Chapter 50
Alex sat at Bobby's home computer, reading and making notes of his balances and his obligations. She frowned at the figures and looked at the previous month's statement. Unable to stop herself, she looked back another month, and then another, and then she let out a sigh.
His finances were a mess, but looking back, she could see that it really wasn't that way until the suspension. His mother's illness had taken a toll, but even that hadn't been the catalyst for the mess he now found himself in.
She clicked back to the current month and studied her notes. She carefully subtracted the full amounts for the most urgent bills, starting with the electric. Once that was done, she took out the loan payments and then studied his credit card bills. Satisfied, she punched in the numbers one by one and hit 'send' each time.
The deed was done, and now she felt guilty for snooping. She grabbed a beer from the box she'd just placed in the fridge and settled in on the couch. Her phone was on the coffee table in front of her. She picked it up.
"Hello?" Bobby said after three full rings.
"Hi, Bobby."
"Alex," he said, and she thought he may have smiled.
"I, uh, I just wanted to tell you I finished paying all your bills. I didn't touch your savings and you have about $250 left in checking to get you through to the next check."
He cleared his throat. "O-okay."
"How are you?" she asked.
"Good, I think."
"You sound good."
"I walked a little farther today," he said. For a moment, he reflected on how drastically his life's priorities had changed.
"Bobby, that's great!"
"They let me eat a burger tonight, too."
"You'll be home in no time," she said.
"Alex?"
"Yes, Bobby?"
"Are you all right? All this running has got to be hard on you."
Alex thought about her day, her meltdown with her sister. "I'm okay," she said. I'm okay now. As she sat, she flipped the tv on and ran through a few channels. "Hey Bobby," she said. "You wanna watch a movie with me?"
"I'll put on my shoes," he said. "You're buying, right?" he joked.
"It's on HBO. You got that at the hospital, right?"
"Uh, yeah," he said.
"Look okay?" she asked after a pause.
"Sure." She heard the little motor humming on his bed.
"Up? Or down?" she asked.
"Up."
Alex smiled. "Good."
"Get me some popcorn?" he teased.
"Okay, now's when you yawn and stretch and—"
"drop my arm over your shoulders," he finished for her.
She grinned. "I love you, Bobby."
"Oh, wait!" he said. "I forgot. I got you some… skittles."
The next morning, Alex was at work bright and early. She checked in with the invalids by phone and promised to see them after work. She handed Mike a cup of coffee as he walked to the desk, a large envelope in his hand.
"Thanks," he said, taking a sip.
"What's that?" Alex inquired.
"I don't know," he said. "It was in my mailbox when I got here."
"Return address?"
He looked it over. "Nada." Mike set it down longways on the desk and tore the seal open with his fingers. He reached in past the jagged edge of the paper and withdrew a small pile of photographs.
Alex got up and walked around to look at them over his shoulder. The first was a picture of Ivanov walking arm in arm with Margrave. The next was Ivanov talking to Miles in a booth at a restaurant.
Mike moved that one aside. The third picture was of all three of them standing outside the Russian bar where Mike had lost his glove.
Sliding that picture away revealed a picture of Mike talking to Alex beside the SUV. The license plate number was clearly visible. The last picture was of the two of them leaving 1PP together.
For a moment, the detectives were silent.
"Rashenko," Mike breathed. The color drained from Alex's face. "Why's he helping us?" Mike asked her.
She swallowed hard. Her voice was unsteady. "Ivanov was sloppy. He has no interest in him." After a moment, she looked back at the last two pictures. "Why the threat?" she said.
It was Mike's turn to swallow. He shrugged. "He just wants to light a fire under us. He doesn't know any other way to do it."
It was a weak argument, but was the only hopeful one either one of them could think of. She stood up straight. "We need to see the Captain."
"I think it's time for a pow wow," Mike agreed. He gathered up the pictures and walked with Alex to Ross' office.
At the sound of the knock, Ross called, "Come in." He watched the two detectives enter and Logan flopped into the chair in front of his desk. "I take it you have something to report."
"We have reason to believe they were all in on it together," Alex said, and Mike handed him the pictures of the museum employees. He held the other two back.
Ross looked them over. "They hang out after work. So?"
"Not one of them disclosed to us that they join up after hours. In fact a few pointedly lied about it." Alex was doing the talking as Mike watched his Captain's reaction.
"What about those?" Ross asked, gesturing to the other photos.
Mike kept them face down. "They're nothing useful."
Ross stared at him, hard. Then he held out his hand. Reluctantly, Mike gave them up. "Who sent these?" Ross asked.
"Vlad Rashenko," Mike replied.
"Holy hell."
"He sent the others, too," Mike said. "He's just trying to help out, in his way."
Ross turned his attention to Eames. "Watch your asses. And notify the gang unit. Now… what's your plan?"
"Well, sir," Mike began, "after we watch our asses we're going to bring them all in, put them in separate rooms and interrogate the hell out of them."
"We could use some help," Alex added.
Ross smiled. "I'll join you," he said. "Let me know when you're ready."
