Sonny touched her shoulder and she turned back around with tears in her eyes. His eyes asked her what was wrong.

“Thanks for the Gizmo,” she said softly.

“I couldn’t let you waste money on a new suit for my service or visitation,” he grinned. He remembered the questioning look that Reynaldo gave him when he handed him a stuffed animal and told him to put it in ADA Taggert’s car. Never for a moment had Sonny contemplated not sending Dara a message telling her that he was okay. “How long?”

“Marcus called me that night as soon as the 911 call came in, but I had heard it called in on the scanner.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, touching her cheek.

She leaned into his hand. “Gizmo made it all better.” Looking down at her watch, she noticed the time. Gia would be bringing Craig home soon and she didn’t want him coming home to an empty house. “Is it safe to talk in the limo?”

“Yes,” he said, stepping away from her and handing her the bag.

“Thanks,” she said, taking her new clothes and heading out of the room. As she walked out of the house, she took the time to notice the things about the house she had missed the night before. It would make a great house for a family, she thought in passing.

Once settled inside the car, Sonny sat opposite of her and gave her the latest news. “We’ve traced the drugs back to a man named Ike Coward. He goes by the name Elvis. He’s a mid-level guy in a gang in Columbus, Ohio, who decided to start a little side business without his fellow gang members knowledge.”

“Does he have a rap sheet?”

Sonny handed the folder Jason had sent over to the safe house earlier. “Surprisingly nothing. He’s clean.”

“The Columbus PD just have suspicions that he has gang affiliations. How is this possible? He has to have some other connections to try and pull off something like this. He was going to have to get them through quite a few territories before the drugs got to him in Ohio.”

“He’s young and cocky, a dangerous combination. This wasn’t his first run, but it was his first time using this new supplier in Canada.”

“Does he know who you are?” she asked him pointedly.

“I’m a myth. A fantasy,” he responded, shrugging his shoulders. He was slightly uncomfortable talking to Dara about his reputation or his business. He never discussed business with Brenda, which ultimately led her to wearing the wire. Lily knew better than to ask. And Carly. He sighed. With nosy, interfering Carly, he and Jason made sure only to discuss business at Jason’s place or another safe location. And luckily, the same was true for his brief time with Hannah. The last time, he had revealed anything about his work to anyone besides his associates, was…Dara. They had come full circle.

“What? They think you’re like Michael Corleone, a character in a movie?” Dara questioned in disbelief. Was that even possible? Maybe her years in the DA’s office and being married to a cop made her forget how the average person saw crime or crime bosses. But this wasn’t some innocent man. He had to know who Sonny was. “He would be an idiot to transport that much merchandise and not double, triple check the route it was going.”

He admired the way her mind worked. If he’d been sloppier and hadn’t had cops and judges on his payroll, she would have sent him to prison during one of their many run-ins in the courtroom. “He probably did check the route, but he had to- -“

“Hire outside help,” she finished. Running her fingers through her hair, she sighed. “Could it have been possible for him to hire a worse group of guys?”

“No, but greed and secrecy lead you to make poor decisions. We’ll know how they met Elvis by the end of the day.”

She opened her mouth then instantly closed it. She almost asked him how they were going to get that information, then she remembered his hands reached everywhere. “Is there anyone you can’t get to?”

He smiled brightly deepening his dimples. “Only those with something to hide. That’s why you, Tags, Garcia, and Mac were out of reach.”

Turning away, she looked out at the passing scenery. “You had something to blackmail me with,” she whispered softly.

Grasping her chin, he stared directly into her eyes. “Our past is just between us, no one else. EVER,” he paused, “You know things that could have gotten me seeing the inside of Sing-Sing for the rest of my life.”

“Never.”

They gazed into each other’s eyes and then Sonny pulled away and sat back against his seat, breaking the moment. “It will take some time to put everything in place that I have in mind for Elvis. Can you be patient?”

She rolled her eyes. “Infinitely.”

“Can you keep it together?”

“Y- -“

“Dara, think about this. You can still get out with the knowledge these men will never hurt you and yours again. But you don’t have to be involved.”

“How did I ever forget how hard headed you are?” Dara exclaimed, taking his hands into her own. “Thank you for trying to save me, but I have to see this through to the very end. Consequences be damned, but I know there won’t be any because I have you protecting me and watching my back,” she said, moving her hand to his cheek. “I owe this to Marcus and to myself.”

He saw the determination and unwavering conviction in her eyes. He saw them, but still he had to try one last time. “It won’t be easy. And there are always consequences even if you don’t end up in a 6’ x 9’.”

Staring him dead in the eyes, her need for vengeance blazing, she replied, “I know.”

Sonny nodded. “How long do you have?”

Dara glanced at her watch. “Is an hour and a half good?”

“More than enough.”

“May I borrow your cell?”

He handed her his cell phone.

Punching the numbers by heart, she returned her gaze out the window. “Gia, I hate to impose but I’m out running errands and I don’t want Craig to come home to an empty house- -“ She listened to her sister-in-law. “You sure Leslie, Laura, and Stefan won’t mind?” She listened again. “Okay. I’ll see you guys this evening. Thanks, Gia. Tell him, ‘I love him.’ Bye.” She hung up the cell and handed it back to Sonny. “We have until dinnertime. So tell me, where do we begin?”

Sonny turned and began the course that would change their lives forever.