Goren found Rainy Jay sitting in the middle of the rearmost pew at Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan. He slid in silently onto the bench next to her, setting a bag between them.
"Am I that easy to track down?" she whispered without turning to acknowledge him.
He shook his head no, "I started at St. Paul's."
"St. Paul's doesn't have the stained glass. Dee always loved churches with stained glass, especially this one. Beauty in the midst of chaos, he would say."
Goren nodded, "I remember. They don't make them like this anymore."
"They don't make a lot of things the same anymore."
He said nothing, instead fidgeted with his hands in his lap.
"I'm sorry about earlier," she offered.
He waved her off.
"I think I antagonize your partner."
He shook his head. "Not like I do."
Rainy looked to him for the first time since his appearance. "Things are still rough?"
He hesitated, "They aren't the same."
"You ought to do something about that," Rainy affirmed, returning her stare to the stained glass ahead.
"I don't know that I can, or should."
Rainy made a face. "She's your partner, Bobby. She's used to putting up with your bullshit."
He shook his head, "She shouldn't have to."
"Maybe she wants to. Why else put in all the time?"
Goren rubbed his neck nervously. "I brought your bag," he changed the subject. "You left it at the office. I thought you might need it. That too." He motioned at the unzipped corner of the bag where her Bible protruded.
Rainy nodded her thanks and forced the zipper closed. She rested her arm across the top of the bag. "I'm sorry, Bobby, that I didn't come back when your mom was sick. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you, as you were for me. I'm sorry that I let my job be in the way. People, this little bit of time we get together as people, it's too short for these excuses." She shook her head. "It's weird. I hadn't talked to her in years, and we hadn't written in a while, but now, I think I miss her, almost like I miss my own."
Goren struggled to inhale as he tipped his head forward, nodding. "Me too," he whispered.
"Look, my point is I've been there, perhaps more-so, and there comes a point where you either fix what matters, or let it go. Maybe things aren't the same, and maybe they will never be again, but maybe they're not supposed to be. Life's evolutionary for a reason, Bobby.
Goren's lips twitched a smile. "You're suggesting evolution in a church."
"You know what I mean," Rainy rubbed her eyes.
"And what about you?" he asked after a moment.
"What about me?"
"Why are you putting off Gus?"
Rainy shifted uncomfortably, "Straighten out the issues with your partner; then you can give me advice about mine." She abruptly bowed her head, signed the cross, and hastily left Goren alone with his thoughts.
Alex Eames found Goren at his desk, far more bleary-eyed than the day before, reading a fresh stack of files. He looked disheveled, exhausted, his hair unruly, his eyes heavy, face still unshaven. This had become the portrait of her partner in the weeks since his return to the job. He barely acknowledged her presence as she hung her coat and unpacked her laptop.
"Late night?" she asked, neutrally.
"Couldn't sleep," he mumbled.
"You sleep?"
Her humor was lost on him. He cupped his chin in his hand, leaning heavily as he continued shifting through reports with the other.
Captain Ross was at their desks within minutes of Eames's arrival.
"Where are we at with the Hudson case? I need a summary to take upstairs."
"It will be a brief one," Eames mumbled.
Ross shot her a glare. "You've been on this for three days? What are we missing?"
"Bakr Okaly," Goren offered, "He's the only key person we haven't made contact with. His absence coupled with his relationship to Emily Choi…I think he's the missing piece."
"So find him," Ross ordered.
"Preferably quickly," a voice added.
The trio looked up and to the left. Rainy had quietly joined the conversation from a distance.
"Agent Jansen," Ross greeted curtly.
"Are you online, Detective?" Rainy ignored him, instead motioned at the laptop on Eames' desk.
Eames nodded and spun the computer to face Rainy. The detectives and their captain waited expectantly while Rainy plugged her Blackberry into the computer and began clicking without paying them any attention.
Finally, she straightened and addressed them. "In late 2007, US Forces obtained a number of documents detailing the origins and biographies of hundreds of men who supposedly entered Iraq as potential jihadists. When we visited the hostel yesterday, it didn't sit right with me that the clerk said Okaly checked in with a passport, since we found an Egyptian passport amongst his belongings. I contacted a buddy, he sent me this link. It is essentially the confiscated documents, digitalized for US Forces to attempt to identify possible operatives, both deceased and of unknown status. This one stood out."
She turned the computer back to face the other detectives, who saw a barely legible document written entirely in Arabic. The title read AL_BAKR. "Unfortunately, there is was no photo to go with this name, and names are too easily changed. So I kept looking." She turned the computer again, "There are a few other websites out there geared towards locating missing persons. This one is like NamUs, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System launched by the DOJ and the National Institute of Justice. It's similar because a good portion of the listings come from family members of the missing." She spun the computer around a final time. "Meet Syed al-Bakr, a Libyan national, missing for approximately sixteen months. Even potential jihadists have families that want them back."
Goren rubbed his chin, while Eames gawked, and Ross appeared to remain calm, as they viewed a poor-quality but unmistakable clear photo of the missing roommate.
"My office, all of you," Ross directed before leading the way there.