Disclaimer: Credit to Jonathan Nolan, Greg Plageman, and the POI writing team. Bolded sections are straight from the episodes.
QUEENSBRIDGE PARK
Chapter 51: mid Search and Destroy
"Sure you're ready for a relationship, John?" Zoe asks as they sit in a car, spying on their latest Number. "She's not going to hang around forever."
Reese freezes.
"Those therapist types, they want to settle down."
Oh. Iris. Right.
"Are you spying on me, Zoe?"
"You know, I never figured you with a redhead."
They look at one another appraisingly.
"Jealous?" he needles her.
"No. Protective," she decides.
"I'll be okay," he assures her.
"She's the one I'm worried about. You know how this ends."
"Let's just focus on the case," Reese suggests. "Finch is working to ID the hacker. We should check in, see if he's made any progress."
It's such an obvious change in subject that Zoe wants to laugh, but she obligingly follows his lead and shares what she knows about the Number and his company before departing.
Reese sits in the car for a little while longer. Long enough to see a little black sports coupe drive up behind a popular food truck parked farther down the street.
"Well, this is it," the driver announces with a flourish as he and his passenger get out of the car. "One of six we've got running around the city with plans to add two more, and as you know, we're working on the storefront."
Adam Saunders grabs Elena Cassidy's hand as she starts to join the end of the long line of people on the sidewalk and instead pulls her toward the back of the truck.
"You know, there are lines for a reason," she scolds.
"Yeah, but there are perks to being the owner, too," he retorts as he knocks on the backdoor.
"When you said you wanted to take me out during my lunch break, I didn't know you meant literally," Elena teases after he'd greeted the cook and given him their order. She shivers, but glances appreciatively at the long line winding around the corner. "But people don't seem to mind. Business booming even in the middle of winter?"
"People gotta eat no matter the weather. And all people gotta eat. A quarter of the profits go to feeding the homeless. Anything left over at the end of the day, we park the trucks near a shelter and give what we can."
She smiles. "That's really great, Adam."
He shrugs. "I used to make millions every day for people who were already millionaires and billionaires. It seemed time to give back to those who don't have as much."
She gives him a sidelong glance. "Are you trying to impress me, Saunders?"
"Is it working, Cassidy?"
"Maybe a little bit."
The backdoor of the truck opens again, and the cook hands them their orders. And Reese notices it's only then that they let go of each other's hands.
As he starts the car and pulls into the street, Zoe's words echo.
She's not going to hang around forever.
