Hunting Grounds
Chapter 39
"We're here, now talk." Kate turns off the car and puts it in park and turns to face their good doctor who wasn't dead.
"Pandora is a white paper I created for a think tank. Doing it I found a linch pin. One tied to the economy. Just one seemingly little event would bring down the entire US economy. Practically over night a US dollar would be worth less than a penny is today and we would never recover. Ever.
"Can you imagine? You can't buy anything because the money you think you have isn't even worth the paper it is printed on. Multi-millionaires would be broke. Even billionaires would become paupers. You thought the Great Depression had been bad? Imagine 50 to 75% of the US population out of work and those that did work, either got paid pennies or didn't get paid at all.
"And you tell me someone is after Pandora. That tells me someone is trying to make it happen. This is really bad." The Doctor explains.
"Pigeons?" Suddenly the good doctor gets out of the car and starts running but gets shot down and just as suddenly a big black SUV rams them in the back and starts pushing them towards the water.
"Hang on!" Kate calls out as she puts her foot down hard on the brake but it wasn't stopping them.
"Seat belts off." Rick calls out and undoes his and pulls his weapon and fires three shots. He knows all three rounds struck the driver square in the head but they were still being pushed.
"RICK!" Kate screams just as they go over the side and into the water.
They both find that they have air to breath but the water was coming in fast and boy was it COLD! "Shoot out the glass." Kate tells him.
"Not yet." Rick tells her.
"What do you mean not yet? We're going to drown." Kate stares at him in shock.
"Trust me, we need for the inside pressure to equal the outside pressure. Then we escape. Seat belt?" She needed to be out of her seat belt.
Kate tries to remove it. "It's stuck." Kate looks at him because now she was scared. She was going to drown and lose him.
"Keep calm. You were calm on the alien planet so stay calm now. Get ready to take a nice deep breath." The really fucking cold water was getting higher and higher.
[_] /\ [_]
Kate was finally wearing a coat to try and get warm and there were police, fire trucks and an ambulance with them. Kate finally gives up and wraps her arms around Rick. "Thank you."
"And let my fiancée die on me? Not a chance. Not a land I want to live in. So Sophia or Gage because I know who my money is on." Rick questions her.
"I'm not discounting Gage just yet, but Sophia is looking pretty good right about now. So what happened to the SUV that did this?" She had been to busy watching the damn river getting closer and closer till they were in it.
"I killed the driver but I'm guessing that all that did was keep his foot on the gas and he went in with us." Rick explains.
"So answers are at the bottom of the river. And Blakely is really dead this time." Kate was trying to get her mind back on the case. It would help.
Espo showed up. "So tell me, how our victim can look like Nelson Blakely when he supposedly died ten years ago. Fake deaths, car in the water, I think now would be a good time to explain what is going on." He was long since ready for answers.
"I'm sorry Javi, it's classified." Kate tells him since maybe the less he knew the less danger he was in.
"I was Special Forces. I ate classified for breakfast. But okay, I'll be over there with Harbor Patrol trying to figure out how to get your unit and that SUV out of the drink." Javi was just about ready to be done with this whole classified shit.
"But I am glad you two are okay." He finally leaves them standing there.
"Thank you!" Kate offers since she didn't have anything else.
[_] /\ [_]
"Kate, I think I found it." Rick had a door open while Kate was searching a desk.
"What the hell?" There were papers and strings going everywhere.
"Tax riots." Rick reads a card.
"European economic collapse." Kate reads another.
"Iran invades Iraq." Rick reads another card.
"Syria moves on Israel." Kate reads one.
"US commits troops to Taiwan." Rick reads one.
"US commits troops to the Middle East." Kate reads one. "Russia moves on Eastern Europe. ... What kind of an outcome was this Linchpin supposed to create?"
"I think I found it." Rick was standing in front of one. "World War 3."
Now they were both reading it. "The US surrenders. 27 million dead." Rick finds it hard to believe. He knew what his country was capable of.
"Kate over here." Rick finds something.
"Who is she?" She looked oriental but it didn't have a name.
"I don't know but Blakely thought she was the linchpin." It said it right on the picture.
"Hide that. Don't let anyone take it from you." Kate tells him and watches him put it away.
"Gage!?" Kate spots him.
"I suggest you two run." Gage tells them just as a grenade like object crashes through a window and lands on the floor.
"Flash bang!" Rick shoves Kate out the door who stumbles and falls to the ground with Rick on top of her. Gage closes the door but the blast blows it open.
"My car is out front." Kate offers.
"You want to live you follow me." Gage had a full automatic weapon in his hand.
"So you haven't gone rogue?" Kate offers.
"No, never. Rodgers is right if he told you." Gage tells them.
"Then who are they?" Kate questions him.
"Better follow me." He leads them out back and into a small unmarked utility van.
"How did you find us?" Kate questions since she thought they were being careful.
"Same way I did. Bugged your car." Gage tells them.
"That isn't even my car. Mine's still at the bottom of the river." Kate tells him.
"Yeah, I know." Gage tells them.
"Oh crap. ALL OF THEM!" As if bugging their home wasn't enough.
[_] /\ [_]
"Rodgers hasn't learned this since he's in the field, but I have. A static pop on your safe house phone. A delay in authorization using your credit card. Or the almost impossible to detect pauses in conversations with your handler. Something is wrong and if you don't figure out what you're not going to survive the week.
"Now who is the target before Sophia and her CIA buddies or KGB buddies show up and put an end to this country as we know it," Gage asked yet again.
[_] /\ [_]
Gage was dead, they ended up in custody of the CIA and Sophia had the picture he was holding. Now the CIA, meaning Sophia, knew who she was. What he needed was an idea on how to stop her.
He had to admit this was over his head. He worked in the field. He was up to this level of shit. He even watched as Agent Danburg got fingered but managed to escape.
Now they were supposedly headed to a site where the Chinese Minister of Finance and his daughter were here in New York City. Except they were in an empty basement.
"Kate," Rick whispered because his training said kill zone. Thankfully for both of them Kate knew just what he was talking about and pulled out her weapon and turned to face Sophia who had just managed to pull hers.
Rick pulled his weapon and wasted no time in shooting dead the guy that Sophia had brought with her. If she had brought him that meant he was on her side.
"We already know you are KGB Sophia. We've known that for a while now. You have nowhere to go. Your man is dead and the girl lives. So put the weapon down." Kate really didn't want to shoot her. She knew things.
"You think he's the only one? Dead or alive, I win." Then a shot rang out and Sophia froze. She looked shocked and then fell to the ground dead.
"Come on, it's not over yet!" Danburg ran into the room and went past them.
[_] /\ [_]
Kate spotted him and ran in her high heels and tackled him with Danburg and Rick right with her. The shooter was in cuffs and being walked away while the Chinese family walked away none the wiser.
Xx
"Detective Beckett. Myself and the CIA want to thank you and we trust you will never speak of this again even to yourselves." Danburg questions them.
"Talk about what?" Rick questions him.
"One more thing." Danburg holds up a pair of keys.
"You fished my car out of the river?" Kate walks over and takes the keys.
"I think you will find it better than new at tax payers expense." Danburg tells her.
"Thank you." Kate was happy to not have to worry about Gates not giving her a car because she couldn't write up a report about how she had lost it.
"It's the least that we could do. Take care." Danburg takes his leave.
"Did we just save the world?" Rick questions her since they were alone and not surrounded by bugs.
"I think we saved a little girl's life and that's enough for me. But, if you tell me that you really aren't a Navy SEAL..." Kate grinned at him.
"A CIA spy? Hardly. I had a hard enough time keeping up with this case. Now I need to figure out how to write a report about this and send it to the Navy and not end up in a prison in Poland." Rick stopped her right there.
"I need to figure out what I can tell Gates." Kate still hadn't even started on that.
"There is one thing. Thomas Gage was good, very good, and this country is going to miss him. SEALs like him don't grow on trees, you know." Rick knew his country was down one very good warrior.
"I thought SEALs were made?" Kate looks at him. "Come on, Rick, we still have a lot to do before New Orleans and I still need to find out why Lanie wants me so badly." Thanks to this case she hadn't had a chance yet.
[_] /\ [_]
"Hey, Lanie, sorry I'm late. The latest case was a busy one." Kate finds her in the morgue.
"Like trying to drown yourself and Rick in the Hudson River?" Yes, Lanie had heard about that one.
"I got my car back, though." Kate had a silver lining. "So what am I here for?"
"Follow me." Lanie takes her to her office. "This." Lanie hands her something. "I know a guy in the Fire Department and he knows something that might help you with your wedding venue."
Kate looked at what Lanie had handed her and read what was at the top. "New York City Fire Museum. This helps us how exactly?"
"The building is three stories tall. The first two are all museum, but the third floor can be rented. $3,500 for eight hours or you can rent it hourly at $450 an hour. It comes with a full kitchen. So bring your own food to cook. It can seat seventy-five and has standing room for another three hundred.
"You just need a minister, photographer, basically everything else. They won't do anything for you except rent you the space. He said almost no one knows about it so it's almost always available.
"Oh, and the best part, everyone that attends gets instant access to the museum itself." Lanie explains.
Kate reads what the brochure she was holding tells her.
"On the first floor, visitors will see a horse-drawn ladder wagon, early rescue gear and breathing equipment, alarm boxes from various eras, and motorized vehicles, such as a 1921 American La France engine, all of which give a sense of what firefighting was like at different times in the city's paid department era. Also on display are tools and clothing used by modern firefighters. The transition from turnout coats to all-encompassing bunker gear is shown on a series of mannequins. Tools, such as the Halligan forcible entry tool and the Jaws of Life, show visitors what it is like to be a firefighter.
On the second floor, the "romance of firefighting" is shown through paintings and prints from the volunteer era. Displayed as if on parade are striking examples of elaborate hand-drawn and hand-pumped engines, including a piano box style engine, a goose neck pumper, and a double-decker Philadelphia style engine which, aside from being used to fight fire, was at the opening celebration of the Statue of Liberty."
"Sounds like we can afford it." Kate knew they didn't have anything yet and Rosie hadn't found this one. "Never really considered a museum. Might be interesting."
"So when are your two weeks up?" Lanie questions her.
"Two days. Then I hand over my shield and weapon, clean out my desk, and I'm gone. Ryan should be in Key West today for his interview. I've been waiting for my cell phone to ring all day." She was going to sell Kevin to help him get that job.
"So when is the wedding?" Lanie questions her.
"I don't know yet. We've been busy boxing everything. They are going to pick up Rick's truck tomorrow and ship it out. We already have airline tickets for 3 days from now. That will give us one day to get our apartment while we buy a house.
"Then two weeks later I start my new job. We're running out of time. I don't even have a dress yet or bought a ring for Rick. I'm in so much trouble." Kate hangs her head. There was just so much to do and so little time.
"Wednesday through Sunday only and they are open 10:00 to 5:00." Lanie tells her and looks at her watch. "You have two hours unless you have something else planned."
"I need to get moving." Lanie had found something and while it might not be a dream location it was really unique and they were on a budget giving how much money they had planned on spending.
"Go girl go." Lanie shooed her out the door and got her moving. If she wanted to get married she needed to get moving. "And call me when you want help looking for a dress." Lanie yells behind her.
[_] /\ [_]
Kate finds Rick literally standing outside of their building. "What are you doing? Please tell me we're not bugged again." Kate couldn't take much more of this.
"Not that. The real estate agent called and said she was coming over with a potential buyer so I got out after picking up the laptop." Rick was holding it. "Any news on Ryan?"
"Nothing yet. Maybe he doesn't need me to sell him for the job." Kate liked that idea as well. "Oh, Lanie found this for a wedding venue." Kate handed him what Lanie had given her.
"Fire Department Museum. Interesting." Rick started reading.
"It cost us $3500 for 8 hours or it could have been $450 per hour. It comes with a full kitchen that has everything we need. We just need the food to cook, a minister, photographer and I still need a dress and buy you a ring." Kate tells him.
"Are you talking past tense?" Rick thought he was hearing right.
"I've already rented it for 8 hours. I thought we were desperate so I rented it. We're running out of time. We fly in three days and we still have so much to do."
"It's certainly unique, I'll give it that." Rick looked at it again. "So do we get to tour the museum for this price?" If they didn't he was going to scream.
"Everyone that attends the wedding can. Invitations?" Kate asks him.
"Upstairs. We just need to deliver them somehow. It's going to have to be by hand. We can split them up and deliver them tomorrow. So when did you rent it for?" They needed to add where and when to the invitations by hand.
"The same day I hand in my badge and weapon. I'll do that first thing in the morning. Then rush home and get ready for our wedding and take a taxi. How do we get the food there?" Kate asked him.
"Kevin and Javi, maybe. Your dad and my mother can help. Lanie is with you." Rick offered them up as volunteers.
"We can call them when we can get back inside our apartment. What are you wearing?" Kate was going to have her dress that she still needed to find.
"My dress whites, of course." It was all he had that was fancy enough.
"I'm in white and you're in white. This should be interesting." Kate really didn't know what this was gong to look like. "But I like you in your white outfit. So handsome." Kate lifted up to kiss him quickly. It was official; she was a sucker for a man in uniform.
"And I'm sorry about Gage. You saw him as a SEAL. One of yours." Kate could feel his pain for one of his own.
"If he was as good as I heard and saw him capable of, our county lost a really good man. I just don't want to do that again. Put me out in the field where I'm more comfortable. That was nuts." Rick tells her.
"I didn't like it either. You wouldn't believe what Gates wants. I still don't understand her. I mean, I get that she's on the outside looking in on this case. I can't even write up a single report about it. It never happened." Kate tells him.
"One little girl leads to World War III. It really is hard to believe and yet look how World War I started. One person is assassinated and look what happened." Rick offers.
"Well, no more linchpins. He really is dead this time." Kate tells him.
"Not exactly. We'll still have linchpins, we just might not ever know about them. And don't forget Lanie didn't get to keep the body. The CIA showed up and took him." Rick reminds her.
"Took a dead body." Kate counters.
Rick was all set to counter that with a little DNA he might live in the future still but thought better of it.
"What are you grinning about?" Kate saw that thought. "Better tell me."
"Or you'll tie me to the bed?" Rick smiles at her. Kate had forgotten all about tying anyone to the bed. Great! Now she needed to find straps for the bed as if she didn't have enough to do.