Hunting Grounds

Chapter 37

They hadn't caught a new case that day, but that couldn't last.

Rick was holding a bundle of flattened boxes while Kate was carrying her own bundle. They both knew this was just the beginning of needing boxes. Rick even had a plastic bag that held a tape gun and three rolls of clear boxing tape. They had work to do.

The paper was in the door, so they were still safe. Kate unlocked the door and went inside. She immediately wrinkled her nose. "Just how much cleaner did you guys use?" She had smelled it when she got home but thought it should be gone by now.

"A lot trust me." Rick took his boxes over to her books and checked his repaired device. He was relieved to see that all the lights were still on, so they were safe again, at least for now. Kate took hers to the bedroom. There was so much in there to pack.

Rick called out to her, "What's for dinner?"

"Pizza. You know where the menus are," Kate called back. Rick opened the drawer, chose one, and made the call. Rick let her know how long it would be and looked around for some wine. After today he felt they needed a little something.

"Thanks." Kate took her glass and walked over to the sofa to wait for the delivery person.

"You were quiet all the way home." Rick wanted to know what was wrong.

"I don't know why I'm letting Gates get to me, but she is." Kate didn't understand why Gates couldn't see what she was doing. To her and the precinct.

"Maybe another couples spa visit?" Rick suggested and heard Kate chuckle. "In two weeks, it won't matter what she thinks or does. You've done your job and did it well. She can't see that or doesn't want to, and that's her problem." Rick put her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"We can wait a bit for the hotel we'll need while our house passes inspection and other things. And find a car when we get there. You, however, need to ship your truck. But we need an address to ship it to." Kate hung her head. There was still so much to do.

"Relax, love. Take one thing at a time." Rick wasn't that worried, then someone knocked on their door. "That was fast." It couldn't have been ten minutes. He looked out the peephole and opened the door to let Lanie in.

"Lanie?" Kate saw her walk in carrying two bottles of wine.

"I had to hear from Javi that you resigned today." Lanie was angry. Her best friend had resigned and hadn't even bothered to tell her.

Kate sighed. "I did, and then Gates got in my face for a moment. It hasn't been a fun day. I forgot, and I apologize."

"So where are we going?" Lanie asked her.

"I can't, Lanie. I can't tell anyone. Please understand. I don't want Gates catching wind of where I'm going even by accident. I just want to get there and forget her."

"I guess I can see that. Do you like where you're going?" What Lanie asked was something she should be able to answer.

"I like it. I got to meet my new captain and my new team that they're adding me to. They even have a woman homicide detective already. It's nice." Kate had liked what she saw and heard.

"Do I get a clue? Is it warmer? Colder? The same?" Lanie saw Kate grin.

Kate gave her her only clue. "It's warmer. There might even be a beach somewhere worth visiting."

"And is Mr. Hunk here going with you?" Lanie prayed that she would say yes.

"He managed to get assigned to a Naval Base that's close. But for him to live off base, we need to be married. Be called a family."

Lanie gaped at her. "So you have to get married in two weeks?"

"Something like that. I'm not sure we can do it. I'm not sure we can even afford it." Kate knew weddings could cost thousands and they were about to be spending a lot of money. House, car, apartment, maybe even a hotel. Ship Rick's truck, ship all her stuff, buy more things, or replace it all with better stuff. They needed to watch what they were spending.

And she needed to buy Rick a ring.

"Do we need more pizza?" Rick asked because if Lanie was staying, they needed more.

"No, you two can celebrate. I have work to do. I need to find you two an inexpensive wedding venue." Lanie got up and left Kate.

"Lanie." Kate tried to stop her. They had Rosie that could help.

"No, I'm your maid of honor. It's is my job, and I'm not letting my best friend down. Two weeks' notice?" Lanie watched as Kate nodded. "I'll be in touch. Just try to ignore Gates. She's no longer your problem.

"Now Kevin needs his job, Javi needs to put in for his transfer, and everyone I can call friend will be free of her. Even if it does mean sending us all to the four winds." Lanie started to leave but stopped. "And I'm still happy for you, girlfriend. Rick is a good man. Don't do something stupid and lose him." She shook her finger at her and left.

Rick locked the door behind her. "You think she can find something? We can still involve Rosie."

"I'm willing to give her a few days." Kate shrugged. "She might know something Rosie doesn't. We're going to have to hand out our wedding invitations personally. There's no time to print them, let alone mail them."

"That might be a challenge for me. Lance, who is my best friend, is in DC."

"What about a train trip? And aren't there something like seven flights a day between us?" They were all Kate could come up with.

"Perhaps." Rick gave her that.

[_] /\ [_]

"Pizza's here!" Rick called since Kate was in the bathroom.

"Put mine on a plate, be right there," Kate yelled.

Kate walked in wearing a pair of panties and a nightshirt she used to wear to bed before Rick entered her life.

Rick's eyebrows went up and his eyes opened wide. "I may go hungry if you're going to wear that."

"I can be dessert," Kate suggested softly. She took her plate and headed for the sofa with a touch of sway to her hips.

Rick corrected her, "Dessert, nothing! You're a full meal," and joined her on the sofa.

"Oh, my movie!" Kate jumped up and retrieved the movie she had purchased on her way home. It wasn't that hard to find. Kate bent over, exposing her panty-clad butt to Rick as she inserted her video.

"Kate!" He let his head fall back and groaned. She was killing him!

Kate turned and realized what she was doing. She wiggled her butt at him, grabbed the remote, and pressed PLAY when it showed up. Then went back to Rick and snuggled in nice and close.

"You're going to love this," she said enthusiastically. "This is the greatest movie of all time."

Rick read the title. "Forbidden Planet?"

"Just watch."

[_] /\ [_]

Now Rick did seem to be watching the movie, but Kate was having difficulty keeping her attention on it. She practically knew everyone's lines by heart and knew what was coming next.

At first, Rick had a hand on her bare leg. That was fine till his hand moved between her legs, and that got her attention. Except his hand kept creeping higher and higher. It wasn't just getting higher and higher. No, those marvelous fingers of his were moving.

"Rick, the movie." Kate tried to get him back on track. He was supposed to be learning about Robby the Robot by watching his movie. It was her favorite movie. Why she didn't already own a copy was a mystery she couldn't explain.

"I am watching the movie," Rick told her.

Though at that point, Rick's fingers had reached her rather damp panties. And while in the movie the doc headed for the brain boost machine of the Krell, Rick's finger was busy stroking the outside of her panties directly over her clit.

"Rick, do something!" Screw the movie. He was teasing her, and she was so damn horny now that the movie didn't matter. She needed him to do far more than just stroke her outer lips and her clitoral hood.

Kate soon found herself on all fours, barely paying any attention to her movie while Rick fucked her from behind.

[_] /\ [_]

"Best movie ever!" Rick said with smug look when they were back to sitting on the sofa, only naked this time.

"Oh, shut up. You didn't even watch it." He had missed the best part of the movie. She had missed the best part of the movie. She just hadn't missed the best part of being together to try and watch a movie.

"You can press play again," Rick offered, though with Kate sitting there naked, he wasn't sure he was going to last through the entire movie this time either.

"I have a better idea." Kate was up, pulling him with her and into the bedroom. It was time for round two.

[_] /\ [_]

"Francisco Pilar, judge of the dog show. We found him in his dressing room. He still had cash on him, and his wallet, keys, phone," Espo told Kate since Rick was back at the 101st again. He still had a little under two weeks to try and complete his mission.

"Cause of death is what it looks like?" Kate asked.

"Yup, someone put a leash around his neck and pulled." Lanie exposed the bruising around his neck.

"Time of death?" Kate needed that, too.

"Between 5:15 and 6:00 pm."

Later, Lanie showed up with Royal who was eager to meet everyone. "I brought you guys a little visitor." Kate couldn't resist petting him.

"I swabbed his mouth for any DNA, but I don't have high hopes. Given all that slobber, it's probably long gone," Lanie informed them in case Royal had tried to defend his owner.

"So what happens to Royal?" Kate inquired. "We haven't found any family as yet."

"I didn't have the heart to call Animal Control. I couldn't do that to him," Lanie told them.

"Jenny knows of a rescue place that might take him in," Kevin piped up.

Kate thought about the situation and believed she had an answer. "We might be able to keep him in the precinct. But we would need to try and keep him away from Gates." Kate offers.

"Well, you better find him some dog food then. He's not touching the stuff I got him," Lanie warned her.

"There has to be dog food at Francisco's place. Espo?" Kate volunteered him.

Espo blanched at that. "To go get dog food?"

"I'd send Rick, but he's at the 101st again and since you volunteered…." Kate grinned at him.

"Fine, but I'm not picking up his poop. And if Gates steps in it, I had nothing to do with this." Espo left them to go get…dog food. So demeaning of his station.

"And find the poop bags while you're there," Kate called after him.

Several hours passed before the guys got back to the precinct. "We found enough dog food to keep Royal fat and happy, but we found something else too." Ryan held it up, looking at it. Of course he had gone with his partner to pick up dog food. Besides, they needed to search Pilar's house.

Kate took a sharp breath and briefly squeezed her eyes shut. "It's a bug sweeper." Ryan looked it over. She did not need to hear about a bug detector. They had one of their own.

[_] /\ [_]

"According to the GPS on Pilar's phone, this is where he went right before the dog show." Espo led Kate to a building and put the cell phone back in the evidence bag.

"Some kind of a kennel?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, I see the cages but where are the…" He froze when they both heard growling behind them. "Dogs. Shepards." And they looked mean.

"Oh Shit!" Kate did not need to be bitten or have her arm ripped off.

"These guys can smell fear, Beckett!" If that was the case, Kate was damn sure they were smelling it because she was afraid. "So whatever you do, don't…" Espo didn't make it any farther when the dogs started barking. "RUN!" He and Kate ran for their lives.

"Go, Go, GO!" They made turns and just kept running, but then they reached a dead end. He didn't want to have to do it, but Espo pulled out his weapon just as both dogs stopped and actually sat.

A man came up behind these two and looked at them. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY WAREHOUSE!?"

"Francisco was developing a new breed of dog, the Pilar Retriever. I managed the operation while he was traveling." He led them to kennels filled with Labrador retrievers just like Royal.

"Kay Cappuccio," he told them, and that had Kate raising an eyebrow.

[_] /\ [_]

"His bug sweeper actually has a memory. Guess where it was when it went off?" Ryan asked her.

"Kay Cappuccio's place, right? This time she's coming to us, like it or not." That airhead knew something and Kate was going to find out what.

[_] /\ [_]

As Kay Cappuccio walked past Ryan, Pilar's bug detector went off, so he looked at it and then at her.

Kate didn't like this woman. Either she was playing dumb as a post or she really was as dumb as a post.

Kate heard a knock and Ryan entered. "Can I see you for a second?" Ryan was holding the bug detector that was still going off.

They walked out and Kate shut the door. "She set off the bug sweeper." Ryan pointed at her in the interrogation room.

"What?" Kate was lost.

"The bug sweeper was on my desk when Cappuccio walked past and it went off. We went to Tech and found the frequency the device was operating on and we found this." Ryan turned on the TV that was already set up.

"Boobs?" That was about all Kate saw.

"Not just any boobs, her boobs." Espo pointed at Kay.

"The dog is wearing a camera. Doesn't she take that dog with her everywhere she goes?" Kate queried.

"Uh-huh." Espo would love to see the tape of what that dog had seen.

"So Pilar wasn't the target of the surveillance, she is." That made no sense to Kate. She was an airhead. There was barely a scrap of brain matter between her two ears.

[_] /\ [_]

"Hi, Royal." Kate tapped the glass that was between her and him. She had locked him in the room to stay away from Gates and let him take a nap.

But Gates had spotted them. "Detective, why is there a dog in my precinct?"

"Royal watched someone murder his owner. The thought was that as we bring in suspects, he might react to the killer and give us a lead. Not to worry, he gets taken outside so he can do his business. In addition, he is going home with me tonight."

"Fine, but he doesn't stay here. I will not have my precinct turned into a dog pound." Gates walked to her office.

"No, sir." Kate turned to face Royal. "Don't worry, she's always mean."

[_] /\ [_]

Kate found a way to get Royal home, not using the subway. She opened her door, and didn't see a piece of paper at all, and suspected that Rick was already home.

"You got a dog!" Rick spotted the dog right off since he was the first one through the door. He patted his leg. "Come here, that's a good dog."

"Royal is part of my investigation. We think he might have witnessed his owner's murder, so we kept him at the precinct. Now he's here. I take it you don't mind?" Kate hadn't really thought about asking him for permission. She had just assumed.

"Of course not. And you're so handsome too, aren't you?" Rick gushed and petted him.

"I brought a little of his dog food, and we need a water bowl." Kate retreated to her kitchen to find him one and one for his food.

"So you have a case that involves this adorable guy?" Rick was pretty sure he had been in the wrong precinct today.

"It involves a judge of a dog show. Someone strangled him with a dog leash," Kate said as she filled a cereal bowl with water and set it down. He would find it when he wanted it, she guessed. Then another one and poured in his dog food which had him running to her and start eating.

"You were hungry." Kate petted him and then sat down next to him. "Would you believe it involves Kay Cappuccio."

"Who?" Rick had no idea who that was.

"I love you." That was definitely the right answer, so she kissed him. "She's some kind of reality show star or something. She has less brain matter than Royal does. I swear if you looked up AIRHEAD in the dictionary, her picture would be next to it. She's all about her looks and doesn't even know the words corporate espionage."

"So Royal was in the precinct. What did Gates have to say about that?" Rick could just imagine. "No wait, don't tell me. Something about a dog pound."

"Very good. She wants Royal gone, but he's going back tomorrow. Since he saw who killed his owner, he just might react when we bring him in for questioning. So Gates is just going to have to live with it. We need him.

"And you're done eating already?" Kate reached out to pet him. "What did you do? Inhale it all? You know you're supposed to chew your food, right?"

"You know, we could get a dog. We're going to have a backyard, and if Royal doesn't have an owner…." Rick trailed off.

"You want to get a dog?" Kate paused petting Royal and stared at Rick.

"He'll keep you company if I get deployed," Rick said. "It's a big house, and you'll be all alone in it."

Kate switched to looking at Royal and went back to petting him, just not as hard. "I suppose. But we haven't even solved the case yet. I don't know if I even could keep him. I don't know what happens to him with his owner dead. Dogs cost money, Rick. Vet bills, dog food, flea stuff. And if you're gone and I'm at work, he'll be all alone." From out of nowhere came the realization that Kate didn't like that idea.

"You're already attached to him, aren't you?" Rick could see it written all over her face.

"No…. Yeah." Then it became clear to her that lowering all her defenses to let Rick in was letting everyone else in. But Royal was a dog, not a person. "I don't even know how old he is." Kate stopped petting him and watched him sit and just look at her. "Enough with the eyes already." Kate pointed at him. "Fine, I'll ask if I can keep you, but don't go barking at me if I can't."

"I'll order Chinese." Rick kissed her and then got up and went to the menu drawer. "You realize one of us is going to have to start cooking a lot more. New Orleans is not New York City. You can't have just anything delivered any time of the day," Rick warned her.

"Oh, crap." Kate hadn't thought about that. "And we need to start boxing some of this stuff up."