Author's Note: I hope you guys like this chapter! Sorry though—only OC's in this chapter. Anyway... Please, please review!

Disclaimer: I own Captain Moceri, Lieutenant Porter, and Shauna Boutell. All of the wrestlers are © of the WWE.

Always Watching

Chapter 7

Captain Moceri stared across the small kitchen table at the woman sitting in front of him. His impression of the woman-Shauna Boutell-was a small, athletic, and distinctly nervous twenty-five to thirty year old. Her white-blond hair had been pulled up into a loose ponytail, and she was wearing a tight-fitted turquoise tank top and a pair of shorts. Moceri continued to study her, his eyes assessing. He was glad that he had convinced Lita to stay in the safe company of Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho for the day instead of coming here. There was a lot on her mind, he knew, a lot that she couldn't tell either one. But it was better for her to spend the day with friends than to worry about tomorrow night, he thought to himself. He turned his thoughts back to the present. Looking at Shauna Boutell, he just couldn't picture her as an accessory to this case—but that didn't mean much.

"Mrs. Boutell," he began, but she stopped him.

"Shauna, please," she whispered.

"Okay. Shauna, I understand you've been in contact with a professional wrestler named Edge recently," he said. Everything that came from his mouth was a fact, and prompted her to say more.

"Yes, I have," she responded, her voice still quiet. She was nibbling on her lower lip to what Moceri judged to be a nervous habit.

"Edge is now being looked at as a suspect in a stalking case. It would help immensely if you would tell me the nature of his call."

Shauna sighed, her blue eyes falling on a framed picture on one of the walls. His eyes followed her gaze. It was a wedding picture, he realized. A younger Shauna with her arms wrapped around the neck of a brown-haired, clean-cut man just a few inches taller than her. Moceri's eyes moved from the picture and continued to cut into Shauna. It was deathly obvious that she was hiding something. "My husband and I got married nearly a decade ago," she told him, now twisting her hands together. "We married as soon as we got out of college. We were so in love," she added, her tone wistful. "In the past two years, our relationship has kind of deteriorated," she paused, sighing. "I'm nearly thirty-two now. I want to have a child, and Rick, well... He's a successful business man. He..." Shauna stopped, rubbing her temple with one hand. "He's obsessed with his work. Rick leaves in the morning, just as I get up, comes home about eight at night, has dinner, and goes to bed. I guess I should be thankful for all that he's doing, I mean..." she gestured to the two-story house surrounding her. "We don't exactly live in a modest budget," she sighed once more.

The captain sensed a guilt trip coming-and a respondent closed-mouth-and he spoke quickly. "How did Edge come into all of this?"

"Four months ago, I was eating at Wendy's, and I noticed Edge there. I watch wrestling every now and then, so I went over there and asked for his autograph. He told me to sit down and have lunch with him, and I did. We got to talking, and he asked me to go to a club with him that night. I brought a few of my golfing friends along; just in case. You never know these days. Anyway..." she paused, tugging at her ponytail.

"You had a one-night-stand," Moceri said aloud, not one to beat around the bush.

She blushed. "Yes. I thought it was that, and I was terribly ashamed of myself for cheating on my husband." There was a long pause before she spoke again. "A month passed... Rick was starting to have 'late night meetings' and on his day off, he'd constantly go fishing with co-workers and whatnot. I'm not a suspicious woman, Captain. I called him once, to see if he would make it home for dinner, and a woman answered the phone. I didn't recognize her voice, but I heard Rick in the back; he was out of breath... This is exactly what he said: 'Come on baby, just hang it up. We've got some...unfinished business.' The woman squealed, and then she hung up." Shauna frowned. "I talked to him that night before he went to bed. He said that he was with James on his Jet Ski," her frown deepened. "If he had been with a female co-worker, he wouldn't have to lie to me. I don't care if he meets other women; it's not against the law for men to be friends with women. Hey, I'm friends with men; it should be vice versa, right? I called him once more, and he answered. I know he was trying to keep his voice calm, but I could hear a girl giggling in the back, and kissing noises."

"So you came to the conclusion that he was cheating on you."

"Is," she corrected. "He still is, but I don't approach him with it..."

"Because you're doing the same thing?" Moceri prompted. By the guilty look that suddenly creased her face, he knew he'd pinned the tail on the donkey, so to speak.

"It was about that time Edge called back," she admitted. "We started going out to dinners. I emphasized to him that we were just friends, but eventually it became more than friends. He's a wonderful person, Detective," she told him. "He called two nights ago, I believe... You see... Edge wants me to divorce Rick. I love him, and he loves me. The only thing standing in our way is my marriage to Rick," she looked Captain Moceri in the eye. "I'm going to tell Rick tonight, and ask him for a divorce."

Captain Moceri stood up; having gotten the information he wanted. It was a start, but hardly conclusive. The woman could be hiding something, but he knew that she wasn't going to sing a different tune anytime soon. "You might want to hold off on that," he told her, passing a business card to her.

She glanced at it, and then looked back up at him. "Because he's suspected of stalking a woman?" she asked, and he didn't respond, but she knew his answer. "It's only been two months since we've been together, but I feel I know him like the palm of my own hand." Captain Moceri looked at her, and she stared right back, meeting his eyes with a conviction that amazed the detective. "You can suspect him all you want, but I trust my heart, and my heart is telling me that Edge has nothing to do with this."

"No offense to you, ma'am, but you were also listening to your heart when you married Rick...and look how that turned out," with that, he turned and headed for the front door, leaving a brooding Shauna Boutell behind him, staring at the remnants of a good marriage. As soon as the oak door shut behind him, Captain Moceri pulled out his cell phone.

"Porter," was the answer he received.

"Moceri here," he announced to the other line.

"How'd it go?"

"It appears that Mrs. Boutell is having an affair with Edge," he climbed into his car, turning the keys in the ignition.

"Did she admit to helping Edge?"

"No. She appeared to know nothing about it and told me that Edge wouldn't do such a thing."

"Go figure."

Moceri pressed down on the accelerator, his eyes focusing on the road. "Listen. I want a surveillance team on that man. I want to know everything that he's doing. Get a temporary restraining order on him from Lita. If that man is within one hundred yards of her, arrest him."

"Yes, sir."

Captain Moceri hung up the phone with his chin and concentrated on driving to the nearby airport. His thoughts sped through his mind rapidly. Time was running out... Somewhere deep inside, he knew he wanted Edge to be the culprit.

Edge was his only lead. If Edge didn't turn out to be the stalker, he would have a hell of a time getting a new lead and catching the stalker before the next night. And if he didn't catch him by then...

There was a pretty good chance he'd be putting Lita's life in danger.