This is my first story. Apologies for any mistakes. I've tried to catch them all, but if there's something I missed, well, I've always kind of needed a copy editor.

I really am enjoying Lupo. There's something sad and lonely about the character, and it kind of makes me want to find him a friend. So I figure why not use the one person (besides his ex-partner) who has expressed some interest in his life.

Cyrus Lupo threw another file onto the precarious pile. "A whole lotta nothing. What a colossal waste of time," he muttered as he glanced around the storefront office. Peeling peach paint and 1980s patterned wallpaper. Particleboard desks, rusted filing cabinets and a strange dull red couch in the corner. The carpet had stains over stains. It didn't look like anyone had cleaned the place in a good ten years. The office was a dump, and he found it was hard to believe that it actually was someone's workplace. They had torn it apart completely, and still found absolutely nothing to implicate the suspect in anything. Walking over to his partner, Lupo grimaced at the stale cigarette smell that seemed to hover over Jeff Dorrian's desk. "Any luck?"

Looking up from the filing cabinet Kevin Bernard shook his head. "Nothing here." He stood up slowly and stretched his neck from side to side.

"He can't be this smart." The two detectives looked over at the ADA standing beside them. A frown spread over her flushed face. "No one is that careful. There's got to be some kind of a trail," Connie Rubirosa said.

Lupo and Bernard looked at each other warily. Neither one wanted to contradict the young lawyer. They'd learned the hard way that she could bite, and hard. "It isn't here," Lupo told her carefully.

They stood in silence, three sets of brown eyes surveying the piles of files and papers. Dorrian was guilty. Call it instinct; call it a gut feeling; call it whatever. Everything pointed to Jeff Dorrian as the killer. The man had all but confessed. And that was the problem. All but simply wasn't good enough, and for some reason or another, they couldn't pull up a single shred of concrete evidence that directly implicated the man.

Bernard's eyes turned to rest on his two companions. "Wait a minute." Bernard picked up the appointment book from the desk and flipped to the back. Tossing it back on the desk he headed quickly for the door.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Lupo called out to him.

He glanced back. "Twenty minutes. Give me twenty minutes," he called out as he left the office.

Lupo and Connie hurried to follow him out the door, but he was gone by the time they reached the street. "What the heck is he doing?" Lupo muttered to himself. Bernard knew better than to take off without his partner. Where could he possibly be headed?

He turned to the dark haired woman beside him. "Ah…he'll be back," he said, feeling rather hapless. Problem was, he wasn't exactly sure he believed his own words. And he wasn't exactly sure how Connie Rubirosa would react to Bernard's abandonment, especially considering her already frustrated state.

Her lips pressed together, she raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. "Okay."

With a sigh, Lupo rubbed the back of his neck. Glancing around the street, he noticed a small coffee shop next door to their suspect's office. Coffee. That might buy some measure of forgiveness from the young ADA. "Can I buy you a cup of coffee, Connie? I'm really sorry about this."

She gave him a small smile. "Sure. And no worries. Maybe Bernard's brainstorm will solve this case."

Lupo snorted in disbelief. "Yeah, maybe." But he'd still have some serious explaining to do.

"So there I was, bending down to pick up Otto's most recent gift to me, his leash wrapped around my legs, and he sees a squirrel take off across the field. You can imagine the result," Lupo shook his head with a smile. "He doesn't believe in a nice quiet walk in the park."

Connie leaned forward and laughed gently, balancing precariously on the small coffee shop table. "What I wouldn't give to have seen that, Lupo."

He gave her a small smile. "Maybe someday. And please, it's Cyrus."

Smiling back, she nodded. "Okay…Cyrus." They sat in silence, smiling at each other for an awkward minute. "So, uh, are you going to the agility trials on Saturday?" she asked, bringing the conversation back to the regional dog show they'd been talking about earlier.

"I was thinking about it." He paused for a minute looking thoughtful. "You know, if my job wasn't so unpredictable, I think Otto'd be a good candidate for agility training. Might work out some of his energy. He's certainly got the speed." He shook his head and chuckled again at the memory of their last jaunt in the park. Bringing his thoughts back to the present, he studied his companion carefully. Her bright eyes and easy smile made it seem like her face was almost glowing in the shadows of the small shop. He honestly couldn't remember when he'd so enjoyed a cup of overpriced coffee. "Are you going?"

She nodded quickly. "It's become a sort of an annual event for me. It really reminds me of the dogs back home. I had fun doing agility."

Nervously biting his bottom lip he glanced up at her somewhat shyly. "Maybe we could, uh, go together? You know, if you don't mind someone tagging along…"

"I'd like that," she said softly, smiling at him again, a soft blush filling her cheeks.

A grin spread over his face. "I …" A sudden ring from his cell phone pierced through the room, interrupting him. He grabbed it quickly. "That must be Bernard," he told her. "Lupo," he barked into the phone.

"Where on earth are you Lupo? Bernard's been back in the squad room alone for the past hour." His lieutenant's annoyed voice came over the line.

"What?" he glanced at his watch, and his mouth dropped open. 3:30. Shoot. He'd been sitting with Connie in the coffee house for nearly two hours. "Uh, I'm still at Dorrian's office with Rubirosa."

There was a slight pause on the other end. "Then what exactly is Bernard doing here?"

"Uhhh…" He didn't want to drag their boss into Bernard's escapade. "Miscommunication. I'm on my way back now." He ended the call quickly and looked sheepishly at his companion. "I guess he's not coming back. I'm so sorry about this Connie."

She smiled. "No problem. I've enjoyed talking to you. I can't say it's been an unpleasant afternoon." She glanced at her own watch, stood up and picked up her case. "But I guess we had better get back to work. And find out where Bernard went. I still need that evidence."

He followed her up and out of the small shop. "I've got to brief Mike on this. Let me know what your missing partner says," Connie told him as she turned to head back to her own office. She stopped, reached into her bag, and pulled out a pen and scrap of paper. Quickly she scribbled her home phone number on a piece of paper. "And give me a call later. We'll figure out the details for Saturday."

He took the number and placed it in his front pocket. "I'll call you tonight," he said. She smiled and headed on her way. He watched as her lithe figure walked down the street towards her car. "Now this could get interesting," he said to himself with a smile. With a sigh, he turned towards his own vehicle, which thankfully his wayward partner had left behind. "Now to get some answers out of Bernard..."