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"Hey, Alex," he says softly, offering a small smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. "I'm sorry to bother you so late, but I was just wondering if we could talk."
"It's okay," I reply, trying to be understanding. "Come on in."
James steps inside, and I close the door behind him. He looks like he has a lot on his mind. "I'm sorry to drop by unannounced," James continues as he steps into the living room, his eyes flicking to the laptop and then back to me.
"It's alright, James," I say again, "Would you like some water? It's the only thing I have in the house at the moment. I still haven't had the chance to go shopping yet."
He chuckles softly. "Somehow I’m not surprised.”
I shrug, unashamed, chuckling to myself. “You know how it is when I am deep into a case, I will always forget about everything else. I would probably forget to eat unless someone else makes me.”
He smiles at me but I can see the strain in it. "I can relate to that. Sometimes, when we're so focused on the job, everything else just falls to the wayside." He wanders away toward the curtained window, looking out briefly before rubbing his palms across his face. He looks frustrated.
"Is everything alright?" I ask, concerned.
James turns back to me and hesitates for a moment, as if trying to find the right words. "I was going to ask you the same thing. At the crime scene today, you seemed different."
I frown, I had thought I had kept it hidden well enough not to raise any suspicions, but James has known me a long time. “Different?”
James nods and then starts pacing the living room floor, "I know we all deal with things differently, but it almost felt like you were detached from the whole situation," he snaps.
"I assure you, James, I care about Mark's death just as much as anyone else," I reply.
He doesn’t respond, just keeps pacing the floor of the living room. I can see him still looking at me narrowly every time he is facing my direction. My anxiety only increases, I have to be careful not to give anything away, but something seems to have set him off. He isn’t acting like the man I know now.
His hands rake through his hair, clenching the strands and then letting them go. “You were meant to have found these assholes by now!”
I’ve never heard him speak to me like that before, but the tone he uses seems to tug at a memory for a second before it disappears. “We are trying, James. There is no evidence to find. Nothing is there to tell us who is doing this.” I try to keep my voice as calm as possible but my heart is starting to race in my chest.
He stops pacing and turns to face me, his face filling with rage. “You aren’t trying hard enough! I’m the one who trained you Alex, I know you can do better than this pathetic excuse of an effort.”
My heart drops at his words. I suddenly feel so torn. He’s right, he did train me from the moment I left the academy. I have known him for years, I have a loyalty to him.
Then, his eyes land on the pendant I’m wearing. He narrows his eyes as he takes a step toward me. "That's a very pretty necklace. Where did you get it?" His tone hasn’t lost any of the aggression, if anything it's now worse.
I glance down at the pendant, my heart skipping a beat, my hand touching it automatically. “Oh, it was my mothers. It was in her belongings.”
He takes more steps toward me and I can see the frustration and anger on his face more visibly now, surprising me. “You’re lying to me! How did you get that necklace, Alex?”
I take a step back from his advancing form, confused, my hand now closing around the necklace in question. “I don’t understand why you're asking me that, it was my mothers, why wouldn’t I have it?”
James is now so much closer, his hand reaching out to grab me, but suddenly he stills in mid motion, his whole body freezing with his hand halfway toward my throat. I’m so focused on his face I can barely see anything but his angry eyes bearing down on me. But in that moment of utter stillness, a glint of light catches my attention and my eyes are drawn to the knife pressed to the front of his throat, a small drop of blood starting to trail down his skin from where it must have cut in when he was still moving.
“Yes, James, why wouldn’t she have it? It wouldn’t have anything to do with how you had it hidden in your safe would it?” comes a familiar voice from behind James. I know that voice. I don’t even need to look to know that Tristan is behind James and that it’s his knife.
I take another couple of steps backward, moving further out of James’ reach. I’m momentarily startled when my back makes contact with a hard body, but then the familiar scent of Derek hits me. His hands slowly grip the sides of my waist and he squeezes me in a comforting gesture as he presses himself to my back. “Silly fucking place to hide something you took from a dead body, Jimmy.”
Chapter 38
Alex
(8 Years Old)
“PleaseMomma,Iwannago play with Truth and Dare.”
She laughs at me, I love the sound of her laugh, it makes me happy. “Sweet baby girl, their names are Tristan and Derek, but you know Uncle Jimmy is coming over. You can go play after that.”
I pout at her. "But Momma, Truth and Dare are so much fun! I like playing with them! We swore we would always play together."
