Nick sat with Emily at the emergency room until just before dawn; she had been sedated and examined. When it was discovered her life was not in immediate danger, a rape kit was taken. They still didn't have her full name or even the body of the person she had claimed to kill, but, she showed obvious signs of sexual trauma, and her wounds were defensive. She would stay at the hospital for a few days for observation with a uniformed police officer outside her room, just in case.

Walking out to the parking garage, Nick saw Dr. Natalie Lambert pull-up in his cadillac. The top was down, and her dark blonde hair was lightly tousled from the breeze.

"Hey baby," she called "how much for the night?"

Walking around to the driver's side, Nick bent down over the door.

"I don't know if you could afford it." he teased, just before kissing her.

Smirking, Natalie popped the trunk and Nick climbed inside, not wanting to risk the sunburn if they hit early morning traffic. After pulling into the garage in his loft, Natalie let him out and rode the elevator up with him.

"Are you staying?" Nick asked, "Or just seeing me safely home?"

"Well, someone has to make sure your virtue stays in tact," she teased "Look at the way you're dressed, you're just asking for it."

Nick shook his head, and got off the elevator, quickly grabbing his remote, he closed the electronic blinds on his windows. Natalie walked over to the couch and laid down, pulling a blanket he kept draped over the back over her.

"Natalie?" Nick called as she started to drift off.

"Hmmm?"

"Vachon is alive and Tracy had sex with Lacroix."

Vachon was unsure of what to do, Tracy had fallen asleep during his massage, and while he didn't want to wake her, he really didn't want his first day out of the ground to be spent on a broken down couch. As the sun rose higher in the sky, exhaustion set in and he wanted to be in his soft bed. He considered slipping out from underneath Tracy and leaving her on the couch, but it was only March and the only blankets were on the bed.

Not that I need them.

Unless it was extreme, temperatures didn't bother vampires, but, a soft blanket always felt good. Seeing no other alternative, Vachon picked Tracy up and hurried them both to his bed, using his vampiric abilities to be as quick and soundless as possible. He laid her down on the left side of the bed (the right side was always his side) and covered them both in his pile of old comforters. A part of him wanted to pull her into him, keep her close for the day; but, waking-up in the arms of a man with no pulse might bother her, so, he decided against it. In the end he, carefully, pushed her further away and made sure he was on the edge of his side.

Make room for Jesus.

Smirking, Vachon drifted off to sleep.

Natalie stared at Nick, unable to process what he had just explained to her.

"Tracy and Lacroix." she said, for the fourth time, unable to believe it, while simultaneously trying not to picture it. "Twice."

"Yes," Nick confirmed, again. "And yes."

"Why," Natalie started, finally coming to terms with the fact that IT had happened, "would you ask Lacroix to hypnotize Tracy, when you didn't know how he would get around her strong will?"

"What?" Nick said, getting defensive "You're blaming me for this?"

"YES!" Natalie snapped. "You're the one who asked him to do it."

"How was I supposed to know what he would do?"

"ASK?"

Nick glowered at her, he hated admitting when he was wrong, especially when it was so obvious. With one of his dramatic flourishes, he turned away and sighed angrily.

"I'm gonna head home," Natalie said, not wanting to spend all day fighting sleep so she could fight with Nick.

"You're too tired to drive," Nick said, trying to hide his honest concern for her safety with indignation.

"I'll call a cab!" Natalie snapped as she pushed the button for the old freight elevator.

Nick knew he should stop her, letting her leave while she was still angry would only drag their fight out, but, he was just as tired as she was. After she left, he went to bed, and tried not to let his guilty conscious (and morbid curiosity) fill his dreams with visions of his partner and Master.

That evening, Nick met Tracy at their desks, she smiled at him; it was the first honestly happy smile she had given him in two months. He knew asking Lacroix to adjust Tracy's memories so she thought Vachon had left hadn't been a good idea, it was just easier for him to deal with. He thought if she had thought he had left, she would recover at work quicker, and he wouldn't have to feel guilty about letting her mourn Vachon's death alone. It had been foolish and selfish, and Nick could see that now, he just wasn't willing to admit it to Natalie yet.

"Hey partner," Tracy greeted him. "We have an ID on the girl from last night and we think we found her attacker."

Tracy handed Nick a manilla folder.

"Her name is Emily Johannsen, 13. Her father, Jacob Johannsen, is an art dealer. He claims to be legitimate, but, there's always been suspicion about some of his foreign connections."

"Suspicions?" Nick asked opening the file and pulling out a picture of Jacob.

"Some of them have ties to a few international drug cartels, but, there's never been enough evidence to formally charge him with anything."

"And the attacker?" Nick said, looking at a picture of a dead body, brutally stabbed.

"Neil Mason, a gallery owner and known coke dealer. He was half naked when they found him, and the medical examiner said it looks like he was engaged in sexual activity at the time."

"DNA a match to Emily's rape kit?"

Tracy shook her head.

"We won't know for a couple more days."

Nick nodded, and set the folder down.

"Emily said her father sold her to Mason," Nick said, "she said the man she stabbed had told her he paid her father for her. But, if Johannsen is an art dealer with ties to drug smugglers, why do that? Why does he need the money?"

"Maybe he has habit" Tracy put in, "and it was interfering with his business, so he used his daughter to settle some of his debts. Mason was accused of molesting a young girl a few years ago, but, his attorney offered an undisclosed sum to the family and charges were never filed."

"So," Nick said. "Do we think maybe Johannsen is supposed to be helping smuggle drugs but his own habit gets in the way, he ends up owing money to Mason, who has a thing for younger girls, so, Johannsen offers his thirteen year old daughter as payment?"

"That's what the evidence seems to point to."

Nick and Tracy looked at each other, without saying a word, they headed to Nick's car to bring Jacob Johannsen in for questioning.