I have included in this chapter a character that we all know and love/hate.

This story has been in Alex POV the middle of the chapter is in Bobby's POV.

Chapter Seven

Dark Reality

The thought is still buzzing in her head. She arrives at the station a few minutes before nine and grabs a cup of coffee. If she slept three hours last night, it was a lot.

A quick look at her calendar and she sees that Captain Deakins retirement party is this Saturday night. For some reason she thought it was next week. She had asked Bobby and after a little nagging on her part, he agreed to take her.

I'd better call him and tell him that it's this Saturday.

"Hey. Alex."

"Mike."

He walks behind her and looks over her shoulder. "Damn. I forgot about that." He looks at her. "Are you going?"

"Of course, aren't you?"

"Yes. Do you want to go together?"

She folds down her computer. "Thanks but I have already asked someone to go with me."

He walks back to his desk and sits down. "Anyone I know?" He takes a sip of coffee.

She picks up her mug, talking into it. "Sort of."

"Sort of, what the hell does that mean?"

Why am I embarrassed to tell him it's Bobby?

The Chester, Stewart, Bobby scenario goes quickly though her mind.

He's a great guy.

I think.

No, he is a great guy.

"It's Bobby…………….Bobby Goren."

He sits back in his chair. "Are you kidding me?"

"No. I'm not. I've been seeing him for almost three weeks now."

"You're a cop he's an ex-con don't you see the weirdness here."

"You don't even know him."

I hope to God I know him.

"The guy's a loser, you said so yourself."

"I was wrong."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just am." She says in a defensive tone. "People can change and I can date whoever I want. I don't need your permission. I'm not a teenager and you're not my father." She stands up almost tempted to throw the coffee in his face. As she passes him, she says so that most of the squad can hear. "Screw you Logan you pompous ass."

Captain Ross hears the comment, "Logan, trouble in paradise?"

Mike looks up and nods. "Well do something about it, now!"

Alex looks up as he enters the room. "What the hell do you want?"

"To apologize."

She waits. "That's your apology. Well that sucks. Go to hell."

"I'm sorry, ok. It's none of my business who you see. At first I thought the guy was a total loser and an arrogant son of a bitch but if you are seeing him he must be alright." Barely above a whisper, "I'm happy for you."

"What did you say?"

"Don't make me repeat it."

She is speechless for a moment. She looks up at her partner of almost two years and smiles. "Thanks Mike."

If he trusts my judgment then I should be able to trust my own.

They have been assigned a double murder of a wealthy Park Avenue couple. They have work to do.

The next week is filled with dinners and movies and they went to see the Broadway show Grey Gardens.

When she's with him she is confident that he wasn't there but when she's away from him the feeling is different. She says nothing to him.

Saturday Night

Alex's Apartment

Alex hears the doorbell buzzer. She looks through the peephole and opens the door and after a quick kiss and hug, he walks into the apartment.

She looks him over, "Nice, very nice."

"I do look good, don't I?" He straightens his tie and winks at her. She laughs and gives his arm a light squeeze. "I really don't mind wearing suits but damn they are expensive for guys my size. Good thing I don't have to wear one of these everyday."

She is donning a slip and bra. "Are you going to go like that?"

"Very funny, just give me another minute."

"Sure. When does this thing start?" He asks as she leaves the room.

"Eight-thirty, Why?"

"You told me to get here at eight, how long does it take to get there?"

"I'm not sure ten, fifteen minutes."

She slips on her dress and finishes her makeup. Checks her self in the mirror and nods approval.

She walks out of her bedroom. "How do I ………….." She walks closer to him. He is sitting on the couch looking as if all the air has been sucked out of his body.

"Bobby. What's the matter?"

She notices the files about Chester's murder have been moved to another part of the table.

Oh God...No... Son of a bitch... For once in my life, I had hoped that I was wrong.

She sits down next to him and he looks at her and just shakes his head with a look of disgust.

She tries to take a hold of his hand but he pulls away.

"Is that what this is all about?"

She shakes her head. "No."

"Come on. Don't lie to me."

"No one knows about this."

"So you did this all on your own. That's just terrific."

"I didn't do it intentionally I just started to remember things that were said and once I started I couldn't stop. Before I knew it I fell upon this crime." She pauses. "If I thought for a minute that you had anything to do with Chester's murder you wouldn't be sitting here Bobby your ass would be in jail."

She touches his hand again and this time he doesn't pull away.

"You peeked my curiosity, when you told me that when you and Stewart were arrested that last time you woke up in the hospital three days later. I had to find out why you went into the hospital. Your lawyer had you transferred there to get clean. You were drinking and using drugs everyday weren't you?"

He nods his head. "The Reynolds almost gave up on me that time."

"I asked myself what would make you behave that way. It didn't take long for me to figure it out. Something happened, most likely something you had no control over. Am I right?"

She can tell how uncomfortable he is but she has to know what happened.

"You know about this, don't you? You and Stewart, you guys were there."

"Every time I did something," He pauses. "Stupid I knew that I was responsible and I could deal with it. But this," He exhales and shakes his head. "I didn't know how to handle it and I didn't know what to do." He rubs his face and then runs his fingers through her hair.

He sighs and looks away he is embarrassed to look at her. "I saw the photos Bobby. I know that you couldn't do anything like that. The way Stewart reacted when the Chapman woman passed out I knew he wasn't capable. Who was there with you? Who was he?"

He looks at her and sighs. "She."

"I knew it. I knew it had to be a woman. A man couldn't convince you to do anything?"

"Yeah, a woman that's debatable. Her name was Nicole."

"Who was she?"

"Satan's daughter."

"Tell me what happened."

Flashback 1990

Stewart has been drinking at Murphy's for close to an hour when the door opens and he looks to his left to see who has entered. He notices an old acquaintance of his, Bobby Goren and a woman whom he does not recognize. Bobby leads her to the bar and they sit. He notices Stewart and pats him on the back, "Hey Stewart."

"Bobby." He moves his head in the direction of the woman. "Nicole Wallace, this is Stewart Rollings." They shake hands

Gus the bartender is walking toward them, "Whiskey or beer tonight Bobby?"

"Beer," He taps Nicole on the shoulder. "What would you like to drink?"

She turns to look at the bartender, "Gin on the rocks."

The three of them talk bullshit for a while. Nicole is sitting between the two men when she inquires about buying some cocaine. Bobby looks at her. "Tony's right over there." He points to the back of the bar.

Whispering she says. "No I mean a big score I have ten thousand dollars."

"Where did you get ten thousand dollars?"

"Someone owed it to me."

"Wow."

"So with that money we buy all we can and then sell it and make even more money."

Bobby asks. "What do you need us for?"

"Easy contacts so we won't attract attention. You know people, he knows people," Pointing toward Stewart. "And I know people. We can sell it off quickly."

Bobby shaking his head, "I don't know."

"Oh stop worrying."

He looks in her eyes, "Just this once."

"Yes." She says as she lightly touches his cheek.

Bobby looks over at Stewart. Stewart shrugs his shoulders. "Sure why not."

"Ok, ok."

"Now all we need is a contact." Nicole says taking a sip of her drink. Stewart says with pride in his voice but speaking low. "I know where we can go, my cousin Chester."

Within half an hour, the three of them are in Bobby's car. He drives to Chester's apartment. "This is it." Stewart says.

Nicole starts to get out of the car. As Bobby opens his door, she grabs his arm. "No Bobby you stay here. Stewart can take me up."

"Ok."

He lights up a cigarette and turns on the radio. After about ten minutes, he starts to look for them. "Jesus what the hell are they doing?" He takes a drag of his second cigarette. As he looks out the window, he sees Stewart. He is just opening the door and walking toward the car. "Shit man it's about time. What the fuck……………." Stewart cuts him off. "Bobby. She wants you to come upstairs."

He gives him a puzzled look. "What the hell for?" He notices that Stewart seems very nervous. "What's going on? What's the matter with you?"

"Man that girlfriend of yours……….she's fuckin' nuts." Bobby grabs him by the front of his shirt and pulls him into the car.

"What did you say?"

"She killed him."

Bobby pulls him in further and Stewart is off the ground. "Killed who?"

"Chester. She fuckin' shot him and she wants you to come upstairs." Stewart says almost close to tears.

Both men make their way up to Chester's apartment. Bobby opens the door and Nicole quickly walks over to him and hugs him. "He scared me Bobby."

He pushes her away from him. "Why didn't you just leave?"

"I tried to but he wouldn't let me. He took my money and he tried to take advantage of me. I had to defend myself."

He pulls her close to him and holds her as she starts to sob. He looks over to his right and he can see a man lying on the floor. His head is covered in blood; the sight makes him gasp for air.

Bobby turns quickly and grabs her arm. "Come on. Let's get the fuck out of here." She starts to walk with him then she suddenly stops. "Wait. I have an idea."

"What?"

"Look around."

He does. "Yeah, a shit load of coke. Can we go please?"

"We can take it with us and sell it." Nicole leads the way over to a table. Stewart follows, Bobby stays behind. She picks up one of three brown paper bags. "Look what's in here." She hands him one of the bags. Stewart takes the bag from her and looks inside. "Holy shit. I wonder how much is in here?"

She outstretches her arms and says. "Between the money in those bags and the cocaine I would say that all of this is worth well over five hundred thousand dollars."

"Bobby, you and Stewart go get some large plastic bags and we'll take all of this with us. It will be ours to sell."

Bobby walks further into the room. "Nicole, can we please just go."

"Why shouldn't we have it easy for a change? Why should someone else profit from this?"

"Profit?" He looks over at the dead man again. "You killed someone Nicole. You shot him in the face." He has to turn away from the sight. "Jesus Christ the man has no face."

She walks up to him and grabs his hand. "Would you rather it be me lying there in a pool of blood, Bobby?"

"No of course not," Alright then you and Stewart go and get some plastic garbage bags and we'll move all this stuff out of here."

He does as she says.

Back At Bobby's House

Stewart asks with enthusiasm. "So what do we do now?"

Nicole grabbing his arm, "We, we don't do anything. I will take care of everything."

Bobby sits down on the couch for a minute and then he stands up and walks around the room. He does this repeatedly. He does not speak to Nicole or Stewart.

Nicole walks over to him and grabs his hand. "Come here love, sit down." He sits on the couch and she kneels down in front of him with her hands on his thighs. "If you're really worried about this I can call my friend Harry. You remember me telling you about him?" He just nods. "He will take care of this for us, tomorrow, I promise." She holds his face in her hands. "Bobby, look at me. No one will ever know what happened."

She stands up and goes into the kitchen. She takes a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet, walks back into the room, and sits down next to him.

She hands him the bottle. "Here love, take a drink, it will calm you down."

He hesitates. "Come on, you'll feel better."

He takes the bottle from her and takes a sip and then another and another. After awhile his liquor soaked brain has forgotten the site of Chester and he welcomes the touch of his lover.

The Present

"She wanted me to get drunk so I got drunk." He exhales and shakes his head.

"Jesus why?"

Not able to look at her he says. "Let's just say that sometimes she liked it nasty, I could only do it that way if I was drunk."

He pauses and begins to look very uncomfortable.

"It almost sounds as if you are talking about someone else."

He raises his voice just a little. "It wasn't someone else it was me." He raises his hand. "I'm sorry. I can't believe that I ever behaved that way."

Who was that guy?"

"A self destructive, lonely guy who never thought he'd have a future. Sometimes I'm amazed that I'm still alive."

"How long did you know her?"

"I met her one night at Murphy's and within two weeks she was living with me."

"A little fast, don't you think?"

"Yeah like I did much thinking back then, she was interested in me and I liked that. I haven't had many girlfriends."

"Really?"

"It's nice that you sound surprised. I have only been in love twice in my life and it was with the same person. Nicole, I thought I loved her but………you know I may have questioned what she was doing but I never said no."

"Why not? You knew what she was up to?"

"No not really. I may have done some very stupid things but I have never planned a criminal act in my life. Well maybe that warehouse thing but you saw how well we planned that."

She has to smile.

"I didn't want her to leave. People had been leaving me all my life. I thought I loved her. But after all of this happened I didn't even know who she was."

"I could do some checking?"

"No please don't." She squeezes his hand. "I won't."

"Anyway she woke me up the next morning and told me that she sold it. There was one hundred thousand dollars in the bags and she got six hundred and fifty thousand for the cocaine. She had already given Stewart his money and he was gone by the time I got up."

"She came back, why? She could have taken off and the two of you would never have been able to find her."

"I think she liked living with me. It was as close to normal as she was going to get."

He stands up and starts to pace around the room. "After my head cleared I knew that she had lied to me about everything. The money, ten thousand dollars, someone owed it to me. Shit how stupid can you be and Harry within one day she can get in touch with him and it's all taken care of. The gun she had to have a gun with her. I didn't know that." He pauses. "She had this all planned before she even talked to us about it, didn't she?"

"You don't need me to answer that question."

He just shakes his head as he picks up a photo of an older couple. He points to the picture, "Your parents."

"Yes."

"You look like your Mom." She smiles. "If I look half as good as she does when I'm her age, I'll be happy."

"What happened to her, Bobby?"

"What?" He says as he puts the photo back to its original spot.

"What happened to her?"

"I don't know, after Stewart and I were arrested that last time, I never saw her again. She took the money and left."

He turns to look out the window. "Hopefully God has forgiven me for the things I've done and his reward is that I will never have to see her again." He turns to look at her as he puts his hands in his pockets. "So what happens now?"

Alex stands up and walks over to the table. He watches her as she starts making piles. "Come on help me get rid of this stuff." He makes his way to the table and begins to move some papers and a photo of Chester shows through. "Oh man poor Chester." He turns over the photo quickly.

"Did you know him?"

"No I never met him before." He picks up more papers and another photo shows through. Alex sees his face. He looks to her. "You mean to tell me that you see this everyday?"

"You get use to it."

"Why would you want to?"

"I look at this man and I know he was evil but he was murdered and I have to know why and who killed him and now that I know. I can live with it."

They clear all the papers and photos off the table and put them in a large garbage bag.

"Oh by the way," He says as he touches her arm. "You look great."

She smiles as she links her arm in his. "We do look good. Don't we?"

"Yes, yes we do."

She grabs his hand. "Come on lets go. I want to show you off."

TBC