Eames had rested her head on the conference table, and Ross was sitting nearby, legs propped up on a chair, leaning back. She wasn't sure if he was dozing or not. She had told him he could go home. She was fine where she was, reviewing surveillance videos from their building as well as the one from the store and looking for anything that might give her any indication of where to look for Goren. She had no idea what she was looking for, and she knew she wasn't going to find something that wasn't there, but it was all she had, and she had to do something. No one in the building had seen him leave, although the building's cameras showed him departing alone at eight o'clock. She'd reviewed the footage of the garage, but his car had been parked out of camera range. Other than the normal burst of end of the day traffic, she noticed nothing out of the ordinary. She was reduced to praying an observant cop somewhere would spot his car and call them.
At least Ross had quit saying he'd left intentionally. She knew of no way to convince him Goren would never have done that. The captain did not understand their relationship. Partnership had grown into friendship and they were close. She couldn't explain how she knew from the start that this was not a voluntary excursion on his part. Okay, so maybe it had started as a date, maybe not. He never got into his love life with her, so she wasn't sure if he had a late date last night or not. She was thinking not. Whoever she was, the brief interaction she watched in the convenience store did not suggest intimacy. Now they had proof he was being taken someplace against his will. Ross stayed after everyone else had gone home, reviewing every bit of footage they had, but he had nothing to add.
Exhaustion allowed them both to doze off into a light, fitful sleep. So when her phone rang, it jarred her awake. She glanced at the time as she retrieved the phone from her jacket, draped on the back of her chair. Almost midnight. Who could be calling her at this time? She froze for a moment when she saw the caller ID displayed. Bobby cell. Bobby...she felt a jab of ice cold fear...was this the woman in the video, calling to tell her where to find his body?
She glanced at the captain and flipped open the phone, taking care to keep the fear in her gut out of her voice. "Eames."
A moment of silence. I'm sorry I worried you.
Relief flooded through her, followed by a small wave of amusement. No one else would have been able to read the apprehension she tried to keep from her voice. She made no further attempt to hide her emotions from him. "God, Bobby..." Remembering the captain's presence, she struggled to remain professional. She could deal with everything else later. "Are you all right?"
Yes.
"Where are you?"
That's a little bit of a problem. I have no idea. I'm in a farmhouse somewhere outside Schenectady.
"I'll call the locals..."
No. Listen to me. I'm fine, Eames. But I'm kind of tied up at the moment and I really don't want a shitload of cops all over the place. Just you. Call the phone company and get them to triangulate my signal. Then you can come and get me. Just bring my extra keys; you know where they are in my desk.
"She didn't hurt you?"
No. Not at all.
"All right. I'll call the phone company now. Just hang tight."
She set the phone down and ran from the room. Ross watched her leave, then reached out and picked up the phone. "Goren?"
He understood the silence that met him. Uh...Captain?
"Are you all right?"
Yes. I'm fine.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?"
Um, no...not right now. It can wait until I get there.
"Just tell me if this was a date gone bad."
No, sir, it wasn't. It's been...awhile since I've had a date.
"So how did this woman overpower you and kidnap you?"
She didn't.
"You went along willingly?"
No, captain. She had a gun to my head. I didn't have much of a choice or you would have been cleaning my brains off my windshield. He hesitated for a moment. Why are you there so late?
"Because one of my detectives went missing and I was worried about his partner, that's why I'm here."
W-worried about her? Why?
"Because she was damn near frantic, looking for some clue that would lead us to you. When you do something, you do it good, do you know that?"
I've been told that before. But this wasn't intentional. I didn't mean to worry her.
Ross was quiet for a moment. "That was a good move, detective, leaving your shield like that."
Goren's reply was quiet. I did that for Eames.
Ross answered, "I get that. It was the right thing to do."
Another moment of silence. Thank you, captain. More hesitation. Did you, uh, watch out for her?
"Do you think she needs that?"
Not really, no. I would say she handled this better than I handled her kidnapping last year. Eames can take care of herself. But I still watch out for her, whether she needs it or not.
Ross smiled. "I agree that she handled it better than you did. But I wasn't about to leave her here alone, without someone to bounce things off. Just because she can take care of herself doesn't mean she has to do it alone. That's why I'm still here."
More silence. Thank you.
While she was waiting for the phone company operator to find a supervisor she could talk to, another line lit up. "Son of a bitch..." She reached over and grabbed the phone on Goren's desk. "Eames."
Hello. Do you work with Detective Goren?
"I'm his partner."
Oh... There was hesitancy in the voice. I am calling to let you know where he is.
"Who is this?"
That's not important. There's a small town east of Schenectady called Grooms Corners...
Eames grabbed a pad and pencil, writing down the directions as the woman on the phone gave them to her. Then she asked, "How do you know where he is?"
Just tell him...tell him I'm sorry.
The line went dead. She hung up both phones and hurried back to the conference room, surprised to find Ross talking to her partner. "Hold on, detective. Here's your partner."
She took the phone from him, not sure what to make of the captain. Raising the phone to her ear, she said, "I got directions."
Already?
"Your date called."
My what?
She laughed quietly at his reaction. No, it had never been a date. "I'm joking. She called and told me where you were. She said to tell you that she's sorry."
He was silent. "Bobby?"
How long will it take you to get here?
"A couple of hours. What is this all about anyway? What happened?"
Our vigilante took my bait.
"Our...what? She...you're kidding."
No. Our vigilante is a woman. Now...I have no idea where she's gone...and she has my car, Eames.
"Your car...and your keys."
She doesn't know where I live. Oh...shit...she's got my gun, too.
"All right...one thing at a time. Let's get you out of there first. I'm on the way...are you sure you don't want me to send someone..."
I'm sure. I'm fine with waiting for you. There, uh, there's no crime scene to process. I think I have enough information to give us a chance at finding her. Take your time...and be careful.
"I will."
She closed the phone and looked at Ross. "I'm going to get him."
"I'll go with you."
That surprised her. She expected an argument about letting the locals handle it. "That's not necessary, captain."
"Eames, it's late and it's been a very long day. You've already been to Allentown and back. I'm not going to take the risk of you wrapping your car around a tree on the way to wherever it is Goren's at. I'm going with you."
She waved a hand and headed back toward her desk. "Okay, fine. Give me five minutes."
Ross turned toward the television, studying the scene on the screen. He pressed 'play' and watched Goren for a few minutes. Shaking his head, he turned off the equipment and left the room.
Eames pulled into the driveway of the empty house. She bolted from the car and, pulling her gun just in case, mounted the steps to the porch. She didn't wait for Ross as she entered the house; her backup was already inside. Quickly securing the lower level and finding it empty, she was charging up the stairs as Ross came in through the front door. Moments later, she was standing in the doorway to the bedroom where her partner sat on the edge of the bed, a sheepish grin on his handsome face. "Hi, Eames," he said softly, and they were the most welcome words she'd ever heard in her life.
He saw the tension melt away from her like butter in a hot frying pan. She wasn't able to move for a long minute. Finally, she came forward, pulling a set of keys from her pocket. Her eyes scanned his body slowly as she approached, searching for signs of injury. He tipped his head to the side, catching her eyes and holding them. Mesmerized, neither moved. They simply held each other's gaze, uncertain...until Ross appeared in the doorway and cleared his throat, reminding Eames that they weren't alone. Goren looked toward the door with a frown as Eames opened the cuff on his wrist. Rubbing his wrist, he got up from the bed. "Captain," he said by way of greeting.
Ross wondered at the sudden distance that seemed to spring up between the two detectives with his appearance, curious about what their reaction to one another would have been if he had remained downstairs. "Detective."
He watched Goren walk to the table and sit down before a small stack of file folders; Eames finished removing the cuffs from the headboard and slipped them into her pocket. Sensing they wanted to talk but not in front of him, Ross said, "I'll wait down in the car. Don't take too long."
He left. Goren waited until he heard the front door close before he looked up from the files. Eames was sitting on the bed, studying her hands. He was surprised to see her tremble. Getting up, he went over to the bed and sat beside her, leaning forward to look into her face. "Hey..."
As she leaned into him, he straightened and slid his arms around her. Burying her face in his chest, she wrapped her arms around him and tightened them. He rubbed her back and rested his cheek against her head. Neither said a word; none were necessary.
When she finally pulled away, he let her go. She looked up at him, eyes moist, and reached her hand out to lightly run her fingers down the side of his face. When his eyes slid closed at her touch, she drew her fingers along the line of his jaw. He slid his hand along her waist in a light caress. A moment later, her lips lightly touched his. A soft gasp of surprise escaped from him and he opened his eyes to look at her. Their faces were separated by inches, and neither of them moved for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she pulled away, slid off the bed and walked out of the room. He took a moment to recover before he grabbed the files and followed her.
Ross looked up as the two detectives came out of the house. He got out of the car and slid into the back seat. Waiting until they were situated in the car, he said, "They found your car, Goren."
Both detectives turned to face him. "Where?" Goren asked.
"On Long Island Sound, near Manhasset. I told them not to touch it until our guys get there. CSU is on the way to process it. They'll bring it back to Manhattan."
Goren nodded and leaned back in his seat, looking out the window. Eames watched him for a moment, then started the car and backed out of the driveway.
