one step forward, two steps back

Reid Greenfield, Archer Everett, Alex Williams and Lana stood poised, keen eyes fixed on a pivotal piece of information. The quiet hum of the computers served as a backdrop to their intense deliberation.

In the periphery, Ethan North, with the silent grace of a shadow, materialized behind the group. "How do you know it's Ray Bieber?" Ethan's voice was sharp, demanding clarity.

Alex, having been caught off guard, jumped slightly, cursing under his breath. "Damn it, Ethan! A little heads-up next time?"

Lana's reaction was more pronounced, nearly falling off his chair. "Christ! I need some coffee after that heart attack!"

Ethan quipped with deadpan sarcasm, "Probably send you to an early grave faster."

As the group bantered and tension bubbled, Reid cleared his throat, commanding attention. "Alright, let me connect the dots here."

He clicked to an image on the screen. "Look at this Ray, dressed in brands that align with Vanessa's preferences. Now this," he switched to another image, "shows the other Ray with a dog. But Vanessa either disliked or was allergic to dogs."

Archer's cold voice interjected, recalling a detail, "her uncle have a dog."

Reid nodded, "Exactly. But notice, no dog fur in their living room and the dog was behind a door the whole time. On top of that, you'd notice there are no dogs in their photos. Suggests Uncle Jem only got the dog after Vanessa moved out, possibly without her knowledge."

Alex's skeptical gaze flitted between the images. "So why this guy," pointing to the first image, "and not him?" he asked, pointing to the slimmer Ray.

Ethan offered, "If Ray's our killer, he'd need strength. Look at the clean cut to Vanessa's neck. The other guy looks like he'd struggle lifting a gallon of milk."

Reid smirked, "Our prime suspect, Ray Bieber, frequented an art gallery where Diane took weekly sculpture classes."

Alex frowned, "And that's a lead because?"

Reid tapped his temple, "When Diane mentioned Ray, her pupils dilated, and her gaze shifted to the left. Classic signs of recalling a constructed memory rather than a real one. She said she did not know who Ray was… which meant she definitely knew who he is."

Alex's impatient demeanor shifted to focused determination. Scanning the room, he realized Kane, his trusty sniper, was absent. Muttering about unreliable teammates, he grabbed his coat, "I'm paying this Ray a visit. You coming?"

Reid hesitated, weighing the decision. After a moment, he declined, "You've got this. Archer and I are going somewhere else."

***

In the city's shadow, a labyrinth of secrets and the unseen, Alex Williams, the seasoned head of serious crime investigations, bore into the life of one Ray Bieber through his binoculars, shrouded in the obscure alley's anonymity. Alex's eyes, weary but unwavering, trailed Ray's every mundane move.

An itch in Alex's gut screamed at him to swoop in, to arrest Ray on the whim of intuition, but reason tethered him. Apprehension without solid evidence would only hold Ray for forty-eight frustrating hours. The law, a double-edged sword, held both protectors and predators in its grasp.

His mind spun in contemplation. His gut screamed Ray was their man, the shadow behind Vanessa's untimely end. But the motive, the ever-elusive why, remained clouded. A fallout between lovers, perhaps? The pieces were nebulous, a puzzle with missing links.

Alex's reverie was sliced by the chiming of his communicator. He glanced at it, brows tightening at the revelation displayed on the screen. A match had surfaced; Vanessa and Diane shared bloodlines; they were sisters.

"Damn it," Alex hissed under his breath, his grip tightening around the binoculars. The city around him seemed to hush, its rhythm syncopated with the pulse of secrets unfolding.

Alex's annoyance morphed into a cascade of possibilities. The DNA match proved that Reid Greenfield was right. He had never doubted the man but if he had a chance to prove him wrong, Alex would jump at it. No, Alex didn't hate the man… nor did he dislike him in any way. They were good friends and Alex would jump in front of the bullet for Reid and Archer. However, what were friends for if not for the teasing and occasional sarcasm? 

Alex sighed when his communicator pinged again, this time it was Reid. 

'I told you so.'

His hand instinctively went to his communicator again, debating whether to check if he should arrest Ray Bieber. Each decision weighed heavily, a precarious dance between trust and strategy.

His mind waded through the teasing questions that would assault his inbox if he posed that question to Reid. He knew Reid would not have meant it seriously but the man was too intelligent for his own good! After all, he was someone who had obtained his Ph.D at the age of 20. A short pause got Alex thinking if Archer could have done the same and he concluded that Archer probably could… but he probably did not want to.

His mind drifted back to the matter at hand. The knowledge that Vanessa and Diane were connected by blood painted the entire investigation in different hues, hues of shared pasts and interwoven destinies.

Alex, feeling the constant gaze of the unseen city upon him, found himself at the crossroads of revelation and restraint, the weight of secrets whispering in his ears like the city's hidden winds. It was not just a quest for truth anymore; it was a sojourn through the unspoken, the unseen, the shadows of lives intertwined.

His resolve stiffened. The pieces of the puzzle were aligning, albeit in unexpected patterns, and every fibre of his being was tuned to the symphony of unfolding enigma. The revelation was not just a twist in the tale; it was a beacon, illuminating paths previously shrouded.

***

Archer's gaze flicked to Reid, whose hand paused on the door, eyes shimmering with contemplation.

"Where are we going?" Archer's voice was a mere whisper against the hum of clandestine murmurs surrounding them.

Reid, ensnared in a web of thoughts, offered no immediate response. A silent dance of understanding flowed between them, Archer sinking into patient quietude, a shadow amidst Reid's fervor.

Finally, the threads of thought seemed to uncoil in Reid's mind, his eyes locking with Archer's, shadows of solemnity lurking within them. "I intended to confront Diane, wring the truth out of her since our suspicion of her being Vienne is mounting. But memories are tricky, shifting things. Something about Uncle Jem is unsettling. We need to see him again."

Archer's eyebrows arched, a silent question lingering in the air, but Reid was already a whirlwind of motion, heading straight to Ethan's sanctum of forensic mysteries. The murmurs between them were soft, whispers of ideas and theories, Ethan's disbelief transforming into contemplative frowns and reluctant nods.

A symphony of orders barked at some unfortunate subordinate later, Reid was back, pulling Archer into the realm of unspoken shadows and concealed truths, his unyielding pursuit painting the path towards Uncle Jem's abode.

Archer felt the sigh rippling through him, a silent acquiescence to Reid's unstoppable fervor. The real worry crept in the corners of his mind, a silent whisper reminding him of Reid's neglected meals and the impending war with gastric agony. He could almost hear the silent symphony of hunger and pain that would ensue, Reid's relentless mind overlooking the primal needs of the body.

Archer's car eased into the territory of mysteries and ancestral echoes at Uncle Jem's house, every brick in the antique residence murmured sagas of bygones. Just as Archer and Reid were about to knock on his door, an acquainted cadence traversed from behind, entwining them in its notes.

"Did you manage to check in when Nessie could be back?"

Uncle Jem was retracing his steps from a sylvan saunter, the pooch alongside echoing tales of truncated fur, a silent symphony for those ensnared in the allergies' clandestine waltz. This silent, yet vocal canine's presence solidified the insinuations that Uncle Jem had covertly welcomed the canine, with Vanessa living in oblivious shadows.

As Jem staggered towards them, worry wove through his lines, inquisitive strands probing their sudden emergence and Alex's conspicuous absence. Archer sought refuge in silence, his gaze flickering towards Reid, whose eloquence danced with the rhythm of transparent truths.

"Alex is currently hunting down Ray," Reid delineated, "he said that since the man had caused so much agony and pain to Vanessa that he was not going to have it lying down."

Uncle Jem, momentarily plunged into astonishment, erupted in a cascade of laughter, a gentle admonition on the weaving of fabrications to the venerable. 

"You shouldn't lie to the old, young'in! We might actually believe it."

Reid, shrouded in insouciance, "well, Uncle, Alex is busy." 

Uncle Jem nodded with a smile as he guided his dog into the house. 

As they entered, Reid's gaze inscribed tales upon photo frames, a reflection of pondering enigma shimmering in his irises. He had walked towards them intentionally and started to stare at them, committing them into his memory. Uncle Jem, companion to the canine whisperer, harmonized his furry friend amidst silent protests, and distilled welcome in the form of aromatic teas. Archer, a symphony of silent shadows, found comfort in the embrace of the welcoming sofa.

The tea, whispering tales of time and foliage, was coupled with lighthearted jests, with Reid embroiled in hypothetical amorous pursuits, pathways entangled with Vanessa. 

Reid took one of the frames and walked towards Uncle Jem, "could you tell us how do you recognise or differentiate between the two?"

"The left one is Nessie while the right is Vivi."

"Were you sure?"

If Uncle Jem did not think that the previous question was intrusive, he certainly thought this was. The older man frowned visibly, his eyebrows scrunched up into a straight line, "I have always been able to recognise the two. They were essentially my girls!

"Nessie bore her identity whisperer, a mole, on her neck, and Vivi's eyes were the mirror to her impish soul," he expressed with conviction.

"Hmm…" Reid was deep in thought, his eyes almost burning holes through the frames.

"Actually, why are you here?"

Archer looked up, "we passed by."

Reid stood up, his smile not quite reaching his eyes and the very same eyes were instantly serious," Uncle Jem, you will be getting a notification from Vanessa next week." Placing the photo frames back onto the rack, "we have probably overstayed our welcome and we will be leaving soon."

As the two entered the car, Archer asked, "what was that about?"

Reid frowned, "it seemed that we might have been in the wrong direction this whole time…"