The shrill and sudden ring of her cell phone woke her. Aria rubbed her tired eyes and turned onto her side, glancing at the alarm clock. Who would be calling her at 1 in the morning?

Perhaps it was the hospital wanting her to come in despite it being her day off. No one else she knew would bother her at such an hour unless it was an emergency.

Aria stretched and quickly got out of bed. Her cell phone was in the kitchen on the charger. As she tottered into the living area, she noticed that Albert was still awake. The door to his office was closed, but the light was on, spilling out onto the tiled floor from the gap. She ignored it and walked over to her phone, glancing down at the unknown number on the screen.

Who was calling her? Aria raised a brow. Despite it being unknown, she thought that she might have seen it somewhere before. But she wasn't sure. She declined the call and walked back into the bedroom; if it was important they'd call again, otherwise, they were irrelevant.

But just as soon as she lay down, her phone rang again.

For fuck's sake.

Aria groaned and got up again, intending to put the phone on silent, but as she emerged from the bedroom, she witnessed Albert pick up her phone and answer it.

"Is this the number of Aria Wesker?" A voice asked, undoubtedly masculine.

Albert raised a brow.

"She isn't available," he asserted.

"But this is her number, right?" The unnamed man asked.

Albert thought about saying no, but he was curious about who the person was, and how Aria knew them.

"Yes. But it's 1 in the morning."

"A friend gave me her number. If she's not available I can call back later. Just tell her that it's Ben," the voice answered.

Ben who?

Albert intended to ask but before he could, Ben ended the call. He tightened his jaw and put Aria's phone back down on the table. Was she keeping secrets from him? She never mentioned Ben before and Albert knew the names of her colleagues; he was not among them. So, how did she know him?

Was Aria having an affair?

Albert squeezed his hand into a fist. Since the argument, he could see that she had distanced herself from him. Her actions were unreasonable, though he had assumed they were warranted because she was too proud to admit that she was overthinking the murders. It was unlike her to lie, but given the situation and the evidence, it was a possible conclusion. Would she dare, though?

The idea made him want to tear his hair out. Yes, he married her because he wanted to maintain his cover as he groomed the Alpha team, but he also admired her intelligence and determination. Aria was a worthy spouse; it took him only a year to condition her and he was proud of how ideal she was.

But now, someone was taking what was his.

The notion was immature but to Albert, it felt like Ben was stealing his toys.

He heard a noise, the sound of footsteps approaching, and turned his narrowed eyes in time to see Aria walk into the living area, staring at him in worry. She was a much better actor than he thought; in a way he was impressed. However, he couldn't contain his irritation.

"Ben called."

Aria raised a brow.

"I don't know someone named Ben."

"He knew you by name," Albert retorted. "Someone gave him your number."

What was he going on about? Aria had never––

Wait! Did he mean Bertolucci? Aria almost groaned. He must have gotten her number from Jill when she didn't get in touch with him. That was three days ago.

How was she meant to explain the current situation to Albert? She'd have to admit that she had been investigating the murders on her own even after he advised her to leave it be.

Perhaps she could defuse the conversation before it got out of control.

"It's not what you think," Aria began.

"What else is it, Aria?" Albert asked lowering his voice.

Warm tears stung her stormy eyes. He had no idea how much his distrust hurt her. However, she reckoned that she deserved it; she did lie to Albert, but not how he thought.

"You're going to be so mad at me," she mentioned.

Albert thought so.

He didn't know what to say, or even what to think. How hard was it for her to admit it? He tightened his jaw and walked back to his study. He needed to calm down; to think for a moment then perhaps sleep. His control had slipped from him and it annoyed him to no end.

But Aria would not let him be.

"Please listen to me," she pleaded, standing in the doorway.

"We'll talk about it later. Go back to bed," Albert ordered as he sat down.

Aria narrowed her eyes. No.

"I'm not going to bed until we fucking settle this."

So what if he was going to be disappointed in her? She was not about to let him think that she was a cheater.

Albert raised a brow. Where did this hostility come from? He was intrigued, otherwise, he'd send her away.

Aria took an uneasy breath.

"Ben is a journalist, Albert. I've never even met him before."

"You're talking to a journalist?" He asked.

What was she thinking? If his employers knew they'd assume he was crossing them. Albert wanted to know why.

"Yes and no," Aria answered. "I ... started looking into the murders on my own time and I heard about a woman who had a theory regarding the disappearances, but the only person who knew how to get into contact with her was Ben. So, I asked someone to contact him for me. But I never gave him my number and I never called him."

Albert narrowed his eyes.

"Who contacted him for you?"

"I can't say," Aria uttered. "But understand that it's not their fault. I never told them the reason I wanted to talk to him."

This was bad. Albert took an uneasy breath. No, perhaps it wasn't. If he could figure out who contacted Ben maybe he could put an end to his snooping. It was apparent that the journalist had something important to tell Aria. Instead of dismissing her theories, perhaps he should go along with them. After all, he was a supportive husband, wasn't he?

He was relieved at least that she wasn't cheating.

Motioning her closer, he watched her hesitantly walk over to him. Albert slid back his seat and allowed her to sit in his lap; her arm slipped around his shoulder and her anxious blue eyes shined with tears as she gauged him.

"I'm not happy that you went behind my back after I advised you not to, but I'm pleased that you're not having an affair with him," he told her.

Aria held back her sobs. She was glad that he believed her.

"I never wanted to lie to you, but it's so hard for me to believe that something corrupt isn't going on in this city. And I swear I haven't been looking into the murders since the argument. I honestly forgot about the journalist until tonight."

"He seems persistent. He'll no doubt try and contact you again," Albert mentioned.

He was right. On his note, he insinuated that it was urgent. Whatever he wanted to tell Aria was far more serious than she had thought.

"I can block the number," she suggested.

"No. The next time he calls you should see what he wants. Perhaps there is truth to your theories. Or perhaps it's nothing," Albert suggested.

Either way, he was going to take care of it.

Aria shook her head in agreement then rested her cheek against Albert's head. It felt nice to be in his arms again. Running her fingers through his hair she hummed.

"I think you're starting to get white hair."

"You stress me out," Albert retorted.

She snorted. Feeling him lean into her hand, Aria grinned; an idea pushed its way into her head.

"Let me take care of it then."

Albert raised a brow. It wasn't hard to figure out what she was hinting around to. It was late, but he was having a hard time sleeping as is; the couch wasn't the most comfortable piece of furniture in the house. He slid his legs further apart and watched her stand, then sink to her knees in front of him.

At least Albert was in his sleepwear. Aria detested his S.T.A.R.S. uniform; washing it and disrobing him when she was in the mood; the man was anal about his clothes – don't get her started on his damn sunglasses. Freeing him from them, she ran her tongue over her lips and leaned forward to kiss the shaft. The warmth of his skin drove her mad. She loved to give his cock gentle kisses before she sank on it; the action wasn't ignored by Albert; it was cute how determined she was to please him, and though nothing felt better than having her warm and wet mouth over his cock, the kisses shot small surges a pleasure through him.

Content with herself, Aria opened her mouth and took the head in, running her tongue over it. The taste of precum made her hum in delight; he tasted so damn good. She sank on him taking as much of his cock as she could, then repeated the action to make it easier for herself. Albert was a bit too big for her mouth, but she did her best to take him in without getting choked up.

Hollowing her cheeks, she began to alternate between fast and slow, even turning her head to take him in at a different angle. Her efforts were rewarded with a low groan.

Albert ran his fingers through her hair, holding the blonde strands back from her face. Aria was stunning; her cheeks were red in exertion and the lewd sloppy noises her mouth was making as she took in his cock drove him to cum, pushing him to thrust his hips.

Cum spurted into her throat. Aria nearly choked in reaction but she continued to suck on him until Albert released her hair. Once she was certain his orgasm had run its course, she eased his cock passed her swollen lips and swallowed.

He tasted divine. Aria hummed and wiped the saliva from her mouth.

"Are you okay?" Albert asked as he tucked himself away. He may have been too rough on her at the end.

Her eyes were gleaming with tears.

"Yeah," Aria answered with a grin.

She was a bit proud of herself. Leaning her cheek against Albert's thigh in exhaustion she sighed.

"It's late. Are you coming to bed?"

"Soon," Albert answered. At least she was allowing him back in the bedroom.

Aria shook her head in understanding and stood with a grunt.

"Don't be too long."

Leaning down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, she walked towards the door.

"Aria," Albert called to her.

The said woman turned and looked at him with curious eyes.

"If it will put you at ease I'll look more closely into the murders, but I need to know everything you do," he suggested.

Aria widened her eyes. Was he serious?

"I'll show you my notes when you get home tomorrow."

He had no idea how much this meant to her. She couldn't contain her gratitude.

"Thank you."

Albert grinned and watched her leave the room before he retrieved his phone from its charger. In a new message, he contacted William Birkin.

There's a rat.

Once the message was sent, he deleted it from his phone and returned it to the charger. He'd worry about the reply in the morning. Albert stood and turned the light off to his study, going into the bedroom for a short but comfortable rest.

Albert was right about Ben; around noon the next day, he called back.

Aria was resting on the couch watching a rerun episode of the "X-Files" when her phone rang. She considered ignoring it, but thinking that it might be important she got up and walked into the kitchen, recognizing the number as the one Ben had called her from the previous night.

Accepting the call, she rested the device against her ear and greeted the man.

"Aria, right? I'm glad I finally got in contact with you," Ben mentioned.

"I apologize," Aria stated. "I meant to call you, but things came up."

She opted not the mention the exact reason.

"It's fine. I was concerned that something had happened," Ben retorted.

Aria raised a brow. What did he mean?

"Work hours can sometimes be a pain."

"I imagine," Ben replied with a laugh. "Are you free to talk?"

She reckoned so. Albert told her to see what he wanted.

"To be honest, I heard you were familiar with a reporter name Alyssa. I wanted to ask her a few questions regarding a column she was working on," Aria explained.

"You must be referring to Alyssa Ashcroft," Ben clarified with a hum. "Yeah, she and I have met. The last investigation she was looking into was about her friend; he went missing in the Arklay Mountains in 1993."

So, Joseph, the Funeral Director's son was right. Aria took an uneasy breath.

"I haven't been able to look much into it, but the reason I wanted to speak with her is that our situations have similar elements."

"How so?" Ben asked in curiosity.

Aria wasn't sure that she should disclose all her information, but perhaps he knew could find out something that she couldn't.

"I believe that not all of the murders are animal related, and they've been happening for 5 years now with a brief cool-off period. The earliest victim was in 1993 and then on May 20th a body was found on the outskirts of Raccoon City," she explained.

Ben hummed. Excusing himself a moment he sat the phone down. In the meantime, Aria retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Sorry about that," Ben uttered. "I wanted to write this all down."

She understood.

"How many victims have appeared in Raccoon City?" Ben asked.

"Four to my knowledge," Aria answered. "The RPD keep ruling their deaths as wild dog attacks but even after extensive searches in the mountains they've never been able to locate the animals responsible."

Ben hummed.

"That's strange."

Aria agreed.

"Not to mention each body that was found was later cremated under the guise that their families have not or won't claim them from the morgue."

"And your source?" Ben questioned. He wasn't being rude; he was just curious.

Aria sighed.

"There isn't one. The 3rd victim lived a street over from me. When he was brought in - DOA - I was working; I left a message with his son but the next day the Hospital Director sent his body to be cremated. And the number to get in contact with his son was erased from his medical file."

"It sounds like the hospital and maybe even the police department is covering something criminal up," Ben mentioned.

Aria widened her eyes. She suspected Ethan, but did Irons have something to do with the cover-up? How many others were involved?

"I don't understand why someone would want to cover up so many murders. What reason would they have for doing it?"

"I think they're protecting someone," Ben mentioned. "You see, Alyssa suspected the hospital in the Arklay Mountains was being bribed by a pharmaceutical company into illegally testing drugs on its patients, but she has no memory of what happened during her investigation, other than her friend disappearing. She never mentioned a name to me but the only company in the city that has the power and money to do such a thing is Umbrella Pharmaceuticals."

Was he insinuating that the city was covering for Umbrella? Aria chewed on her bottom lip. This was bad.

"Could Umbrella be testing on humans?" Aria asked.

"I'm not for certain, but I have a hunch they are," Ben answered. "I'm going to need time to investigate some more though. And the soonest I can come to Raccoon City is June."

Aria was at odds. She wanted to look more into the company but she also wasn't sure she should. Taking a deep breath she leaned against the fridge.

"I'll toe the line until you get here."

"Be safe and I'll contact you soon," Ben recommended. "You have no idea how much you've helped me."

He said farewell to Aria and then ended the call. She sat her phone down on the counter and took an uneasy breath. What was going on in Raccoon City?

Hearing her phone ring go off, she looked down at the screen to see that Albert had sent her a text message.

An old friend came to visit and wanted to take me out for a drink. Don't wait up.

Aria frowned and quickly sent a reply.

Have fun.

If only she could say the same.