Hunting Grounds

Chapter 16

True to form, Kate had picked up something to eat on her way home. This time it was a Greek gyro. And that was followed by a quick stop to get a cheap bottle of wine. The entire thing cost her less than $20, including tax, which in New York City wasn't tiny.

Since she wasn't interested in anything on TV, she put her laptop in front of her and brought up Rosie's last email. She had said she would be changing the VPNs that she utilized every time she sent Kate an email. So that probably meant responding to one from yesterday would prove to be pointless. She sighed and deleted them and then deleted everything in her deleted folder.

Maybe a good technician could recover them but hopefully not. So now she had to wait for Rosie to send her something before she could talk to her.

It was just her luck that at the moment her laptop announced a new email message, there was a knock on her door. So it was either talk to Rosie or find out who was at her door.

A quick look out her peephole in the door told her who was here. So she unlocked and opened the door. "Hi, Lanie. Didn't we just talk yesterday?" Why was she was back already?

"We did and since that one bottle of wine loosened your tongue just a little I brought another one. A little birdie tells me you're banned from the precinct for close to two weeks." Lanie helped herself by stepping inside her apartment and letting Kate close and lock the door behind her.

"I already have a bottle and you're interrupting my meal," Kate groused, certain that that wouldn't deter Lanie and it didn't.

"Corkscrew?" Lanie went into the kitchen to find it. Kate retreated to her dinner, picked up her glass of wine, and closed her laptop. If it was Rosie she was just going to have to wait.

"So where were we?" Lanie sat down next to her with her glass of wine. "I've already eaten so feel free to go ahead and eat"

"I will." Kate went back to eating her gyro.

"Oh yes, we were talking about this Rick you spent I don't know how many days with. So tell me how handsome he is. You said he's a Navy SEAL which means he has to be built and a hunk. What else?" Lanie sipped her wine and stared at Kate, waiting for answers.

"He's…nice." Kate decided to tease Lanie with very little information.

"Define nice." Lanie wanted nice, handsome, or drop-dead gorgeous and Kate might as well tell her now to avoid the pain.

"Nice is… I miss him." Suddenly Kate didn't know what had happened to her filter. She was usually much better at this.

"Now we're getting somewhere. Just what did you two do all the time you were out there?" They were in the woods with she was thinking no protection, so what had they done?

"Everything." Kate meant everything, too. Not just kissing or hugging, but everything.

"Girlfriend! …In the woods?" Lanie wasn't sure even she would be willing to lay down and spread her legs on layers of pine needles and dead branches no matter how hot the man.

"We found this old, run-down, hunting cabin that was long since abandoned. It was just one room with nothing much inside it. The roof leaked, the walls had holes in them, and animals, like squirrels, were everywhere." Kate made all this up since they had found no such thing.

"And a bed?" Lanie's smile was wide because to her way of thinking, Kate and this Rick had done a whole lot.

"There used to be. It was just a simple cloth cot that was ripped and couldn't hold a squirrel, but yes, it had a bed. Of sorts. Not that we used it. No food or water, either. That was a little harder to get. Rick did everything." He was a Navy SEAL after all.

"And you have no idea where he is now?" Lanie was thinking Kate had found someone and just lost him.

Kate shook her head. "Not a clue. The Navy came and got him so he could be anywhere now. No cell phone, no address." She had nothing.

Then it hit her. "WAIT! He said his mother lived here in the City. Oh, what was her name?" Kate racked her memory. "MARTHA! Martha Rodgers. Something about her being on Broadway." She opened her laptop and used Google to do a search. Her fingers flew across the keyboard. "Martha Rodgers."

"Here!" Kate turned the laptop so Lanie could see. "Martha's an actress and has worked mostly on the stage. She's been nominated for a Tony Award for her work on the stage. In the 1980s, she played Titania in a Shakespeare in the Park production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. She's been in Temptation Lane, Lanie! I don't remember seeing her on that show." Now Kate took the laptop back and did a more in-depth search. "She was in The Incredible Hulk in 1977.

"Look!" Kate had found a picture of her then and now.

"She's lovely. If this Rick of yours is anything like her, he's handsome. So where does she live now?" Lanie thought Kate had a lead.

Kate typed her name and did a search for her address. "It doesn't say, of course. I mean, who would give out someone's address?"

"I'll get Javi to find her. With that red hair, she can't be that hard to find. You can thank me later." Lanie got back on topic. "…He must be really good, bed or no bed, for you to miss him this much."

"It doesn't matter, Lanie. I'll never see him again. We live in two different worlds. He could already be in the Middle East." Kate still couldn't get her filter to work.

"Javi finds his mother and that could all change. A mother would know where her son was. Sons keep in touch with their mothers. It's not over yet, girlfriend." Lanie wasn't so willing to give up. She even left Kate alone so she could call Javi and get him to look up this Martha Rodgers. Then tell Kate what he had found so she could go see her.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate answered her phone and listened before hanging up. "Lanie has something. Keep working on that alibi he says he has and carry on digging into his past," Kate told Ryan and Espo and headed for the elevator.

She pushed through the double swinging doors and saw her standing by their dead body. "What have you got, Lanie?"

Lanie walked to her office and Kate followed her. "This." Lanie handed her a small piece of paper.

Kate was puzzled. "What's this?" It didn't look like an official report. It was more like scrap paper.

"The address for one Martha Rodgers, of course. You didn't think I'd forgotten about that, did you?" Lanie questioned her. If Kate thought she would just drop that then her best friend didn't know her as well as she thought.

Kate looked at the address and quickly worked it out. "This is in the Bronx."

"Very good!" Lanie said with the tiniest hint of sarcasm. "Now when you're off work go talk to her. Mothers know everything. You want to find Rick, you need to start with her."

"Lanie, we never talked about see each other's parents." Hell, they hadn't even gone out on one official date. They'd spent their time having sex and trying to stay alive.

"You want to see Rick, go talk to her." Lanie glared at her. "You know I'm going to going grill you about what she says tomorrow so you better have answers."

Kate desperately wanted to talk to Rick. Even more to the point she wanted to see him again. If this was what it took she would just have to suck it up and go talk to his mother.

"What about our dead body?" Kate was at work and had a dead body. Someone had murdered her and that someone needed to pay for this. Her personal life could come later.

[_] /\ [_]

It was amazingly simple to reach the address she had. Get on a train, go across the river and get off, and walk across the street. Like much of New York City it looked older. Not condemned, just older. The address suggested the third floor and she found it was going to be a third-floor walk-up. No elevator in this building, just like the one where she lived.

Kate didn't know enough about Broadway to know if the shows were all at night or even if Martha had a show she was in presently. So this might be a wasted trip.

Walking down the hallway Kate took a deep breath and worked out what she was going to say to get in the door. She could show her her badge but this was personal so that would be a violation of the rules. Kate knocked as she let out a long slow breath.

A tall, thin woman with fiery red hair answered the door. "Yes?" She was a bit surprised to see a very lovely young woman at her door.

"Martha Rodgers? I'm Kate Beckett. I spent some time with your son and have a few questions." Kate would try more if that didn't work.

"You're Detective Beckett!" Martha was a little shocked. "The Navy came by and asked me all sorts of questions about Richard. And they mentioned you. Come in, please!" Martha had a lot of questions herself. The Navy hadn't told her much.

[_] /\ [_]

"Then you have no idea where he is now?" Kate had listened to what Martha had said but it wasn't much help.

"None. The last I knew he was being deployed and he couldn't tell me where. Then weeks later the Navy shows up asking me questions. Now I have one for you. What's going on? They refused to tell me much of anything." Martha was very put out by those two.

"They didn't tell you anything?" Kate watched her shake her head. Well, if they wouldn't tell his mother how was she supposed to find him?

Even if it was his mother it still meant she had to stick to their story. The only person she could talk to was Rosie and that helped ground her in what had happened.

[_] /\ [_]

In the end, when Kate left, Martha now knew more than she ever knew. She, like everyone else Kate had talked to, didn't understand how or why. From New York City to ending up in the middle of Maine somewhere with only the clothes they were wearing.

Kate and Rick knew this wasn't going to be accepted by everyone, but what else did they have to tell them? The complete truth was totally out of the question.

Kate had left Martha her card so she could call when she felt the need. Especially if she ever heard from Rick. Kate admitted to his mother that yes, she liked him. And that she was worried about what was happening to him.

The only good thing to happen lately was that she had been cleared by the doctor and she had shown Roy her shooting results. And she had a new service weapon along with a new cell phone with a new phone number. That, of course, meant telling everyone who needed to know what her new number was.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate grumbled since she had to close her laptop because there was someone at her door. Looking out her peephole told her who it was. "Hi, Lanie." Nearly every evening Lanie would show up. Even if Dr. Burke hadn't been, apparently Lanie thought it was her duty to make sure her best friend was doing well.

"So what did she say?" Lanie was betting Kate had gone to see Martha by now.

"Martha didn't know anything. The Navy had shown up to ask her questions and had left, telling her next to nothing. I told her everything I knew which was more than she knew." Kate retreated to the kitchen to find her bottle of wine. One glass each sounded like enough to her.

"Then still no Rick." That was all Lanie cared about.

"No, no Rick. She had no idea where he was. They didn't even tell her if he was healthy or if he was even alive. But she was happy to see me." Kate had learned to like Martha. There was just something different about her.

[_] /\ [_]

"Captain Rodgers, have a seat please." At least this person looked happy to see him for a change. The fact that he was a friend might help.

"Thank you. I suppose you have questions. I doubt there's much I haven't already told everyone else," Rick said as he sat down in one of the two chairs.

"I've read all the reports. Leave it to you to get yourself into a real pickle, Rick." Lance was happy his friend was fine but he'd gotten himself into a real mess.

"Story of my life, sir." Rick finally smiled for the first time in what felt like weeks.

He got up, came around his desk, and sat on it. "Friend to friend. Off the record. Anything you want to tell me?"

"If there was, Lance, you would be the person to tell. But I've got nothing." The story was all even his friend was going to get. "So what happens now?" He was ready to go back to his team.

"Your team had to complete the mission. And Damien was promoted to lead of your SEAL team. They completed their mission," Lance told him.

"Damien's a good man. I'm sure they all did their job." Rick studied Lance. "Alright, what is it you aren't telling me?"

Lance took a breath and broke it to him. "You're no longer lead for that team."

"They don't trust me," Rick said somewhat bitterly. "One second I'm sitting on the toilet and the next my career is in the toilet."

"Basically, yes. Yes, you passed most of your polygraph test. Your training made it hard to know if all of it's the truth but it does fit with what we know. Rick…what I'm about to tell you never leaves this room. You tell a soul and you'll never see the light of day ever again. Solitary for life somewhere comes to mind, understand?"

"Yes, sir." Rick sat up straight and watched Lance go back to around his desk where he sat down and opened a folder that was laying there.

"You are the first naval personnel that fits what we've learned. The Army, who finally talked to us, told us that they've lost personnel and don't have an explanation. An entire Green Beret team is missing, them and all of their equipment. Their disappearance closely matches with what you have to say. However, you and this detective came back and they didn't.

"For this reason, they don't trust you. Your blood tests came back mostly clean. I say mostly because there's a remnant of a drug they can't identify still in your system."

That told Rick they knew about the team he and Kate had found dead with their heads missing. "That might explain the massive headache I had when I woke up."

"We came to that conclusion as well. They won't give you back your team which leaves us with what to do with you. Got any ideas about what we should do?" Lance asked him.

Rick opened his mouth to fight back but closed it. He would lose and he knew it. That he was talking to a friend in Naval Intelligence told him this was his one and only chance at salvaging something from this mess.

It was spur of the moment and since he hadn't planned it out he didn't know if anything would come from it. "Honestly, I do have one small idea," Rick said.

Lance sat there, listened to his idea, and why he thought this might help the Navy.

[_] /\ [_]

Rick was standing there waiting for his ride to land when Lance walked up to him, carrying something else. "They bought your idea, Rick, so I hope you know what you're doing. I've got something for you, one friend to another." Lance handed it over. "Open it when you're in the air and not before."

"Thanks, Lance. I owe you." Rick took it and kept it separate from his duffle bag that held everything he owned in this life.

"You have your paperwork and your orders." Lance knew he had them. "Tell the detective hello for me. I hope she's worth it because if this goes south, your life's about to become a new type of hell."

"I think she is."

"Have a pleasant journey, Captain Rodgers." Lance shook his hand.

"Thank you, Commander." Rick shook his hand, gave him a crisp salute, and watched him walk away while he waited for his ride to arrive.

Moments later his C-130 arrived so he walked out to it and showed his paperwork so he could board it.

[_] /\ [_]

Kate was losing her mind and she knew it. Somehow Rick had reached her and she was missing him so very much. They had teased each other about going out on a date, and she desperately wanted that date. She was having trouble getting a full night's sleep. She had even bought a body pillow, a nice long one. She settled it between her legs and hugged it all night but it was no substitute for a naked Rick being in her arms.

Kate was doing her best to not let it affect her job. Compartmentalizing things was something she had learned to do. So while at work, her work mind was in charge. When she got home and Rosie still didn't know where Rick was, she had nothing. And that had her fighting back tears.

She missed him! She missed him something fierce. Today was a paperwork day and while she was writing she could feel tears welling up. She wiped them away and kept on writing.

Then her desk phone rang. She was hoping it was another dead body. Something to take her mind off of how she was feeling. Kate listened to the Desk Sergeant and felt her heart skip a beat.

"Detective Beckett?" She wasn't answering him.

"Send… Send him up," Kate croaked. She slammed the phone down and jumped out of her chair, raced over to the elevator, and fought back sobs as she waited for the damn doors to open.

Rick was concerned because he wasn't sure how Kate was going to take this. He was praying for good results while he rode the elevator up to the fourth floor like he'd been told to do.

Kate was ready to explode. Finally, the doors opened after a quick ding. HE WAS THERE! He was just standing there and Kate didn't waste a second. She launched herself at him, forced him up against the back wall, and kissed him as passionately and savagely as was possible.

He was a little shocked but this was good. He was being kissed hard so he kissed her back. At last, she moved away from his kiss and laid her head against his shoulder. The elevator door closed on them. Rick just stood there and held her, listening to her sniffle. Was she crying?

"Hi," Rick said. So far, things had gone better than he'd hoped for.

Kate sort of grinned and used a hand to wipe away the tears before slipping her arm back around him. "Hi."

"You feel great!" Rick loved having her in his arms again. It all helped him confirm that this was a good idea.

"You feel better." Kate wanted to stay right where she was for a few more hours.

"How do we get the elevator door open again?" He had to report in and start his work per his orders.

Kate giggled a little. God, he'd reduced her to giggling. But it felt great being in his arms. It took a lot of willpower to leave his arms and press the OPEN button to get the elevator doors to open.

"I need to see a Captain Montgomery."

That confused Kate. Why did Rick need to see her Captain? Still, she took him to his door and didn't miss seeing Espo and Ryan staring at both of them. They had asked her if she was okay more than once. It was obvious they were concerned about her which was a nice thing.

Rick made sure Kate was right behind him and knocked on the doorframe. He entered when he heard a man's voice say, "Come in."

"Captain Montgomery. I'm Captain Richard Rodgers, United States Navy."

Roy immediately recognized that name. It was the name Beckett had given him. They'd both been taken and found themselves together in nowhere Maine.

"My orders, sir. And your orders, sir." Rick handed over his paperwork.

"Orders?" Kate had no idea what was going on.

Roy took the paperwork and began reading. His eyebrows kept arching higher and higher as he read. They reached their zenith when he got to the name that had signed the orders.

"You're assigned to this precinct." Roy had read both sets of orders.

"Yes, sir. The 12th Precinct is my new home. Per my orders, I will not be here day after day but this is my home base per my request." This was Rick's plan that Lance had helped him with.

"What?" Kate wasn't keeping up. What orders?

"I'm your new partner, Kate. But not all the time." Rick couldn't be in this precinct all the time per his orders.

"MY WHAT!" Kate was more than happy to see him but what did he mean by new partner?