Chapter Twenty-Three – The Final Act

Alex and Bobby were sitting stiffly on Lewis's couch, while their host played on the floor with Lexie. One of Alex's hands was clenched around her cell phone, the other rested on her gun. Bobby's gaze hadn't left the door since he'd sat down.

"You two really need to relax," Lewis said.

The two had sent a SWAT team to the address Boyd had indicated, and had then gone to Lewis's with their daughter. Boyd expected them to investigate themselves, leaving Lexie with a sitter. Since Boyd presumed that John and Penny were dead, Mike was working, and Alex's brother and sister lived too far away, Lewis was the logical choice. Just in case someone was watching the place, they had appeared to drop Lexie off before circling round to the other side of the building to re-enter.

"Do you think Boyd will come for her himself?" Alex asked in a low voice.

"I doubt it," Bobby replied in hushed tones. "Hopefully whoever he sends will be able to give us some information."

"You really think this was a ruse to get Lexie?" Lewis asked from where he was sitting.

"Yes," Bobby replied. "He'd want to hold her hostage to get us to follow each step in his game."

"How do you figure?"

"Because he knows that we've been looking for him; knows that we're going to be more alert and careful," Bobby answered. "He's also down an accomplice. Taking Lexie ensures his ability to keep control over us."

Just then, Alex's phone rang, and she rushed to answer it. "Eames." She frowned as she listened to what the person on the other end was saying. "Son of a bitch!" she exclaimed, leaping to her feet. Bobby followed suit, watching her concernedly while tapping his foot anxiously. "All of them?" She nodded sharply at the reply. "Thanks for letting us know."

"What?" Bobby immediately demanded.

"He gassed the place!" Alex exclaimed, snapping her phone shut and shoving it in her pocket.

"What?" Bobby asked in confusion.

"He gassed the team that went in, killed them all!"

"That doesn't make any sense," Bobby muttered, beginning his typical pacing routine. "Why would Boyd want to kill us? I thought he wanted to continue his game?"

"Maybe his endgame is to kill us," Alex suggested. "Or maybe he knew we'd bring back up? Or possibly to ensure he had time to get Lexie?"

Before Bobby could answer, his cell phone rang. "They're probably letting me know the same thing."

"No, they know we're together," Alex countered.

Bobby made an impatient sound and pulled out his phone. "Goren," he snapped.

"Detective Goren."

"Boyd," Bobby gasped. "What do you want, Boyd?"

"I want you to come to a secure location, with your wife, and with your daughter. Have it be a real family affair. This is my final act. Don't try and play me, because I will not be played. I'm going to give you an address, and if I see anyone but you enter, I'm going to have to take them out, and I do mean more deaths resting on your shoulders. Last time was just to show you that I could do it if I wanted to. Well, now you've annoyed me, so I want to kill even more people just to make you squirm. Are you willing to let more people die, detective?"

"No, Boyd, you listen," Bobby growled. "We are not playing your game anymore; we don't want any part in it."

"Then you will see innocent people die. You think about it." He gave an address and then hung up.

"What did he want?" Alex asked urgently.

"To play more games," Bobby replied. "He says it's his final act."

"Do you suppose he intends to kill us now?" Alex asked.

"Lexie," Bobby said. "He wants us to bring Lexie. She's the final target I guarantee it."

"We can't let him get to her."

"We need a plan."

This time, Bobby and Alex brought Lexie with them. They waited outside the warehouse while a team of police dressed up in gear to get them through a gas attack. The building was surrounded by cops.

"What do you think he'll try and pull once he realizes we aren't going in and he can't gas the place?" Alex asked.

"I don't know," Bobby said wearily.

The two of them watched the team enter the building. As soon as the last person entered, there was a clang as a gate shut behind them, blocking the exit. Bobby, Alex, and the other watching officers moved forward at the sight, and then frowned at the sound that followed. There was a loud scraping sound coming from inside of the building. Then there were yells of fear and horror.

Bobby and Alex ran forward. "What's going on?" Bobby asked. Alex ran past him and right up to the gate. "Oh my God," she gasped. "Oh my God, he's crushing them! He's crushing them, we have to get them out!"

Inside of the building, a contraption like that of a garbage truck was compressing the team inside of the building. "Get them out!" Bobby cried. He ran to the gate and passed Lexie to Alex, pulling the gate with his hands as hard as he could. He wasn't the only one. As many men as could fit in the space seized the metal mesh and pulled with all of their might, but the metal refused to give.

"Pull!" Bobby insisted. "Come on, pull!"

Cries for help and cries of terror echoed from within the building. With a monumental effort, the group outside of the gate managed to peel the mesh back. "Out, out, get out!" Bobby cried.

Three of the men closest to the door managed to squeeze out, but they were too late for the rest. Silence but for the heavy breathing reigned.

"Oh my God," Alex murmured. "What have we done?"

"We're going to have to go to him, Bobby, there's no other way," Alex said urgently.

"We can't!" Bobby replied. "We can't play into his hands."

"He's going to keep killing people until we go to him," Alex insisted. "Do you want what happened today to keep on happening?"

"Of course I don't," Bobby snapped.

"Well, then, what do you propose we do?"

Bobby brushed his hands over his head. "I don't know."

"Look, why don't you stay with Lexie, and I can go to him and-"

"I'm not letting you go alone!" Bobby interrupted. "We have to stick together, Alex. We can't be separated."

"Next time he baits us, then, what do we do? Should we just ignore him completely?"

"That would certainly make the egomaniac angry," Bobby said. "But if we never process the scene, we could be missing evidence that could lead us to Boyd."

"It might also make him angry enough to draw him out," Alex pointed out.

Bobby nodded. "We can try it. Let's hope he makes a mistake."

Bobby made eye contact with Alex as her cell phone rang. They had been stressing that every call they got could be from Boyd. And this time, it was.

"Eames," Alex answered.

"Detective Eames," Boyd said smoothly. "So good to hear your voice."

"Cut the crap, Boyd," Alex snapped. "We're done playing your games. Either turn yourself in, or leave us the hell alone."

"I'm going to give you one last chance to come to me willingly," Boyd said. He gave her an address and then added, "You know the rules, and you know the consequences for disobedience."

"We're done with this bullshit Boyd," Alex said.

"You know the price," Boyd warned.

"We're not playing, Boyd, so give it up."

"I'll see you soon, Detective Eames. Say hello to Detective Goren for me. And of course, say hello to little Lexie for me."

Alex took a breath to tell him exactly what she thought of his words, but was met with the dial tone. She slammed her cell phone angrily back on the table.

"Did he give you anything useful?" Bobby asked.

"No," Alex replied. "He just warned that more people could die and said he wanted us all to go to him. Oh wait… he also said he'd be seeing us soon. Do you suppose he just meant that he'd see us at the address he gave because he's assuming we're going to follow his rules this time?"

"Possibly."

"He also said it was our last chance to come willingly."

"So he's planning to take us by force?" Bobby asked worriedly.

"I don't see how he could, Bobby. He doesn't have his accomplice anymore and he'd have a hard time trying to get the jump on both of us."

"Maybe he has another accomplice?"

'Maybe," Alex said doubtfully.

"So we're definitely going to just ignore this invitation?"

"I think it's probably the best course of action to see how he reacts," Alex said. "I don't want to risk any more lives and I think this will really piss him off."

Bobby nodded. "You're right. I think this is probably the safest course of action."

"Then again, if this is Boyd's final act, he isn't going to give in easily."

"True." Bobby nodded. "I don't know what else to do though."

"We'll wait and see I guess."

By that night they had heard nothing from Boyd. He had not contacted them to let them know what he thought of them ignoring his invitation, and Bobby was worried.

"No news is good news," Alex said.

"No," Bobby replied, shaking his head. "This isn't good. He should have reacted. Why didn't he react?"

"Maybe he's too busy planning his next step?"

"Maybe."

"Well, Lexie's been asleep for awhile now, and I think it's time we follow suit. We can theorize some more tomorrow, but we're not getting anywhere tonight."

"Boyd is planning something," Bobby fretted.

"I know," Alex said, resting her hand on his arm. "But for now, all we can do is wait."

"Maybe that's his new game? Leaving us alone for a while so that we're constantly looking over our shoulders?"

"Theorizing tomorrow, Bobby," Alex said. She undressed and climbed into the bed. "Come on, you. Let's get some rest."

After a few more moments hesitation, Bobby sighed and followed suit. He climbed into bed besides her and she turned off the lamp.

"Alex?"

"Hmm?"

"Whatever Boyd's planning, I'm glad we're both here to face it together."

She smiled at him in the near darkness. "I'm glad of that too," she replied. The two laid back and gave themselves to sleep.

Alex got up and stumbled towards the kitchen. She was so dizzy she fell heavily against the wall, and had to brace herself on it to keep moving. She'd woken thirsty and had gone to get a cup of water, but for some reason the room was spinning. She finally reached the kitchen, but then she pitched forward and cracked her head against the counter. Alex lifted her head slightly to look around, and saw a pair of shoes.

"Bobby?" she whispered weakly.

"Hello Detective Eames," a voice filtered through a mask said. "Honestly, I've used gas twice now during our games; did you really not think to check your ventilation for signs of a gas attack?"

"Boyd," Alex muttered. Her head felt enormously heavy; she dropped it to the ground again, sending pain searing along the cut on her forehead. She forced herself to lift it again and tried to crawl back towards the bedrooms.

"Bobby," she mumbled. "Lexie."

Her head flopped back to the ground, and this time, she made no attempt to raise it.