I Don't Know CH 4
It was a good thing that Alex had broken down only two hours from NYC because there was a meeting of four vehicles in the restaurant parking lot later that day. Alex came out to greet the first to arrive which was her father and her daughter. Roberta launched herself into her mothers arms, laughing. She was a happy child, full of life and curiosity.
Alex swept her up in her arms and gave her a big hug. "How are you doing, sweetie?"
"I'm good. Grandpa is keeping me busy."
"I'll bet you're keeping him busy, too."
"Well, sort of." Roberta admitted, smiling.
"Alex, what's going on?" John asked.
"We're doing an intervention, Dad. Sweetie, will you get me that box out of the back of the car?"
"Sure."
"Dad, Bobby's alive. He doesn't remember me, or his life before here. I think his brother has convinced him that he's from here. If he has, he's dead meat." Alex said darkly.
John Eames looked at his daughter with astonishment. "He's alive?"
"Who's alive, Grandpa?" Roberta asked coming back with the box requested.
"We are, puddin'" he told her swinging her by the hand.
Another car pulled up and two figures got out. Mike and Carolyn Logan had arrived. Alex hugged them both and they gave Roberta hugs, too. A few minutes later the last of the cars pulled up. Dan Ross stepped out. "What's going on?" he asked.
Alex led the way into her hotel room and told them everything that had happened. Roberta was watching tv in the corner and didn't pay any attention to the group. She had learned early that these were meetings she was not privy to. "So we're here to show him these pictures and try to help him remember." Alex concluded.
"Are you sure he can? Maybe this is not a good idea." Carolyn said.
"Don't you want him back?" Alex demanded.
"Not as much as you do. And he has a son we have to think of, and Roberta. She thinks he's dead. Will it confuse her to find him alive after all these years?"
"She deserves to know her father, too." Alex said hotly. Roberta glanced over at her mothers intense voice. Alex smiled at her and she went back to the tv. "I have to try. I can't believe it, he's alive. I am so going to kill Frank for this."
"Be careful what you say and to who." Ross advised.
"I'm going to call him now. I want to get this started." Alex said. "Stay in here with Roberta, will you?" She stepped outside the room and called the number for the sheriff that she knew by heart.
"Sheriffs office, Mark Collins speaking."
"Sheriff Collins, this is Captain Eames. I need to speak with you as soon as possible."
"I'm busy right now. I can come by in about an hour…."
"It's pretty important."
"I can come over in 15 minutes. Where are you calling from?
"My room at the motel."
"I'll be over in a few minutes."
Alex hurried in to tell the others.
Bobby was nervous. His instincts told him something was up, but he wasn't sure what. There were more cars at the motel than usual for the time of year. He put his hand cautiously near his gun and knocked on the door of the room. Captain Eames opened the door and his mind quickly gave him a nudge. She was familiar, but why?
"You wanted to speak to me?" he asked.
"Please come in." she said.
"Alright, but I need to be back to the office for a meeting in half an hour." He hedged.
Alex nodded recognizing the lie for what it was. It was standard procedure. They used to do that all the time as partners. "When we talked earlier you told me that you were raised around here, that your parents were around here. How do you know that?"
"I saw their headstones in the cemetery and Frank showed me pictures of them." He said.
"I don't believe that you are being told the truth. I have proof that you are not who you've been told you are."
"Give it up, lady. I don't know…."
"That's right. You don't know." Alex insisted. There was a knock on the door and it opened.
Dan Ross walked in. "Hello." He said to Bobby.
"Who are you?"
"Dan Ross, I used to be Captain Dan Ross, Major Case Squad." Dan held out his hand in greeting. "Now, I'm with the FBI."
Bobby shook his hand, eyeing him cautiously. The niggling in the back of his mind was telling him something big was up. He eyed Eames measuringly. "You brought in the FBI?"
"I'm not here in an official capacity. I'm more of a reinforcement." Dan said. "I knew you when you were part of Major Case. I was your captain."
"Lady, you are making a big mistake here…." Bobby said.
Another knock and the door opened and in walked Mike and Carolyn Logan. Mike scanned his old friends face and beamed at him, "Bobby, you old slugger, how are you?" he held out his hand in greeting.
Bobby shook it, looking more confused than ever. Carolyn wasn't going to settle for a handshake. She gave him a hug. "My, God, it's good to see you." She said with a teary smile.
Bobby was feeling overwhelmed. Alex recognized the feeling. He was getting ready to move and they had to back off. She looked at Mike. "Go ask him to wait for a bit, please?"
"Wait for what? You haven't done something to my son, have you?" he drew himself up menacingly.
"Of course not." Alex said indignantly. "I don't hurt children."
"Good."
"Relax, Sheriff. No one is here to hurt anyone." Ross said in his command tone.
Unconsciously, Bobby obeyed and caught himself doing it. "Suppose you tell me what is going on." He said harshly.
Alex reached over to the table and grabbed the box of pictures she'd had her dad get. She upended them on the table. "This is what's going on. I want you to look at these and tell me if you remember these events or anyone in them."
"I'm not interested in invented photos…."
"Just look at them. Please, for me."
Keeping his back to the people he didn't recognize, Bobby sidled toward the table and picked up the first picture on the pile. It was one of him and Mike during a baseball game between Major Case and Special Victims unit. The two were grinning at each other over some joke. He glanced at Mike and set the picture off to the side. The next one was his police Academy graduate photo. There was no mistaking that photo. The next one was of him and Alex standing together. They'd been on a crime scene and the photographer had given them the photo when they'd saved his bacon as a thank you. Then he was in the squad room with Carolyn while Carolyn had been pregnant. They all showed him with the people he was in the room with. While he was looking at those, Alex pulled out the file she carried with her. She set a pile of 8 x 10 documents on the table. Legal documents like his birth certificate, his awards record with the NYPD, his high school graduation certificate, his service record from the marines.. All with his name on it, his real name. There were also newspaper clippings with him in it. All providing incontrovertible proof of who he really is.
"Where did you get all of this? I've never been these places." He asked in a choked voice.
"I told you, these are you. Your name is not Mark Collins. Your name is Robert Goren. You were a detective in Major Case Squad in New York City. I was your partner for eight years, and your lover for three before we went after a suspect and you were knocked into the water not more than a few miles from here. We couldn't find you and thought you had drowned. I've spent the last almost eight years thinking you were dead."
Bobby looked at her, affected by her tears. "You looked for me for twelve years?"
"I was doing other things too. I went from detective to Captain."
He gave her a ghost of a smile. "I only made it to Sheriff."
"You were the best detective I had. You and Eames had a dynamite solve record. Made all the others look like slackers." Ross confirmed.
"Hey, I resent that." Mike Logan joked. "You were a hard act to follow, old buddy." He told Bobby. "I made the top spot after you….disappeared."
"I'm sorry. That you had to do it after I was gone." Bobby teased gently.
"Do you remember?" Alex asked.
"No. These pictures are new to me. But if what you say is true then how did I come to be here with another name? I mean I was told that I'm Mark Collins." He asked confused.
Alex pulled out a photograph, kept separate from the others. "Do you know who this is?"
"Sure, that's my brother Frank."
Alex closed her eyes in an attempt to quell the anger that would be counterproductive to the current situation. "Yes, he's your brother Frank. Frank Goren."
"Goren? You mean he's known who I am this whole time? He let me believe that I'm this guy Mark Collins for twelve years?"
"Your brother has always believed that Alex was bad for you. He's wanted to keep you all to himself for years, Bobby. He's never had your best interests in mind."
Bobby nodded. "That at least hasn't changed." He looked at Alex "I'm not saying I remember, but you said you were doing other things while I was here?"
Mike thumped on the wall. Minutes later, John Eames joined them with Roberta who went to stand near her mother. Being a sensitive child, she recognized the tension in the room even if she didn't know the reason. "Hello. Who are you?" she asked, unafraid of the large man in his uniform.
Bobby looked from her to Alex. "Is she….?"
"Yes, she is. This is Roberta."
Bobby went ghost white and sank down on a chair. His world had just turned topsy turvy once again.
TBC