Chapter 4

D.C.S. Foyle sat in his chair behind his desk. He rolled the solid gold ring over his fingers again feeling the weight of it. Then he read the inscription for the tenth time hoping that something might jump out at him. Forever in Time. No date, no initials just those three simple words were etched with precision on the inside of the diamond channel set ring.

Odd really though not quite as odd as Dr. Greene's reaction had been. Once she had gotten over the initial shock she claimed she had never seen the ring before. Nor could she shed any light on what the message in the note meant or who it could have been from. But something in his bones made him think otherwise.

Something told him she knew damn well whose finger that was in the box. What he needed to find out was why she felt the need to hide it from him. Not that he suspected her of anything. Well, other than lying to him which was nothing new. She had been doing that from the beginning. Of that he was for certain. Whatever her reason for being here receiving the finger had shaken her down to her core. He could smell the fear coming off of her. And he didn't like it. Not one bit.

There was a curt knock on his door before Sam's head popped in.

"She's leaving, sir."

Foyle grabbed his hat from his desk and plopped it on top of his head.

"Rrrright." He said following Sam out of the door.

It was high time he found out what she was really going on.

XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX

"Are you sure it was James's finger, Lex. Without DNA…"

"It still had his wedding ring on it, Charlie." Alexa replied in exasperation. "I don't need DNA to know."

"Right…but still I'll have to bring it back with me for analysis. We'll run some tests just to be sure."

Alexa bit her lower lip. It was a habit she had recently picked up since arriving in Hastings. She needn't wonder where it had come from.

"Actually you can't bring it back. I don't have it." Charles Gideon stopped his pacing right in front of her placing his hands on his hips.

"Where is it then?"

"It's locked up in evidence back at the precinct." Oh boy was she going to get it now. She almost wished Foyle was here instead of Charlie. Foyle may have been a formidable boss but he wasn't quite as intimidating as Charlie was when an Operative screwed up. And man had she screwed up.

"Why would you leave it there?"

" 'Cause…I opened the box in the presence of D.C.S Foyle as well as his sergeant and his driver. I had to put it into evidence. There were witnesses, sir."

"Christ Lexie!" His arms shot up in the air emphasizing his frustration with her. "What were you thinking?"

"I didn't know that it had come from the Jumper. He's never made contact before. Ever. How was I supposed to know? I didn't even think he was here."

Charlie let out a long sigh, "But he is here. And what's worse he knows who you are." He kicked at a stone that knocked off the closest tree trunk. "I should pull you out of here right now…." He held up his hand to silence Lexie's protests, "but I can't. You're already settled here plus there isn't anyone to spare right now."

The impending doom that she had felt earlier spiraled up from her stomach again, "Are you saying you're leaving me on my own here, sir?" Alexa had expected for him to send at least two more Operatives now that it was confirmed that their Jumper was indeed here.

Charlie's face was momentarily illuminated by the light of the fool moon that had found a crack amongst the thick tree branches of the forest. The way the silver light fanned across his face made the wince look almost painful.

"I don't have a choice. Everyone is off on a new case."

"Even Jonesy and Moore?" They were the two other operatives that had jumped to other periods after the same suspect. They should have at least been available.

"Moore came back three months ago and Jonesy three weeks ago. They're both already out on this new case. And believe me I can't spare anyone from that one." Charlie peered up through the trees at the moon, "It's pretty bad."

"How bad? What's it about?"

Charlie shook his head and stared down at the ground. For three years he had been her Supervisor—before that he had been her partner. Never in all of these years had she seen him look quite so unsettled.

"I think its best not to tell you."

"Wha…

He silenced her question with his hand. Rubbing the knot between his eyes he simply said, "I need your head here and not worrying over something you have no control over."

"Charlie," she went to him and placed a hand on his forearm. "You're scaring me." He looked down at where her hand lay upon his arm, and then he reached over with his opposite one and gave it a gentle squeeze before pulling her into a giant hug.

"Are you all right here?" He asked her after placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Is there anything you need?"

She giggled a little at his question. What didn't she need here? It defiantly wasn't home. She snuggled her cheek against his hard chest and just relaxed into the familiar feeling. She had been here so long she hadn't realized quite how lonely she had been. It felt so nice just to be near a friend she wanted to cry.

"What do I need or what do I want?" She began while looking up into his face. For right now he wasn't playing her Supervisor, but her best friend. He had been that for way longer and it was hard for them to leave it behind. So they simply never had. They would always be friends before colleagues. "What I want is a cheeseburger and some McDonald's fries. I would kill for some Ben and Jerry's Half Baked right now. Oh …and a hot steaming shower where I can let the water run for oh…I don't know…about an hour. What I need," she removed herself from his arms and began to pace, "is to sleep through the night without being terrified out of my bed by air raid sirens. What I need is to leave this Godforsaken war in the past where it belongs. Not my present."

"I know Lex…I know. I hate having to leave you here. Just find this bastard then hopefully you can come home." Hopefully-what did he mean by that? Before she had the chance to ask him he was readying himself to leave, "Listen I have to get back. You know how to reach me if you need me." He hesitated for a minute before hitting the button on the plastic bracelet that adorned his wrist. "If for any reason communications are down or you don't hear from me," he turned the Zapper on and the illuminated key pad lit up a bright red in the darkness, "I want you to contact a Hilda Pierce. Go to the Holy Trinity Church on Robertson St. In the cemetery find the stone of one Fox W. Mulder…"

"Seriously? You stole that from the X-Files."

Charlie looked up at her in annoyance as he was punching in his Burn Code, "You won't forget the name, now will you? We were hoping by giving you fictional characters that we wouldn't have a repeat from the last time. We've learned from your past mistakes."

"Okay…Okay….point taken." Jeez turn one cemetery upside down and they never forget it.

"At the base of the stone you'll find a compartment. Just leave a note for her there and she'll find you."

"Why have I never heard of her before?"

"She's not one of us. She's just a contact. But she knows and she can be trusted." Charlie finished punching the last of his code in. Before he hit the Enter button he said, "See ya on the flip side." Then he hit the button and with one last wink of his eye he was gone.

In the silence of the woods she had never felt so alone. No one was coming to help. It was all up to her. The weight of her burden suddenly felt too heavy for her shoulders to bear. She took a moment to ponder her options.

She knew what she was about to do was completely against the rules. In reality that didn't matter too much to her. She wasn't one to follow the rules much. If her parents were still alive they would testify to that fact. It was more the detrimental effects it could have that worried her. She weighed the pros and cons out in her head. There was no way she could do this alone. If she tried and failed the outcome could have even worse effects than her changing their time ripple. She simply had no other choice.

She turned to the tall oak about twenty feet to her left. Then she spoke out into the darkness.

"You can come out now." She saw the silver shadow of Sam's unhidden arm duck back around the tree trunk. Alexa rolled her eyes at the scene. Did they really think they were fooling anyone? "I know you're there. I know you have questions. Come out now and I'll tell you what I can."

In the darkness she could hear Foyle suck on his cheek. She knew he was contemplating what move to make next. After a half a second he moved out from behind the trunk to where she could see him.

"I think I would like to hear…everything, Dr. Green. Starting with the identity of your friend," Foyle's narrowed squinted eyes searched the wood, "Where did he go?"

Since Alexa had been aware of their presence from the very beginning she had made it a point to keep her and Charlie out of their earshot as well as their eyesight during his burn.

"Foyle listen to me closely. As you've probably figured out I'm not here to help out with the "War Effort". I was placed here on assignment by my Agency."

"And the name of that Agency would be….?"

"Listen," Alexa sighed while she configured just what she could let them in on and what she couldn't. "I'm going to let you in on a little of what I'm doing here. I will give you the details of the case and the case alone pertaining to the here and now. Anything that I leave out, which includes the name of my Agency, you must believe is for your own good." She came up and stood face to face with him so that she could look into his eyes.

Sam who could hardly contain her excitement yelped out, "You're a spy, aren't you?"

Without breaking eye contact with Foyle, Alexa replied, "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies."

Foyle narrowed his eyes into impossible slits. She wavered only momentarily under their scrutiny. For a second she thought he could almost see right through her to the truth. Finally he nodded his head, "Alright we'll start on your terms…," he cut her a strong sideways glance, "for now. Can you at least tell me who the gentleman was that you were meeting with?"

"Oh I know this one," Sam interrupted, "he's your man."

"Good God No," For reasons unbeknownst to her Alexa felt she needed to clear that misunderstanding up with Foyle straight away, "He's my Supervisor. Not boyfriend…not at all." Alright Alexa I think you made your point.

"But he had his arms around you." Apparently not clear enough for Sam. "And he kissed you."

"He's my Supervisor and my very close friend. We used to be partners."

"Partners? Is that an American term for lovers?" Sam whispered the last word. She was guessing for Foyle's sake.

Alexa lifted her eyes up to heaven searching for strength. "No, Sam, my partner at work. We are not now nor have we ever been romantically involved."

"Hmmm…" Sam hummed in disbelief.

"Are you quite done?" Foyle who had remained silent during Alexa's inquisition asked Sam.

"Oh yes sir, sorry sir. I just thought it was important to get to the bottom of it."

"Yess…and you did. In fact I believe you bottomed out."

Alexa began giving Foyle and Sam the details about her Jumper. Although she left out the part about the time travel for that was something that she couldn't tell them. She wasn't even supposed to include them in on the case so she was breaking protocol enough by just doing that.

"He's evil personified, sir. And no one has ever seen him. We have no description. His murders are in the high double digits and not one witness has he left behind. He's like smoke."

"And you're sure he's the one that sent the parcel today?"

Alexa nodded her head. "Without a doubt. My husband was the last Operative to track him. He died while in pursuit of the suspect. It was James's finger and ring in the box." Alexa wiped swiped at the tears that threatened to fall. Dammit, she was a strong independent woman. Tears were not in her resume. "The bastard thinks this is all a game."

Foyle was quiet for a long while gnawing incessantly on his inner cheek. "And he seems to think that you're a part of it."

A/N Thanks again for reading. I'm always grateful for reviews!