Nicole was waiting in the car when Jess and Dr. Balogun left the apartment.

"Why'd you leave?" Jess asked as she buckled her seatbelt. Nicole silently started up the car.

"Nicole,"

"Jess, let's find this girl. There's no time for emotions." Nicole sped down the road. Jess' body shook and she felt a cold spell run down her spine. When she opened her eyes she saw Erica in the driver's seat, speeding down the highway. Caroline was sitting in the back seat begging Erica to stop.

"What happened last night?" Jess asked.

Erica's head rolled around like a doll, to face Jess without moving her neck. A murderous smile crept across her face as she laughed manically.

"Who are you? Where are you going?" Jess asked with urgency.

Erica indicated right and the car swerved to the right without warning. A white light stunned Jess' eyes until she couldn't see anything else.

"Jess?" Nicole asked. Jess' face was pale and she was breathing heavily.

"What'd you see?"

"Erica…in the driver's seat. She was taking Caroline for a ride and she wouldn't stop. They went to the right, then there was a light and I couldn't see anything."

"Was it blinding?"

Jess nodded her head. "It ended the vision."

"It's the truth Jess. It's coming to light and will change everything forever. The truth brings new beginnings and sometimes, endings."

"Endings? But Nicole, we haven't found her yet."

"Yes we have. What's right and pure and laughs when you try to change their plans?"

"God?"

"Call Antonio and, have you ever worn a habit?"

"No...but I guess there's a first time for everything. Undercover?"

"You bet. This'll be the first time I've been to church since…it's been a long time."

"Nic, I know you don't want to talk about what made you walk out."

"Then let's not."

"I don't know what's more elusive; you or my visions." Jess said, shaking her head.

Nicole pulled the car over at a pit stop. They were eating burgers in the small fast food place.

"Burgers and coffee, I feel like a college student." Nicole said, picking out the onions.

Jess looked away. "I never went to college. I mean I never finished. My dad…he died, Doug was…he was ill. Then I started having visions. I just couldn't see myself graduating anymore."

"That doesn't mean you never will."

"It was just so hard, I felt like I couldn't think anymore. Like there was always something imposing in my life. I always felt responsible."

"I always feel responsible." Nicole replied, picking out the tomatoes. "Jess, ever since Antonio and I got back together I feel all eyes are on me. Not us, me. Pollock needs me as an Agent. You need me as a partner. And Antonio, he needs me as his…"

"Girlfriend?"

"Wife."

"What?" Jess shouted, spitting out her coffee.

"Shah!"

"Wife?" she whispered, shocked as hell. "He proposed?"

"Nope, but it's coming. We've come too far Jess, but I'm not ready. I can't do matrimony. I've been there before and I can't go back again."

"You were married? After all the slack you gave Antonio about his ex-wife,"

"I was eighteen. Just like Caroline. I was abandoned. Just like Caroline. And all those years, I was abused." Nicole admitted.

"Nic, I'm sorry." Nicole held up her hand to stop Jess from talking.

"You weren't there. It was a place and time that you had nothing to do with. So don't apologise. That's how I got those marks on my back. When I was sixteen, I met a guy. By seventeen I left the home and moved in with him. At eighteen, I was going to marry him. I had the ring and everything."

"Wow," Jess said, surprised by her revelations.

"He wasn't husband material. He sold drugs for a big time dealer. To think, it was Antonio and I who took him, eventually."

"Your boyfriend?"

"No, the dealer; Warren Hutt. It cost us though."

"How?"

"I think it's better if you look that one up. Where was I? Oh, I realised that I was lying to myself and the ring was the biggest sign. You can't fill a void that's been there from childhood, with a man you barely know."

"So why did you try?" Jess asked, sipping her cold coffee.

"I wanted out, so bad. And thought he would take me away and protect me. She was right you know; some people only have high school. That's the only place they count, Jess. That was the first place I ever felt powerful and his attention made me feel wanted and worthy. I hadn't felt that since I was two years old. Wanted, worthy. Now Antonio wants more of a commitment out of me and I don't know how much of me is left."

"A helluva lot." Nicole smiled.

"You're just saying that." Jess lifted the silver napkin holder to her face. Nicole saw her reflection in the small rectangular mirror.

"You're still standing. So get over yourself and let's solve this case. Where's that habit?"

Our Lady of Sorrows church was a chilling, community church. It lacked in size but its aura of abandonment was consuming. The once pink roses were dead and weeds choked them. "This is the place," Jess thought. The pathway was unclear, one couldn't tell where the muddy grass ended and the concrete path began. The building was dilapidated, deterring even the most faithful people and sending them to somewhere else.

No one would have thought that it used to be a refuge for troubled teens to go to and steal back the few precious moments of their childhood. Although it was technically on the wrong side of the tracks, it was an inner city haven. Nicole used to go there after school for some peace before she went "home." It was the one place where her fear could subside. But no one knew that. She had never let someone else revisit that lonely place with her, hold her hand and tell her it was over. She was the hand holder to others, offering hope and consoling. Unfortunately, no level of altruism could fill her own voids. She had settle for momentary heroism to give her joy. Not the longest lasting but at least she was deserving and that she knew.

Antonio arrived in a beaten car. "I was going for discretion," he said as he left the grey 'hooptie.' "Why is there no backup? Nic, I hope you're not playing Superwoman."

"I don't play."

"You know what I mean, it's dangerous."

"No it's not. Caroline doesn't need an army of 25 shooting at her head. Give her some respect. She's confessing."

Antonio and Jess stared at each other in bemusement.

"Look; I lied earlier and I mislead us all. Caroline's no lesbian. There was no illustrious affair. Erica's talking to a therapist in Pollock's office right now. She was spending the night at her friend's house when it happened. She's not at risk. Of Caroline that is."

"What?" Antonio asked in anger.

"How could you lie to us?" Jess shouted, her voice echoing.

"For once, everything doesn't have to be a high speed chase. We don't have to shoot anybody. We can solve a case on our wit not our brawn."

"You mean you can solve a case." Jess said accusingly. "Forget about us, remember your ego."

Nicole tried to reach out to Jess, verbally. "It's not like that. If only you could understand,"

Jess looked away, denying Nicole's explanation.

"Nic," Antonio said, not buying into the female tension and hostility that clogged the air they breathed. "You're not wired and you don't have a gun."

"I can't take care of myself."

"Here we go." Jess said in irritation. "She's about to walk into a death trap and you'll let her. Nic, I'm pissed as hell that you're using this case to prove a point."

"What point?" Antonio asked, oblivious to the fact that Nicole's recent conduct was affected by him.

"The point that she can be all things to all people." Jess said, before she walked back to the car and drove away.

Antonio stared Nicole in the face, startled by Jess' revelation. Every time he thought their relationship was moving to a higher plane; something new shook its foundation. Nicole could take him to the highest high and the lowest low all in a day without doing anything.

"I'm sorry Antonio. It must be difficult for you to hear all this."

"When is it not? Nicole I'm tired of trying to decode the choices you make for us."

"What choices? You bombard me with your expectations Antonio. Where's the choice in that?"

"You communicate the most when we argue, just so you can turn away from me. Is this the only way to win your honesty?"

Nicole's speech was stifled. Antonio had aimed well and hit hard. He had broken through what he considered to be as hard as diamond. Nicole turned her back to him.

"What's new?" Antonio said, dropping all pretence and being cold. Nicole's eyes were glistening but she refused to let him see her cry. As soon as he sensed her crying, he felt guilty.

"Nic," There was nothing he could say to make it right, now. "She's in there isn't she?"

Nicole nodded her head still looking away. Antonio stood behind her and put his arms around her waist. She was crying silently and thought he couldn't see.

"You were right. Let's discuss this tonight. I know you'll come back in one piece and you'll bring her back with you. I know you. You've got this one."

Nicole didn't respond vocally but her tense muscles relaxed. She let him go but decided not to let him walk away. She had a feeling that tonight would be the most important of her life. But as always, business came before pleasure. She walked up the muddy pathway to her past. Time for confessions, she thought.