Mia could smell the coffee as she walked down the stairs. She smiled at the tech sitting by the cameras as she walked towards the kitchen.
"Five more minutes!" she heard Danny saying to Martin "You couldn't have given me five more minutes?" She caught her breath and blushed knowing what he was talking about, she relaxed a little when she realized Martin didn't know what Danny had meant.
"Look man I'm sorry ok!" Martin grumbled "I was worried, you don't normally sleep through your alarm… if I had known you two were awake and talking I would have left you alone…"
"You wanted decent coffee!" Danny teased Martin trying to steer him away from thinking he had interrupted something between him and Mia upstairs.
"Yeah well maybe." Martin conceded sheepishly "Is it done yet?"
"Yeah" Danny laughed "It is" he got out three cups as Mia walked in "Are you ready for coffe?" Danny grinned at her "Martin was about to start an IV!"
"Good morning!" Mia smiled at Martin "I'd love some but if that's the case you'd better pour Martin's first!" she looked at Martin who was still a lovely shade of pink mumbled a quiet thank you as Danny passed him a cup of coffee.
Danny made the three of them some toast and Mia listened as they finalized their plans to visit Rikers and Martin briefed Danny on Sam and Viv's plans for the day.
"Yeah so Sam and Viv are looking into Mikey's former foster homes." Martin said "Hopefully they will find something useful."
"What do you think they'll find?" Mia asked "He had a miserable time at nearly every one until papi took him in."
"We need to look into his past to see if there might be someone he would go to for help." Danny explained "If there is someone he would trust or a place he felt safe…"
"Father Orlando" Mia said "Whenever Mikey got into trouble in his old group home he'd end up hiding in the tool shed behind the rectory. Father Orlando would leave sandwiches and things by the door for him until he felt safe enough to come out. He said Mikey was in there for two days once." she shook her head sadly. "That was when he came to live with my father… I went and checked but he wasn't there… I never caught up with Father Orlando either."
"We'll call Viv and let her know, they'll check on it again." Danny nodded. "Oh hey Franklin" he greeted the other agent as he entered the kitchen. "Coffee?"
Franklin nodded a greeting to them before asking "Who made it?" with a grin at Martin.
"I did" Danny laughed at his friend's fresh blush.
"We'd better get going" Martin looked at his watch as Danny poured the last of the coffe into a cup for Franklin. "I'll grab my bag and meet you at the door" he said to Danny. "Come on I'll get you up to speed" he said to Franklin knowing Danny wouldn't want an audience while he said good-bye to Mia.
Danny and Mia watched them walk out. Mia had picked up Martin's coffee cup and taken it to the sink with her own. She didn't want to say good-bye to him but time was running out. He walked up behind her and reaching around her, put his cup in the sink. Slipping his arms around her waist he hugged her. "I'll be back as soon as I can." he promised. Another hug and he started to step away.
"Danny wait!" she spun around as fast as her sore ribs would let her and flung herself into his arms. He caught her and without hesitating he kissed her. Mia registered the pain in her ribs and in her face but it was nothing compared to the feel of Danny's arms around her and his deep coffee flavored kiss. It ended to soon for both of them.
Breathless and a little dizzy, Mia steadied herself, her hands on his chest. He rested his forehead on hers, his breathing almost as rapid as her own. "I better get going." he managed to get out.
"Be careful" she whispered. He kissed her forehead once more and took a step back.
"I will, stay away from the windows" he reminded her. "Martin left you a present on the table" he pointed to a magazine and shiny mechanical pencil.
She smiled and nodded "Thank him for me."
"Teach him how to make coffee" Danny laughed and with another smile forced himself to walk out of the kitchen and then out of the house with Martin.
Mia washed their cups and made a fresh pot of coffee before picking up the puzzle magazine and mechanical pencil. She walked out of the kitchen and found Franklin and Archie in the living room. She didn't like Franklin. She couldn't put her finger on it but there was something about him she didn't trust. Right now she didn't like the way he looked her over as she stood in the doorway.
"I've just made a fresh pot of coffee." she said quietly.
"Oh great thanks!" Archie grinned from where he sat at the cameras. Franklin didn't say anything, he just stared at her. She smiled and went back up to the bedroom closing the door behind her.
She put the magazine down and went to straighten the bed. As she did she lifted one of the pillows to her nose and inhaled deeply. Danny's scent lingered. It was enough to make her feel his presence in the room. As she put the pillow down she saw a matchbook cover sticking out from under the other pillow. She picked it up. The cover said "Vito's Best Eats in Town".
There were no matches in it, but inside the cover was a note. "I promise I will be back, love Danny" she smiled it was like him. He had always left her notes hidden in her books and in her school bag when he would leave on a Sunday night to go home with Rafi. She would find them all, over the course of the week. Each one brought a fresh smile to her face and every one was carefully kept safe in her happy box. She put the note down next to Tonto and once the bed was made she got comfortable with the puzzle magazine to wait for Danny to come back.
Danny was quiet on the drive to Rikers, he'd hardly said a word as they drove to his apartment so he could change. Now in the car on the way to the dock he did little more than nod and respond with a quiet "Ok" as Martin discussed the connections between Rafi, Malique Thompson, Alvaro Montoya and Frankie Cortez.
On the ferry Martin got them each a coffee as the boat cruised slowly away from the dock. Danny was sitting on a bench staring at the growing hulk in the distance that was Rikers Island. "So it looks like Malique has given away some of Montoya's key players." Martin said "but he refused protective custody" he shook his head "I don't get it"
"He's cleaning house for Montoya" Danny said sipping his coffee. "He's getting rid of anyone Montoya sees as disloyal… Malique gets time shaved off of his sentence and Montoya gets rid of anyone who works for him who may be a threat." He looked down and swirled the coffee in his hand. "Where do you think Rafi fits into all of this?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know" Martin said "He's the only link we have at the minute that connects Malique, Parker and Mia… Jack is trying to get more details on Malique's trial but the US Attorney's office is holding onto everything. He's called in some favors but until we get the transcripts we won't even know who was on the witness list.
Danny nodded his mood getting darker the closer they got to Rikers. "I want to get dinner and a couple ice cream floats from Big Daddy's to take back to the house tonight." he said to Martin.
"Mia will like that" Martin smiled remembering Mia talk about the diner. "Here we are" he said as the ferry eased into the dock at Rikers.
Danny drew a breath and nodded "Let's do this" he said and squaring his shoulders he got up, Martin following him to the gangplank already crowded with people coming to visit someone at the prison.
Martin and Danny went through the entrance for law enforcement officers leaving their weapons in the secure holding area. Danny wrinkled his nose at the institutional scent of the place as they walked to one of the private visitor's rooms. Small rectangular rooms used for when a lawyer came to visit a client before a trial they resembled an interrogation room outfitted with a simple table and chairs.
Inmates in jumpsuits wandered out of their cells talking to each other and looking for family members in the main visitor's room. Several of them noticed Martin and Danny they stopped and stood, watching as the agents walked along to a door with a guard in front of it. When the door opened they could see Rafi sitting at the table. The three men were all in the dark grey jump suit worn by long term inmates. They were each heavily tattooed with gang symbols the older of the two watching Danny with quiet menace. Once the door to the interview room was shut they turned to the third younger inmate.
"You know what you need to do right man?" One asked quietly.
"Yeah sure no sweat." came the reply.
"Don't let us down little bro…" the other said before the older two walked away leaving the younger one leaning against the wall. Nervously he ran his finger over the seam in the leg of his jumpsuit, he could feel the shank secreted there. He took a breath and tried to calm his nerves. It was him or them he figured. He would do what ever it took to survive and if that meant killing someone then that's what he would do. He crossed his arms and leaned on the wall trying to look bored as he waited.
Rafi looked up as the door opened and Martin and Danny walked in. He looked at them with a half laugh "I should have known this wasn't a social visit" he said "How are you little bro?" he asked Danny.
"I'm good Rafi" Danny nodded "You remember Special Agent Martin Fitzgerald" he indicated Martin. Rafi nodded and watched as they sat in the chairs opposite him, each of them taking out a little note pad and a pen.
"I'm good by the way" he said to Danny "Thanks for asking," he couldn't hide the hint of sarcasm in his voice. "So what do you two want form me?" he asked quietly feeling just the slightest prick of guilt seeing the pain flash across Danny's face before the cop mask was firmly fixed in place.
"Stephen Parker is missing" Danny started as they had planned, Martin watching Rafi's reaction.
"Parker…" Rafi said "Wasn't he one of your fosters?" he asked Danny "Yeah…" Rafi grinned "He had that cute daughter you were just to scared to make a move on…" he looked at Danny "What does this got to do with me?"
"His foster son is also missing.. Michael Anthony Cortez…" Danny said without looking at his notes. "He was in a car with his older brother Frankie and Darnell Thompson the night he disappeared…" Rafi sat up a little straighter at the sound of the names. "They killed a woman on the expressway…" Danny drew a breath to keep his voice from wavering "Frankie and Thompson took off… Frankie got picked up but Thompson went to visit his brother upstate…" Danny leaned forward "You may remember him" he said with quiet ferocity "Malique Thompson…" he looked hard at Rafi "now Parker and Mikey Cortez are missing and one of Thompson's cousins attacked Mia… you are the only link… between Frankie, Darnell and Malique… what did you tell them?" he asked "What did you say about Mia?"
"Is she all right?" Rafi asked not knowing what to say. "I've seen Frankie here… I hardly knew him back in the day he was just a small time schoolyard hustler" he shook his head. "I recognized the tats when he got here… he asked me who I was… said he'd heard about me from Malique…" Rafi stopped to think. "I didn't talk to the kid too much… but Malique… he was here for his trial…" he looked at Danny "He was asking about you… he remembered the way I'd razz you about Mia… Parker was testifying at his trial…"
Both Danny and Martin looked at each other at that piece of information. "Didn't you know that?" Rafi asked them. "Parker was the girl's caseworker… he's the one who filed the charges that got Malique arrested." he looked from Danny to Martin and back again "You're the big shot FBI agent how could you not know that?"
Martin watched Danny lean back in his chair and cross his arms tightly. "Malique turned State's evidence against Alvaro Montoya, the files are sealed" Martin said "We know he was going down for statutory rape but beyond that we're waiting for the warrants to come through for the paperwork."
"He's testifying against Montoya" Rafi couldn't believe it. "I know he wasn't the sharpest tool but I didn't think he had a death wish!"
"We think he's being selective and only naming people Montoya wants to get rid of…" Danny said "Now what did you say to Malique?"
Rafi drew a breath and wiped his hands over his face. "You better look after Sylvia and the kids!" he said to Danny "If he is working for Montoya still and finds out I talked to you…" Rafi shook his head "He won't stop with just coming after me."
"We'll look after all of you" Martin said picking up his pen "Now what can you tell us?"