Chapter 13

Deakins found Logan already at it when he arrived at 1PP. "Making some headway?" he asked.

Logan leaned forward. "Yeah. I think I finally am." He reorganized the papers in front of him on the desk. "Purcell and Bishop had a thing going on for… about 5 years now. Bishop and Flores, for at least a year." He looked up at the Captain. "You saw Flores. He was a mess. He loved the guy. I think when Bishop decided to end it with Purcell, he got Flores to help him. Remember the body was spread eagle, ligature marks on the wrists. Sounds like kinky sex to me. And then Bishop and Flores took it to the next extreme."

Deakins was still. "Okay, so how you gonna prove it?"

Mike slapped down a paper in aggravation. "It's this Brini character, I just know it. I gotta find her."

Bobby could barely move when he awoke in the morning. Alex was already in the kitchen, making coffee. Bobby lay still, alarmed by what his body was telling him. He tried to sit up, but just couldn't do it.

"Eames," he called. Then, a little more urgently, "Alex!"

She came right away. "Bobby?!"

"I… need some…" he tried to sit up again and yelped in pain. "I need help," he blurted.

"Oh, no," she said, realizing last night had done him in. She sat down beside him and pulled him upright. He leaned against her, breathing hard, waiting for the protests of his body to subside.

She held him tightly, wishing there was something she could do. "You want your pills?"

"Uh… yeah," he said pitifully. She extracted two from the bottle and handed them to him. She brought him water to wash them down. His hands gripped her desperately as she helped him with his morning business.

Alex had tears in her eyes when she finally got him prone in the bed. "I'm so sorry, Bobby, I never expected-"

He was hurting, but he managed to keep his cool. "Alex," he whispered, "don't." He took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it. Then he tightened his lips into a thin white line and stiffened, waiting for the pills to kick in.

Bobby's pills knocked him out again, and Alex spent the whole morning worrying that their night of passion might have torn something loose inside him. She checked on him often, and he seemed all right.

She continued to research the notion shops as a way of distracting herself. "Simple Notions," she read. "Specializing in handmade and vintage buttons. Elgin, Illinois." She grabbed her phone and dialed the number. A voice on the other end said, "Simple Notions, this is Brini, how may I help you?" Eames sat up straighter. She introduced herself. "Has your company done business with a man by the name of Steven Bishop?" she asked.

The ring of familiarity came through the voice on the other end.

"We've been looking for Mr. Bishop and we were hoping you could help us locate him," she said. The voice on the other end was shocked that he was missing. "May I ask your full name?" Alex asked. She wrote. "Miss Davis, when was the last time you saw Mr. Bishop?" She wrote again. "Thank you," she paused, listening, "certainly we'll let you know when we find him." She hung up the phone and sat staring at her notes. Then she called Logan and gave him the news.

"No, I can't leave him. He's having a… bad day," she said. "Okay, Mike. Keep me posted."

She hung up the phone and went to check on Bobby for the hundredth time. He heard her come in and opened his eyes. "How you feeling?" she asked softly as she sat on the bed beside him.

He smiled, and drew her in for a kiss. "Help me up?" he asked.

She helped him up and out to the recliner in the living room. She put his feet up and brought him a tray with some noodle soup. He made an effort to eat, but only finished half the bowl. She watched as he drank most of his water.

"Well?" she asked. He had to know what she was worried about.

"I'm fine," he said. "Just a little sore."

"You're sure…"

"I'm fine, Alex." He squeezed her hand. She removed the lunch tray and came in to sit near him on the couch.

"Good news," Alex announced. "I found Brini. She's in Elgin, Illinois, just outside Chicago. Mike's got the Illinois police working some things for us now."

Alex explained that Brini owns the notion shop where Bishop was getting his buttons. Goren listened carefully. "Iridescent lavender?" he asked.

"I didn't ask about that yet."

Logan stared at the computer for several minutes without even blinking. Then he jotted down some notes, and stood. He stretched and muttered to himself. "I gotta get something to eat."

As he walked to the elevator, he ran over the white board diagram in his mind. On the elevator, two other detectives were having a loud discussion about family politics.

"I tell you what, if I find out that boy is having his way with her, I'll…" one cop said.

The other one agreed wholeheartedly with his friend. "I'm right there with you," he said.

The first cop looked at Logan. "Daughters," he said with a huff. "They're a lot more work than sons!"

Mike smiled and nodded his agreement, but when the elevator stopped, he didn't get off. In his mind, something had just clicked.

They were watching a movie when Bobby dozed off in the recliner. Alex let him sleep; it was probably what he needed. She finished the movie and checked her phone. No new messages. "I guess Logan isn't getting very far," she muttered to herself. It was a tough call, when to admit a case was going nowhere and let it be closed. She wasn't ready to give up on this one yet, and she knew Logan wasn't, but she was sure Deakins was getting heat about it. They had solid evidence on Kitchum and Flores for Bobby's stabbing, but for the original victim, Mr. Purcell, they had only theories. The probable murder of Bishop was going nowhere, as well. Unless Brini Davis could shed some light. The Illinois cops would have to sort that out.

She went in the kitchen and dialed her sister. "Hi Liz," she said. "I'm fine. I just wanted to call, see what's going on."

Eames listened while her sister rattled off the highlights of the last few days. "Me? Oh, uhm, nothing new, really…" Her sister could always read her like a book. Alex refused to fill her in, at least not like this, over the phone. "Well, Bobby was in a lot of pain today, so it's been kind of rough… I know you do. I'll tell him. Give him a kiss for me, okay?" She said goodbye and hung up. What was she supposed to tell her? That she and Bobby had finally given in to their feelings for each other, and she'd almost killed him? Alex felt awful about the whole thing.

She heard something thump in the living room and hurried in to see what was wrong. Bobby was awake, and had thrown a pillow across the room. It hit a plant stand and knocked it over.

"Plant say something you didn't like?" she snarked.

He shook his head. "I need to get to bed," he said quietly. She helped him without another word. Once he was prone, he asked her to stay with him.

"I don't regret it," he said simply.

"What?"

"You… you've been moping around all day, blaming yourself… for this… for me…"

Of course he was right.

"I don't regret it, Alex. It was amazing… and beautiful. You were amazing and beautiful." She heard him, and felt his kindness, but couldn't shake her feelings of guilt. He nudged her arm. "Now's when you're supposed to tell me how terrific I was," he suggested with a grin.

She smiled, and almost laughed. Bobby. She leaned down and kissed his lips softly. "Only kissing until you're all healed up," she said.

"Agreed," he replied.

Before he went home, Logan dialed Holly's number. After the third ring, she finally picked up. "Hey," he said, "I was wondering if we could get a drink or something."

"Oh, Mike, I'm sorry," she said, setting her safety goggles back atop her head. "It's a lousy night for it. The 'gangstas' had a showdown and I'm gonna be here all night picking bullets out of cars. Rain check?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure," he said. "I understand. Maybe Sunday." She agreed and he clicked off the phone.

His favorite bar was a close walk from home. He paused at the front door, having seen Gretchen through the window. Mike thought of Gretchen, and then he thought of Holly. He turned and headed for home.