Си Паради - Dancing With Shadows

Sitting on the bed, Tony said, "Hi Huey," when he answered the phone.

"Hi Tony. What’s on your mind?" Huey asked, surprised by the call. The phone was propped on his shoulder and he was looking at the messages that he had received.

Deciding to get right to the point, Tony asked, "How’s the investigation going?"

"I turned it over to Internal Affairs the same day you were here. Why?" Huey sat back in his chair, his full attention on the conversation now.

Tony stood up and began walking around the bedroom. "I have suddenly become accident prone and I found a bug in my apartment. Both of the accidents were a little too close for comfort. There is nothing I am involved in here that should elicit this kind of action. The only other thing I can think of is that it has something to do with your investigation."

"Anything is possible, but it doesn’t make sense. Internal Affairs runs a fairly tight operation and your current assignment is only available through your personnel file."

"Well how about humoring me and checking to see if my personnel file has been pulled?" Tony asked knowing the record could not be accessed unless a log was signed. Standing in front of the window, she continued, "I know it’s a long shot but I’d like to know so I can eliminate the possibility."

"Ok. I’ll check on it today."

Megan sat at her desk going through her inbox. She had already finished her only case for the day. Some of the results were back from the lab and she was pleased to see that her suspicion on the drowning victim had been right. He had been dead prior to entering the water.

David walked in and sat down, draping a leg over the arm of the chair. "Hi Boss," he said, grinning.

Megan chuckled. While it was true that she was his boss, their friendship extended to their work relationship.

"Hi. You want me to tell you what happened over the weekend, right?" she asked, smiling warmly at her friend.

"Well, it would be nice since we were too busy yesterday, and I did see Tony drop you off in that gorgeous Jeep, and you just happened to tell me enough yesterday to worry me." David said, settling back in the chair and crossing his arms.

"Yeah. Guess I did. Relax, it’s a long story," Megan smiled ruefully at her friend, and began relating the events of the weekend.

Tony dialed Brian’s number and waited for him to pick up. Wasting no time, she said, "I need to see you. When would be a good time?"

Brian listened to the terse statement and knew something must have happened. "Come on down now. I’ll make time."

"I’ll be there in twenty minutes." Tony said, relieved that he had time to see her so quickly.

Tony quickly walked across the squad room oblivious to the admiring looks from the occupants. Arriving at Brian’s desk, she said, "Hi," and sat down in the chair adjoining the desk, stretching her legs out in front of her and crossing them at the ankles.

Brian took in the controlled look on Tony’s face and leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He answered her greeting by asking, "What’s going on?"

Tony looked at Brian, and said, "I found a couple of bugs in the apartment last night. Apparently, someone is very interested in what I am doing. I’d like to set up a sting operation to lure this guy into the open. But I need some help."

"How do you know it’s a guy and how do you know there is only one person involved?" Brian asked, wanting to know how Tony had come to the conclusions she had.

"I don’t know if more than one person is involved, but I don’t think I’d be sitting here talking to you now if he had help." Tony paused, gathering her thoughts. Turning slightly in the chair, she rested her elbows on the desk. "Call it a gut feeling, but the type of incidents leads me to believe that he acted independently. I’m thinking it is the driver of the pick up that rammed me. I did get enough of a look to know it was a man."

Brian nodded his head. He had forgotten she had mentioned that in her report. He had also learned long ago to always trust your gut. "I take it you have something in mind?"

Tony smiled grimly. "Yeah, I do. I want to stage a meeting in my apartment where we set up a phony bust scenario for the surveillance case

I’m working on. We can make it seem authentic by mentioning that some information has been leaked and that Braxton gave me the authority to call in you guys to prevent anyone from being tipped off about the bust. This guy obviously knows a lot about me and has to know I just finished working a case with you, so he should buy it."

Tony paused for a minute brushing the hair away from her face with her hand. She knew she needed help, but it seemed funny to be asking for it. She had always handled her own problems.

Brian waited quietly for her to continue. He knew her well enough to know that she was unaccustomed to asking for help and was pleased at the show of trust.

"The only way I can make this work is to have some of your people help. I want to set myself up as bait to draw him out. But I don’t want to be a sitting duck. I need to be covered by your guys," Tony said, watching Brian closely trying to gauge his reaction.

Brian was more than willing to help Tony out. He knew he’d have to call on his friends, since this was certainly an unofficial request. But he felt she was putting herself at too much risk.

"I don’t like the idea of you as bait. It’s too chancy. What if my guys don’t see him in time? I’d feel personally responsible if anything happened to you."

Tony sat up straight in the chair, and crossed her arms. "Whoever is doing this is definitely a pro. If I don’t set myself up, he’ll never show."

Brian still wasn't convinced this was the best plan and decided to try another tactic. "Does Megan know about this?" he asked, pointedly.

Biting off her initial retort, which was to tell him that was between her and Megan, she said, "Not yet." Meeting Brian's gaze, she continued, "There didn't seem much point in telling her until I knew if you were going to help."

Shaking his head, he said, "Tony, you've got someone else to think about. We’ll figure out something else."

Frowning, Tony looked pointedly at Brian, and said, "I know that. I’m worried about her. What if he gets frustrated and tries to get at me through her? I can’t take that chance. She’s too important to me. There isn't any other way. I have to do this."

Brian made a decision. "I’ll help you. But I got a feeling Megan is going to be pissed off at both of us."

Tony nodded her head in agreement. Explaining her plan to Megan was not something she was looking forward to.

Brian took a pen out of his pocket, and began jotting notes on it. "What’s the time line?"

"If you can get the others together in time, I’d like for everyone to come to my apartment this evening. I thought we could set up the sting for tomorrow night." Tony said, knowing what she was asking would be difficult to accomplish.

Brian looked up from the pad of paper and met Tony's eyes. "Moving kind of fast, aren’t you?"

Deep blue eyes met steel gray ones. "I have to. I have a feeling the attacks are going to intensify, and I don’t want Megan or anyone else I know jeopardized."

After a moment's thought, Brian said, "Ok. I’ll start notifying people. How about we show up at 7pm?"

Tony smiled, and said, "Sounds good. And Brian… thanks."

"No problem," Brian said, hoping he had made the right decision.

Huey hung up the phone and sat there thoughtfully, his elbows resting on the desk and his chin supported on a bridge formed with his hands.

He had been concerned about Tony’s accusation and the ramifications of it since she had reported it to him. If her file had been pulled, then this was bigger than he had first thought.