The next morning found the trio seated in Simon's office, trying to make sense of the past events. In Blair's opinion, Simon looked far better than he had in the past two days; the blonde dancer that had accosted him had known precisely where the hostages were and had provided that information along with the name of the criminal currently holding them. From there, it had been a one-two-three matter for Major Crime and the SWAT team. Both of them were safe and unharmed, quickly making the journey to the hospital where Simon had been forcibly taken earlier.

"Daryl and Joan are okay, right?"

"They're fine, Sandburg." Simon's voice was both pleased at their safe recovery and resigned to the likely aftermath. To say that it had been unpleasant to tell his ex-wife exactly why she and their son had been abducted was quite an understatement. He was fairly certain he'd be hearing about this for months. "Joan and I have already discussed that Daryl should talk to a counselor about what happened."

"The university should have counselors, but they might not be aware of his prior history with the Sunrise Patriots."

Simon nodded in Jim's direction. "Which is why I scheduled some sessions for him with Doctor Smith." Ellison recognized the psychologist's name as the same one that Daryl had sessions with after Kincaid had taken over the precinct. Seeing primarily adolescents and adults with disorders resulting from traumatic events and depression, the man had been a cop for ten years before leaving the department for an office with a couch. "I'm just glad that Joe had told me the truth, that they hadn't been harmed." He snorted in frustration. "Or at least as close to the truth as he gets these days."

"Everything else seems to be up to date," Ellison reported, trying to shift the conversation back to their original topic. "The forensics technicians worked all night on the scenes -- the hotel where Daryl and Joan were, the club where you were grabbed, and the car you were taken to the Zodiac in -- and they're busy running the tests on the evidence. We do have prelim results back, but we won't know more until the rest of the tests are done. Statements took most of the night."

Sandburg took up the story at this point. "The wire you were wearing was found attached to a car owned by Jason Brightlane, also known as Jay or Jay-Jay. Forensics has matched trace evidence on your clothing to the carpet threads in his trunk. Plus," his eyes twinkled with glee, "the dancer who coshed you and accosted me has identified herself as Lyn -- short for Evelyn -- Brightlane. His wife."

"Lynnie," Simon commented absently. "She was speaking to another woman. I only remember bits and pieces of the conversation, but she called the other woman 'Leese.'"

The two detectives shared a look. "Well," began Sandburg, "her maiden name is Ames, and she has a younger sister named Lisa..."

"Lisa Ames, the assistant district attorney?" Simon raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"The very same."

"It could have been her voice... and she has more reason for revenge than most, I suppose." Simon couldn't really think of anything else to say on the matter. Certainly people had committed crimes with far less motive for revenge. Like that lunatic who went after Jim -- three years ago, or was it four? -- because the detective had cut him off in traffic.

"Revenge is a powerful motivator." Ellison spoke quietly. "He used her, so she ruined his plans by making sure we could track you to the Zodiac."

"And speaking of the Zodiac--"

Sandburg was ready for the question. "The Fire Department hasn't released the scene yet. Almost all of Greenfield Avenue is closed. Arson and Bomb Squad are already at the Zodiac Club and the dead squad car, waiting for their chance and trying to squeeze information out of the fire investigators."

"Do we know anything so far?"

This time, Ellison answered. "They haven't found a body in the explosion, but there was a manhole close by. Based on the blood staining the ladder down, they are assuming that LaCasse escaped the blast."

Simon groaned and held his head in his hands. "Please tell me you're kidding."

In spite of his anger and regret, Ellison could make out faint relief in his captain's eyes. He understood; it was hard to feel so conflicted about someone so close to you. He had felt the same way towards Blair for a while during the whole dissertation mess. "I wish I was." The tone of his voice indicated that he felt the same way. "Anyway, they think he fled via the sewer system."

"Fitting."

Both detectives nodded in agreement before Ellison continued. "We don't know how he managed to do that, how he managed to escape the blast and escape through the manhole without being seen."

"I'd like to offer the suggestion that he had an Invisibility Cloak."

"What?"

Blair Sandburg managed to keep a straight face. "Never mind."

"Anyway, the car explosion was caused by an electronic bomb set off via remote control." Ellison offered his partner a look that was partly mirth and partly forbidding. "Plastiques, possibly, but definitely a professional job. They don't know whether or not it was part of LaCasse's plan. He might have arranged it as a last-resort escape plan or someone else might have put it there."

"But who, and why?"

"Unknown. That's something we'll have to find out depending on what else Forensics and the Bomb Squad can discover. At any rate, they're fairly certain LaCasse escaped."

"Which means he'll try again." The captain's voice was grim. "And," he met his detectives' eyes, "he made a veiled threat toward you two, so he might be targeting you next." Simon Banks watched them take in that information for a moment before he asked his last few questions. "I would like to know why LaCasse couldn't get out the door to the kitchen. It wouldn't open and he had to run towards the back door."

Ellison grinned proudly at his partner. "The door wouldn't open because the marksman here fired at the door lock instead of at the bad guy like Joel and I did. The lock shattered and fused it shut."

Blair Sandburg answered with a sharp jab to his partner's ribcage. The older man immediately retaliated with a gesture of his own.

Ignoring the childish antics of his two best detectives, Captain Banks had one last question. It was the one that had kept him awake and wondering through most of the previous night. "One thing Joe mentioned was that one of his people -- Daniel was the only name he would give -- had intercepted some of our phone calls and re-routed them. That means he must have somehow known when and to whom we were making them."

"The only ones who knew were in the bullpen." Sandburg's eyes widened at the implication that the suggestion entailed. "You think another cop might be behind this?"

"Internal Affairs weeded out all the sympathizers, Simon. The precinct is clean." Ellison thought for a moment. "Unless they don't know the person they speak to is a member."

"Or something like that."

"Not necessarily," Sandburg commented thoughtfully. "You and he were partnered a long time, right?" He stood up and began to pace the length of the office.

"Yes, we were."

"So maybe LaCasse was able to figure out what you would do and who you would call and when because of that long association. He learned your habits and how you think." Blair glanced between the two men. "Jim and I have been together almost seven years now. I'm pretty sure that I could predict what Jim would do in a similar situation with the same amount of success."

"Sandburg," Simon said with sudden gruffness, "I can even predict Jim's actions right now."

"Yeah?" Blair bounced on his toes and waited. An amused expression on his face, Ellison just sat there and waited to hear what their boss would say. "What method do you use to divine that prediction?"

"Authority." Captain Banks reached for a cigar before speaking again. "As a matter of fact, Jim is going to go right out there," he used the cigar to point the direction, "to the bullpen and do the rest of his paperwork."

"Paperwork?" This was not something Jim Ellison wanted to hear. He'd done so much paperwork over the past two days...

"And you, Sandburg," Banks continued, "are going to help him."

"I am?"

"You are. There's at least a whole squad car's worth there."

Jim blanched even further and got to his feet; next to him, Blair followed suit and began gathering his things. "Where did those feds go?"

"Jim, desk! And where are you going, Detective Sandburg?"

"I have a talk at the Academy to finish."

"Don't make me offer your services to the rest of the squad..."

Stay tuned next week when Jim and Blair try yet again for a nice quiet fishing trip in "Into The Woods" an all new The Sentinel.

Writer's Notes: Thanks to everyone who helped with this story and made it so much better than the chaotic mess it was at the beginning. Endless thanks to Bonnie, who read numerous drafts of the same troublesome section; to wolfpup, who patiently kept me from tearing my hair out over the aforementioned numerous drafts and the time it all took to get right; to Robin, for battling the wild tense agreement beast into submission; and to Cindy, for everything. Much apologies to J.K. Rowling.

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