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Chapter 8

Bobby spoke briefly with Deakins updating him and then turned his attention to his silent partner. Normally, Bobby enjoyed the silence. He found it relaxing. However, the silence between him and Alex at that moment was anything but relaxing.

"Are we going to talk about it?" he finally asked.

"No."

"Alex…"

"Bobby, let it go," she said stiffly, keeping her eyes on the road.

"Last night we promised each other to never leave anything unsaid, good or bad and now you already want to break that promise." Bobby didn't want to make her feel worse than she already probably did, but he wasn't going to pull punches now.

Stopping at a red light, Alex turned to look at him. "What do you want me to say? Do you want me to tell you that I feel guilty? Fine. I feel guilty. Those two officers didn't need or deserve to die. Yet he killed him. Not because of whatever it is that makes him kill. No, he killed them because of us." She depressed the gas pedal a little harder than necessary when the light turned green to punctuate her point.

"I am not going to pretend I don't feel guilty either but he would've killed again eventually. We did not kill those two cops. This is not our fault."

She simply snorted.

"This isn't about those two cops is it? I mean it is, but it's not the only reason you are upset," Alex remained silent. "If this is about what he said to you in the letter then…"

"Then what?"

"Alex-"

"I just don't want to lose you. I'm scared. It's too much."

"You won't lose me, Alex. Together, we are going to get this guy. He has made a mistake now. That is good. He has directed his anger and frustration at us, and together we are unstoppable. This really will be ok. We will be ok. Please don't let him ruin last night. That just gives him to control." Bobby struggled to keep his voice calm and rational, squashing the panic building up inside himself.

" Part of me knows that, but the other part…"

"Doesn't want to go through that kind of loss again?" he finished for her.

"Exactly"

"I understand. Really I do. I want to put this guy away, not just because he is killing cops but because of what he is doing to you. I don't want to lose you either. Like I said before, if I have any control over it, you are not going to lose me." Taking her hand in his own, he gently squeezed it to convey his reassurance. "Are we good?"

Squeezing his hand back she nodded, "Yeah we're good" The rest of the ride was made in a comfortable silence.

After hanging up their coats, they immediately went to Deakins' office to update him on the case. It was hard for Alex to ignore the sideway glances and stares she was receiving from the fellow officers in the squad. She did her best to rise above it but it made the short walk to the captain's office that much longer.

"Word is this guy may have slipped up," Deakins said as they entered his office.

"He got careless when he strangled Officer Copeland. CSU is running the print now," explained Bobby.

"Hopefully he's in the system," replied Deakins.

"He's gone to great lengths to keep us from identifying him in anyway, other than his M.O. Chances are he's been in trouble in the past."

"Let's hope so. Keep me posted, upstairs has been foaming at the mouth ever since they heard this guy may have left a print."

They nodded and started to leave when Deakins told Alex to hang back a moment. "Shut the door behind you Bobby." Bobby looked from Deakins to Alex, wanting to stay, but Deakins' look told him that staying was out of the question. Once Bobby had shut the door, Deakins turned his attention back to Alex.

"Captain?"

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine."

"If you need anything, time off…..anything you let me know, ok?" Deakins was clearly concerned about how these killings were affecting Alex's state of mind. He couldn't take her off the case, but knew it had to be taking it's toll.

"I will."

"Good. Now go talk to your partner before he starts climbing the walls wondering why you are still in here."

Alex smirked. She didn't have to turn and look to know Bobby was pacing the area around their desks waiting for her to come out of the Captain's office. "Thank you Captain," she added before leaving his office and heading back towards her desk.

"Is that the report from latent?" As she approached their desks, she saw Bobby intently reviewing a file. Whatever it was he was reading must have been interesting enough to distract him from her being in the Captain's office.

"Yes, and we got a hit on the print. Marshall Wentworth, 39 last known was a home in Westchester."

Alex quickly moved to her laptop to input the name into the search data base. "The only Jackson in Westchester is the real estate mogul Avery Jackson. The family made their money during the real estate boom and then diversified in the late 90's by buying several publishing houses around the tri-state area."

"Well, Marshall has a record. He got busted in '94 for possession and got one year probation."

"Daddy's doing no doubt," Alex snarked.

"He dropped off the map after that."

"Same here, the last time he is mentioned or even photographed with his family in late 1995."

"They shunned him," concluded Bobby

"Wonder what he did to earn that privilege?"

TBC…………What do you think? Let us know