"What do you want Adam?" Jason said in an almost irate tone.

"You need to come home right now. I didn't know where your parents were so I called you," Chuck answered.

Jason's heart immediately did flips. His first thought was that Adam had a seizure. "What is wrong Chuck? Is Adam okay?"

"No, he is not all right and that is why I need you to come home. There has been an accident with your father's car."

"You mean Randy? How is he?" Jason asked in a panicked tone.

"Jason, he was killed tonight on Brother's Hill. The car rolled several times and went into the swamp upside down."

There was a silence at the end of the phone. Jason was trying to absorb everything. He knew that Adam would be upset, but his brother of all people should know that accidents happen.

"If that were not bad enough, they had Adam come to the accident scene to question him," Chuck said in a soft tone. He did not know where Adam had went to, but he sure did not want him to hear him.

"Question him! You mean they questioned him!" Jason yelled. Then Chuck heard him excuse himself from the table.

"Yes. They asked him some questions about the car."

"What are you getting at Chuck? I thought you said it was an accident."

"Jason, the brakes on your Dad's car were all messed up. Someone messed with the brakes. He wrecked because the brakes failed."

Jason could not believe what he was hearing, but he knew what it meant. It meant that Adam was probably going out of his mind. "I will be there. Keep an eye on him."

It only took Jason thirty minutes to get home when it should have taken him an hour. He was hoping his parents would be home soon, but it was only around nine. They would not see their parents until at least midnight because they were going to take a ride along the coastline. As he pulled into the driveway, he took a deep breath. They had gotten through a lot and they would get though this too he said to himself. Chuck met him at the door with a frantic look on his face.

"I can't find him Jason. I have looked all over and I can't find him," Chuck cried. "I turned my back to call you and I have not seen him at all."

"Well, the van is still here. When was the last time you saw him?" Jason said, trying to calm his friend down.

"I have not seen him since we got back. I am really worried Jason. He is not stable," Chuck said with a serious tone. Jason looked at him in a confused manner. 'Jas, he did not say a word all the way back. And then, at the accident scene, he was in total shock. He told them that he had worked on the car's brakes earlier, right before Randy picked it up. The sheriff said that they would probably rule it an accidental death, but the prosecutor might go for a type of manslaughter."

Jason could not believe what he was hearing. His brother charged with manslaughter? His younger brother a murderer? It was not true and he was going to make sure that he cleared Adam's name. But right then, he was worried about Adam. He knew that it must be incredibly hard since Randy was the one who taught him everything he knew about cars.

"He probably just needed to be alone," Jason reassured Chuck, heading towards the front deck to the beach.

"I don't know Jason. I don't like what he said at the accident scene."

Jason stopped in his tracks. His blood ran cold. He remembered all of the hard times when they were fighting over Bill. Then he remembered what Adam said after they had gotten into a big fight in their last case. So it did not surprise him when he heard Chuck tell him what Adam had said earlier.

"He muttered under his breath to me that he just messes everyone's life up--- mine, Alyssa's and yours. Adam said that he was just a burden and has been since the accident."

"I will go and look for him on the beach. You stay here in case I miss him or our parents come back. Tell them what is going on. I am going to try to talk to him so don't worry if I am gone for awhile," Jason said as he went out the door and walked down the pathway to the beach.

He walked and walked, but no sign of his brother. Growing more concerned with each step, Jason was about to turn back and go the other way when he spotted something up ahead by the shoreline. He broke into a run. The closer he got the object, the more it looked like a human lying near the water. His heart about jumped when he recognized the figure as being Adam. His younger brother was lying in the cool water that surrounded him as the tide came in, motionless. Jason knelt down beside him, with deep concern. Jason reached out to touch his brother on the arm, but Adam jumped up and moved away from him. The last time he was like this was when he was dealing with the memories of Bill. Jason remembered how much it took to get through to him.

"Adam, please. Chuck told me what happened. Everything is going to be fine," Jason said looking over at his brother, who stared blankly at the ocean.

"That is what you told me in the hospital," Adam muttered. This relieved Jason because at least he was talking to him.

"And everything is fine, the house is..." Jason began, but he was cut off.

"Not then, in the hospital after... when everything changed," Adam said looking at his older brother. It was then that Jason noticed Adam's face. He had been crying and even in the moonlight, Jason could see the hurt in his blue eyes. Jason was bewildered, but Adam ended his confusion. "I remember hearing you say that everything was going to be all right no matter how things turned out. I never told you this but I did hear everything you said and I tried to move my fingers and..."

"You squeezed my hand. I knew that you heard me, I just knew it!" Jason exclaimed recalling that event. "I told them that I thought that you would hear me."

Adam looked at him and then looked back out at the ocean. "Things have not been okay. I betrayed my family's trust by not telling you guys about Bill, I almost caused all of us to die at that church camp, I almost kill Kara drag racing, and then I almost got you killed in the fire. Now, this time someone HAS lost his life. He had kids and a wife and because of ME he is DEAD." He choked as said the last part and he started to shake uncontrollably.

"Adam, it was an accident. You didn't kill Randy and I went into that fire on my own," Jason said sympathetically. It was obvious that things had been building up inside of him and now it was all coming to a head.

"Well you can just say that when you visit me in jail," Adam cried.

"You are not going to jail. They are going to rule it as an accident."

"And if they don't?"

"Then we will deal with it as a family," Jason said as he reached out to put his arm around his brother, but Adam stood up and looked at him as if he were mortified.

"I am so sick of dealing with things. That is all we have done Jason. I feel like I am on a roller coaster and I just can't get off," Adam finally unloaded. "You keep saying things are fine but things are not fine. For Heaven's sake, I can't remember anything from school; my hands do not cooperate, I can't walk straight not to mention I have seizures. I can't even drive the car that I put together Jason. You are living in Disney World! When are you going to realize that things are not going to be fine. Things are never going to be the way they were before I lost my brain."

"Adam, I know that. But look at the things you can do. You are alive! That is something. You used to say that you had it better than people dying of cancer," Jason reminded him. He was shocked at what he had just heard his brother say, but he knew that Adam was opening up.

"I do, but are they out causing people to get killed?" Adam turned and yelled right at him. Tears were streaming down his face and he was shaking even more than before. "Look at me, Jason."

Jason looked straight into Adam's eyes. He saw his wild look even in the dark. "You always said that you would like to look into the eyes of a killer and ask why. Well, here is your chance. It happened because I thought I could be normal. I thought that I could be Adam Kramer again--- quarterback of the Wildcats, decent grades, could work on cars and investigate crimes with his brother. But I was wrong. Adam Kramer does not exist anymore."

"You are Adam Kramer, my little brother, not a killer," Jason said calmly. He stood up to face Adam. "We solved that last case together."

"Yeah, and I held you back and could have gotten you killed then," Adam cried again. "This doesn't work anymore Jason and neither do these." Adam held out his hands and pointed to his head. "I don't live anymore, I just exist. Why did they have to bring me back to this? You should have let me go," He screamed out and dropped to the sandy ground sobbing. "To be able to kill Randy? I am not a miracle. I am a mistake."

"Adam, I am going to tell you something and don't you ever forget it," Jason said, holding Adam's face up to where he could tell him face to face. "I am your brother and for as long as I have a breath in my body, I am never going to let you go. You are my partner and that is the way it is going to be. You do not love Alyssa any less because she is in a wheelchair, well, I do not love you any less for your health problems either. We are going to get to the bottom of this and learn the truth. We are brothers and nothing can change that."