April 11th

Tom made it home around midnight although he was certain he lost about ten minutes at a stoplight along the way. Still, he was home and in one piece. His eyes didn't want to stay open while he undressed and got into bed. When he finally was able to lie down he was sucked into a deep sleep.

His cell phone rang. He didn't know how long it had been ringing before it woke him. He answered the phone, only opening his eyes long enough to glance at the clock. 3:00 AM. He gave a soft moan. "This had better be good." He said into the phone.

"Tom." It was Cassie's voice, and she sounded frightened.

"Cassie? What's wrong?" He asked sitting up in his bed, suddenly wide awake.

"Tom, he says you have three days to figure out who he is and to contact him."

"Oh god. Cassie, I'll find you. I promise I will find you."

"I know you will. You were right." She said the last three words quickly as the phone was pulled away from her face and hung up.

Tom dialed Harry's number and pinned the phone between his ear and shoulder as he pulled on his pants.

"Lipschitz," Harry said groggily into the phone. He knew that whoever was calling his place at three in the morning wasn't doing so to shoot the breeze. There was something wrong.

"He has Cassie," Tom said.

Harry's blood ran could. " The serial killer?"

"She just called. We've got three days. Harry, she managed to get out that I was right."

"Right about what?" Harry said.

"I think it's about the theory that it's a cop," Tom said. "Be careful who you call to meet us at her place. I left there around 11:30. She doesn't have a car right now, it has to be where she was taken from."

"I'll meet you there. You wait for me before you go in, do you hear me?"

"Yeah, I hear you." He said and hung up. He holstered his gun and took his personal weapon out of the gun safe and tucked it into his ankle holster.

He was at Cassie's place 15 minutes later. It was hard for him to wait. There was a mixture of hope and fear that Cassie was inside, but he knew she wouldn't be there. He had her. Whoever HE was. A cop. He was a cop. Tom was sure of it.

Harry's car pulled in beside his, and Tom got out of his and walked toward him.

"The door was open when I got here."

"I called Forensics on the way over. So we should just have time to make sure things are all clear before they get here." Harry said.

Tom led the way inside as he put on gloves. Sure his finger prints were all over the place but he didn't want to put them on anything new that might be there. "I was here earlier tonight. I needed some coffee in me to make the drive home. I left here at roughly 11:40. I got home at Midnight… the call woke me up… I called you right after I hung up."

He looked at the security system. "It's been turned off, I made sure she turned it on before I left." He took out his cell phone and called the security company. "This is detective Sgt Tom Ryan of Palm Beach PD." He then gave his badge number.

"How can I help you Sgt. Ryan." The voice on the phone asked.

He gave the address, the unit number on the wall-mounted controls, and the name on the account was Cassandra St. John. "I need to know the activity on this unit tonight. When it was turned on and off and if the alarm went off at all."

There was the sound of computer keys clicking before the voice said "The alarm did not go off tonight at all. It was on all day until 10:03 Pm when it was turned off then and back on again at 10:08. The temporary turn-off feature was used at 11:43, so it re-engaged at that time as well. It was turned off again at 1:15 AM. It was not turned back on."

"Thank you." He said and relayed the information to Harry. "This was someone she knew and trusted. She uses the temporary button when she answers the door, and always leaves it off if someone she trusts is in the house with her."

"Could she have been forced to turn it off?" Harry asked.

"There are panic codes to put in," Tom said.

"And you know all of this because…"

" I was here when it was set up. She set up her codes which I don't know, but I know how the system works."

"Well, there's no sign of a struggle, so she left without putting up a fight," Harry said.

"And without resetting the system," Tom said as he began to walk around the apartment to see if there were things out of place or added. He didn't find anything. He growled in frustration. "They missed getting Maura so they took Cassie instead."

"This isn't your fault Thomas." Harry said firmly. "This is not your fault."

"Isn't it?" He asked.

"No. You didn't get away with anything, Tom. You didn't. You did not murder that man, and you spent longer on suspension for leaving town than was normal after being cleared. You didn't get away with anything."

"Whoever did this doesn't feel the same," Tom said, running both hands through his hair, trying to think. "She said I was right… there are two things I have been bouncing off of her and I can't shake either one of them. That the killer is a cop, and that somehow it all ties back to Sebastian Graham."

Harry nodded "Okay, New Orleans and Miami Dade are looking into the Graham brothers. They'll get back to us when they have something."

"I don't have time to wait for people to get back to me, Harry."

"Which is why we're going to focus on finding the man who took Cassie. Once forensics gets here we'll head to the precinct and let them do their job while we scour this investigation to find whatever it is we've missed and maybe figure out who Cassie trusted enough to let inside her home."

"And hopefully keep IAB from investigating me for her kidnapping." He said.

"You let me worry about that." He said "They want to avoid the appearance of evil where you're concerned. Moving against you right now would look like retaliation and they know it. We have time to find Cassie before they get permission to find their balls again."

"You're right." He said and sighed. "You're right."

There was a rap at the open door. The forensics team had arrived.

"I'll meet you at the office." He told Harry and went outside. He didn't think he could handle watching them sift through Cassie's life. It was necessary but he couldn't watch. The kidnapper wouldn't have left any clues behind. He hadn't at any other time and Tom didn't see that changing. The killer got off on getting away with it.

He was still tired, but the three hours of sleep he'd gotten would have to be good enough. He wasn't going to sleep until they had Cassie back. He doubted his mind would let him even if he wanted to, and he didn't.

He drove to the precinct on auto pilot. False dawn set a faint glow across the water. It was an hour before sunrise. Cassie had been in that monster keeping since around 1:15 that morning. The clock was counting down and he didn't know who this madman was other than someone Cassie knew and trusted, and a cop. The last part was an assumption because she had said he was right. What if it was about something else? They talked almost constantly. Was there something else he could have said that she was referring to?

He parked in front of the precinct and went inside. He pulled the notes from their interviews, the files on the individual cases, every post it note, note pad o,r scratch paper doodle they'd done over the past few days whether it related or not and put it into a box. He wasn't going to work on it out here. He didn't know who he could trust and he wasn't going to risk it with Cassie's life on the line.

Harry was only five minutes behind him and Tom picked up the box and followed him into his office and closed the door behind them. Harry cleared what little there was on his desk then took the box from Tom's hands and started to lay things out on his desk so they could see it all.

Tom paced while he did so then pulled a chair closer and sat down. " I should call Adams and let him know what happened, otherwise he's going to find out by showing up at her place to pick her up for work this morning."

"He's a smart boy, he'll know to check in," Harry said.

"They're a couple Harry. Early days but she's seeing him." Tom said, "It's not just some guy being nice and giving her a ride."

"Let me take care of that. You put this in some sort of order that makes sense." He said, indicating the papers and photos on his desk. He stepped out of the office to break the news to Will Adams. He didn't approve of a relationship between those two but other than telling them it was against regulations there was nothing he could do about it. He felt protective of Cassie. He'd overlooked the relationship between her and Tom because he knew what sort of man Tom was and had thought it was a good match. He had been wrong of course. What makes good friends and great partners and okay sometimes great lovers did not always make great spouses.

He looked up Will's number. He hadn't removed it from his phone yet even though he'd transferred back to the Organized Crime Task Force. Whereas far as Harry was concerned he needed to stay. Not every detective was cut out for Homicide. He called the number and got no answer. He left a message for him to call then went back into his office.

"No answer. He's probably driving. I'll try again in an hour or so." He said and began to look over Tom and Cassie's case.

"I don't like him." Tom said, "And before you suggest it, no I'm not jealous." He sifted through the papers on Harry's desk, "Do we have the ballistic report on the bullets pulled out of Maura's watchdogs?"

"Not yet." He said, "But I'm sure they'll turn out to be from our serial killer's gun."

"I don't think it's a serial killer per se. I think he was hired to take out the Coopers and the rest is a smoke screen."

"Don't you think there has been enough smoke laid out that they don't need to target you?" Harry asked. "There are four cases that we know of, why risk being caught just to go after a pair of homicide detectives?"

"I'd say it was because I showed up on Graham's doorstep, but Maura's body guards were taken out before I got to New Orleans." He said," I don't know." He got up and paced. "I feel so damned useless." He yelled.

Harry looked at him sympathetically but he was frustrated at the same time. "You're not going to get anywhere with your emotions over the top. I get it. I love her too, but you need to get yourself under control or we're never going to sort this out."

"I know." Tom said tersely, then sighed "Sorry." He took his seat again. "I just can't think of anyone that she'd just let into her house at one in the morning." His words trailed off as he spotted the business card on the desk and picked it up. "I'm an idiot." He said and handed it to Harry. "Adam Williams. Will Adams." He picked up his phone "What's the son of a bitch's number."

Harry opened his phone and read the number to him.

"Adams." The man said into the phone as he answered it.

"Where is she?" Tom asked loathing in his tone.

"Very good, Ryan. I knew you'd be the one to figure it out eventually. I just didn't think it would be before you found her body."

"I repeat. Where is she?" Tom said. "If you hurt her, I promise you, I will end you."

He could hear Cassandra's voice in the background calling out his name.

"I'll call with instructions later. Don't worry, she'll be fine as long as you do as your told. We're just getting started." The line went dead.

Cassie glared at Will. "I told you he'd figure it out." She said. "He's smarter than you give him credit for."

"He figured it out because it was spoon-fed to him," Will said laughing. "It was always going to be spoon-fed to him. I really wanted it to be Maura Palmeri, not you but she got smart and bailed and you just can't let go. So here you are."

"I don't understand," She said.

"I don't choose the target," Will said. "I sure as hell didn't choose to give over the information that got him off of internal affairs radar."

"Above your pay grade is it? You just do as you're told like a trained monkey… or are you more like a stand in for a character in Sebastian Graham's book and he's decided that Tom is the hero of the story." She said "I guess he's a good judge of character then."

"Tom Ryan is no hero," Will said. "You would see that if you weren't so intent on getting back together with him."

"I am not trying to get back together with Tom. I'm not."

"Really? The minute they break up you have him in your house two… three times."

"He's my best friend and he's hurting. Of course, I had him come over." There was no way she was going to betray Tom and tell Will that he and Maura hadn't really broken up. She wouldn't put it past him to go after her in California. "Is that what's driving you? Jealousy? He's a better detective, a better partner, a better lover and he sure as hell is a better man."

He backhanded her across the face.

"I rest my case."

"We have no evidence that Adams is the killer other than the fact that he has Cassie and is playing the same bullshit games the killer does." Harry said, "A good lawyer would get every murder thrown out of court."

"True, but the phone call should be enough to get us a search warrant for his apartment." Tom said "And I've got nothing better to do until he calls back."

Harry nodded and placed the call to the same judge that had given them the search warrant for the Internal affairs offices. It took longer to get through to the judge than it did to convince the man to sign over a warrant. "We'll have it as soon as it's printed up and signed."

Tom nodded. It was better than sitting and waiting while doing nothing.

"When he does call, you're not going alone."

"I am if that's what he says to do. He said she'd be fine as long as I did what he said and that we were just getting started."

"He'll kill you both," Harry said. "So no you are not going alone. Doesn't mean he has to know anyone else is there. Do you hear me?"

"I hear you." He said and glanced at his watch for the third time.

"Good. Because I'm riding with you over to Adams' place so that you don't forget that you heard me." Harry said, giving him a pointed look.

Tom merely nodded. He would ditch Harry in a heartbeat if that was what Adams required. He would do what ever it took to get Cassie back safely. This was his fault and he knew it.

The search warrant arrived and they left the building. "MY car," Harry said.

Tom sighed in frustration "Harry-"

"My car," Harry repeated. "If you want to be part of the execution of this search warrant you will go there, with me, in my car."

"Fine," Tom said and got into the passenger's side of Harry's car.

"I know what you're thinking." He said as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"When did you become a mind reader?" Tom asked sarcastically.

"The day they made me captain," Harry said with equal sarcasm. "You think I was never young and impulsive? Please. I know how you feel about her. I care about her too. I also happen to care about you. So does that lovely young woman you sent to California."

"I'm not going to get myself killed, Harry."

"That's right. Because you're not going anywhere alone and that's final."

Tom didn't argue, but Harry knew him well enough to know that meant just about nothing. Tom Ryan had a mind of his own and he wasn't slowed down by regulations or orders when he felt he was in the right.

He parked in front of the apartment complex and turned off the car. A patrol car arrived five minutes later. "Let's go see what we can find out."

They got out of the car and went to the manager's office.

"I'm Captain Lipshitz and this is Sgt Ryan. We're here to execute a search warrant on unit 405." He showed his badge and the warrant. " Do you have a master key or a copy of the apartment key?"

"I don't know if I should let you in. I know you have a warrant, but if he's not home-"

"Doesn't matter. We have the right to enter. Now we can do this the easy way and have you unlock the door, or I can have one of my officers kick the door in and, no, Palm Beach PD will not be responsible for any damage to the door as this is a legal right to enter and search."

"Unit 405 you said?" The manager stated, suddenly changing his tune. "Let me get that key. Hey, isn't the guy who lives there a cop?"

"Yes he is," Tom said.

"Wow. I guess no one is safe from you guys. Not even your own people." He grabbed the master key from his locked desk drawer, and led the way to the apartment.

"You have no idea," Tom said under his breath.

The apartment was immaculate. Not merely clean and well-ordered but it looked staged to Tom. No one lived That neatly. Even the refrigerator and pantry shelves were ordered to a degree that suggested a level of OCD, or extensive undercover work.

Within the closet were two distinctive styles of clothes. One side belonged to police Sgt. Will Adams. The other looked more like Adam Williams style. Both sides had the hangers spaced one inch apart exactly. "So that's what a $500 tee shirt looks like." Tom said.

"It looks like a waste," Harry said.

"I couldn't agree more," Tom said looking around the bedroom. Then he spotted it. The one and only thing that was out of perfect place. The bed was slightly off. The mattress was a quarter inch off at the lower left-hand corner. Normally that wouldn't hit his radar but it was in stark contrast to everything else that was so precisely placed.

Tom picked up one edge of the mattress and tipped it up upright on the floor. In the center of the boxspring, there was a hole cut out. Within was a wooden cigar box. He took it out and looked inside. "Bingo."

Harry came to stand beside him and looked within. There he saw a stack of driver's licenses, he took them out and looked through them. "These belong to the women that were killed. We have our connection."

Tom looked at the three passports in the box as well. "Adam Williams, Will Adams and get this, Adam William Graham. Guess we now know his real name. Have to wonder how he managed to get into the police academy with a fake ID."

"Stranger things have happened." Harry said. "Most of them here in Palm Beach."

They bagged the IDs and passports as evidence and handed them off to forensics to log and finger print.

"He's the one that gave the information to Cassie that put Alexander onto Galloway. It's all going to start up again, isn't it? That's how he figures I got away with it. That's why he took her."

"No," Harry said firmly. "You are not going down that rabbit hole. It doesn't matter where the lead came from, it panned out. It was investigated by the district attorney's office. You were cleared by the district attorney's office. Your lawyer made sure that could never be undone. Not that Craig Alexander would ever prosecute someone he knew to be innocent. So no this is not starting again. We are going to get this guy, bring Cassie home and get you on a plane to California. It's going to be alright."

Tom nodded. "He keeps them alive for the full three days according to the Medical examiner. So he has to have somewhere else to keep them because clearly, he couldn't do it here. Somewhere he feels safe enough to leave them while he reports for duty."

"I'll call Miami and see if they can't get a warrant to search the warehouse. But I don't think he'd take Cassie there."

"Neither do I." Tom said "Too many opportunities for Cassie to cause trouble between here and there and believe me she would cause trouble. She's a smart woman. If there was even half a chance she could escape or leave a clue she would."

"We've done all we can here," Harry said. "Let's go back to the office and see if Adam Graham has any property in or around Palm Beach."

"Good idea." He said and turned to leave. He didn't think they would find anything. But it was better than sitting on his hands waiting on a phone call, hoping that Cassie didn't get herself killed causing trouble for her kidnapper.

He waited by Harry's car for the Captain to join him and unlock it. He said nothing as they returned to the precinct. Harry pulled his car in next to Tom's Mustang. Tom got out and frowned as his phone rang. "Ryan," He said.

"Hey, it's me. " Maura said.

"Well hello me." He said, relieved and disappointed at the same time. He wanted things over. He wanted Cassie safe. He wanted to be in California with Maura and starting his new life. So far he wasn't getting anything he wanted. "I can't stay on the phone" He explained everything to her. "I'm going to get her back."

"I know you will. Promise me you'll be careful." His job was dangerous. He worked in Homicide, so he would always be chasing people who were willing to kill. She could accept that, as long as he could be careful.

"As careful as I can be." He told her. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'll see you soon." He promised and ended the call.

Harry watched him carefully.

"It really was Maura., Tom said, catching the look.

"We need to come up with a plan." Harry said as they walked into the precinct. "We know he's going to say come alone."

"And he's smart so he'll do everything he can to make sure that I can't do anything But come alone."

"Chances are he's not near enough to watch what's going on here," Harry said. "He wouldn't be foolish enough to have her anywhere near and he's not going to leave her alone. The other women sure, but not Cassandra."

"Unless she's drugged or tied up" Tom said as they entered Harry's office. "But he still wouldn't be close to the station, every cop in town is looking for him," Tom said.

"I'm sticking to you like glue. If he can't see there is no reason for me not to go with you."

Tom shook his head. "You follow in a separate car. I know you can keep up with me. Then you can coordinate with dispatch to bring more back up."

Harry nodded, it was a solid plan. As solid as they were going to get without knowing what Adams was going to demand.

The day seemed to drag on endlessly. Tom paced, fidgeted, and worried while Harry did his best to stay focused on the job until there was something else to focus on. They were both tired and on edge by the time Tom's phone rang.

Tom answered on the first ring. "Ryan."

"Keep your mouth shut and listen."

Tom nodded to Harry that it was Adams.

"I know you're not there alone. But if you make any indication of what I am telling you I will kill her here and now. You can say yes if you understand what I'm saying."

, Yes." Tom said.

"Good. Now get up, without saying a word. Walk out of the precinct and get in your car, with the top down. Do it now. Do not hang up or I will kill her."

Tom gave Harry one last look and headed toward the door. Harry silently followed.

He got into his car, the top was already down and he started the car while keeping the phone to his ear.

"Are you alone in the car?"

"Yes."

"Good keep the top down. Start the car and leave the parking lot go south." He gave the street name where he was to make a right turn.

"I need to put the phone on speaker," Tom said.

"Fine."

Tom turned the volume up and put the phone on speaker on his lap. A quick glance in the rearview mirror told him that Harry was tailing him.

"Alright, I just turned right." Tom said as he made the turn.

"Keep going to the freeway, take the southbound on-ramp"

"Fine." He said, "Let me talk to Cassie."

"You'll talk to her soon enough."

"Put her on the damned phon,." Tom said sharply. "If you want me to play your game you need to show me that she's still alive."

Adams laughed. "Are you growing balls, Ryan?"

Tom laughed humorlessly. "Unlike you who makes a hobby out of killing women, you cowardly son of a bitch. Put Cassandra on the phone now."

Adams laughed "tell me when you're on the freeway. Then I'll let you talk to her."

"Fine." He continued onward. "Taking the on-ramp now." Tom said.

"Good, take the second exit back into town."

"What the hell are you playing at?" Tom demanded.

"You'll see." He said,d "Here she is."

"Tom-" Cassie said "Don't do what he says. Stay away. Tom. Stay away."

"I wouldn't do that even if I could." He said "I'll get you out of this. I swear."

"He'll kill you."

"I know." He said passing the first exit, and looking in the rearview mirror, to make certain Harry was behind him. "I don't care." He moved over to the far right lane and telegraphed where he was going long before he needed to do so.

"But I do." She said.

"It's okay." Tom said. "What ever happens, it's okay." He could hear her start to cry. "I lied that day. I was blind stupid drunk and hurting. I was lashing out. I loved you with everything I had in me. You were never a mistake."

"I'm so sorry." She said. "I never should have doubted you."

"It's alright. Tell him I'm taking the second exit now." He could hear her do so, and the phone was taken away from her.

"Satisfied?" Adams asked.

"Sure, are you?" Tom asked in return.

"Oh, I will be. Keep going to the warehouse district, the one near the ship yards."

"Right," Tom said, and continued as ordered. Harry was visible two cars back. Tom still telegraphed his intended path long before he needed to do so. The only chance he and Cassie had for getting out of this with as few bullet holes as possible was for Harry to back him up. "Alright I' m there."

Adams gave him a street address. " Park in front and turn the car off." He said.

Tom found it and pulled up in front of the building. He wondered if this also belonged to the Grahams. He turned off the car and picked up the phone taking it off of speaker and putting it next to his ear. "Alright. I'm here."

"Good. Get out of the car, and walk two blocks to the right. You'll find an abandoned warehouse marked as condemned. Go inside and take the stairs up to the roof. You can hang up now."

Tom did so and pocketed the phone. He started walking, face toward the sidewalk making certain not to look up when Harry's car drove past him.

Harry drove on watching in the rearview mirror to see where Tom went next. He spotted the building he went into, made note of it then called in the location to those who were following a few blocks behind. He parked a block away and got out. As he walked closer, he could see Adam and Cassie on the roof and began to run toward the warehouse, staying close to the walls of the warehouses leading up to that one so as not to be spotted should Adams look down.

He pulled his pistol as he entered the building and cautiously, quietly made his way up the stairs, two very tall stories up. The door at the top was left open and Harry figured Tom had done so on purpose. He peered around the door watching and waiting for the opportunity to act.

Tom stood in front of Adams and Cassie, his pistol in his right hand. "Let her go." He said firmly.

"Drop the gun and I'll consider it." He said, his gun pressed solidly into Cassie's side.

Tom shook his head "That's not how this is going to work. We both know you can't shoot me with your gun pressed into someone else. So let Cassie go. She's not going to be able to tell people anything they don't already know. You have no reason to hurt her."

"You want me to let her go?" Adams said with a grin. "Sure I can do that." The grin faded and his dark eyes shone with malice. He stepped back toward the edge of the roof. "I'll let her go right over the edge," He said his free hand twining in her hair, pulling her backward off balance. "If you don't put the fucking gun on the ground."

"Alright, alright," Tom said, moving his hand with the gun to the side before kneeling, left knee bent, right knee touching the roof. He put the gun down and showed his empty hand.

"Toss it aside. Now."

"Alright," Tom said and shoved the gun aside.

"Show me your ankle." He said.

Tom reached for his left ankle.

"The other one." He said. "What are you going to do, draw with your off hand?"

Tom pulled his pant leg up to show there was no ankle holster on his right ankle. His left hand was on the roof next to his leg. He exchanged a look with Cassie. She was still too close to the edge to suit him. " Okay, I'm unarmed. Let her go free."

Harry chose that moment to step out of hiding. "You heard the man." He said leveling his gun.

When Adams took his attention off of Tom he drew his gun from the ankle holster on his left and fired, hitting Adams in the knee, causing him to drop to the roof rather than stumble backward as Archer had done. Cassie fell to the roof instead of over the edge and Tom sighed in relief before firing once more, simultaneously with Harry and the man they knew as Will Adams fell to the rooftop, dead.

"I'm left-handed asshole." Tom said getting to his feet and going to help Cassie to hers. He took out his keys and used his handcuff key to unlock the cuffs that held her hands. "It's over." He said pulling her into a tight hug. He kissed her hair. "It's over."