Author's Note: Here's chapter 5. I have jokingly titled it "Phone Tag" in my head.
Disclaimer: I don't own. Please don't sue. I'm certainly not making any money on this.
Title: Keeping It Together
By: Marion
Chapter: 5As soon as she had hung up the phone with Captain Danny Ross, Alex's cell phone rang. "Eames," she answered.
"Me, too," said her brother, Sam.
"Hi. What's up?" asked Alex.
"Mom wants me to tell you to bring Bobby here when you come back from Carmel Ridge," said Sam. "She wants to fuss over him."
Alex heard rustlings like two people were struggling for the phone and then her mother came on the line. "I'm not going to make a fuss," she said. "I just want to show him life goes on and that he still has a family. That's important with this kind of tragedy."
"I'm not sure if Bobby's going to feel like doing that tonight," said Alex.
"Ask him. You might be surprised," said Annette.
"He's making final arrangements for his mother right now," said Alex. "When he comes back I'll ask him. But I'm not making any promises."
"Stop by to pick up leftovers anyway," said her mother. "Even Bobby has to eat."
"Okay, Mom," said Alex. "I'll try." She sighed and hung up the phone with her mother.
After a moment of pondering exactly how Bobby would react to her mother's idea she dialed Lewis' number.
"Hi Lewis," she said when he answered the phone.
"Detective Alex? What a nice surprise. Happy Thanksgiving. How are you?"
"I'm okay. Listen, I have some bad news."
"Is Bobby all right? He's not hurt or something is he?" Lewis sounded anxious.
Alex realized how this must seem to him, getting a bad news call from his best friend's partner. "Oh, no, no. Bobby's not hurt. I was calling to tell you his mom died this morning."
"Damn. How's he doing?"
"He's taking it pretty hard."
"I'm not surprised," said Lewis.
"I'm with him up at Carmel Ridge. He's making arrangements and I'm making calls," said Alex.
"I'm glad you're there. He'll probably never tell you how much it means to him, but you have to know."
"I know," she assured him.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Actually, yeah. Do you have a key to his apartment?"
"Yes."
"Could you go pack him some clothes? He doesn't know it yet, but he's coming home with me."
"Sure. Where should I take them?" he asked.
She gave him directions to her parents' house in Queens. "We have to stop by there for a minute on the way back," she said. She thought for a moment before she asked what she was about to. "Lewis?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you have contact information for Bobby's brother?"
"Um… nothing current," said Lewis.
"What's his name?"
"Richard Goren, Jr.," he said. "Listen, Alex?"
"Hmm?"
"Bobby may not want him to be there. You know, at the funeral."
"Don't you think Richard should know his mother just died?" asked Alex.
"I do. But he and Bobby are like oil and water."
"I just want to tell him."
"Okay," said Lewis. "But if he decides he's coming, let me tell Bobby."
xxx
"Logan," said Mike, answering his phone.
"Hey, Mike," said Alex. "I need you to try to get me contact information for Richard Goren Jr."
"Any relation to your partner?" Mike asked jovially.
"His brother."
"You just had to call in and give me work to do since I'm working the holiday, didn't you," said Mike.
"Mike, Bobby's mom died this morning."
"Shit. That sucks. How's he doing?"
"He's keeping it together," said Alex. "I'm with him out at Carmel Ridge."
"I'm glad you're there. I'll see what I can find out on Richard Goren Jr. and get back to you."
"Thanks."
"Hey, no problem. You call me if you guys need anything, Alex."
"Will do. Thanks again, Mike."
As soon as he got off the phone Mike did a search for Richard Goren. While the computer was working its magic he dialed his old partner, Carolyn Barek.
"Hello," she answered.
"Hey, Caro," said Mike.
"Don't call me that," she said. "Happy Thanksgiving."
"For some," he said. "I'm working the holiday."
"Poor you," she said, bordering on the sarcastic.
"Poor Bobby," Mike countered.
"What? Is he working with you?" she asked.
"No, his mom died this morning."
"That's awful."
"Yeah. So I thought we should do something nice for him. And I thought we could do it together… since you miss me so much."
"I never said…" she began. "Oh."
"Oh, what?"
She smiled to herself even though he couldn't see it. "I miss you, too, Mike."
Author's Note: Turns out this was the transition chapter. I'm sorry if it was monotonous. This story is going to be longer than I originally planned. As I warned before, updates will grow sporadic in November (National Novel Writing Month). This story will be what I do when I'm procrastinating on my novel. (Which means updates could actually get more frequent.)