"Hey, Doc."

Robbins looked up to see Greg and Sara, field kits in hand, "This is a bad one....identification is going to be difficult," he moved around the body and lifted a hand, "fingers have all been severed and her teeth have been knocked out - not enough left to compare to records." He didn't need to say that a photo would be useless - the woman's face was unrecognisable.

"What about ID on the body?"

Robbins shook his head, "Nothing, and a look around doesn't give you much either - middle of the desert there's no telling where she came from."

"Wanna bet against us?" Sara challenged.

Sara was taking photos of the victim when something caught her eye, "Hey, Doc? Can you roll the vic for me?"

Robbins motioned for the attendants to do as she said, "What do you see?"

Crouching down, Sara picked up a business card. Holding it up, she read the front of the card, "It's from the LAPD... What's that doing out here?"

Robbins could see the back of the card, "One down...two to go..."

The CSI flipped the card over and read the handwritten message, "Hey, Greg? Call Grissom."
___________________________________________________________

Warrick headed towards the break room at CSI. Grissom had paged him with a 911 to meet here. Seeing the rest of the shift already there confused the hell out of him. "What's going on? I was in the middle of a B and E."

"Maybe we're all getting promoted."

Nick laughed, "Last time this happened we got a roomful of mangled evidence."

Catherine mock-shivered, "Don't remind me."

"We're all taking the same case tonight." Grissom announced as he bustled into the room, tossing files to his team as he went, "Greg and Sara pulled a 4-19 off of Boulder Highway. No ID on the victim so far."

Catherine interrupted her boss, "Ah, Gil? You haven't pulled us off our cases to help ID a body?"

"No. I handed your cases to Days," he emphasised, "because of what was found at the scene." He pushed a photo of the business card across the table.

Nick picked it up and read it, "You think we got a serial?"

"Possibly. The Sheriff's calling LAPD to ask for their help."

"What do we do?" Warrick asked, feeling the adrenaline of a hunt starting to kick in.

"We need to identify the vic. If we do that we can start to look for whomever may have wanted to kill her."

Sara had the unenviable task of attending the post of their victim. Walking towards Doc Robbins, she saw the real damage the killer had caused.

"Hey, Sara."

"COD?"

"Gunshot to the face - probably a shotgun at close range - multiple shots. The front of the skull is shattered, the force of the projectiles pushed the bone fragments back into the brain tissue...It would've been quick." He noticed Sara looking at the victim's hands, "Digits were severed post-mortem, the teeth were also removed post-mortem. He went to a lot of trouble - there were tool marks on some of the stumps, it looks like they were snapped off with pliers off some kind."

"Someone didn't want us to know who she was."

"I've sent blood to DNA and Hodges has the trace."

"Maybe we'll get lucky...Thanks Doc."
__________________________________________________________

Greg was bored. It seemed a habit recently - being sent off to run someone through a database wasn't his idea of fieldwork. Suddenly, the computer let off a series off flashes and alerts - ...doesn't mean this job isn't interesting though... Seeing his supervisor on the other side of the glass wall of the lab, Greg jumped up and started banging on the glass.

"Greg...What the hell?"

"Griss, our victim just sent the computer into meltdown. Look....she's got FBI, US Marshall and LAPD flags on file."

Grissom rubbed the bridge of his nose. Feds. That's all I need right now.

"What do we do?" Greg asked excitedly.

"We follow the evidence."

"What about the feds?"

"They are more than welcome to follow it too." Grissom replied frustratedly as he disappeared out of the lab to meet the Sheriff and an LAPD Detective.
_________________________________________________________

"Hey, Sofia...Wait up.." Jim Brass yelled as he pulled up in the PD parking lot.

"Hi, Jim."

"You know what this is about?" he asked as he waved his pager in the air.

"Nope, but I can think of about twenty things I could be doing instead..."

"You think Grissom got a new bug to show us?" he grinned, "Or maybe a shrunken head?"

Sofia Curtis shot him a 'If-it-is-I'm-going-to-kill-Grissom' look and made her way to the CSI layout room.

Sofia and Brass were still waiting in the layout room; Brass was leaning against a wall while Sofia flicked through crime scene photos that were spread on the table, "What the Hell's going on? We've been here for twenty minutes..."; Brass pushed away from the wall and moved to look over Sofia's shoulder, "What are these?"

Sofia looked up from the photos, "Vic's had half her face blown off - you recognise the case?"

Brass shook his head in reply, "One of Vartann's?"

Sofia shrugged as Grissom and the Sheriff walked in with a visitor.

"Detective Curtis, Jim...I believe you both know Captain Kramer."

Brass smiled and nodded at the detective, "Annie."

Sofia stiffened slightly, "Captain."

"It's good to see you both," Kramer replied, "Shall we get down to business?"

All five gathered around the table as the Sheriff opened a file and continued, "Grissom, your 4-19 off of Boulder Highway,"

"We just confirmed ID...Sally Jessop...lives in Henderson."

Sofia's head snapped up and she glared at Kramer.

"Sally Jessop was a key witness in an LA case against a big drugs gang leader. She was in witness protection." The Sheriff paused and looked around the table. Kramer had the same look she'd had when she arrived in LVPD, Grissom looked...like Grissom, Brass was listening intently, and Curtis - she looked sick to her stomach.

Kramer cleared her throat and reached for the photos Sofia had been looking at, "Sally Jessop testified at the trial of Juanito. He worked for a big drugs ring headed by these two," Kramer laid out surveillance photos of a Latino male and a Caucasian female, "Carlos Meck and Lucy Evans. Juanito was their 'enforcer' and he was very violent and very good."

"We have no evidence linking him to our case, and if he's in jail..."

"Mr Grissom, Juanito escaped from prison two days ago. We have reason to believe he would come to Vegas."

"If he's jumped states, why aren't the Feds all over this?" Brass asked.

"I have a friend who's holding them off for now."

"Not any more." said a voice from the doorway.

Looking at the man and receiving a firm nod in reply, Kramer introduced her 'friend' as he joined the others at the table. "This is Special Agent Jake Barret of the Las Vegas Field Office." Brass immediately felt Sofia tense up next to him as the FBI agent stared at her.

A knock on the door frame distracted everyone, "Hey, Griss? AFIS kicked out a name on the print Greg found on the duct tape. You coming?" Sara waited for Grissom to answer.

"We recovered a print on the tape used to restrain the victim." he explained to the room.

"What's the name?" Kramer asked.

"Marc Nolan. Minor drugs offences." Sara slowly answered, cocking an eyebrow at Grissom.

"CSI stays out of this until I say so," Jake said as he headed for the door, "me and Captain Kramer will go."

"We're coming too." Sofia said, pointing at herself and Brass.

"No way."

"If Juanito's there you'll need the help."

"Your staying at PD until further notice."

"You can't tell me what to do, Jake." Sofia snapped back and pushed past him out the door.

Jake grabbed Sofia's arm and pulled her back, "The hell I can't. This is now a federal case. You'll do what I tell you or I'll have you detained for obstructing a federal officer."

She looked down at his hand and then back up to his face, silently testing to see if he was serious. Still looking at Jake, she addressed Grissom, "I'll need everything you have on Sally Jessop's murder - and I wanna be in the loop on any new evidence."

"Sara can you get the reports to Sofia?" he asked, although it wasn't really a question.

"I'll get to Juanito before you do Jake - I promised Sally she'd be safe."

Jake opened his mouth to shout after Sofia as she stalked back to PD but instead he wiped his hand across his face.

Grissom and Brass were left wondering what was going on as Sara disappeared to organise the case files for Sofia.

"What the hell just happened?"

"I think you're case just got hijacked."
_________________________________________________________

Sofia was still steaming at her desk when Greg appeared at her elbow, "Sara said you wanted all the files on the Jessop case..."

Without looking away from her reading, Sofia waved an arm in the general direction of the desk, "Just put them down."

"She said you flipped out at the Feds."

Sofia looked up and snapped, "She should keep her damn mouth shut." she then slammed her chair back and stared at Greg - daring him to say something.

"Oookay..." Greg decided he had something very important to do somewhere else and left the detective to it. He passed Brass heading towards Sofia and warned him, "You need a chair and a whip if you're going over there."

Brass stopped and watched the young woman flipping through case notes, "I'll take my chances."

Annie Kramer was at this moment, biting her tongue. As his former superior, she felt like she should be ripping Jake a new one for how he behaved. As his friend, she knew it was probably best if she just let the two of them work it out. Unfortunately, she couldn't resist giving her two cents. "You shouldn't have done that."

Jake glanced across to the passenger seat, "You said go left..." he replied innocently.

Kramer rolled her eyes, "That's not what I meant. You need to work with Sofia."

"Why?"

"Why?! Because she deserves to be involved. It was her case too."

Jake snorted a laugh, "After the last time? You'll forgive me if I want to keep my distance..."

"LAPD's still redecorating." she said under her breath, but not quietly enough.

Laughing, Jake relented, "Fine. I'll let her sit in on the interviews. Happy?"

Kramer suddenly understood what he was doing, "You're protecting her. You're keeping her out of the field. That's it, isn't it?"

Jake interrupted, "We're here."

"What's going on Jake..."

"Leave it."

"You still care." Kramer said, getting out and leaning on the roof of the car.

Jake spun around and his eyes flashed angrily, "I said leave it, Captain."

Kramer was left with the same feeling she used to get when Jake and Sofia were rookie detectives at LAPD, "It's never easy..."
__________________________________________________________

Brass, Grissom and Kramer were sat in Brass's office. Each had a drink in their hand and looked like they needed it.

"Marc Nolan was a dead end. He works on a construction site so anyone could have used his tape."

"Physical findings from the coroner are still pending."

"So we're back to square one?"

"We're still processing evidence. All we've got is your gut saying it's this Juanito that's responsible for Sally Jessop's murder."

"Not just my gut," Kramer replied to the scientist, "Something's got Jake spooked."

"Grissom's right, Annie. Your gut and a jumpy fed isn't enough."

"We need to see what the evidence says. Then we'll make our next move."

Kramer shook her head and finished her drink, "We need Jake and Sofia to grow up and start working together."

"What the hell's with those two?"

"They don't get along." Kramer shrugged.

"No kidding." Brass replied with a look.

Grissom's pager went berserk, he made his excuses and left to deal with the latest crisis.

Brass watched him go and then fixed his gaze on his old friend, "So, Annie. There's a lot more going on here...Why don't you tell me the about the part you're not telling me...?"
___________________________________________________________

Sofia was outside PD, she needed a break from the dead ends she kept running into. Brass found her lying on a bench with one arm draped over her eyes.

"Keep it up and someone'll throw you in the drunk tank." he smiled.

"I'm not in the mood, Jim." she mumbled from under her jacket.

"I got Annie drunk last night - she spilled her guts."

Sofia raised her arm up enough to squint at the detective. After studying him for a while, she sat up and rubbed the exhaustion from her face.

"It gets worse every time - that's why we haven't spoken for ten years. The last time we went after this guy...we lost everything. Jake lost his best friend. Our lives just started unraveling. You know that's the reason I got bumped to CSI? Sheriff didn't want to have a broken cop. I thought coming to Las Vegas, I could forget about him."

Brass watched his young colleague and then smiled, "Are we talking about Juanito or..."

Sofia grimaced, "She told you about that too, huh?"
_________________________________________________________

"Jackass!"

Jake burst out laughing, "Ten years and that's the best you got?"

"Kramer took my gun."

Jake didn't believe her, "Really?" when Sofia nodded he started smiling again, "I guess I'm safe then - you can't take me in a fist fight."

"Don't tempt me..." Sofia replied with a face like thunder.

Falling against the wall, Jake was starting to get pissed, "What the hell is she doing? She can't seriously expect to keep us in here forever."

"Just until we make up...." Sofia trailed off, "You're right. We'll be here forever." she smiled sarcastically.

They stood at opposite ends of the room in silence for what seemed like an eternity, "I didn't mean to do it." Jake whispered so quietly that Sofia wasn't sure she'd heard him right.

"What?"

"Hurt you." He said, looking up from the floor that had been so interesting moments before.

"Don't Jake,"

He cut her off, "No, I don't know what I did to get you so damn mad at me....But I apologise..."

Sofia stared at him, her eyebrows nearly shot through the ceiling, "You don't know...?!! Let's see, Jake..." She started ticking things off on her fingers, "You ruined my credibility. You destroyed my confidence. I stopped trusting people. I had to move states because of you. I haven't had a serious relationship since you..."

"Well, that explains it." Jake replied with a click of his fingers. Sofia just stared at him, "You're cranky 'cause you need to get laid!"

Jake couldn't believe she'd just slapped him. Maybe he shouldn't have said that - but dammit he was so angry with her, "I try to apologise when - quite frankly - I don't think I've done anything wrong, and you blame me for your failings? You can't blame me for everything, Sofia!"

She ignored him and stood by the door. Folding her arms across her chest, she was going to wait until Kramer let them out.

"Sofia..." Jake said quietly. He never could stand getting the silent treatment.

"What do you want Jake?! You want me to forgive you?" she spun round to face him.

"I wish you didn't have to. Sonny was your friend, too... I wasn't there when you needed me and I'm sorry..." he smiled at her, "Although, in my defense, I had been shot..."

He knew exactly what he'd done wrong and his honesty stunned Sofia. She didn't know what to say. He'd hurt her so much... but some habits are hard to break, and as the first tears fell, she let him hold her and she felt ten years younger....

Brass was standing on the other side of the two-way mirror. He flinched as a file flew into the glass in front of him. A hand rested on his shoulder and he turned to see Kramer.

"They've been at it for a half hour." He flinched again as Sofia jabbed a finger at Jake's chest to emphasise a point.

Kramer was about to ask him how it was going when Sofia answered Jake with an almighty slap across his face. "Well....that's progress." she said, almost as surprised as Jake had been. Jim looked at her like she'd just sprouted another head, "Trust me, Jim...this manhunt is going nowhere. Those two tracked him down before, they can do it again - once they sort themselves out."

"I'll take evens they kill each other first."

Kramer pointed at the glass, seeing Jake with one arm pulling Sofia against his chest while the other dug around in his jacket pocket. She answered her cell as soon as it started chirping.

"Unlock the damn door."

Kramer walked out of the observation area and round to the door of the interrogation room she had locked her 'kids' in. She motioned for Brass to wait outside as she went in.

"Get the troops together, we need to cover every possible place this sonuvabitch is hiding."

"We don't know where to start, Jake. He's in the wind."

"We shake down any contacts he's got. Make it too much of a risk to help him."

"That won't work - Juanito's a lot scarier than we are." Sofia had worked free of Jake's arm and composed herself before waving away the argument she knew was coming, "However....we can revoke parole and pull in any outstanding warrants."

A cough caused all three to turn to where Brass was standing, "Sorry to interrupt but...this just came for you Agent Barret." Jim handed over an envelope and stood back.

"Is it important?" Kramer asked as Jake's face got paler the further he read.

"No." he said, quickly shoving the note into his pocket, "I've got some business to attend to."

"I'm coming with you." Now she didn't want to kill him, Sofia noticed what had already got Kramer worried - something had got Jake Barret spooked.

"No." When Sofia started to follow him, Jake turned, "What the hell are you doing?"

Sofia pointed to the pocket that contained the note, "You're still a really bad liar."

Jake wasn't in the mood to argue anymore.
___________________________________________________________

Jake and Sofia had driven to a park in the Vegas suburbs. In the early evening dusk, both could see that it was deserted. Jake hadn't explained the reason for their stake out but she was just grateful they were finally following some sort of lead.

"What exactly are we waiting for?" Jake didn't reply, so Sofia glanced across to see him concentrating on something in the mirror, "Jake...?"

"Get out of the car."

"Wha-"

"GET OUT!!!"

Emergency vehicles arrived within minutes of the explosion. Jake and Sofia had been thrown ten feet by the blast and were being checked out by the EMTs when Kramer and Brass arrived.

"Are you alright?" Kramer asked as she squatted in front of Sofia.

"I'm fine, by the way." Jake interrupted.

Kramer turned to look at him, "You are an idiot. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I didn't know someone was gonna fire a bloody rocket at us!"

"What happened?" Brass decided it was wise to get their statements before things descended into another fight.

"I didn't see anything. Jake's spider-sense started tingling and the car exploded." Sofia shrugged. Kramer smiled at the reference to their LAPD days - Jake's 'spider-sense' was legendary.

Jake made a face at her and said, "It came from those trees." He waved an arm at the smoldering wreck that was his car.

Nick and Catherine had arrived at the same time as the detectives. They made a beeline for the car and started looking for evidence of the weapon.

"Why would someone do this?"

Catherine looked back towards Nick from the tree line, "It seems a little excessive - from what I can see, it was some serious hardware."

"I hear you...They were lucky to get out....Y'know, I don't think we're being told the whole story... Sofia and Barret were both LAPD - I think they're the two that card was talking about."

Catherine stopped what she was doing and stared at Nick incredulously, "Nicky, we all jumped on that boat a long time ago..."
__________________________________________________________

"Is there any way to trace it?" Brass asked the room.

"Did you get any kind of serial number?"

"A partial number from a bit of the grenade." Nick replied.

Jake nodded, "I can see if it's in any of our databases, it could give us a place to start."

"This is the best lead we've got so far. Track this weapon and we might be able to put together some of Juanito's movements." Kramer sounded more confident than she felt.

"Well we know he was on Boulder Highway to dump the body." Greg pointed out.

At that moment, Sofia stuck her head into the break room, "Jake...tell me I'm brilliant."

Jake looked up, "What have you got?" Sofia raised an eyebrow at him and he let out a sigh, "You're brilliant. Show me the damn paper."

"I had Archie pull all the traffic cameras around the dump site." She said as she handed over the report.

"Put out a BOLO - get patrol to report the vehicle but do not approach."

Sofia left to get Dispatch to relay the message.

Kramer was looking at Jake, "What?"

A slow smile spread across her face, "She didn't try to kill you."

Jake made a face in reply, "We called a truce."
___________________________________________________________

Two days into their manhunt and all they had was a possible vehicle that their suspect had probably already dumped. Jake was still waiting to hear back from the FBI about the grenade launcher... Something was keeping Juanito in Las Vegas beyond revenge against the witness. Sofia hadn't been told about the business card, Jake had seen to that. She decided to see if the CSIs had turned anything else up from Sally Jessop.

Sofia found Greg in the AV lab, "Hey." she greeted, perching on a seat behind the young man.

Greg turned slightly to acknowledge her, "Hey, yourself."

"What are you looking at?"

"Juanito's file...I figured there might be something in here," he paused for a moment, "You really took this guy down?"

"Back in the day...."

"I think I'd have called in the National Guard."

Sofia laughed, "We had SWAT...And Jake thought he was Superman so...."

"How long were you married?"

Sofia was silent for a long time before answering, "Four years...How did you...?"

"It was in the file."

"Oh."

"I'm surprised they're still letting the two of you work the case." he turned back to the big screen in front of him.

Sofia was confused, "What are you talking about, Greg?"

He pulled up the business card found at the crime scene, "It's pretty obvious who he means."

"That stupid sonuva..." Sofia's tirade was lost to Greg as she bolted out of the room.

"Where's Jake?"

Kramer and Brass looked up as Sofia skidded to a halt in front of them.

"He went back to his office to run some information through the FB-"

"No, he didn't."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've seen the note. Why the hell didn't anyone show me?"

"Jake said it wasn't relevant."

Sofia couldn't believe what she was hearing, "'Wasn't relevant'!...The last thing Juanito said was that we'd be dead before he was!"

"Jake knew that?"

"He was there when he said it!"

Kramer sudden had a nasty feeling in her gut, "What's he doing, Sofia?"

The young woman gave an exasperated sigh, "Apart from going off half-cocked? I think those notes he's getting are from Juanito. He got another one today, but he didn't want me to know about it."

"He's not stupid, Sofia." Kramer started dialing the number Jake had given her. After a brief conversation, she reported back, "That was the Vegas Field Office. They say he's there...I left a message for him to call as soon as he can."

Sofia relented, "Fine."

Brass had known Sofia long enough to know that wasn't the end of it, "She's not gonna drop this, is she?" he asked, looking at Kramer.

"Oh, I'd put money on it."
___________________________________________________________

Greg was just returning to the lab after grabbing a couple of hours sleep, seeing him in the reception area, Sofia called out, "Hey, Greg? Can you give me a lift home? Jake's taken my car."

"Uh...Sure..."

"Great!" she smiled back, not slowing her pace one bit as she headed for the lot.

As Greg pulled out of LVPD, Sofia came clean, "We're not going to my house."

Greg was a little stunned, "Uh...Where are we going?"

Sofia was drumming on the door, "Juanito's a sadistic bastard....He'll pick a warehouse like Van Nuys..." Greg realised that she was talking to herself, "Is there a deserted cold store anywhere?" Greg didn't answer so she turned to look at him, "Greg?"

"Oh...sorry..." he thought for a second and then hesitantly replied, "It's not a cold store, but there's a lot of hangers on an abandoned airstrip about three miles out of town. It looks a bit like the photos from your file."

Sofia thought for a moment, "These hangars remind you of the warehouse from our case in Van Nuys?" she asked for confirmation.

Greg nodded 'yes'. Considering him for a moment, Sofia took him at his word, "Go."

Brass and Grissom were updating the Sheriff in the latter's office when Kramer rapped on the door, "Sorry, gentlemen...Jim have you seen Sofia?"

Jim gave a questioning look to Grissom who shrugged back, "No..."

Kramer closed her eyes and blew out a sharp breath, "Great...now I've lost both of them."

"Is everything alright?" the Sheriff asked.

"Sir, when those two go AWOL, it usually means they're up to something."

"And that's a bad thing?"

Kramer leaned against the door frame, "Oh yeah...."
__________________________________________________________

"Greg, I want you to stay in the car. Whatever happens, do not get out of this vehicle."

Greg had parked the truck behind Jake's car. He wasn't thrilled about going all 'Die Hard' but he was fairly sure that Sofia wouldn't get him killed...

Sofia was making her way forward to Jake's car when the access door to the hangar opened. Jake emerged slowly, holstering his weapon. He noticed the second car and saw Sofia almost immediately. As he cleared the doorway, Sofia saw him lurch forward and immediately remembered ten years ago when Juanito had shot him. The man himself appeared behind Jake and it was then that Sofia saw the syringe in his hand. Juanito also spotted her and began dragging Jake's limp form back inside. Moments later, a van sped out of the hangar to the sound of Sofia's desperate gunfire.

"Greg! Follow that van!" she yelled, throwing herself into the car. It didn't take long before they lost the van in the Vegas traffic. "Dammit!" Sofia slammed her hands on the dash.

"I got the license plate."

Sofia was angry with herself and shouted back, "He's probably changed vehicle by now!"

Greg kept his eyes on the road as he pulled over and parked.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"You need to calm down...If you wanna help him you need to be thinking with this, he tapped the side of his head "and you need to tell me what we do now."

Sofia once again found herself misjudging the young man, he was the only one who had really believed them about Juanito and now he was the one offering to help her.

"Greg, you read the case file from LA. This isn't a walk in the park."

"I know. I also know that this is personal - you wouldn't be doing your Bruce Willis impression otherwise."

"He killed a rookie patrolman by nailing his head to the floor. He shot our best friend dead right in front of us; Jake got shot when we arrested Juanito. We didn't stop until he was in jail," Greg waited for her to continue, "Jake blamed himself for Sonny's death and I didn't cope very well with him being shot." Sofia was quiet for a moment, "I thought I'd lost him."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you split up?"

Sofia was leaning back against the seat, "Jake got addicted to his painkillers and he changed. Both of us did. That's why this is personal, Greg." She leaned towards him, "That sonuvabitch took something away from us that we can't get back."

"Then I guess we'd better get to Mr Curtis before anything happens to him..."

Sofia couldn't help smiling.
__________________________________________________________

By the time Sofia and Greg made it back to the Crime lab, a package had arrived. Kramer, Brass, Grissom and Sara were in the AV lab watching the video that had been couriered.

"What's this?" Sofia asked, before being shushed by the others.

"...I don't think it's too much to ask, do you?" The man in the video pulled Jake's head back violently, "This pig and his whore tried to take my life - so I'll take theirs." Juanito pressed his gun into Jake's shoulder, "Just not yet, hmm?"

Greg was the closest to Sofia as her legs buckled, "Whoa!..easy, let's get you out of here..."

She let him guide her out of the room, but as they left she heard the gunshot and then Jake screaming in pain, "Greg, I think I'm gonna be sick..."
_________________________________________________________

Kramer had commandeered the CSI layout room. Sofia, Greg and Brass were the only ones she had allowed in.

"...the rest of the tape is more gloating."

"What did he say?"

"It doesn't matter, Sofia..."

"Everything matters."

Kramer hesitated so Sofia fixed her glare on Brass, "He was daring us to find Barret."

Sofia sat up, suddenly very interested, "What do you mean?"

"You know, typical psychopath stuff - he said he was gonna leave Barret to die in the worst possible way. If we figure it out we can get to him first....He's playing mind games with you - playing on your familiarity."

"I'm sorry, Sofia. I think we're looking for a body."

Greg had stopped listening to the others, "Where's the worst possible place, Sofia?" He looked round at the others for support but didn't get it, "C'mon, Sofia. Where would Jake hate to be?"

Sofia straightened up and smiled at Greg, "Lake Meade!.." she was already halfway out of the door, "Jake's scared of water!"
_________________________________________________________

Kramer and Brass had followed Sofia, with Brass calling for an ambulance as they drove. Both cars were tearing towards the lake although the more experienced detectives were expecting to be disappointed. The time of year meant the area was pretty much desolate so it was easy to spot the solitary boat as the cars skidded to a halt. Sofia didn't even stop to kill the engine as she raced to the water line, she was knee deep in the freezing water when the first bullet whizzed past her head.

"Sofia! Get down!" Brass yelled as Kramer called for assistance and the police launch.

If she heard him, Sofia didn't pay any attention. She was banking on being a better shot than Juanito, as she steadied herself and took aim, she whispered several prayers...

Jake was as close to unconscious as you could get, but he knew he was in a boat - and a boat meant water. He felt Juanito pull him up to his feet...

Sofia cursed as Juanito used Jake as a shield. There was no way she could take a shot from this far away and be sure of hitting the right person....

Jake was aware that something was going on but he was too far gone to understand. As he finally felt the blackness coming, he could've sworn he saw his wife...

Sofia saw Juanito struggling with Jake and got ready. When he pushed Jake over it was all the time she needed. He went down with the first shot. She heard the screech of tyres and looked back to see the ambulance arriving. This time Brass didn't even get to shout a warning as his young partner tossed her gun and disappeared into the water.

The water was freezing as Sofia dived in. She frantically searched for Jake, going deeper as she realised he would be sinking - the thought made her go even faster. Finally, her arm struck something solid and she grabbed the front of Jake's shirt. She started to pull him up but her lungs were burning. Letting him go, Sofia kicked for the surface - to the relief of Kramer and Brass on the shore - and sucked in as much air as she could. With one more effort she got Jake up to the surface. Seeing the police launch in the distance, she decided it would be quicker to swim for land. Police officers and paramedics rushed into the water as they got within reach, pulling both of them out. Sofia was lying on her back, gasping for air, as the paramedics worked on Jake.

"You know you're as crazy as he is?!" Kramer yelled as she finally her way through the crowd to Sofia.

Sofia just smiled, "I'm fine, by the way."
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Kramer was standing outside Jake's hospital room when Greg appeared, "Captain Kramer?"

"That was good work today - Greg, isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am...How are they?"

Jake had received three bullet wounds in total and had been beaten to within an inch of is life, Sofia was suffering from exposure but they'd both survive. Kramer simply said, "They'll be fine."

Greg watched Sofia by Jake's bedside and smiled, "I think so too."
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