Ch. 8 Que sera sera
"So? Honey, how was it?" Johanna Beckett laid comfortably on Kate's couch.
"How was what?" Kate was still setting up the movie they planned on watching that night. She handed the bowl of popcorn to her mom then slid in the DVD of One Fine Day, one of Kate's favorites.
"Kate, you don't honestly think that I didn't figure out that you had a date the other night do you?" Johanna gave her daughter a quizzical look before popping some popcorn in her mouth.
"No. But if you knew I had a date why didn't you ask sooner?" She returned her mother's same look and slid next to her on the couch.
"I was hoping you'd confess to me. Now, I know you have Lanie but, I am still going to ask you. So, once again, how was it?"
Kate popped a few pieces of popcorn in her mouth and leaned back in the couch pulling her shirt out a little. "It was nice."
"That's all I am going to get? Come on, tell me more. Please?"
Kate looked at her mother and couldn't deny her something she missed out on while Kate was growing up, even though it was her decision to leave, Kate made a vow to no longer punish her.
"Mom," She turned with a childish gleam in her face. "It was amazing. At first I doubted it but I just felt it. I had to go with him. He surprised me. I felt connected. I mean he got me, the way dad did. I even felt comfortable talking about dad. He was special but I don't know." Just as the gleam was there, it left her face and was replaced with a look of loss.
"If it was so good why are you so unhappy?" She placed her hand on her daughter's knee and placed the popcorn on the coffee table.
"Seems too good to be true. I just, I am not ready for something serious."
"No. That is not it at all. You're scared. I know that face. If you feel like it could be serious, just take it slow. Don't lose it or better yet let it go. I did, and look what happened for me."
In all seriousness, Kate was feeling everything and she was sure in some way her feelings were deceiving her. She was trained for that. To not trust right away. That's why she is where she is. Sure, her dad provided a good example of how to love, but her mother took a sense of trust with her. Kate was like her mother in many ways, and she wasn't ready to see if leaving was one of those things. She didn't want to hurt Richard but, how could she not? He felt it the same way she did and he would only feel like a fool. Until she was purely certain she wanted to take that direction with him, she decided to pause and take a step back.
"I know what you are saying makes sense but how do I do that?" Kate could read her mom's face of need. Kate was asking her for advice, something Kate seldom did.
"Be honest. If he understands, then well, you have your answer. If he doesn't explain it better, that is if you really mean what you feel."
The DVD menu popped up but they were so invested in their conversation, they both ignored it.
"So, I say, hey I want to take things slow. You in?" Kate laughed at herself. She sounded so foolish like a high schooler. But in many ways, she never got to have the insecurity. She grew up too fast. So these new questions and this new found insecurity were as much as a surprise to her mom as they were to Kate.
"How about we let the movie answer for us. Sometimes things can do that for us. When we don't have the words others do. Trust me." She rubbed Kate's head then pulled her daughter in for a kiss on the head.
Kate reached for the popcorn and remote and nestled inside her mom's hug. She rested into her mom's side and for once, felt like their conversation was some closure. For both of them.
Kate's head was swarmed with decisions to make and many were determined to bombard her when she least expected.
Like when she took a sip of her coffee, she thought how they shared coffee that one morning, when they were both flustered. Then it flashed to when she sat by herself. Then it flew to their first date, and the kiss at her apartment. The sweet text. If he meant it, she could tell him how she felt, she could be honest.
"So, tell him, what am I waiting for?"
"Uh, come again?"
"Geez, Espo you have got to stop scaring me like that. What?"
"Something going on, you seem to be talking to yourself more and more these days?" He sat down at the chair next to her desk.
She ignored his question but became transfixed on the file he held in his hand.
He noticed but retreated it from her grasp. "Tell me first."
Unnerving, she thought. "Fine. I am fine. I just have a lot on my mind. Now, the file please?"
Once he handed it over she was pleased. "Erik Clemons. He met him regularly at a coffee house. How much do want to bet he is the burner cell number?"
"I bet a drink or so easily."
"Let's bring him in."
"So, Erik you met Mason Wells everyday for an hour. Why?"
"I had nothing to do with him being dead."
"I never said you did. Funny, you should jump there. See, in my experience whenever someone says they had nothing to do with it, they usually were involved. Let's get this over with and you just tell me what you two had to talk about."
He hesitated at first then spilled his guts, faster than spilling a drink.
"We were friends. We had this project. He was the real genius but he helped me."
"What kind of project?"
"A computer program that would allow whoever had it to access whatever they wanted."
"You two were planning a hijacking virus?"
"We didn't know at first but as we moved on, he wanted out."
"Why?"
Erik wiped his sweaty brow then leaned in and continued. "He didn't like that what he was creating could harm people. He was a good guy."
"Who were you doing this project for?"
Erik tensed. "We didn't know."
"I find that hard to believe. Erik, once again I'll ask, who were you two doing this project for?"
"Some guy e-mailed us to meet at the coffee place so we did and well, we kept getting e-mails on instructions. They were pretty bland at first but when they became specific, Mason was the only one who truly understood what was going on. He was teaching me along the way."
"Erik, how was Mason getting e-mails when he didn't own a computer?"
"He did. He had tons of tech stuff. I was in awe. I mean the guy practically had his own lab. You know, but with computers and stuff. I was just starting to understand some of the stuff when I heard he was dead."
"Do you remember where this place was?"
"Yeah. I could take you to it."
"Can't you just give me the address?"
"Trust me, I'll need to show you."
"Ok. We'll get to that in a minute but first I have more questions."
"Alright, I'll tell you anything if you protect me. If Mason is dead, they'll surely come for me."
"Ok. I'll see what I can do. So you have no idea who asked you to work on this program?"
"No."
"Then why do it? And what was your role in it?"
"The money, we thought a program, no problem. I helped by keeping the backups, I made the drops."
Inside Kate's head she smiled, she was getting somewhere good.
"Drops? Backups? Where are the backups? Where did you make the drops?"
"I don't have the backups anymore. They asked for them. So I gave them what I had. But I wasn't the only one with back-ups. Mason had some too. He took pride in his work. As for the drops they were pretty random, I would get a text then I'd make the drop. Simple."
"After all this, did you get the money?"
"No. Mason screwed it up for both of us."
"Did you two talk at all the night he died?"
"Yeah, we kept calling each other. Mason was freaked. He kept saying that they were going to wipe him out. That he knew too much. I thought he was exaggerating. But, I guess he wasn't."
Kate could read the loss on his face but she wasn't giving him the sympathy just yet.
"You ready to show me this 'lab'?"
"Sure. You gonna protect me?"
"For your cooperation, sure I will."
When they pulled up alongside an entrance to an alleyway, Kate thought he was surely screwing with her. She turned around in her car and Erik nodded his head.
"That's it. Told you I had to show you. Now can I get out so I can show you?"
"Yeah. Sorry." Kate opened his door and he led the way with her and Detective Esposito behind her.
The alleyway was dark even in the daylight. The whole thing felt suspicious but that is why this was his hideaway. You clearly wouldn't find it without knowing what you were looking for. There were boxes crumpled and dirt and muddy puddles everywhere but that didn't stop her in the least, she's stepped in worse. She's even seen worse. Her flashlight was held to her side to light the way for Erik.
"This is some serious precautions." Espo whispered in her ear.
"Well, it was obviously needed."
When she noticed Erik stop she was confused. "Uh, Erik, why did you stop? I don't see a door or anything."
Erik smiled, "That's the point." He pushed on a brick and all of a sudden a small entryway was available.
She stepped through first and was amazed at where she was standing. There were lights on so she flipped off her flashlight. There were desks set up everywhere and at least two or three computers rested on each one. There were three large whiteboards, similar to the one she used back at the precinct.
Erik was second to step inside. He saw the amazement on Kate's face and felt free to comment. "Pretty shocking huh? I had that same face when he first showed me."
"Why did he show you?" That little fact was picking at Kate and she needed to stop it.
"He took me under his wing. He said I could use it as long as no one followed me."
She turned back to Mason's place and she understood him. He had every calculation precisely marked on the white boards and the computers were a mix of modern models and outdated ones.
She wondered how this was being powered but then the humming noise drew her to the back, past the many computers and boards to find two, very large generators. That explained the electricity.
Javier Esposito made his way to one of the computers and he called Kate over.
"Looks like these have all been wiped clean."
She was so sure the answers were here but maybe they weren't the ones she initially searched for.
"Well, let's get the guys in here then Kenny can comb his way through all this. He'll love it. Hey Erik?"
Erik, who had hung back while they explored made his way to her.
"Do you notice anything that might be missing?" She watched and followed him as he made his way through Mason's place.
"Not really. But his journal is gone. But, he could have taken that with him. He never left it here."
"Thank you." She placed a call to the C.S.I. team then had a Uni drive Erik home with protection. She couldn't risk anything happening to him.
She knew that the journal might be some answers that would surely help understand Mason Wells, the person, not the victim. She couldn't help but conclude that his skills actually led him to his death. He was paranoid and freaked and was only trying to do the right thing.
With no more to go on, and relying on Kenny, she wanted to know where his journal was. She decided to make another visit to his apartment the next morning. She grabbed her jacket and phone, then stared at her phone.
She wanted to call Richard but was unsure if that was even ok. She remembered what her mother told her the other night. She decided that sleep might just be the answer.
Back at her apartment, she turned on Birdy's album and relaxed back with a glass of wine.
Richard still couldn't get ahold of Alexis and that only worried him more. He tried calling her cell and her usual hangs but one of the bars he called didn't answer so he decided to check it out. That is where he was headed at the moment.
When he entered the bar, he was upset and embarrassed that Alexis would be caught here but then again, she didn't hold any standards for herself.
He went to the bar and showed the bartender a picture of Alexis on his phone and the bartender pointed towards the bathrooms.
"Thanks." As he made his way to the bathrooms, he was worried of what he might find.
He pushed the door opened and called out for her. "Alexis?"
Her head poked out of an open stall. "Rick? Is that you?" She toppled to the floor and he headed over to his sister.
"Yeah, it's me. Let me help you get home." He picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom, and all the way into his apartment. He laid her across the guest bed and tucked her in.
He placed a glass of water on the night table and some pain meds. He was ready to confront her in the morning and to hopefully finally convince her to enter a rehab facility. He couldn't see her like this anymore and it was affecting his life as well.
He was in constant worry of what she was getting into. Where she was? Who she was with? And worse, if she was dead? The phone he bought her clearly didn't help her much because she rarely kept it on.
He looked her over one more time and was angered. This wasn't her fault, she was drinking away her pain. He wished her well and closed the door so only a sliver of light was available.
He sat on his couch and picked up his phone. He wanted to talk to Kate but was unsure of how to say what he wanted to say. Or even what he would say. He needed to tell her how he felt but he didn't want to be taken as a fool for coming on too strong. The last thing he wanted to do was push her away.
He set his phone back down and decided some sleep might help bring clarity. He slowly and quietly turned on the new She & Him record he bought. The first song he played was "Thieves" and he actually felt some connection to it the same way Kate had talked about.
With the thought of Kate, a beer in his hand, and his record player going he allowed himself some space from the questions and pain that lay, in the guest room, not too far from where he was seated.
