Moment in Time Part 3
Chapter 20
The Nose
Part 4
"Darling," Martha queries as Rick pulls two bottles out of his wine fridge, "I know it's been a stressful day, but isn't that a bit much?"
Rick turns the labels so his mother can see them. "Dom Perignon, Mother. One for Ryan and one for Esposito. They'll be getting the results of their sergeants exam in less than a half-hour. So I thought I'd go to the precinct to congratulate them. And Maybe Kate and I can come home together. Also, I have good news. The hospital said Mia's nose isn't broken, and she shouldn't suffer any permanent damage. Her sniffing should be back up to speed in a day or two."
Martha dismissively waves her hand. "ER doctors! What do they know about a special woman like Mia? Did you get her the appointment with Dr. Rosen?"
"Yes, Mother, I did. So I'll be taking her tomorrow. But she only agreed to go because you want her to. She claims no doctor's ever been able to do much for her except give her anti-anxiety medication and antibiotics for a skin infection. And she won't take anything but the antibiotics. She says the chill pills muddle her thinking."
"Well, it never hurts to get another opinion," Martha declares. "And three actors I know who had problems after nose jobs swear by Dr. Rosen."
"As long as they don't swear at her." Rick consults his watch. "I'd better get going. I want to be there for the boys' big moment."
"Don't jinx them, Richard. You never know how these things will work out."
"Did you get your email?" Esposito asks as the wall clock clicks to 5 p.m. "Mine just popped."
Ryan stares at the screen of his phone. "No, um, yes! Results of Sergeants Exam. Want to open them together?"
"On three," Esposito offers.
Ryan nods. "One, two, three!"
A grin splits Esposito's face until he catches his partner's tight expression. "You didn't make it?"
Ryan shakes his head. "Missed it by a point! One freaking point!"
"So you'll get it next time around," Esposito counsels.
"That will be at least a year. The new baby will be born by then. I need the money, Bro, and…."
"Gentlemen," Rick proclaims, holding up two bagged bottles of Champagne, "I bring libations. Are you celebrating triumph or mourning bureaucratic misjudgment?"
"Javi can celebrate, Castle," Ryan responds. "I need to call Jenny."
"With the new baby on the way, he's hurting for cash," Esposito explains as Ryan wanders off. "He needed the promotion."
"Well, maybe we can figure something out," Rick considers. "But anyway, you enjoy the bubbly. I'm going to see if my wife is ready to call it a day."
"She's in the box, questioning the guy you clocked. She had to wait for the hospital to release him and his lawyer's making noises about police brutality. He's arguing you were acting on the NYPD's behalf when you attacked him."
"Considering that the man invaded my home and threatened me, my mother, and Mia Lazlo with a gun, I give his counsel points for creativity. Hmm, maybe that's what Ryan needs, a little creativity. I'll think about it while I watch my wife turn up the heat. See what I did there? Heat?"
Esposito turns away, shaking his head.
Kate stands, leaning over the table toward the unmasked gunman. "You told me your brother Justin was a good guy who even paid for your art school. So why'd you kill him, Lorenzo?"
"Don't answer that!" defense attorney Jim Bomba counsels his client.
"He doesn't have to answer anything," Kate replies. "He can listen. You can both listen. I had CSU sweep the garage where you shot Justin, Lorenzo. No matter how careful a killer is, they always leave something behind. And that day, the wall by the elevator was a trap for fresh evidence.
"Mia Lazlo told us that she smelled freon from a leaking air conditioner. I didn't think much of it at the time. But the maintenance crew of the building had already been on it. They broke through the wall to seal a leaking duct. They patched it again, but their patch was still sticky. It caught dirt, hair, and skin cells. And you know what some of those skin cells showed? A sibling match for Justin. And I'm willing to bet they'll be a 100% match for you."
"Justin had no right to give that Van Gogh back!" Lorenzo blurts out. "It was part of the history of our family – what was left of it. We'd both heard about the Nazis taking it from the time we were kids. Our parents had photos and tried to get it back. But they couldn't. Still, Justin said if we kept it, we'd be just as bad as the Nazis were. And he was worried about the copy being traced to me. I was just trying to keep our family from losing it again. I didn't know Justin had already made the exchange. After I got home, I checked the case and recognized my work. It was a mistake! It was all a mistake!"
"My client was obviously highly distraught," Bomba asserts. "It was episodic psychiatric disease."
Kate rises from the table. "An episode lasting the time it would take him to make a convincing copy of a Van Gogh and conspire to steal one? And then to shoot his own brother? Good luck with a jury on that one, Counselor. I'll let you know when the rest of the DNA results are in." She meets Rick in Observation. "I don't have to be Mia to smell the guilt on that slug. Let's get out of here, Babe."
"So what did Dr. Rosen say?" Rick inquires, opening the door of his Ferrari for Mia.
"Same thing the ER doctor said about my olfactory acuity. It will return completely as soon as the swelling goes down."
"Did she say anything else?" Rick prompts.
"She noticed my skin and asked about the antibiotics I was taking. And she asked me if I was hyperosmic before I started taking them."
"Were you?"
"I always had a great sense of smell. I could tell everyone's perfumes apart, what my teachers had for lunch, and whether food was starting to go bad. Mother always took me grocery shopping with her so I could sniff out the best produce. By the time I was in seventh grade, I was already thinking about being a fragrance formulator, a nose. I saw a movie about it. But then I started getting skin infections and began taking antibiotics for them. That's when things got really miserable for me, and I had to cut myself off from people."
"So what did Dr. Rosen say about that?"
"She referred me to a dermatologist. She's going to call her with a list of antibiotics that won't make my nose as crazy."
"But you'll still be able to do your job?"
"Dr. Rosen thinks so. But I've been watching you and Captain Beckett. I don't have to smell the pheromones to know how in love you two are. If I can stand being back in the world enough to find just a fraction of that, it will be a miracle."
Rick settles behind the wheel. "You're a special person, Mia, and not just your nose. Having someone fall in love with you won't take a miracle. And I can't wait to see it happen."
A/N Dear Readers,
My husband of 46 years passed away unexpectedly yesterday. So why am I posting a fanfic chapter? Sharing stories with you is one of the few things in my life I can hang onto right now. But if there are more typos than usual or something doesn't quite make sense in the upcoming days, please forgive me. We all work through things in our own way. Love, Sally