Hunting Grounds
Chapter 34
"Corporate espionage." Kate really didn't care to chase down a CFO murderer. "And to think I wanted to be a lawyer once. I don't know how my parents did it," Kate said into Rick's chest on the train ride home.
"You would have managed just fine. You simply have a different mindset now." Rick saw an opportunity, took it, and teased her. "Probably ended up being one of those women that stand there and scream while being cut into two pieces by a chain saw."
"Keep that up, mister, and there's no sex for you tonight," Kate promised him.
"There will be if I tie you to the bed." Not that Rick had anything with which to accomplish that. He had been busy building devices to keep the damn bugs silent.
Kate said nothing but could feel her heart beating a lot faster. They had teased each other before about things like that. Now she was wondering if it was more than just teasing. Even more to the point, how did they talk to each other about it if it wasn't just teasing?
[_] /\ [_]
The piece of paper was in the door where it was supposed to be, and a quick check of the device showed that all the lights were still on, so it was still working and plugged in.
"I'll divide up dinner while you talk to Rosie. Find out anything else you might need for this trip," Rick told her just as there was a knock on the door. Rick peeked out the door's spyglass. "It's FedEx." Kate went to the door and found she had to sign for it.
Kate opened the packet and saw there was one airline ticket with Katherine Beckett printed on it for New York to New Orleans. She stood there just staring at it.
"What's wrong? Are they making you fly on the wing or something?" Rick was teasing her again.
"It… It just suddenly got real. All this planning is one thing, doing it is very much another." Kate looked down at it and kept staring at her ticket. She had the ticket, so she was going. But did she say yes if they offered? Should she?
Rick answered his cell phone while Kate gazed at her airline ticket. "Rodgers." Rick listened to whoever was on the line. "I understand." Then he hung up.
Now it was Rick staring at his phone as Kate finally snapped out of it and looked at him. "What? Rick, what is it!?
He turned his head and faced her with a sort of dazed look. "That was the Navy. If I move, they pull the plug on this whole Navy/NYPD liaison thing, and I'll be reassigned to other duty. It's too early to know what or where. But Lance did tell me that there was one bit of interesting news. It seems a US Senator that he couldn't name had expressed an interest in me. He wanted to know why I wasn't part of a SEAL team since I was trained for it. Lance is checking into it for me."
"Is that common?" Kate wanted to know.
"Having a senator poke his nose into whatever he wanted to? It happens all the time. This one, though, represented the great state of New York." Rick watched her sit in front of the laptop, turn it on, and respond to one of Rosie's emails.
"There can't be that many senators representing New York," Kate told him and her. "Do you recognize any of these names?" Kate leaned back so he could look over her shoulder.
"No, but then I don't follow politics or politicians. The military is supposed to be neutral." Rick kept reading the names thinking maybe something would pop.
"No, me neither." Kate thought maybe she had something.
"You know Ryan's wedding is coming up," Rick reminded her.
"I have my dress all ready. I just need to do my hair and makeup. What about you?" Kate turned and looked at him.
"I'm Navy. I don't own a suit. I plan to go in Navy dress, look all regal and outstanding," Rick said with a smile.
"A man in uniform. Am I going to have to fight off all the other women to keep you mine?" Kate asked him; she was looking forward to seeing what he looked like. "And why don't you dress Navy in the precinct? Though that might piss off Gates even more." Suddenly she was glad that he didn't.
"You already said yes, so you don't have to fight off anyone," Rick said to her. "But we do need to begin planning how this is going to work once you say yes to their proposal. Maybe I should switch to wearing Navy in the precinct. What can Gates do? I'm outside of her jurisdiction. I think I'll start tomorrow."
"I think I'm going to need earplugs." Kate grinned at him and listened to him chuckle.
[_] /\ [_]
"Are you ready yet, Rick? We need to get going, or we'll be late." And here Kate was thinking she was the one that was going to hold them up. It was just her tight gray dress, makeup, and quick work on her hair had turned out to be rather easy.
"Coming." Rick walked out of the bedroom wearing his full dress uniform.
Kate's jaw dropped the second she saw him. OH MY GOD, but he was handsome! He was in all white, from his white shoes to his white cap. There were even these things on his chest.
"How do I look?" Rick spread his arms and slowly turned in front of her.
"You look… Amazing. I think I see what other women see in a man in uniform." Kate walked up to him and ran a finger over those things across his chest. "You didn't tell me you had a medal. You've been holding out on me, future husband." Kate smiled brightly at him.
"This little thing? It's nothing. I'm just glad it's not a Purple Heart. I mean, those things have merit and having one says something, but I absolutely don't want what it takes to get one." He would rather avoid getting shot for a while longer.
"Good point. So do I get to take this off of you later?" Kate ran her hands across his chest.
"Right after I pull that zipper and let that dress fall to the floor," Rick leaned forward and kissed her neck.
"Come on, future husband, we have a wedding to attend." Kate looped her hand through his arm and escorted him to their door. They went down the stairs to a cab for the trip to the church.
[_] /\ [_]
Espo spotted them as they entered the church together. "Dress Whites, Rodgers?"
"Go Navy, beat Army," Rick grinned.
"Those are fightin' words, bro," Espo informed him.
"Doesn't he look handsome?" Kate was still gushing over how he looked. "And Kev, he looks so happy." Kate managed to aim her camera and get off one whole picture as he hopped down the stairs toward them.
"I'm happy for you, Kev." Kate hugged him and kissed his cheek.
"I can't believe this day, Kate. I'm the luckiest man in the world!" Kevin was walking on air.
"You ready, bro?" Javi was his best man and had to walk the groom to his place.
"Go, go! We'll see you in there." Kate pushed him toward the door.
"So, where do we get married?" Rick questioned her.
Kate shrugged. "Sounds like somewhere in New Orleans to me. Provided the Navy comes through for us. Come on. We need to find seats for this." Kate took his arm and walked with him into the church for a wedding for a person she called friend.
[_] /\ [_]
"You're really going to look Navy today?" Kate was watching him get dressed in a Navy uniform.
"I need to do laundry," Rick said. That was only half the truth. He did need to do laundry, but he didn't have to dress in his uniform.
Kate didn't say anything but walked up to him and kissed him. "That was for last night." Kate knew they had done a lot of kissing last night, but she wanted to reward him. They'd had a lot of sex already, but last night felt different. Last night had been a long and protracted session of making soft and sensual love to each other. It was so very different, and she loved him just a bit more for it.
"You think Kevin will even be at work today?" Rick grinned since he knew just what those two had done all night last night.
"I don't know. I don't even know if Gates gave him his two days off yet for his interview." She had been focusing on her cases and doing her best to avoid talking to Gates.
"You know what might be funny? Gates gives him his two days, thinking that's his honeymoon." Rick chuckled.
The very idea had Kate grinning. "Oh, I believe it. She isn't called Iron Gates for nothing. If she even has a heart, it was locked up long ago." That comment had Kate stopping in her tracks. If it wasn't for Rick, she could be just like Gates by now. Her entire body shook when she tried to push that thought far into the back of her mind so it never saw the light of day again.
"I just have to get Gates to give me two days off." Kate had her plan all set up. She even had her case all lined up. With a little luck, it should work.
[_] /\ [_]
"Uniform today, bro? That's cold." Rodgers was wearing Navy, and after seeing him in his dress whites last night, no less.
"No sign of Kevin yet?" Rick asked him.
"None, but I don't really expect to, either. He'll call in sick if he has to. It's what I would do." Javi told him. "BRO!" They both watched as Kevin walked to his desk. "Don't take this wrong, but what are you doing here?"
"I need to get Gates to sign off on a week's leave. Jenny wants our honeymoon before the interview and before we move. For me to use the time off while I still have it," Kevin explained.
"Makes sense." Rick clapped him on the shoulder. "Still happy for you, Kevin. Jenny looked amazing."
"She did, didn't she." Suddenly Kevin was replaying parts of last night in his mind.
"Rodgers, are you finally leaving us?" Gates was walking by with coffee from the break room.
"No, ma'am." What Rick said was a white lie. "I attended a wedding last night instead of doing laundry."
Gates addressed Kevin. "I hear congratulations are in order, Detective."
"Thank you. It was magical." He was still in his honeymoon phase, though watching these two even before the wedding, it was clear they were in their honeymoon phase already.
"Too bad I missed it." Gates headed for her office.
"Maybe I should wait for that week off request for tomorrow," Kevin muttered since it sounded like she was angry that she didn't get an invitation. Jenny had asked him but he had said a resounding no. Or more like No Way in HELL!
"Better do it now before she gets rolling on being even madder," Rick urged him.
"Yeah." Kevin gathered up his paperwork and walked to her office while Rick went over to Kate and sat down. "Since we're both still here, I should go to the 101st tomorrow and stay for a few days. Then I can write up another report. It's still my job."
"Okay. What's Kevin doing?" She had seen him enter Gates' office.
"One week request for his honeymoon. I didn't ask when that was." Rick hadn't thought to ask.
"Well, since she's in a signing mood…." Kate gathered up her paperwork after Kevin walked out. He didn't appear to be pissed off to her.
A couple minutes later, Kate walked back to her desk. "That was easy," Kate told Rick as she sat down. "She wanted to know if you were going with me."
"She hasn't changed any," Rick commented.
Just then Kate's phone rang. "Beckett." It was Dispatch. "Let's go, we got a fresh one." Kate called out to the guys.
[_] /\ [_]
"Hey, Lanie, what have you got?" With Rick at her side, Kate walked up to her. She saw Lanie was standing next to a gurney with a body on it. That was already different.
Lanie briefed them. "Laura Cambridge, 28, traffic found her in a car. Cause of death is strangulation. Time of death was between the hours of 8 and 10 last night."
Ryan showed up and he looked uncomfortable. "So I ran those plates off the car. It belongs to the motor pool at City Hall."
"Who used it last?" Kate inquired. "Kevin?" He was delaying for some reason.
Kevin heaved a big sigh; he really didn't want to answer her. "Mayor Robert Weldon."
"Oh, shit. Just what I needed. Politics." And before she changed jobs, no less.
Their team had been back at the 12th for all of twenty minutes when Kate heard, "Beckett, my office." Gates charged past both of them on the way to her office.
"You do this case wrong, Detective, and I won't be the only one to blow up on you," Gates threatened or warned her depending on her point of view.
"Yes, sir." Kate left her office and didn't need eyes in the back of her head to know Gates was watching.
"What did the Wicked Witch of the West want?" Rick questioned her.
"Politics and a reminder about how much she hates me." Kate rolled her eyes and then asked Espo and Ryan what they had.
[_] /\ [_]
Ryan waved a piece of paper. "I found where Cambridge was working." Their team left immediately.
"What kind of building is this? It looks condemned or under construction." There was equipment, lights, and plastic everywhere. The door to the building was locked tight. "Do you hear that?" Kate listened at the door.
"Someone in trouble?" Rick wasn't really sure. Kate pulled out her weapon while Rick did the same and watched as Kate kicked in the door.
"NYPD!" Kate yelled as she looked around and saw many glass-enclosed offices with women everywhere. "What kind of place is this?"
"Um, Kate. DAG, Dial a Goddess. I think it's a sex shop." Rick put his weapon away while Kate stood there holding hers, still a little confused.
[_] /\ [_]
"I'm beginning to really hate this case, Rick. If Mayor Weldon is involved, it means scandal; if he's not involved, it means scandal, and I get to stand up front and either arrest him or something." It was right before her interview, too.
Rick suggested a different way to deal with this case. "Look at it this way, Kate. Regardless of whatever happens, you can show your prospective new boss that you can handle high-profile cases. I know it's Mayor Weldon, but just handle it like you would any other case. Prove you are the right person for the job."
Kate stood up straight. "You're right. Thanks, babe!" Kate kissed him. "Now tell me about the Navy or this interview might be dead in the water."
"Actually, I do have news, but I don't know what to make of it. I'm Navy. What do I know about politics? But… Lance tells me that I have someone in my corner that's batting for me to be stationed in New Orleans. He refused to tell me who, and all he would tell me was three letters."
Kate stood there, tilted her head, and give him her best AND look.
"Do the letters FBI mean anything to you?" Rick didn't get it, but he had a way-out-there idea about why.
"The FBI? Why is the FBI batting for you?" Kate watched him kneel down to check the paper. He found it on the floor and held it up for her to see. "SHIT!" Kate covered her mouth, afraid she had said that too loudly.
Why couldn't these guys just give up already? Rick had her arm, and they walked down the hall to the very far end, about as far away as they could get and still be on this floor.
"This may be way out there, but I'm thinking Roy," Rick said as quietly as he could. He didn't want anyone to overhear him.
"My mom's case?" Kate thought about that. "The FBI are helping you, talking to Roy, and investigating who this person is. Our place is bugged, your truck is bugged, and whoever they are, they're back again. Getting desperate, maybe?"
Rick frowned. "You know, I can't help wonder about the timing of this case."
"The Mayor is involved in my mom's case?" Kate considered that for a moment and then shook her head. "Laura Cambridge quit her life six months ago and went from one sleazy job to the next until she ended up at a sex call shop. Their hard drive for all those calls goes missing, and she calls an old boyfriend to look at footage that includes the mayor.
"The timing is all wrong. This is really recent, Rick. I mean, this just happened. But it means our apartment is under surveillance again. My money is on your device, and the scanner is now missing. The laptop!" All at once, Kate was very scared.
"Call me paranoid but since we were going to a wedding I put it in a big, plastic, zip bag and taped it to the ledge outside your window while you were getting dressed for the wedding." Rick raked his fingers through his hair; it was plain he was frustrated. "I'm not sure why I did that, but I'm getting tired of reacting instead of doing something."
"You!?" Kate grabbed his head and kissed him. He may have just saved Rosie. "That still leaves us with a problem."
"Let's find out, and we still have to go out for dinner. I'm thinking Egyptian again if you're right and my device is missing. Or broken but not missing. Stealing it would be too obvious," Rick said.
"Deal, if it is broken or missing." Kate didn't mind eating Egyptian again. Besides, that place was nowhere near here.
Kate unlocked the door, went first, and headed for the kitchen. "Drink?"
"Yes, please. Anything will do." Rick hurried over to his device and found it still all plugged in, except one of the lights was off. So he turned to Kate and made a slashing of the throat gesture. "On second thought, how about pub food? Not exactly dinner material but at least it's close."
"Buffalo wings and a beer? Sold." Kate wanted out of their apartment anyway, assuming his device was sabotaged.
During the train ride to dinner, Kate was leaning into Rick. "I would really like to talk to Roy and find out just what the fuck he was thinking all this time. If these guys chase us all the way to New Orleans, I swear I'm going to lose it." Kate felt him tighten his arms around her.
[_] /\ [_]
Kate and Rick were both eating exactly what they had last time. "Do we have a new plan?" Sex in their bed tonight was now out.
"Spike Gates' coffee?" Rick listened to Kate snort out a laugh. Yes, they both knew he had suggested that before. "Unfortunately, no. The laptop was and still is right where I put it, so they didn't find it. Claim our place has a water leak and borrow a bed somewhere?" It was about all Rick had. "We need to save money, so a hotel is out." They had plans to spend a lot. "When do we put your place up for sale?" Rick knew she owned it instead of renting or leasing it.
"Not till I have an offer and have accepted. The NOPD knows I'm working now, so I'll need to give two weeks' notice. When they want me to start is up to them. You may need to begin boxing everything up before I even get home if they offer while I'm still there," Kate warned him.
"I can do that. I'll start with all your books," Rick told her.
Kate bristled and defended her books. "I happen to like reading."
"I'm not complaining," Rick said as he held up both hands in defeat, "only suggesting where to start."
"What about the house?" Kate questioned him.
"If you like it in person, then go ahead and put in an offer. We have to go through having it inspected and making sure it's worth what we're offering," Rick reminded her. "And we need to find a mortgage company. Pretty much just do for it what we started with the house in Maine."
"Two weeks notice. They would probably want me to start not much later than two weeks after my interview, so we're going to need somewhere to stay in the meantime." Kate was trying to time this out.
"We can rent an apartment on a monthly basis. It must be furnished, or we can rent out a room from someone." It was all Rick had.
Kate shook her head. "Apartment. The walls would probably be paper-thin, and we both know I'm not a silent lover." Kate wasn't ashamed of the noise she made.
They were done eating. They sat there just sipping their ice water and delayed leaving. "We need to go home and face the music." It was the last thing Kate wanted to do, but they had no choice.