Chapter 3

"Ok," Dan began forcefully as Nikki stepped into his office, followed by a slightly nervous Nora.

"First of all, I have had it with your shit, Nora," he held up his hand before the now indignant blond could argue.

"I get that you're pissed about not getting to be in the spotlight this round, but for Christ sake we have more important things to worry about then your wounded pride."

"Dan, come on, it's not like-"

"You're absolutely right," Nora stepped up, cutting off Nikki's defense and crossing her arms, "I was out of line and I promise you it won't happen again."

"Oh! Um, ok," Dan nodded, clearly thrown for a loop by Nora's cooperative and apologetic words.

"Let's get started," Nora prompted, grabbing the file off of Dan's desk, "When exactly are we going to send Detective Beaumont in?"

Dan raised his eyebrows at the formality but let it go; him and Nikki both knew that the only way Nora was going to get through this was if she could remain at least relatively detached from the situation.

"Nikki starts her new position at The Dive tonight, as a bartender."

"What time tonight?"

"She is scheduled to begin her shift at 10:30, and she gets off at 4 in the morning."

"Lieutenant?"

They all turned to see Georgia poking her head into the room.

"We're ready for you in the Pen."

"Thank you, Georgia," Dan nodded, and then glanced at the girls.

"Ok follow me," he muttered, going around the desk and out of his office, "We'll continue the debriefing with the team."

Nora hesitated for just a second, long enough for Nikki to notice. She reached out and gently squeezed her partner's wrist before following Dan down the hall, Nora close on her heals.

"The Dive," Dan clicked the projector, an image of a shady looking bar popping up, "A bar frequented by many college students, specifically young women."

"Molly Sharper, Alexis Rendell, Rachel Gleeson, and Sadie Perkins," the image of four young women appeared on the screen; they all looked relatively similar; dark hair, light skinned, sharp featured. They were all in their early 20's, they were supposed to have their whole lives ahead of them.

"Each of these young women has gone missing, and the only common denominator is The Dive."

"We've tried to take them head on, sending cops in to investigate, checking for alibis within the management, but of course they all work for each other, or more specifically, this guy."

The image changed to a man in about his fifties. He was good looking, his dark hair only slightly peppered with grey. His age was only given away by his well groomed, almost entirely grey beard. He had piercing green eyes that seemed to stare back at Nora with cocky arrogance.

"This is Walter Sevkov," Dan continued, "He runs the dive, and we have solid reason to believe that he is involved with the Sex Slave Trade run out of the Lasarev Port in Russia. Unfortunately we can't touch him; he has ties to The Novekof family, one of the biggest criminal organizations in Russia. They are keeping him out of jail, and without concrete evidence, there's no way for us to get a conviction."

"And that's where Detective Beaumont comes in," he gestured toward Nikki, who grinned and gave a small wave.

"Recently, the Dive's top bar tender has gone missing," he continued, "We have reason to believe that she got wind of what was going on with the bar and fled."

"What reasoning?" Nora demanded, before she could stop herself.

"Excuse me, detective?" Dan glared at her, but it was too late for her to stop now.

"How do we know that she ran away? She could have gotten too close, and Sevkov could have gotten rid of her?"

Nikki could hear the subtle traces of panic in Nora's voice, and she wanted nothing more than to reach out and hold her. But Nora had officially made a spectacle of herself; all eyes were on her, and Nikki wasn't about to take that risk.

"We have her bank statements," Dan replied, patience wearing thin, "all of her accounts are completely drained, her apartment was emptied out, and her car is missing. As far as I'm concerned, that's more than enough evidence. Any more questions, detective?"

"No, sir," Nora sighed, looking down at the ground and feeling like a fool.

"Good, now to continue. Beaumont will be going in as the new bar tender. Her objective is to get close to Sevkov, and to find concrete evidence to build a case against him and his associates. She looks like his general taste, so she should be able to immediately grab his attention. This operation is highly dangerous, so we will need to pool all of our resources to ensure the safety of our detective."

"Wheels up in eight hours, people," Dan finished, "Make sure that you're ready."

There was a collection of 'yes sirs' and 'sounds goods' as the team got up and shuffled out of the conference room.

"Nikki," Dan called as the partners headed out the door, "I need to speak to you."

"Privately," he insisted as both women turned around.

"Come on, Dan!" Nora argued, running a hand through her hair in frustration.

"Don't make me ask you again, Detective Delaney," Dan warned, and Nikki groaned internally: this was was not how she wanted the case to begin.

"Sorry sir," Nora muttered sarcastically, and then looked at Nikki.

"I'll be outside," she murmured, and with one final, withering look at Dan, she left.

"Nik, this is going to be a problem," Dan sighed as soon as the door clicked shut.

"What are you talking about?" Nikki crossed her arms, feigning ignorance.

"You know what I'm talking about," Dan waved off her bullshit, "Nik, she's been acting completely crazy ever since you got assigned to this case, and I'm not the only one whose noticed."

"She's just not used to taking a back seat," Nikki hedged, leaning against the table.

"Its more than that," Dan shook his head, "She was never this bad when I was her partner."

"Yeah well you're just a bit tougher than I am," Nikki grinned hoping an ego stroke would help Dan forget his questions.

"Maybe," Dan sighed, "Listen, Nikki, if she doesn't calm down, I'm going to have her taken off the case."

"Absolutely not, Dan," Nikki shook her head, "There is no way in hell I am letting you take her off the case."

"Absolutely not Dan," Nikki shook her head, "there is no way in hell I am letting you take her off this case."

"All due respect, Nikki," Dan straightened and raised his eyebrows, "that's not your call."

"All due respect," Nikki shot back, her caramel eyes flashing as she stepped up so she was toe to toe with the big man, "I'm the one putting my ass on the line, and I won't do it unless I know Nora is watching it."

They stared each other down in stubborn silence, but Dan knew there was no was the brunet was going to back down.

"Fine, he amended finally, "but she needs to keep her cool."

"It's Nora," Nikki smiled sarcastically, "She's always well behaved."

"Yeah right," Dan snorted, and then looked at Nikki inquiringly, "Do you think me taking her to a nice dinner would help her mood?"

Nikki fought the urge to laugh out loud.

"Give it a shot," she managed, patting his admittedly muscular shoulder before turning and heading to the door.

"Anything else?" she paused with her hand on the door knob, turning to glance at Dan.

"Wha-? Oh no you're good for now," Dan absently waved her off, clearly thinking about the best way to sweep Nora off her feet.

Nikki rolled her eyes.

"See you later boss," she chuckled, shutting the door behind her.