Samantha

Chapter two: the boyfriend

Agent Smith and Shepard pulled up into the driveway of the house the victim's sister had given them to address to. It looked like a good house, one story with a cozy, suburban feel.

They made their way to the front door. Lila knocked on the door and Aaron called out, "FBI, open up!" There was no answer. Lila tried. "Jeremy, open up!"

They heard footsteps and finally the door opened to a man with short, black hair and unsettling blue eyes. He was slightly sweaty and has earbuds hanging around his neck. "Hey, sorry I was upstairs working out. Can I help you?"

Aaron pulled out his badge and so did Lila. "I'm agent Shepard, this is agent Smith. We're here to talk to you about your girlfriend, Samantha." He opened the door to let them in. "Is Sammy ok?"

He shut the door and led them over to a couch. Lila cleared her throat. "No, i'm afraid she's dead. I'm so sorry." Jeremy looked stunned. "Oh, my god...what happened to her?"

Aaron leaned forward. "We're hoping you can help us figure that out." Jeremy nodded. "Sure, of course. Whatever you need." Agent Smith spoke up, "We need to ask you a few question if you don't mind." He agreed. "Ok, what do you need to know?"

Agent Aaron pulled out a small notepad to take notes on. "When was the last time you saw Samantha?" He thought for a second. "I think it was Friday?" Lila narrowed her eyes. "You think?" He paused, rethinking. "It was Wednesday. She stopped by to grab her things."

Lila glanced at Aaron. "Grab her things?" Jeremy shifted slightly in her seat. "Yeah, we got into a fight. Broke up for a few days, it was normal." Agent Shepard looked up from his notes. "You call that normal, we usually call that motive."

Jeremy jumped a little. "What?! No, I would never hurt Samantha. We were always an on and off thing, we both knew that. That's how we got together in the first place, we both knew it was nothing serious!" Lila and Aaron looked at each other and he scribbled that down.

Lila looked at Jeremy with a stern face. "We need to know what you and Samantha fought about," she said. Jeremy frowned. "That's private." Aaron shook his head, "Nothing's private in a murder investigation." Jeremy sighed. "Samantha was..seeing someone else. We got into an argument, split up for a while. But I would never kill her!"

Lila leaned back on the couch, staring at him. Aaron glanced up at the sudden silence in the room. "We're gonna need the person she was cheating with," he said. Jeremy nodded slowly. "Sure."

~•~••~•~••~•~••~•~••~

Caleb Freemen sat in the interrogation room while Agent Smith and Shepard stared at him through the one-way mirror. Agent Smith looked over at Aaron, "Want me to interrogate him?" Aaron nodded, "Go ahead, I'll watch from in here."

Lila left the viewing room and walked into the interrogation room. Caleb looked up as she entered, curiosity covering his face. "Why am I here? I didn't do anything." Agent Smith sat down in the chair opposite from him.

Lila pushed a picture of Samantha across the metal table towards him. "Do you know this girl?" His eyes drifted down to the photo. "Yeah, sure. That's Samantha...she in some kind of trouble?"

Lila glanced at the glass siding. "Samantha's dead, Caleb." The blood drained from his face, leaving him pale and wide eyed. "What do you mean she's dead? Does Julie know? Oh god, she's gonna be crushed. They were always close."

Agent Shepard spoke over the earpiece Lila had. "Ask how he is familiar with the victim's sister, Smith." Lila leaned forward into the table with her elbows. "How well do you know the victim's sister?" Caleb frowned. "She's my girlfriend, got to know Samantha through her. Real shame Sam's gone.."

Shock registered on Agent Smith's face. "You are dating the vic- Samantha's sister Julie?" Caleb nodded, shuffling slightly in his seat.  Aaron cleared his throat over the mic. "Ask if he admits to having a relationship with Samantha Miles."

Lila nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "Was Julie aware of your relationship with her sister, Mr. Freeman?" Caleb's eyes widened more. "No! Samantha and I were just friends."

Lila nodded, whistling slightly. "See, when we talked with Jeremy, that wasn't his story. So, let's try that again. Did Julie know about your affair with her sister?" Caleb sighed, setting his head in his hands for a second. "Julie doesn't know. I'd like to keep it that way?" Agent Smith crossed her arms, staring across the table at him.

~•~••~•~••~•~••~•~••~

Agent Aaron set a file on Lila's desk. "Report from the lab. Official cause of death is blunt force trauma to the back of her head. Probably painless, knocked her out while her brain bled. Oxygen stopped soon after."

Lila flipped open the file, looking through the report. She glanced up. "They think it might've been an accident?" Aaron shrugged, "Back of the head and location supports the theory that she might've been pushed. Footprints show struggle, facts add themselves..."

Lila sighed, "So we're probably gonna be dealing with a guilty UNSUB?" Aaron nodded. "More than likely. Lab is doing a more thorough examination now, seeing if they missed anything." Lila nodded, yawning.

Aaron looked at the time. "It's almost midnight, you should go home. Get some rest. Tomorrow we can look through more of her records, the lab should be through with the 2nd report by then." Agent Smith crossed her arms. "Are you going home?" she asked.

He sighed and she shook her head. "Then I'm not going home. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I have special...rights." A yawn interrupted her rant and Agent Aaron shook his head. "No, we're both going home."

She tensed then blushed red. Aaron realized how they sounded. "I mean....um..not like.. Oh, Christ." Lila shook her head, her  hair scattering across her face. "No, it's fine. I didn't mean to-" She brushed the hair out of her face. Aaron tried to ease the awkwardness, his face red.

A knock from the doorway drew their attention. Joshua Andrews, head of their division, stood in the doorway. His dirty blond hair hung in his eyes, giving him windblown look. He cleared his throat, hostility in his blue eyes. "Lab reports in. I expect a full description of it tomorrow. Conference will be at 9." He left the room after another glare was tossed their way.

Lila huffed, "What's his problem?" She looked up at Aaron and realized they were only inches apart. Aaron took a step back, running a hand through his brown hair. "Probably just misread the room." He cleared his throat, looking around the room.

Lila nodded, "Yeah, uh...that's probably it." Shepard shuffled slightly. "So, I'm probably gonna go get the lab report from Andrews before he gets to far." Agent Smith nodded. "Oh, yeah. Good idea, I'll probably just head home. Late, you know." He nods and jogs down the hall after his boss.