"You know I never got that picture of you and Spongebob," Dimitri said suddenly.
We'd been walking along in a comfortable silence making our way to where the parking lot intersected the sand.
"That's because you were busy protecting my honor and what not," I teased.
Dimitri turned away trying to hide his blush.
"I'm just chivalrous and honorable that way," he said suddenly modest. I laughed as we kept walking.
Dimitri stopped at one spot on the beach where in the middle of the ocean sat three large rocks in the background and the water smashed against them.
"Here's a good spot."
"You want a picture of me and Spongebob?"
He couldn't help but laugh at how weird it sounded.
"Yes I do. It would be adorable," he smiled pulling out his phone.
"Somehow it sounds weird when a big guy like you uses the word 'adorable'," I joked.
He hid a smile and fiddled with his phone.
His face changed from calm to curious.
"What's wrong?" I asked clutching Spongebob closer to my chest.
"A missed call from Jesse. This can't be good," he said putting the phone to his ear.
"Maybe it's nothing bad."
"Any call from Jesse is bad," he replied listening.
"It could just be about Christian," I tried to sound positive. "Maybe he decided to not do anything or report him."
Dimitri gave me a 'are you serious' look follow by a 'you're not that big of an optimist' glare.
"I'd bet a years salary that isn't why he called nor that would happen."
I waited the longest minute of my life until he pulled the phone from his ear.
He muttered something that rhymed with 'other trucking' prison and dialed.
"What? What is it?"
Spongebob was getting a good view of my chest with how tight I was holding him.
"Someone's trying to post bail for Mikhail."
I felt the color drain from my face.
"What! Is he out?"
"I don't know. Jesse didn't say on the voicemail and he's not answering now. I hate when he does that," Dimitri said dialing on his phone again.
I plopped down on the sand facing the ocean.
I rested my elbow on my knee and leaned my chin on my hands, Spongebob squished between my thighs and my stomach.
A second later Dimitri sat beside me looking at his phone.
"I should be grateful he's at least keeping us posted on what's going on," I said looking at the sand.
"He's only keep us in the loop because he says it's our fault, Christian and I, that Mikhail is getting out."
"I understand he's pissed at Christian for punching him but why does he blame you?"
"I've been leaving work early all week."
"Because of me?" I whispered.
"Don't flatter your self Roza," he reassured me. I pressed my lisp together relieved. "I've been leaving work early because Kirova asked me to help her with the Internal Affairs case she's working," he told me dialing on his phone. "She thinks it might be tied with Abe Mazur and Eric Dragomir case."
"Why didn't she ask Jesse to help?"
Dimitri dialed a few last buttons before answering.
"Because she thinks Jesse might the mole."
"I'm not surprised," I muttered.
He looked over at me his eyes bright by the moon's light. "Neither was I when she told me. I think I was more surprised that she'd said it out loud than that she suspected Jesse. Christian's had his suspicions about Jesse before but we brushed them off as us just hating him but this time maybe he's right."
I sighed, fear kicking into over drive.
Mikhail out on bail.
"Now would be a good time to call Christian and tell him that he was right," I advised.
"I sent a text to Christian. He and Lissa are at some hotel in Atlantic City so their safe for now. For once, I'm grateful for his spontaneity."
This reminded me of our spontaneous trip to Disney Land. We'd had fun then. The fun was over now.
I sighed trying to make out the thin line where the ocean and the dark sky met with the faint light the moonlight gave off.
"I'm confused. I thought that there was no possible way for those bastards to make bail!"
"There isn't but somehow they did. A judge granted Mikhail a chance at bail."
"Why would they do that? You saw what they did? You know what they did to Lissa and to me?"
I felt the anger rising up within me but there was more fear than any other emotion I was feeling.
"We all wrote down our witness statements and attached them to the case. Those statements alone were enough to hold Mikhail and Ambrose for as long as we needed. Earlier this week though Kirova said we had to either interrogate them or send them to trial. She knew that if Jesse was really working with them that he'd want them out of the way so he could stop cleaning up after them but Jesse didn't want them on trial unless he knew he had enough evidence to send them away for life or even the death penalty."
"Makes sense," I muttered. "So this boss lady has a plan to catch Jesse as the mole?"
"Yes. She's so determined I think she'd frame him," he laughed. He stopped laughed even harder seeing the appalled look on my face. "I was kidding Rose. Kirova has a full proof plan."
"I'm just glad I'm on her good sight and not in her line of fire. I was actually a little hurt when she said she didn't suspect me as the mole. Is that weird?" he asked sounding genuinely hurt.
I smiled.
"You're a big softy. You have a heavy conscious. Anyone who knows you knows that you couldn't possible betray anyone," I said honestly.
"Thank you," he replied uncertain.
"I'm confused. How is your boss lady so sure that Jesse is the mole?"
"She wasn't. All she knew was that there was a betrayal going on in our building and she wanted out. She also knew it was more than one person and everyone was on her suspect list until she cleared them and after a while Jesse was one of the few left on the list. It's little things that he says or does that caught her attention. I asked her the same thing."
"He does act…differently than all of the other FBI dude persons but I just thought it was his personality.
"We all did," he muttered leaning on his hand. "She really grew suspicious of him when he kept insisting on being the one to return to the Dragomir house to collect evidence." "You guys went back there! Don't you need like a warrant or something?" I asked. I'd seen a few crime shows.
"No, it was the seen of a crime so no warrant necessary. Jesse was the only one who went back there. It didn't make any since because we had our witness statements from the night that they attacked you guys and that was enough to hold Mikhail and Ambrose. He kept insisting that there was something there that could be important to the case."
"Did he find anything?"
"He never said. He'd come back more ticked off than usual. He's gone back there three times now, today was the third and he was even more angry than usual."
"Jesse's always angry. I don't see how you could even tell the difference," I muttered.
Dimitri tried to smile but he was too lost in thought.
"Something's going on and if it means keeping you girls safe and putting this case to bed, I want to know what it is," he said staring at the ocean.
The waves licked the edges of the sand and pulled back again
"The only way they could make bail would be with the case workers consent and if a judge okayed it."
"It's not like that at the county jail," I said.
Dimitri gave me a side ways glance probably wondering how I knew the inner workings of the county jail.
"The system is different with Federal cases," he told me. " Kirova probably agreed to Mikhail's release so that she could have Jesse tracked."
"Why only Mikhail though?"
"I think he's more of a threat than Ambrose. Just like your father is more of a threat than Eric Dragomir."
"That's true. So your boss lady, what was her name, Kirplunk or Supernova or something, is all over this Internal Affairs crap isn't she?"
Dimitri was laughing at how I mixed up his boss' name.
"Yeah but I don't think it's going to be easy. As a matter of fact I think it makes closing this case more difficult."
"So long as it gets closed, I'm okay. And that I know where Mikhail is at all times. I'd want to get him before he gets me."
Dimitri turned to face me.
"I told you. No ones getting near you. Not without going through me first," he said softly.
That was reassuring since I already saw Dimitri as invincible.
I smiled.
"I believe it."
That got a smile out of him. It was like saying I kind of sorts trusted him a little bit more again.
"If Jesse is the mole, he's going to make it hard to build a case against him," Dimitri sighed sounding tired. Living the life of Dimitri Belikov as an FBI agent took a lot out of you.
"We'll do what we did before. No we'll do better than we did before and we'll get him. No matter what."
He looked at me then, taking in my words. "I hope so."
"Maybe along the way you could teach me how to defend my self?" I rushed in.
"Whoa! Where did that come from?"
"I'd feel a lot better if I knew how to fight. I'm small but I'm capable. I know you'll protect me but just in case…just in case Mikhail gets close…" I let the sentence fall away.
"You want to be able to fight him," Dimitri finished. He sighed resigning. "I had a feeling you'd asked me about this eventually. I've been thinking about this my self for a long time and I think it's a good idea."
"Really! So you'll teach me?"
"Yes, but first…" his sentence trailed off.
He stopped so suddenly, staring out at the ocean lost in so many thoughts. I waved my hand in front of his face to get his attention.
"What puzzle are you putting together in that mind of yours?" I asked teasing. His expression was sobered though.
He turned to me and looked me directly in the eye unblinkingly.
"You have to promise me something."
"Anything," I replied quickly without a moment's hesitation a little confused.
"This case is dangerous. There's betrayal going on in our building, someone taking bribes and defying our system and the last thing I heard was that its only going to get worse. Promise me that if something happens, something bad and this entire plan and case blows up in our faces, and I can't protect you, you'll run. And the only reason I shouldn't be able to protect you should be that I'm either dead or close to dying. Promise me Rose."
"Run where? Dimitri that's not going to happ-"
"Rose, please. I spent this week setting up and making arrangements for you in case anything happens, with Kirova. So long as you don't stop, you don't look behind and you don't try to save anyone but your self you should be okay."
How could he ask me to do this? To leave everything behind and just take off? To leave even Lissa and himself behind if it came to it without shedding a tear or looking back?
Because he cares about me as much as I do him.
Such a simple answer and yet one so hard to grasp.
I waited and thought a moment. Dimitri was still waiting for my reply.
"I promise. No matter what, I'll run."
He nodded and patted the top of my hand. He'd been doing that a lot, all day, probably happy I was talking to him again.
So much had changed…
I let my thoughts fall with the fist full of sand I'd been holding.
None of this was getting easier.
"I still haven't gotten my picture," he remembered holding his phone up. He switched it to camera mode.
He pulled me up by the hand and positioned me with my back to the ocean, me clutching Spongebob in front of me. He stood behind me and held the phone out in front of us.
There was a distinct click and the photo snapped.
We looked at the picture on the screen, two people smiling back at it's onlookers with no signs that there was trouble; no signs that their lives were on line and that they had no idea of what was to come.
Pictures had a funny way of doing that.