Chapter 25
Alex and Bobby threw on some casual clothes in the semi-dark bedroom and tripped over each other as they walked from their closets to their dressers.
Bobby was much more awake than Alex, who grumbled something between an apology and a curse when they lightly bumped each other in passing.
She groaned as she pulled her T-shirt over her head. She really wanted to crawl back under her covers, curl into Bobby's side, and not lose any sleep over Strauss' death.
Strauss lived his life with risky, dangerous behavior and she was pretty certain that he was a murderer, so she felt no need to rush to help find his killer.
"I'll go wake Eleanor," Bobby said and then left the bedroom.
On the way up the hall, Bobby peeked into Madison's room and found her curled into a ball with her face half buried into the pillow and hugging her plush calico under her chin.
He smiled and then made his way to the front door.
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Fin met them in the lobby of the building and rode with them in the elevator.
"Looks like he picked up someone to celebrate Novak dropping the charges against him," Fin explained. "He must have picked the wrong girl this time."
Alex and Bobby followed Fin off the elevator and into Strauss' loft.
Strauss laid naked, face up, on the center of his bed with a ring of blood framing his head and clashing with the white sheets. His wrists were bound together with hand cuffs and stretched over his head, while he was blind folded with a black, silk tie.
Bobby stepped closer to the bed, glancing over the body and then the nightstand, where he found two glasses with the remnants of some amber liquid. One had very distinct lip prints on the rim and sat beside an open condom wrapper.
"Guess someone turned the tables on him," Alex said.
"Yeah," Bobby muttered, absently as he looked over the scene and felt both Alex and Fin eyeing him.
Alex and Fin exchanged glances.
"Was he like this in narcotics too?" Alex said.
"Sometimes…I spent most of my time trying to keep up with some of the plays he would pull off on the fly with one of the dealers we were after."
Alex let out a soft snort.
"You'll have to tell me about those sometime," Alex said.
They watched as Bobby shifted on his feet and ticked his head to the opposite side.
"Does this seem too…neat…to either of you?" Bobby asked as he swiveled to look at them.
"I don't know if 'neat' is the word I would use, but it seems pretty self-explanatory," Alex said.
"Yeah, but, he-he's not the type to be the submissive one…"
"Well, maybe he was so happy when he left court that he decided to experiment," a lanky man in a black suit said as he came into the room.
"This is my partner, John Munch," Fin said. "This is Goren and Eames."
Munch shook Alex's and then Bobby's hand.
"Goren, I've heard a lot about you," Munch said.
"Oh…well I-I hope that doesn't scare you away," Bobby said in the half charming, half self-deprecating tone that always made Alex want to smile.
"Hardly."
"So, why are all four of us losing sleep right now?" Alex asked.
"Well, we weren't sure if you two would want to take lead on this or not. We're fine to see it through, but I thought you might want to have a hand it," Fin said.
"Though, I'm not sure if we will be issuing handcuffs or medals to whoever we find," Munch said.
Alex sighed and glanced up at Bobby, who was prepared to speak, but stopped himself as he caught her gaze. She knew he wanted to take the case. It was a puzzle and something that he had a hard time resisting.
She, on the other hand, just wanted to take the couple days they had been given. She wanted to sleep late, catch up on housework, and mostly just spend time doing things with her daughter and husband.
"Uh…" Bobby hesitated as he looked back up to Fin and Munch. "Uh, no. You take it. You collared him first…you should finish it. B-but, let us know what you come up with."
Fin and Munch nodded.
"All right, well let us get to work them," Fin said. "But you still owe me that drink sometime."
"Absolutely," Bobby said. "Good luck."
Alex and Bobby nodded good-byes to the other detectives and then made their way back to the elevator.
They were quiet as the doors closed, but then Alex leaned against Bobby and looked up at him, resting her chin on his arm.
"Thank you," Alex said.
"For what?"
"Saying no," Alex said as she wrapped her arm around his hips.
He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head.
"I-I know you need a break…I-I do too," Bobby said. "Why don't we go pick up breakfast for Mad and Eleanor?"
"Okay," Alex said. "I was thinking we could call Lily and maybe take Madison over there to play with the twins in their new pool."
Bobby nodded his agreement and as Alex began to add a more professional space between them, he pulled her closer and kissed her.
"That wasn't very professional," Alex teased.
"Well, I-I think we're officially back off the clock," Bobby said.
Alex nodded with a tight smile and then noticed the elevator door ding open.
She laced her fingers with his and then led the way out.
They made it out to the street before Bobby's thoughts got the better of him.
"Y-you know that scene looked staged," Bobby said.
Alex huffed and then turned around to face him.
"Possibly," she said. "Look, you can call Fin later…maybe we can consult on this, but right now let's just relax. Please?"
Bobby nodded.
"S-sorry. You're right…let's go."
Alex again laced her fingers with his and pulled him back home.
A/N: Not sure how happy I am with this, but it's how it ended up. An Epilogue will be up soon and Strauss' killer will be reveled. Thanks to everyone who has hung in through all 25 chapters and to everyone who has been reviewing.