Chapter 51

Bobby was eating breakfast when Alex arrived at the hospital the next morning. "Sorry, I'm late," she said as she dropped into the chair beside him.

"You look better," he said.

"I slept last night. At my place. Overslept, in fact."

Bobby smiled with approval. "You needed it."

"I may look better, but I still feel like crawling back in bed. You're looking good, yourself. What's for breakfast?" She asked, peering at his half-empty plate.

"Biscuits and gravy, but I think I'm done." He dropped his fork onto the plate and pushed the tray away. She helped him move it fully aside. Bobby raised his hand and touched her sleeve.

With a gentle smile, she took his hand in hers and rested one hip on the mattress. Alex raised her other hand and stroked his cheek. Without words, Bobby turned and kissed her hand.


By early afternoon, all the players were in place. Ross had Margrave in Interrogation 1, Eames had Miles in 2, and Logan had Ivanov in 3.

Interrogation 3

Logan leaned in. "You botched it, man. Rashenko doesn't want to dirty his hands with you."

Ivanov couldn't hide the bristle of his neck when he heard Rashenko's name. "I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.

Logan just grinned at him. After an uncomfortable silence that made Ivanov's knee bounce uncontrollably, Logan leaned forward. "Tell me about Kristin."

He looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

Logan shrugged, glanced around the room. "You know, you and she…"

"She's not- we work together, and that's all."

Logan grinned. "Sure. That's all."

Interrogation 1

"It's a slick little plan, really, Ms. Margrave," Ross said in his most polite tone. "You uh… you orchestrate the whole thing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well," Ross said as he ran his hand through his unruly hair, "You went to school with Miles. You've been friends forever."

"Colleagues, not friends."

Ross smiled. "You dated him in college."

"It didn't last. He's not my type."

"Funny you should end up working together."

"Art Restoration is a very small network."

"Is it?" Ross wrote that down. "So did you know Yuri before working for the Whitney Museum as well?"

"Don't be ridiculous," she scoffed. "Yuri was hired off the street. He had no experience."

Ross scribbled another note in his pad, this time about her haughty attitude. "He finished two years as an art major in college. That's nothing to scoff about."

"He didn't finish, did he, Captain?"

Ross smiled. He really was enjoying this. "According to him, he didn't need to. The Whitney Museum pays him well." Ross leaned forward. "Which leads us to his motivation for working with you on this heist."

Interrogation 2

"Daryl, the cat's out of the bag, now. Kristin is probably in there right now, blaming it all on you. You are the one with senority, after all. Restoring paintings. You have easy access…"

"She has the same access as me."

"So tell me about it, then. How did you get wrapped up in this?"

Daryl's shoulders sank. He thought about what Kristin might be saying about him in the other room. He berated himself for loving her. "I… I've loved her for years," he admitted. "When we were in college, she went out with me a few times, but it didn't pan out."

Alex glanced at the two-way and Detective Masconi turned and knocked on the window of Interrogation 1. Ross excused himself and stepped out, joining Masconi in the observation room.

"He's admitting he's in love with her," Masconi said.

"Go tell Logan. I'm going to listen in for a while."

Miles continued his story. "When she came to work at the Whitney, I thought we had another shot at it, you know? But then I noticed the way she looked at Yuri."

"She and Yuri are a couple?"

"I don't know. No. Well, yes. Maybe. I don't know. I just know she seemed interested. I never saw them do anything more than a hug or something. I was hoping it was just in friendship."

"Go on," Alex encouraged.

"I asked Kristin out and we all met up at Yuri's bar afterward. That's when he told me about it. I was… shocked, at first. But Kristin seemed to like the idea, and I thought maybe… If I went along, she might…"

"She might be interested in you?"

"It's stupid, I know. But all I was supposed to do was unpack the crate and go to the john. I wasn't supposed to have anything to do with the actual theft of the painting. One of them was supposed to do that."

"One of them?"

"I… I got kinda sick that night and they were talking about it when I was in the john. I honestly don't know which one took the painting."

In the observation room, Ross smiled, turned, and walked back into Interrogation 1.

Interrogation 3

"He was in love with her, Yuri! Surely you knew that!"

"Puppy love, Mr. Logan. Kristin loved me."

"Hmmm…" Mike tossed the photograph of Yuri and Kristin arm in arm on the table where he could see it. "It's Detective Logan. And I guess that explains this. I mean, she kind of looks like she loves you. Unless of course, she was just using you."

Interrogation 2

Masconi knocked on the window. Perturbed, Alex excused herself and joined him. "What is it?"

"Your cell phone rang. I thought it might be important."

Her aggravation was replaced by anxiety. She took the phone from him and checked the screen. It was the hospital number. She called Bobby's room.

"Hello?"

"Bobby, what's going on?"

"They're discharging me!" He said happily. "I just need… uh.. . a ride home."

Alex turned and looked at Miles through the glass. This was a really bad time. "Okay, look. I can't do it, but I'll make some calls and get someone to come pick you up. DON'T go anywhere on your own," she warned. "Do you have a coat?"

"N-no."

"Just stay put until someone comes for you."

"Who are you going to call?" He asked.

"Everybody," she said.

"Maybe Lewis," Goren suggested.

"Lewis is out of town, don't you remember? He's not due back until January."

"Oh yeah."

"I'll find someone. Don't worry." She paused and could have sworn she could hear his thoughts. "And Bobby?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't go on your own."

"Okay."

"Promise?"

A long pause. "Okay, Alex. I promise."