Many thanks for the reviews on the last chappie! Hope you enjoy the trip, lol.

The Vegas pair checked in at the Econo Lodge near the police station. "Boy, Ecklie sure treats us right, " Nick commented sarcastically as Brass handed him the key card to his room."

Jim shrugged. "Budget's tight," he said in a gravely voice. "Just be glad we don't have to share a room."

Nick grinned. "Yeah, I bet you snore," he chuckled.

Jim frowned at him, his faux hurt look on his face. "What? And you don't?"

The two three their bags in the rooms and then met in the hallway to head out again. "I saw a diner on the way over here," Nick offered.

"Sounds good," Jim responded. "But you drive. I've got a call to make."

"You letting me drive the Brassmobile?" Nick asked good humouredly.

Jim smirked. "Don't let it go to your head," he said as he tossed the keys to the CSI.

"Kramer," Annie answered Jim's call once they were in the car.

"Hey Annie, it's Jim."

"Jim? Jimmy…as in Brass," she replied happily. "How ya doing?"

"Okay…you?"

"I'm good. Busy, but good. It's good to hear your voice though. I've um…well, there's a flag on Ellie; I'm supposed to get a call if… did something happen I don't know about?"

"Uh, not that I know of…at least in that department. I um, well…I'm back in L.A. Working a murder-kidnapping case."

"Oh. I didn't know. Why didn't you…I mean, I can help if you need me to."

"Thanks," he said smiling. "My Sherriff didn't want a repeat of the last time so your Captain Todd over at Central set me up with Adam Liu. You know him?"

"Adam, yeah…kinda. He works Chinatown. Word is he's good but I've never worked with him. Has a reputation as a straight arrow, so you two should be okay."

"Good. This one seems to lead back to Chinatown, so it's good to hear this guy can handle it."

"Oh yeah; he doesn't have a problem taking on the muscle there. Or so I've heard. So, am I gonna see ya while you're in town?"

"Well, yeah; I hope so. Depends on how long it takes the brass to shut me down this time."

Her laughter was muffled. "Yeah, you do have a way…"

"Okay, well…I'll call you, okay?"

"Yeah. I'd like that," she said warmly.

Nick pulled into the parking lot at the diner and the two men headed in.

"You got friends here?" Nick asked once their food had arrived.

"Huh? Oh…yeah. Annie Kramer from back in Jersey. We worked together for awhile and she helped me when I was here a few years back. You remember…Warrick helped me too."

"Oh yeah…with your daughter."

"Right." Jim said as he cut into his chicken.

"So, you going to call her too?" Nick asked cautiously.

Jim stopped chewing and glanced up at his friend. Nick's expression didn't seem like he was trying to pry, more like his Texas friendly. "No," Jim said bluntly.

"Oh, okay. I …well, I wasn't tryin' to…you know," Nick replied, obviously flustered.

"Yeah I know," Jim answered gruffly. "There wouldn't be any point. I'm here for the case, that's all," he told the CSI. Nick nodded and concentrated on his plate, wondering when the last time Jim had actually seen his daughter was. Of course, can't blame him, Nick thought; she's nothing but trouble…

Liu was waiting for them when they got back to the Central Station. "Traced the cab," he told them once they were settled around a table in one of the rooms. Trang was dropped at the Dragon's Lair. It's a…"

"Kind of a club, with a bar and all," Jim chimed in.

"Yeah," Liu confirmed, looking at Jim a little annoyed. 'Anyway, I asked around there and of course nobody remembers seeing him."

Jim nodded, understanding what the detective was up against. "So now what?" Just then Nick's phone rang. He stood up and walked to the corner of the room to talk quietly on the phone.

Liu shrugged. "I did get a line on Chen and his cousin. She's Wong's ex. I 'm not sure what is going on here but my sources say she and Wong can't stand each other; no way she's working for him."

Jim frowned. "So what's going on here? Chang seemed to think Chen was working for Wong. Did Lily barge in on the party uninvited or were she and Charlie working on their own all along?"

"Don't know," Liu said. "But we're working on that. One of our guys is over talking to Lily's sister now. Maybe she knows where Lily is. And Captain Todd had a conversation with the local FBI office. Until we know for sure that the girl is here, they are leaving it in our laps."

Nick returned to the table, closing his phone. "That was Greg. There were some hairs in the warehouse; he ran them and there is a familial match to Jimmy Trang. It's a female, so it's probably the girl. Also, they found a phone number in Carrie Murphy's jeans. It's a L.A. number." He handed the slip to Liu who looked at it thoughtfully.

"I'll run this number," he said as he got up to walk out. Then turning he asked, "But who is this Carrie Murphy?"

Jim answered, "We found her dead in the warehouse with Chen and Chang. The girl had been there but Lily had taken her by then."

Liu nodded and then left the room. Jim turned to Nick and tilted his head. "Okay, so what are you not saying?"

"Murphy and Chen are related," Nick said somberly.

Jim furrowed his eyebrows. "So Murphy is related to the Chens and they might be working for Wong but given the history, probably not; especially since Lily is involved."

"Or maybe Charlie was and Lily saw an opportunity to mess with Wong."

Jim's eyebrow rose. "If that's the case, she's playing with fire and the girl is in an even worse place, caught in the middle of all this."

"And where are Guy and Jimmy Trang?"

Jim looked at Nick speculatively. "I could use a drink, how about you?"

Nick look askance at the Captain. "Sure…I think," he replied, bewildered.

A few minutes later, Nick knew exactly where Jim's mind was. They were sitting in the detective's car outside the Dragon's Lair. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea," Nick told Jim uneasily.

"It'll be okay. We're just a couple of guys in town on business and taking in Chinatown, got it?"

"Okay…" Nick said as he climbed out of the car. "But I got a bad feeling about this."

They walked into the club and were greeted by a large Asian man with an expression that said 'bite me'. Nick looked up into the man's face and what he saw made him even more nervous. But Jim, his eyes square on the man's chest, walked right up to him. "You got a table?" he asked in a heavy Jersey accent and attitude that both worried and amused Nick.

The big man looked down at Jim, a sinister smile on his face. "Depends on who wants one."

Jim turned to Nick. "See Nicky, I told ya, it's the same all over tha place. East coast, west coast…it's all the same." Then pulling out a twenty, Jim waved at the man's face. "Mr. Jackson and friends are thirsty and just want a drink. Then we gotta get back to tha meetings…"

The large man shrugged and yanked the bill out of Jim's hand. "Bar okay?"

Jim nodded and walked toward the long bar along the side wall. Nick followed him, smirking at Brass' bravado. Once they were seated at the bar, Nick leaned over and asked, "What were you going to do if bribery didn't work?"

"Bribery always works with these goons," Jim replied softly. "But if it didn't, we'd leave."

"Okay…good, cause I didn't see you taking that one down,"

Jim chuckled. "What, you didn't have my back?"

"You kiddin'; I'd be pulling you backwards out the door."

Jim grinned. "So what do you see," he asked, his eyes scanning the room.

"Nothing special. There's a cocktail waitress over in the corner, taking a load off. And your big Chinaman over by the door. The bartender is heading our way."

"And the glass at the back?" Jim observed. "That's not a mirror; we're being watched. I can feel it."

They ordered drinks and Jim threw another bill on the counter to pay for it. "How you going to explain that to Ecklie?" Nick chuckled as he watched the bartender snatch it up.

"Hey…expenses. Besides, we get a per diem. It's covered."

Nick noticed that Jim's eyes, although seemed to be looking at him, were scanning the room, flashing back and forth between him and different area of the room. Jim was in full detective mode, his observation skills at work. "You trying to memorize the joint?"

Brass nodded as his eyes once again passed across the room. "Might be useful later."

"Do you always go to new places looking for trouble?" Nick asked jokingly.

"Don't have to. Trouble has a way of finding me," Jim said as his eyes finally settled back on Nick. "Finish your drink. I've seen what I needed to see."

"But we're on duty," Nick started to argue.

"Right now they are suspicious. If you don't finish that drink," he said as he knocked his back, "they'll know something is wrong and we'll have to fight our way out of here."

Nodding, Nick picked up his drink and downed it. "Okay." The two men stood and Jim looked at Nick. "Ready to go get your ass chewed?" he said loudly.

Catching on, Nick grimaced. "But I didn't do anything wrong. It was all that bitch's fault," he whined.

"Doesn't matter," Jim said as he started for the door. "She's got your ass in the sling and you're about to loose part of it."

"I know, but it's just not fair."

"Like I keep telling ya Nicky, life ain't fair." And with that he ushered the younger man outside. They climbed in Jim's car and drove away.

"Okay, what was that all about?" Nick asked.

"Just checking out the opponent's arena," Jim said calmly. "Got know what kind of ice we're skating on here."

"And?"

"And I'd say we are in deep shit. Hopefully, Liu has something to help us though."

Back at the police station, they looked for Liu and found him at his desk. "Where'd you guys go?" Liu asked annoyed.

"Just seeing the sights," Jim replied. "You find anything?"

"Yeah. The phone number is one of the lines at the Dragon's Lair. It's not the main business line, so I'm guessing it's Wong's office. Also, your Carrie Murphy is one of Wong's ex girlfriends. Rumor has it he was banging her while he was married to Lily Chen."

Jim's brows shot up at that one. "Whoa. That's a surprise."

"Yeah. And supposedly she's Charlie Chen's cousin on his mother's side."

Nick shifted his weight, thinking. "So… Charlie was in between two female cousins who weren't related to each other but both were getting' it on with Daniel Wong…"

"Yeah." Liu added. "As much as Lily hates Wong, she hates Murphy more."

Jim sighed heavily, swiping the back of his neck. "So where do the Trang's fit into all of this?"

"Murphy is Guy Trang's sister-in-law," Liu added smugly.

Jim's eyes widened. "Sally Trang and Carrie Murphy are sisters?"

"They are," the detective replied.

Jim turned to Nick but the CSI was already pulling out his phone. "I'm on it," he told Jim.

"Yeah Greg, it's me. Look, I need you to get a DNA sample from Sally Trang and run a comparison to Carrie Murphy." Nick listened a moment and then smiled into the phone. "Ah come on, you wouldn't want me to ruin the surprise, would you?"

He listened and then replied again. "Okay, just call me when it's done. Thanks Greggo."

Jim turned his attention back to Detective Liu. "So who's got the kid?"

"I don't know," Adam Liu answered.

Jim frowned. "Okay,…okay…So, Carrie was in bed with Wong….and Wong was pressuring the Trang brothers to do business with him. From what we know of the two, Tim was most likely to say no; Guy was an easy mark. Carrie's got an in and he's into drugs anyway. So all they had to do was to convince Tim…"

"Or get him out of the way," Nick threw in.

Brass nodded. "And when he wouldn't cave, they killed him. The girl, Mai, happened to be there. Chang says it was Chen's idea to take her. So where does Lily come into the picture?"

"Maybe she heard about it and saw a chance to get Wong…screw with his operation," Nick offered.

"Right….and we've already thought that. So she shows up, calls Charlie, 'hey cous…' and finds out where they are. But how does Carrie end up at the warehouse?"

Nick considered the options. "Maybe Wong wanted her to find out what was going on. Chen was her cousin too…"

"Yeah, okay….so Wong sends her….and suddenly Charlie Chen is in the middle."

Yeah, or maybe Sally calls her sister and wants to know what is going on?" Nick supplied "So then what?" Nick asked. "Carrie shows up at the same times as Lily and Lily pops her?"

"Yeah, that's possible," Jim said contemplatively. "And then what….Lily takes off with the kid and leaves Charlie holding the bag?"

"Makes sense to me," Adam replied as he turned to answer the phone on his desk that was ringing.

Jim and Nick continued to roll the possibilities in their heads while they watched Liu on the phone. After a short conversation, he hung up and turned back to the two from Las Vegas. "You by any chance go by the Dragon's Lair today?"

Jim shrugged. "What if we did?"

"Cause I've had a guy watching the place. You must have shaken something up because he just saw them hauling a man out that matches Guy Trang's description."

"Alive?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, my guy says he was walking but barely. Looks like he's had a beating or two. Andy followed them to a house a few blocks away. Feel like going for a ride?"

"Yeah," Jim said as he fell into step with Adam Liu, Nick following closely behind.

Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.

Ovid