Carolyn POV

My original plan was to spend the weekend at home, mostly in the bed.

However, as appealing as that kind of thing usually sounds while I'm thinking about it, the reality of it just isn't quite the same.

I mean, look at us.

We left a lush resort in Rio ahead of schedule because we were bored.

Although, I didn't have a hangover in Rio.

I did have one when I woke up Saturday morning.

So the plan, which I'd not actually expected to stick with, was looking better and better.

For the time being, I had no intention of leaving the bed, much less the state.

But then the phone rang.

"Don't answer it," I muttered. I was on my stomach with my face buried in the pillow.

I had no idea what time it was, and I didn't care. I was pretty sure that it wasn't Monday morning yet, and that was all that mattered.

Mike was next to me with his hand on my back, and he hadn't budged.

"I wasn't planning on it," he replied sleepily.

It stopped ringing, but there was only a minute of silence before my cell started to ring.

"Oh for God's sake," I said crossly as I grabbed the phone from the table. The clock showed that it was nine-thirty, but surely it was much earlier than that.

I stabbed at the button and held the phone to my ear.

"What?" I barked out.

It was John, and he was feeling particularly chatty.

"Mary called and suggested that we all get together. She wants to meet you, and even though she met Mike once, she doesn't really know him, and she's pretty sure that she can get away without working until at least tomorrow afternoon, so Rocco's taking care of getting the plane fueled up. How fast can you get to JFK?"

"I'm not going anywhere quickly," I groused.

The thought of being airborne on a good day was nauseating, but come on…I'd had a healthy share of three bottles of tequila only ten hours ago.

And probably the only reason that I still felt partially human was because I was likely still slightly drunk.

"Carolyn," he said. "Please? I really want you to meet her."

And he was so excited.

I sighed heavily and attempted to make my head quit throbbing by sheer force of will.

"I'll make sure the plane is stocked with coffee," he offered, sweetening the deal.

"The good stuff?"

"Of course."

"Let me talk to Mike. I'll call you back."

So that was how I found myself at JFK an hour after I was first awakened by the phone.

"I'm not sure about this little plane," I said quietly to Mike as we were escorted out onto the tarmac.

"It'll be better than the big ones."

"I don't think so."

Why did I have to be so afraid to fly? People did it all of the time, every day. What was the big deal?

"I'll take care of you," he promised, his lips right next to my ear.

And in every other scenario but this one, I might've found his words offensive.

But right now, I needed them.

When I was first partnered with Mike years ago, I would've never, ever admitted weakness. The few times we'd had to travel together on a plane had been torture for me because I'd had to sit there and act like I didn't have a care in the world.

Calm, cool Carolyn who's not afraid of anything.

But I didn't have to be like that anymore. And I wasn't above accepting comfort from my husband.

I grabbed his hand and walked with him onto the plane.

To some extent, Mike had been right. The smaller plane was luxurious, and once we took off, I was nearly able to forget that we were in the air.

Before I knew it, we'd landed in Albuquerque.

As we taxied toward the airport, Mike looked at John.

"I know you're into Mary right now, and I think that's great," he said, and his tone was surprisingly firm. "But if this thing doesn't work out and you find yourself single again…"

"I won't," John said quickly.

I was lost.

Mike's seriousness and John's speedy compliance to…what?

"You won't what?" I asked.

They continued to stare at each other, and a testosterone-filled moment passed between them.

No one said another word, and I didn't ask again. Mike would tell me later.

Mary turned out to be both not what I expected and yet perfect for John.

She was real, and funny, and humble. I tried to thank her for helping out in Denver and she quickly deflected.

"I was just one of the group."

And I could tell that she really liked John. We spent the day sightseeing and then we ended up in a dive bar that Mary swore had great food.

"So, you and Mike worked a case together once?" I asked her when the men left us alone at the table so that they could play a game of pool.

"Yeah. Sort of. I had to go to New York to fetch a witness, and his case overlapped with mine."

"Did he hit on you?"

"What? No," she denied.

"Mary, it's okay. I wasn't with him then. I'm just curious."

And I was poking at her a little. I wanted to see how she would respond. I mean, it's why John wanted us to meet her, right? To back up his assessment? To tell him that she's as great as he thinks she is?

"Okay, so maybe a little. But hey, I'm irresistible, so who can blame him? We never went out or anything."

"But you thought he was attractive," I stated. "Because now you're dating his virtual twin."

"Dating? Do we have to say that?"

"Are you opposed to the term?"

She sighed heavily and took a drink of her beer.

"Not normally, no."

"But?"

"But every time I've dated someone it's ended badly, and I really, really like John and so maybe I'm afraid to use the word because I'm afraid that the label will bring me bad luck. I mean, what difference does it make what we call it?"

"None at all," I said, smiling at her neurotic outburst. "But you're not going out with anyone else?"

"No."

"And he's not either."

"I hope not."

"He's not. When would he? He's been here four times in a week. And he does have a company to run."

"True."

"So…"

"We're not sleeping together. I mean, we were going to in Denver, but then I stopped it and then we started again, and then he stopped it, so we just never, I mean we've done some…"

"Mary," I interrupted quickly. "I really don't need to know that."

"I just…he's your brother-in-law, and I know that you care about him, and I want to be honest with you. And…I'm actually a little bit nervous."

"About meeting me?"

"You. Mike. The idea that you were willing to fly across the country to meet me. I mean, it's not the same as driving into midtown to meet for dinner or something, right? You took your weekend to come out here. That's a big deal. And I just…I really like spending time with John."

"Good."

"So, I don't know. Did I pass the test?"

"Test?"

"Yeah, I mean, isn't this where I'm supposed to either get a thumbs up or thumbs down?"

"I don't know, is it?"

"Do you always answer a question with a question?"

"Sorry," I said, picking up my beer. I was still on my first one, not having fully recovered from last night.

"You should get a shot," Mary suggested, obviously picking up on my reluctance to drink.

"What?"

"Tequila. John said you and Alex got hammered on tequila last night. You should get a shot. You know, hair of the dog."

"Oh, I don't know about that."

"Trust me," she said with a grin. Then she went over to the bar and came back with two shots. She put them down on the table and nudged one towards me. "It'll help."

So I drank the shot. And actually, after the first terrifying minute when I was afraid that it might come back up, I did start to feel better.

We sat in quiet for a minute, both of us letting our gazes drift towards John and Mike. I'd said virtual twins earlier, and I meant it. The similarities still messed with my head a little.

But Mike had a better ass.

"They do look a lot alike," Mary mused without taking her eyes off of them. "I thought so, but it's been years since I saw Mike so then I thought that maybe I was just imagining the amazing likeness. But damn, seeing them together…"

"I know," I agreed.

"Of course, John's got a better ass," she said with a grin.

"You just keep telling yourself that," I replied, matching her smile.

Later that night, Mike and I checked into a hotel.

John went to Mary's.

Sunday, we flew back home around noon.

"I'm surprised that you didn't want to stay longer," I said to John as we boarded the plane. "Maybe take her out for a romantic dinner or something."

"We celebrated last night," he said vaguely. But the look on his face spoke volumes.

"I bet you did," Mike commented.

"I mean, I gave her a present."

"Uh huh."

The conversation went downhill from there.

And while I was curious to know what a millionaire bought his new girlfriend for Valentine's Day, I didn't ask. I figured that I'd be talking to Mary again soon enough. In fact…

"Give me Mary's cell phone number," I said to John.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Just give it to me," I said on a sigh. The pilot had just started the engines and the last thing I felt like doing was arguing.

But I needed to do one more thing.

He gave me her number, and I sent her a text.

Thumbs up.

Sunday night, Mike and I spent a quiet night at home.

"I didn't buy you a present," he said apologetically.

"That's okay. We have been pretty busy."

Mike wasn't ever shy about telling me what I meant to him. I didn't need a designated day for that and I certainly wasn't going to give him grief because he hadn't found the time to shop for something. I hadn't had time to shop, either.

"Come on," he said as he held out his hand to me. "Let me show you how much I love you."

"Mike, you don't have to…"

"Come on."

We went upstairs where he slowly undressed me and then spent the next hour massaging and caressing my whole body.

My nerves were tingling and I was in heaven. This was better than any present.

He turned me onto my stomach and made a second pass over my back, rubbing my neck and shoulder blades.

My eyelids were heavy as I relaxed into the moment, and then he moved his hands off of me for a second and began kissing the back of my neck. I felt his fingertips slide around the front of my neck before returning to the back.

"What…" I began to question.

"I lied," he said softly. "I did buy you a present."

I rolled onto my back and reached up to feel the pendant that rested against my throat. I glanced down and saw an emerald-cut sapphire stone hanging from a silver chain.

"Mike," I managed to say, suddenly choked up by his display of romanticism.

"It matches the ring," he said, and he looked so unsure of himself.

Did he actually think that I wouldn't like it? That the gift itself was as important as the gesture? It could've been from a bubble gum machine.

Another wave of love hit me as I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him down to me.

"Yes it does," I replied. "It's beautiful. I love it.

I kissed him as I felt tears sting my eyes. He'd really caught me by surprise, and I couldn't help the emotion that rolled through me. But I didn't want to hide it from him, either.

He deserved to know just exactly how he made me feel.

He pulled back from me and, propping himself on one forearm, he used his other hand to wipe the tears from my eyes. He didn't question their existence. In fact, his eyes looked a little shiny, too.

Then he trailed his finger down to my neck where the pendant had slid off to the side. He touched it briefly, moving it back to the center.

He leaned over to kiss me again, hesitating at the last moment before bringing his lips to mine, and whispered, "It's almost as beautiful as you."

Suffice it to say that Sunday night was one of the best of my life. And since I've been with Mike, there have been quite a few good ones.

But Sunday night…wow.

Anyone who tries to say that Mike doesn't know how to be romantic needs to have his head examined.

He might have a tough exterior, but on the inside…he's just…absolutely perfect.

We got to the office at seven-thirty Monday morning. It was early, but we were both ready to jump into the week.

I went into the kitchen to start some coffee while Mike took his things into his office.

"Hey guys, in here," I called out when I heard Alex and Bobby come in. "How was your…"

I trailed off when I saw the looks on their faces.

"What is it?"

Bobby tossed a paper onto the kitchen table.

"Check it out," he said. "Is Mike here?"

"Yeah," I replied numbly as I picked up the paper. "Mike!"

"What's going on?" he asked when he came into the room.

"Oh my God," I mumbled as I read. Mike circled around and read over my shoulder.

It was an article about Ross.

And us.

"It just never ends, does it?" he muttered. "Who do you think it is?"

"I don't know. But we're going to have to find this reporter," Alex said. "Carolyn, I'm sorry…"

"You're sorry? For what?"

"This was your business. You brought us in, and now…"

"Now we're under attack," I said firmly. "All of us."

"Yeah, but if we hadn't…" Bobby began, but I interrupted him.

"How do you know that whoever's behind this is gunning for you two? Maybe they want to see Mike go down. Or maybe me."

"Hell, it could be all four of us. It's hard to say who we've pissed off," Mike added.

"Exactly," I agreed. "And it looks like we've got our work cut out for us, so we don't have time to point fingers or play the blame game, okay?"

I waited while Bobby and Alex looked first at each other and then at me and nodded their agreement.

"I bet Ross is fit to be tied," Mike mumbled as he scanned over the article again. "This thing acts like he's the kingpin of a renegade police force. So much for the chief of D's job."

"It's got to be about more than that," Alex said. "Otherwise why bring us into it?"

"And where did they get this information? Some of it is almost accurate, but it's been skewed to make us look bad."

"It's someone who's been close to us at some point," I said. "Someone who's seen how we work."

"That narrows the field," Alex said.

"What are you suggesting?" Mike asked. "Lupo? Bernard? Connie?"

"No, not them," Bobby answered for me. "I refuse to believe that. But we have to start with them."

"And Ross and Liz," Alex added. "They may have talked about things to people without realizing they were dealing with the enemy."

"We have to question our friends. That's just great."

"I don't like it any better than you do, but for now we have to assume that it could be anyone."

"Which means that we can't trust anyone but the four of us."

TBC...