After the meeting where they were reprimanded Maranda called Alex into her office. Alex wasn't sure what to expect and went to see her supervisor regardless. "Close the door and take a seat Parrish." Maranda said taking a seat behind her desk and waiting for Alex to be seated before she stared talking.
"How are you doing? How are the kids?" She asked smiling.
"I'm good the kids are…well being kids making a mess around the house but I can't imagine my life without them." Alex answered honestly. "This morning Phoebe found lipstick in my bag and smeared herself and half the kitchen red with stains, so that is a surprise waiting for Ryan when we get home tonight." She thought out loud since she didn't mention the incident to her husband just yet.
"Enjoy that. Before you know it they will be grown and cause problems that are a lot bigger than make up stains in the kitchen." Maranda said looking at a picture of Charlie on her desk. "Parrish, I want to talk business with you. A position opened up for a Special Agent and I think you'd be fot for the job. There is a whole lot of formalities along the way, an exam a few physical tests you need to pass."
"Weren't there other candidates?" Alex asked. Yes she was looking forward to getting a promotion but right now she was worried. In fact she was scared and uncertain and didn't know what to expect.
"There were but they did not make the cut. So we're down to three of you who will have to do a formal interview with the board on why you would be fit for the position. And as a side note Ryan is on the board, which may make the rest of the members drill you even harder because they might think you are being favored because of your husband's position. "
Alex sighed and looked at her superior before blowing out a steady breath. "Maranda when I first started I made it clear that I do not want to be favored or expect to be treated any differently than my colleagues because of my husband's involvement in all of this. So if I do get the position I want to get it because I deserve it not because of Ryan."
Maranda nodded fully understanding where the young woman was coming from. "I can assure you that we won't take it lightly when we appoint someone. The next case that comes in will be for you to lead." The older woman said and Alex nodded and walked out of the office closing the door behind her.
Alex walked down to the office when she got Liam along the way and he handed her an envelope. "Show us what you got Alex." He said smiling and walked up the steps. She walked towards her desk and sat down looking at the contents of the case that had just popped up, and she had to be ready to figure out how she will go about this.
She got up and walked towards the front of the office, selecting a few things on the computer when a traffic report popped up the screen grabbing he attention of all of her colleagues in the room. She took a deep breath before she started talking. "Okay, there's been an accident on the highway. Hit and run. It seems pretty standard but we need to look into it as it might appear that there is more to it."
"What can be more to it? I mean the driver drove away, where do we even start looking? What kind of foul play would we find in it?" Harry asked looking at Alex.
"Your guess is as good as mine Doyle, I'm just following orders. We need to find out who the victim was before we can do anything else. In the meantime someone check traffic cameras on the highway." She said to no one in particular.
"On it." Caleb said swirling around in his chair and started on his task, while the rest waited for a report back from forensics on who the victim was.
Ryan was pacing around in his office talking on his cellphone when Alex opened the door. Well talking was putting it mildly he was yelling at whoever was on the other end of the line and she hesitated going in further, deciding to wait outside until the conversation ended.
"Look, there's only so much I can do. If a candidate failed at physical training or don't show up for class what the hell am I supposed to do about it? They're all grown and should be able to handle the consequences of their actions. I don't care who her father is. And if she gets a second chance at it all the others should too." He threw his phone on the couch before mumbling something to himself when Alex took the chance to re-enter the office again.
His desk was a mess, there were papers everywhere and she had no idea if he knew what was going on there. Making her worried for what she was about to ask him because it consisted of him having to look through those papers to get her one list of names. "Uuuhhmm, I need contact details of some forensics." She said cautiously and without answering her he looked at his desk and then looked at his wife.
"Got it." She nodded and walked out of the office without the list of names she so desperately needed, but maybe her husband's sanity were more important right now.
She walked downstairs looking through her drawers. She knew she had a book with forensics people on hand who owed her favours and she was about to cash in. When she didn't find it in the drawers she decided to go home as she knew where it will be. She grabbed her keys and jogged outside. Surprised to see Ryan's car missing from the parking bay as well. When she pulled up to the driveway the front door was open and her husband was busy surveying the lipstick damage in the kitchen, a stack of papers on the dining room table which were in the same state his work desk was.
"What are you doing at home?" She asked when she saw him.
"Trying to get through some Quantico assignments without office distractions." He said without looking up at her. "What happened?"
Alex was looking for the grocery book where she wrote the numbers down not really taking note of what her husband was looking at, she only paid him mind when she found the book and the list of names and numbers. "Phoebe got hold of my lipstick this morning, I didn't have time to clean it up because I was already late for work. I gotta run." She explained briefly.
"Alex it's ten times worse now! Was it that difficult for you to just clean the tiles and the cupboards at least?"
"Excuse me? Ryan did you hear the part where I told you I was late for work already when it happened. Can this wait until I'm home tonight?" She asked from the front door without waiting for a response from him.
She got back into the car and dialed a number. "Wayne, it's Alex Booth, FBI agent." She said over the bluetooth.
"AAaaahhh cashing in on the favour. If it is about the hit and run crime scene I am at the scene right now, you can come check it out." He said and she took a detour towards the direction of the highway, telling Doyle to meet her there.
It was pretty gory. Guts and blood were all over the place. A woman dressed in all black clothing were laying in the middle of the road. DOA, by the looks of the injuries she sustained there was no way she could've made it out alive after the truck hit her.
"Do you know who it is?" Alex asked and wayne shook his head.
'No ID. We're gonna have to run fingerprints to find out who she belongs to."
"It said hit and run why is here a truck on the side of the road? Was he the one who did it?" Alex asked and Wayne nodded. In the meantime some of her co – workers showed up and took him in for questioning. "Any idea why? He doesn't even look like he shows remorse for what happened.
"It's her husband." Wayne whispered.
Alex asked Shelby and Natalie to get their home address so they can go look around the house, and the contact details of some family members they can ask what's happening or if they knew about anything. The husband obliged and gave them the address, the three women made their way over to the victim's house handing the questioning over to someone else for the time being.
At the house there were two people, the grandmother and another woman. They invited the FBI agents inside. "This is about the highway accident." The older the woman said.
"Janet was my youngest daughter, this is her sister Claire. Janet had triplets three months ago and she's been crying everyday since the triplets were born. She suffered from post natal depression." The mother explained.
"Last night she called the family together and told us what she had planned for today and that her husband would be the one driving the truck. We tried to get her to get out of that mindset but it was difficult seeing your child in so much pain that suicide on a highway was the only way out." The mother explained.
"Uhhmmm ma'am I am sorry for your loss, but this is being investigated as a murder. And I'm sorry to say that you guys are part of the investigation now and might also be charged." Alex tried to rationalize.
The grandmother looked towards her grandkids and back at the FBI women sitting in front of her.
"If you can give us the names of some family members you trust, we will try our best to place the kids with them. But we're going to need you to come with us." Shelby explained while Alex called one of the family members with regards to the family taking care of the babies.
Alex handed the case off to her friends and signed the documents she had to before she called it a day and headed home, she and her husband needed to talk first before she goes to fetch the kids. She walked into the lounge and he was still sitting at the table the papers and files a lot more organized that what it looked like before. The lipstick stains cleaned up.
"Hey." She greeted putting her things on the kitchen counter.
"Hey." He returned the greeting unenthusiastically not looking up from his work.
She sighed and walked towards him, standing on the opposite side of the table where he was working. "Ryan I am not going to accept the Special Agent position. If it means that we're gonna bud heads day and night over trivial things or because I don't clean up before I leave the house then it's not worth it."
"I came home wanting to tell you about my day but I was treading water because I didn't know what mood you'd be in when I get here. And we're going to have to work together Ryan bringing stress home from work is going to take its toll on our relationship." She answered honestly.
He put his pen down and looked up at her. "I'm sorry for the way I acted today. I was out of line."
"I get it, you're under pressure but it's not going to work when both of us are overloaded with work. We have kids when are Phoebe and Asher going to get attention when this is how we are going to operate from now on? If it means we need to sell my car or cut the internet or something then so be it. But I'm not going to sacrifice time with my family for a higher paycheck. And I'm sorry if it makes me selfish." She said looking at him walking upstairs towards their bedroom to take a shower.
Ryan waited until she disappeared before going after her, "are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She sniffed and smiled at him stiffly walking towards the bathtub. "I just need to be alone for a while. Will you please go fetch the kids?" She asked and Ryan nodded as she turned her back towards him and ran her bath water.
Hey guys. It's been a while. Hope you enjoy.
Lovies-S
