Carolyn POV


"What do you think they're doing right now?" Mike asked, his voice a deep rumble in the darkness. His warm body was plastered up against mine and I was almost asleep.

"Who?"

"Goren and Eames," he replied as though I should have known who he was thinking about. It was odd that he was still thinking about them. It had been a couple of hours since we had dropped them off at their apartment.

"Does it matter?" I asked him. And then it hit me. "You're worried about them."

He shifted as though the idea made him uncomfortable. Mike never really liked for anyone to know that he was a sensitive guy. It had taken me awhile to figure him out. He came across as tough and brash, but that was just a cover.

It was no secret that Mike had a crappy childhood. His mother had beaten him almost every day, right up until the day she died. And I hated her for it. What kind of woman did that? And I know. She was an alcoholic. But that's no excuse, and if the alcoholism hadn't killed her, I would've gladly done it myself.

But growing up with her had made him into the man he was today. The man that I loved. So while I ached for the youthful happiness that he had been robbed of, I appreciated him for the man he had grown into. He was kind and gentle and had such a good heart. He had become very attached to Bobby and Alex both, so I could appreciate that he was worried about them, especially considering the tension between them in the car.

"I am, yeah," he admitted. "Goren usually likes to beat himself up pretty good."

"They'll be okay. Alex wasn't mad at him," I said. He was quiet for a moment, but his fingers continued stroking my arm.

"I know. It's hard on him, trying to treat her like a partner and not his woman."

"His woman, Mike? Really?" I asked, letting a laugh escape. I couldn't resist the tease.

"You know what I mean," he replied, although I could tell he had relaxed a little.

"Yeah, I do," I admitted.

"I wanted you back when we were partners, but I don't know how I would've handled it if you had wanted me back."

"Oh, I wanted you," I told him.

"You what?"

"I used to dream about you every night." A slight embellishment maybe, but close enough to the truth that I didn't feel bad about saying it.

"You did not," he insisted.

"You want to know what my favorite one was?" I asked him, turning over so that I could face him. I pressed a kiss onto his chest and reached my hands around to grab his hips and pull him even closer.

"Your favorite dream? About me?" His veneer of self-confidence was mostly an act. He was always surprised to learn how much I loved his looks, his body, and his mind.

"Uh huh…" I kissed my way along his throat and around to his ear. His ears were a weak spot and I loved to exploit it.

"Tell me," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Well, we're in the conference room at 1PP. You've just made an incredible breakthrough on a case, and you turn to me and give me one of your looks."

"I have looks?"

"Baby, you have got some serious looks. This one just melts my socks off, so I go over and close the blinds, and then I reach around you and lock the door." As I spoke, I pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him.

"After I lock the door, I push you up against it and kiss you," I told him, leaning down to kiss him just like I was in our fantasy. I thrust my fingers into his hair and got into the moment, conveying to him just how much I wanted him. He grabbed my hips and moved me just enough so that he could slide into me.

"I wasn't there yet," I whispered, although I wasn't about to argue. He felt too good, and I forgot all about telling him my dream.

"I couldn't wait. I wish I'd known you were thinking about me back then. We wasted so much time."

"I still wouldn't have done this in the conference room," I teased as I set a gentle rhythm. Truth be told, it was probably a good thing that we had waited. I didn't envy Bobby and Alex attempting a relationship while under the scrutiny of the brass at 1PP.

"Oh, we would have done it there," he countered, his bravado back in place. "I might've even laid you out across Deakins' desk."

I laughed fully now at the thought of our old boss, and Mike's current boss, catching us in his office. I loved that we could talk and laugh while we made love. It made it so much more intimate.

"You still work for Deakins," I challenged him. "I'll go with you to work on Monday. And then we'll see how bold you are."

"Bring it on, sweetheart," he grinned.

A little while later, once I was slightly sweaty and completely satisfied, Mike pulled me back into his arms.

"So what do you think they're doing right now?" he asked again.

"Probably the exact same thing we are," I told him, chuckling at his relentlessness. "I'm sure Bobby worked off his jealousy the same way you like to. They'll be fine."

"Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry. I guess I'm obsessing a little."

"A little, yeah. You did a good thing with Bobby tonight," I told him. I had seen the exchange up against the wall of Slattery's. Mike had kept his cool.

"I hope I got through to him. He didn't talk at all in the car."

"You did. You're a good guy, Mike." I gave him one more kiss and then snuggled my back against his front. And then the phone rang. In our line of work, a call coming in after midnight was never a good thing.

"Yeah?" Mike answered. "Shit…okay. Where?...We'll meet you there."

He hung up and sighed heavily.

"Alex?"

"Goren. There's a body at Port Authority."

"Oh no. Our last girl?"

"He wasn't sure. He and Eames are getting ready to head over there now, but the captain told them the victim's face matched the BOLO. I told him we'd come."

"Of course," I said as I climbed out of bed. Another poor girl. My heart was breaking for them. And I was ready to flay whoever was responsible.

We both got dressed quickly and headed for Port Authority. Traffic was heavy despite the hour, so it took us awhile. We finally made it and hurried over to the crime scene tape. I knew that Bobby and Alex were already there because I'd seen their SUV, but the officer keeping up the perimeter didn't want to let us in.

"Goren!" Mike yelled unceremoniously. Bobby was fifty yards away, hunched over the body of a young girl, but he heard Mike and stood up.

"Let them in, Shiflett," he told the cop. The officer gave us a dirty look, but he stood back and let us pass. I almost missed the old days where I had a badge to flash.

Alex was wandering around in close proximity to the body and Bobby went back to his crouched position.

"Is it her?" I asked. It made me sad to know that I didn't even have a name for her. I guess I would soon enough.

"I don't think so."

"Really?" Mike asked. We had both been fully expecting it to be the fourth girl.

"This one is different," Alex spoke up, finally acknowledging us with a nod. "No perfume, no tattoo."

"Do we know for sure that all four girls got the tattoo?" Bobby asked. I nodded.

"That's what the guy said. And he was pretty forthcoming about everything else."

"No i.d. anywhere?" Mike asked. He went to help Alex search the area. I squatted down next to Bobby.

"Does this girl look Eastern European to you?" he asked me. I gave her a good look. Her face had been beaten, but not as badly as the others. Her clothes were torn. Her nails were chewed down and unpainted.

"No. And she's not made up like the others. This girl looks…something. I don't know. South African maybe."

"So not part of our group. So someone else is killing teenage girls," Bobby said sadly. He stood up and I followed him.

"Are you okay?" I asked him quietly so that the others couldn't hear. I wanted to know for myself, but also for Mike. Bobby looked up at me quickly and caught my gaze.

"I'm okay. I'm sorry about earlier."

"I don't need an apology. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Mike was worried. So was I." Bobby looked at me with surprise, seemingly unused to anyone being concerned about him. He and Mike were two peas in a pod.

"I'm fine," he assured me. "But thanks for asking."

"Any time you need to talk…" I said, leaving the offer out there.

"Eames and I…we um…worked things out," he said, a blush creeping up his cheeks. He was just too cute.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it," I replied with a smile.

"Purse in the dumpster," Mike said suddenly, interrupting our chat. He approached us, digging through the contents. After a moment, he pulled out a wallet. "Monique Bastock. She's got a New York University student i.d. card."

"So definitely not our girl," Alex said as she came up to us.

"No. We'd better call it in to the captain so they can get someone else out here. We've got enough on our hands with the case we've got."

So, two hours after I left my warm comfortable bed, I was finally back in it.

"Bobby's fine," I told Mike before he could ask. And then I smirked a little. "Did you see the hickeys on Alex's neck?"

"What? No. You're kidding."

"I'm not kidding. I'd say everything is just fine between them. But it was sweet of you to worry."

A few hours later, the phone rang again. Mike didn't budge, so I climbed over top of him to grab the phone off the nightstand.

"Yeah. Barek," I answered sleepily as I looked at the clock. Five-thirty. And it had been after two when we'd finally gotten back into the bed.

"Ms. Barek?" a woman's voice asked, speaking in heavily accented English. I sat straight up in the bed and chucked Mike hard so that he would wake up.

"Yes, this is Carolyn Barek."

"This is Magda Pawlak. Daiya's mother."

"Yes, of course Mrs. Pawlak. Are you okay? What can I do for you?"

"I did not know who to call. I did not want to call other detectives," she said, struggling to say the right words. I spoke to her in Polish so that she would be more comfortable.

"It's fine. I'm glad you called. What's wrong?"

"A man called my house last night. I'm sorry. I should have called you right away, but I didn't know what to do."

"It's okay. What did the man say?"

"He told me that Daiya owed him money and I needed to pay. Six thousand dollars."

"Did he give you his name?"

"No. He said he would call again at twelve o'clock, and that I had to give him the money or he would kill me, too, just like Daiya."

TBC...