His surveillance yielded him more information than he would ever get by reading about it in any publication. He has the layout of where Richard Rodgers lives and he has some of their routines down but he'll need more time to finish getting their habits down.

He concentrates on the bastard first. He knows that Rodgers leaves his loft between seven fifteen and seven twenty on a normal workday. He drives to work in his city-issued 2018 Chevrolet 2500 Silverado. Along the way, he stops off for a venti café mocha at Starbucks with room left for milk. From start to finish his whole drive takes him about 35 minutes with stopping for coffee. When he arrives at BDU headquarters, he notices that the building they are in is pretty much newer than any other surrounding building in the area. He had done some research as to why they were here now and it's because Rogers had asked for the funds for them to move from the Bronx to Manhattan in the last budget. He knows why they are here in Manhattan and it's because of that bitch of a wife he's married to. He knows she works in lower Manhattan and his shop is not far from where she works. He watches as he gets his equipment out of the back of the truck and walks into his office.

"Morning Baez." Rick greets Herman as he drops his gear right in front of his office.

"Morning boss," Herman says as he stuffs his mouth with a donut.

"You know Herman, you better think about laying off those donuts because one day you might not fit into your bunker pants to respond to a call."

"Come on boss these are the best kind of donuts. Krispy Kreme fresh out of the oven!"

"No thanks, I'm trying to watch my boyish figure. But by all means, don't let me stop you knock yourself out."

Rick made it to his office in sat down behind his desk. He was just going to start working on the budget for the coming year when lieutenant Kang knocked on his door.

"Loto? What's going on?"

"Rick, just need to know if it's okay for me to get next week off? I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I am going to ask Jillian to marry me. But we're going to do it all in one shot if you get my drift."

"Wait a second you're telling me that you're going to propose on some beautiful white sandy island and marry her that day or a couple of days after you ask her?"

Loto just smiled at Rick. He thought that this was unheard of but if Rick mentioned it, it couldn't be that bad. People did it all the time.

"Yeah, basically that's the plan. We're going to fly down to Costa Rica on Friday and then from there we're going to have a very romantic night with a dinner and of course will see the show while we eat but after we get done with the show we're going to take a very slow walk on the beach and that's when I'm going to ask her.'

"Well good luck to you Loto. I wish you all the luck and I'm sure that we can cover your absence for the next week. Smitty or Baez will take up the slack don't you worry about that."

Just then Smitty walked by Ricks's office in a hurry. Rick knew why he was walking by his office in a hurry because he didn't want to get caught by him. His brother had told him what happened in Ricks loft the other day. He was avoiding him like typhoid Mary.

"Just a second Loto…" "Smitty maybe you can spare a second or two I need to talk to you." Smitty stopped dead in his tracks because if he moved forward one more step Rick would probably come out of the office chasing him. So he turned around faced it like a man.

"Loto, is it alright if I tell Kate about your plan?"

"Yes, Rick. You can tell her she's half the reason I'm doing this. It's okay to tell her."

"Loto do me a favor and check out the equipment on the fast attack truck. I meant to do it last week but it slipped my mind."

"No problem Rick shouldn't take longer than a half-hour I'll give you the results when I'm done."

"Thanks, Loto. Now, Smitty, you're my next problem I have to deal with. I have mentioned to you many times that your brother is very good at what he does. And I usually don't have a problem with when he makes a mess around the loft but he takes care of it. But what happened this Saturday while I was trying to get this year's budget sorted out really got me to thinking why your brother was there in the first place remodeling my house. I don't know if he's got an issue with the people he hires or he just rubs everybody the wrong way but whatever it is he needs to figure out how to do the job he was hired to do. I really don't like taking work home with me, to begin with, but I needed to finish the budget and as of right now it still isn't done. So, while you're making your phone call to your brother explaining him to him how he can play nice with others I will be working on the budget for the next year."

"Boss, I'm sorry. I heard about what happened on Sunday when we had him over for dinner. But I will make sure that he and whoever he hires to complete the work on your new nursery will be professional at best."

Rick really couldn't stay mad at his best friend. He knew he would do his best to convince his brother not to screw around and just get the job done as quickly as possible. He just hopes he doesn't have to deal with what he had to deal with on Saturday again this weekend.

Total chaos is what Rick faces when he pulls out last year's budget report on expenditures and incoming funds. To this day there are still people who donate to the FDNY. They put a strict focus on where the funds are supposed to be allocated to. Rick and his unit get about 18% of the donations that are made to the FDNY. It's a boost in his budget and he doesn't have to adjust for the additional income by reducing his budget that he requests for the following year. Last year's donations alone replaced all of the bomb suits that they use when they need to respond to a scene and disarm a bomb. They are also fortunate to get a used 2014 Peterbilt straight job that had the capability to refill Scott air packs at the scene. When they were at bomb calls in the past and needed sustainable air, they used the FDNY's rechargeable system that they brought with them to the scene. Now they do it themselves.

He goes over the numbers from last year and only wants to increase his budget by 7.25 percent for the coming year. It's not much but with the donations that he knows will come in should make up the difference. And going to the City Council is always good at approving your budget when you ask for less money. They seem to give you what you want when you ask for less cash.

Xx

Kate was tired of being chained to her desk. She had only three more days and then she would be starting her maternity leave. But when she came back after her leave was over, she would be the new captain of the 12th precinct. She had taken the test for captain just after she found out that she was going to have the twins. She scored in the top three percent of all the candidates who took the test. She nailed the oral interview and the follow up second interview. When she was done, 1PP had placed her on a list of thirty-two people who passed the test. She was number four. She knew that Jenkins was a Staten Island cop and would never leave. Peterson loved the Bronx and would likely stay put there. But her only threat might be Ramos. He loved anything Manhattan. But she did have a hook. Her retiring captain had talked with the chief of detectives and the president of the captain's endowment association to give her just a small amount of pull to be placed at the 12th as it's new commander. Whatever they did worked because the first seven cops on the list were placed pretty much where they wanted to be.

Knowing that she could not leave the floor, Ryan and Esposito had returned with the preliminary information for the case.

It turns out that a woman was found hanging from the ceiling in her own home. There was no foul play but the lab results were not back yet. Ryan noticed that some areas of the home were ransacked. He also noticed that the victim Shelly Kim had DNA under her right-hand fingernails. Lanie would tell them what was going on with the evidence when she was finished with her. Before long, it was time to call it a day. Montgomery had dismissed all three of his detectives and wanted them back no sooner than 8 am the following morning.

Xx

Colin watches as she moves from the lobby to her car. He hails a cab to follow her to make sure she follows the route he has in his notes. She does and there are no changes. People in this country are so predictable they are almost asking to be used as a target or to be taken as a hostage. If they only knew what was waiting for them…