Hunting Grounds
Chapter 19
The next morning, Kate was grinning as she met Rick at the front door so they could go into work together. She had woken up this morning to find his head planted firmly between her legs. He had done that once before and she had loved it then, too. Two orgasms later and she was a very happy woman.
Last night she had managed to double up the contents of a couple of her drawers to give him some space. She still had to work out how to find room in her tiny closet to hang some of his clothes. Most of what he had was still in his bag. It was something that needed resolved.
"So what is it today? Another dead body?" Rick didn't know how often this city had dead bodies.
"Paperwork from the last case, usually," Kate said. "If there's another dead body, then the paperwork has to wait, which can be bad. You might forget something important. Thankfully the case was solved, so it's not a cold case. Those can be the worst. The detective in charge of the case may not have written up much, so you have little to work with."
"And I get to write up something, I suppose?" Rick wasn't sure he was looking forward to that.
"You were involved in the case, so yes. Don't worry, it won't kill you." Kate gave him a quick kiss.
"Kate, when do you get a day off so we can go out on a real date?" Rick wanted to date her. The sex was great, but he still had a lot to learn about her.
"I don't know. It depends on how often we get a dead body. Um...where are we going on our date?" Kate so badly wanted to go out on a date with him. The sex was great, but she needed more to really be in love with him. She was pretty sure she was getting there, but dating would definitely help.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Rick grinned at her as he opened the door to leave and start their day. Since he had his back to her, he didn't see her glaring at him for that.
"Didn't I tell you I hate surprises?" Kate asked him crossly as she locked the door.
[_] /\ [_]
Sitting at her desk working on her paperwork, a coffee cup with a sleeve appeared next to Kate's keyboard. "Thanks." Rick was saving her life.
"We seriously need to fix how you make coffee around here. Buying coffee day after day is expensive," Rick grumbled as he sat down with his cup.
"Good luck with that." Kate knew the taste of coffee on the 4th floor hadn't changed at all since she'd been here. "Your papers and your pen." She plopped them down at the end of her desk. "Find an empty desk, use the breakroom, or make do with the end of my desk." Kate knew he couldn't write with it balanced on his legs.
"Joy." Rick took the papers and the pen and went to the breakroom where there was just one sizable table with a few chairs.
[_] /\ [_]
They hadn't caught a new case, and Rick got to turn in his first report. He still had to write one up to send to the Navy eventually, so his writing days weren't over yet, if ever.
"I take it you like Chinese," Rick commented as they walked up the stairs to the apartment after finally leaving the precinct.
"I do. It's my favorite choice. Yes, I know how to cook, but I have my reasons not to." Cooking reminded her that her mother was gone. She hadn't yet worked out that cooking celebrated what her mother had taught her. And if she thought about it, she would realize it would help keep her mom's memory alive.
Kate went into the kitchen to get them both something to drink while Rick headed to the table and opened the laptop to check if Rosie had sent them anything.
"Hey, Kate," he called. "Look at this one." Rosie had found something different, and it was just as close.
"What is it this time?" Kate put down his drink and looked over his shoulder. "An old Ford Bronco." It was brown and beige and looked a little high off the ground.
"It's a '79 Ford Bronco Ranger XLT. This one is a 4×4, so better than the truck. Forty thousand sounds kind of overpriced. Three speed automatic, 95k known miles, 400 V8 sounds nice. Six hundred thousand for the house and 40k for the truck. Costs are starting to add up." Rick didn't like that.
"Can you afford it?" Kate inquired as she sat down and opened up her dinner. "I have some money, but not enough to buy the truck or the Bronco."
"House, car, house insurance, car insurance, gas. I'd probably have to pay I don't know how much to park it in a parking garage. This is New York City. Parking on the street can be interesting." What he meant was dangerous. Expect to drive it somewhere and find all the windows busted out by some kid having fun. Maybe see a line of paint down the side or find all four tires flattened by a gouge from a knife.
"Tell Rosie you want something more of a hunk of junk that still runs and is cheaper. We don't have to buy that house, Rick. We can buy something less expensive," Kate insisted.
Instead of answering her she watched him get up, go into the bedroom, and eventually return with his little box. She suddenly knew what he was doing and kicked herself for not thinking of it before now.
Rick finished checking the whole apartment. "We're still clean." He sat back down again.
"You really think they would bug us?" Kate didn't see why anyone would.
"I don't know. Lance didn't say, but he did give this to me. So he must have thought it could be a possibility."
"Lance?" That was a new name for her.
"A friend in Naval Intelligence. He's Deputy Commander for Naval Intelligence. The two of us go way back. He's the best friend I have. He got me back to you and made arrangements for this job, so he's now your friend, too."
"I'll thank him if I ever see him." Kate was thinking she never would, but who knew?
[_] /\ [_]
Kate watched as Rick typed and "talked" to Rosie for a change. In a way, she felt something different. She had been talking to Rosie and now Rick was. Was this jealousy? She didn't like it if it was.
They appeared to be talking about less expensive trucks that Rick could afford.
Kate saw a picture of something very different. "What in the world is that thing?"
"That, Kate, is a 1953 Dodge M37. It's a World War II, one ton, cargo truck. Two hundred thirty cubic-inch inline 6-cylinder gasoline engine, a 24-gallon fuel tank, 24-volt electrical system with fresh batteries. It has a 4-speed manual transmission with twin-lever, one for high and one for low, 4-wheel drive transfer case, drum brakes, and live-beam axles on leaf springs. And with their asking price at $14,900, I can afford it." It was barren, indestructible, and it would laugh off an EMP. It had a spare tire and it even had digging tools on the back.
"Grand Rapids, Michigan." Kate noticed it wasn't exactly close.
"Yeah, that's going to be a problem. I'll fly out to look it over, buy it, arrange to have it shipped here. But look at it! Isn't it great?" It even had a bed in the back to carry stuff. The instruments were simple and very basic. It looked perfect.
"Great is a word for it, alright." Kate granted him that. Though at only 15k it was a lot less expensive. They were looking for something that made Rick happy and he certainly sounded like he was.
"Have Rosie get you a plane ticket, a rental car, and decent hotel, and go look at it. Just promise me you won't try and drive that thing back here." She was sure it would break down multiple times before he got back home.
"Oh, ye of little faith." Rick was sure it would make it. He might not survive it since he was betting the seats were made of concrete, if not literally. "But no, I'll have it shipped." Rick was positively beaming since Rosie had actually found something.
"Alright, but it's seven hours one way to the house if we buy it in that thing," Kate reminded him.
"I'll make sure to buy you something comfortable to sit on," Rick told her, thinking he'd maybe buy two of them.
"Swell." Kate was sure they were going to get gawked at while driving in this thing.
[_] /\ [_]
Kate and Rick had another case and a dead body. "Hey, Lanie. So who's this?"
"Zack Lindsey, standout on the UNY swim team. Or he was before he drowned," Lanie informed them.
"How does a champion swimmer drown?" Rick didn't understand that part.
"He had help." Lanie had already figured that out.
"And the burns?" Kate saw them on his face.
"From some kind of a caustic substance. Someone held a rag to his face soaked in it. Then he was dumped into the pool to drown. Based on water and body temp, I'd say between 1:00 and 5:00 this morning."
[_] /\ [_]
"This place reminds me of an apartment with Mother. Cockroach races." Rick indicated the oversize cockroach on the wall.
"The door was kicked in," Kate observed. "Zack gets killed, and then his place gets trashed. NOT a coincidence." She walked around while putting on her gloves. "Gloves, Rick." He needed to be reminded.
"They were looking for something specific. You don't rip apart a mattress unless you didn't find it," she said. "So whatever it is might still be here."
Rick felt a rush of air and noticed that a poster moved. "What?" Kate saw the look on his face. Now she was watching him rip a poster down that revealed a hole in the wall and saw him pull out a bag that had something in it. "Medication?"
Rick shook his head. "There's only one thing I know of that comes in vials like that. Anabolic steroids. When you're a wannabe Navy SEAL, some guys look for an edge."
"Zack was clean. Why would he have these?" Kate didn't get it.
[_] /\ [_]
"They are steroids," Lanie concurred.
Kate frowned. "So Zack was using."
Lanie shot that down. "Nope. I went back and tested for this steroid, and he's still clean. This stuff is state of the art. It's filled with masking agents. Virtually undetectable unless you specifically test for it, and if you're not good enough, you might still miss it."
"If he wasn't using, then maybe he was dealing," Rick suggested. "We know he needed the money. But where does a person like Zack get this from? It's not like he could get it from the corner drug store. It's manufactured in Eastern Europe to win the Olympics and not get caught. Who do we know that has an accent?"
[_] /\ [_]
They were getting nothing but dead ends. Rich Daddy was busy doing damage control to cover his son who was going to the Olympics, and nothing and no one was going to stop that.
"Kate, I'm just Navy. But if members of a swim team are using steroids, who has the most to lose from that? A potential Olympic swimmer, I'd bet. Daddy wants him to win, so he buys his son the greatest and newest steroid he can find. Virtually undetectable. So who has the most to lose if we eliminate those two?"
[_] /\ [_]
"I think I hate this case," Rick muttered as they walked to the pool to arrest Zack's mentor for killing him. His mentor had been using steroids; he would lose all his medals. There would be no more endorsement money. He wouldn't be Superman any longer.
"People kill for all kinds of reasons, Rick. My job is to catch them, not understand them or forgive them. Just don't forget to write up all your paperwork on this case," Kate reminded him.
"Actually, I was thinking of flying to Michigan soon." Rick grinned at her while she glared at him.
[_] /\ [_]
"Do you have to buy that truck?" Kate was lying naked on an equally naked Rick after having had the most incredible sex. He was going to be gone again, and she didn't like that. She had just gotten him back.
"It's the perfect truck. What are you worried about, Kate?" Rick could hear something in her voice.
"ME?" Kate rolled her eyes. "I'm not worried. You're coming back. It's just a stupid truck."
"So you're not going to miss me or anything?" Rick nuzzled her neck.
"Shut up and make love to me." Yes, she was going to miss him, but she wasn't ready to admit it.
[_] /\ [_]
"Fly out, one quick look at the truck, and pay for it. Find someone to ship it back here. Spend the night, and fly back the next day. You'll never even know I was gone." Rick put his arms around her in the apartment.
Kate buried her face against his chest. Oh, she was going to miss him, alright. "Just stay safe and don't crash."
"You're sweet. One of the reasons why I love you." Rick immediately heard sniffling. He had said that he loved her twice now. He wasn't asking her to say it back.
"Go buy your stupid truck." Kate pushed away from him to get him moving. But the second he moved, she grabbed him and kissed him savagely and with passion. It was like she was sucking out all the love he had for her out of him in one kiss.
[_] /\ [_]
Kate didn't have a new case today. She got something far worse.
"Turn around and go back home, Beckett. Let me handle this," Roy told her after she got out of her car and headed that way.
"Sir, I've seen dead bodies before." Kate wanted to think of it as just another dead body, even if it wasn't. Not this time.
"I'm so sorry, honey." Lanie was beside the body after Kate made it past Roy.
"Tell me what happened." Seeing his dead body wasn't like looking at another dead body. No matter how she thought she could let it be.
"He was shot in the leg. From the blood trail I'd say the bullet broke the bone. He tried to hide but…" Lanie trailed off. "I found this in his pocket." Lanie handed it over. "He just flew in from Los Angeles this afternoon.
Kate looked him over and couldn't help but notice that a bullet to the forehead had finished him off. He had saved her career choice. She had left college and attended the Police Academy. But if it wasn't for Royce she wouldn't be here today. She hadn't seen him or even talked to him since she had arrested him. She knew he had fled to LA to get a fresh start. She just didn't know why he hadn't stayed there.
"Royce had something else in his pocket. It's addressed to you." Lanie gave to her.
[_] /\ [_]
"It was a silencer. One of two manufacturers. A thousand dollar silencer on a cheap street gun," Espo said as she stood at the murder board. She desperately wished Rick was here. Part of her needed him to hold her.
"Royce was on the run. LA to New York. His killer chased him down. Couldn't bring his own gun with him, and neither could Royce. Retreat to where he was comfortable. That is so Royce." Kate sighed and then looked at Espo. "Who bought last-minute tickets from LA to New York? One of them is our killer."
"On it." He left her to go look into it.
"Got him," Ryan called out since he had found him first. "Neil McCaully. He bought his ticket one hour before the flight. His drivers' license number is a fake, the name is a fake as well, and if you want him you have to go to LA." Ryan broke it to her. "He flew back two hours after Royce was murdered."
[_] /\ [_]
Kate was packing. Roy had refused to let her go to LA and chase him down, leaving it to the LA police. So she had a few days of vacation, and she had a ticket to LA, a hotel in LA, and a rental car in LA. Roy had warned her but she wasn't listening.
Rick was in Michigan, so talking to him was out. She was on her own again. She was going to find out who killed Royce and that was the end of that story.
[_] /\ [_]
She was trapped in the middle seat between two big men. She was way in the back, and yes, her hotel room was kind of far away from the only lead she had, but it was what she could afford. Her car was all she could afford, as well. So cramped in her little seat, she suffered through the flight and stretched her legs on the walk to the rental car desk.
She was trapped in the middle seat between two big, burly men. She was way in the back, and yes, her hotel room was kind of far away from the only lead she had, but it was what she could afford. Her car was all she could afford, as well. So cramped in her little seat, she suffered through the flight and stretched her legs on the walk to the rental car desk.
[_] /\ [_]
"Somebody wants to have a word with you," LA Detective Seeger informed Kate who was sitting out back with police in uniforms watching her. "You're on speaker, sir."
"Breaking into people's houses in LA is your idea of a vacation, Beckett?" Roy was hurt, angry, and should have known better. So this was partly his fault.
Kate tried to get off his bad list. "Sir, I can explain."
"What you can do is take the first plane back to New York. Once you are here, you will be suspended without pay. How long is yet to be determined. COME. HOME. NOW!" Roy hung up.
"Wow, that was awkward. Welcome to LA, Detective. Now go home. The only reason you're not under arrest is because you're a police detective. Do this again and you will be," Seeger warned her.
Kate walked out to her car. She wasn't leaving, but the question was, what was this going to cost her?
[_] /\ [_]
Kate had Ryan and Espo helping her. She was sure Royce had brought someone with him from LA, and whoever she was, she was still there somewhere. Just what was she doing here?
[_] /\ [_]
Kate answered the door to her hotel room. "Detective Seeger, how can I help you?"
"I'm here because a report came across my desk about a robbery that had your name on it. I clearly heard your boss tell you to take the first plane home. I didn't arrest you out of courtesy. This officer is here to escort you to the airport after you pack.
"Go home, Detective," Seeger ordered her.
Kate fought back. "Those stolen dissolving bullets are involved in a murder. If we don't find them there are going to be a lot of dead people, and it'll be all your fault. Those things are worth millions, and your docks are perfect for shipping them out. There will be hundreds of unsolved murders. So help me find them instead of making my life more miserable than losing someone I cared about."
[_] /\ [_]
Rick wasn't expecting to find Kate at the airport to meet him, nor did he expect to find her at home.
"No Kate?" Rick found Ryan and Espo at the precinct.
Next thing Rick knew he was in the breakroom being given some coffee.
"Kate's in LA?" Rick kept his voice down and looked at Roy in his office. "What's she doing in LA?" He left her for two days and she up and left.
[_] /\ [_]
"So we find this Victoria. How can I help?" Rick questioned them and was given a task to do out of Roy's sight.
The three of them had Victoria, who had a story to tell them.
"Back to the station so we can protect you. Let's go." Espo opened the car door.
"GUN!" Rick yelled as he saw a Black man with a big weapon that looked fully automatic.
Espo and Ryan pulled out weapons and fired them; he was down. Immediately after that a cell phone started to ring.
Rick was holding him down when this guy began to complain. Espo answered the phone. "Yo."
"Esposito?" Kate hadn't expected to hear his voice. Not on this phone.
He recognized that voice. "Beckett?"
"You have Manice?" Kate questioned him.
"Yeah, I just shot him." Espo frowned. "Why are you calling him?"
"Because we need to know where and when Ganz is selling those bullets."
Over the phone Kate and Seeger heard a man screaming from pain. Then they heard who they could tell was Manice. "At the Santa Monica Pier. Six o'clock. I need an ambulance, man! I need an ambulance!"
"Got that?" Espo asked Kate.
"Who shot Royce?" Ryan questioned Manice.
"It was Ganz," Manice groaned.
Kate looked at Seeger. "We need to get to that pier."
"Let's move, we have fifteen minutes," Seeger told her and they both rushed out of her hotel room.