Logan and Goren stood in the hallway outside Bedford's hospital room. Goren preferred to do interrogations with Eames. They never had to strategize or second guess one another. They simply followed the flow of the questioning and each other's line of thought. It was second nature to them, working together. He wasn't as comfortable working with anyone else, and he never would be.
"So who leads off?" Logan asked.
"You do."
"So you can watch?"
"That's the idea."
"And when do you jump in?"
"When it's time. I can't tell you more than that. Just go with the flow, Mike. I'll follow your lead, and you follow mine."
"And if we trip over each other?"
"Then we'll look like idiots."
"Let's try not to do that, shall we?"
"Good idea."
They opened the door and went into the room.
Bedford looked up from his bed and frowned. "You're not the visitors I was hoping for," he said.
"We're the only visitors you're gonna get," Logan replied.
"Where's my lawyer?"
"He's on the way."
"I got nothing to say until he gets here."
"Fine with us. We're on the clock. I got no problem just sitting here." He walked over to the tray table and lifted the cover off Bedford's lunch. "Chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. I guess my partner's bullet didn't do much damage to your gut. Otherwise you'd be eating broth and jello."
"It was a clean path, no damage, no surgery."
"You need to aim better next time, Goren." He turned his face up to look at Bedford. "I'd have aimed higher...or maybe lower...hmmm...tough choice."
"You're a bastard, Logan."
"You know, I hear that a lot." He nodded at the tray. "You gonna eat this? I missed lunch..."
"Go ahead."
He cut off a piece of chicken and held it out to Goren. "Want a bite?"
"No thanks."
Bedford turned his attention to the quiet cop. "I thought Ricky's wife was your partner."
"Ex-wife. She is."
"So where is she? Afraid to confront me?"
"Not at all. In fact, she'd love to have a shot at you."
"In more ways than one," Logan added.
"So where is she? I haven't seen her since the divorce hearing. You still protecting her, Goren?"
"I have no reason to protect her from anything. She can take care of herself."
"So where is she?"
"She's on leave right now, though it's none of your business."
Bedford's eyes narrowed. "You still screwing her?"
Goren bristled but he didn't respond, other than balling and unballing his fists. He didn't like the way this was going. But Bedford knew he'd hit a nerve. And like Waters, he didn't have sense to back off. "You are. Ricky knew you were, all along. Is that why you had him killed? Because she still carried a torch for him?"
Calming himself, Goren slowly shook his head. "This isn't about her. I know you're pissed because Ricky got killed. But, you know, he didn't get anything he didn't deserve. He was a dirty cop, and he took advantage of my partner."
"Yeah, he did. And she liked it..." Logan watched carefully, but Goren didn't move. He wasn't liking this at all. "Why do you think she put up with the things we did to you?"
Logan took over. "Because she didn't know it was you assholes responsible for it, Bedford. She never knew. My partner and I helped him cover it so she wouldn't do something stupid and get hurt. It had nothing to do with Waters." He leaned closer to Bedford. "From the very beginning, it was all about her, and making her life easier. That's all we ever cared about, all he ever cared about. You want to know what makes her happy? He does. He always has, and Waters never did." He stood back and laughed mockingly. "That's why her kids are his and not Waters'."
Goren had recovered by now and he took over again. "Ricky married her just so he would have a cover for his drug ring. How long was it before you began tampering with evidence?"
Bedford narrowed his eyes. "From the start. We hid it well. Ricky was smart. It was the evidence clerks that looked like morons. Five of 'em lost their jobs or got brought up on charges." He laughed. "Only one thing Ricky ever did that wasn't smart."
"What was that?"
"He didn't kill you when he had the chance."
"Wasn't it one of you idiots that talked him out of it?" Logan pointed out.
"Yeah...but you guys killed him when we ran that hit on your place. I was the only one who walked away from it." His eyes narrowed. "I sure tried to get that little girl when she came to the door with you."
Correctly anticipating Goren's reaction to that, Logan grabbed his partner and shoved him against the wall. "No," he growled. "I'll finish this alone..."
"Ok...ok...let me go."
"You sure?"
He nodded. Bedford was smiling. "Ricky hated that kid because he saw how much you loved her. That was one thing that drove him nuts. The kid he thought was his loved you more than anyone else, and he hated you more than anyone else."
Logan stayed between Goren and Bedford. "She still loves him more than anyone else. So...I guess we gotta send you to Riker's, too, so you can get killed and Eames can live in peace. It's over, Bedford. We're on to you and your bunch. We've already told your drug buddy that it was you who turned and that's how we knew where the deal was going down."
Real fear cropped up in Bedford's eyes. "No, you didn't."
"Yeah. We did. I'll guess your life ain't worth, what?" He looked at Goren. "That nickel you were gonna give me to plug him?"
Goren nodded. "If that."
"You gotta protect me...they'll come after me and this hospital isn't gonna stop them."
Logan looked at Goren. "We gotta protect him. Some nerve..."
"I'll give you the names of every cop involved if you see to it I'm protected."
Goren and Logan looked at one another. "We need to talk to our captain and the ADA. Maybe, if you were willing to testify..."
"I'll do it. Whatever you want. I can't believe you bastards did that."
Goren's eyes narrowed this time. "I can't believe you're low enough to want to harm a little girl."
"That was Ricky's idea. He wanted to hurt you, and since you were damn near untouchable...he told us to target the kid."
"And now?"
"There's only three of us left who Ricky trusted."
"The other two?"
"They're looking for Eames and the kid."
"I want names."
"I want protection."
Goren's voice was filled with menace. "I want their names or your drug buddies will never have a chance at you."
Bedford looked at Logan, who shrugged. "Hey, I love that little girl, too. You give him those names or you're a dead man. I promise you that. Remember, he's the clean cop. I'll gladly go back to Staten Island for letting your miserable ass get killed."
He looked from Logan to Goren and back. Two loose cannons...and they had him in their crosshairs. "Dwayne Jackson and Jay Peters."
Goren was out the door. Logan looked at Bedford. "You're a stupid son of a bitch, Bedford."
He took off after his partner. Goren was already on the phone when he caught up with him, halfway to the elevators. There was panic on his normally calm face. "Captain, we have a big problem..."