Chapter 10

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Martin sat at his desk preparing for the SAC's weekly meeting with Van Doren. He was reviewing his notes from Dustin's last case report when his telephone rang. He closed the file and reached over answering, "Fitzgerald."

"Oh, good, you are alive. I was beginning to worry that I was going to have to file a missing persons report," Katherine said cheerfully into the phone.

"Hey mom, sorry, things have been crazy," he apologized. He knew his mom had been trying to reach him for the last few days. "What's up? How's dad?"

"He's driving me crazy, as usual. I know I always said I couldn't wait for him to retire so we could spend more time together but now that he is I would give anything for him to have to go back to work," she replied with a laugh. His dad retired five months ago and since he now had so much free time he seemed to be filling it by hovering around Katherine.

"I thought you said he finally found a good golfing buddy," Martin replied as he flipped through some of his other agent's notes.

"Yes, Fletcher Randall. However, he's visiting his grandchildren for the month so now your father has decided to fill his time by trying to fix things around the house."

Martin laughed. "Please tell me you're joking. I can still remember when he flooded the basement when he tried to fix a leaky pipe under the kitchen sink when I was ten."

"I wish I were," she replied with a laugh of her own. "So that's why I called. I was wondering if maybe we could plan a trip up to visit. I haven't seen my gorgeous grandchildren in months and it would get your father out of my house before he destroys it."

He leaned back in his chair and asked, "What dates were you thinking about?"

"Maybe during Halloween? I'd love to take the kids trick-or-treating before I have to start using a walker," she said with mirthful sarcasm.

"I'd have to double check with Sam but I think it should be fine," he replied as he opened up his email account to send Sam a quick message asking if the dates worked for her as well. He knew she was out in the field and this wasn't urgent enough to bother her when she might be interviewing someone.

Katherine was quiet a beat before she gingerly asked, "How is Sam doing?"

He stopped his typing and said, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I talked to her last week and she seemed not quite like herself," Katherine replied softly. She paused and then gently asked, "I know it isn't my place but are things going okay between you two?"

Martin looked at the message he had typed so far and sighed heavily. "I honestly don't know," he swiveled around in his chair to look at the pictures sitting on his desk. He stared at the photo of him and Sam taken on the Muireann a few months after they got married. "She's been distracted lately and whenever I ask her how she is doing she just tells me she is fine and then changes the subject."

"Well, I know it's hard when your kids start school. Maybe she's just dealing with the fact that her babies are growing up," she hypothesized.

"Maybe," he breathed.

"I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about," Katherine continued before adding, "But keep asking her. She'll open up when she's ready."

He nodded even though she couldn't see him over the phone. "Thanks, I hope you're right."

"I'm your mother, I'm always right," she replied with a laugh. "Okay, I better let you get back to work. You'll never make AD if you chat on the phone all day."

He shook his head; smiling that after all these years his parents still had their minds on his career. "Thanks for the advice mom."

"Like I said, I'm always right," she quickly retorted. "Call me back after you talk to Sam so I book our plane tickets."

"You got it."

"Goodbye Martin," she replied cheerfully.

"Goodbye mom," he said as he hung up the phone.

He picked up the photo sitting on his desk and leaned back in his chair. He ran his fingers over the image. He held the camera out with his arm to take a photo since it was just the two of them out on the boat that afternoon. Sam was laughing and her hair was windblown and whipping around her face while Martin held the camera with one hand and his other was wrapped around her waist.

They had gone down to visit his parents and took the boat out for the night. He tried teaching Sam some basics of sailing – something she never really took to even after all these years but he didn't care. It was fantastic to just be out there in the open water, just the two of them. He still considered it to be one of the best weekends of his life

XXX

They were on the deck wrapped up in blankets together under a sky filled with stars. They sat side by side, his arm loosely draped over Sam's shoulder as she snuggled up against his side. They were looking out quietly at the blackened sky and waters; the only sound was their breathing and the waves lapping up against the boat.

He took a drink of his beer when Sam shifted and said, "Okay, so that long horizontal pipe thingy that is usually attached to the bottom of the sail is called the boom, right?"

"Yes," he replied with a laugh before clarifying, "but we call the pipe thingy a 'spar'."

"A 'spar,' I got it," she replied as she took a drink of her own beer. She pointed to one side of the boat and said, "Starboard is the right side of the boat and port is the left."

"You catch on pretty quick," he said as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

She laughed and replied, "I'm glad your impressed so far because I still have no idea what in the hell that thing is over there."

He followed her gaze and asked, "Are you talking about that metal drum shaped device?" She nodded her head and he explained, "That's called a winch and you use it to help trim sails."

"Aye, aye captain," she said as she snuggled deeper against him. She looked up at the night sky and said, "Look at all those stars. It's a shame we don't get to see them living in New York."

"Yeah," he murmured in agreement. They were quiet for a few beats when Martin spotted a falling star.

Sam gasped aloud and pointed upward, "Did you see that?"

"Yeah, hurry and make a wish," he replied.

She smiled and closed her eyes. After a couple of seconds she opened them up and turned her head to look at him, "Alright. Did you make a wish, too?"

He shook his head and said, "No."

She gave him an incredulous look and asked, "Why not?"

"I already got my wish," he smiled at her and finished, "You married me."

XXX

He put the picture down and looked back over at the email he began earlier. He ran his hand over his chin before reaching over to pick up the telephone and quickly dialing.

She picked up on the second ring. "Spade."

"Hey, do you have a minute to talk?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're just driving to interview someone who might have seen our MP," she replied. "What's up?"

"My mom called and she wants to know if she and dad can come up for a visit during Halloween."

"Um, that should be fine," she replied. "I'm sure the kids would like to see them."

"Yeah," he took a breath before continuing. "I was thinking that we should take advantage while they're in town. We could have them watch the kids and we could have a night to ourselves. Catch a show or maybe even check into a hotel for a night. What do you think?"

She was quiet for a few beats before finally saying, "I think that is a great idea."