Chapter 26

The next morning, Bobby left her to run while he went to 1PP as usual. When Alex came in, her coffee and Danish were waiting for her as always.

He seemed to blush a little when he said good morning, but within seconds, he was rattling off information about the cold case he was working on until something new came in.

Alex felt drawn to him whenever she looked his way. She wasn't sure, now, if consummating the relationship was such a great idea. What if they couldn't concentrate on the job anymore?

On the other hand, there was nowhere she'd rather be than right next to him.

"Goren, Eames," Ross said. "When it rains, it pours. Two bodies, six blocks apart." He dropped the paperwork in the middle of their desks and went to another part of the squad room to deliver another.

It was rare to have more than one crime scene at a time. It only happened when the squad had more cases than they had teams.

"Together, or separate?" He asked her. They would have better information if they split and took the crime scenes separately. Then again, it was slower when they worked apart.

"What do you want to do?" she asked him.

Bobby shrugged. She was senior partner, and it was her call. "Separate, then. Call me from the scene."

"Yes, Ma'am," Bobby said. They each took the paperwork for one case, gathered their things, and hit the motor pool.

Working separately took the pressure off. Eames scoured her own crime scene, knowing Bobby would follow her command and call her when he was onto something with his own. In the meantime, Ross would be calling other squads for assistance so the teams from Major Case wouldn't be overloaded.

Just as she told the guys from the ME's office they could take the body, her cell rang. "Eames," she said.

"I got a 23-year-old-male, made to look like a suicide, his right forearm sliced open. Rodgers agrees with me that wasn't the COD. He has a suspicious bruise on his chest, she'll tell me more after she cracks him open."

"Okay, good work, Bobby."

"Any word from Ross yet?"

"Not yet."

"Need me to join you?"

"No, go ahead and work your vic. I'm almost done here."

By the time she got back, two detectives from homicide had come over to help out. Eames gladly handed them her case, and then read Bobby's notes to get up to speed on his.

She was managing better, now that she'd had time to get into her work. Actually, all afternoon the only thing that drove her to distraction was when she had to stand so close to him in the elevator.

Goren was right, of course. As the body had time to sit, the bruising on the chest revealed a very peculiar handprint. It was the result of a precision martial arts blow.

They had a lot of legwork to do.

It was after 10 when they finally got back to Major Case. The two ordered a pizza and holed up in a conference room. Alex set up the board while Bobby organized the notes that were in the binder.

They sat down on the same side of the table and studied the board while they ate. "Candelaria could have done it. He had motive."

"So did Timmons."

"But it looks like Timmons was across town."

"We'll check that in the morning."

"His cell phone records. They would give us an idea of his location." Bobby rooted through the stack of papers on the table. He pulled out one and set it between them. They put their heads together and scanned the list.

Suddenly, Bobby scooted his chair away from her. He said nothing, but he continued to work with a buffer between them. They worked until 2 in the morning, and then Alex called it a night.

Bobby displayed no emotion. He only nodded. "I'll, uh… bunk out here."

Alex searched his eyes. "You okay?"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh, I… I gotta put in some time for Donny, too," he said. "I can't rest until I do."

"Bobby…" She started to tell him Donny could wait, but she knew exactly how that would go over. Alex stopped. "You need your rest, too," she said. "Make sure you get some."

Again, he nodded.

Alex desperately wanted to kiss him good night. Instead, she laid a single finger against the back of his hand. "Good night, Bobby."

"Night, Eames," he said quietly. As the door closed behind her, he put his thumb on the spot she'd touched. Bobby closed his eyes, took a breath, and tried to rub it away. Then he closed up the room and went to work at his desk.

There was no point in coming in before 9. The bulk of businesses opened at either 9 or 10. Any sooner and Eames would find herself sitting around staring at the clock. She drank the last of her coffee and let her thoughts drift to Bobby.

She wondered if he'd gotten anywhere looking for Frank's treasure. She wondered if he'd gotten any sleep. She wondered, too, if he'd had as hard a time as she had being together on the job yesterday.

At 8:15, Alex was in her car and heading for work. She knew she'd get answers to some of her questions once she got there.

"Bobby still asleep?" Alex asked the Captain as he walked by.

"Hmmm?"

"He said he was bunking out here last night. Is he still in there?"

"I don't know. Get Walker to check for you."

Alex looked at Bobby's desk as the Captain walked away. He'd left his binder neatly closed in the center. She flipped around to his chair and opened it. Inside, she found a page and a half of scrawled and scratched out notes. She knew from the amount of work he'd stayed up at least until 4. The last line made her frown. In all caps, underlined three times, it said "deceased."

So he'd stayed up all night for nothing.

Alex looked back at the first page, copied down the name Noelle had given him, and started doing her own research. She made a few calls, and at quarter til 10, had Walker go wake Bobby.