When the doorbell rang, Barek was the closest to the door, so she opened it to admit the captain. Deakins came into the apartment and looked around the room, eyes moving from one detective to the next. His eyes finally came to rest on Goren. "You were there when she broke in?" He nodded. "And you didn't know she was there?" He shook his head. "How did that happen?"

"I…was sleeping…"

"You don't sleep that heavily."

"I…I did this morning."

Logan looked at the captain. "Half a case of beer will do that to you."

Understanding dawned and Deakins nodded. "You could have told me that."

The big detective just looked away. He was still furious with himself for getting into that situation, furious and embarrassed. He was tired of making mistakes. He had no way of knowing Nicole would show up…but the risk was always there, as long as she walked free. He'd been ignoring that fact, trying to go through his days without thinking about it. Eames, he realized, had been doing enough thinking about it for both of them. The captain looked from Eames to Barek. "I assume you both know about the note?"

Eames frowned and glared at her partner. "What note?"

Goren winced at the look on her face. "Uh, she left a note, so she would…be sure…I knew she was there."

Barek asked, "And when were you planning to let us in on it?"

"I, uh…you know now."

"What did it say?" Eames addressed her question to Deakins, pointedly ignoring her partner so she wouldn't blow up at him in front of the captain.

Deakins opened a file folder he had in his hand and walked over to her, handing her the note, sealed in an evidence bag. She read it, her face turning pale for the second time that day. She handed it to Barek and, with great trepidation, asked, "Did you send someone to my old apartment?"

Deakins nodded. "When Logan called it in, they sent a unit over."

"And?"

"It wasn't a pretty sight. Two bodies. We're assuming them to be the tenant and her boyfriend. We don't know anything else right now."

Goren propped his arm against the mantel and rested his head against his hand. Two more bodies…two more demons to haunt his nights…two more people dead, at least in part because of him…

Deakins took the note when Barek handed it back to him and handed her the four pictures, each sealed in its own evidence bag. "We know now that all four of you are being targeted. Our first priority, of course, is to apprehend Nicole."

"And what?" Goren snapped. "Turn her over to Carver so she can be acquitted again?"

"Have you forgotten about the assault and attempted murder charges she's warranted on?"

Goren lifted his head to look at his captain. "Do you think I have?"

No one missed the fact that his hand had strayed to his side and rested over his now-healed injury. "Bobby," Eames said gently, reading his frustration and anger. "We can't control the juries."

Deakins could sense the big detective's tension. "We'll get her this time, and Carver will be sure to put her away for good. He assures me we have enough evidence…"

Goren waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah…I've heard it before. Let's move on to point two."

"Settle down, Bobby," Barek said quietly.

He looked at her, then at Eames. He took a deep breath. His frustration and anger were directed mainly toward himself, but his fuse was very short. "I'm sorry, Captain."

"It's been an unsettling day. I understand that." He accepted the pictures back from Barek. "Ok, on to my second priority, and that is to keep the four of you safe. First, and most important, I do not want any of you off on your own."

His gray eyes lighted on Goren, who was staring at the floor. When Deakins didn't say anything more, he looked up, catching four pairs of eyes on him. "I heard."

"It's going to be up to each of you to watch out for the other three. Sorry, kids, but until this blows over, I want the four of you to stick together. That means eating together, sleeping together, being together."

Logan choked and Barek smacked him. "Not a chance in hell, Logan, so get your damn mind out of the gutter."

Deakins looked amused. "You know what I mean. This isn't high school any more." He sighed heavily. "I really hate to do this. I'm pulling a couple of detectives from homicide to work Major Case for the time being. You four are going to a safe house."

Goren repeated what he said earlier. "I will not go into hiding."

Deakins met his eyes. "Not even to save your partner's life?"

Eames' eyes narrowed. "Do not use me as a pawn to get him to do what you want him to, Captain. If he wants to run off and get himself killed…"

Goren frowned at her. "That's not what I plan to do."

"You didn't plan to get yourself stabbed, either, did you?"

"How the hell are we supposed to catch her if she can't find us?"

She leaned forward and shouted, "How the hell are we going to find her if we're dead?"

Deakins stepped in, always uneasy when these partners fought. "Leave it up to us to find her."

Goren shook his head, even more agitated. "She's not going to let you find her. This is a game to her, and she has tipped as much of her hand as she's going to. If she can't find her targets, she's not going to pop up and say 'here I am.' We need to bait her, to draw her out of hiding, or we're not going to get her at all."

"And who do you propose we use as bait?" Logan asked.

"I'm the best bait we have."

"No," Eames said emphatically.

Goren glared at her. "Eames…"

"Ok, enough," Deakins cut in. "I still call the shots here, remember?" He looked pointedly at Goren. "Until thing drastically change, what I say goes. She nearly killed you last time…"

"I didn't expect her to…"

"No more arguments. All four of you are going to the safe house. End of discussion."

Goren held up his hands in surrender. Arms crossed, he leaned back against the wall beside the fireplace and fell silent. Deakins took a deep breath. His next order was not going to go over any better, especially with the already-angry Goren. "There's to be no contact."

Goren looked at him. "No contact?"

"None. If something comes up I will get in touch with you."

"My mom…"

"I'll keep an eye on her, Bobby. I'll make sure to call and let her know you're ok."

Goren didn't like this at all, but he was tired of arguing. He propped his elbow on the mantel and rubbed his forehead. Logan said, "So we just put our lives on hold…"

Barek looked at him. "You do if you want to have a life."

Deakins said, "I'll make sure your rent and your bills stay current. Bobby, your apartment…"

Goren waved a hand. "I'll take care of it. I'll find a place to stick my stuff until this is over."

The captain nodded. "I'll arrange the safe house. You four pack and get ready."

"Where is the safe house?" Eames asked.

"Upstate. I'll call you tomorrow."

He muttered good night and left. Three detectives turned eyes to the fourth. Goren frowned. "Now what?"

Barek shook her head and looked away. "Nothing."

Not even Logan would venture to say anything. That left Eames. "Thanks, guys," she grumbled. She got up from the couch and walked toward her partner. "Look, I know things are…different when it comes to Nicole Wallace. But that doesn't give you an excuse to blow up at everyone."

He shook his head. It wasn't often she didn't understand him. "I just…I want to get this over with. I want her in jail so you…" He looked at his hands. He wasn't in the mood to explain himself, not even to her. "Never mind."

He felt like a caged tiger…trapped with nowhere to go. So he did what he always did when he felt this way. He retreated into himself. He walked away from her, across the room to the dining table and he sat down, with his back to everyone. Eames shook her head. She hated when he did this. It took an effort she just did not have right now to draw him back out. "Look, Goren, we need to run over to Barek's and Logan's apartments so they can get packed, and we're not leaving you here. Remember what Deakins said."

He looked over his shoulder at her, but didn't say anything. That was good enough for her. Sometimes it was enough that he simply acknowledged that she had spoken. "He's going to be a barrel of laughs tonight," Logan observed.

Barek pushed her partner toward the door. "Leave him alone, Mike. Let's get this over with." She looked at Eames. "Remind me to tell Deakins he has to water my plants."

Goren waited for a minute in the silence of the apartment. A safe house…ok, fine. Eames would be safe there with Logan and Barek to protect her. That was what he cared about most, that his partner was safe. Not having to worry about her would leave him free to do what he had to do and lure Nicole in for the capture. All that was left was for him to figure out how to do it and not lose Eames in the process. He certainly did not want her to worry about him, and he had to get around that, but he was even more concerned about betraying her trust. He had to be very careful not to do that. He had a lot of thinking to do.

He got up and headed out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.