Alex POV

Bobby and I worked diligently all morning while Mike and Carolyn made the field trip to Maryland.

"What do you think is going on with Harker?" I asked Bobby when we took a break in the early afternoon.

He had been pacing through the office, presumably to help him think, and so we'd ended up in reversed positions. Me, sitting in his chair and him leaning against the edge of the desk.

"A woman can make a man do strange things," he said with a smile.

"You think that Hemmings got to him? Why?"

"I don't know," he admitting, shaking his head. "And no, I don't know that she got to him. I mean, what would be her point? She doesn't have any priors either. Neither of them is into a life of crime."

"There's a first time for everything," I stated idly.

I had no idea what to think of the whole situation.

If Hemmings was working with Harker, then what was the purpose? Just to help him satisfy a grudge against Ross?

If so, then why bring us into it?

None of us knew Harker.

Or Hemmings.

If they'd wanted to widen the fallout, wouldn't they have gone after Lupo, who'd replaced Harker?

"I can't wait to find out what Lupo's guy pulls off that data stick," Bobby mused.

"What do you think it'll be?" I asked him with a grin. "Coordinates for the location of Jimmy Hoffa's body?"

"Maybe," he agreed.

His playful smile did its usual number on my libido and I forced myself to concentrate on the job.

"So where are we with Jennings? Did you make a decision?"

That was the million-dollar question.

He and I had been independently rehashing the evidence throughout the course of the day in order to each come to our own conclusion about whether or not to push forward.

"You first," he said with an encouraging nod.

"I think that…we let it go," I said.

And that wasn't an easy decision to make.

That meant that I was considering justification for a crime.

Paul had kidnapped Adam. That much was a fact.

But it had been for a good cause.

Did the end justify the means?

We never used to have the luxury to even entertain that thought, but now we did.

"I agree," he said. "I think that the one who gets hurt the most if we blow the whistle is Adam. Once he's an adult, he can make the decision about whether or not to bring charges against his mother. He's moved past it for a decade. It should be his choice to relive it or not."

We discussed it for a while longer and then took a call from Logan.

"We pulled some prints that we can hopefully match up to Hemmings," he told us. "And we found out something else interesting."

"What's that?"

"Brubaker could've easily eavesdropped."

He explained the deal with the acoustics and then he said that they were heading back to the city to print Bernard's apartment.

"So that's what's on the stick," Bobby said after we hung up. "Whatever Brubaker heard through the ducts."

"Maybe," I agreed. "But who listens to someone else's conversations and then writes it down in code on an encrypted data stick?"

"Someone who's been living in fear for three years," he reminded me.

We tossed about theories and supposition until we heard the main door to our office open.

"Where is he?" was the shout that we heard.

It was Steve.

I left the office and went out to see what was going on. Bobby was right behind me.

I couldn't contain my shock at the sight of him.

"Steve, what happened?"

"Where is he?" he yelled again. His eyes were wild and he was in a rage. "I went to your apartment, but they're not there. Alex, don't do this to me. Where is Nate?"

"I don't know," I answered as my heart sank. "Tell me what you know."

"Where is Cathy?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at me and switching tactics.

He advanced on me slowly and I brought up a hand to his chest to keep him at an acceptable distance.

"She's at work," I said firmly. "Now tell me what's going on."

"She's not at work!" he shouted. "And Nate's not at school! I went to pick him up and they told me that his mother had picked him up just before lunch. So tell me where he is!"

Bobby stepped in between us at this point, and it was probably a good thing because Steve had lost all common sense. And I wasn't in any position to defend myself from his onslaught because I couldn't focus.

Cathy had taken Nate?

"Take it easy, Steve," Bobby said forcefully.

"She took him," he cried out in anguish. "She screwed me, and then she screwed me over. How could I be so stupid?"

"We can help you," Bobby said soothingly. "But you have to understand that we're in the dark here. Tell us what's going on."

"She went back to Travis," he said at last.

"What?" I yelled. "No. No way."

"I saw them," he insisted.

"He's out?" Bobby asked, glancing back at me with concern.

"I guess. I went to the hospital and I saw her getting out of his car, and…"

"She didn't want to get back with him," I said, although I struggled to believe my own words.

Did she?

She'd seemed happy last night after getting together with Steve. Would she really have changed at the drop of a hat?

"She did," he said. He proceeded to tell us what had transpired. Her panic at seeing Steve, his attack on Travis, Cathy's subsequent plea for him to listen…

And I was torn.

I wanted to believe that my sister would never go back to the likes of Travis.

And that she would never take Nate away from his father.

But it was hard to argue with the facts presented to me.

"Did you let her explain?" I asked.

Please let there be an explanation…

"She knew that I was mad," he said with a shake of his head. "She would've just lied to cover it up. I told her that she couldn't see Nate as long as she was around Travis. So she stole him. She stole my son."

And then he crumbled.

He'd come to the office in a fit of rage but that was only a mask for his fear and desperation.

"Where does Travis live?" he asked once he'd collected himself. "I'm going over there."

"Have you tried calling her?" I asked him rationally. "I mean, isn't it possible that she's just spending a little time with Nate this afternoon? It's too soon to jump to any conclusions."

"I've left four messages. It's turned off. It goes straight to voice mail."

"I'll try again now," I said.

The result was the same, but I left another message anyway.

Cathy, please call me. Whatever is going on, I can help you. Please, just call me.

When I hung up, Steve looked at me earnestly. He had two black eyes, a cut across the bridge of his nose, and a split lip. I hated to think what other injuries he may have that I couldn't see, but I knew that now wasn't the time to play mother hen.

Nate was gone.

And while that thought would've terrified me under normal circumstances, knowing that he was with Cathy helped tremendously.

She would never hurt him. Not physically.

So that brought me back around to Travis.

If she was with him, we needed to know about it.

"Let's go," I said to Bobby.

"Where?" Steve asked.

"We'll go talk to Travis."

"I'm coming."

"That is really not a good idea," I argued, but then I saw Bobby's expression which was a near mirror of Steve's.

To an extent, this was a guy thing. Steve needed to protect his family, to protect his son.

He needed to be in on it.

"Fine. Let's go. But you have to stay back and let us handle it."

As we headed for the car, my cell phone rang. I grabbed at it quickly, hoping that it was Cathy, but it was Connie.

"Travis is out," she told me, and she sounded breathless.

"Yeah, I know," I retorted.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner, but I've been in court all day. But the restraining order is in place, so just have Cathy be vigilant, and…"

"He's already been to see her," I said.

"He violated the TRO? Did he do something to her?"

"I don't know. At the moment, I don't know where she is. We're going over to Travis' place now."

She let out a string of what were most likely obscenities, but it was in Spanish so I was clueless. I knew that she felt bad about not notifying us sooner, but I wasn't upset with her. It wasn't her job to sit on Travis.

And Cathy should've known better than to get into a car with him.

Unless he'd threatened her…

I hadn't really considered that he'd done something to her until Connie asked about it. What if he'd really hurt her this time? Or Nate?

"Lupo's still in Maryland," Connie said once she switched back to English. "Get another officer to meet you there. We'll take him in for violating his order."

I hung up with her and called Sean.

"She went back there?" he shouted.

"I don't know," I said. "Right now we just need to find out where she is. Or more importantly, make sure that she's not with him. Meet us over there. In uniform. We'll need you in an official capacity after I'm finished with him."

We got to Travis' apartment building and another tenant buzzed us in. As we walked down the hall, I turned to Steve.

"Stay back," I said to him. "Or he'll never open the door."

I held Bobby's gaze for a minute to convey my thoughts.

Please let me do this.

So Bobby held onto Steve, and the two of them stayed about ten feet to the side of the door. Sean hadn't arrived yet, but I knew that he would at any moment.

"What the…" I heard Travis mumble as he undid the locks.

He pulled the door open fully, but stayed just inside the threshold. I was happy to see that he looked worse than Steve.

And I was surprised by the murderous rage that flooded me just at the sight of him. This asshole had kicked my sister while she'd lain on the floor, helpless.

"It's you," he said as a slow smile spread across his face. "You're the sister."

"I've been looking forward to meeting you," I said menacingly. "Where's Cathy?"

"I haven't seen that little bitch since this morning."

"Cathy!" I shouted loudly, just in case she was somewhere inside, but the apartment remained steeped in silence.

That was a good thing, right?

Because that meant that she hadn't brought Nate to this place.

So even if she'd made the very bad decision of trying to run away with her son, at least she hadn't compounded that by putting him in the proximity of this jackass.

Unless she was in there unconscious…

"I told you, bitch. She's not fucking here. I'm sure that I have you to thank for that."

I couldn't just force my way into his apartment, and I decided that Travis would be a lot more forthcoming if he was talking to just me, so I subtly waved my hand at Bobby, telling him to stay back.

I also really wanted him to take a swing at me.

"Me?" I asked. "Because I told her how stupid she was for being with you?"

"You've got a smart mouth on you. Maybe you need someone to teach you a thing or two about manners."

"Is that you?" I asked with a smile. "Are you going to teach me?"

"I guess so," he replied. "Since apparently your husband isn't man enough to do it. What else isn't he man enough to do?"

At his suggestive remark, he took a step closer to me and let his eyes make a slow trip from my head to my toes.

"Tell me what happened at the hospital this morning," I said, ignoring his blatant lewdness.

"That's none of your business, bitch," he said tauntingly.

"I'm making it my business," I told him. Then I took a step into him and was pleased to see that he backed up marginally. He wasn't much taller than me, although he was a good deal heavier. I wasn't worried about my ability to hold my own against him.

Of course, it didn't hurt knowing that Bobby would be ready to snap his neck if I needed him.

"What can I say?" he shrugged. "She gives good head."

I'm not sure if he thought his vulgarity would throw me, or if he was just that much of a prick.

But either way, he was an easy read.

And he was lying.

I started to feel the dueling emotions of guilt at not instantly believing in Cathy and relief at the knowledge that she hadn't caved to him.

"That's your story?" I asked him. "You beat the crap out of her, spend the weekend in jail, show up at her work, and then she blows you in the car?"

"Yeah. Hey, she loves me. And she felt bad for getting me arrested."

"No, see this is what I think happened. I think you went to her work to scare her, to intimidate her into coming back to you. You probably told her that she had to drop the charges. It's a classic batterer tactic. Make the victim feel responsible and guilty so that they keep coming back for more."

"No, uh uh. I'm a batterer?" he scoffed. "You don't know shit."

"Yeah, I do. And I'm guessing if there was anything sexual going on in that car, it was because you forced yourself on her. Is that what happened Travis?"

"No," he denied, but then he stepped back again as I moved closer.

"Oh, you're right," I agreed amicably. "There wasn't anything sexual going on in the car because you probably can't get it up."

One thing I've learned over the years is that men like Travis are predictable. If their manhood is in question, they lash out.

So my remark caused him to take a swing at me.

Of course, Bobby knew it was going to happen, too, and I could hear him and Steve approaching as the things heated up.

I dodged the punch and caught him twice in the face before he had a chance to swing again.

His second effort landed a glancing blow, but I shook it off and caught him a third time in the head.

That one sent him to the floor, out cold.

"Alex?" Bobby questioned as he burst through the doorway.

"I've got him. Check the apartment, just to be sure."

And then I couldn't stop myself.

I kicked Travis while he was down.

Three times, really hard, with my pointy-toed boots.

Then I flipped him onto his stomach and pulled his hands behind his back.

"Where is Sean?" I shouted to Bobby as he searched the other rooms.

"Right here."

I turned to see him coming through the door, quickly assessing the situation.

"Couldn't wait for me, huh?" he asked as he bent down and put cuffs on Travis.

"He started it," I replied as I stood up. "We've got him for violating his restraining order and you can add a couple of assault charges to it."

"Did he get you?"

"Barely," I said with a shrug.

"There's no evidence that she's been here recently," Bobby said. "And definitely no sign of Nate."

Travis came to and started to fight against the cuffs, but Sean jerked him to his feet and then rammed him into the wall.

"Stand still and shut the hell up or I let Alex have another go at you," he warned.

Travis fell silent, so I turned to where Steve stood stock still near the door.

"She was telling the truth," he mumbled. "She…she didn't…he threatened her, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I think so," I agreed with a nod.

"This is my fault. I told her that she'd never see Nate again because I thought…I thought that…oh my God, Alex. What am I going to do? This is all my fault. I'm no better than he is."

"We'll find her," I assured him. "We'll find both of them."

TBC...