Disclaimer: I am not making any money, if you recognize the characters they aren't mine.

A/N: These chapters have not been Beta'd. Any mistakes you find are mine.

As soon as the sun was up, I jumped out of bed and knocked on the guest room door. Ricky was already up and was just tying his running shoes. I jogged impatiently in the hall waiting for him to finish. He walked out of his room and waited for me to take the lead. We went out my back door to the drive way. I gave him a quick run down of my usual path, so if we got separated we could just meet up back here at the house. He nodded and we took off down the street staying pretty evenly matched.

We ran our 5 miles in silence, Ricky was never much for talking, and I refused to wear headphones while I ran, because it was a safety thing. We made it back to the house in good time. I got in the shower first because I had to go in to work to hand in my resignation. I left the house while he was in the shower and headed towards Miami.

The commute from my house was not the greatest, but if I took the turnpike, it was much faster than taking I-95 down. I clicked on the radio and pushed the pedal down a little more. I arrived at the Miami-Dade Police Department a little early for my shift. I badged myself past the front desk and headed to the bull pen on the third floor. I headed to my desk and grabbed the files of High Risk warrants that needed to be served. There is an old saying If you want an ounce of coke, stand on any street corner in America. If you want a Kilo of coke stand on any street corner in Miami. Now don't get me wrong, things have gotten better since the 80's, but we've still got a long way to go.

I walked to my Captains office and knocked twice before walking in. I laid the files on his desk before handing him a typed letter from my pocket. He sighed and sat back in his chair.

"Is there anything I can do to convince you to stay?"

I shook my head as I laid my badge and gun on his desk. "I wish there was, but I've got something I have to do for family."

My captain nodded as he reached out and took my badge and gun to lock in his desk drawer. He stood up and shook my hand firmly. "We'll miss you. You know you'll have family here too."

I nodded and swallowed hard. I wasn't going to cry. I chose my path, now it was time to walk it. I left the Captains office and closed the door behind me. I walked out of the building ignoring the chaos around me as shift change started. I climbed into my car and opened the console to grab a pack of cigarettes. I knew Ricky hated that I smoked, so I tried not to do it around him, but I was going to need it if I was going to get through this move. I lit my cigarette and started the car turning around to get back on the Turnpike. On my way home I called my Dad and my Sister and left them each a message telling them what was going on.

The drive back home didn't take long. I was headed north, and most traffic was headed south at this time of day. I pulled into the driveway and noticed that the SUV was gone. I pulled my little Dodge into my parking spot and headed into the house. I found Ricky sitting on a lounge chair by the pool. He looked up as I entered the back yard.

"How'd it go?"

"Not bad. I handed in my badge and gun. Now all I have to do is pack a few things and we can hit the road." I told him as I headed into the house and grabbed my old sea bag from the closet. I walked to the dresser and pulled open all the drawers taking the tightly rolled clothing and stacking it in my sea bag. He walked in when I was about halfway through emptying the dresser. I didn't even have to ask him for help, he just headed to the closet and began rolling the clothes there to be packed. With both of us working it only took fifteen minutes to get all of the clothes I owned packed into my sea bag. I tossed him the bag and reached under my bed for my large rolling suitcase. I tossed it on the bed and grabbed the books I had on my night stand and put them neatly in the suit case followed by my bag of hair ties and other little odds and ends from my room. I zipped it up and we headed to the living room. I put the suitcase on the couch and started filling it up with books, CD's and DVD's. Once the suitcase was full I zipped it up again and pulled it off the couch. I took a look around the house one last time to make sure there was nothing I needed to take with me right away. I set the timer panel for lights and the TV and grabbed the handle of the suit case gesturing for Ricky to lead the way outside. I set the alarm panel and refused to take one last look at what had been my home for the last 10 years.

We loaded my bags into my car in silence. It seemed there was nothing more to really say. I had done what he asked. I was moving to New Jersey to help him keep his business from going under because of a law suit.

I pulled out of the driveway and began making my way to 1-95. It seemed strange to be going north. I kept my eyes focused on the road and I drove in silence for about half an hour before I couldn't take it any longer.

"So, are you going to tell me what I'm in for?" I asked while adjusting my sun visor to keep the afternoon sun from blinding me.

"Nothing you can't handle, Some skip tracing, monitors, maybe a little guard duty. It's not difficult."

"So you what, you add some access control measures, a few cameras and that's it? What about something more comprehensive? Background checks on employees and applicants, or helping them to institute policies to help keep things secure. The human element is the greatest security risk and often they don't know they are giving away anything important."

He glanced over at me I caught his look in the rearview mirror. He didn't look all that enthused at my suggestions. "Since when have you become such an expert on security?"

"Since I live 10 minutes away from the place where the 9-11 hijackers lived, since I was a cop in South Florida following that disaster, since I've seen shit people do to each other right here in America that would make even YOU sick to your stomach. That's when." I didn't mean to sound so defensive, but if we wanted me to come work for him, then he needed to accept that I wasn't just going to be his trained bitch to trot out whenever gender equality became an issue. No, that's not fair. I should give him more credit than that. I probably came across like I was challenging his business model.

"Ricardo, lo siento. I shouldn't have said anything. This is your business, and I have no right to tell you how to run it, or what services you should be offering."

"Maybe not, but you might have actually had a good point. We've been over confident in our services as they stand. So if it were up to you, what would you suggest?"

"If it were up to me I'd start a whole new division, Offer pre-employment screenings. Point out to the customer it is a way to save money, not only will it cut down on internal theft but the whole process of interviewing, hiring, and training a new employee is expensive. Utilizing our services they can only interview candidates that really should be interviewed, they will probably have fewer terminations and resignations if they find the right person, so it cuts costs in training etc. Offer help in designing security protocols, figure out who is allowed to give out what information over the phone, who can sign for deliveries, purchase orders that sort of thing. It will be worth the time and money invested for both parties. You because you will spend less time finding out where breeches are occurring because quite a few losses can be prevented with just a few procedures in place." I took a breath and glanced over to see what he thought about what I was saying.

He seemed to be thinking about what I had said, and that was all I could ask for. We once again lapsed into a comfortable silence, and that was more than fine by me. We both had a lot to think about. He needed to think about the ideas I had given him, and I… I had to think about the real reason I didn't want to go to New Jersey.

I couldn't wait to see Lester and Tank again. Bobby though, that was another story. I had always been close with all of them, but for the last few years, there was a distance between me and Bobby. I knew the cause of it, and unfortunately I couldn't change it. "Sex is the fastest way to screw up a friendship."

"Where did that come from?"

Oh shit, I said that out loud. "I was just thinking about you and Stephanie. If you are comfortable with just being her friend, then keep sex out of it. It will change your relationship, and being friends after that is almost impossible." Whew! Hopefully I covered my tracks with that.

"Speaking from experience?"

"Something like that." That was all he was getting from me. I refused to say another word on the subject. He just stared at me for a while before shrugging and turning his head to watch out the passenger window.