The doors to the shed opened easily and soundlessly. Logan glanced at the outboard and sighed, grabbing instead the oars and oarlocks from their place on the wall. He handed them off to Barek, who split the load with Eames. Then he looked at the boat, resting on a set of sawhorses, upside down. He walked around it, bending over to look under it with his flashlight. "It's a boat, Mike," Barek said.

"Yeah, I recognized that." He looked at Goren. "What's it made of?"

"Lead and brick."

"What?"

The big cop laughed quietly and his partner poked him. "Stop teasing him," she chided. But she smiled. He was concerned about the upcoming confrontation, but it all felt right to him, so his manner was easy and his smile came readily. She turned to Logan. "It's aluminum, Mike."

Barek leaned closer to him. "As in aluminum foil."

"Well, that shouldn't be so bad."

Goren laughed again, more to himself. "Which end do you want?"

"I'll take the front." He stopped, turning to look at Goren. "And remember, I apologized for ramming you with that dresser."

"I'll try to keep that in mind."

Logan walked to the front of the boat, glancing at his partner. "And no poking."

"I never poked you."

"Now wouldn't be the time to start."

"Logan, quit stalling and pick up your end of the damn boat," Barek snapped. "We don't have all night."

Unlike Goren, Logan was very apprehensive about finding and confronting Nicole Wallace. Goren had this annoying ability to believe everything was going to turn out right…hence he'd gotten stabbed. Logan wasn't such an optimist. His mind liked to run over each and every scenario of how wrong things could go. With a grunt, he hoisted his end of the boat up over his head. "You're sure there's no tigers or anything out there, right?"

"Positive. Bears, maybe, but no tigers."

"Bears?"

Barek shook her head. "Don't worry, city boy. I'll protect you from the bears."

Logan tipped his head down to look at her. "And who's gonna protect the bears from you?"

"You're damn lucky you have a friggin' boat on your head. Get moving."

He grinned at her. "Ready, Goren?"

"Whenever you are. Just remember that you're steering, ok?"

"Right."

They headed out of the shed and crossed the clearing toward the lake. Once they entered the woods, minor problems cropped up. "Why aren't you on the path, Logan?"

"This is the path."

"Bullshit. The path is wider than the boat."

"Do you want to steer, Goren?"

"At least we'd still be on the path."

Bump. "Now what?" Goren asked.

"Tree. Back up."

As they backed up, Logan heaved his end of the boat up so he could see, knocking Goren off balance, sideways, into another tree. "Son of a bitch."

"Uh, I think we have a small problem here."

"What kind of problem?" He pushed himself off the tree.

"Well, it's black and white, it looks like a fat housecat…and it's looking right at me."

"Great. Unless you want to sleep on the porch, don't make any sudden movements. Back up slowly…"

They managed to back their way out of the trees, back to where their partners were waiting for them. "Barek," Goren growled. "Grab his belt and set him on the damn path."

Logan turned his head to look over his shoulder at the big cop behind him until Barek walked over and grabbed his belt. "Hey!"

"Shut up or I'll grab more than your belt. Come on."

They finally got the boat down to the lake. "Now ease it over gently," Goren warned.

With Eames and Barek's help, they set the boat in the water. Goren leaned on the stern and glared at Logan until his partner laid a hand on his back. "Ok, now what?"

Barek quietly set the oarlocks into their places. "At least he was quiet while running you into the trees, Bobby."

"I don't need your help, Barek," Logan snapped.

Goren had walked away from the boat, a few yards down the shore, and he was watching the island. Eames followed him, stepping up to his side. "What is it?"

He rested his arm across her shoulders and pointed toward the island. "Look through the trees. You can barely see it, but there's a light there, flickering like a fire."

She nodded. "I see it. Does that mean she's there now?"

"I'd bet on it."

"That's good enough for me. Let's get going."

She started back toward the boat, but he didn't follow right away. He was thinking. "Bobby?"

"Yeah, I'm coming."

They got back to the boat and Goren leaned back against a large boulder set where the path met the water. A large ring was drilled into the rock for tying up the boat. "It looks like she's out there now. I don't want to bring the boat up onto the shore there. It's not a big island and I don't want to take the chance she'll hear us land."

Logan looked up at him. "And what do you suggest we do?"

"Anchor it off shore and swim the rest of the way."

Logan just stared at him. "Swim? How did I know that was going to come into this somehow?"

"Don't tell me you can't swim."

"No, I can swim. I just don't like swimming with sharks or barracuda or whatever lives in lakes and ponds."

"No, the sharks and barracuda are with the tigers, Logan. The most you have to worry about here are minnows about the size of your finger. They don't eat much."

Eames elbowed him. "There's nothing out there that can hurt you, Mike."

"Nothing but Nicole Wallace," Goren corrected.

Logan shook his head, muttering under his breath as he picked up one of the oars from the ground. Barek asked, "Where's the anchor?"

"Back in the shed, along the back wall."

"I'll get it."

She trotted off up the path back toward the cabin. When she got back, she set the anchor in the boat, tying the anchor line to a ring at the stern. Logan looked at Goren. "You do the rowing."

"Whatever."

Eames and Barek both looked at him. "Hey, I've never rowed anything in my life. So if you plan to get to that island before the sun comes up, he'd better do the rowing."

"I'm not worried about the sun, Mike." He looked at his watch. "If the moon comes up while we're out on the lake, we're screwed. Let's go."

Logan and the two women got into the boat while Goren pushed off and pulled himself over the stern. Doing his best to keep the oarlocks as still as possible, he rowed the boat toward the island.