Chapter 11

Alex sat in the chair, struggling against the ropes intermittently. There was really no use in struggling, but her inner bitch refused to be restrained. "This is so cliché," she said in an annoyed tone, looking around at the way she was tied up.

"Call me old fashioned. I watched way too much Indiana Jones as a girl," replied Marjorie.

"Didn't you ever notice that he won and the Nazi's lost," she spat.

"Yes, but that really wasn't what I was paying attention to. Look me straight in the eyes, Detective, and tell me you would jump him if you had the chance."

"Jump who?" Alex asked, not knowing whether she meant Harrison Ford or Bobby Goren.

"Indy of course," Marjorie sang.

"Oh- nah, he was alright," Alex said, fumbling her fingers through the ropes that were tied behind her back. "I've seen better." She had to keep talking to keep Marjorie distracted.

"Like who? You're partner? An infamously smart man who's jetting halfway around the world just to save you? He's still just a guy, you know. Couldn't keep his hands off that slut Simon sent to work with him. At least Indiana has integrity."

A pang of jealousy shot through Alex's chest. "That's not true- he slept with that German chick. And she was as bad as they come," she said, trying not to dwell on what she had just heard.

"That's true, but at least he kept the really important information safe. Even when she had the diary he still had the information. But your Bobby- he told her everything... and we almost got him..."

"Almost?"

"Yah- he had to go back to," she threw the back of her hand against her forehead in a dramatic way, "rescue poor Julia. But then he managed to get away. He always had good legs..."

A sense of pride shot through Alex until she realized... "How do you know about his legs?"

Marjorie laughed. "You're not jealous, are you? Like I said: Bobby is a guy underneath it all. All men are the same. You really think Simon runs this operation? I do. I'm sure you bear more than your fair share of work between the two of you. All guys can think about is getting some and then making the women do all the work."

Alex was getting furious. "That's not true! Bobby does plenty of work! And he treats me like an equal!"

"Does he really?" Marjorie asked seductively, leaning in close to Alex. "Last time he was here, he had another chick with him. But he just stood there while your Bobby did it all. While your Bobby caught and killed most of Simon's men. While your Bobby questioned us. He's a loner, Detective, and always will be. But even loners need a little action. And I'll tell you one more thing: He doesn't learn from his mistakes. We did the exact same thing with me- who'd'ave thought that a dingbat like Julia would have been able to pull it off a second time? Haven't you managed to seduce him yet?"

Alex spat in Marjorie's face. She got a swift slap across the face followed by a sinister laugh.

"Have I hurt your feelings? Your wonderful Bobby is really a good guy? I've got news for you: no guy is good. And that's why I'm going to get away with it this time. He's got an even bigger weakness than before: you." And with that she walked out of the room, leaving Alex to dwell in what she had just heard.

She was more hurt than she could have imagined. The thought of Bobby just running around with no self control, letting himself give in desire without logic. It was ridiculous. And he had done it again- just when Alex thought he might actually love her. Well, she knew that she loved him. She had for some time now, but she had only ever showed it when it seemed like he might show it back, which was rare, but happening more frequently. She was hurt that everything she thought she saw in him wasn't true. He really was a guy underneath it all.

And... he really was a loner too. He did interrogations mostly by himself, though she could have sworn he was getting better at that too... but hearing this made her think that he was that way all the time, it was all just an illusion. She was willing to believe that he included her because she thought he cared about her, but that was all a lie... and if he just slept around with anyone, she didn't want him anyway...

That was it- she just had to keep telling herself that if he was going to always be like that she didn't want him. But Marjorie was counting on him wanting to save her... now Alex didn't know what to think. Marjorie had said all these things to make Alex believe that Bobby didn't want her, yet she was placing an awful lot of trust that he would. She had set a trap for him and was using Alex as bait.

Examining other people's problems and motives had always seemed so easy. But it wasn't at all easy now that she was trying to examine her own and had personal biases to deal with...

"This sucks," she said aloud. But almost as soon as she had said it her fingers (which had been working since she had started talking with Marjorie) found the tie in the rope and undid it. She was free!

Well, sorta...

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Bobby almost jumped off the airplane when it landed and began to run through the terminal. He knew exactly where he was going: A small island off of the west coast of (somewhere in Mexico), where he had just landed. The minute Alex had mentioned a "big stone" he knew where she was.

On this small island was old ruins- they had to be at least 500 years old. They seemed to be fashioned in the form of the local natives of the time (almost Mayan-esque), but there was something unique about them: they were logical.

Not logical in the sense of their structure, but logical in their mythology. The jungle and beach around them didn't lend the people who lived there to build on a foundation of superstition and religion, but that of logic. Where the pyramids were filled with curses, these were filled with logic puzzles. If it weren't the hideout of a large organized crime group, it would have been Bobby's hideout.

Bobby had spent many a week here before. He had discovered it on his first ever mission for Gary and the Smithsonian. He was chasing a man called Neal, Valdez's predecessor. Neal had the brains (which Bobby respected tremendously), but Valdez had the means- and when Neal was killed while Bobby was attempting to recover (something) Valdez had taken over.

Bobby stepped into a Cab and made it race to a small cove with a ferry service. Bobby greeted the old man by name and asked for the usual: he would leave his bags at the boat house and needed to be taken to the small island, he would find his way back on his own as he usually did.

The Mexican sun was bright on the back of Bobby's neck and a warm breeze was blowing, which didn't help with the scorching heat. Bobby rolled up his long sleeves and unbuttoned his shirt. The water all around him now was a deep blue, and cool to the touch as Bobby let his fingers trail in it as the little boat chugged along.

He was almost on vacation. A small daydream pass through his brain about him and Alex sitting in the sand and watching the water lap up on the shore. They weren't talking, they weren't doing anything- they were just sitting there in the calm air. Just the two of them.

But this thought quickly vanished from his mind as the little boat approached the small tree-covered island. The same cool water lapped up on shore, the same trees shaded the white sandy beach, but the same calm didn't dwell there.

There was danger, there was difficulty, and somewhere in there... there was Eames...