Part of my inspiration for the previous chapter and this chapter is a line from the Episode "Grow," Mike is shown a photo of Nicole, Bobby tells him briefly about her past.

He says, (and I have to admit that I laugh every time I hear it.) "Beauty, brains and a complete psycho, my dream girl."

A part of this chapter is in Bobby's point of view.

Chapter Nineteen

She Must Be Stopped

Bobby's House

"Mike offered his congratulations for our engagement."

"That's nice; ah he's not such a bad guy." He slices off a piece of steak.

She smiles. "He invited me out for a drink last night," she pauses and he looks up at her, "Oh yeah, why?"

A fake smile crosses her face, he notices this and puts his fork down, "What is it, you don't look right."

"He wanted to introduce me to his new girlfriend, he was very excited about it and he was anxious for us to meet," Bobby interjects, "Good maybe he'll have better things to do with his time than call you every five minutes."

She stares off and swallows hard, "Her name is Elizabeth."

"Nice name," He takes a long sip of his beer, "can you please get to the point of this story before Chris graduates from High School."

She wants to laugh but isn't able, "The fact of the matter is that her name is not Elizabeth … its Nicole."

The look on her face says it all; he sits back in the chair and rubs his face, "You mean Nicole, Nicole?"

She nods her head, "She has something planned Bobby I don't know what but we have to do something. We have to stop her this time."

He leans forward, "We, what do you mean we?"

She takes his hand, "You and I."

He laughs, "What are you nuts? I have no desire to see that woman and get in the way of her plan," he shakes his head, "No, no way." He pushes his dish to the middle of the table and stands up, "You couldn't have waited to tell me?" He stuffs his hands in his pockets, "Why did you tell me?" he pauses, "I don't care. Logan is a big boy he can take care of himself……………… Shit, why didn't you tell him?"

"Tell him that I investigated his girlfriend, he confronts her and she'll disappear."

He nods his head, "Good."

"No it's not good; she can come back whenever she wants." Alex stands and reaches for his hand, "Bobby think, you know that Logan is just the guy for her to use to get in between us," he leaves the room and sits down on the couch, bends down and clasps his hands behind his head. Alex joins him. She looks at him, suddenly he turns very pale, and he starts taking excessive deep breaths. "Bobby calm down," she pats his back, "Oh Christ, he's hyperventilating," she makes her way to the kitchen and returns with a small paper bag, she places the bag over his mouth and he begins to breath normally. She removes the bag and sits down next to him and hugs him, tightly, "Are you alright?"

He does not answer he just looks away, seeming somewhat embarrassed. Alex kisses his cheek, "It's understandable, the same thing almost happened to me when Mike introduced me to her."

"What does she want from me?" he stands up and raises his arms, "I don't have anything that she needs. Just her being nearby is enough to make me crazy."

Alex stands and links her arm in his, "Exactly, that's what she wants, you know I think in her sick mind that she really cares for you and maybe she thinks it's love."

"If you're trying to make me puke……….." He chuckles, "Poor Logan he thinks he's found his dream girl……….she's got beauty and brains, too bad she's a complete psycho." He leads her back to the couch and they sit, "I thought she crawled back under her rock."

"Bobby you'll have to meet with her and get her to talk." Alex says very casually.

"Huh, excuse me." He shakes his head. "No, I don't think so, you're the cop, remember? I mean how many times have you told me that."

"I've heard the way you talk to her, you can do it. Just be yourself. Remember how you got her to tell you about what happened with you and Stewart, well see if you can get her to talk about her latest adventure. I have a suspicion that she murdered a man by the name of Lance Butler after swindling him out of his money."

"Why would she tell me that?"

"Because she trusts that you won't tell anyone because of the cloud that hangs over your head. In reality she will be telling, not only me, but Logan and the captain as well."

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"We'll have you wired and we'll be able to hear everything."

"Were you up all night thinking of this plan?"

"No, not all night."

He starts to fidget and he lets go of Alex's hand, he stands and begins to pace around the room, he scratches the back of his head, "Ok say I get her to talk, you arrest her, she tells her lawyer or whoever about what happened to Chester, and she blames it on me. There is no way in hell that I will ever go back to prison. No way, no fuckin' way."

"We'll talk to the DA first, cut off her leverage, besides I don't think she has forgotten about the day she came to your house, I could hear every word that was said."

"Everyone's gonna know about Chester, including your partner."

"Yes, of course."

"Oh I can just see his face when he hears this, that smug………..No, I can't face her, not again."

"Bobby……" she says pleading.

He waves his hand in her face, "No, forget Alex, drop it."

Later On In The Week

Alex has not mentioned word one to her partner about his new girlfriend, not until she has rock solid evidence to show him. She is sleepily sipping coffee, she agreed to baby-sit her nephew last night and she is feeling the strain this morning. "Oh that tastes terrible, when am I going to learn to make good coffee." Her cell phone rings. She clears her throat, "Yes, hello."

"Alex, its Chris."

"Chris?" she looks at the clock, this can't be good. "Is there something wrong?"

He hesitates, "I know it's early and it's Sunday but…………..I would have called my grandparents but they're not home so I thought I'd better call you."

"It's alright honey, I don't mind, tell me, what's the matter."

"It's Dad."

She exhales and sits down, "What's the matter with him?"

He hesitates, "I'm not sure, he's still in bed and when I tried to wake him he just grunts and he smells funny. I was going to call 911 but I don't think he needs a hospital."

"Where's Tommy?"

"He's standing right here next to me."

"Chris, do you know if he was drinking last night?"

"I think…………Yes I'm sure he was." He pauses for a moment and holds the phone away from his mouth, she hears Chris talking to his brother, "It's in my room, yes you can get it." He exhales before he begins to speak. "There's a bottle of whiskey on his night stand, I think it's the one that was in the kitchen, it's empty."

"Stay in the house, I'll be there as soon as I can, ok."

"Ok, we will. Thanks."

"Chris everything will be alright."

She hears the phone click. She slowly stands, dumps her coffee into the sink. "Son of a bitch." A twinge of guilt goes through her.

Alex arrives in the Brooklyn neighborhood, within the hour. She pushes the doorbell and Chris answers the door, looking very sad. "Are you alright?" Chris just nods his head. "Where is Tommy?" he heard the bell ring and runs over to her. After a quick hug he says, "We're fine but Dad looks terrible."

"You guys stay here, I'll go check on him."

Chris was very careful when he tried to wake him. Alex is less than careful. She is needless to say, very angry with him. She grabs him by his upper arm and shakes him. "Bobby, wake up."

He opens his eyes but he has some difficulty. He turns and tries to focus on the figure standing next to him. He lifts his head ever so gently and then holds it and moans, "Oh man." He falls face down into the pillow. She grabs him again, "I said wake up!"

He lifts his head, "Ok, ok you don't have to yell," he holds up his hand, "I'm right here."

She stands with her hands on her hips, "I'm waiting." Her stare is very intense.

"Huh, oh yeah," he looks up at her, his eyes are like two slits, "how about you pretend that you told me off and I apologized, so I can go back to sleep." He lies back down in the bed and then slowly he raises his head, "What are you doing here?"

"Your son, Chris called me, he was scared and he didn't know what to do. Do I need to say anymore?"

He turns over and lies on his back staring at the ceiling. "Shit!"

"I can't talk to you now, Bobby," she turns her head away, "Goddamnit," she points at him, "I'm going to take the boys out for breakfast and I suggest that you get you ass out of that bed and get your shit together!" she turns abruptly and slams the door.

The boys are sitting quietly on the couch in the living room. Alex sits down next to them, "Dad's going to be fine. He needs some time alone," she claps her hands, "how about we go get some breakfast." The boys grab their jackets and the trio is out the door.

An Hour Later

When they return home, Tommy heads for the basement, Chris for his room. Alex finds Bobby in the kitchen holding his head in his hands. Very loudly, she says, "Are you alright?"

"Jesus, I get the message, please lower your voice." He rubs his eyes, "I'm sorry."

She sits down next to him, "I'm not the one you have to apologize to, even though I must say I am so pissed off at you." she pauses, "But I can understand." She holds his chin in her hand and lifts up his head, "Did it make anything change?"

He shakes his head, "Of course not."

"Then what happened?"

"I………….I, after the kids went to bed I started thinking about….well my conscience starting bothering me."

"Jesus, why?"

He takes a sip of coffee, "Because I know that you're right, I have to talk to her," he slams his fist on the table, "Goddamn that woman," he gets up and pours himself another cup of coffee. He sits back down and takes her hand, "I'm afraid that if I talk to her and it doesn't work out the way we want that she will do to me, maybe not me at all maybe my kids, what she did to Chester and God knows how many others. If anything happened to those boys God help her."

"We can have you and the boys protected."

He shakes his head, "Protected," he scoffs, "I am not moving and I refuse to live my life looking over my shoulder, Alex I need a guarantee that………." He stands up suddenly, "Don't you get it? If I betray her, she will kill me! No ifs, ands, or buts. That's why she killed Chester and probably what's his name," he snaps his fingers, "Lance." He looks to her for an answer but she is looking past him, he frowns and then turns around. "Chris." He says.

He ignores his father and walks past him and opens the frig. Alex gets up from the table, "I'm gonna see what Tommy's doing." She leaves the room and Chris opens his juice box and starts to walk past his father.

Bobby grabs his arm and Chris does he best to break free, "Talk to me, Chris."

The young boy stops fidgeting, "You're a liar, everything you told us, about…You do that all the time don't you, it's just that I………we caught you."

"No, I don't." Chris looks toward the door. The boy wants to run. "All I can say to you is that I'm so very sorry, there is no excuse for what happened. I do make mistakes, sometimes." He looks at his son's face; the boy is trying his best not to smile. Chris turns to his father, Bobby holds on to his shoulders, "I'm sorry for scaring you, it was an insensitive thing to do, I was only thinking about myself and the situation that I'm in, I screwed up." He hugs him and Chris puts his arms around him, Bobby breaks the embrace, "You guys are the most important thing in the world to me," he smiles thinking about her. "Alex too, never, never again."

The boy is close to tears but he sucks it in, Bobby rubs the top of his son's head, "You need a haircut."

"I didn't know what to do, so I called Alex."

"You did the right thing, calling Alex, I'm very proud of you."

"That woman is back, she wants to hurt you?"

"I'm not going to give her the chance, I'll be, we'll be fine." After a quick embrace, Bobby lightly pushes his son, "Go on get out of here."

The boy chuckles and as he turns to leave he sees Alex, he smiles at her and she returns the smile.

"Hey," he looks up at her as he stands, "You're right Alex, I have to do this," he says very confidently, "I can do this, she has to be stopped."

TBC