Law & Order: Criminal Intent – Redemption Song Part Three

A/N: Thank you, loyal followers! To my reviewers:

MariskaRose: Once again, I am indebted to your reviews. It's people like you who keep me going. Glad you liked your starring role, because Alex sure as hell wasn't going on her own! I noticed that it was on your favourite story list as well as myself being an honoured member of your favourite Authors list. Thank you!

LeneM: Thank you very much for your review. Glad you like the overall structure of the story, although I'm kind of making it up as I go along. No, I'm not planning on a big split (not at the moment, anyway), but it does present some interesting possibilities. Thank you for the compliments about my characterisations. I wasn't sure about how I was writing Bobby. Bobby in my head and Bobby on screen are often two different people. As for the shaving... I'm dealing with that!

Lallyb: You're back! Hurrah! Steamy? I could make Goren do so many things... mmmm!

Blucougar57: Hey ya! Like I said, not even I know who the murderer is yet, but I'm formulating it at present and it's looking shock-horror worthy. I'm drawing it out so I can establish relationships between the major characters.

TriStateCopFan: Glad you found the speed-dating scene amusing! I thought that Alex, being prim and proper, would find it rather boring unless she had someone to catch her eye. Daniel is actually based on a real-life Daniel! As for Bobby being oblivious, yes he really is! Bobby has a one-track mind. Maria wasn't part of his work, so she didn't count. Alex is. As for feeling sorry for Alex, that's the driving point of this story. TTOG was about Bobby's emotions. This delves more into Alex's.

Part four awaits, dear readers! The usual disclaimers apply, but I own Maria, Angel, Robby and his family, Darla Sarah and Rogers. Redemption Song belongs to Stevie Wonder, the brilliant singer who influenced Guy Sebastian, who is the most wonderful person I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I am in awe. Now I must have him or Vincent D'Onofrio. Such is my life.

Bobby was awake before Maria the following morning. He got up from the couch, where they had fallen asleep the previous night after a rather romantic interlude. Completely naked, he wandered into the bathroom and examined his rough-and-ready features (please stop drooling, readers!).

Rubbing his stubble, Bobby decided against shaving. He'd been shaving every morning since Maria moved in, because she had always been up before him, making his breakfast before he got up. Bobby smiled to himself; a small, boyishly-sheepish smile. He must have really wiped her out last night.

He clambered into the shower and turned the hot water on. As the water cascaded over his broad shoulders and tumbled down his back, he heard Maria shift herself off the couch in the living room. He grinned to himself and made a grab for the soap. It slipped out of his grasp and hit the floor of the shower with a wet thump. Cursing silently, Bobby bent down and picked it up. He began to soap himself down when a voice floated in over the noise of the water.

'Need some help to wash your back?'

Bobby peeked around the edge of the shower curtain to see his fiance standing in the middle of the bathroom, wearing his bathrobe. Bobby couldn't help but smile. His bathrobe was many sizes too big for her and completely dwarfed her.

'I might,' he said playfully and slipped back behind the curtain, his heart hammering against his rib cage. He heard the robe fall to the floor and seconds later, Maria pulled back the curtain to join him in the shower. Handing her the soap, he turned around, resting his right arm high against the surprisingly cold tiles. Maria began her work.

'You really knocked me out last night, you know that?' Maria said, rubbing at his shoulders. Bobby grinned against his arm.

'So I suspected,' he replied. Maria worked over to the opposite shoulder.

'So what have you got so far in the case?'

'Well, let's see. The only suspects we have so far are the sister, the mother, the boyfriend, the step-father and the priest. But to be honest, the only suspects that I would even consider chasing up are the boyfriend, the sister and the priest.'

'Why not the mother and the step-father?'

'Delafontaine's mother loved her too much to kill her. She proved that when she brought the baby to NYC. As for the step-father, he adopted an illegitimate child. That's got to be testament to his devotion.'

'Records on any of the suspects?'

'None, so whoever it was, it's someone hasn't done this before. Or it's a perp who is incredibly smart.'

'How'd you figure that one?'

'It's got me stumped.'

Maria let the soap suds ooze down Bobby's spine, running rivers of white down the ridges that the muscles in his back caused. He turned and faced her.

'You have an interesting tan,' he observed. Maria shrugged.

'T-shirt tan. Most Australian teenagers have it. Comes from winter sports carnivals and spending too many weekends talking to your mates on the beach,' she replied. Bobby allowed one large hand to trail down her tanned arm.

'Mmmm, I like it,' he rumbled. Maria gave a soft laugh. She examined him.

'You know, you are in extremely good shape. You work out when I don't see you?' she asked. Bobby laughed.

'It's chasing the perps around that keeps the Goren looking this good,' he replied, giving her a cheeky smile. Maria gave a mock-horrified gasp and threw the soap at him. It bounced harmlessly off his chest and fell to the floor.

'That's it! You've had it!' Goren barked, reaching out and grabbing Maria around the waist. She shrieked and laughed as Bobby pulled her to him and nuzzled her dripping hair. Maria reached up and wound her right arm around his neck. Goren dipped his head under the spray of water and left a burning kiss on her lips. As Maria snaked her left arm around his neck, Goren returned his lips to hers, his tongue expertly opening her mouth to his caress. He lifted her up, his arms wrapped around her lower waist and hoisted her around his hips, pressing her against the cool tiles.

If last night was good, it's nothing compared to this, Bobby thought, as he felt Maria run her fingernails down his chest, the water pounding on his back. Maria's skin was soft at the best of times, but under the shower-head, which Bobby could easily mistake for some warm, tropical waterfall...

He hissed in concentration as Maria's hand found what it had been looking for. He looked into her eyes, searching them for clues as to how far she was going to go. But the detective instincts in him had gone on a somewhat late holiday, abandoning his senses to the ruthless, explicit torment of the young woman's touch.

He broke his kiss with a groan as Maria stroked him, touching gently in all the right places.

'Damn it, Maria, I can't hold on for much longer,' he gasped, his breath shallow and ragged. Maria's eyes glinted dangerously.

'Is the big, bad Bobby Goren just going to wimp out, just like that? What a pity,' she suckered him. Goren growled.

'Wimp out? I don't wimp out. It's not my style,' he replied in a guttural voice, shifting her hips and thrusting into her. She arched against him, a strangled cry indicating her surprise. Goren realised that she had goaded him into it and mentally kicked himself for not realising it sooner.

'You did that on purpose,' he murmured into her hair.

'So what if I did? You fell for it, didn't you?'

Bobby had to laugh. She was just too much. He thrust against her, again and again, his hand holding her head so that he didn't put her head through the wall. Which he was afraid that he might do. Ever since they had embarked on their tumultuous relationship, Bobby had been constantly afraid that he would somehow 'break' the 5'4" detective. More than once he had slowed his lovemaking so that he wouldn't hurt her. He often had wondered to himself if she had noticed this. But, he thought to himself, even if she did and does notice that you're doing it, she must at least appreciate you thinking of her. Because she hasn't complained yet...

He quickened his pace, working his way to the point of no return. Maria knew he wasn't going to stop, the muscles in his shoulders were tight and the intense look of concentration on his face. As he approached his peak, Goren relaxed and felt like he was a part of the water, splashing down between their bodies, swirling around their feet and being pulled dizzily down into the drain...

Maria slumped against his shoulders, her arms wrapped loosely around his neck. For what seemed an endless amount of time, the only sound in the bathroom was the sound of the running water and the deep breathing of the two detectives. Maria looked up first.

'Come on, we'll be late for work,' she whispered, pushing a shower-soaked curl off Bobby's forehead.

'Let's call in sick.'

'You have a case to work on, Bobby. There are no sick days.'

Bobby groaned and put his fiance down on the tiled floor. As she stepped out of the shower, wrapped herself in a fluffy white towel and headed for the door, she hesitated.

'Hey Bobby?'

'Yeah?'

'Don't shave today. I miss the stubble.'

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Bobby was first there, as usual. Maria made a left to her desk and dropped her hiking bag at the foot of it. Bobby watched her set up her laptop, then drop comfortably into the black leather chair and stretch her arms, ready for another day of running office research through her database. Bobby smiled. She was wonderful.

Carefully, as he always did, Bobby took out his notebook, pen and files from his briefcase. Eames' coffee sat steaming on her desk. Bobby looked at it complacently. He never forgot his partner's coffee. Every morning. The same coffee. It... she was part of his routine. She made him feel safe. Maria made him feel loved, but Alex made him feel safe. He needed her there, someone who might not understand everything he did, but accepted him anyway.

Alex arrived five minutes later, face flushed, a smile playing on her lips. Goren grinned as she swigged at her morning coffee.

'Thanks,' she said thickly, wiping the foam from her lips. Bobby nodded and handed her the files he had collated that morning. Alex sat down at her desk and read through them.

'A fake time-spread? How tacky is that,' she snorted, turning over the pages. Bobby nodded. Alex shot him a look.

'Any chance at all that Maria made a mistake?'

'No, I was gone for too long with Up-chuck Rogers. She could have memorised the whole damn thing,' Bobby said. Alex's computer beeped. Bobby raised an eyebrow.

'Mail?' he asked suspiciously. Alex coloured.

'Um, well... you see, my neighbour took me to this speed-dating club last night...'

'Speed-dating? Eames, that's just tacky.'

'I know! But she wouldn't let up, so decided to go.'

'And?'

'And they said that they'd e-mail us the results of the match-ups,' Alex said, blushing even more profusely as she saw the laughter in Goren's eyes. But his face was straight.

Alex tried to ignore his trained concentration, but could still feel his eyes boring into her as she opened the e-mail.

'Oh my god!' she exclaimed, clapping a hand over her mouth. Bobby grinned.

'What is it?'

'I got a match!'

Goren cracked up laughing, much to the indignation of his partner.

'Cut it out!'

'So who is it?'

'None of your business!'

Alex re-read the name to herself silently: BURFIELD, DANIEL.

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Bobby looked at his watch. One thirty. Lunch was nearly an hour ago. So why was Maria standing at his desk?

'I've had an idea,' she said softly, leaning down on his desk. Bobby forced himself to maintain eye-contact.

'If it was about this morning in the shower, I have to say...'

'No! Bobby, about the case you're working on. I think you and Eames might need to go and talk to Strickland again.'

'Why?'

'I need to know if he ever picked Delafontaine from choir rehearsal.'

'Why?'

'Think about it... Robby Strickland is the most likely candidate for murder one. Girlfriend his parents hate, a love no-one understands... could drive a kid nuts, don't you think?'

Bobby grabbed the phone from his desk.

'I'll call him instead,' he murmured. Maria's face was twisted with concentration.

Bobby punched in the boy's cell number and waited as the ring tone played out.

'Y'ello? Robby Strickland here.'

'This is Detective Goren. How are you?'

'Fine, Detective, fine. What can I do for you?'

'My... partner would like to know if you ever picked up Sarah up from the church.'

'Sure, all the time. I started going there not long after I met Sarah. It was a good excuse to see her outside of college.'

'Thank you Robby, I'll call again if we find anything out about Sarah's murder.'

'Thanks Detective. See ya round.' The line went dead. Bobby looked at Maria, who had her head tipped to one side and was chewing her nails. Her foot was tapping furiously.

'You're on to something, aren't you?' he asked. Maria shrugged.

'I might be. What did he say?'

'He said that yes, he did used to pick her up from rehearsal. Apparently he started going to the church just after he started seeing Delafontaine,' Bobby said. Maria's eyes lit up.

'I think I can rule out Delafontaine's sister as the murderer,' Maria exclaimed. Bobby looked at her.

'What do you mean? Two dead sopranos and you think you can rule out a jealous alto?'

'If I follow my lead and get the evidence I'm looking for, yes, I can.'

'What makes you think that?'

Maria leant forward, her eyes dancing with excitement.

'Maybe it was about the fame, after all.'