Alex POV

"So nice of you to join us, Detectives," Ross said to us when Bobby and I walked into Logan's living room.

"Captain," I replied with a nod. "You're looking a lot better than you were the last time I saw you." I had to say that, had to remind him that while we were likely going to have to do some scrambling to get out of trouble, he was right there with us. His secret wife was the murder suspect, he had been shot, and we were just trying to solve a case. He was no innocent bystander and I didn't want to waste time battling him for the upper hand. We were all culpable here.

Ross gave me a little nod. Message received.

"Whatcha got there, Eames?" Logan asked me, gesturing toward the camera that I held at my side. He was trying to play innocent, but I knew that he knew damn well what was going on.

"Evidence from Ethan Garrett's car," I said casually, holding up the camera as though it contained nothing of interest. "The battery is dead, so we weren't able to see what's on it, but the memory card is still there."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Ross asked. "Logan's got a fairly new television, so I'm sure it has a port for the memory card."

"No!" I shouted in synchronicity with Bobby and Rodgers. Ross looked surprised, and both Logan and Carolyn looked ready to crack up. No doubt, Logan had filled her in.

"So we have a camera from the suspect's car and we're not going to look at the pictures?" Ross asked suspiciously.

"Liz is going to look the pictures over," I said.

"Me? Why?" she asked.

"Because you're a doctor and you've seen it all before," I stressed. Damn Logan for mentioning the camera. I had hoped to fill Rodgers in on the plan in private.

"But she's not a cop," Ross countered. "Some of us here are."

"There's probably pictures of Logan and Barek on there, Captain!" Bobby blurted out, hanging Logan out to dry. Sure, it was embarrassing for them, but they didn't work for the man anymore, so what they did in their private time didn't matter.

Ross just sighed and put his hand over his face.

"Then let Logan look at it."

"Yeah, I'll check it out for you, Captain," Logan offered with a leer. He reached for the camera, but I stepped back.

"And maybe you and Liz," I added uncomfortably, unable to meet my captain's eyes.

"What, did this guy just go around to people's houses, snapping dirty pictures? Okay, fine. Liz, look at the pictures and let us know if there's anything we need to see."

I handed Rodgers the camera. I had trouble making eye contact with her, too, but she patted me on the arm reassuringly.

"I'll take this up to the guest room. My laptop is there. If there is anything…um…useful, I'll copy it onto a data stick and bring it down." She gave me a smile and then left the room. I couldn't help but notice her glance appraisingly at Bobby on the way out, and I felt a flush rise to my cheeks. God, would this day ever end?

"So, get me up to speed," Ross said. Everyone got settled around the living room. I selected a chair as far away from Bobby as I could get. He had me nervous about the whole 'body language' thing.

Once we were situated, we filled him in on what we knew. Bobby and I each took turns offering up the facts. Carolyn piped in to tell about her conversation with the reporter, and Logan gave his version of events concerning chasing the perp from outside of his house the night before.

"What did you find out from the chief?" I asked him when we had finished.

"He sent the story into the paper."

"What?"

"He stopped by the office yesterday, and found a file on his desk. It contained information on Marcus Rodgers' death, along with a few details: Liz had no alibi, she was owed money by the deceased, and there was trace evidence that placed her with the victim. There was a note with the file that said the detectives running the case were trying to bury the evidence."

"So he just gave it to the paper?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, he apparently tried to call me to find out what was going on, but I was unavailable."

"There has to be more to it than that," Bobby insisted. "The chief of detectives doesn't just throw a story to the press. I can understand why that file might have prompted an IAB investigation, but even Moran had to know that having it published in the paper would just bring bad p.r. to the department."

"Oh, I think there was more to it, Detective. You're exactly right, as usual," Liz told us as she came back downstairs. She held up a flash drive.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," I said.

"You have no idea how much I wish I were," she replied dryly. She went to Logan's TV and plugged the data stick into the USB port. Logan grabbed the remote and changed the TV to the correct input.

And then there it was, spread out across Logan's 60-inch plasma TV. The Chief of D's and his secretary, in flagrante delicto.

It was like watching a train wreck. I wanted desperately to look away, but I couldn't.

"So he was being blackmailed," Carolyn said, thankfully breaking my trance.

"This is getting ridiculous," Ross said. "Garrett wants revenge on the four of you, no wait – the five of you, because you had him sent to prison. To do this, he sets Liz up for murder, and then tries to make the two of you look like dirty cops, and in order to do that, he blackmails the chief."

"I'd say that sums it up pretty good, Captain," Logan said. And it did, except for the part he left out about Garrett trying to ruin me and Bobby by outing our relationship. There was no way we were going to get through this without that coming out, but I was damn sure going to give it my best effort.

"So what has he done to you, Logan?" Ross asked. Good question. We all looked at Mike and Carolyn.

"Nothing yet," he replied slowly.

"He might have something planned," Rodgers offered. Carolyn rolled her eyes.

"Are you really going to tell me that there were pictures of me and Mike on that camera? For God's sake, who cares about seeing that? We're consenting adults, and there are no fra…" I coughed loudly, and she stopped herself before she said the whole word 'fraternization'. And then she tried to cover.

"There are no other parties involved. We're free to do what we want," she finished lamely.

"It wasn't just you and Mike, Carolyn."

"What?" Mike yelled. "Me with somebody else? Show it to me, now. Unless that picture is more than a year old, it's fake. And there's no way he's been following us that long. Hell, he and the kid were both still in prison."

"Settle down, Detective," Rodgers said calmly. "I didn't mean to imply it was x-rated." She took the remote from Logan's hand and advanced the next picture.

The photo was of Mike and Wheeler, sitting in a restaurant.

"Big deal. He had lunch with her last week," Carolyn said. "How is this blackmail material?"

"By itself, it's not," Bobby said. He had been quiet for so long that I almost forgot he was in the room. His voice prompted me to look at him, and the intensity with which he looked at the TV screen reminded me of how he'd look at me last night. I felt myself get warm and I had to look away. Best to go back to forgetting he's in the room.

"What else?" Bobby asked, moving closer to the television. Liz scrolled through several more photos of Logan and Wheeler. All were from the same lunch date. Another click brought us back around to the picture of Moran again and we all groaned.

"Please turn that thing off," Ross said.

"Rodgers, were there also pictures of Mike and Carolyn on there?"

"Yes."

"I bet he was going to photo shop them."

"You mean he was going to put Wheeler's head on my body and then try to pass it off as though Mike was having an affair with her?"

"It's the only thing I can think of. He can't get to you guys through your work. He has no leverage there."

"That's just crazy," Carolyn said. "He's getting desperate."

"I think he is," Bobby agreed.

"All of this is fascinating, really," Ross said sarcastically. "But what are we going to do about it?"

"Well, Ethan is probably still in lock-up at the 9-4, but Bobby and I can't go near him until IAB drops their inquiry."

"And they won't do that except on orders from Moran, and he's not going to do that as long as he's being blackmailed."

"So we need to find Judge Garrett another way."

"Or I go talk to Ethan," Logan suggested.

"They're not going to let you talk to him," I countered.

"What if I bail him out?"

So we hashed out a plan that involved Logan posting bail for Ethan Garrett. He would try talking to him, intimidating him somewhat, but if that didn't work, then the rest of us would be there to keep a tail on him. We could let him lead us back to the judge.

It was well past midnight when everyone decided to call it a night. Liz pulled me aside in the kitchen and handed me an envelope. It was the pictures that had been delivered to Ross.

"Thank you, Liz. Really."

"Don't mention it," she said. "And I mean that," she added with a smile. And then she handed me the memory card from the camera. "You guys hang onto this, or destroy it, whatever. I pulled off everything except the ones of you two."

I breathed a sigh of relief and tucked the memory card into my pocket. She patted me on the shoulder and walked past me towards the doorway. She passed Bobby, who was just on his way in.

"Detective," she greeted him. He blushed and looked at the floor, but Liz just looked back at me and winked before leaving the room.

"I am never going to be able to look her in the eye again," Bobby said quietly once we were alone.

"I don't think she's ever going to look at you quite the same again, either," I teased.

We were standing across from each other, leaning our backs against opposing counter tops. I met his eyes and felt a warmth rush through me.

"I don't know if I can sleep without you next to me," I said softly. I was going to be in the remaining guest room and Bobby would be on the couch.

"I was thinking the same thing."

"Maybe you could meet me in the coat closet in an hour," I said playfully. I didn't think for a second that he would take me seriously. He did.

"Maybe I will." His eyes raked over every inch of me, and I could just feel his hands following the same path.

"You've got quite the sex drive for a man your age," I told him. "I'm rather impressed."

"What can I say, Eames? I've been storing it up for seven years," he said huskily, repeating my sentiment from a few nights ago. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forcing myself to remember just exactly where we were. In a house, with our boss.

"God, Bobby, I think we need to take some time after this. Go somewhere warm, okay?"

"Take a vacation together?"

"Absolutely. Are you in?" Before he could answer, we heard footsteps. We both did our best to wipe the looks of love off of our faces.

"Detectives, do you think I'm stupid?" Ross asked us when he entered the kitchen. I swallowed hard and thought about how to answer that question.

"Umm…no sir?" Bobby answered for the two of us.

"Really. Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir. I…I mean…yes I'm sure that we don't…um…we don't think you're...um...stupid." Wonderful. Bobby was stuttering. I'd be on my own with this one.

"So why is it that you think I'd believe that there are pictures on that camera of only four out of the six of us involved in this little fiasco?" I wiped my face clean of any emotion while my brain was running a marathon. Did Liz rat us out? Had he found the pictures in her bag before she gave them to me? Did Logan slip up and let it out?

"Probably because neither of us is in a relationship, sir," Bobby said easily. What? How did he come up with that? "There would be no pictures to take. Or at least, I don't think so. Eames?"

"No…no. Um…no pictures, no." Oh great, Alex. That was eloquent.

"Oh. Well, okay. I guess that makes sense," Ross conceded. He looked back and forth between the two of us. "Well, good night then. And I wanted to thank you both for not mentioning the marriage thing. Liz told me that she confided in you, and that she trusted you to keep it a secret. So thank you."

"You're welcome," Bobby said. He accepted Ross' outstretched hand and shook it. Ross turned and left us alone in the kitchen. It was another minute before I could breathe.

I looked at Bobby, and he was staring at me with a full grin on his face.

"You are just the smartest damn man I have ever known," I told him. His grin got even bigger. He pushed away from the counter and gave me a quick, yet searing kiss.

"I'm going to the couch."

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night," he said as he headed for the living room. And then he stopped and looked back at me. "And Alex…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm in." I quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Coat closet, vacation, us. All of it. I'm all in."

TBC...