The Children's Corner

Chapter 21

"You're quiet," Dana observes as Alexis picks at a plate of macaroni and cheese.

Alexis lays down her fork. "I was thinking about what happened at the daycare center today."

"You told me earlier your grandmother's instructions worked, and you pulled off your role fine."

"I did. But that's not what I'm talking about. I think those kids had more of an effect on me than I did on them. Except for Lily and my brothers, I haven't had much to do with kids younger than me. When some of my friends were picking up extra money babysitting, I was tutoring classmates my own age. Dad gave me a pretty generous allowance anyway, but tutoring looked good on my college applications. And I knew about academic problems, but I didn't think much about other challenges that kids and their parents had to cope with. And since Dad had me in private schools, pretty much everyone I knew had what they needed. So I didn't understand much about what families who weren't as fortunate went through."

"And you picked up on some of that at the center?"

"Yeah, I did. And you know how I said I wanted to put off having a baby until I was settled in my career at C.S.U.?"

Dana takes a gulp of Dr. Pepper. "Uh-huh. So now you're thinking about getting pregnant?"

Red locks whip as Alexis shakes her head. "No. I can't see how we could fit that into our lives with everything else that will be changing. But, I could see taking in an older child, maybe one who needs more than food, clothing, and shelter. I mean, like a girl I talked to today who can't get the therapy she deserves because her mother can't afford it. She's sweet and kind, and it's just not fair."

Dana reaches across the table. "I should have known this was about you trying to save the world again."

"Not the whole world, just a little piece of it. And after I'm set with Osnitz, I want to look into it – if you're willing to go along with it. I saw how hard it was for my father to raise me on his own, even if he claims it wasn't. So I'd need for us to be in this together."

"Wow! I saw a baby down the line sometime. We both agreed we wanted kids eventually. But I never thought about anything like this," Dana admits.

"Are you thinking about it now?"

"How could I help it? It would probably mean putting off saving for a house. And we'd need a bigger apartment. And I won't be a part-time father. I love my Dad, but he was out on his security jobs a lot when I was growing up. Sometimes, Mom and I wouldn't see him for weeks. If we take in a child, I want to be there for him or her. And I can see you do too. That's going to mean juggling our schedules, and I don't even know what else."

"So, Are you saying you don't want to do it?" Alexis presses.

"I'm saying that before we do, we have to make sure we can be great parents. That will mean figuring a lot of things out." Dana cups his wife's cheek. "And so far, there hasn't been anything we couldn't figure out. But you have to make sure you graduate and snag your position with Osnitz first. And I may want to find somewhere that pays better than Hudson U. Maybe I can talk to Lorne Faulkner. But one way or another, we can make it work."

Alexis leans over the table for a kiss. "I love you."

"If we're going to be parents, you'd better."

"Esposito says he and Ryan think a Russian assassin shot his suspect in the MacIver murder," Kate announces, laying her cell phone on the counter.

Rick turns from flipping pancakes. "Come again?"

"The boys saw a guy in a coat made in Kazakhstan leave the repair facility that was covering for the drug distribution operation. They followed him to the Russian Consulate. Then he turned up dead – shot by a Russian rifle with Russian ammunition."

"Do they have an I.D. on the victim or the shooter?" Rick asks, shoving a plate in the oven to keep warm.

"On the victim, no. No fingerprints or D.N.A. on file. But Lanie found MacIver's D.N.A. on him. Adding that to spotting him where drugs would have been offloaded from MacIver's clothing shipment, they've pegged him as MacIver's killer. And the sniper who took him out slipped. He left a shell casing with a partial print. He's on file with Interpol, Yuri Gregorovitch. They put Sully on looking into his history. Apparently, it's a long one. He's wanted for killings all over the globe."

"Then he's probably left the country already," Rick assumes.

"That's what the boys think too. But so far, he hasn't appeared on video at any New York Airport – not that facial recognition could pick up."

"Which it wouldn't anyway if he had a fake beard and big glasses, or even heavy makeup. That software still needs a lot of work. I'm having Storm use that to his advantage in an upcoming book. But even if the sniper's still in the country, he must excel at staying beneath the radar. Otherwise, with that many countries looking for him, he would have been caught by now. Strange that he was careless enough to leave a casing with a fingerprint."

"Killers screw up all the time. You know that. Otherwise, we'd never be able to put them away."

Rick pours out more batter. "I do know that. But if I were writing the story, implicating Gregorovitch would be a great way to throw someone off the trail. Anyone with decent tradecraft could phony up a print and plant it on a casing."

"Babe, this isn't one of your stories. The boys have pegged a murder victim as MacIver's killer. And they like Gregorovitch for taking him out. If they can track down Gregorovitch, they'll arrest him. Otherwise, the murder of a murderer goes in the cold case files."

"And you're OK with that?"

"It's not my call. But if it were, I'd allocate resources to giving families of innocent victims some closure, not to a case where a killer's killer is probably long gone. And with the drug operation shut down, I'd say the positive column is pretty full."

"Yeah, I suppose it is."

And don't you have something else to wrap that overactive brain of yours around? How about the dinner with Lanie and Lorne that Alexis asked you to set up?"

"Ah yes, the meeting of the forensic minds. Given Lanie's recent avoidance of any carbs not contained in Jamba Juice, I'll do steaks. But I hope Lanie is in a better mood. She sounded a little touchy when I called her. And she didn't ask about Lily and the boys."

"She always asks about Lily and the boys."

"I know. That's why I noted her lack of inquiry. However, she and Lorne will be showing up at sevenish, as will Alexis and Dana. Perhaps once they start talking shop, a merry time will be had by all. And just in case," Rick adds, "I'll stock up on Jamba Juice."

Kate takes a sip from a tumbler of freshly pressed liquid. "Good idea."