Chris was on his way to the crime lab at the police station when he remembered that he had no toothbrush or shaving stuff with him.
I better stop by the house and pick up a few things before I head back to Lex's house. I just need to take care of this first. It's more important.
At the lab, he asked his buddy to check out the chemical makeup of the cookies and to do a tox screen on the contents. He left his cell phone number with the guy so he could call as soon as he had the results. This mysterious cookie thing was getting too weird. He was determined to make sure Alexa was out of danger before she had any more cookies.
No repeats of Carol,
he thought.
Carol and he had dated years ago – about fifteen years – and when she died, something inside CC changed. He was now more cautious. He didn't date very often, and when he did, he made sure it wasn't serious. But, now there was Alexa, and things were definitely serious with her. He had known it on the night he pulled her over; that night had changed his life. He had known then that she was different, a threat to his mundane existence – but he hadn't cared. Once he had decided to start a relationship with her, he was in the mix with his whole heart. He wasn't holding back. Not like with Carol.
Carol had been special to him; she was beautiful and outgoing, but very naïve. She believed the best of everyone and saw danger in nothing. Up until the night she died, Chris had begun to believe the same – that there was good in everyone.
He and Carol had been dating only a short time. He was just returned from the Gulf War and had landed a job with the Neosho Police Department. While investigating his first case, he had met Carol at a local bar – back when he used to frequent bars. Chris had uncovered clues about the case he had been working, and although he didn't know at the time that he was in danger, he should have known better than to mention anything to Carol about the investigation. On the night she died, she had been questioning him about the case.
At the restaurant where they were sharing a meal, the waiter had inadvertently switched their plates. The poisoned food that was meant for Chris was delivered to Carol instead. She was dead within minutes; the paramedics had not been able to save her.
That whole situation still haunted Chris, which was the main reason why he took the cookies to be tested. True, he still had a habit of discussing his cases with people he trusted, and Alexa was more mature than Carol had been. She realized that in crime investigation, danger could be anywhere, and she didn't take that fact lightly.
Truth be told, Chris loved sharing with Alexa about his cases. She was like a sounding board to him. When he was stumped, she would listen to him (for hours if necessary) and help him try to puzzle things out. She had a keen mind and a great eye for detail. She had the natural ability to connect events and sequences – a quality that he greatly admired.
On the last four cases he had investigated, it was she who had sifted through the clues and determined which of the suspects had been the culprit. She really should be on the police force, but he knew her heart was in the pediatric unit of the hospital.
She loved helping and healing people. Once when he had tried to convince her to join the force, she had told him that the main reason she had chosen her career was because she loved to see the look on her patients' faces when they were finally able to take that first healthy breath of air. There was nothing like it she had told him.
Alexa had truly done the same for him. She had helped him breathe his first life-changing breath when she had sped her way into his heart two years ago. Chris knew that without her, he would never have let himself open up again. And without her, he would never have found Christ. In more ways than one, she had brought him out of darkness and helped him to begin living. He would cherish her always.
I'm falling for her. So fast… but I don't care – I'm not afraid anymore. She is my life and breath.
Like Chris, Alexa had been through some very difficult places in her life. Tara's father had been Alexa's first great love. Tara had been only two years old when his plane had crashed in Guatemala. He had worked as a photojournalist, which took him all over the world. When Alexa got the news of the crash, her world went up in flames just like his plane had done.
Max had been a few years older than Alexa, but that didn't matter to either of them. He was so charming and handsome, and his career intrigued her – Alexa had been besotted with him the moment she laid eyes on him. He thought she personally had hung the moon and practically worshipped the ground where she walked. They had been married only about four years when his accident happened.
After that, Alexa couldn't bring herself to date anyone. She had focused all her energy and love on Tara. The feelings of love and protectiveness she felt toward Tara were fierce to say the least. She had almost killed a guy who had tried to kidnap Tara long years ago. She just automatically reverted to the "mother bear" personality and began slamming the guy's face into the mall floor. In her heart, she had indeed intended to kill him for trying to take away her baby. If the mall police hadn't rescued him, he would probably be dead now. By the look on his face as they took him away to the hospital for treatment, she had known for certain that he would think twice about kidnapping another child.
Family was extremely important to Alexa. She hoped that she had instilled the same feelings in Tara. Tara was her life and Alexa would do whatever was necessary to ensure her safety and happiness. Lucky for Tara, Alexa wasn't the controlling/interfering type of mom. Whenever Tara's safety was in question, Alexa did insist upon knowing where Tara was going and the company she would be keeping; but overall, she let Tara make her own choices and mistakes. Alexa would gladly give advice and guidance whenever Tara asked her, but the choices were Tara's to make.
There were a few points on which Alexa insisted on obedience, and those were: 1) church, 2) morality, 3) safety, 4) school, and 5) substance abuse. Tara balked on occasion, but she knew that her mom was firm about certain issues, and Tara respected that. Alexa always tried to set a good example in these areas, especially when the issues became blurred by morality and ethics.
Adhering to her own rules, Alexa chose her friends carefully, knowing that Tara was watching every move she made. That was one of the reasons that Alexa had been so stunned when her friend Fred Silva became a person of interest in the recent murder of Garret Brown. As careful as Alexa had been and as much as she had trusted her judgment in choosing Fred as a friend, that confidence was about to be challenged.
At this precise moment, Chris heard his phone ring – the theme from a very popular crime scene investigation television show.
Tara, the evil ring tone switcher strikes again! That girl!
He had been waiting on this call since he had dropped off the cookies earlier tonight.
Thank goodness! It's about time!!
"Hello?" he questioned. It was the tech from the crime lab.
"Hey, Chief. I have the results you wanted. You are so NOT gonna believe what is in these cookies…"
"What do you want? What are you doing?" yelled Fred as he struggled against the officer trying to handcuff him. "This is an outrage!"
"Fred Silva, you have the right to remain silent…" the officer droned on and on as he read Fred his Miranda rights.
Later that morning, Fred found himself sitting in a room being questioned by detectives, "This is completely ridiculous. I didn't hurt anyone. I could never hurt anyone!!" The rage Fred felt at having these accusations thrown at him, the anxiety he felt about his now tarnished reputation, it was enough to drive a man mad with fear.
I can't go to jail. I haven't done anything wrong. I will probably lose my job! Oh God! Help me! I need your help right now!!
Fred was very good at tuning people out when he needed to concentrate on something important. If this didn't count as important… Fred began to pray silently, all the while wishing he were miles away at his favorite fishing hole. He looked straight at the officers, but didn't hear a word they said.
"Mr. Silva? I asked you a question."
"And I gave you an answer hours ago. I'm not guilty of this crime! I did NOT murder Garry Bront, or whatever his name is," he stopped shouting and looked the officer square in the eyes, "I want to make a phone call."
"As you wish, but a lawyer will not be able to help you now – not with as much evidence as we have on you," the detective's smug look almost made Fred begin yelling again.
At this juncture Fred was smart enough to not over-react and tell the detective that it was not a lawyer he would be calling…
"
Alexa, PLEASE!!"
Alexa could still hear the desperation in Fred's voice when he had called her but an hour ago.
She had not been able to stop thinking about his call and had made up her mind.
I'm going to the station. My friend needs me.
When she arrived, one of the officers at the desk told her that CC was out on a case right now and would return shortly. "That's ok. I'll just wait in his office until he gets back."
Instead of going to CC's office, she headed straight for a detective friend's desk. "I need to speak to the prisoner, Fred Silva. It's about the Brown murder case."
Her friend sat there astonished for a moment, but firmly shook her head, "No way, Alexa. The Chief would kill me if I let you in to see the man that sent you those coo… ooh, ooh, that is accused of murdering Garret Brown." Her friend suddenly grabbed her shin.
"What's wrong with you?" Alexa asked, staring at her friend, Jasmine Mink, who was now walking around the desk.
"Sudden cramp in my shin. Sorry," her Jazzy said with a sheepish smile, rubbing her leg. "Seriously, though, you cannot go in to talk to Fred."
"Why not? I'm just waiting on his lawyer to get here. Fred asked me to be here when he consults with his attorney. There's no law against that."
"Waiting on his lawyer?" Jazzy asked with disbelief on her face. "Well, if that's all you're waiting on, you can wait in the lobby. Let me know as soon as the attorney arrives and I'll set you up with a consultation room."
As Alexa huffed out toward the lobby, Jazzy grabbed her partner by the ear and gave it a hard yank. "At least give me some warning before you feel the need to kick me next time," she told him as she held his neck between her forearms, successfully cutting off his air supply. "How was I supposed to know that CC hadn't told her about Fred being the 'cookie stalker'?"
Alexa sat in stunned silence across the table from Fred. Jan Gutenberg held her pen waiting for the story to resume. She wanted to make sure she had heard her client right.
"Do you mean to say, Mr. Silva, that you are the person who sent Alexa the cookies? The tainted cookies?"
"Jan, yes, that is what I'm saying. Although, I still don't know how they became tainted. Let me explain from the beginning."
"Please do," both Jan and Alexa said simultaneously.
Fred began, "I picked Alexa's name from the Sunday School secret pal drawing about two weeks ago. I happened to hear her say that she liked chocolate chip cookies, so I decided to make her some and leave them on her doorstep. If I took them to church, word might get back around to her who left the box on her pew, plus she might think they belonged to someone else."
"But that doesn't explain about the cookies being poisoned," Alexa interjected.
"Yeah, I know, I can't figure it out either. After the success of the first batch of cookies, I decided to experiment a little. When I heard you say that you liked ginger to CC the other day, I thought I would try that spice in the cookies."
Here Alexa interrupted, "But, Fred, that's not what I said. I said that I was allergic to ginger, not that I liked it. I said I liked the smell of ginger bread, but was upset that I couldn't eat it because it makes me sick. You're saying you put ginger in chocolate chip cookies?"
Fred couldn't believe his ears, "You're saying you are ALLERGIC to ginger?" Fred put his head in his hands, "I'm so sorry Alexa; I misunderstood. The music was playing and my nephew was talking to me at the same time that I was trying to overhear you," Fred's face said the rest. He was truly apologetic and had not known about the effects ginger would have on her.
Alexa put her hand over his, "Don't give it another thought. I believe you. And you know that I'm willing to do anything I can to help your case. I promise that I will get to the bottom of this insane accusation. There is just no way that you could have killed Garret Brown. Completely nuts!"
Jan thought she would say something here, "It won't be easy Alexa. They have a lot of evidence. If I didn't believe that Fred was innocent, I would not like the odds of this case."
"That's right, Alexa. It is bad. True, I did cut Mr. Brown down from the tree where he was hanging, but only because he was hanging right over the bed of my truck. I guess the murderer used my truck like the cowboys did in the old days with a horse. He had attached the rope to a hook below the back window and then gunned the engine, which pulled Mr. Brown up off the bed and hanged him. When I came back to the truck and saw him hanging there, I couldn't just leave him there, so I used my pocketknife to cut him down. The police somehow figured out that it was my knife, and they found my finger prints on his body."
"But, when I went to a friend's house nearby to call the police, I couldn't get through because his phone was out of order. So, I returned to the truck, but it was gone, along with Mr. Brown and my boat and trailer. The next time I heard about the truck was on the news, but I was too afraid to speak up. Now, look where I am… I'm in jail for a crime I didn't commit."
"And as for how that rope got in my garage, I would guess that the murderer looked at my registration to get my address and planted the rope there, but the police don't believe me," he looked at Alexa. "What am I going to do? My life is in shambles!"
Alexa looked at her friend, "Fred, I'm going to do all that I can to help."
"Help with what?" said an angry voice from the door.
"CC?!" all three heads turned toward him.