Sam arrived late at the café, and she was almost sure she had missed Ryan. But when she crossed the road to the café, she spotted someone looking like Ryan walk around the corner to a side alley. Holding her coat tightly together against the cold wind, Sam walked after Ryan who was just about to open the door to a dark green Jaguar XR.

Even before Sam's hand touched Ryan's shoulder, she was swung around and pressed against the car, a hand on her throat, the barrel of a gun pointed under her chin. Startled Sam just watched Ryan whose facial expression turned from anger to shock.

"Oh my God, Sam!" she put her gun back in the holster on her back and let go of Sam's throat. "I'm so sorry. I thought," she trailed off, took a few steps back and watched as Sam rubbed the skin of her neck.

"I startled you." She said, still a little bewildered. She didn't know Ryan was armed.

"I'm really sorry. It's just; I thought you were someone else."

"Is someone following you?" Sam asked.

"I’m not sure,” Ryan wanted to scream out of frustration. She didn't have time to talk to Sam but she knew she had to fix things or Sam would be gone from her life faster than she had come in.

"Listen, I need to be at the office by five but please let me make it up to you somehow?" Ryan knew she had never before sounded so pleading in her adult life.

"That's not necessary, really." Sam didn't know if she could still trust her feelings. She had liked Ryan from the start but there was something haunting her. Something dangerous or she wouldn't have reacted with a weapon.

"Please let me invite you for dinner. Do you have plans for tonight? Please?" Ryan frowned.

"Okay.” I'll give it a try, Sam thought. She was feeling confused but she really wanted to go out and talk. Maybe she could figure out what kind of secrets Ryan tried to hide.

+++

Police Headquarters, afternoon

"Hey Sam! Would you like to come and have dinner with us?" Tony asked when they were finished discussing the latest developments on their case. "Rita called earlier."

"I'd love to but I already have plans. But tell her thanks and I'll take a rain check."

"Do I know him?" Tony grinned and folded his hands behind his head when he leaned back in his big chair.

"Hardly. I’m just going out with a friend." Sam collected her stuff and walked to the door.

"A friend? Must be some friend for you to pass up Rita's food." Tony called after her and she rolled her eyes.

+++

Sam's hotel room, same night

8:00 pm sharp there was a knock on Sam's hotel room door. Casting one last look at the mirror and being quite pleased with her choice of clothes, Sam opened the door to find a sheepish smiling Ryan looking her up and down.

"Right on time." Sam couldn't keep from smiling back and held on to Jerry who was just about to jump up and greet Ryan properly.

"I see you have company." Ryan bent down as much as her black skirt allowed and let Jerry sniff her fingers before he nudged her hand with his nose to tell her he was ready for a pat.

"Yes. And I see he likes you." Sam donned her coat over her azure blouse which matched her eyes and dusted of some ever present dog hair off her black slacks.

"He's such a cutie!" Jerry had turned over and received a nice belly scratching until Sam told him to get back to his basket and be quiet until she got back. Snorting, as if he didn't quite agree, Jerry trotted off.

+++

Later that night

Both women had finished their meal of fresh seafood, and were on their second glass of wine when the waiter brought their dessert.

"So, will you tell me who's threatening you now or do I have to force you?" Sam couldn't hold back any longer. They had talked all through dinner but Ryan had carefully avoided the touchy subject.

"Force me?" Ryan chuckled, and while the thought at first amused her, the next second she slightly blushed. "With what army?" she tried to cover it as much as she could.

"Don't try to change the subject, Ryan." Sam didn't let her get away this time.

All the while they were talking, they didn’t notice the elderly man watching them from the far end of the restaurant.

The brunette thought for a moment about what to tell Sam, and decided to go for the truth. Only bits of it, though. "It might be a patient from the facility I work with. Most of them are harmless but others give you the creeps."

"So why don't you report him to the police." Sam laid her cheek in her hand.

"It's really complicated." Ryan sighed. "Will you believe me when I tell you I was over reacting?" she looked at Sam with pleading eyes.

Scratching his fake beard, Adrian took the last sip of his white wine and signalled the waiter to bring his check. He had things to do.

When Ryan went to pay the bill, she rolled her eyes. Her accounts were still frozen and she didn’t carry much cash with her. Looking over her shoulder at Sam and back at the clerk, she sighed and pulled out her office credit card. It wasn’t unusual that she invited business clients to lunch or dinner but she didn’t like mixing business with the little private life she still had.

+++

The Facility, a few days later

"Why should I believe one word you said?" Ryan was getting angrier by the minute. She was just about to pay Calvin a visit when the phone rang.

How dare Adrian call her and tell her a story like that. The Facility ordered him to kill those people? "Why would they do that?"

"Don't ask me, I just do what they tell me." He was so smug she wanted to smack him, if she only knew where he was. "I'm willing to trade information." His voice was so smooth, he could have been reading a children's book.

"I'm not giving you *anything*." Ryan paced in front of her couch.

"And you're sure about that? How about this, I offer you one free tip. Maybe you'll believe me then." He gave her a name and an address.

Then there was a long silence. "And by the way, did you know that your new best friend has been investigating you?" he finally asked, and Ryan hung up and threw her cell on the couch with more force than necessary.

"Bastard!" she knew he was playing with people's emotions. That was how he manipulated them and got them to do what he wanted. But she wasn't going to let him play with her. She was supposed to return him to the Facility, not try to play the therapist with him.

She needed to talk to her uncle. Or should she?

When she got in her car, she looked up the address Adrian had given her. It was an hour ride, on the other end of town.

On the road, the nagging feeling didn't quite leave, and Ryan wondered if Sam had indeed been looking up information about her.

And why was it bothering her after all? Sam was working for the government, and she herself was looking for information on Sam, only that Calvin hadn't been able to pull up Sam's file yet.

+++

Police Headquarters, Tony's office

"Mr. Minetti, we have a suspect. She was hiding in the back of the house when we arrived. My partner is watching her. Please follow me." Officer Arnold, according to his nametag, walked to the back of the crime scene followed by Tony and Sam. When they entered the backyard the muddy and handcuffed suspect turned around and Sam felt the blood leave her head.

"Ryan?" Sam's voice broke.

"Hello Sam!" Ryan nodded at her.

"Did you check her for weapons?" Tony asked the officer who shook his head no.

"Sam, please pat her down." Tony turned to his friend and noticed for the first time how pale she looked.

"I already handed you my gun." Ryan replied, annoyed as the first cop held up a 9 mm with his gloved hand.

"Please turn around." Sam walked up to the brunette while the three men watched.

"What are you doing here?" Sam whispered into Ryan's ear while she patted her hands down her arms and her back.

"I have nothing to do with it. It was a trap." Ryan said back, not caring if anyone could hear her.

Stepping around the suspect, Sam stood in front of her and they watched each other for a moment before Sam repeated the procedure and declared Ryan free of any other weapons.

As soon as the officer had unlocked the cuffs, Ryan rubbed her wrists and threw a mean glance towards the cops.

"You say it was a trap?" Tony motioned for the cops to leave them alone now. "But before you say anything I have to inform you that you have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say, can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to a lawyer. If you can't afford one, the state will provide one for you. Do you understand those rights?"

"Yes,” Ryan rolled her eyes, “I got a call and was told to go to this address. It was a personal matter." Ryan didn't once look at Tony, but kept her eyes on Sam.

"I found the victim and ran after someone who escaped through the backyard. When I got outside, someone hit me over the head and I blacked out. Next thing I remember is your guys handcuffing me."

"Sam?" Tony watched his friend who nodded as a sign she believed what Ryan had said.

"Forensics will tell if she fired a gun or not. They should be here any minute." She didn't want to talk about any theories with too many people around.

She glanced at Ryan and quickly turned around to inspect the crime scene. Too many thoughts ran through her mind right now. When she had patted down the brunette, she saw flashing images, too many of them to grasp them all yet.

Ryan bowed her head and kept her eyes on Sam. The other woman seemed vacant and Ryan wondered if things between them could be fixed.

“Bring her to the station.” Tony ordered the officers.

+++

Police Headquarters, interrogation room 1

A criminal technician had tested Ryan for gunpowder residue on her hands as well as her clothes, and all the results came back negative. Further investigation lead them to believe the victim fired the gun himself, which would mean suicide, if not for the other person fleeing from the crime scene, according to Ryan's statement. They also found fresh footprints outside the office window and they didn't match Ryan's shoes.

Being allowed to leave the station, the brunette looked for Sam but couldn't see her anywhere. Assuming it wasn't the right time and place, Ryan had left, just to be greeted by her cousin outside the station.

"I thought you could use a ride." Shaun grinned at her and they walked around the corner to where he had parked.