After the Fall
Chapter 4
The Journal of James Beckett
Dearest Johanna,
The decision has been made for Katie. She has been replaced. Commander Gates was needed in her new job, and the 12th couldn't wait the months it will take Katie to recover, to have a captain. I think she is more relieved than angry, although every so often her resentment flares. Rick is more upset than she is. He thinks the choice should have been hers. He is also not sure if he will be able to follow her wherever she ends up, and that is very disturbing to him. I can't say that I blame him. In his shoes, I think I would feel the same.
The recovery for both of them still has a long way to go, but they have made progress. They were both in third row center for the opening of Gypsy and even dropped in at the opening party at Sardi's.
Alexis is still staying at the loft but expects to return to Rick's P.I. office soon. Neither Rick nor Katie needs the home health aide anymore. They've begun taking walks together, both for the fun of it and to build their strength. They're adding a little more distance each day. Fortunately, the temperatures in the city aren't too high yet. I would imagine that next month, it will become the usual heat and humidity hotbox, but for now, it is quite pleasant when it isn't raining.
Rick decided that for extra motivation to get moving, he'd get a dog that would need walking. He's wanted one for a while, so has Katie. There was a golden retriever related to a case that was at the precinct for a while. Katie and Rick briefly shared custody of it. They both grew attached.
They went to the shelter looking for a dog they could both fall in love with again. The one they found isn't a golden retriever or any other pure breed. It seems to be a little of everything. Rick named him Lancelot, after the one in the original Arthurian story who was not the handsome knight of the movies but ugly yet loving and noble. Lancelot is not so big that he will pull them along and put a strain on their wounds or so small that Rick would look silly walking him. He is friendly, up to a point, but seems to have already adopted Rick, Katie, and Alexis as his pack. The dog was very suspicious of me when I visited the loft, but once Katie made it clear that I was family, everything was fine. I guess I'm a pack member too now. I like that.
I'm making progress with the Baron suit, but I'm also getting some discouraging responses. Some of the students from Baron University are opting out not because they wish to sue on their own, but merely because they refuse to believe they've been swindled. Either they assert that they didn't follow instructions well enough or that their ships will come in any day. To them, Baron is a cult figure who can do no wrong. I suppose that's not too surprising. It is tough for people to let go of their dreams. I imagine that's what keeps the lottery in business.
I had a strange visitor at the office yesterday. He showed up without an appointment and insisted on seeing me. He talked a little like someone in a Godfather movie - with a Brooklyn accent. At first, I thought he was putting me on, but from everything I could tell, he was dead serious. He said he was an attorney and that he couldn't reveal the name of his client, but that he was offering me two million dollars to drop the suit against Baron. He wasn't talking about a settlement, which I would have been open to discussing, although for at least ten times the amount. He was talking about money for me personally, essentially a bribe. I can only imagine how you would have reacted to such a thing. I told him I didn't want any part of it, that the suit was for the sake of my clients, not to fill my own pockets. He seemed genuinely surprised and puzzled by my response. I know that there are people in this world who think that anything or anyone can be bought. We've both dealt with them, perhaps you even more than me. But I still find being confronted by one both disturbing and sad. I can't understand how the truth can be viewed as something malleable, to be changed at a whim. Vincit omnia veritas. You believed that with all your heart. I'm doing my best to believe it too.
But as you always made clear by your choice of reading matter, fiction has its place. Where Rick is concerned, it's an important one. Since he is no longer at the precinct or working as a P.I., Rick is getting in more writing time. He finished one Nikki Heat and is well into another. He's made his two universes converge. Nikki has met Derrick Storm. I don't know if that would appeal to you or not. I'm not sure Black Pawn likes the idea, either. I would think that two series make more money than one. But leaving Black Pawn behind may be what Rick has in mind. He's said that since he and Katie are no longer solving homicides, he'd like to start something new, perhaps with new detective characters based on the cases he's pursued with Alexis and Hayley Shipton.
I learned that Hayley is by far the most experienced person in Rick's agency. She's been acting as a mentor to Alexis. The two have grown quite close. They not only work together, but they also socialize outside the office. I'm told they both share a love of chocolate shakes, among other things. Hayley also helped Rick during the time Katie tried to leave. I gather there is a lot more to the story than that, but it hasn't been shared with me and neither Rick, Katie, or Alexis seems inclined to do so. But I'm getting off point.
I believe that Rick intends to invent a fictional agency that gets out in front of the police on investigations, then hands them their solutions on a silver platter. That didn't sound too realistic to me, but Alexis told me about some cases in point that happened while Rick and Katie were living apart. They would make good stories. Since the characters would be new, Rick could take them to any publisher he wishes. I believe that Katie likes the idea that Rick would no longer be working with his ex-wife. She swears she isn't jealous. She has no reason to be. Anyone can see that she is the love of Rick's life and she knows how hard he fought to keep her. But I can also understand how Rick's business requiring him to have constant interaction with his ex-wife would make her uncomfortable. I think it makes him more than a little uncomfortable too.
Rick has also mentioned using a cross-country trip with Katie to scout out possible backdrops for his stories. He said something about someone staging the theft of the world's most gigantic ball of string. Katie was joking that it could be a giant cat from outer space. Rick offered that he was thinking more along the lines of a cat that sneaked into a secret government facility that was developing a growth serum for super-soldiers. Katie thought that was derivative of one of Rick's video games and Alice in Wonderland. He agreed with her. It was nice to see them bantering that way, the way we did.
It's midnight, and I have a meeting first thing in the morning. Good night dearest.
Forever love,
J.B.