Chapter 11

Friday evening, Tom, Margo, Jack, and some of the uniforms met in the interrogation room at the station to go over the plan one more time. "Ok, I will be sitting at the front counter at Metro. You guys need to be in plain clothes and spread out around the bar. We have to let it get far enough that we can catch him in the act. Jack and Tom will be out in the surveillance van listening in. Do not do anything without their orders. Understand?" All the uniforms nodded and then Margo shooed them out of the room saying, "good, now get out of here so I can change."

Everyone left, except for Tom, who locked the door behind them and then went over to close the blinds. "What are you doing?" Margo asked when she realized he wasn't leaving. "Well, I thought you could use some help getting that wire in place," he explained. Margo laughed "So, I see you aren't totally worn out from last night." Tom kissed her neck in a way that made her skin tingle, "I never get tired of making love to my beautiful, sexy wife" he said. "Well, you're just going to have to wait a little longer. I'm supposed to be getting dressed and if someone found the detective investigating this case and the DA making out like teenagers, I mean that could just totally ruin everything." Margo said. Tom agreed and helped her get dressed and together, they got the wire in place where it couldn't be seen and made sure it was working. When they finished, Tom kissed her forehead and said, "you look beautiful".

Margo was surprised at the tears that came to the surface when Tom said that. "Hey, what's the matter, baby? I didn't mean to make you cry." Tom said. He reached up and wiped her tears away and then put his arms around her. "Tom, what am I doing? I can't do this," she cried into his shirt. Tom pulled her away and took her face in his hands. "Yes, you can," he encouraged. "You are the bravest woman I have ever seen and I have faith in you. I know you can do this," he continued. Then he added, "but if you are having second thoughts, we can pull the plug on this thing right now," he assured her. Margo stood straight up, wiped her eyes. "No, I can do this. I have to." Tom smiled, knowing that would be her answer. Then, they went out the door to join Jack and the uniforms on their way to Metro.

When they arrived at Metro, Tom and Jack got the surveillance van ready while the uniforms spread out amongst the crowd that had gathered. Margo entered the bar gracefully and sat down at the counter, setting her purse on top. Dusty was surprised to see her. "I don't remember the last time I saw you here. What can I get you?" "I'll have a club soda, straight up," Margo said. "No problem," Dusty said and soon returned with her drink. Margo sat there for a few minutes, sipping her drink slowly, trying to think about this one step at a time. She saw a few people take a hard glance at her, but so far she hadn't seen anything suspicious. Suddenly, she heard a voice that came from almost nowhere. "You don't drink?" the man asked. Margo tried to hide the fact that she was startled when she turned around and looked at him. This could be the guy, she thought. "No, um, not tonight," she answered. The man then got close to her and she could feel his breath in her ear. "So, tell me," he said, "What's a pretty woman like you doing here all alone?"

Meanwhile, Tom and Jack were in the surveillance van listening in. "Jack, did you hear that?" Tom said. "This has to be him," he finished as he jumped out of his seat and started to get out of the van. Jack was up and out of his seat the minute he saw Tom getting nervous. "Tom! Calm down. If we go busting in there now, it will ruin the whole thing. Just let Margo do her job." Jack saw the anger in Tom's eyes increase while listening to their conversation, but he eventually softened. "Ok, you're right. I'm sorry. I'll feel better after we get this creep in jail and away from my wife." Tom and Jack sat down and continued to listen to Margo's conversation.

"Why does anyone come here?" Margo asked. "To unwind. We all work too damn much, you know." The man chuckled, "Yeah, I think I do know." Then, he stuck out his hand and introduced himself, "David Jones," he said proudly. Margo shook his hand and smiled, "Kathy Hargrove," she said, trying to keep a straight face. This thing would be over right now if she gave him her real name. When she introduced herself and looked him in the face for the first time, David had a shocked expression on his face. "Something wrong, David," she asked. David immediately shook his head. "No, I guess for a minute there you looked familiar, that's all." The two continued small talking for a few minutes.

From the moment he introduced himself, Margo was certain she was face-to-face with Elroy Nevin's brother. On the outside, she remained cool, calm, and professional. On the inside, she was screaming and almost wanting to throw up any second. After talking for a few minutes, David accidentally knocked over her drink, spilling it all over her front. "Oh, my God. I'm so sorry," he said and tried to find some napkins. Margo laughed and said, "No, its alright. Excuse me a minute, I'll just run to the ladies room."

David watched her quickly leave the counter. Once her back was to him, he turned cold and angry. That bitch, he thought. She thinks she's fooling me.

A few minutes later, Shanks made a call to Jack, "We can't find Detective Hughes. Repeat. We can't find Detective Hughes."