In May 2012, musician Noah Newman returned to Genoa City after living in New York City. Noah told his mother Sharon that living there had not been what he expected it would be, and he had decided to stay. Noah admitted to Nick that someone in New York City named Adriana had broken his heart, and that he was no longer interested in music or business. He then took a job as a bartender at the Genoa City Athletic Club.

Noah received a package containing a travel bag filled with bundles of cash from Adriana with a note asking him to keep it safe. Noah left a voicemail telling her that he'd gotten the package, but was afraid for her.

NYPD detective Alejandro "Alex" Chavez arrived in Genoa City looking for Noah. After Kevin Fisher, owner of Crimson Lights coffee shop, refused to give Alex any information, he went to Noah's father Nick's house and questioned Noah about Adriana. Noah told him that their relationship didn't end well, he had not seen Adriana since he left New York City, and she wasn't returning his calls. After he left, Noah checked to be sure the bag of money was still hidden in a wooden toy box in the entryway of Nick's house. Noah finally got a text from Adriana, but he told her not to come to Genoa City, that the police were looking for her there.

Noah returned home one day to discover the money was missing, and accused his sister, Summer, of taking it. After Nick witnessed Detective Chavez questioning Noah, Nick confronted Chavez. He showed Nick his badge and explained his suspicion that Noah knew the whereabouts of a girl who was in a lot of trouble with the NYPD. Nick asked Noah about it, and he admitted that she was his former New York girlfriend, but he didn't know where she was. After Nick left, Noah received a text from Adriana saying, "I'm here. See you soon."

When Adriana showed up at Noah's, he reminded her how she had cheated on him with a guy from Brooklyn, and had broken his heart; then she had the nerve to send him her stolen drug money, implicating him in a crime. Noah told her the money had disappeared. Adriana claimed that Chavez was a dirty cop, that she had found the drug money in the wall of her apartment, and it was her only chance to start over. But Noah later found in her purse a bank statement for a $10,000 account in the name of Maria Sanchez with Adriana's address. Chavez told Noah the money was police sting money, that the guy who Adriana cheated with on Noah had it from a drug buy, and Chavez's job was on the line if he didn't get it back. Noah admitted he had received the money, but that it had been stolen from where he had hidden it. Chavez believed him since he already suspected Kevin and Chloe Fisher of stealing it, and he convinced Noah to work for him to keep himself out of trouble. Adriana figured out that Kevin and Chloe had the money and stole it back. After Noah declined to run away with her, Chavez caught Adriana and tried to talk her into giving him the money. But Adriana pulled his gun on him, handcuffed him to a stairway, hugged and kissed him, and left town. Later after being fired from the NYPD over it, Chavez admitted to Noah that Adriana was his younger sister. Adriana happened on Katherine Chancellor trapped in her car during a bad winter storm, rescued her, and took her home. Adriana then showed up at The Underground bar where Noah was working to return the money and gun to Chavez. But even after Chavez returned the money, he was fired from the NYPD.

Noah and Adriana made up and were talking about moving in together. Then after she was accused of stealing by Jill Fenmore, she quit working for Katherine and disappeared. Noah went to Alex who was not concerned. He told Noah that she had been a liar and used people all her life. Adriana was not to be trusted and would never change.

Not long afterward, private detective Paul Williams was asked to become chief of police, and he accepted the job. Paul hired Alex as a GCPD detective. Alex began to be attracted to Abby Newman, and he attended the remarriage of her father Victor and Nikki Newman with Abby. A hitman disguised as a waiter attempted to murder Victor, and Alex helped to take him down. The man, Bob, was questioned by Paul and Alex about his relationship with prime suspect Congressman Marcus Wheeler, but Bob refused to talk. Paul told Alex to find out what Victor had on Wheeler. Later Alex spotted a photo of Wheeler's daughter, and recognized her as the prostitute he had seen leaving a bar with Jack Abbott on New Years Eve. It became apparent that Congressman Wheeler was behind it, but questioning the slippery politician got them nowhere. So Jack and Victor decided they needed to work together to control the situation, and confronted Wheeler about putting a hit on Victor and killing Belinda Rogan 12 years earlier. Wheeler smugly told them they could not prove it. Paul and Alex had been listening from the next room and collected the DNA sample from Wheeler's coffee cup to compare to the DNA which had been found on Belinda's body. Wheeler's DNA matched, and he was arrested for her murder. Marcus made bail but was later arrested for hiring the hitman.

Six burglaries occurred within two weeks, all with the same M.O. stealing cash, jewelry, and small electronics. After Kevin began commenting on the overindulgence of the rich people in Ridgecliff estates, and he began spending money she knew they did not have on lobster and champagne, his wife Chloe got suspicious. She found jewelry in a lockbox at Crimson Lights, and after Detective Alex saw it, he arrested Chloe for possession of stolen property. At the police station, Chloe begged Kevin to tell the police where the jewelry came from, but Kevin just stood there having flashbacks to a prior time of terror in jail. Chloe was released on bail the next morning. Seeing Kevin, she called him a coward, telling him to grow up and face his fear of confined spaces. Kevin confessed and was made to give back what he had stolen and make restitution by doing computer work for the GCPD. Kevin began working with Alex resentfully using his computer hacking skills to help solve cases.

After head of Jabot Face of Fashion, Neil Winter's, apartment was ransacked and only a flash drive containing sensitive Jabot files was missing, a story about his girlfriend Leslie Michaelson hiding her secret past hit the Internet on the GC Buzz page. When questioned about potential enemies, Neil could not think of any, and admitted that he had not had contact with his parents or family in years. Later another story about Lily and Cane appeared which had come from Neil's stolen journal. Neil was shocked when computer-hacker Kevin, discovered that GC Buzz was a domain owned by Neil's own corporation NEWbiz Inc. Kevin tracked the uploads to a computer in the Genoa City Athletic Club's business center. Another burglary occurred in the Heights, so Alex and his partner Sheryl accused Kevin, and searched Crimson Lights and their house but found nothing.

In the middle of another argument, Abby and Alex agreed to break it off, agreeing they were just not suited to each other, then decided on a "friends with benefits" relationship. But Abby soon moved on to Tyler Michaelson.

Alex tested Kevin by setting him up, then asked Kevin why he didn't take the bait. They exchanged some banter about what Kevin hypothetically had done, ending with Kevin handing Alex a recording that he had un-erased which would help Alex solve a case. Alex finally asked if Kevin wasn't tired of being a screw-up and asked him to join the police force and become their tech specialist. Alex was pleased that Kevin continued to be invaluable to the GCPD by using his computer and GPS tracking skills, but not that he managed to break the rules and get in trouble at the same time.

Noah and Summer Newman were both perplexed by the lack of background information they knew about their mutual friend Courtney Sloane, especially after Fen Baldwin told them that his drug dealer Raven called Courtney her best customer. Courtney denied that she was buying drugs, and certainly did not appear to be taking them. As Courtney and Noah became lovers, he realized that she was getting a lot of texts from someone named Zach. Courtney explained that he was family, and was really messed up. But viewers were surprised when Courtney met 'Zach' in the park, and he turned out to be Alex. Courtney asked, "Chavez, what have you got for me?" And he told her she was in dangerous territory getting involved with Noah, or anyone else. Courtney replied that she knew what she was doing. Chavez reminded her that it was important to both of them that she did not screw things up. Caught together by Noah, Courtney called Chavez by the wrong last name and implied that he was unnecessarily cautioning her about being alone in the park. Days later, after breaking up with Noah, Courtney showed up at the police station calling Chavez "Zach", and him calling her "Farrah".