It took Kuza about an hour to get through that woman. He finished fucking her in the first five minutes but it does take awhile to devour a human whole like that. She may have had a bit of adrenaline in her system but she also had a shit ton of sedatives. I expect him to absorb some of it from her blood. It's hard to see him that way, on so many drugs, but it's the better of two evils. I don't want my poor baby to continue to scream like he has been.

He was sat with his back to the wall, covered in blood. I stepped over the doctor's mangled corpse to get to Kuza. He looked up at me like a sad little puppy. Despite his mind not fully being with him right now, he knew it was time for me to leave. I knelt down to be at his level and kissed the side of his head.

"I have to put this back on you now, Baby. If I don't, they won't let me come back." I softly told him.

Kuza looked over at me. More specifically, he looked at the straight jacket in my arms. "Okay." He muttered.

The combination of medication he'd gotten from her and how much energy he wasted eating her made him so tired. He stood up and was surprisingly very cooperative in letting me put it back on him. The others would never be able to calm him down like this. I'm the only person he'll listen to. I think that's part of the reason Ricky was okay letting me have visitation rights. Kuza would probably give himself a heart attack if he didn't have someone to calm him down.

"Will you take your medication for the doctors, now?" I asked as I walked around to the front of him.

He turned his head away, "I don't wanna."

"It'll help you calm down and maybe get some sleep. Please, Baby, for me. I'll feel so much better if I knew you got some sleep." I replied.

"Fine." He grumbled, "I'll do it. For you."

I wiped the blood away from his lips with my thumb. Then I gently kissed him, "Thank you. I have to go now but I promise I'll come back as soon as I can. I love you."

"I love you, too. Please come back faster this time. Last time was too long." He said.

"I'll try my best. I'm going to try to get Ricky to get you out of here sooner. I don't know if he can but I'm sure as Hell going to make him try."

I gave him one last kiss before I left. He started to cry when I pulled away. It wasn't a dramatic sob but there were tears streaming down his cheeks. This is so cruel what they're doing to him. Ricky gets that promotion in two weeks. Maybe then he'll be able to pull Mike out of here. It might not be as quickly as I want but it's better than nothing. I'm hoping there's something I can find on the security footage to prove he doesn't belong in there. I don't know what but I'm desperate.

| | |

It was my turn to cook dinner. Normally someone helps me but tonight I wanted to do it myself. I made a nice stew that'll be nice and comforting for winter months like this. It needed to cook slowly but still be watched. So, I sat on the counter across from the stove and read The Lady in the Lake. The storyline was actually better than you'd think for a mystery novel written in the forties.

Ryan had marked letters in this one too but they weren't making sense like the last one. I took it slow because I didn't want anyone to catch me skimming through it. If they see me looking for something in the pages, they might get suspicious. I've managed to collect the letters I,B,M, A. Around page eleven, I found an B underlined. What the fuck were you trying to tell me, Ryan?

Reese wondered into the kitchen, snacking on a handful of popcorn. "What're you making?" She asked, getting on her tip toes to try to see in the pot. Being shorter than Ricky, it's amazing how she makes such a good agent.

"Mulligan Stew." I replied, "Why aren't you with Ryan?"

"He's sleeping, so I thought I'd come visit you." She responded, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth.

I sighed and set my book down, "And why did you feel the need to bother me of all people?"

She stepped closer to me, looking up at me with sinister intentions in her eyes. "Because you were the one that was with Ryan when he was shot. I'm not cleared to have access to the case file, so you're going to tell me what happened."

"You act so much like your brother." I grumbled, "Ryan let me come under the understanding that I wouldn't speak a word of what happened."

"I found where Ricky had written down your location. You were in a suburb in Scranton. Ryan told me he was going to pick up something for one of his experiments. I know that wasn't true. So, why the Hell were you at some soccer mom's house?" She questioned me.

"I'm guessing if you're asking me it's because Ryan already refused to answer these questions. He was putting his past to rest and that's all you need to know." I replied.

"Who's Bambi?" Reese seethed and my eyes shot up to look at her. She crossed her arms, "He was talking in his sleep and he said "I'm sorry, Bambi". What?"

My eyes had gone wide with realization. I brought myself back down to reality quickly, responding, "Nothing. I was just remembering something I forgot to do." I hopped down from the counter and glared down at her, "Like I said, it's the past. I shouldn't have even told you that much."

"It's sickening how much you all stick together." She muttered.

I stirred the stew, then recovered it. "Thick as thieves." I told her, "Or, well, killers. Now buzz off. I put a lot of love into dinner and all your negative energy is going to ruin it."

She rolled her eyes and walked out. Fuck, she acts so much like Ricky. Anytime she doesn't get her way she gets pissed. And she approaches everything with aggression. You catch more flies with honey. There's a time and a place to be aggressive. Other times, you've got to play the game. Ryan and I both know how that goes.

When she said Bambi's name, that's when I came to the realization what those letters meant. He wrote the damn thing in there backwards. I guess he had to switch it up somehow incase anyone found the first book. I can't say maybe he wrote the previous one backwards too because it wouldn't have made sense. I've got my first word and it's Bambi's name. Only 250 more pages to go to find the rest of his message. It's bitch work but it's the length we have to go to keep them from knowing everything.

By the time dinner was ready, I managed to make our the word "for" along with earning the letters T, N, and E. Where the fuck is he going with this? At this rate, it feels like forever before I'm going to figure this out.

Chris walked into the kitchen as I was setting the table. He sat down at his usually seat, putting his arms on the table and his head on top of them.

"Are you okay?" I asked sweetly.

"No." He mumbled, "Ashley, Vinny, and Jeremy went on a bust. They needed a sharp shooter so they asked Angelo to go with them. They think it's going to be a three day job."

I reached across the table and put my hand in his arm, "Oh, I'm sorry. I know how it feels. Tomorrow, you want to help me finish setting up a new trap? I could use the muscle."

"I guess." He sighed, "I'll have nothing better to do."

"God-fucking-damn it." I heard a voice I hadn't in awhile cuss as he entered the kitchen. Glancing up, I saw Nikki staring at my ass. "It's not fair for a guy to have an ass that nice!"

"And why not?" I asked, amused.

"Because it confuses my dick and my dick doesn't like to be confused." He responded.

"Oh, how I've missed you, Nikki." I joked. Then I approached him with a hug, "Seriously, it's been so long since I've seen you."

"They keep me busy. Vinny gets to be in my shoes for a few days though." Nikki cracked his knuckles, "And I finally get to relax. Maybe I'll take a spa day."

"You know, Ricky and I are kind of on a break right now." I wrapped my arm over his shoulder. Then I walked my fingers up his chest, "I could hook you up with a little loving."

He drew in a breath, "We'll see, Babe. Somethin' smells damn good."

I let go of him and went to finish setting the table. "Just finished dinner. Take a seat. We'll have a few empty tonight."

"Why?" He asked.

"Angelo and Vinny are gone on that mission. Ryan is in the hospital and I'm sure Reese will stay with him. Ricky doesn't like to come to dinner now since we've been on the rocks." I frowned, "Mike got himself into some trouble so he has to spend some time in time out, so to speak."

"Mike got himself into trouble. There's a big surprise." He responded, sitting down next to Chris.

"It wasn't his fault." A very quiet voice said from behind me, scaring the shit out of me. I turned around instantly to see Twiggy behind me. How the fuck did he sneak up on me? It's not impossible to do but it is pretty damn hard.

I accidently dropped the plate in my hand when he startled me like that. It shattered down on the ground but somehow he didn't flinch. "Shit. You scared the shit out of me." I gasped.

The noise of the broken plate caused others, including Ricky to come in. Manson grabbed Twiggy's hand, pulling him away from the broken glass on the ground. He took him over to the table and muttered something to him I didn't quite catch. Ricky offered me a dust pan and a handheld broom as he knelt down in front of me.

"Here." He said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Twiggy just startled me. He didn't mean to do it. I guess I've been a little jumpy lately too." I admitted.

Ricky dropped his tone much lower to prevent the others from hearing, "I know we're a little fucked up right now, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm here. I know everything with Mike and Ryan has been a lot on you."

"You have your own mourning to do, but thank you. There is something I wanted to talk to you about, later tonight." I responded.

"Come down to my office before you go to sleep, then. Maybe wear one of those cute nightgowns. I kind of miss those." He smiled gently.

"We'll see." I snickered as I stood up.

I emptied the broken glass into the trash. Then I set the dustpan back under the sink and washed off my hands. Luckily nothing stabbed me or anything. Ricky was sweet enough to help me finish setting the table. Maybe it was his father's death, but something in him switched. He's not that asshole he's been for weeks. Suddenly he's back to being my sweet husband that I know and love. I'm scared it's just smoke and mirrors though. He's just trying to get me back into his arms, no matter what the cost. Who's to know for certain.