So glad to see that you are still along for the ride! Many thanks again to all who use the little button below to review or add to favs or for alerts. It is probably pretty obvious by now that I love the character of Jim Brass and while these little fantasies would be rumbling in my brain no matter what, it's you guys using the button that keep me at the keyboard. Happy reading.

Several patrol units met them in front of the bungalow style house a few blocks away. Once everyone was in place, Adam Liu went to the door and knocked, called out "LAPD" and then he and Jim headed through the door.

Inside, the huge man from the Dragon's Lair met them. Luckily, Nick thought as he stood just inside the door, Liu had brought an equally large patrolman with him. As the big Asian took a swing at Liu, the large cop hit him squarely in the gut doubling the man over. Liu had cuffs on him before the man knew what had happened.

Other uniforms entered from the back and made their way through the house. As Liu's patrolman took the big one out, Adam and Jim started down the hall.

"In here," they heard one of the others call out. Nick followed Jim to the second door on the right. They found a man who'd obviously been beaten, lying on a bed. He was unconscious. Nick could hear one of the patrolmen calling for an ambulance. Liu knelt and felt for a pulse. "He's alive," he said as he turned to Jim.

Jim stood over the bed, looking down at the battered man. "Fits the description for Guy Trang," Jim said softly. Disgust resonated in his voice.

Slowly they made their way through the rest of the house. Nick cringed as he saw patrolmen everywhere and none wearing gloves. He heard Adam calling for CSU and saw Jim glance his way. "Mind if Nick gets a head start?" Jim asked.

Liu glanced over at Nick and nodded. "Yeah, sure…." It was all Nick needed to hear. Hurriedly, he retrieved his kit from Jim's car and got to work, photographing everything he saw.

Reaching into Nick's kit, Jim pulled out a pair of gloves and after slipping them on, he began rummaging through the room, looking for clues. Liu looked at Jim speculatively. Nick caught the L.A. detective's expression out of the corner of his eyes and grinned. "Hey Jim, I don't think Liu believes you know what you're doing."

Jim looked up from a drawer he'd just pulled open and grimaced. "Hey, I might be a little rusty, but I think I can remember how to put on gloves." The not so subtle hint registered with Liu, who began to clear the house of all but the necessary personnel and the ones that were left were told to don gloves. Then walking over to Brass, Liu peered into the drawer. "You and Stokes seem to work together pretty good…" he inquired.

Jim looked over Liu's shoulder at Nick and smirked. "Ought to; I helped train him."

"Yeah," Nick chimed in, "but he was a terrible boss. I like it better this way."

Lifting something out of the drawer, Jim cut off Liu's next question. "Hey, I got a key," Jim said. "It looks like a residential lock." Stepping past the other detective, Jim walked through the house to the front door. Trying the key in the door, Jim grunted. "Not this lock…"

Nick looked down at the key that Jim was holding. "Another house maybe?"

Brass looked across at Liu. "You know how many houses this guy owns?"

"Two that we know of. But this one isn't his in his name. He's probably got houses all over the place that aren't in his name."

Just then, they heard on of the uniforms call from the backyard. Liu, followed by Jim, headed through the house and out the back. The uniform, an officer Hawkins, pointed inside the garage. "There's a locked door in there. I think it goes upstairs." They all looked up to see that the garage did indeed have a second floor, although it appeared to be a short one.

They walked in and Liu tried the door. "Yeah…locked," he moaned. Jim tilted his head sideways and then looked down at the key he had slipped into his pocket. "Try this," he said as he handed it to Liu.

Adam slipped it into the lock and turned it. "Good call," he told Brass as the door opened. Drawing their guns, the three men made their way up a narrow flight of stairs.

The men had to stoop as they stopped at the top, their eyes adjusting to the dim light. Hawkins pulled out a flashlight and began to scan the space. It was dusty and had a musky feel to it with light filtering in through a dirty window at the far in. Low shelves lined one wall with various tools and bottles of chemicals collecting dust. The other walls had three sets of shackles hanging loosely that were obviously newer than the shelves. Jim grimaced as he noticed what seemed to be blood spatters along the wall.

At the end there appeared to be a pile of old blankets. All three men were surprised by a painful moan and sudden movement from the pile. The two detectives eased closed while Hawkins held back, covering their backs. Jim reached the blankets first and carefully pulled the corner down until a face appeared. "Damn," he exclaimed as he recognized the face of Jimmy Trang. "Why the hell are they here…why did they come here?"

Liu turned and nodded to Hawkins, who called for an ambulance. Then he turned back to the younger Trang. "Looks like he's been roughed over pretty good too."

Jim growled. "Yeah." Then letting out a sigh, he scanned the rest of the garage attic. "Okay, so we've found Guy and Jimmy. But where's the girl? If they had the two men here… seems like they would've had them all in the same place."

"Maybe you were right. Maybe Lily took the girl on her own. Maybe Guy and Jimmy thought Wong had her and came after him."

Clinching his jaw and gritting his teeth, Jim was thinking grim thoughts. "Yeah, so we're no closer to her than we were to start."

"Well, we know where she's not… we can try to rattle Wong. Maybe he has some idea…"

"Yeah," Jim said as he looked back down to Jimmy. "He's going to have a hard enough time getting over this. Sure would like to be able to tell him we found his daughter when he wakes up."

Liu looked at Jim oddly. "You sure seem to have a connection to this case…like they're friends or something."

Jim looked up at Adam Liu. "No, not friends. But I do have a daughter. Besides, I promised him we'd do everything we could…"

"And he complicated things by going it on his own," Liu pointed out.

"Yeah… but I've been there. Daughters make you do crazy things," Jim said as he looked down at Jimmy Trang again. Then glancing back at Liu. "You got a daughter?"

Adam looked at him sheepishly. "No, but my wife is pregnant. We have two boys already, so we're hoping…"

Jim nodded. "Just get ready; daughters …well, they make a special place in your heart," he said forlornly.

Adam went back downstairs, leaving Jim with Trang. Brass was relieved when he heard the sirens and knew help would be there for the younger father. He watched as the still unconscious man was loaded onto a back board and carried down the steps. Soon he'd be at the ER with his uncle. Now Jim could turn his attention back to finding Mai.

Walking back into the house, he found Nick thumbing through a small book. "Find anything?" he asked the CSI.

Nick looked up from the book and grinned. "I think this is an address book. And Lily Chen's name is in it."

For the first time in days, Jim looked almost happy. "Oh…that's too easy," he commented.

"Yeah, but it's worth a shot."

"What is?" asked Liu from the doorway.

Nick quickly explained. Liu looked at Brass. "Why don't I send Hawkins with you and Stokes? Meantime, I'm going to follow up with Wong."

Jim nodded. "Yeah, divide and conquer."

Liu quickly explained to Hawkins and also called dispatch to send another unit to the address. He watched as Jim and Nick pulled out with Hawkins following in his patrol car, just behind the two from Vegas. Confident that that lead was covered, he turned his attention to Daniel Wong and the Dragon's Lair.

He entered the front entrance with two patrolmen behind him. Five had been dispatched around the building, cutting off Wong's ability to bolt. Within minutes they had the gang leader secure. Wong was protesting loudly and was rewarded with a knee in his gut for the effort. Liu gave him his Miranda and asked him if he had any questions.

Wong looked at him vengefully. "Yeah, what you busting me for? I didn't do nothin'"

"Funny," Liu said. "Your big canary that usually watches the front door but you had watching things over at your house on Hill… he's telling us different."

About the time Liu and several of his officers were cuffing and arresting Wong at the Lair, Jim pulled to a stop in front of the house they were looking for. Nick studied the exterior carefully. "Looks occupied," he commented.

Hawkins pulled up behind them and motioned to the other two patrolmen who'd parked a little down the block. The three men surrounded Jim and Nick as Jim explained what he needed from them. Two headed around back while Hawkins covered the side entrance to the house. Jim knocked and then announced, "Police."

When he got no response, he yelled "go" and they all entered through the three entrances. Nick was behind Jim but still saw the scramble as Lily tried to run. He and Jim chased her right into Hawkins, who turned and cuffed her. With Lily secure, they began to search the house.

"Nothing." Jim was disappointed after searching all the rooms and finding no sign of Mai. Turning toward Lily Chen, who stood cuffed in the living room in the custody of a female officer, he snarled, "Where is she?"

Lily smirked. "Who you looking for?"

Making no attempt to disguise his feelings at the moment, Jim's face showed his anger and antipathy. "You know who we're looking for…Mai Trang. We know you took her; that you were at Tim Trang's apartment in Vegas and along with your cousin Charlie, you took her. Charlie's in rough shape, by the way….not that you seem all that interested."

"Charlie? What happened to him?" Jim had obviously hit a nerve.

"He's in the hospital…took a bullet at that warehouse where you left him; you know the place, where you killed Carrie Murphy…" Jim watched her reaction, gauging her response.

"He got shot? You shot him?" She yelled.

Shooting her his best look of innocence, Jim replied. "Oh, not me…the guys he was aiming his gun at. So where's the girl?"

Nick watched as her anger took hold. "But what about Charlie? How bad?"

"Where's the girl?" Jim repeated.

Glowering at the detective, Lily visibly shut down. "Tell me about Charlie…"

"Tell me about the girl," Jim said determinedly.

Nick fought back a grin as he watched Lily's resolve melt. "You'll tell me about Charlie?"

Standing his ground, Jim nodded. "After you tell me where to find the girl."

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at Jim. Still watching the scene, Nick knew the exact moment when she broke. Finally, in a soft voice she opened up. "I gave her to Daniel; he's got her."

"Where? Where does he have her?"

I dunno… One of his guys took her from me in Vegas. But he's planning to ship her out soon." Her eyes narrowed briefly and then she looked up. "He has a building there… it's off the highway, H Street… 342, I think…" She took a deep breath and then looked at Jim. "Old building."

The atmosphere in the room changed as Jim relaxed. His tone was suddenly sympathetic as he gave her the news. "Charlie's in the hospital, in critical condition. Doctors don't think he'll make it."

Visibly shocked, Lily let herself be led away. Jim pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Vega. "We have an address…"

Back at LAPD, Jim sat across the table from Daniel Wong. "Lily told us where to find the girl," he told the gang leader. "But what I don't get is Guy and Jimmy…why'd you beat them up so bad?"

Daniel smiled across the table at Jim. "Lily can't give what she ain't got. And Guy…he came to the Lair….came to my place looking for trouble. I just …gave him what he wanted."

"And Jimmy?"

"He came looking for Guy. Wouldn't go away; what was I supposed to do?"

"Yeah, well… they'll be conscious soon. I'll get the story from them. In any case, you're going down," Jim said gruffly.

Wong just smirked again. "For what? Assault? I'll be out in no time…"

Jim's phone rang and he stepped out of the room to take the call. Looking at the ID, he quickly answered. "You have her?" he asked Sam Vega.

"No. No body was there. But Sanders did find some evidence that someone had been there. He's processing now. And he has prints…"

"So, we still don't know where she is?"

"No. But whoever was there…they hadn't been gone long."

"Yeah, okay."

Nick was walking down the hall and stopped when he saw Jim end the call. "No luck?" He asked the detective.

Jim sighed, frustrated. "No."

"So now what?"

Wiping the back of his neck in exasperation, Jim shrugged. "Liu's working on Wong. Let's get some sleep."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, fresh eyes…"

Back at the motel, Jim paced his room. To say he was restless would be an understatement. He couldn't be still as Lily Chen's voice echoed in his mind, "He's planning to ship her out soon…"

Finally conceding that he wasn't going to sleep, he reached for his phone.

"Annie?"

"Jimmy… you called."

"Yeah…I said I would."

"But you're on a case. And I remember what you're like…"

Jim furrowed his brow. "How's that?"

"Like a bulldog with a bone," she chuckled into the phone.

He began to relax. She wasn't accusing, just acknowledging his determination. "Yeah, I guess. But right now…Can we meet for a cup of coffee or something? I need to see a friendly face."

She laughed again. "Sure Jimmy. Where are you now? I'll come over."

"Um…the Econo Lodge…um, let me get the address…"

It always looks darkest just before it gets totally black

Charlie Brown