Love on Ice
Chapter 35
Kate watched Maria run toward where she knew Rick was sitting at his computer. Turning back to this woman she saw her take a step into her house with the intent of going past her. But Kate grabbed her arm and stopped her.
Somehow Meredith yanked her arm free. "HOW DARE YOU!" No one did this to her. She was used to getting her way and this was would be no exception.
Kate glared daggers at Meredith. "You were not invited into my home. I'm the police and I will arrest you for illegal entry."
"You're lying." Meredith took another step and screamed when suddenly her right arm was pinned behind her back and it hurt. Now she was being taken back out the front door. "I'll have you arrested for this!"
Kate released her once she was back outside. "Now stay out!"
"What's going on?" Rick hadn't gotten much out of Maria so wasn't truly prepared for who was at the front door.
"RICKY!" Finally Meredith saw him. She was sure she was spared and would be allowed entrance past this cursed woman that was stopping her.
"You know this woman, babe?" Kate wasn't yet putting 2 + 2 together and coming up Meredith.
"What are you doing here, Meredith?" Rick stepped a little closer but not too close.
"Ricky." Meredith once more began to walk back into the house but was stopped by Kate yet again. "Get out of my way!" Meredith screeched at Kate.
Kate blocked her movement with her body. "What are you doing here, Meredith?" Rick demanded. She had no reason to be here or even talk to him.
"Meredith." Kate looked at this woman with new eyes. Rick had told her a little about who had given birth to Alexis. She didn't see why she would be here.
"I've changed my mind. I want my daughter back," Meredith informed him. "Here is the paperwork." She produced the folder full of paper to show that she was contesting her previous idea of giving up Alexis.
Kate snatched the folder from Meredith but still blocked the doorway.
"It'll never work, Meredith." Rick snarled. "You signed away all your rights immediately after Alexis was born. Alexis has a home. I have money to meet her needs and care for her and she has a family…including a mother."
That had Meredith looking at Kate and Kate was sure that if her eyes could she would be a dead woman right now. "I want to see my daughter."
"No!" Kate said hotly. "Alexis is mine! I've adopted her and she calls me Mommy. We're all Rodgers now and you are not wanted here."
"I demand to see my daughter!" Meredith shrieked at them.
"Mommy?" a little voice called out.
"Alexis!" Meredith just knew that was her baby even if she had never heard her voice before.
Rick turned but didn't see her but did hear Maria coaxing Alexis away from the front door. Rick was going to thank her for that and give Maria the biggest bonus she had ever had since working for him.
"Let me see my daughter!"
"No! She's my daughter. Now go away." Kate slammed the door in her face, locked it, and spun around to look at Rick. "That was Meredith?" She was tall, very slim, had stunning red hair, and almost white skin. It did help explain where Alexis got her skin color, though.
"Yeah, that was Meredith. How in the world did she even find us?" Rick raked his fingers through his hair in agitation. Suddenly their doorbell began ringing over and over again.
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Kate was thanking the uniformed officers who had responded to her call. Meredith was in cuffs, in the back seat of a different cruiser, and on her way to the local police station.
They both now had a fair amount of paperwork to deal with and Kate's day off just came to an end. She was going to have to go into her office, talk to her captain, and fill out her paperwork.
Rick was already scanning the paperwork Kate had snatched from Meredith and sending it to his lawyer who unfortunately was back in Connecticut. Rick would soon learn that he was going to have to find a Canadian lawyer to handle this mess.
Rick was still gone and the officers and Meredith were gone so she went looking for Alexis who was probably quite confused about all of this. She found her in her bedroom in the arms of Maria who was reading to her with Snow on the floor next to them.
Snow got up so she could be petted the second Kate entered. "Hi, Mommy!" Alexis liked that Maria was reading to her but she preferred Mommy to Maria.
"Thanks, Maria." Kate took over and settled in with Alexis in her arms now.
"I am happy to help, Mrs. Kate. I trust she is gone?" Maria wanted to make sure.
"I had her arrested and yes, she's gone. We can talk later." She needed to spend time with Alexis first.
"Of course." Maria retreated to find Rick so that they could talk.
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Rick and Kate had a nice long talk about Meredith and Alexis this time. Kate already knew that Rick had gotten Meredith pregnant, that she didn't want to be married and that she didn't want anything to do with her child after giving birth to her.
He had arranged for her to sign all her rights to Alexis over to him and they had never talked or seen each again until today. What neither of them could work out was how she had found them. Neither hockey team would just give out his address and her work would never give out her address.
They lived in Canada now and last Rick knew anything she was and lived in the United States. Since they were in Canada his lawyer had given him a couple of names of good law firms located in Vancouver for him to talk with. However, given what he had read she had little legal standing in the States, let alone in Canada but that would be up to his lawyer in Vancouver.
"What is it she's hoping to gain?" Kate didn't get it. It was clear that Meredith didn't want a family when she was pregnant nor after giving birth.
"Mr. Rick has money," Maria pointed out, meaning he had money to fight Meredith with.
It was just the three of them late at night with Alexis asleep in her room with her puppy.
"Could it be that simple?" Kate wondered.
"But I'm not playing hockey anymore. Writing so far doesn't make near the same amount of money." Rick wasn't sure he considered himself rich. He simply made more money than others did. There were people a whole lot richer than he was.
"Maybe that's what she fears," Kate speculated. "That you'll run out of money so she needs to get what she can now."
"By using Alexis to get to my money?" Rick wasn't sure he could believe that of Meredith. At least not the Meredith that he remembered.
"In my job people kill for a lot less, babe." She knew kids killed for a single stick of gum, let alone a few million. "Worse, once she gets Alexis and gets access to your money, she might take what she wants and dump Alexis somewhere." Kate's job allowed her to see the ugly belly of what people were capable of doing.
"Over my dead body!" Rick swore. He slammed his fist onto the table.
"I will take her home to my family first," Maria vowed. She loved Alexis and didn't want anything to happen to her.
"We need that lawyer first and I need to talk to my dad. He's a lawyer. What time is it in New York City now?" Kate looked at her watch and pulled out her cell phone.
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All Jim could do was take what Rick sent him, read it, and decide if she even had a case. However, he agreed with Rick's lawyer. He needed a local Canadian lawyer. They would most likely have different laws than the US did.
"He may still find something. …Do we run if she wins?" Kate didn't want to lose Alexis any more than Rick or Maria did. Rick shook his head. "Yeah, I hate running. I was just asking."
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Kate went into work the day after just as planned, leaving Rick and Maria to watch Alexis. She was using her access to find out more about Meredith. It turned out she lived in California. She wasn't a Canadian citizen. Kate didn't have access to her financials without a warrant so she had no idea how much money she had. Her address had her looking that up and found it was an apartment just outside of LA.
"Rodgers, my office," her boss called out. At first it had Kate jumping that she had been found out that she was snooping. But she hadn't really found anything anyone could have learned let alone her.
"Sir?" Kate stopped at his door.
"Sit down, Rodgers." He had something and she was perfect for the job.
Kate sat and watched him toss a CD case to the front of his desk. "You remember Danny Brent?"
Kate took a moment. She wasn't prepared for such a question. She was thinking he had found out what she was doing. "Murdered, bartender with a side business in heroin."
"That's the one. Robbery found another locker under his name filled with those." He pointed at the CD case. Curious, Kate picked it up and looked it over.
"Johnny Vong." Didn't mean anything to her.
"He had hundreds of them. And inside each of them was heroin. They were being shipped in as CDs but instead of CDs they held heroin. Not every border crossing has a drug sniffing dog at Customs so they missed it. Roughly C$125K per case and 454 CD cases. You do the math."
Kate whistled. "What do illegal drugs have to do with me?" Danny was dead and she had solved his murder. She wasn't involved with illegal drugs.
"I've read that you came from Homicide in New York City. Johnny Vong is based in New York City. I've put in an official request but relations between Canada and the States means my request could take weeks, if not months." He hated to ask this of her but he needed these drugs out of his city.
"I'm asking if you're willing to call in a favor with someone you know back in New York City. I want all they know about Johnny Vong. Arrest him on drug possession with intent to distribute or something. I want this heroin out of my city. This is voluntary only, you are free to decline."
Kate nodded. "I'll do it, Sir. Vancouver is my home now. I don't want illegal drugs in my city either. I know a few people who might help."
"Good! I leave it in your hands then. Keep me informed on what you learn. And thanks, Rodgers." She didn't have to do this. She also knew she was being dismissed.
Kate sat at her desk, took out her cell phone, and looked up the name she wanted.
Kevin answered her call a little surprised. "Well if it isn't the married Beckett!"
That had Kate smiling. They hadn't found a single venue yet however Lanie was free to tell everyone that she had gotten married in Vegas and that one day in the near future they would be getting wedding invitations.
What she didn't see was Javi jerking his head to look at his partner since he had said the magic word.
"Is observation clear?" Kate asked him since she wanted to talk in private.
Now Kevin was shocked but looked at the room. "It is." He presumed Beckett wanted him in the room with his phone so he got up and went into the room, not surprised to find Javi right behind him.
"You're on speaker." Kevin told him.
"What's up, Beckett, or should I say Rodgers?" Javi was in no matter what she wanted.
"Hi, Javi. I have a request from my captain. He's tried going through diplomatic channels but isn't getting anywhere."
Javi was still in. "We're listening."
"We had a victim who was a bartender that had a side business in heroin. We found a Johnny Vong CD case containing heroin. Hundreds of them, in fact. $125K Canadian per CD case." Kate listened to one of them whistle much like she had done.
"I want you to learn all you can about Johnny Vong and get back to me. The CD states he's based in the city somewhere. Maybe Kev can use his connections in the drug unit to learn more. Just be careful, guys. Our vic was shot in the back and twice in the head."
Javi knew what that meant. "Execution style."
"I caught the killer but he's a ghost. His history only goes back a couple of years. So did Johnny send him or did someone else and why?" Kate didn't have an answer for that. He was selling their drugs so why kill him?
"So it's a murder investigation, only Vancouver BC is involved." That was enough for Kevin.
"We'll learn all we can and get back to you, Beckett." Javi would do it without Kevin if he had to.
"Are we free to ask Montgomery for help?" Kevin didn't like sneaking around behind his back.
"Do what you think is right. That's all I can ask of you. Just don't risk your jobs for this."
"It's a murder investigation. We just happen to be helping our Canadian brothers." Javi didn't see any problem. "How is married life? Lanie tells us you have a daughter."
"It's really nice, actually." She was different from what she was then and she knew it. "Alexis is also very sweet. I'm still learning a lot about raising a child." If it wasn't for Rick she would be pulling her hair out by now, she was sure of it.
"The Vancouver Canucks didn't last long in the playoffs," Kevin mentioned.
"No, they didn't." Then Kate broke it to them if they didn't already know. "Rick was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets."
"WHAT! They can't do that! Can they? You only just moved there." Kevin couldn't believe it.
"Rick retired from hockey to keep from being traded."
"DAMN! Just when I was starting to like hockey." Javi was bummed. Now he wasn't sure if he was going to follow hockey and if he did what team was he going to follow?
"It's okay. Rick had a plan so we're fine and we're not moving."
"We'll get right on this, Beckett," Javi told her. "We won't let you down."
"Thanks, guys. Just stay safe. If they killed my guy, someone over there is dangerous."
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Kate was ready to leave for the day but knocked on her captain's door. "Message sent, sir. They'll look into it for us."
"Thanks, Rodgers. Our drug unit is already looking into who else he was involved with. Pray this stops with him." He didn't need a large drug smuggling ring working in his city.
"Yes, sir. Good night, sir." Kate left him and went home. All this talk of drugs had her thinking of Alexis. They might have to have a little talk with her about drugs even if she was five and coming up fast on being six. Just what age was too young to talk about drugs?
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Kate hadn't heard anything over the last two days from either Kevin or Javi and had arrived home early enough to eat with her family and spend some time with Alexis.
None of them wanted to talk with Alexis present so they were forced to wait until Alexis was in her bed and sleeping. She didn't need to be confused about Meredith claiming to be her mother. So far as Alexis knew, she had a mother and it wasn't Meredith.
All three were actually outside with walls and doors between them and Alexis. "What did he say?" Kate asked Rick since he had gone to one of the lawyers recommended by his lawyer.
Rick began to explain. "He stated that she has the right as being the birth mother to challenge for custody."
"LIKE HELL! I'm not giving that woman my daughter!" Kate knew she was keeping Alexis and hadn't really recognized the words that she was saying. Rick and Maria did notice, though, and both of them started smiling.
"Meredith has the right. However, since she signed away her rights, Alexis is in a family environment with a mother and father. In addition we can financially support her so he doesn't think she has a chance.
Rick pointed out a potential complication. "Then there's the matter of United States and Canadian citizens and our location. Meredith, myself, and Alexis are US citizens. You with your adoption papers are Canadian and we live in Canada and Meredith does not."
"Which means what?" Rick and Alexis were Americans living in Canada but she wasn't.
Rick shrugged a shoulder. "He wasn't sure yet. He needs to do a lot of research. What he does know is that because she signed away her rights, you adopted her and are married, you are Canadian and live in Canada, any court hearing about will have to take place in Canada."
"Thank God!" Kate sat back in her chair. It was at least some good news.
"Yes!" Maria agreed easily.
"There is one complication in his mind. We got married in Vegas which is in the States. He needs to verify that getting married in the States is recognized in Canada." That was the end of most of what Rick had learned.
"Well shit!" Kate was ready to throw something. "How about if I just shoot her? At least you didn't marry her." She wasn't upset that Rick had had a baby with her. Things like that just happened. Besides she loved Alexis no matter who gave birth to her.
Rick knew he hadn't married her only because Meredith refused to be married as well as not wanting Alexis. "He did have a solution that might help." Rick had one last thing. "We get married here in Canada as fast as possible."
"AGAIN!?" Getting married in Vegas had been a spur of the moment and one of the greatest moments of her life. She, Kate Beckett, had gotten married. "We've barely even begun searching for a venue."
"There's one more complication to getting married here. Alexis and I are Americans. Since I was brought here to play hockey my visa states this and that I have a means of supporting myself and won't be a burden on the Canadian Government.
"For me to live here as a Canadian citizen as well as Alexis, you need to fill out a sponsorship application since you're Canadian. That application can take 10 to 12 months." Also just like Kate he needed to show he had lived her a specified amount of time.
"SHIT!" They couldn't even get married tomorrow in Canada. "You sure you don't have dual citizenship?" That was what got Kate here and her job. Rick could only shake his head. As far as he knew he had no Canadian ancestry.
"What does all this mean?" Maria had been listening but not really following. "I will fly Alexis to my family and hide her before I let that woman take her." Maria hated Meredith from long ago. She had been with Rick shortly after Alexis had been born. Any woman who didn't want her own child was not someone she approved of. She detested Meredith.
"We let our lawyer do his job. If Meredith isn't married, doesn't have a stable means of making money to support herself and Alexis, as well as the paperwork that she signed, and Alexis does have all of those presently with us…we wait." They really did need a lawyer.
"I still think I should just shoot her," Kate growled in frustration. Never in her life had she ever thought she would have to fight to keep a little girl she hadn't given birth to so she could call her her daughter.
There was something seriously wrong with this picture.
"Wait, you said something about 10 to 12 months for us to get married after I fill out some form." They couldn't get married in Canada because Rick was an American. "Well that sucks." Her dad and her friends were going to have to wait an entire year yet.