Redemption

Chapter Twenty-Two

She'd been to many crime scenes, more than she could count or remember, but this was different. She hadn't known those people. They weren't considered family; only the latest mishap in a world gone mad. She would usually be on scene, ready for anything and with no emotion flooding through her. Not this time.

He didn't deserve to die this way.

With a shaky breath and with DeMarco by her side, she glanced down at the body. She immediately turned away, her stomach threatening to convulse and let loose her dessert. No one blamed her for what she was feeling; she had every right. But, she needed to conduct herself in a professional manner and Jeff made sure to do that.

"It's the same as the others we handed over to the FBI—a .45 right to the head. The car was hit by some sort of SUV with DC plates—it was most likely a rental—and no one around saw the numbers. There might be some good news, though. The team managed to life a few prints from the door handle. They could just be his, but they could also belong to one of his attackers."

"That's not exactly good news," she snapped at him, but she was thankful he was filling her in. In his own way, he was trying to take her mind off of the fact, that lying at their feet, was their good friend—someone they would never see again.

"Well, it's the best we've got. Everyone was asleep when this happened and no one saw anything that can help us," he retorted with the same amount of exasperation. He didn't like this any more than she did. Stern was his friend too, so she wasn't the only one affected by this.

Her anger quickly subsided with his retort and she quickly apologized. His only reply was a shrug of the shoulders, which she took as if he was saying it didn't matter. This was an emotional time and none of them could stop what they were feeling.

She glanced over at a makeshift tent that had been erected for Stern's wife. Danni could see Marie's pacing silhouette moving about the area as if she was a caged animal. She motioned her head towards it. "Has she been told, yet?" Usually, the widow would have been told straight away, but in this type of circumstance, they still needed everything fresh. For all Marie knew, he could just be badly injured.

DeMarco shook his head. "I wanted to wait for you before anyone told her. She's hysterical, though. I've got one of the rookies trying to calm her down."

She managed a short snicker as she nodded. "Good job. She'll skin him alive." For the first time, it felt wrong to give a sarcastic remark. It was still too early to even joke about anything. This was all too heart-breaking and something needed to be done to avenge him. With a deep breath, she headed toward the panic-stricken wife of her former superior officer. This was going to be one of the most difficult things she'd ever have to do and she needed to find some sort of strength. But, without Bobby by her side, she had none.

Why did this have to happen when life was becoming so perfect?

He shuffled through the crowd which stood by, watching, waiting for anything that would catch their attention. Some were residents of the area, while the rest were the media and they seemed to be in a frenzy. A man of Robert's station was murdered in the same way as four other men. It was bound to attract some attention, but this was just ridiculous. He'd never seen this many reports collected together before and he hoped he never had to again.

He had to fight his was through just to get to the scene, since he arrived the back way, which he now figured was the wrong thing to do. He cursed under his breath as he tried side-stepping through the throng, only to end up smashed in between two television reporters he wasn't very fond of. They worked for the same station and had once twisted his report around to make it reflect badly upon both him and the FBI. He just hoped they didn't recognize him or they would ask for a statement.

He had to stop and wait for a breach in the crowd before he could squeeze through again and that made him even angrier. He would draw out his badge if it wouldn't throw so much attention to him. He just needed to get through quickly and unnoticed, though he knew that wouldn't happen. For now, all he could do was wait.

"It's crazy, isn't it?" a familiar voice asked and a gentle hand placed itself upon his muscular chest.

He recognized who it was before he saw her face and cursed a little but louder so she would know his aggravation. Unfortunately, she thought it was toward the mob and not to her. He plucked her hand from his chest as he looked down at her with a half-hearted smile. "Hiya, Darce," he grumbled as he turned his attention to the area over the people's heads in front of him. He wanted to get a glance of Danni to make sure she was doing okay. He was able to spot her as she conversed with DeMarco. He saw how downtrodden she looked and felt so terrible. He wished he was there to hold her in his arms, but this damn horde wouldn't let him through.

"Special Agent Manning, I do believe you've been avoiding me. I've been trying to call you all day, but I only seemed to get your voicemail." She replaced her hand upon his chest and began drawing light circles upon it with her fingertips. One side of her mouth lifted as she smirked up at him, wanting some sort of reaction from him.

Once again, he removed her hand. "I've been busy," he muttered as he continued to squeeze through the pack, unfortunately with her at his heels. In truth, she was the reason why no one could get a hold of him. She'd called him every hour, on the hour and he had to shut it off to ignore her. He didn't want to talk to her because there was so much going on around him. He didn't even want to talk to his own mum, but she'd yelled at him for it in a message and he hurriedly called her back. That had been the last time he checked his messages and that was before Danni had called him, so he hadn't gotten hers until he got home to find her not there.

"Well, so have I. I still am on assignment, you know? I was calling you to see if I could get a statement or something; anything to make the public feel safe. I mean, a Neanderthal like Stern doesn't get killed for nothing." For once, Bobby didn't like that personalization of Robert. Sure, he'd said that more than once, himself, but as he thought back to it, he really wasn't as bad as that. But, she was just saying it so she could push him into revealing something. They were still together the first time Metro and the FBI teamed up and she had heard the horror stories. She had hoped her teasing and name-calling would get him to spill, but his resolve seemed to be a lot stronger around her than it used to be.

He stopped trying to squeeze through the crowd and looked down at her with a somber gaze. "The media isn't going to know anything until we release a statement. Sorry, sheila, but that's the way it's gotta be. No one is getting any special treatment. Oh, and off the record, Stern wasn't a Neanderthal. There was a side to him that people like you never saw. If you're as good at your job as you say you are, then you would have seen that." He didn't know what made him say all of it, but he was glad he did. There was a lot of aggravation he'd wanted to get off of his chest toward her, though he'd wanted to say something that had more to do with their break up. Of course, that didn't matter anymore. He'd moved on. If she couldn't handle it, it was all her fault. He saw the incredulous look in her eyes and smirked at his handy work. She deserved so much more, but he had a case to deal with. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a case to work on."

With only two more steps, he was enveloped by the throng and she lost sight of him, but she continued to stare at the spot he'd been standing in. It was the first time he'd called her 'sheila' in a long time. Usually, he would call her 'Luv', but perhaps that was reserved for whatever hussy he was seeing now. She furrowed her brow in anger as she crossed her arms over her chest. Getting him back was going to be much harder than she'd predicted.