When Jen went back to Nick's room, she found Bernice there with Cody on her lap. "Oh look, Mummy's back. Is Mummy done breaking the rules?" Bernice asked pointedly.

Jen just shrugged, not giving an answer. Because Bernice did not yet know that Jen had smuggled her laptop out of the police station and done some research on her own. And that probably wasn't all Jen was going to do before all this was over.

"We were just thinking about dinner," Nick said. He saw that expression on Jennifer's face and didn't like it one bit. She was up to something, and she hadn't told him anything yet. Neither of those were things that comforted him.

Before she could answer—that she'd go get a curry for dinner if everyone else liked the idea—Jen's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw it was a text message alert from the KALOF she'd set up on her laptop earlier. In a split second, Jen decided what to do.

She pasted a pleasant smile on her face. "How about a curry? I can go by and pick us all up something," she offered.

That idea seemed to go over quite well. "Mummy, can I have the lamb vindaloo from Kumar's?" Cody asked. That was his favorite. Some children aren't good with spicy foods, but Cody could not get enough of it.

Ella added excitedly, "And the garlic naan!" She was not as much a fan of spice as her brother, but she adored any kind of bread she could get her hands on.

"I'll get our usual," Jen promised with a smile. "Bernice, anything you want?"

"I'm good with anything from Kumar's," she replied. But her eyes were suspicious as Nick's. Bernice knew Jennifer quite well, knew her history and knew her way of taking things into her own hands when she shouldn't have. It was a trait that made her a brilliant cop, but thankfully she usually showed more restraint that Rhys or Allie, both of whom barely had enough experience or common sense to keep from getting themselves and everyone else killed in the process.

Jen turned to Nick. "Kumar's good for you?" Jen asked him.

"Yeah, sounds good." He gave Jen a look, silently asking her what was going on, what she was up to, what she was planning to do. Because he knew she wasn't just going to get the curry. She'd offered too quickly. There was something else going on. And she hadn't told him what.

But Jen ignored the look she gave him. She had no intention of explaining anything. Not yet. Because she knew that they'd only stop her. Both Nick and Bernice would tell her she was being reckless and foolish. And so she only nodded. "I'll be off then."

For good measure, Jen went around the room and gave hugs and kisses to all her loved ones. She wasn't going to be gone long, just follow up on the KALOF and then to get Indian food. But even so, she knew better than to tempt fate. She had no idea what awaited her at the end of the plan she concocted.

Jen did not go directly to Kumar's, nor did she even go directly to the address where the blue sedan had been spotted. She knew better than to go by herself. She'd been caught and nearly drowned by going after a serial killer without backup until Nick saved her and performed CPR till she was breathing again. And that was when she'd been working in the field fulltime. Now, she was a desk sergeant for public relations. She had no business going unarmed and on her own to follow up a lead. So instead, she drove to the police station. She went to her office to get her old holster before heading down to the arms lockup and signing a handgun out for herself. Her next stop was to the Homicide floor.

Thankfully, Jarvis was nowhere in sight. Neither was Matt. The superintendents were the only ones who had rank over her and whose orders she would have to obey. Rhys and Allie were in the breakroom, and Jen walked by without paying them any mind. They weren't the ones she was looking for anyway. They knew her too well, and they'd only get in her way. Karin and Oliver, however, were hard at work at their desks, just as she'd hoped.

"Smith, Taylor," Jen barked, using her 'I'm a mum so listen to me right now' voice. "With me."

Both Karin and Oliver immediately followed her orders. They had not had occasion to work with Jen before, except for press interviews she had prepared them for on occasion. But she was married to their sergeant and so they saw her plenty and knew her and liked her very much. And they knew better than to disobey a sergeant, no matter what department she worked for. They both got up and grabbed their jackets and hurried after Jen.

In the elevator, she explained, "I think I've found the getaway car. It's parked outside an apartment building in the warehouse district."

"How'd you find it? Allie's been on it for days!" Karin exclaimed.

Jen shook her head. "She's only got a partial plate. And she's never been as good at research as I was. I cross-checked the known associates of Colin Rankin with vehicle registrations and I found three cars that match the description. None of them have the same plate. But plates are easy to take off a car. And my KALOF came back with a blue sedan like the one the shooter drove off in, and it's got no plates at all," Jen said. She tried not to come off too smug, but she felt like she'd done some bloody good police work. Not bad for a middle-aged mum who drafted press releases all day.

"Ma'am, shouldn't we tell Superintendent Jarvis?" Karin asked nervously.

Jen knew she was a good girl—like Jen herself had been as a detective—but that was partially why she wanted Detective Smith to go with her. "We're just going to check it out. Could be nothing. And Jarvis hates paperwork and procedure. We don't need to bother him till we know if it's a credible lead."

"Why'd you bring us?" Oliver asked.

"Because, Taylor," Jen replied with a small smile as she led them to her car in the parking garage, "I know you'll do almost anything to find the man who almost killed Nick and Duncan."

Oliver was not a very expressive man, tending towards being broody most of the time. But his expression changed just slightly, letting Jen know she was right. This man cared for his coworkers and wanted to bring the shooter to justice. And, Jen suspected, he cared even more for his sergeant than he'd ever let on otherwise.

Jen turned to Karin. "And you, Smith, have a good level head to make sure we don't get shot ourselves."

Karin's blue doe eyes went wide. And when she got in the backseat of Sergeant Mapplethorpe's car, she took out her mobile to send a text message. Mapplethorpe's taking me and Oliver to check out the getaway car. What do I do?