Chapter 36

XoXoXoX

Sam turned to the next page of Randi's notebook trying to decipher what clues the young woman was chasing before her murder. So far most of the notes consisted of information they already had or random notes on theories she had considered before being promptly crossed out. As she neared the final pages that contained scribbled notes, Sam couldn't help but think that something was off but she just couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She heard some munching sounds and looked up to see Martin chewing on some pretzel sticks. He was comparing the phone records of all the victims against Reggie's trying to see if there was any pattern. She smiled at the sight of him sitting across from her, the both of them working together on a case. She had missed this most after they got married.

XoX

Martin grunted as he shoved the sofa up against the wall. When he was done he looked over at her and asked, "Well?"

She tilted her head back and forth, considering, before finally replying, "I think I liked it better over against the other wall with the window."

"That was where we had it to begin with," he whined as he plopped himself down on the sofa. "You're basically telling me that I just spent the last hour moving this damn sofa around for nothing."

She gave him her best coy, flirty smile and replied, "But now I am sure that is the best place for the sofa."

He laughed. "Oh, that's a relief."

They had been married four months when they finally decided to buy their own home. She thought the mortgage on the brownstone was astronomical but thankfully Martin had a quite a bit of savings from the money he inherited from his grandparents so they weren't hurting too bad. She almost decided against it but she really loved the house and having so much space so they bite the proverbial bullet and became proud new homeowners.

Of course, no matter how much more space she had to work with it was still tricky to try and figure out how to best set up the furniture. So on this Saturday afternoon she put Martin to work moving the sofa around the living room so she could see how each potential placement would look. And after he moved it in every conceivable direction she ultimately decided that they way they set it up when the moved in was best.

But Martin, being a typical man, failed to understand the decorative process.

She shuffled over to where he sat, looking unwilling to get up and move the sofa back, and said, "Come on, don't lose steam on me now." She grabbed his hands, trying to pull him up. "Just one more time and I promise we're done."

His arms went limp and unyielding as he remained seated. "Can't stand up, too tired."

She laughed as she continued trying to pull him up. "I think you have one more move in you."

This time he laughed and readjusted his grip so he could pull her to him. She stumbled forward onto his lap. He kissed her neck and murmured, "Oh, I have a lot more moves if you really want to see them."

She let her head fall to the side, giving him better access as she throatily whispered, "Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure I've seen all your moves already…"

She could feel his smile against her collarbone as he replied, "Oh, I still have a few you haven't seen." She felt his warm fingers worm their way up under her tank top, rubbing small circles on her abdomen. "If you want I can show them to you," he murmured between soft kisses trailing from her neck to her shoulder and back again.

She opened her mouth to reply when a cell phone started ringing. They both went still before they looked at each other knowing that one of them was going to have to stand up and answer it. And judging by the bulge in Martin's pants she knew it was going to have to be her.

She planted a quick soft kiss on his lips before standing up and heading into the kitchen to see who it was for since they were both on call this weekend. She grabbed the cordless phone off the kitchen counter and answered, "Spade-Fitzgerald residence."

"Hello Samantha," Martin's SAC, Rick Mead, greeted her. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great but I'm guessing that you didn't call just to check up on me isn't why you called."

"No it isn't," he regretfully replied. "Is Martin home?"

"Yeah, hang on," she walked back into the living room and handed Martin the phone saying, "It's for you."

He nodded, accepting the phone. She sat down next to him as he talked to Rick. While she couldn't hear what the other man was saying she heard enough to know that Martin was being called into work. She watched him as he stood up and walked into the kitchen, telling Rick that he was going to get some paper to write something down.

She sighed heavily, trying to quash the disappointing feeling that their nice domestic weekend was gone. Before they got married she didn't mind the phone calls because if he was called in to work, so was she. So while they might not get to enjoy a lazy Saturday alone at least she knew they would spend time together while working a case. But now that he was working in another unit she didn't get to see him as much around the office and not nearly as much as she liked at home.

"Yeah, I'm on my way," he said into the receiver as he exited the kitchen. He pressed the end button and looked over at her. "Sorry, I gotta go."

"Oh-kay," she playfully whined with a small smile.

He slowly jogged up to where she was sitting and gave her a quick kiss. "I shouldn't be too late." He turned around and started upstairs to the bedroom to change into a suit, quickly adding over his shoulder, "Feel free to move the sofa back without me."

"I wouldn't dare letting you miss out on all this fun," she teased, her voice growing a little louder as he climbed the stairs, "It will still be here when you get home!"

XoX

Martin highlighted a number and reached over for another handful of pretzel sticks when he caught her looking at him. "What?" he asked.

She shrugged and smiled. "I was just thinking that it's nice working together." She quickly waved her hand apologetically as she amended her statement, "I mean, I hate the reason of course, but it's nice being able to work a case with you again."

His lips curled into a small smile as he softly replied, "Yeah, it is." They shared a look when his cell phone shrilled in his coat pocket. He reached in and pulled it out. "Fitzgerald. Hey, Marcus, how is she?" He released a sigh of relief and smiled at her. "That's good. Yeah, I know. Don't worry, it's handled. Yeah. Sure. Thanks for calling."

"How's Viv?" she asked as he hung up.

"It wasn't her heart. The doctor's think she just had an anxiety attack given all the stress she has been under," he dropped his cell back into his pocket; a visible look of relief crossing his face. "But they are keeping her overnight for observation just in case."

"What's just in case?" Danny asked as he wandered back into the bullpen. He sat down on the chair between her and Martin and grabbed a handful of pretzels.

As Martin updated Danny on the news about Viv she reached over and grabbed some pretzels of her own. While Martin ate whenever he was nervous or anxious or happy or sad or just plain hungry, she was his opposite. She couldn't bring herself to eat when she was stressed out. But knowing Viv was going to be okay she allowed herself a moment to just relax.

"Well, I just checked up on Reggie and he's doing as good as can be expected," Danny announced through a mouthful of pretzels. "Paul agreed to monitor things overnight and he's down there now making sure the paperwork is all squared away."

"Good," Martin replied. He divided up his stack of files, giving half to Danny. "Here, you take this part and maybe we can all get home to see our families before the kids are all asleep."

Danny got to work reading through his files as they all returned to their assigned tasks, each nibbling on pretzels. After a few minutes of eating the salty snack Sam found herself wanting something cold to drink.

"I'm going to get a soda from the vending machine," Sam announced as she stood up, scooting her chair out. She glanced at Martin and Danny, "Can I get either of you one?"

Danny shook his head while Martin replied, "I'd love one thanks."

She nodded at him before walking away and heading down the hall to the break room. She was almost there when one of the clerk agents intercepted her.

"Agent Spade," the eager young man held up a file, "Have you seen Agent Fitzgerald? I have an update on the record he had requested."

"I can give it to him," she replied, holding out her hand.

"Thanks," he replied before bidding her good night and disappearing around the corner.

She flipped open the folder to see what new information there was about the case when her stomach dropped realizing what the file actually contained: a credit check on Max Spade.

She knew that Martin had gathered the initial information about Max but she didn't realize that he had kept it open ended, requesting updates on any recent activity. He was more determined in her contacting her father than she had realized.

She quickly scanned through the contents and saw that there was a recent credit check run on her father when he applied for a business loan. It seemed he borrowed twenty-five thousand to invest in a river tour company in Chicago, Illinois. Her father was going to be part owner of a boat that gave architectural tours along the Chicago River. This meant she now knew where he was living and working at this very moment.

She stood there staring at the information in her hands, unable to process what this meant for her.

"Sam?"

She looked up to see Martin walking up to her. She took a step in his direction, anxious to talk to him about this new information when she noticed the sad look in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"My dad called," he replied, his voice cracking, "Milo died."

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A/N: Sorry for the big lag between updates. 'tis the season for my cookie business, holiday parties, and graduation stuff (not mine, I run it). Anyhoo, sorry and I hope to post again sooner rather than later.

And as always, thanks so much for reading!