Miami, Florida
July 17, 2003

Monica Fuentes waited patiently at the bar of Dark Magic, nursing a drink when Brian arrived, flushed from victory. Suki was behind him, whining playfully about losing to Brian again to anyone who would listen, but her words faded away with a low hum as he took in the sight of the federal agent. There was no denying that Monica was beautiful. Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders in caramel streaked curls and her eyes seemed to see straight into his soul when she turned to look at him. She lifted her drink in her direction and, at Brian's left shoulder, Rome said, "Damn." Brian grinned and left his stunned friends, making his way through the already gathered crowd to join his date for the night.

"You look fabulous," he told her and she smiled. "Thank you for doing this," he added in a softer voice and her head dipped slightly in acknowledgement.

"It's gratifying to know that I haven't lost my touch," she replied, turning to face the bar again. "Is the bartender that told you about the missing dancer here?" Brian's gaze skimmed across the two people standing behind the bar, quickly assessing their appearance before shaking his head. Monica hummed and sucked her lower lip into her mouth, nibbling on it for a moment before releasing it. "Keep an eye out for her," she ordered. "If she shows up tonight, I want to talk to her." Then she pushed herself up off the bar and smiled at him. "Come dance with me." Brian nodded and followed her on the dance floor.

For the first hour they stuck to the dance floor. Monica was a good dancer partner and Brian found himself entranced by her smile. She was exactly the kind of woman he would have fallen hard for were it not for the fact that he was still head over heels in love with Mia. He was hoping that, in the next few weeks, he would be able to get past Mia, who had plenty of reasons to loathe him, and fall in love with someone that might actually love him back. When they stepped off the dance floor, Monica's face was flushed with exertion and Brian unconsciously leaned forward as if to kiss her for a moment. He yanked himself back before their lips came close to touching, an image of Mia superimposing itself over Monica. Something like guilt curled in his stomach and he turned away, hoping that Monica didn't notice.

"Brian?" she asked, voice concerned, and a slim hand settled on his arm. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," he replied, fixing a smile on his face and turning back to meet her eyes. "I think Tiffany's here."

"Are you sure? And who's is Tiffany?"

"The bartender who told me that one of the dancers was missing," Brian replied, completely ignoring her first question.

Monica frowned but didn't press him, instead turning her attention towards the bar. "Which one is she?" Brian motioned towards the brunette bartender and Monica nodded, slipping her arm through his. "Come introduce me."

Brian led the way to the bar and Tiffany smiled at him as she finished up with the customer in front of her. Her smile didn't falter when she noticed Monica. Instead it widened as she approached. "Nice to see you again," she said before turning her attention to Monica. "Be careful with him. He has truly awful tastes when it comes to alcohol."

Her conspiratorial tone made Monica laugh and say, "Thanks for the advice."

"Any time," Tiffany replied. "What can I get for you two?"

"Whatever you think is good," Monica said and Tiffany nodded before turning to Brian.

"And for you?"

"Surprise me," he told her and she arched an eyebrow.

"Still trying to get over the bad memories associated with that crappy brew you usually drink?" Brian nodded as Tiffany turned away and forced himself not to look at Monica. He was betting that she'd read his file in the immediate aftermath of the Verone case, if not during it. If he was right, then Monica could likely guess what Tiffany was talking about and he didn't deserve the pity he'd see written on Monica's face.

Tiffany pushed over their drinks and then had to hurry off to serve someone else. Dark Magic was packed to the gills with people grinding together on the dance floor as music thrummed through the speakers and the space in front of the bar was packed too. Monica and Brian waited, crammed into a corner near the wall, as Tiffany and her fellow bartenders weaved out and around one another while taking orders. Every so often Brian would catch Monica glancing in his direction, as if she wanted to say something to him, but she didn't try to speak over the pounding music. Instead she sipped at her drink and tapped pale nails against the polished wood counter of the bar as they waited for Tiffany to make her way back towards them.

It took half an hour for the bar to clear out enough for the brunette bartender to make her way back over to them. "So I didn't get a proper introduction earlier," Tiffany said, settling a hip against the bar and grinning at them. "I've met Brian and most of his friends, but not you."

"Monica Fuentes," Monica said, offering her hand.

"Tiffany Boswell," came the reply. The two shook hands, measuring each other up for a moment. Then Tiffany smiled and Monica grinned back.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Boswell."

"Tiffany, please," Tiffany replied with a laugh. "I'm just glad that Brian here isn't trying to find a new favorite drink because he's pining over a girl." Brian let out an uncomfortable chuckle, cheeks flushing pink, and ducked his hand to glance down at the bar. He couldn't bring himself to look at Monica, but when he lifted his head Tiffany looked as if she wanted to take back what she'd just said.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, cheeks bright red even under her tan. "I shouldn't have said that. I just...I, uh, thought you two were dating."

"He owes me a date tomorrow," Monica replied, smile in place and expression thoughtful when Brian finally glanced quickly at her. "Tonight we're doing a little digging. Brian happened to mention that you'd told him one of the dancers had been kidnapped but the owner didn't want to report it."

"Are you two cops?" Tiffany asked, expression becoming wary.

"Brian used to be one," Monica told Tiffany. "He wanted to turn in the case to the local police, but he knows they won't take his word unless he has evidence for him. I'm here to help him get that evidence. He tends to get in trouble if he's left unattended."

The suspicion flowed off Tiffany's face and she laughed while Brian rolled his eyes. "Why tell me?" the bartender questioned once she stopped snickering over Brian's inability to stay out of trouble.

"I want to ask you a few questions, just to make sure that no one is jumping to conclusions," Monica told her. "If that's okay with you."

"I'm cool with it," Tiffany replied, leaning closer and adding, "Just don't let my boss know."

"Do you think he'd fire you?" Brian asked and Tiffany shrugged.

"Normally, no. Jeremy's pretty chill as long as you do your job, you know, but he sounded really freaked out by the whole dancer kidnapping. He actually threatened to fire the dancer he was arguing with over the whole affair."

"Do you know which dancer that was?" Monica asked.

"Holly Johnson," came the immediate reply. "She was one of the first dancers hired when he started Dark Magic."

"Is she here tonight?" the federal agent questioned.

"Yeah," Tiffany replied, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Do you think Brian could talk to her while I asked you about what you overheard?" Monica questioned, leaning forward to rest her elbows against the counter.

"Umm, maybe. Let me see." Tiffany turned and caught the attention of one of the bouncers, motioning him over with her head. He was a serious looking man, built like a linebacker, and the crowd parted for him. Apparently no one was drunk enough to think that crossing this bouncer was a good idea. "Hey Andy, can Brian talk to Holly for a bit?"

"I'll see if she has time," Andy replied, turning and making another path through the ground towards a door on the far end of the dance floor with a sign on it that said Employees Only. Brian watched him go as Monica began to walk Tiffany through the details of what she'd overheard. The process would take a while because Monica was going to be fishing out every little detail of what Tiffany had seen and heard. It was a process that Brian had gone through when he was still a beat cop in the LAPD.

Andy came out five minutes later and motioned Brian over to him. The blonde weaved his way through the thick crowd, pausing a few feet away from Andy. "Can I talk to her?"

"Yeah," came the indifferent reply. "Come with me."

The door opened into a chaotic jumble of glitter, feathers, and sweating girls in various states of undress. Rome probably would have been thrilled to be backstage. Brian wasn't. He was trying to do a job, not get distracted by half dressed girls he didn't feel anything for. Andy weaved his way through as several girls scrambled towards the stage, heels clicking sharply with each movement. The bouncer led the way towards the back of the room where a dark skinned woman with dark curls hanging wild and loose around her chin. She looked up when they approached and gold eyes pierced him. Andy motioned him forward and then stepped back a ways, giving them room.

"Holly Johnson?" Brian asked.

"Yeah," she replied, tone confrontational. "What about it?"

"I'm Brian O'Conner," he told her. "I want to ask you about your friend that went missing."

Holly looked as if she was thinking about telling him to fuck off and he waited patiently for that statement, not looking away. After a moment she sighed and motioned him closer. "You a cop?"

"No. Not anymore."

She breathed out another heavy sigh and then stood. "Come on. Let's talk outside." She led the way to the a metal door at the back of the backstage area, lifting the latch and pushing it open. It squealed softly, the sound barely audible under the low roar of the music that made thinking difficult. The door swung shut behind them with a solid sounding click, cutting off the sound of the music completely. "What do you wanna know?"

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Holly looked at her hands and asked, "Where do you want me to start?"

"The dancer who's missing, who is she?"

"Tia," Holly told him. "Tianna Holloway. She came up from Las Vegas after she caught her no good boyfriend cheating on her."

"Walk me through the night she was taken," Brian said and she nodded.

"Okay. It was late, or early I guess." She let out a nervous sounding laugh, shaking her head. "Four-ish. Tia was done with her last song and I'd just got done. I was gonna change and drive 'er home since she doesn't have a car yet. She was waitin' out here for me, like she usually does. I came out to see some guy hasslin' her. She sent me back in to get one of the bouncers, Tony, so we could get rid of the guy. We've done it before." Holly's tone turned defensive, as if she expected Brian to criticize the fact that she'd left her friend alone with a strange guy. He nodded at her to continue. "I went and grabbed Tony. He was really good at getting creepy guys off our backs, you know?"

"Yeah," Brian said when it became obvious that she was waiting for some kind of response.

"Yeah," Holly mumbled, twisting her hands anxious. "Anyway, when Tony and I got back out here, she was gone. I ran back in to grab a phone since my cell was dead and Tony went to the street to see if he could spot Tia. I ran into Jeremy while I was looking for a phone. He asked what happened." Holly paused, looking haunted. "I told him. That's when he told me not to call the cops. He said not to bother. That he'd already called them. He told me to go home."

"Did you?"

"Yeah," Holly replied, tone guilty. "I think I was in shock or something. The next day I realized I hadn't talked to the cops. I came to my shift early and went to talk to Jeremy about it. I figured he'd have the number of someone I could talk to. When I went into his office to ask, he told me that he hadn't called the cops. I told him that I was going to then and he threatened to fire me." Holly let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through her short curls. "I just don't know what to do."

"It's going to be okay," Brian told her, laying a cautious hand against her knee. "You're doing everything you can." Holly nodded but didn't look convinced. "We'll find your friend and get your friend back, but to do that I need to talk to the bouncer that you brought out to get rid of Miss Holloway's unwanted admirer. Can you arrange that?"

"Tony isn't in tonight," Holly said. "He's taken a couple vacation days off after what happened." That sentence set off alarm bells in Brian's head but he forced himself to look calm on the outside so as not to alarm Holly. There was a good chance that he was jumping at shadows, but Bilkins had told him that all the dancers at Dark Magic had been accounted for when one had really been missing. The bouncer who also knew the truth about what had happened might have been reported as taking some vacation days when something else had really happened. The only way to find out was to contact him. "Do you have your phone with you?" Holly asked, completely oblivious to Brian's worry. "I'll give you his number.

Brian handed over his phone and Holly tapped a few buttons on it. A couple of minutes later he had it back with a number and a name for the bouncer; Tony Andretti. "Thank you," he told her and she gave him a weak smile in response.

"Here, let me give you my number too. Then if you think of anything else I need to know, you can contact me." Brian handed the phone back over so that she could put her number in, thanked her again when she handed it back, and held open the back door for her.

Andy was waiting for him back inside, arms folded over his broad chest. "You done here?" he asked and Brian nodded, allowing the bouncer to show him back to the main dance floor. The former cop scanned the room, catching sight of Suki sitting on Tej's lap at one of the tables to his left while Rome was on the dance floor with a couple very pretty brunettes. To his right, Monica and Tiffany were no longer at the bar. Their absence made his heart jump in his chest and he began to push his way through the crowd. He knew Monica was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but he also knew that you could get the jump on anyone if you knew what you were doing. The last thing he wanted to do was to get Monica killed because he was digging around for information about something dangerous.

He was almost to the bar when Monica and Tiffany came out of a side door. Tiffany was scanning the room nervously but Monica made her way through calmly through the crowd towards him. "Let's get out of here," Monica told him, voice as low as she could manage while still being heard over the music. "I have a lot to tell you." Brian nodded, waving good-bye to Tiffany and then slipping an arm around Monica, leading her towards the front door of the club. A couple of the bouncers gave them cursory glances as they left but most people were too wrapped up in one another and the music to notice.

Once they were outside, Monica scanned their surroundings before leading Brian towards a late night coffee shop. He didn't protest, knowing that more people around meant it would be harder for someone to overhear them. They both ordered coffee and headed to one of the cafe tables towards the back of the shop, shifting chairs so their backs were towards the walls out of habit. "Tell me what you learned," Monica ordered, cradling her warm drink between slender fingers, and Brian nodded, placing his own cup on the table.

"I've got a witness that says she saw our missing dancer, Tianna Holloway, right before she was taken," he told her and Monica nodded. "According to Holly Johnson, Holloway had a guy harassing her while she was waiting for Johnson to take her home. Johnson went to get one of the bouncers, Tony Andretti, to get rid of the guy. When the two of them came back, Holloway was gone. Johnson went in to call the cops, ran into the owner, and was told that the cops were on their way so she could go home. She realized later that she hadn't given a statement, went back, and the owner threatened to fire her if she called the cops."

"Did you manage to talk to Mr. Andretti?"

"No. According to Johnson, Andretti's called in his vacation days after what happened. She gave me a number I could reach him at, but I'm not sure it's going to pan out." Monica nodded and took a sip of her drink, expression serious.

"I think you're right to be suspicious," she told him, reaching into her purse and pulling out a handful of papers. "After listening to what your bartender friend could tell me, I convinced her to show me the office. These were inside."

Brian pulled the printouts towards him, scanning them quickly. "These are..." He trailed off, looking at Monica with wide eyes, and she nodded.

"Bank statements for a private off-shore account somewhere," Monica confirmed. "The oldest ones are from a year and a half ago. The newer ones show payments every two weeks. The date I got for the dancer being taken is the exact date the next payment should have gone in."

"So, do you think this'll be enough to convince law enforcement to take my word and do some investigating?" Brian asked.

"I don't know," Monica admitted. "The FBI won't look twice at this if you're the one to bring it, but the Miami-Dade Police Department might look into it. Your record's been wiped clean and they don't have anything against you personally that would prevent them from taking your word with what you've been told."

"So I'll tell them what I've been told tomorrow morning," Brian decided and Monica nodded, lifting the cup towards her mouth.

"So about that date you owe me..." Monica prodded after taking a sip. Brian flushed and glanced awkwardly over her shoulder only to freeze. There was a man staring directly at them with dark hair and dark eyes. His hands were nowhere in sight.

"Yeah," he said, trying to continue the conversation while also figuring out a way to signal to Monica that something was wrong. "We could go to dinner and a movie."

"The classic date," Monica said. "I like it. I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow."

"Great," Brian replied with a smile that felt force. "Can I walk you to your car?" Monica's expression was worried, as if something Brian had said or done had tipped her off to the fact that something was wrong, but she nodded. As the bell above the door of the coffee shop jangled above them, Brian slipped his arm around Monica's race and pulled her close. "There was a guy in the coffee shop staring directly at us. He didn't have a drink and his hands were hidden."

Monica giggled as if he'd just said something hilarious but her eyes were serious as she glanced up at him. She paused and turned, rising up on her tiptoes as if to whisper something into his ear. "He's behind us, trying to lean casually against a building," she murmured and Brian gathered her up in his arms, beaming at her.

"Oh Monica, you say the sweetest things," he announced loudly and Monica laughed.

"Come on, Romeo. Walk me to my car," she said, tucking her arm through his. With their bodies pressed so closely together as they walked at a sedate pace, the man following them couldn't see Monica sending an emergency code to the pager of someone both she and Brian knew they could trust.