Breaking Barriers Chapter 27
Jordan
I was sitting at Beckett's desk in the 12th, enjoying yet another cup of good coffee, I could get used to them to be honest; my office had nothing like this, but then I wasn't involved with a millionaire author either.
So far, given all that'd happened we had a good handle on the case. I'd just got off a phone hookup with representatives from Immigration and Homeland Security, thanks to the information Tori Ellis had supplied, when the holders of those six tickets arrived here in the states there'd be a warm welcome waiting for them. Meanwhile we'd had some progress in other areas too.
The blood-soaked clothes we'd found in the Hummer had been identified; DNA matching said one set did belong to Syme, the other, the set we assumed belonged to Lysenko, consisted of top end labels so Taylor had his people running down where they might have been bought. The lab had also confirmed that Lysenko's prints had been found in the car and on the baseball bat, so we could tie him to the killing, the blood on the clothes and bat had been matched to Syme by the lab so there was enough right there for a murder conviction.
Benson had already stated that her partner Alex Cabot had volunteered to prosecute the case when it came to trial, given her reputation and track record plus our evidence, I didn't doubt that Lysenko would go away for the rest of his miserable existence. Thinking of Cabot turned my thoughts to our little group; they sure were a mixed bunch.
Taylor had been a detective, a good one according to his record, before he'd moved to the crime lab. Since then under him it had built a reputation as one of the most effective in the country with a truly enviable closure rate. I know the Bureau had scouted some of his people but they had displayed considerable loyalty to their unit and boss, most turning us down. That in itself was interesting, not too many turned down a job with the Bureau, the prestige and the resources available were usually enough of an incentive but not with his people.
Beckett and her team were good too, they worked together really well; the sort of teamwork that comes from a long time working together and good working relationships. They had complimentary skills and weren't afraid to use their initiative, something I admired. In a way it was a shame Beckett's partner Richard Castle wasn't here, for all that he could often be annoying and sometimes a little aggravating, he worked exceptionally well with Beckett and her team, adding to their ability to look over all the possibilities. Having seen them work together I wasn't surprised he and Beckett had ended up involved, they were very close even before then, even though Beckett had tried to play it cool.
Benson on the other hand was nothing like cool, she was all fire to Beckett's ice. According to her record she and Beckett had worked the beat as uniformed cops years before, that partnership was still in evidence today, they meshed together really well, each complimenting the other. A good thing really as Benson was getting way too involved in this case, though that shouldn't surprise me, her file was full of incidents where she'd gotten emotionally involved with cases.
I frowned at that thought, I suppose I couldn't really judge her though, I handled serial killers and kidnappings which were bad enough, she dealt with sex crimes, too many of which were against children; as a mother I couldn't understand someone abusing a child, let alone their own. Benson had been dealing with that for more than a decade; I was surprised she was still there and not burnt out, though I could see some signs of it in her handling of the case.
She was a little too reckless, a little too willing to go the extra step in this case, if she wasn't careful she could end up dead or injured, pushing too far into a situation where things could go wrong. Her little expedition to talk to Popov was a case in point. While I doubted too much would come of it, the very fact she was willing to do it in the first place was telling enough. Fortunately Beckett had gone with her, so she should be able to keep things calm, or at least I hoped so.
An hour later they walked in, according to them both it had gone surprisingly well.
"Popov told us that the attempted hit on us was not a sanctioned Organisatzia job, some of his people taking the job on the side" Taylor nodded and prompted them.
"So?" Benson took up the tale.
"He has promised to pull all the Organisatzia's resources from Lysenko, the word's going out as we speak, no support, no freelancing, Popov's cut off from any help from that direction" I nodded skeptically, then put that skepticism into words.
"And you believe him?" They shared a glance before Beckett nodded once.
"Yeah, actually I do" She said, the continued. "We pitched it that he didn't want any trace of his people's involvement in this case, that when we wrap this up the media's going to go completely nuts and start digging, something he'd want to be well away from" Benson nodded and backed up Beckett, not that I expected anything else from either of them.
"Yeah, he's slimy piece of shit but he thinks of himself as a business man first, criminal scumbag a long way second" Benson shrugged eloquently, accurately conveying what she thought of that. "Go figure; anyway he sees that assisting Lysenko's going to be bad for business with no commensurate return to the Organisatzia, so better to make sure there's no connection to the case that can lead back to him"
I sat back and thought that through, I didn't like relying on the word of a crime lord, let alone one as powerful as Popov, but on the other hand Beckett and Benson had stared the man down, looked into his eyes and negotiated a deal so I suppose I had to place my faith in them. As I was thinking it through Taylor must have been thinking it through and tripped over that word, deal.
"What does Popov want in return?" Benson and Becket exchanged another glance before Beckett spoke.
"He wants us, when we wrap this up; to make it clear publically that Lysenko is a lone wolf, not affiliated with the Organisatzia, or any other organised crime group for that matter, basically keeping his people well out of the story" I exchanged a look with Taylor as he pulled a face then looked at me with a question easily read in his face. I thought about it for a second then nodded once; I could live with that if he could. Taylor looked at me for a second more then turned to the other two.
"Given it appears, at this point, that Lysenko is freelancing then I can live with that" He held his hand up before they could speak and continued. "If we find out that's not true or that's Popov's playing us for fools, then all bets are off"
Beckett and Benson nodded easily before Benson spoke.
"Can't argue with that"
