Peter pulled off his new boots and flopped back on the bed. He wasn't sure how successful his morning foray into town had been with regard to the investigation, but the new boots had been a godsend.

Caine followed him into their quarters and frowned. "You have not spoken of what you found this morning."

"That's because Henry is still here," Peter said as he sat up.

"You suspect him of trying to kill the horses?"

"No. I suspect him of trying to make them sick and suddenly be needed by Trish. The horses get sick sporadically. I would bet that this happens during the off period of their on-and-off relationship."

Caine nodded thoughtfully. "It would make sense. What drew you to this conclusion?"

"I figured I'd draw someone's attention when I went into town today. I figured someone would start trying to feel me out to see if I could be useful or not. Henry was the one that showed up. He wasn't looking for a place to have breakfast, he was looking for me. I think Trish might have told him I was a cop."

"And he wanted to make sure you did not know what was going on?"

"Either that or to make sure I'm not romantic competition."

Caine tilted his head a little to study his son. "Are you?"

"No Pop. I'm not. I'm still in love with Kelly." He admitted. Peter Caine could fall in love at the drop of a hat and it didn't even have to be his hat. What he was not as good at was falling out of love. "Besides, it would just put her in danger. Miranda is nothing if not territorial."

"You are not her territory," Caine said firmly.

"You know that. I know that. She doesn't know that." Peter said, "And that's where the danger comes from."

Caine nodded gravely. The only thing he wanted more than to personally teach that woman a lesson in boundaries, was to free his son from the specter of her and her cult hanging over his head like the Sword of Damocles. "Does Trish know that you are not competition for Henry?"

"We didn't have that sort of conversation," Peter said laughing quietly. "I'm going to get a shower in before dinner."

Caine nodded. "We can continue work on your meditation after dinner."

"Sure, Pop. Whatever you say." He said as he got to his feet.

"What I say is do not call me Pop."

Peter smirked, but said nothing as he went to the bathroom to shower.

Jordan and Tammy Li returned to the precinct before calling it a day.

"Want to go grab dinner?" Jordan asked as she grabbed a few things from her desk drawer.

"Sure." Tammy said "Just don't suggest going for Chinese food. Sunday at Grandma's house is the only time I eat Chinese food if I can help it."

"In that case, you get to pick. Because I haven't had the chance to check out the local food scene yet. Unless you count cheap pizza and greasy hamburgers."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Tammy said, laughing. "Fine, I'll introduce you to the best pizza in town and save you from cheap delivery pizza."

"Now that sounds good. Pizza and beer."

"Simple pleasures," Tammy said as they headed out. 20 minutes later they were seated in an upscale sports bar on the corner of 23rd and Adams.

"The pizza here is killer." Tammy said, "But the best thing about this place is that you won't see any of the guys we work with here."

"Are they that annoying?" She asked with a laugh.

"They can be," Tammy said. "Especially when they've had a few drinks in them. So have you gotten the invitation yet?"

"What invitation?"

"Captain Ryan likes to have the new kids over to a get-together." She said.

"Oh that. Yeah, he said it was something after baseball practice. Why?"

"Just be careful. I know every precinct in the known universe is an old boys club but these guys take it to a whole new level. Then they get started talking philosophy and religion and it gets creepy."

"Well, I come from a very catholic family. As if the name McGuire wasn't a giveaway." She said with a smile. "They can talk all they want to, it's no skin off my nose. I take it they didn't understand that you're Buddhist?"

"Or that I didn't want to have a turn holding the captain's pet snake."

"Please tell me that isn't a euphemism for something," Jordan said.

"No, he has an actual snake. The guys all love that snake." She said. "It's creepy. Okay, I have to admit that I have a snake phobia but the snake isn't the creepiest part. It's how they all seem to … I don't know… really love that snake."

"I guess I will have to fake my way through admiring the snake. It will help that I'm not afraid of them." Okay, this was getting strange. "Did they treat you any differently after that?"

"Well, I didn't get asked back to the Captain's place again. Not that I minded that at all. I don't think it affected me much but I don't trust them. I know that sounds crazy. I can't explain it. But that whole scene just freaked me out."

"Doesn't sound crazy at all," Jordan said. "I don't know if it means anything other than the whole snake thing giving you the cold horrors, but it's never crazy when your instincts are telling you something."

Dinner was an exercise in self-control. This was nothing new after his months of captivity. Only this time Peter wasn't biting his tongue to keep from winding up in a cold dark cell. This time he was playing a part. It wasn't exactly going undercover. Everyone knew who he was and what he had been. But he was doing his best to be friendly to Henry.

Henry was on the surface a likable guy. He just wasn't someone Peter would have spent a lot of time with. He knew plenty of good cops that he just didn't click with that he'd have the occasional beer with if they wound up in the same bar. That was where he put Henry. Except he wasn't sure Henry was as likable as he was on the surface or if he was a danger to Trish and her mother. Making horses sick could quickly turn into making people sick or worse.

"And there was Peter among the loaves of bread, with no clothes on," Caine said, telling a story at his son's expense, although it did make him smile a little.

"Hey, it worked," Peter said with a laugh that he almost felt. Was it possible that man had actually been him? "They were too shocked to shoot at me for at least 5 seconds."

"Somehow I don't think I would have been willing to strip down to nothing with a pair of homicidal thieves on the premises," Henry said.

"Neither would anyone else I know," Peter admitted. "But it worked." He shrugged. He'd been called crazy more than once for stunts like that. He didn't care. "And when my partner came to see me the next day, she showed up with my father. They were going out on a date."

Caine shrugged and smiled a little.

Trish laughed at that "Your father went out with your partner?"

"Are you kidding if we were still back home they'd still be going out?"

"Mary Margaret is a beautiful woman," Caine said.

"That she is, Pop. Damned good cop too."

Mary Margaret and Jodi took their turn going to the safe house and pretending to visit Peter there. They hoped to flush out someone, anyone, from the cult. Jodi had her doubts. She knocked on the door and waited to be let inside.

Max Larkin opened the door. "May I help you?" He asked. Jodi thought he looked like an escapee from a bad action flick. Tall, built like a brick wall on steroids, crew cut, a jaw that could cut steel. He was dressed in a tight black tee shirt, tight jeans, and high-end military style boots.

She showed him her badge. "We're here to see Peter." She said, looking at him as if he were mentally deficient. He stepped aside and let the women enter. "Thank you." She said blandly and stepped inside.

She spotted Russel Cage. "Damn you do look like you could be his brother." She said looking him up and down. Not as handsome, she thought but certainly wasn't going to say.

"Yeah, that's what Blaisdell said," Russel said as they made the obligatory hug within view of the window.

"I think he looks like that guy in that stupid video game movie," Max said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Russel said. "You just say that 'cause my name is Cage."

"Well, he's not wrong." Mary Margaret said and took her turn at the pretense. "So how is it going in here?"

"I met my first Shaolin priest this afternoon." He said. "They are watching the place too." He shook his head.

"Yeah don't underestimate those priests." Mary Margaret said, "I know for a fact that they take badass to a whole new level."

"They're priests, how badass can they be?" Max asked.

"Oh they train in Kung Fu from the time they are young boys," Jodi said. "They're Shaolin, not Catholic."

"Don't let Father Hanrahan hear you say that. He was a golden glove boxer before he went to seminary." Mary Margaret said.

"They're also not celibate," Jodi said, just to watch her partner blush.

"Paul had some crazy things to say about this whole situation," Russel said, indicating that the ladies should have a seat. It wouldn't do for them to leave too soon after arriving.

"Crazy is one word for it but it's all true," Jodi said.

"How does something like this happen in real life?" Max shook his head. "It's insane and I've seen some insane crap go down."

"I don't know." Mary Margaret said. "I really don't. But the woman behind it has her own private army and I doubt they limit themselves to martial arts. She somehow framed the mayor for the murder of the deputy mayor, blew up a building so she could head up the rescue and recovery efforts, drove gang violence to massive heights… kidnapped Peter right off the street, and tortured him for two months trying to make him convert to her cult."

"From what Paul said they failed. Must not have been trying too hard." Max said.

Jodi didn't like this guy. "Yeah? Well, Peter's no slouch. He started off in a Shaolin temple, spent three years in the worst orphanage in the state, then was fostered by the Captain. Not sure where anyone could be weak with that kind of childhood."

Max put his hands up "Not saying your friend was weak, just that maybe they weren't trying to break him as hard as you think they were. I've seen seasoned soldiers brainwashed in a matter of days. That's all."

"None of them were Peter Caine."

"Powel, relax." Mary Margaret said. Yeah, this was going to go well. Maybe next time she should come alone. "So… do you guys like Chinese? I know a great place that delivers."

Paul eased back in his office chair and frowned at the listening devices that were now on his desk. He sighed tiredly. Well, at least he knew who was responsible. The only person in his office, while he was gone, was the janitor. It was circumstantial at best or he'd go arrest the son of a bitch right now. He was going to have to hope for someone to make a move on Peter's double or the priests. Something that can land another of her people in his interrogation room.

He put the bugs back where he found them. One more place where he wasn't able to speak freely. Time to check out his car as well. Kermit checked his place, his car, and his office regularly. The man was an exercise in healthy paranoia. Mostly healthy anyway. Paul figured he was going to have to start taking lessons from his friend.

He walked out the door and across the room to Kermit's office. He gave a short rap and entered the room, closing it behind him.

"I have three new bugs in my office." Paul said with a sigh."I think, can't prove it but I think they were put in place by the janitor while I was at the safe house today."

"Hard to prove and since we don't have video surveillance set up around the precinct we can't even be sure no one else went into your office."

"I know. That's why I'm not hauling him in for questioning." Paul said. "So, I hate to leave them in place, but we can't let them know we're on to them."

"Which means we engineer a reason to find one and look for the others," Kermit said. "But we're going to need to leave them there for a day or two, In the meantime we keep feeding them disinformation."

"I suppose we can talk about the safe house."

"You're wrong," Trish said firmly. "Yeah he's needy and clingy and it gets to be too much so I break things off so I can breathe. That doesn't mean he's the one that's been poisoning the horses. He loves me."

"His truck is still here," Caine said. Dinner had been over for half an hour."

"What?" Trish said.

"Let's go check the horses," Peter said, and Carol nodded in agreement. "People have done terrible things in the name of love."

"He's right. We should check." She told her daughter. "Just to put this whole idea to bed."

"Fine, you're right. We'll go out there and find that he's not doing anything wrong."

"Let's go then." Peter said, "But you two stay behind me and my father."

"He's not a hardened criminal!" Trish insisted. "He's not going to hurt me."

"When cornered people do things they would never do otherwise. Just, let me handle it." Peter said and headed for the door. He wasn't in the mood to argue. The longer they talked about it the less likely they were to catch him in the act.

Trish made an angry sound but followed. She too wanted this over and when it was over she would tell them to get the hell off of their land.

Peter had hoped he was wrong. He really had. He'd known he wasn't, but he'd hoped. He entered the stables and stood a few feet back watching as Henry took something out of his pocket and held it out for the horse. Trish's horse.

"Don't do it," Peter said. "Just don't."

"It's just a sugar cube," Henry said, but pulled his hand back anyway.

"We both know that's not true." He said calmly. "Did you give anything to the other horses? You've been out here a long time."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Let's call the vet and see what they have to say," Trish said, shaking her head.

Henry turned to run in the other direction but found that Caine and Carol had come in the other side of the stables. "This is insane."

"I think I should call the Sheriff as well," Carol said.

"Yes," Caine said. "I believe you should."

Carol turned to leave hurrying back to the house and the phone.

"Why, Henry?" Trish asked, stepping closer, but still keeping Peter between her and her former lover. "Why would you do this?"

"Because you needed me when the horses are sick," Henry said, his tone resentful, angry. "Otherwise you couldn't be bothered to give me the time of day."

"I don't believe this…" She said "I can't believe you would do this to me. I've known you my whole life, how could you betray me like this?"

Henry took steps toward Trish, only to have his path blocked by Peter. He glared at him and attempted to step around, and was blocked again.

"Don't push it," Peter said firmly.

"Betrayal? You want to talk about betrayal? You betray me over and over again and I keep taking you back anyway because I love you."

"Betray you? I never betrayed you! I broke up with you. It's not the same thing."

Henry lunged. Peter grasped his shoulders and shoved him back.

"Go inside with your mom," Peter told Trish and she nodded before turning to run back to the house.

"What do you think is going to happen, Peter? Do you think she's going to fall all over you for figuring it all out?"

"What do I think is going to happen? I think the cops are going to show up and they'll take you in for questioning while they send the sugar in your pocket off to be tested." He said, "I think Trish is going to be angry and brokenhearted and I hope that she'll never give you the time of day again."

Henry charged at Peter, who stepped aside, and tripped him, sending him sprawling to the floor.

Peter grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. "Sit down." He said after directing him over to a bail of hay. "Stay there until the Sheriff gets here."

"You're out of your jurisdiction, Detective Caine," Henry said, saying the last two words sarcastically.

"It's called a citizens arrest," Peter said. "And I'm just keeping you here until the Sheriff gets here. What he does after that is up to him." He heard a car pulling up the long gravel drive. "I bet that's him now."

"I haven't done anything wrong. You'd be surprised what you can do to an animal and not be committing a crime." Henry said.

"Depends on where you are. But this is more like… sabotage. Their lively hood revolves around these horses. You make the horses sick you ruin their business. I'm sure there's a case for stalking as well."

"Shows what you know, Caine. She knows me, and I'm not following her around."

The sheriff entered the stable. "Well, you and I can have that conversation down at the office." He said. "Meanwhile, Deputy Benson is going to place you under arrest and sit in the car with you while I talk to these gentlemen and the ladies."

Lyle Benson approached "Sorry about this Henry." He said as he handcuffed the man he'd known all of his life. He read him his rights as he walked him to the car.

"Carol and Trish are up at the house," Peter said. "Shall we do this up there?"

"I think we can do that." Sheriff Wilkes said as he offered his hand to Peter to shake it. "And as we walk up there you can tell me what a big city detective is doing cleaning stalls in my neck of the woods."

"Helping out a friend while I'm on vacation." He said smoothly. "This is my father, Kwai Chang Caine."

He nodded "I remember Mr. Caine from when he was here before. You're his son? Funny, you don't look Chinese."

"Yeah well, my mother looked like Rhonda Flemming," Peter said with a smile.