"We want to search your apartment," Kwon said as he paced in front of Danny.
"As long you get a warrant, you can search whatever you want," Danny replied, trying to mask the uneasiness he felt with his tone.
Stopping, Kwon narrowed his eyes as he glared at Danny. "If you've got nothing to hide, then—"
"Don't you get it? You're wasting your time!" Danny yelled angrily as he stood up. "Carlos is probably half way to Mexico by now, or he's been taken out by any one of the scumbags that he was in business with. Take your pick, but I've got nothing to do with it. I wouldn't risk everything…EVERYTHING that's important to me just to get to Carlos. He's not worth it!"
"But he was the only thing getting in the way of you and Elena—"
"What good would it do for me to get rid of Carlos if it meant that I couldn't be with Elena anyway? The only reason he wouldn't leave her alone was because of me. You take me out the equation and she and Sophie would be safe. So the smart thing was for me to stay away from her and Sophie and, as far as Carlos was concerned, I was staying away from them. End of story, man. This is waste of time. Get your warrants…do whatever the hell you want, but we're done talking," Danny said as he walked to the door and opened it for Kwon and Feldman.
Jack rose as Kwon and Feldman walked toward the door. "This isn't over, Taylor," Feldman warned as he walked out with a glaring Kwon following close behind.
"Well, that went well," Jack mumbled as he approached Danny at the office door. "What are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to continue to look into the Sergei brothers. I'm going to do everything I can to figure out what the hell happened to Carlos after we saw each other that night."
Eyeing Danny skeptically, he asked, "What if Kwon gets the warrant? Is there a reason to be worried about that?"
Closing his eyes for a moment, Danny took a deep breath. He knew that a warrant would get Kwon the same information that Martin found, but he couldn't tell Jack that yet. "I've got nothing to hide, Jack."
Jacked nodded solemnly. "Good, um, Viv and Sam are wrapping up the latest case. You and Martin can work on the angles with Carlos. Let me know if there's anything I can do."
"Thanks, Jack," Danny responded as he walked out the door to head back to his desk.
Before Jack turned back to his desk, he heard a child's voice.
"Danny!" Sophie called out from the doorway of the conference room down the hall.
Jack watched as the child didn't hestitate to run toward Danny. As soon as Danny heard her, he kneeled down as she flew into his arms. Shaking his head, Jack retreated into his office. Watching the touching moment suddenly made him realize why Danny was doing all this...fighting so hard to make things work with Elena and doing everything he could to protect them from Carlos. Danny had found his family in Elena and Sophie. Remembering the truly glorious feeling of being adored by his own daughters, Jack finally got it. Danny had no choice but to move heaven and earth to make things work with them. Glancing at the photo of Hannah and Kate on his desk, Jack made a mental note to call his daughters that night.
Holding Sophie close, Danny greeted the small girl. "Hola chiquita, que pasa?"
"I was hoping you'd be here! Mami said that you were busy today, but--"
"Never too busy for you, mija," Danny interrupted as he released her so they were face to face. "So, are you getting your homework done?" he asked, nodding toward the conference room.
"It was easy. It's already done. Now I'm bored! You think we could go down and get some ice cream?" she asked, her eyes twinkling as she looked up at him.
Danny smiled as he started to respond, but was interrupted.
"Sophie, baby, you need to stay in the conference room," Elena called out as she approached them.
"Mami--" Sophie started to plead.
"Don't start, mamita. You can't run in these hallways...especially by yourself. Come on," Elena said as she guided Sophie back into the room.
Danny followed as he watched Sophie sit down on the couch, her face in full pout mode. He couldn't help but smile at the small girl. She looked so much like her mother when she wasn't happy.
"Can't Danny and I go get some ice cream, mami? Por favor?" Sophie asked.
Elena sighed as she quickly glanced at Danny. Just by the expression on her face, Danny knew she was hoping that he would somehow appease Sophie, so Elena wouldn't have to be the bad guy again. Getting the non-verbal message, Danny sat down next to Sophie. "Your mom and I have some work to do, mija. We need you to be a little patient and then, maybe we can order in a pizza for dinner. We can eat it right here in the conference room."
"Really? Here?"
"Absolutely, just give us a couple of hours," he said as he grabbed the remote control from the end table and clicked on the television mounted on the wall. "Now usually, we only get news channels on these TVs, but I've figured out how to bypass the lock on the channels so I think I can turn it to something you might want to watch. Hmm, let me see...what would Sophie like to watch? Sesame Street?" he suggested as he looked up at Elena.
Elena laughed, knowing that Sophie wouldn't let that pass.
Sophie quickly replied, "Danny! I'm not three! How about some Hannah Montana or, or Drake and Josh?"
"So no Sesame Street, huh? Okay then, let's see," he said as he flipped through the channels before finally hitting the Disney network. "How about this?"
"Perfect! It's High School Musical! I love this movie!" Sophie responded excitedly as she settled back onto the sofa.
"Good deal," Danny replied as he set the remote control down and stood up. Ruffling his hand through her hair, he said, "Now keep it on this channel. Don't turn it and we'll be back in an hour or so. Got it, mija?"
"Got it!" Sophie replied, her eyes focused on the TV.
Walking towards the door, Danny stepped to the side so Elena could walk out first as she called out to Sophie. "Thanks for being such a good girl, mamita." As they walked out of the conference room, Elena said, "Thanks for that."
"No problema. I have a feeling it's going to be a late night, and it might be a good idea if you guys stay here until we get a location on Carlos."
Nodding, Elena stopped as she turned to him and crossed her arms. "How was it with Kwon and Feldman?"
Danny shrugged. "It was what I expected. They'd rather waste their time focusing on me than looking at the people who actually could be responsible for whatever's happened to Carlos.
"What do you think has happened? Where do you think he is?"
"I think he hasn't had a legit job in months and he's had to support himself somehow. If he was willing to be on the take while he was a cop, what do think he'd be willing to do if he's desperate for money?"
"So you think--"
Before she could finish her question, Martin quickly approached them. "Danny, I tracked down Carlos's informant in the Sergei organization."
Frowning, Danny eyes traveled from Elena to Martin. "His informant? How? I didn't think Vice would play ball with us on this."
"They didn't, but the DEA was happy to help. They gave me access to some files related to a joint task force between the DEA and NYPD Vice. I found the CI's name in one of the files."
"You think he could know where Carlos is?" Elena chimed in.
"I think it's worth a shot to ask. I had a DEA agent contact him. He's willing to meet with us, but we have to go to him," Martin said as he turned toward Danny.
"Okay, let's go," Danny said.
"I want to be there, too," Elena said as she looked from Danny to Martin and then back to Danny with pleading eyes.
Martin and Danny exchanged an uneasy glance before Danny responded, "Elena, let us handle it. You're too close to this," Danny said as he nodded toward the conference room.
"So are you. They think you're involved in this...it doesn't get more personal than that."
"That's right, I'm the one who's being accused of something I didn't do," he responded as he glanced uneasily at Martin. Realizing he needed a moment alone with Elena, he directed his attention to Martin. "Can you give us a minute? I'll meet you downstairs in five."
"No problem," Martin replied as he gave Elena a reassuring nod before heading down the hall.
Carefully regarding Elena for a moment, Danny realized that she was still set on coming with them. "I screwed this up, Elena. I need to be the one to fix it. No matter what I say to you, you won't really believe that I had nothing to do with Carlos's disappearance until I prove otherwise."
"I want to believe you, but--"
"But what?"
"You lied to me. And...and...I think, you're hiding something," she answered in an uneasy, tortured tone. "You're not telling me everything."
Sighing heavily, Danny rubbed his eyes wearily before responding. "You're right. I haven't been completely honest. I can't tell you everything now, but I can assure you that I had nothing to do with whatever the hell has happened to him. Please trust me on that...and let me find him so I can fix this and we can move on. Whether we're together or not, I want you and Sophie to be safe. You won't be until we know where he is."
Biting her lip, Elena had to resist the urge to continue to fight him. His look resolved, she knew she wouldn't be able to win and she also knew that she had to focus on keeping Sophie safe. "You'll call me as soon as you and Martin find out anything?"
"I will. I promise, I will," Danny said as he started to back away from her. "Don't worry. This will all be over soon."
Nodding, Elena just replied, "Be safe."