The next day, Casey opened his eyes slowly. It took him a minute to figure out where he was. He had never spent a whole night at Alice's place. He noticed she was still sleeping, curled on his chest. For a moment, his heart felt complete, although his head told his he was weak. He kissed her forehead and run his fingers in her hair, staying still for a moment. He moved her and got out of bed. He grabbed his phone; 8 missed calls from Sarah. Shit, he thought. Alice was really distracting him not to notice his phone like that. He got dress in a hurry and rushed on the patio to call back Sarah.
"That's about time, Casey. I was about to send you help. Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I guess I needed the sleep. Found anything?" he said as he bent forward, resting his elbows on the balcony guard.
"Sort of. I didn't know you had such taste in women," she said, impressed by so many things she still ignored about her partner. "But you better come here."
"Roger that," he said before he hung up, hearing the patio door opened and closed behind him.
He felt her arms wrapping around his waist and her head resting on his back.
"You are still here?" she said, with a raspy morning voice.
"Yeah, but I was about to go; I don't want to be late for work. How are you?" he said as he turned around, wincing at her purple face.
"My face hurts, but otherwise, I guess I am good," she replied. "Thanks for taking care of me, I really appreciated it. I feel so safe with you," she said as her cheeks turned slightly red.
"I'm glad you're fine. I'll call you later, okay?"
She nodded as he lowered his head to kiss her. His arms wrapped around her back, pulling her body close to his, as her arms caressed his arms and hooked around his neck.
…
Casey rushed to the Orange Orange entrance to the Castle. When he reached the bottom of the staircase, he saw pictures of Sam Smith on the computer screens. Sarah and Chuck turned to face him, noticing his confused face.
"You know him? Sam Smith," Sarah said.
"Yeah, old pal from the army, years ago. What does he have to do with anything?" Casey replied.
"The car outside the hospital was registered at his name."
"He wasn't any of the men I saw at the hospital though. And what of this microphone? Have you ever seen anything like it?" he said as he reached in his pocket to show the small equipment.
Chuck's vision seemed to blur, he zoned out for a moment.
"Did you flash?" Casey hasted.
"Yeah, this microphone is stolen from Fulcrum," Chuck stated.
"Casey, you need to tell us what is up with Smith and you," Sarah said.
"Not much, haven't seen him in years. We were deployed on mission in my first years in the army. He worked NSA but I have no idea what had become of him. Well it appears he is now on the dark side. Ellie was the doctor who took care of Alice after the car crash and it seems it was not an accident. We should look this out," Casey said.
"Why attack Alice if Smith knew you?" Chuck wondered.
"Well, this mean Alice is not the primary target; Casey is," Sarah replied. "Because Casey cares about her. Sometimes, the best way to get to someone is through loved one."
"How come you know about Alice?" Casey growled.
"Not my fault. Sarah told me," Chuck defended himself. "Now, what do we do?"
"Ellie invited us at Devon's birthday party she is throwing Saturday. This might be the perfect excuse to have her stay at my place until then," Casey concluded.
"It will be easier to keep an eye on her there than at her apartment. I'll spend time at Chuck and keep a close eye also," Sarah said.
