"So how do you know that woman?" Tony arrived back in his office and addressed Sam, who stood by the window from where she had watched Ryan leave with a stranger.

"Coincidently." Sam sighed. "I met her a few weeks back at Elise's."

"And what do you know about her?" Tony was carefully trying to get more information out of his friend.

"We haven't really talked about work. I just know that something has troubled her the last few days." Sam wasn't sure if she should talk to Tony, nor how much she should tell him. Deep down, she knew Ryan wasn't a bad person, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on.

One flashback stuck to her mind. It was of a man. She assumed it was the same man who threatened Ryan.

She was startled out of her musings when Harrison walked in the office followed by Dr. Becker.

"We have more information's about our last victim." The young man waved a few papers.

"Let's meet in the lounge. I'll call Serina" Sam suggested and the other three nodded.

“There was a piece of skin next to the footprints we found outside our victims window. DNA results are still pending, but we’re quite sure we can at least use it as a match should we arrest someone.” Dr. Becker started after they had all arrived.

+++

The Facility, Technical floor

"That sick bastard set me up and I swear I'll make him pay!" Ryan paced around her desk and Calvin was afraid she'd throw the cup of coffee she'd been holding to crash against the wall at any second. "He was waiting there for me and called the cops while I lay face down in the flower bed.

"But first we have to find him," He muttered, and Ryan glared at Calvin with icy blue eyes.

"Right." She put her cup down and leaned on the desk. "And we need to figure out his motive. We still don't have a clue why he's killing all those people."

"Can't your friend help you? I thought that's her job?" Calvin dared to ask.

"Sure. And then I go to my uncle and tell him we worked together with the police. I might as well order my coffin."

+++

The Facility, parking lot

"I didn't know you'd switched teams." Shaun met Ryan on the way to the car park.

"What are you talking about?" Ryan unlocked her Jag when Shaun stood in front of the door and pulled out several pictures from his jacket.

"I don't know what surprises me more. That she's a gal or that she's with the cops." Shaun frowned and watched Ryan's reactions.

Snatching the pictures from his hand, she glanced at them and recognized them from the café, as well as the restaurant she had invited Sam to.

"And I don't know why it is any of your business with who I'm friends with." Ryan tried to open the door but Shaun didn't move.

He pursed his lips and then stepped back. "Just watch it." Shaun took the photos back and burned them with a lighter. "Maybe Adrian sends them to my father or the board next time. And I heard they're not too thrilled he's still free.”

+++

Police Headquarters, lounge

Tony and Sam sat together with the team, Harrison, Serina and Dr. Becker to discuss the case when Sam's phone started ringing.

Sam fished in her jacket for her cell phone and picked up after the third ring.

"Can we meet somewhere? I need to talk to you." A well known voice asked, and the blonde who excused herself from the meeting and walked outside to the hallway.

"I don't think that's a good idea. You're somehow involved in my case and I shouldn't be seen..” Sam paused, “talking to a suspect." There was nothing else she'd rather do than talk to Ryan, and find out how she was tied to all this.

"Please, I really need to talk to you." Ryan asked again. "And if you like to check, my name's already off the records. Our lawyer took care of that." Ryan informed her. "Please."

"Where?" Sam finally gave in and let Ryan explain where to meet her.

When she returned to the meeting, all eyes were on her but no one asked any questions. Tony watched her a moment and then continued discussing details with Dr. Becker.

"So, Mrs. Chester, our third victim, is our first victim's, Mr. Saunders, mother? How does that help us?" Tony looked over at Sam, who was having trouble following along. Shaking the nagging feeling off, the blonde took another look at her notes.

"Prof. Chester married Mr. Chester after Saunder’s father died of cancer. That’s how why her name’s different. She worked at the university and developed medications and tested them on volunteers." Sam kept staring at her notes, concentrating her focus on the information available.

"It's just a gut feeling so far, but what about someone who was involved in one of those tests? Maybe it was someone who suffered permanent damage?" She wasn't really asking, she was talking to herself, but the others listened carefully.

"My guess is, this person is taking revenge. Prof. Chester was the doctor who performed the tests. It is someone with a deep hatred, and that someone is very clever. He's got to have an unusual way of talking to people or he couldn't bring them to kill themselves. We need to investigate the last weeks of all of our victims. He had probably contact with the victims for several days or even weeks." Sam was on a roll and the others took notes.

"Our guy is a twenty to thirty year old male. Caucasian, only child, maybe an orphan. He was under medical treatment for years." Sam looked at Serina. "Please find out if anyone is missing at a hospital or other facilities. We also need to check parole records to see if anyone fitting this description was recently released." The blonde looked over at Tony who nodded.

“We’ve also got the DNA results back.” Dr. Becker sighed and rubbed her temple.

“But we couldn’t find a match?” Tony frowned.

“The problem is, we did find a partial match which tells us the suspect is first generation related to someone whose file’s been classified. We haven’t been able to get access yet.”

“Why aren’t we allowed to look into the file?” Harrison asked. “Is it the military?”

“We haven’t even managed to find that out. All we know is it’s male DNA.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Tony got up and went to make a few phone calls.

Sam stayed behind while the others left the room. Why did she keep the image of that man threatening Ryan in her head while she was thinking of the case?

+++

Somewhere out of town, Ryan's cottage

Ryan was nervous. She just couldn't sit still, and the walls of the small house seemed to be closing in on her. Grabbing a thick blanket, she went out on the porch and sat down on the steps. She loved the fresh air out here, always had.

Her summer house was located in the area where she and her dad had gone hiking on the rare weekends he had time for his daughter. A few miles from the city, away from the noise and the stress of work, it was her refuge.

Sam was already an hour late and the sun was slowly setting behind the tall trees, rays of sunshine falling through the leafless branches, leaving their golden touch over the whole countryside.

Maybe Sam wouldn't show up at all. And Ryan couldn't even hold it against her. The blonde had every right to be mad at her.

Just as Ryan started blaming herself, she heard the engine of a truck far away. Being the only resident for miles, she knew it had to be Sam following her directions.

Letting out a deep breath Ryan let a tiny smile appear on her lips when she saw the blonde's truck come around a corner.

Getting up and folding the blanket that had kept her warm, Ryan put it on the railing and walked down the steps.

When Sam opened the door, Jerry couldn't wait any longer; he jumped over her lap and ran towards Ryan, his tongue hanging from his mouth and his tail wagging as he circled around the tall woman.

"Tony couldn't watch Jerry tonight and I didn’t want to leave him alone in the hotel," Sam shrugged. "I hope it is okay with you."

"No problem." Ryan replied and while she scratched Jerry behind his ears, giving him the attention he called for.

"I'm glad you came." She added softly without looking up. She could feel Sam's eyes on her though.

"Would you like to go inside, it's getting real cold now with the sun down." Ryan stretched back up to her full height and watched Sam nod. Jerry had already taken off to explore his new surroundings.