Eames had taken the news rather well, although the prospect of a temporary partner didn't exactly thrill her. The notion that Bobby could finally get Nicole out of his mind and behind bars was positive motivation. They never really spoke about the case, but Eames knew that it ate away at him to know that maniac was still free on the streets.

"So, when do you leave?" She asked without looking up from the paperwork in front of her. For the last few minutes she had felt his gaze shifting towards her.

"Two days."

"Two days? That's quick."

"I guess these people have a tendency to change plans at the last minute. Nicole is supposedly arriving in a month but it could be earlier."

"Do you know what your cover is?"

Bobby glanced down at the information Sophie had given him earlier.

"Husband, just released from a low security prison, apparently I had a penchant for auto theft."

"I bet you did," Eames laughed. "The female agent who was here before?"

"That would the lovely Mrs.—Duncan, according to this. She and I are going to meet later to familiarize me with the case."

"You're going to have an interesting month."

x-X-x

Later that evening Bobby met Sophie for dinner at a nearby bar that had a tendency to be a bit quieter on the weekdays. The atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable, it would make for an easy meeting. The two settled into a booth and ordered before Bobby decided to get to business.

"I hope you weren't waiting long," Sophie apologized again.

"Not long," he answered, trying hard not to stare at her. It had only just struck him how attractive she was. Her hair now hung loose, dark curls framing her face softly while a few buttons had been opened at the top of her shirt giving him a glimpse of ample cleavage. As pretty as she looked when buttoned up and put together, exhaustion at the end of the day looked even better on her.

"Bobby?" Her voice shook him from his study of her bright hazel eyes that seemed to glow in the dim light hanging above them.

"Yeah? Sorry—long day," he apologized.

"I hear that," Sophie replied with a tired smile as she pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Feels like it should be Friday. Any way, you've gone over your cover?"

"Yes, Mrs. Duncan."

"Sophie will suffice, Robert. Our guys are didn't get especially creative."

"Married for 11 years, 1 of which I've been in prison for stealing cars."

"What kind of cars?" She prompted him.

"Vintage sports cars."

"For one a Mercedes-Benz 300sL, 1957 Roadster."

"Nice ride," she grinned at his improv.

"Thanks," he said, realizing that he had smiled more in the past 10 minutes than he had in a long time.

"And what does your wife do for a living?" The two of them knew that it was important to be as familiar with their cover stories as humanly possible.

"Real estate, among other things. She has a clean record, not even a parking ticket."

"God, Bobby, did you memorize that entire folder this afternoon?"

"Close," he shrugged shyly. "I'm a thorough reader."

"Good to know."

"There was something missing from the information you gave me."

"Oh?"

"There didn't seem to be anything on what this case is actually about. Not even in a general sense."

"That wasn't a lack of thoroughness, it was intentional and done by Harris until you agreed. He tends to get a bit paranoid."

"And now that I've agreed?"

"I can fill you in." There was a moment of hesitation before Sophie began to speak again. "A few months ago local girls began to disappear. The amount was alarming for a small town and it just kept happening. Teenage girls on their way home from school or at the mall without supervision, just gone without a word to anyone. Their officers didn't know what was going on and that's when Harris got involved. Without going into too much detail, he found out that the girls were being kidnapped and sold. The ones that didn't fetch as high of a price were kept to collect money from drug deals or prostitution."

"How did you end up getting involved?"

"Harris is a good friend. He trained me when I first joined the bureau; he requested that I be placed undercover. We had detained one of the girls and found a way in for me. The whole real estate thing is so I can find new girls for them, people buying and selling with daughters. Find out their routines, if they walk home or when they might be alone. Most of the information I give them falls through, a last minute crowd turns up, that sort of thing."

"Where does Nicole come into all of this?" Bobby asked reaching for his beer.

"The man who runs the operation, Charles Carey, an Australian native and old schoolmate of Nicole's. The meeting I was in this afternoon revealed that to be a fact. It definitely is Nicole who's coming in. Charles owes her and his way of paying her back is a piece of the action. When she arrives we're going to take them down."

"Why the wait? If you've got everything you need now, why hold off?"

"We want Nicole Wallace off the streets as much as you do. I've checked, this will be the first time she has surfaced since—"

"Since going out the window."

"You were there." It wasn't a question.

"There was a bit of debate over whether or not she was still alive. It clearly wasn't beyond her to save up some blood and fake her death." They fell into silence, Sophie looking at her empty plate while Bobby watched the older woman at the bar polish off another glass of whiskey. "19 murders—every time I almost had her. Every time she slipped through my fingers."

"Well, maybe this time will be the charm," Sophie offered, her hand resting over his.

"Maybe—so uh—how long have you been an agent?" Bobby asked, in need of a subject change.

"Gosh, it's been almost 15 years now. Started on a desk job, moved up to field work, now mostly undercover." She glanced down at their hands still touching on the table. With a glance to her watched she gasped. "Almost ten, I should really get going. Three days back in the city and I've spent most of them in meetings."

"How long have you been undercover for?" Bobby asked as they left the bar and started down the sidewalk.

"About a month and a half. This is the first I've been back in the city since I've started. Nice to be home even if it's only for a few days."

"Married?"

"Nope. The job takes over the social life at some point. I can't even remember the last date I went on."

"Same here," Bobby nodded in understanding.

"And now you're married, tah-dah." The two laughed as they continued to walk towards her apartment. It wasn't until they stopped at her door that Sophie realized he had walked her home. "Well, this is me."

"Do you want to grab some dinner or something tomorrow night? I mean we're supposed to have been married for 11 years, we should probably get comfortable with each other." Bobby wasn't sure why he felt the need to explain his motivation for asking her to dinner again.

"Sure, I was just planning on ordering some Chinese and eating here if you want to come by?"

"Sounds great. I'll bring the food."

"Okay, I'll see you at 7?"

"See you then."

"Okay," Sophie nodded with an amused smile as she watched him start to walk away. "Hey Bobby!"

He spun around towards her.

"Thanks for walking me home."

"No problem. Night."

"Good night."