Eames arrived at the boathouse just after Logan and Barek got there. "You see anything, Alex?" Barek asked.

"Not a thing. You guys?"

"Nope," Logan answered. "Just a lot of rain. And trees."

"No tigers," Barek chuckled.

"Ha, ha," he grumbled. Looking around, he asked, "Where's Goren?"

Eames looked into the storm in the direction of the house. "He was right behind me. He swore he was coming right behind me!" She stepped a few feet closer to the cabin. "I'm going to kill him," she grumbled.

Barek and Logan were right behind her as she ran back the way she had come, looking for her partner, an all-too-familiar feeling of dread clenching her gut.

"Bobby!" she called as the cabin came into view.

"Alex," he called back. "No!"

She stopped. She knew that tone. Something was very wrong. She motioned the other two detectives closer and whispered, "Something's wrong. You guys go around the other way and come up behind him. See if you can tell what's happening."

Logan's face was a dark frown. "I don't have to look. And neither do you. Come on, Carolyn. Let's see if we can't get the drop on her psychotic ass."

They disappeared into the storm. Eames started forward slowly, gun at the ready. Gradually, her partner's form came into view through the rain. "Bobby…"

He held his gun in a ready position. Several yards in front of him stood Nicole Wallace, a gun in her hand leveled at his midsection. She smiled at Eames. "Well, hello again, my dear detective. It's been far too long since our last visit."

She didn't seem bothered at all by the fact that there were now two guns trained on her. Eames inched her way closer to her partner. He looked sideways at her, careful not to let his guard down. She kept her attention focused on Wallace. She was not going to let him make another mistake. She was not going to lose her partner.

A noise behind Wallace caused her to turn her back to the cabin, but her gun never wavered, remaining trained directly on Goren. "Come and join the party, detectives."

Logan and Barek came into view. Logan was wet and muddy and Barek looked pissed. Like Goren and Eames, they both held their guns at the ready. "Well, whatever are we going to do here?" Wallace said with a smile.

Finally Goren spoke. "It would be in your best interest to just surrender, Nicole. Put the gun down and let us take you in."

"On what charges, Bobby? Oh, wait…that's right…your Mr. Carver has a set of charges ready and waiting, doesn't he?"

Jaw tight, Goren growled, "You stabbed me, remember?"

"And you're going to hold that against me? I thought you were better than that, Bobby."

"I guess you thought wrong."

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends? It's so nice to see you making friends." She smiled, licking her lips like a hungry cat. "Oh, and your friend Lewis…very sweet…but I was rather disappointed that they wouldn't let me in to say hello to your mommy. I would have thought they would know your partner by name after all this time."

Goren flinched, fury broiling in his gut. "Your problem was they know her by sight."

"Don't let her bait you," Eames muttered to him.

But he paid her no mind. He stepped forward half a step. "Why would you go after a child, though? I didn't get that one. Emily Deakins is nothing to me."

"You're not a good liar, Bobby. Your boss' daughter…of course she's something to you. I just wanted to let you know I am closer than you think. I know more than you expect." She laughed briefly. "I found you, didn't I? Your captain led me right to you." She didn't move, didn't look away from him, but she saw Logan shift closer to her. "I wouldn't if I were you, detective. What's your name? Logan is it? One step closer, and I will be sending Bobby to meet his God, or whatever he believes in. In fact, I do believe I would feel just a little better if you all put your guns away."

"Fat chance, Nicole," Eames growled.

Goren knew that tone. She'd learned it from him. Nicole looked surprised. "Why, Bobby, as hard as you fought for her five months ago, she won't even lower her sidearm to save you? That hardly seems right."

"She's not going to lower her gun. None of them are. You are outnumbered this time, Nicole. Outnumbered and outmatched." He stepped forward another step.

"What the hell are you doing?" Eames hissed at him under her breath. Her words were drowned out by the storm, but not before they reached his ears. He stiffened slightly, and she knew he'd heard her. But there was no reaction from Nicole, so she knew she had not.

Goren held his gun off to the side, opening himself to Wallace. Eames was horrified. "I'm going to kick your ass, Goren," she hissed. "Step back."

But he didn't listen. He moved off to the left, drawing Wallace's attention away from the other three. "No," Eames groaned softly, realizing what he was doing. She saw this going very badly. "Bobby, please…" she pleaded.

But she knew…her partner never did anything he didn't feel he had to. Eames let her eyes stray to Logan and Barek. They had just caught on to what Goren was doing…his dance with the devil.

"Out matched?" she laughed. "Which one of you has me outmatched? Be real, Bobby. You are the closest to an equal I have ever found. But you have always been distracted by another. It's time to remedy that situation."

"No!" Had his mind not been what it was, he would never have caught on in time. All along, they had thought he was her target. They had been very wrong.

As Wallace shifted her gun, bringing it to bear on the small detective beside him, he dropped his gun, turning and diving at his partner. Wallace's gun went off, followed by Logan's and Barek's. Goren hit Eames hard, and they both went down hard. Neither one of them moved…and slowly blood seeped out into the water on the muddy ground beneath them.