"Nice system," Cody commented as her perused the mainframe.  "Here we go, Shay.  Here's the forensics you've been wanting to see."

She moved over to Cody's station and sat beside him.  "Finally...now we can see just how the women were found...if Forensics did their jobs properly."  Shay pointed to a few of the photos.  "Pull these up for me, these three here...side by side."

"Okay, okay."  Damn...just like Frank.

She shook her head...something was there; she just wasn't seeing it.  "Print them all...photo quality.  All the files, too."

"Yes, your highness," he quipped and received a slap to the back of the head for his troubles.

She paced behind Cody cursing the slowness of his printer. 

"Yelling at my equipment won't make it go faster," he snapped.  "Go play with something."

"Oh, shut up," she snapped back and turned to resume her pacing and collided into something solid.  "Hello, Tiger," she whispered, winking.

"Find anything," he asked, ignoring the fact she called him her pet name while at work.  If he barked at her one more time, she was liable to come unglued and beat the stuffing out of him, not that he didn't deserve it.

Shaking her head, she replied, "Still waiting for the files and photographs to print."

Frankie had made herself into a ghost after Mr. Renquist and the children had left.  Slipping into her PD-mode to watch and listen was too easy; she'd been doing it far too long.  A living ghost is what some of the Boyz in Blue had labeled her.  She stayed close enough to hear what was said and to see the photos as they came off.  Working in and with a team was something new to her.  Usually she was it...

"Yeah, and driving me crazy," Cody commented.  This time it was Frank who slapped him upside the head.  "Hey!  Knock it off, you two.  And why can't you look at them as they print off?  Why do you have to see them all at the same time?"

"Ah...so, it just wasn't my team she was stubborn and demanding with," Bryce commented as he entered the room.

"It just works that way, Cody," she tried to explain as she wrinkled her nose at Bryce.  "It helps me to get a better feel of things, how it happened, why...try to get inside the mind of the killer."

Cody shuddered watching the last of the photos print off.  "That's not a place I'd want to get into."

Frank shook his head.  "I'd rather she didn't either."  He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her blue eyes.  "Don't get lost in there," he whispered.

She nodded.  When he whispered like that and looked so intently into her eyes, she wanted to throw herself into his arms, kiss him until they were breathless, and make love to him until their brains turned to liquid mush.  Instead, she took the pile of photos and moved over to the conference table and spread them out.

Pacing along the table slowly, she looked over each picture carefully.  Noting the way the three women were posed on the bed.  Arms folded over their chests, as if to protect their modesty.  Legs outstretched, but ankles folded over top each other, hiding their femininity from view.  Why go to the trouble of raping, strangling and stabbing only to protect their modesty? 

At the 'goo-goo' eyes passing between Shay to Frank, Frankie wanted to puke.  What did he see in her?  Slowly she got to her feet and walked over, positioning herself on the other side of the table from Shay.  She didn't pace, instead she braced her hands on the edge of the table and looked at each one individually.

Shay pressed her fingers to her temples and turned her back to the photographs and Frankie, who was studying the photos from the opposite side of the table, and closed her eyes.  She was missing something...something that was right in front of her.  She growled in frustration.

"Oh, that's not a good sound," Bryce commented from behind her. 

Shay turned and found herself face to face with her ex-boss.  She laughed.  "Yeah, a sound you heard way too many times."

"I've missed you, Kiddo," he admitted.

"Bryce...don't."

He reached out and took her arm.  "If you...want to come back...I told you before..."

"Bryce..."

Quietly Frankie picked up the photos and slipped off to a corner of the room to look them over. Every now and then she looked up to watch Shay and Bryce. There was more there than Boss and Employee... Not that it was her business really. With a soft snort and a shake of her head in disapproval, Frankie slid through the photographs over and over...

"You're not happy, Shay.  I can see that.  Come back to Atlanta with me," he said softly, moving closer.

"I can't thank you enough for your help and your friendship, but that is the extent of it.  Frank and the kids are my life, nothing can change that," she assured him.

He nodded.  "I would have hated myself if I didn't try, Kiddo."  He leaned in and kissed her cheek.  "Say my goodbye's for me.  I have a plane to catch." 

She watched as he left the room and heard the outside door close firmly. 

"There's still time to change your mind."

She turned quickly to see Frank standing outside his office door.  "Why would I want to do that?"  She climbed the stairs quickly to stand before him.  "Or, is it that you want me to go?"

"Do what you want, Shay.  You always do," he commented and turned away to return to his office. 

"Do what I want..."  She grabbed his upper arm and tugged firmly, turning him to face her.  "I want..."  She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist.  "You."

A low growl escaped him as he pulled her into his office and closed the door.   Once inside, he backed her up against it and pressed himself fully against her body.  His mouth captured hers hungrily and their moans of pleasure and desire mixed and mingled in the quiet of his office. 

"Tiger..." Shay moaned.

He murmured something as his lips and tongue explored her throat. 

"Hmmm...wha...what?" she stammered as her body shuddered with excitement.

He lifted his head and gazed into her eyes, his hunger for her visible in his features.  "I need you, Shay."

"Let's go home, Tiger...it's already late.  Dad's probably already put the kids to bed..." 

Frank nodded, grabbed the keys from the desk and took Shay by the hand.  He tossed open the door and they ran down the stairs, passing Cody along the way to the door.  "Call it a night, people!" he yelled as they raced to the door.

"Well...okay, then," he said laughing.  "Have fun, kids!"

************