Logan POV


It was a frustrating week.

Rhonda was taunting me and there didn't seem to be a damn thing I could do about it.

I'd worked closely with the Gorens in an effort to track her down, but we kept coming up empty. Although we did learn a few things that I had to hope would some day become useful.

For starters, she had an alias. She sometimes went by the name Addison Hooper. In fact, she had a credit card, a cell phone, a bank account, and a driver's license under that name.

The part that was a kick in the teeth was that she'd had it back when I first met her. So I'd slept with a criminal and didn't even know it.

Apparently there was a reason she liked to pick up cops.

Not only was it a rush for her, considering that she was a con-woman, but it also gave her a source for inside information. I'm happy to say that I never provided her with anything, but I'm sure there were guys out there who had talked about crimes they were investigating.

In fact, I could peg the ones who had talked.

Because after some extensive research, we had reached a conclusion about Rhonda's m.o. She would commit a crime that somewhat matched up to another crime that was currently under investigation.

Since she often knew some undisclosed details, she was able to imitate the crime, most of which were burglaries or money scams, and then the cops would think that it was a second crime committed by the original perpetrator rather than a copycat.

See, she was a lot smarter than we'd given her credit for.

Goren liked to call her my Nicole.

I had a few other choice names for her.

"You about ready to go?" Carolyn asked me. I looked at the clock and realized that I'd been ruminating about Rhonda for far too long. It was more than half past five.

"Yeah, let me pack this stuff up. I'm going to bring it home for the weekend," I replied as I began gathering the documents I'd had spread out over my desk.

"Oh, and Ross faxed over the official request for us to consult on the case," Carolyn added.

She knew she didn't have to specify which case. I was obsessed. It was the case.

"Good," I replied absently. "He's had some turnaround, huh?"

I shoved the document into my briefcase, and then forced the case from my mind for the time being.

"I always thought he had it in him. Alex said he really stood up for them against the acting chief."

"Yeah, and he's not acting anymore," I added with a grin. "I guess the commissioner decided he's had enough of dealing with chiefs with questionable ethics. He's leaving the office empty until he finds a suitable replacement."

"He should've done that to begin with."

I watched her as she wandered around turning off lights. I realized that I'd essentially ignored her for most of the week. I'd been working almost nonstop with the Gorens while she'd been handling all of our other cases.

"Hey, I'm sorry about this week," I told her. I set down my briefcase and ran my hand down her arm. "I've let this case get to me."

"It's understandable."

"Don't let me off the hook so easily, sweetheart," I said. I moved my hand up into her hair and settled it against the back of her head. "I've been focused on one thing while you've been running yourself ragged. That's not fair to you."

"We're partners. If one of us gets fixated on something, the other one picks up the slack."

"As long as it's not always you who has to pick it up," I conceded.

"Give me time. I'm sure I'll obsess about something," she teased. "Oh, hey, can you grab that box over there? I want to take it home."

"Sure, what's in it?" I asked her as I picked up the small box off the counter.

"Take a look."

Her casual response gave me no indication of what to expect.

But as I opened the box, I felt her hand on my back. I looked inside, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe.

It was so completely unexpected.

"What do you think?" she asked quietly. I reached in and pulled out one of the newly printed business cards.

It was exactly like her old ones, except now it read Carolyn Logan.

I couldn't speak.

We'd briefly talked about her taking my name. Last week, just before we'd gone into Steve-O's with the Gorens.

But we'd never finished our discussion and she hadn't brought it up again. I didn't bring it up either, because I didn't want to pressure her.

But if she had these already, she must have ordered them first thing Monday morning.

It was irrational. This feeling of happiness and disbelief that flooded through me was insane considering that we were already married. She'd already committed to spend her life with me.

But this was different. This was so much more. Sure it was just a name, but to me…

"Mike?"

"I can't believe you did this," I said at last.

I was embarrassed to hear my voice crack. I was not going to freaking cry. What was wrong with me? Why was I getting so choked up about this?

"I'm only sorry I didn't do it sooner," she whispered, wrapping her arms around me from behind and pressing her cheek against my back.

I continued to stare at the card while I tried to get my emotions under control. She'd probably throw the whole damn box out of the window if she realized what a girl I was being about this.

"Turn around," she told me.

I slowly turned in her arms and then held her tightly, burying my face into her neck.

"I can't even begin to tell you how this makes me feel," I said into her hair.

"You don't have to. You know I can read your mind," she teased.

I knew that she was trying to give me an out. She was letting me off the hook if I didn't want to discuss my feelings. But I loved her too much to take the easy way out.

She deserved to know.

I didn't relax my hold on her. In fact, I squeezed her even tighter as I struggled to find the words that I was looking for.

"I feel like…for the first time in my life…that I'm not alone. I'll never be alone again because I'll always have you."

"You've had me for awhile," she said, although I could tell she understood what I meant.

"But this makes me feel like you're not ashamed to admit it."

"Mike," she said in surprise as she pulled back from me. "Is that what you thought? That I didn't want people to know?"

Was it?

I guess I had at least considered it since the words had just rolled off of my tongue.

"Please don't ever think that," she insisted. She put her hands on my cheeks and locked her eyes onto mine. I noticed hers had filled with unshed tears.

Carolyn was nearly crying?

Because of me. Great job, Mike.

"Don't think for one second that I'm ashamed of you," she continued. "I'm so sorry that's how I made you feel. I've just…I've always been a loner. I've always done my own thing. It honestly never occurred to me that it would make a difference to you whether my last name was Barek or Logan."

I watched her as she struggled to regain her composure, and I could almost see the exact moment when she decided that it didn't matter. Several tears rolled down her cheeks as she reached up to kiss me.

"I love being married to you," she said.

I used my thumb to wipe away her tears, and then I pulled her tightly against my chest again. We stood like that, neither of us moving, for several minutes but then my cell phone buzzed on my hip.

"If that's another text from that bimbo," Carolyn murmured as I pulled away to grab my phone.

"It's Alex," I said in relief because I didn't want another text from the bimbo either. "She says for us to get our asses over there."


Alex POV

Friday hadn't come fast enough.

And yet it had come too fast.

Our last day at MCS. Our last day with the NYPD.

And now it was over.

We'd spent the better part of the week tracking down the habits of Rhonda Hagen aka Addison Hooper.

Mike was tied up in knots about this case and I didn't blame him.

Dealing with a former lover was bad enough when it could be handled quickly and efficiently. Rhonda Hagen had been continually goading him for nearly a year now, and the number of messages had dramatically increased over the past couple of weeks.

It was surely distracting for him and most likely exasperating for Carolyn.

The latest message had come on Wednesday. It was short and direct and intimated that she was in New York.

I saw you with your bitch. Does she know about me? Does she know about the things you like to do to me?

Of course, Mike had promptly shown the message to Carolyn who'd simply muttered does she know I like to carry a .45?

We had managed to compile a great deal of information on Rhonda during the course of the week, and thanks to Ross, we'd be able to continue working on the case as hired consultants.

The week with Ross had been interesting. If someone had told me a month ago that this was how our time with MCS would end, I would've never believed it.

But that showdown in Ross' office on Monday had altered our dynamic yet again. Now it seemed we were nearly friends.

We maintained our professional respect and he stayed clear of us to let us do our thing.

But we had lunch with him twice during the week. One of the times, Liz had joined us too.

And now tonight, he'd insisted on buying us a couple of rounds at McNally's. A dozen or so of our colleagues had invited us out as their way of giving us a send-off since we'd declined any kind of formal party.

When we heard about it, we suggested to Ross that he come along. I also made a quick call to Deakins to encourage him to come out as well.

"I'd love to," he'd told me. "I was going to call you this weekend anyway. Are you still going into business with Logan?"

"Yes sir."

"Great. Will he be there tonight, too? And Carolyn?"

"Yes sir."

"I need to speak with all of you. I may have some work for you if you're interested."

"That sounds great. I appreciate the referral."

And then of course we'd called Mike and Carolyn. I would've called them tonight even if we weren't having the party because if anyone needed a drink tonight, it was Mike.

Carolyn had promised that they would be there by six. She wanted to give us a chance to mingle with our colleagues first, but after an hour of people wishing us well, I was ready for different conversation.

So when six-fifteen rolled around, I sent Mike a text.

Get your asses over here right now.

I clipped my phone back onto my belt and looked up to see Bobby holding a fresh drink for me.

"You realize it's official," he said as I took the martini from his hand. "We no longer work for the NYPD."

"It's a little mind-boggling, isn't it?" I asked him, but I couldn't stop the smile. It was an exhilarating feeling. It was freeing.

"So that means I can kiss you right now in front of all of these detectives if I want to," he told me mischievously.

"If you want to? What about what I want?" I teased.

"What do you want, Alex?" he asked in a low voice as he leaned in perilously close.

"I always want you," I replied, and then I went up on my toes to kiss him. It was quick and chaste, but it was symbolic. It was the beginning of a new phase of our lives.

"Are Mike and Carolyn on the way?" he asked me as he stood back and took a small sip of his scotch.

"They should be here in a bit."

He nodded and then surveyed the room while I studied him.

He seemed so composed and relaxed. He wore his navy blue suit like it had been made just for him. And it probably had been.

He had on the blue striped shirt today just for me. I'd sewn the buttons back on a few days ago, although I'd warned him that the next time he ripped a shirt off of me, he'd better get out the needle and thread himself.

Of course, that harmless threat had caused him to pull at the buttons of the shirt I was wearing at the time…so now there was more mending to do.

He's removed his tie once we'd left 1PP, so his shirt collar was open at the top and the neckline of a black t-shirt was visible underneath.

He was self-assured and this realization caused a wave of desire hit me.

This was the Bobby who'd been on the inside, struggling to get out for most of his life. He was comfortable in his own skin. He was at ease in his surroundings. And he was confident, about himself and about my feelings for him.

I felt like I was falling in love with him all over again.

After his slow perusal of the room, he looked back at me and caught me staring.

"What?"

"I…I'm just…happy," I admitted. "I'm really happy."

He broke into a full grin and nodded his head in understanding.

"What's a guy got to do to get a drink around here?"

Never let it be said that Mike didn't know how to make an entrance. He'd just hollered his request from the front foyer of the bar.

Carolyn gave him a shove in our direction and then went up to the bar to order their drinks.

And as he walked towards us, I noticed right off that there was something different about him. He'd changed just since earlier this afternoon when we'd been attempting to electronically track Rhonda.

"What?" I asked him when he approached.

"What?" he asked back.

I stared at him, but he just grinned.

"Oh, hey," he said suddenly. "Carolyn got some new business cards."

"Didn't she already have some?" I questioned as I held out my hand to take the proffered card.

He nodded, but didn't reply, so I looked down at the card.

Ahh…that explained everything.

I gave Mike a hug, which was something we'd been doing a lot more of lately. I liked that he felt comfortable enough with me to do so, and I felt that he was a lot like Bobby in the sense that he'd not had enough love in his life, so showing him some extra affection now was a good thing.

"Congratulations," I told him.

"Hey, it's no big deal," he replied dismissively. But I knew. And he knew I knew.

And when I showed the card to Bobby, he knew too.

The two of them went off to work the room for a few minutes after Carolyn brought Mike his drink.

Or that's what they said anyway. I noticed that they went to a spot at the bar and talked amongst themselves for most of the time they were gone. But that was a good thing, too.

I also noticed that once they did start circulating, Mike was handing out Carolyn's cards like crazy.

"He's drumming up business," Carolyn explained with a smile when she caught my line of sight.

We chatted for a few minutes, and I filled her in on the latest with Rhonda Hagen. She'd been up to speed for most of the week, but she'd been busy today, so she hadn't heard the most recent development.

"Have you put a freeze on her bank account?" she asked me.

"No," Bobby answered as he came up to us. "We left it open but we've got someone keeping an eye on it. If she uses it, we'll know about it immediately."

"Do you think she'll use it?"

"Only if she wants to drop us a crumb," Mike responded sarcastically.

"Okay, we're not discussing this case any more tonight," I insisted. "This is supposed to be a happy occasion."

"Detectives," Ross said as he approached us. I raised my eyebrow at him and waited for him to realize his mistake.

"Uh…sorry. Bobby…Alex," he stated. "I'm going to have to head out. I just wanted to…say thank you, and to wish you both luck."

"I'm sure we'll be running into each other from time to time," I responded casually.

I hated goodbyes and I usually tried to avoid them if at all possible. I noticed a lot of other detectives were starting to gather around, apparently getting ready to make their exits as well.

"Maybe, but still…it's been a hell of a run." Ross replied.

"Let's make a toast," Mike said loudly.

"To the end of two brilliant careers with Major Case," Carolyn offered.

"And the beginning of…" Ross began.

"Everything else," Mike supplied.

Everyone raised their glasses and then within seconds, the moment was over.

People began to trickle out of the bar, some calling to us as they left and others simply fading into the night.

"It feels kind of strange, doesn't it?" I remarked to Bobby. We were sitting alone at the bar and most of the people from the department had left. I wasn't ready to go home yet though.

"In a good way?"

"In a good way."

"Hey," Mike called as he came over to us. "Deakins said he wants to talk to the four of us."

"Oh yeah, he mentioned something about that on the phone. He's got a referral for us."

"We'll be right there," Bobby said. Logan turned and went back across the bar to where Carolyn and Deakins were sitting at a booth.

"So it's starting already," I commented with a grin.

"You didn't actually expect to have any kind of a break, did you?" he asked, returning my smile.

"Not really, no," I admitted.

And then, because it felt like this was a significant moment, I reached up and kissed him.

"La fine...ed la inizio," Bobby said smoothly, his eyes never leaving mine.

He clinked his glass against mine and tossed back the rest of his scotch. I finished off my drink as well, and then we set our glasses down on the bar.

"Ready?" he asked, holding out his hand to mine.

"Let's go."


The End