Summer Mix
Chapter One
From the Journal of James Beckett
May 13, 2014
Dear Johanna,
I hoped that I would never again have our little girl sob as bitterly in my arms as she did the day we lost you, but it happened yesterday. The guests had arrived and the wedding was already late beginning when Katie was called to an accident on the road. Rick's car was in flames. So many of Katie's and Rick's friends from the precinct had come for the wedding that the scene was examined with almost infinite care. Rick's car had clearly been run off the road. When the fire was put out, a body was found inside the car. It was charred and unrecognizable, but the height and general build were a match for Rick. Katie was inconsolable and I understood all too well how she felt.
Today everything has changed. Rick's family requested that Dr. Lanie Parish be the one to examine Rick's body. It took her a day to get herself together. She and Katie are not only best friends, but she was supposed to have been Katie's maid of honor. Yesterday they cried together. But this morning Dr. Parish was able to face the task. My love, the body wasn't Rick! Lanie knew as soon as she had x-rays of his bones. Do you remember my tale of the scam that Katie put together for Rick's birthday when he had a broken kneecap? The knee of the body showed no sign of a break! Someone took some pains to make it look, at least initially, like Rick had died in that car, and had substituted another corpse. Lanie was unable to identify the victim and has called in Dr. Clark Murray, the pathologist who helped break your case.
So far there is no clue to Rick's whereabouts, but you know our Katie. She is examining and re-examining every iota of evidence. She is absolutely determined to find him and totally convinced that she will find him alive. The whole precinct, including Captain Gates, is backing Katie 100%. Even though the crime didn't occur within NYPD jurisdiction, Katie's colleagues are spending every hour of their spare time on the case. I wish there was something I could do to help them. All I can do is be here for our daughter, and I will. If there is any way you can help, now is the time.
Forever love,
JB
May 14, 2014
Dear Johanna,
There may be a lead, however small, to whomever is involved in Rick's disappearance. An analysis of the rubber left on the road from the tires of the vehicle that ran Rick off the road showed them to be custom, and from a small batch. Right now Katie and her colleagues are looking at everyone who might have been driving around on those tires. It is a huge long-shot, but Esposito has assured me that they have solved cases with less to go on than this. At the least, it gives Katie something to hold onto.
As dire as the situation may be, I'm still both comforted and astounded by the total dedication of Katie's friends to her and to Rick. So many people have invested in Katie's and Rick's love and in pursuing a happy ending. If hard work, hope, and prayers can bring Rick back to Katie, it will happen.
Forever love,
JB
May 15, 2014
Dear Johanna,
Katie and her friends have hit a snag. The party that obtained the tires did so anonymously, in cash. That is suspicious in itself. Who pays cash for tires anymore? Store records did indicate that they were put on a black SUV. The license number on the work order turned out to have been for stolen plates, but there was a VIN number for the car. They are trying to trace the ownership, but it appears to have passed through several sets of hands and not all transactions may have been recorded.
Katie's friends are getting nervous, as am I. The more time that passes, the worse the chances of recovering Rick alive. If there is an upside, it is that the FBI, or at least an investigator from the FBI, has gotten involved. Agent Shaw, whom Katie and Rick have worked with before, is donating her time and resources. Normally the FBI would be called in on a kidnapping in any case, especially of someone as high profile as Rick. However, no one has actually declared this to be a kidnapping. With no ransom being demanded, despite Rick's wealth, it is not at all clear what his disappearance represents. Dr. Murray has yet to make any progress identifying the body in Rick's car, which complicates matters and casts some suspicion on Rick. Some cynical journalists have even suggested that it might be a case of a runaway groom. I don't believe that for a second and nether does anyone who really knows him. He and Katie went through so much together I can't imagine anything that would make him want to leave her. Wherever he is, he doesn't want to be there.
Forever love,
JB
May 16, 2014
Dear Johanna,
The trail to Rick's captors has lead to the CIA. Katie has a source and she can't tell even me who it is, but she has been told there is a connection. She has been able to tell me this much, it traces back to the research Rick did for his Derrick Storm books. I never understood how Rick got the access to gather the kind of background information he did, but apparently Katie knows. She just can't say.
Whoever Katie's source is, he's helping from behind the scenes. She seems very conflicted about that. Apparently there is a history she also can't tell me about. She considers him less than trustworthy. It is a devil's bargain. She is going with whatever she has because the alternative is even worse.
In some way, the idea of CIA involvement does jibe with the trail of the tires, which led abruptly into a black hole, even for the FBI. The CIA, or someone involved with them, could possibly obscure the evidence that thoroughly. Katie also told me with a laugh, rare for her these days, that the CIA has been known to use black SUV's. Apparently that isn't classified information.
Forever love,
JB
May 18, 2014
Dear Johanna,
Rick has been found alive. There certainly, as yet, is no solution to the mystery of who took him. Katie received a text from her mysterious source and she, Esposito, and Ryan found Rick in a building on Staten Island, which had been abandoned after Hurricane Sandy. In fact the whole area had been abandoned, which meant no one saw or heard anything. There would have been plenty to observe. Rick was surrounded by dead bodies. Some of them had been killed with a knife, some had been shot. As yet no one knows who they were or who killed them.
Rick was in pretty bad shape. Apparently he had been bound, drugged, and tortured. Katie didn't give me many details, they seemed to stick in her throat whenever she tried. She did tell me that he was still wearing his tuxedo, and he still had the wedding license in his pocket. He could barely think or talk, but he insisted on giving the license to Kate for safekeeping.
Rick's in the hospital and Kate is with him. Martha and Alexis are there too and a group of cops from 12th are guarding him on their own time, until it can be determined if he is still in danger. Lanie is keeping an eye on Rick and Katie as well. I've visited with Katie several times. Rick was barely conscious but he seemed to know who I was and seemed glad that I was there for Katie.
I'm afraid there may be a long road to recovery for Rick, more likely mentally even more than physically. His captors kept his injuries less than life threatening, possibly so they could extract more information from him, but he suffered a lot of pain and no doubt terror. There are also still a whole group of puzzles to solve. Katie seems to be letting all of that go for now while she watches over Rick. She may also know more than she is willing to talk about. But I am sure, knowing our daughter, that however long it takes, if there is anyone left alive who was involved in Rick's abduction, they will not escape justice.
Forever love,
JB