Chapter Twenty Two “That gave me the chills, Michael." Maria whispered and rubbed her arms. "Out of all of them, that one got me. Why?" He shrugged. "I don't know." "I guess it's got something to do with that whole smelling of fear thing." She sat up straighter and felt slighter annoyed with herself. "I mean, smell fear? It just creeps me out." "Everything on this case can creep you out Maria. You're almost as far in as I am and I think you're handling everything excellent. Minimal creeps." She smiled and felt herself blush. "I just want to find who killed Liz. That's why I started this with you," she admitted. "She was my friend and she's dead for some reason. I will find out what that reason is." "You're dedicated," he smiled wistfully. "Yeah, I learned from the best." She winked and wanted to be in his arms. She wanted him to hold her and touch her like she had dreamt. She wanted to be one of his girls, but an alive one; she wanted to be the only girl. "Isabel," Michael said suddenly. "Did you tell her…You know, about any of the 'us' stuff?" Maria shook her head. "No, did you? She stopped me today and told me not to hurt Kyle too much and that you were a pretty good guy. Why did she do that?" "I don't know," he smiled. "She got me today too before I came back here. She mentioned something about how lucky I was to have you working with me and to make sure I didn't hurt you and…Things along those lines." He shook his head. "I guess that it's obvious, huh?" "What? That we have this undefined thing going on?" Maria asked and felt her skin burn. She felt an ache between her legs that she hadn't felt for so long. An ache for something new. "An undefined thing," Michael repeated. "I like that. My whole life has been about definition and now here you are, you just bounce right in and now nothing is defined." Maria rolled her eyes at him. "You know what I mean, Guerin." "I do know what you mean and I'm serious. My life has always been defined. From day one. I worked hard to get into the FBI, I found a sweet girl who I was going to marry, I planned on having two kids and a Golden Retriever named Sam and retiring from the Bureau when I was still young enough to enjoy life. Maybe moving out of Seattle and to somewhere nice and warm. That was all defined. Now, I have no definition. I have no idea what my future holds, hell, I don't even know what the next few hours hold. Who knows Maria, you could see something else and crack this wide open. We could end this tonight." "Wow, from one ranter to another, that was a good one." She laughed. "Life shouldn't be about definitions. I'm sorry the storybook version of 'This is your life Michael Guerin' didn't play out the way it was supposed to. I'm sorry you don't have a dog named Sam. But you have to remember something, my mom told me this a long time ago and I believe every word of it. Everything happens for a reason. Everything." He looked thoughtfully at her and wondered how he was going to keep his hands off her. The way and timing of spilling what used to be his ideal life to her and her rationalizing made him fall deeper. He wasn't sure if it was actual love he was feeling; there was still so much more to get to know about her; but it was close. The future of kids and dogs with Lorelei was just what Maria had described. A storybook version. This was the real deal. This was life and he didn't want a storybook version, not anymore. He wanted something new. Something he didn't think he'd ever want. He wanted the unknowing of his future. He wanted a life outside definition. "He's defining you," Maria looked to him, her eyes bright. "Exactly what you were talking about. He's defining you! He sees you as this arrogant, self-centered heartbroken agent who can't care about anything anymore except these girls." "Then he's made the perfect definition of Agent Michael Guerin." He said dryly. "Seriously, Michael." She touched his hand. "Remember what you just told me. Your whole life has been defined." Michael nodded and reflected on his own thoughts about stepping outside of the definitions. "Everything you've done has been by the book." The storybook version, Michael smiled to himself. "He nailed you and the only way to catch him is to step outside the defining lines." "I thought that's what I was doing with you." "It is," she grinned. "See, we're on the right path now. Just a few obstacles and we're almost cleared of the time to grieve." Playing in forbidden forest No time to grieve. His mind scrambled with her words. He was there. He was watching them as they stood on the banks of Blackwater Draw when he first realized his attraction to Deputy Maria DeLuca. Had it been that obvious? Who else was there? Kyle Valenti? Max Evans? His mind reeled, was there anyone else around? Was there anyone on the shore? On the road in back of them? Had he been too consumed with the crime scene and Maria in general? Had the jasmine affected his brain and he missed someone nearby? He frantically rummaged around the papers in front of him and dug out the last letter he had received at the B&B. It was about Maria, he thought, she should know. He licked his lips. "I need to show you this out of order." "What is it? I'm in the middle of a revelation here, Mister." "It's the last letter I got and I think it's about you." He took a deep breath and shook his head. "Definition. I think you nailed it, again. I think you can read him better than I ever could. He did define me and…Oh, fuck!" He handed her the letter and watched as she read it. She read it once to herself and the second time out loud. " 'Wasting your time, do my eyes deceive? Playing in forbidden forest, no time to grieve'? Is that me? You think I'm the forbidden forest?" Maria cracked a smile. "I've been called a lot of things…Why would you think that's me? When did you get this?" "The night we went to Blackwater Draw, when I got back to the B&B it was waiting for me." "Okay…" She cocked her head to one side. "Why would he say that? We were not exactly on the same terms were are now." "Because that's when I realized how beautiful you were. That's when I watched you walk and admired it. That's when I started to feel something." Maria nodded and thought about the way she had watched him and admired the ways his jeans had looked on him. Had it really been a night of mutual attraction? "So," she said slowly as a new realization hit her. "You think he was there? You think he was watching?" She racked her brain trying to remember anyone being there besides Kyle and Max. "I don't remember…" “Damn it!" He slammed his fist down on the table causing Maria to jump. "I should have been paying more attention to what was around me instead I was watching your ass!" He stood up and ran his hands through his hair and began to pace in front of her. "I wasn't paying attention and he was probably there!" "You were watching my ass?" Maria giggled and immediately deemed it inappropriate but she couldn't help it. She cleared her throat. "Even if you would have seen someone, you wouldn't have known it was him. Quit beating yourself up Michael. You're doing the best you can and everyone knows it. I know it! He's making you rethink your actions Michael. He's trying to get you upset. Look at the last line 'I don't think you can'. He's baiting you and you're finally falling for it!" Michael looked at her and saw the admonition on her face. She was right, again. As always. He was doubting his work ethics. He was doubting his entire plight as an agent. He was doubting everything he had done to find this bastard for the last two years. He was doubting himself. He leaned over to her and cupped her face in his hands. "How did you get to be so smart? How can you see so much when I can't see anything at all? How Maria? How?" She licked her lips. "I don't know. I hate to say that I can follow the mind of a serial killer, so I won't say that. I'm new to this Michael. I haven't had the burden of living with these horrors for years." "A new perspective," he said quietly as she stood up in front of him. "A new pair of eyes," she whispered. "A new set of lips," he trailed a finger over her full bottom lip. She caught her breath and leaned into him, pressing her lips against his, forcing her tongue into his mouth. She slid her hands around his waist and pulled him against her. Taking the aggressive approach that she had never done before, she ground her pelvis into his. She felt the warmth of his hands around her waist, encircling her, holding her. His hands slipped underneath the tank top and moved up her bare back. The kiss deepened and passed from needing and into wanting. "Maria…" He panted. "Michael." She smiled underneath his lips. Michael smiled back. The reason he was living, the ones he was living for, was slowly slipping away into a new realm. A new beginning. * * * Chapter Twenty Three Maria wanted to smile into his mouth; but the want for something more held it back. Her hands found his ass and she squeezed, pulling him closer, tighter. Her shirt was rising above her breasts; the cool air hitting them was stimulating. She tried to catch his eyes as she felt his hands close in on her breasts, but his eyes were closed. Her back arched involuntarily when he rolled her nipples with his fingers. His hands kneading the milky white flesh of full breasts. She rested her ass against the table in back of her and ran her hands through his hair. Breaking away from his mouth, she trailed her lips down his neck as a slight moan escaped her lips. Michael froze and he opened his eyes. His hands began to shake. He looked at Maria's face. Her sweet face, his hands were still on her breasts. His head was shaking before he knew it. "Maria." Her lips quivered as she pulled her shirt down, redness sweeping over her face. Embarrassment. Michael withdrew his hands from her and ran them through his hair. "I'm sorry," her voice was weak as she turned away from him. He let out a breath and licked his lips, tasting her. "No." She nodded an acceptance at his reply and shuffled papers on the table. When his arms reached around her waist, it was her turn to freeze. "Maria," he said her name quietly into her ear. "I can't…We can't." She swung around and faced his. Wetness balancing on her eyelids. "Why not? Tell me why not Agent Michael." "I'm losing the sense of the case because all I can think about is you. I'm losing everything else." She widened her eyes in an attempt to keep back the tears of humiliation. "Fine." "Maria," he leaned into her and kissed her cheek. "I'm so drawn to you, I can't even explain it. But this is all wrong. All wrong. You're in a relationship with your boss. I'm here to solve a murder." "I'm getting out of the relationship," she said slowly as she finalized her decision. Even with Agent Guerin pushing her emotions away, her time with Kyle had come to an end. "And we will solve this murder, Michael. We'll solve the whole thing. I don't care if it takes a month or a year, we will solve it!" He smiled sideways at her and pursed his lips. He believed her. He believed every word that came from her mouth. "So don't try to push this attraction away so fast," she out her hands on her hips and found the courage she had lost. "Don't try to put me on the backburner. I give you my word that we'll figure this out. I give you my word that I won't let you down." "I know-" "And another thing. If you think you can stay in this room with me and keep your hands to yourself the whole time, then fine. But there will be none of this touching and backing away. Okay? You make me think there's something wrong with me and I hate that feeling. I'm giving up a lot, not just for you, but for me. I'm trading in my life and I'm scared to death, but I'm doing it for all the right reasons. So don't play all high and mighty with me Mister. I am going to be here and I am going to work side by side with you and we are going to deal with it. If it ends up that you leave town and I stay here, then so be it." "I don't want to leave you here," he said slowly as he looked at her through the tops of his eyes. "I don't know what to do Maria, to be honest." "Why not?" "Because I've had nothing but this case for the last couple of years. Nothing else. Now I have a whole new reason to get up in the morning. A new reason to live. I found you." "Yeah," she smirked. "I wasn't really hiding." "I know," he laughed. "But you're clouding my vision. When I try to sift through the mess of this case, I see you. When I look at the letters, I hear you. You're consuming me and it scares me. I'm losing my thought process because I'm so worried about what you're thinking and doing." "Okay." She sat on the edge of the table. "Let's make a deal." "A deal?" "Yeah, a deal. Don't look so worried, I'm not going to ask you to sell your soul. Okay?" she rolled her eyes. "The number one priority we have is to work on this case, our case. The personal stuff comes in second. If our undefined relationship gets in the way then we knock it back, okay?" "I hope I'll be able to." He grinned and felt the tension ease off of him. "Oh, you'll be able to." She nodded. "Find the bad guy and move on. How does that sound for a plan?" "Find the bad guy and move on. I like it." He nodded. "Okay, where were we?" He glanced to the papers on the table and then the photographs on the wall. "Here," she raised her shirt above her breasts and giggled. Michael looked at her and instantly felt weak in the knees. Her beasts were perfect. Not too big and not too small, perfect handfuls. He reached to her and lowered his head, pursing his mouth around one pert nipple. His tongue flicked over the imperfections as his hands slid down and untied the shirt around her waist. He let the shirt drop to the floor and slid both hands over her ass. She ran her hands through his hair and knew it was all right. Everything was going to be all right. She glanced to the closed door as she felt his fingers inside the waistband of her pants. "We should stop," he looked up to her face and spoke with her nipple still in his mouth. "We have work to do." She nodded and put her hand around her breast, feeding it to him. He sucked hungrily with his hands now splayed on her bare abdomen. Michael's eyes were shut and the feeling of her breast in his mouth was too much. It had been too long since he felt this way. Two years of being celibate; without even the thought of touching a woman, and now the ache of want was overwhelming. He broke away from her breast and met her eyes and wondered briefly if the animal magnetism he was treading on was showing. "Hi," she looked into the fire of his eyes and knew there was no going back. Not now, it was too late, things had gone to far. "We should work?" He nodded and took a deep breath. "We should work and you should end things with Kyle. I still have integrity and I don't know if I can do this while your still with him." Maria nodded feeling the same thing. She didn't want to hurt her boyfriend, but acting out physical instincts with another man behind his back made it worse. She would end it with Kyle before she could further with Agent Michael Guerin. Although her life was shifting, she still had a past vested with Kyle and she never wanted to see him hurt. Not because of something like this. She pulled her shirt down and picked up the other one from the floor and slipped it on. She ran a hand through her hair and wondered if Kyle was home yet or if he was lurking around the station. Priorities had been modified and parting with Kyle was now on the top of the list. In her heart of hearts she knew it was the right thing to do. It was the honest thing to do. "I'll talk to Kyle today." She smiled sedately at him and took his hand. "This is right, right?" "You have to answer that for yourself, Maria." He kissed the top of her hand. "C'mon, let's go to work." Maria picked up the last letter Michael had handed her and read it again. She couldn't imagine being called the forbidden forest, that was absurd and she told him so. "I'm not forbidden," she shook her head. "I may have been unattainable at the time, but forbidden? I don't think so. I also don't think he was necessarily there either. Are you sure?" Michael weighed his response carefully before answering her. "I should have been paying more attention." "That's not an answer." "Hell, maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. These freaking letters are driving me insane trying to read into them what he wants me know! I don't know Maria; I can go over it and over it and I still come up with nothing. I know that he's doing this for me. To hurt me and he's winning. I know eleven innocents have lost their lives for no fucking reason except to be used in a game to get to me. Was he here in Roswell? Was he watching us? I don't know. He could follow me the same way I follow him and I never see him." Maria watched his mouth as he spoke, she took in the subtleties of his persona. The dismay he had when talking about himself. The guilt that was wrenching its way through him with every word. "Do you feel the countdown clock like I do?" She asked timidly. "Yeah, Maria. I feel it. Hell, I think I hear it." A knock at the door made them both jump. Expecting Kyle Valenti to waltz in, they were both surprised when it was a dispatcher, Mary Ellen. "Sorry to interrupt," the middle-aged woman smiled and extended her hand to Michael. "This was delivered for you, Agent." Michael looked at the familiar envelope in her hands and took it by the corner. "When?" "A few minutes ago," she backed away from the intensity that was leaking from Michael. "By courier." "Did you know the courier?" Michael asked trying to hide the sharpness in his voice. She nodded. "Dave the courier." She looked at Maria. "You know Dave, right?" Maria nodded and thanked her. Mary Ellen walked out of the room closing the door behind her. "It's from him," Maria stated rather than asked. "Have they ever come this close together?" "No," he shook his head and slid the letter out. He read it and then handed it to Maria. Agent Guerin Don't forget your manners You have so much to do I've told you times before But you're still feeling blue Can't get past the meaning Won't get past the pain It's all right in front of you Just as clear as the rain. Tick Tock dear Agent good night Tick Tock dear Agent will you get it right? Maria whistled. "It's almost like he was here with us, listening to us, huh?" Michael nodded and felt the time ticking down. Tick Tock. * * * Chapter Twenty Four "We should be able to see it, you should be able to see it!" Maria read the letter again. "He told you it's all right in front of you." Michael nodded. Another letter. After Liz. He rummaged for it and reread it. "This came after Liz." He tapped the paper in his hand. "You have to go through the other ones Maria, maybe you can see what I can't. After Sara there's five more girls then Liz. You have to meet the other girls. Time is running out." "Why did you get that one out?" Maria pointed to the paper in his hand. "What he says in here," he shook his head and read from it. "'It's all there in black and white.' He's told me everything I need to know to find him and I can't! Damn it! Another woman is going to die because I can't figure it out!" "I want to look over Lorelei again." Maria fought back the temptation to read the letter in his hands. That one was too close to home. Hell, that one was home. "Lorelei? Why?" Maria thought about telling him about her dream, but she couldn't. Not right now. "I think we missed something with Lorelei." Michael shook his head. "Of any of them, I know that one the best. She was my girlfriend; don't you think I'd invest more into that? She was the first and I loved her." Michael's eyes burned. "There's nothing more to be found about Lorelei." "I'm sorry Agent Guerin," Maria took an authoritative tone with him; jealousy seeping through. "I know she was your world and I know you worked long and hard on her murder, but you might have missed something. You are too damn close to this to see it clearly anymore!" "Clear as the rain," he murmured and turned away from her. He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair. Mumbling to himself as he walked towards the first of the victim boxes he got Lorelei's file out and handed it to her. "You won't find anything else on her." Maria took the file and sat down. Anger churning within her. She opened the folder and turned to Michael. "You know what? Here's your problem. You can't get past Lorelei. You can't see what's in front of you. You think you're going to solve this thing but you can't open up your damn eyes and look! I've only met five of your girls so far and I think I already know them better than you do. Sure, I learned it from your notes, but you're in too deep. You've been alone on this for too fucking long and you need a break. Death is not a healthy thing Agent Michael. You're being blinded by Lorelei's murder." "That's not fair to say," he faced her slowly. Their eyes locking. "I treat each and every one of them special. I feel for all of them." "Oh, I know you do, I don't doubt that for a second. But what's the underlying reason? Lorelei." He opened his mouth to speak and then glanced at the letter still in his hand; the one that came after Liz. I can feel your breath on my neck But you can't get past the first. He met Maria's gaze and knew she was right. She's always right. "This letter tells me the same thing. That I can't get past the first. That I can't get past Lorelei." Maria raised her eyebrows and licked her lips. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you, but there's more to it. Some psycho doesn't just pop out of nowhere and decide to kill your girlfriend, make you chase him across the country killing women for no apparent reason and ruin your life without reason. That's what bad movies and bad books are made of; a surprise villain that no one ever heard of before. You know him Michael. You have to know him and I think it goes back to Lorelei. She was the first." "No." "Damn it, her file's not even complete!" She slapped the tabletop. "You told me she was from Virginia, that you met her while you were at Quantico. That wasn't in her file. If you wouldn't have said that I would have assumed she was from Seattle. What else didn't you put in her file Agent?" Michael slumped down next to her in a folding chair and covered his face with his hands. "I'm not trying to hide anything. I don't know that much about her before I met her." Maria rolled her eyes. "You went to painstaking routes to learn about the others, but with Lorelei you just let her past go?" "I loved her," he met her eyes. Sympathy exuded from her and she reached to him and took his hand. "I know. I'm sorry, but nothing else makes sense. I don't want you to relive one single moment of anything hurtful, but I think its Lorelei. I think we're missing something with her." She glanced at the wall clock. "I have an idea. I'm going to go, you stay here and read through her file and try to fill in some blanks. Anything Michael." "Where are you going?" "I'm going home to break up with Kyle." She didn't try to smile. It wasn't going to be fun. "I can't have that hanging over me anymore. Okay? I'll be back later." "Be careful, okay?" He stood and walked to her as she reached the door. "I don't know if there's killer loose in Roswell or not. I can't let anything happen to you." "Hey, I'm armed." She touched her purse. She got the gun and attached waist holster out and slipped it on. "Okay, now I'm armed." "You get a better draw from a shoulder holster." Michael smiled. "But it chafes my arms." She smirked. "Wear a long sleeve shirt." "You wouldn't like that, would you?" "No, I wouldn't." He finally laughed. "Just be careful. If you need me, call me." He leaned into her and kissed the corner of her mouth. "For the right reasons?" She nodded. "The right reasons." * * * The killer was alone in a hotel room not too far away from Roswell in a little town called Lake Arthur. Always alone. Almost always. Looking out the window at the hotel pool below the room, a smile gracing bitter lips. "Agent Guerin can you figure me out?" Snickering and watching a young blond woman sunbathe below. "Blind as a bat, forgot to adore, speaks in your face and yet you ignore." * * * Maria drove slowly the entire way home. The lingering thoughts of Michael telling her to be careful were wearing on her. She'd always felt safe in Roswell, always. Now there could be a psycho running around killing women. She shook her head and flipped on her headlights as the sun was setting. She'd only left the house a few hours before and didn't really want to go back there. Not now. Not for the reason she was going to. Not to break Kyle's heart. She pulled up in the driveway and parked in back of the 4X4. Taking a deep breath she got out of her car and walked to the front door. She let herself in and looked around at a place she had called home. "Kyle?" She called down the hallways that led to the bedroom. She got a muffled response and walked towards it. She pushed the bedroom door open and found him. He was lying on the bed still in his uniform sans the shoes. "Hi." "Hi. What are you doing here? I thought you'd be working all night." He didn't face her but kept his attention on the ceiling. "Again." She took another deep breath and pulled the chair from the desk over to the bed and sat down. "Kyle, we have to talk." "Great," he pointed his fingers to the ceiling. "I wonder about what." "Don't make this harder than it already is." "Hard?" He laughed bitterly. "I know what you're going to say Maria and it sucks. You're breaking up with me for Mr. Fucking Hot Shit FBI dick." "I'm breaking up with you because we're no good together anymore." "Okay," he said slowly. "That's bullshit, but if it lets you sleep through the night then call it whatever you want." "It's the truth," she ran her hand through her hair and absently thought of Michael doing the same. "Kyle, we've grown apart-" "In the last few days?" "For awhile. We're comfortable with each other, but I think we're holding each other back from something else." "I am comfortable with you Maria," he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "I love you. I want to marry you and have kids with you and live happily ever after. I thought that you might want that too. If you didn't, then why in the hell have you been with me for so long?" Maria couldn't answer him yet. At one point that had been what she wanted. "Well?" Kyle prodded and looked into her face forcing her to look back at him. "Damn it!" "I'll always love you Kyle, but I have to move on. I don't know if I want kids and a dog. I don't know if I even want to stay in Roswell anymore. I've never even been out of New Mexico! There's a whole world waiting for me and I have to go see it!" Kyle's shoulders sank as he remembered the question he'd asked himself before. Did he really love her enough to let her go? He smiled. "I wondered how long it would take for you to figure out that you were better than this dusty-ass town. I always knew you were something special. I won't lie to you Maria; I don't want to let you go. I don't want to lose you." "Kyle," she exhaled slowly and wiped where there should have been tears. "If you tell me the Fed isn't at least partly behind your decision, I'll know you're lying, so don't tell me anything else." He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. "I love you, okay? Don't make any rash decisions, not today." "But Kyle-" "I'll always take you back Maria, okay?" His voice quivered. "I may hate what you do and who you do it with, but I'll still be here when he breaks your heart." She nodded and stood up dropping his hand. She started pulling clothes out of the closet and laying them on the bed. "You're leaving?" Kyle asked standing up. "You're really going to leave? After what I just said?" "I have to," she faced him. "Thank you for not making this as hard-" He laughed interrupting her. "This is bullshit. I just did everything right, you aren't supposed to leave!" "Kyle, didn't you mean anything you just said?" "I did, but it was supposed to make you realize what a great guy you're leaving behind." He shook his head. "Don't you know what you're giving up?" She nodded. "I do know Kyle, but I have to explore, I have to experience-" "Fine," he interrupted. "Go explore and experience. Go be a wild child. But maybe I won't be here when he breaks your heart." "You're talking in riddles, Kyle. I have enough on my plate with riddles, I don't need more from you!" Maria's voice rose to a shout. "I can't deal with this, okay? I don't want to hurt you but I'm not in love with you anymore! I won't be coming back and he won't break my heart!" Kyle nodded and stepped back, his soul on his sleeve. Maria could see the devastation in his eyes. She had literally broken his heart. "Where will you stay? Your moms?" "Probably at Isabel's." "With…Never mind." He bowed his head. "I'll miss you Maria." He walked from the room and looked over his shoulder at her. "I'm sorry Kyle." The tears fell but a new sense of relief and freedom washed over her drying the tears. The future was wide open now. There was nothing in her way of going far and far away. The void of an empty heart was being filled. She gathered clothes and shoes together and tossed them in a suitcase. A duffel bag held her toiletries. She carried them to her car and saw Kyle at the kitchen window looking out into the darkness. "Good bye Kyle," she picked up her laptop computer from the kitchen table and waited for him to turn around. He didn't. She took a step closer to him and saw his reflection in the window. She saw the tear that was sliding down his face and turned around. She left the house and fought back any feelings of doubt. * * * Chapter Twenty Five Michael sat at the table after making the first pot of coffee for the night. He pushed Maria from his brain and tried to concentrate on Lorelei. He took a deep breath and only saw one thing in his minds eye: Maria DeLuca. He wondered if she was doing the right thing. Not for him, but for her. He thought about getting on his knees and praying that she was doing it for herself and he wasn't going to be the one left behind. He really didn't want to be rebound guy; everything felt so special with her, so real. His eyes flicked to the 8X10 glossy of Lorelei on the wall and felt different. Even more different than a couple of days before. He was drawing away from her. She was falling into the victim only category and he wasn't quite sure how that made him feel. Drawing away from Lorelei might be the best thing for him, he concluded. Seeing the case from a new point of view, not as a victim too, but as an aggressive investigator. Lorelei had always clouded his mind and now she was fading away. Michael knew he'd never forget her, or any of his other girls, but the attachment was lessening. He smiled to himself knowing that the reason behind his feelings was the flaxen haired wonder he was waiting for. The blank page of the legal pad in front of him was beginning to get on his nerves. Maria had only been gone about twenty minutes and he still had nothing. The last thing he wanted to do was disappoint Maria. Not tonight. Not ever. The black Bic pen in his hand began to move across the paper in front of him as he retold his story of meeting Lorelei. He crept into every crevice of his brain to remember the details. The details about her family and friends, the details that she let slip. An hour later he didn't have much more than their history. Some. Lorelei was an only child. She grew up in Richmond Virginia and relocated to Quantico. Why? She was a sculptor and taught the art in the back of a studio her friend owned. Julie something was the owner. Lorelei didn't talk about her past much. He remembered meeting her parents once and it was brief, right before they had left for Seattle. Her parents met them at the airport to say good-bye; they still lived in Richmond. At least he thought they did. A lot can change in two years and that was the last time he had talked to them, the second time and the last time was to tell them their beautiful daughter was dead. Boyfriends? Michael put a big question mark by that word. She wasn't a virgin when he had met her; but he had never asked about any others before him. He didn't need, or want, to know about that. Once she was his, she was his completely. Friends? Another big question mark. Besides Julie something who owned the studio she never talked about friends. It didn't seem odd at the time, but hindsight is always twenty-twenty. Everyone always has someone left over from school or a job that they stay in touch with at least periodically. Lorelei hadn't. He shook his head reconciling with the fact that when he became involved with her; she was always there. Her life seemed to revolve around him and nothing else. Moving to Seattle with him. Going along with whatever he wanted to do. Michael slapped the tabletop in exasperation. "Did it piss you off?" The voice came from the doorway and Michael smiled before turning around. Slowly he swiveled in his chair and met the face of the woman who was making him think. The woman who was letting him breathe. The woman, in just a few short days, who had voluntarily let him fall in love with her. "Why are you beating up the table?" She smiled through a veil of hurt as she neared him. "I don't know if I can get you another one if you break it. I'm not exactly on the best terms with the boss around here right now." She sat next to him avoiding his inquisitive gaze and fiddled with the side holster. "You freaked me out. I was scared driving ho- Driving tonight, alone. Why'd you do that?" "I didn't want anything to happen to you," he touched her icy hand. "Cold?" "Chilled to the bone," she pressed her lips together and closed her eyes, still facing down into her lap. "Did you remember anything about Lorelei?" Michael nodded and realized she couldn't see him. "Yes, a few things. Well, not really things I remember about her, but things I didn't know about her. Questions I should have asked." "You couldn't know what to ask," she shrugged. "You never thought she'd be gone so soon. You figured you had years. Remember the kids? The dog named Sam?" Michael let out a breath and waited. The bitterness in her voice was beginning to outweigh the calm and forced joviality she had when she first entered the room. "Are you okay?" He cringed as he said it; perfectly aware that was exactly the wrong thing to say. He waited for the reaction and wasn't disappointed. Maria looked up at him through the tops of her red rimmed eyes. "No, I'm not okay. I was okay, but now I'm not. Do I regret what I just did? Hell no. It was the best thing in the world for me to do. Do I feel horrible that I just broke someone's heart that I care very much about? Hell yes. I feel rotten about it and I'll probably go to hell for doing it." "I don't think you're going to go to hell for anything, Maria," he traced circles on the back of her hand with his fingertip. The circles changed to hearts. "As long as you did it for-" "The right reasons, yeah, I know. I did." She withdrew her hand from his and rubbed her temples. "So, what did you come up with? Anything useful?" He thought he detected a hint of sarcasm in her tone but dismissed it. It was an emotional night for her. For him, too. He handed her the legal pad and watched as she read it. Not seeing into her eyes as she read was making Michael's heart pound. Her body was stiff, both hands holding the pad. "Didn't you ever ask her about what her life was like before she met you?" Maria finally looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Weren't you curious?" He shook his head slowly. "At the time, no, to be honest. I thought I met this great girl and we were going to live happily ever after. I didn't want to know about past boyfriends. I wanted to think that I was the first." "But you weren't," Maria lifted an eyebrow. "You wrote she wasn't a virgin, so there was at least one other before you. Her parents? You didn't go see them after she died? What about the funeral? Didn't they come?" Michael shook his head. "No. They didn't come. No one came really, she didn't know that many people." "Where is she buried?" Maria lessened the stress in her tone realizing that she was coming across sounding like a bitch. "Seattle?" He shook his head again. "After the funeral in Seattle, her body was flown back to Richmond to be buried in the family plot. I've never been there." Maria opened her mouth to ask why, but changed her mind. Each person dealt with grief in his or her own way. Maria herself ended her relationship with Kyle and was on the brink of starting a new one during her time of grief. "I will go, when he's caught." Michael looked away from her and stared out into the darkness of the window. "I should call her parents or go there. I should have done that two years ago. I didn't realize there was so much I didn't know about her until you brought it up." She watched him as he spoke into the night. "I'm sorry." "There's nothing to be sorry for, you were right." He shrugged. "I was clouded by her and now I'm not. I should have probed into her past the way I did the others. I have to do it now." "It'll be easier now," she placed her cold hand on his warm thigh and felt the ice melt with his heat. He turned around slowly to face her and nodded. "It will be easier now." He touched the tip of her chin and tilted her head up to face him. "Everything is easier now." The smile that graced her face was genuine. "Yeah." There was more she wanted to say, but couldn't. She wanted to tell him every thought and idea that was billowing up inside her from somewhere deep. "I guess you should work on that and I'll meet number six. I still feel the clock, Michael." "I do too," he flipped open the laptop in front of him. "I'll start on Lorelei's background here, well, the best that I can. I'll call her parents in the morning and if need be, I'll fly to Richmond tomorrow." He handed her the next folder from one of the victim boxes. "Number six, Frannie Lewis." Maria took the folder and set in front of her. She stood up and undid the clasp of the holster and took it off. She set it on the table with a clang. "Maybe I should get one of those cool ankle things." "An ankle holster?" Michael raised his eyebrows in amusement. "I don't think they do you much good if your pants don't cover it. I told you, you need to use a shoulder holster. I can find you one that won't chafe your arms." "Thanks," she smiled. "But I still think an ankle one would look cool." "I have an Uncle Mike's ankle holster in my room, I'll let you borrow it if you want." He crossed his leg, resting his ankle on the opposite knee. "What else do you have in your room?" Maria asked and immediately reddened. "Oh God. That didn't sound right." She continued to blush while Michael smiled. "Quit smiling at me!" She relaxed and sat back down. She looked around the room and got the chills. Wishing she'd remembered to bring in a sweatshirt from the car she rubbed her bare arms and felt her nipples straining against the fabric of her tank top. "Do you want to get out of here?" Michael leaned forward and rubbed her arms over her hands. "Sorry?" Maria felt her voice rise an octave in surprise. "My turn," he chuckled. "That didn't sound quite right. I meant would you like to go somewhere else and work? Our days and nights are mixed up and I know you don't really want to be spending tonight in here. Not considering…" Considering every time I walk in this stupid station I think of Kyle? Maria wanted to ask but refrained. Michael was on to something. She did want out of the station tonight. The war room would always be hers, but the rest of the building belonged to Kyle and she didn't want to think about Kyle. Not tonight. "Yeah," she nodded and glanced at the wall clock. "It's late though. I don't know where…" "What about the B&B? I mean, I'm sure we can use the dining room." He added the last bit quickly. "Isabel won't mind, right?" Maria shook her head slowly and then nodded. The B&B was perfect. If she showed up on Isabel and Alex's doorstep with a suitcase in her hand and nowhere else to go they had to take her in. Right? "Perfect. Let's pack up." Michael closed the laptop and put Frannie's file back in the box. "We'll come back here in the morning?" He asked wondering how much they should take with them. "Yeah," she nodded. Everything always looked brighter in the morning. "In the morning." Michael gathered up various folders, papers and envelops and stacked them inside of the victim box. He handed Maria the laptop and looked around the room. "Anything else?" She looked around and shook her head. Michael followed her to the door and rested the box on his hip as he looked back at the wall of his girls. His eyes fell on Lorelei as he flipped off the light. * * * Chapter Twenty Six Michael and Maria packed what they needed for the night into the trunk of the Mercedes. Her Miata was next to it; she opened the trunk and got out her suitcase without saying a word. She set it on the ground and unzipped it, perfectly aware of Michael watching her. She rummaged around until she found what she was looking for, a sweatshirt. She slipped it on and started zipping up the suitcase. She blushed with the knowledge of nightgowns and underwear on top. She hefted the bag back into her trunk and faced Michael. "We're taking two cars?" He asked as she slammed his trunk down. "Yeah," she nodded. "Let's go." They parted ways after a longing look. Michael followed her the short drive to the B&B and parked in back of her on the street. He watched her get out of the convertible and sighed. Shaking his head at himself, he got out of the car and walked around the back. He opened the trunk and took out the box and put the laptop on top of it before joining Maria as she struggled with her suitcase and duffel and eventually dropped her purse. "Damn it!" She shouted and dropped the suitcase. She looked to Michael with pleading eyes. "Could you carry my purse?" He laughed and bent down grabbing the suitcase handle. He steadied himself and shook his head walking up the path to the front door. Maria followed behind him with duffel and purse in hand, smiling. She stepped around him and pushed the front door open letting him in. Isabel met them in the hallway, her eyes wide. "Hi Maria. Agent Guerin." "Please, Isabel, call me Michael. Is it okay if we use the dining room tonight?" He asked as he walked into the open room and set the box and computer on the wide oaken table. "Of course," she smiled and relaxed. Her eyes trailed to the suitcase in his hand and the bags Maria was holding. "Maria?" Maria blushed. "I need a favor." She motioned Isabel out of the room and followed her. "Where's Alex?" She asked once they were out of earshot from Michael. They sat next to each other on a floral sofa that Maria sank into. "Over at Max's," her normally bright eyes turned dark. "He's helping with some cleaning and stuff. Max isn't himself yet and I can't…You know. It's hard to see my brother like that. So Alex went over with beer and pizza." "Max," Maria said softly and shook her head. "Time will heal," Isabel patted Maria's hand. Her eyes brightened. "So, what's going on? Working here tonight? I mean, that's fine, actually. Oh, you wanted to ask me something?" She raised her eyebrows. Maria felt herself blush again. "We're going to be working here tonight, but we'll try to keep it down." She squeezed her eyes shut and crinkled her nose. "You know what I mean. Anyway, I know you said yesterday you didn't have any rooms." "Maria-" "All I need is a couch. I can take this one," she pleaded. "Please Isabel. I don't want to, no, I can't go to my moms. I don't have anywhere else to go." Her voice broke and she wondered if she sounded pitiful enough. "You left Kyle," Isabel didn't ask, she knew, she could read it in her friend's eyes. "How did he take it?" Maria shook her head; the waves of guilt were back and making her seasick. She told Isabel the overview of the discussion and felt closer to her than she had in a long time, maybe ever. "I did it for the right reasons." Maria defended herself. "I know you did," Isabel smiled. "And of course you can stay here. I should have told you yes yesterday…But today we have a room for you." Maria let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." "Actually, the room is right next door to Agent Guerin's," her eyes twinkled. "Stop it," Maria laughed. "We're working together, that's it." "Whatever," Isabel said in a singsong voice. She stood up. "You going to be working late?" She winked making Maria laugh. "I don't know," she said behind smile. "Well, when my beloved gets home, have him take your bags upstairs." The smile vanished. "I'm sorry about this afternoon, I didn't mean to sound so cryptic about Agent Guerin. I like him." She shrugged. "I can see why you're attracted to him and vice versa. It's a good thing Maria. You're too much for this town and the life you put yourself into; it just took you some time to figure that out. Kyle will recover. Eventually everyone recovers." Maria smiled an answer. Although the newness of their undefined relationship was something she wanted to talk about it, it didn't feel right. Not yet. Kyle was still so close to the surface but hearing those words from a woman whose opinion she valued was priceless. She stood and hugged Isabel. "Thank you." Isabel nodded and broke away from her. "I can make coffee for you two, at least the first pot, then I'm going to bed." "Thanks, but I can get it." "Maybe I want to make it and see a real life FBI Agent at work for a few minutes." She admitted. "Although the reason he's here is tragic, it's still exciting. The most exciting thing to come to this town in a long time. The FBI, here to solve the murder of Liz Parker." She tilted her head. "There's more to it, isn't there?" Maria took a deep breath. "Isabel…" She held up her hand. "It's none of my business, I know. I'll make coffee and be on my way with the smallest possible intrusions. Promise." Maria watched Isabel Whitman as she strode through the sitting room towards the kitchen. She smiled after her hostess. Now that Liz was gone, Maria only had Isabel and Alex as friends. Kyle wasn't going to be overly happy to see her anytime soon; one more friend that bit the dust. She choked on the simile and bowed her head taking a few deep breaths. The doubts of her actions of leaving Kyle were nonexistent. She kept a promise to herself, that someday they could be friends. She would pay good money to have them revert back into the special friendship they used to have. The one before all the love and sex. She stood up, stretched, and walked to the dining room. Leaning against the doorframe, she watched Agent Michael Guerin. His strong jaw, set tight in the task in front of him. His dark eyes, the deep pools of mystery and sadness. His full lips as they puckered. Maria felt the ache inside of her again. She watched as he pushed up his sleeves exposing his forearms. She watched his hands as they typed mercilessly on the laptop in front of him. She closed her eyes and waited a beat before walking into the room. "Hi." "Hi," he turned around to face her and halfway smiled. She thought she was melting. She stepped towards him and parted her lips to say something, but words didn't seem fitting. She licked her parted lips, leaned into him and kissed him. She smiled as she broke away from him. "Okay. I'm better now." "So my kiss can make you better?" He raised an eyebrow at her, grinning. You have no idea, Agent Michael, she thought but only offered him a shrug. She sat down in the straight-backed chair beside his and rested her elbows on the tabletop. "Any progress?" "Would you believe me if I told you no?" "Oh yeah," she yawned. "Isabel's making us some coffee and I have a room of my very own!" She thought she detected a little deflation in his demeanor at her exclamation. Deep down, she might have been feeling a little deflated herself. "That's great," he nodded and tapped a few keys on the keyboard. "Now back to Lorelei. Are you ready to meet Frannie Lewis?" She shook her head. "No, not yet. I have to ask you something about your relationship with Lorelei first. Something that's been bothering me." "Oh boy," Michael leaned back in his chair and rested his hands on the back of his neck. "Okay, shoot." "I understand the whole wanting to think of yourself as the first, but didn't you ever ask anything about her past? You know before you? I mean, you had to want to know why she didn't have any friends, didn't mention anything about her family, right? That's all normal. Those are normal things to be curious about. And you're a pretty normal guy so…What gives?" She crossed her legs as she turned in her seat to face him. "Okay…" He said slowly. "I was curious, I'm an investigator, it's my job to be curious. When I met her, my world went spinning. I didn't think about things like that at first, I just thought how lucky I was to have met her and have her in my life. When people don't want to talk about their family, there's usually a reason. Not everyone has a good relationship with their family." Maria nodded and understood. Her mother drove her crazy and the closest thing she ever had to a father was Kyle's dad. Families could be very complicated. "She told me her parents weren't happy with her decision to become an artist; so they argued. She dropped out of college and worked on her art." "Friends, Michael? Everyone has at least one." "She had one, Julie, she owned the studio that Lorelei used." He let out a deep breath. "And no, I don't know anything about her, hell, I don't even know her last name. Lorelei was friendly to everyone but she was shy. Remember how I told you her and Natalie were almost friends? That 's how Lorelei was. She was a great person to talk to, but she never let people get close to her, except for me, and apparently I asked all the wrong questions." "You were in love. People get blinded by love." "Yeah, I guess so. But now, here it is two years later and I have to go sifting through everything that I should have done right after she died. Did it strike me funny that her parents didn't come to her funeral? Hell yeah, but people deal with grief differently. I guess I really never noticed the lack of friends until then." "Did she ever talk about before you? What she did? Where she went?" "Not really, it was almost as if her life began when she met me," he smiled. "Well, if that doesn't sound arrogant I don't know what does! I understood her, I was the loner in school, and I ate lunch alone with a book. I didn't need friends to get by and I guessed she didn't either." The more Maria learned about Lorelei the more she learned about Agent Michael. "You found each other and it seemed complete." "Exactly," he let out a sigh. "It was the fairytale version and I guess subconsciously, I didn't want to interrupt it. I didn't want to know." "But now you have to," she touched his hand. "I'm sorry you have to go through this now." "It's easier now, you were right." He turned his hand over so her palm rested on his. "Well, I guess it's time for me to meet Frannie." She gazed at his mouth and ached to have it on her. "Coffee?" Isabel pushed the swinging door from the kitchen open and appeared with a tray in hand. She set it on the table and watched as Maria's and Michael's touch broke. "I won't bother you two, but let me know if there's anything I can do to help, okay?" "Isabel, thank you for everything." Michael nodded at her. "Just letting us work in here tonight was a Godsend." "Thanks, Isabel." Maria added and hoped she wasn't blushing. "Good night," Isabel said over her shoulder as she walked from the room. They listened to her footsteps on the stairs as she made her way. Michael poured the coffee and added the correct amounts of sugar and cream to Maria's. He handed her the cup and then the file on Frannie Lewis. Maria opened the file and waited to meet the next one of his girls. Frances Lewis, who hated the name Frances, was from Rhode Island. She was a party girl. Loved to dance, sing and go out with her friends. She was enrolled in college but didn't mind missing classes to be with her friends. Considering how much school she missed, she was an average student. She liked to drive to New York for weekends and go to the clubs. Her dream was to be a singer and she was convinced she'd get her big break in New York. Her build was average, her hair changed colors weekly, when she died it was the same color red as the scarf that was left around her neck. Her ears were pierced multiple times, as well as her nose and eyebrow. A small tattoo of a black music note graced the flesh right above her ankle. She didn't work; she didn't have to. Her parents owned inherited saw mills in Pennsylvania. She got a new car every two years for her birthday and a new wardrobe with each passing season. Her body was found in her home, in the living room. She was propped up on the couch in the nude, the red scarf around her neck melting with the length of her hair. Upon returning from a fundraiser, her parents walked inside to find their youngest child cold. The beloved family mutt, Cookies, was lying next to her, whimpering. Maria finished her second cup of coffee along with the file. It was thinner than the others were. She held the 8X10 picture of Frannie Lewis in her hands and gazed at the representation of youth, one with stars in her eyes. "Her parents?" Maria asked causing Michael to look away from the computer screen and rub his eyes. "How were they?" "Upset, confused. They thought for sure it had to do with money," he shrugged. "It didn't, it had to do with me, but it took them a long time to understand that Frannie was killed for no reason that had to do with them. They offered a reward for information, one hundred thousand dollars, and people crawled out of the wood work." He shook his head. "It was a mess until I convinced them to retract it. Then it was silence." "The dog was with her." "The dog was a sixteen pound lump of fur. Not a threat, not even close to a threat. When I walked in the house she didn't even know I was there until I started petting her head." Michael glanced at the clock. "It’s after two." "Can I read the letter? Where did it get delivered?" "To the hotel, Natalie gave me a heads up about this one too." He rummaged through the envelope and handed her the letter. "Two more came after this one before the next victim." "Do you trust Natalie?" "Implicitly." Maria accepted the answer without further question. She opened the letter and read it, her brow wrinkled together. Agent Guerin Sings of the Angels Traces lines in the sand Not a super hero Just merely a man. Nightshades are on At the core of my delight Will you understand why Will you catch me tonight? Agent Guerin, a man and a mountain Agent Guerin, can you move it to see? Maria read it through three times before facing him. "Did he just refer to you as Mohammed? The whole mountain thing?" "Nothing makes sense to me," he ran his hands through his hair. "That's why I'm not a profiler. I can't read him. I'm an investigator." "In the other letter, Sara's letter, he said something about nearly being at the core of his duty and here," she tapped the paper, "he says he's at the core. The core, Michael! He's halfway done, isn't that what core means?" He nodded slowly. "Damn it! If you're right, and he was half way done at number six, then there's only one more to go." Maria DeLuca felt her blood run cold. * * * Chapter Twenty Seven Michael took Maria's now shaking hand. "Michael." "The core. The core means the center. The middle, he's almost done and I can't figure out why!" He sighed. "Time really is running out and I should have seen it a long time ago. I should have seen it a year ago. Damn it!" "Michael," she said his name with the delicacy of a lover. He faced her, staring into the deep pools of her eyes. He read the fear on her like a memorized verse of a favorite poem. The fear was etched on her face. "I won't let anything happen to you." "It's not me I'm worried about. What happens when he's done? Does he come for you then?" Her fear, Michael realized, was for him. She was scared for him. He didn't know the answer. He was beginning to realize he didn't know much about anything. All the light Maria had shed on his case, their case, was amazing. Now her concern lay with him. Would he be the hunted one? Or had he always been? Did the madman trail him already? Did he really know his every move? Was he here? Was he watching? He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Glancing nervously around his cozy surroundings he felt safe. He'd always felt safe. "Michael?" She asked subtly drawing him back into the conversation. "Will he? Are you the prize?" "I don't know. " He took a deep breath. "I don't want to find out. I want to nail this bastard before he has a chance to finish his project. I don't want anyone else to die because of me and the hard-on he has for me." "I don't either," she tried to stand strong but the nights emotional roller coaster that she'd been on was draining her. All Maria DeLuca wanted to do was curl up under the blankets and sleep away the night. Sleep away the hurt she knew she'd left Kyle with. Sleep away the fears for Michael. Sleep it all away. Everything's brighter in the morning, right? She nodded to herself and let out a sigh. "Okay, did you find out anything about Lorelei you didn't already know?" "She doesn't have a file with the Bureau except for her case file. She didn't have a police record." He shrugged. "Neither do her parents. Mr. and Mrs. All-American as far as I can tell. I don't think any of them even got a parking ticket." Maria nodded and realized Michael was still holding her hand. Her thoughts of crawling under the blankets were exchanged for thoughts of crawling underneath Michael. She smiled, lost in her daydream. "Are you even listening to me?" Michael laughed getting her attention back. "Sorry," she knew she was blushing. "I was…spacing out, I guess." "I guess," he licked his lips leaning into her. Relieved when she met him half way. His crushed against hers; he let go of her hand to wrap his arms around her. In a deft movement, he pulled her on to his lap. Maria pivoted until she straddled him. Her hands were in his hair, her mouth hungry for his. She felt the ache between her legs and wondered, and hoped, if their undefined relationship was going to be defined soon. "Maria," he panted in her ear before he licked her earlobe. His tongue toyed with the silver studs. "Maria." "Michael…" She tilted her head giving him full access to her neck. He took the invitation and had a fleeting notion to give her a hickey. Instead he kissed the delicate skin back up to her mouth. He cupped her face in his hands and broke away from her, looking at her. "Why can't I stay away from you?" He whispered. He shifted her on his lap, embarrassed, knowing she could feel him harden underneath her. "I'm irresistible," she smiled and licked his bottom lip. "That you are," he nodded and shook his head. "I guess we should work a little bit more on this tonight. You know…Tick Tock?" Maria nodded. Tick Tock. The inevitable tick tock of a psycho killer was going to kill the mood. "You're right. We should work now, play later." She blushed and got off his lap. "You know what I mean." "I hope I do," his longing gaze made him feel vulnerable. "I really hope I do." "Oh, you do Agent Michael. You definitely do." She looked over her shoulder at him and winked. The front door opened and Michael was out of his chair, his hand reaching towards his shoulder holster. "Hey!" Alex Whitman put his hands in the air with an awkward smile. "It's me, Alex!" Michael took a step back from and bowed his head. "Sorry." "What're you guys doing?" Alex asked stepping into the dining room after a nod to Michael. "Are you working here?" "We are," Maria nodded enthusiastically. "How's Max?" "Bad," Alex shook his head. "He's trying to keep it together, but he's not doing a great job of it." Alex's eyes trailed over the papers and photos in front of Maria. She covered them with her hands. "He misses Liz. We all do." "Liz," Maria shook her head and felt like a traitor for not letting Alex see what they were working on. "He's going to hurt for a long time." She cast her eyes towards Michael for a split second. "But he'll recover. Everyone eventually recovers." She smiled as Isabel's words spilled from her mouth. "Now you sound like my wife," Alex smiled. "I guess she went to bed?" "A while ago," Michael took his place back at the table. "Um…" Maria paused wondering if she really should ask Alex to carry her bags up to her room or not as he stepped out of the dining room. "Whose suitcases?" Alex called before stepping back into the room. Maria blushed and raised her hand. "They're mine. Isabel said you have a room available." "Yeah, the newlyweds left for their honeymoon this morning," he explained as the realization came over him. "They're your bags?" Maria nodded and bit her bottom lip hoping she wouldn't have to explain everything to him. Not now. She shook her head deliberately. "Oh…Okay," Alex nodded. "I'll take them up for you. Good night." Maria sighed as he left the room. "Well, that wasn't too awkward now, was it?" Her words dripped with sarcasm. "Do you want to call it a night?" Michael asked resting his elbows on the table. "I mean, I know this day has pretty much…sucked." "You know what Michael, this day did not suck." She nodded her head once for confirmation. "It's been a telling day. We know more about what's going on. You're digging into Lorelei's past. We know we have no time left and have to figure out this stupid puzzle before he picks a final victim and then comes after you. We know-" "No, Maria." He interrupted and picked up her hand. A hand he wanted to feel on his skin. "I mean for you, personally. This has been a hard day." "Hard, but liberating. I ended something that was in stalemate." She ran her thumb over his knuckles. "I ended something that should have ended awhile ago. I feel bad for hurting Kyle, but me personally, I feel great. I feel free." "That's a far cry from thinking you were going to hell earlier." "Well, yeah, I'm over that. I have one important thing on my plate right now. To figure this son-of-a-bitch out." She looked at him and smiled. "Okay, two important things." He chuckled. "So you want to stay up? For awhile?" "Yeah, Agent Michael. I want to stay up. I want to meet the next one of your girls. I want to meet number seven, Michael. I want to meet the rest of them and fast." "The letters, you still think the key is there?" "He keeps telling you everything is right in your face, where else could it be?" Where else could it be? Michael asked himself that same question. There was nowhere else. Nothing else was in his face. These girls, his girls as Maria referred to them as, had nothing in common. There was no pattern, no requirements. Nothing to link them. He reached into the box and brought out a folder. "Number seven was Olivia Marsh." He handed her the folder. "Thank you," she accepted the folder and immediately took out the picture of her. She had been expecting the portrait that was in each folder, instead got a crime scene photograph. "Oh…" The color picture in her hand was horrible. A picture is worth a thousand words and the only words going through Maria's head were 'bastard and animal.' Maria could tell that Olivia Marsh had been very pretty in life. That natural kind of pretty that didn't need make-up. Light blond, almost platinum, hair reached barely below her ears. Her bangs were choppy, in that perfectly choppy way. Maria imagined her closed eyes were blue. Her body had been left outside her parent's home in Benton Illinois. She was home from school for a long weekend and met her fate after a night out with her friends. At the end of the driveway, Olivia Marsh was found supported against the mailbox post. The lone red scarf around her neck was the only thing on her. "She was beautiful," Maria commented. "Wasn't she?" "And you see her in death," Michael shook his head. "She was beautiful. Her mom named her Olivia after Olivia Newton-John." He smiled. "She was convinced her daughter was going to grow up to be a super star." "She never had the chance," Maria took a long look at the death scene of Olivia Marsh before putting the picture away. She opened the folder and read about the life and times of Olivia Marsh. Michael closed his eyes at the dead end he had run into online. The City of Richmond's public records was down. The bottom of the site told him to check back in a few days and to always remember that 'Virginia is for Lovers." He shook his head. He wasn't sure if he had a few days or not. * * * "Tick Tock." The killer laid back on the bed in the hotel room. "Tick Tock. Agent Guerin the time has come. The time to lie and the time to run. You make me smile and I'll miss that when you're gone. Can you figure it out? Tick Tock Agent! Tick Tock!" The resounding maniacal laughter could be heard down the hall. * * * Chapter Twenty Eight Kyle Valenti stood at the kitchen window for hours. Time meant nothing to him, not anymore. He heard the words over and over. I'm not in love with you anymore. Those few word seared into him, hitting him deeper that he ever thought possible. Maria DeLuca was no longer in love with him and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. When he felt the familiar ache in his knees he sat at the kitchen table and wiped his swollen eyes. It wasn't supposed to be like this, he thought as he shook his head. It wasn't supposed to turn out like this. Although he had told her he might not be there for her when Mr. Hotshit G-Man broke her heart, he knew he would be. His heart and his head were telling him two different things. His heart wanted to beg her to come back and be with him. Wanted to convince her she still did love him. His head was telling him it had only been a matter of time before she wanted something bigger and better out of her life. He'd mused over that for awhile. Roswell wasn't enough for Maria DeLuca. Kyle Valenti wasn't enough for Maria DeLuca. She wasn't put on this earth to be the wife of a Sheriff in a dusty town making cookies for the bake sakes at the Elks club. She wasn't meant to sit at home reading books upon books about other people's lives and other places. She was meant to be one of those people she read about. One of those people who had to stretch her wings and soar. That was one of the things he had always admired about her. Maria DeLuca didn't follow the path put in front of her. She veered off as much as she could. This was her chance to change her life and he couldn't blame her for it. Even though his heart was severely punctured, he did love her enough to let her go. He shook his head and stood up. The after midnight hours would be different now, he realized. Everything would be different. There would be no more cuddling together talking about their day. No more trying to pry out of the other what they wanted for dinner. No more stolen kisses when they passed each other in hall at the station. Work. He had hardly considered work until now. He didn't know how he was supposed to react to her at work. It would be all over town within days that she had dumped him, that's what happened in small towns. Yet he still had to see her everyday at work. See her with him, until he left. Which Kyle knew he would. "Damn him!" He slapped the tabletop. He knew Agent Michael Guerin was somewhat to blame for this too. He saw the way he looked at her, and the way she looked at him. He turned around in the kitchen and took a deep breath. Everything was going to be okay, he told himself, and I love her enough to want her to be happy. If she's not happy with me, then I can let her go. "You can do this, Valenti." He nodded. "You can work with her and keep your personal feelings out of it. You can do it." He thought about calling his dad and telling him, but he wasn't quite prepared to hear a montage of reasons why the DeLuca women were insane. Not right now. He left the kitchen, walked into the living room and laid down on the couch. Just the thought of sleeping alone in the bedroom that he had shared with Maria was enough to make him cry. He curled up into a semi-fetal position and hugged one of the couch pillows against his chest. * * * "Olivia Marsh," Maria repeated her name. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. How's your end coming?" "Would you believe me if I told you that the public records for Richmond are down?" He laughed sarcastically and followed it with a yawn. "Can't you get into them through all your, you know," she waved her hands in the air in front of her, "bureau connections? Natalie?" "Not if Richmond's server is down, at least, not without going there and rifling through years of documents." He shook his head. "I don't know if we have that much time. I don't really want to leave…" He almost added the 'you' to the end of his thought, but held back. He didn't want to scare her by sounding too possessive. "You're going to have to or make a boatload of phone calls if nothing else turns up," she replied and went back to the file in her hand. "She was left at the end of her driveway. So sad. Home for a long weekend from school and she ends up dead. Where did she go to school? North Carolina?" She scanned her notes beside the file. "Wake Forest," Michael answered from his memory. "She wanted to be a teacher." Maria nodded and jotted that down on the legal pad. "There wasn't much time, was there? I mean for him to get her, kill her and leave her. How much time? Her friends dropped her off around twelve forty-five in the morning and she was found at two by her dad. What was he doing walking the dog that late anyway?" "He had a bladder problem. The dog, not her dad." He clarified with a slight chuckle. "He always took the dog out in the middle of the night. The killer had less than an hour and a half to do it." "Does than lend any credence to the non-randomness of the victims? I mean if he was just going for random, wouldn't he have picked someone that he would have more time with. I mean she was only home for a weekend and her dad takes the dog out at all hours of the night. It almost seems like it had to be her." Michael watched her talk. "I could be, and I probably am, way off, but this one feels different. There was a time period he had to work in and it was close. What made Olivia Marsh different from the other ones?" "Why do you think that she was different?" Michael had his own theories about Olivia, but he wanted to hear Maria out before he divulged his own. "Okay, she didn't live there anymore, not really. She was away at school and only home for what, three nights? She gets killed on her second night. So there was only a seventy-two hour window for him to make his move. The dog. Who can predict when the dog's going to want to go outside? It just feels like he was pressed to get Olivia. She was important to him for some reason. It's like it had to be her." She shrugged. "Exactly. Olivia was important," he smiled at her thought process. "She's the one that it seemed most like a 'had to be her' kind of thing. Benton Illinois is not exactly a booming town, but there are a lot of women her age that live there. The bars were still open and yet he chose Olivia. And she was almost unobtainable." "Her friends dropped her off at home, Michael." The fire in her eyes was back. "They dropped her off at home and he had less than an hour and half to do his thing. He was waiting for her!" "That's what I thought…" "It's not random, can you see it now? It had to be Olivia!" "But why her?" "I don't know!" Her voice rose and her shoulders sank. "But right there is where you can see that it wasn't random anymore. He was waiting for her because it had to be Olivia. There is a pattern Michael. We just can't figure it out, but there is one!" He nodded. The same thoughts had gone through his head when he investigated Olivia's death. The same thoughts of stalking and waiting but he could never figure out why. "Where's the letter?" Maria demanded. She closed Olivia's file. "Where did it get delivered to? The hotel?" He nodded and got it out for her. He didn't let go of the paper as she placed her fingertips on it. "I hope you'll see what I can't Maria." She took the letter from him and opened it up. Agent Guerin 'Twas a night of mystery Unbridled passion on a lark Taking from the owner Leaving a sallow mark. Slaps in your face Arise to the occasion Blind to the obvious Lost in the abomination. Agent Guerin, little boy lost in the woods? Agent Guerin, you're really not all that good. "Whew," Maria frowned. "This one is a personal dig at you. He thinks you're lost in the woods and well, he's basically calling you a dumb ass." "Thanks," he smiled and almost laughed. "Sorry, but he doesn't have a high opinion of you and…woods?" She cocked her head to one side. "That's another reference. The one after Liz," she paused as if to honor her friends name. "That thing about forbidden forest that you thought was me? It wasn't me, I don't think, listen." "I'm listening." He sat straighter and gave her his undivided attention. "Lost in the woods and playing in forbidden forest…There's that old saying, something about not being able to see the forest through the trees? You know what I'm talking about?" "Yeah," he nodded. "I'm trying to hard to find the reason and not seeing what's in front of me." He let out a breath and shook his head. "It's still a game though. His magic number is twelve and he's done with eleven." "What if it all comes down to the last one? What if you can see the meaning in the last victim?" "I don't want anyone else to die!" "If it's a game, he's going to play it to the end. It's not like Clue, Michael, you just can't declare it was Mrs. Peacock with a lamp in the cabana." "Lamp in the cabana?" He smirked. "Which version of Clue did you play?" "You get my drift," she flicked his arm with her finger. "If he's playing, then he's playing until the end and even if we do figure it out, he's still going to finish it." Michael closed his eyes and leaned forward. The weight of his world was on his shoulders. The admitted knowledge that he was somehow responsible for the deaths of these women was too much. His shoulders sank. He felt Maria stand and then he felt her hands on his shoulders, massaging him. He murmured something unintelligible. "It's not your fault," she whispered wetly in his ear. He smiled as she worked the knots out of his shoulder blades. When he felt the heat of released nerve bundles cascade through his chest, he felt better. He sat up straighter and looked up to his masseuse. "Thank you, I needed that." "Yeah, you did." She kept her hands on his shoulders and bent down to kiss his forehead. "Let's call it a night, okay? We'll go back to the station in the morning and try to figure it out some more. Can you call in for help…No, I guess that would be against the rules, huh? Maybe Richmond's site will be back up tomorrow." He nodded and stood up. He turned off the dining room light and guided Maria up the steps with his hand on her back. He led her towards his room and she saw the open door of the room next to it. Her room. He escorted her to the open door. She peeked inside and saw her suitcase on the bed. "It's so quiet," she whispered and giggled. "I feel like I'm sixteen and sneaking back inside my room." "It's a quiet place. I've only seen one of the other guests. How many rooms are here?" He whispered back and fought the urge to giggle with her. "Uh…Five, I think." She nodded. She waited a beat before sliding her hands around his waist and pulling herself closer to him. Her eyes closed when she felt his hands on her shoulders. She looked up to him as their heads titled to opposite sides and their mouths locked. She remembered the afternoon tryst and didn't feel embarrassed when she ground her pelvis into him. She felt his sharp intake of air and grinned. The right reasons. "I should…uh…go," he bit his bottom lip and took half a step back. "Me too, it has been a long day," she released her hands from him and turned towards the open door. "Good night Agent Michael." "Good night Maria." Maria walked in the room and closed the door. She leaned against it and tried to control her breathing as she slid down to the floor. The need for Agent Guerin was overpowering. * * * Michael Guerin didn't go to his room, he leaned against her closed door and battled with the thoughts to march in and ravage her the way he wanted to. He slid down the door and sat on the floor taking deep breaths. * * * |
| PARTS 22-28 |