I haven't forgotten about this. I have just gotten involved in a few other projects. But I told myself that if I ever found these original five episodes again, I would add them to my files and post them here.

Thus far, I have found 8-1: The Wall, 8-2: The Company, and 8-3: World's Fair. Does anyone know where I might find the last two? If memory serves, I believe 8-4 was called Rainbows and concerned a fire at an LGBT-friendly bookstore; 8-5 was called For the Child's Good and concerned a girl who was shot trying to find her birth parents in Philadelphia if this helps.

COLD CASE: THE WALL (PART 1)

Lilly and the squad reopen the case of a CIA agent who retired at the end of the Cold War, only to be murdered in a park in 1993, when new evidence comes to light that robbery may not have been the motive. As they delve deeper into the case, they soon learn that even retired spies have secrets, and that the man’s co-workers and even his own family may know more than their letting on.
Meanwhile, as Lilly gets ready for a new chapter, working for the FBI, she begins to have second thoughts as she she realizes she’ll be leaving behind more than just her job.

PREVIOUSLY ON COLD CASE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeT7nbctJ3Y

“I wanna see what you got.” Cavanaugh said. “Could mean a job for you.”

“A job?” Lilly asked.

Cavanaugh nodded. “Federal Cold Case Unit.”

“Jimmy Mota,” Pierson said. “He’s the piece of garbage that attacked your mother.”

“What about him?” Scotty asked, frowning as they walked.

“Took a deal, three to five, sent him to Graterford.”

Scotty looked at Pierson. “You gotta be kidding me!”

Pierson shook his head. “Could be out in eighteen months on good behavior.”

“There’s a new fish on your block, likes to sing.” Scotty said, quietly.

Hector looked at Scotty. “Sound to me like you want someone to catch a cold.”

“It’s goin’ around.”

Hector looked down in thought for a moment. “Suppose… suppose this fish gets made out to be a snitch in the yard.”

Scotty shrugged. “Then he’s everybody’s problem.”

“Yo, Mota.” Scotty said with a smile as he approached Mota in the yard.
Mota turned around and just recognized Scotty as Scotty put his arm around the felon. “What’s happenin’, bro?”

“Tag, you’re it, bitch.” Scotty said, quietly into his ear. “That’s for my mom.”

In the prison showers, Mota lay in a pool of his own blood.

“You left your gun at home” Stillman said.

“No.” Doherty said weakly.

“Car was in the badlands,” Stillman continued, ” I know all about your boy Matt’s struggle with drugs.”

“I wanted to believe him” Doherty said.

“But you knew enough when you heard about that shooting to make that plate match go away.” Jeffries said with a glare.

“Knew Matty was involved.” Stillman said solemnly.

“No.”

“Buried that witness report!” Jeffries said. “What kind of cop does that?”

“We’re family!” Celeste said, looking at Lilly from across the dinner table. “Full stop. That means birthdays, holidays, hospital visits, God forbid, funerals, the whole thing. Whether you like it or not, Lilly Rush, you are tied to us for good. Are we clear?”
“Okay.” Lilly said, while a smile started to form on her face, much like the ones on Paul and Finn.

“I’m looking to move,” Christina said. “Somewhere more permanent, near family.”

“I mean honestly, every time you come around, it’s like a hurricane hit town.” Lilly said.

Christina spun around as Cliff kicked the motel door open and slapped her.

“I thought if I just left her with a friend, and came home, I could get it together.” Christina said, struggling to breathe.

“Left… left who?” Lilly asked.

“Then I could come and get her.”
Following the sound of the cries, Lilly’s eyes widened at the sight of the baby in the laundry basket.

Christina sleeping on one of Lilly’s shoulders, the baby on the other, Lilly looked at Scotty from the back seat of the car as they made their way back to Philly…

1

The following story is fictional and
does not depict any actual person or event.

Cold Case Soundtrack: "Carl's Reflection" www.youtube.com/watch?v=axG6KfHVUhA

“Bonnie, I need those heat signatures.” Jeff Royce whispered, leaning up against the wall, his eyes scanning the darkened area.

“I’ve almost got it.” Bonnie said through the ear piece. “Okay, I got it. Two signatures at four o’clock. Seventy feet away.”

Peeking out from around the corner, he could just make out two figures covered behind a similar structure. He pulled his head back just as he saw a muzzle flash from one of their position.

“Oh, hell.” Jeff muttered. He took a breath, then took a running jump towards a neighboring structure, dodging shots as he did.

“Bonnie, I can’t get a clear shot on these guys from here. They’re too well-covered.” Jeff looked down for a moment, then up again. “Let me know when they’re on the move again.”

The two men, in their twenties, one white, one black, scanned around the area when Jeff had taken cover. They couldn’t see any sign of movement. They spun to the right at the faint sound of a twig snapping. The men squinted towards the source of the noise, a small row of bushes, and, with the dim light, were able to barely make out the colors of a flak jacket.

The white operative gestured to the black one, who nodded. They stood up, raised their guns, and started towards the bushes.

“Bonnie?” Jeff whispered.

“They’re on the move again.” Bonnie said. “I think they’re– wait! I’ve lost the heat signatures, I can’t tell which direction they’re going! I think someone’s tapped into the feed! I’ve lost it.”

“Bonnie, you have to get it back.” Jeff hissed. “I’m exposed out here!”

“I’m trying!”

“Bonnie!”

“I’m working on it!”

Jeff looked around uneasily.

The two men crept closer to the bushes, keeping their guns trained on their target in the bushes. They stepped closer.

Suddenly both men grunted slightly, both feeling a stinging sensation on their back. Both men reached at the source of the pain, until their hands came back with a sticky paint on them. They looked up, to see Jeff, no flak jacket, training his gun on them with a sly smile.

“Bang, bang.” He said evenly, almost deadpan. “You’re both dead.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Time!”

The two men groaned as overhead lights flooded the room, revealing Jeff’s surprisingly life-like flak jacket sitting over the bushes, stuffed with shrubs.
Jeff chuckled and patted both agents on the arm.

“Don’t beat yourself up. Every field agent dies a hundred times in here. You just gotta remember to watch your backs.”

CIA Headquarters – Langley, Virginia – January 13, 1993

Bonnie smiled as she and Jeff walked through the hallways. “I can’t believe you’re still doing field training on your last day.”

Jeff shrugged. “You know me. I’m not the type to keep an eye on the clock. Keeps me busy. Besides the more times we kill our guys in here, the less it happens in the real world.”

“Oh yeah? Cause a few of them are saying you just wanna prove you can still go toe to toe with the younger guys.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “I don’t care about trying to prove anything, if that’s what you mean.”

Bonnie giggled.

Jeff gave her a slightly condescending look as they reached the door to his office. “Look, I’ll give you this much; you gotta get up a little earlier than them to catch me off guard.”

Jeff opened the door and was immediately taken aback at the two dozen people on the other side, in front of a cake and banner which both read ‘HAPPY RETIREMENT, JEFF’, and yelling “Surprise!”

Jeff lowered and shook his head, showing a hint of amusement at Bonnie.
“You’re right.” She said with a sly smile. “We did.”

REM
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsxavPANO8s

Ethan Moore, the shorter man with thinning hair, tapped his hand on Jeff’s shoulder as he went for another slice of cake. “So this is actually happening.” Ethan said, wistfully.

“Yeah, Ethan, it’s actually happening.” Jeff said with a chuckle. “You’ve known this was happening for a while. Plus Sharon’s been wanting to move back to Philly for a long time.”

Ethan shrugged, “Yeah, it’s just the thought of someone I started with retiring. Makes me feel so damn old.”

“Hey, if you’re old, what does that make me?” asked the man approaching them with light hair turning silver. “I was the one who recruited both you guys, remember?”

“So you like to remind me every time, Bob.” Jeff said to Bob Garrison, the older man.

“It’s just we’re starting to lose more people with everything that’s gone on over the last year.” Garrison said. “It’s like we got kids running around here now.”

Jeff nodded solemnly. “So were we once upon a time. They’ll grow up fast.”

Garrison chuckled. “Everything’s changing, you know? No more Gorbachev, no more Soviet Union, a Democrat in the White House again.”

Ethan held up a hand in mock defense. “Don’t blame me, I voted for Perot.”

Jeff smiled. “Hey, look at it this way; we won the Cold War. I like to think maybe we had a hand in that.”

Garrison nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to Bonnie and the crowd, who were starting to chant “Speech, speech, speech!”

Pouring some more champagne, Jeff nodded and stepped out into the center of the room.
“Okay,” Jeff started with a sigh. “I know there’s been a lot of rumors going around that my retiring has something to do with everything that’s been going on in Russia the last year and a half, or the new administration here, or that I’m buying into the thinking that maybe we’re obsolete now or something like that. Honestly, the truth is, it has nothing to do with that.

“This week, it’ll be twenty years since I joined the Company. I’ve seen and done a lot, lost a few friends. On balance though, I feel like I can be proud of those twenty years.

“Thing is, I wanna have dinner with my wife every night. I wanna see my kid catch a ball that I threw to him. I wanna come home to them every night, instead of having them wonder where I am and worry about me all the time. I just wanna be there for my family. I mean if we haven’t been working this whole time so that a guy can do all that, then why the hell are we here?

“We got people like Bob and Ethan sticking around, plus new people like Bonnie here. I honestly feel like I’m leaving the Company in good hands, I don’t feel like the place’ll fall apart without me..

“Anyways, I don’t mean to sound sappy, but Bob here was just telling me everything’s changing, and he’s right. But that doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. I gotta believe that even a guy like me can find some happiness, no matter how much things change.”

The group smiled and laughed lightly at this. Jeff raised his glass. “To new chapters.”

Garrison, Bonnie, Ethan, and the others all raised their glasses. “New chapters.” They said.

Satisfied, Jeff smiled, and took a sip…

Cold Case Soundtrack: "Late Returns" www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OfqgkuLo7s

Jeff’s body lay across the park walkway, barely visible as the moon remained covered by the clouds. His eyes were closed. His shirt and jacket were stained with blood around his chest.

The detective shook his head in resignation as he stacked the case box, marked ROYCE, J. among the others.

FBI Field Office – New York

Lilly Rush’s face remained impassive as she squeezed the trigger repeatedly, emptying her weapon into the target. Ryan Cavanaugh, the tall, dark-haired man next to her pressed his thumb on the button, pulling the sheet of paper with the dark silhouette on it back towards them. He nodded in approval as he inspected the series of holes in the center mass, and gave her a sly smile, which she returned.

“Well that should cover weapon proficiency when you transfer over.” Cavanaugh said as they walked back towards the office. “Consider yourself lucky. The instructor I had at the academy was a real hard-ass.”

Lilly chucked. “You should see the one we have in Philly. ‘Locked and loaded’ Lafferty.”

Cavanaugh chuckled back. “If you’re looking for some living arrangements in the city, I know some people who can help.”

Lilly nodded. “Just gotta make sure it’s cat-friendly.”

Cavanaugh leaned closer with a grin. “I know a few places to eat too when you get back.”

Lilly cocked her head and smiled.. “Just don’t forget your keys.”

Cavanaugh’s smile faded slightly. “So you’re still going back to work at Homicide till then?”

“You know me, like to keep busy.”

“Just hoping you won’t forget about us up here.” Cavanaugh said, looking serious. “I mean it, the Bureau needs good people, especially now that we’re an agent short.”

“You mean now that they forced Yates out.” Lilly said coolly.

Cavanaugh nodded. “Yates and I didn’t agree on much, but for what it’s worth, I think she deserved better. But, yeah, it’s all the more reason to find good people.”

Lilly nodded, then glanced at the clock. “I better go.”

“Okay.” Cavanaugh said evenly as Lilly walked away. “Rush?” He asked as she was halfway out the door, causing her to turn around. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Lilly smiled, turned back and started walking again.

Lilly couldn’t help but be a bit taken aback at the stares she got from her colleagues as she walked into Homicide.

“Now there’s a face I didn’t expect to see around here again.” Kat Miller said, walking over to give Lilly a hug.

“Good to see you, Lil” Will Jeffries said. Nick Vera, not getting up from his desk, gave her a friendly nod.

“Yeah.” said Lilly’s partner Scotty Valens awkwardly, while walking over himself.

“Lil,” Lieutenant John Stillman said, coming out of his office.

“Here to work, boss.” Lilly said, smiling uneasily.

“Any idea how long?”

“Open-ended for now.”

Stillman gave her a look, then placed a folder on the desk in front of him. “Well, since you’re here, we just got some new info on an old job, might interest you.”

“Yeah?”

Stillman opened the folder, revealing Jeff’s photo clipped to the top. “Victim’s Jeff Royce. He was shot in Summerton Park back in ‘93. Assigned figured it was robbery gone bad, since his wallet was missing. Main suspect was junkie named Oscar Torres. He’d held up two other people at gunpoint in the same park back in the eighties.”

“So where’s Oscar today?” Scotty asked.

“Dead.” Stillman said. “He was found OD’ed in his apartment the next night, had the victim’s wallet on him.”

“But we got something new?” Kat asked.

Stillman nodded. “Oscar’s family’s been trying to clear his name ever since. This past week, they caught a break. Managed to find a drug counselor who could put Oscar at a rehab clinic at the time the coroner put time of death. Records and sign-in logs back him up.”

“So what’s he doin’ with the wallet?” Vera asked.

Scotty shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first junkie to take somethin’ off a dead body.”

“Well if that’s the case, then robbery wasn’t the motive.” Lilly said. “So what was?”

“Well, Jeff Royce was no ordinary victim.” Stillman said. “Guy was a twenty-year field agent for the CIA.”

Jeffries nodded. “Twenty years with the CIA, that’s a lot of skeletons in your closet.”

Lilly looked at the other detectives. “Maybe one of them got out.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaw9Vpa0JDM

2

“Jeff Royce, forty-five.” Scotty said, reading the file down in storage, as Lilly and Stillman looked on. “Born and raised in Philly. Graduated fifth in his class at West Point, 1970. Two tours in ‘Nam, then recruited into the CIA January ‘73. Retires with his wife and son to Philly January ‘93, ends up gunned down in Summerton Park nine months later, October 17th, ‘93.”

“Shot in the chest once, close range.” Lilly said, looking over a crime scene photo of Jeff’s body. “Bullet and shell casing matched an unregistered glock, never got a hit off it.”

“Looks like they zeroed in on Oscar Torres pretty quick once they found Jeff’s wallet at his place, and a needle in his arm.” Scotty said evenly.

“Not much you can do when your only suspect’s dead.” Stillman said, shaking his head.

“Looks like our vic was a hell of a globe-trotter back in the day,” said Vera, walking in, carrying a file of his own. “Afghanistan, Indonesia, some stuff in the Gulf, plus some time in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and a couple of other countries that don’t even exist anymore.”

“Guy traveled to some of the worst hot spots in the world, winds up murdered practically in his own backyard.” Scotty said.

“Well if he made enemies, it was probably abroad.” Lilly said.

“Wasn’t able to find out much other than the guy bein’ a frequent flyer, though.” Vera said with a frown. “Looks like somebody took a black marker to the guy’s whole life.”

Stillman shrugged. “Well, good luck getting the CIA to unload its dirty laundry.”

“Well, maybe cross-check visitors or immigrants from countries Jeff visited, maybe we get lucky.” Scotty said.

“Maybe a couple of Jeff’s old co-workers could help with that.” Lilly said.

“I already made a call,” Vera said. “Jeff’s old boss is still shuffling papers down in Langley. Name’s Bob Garrison. Told him we might be stopping by.”

“Road trip, huh?” Scotty said, with a smirk.

“Well, try to have some fun in Virginia.” Vera said, smirking right back.

“You know, Nick, I think it’s been a while since you hit the road.” Lilly said with a smile.
Vera’s smirk vanished.

“Well that’s true, Nick.” Stillman said. “Think you’re well enough to take a trip.”

“Right.” Vera said in a monotone voice.

“You know, I think Miller’s free this week too.” Scotty said with a smile.

Lilly cocked her head innocently. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“It’ll be fun.” Scotty continued.

“Yeah, fun.” Vera said in the same tone.

“Well, you best start packing, Nick.” Stillman said with a slight smile, before turning to Lilly and Scotty. “I’ll be back in an hour. Got something to take care of.”

“Meetin’ with the brass?” Scotty asked.

Stillman’s smile faded. “Something like that.”

2

“Jeff Royce, forty-five.” Scotty said, reading the file down in storage, as Lilly and Stillman looked on. “Born and raised in Philly. Graduated fifth in his class at West Point, 1970. Two tours in ‘Nam, then recruited into the CIA January ‘73. Retires with his wife and son to Philly January ‘93, ends up gunned down in Summerton Park nine months later, October 17th, ‘93.”

“Shot in the chest once, close range.” Lilly said, looking over a crime scene photo of Jeff’s body. “Bullet and shell casing matched an unregistered glock, never got a hit off it.”

“Looks like they zeroed in on Oscar Torres pretty quick once they found Jeff’s wallet at his place, and a needle in his arm.” Scotty said evenly.

“Not much you can do when your only suspect’s dead.” Stillman said, shaking his head.

“Looks like our vic was a hell of a globe-trotter back in the day,” said Vera, walking in, carrying a file of his own. “Afghanistan, Indonesia, some stuff in the Gulf, plus some time in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and a couple of other countries that don’t even exist anymore.”

“Guy traveled to some of the worst hot spots in the world, winds up murdered practically in his own backyard.” Scotty said.

“Well if he made enemies, it was probably abroad.” Lilly said.

“Wasn’t able to find out much other than the guy bein’ a frequent flyer, though.” Vera said with a frown. “Looks like somebody took a black marker to the guy’s whole life.”

Stillman shrugged. “Well, good luck getting the CIA to unload its dirty laundry.”

“Well, maybe cross-check visitors or immigrants from countries Jeff visited, maybe we get lucky.” Scotty said.

“Maybe a couple of Jeff’s old co-workers could help with that.” Lilly said.

“I already made a call,” Vera said. “Jeff’s old boss is still shuffling papers down in Langley. Name’s Bob Garrison. Told him we might be stopping by.”

“Road trip, huh?” Scotty said, with a smirk.

“Well, try to have some fun in Virginia.” Vera said, smirking right back.

“You know, Nick, I think it’s been a while since you hit the road.” Lilly said with a smile.
Vera’s smirk vanished.

“Well that’s true, Nick.” Stillman said. “Think you’re well enough to take a trip.”

“Right.” Vera said in a monotone voice.

“You know, I think Miller’s free this week too.” Scotty said with a smile.

Lilly cocked her head innocently. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“It’ll be fun.” Scotty continued.

“Yeah, fun.” Vera said in the same tone.

“Well, you best start packing, Nick.” Stillman said with a slight smile, before turning to Lilly and Scotty. “I’ll be back in an hour. Got something to take care of.”

“Meetin’ with the brass?” Scotty asked.

Stillman’s smile faded. “Something like that.”

Stillman scanned around the nearly-empty tavern until he saw the fifty-something man at the edge of the bar throwing back a shot of whiskey. The man was out of uniform, something Stillman usually wasn’t used to, and had at least a few days’ worth of stubble on his face.

“John.” The man said with his slightly raspy voice, managing a slight smile as he looked up at Stillman. “I didn’t know this was your usual watering hole.”

“Hey, Pat.” Stillman said with a sigh as he sat down in the neighboring stool.

Pat Doherty waved the bartender over. “Joey, pour one for my old friend John here, on me.” Doherty looked back at Stillman. “You got some time?”

Stillman shook his head uneasily. “Not much.”

Doherty eyed Stillman suspiciously. “What, are you checking up on me, John?” He asked, not sounding like he had the energy to get angry.

Stillman put up his hands. “Just wanted to see how you were doing.”

Doherty looked ahead somewhere far beyond the wall of the bar. “I don’t know, John. How am I doing? My son’s in jail. His baby boy’s gonna be at least a teenager before he sees his father outside of a prison wall. I just watched a thirty-five year career with the department get flushed down the toilet, pension and all. Councilman Boone’s not even returning my phone calls anymore. Oh, and last week, Mary kicked me out.” Doherty turned back towards Stillman. “So tell me, John. How am I doing?”

Stillman nodded solemnly. “I heard. Where are you staying?”

“Motel in Kensington. I think the owner likes me, probably cause I’m the only guy who doesn’t bring hookers around.”

Stillman said nothing.

Doherty’s eyes narrowed to a glare. “You know, John, I wanted to blame you.” His gaze softened as he shook his head. “You, or Jeffries, or anybody but me. But I can’t do that, can I? No, I pretty much made this bed myself, didn’t I? And I don’t just mean the Johnston case. No, I’ve pretty much spent my life covering up people’s mistakes, and what’s it gotten me?” Doherty started to look far off again. “I let Matt skate on one drug charge after another, and he just kept on using. I tried to derail the Caceres case, and it blew up in my face. You wouldn’t believe how much of Boone’s garbage I cleaned up, got a promotion out of it, and everyone started talking behind my back how I didn’t earn it.”

His eyes started to mist up. “I buried what Matt did, and it destroyed my family.”

Doherty looked at Stillman with a weary smile. “Now you, John, you won’t rest until the truth comes out, no matter what it is.” Doherty shrugged. “Maybe it’s having a priest for a brother. You know what my brother does? Sells used cars.” He chuckled slightly. “I wouldn’t even touch one of those junk heaps he sells.”

The bartender gave Stillman an uneasy look as he placed two more shots in front of him and Doherty. Doherty immediately raised his glass, and waited for Stillman to do the same.

“To the truth, and setting you free.” Doherty’s look suddenly turned bitter. “And God help you if you learn that too late.” He threw the drink back as quickly as he’d picked it up, then looked at Stillman, looking warily at Doherty.

“Have a drink with me, John.” Doherty said. “Who else will?”

Stillman sighed and threw back the shot.

Doherty smiled and nodded with approval.

Stillman pulled a card from his pocket. “Look, I know a guy in private security who owes me a favor. You can tell him I called.” He placed the card on the bar. “I know it’s not much, but it’s steady work.”

Doherty looked at the card, then back at Stillman, and shook his head. “Why are you doing this, John? I made your life a living hell, I sicked I.A.B. on Jeffries, got Miller reassigned.”

“I’m not interested in kicking someone who’s already down.” Stillman stood up. “Look, call the guy or don’t. It’s your life. Anyways, I gotta get back.”

Doherty stared at the card on the table, but nodded slightly.

Stillman headed towards the door, but stopped at the bartender.

“I don’t care what you have to do, but don’t let him drive home.” Stillman said, quietly.
The bartender nodded and Stillman walked out.

Walking through CIA Headquarters, Vera noticed Kat’s jacket was still done up tight as she adjusted her visitor’s pass.

“You know I’m pretty sure they keep this place room temperature.” Vera said with a smirk.
Kat sighed. “The way you were blasting the A.C. all the way here, I’m lucky I don’t have frostbite.”

“Well, I figure the one who did the driving gets to choose, not the one sleeping.”

Kat didn’t respond, but instead looked around the hallway. “If these walls could talk…”

“They’d probably have to kill us after.” Vera said.

Before Kat could respond, she noticed the graying blonde-haired man and forty-something woman approaching them.

“You must be our Philadelphia visitors.” The man said, shaking Vera’s hand, then Kat’s.
“Bob Garrison, Head of Special Operations.”

Vera nodded. “Yeah, we talked on the phone. You were Jeff’s old boss.”

Garrison nodded back with a smile. “He was in the first batch of guys I ever recruited into the Company. Great guy. Listen, I’m sorry to inconvenience you, but something’s come up, so I‘m going to postpone our conversation for a bit.” He gestured to the woman next to him. “This is Bonnie McLaren. Until I get back, she can help you with anything you need. And she knew Jeff just as well as I did. I promise I’ll talk with you as soon as I can.”

Kat and Vera eyes Garrison uneasily as he walked away. Bonnie could only shrug. “I’m sorry about that. Things can be crazy around here.”

“So you and Jeff were close?” Vera asked.

Bonnie smiled. “He recruited me himself, trained me. Had me over for dinner with his family.” She chuckled. “I even used to babysit his son when he was little.”

“Sounds like you two were close.” Kat said evenly. “Must’ve been hard to see him go.”

“I was sad, sure, but he had a family. I could understand that.” Bonnie shook her head with a wistful smile. “That was a crazy time too. We had a new President, first Democrat in twelve years. The Soviet Union broke up just over a year before. No more Cold War. Some people actually thought the world might calm down after that.” Her smile faded.

“Two weeks after Jeff retired, a guy with an AK-47 shot up the entrance to the grounds here, killed two people. A month after that, a bomb went off at the World Trade Center, killed six people.”

“Little preview of things to come.” Vera said.

“Yup.” Bonnie said, simply.

“So you and Jeff keep in touch after he left?” Vera asked.

Bonnie nodded. “We talked on the phone a little bit, especially at first. It seemed like he take any excuse to talk, or stop by, and not just with me, with anyone here.” Bonnie looked around.

“Something else you wanna add?” Kat asked.

Bonnie sighed. “I don’t think it was as easy for him to make a clean break as he thought it would be. I mean, it’s one thing to say you wanna move on. It’s another to actually do it…”

REM
“Losing My Religion”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u036M7p6-ak

Bonnie smiled as she noticed the man across down the parking lot. “Jeff? What are you doing here? I thought you were moving tomorrow.”

Jeff nodded uneasily. “I just had a few things to go over with Bob, clearing things up with some assignments.”

“I thought you said those were all taken care of.”

Jeff shrugged. “Guess I was wrong.”

Bonnie turned to see a familiar-looking car pull into the lot. Her eyes widened as she recognized the blonde-haired woman who got out.

“Jeff?” The woman said, looking at him.

“Sharon, what are you doing here?” Jeff asked.

“The real estate agent called, he said you rescheduled. Jeff, what are you doing here?”

Jeff shook his head. “I was just meeting with Bob about a few things.”

Sharon looked at Bonnie suspiciously. “I just found out myself.” Bonnie quickly said.

Jeff shrugged. “He just asked me to come. That’s all.”

Sharon stepped closer to Jeff. “You know why you married me, Jeff?”

Jeff looked at her, unsure of what to say.

Sharon sighed. “Because I’m the only person in the world you can’t lie to. Look, I knew what I was getting into when I married you. But I thought you meant it when you said you were ready to come home. You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, to me or to Jimmy.”

“Sharon…” Jeff started to say.

“When you decide where you wanna be, I’ll be waiting.” Sharon turned and headed back towards her car. “But not forever.”

Bonnie looked at Jeff, who lowered his head and sighed…

“So Jeff’s wife wasn’t too happy about him dragging his feet.” Kat said.

Bonnie nodded. “It seemed like their marriage was as solid as any for a long time, but I think they were starting to drift apart. I’ve seen this place do that to a lot couples. It’s not easy finding someone who understands what it’s like.”

“But Jeff did move.” Vera said.

“Yeah, they bought a house up in Libertyville. Jeff got a quiet desk job. Last time we talked, he said things were going well, but…”

“You didn’t buy it.” Kat said.

Bonnie shook her head. “It’s one thing to take a guy like Jeff out of the Company. It’s another to take the Company out of him.”

In the living room of the Royce’s house, Lilly and Jeffries noticed the fist-sized chunk of granite on the mantle over the fireplace. The young man of about thirty standing next to him gestured and smiled.

“That’s an actual piece of the Berlin Wall.” Jimmy Royce said. “My dad was there when they tore it down. Brought that back as a souvenir.”

Lilly smiled. “Is that right?”

“I think he was always fond of the city cause that’s where he and my mom met.” Jimmy turned to the fifty-something woman emerging from the kitchen with drinks. “Isn’t that right, mom?”

Sharon Royce, older but still attractive and confident-looking, nodded and smiled. “Yes, that’s right.” She turned to the detectives. “I was working over there when he was passing through after some assignment.” She looked back at her son. “I thought you said you had to get to work.”

Jimmy sighed, without losing his smile, and headed for the door. “Okay. I’ll stop by and see you tomorrow.”

Sharon looked wistfully as Jimmy walked out. “You know the older he gets, the more I see Jeff in him.”

“Sharon, we’ve heard Jeff might’ve been having some trouble adjusting to civilian life.” Jeffries said. “Maybe a little trouble letting go of his job.”

Sharon smiled. “Is that what Bonnie told you? Well, I guess she was partly right. Looking back, maybe I could’ve been a bit more understanding. I was an army brat growing up, so I knew what it was like to have someone be away for long periods of time. I guess once he decided to retire, I just figured I shouldn’t have to share him with that place anymore.”

“Once we actually got to Philly, though, I thought he started to come around.” Sharon’s smiled faded. “Anyway, that wasn’t what I was worried about.”

“What was?” Lilly asked.

“We threw a barbecue after we settled in to try and get to know our neighbors.” Sharon shook her head. “I knew his job might’ve made him some enemies, but I figured any he had would be halfway around the world. Turns out he had some even here. I saw that for myself…”

REM
“Shining Happy People”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H20W0e_oSM

As Sharon placed the potato salad on the picnic table, Jimmy ran over to her.

“Are the burgers almost ready?” Her thirteen year-old son asked with a frown.

Sharon cocked her head. “A few more minutes. Why don’t you meet some more of our neighbors. Maybe you can mow some lawns if you still want that Nintendo game you were talking about.”

Jimmy sighed and looked over to his father, standing over the barbecue, speaking with a thin, faintly middle-eastern-looking man.

“Dad’s still talking to that guy?” Jimmy asked.

Sharon smiled. “We’re just trying to make some friends. Don’t worry. I’ll let him know you’re hungry.”

Jeff smiled as his wife walked over. “There she is. This is my wife Sharon.” Jeff gestured to the other man. “Sharon, this is Omar. He lives across the street.”

Omar took Sharon’s hand when offered and smiled graciously. “Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Royce.” He said with a slight accent. “You have a lovely home.”
“Our pleasure.” Sharon said. “We’ve been look forward to a chance to meet our neighbors.”

“Omar was just telling me he’s from Afghanistan, studied engineering there.” Jeff said.

“Really?” Sharon asked.

Omar nodded. “That was a long time ago, though. I came here for a fresh start.”

Jeff shrugged and chuckled “I guess we got that in common. Can I get you a beer?” Before Omar could answer, he turned to see a dark-haired walking towards them, staring intently at Jeff.

“You,” the man said, pointing at Jeff. “You’re the CIA man, right.”

“Uhhh, yeah.” Jeff said, uneasily. “I used to work for them.”

“So what did you do for them anyway?” The man said with a smirk. “Overthrow democracies? Assassinate heads of state? Hunt down dissidents?”

Jeff put up his hands. “Look, I’m just trying to have a barbecue here, pal. I’m not looking for trouble.”

The man glared at Jeff. “What, you people cause trouble all over the world and you can’t handle a little in your own backyard?”

Omar recoiled as he got a whiff of the man’s breath. “You’ve been drinking, Roberto. I think it’s time you headed home.”

“You’re defending him?” Roberto looked at Omar incredulously. “After everything they did?”

“I’m just trying to get to know my neighbor.” Omar said, coolly.

Jeff stepped closer to Roberto. “Look, you got a problem with me? Fine. We can talk about it in private.” He said calmly. “There’s no need for anybody to make a scene.”
Roberto stared at Jeff for a moment, then suddenly took a swing at Jeff. Jeff immediately deflected the punch, twisted Roberto around, grabbed his wrist with one hand and pressed the other into his back, subduing him. “Or you can do something stupid like that.” Jeff said, while Roberto grunted and struggled in vain to pull himself free.

Omar waved over two larger neighbors who had seen the commotion. “I think Roberto’s had enough of Mr. Royce’s hospitality.” Omar said, frowning at Roberto. “Why don’t you help him get home?”

The two men nodded and took Roberto from Jeff’s grip and walked him out to the front yard.

“This isn’t over!” Roberto yelled as the men pulled him away. “I swear on my parents’ grave, you’re going to regret moving into this neighborhood!”

Jeff sighed and shook his head, while Sharon watched, uneasily…

“Lot of anger at a guy he’d never even met.” Lilly said.

Sharon nodded. “His name was Roberto Sanchez. I heard later he was from Chile, a professor over at Powell. Bit of an activist. He tended to drink a lot, so a lot people didn’t take him too seriously, but he made me nervous after that. I heard he tried to get us kicked out of the neighborhood. He even referenced Jeff in one of the rallies he used to organize at the park.”

“Summerton Park?” Jeffries asked, to which Sharon nodded. He turned to Lilly. “Where Jeff was killed.”

“You didn’t mention this to cops when Jeff was killed?”

Sharon shook her head. “It was a few months before. I didn’t think of it. And the police seemed so sure it was a robbery.”

“Maybe Roberto got tired of protesting.” Jeffries said. “Decided to take matters into his own hands.”

Lilly nodded. “And just when Jeff was starting a new life, his past caught up with him.”

3

Lilly gave the teenage boy sitting in the living room a nod and smile as she entered the house with a small grocery bag.

“Hey.” She said. “Is Dad around? I stopped by that market he likes. I don’t know if I’ll get another chance to go there for a while.”

Finn Cooper look at Lilly uneasily without smiling back. “He’s just getting ready. We were goin’ out somewhere.”

“Yeah? Where?” Lilly asked, still smiling.

Finn paused for a moment, before shaking his head. “Nowhere important.”

Both of them looked over at the older man emerging from down the hall.

“Lilly.” Paul Cooper said, looking surprised to see her. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”

Lilly set the bag down on the kitchen counter. “I just stopped by the market, thought I’d get a few things.”

“Well we were just heading over to see Christina.” Paul said. “Celeste is going to meet us there with the baby. You’re welcome to join us, obviously.”

Lilly glanced at Finn for a moment after hearing this. Finn returned a cool gaze, before she turned back to her father. “Actually, I’ve got to get back. I’ve got work.”

Paul nodded evenly at this. “I thought you’d be done by now.”

Lilly shrugged. “Just working one last case.”

“Told you she didn’t wanna come.” Finn muttered under his breath.

“Finn.” Paul said, frowning at his son.

“Sorry.” Finn said, curtly. “Can I wait in the car?”

Paul sighed and handed the keys to Finn, who walked out, giving Lilly a glance as he did.
Paul walked over to the bag on the counter and started taking things out, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Lilly. I’ll talk to him. He’s just not taking this well. I guess he’s gotten a little more attached than I thought.”

Lilly attempted a smile. “I’m just taking a job in New York. It’s not like you’re never gonna see me.”

Paul gave her daughter a solemn look. “We both know that’s not the kind of job that gives any more free time than your last one.”

The two said nothing for a moment.

“So where’s Celeste?” Lilly said.

“She was just taking Ellie to park for a bit.” Paul smiled. “It’s starting to be a regular thing.”

“So things are working out well?” Lilly asked, slightly anxious.

“With Ellie? Sure, Celeste is crazy about her. She loves having a baby in the house again.”

“What about you?”

“I’ve changed a few diapers in my time. It’s fine.” Paul chuckled slightly. “Actually a part of me’s still surprised Chris was the first one to make me a grandfather.”

“How is she anyway?”

Paul nodded. “Good. The rehab doctors say she’s doing really well. Maggie’s coming home from Cornell for a visit in a few weeks. She was asking about her.” Paul said, then turned to Lilly. “And about you. She still wants to meet you.”

“I know.” Lilly said, nodding quickly. “I just don’t know what kind of time I’d have in New York. Once I know that, I can figure things out.”

“Okay.”

Lilly looked at her father a moment. “Dad, do you think I should take this job?”

“I can’t answer that for you, Lilly.” Paul said, calmly. “It’s your life.”

“It’s just, an opportunity like this doesn’t–”

“I know.” Paul said. “Look, I’m the last person to give advice on this. I’ll say this much; whatever you decide, you have to live with the choices you make.”

Lilly nodded solemnly.

Scotty frowned at the text message on his phone as he walked into Homicide. Pausing for a moment, he opened it and looked at the message: I KNOW WHAT YOU DID, SCOTTY VALENS

Scotty narrowed his eyes in disgust and hit DELETE.

“What, you got some junk mail or something?” Lilly smiled as she walked in a few steps behind.

Scotty nodded quickly. “Yeah, somethin’ like that. Uhhh, did a bit of digging on Roberto. Tried to get Jeff kicked out of his neighborhood. A couple of neighbors said he started passing out flyers about it.” He handed Lilly a folded, faded orange paper. On it was a black and white photo of Jeff with a caption that read KEEP THIS MURDERER OUT OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

“Sounds like Roberto meant business.” Lilly said.

“He had some sort of beef with the CIA. Got arrested in Miami in 1990 for harassing agents outside a field office down there.”

“I wonder what the professor’s got to say for himself today.”

“Will’s bringin’ him in now.”

Lilly and Scotty looked over to see Jeffries sitting with a delicate-looking Hispanic woman in her late sixties. The woman immediately looked up at Lilly when Kat gestured to her.

“Lil, this is Maria Trejo.” Jeffries said. “She wanted to talk to you about a case.”
Lilly looked at Scotty, then took the woman’s hand.

“Someone told me you solve cases that are old.” Maria said in a soft, accented voice. Before Lilly could respond, the woman pulled a photo, that of a teenage girl, out of her purse. “This is my daughter, Rosita. She was killed in 1979. Someone pushed her from a balcony at the house where I was working at the time. I… I was told you solve cases like this.”

Lilly looked at the woman uneasily. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Trejo, I’m working another case right now, and I won’t be available here after that. Detective Miller here should be able to help you if you have any information.”

Mrs. Trejo looked confused for a moment. “I… I was told you solve old cases here. Do you not do that here anymore?”

Lilly looked at the woman, unable to find an answer.

Scotty ignored the bored look Roberto Sanchez was giving him and Stillman as he sat at the interview room table. Instead Scotty gave the sheets of paper in his hand a second look.

“Never seen a college professor with a rap sheet this long.” Scotty said with a smirk.

“Trespassing, vandalism, harassment, resisting arrest.”

Roberto gave him a defiant stare. “I speak up for oppressed peoples. I consider every one of those charges a badge of honor.”

“That include those three drunk and disorderlies and a DUI?” Stillman asked.
Roberto frowned and said nothing.

“How about murder?” Scotty added. “That a badge of honor too?”
Roberto’s eyes narrowed. “Murder?”

“You remember a guy who moved into your neighborhood in ‘93?” Scotty continued. “Jeff Royce?”

“That was a mugging in the park.” Roberto said, confused.
Stillman nodded. “Same park where you organized rallies, protested him moving in. You didn’t want a CIA agent living there, did you?”

“Why should I?” Roberto answered with a glare. “Do you have any idea how much suffering the Central Intelligence Agency has caused all over the world? They spent the entire Cold War overthrowing democratic governments. Iran in 1953, The Congo in 1960, Brazil in 1964, Argentina in 1976, even my own country of Chile in 1973. It didn’t matter how repressive or barbaric the new regime was. As long as they weren’t communist, they could do whatever they wanted.”

“It was a little more personal than that, though, wasn’t it?” Stillman said, sitting next to him. “We did a little digging into your background. Your parents opposed the Pinochet regime, and ended up being executed. That was your real beef with Jeff, wasn’t it? As far as you were concerned, your parents’ blood was on his hands.”
Scotty noticed a hint of pain in Roberto’s eyes as he looked at Stillman.

“I didn’t kill him. I wasn’t even in town when that happened. You can check.”

“Don’t worry.” Scotty said. “We will.”

“Fine.” Roberto said, condescendingly. “And while you’re at it, maybe you should look into what Jeff was doing after he moved into the neighborhood.”

“What he was doing?” Stillman asked.

“Let’s just say your CIA man wasn’t as retired as people thought…”

REM
“Driver 8”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iASnrfr9sD0

Roberto stuffed the pamphlet into the last mailbox on the street. The last batch hadn’t garnered any positive responses, but maybe these ones would.

He heard the faint noise of someone’s footsteps and instinctively ducked behind a hedge. A few neighbors hadn’t appreciated his mailings, and Roberto wasn’t eager for another confrontation on the street in the middle of the night.

He peered over the top of the hedge, able to make out Jeff walking out of his driveway, a large garbage bag in hand, onto the street as a car approached. Jeff plopped the bag into a garbage can and walked towards the car. The driver pulled a stop, and lowered his window, while Jeff leaned on the car.”I thought there were supposed to be apple trees.” Ethan said with a smirk, inspecting Jeff front yard. “Isn’t that what they used to put in the ads?”

Jeff gave Ethan a dull look. “I think they took those out a few years ago. People probably got sick of cleaning rotten apples off their lawn. You didn’t come here to talk about apples. You checking up on me?”

“Hell yeah, I am. I’m your partner. It’s my job. So you met him yet?”

Jeff nodded solemnly. “Yeah, not really what I expected.”

“Well that’s kinda the idea. You’re not goin’ soft on me, are you?”

Jeff fixed Ethan with a steely gaze. “Don’t tell me how to my job, all right? And don’t come around here again unless I call you first.”

Ethan leaned back in his seat. “Fine. Just don’t get too comfy in suburbia, and don’t start thinking that retirement party back in Langley was anything but a show for the rookies. We both know you’re a lot of things, but nine to five and picket fences, you aren’t.”

Jeff leaned into the car. “Don’t think you know everything about me.”

Ethan smirked at this. “Twenty years working together, yeah, I do.” Jeff recoiled as Ethan put up the windows and drove away.

Still crouching behind the hedge, Roberto glared at Jeff and shook his head…

“He didn’t need any trouble from me.” Roberto said, looking stoic. “He brought plenty of it with him.”

“When was this?” Stillman asked.

Roberto shrugged. “Early in the year. Few months before he was killed.”

“And you were out of town when that happened.” Scotty said, giving Roberto a condescending look.

He nodded. “There are police who can verify that.”

“Another ‘badge of honor’?” Scotty asked.

Roberto nodded evenly

“Yeah, okay.” Lilly said, before hanging up the phone and turning to Scotty, who was walking over.

“Roberto’s alibi checks out.” Scotty said. “He was arrested at a protest in Seattle the day of Jeff’s murder”

“I just talked to Vera,” she said. “Still haven’t been able to get a hold of Jeff’s boss there.”

“CIA’s giving them the runaround?” Scotty asked.

“Starting to look that way, and if Jeff was on some sort of secret assignment, that might be why.”

“Well, maybe we’ll have better luck with Jeff’s old partner.” Scotty handed her a file.

“Ethan Moore retired in ‘04, moved back to Philly, worked on and off ever since, divorced last year, last known address was a room at the Starlight Motel.”

Lilly smiled. “So you wanna take a ride?”

“So, uhh, how long you planning on stickin’ around?” Scotty asked.

“Let’s just go talk to the guy.” Lilly answered, giving him a cool smile.

Scotty just shrugged and followed her out.

Scotty wrinkled his nose at the beer bottles strewn around the motel room.

“Not exactly livin’ like James Bond, are you, Ethan?”

Looking up from his chair, Ethan frowned. “I just had a little falling out with the old lady. It’s a temporary thing.”

“You were Jeff’s partner before he retired.” Lilly said.

“Five years,” Ethan said with a nod. “But we went back way further than that. Got recruited into the Company at the same time.”

“Probably have some interesting stories workin’ with Jeff before he retired.” Scotty said.

“Maybe.” Ethan said uneasily.

“How about after he retired?” Lilly asked, eyeing him. “Is there a reason Jeff moved into that neighborhood?”

“Is there a reason you came all the way to Philly to drive by his house and talk in the middle of the night?” Scotty added.

Ethan’s eyes widened slightly at this, before he lowered them again. “I wasn’t supposed to be there. I was checking up because he was my partner. The less you know about what your partner’s thinking and doing, the more nervous you get.”

Lilly and Scotty looked at each other as he continued.

“Our boss had one last assignment for Jeff, something off the record. They went so far to put on a big retirement party for him, so everyone we worked with would think he was done.”

“Pretty long ways to go to cover up an assignment.” Scotty said.

“Yeah, it was.” Ethan said. “Even I wasn’t supposed to know about it, but he filled me in a bit. There was some guy in the neighborhood he was supposed to watch, something about him being a possible threat. It all turned out to be for nothing. The guy died in an accident a few months later. I never got any details beyond that.”

“So who was the guy Jeff was supposed to watch?” Lilly asked.

Ethan shook his head. “Never got a name, and don’t think I didn’t try and find out. I told Jeff keeping me out of the loop like that was a bad idea. I think he took his eye off the ball.”

“What, was he settlin’ into suburban life too much?” Scotty asked.

“No, but he did make one colossally dumb move…”

REM
“Monty Got a Raw Deal”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqSZzO-Dhwc

Sitting on the park bench, Ethan smirked at the various people relaxing or walking through the park, as if he was in on some joke than none of them were.

He looked up as he saw Jeff approaching, and his smirk widened slightly.

“I thought you said you were hanging out with the kid today.” Ethan said.

“I had to put that on hold” Jeff said, sitting down, without a smile.

“Oh, I bet he’s thrilled about that, huh?” Ethan chuckled. “The more things change, the more they stay the same, right”

“You got a guy for me or not?”

Ethan pulled a small slip of paper from his pocket with a phone number on it and handed it to Jeff. “I told him to expect a call from you. What exactly do you want him for anyway? You can’t find any good dentists here in Philly yourself?”

“You let me worry about that.” Jeff said, getting up from the bench. “I’ll call you if I need anything else.”

Ethan sat there for a few minutes, than got up and headed after Jeff.

“Hey, hey.” Ethan said, catching up with Jeff at the parking lot. “Look, man, I know I’ve been riding you a bit lately. I just…” He trailed off as he noticed the large, weathered-looking man leaning on Jeff’s car. Ethan’s face immediately went slack. “What the hell is he doing here?”

The large man gave Ethan a smug look. “Good to see you too, Ethan.”

Ethan looked at Jeff incredulously. “You actually brought this son of a bitch in?”

Jeff’s face remained impassive. “Look, I needed someone who wasn’t with the Company anymore, somebody who can do things quietly.”

Ethan glared. “Oh, is that what Prague was, ‘quiet’? You know, I’m the one who had to tell Martin’s wife.”

“I’m not interested in drudging up history.” Jeff said. “Look, we all started at the same time.”

“Yeah, well we sure didn’t finish at the same time.” Ethan said. “I’m not working with him.”

The large man folded his arms. “Gee, that’s a damn shame.” He said, condescendingly.

Ethan looked at the man, then back at Jeff. “And neither are you.”

“Don’t you tell me what to do.” Jeff said, his eyes narrowed.

“I’m not gonna be the one to give your wife the news. You either cut him loose, or I tell Garrison. It’s your call.” Ethan gave Jeff one last look, before turning around and walking away…

“Jeff told me later on he got rid of him, but I don’t know whether he was telling the truth.” Ethan shook his head. “To this day, I don’t know what the hell he was thinking.”

“So who was the guy?” Lilly asked.

“Steve Mitchum, got recruited into the agency the same time as me and Jeff. He was Jeff’s first partner. In ‘87, he was meeting some informants in Prague with another agent. Steve botched the whole damn thing, somebody got spooked, and three people ended up dying, including that other agent. They sacked him after that. If you ask me, he’s lucky that’s all they did.”

Scotty frowned. “And you didn’t think this was worth mentioning when Jeff got killed?”

Ethan looked up at Scotty. “This whole operation was supposed to be a secret from everyone. That includes cops.”

“So you think he might’ve botched this job too?” Lilly asked.

Ethan sighed. “All I know is agents who trust Steve Mitchum with their lives tend to wind up dead.”

4

Making their way through the woods, Lilly and Jeffries followed the cutting sound around the back of the cabin, where they saw the large, weathered-looking man, now at least in his late fifties, swinging an axe down on the piece of wood, splitting it neatly in two. “Steve Mitchum?”

He turned as the noticed them and gave a smirk.

“Didn’t know I was in Philly PD’s jurisdiction.” Steve said in a low graveling voice, resting the axe on his shoulder.

“How ‘bout you put the axe down, Steve?” Lilly asked.

Steve shrugged and tossed the axe aside. “Better?”

“Detectives Rush and Jeffries, Homicide.” Jeffries said with a frown, showing his shield.
Steve’s smirk faded slightly.

“You remember your old partner, Jeff Royce?” Lilly asked.

“What kinda question is that?” Steve asked.

“Must’ve been rough, getting kicked out of the CIA after that screw-up in Prague.” Lilly continued. “Suddenly Jeff shows up, bringing all that up again…”

“You don’t know a damn thing about what happened.” Steve said, with a hint of quiet menace. “I followed protocol on my end. Unfortunately, dead agents make better heroes, and live ones make better scapegoats. That was the day I learned exactly what I was worth to the Company. I told Bob Garrison he could kiss my ass, and you can tell him the offer still stands.”

“Lot of resentment there.” Jeffries said. “Maybe Jeff got caught in the middle.”

“I never had a beef with Jeff.” Steve said, softening his tone. “He was the only guy there to treat me like a human being after that. Saved my ass a dozen times. I owed him. He came to me, said he had one last job, off the books, and said he needed someone without formal ties to the agency anymore.”

“He was supposed to be watching someone in his neighborhood.” Lilly said.

Steve nodded. “Yeah, some Middle-Eastern guy, immigrated here in the early nineties, Omar… something. Apparently, there was some intel linking this guy to some possible terrorist activity. Somebody probably figured he was some sort of sleeper agent.”

“What did you think?” Jeffries asked.

Steve shook his head. “I don’t know. The guy wound up face down in the river before I could find out for sure. Some sort of boating accident, least that’s what they said.”

“You don’t believe it?” Lilly asked.

“We’d just spent the last forty years fighting one kind of badguys. Now, we were just starting to deal with a whole new kind we didn’t understand that well yet. I think Jeff didn’t know what to make of the guy after a while. I think it started wearing on him. That wasn’t his only problem either…”

News Clip: WPIX News 4 New York, NBC, March, 1993: www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2U66-SxoRY

Jeff gently tapped on the wall of the garage as he and Steve entered, and walked around the boat, to see Omar staring intently at a small TV on the counter.
Jeff held up the small gas can he was holding, when Omar turned to him. “Just returning this.” He said, placing the can on the floor of the garage. “Looks like me and the family aren’t gonna be able to go camping like we thought. Thanks anyway.” Jeff gestured to Steve. “You remember my friend Steve from the Fourth of July party.”

Omar nodded, then turned back to the TV.

Jeff and Steve both looked over to see what Omar was watching. Steve recognized the news anchor on the air as Mort Ackerman, that one he’d never liked. The show then cut to shots of the burned out building interiors they’d both seen on the news months ago.

“World Trade Center.” Steve said, shaking his head. “They probably have some new lead.”

Jeff sighed. “I can’t imagine what kind of person does that.”

“I can.” Omar said, dispassionately.

Jeff and Steve both looked at him.

“I lived among men who did things like this. It’s not just one region or religion that produces men like them. Men capable of anything can come from anywhere.” Omar said calmly. “Even America.”

Jeff and Steve both looked at each other uneasily.

Omar looked back at Jeff. “I called your work to reschedule our lunch but they said you were out.”

“Sorry, I had to meet a potential client.” Jeff said simply.

“Actually, you seem to be out whenever anyone calls, any time of day.” Omar continued.

“I meet with a lot of clients.” Jeff said coolly. “Anyways, we don’t want to take up any more of your time. I’ll call you and work out a time tomorrow.”
Omar nodded and turned back to the TV.

REM
“Texarkana”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dofbyH3N6bo

“All right, you got to meet him again.” Jeff said, as he and Steve walked from the garage to the street. “What do you make of him?”

“I’m still not getting a read on that guy.” Steve said with a sigh. “I mean, he’s hiding something. That’s obvious. Question is what? Gimme a little more time with the guy, maybe I can tell you.”

“We may not have it.” Jeff said.

“What do you mean?”

“This guy’s starting to get suspicious of me, plus Garrison’s running out of patience. He wants me to find out this guy’s deal soon. If he’s legit, fine. If I get even a hint that he’s not, well…”

Steve looked at Jeff. “What are you saying?”

Jeff gave a grim look. “I think you know what I’m saying.”

Steve leaned in closer. “Now, wait a minute. Some lowlife in East Germany that nobody’s gonna miss is one thing, but this is an American citizen on American soil. People are gonna miss this guy.”

“I know.” Jeff said, closing his eyes briefly.

“You sure about this?” Steve asked.

Jeff shook his head. “I’m not sure of anything these days.” Jeff turned to see some rustling in the bushes nearby. “What the hell?” He muttered quietly, walking over. His eyes widened suddenly as he pulled the thirteen year-old boy out from his hiding spot.

“Jimmy, what the hell are you doing?” Jeff yelled at his struggling son, gripping him by the arm. “Have you been following me?”

“You’re never around!” Jimmy said with a pouting look. “You’re always hanging out with someone else!” He gestured to an awkward-looking Steve. “I just wanted to find out why you’d rather be with them.”

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow.” Jeff said, releasing his grip on Jimmy. “I want you to go home for now.”

Jimmy’s eyes narrowed at his father. “You probably won’t even be here tomorrow.” He muttered.

“Jimmy!” Jeff barked. “Go home!”

Jimmy gave one last sullen look, then ran off in the direction of their house.

Steve looked at Jeff, who just shook his head and sighed…

“Gotta love the family drama that comes with teenagers.” Steve chuckled.

“So Jimmy was spying on his father?” Jeffries asked.

Steve shrugged. “Guess it ran in the family.”

Lilly nodded. “So maybe Jimmy saw some of what his father was up to.”

“Thanks for comin’ in, Jimmy.” Stillman said in his office with a nod.

Jimmy nodded as he sat down. “Yeah, sure. Anything I can do to help.”

Scotty shrugged. “You know we’re just tryin’ to solve your dad’s murder. We know you were just a kid back then. Maybe you don’t remember everything that happened back then.”

“I… I don’t understand.” Jimmy said, looking confused.

“We know you were following your dad around.” Stillman said. “Now maybe you saw something you didn’t understand at the time.”

Jimmy’s face sank slightly. “You heard about that, huh? Boy, was he mad after he caught me doing that. I was just as mad at him though.”

“For not bein’ around?” Scotty asked.

Jimmy smiled wistfully. “When I was growing up, the best moments of my life I remember were looking out the window and seeing my dad walking up the driveway whenever he got home. I mean I understand why he had to be away so much, but it was still hard not having him around.”

Scotty looked at Stillman, who had a solemn, knowing look on his face for just a moment.

“Anyway, after he retired, I was so excited cause I thought I was gonna get to see that sight everyday.” Jimmy’s smile faded into a slight frown. “Didn’t really work out that way though. That’s why I started sneaking around, spying on him. I figured I’d at least get to see him, even if he didn’t know about it. ” Jimmy chuckled at the memory. “I was actually kinda glad when he caught me doing that.. At least he was paying attention to me. He made me promise never to do it again.”

“You keep that promise?” Scotty asked, smiling slightly.

Jimmy chucked again. “No way! I just made sure I wouldn’t get caught again…”

REM
“Fall On Me”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QziZsyDA-Q

Jimmy smiled as he pulled the small receiver from the storage box in the basement. Sure enough, it was the very same one his father had shown him before. Jimmy picked up the end and carefully plugged it into the nearby phone router He remember exactly what his dad had shown him, one of the few times he did show Jimmy something from his job, then held the receiver up to his ear.

“You know for someone trying to keep things quiet, I’m not sure calling me at my house is really the best way to go about it.” Jeff said, sitting in his study.

“This couldn’t wait.” Garrison said on the other end. “You found out anything more about him?”

Jeff sighed. “Not since the last time you asked about it. Is that really all you called about?”

“Actually, no, it’s not. I know you brought Mitchum in on this without telling anyone.” Jeff didn’t respond. “You really think I wouldn’t find out?”

“I know what I’m doing, all right?”

“I’m not so sure about that anymore.” Garrison said. “You got a hell of a lot of balls in the air. The Company, family, friends, neighbors. You were never that great a multi-tasker. Sooner or later, some things are gonna get dropped. You’d just better make damn sure I’m not one of them. Don’t forget your priorities, Jeff.”

“Right.” Jeff said, dryly.

“We’ll talk about this more after I get there on Tuesday.”

“Get there?” Jeff looked at the phone in confusion for a moment. “You’re coming here?”

“Just making sure you’re staying on course.”

“I don’t need anyone to babysit me!”

“I don’t think you’re in a position right now to be telling me what you need. This is too important for your stubborn pride to get in the way.”

“Maybe I got a problem with that.” Jeff said, coldly.

“Maybe I don’t care.” Garrison answered menacingly.

Jimmy swallowed hard and pulled the cord from the phone router.

“Never heard anyone talk to my dad like that.” Jimmy said, shaking his head.

“You remember when this phone call was?” Scotty asked.

“About a week before he died.” Jimmy said.

Stillman looked away in thought for a moment, then quickly looked back at Jimmy, and extended his hand. “Thanks, Jimmy. Call us if you think of anything else.”

Jimmy smiled, shook Stillman’s hand and walked out.

“So Jeff’s boss showed up in Philly a few days before Jeff gets killed.” Stillman said.

“Hell of a coincidence.” Scotty said.

“If Garrison decided Jeff had become a liability, it’s also a hell of an opportunity.”
 

5

Standing in Bob Garrison’s office, Kat folded her arms as she and Vera looked at Garrison, sitting at his desk.

“You’re not an easy man to get a hold of, Director Garrison.” She said. “I was starting to wonder if we were getting the brush-off.”

Garrison shrugged and held up his hands. “I’m a busy man. I’m sorry if I gave you the impression I didn’t care. I do.”

“But you never bothered to tell the cops when Jeff got killed that his little retirement into suburbia was all an act.”

Garrison nodded solemnly. “Because his operation wasn’t entirely authorized.”

Vera’s eyes narrowed. “Not authorized?”

Garrison sighed. “At the start of the year, we received some intel on a man who’d immigrated here from Afghanistan a couple of years before, named Omar Khalid, linking him to some possible terrorist groups. The man was an engineer with experience in demolition. I thought at the very least we should check him out. My superiors didn’t agree, neither did the FBI. This was before the first World Trade Center attack or the shooting here, and we weren’t as diligent as we could’ve been.” Garrison frowned. “The reason I’ve gotten as far as I have up the ladder is I trust my gut, and my gut said there was more to this guy than we thought.”

“So you sent Jeff out to Philly to spy on the guy.” Vera said.

“Yeah.” Garrison said.

“And Khalid’s little accident, was that part of the ‘operation’ too?” Kat asked.

“Absolutely not.” Garrison said. “If there was any holes in his story, I wanted him brought in alive.”

“Was Jeff clear on that?” Vera asked.

“I assumed he was, at first.” Garrison said. “I think it started to wear on him after a while, lying to his family like that. I wasn’t sure he was up to it anymore.”

“So that’s why you went to Philly?” Kat asked.

Garrison nodded.

“Two days before Jeff was killed?” She continued.

“I was in my hotel room the night Jeff was killed.” Garrison said calmly. “Check the phone records. Only reason I went there was I was concerned.”

“For Jeff or the operation?” Vera asked, skeptically.

“Both.” Garrison said, before shaking his head. “It didn’t matter though. By the time I got there, it was already over…”

REM
“Try Not to Breathe”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RokyGRQP0no

Garrison looked around the meeting point in the park until he spotted Jeff on a nearby bench.

“Khalid’s dead.” Jeff said calmly.

“Yeah, I heard.” Garrison said, confused. “Some kind of boating accident?”

“That’s what the reports say.” Jeff answered curtly.

Garrison frowned and sat down.

“So you still gonna get on me about using Steve?” Jeff asked.

“I don’t think I was wrong to do that.” Garrison answered. “That money ended up in somebody’s hands. I just don’t trust him.”

“Funny, I don’t remember you ever refusing help from someone you didn’t trust.”

“Informants are one thing. You gotta take your info were you can get it, but if someone’s supposed to be watching my back, I want to make damn sure I know who I’m dealing with.”

Jeff looked straight ahead. “You know something, Bob, I’m sick of wondering whether I can trust people or not.” He stood up. “I’m gonna go home, see if I still have a family to go home to.”

“We still gotta look through Khalid’s things, see if there’s anything there.”

“You can find someone else to do that.” Jeff started walking. “I’m done.”

“Jeff!” Garrison stood up and called out to him.

Jeff turned with a bitter look. “Hey, didn’t you hear? I’m retired.”

Garrison watched as Jeff walked off…

Garrison shrugged. “I wasn’t exactly in a position to make him come back.”

“You think he killed Khalid?” Vera asked.

“I don’t know. I think he just wanted the whole thing over with.” He looked at the detectives uneasily. “One way or another.”

“You said something about money ending up in somebody’s hands.” Kat asked. “What was that about?”

“Back in the eighties, one of our field teams raided a terrorist base in Egypt on the border of Libya. Weapons, drugs, money.” Garrison swallowed. “There were some… discrepancies when the money was counted. We couldn’t proving anything…”

“But you think someone took a little off the top.” Vera said.

“Steve Mitchum was the one in charge of that raid.” Garrison said. “That’s why I didn’t trust him. That’s why I still don’t trust him.”

Kat and Vera looked at each other.

“There’s something else. Ray Martin, the agent who got killed in Prague, I found out after he died that he’d been trying to looking into what happened to that missing money.”

“And you think Steve killed this guy to cover it up?” Vera asked.

Garrison shrugged. “It was all just speculation, though. I couldn’t prove any of it. Couldn’t do anything beyond getting him fired.”

“But if Jeff suspected something…” Kat said.

“Maybe Steve decided to cover his tracks.” Vera said.

Steve gave Lilly and Scotty a bored look as he sat at the interview table.

“Been lookin’ through your history, Steve.” Scotty said, holding a file. “Parts of it that aren’t blacked out anyway.”

“You traveled the world, places most people wouldn’t dare try to go.” Lilly said. “Probably not as glamorous as the movies make it.”

“It ain’t martinis and tuxedos.” Steve said. “What’s your point?”

“Everything you seen and done, puttin’ yourself on the line.” Scotty shrugged. “All for a crappy government salary?”

“I can see how someone might think they deserve a little something extra, everything they did for their country.” Lilly continued. “Maybe an opportunity presents itself.”

“Like that one in Egypt back in the eighties?”

Steve’s eyes narrowed with a hint of recognition.

“You’re taking money away from the badguys.” Scotty said. “What does it matter whose pocket it winds up in?”

“Just too bad some boy scout like Ray Martin doesn’t see it that way.” Lilly said.

“So you take him along on a field mission to Prague. Somethin’ goes wrong, and he ends up comin’ home in a bag.” Scotty said.

“A few years later the same thing happens to your old partner. Funny how that seems to happen to guys you work with.”

Steve leaned forward and glared at the detectives. “You two are so off-base, it’s pathetic.”

“Is that right?” Scotty asked.

Steve folded his arms. “Ray Martin died in Prague cause he was an friggin’ cowboy who couldn’t follow orders. I didn’t want anything to do with him. It was some higher-up’s bright idea to put him in the field, not mine. And as for the other thing, I didn’t lift a cent in that raid. For the record, I wasn’t the only agent there.”

“Who we talkin’ about, here?” Scotty asked.

“Honestly, I hoped I was wrong about him.” Steve shook his head. “But I know what I heard that day…”

REM
“Low”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WkOsIXXN-E

Crouching behind the shipping container, Steve looked around until he spotted Ethan walking towards the edge of the docks. Steve sprinted towards a closer container, then pressed his back to the container as he heard a ringing sounded and watched Ethan pull out his cell phone.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Ethan said nervously. “No, I haven’t said anything to anyone, I swear.”
Steve strained to listen as Ethan continued.

“Look, you don’t have to do this. I can talk to Jeff, maybe–” He paused for a moment as the person on the other end spoke. “What are you gonna do to him? He’s got a family, for God’s sake. You can’t just–” Ethan swallowed hard. “All right, all right. He’ll be at the park tomorrow night.” He wiped sweat from his brow as a pained look formed on his face. “I know, I know. He’ll be there, all right?”

Steve watched Ethan close the phone and walk off…

“You think Ethan was being blackmailed?” Lilly asked. “Someone was using him to get to Jeff?”

Steve nodded. “I don’t know who, but that’s what I heard.”

Scotty frowned. “And you think this might be useful to the cops back then? Or maybe warn Jeff his partner was leading him into a trap?”

Steve paused for a moment, then leaned back in his chair with a smirk. “That Omar guy was dead. Jeff was done with me and I was done with him.“

Lilly and Scotty exchanged disgusted looks before turning back to Steve. “You said Jeff gave you respect. Too bad it didn’t go both ways.”

Steve said nothing, but glared as the two detective stood up.

“You’re a real piece of work.” Scotty said, reaching for the door. “Sit tight, we’ll be back in a while.”

Halfway up the stairs at the Starlight Motel, Lilly turned to see Scotty staring intently at his phone.

“You’ve been checking that thing the whole way here.” Lilly said with a smile. “You expecting a call?”

“No.” Scotty quickly said. “Just seein’ if Vera and Miller are back yet.”

Lilly shrugged and headed up the stairs. Scotty chuckled quietly.

Lilly turned again. “What?”

Scotty smiled wistfully. “Just thinkin’ this is probably the last guy we’re gonna bring in together.”

Lilly’s smile faded and she turned forward again.

As they walked towards Ethan’s room, they noticed the door open a crack, with damage to the lock.

“Scotty.” Lilly said, drawing her gun and pointing out the damage to her partner, who also drew his weapon.

“Ethan?” Lilly called out, pushing the door open. “It’s Detectives Rush and Valens.”

“Over here.” Ethan called out with a slightly slurred speech.

The detective walked in to see Ethan sitting at a small table. He was holding expensive looking, but nearly empty bottle of whiskey in one hand and glass in the other. His posture seemed uncomfortably straight as he sat.

Scotty looked back at the door, then at Ethan. “What’s going on here, Ethan?”

Ethan held up the bottle. “He gave some of the good stuff. That was nice of him. Didn’t have to do that.”

“What are you talking about?” Lilly asked.

Ethan shook his head. “We never should’ve gone after Khalid. He wasn’t who we thought he was. Then he wouldn’t have had to go on the run.”

“What do you mean ‘go on run?”” Scotty asked.

Ethan leaned forward and chuckled. “He’s not so dead.” He whispered.

Scotty’s eyes narrowed. “You’re saying Khalid didn’t die in that accident?”

Ethan smiled and shook his head slowly.

Lilly leaned closer. “Ethan we know you were being blackmailed. We need to know by who.”

Ethan looked at the two detectives. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourselves into.”

“All right, you’re comin’ in with us.” Scotty said, reaching for Ethan’s arm.

Ethan immediately pulled back nervously. “You can’t move me from here.”

“Wanna bet?” Scotty said with a frown and reached for Ethan’s arm again.

Ethan’s face turned deadly serious. “I said you can’t move me.” He pointed downwards and it was only then that Lilly and Scotty first noticed the wires leading up and down the leg of the chair. Scotty looked at Lilly, then crouched down and looked underneath the chair to see a menacing collection of plastic, metal, wires, and a blinking red light.

“Lil.” Scotty said to her as he looked up.

“We gotta call Bomb Squad.” Lilly said, before turning back to Ethan. “Ethan, who did this?”

Ethan gave her a sad look and shook his head. “I can’t say. That was the deal. He leaves my family alone. Only time I did right by them.”

Scotty stood up and headed to the door with Lilly.

“All right, don’t move, Ethan.” Lilly said. “We’re gonna get help.”

“I just thought I could take a few bucks, support my family. What’s the harm?” Ethan poured some more whiskey in the glass and threw it back. “Should’ve been more like Jeff.” Ethan sighed and shifted in the chair. “This is my penance. I deserve it.”

Scotty’s eyes widened. “Ethan, do not get up from that chair!”

Ethan threw back the last bit of whiskey in the bottle, then put it and the glass on the table, and put both hands on the chair’s armrests.

“Tell his family I’m sorry, would you?”

He pushed down on the arm rests and started to lift himself up.

Lilly and Scotty immediately bolted from the room and threw themselves to the floor of the walkway. Behind them, a deafening blast hurled the door clear over the railing, followed by a huge cloud of dust. Lilly and Scotty covered their heads as debris rained down all around them.

REM
“Drive”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkamKCO-w0E

As Lilly and Scotty came to and the ringing in their ears passed, they could barely recognize one other, with their faces, hair, and clothes nearly gray from dust. They both looked behind them to the pile of rubble where the doorway had been…

In his mother’s living room, Jimmy picked the piece of granite up off the mantle, looked at it for a moment, then put it back, before looking at Sharon who was watching him from the hallway with an uneasy look on her face…

Sitting in the interview room with the door open, Steve watched as Stillman hung up the phone in his office and rush out towards Jeffries, who was looking through a file of papers from Jeff’s case box. Stillman said something to Jeffries and the two hurried out of the room…

In the car, Vera was jolted awake by the ringing phone. He picked it up and listened for a few moments, before some of the color drained from his face. He immediately turned to Kat and repeated what he’d just heard. Her jaw dropped slightly and she quickly turned the steering wheel around…

At her desk, Bonnie placed a hand over her open mouth as the person on the other end of the phone spoke. She turned around to see Garrison standing in the doorway giving her a wary look…

As Lilly and Scotty finally stood up, they could both make out flashing red and blue lights in the distance. Lilly slowly eased her way to the doorway, where she thought she could make out blood on some of the rubble. She knelt down as she spotted a half-buried sheet of paper on the ground. It was partially singed at the edges, but she could make out the writing as a personnel file, with a CIA insignia in the top right corner and Jeff’s picture in the left. She looked into the wrecked motel room and sighed.

To Be Continued…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHd7937I7SQ

I recently learned how to create audio presentations in PowerPoint, and thus have decided to convert all of my Cold Case Virtual Season 8 stories into audio PowerPoint Slides. Unfortunately, the PowerPoint files are too large to attach here. If anyone is interested in these audio recitations, please send me a private message with your e-mail address.

So, it seems demand for these audio presentations is not exactly skyrocketing. Let me state here once and for all that I do not charge for these presentations. I make no money off of the Cold Case Virtual Season 8; I never intended to make money off of this. This is just a passion that I have had for several years because I thought the show deserved a better ending. Even if I wanted to make money off of this, I would most likely face serious copyright claims due to the amount of music and background audio that I use.

The audio presentations consist of my slightly adlibed narrations of the five acts of each episode. Flashback sequences also play featured music just like in the show or I use selections from the Cold Case Soundtrack. I also treat listeners to a brief commentary after each episode. I suppose I could just post those After the Show segments here as messages, but I just thought the audio component would be a nice addition.

I thought about learning how to post these presentations on YouTube, but, once again, copyright laws.

AFTER THE SHOW

In an effort to keep everything as uniform as possible with what I did, and since no one seems interested in my narrated presentations, I have decided to edit these original episodes closer to how I set them up and add my After the Show segments here.

While this episode was not my creation, the Cold Case Soundtrack instrumental additions were my idea as I stated above. It was also my idea to split up the flashback in part 4 and add an actual news clip from after the 1993 World Trade Center attack. However, it was not as accurate as I had hoped for. I was hoping to find footage more middle of the road between when that attack took place and the date when Jeff was killed. While I found several clips relating to the day of the attack, I had little luck with news footage related to the FBI's follow-up investigation, so I had to take what I could get.