Felix didn't know whether to be pissed off or embarrassed. She didn't have a real reason to be pissed off. Ryan had texted her. She just hadn't noticed it. So, embarrassment won out. Now, she faced the reality of her promise to rat out Andy and his gang, which had her hyperventilating as she yanked the towel off her head and pulled on her jeans. It was the right thing to do, of course. Those lowlifes needed to spend some alone time contemplating their crimes, and there was no sense thinking Andy might be spared. He was as guilty as the rest of them. The big, fat cheater.

When Felix returned, Ryan was setting up his laptop on the table. The baggie with the flash drive lay next to it, making her shiver, or maybe it was the red-faced cop checking her out from his chair.

"Okay, Miss. Let's get started." He pulled a notebook and a pen from his breast pocket and started throwing questions at her before she even got to her seat. "What is your full name?"

"Felicity Dawn Taylor."

"Birthdate and birth city."

"March twelfth nineteen ninety-three. Chicago, Illinois."

Fulton acknowledged her answer with a nod. "So, this is your hometown. Does it bother you that you'll have to say goodbye to it forever if you seek the assistance of the witness protection program?"

Ryan glared at the officer. "Let's stick to collecting the facts, Fulton. Felix, why don't you tell us how you met Andy."

Felix recounted the events of the last three years, starting with the six months she helped Andy develop the code, and culminating in her dropping out of MIT to move into a million dollar home in the Chicago suburbs with him.

"When Andy told me about his coding idea, he said it was hypothetical, although it was based on current hacking techniques," she explained as she played with a strand of wet hair. "He was considering going for his masters and he wanted to develop a working program for his thesis. It took him two years to get it to the point of practical use, which was about the time I found out he was working for criminals. By then, I had contributed too much to back out."

"So, he basically hoodwinked you," Ryan said.

Felix knew what Ryan was doing. He wanted her to see that Andy had been a schmuck from the get-go. Maybe she chose to ignore the schmucky Andy because of that singular act of kindness when he saved her from the schmuck with the knife. He had taken a severe beating to save her virtue.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that, but I'd like to believe it was not premeditated," she said.

"Can I see this elaborate code?" Fulton asked, pointing to the laptop.

Felix pulled up the information, knowing he wouldn't understand a single digit on the screen, but she was simply following instructions at that point. Her brain had been shutting down over the course of their conversation.

"Interesting," Fulton said as he looked blankly at the screen. "So, our victim, who found herself dead a few nights ago, was using this code to do what, exactly? Was she using it for her own gains, or was she working with these same jokers?"

"We haven't pieced that together yet," Ryan said. "But there's a collection of emails on the flash drive that still needs to be sifted through."

"Let's see them." Fulton motioned for Felix to do the honors of reliving her horror, and she pretended she was made of steel as she opened the email folder. She turned the laptop so Fulton and Ryan could enjoy themselves while she slowly slipped into a semi-coma.

"I take it Andrew M is your boyfriend?" Fulton said, without looking up from the screen.

"Former boyfriend."

Ryan glanced at Felix. He looked like he hated himself.

"Wow, not a very faithful guy it turns out." Fulton shrugged sympathetically, but it didn't change Felix's opinion that he was an insensitive fuck. "Tell me what happened the night you witnessed the murder, Felicity. Was Andrew involved?" He picked up his notebook and pen again, preparing to document her pain. Felix allowed the memory to pass through her brain, recounting it as quickly as possible.

"Shane was being a bigger pain in the ass than usual, basically spending the whole day at our house. He and Andy sent me out to handle a couple errands around six PM. Traffic was cooperative, so I got back sooner than they expected. Shane tried to keep me from going into my own bedroom. I told him to fuck off, and that's when I discovered Jenny in my bed with Andy."

"So, you never actually saw who murdered the victim?" Fulton asked, his pen poised over the pad.

"No. After going ballistic on all three of them, I had to get some air, so I took a long walk through the neighborhood. When I came back, they were carrying Jenny's body to the truck. I don't know if it was Andy or Shane who was responsible. Andy would never admit the truth to me, but my money is on Shane. Andy is no murderer."

"No. He's a dick." Ryan clenched his fist on the table as his face reddened. Felix didn't blame him for badmouthing Andy. He was right.

"We found evidence of semen on the victim," Fulton said, locking Felix in an antagonizing gaze. "You wouldn't happen to have any of Andrew's possessions on you that we could sample for DNA?"

"What difference does it make if Andy fucked her before she was murdered?" Felix growled.

"Let's talk about Donovan, then." Fulton continued, giving her no time to slow her pulse. "Agent Clark said you knew him. Can you give us any information that might lead us to him?"

"I met the man once at a party, and we didn't talk long. All I know is he holds the hoops everyone jumps through. That's it."

"Where and when was this party?"

"Milwaukee, about two years ago. I don't remember the exact date."

"What happened at the party? Were there deals made? Were drugs involved? Sex?"

"You forgot rock and roll," she smirked while simultaneously visualizing her heel slamming into his crotch. "If any deals were made, I wasn't part of it. Can we be done here?"

Felix pushed up from the chair and walked to the window before her temper got her thrown in jail. She stared through the glass, focusing on the parking garage where she had dumped Precious, imagining the two of them taking to the highway. South Dakota was nice that time of year. A hand met her shoulder, and she tensed up before she realized it was Ryan.

"You don't have to talk about it anymore, Felix," he said. "We've got enough to add to the case file, but there is one problem that came up while I was at the office."

"What problem is that?" Felix desperately wanted to melt into Ryan's arms, to kiss his mouth and forget the pain, but that was impossible with Fulton scribbling in his notebook a few feet away.

"If you're asking for protection from the FBI, there's a protocol they like to follow, and we haven't exactly been following it. They have safe houses set up around the city where witnesses can seek asylum while their case is being handled. My apartment is not considered a safe house."

"So, I have to leave? I don't want to leave, Ryan. I feel safe here with you."

Ryan glanced at Fulton, who had begun scrolling through the emails on the laptop. "I might be able to get you one more night here, but only if Harris gives the okay. Fulton would like nothing more than to break my balls. He's a prick."

"I've noticed. What if I tell them I don't want the FBI's help? Can I stay here?"

His face contorted into a painful grimace, and he glanced at the floor before he spoke. "Fulton has enough evidence to take you in for accessory to commit a crime."

"Would he do that?"

"I don't know. Cops are strange creatures. Some of them operate solely by the book, and others would take a bribe in a second. This city has a lot of criminals, Felix, and some of them work for the feds."

"Will you call Harris and see if he'll give me one more day here? I need Fulton out of my face before I'm taken in for assaulting an officer in the groin."

Ryan nodded as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, and Felix stayed rooted in front of the window, avoiding Fulton like the plague. It didn't do any good. Fulton walked over, cornering her as he played the compassionate cop.

"Listen, Felicity, you seem like a nice girl. Anyone who was accepted to MIT must have at least half a brain in her head. Let me take you to one of our safe houses until we get this mess straightened out. You'll have around the clock security, and the accommodations are much more...homey." He made a show of glancing around Ryan's apartment with an expression of distaste. Felix had not seen one thing wrong with Ryan's apartment, and she suspected it was a helluva lot nicer than Fulton's.

"Ryan's place is homey enough for me, and I know he would do anything to protect me, which makes me feel safe."

Fulton smiled but there was no hint of kindness to it. "I know it's none of my business, but let me offer a word of advice. The more attached you get to Agent Clark, the more you weaken your case. If the court learns you've had intimate relations with one of the feds assigned to protect you, they may be less likely to sympathize with you."

"Who says I'm having relations with him!" Felix yelled in Fulton's face despite the fact that he was very much a cop. "You... men! Sex is all you think about, isn't it? I just don't want to be killed by a bunch of whack jobs, that's all. Stop profiling me, Mr. Peacemaker."

Felix stomped down the hall into Ryan's bedroom and slammed the door behind her. She didn't care if she had just made a fool of herself or offended an officer of the law. Everyone just needed to back off. So she had made a few bad choices. She wasn't a fucking criminal, and she still had rights, goddammit!

Her duffel sat on a chair in the corner of Ryan's bedroom, and she rummaged through it, pulling out a Big Bang Theory tee that belonged to Andy. She had grabbed it out of his hamper as she hurried to leave the house. She wanted something with his scent on it.

Bringing the shirt to her face, she inhaled the smell of stale Polo and sweat as the memory of their last encounter played in her head. He had taken her to their favorite Thai restaurant, and afterwards they parked in their special hiding place behind the mall where they could escape the assholes. He told her loved her as he fucked her doggy style, promising that someday they would have a normal life. She didn't believe him then, and she damn sure didn't believe him now.

Felix swung Ryan's bedroom door open and stomped determinedly down the hall, tossing the tee shirt at Fulton. "Here. See if you can find anything useful on this." She walked to the fridge and searched for something to soothe her stomach. Fortunately, Ryan had a couple peach yogurts that hadn't expired, and she grabbed one. As she retrieved a spoon from the silverware drawer, she glanced up to see Ryan watching her. There was nothing in his blank expression that reassured her. Had his conversation with Harris been unsuccessful?

"Well, I think I've got all I need for the time being," Fulton said. "I expect to hear from you and Miss Taylor first thing tomorrow morning, Agent Clark." With a quick jerk of his head, he let himself out.

With Fulton gone, every muscle in Felix's body relaxed. In fact, she felt so relieved, she sat right down on the kitchen floor and started spooning yogurt into her mouth. Ryan joined her, sitting cross-legged so their knees touched.

"That guy almost found out how to sing an octave higher than Justin Timberlake," she said.

"What did he say to you when I was on the phone?"

"He basically said I would be more likely to go to jail if you and I had sex."

Felix heard him take in a quick breath while she continued to fill her mouth with yogurt.

"I know this sucks for you, Felix. You don't deserve to have pricks like Fulton make you feel bad about what has happened to you. I have to be honest, though. There are a lot of women who know exactly what they're doing when they get involved with criminals. It's like that old saying, 'A few bad apples spoil the whole bunch'."

"You're not old enough to know what that saying means." She smirked at him, not caring whether her teeth were coated with yogurt.

"I'm older than you."

"Two years doesn't count after the age of twenty." Felix set down her empty yogurt cup and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "So, what did Harris say? Can I stay here?"

"Yes, for tonight. He can't promise anything after that."

Felix sighed, grateful for what she was granted. "I would do anything for a gin and soda with about six limes."

Ryan glanced at his phone. "It's eleven o'clock in the morning."

"I know. The perfect time to hit the bar without anyone noticing." She leaned forward and kissed Ryan with her yogurt-infused lips. "Please, Ryan. I want to make this day count."

He stood and offered his hand. "Then, I am at your service."