On the drive to the deserted parking lot in Queens, Danny and Martin barely said a word to each other, other than to clarify a few directions here and there. Danny knew he had to say something, but wasn't exactly sure how to start. Taking a deep breath, he decided to start with the obvious.

"Thank you," he said, after releasing his breath. "Thanks for covering for me with Jack."

Shrugging, Martin glanced at him from the driver's seat. "I didn't have a much of a choice. I just hope you're sure about this Sergei angle and we find Carlos soon. Otherwise, Kwon will find the same thing I found and it will open you and your brother up to a whole lot of trouble."

Nodding, Danny squeezed his eyes closed for moment. "I don't know what I was thinking. It was completely stupid to involve Raffi."

"I'm sure you were only thinking of Elena and Sophie. I understand the motivation. I just worry about the consequences," Martin responded in a concerned tone.

As they approached the parking lot, they stopped talking and immediately started to survey the area. They didn't know anything about the informant they were meeting and wanted to be on alert in case something wasn't right.

Pulling into a parking spacing underneath the shade of a large tree, Martin put the car in park as he continued to crane his head around, looking for signs of the informant.

"It doesn't look like there's a soul within miles," Martin commented.

Also looking around, Danny shrugged. "Maybe he's on foot. What time did he say he'd meet us?"

After glancing at his watch, Martin looked in the rearview mirror and motioned behind him. "Right about now," he said as he noticed a young man approaching the car. Martin unlocked the back door as a kept one hand close to his gun as he knew Danny was doing as well.

Turning slightly in the passenger seat, Danny made eye contact with the young man as he slid into the back seat. Sizing him up quickly, Danny knew this kid was just a run of the mill drug runner, an errand boy for the Sergei brothers. Kids like this usually ended up with a bullet in their head before they turned eighteen.

"Emil Cortez?" Martin asked as he also sized the kid up through the rearview mirror.

"That's me, man," he answered as he shut the door and settled back into the seat.

"Agent Powers said you'd help us fill in the blanks on Carlos Aguilar's wherabouts," Martin stated.

Emil shrugged casually. "Yeah, I know Carlos. He's a good dude."

"Where is he?" Danny asked in a clipped tone.

Shrugging again, Emil smiled and looked at Danny knowingly. "You look like you know the drill. No pay, no play, hombre."

Martin rolled his eyes as Danny pulled some money out of his jacket pocket.

"That's cute," Danny responded dryly as he started to hand Emil a hundred dollar bill. As Emil reached for it, Danny retracted his hand so the money was out of reach. "This better be good, hombre."

Lunging slightly, Emil reached forward to grab the money. "I can find out where Carlos is, but what you really want to know is if my employers took him out, right?"

"That's a start," Danny replied. "Is Carlos alive?"

Emil nodded. "Mos def. He went on the down/low as soon as he found out the Sergeis were on to him. See Carlos told them that he could launder 250 G's for them, clean as a spring day. So Carlos is supposed to launder the money, then he gets 25 grand for his trouble. Only Carlos got the stupid idea that he could double the money without the Sergeis' finding out."

"How?" Martin asked.

"Carlos has connections all over the place. He made a deal with a Puerto Rican crew out of Baltimore. They bring in some high-grade smack using Carlos's….actually the Sergei's….money, then they sell it to the syndicate down there for double the money."

"Something tells me the Puerto Rican crew didn't hold up there end of the bargain," Danny said as the whole picture started to come together.

"You got it, man. They double-crossed Carlos. As soon as Carlos realized this, he knew he needed to disappear."

"So the Sergeis' ransacked his apartment?" Martin asked.

Emil nodded. "Someone in their crew did. They were looking for Carlos and the money, and didn't find either one."

Rubbing his chin as he tried to think through the whole scenario, Danny glanced at Emil again. "You said you could find out where he's hiding? Do you think he's left the city? Or the country?"

"I know he's trying to leave the country, but he's not having any luck. He can't access any of this old connections because the Sergeis would be able to track him. I don't know exactly where he is, but I can find him for you…for a price, of course."

Rolling his eyes again, Martin responded, "Of course. What do you want?"

"If I deliver Carlos to you, the Sergeis are going to figure out that I did it. It's just a matter of time, man."

"You want protection?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, protection. A new identity. You know, like they do in the movies."

Shaking his head, Martin smiled. "You give us Carlos, we'll deliver you to the DEA. If you give them enough on the Sergeis to get an indictment, then I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige you."

"Yeah, all right," Emil said as he started to open the car door. "You got a card or something, so I can hit you guys back later."

Danny reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his card. As he handed it to Emil, he gave him a warning look. "All we need is a location. If you tip Carlos off, he'll run again. And if he runs, I'll personally tip the Sergei's off about how helpful you've been to the local law enforcement. Got it?"

"Got it, hombre. No worries. You'll hear from me before the night ends," Emil said as he stepped out of the car and then shut the door.

As Martin watched Emil jog away through his rearview mirror, he asked, "You think he'll come through?"

"He sure as hell better. Kwon and Feldman will never believe that kid's story. And if we don't hear from him before Carlos leaves the country, I'm screwed."

After getting back to the office, Danny filled Elena in on what they'd found out from the informant. Hearing the latest information seemed to help restore Elena's trust in Danny, at least to some degree. Since all they could do was wait for the phone call from the informant, he and Elena decided to have dinner with Sophie in the conference room. Almost everyone in the office had gone home for the evening, except for Martin who was staying close by in case there was a break in the case. He joined them in the conference room to eat pizza, but then excused himself so he could finish some paperwork. After Martin left, Elena settled Sophie onto the couch. She sat at the end of the couch and rubbed Sophie's back as the little girl started to fall asleep. Danny sat in a chair across from them and told Sophie some silly story that his mother used to tell him. Before he could get very far, Sophie was fast asleep.

"You think it's a little strange that Sophie seems perfectly okay with taking refuge in an FBI conference room?" Elena asked suddenly as she kept her eyes focused on the sleeping girl.

Danny smiled softly. "I think she feels perfectly safe as long as she's with you...so whether that's in a conference room or a wherever, she's okay with it."

Returning the smile, Elena looked at him for a moment. As their eyes met, her smile faded. "Do you think this will be over soon?" she asked, her voice slightly cracking with emotion.

Noticing the tears coming to her eyes, Danny stood up quickly, walked over to where she was sitting and sat on the end of the couch next to her. "Yes, it will be over...soon," he replied in the most reassuring voice he could muster.

"To what end? Will Carlos go to prison? What?" she whispered, as she glanced at Sophie still fast asleep.

Danny nodded. "He's been breaking the law, not only for what he did to you and Sophie, but also for a whole host of things: money laundering, being connected to known drug cartels. Somewhere along the line, Carlos lost his way. I'm not sure why, but--"

"It's because of me," Elena cut him off. "When I left him, he thought if he had more money to build a life for us that I would come back to him. He didn't get it. It wasn't about where we lived. I couldn't rely on him. I couldn't--"

"He was on the take before you left him, Elena," Danny reminded her in a soothing tone.

"I know that, but--"

"But what? You don't have to take all the blame for this. I was his friend and I never knew what he was doing. I never saw it either. You can't look back, baby. It never pays. You're a great mother. You're protecting your child and that's all you can do. That's all you can do," he reiterated as he reached out and took her hand, his eyes looking deeply into hers.

Hearing his words, hearing him call her "baby", and feeling his eyes boring into her, Elena was overcome. With her free hand, Elena touched his cheek as they moved closer to each other.

Danny's lips parted, his face tilting as he moved even closer. He could almost taste her, she was so close and once again, just like the first time they kissed, they didn't seem to care where they were or who could possibly see them.

Just as she felt his lips brush against hers, Elena put her hand against his chest, gently pushed him away and looked down. "I can't do this...I can't do this, mi amor."

Feeling stung by her rejection, Danny shifted away from her, immediately feeling wounded and insecure, wanting to kick himself for once again misreading the situation. "What's wrong?"

Sighing heavily, Elena shrugged. "Earlier, you said something...you told me that you hadn't been honest with me. I just can't go down this road with you again until I know--"

"You lied to me, too, you know. You broke up with me and all the reasons you gave me were lies," Danny responded, knowing full well that his lie was worse, but feeling defensive anyway.

"I remember, but it doesn't change what I need to know now, Danny. If we're going to move forward and not look back, like you said, we need to be honest with each other."

Nodding, Danny leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Not looking at Elena, but looking straight ahead, he thought about that morning that he drove to see Raffi. The morning that could have started a horrible chain of events had it not been for Raffi helping him see the light. "I, um, I almost did something...something really horrible," he started, trying find the best way to confess. As he tried to search for his next words, he heard the low, vibrating sound of his cell phone coming from his jacket that was slung over a chair. Taking a deep breath, Danny glanced at Elena apologetically as he rose and then took the cell phone out of his jacket pocket.

"Taylor," he answered.

At first, he didn't hear anything more than static in the background. "Taylor," he said again, louder this time.

"We need to talk," the familiar voice said on the other end of the line.

Danny's breath caught as he met Elena's curious eyes. He immediately recognized the voice as Carlos.