Chapter 91

In the office everyone was lounging around enjoying the free time they had until their presence were needed on a case. The girls went about their normal routine where one of them went out to go buy coffee and muffins catching up on some of the things they didn't have a chance to talk about.

"How about we swing by the hospital today after work?" Nimah suggested taking a sip of her coffee.

"Yeah. I would love to hear Shelby's event of things, and if they were any different from yours Alex." Natalie smirked thinking about how they pestered Alex to give them details on how she experienced birth.

"We'll see how the two of you feel once you go down that path. CJ looks like a miniature version of Caleb." Alex commented when she saw the latest picture Shelby send them in the group chat of her son, besides the rest they received when he was born.

Their chat was short lived when they saw the rest of the team move towards the briefing room and the three of them followed. Liam wasn't there but Ryan and Maranda was standing in front waiting for them to find seats before informing them.

"Good morning guys. New day new case." Ryan started.

"A shooting went down yesterday afternoon, and we were only informed about it this morning. Two sisters, Lee Anne and Stephany Avery were killed in a shooting, because their brother failed to make his monthly target."

"So his boss shot his siblings because he didn't make a sale as a telemarketer?" Simon asked.

"If only it was that simple. No, not exactly. He didn't make the target for the amount of drugs he was supposed to sell on the streets. So his sisters paid the price, with their lives." Ryan concluded seeing how the expression on the agent's faces changed.

"So, please reach out to your contacts and your CI's so we can figure out who these guys are and what their intentions are for killing innocents." Maranda stepped forward dismissing the meeting as they went their separate ways to find the information and connect the dots.

They all sat and called the people who they thought would know something about what might have gone down the day before. But all the information they got were vague and not much to work with, until they finally decide to go to the house of the girls and find out from the parents or the neighbors, or even witnesses who might have an idea or even saw.

Alex, Ryan Nimah and Matthew made the drive down to the Avery house. Alex and Nimah stood in front of the door, Ryan and Matthew standing a few feet away from them. A tall fair complexion woman with short black hair and secretary glasses opened the door.

"Mrs. Avery?" Nimah asked softly and the woman nodded. "We're part of the FBI." Nimah said showing her badge and the woman nodded. "We're sorry for your loss, do you mind if we ask you some questions about what happened?" She continued and the woman nodded opening the door a little wider so the four of them can enter, as she indicated that they can take seats.

"What do you want to know?" The woman asked softly.

"Is your son around? I think it would be beneficial for the case if he is present as well." Matthew said but the woman shook her head.

"After it all happened I told him to leave the house. He hasn't returned and I don't know where he is. He is usually at some small game shop a few blocks away." The mom explained and Ryan and Matthew nodded at each other, excusing themselves to go look for the son.

"Sorry, I'm Bridgette Avery." She introduced herself shaking hands with the two women who was left in her living room.

"John, my son, dropped out of school. I told him to get a job because I won't allow him to sit at home all day since he didn't want to learn. I came home one day and he told me he has a job. I asked him about it and found out he was selling drugs." She took a deep breathe before continuing.

They nodded understandingly, waiting until she was ready to continue to talk further as they made notes.

"John started selling household items when he was short on money, he sold valuables that I inherited. One night the house was ransacked by the police as they got a tip off that he stashed drugs in the house."

It turns out that the daughters had nothing to do with it. They were walking home on their way from school. There was an alley that they used as a shortcut to get home, instead of taking the long way around. Bridgette got concerned when they didn't come home at the time they usually get there and started calling around. Until the police showed up and gave her the news that they've been shot.

They handed her the note that was found on the scene, taped to the ground, that said since John couldn't pay the rest of the money he owed the, his sisters would have to make up for their loss of income.

As the two women spent time questioning the mother continued their talk Matthew and Ryan roamed the streets looking for John Avery.

"You know I almost got involved in a gang when I was a teen." Matthew told Ryan who looked over at him in surprise.

"I grew up a broken household, and I looked up to this guy who lived a few doors away from us. He made small talk every morning when I'd pass his house on my way to school. The flashy cars, the jewelry, the women! I mean my hormones were raging at that time." Matthew continued and Ryan laughed at his expression.

"But I got a wakeup call one morning, when I walked passed there again and the cops were arresting him. Figured that life may not be as glamorous as it looks." Matthew said as they pulled up in front of the small game shop.

John Avery stood in front of the shop looking up and down the streets as if he waited for someone. The two men got out of the car and walked towards him. He saw them and panicked making a run for it. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Ryan warned showing his badge and John walked back the few feet.

"John Avery, right?" Matthew asked and he nodded his head. "Can we ask you a few questions regarding what happened to your sisters?" Matthew asked and the teen nodded, as he got into the car and they drove back to the station.

The three of them settled in one of the interrogation rooms with John on the opposite side of the table. "Who are you working for John?" Ryan started but the teen refused to make eye contact or say anything.

"How much money did you owe them?" Ryan tried again after a few minutes of silence but still there was no answer.

"All right. John it's 10:15 in the morning. I'm here until 5PM. We can sit here in silence until then, or you can decided that you'd rather tell me what you know and I'll leave you alone, or I'll come back every half an hour and make a nuisance of myself. Your choice." Ryan gave him the ultimatum and it's the first time he looked up since they entered the room.

John took a deep breath before starting. "I'm not gonna tell you who I'm working for. I owed them $1500, because I pawned some things from my mom that I brought back. I didn't even get a chance to give it to her. I thought I'd make the money back before I was supposed to hand it over but I didn't."

"So basically you're saying that you don't care that your sisters had to pay with their lives. You're not going to tell us who killed them?" Matthew asked and he nodded.

"I'm a disappointment to my family. And no I don't justify what they did to my sisters. But my mother kicked me out of the house, these guys are the only family I have." John justified his actions.

"That's not what family does, John. If they really cared about you they wouldn't have you in the situation that you're in right now. Do you think this is the life your mother wants you to live? No future, you having to look over your shoulder the entire time?" Ryan rationalized the situation hoping the teen would see that he is going down the wrong path.

"Look, even if I want to get out, how will I know if my mom will forgive me for what I did. Indirectly the fact that my sisters died is my fault. She kicked me out of the house will she even take me back? I snitch on those guys, then I put a target on my mom's back as well." John rambled.

"Calm down buddy. You can start by giving us the names of the people you're working for. Then we'll take it from there." Matthew said looking at the teen.

"Bradley Scott, is the top dog." John whispered and Ryan and Matthew looked at each other. They've heard things about him but somehow they could never arrest him for anything since he was a really sleek guy. But now hopefully with John's help justice will be served for this guy.

"I'll do time if I have to. Please just make sure my mother's save." John pleaded with them as the two agents nodded while they continued asking him about Bradley Scott's whereabouts, and where they might find him. Today is the day he would pay for his actions. He roamed the streets for way too long dodging bullets but eventually justice will be served.

A soft knock on the door made Shelby look up when she saw three smiley faces walking in. She was watching TV with the newborn in her arms sleeping soundly. "Hello mommy." Natalie greeted walking over to the blonde.

"Hi guys." Shelby smiled as each of them hugged her awkwardly as not to wake the baby. All three of them had packages in her hand but she was quickly informed that none of that was for her, it was baby stuff for CJ. "Clearly I don't feature anymore." She said looking through the cute baby clothes they bought.

Natalie was the first to hold the sleeping baby while Alex and Nimah settled on the couch. "How are you feeling?" Nimah asked making herself comfortable.

"Sore. Really sore, and tired, but besides that I'm good. A day old baby can change everything and he is so demanding." She laughed thinking back to how he cries at the earliest ours of the morning not worrying about whether they're sleeping or not.

When Natalie commented that he looks like Caleb, Shelby pretended to be hurt. That's all everyone's been saying when they saw baby CJ but even if she had to admit he did look like his father. Although she hopes he'll be easier to manage.

They informed her about the case they worked on today as Natalie handed the baby over to someone else. In the meantime Caleb made is appearance and then left to go shower and get a change of clothes at home. Leaving the girls to have some time on their own. Shelby told them about all the horrible things she said to Caleb while she was having contractions and how they laughed about it afterwards when he was so distraught while she was yelling at him, not knowing what to do.

Caleb came back from home sitting on the couch next to the bed, looking at the sleeping baby in the crib stroking his soft blonde hair as his wife dosed off when her friends left. "I love you so much CJ. And I can't wait for you to grow up so we can go kick some balls around in the park. Or when I take you to your first karate class. But don't grow up too quickly hey." He whispered seeing Shelby stir as they brought dinner to her room.

"Is he okay?" She asked sitting up carefully.

"Yeah, we just had a little talk. Or more like I talked and he slept." Caleb shrugged. "Thank you Shelby. For what you went through to bring this perfect boy into the world." He got up and kissed her head not sure how else to express his boundless gratitude and awe for the strength his wife has shown.

They looked at their newborn sleeping soundly. They would never get tired of looking at him, even as he is sleeping. So peacefully, that one would never believe he can cry as loud as he does when the hunger pains hit him.

Shelby pulled the tray of dinner closer and saw the tasteless food and Caleb laughed when he noticed the green Jell-O.

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you. Tastes like mouthwash." He smiled taking a bite of the muffin he brought at the cafeteria as his wife pushed the food around in the plate.

Ryan offered to cook dinner. There was pasta on the stove and a recipe book open on the counter. "Okay, I followed every step so I don't think anything can go wrong." He said mostly to himself but Alex heard it.

"Hmmm, I'll wait and see what it tastes like when it's done." She looked over towards the kitchen, sitting on the floor with Phoebe who rolled her ball around. Alex tried to get her to roll it between the two of them but that game didn't last long as the little girl decided she didn't need her mother's help in this game and crawled wherever the ball went, not rolling it back to Alex.

The dinner was edible to her surprise and no bad either. At least there is one thing her husband can cook without burning. She fed Phoebe mashed up baby food throughout dinner before getting her ready for her bath.

The nine month old figured how to stand up supporting herself on structures and any stable object she could find, which made bath time tricky, because she didn't the same in the bath. Standing up holding onto the side of the tub supporting herself. It was useless of Alex to make her sit back down because she would just repeat the action over and over again.

"Phoebe can you just sit still for a few minutes please?" Alex tried to rationalize but her daughter was oblivious between splashing in the water and standing up in the bath tub. Alex gave up and bathed her in record time.

Dressing her and putting her in the middle of their bed. Ryan had the new habit where he allowed her to finish her bottle after bath time in their bed. And once she's asleep he carries her over to the crib on Alex's side of the bed. To her it made no sense but she left it at that. Some nights she figured he just wanted her to be close to them, and she didn't mind it at all. Feeling the warmth of the little body in between them during the night and occasionally being hit in the face by a little fist.

Thanks for the read and the new followers. Hope you guys enjoy the story. Lovies-S.