Trouble's Familiar Face

"Or something." Angelo answered. "I am FBI and I helped you because as I said, if they haven't found what they were looking for yet, then they aren't going to find it in you."

"FBI? Doesn't there have to be like some sort of pattern in a link of killings for the FBI to be involved?" Alex asked. "I mean it was one murder, how much of a pattern could there be?"

"That's a very good observation, which means that you also know that I'm not going to tell you." Agent Edwards said smiling. "Now I believe that you were in need of some coffee?"

"Yes please."

~~~~~~~~~~

The small coffee shop was nearly deserted at the late hour, so they decided to just stay there and talk.

"There is more to this case then I think, isn't there?" Alex asked, playing with the napkin in her hand.

"Yes and no." Agent Edwards said, lighting a cigarette. "You see you were the prime suspect for us, but it wouldn't have taken five hours to see that you did nothing wrong. I saw that within the few moments in that room."

"Okay who is your target now?"

Edwards laughed. "You make it sound so 'law and order'. Well, considering you told us about the phone conversations, you explained that your roommate told Mr. Valintino that if he came near you again then he would murder him, correct?"

"Yes, but Rayne was only trying to scare him. He would never hurt anyone, I swear it." Alex said, though even as she thought it, her mind brought her back to this evening when he grabbed her wrist. There were obviously some things that even Alex didn't know about Rayne.

"Ms. Martin, Mr. Greay can't tell someone he's going to kill them and expect not to be a suspect." Edwards explained and then quickly went on, seeing a familiar look cross her face. "Don't you feel a bit guilty about saying any thing? There is nothing wrong with covering your own ass, especially if it's the truth."

"You don't know Rayne, he'll take this personally, agent Edwards." Alex shook her head, knowing she was going to have to find someway around this.

"So don't tell him." Agent Edwards said, shrugging. Alex's head snapped up in shock. "Ms. Martin, you're not lying to him if you just don't say any thing."

"Stop calling me Ms. Martin." Alex said, changing the subject. Agent Edwards lifted an eyebrow at her tactic, but chose not to call her on it.

"Okay, Alexis?" he asked, though thought that it some how didn't quite suite her.

"Alex, please. Only my grandmother calls me Alexis." Alex said, rolling her eyes at her given name.

"Good, because I don't respond to anything other than Edwards anymore." He said, smiling at the face she made.

"Edwards? What about angel? That's the first thing that I thought of when you told me your name?" Alex confessed.

"Angel? You mean that pansy from that show. That vampire Fabio guy?" He laughed. "I think that I prefer Edwards, thank you."

"Alrighty eddy, as much as I've enjoyed our little chat here, I really should get home. It's been like seven hours and Rayne is probably going to be worried about me." Alex said, sanding up from the table. Before turning to leave she stopped in front of him with her hand out. "Thank you again for the rescue, Angel."

Edwards rolled his eyes, but stood and took her offered hand. His other hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. "Take this and call me if anything happens or you remember something new."

Alex looked at the card, seeing that he had his name and a few phone numbers. She thanked him again and headed on her way home.

It took four rings before Rayne realized that the phone was ringing. He fumbled around and groggily answered the phone, mentally cursing the person that had woken him from a rather good dream.

"Hi darling, have you missed me?" a woman's voice asked entirely too cheerful for so late.

"Alex? Is that you?" He asked, trying to get the fog to clear from his head.

"No it is not that twat Alexis. It's Eliza darling." The woman said finally.

"Liz? It's three o'clock in the morning. Why are you calling me?" Rayne asked more awake now.

"Well, I was hopping we could work things out between us." She said, her voice purring with the feminine allure. "I know that I've been giving you some mixed messages, but I know what I want now."

"And it only took leaving me four times." He said sarcastically. "Well, I don't think that we can work things out, Liz."

"Why do you say that?" she asked as if he were playing a game with her.

"I have too much going on right now and I don't have the patients to deal with you right now. Honestly I don't think I'll ever have the patients again." He said simply.

"Oh Rayne, you don't mean that." She dismissed easily. "You're just caught up in Alex's drama and it has nothing to do with us."

Rayne was suddenly alert. "What do you know about Alex's drama?" he voice became very cold.

"When doesn't Alex have some sort of drama going on?" Eliza said in her usual snobbish tone. "Fine Ray, if you don't want me back, I'll just let you be."

"That would be a first." Rayne scoffed, chuckling.

"Well—Humph!" The line went silent.

"Goodbye, Liz." He said quietly into the receiver before hanging up. He laid there in the dark, contemplating on what Liz had said.

By the time that Alex had gotten home he had already come to the conclusion that it was just a random comment that Liz often has and drifted off to sleep again.

Chapter 3

The next morning Alex wanted to lay in bed all day and pretend like nothing at all that happened yesterday was real. A knock at her bedroom door brought her back to reality and she moaned with frustration. "Wakie, wakie. Enquiring minds want to know." Rayne's voice said from outside the door.

"Tell the enquiring minds that the knowledge will be the same in a few hours from now." Alex called back. "Tell them to come back later."

"Alex it's eleven in the morning." Rayne said back in a sing song voice.

"I hate you." Alex said mocking his voice. She sighed loudly. "Fine I'm up, but I'm not getting out of bed." She said stubbornly.

"Alright, I'm coming in." He warned before opening the door. He walked in and took a seat at the end of the bed. "Okay, tell me what happened."

Alex took a deep breath to collect herself before telling him what had happened at the police station. "I was there for five hours while it seemed that every cop there took turns asking the same questions over and over again." She said laughing slightly at the ridiculousness of it. Rayne shook his head what looked like a mix of disbelief and disgust. " I was finally rescued by a man named Angelo Edwards, who turned out to be an FBI agent working on the case."

"FBI? Isn't that a little over kill for one murder?" Rayne asked surprised.

"That's what I said, but you know those FBI types." Alex joked. "They rescue you and then disappear."

"They're all about the glory." Rayne chimed in. "damn, praise whores."

Alex laughed, shaking her head a little. "Yeah, so my night sucked, how was yours?"

I cleaned up dinner, then watched T.V. and then went to bed." Rayne said nonchalantly. "Oh yeah, and Liz called at three o'clock in the morning."

"What? What did she want?" Alex didn't have to ask, she already knew.

"Another go at it. I told her to get bent." Rayne said, skimming over the conversation.

Alex rubbed her head, trying to work out the headache that was creeping up on her.

"You okay?" Rayne asked placing a hand on her leg. Alex nodded and smiled slightly. "Yes, I'm just dreading the phone call that I'm going to have to make." She said. "I have to call Sammy and see if everything is alright." She explained, seeing the funny look that Rayne had given her.

Rayne nodded, finally understanding.

"You didn't happen to make coffee, did you?" Alex asked, knowing that it was going to take more then just will power to get her out of bed.

"No, but I can." Rayne said, hopping off the bed and heading to the door.

"Thanks, Hun." She said before getting out of bed, heading straight for the shower.

After a long shower, some coffee, and a light to the 'Will-Power' torch, Alex picked up the phone and dialed the number to Sammy's house.

A woman picked up after the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hello Mrs. Valintino, this is Alexis." Alex said in her nicest voice possible.

"What do you want? You have some nerve calling this house!" The older woman spat out in hushed tones.

"Excuse me?" Alex asked, not believing what she'd just heard.

"I know you killed him, you home wrecker. Now Sammy is without a father! How dare you even think to call this house!?"

"What?! I didn't kill Rick!" Alex yelled into the phone, her voice broke slightly. "I didn't even know that he had died until yesterday!"

There was the sound of unstable breathing on the other end of the line and then a heavy sigh. "What do you want, Alex?"

"I just want to speak to Sammy, please." She pleaded with the woman. "I helped raise that child for six years, at the very least let me speak to him."

The phone went silent and then the faint sound of switching hands. "Hello?"

"Sammy, baby. Hi buddy, it's Alex." Alex said, trying to be cheerful, but not too fake. Sam usually saw through her fake act. "How are you doing, Sweety?"

"Daddy went to heaven." He said no need for a preamble. "Grandma said that I can't see you anymore."

"Now honey, if you ever need me or want to see me or just want to say hi, I'll be there for you. Do you still have my cell phone number?" Alex said trying to suppress the choking feeling in her throat. "Honey, if you call me, no matter what time it is, I'll be there. I promise, okay?"

"Okay." He said, but sounded unconvinced.

"Sammy, this is very sad for you."

"Yes." He said sadly, she could hear the tears in his voice.

"Now I love you very much, I just want you to remember daddy when you two played video games together." All her will power went into not sobbing and totally losing it. "Or when you guys watched Blue's Clues. Remember how fun that was?"

"Yes." He said, his voice sounding lighter. "We would always guess before the guy."

"That's right. Now whenever you get sad, think of those happy times, okay" she said, wanting so bad to just hug him tight.

"Alex, when can I see you again?" the question broke Alex's heart to the very fiber.

"I don't know honey. Soon, I promise, okay?"

"Okay." He said excepting the answer.

"Alright, I love you and remember that anytime that you need me just call me, okay?" she said quickly, knowing Mrs. Valintino wasn't going to allow much more time with him.

"Okay, I love you too." Alex listened long enough to hear the phone's switch hands again and then hung up, not wanting to hear the woman's insults.

Rayne stood in the doorway to her room when Alex got off the phone. "What was that all about?"

"Rick's mom thinks that I killed him." Alex said, still not believing such a crazy accusation.

Rayne walked across the room and knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his own. "What can I do?" he asked, looking up at her.

Alex laughed darkly. "Erase my mind so that I can't think for at least two seconds."

Rayne leaned forward and took Alex's face in his hands, kissing her gently. "Well, that was easy. Anything else?" he asked smiling.

Alex smiled mischievously. "Oh I'm thinking again, if only you could stop it for a few minutes."

Rayne wiggled his eyebrows and leaned forward again, pushing her back on the bed. "Well, I'll see what I can do." He captured her lips with his own, giving her a passionate kiss while his hands explored her abdomen. When the kiss ended, he remained on top of her, nibbling lightly on her neck. "Is there anything else that I could do for you, ma'am?"

Alex closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of him so close. "Mmm, well a few more minutes couldn't hurt."

"I was hoping that you would say that." He said against her neck. He kissed and nibbled her ear while his hands worked up her shirt.

Alex let her hands explore as well, going up his shirt and lightly dragging her nails down his back. She ground her hips against his, feeling his hardness through his pants.

Rayne's breath was heavier and his voice sounded in sighs. "Anything else, dear?"

"How about I just tell you when I'm starting to feel better?" she said, pulling off his shirt so that she could see his beautiful chest.

Rayne nodded and kissed her deeply following her lead and pulled off her shirt. Alex bucked her hips underneath of him as she started to work on the buttons to his pants. Rayne suddenly stopped her, moving her hands from his buttons. "I'm moving to fast."

"I thought I was the one leading this parade." Alex joked, confused about what he was getting at.

"You've been through so much and I just want to do this right. I want to protect you from getting hurt anymore then you already have these past couple days." Rayne explained.

Rayne got up off of the bed and gave her one last kiss before heading for his own room and shutting the door.

Alex sat on her bed and couldn't help but feel as if she had just missed something.

Eliza Livingston does not get blown of for some half-wit twat that doesn't know Proda™ from Wal-Mart™ brands.

Sometimes Rayne Greay drove her so damn crazy, she could kill him. Though, that wouldn't do her any good right now. She needed Rayne in more ways then one at the moment.

She needed to be patient. Alexis will show her true colors and when she does, Eliza will be there to scoop up the pieces of Rayne's broken heart. Rayne may not be rich, but the sex is good and he'll take care of her until a rich bloke comes along.

Yes, Eliza will wait, like she always does. Except this time, there won't be a speck on her when the dust settles.

Angelo Edwards entered his small townhouse late the next night. Not even turning on a light, he plopped down on his over stuffed couch in the living room. He'd spent the last 24 hours working non-stop on the Valintino murder case. A case so open and shut shouldn't be so gawd damn hard.

He squeezed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. All he has come up with was one person that has a motive, but was no where near the victim and a dozen people were near him, but had no motive.

Edwards got up, still not turning on a light and walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge. He stood for a second, inspecting his nearly empty fridge and then grabbed a beer and two day old Chinese food.

He took his dinner into his office and turned on the computer, going through his emails and checking the news headlines. What he considered his nightly ritual, though sometimes he felt frisky and watched the news on television.

Edwards decided to look up more on the ex-girlfriend Alexis Martin. She might be hiding something in her past that could be of some use. So far Edwards had been looking into the friend Mr. Greay's background. Maybe those dumb cops had a reason other then boredom to be looking at Alexis's profile, though probably not.

Using his FBI access he looked into her court records, mainly for anything sort of criminal activity. He didn't find any, as predicted, though what he did find sparked his interest.

Half a dozen dropped domestic violence orders, five dropped restraining orders and for some reason there was a hospital stay recorded with her court files.

"Lass has a secret." He said to the empty room. He studied the listing and first thing he noticed was they were all against Mr. Valintino.

Edwards decided to look into the hospital record and try to figure out why it was filed with her court documents.

The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. He cleared his throat and picked up the phone on the second ring. " 'Ello?"

"Is this detective or agent or whatever Edwards?" asked a man with a harsh voice.

"This is agent Edwards, who am I speaking to?" he asked causously.

"Marco Reed, I am the bar tender at the Hill Crest Bar." The raspy man informed. "You gave me your card earlier incase I remembered anything that might be helpful?"

Edwards sat up suddenly, paying close attention. "Yes, Mr. Reed. How can I help you tonight?"

"Hell, I didn't just remember this, I've always known it. I just don't like state cops. They couldn't find their dicks if you gave them a map." He said, chuckling at his own joke.

"Alright, my regards of them aren't all that high either." Edwards said honestly.

"Good man. Alright, there was a woman with Rick that night." He said without hesitation. She was short with curly hair and kind of reddish-brown. "

"Start from the top. Well, from when Rick first arrived." Edwards said calmly. His body's every cell was buzzing with excitement from the news.

"Rick came in around I'd say one o'clock and drank a few beers and then made a few phone calls." Marco explained. "An hour later this woman shows up and is hanging on Rick's every move. If you ask me she was much too beautiful to be with Rick. They are in the corner making out for a while and then Rick makes another phone call. That's when he started yelling and cussing up'a storm."

"Alright," Edwards said, writing furiously. "So did this woman leave with him?"

"Yes, around 3:50am, they finally left." The bartender confirmed.

"Thank you so much Mr. Reed." Edwards was saying. "If you can think if anything else, please let me know."

Almost as soon as he hung up with the bartender, he picked up the phone again and was dialing.

"Hello?"

"Alexis Martin? This is agent Edwards. Is there somewhere that we could meet?"

"Eddy? Yes, there is a small coffee shop around the corner from my house." Alex said, thinking quickly.

"Alright, don't bring Mr. Greay." Edwards said before hanging up.

"I got to go." Alex said hanging up the phone.

"Where to?" Rayne said, sitting up in her bed. They had fallen asleep earlier after hours of Rayne trying to explain how preventing Alex from getting laid was protecting her. Alex was glad for the chance to get away for a bit.

"To meet Agent Edwards, he has some questions. It should take only an hour." Alex said, kissing him quickly before leaving the room.

Edwards was waiting outside with two cups of coffee in hand when Alex got there.

"Common, I want to walk." He said handing her a cup, offering no greeting as if they'd known each other for years.

They walked down the sidewalk in silence for several minutes. Alex lit a cigarette and looked over at him.

"So did you miss me or is there a point to this." She said finally.

"I got a call from the bartender at the bar that Rick was at the night he was murdered." He said, as if he was waiting for her reaction before saying anything.

"Okay and he told you that Rick was loud and drunk and didn't leave until late." Alex said sarcastically.

"Yes, but he also said that there was a woman with him." Edwards said watching her reaction.

Alex stopped in mid-step. "There was what?"

"A woman was with Rick. Alex," he said carefully. "If there is anything that you want to say now, you should really say it now to me."

"What? No please, not you too." Alex moaned tiredly and rubbed her eyes in frustration. "Please don't tell me that you think that woman was me."

"The guy described you, Alex." Edwards reasoned.

"It wasn't me! Look I have no reason to kill Rick, not only that I have a restaurant full of people and Rayne to prove that was no where near up state that night." Alex argued.

"Let's go talk to him." Agent Edwards said suddenly, heading back towards his car.

"What? Right now, that's a two hour drive." Alex shouted after him. She quickly jogged to catch up. "I told Rayne that I would be gone only an hour."

They got Edwards car and he turned to face her suddenly. "Then you'd better call him." He said simply. Alex sighed and got into the car as agent Edwards opened it for her.