Thank you all for you patience, hope you're still with me!
Myka shuffled out of her bedroom, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. It had gotten much colder during the night. She immediately walked over to the heater and cranked it up; apparently, winter was coming early. She smiled as she looked at Pete sprawled out on her couch. His arms were up above his head and one of his legs had flopped down to the floor, along with his blanket. Myka sighed and yanked the blanket back up over him before heading straight to the coffee machine.
As the apartment warmed up Myka dug through her fridge to find some breakfast. Her shopping trip of boredom had served her well. Pete would have never forgiven her if he had woken up to moldy bread one more time. Myka shucked her blanket and threw it at Pete's head while she made french toast. As she suspected the smell of food woke Pete within minutes.
"Myka!" Pete complained as he tried to untangle himself from the two blankets. Myka chuckled as he fell over and tried to make it look graceful. "Whatcha cooking?" He asked eagerly once he was upright.
"French toast."
"Got any bacon?"
"No."
"Ugh." Pete poured himself some coffee and dug around in Myka's fridge. She ignored him and sat down with her breakfast at the counter. Pete took the rest of the french toast, yogurt, a banana, chocolate ice cream, two carrots, and a bag of goldfish and sat down across form her.
"Seriously?" Myka raised her eyebrows.
"Lattimer breakfast Myks The kind of champions." He grinned. Myka just shook her head as he shoved some goldfish in his mouth, then took a large bite of french toast. She never understood how the hell he could eat all that together. "So you know what, HG is actually cool. I mean, I liked her already and whatever, but now I definitely approve. The lady knows her pizza."
"Agreed." Myka had been a little surprised with how much fun she had had yesterday. As much as HG drove her crazy, and Pete and Leena's ridiculous notions of their relationship, Myka enjoyed the other woman's company. From now on, she was simply going to ignore her friends and act like a normal human being. It had worked when people thought she and Pete had been together, she figured it had to work again.
Myka jumped in the shower while Pete continued to stuff his face and got herself ready for work while he took his turn. Pete hadn't slept at Myka's place in a while, but back after Sam's death, he had been there almost every night and still had clothes there. She clicked onto her laptop to check her emails and yelled in anger. Pete came out of the shower, confused. "What?" He asked.
"I'm gonna kill her." Myka muttered. She closed her laptop before he could see what she was looking at and shoved him out the door. The two of them grabbed more coffee to go and headed to work. Claudia was already there, sitting at her desk and excitedly telling HG all of her – probably insane – Halloween adventures. Myka had told her to never again tell her how her nights went after one explicit story where Myka probably should have arrested the younger woman on the spot.
"Good morning detectives." HG greeted Myka and Pete. "Do we have a murder?"
"No, I have a bone to pick with you." Myka said with a glare. HG frowned and Pete made a poor attempt to hide his smirk.
"Come on Claud, this is one we're gonna want to get out of the way of." He joked.
Myka kicked him as he walked away and stood over HG. "What the hell is with the cover art on your new book?" She asked.
HG furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion. "The cover art? That's..." HG grinned. "That's only available to subscribers of my website! Are you WellsLover35? ILoveWells8? What did you think of your alter ego? Bloody brilliant right?"
Myka resisted the urge to smack her in the middle of the precinct. "No! Not bloody brilliant. She's naked." Myka hissed.
"She's not naked." HG insisted. "She's holding a gun...strategically."
Myka took a deep breath and tried to relax. Just when she had thought she and HG Wells could become friends... "You know, I take comfort in the fact that if they are already publishing the cover art then your book, and this partnership are almost done."
"Book one." HG said with a grin. Myka glared, turned around and sat down at her desk, refusing to look back up at HG. She couldn't believe how incredibly infuriating she could be one minute, compared to how genuine and sweet she could be the next.
"Bering, Wells, get in the car, we've got a case." Captain Neilsen said as he tore through the precinct. Confused, Myka grabbed the coat she had only just taken off and followed him, HG close behind, they climbed into a squad car.
"Sir, what's going on?" Myka asked.
"We've got a two year old went missing from her home earlier today. Father was painting and listening to music, he never heard anyone come in."
"She was taken from her home?" HG asked as the car came to a halt. The apartment was very close to the police station, they probably could have walked.
"Where's the body?" Myka asked stiffly.
Captain Neilsen turned around and sighed. "There isn't one. The girl's still missing." He said as he climbed out of the car and started to make his way to the apartment.
Confused, Myka followed him. "Sir, I don't understand if there hasn't been a homicide why am I here?"
"The feds requested you be on the task force."
"Feds?" HG asked.
"The FBI has jurisdiction over child abduction cases." Myka explained quickly to HG.
"Then why did you call me?" HG asked the Captain.
"Because I enjoy pissing off the FBI, plus you think outside the box which is something they rarely do."
"Sir, who is the special agent in charge?"
"Bering, it doesn't matter we've..."
Myka interrupted him. She had a feeling she knew who had requested her, but there was no way. She was hoping...needing to be wrong. "Sir, who?" She pressed.
"Sorenson." Captain answered begrudgingly. Myka felt her knees buckle slightly at the name.
"Who's Sorenson?" HG asked.
Myka completely ignored her. "I thought that he was in Boston."
"Not anymore." Captain said. "He's here."
"Who's Sorenson?" HG repeated.
"This isn't going to be a problem is it detective?" Captain asked, also ignoring HG's questions. "We're all professionals here right?"
"Actually, I'm not. Who's Sorenson?"
Myka wouldn't even look at HG. She felt like going and throwing up a little bit but instead she stood up straight and looked her Captain in the eye. "No sir, not a problem."
"For what it's worth, this little girl doesn't care about your history, nor do her terrified parents. They just want their daughter back alive." He warned her. Myka couldn't help but feel chastised for something she hadn't even done, but she only nodded sharply as the Captain's phone rang.
"Where is he sir?" She asked.
"He's over talking to the parents." Captain pointed before answering the call.
Myka took a breath before turning and looking over at the light haired man. He caught her eye and walked over. Myka clasped her hands together behind her back and tried to ignore HG's stare.
"Hi Myka."
"Hello Will." Myka said much more calmly than she felt. "How long have you been back?"
"A couple months."
"Something wrong with Boston?"
"Fresh lobster gets old fast." He tried to joke. She bit the inside of her lip. "You look good." He said, staring at her.
Myka bit down harder and tried not to shift her body around awkwardly. "Thanks." She said stiffly. "I feel good." Myka felt HG step closer to her and she cleared her throat. "Um...this is Helena Wells."
"The famous novelist." Will said with a hint of mockery. HG only smiled at him. "So, Captain Neilsen filled me in on your little arrangement and I have no problem with it as long as it doesn't interfere with this investigation." He said, looking more at Myka than HG.
"Oh, don't worry about me, quiet as a mouse." HG answered. Myka frowned a little at the lack of joking in her voice. It wasn't exactly like the author not to pry in this kind of situation. Myka couldn't worry about that now however, and listened along with HG as Will got them up to speed on the case. The apartment was on the ground floor, and windows led out to an alleyway. The family had no bars on the windows, two year old Angela had been watching tv while her father listened to his ipod and painted; letting her mother sleep in, neither of them had heard a thing. Will had already gotten her picture out along with an amber alert. Myka bit her lower lip as they walked away from speaking with the parents. She sensed Will come up behind her and tensed.
"This one will go a lot better, I promise." He said softly before walking away. Myka ignored HG's look and walked quickly past her as they headed out back to the station.
The silence coming from HG was maddening, and as they waited in the elevator Myka couldn't take it anymore. "Six months." She said awkwardly.
"Six months what?"
"We dated for six months." Myka explained.
"Hum, I didn't ask."
"Yeah, I know you were not asking very loudly."
"I know! I'm quite good at that." HG boasted. Myka rolled her eyes and practically jumped out of the elevator. "So, how exactly did you two meet?" HG inquired.
"Kidnapping, six year old boy."
"How did it end?"
Myka took a breath. She could not get into this now. "We got the guy." She said firmly. Looking up to Claudia heading towards her she immediately jumped into work mode. She could freak out about Will later. "What have we got on the parents?" She asked the redhead.
"Teresa and Alfred Candela, married ten years, one child Angela Candela age two, adopted."
"Adopted?" Myka asked.
"Yeah, two years ago, Mom's a fund manager, Dad's a small time artist, shows at a couple of galleries once in a while. Neighbors said he usually stays home with the kid."
"Alright, here is a list of everyone who has access to the apartment, babysitters, neighbors, cleaning ladies, etc. Let's cross them off, and see if there are any registered sex offenders in the area. The dad said what they did this morning was part of a routine, maybe someone knew it and jumped through the window when they knew he wouldn't hear." Myka's phone rang and she stood up to answer it as Claudia and Pete turned to their computers. "Actually, it probably wasn't a sex offender at all, parents just got a ransom note." She informed them. "Still run checks on the people on that list." Myka nodded to HG and the raven haired women jumped up to follow her.
Helena sat quietly, just slightly out of the way as they listened to the recording of the ransom note. She looked over at the parents, especially the tearful mother and sighed. She couldn't even begin to imagine what they were going through. The second she had a free moment, she was going to call Christina. Will pacified the parents and got them to look through their finances to try and scrounge up the ransom money. Helena was very curious about the man. He was not at all her type, and she was trying to see what it was Myka has seen in him. The small voice at the back of her head that screamed, jealous was there as well. Helena was well aware that she had absolutely no room to be jealous. Sure, when she had first met Myka, she had been taken with the woman. She flirted, as she tended to do and she had been genuinely intrigued. Over the months however that had dissipated; at least to the extent of a one night stand. Helena flirted of course, it was one of her favorite things to do, but she didn't have any notions that it would lead to anything at all. Myka was – as far as Helena knew – straight, and clearly not looking for a one night stand. She was a relationship type of girl for sure, Helena...was not.
The more time Helena spent with Myka though, the more she grew to genuinely care for the other woman. She truly enjoyed the friendship that was blooming, and while she had been trying to ignore it; she would be lying to herself if she said there wasn't a little part of her that would be opposed to more than friendship.
The two of them at least were finally growing some sort of familiarity. This Will person – and Myka's strong reaction to him – was quite a new development. Helena had seen the way Myka's had almost tried to sit down when Captain Neilsen said his name. Whatever happened between the two of them in those six months, it had most certainly effected Myka greatly. Helena was determined to know more. She walked up to Will and got herself a cup of coffee. "Do you do this a lot?" She asked by way of a greeting. "Kidnappings? You seem to know what to say."
"It's not about what you say. It's about controlling the situation, controlling the emotions." He answered without turning around to look at Helena.
"You requested your ex-girlfriend to the task force, that doesn't indicate to me a control of your emotions."
"I requested Bering because she is the best in the city."
"Not because you wanted to see her again?" Helena prodded.
Will let out a small laugh and finally turned around. He stepped forward, invading Helena's personal space slightly. "How about you Wells, you wrote what...twenty bestsellers?"
"Twenty-six, but who's counting?" She said with a little shrug.
"Why the sudden need to shadow a real detective?"
"Ah, well the ones on telly seem oddly fixated on their sunglasses." Helena said cheekily.
"So, with all the fat, balding detectives in the NYPD, you just happen to end up shadowing her?"
"Must be fate." Helena answered. She did not like this man one bit. She didn't think it had solely to do with Myka either. If she had met him in a different situation, she was sure that she would feel the same. Right now, she would rather like to slap him. She wondered for a moment if this cocky, arrogant bravado was how she came off to Myka. She certainly hoped not. No, for all that Helena was aware of how she could come off as annoying, Myka would have actually gotten rid of her, or seriously told her to cut it out if that were true. Myka wasn't a pushover by any means, she had to enjoy Helena's teasing on some level, or she wouldn't allow it.
Speaking of the devil, before Will could respond, Myka walked in. "The Candelas have pulled their financials, and their sister, the accountant or whatever is on her way to help. Anything in the transcripts from the call?"
"Whoever made the demand knew exactly what they were worth." Helena supplied before Will could say anything. From the sigh he let out, she knew that she'd hit a nerve. Helena smiled a little to herself and walked with Myka over to the Candelas. Pulling literally all of the money that they had, they would have just enough to pay the ransom. Helena looked over at Alfred Candela in the other room. He was throwing paint against a canvas. His wife, Teresa caught Helena's glance.
"He paints when he's stressed." She explained.
"Does he sell a lot?" Helena asked.
"Some." Teresa answered.
"That's generous." Her sister scoffed. Helena was about to ask more about his work when Will cut her off; asking if there was anyone who knew their financials who might have done this. Teresa shook her head, but Alfred walked over and reminded her of a situation at work.
"It really wasn't that big of a deal, he wasn't preforming well at work so I let him go. He called a few times angrily afterwords."
"He threatened you?" Will asked.
"He blamed me for his divorce, he said his wife left him because I fired him and..." She trailed off.
"And what?" Myka prodded gently.
"And she took his two kids."
Myka walked with HG and Will towards the interrogation room. They had picked up Douglas Ellers, the man that had been fired by Teresa Candela a few minutes before. "I'll take lead." Will said with his hand on the doorknob. Myka nodded and she and HG moved to follow him inside. "No." Will said looking directly at HG.
"She'll be fine Will." Myka argued.
"Myka, I don't care how big a fan of her you are, she doesn't come in the room."
Myka stared at Will, getting ready to subdue HG when she protested. Instead, she surprised Myka and complied immediately. "Fine, it's fine." She said, walking to watch from behind the mirror. She paused and turned back around to them. "Just...for the recored though exactly how big a fan is she?"
Thankfully, Will said nothing and Myka followed him into the room as HG walked away with Claudia and Pete. Myka wasn't sure what was going on between the two of them, but something was; she didn't have the time or energy to worry about it now. She stepped into the room briskly and introduced herself without looking at Mr Ellers. She took a seat across from him while Will paced behind her.
"Mr Ellers when was your last contact with Teresa Candela?" Will asked.
"Teresa Candela? What's going on?"
"Just answer the question." Myka ordered.
"What did she say about me?" Mr Ellers said as he shifted in his chair and tugged on his blazer.
"Let's talk about what you said to her." Will said as he pulled out a recording and played it. Douglas Ellers' voice filled the room yelling and threatening Teresa. "You left that three months ago." Will said.
"So what, every word is true. What, she's gonna press charges now?" Mr Ellers scoffed.
"Yeah, kidnapping, assault, harassment, breaking and entering." Will listed off angrily.
"What! Kidnapping? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Angela Candela was taken from her home this morning." Myka said, glaring across at him. She and Will pressed him for a few more minutes before leaving the interrogation room. Will immediately yelled out for Claudia and Pete to get his alibi.
"I think it's quite clear he didn't do it." HG said as they walked back over to their desks.
"What, now you're a mind reader too?" Will scoffed.
"Oh come now, if he did indeed do it he would be downplaying his feelings for Teresa, not wearing them out on his sleeve." HG sat down in her chair next to Myka's desk.
"Couple of bestsellers doesn't make you a criminologist."
"I also don't need to be a whether man to tell that the sky is blue." HG bit back.
Myka had had enough. "Oh for god sakes, will you two cut it out? The fact is you're both right; he probably didn't do it but when a child's life is at stake we have to be sure. We have to question everything we think we know." She looked up to Claudia and Pete. "Keep him here until you have got a solid alibi for this morning. Will, you and I are going back to the Candelas we're gonna profile all their associates."
"What should I do?" HG stood up and asked. Myka turned back around, ignoring Will behind her and walked back to HG.
"I need you to go home." She said firmly. She was ready for HG to finally start arguing, instead she looked over Myka's shoulder at Will for a second, then back to Myka.
"Okay." She agreed softly. "But if you need me, call. Even if it's just to talk." And with that Helena Wells gave her a tiny smile and walked away leaving a confused and surprised Myka behind.
Almost an hour later, Myka walked into the break room to find Will. "Hey, so we got back Ellers alibi, it's solid." She said slightly defeated. Will handed her a mug and she accepted it with a small smile. "Apparently he was having his usual poached eggs this morning, the owner of the diner confirmed it."
"Would have been too easy right?" Will said leaning against the counter. Myka mimicked him and sipped her coffee. "Or over easy." He joked.
Myka frowned and looked up at him before letting out a light laugh. "That's like something HG would say."
"You like her." He stated. Myka looked up sharply, the smile dropping from her face. Will just stared at her. "You act different around her."
"No I just um...I dunno she's interesting."
"So you're not...batting for the other team or anything now?" Will asked.
Myka smiled. "No."
Will leaned forward. "I meant to call, must have picked up the phone a dozen times."
Myka pushed herself off of the counter and moved away from him. Crossing her arms and putting a few feet between the two of them. "Yeah, I know, you meant to do a lot of things. That's why you left."
"Boston was a great opportunity." He argued.
Myka walked further away, leaning against the doorway. "I'm not saying that it wasn't, I'm saying that it didn't include me."
"You could have come."
"And then done what? Join the Boston PD? And then move to Phoenix, and then Cleveland and then you're back here, I mean we both know what that life is all about."
Will moved closer to her, resting his arm up above her. "Didn't stop me from missing you, missing us, sundays in the park...those ridiculous neon green skates of yours in Rockefeller Center."
Myka laughed. "I will have you know, that those ice skates are awesome." She insisted.
He moved closer and Myka tensed. "It wasn't the skates." He said as he cupped the sides of her face.
"Will...I..." Myka began to protest, but the next thing she knew, his lips were on hers and she was kissing him back. Not moving into him at all, but not pushing him away. A million things ran through her head, but at the same time, it was if nothing else existed right now. Suddenly, it was a year ago, and just a normal day. Myka had been angry when he left, and she had been hurt, but it certainly hadn't been her worst break up and she wasn't in love with Will. She could have been perhaps, given more time. Suddenly to have him back here, working together on a kidnapping case again, him bringing up everything, questioning her relationship with HG, it was all too much. Yet, she hadn't been kissed by anyone in the year since he left, and it felt nice, and familiar, so she didn't push him away.
Not until she heard HG's voice.
"Oh...I thought cops and feds hated each other." HG joked as she walked into the room. Myka leapt away from Will as though she had been burned and rubbed at her lips unconsciously. She would have been embarrassed had anyone caught her kissing in the break room, but the fact that it was HG somehow made it worse. "They say justice never sleeps, I think I now know why." HG said with a grin as she walked towards them.
Myka couldn't quite look her in the eye. "We were just..."
"Being consenting adults, I'm not judging." She said softly. Myka finally looked up from the floor and caught her eye.
"I thought I told you to go home." Myka said.
"I did go home, but then my mother told me something that couldn't wait."
"You live with your mother?" Will asked with a hint of disdain. Apparently, kissing Myka wasn't enough to make him get along with HG.
"Yes, apparently we're peas in a pod, the point is, Angela's adopted."
"So?" Myka asked.
"So, prior to giving up Angela, her birth mother would have been given background on the Candelas, specifically, their ability to support the child."
"She would have knowledge of their finances." Myka nodded.
"Really Myka, we're gonna waste time on the insights of Nancy Drew over here."
HG turned to him with a small glare. "Is that supposed to be an insult? Because Nancy Drew solved every case." She smiled and turned back to Myka. "And, I'm quoting here, when a child's life is at stake, we have to be sure, we have to question everything we think we know." She said directly to Myka.
Helena watched as Myka spoke to the biological father of the baby. They had brought in the birth mother thinking perhaps she had regretted her decision. There was a form with her signature on it requesting to know the identity of Angela. After Myka and Will spoke with her, they realized the signature had been faked. Juan, the father had been in Iraq when Angela had been born, and tried to run when he saw the detectives.
Will was standing away by the cars while Myka talked to Juan, and Helena sauntered over to him. "What, no good cop, bad fed?" She asked.
"The guy did two tours in the gulf, I go over there, it'll turn into a pissing match. Myka...she's got a way of sneaking up on people."
"You mean like last night?" Helena asked with a smirk. Will lifted his head down and stared at her without a word. "I'm just saying, looked like quite a kiss."
"You jealous Wells? Everybody who can read knows you play for both teams." He raised his eyebrows and frowned at her. "Frequently." He added.
"Me? No, though you have to admit, I was right." She said pointing over to Myka and Juan.
Will turned to her, standing up tall and looking down at her. "You are jealous. You've got a crush on a girl who is as straight as they come and is never gonna think twice about you."
"Frankly I don't see anything to be jealous of."
Will glared at her, then smirked. "We'll see."
They all convened back at the station to check out the birth father's alibi, which turned out to be solid. Helena could see Myka unraveling before her eyes.
"I don't care, he had motive and opportunity." Will said angrily.
"His motive was fatherhood, if he had taken her he would have been with her, not at work." Helena insisted.
"Doesn't matter, I want ESU at his place."
"It's not him Will!" Myka yelled. Helena glanced up at her in shock. In all the months she had known Myka so far, she hadn't seen her lose control of herself like this before. "We're at square fucking one and we've got nothing. You can send ESU wherever the hell you want but I'm not losing this one."
Myka stormed out and left Helena and Will alone in the break room. "What does she mean 'not losing this one'?" Helena asked.
Will sighed. "The case we worked."
"I thought you got the guy."
"We did...but the kid was already dead." Will's phone rang and he jumped up immediately. "Come on, they got another call for the ransom." He said to Myka. The three of them went back to the Candelas home, they had the money all set to go in the type of backpack that the kidnappers had instructed. Helena sat anxiously as they listened to the kidnappers tell them where to go with the money. After they hung up, Will was going over the details with Myka, planning on making the drop himself.
"No." Alfred Candela insisted. "They said no cops."
"Mr Candela, I've done this before, they won't know I'm an agent."
"And if they do?" Alfred asked. Neither Will nor Myka answered him. "No cops. We are gonna follow their instructions. I'm her father I'll do it." He insisted and walked away.
"No way we can let him do it, he's too emotional." Will said once Alfred was out of earshot.
"What choice do we have?" Myka asked.
"Me." Helena offered before she even realized what she was doing.
"What?!" Myka turned behind her to look at Helena.
"Well, I'm not a cop, and I'm certainly not emotional." She answered.
"No, absolutely not." Will argued.
"Why not? The NYPD already has a signed waver from me, and...I don't like saying this, but you're running out of time."
"HG's right Will." Myka said.
"You can't be serious."
"She's been with me on cases before, she's good under pressure." Myka insisted. "And...she's our best shot." Helena couldn't help feeling a little smug as Myka defended her to Will. He glared at her, but nodded.
A few moments later, Helena was alone with Myka and the FBI agent attaching a wire to her torso. Myka stood off to the side, arms crossed. "Ah, cold hands darling." Helena complained to the female agent. She didn't appear sympathetic.
"So, this is usually the part where I ask you if you thought things through, but then I remember you don't exactly think things through do you?" Myka asked. "These people are dangerous HG, you need to stay alert and focused."
"Alert and focused, ah! Darling really, those are bloody cold, maybe if you rubbed them together or something...wait, alert and what?" She joked. Myka whipped her head around. "I'm just kidding." She assured her.
"You're good to go." The agent said and pat her freezing hands on Helena one more time for good measure before exiting the room.
"Darling, it's going to be okay." Helena insisted lightly.
"Hey, about...about last night, what happened in the break room I just...I wanted to..."
"Oh, Myka you don't need to explain that."
"I don't?"
"Well, unless you want to?"
"No, you know I just figured...for the character, for Nikki Heat..." Myka trailed off and Helena stepped closer to her.
"Yes, I think I understand Nikki Heat better than you think I do." She said softly.
Myka nodded and bit he lip. "Be careful okay?" She said. Helena could have sworn those were tears in her eyes as Myka quickly walked away.
"Do I detect actual concern for my well being?" She asked cheekily.
Myka whipped around. "Screw this up and I'll kill ya."
"Well, now that's more like it."
Myka sat in an unmarked car with Will, a radio to let her communicate with HG in her hands. Comically, HG was narrating everything she was doing. "HG, you don't need to say over, or tell us your position, we can see you. Now shut up and focus."
"Roger, five by five, over." HG answered back. Myka only shook her head.
"She's quite a lady." Will said. "Does she know how big a fan you really are?"
"No." Myka insisted. "And she's not going to." She grinned at Will.
"What, you never told her how you waited in line for almost three hours to get your book signed, or how her books got you through your mother's death?"
"Is there anything you don't remember?" Myka asked.
"Not when it comes to you no." He answered. Myka turned her attention to HG and watched as she bent down as instructed and pulled out the cell phone the kidnappers had taped to the bottom of a mailbox. "What's it say?" She asked over the radio.
"They can see us, might want to tell Pete and Claudia to hang back a bit, they know I'm wearing a black jacket and tan pants."
"Okay, they can see you, this doesn't change anything." Myka insisted. Her cell phone beeped and she pulled it out, read the message from HG and frowned.
You guys making out?
"Tell her to quit fooling around." Will said.
"Yeah, like that'll help." Myka dropped her phone onto her lap and watched as HG begin walking again.
"Alright, it says to cross the street and head west on East 47th. That's left right?"
"Right." Myka answered.
"Right, right or right left?" HG said as she stumbled around looking at street signs.
"LEFT." Myka and Will answered at the same time. HG whipped around and pressed on. Myka sat tense and fidgety in the car as she entered the correct building.
"They want me to leave the bag at the shoe shine stand and walk away."
"Okay, go ahead." Myka watched as HG, dropped the bag, and exited the building. Pete and Claudia walked in seconds later and looked around to see who took the bag. Seeing a man carrying the bright green bag, Pete tackled him, only to find it full of newspapers. The two of them stared as people carrying the same backpacks all suddenly walked around the building.
Back at the Candelas, they explained that they found out the kidnappers had posted an ad on craigslist. They told people it was a flash mob for youtube and sent out the backpacks as a way to get the money away free. Myka saw the dejected look on the parents faces and hated herself. She walked over to HG and sat down next to her.
"I should have looked back to see who picked up the bag."
"That wasn't your job." Myka insisted. "You did good."
HG sighed and looked over at a picture of Angela. "I can't imagine if something like this ever happened to Christina."
Hours later, Myka was still at the Candelas home. Sleeping upright in a rocking chair in Angela's room, she awoke to a noise. She glanced down at the floor to find HG crawling around with a flashlight. "Go back to sleep." Was all she said before she pushing stuffed animals around.
"Wells, what the hell are you doing?" Myka asked while rubbing her eyes.
"When Christina was little she had a stuffed monkey that she could not live without. One time we went on vacation and forgot to pack her. I bought her another one, but she knew it was not Monkey Bunky."
"So?"
"So..." HG held up a photograph of Angela, her mother and a stuffed white bunny. "There are two other pictures of her out there with this bunny, so...I'm thinking where is the bunny?" HG said as she looked around some more.
"You're thinking that whoever took Angela knew her well enough to take the bunny too?" Myka asked. HG nodded and pushed more stuffed animals around. "But we went through all the babysitters, teenagers, all of them have alibi's..."
HG cut her off. "Yes, but sometimes babysitters aren't teenagers, their family. When did we lose the signal on the phone I slipped into the bag?"
Myka almost grinned up at HG. "Right after we told the Candelas about it. Shit." Myka jumped up with HG following right behind. "Will." Myka whispered. "Trace the sister's phone, Nina."
Minutes later, they had what they needed, and immediately drove over to Nina Candelas' home. Will walked over to her and arrested her, while Myka made a beeline for Angela, who was sitting in a playpen. Myka bent down and smiled as Angela reached her little arms out to her. "Hi Angela, how are you?" Myka asked as she picked the little girl up. "You want to go home?" Angela nodded and rested her head on Myka's shoulder. As they arrived back at the Candelas with Angela, Myka reveled in the look of utter relief and glee on Alfred Candela's face as he took Angela from Myka. She immediately looked over at Teresa, who made no move to come and hug her daughter.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Alfred asked. "Look, she's here! She's okay." No one said a thing. "What's going on?" Alfred asked. Will quietly asked one of his agents to take Angela out of the room and Myka watched as realization sunk in on Alfred's face. "What did you do?" He asked Teresa.
Myka stood there quietly – all four of them did – while Teresa yelled at her husband. She complained that she worked fourteen hour days, paid all the bills, while he sat at home painting and listening to music; ignoring his daughter and never selling anything. It made Myka sick to listen to her rationalize kidnapping her own daughter as a ploy to get all their money and prove her husband negligent. She was just glad it was over. Finally, over.
It was far later than she should still be at the station when Myka finally finished with her paperwork. She hadn't slept properly at all in the last couple of days, and was practically nodding off right there.
Will walked up to her and sat down in HG's chair. "So, how do you think she'll do?" He asked.
"Depends on how many mothers are on the jury."
"So, now that it's over, now that I'm back I was...thinking maybe we could give it another shot." He said, getting straight to the point.
"And when you leave again?" She asked.
"You come with me." He answered immediately. Myka bit her lip and looked away from him. "Think about it." He said and stood up, placing a hand on her shoulder lightly as he walked away. Myka watched him and turned in surprise as HG sat down where he had just been.
"Not a bay guy." She said with a genuine smile. "I can see how it wouldn't work though."
Myka made a face. "Oh yeah?"
"Handsome, square jawed, by the book."
"And that's a bad thing?" Myka asked.
"Yes! He's like the male you. Ying needs Yang not Ying and Ying. Ying and Yang is balance, Ying and Ying is...the name for a panda."
"Any more wisdom Obi wan?"
"Nope, that is it for the night. Shall we celebrate with a drink?"
"No. I am so tired I could fall down right here. I have got a date with my very large, very comfortable bed." Myka said as she pulled her coat on and gathered her things. HG raised her eyebrows and Myka only rolled her eyes. "Night Wells." She said as she walked out of the station.
"Until tomorrow detective." HG called after her. Myka smiled to herself as she got in the elevator.