CHAPTER ONE

"It doesn't seem that long ago that we were having one of these," Alex commented. She sipped her margarita.

"Yea," Bobby said softly. He took a drink of the dark, smoky liquid in his glass.

"For a while there, I was afraid I'd be going to one of these for you," Alex said.

Bobby thought she must have consumed a fair amount of alcohol to admit such a thought. During his suspension, she never betrayed any sign that she thought he wouldn't be back on the job.

"I was afraid of that too," he confessed. He looked around the crowded bar. "But I doubt there would've been a turnout like this for me."

"Don't," Alex said, her tone sharpened by rum. "Don't say things like that about yourself. Besides…" Her voice softened. "I think you'd be surprised by how many people would show up."

Bobby stared into his glass.

"You know…" Alex leaned forward over the table. "One of the reasons you got back is because a lot of people wanted you back."

"I…I know…" he said. "Ross…Your family…You…Especially you…But…I can't ignore things like the thing in my desk…Who put it there…Who agrees with them…"

"Maybe you should ease up a bit," Alex said. "You're getting morbid."

"You're probably right." Bobby lifted his glass and looked through it. "It's just…I don't know Logan that well…But he stood up for me a couple of times…" Bobby thought of the trust Logan showed him when the murderous guards confronted them and the support the other detective showed him outside Kevin Quinn's house. "We've had a couple of drinks together. I…I just feel like I've lost a friend I just made and didn't really get to know."

"Yea," Alex said after a moment. "That's what I feel like too."

"Poor Wheeler," Bobby said gently and sympathetically. "She's trying to put on a brave face."

"She's having a rough time of it," Alex said. "Her fiancé…He's English or something European…The FBI picked him up for money laundering or one of those money crimes…Ross think it has something to do with that crummy DA…"

"Sorta thing makes me miss Carver," Bobby said. "He'd fight us…me…tooth and nail…He didn't always see the grey areas…But he was honest, and once we convinced him, he'd fight with us."

"Yea…He respected us…you," Alex said.

"He always respected you." Bobby smiled. "I think he just got tired of fighting me." He looked at Alex. "Did you ever find out why he left the ADA's office?"

Alex shrugged. "Money…His kids…He wants them to have fewer struggles than he did. His wife had a health scare, and they realized they couldn't make it just on his salary. You know he adores his wife and kids. Give him a minute, and he'd have their pictures out in a flash."

Bobby nodded. "That's one of the things I respected him for. And I did respect him…Even when I thought he was the brick wall I butted my head against…"

"It was always a challenge to be between the two of you…And don't apologize for that, Bobby," Alex added as Bobby opened his mouth. "I miss it, to tell the truth."

"I think the real reason he left is for the same one that Logan is leaving," Bobby said. "He got tired of always swimming upstream…Of always fighting losing battles and clinging to little victories. We know those feelings." He stared into his glass. "And I think what happened to Deakins was the last straw for Carver."

"Speak of the devil…or devils…Look…" Alex nodded her head in the direction of the bar.

Bobby peered out from the booth's shadows. He saw Ron Carver and James Deakins warmly greeting Mike Logan. "Of course they'd come." Bobby spoke his thoughts out loud. "They're both class acts."

"Poor Wheeler's looking lost…I'm going up and introducing her to Deakins and Carver. Logan might not remember even if he's sober…Which I don't think he is…"

Bobby smiled. Alex had subtly taken Megan Wheeler under her wing—at least as much as Captain Ross allowed it and as Alex could while dealing with her own and Bobby's troubles. As much as Bobby noticed the young detective in the midst of those troubles, he sensed that Wheeler was grateful for Alex's advice. From their brief encounters, Bobby liked Wheeler. She reminded him of Alex in some ways. Wheeler was quietly tough. She wasn't afraid of Bobby. She looked beyond the rumors surrounding Bobby and Alex. And she stuck by and up for her partner.

"Go," Bobby told Alex. "Give her a break."

"Promise me not to get in any trouble?" Alex said as she stood.

"I'll do my best," Bobby answered. "But it sure has a way of finding me."

He huddled back in the booth and watched Alex approach Wheeler. Alex led the younger detective through the crowd and started to introduce her to Carver and Deakins. Before Alex spoke with either man, Deakins wrapped her in a hug that left her speechless. Deakins said something to her, and they both looked in Bobby's direction. Bobby remained hidden in the shadows. He hadn't spoken to his former captain since they'd shared a drink roughly a week after Bobby's return from his suspension. It was the night Bobby started to feel that Alex might forgive him for going undercover at the strip club. Bobby felt a wave of guilt as he remembered that Deakins had gone out of his way to stay in touch with him during his suspension. Deakins suggested that Bobby come to work with him in the private security firm that he'd joined after his forced departure from the NYPD. In spite of Bobby's insistence on staying with the department, Deakins steered a couple of temporary jobs to Bobby. And Bobby sensed that Deakins had something to do with Alex's warming towards him.

"He did all those things for me," Bobby thought. "And probably a lot more that I don't know about…And I cost him his job…" Bobby's head began to swim, and he wished he hadn't drunk so much so fast. He looked again up at the bar. Alex had finally introduced Wheeler to Carver and Deakins, and a clearly not sober Logan had joined them. "Air," Bobby thought. "I need some air…" He stood and unsteadily walked to the door. Had he held his head up he might have seen the mix of curious and sympathetic looks he got as he moved through the crowd.

A welcome rush of cool air hit him as he stepped out on the sidewalk. Bobby shuffled away from the bar's entrance and considered cadging a cigarette from one of the many cops grabbing a smoke. He leaned back against the bar's brick exterior and wondered if he should go home and type up his resignation.

"Well, hell." Bobby heard a vaguely familiar voice. "What's going on? Why's the place so crowded?"

Bobby wondered why the voice produced such an uneasy feeling in him.

"Farewell party for a copy," another voice said.

"Hey…Maybe we can get some free drinks," the first voice said. "Who's the cop…"

"A guy from Major Case…"

"Major Case? Did they finally get rid of that whack job Goren?"

Bobby recognized who the voice belonged to. It was Patrick Copa's.

"I gotta get out of here," Bobby thought. He considered continuing down the street, but remembered he'd driven Alex to the bar. He didn't know where the alley went or how deep it was. His only choice was to head back into the bar. And, not for the first time in his life, Bobby wished he was smaller and could hide among others.

He tried to cling to the wall as he inched up the crowded sidewalk. He'd almost reached the bar's door when a hand on his shoulder roughly spun him around.

"Oh, damn," Bobby thought as Copa's angry face loomed in front of him.

END CHAPTER ONE