- You should be careful with your little family, Detective Goren
A wicked sneer played on the lips of the suspect, Nicole Wallace.
Goren leapt to his feet, knocking over his chair.
His face was contorted with rage.
His fists were on his hips, and his knuckles were white from clenching.
- Could it be a threat?
Logan had just spoken his words with coldness.
Goren was seething inside.
Logan looked at him.
His face was distorted with rage.
Mike Logan was the one who normally got carried away.
And Goren was the one who tempered the matter.
But a dull rage rumbled inside Goren.
- I have to get out!
Nicole Wallace had a big triumphant smile on her face.
- You'd better hurry up... You never know...
What was she implying!
He had a bad feeling.
He had to call Alex.
Goren opened the door with a bang and stormed out.
Logan turned towards the suspect, his lips deformed by a rictus.
- You have fun I presume! He looked at her with contempt, the serious face. That's how you did it with your victim! You attacked his family, weakened him, and at the right moment you finished him off!
- Bobby?
What was going on?
Why was he calling him on duty?
And that voice he had...
Something was wrong!
- I just wanted to hear your voice!
Yes, there was something wrong.
She could hear it just by the intonation of his voice.
- Are you okay?
Damn it...
Alex knew something was wrong.
She knew him by heart.
- You call me at the office when you pick up the kid from school.
It was the first time he had asked her that.
- Are you sure everything is all right?
How could I tell him how worried he was...
- Goren?
It was the voice of his captain Deakins.
- I have to get off the phone!
Logan was standing right next to Deakins.
- Go home, Goren! Logan can go on by himself!
Goren was very fond of his captain, he was like a friend to him.
Deakins had managed to find them a partner who could accept their way of working.
Logan was the detective who tended to get carried away, or use the hard way.
Goren was the detective who was an intellectual, and who preferred words to action.
The two of them complemented each other.
- Are you sure?
Logan gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
- Yes, don't worry! Logan had a wicked smile. You forget I have my own way of doing things.
Oh yes, he knew his way of working.
The hard way.
- Daddy!
At the sight of her father, Frances rushed towards him, arms wide open
Bobby lifted his daughter in his arms.
She tightened her little arms around his neck and placed a kiss on his cheek.
There was a problem.
It was the first time he had come home so early.
And he looked like shit.
He crouched down, putting his daughter on the ground, keeping his hand on her small size, he caressed her long ebony curls.
- You want to go to the park?
He was trying to put on a brave face.
But knowing that his wife and daughter were being attacked made him sick.
Francès was an adorable and very affectionate child, just like her mother.
How could anyone attack a child?
- Mom...Francès ran to her mother's side, pulling her wrist. Are you coming?
Alex patted the little brown head with affection.
- Yes, yes, we'll go!
Frances jumped to his feet, clapping his hands.
Frances went back to her father, threw herself into his arms, and kissed him.
- I love you dad!
Goren's heart broke.
He had all the pains to restrain himself from crying.
He put an arm around her little waist.
- Daddy loves you too!
Alex was touched by the scene.
They were so cute together.
Goren didn't have a lot of time on her hands being in the criminal section.
That's why she preferred to remain a simple police officer, so she could take care of Francès, and compensate for her father's absences.
She had to know what was wrong.
She did not like to see him in this state.
Alex had tried to question him, but he had always dodged the answer and changed the subject.
The fact that there was Francès with them, had perhaps prevented him from confiding.
- She absolutely wanted his story! He smiled. She reminds me of someone...
He approached the bed, and came to sit beside Alex, taking her hand.
- I can never thank you enough for this little girl! He put his hand on her cheek, caressing her. You know I love you...
There was definitely something wrong.
- Bobby...What's going on?
In Alex's voice was the tone of worry.
How to tell him, his fears, his anxieties, that someone would attack Frances, and her.
With gentleness he drew her against him, hugging her.
He rested his chin on her little blonde head.
Bobby wasn't his usual self.
He was a very affectionate person.
But now she knew he wasn't well.
She raised her head, looking into the brown of his eyes.
With slowness, he brought closer his lips to his, taking them with softness.
Alex shivered.
He spread his lips, resting his forehead against hers.
- Bobby...
He put his finger on her lips, silencing her.
- No questions, please!
Reluctantly Alex didn't insist.
She was unhappy.
There was nothing she could do to help him.
- Let's just stay like this, shall we?
Alex nodded.
That night Goren did not wake her.
Every night he had made a habit of waking her up, no matter what time it was, to give her a hug.
But tonight he did nothing.
There must have been something really wrong.
Goren closed in on himself, and said nothing.
And the more time went by, the later it came in, and the less and less he touched her.
Had he found someone else?
Was she no longer enough for him?
Was that why he no longer touched her?
Alex was asking himself too many questions.
And that worried him.