Alex POV

I'd only been back in my office for a minute when Wyatt knocked on the door.

"Captain?"

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Yuille's having Kermit brought into interrogation. He got his lawyer, but he still agreed to talk to us. We thought you might want to observe."

"I do," I agreed. "But I only have about an hour. I have meetings this afternoon. Did you call in an ADA?"

"We've got one on the way, but since we didn't get very far yesterday, we thought we'd get started."

"Okay," I said as I came around my desk. "Let's go."

Wyatt led the way to the hallway where the interrogation rooms were located. Yuille was waiting outside the door.

"He's not here yet?"

"The desk sergeant just called. They're on their way up."

"Have you two discussed how to get him to talk?"

"Yes, ma'am," Yuille said. "Although we might not need much. He was in possession of a frog when we picked him up. That's why we were able to keep him in lock-up overnight."

"But we don't have any motive," Wyatt said. "And we don't know where he's keeping the other frogs. There weren't any at his house."

"Well, DA's like motive," I agreed with a nod. "And I'd like to get a headcount on all of the frogs. So let's see what you can find out."

We fell quiet as the suspect and his attorney got off the elevator, escorted by a uniformed officer.

Even though the suspect had been in lock-up, the lawyer must have finagled having his client's cuffs removed for this meeting.

"Good to see you again, Kermit," Wyatt said smugly. "You look well-rested today. Did you enjoy our NYPD hospitality?"

"Who's the broad?" the suspect said with a nod in my direction. "Is this the DA?"

Both Yuille and Wyatt stepped up a little closer to him, coming mostly between the suspect and me.

"This is Captain Eames," Yuille said. "She runs this department. She'll decide when you've said something that warrants calling the DA."

"Oh, a captain," he said with a smile. "I'd like to shake your hand."

"I don't think so, Kermit," Wyatt said, corralling the suspect toward the interrogation room. "You keep your hands to yourself."

I appreciated his caution.

They'd had to remain double-gloved while searching his home and car to keep from being exposed to the frog poison. It didn't remain toxic for long once it was off the frog, but it certainly wasn't worth the risk.

And I definitely didn't blame them for not wanting to touch Kermit himself.

But as he said the words, the man reached into his lawyer's jacket pocket, simultaneously shoving him away as he pulled out a frog.

And believe me, I know. This sounds crazy.

But I pulled my gun.

So did Wyatt and Yuille.

"Get a bag!" I instructed the uniformed officer.

He hustled off towards the squad room.

The attorney had stumbled into the interrogation room and closed the door.

He'd had a frog in his pocket and didn't know it?

Was he currently dying on the floor of the interrogation room?

Or was he an accomplice?

I had no idea, but I'd have to wait for those answers.

For now, the four of us remained in the hall.

"I'm not going to prison," Kermit said calmly.

"So what's your plan?" I asked him.

"I'm walking out of here."

"I think you need a new plan," Wyatt argued. "You're not going anywhere."

I wasn't surprised to see that Kermit didn't mind holding the frog. He must have built up an immunity to the poison.

"Who's going to stop me? You? The broad? I don't think so. Have you ever seen anyone die from these guys? It's not a good death."

I kept my gun pointed at Kermit's hand. The only thing I could think to do was to shoot the frog if he let him go. I tried to remember if it could emit toxic fumes in a situation like that, but I wasn't sure.

Suddenly, the officer was directly behind me, holding the bag over my shoulder. He was obviously afraid to get too close.

I took the bag from him and then planned out my next course of action.

"If he drops the frog, shoot it," I instructed my detectives as I tucked my gun back into its holster.

"Captain, wait," Yuille said.

"It's fine. Right, Kermit? We're going to put the frog in the bag."

"Eames…"

That was Bobby. I should've known the commotion in the hall would get his attention.

But I couldn't look away right now. I had to focus on the frog.

"Everyone else go back into the squad room," I said firmly. "We've got the situation under control."

"Do you?" Kermit asked, holding the frog up in front of his face. "I don't think you do."

"You're making it harder on yourself," I said as I eased closer.

"Captain," Yuille said again. "Let me get it."

"No one's getting it!" Kermit shouted. "Now back off! I'm walking out of here or someone's going to die!"

"Let's discuss this, Captain," Bobby said.

I could hear him rustling behind me, but I still couldn't look.

But then I realized what Bobby was trying to tell me.

He didn't want to talk to me about what was going on.

He wanted me to talk to Kermit.

He wanted me to stall so that he and the others could talk about what to do.

I moved around to the side of Kermit so that we each had our backs to opposite walls of the hall.

The others were to my right and the elevator was to the left. I was much closer to the frog than I would've liked to be, but I wanted Kermit to look at me and quit focusing on what was going on down the hall.

"Tell me why you did it," I said quietly.

"Why I did what?" he asked, but he smiled knowingly.

"You killed three people," I stated. "Why?"

"Are you sure it was only three?"

"Maybe it's four. Maybe your lawyer's dead right now."

"You need a better desk sergeant. Mitch is my assistant, not my lawyer. And he knows better than to stick his hand in his pocket."

"And he's willing to take the fall for you? I mean, even if you walk away, we have him."

"You have him for what?"

"Um…impersonating an attorney. Possession of a smuggled species. Aiding and abetting a felon. Accessory to murder. I'd say that's enough to keep him around for quite some time."

"It's a risk he was willing to take."

"For you?"

"For our cause."

"What's your cause?"

But before he could answer, there was a blur of activity.

Kermit was suddenly tackled, taken down to the ground.

At the same time, I was grabbed and pushed into the wall with Bobby's large frame shielding me from potential danger.

I couldn't see him, but I'd know his body anywhere.

"I got him! It's clear!" I heard Logan shout.

I felt Bobby ease off of me and I stepped aside to take in the scene.

Yuille was sprawled on the floor over top of Kermit. Logan and Wyatt were on their knees on the floor and between them was the Ziploc baggie containing the frog. All of them, including Bobby, were wearing latex gloves.

"Sorry, Captain," Bobby said quickly as he took another step away from me. "We needed to make sure he didn't try to throw the frog at you."

"Yeah, Captain," Yuille added as he got to his feet, pulling Kermit up with him. "I knew I could take him down, but I was afraid if he saw me coming, he might try to get you."

"What if he'd tried to get you?" I asked in exasperation. It wasn't that they hadn't done a good job, but I was a little bit thrown by their willingness to put themselves between me and the frog.

"Well, I had the gloves on. I figured I could at least try to catch it, or protect my face. Something."

"Are you okay, boss?" Logan asked me as he stood up. He held up the baggie containing the metallic orange frog.

"I'm fine. Book Kermit here on additional charges, including the attempted murder of all of us. And take Mitch the fake attorney into custody, too," I added. "And someone go down and remind Sergeant Shafer that attorneys need to show ID. And you," I said when the uniformed officer came into view. "Never uncuff a suspect unless you're asked to do so by the interrogating detective. Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said quickly.

"Good," I said firmly.

"What should I do with this?" Wyatt asked. He'd taken the bag from Logan and was now looking at the frog.

"Take it to the lab. Maybe it's our murder weapon."

Wyatt and Yuille dispersed, each handling their respective orders, but Logan and Bobby hung back for a moment.

"It was my idea," Logan said quickly.

"Which part?" I asked him, although I had to fight a smile now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Logan's statement seemed to be a favorite of his.

"I told Goren to cover you against the wall," he said.

"And you fought him tooth and nail on that, right?" I asked Bobby. He smirked and gave me a shrug.

"I'm the biggest. We didn't want any part of you exposed."

"I think you had me covered," I admitted.

"And for the record," Logan added. "I don't know what happened to Yuille since this morning, but he was pretty gung-ho about tackling the guy. He wasn't worried about himself at all."

"He's right," Bobby agreed. "Wyatt was going to do it, but Yuille insisted. He didn't even want Wyatt to help since he's got two kids at home."

"Good to know," I said. I turned and started heading for my office, but Bobby fell into step beside me.

"So you're not mad?" he asked quietly.

"That you sandwiched me into a brick wall in order to protect me from a frog-wielding maniac?"

"Yeah," he said with a nervous smile.

"No," I admitted. "But don't do it again."

"Unless we run across a similar situation," he amended.

I waved him off and went into my office and closed the door.

I needed a moment to breathe.

So Yuille stepped up, I thought.

Already.

I was glad to hear that. I would hate to think I was such a bad judge of character.

He'd really seemed like a good guy to me and it would make so much more sense if he just got sucked in by a bitter girlfriend.

Alonzo.

I hadn't heard from her lately, but surely I would again soon.

In fact, Moran had mentioned something about a dinner on Saturday night, something that all of the departmental captains were expected to attend.

I dreaded the thought of that. Obviously I couldn't take Bobby with me, which meant that I'd be going alone.

I wondered if Alonzo would take Yuille.

Since he was no longer in her department, it wasn't against policy for them to be dating. If they would even still be dating by the time Saturday arrived.

And wouldn't that would be interesting?

Of course, I had a lot going on between now and Saturday, so I'd worry about that later.

A knock on my door pulled me from my thoughts and I looked up to see Bobby standing outside.

I got up and let him in, but I left the door open. Why, I'm not sure since I usually closed it when I was in here with detectives.

It could be because I was afraid of appearances. Or it could just be that I didn't trust myself to be in here alone with him.

"Logan's making a quick phone call and then we'll be ready to go," he told me. Then he dropped his voice and added, "Are we okay?"

"We're fine," I assured him.

I wasn't mad at him. We were in a different dynamic now than when we were partners.

Detectives looked out for their captain. It was just the way of things.

"And I didn't hurt you?"

"You can check for bruises later," I said quietly. "Here comes Logan. You two leave and I'll meet you at the hotel."

I didn't want anyone to see us leaving together, just in case. Bobby and I took that chance all the time, but that was risking our careers. This would be risking Logan's life.

We couldn't let anyone know what we were doing and their cover was that they were heading for Ohio.

Mine was that I had a meeting at city hall.

"Ready, Goren?" Logan asked, sticking his head in the doorway. "Ohio is calling our name."

"You guys be careful," I called out as they left my office. "I'll see you when you get back."

Thirty minutes later, I walked into room 1225 of the New York Palace.

Banta was already there, along with Bobby and Logan. Lacey and McHale had yet to arrive, which instantly made me suspicious.

"Where are the others?" I asked Banta.

"Good to see you, too, Eames," he retorted. "Relax, will you?"

"They're on the way," Bobby said.

He must have already asked the question.

He and Logan were sitting at a conference table and there were several files spread out between them.

"Have a seat," Banta said, waving me in their direction. "We'll get started after the others get here."

I went and sat down next to Bobby. My stomach growled loudly and Logan snorted out a laugh.

"Didn't you just have lunch?"

"I had a lunch hour," I corrected. "Sometimes things need to get done during that hour."

We'd planned on getting food on the way to the hotel, but that was before I'd decided that we needed to drive separately.

And honestly, after the frog incident, I'd forgotten about food.

But Bobby didn't.

He reached behind him to where he'd hung his jacket on the back of the chair and pulled a sandwich from the pocket.

It was a sad-looking specimen from the vending machine at 1PP, but at the moment I wasn't going to be picky.

"It's not much, but it'll hold you for now," he told me apologetically.

"Did you eat something?"

"One like that," he told me. "It's not as bad as it looks."

He was right when he said there wasn't much to it, and he's a lot bigger than me, so I pulled off the plastic wrapper and gave him half of the sandwich. He argued briefly, but then he caved, taking the sandwich and kissing me on the nose at the same time.

That was one plus to working with the feds again.

They knew we were together.

Besides, Banta had busied himself on the other side of the room, looking at his laptop.

"What about you?" I asked Logan.

"What about me?"

"You didn't eat at lunch either."

"How do you know?"

"Because you smell like smoke and I'm pretty sure your newfound habit is a post-coital obsession, so…did you eat lunch? Or did you have other things to take care of during that hour?" I asked him with a grin.

"She's better than you, Goren," he replied, shaking his head.

"I was getting around to that," Bobby insisted. "So, she's right?"

"Yeah, she's right. And no, I didn't eat. Not much anyway. And before you ask, no I'm still not going to tell you who it is."

"It's not Jacobs, is it?" I asked him. She was the only woman in my department who was unmarried, and I had to admit that she was attractive. But Logan shook his head quickly.

"She's not my type, so no worries there, boss."

"So if she's not in the department, then there's no reason why you can't say," Bobby reasoned.

"You two are like a broken record," he said.

But then he looked thoughtful for a minute and I almost thought that maybe he was going to tell us.

Until McHale and Lacey walked into the room.

"Sorry we're late," Lacey announced. "Traffic on the FDR was insane."

We started off with a round of hellos but Banta nipped it in the bud.

"If you guys want social hour, make it another time. Right now, we've got forty-eight hours to make sure this meeting goes as planned."

Forty-eight hours to make sure that Logan was fully prepared to pull off the ruse and that we knew enough about the location to have a fool-proof plan to provide him with back-up.

Banta was right.

It was time to get down to business.

TBC...