Just as he expected she got obsessed to catch this guy. She strained every nerve to find him trying all contacts and sources she had. But the perp disappeared without trace. Even her best C.I. couldn't supply her with so much as a snippet of information. Street's locked up tight about it. And they got nothing. The man couldn't simply vanish from the face of the earth; she didn't believe in disappearing acts. She rather put it down to the fact that she hadn't pulled right strings. The more time she spent on this case the more frustrated and impatient she grew. From the gleanings she gathered so diligently and then carefully analysed and reanalysed she should have pieced it together by now. But one puzzle of this jigsaw was still missing, the linking one. She was getting more and more driven to find it and even Swersky noticed that. He was getting worried that she would do something reckless and erratic.

"You are going with me." He saw ten long, slender fingers lying in front of him. As he slowly lifted his head from the reports and files scattered all over the desk he saw the owner of these pretty hands and voice. In fact everything was pretty there. She was leaning toward him but not a close as he wished. A safe distance was always kept. Her hands pressed firmly to his desk supported her weight.

'You pulling your punches?"

"Nope, just giving you a fair crack of the whip." He was giving her piercing, suspicious look. He didn't believe in such a sudden change of heart. Not a hope in hell. And she was grinning wickedly.

"You going or your ass stuck permanently to the chair?" He managed to catch up with her on the stairs.

"What have come into your little perverse mind this time? What kind of sadistic assignment? I'm not going anywhere. I give up. You won. I have had enough of it. You satisfied?" She gave him a disapproving, irritated look. Why has he always thought that he was the center of the universe and everything she did involved him in some way?

"Absolutely. So when you stop behaving like a pesky child I will be waiting in RMP. But don't make me wait too long. You know what happens then." She retorted and retreated hastily.

"So where are we going? What do you want me to do this time?" He was the driver even though he didn't have the foggiest idea where he should go. He just followed her clues as to where he should turn. First left, then the third right and that were the only directions she gave him. On the way to mysterious somewhere he desperately tried to drag it out of her but she was sitting comfortably in silence, her eyes fixed on the road.

"Play a male prostitute?" She gave in to overwhelming temptation to torment him a bit. When her words sank in and prospect of what he would have to deal with come to his mind she got the reaction she expected.

"No way in hell. I want out." He tried to pull off but get caught in traffic. She slowly turned her head and seeing his face, mixture of frightened, stern and angry she laughed under her breath.

"Just kidding." She managed to say still chuckling.

"That was mean." He sent her an evil glare and focused again on the road.

"Pull over." He heard after twenty minutes of riding around the same area. So he did as he was told. It was growing dark and the surroundings weren't encouraging. The street was empty and these little, blinds alley…well they were usually crime scenes they were called to. Watching the sporadic passerby you could divide them into two categories. First was the ordinary citizens who got lost and were straying helplessly trying to find the way out. But it was a rare occasion. They stuck out a mile here with these fearful glances over their shoulders and bewildered expressions on their faces. The other group, majority here, was the criminals they had to handle every day.

"Tough neighbourhood?"

"Yeah." She gave him a knowing look.

"So what are we doing?" He asked calmly, his eyes not leaving the street, observing it carefully and watching out for any signs that would indicate crime or danger.

"Waiting." So much of an explanation she owed him. One word should make everything clear for him or so she thought. But he didn't.

"For what?" He could get everything out of her if he approached her skillfully. The magic word was patience.

"For Scott's brother. I got wind of that he's gonna trade dope with some guy. Today and here." She finally spilt the beans. He should have guessed that it was about that jagoff. She would never let go. But he still had some doubts.

"I don't get it." She gave him a funny look that meant " Even a five- year - old would have figured it by now."

"Why me?" It was irritating her that he thought that everything she did always had a hidden meaning that concerned him somehow.

"You said it, tough neighbourhood." She said simply and checked her gun.

" Oh, well try something that could actually convince me."

"I had limited choice." She said and looked straight in his eyes. They were giving each other piercing looks.

"Yoshi?"

"He and Dade had a morning shift." A sly smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes still glued to his.

" What about Johnson?"

"Johnson and Lopez are working undercover in Chinatown. Couldn't reach them." Her eyes moved toward the street as some figures in the distance were slowly approaching them.

"So I was the only one left?"

"I told you I had limited choice. And could we finish this little talk? Because our guy is here and I don't want you to mess it up. If he slips away this time I will later make your birth certificate a worthless document."

"They will do it even sooner." He said and looked at two people approaching their car slowly with guns drawn and pointed at the windscreen.