Chapter 11

"What did you do with Howard?" Nicole asked.

"He left." Bobby ignored the drink she'd purchased and sipped from the water glass on the table.

"Probably straight to your little sidekick."

I hope so, Bobby thought. "He figured out your plans weren't in his best interest," Bobby said.

Nicole's mind was working fast. If Howard had run to Eames, then this hotel was compromised. She dropped a twenty dollar bill on the table. "Last chance for that drink. We have an appointment to keep."

Bobby pushed himself up with his hands and had to pause a moment to keep things from swirling. Nicole noticed his weakness. They went back upstairs to the bedroom and found Frances sitting stiffly in a chair awaiting their return. Bobby's expression was grim, and the old woman's instincts told her to stay alert.

"Let's go," Nicole said sharply, reaching for Frances' arm. Bobby wedged himself between them.

Holding Nicole's hand out of reach of his mother, he said, "We have a deal, Nicole." He gave the blonde a look of warning, and she backed away. "Leave nothing behind," she told them, and led the way out.

"Up front, Bobby," Nicole told him. He had already helped his mother into the back, and reluctantly he closed the back door and opened the front to get in.

Bobby had a hard time finding a comfortable way to rest his head. It seemed no matter what part touched the seat back, it hurt. His mother's hand snaked its way in to his curls. She found the stitches he'd received in the hospital, and slid her hand down to touch the back of his neck. He leaned against her fingers for a moment, in appreciation of the gesture.

He could have overpowered Nicole, caused her to flip the wheel into traffic… but he was afraid an accident would hurt his mother. Bobby leaned against his mother's hand and poured everything he had into the struggle to keep out of the swirling fog that seemed to be gathering in his brain.

"God damn it!" Alex exclaimed in frustration. Howard had given them the location, and now in the room, all they found was rumpled sheets and a wadded note that Frances had written in a shaky hand.

Alex read the note. Frances Goren told them that Nicole was alone with them both, and that Bobby wasn't well.

"Eames," Mike said, holding back the comforter with a gloved hand. There was blood on the pillowcase.

Alex was exhausted. The combination of the work and the worry was taking its toll. She knew the blood was Bobby's. She was sick to her stomach, just thinking about him. "All right, let's leave this to the CSU guys and start canvassing the hotel."

Mike nodded and followed her out, pausing to put his wadded up gloves into the gloved hands of one of the CSU team on the way out.

"He's getting worse," Alex said, watching the clip of video from a tourist's phone that showed Bobby and Frances getting into Nicole's car in the background. "See how he holds onto the roof of the car as he gets in? He never has to do that."

Mike frowned. "At least they're both still alive."

Alex gave a grim nod. "Yeah."

"I got a partial plate from that still photo."

"Let's move," Alex said. Within minutes, they were on the computer tracking it down.

"Ma, do you remember that time Frankie made the volcano in school?" Bobby said suddenly.

Frances' eyebrow raised for a moment. It sounded like an innocent story, but the night Bobby referred to had been a horrible night. Frank had made a volcano for a science project at school, and Bill, her husband, had come home in a drunken rage after losing at the track.

He'd seen the volcano, and demanded to know who had left the garbage on the table. Frank, only 10 years old at the time, had closed his little fists and stood staring angrily at his father. Bill hadn't liked it. He had grabbed Frank by the arm and yelled at him until Frank yelled back.

Bobby, 6 years old, had watched in terror. Frances had tried everything to intervene, from pulling at her husband's clothes to raising her voice, to trying to send the kids to their rooms.

Bill had ignored her. Frank had raised his voice to his father, and Bill smacked him. When Bobby saw his brother get hit, he charged at his father, knocking the man off-balance. Then Frances had grabbed both boys and gotten the hell out of there.

They'd spent the night at her mother's house, and gone home for the volcano project the next morning. Frank had to take it to school.

Frances nodded at her grown son, and thought about why he had mentioned it. It was a moment of teamwork. They were going to have to work together to get out of their current mess. "I remember," she told him.

Bobby let out a false laugh at the memory. "You know, I almost knocked the whole thing off the table and Dad almost grabbed me as I ran…"

"You always were faster than him," Frances said. She watched Bobby closely from her spot in the back seat.

"I probably couldn't beat him now," Bobby said. He was sending her a message. He wasn't well.

"Enough of the family reunion," Nicole said. "We're almost there."

Bobby looked over at Nicole and wondered how she was going to go about this. The more he thought, the more he realized she wasn't going to do it alone.

Bobby's anxiety grew as he realized it was taking everything he had to concentrate on two things: staying on his feet and blocking his mother from Nicole. "Go," he whispered to his mother, but she either didn't hear him or she ignored him.

As they arrived at the entry, Nicole rang the buzzer.

"Yeah?" said a male voice. Bobby wiped his face with the palm of his hand.

"DeAndre, I've come for a favor."

"Nikki? Anything for you, baby." He remotely unlocked the door and she showed Bobby the syringe in her hand.

"Run, Ma," Bobby whispered again, knowing this might be their last chance. His mother met his eyes with a hard stare and he knew her answer was no. He frowned and stayed between the two women as his mother walked in first.

"17-C," Nicole called out from behind the two of them. The group walked to the man's apartment, and Bobby rapped his knuckles on the door.

"Nikki!" The man said happily, swinging the door wide. He was shocked to see a little old lady and a very large man with her. His smile faded and he looked at Nicole with concern. "What you need, Baby?"

"DeAndre, we need a place to stay. Just for a day or so."

"Sure, Baby, come in." He stood aside and the three went in. His place was neat and roomy. Bobby kept one hand on his Mom's elbow, and hovered near the door. He knew Nicole had the syringe, and he kept an eye on her movements.

"This is Bobby, and his Mum, Frances. He's got to keep an eye on her, poor dear, she's gone off her medication again, and she can't be left alone."

"Oh," DeAndre grunted. He looked over his guests and gave Nicole a quick hug.

"DeAndre, can you… stay with Frances a moment? I need a word with Bobby."

"Okay," DeAndre replied.

Frances clung to Bobby, but he slowly peeled her fingers away and followed Nicole to the other room. She shut the door and held up a small, square package.

Bobby scoffed. "You're gonna watch?!"

"Wouldn't want you to provide me with some kind of a substitute," she said.

The dizziness and the nausea were becoming too much. He raked a hand through his hair. "What if I c-can't?"

"Oh, come now, Bobby. I'm sure you can just picture that petite little partner of yours and you'll be ready for anything." Nicole sat on the edge of the bed as if she were bored.

His mind was racing. He had to convince Nicole he was going along with her plan, but he had to get those deadly syringes away from her. She still kept her purse close beside her.

"M-maybe I could use some help…" he said, swallowing down the bile and letting his eyes drift down to her bosom.

A wicked grin crossed her face. "In DeAndre's room, with him just outside the door…? Bobby, I never knew… how exciting!"

Goren sat on the bed, as far from her as possible. He fumbled with his jeans. His fingers wouldn't cooperate.

Nicole realized he was having trouble. "My, you really do need help, don't you?"

"M-my head," he explained, gesturing to his stitches.

Nicole came closer, but she brought her purse with her. She set it on the bed beside him and dropped her hands to move his out of the way. She put her lips very close to his as she unbuttoned the top of his jeans. "He wasn't supposed to hurt you, Bobby."

He felt her hands against him. Bobby indulged her with a distracting kiss and his right hand folded over the handles of her handbag. He threw it, hard, against the window. Bobby had hoped the purse would break the window, but it hadn't. Tearing his lips away from hers, he shouted, "Ma! Now! Run!" and flipped Nicole over to restrain her on the bed.

DeAndre burst into the room, and Goren's world went black.