Liz POV

I didn't sleep much after Logan left to go to the federal building, but I did manage to doze off for a couple of hours.

When I got up, I spent some time cleaning and rearranging.

I made room for some of Logan's suits in my closet.

And I cleared out a drawer.

He wasn't officially living with me, but despite the lack of a label, he was here more than not. It was time for him to have a place to keep his clean socks and underwear, someplace other than a duffle bag.

After I got my house organized, I did some grocery shopping.

While at the market, several times I caught myself buying things that I knew Mike enjoyed and then I finally had to stop myself.

I was acting juvenile.

Next thing you know, I'd be drawing little hearts and filling them in with our initials.

I scoffed at myself and shook my head as I reached to put back the bag of potato chips.

And then I decided, so what?

I could buy whatever I wanted to buy.

I didn't answer to anyone.

So I went to the register to check out, and then I had the clerk add a carton of cigarettes, too. Buying them by the pack was getting expensive and it's not like we weren't going to use them.

We were definitely using them.

In fact, it was getting to the point where the smell of smoke was like an aphrodisiac for me.

I went home and put the groceries away, and it still wasn't even noon. I'd gotten a text from Mike earlier, telling me that he'd probably be working until at least late evening, so I decided to go into the office for a little while. I had plenty to do there and for some reason, sitting home alone wasn't as enticing as it used to be.

The good thing about going to work was that the time went by quickly. There was no shortage of things to be done, so when my ringing phone broke my concentration, I was surprised to realize that it was almost seven o'clock.

"What's up?" I answered, having seen Mike's name on the display.

I was hoping that he'd say he was about done for the day, but he didn't.

"I need you," he told me. Normally, I might have made a joke in response to his declaration, but the tone of his voice clued me in on the gravity of the situation.

"What is it?"

"Agent Banta's dead. I need you to come take a look at him before the feds decide to pull jurisdiction."

"Officially or unofficially?"

"Captain Eames requests your presence," he stated. And then he added, "But hurry because as soon as the FBI gets wind of it, they'll want their guys on it. We need you to get everything you can from him before we lose it. Bring extra evidence bags."

"Give me the address. I'll be there as fast as I can."

Bobby POV

We decided to call Rodgers almost immediately.

We could hold off calling the team for a little while longer, but not much, and once we called them, I was pretty sure they'd insist on taking over the case.

Normally, I'd be okay with that, but not this time.

"Someone worked him over really good," Logan remarked as he took a closer look at the body.

"Hassan wanted information."

"So does the extensive beating mean that Banta gave it up? Or that he didn't?"

"It's hard to say."

"If Stahl gave Hassan information on the entire team, then what would he have needed from Banta?" Alex asked, calling out her question from the living room.

She was going through Banta's desk. It didn't require opening any drawers because everything was already spread out over top of the surface and on the floor.

"Me," Logan answered. "Let's face it. Hassan would already know about both of you, too. Stahl was on his payroll until the end. You guys had been working with her for nine months. Surely she gave him the heads-up about two new team members."

"And what?" Alex responded. "He's just hanging on to that information until he deems it useful?"

"Absolutely," I agreed. "Up until now, we haven't posed a viable threat. Stahl didn't know we were investigating him until the day she killed herself. She wouldn't have had the opportunity to let him know."

"This is an awfully big mess just to find out the name of one cop," Alex stated.

And she had a point with that.

"You think there's more to it," I said. "Like what?"

"I don't know."

"You think he's dirty?" Logan asked.

"I think…" she began and then she trailed off. I looked over at her and saw that she was reading through a stack of papers that she'd found on the floor.

"Look at this," Logan said to me, leaving Alex to her reading. I walked over to where he was bending down behind the chair, where Banta's hands were tied."All of his fingers are broken."

"Kind of awkward to break them while his hands are tied behind his back, don't you think?" I questioned. I squatted down next to him to get a better look. "They weren't stepped on. They were done one at a time."

"So he was untied, his fingers were broken, and then his hands were tied behind his back," Logan posed. "Why? I can't imagine he was much of a threat at that point."

"It had to be at least two men," I said. "In addition to Hassan. He doesn't get his hands dirty, so there would have to be one to hold Banta down while the other was working him over."

"I can't see any clear cause of death," Logan added as he checked his watch. "When are we calling this in?"

"As soon as Rodgers gets here. That'll give her a little time without it looking like we waited too long," Alex answered. She'd come into the kitchen, and she waved a handful of papers at us. "Banta knew about the numbered accounts."

"What?" I asked, getting to my feet. "The fake Stahl accounts?"

"He must have found them when he cleaned out her apartment."

"But the money was still there, wasn't it?"

"Uh huh," she agreed. "Maybe he just hadn't gotten the balls to steal it yet."

"This is unbelievable," I mumbled. "Stahl was taking payoffs from Hassan, and then Banta was going to steal it from Stahl."

"I guess he figured she wouldn't be needing it anymore."

A sound at the doorway caught my attention. It was Rodgers.

"I got here as fast as I could," she said breathlessly as she entered the apartment. "What have we got?"

"Agent Joey Banta," Logan said as he stepped out of the way. "We need a COD, a TOD, and if at all possible, a sequence of events. And no pressure or anything but we're going to have to call the feds now, so you'll probably have about thirty minutes."

Alex POV

Once Rodgers got to work on the body, I called Casteel.

He was appropriately dismayed by the news.

"I'll send the team over there right away. The NYPD is relieved of its duty."

"Upon their arrival," I clarified.

"Immediately," he insisted.

"So you want us to leave the scene? You want us to leave his body unattended?"

He sighed heavily and finally said, "Fine. Wait there. But Captain, this is no longer your case. My agents will investigate the murder of Agent Banta."

"There's no investigation to conduct. It's Hassan. We just have to find him."

"No, we have to find him. Surely you have work to do at 1PP."

"They're closing ranks," I said to Bobby after I hung up with Casteel.

"We knew they would."

I nodded and led him into the living room.

"Did you notice the front door?" I asked him. "No sign of forced entry."

"Which means either he let them in because somehow they seemed non-threatening or they met up with him outside."

"Uh huh. Bobby, Banta was into something," I said quietly. "He's got the bank statements from all six of Stahl's hidden accounts. And the way he was worked over…"

"You think Hassan wanted something other than Logan's name."

"I think Banta blew that bust for a reason. He was going to offer his services to Hassan."

"So he was planning to steal the money from Stahl's accounts and then pick up with Hassan where she left off?"

"Maybe. Or maybe there's something more that we haven't figured out yet," I said thoughtfully. "I mean, think about it. We had just enough evidence to haul him in, but not really enough to hold him. Banta let Hassan think that his fate was in his hands."

"So then why would Hassan kill him?"

"Maybe Banta pushed it too far. You know how cocky he was. A man like Hassan is used to subservience, not competition."

"So Hassan balked, and Banta threatened to bring the hammer down," Bobby concluded with a nod.

"And Hassan pretended to go along with it."

"Until he could get out of jail and then take matters into his own hands. He wanted Logan's name, and he wanted whatever information Banta was holding over his head."

"Right. Banta didn't come back here to take a shower. He came back here to meet Hassan. He was going to make a deal with the devil."

Logan POV

"Are you okay?" I asked Liz quietly as she knelt down next to the mangled body.

"You mean am I picturing this as you since you're next on his list?"

"Something like that."

"No," she said firmly. "Because I trust that you guys will catch him before he catches you."

"That's my girl," I said in a hushed voice. "Now tell me what you've got."

"The hands were bound perimortem. See how's there's only slight discoloration despite the tightness of the rope? The blood was only barely pumping by that point. And look here," she said, indicating the right shoulder. "It's dislocated. So is the right elbow."

"He was suspended by his arm?"

"You should check the fire escape. They might have dangled him over the edge while they questioned him."

"Okay, what else?"

"Time of death is about four o'clock. I can't say for sure without opening him up, but I'd guess that he was beaten for roughly an hour and then it took him another hour before he succumbed to his injuries."

"So the COD is internal bleeding?"

"See here?" she said, pulling the victim's mouth open so that I could look inside.

"Blood," I stated. "But they beat the crap out of him, so he should have blood, right?"

"Different shade and quality," she told me. "I'd say he has at least one broken rib which punctured his lung. Of course, there could be other internal damage as well that I can't visualize from an external exam."

"I'm not asking for perfection," I assured her. "We just need your best shot."

"Okay, well, help me get some blood and tissue samples. It's possible that whoever was beating him left a little something behind."

"Hey, Goren!" I called out as I held open a specimen bottle for Liz to collect what she needed. "Rodgers thinks he may have been hung out over the fire escape."

"I'm on it," he replied.

"Did you get pictures?" Liz asked me.

"Not yet."

"I'll do this. You'd better hurry. I think I hear sirens."

I pulled out my cell phone and snapped a couple dozen pictures. I could hear Eames doing the same thing in the living room and Goren was out on the fire escape. He came back in after a few minutes.

"The feds are here. They should be up any minute."

"What do you want me to say?" Liz asked as she tucked her half of the evidence bags into the pockets on her bulky windbreaker. "Why did you call me?"

"Habit," Eames said as she came into the kitchen. "We called in the murder and then we notified the FBI. Your office was dispatched. I mean, essentially that's what happened, right?"

"Exactly," Goren agreed.

"So now what?"

"Well, we can't go home," Eames said. "It's fair to say that we've all been compromised."

"Except for me," Liz said, turning to look at me with a wry grin. "I guess that's one good thing about a clandestine affair, right? No one would think to look for you at my place."

McHale and Lacey were the first two through the door and they were both visibly distraught.

"I can't believe this," McHale said as she moved slowly towards the body.

"Doctor, our ME is on his way. I appreciate your time, but we'll no longer be needing your services," Rivas said as he entered the apartment. "If you'd be so kind as to hand over any evidence you've collected."

"Of course," she replied, indicating the pile of bags on the table.

"Eames," Lacey said, shaking her head. "What's going on here?"

"I have some ideas, but we're no longer on this case."

Lacey walked us to the door as Rivas and McHale and a host of other agents took over processing the scene.

"We looked at the tape," Lacey said quietly. "Hassan himself withdrew the cash at two-thirty. Two men were visible in the car, in addition to Hassan. We were able to identify one as Gino Bisetti."

"Hassan's working with the Italians?" Goren asked. "Since when?"

"Bisetti is muscle for hire," she told us. "And he's not picky about who he works for as long as the money's right."

"You guys have been watching him?"

"He was on our radar for awhile. I put in a request to get the surveillance information from the agents who were assigned to him, but I haven't seen it yet. And it's nothing recent so I'm not sure how that will be helpful."

"We'll have to see it to know," Eames replied vaguely. "What about the other guy?"

"Unknown. African-American, thirty-something, no distinguishing marks. We're still looking."

"You know Casteel pulled the plug, right?"

"I know, but this makes three dead agents in six months. I want this guy and I need you guys to help me get him. I'll feed you what I can, if you're in."

That was one question to which I knew the answer.

We were always in.

TBC...