Chapter 11

Alec took her time going back, she needed to settle down and erase what had just happened from her mind. Like that will happen. The man knows how to kiss. I’ve never been kissed like that... Bringing her attention back to the coffee maker, she crossed her arms and glared at it. If Bill would actually get here, she could take some of her frustration out on him. How could he screw up the damn date on the report? That was unheard of. Her aches and bruises were for nothing, the scum was released all because her so-called partner didn’t know what day it was.

Grabbing the coffee as soon as it was done, she stood blowing on it. You’re procrastinating. She knew she was. Shaking it off, she turned to head back downstairs. A hot kiss doesn’t change anything, you still need to get this done, and then he won’t be... The last time a man had distracted her from her job was... Pausing halfway down the stairs, Alec cursed under her breath. No. It couldn’t be. Taking a deep breath, she hurried downstairs and almost ran through the door to Brent and Reid’s office.

“Where are the sheets?” She ignored the startled look the three men gave her and went over to the table, flipping through the stack they’d already written off because there were only two brothers.

“What have you got?” Brent came over and watched her push them around.

“I need the parent’s last name.” She answered without looking up. Finding the page, she spun and went to the computer. Ian scrambled out of her way as she grabbed the keyboard and turned it. Typing in the name quickly, she leaned on the desk and waited. Please be wrong. Please be wrong. When the name came up on the screen, her heart felt like it was stuck on a beat in her chest. Trying not to shake, she typed another entry and waited with her head down and eyes squeezed shut. Opening her eyes, she looked at the words in front of her. The half-brother’s known associates were listed, confirming what she’d been afraid of. Taking a deep breath, she straightened away from the desk.

“Alec?”

She turned to look at Reid, not realizing he had been close enough to look over her shoulder.

“What did you find?” He asked, eyes on the monitor.

Waving a hand at the screen, she took a shallow breath. “I’m betting this is the guy Ian overheard.” Her heart was racing, she couldn’t do this again. Transferring and all my hard work has been for nothing, my past is coming back to get me...

Brent moved over and looked at the profile on the computer. “How did you figure this out?”

“The two brothers, their father is deceased,” she was almost whispering it, “I searched the mother’s name, she was widowed and remarried. There’s one son from her first marriage and then the two from the second.”

Reid whistled. “That was a long shot. How’d you come up with it?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She looked at the picture of the half-brother. She didn’t recognize him, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been in the background four years ago. Not wanting to, but doing it anyway, she lowered her eyes to the page in her hand. The face on it made her heart twinge with regret, even now. Looking away from it she noticed all three men were watching her. The curious look on their faces was more than she could deal with right now. Stepping between them, she went back out closing the door behind her. All for nothing.

Ian looked at Brent and then Reid, from their expressions they didn’t know what was going on either.

Brent picked up the printout she’d grabbed and read over it and then looked at the screen. “How did she come up with this?”

Reid grunted in reply.

Ian looked at the screen again. Was that the guy he’d heard? Reading down the list, he sucked in a breath. “This guy doesn’t play well with others.”

“If this is the one you heard, then Alec’s in a lot more danger than we thought,” Brent mumbled as he looked over his shoulder at the record. “I still don’t get how she got from A to B and thought of the mother.”

“Personal association?” Reid said quietly, almost like he was trying to talk it through.

Brent looked at him. “To this guy?” He motioned to the screen.

Ian looked back at the big man for his answer. Reid shook his head and motioned to the page Brent held.

“One of them.”

Ian stood up and looked at the page Brent studied. Two brothers, both arrested on the same night, four years ago. He had seen the haunted look on her face as she stared down at the picture. One of the faces on it meant something to her. Glancing at the dates, he noticed the face wouldn’t be getting out anytime in this decade. He read further and noticed the arrest was processed at a different precinct listed. “How long has Alec been at this station?”

Reid had already moved back to his desk, he looked over at him. “Why?”

Ian shrugged and tucked his hands into his pockets. “I just noticed it listed a different precinct.”

Brent moved slowly back to his desk. “She got here just after I did. So...” he rubbed the back of his neck, “wow, about four years ago.”

Reid chuckled. “I’ve been looking at your ugly mug that long?”

Brent grinned. “Yep.”

“Have either of you seen where Alec lives?” Ian leaned on the table across from their desks.

Both nodded. “Only from the outside,” Brent added.

“I wasn’t getting out of the car without a grenade launcher in my hands,” Reid said with a smirk.

“I don’t get why she lives there, so I asked.” Ian wondered how far he could take getting a little information before they questioned it. “She told me she donates a lot of money to the missing children’s society.”

“Good cause.”

He looked at Brent and nodded. “It is. I just thought it odd that she donated so much she had to live in a place like that.”

“She’s always had a soft spot for the cases with kids involved.” Reid shrugged. “We all have our hot spots where we’ll jump on board just because of a certain factor involved.”

Ian crossed his arms over his chest. “But would you give up most of your wages for it?”

Brent sighed. “I’m sure she has a good reason. Maybe she knew someone affected once.”

“Maybe.” Ian agreed, deciding to drop that topic. He grinned at Brent. “So you’ve been here for four years? Have you always been stuck in the basement?”

Brent laughed. “No when I first got here, they gave me a nicely dented desk upstairs with all the other humanoids,” he motioned to Reid, “and paired me up with him.”

Reid leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “I think after that first month the captain stuck us down here to get us out of his sight.”

“That bad?” Ian could only imagine.

Nodding, Brent picked up a pencil from the desk and tapped it a few times on the stack of folders. “Yeah, it was pretty bad. We were out to prove something, what, I have no clue now.”

“I’m sure I don’t want to know.” Ian waited for the nostalgic look to leave their faces. “So has Alec always been partnered with Bill?”

“No, only the last six months I guess, and I’m shocked she hasn’t decked him yet.” Brent grinned. “She was on a task force for quite a while before she made detective.” He blew out a breath. “I think she scared the hell out of her team leader when they were sent out.”

Reid chuckled again. “She sure as hell didn’t shy away from the fight, and still doesn’t. I have no worries about her having my back. Anytime. Anywhere.”

“I can only imagine, or probably don’t want to.” Ian looked down at the floor for a moment. “How did she get stuck with Bill?”

Reid grunted.

“Her partner retired, and it was luck of the draw I suppose.” Brent opened a folder and pulled out some pages.

Ian wasn’t sure how far to go with the questions. “What did he do before he came here?”

“Not sure. Alec says he had a prissy watch before and that’s why he won’t get dirty now.” Brent offered without looking up.

“Prissy watch?”

Reid nodded at him and dropped his hands back to the desk. “Watch detail for the privileged.”

“Like celebrities?”

“Mainly those in the political office, only private sector gets the cushy assignments with the rich and famous.” Reid typed something into his computer.

“Why would he give that up? Sounds better than running through the sewers.”

Both Brent and Reid paused and looked at him. “What’s with the questions?” Brent asked leaning back in his chair.

Ian shrugged. “Just trying to understand why they were put together.”

“Does it matter? You get who you’re put with unless you request otherwise.”

Brent agreed with Reid. “As long as he’s got Alec’s back, she’ll tolerate him.”

“Didn’t sound like he did yesterday, he wouldn’t go after the guy she chased through the sewers.”

Reid smirked. “Would you?”

Ian hesitated for a moment. “I don’t know.”

“I’d even hesitate to follow someone there.” Brent motioned to the computer across the room. “Right now we need to find that guy and deal with this threat against Alec. How she deals with Bill is her problem,” he smirked, “or his.”

Ian straightened away from the table. “It will be easier having a face to look for instead of just listening.” I’m not any further ahead after that. How do I find out what I need to know? It’s hard enough to focus on all of this after the stupid move of kissing her. I can still feel the imprint of her body against mine...

“You looked troubled. What’s up?”

Ian turned back to see Brent studying him. He shrugged it off. “It’s nothing, probably too many nights out at the bars.”

“We appreciate you taking so much time for this. You’re not missing out on your own work, are you?”

Shaking his head, Ian moved back to the computer he’d been sitting in front of. “No, I’m in between right now.”

“What is it you do?”

He looked over his shoulder at Reid. “I’m a research specialist for large corporations.”

“Sounds bland.”

Ian nodded. “Sometimes.”

“So what do you research?”

Ian exhaled slowly. “Whatever they need me to.”

Reid shook his head. “Better you than me.” He pointed to the computer over Ian’s shoulder. “Use some of your specialist skills and find out everything about that guy. Where he lives, eats, plays, who he hangs with, and what his dog’s name is. All of it. Any of it.”

“If we draw a blank, we could bring Jac in on it,” Brent said so quietly Ian had to wonder why.

“No.” Reid’s answer wasn’t as quiet. “You know she’ll want to do more than pull information.” He sent Brent an odd look. “And you know where she is lately so is Felicity...”

Brent scowled. “Ian can do it.”

Reid nodded and smiled strangely at his partner.

Not sure what any of that was about, but happy to drop the topic of his work, Ian nodded. “I plan to.” He turned back around and hit the print button; a routine he was getting very used to in the last few days.

He began following every detail mentioned, every address and person but it was all autopilot while his mind tried to fit pieces together and figure out what it all meant. There was definitely something odd about Alec’s reaction. As long as they didn’t bring him in for Ian to hear him speak, all would be fine. It wasn’t his voice he needed to hear and just diving into some guy’s head while you’re on the spot made him feel worse than standing there naked in front of everyone. There had only been very few occasions where someone knew what he could do or was doing and he preferred the low statistic.

The office door slammed and jolted him back to the present. Turning, he watched Alec stomp into the room. The woman’s moods were like a roller coaster, he thought as he turned the chair to watch her.

“What did Bill do now?” Brent asked.

Ian turned to look at him, wondering how he knew her that well.

Alec snorted out a sound of disgust. “Willard Jacks was released last night on a stupid typo.”

Reid tossed the pen in his hand to the desk and sent her an astonished look. “A typo?”

Alec took a deep breath and stared down at the floor. “Yeah, he dated the arrest report with the wrong date.” She paced over to the window and looked out it. “He’s done some really stupid shit, but this is just...” she growled, “I damn near took out my fringes hip chasing that idiot through the sewers, and now he’s sitting at home with a free pass on a conviction.”

Brent eased out of his chair and came around to lean on the desk. “Guys like Willard don’t stay out of trouble long, you’ll get another chance.”

Alec waved her hand in frustration. “Ian got us a solid lead on that deal, and I worked my ass off, not to mention the sludge I had to crawl through...” She growled again. “It pisses me off.”

The hair on the back of Ian’s neck stood up. Willard Jacks. That name... he spun around and flipped through the pages he’d printed. Shit! Shit! Shit! Standing up slowly, he cursed a dozen more times in his head. It was all connected. “Uh, I think you’re going to want to see this.” He turned and held the page out to Alec.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she closed the distance and took the paper from his hand. “What am I seeing?”

Ian tucked his hands in his pockets and hoped he didn’t look like he wanted to run from the room, because he suddenly felt like he should get the hell out of there. “Willard Jacks is listed as an associate to the third brother.”

Alec swore quietly. “They’re connected.” She looked down at the sheet again. “And I know which organization they’re in,” holding the page out to Brent, she smiled at him, “Nick Collette’s”

“Shit.” Brent came over and took the page from Alec. “Feel free to kick Bill in the head.”

She snorted. “I wish.”

Ian stood there, wanting to be invisible. He knew what it meant that Nick Collette was involved and if that were the case and it was connected to the high-profiled Pierre Cardiel, he was in some really deep shit. Turning he noticed Reid giving him an odd look. “What?”

Reid shook his head. “You really stumbled onto something that night.”

You have no idea. “Yeah, I’ve decided to drink at home from now on.”

Laughing, Brent turned around and looked at him. “Probably the best case of wrong place, right time I’ve ever heard.”

Ian sent him an annoyed look. “Glad you think so.”

“If you don’t want to help, just say so. We have a face now...”

His brain said, take that out and leave, unfortunately, the message didn’t get to his mouth in time. “I’m not going anywhere.” A look of what he was sure was relief flashed in her eyes before her expressionless mask covered it again.

“Good.” She motioned to the computer. “It shouldn’t take long to find out where these guys prefer to hang and then we slip into the first opening we find and shut them down. One. At. A. Time.”

In truth, he had no idea what that meant exactly, but he nodded anyway. “Okay.”