I think I'm more excited than you about this update, I've been so uninspired lately and I stayed up all night to finish this chapter.

I know I've been updating 'The Rollaros' but that's cause it's a different kind of fic, with no storyline (which is lot of fun sometimes).

But, hopefully I will be done with this story soon, there's only one more chapter left.

"The warden?" Nick looked at her "from where she escaped?"

"This just gets better and better" Amanda seemed pissed and was about to open the door to go to the house.

"What are you doing? You're going to go there, just like that?"

"Definitely not going to just sit and wait, there's no time" she opened the door but he spoke again and she turned to him.

"I'll go with you" he said.

"No, wait for me here" Amanda wasn't sure what to think, but Nick couldn't go in. How would she introduce him? He wasn't in law enforcement anymore and there was no reason for him to go there. But with everything that's been going on she also needed him to know where she was in case…something happens.

"You sure?"

"It's best" she nodded and stepped out of the car.

Amanda reached the house and knocked on the door. She had no plan, barely any knowledge on what was going on. She also had no option but to check it out.

"Can I help you?" A young man opened the door, she figured it was Eric.

"Yes" she pushed her way inside and flashed her badge "You're Eric Garber, right? I'm looking for warden Wilson"

The man was taken aback by her request and didn't say anything, but then the warden showed up, she knew he was there, hiding wasn't going to help.

"Detective" the warden walked into the room.

"Isn't this a surprise" she gave him a mocking smile "and here I thought you had no idea what's been going on"

"Who is she?" Eric looked at the older man.

"A detective from New York, she's here to question Kate.

"Except she ran away from your prison and somehow you are here, visiting someone she worked with, I'm not sure what to think, especially since I know she was the one who hurt herself"

"What are you talking about?" Eric threw a quick glance at the warden who remained silent.

"Give up on the performance" they knew what was going on, she had no doubt about it "tell me what's going on and maybe you are not going to go to jail" she looked at the warden "correct me if I'm wrong, but it's still illegal to help someone escape prison"

"I don't like what you're implying" Wilson said "but you better stop"

"Or?" she looked at him and crossed her arms "why don't I let the LAPD know about this little connection, maybe detective Moore, I'm sure he'd love to hear about this, unless he already knows"

The look that's been exchanged between Eric and Wilson was the last bit of proof she could need, the slight fear hearing Moore's name, what was the story with him and Kate?

"Whatever you're trying to hide, you have to know I'm not working with him but I will talk to him if you leave me no choice" if she had her phone she would pretend to call him, but there was no need to pretend, the warden shrugged but he nodded at Eric, approving him to tell her the truth

"Detective Moore framed her, Kate had no choice but to run because she was afraid Moore would do something, he already got her arrested"

"Are you saying she didn't hit him or that other woman?"

"It didn't happen the way he said it did, he wanted a reason to arrest her" Eric explained.

"Why would he do that?"

"Because she was onto something at that construction site, we were working on that case and she found something out. She never got a chance to tell me because the next day she got involved in this fight"

"She never told you what happened?"

"Corruption in the construction company, something about how they got contracts. She was trying to find evidence"

"So Kate had nothing?"

"She didn't tell me everything, but she was working hard to figure it out. But it's big and it's real, Kate wouldn't lie"

Amanda turned her attention to the warden "so you helped her escape?"

He didn't reply and Eric spoke up again "we don't know where she is now"

Amanda chuckled, not sure how to respond. Here she was, trying to figure out what she's gotten herself into.

"If you only wanted to question her about those dropped charges" the warden finally joined in "this has nothing to do with it, so you can leave"

"This has nothing to do with that?" Amanda asked.

"The only reason she let it go was because she didn't want it to get in the way, I told her there was no reason for her to drop the charges, but she insisted, saying she found out something big and needed to focus all of her attention on it"

"Why hasn't she shared everything with you? Seems to me you'd do anything for her, the jailbreak for example"

"I guess she didn't want to get me involved, I'm sure the detective wasn't working alone" Eric looked at the older man again and Amanda asked herself what was the connection between them. Why would a warden do something this serious, help a prisoner escape?

"You're risking a lot for her, aren't you?" she looked at Wilson "is it worth it?"

"You don't need to get involved in this" he replied "your investigation here is over, you can go back to New York"

"The thing is I won't be going back until I get to the bottom of this cause Moore thinks I'm onto something"

"What are you talking about?" Wilson asked.

"He knows I found out about Kate volunteering in Clean City and decided to see if I know more so he got someone to break into my hotel room, so you're only choice now is to help me find Kate so she could tell me what she found out"

"I wasn't lying when I told you we don't know where she is. She was supposed to wait for me but never showed up, I know something must have happened"

"Can you prove that? Do you have any idea where she could have gone to?" she raised her voice "so whether you just told me the truth or not, how am I, or you, supposed to prove it?"

"We are trying to find her" Eric replied.

"You're doing a great job with that, someone is going to do that before the two of you and you better pray it's not going to be Moore"

"That's enough detective" Wilson walked over to her "you can do whatever you choose, I doubt you're recording this so there is no proof of my involvement and I hope you understand that if you decide to share it with anybody, it's not going to help anyone"

"You're right about that" she nodded "but if you keep me out of the loop, I will not be able to help you with anything. But I'm not walking away from this, you think you're protecting Kate or yourselves, you're only digging a deeper grave"

Amanda turned away, she had something neither of them had, access to Moore. She had to find out the truth, even if it would mean staying, taking time off, whatever it takes.

Amanda was about to walk out of the front door when she heard the warden call her name "listen detective" he said and she looked at him "I don't care what you're planning, even if you're going to bring me in, keep Eric away from it"

"You're seriously asking me for something? You gave me almost nothing and you expect me to do what you ask?"

"He's not involved, you wouldn't be hiding anything"

"Why do you care, how are you connected?"

Wilson looked down for a second before answering "it's complicated, but it doesn't matter"

She took a deep breath "let me guess" complicated usually meant one thing "he's your kid?" during their conversation she noticed there was a resemblance between them.

She shrugged and walked away without saying another word. Why can't things ever be simple?

Nick waited impatiently in the car, staring at the house, wondering if he should go in there, make sure she was breathing. Waiting was hard, specially since he really had no excuse to show up. Time was passing especially slow until she finally emerged.

He could tell from her body language she wasn't satisfied with whatever happened "well?" he asked once she was in the car.

"Drive" she told him and he complied.

"It's a freaking mess" she gave him a brief recap.

"You think it's true?" he glanced at her.

"Kinda" Amanda shrugged "why would someone break into my room if they didn't think I was onto something? And it had to do with Clean City, the break in happened after that so…"

"What do you want to do now?"

"I need to find more information. If somebody bothered to frame her and put her in prison, something that would make her seem unreliable…she was probably on to something serious"

"But you don't know where she is or if there's any proof"

"This is what bothers me, where is she? They helped her escape and she just ran away…it makes no sense"

"What's our next move?" the 'our' slipped out, but Nick liked it, thinking about them as being a team.

"I think we should got to the other source, Moore"

"Talk to him?"

Amanda shook her head, what would she ask him "we need to find his connection to the construction company I guess, what do you think?"

"You're right, but maybe you should try and find her first, start from the smallest things. If this is true than I doubt it's the first time he used his power"

"Then he probably knows how to hide it, we can check his financial information but I have a feeling we won't find anything"

"There has to be something somewhere"

"In plain sight" she said and Nick gave her a puzzled look "if he's using his job for whatever's going on, he probably keeps something at his desk, it's the last place you'd look"

"You're gonna have trouble going through his things with no one noticing"

"Yeah" suddenly her lips curved into a smile.

"What?"

"You just gave me an idea" she said.

"Detective Rollins!" captain Charles stood up and smiled when she knocked on the door of his office "I've tried calling you a couple of times, but no answer, is everything ok?"

"It's silly, but I dropped my phone and I'm afraid it died" she shrugged "I guess it happens"

"I thought you went back to New York without saying goodbye"

"I wasn't going to do that, I actually decided to take a few days off, spend some time in your beautiful city"

"That's our gain"

"I will be going back tomorrow morning, so I thought now would be the best time for a farewell, I haven't missed detective Reynolds and Moore, have I?" She knew they were gone, Nick and her were waiting in his car until they left.

"They are out, I'm afraid, but I will tell them you said goodbye" he shook her hand "it was a pleasure working with you and I'm sorry you couldn't get anything for your case"

"Win some, lose some" she smiled "thanks again captain" she walked out of his office and turned towards the bathrooms. This was a risk, but she had to do it.

Amanda looked at the wall, it was now or never. She pulled the fire alarm, hearing it's sound. She heard people asking what's going on and then the captain's voice filled the room.

"Ok people, everyone out, you too Albert…this is not a drill, I think" it took less than a minute until the only sound in her ears was the alarm.

She ran into the squad room, thankfully it was empty so she had a few seconds. She started frantically going through Moore's desk, she looked in the drawers first. The clock was ticking and she tried to take pictures using Nick's phone and if something seemed important she just took it. A minute later she heard voices and knew time was up. She disappeared into the bathroom and stayed there for ten more minutes.

Nick smiled when he saw her approaching the car "how did it go?"

"Not as exciting as you might think" she winked.

Nick drove back to his place so they could go over what she was able to gather. He handed her a glass of water and sat next to her on the couch. Amanda leaned back and scooted over to him, her shoulder almost touching his "I love it when I don't know what I'm looking for" she smiled at him.

"Why don't we start with anything out of the ordinary, if he's a homicide detective let's look at what's not connected to that"

They were looking at the pictures and some of the pages Amanda brought. But nothing made sense or looked out of the ordinary.

"This is leading nowhere" she puffed and placed the phone on the couch.

"Hey" Nick placed his hand on her knee "I know this is confusing but if anyone can do it, it's you" she rolled her eyes at him but he ignored it, he moved closer to her and looked deep into her eyes "you are going to figure it out because you are an incredible detective, trust your instincts"

"I like this pep talking Nick" she grinned.

"What I heard was 'I like Nick' " he raised a brow.

"Maybe you should get your hearing checked, you clearly misheard me" Amanda grazed his lips with her finger.

"What did you say?" he asked mockingly.

"I said" she sat up straight and since he didn't budge her mouth almost touched his, he really wanted to kiss her but let her control the situation "I really, really like you"

"Really?" he asked and she nodded.

Nick said she should trust her instincts and what they were telling her was to take a breather. Think about something else. Nick's lips were a pretty good distraction and she allowed her mouth to touch his, let her fingers play with his hair while they slowly deepened the kiss.

They kissed for a few minutes, making short breaks for air. They pulled away and he rested his forehead against hers.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"You just want me to say you have something to do with that"

"Amanda, you are so hard to please" he kissed her lips again.

"Not that hard" she laughed "you're not half bad…"

She suddenly pulled away entirely and Nick wasn't sure what happened, he gave her a worried look but she nodded and went back to looking at the few pages that were now on the floor.

Bad.

It got her thinking about Mona's bad handwriting and that made her think of something she saw on one of them "look at this" she pointed at a few words "looks like an address"

It was a small line, it was clear someone has scribbled it in a haste. It wasn't very clear and Nick helped by searching a few options on his computer until they were able to find something.

"Looks like there are many warehouses there, not the worst place to conduct dodgy business ventures"

"All that's left is to go there" she stood up "I'm gonna need your keys, ok?"

"I'm going with you" Nick said.

"You can't, I don't know what's going on there, if there's anything at all. But I can't let you take the risk"

Nick got off the couch too "I'm not going to let you take the risk, I'll wait outside, that's fine by me, but I don't want you to do this alone"

She didn't want to argue, it would be just a waste of time "let's go then"

"If you take too long…" he warned her. They were parked not too far from the address, it looked like an abandoned building.

"I will be fine" she sounded confident, even though it was mostly an act.

"Be careful"

"I will"

"Amanda" he called her name, just wanting to say it, see her beautiful eyes.

"Don't worry Nick" she caressed his arm and left.

This wasn't the best idea, walking into this situation, not knowing what to expect. They stopped briefly on the way to get a phone so she could use the camera on Nick's phone. That was her only weapon. But she wasn't going to back down.

Amanda turned the camera on, and carefully walked inside. She thought she heard a voice and made her way to it's direction.

"You can't be serious" it was Moore, she could see him, but the other man was hidden.

"I am, handle it" he stopped talking and Amanda heard his footsteps, he was gone a few seconds later, must have left from another exit.

"Hey" Moore shouted and Amanda followed him with her eyes, keeping the camera on him. He wasn't talking to her though, he moved to another side of the room and looked down "you ok?" if there was an answer Amanda couldn't hear it, who was he talking to?

"Tell me where it is and I'll let you go"

Amanda tried to figure out how she could get closer without him noticing her, she would have to get help, but what was going on? She walked from the other side, trying not to make a sound, but the floor was covered with wraps and carton boxes it was hard to find a spot she could step in.

Amanda still couldn't hear the person he was talking to which didn't ease her worries. Her feet failed her and she stepped on something, making a noise. There was nowhere to hide and the moment Moore turned he saw her.

"I see I have an uninvited guest" he smiled unpleasantly.

The moment Amanda realized she was busted she placed the phone in her pocket so he couldn't tell the camera was on.

"Nice place you have here" she said and moved closer to him, he had a gun in his hand but kept in off of her, she had a feeling it wasn't going to last. Amanda was now able to see who he was talking to, it was Kate. They must have figured out where she was and caught her.

"I think you're in trouble" she tried to asses Kate's situation, her eyes were barely open.

"You are the one in trouble detective" he looked at her "ever heard the expression don't bring a knife to a gun fight? Seems like you don't even have that"

"She needs an ambulance" Amanda ignored his words.

"You will need that too, unless you leave now and forget about it" he raised his gun a little "but I have a feeling you are not going to do that, so…" he pointed it at her.

"You're going to kill a detective?" she looked straight at him "how are you going to explain that?"

"Won't have to" he shrugged.

"People know I'm here, they are on to you"

"No" he shook his head "we're not going to have this conversation, the only words we will be exchanging are goodbye"

She needed to contact Nick, but there was no time. Amanda was about to speak again when they heard a familiar sound, a siren.

She was surprised as he was, but used it for her advantage "I don't think you will be able to flee on time Moore, just give up and confess, who are you working for?"

He smiled and lowered his gun, there was no use for him to hurt her now. He glanced at Kate, she knew too much.

Amanda didn't get a chance to take one more step before he shot the other woman.

"Moore!" they both turned to see detective Reynolds "what the hell?"

The next person that showed up was the captain, he exchanged a look with Reynolds and gestured at Moore.

"We need a bus" Amanda said as Reynolds walked to Moore and took the gun away from him.

He arrested Moore, reading him his rights as one of the officers who walked in after the captain called for help. But it was too late, Kate was gone the moment he shot.