My intentions for an early bedtime were dashed. Henry and I stayed up until nearly one o'clock in the morning. He regaled me with anecdotes about growing up in the eighteenth century. In turn, he teased me until I shared my childhood memories with my sister Ellie. When I started to yawn in earnest, he insisted on taking a cab home instead of staying on the couch like he had a couple of times before.

"It would not be proper," he told me, eyes twinkling. "Please be aware, Jo – you are being courted." And he gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek before getting into the taxi.

For the first time in weeks, I slept well, remembering Henry's arms around me.

When I got to the precinct in the morning, Hanson looked at me as though he hardly recognized me. "You're in a good mood this morning," he commented.

"It's nice out today," I said, taking a seat at my desk. "How did your dealer hunting go?"

He grimaced. "Nada. We have the kids in custody – and we caught them with drugs on hand – but none of them are talking. Maybe you and Henry would have better luck."

I thought about this for a moment. "I don't know about that," I replied. "But I can think of someone else who might."

Alano's mother was only too happy to let him come in, if it might help us find the man who killed his mentor. He sat next to me during my interviews; Henry and Hanson looked on from Observation. We had decided the teens might respond best to a woman and their friend.

One by one, Alano and I asked his friends where we might find Tony Fields. The first two simply ignored us. The third became angry, yelling at Alano, calling him a traitor and a cop-lover. I could tell this was aggravating Alano, so I called a break before the next interview.

"I know this is frustrating, Alano," I told him. "But keep in mind, this isn't about you. Your friends – they've fallen victim to something that they can't shake easily. Grown men struggle with what your friends are trying to figure out."

Alano nodded. I consulted my list. "Next is Sebastian Valdez. What can you tell me about him?"

"Sebastian just graduated. He held out the longest in Tom's group," Alano said. "He wanted to resist Tony, he really did, but when his mom lost her job, he felt like he had no choice."

"All right." I made a note, then asked, "Are you ready?"

Alano got to his feet. "Let's do this."

Hanson brought Sebastian to the conference room, and Alano and I entered together. "Hello, Sebastian," I said as we sat down. I chose a seat across from him, while Alano sat at the head of the table next to him. "My name is Detective Jo Martinez, and you know Alano, of course."

"Hi, Sebastian," Alano said quietly.

"Hi, Alano," Sebastian replied.

Encouraged by this exchange of greetings, I went on to the next point of business. "We know that you've been dealing drugs at your school, Sebastian." He said nothing. "We understand that you were pressed into doing this by Tony Fields, who also recruited several of your friends."

"You know me, Sebastian," Alano told him. "You're my friend. I don't want to see you go to jail. And Detective Martinez here, she doesn't want you to go to jail, either."

We waited. Alano and I had practiced this; we set the bait, and waited to see if his friends would take it. I held my breath, watching Sebastian's face.

After a moment, Sebastian set his hands on the table. "What do you want, then?"

I leaned forward to look him in the eyes. "We want Tony Fields. Help us find him, and you won't be charged for dealing."

Sebastian let out a breath. "I want that in writing before I say another word."

"I'll get it for you right away," I promised.

Ten minutes later, Lieutenant Reece and the court-appointed attorney had approved the deal. Alano and I returned to the conference room and presented it to Sebastian. He signed.

"Where is Tony Fields?" I asked.

"We always meet him at this park near the school, at about three o'clock."

"Has he ever mentioned Thomas Bishop to you?"

"Yeah, several times. He wanted Alano to deal for him, said he was smarter than the rest of us." He glanced at Alano, then looked away. "He didn't like Bishop keeping him away. And he thought Bishop might steal some of us back, too."

I thanked Sebastian and arranged for him to stay in the police station until Fields was caught. When he was safely tucked away in the break room with a uniform, I turned to Alano.

"Well done, Alano," I praised. "You hit just the right note with Sebastian. We never would have gotten that information without you."

"Alano?"

We both turned to see Emily Bishop entering the squad room. "I wanted to see if you had any new leads," she told me, before turning to Alano. "I've missed you."

He gave her a big hug. "I've missed you too, Emily."

Emily asked over Alano's shoulder, "Have you gotten any new leads?"

"We have, thanks to Alano here. He's been an enormous help."

"I'm glad." She broke away from Alano's hug for a moment. "Will you let me know when you catch the man who did this?"

"Of course, Miss Bishop. If you'd like, I can catch you up on what we've discovered so far."

She hesitated, looking at Alano. "Unless you need my help, there's something I need to tell Alano."

"No, we don't need your help at this time," I told her. "I'll give you a call later today, unless you'd like to stay here with Alano. His friend is in the break room."

"Thank you, Detective." She put her arm around Alano and led him towards the break room. I heard her say, "I talked to Leon Fisher today. He said that in my father's stead, he wants to help you enter the Minor Leagues. He heard too much about you from my father to let you slip through the cracks."

I smiled at their retreating figures. From behind me, Henry said into my ear, "I don't think either Emily or Alano will be alone, even without Mr. Bishop."

I looked over my shoulder at him. "No, they look like they'll take care of each other."

Henry was about to reply when Lieutenant Reece called us into her office. Hanson was already there. "Status report," she ordered.

"We have a possible location for Tony Fields," Henry and I said together.

"A park near Alano's school, where he meets his teen dealers at about three o'clock," Hanson added.

"Good work," Lieutenant Reece said. "Jo, Henry, have you located the missing ring and watch yet?" When we shook our heads, she continued, "Go to that pawn shop and recover Bishop's stolen items. Hanson, gather a team for this afternoon's takedown of Tony Fields. Check with Narcotics, see if their information matches what you've found. Get all the facts you can on him. He is still our most likely suspect?"

"For sure, Lieu," I said. "There have been no other red flags, except for the first baseman, and he alibied out."

"Very good. Let's get this bastard."

Two chapters left, everyone! Get excited. Thanks to everyone for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing!

Superlc529 and KenH - thank you for the compliments on my last chapter! I knew that I wanted it to happen, but I still can't decide if it was too quick of a shift from Jo's state of mind at the beginning of the story. From your comments, I'm going to guess that you think it worked out okay. :)