Chapter 5

            Four hours later, Alicia threw a file down on the table of of the reading room they were occupying.  "Oh, God, enough!  That's just bloody enough!  This son of a bitch has wreaked enough havoc in my life for one day!"

            Bobby, Alex and Lewis Matthews looked up at her.  Bobby was the only one who didn't look surprised at her outburst.  He got up and walked over to her.  He took Alicia's hand and pulled her up out of her chair.  "Let's take a break, Ali," he said softly.

Alicia nodded mutely and allowed Bobby to lead her away.  Alex watched them for a moment then turned to Matthews.  "You up for a cup of coffee?" she asked him.

            Matthews shrugged.  "Sure.  I think we could all use a break."  They rose from the table and set off in search of some coffee.

            Bobby led Alicia to a corner of the room behind some filing cabinets.  It was a quiet spot where they could have some privacy.  He pulled Alicia towards him and put his arms around her.  "Are you okay, baby?" he whispered.

            Alicia snuggled again him, the headache she'd felt earlier now pounding like tribal drums.  She felt so weary, as though she'd been without sleep for several days.  "I'm thinking, Bobby, that maybe I should have kept my ass in D.C."

            "I happen to like your ass right here with me," Bobby said with a grin.

            Alicia chuckled, her headache momentarily forgotten.  Bobby always knew how to comfort her.  She tightened her arms around his waist.  She reveled in his bigness; she always had.  Her mind flashed back to the days of their marriage when they could barely keep their hands off each other.  They would often meet for lunch just so they could sneak off somewhere and neck like a couple of horny teenagers.  They were that way right up until the Alphabet Murders.  After that, the joy Alicia felt from Bobby's merest touch was lost.  She had thought it lost forever until three years ago, when Bobby came to D.C. on a case.  He came to see her at the Bureau.

            They had seen each other several times since the divorce, at her family's assorted functions.  The Flahertys loved Bobby; they considered him one of their own.  He was invited to all of their family functions and he tried to make them, schedule permitting.  They were really the only social functions Bobby felt comfortable attending.  These people were family to him.

            Alicia always tried to put in an appearance at her family's shindigs, as well.  She was forgiven if she couldn't make it, though.  Her job with the FBI often kept her away from home.  But when she did go to a Flaherty function, there was Bobby, tall, handsome and always dateless. It was obvious that Bobby was sending Alicia a message every time he showed up alone:  I want you back; there's no one else for me.  There was no one else for Alicia either, but she just didn't feel like she was in the right place yet; she couldn't ask to come back until she'd fought all her demons and won.  She also didn't think that Bobby was entirely ready, despite his intentions.  At least, she didn't until the day Bobby showed up at the Bureau.

            Alicia was a superstar at the FBI.  In three short years, she had worked her way up from field agent to team leader.  Special investigations were her forte, and she was allowed to choose most of the members of her team.  Because of her position, she was given her own small office.  One day she walked into her office after lunch and found Bobby Goren standing in front of her desk holding in his hands one of the two framed photographs she kept in her office.  There was one of her family and there was the one Bobby held, a photo taken of them on their honeymoon.  The picture had been both Bobby's and Alicia's favorite.  He turned to face her as she came into the office.  She noticed immediately that he had tears in his eyes.

            If asked what happened next, Alicia would not be able to say.  Everything was a blur.  She vaguely remembered being swept up into Bobby's arms and sharing a number of passionate, mind-numbing kisses.  The next thing she remembered clearly was arriving at her apartment with Bobby.  They were clawing at each other's clothes before the door had even closed.  Alicia felt desire take over her senses as Bobby kissed and caressed his way up and down her body.  At last he reached her mouth and kissed her with such passion she was in danger of losing what little control she possessed.  She held him tightly to her and returned his kisses as passionately as she could.

            "Alicia," he whispered, "I've waited for so long.  I want to be with you.  Please don't make me wait any longer."

            Alicia began to cry.  "Oh, God, Bobby, after all I put you through, how could you still want me?  By all rights, you should hate me.  I wouldn't blame you if you did."

            "Baby, I could never hate you.  You're it for me.  Always were, always will be.  When you're ready to come home, you just have to say so."  Bobby lifted her in his arms and walked towards her bedroom.  He gently laid her on the bed then covered her body with his own.  "Whenever you're ready, Alicia, I'll be waiting."

            Alicia didn't know what to say, so she threw herself into making love to him.  She knew what drove Bobby wild in bed, and she held nothing back.  But all the while, she thought about the things he'd just said to her.  She knew they were true; Bobby never lied to her.  But as much as she wanted to be with him again, she knew she wasn't ready.  There were still a few demons to be fought.

            When Bobby left D.C. two days later, Alicia cried as she said goodbye to him at the airport, but despite his repeated assurances that she could come back, she resolved that she would not see him again until she felt she had her act together.  But she knew, she'd always known, that the day would come for her to return to Bobby Goren.

            That was three years ago.  She refused to come to New York unless she was sure Bobby wasn't going to be around, and even then, her visits were brief.  She missed him terribly, but she needed to be sure that she was ready, that she would not desert him again.  Three weeks ago, she got a call from her boss at the FBI, her father and her father's good friend, Edward O'Hara, the commissioner of the NYPD.  The Alphabet Murders had started again; would she come back to New York to help with the case?  She had known about the murders; she still had informants in New York that kept her abreast of things.  She knew the call was coming; given her experience with the original case, how could it not?  But most importantly, Alicia knew that it was time to come home: to New York, to her family, to Bobby.

            Goren held Alicia as tightly as he could.  Three years.  She'd stayed away from him for three years.  The only contact he'd had with her was through her family.  He understood why she felt she had to stay away, but that understanding didn't make the hurt he felt over it any less painful.  But she was back now, however unfortunate the circumstances, and he had no intention of letting her go.

            He felt her rub her cheek against his chest, an old, familiar gesture.  She pulled back slightly in his arms and smiled up at him.  "Hey, Bobby?  Is this proper police procedure?  To be snuggling with your ex-wife in a corner of the police archive room?"

            He grinned at her.  "It may not be police procedure, but it sure feels proper to me."  He leaned down and gave her a soft, lingering kiss.

            Alicia felt her entire body rise up in response.  This wasn't the time or place, but, damn, he felt good.  She reluctantly broke the kiss.  "Behave, Bobby.  There'll be plenty of time for that tonight."

            "Oh?  I thought we were going out to dinner."

            "I want you to cook for me, like you used to.  I miss your cooking."

            "Is that all you miss, Alicia?" Bobby asked.  He was dead serious.

            "If it was, Bobby, I'd be back in D.C. phoning this in.  Let's just talk about this tonight, okay?  Your place, at 7:00?  I'll bring the wine and my appetite."

            Bobby looked at her for a long moment.  Finally, he said, "Bring a change of clothes, too."

            Alicia smiled at him.  "As you wish."

            They walked back to the conference table.

*****

            "This is unbelievable.  Just fucking unbelievable."  Alex was holding two crime scene photos:  one from six years ago and one from the most recent of murders.  They were virtually identical.  "How is it possible to have two crime scenes, six years apart, look so much alike?"

            "Boggles the mind, doesn't it?" Alicia said quietly from her end of the table.  She, too, was looking at a six year old crime scene photo and another taken five weeks ago, after the first new Alphabet Murder.  "Except for the locale, the scenes are the same.  It's as if the murders were committed by the same person."

            "We know that's impossible since the original perp is a guest of the state for the rest of his unnatural life," said Matthews.  "Which leaves us with this:  two people who share the same delusions."  He looked over at Alicia.  "And the same fixations."

            "But that's not possible.  Is it?"  Alex looked at Bobby, her go-to guy when she needed answers to questions of a psychological bent.

            "Depends on how they were raised and what their belief systems were."  Bobby glanced over at the photo Alex was holding.  "The original perp and this new person grew up together, or, at the very least, had a close relationship growing up.  Because they were very close, they probably shared the same beliefs about a great many things.  We know that Phillip Lewis had major issues with women.  None lived up to his ideals.  None, that is, until he met Alicia."  Bobby stood up and walked over to Alicia.  He placed his hands on her shoulders and rubbed gently.  "Alicia, unbeknownst to her, fit his requirements perfectly.  It was never made clear whether or not he realized that she was married until the day he showed up at our door, but I don't think that would have mattered to him.  Alicia was the perfect woman, and he needed to do something for her, in her name, to make her sit up and take notice."

            "But what about this new guy?" Alex asked.  "Why this?  Why now?  It's been six years!"

            Alicia pushed back against Bobby and stood up.  She felt a tremendous urge to pace.  She walked over to Alex while Bobby returned to his seat.  Alicia leaned over to look at the photos sitting in front of Alex.  "This is no accident," she said finally.  "This has all been planned, worked out carefully.  When we busted Phillip Lewis, he had a detailed set of plans for each murder, past and future.  It seems to me that there is another copy of those plans, and he's passed them on to this new perp.  The new perp has obviously agreed to carry on for Lewis.  This new guy has most certainly been up to Attica to visit Lewis.  We're getting the visitors' logs down here as we speak.  They probably won't tell us much, however.  The new perp was probably using an assumed name.  And it's safe to assume that the new perp already knew where Lewis had stashed the duplicate plans.  I can't help but think that a lot of this was done by prior agreement.  The biggest question is, as you said, Alex, why now?"

            "The new perp probably needed time," Bobby said, "...to adjust his thinking, to buy into this whole thing.  He may not have the same murderous bent Lewis has, so he needed to immerse himself in Lewis' plans, his way of thinking...his vision, if you will.  Lewis didn't go to trial until six months after he was arrested.  His every move was watched, his every visit was monitored, for at least the first two years of his incarceration.  After that, things became a little more relaxed.  That's probably when the planning started."

            "This all sounds good, but don't you think it's a little farfetched?" Matthews asked.  "I mean, sharing the same delusions and the same fixation with the same woman?  The woman who busted Lewis?  Doesn't work for me.  Sorry," he said with a shrug.

            Alex and the Gorens simply stared at Matthews.  What a jerk! thought Alex.  He's not even trying to work with us.

            "Agent Matthews," Alex said out loud, "did it occur to you that maybe this new perp had been led to believe that he's carrying on some sort of mission, that it's his duty to Lewis to continue this 'work'?  Obviously, Lewis meant something to this perp and the perp feels some type of obligation to him."

            "Like I said, Detective Eames, it sounds good in theory, but in practice?  I don't know." Matthews shrugged again.

Alicia looked at Bobby.  She rolled her eyes and Bobby had to stifle a grin.  Alicia did not suffer fools gladly and this guy was a major fool.

            "Look, we've been here..." Bobby checked his watch, "...over seven hours.  Why don't we call it a day?  We've pulled the files we need; they'll be sent down to the Major Case squadroom tomorrow morning.  We should have the visitors' logs for the past five years from Attica by that time as well.  We can pick up where we left off, and possible visit the last crime scene as well.  Alicia hasn't seen it yet."

            "Okay, good," Matthews said, getting to his feet.  "Goren, we should get back to the office.  Barkley's gonna want to talk to us."

            "I'll call Barkley, Matthews.  Why don't you take the night off."  Alicia and Matthews stared at each other for a long moment.  Matthews finally looked away.

            "Yeah, sure, boss lady, whatever you say."  He grabbed his coat off the chair next to him.  "See you all in the morning."  He stalked out.

            As soon as he was out of earshot, Alex exploded.  "What an asshole!  Can you believe that guy?  Alicia, really, you need to get a different partner.  That guy's a moron and completely beneath you!"

            Alicia grinned at Alex.  "Easy, girl, it's not worth getting an aneurysm over.  Matthews is an asshole, yes, but I'm going to keep him.  Something about him bugs me and I'm gonna find out what it is."

            Alex opened her mouth to speak only to be quieted by Bobby.  "Alex, there's not point in arguing.  Once Alicia makes up her mind, nothing or no one is going to change it.  Trust me, I know."

            Alex laughed.  "Sounds like you have a plan, Alicia.  Can't wait to see what you're gonna do."

            "You'll be the first to know, bosom buddy."

            "I'm gonna drop Bobby off at home.  Do you need a lift?"  Alex asked.

            Alicia looked through the window of the reading room.  "Nope.  Thanks anyway, Alex.  I think I'll let my minions drive me home.  They've been so good today, fetching files and sitting around making nice with the reception desk ladies that I think I'll reward them with my undivided attention."  She winked at Alex.

            "Okay," Alex said, picking up her things.  "But you realize, of course, that Bobby's gonna chew my ear off about this all the way home."

            "I will not," Bobby said indignantly.  "I'll just give her hell about it when she comes over tonight."  He put his arm around Alicia and gave her a quick squeeze.

            "Oh, yeah," Alex said with a knowing smile.  "The big date.  Well, I hope you guys have a good time.  Bobby, I'll be by the elevators."  With a wink at Alicia, she walked out of the room.

            "About dinner tonight, baby, how does herb and cheese stuffed chicken breast with fettuccine Alfredo sound to you?"

            "Oh, my God, Bobby, that sounds incredible.  I can't wait."

            He looked deeply into Alicia's eyes.  In his she saw a wealth of emotion in those brown depths and felt tears well up in her own eyes.  He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers.  "I can't wait, either, baby.  See you in a couple of hours?"

            "Seven o'clock couldn't get here fast enough." She leaned into him then reached up and gave him a quick, shy kiss on the cheek.  She darted out from under his arm and grabbed her coat and briefcase.  She turned to give him a smile then walked out the door towards her bodyguards.

            Bobby watched the woman he loved walk away.  God, she was beautiful.  She had an incredible body and legs that wouldn't quit.  He felt love, desire and longing well up inside him.  Tonight was the night.  Tonight Alicia Flaherty Goren was coming home.