Not mine. Enough said.

Four days later and the detectives were no closer to solving the Taventry/Ulmstead case. Or either of the related cases for that matter. After reinterviewing every witness, every family member. After recanvassing every crime scene and reexamining every piece of evidence, they were stuck. They only thing that they had accomplished in the four seemingly endless days was an extreme increase in sexual tension.

Alex and Bobby stood in a small conference room that they had converted into a headquarters for the investigation. Case files were strewn across the table, and several bulletin boards lined the edges of the room, all covered with maps, schedules, pictures, and profiles. Bobby reached across the table to grab his coffee, brushing Alex's arm on the way.

Oh. My. God. If he leans over me one more time- if I get another whiff of that scent… that detergent and spice and coffee and musk that absolutely defines Bobby Goren… I honestly don't know what I'll do. But I'm pretty sure that it won't go over well with the captain. Or the Chief of D's. Or IAB. Probably better to keep my hands to myself then. Now my thoughts? I'm definitely in less control of those, although I should probably work to keep them contained to off-duty hours. Actually… that may be more dangerous. Easier to act. Nope. Can't happen. Won't happen. Okay. Now think.

After days full of interviews and combing for evidence, and nights full of reading and rereading case files, all that Bobby and Alex could come up with was a loose profile for the victims. All were couples who were visiting the city- the first from Miami and the second from Phoenix. They had all flown into JFK, and were staying in upscale hotels in Manhattan. They had all traveled to the same area of Central Park, basically just to see the sights and enjoy their time in New York. Nothing remarkable to really be found, except for their apparent… attraction to each other. As many witnesses described, each couple seemed to be over the top as far as public displays of affection went. Even the receptionists at the airport remembered the couples as being overt in their affection for one another. They simply could not keep their hands off of each other.

"This guy… he's jealous. Jealous of their affection for one another," Bobby said as he studied the images of the victims pinned to the bulletin board in front of him. "See how he left both of them open and vulnerable? He wants to humiliate them because he thinks that they're humiliating themselves with the obvious sexual overtones in their relationships. He's probably middle aged, and he's been rejected… uhh... multiple times. But he's not unattractive, so he feels… betrayed… by the women he tries to form relationships with. He can't justify their rejection. He's also an introvert… a recluse. He withdraws and watches people, so he thinks that the open affection of these couples is their way of flaunting their success in relationships. He feels like they are personally humiliating him… even victimizing him. His way of getting even was shaming them in the way that he feels they are degrading both him and themselves. He probably made the man watch while he raped the woman, it's the ultimate degradation. He's- he's trying to make the man feel as incompetent and useless as he feels," Bobby finished as he rubbed the back of his neck, leaning over his desk.

"A man who feels insecure and incompetent? Bobby we can't keep tabs on half of the population, we're gonna have to narrow it down somehow," Alex said as she watched her partner.

"Goren, Eames- my office," Ross called as he leaned out the door to his own corner of the bullpen. Alex looked up as Ross closed his cell phone and turned to reenter the small room that she was slowly beginning to accept as Ross' office.

"Looks like we've got something," Bobby said as he eased himself from his chair and followed Eames to the office, placing his hand on the small of her back as she made her way through the door. He could feel her shiver slightly as his hand made contact and couldn't help but feel a warm tingling in the pit of his stomach at her response.

Maybe it's real. Maybe she may think of me as more than her weird, crazy genius partner. Maybe. But now is not the time to be thinking about that. We've got a case to solve, and our caseload probably just doubled since we haven't been making any progress on this one…. God she looks good today. Is she wearing a skirt? Eames never wears skirts. Does she? Damn Goren, for someone known to be so observant you're really inadequate when it comes to reading her. Okay. Just act like you always do. Nothing's changed… she'd never feel the same way. No maybes, stop dreaming. Get your act together.

Ross nodded to both of them as Alex took a seat in front of the desk and Bobby assumed his usual position in the corner. Enough room to pace, survey the entire room… enough space to think.

"Looks like he's struck again. Same MO, very similar circumstances. Out of town couple, flew in to JFK, paid a visit to Central Park, overly flashy in their displays of love. Woman found nude in the corner, sexually assaulted and shot in the back of the head. Man an apparent suicide, complete with a note," Ross summarized as he watched his detectives process the information.

"He's getting bolder. Striking more quickly, much less time between the crimes," Alex observed as she watched Bobby begin to pace behind her.

"We're running out of options. We haven't been able to trace any material evidence because there hasn't been any to trace," Bobby murmured as he made his way around the room. "He's getting bolder, but unfortunately not sloppier. He knows what he's doing… he's- he's getting into his element."

"And even if we had a suspect… anything we'd have on him would be purely circumstantial," Alex finished as she turned to face the captain.

"So where to we go from here. You're NYPD's best. Any ideas?" Ross asked.

"We could do surveillance… canvass the area and watch for suspicious activity. But that may take too long. If he increases the rapidity of his attacks, we don't have much time," said Alex.

"And the area is just too large. We don't know if he's choosing them at the airport… at the park… anywhere around the park. There's no way we could use that much manpower for a blind search," Bobby observed. "Our best bet is an undercover operation. We 'fly' into JFK, take a cab to a hotel… stay a few nights. Act as tourists. We just may be able to bait him."

"And what makes you think you'll be able to bait him, out of the hundreds of couples in Manhattan every day?" Ross asked, eyeing Goren quizzically.

Bobby glanced at Alex and froze. Oh God. How could you have backed yourself into a corner like this without talking to Eames first? What connects the couples? Their overtly sexual relationships. How do we bait him? By being in an overtly sexual relationship. I can't BELIEVE I just put her in this position. How stupid of me! She'll never forgive me. That's okay. I'll get her out of it… I'll just-

Alex shifted in her chair, catching Bobby's eye. He had to act. Fast.

"We'll need to send someone else in who can-" Bobby started but was quickly cut off.

"We can't send in anyone else. We've spent more time on this case and know what we're looking for. There's no way to brief undercover officers quickly enough to get this guy and we'll end up sacrificing two more people. It's gotta be us," she finished, shooting Bobby a defiant look.

You know, the protective thing is nice sometimes. But I want to do my job, which involves going undercover. What is his problem! God he's been acting weird lately. Like something's got him really unsettled. He's never calm, that's not Bobby… he's just usually not so flustered. I wonder what's gotten into him.

"Okay. Just let me know what you'll need. Good luck," Ross said as he grabbed another case file and began looking over it, already moving on to the next pressing case assigned to MCS.

Bobby glanced regretfully at the captain as his shoulders slumped and he made his way toward the exit.

Well this should be an interesting week.