Tangled Up in You (The Story of Us Book 2)

Chapter 8- Regrets

The case in Philadelphia ended quickly. Morris had gotten taken by the unsub but the team had luckily gotten to her in time. The reporter that was taken with her, however, was not so lucky. Then, Morris had the nerve to get right back in front of the cameras after leaving the hospital. It made Amanda sick and she could tell that Dave felt the same way.

What Amanda didn't know was that Dave felt it even more strongly. Dave was just like Morris once upon a time and nobody knew that better than Amanda. It wasn't just because they used to work together either, it was because she herself had suffered the consequences of his actions. Dave cared more about catching one particular killer than anyone who got hurt in the process and Amanda just happened to be one of those people and he could never forgive himself.

Perhaps that's why he finds himself outside her apartment after leaving Penelope Garcia's. Today was after all the 20th anniversary of the case that had dragged him out of retirement and he knew that he could trust Amanda and maybe a fresh set of eyes was exactly what this case needed. He soon finds himself knocking and Amanda is quick to open it implying that she was close to the door when he knocked. The first thing Dave notices is her red eyes. Then his eyes travel to her disheveled appearance before her voice brings him back.

"What are you doing here, Dave?"

"Are you okay?" She gives him a look indicating that she isn't going to answer so he nods. "I'm heading to Indianapolis. I know that you looked into the case I had Garcia looking into."

"I have no clue what you're talking about. I didn't care enough to look," she tells him with a pointed look so he explains the case and asks her to come with him. "Give me a moment to change and grab a go-bag. You can come in if you'd like but be quiet. Alex is sleeping." He nods in understanding as Amanda goes into her room. She comes out about 5 minutes later and the two leave for the airport.

Rossi takes note of how she falls asleep on the plane and wonders if she had taken melatonin before leaving or if she was just that physically exhausted. Judging from her appearance earlier, he'd guess the latter. He watches her as she sleeps, mainly out of fear that he will only receive nightmares within his own dreams but also because he's worried. David Rossi didn't care about many people. It's hard to when the woman you love more than anything in the world gets pregnant and you look forward to being a father more than anything only for your son to not even live for an hour.

He never understood how someone recovered from that and it was a great source of friction between him and Gideon. David had lost his son and he could never get him back while Jason slowly but surely let his son slip through his fingers, not even appreciating what he had. Dave still loved his first wife, Caroline, of course, but losing their son had torn the two apart. They were still friends but they knew they couldn't be together after what happened.

Other than Caroline, Amanda was pretty much the only person he worried about. He knew better than most that she could take care of herself but he also knew that she put up a front to protect herself. She confided in him about a lot of things over the years, including her relationship with Spencer which is why he was surprised to see that she was dating Alex. Which is when he comes to the realization that the reason Amanda had been so close to the door meant she wasn't in bed with Alex and she didn't want to wake him up before she left.

This is what Rossi is thinking about as they drive to the house where the double homicide had happened. Once they arrive, he parks and sits to wait for the detective to arrive with the file. "So did we come all the way to Indiana to stalk a house or...?"

"It's not stalking and I own the house." This makes Amanda's eyebrows raise.

"So you knew the people that died?"