Chapter 79
Alex stirred when she heard Phoebe's faint cries from the crib next to her side of the bed. She laid still for a while taking in her surroundings. The faint glow of the nightlight on her bed side table, her husband's arm thrown loosely over her sleeping soundly. She checked her cellphone and saw the time 04:15AM, before getting up and attending to her daughter, whose cries grew louder by the second.
"Hey, it's okay bub. Ssshhhh it's okay." Alex whispered as she picked her daughter up. She looked around the crib for Phoebe's pacifier to put it in her mouth and silence her for the time being while she checked her diaper. The pacifier didn't do the trick since the baby was still whining.
"I'll get your bottle in a minute Phoebe let's just finish up here." Alex coached her daughter trying to calm her down while she fastened the fresh diaper straps. "We're gonna wake daddy." She said softly but that little so called warning didn't work either.
"Is she okay?" Ryan croaked sitting up against the headboard. When Phoebe heard another familiar voice in the room her cries stopped momentarily and she looked over towards her father, smiling at him where she laid on the bed. "Why are you up so early? It's still sleeping time." He told her but she was oblivious to that statement she was awake now. Alex left the room to discard the diaper and came back into the bedroom a few seconds later handing Ryan one of her bottles.
Alex laid back down watching the two of them. Phoebe laying in the crook of her father's arm kicking her little legs while playing with her father's fingers that's curled around the bottle he's feeding her. All evidence of sleep has evaded their little baby.
"Daddy still has to go to work in a few hours, you think me and you can go back to sleep now?" Ryan asked Phoebe when he looked over and saw Alex is fast asleep again. She was wide awake and laid in her father's arms waiting for him to restart their conversation. "I love you so much." He said kissing her and the smile she gave him made his heart melt. He laid her down in the middle of the bed listening to the cute noises she made, adding a few sentences of his own to the topic at hand. After about an hour she yawned and started fussing, little hands curled in a fist as she rubbed all over her face and started whining. "You're sleepy now, aren't you?" He asked giving her the other half of the bottle that she didn't finish earlier. Silence soon after and she drifted to sleep sleeping between her parents.
Ryan groaned when the alarm went off, he was not ready to get up, another hour of sleep would've been nice. He heard Alex laugh when he got off the bed yawning and stretching, looking over his back at the tiny sleeping form in the middle of the bed. "Now you're sleeping and I have to get up." He complained to the sleeping baby. Making a trip to the bathroom and then headed down to the kitchen to make some coffee, coming back upstairs to put a steaming cup of coffee on her side of the bed.
"Thank you." She smiled at his small gesture. "But it looks like you need this more than I do." She laughed sitting up in bed. "You could say that." He nodded as they both looked over at their cute daughter. Ryan kissing Alex on the tip of her nose, and then laid down on his back across the bed. "You need to shave your three day old beard, babe." Alex told him wiggling her nose.
"I'm not in the mood to shave. Do you know how much trouble it is?" He asked with his eyes closed. "Okay fine. I'm just gonna stop kissing you then." She gave him the ultimatum and his eyes flew open at that statement. "Your choice." She replied nonchalantly reaching over to get the coffee but before she could get the cup, Ryan got her hands in his and nuzzled her neck, making sure his beard tickles the exposed skin.
"Ryan stop!" She laughs trying to push him away but only making it worse as he continues to do it. "Okay, I have a proposition for you if you don't wanna do it." She told him trying to catch her breath. "I'm not interested, it sounds suspicious." He answered grabbing her coffee. "You brought that for me, one sip I'm watching you." She eyed him and took the cup out of his hands when he went at it for the third time. "I wasn't done." He argued but she wouldn't allow him near the now half cup of coffee.
"Okay, listen to me now. I will do it for you." She smiled up at him but Ryan shook his head. "No, then I'd rather do it tomorrow morning but there is no way you're shaving my beard." He answered. "It's not so different from shaving my legs and a few other lady parts." She waved a finger at him to make her point. "And, on the plus side your stubble will grow in the same direction once I'm done. Come on." She nudged him seeing that he still wasn't sold on the idea.
"On one condition. This is the first and the last time." He said getting up off the bed. And she followed closely. "We have an hour and forty five minutes to kill and perfect it before we have to get going. Allow me to do my magic." She smiled as she hopped up onto the counter in the bathroom, draping a towel around his shoulders while he stood in front of her, handing her the razor.
"Alex wait. I'm not comfortable with this, what if…"
"Hush, I'm trying to concentrate. And stop looking in the mirror." She reprimanded as he stood there, hands resting on her thighs eyes closed while she worked her magic.
"Thank you Alex, is the words you're looking for." She told him when she was done. "I'm too scared to look." He answered keeping his eyes closed. "Your loss then." She whispered in his ear getting of the counter and turning on the shower and undressing herself and getting in. He took a look in the mirror grateful that his wife didn't mess it up, it looks pretty good. He walked out to the bedroom to check if Phoebe was still asleep, and finished the other half of the coffee he made for Alex and headed back into the bathroom. Opening the shower door and getting in, kissing his wife's shoulder as the warm water poured down onto them. "Not too bad." He whispered in her ear and she turned around. "I told you. Stick with me." She smiled draping her hands over his shoulders. "Oh, trust me, I plan on doing just that." He smirked leaning down to kiss her.
They pulled up at work and Alex was reluctant to get out the car, not sure how she'd react when she saw Roxanne and if the blonde will even acknowledge her. They've come a long way since Friday and she's not ready to have to do it all over again.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay. I'm reporting her to O'Connor when he gets in." Ryan said looking over at his wife. "She'll loose her job." Alex answered calmly looking at him. "She should've thought about it." Ryan dismissed but Alex shook her head. "Let me talk to her first. Then we can decide what we'll do from there." She advised. "Okay then. If that's what you want to do." He decided and they got out the car walking into the office to get their day started.
"A watched pot never boils." Natalie told Nimah who stared at her phone. "Why are you starring at your phone anyway?" Alex asked when she came into the office. "Clive still hasn't called me." She breathed putting the phone face down on her desk. "Why would he need to call you? You guys live together." Alex said confused certain that she's missed something.
"She drunk dialed him last night and a woman picked up. She told the woman to go jump, thinking he was cheating on her, when it was his mother who picked up because he was sleeping from partying a bit too much." Natalie summarized, seeing the amusement grew on Alex's face. "Trouble with the in laws already?" Alex laughed shaking her head. "This is not funny. I don't want him to choose between me and his mother and it looks like she doesn't like me anymore. I tried calling her to apologize and she didn't answer." Nimah panicked standing up walking up and down the office. "Maybe you should just stop calling people in general." Shelby joined in the laughter and Nimah gave them a look before walking out.
Alex and Natalie got an email on a case they were working on together. A teenager is in custody, a boy who has evidence of a murder he witnessed close to home and is now being targeted by the gang who did it. So they can get the evidence and they're trying to get to him so he won't tell the cops about it They are not letting him go and needs to get him to safety, until they've tracked down the gang. Natalie read the email over Alex's shoulder and slumped down in her chair.
"Where do we even start looking? Natalie asked but Alex gave her a look that stopped her in her tracks. "You know, why don't you and Ryan work together on this case?" She asked thinking about an easy way out not in the mod to babysit a teenager. "Maybe because he was the one who sent the email and told us that we have to do it. So that's what we'll do." Alex smiled but Natalie shook her head. "Not if I can help it." She said and got up from her chair.
"Ryan, are you busy or can I talk to you?" Natalie asked entering his office. "Uuhhmm yeah I guess you can talk." He said getting up from behind his desk and walking over to lean on front while Natalie started talking.
"That email you sent Alex and I about that babysitting job with that boy, you know I thought the two of you would make a good team working on it." She started. "It's not that I don't want to do it, it's just that you two will get practice on what teenagers are like for when Phoebe reach that age." She continued, Ryan not saying anything, just nodding his head.
"I'm sleep deprived due to a three and a half month old who runs our sleeping schedule. Dealing with teenage drama is not on my bucket list right now. It'll be fun maybe he'll entertain you and Alex who knows?" Ryan asked looking at her. "You're a terrible friend you know that. Hey, since you're sleep deprived, I can buy you coffee and then you'll take over the case?" Natalie pushed from the doorway. "Buy me lunch as well and we have a deal." He nodded, leaving her smiling as she continued her way out.
"Oh and by the way, I've never believed those rumors about you being a hard ass." Natalie said quickly. "Who said that?" Ryan asked standing up. "Uuhmm mostly me. " She conclude and dashed out the door leaving him speechless. Going through all this just to be taken of a case.
"Problem solved, you and Ryan are working on the case." Natalie announced, seeing the confused look on her friend's face she decided to enlighten her. "I told him I'll buy him lunch and that this would be good practice for the two of you when Phoebe reaches that age." She winked at the brunette. "Thank me later."
"I also want lunch, for two days." Alex stated since she wormed herself out of this she could at least benefit from it.
"Alex don't be unreasonable, it's just that…"
"Make it three days then. Your choice." Alex winked and got up walking towards the interrogation room.
She walked past reception but the moment Roxanne saw her she dropped her gaze and stared intently at the computer screen. She met up with Ryan a few feet from the room before they walked in.
A young boy around seventeen years old, sat in the chair and looked up at when the door opened. Wearing a grey hoodie and black jeans and sneakers. Hair gel keeping his mowhauk in place. Brown eyes and tanned skin.
School books were on the table and a notepad on one side he sat there with a pen in one hand holding his head with the other while looking at a textbook intently. "Sorry for bothering. You're Mark Williams, right?" Alex asked and the boy nodded and stood up to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you." He said softly and repeated the action with Ryan, before he took a seat again.
"I'm sure you guys now that I'm a target for a gang in my hood because of the evidence I have. They've threatened my mom and my three younger siblings. I didn't know what else to do but bring it here." Mark explained putting his books aside.
"My mom has this rule, where she always tells us that we may be from the South but she'll raise us with manners like someone who lived the high life." He said and the agents smiled. "She warns me about getting involved with gangs and told me if I did she wouldn't hesitate kicking me out because no child of hers would become another statistic. And as much as I tried to explain to her that she has it wrong, she packed my bags and handed it to me." He concluded.
"Where do you stay now?" Ryan asked the young man. "With my grandma." He answered looking at the two agents.
"All right. Well, first we're going to need to get you into a witness protection plan and get you and your family to a safe house where no one will know about you except the FBI who's working on your case. You will have no contact with the outside world and we'll arrange a tutor so you and your siblings won't get behind on school work." Alex explained seeing panic in the kid's eyes.
"Are you okay?" She asked when he didn't respond. "Yeah, I just didn't think it would be such a big deal, I man I usually see this kind of thing in movies and now it's happening to me." He said twisting the pen in his hand. "Think of it as a vacation. A home away from home kind of thing." Alex laughed and the teenager smiled. She held out her hand and he handed over his cellphone with the video on it.
"Well, we have a vacation to organize you so we'll get out of your hair. Someone will come check up on you regularly and bring you something to eat in the meantime." Ryan explained touching his shoulder and walking out the door.
He stood up when Alex got off her chair ready to leave. "Uhm, miss Alex will my family be safe in case something happens to me?" Mark asked nervously. "All of you will be fine. I'll make sure of that." Alex nodded.
Alex and Ryan went their separate ways organizing things for Mark's family and making copies of the video in case something goes wrong and they loose the only one they have. She explained the situation to Maranda trusting that Ryan would talk to Liam and that they'll agree to what she and Ryan have decided. Alex doesn't know why but she really likes that kid, and she's going to keep to her promise that she'll protect him and his family.
