Captain Ross walked out of his office and looked over his bull pen. He had just gotten off the phone with the Chief of Detectives, MCS was just given a case that needed their immediate attention and he wanted a good team on it. His first thought was Goren and Eames, but they were in court. Logan and Wheeler were in the middle of a case, but they were available, so he approached their desks as they were finishing lunch.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not gonna like what your about to say, Captain." Mike Logan said as he threw his empty container from lunch in the trash.

"Chief of D's threw us a case we need to jump on now. I know you two are in the middle of the Doherty murder, but I need you to put it aside, at least for now."

"Where's the Dynamic Duo?"

"If you're referring to Goren and Eames, Logan, they're in court." Ross knew exactly who Logan meant, but he wasn't in the mood for attitude. "So, this is what's going to happen, you and Wheeler will process the scene and when Goren and Eames get back, they'll take over and you can get back to solving your case, understood?"

"What's so special about this case?" Megan Wheeler asked him.

"A shooting on 7th Avenue in Brooklyn...an old guy walking a kid home from school. Shooter walked up to him and put 3 bullets in his chest, in the middle of the day, in a crowd of people."

"Ballsy." Logan stood up and put on his suit jacket, tucking his notepad in the pocket.

"Let's just hope it's an isolated case and not some perp going on a shooting spree. Keep me posted. If Goren and Eames get back soon, I'll send them your way."

M.E. Elizabeth Rodgers was already at the scene when Logan and Wheeler arrived. They ducked under the crime scene tape and approached her.

"What's up Doc?" Logan asked crouching down next to her.

"Poor old guy took three .38s to the chest. One hit the aorta. He was dead in minutes, bled out."

"I.d.?" Wheeler crouched down on the other side of the body.

Rodgers turned the body over, slightly, while Wheeler reached into the back pocket and pulled out a wallet. She opened it and took out his driver's license.

"Daniel Thomas O'Malley. Age 64. Lives in the 66 Rockwell Apartments."

"Major case?" Officer John Nelson asked as he walked over and joined Logan, Wheeler and Rodgers.

Logan nodded and stood up. "I'm Detective Logan." He motioned towards Wheeler. "My partner Detective Wheeler. You the first on the scene?"

Nelson nodded. "Witnesses all say the same thing. The vic was walking with that boy, " He pointed to Joe, who was still pacing and rocking. "They stopped and bought a pretzel, started walking again...a van pulls up, guy got out, shoots 3 times, jumps back in the van and it takes off."

"What's up with the kid?" Logan asked watching Joe pace and rock.

"Don't know for sure, but the pretzel guy thinks he's autistic. He hasn't said a word...just keeps pacing and rocking. The hat he has in his hands is the vic's and I think he picked up a shell casing. We only recovered two."

"Great." Logan grumbled.

"No one here knows him?" Wheeler asked.

Nelson shook his head. "The pretzel vendor says the kid and the vic stop and buy a pretzel every Wednesday. Says he's pretty sure his name is Joe and he's seen him walking with a young woman the other days of the week. Another witness said he thinks the vic owns a bar a few blocks over...O'Malley's Bar and Grill."

"Is there a school within walking distance from here?" Wheeler asked.

"P.S. 321 William Penn." Nelson answered.

"It's worth a try." Wheeler said as she took out her phone. She looked up the number for the school and called, hoping with a description and possible first name, someone could help them with the boy.

"Hey, while my partners calling the school, send a unit over to O'Malley's. If that's where they were headed maybe someone there knows the kid."

Nelson nodded and went to do what Logan asked.

"Any luck?" Logan asked Wheeler after she put her phone in her pocket.

"The vice principal is coming by. There are two boys that fit the description with the name Joe in the Special Ed program. He's bringing their files."

"We need-"

Logan stopped in mid sentence as a pick-up came to a screeching halt in front of the crime scene tape and a middle-aged hispanic male got out.

"I'm from O'Malley's...what happened?..is Pops really dead?..where's Joe?" The man asked the nearest police officer.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." Mike said as he and Wheeler approached them. He held up the tape so the man could walk underneath it. "I'm Detective Logan. This is my partner Detective Wheeler. Let's start with your name."

"Tony. Tony Morales. I'm the head chef at O'Malley's. Is Pops dead?"

"If you mean Daniel O'Malley, we're sorry, but yes he is. He was shot and killed a couple hours ago." Wheeler told him. She reached out and touched Morales' arm when he started to cry. "I'm sorry for your loss Mr. Morales, but we need your help." She turned him gently to the left, where Joe was still pacing and rocking. "He witnessed the shooting and he picked up one of the shell casings. Can you help us with him?"

"I can try. Looks like his anxiety is way up though."

"Joe - that's his name right? Joe?" Logan took out his notepad.

Morales nodded. "Joe Goren. He's eleven and autistic."

Logan raised his eyebrows and grinned at Wheeler. "Ya think Goren has a love-child we don't know about?"

"You want to ask him?"

Logan stopped grinning. "No thank you, I like my head just where it is."

As the three of them walked towards Joe, Nelson came running up to them. He handed a folder to Wheeler.

"The vice-principal of William Penn just dropped this off for you. He recognized the kid. His name is Joe Goren."

"Thank you." Wheeler opened Joe's school file and started to skim through it, while Logan looked over her shoulder. "He's level 1 ASD. Which is the mildest form of autism. He has some OCD behaviors. Excels in art and music. Likes to be by himself, but will be social in the right setting. No real behavior issues, but he does have bad days. I think he can help, we just have to figure out how to get him to tell us."

"Parents?" Logan asked.

"Mother is Amber Thomas. There's a note here saying she's in Bedford Hills and his sister, Skye Briggs, has full custody. Father is William Goren...died six years ago."

"Wait..William Goren? You're kidding right?"

"No. It's pretty clear here on Joe's birth certificate. Why? You know him?"

"God, I hope not. Any more info on him?"

Wheeler flipped through the pages and found a white envelope. "Family pictures." She opened the envelope and looked through them, reading the backs. "His sister. His Mom. Daniel O'Malley. Here. Here's a picture of his mother and father." She handed it to Logan.

"Holy...jeez I was just joking when I said he might be related to Goren. This is crazy!."

"What are you saying? That's not Goren."

"No it isn't, but it is Goren's father. I've seen pictures of him, and this man," Logan pointed to William Goren. "Is also Bobby's father. The kid is Goren's half brother." Saying it out loud made him feel worse. "What the hell are we suppose to do? I'm not itching to be the one to tell Goren he has a brother he doesnt know about."

"Maybe a sister too..." Wheeler told him. "She has a different last name but-"

"Fuck! Uh-uh it's not gonna be me. We need to tell Eames. See what she thinks. Eames will know how to tell him."

"Okay. We'll bring Morales and Joe back to one-pp with us, Morales can tell Joe's sister to meet us there, and we'll talk to Eames and Ross."

"Why Ross?' Logan asked miserably.

"He's not going to let Eames and Goren work the case now. Conflict of interest."

"Great. Just great. C'mon then, let's get it over with."

They approached Morales, who had gone on to talk to Joe when they stopped to go through Joe's folder.

"How's it going?" Wheeler asked Morales, smiling at Joe when he looked at her.

"He gets upset when I ask him what happened and he does have the shell casing, but he's not gonna give it up to anyone but Skye. He says he found it for her."

"Can you and Joe come back to our station with us? We'll wait for his sister there." Wheeler was watching Joe, who was looking intently at her badge. She slipped it off her jacket and held it out to him.

Joe reached out slowly and took it from her. "Joe will hold it for you." He said smiling shyly.

Morales smiled. "He doesn't say I or me. But I think he likes you, Detective." He put his hand on Joe's shoulder. "We're gonna take a ride to the police station with the detectives, buddy, okay? Skye will pick you up there."

Joe perked up at his sister's name. "Joe wants to see Skye."

"Okay then, let's go." Morales said taking his hand.

As the four of them walked to Logan and Wheelers SUV, Logan noticed Joe looking at his badge. He slipped it off his belt and handed it to him.

"Here ya go, pal." Logan said to Joe, then whispered to Wheeler. "He can be your new partner after I tell Goren his horndog father had two other kids he didn't care to mention, and he kills me."

"He'll definitely kill you, if you tell him like that, Mike."

Logan sighed. "This is gonna suck."

Tbc...