A/N: Wow! This fandom doesn't have the readership of others I have written for, but the reviews I have gotten are very nice; some of them quite detailed. I treasure them a lot. Thank you. The story is winding down. I am in school again, and shouldn't be devoting time to fanfiction. However, I find that it is when I want to write it the most. In any event, there will be one more chapter after this which I will post on Sunday. And then I must force myself to break and focus on homework. Thanks to those of you who take the time to make my day brighter with your thoughts.

Sheila

Something Precious

Chapter 7

Logan paced back and forth in the interrogation room. It was a worn room, paint peeling off the wall, and the slight smell of urine that no amount of bleach could purge. He was in unfamiliar territory, taking over a room at the Queens precinct, but Deakins called and said that Bettina was involved with an Irish cop here, and he was going to play a hunch the only way he knew how.

He stopped pacing and leaned on the table across from his suspect. "Frankie, I gotta feeling about you. I just feel like I can relax now 'cause we got this wrapped up."

Desk sergeant Frank Ryan leaned back in his chair. "I will say this one last time. We don't talk until my union rep gets here."

"You don't have to talk. Probably not going to need anything out of you at all. The evidence just keeps falling from the sky."

Logan threw a file on the desk. "Bettina's file tells me everything I need to know. Starting five years ago, your handwriting is all over this thing. She's gets brought in on charges, including a murder rap, and it gets pleaded down to almost nothing. How'd that happen? I see a form WH-2 in here telling me that some evidence went missing. Pretty convenient, huh?"

"You said this woman fingered an Irish cop. You think I'm the only one in Queens?"

"You're the only one that keeps popping up everywhere. Zinsky starts to unravel, and you manage to have a front row seat to every scene. It's kind of creepy, huh? You come off as a supportive friend, but I hear that you've been passed over for the Lieutenant spot three times. You paid your dues, and then he walks back in with a dirty record and takes your job."

"I understood. It's not his fault."

"Frank, they say you didn't get the job because you're a bitter man. I also hear that you've been in too many situations where things happened, evidence disappeared, witnesses disappeared."

"I'm not talking about this with you."

"Like I said; it doesn't matter. All of her phone records and visitor logs from Dannemora should be coming off the fax any minute now. Why don't we just wait for that?"

The older cop looked down at the table. "You can't prove anything."

Mike leaned in. "You bet I can, and we're going to put you away so long that you're going to forget what she looks like."

Mike watched the panic grow on Ryan's features. The man was in the corner and needed a way out. "Tell me what you know now. We can still find her alive. Murder's off the table. We know you didn't have anything to do with Regina Jones' death."

"You think I'm an idiot; you think I don't understand interrogation techniques."

"Frankie, the math is simple. You help us, and we are less inclined to destroy you. It's just psychology, Buddy. Right now, you gotta make a decision. Do we have anything we can use? You could take a chance that we don't, but we've haven't even begun to search your house or pull your bank statements or your phone records. All of that will be happening. You want to just sit there and let it happen? Go ahead."

"I need guarantees."

"You make me fight for information when her life is in the balance, and I won't forget it."

"Eames has until midnight, but I don't know where Bettina has her."

Logan pounded the table. "I want all of it now!"

"I don't know where she is. I can call her, but I made it clear I didn't want to know."

"So this is true love, huh, Frankie?"

"Pick up the damn phone, Frankie!"

"She told me not to call her so this is not a good idea. She'll be suspicious."

"Just keep her on the phone for 2 minutes." Logan got to the door and started calling for assistance. Within fifteen minutes, tracing was set up. Logan handed Ryan the phone, and the man swallowed and then dialed her number. A few beats later, he hung up. "She's not answering."

Logan grabbed him by the shirt. "Not good enough!"

Ryan looked away. "If she has to kill Eames, then my guess is that she's getting high right now. She's probably in a bathroom with a needle."

Logan dropped the man back into his chair. "You're never going to set foot on free soil again, Ryan. Think about it." Without waiting, he nodded at the Queens detective, and walked out the door.

…………………………………………………………………….

Deakins knocked on the door before opening it. Goren sat across from Nicole, his head in his hands, staring at her intently. Nicole sat back and regarded him with a blank look on her face. Deakins gestured at Bobby, and he scraped the chair away from the table. Dark circles under his eyes had grown steadily over the last two hours.

Nicole tossed her hair and looked at Deakins, "Don't keep him too long."

Deakins gave her a hard look. Sparring with not a strength of his, and he had no interest in learning the rules of her particular games. He glared at her until Bobby was out the door, and then left without a word.

Bobby wheeled around. "Anything?"

Deakins nodded and gestured at his office. Bobby shuddered slightly and seemed to hesitate. "It's okay, Bobby," he said softly and led him inside, closing the door behind them. "Logan had a hunch. The inside man was Frank Ryan."

Bobby nodded. "He's involved with Bettina."

"Yeah. Logan broke him, but he doesn't know where Bettina has her stashed. Logan doesn't think its an act."

"Has he tried to call her? Can he lure her out?"

"She's not answering. We have a team on him, and they're calling every fifteen minutes." Deakins fixed his gaze on a picture above Goren's head. "Bobby, she told him she would kill Alex if she hadn't heard from Nicole by midnight."

Instinctively, Bobby turned to the clock and noted that it was 7:45 p.m. "Where's Carver?"

"I've updated him. He's on his way down."

Bobby dropped his eyes to the floor and the silence between the two men was electric.

Deakins finally asked, "Do you think Nicole knows something that can help us find her?"

Bobby shook his head slowly. "I don't think she knows."

"Can she help us find Alex?"

"She could call Bettina, but she won't. It would implicate her."

"Unless we give her full immunity."

Goren snorted, "Carver's really going to go for that."

Deakins nodded. "It would be a hard sell. No doubt about it. We have no idea if she would even follow through."

"Right."

They stood in his office like statues, one of the leaning against the wall and the other against his desk. In that moment, there was nothing they could do but be there lost in their own desperate thoughts.

……………………………………………………………..

The cot teetered as her weight shifted over the edge. She bit the insides of her mouth to stifle the screams and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Every few seconds, it would get too much, and she would sag against the edge, her vision starting to gray.

She took three deep breaths and lunged. Her fingertips touched the edge of her coat and she clawed at it. The wool coat slid toward her and she snatched up the phone and painfully rolled back onto the middle of the cot. For a few minutes, the pain and strain fought for her consciousness, and she struggled to focus. She finally able to see the display on the phone and she turned it on. A light flashed a low battery warning on the screen, and she groaned. If she was lucky, she would get through one phone call, and she knew she had to make it count.

…………………………………………………………………………………

It was 8:30, and four men sat in Deakin's office. They had gone over the events one last time, and found themselves stuck. The idea of giving Nicole full immunity was so repulsive that not even Bobby was willing to fight for it. None of them trusted that Nicole could play a straight hand even if she had immunity.

The phone on Bobby's belt buzzed and he put it to his ear. The connection was static filled, and he was ready to hang up when he heard her voice. "Bobby, Bobby, I need help…"

"Alex! You have a phone. Are you okay?" He was standing, and the other three men gathered around.

"I'm not. I'm hurt and Bettina's going to kill me. I have 'til midnight. This phone's a lucky break, but it's dying. I'm not sure how long I can hang on."

Bobby's breath caught. "Honey, do you know where you are?"

"No. Spanish is all I know. I hear it out in the streets. Apartment building. It's a dump. It's cold."

"Okay, you gotta hang on. We're going to get a trace. Okay?" Bobby gestured wildly at his colleagues. Deakins ran to his desk, and barked at someone to rush the equipment up. Logan took off out the door to hurry that request.

"I'm hurt bad. They stuck me in the side. There's so much pain. I think I'm bleeding inside. Frank Ryan's a part of this, and Carlos Gregory."

"We got Frank. Don't worry. We're coming for you."

"I heard Bettina talking to Frank. I have until midnight."

"Bettina's not answering her phone. Do you know where she is?"

"No, I don't. It's been quiet the last hour." A groan escaped as pain radiated up her side.

Bobby looked at the ceiling for a moment. "Alex, please, Alex, you gotta hold on. What else do you know?"

"Bettina said she dropped off Carlos on Avenue B with some blow. I think it's tainted. She was telling Frank that he wouldn't be a problem after tonight."

Shouts erupted, and they could see Logan dragging the technicians over to a desk. Deakins went out to calm Logan who was heaping abuse at the merely human Trace technicians. Deakins got him to back off and they began to pull together equipment."

"Hey, Alex, we're ready for the trace. You stay with me, and I'll have you out of there in an hour."

There was silence on the other end and Bobby panicked. "Alex! Alex!"

"I can't hear you so good. Bring paramedics with you, okay?"

He suppressed a sigh of relief. Deakins signaled for him and he strode out to the squad to hook up with Trace. "Honey, talk to me. I need to hear you."

The crackling grew louder. "I'm tired, Bobby. I'm going to miss you so much. We almost had our chance, didn't we?"

"Alex, you're going to be okay. I'm coming for you. You can't leave me. Promise me that you're hanging in. Promise me."

The crackling turned to static. "Alex! Please talk to me. Please, Alex." Then the phone died, and Bobby looked at the technicians, but they shook their heads, and he turned around and gripped the desk tightly, roaring, "No!"

…………………………………………………………………………

Logan hung up the phone and turned to them. "Every Narcotics detectives in three precincts is heading to Avenue B. There are about five flop houses we have to search. These guys will call in favors. We're going to get him. Probably only take an hour or two." He grabbed his coat and sprinted for the stairs.

Carver turned to Deakins and Bobby. "You really want to give her full immunity?"

"No!" Bobby shook his head vigorously.

"I don't think we have a choice," Deakins countered.

"Of course, we have to do it, but I don't want to," Bobby couldn't control the fidgeting that had taken over his body. His fingers were shaking as he lifted his hand to make a point, and so he stuffed both hands in his pockets. "Nicole has no intention of honoring any deal we give her. Her intention is to make the deal and still get what she wants."

Carver nodded and then looked down. For a few minutes, they all stood silently, unable to complete the discussion. Deakins looked up first. "I won't sit here, and not do anything. That woman has been nothing but heart and hard work and the best female cop I ever worked with. We have to try."

Bobby nodded. "We have to do this right. No screw ups. She can't afford it." His face twitched, and for a moment, it looked like he might break, but he rubbed his hand over his face, scrubbing away his emotions. Then he walked away from his colleagues, and they watched him go, knowing he was going to stand in front of that interrogation mirror again and stare at Nicole.

……………………………………………………………………………

Logan paced back and forth as paramedics worked feverishly on the man laying on the floor of the abandoned tenement. In the corner, three people huddled, hands cuffed behind their backs.

Logan barked at the paramedics again. "Can he talk? Is he going to make it?"

Again, they ignored him. Carlos had stopped moving before the paramedics even arrived. He was in the second place they raided. A lucky break until they tried to wake him. His cold, clammy skin told Logan a story he didn't want to hear. Now he was living on the faith of Catholic altar boy, hoping beyond hope that Carlos was going to sit up and hand him an address.

"Logan!" He turned around to find one of the Narcotics detectives pulling along a kid barely out of his teens. "Victor here says Carlos was sort of chatty before he OD'd."

Logan advanced on him. "You help me out, Victor, and I will pay for the best rehab in the state."

The kid's eyes widened. Treatment was hard to come by for folks without insurance. Most junkies had to wait months even when they wanted to get in. Logan ignored the exclamation that came out of the other detective's mouth. "I mean it, Victor. This is real important. You give me the right information, and I can help save a good friend of mine. It means a lot to me."

The kid stuttered in his eagerness to start. "He said he had a big day. Did a job. Stuck some girl. Bragged about it. Said he was one cold assassin. Said his girl had set him up with premium blow and that he was going to get paid enough to fly high every day from now on."

"Did he say anything about where they were staying?"

"Um, he said his girl doesn't like him trippin' at home because he wrecks things."

"That it?" Logan couldn't hide the disappointment on his face.

The kid shrugged. "Ah, I think he asked a guy what bus was going to get him back to Marquesa street."

Logan grabbed the kid by the arms. "I don't go back on my promises. If this makes a difference, you can write your own ticket."

…………………………………………………………………………………..

"Games are over!" Goren announced as the technicians flooded past him and started setting up equipment in interrogation.

Nicole seemed startled. "We have no deal, Bobby."

"You'll get one, and you will call Bettina and stop this from happening."

Carver was the last to walk in. He placed his briefcase on the table. "No time for negotiations. I have the agreement. You get full immunity if we get Detective Eames back alive."

She made a face. "I don't think so. I have no control over what is happening to her at this moment. I would prefer to take my chances with a trial."

"We have Carlos and we have Frank. We even know what neighborhood they are in. You really picture Bettina walking away from this? You don't help us, and you're going down. And I'm going to be there when they shove the needle in your arm. You will be so pathetic. Just a shell. I can picture it now."

"Bobby, when did you become so crude?" Nicole's voice had gone up an octave.

"No time to think, Nicole. It is now or never. We have until midnight."

"I am not responsible for what Bettina does!" She slammed a fist down on the table.

Bobby was over the table and nose to nose with her. "Don't mess with me! You have one minute. We clean the slate, but you gotta stop Bettina."

"I want to see the agreement." Carver shoved it in front of her and her fingers were shaky as she picked it up.

Bobby licked his lips and waited. At one point, he slapped the table and she jumped. He walked around her, almost touching her, breathing hard. She flipped her head to look at him, and he stared coldly back at her. "There are no more games, Nicole. You and I are finished. Whatever the outcome, we're done. I will not deal with you again."

Nicole rubbed at a tear rolling down her chin. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're a sore loser, Bobby."

Bobby snorted and backed away from her. "Just do it!"

She bit her lip and stared at the agreement for another minute, and then she signed it and shoved it away. Carver took it, looked it over and placed it neatly in his briefcase. "I believe you owe us a phone call."

Nicole picked up the phone they slid to her. She dialed and waited. The ring could be heard throughout the room as the system had been put on speaker. The phone went to voice mail and Nicole waited impatiently. At the beep, she said, "Bettina! It's Nicole. Pick up, Tina. It's time. We need to talk."

There was a click and then the heavy breathing of someone who ran to the phone. "Nicole! Damn girl, I've been waiting."

"Is everything good, Tina? Do you have her? Is she still alive?"

"It's good, Nicole. She's almost gone. I was going to finish her in a few minutes."

Bobby breathed in sharply and walked away from the table.

"No, Tina, I have other plans for her."

"Uh-huh. You promised me. No witnesses. I told myself I would never leave another witness. She knows my name."

Nicole rubbed at her eyes. "I have a new plan. Don't question me."

"We had a deal. I'm not going to take a dive for you."

"No, no, no, Tina darling, this is not what's happening. I have someone else coming for her. She'll be taken care of then. She won't be able to identify you. I promise, Tina."

There was silence on the other end. Bobby gripped the edge of the table.

"Tina, talk to me. You've done your part. It's time to go. The money's waiting for you. Pick up Frank, and take off. You've been dreaming about this."

"You're screwing me, Nicole! You're screwing me!"

"No, not true. Listen to me—" The phone clicked loudly over the speaker system. Nicole cursed loudly. She dialed again. There was no answer. Nicole pleaded and cajoled over the machine, but no one picked up.

Bobby dropped his head for a moment. Then he whirled around and headed for the door. Outside he looked at the clock on the wall. His stomach dropped as he noted the time. Deakins walked toward him. "Logan has squads driving up and down Marquesa. Teams are knocking on doors. We're checking rental records in the neighborhood. Trouble is, this is going to take much more time than we have."

Bobby didn't stop to listen. He grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

…………………………………………………………………………

TBC