Ch. 1 Right Where You Want Me

"Excuse me?" Kate walked into the kitchen and put her phone on speaker. She stirred her spaghetti and licked her fingers.

"I am sorry but they won't let me leave." Rick moved around papers for emphasis.

"But we planned on this. Plus, aren't you your own boss?" Kate sat on her stool and let her bare legs dangle over the sides.

"No. Your mom is and before you get it in your head about calling her up again, don't. I don't need people helping me out. I am sorry but I have to finish this paperwork. If you still want me, I'll drop by later?" Rick leaned into his chair and ruffled his hair. He hated missing dinners more than she did. He tried not to but, he pictured her naked and was even more let down.

"Why can't I? She knows how important you are to me. And need I remind you, I have that power and I think I should use it." She kicked her leg out and felt the cool surface of her hardwood floors.

"Please Kate. I am asking nicely. Don't." Rick sat straighter in his chair then got up to move around. Not that long ago, though it really was, Kate stood in his office meeting him for the first time. Even though he was an ass to her, she gave him another chance.

"Fine but you know mom and I are cool now."

"I know. Thank you even though you didn't want to give in."

"Yeah. Yeah. Come by later and you can warm my awesome dinner up." She climbed off her stool and turned the burner off.

"Will do and thanks again."

"I understand, you know I do but I miss you. Just know what awaits you." She blushed and was sad he wasn't there to see exactly what he does to her. He has seen her blush before but he loves it when she does.

"Trust me. I know. That is all I can think about." His phone beeped and he pulled it away to see a pan full of spaghetti. He laughed and knew she was joking with him.

"I thought that you would like to see exactly what you are missing." She laughed with him and smiled her full grin. She took out a plate and scooped some pasta on then sat back on her stool.

"Well, I don't want you to miss it. I'll go now and thanks again. Wake you up later." He smiled waiting for her to get crazy.

"Please don't wake me up! You know that I get woken up at weird hours as it is." She rested her head in her hands and pushed her hair back.

"Calm down. I purposely said it. You should know by now that I do that." He smiled surely and walked around his office to the window.

"Yeah I know but you can still get me. Ok, well I got to go and eat this amazing dinner I made. See you later hopefully." She kissed him over the phone and gathered up a big spoonful of pasta.

"Bye babe." He hung up and sat back down in his chair. He looked at the files, that were stacked high on his desk, and started to take a crack at it.

Kate ate spoonful after spoonful of pasta until her phone rang. It was a call from the precinct. She was needed at work and was suddenly grateful that Rick wasn't there. She hated when she had to leave in the middle of dinner and quickly ran to get more clothes on.

She slid her pants on, threw a shirt over her tank top, and grabbed her bag. She made sure she had everything before locking up her place. As she made her way down the stairs, she hoped she would get back to her home before Rick did.

"Hey. What do we have, Lanie?" Kate leaned down after giving her moment of silence for the victim. She surveyed the scene and already could tell this victim was different.

"Two shots. One in the back of her right leg and one in the back of her head. Fingers are burned and there is no I.D. on the vic. Jane Doe as of now." Lanie was squatted on the concrete in the alleyway. Her board was already being marked from what she could see. "I'll be able to tell you more once I get her to the morgue."

"Fingers and toes are burned so whoever did this doesn't want anyone to know who she is. Looks like she has pricey clothing. Maybe we could get an I.D. from that. Espo? Anyone hear something?"

"No one around at the time. Jogger was out making her daily route when she spotted something in the alley. She walked down to see our vic and that's when she called." Esposito nodded to a woman being talked to by another officer.

"I want to talk to her myself." Kate made her way to the woman. Kate looked her over and noticed that she was a serious jogger. Her tennis shoes had tons of wear and tear and her clothes were top of the line athletic wear.

The woman looked up when Kate asked her if she could talk to her.

"Whatever you need."

"Thank you Ms. Dourly. So you jog around here regularly?"

"Yes. Every night at the same time and before you ask, no. I did not recognize her."

Kate looked up and was surprised. "How did you know that I would ask you that?"

"I watch a lot of cop shows. I run every night at 7:30 P.M. I do not change, no matter what weather."

"Did you see someone leave the alley, maybe a car?" Kate had out her notepad and was using the nearest street light to see.

"No. I heard nothing too. I just saw something and I asked out but no one answered. Then I walked down to see her there." Ms. Dourly teared up and was a little shaken.

"Thank you." Kate handed her, her card. "Let me know if you remember anything. Nothing is too small." Kate nodded once more then walked back to the crime scene with Esposito.

She looked over her vic once again but with more scrutiny. She noticed the woman couldn't be more than 5'8". The woman had red hair that ran the length of her back and there were no highlights. Her dress looked pricey and one of her heels was off her foot. The woman's legs were not scratched up in any way. To Kate, it looked like the woman tried to run away, as if she was being chased. Kate looked down the alleyway and wondered if anything led that way.

Before Kate made her way down, she scanned the crime scene one last time.

"Kate?" Lanie looked up at her friend. "The bullets have been removed from her head."

"What?" Kate leaned down with her friend and looked at the wounds. Sure enough, the bullets were removed.

"Another thing." Detective Ryan glanced at the vic and then to Kate. "There were no shell casings."

"None?"

"No. None."

Kate glanced back down the alleyway and decided to make her way. If there was anything, they would have found it unless, they weren't looking where they needed to. So she carefully made her way down the alley with her head kept down.

"Beckett!" Ryan was clearly not thinking as she was so she just nicely waved him off.

She kept her eyes looking for cracks and any little thing that was connected to the victim.

Once she made her way to the end and out onto the street she noticed that down the block was a hotel. The kind where no one keeps records. She had a hunch so she texted Ryan to meet her at the end and send her a pic of the vic.

"Do you think our vic came from there?" Ryan was right behind her and they were making their way to the hotel.

"I don't know. Maybe." Kate didn't need a reason to trust her gut, it was just something you do. Something you feel.

When they walked in, Kate was right about what kind of motel it was. The manager looked them over from behind the glass and nodded. "100 for the night. I do charge by the hour if you want that instead."

Kate saw Ryan's cheeks blush and she smiled. She flashed her badge to the manager. "NYPD. I need to ask you a couple of questions."

"I'll try."

"Do you recognize this woman?" She held her phone up to the glass. She didn't think he would answer honestly, so she was surprised.

"Actually, yeah. You don't let someone that hot go unnoticed."

"Well, she is dead. Do you know when she came in here?"

"Man. Uh, about five."

"Did you see when she left?" Kate was writing in her notepad and hoping she could get a lead.

"Six."

"Did anyone come with her or was someone meeting her?"

"She booked the room and no one came through here again till seven. Sorry." He looked nice enough but he still creeped Kate out a little.

"Thank you." Kate nodded and left with Ryan.

"Why did she come for an hour then just leave if she wasn't meeting anyone?" Ryan followed Kate back to the crime scene.

"I'm not sure yet but I want those tapes just to check to see if he was telling me the truth or not."

"On it."

Kate gave the crime scene another look over then headed to the precinct.

"I am going to get the tapes tomorrow. Anything you want me to work on tonight?"

Kate looked at her clock and noticed it was 10 P.M. already. "No. Go home."

"What about you?" Ryan sat down next to her.

"I'm fine."

"I'll go when you go." He started to put his gun back in his drawer but she stopped him.

"Kev, go home. I'm serious. I'll leave in a few."

"Promise?"

"Promise." He finally left and she smiled. He was always looking out for her as did Espo and Captain Montgomery. Being an only child, she appreciated the brother and sister like bond they shared. And Captain Montgomery was fatherly yet still the ever loyal friend. She gave one more look at her white board. She had filled it with as much as they had and it wasn't much. Knowing that she could really get into it in the morning, she packed herself up to leave.

She unlocked her door and flipped on the light. She noticed her plate wasn't where she left it, it was washed and drying. The pot she was cooking in was also left to dry. She smiled when she realized he was already there. She locked her door and dropped her bag onto her little table and pulled out her phone.

Once her phone was charging and she was washed up and dressed in her pajamas, she climbed in bed next to him. She felt bad that he was already sleeping without ever having seen her so she decided to wake him up in the best way she could think of.

She leaned her face into his and searched until she found his lips. She intensely kissed him until he stirred, awake. He smiled against her mouth.

"I really missed you." He rubbed her hip and continued with his smile.

"I'll make it up to you."

"How?" He pulled her body closer to his.

"In so many ways." And well she made it up to him, twice.