Chapter 13:

When Cayden's alarm clock started beeping in the next room, Allie's eyes fluttered open and some relief came over her. Wow… I actually slept through the night! I can take my kid to school! This is so nice. This is something I've taken for granted in the past. She heard Cayden turn the shower, and dressed herself quickly. It felt strange for her wearing business attire-generally slacks and a nice shirt- and clipping on her badge. She tied her hair up in a tight ponytail, noticing the wrinkles formed in her forehead, and the faint laugh lines around her lips. I guess aging hasn't treated you too bad. Then the motherly thought, I should make Cade breakfast. She headed to the kitchen-stopping near the bathroom door momentarily to listen to Cayden screaming the lyrics to some old Bon Jovi song-laughing as she continued to the kitchen.

When Cayden emerged from the hallway, Allie was proud to have had an omelet on a plate for him, with a glass of apple juice beside it. He took it and sat at the table, "Thanks, Mom." He yawned, and drowsily moaned, "It's too early to be alive!" Allie grunted a laugh, noticing that it was 6:10 AM,

"You are my kid, that's what I used to say at your age. Grandma would get so mad at me, almost every morning we were fighting."

"Like I wouldn't mind going to school if it weren't so early… And frequently… And-"

"Cade, what happened too your 'positive approach' to this school year?"

"It's gone."

"I figured." She rested her head in her hands.

The ride to Cayden's high school was only a few minutes from their apartment, and on the way to the lab. "Have a good day, Sweetie, I love you." Allie bid Cayden goodbye for the day,

"You too." He slammed the door and walked up to the doors of the school, Allie sighed as she drove away, He's just like me for the world. Memories of her teenage years floated into her mind, and she forced them out. How can I tell him to be positive when I couldn't do it. I hated high school.

"Alright, are you ready to do this? Interrogations can be very… Daunting and stressful." Mac asked, shoving a clipboard with multiple pieces of paper on it at Allie,

"Yeah, I'm sure," She accepted the clipboard. Mac nodded, biting his lip.

"Okay, this is your first one, so I am going to take the lead. You can watch me-learn from it- and then next time you can do it alone If you'd like." They entered the interrogation room together, and Mac signaled for the uniformed officers to step outside as he and Allie came in. She noted the tension was near tangible, as Mac seated himself across from the suspect and spread out some papers that were on the table. Allie watched his eyes skim the papers, and sat beside him-clipboard in her lap.

"I didn't do it." The suspect blurted out. Mac raised his eyes, a look of disbelief in them,

"I haven't even said anything yet."

"I know Shin and Spencer are dead, and I know you're going to try to pin their deaths on me."

"Brice Jones," Mac said the suspect's name, " Priors for drugs," he flipped through the papers, "larceny, resisting arrest, robbery, and…." His face scrunched a little, and his voice took on a sense of conviction-sensing guilt- "assault. You haven't had a steady job since you were 19…. That was… Oh twelve years ago."

"Listen, Man, I have a record, yeah, but I would never-"

"Save it. You want to know what I think?" Mac started, and Brice glared at him. Allie looked to the door, fearing the man across from her could snap and lunge at she and Mac at any second. She wished she could the uniformed officer she knew was outside the door. "Let me start the story for you, Brice. He clasped his hands together. "I think you saw two men who were successful- who you happened to live near one day while you were sleeping in the alley. You were jealous of their success, and so you killed them. Now the details aren't perfect, but trust me, they will be by the time you arrive in court. What happened? Is it deep rooted? Did you plan to kill those good men? Was it a spur of the moment killing? Were you under the influence of drugs when you did it?"

"You don't know nothing, you can't pin their deaths on me!" Brice pounded his fists on the table, "You law enforcement guys are always after me for something or another! I don't deserve this!"

"Maybe not," Mac shrugged, "but you don't give us any reason to put it past you?"

"How did you know Mr. Yeats and Mr. Yang?" Allie stood up, hands on the table, her temper running low, "You already said you didn't kill them-and you used their first names, so obviously you know something. How did you know them? Who were they to you?" Brice sighed,

"It isn't going to do anything for me; it'll make me look worse!" Brice yelled.

"Not any worse than you already look." Mac said, adjusting himself in his seat and motioning for Allie to sit back down. Once she did, he continued, "Your blood is on the murder weapon-a knife- found in a trash can at one of the scenes. Both victims' blood was on that same knife. Your blood was found on one of the victim's shirts, and I'm sure that when we're through processing it'll be on the other guy as well. You better have a fantastic explanation for this, because-for you- it isn't looking to good right now." Mac's voice was stern and irritated now. Brice started fumbling with his hands.

"I plead the fifth, but you've got the wrong guy!" He yelled, and Allie looked at Mac for advice and a signal of what to do, Mac took a breath and tried to control his temper when he spoke,

"Legally, we must respect that wish. Let me just say, though, right now it would be in your best interest to say something. If you're not guilty like you claim, you shouldn't have a problem. Do you have an alibi for where you were Sunday around 10 in the morning and Monday around 4 AM?"

"My… Sunday? Hank Crite. I was with him… Drug related." Mac nodded,

"Well, we have nothing to hold you on, Brice." He stated, glancing at the papers once more. "We'll check if you alibi checks out with Hank later in the day. You better watch your every move, though, Brice. I'm not convinced, I don't believe my colleague is convinced," Allie shook her head 'no', and Mac continued, "If we get even a little bit of evidence that you might have been invol ved, I will not hesitate to have my men come get you and haul you back in. Am I clear?" Brice nodded, and Mac signaled for the uniformed officer to come in and escort Brice out. "What did you think?" He asked Allie, standing and straightening his overcoat jacket.

"I don't know." Allie replied, following Mac's lead of standing up, "I don't believe him. He seems too confident in his innocence, but he has a weak alibi-I assume- and he knew about the deaths before you even mentioned it. He pled the fifth… He's involved, I know that… I'm just not sure how much."

"Did you notice how he played with his hands all the time, and how sweaty his palms were? Did you see the look in his eyes. He's lying. I've been doing this long enough to know that much. We need to get the results back from Lindsay or Danny for the blood from vic number two. This bastard did something, he knows he did it, and he's trying to throw us off-but he doesn't know that we're smarter than him. We might not be able to right away, but we will figure this out. I want answers, and fast!"