Chapter 10

Alex left the door open between the two rooms so she could help him if he needed it. She was feeling better. She stayed up watching tv and then went next door to check on Bobby.

He was coughing in his sleep. Alex turned off his television and sat down on the bed beside him. He woke enough to roll to his side, and then he closed his eyes again. He didn't even notice she was there. Before long, he was out again.

Alex ran her fingers through his hair and wondered what was happening between them. Last week, they'd been coworkers, partners. Friends, yes, but something was different now.

He'd held her hand on the plane.

They'd napped together, on the same bed.

She'd seen him naked.

Alex let her fingers comb through his curls and tried to gently work out the tangles when they snagged. Last week, she wouldn't have dared to touch him, even in his sleep.

And yes, she was just helping him, taking care of him, but something had changed in Bobby too. Last week he wouldn't have let her get so close.

He coughed weakly and she let go of his hair. "Good night, Bobby," she whispered, before returning to her own room.

"You should get that checked," Alex told him.

Bobby frowned and walked past her, waving her off with one hand.

"Goren, that could be something serious!"

"I'm fine, Eames," he said, and kept walking. She followed him down the hall to the elevators.

Alex's breath was coming faster. His cough was worse, and she wanted him to see a doctor. But she knew if she badgered him about it, he would never go. "I'm worried about you," she said softly.

They were alone in the elevator car. Bobby raised his eyes from their focal point on his shoes and met her gaze. "I know," he said quietly. "I'm okay, Eames."

"If it gets worse—"

"If it gets worse, I'll go."

"Okay."

"Okay." The doors slid open and Bobby held them that way until she stepped out into the lobby.

Although it was much more comfortable that an airplane seat, or even a Taurus, two hours in a vehicle made Goren hurt. As Agent Downes drove along the highway, Bobby gradually backed away from the conversation and grew silent.

"If you don't mind my asking, how did you get hurt?" Downes inquired.

"MacKearn," Alex explained. "He clocked me and then waited for Bobby. We think he was planning to steal Bobby's identity."

Downes' forehead creased as he put the pieces together. "To get to Donny…" he muttered.

Bobby turned his head and regarded the agent again. "Yeah, but why? I don't have enough," Bobby coughed, "to understand his motive."

"What do you have?" Downes asked.

"He lived a couple of blocks away from my brother, Donny's father."

"Could be anything," Alex said. "Frank was an addict, a gambler… he might have been in debt to MacKearn…"

"I understand now why you came. To protect Donny."

"MacKearn is dead," Alex interjected.

"Yeah, but he may not have been acting alone," Goren said, and Alex raised an eyebrow. This was the first she'd heard of this new theory. She couldn't ask him to elaborate. Bobby fell into a coughing fit that left him tight-lipped and pale.

They made a pit stop, and Bobby bought a map and some ibuprophin. He popped four of them as he studied the map.

"What are you taking that stuff for?" she asked him.

"I… I uh… I left my pills at the hotel," he admitted.

"Oh, Bobby!" Alex's heart went out to him.

"I-I'll be fine, Eames. It's okay."

Downes returned, and Goren stood up tall. "How far is it to Schnellville, Vince?"

"Oh, uh, not far. You need something over there?"

"That's the last known residence of Florence MacKearn."

"His ex-wife?" Alex asked, and Goren nodded.

"Let's go," Downes said, and they all climbed into the rental.

"We didn't part on good terms," Flo said. "Randy was… I don't know, it seemed like he was starting to lose it, you know? He had these crazy ideas, and he just thought I would jump for joy and dive in deep and I just couldn't do it."

"He was upset, when you didn't join in on his schemes?"

"Very." The woman nodded and went back to dusting the little porcelain birds on her windowsill. She held up one for the detectives to see. It was a cardinal, and when she turned it, it was obvious that it had been shattered and glued back together. "This is it," Flo said sadly. "This is the one that broke me." She handed it to Downes, who turned the figure over in his hands as she spoke. "He wanted me to cash in my retirement and blow it on a trip to Jamaica. I told him no, and…" she almost managed a laugh, but not quite. "He started to scream at me… told me how I was his wife and I was supposed to support him and his dreams. He grabbed this bird and threw it, and then he walked out."

"And you decided to divorce him," Alex said.

MacKearn nodded. "I got the paperwork the next day."

"You never spoke to him afterwards?" Downes asked.

"We spoke. The first year, you know, we still had to do taxes together. And then he… he was mad at first, you know? And I guess that's when he moved to New York. I didn't know where he was, and then he called me out of the blue. I remember it was Valentine's day. He cried on the phone, asked me to take him back. I think he'd been drinking."

"Did he ever mention any friends in the city?"

"No, I don't recall."

"When Randy died," Alex said quietly, "he had a plane ticket for Louisville. Did you know he was coming?"

She nodded. "He called me about three weeks ago. He said he knew better than to ask me back into his life, but he said he needed help. He needed a place to stay. He promised he wouldn't bother me, that he'd stay out of my way." She took the redbird back from Agent Downes and teared up as she set it back on the windowsill. "I was looking forward to seeing him. He sounded… good, and… and it's been lonely."

They hammered through a few more questions as sensitively as they could, and then went back to the car. Goren swallowed two more ibuprophin.

"He was planning to come here," Alex said.

"He knew about Donny," Bobby added.

Downes was adjusting the seat. "The question is, did Donny know about him?"