Maddie Parrish walked into the precinct and sighed. She'd only been in New York four months but had already been here too many times.

She approached the desk sergeant. "I'm here for Dantrell Baker," she told him. "He was brought in about an hour ago."

The desk sergeant made a quick inquiry and led her back to an interrogation room. The door was closed, but through the two-way mirror she could see seventeen-year-old Dantrell sitting at a table across from a blond detective who was questioning him intently. Dantrell looked scared and agitated, and the detective looked ready to pounce.

Standing in front of the mirror observing the interrogation was a familiar face. "Detective Taylor?"

He turned. "Miss Parrish." He tilted his head in Dantrell's direction. "He one of yours?"

Maddie nodded. "Is he under arrest?"

"No."

"Can I talk to him?"

It was Taylor's turn to nod. He tapped on the glass, signaling his subordinate to step outside.

The blond detective looked distinctly annoyed, but rose from the table and exited the interrogation room. "I almost had him, Mac," he said in a thick New York accent. "He's scared…"

"He has a visitor," Taylor replied.

The younger detective turned toward Maddie and sized her up. "You his mother?" he asked.

"No."

"His guardian?"

"No."

"His lawyer?" He was getting impatient with her.

"No."

He shook his head. "Then you have no rights to this suspect."

"Look, Officer…"

"It's Detective," he interrupted. "Detective Danny Messer."

Maddie tried to keep the irritation out of her voice. "Look Detective," she began again, "Since his mother abandoned him, his father's in prison, and the grandmother he lives with is senile, he called me. I'm the only adult he's got and you are not questioning him anymore until I talk to him."

Taylor interjected. "Five minutes," he told her.

"Mac…" Messer began, his blue eyes flashing at the challenge to his authority.

Taylor held up his hand, cutting the younger man off. "Let her talk to him, Danny."

"Thanks," Maddie replied. Her eyes flickered in Messer's direction before she headed into the interrogation room. Once inside, she sat down beside Dantrell. "You okay?"

"Miss Parrish! They said I killed someone…"

Outside, Messer looked angrily at Taylor. "What are you doin' Mac? She's not his lawyer, not a relative…and the kid was about to crack!"

"Trust me on this," Taylor told him.

Messer raised an eyebrow skeptically but didn't say anything in deference to his superior, and the two men turned back to the two-way mirror. A moment later Maddie rose from the table and tapped on the glass.

"You're up," Taylor said.

"You know her. Don't you wanna…?"

Taylor shook his head. "It's your case."

Messer entered the small interrogation room, his gaze shifting from Dantrell to Maddie. "So how was your little conference?"

Maddie looked expectantly at Dantrell. He glanced over at her and took a deep breath. "I was there," he told Messer in a shaky voice.

"I know that," the frustrated detective replied. "I told you that."

"I know how it went down, and I'll tell you everything, but I didn't do anything wrong."

"No prosecution," Maddie added.

"You'll have to talk to the DA on that one," Messer told her.

"Then let's get the DA in here," she returned.

He sat back in his chair, trying to look indifferent. "They're awfully busy over there…could take a couple of hours at least. We could just do this now…"

She crossed her arms and gazed steadily at him. "We'll wait."

He pressed his lips together and met her gaze for a moment, then placed his hands on the table and pushed up as he stood. "Fine."

Messer left the room, shooting a hard look at Mac on his way to the phone. He dutifully put in a call to the District Attorney's office, then joined his boss behind the two-way mirror once again.

"So who is this woman?" Messer asked.

"She's his teacher," Taylor told him.

"A teacher! Are you kiddin' me? You stopped an interrogation for the kid's teacher?"

Taylor nodded. "A few of her students have been through here before," he continued. "She's the only adult they can trust, so they call her."

That struck a chord with the young detective and he fell silent. He watched her talk to Dantrell and noticed how the kid visibly relaxed—he looked as though some of the weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The detective portion of Messer's brain was still angry that his interrogation had been interrupted, but the street kid that was still a part of him was thankful someone was looking out for Dantrell.

An Assistant DA finally arrived and a deal was hammered out. Dantrell spilled his story, detailing who was at the scene, who concocted the plan, and who pulled the trigger, speaking in a voice that tried to be strong but failed miserably.

"And you'll testify to all that in court?" the ADA asked.

Dantrell looked at Maddie for a moment. When he looked back at the ADA he swallowed hard and nodded. "I'll testify."

Satisfied, the ADA packed his briefcase and left the room, anxious to follow up on the information he'd just collected. Messer watched him go and sighed. He'd been both right and wrong in this case, but the bad guys were going down and he was glad for that. He pushed his chair back and stood, looking at his watch and knowing he needed to get back to the lab. As he left, though, he noticed a worried look on Maddie's face and saw her nudge Dantrell. The young man replied by shaking his head. Wondering what he was missing, Messer flipped on the intercom as soon as he was outside the interrogation room.

"…should've told him," he heard Maddie say.

"No!" Dantrell insisted quietly. "No cops, Miss Parrish."

"They're going to know you were here," she pushed. "They're going to come after you. The police can protect you."

The kid shook his head. "If the cops show up at my house, these guys are going to think my grandma and sister know somethin'," he told her. "They can come after me, but I won't let them hurt my family."

Messer turned toward the two-way mirror and took a good look at Dantrell. He was obviously frightened and relying on flawed logic, but was resolute in his decision. He was convinced that he was doing what was best for his family. Messer frowned and made his own decision. This kid meant something to somebody and was going to be protected. Messer would make sure of it.