One Police Plaza

"Are you going through the officers with access to the property clerk's office?"

"It's a long list," Daniels complained knowing it would take them the whole day to narrow down suspects never mind get the offending officer to assist them in bringing them and other parties down. He was thrilled to be assisting Major Case. It would look good in his file if he ever decided to progress within the department but he was not thrilled that he had to investigate other officers to do so. It was an unwritten rule that you don't assist in bringing down a fellow officer unless you wanted to be labeled a rat. He wasn't a rat but he had to complete the investigation. He would be a fool to pass this chance up.

"Anyone from the 6-4?"

"3," Well that certainly narrowed that down. He didn't know how he got the idea that it would be from the 6-4 but he was thanking their lucky stars for the information that was going to make their investigation easier to pursue. Less busy work and more field time.

"Start there," Captain Ross commanded.

"Something, you want to share?" Her antenna was up. Her Captain was being awfully smug and she knew that he was with-holding important details from them. She hated not being in the loop so she was becoming increasingly annoyed at his reluctance to clue them in. She pushed but politics kept her from pushing any further.

"Call it a hunch."

A hunch. Oh brother, he was not that lucky. That made her even more suspicious. If he wouldn't share where the information was coming from then it meant that it could potentially skew the case or it involved the Chief and higher officers. Being that they were currently investigating officers was it wise to keep information from the two leading detectives? Nevertheless, how truthful was the information he was getting? How did he know that the information wasn't being deliberately fed to him to throw off the investigation. The source had to be vetted. Surely, he understood that.

"Lois Melago. Her partner suspended. Drug charge. He's still out, Mike Stoat," Eames read out.

The Captain nodded his approval that they had come to the right names and sent them on their way to talk with Lois Melago.

"The only thing worse than ticket duty is traffic control," Daniels remarked in an effort to commiserate and break the ice.

"Detective Eames. Detective Daniels Major Case."

"I know who you are. We were in the same graduating class."

"You used to be Lois Cabera."

"I should have stayed that way."

"What, were there 50 of us?" Eames beamed at the sight of her recognition. She remembered her. They graduated together, worked vice. Yet, Eames had proved herself to make ranks at MCS and Melago was writing tickets. How did you get here? Eames rooted for her and any woman trying to make it in this boy's club.

"Mmhmm and 590 men and here I Am still proving myself." She understood that all too well.

"We are hoping you can help us out...you worked property clerk last winter." She prodded gently, having admired her, and internally hoping she just got mixed up and wasn't really involved.

"yeah and…"

"a 9 mill is missing," Eames continued.

"Tell me about it. That place is barely controlled chaos. Sometimes I'm surprised that anything gets found."

"This gun was found by someone who took it out of a police evidence bag," Daniel played the heavy having just witness the shared comaraderie.

"What are you saying? You think I took it. I had just come off suspension. I didn't even have access to that kind of stuff. Do your homework. I was working at the sign in Checking IDS."

"So who did have access?" Eames prodded as she watched her ally and colleague turn hostile quickly.

"I don't recall."

"Try harder," Eames pushed. She had no qualms about confronting another officer especially, if they were corrupt. She wasn't in the Major Case for nothing. She had backbone in spades.

"We're done here."

Oh Okay. She thinks she's in control. I will get the information I need. "What about your ex-partner?"

"What about yours?"

"What does that mean?" Eames was thrown offguard and was beginning to get agitated. Was there something else going on that she didn't know? Why did people feel the need to play games and keep secrets? Just be direct with me but of course she would be cagey. It seemed that everyone was being cagey, these days.

"C'mon, he's my partner. I have his back."

She understood that. There had been many times she had to cover and hold Goren down. However, it always seemed when the shit hit the fan, the female partners held the taint of the other partner and paid for it more times over than their male counterparts. Maybe, not in their file but, most definitely, they would be held back, not promoted, not given the good cases. It happened time and time again. She made her piece with it. Goren was going to do what he was going to do. He didn't care for politics but that set her in her role to smooth it out and hope that they would both come out relatively unscaved.

"Well you better hope he has yours," Eames advised. If Melago was going to take the brunt for her partner. She had better think of the ramifications including getting off ticket duty and back into the field. That would never happen if it turns out she was helping him in some kind of illicit activity. She had thought so fondly of Melago it would be a shame if this became her undoing. She hated keeping a female officer back but she had no problem persecuting guilty corrupt cops.

In a parked car, Somewhere in New York

"We gotta find this lowlife," Stoat said while passing Goren a police file recently obtained from Melago.

"Eddie Jones, Drug possession. Criminal sale of a control substance. Assault."

"I didn't think you'd have problem taking him off the street"

"What he do?"

"He owes a friend some money"

"A friend?"

"You know, Mike, I gotta tell you. Testarossa is on our radar."

"Good, he should be."

"And that doesn't worry you. If the department ever got wind this, you would be tainted."

"What am I doing here Bobby? I'm working a door at a club, doing surveillance and security. Hell, if I had my shield back, I'd bust the guy myself."

"I'm not joking, Mike."

"What do you suggest I do? Should I go down to Starbucks and see if they're hiring?"

"You want your shield back, I get that. I'm saying the department they find out about any of this, they are not going to look the other way."

"Look we're both taking a big leap of faith here. Neither one of us is going to rat the other out. Goren nods. You got my back, Bobby, right?"

Goren nods and shakes his hand. "Yes, I do."

"Good now, lighten up."

Goren knocked on the door to smoke Jones out while Stoat waited around the bend of the back door, lying in wait for to him come out. When he did, Stoat grabbed him throwing him into his garbage cans. Stoat began wailing on him and banging his head against the dirt floor, duling out his criminal form of justice to a guy that stiffed his boss. Goren, grabbed Stoat's shoulders pulling him off of him.

"Get off me," Stoat yelled and dug into Jones' pockets taking out the money he owed to Testarossa. Goren had his arm on Stoat'sshoulder once again, hoping to steady him into the the right decision. Stoat shook him off. Goren glance over to a fleeing Stoat and back at Jones, bloodied face, lying on the floor. It started to dawn on him. Stoat was gone. He was in over his head into this criminal lifestyle. There was no helping him. No second chance would bring him back. He had given up on being a cop and devoted himself to becoming a criminal. The whole time he had been hoping to save him, thinking him to be a younger version of himself, shafted by the department. But he wasn't. That was clear now. I'm nothing like him. I skirted the rules towards the lawful good. He, broke the rules for the thrill of being on the other side.

Stoat paid testarossa. "Here's your money, boss," he smiled at him tossing the cash onto the desk.

"Stoat, I need you to stick around."

"Yeah, I would but I need to take care of something." He replied, staring at his phone with a warning message from Melago that they were looking at him.

"Okay, so the cowboy stays."

"Whatever you want boss," Goren replied.

Stoat headed to 1pp to clear his name or tomat least remove it from their radar. He couldn't operate with Testarossa with NYPD crawling down his back.

One Police Plaza, MCS

"I heard you are looking for me. Here, I am," Stoat replied confidently, landing himself into Goren's chair with his hands behind his head and his feet on top of his desk.

"Get your feet off my partner's desk," Eames barked out with an attitude that left no inviting questions. "Melago sent you?"

"Yeah, she says there's a 9 mill missing from evidence. I don't want to waste no time. I'll tell you right here and right now, I had nothing to do with it."

"That's funny. That's the same thing your partner said." She smiled, not buying what he was selling, "So, Either you both are telling the truth or you both are going down."

"What's with the witch hunt?" Stoat asked Daniels subverting the hot-headed Eames.

"Turns down the gun was used to kill tourists in your partner's precinct."

"Hers and a hundred other cops and I don't think any of them are going to put a gun back out on the same streets they are working."

"I hope, to God, you're right." She hated the thought that cops would do that sort of thing because she upheld the righteous duty that she believed in and those corrupt officers made their job that much harder in the long run.

Earlier, Testarossa's Club

"Whatever you want, boss."

"Good. I need you to stand at the door. Make sure this guy doesn't get any stupid ideas."

"Okay, boss."

"We good to go?" Santana takes his pinky and dips it into the coke he's about to buy, tasting it and verifying it was good stuff.

"My money?" Testarossa replied.

Goren watched the exchange from beside the door ducking his head down and looking very uncomfortable. But he watched and kept his mouth shut. Testarossa wanted security. He would be security.

Santana hands Testarossa a brown bag full of cash.

"Take the stuff. Get lost."

Goren opened the door letting him leave. "We done here?" He asks the boss.

Testarossa pulls out a cell phone. "Not yet. I've to do a good deed, first." He smiled watching, through the window, Santana enter his vehicle and drive off.

Testarossa speaks into the receiver, "Yeah, he just left. He is driving a white SUV driving east on commerce." With that, he hung up, looking at Goren "Kill or be killed."

Goren gave a confused look in return. What was that about?