Author:rttavi feedback should be sent to her husband
Rating: R to NC-17 (haven't decided yet)
Distribution: Ask first
Pairing: M/M primary
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Roswell or the characters of Roswell. I don't profit from anything
Feedback: Send it to: rttavi@aol.com
Notes: Okay, this is kind of Twin Peaks-ish. There is character death, but it happens in like the first paragraph, so, please don't read if you can't deal : ) And I do mean that in a very nice way. I don't know who the aliens are yet, if any. I don't know which way my muse is driving so I can't tell you more…

**Not wanted? Let me know and I'll go elsewhere. It will go on, but not where its not wanted! This is just a little test bit here…You know how I am, it'll probably end up being like a billion pages long : )


Chapter One

Her body had washed up on the bank of Blackwater Draw just outside Roswell New Mexico. It was obvious she had been murdered; but who would want to murder her? The town sweetheart? Why would anyone want to murder Liz Parker?

That's exactly what Sheriff Kyle Valenti wanted to know as he looked at his dead friend in the morgue. He took a deep breath and started gagging. How could I ever tell her parents? He asked himself. He had only been the Sheriff for a few months now and this was his first, and hopefully last murder. But this was a friend. Although not a close friend anymore, a friend none the less. He took a deep breath and stumbled out of the morgue. Images of a nude Liz Parker with a scarf tied around her neck were burned in his memory. Monday was not a good day.

The medical examiner had already confirmed she had been strangled to death. Kyle thought that was obvious, the red scarf almost looked like it was embedded in her skin. She was already dead when she was put in the water, and it had been determined that she'd been dead for at least twelve hours.

Kyle shook his head and wiped his brow as he walked back out into the fresh air. It was May and it was hot. And now he had to go tell the Parker's their little girl was dead. Then he had to tell her long time boyfriend Max Evans and question him about it. Damn! Kyle shook his head and wondered if he could delegate the questioning part to one of his deputies. Probably not, this was a job for the Sheriff. The history between Kyle and Max had been rocky at best and now he had to tell him his girlfriend was dead? Oh God, then he had to go home tonight and tell his own girlfriend, Maria DeLuca, that her friend was dead. Shit! At least she had taken the day off work otherwise she'd have already known. Kyle knew there were bad reasons for her to work at the station with him. She was a hell of a good dispatcher, but …

He got in his 4X4 and cruised through town not looking forward to anything. Kyle Valenti hated Mondays even more now.

*        *         *

FBI Agent Michael Guerin drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he cruised through Alamogordo New Mexico on his way from Tucson to Roswell. Another one had turned up early this morning. Just like the rest. That made eleven over the last two years.

He shook his head and turned up the radio. This was his pet. His baby. All of his time was devoted to finding this killer. Some sicko had sucked him in with the first murder and now Michael thought it was up to him to find him. Eleven murders in eleven different states. All the same MO. Strangled with a red scarf.

One hundred and sixteen miles to Roswell and Agent Michael Guerin had no idea what to expect. He knew the local law enforcement wasn't going to want him there trying to run the show, but too bad. This was his case and he was going to run it. He hoped he wouldn't have a problem with anyone; but didn't really care if he did. This was a job and an obsession. It had become his obsession when his girlfriend had been victim number one.

*        *         *

Chapter Two

"No!" Maria DeLuca screamed as Kyle held her tight. He had gone home to tell her before going to Max's place. It seemed like the right thing to do, but now he was going to have to leave her alone. "Are you sure?"

"Honey, I'm sorry." Kyle stroked her shoulder length blond hair. "I'm so sorry."

"I feel horrible, I mean I haven't even talked to her in over a month and now she's…She's gone." Maria pushed away from him and began to pace. "Oh God, her parents. Max! Do they know?"

"I've already been to her parents and they're bad, obviously. I'm on my way to Max's now."

"I should go." She looked around for her purse.

"No Maria, you can't go." He took a deep breath. "I have to ask him a few questions while I'm there. You know the rules."

"Oh God, You can't seriously think that Max had…Kyle!" Maria faced him with her hands on her hips.

"I have to do my job, I'm sorry. Are you going to be okay here alone? Should I call anyone to come over?"

She shook her head as new tears fell. "I'll be okay. Just hurry home."

Kyle kissed her good bye and left for the hard trip to Max Evans' house. Kyle didn't want to see him at all, let alone to tell him Liz was gone. Eight to twelve hours. Liz had been dead for eight to twelve hours and no one had missed her? Kyle didn't like the feeling he was getting in the pit of his stomach, but maybe that was normal when you saw one of your friends dead. Murdered.

He took a deep breath and thought Maria had handled it better than expected. He knew her and Liz weren't the same kind of friends they had been in high school and right after, they had drifted. Liz had been so wrapped up with Max that Maria had kind of fallen by the wayside. That's when her and Kyle had begun to form a bond of some type.

It had started out as friendship and almost hit familial; but when his father and her mother had bitterly ended their relationship, they became more than friends. That had been almost a year and a half ago. Kyle remembered the night he first kissed her. It had been awkward and they laughed. Eventually they had gotten past the laughter and found something in each other they needed. Family.

Kyle loved her and he knew she loved him back; but their relationship was strange by nature. At times Kyle felt they were more like friends and roommates than lovers. It didn't matter to him; he loved her and wanted to marry her someday. Someday. Neither of them brought it up very much. Kyle knew when the time was right; he'd make Maria DeLuca his bride.

He drove faster than as the Sheriff, he should have, clouds of sandy dust billowed out in back of him. He imposed this as an emergency; no one got murdered in Roswell. Especially not someone like Liz Parker. He slammed his fist into the dashboard and heard a small crack. "Damn it!" He yelled and hit the dash again widening the crack.

He pulled up in front of an apartment building he'd only been in a handful of times before. Taking a deep breath, he got out of the 4X4 and made his ascent to an apartment on the second floor. He knocked loudly and then nearly shouted when the door flew open at once.

"Liz?" Max asked before seeing Kyle. "Damn it!" Max Evans pushed off the door and let Kyle in. "Have you seen Liz? I've been trying to get a hold of her since last night."

"Max," Kyle lowered his mirrored sunglasses and tried to look him in the eye but was finding it incredibly hard. Not because he couldn't do it, but because Max wouldn't quit pacing. "Max." He said his name a little more forcibly this time.

"What?" Max quit pacing and looked at the Sheriff. His eyebrows knitted together as his world crumbled. "No…Liz…?

"Max, I'm sorry." Kyle led the man to the couch and sat him down. He pulled up a chair and sat across from him.

"When? How?" His eyes were wet but Kyle could tell he was trying to stay calm and do the right thing.

"She was found this morning-"

"Found?"

"Blackwater Draw." Kyle didn't mention the scarf. That was classified right now. "She was strangled…I'm sorry."

Max bowed his head and Kyle cringed when he heard the sobbing. Oh God, he thought, this was really not a good Monday. He reached across to him and put his hand on his semi-friend's shoulder.

"Who would? I mean, It's Liz!" Max wept and Kyle wanted to bolt. "Liz…" He broke off into sobs.

Kyle knew there was nothing he could say or do that was going to make this any better. This was a bad situation and was probably only going to get worse.

"Max, when did you last see or talk to her?"

He shrugged. "Oh God, her parents…"

"I've already been there," Kyle said quietly. He knew he'd never forget the pain he saw on their faces. The pain he'd delivered. Maybe becoming the Sheriff was not such a good idea after all.

Max nodded and wiped his eyes putting on a strong face. "I talked to Liz yesterday afternoon. She was working until eight and then going home. I…I…Proposed to her and she wanted to work on the wedding plans."

Shit. Kyle shut his eyes and willed himself away from this situation. It had gone from the worse to way beyond that in a matter of a sentence. "What time did you talk to her?"

"Around five, I guess. I just home from work."

"Were you here alone last night?" Kyle tried to keep the interrogation-tone out of his voice.

"Yeah…What are you saying Kyle?" Max looked at him with fire in his eyes. "Why the fuck are you asking me that? Do you think…? Fuck!"

"I have to ask Max, it's my job." Kyle felt the sweat trickling down the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."

"Get out Kyle," Max stood and pointed towards the front door. "Get the fuck out of my home and don't come back until you can tell me who killed Liz!"

"I'll be back, Max." Kyle stood and slipped his sunglasses back on. "I need you to come down to the station and make a statement, tomorrow will be fine."

"Get out!" Max yelled.

"She was my friend too, Max." Kyle said softly as he walked from the apartment. The air seemed to be full of bits of heat. Kyle knew he was sweating more than he should have been, but he thought he had the right. "Damn it Evans, I know you didn't kill her…" He mumbled as he climbed back in the 4X4. "I'm just doing my fucking job."

He floored it out of the parking lot leaving a trail of dust and gravel behind him. There was going to be a ton of paperwork on this one. He sped through town back to the station. A quick phone call to Maria told him her mother was over and he didn't have to worry about coming home until he was done.

*        *         *

Lorelei Govern. Lorelei with her pretty chestnut hair and matching eyes. Lorelei with her perfect smile and eloquent way with words. Lorelei with a red scarf tied around her neck, nude and lifeless.

That was the picture Agent Michael Guerin saw in his mind over and over for the last two years. His girlfriend, the woman he wanted to marry, was murdered in the apartment they had shared. He had found her body on the outside balcony of their third floor apartment. After working overnight at the FBI office in Seattle trying to get a fix on a pyromaniac who torched nudie bars, he came home right after dawn.

He'd never forget calling her name and instantly falling into a panic. The balcony door ajar had made him tremble. Then he saw her. His love on the balcony, dead. He lost hope in life and love that day. From that moment on he was a man obsessed.

There were nine others just like Lorelei's, ten counting the newest one in Roswell. Eleven states Agent Guerin had tracked the son of a bitch through. Never turning up more that a couple of leads that panned out to be useless. He'd get him, one way or another; he'd find the man who'd killed Lorelei and the others.

His supervisor at the bureau had been completely against Michael working on the case from the beginning, but after seeing the relentless energy Michael was devoting to it, he had to let him go on. There would be no rest under someone was brought to justice for taking Lorelei away from him.

The road through Ruidoso led Agent Michael Guerin past the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation and his thoughts drifted to the others killed by the scarf strangler. That wasn't a publicized name, no one but Michael referred to him as that. No one else had a reason to. The use of the scarves in the murders was kept from the press. No one knew there was a serial killer.

The victims. He knew their names, ages, families, friends, habits and what they liked for breakfast. He had absorbed himself in their lives and never made a connection between any of them. He hoped against hope he'd make the connection with the newest victim…He glanced at the fax on the seat next to him. Elizabeth Parker.

Less than seventy miles to go. Michael was almost excited to get there and get his hands dirty. Maybe this would be the one who led him to the murderer. Maybe Roswell would have something to offer him.
*         *           *

Chapter Three

Maria DeLuca eventually kicked her mother out of the house. There was only so much smothering mother a person can handle and Maria had reached her quota. Even in mourning over the loss of her friend, smothering was not something Maria needed.

She dressed in her uniform shirt and slipped on a pair of tight blue jeans. The least she could do was help figure out who in the hell killed her childhood friend. She realized she was only a dispatcher, but she helped out on a lot of police matters. After begging Jim Valenti to deputize her and getting nowhere, probably due to her mother's interference, she now pestered her own boyfriend. Kyle told her over and over that it wouldn't look good to make her a deputy after he'd only been the sheriff for a few months. He kept telling her to keep her shirt on and she kept silently cussing him out.

She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and began to get pissed. The mourning was sliding away into anger. No one got murdered in Roswell and no one killed a friend of Maria DeLuca's and got away with it. She put on her resolved face and was now determined to weasel her way into the investigation come hell or high water.

She walked out of the little house she shared with Kyle and was almost running to her car. She slid behind the wheel of her little red Miata and slammed the car into reverse. Now she couldn't get to the station fast enough. She tried to keep her mind free of images of the grieving Parkers and Max Evans but was unsuccessful. Poor Max, she thought. He must be devastated. Him and Liz lived for each other and now…She pushed that out of her mind, for real this time, there would plenty of time for that later. Now she had work to do.

As she blew through a yellow light, a black Mercedes cut her off forcing her nearly off the road. She slammed on the horn. "You stupid mother fucker!" She yelled as she flipped off the man driving the sedan and got back on track to the station. She parked next to Kyle's 4X4 and took a deep breath. She walked into the station and immediately went to Kyle's office. Without knocking she walked in and smiled when he jumped.

"What are you doing here?" Kyle asked covering up papers on his desk.

"I'm here to help," she put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows.

"Are you okay?" He asked skeptically. "You should be at home."

"Doing what? Resting?" She laughed bitterly. "I'm here to help, Kyle. I want to help find out who killed Liz. Don't shut me out of this."

"You're a dispatcher Maria-"

"I should be a fucking deputy and you damn well know it! I can run circles around the idiots you have now." She raised her voice but not too much. She knew how thin the walls were. "I'm working on this whether you like it or not, Kyle."

"Damn it Maria, don't do this now." He took a deep breath and covered his face with his hands. "This is serious. I'm just finding out how serious it is," he motioned to the papers he was covering. "I can't afford to have you screw anything up." He regretted it as soon as he said it. "Maria-"

"Screw anything up?" She repeated and laughed. "Okay, that's a fucking riot! I don't screw things up, I figure them out and maybe if you got your head out of your-"

"Am I interrupting?" The voice cane from the doorway; neither Kyle nor Maria had noticed the stranger standing in the open door.

"Yeah, you are!" Maria swung around and faced him. She looked him over from toes to head and narrowed her eyes. "You're the son-of-a-bitch that nearly ran me off the road. Black Mercedes?"

The stranger smiled and nodded. "Guilty. My apologies."

"Can I help you with something?" Kyle asked standing up.

"Yes," the man stepped forward and outstretched his hand. "I'm Agent Michael Guerin, Federal Bureau of Investigation. You are the Sheriff around here?"

"I am," he shook Michael Guerin's hand over his desk. "Kyle Valenti. I assume you're here over what happened here this morning?"

Michael nodded. "Elizabeth Parker."

"I'm sorry, the Fed's are taking this over?" Maria stepped in between them. "Are you serious? Why?"

"I'm sorry," redness was creeping up Kyle's neck. "I should introduce our dispatcher Maria DeLuca."

"Yes, I believe I've already met her middle finger." Michael smiled and extended his hand to Maria. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm sure," She ignored his hand. "So, why are you here?"

"Maria, why don't you leave us alone for a few minutes and I'll get back with you about what we were discussing."

"I don't-"

"Maria," Kyle interrupted her with a new sterner voice. "Just do it."

She glared at him as she brushed by Agent Guerin and slammed the door behind her. Michael watched her walk away which did not go unnoticed by Kyle.

"Unhappy dispatcher?"

"Dispatcher and girlfriend." Kyle nodded. He always liked to make sure everyone knew Maria was taken. "It's been a rough day, Liz Parker was a friend of ours."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Michael sat down across the desk from Kyle and crossed his legs. "I need all the information on the crime scene and I'd like to see the body."

"Okay Mr. Guerin," Kyle leaned back in his chair and fit the image as Sheriff. "Do you mind if I ask what exactly you're here for? I got the faxes and I can see that this may be connected to a few others-"

"Ten others, Mr. Valenti." Michael tried to smile but he was just too damn tired. "It is connected to the others. I have a personal interest and I'm the lead investigator. I'd appreciate any help you can give me."

Kyle nodded slowly and looked Michael over. "You're here alone?"

Michael nodded. "It's just me that's why I want your help. I want to catch this asshole before he kills again. Kyle, may I call you call you Kyle?" He asked and Kyle nodded. "I don't want to come in here and start pushing everyone's buttons. I want to catch a killer and I want to do it now."

"A serial killer?"

"Yeah, a serial killer. Eleven women in two years." He let out a deep breath. "When your initial reports came through NCIC this morning I was in Arizona but as soon as I saw why they faxed it to me…" He trailed off and looked wistfully out the window. "Sorry. The red scarf. It's been the same in the other murders. It's the same guy and he's not slowing down."

Kyle let out a slow whistle. "So you think he's still here?"

Michael shrugged. "I don't know. I'll be here for awhile, is there a decent hotel around here?"

"Bed and breakfast?" Kyle raised his eyebrows. "About two blocks away from here. A couple of friends of mine run it. Actually, one of them is the sister of Liz's boyfriend, Max Evans."

Michael nodded slowly as if analyzing every word Kyle said. Kyle realized it and suddenly felt like he was under the microscope. "I'm going to go get settled in then," Michael rose. "Could you take me to see the body and the crime scene tonight?"

Kyle nodded. "Sure." He stood and met the Agents eyes.

"Good. I have a mobile office in my car," he glanced to his watch. "It won't take me too long to get ready. I can meet you back here in about an hour?"

Kyle nodded and watched Michael leave his office. He sat down heavy in the chair and seriously reconsidered his profession.

*        *         *

Michael walked down the hall of the police station and abruptly ran into a body. He looked ahead of him and it was that dispatcher, Maria.

"Do you ever look where you're going?" She snapped and he couldn't help but smile.

"Sorry," he pursed his lips and walked past her to the front door. He turned around once and she was still watching him. The Sheriff's girlfriend. He shook his head and walked to his car. He drove a two block radius before finding the bed and breakfast. He pulled along the side street of a strangely out of place Victorian house and got out. He grabbed a few bags from the trunk and walked to the front door. The nameplate by the door read 'Whitman's B & B'. He raised an eyebrow and walked inside.

"Hi, welcome." A beautiful blond woman met him at the door. "I'm Isabel Whitman," she looked at his bags. "Is it safe to assume you'll be staying with us for awhile?"

"Maybe," he cocked his head to the side and began to wonder if Roswell had something in the water to make all the women beautiful. He noticed her eyes were bloodshot and remembered what Kyle had told him. He'd question her later, maybe the next day.  "Do your rooms come equipped with phone jacks and several outlets?"

"No, actually, we use tin cans to talk to each other and have puppet shows for entertainment." She smiled sweetly.

"Thanks," Michael laughed and relaxed a little and wondered if that same thing in the water that made them beautiful also made them sarcastic. "Yes, I'll need a room." He followed her to a desk inside a spacious living room and watched as she began to fill out a receipt. "Michael Guerin." He supplied for her. What he didn't expect was the surprised look.

"Really. You got a letter delivered here today Mr. Guerin." She rummaged through the desk and handed Michael a plain white envelope with his first and last name on it in black.

He took it with a shaky hand and recognized the writing immediately. He waited for Isabel to finish checking him in and show him to his room before he opened the envelope. He set his bags on the floor and slipped on a pair of latex gloves. He didn't know why he bothered. There wouldn't be any prints, there never was. He slid out a piece of red paper and scanned the familiar black scrawl.

Agent Guerin.

Eleven muses eleven minds
Time's running out for you to find
I give you hints but your not so bright
And I know where you are this very night.

Time is of the essence
but your dying of thirst
I can feel your breath on my neck
But you can't get past the first

It's all there in black in white
Goodnight dear agent, good night

The letters were never signed and usually ran ten lines. Michael had received the first one the same day he had found Lorelei on the balcony and subsequently one for each new murder. Michael shook his head. The killer was beginning to know Michael better than he knew himself.
*          *            *

Chapter Four


Maria stormed back into Kyle's office once again without knocking and slammed the door shut behind her. She stood in front of his desk with her arms folded over her chest.

"What the hell was he doing here?" She demanded.

"He's the lead investigator," he took a deep breath and wondered how much he should tell her. He knew he'd tell her everything eventually, he always did. And she had been right in her earlier statement; she did run circles around the deputies. "He's here to help."

"With one little murder?" She cringed as she said it. The words seemed so callous. Liz had been her friend. "I didn't mean…"

"It's more than one…" He exhaled slowly. "Okay Maria, you win."

"What did I win?" She narrowed her eyes at him and leaned on his desk with her palms flat. "Kyle?"

"I'm deputizing you Maria." He smiled and wondered if he was doing it to make her happy or because she really was good. He reasoned that it was a little of both and that made it okay.

She smiled. "Are you serious? Or are you just saying that to get me off your back?"

"I mean it Maria," he added a silent prayer afterwards. "You were right, you are good and I do need you to do more than answer phones. You have a personal interest vested in this case and I know you won't give up until you find out what happened to Liz. If you're deputized, then it's official. I don't want to have to worry about you running around by yourself investigating."

She skipped around his desk and grabbed his hands pulling him up to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips. "Thank you." She backed away and met his eyes. "I won't let you down, Kyle."

He nodded and hoped she was right. "You're going to work with the Fed-"

"Hell no!" She shook her head. "This is my town and I'm not going to baby-sit any Fed!"

"This is his case Maria," he motioned to the chair across the desk and watched her sit down. "It's not a single act; Guerin said we're dealing with a serial killer and Liz was his eleventh victim."

"Oh shit." Her hand instinctively covered her mouth. Liz? Liz was a victim of something she never really thought about outside of books and movies. A serial killer in Roswell?

"I need you to work with him, okay? We don't have a big force and I can't spend all my time with him. You're going to have to help him." He sighed. "Maybe between the two of you, you can come up with something new. He's been following this since the first one and he said he's got a personal interest in it. There's something you have in common already."

"Kyle," the nerves of steel she had earlier were vanishing before her eyes. Am I really ready for this? She asked herself over and over. Then she got her answer. In her mind she flashed on a picture of her and Liz taken at high school graduation. Their arms slung over each other as only best friends can do. For Liz. For Liz she'd work with the Fed and find out who killed her. "When do I start?"

"Tonight I guess," Kyle leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "He's coming back here and wants to see the crime scene…Are you sure you're up to this?"

Maria nodded. "Oh yeah, I'm sure. I can hold his hand while I find out who killed Liz and bring them in. I can do this Kyle, okay? Do you trust me?"

"Yeah, Maria. I trust you. I know if anyone can unravel this, it's probably you."

"Do I get a gun?" Her eyes lit up as she raised her eyebrows. "Please?"

Kyle laughed. "Yeah, you get a gun. Now aren't you glad I made you go through the training courses? Otherwise you'd have to wait three more weeks. See, I know how to take care of my girl."

She walked back around the desk and sat on his lap as she kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her interlacing his fingers around the small of her back. "Where's he at now?" Maria interrupted the moment and sat up straighter forcing Kyle to lose his grip on her.

"Isabel's."

Maria closed her eyes hearing the name. She should call Max and see if there was anything she could do for him. She should call the Parker's and offer the same. No, she shook her head; the way to help them is to find Liz's murderer. "He'll be back here, when?"

"Soon," Kyle glanced at his watch. "Why don't we go fill out some paperwork until he comes back? We'll make you official."

"What's him name again?" Maria got off Kyle's lap and followed him out of the office.

*        *         *

Michael Guerin placed the note into a mailing envelope already full of the same. Each time the killer had known where Michael was. He knew his movements almost as well as Michael knew his own. The letter had been waiting for him. How could he have known where he was going to stay? How could he have known and had his sick sense of poetry waiting for him at the last eight hotels?

The letters after the murders were what bit at Michael the most. The ones that he got sent every so often in-between murders were designed to keep him on his toes. He closed his eyes and wondered if he'd show them to Sheriff Valenti. He hadn't shown them to the others that had helped, but Michael got a feeling that Roswell may be the answer.

He had felt it as soon as he walked into the Sheriff's office. Right into the middle of an apparent lover's quarrel between the sheriff and his dispatcher girlfriend. Things were a little different here. Valenti seemed willing to help him without him whipping out the big bad Federal Agent routine. He knew it was a tired routine, but it usually worked. No one liked to piss off the Feds. No, he didn't see a problem here with Valenti.

Michael Guerin had left the apartment he had shared with Lorelei Govern the day he found her. He packed a few bags for himself and stayed at a hotel until he got the first letter in the mail. He could state each letter verbatim. The first had been the hardest.

Agent Guerin.

She was an angel
Tried and true
You lost her to the devil
Now what to do?

More will follow
Is that a dare?
How will I vanish?
Into thin air.

Agent Guerin can you find me?
Agent Guerin can you care?

Michael closed his eyes and laid back on the overly soft bed. He grasped handfuls of the quilt in his fists and thought about his obsession. He had left Seattle after receiving the second letter. He had killed again. Michael didn't have a home anymore to go back to. He went to each victim's town and learned about them until he felt like he had known them. There was a link between them but Michael hadn't figured it out yet. So far the only thing they had in common was they were all female and in their early twenties. He pushed images of his dead Lorelei away and thought about victim number two. He tended to always think about them in order. Ivy Mason. Ivy Mason who was found nude with a red scarf around her neck a mile away from her home in Billings Montana. Ivy had no connection to Lorelei.

Michael had stayed in Billings for almost eight weeks, until he had received the letter telling him there had been another.

"Damn!" He said out loud and repressed all the information he had gathered about Ivy Mason. All of his promises to her parents that he'd find who did that to their little girl. All the promises.

Michael sat up and looked around the quaint little room he was in and wondered for how long he'd call it home. If history played a part in it, he knew he'd be there for about two months then there'd be another murder.

The task force had disbanded six weeks after Lorelei's murder, but Michael hadn't quit looking. He was grateful for his position and his superiors. He had the FBI resources at his disposal, but he was alone on his quest. The way Michael knew he'd always be, alone.
*        *         *

Chapter Five

Maria beamed at the shiny new Deputy badge in her hand like it was delicate gift. She found her reflection in it and smiled. She was an official Roswell deputy. She pinned the badge to her shirt and turned around to face Kyle.

"Well, how do I look?" She asked and leaned over his desk. "Do I look official?"

"You look cute," he grinned at her and glanced at a framed picture on his desk. It was of him and Maria on the front porch of their house the day she moved in with him. Kyle smiled every time he looked at it. "Once you get your side holster I think you're going to look pretty hot."

"So you like a woman in uniform with a big gun, huh?" She winked.

The door to the office opened and Agent Michael Guerin walked in. He had changed since their earlier meeting; he'd traded in the suit and tie for jeans, a T-shirt and work boots. Kyle noticed Maria noticing and stood up for interference.

"Are you two ready to go?" Maria asked with her hands on her hips.

"Is it routine to take dispatchers to crime scenes?" Michael asked with a smile close to the surface. Dispatcher. Her name? He racked his memory and came up empty.

"I'm a deputy, now." She pulled her badge away from her towards him. "See."

"Well, that was fast." He smiled and felt something sting inside of him that he hadn't felt for a long time. What was her name?

"She had it coming," Kyle smiled at his girlfriend. "She's good. I think you two will get along great. Maria's got a knack for figuring things out."

Maria. Michael nodded. Her name is Maria.

"Kyle said I'm going to be working with you." She turned and walked out of the office with Kyle at her side and Michael trailing behind them.  

Maybe Maria would be able to help. Maybe she would be the one who could help. The last two years had been filled with ghosts and now here was this Maria in the flesh.

He watched her walk and admired the way her jeans hugged her hips. The squeaky noises her sneakers made on the linoleum. The sway of her hips as she walked and the slight wiggle of her ass. He ran a hand through his hair and watched as she snaked her arm through Valenti's.

He followed the couple outside to the 4X4 and watched as Maria got in the backseat. She leaned over the seat and he smelled Jasmine. Maria smelled like Jasmine. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. He couldn't remember the last time he had smelled anything that good.

"So," Maria said and he realized how close she was to his face. "Kyle said that Liz wasn't the first."

"No," he shook his head and tried to push the Jasmine away. "There are ten others. The first was in Seattle." Lorelei. "He strikes about every two months in different cities, different states."

"Why Liz? What's the connection?"

"I don't know," he said and hoped the others didn't hear the desperation in his voice. "There isn't a link between any of them. Nothing."

"Are you sure?" Kyle asked joining the conversation.

"So far there hasn't been and I've done the homework. The only thing they even have in common is that they're all female and in their early twenties. They don't resemble each other; they come from different backgrounds, religions and races. There is nothing that connects them to each other." Except for me, he added silently as he thought about his ghosts; but that's not until after they're gone.

"And it's always the same?" Maria asked and Michael remembered the Jasmine.

"Same MO. They all died by strangulation. The weapon used, a red scarf. Most of them are silk, a few were rayon. No other marks on the body except for some postmortem bruising. No evidence of sexual molestation. They've either been found about a mile away from their homes or in their residence. They were posed if they were found at home. They were all nude." Lorelei on the balcony. "How far away is Liz's house?"

"Less than a mile," Kyle answered. "Just a few blocks away from Blackwater Draw, actually."

Michael nodded and closed his eyes. He deliberated telling them about the letters, something he had kept to himself. Not yet. They were both being helpful, but not yet…

"Nothing links them?" Maria asked but it wasn't really a question, more of a statement. "Every two months. So we have two months to figure this out?"

"I guess you could look at it that way," Michael smiled.

"No, I don't want to look at it that way," Maria said defiantly. "I want to find this asshole much sooner than that. I'm not going to wait around for him to kill again. He killed my friend, Mr. Agent, and I want him brought to justice for it. Now."

Michael smiled and admired her spunk. He hoped she wouldn't become jaded when she dove deeper into this case. He hoped she wouldn't turn out like him.

"She's aggressive," Kyle laughed. "Did I mention that?"

"You don't have to," Michael turned around and faced the flaxen haired wonder in the backseat. "I can see that for myself."

Maria felt the blush crawling up her neck and hoped her uniform shirt would cover it. "We'll get to the bottom of this Agent Guerin. We'll get this guy and all go home happy."

"I hope so Maria, I really hope so." Michael replied but he knew he didn't have a home to go to and he didn't think he'd ever really be happy again. Too many ghosts.

Kyle stopped the 4X4 at the yellow crime scene tape about twenty feet from the edge of the bank of Blackwater Draw. Michael and Kyle got out of the vehicle right away. It took Maria a minute to compose herself. She was getting ready to see where her friend's body had been found. Taking a deep breath she hopped out of the backseat and followed the two men under the yellow tape.

Maria tried to keep her balance on the rocky banks leading down to the river in the dying sunlight. She slid on a rock and grabbed out knowing she was going to land on her ass. Instead, she never hit the ground. Michael was there and he had caught her; his hands under her arms. He helped her steady herself before he let go. She thought he might have smelled her neck when he was lifting her up; but she couldn't tell for sure.

"Maria?" Kyle looked over his shoulder. "You okay?"

She nodded suddenly completely aware of the closeness of the Federal Agent. "Wrong shoes, I should have worn boots."

Kyle nodded and led them towards the water. The crispness of the wind blowing off the water gave Maria the goosebumps. She hoped it was the only consequence of the breeze but was too nervous to look down at her chest. She watched her footing while walking behind Michael. The few times she'd glanced up, she noticed the way his jeans fit him. They fit very nice; but that was not something she shouldn't be thinking about now. Or at all, actually.

Kyle stopped walking at the spot where Liz Parker had been found and pointed to the ground. It was unremarkable. Mud and rocks. Liz Parker had been found like a piece of trash left behind.

Maria looked at the ground and fought back tears for her dead friend. She shook her head and put her determined face back on. "What do you think you're going to find here?" She directed the question at Michael.

He shrugged then met her gaze. "Nothing. I just wanted to see it. I had to see it. He didn't leave anything behind, he never does."

She nodded and somehow understood. She watched the Agent as he looked around the area where Liz's dead body had been found. She saw the grit of his demeanor, the passion he had in finding this killer. She sensed there was more to this that what he was telling them; it only made sense. If there was a serial killer traipsing around the country killing young women, why was he here alone? Why wasn't there a huge task force helping track this sick psycho down? She crossed her arms over her chest as the next breeze blew in and added something to her itinerary.  Number one: find this son-of-a-bitch. Number two: find out what makes FBI Agent Michael Guerin tick.
*       *         *

Chapter Six

"Someone's coming." Michael looked in the direction of the 4X4. Maria and Kyle both turned and recognized the figure instantly.

"Damn, it's Max." Kyle stepped away from Maria and Michael and ran up the rocky bank ducking under the crime scene tape.

Maria and Michael watched as Kyle seemed to be pushing Max away from the tape.

"The boyfriend?" Michael asked. Even from the distance he knew the look. Once upon a time he had seen the same one in a mirror.

"Actually, the fiancé." Maria shook her head. She hadn't even known they were engaged until Kyle had told her. "Max Evans. Your staying at his sister and brother-in-law's B&B."

"Right, Isabel." Michael smiled remembering her sarcasm. He watched as Kyle led the slumping body of a broken heart back to his car. "They been together long?"

"High school," Maria smiled thinking about their high school days. The days when her and Liz had no secrets between them and they thought they'd grow old together. "It's always been Max and Liz. And now…" She turned away not wanting to let this relative stranger see her grieve. There would be time for grieving later. Now was the time to find this asshole. "So, get a feel for anything?"

Michael shook his head and looked at her. He could see the pain in her eyes. The only thing Michael was getting a feel for was the new deputy, Maria. "You were good friends?"

"Used to be the best. Then we drifted as friends often do…"

"And now you feel guilty."

She nodded and looked at him. The dying sky combined with the sliver of moon above them forced her to notice the highlights in his hair and the curve of his strong jaw line. The way his T-shirt was tucked into those jeans. The hem of denim hitting the cuff of leather boots. He stood with one foot on top of a rock, his hands on his hips and sorrow in his eyes.

"It'll pass Maria," he really hoped it would for her. "Don't feel guilty; there was nothing you could say or do to stop this from happening to Liz. I've dealt with the grieving friends for the others and they're all just like you-"

"No, they're not." She interrupted and put her hands on her hips. "They're not like me at all. I'm not going to stand around and feel guilty; hell, I can barely cry. I'm so angry and I'm going to do whatever it takes to nail this murdering bastard!"

"Do you mean it?" He asked cautiously. He'd heard similar vows from other law enforcement across the country, but after awhile with no new leads and the inevitable cold case, they gave up. Everyone except Michael Guerin gave up. He saw something in Maria that told him she might not give up as easily as the others did.

"Yeah, I mean it. We'll find him, Agent Guerin, before he kills again." She watched as Kyle walked back towards them, his hands in his pockets. "Kyle said I'm to help you and that's what I plan on doing. I want to start at the beginning and see if I can find something that you missed. I'm not saying you didn't do everything you could, but this is all you've done for two years, right?" He nodded and she went on barely taking time out for a breath. "Why isn't anyone else helping you? Why aren't there tons of Feds down here taking Roswell over trying to figure out who killed Liz? What is going on with this so-called serial killer? Where's the proof? How can you prove to me what you're saying Agent Guerin?"

Michael stared at her and tried desperately not to smile. Valenti joined them and looked back and forth between them. "Did she just get done with a rant?" Kyle asked and ignored the glare from Maria.

"A reasonable one," Michael smiled quickly towards the fair-haired ranter. "You were right, she is good." He turned his attention solely on Maria. "Tomorrow, we start and I'll take you on a guided tour of my own personal hell. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a date," she thought she might have blushed but was suddenly thankful for the cover of the deep dusk that was enveloping them. "Why was Max here?" She turned her gaze to Kyle and detected something was off. Kyle Valenti was not happy with something. Maria figured it was her and let it go. He'd get over it, whatever it was, men always did.

"He's hurting," Kyle said slowly. "He wanted to see where she was found. Thank God I didn't have to make him or her parents identify her."

"Who did?" Michael asked his interest piqued.

"I did, when I was called out here." Kyle held out his hand to Maria. "If you're done Agent, I'd like to get home tonight. It's been a real shitty day."

Michael nodded and followed in back of the seemingly happy couple. He tried to avert his eyes away from the jasmine smelling Maria but found it impossible. His vision broke at the handholding and went back down her legs. Hair on the back of neck stood at attention, but it wasn't for the regular reasons. For the first time since Lorelei, Agent Michael Guerin was finding himself attracted to a woman.

And it had to be the Sheriff's woman, he thought and sighed. He followed them to the 4X4 and watched Maria as she got in the backseat. He got in the front seat and hoped she'd lean over the seat like she had on the way there. He was in luck, within seconds of Kyle starting the engine; Maria's elbows were propped up on the front seats.

"So, are you going to let me sift through everything Agent, or are you going to hold things back and let me make an ass out of myself?" She asked leaning in a little closer to him.

He opened his mouth to speak but the scent of her got to him first. He closed his eyes and weighed his words. "I won't hold anything back."

Maria cocked her head to the side and thought that there was too much underlying in that sentence. She cast a quick glance at Kyle and noticed he thought so too.

"I'll show you everything I have on him," Michael cleared his throat. "Will we have a place to work out of or should we work out of the B&B?"

"I have a room for you at the station," Kyle snapped. "There's an empty room down the hall from my office, you can use that."

"The war room," Maria said softly imagining the way the rooms were always described in books and seen in movies. Dry-erase boards, maps, pictures of the victims, computers and phones. A picture of Liz lying dead on the rocky bank of Blackwater Draw. "Thank you Kyle."

He nodded and caught her eye in the rearview mirror. "You're welcome." The tone wasn't as nice as it could have been but Maria attributed it to the stress of the day.

They drove back through town and Michael looked out the window. Roswell New Mexico didn't seem any different that any of the other towns he'd been in except for one thing. It wasn't a thing, it was a person, and the person was Maria DeLuca.

"Shall I meet you at the station in the morning, Maria?" Michael asked turning around in his seat to face her. He looked at her wide eyes and flawless pale skin, the way she tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Yes, Agent Guerin. I'll be there bright and early and anxious to get started on this."

"Could you do me a favor?" He asked while a grin played across his full lips.

Maria nodded and bit her bottom lip. "What?"

"Could you call me Michael?"


*        *         *

Kyle Valenti dropped Michael off in the parking lot of the station and then escorted Maria to her car. He kissed her and watched her pull out of the lot before following her home. He parked the 4X4 in back of her Miata and got out. She was waiting for him at the door.

"What's up?" He asked cautiously as he approached her.

"It's been a long day, Kyle," she reached for his hand. "I just want to go to bed and wake up and this all be a dream."

"I wish it was sweetie," he led her inside and pulled her close against him. He thought he might have felt some hesitation; but it had been a hard day. Neither of them were acting like themselves. "Why don't you take a hot bath and go to bed. You might feel a little better afterwards."

"I won't feel better until I know who killed Liz," she faced her boyfriend as a tear slipped from her eye. She wiped it away hastily and it wasn't replaced. "Do you think we'll find him? Michael's been following him for two years."

"Michael never had someone like you willing to give it your all to help." Kyle kissed her cheek. "I love you Maria, okay? You're going to be a kick-ass deputy and Agent Guerin is lucky to have you working with him."

Maria nodded and pulled away from him. She walked down the short hallway unbuttoning her shirt. She unpinned her badge and carried it in her palm into the bathroom. She set it on the vanity and smiled then looked in the mirror and gasped. Her eyes were red rimmed with dark circles underneath and she thought she looked washed out.

She stripped down and ran the bath water while sitting on the cool porcelain of the tub. Her mind wandered through the day's events. The knowledge that she'd never be able to reconnect with Liz was the most overpowering. The renewed friendship she had wanted to have with her was nothing but a distant memory now. Maria felt she owed it to Liz and she didn't go back on her debts.

As she slid into the water her thoughts turned to Agent Michael Guerin in his jeans and boots and she shivered under the blanket of warm water. She shook her head and promised herself that the mild physical attraction would pass. He was just something new, something unexpected. Something...Mysterious. She smiled and dunked her head under the water.

*        *         *

Michael walked into the B&B and went straight to his room. He heard talking from the kitchen, but he wasn't in the mood for company. He pushed the door to his room open and his heart nearly seized. On the floor in front of the door was a plain white envelope with his name on it.  A post-it was stuck to the front. He picked it up and read the post-it first: Mr. Guerin, this was in the mailbox for you. Isabel.

He slid the red paper out and took a deep breath before reading.

Agent Guerin.

Wasting your time
Do my eyes deceive?
Playing in forbidden forest
No time to grieve

I thought you were smart
But you proved me wrong
I thought you've have found me
You can see I'm not gone

Tick tock Agent Guerin find your man
Tick tock Agent Guerin I don't think you can

Michael took a deep breath and released it slowly. He put the letter with the rest and stripped down to his boxers. He slid underneath the coolness of the quilt. He couldn't remember the last time he had gone to bed before midnight and now it was barely full dark. He couldn't remember the last time he had laid in bed and thought about a woman who wasn't dead.

*          *           *

Chapter Seven

Kyle waited patiently for Maria's return from her well-deserved bath. He ran his hands through his hair as he paced the bedroom in blue striped pajama bottoms. His thoughts lingered on the deputizing of Maria. She was bright and she'd make a hell of a good deputy; hell, she'd make a good sheriff. Kyle laughed to himself and wondered if he should worry about his job.

He walked around the side of the queen-sized bed and pulled down the floral print comforter. He sighed and sat on the edge of the mattress. It had been a very long day. His friend was dead. A girl he had dated in high school was dead. Dead by the hands of a serial killer. He shook his head and began to pace again. Kyle Valenti was never much of a pacer before but now it seemed like the only thing he could do. There was so much going on and none of it was good. There was a serial killer running loose in Roswell.

Now there was this Fed to work with. Kyle had some misgivings about Agent Michael Guerin; but he couldn't quite put his finger on exactly what it was. He knew for a fact that he didn't like the way that he looked at Maria. He knew she'd tell him he had 'jealous boyfriend syndrome' and laugh it off. Kyle acknowledged the fact that she was probably right. Maria was his girlfriend. They had come together at a time when they each felt they had no one. Kyle still thought of her as the sister she almost was to him sometimes, but he pushed past that for obvious reasons. He knew he was lucky to have her love him; he knew he was lucky to even have her in his life.

The click of the bathroom door opening caused him to turn around quickly and even reach for his nonexistent gun. He let out a deep breath at the vision in front of him. Maria stood in the doorway, a towel around her, her wet hair combed straight and dripping onto her shoulders. Her hands were on her hips and a playful smile on her lips.

"Whatcha going to do Sheriff Valenti? Shoot me with your finger?"

Kyle laughed and felt some of his tension slide away. "I was in my own world, sorry." He stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He felt the tension rush through her and closed his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Everything's wrong Kyle," She pushed away from him. "There is nothing right about anything anymore."

Kyle took a deep breath and nodded. "I know…"

She shook her head and walked to the bureau. She rummaged through the top drawer and pulled put a black slip nightgown. She dropped the towel and slid the silky material over her head before she turned back to face Kyle.  "I can't believe this is happening. It all seems so surreal. I mean, a few days ago Liz was living her happy Liz-life and apparently engaged to her high school sweetheart and all was good in Roswell. And now, she's lying dead on a table. Cold. Alone. Gone."

"I know…"

"Yeah, that's about all I can think of to say too. I know." She laughed bitterly. "It was Liz Parker, Kyle! Liz. God, she is, no, she was the most innocent person in the world. Never liked confrontation, never liked arguments and never liked anything bad. God, why her? Why'd he kill her?" Maria's voice had been steadily rising and Kyle stepped to her and took her in his arms.

"It's not fair." He whispered in her ear.

"Damn straight it's not fair!" Maria pushed away from him again. "I'll find out what happened to her, Kyle, you know I will. I don't care if I have to pull Mr. Agent Man around this town by a fucking leash. If he can't hold up his end of the investigation, I'll drop him like yesterday's news. He may be with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but this is my town and Liz was my friend!"

Kyle felt the smile coming and tried to hide it. He wasn't laughing at her; he was smiling because this was the Maria that he had fallen in love with. The one who didn't take 'no' for an answer. The one he admired. At that precise moment he knew Maria DeLuca would find out who killed Liz Parker and the others; there was not a doubt in his mind.

He led her by the hand towards the bed and pushed her back gently on the mattress. He noticed the apprehension lines cross through her flawless face and recognized the look. Not tonight. Kyle damned himself for even thinking of the possibility. He looked apologetically at her.

"Maria…"

"I can't, okay?" She slid underneath the blankets and pulled them up under her chin. "That is the last thing on my mind tonight. I couldn't even…God! I can't get any of this out of my head. All I can see in my mind is Liz."

Kyle nodded and got into bed next to her. "I know sweetheart." He wrapped an arm around her and she rested her head on his chest. He felt the rivulets of water from her hair trickle down his side. He shivered and wondered if the coldness from her hair was a foreshadow of the future. It wasn't like him to think so abstract and that bothered him. There had never been anything cold between them; but the iciness that was coursing through him right now made him think that all could change in an instant.

Without missing a beat he thought about Agent Guerin and wondered.

*        *         *

Michael Guerin woke up in a sweat a little past two in the morning. He threw the quilt off of him and sat up running his hands though his damp hair. He took a few deep breaths and tried to control his racing heart.

[i]Wasting your time
Do my eyes deceive?
Playing in forbidden forest
No time to grieve[/i]

Michael turned on the bedside lamp and closed his eyes. Forbidden forest. Forbidden forest. No time to grieve. He shook his head and tried to make sense of the last letter. It had come closer to the murder than the other ones had. He wondered if his killer was nearing a turning point or possibly an end. All the taunting over the last two years had driven Michael's self-esteem down to sometimes barely existent. He was always one step ahead of Michael. He knew his every move and banked on them. The killer seemed to be inside of Michael's own psyche at some points.  

Forbidden forest. Michael got out of bed and slipped on the jeans from earlier. He put his boots back on and sat on the edge of the bed. Forbidden forest. Michael shook his head. Forest. There had been no forest tonight; there was no forest in Roswell. He had been on the rocky bank of Blackwater Draw with Sheriff Kyle Valenti and new Deputy Maria DeLuca. Maria. Forbidden? Michael shook his head and knew then that he was trying to make the letter fit into the program. There was nothing forbidden about finding Maria attractive. And even if there was, how in the fuck could this killer read Michael's mind?

Wasting your time. Michael stood and looked in the mirror over the dresser. He met his eyes and wondered what to do next. Wasting your time. Michael didn't know if he was wasting his time by looking at the crime scene, he had already known there wouldn't be anything there. Wasting his time in Roswell? Should he pack up and stay mobile for the next kill? Was it almost over? Would there be another kill?

[i]Tick tock Agent Guerin find your man
Tick tock Agent Guerin I don't think you can [/i]

Tick tock. Time's running out. Michael swore and walked from his room. He crept down the steps towards the front door thinking a walk might be the answer, when he heard rustling and a woman swearing coming from the kitchen. He pushed the swinging door in and saw his hostess, Isabel Whitman, cleaning up spilled coffee on the kitchen table.

"Hi," he said quietly and cringed when he still elicited a startled yelp from her. "Sorry." He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a towel to help her clean up the mess.

Isabel smiled at him. "I couldn't sleep." >
Michael nodded. "I woke up."

"Coffee?" She offered and Michael nodded taking a seat at the table. He became very aware of his near nakedness, but he imagined Isabel had other things on her mind besides his lack of table manners. She poured him a cup and set it down in front of him then sat down across the table. "So, you're here to find out who killed Liz."

Michael nodded and sipped the coffee. There was a slight hazelnut aftertaste. "Yes."

"She was going to get married to my brother," Isabel looked at him through bloodshot eyes and tear soaked lashes. "There's no one that would want to kill Liz. Everyone loved Liz." She smiled. "Was this random?"

Michael weighed her question and thought about the truth and the lies. Random? Sure, it was kind of random. There was some type of method to the killer's madness; Michael just couldn't figure it out yet. "I don't know for sure." He ran his hands through his hair. "If you can think of anything…"

"You'll be the first to know," Isabel smiled. "Will you be working with Kyle on this or do you have more FBI guys in the shadows?"

Michael pursed his lips into a smile. Small town means gossip travels fast. "Actually, I believe I'll be working with his deputy, Maria."

"Maria!" Isabel nearly spit out a mouthful of coffee. "A deputy?"

Michael nodded and couldn't help smiling back at Isabel's incredulous expression. "She was deputized today…"

Isabel nodded. "Good. She's very bright Agent Guerin."

Michael nodded and sipped his coffee. He knew she was bright. He also knew she was beautiful.

*        *         *

She felt his hand on her bare breasts. Manicured fingers toying with her taught nipples. Her back arched towards him, one of his hands sliding underneath the small of her back pulling her closer to him. His smooth chest pressed against hers, crushing her breasts. She licked her lips and watched as he mirrored her movements.

She felt her legs being spread apart and a sensation of something new and mystifying course through her. Unfamiliar hands prying her apart and sliding inside. Tracing places on her that not many had before. She arched her back further and felt his mouth on her neck, full lips suckling the tenderness of soft skin while his fingers dove deeper inside of her.

She smiled at him and pushed the hair out of his eyes. The pain was next, she looked around and saw and felt the rocks underneath them. The bank of Blackwater Draw. The crime scene tape was above them flapping in the sudden breeze. She looked to him and he was hovering above her, smiling. She reached for him and then he was gone, leaving her naked, alone and in the exact same place as Liz Parker's body had been found.

Maria sat up with her eyes wide and looked to the sleeping figure of Kyle next to her and let out a deep breath. She pushed the overheating blankets off of her and laid back down wondering why in the hell she was having sexual dreams about Agent Michael Guerin. She turned away from Kyle and smiled.

*        *          *

Chapter Eight


Maria DeLuca was up before dawn. Images from her dreams about Agent Guerin were pushed severely back in her mind. It was just a dream, she told herself that over and over while getting dressed. She dressed in jeans, boots and a T-shirt with a denim long sleeve shirt tied around her waist. She then woke Kyle up with a kiss to the forehead.

"Time?" He mumbled without opening his eyes.

"Five-thirty."

He mumbled something unintelligible and flung the blankets off. "Why so early?"

"Two reasons," she sat next to him and ran her hand over his naked chest. "First because you're issuing me a gun today, yea! Secondly, I want to get a jump on setting up the war room."

"The war room," he repeated and yawned. "Are you really going to call it that?"

"Well, yeah," she raised her eyebrows. "That's what it is, right? Isn't that what they're always called in the books and movies?"

"I guess, but there's only going to be the two of you working on this. It's hardly a war room, more like half a street-gang room."

She rolled her eyes and then it dawned on her exactly what he had said. "You're not going to be there?" She asked as something electric shot through her system. "You are the sheriff."

"And you are the deputy, which means I tell you what to do and you do it." He smiled. "You and the Fed are working on this. You'll give it everything you have and I'll keep the streets of Roswell safe from harm."

Maria nodded and absently wondered how Agent Guerin would be dressed for their first investigation related meeting. Not that it mattered. She cursed herself for even thinking about Michael Guerin while she was sitting on the bed she shared with her boyfriend. She felt like a betrayer; but the only betrayer was the Maria from her dreams. So far.

She watched as Kyle got out of bed, backed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She stood in front of the mirror and checked her eye makeup again. She normally didn't wear eye makeup to work, but today was different. Today she was going to be working side by side with Agent Michael Guerin. Man of mystery.

After tucking every last hair into place she wandered to the living room and then outside for the paper. The headline announcing Liz's death glared at her. She felt sick, having almost forgotten the reason for all the recent events and encounters. Liz was dead. She bit back angry tears and vowed to herself that she wouldn't let this cowardly killer get the best of her.

She ambled back in the house and threw the paper away. Kyle joined her in the kitchen in uniform with wet hair. "So, you're not going to even wear a uniform shirt at least anymore?"

Maria shrugged. "I look horrible in the uniforms, you now that. I thought that now I was some big heap deputy working on the big case I could slide on the uniform rules."

"You always slide on the uniform rules," he laughed and turned on the coffee maker. "You slide on all the rules."

She smiled over her shoulder at him and saw him for the Kyle he used to be. Not the Kyle she shared a home and bed with. Not the Kyle she told she loved everyday. The Kyle she knew in high school. The son of her mother's boyfriend. The almost brother-figure. The chill of distance swept through her so quickly and so coldly she rubbed her arms to ward off the goosebumps.

"So, you ready to go?" She asked still rubbing her bare arms.

"I just turned on the coffee maker," Kyle nodded towards it and then sighed and flipped it off. "I know you're anxious, but it's going to be a hard day." He took a deep breath. "Liz's body. Today."

Maria nodded; she had forgotten. In all the confusion, excitement and wonder of the day before her she had forgotten about seeing her dead friends body. "Oh. Shit. Will you be there?"

Kyle nodded and outstretched his arms to her, enveloping her when she came to him. "I'll be there. You don't have to go…"

"Yeah, I do." She broke away and grabbed her purse. "C'mon, let's get going and get this over with. Agent Michael will be there soon, I'm sure." She walked out the front door and got in the front seat of the 4X4 before she realized she called him Agent Michael. She giggled to herself before Kyle got in the vehicle.

*        *         *

Michael Guerin paced the hallway outside of the Sheriff's office. He had been there for almost an hour. After his late night conversation with Isabel Whitman, he had stayed up and went through his case notes, again. He mused with the idea that Maria had put in his head that he had missed something. There was nothing to miss. There was nothing. He didn't know much about Elizabeth Parker yet, but he was confident it would be the same as the others, no link.

His brow furrowed as he remembered something about victim number four, her name was Betsey Randolph. Betsey was short for Elizabeth. A link or a stretch? He shook his head and was pretty confident it was a stretch. Betsey Randolph never went by Elizabeth and apparently Elizabeth Parker always went by Liz. Coincidence? He nodded to himself; the world was full of coincidences.

Michael stood facing the wall when he heard footsteps. At the same time he smelled jasmine. Maria. He turned around smiling, his smile dropped at the image of Maria and the Sheriff holding hands.

"Good morning," he said politely as the jasmine neared him. He inhaled deeply and wondered if she always smelled like jasmine. He almost liked to think it was just for him.

"Not really," Maria snipped at him. "I have to go see my dead friend. Nothing good about that, is there?" She turned from him wondering why she was being such a bitch. Technically he had done nothing to her to make her snap at him. A simple good morning was all he offered. "Sorry."

Michael nodded at her and felt her pain. It was never a good morning when you had to visit the dead.

The trio walked from the station and piled into the 4X4. Michael waited patiently for Maria to lean over the seat as before so he could smell her and then chastised himself for the thoughts. There was too much working against him. Maria was the sheriff's girlfriend. Her friend was just killed. She wouldn't want him.

"Did you bring your files?" Maria leaned over the seat and noticed as Michael closed his eyes. "Hello?"

"I brought the files. They're at the station." He opened his eyes and looked at her. He felt a sharp intake of breath as he met her gaze. "For you."

Maria nodded and slid back into the backseat. The short drive to the medical examiner's office seemed to take forever. Maria bit at her manicured nails; her thoughts trying to drift anywhere except on what she was about to see. Kyle pulled up in the driveway and they all walked inside. They were met by the ME's assistant, Larry, and led into a cold, sterile room. Two sides of the room were home to giant freezer doors. Cadaver freezers.  

Maria's knees felt weak and she reached out trying to find Kyle's arm or support. Kyle took her by the elbow and steadied her after asking her if she wanted to wait outside. Maria declined and eventually was on her own by the time the ME came in.

Dr. Martin Gruff had been a senior in high school when Kyle and Maria were freshmen at West Roswell High; back then he was Marty Gruff. Sometimes he was Marty 'the crime dog' Gruff. He had been the county's ME for almost a year.

He nodded hellos to Kyle and Maria and was introduced to Agent Guerin with whom he shook hands.

"It's a real shame about Liz," Martin walked towards the freezer door. He opened the steel door and went inside. He vanished for a few seconds then returned pushing a gurney in front of him with the sheet covered body of Liz Parker on top. He pushed the gurney in front of the threesome and pulled the sheet back exposing Liz Parker's pretty dead face. He pointed to her neck as he spoke. "See the discoloring of the neck and her lower face? That's caused by the occluding of blood vessels. In other words, the scarf that was used, think of it as a stopper. The force of the ligature caused the blood vessels to congest. The bruising around her neck," he pointed to a dark purple bruise about the size of a quarter," like that one were caused by the perpetrator. Probably a thumb, in my opinion. He used force on her and that caused the fracturing of her hyoid bone."

"The what?" Kyle asked and then coughed nervously.

"The hyoid bone is a small bone at the base of the tongue, its also called thyroid cartilage. At first I assumed she had been in the water, but upon further examination, I believe she was just left by the water. There was no evidence of sand or weeds in her mouth or nose. She was left on the bank already dead."

"Twelve hours before she was found?" Agent Guerin asked staring at the dead woman's face.

"Right around twelve. I thought eight to twelve, but when we got back here she had total rigor mortis. Twelve hours, give or take a few minutes." Martin shrugged.

"Are you doing an autopsy?" Michael asked and heard the heavy breath of Maria beside him.

"No," Martin shook his head. "No reason too. The cause of death is obvious. Death by manual ligature strangulation. The family wants her body released as soon as possible so they can hold the funeral." He looked at Maria and cocked his head to one side. "You two were friends, right?"

Maria nodded slowly and looked at Liz's face. It wasn't Liz anymore. It was just a shell of what Liz used to be. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before turning on her heels and leaving the room.

"Thanks Marty," Kyle nodded at the ME. "Unless Agent Guerin has any reason, I don't see why you can't release the body to the family."

"Go ahead," Michael nodded and leaned in to Liz's lifeless face. "Don't worry Liz, you're one of mine now and I promise you I'll find the bastard. I don't care if it's the last thing I do," he whispered and then covered her face up with the sheet. "Release her. Let her family start with some closure."

*        *         *

Chapter Nine

Maria was leaning against the side of the building taking deep breaths when Kyle and Michael came back outside. She was fighting back the crying and it was killing her. The vision of her dead friend would haunt her until she took her own last breath.

"Sweetie," Kyle took her in his arms.

Michael watched with agony and a tinge of jealousy. He knew how hard it was to see someone you loved dead on a table; although he thought she was handling it better than could be expected. The jealousy came from watching Kyle wrap his arms around her body and hold her close. Watching her wrap her arms around his waist and laying her head on his shoulder. He stood awkwardly and looked at his feet unable to face the couple in front of him.

"I have to go back in," Maria broke away from Kyle and looked at the door.

"For what?" Kyle asked wondering if she had forgotten anything.

"I have to tell Liz something." She cast her eyes in Michael's direction only for a moment. "I have to make her a promise."

"A promise…" Kyle said slowly knowing full well that the last thing Maria needed to do was to see Liz again. Not like that.

"I have to promise her I'll find out who did this to her and make him pay!" She stood up straight and put her hands on her hips.

"I already made that promise," Michael stepped towards her and spoke in softer tones. "I told her Maria. She knows it comes from you, that's not Liz in there. You don't have to see her that way again."

"But she…" Maria nodded and knew he was right. That wasn't Liz, Liz was gone. "Did you really tell her that?"

Michael nodded and smiled. Not a joyous one, but one that let her know he was telling the truth. He didn't think he'd ever be able to hide anything from Maria. From this woman he just met. This beautiful woman who smelled like jasmine.

"Thank you then Agent Michael," Maria blushed. "Sorry…"

"Agent Michael," he pursed his lips and ran a hand through his hair. "I kind of like it. It sounds like I should be on Sesame Street, but I like it."

"I am so sorry!" Maria giggled and it felt good. Anything beyond the stench of death was good. "Seriously thank you."

"She's one of mine now. Liz is," Michael exhaled and met her eyes. He had a moment where he was sure everything he was feeling was conveyed through his eyes so he quickly shut them.

"Ready to go set up the war room?" Maria asked and looked back and forth between the two men.

"The war room," Michael opened his eyes and smiled.

"Yes, the war room." She looked between the two men. "What is the problem with me calling it the war room?"

"It just sounds like this should be a big operation and it's not. It's the two of you," Kyle slid sunglasses on and watched the pair in front of him hidden behind the dark lenses.

"Why is it like that Michael?" Maria swung around to face him. "Why aren't there more agents down here if you're pursuing a serial killer. Why is it just you?"

"Because it has to be only me," Michael took a deep breath and wished he'd thought to bring sunglasses. "That's part of the rules."

"Rules?" Maria repeated and looked at Kyle for help. Kyle shrugged and they both waited for Agent Guerin to continue.

"That's the way he wants it. If I don't play by the rules it'll be worse." Michael ran a hand through his hair. "The Bureau can't be involved except for me. If anyone helps, they have to be local law enforcement."

"How do you know? Did he call you and tell you?" Maria held her hands out in front of her.

Michael shook his head and wondered why none of the other officials from other towns ever asked. "He wrote me a letter." He nodded, there, he did it. He told them about the letters, well, one letter.

"Can I read it?" Maria asked and stepped closer to him. "Will it be in the file?"

Michael nodded and wished she wasn't so close. The smell of jasmine was overloading his senses. He knew he couldn't be thinking about Maria the way he was but there was something about her.

"Let's go, I wanna get this set up so I can read the letter and review your files. Has he been profiled?"

Michael nodded again and knew if anyone could help track down this bastard that it was Maria DeLuca.  

"Good, let's go Kyle." She looked to her boyfriend and wished he'd take off the sunglasses, the sun was barely up. She didn't like not seeing the eyes of the person she was talking to. Too much was said with the eyes. She walked to the 4X4 and got in the backseat; the men followed.

As they arrived at the station Kyle was called away on a breaking and entering leaving Maria and Michael alone in the empty room close to Kyle's office. The room wasn't much. Four blank walls, two tables and a computer. Maria smiled knowing Kyle must have had the computer brought it for her and the room cleaned out; normally the room was a catchall for unused furniture.

"So this is the war room," Michael hid a smile and sauntered around nodding. "This is great."

"It will be fine," Maria spun around and saw the room how she wanted it to be. She saw maps and pictures on the walls, a bank of phones, files scattered around one of the tables and her and Michael in the thick of it. Together. Staying up all night reviewing and trying to find a connection to the victims. Staying up all night eating take-out. Staying up all night. Period. "Where's the stuff? Your stuff."

"My car," he jingled keys. He turned and walked out of the room and was surprised to hear footsteps behind him. He turned around as Maria slammed into him. "I'm sorry!"

"Oh God," she laughed.

Her laugh. She had a beautiful laugh. Michael knew she would have to have a beautiful laugh to go along with the rest of her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she smiled. "We have to quit running into each other like this. I was coming to help you, you have more than a little box, right?"

"I do," he turned away while a smile danced on his full lips. "C'mon, I'll let you carry the light stuff."

Maria followed him to the sedan outside and stood next to him as he opened the trunk. "Holy shit, that's a lot crammed in there."

"I didn't take it all out at the B&B, this is how I travel."

"From town to town."

"From victim to victim."

Maria nodded and reached for a box. She stacked a few folders on top of it and made her way back inside. Michael carried a laptop and a few boxes and followed her. He was slightly upset that she was already inside the building by the time he started to follow. Watching Maria walk up the steps was sounding like a very good idea.

A few more trips outside by each and the war room was beginning to resemble its namesake. Maria went to work organizing and plugging in the three laptops Michael had brought in. She left the boxes that had the word 'victims' in black marker on them. She had a feeling those were the ones that Michael would want to handle first. They were his.

After a little over an hour of setting up Maria stood back and clapped. The room was how she pictured it. After hauling in a couple dry erase boards and with Michael's help, hanging them on the walls, Maria was ready to begin her investigation. Her investigation into the murders and into Michael Guerin.

"So, what now?" She asked Michael. "I don't know where to start."

"Here," he tapped a box in front of him. He pulled out a rolled map of the United States and thumbtacked it to one of the still bare walls. "A map of the crimes."

Maria studied the map. Eleven states and eleven dead women. She shivered and rubbed her bare arms. "They're all so spread out. He wasn't even traveling in any kind of order."

"I know," Michael ran a hand through his hair and caught Maria watching him.
"What?"

"Are you going to do that all the time?" She mimicked his habit.

"Sorry," a sideways smile played on his lips. "I'll try to stop."

She nodded and went back to the map. Michael stepped closer to her and inhaled her scent. The scent he hoped he'd be able to remember when he left her. A scent he was falling for.

"Okay, so, let me see your stuff." Maria nodded towards the 'victims' boxes. "Start with number one and let me see them. I want to know them as you do."

You'll never know them as well as I do, he thought as he took the top of the first box. He pulled a file out and set it on the table in front of the fair-haired woman who smelled like jasmine. This was the thickest of the folders and the one that Michael dreaded the most. This was Lorelei Govern.

"Lorelei, pretty name." Maria traced the name with her finger and opened the folder. The first thing she saw was a beautiful woman with chestnut colored hair staring back at her. "She was beautiful…"

Michael nodded and tried to forget the way he told Lorelei that daily. He tried to forget that he had been in love with her. He tried to forget the pain. He watched as Maria drank in the image of Lorelei. Two women so different they could have been from different worlds. Two women that Michael Guerin had fallen for.

Maria read the case notes and started to jot down questions on the legal pad next to her. Michael smiled and couldn't wait to hear what she would ask. He briefly thought about telling her about his relationship with Lorelei; then decided against it. Not now. It was too soon.

Maria spent the next few hours on Lorelei and planned on spending several more. She wanted to know them as Michael had. She wanted to know everything about them. The only one she wouldn't have to learn about was Liz. All of this was for Liz.

The page in Maria's hand slipped through her finger and both of them reached for it. They missed the page and got each other. Fingers interlocking, their eyes met and something new was being formed.

*        *         *

Kyle Valenti had been watching through the cracked open door for a few minutes when he saw the interchange between the Fed and his girlfriend. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

"Not like this, Valenti." He whispered to himself as he walked towards his office. "Not like this."

*        *         *

Chapter Ten

"Sorry," Maria drew her hand back and prayed she wasn't blushing. She picked the paper up from the floor and counted to three before she looked up again. Michael had turned away from her and was running his hands through his hair. She watched as his shoulders went up and down. She smiled knowing he was taking long breaths. She sat at the table and fingered the paper in her hand; the one that had fallen to the floor.  A few words at the bottom caught her eye and then they caught her breath.

[i]The v. Lorelei Govern was discovered by her live-in boyfriend, FBI agent Michael Guerin of the Seattle office.[/i]

Maria read it over and over. Scribbled at the bottom on the back of the page of crime scene data, almost as an afterthought. Michael Guerin had been the first victim's boyfriend. She got chills and looked at the back of a man she barely knew at all and now felt like she knew him less than that.

"She was your girlfriend." Maria said quietly and saw the rising shoulder's tense.
"Why didn't you tell me."

"I would have," he said softly towards the wall. "I was going to."

"When?" She stood and walked around to face him. "When were you going to lay that little bit of information down? Why the secrecy?"

Michael met her eyes and shook his head, but he was unable to break her gaze. He didn't see anything but sympathy in her eyes and it made his knees weak. The thoughts of finally having someone to share his grief with were torn. He wanted to unload on her and tell her all the things he's gone through thinking of Lorelei over the last two years. On the other hand he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her. He wanted to tell her thank you for stepping into his life. He wanted to hug her and tell her he hasn't felt this alive since Lorelei.

"Michael?"

"I was going to tell you tonight after you got done reading about her," he motioned to the paper in her hand. "I forgot about the note on the back," he shook his head. "No one else has read all of this with as much attentiveness as you."

"Yeah, well, I'm an attentive kind of girl." Maria smiled. "So, why didn't you tell me?"

"I haven't told anyone. Not after Lorelei's murder." Michael took a deep breath. "All the agents I worked with knew of course and so did the task force set up afterwards, but no one else. Not until you."
>Maria swallowed hard. They did have something in common. Two people they loved were murdered by the same bastard. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

"Don't be sorry," his face relaxed into a slight smile. "I'm glad I can finally tell someone. Well, that someone found out."

"This is why it's you? Because of Lorelei? Because she was the first?" Maria wanted to ask a million questions at once but thought three was sufficient for now.

He nodded and exhaled deeply. "I received a letter right after she was killed."

"The one telling you the rules?"

"No," he shook his head. "One that was personally to me. It arrived at the hotel I was staying at, I couldn't stay… " He walked to the table and looked inside a box. He pulled out the mailing envelope that he kept all the letters in. He slid his hand in and pulled out the first one on top. That one was always on top. He hesitated, then handed it to her but didn't let go. He met her eyes; "you're the only other person to read it besides me." He let go and rested his backside against the table.

Maria held the letter in her hand and studied the writing on the envelope. She fought off the shivers and eventually slid the letter out. She read the words that had haunted Michael for two years.

Agent Guerin.

She was an angel
Tried and true
You lost her to the devil
Now what to do?

More will follow
Is that a dare?
How will I vanish?
Into thin air.

Agent Guerin can you find me?
Agent Guerin can you care?

She read it through several times before the inevitable goosebumps appeared on her arms. "He knew her." She didn't ask, she stated.

"I think so," Michael nodded and felt a prickle of excitement.

"He did," she nodded in complete agreement with herself. "Was she an angel?"

"She was," Michael knew he had that misty-eyed look people got when they talked about past loves. "She was an absolute angel." He shook his head slightly knowing he was speaking the truth, Lorelei Govern was indeed an angel, now.

"He was baiting you, with this letter, he said 'more will follow'. He knew damn well more would follow." Maria shook the letter. "He said he's going to vanish into thin air. 'Agent Guerin can you care?' I think he was asking you if you could care about anything after Lorelei." Maria was glad that bit was in the letter. Now that she knew more about the man in front of her, she was curious about that too. Was he able to care about anyone or anything after what happened to Lorelei?

"I can care," Michael slid his hands into his pockets and bowed his head. He looked at Maria through the tops of his eyes. "I do care, Maria."

"Good." She tried to smile and thought she succeeded. "Now show me what else you have. Is that envelope full of letters? Does he stay in contact with you?" She asked as the realization dawned on her. "Holy shit! He does."

Michael nodded. "He sends me letters. After each murder, always. Some more come in-between."

Maria put her hand to her mouth. "May I…?"

"After you meet them," he nodded to the victim boxes. "After you meet them, then we'll go over the letters. One at a time. I want you to know them as well as I do. Maybe you really can see something that I couldn't." He shrugged.

Maria relented. "May I see the one with the rules?"

Michael nodded and smiled and reached back in the mailing envelope. It was second on the pile. Michael thought how sometimes he couldn't find two socks that matched but here he kept the letters in chronological order. A memorized order. He handed it to her and took the first one back. He didn't read it this time. He wasn't feeling the urge like he had so many times before. He didn't have to.

Maria read the letter, her brow furrowed.

Agent Guerin.

Stay alone on your venture
Blood on your hands
More is now promised
Meet my demands.

Locals can help
But they won't succeed
You've already lost
The one that you need.

Agent Guerin make this your mission.
Agent Guerin do it alone.

"Wow, these are rules to follow." Maria shook her head and handed him back the letter. "Have you done what he told you? Local help only?"

"Ever since Lorelei." Michael cocked his head to one side as he was slammed with an epiphany. That was the first time he had said her name and not felt the deep down sting of pain. There was still pain but somehow in the last few minutes Lorelei Govern had slid from deceased girlfriend, love of his life, to victim number one. Michael Guerin actually felt like he was getting past the heartache. He sensed Maria DeLuca was the force behind the epiphany and yet, she was unavailable.

"Maria?" Kyle's voice from the doorway caused both Michael and Maria to jump. "You about ready to wrap this up tonight?"

"Uh…" Maria stuttered and looked to Michael for help. He nodded at her. "I guess so."

"Liz's funeral is tomorrow afternoon, Isabel just called." Kyle ambled into the room and looked around. "You really did make this into a war room, didn't you?"

"Pretty much," Maria walked over to him and hugged him. "Thanks for your help."

He kissed the corner of her mouth and made sure Michael was watching. "No problem." He pointed to an empty spot on the wall. "You know you left some room over there."

"That's for the pictures of the victims." Maria said dully. "They'll each have their own spot."

Kyle nodded and took Maria's hand. "Guerin, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Michael nodded and watched as Kyle led Maria from the room. He didn't know if he had a longing expression as he watched them walk away; he hoped the smile was more evident when he saw Maria smile over her shoulder at him.

*        *       ;  *

She lathered her chest and tried to put the day's events behind her. She realized she had said almost the same thing the night before and hoped it wasn't going to start to be a habit.

The heat from the shower felt wonderful on her skin. The suds from the smelly tea tree body wash almost delivered what it promised: peace. She inhaled the aroma and her thoughts drifted to Michael Guerin. His girlfriend was the first one killed by the maniac she was going to catch. He was so deep in this she didn't think he would ever be able to come up for air. She had caught on to the way he talked about Lorelei and was almost jealous.

A hand on her shoulder made her shout. She swung around as Kyle was stepping over into the bathtub. She instinctively covered herself. "What are you doing?"

"I thought we might conserve water," he smiled wickedly and reached for her pulling her wet lathered body against his barely damp one. He leaned into her and kissed her prying her mouth open with his tongue. He felt the hesitation but tried to ignore it. He couldn't ignore it any longer when the hesitation turned into hands pushing him away. "What's wrong?"

"Kyle…I just don't feel right about this." She shrugged. "I mean, all this bad going on and I don't know if I can feel happy about anything right now."

"Maria…"

"I'm sorry Kyle, Liz is getting buried tomorrow. My friend is going to be put in the ground forever. Having sex with you in the shower is not a high priority for me right now, I'm sorry." She tried to relay her sincere regret but wondered if the truth of uncertainty was shining through.

Kyle nodded and backed away from her. She saw the rejection in his eyes and felt horrible. Kyle hadn't done anything wrong. None of this was his fault. She knew she was being stupid for having any type of feelings for this agent; but she felt like they had a connection. They shared something and it felt right. That wasn't Kyle's fault either. Kyle had always been there for her and now when he apparently needed her, she was refusing him.

"Kyle," she pulled the shower curtain open and watched the bathroom door close. "Damn it!"

Maria got out of the shower and towel dried her hair before walking into the bedroom. She tied a bath towel around her chest and turned off the light. Dropping the towel on the floor she slid under the blankets and curled her naked body against Kyle's. She kissed his shoulder but he didn't turn around to face her. She sighed and stayed where she was. The warmth of his body was what she thought she needed.

"I love you, Maria," he whispered and waited.

"I know." She whispered as unexpected sleep took her away.

*        *         *

Chapter Eleven

The morning brought an unprecedented chill with it. The sky was heavy with dark rain clouds and the air had a crispness to it that wasn't typical for Roswell New Mexico in May.

Maria stood on the front porch hugging herself looking at the sky. The threat of rain was evident. She knew why the unseasonable weather was here today of all days. Today Liz Parker, her friend, was going to be buried. They skies were going to cry for Liz today.

The funeral wasn't until the afternoon and Maria had wanted to get back to the war room early and work with Michael before she went. A phone call from Isabel Whitman changed her mind. She needed to be with her friends today. One of them was gone and now they needed each other. Although they had all gone their separate ways and didn't spend near as much time together as they used to, they were still friends and that was a commodity hard to come by.

"Are you better today?" Kyle asked stepping out on to the porch in back of her. He handed her a steaming cup of coffee turned beige from cream.

She nodded and faced him. "Sorry about last night."

"S'alright." He shrugged and tried to feign disinterest, but Maria knew him too well to believe it.

"Seriously," Maria took his hand. "I'm sorry. There's just too much going on right now and I have to prioritize. You made me a deputy so I could work on the case," she shivered. Liz was now just a case. "Liz. So I could find who did this to Liz and the others." She bit back the knowledge of Michael's relationship to Lorelei Govern; if that was told to her in confidence she wanted to keep it that way. Loyalties were being divided as she stood there holding onto Kyle's hand and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"I know," Kyle sighed. "But I feel like we've drifted so far apart in the last forty-eight hours. Maybe I'm just being selfish…"

Maria agreed with the last statement completely. "When this is over it'll be different Kyle, I promise."

He nodded and looked to the sky. He knew it would be different; but different didn't necessarily mean good. He left her on the porch and retreated back in the house.

"Damn it," she swore into her mug of coffee. She inhaled the rich aroma and then looked to the damning skies for answers. "Help me out here, okay?"

Without receiving an answer of thunder or lightening she went back inside and prepared her funeral clothes. She heard the shower running and thought about the man under the water. It was Kyle. Kyle Valenti. The man who loved her and took care of her. The man who would never hurt her. The man she thought she still loved. Maria knew she'd always love Kyle, but there were too many types of love to classify exactly how she felt.

She shook her head, not today. She didn't want to have any relationship quandaries to worry about today. Today wasn't her day. Today belonged to Liz. She laid out a black dress on the bed with black heels next to it. She listened to the shower as she dressed for a day of mourning. The dress was short and tight with a modest neckline. Black hose and heels finished it off. The shower had turned off while she was dressing but Kyle was still in the bathroom. She pulled her hair up into a loose French roll and put on simple silver earrings. She applied light lipstick and checked herself over in the mirror again.

"You look great," Kyle stepped from the bathroom with a towel around his waist, his wet deep brown hair was parted on the side and he had a clean shaven face. He surveyed his girlfriend and frowned. "I wish we were going out on the town instead of a funeral."

"Me too Kyle, me too." Maria faced him and touched his smooth cheek. The chills she used to get from touching him were all but a distant memory. They had shared so much together but she felt the distance of the last two days as well. She never wanted to break his heart, that would be breaking part of hers too, but she also knew she couldn't keep living the way they were. Soon, she promised herself. Maybe when Liz's murderer was brought to justice, then they could talk.

He nodded and stepped away from her. She watched him get dressed in suit pants and tie. She smiled at the clumsy way he tried to tie his tie in the mirror. She walked behind him and reached over his shoulders and took the silken fabric in her hands. He watched her tie his tie and turned his head to kiss her cheek.

"Thanks sweetie," he turned his body towards her and licked his lips inspecting the lipstick she had just applied to her own. He went for the corner of her mouth instead and felt a wave of relief rush through him when she kissed him back.

*        *         *

Maria and Kyle walked hand in hand into the Whitman's B&B. Isabel and Alex were waiting in the sitting room, both stood and hugged the new arrivals. Tear stained faces blared out at Maria as a ping of guilt invaded her. She couldn't cry. Not anymore. Her new role, her new profession, stood in her way of tears. There was always time to cry later. Today, she wanted to be on alert. She wanted to comfort her friends and make them promises. She wanted to be the strong one and tell them everything was going to be okay. She wanted to hug Liz and tell her she missed her.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked tentatively and Maria nodded. "You're right in the middle of this, it must be so hard…"

Maria nodded. "It is, but we'll find out who killed her."

"Promise?" Isabel asked softly, standing next to her husband holding his hand. "For Max. He's…He's in bad shape."

"Is he here?" Kyle asked.

Isabel shook her head. "No, he's with the Parkers."

"How are they?" Maria asked and damned herself for not taking time out to visit Liz's parents. A couple she once thought of as her adopted parents when her and Liz were younger. "Should I go…?"

Alex shook his head. "No, it's bad over there."

Maria knew he was thinking the same thing she was. She walked into the siting room and sat on the couch; Kyle joined her and held her hand. Alex brought in coffee and the four old friends talked about Liz Parker. They were finally able to smile in the face of death remembering all the things they'd shared together with Liz. All the fun times of grade school and high school. Then they were able to laugh. A last laugh before the funeral.

*        *         *

Michael Guerin arrived at the church as the first mourners were already seated. Not knowing Liz Parker, he felt obligated to stay in the back. He scanned the crowd and felt their pain. From the elderly to the young, Liz was a favorite friend, student and member of society. He couldn't even group all of his victims into that category. Some were not outstanding members of their community, some only had a handful of friends and family attend their funeral services. There was still nothing to tie them together.

He felt the urge to run his hand through his hair remembering he had slicked it back for the occasion. His black designer suit and white button-down shirt were beginning to bother him. He had dubbed it the 'funeral suit'. Those were the only times he had worn it in two years. Eleven times in two years he had worn the suit to attend the aftermath of a wicked evil.

Eleven women too young to die. Eleven women ripped from their families on the whim of a mad man. He watched the steady stream of people file in taking notice of each person. He saw Isabel and Alex Whitman and held his breath. The sheriff and Maria DeLuca followed them in.

Michael watched Maria walk down the aisle of the chapel; his gaze never wavering. Her walk had him captivated. He almost thought he could smell the jasmine. He watched her sit down and take her place in-between Kyle and Isabel. He felt his heart racing with an excitement he never thought, or even wanted to, feel again. There was something about her. Something that was making his deadened senses wake up.

He stared through the crowds at the back of her head, when she turned around and smiled at him he felt like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He looked down away from her smile and shook his head. The feelings of wanting to take her in his arms and smother her with kisses were overwhelming and he still didn't know exactly where they were coming from. She hadn't given him a sign; she hadn't said anything to him to make these feelings arise. They were there on their own accord. All for a woman, a living woman, who wasn't available. Evidence of that sat next to her on the pew.

Maybe it was because of her 'never say die' attitude. Maybe it was because of the way she dove right in and already knew more in one day than all the other local law officers combined. Maybe it was because of her attentiveness to detail and devotion to find the man who killed her friend. Maybe it was because she smelled like jasmine.

Thinking about Maria was probably not the best idea in the world right now, he decided as the boyfriend, Max Evans, walked down the aisle flanked by the Parkers on wither side. Michael watched their pain and heartache and mourned with them. He saw the anger on Max's face and understood. He still had to talk to them all, but not for a few days. He wanted to learn about Liz, but he didn't want to put any more strain on the family. He'd tried that once and the result was still a painful memory.

Liz's minister gave the eulogy and the weeping was heard throughout. There were no other speakers; sometimes the sorrow and grief were more overpowering than words.
The service lasted almost an hour and the burial was going to be private, family only.  Michael knew the sadness wouldn't diminish in a day or two, but that was as long as he could wait. This time he did have help with the family. He had Maria. He watched the mourners follow the casket out of the church. His eyes met with Maria's and locked.

He took a few shallow breaths as she passed by his row. He waited until the last of the people passed before standing and following the group outside. An angry outburst from the lawn in front of the church caught his attention as well as everyone else's. Max Evans was pointing in Maria's face. Michael stood almost twenty yards away and could feel the anger rippling off of Max. He made his way through the crowd and stood behind Maria next to Isabel. Isabel was paling. He looked around and Kyle was no where to be found.

"You were not her friend!" Max yelled.

"Yes I was," Maria replied calmly and stepped away from the offending finger.

"If you were her friend you would have known we were engaged! If you were her friend…" Tears spilled down his face. "Now you're all high and mighty walking around with that stupid fucking badge and playing detective! You should be crying for her, Maria. You would be crying if you were her friend!"

Maria took a deep breath. "Max, I was her friend and I'm your friend too-"

"The fuck you are!" A bitter laugh came through the sobs. "You don't care, Maria."

"Because I'm not crying? Is that why?" Maria asked quietly completely aware of the stillness of the crowd around them. She glanced to her side looking for Kyle and came up empty.  Damn, where was he?

Max couldn't answer her; the obvious pull of grief was weighing him down.

"I'm working to find out who did this to her and make him pay, Max. That's what I'm doing with my stupid fucking badge. I'm trying to make sure her death will be avenged."

"You're not a super hero, you're not a super anything." Max met her eyes. "She missed you Maria and you never even cared."

Maria felt the sting of tears and looked for salvation. Guilt ravaged her soul. "I'll find him, Max."

He shrugged and looked at the hearse that had pulled up along side the lawn. "She's in there. She's never coming back."

"I'm sorry," Maria reached to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. He swung around and knocked her hand off of him.

"Don't touch me. Don't ever touch me." He walked away towards the hearse leaving Maria in the spotlight alone. Embarrassed and ashamed.

She turned around slowly and saw Michael. Without hesitation she walked to him and fell into his arms. The tears she thought were gone for good flowed from her eyes and soaked his funeral suit.

He didn't care about the suit; he held her against him and let her cry. "He's angry Maria. People say a lot of things in anger they don't mean and aren't true."

She looked up at him felt her heart race. She nodded and laid her head back against his chest.
*        *          *

Chapter Twelve

Michael held her against him and smelled jasmine.

"What's going on?" Kyle Valenti appeared next to them; an angry surprised expression on his face. "Maria?" Maria looked at him and went to him; he held her the way Michael had only seconds before. "So, what's going on?" Kyle asked again rubbing Maria's back.

"Max," Isabel Whitman said quietly. She glanced at Michael before continuing. "He started yelling at Maria, saying some mean things to her and…"

"And what?" Kyle's even voice edged towards demanding. He kept his eyes on Michael Guerin. "Why you?"

Michael wished he knew the answer to that one. There was no reason that Maria went to him when her friends were standing next to him. He shook his head unable to answer.

"Maria?" Kyle said her name and forced her to look at him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she stood up straight and wiggled out of Kyle's hands. "Max was just being an ass, and I took it personally. I know he's upset and doesn't know what he's saying." She wiped away the last of the tears and smiled. "It's all good, Kyle. I promise." She walked back to Michael and looked up into his eyes. "Thank you Agent Guerin. You were just the first person I saw." She locked eyes with him and wondered if she was sending the right message because what she had just said had technically been a lie. He had been the first, but she knew her friends were right beside him, she had wanted to go to him.

He nodded and shifted his eyes away from her. "It's okay." He looked at Isabel. "Can I talk to you again later tonight, about Liz? Both of you?" He transferred his attention to Alex and completely away from Maria. He couldn't look at her. The excuses for going to him bit at his newly awakened heart. R>
He chastised himself for even thinking about her that way. There was no reason to. He'd been over all that in the church and now he was doing it again. There wasn't room in his life for her right now. All of his time and devotion was spent on finding the man who had ruined his life. The man who made it a part of his own life to ruin Michael's. The man who left Michael no time for a life. He didn't even hear the response from Isabel and that bothered him. The agent must come first, then the man.

"Is that okay?" Isabel asked. "Around eight?"

"Sure," Michael smiled and turned towards the parking lot. "I'm going to go change and get to the station."

"I'll see you there," Maria said and tried to grab his attention.

His gaze wandered back to her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah Maria, are you sure?" Kyle asked stepping in front of her preventing her from looking directly at Michael. "Are you up to it? I mean…Liz?"

"Yeah Kyle, I'm up to it. Now more than ever." She met her boyfriend's eyes. "I have to do this. I have to get back into something to keep my mind off Liz…As much as I can. I have nine other women to meet." She looked past Kyle and met Michael's inquisitive eyes. "I've only met the first one so far and she was a wonderful woman."

Michael closed his eyes and smiled and knew for a fact why he was falling for Maria DeLuca. Wrong or right, it was happening and he wasn't sure if he could or wanted to stop it.

"Fine, let's go." Kyle started walking away and Maria trailed after him after hugging both Isabel and Alex good-bye. "So, why are you so adamant about working today?"

"I told you I have to," she sighed. "This is important-"

"Is it him?" Kyle asked quietly watching his feet.

Maria sucked in a breath and didn't know how to answer. "It's Liz."

Kyle nodded and reached for her hand. He pulled her next to him and wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked. "I love you Maria, you know that right?"

"I know, I love you too." She smiled and wondered if it was convincing. "You do understand why I have to do this today, don't you?"

He nodded. He understood it on several different levels. "You're going to find him, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I am." She said with sudden confidence.

*        *         *

Michael was already stationed in the war room waiting for Maria. He had changed from the funeral suit to jeans and a button down dark green shirt. He rolled the sleeves up and waited. Victim number two was on the agenda for the evening. He smiled knowing Maria was going to know them as well as he did, maybe even better.

Maria. The scene from the church was still alive in his memory. There had been too many conflicting messages coming from her. She did go to him, but she said it was because he was the first person she saw. He didn't know if he believed that or not.

"Screw it," he mumbled and looked towards the victim boxes. There were eleven women who needed him right now; Maria wasn't one of them. She didn't need him for anything. She had the sheriff.  He didn't know if he had time for a life, he hadn't been allowed one in so long he wasn't sure if he even remembered how to have one.

One thing he remembered now was how it felt to have a woman in his arms. That was also something he wasn't allowed to have.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Maria strolled into the room in khaki Capri pants and a black T-shirt. The denim shirt tied around her waist.

Michael looked at her and thought that not for a million dollars would she know his thoughts right then. "Are you okay?"

"If you mean have I recovered from the mental breakdown after getting verbally assaulted by Max? Then the answer is yes." She set down a cup in front of him. One he hadn't even seen her holding. "Cappuccino?"

He nodded and took it from her. "Thanks. So, I have to talk to Isabel and Alex at eight, do you want to come?"

She nodded eagerly. "You bet. Remember, we're in this together Michael."

"Do you mean it?" He wasn't sure where that had come from and he didn't like how pathetic it had sounded.

"Damn straight. We're going to nail this bastard, Michael. Don't doubt that for a single second. I won't give up." She sat across the table from him. "So, I'm ready. I want to meet victim number two."

"It was nice what you said today." He said quietly as he stood up and took the lid off the box. "About Lorelei. I guess you didn't tell Kyle about my relationship to her?"

She shook her head. "I didn't know if I should." She looked across the table at him and smiled. "Is it a secret?"

"A secret?" He seemed to think about it and then laughed. It felt good to laugh. "I don't know if I'd call it a secret, if you want to tell him you can."

She shrugged and sipped her own cappuccino. "I don't think it'll come up, so we'll just keep it between us. So, let me meet…"

"Ivy Mason."

"Ivy Mason," Maria took a deep breath. "I'm ready to meet Ivy."

Michael nodded and retrieved a folder from inside the box. A folder just like Lorelei's. They were all uniform. He handed the folder to Maria and got Lorelei's back out. He took the eight by ten picture of her out; grabbing a roll of tape he carried her picture to the wall and taped her up. She was victim number one. After Maria was done meeting Ivy, her photo would go along side Lorelei's. This was the first time Lorelei's picture hadn't made him think about all the things he missed about her. The first time looking at that chestnut hair and matching eyes that he didn't feel his heart shatter. Michael Guerin was moving on.

Maria read each word carefully. Ivy Mason had been twenty-one when her life was cut short. She was found almost a mile away from her home she shared with her mother and younger sister in Billings Montana. School kids on their way home discovered her body on a Friday afternoon. She was found face down in a ditch, nude except for a red scarf around her neck. Maria studied the picture in front of her. A high school senior picture. Ivy had strawberry blond hair in a tangle of wild of curls. Her face was full and Maria learned from reading her statistics, so was her body. She was a big and tall girl and looked absolutely nothing like Liz or Lorelei. The slight physical-appearance connection of dark hair and eyes was gone.

"She was a country girl?" Maria looked up from the pages in her hand to find Michael watching her read. She smiled.

"Yeah, country music, cowboy hats and boots and even a horse named Red." Michael remembered meeting her horse and even making promises to the melancholy mammal. "She was religious and a homebody." He shook his head.

"How did you know she was connected to Lorelei? A letter?"

Michael nodded. "It came to the hotel I was staying at after Lorelei was killed. I would have never even heard about Ivy if it wasn't for the letter."

"He mailed you at the hotel, so he knew you were there the whole time?"

"He always knows where I'm at. He knows my habits, I think he knows everything about me. The last eight after-death letters arrived at the hotel, motel, Inn or B&B I was staying at before I even decided to stay. He knows my tastes, he knows everything. Sometimes he tells me where to go and other times I get wind of the crime from the bureau."

"So you are the actual target then? He's doing this to get to you?" Maria asked slowly.

"I don't know," he threw his hands up in the air. "If it was me he was after, why not just kill me and get it over with? Why kill eleven women?"

"Do you have any enemies?"

"I don't have anyone." Michael bit his lip. "I mean, I've never had enemies. I was the guy who sat alone in school and ate lunch while reading a book. I went to Quantico because I wanted to help people. I wanted to catch the bad guys. I didn't want to spend my entire career hunting down some sick fuck who's got a hard on for me." He blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend."

"Me?" Maria smiled before laughing. "Please. I believe our first meeting was me flipping you off. You have every right to be mad. Hell, you should be mad. I'd be worried if you weren't. So, let me see the letter telling you about Ivy."

Michael glanced at the clock, almost eight. "We have to meet Isabel and Alex Whitman in a few minutes."

"So we'll be a few minutes late," she held out her hand. "Let me see it."

Michael tried to look grudgingly at her but found it impossible. He got out the mailing envelope and slid out letter number three. He handed it to her and watched as she read it.

Agent Guerin

I think my eyes will be deceived or
are you as smart as you believe?
I promised, did I lie?
I told you more would die.

Your life is marred
Your soul is ripped
Will you let me win?
Will you make a slip?

Go to Billings, Agent dear
The answer will be soon be clear.

"'The answer will soon be clear'?" Maria snuffled. "Yeah, right."

Michael sat next to her and leaned over her shoulder as he read the letter again with her. He tried to ignore the smell of her, the warmth he felt from being so close. The slight tremor in her hand gave him hope. Maybe there was a life waiting for Michael Guerin after all.

*        *         *
Chapter Thirteen


"He knows you, doesn't he?" Maria asked looking over her shoulder at Michael. Their faces only inches apart. Neither of them able to capture the others eyes. "The way he talks, I think he knows you."

"I've been over everyone I've ever met in my entire life and I came up with nothing." Michael sighed and wondered how bad cappuccino breath really was. "I told you, I was a loner."

"What about school? Quantico, what about there?" Maria asked eagerly as she wondered about her own breath.

"Another agent? I don't think so. I don't make waves Maria," he leaned back away from her. "I've never had a lot of friends, I didn't socialize much. I didn't do mu