Alex looked at Sydney’s face, heard her sharp intake of breath and saw her pale visibly. She immediately reached out and put her hand on Sydney’s leg as Sydney swiped her finger across the screen of the phone, working her way through a series of photos. After a few moments she wordlessly handed the phone to Alex.
What Alex saw shocked her as well, but it took root as anger and frustration. How could she have let this guy get so close to Sydney without noticing him? She worked through a series of photographs obviously taken over the last several weeks. There were several of Sydney in and around the courthouse, taken close up. The others were obviously taken from a distance, probably utilizing a telephoto lens of some kind. There was one of Sydney walking with Tyler through the subterranean garage at the courthouse building, another of her in the window of her Oxnard conference hotel, talking on a cell phone. Then came the photographs of Alex and Sydney. One of Sydney standing on her front porch as Alex parked in the driveway, another of them embracing at the open front door of Sydney’s residence, then another of them embracing in front of the window to what Alex immediately recognized as Sydney’s master bedroom.
“He was in your backyard. That’s the only way he could’ve taken that.” Alex flicked through the last several photographs again then handed the phone to Sal as Tiffany leaned over his shoulder and they too looked through the photos.
“How could I have missed this guy?” Alex reached for Sydney’s hand once again and gave it a squeeze. “I’m so sorry, Syd. I should never have let that happen.”
“Don’t be silly. You had no idea to even suspect this, and he made sure he wasn’t seen.” Sydney gave a brave smile and squeezed her hand back. “And it’s over now. He’s dead.”
“Yep,” Tiffany said as she handed Chuck back his phone. “So everything’s back to normal now. And we can get you out of the hospital tomorrow and everyone can start moving on.”
Chuck nodded. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it. I’ll keep you informed if anything comes up, but it’s not as if there’s going to be a trial or anything.” Chuck said his good-byes and departed. Moments later the four Metropolitan Division officers came in and wished Alex the best in her recovery and thanked Sydney for her hospitality during their assignment to her. As was expected their detail had been canceled with the discovery of Garvis.
Shortly afterwards, the evening nurse came in with Alex’s medication. “Good evening ladies. Time for the evening meds.”
Tiffany leaned over to Alex and asked her, too quietly for the charge nurse to hear, “How much beer did you drink, Alex? Seriously?”
Alex knew she was wondering about complications with the medication. “He only poured that little bit in the cup, that’s all I was going to drink. And I’d only had a tiny sip or two of that.”
Tiffany nodded, apparently satisfied, then turned to Sal as she picked up the remaining beer and dropped it in his lap. “Let’s go, you. We can leave these two some time alone together before the meds kick in and Alex is dead to the world.”
Sal turned to Alex as he stood. “So we’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon. Tiffany will be here on shift, so she’ll let me know when it looks like they’ll release you. Then one of us will call you, Syd.”
“Your keys are at my place. Why don’t I head over to your place in the morning on my way in to the office and pick up some stuff for you? I’ll bring a bag by here tomorrow afternoon before you leave.”
They all agreed on the plan and Sydney and Alex found themselves alone in the room soon afterwards. Alex once again squeezed Sydney’s hand and looked into her eyes.
“So, how do you feel about all this? About the pictures?” she asked. “And Garvis? Are you okay?”
“I’m just glad it’s over,” Sydney said with a deep sigh. “And in a twisted way at least something good came out of all this.”
“What’s that?”
“You,” Sydney said quietly. “Us.”
“Come here,” Alex said and pulled Sydney toward her on the bed. Sydney leaned forward and kissed Alex lightly on the lips. When she began to sit up, Alex pulled her back for another kiss.
“We can’t. You’re hurt. We have to be careful.”
“Shh. I’m not that hurt,” Alex said, not releasing Sydney. “Come here.”
As they kissed Alex moved her hand down to Sydney’s hip, pausing there for a moment. Then she moved up Sydney’s side and cupped her breast. Sydney groaned as Alex squeezed lightly, then gently massaged the hardening nipple with her thumb. As their tongues met and probed Alex moved her hand down again to Sydney’s waistband and pulled the bottom of the shirt from her pants, moving her hand underneath.
Sydney suddenly broke the kiss and grabbed Alex’s wrist, halting its upward progress.
“You have to stop,” she gasped, lips hovering only an inch away from Alex’s as she looked into her eyes.
“Why? I want to touch you. To feel you.”
“And I want you to touch me. You have no idea how badly I want that. You’re hurt and you need to rest and save your energy. Not to mention we’re in a hospital room and anyone could walk in at any moment.”
“God, but its driving me crazy. I want to touch you so bad.”
“So do I. But this is for the best. We just can’t. We need to wait until you’re healed a little more.” Sydney brushed her fingers across Alex’s forehead, pushing an errant lock of hair aside. “I have an idea,” she added after a pause. “Let’s go away together.”
“Like away where?”
“The mountains. I’d like to go spend some time in the snow,” Sydney said. “We can be lazy together, get a lot of room service, and spend the evenings in front of a fireplace. It’ll be nice. You can’t go back to work for a while anyway. How does that sound to you?”
“It sounds great. When do we leave?”
“Well, we can check with the doctor and see when you can make the drive.”
Alex pulled Sydney to her again, re-engaging the kiss, which once again quickly became passionate and demanding. Alex’s hand, which hadn’t moved from just beneath the base of Sydney’s shirt, began moving upward along the skin of her rib cage and brushed the underside of her lacy bra. Alex felt Sydney’s body move into hers, their chests touching as Sydney leaned farther forward, her kiss becoming more forceful. Alex’s hand moved over the lace and again her thumb began massaging the erect nipple through the thin material.
Sydney suddenly pushed away, sliding off the edge of the bed to stand beside it. Alex’s hand fell from inside her shirt to the bed as Syd stepped out of arm’s reach. Sydney was breathing hard and had a glint in her eye and a slight smile on her lips.
“God, Tiffany’s right. You really are incorrigible.” she said with a quiet laugh. “I need to leave before I let you start something we shouldn’t.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Alex said, also smiling. “Let’s just give in to it and do something we shouldn’t. Please?” Alex reached out to Sydney but found the motion took more effort than it should and lacked her normal coordination. The pain medication Alex was given to help her sleep was clearly starting to take effect, her body becoming incapable of following where her libido clearly wanted to lead.
Sydney shook her head, but took Alex’s hand in hers. “No, Sergeant Chambers. It’s for your own good.” She moved forward, grasping both of Alex’s hands so they could no longer stray and seated herself again on the edge of the bed.
“I’ll call you tomorrow morning and you can walk me through packing what you need at your place. Then I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll be here in time for your release.” She leaned forward and kissed Alex lightly on the lips and then on the forehead. “You get some rest,” Alex heard her say just as she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Eighteen
THE NEXT AFTERNOON Sal waited with Alex as her doctor reviewed her latest test results prior to releasing her. Alex was still moving slowly. The wound to her side was healing but remained quite painful. As a result she tended to walk
hunched over, favoring the left side. She also suffered frequent throbbing headaches that increased in intensity when she moved too quickly or became fatigued. Sal helped her to the bathroom to use the facilities and change into regular clothes.
“How ya doin’?” Sal called through the closed bathroom door. “Have you fallen and you can’t get up?”
“Ah geez, just shut up already.” The door opened a moment later and Alex shuffled out wearing lose sweats and a t-shirt. “I can’t manage to put on a bra and putting on socks and shoes is completely impossible. God, this is pathetic.”
Sal laughed and took Alex by the arm. “You’re not leaving yet anyway, we’ll put your shoes on later. Come on, shuffle your ass back onto the bed.”
Alex sat down on the edge of the bed and her attention was drawn to the door by a quiet voice.
“Hey, Alex.”
Both Sal and Alex went silent as they turned and saw Regina standing in the open doorway.
“I wanted to come by and see how you are,” Regina said as she walked into the room and looked briefly at Sal. “Hey, Sal, how’re you doing?”
“Good,” he said. “How about you?”
“I’m okay.” Regina’s eyes returned to Alex as she came to a stop near the bed.
Sal cleared his throat and looked at Alex. “You good?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Alex nodded in reply and Sal continued. “I’m gonna go find Tiff and we’ll see what the plan is to get you out of here.” Alex nodded again.
There was a moment or two of awkward silence after Sal walked out, then Regina finally spoke again. “I wasn’t sure when I should come to see you,” she said. “Or if I should come at all. Whether you’d even want me to.”
Alex started to shrug then winced in pain as it tugged the wound on her side. “I don’t mind you visiting,” she said. “How are you doing?”
“I’ve been worried about you. I was terrified when I heard what happened. When I heard it was you.”
“Regina, I—”
“I just came to see with my own eyes that you were okay.”
“I’m fine. I’m leaving the hospital sometime today. The sooner the better.”
“Yeah, I’d imagine this hospital stay has been pretty frustrating for you. You don’t play helpless very well.
“So tell me,” she continued after a pause. “Does this have anything to do with that information you asked me to get?” Alex nodded. “And this district attorney I read was with you when this happened, I assume she’s the friend you’re helping?” Alex could only nod again as she looked Regina in the eyes. “Well, I don’t have anything yet, but I can keep looking.”
“Thank you,” Alex said. “I know this guy is dead now, but I still have unanswered questions. Something isn’t fitting.” There was a pause between them before Regina spoke quietly again.
“Is it serious between you two?”
Alex answered as honestly as she could. “I think it may be getting serious. I’m not exactly sure how she feels about it. We haven’t had a lot of opportunity to talk about it recently.” Now it was Regina’s turn to nod silently.
“Regina, I’m sorry I hu—”
“Don’t.” Regina shook her head. “You don’t need to be sorry about anything.” She stepped forward, positioning herself between Alex knees as they hung over the side of the bed. Alex was uncomfortable with the intimate position Regina had taken, and unsure where to look. She flinched when Regina reached out and put her hands on Alex’s shoulders.
“I just want you to be happy,” Regina whispered. She moved her hands to caress each of Alex’s cheeks, drawing Alex’s face up to look her in the eye. “Do you remember there was a time when we were happy together?”
When Regina leaned down and kissed Alex on the lips it came as a surprise and Alex was somewhat slow to react. Alex could sense the longing, almost desperation, in Regina’s kiss. She quickly reached up and grasped Regina’s wrists, pulling the hands away from her face and pulling back from the kiss.
Alex started to speak, “Regina, this isn’t what I—” but then she heard the quiet sobbing gasp from the doorway.
“Oh, God!”
Alex turned to see Sydney standing in the open doorway, one hand to her mouth and her eyes large and growing moist. Then Sydney dropped the duffle bag containing Alex’s belongings and fled down the hospital corridor and out of sight.
“Syd!” Alex launched herself from the bed without thinking, taking two hurried steps before almost collapsing from pain and dizziness. She felt arms wrap around her and she was helped back to the bed.
“Come on, you can’t chase after her right now,” Sal said as he and Tiffany tenderly pushed Alex back onto the bed. Alex lay there with her head back and eyes closed, attempting to catch her breath and stop the nauseous feeling. Tiffany immediately lifted the edge of Alex’s shirt to inspect her wound.
“I’m sorry, Alex,” Regina said quietly from several feet away. “I should go.” Regina was out the door before anyone could react.
A couple of minutes later Alex had caught her breath and was able to open her eyes. “Where’d she go? Where did Syd go?”
Tiffany shook her head. “She ran down the hall toward the elevators. What happened? When we were walking up the hallway we saw her standing at the door, then she suddenly turned and ran.”
“She saw Regina kiss me.” Sal’s eyebrows rose and Tiffany’s eyes got big. “It wasn’t like that! She just surprised me. I don’t know what she was trying to do. I didn’t kiss her back. I stopped her and pulled away and I was trying to tell her. Shit! Syd saw the kiss and must’ve thought...” she paused with her eyes closed as she imagined exactly what Sydney saw and what her likely conclusion had to be.
“Fuck! I’ve got to find her.” Alex pushed up in an effort to get out of bed, but Tiffany immediately put her hand out to stop her.
“You’re not going anywhere right now. You don’t even know where to start looking,” Tiffany said. “Try calling her.”
Alex picked up her cell phone and called Sydney’s number. The phone rang and then went to voicemail.
“Syd, it’s Alex. Please call me. It wasn’t what you think. Please let me explain.” Not knowing what else she could say, Alex hung up.
TYLER MOVED ASIDE as Sydney stormed through the doorway. Sydney threw her purse on a chair in his small living room and began pacing.
“That lying, manipulative...God! How could I be so stupid?” Sydney was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. She pulled it from her purse and glanced at the caller I.D. She threw the phone back into her purse without answering it and continued into the family room.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on, or are you just going to wear out a trail on my carpet with your pacing and cursing? I assume this is about Alex?” He poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Sydney.
Sydney stopped, looked at Tyler, and then looked at the glass of wine in her hand as if suddenly recognizing it for what it was. She took a large sip of the wine, swallowed, then sighed deeply. She sat down on the couch near Tyler, taking another large sip, more of a gulp. Then she slumped back in the couch in a completely defeated posture.
“Yes, it’s Alex. She’s supposed to get out of the hospital today. So I went there to help get her settled at Sal and Tiffany’s. I had thought about taking her home with me, you know. But I figured with Tiffany being a nurse and everything, that was the best place for her.” Sydney took another large swallow of wine. When she started to speak again it was almost in a whisper. “There was another woman in the room with her when I got there. They were kissing.” A tear slid down her cheek and she brushed it away, anger taking over again. She tipped the wine glass, draining the last of its contents, then leaned forward and reached for the wine bottle. She refilled her glass, drinking again.
“God, Ty. How could I be so stupid?” Sydney asked for probably the third or fourth time. “How could she make me think this was somehow special?”
“How do you know it isn’t
?” he asked.
“Please! She was lip-locked with that woman! Trust me, that was not a friendly, sisterly kiss. That woman was sending a clear signal that she wanted all of Alex.”
“And what signal was Alex sending?”
“I don’t know.” She said quietly as tears came to her eyes again. “I’m not going to cry over this. I’m not going to allow Alex Chambers to have that much control over me!” She drained her wine and reached forward to refill the glass once again. As she was pouring her phone could be heard ringing from within her purse.
“I’m not answering that. She already tried to call me once. I don’t want to hear any chicken shit excuse.” Sydney was beginning to slur her words as she worked her way quickly through her third relatively large glass of wine. Moments later Tyler’s cell phone began to ring.
ALEX WAS RELIEVED when the call was actually answered.
“Hello?” Tyler’s calm and quiet voice came over the line.
“Tyler, it’s Alex. Do you know where Syd is?” There was a pause and for a moment Alex was afraid Tyler wasn’t going to answer her.
“Yes,” he said slowly, giving no more detail.
“Is she okay?”
“That’s a relative question.” Tyler’s voice was noncommittal.
“Can I talk to her? Please?”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea right now.”
“You’ve got to believe me, Tyler. She’s got to believe me. It wasn’t what she thinks she saw. It didn’t mean anything.”
“Well, I can tell you it most certainly meant something to Syd.”
“Shit,” Alex muttered as her worst fears were acknowledged. “It was my ex. She came to the hospital to see how I was. She started to kiss me and as soon as I realized I pushed her away. But I guess Syd was standing at the door when it happened.” Alex knew she was rambling but couldn’t seem to fight the desperation she was feeling.
“I’m not the one you need to explain this to,” was all Tyler said.
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