Chapter 10: Misdirections
Kate didn't know how long she had stood there, clutching the plush, tainted bear, and staring into it's porous eyes. As the room seemed to contract, her heart seemed to have traveled to her ears. Beckett's mind fired along messages, ordering her body to quell the panic, drown the fear, and start piecing everything together.
Kate looked about the room; eyes darting for a solution of some kind. Eventually, they landed on her phone. Who to call? Castle? His face dominated her mind. His strong features, kind blue-lit eyes, and his lips, his strong hands. Aside from his touch, his words seemed to have the most pull: 'always', 'apples', and those other three words that were dormant in her mind, waiting to be set free.
Kate couldn't call him. Not now. He didn't want this path for her. None of them did. It was her choice and at this moment it wasn't Castle.
Her mind darted to Ryan and Esposito. They were out as well. They almost died bringing Hauk in and they would just phone Castle. What she needed was to start piecing this together. Kate needed to find the source of the bear. Kate thought back to last week, she was in the bathroom and...Lanie! Lanie knew which nurse had delivered the bear. Kate needed to talk to Lanie.
With the bear being carefully placed back into its original position (she didn't want whomever was listening to be tipped off that anything was amiss), Kate moved in to the bathroom and locked the door. Lanie's voice could soon be heard.
"I was wondering when you were going to call," the M.E.'s chipper voice rang through, "Your sexy writer texted me a couple of hours ago telling me that you are staying with him and in his bed."
"I agreed to dinner," Kate tried to sound as casual as she could, not wanting to risk Lanie getting involved anymore than she already was.
"Just dinner?"
"I may have implied that I would stay the night if my meds wiped me out."
"In his bed?"
"He won't be in it."
"I bet he is a cuddler."
"I don't cuddle." Actually, she did like cuddling, but no one she had been with did.
"Because you haven't cuddled with Castle yet."
"I agreed to dinner, isn't that enough?"
"I don't know. You tell me?"
Kate grew silent. Of course it wasn't enough. Not after waking up and finding him holding her hand. Or how he never left her side. And not after his lips and hands had fallen upon her days ago. She had been marked, gloriously tainted by him in such a way that made her smile for no reason, steel glances, dream about him. Kate had caught a glimpse of the other side and couldn't find the strength to walk away from him completely just yet.
As her mind was jumping to the safety and memory of Castle, instead of the task at hand, Kate forced herself to focus on what needed to be done.
Lanie let out a frustrated groan at Beckett's non response, "Anyway, since you are dying for me to change the subject, I'm still waiting on the second toxicology report."
"You never told me what was wrong with the first one."
"I'll tell you when you come down and...are you sure you want to see him?" Lanie asked, her words dipping into caution and understanding.
Kate needed to looked at the flesh that once housed the soul of her shooter. It wasn't just closure at this point. With so many people in the shadows, lurking, wanting her join Death in dance, she needed to see that Hauk was dead. That his lights were not only out, but stripped, parted, and thrown in every direction.
"Kate?" Lanie's voice rang though again, "Why don't I come up there and get you? Or, Javi just called me; he and Ryan are on their way and they could get you instead? Or I could call Castle and..."
"No! Castle...he's busy."
"He's never too busy for you."
Two cleansing breaths escaped from Beckett's lips, "I will come to you."
Lanie sighed, "I'll see you in a few."
"Wait! Lanie, I-"
"Detective Beckett?"
Kate froze at hearing Karen's muffled voice on the other side of the bathroom door, followed by a knock.
"Are you in there?"
"Yes...I'll be right out." She moved away from the door to the far side of the bathroom, "Lanie, I will be there in a few."
Kate hung up the phone, moved across the room and placed her hand on the bathroom door handle. She stopped when she realized that there was a possibility that Karen could be a suspect. Kate knew that Ryan and Esposito were very diligent with background checks, but she also knew that whomever was behind this hadn't gotten this close to her with out covering their tracks up well.
Everyone had to be treated like a suspect. Kate swung the door open and regarded Karen, who was plucking at one of the flowers from the teddy basket, before swinging around to look at Kate.
"Well, your man sure is a ridiculously happy," she started to gush, "when he left here a couple hours ago he was grinning from ear...to...what's wrong?" Karen asked as she moved towards Kate, "Are you in pain?"
Kate took a breath and managed to get her facial expression as even as possible, "No, I feel fine, great even."
"Phew! I promised Mr. Castle that I would check on you and I don't think he would be all too happy if you had back tracked in your recovery, in his absence. On second thought, he probably would use it to lengthen your stay at his place," Karen smiled, knowingly.
"He probably would," Kate agreed, "I think I'm going to go for a walk now. Stretch my legs."
"You're going to go see his body."
Kate stopped herself from cringing. Awareness of what was being transmitted from the room sunk even deeper. All her movements had been watched. There was no way around it this time.
"Is there any reason why I shouldn't see the body?" Kate asked.
Karen sighed, "I know in your profession you see dead bodies everyday, but this is the man who...I can see why you would want to, but don't you want to wait for Mr. Castle?"
The nurse sounded sincere enough, but Kate couldn't be certain, "I need to go."
"I will go with you," Karen stated with conviction.
"You don't have to do that. My detail can take me."
"It's no problem, it will get me away from Sam and Nurse Mishap," Karen moved towards the door and swung in open, "Are you coming?"
Kate nodded and left the bear, alone, in the room.
Kate stood outside the autopsy room, facing the cold metal doors.
"Do you want me to come in with you?" Karen asked.
"No. I'll be fine..." Kate placed her hand firmly on the handle so Karen wouldn't notice her hand shaking.
"I'll be right outside if you need me, or if you feel any pain or lightheaded. This was one of the longest walks you have taken in days. Though, next time, you don't have to duck into the stairwell to try and lose me. I know you want to get better, but we'll use the elevators to go back up. OK?"
Kate nodded.
Leaving Karen with one of Kate's security detail, Kate pushed her way through the doors into the room. The sterile smells swirled in her nostrils. Purification. Fitting for who the room held at the moment.
The humming of the ventilation, accompanied by the cold, unforgiving metal in the room, made her pause. She had been in rooms like this many times in her career. She hadn't become used to them by any stretch of the imagination, however, she hadn't been in one since Montgomery death or since she had been shot.
Kate looked around the room, hoping to see Lanie. She was no where in sight. She reached for her pocket with the intent of phoning Castle. It was a clandestine habit that she tried not to let rule her.
She moved her hand away from her pocket up to her hip. No gun. She was in her most human form at the moment and she could almost feel Death's lingering, spindly hand.
Among the other vacant metal tables, there stood one that wasn't empty. A crisp shroud outlined a human figure. Her feet managed what her mind could not at the moment, and soon she was right beside the table. The white, rough, fabric wound in between her fingers and palm of her hand; a stark contrast to the, now momentarily forgotten, bear she held several minutes before.
The detective's arm extended across, allowing the sheet to fall away from the figure underneath. Slowly, dark, black cropped hair, that was speckled with silver, was revealed. It dug into faded, blueish flesh. Her arm moved farther across and down his body, extending almost straight at her elbow. Sharp pointed features, chiseled, like jagged edges of an abyss appeared. Thin, flat lips adorned the face; ones that has uttered the Bard's words only days before. Ones that could have told her so much more.
Gradually, her gaze migrated from his face down to his muscled chest where Ryan and Esposito's bullets had hit, where doctors had operated, and where Lanie had pried open flesh and bone, looking for answers.
Kate drew her hand up and placed it over her own heart. She wondered if he had one. A heart. That's when feather light sensations that had been left unfettered, loosened from its cage at the back of her mind and swooped forth. Glided down and nested in the organ that had almost been broken.
It could have been her on this table.
It could have been her with blueish skin.
It could have been her parts separated from her body.
Her gaze turned to the other empty metal tables in the room.
It could have been them: Rick, Ryan, or Esposito, all those she held dear.
She couldn't stomach it. The sheet fell from her hand, landing on Hauk's rib cage. With a simple twist of fate she was alive and her shooter was dead. If she challenged fate again, she and all those she cared for might not be so lucky.
Kate suddenly heard movement movement from the side of the room.
"Hey, girl," Lanie said, stopping when she realized what Kate had done, "You should have waited." Lanie rushed over.
"I'm fine."
"Staring down at the man who...no you are most definitely not fine."
"Thank you for doing this," said Kate, wanting to shift the attention away from Hauk, and other notions that would plague her dreams.
"It had its cathartic moments." Lanie went to pull the sheet back up, but Kate stopped her.
"He looks so..."
"Dead?"
Kate let out a small exhale that could be interpreted as an attempt at laughter, "Human."
"You've been hanging around Castle a bit too much; his Zombie ideas are rubbing off on you."
"That's not the only thing," Kate mumbled as her mind started to focus once again, "I was wondering, do you remember when you brought my things over last week?"
"'Tragic waist of sexy lingerie day', I remember."
"Do you remember the nurse who brought in a bouquet of lilies with a teddy bear in it?"
"Oh," Lanie pondered briefly, "I have seen her around here before. She wears really ugly scrubs, neon ones...maybe they had lions on them that day. Her hair was in a pony tail, I think brown eyes, roundish face. Shorter than me."
"Did she give you her name?"
"No." Lanie paused, "What's this about? Did you think they were from Castle or something?"
"She seem odd to you or anything out of the ordinary?"
"Now that you mention it, she was odd. Nervous as well. Star struck, I think because of you and Castle. Probably spurred on by all the press coverage..." Lanie's phone rang. She checked the caller ID, "Oh, I gotta take this." Lanie moved to the other side of the room while Kate turned back to Hauk, wishing that he had the answers she sought.
The doors, that Kate had come through swung open, revealing the two men who were more like her brothers, than just work partners.
"No way she is staying there. He was still outside her room this morning," the blue eyed detective stated.
"Dude, I'm dating her best friend and...Hey! Beckett. You look good."
"Definitely pulling off the post-bullet look," Ryan added.
"You two need a hobby."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Esposito stated.
"So..." Ryan smiled nervously, "Nothing like having a rendezvous in the morgue," Ryan stated, "These places give me the chills."
"That's because it's cold," Ryan's partner answered.
"No, it's because of the dead people..." Ryan stopped when he noticed Kate was standing next to Hauk's body.
The two detectives walked up and looked at the man who almost killed them as well. Nothing was said. A bond the three of them shared spoke silently between them. The man who had done this to Kate was dead. She was alive. They all were alive.
"OK, this just got weird," Lanie stated, "Hey baby," she said to Javi.
"Is it the toxicology report?" Kate asked.
Lanie nodded, "I did two because, I wanted to be sure. I...I didn't want to get you're hopes up," Lanie Looked at Kate.
"The first one that I performed came back with some inconsistencies and the most prominent being that it indicated that he died from an overdose of selenium."
"What?" All three detectives stated at once.
"I didn't want to risk telling you just in case it was a mistake. The lab could have messed up or something, so I personally took a sample of Hauk's blood to a different lab and got the results just now."
"Is this the part where it gets weird?" Javier asked.
"Yep. This man," Lanie pointed to Hauk, "died of an over dose of morphine, but the first test was of a man who died of an overdose of selenium."
Ryan and Esposito wore stunned expressions, Kate was the only one who responded, "So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that...someone switched the test results with another patient in this hospital and that both of them were murdered. One by an overdose of morphine and one by and overdose of selenium."
"Who's the other victim?" Kate asked.
"That, I don't know. I sent, what I thought was Hauk's original sample, to be tested, and I haven't gotten the results back yet."
Kate started to pace, missing the feeling of the white board marker between her fingertips, "Whomever switched them out thought they were switching them with a safe substitute, but they got more than they bargained for." Kate felt that rush of closing in on a suspect pound beneath her breast, "Ryan, you said Carson never left Hauk's side, so phone him and ask him who was the last person to see Hauk before he died."
"On it." Ryan reached for his phone.
"What about his chart?" Esposito asked, "Would the names of all the doctors and nurses be listed there?"
"Way ahead of you," Lanie stated, as she was already flipping through Hauk's chart, "Here is the name of the nurse the presided over him post-op." Lanie turned the chart around and Kate and Esposito huddled around it.
"Ugly-scrubs? No way," the brown-eyed detective exclaimed.
"Who?" Kate asked.
"Sam White," Esposito said, just as Ryan made his way over.
"Carson said that it was a Sam White on his service."
"We triple checked her and apart from a new boyfriend, who we also checked, she had a low bank account and nothing out of the ordinary popped up," Ryan said, disappointed that he seemed to have failed in his part of his job.
"You two did your job. Whomever these people are, they are just..." Kate said as another suspicion fell into place, "How far did you go back on the nurses and doctors?"
"As far as we could, given the time. The only one that we checked all the way back to practically conception, as per Castle's request, was Karen. We even talked to her Nana."
"So, you are saying she isn't a suspect?"
Esposito shook his head, "What I'm saying that she should be low on the list."
Kate wasn't about to rule anyone out, but it didn't really make sense that Karen would be involved. She had plenty of opportunities to kill Kate since her arrival.
"What does this Sam White look like?" Kate asked.
"Neon scrubs. You could spot her from space."
Lanie turned to Kate, "She was in your room! That day, she brought you those flowers and that teddy bear!"
The two detectives gazed at Beckett.
"Beckett, what aren't you telling us?" Ryan asked.
There was no avoiding it at this point. They were just too close to the situation and if she was honest, to her as well, "There is a bug in the bear. Someone has been listening since last week."
"Oh God," Lanie muttered before covering her mouth.
"We need to get it to CSU to-"
"No! We might tip them off. We need to leave it and pretend that we don't know about it. Then we can-"
"What? Use you as bait? Are you nuts?" Lanie said angrily.
"Lanie..."
"Don't 'Lanie' me. Look where you are, Kate," Lanie grabbed Kate's arm, letting go of what she had been holding in for over a week, "I don't want to see you in a place like this! I don't want someone doing that," she pointed to Hauk's chest, "to you."
Javier moved in and gently pried Lanie's hands away from Kate. The room grew quiet as the two male detective's expressions mimicked what Lanie had just vented. They didn't want to see her get hurt again either.
Ryan broke the silence first, "I'll phone Carson back and get him to check Sam and anyone close to her again all the way back until we know where they took their first step."
"We don't know if she is the one who did this, but she is the only lead we have. We have to find her," Kate expressed.
"I know where she is."
They all swung around and saw Karen standing in the doorway.
"Karen, you shouldn't be..." Kate started to say.
"I know, but I over heard and...earlier today, she told me that she had done something, that her boyfriend was in on it as well, and...that she regretted it."
Ryan stepped towards Karen, "Karen, is there anything else you can tell us?"
"Her boyfriend, you did a background check on him right? Harold Smidtz?"
"He checked out, and so did Sam. Harold Smidtz grandfather is in this hospital in a coma. We even checked the grandfather's and his wife all are in the same financial sinking boat. Beckett, there wasn't anything connecting either of them to you or to Hauk. We've been monitoring all the nurses' and doctors' accounts and nothing has popped up."
"Oh, God, You are monitoring my account?" Karen shrieked.
Esposito smiled, "Interesting purchases."
"They are for a bachelorette theme party, that's why I bought them in bulk."
"We also talked to your Nana," Ryan added.
"That's why she thinks I am dating a cop, thanks. Christmas will be hell this year."
"We need to talk to her, do you know where she might be?" Kate cut in.
Karen looked at her watch, "Her shift is almost up, she would be in the nurses lounge getting her stuff."
Kate moved towards the door, Ryan stopped her.
"Beckett, let us handle this."
"I'm coming with you."
"Ryan's right, she could be dangerous and for all we know Harold Smidtz is still in the hospital. I'll have your detail look for him and get other back up."
Kate wasn't going to win this one, she would have to compromise, "I will hang back, but I'm still coming."
"I'll stay with her," Lanie said, still with an edge of anger over Kate trying to put herself in the line of fire again, "I'll hog tie her if I have too."
"I'll help," Karen stated.
"Wait, where's Castle?" Javier asked, "He would definitely want to get in on uh...tying up Beckett."
"He's at his place getting it ready," Kate said with a warning tone.
"Ready for what?" Ryan asked.
Kate didn't answer and moved towards the door. Esposito held out his hand to Ryan.
Ryan quickly pulled a twenty out and slapped it into his partner's hand.
They had found Samantha White right where Karen said she would be. The nurse's lounge was couple floors up from the autopsy room. Backup was on their way, but Ryan and Esposito approached the Nurse's lounge door with the intent of going in without it.
Ryan peered through the window of the door. He noted that it was empty, except for Sam, who was sitting in one of the chairs. He had a visual and she wasn't holding anything but a bag of bird seed.
"Is she armed?" his partner asked.
"To feed birds." Ryan looked down the hall, where Beckett, Lanie and Karen were stand safely behind a locked door of a vacant room. One of Kate's security was with them.
"How do you want to do this?" Esposito asked.
"You're going to barge in and tackle her."
"What?"
"How do you think, One-arm? I'll go in and you cover me," Ryan said.
Esposito nodded, knowing that he was still a pretty good shot with his other hand.
Ryan opened the door, "Samantha White?"
Sam turned, cradling one arm around a bag of bird seed. She started wiping her face with her free hand, "Y-yes?"
"I'm Detective Ryan, I need to talk to you."
"Oh God, oh...oh my God!" She jumped to her feet and stuck her hands up in the air. Her bird seed fell to the floor and scattered everywhere like marbles. She started hopping from foot to the other, still mumbling 'Oh, God'.
"Sam, I need you to calm down." Ryan said.
"Please, don't shoot me!"
"OK...I'm just going to put my gun away," he holstered his gun. She wasn't carrying a weapon that he could see.
Ryan approached her cautiously as she started to pace back and forth. Esposito did a sweep of the room then stood behind his partner. He had his hand on his gun the entire time.
"I'm sorry. I really am. I am so sorry." The nurse sobbed, bringing her dull-ish scrubs up to wipe her face.
"What are you sorry about?" Ryan calmly asked.
"You have to understand, that I love him. I really do."
"Ok, why don' t you sit down, and tell us what happened."
She sat down with a thump before yelling, "I killed him!"
"That was easy," Ryan whispered.
"Who?" Esposito pressed.
"He told me that we could split the money, that he would get a whole bunch from inheritance if he was dead and then he would take me to the Bahamas and we would live there together. I love the sun and tropical birds."
"Who said this?"
"H-H-Harold!" Sam put her hands over her face and started to sob.
Ryan looked at Esposito for a little help. The detective shrugged, not knowing what to do with the sobbing nurse.
"I need you to calm down and..." Ryan started, but that only made her cry more.
"I-I-I'm a good person. But I know it was wrong. I wasn't going to go with him. I wasn't, I swear!"
Esposito moved closer, "Try breathing a bit between sobs"
She nodded as she started to sniffle.
"We need you to tell us, why did you kill Joseph Hauk?"
Her blithering stopped, and she looked at them, blinking rapidly, "Who?"
"Hauk. Joseph Hauk," Esposito enunciated.
"You mean Josh's ex's shooter?"
Ryan let out a frustrated sigh, "Yes. You were on his service."
"B-but he died of heart failure."
"Yes, because you gave him an overdose of morphine," Esposito tried to delicately explain, "We have the test results."
Sam stood back up then, "What? I didn't kill him! I swear. How could you think that?"
Ryan and Esposito shared an incredulous look, before Esposito asked, "Then who did you kill?"
"Mr. Smidtz!"
The two detective's another shared a look, this time of confusion, before Esposito asked, "Harold?"
"No...his grandfather so Harold could get the inheritance!"
"You murdered two people?" Ryan tried to clarify.
"No, just the one. Mr. Smidtz. I gave him an overdose of selenium. I didn't do anything to Joseph."
"You were on his service."
"Yes, but I..." Sam brought her fingers to her temples and started to rub them, "Go back, go back...go back," Sam started to mumble.
"Is she trying to turn back time?" the blue-eyed detective whispered.
"Or she is trying to give herself a mind wipe," the brown-eyed detective whispered back.
"I didn't fill his needle! I was really upset and I remember that she gave it to me."
"We need a name," Esposito stated.
The two detectives stood there, jaws falling open as the nurse before them flapped her hands, before finally giving them a name.
Kate paced about the small room that she had been put in. Karen stood in the corner by the door, next to the one of Kate's protective detail. Karen's alibi had checked out, for the time Hauk was murdered, and while Karen was hurt by it, she was probably one of the most understanding people Kate had met.
Lanie was positioned in front of the door. Those three were dead serious, they would tackle her and Kate was in no condition to try and overpower them.
"Would you sit, your making me dizzy with your pacing." Lanie's tone was still clipped.
"Lanie..."
"Not now. I'm still angry. No, furious...No, livid!"
"Looks like Castle is rubbing off on you too," Kate tried to joke, but Lanie didn't smile, "Tell me what I can do to make this up to you."
"Not get shot. Not go after a mad man. Not get shot."
"Since that is pretty much my job description, how about something else."
"Not use yourself as bait. Don't go walking or running head first into things like guns."
Lanie looked at her friend and saw the anguish in Kate's green eyes, maybe now was not the time, "For now, you can tell me something salacious about you and Castle. Then we will talk about the other thing later. And we will talk about it later."
"Castle and I haven't don't anything salacious."
"They kissed," Karen stated, for her position by the door. One of Kate's detail was in the room, and he just smiled before stepping just outside the door.
"What!" Lanie flew to Kate and clutched her hands, "I can see it on your face! You're even blushing."
"I just did it to get his phone."
"How was it?" Lanie asked, completely ignoring Kate's explanation.
Kate failed at stopping the blush forming on her cheeks. And she also couldn't stop a smile tickling at her lips, "It was...fine." Hot. Sexy. Sensual. Wonderful. Made her biological clock tick ferociously.
Both Karen and Lanie groaned in discord.
"You're first kiss and it was just 'fine'?" Lanie stated, disappointingly.
Kate tried to keep her face even, but Lanie was just too good.
"Unless...it wasn't your first kiss."
"This is so much better than the romance novel I am reading right now," the nurse stated, not being able to hide the emotions she felt over the situation very well.
"We kissed when we were undercover to save Ryan and Esposito. None of this means anything. Can we drop it?"
"I'm gonna drop you if you don't start stripping off some of that denial you've been wearing, and start dressing yourself up with some Castle!"
Kate was about to berate Lanie, but stopped when she saw Karen's expression. Sparrows from the Quad had flown past the window, and it seemed to have caused the shift in Karen expression.
"Karen?" Kate called out.
"Huh? Oh...sorry, I just..."
"I'm sorry. For all of this. I know she was your friend."
Karen shrugged, "How well can you know anyone really? I just...I don't understand it. Sam...she's not mean spirited. No one who takes elderly patients outside, day after day, feeding birds would...I don't know. No, I should have known. I should have pressed her days ago, but I just let it slide."
"Thank you for telling us." Kate said reassuringly.
"You kidding? You're my patient, and if catching whoever is behind this will make you recover faster and end up in someone's arms, then I'm all for it."
"Oh, I like you," Lanie said.
"Could we change the subject?" Kate stated.
"I bet he is going to have flowers, candles, rose petals on the bed..."
Kate ignored Lanie, "Karen, you might have gotten hurt if you tried to help her."
Karen shook her head, "This is exactly how I felt when...God, what was his name...Ronalds? Renalds?.. He was a cop, or a retired one and was dying of cancer and he had no one. Remember?" Karen looked at Kate, "I told you about him and how she told him that he was better off dying in his bed, and that was the best we could hope for?"
Kate vaguely remembered the story, but a sort of sickly sweet sensation trickled down into her stomach and started to settle.
"All he wanted was someone to listen and I didn't. The way he looked at me when he left and all he could say was he couldn't take the weight of the chains anymore. Reminded me of A Christmas Carol. He wanted to make amends and I didn't help him."
Kate faltered. Her mind plummeting back to when she and Castle sad across from a certain detective in a diner all those months ago. Kate rushed forward and grabbed Karen by the arms, "What was his name?"
"Um...Renolds, Um...uh Rag...Raglan. Raglan. Detective John Raglan."
Lanie was there instantly by Kate's side.
"It's not Sam, it's not Sam," Kate started to mumble as the nurse's name from the Karen's story, mentioned all those days ago, came forth.
The door of the room swung wide, revealing Ryan and Esposito, "We have Sam in custody, but she didn't..."
"I know," Kate said.
Then that feeling in her stomach turned sour and her very soul started to churn as she reached for her phone. They had been listening all this time, then they would know the one person they could use to get to her. The one person who she held closest to her heart.
"We need to find Castle."
Richard Castle was a man of his word. He had left the hospital and returned home. He spent time with his daughter, Alexis. Had a nice lunch and then he decided to clean the entire apartment for Beckett. The rest of the household helped before leaving him to clean his office. It was a bit of a disaster area. He had been in the middle of research, so there were books everywhere and his desk was quite a mess. He had been digging around and found something that resulted in his present condition.
Rick had not answered his phone for hours. He had spent most of his time outside the hospital, pacing. He finally moved to a secluded spot, away from prying eyes, when he saw Esposito and Ryan approach a few moments ago. He couldn't face them.
Now, as Rick sat in the secluded part of the Quad of the hospital, alone with his thoughts, the trees and sparrows, he thought about what had been waiting for him in his office. It must have been there for almost a week. Just sitting there, not knowing its value, not knowing that in its small, 8x14 manila self, it held the fate of everyone he held dear.
Rick remembered Alexis had told him he got a package days ago. He thought it was nothing. Just another thing in his life that had no direct impact on the woman he would give his life for.
The writer leaned back against the bench, applying an inordinate amount of pressure against the slats of wood, hoping that something would take this numbness away from him. The numbness that came from opening the package hours ago.
The contents had been simple and from a man he had called friend, who Beckett had called Captain. All the files that had gone missing and had incriminated Roy and most of those involved.
Along with the files were four letters and a key.
The letter addressed to him was straightforward. Rick had read it so many times that he had it memorized.
Rick,
We both know why I sent this to you. It is the same reason why I allowed you to follow Beckett since the beginning.
Enclosed are the files that will incriminate myself and others. I have no doubt that Kate has asked you to cover my involvement up, but we both know that if she is to ever have closure on this, that my involvement cannot be hidden. When the time comes do not be afraid to use this files to help her. All that I ask is that you give the other letters that are enclosed to my wife and daughters, so they understand why.
This brings me to the key you are no doubt clutching in your hand. It will lead you to the person who is behind the curtain. I will not name him here, and you won't find his name in the files I have provided in this package because I want you to understand the ramifications of what the key unlocks.
The person behind this is ruthless, cunning, and has eyes and ears in places you would least expect and would likely expect. His reach is beyond the scope of the law at this point. We both know that if Kate knew who was behind this she would run straight towards him, and you cannot bring him down like that. He has covered his tracks well and will sacrifice anyone and anything to keep on doing so.
I managed to buy you some time. The originals of all these files have been sent to him. It's part of the evidence that could lead anyone to him. He will be satisfied for now. However, as Beckett gets closer he will not hesitate to kill her and you for that matter, and your family. She won't stop, but maybe you will be able to slow her down some. Reign her in enough so when the time finally comes, you can take him down and end all of this.
I know what I'm asking of you. I know the risks that are involved. It is up to you, Rick. All she could ever want is now in your possession and only you will know when the right time to give it to her will be.
The first time Kate brought you in for questioning, I knew. You are good for her. Take care of her like she deserves. Stand with her and above all else, make her smile, everyday.
Roy.
Rick placed his face in his hands and heard the sparrow's feet clatter against the pavement after wayward seeds. He had shoved everything in the safe in his office and raced to the hospital, only to be stripped of his courage to face her. If he told her now, she wouldn't recover. Guns a blazing would be all her mind would focus on. If he waited, though; if he waited until she was better, until he had a chance to make a plan. If he could somehow make her stop and take a break, regroup. It boiled down to whether to give her what she wants and watch her walk to her death, or keep it hidden for as long as he could, knowing that when it did come out he would probably lose her.
If he could just... He felt the bench shift and looked over. His eyes landed, first on the barrel of the gun, wrapped in news paper, aimed at him. Then he looked up into the face of the person who was holding it.
"I think it's time we talked about your lovely Detective Beckett."
She drew her tongue over her snaggle tooth and snickered.
So there you have it Ladies and Gents', the twist! IF you are sitting there going, "WHAT? No way, not her!" But it's true. I hope I placed enough clues throughout the chapters to make it believable. I tried to plan it that way, but I could have easily have messed it up. As for the package, Alexis mentioned that in chapter 5, I believe, just in case any of you were wondering.
I would love to know what you thought. I know it is not the best, but if you read it, or any part of this story and have liked it, or lumped it, even remotely, then feel free to tell me what you did and did not like. That would be greatly appreciated.
All of you who have reviewed, read, alerted or favoured are wonderful. Truly, you are. I do believe there is only one chapter left. Maybe two. I still haven't decided if I am going to split it or not. Anyway, I would love to hear from you since we are drawing to the end. If not (I know this story isn't everyone's cup of tea), as always, thank you for reading my work. You have my gratitude.
Next update should be Sunday or Monday. (update: hopefully Monday, but it might be whenever I get back during the week. Thanks for your patience )
Cheers,
Rini :D