By the time they left the building, Alex had arranged for her father to keep the two little ones overnight. She'd also made up her mind that they were not going to walk all over three neighborhoods looking for Harry. At the sidewalk, she steered Bobby toward the car. When he balked, she said, "Maybe you are willing to take a chance with your knee by walking all over Hell's Half Acre, but I'm not. Get in the car."

Maggie grasped his hand and followed her mother's lead. "Mommy's right, Daddy. We should go inna car."

He looked down at the determined little girl who pulled him toward their car, and he surrendered. A few minutes later, Alex drove down the street toward the school. When she pulled up in front of the school and parked, both adults turned to look at Maggie.

Her face set in a determined scowl, Maggie said, "I promised."

Alex sat back in her seat and looked out the windshield, then she looked at Bobby. The child had his moral compass, so she would leave him to deal with her. She would back him up, but convincing Maggie to bring them to her friend was up to him.

Bobby looked at his wife, and he knew she was leaving it to him to deal with Maggie. With a heavy sigh, he looked back at Maggie. "Maggie, Harry needs to be someplace safe."

"He is safe, Daddy. It's at his home that he isn' safe. If we tell the other police where he is, they will take him back to his home, an' his daddy will hurt him for runnin' away. I-I won' see Harry no more!"

She was certainly loyal to her friends. That would become very important as she grew up, but now it was just exasperating. He didn't want to make her a promise he could not keep, but he wanted Harry to be safe, too. Martin Gomez was one of the few cases he had not been involved with that he remembered in detail. Gomez was a gateway to a dark world for the children he ensnared. Once hooked, it would be a long road back for those who had the fortitude to return. Others would sink further into a nightmare existence—runaways, drugs, prostitution. Some would never return; many would die young. He'd seen it far too many times. He'd watched it happen to Frank. It was a world he himself had avoided only by pure dumbass luck. The temptation had been there, but his duty to his mother had helped him to avoid it.

There were many temptations, many gateways for children into that dark world. Taking Martin Gomez off the streets would close only one, but that would be one less opening through which young souls could be lost. "Harry won't go back home. I'll make sure of that," he promised.

Alex closed her hand over his arm, but he meant what he said. He would do everything he could to keep that little boy safe from his father. Maggie studied him. "Can you do that, Daddy?"

"I'll make some calls. I'll keep him safe."

Maggie knew he would try, but if Harry ended up being sent back home... "You can' send him home, Daddy."

"We're not going to send him home, baby. Let's just take this one step at a time. Show us where Harry is and we'll take him home with us. Then I'll make some calls."

As Maggie considered his promise, Alex jabbed his side sharply. He looked at her and saw the question in her eyes. He was always making promises she wasn't sure he could keep, and this time was no different. He gave her the same 'trust me' look he always did, but she wasn't so inclined to give him his head this time. The ends didn't always justify the means. "Do you know what you're doing?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

He nodded. "I do."

She still hesitated, wondering if this was about Harry or his father. Would he jeopardize Maggie's trust in order to get Harry's father back behind bars? She didn't feel the same way he did about it, but then again, she had never been a narcotics detective. She looked away, silently giving him permission to continue, even though he had not asked for it. He was going to do what he was going to do, like he always did, whether she approved or not.

He looked back at Maggie, who had been watching them, sensing that her parents did not agree. She was still undecided, and her father could see that on her face. "If we do this my way, Maggie, then Harry can come home with us and I will have the officers involved in this come to our house to talk. If I have to call them now and tell them Harry is hiding in one of these buildings, then they will do the searching, and the finding, and Harry will be at the mercy of whatever they decide."

Maggie looked at her mother. "What do you wanna do, Mommy?"

Alex refused to present a divided front to Maggie. She felt that the detectives in charge of the case should deal with Harry, but that obviously wasn't what Bobby wanted to do, not directly. He wanted to play maverick once again, taking things into his own hands in an attempt to retain control over a situation he had no business being involved in. But she did believe that, above everything else, he wanted what was best for Harry and he would fight for that little boy for all he was worth. She just wasn't sure how effective his battle was going to be. "Tell Daddy where Harry is, honey. We'll bring him home with us and then see what Daddy can do."

She was quiet for a moment. "Can we keep him?"

"He's not a puppy, Maggie," she chided gently. "What happens to Harry will be up to a judge."

"Like Your Honor?"

Alex smiled. Maggie still had good memories of her friend the judge. "Yes, but a different kind of judge than your friend."

"Maybe if I talk to Your Honor he can help Harry."

She nudged Bobby to get his attention. "Maybe."

Bobby nodded. "We'll see how things go. First, we have to get Harry somewhere safe, and then we have to talk to the detectives involved in finding him."

Alex knew that was not likely to go well, but she was going to let him handle it. If anyone could talk his way into, or out of, a situation, it was her husband.

Maggie unbuckled her seatbelt and stood behind her father, sliding her arms around his neck and resting her cheek on his shoulder. "Will Harry be okay?"

He reached back and rested his hand on the back of her head. "I will do everything I can to make sure Harry is okay, Maggie. That's the best I can promise."

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "That's good 'nuff, Daddy."

"Where is Harry?"

"I can go an' get him."

"Not by yourself."

"But, Daddy, if I go an' get him, I can keep my promise."

"Maggie, it's dark out and you are not going anywhere by yourself."

She didn't move for a minute. "Do I gotta?"

"Yes."

She waited a minute longer, obviously weighing her choices. "Okay. It's jus' 'roun' the corner."

They got out of the car and followed Maggie to an apartment building around the corner from the school. She walked around to the back of the building and knelt by a broken window. "Harry," she called. "It's me, Harry."

A small face appeared in the window. "Maggie! You gots me food?"

"No, but you can come with me and eat all the food you want."

Harry clearly didn't know what to think, and Maggie could tell he was scared. She leaned closer to the window. "Come home with me, Harry. Mommy an' Daddy know how to he'p you."

Harry looked terrified. "No! No, Maggie! They'll make me go back home!"

"No, Harry. They're gonna keep you safe an' a judge will keep you from goin' back home."

Harry jumped up and down. "I don't wanna go home. I'll leave an' run away to...to...to China!"

"Please, Harry," Maggie pleaded. "Come with me an' you don' gotta go to China."

Alex looked at Bobby, wondering what had happened to make this little boy so much against going home to his parents that he would run away to China, probably the most faraway place he could think of. He watched Maggie as she tried to convince Harry to leave his hiding place to come home with them.

"C'mon, Harry. You can have dinner an' we can play a game or watch TV b'fore bed."

"TV? An'...food?"

"Yeah. Good food."

The food was the final selling point for Harry. When he started to climb out of the window, which was how he'd gotten into the basement, Bobby stepped forward to help him. The little boy let out a horrified scream and dropped away from the window, back into the basement. Before either parent could stop her, Maggie scrambled after him.

Alex dropped to her knees. "Maggie!"

She turned to say something to Bobby, but he was gone. Shaking her head, she leaned down and poked her head in the window. "Maggie! Answer me!"

"I'm okay, Mommy."

She heard a crash deeper in the basement, then Maggie telling Harry to stay where he was. "Maggie, don't you dare. Stay right where you are! Maggie!"

The only sound she heard were Harry's sobs. As she moved to squeeze through the window, Maggie finally answered her. "It's okay, Mommy. Daddy's here."

"Bobby?"

"Yes?"

"What was that crash?"

"Oh, it's okay. It was nothing. We'll be right out."

She met them at the front of the building. Each child held onto one of Bobby's hands. He looked at Alex. "Harry got scared. He thought I was his father. He's terrified of his father, Alex."

Alex looked at the children and she felt her heart go out to Harry. He was about Maggie's size but painfully thin. He had sandy hair and sad eyes, which touched her heart.

They walked to the car and Alex settled behind the wheel. She looked at Bobby. "Are you all right?"

He nodded, but a thin sheen of sweat coated his face. "I just need to rest my knee."

"That crash?"

He shrugged. "The basement is a storage area, not well lit. I ran into a stack of boxes. No harm done."

"You're sure?"

He reached out and closed his hand around hers. "I'm sure."

Ten minutes later, they were home. Maggie took Harry into her room as Bobby pulled out his phone and dropped onto the couch. Carefully, he propped his leg on the coffee table. Alex sat beside him and ran her fingers through his hair. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm positive. It was careless and clumsy, but I didn't hurt myself."

"He's so little, and so scared."

"I remember his father. He's a heartless bastard. Betty was 17 when he got her hooked, and he treated her like a slave. I don't know what happened to her after he went to jail." He paused, then added, "But whether or not she was clean before he got out, it sounds like she's hooked again."

"Have you ever met her?"

"No. The guys who worked the case said she was just a scared kid, but she worshiped Gomez."

"Do you think she would have been faithful while he was in jail?"

He shook his head. "Not if she was still hooked. She'd have done whatever she had to do with whoever could give her what she wanted. Her pregnancy would have been her chance to get clean, but I somehow doubt she did. You know how that goes."

"Unfortunately, I do. Make your call and I'll fix something for dinner."

She brushed her lips across his and went to the kitchen. He stuffed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a paper with a number written on it. Dialing the number, he looked toward the kitchen. He wasn't sure if Alex was mad at him or not, and that had him unsettled.

"Brooklyn SVU."

"This is Detective Goren, from Major Case. I need to talk to one of the detectives working the Gomez case."

"Hold on, detective."

A few moments later, another detective came on the line. "Detective Goren? This is Detective Garrison. How can I help you?"

"I'm calling about Harry Gomez. We, uh, we found him."

"You...where? When? What hospital are you at?"

"No hospital. He's fine. He wasn't abducted. We found him tonight, and he's with us right now."

He gave the detective the address and then said good-bye. Struggling to his feet, he limped to the kitchen, where he watched Alex preparing their dinner. "Are you mad at me?" he asked finally.

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Yes and no. What did they say?"

"They'll be here in about a half hour." He hesitated, trying to decide what she meant by her answer to his question. Yes and no? Was she or wasn't she? "So which is it? Yes or no?"

She stirred the contents of a pot, added a little milk, then said, "Everything isn't black and white, Bobby. I'm not mad at you, but I am annoyed. I know you want to help Harry, but what if you can't keep the promise you made to Maggie? Suppose they do send Harry back to his parents? It happens all the time."

"Martin needs to go back to prison, and I am going to make sure that happens."

"And what happens to us if something goes wrong? Narcotics has an added element of danger that compounds an already dangerous job! You don't work Narcotics any more. You're Major Case."

"I'm still a cop, Alex. And Martin is a bad guy. It's still my job to send the bad guys to jail."

"Can't you trust other good cops to do their jobs?"

He frowned. "He's still out there, still selling drugs to kids not much older than Maggie. He's been at her school, Alex. I can't sit by and let that happen. I can't. I'm sorry if you don't agree, but I'm used to that."

Turning, he went back to the couch. She had mixed feelings about what he'd just said. She hated the idea of drugs at Maggie's school as much as he did, but it was not their job. There were other cops whose job it was to nail scum like Martin Gomez. But Bobby was in protective mode. A threat existed toward his little girl, toward children just like her, and he saw no further.

Finishing the macaroni and cheese she was making, she called to Maggie. "Wash up and come out here for dinner."

The children arrived at the table as Alex set down a ham sandwich each plate and began to dish out the macaroni and cheese. Bobby stepped up behind her and looked at the table. "There's something to be said for boxed macaroni and cheese and ham sandwiches," he teased.

"I never professed to be a gourmet," she retorted, poking him in the side as she slipped away from him and returned to the kitchen.

She brought a glass of milk for each of the children. "Coffee?" she asked Bobby.

He nodded as he sat down and watched the children. Harry seemed to be less frightened, but he remained right by Maggie, reassured by her presence. Harry took a bite of his sandwich but eyed the macaroni and cheese warily. "What the matter, Harry?" Alex asked as she sat in the chair beside Bobby's. "Don't you like macaroni and cheese?"

"I dunno," he answered. "I never had it."

Alex looked at Bobby, who frowned. "What do you eat at home?" she asked.

"Sammiches or cereal. Things I can get by myself. Sometimes Mommy makes ramen."

"Try the mac'roni and cheese, Harry," Maggie encouraged.

Harry took a bite and his face lit up. He finished what was on his plate and cautiously asked for more. Alex got up to get it for him as the doorbell rang. "I've got it," Bobby said, rising from the table.

He opened the front door. A stocky man with a military crew cut in a cheap suit extended a hand. "Detective Goren? I'm Chet Garrison. This is my partner Jen Bernard."

Bobby accepted Garrison's extended hand as he looked at Bernard, eyes filled with recognition. "Jenny," he said in a guarded tone.

Bernard gave him a tight grin. "Hello, Bobby."

"Uh, come on in. Harry is eating dinner."

He let the two detectives into the apartment as Garrison asked, "So how did you find Harry?"

"He ran away and was hiding in the basement of an apartment building. My, uhm, my daughter is friends with Harry. She's the only one who knew where he was. We brought him here, where he'll be safe, and I called you."

"Your daughter," Bernard said, her voice oddly hesitant. "She's in kindergarten?"

"Yes. She'll be six in a couple of weeks. She's one of Harry's few friends and he trusts her. She promised him she would protect him, and she didn't want to betray his trust, which is why she didn't tell us right away that she knew where he was."

Garrison asked, "Did she know it was wrong to hide Harry?"

"I don't know that it was wrong for her to hide Harry," Bobby answered. "She's five, detective. She knows what Harry told her, and when he ran away, she helped him find a safe place to hide. She brought him food and kept him as safe as she knew how by not telling anyone where he was."

"Brought him food? You let her roam the neighborhood unsupervised?"

Bobby turned on Garrison, his eyes blazing angrily. "No, Detective Garrison," he said dangerously. "She doesn't roam the neighborhood unsupervised. She slipped away from school during recess to bring Harry something to eat." He leaned forward. "And before you say something to really piss me off, yes, she is in trouble for that. The school will be, too, when I go down there tomorrow to let them know what happened on their watch."

His entire demeanor dared either detective to challenge him. Alex came into the room and stopped, realizing he was on the verge of losing his temper with the two Brooklyn detectives. She moved forward, defusing the situation with her interruption. "Detectives," she said by way of greeting, glancing a warning at Bobby. She turned her attention to their visitors. "I am Detective Alex Eames. Thank you for coming over."

Garrison introduced himself and his partner. "Are we to assume you also work Major Case?"

"I do, but as I'm sure my partner told you, our involvement in this is not through Major Case."

"Partner?" Bernard asked. She looked at Bobby. "So you brought your partner in..."

"Alex is my wife, Jen," he explained.

She reacted to his words, recovering quickly, but not before he saw the expression she tried to hide. He felt guilt wrench at his gut and looked away. Alex didn't miss the brief exchange, and it unsettled her. "Where is Harry?" Bernard asked, seeking to distract attention from herself.

Alex looked at Bobby, but his face was guarded. The thick silence in the room intensified after she left to get the children, and Garrison leaned closer to his partner. "Is everything okay, Jen?"

"Y-Yes, fine. Detective Goren and I were friends a long time ago." She looked at Bobby

The two children walked ahead of Alex, holding hands. They stopped just inside the living room, or, rather, Harry stopped. Maggie stayed right by him.

Bernard and Garrison studied the children. Harry, slender and timid, was obviously frightened. Maggie, strong-willed and determined, stood slightly in front of Harry, still holding his hand. It was clear to the two detectives that she was protecting her friend.

Bernard smiled. If she had seen that child on the street, she would have thought of Bobby. Looks were one thing, and Maggie certainly looked like her father, but there was more than that. There was something about her, the way she carried herself, the almost cocky self-assurance she presented that was more Bobby than the dark eyes and curly brown hair. "Hello," she said to the children. "My name is Jenny, and this is my friend Chet."

Maggie studied them with bright, curious eyes. "I'm Maggie," she said cautiously, advancing no closer. "An' this is Harry." She paused. "You're police, like my Mommy and Daddy."

"Yes, we are. We work with children who get hurt by their parents."

Immediately, Maggie's defenses came to bear. "Mommy an' Daddy never hurt me, but Harry has troubles at home."

Harry stepped closer to Maggie when Bernard looked at him. Alex squatted beside the frightened little boy. "What's the matter, Harry?"

"I don' like police," he said, his voice a frightened whisper.

Maggie turned to him. "Mommy and Daddy are police, an' you're not scared-a them."

"But...But they're your Mommy and Daddy. That's diffent." His grip on Maggie's hand tightened. "Mommy and Daddy says police is bad. Daddy uses bad words when he talks about police and he yells."

Maggie understood what he was saying. Harry saw her parents as she did—as parents, not police officers. But the two strangers sitting on the couch, they were police officers and there was no thinking about them as anything else. "Police aren' bad, Harry. I know lotsa police. You'd like my Uncle Mike. He's fun."

Bobby smiled at the tone of reassurance in Maggie's voice. "They just want to talk to you, Harry."

"I'm not goin' home," the boy said adamantly, fear fueling a bravado he did not feel. "I said I'll run away to China an' I will!"

Bernard looked at her partner, then at Bobby and Alex. Something at home terrified this little boy even more than facing the unknown. She rose from the couch and approached the children, squatting in front of them. Harry moved closer to Maggie, who remained between him and Bernard.

She smiled. Maggie had her father's reckless bravado. She felt for the little girl's mother. "Harry, we aren't going to hurt you."

"You'll take me home. Then my daddy will hurt me for hiding from him, like he did when I hid in the closet and wouldn't come out when he yelled for me."

"How did he hurt you?"

Maggie nodded encouragement when he looked at her. Reluctantly, Harry turned and lifted the edge of his shirt. Bernard reached out and raised his shirt higher, revealing a still-healing wound across Harry's waist. Garrison rose and stood behind his partner as Bobby and Alex shifted their positions to look at the wound. "A belt," Bobby said. His own back bore faded scars from similar wounds. "He was hit with a leather belt."

Alex felt the fury rise from her gut. Child abuse was something she neither understood nor tolerated. She didn't know a lot about Bobby's childhood, or Mike's either, but she did know that both men--two men she loved and held close to her heart--had been abused as children. She had seen Bobby's scars and she tried to understand his refusal to discuss them with her. He kept so much close to his heart, refusing to turn it loose, even for her.

Bernard knelt down beside Harry and pushed his shirt up higher, revealing more injuries in various stages of healing. She gently eased his shirt back down. "You aren't going back home, Harry," she promised.

"Really?" A glimmer of hope shined in his eyes. "Can I stay here with Maggie?"

"I don't know about that. We'll have to make some phone calls, and it's late. We'll see what we can do."

Alex smoothed one hand over Maggie's hair and rested her other hand on Harry's shoulder. "Take Harry to your room and play, Maggie."

"Okay, Mommy." She hesitated long enough to look at her father. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. "C'mon, Harry. I have a TV in my room with an Xbox. Daddy got me a new game las' week an' I haven' played it yet."

"What kinda game?" he asked as they walked toward her room, still holding hands.

"A racing game. Mater National! Did you see Cars?"

"No."

"We got it on DVD. We can watch it later."

For the first time, Harry sounded almost happy. "Okay!"

The four adults returned to the living room. Bobby sat on the couch and stretched out his injured leg beside the coffee table. The pain medicine he'd taken earlier was wearing off, and he was hurting. Alex sat in the recliner. She wanted to get him another dose of medicine, but she understood his need to maintain a certain image in the presence of other cops. He would tough it out until the two Brooklyn detectives left.

Garrison pulled out his phone and said, "I should call Williams and Garner. The Bureau can sign off since Harry wasn't abducted. We'll take it from here."

Bernard nodded agreement. While she waited for him to make the call, she sat on the couch near Bobby and nodded at his leg. "What happened?"

"Car accident, back in January. It's healing."

His tone did not invite further discussion, and she let it drop, changing topics. "How have you been?"

Alex looked from Bernard to Bobby. "You know one another?"

Bobby nodded. "But it's been a long time."

Bernard agreed. "It's been what? Fifteen years?"

"Something like that. I was still in Narcotics."

Garrison rejoined them and sat on the couch beside his partner. "Okay, the Feds are going to close the case on their end." He looked at Bobby. "Agent Williams said to tell you Narcotics has picked up their end of it."

Bobby responded to the unspoken question in Garrison's tone. "I remember Harry's father. He's a dealer who deals to kids. I passed that information on to the agents when I talked to them this morning."

Bernard rubbed her palms on her jeans, a gesture Bobby remembered stemmed from nervousness. She said, "So, what do we do with Harry? He's going to end up in one of the group homes until we can find an emergency foster home for him."

Alex shook her head slowly. "He's a runaway risk. You can't forget that. He's terrified and he'll keep running until his fears are addressed and abated. More than anything else, he needs to be someplace where he feels safe."

Garrison looked around the room. "Do you think he feels safe here?"

Annoyed, Bobby snapped, "He is safe here. But he feels safe with Maggie, and right now, he doesn't want to be separated from her."

Bernard asked, "Would you be willing to keep Harry here, temporarily, if we can get a court order?"

Bobby and Alex looked at each other, silently coming to a consensus. Alex responded, "I think it would be best for Harry if he was able to stay here with us."

"Give me a minute," Bobby said as he got up. "I can get a court order."

They watched him limp toward the kitchen as he pulled out his phone. He dialed Carver's number and, as he explained to the ADA what he needed, he took his medicine bottle from the top of the refrigerator. He dumped two pills into his hand and, after he finished the call, he took the medicine. Then he returned to the living room. "We can get a temporary order for Harry to stay with us. That will give us time to do what needs to be done."

Garrison and Bernard rose from the couch. "I'll give our ADA a jingle and tell her what to expect. Given the nature of his father's business, Narcotics will assign a detective to the school, to protect Harry. By morning he will be a ward of the court and our responsibility. We'll be in touch," Garrison said.

Alex and Bobby walked the detectives to the door. Bernard said, "It was good to see you again, Bobby." She looked at Alex. "It was nice to meet you."

Alex closed the door behind them and looked at Bobby. He returned to the couch and she sat beside him. "Harry's injuries are familiar," she said.

He nodded. "I've seen them before."

"In a mirror?"

"Some."

She sensed he was on the verge of withdrawing from her, so she changed the subject. "Do you think Harry's father will look for him?"

"Yes. He sees Harry as his property. He may show up at the school, but the court order will allow the school to refuse to let him take Harry. The detective on-site will back them up. Martin is not a stupid man. He's not going to cause a scene or try to overtly take Harry in violation of a court order. But that will not prevent him from trying to get him back by other means. I'm going to see what I can do about that tomorrow."

"What are you going to do?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm just going to pay a visit to someone, that's all."

Over the years, she had learned to read him, and she knew by his restlessness that he had something in mind she was not going to like. "Don't put yourself in the middle of this, Bobby. It wasn't your case, and you are still on medical leave. Besides, you're not narcotics any more."

"I still carry a badge and I have a responsibility. He deals to kids, Alex—kids who are the same age as your nieces and nephews, kids not much older than Maggie. He's been seen with the older kids at her school, and he wasn't passing out candy bars. I can't...I can't just sit by and let him work the playgrounds. If I have a hand in saving just one kid from entering his world, don't you think it's worth it?"

"If I say no, what does that make me? But dammit, Bobby, we have three children, and I don't want to raise those kids alone. Narcotics is a world away from Major Case, just like Vice. We don't belong to that world any more."

He met her eyes with fire in his own. "My children never will," he said, his voice laden with emotion and the strength of his convictions.

"You would put it all on the line to put this one guy away?"

"I will do whatever I can to put him away because he's too close." He leaned toward her, and she could feel his intensity. "He's too close to my baby."

He got to his feet and walked away. She watched him stop to look in on Maggie and Harry before continuing to the bedroom. He was right. She knew he was. But in her heart, she was unwilling to let him go.