• 1-Release
• 2-Chapter 2
• 3-Chapter 3
• 4-Chapter 4
• 5-Chapter 5
• 6-Chapter 6
• 7-Chapter 7
• 8-Chapter 8
• 9-Chapter 9
• 10-Chapter 10
• 11-Chapter 11
• 12-Chapter 12
• 13-Chapter 13
• 14-Chapter 14
• 15-Chapter 15
• 16-Chapter 16
• 17-Chapter 17
• 18-Chapter 18
• 19-Chapter 19
• 20-Chapter 20
• 21-Chapter 21
• 22-Chapter 22
• 23-Chapter 23
• 24-Chapter 24
• 25-Chapter 25
• 26-Chapter 26
• 27-Chapter 27
• 28-Chapter 28
• 29-Chapter 29
• 30-Chapter 30
• 31-Chapter 31
• 32-Chapter 32
• 33-Chapter 33
• 34-Chapter 34
• 35-Chapter 35
• 36-Chapter 36
• 37-Chapter 37
• 38-Chapter 38
• 39-Chapter 39
• 40-Chapter 40
• 41-Chapter 41
• 42-Chapter 42
• 43-Chapter 43
• 44-Chapter 44
• 45-Chapter 45
• 46-Chapter 46
• 47-Chapter 47
• 48-Chapter 48
• 49-Chapter 49
• 50-Chapter 50
• 51-Chapter 51
• 52-Chapter 52
• 53-Chapter 53
• 54-Chapter 54
• 55-Chapter 55
• 56-Chapter 56
• 57-Chapter 57
• 58-Chapter 58
• 59-Chapter 59
• 60-Chapter 60
• 61-Chapter 61
• 62-Chapter 62
• 63-Chapter 63
• 64-Chapter 64
• 65-Chapter 65

Detective John Munch was missing. This wasn't just a coffee run, Alex could feel it in her bones. Something was wrong. She'd had officers searching the entire precinct building from basement to rooftop, with no sign of him. She was about to issue an APB on him when she finally uncovered a beat cop who might have seen Munch leaving.

"Yeah, this tall, thin guy, - might have been him, didn't get a good look - comes tearing down the steps, into the street and hails a taxi and then speeds off. Damnedest thing. Thought he was a suspect making a break for it for a minute, but when nobody came looking for him ..." He shrugged. Alex sighed and rubbed at her temples, trying to forestall the headache she could feel coming.

"You didn't happen to catch the number of the cab, or the company, did you officer?"

"Hey, Detective, I'm a beat cop because I don't do well with authority figures, not because I'm incompetent. It was a company called E Z Cab, number 2265."

"Thank you, Officer Mallory," she said, glancing toward the front doors, as if she could make the AWOL detective appear at will. It wasn't Munch who came shoving his way through the doors and a group of cops who didn't get out of the way fast enough, but she was almost as relieved to see Fin's scowling face.

"Any sign of him?" he asked, worry showing clearly in his dark eyes. "Damn, how could he go and get his ass kidnapped now?"

"I don't think it was a kidnapping," Alex said. "Somebody saw him get into a cab about an hour ago. I was just about to call the cab company and see where they dropped him off. For all we know, he went home, unplugged his phone and fell asleep. I can't say I wouldn't blame him." Fin was shaking his head.

"I checked out his place on the way over. Looked like he hadn't been home in a couple of days. Tried callin' his cell, too. No answer."

"I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation," Alex said, flipping through the phone book and finding the number. "You know he's going to laugh at us when he hears how worried we -" She fell silent as the phone connected.

"E Z Cab, this is Mark speaking. How may I help you?"

"Yes, this Detective Alexandra Eames with the Major Case Squad." She gave him her badge number. "I need to know where one of your cabs dropped off a passenger."

"Do you have the number, Detective?" Wow, that was a surprise; a helpful New Yorker. Usually, people seemed to go out of their way to make her job harder.

"Yes, 2265. He was picked up about an hour ago."

"It looks like that cab has only had one passenger in the last hour, and he was taken to Grand Central Station."

"Grand Central?" Alex repeated, causing Fin's scowl to deepen. "Um, thank you." She hung up. "What the hell?"

"Good question. I'll take a picture and see if anyone remembers selling him a ticket."

"Maybe he's just meeting someone there," Alex suggested, but this had a more ominous feeling to it. Fin seemed to sense it too; he didn't respond, just headed for the door. Alex sank into Munch's empty chair, resting her head in her hands. What next? she wondered.

"Don't I know you?" Fin's voice drew her attention toward the front doors. Ms. Anastasius had returned. She gave Fin a slow once over, her face like a mask.

“I don’t think so.” As she walked away, Fin shot Alex a questioning look. Alex nodded, then motioned for him to head on over to Grand Central. This woman she could handle; his questions she might have trouble with. Taking a deep breath, she intercepted Ms. Anastasius just outside an empty interrogation room.

“Can I have a word with you?”

“I need to see my client, Detective,” she said, attempting to step around Alex.

“Let me rephrase that,” Alex said, grabbing her by the upper arm. “I have something to say. Get in the room.” Ms. Anastasius regarded her in icy silence for a moment, then calmly removed her arm from Alex’s grasp and walked into the interrogation room.

“You are already treading a fine line,” she said, setting her briefcase on the floor and taking a seat. “Keeping me from my client -”

“Yeah, yeah, civil rights, blah, blah, blah - Shut up a minute and listen. I don’t know what that man has promised you, but it isn’t worth your life. I don’t want to see you laid out on a slab next week, no matter who you are.” While part of her was screaming that it would be just what the bitch deserved, it wouldn’t be justice.

“While your sentiment is touching, I hardly think -”

“Obviously,” Alex said, turning away and pacing to the far side of the room. She caught sight of herself in the mirror and winced. Oh God, did she need a vacation. Or at least a drink. After this, Bobby owed her a margarita big time. “I’m sorry,” she said, turning back, “where are my manners? Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Soda?”

“I’m to be here a while, I take it?” Alex crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall, a slight smile creeping onto her face. “Water would be fine,” Ms. Anastasius said. “In a glass, if you think you could manage. I cannot abide the taste of cheap Styrofoam and waxed paper cups.”

“Ice?” Alex asked, raising one eyebrow. Even if she wasn’t a lawyer, any idiot on the street could tell you not to touch anything in a police station, especially glass, unless you wanted your prints lifted.

“Ice is not necessary,” Ms. Anastasius said. Of course not, Alex thought as she headed for the door, if you look at it too hard, it’ll freeze solid. Nicole had been a piece of work, to be sure, but this emotionless, ice bitch routine was a stretch even for her acting abilities. And what was with practically handing over the fingerprints? Either Nicole Wallace wanted to be caught, or Satrina Anastasius had nothing to hide.

Alex asked the officer standing uneasily outside the room where Elliot was 'interrogating' Raum to also keep an eye on her suspect. On her way to the break room, she ran into Olivia.

"Where's Elliot?" Olivia asked. Alex nodded toward the door.

"In there, with Raum."

"He hasn't killed him yet, I hope."

"No, he -"

"Good. I wanted to help." She headed for the door.

"Hey, you haven't heard from Munch lately, have you?" Alex called after her. She paused with her hand on the doorknob and glanced back over her shoulder.

"No. Why? Is something wrong?" Alex took a breath, hesitating. No sense worrying her, especially since it would probably turn out to be nothing.

"No, I just wanted to talk to him. If you see him, tell him I'm looking for him." Olivia nodded and disappeared into the interrogation room. Alex sighed. It had better turn out to be nothing.

“Sorry it took so long, I decided I wanted ice, and the damn ice dispenser is broken, or something. I practically had to take the fridge apart to get it.” Alex set a tray containing two glasses and a pitcher of ice water onto the table. “My doctor tells me I don’t drink enough water, and since I have no idea how long my partner will be gone, I figured, why not work on getting in those eight glasses a day while we wait? I wouldn’t mind so much if it didn’t make me have to pee all the time.” Ms. Anastasius just looked at her as if she couldn’t possibly be less interesting. Alex filled the two glasses and sat down across from her. “So, how long did you say you’ve known Raum?”

“I’ve known Mr. Kier for nearly three years.”

“And has he always had this Harry Potter fantasy, or did that show up after the books came out?”

“I’m glad you find this so amusing, Detective Eames. Do you enjoy tripping blind people as well?”

“Only those that are faking it.” Ms. Anastasius raised one eyebrow a fraction. “You see, my partner has another theory, and I’m rather more inclined to believe him than you. He found a feather, a black feather, that your client planted in this police station. He’s down at the crime lab right now, convinced he’s going to find your client’s DNA in this feather, which will prove one of two things; that you’ve been telling the truth, or that he has.”

“And you think he has, do you, Detective? You think he really is a sorcerer? Just because you found a crow's feather?” Alex picked up the nearest glass of water and took a sip.

“You’re a very unusual woman,” Alex said slowly, setting her glass back on the table. “Most people hear ‘black feather’ and think raven.” In an instant, something flickered across Ms. Anastasius's stony features. Apparently, Alex hadn’t been the only one eavesdropping.

“It’s not a difficult conclusion to make,“ she said. “Ravens prefer rural areas. This is the city.” Alex acknowledged her reasoning with a nod of her head, but all the logic in the world couldn’t explain away the look in her eye at that moment, the ‘did I screw up?’ look. “I need to see my client,” she said, standing up.

“You need to sit you ass back down,” Alex told her calmly. “I don’t think the detective that your client assaulted is finished taking her retribution out of his worthless hide.” She laughed, but it sounded hollow on her ears. Since when had police work been about revenge? Then again, this wasn't exactly work; it was far too personal. She continued, but it was mostly an act. “He even had the nerve to boast that he couldn’t be broken. Everyone breaks, eventually.” As Ms. Anastasius returned to her seat, Alex was delighted to see the beginnings of doubt in her hard, cold eyes. Perhaps she had something to lose if Raum talked? Alex was willing to bet a month’s salary it was more than her bar card.

“Since you obviously have no regard for the Constitution, perhaps I can appeal to your sense of self-preservation. Release my client and I will see if I can’t persuade him not to have you all brought up on criminal charges.”

“Are you trying to make a deal?” Alex asked. “I thought only the guilty people resorted to deal-making. If that was a half-assed attempt to make a deal, you’re going to have to do a lot better.” She leaned forward, resting her forearm on the table. “We both know what will happen to ‘your client’ if you can’t get him out of here, so why don’t you cut the crap.” Alex took another drink of water. That was one thing she hated about turning up the heat on a suspect; she ended up sweating, too. “I bet he’s ready to agree to just about anything by now. Maybe I should have a word with him?”

“He’ll offer you the stars and the moon, Detective, but that doesn’t mean he can give them to you.” She absently picked up her glass and took a sip, then set it back down. Alex smiled.

“I don’t want the stars and moon,” she said, taking the glass by the rim and setting it back on the tray, “I just want the truth, and I know I’ll get it -” She drew a sharp breath as the realization hit her. “I just have to ask the right questions.” She grabbed her glass and picked up the tray. “Wouldn’t want you to have an accident,” she said. “Broken glass is so dangerous.”

She practically sprinted to the break room. If Bobby had been around, he’d have had a rubber glove for her, but she had to make do with a napkin, carefully dumping the remaining water into the sink and slipping the glass into a large evidence bag.

“Great work in there.” She glanced up from the chain of evidence form she was filling out to see Bobby standing in the doorway, watching her with boyish eyes.

“How long have you been back?” she asked, giving him a crooked grin.

“Long enough. You saw it, didn’t you, in her eyes?”

“Clear as day,” Alex replied. “Whoever she is, and we’re about to find out, she’s in this with him.”

“You got the prints?”

“Of course. What did you find out from Raul?”

“That I’m all out of favors. He was tearing his hair out by the time I called, sure that something was contaminated, because you can’t get human DNA out of a - a feather.”

“Is it a match?”

“You know how long that can take. He said he’d call.”

“So, do we wait, or ...?”

"I'm tired of waiting. Let's see if our friend is ready to talk yet. Is Stabler still with him?" Alex nodded.

“Olivia’s in there, too.” He raised his eyebrows.

“Well, we better hurry then, before there’s nothing left.”