Connie POV

I was surprised to find that Lupo and Bernard were gone when I came out of the interrogation room.

"I haven't seen them," Ben told me when I collected him from the observation room. "But very nice work. Impressive."

"Thanks," I replied with a smile. I wasn't too worried about Lupo. After all, he had a job to do.

And more than likely, something else had come in while I was tying up the loose ends on the Sundberg confession.

He'd undoubtedly text or call when he could.

"So is that how you met him?" Ben asked me as we headed for the elevator.

I figured that I would go back to the office for the afternoon, even though Mike had given me some leeway since Ben was in town. I could get a little bit of work done until it was time to catch up with Lupo.

"Lupo?"

"Yeah. Did you swoop in, acting all lawyerly, and tell him what kind of deal he could give his perp?"

I chuckled at his description and shook my head.

"We worked a lot of cases together before anything happened," I said. "And I don't swoop in. I just offer my expertise."

"So what did it for you? How many times did he ask you out before you finally said yes?"

"It wasn't like that," I admitted.

But thinking back over it did bring a smile to my face.

How many times had I blatantly undressed him with my eyes before he'd noticed?

I remembered that day at the 2-7 when he'd finally sensed the intent behind my gaze.

I'd surreptitiously watched him as color flooded his cheeks, and then he'd looked at Bernard, presumably for confirmation of what he'd seen.

But Bernard had been clueless.

"I sort of gave him the green light," I added.

"You asked him out?" Ben asked in surprise. "Consuela! Debería darte vergüenza!"

"Why should I be ashamed?" I replied with a smirk. "I decided that I wanted him, so I went after him. There's nothing wrong with that. And no, I didn't actually ask him out. I just presented him with the opportunity."

"You flirted."

"Of course. Don't tell me you've forgotten how that's done."

"We're not talking about my love life."

"Why not? You don't seem to have any problem talking about mine."

He sighed heavily and put his arm around me as we walked toward the office.

"I like him," he said quietly. "I like him a lot. You did good, kiddo."

And despite the fact that his opinion wasn't going to change how I felt about Lupo, hearing his words filled me with satisfied happiness.

Because I really wanted Ben to see Lupo for the incredible man that he was.

And now it seemed as though he did.

"So what's on the agenda for the afternoon now that I've been ditched by Butch and Sundance?" Ben asked me. "Will we be drafting briefs? Arguing motions?"

"I will be going over witness statements to help Mike get prepped for a trial that starts on Monday," I replied with a grin. "While you sit back and keep your mouth shut."

It was two hours later before I heard from Lupo. He sent me a text.

Can you escape early? We are in desperate need of a debriefing.

Debriefing was code for hitting a bar.

I glanced at the clock.

Normally, I would've probably had to say no, but since I had the blanket offer of a light work day, I was going to take him up on it.

Lupo didn't usually start drinking at three-thirty in the afternoon, so I had a feeling that something pivotal had happened after he'd left 1PP.

I got up and walked over to Mike's office, peeking my head through the open doorway.

"Is it still okay if I leave early? I finished with Treeling's statement and I proofed your motion."

"Sure," he replied easily. "Is Ben still here?"

"He's chatting up Stephanie," I said with a roll of my eyes. "But don't worry. I'll take him with me and get him out of your hair."

"It's fine, Connie. I'll see you in the morning."

I went back to my desk and picked up my cell phone to reply to Lupo's text.

Where? I can leave in five minutes.

I gathered my things while I waited for his response.

It was funny how just the prospect of going to see him sent a wave of butterflies through my stomach. I wondered how long that feeling would last.

Was it silly that I hoped it never went away?

McNally's.

I rescued the paralegal from my brother's relentless flirting and the two of us left the building.

"What was it you were saying earlier about flirting?" I teased him. "You were laying it on pretty thick with Stephanie."

"You had my curiosity up," he said with a grin. "I wanted to see if I still remembered how."

"I'd say you've still got game. Hearts will be breaking when you fly back to Miami."

"So where are we going?" he asked after laughing off my assertion.

"McNally's. It's just down the street. Lupo finished up early and asked that we meet him there."

"That's unusual, huh? Or is it because they wrapped up their case?"

"No, it's unusual," I answered. "Something must have happened."

"Like something bad?"

"I don't know," I admitted.

Not something too horribly bad, I decided. We were meeting in a bar instead of a hospital.

But when I opened the door at McNally's and saw the condition of the crew sitting in the back, I realized that a hospital could have very well been the meeting place.

Because they all looked like hell.

Alex POV

Somehow, we managed to put out the apartment fire, even before the fire department arrived.

But by that time, we were all sooty and soaking wet and exhausted.

And we had no idea about where Tomlin had gone.

"You should've chased after him," Hayes was saying to my brother as Bobby and I walked up to the ambulance that was parked outside of the building.

Sean was sitting on the curb with an oxygen mask over his face while his partner was getting her head looked at.

"If I'd gone after him, then you would've been trapped in the fire," he reminded her.

"Yeah, but you would've caught the killer."

"Hayes," Bobby interrupted. "Sean's right. His first priority was to get you out of the apartment. And to make sure that no civilians got hurt. Sometimes it means that the bad guy gets away."

"I know," she said on a sigh. "It just…pisses me off."

"The fire marshal says that we'll be able to search the place in the morning," Lupo said as he and Bernard joined us on the sidewalk.

"So was Tomlin living there?" Bernard asked Sean. "He and Ace were there together?"

"That's what it looked like," Sean replied.

"Ace opened the door," Hayes said. "And Sean saw his tattoo. We kind of forced our way into the apartment, but then while we were talking to him, the other guy showed up. So Tomlin…the other guy. What do we know about him?"

"Nothing yet," I told her. "Kevin called us to say that he'd finally remembered him. He'd bought drugs from Johnson in the past."

"I'll put a call in to 1PP and see what we find out," Bernard suggested as he pulled out his phone.

But the call proved worthless.

There was no known address for Mac Tomlin. The preliminary report came up empty, so we'd have to do a much more thorough search in order to get a lead on where he might have run to.

"We should keep an eye on stolen vehicle reports," Hayes said.

"Absolutely," Bobby agreed with a nod.

"And now that we have a name, we can search through the FDNY records," Sean added. "I mean, we still want to know why, right? And who might be next? Because if the guy can't find Kevin, will he go after someone else?"

"It's possible," I said.

"Okay, Detective," the paramedic said to Hayes. "You're good to go. If you get nauseous or start having trouble with your vision, you should get your doctor to check you out. And have someone wake you up every hour or so tonight."

"Sure, no problem," she answered vaguely as she got up from her perch on the bumper. "I'll get my cat right on that."

Sean got up, too, and handed the oxygen mask back to the paramedic. He immediately started coughing again.

"Let me take a look at you. If you've got singed nasal hairs…"

"There's nothing wrong with the hair in my nose," Sean scoffed. "I'm fine."

"Detective…"

"They're both fine," I insisted as I put my hand on Sean's shoulder and walked with him towards the car. "Let's go get a drink."

"Alex, we need to get this guy."

"Yes, we do. And we also need to know when it's okay to recharge our batteries. Right now, it's okay. Tomlin is in the wind. His current stalking victim is under protection and he has no vehicle. Pretty soon he'll steal something. And when he can't find Kevin, he'll start watching someone else. But he's not going to do anything tonight."

"We'll get a notice out to every fire house to suggest vigilance," Bobby added as he joined us near the car. "But Alex is right. It's almost three-thirty. We call it quits, regroup, and come back fresh in the morning."

"And hey, some of our best ideas come during a good debriefing," I added.

So the six of us piled into the SUV and headed for McNally's. We all tried to pretend like we weren't soaking wet and reeking of smoke.

"I told Connie to come," Lupo spoke up.

"Have you guys picked a date yet?" I asked him.

"You're getting married?" Hayes asked.

"Yeah, to ADA Rubirosa," Sean supplied. "I told you that he was spoken for."

I quickly glanced in the rearview mirror and caught Hayes sending Sean a death glare.

"I mean, you know, when you were asking about the guys at 1PP. I mean…not because you were asking about guys, but just because…"

"Eames, just stop talking," Hayes said, shaking her head.

I had a feeling that if she had any room to maneuver at all, she would've punched him. But as it was, she was sandwiched between Sean and Bernard, so she had no room to draw back.

I shifted my gaze over to Bobby in time to catch him biting back a smile.

"That really didn't come out like it sounded," Sean continued. "She wasn't asking about you, Lupo. It was just kind of a general question."

"So, Lupo," I said forcefully in an attempt to get my brother to shut up. "A date?"

"No," he said on a chuckle. "We're thinking about September, but it's not definite yet. Although I think I did pass the brother test."

"Oh yeah," Bobby spoke up. "Ben, right?"

"He was with you guys in the squad room the other day, right?" Hayes asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure you'll all be meeting him shortly. He'll be coming with Connie."

"And you got him to like you, even after that little slip up earlier this week?" I asked him, unable to resist the tease. His face immediately reddened, as I'd known it would.

"What slip up?" Bernard asked.

"Oh nothing," I replied with a grin.

"Come on, Lupes. You're going to keep something from your partner?"

"This? Yes. Absolutely."

We got to McNally's and pulled a couple of tables together in the back.

"Don't we need to call the Loo or something?" Hayes asked me as she sat down at the table.

"Normally, I'd probably call Ross and let him know, but he's out of town at the moment. And you two are working under us, so…we're good."

The waitress came and took our order without even batting an eye at our appearance. I figured she was used to us looking beaten and bloody, so wet and smoky wasn't much of a surprise. Connie came in a few minutes later and made the necessary introductions.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Ben asked as he pulled a chair up at the end of the table.

"Our suspect set his apartment on fire," Sean answered.

"And you guys put it out? Doesn't New York have a fire department?"

"If we'd waited, the whole building could've burned down," Bernard explained.

"Still…that sounds kind of above and beyond the call of duty, don't you think?"

"Protect and serve, my friend," Lupo answered. "It doesn't just mean catching bad guys."

"Which is good, because today the bad guy got away," Sean added.

I knew that it was eating him up to know he'd been so close. But he hadn't had a choice.

He'd reacted exactly as he should've done.

"For today," Bobby stressed, picking up on Sean's disappointment. "But his days are numbered."

TBC...