Chapter Twenty Three

“C’mon baby… I wasn’t THAT hard on you this afternoon, was I?”

It had been a long day for Alana. After screwing things up in Melanie’s dressing room, and the phone call to Tony, she was feeling pretty damn sorry for herself!

“No,” she conceded, though there was still evidence of the pretty pout on her face that JC would never admit to loving.

“Then what’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” she said, rolling over onto her stomach on the bed, pulling a pillow over to rest under her chin.

“C’mon, Alana. I don’t like when you’re all… forlorn and stuff.”

“Been looking in the thesaurus again?”

“Smart ass.”

“You love it.”

“You’re right.”

She couldn’t help but crack a small smile at that.

“Theeere’s the smile I love!” He grinned as he laid beside her, nudging her gently with his elbow. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” she told him, glancing sideways at him. “I’m just… kind of stressed over the case and I’m tired. I’m sorry I’m taking it out on you.”

“I guess I can forgive you,” he told her, leaning over to kiss the side of her head gently. “If there’s anything I can do to er… make you feel more relaxed,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows playfully, “just let me know.”

She rolled her eyes and shoved him away from her. “You’re possibly THE biggest dork I’ve ever met in my entire life,” she told him, leaning over to kiss his lips gently. “But I absolutely love you for it.”

~*~

“Alright Al,” Tony said, letting out a sigh. “I talked to the big man. It’s going to take a few days for the transfer to go through,” he explained. “At the very least, it’ll be a week.”

“Was he angry with me?”

“No. I didn’t mention the part about the relationship,” he told her. “That would end up on your record, and you really don’t want that. But I told him that you were just having a difficult time adjusting and he said it wasn’t a problem. He’s going to reassign you as soon as we’ve found someone to take your place.”

She let out a sigh, though whether it was one of relief or frustration, she didn’t know. On one hand, at least she could pursue a normal relationship with JC. But whether or not he’d WANT a relationship after he found out that she was transferring… well, that was a different story.

“Just… keep doing what you’re doing, kiddo. And keep your head up. You hear?”

“Yeah, yeah. I hear you,” she said, letting out a sigh. “Tony, promise me that things are going to work out.”

“I promise you, Al. Things are going to work out.” What he didn’t add, however, was that it may not exactly work out the way she hoped it would.

~*~

It had been exactly a week since Alana had spoke to Tony on the phone, and she still had a few more days to wait before her replacement came in. She had not yet found a way to break the news to JC that she was being taken off the case, for fear of his reaction. She had, however, found plenty of information that would be VERY useful to her replacement on Melanie.

Though JC had ‘expressly forbade’ her from investigating Melanie on two different occasions now, she couldn’t. The feeling she had about the girl grew stronger and stronger with each passing day, and she wasn’t about to back down. Not when she was so close to the answer she was seeking.

The only thing she needed to nail Melanie was the fingerprints. Tony had informed her that they had located the sample she’d sent, and she was just waiting on the results now. Any day now, she would have everything she needed to nail that blonde bimbo!

She shook her head as she headed back towards his dressing room, glancing down at her notepad in front of her. She let out a sigh and glanced up, cocking her eyebrow at the sight in front of her.

Melanie was stooped down in front of JC’s door, sliding something slowly underneath of it.

“What the hell…?” All at once, everything she had been suspecting for quite some time now came together. She HAD been right. And now she had the proof! “Wait right there!” She bellowed.

She could tell immediately that she had frightened the blonde by the look on her face, but she didn’t care. She had what she needed. She jogged over to the girl when she stood, an angry scowl on her face. “You’re coming with me.”

Melanie let out a nervous laugh. “I really need to get to sound check,” she said, pointing towards the other hallway.

“I don’t particularly give a shit where you think you need to go. You’re coming with me,” she said, grabbing Melanie’s arm roughly.

“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you need—“

“Special agent Alana Berkeley with the FBI. You’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand your rights?”

“What the hell?! I didn’t DO anything!”

Ignoring the girl’s cries, Alana tightened her grip on her upper arm and tugged her along roughly, bumping into one of the crew members. “Watch where you’re going,” she snarled, shoving him out of her way before she pulled Melanie along.

Things were definitely looking up.

~*~

FBI agent? Perhaps things had not been thought out as much as he’d originally thought. He watched as the woman whom he’d believed to be the pop star’s girlfriend drag the incompetent blonde dancer down the hallway.