"Feels like forever. What can I help you with? Does it involve food? I'm hungry."

"Sorry, no; and you're always hungry. I'm working a case and I need some input."

"Solomon can't help?" he asked, not even blanching at his name. He and Solomon once were colleagues, if not exactly friends, but their relationship now was little more than civil. My being in the middle had a lot to do with that, but I was pretty sure I wasn't the sole cause.

"He's working the other side of the case."

"Ouch!"

"Neither of us knew until my client, his target, got arrested."

"Awkward. Come into my office and tell me how I can help," said Maddox without any trace of glee. I wondered if Solomon would be just as calm when he inevitably found out I asked Maddox for help.

"I need background checks on my client and the people around her."

"Do you think she did it?" he asked, walking me through security and over to the elevator.

"No," I said as the doors opened and we stepped inside. They slid closed and we quickly ascended.

"What does the evidence say?"

"The evidence says she did," I admitted because I couldn't deny it, even if I'd yet to review all of it. That didn't exclude the chance that evidence could be falsified, or incomplete, and Juliet was already suggesting the former.

"Interesting case."

"You're telling me."

I followed Maddox to his shared offices where he grabbed a chair and pulled it around the side of his desk, indicating that I take a seat next to him. I dropped into it, tucking my purse to one side, while he logged onto his computer. "How are things?"

"Good. I saw this Lily morning. She's helping me with surveillance."

"How're she and the baby doing?"

"Great. Three months left to go. I'm throwing her a baby shower next month. Lily suggested we invite your girlfriend."

"That's sweet, but I don't think so."

I frowned, wondering if I'd overstepped a boundary. Maddox was the first ex I'd ever been friends with, but it was purely that. Sure, I still found him attractive, but I never imagined us getting back together and had long ago stopped imagining what might have been. I had Solomon now and I was happy. Whatever Maddox thought about our friendship, or my relationship with Solomon these days, was another matter; and his girlfriend's opinions were still another matter. I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable with a genuinely friendly offer, or cause any offense, but I sorely suspected I might have inadvertently done so.

"Do you think it would be awkward?" I asked. "Or would it be more awkward not to invite her because you and I..."

"It would be very awkward since we split up," interrupted Maddox, not looking up from his keyboard.

"Oh, Adam, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize."

"Don't be. We just weren't suited for each other."

"That's a shame. She seemed so nice," I said, recalling the one and only time I met her.

"She was, but just not for me."

"You doing okay?"

Maddox glanced at me and grinned, seemingly not at all perturbed about his newfound single status. "Absolutely fine. Okay, give me some names."

"Juliet Hart."

"Juliet is your client?" he said, whistling. "I heard about her arrest from a buddy at MPD."

"Yes, and Rob —I guess that's short for Robert— Harvey. Rob is her fiancé."

"Okay," said Maddox, sliding over a lined pad of paper and a pen. "Write down their dates of birth and I'll run them. Should I look for anything in particular?"

"No, just general background checks. I don't think either of them is a criminal, but I'd like some more insight into their histories besides what their DMV reports and financial records can offer. I don't want to be surprised by anything lurking in their backgrounds."

"You can find out all kinds of stuff from their financials, you know."

"I know, but Juliet has been pretty candid about money. She emailed me copies of all her past year's bank statements and credit cards this morning. I guess I want to know as much about her as I can because all the evidence points to her guilt so far."

"Sounds like you have your work cut out."

"I do."

"You sure this isn't too much for you?"

"No!"

I might have snapped a little too loudly because Maddox gave me an odd look. Plus, he unfortunately just voiced my biggest worry about the case. What if I couldn't help Juliet? "Sorry, it's just a tough case. I appreciate your help," I told him as I gathered my purse upon standing.

"I'll call you in a day or two. Can't promise I'll have anything useful though."

"Anything helps," I said, trying not to sound as weary as I felt. My gut might have told me one thing about Juliet, but my intuition wasn't enough. I needed real help on this case to provide Juliet with the proof she required for acquittal in her looming criminal case. It would have been so easy to give up in the face of such overwhelming evidence, but what if her stalker did set her up? What if Juliet was about to take the fall thanks to a brilliant criminal mind, who posed as a stalker? I couldn't in good conscience let Juliet go to prison without at least trying my best to help her. Not just her, I reminded myself, but her fiancé and their unborn baby too. Didn't they deserve my best efforts too? It wasn't just Juliet that stood to lose so much; there was a small family too.

"You know I can't get too involved. This isn't a federal case; and I don't have any kind of jurisdiction," warned Maddox.

"I know, but you handle financial crimes better than anyone I know, so I thought your insights would come in useful."

"You could call on a bunch of other people for that kind of stuff," Maddox pointed out. "Solomon, for one..."

"Like I said, he's working for the other team. You know, the one that intends to send Juliet to prison."

"Garrett?" Maddox tried again.

"I tried him already and all he could tell me was Juliet had been flagged on the system and I can guess why now. Plus I owe him big time in babysitting. I think I've exhausted all my favors. Besides, he's on homicide and no one's been killed." I paused at Maddox's widening eyes. "Did you just look hopeful?"

"No! What about Detective Donahue? You know, the one who hit on your cousin at..."

I cut in, "He's the one leading the task force that arrested Juliet!"

Maddox sighed. "I see why you came to me."

"That, and —" I waved a hand at his computer " —you have all these fancy-shmancy databases."

"Even fancy-shmancy databases can't come up with anything if the person isn't in the database. All I can do is run your names through every file I can think of and make up a report."

"I owe you one."

"At least it will be fun for me."

"You're not having fun every day?" I teased.

"Honestly, Lexi," Maddox started quietly, "this job is not what I expected."

"What do you mean?"

"I... it doesn't matter. Forget I said anything. And remember: I will call you on that favor next time I need an external consultant."

I wanted to press him further on the job issue, but he clearly wasn't inviting any questions so instead, I said brightly, "I like the sound of that. Can I print FBI Consultant on my business cards?" That should help my business in a big way!