Kathryn Houghton Beckett was a by the book, no nonsense, honest cop. She believed in the everyday joys of what life presented to the world. While she was dedicated to her job she rarely had the time to experience these joys when they were offered. It's the one thing she wished she could change. Her life had taken a turn for the worse when her mom was murdered. But she dealt with it. She promised that she would not investigate her death for fear that there was something much larger at play here.
She had thought about looking into it once again but after getting nowhere five years ago when she was just a rookie, nevertheless she thought her mental health was far more important than being sucked down into a place from which she would never return from. This was the way she wanted it. Her father was the one man she could look up to. He was strong and he always told her the truth. Sure he accepted her passing with anguish, bitterness, and heartache, but for his daughter, he had only shown worry for her life moving forward. And for good reason. His daughter had lost the one person in her life that could help her navigate the ups and downs of her own life.
During this time they had many talks about the health of their father/daughter relationship and still do to this day. Some were heated, while some were compassionate and soul searching. Still, their talks always come back to how much they missed her, how they both noticed her presence in small references of everyday life. Even though she was gone, she was still with them in a way. For them it was therapeutic. More help to each other than any highly paid headshrinker could offer. Her father decided that shortly after his wife's passing that he would immerse himself in his work. He would be the steady pillar for his daughter and honor his wife. He worked almost non-stop knowing that if he had idle time he would do something that he would regret later. He kept his busy schedule because if he slowed even a little, he would stumble and fall. He only had enough time at the end of the day to give his daughter a quick call to find out how her day had gone, and then while doing that he would make something to eat essentially killing two birds with one stone. After his meal was done he'd clean up, look over anything important for the next workday and then go to bed.
Xx
Kate had a long and tiring day. The case that was assigned to them this morning was reminiscent of her mom's case. Briefly, she wanted to dive back into her mom's case and give her the closure that the department couldn't. But then she thought back to one of her mother's idioms.
"Katie, sometimes in life the weak will stumble and fall, and the rich become more powerful. Each taking advantage of the other. It's up to you to decide where justice should be delivered."
She remembers the day her mom told her this. Her mom was driving her to the airport for her flight to California to attend her first year at Stanford. She often thinks if there was one thing she could change to stop her mom from being murdered, she'd gladly do it. Maybe if she attended another school, or even took a year off before going to school who knows. Still, she glows as she recalls the memory. Stamping down the urge to dive back into the case she goes about her apartment and simply lives her life. Her stomach grumbles and she finally realizes that she had nothing to eat for breakfast.
She opens the cabinet and pulls down a box of linguine and fills a pot with water. Setting it on the stove to boil she searches for a jar of red sauce. Depositing the contents in another pot the fridge is her next target. Sunday she made home made Italian meatballs. Her father loved them. So she takes the meatballs and sets them in the oven to warm up. Less than 30 minutes later she sits down to a hot and tasty looking dinner. As she eats her thoughts drift to a dream that she has been having repetitively for the last couple of months. Sometimes she wakes in a cold sweat, and other times she never wakes. The dream always ends the same.
She and her mother are walking down the sidewalk and they were holding each other's hands. He mom wanted to go to Alexanders department store to shop for a new spring dress. They walked along the storefront and while her mom was busy window shopping, Katie had ventured a look out into the traffic waiting for the light to change. She was mesmerized at what she was seeing. In a car waiting for the light to change to green was an older boy with azure blue eyes and dirty brown hair staring right at her. As she looked hopelessly into his eyes there was a connection between them that was so strong she could not look away if she tried. The longer she looked at him the more she felt like he was telling her his life story without even speaking. She had a feeling that they were meant to meet at this place and time. She was drawn to him. He made her feel safe. To her, it looked like his world was so closed off. In the seconds she kept him in her sight, it seemed like he told her his whole life story in less than 5 seconds.
He was all alone. He was vibrant, funny, caring, smart, and compassionate. But the feeling that he projected the most was that he had some insight into the future. Their future. Her mom tugged her hand and then she looked away breaking the contact. Her mom stopped only about 2 feet further along the storefront and when she turned to look at him again, the car was already gone. Recently she has been having longer dreams of him. He is no longer the boy she looked at that day long ago, but now a grown man. It seemed that he was trying to save her from something or someone. All she can remember from her dream is that he is an open field and he is lying on the grass, his eyes tightly shut closed. These are the times when the dream ends and she wakes up in a cold sweat.
Deciding a long hot bath with her favorite bath oils would ease the tension from the day, she collects her dirty dishes and loads them into the dishwasher. Retreating to her bedroom she strips out of her soiled clothes and drops them in the hamper. Turning to the bathroom she places the rubber stopper in the drain and starts the water. Adjusting the water to be a bit on the warmer side she adds her coconut bath oil to the water. The aroma from the oil has her wanting to slip into the tub right now. The tub is at its limit and she turns off the water. Slipping into the tub she feels her muscles relax and the day's events from earlier ease away.
After a long and relaxing soak, she maneuvers the steel ring of the rubber stopper into her big toe and gives it a tug. The water quickly drains and before she has the chance to get cold, her towel is wrapped around her body. She takes one last look at the items she brought in with her and decided that Patterson's copy of The 6th Target can stay there until her next soak. Tuning off the lights she drops off her towel in favor of a pair of boyshorts and a worn t-shirt. Sliding into bed she is fast asleep forgetting the day that just ended.
The alarm chimed as it did every day. She swatted at it until it's chimes went silent. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she threw the comforter off her body and walked into her kitchen. Getting everything ready for her morning caffeine jolt, she started the coffee maker and went to shower. She steps in and relishes the hot water cascading down her body waking her instantly. And as soon as it starts it's over. Drying off, her nose is aware of the aroma that spills through the apartment. Selecting her best power suit that she needs to wear to give the notification to the family that has lost a loved she has to talk to, she dresses.
Her day is moving along very quickly. She has given the terrible news to Mr. O'Brien that his wife was lost to a brutal murder. She glances at her watch and notices that it's almost noon. She is deciding to either go out and get something or order in. Deciding that she'll buy today she asks Ryan and Espo what they want. The choice is uncontested. Ordering in it is. She places a call to the local pizza joint closest to the precinct. With any luck they will be eating by 12:30. Lunch arrives and they all head to the break room to sit and eat.
"Beckett, how is your dad doing these days? It seems like it's been a lifetime since we've seen him last." Ryan asks to start a conversation.
"He's doing good Kevin. Busy as usual." She replies.
They finish their lunch in silence. Kate is a very private and the boys know when not to ask her anything about her life outside the precinct. This is one of those times. Lunch is over and they start working hard on Mrs. O'Brien's case. This case reminds her so much of her moms that it's shocking to her. She was murdered in an appearance similar to how her mother was murdered. The only difference was that she was found in the hallway of a friends apartment building, and there were no deep penetrating wounds to her kidney.
By 3:30 they have a solid suspect. And after an interrogation by herself and Esposito they had arrested Mateo Lopez. They found out that an up and coming gang had planned to initiate it's newest member. He was actually sent to scare the crap out of Mrs. Dundorff in apartment 4D. Then that would be the end of his initiation. However, when he reached the top of the stairway he was the one who suddenly had the crap scared out of him when he caught the sight of Mrs. O'Brien walking towards him in a rush. He had mistaken her for Mrs. Dundorff and when Mrs. O'Brien turned away after she noticed the knife he had advanced on her and stabbed her 4 times. She died right there in front of her friend's door. Mateo just stood there not moving. Mrs. Dundorff hearing the commotion in the hallway peeked through her peephole. She only had time to see Mateo start for the stairway and leave. Opening the door she was met with her friends slumped body. As she dials 9-1-1 she kneels down to her friend and tries to comfort her seeing that it's the only thing she can do for her. As Ruby O'Brien left this world, all she knows in her heart is that when she left it she was at peace with someone who cared about her.
Esposito and Ryan had left about an hour ago. She volunteered to file the paper work for the O'Brien case and now it was nearing 7pm. Rechecking the report one last time she sees that there are no mistakes and prints out the completed DD-5. Shutting down her computer she watches as her screen fades to a black screen almost hypnotized by the process. She looks down from her screen to her arms resting on the edge of her desk and she feels a slight twinge at both of her wrists. The longer she looks, the stronger this twinge becomes. Absentmindedly she rubs them to release the phantom feeling that surrounds them. Thinking about opening a cold case just to see if she can find something new that someone might have overlooked, she heads down to the archives. Soon, she has the file of an 8-year-old female that was found lying in a pool of her own blood in Tribeca's Bogardus Park. Her case had been cold for 6 years now, with no suspects known so she switched her desk lamp and started to read...
