When Sammy and his escorts reached the apartment, the door was opened and Sammy was ushered inside. He steeled his nerves as he walked in; if the boss was there, he was going to be in for a rough night.

Sammy reached over and flipped on the light just inside the door; the fact that the room was dark was a good sign. Finding the apartment empty, he breathed out a sigh of relief; it had been a long night and he was exhausted, more mentally than physically but exhausted none the less. He hadn't been in the mood for another confrontation and though he didn't know if this meant good news or bad news for him, he was glad that it wasn't happening tonight. He hoped it didn't happen at all but that was probably too much to ask for.

Sammy walked straight through the living room and into the kitchen to grab a beer. He pulled the bottle out of the fridge, flipped the cap into the sink and took a long drink before heading straight to his room. He didn't have any patience left for his babysitters and he had something he needed to do…privately.

He walked into his room and set the beer on the nightstand before turning back to the door. He closed it firmly before Jerry-rigging it so that it would be more difficult to open. He didn't want to be disturbed and if someone should decide to come in, he was going to need some lead time.

After finishing with his handiwork, Sam flopped onto the bed and reached down to his foot, pulling the cell phone Andy had given him out of his sock. With a quick glance to the door, he punched in the number for Boyd and started a text message. 'You there?'

'Just got back to the barn.'

'Everything good?'

Boyd was pretty sure he knew what Sam was getting at. 'Blondie & Bambi safe at home.' He decided that Sam didn't need to know that McNally was a little worse for wear; he had enough on his mind. 'What about you? Any backlash?'

After rolling his eyes at Boyd's references, Sam quickly typed back. 'None yet. Let you know tomorrow.'

'Plans?'

'I'll see what I can do.'

'All I can ask. Only 2 more days.'

'Thank God!'

'Great Work, Sammy!'

Sam was glad that Boyd was happy with his work, but right now it didn't feel great. He just wanted it all over and done with. And he was just tired. 'Gotta go.'

Sam held the phone open for a few moments to make sure nothing else came through. When nothing did, he sent one more just to be safe. 'Erasing now.'

He rid the phone of all traces of the texts just to be safe and then tucked it into his shoe and slid it under his bed. After a quick stop in the bathroom, he flipped off the lights and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Sammy woke up at eleven, dragging his tired body into the bathroom for a quick shower. When he emerged twenty minutes later, he strolled through the living room on his way to the kitchen to find something to eat. Only one of the henchmen seemed to be present and Sammy grunted a greeting at him on his way to find food.

He had just sat down with some toast, when the other goon stormed in. "Let's go. Boss wants Sammy at the warehouse in ten."

The fact that they were meeting at the warehouse gave Sammy hope that he wasn't the only one being summoned. Surely to goodness if he wanted to yell at just him he would do it at the apartment or at his office. It was a much better scenario if the boss was mad at them all. Sammy just sighed and followed along. Might as well get this over with.

When Sammy arrived with his entourage, the Boss was already there and apparently, waiting for him; the ambush began almost immediately. "I hear you had a little rendezvous with your girlfriend last night."

"Yeah, it was a…pleasant surprise." Sammy smirked, hearing a few chuckles from around the room.

The boss just nodded his head continuing to size Sammy up. "Going to see her again tonight?"

"Not sure...we didn't really do a lot of talking." Sammy bragged.

The big man just looked at him, obviously waiting for him to drop the smart ass act and answer the question.

"I don't think so." Sammy offered after a few seconds.

"Why not?"

"I'm guessing her brother's going to have a pretty tight leash on her for awhile so…" He let the thought trail off as he caught a few nods out of the corner of his eye. It looked like Boyd's act had passed the test.

"So I heard…maybe you should call her."

Sammy knew Boyd had called his cell at least once and apparently talked to the boss, but he had no idea if they'd had any further contact. From the sounds of it though, the boss might have tried to reach Andy himself. "I'm good." Sammy assured him. There was absolutely no way Sammy was going to encourage her to show up again; in fact he really needed to get a hold of Boyd as soon as possible to make sure he didn't give him any reason to send her back again.

The boss continued to stare at Sammy, but when he didn't back down or give in, he turned his attention to the group and began his tirade. They all sat chock still not daring to speak as the man berated each and every one of them for making a scene and drawing unwanted attention to themselves.

Sammy soon felt a pair of eyes boring into the side of his face and as he shifted his focus to the left, he caught the full brunt of Ray's death stare. Clearly he thought it was all Sammy's fault, and it looked like he was about to throw him under the bus. Sammy raised his eyebrows almost in a dare; he knew that Ray would just be shooting himself in the foot if he even opened his mouth. Now was not the time; if he knew what was good for him, he would sit down, shut up and take it like a man.

Their silent battle of wills came to an abrupt halt when the boss' voice went up a few more decibels. "Hey!" He yelled, and tuning out was no longer an option. "What would you have done if the cops came huh? Do you have any idea what this deal is worth?"

He continued on with his diatribe concluding that the only person using their head that night was Vic because he at least had the presence of mind to call the boss. When Ray snickered at the comment and looked like he begged to differ on the point, the boss silenced him with a glare. Sammy just rolled his eyes; Ray had no idea when to shut it off.

"I expect much better tonight." He concluded and moved towards the door, signaling to his goons that it was time to go.

There were more than a few open jaws at that point and it was pretty obvious that they all thought they would be confined to quarters till the deal was done. "Seriously?" RJ wondered.

"Yep, have at her. Just keep it in check this time." He could see how happy most of them were at this welcome turn of events, but it really wasn't for their benefit.

He was actually hoping that Sammy's girl would show up once again and he could finally get his leverage. He still had his doubts and having a little insurance never hurt. "And Sammy, if your girl shows up tonight, get her out of there before all hell breaks loose this time." He didn't really think any of them, Sammy especially, would be stupid enough to make the same mistake twice, but just in case he wanted to make things quite clear.

As expected Sammy grinned cockily, before he pulled the rug out from under him. "And then give me a call…I'd love to meet her."

Sammy fought to keep the grin on his face and the fire out of his eyes. When hell freezes over…

The boss didn't wait for a response; he already got what he wanted…satisfaction. Still, there was something else he needed. "Ray." He summoned.

Ray cast a wary glance to all the guys and was met with only shrugs. He wasn't the only one who had no idea what the boss wanted. He only hoped he hadn't done something stupid…again.

Sammy pretended to be listening to the rest of the guys but he was completely focused on the conversation playing out between Ray and the boss. It wasn't hard to figure out what they were discussing. Ray kept shooting wary glances at Sammy and he had to wonder if the boss was asking about Andy, and where Ray might have caught a glimpse of her. He only hoped that wherever Ray had seen her, it wasn't at one of her regular stops. If it was, he had a feeling he'd be seeing Andy sooner than he had hoped, and that would only make things that much more complicated. If Andy was involved, all bets were off.

When he got what he needed from Ray, the boss headed out the door flanked by his henchmen, and Ray came back to join the group. "Everything okay?" Sammy asked as nonchalantly as possible.

"Huh? Yeah. It's all good." He answered while shifting his gaze anywhere but at Sammy.

Ray had been asked where he had seen 'Sammy's girl' and was ordered to sit on the place for the next few hours; he would also be going back tomorrow. Now he just had to blow Sammy off and get the hell out of there.

Sammy watched Ray shift uncomfortably from foot to foot; he was like an open book. It was obvious he had been instructed not to tell, but his actions spoke volumes. Sammy looked over at Vic who was looking intently back at him; it looked like he had figured it out as well.

"Well…yeah…gotta run…favor for the boss you know." Ray stuttered as he shuffled awkwardly towards the door, not waiting for a response from anyone.

Vic watched as Sammy let out a deep breath of resignation and followed behind him as moved to stand in front of the plans that were still up on the wall. "Everything okay?" He asked, gesturing towards the plans, but meaning much more.

"It's all good." Sammy answered.

"Good." Vic accepted, though not quite convinced. "RJ is going to grab pizza and we're going to play a little poker so…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there in a few." Sammy promised. "Just wanna take another look here."

"You worried?" Again, he meant more than he could say.

Sammy pulled his bravado back out, but the words sounded completely hollow to him. "Piece of cake."

Vic turned at the sound of laughter behind him before glancing back at his buddy.

"I'm good." Sammy assured.

Vic nodded and pivoted back to the group, leaving Sam to think about how he could possibly get a picture of the plans without anyone noticing. Could he bring them home with him? Maybe under the premise that he had forgotten something? Maybe he could say he was worried about leaving them there or say he just wanted to study them. But he needed to get them to Boyd as soon as possible; tonight wouldn't be soon enough.

He looked around the warehouse and spotted a small office over in the corner. He looked at the guys and they were wrestling around and getting rowdy. He took his chance before he thought better of it and muttered loudly. "…Noisy…can't even think…echo in here is giving me a headache."

When Sammy turned his back and started pulling down the plans, it caught Vic's attention. "What are you doing Sammy?" He couldn't help the doubt that had crept into his voice.

Sammy picked up on it right away and was quick to reassure him. "I just need to go over everything in my head again; after last night, I can't afford for anything else to go wrong."

"You need some help?"

"I'm good. But it's too loud in here. I think I'm going to go sit in the office and look at it one more time. I need to play it all out in my head and I can't concentrate with all the noise out here. Tomorrow, we'll all have a go over it one more time and I want to be ready." Sammy contemplated for a second before continuing. "Which reminds me, have we heard anything about Vicero?"

"Not a peep. Looks like he's keeping his nose out."

Sammy nodded unfazed. "We'll be ready either way."

Vic returned the nod and gestured him to the office.

"Let me know when RJ gets back." Sammy instructed as he rolled the plans up to make it easier to carry them. "I need some drinking money tonight and I'd rather spend yours." He taunted.

Vic chuckled. "You wish, Sammy."

Sammy joined in with his laughter and swatted at him with the plans before heading to the office at the back; it was fairly secluded and far enough away that he should have plenty of time. RJ was just leaving as Sammy closed the door.

With a quick glance up, he saw that no one was watching him, and he again rigged up the door so he would hear if anyone tried to get in while he was preoccupied. He quickly laid out the plans on the table and leaned over pretending to study them. After another glance over his shoulder, he bent down and quickly pulled the phone out of his sock. He wasted no time switching it to camera mode and lined up the shot.

After taking a number of pictures, he turned around again and stared at the ceiling, trying to appear deep in thought while he was really checking out where everyone was. It looked like they were all still on the other side of the building so he decided to take another chance. He sat down resting his elbows on the desk and hunched over as if studying the blueprint, but the phone was sandwiched between both hands and he was sending photos as fast as he could.

He then followed the pictures up with a text. 'Deal at 3am. Will text tomorrow with arrival times. We good?'

He had never been so happy to receive a fast reply. 'Better than good. Great work Sammy.'

'Gotta go.'

'Hang on. I'm still looking.'

'Later…erasing.'

Sammy cleared the memory and placed the phone back in its hiding spot before studying the plans once more. He had pushed his luck enough for now and he didn't want to drag it out any longer than necessary. If Boyd needed something else, Sammy would find out later; he wanted to talk to him anyway, actually speak to him. He needed a few things from the man that it would be too hard to convey via shortened texts.

Sammy had been on enough takedowns to know the drill and he was pretty certain he knew what Boyd's strategy would be but he needed to hear it from the horses' mouth. He'd feel much better once he knew everything from both sides. As he focused back on the plans, he mapped out his preferred safety zone and at least two alternates. After he talked to Boyd, he would know which one would work best and he could make sure he knew where Sammy would be once the shit hit the fan. Boyd would not be able to get that information from the plans and Sammy's life could depend on it.

As he contemplated his safety, he realized he had forgotten something and it couldn't wait. He reached down to his phone and fired off a quick text and was waiting for the reply when he heard a rap at the door. He jumped when the noise broke the silence just as the reply was coming through. He twisted to hide the phone while turning to see Jimmy smirking and waving a slice of pizza at him.

Jimmy twisted the knob and tried to push his way in as Sammy tucked the phone into his pocket planning to move it back to his sock at the first opportunity.

When the door jammed, he had to muscle it with his shoulder to get it open. "What the hell?" Jimmy exclaimed while eyeing up the door. "Better hurry, Sammy."

"I'm coming; just let me grab the plans."

Jimmy appeared to be waiting for Sammy, so he had to find a way to force his hand and get him to go back to the group without him. It didn't take him long. As he grabbed the plans, he pulled along an entire stack of papers and knocked them to the ground.

Sammy pretended to look pissed while mentally jumping for joy. He jerked his head towards the group and mumbled. "Be right there."

Jimmy chuckled as he saluted him with his pizza. "Don't wanna miss out."

Sammy gave him a curt nod as he gathered all the papers and waited for him to leave. As soon as he was out of range, Sammy pulled the phone back out and read the text. He let out a long breath as he cleared the memory, quickly rolling up the plans and heading back out into the open.

As soon as he was within earshot, Vic wondered. "You gonna put those back up?"

"Trying to decide." Sammy offered, leaving the question basically unanswered. He was thinking he may want to take them back to the apartment just in case he needed them again later but he worried that it might look suspicious.

Back at the station, Boyd had been getting a bunch of calls on the phone Sammy was supposed to use as his contact. He jumped every time he heard it go off hoping it was Swarek with more information, but no one ever seemed to be there. After about the fifth or sixth time, he was pissed. "If this is Sammy, you can give up now. She's not here and the only person you'll be talking to is me."

If it was Swarek, Boyd hoped that his coworker wasn't in trouble and unable to answer him. If it wasn't, at least he had covered both of their butts. After last night, it was obvious that Sammy's gang had an interest in McNally; he just wasn't sure why. By answering the way he did, he was able to protect them all.

The calls stopped for quite awhile and the next time the phone made any noise it was to alert him that a text message had come through. He figured it had to be the real Sammy this time, and thankfully he was right.

After receiving the photos Sammy took of the plans and exchanging numerous messages, Boyd had what he needed to call in his team for the final briefing. Before he had a chance to confirm that the plans were clear, Sammy signed off with a promise to contact him later.

Boyd was in the middle of printing everything off to prepare for the meeting with his unit, when he was surprised by the phone going off again. He rifled through the photos as he picked it up; if he was missing anything or couldn't make something out, he wanted to ask Swarek for it now in case they didn't get a chance to talk later.

'Do NOT send McNally in again!'

'Wait…why they want McNally anyway?'

'Just don't!'

Boyd was a little offended that Sammy would think he was stupid enough to do that when it was clear she would have trouble getting back out, but now was not the time to get into a pissing contest. 'No worries; we got what we need.'

And with that Sammy was gone again.

Boyd wasted no time getting his team together to put the final details in place; if they got at it right away, they should get home at a decent time and be able to get some rest before tomorrow. They were going to need it because as soon as Sunday hit, they would need to prep the backup and be ready to go all night. If all went according to plan, Sammy's gang would be behind bars and he'd be taking Sammy's statement in less than 48 hours.

Sammy crawled into bed just before one in the morning, he planned to sleep as late as he could knowing tomorrow was going to be a long one. Thankfully, it had been an uneventful night; he chuckled to himself. Well, if you didn't count Ray getting slapped in the face by two women at the same time. That guy did not know when to shut up.

A.N. I hope you enjoyed this latest installment; please let me know what you think. Takedown should come next.

To mamaverd: it was really hard writing 'horses' mouth when Sammy was referring to Boyd; I think we both know what I would have preferred to write :)