors

He looked into his wife's eyes and felt a rush of love so strong, he felt the sting of tears "You never doubted me, did you?"

Tears glistened in her eyes "And I never will, Jack"

He sith difficulty "I'm afraid"

She smiled It was a slow, bittersweet smile that broke his heart "So am I"

At her soft words, so filled with love and trust and hope, Jack felt his last vestige of resistance ed ahead, believing Always believing

Christ, hoanted to be like her, wanted desperately to let himself believe Not just for her, but for all of them For himself, for her, for the children they had now and the children they'd have in the future

He held his breath and dove into the icy waters of that shallow pool?and hoped to hell she was there to catch him

"Maybe" The word stuck in his throat He had to force it past his lips "Maybe I didn't do it"

Lissa threw her ar dozens of kisses all over his face "I knew you could do it!"

He held her tightly, feeling the hot sting of tears in his eyes Years' worth of fear and self-doubt slid away Without the fahtened and shaky and more than a little lost "I love you, Lissa," he whispered desperately