AN: The usual disclaimer applies! ACD has first dibs. I'll take the leftovers.


Chapter 2

We had made it halfway through dinner in silence when we were interrupted yet again, this time by two men I had never seen before. Both of them were clad in similar outfits, dark two-piece suits with white shirts and solid color ties. However, the similarities ended there.

The taller one was extremely thin and lean, with long black hair slicked back and tied neatly in a ponytail. He also sported a small diamond stud in his left ear. Due to his build, I would have pegged him for a surfer if his clothes and demeanor didn't mark him as an FBI agent.

The second man was a middle-sized, strongly built man- square jaw, thick neck, and neatly trimmed dark brown hair. His large brown eyes were twinkling, and he smiled at Holmes like an old friend. "Jake- it's been too long," the second man said.

Given Holmes' outburst regarding the FBI earlier, I was quite baffled about his subsequent reaction to these two men. Holmes looked up at the second man, the one who had spoken, and grasped the man's outstretched hand in a warm handshake. "It has been too long." They exchanged a long look, and then Holmes gestured to me. "Brian, this is Dr. Laura Watson, a good friend of mine. Watson, this is Special Agent Brian Morstan of the FBI."

The one with twinkling brown eyes offered his hand to me, which I shook respectfully. "Just call me Brian."

I smiled, taking in his sincerity. "Then you call me Laura."

"And this," Holmes pointed to the taller man, "is Agent Gary Sholto."

We shook hands briefly. "Care to join us?" I offered. I couldn't deny my curiosity about these two men, whom Holmes seemed to know very well. Given his earlier remark towards Lestrade, Holmes' 360 attitude change was rather intriguing, and I was determined to figure what was going on. That, and Agent Morstan- Brian- seemed very nice.

"Don't mind if we do," Brian beamed as they slid into the booth, Brian taking the seat next to mine.

"Ma'm, can we get a couple of beers please?" Brian called out to the waitress.

Agent Sholto then spoke for the first time, glancing at Holmes. "Watson and Holmes, huh? That's quick. Maybe we should start calling you Sherlock, Jake."

I suppressed a laugh as Holmes almost choked on his food. "The coincidences don't just end there, Gary," he remarked after he swallowed, his cheeks tinged slightly pink. "If I remember my British lit professor correctly, Sholto and Morstan were also names in a Sherlock Holmes story."

I laughed, unable to keep it in. "And don't forget Lestrade," I quipped.

Jake cast a rare smile my way, while Brian laughed boisterously. "Speaking of which, Jake, you still working with Detective Lestrade?"

Holmes paused, studied the two men, and shook his head carefully. "Not anymore. But you already knew that he would be joining your neck of the woods."

Brian nodded. "Yes."

"Is that why you came down here?"

Brian and Gary glanced at each other before returning their gaze to Holmes. "Actually, that's not the main reason," Brian acknowledged slowly, throwing a sideways glance at me.

I got the message. This conversation was not meant for my ears. "If you all will excuse me…" I started, before I felt Holmes' hand on mine.

"Stay," he commanded.

I couldn't bring myself to refuse the intense expression on Holmes' face. I sat back down.

"So what is it?" Holmes asked, his gaze fixed on Brian.

Brian hesitated, but continued in a soft yet deliberate voice. "We have a new lead on Sebastian's whereabouts."

"Where is he?" Holmes' voice was brusque, businesslike.

It was Gary who spoke next. "New Orleans. He's supposedly working in a bar there of some sort." He slid Holmes a small piece of folded white paper across the table. "That's the name he's using, but there's a chance he's moving soon. What I don't understand is why he's gone back there again, given how close you were to finding him last time."

Holmes' hands began to shake noticeably the moment he picked up the paper, read it, and then tucked it in his back pocket. "I'm on the next flight to New Orleans then." He jabbed his index finger at Brian. "And you don't know anything about it."

Brian shook his head violently, protesting loudly. "No, no, no. You can't do that Jake. You can't just show up in New Orleans and ring his doorbell. Sebastian is a federal witness under US Marshal protection."

Holmes seemed to pause for a moment, allowing Brian to continue. "Gary and I are putting our jobs on the line to pass this information to you, and I'm not about to have the leak traced back to us. Good God, Jake, I'm only a few months away from a full pension."

Holmes was unmoved. "I have to go."

"Jake, don't do what I think you're planning to do," Brian pleaded.

Holmes glared at Brian. "He would have done the same for you," he chided the agent.

Brian cast his eyes down before raising his eyes to meet Holmes'. "I know. But there must be some other way. I know you can come up with something. Promise me. For Jason's sake. He wouldn't want you do it this way."

Holmes settled back into the booth, deep in thought. It seemed like an eternity before he spoke again. "All right," he mumbled under his breath.

An uncomfortable moment of silence passed before Brian and Gary let out their breaths, seemingly convinced that Holmes wasn't going to do anything rash at the moment. Meanwhile, my mind was reeling from the conversation. I was racking my brain trying to figure out where I had heard the name Jason in connection with Holmes before. The waitress brought the two beers Brian had ordered, and we watched Gary down his in a single gulp. Brian's beer remained untouched.

Holmes then changed the subject, trying to break the tension that still lingered. "Anyone up for a game of pool?" Gary accepted the offer, claiming that Holmes was just another old man with illusions of grandeur, while Brian and I declined, remaining at the table. My dinner remained half-eaten, and I waved the waitress over, asking her to box the remainder.

"He speaks very highly of you, you know," Brian casually remarked as soon as the waitress left.

I blushed. What was I supposed to say to that? He's never mentioned you? I settled for calculated disbelief. "I don't believe you."

Brian nodded sincerely. "He did, when I talked with him two weeks ago. Sebastian had just eluded him again. You know about Sebastian, right?"

Brian was studying my features, trying to gauge my reaction. I opted for an honest answer, even though I was dying to pretend otherwise in an effort to fish for more clues. "Not really, no."

Brian glanced at Holmes and his partner, who were both deeply engrossed in their pool game fifty feet away. "Well, I suppose there's no harm in telling you this, since he asked you to stay for the prior conversation."

He wavered a moment before continuing. "Carl Sebastian is a former mobster who turned state's evidence. He was the star witness in the trial of John Gotti, head of the Gambino crime family ten years ago. Long story short, Sebastian's testimony helped put away almost 50 guys, helped New York clear about a dozen unsolved murders, and practically shut down the entire organization."

I was confused. "That's a good thing, right?"

Brian took a long hard sip of his beer before continuing. "It depends on who you ask. The FBI, the Justice Department, the NYPD, the New York Attorney General, they would all say yes. But Jake would say no. The price we paid for Sebastian's information was too high."

"Why?"

"The only way Sebastian would agree to testify was if the pending murder charge against him was dropped and he and his entire family were put into federal witness protection. So we obliged him. New identity, relocation, the works. Plus, he got to keep the forty million dollars he had made over the years illegally."

I still didn't see what the big deal was. "But you FBI guys make this type of deal with mobsters all the time in racketeering cases to get their testimony. What makes this time so different?"

Brian's voice was barely above a whisper, but his next words rang loud and clear in my ear. "Laura, Sebastian was charged with killing one Jason Holmes. Jake's brother."


AN: Thanks to Silent Beatnik and Kittenchatter- your encouragement prompted me to post this chapter earlier. As far as longer chapters… I'm trying, but I'm used to thinking/writing in short spurts- must be a side effect of watching too much TV.