Thursday 24th June
Morningside Heights
There are many good things about making out in the morning. Usually people are less tired, it's often very spontaneous and getting carried away when you should really be doing other things adds a "slightly naughty" atmosphere to the event, which even two adults who have been around the block can enjoy. It doesn't follow everything has to be rushed and sometimes some mild urgency can work to your mutual advantage. If you can focus the urgency on each other and not your watch or a clock.
The downside as Goren knew, was that time didn't stand still outside of the passion bubble the two of you were in. With the result that the return to reality can be brutal and the morning routine suddenly has to work at twice the speed. And how long someone is in the shower and who burned the toast or used a selfish amount of the remaining milk on their cornflakes, can suddenly assume towering proportions in the irritation stakes.
He and Caro had gone from "can't get enough of you" to"can't get away from you quickly enough" in almost the time it took for their brains to re-locate from below their waist and get the shower running hot. The first time they had ever really fought and prompted by the one thing it's almost always a bad idea to do in the morning. Try to have a discussion about something you should have done the night before, but didn't raise because you knew you wouldn't get the undivided attention of the other person.
His"fault" if they were into the game of apportioning blame, for his focus on those tapes last evening. And Caro's for thinking the issue of the invitation from her folks to spend the Independence Day weekend in Virginia would a "simple" one for him. One that could be settled in the time it took to open a new jar of peanut butter. Passion of a different kind took over and they both said some very mean words.
She accused him of deliberately making everything more complicated because he couldn't handle them nice or normal. And of pushing people away to make sure his life long sense of abandonment came true all over again. He told her to remember she wasn't in her damn consulting room now and implied he was really just some kind of new project to her wasn't he? Only one given bedroom privileges not bathroom ones, like a lot of the severe eating disorder cases she worked with.
But what Goren really could not forgive Caroline, was that she won the unspoken race to be out of the door first. When he barely had his shirt tucked in his pants. And she had emptied the coffee pot out. Probably on purpose. Meaning he'd needed to pick up a second cup at the subway station. It was a bad start to the day.
Christ & St Stephen's Episcopal Church, West 69th Street
Eames and Goren sat in the SUV across the street from the not very large, red brick, red tiled church. Whether the Huntingdon's were regular members of the congregation they doubted, but it was where the services for Ralph were being held. Services and a funeral that they knew had been scaled down in magnitude from those originally planned. When the stepson of the deceased finds himself almost front-page news and briefly mentioned in one local TV news bulletin, "quiet and private" is a better approach than"sumptuous and showy".
As they watched mourners file out, the coffin was going into the back of regular hearse. Not the carriage drawn by six black horses they had seen on a brochure in the Huntingdon's apartment the other day. They had only dropped by because they were more or less passing at the time and it might be useful context for the future.
"Who are those people Goren?" asked Eames
"Mostly from the company I think" he replied. "Who is not here and might have been expected a few days ago is interesting. I didn't see many of those names from the flowers"
"Uhuh" said his partner. "Not so much half the social register as barely enough names to fill the back of a bus ticket. You seen enough?"
He nodded as she started the engine. "Um…think you could stop at that florist round the corner?"
"I think roses are always good for an apology or a thank you" Eames said.
"Why do they have to be for either of those things?"
"Because you barely made it through the door on time, were carrying take out coffee, you've got a grease spot on your tie, you nicked yourself shaving and you've been grouchy all morning Goren. That means before the alarm stopped ringing you were either fighting or fooling and maybe even both"
"You think we could discuss this fax from San Diego?"
Eames took the chance of checking traffic to look away and grin. "Sure. So what does your old Army buddy now works robbery down there have to say?"
Major Case Squad Room
There were times through that day the place was like Grand Central Station with people coming and going. Their little team bolstered by Stabler and Benson was extending invitations and in a few cases, handcuffs to a steady stream of people, in addition to those being spoken to all over the city. Like links in a chain or more like several as they uncovered more and more of what fast had all the makings of a major corruption scandal. Far beyond anything, as Olivia said when they were grabbing sandwiches from a tray, that Grace Webster might have imagined when she began to do some private investigation of her own. Far beyond her scope and powers to ever handle and even Benson seemed to accept they would never really have all the answers.
The answers to the questions the Webster family still had who were returning her body and that of her daughter to Pittsburgh that very day. To what extent she was motivated by good intent and driven by a possible career enhancing opportunity. Or whether there might be some truth in the story that Ray Whistler was telling. That she used his attraction to her to try and possibly succeeded, in getting information from him. And when he confronted Grace, she demanded a ridiculous sum of money for her silence and a share as a future "business partner". He had incentive to try and explain away how she ended up dead but it didn't always follow self-confessed killers lied about everything. They all knew that.
It was around that time and with Logan, Wheeler and Dempsey heading for City Hall with warrants to seize certain files and arrest, if necessary, one highly placed official, they all met in the Captain's office. For him to speak with Don Cragen, the ME and for Goren and Eames to set out the bare bones of a strategy they had hatched on the move earlier. One had Theresa Randle's support from a legal point of view and her being there gave Eames nostalgia for the "old days". When Ron Carver was around regularly, often frustrating them both with his demands but teaching them both a lot too.
She had almost taken up residence at one stage, going from one room to the other to discuss immunity or lesser charges in exchange for information would slot another piece into the puzzle. And they were probably just lucky it took until late afternoon for the media to get wind of what was happening. Though what was being broadcast on the TV in a corner of the squad room was still in the realms of speculation more than hard news or information.
Plus the usual rush of politicians pledging their support for the police and their commitment to blah blah. It was Logan said how one "can't get in front of the camera quick enough" was notable by his absence. But then that was the one name at that level that kept coming up time and again and he was probably in his office or at home. Shredding paper and expecting a knock at the door any moment.
By seven he was still waiting and maybe shredding, but they had identified most of the big fish in the shoal and let go a few tiddlers and those caught up in the net by accident. Time would tell on the final weight of the catch. There were still interviews to complete, some gutting to be completed on the paperwork and a few people to be fried a little longer. Ross sent Eames and Goren home and Randle warned the court they still had a few more to dispose of that night.
Morningside Heights
His key still fitted the lock and the chain wasn't on, so Goren concluded those were good signs. Neither was there a bag packed in the hall with his name on it. And when he stepped in the kitchen a fry pan didn't fly past his head. Indeed quite the reverse as he could see Caroline making up some of her rib sauce she knew he really liked.
She turned and smiled at him. "Thank you Rob. It's cute"
He looked into the corner where a rather pathetic looking plant sat. But then he'd not had time to even find one, never mind pick out a choice specimen for himself.
"I was…well hoping for something better" he said. "It's kind of small"
"So were you once" she said wiping her hands. "You grew. It will too and it's too late for it to be flowering. It will do fine on the balcony here until I get it back to Boston"
He rather wished she didn't mention that fact right now as she slid her arms round him and they stood holding each other. Taking in the scent of her hair, the shower gel she used and given the day he had, hoping where her nose was his deodorant was cutting it as well as the makers claimed.
"When does it flower?" he asked.
"May usually. We should have had the fight last month. Then you would have seen the state flower of Virginia at it's best. It was very clever of you to think of American Dogwood"
He bent down to accept a quick, soft kiss.
"I had them check at the store Caro" he confessed. "But Cornus florida sounds more grand…but misleading of course"
"Doesn't matter. It was the thought which counts" she set back on her heels. "So tell me why the purple hyacinth? Though I understand why it had to be fake"
"Supposed to mean snivelling apology" he replied and then smiled "They didn't have to look that up. I got the feeling they get asked regularly"
"How about you get changed and I'll do my snivelling apology literally? Peeling onions and jalapeno's to make you dinner?"
"A soak in the bath and beer brought to me would be nice too"
"Your wish is my command but I don't scrub backs" she laughed.
"Oh well…guess I'll survive without. Then there's something I want to talk to you about. Not just the weekend Caro. Something that's been on my mind for quite a long time now"
An hour later the dogwood was outside on the balcony bathed in late sun and they sat by the open doors with the remains of dinner on the table. The silk purple hyacinth was stuck in one of the two empty beer cans was the only thing to drink with ribs. Ribs eaten between Goren finding his way, painfully at times, to sort out and express verbally what was in his head. She letting him arrive there on his own, sifting and clarifying half formed thoughts and ideas as he went.
"What do you think Caro?"
"If you are sure that's what you want" she said taking his hand reaching over for hers.
"I'm sure"
To be continued…
