Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 68

Fidelis Ad Mortem

Part 6

"You were restless last night," Rick notes as Kate snuggles into his chest in the last moments before her alarm goes off.

"I was thinking about the recruit, Decker. She reminds me so much of myself, and she's headed for trouble. But you weren't exactly sleeping peacefully either."

"You're right," Rick admits. "The more I find out about my lost time, the more I want to know. It's like I'm putting together a jigsaw puzzle. I have the whole border in place, but I'm missing the center. I'm going to keep trying, but I'm not sure all the pieces were in the box. How about you? Are you going to engage with Decker?"

"Yeah. I haven't totally figured out how, but I have an idea." The alarm cuts the air. "Damn! I guess I'll have to play it by ear when I get back to the academy."

Rick takes a quick nibble at her lobe. "Mmm. That should lead to another Kate Beckett triumph."

As Kate walks past the open door of the academy's gym, she spies Decker sparring with a dummy. "Might as well give her a live partner," she mutters to herself, approaching the recruit. "I used to come here between classes too. I always enjoyed the extra practice – except a mannequin doesn't resist arrest."

Decker turns, straightening up. "I got it, Captain. Thanks."

Kate grabs the mannequin and throws it to the mat. She puts her hands behind her head. "Show me." As Decker moves in, Kate grabs her arm and twists, sending the recruit to the mat beside the mannequin. "Can I make a suggestion?"

"I tripped, OK?" Decker claims, picking herself up. "I got it."

Kate regards the young woman. "What you've got is attitude. So shut up, recruit. You might actually learn something. Turn around. Now contrary to what the ego of the male wants to believe, being a woman is an advantage. You have a lower center of gravity than most men. So use it. Drop into your hips and then pull your attacker past the tipping point." Kate bends her knees to demonstrate. "Got it?"

"Got it," Decker insists again.

"Let's see." Decker tries to grab Kate but goes down hard. "Once the chest goes through, the rest will follow," Kate explains, flipping Decker into a position to be cuffed.

Decker sighs. Kate holds out her hand to help her up, but Decker doesn't take it. As Kate turns away, Decker successfully grabs and throws her.

Kate springs to her feet. "Good. You're a quick study."

"Thanks, Captain."

"Just remember you have a long way to go."

Kate grabs two bottles of water from a small refrigerator and hands one to Decker. "The academy can be a stressful place," she offers, as Decker takes a thirsty swallow. "Plenty of pressure here, especially since one mistake – like getting caught being more than friends with another recruit – can put a stink on an entire cop career."

Decker slams her water bottle on a bench. "Why go to the trouble of teaching me if you're going to have me booted?"

"Because I think you might be worth saving. But you need to be straight with me from now on."

"What do you want to know?"

"Your boyfriend, Daniel Bardot, leveraged Chambers for five grand. According to Chambers, Bardot urgently needed the money. Do you know why?"

Decker vigorously shakes her head. "I have no clue. I swear. The truth is Danny was hiding something from me. He went out the last few nights before he was killed. That wasn't like him. He'd slip into my room and say he'd been out for a midnight jog. But I knew that was total BS because he wasn't tired or even sweating. And he always smelled like rotten fish."

Kate's nose wrinkles reflexively. "Really?"

"Yeah. It was weird. I asked him about it, and he said he accidentally stepped in some garbage. But if that was the case…."

"Then he wouldn't have smelled like that every time," Kate concludes.

Esposito tosses a file on Ryan's desk. "We've got the academy weapon. A dumpster diver found it buried in a bag of garbage. The gun was wiped clean but not the rounds in the magazine. Check it out. The prints are a match to Bardot's."

"If Bardot loaded it, then he had to be the one who stole it. So why was he shot with his own gun?"

Esposito drops into the chair beside Ryan's desk. "The question is, what was he doing with it out there in the first place? We'd better call the captain."

Ryan meets Kate at the elevator at the 12th. "Sweet and spicy shrimp? I just picked it up."

"Where from?" Kate asks.

"Chinatown. The restaurant is across the street from the back-alley computer repair shop near where Bardot was dropped."

"What was he doing there?" Kate queries.

"The owner of the shop refused to talk when I showed her his photo. So I looked into her. Word is she deals in black market software and hardware. Bardot may have bought something from her."

Kate pushes an errant strand of hair out of her face. "I wonder why. Get Bardot's laptop to Vikram and have him do a deeper search."

"Yo, Captain!" Esposito calls from across the bullpen. "The info you got from Decker about Bardot's shoes worked out. The lab found Scottish salmon scales on the soles. Only three fish markets import Scottish salmon. And one of them's in the same neighborhood as the crime scene."

"And Bardot was there on consecutive nights," Kate adds. "Canvass the market. See what you can turn up."

She turns to Ryan. "So, where's the shrimp?"

"Coming right up, Captain."

Hunt scans the newly decrypted report on his secure phone. Someone's been using GDS access to dig around in CIA files looking for him. As far as the agency's concerned, none of the uncovered information compromises any current operations. In fact, it doesn't compromise much of anything. The exact locations of cells and the agents' identities in them are still unrevealed. But who would be looking into both Hunt's history and operations in Maine? The old spy can think of only one answer – Richard.

It would have been impossible to miss Richard's efforts to solve the mystery of his missing time. They were all over the media, complete with hefty offers of rewards for information. That got Richard to Quebec, but the installation there's been abandoned for over a year. He could still uncover a lot more in Maine. That wouldn't make certain sections of the CIA too happy with Richard – or with Hunt for that matter.

Imagining that Richard will stop digging is pure wishful thinking. And now that Hunt's son has access to the resources of the damn GDS, he could get himself and Hunt in real hot water with the agency. That's a swim neither of them needs to take.

Hunt can't see any way he can put a stop to Richard's efforts without making personal contact. That option is always dangerous, not only for the two men but for Alexis and Martha. Much as Hunt is accustomed to more complicated scenarios, in this case, the straightforward approach may be the best. Hunt resolves to tie up his mission in Ukraine as quickly as possible and catch a transport to New York.