On stage, Cherubino was jumping from the window as Susanna hurriedly hid. There was a lull in the performance as the Count and his wife were late on their entrance. Alex looked around. She liked the show, but it wasn't her cup of tea. Opera had too much singing for her, and it didn't help that she couldn't understand a word of Italian. "Bobby, I'll be back in a minute, I need to go to the bathroom." He nodded in response.
Once outside the theater, she looked around for a sign to lead her to the restroom but couldn't find one. Instead she headed toward two young men dressed all in black. Must be stage hands, she thought to herself. But as she approached, she heard something that made her shiver. "Which one goes off first?"
"The one on the far right of the stage…idiot."
"Haha! I love a dramatic exit!"
Alex didn't stay to hear the rest of their conversation. She quietly turned to warn Bobby, careful not to tip the men off as to her presence. "Hello, Miss. Can we help you?" So much for being sneaky…
"Uh, I was just looking for the bathroom."
"Just down the hall and to your left."
"Thank you." She didn't need anymore prompting. Once inside the bathroom, she tried to calm her nerves. This couldn't be happening. They were just talking about the show, that was all. The actors must exit at some point, no doubt one of them could be dramatic. Or it could be another—no, no! She couldn't think like that; it was insane. They weren't even at the same Opera house! Just too much work, and too little sleep. I have to keep telling myself that. If only she believed it.
She waited a minute before leaving the bathroom and heading back to the theater. Bobby didn't even look at her as she sat down, he was so wrapped in the performance. He must really love this stuff… Not wanting to show signs of weakness and knowing that what she had witnessed didn't prove anything, she tried to keep her nerves at bay.
At intermission she told Bobby what she had seen. She couldn't tell how concerned he was. Hell, she couldn't tell how much she was concerned, let alone the most difficult person she'd ever befriended.
"You say they were all in black? Like-like stage crew?"
"Yes."
"Well, that would give them reign of the theater. They could access it at almost anytime, and they would know the structure well. Was there anything else that made you suspect anything?" The lights flashed. "Come on, let's go back. If anything else happens we'll warn Deakins."
Before he could leave, Alex pulled him into a hug. Startled for a moment, he wrapped his arms around her. She was scared but couldn't decide if her fear was real or just a figment of her stress. She wanted to cry, to go home and sleep. But she couldn't leave, not now, not until the show was over.
Bobby led her back to her seat and they settled in as the show resumed. Act IV commenced without further trauma. And that's when she noticed it. As if on cue, from different locations in the theater, three people stood and walked toward the exit. One walked by her in the aisle and she recognized his face. He was the man who had led her to the bathroom! Her hand grabbed Bobby's arm, but her eyes never left the man in black. "Bobby, they're leaving!" He looked up in time to see the man leave the theater. Both detectives stood up and quickly followed.
When they got out into the hall, the two men and a woman, all in black, were hastily talking. Bobby went up to them without hesitation but all three ran when they noticed him. Alex quickly caught up with the woman who was stupid enough to wear four-inch heels while running from the police. But the two men were gone before Bobby could grab either one.
"What is this? Who are you?" The woman screeched.
"I'm Detective Eames and this is my partner Detective Goren." Alex replied holding her against a pillar. "Want to tell us what's going on out here? It better not be more confusing than that show back in the theater."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied indignantly.
Bobby had returned from the pursuit and positioned himself so that the woman was cornered between the two partners and the pillar. Alex let her go and immediately the woman tried to follow her cohorts. Unfortunately for her, Bobby was in the way and wrestled her to the ground before she knew what hit her.
"Oh, she's a feisty one we have here Goren. What is this?" A small black object fell out of the woman's coat pocket. Alex picked it up and noted that there was a button on one end of the cylindrical piece of plastic. This was not a tube of lipstick. "Lady, what's your name?"
"Gabriella Merksom."
"Well Gabriella, you are under arrest for attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…"
The theater had been cleared and sure enough, there were more bombs. This time they weren't intended to just take the ceiling down. Explosives were found under the stage, in the orchestra pit and even in some of the seat cushions. The bomb squad predicted certain death for at least 80 of the people in the theater had the bombs been allowed to go off.
After Gabriella had been put in Central Booking, Goren took Eames home. She had invited him up to her apartment for a drink and now they were sitting on her couch, Eames staring into space and Goren watching her. "Eames…Eames…?" No response. She was shaken, it didn't take a genius to see it. He put his glass on the coffee table and took hers from her hand and placed it by his. She didn't notice. Something was wrong. It wasn't like Eames to be so stressed that she couldn't notice when something was taken from her.
He moved closer and pulled her to him. She turned into his embrace and buried her head in his chest. He held her close, knowing that she needed emotional support. Only after a few moments did he notice she was crying. All the stress, the lack of sleep, the long work hours, the threat of her family's lives, her partner's life—her life—was finally sinking in.
Eventually she fell asleep but he didn't move her. She needed someone to be close. This he knew from experience and it killed him to know that there was never anyone for him. He wouldn't do that to her. He kissed her head for the third time that week and started thinking. She continued to sleep while he held her, lost deep in thought.
A/N: Does anyone know the connection between the chapter title and the actual show? I found it hard to believe at first. Creepy…shivers