Си Паради - Dancing With Shadows

Walking out of his office, he said to Jean, "I’m going over to Human Resources."

Arriving in the Records Room, he walked up to Sarah who was standing behind the sign-in desk.

Looking at the older woman fondly, he said, "Hi Sarah. I need the personnel record on Antonia Viglioni."

Pushing the login form across the desk, Sarah smiled and said, "Hi Huey. Just sign for it here. That record’s been kind of popular lately."

Huey looked up from the log. "What do you mean?"

"I just pulled it for someone else last week." Sarah said, a little puzzled by his reaction.

Taking the log back, she flipped a few pages back and began running her finger down the entries. Finding the one for Viglioni she murmured, "That’s strange."

"What’s strange?" Huey asked, trying to see what Sarah was pointing to on the log.

Looking up, Sarah said, "This isn’t the name of the agent who signed for the file. This has the Director of Quality Control’s name. The agent who signed for it was a young guy I’ve seen around. That’s why I didn’t question it. Can’t think of his name right now. Nice young man. I can’t believe I missed that. Oh, well. Maybe he was just signing the name of the person he was getting the information for."

"Let me see that," Huey said. Taking the log from Sarah and looking at the entry, he asked, "Did he remove the file?"

Frowning at Huey, she said, "No, of course not. You know that’s against our policy. I pulled it for him and he looked at it in the file room. He returned it within 15 minutes."

"If you remember who the agent was, call me," Huey said, before leaving. This was very odd. Regulations stipulated that the individual signing out the record sign the log no matter what the reason was for pulling it.

Walking back into his office, he said, "Jean, would you get Ed in Quality Control for me?"

Jean smiled, and said, "Sure." Once she got the Director on the phone, she put him on hold and dialed Huey. "He’s on three, Mr. Straton."

"Thanks." Huey said, before picking up the call. "Hey Ed, how’s it going?"

"Same as usual. What’s up?" he asked, knowing Huey did not make arbitrary phone calls.

Drumming his fingers on the desk, Huey asked, "Did you request the personnel record on Antonia Viglioni last week?"

Wondering what prompted the question, Ed said, "No. She’s not working covert anymore. I’d have no reason to."

"That’s what I thought, too. Thought you might like to know an agent signed out her file and used your name on the log."

"Do you know who?" Ed asked, suddenly very interested in the conversation.

Huey sighed. "No. But Sarah has worked in the Records Room forever and she said she’s seen him around. I may have her start looking through some pictures of the agents assigned here if she doesn’t remember who it was. She said he was young so that should cut down the list some."

"Keep me informed. I’d like a few words with whomever it was," Ed said, his voice hard.

"Will do." Huey said, before hanging up the phone. Settling back in his chair, he looked out the window. Sarah held the key to the investigation. He would go back to records and talk to her.

Megan walked to the waiting Jeep and opened the door and got in. Smiling at the woman she loved, she said, "Hi."

Tony looked at the bright warm smile lighting up her partner’s face and her heart sank. She knew her plan was going to upset Megan. If there was any other way, she would do it, rather than put Megan through the worry she knew this was going to cause her.

"Hi," Tony answered, unable to match the engaging smile with one of her own.

Looking at her lover, a feeling of trepidation came over Megan. Placing her hand on Tony’s thigh, she asked, "What’s wrong?"

Tony placed her hand over Megan’s and squeezed it, before shifting the car into drive and pulling out of the parking lot into the street.

"I need to discuss something with you. I figured we could stop at Friends, get something to eat, and talk there."

"Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this discussion?" Megan asked, her uneasiness growing.

Tony didn’t have an answer, and changed the subject. "How was work?"

Watching her partner’s face, Megan went along with the subject change. Alarm bells were going off and she wasn’t looking forward to the

‘discussion’ Tony wanted to have.

"Work was fine. I told David about the latest adventures of Huggy and Velcro. He wants to stop over and see the kittens. He and Mike are going to look at puppies this weekend."

"Did he mention what kind they were going to get?" Tony asked, happy Megan had gone along with her.

"He’s not sure. They’re thinking about a medium sized dog. Although, he did mention that they’re going to check the Animal Protective

League, and the City and County Kennels first, and see if they can find a puppy there."

Arriving at Friends, Tony pulled into the parking lot and they entered the restaurant. After being seated, they both ordered coffee and the sautéed seafood with linguini.

Megan looked at the serious expression on her partner’s face, and waited patiently for Tony to tell her what was on her mind. When it became apparent Tony was in no hurry to begin the conversation, she decided her partner needed a nudge and said, "So what’s going on?"

Sighing, Tony said, "I talked to Huey today. He’s going to check and see if my personnel file has been pulled."

"Ok," Megan said puzzled. They’d talked about this last night. "Did he say anything else?"

"No." Tony was still trying to figure out how to approach her role in the sting operation with her partner. Deciding to be blunt, she continued, "I went to see Brian today."

"What for?" Megan asked, sensing this meeting had something to do with whatever Tony was reluctant to tell her.

Looking at Megan, Tony said, "I suggested we set up a sting operation to draw this guy out."

Megan knew there had to be more to it than this, and asked, "How’s the sting going to work?

Her face expressionless, Tony said, "We decided to set it up at the Red Chimney. Brian said a lot of cops from fifth district go there to eat, and if we run into trouble we’d probably have extra help."

"Tony," Megan waited until her lover met her eyes. "How do you fit into this?" And why do I know I'm not going to like it?

Glancing away from the piercing hazel eyes, Tony said, "I’m going to be outside in a parking lot across the street covering the front door of the restaurant. I’ll be parked in the Shopper’s Mart. He should feel fairly secure because of the traffic from the store and make his move."

Megan’s eyes narrowed, and she said, "You’re purposely setting yourself up," already knowing the answer.

Tony looked at her partner earnestly. "I have to. If it’s not realistic, it’ll never work."

Megan sat back in her chair, and crossed her arms. Capturing her partner's deep blue eyes with her flashing hazel ones, she said, "No."

Tony sighed. There was no mistaking Megan's anger. She couldn’t blame her partner for not liking the idea, and it was nice to know how much she cared, but she was going to have to make her understand.

Tony leaned forward. "Megan, listen to me. I know it’s dangerous. But don’t forget, this is what I am trained for. It’ll be ok."

Megan looked at her partner sitting across the table. She knew Tony was highly trained and very capable, but this left too much to chance.

"There has to be some other way. What if he tries to take you out from a distance? No one can protect you then because no one will see him,"

Megan said, voicing one of her biggest concerns about the plan.

That thought had occurred to Tony, but she really felt he would want to make sure she was the one in the car. She now believed he had been behind both accidents and would be much less willing to leave things to chance.