CHAPTER 13

Andrew woke up early the next morning, feeling restless and slightly unsettled. Having Monica in his arms felt wonderful, and he was incredibly grateful that the two of them had been able to sort through some things and come back together stronger than ever. However, there was still the matter of the FBI case and a kidnapper and child molester roaming the city. If Shawn really was innocent then his assignment in Washington was far from over. He bent his head and kissed Monica’s forehead. He wished that he could send her back to the cabin to wait, or even to the farm, but he knew she would never agree. Letting out a tired breath he maneuvered himself out from under her and slipped on his sweatpants and shirt. Coffee was bound to make everything look better.

When he stepped into the kitchen he rubbed his eyes and yawned, then shook his head as he noticed Paul already up and sitting at the kitchen table. The agent had a cup of coffee in his hand and he didn’t look any happier than Andrew.

"What are you doing up already?" Andrew asked as he opened the cupboard and pulled out a mug.

"Couldn’t sleep. I see you had the same problem."

"Yeah, something like that."

"You and Monica sorted things out, didn’t you?"

"We talked, and I think we both have a better understanding of where we’re coming from. I can’t say that either one of us will look back fondly, but at least I don’t see that look of betrayal in her eyes, and everything else that has threatened to come between us has ended up bringing us closer together."

"That’s what marriage is all about," Paul said with a nod.

"Yes, I’m beginning to see that. Once upon a time I thought it was just about loving her with everything in me… but I’m beginning to realize that’s just the start."

Paul chuckled. "Good… then you’re catching on faster than I did."

"So what about you? What drags you out of bed so early? I’m assuming Alex didn’t kick you out."

"Nah, not this time. Just couldn’t stop thinking about this case. We’ve got a man in the morgue with no record and not another thing to go on except the hazy memories of traumatized little girls. Not exactly an open and shut deal."

"Something’s bound to come up."

"Yeah, but until then I’ve got a unit under me awaiting orders and I don’t know what to tell them. They all think they caught their man last night. Telling them that they didn’t isn’t going to go over too well." Paul looked up as Monica wandered into the kitchen and he quickly changed the subject. "Well, I don’t know, Andrew, but Alex is a skier, and if we don’t get some more snow in the mountains she’s going to get pretty grumpy."

"Are we supposed to get snow?" Monica asked, trying to jump into the conversation.

"That’s what the weathermen say, but Andrew here says it doesn’t look like snow weather to him," Paul replied easily, as Andrew pressed his lips together and remained neutral.

"Hmm…" Monica craned her neck to look out the window. "I don’t know. I think maybe I agree with Andrew," she said at last.

She poured herself coffee and sat down next to her husband, feeling a familiar warm feeling in her chest when he reached out and pulled her closer for a quick kiss.

"Hey, hey, hey, you two! Get a room!" Alex teased as she walked in, hair mussed, robe only half-tied, and face slightly paler than usual. She had gone almost a week, but apparently the morning sickness was still an occasional unwanted companion. "What’s the gameplan for today?" she asked, looking at Paul for direction.

"Well, back to the drawing board it looks like," he answered with a touch of defeat in his voice.

It didn’t go unnoticed by Monica and for the first time she fully realized that if she was right about Shawn then there was still a dangerous man out there somewhere. She was about to voice her concerns when the phone rang and Paul stood up to answer it. The rest of them fell silent as they listened to half the conversation, not quite able to make out what it was all about. When the agent hung up they looked at him expectantly and his face grew even more serious.

"That was the coroner. Seems Shawn had a combination of drugs in his system. Anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, and just for good measure a small dose of what they think is an anti-psychotic."

"What? What does that mean?" Alex asked.

"It means that maybe we were on the right track to begin with. Maybe we’ve got our man."

"No!" Monica stood up and her chair nearly tipped over. "I’m telling you. I talked to him before, and I talked to him yesterday. Yes… he seemed upset… but I don’t believe…"

"Honey, I know what you think. Believe me, this whole thing is way more complicated than I’d like. But I’ve got a bunch of people looking to me for the answers, and I need to give them something that THEY can believe. Right now, that’s looking like Shawn Laughlin. He may not fit the mold, but what’s more likely; that he’s the guy we’re looking for, or that he just somehow came to be holding a young girl in his apartment and then shot her and himself when confronted."

Monica wanted to protest, but Andrew’s calming hand slipped around hers and she said nothing.

"I’m sorry, Monica. I’m not saying I’m closing the investigation, but we have to go with what seems simplest… it’s usually correct."

"I know," she said grudgingly. "The instincts of a victimized angel probably don’t hold up too well."

"Monica…"

"It’s all right. Really," she cut him off. "You three had better get in to the office. I think I’m just going to stick close to home for a while."

She picked up her mug and headed out of the room while Paul and Andrew looked after her helplessly. Only Alex’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. The little angel had given up much too easily. She’s seen that look in her own eyes, and she didn’t like seeing it in Monica’s.

"What time are we leaving?" Andrew sounded a bit defeated as his eyes remained fixed on the door through which his wife had departed.

"Half hour. We can pull the team together and go over the evidence, see what everyone thinks," Paul replied from where he was already scribbling some notes on the pad of paper in front of him.

Andrew nodded his head and rose to his feet. That gave him fifteen minutes to grab a shower and dress and another fifteen minutes to speak with Monica. Though she had appeared to have given up on the argument, he still had that unsettled feeling in his heart. He only wished he knew why.

As Andrew headed up the stairs, Alex turned to her husband, "You two go on ahead in. I’m going to go in a bit later I think. I’m still feeling a little queasy." It was at least the truth and she didn’t want to express any suspicions to Paul or Andrew as she could just as easily be wrong.

"Are you okay?" Paul’s concerned eyes met with hers and watched as she nodded her head and gave a little wave of her hand.

"Just the usual, honey and I’m sure you don’t want me tossing my cookies all over your car so it is safest for me to wait it out a bit," She smiled as he reached for her hand and for a second she considered telling him the rest of the reason for her late departure. But the last thing she wanted was the "boys" confronting the little angel about something she may be way off base about.

An hour later, Alex bid Monica good-bye, climbed into her car and backed out of the driveway. Driving up the block, she then pulled over, in front of a moving van, but she was still able to see the front of the townhouse in her side mirror. She almost felt guilty, spying on the little angel who had become her closest friend, but Monica had left her with no choice. She had insisted to Andrew that she was fine, that Paul was possibly right and for him to please call her if anything new cropped up at the agency. No, for the angel who had argued with Andrew yesterday about how right she was, this was more than cause for suspicion. Alex was just surprised that Andrew hadn’t picked up on it as well.

Fifteen minutes passed, then thirty and Alex was beginning to wonder if maybe indeed Monica had given up on convincing anyone, but a moment later, a cab pulled up in front of the townhouse and the angel hurried down the steps and into it. Drawing in a deep breath, Alex waited until the taxi was a discreet distance ahead of her before she pulled out of the space and followed it.

*****

His eyes lit up as he saw the cause of his lack of sleep last night climb out of a taxi in front of the apartment building. He had only caught a glimpse of her yesterday before he had shot the idiot and the girl, but he never forgot a face. Small, petite, quite beautiful really. Shame to have to kill her, but he couldn’t risk any other option. The fact that she had been trying to get back the hall in the apartment made him completely paranoid and though he’d had no idea of how or where to begin looking for her, patience had paid off once again.

She knew he had been there. That fucking idiot volunteer had been a friend of hers and the little auburn haired female had known he wasn’t capable of killing anyone. So despite what the media was stating this morning, she had returned to try to prove them wrong and to clear the idiot’s name. Oh well, if there was a heaven, she would soon be joining him.

*****

Monica was relieved to find the crime scene vacated, but she knew better than to try to get in the apartment through the door. No, if Shawn was innocent, he had been set up, and she knew that no one had passed her in the building after he had thrown her out of his apartment. She may not have ever been assigned working for the FBI, but she had learned plenty from listening to Alex and Paul discuss cases. There had to be another way into the apartment.

Walking around to the back of the building, her dark eyes came to rest upon the fire escape. The ladder didn’t look like the safest she had ever seen, but she chanced it and began to climb, making it a point to not look down. She focused on each step, all the while wondering if she had lost her mind. This was no longer her assignment, but her assignment she was convinced was innocent and it wasn’t justice if the man went to his grave bearing the title of child molester. No, only the truly evil people who would do such an awful thing to hurt another deserved that title and Shawn was not one of those people. But she also knew deep in her heart that a part of the reason she was here was to prove that she was not so victimized that she was unable to see things clearly.

Reaching the third floor, she stepped onto the platform and drew in a breath of relief at finally being there. Her fingers were red from the cold and the steel she had been holding onto as she tried to pry open the window, only moderately surprised when it opened. He had gotten in this way. Stepping inside, Monica flinched at seeing the blood stains on the bed and on the floor and then fixed her gaze on other parts of the room. She knew Paul’s team had probably left no stone unturned, but surely they must have missed something. Something that could prove Shawn’s innocence beyond the shadow of a doubt.

"Looking for me?"

She stifled a scream as she turned around and her eyes met with the cold, hard gaze of who she knew was the man the FBI was truly looking for.

*****

Alex watched as the angel climbed the fire escape, nearly wanting to sprint from her car to stop her, though she was following Monica’s train of thought. What did surprise her was that the window opened when her friend reached the third floor. She sighed and prepared to open her car door, deciding it was time to put a stop to this but then she froze.

Even from the distance, she could tell it was a man who was climbing the fire escape with a purpose and Alex felt her heart beginning to pound out of her chest. Her finger was already hitting Paul’s cell phone number on her speed dial when the man vanished through the still open apartment window, "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" She muttered under her breath as she waited for him to answer.

"Alex?" He must have glanced at the caller ID before picking up and she wasted no time in talking.

"Paul, you need to get to Laughlin’s apartment now!" Her voice shook with a combination of fear and anger as she didn’t wait for him to ask questions, "Monica was right. It wasn’t him. The man we’re looking for is in his apartment right now…with Monica."

*****

"What?" Andrew was nearly exploding as Paul finally told him where they were going once he had him in the car, "What the hell do you mean our guy is in Shawn’s apartment with my wife?"

"All I know is that Alex followed her there," Paul explained, his expression grim as he tore out of the parking lot, racing in the direction of the crime scene.

"Son of a bitch!" The angel pounded his fists on the dashboard. He knew he shouldn’t have ignored what his heart had been telling him this morning. Something about Monica’s behavior had been out of context, despite how convincing she had tried to be. He had only assumed that she had not been willing to spur another argument between them and had backed down from her convictions. That should have been his first clue. Monica never backed down from anything she believed in with all her heart and she believed Shawn was innocent. "Can’t this fucking car go any faster? What’s Alex doing?"

"My foot’s on the floor!" Paul shouted as he wove between cars on the busy street.

"Alex said she was going up. She’ll be waiting by the door."

"Waiting?!"

"She hasn’t got any backup, she can’t just barge in there herself! She’ll be listening right outside the door. If she hears anything happen… you know she’s not going to hesitate," Paul said grimly, praying that Alex wouldn’t have the need to perform any heroics.

*****

Alex was out of breath by the time she reached the third floor and she ran to the door emblazoned with yellow police tape. She wanted to just break it down and run in, gun drawn, ready to take on anything, but she couldn’t. There had been a time when she wouldn’t have even thought twice about throwing herself into danger, but it wasn’t just her anymore. She had the baby to think about. As much as she loved Monica she couldn’t risk it unless she had no other choice. She could only pray that backup would arrive soon.

She couldn’t hear anything beyond muffled sounds, and she began to hope that maybe Monica was talking to the man. Maybe she would be able to reason with him. She checked her watch. It had been over five minutes since her call to her husband and she still didn’t hear any sirens or running footsteps. One hand rested on the doorknob. She couldn’t wait much longer. She just couldn’t. If anything happened… no… she wouldn’t be able to live with herself… A long scream from inside the apartment made up her mind in an instant. Her gun was out and she was kicking the door open less than a second later.