Disclaimer in Part I.

The next morning came quickly and the four detectives made detours to each of their homes to gather clothing for subsequent days.

"I sure hope you got more space at your place," Mike said. "If this thing goes on for awhile, you'll be doing our laundry."

Alex laughed. "I don't think so, Mike."

On the way down to One Police Plaza, Alex drove carefully, checking the rearview mirror every so often to make sure no one was following them. They made a quick stop at Starbucks and ordered four coffees to go along with the long day they had ahead of them. They'd be balancing cases on top of investigating Frank Adair and his associates.

The night had gone rather smoothly with the four detectives piled into Alex's apartment. Carolyn and Alex had slept in Alex's bed while Bobby and Mike took the sofa bed. Bobby hadn't again raised the question of himself and his partner in the presence of Carolyn and Mike, and Alex was thankful they were there. Who knows what would've happened had they not been.

Arriving at One Police Plaza, the detectives entered the elevator and hit '11' on the elevator panel. The moment the elevator hit the eleventh floor and its doors opened, Captain Greenfield stood there staring at them. They just stared back. Captain Greenfield was the first to speak.

"Do you realize what time it is?" he barked.

Mike looked at his watch. "It's 8:03."

"Work starts promptly at 8AM. Not a minute after. Or in your case, three minutes after," Captain Greenfield said. "Get to work. Your cases are on your desk. I expect progress reports at noon and again at the end of the day, which will officially end at 5PM. If you choose to stay later to pursue your cases, it looks good for merit, but you will not be paid overtime."

Greenfield walked away leaving the detectives standing astonished in the elevator bay.

"Did that really just happen?" Carolyn asked.

"Apparently," Alex said. "We were late."

"Well, let's do what the man says for now," Bobby said. "Let's get to work."

At noon on the dot, every detective began piling into the Captain's office to give their progress reports. Bobby and Alex, who had spent the morning working a jewelry heist, waited amongst the long line of detectives.

"And this is efficient?" Alex said sarcastically.

"He likes to be on top of things," Bobby said. "I don't blame him for that. I blame him for being an asshole."

Alex laughed. "You said it partner."

"Better not look too happy, he might not think you're doing your job."

When they got to the front of the line, Bobby and Alex presented their case to the Captain.

"You call that progress? I want you to finish this case by the end of tomorrow. I'm surprised at the two of you," Greenfield said. "You came highly recommended with the highest solve rate in the squad. I expect more from you two."

Bobby and Alex came out of his office looking as annoyed as ever. They sat at their desks to look at evidence. Neither looked up until Carolyn and Mike came over from their desks to join them.

"Get chewed out, too, huh?" Mike asked.

"Like my dog ate my homework," Alex said.

"Us too," Carolyn said. "I don't know when we're going to find time to put together Deakins' defense. I already put the call into my friend at the FBI. He should be faxing the information to my apartment. I had to tell him to send it there in case Greenfield's checking all incoming faxes or messages."

"Good idea," Bobby said. "We're going to go talk to Sharon on our lunch break. That is, if we even get a lunch break."

"It's illegal if we don't. Greenfield knows that," Alex said.

"The four of us shouldn't stick together. Greenfield will get suspicious," Bobby said.

"You're right. You guys take your lunch break now, we'll take ours in an hour," Alex said. "And don't complain that you're hungry, Bobby."

"You've got no complaints outta me," Bobby said.

Carolyn nodded to Mike. "Let's get going."

Mike and Carolyn took the elevator down to the parking garage and got into the SUV. They headed for the Office of the Patrol Borough Commander in Brooklyn. When they arrived, they were found a very different woman sitting at the desk they had previous seen Sharon occupy.

"Excuse me, is Sharon Winkler in today?" Mike asked.

The young woman at the desk looked up at Mike. "No, she no longer works here."

"And when was she let go?" Carolyn asked.

"Yesterday," the woman said.

"And her reason for leaving?" Mike asked.

"I'm just the temp until they can find someone else," the woman said. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"We were just looking for Sharon," Mike said using his charming smile on the young woman. "Thank you very much for your time."

Carolyn and Mike left the office and the moment they got into the car, they let their thoughts loose.

"She no longer works there?" Carolyn said. "That's so strange."

"If someone caught on that we even put the slightest pressure on Sharon, they'd consider relocating her," Mike said. "Let's say that someone saw us talk to Sharon. Or even heard what we said. It would encourage someone to relocate Sharon Winkler."

"The better question is who," Carolyn said, starting the car. "Call Bobby. Tell him to get Sharon's home address off the computer. We'll pay her a visit at home."

Bobby and Alex approached Denny Moran's house in Brooklyn. Alex knocked on the door and they waited patiently until they were greeted by a middle aged woman.

"Good afternoon ma'am. Does Denny Moran live here?" Alex asked.

"Yes, he does," she said. "He's upstairs. May I ask who you are?"

"We're actually looking for a driver, and we were recommended to Mr. Moran," Bobby said, quickly stepping into an undercover role in order to defuse suspicion.

"Oh, Denny would be so happy to hear that. Let me go fetch him," the woman said, going up the stairs calling her husband's name. Denny Moran quickly appeared, practically lunging down the stairs.

"Good afternoon, I'm Denny Moran."

"Mr. Moran, could we please speak in private?" Bobby asked, indicating that they wanted to talk outside.

"Of course," Denny said.

They stepped outside, and now Bobby and Alex were playing this one by ear.

"Mr. Moran, we were referred to you by your old client, Frank Adair," Alex said.

"Ah, Frank. How is the man?" Denny said.

"He's doing just fine in Ossining," Bobby said.

"Well, anyway, we were looking for a driver for us, and we were just wondering what kind of qualifications you had," Alex asked.

"Well, I drove Frank Adair for six years exclusively while he was Chief of Detectives," Denny said. "And prior to that, I drove clients to and from JFK and LaGuardia."

"You sound very qualified, Mr. Moran," Alex said. "Do you have any prior convictions on record?"

Bobby laughed, "Honey, that question came out so rude."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just get paranoid sometimes with people that we might hire. I like to be careful," Alex said.

"No, no. It's fine," Denny said. "No, I've never been convicted of a crime. And even if I did, I'm sure Frank could've gotten me off."

Bobby and Alex looked at each other suspiciously.

"That was a joke," Denny said. "Sorry."

"That's quite alright," Bobby said with a small chuckle. "We also found out that you know a Captain Deakins in the NYPD. He's also a friend of ours, and he mentioned your name once or twice."

"Oh yes, Captain Deakins," Denny said. "He's a fine officer."

"Yes he is," Bobby said. "He resigned, and he still hasn't told anyone why."

Denny froze. "Oh yes. I-I-I heard he resigned."

"Is something wrong Denny?" Alex asked, seeing Denny's discomfort.

"N-no," Denny said.

"You don't happen to know anything about it, would you?" Bobby asked, bending slightly to meet Denny's eyes.

Denny chuckled uncomfortably, "No, why would I?"

"Y-you got uncomfortable at the mention of Captain Deakins," Bobby said. "And you won't look me in the eye."

"Sir, nothing against you, but your size is intimidating," Denny said.

"Then why don't I ask you the same question," Alex said. "Do you know why Captain Deakins resigned?"

Denny grew silent. "You're not really looking to hire me, are you?"

Bobby and Alex looked at one another. Bobby spoke first. "No, sir. We're not."

Denny nodded. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

"But you can, Mr. Moran," Alex said. "You can tell us what you know about Captain Deakins."

Denny still hesitated.

"Frank Adair asked you to do him a favor. He reached out to you from prison. You got your sister-in-law to doctor up a fake e-mail supposedly sent by Captain Deakins bumping Officer Martinez up to the Street Drug Task Force," Bobby said, getting into Denny's face.

"You marred the career of a decorated officer," Alex said. "No one deserves that. Not even Frank Adair. He went to prison for what he did. He got what he deserved."

Denny crumbled. "Yes, I helped Frank from prison to get that e-mail sent by Sharon."

"Who was behind this entire plan?" Alex asked.

"I can't tell you that," Denny said. "All I know is that Frank called in some favors to get Captain Deakins removed. As for who he called, I don't know. And Frank Adair was a good man. A good officer."

Alex glanced at Bobby who seemed satisfied that Moran was telling the truth.

"Mr. Moran, I realize that it's a compromising position to be in. We believe that there's a lot of pressure and the possibility of you being in danger is prevalent," Bobby said, handing him his card. "You can call me at anytime if you feel that you're in danger. And I must stress that you cannot tell anyone we were here today."

Denny nodded, taking the card. Silently, he put it in his pocket and went back into his house without another word.

"Looks like it's much deeper than we thought," Alex said as she and Bobby got back into the car and headed back towards their squad.

Carolyn and Mike stood in front of a two-story family home in Queens. Its quaint exterior looked as if it had just been repainted and the shutters replaced.

"Wonder how she paid to get this work done," Carolyn said.

"Why don't we go ask her?" Mike said, walking towards up the steps with Carolyn in tow.

They knocked on the door and were greeted by Sharon Winkler herself.

"Sharon Winkler?" Mike asked.

"Yes?" Sharon asked.

"Did you talk to Detective Goren and Detective Eames several weeks ago?" Carolyn asked.

"You might remember that they inquired about Captain Deakins," Mike added.

Sharon looked uncomfortable. "Y-yes, I remember them."

"Well, as you probably know, he resigned two weeks ago," Mike said. "And I think you know why."

"Look, I told the other detectives I don't know anything," Sharon said. "I'm sorry."

"Lady, you know something more than nothin'," Mike said. "Tell us what you know. We can offer you protection from whoever it is you're afraid of."

Sharon looked at the two detectives with fear in her eyes. "I don't know who they are. I just know that they're powerful people."

"Names? Addresses? Anything?" Mike asked urgently.

"Just names," Sharon said. "Brutus, Willie Stark, Jack Burden. A few vague ones I don't quite remember."

Mike and Carolyn nodded.

"You're doing the right thing, Sharon," Carolyn said, handing Sharon her card. "If you need anything, please call us."

Mike and Carolyn left Sharon Winkler's house and drove back towards Manhattan.

"Brutus, Willie Stark, Jack Burden." Carolyn said to herself.

"Sounds like characters out of books," Mike said. "Brutus was from Caesar, right?"

"Yeah," Carolyn said. "Jack Burden and Willie Stark are from All The King's Men."

"What kind of code names are these?" Mike said. "They sound ultra-corny."

"I don't know. Let's get back and compare notes with Bobby and Alex."

"Do we get to eat yet?" Mike said.

Carolyn laughed as they pulled into a McDonalds drive-thru. "You can have a happy meal."

TBC.