After Jack died Alex had been depressed. Not oh I'm sad because I'm having a bad day- he felt like his soul had been ripped apart and a piece of it was gone never to return. He'd felt the same sadness when his uncle had died- and it had gotten better. Not perfect but not debilitating despair either. Knowing that hadn't made it any easier at the time though. Now ten years later he stood in front of her gravestone on the anniversary of her death; going over the events that lead to her murder, wondering if there was anything he could've done to stop it from happening. He'd only been fourteen he knew that it wasn't his fault. That the events of his fourteenth year on this earth were events that were out of his control. He'd been a child. He knew all of that logically, but that didn't stop the guilt that still ate away at his soul every day. He sighed. Normally he tried to forget about that time in his life, here he was standing and staring at a gravestone still lost in thought. He shook his head much like a dog trying to shake off water, he tried to shake the depressing thoughts out of his head.
"Alex, it's been a while." The voice from behind him spoke with barely any inflection and the smell of peppermint brought back a familiar feeling of dread.
"Ms Jones." He replied. Turning around he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. It felt odd seeing her now. She looked much the same with maybe a few more wrinkles around her eyes. He had changed quite a bit though- the way boys do when they turn into men. His hair was darker now, and he'd gotten quite tall. He was at least a head taller than Ms. Jones. He wondered what she saw. Did she look at him and see the 24 year old man that he'd become- or did she still see the teenager that had been in her office so long ago.
"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here."
"No- I wasn't actually. I think I'll be heading out now." He moved to head towards his motorcycle. Normally he would've been more polite- at least pretended to make small talk when he knew that there was an ulterior motive, but today, on the same day that Jack had died he didn't have the energy. He knew deep down that Jack would've probably responded the same way. It was a tiny victory but it still brought a small smile to his face as he turned his back on Ms Jones.
"Believe me, you'll want to know this."
Something in her voice gave him pause, she sounded almost, sympathetic. He stopped but didn't turn around.
"We have a person in custody who is refusing to talk to anyone but you."