CH 6

Captain Dan Ross's coming and goings had never excited comment in the Major Case Squad before, and it didn't now. He was still a bit perturbed over the meeting at the Chief of Detectives office. There were the usual questions which he expected, but he hadn't expected a lecture on morals and ethics from the man. He'd had to bite his tongue to keep his comments to himself about the Chiefs reputation. At one time he might've just let them fly, but now he had Karlas reputation to consider. So he'd bit his comments back and only objected mildly to the implication that he was tarnishing the image of the NYPD and his own example to his officers.

His own officers were just fine, thank you very much. He marched through the squad room and saw Goren and Eames at their desks working on paperwork. "Goren, in my office, please."

He went in and took off his coat. When he turned to hang it up he found both Goren and Eames in his office. Momentarily non plussed he stared at her. "Can I help you, detective?" he asked her coolly.

She had a file in her hand and hastily handed it to her partner. "He forgot his file." She said and left the office.

Bobby was miffed at the treatment and was about to say something when Dan crossed the office and closed the door. He pulled the vertical blinds, blocking out the rest of the squad room and turned to his biggest detective. "Have a seat."

His behavior was so unusual Bobby momentarily forgot his indignation. "Is something wrong, Captain?"

Dan sat down behind his desk and ran a distraught hand through his hair. "Let's just say this is between us, man to man. Are we agreed, this is off the record? This isn't official."

"Uh, sure, Cap-uh, Dan. How-How can I help?"

"Officially, I don't know anything about your relationship before I got here. I know you and Eames are married now, but you were seeing each other before you got married."

"Yes." Bobby admitted cautiously not sure where this was leading.

"How did…I mean, did anyone….aw, hell. What happened when it came out?"

"Well, we were split up for a time, as partners. But I just wasn't functioning well with someone else and told them if Eames didn't come back as my partner we'd leave here and go somewhere else so they suspended the split and we were told to keep it on the QT."

"Would you have? Left, I mean?"

"Well, Jim Deakins did offer us a job in his new agency and we had feelers from some of the other departments that would allow us to work together. We didn't want to go, of course, but, yeah, we would have if we'd had to. Why all these questions? Is someone giving you trouble over our being partners?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I said it's personal. I, uh, I've been seeing someone from the department and there's been some trouble and I'm worried about how things will go down."

"Not in our department?"

"No, another department."

"Karla." Bobby didn't need to ask, it was a statement. "Is she alright?"

Dan was a bit embarrassed to admit he hadn't expected Bobby to pick up on it so fast and rather grateful that he had. "Physically she's bruised but fine. It's her emotional state that I'm worried about. I don't want her to suffer for us being, us seeing each other."

"If you're in different departments it shouldn't present a problem. If I may ask, what happened?"

Dan told his detective about it and made him promise not to talk about it to anyone other than Eames. He figured he could count on Bobbys discretion. After the conversation, he told him. "Please apologize to Alex for me, will you? I didn't mean to be so abrupt with her."

Bobby stood up and nodded. "She'll understand. I'm sure she's already gotten over it. I'll get back to work now."

"Thanks, detective." And Captain Dan Ross was once more in charge.

Rough Day. There was an understatement. Karla spent the entire day talking on the phone to detectives from her own precinct, the precinct where she lived, her captain who was supportive of her predicament and giving no comment quotes to the press who had gotten her number and wouldn't leave her alone. The final call of the day was the one she'd been dreading. IAB wanted her in their office first thing in the morning.

The worst part of the entire day was that she hadn't been able to call Dan at all. She was aware of some of her coworkers making snide comments behind her back, but they never said anything to her face to face. She just kept her chin up and tried to let them all think it wasn't getting to her.

Captain Ross was having a less than stellar day himself. He was fielding almost as many calls as Karla plus his other calls. By the time his call from IAB came in he was ready to chew iron and spit nails. He hadn't heard from Karla all day and he wanted to call her. Yet he didn't want to give the impression he didn't trust her.

Alex walked by his office. He called "Eames."

"Captain?" she popped her head inside his office.

"How're things going?"

"They're fine, sir." She said puzzled. Then she nodded. "I need to make a call, sir. I'll be right back."

Sometimes having a very bright staff comes in handy. He pulled some papers out of his desk and plopped them down. They were work he had to do though he couldn't really concentrate on them. He picked up a pen and pretended to read. Minutes later Alex walked in with a file folder and put it on his desk. She nodded to him and walked back out.

He opened it and read the contents. It was a note from Alex. "Called her. She's badly in need of hugs and TLC but she's feisty. Sends her regards. Looking forward to seeing you again." He put the file in his drawer. Oh, he had it bad. He almost decided to shred it, but after rereading it he realized it was innocuous enough so that anyone who read it wasn't able to tell who she was.

He glanced at the clock and realized it was time to go home. He was more than ready. Tomorrow was going to be another long one. He walked to the elevator and pushed the button. He was joined by Alex and Bobby. "Detectives." He greeted them.

"Captain." Bobby said.

"You know, Bobby and I are having a small party at our house this weekend. If you and Karla aren't doing anything, you're welcome to join us. Bobby's cooking steaks on the grill. We'd be glad to have you." Alex said idly.

"I'd have to talk to her first. Who all will be there?"

"Mike and Carolyn for sure. Maybe a few others. No one you who'll poke their nose into your business. It's supposed to be nice weather."

"I'll tell her."

He made it all the way to his car, before he couldn't resist the urge to call her. He got into his car and dialed her cell phone number. It went to voice mail. He swore and disconnected. He considered going out to her place, but decided against it. He started his car and drove home. He didn't see her vehicle. He tried her phone again then he called her home. It told him that the machine was full.

He parked and went inside the building. He wanted to change clothes and take a shower, get some dinner and call Karla again. He approached his door and some sixth sense told him someone had been there. He backed against the wall alongside the door and pulled his gun. He never knew what was going to happen.

He gently inserted the key in the door and swung it open. He stepped inside, gun ready. The living room was empty. He lifted his gun and closed the door, still with the feeling he wasn't alone. He walked toward the kitchen, it was empty and he moved on cat feet toward his bedroom. The door was half closed. He never closed the door. He was prepared for anything, except to see Karla completely naked standing next to his bed.

"Karla?" he demanded.

She whirled around. Her face went white at the gun in his hand and she grabbed for the towel she'd dropped. "Dan. I didn't expect you to be home so soon."

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"Hiding. And I picked your lock." She wrapped the towel around her again and pushed her wet hair out of her face. She looked as weary as he felt. "Are you mad? I can leave. I just didn't have any where else to go. I'd hoped you wouldn't mind."

"I don't. I just wish you had let me know. I tried to call you on your cell and your home number. They were all voice mail."

"I can't take any more calls today. My phone was ringing off the hook all day and I've gotten an earful from everyone I've talked to except the Police Commissioner. I'll get my things and leave."

"Do you always leap to conclusions?" he asked and holstered his gun. Now that the mystery was solved he was unwinding rapidly and it was a dizzying trip. "Why don't I let you get dressed and we can talk in the living room. I don't want you to go, Karla. You're welcome here for as long as you need to be here."

He left her sitting in a damp towel on his bed. He headed back to his living room and put his gun away. His answering machine was blinking that he had 34 messages. The maximum was 40. At least he hadn't heard from everyone he knew. He already had it set to display the ids of the callers. He began erasing the messages except the ones he knew. That took care of all but four. One from his ex wife, one each from his boys and one from Sackett. Now why would she be calling him at home? He decided to call her first.

"Sackett."

"It's Ross. I got your message. What's up?" he had it on speaker phone.

"I want to know what's going on with you and Wilkes. I know she was under your command, but I didn't know you were involved."

"We weren't at that time. We went to a banquet together, purely platonic. She needed an escort and I was available. We had dinner with an entire room full of people. Then she transferred to your precinct. We started dating and now we're involved in this shooting mess. That's pretty much all so far."

"Don't give me that. I've seen you two together. You two are nutty about each other. What do you intend to do about it?"

"That's rather personal, don't you think?"

"Damn right, it's personal. I don't want you to mess around with my officers if you don't mean to make it right. Karla's a damned good officer, but she's naïve. I don't want to see her hurt by you and I damned sure don't want to lose her. You either treat her right or by God I'll come and kick your ass myself. Are we clear?"

"Perfectly." Ross said amused.

"Call me if there's anything I can do to help." She hung up.

"Naïve. I like that." Karla scoffed, entering the room. She put her duffle bag on the floor by the door.

"How much did you hear?"

"Everything."

Dan looked pointedly at the bag. "I said you could stay."

"I don't want to push my way in or stay where I'm not welcome. I'd rather not do that. How was your day?"

"Long, but I can handle it. How about you?"

"Alex called." She informed him with a hooded look. "I'm not surprised you didn't. I don't want to make this harder on you."

"You keep saying that. Why?" he frowned.

"I still think you might find some people who look down at you because you're seeing me or any other officer and will try to punish you for it."

"Punish me? Like a child?" he asked incredulously.

"Ostracize you? In school they teach peer pressure and ostracizing as a means of controlling others. Somewhere in there it's implanted. I worry that they'll do that and hurt you."

"Sweetheart, they can't hurt me like that. In order for it to apply to me they have to mean something to me. Nobody means that much to me except you."

Karla sighed and sank down on the couch and seemed just exhausted. "I thought shooting Ben was hard. Today was worse and tomorrow is going to be worse than today. How long will this go on?"

"Until IAB rules it's a good shoot and clears us. I take it they called you today?"

"I have to be there first thing in the morning. I'm not ready for this. I haven't heard from my rep yet."

"Probably because you have your cell phone off."

"Wouldn't they have called me at the office?"

"Too much chance of them being overheard. I'll bet you'll find his number on you voicemail if you turn it on now."

Karla made a face and went over to the bag by the door. She came back and sat down with a look of dread on her face. She grimaced and turned it on. It immediately started ringing. She nearly dropped it. She was really stressed out about it. He gently took it from her and turned off the ringer. It stopped in mid ring. He smiled and handed it back to her.

"Ignore the ones you don't want to talk to or delete them. Your rep probably left you a text message. Try those first."

"I've never shot anyone before. I might just turn in my gun after this." She informed him.

"Most police never use their gun but shootings aren't the only reason the rat bureau calls people in."

Karla was busy with her phone so he went into the kitchen and ordered pizza to be delivered. He was hungry, but he figured she'd really need to eat as well and he just didn't feel like cooking. He ordered several different varieties. He could hear her talking. He hoped she'd gotten a hold of her rep.

He was opening himself a beer and her some soda when she came into the kitchen, looking grim. "You were right. He was trying to get a hold of me along with several dozen others who just wanted the juicy gossip. I have to go somewhere and meet him. Any suggestions?"

"Why not here? I can go into the bedroom, if I need to."

"You don't mind?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I did. Call him back and have him meet you here. Anywhere you meet in public, might call the attention of the press."

She gave him a shy smile and went back into the living room. He shook his head. Sometimes she acted like little courtesies were new to her. Now there was a thought. He heard her voice on the phone. It didn't sound at all like the woman who'd just been in here. She appeared to wear many faces. How many of them were really her?

She was already off the phone when he entered the room. She was once again curled up on the couch, more of a defensive posture than a wiped out position. He handed her the soda and sat down next to her. She smiled her thanks and took a deep drink. "So what about you? Did you talk to your rep?"

"I did. I'll be meeting him in the morning before I go to the meeting. Do you know how you're going to approach the board?"

"With honesty. I have nothing to hide and they aren't going to make me ashamed of protecting myself or my property."

"Really listen to your rep. He's supposed to be on your side."

"I intend to. Then I'll run it by you." She made a face at him.

"I'm not sure I'm the best person to talk to about this."

"You are the person I choose to talk to. You've been through this or know someone who has so you know more than I do. I know, I know, you're not an attorney, but you are a very smart person. I trust your judgment."

Dans doorbell rang and he got up to answer it. It was the pizza delivery guy. As he was digging money out of his pocket he was approached by a man in a suit. "I'm looking for Karla Wilkes."

"Come on in. Thanks." Dan told him.

The pizza guys eyes got large. Dan looked at him, "If you have any hope of keeping your job, you'll keep this information to yourself."

"Yes, uh, no sir. I won't say a word." The guy stuttered and turned and fled.

The rep stepped inside the room and Dan turned with the pizza. "I'm Rex Smith. You are Karla Wilkes?"

"I am."

"I'm your union rep. We need to speak about your testimony in front of the IAB tomorrow. We should talk alone."

Karla shook her head. "I don't need to hide what I'm going to say in front of him. He was there. He's also accused of the same thing. This is Captain Dan Ross."

"I'm aware of who he is. I really think we need to…."

"Mr. Smith, I am tired and hungry and I'm going to eat. You are welcome to join us and we can talk afterward or you can go and come back or you can talk in front of him. Any one of those choices is acceptable. Chasing Dan away from his dinner in his own home when he paid for it is not. Either way, I'm eating." Karen told him bluntly.

"I'll take a slice then." Smith said reluctantly.

"Would you like a soda with it?" Dan asked politely.

"Anything you have would be fine." Smith said differentially.

They were seated in the kitchen when Karla told the man. "I know you need to hear what happened so I'm going to tell you exactly what went on. Dan was only protecting me and my house…." She told him exactly what had transpired. He didn't ask any questions, still reluctant to speak around him.

"So, Mr. Smith, how long have you been a union rep?" Dan asked.

"I've been a lawyer for three years."

Dan nodded. Karla rolled her eyes at him but smiled at the man. Dan finished his last bite and rose. "I'll be in the other room until you're done. Take your time."

Karla waited until he left the room before she rounded on the lawyer. "Look, I'm not enamored of lawyers at the best of times. I like your treatment of him even less. Say what you have to, ask what you have to ask then leave."

Smith was taken aback. "We have to settle what happened and prepare you for your testimony. That kind of attitude is not going to help your case. I suggest you loose that attitude…."

"My attitude is only going to get worse if you don't get moving. I'm tired, I've had a long day and my patience is used up. I told you exactly what happened and it's not going to change if you dance around it. What do you want to know?"

"What exactly is your relationship with Captain Ross?"

"We are good friends. We worked together at my previous assignment, that's how we met."

"But he was spending the night at your house the night of the shooting. Were you sleeping together?"

"He came over to make sure I was alright, because I hadn't called him when I usually do. He found that I'd been beaten up and had gone to the hospital. I was back home and scared that the man would come back and do worse. He agreed to stay with me and protect me so I could rest in safety. When Ben Winston showed up, Dan greeted him in the living room. I got there and tried to talk Ben into leaving. He came at us with a knife and we had to shoot him to defend ourselves. We were sleeping in the same room, on the same bed, fully clothed."

"After having sex?"

"Not having had sex. It was purely for my security. We had no expectation that Ben was going to come back. But just in case he stayed."

"IAB will ask you that."

"Let them. IAB has everyone all wacked out and afraid of them. I'm not. I did nothing wrong."

"What matters is what they say was right or wrong."

"Then that's wrong. The truth should not be subjective. We needed protection from Ben pure and simple. We tried to talk him out of coming after us, but he didn't listen."

"I don't think you realize how much trouble you're in. Tell me, honestly, did you kill Ben because Ben found out you were having an affair with Captain Ross?"

"There are two things wrong with that theory. Three actually. One, we are not having an affair, two Ben didn't know any such thing because it wasn't true and three, Ben didn't care one way or the other who I was with. It had no meaning to him."

"So he didn't know about you're affair?"

"You can't know about something that doesn't exist."

"So you killed him because he came after your new boyfriend?"

"Mr. Smith."

"Yes."

"Mr. Smith."

"What?"

"Mr. Smith.

"Why do you keep calling me?"

"I wasn't sure if you were hearing me. I was trying to see if you couldn't hear me or you were just ignoring what I'm telling you."

"That won't play out well with the board." He warned, annoyed.

"It made you listen to me and stopped that repetitive cycle. I'm telling you for the last time. Now hear this. Dan Ross and I are friends. We are not sleeping together or having sex or any other damned way you want to put it. Are we clear on that at last?"

"As effective as that demonstration of your mental agility was, Ms. Wilkes…."

"Sergeant Wilkes. I have a rank whether I'm in uniform or not."

"Sergeant, the board will not just let it go that easily."

"Then I'll continue to correct them until they get it right. You have to do that with people who are particularly slow."

Smith sat back and eyed the older woman in exasperation. "I don't believe you're going to let me help you, are you?"

"So far you haven't been a lot of help, no."

"You haven't let me help you."

"Then what do you suggest since you're so certain the truth won't work?"

"I never said that." He protested. Karla just folded her arms and regarded him expectantly. "Tell them that he told you to shoot him. He's a bigger fish than you are. They'll do less to him and you'll just get a slap on the wrist."

"No."

"No? Just no?"

"That's right. Just no and this interview is over." Karla rose to her feet.

"We still have to go over…."

"No we don't. You just told me to lie to the Internal Affairs, accuse my friend of something he didn't do to save my own ass and now you think I'm going to trust you? No, Mr. Smith, this interview is over and I suggest you contact a lawyer of your own because I intend to contact the Ethics board and report you first thing in the morning."

"I'm trying to save your career." Smith stood up.

"Not by lying, you're not. You are asking me to lie and I won't do it. Take your things and get out, Mr. Smith. And I expect you'll report me to the board that I was uncooperative. It doesn't bother me. Good night."

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Duly noted."

Rex Smith gathered up his briefcase, put his papers into it and handed Karla a piece of paper. "I need you to sign this."

"What is it?"

"It says you refused my services and I'm not liable for it."

"It also means that you get paid for this, doesn't it?"

"I'll get paid for it anyway."

"Good for you. You'll need the money, because I'm not signing it."

"You have to."

"No, I don't. It says right on top that failure to sign this constitutes an admission of guilt and you've already filled my name in. I won't sign it and it doesn't signify anything of the sort."

"You have no proof of anything."

"You really think so? You're a lawyer, Mr. Smith, you're not a cop."

Rex Smith reached out his hand for the form and Karla kept it firmly in her grasp. "I think I'd like a lawyer of my choosing to look this over. I'll have him mail it to your office after he's done."

"You are a very unorthodox client."

"You are a very shaky lawyer, Mr. Smith."

Rex Smith left the apartment and Karla sank onto the couch and put her head in her hands. She was sitting there when Dan found her.

"Is he gone? Karla?"

"They're going to throw me under the jail and I have no idea what to do about it."

She moaned.

"Not quite. Wasn't he able to help you?"

"Help me?" She jerked her head up and looked at him, angrily. "He wanted me to tell them that you told me to shoot Ben and they'd go easy on me. He said that they'd go easy on you because of your rank and he gave me this paper to sign saying that I refused his counsel and if I refused to sign it, it meant I was guilty."

"We'll get a better lawyer. Karla, don't let him get to you. He was supposed to be your rep not the boards. He was just trying to rattle you. What did you tell him?"

"I told him I wouldn't lie to them and that he could expect trouble over his lack of ethics. I refused to sign this sheet and I'd let my lawyer read it and send it to his office. I told him to get out."

She waved the offensive paper in the air in his direction then slammed it down on the table. He sat down on the couch next to her. "First of all, they aren't going to throw you under the jail. It's rock."

She shot him a disgusted look, but her lips twitched. "Thanks."

"Second, we were in the right and we both know it. The CSU verified that all the evidence supported the events. The bullistics came back and it looks like as soon as IAB clears us it's all done."

"Are you serious?" she stared at him.

"Dead serious. I'd never lie about something like that."

Karla launched herself into his arms. "I love you."

He laughed and caught her as he fell backward on the couch. "I love you, too."

TBC