I know, I know... this is taking forever...

Kim slipped the portable hard drive into her pocket just in time. She'd had to work quickly, knowing that she could be caught at any time. Computer stuff wasn't really her thing. She could do the basics and find her way around a laptop easy enough and using the programs they used almost daily wasn't a problem but she'd never had to copy an entire hard drive before.

Despite all that and how much was riding on this it still gave her a bit of a thrill.

Quickly she closed the lid, quickly removing the glove and shoving it into her other pocket and made sure it all looked exactly the same as headed towards the kitchen and poured herself a coffee just as the front door opened.

"Hey, you hungry."

Kim held up her cup. "This should do it."

"You need to eat. You've barely eaten since you've been here." He stood beside her and placed a hand on her lower back and it took all her energy not to flinch. The last thing she needed right now was to be touched by anyone.

"I'm fine." She snapped. "Stop nagging me. I have eaten, just not here with you." She stepped away. The little touches and subtle flirts were getting to her and she had allowed them over the last few days. It made her skin crawl and she always felt like she needed a shower when she headed back to her hotel but it felt like she could never get clean.

While things were moving, it wasn't happening fast enough and she wanted to go home. She resented everything about this and it was hard to contain her disgust and anger and not let the disdain show on her face.

"I thought we'd head out for dinner. There is this awesome Tapas place up the road. You'll love it."

Everything in her heart screamed no but her head was still in the game. "I do love Tapas."

"I still don't get why you are paying for a hotel room when you could just stay here?"

Kim drained the rest of her coffee cup and headed towards the sink to wash it. "How far is this Tapas place, can we walk?" The last thing she wanted to do was continue this conversation or get in a car with him. Every day he bought it up, begging her to stay with him and that just had danger written all over it and it would not go down well, with anyone. There was also this little nagging fear in her that getting in a car with him could end in disaster. He was unhinged. "I am a little hungry."

Her phone rang in her pocket and pulling it out she quickly looked at the number and mumbled about taking it outside. Standing as far away from the back door as she could she answered the phone. Glancing up she could see that she was being watched.

"He's watching."

"Act pissed off."

Kim started pacing wildly, throwing one arm in the air and appearing agitated. "She's not your kid." She screamed at the top of her voice. "If I lose her because of you, you will wish you'd never been born."

When she hung up she stood staring into the distance for a moment, took a deep breath and turned back towards the house and saw him slip away from the kitchen window which looked over the back yard.

He was standing in the lounge room waiting for her when she came back inside. "Everything okay?"

"Yep." She replied shortly. Grabbing her jacket and bag she slung it over her shoulder. Noticing that it was now open when she knew she'd left it closed, she was very particular and paid close attention to everything she did. This was also why she never let her phone out of her sight, it was never left in her bag or on a table. It stayed in her pocket at all times so there was nothing in the bag to get him excited, she'd made sure of that but she did have some concerns about whether he'd put anything in there. She'd be putting that in the safe in her room the moment she got back, along with her jacket and she'd be sending that to a charity bin in the morning. "Let's go."

All her clothes were recent purchases, just for this job. She had insisted on it in case anything needed to be dumped of if she had to leave quickly.

Honestly she wanted to just ditch the bag but that might tip his hand. On the other hand it might also prove that he was tracking her if he found her at the hotel. So it was a double edged sword and she had to take a calculated risk. She'd move hotels and leave the bag there.

The walk to the restaurant was tense, Kim had her arms folded tightly across her chest and was not in the mood for talking. She could feel him watching her and it was becoming exhausting. "Wow, some phone call. Wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Jeez, you are a barrel of laughs. Let me guess who it was from?"

"Drop it please."

"I guess he's been paroled, surely you can get a restraining order?"

Kim stopped suddenly and pulled out her phone. He looked a little spooked. Clearly he'd said something he shouldn't. Kim had never told him that Adam had been arrested and she picked up on it. The few seconds of silence were deafening as his heart rate increased and he tried not to panic.

"What are you doing?"

Kim faced him and held up her phone so that he couldn't see the screen. "Ordering an Uber. I'm not hungry, I just want to go back to my hotel."

He reached for her hand to stop her and Kim snatched it away angrily. "Don't, I'm sorry. I promise no more questions."

Kim wouldn't be placated though and insisted on going back to her hotel. He offered to drive her but she declined. He did not know where she was staying and it was important that it stayed that way. He had been very persistent and had asked several times where she was staying, what her hotel was like, was it a good view and she knew he was trying to work out where she was from her answers but she was very careful and non-committal. He still had a cop brain, and he wasn't a bad cop, but she was better and he was playing a game he wasn't going to win.

"You are still the same aren't you? Crawling back here when things go to shit with the neanderthal. Nothing's changed. He's an cunt and you continue to fuck him and then run away and pretend that you are some kinda victim." He turned suddenly and spat at her. "You are pathetic."

"Wow." Kim was stunned. "Tell me what you really think."

"Go home Kim." He left her standing on the pavement, waiting for her Uber and she watched him storm home with wry smile.

Heading back to the hotel she emptied her bag and had a good look and it looked fine but she put it in the safe just to be sure. Taking out the USB from her pocket she logged into the VPN and her computer and started uploading all the data. It wasn't up to her to work out what was on it, far smarter people than her would figure that out and all they could do was wait.

She grabbed her phone, a glass of wine and settled in for a facetime chat.

"Hi Sweetheart, how are you? I miss you."

"Mom, are you coming home yet?"

"Soon Bee. Really soon." Kim's voice wobbled a little. She missed her like crazy and wouldn't leave her for so long if she had any other choice. "How's school? I want to hear everything."

Makayla was happy to share her day with her. They talked every morning and night and she filled her Mom in on everything, whether it made sense or not. She was like a pinball machine but she made her heart swell every day.

Once she had finished talking to Makayla she slipped out quickly to grab some dinner. The room service menu let a lot to be desired and she'd eaten everything halfway decent on it already. There was a small restaurant nearby and she could call ahead and the order will be ready when she arrived. As the week dragged on she started to become a little more paranoid about being seen close to her hotel.

And it seemed she had every right to be when there was a knock on the door just after she returned to the hotel. Fortunately she had left the TV on so you couldn't hear her moving around inside the room. Peering through the spy-hole she was instantly on alert when she couldn't see who was there and she certainly wasn't going to open the door to find out who was waiting for her.

Standing quietly she heard the door next to hers open and the faint voice was familiar.

Listening for a little while longer she could hear doors being knocked on and opened then closed so she rang the front desk to alert them to a potential security issue on her floor. She also sent a message to Voight to let him know that things were starting to get a little hairy and he promised to put the hard word on the crime lab to analyse the data she'd sent through.

They needed to wrap this up.

Kim didn't leave her hotel room for two days. They reviewed the CCTV footage and identified the visitor and he was seen in the vicinity several times. Finally on the third day they moved her to another hotel through the service entry. She did think it was overkill but both Voight and Platt insisted on it.

They offered to pull her out but she insisted that she was going to see this through to the end. The thought of slapping on those cuffs was the reward and they were so close.