When Nikki woke up, she found herself fully clothed on her couch. She must have fallen asleep yesterday, even though she firmly intended to pull an all-nighter. After all, Nick had called her colleagues while she was still there and had IT specialists from six states working to recover deleted files from the hard drives of the murdered parents' computers. It was quite possible that Nikki would receive the news that night that an expert had managed to extract tangible information from the jumble of digital encryption, and she definitely didn't want to oversleep on this call. She hastily reached for her cell phone, which slipped out of her hand and fell to the floor. She picked it up again and checked to see if a call had come in from the BPD.

Nothing!

Nikki sank back into the couch where she had unintentionally spent the night and pulled the bedspread, which Mike had probably put over her, a little further under her chin. She put the cell phone beside her, disappointed that her hope for a quick investigation success had not been fulfilled. Once again, Sokolov's words from the previous evening went through her mind.

The whole point of the Darknet is that it's impossible to trace which computer someone is communicating from. However, I am privileged to know some people that your colleagues in the police force are unlikely to meet anytime soon. I know where the perpetrator chatted with his future victims. I know his IP address.

It must have given him real satisfaction to tell her to her face. The way he sat there with his silenced weapon in his hand. Like a crime boss from a Francis Ford Coppola movie. A man who didn't care about rules and laws and, even worse, got away with it. Sokolov would probably be on his way back to Russia by now, laughing his ass off at how he had left her in her own house with the knowledge that he could have solved her entire case with just a few words.

Don't always keep your light under a bushel. I'm pretty sure that after our conversation, you can answer all your questions yourself.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, you stupid bum." She looked at the spot on the couch where Sokolov had been sitting.

Nikki was just about to get herself up to make a strong coffee for the day ahead when her cell phone started vibrating. Her heartbeat quickened. Could the analysts at BRIC have found something out? She hastily grabbed her cell phone, looked at the display, and saw Mike calling her. Her hopes were suddenly transformed into a mixture of shame and guilt. She was hesitant to take the call. "Mike, I'm sorry I didn't get home until late last night. There was an important new development in my case. But if everything goes well now, it'll all be resolved soon. Then something like this won't get in our way again; it just didn't work out right this time."

Mike paused for a few seconds and took a deep breath. "That's excellent news. So you finally know who took the guys?"

"No, not yet. But we're just finding out where he made contact with the victims. We're following his trail on the internet. That way, we can get him even if he was chatting from a coffee shop. After all, there are cameras everywhere these days."

"That's the best news I've heard recently!" He was now speaking like he had spoken to Nikki after they kissed for the first time on the evening of their second date. "Shall we finally open the champagne that's been sitting in the fridge for months?"

Nikki had to smile and ran a hand through her hair. "You know I'd like to. But if we catch him tonight, I'll be at the BPD all night. And if we don't, I won't feel like celebrating. Mike, I'll make up for it if we finally catch those guys and the killer."

"All right." He took another deep breath. 'Then go and catch this scumbag, and we'll find a way to celebrate.'

There was a knock on the line. Nikki saw that Elizabeth was trying to reach her. 'Mike, I have to go! See you later, I love you!' She hurriedly switched to Elizabeth's call. 'Ma, what's up?' There was driving noise in the background.

"Your culprit is increasing the pressure. He informed me yesterday that he has Ben in his power."

Nikki jumped up from the couch, her eyes wide. "What? He did... yesterday? And you're only getting in touch now? You can't --"

Elizabeth interrupted her daughter. "It's all right. I didn't want you to lose a night's sleep over it." She sounded absolutely calm and completely relaxed.

"Have you found him yet?" Nikki's heart was beating like crazy. "Or why are you so calm?"

"It's better if I let the kidnapper do it for now. He wants to take Ben to the seven boys, that's good. He can then report to them that everyone is looking for them. Maybe he'll even find a way to free them. The guy scored a goal with Ben's kidnapping, I guess he won't live to see tomorrow. Unlike his kidnap victims."

Nikki tried to organize her thoughts. Could it be possible that she was still sleeping on her couch and only dreaming about this call? Benjamin was the only person besides Ashlyn, Maggie, and her mother in the world who still mattered to her mother. How could she talk about her own son being in the hands of a man who had already proven beyond doubt that he would stop at nothing, even the most brutal violence, with such matter-of-factness?

"Ma, I'm going to gather my team right now. Give me all the information you have!"

Elizabeth remained calm. "You don't need a task force. The killer is beginning to lose his nerve, partly because I stubbornly refuse to solve this old case for him. His game is not going the way he had planned. That's putting more and more pressure on him, and he's making mistakes."

Nikki shook her head and ran her hand through her hair with her eyes closed. "Okay, that's just crazy."

"Nikki --"

"He's your goddamn son, Ma!" the detective blurted out without warning, almost making her jump off the couch.

"Veronica!"

Nikki closed her eyes and counted to ten in her mind while breathing deeply in and out several times. "Okay, it's actually possible that Ben will be released really soon. I got some important information yesterday. Sokolov came to see me unannounced. He just broke into my house and sat on my couch when I came home. He found the location where the culprit chatted with his later victims. But he's not telling me."

There was silence on the line for a few seconds. "How can Sokolov know where you live?"

For the first time in a long time, Nikki felt that her mother had finally awakened from her deep sleep and was showing severe concern. She exhaled heavily. Who would benefit from this question? "How should I know, Ma? He's Fyodor Sokolov; he can find out anything!"

Elizabeth remained silent again before replying, "You shouldn't be so quick to settle for answers like that. They're like stones in the road; they slow down in sight. And now, Nikki, I'm going to leave Boston. I'm not telling your mother about the kidnapping yet, and please don't you either. I don't want Maggie to worry about him. There's no reason for that. Officially, you don't know anything about the kidnapping yet, so you shouldn't freak anyone out before tomorrow morning. By then, he'll be free again anyway. And the other guys, too. At least if you don't keep putting obstacles in your way when answering the important questions. Now go on, grab that fucker!"

Nikki still held the phone to her ear without realizing it. She remained motionless on the couch while the impressions of this incredibly bizarre phone call worked like the gears of an ancient machine inside her.

You should be more relaxed when settling for answers like these. They're like stones in the way; they slow down recognition.

Nikki closed her eyes and tried to extract the more profound meaning from Elizabeth's words. Why had she suddenly been so sure that Nikki was on the verge of her goal? What had she deduced from the little information the detective had given her? She hadn't even told her mother about the pedophile network.

She could only draw conclusions from what I had told her.

She focused on the facts.

Sokolov found my house even though I still need to register here, and my name isn't in the mailbox. I didn't think about it because I figured a man like him would discover everything. But no one at the BPD would just give out my new address; even his lawyer can't see it in the files. It can't be hacked because it hasn't been entered into any computer system yet. Did Sokolov have me followed? No, that can't be it. If that were the reason, Ma wouldn't have been able to gain any crucial insights from it.

Nikki closed her eyes and tried to remember what Sokolov had said. What had he said to her in that unctuous tone?

After our little chat, you can answer all your questions yourself.

"What Sokolov revealed to me is apparent from the content of our conversations." Nikki was now deliberately speaking to herself to organize her thoughts more clearly than if they were flying around in her head in a jumble. "Maybe the solution lies not only in the conversation itself but also in how it unfolds."

Sokolov had been holding a silenced weapon when she found him on the couch.

The silencer showed that he intended to use the weapon. After I entered the living room, he immediately put it away anyway. He didn't even try to intimidate me or scare me. What was that for? Sokolov comes to my house, which he couldn't possibly know, waits for me in the dark with a weapon that he apparently didn't want to use against me, gives me valuable information, and says mysterious things. And what was supposed to mean in his last sentence: I'm sure that after our little conversation, you can answer all your questions yourself.

And then it happened! Nikki's eyes widened as realization hit her like a fist.

"Oh, shit!"

She felt a shiver run down her spine as she involuntarily clasped her hands over her head. Suddenly, everything seemed to be spinning around her. The realization hit her with such force that she began to tremble. Her mouth went dry instantly, and she thought she could feel each of her organs. This couldn't be! No, it just couldn't be!

"How stupid are you?" Nikki held her hands in front of her face as if she could hide from the bewilderment of her own blindness. "He told me! With his very first words. That bastard Sokolov handed me the answer on a silver platter right at the beginning! And it was so logical! Good evening, Detective O'Laighin, what a surprise to see you!"

There was no doubt possible. Nikki got up from the couch as if paralyzed and almost staggered into the hallway, where she stood in front of the mirror in the wardrobe. As if she first had to convince herself of what had just occurred to her, she spoke to her reflection: "He was in my house. He was sitting on my couch. So why should it have been a surprise to see me? And why did he have that gun in his hand when he obviously didn't want to use it against me? And, damn it, he couldn't have known that I live here!"

Nikki looked at her hands. They were shaking. It took her a few seconds to grab her smartphone and call. It wasn't long before Nick answered. "Nikki, I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you yet." He sounded worried. "Unfortunately, we don't have any results yet. The perpetrator's IP address has been encrypted repeatedly through so many sources that..."

Nikki interrupted her uncle and captain as if he were a salesman bothering her with an unwanted telemarketing call. "That's all right. You can tell the people at BRIC that they can go to bed. I now know from where the murderer chatted with the parents."

"Has Sokolov been to see you again?" Nick's unease was palpable even through the smartphone.

"There was no need for that. He told me the first time."

"Okay, then spit it out!"

Nikki hesitated for a few seconds and closed her eyes. "I'll take care of it myself. This is personal now."

Nick wanted to say something else, but by the time he had finished speaking, Nikki had already ended the phone call. She took a deep breath one last time before returning to her reflection and saying what she should have realized from the beginning. "Sokolov was surprised by my appearance because he wasn't expecting me. And he never had to look for me at my house. He had no idea that he was in my house. He didn't have a weapon in his hand because of me; he was here because he was expecting someone completely different. I know where the perpetrator chatted with his later victims. I know his IP address. Sokolov went to the house from which the perpetrator chatted with the parents of the kidnapped boys. He thought he would meet the kidnapper of the children here. He didn't want us to get to him before he did and elicit information from him about the pedophile network that his acquaintance belongs to."

Nikki felt dizzy. She took two unsteady steps back until she could sink into the hallway chair.

Was it really that easy to manipulate her? Did she really need nothing more than to give her the hope of an everyday life, as probably everyone wished, though almost no one ever really got it? Why hadn't she noticed? Shouldn't it have made her suspicious that things had gone too well? Nikki allowed herself to cry, and the tears ran down her cheeks like torrents. So that was what happened when she trusted.

A cold shiver ran down Nikki's spine as she whispered into the emptiness of her hallway. "And I, stupid bitch, tell his best friend, half asleep, that we'll find out today who was chatting with the victims. You're unprofessional for a moment, and this is what happens. What if I killed the seven boys with it? And Ben?"

xxx

"There's no Marvin Decker. No record in the entire country." The analyst from BRIC sounded as sober as he read out the lottery numbers.

Of course not.

What the fuck!

Nikk had checked out many of her friends before she was promoted to detective. She didn't trust easily anyway, and her mistrust had grown with every rotten egg she had let into her life. On the other hand, she was not allowed to use her abilities for purely private reasons, to check her lovers and those who later became her friends for any dark spots in their past. With her last promotion, she had resolved to refrain from such violations in the future. Not to mention that Marvin had been such a wonderful friend to her husband and had included Nikki in their male friendship, and she wanted to believe in this friendship with the showman so severely that she didn't want to know if anything had ever happened between them. "All right, thanks anyway!" She ended the conversation with the analyst and stepped on the gas.

How goddamn stupid and blind could she have been? Lulled by glowing eyes, a warm voice, and well-proportioned facial features, she had fallen for the guy so completely that she wanted to cry. But now was not the time for that. She had to find him immediately! Of course, she had called him. Right after, she had gathered herself enough to pretend that he wouldn't notice how upset and bewildered she was. But Marvin's cell phone was turned off, and a location was impossible.

"Fucking hell!" Nikki screamed.

He approached Mike and her in the cocktail bar, where they went at least once a week to drink with friends or colleagues and distract themselves from their dreary working lives. That was a few months before the kidnappings and murders. He had obviously chosen her and Mike specifically.

Elizabeth and her brilliance had been a frequent topic in the media, and the internet was full of articles that had presented Nikki as her daughter and colleague with pictures. And there have been a lot of articles about Elizabeth retiring from professional life. After that, Marvin simply had to wait for one of them to leave the building before the BPD. Boston always had a lot going on; he wouldn't have attracted anyone's attention. Marvin would have had to follow Nikki or Mike just enough distance and in an unremarkable car to find out where the two lived. And what they did in their free time. He had, after all, sufficiently proven how good he was at organizing his crimes and carrying them out with remarkable meticulousness.

How he had mentioned Elizabeth so casually, almost in passing.

"I did a little Internet stalking on you, Nikki. Are you mad at me?"

"It seems you once worked with a really cool detective."

"So, who is this Elizabeth Rizzoli?"

Nikki had told Marvin herself how brilliant her mother was and how much she wished she would help her with this investigation. She was the only one who could solve this impossible puzzle. Marvin hadn't even had to bring it up himself; she had given him and his intentions away from the start—even with the house key!

Marvin hadn't asked her or Mike for that; he had been more subtle. He had just been good company whenever he had visited and mixed delicious cocktails.

Nikki herself had finally come up with the idea of allowing him to sneak into her life and her house after Marvin had told a heartbreaking story about his asshole landlord putting him out on the street. From then on, she and Mike kept him unwillingly in the loop. Every day, and some nights. At least until the point where it couldn't go any further. Because the man who had posed as a real close friend had ensured that only Elizabeth Rizzoli could decipher his magic trick.

"And now you're going to disappear, aren't you?" She spoke to herself as she took a shortcut to get to the BPD as quickly as possible. "Although, no. You're not. You still have the boys and Ben in your power. And you don't have the answers you're looking for yet. You must see it through; you can't just run away now. Who are you, and how can I find you?"

Nikki was startled when a white Aston Martin sped past her on the right at excessive speed. She screamed angrily and was about to chase the driver when she realized this idiot had just given her a promising lead. She immediately activated her hands-free system and called BRIC again. "I need an owner search for a car immediately." Nikki's heart was pounding.

"Okay, and the license plate?"

"I don't remember that, but you won't have many hits. It's a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with red paintwork."

"Got it. Rare car. There's only one match in Boston in red. The car is registered to the stunt team of Unirealm Entertainment Studios Boston. Owner Paul Moore. Address..."

"I don't need that, I can find it myself!"

She turned on the siren of her unmarked car and floored the gas pedal.