Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 70

Fidelis Ad Mortem

Part 8

"Hey!" Rick greets Kate as she lets herself into the loft. "Nail the killer?"

Kate sinks into a chair. "Not yet. I like Jack Flanagan for the murder, but I haven't got enough for the DA to charge him."

"So, how are you going to get it?"

"I don't know," Kate admits. "But everything leads back to the academy. I've already got the gun, but I think the smoke has to be at the source."

"Then, are you going to put in more time there?"

"Maybe. But the mountains of paper on my desk are getting higher. I'll start with bringing the academy to me. I believe the person that knows the most about what got Daniel Bardot killed is his girlfriend. I need to lean more on Recruit Decker. But I'll be doing it on my home ground. So what have you been doing on our home ground?"

Rick plops down next to his wife. "Feeling frustrated. I'm not finding any more clues to what happened to me in my missing six weeks. I went back to working on my latest Storm. I thought the spycraft might give me some inspiration. But I ended up saddling Derrick with my own confusion. I'm going to have to rewrite the whole thing."

"Sounds like you're looking forward to that about as much as I am to slogging through my paper storm."

"Hmm 'Paper Storm,'" Rick considers, "that wouldn't be a bad title for a Nikki Heat, now that she's a captain too. But I'd have to work the word heat in somehow."

"How about 'Generating Heat,' for when she sets fire to the whole mess?"

"Is that what Captain Beckett wants to do?"

"I've been tempted. So far, about the only thing I enjoy about being captain is being able to barge into investigations at will. But if I spend too much time on that, I can't do my real job."

"Are you regretting going for a promotion?"

"Some days. But there's nothing I can do about it."

Rick draws Kate against his side. "I've written enough mysteries to know there's almost always a solution. But sometimes, it requires looking at a puzzle from an entirely different angle. Perhaps you need to step back a little and let it come to you."

"You could be right. But at the moment, what I wish would come to me is a pizza with everything and a stiff drink."

"The stiff drink we can take care of right now. I'll join you. And I believe with the right incentive, Giovanni's can have the pizza here in 20 minutes."

"Sold."

Kate gratefully looks up as Esposito stands in her office doorway. "Captain, we've got Decker. But Vikram turned up more on her while we were bringing her in."

"What?"

"A connection to Jack Flanagan. She went to college on a scholarship established through the Bosley law firm. Flanagan funded it. Maybe Flanagan was hedging his bets at the academy."

"Let's find out."

Decker lunges out of her seat in Interrogation. "I am not a mole, and neither was Danny!"

"Sit down, Recruit!" Kate orders. "We found the files he hacked and then handed over to Flanagan." Kate pushes surveillance photos of Bardot and Flanagan across the table. "Look."

"Those can't mean what you think they do. Danny must have made a deal to save me."

"Save you from what?" Kate demands.

"The man who knocked up my mother."

Kate stares at Decker's face, searching her features. "You're Flanagan's daughter?"

Decker's eyes harden. "A one-night stand doesn't make him a father. It makes him a sperm donor."

"You took his blood money."

"It wasn't my choice. Flanagan and my mother had an agreement. She'd stay quiet about my paternity in exchange for monthly payouts and a college fund for me. But that was it."

"Then why did Bardot have to save you?" Kate questions.

"A few weeks ago, Flanagan found out I'd joined the academy. He demanded that I'd be his inside woman, his mole. He threatened to out me as his daughter if I didn't. He could have ruined my entire career before it began."

"You think that no cop would trust Lucky Jack's daughter? It sounds like you don't think much of the department. I'd like to believe we judge people for who they are, not their parentage."

"If you'd grown up in the neighborhood where I did, you might have a different opinion," Decker argues. "But that's one of the things I was hoping to change. And Danny grew up in Hunt's point. He understood what went on in Jack Flanagan's little fiefdom. So I opened up to him. He talked me off the ledge, convinced me that Flanagan was bluffing. But I had no idea he would offer himself in my place. What do I do now, Captain?"

"You're not going to like it, but there's only one move you can make. Do you want to arrest Danny's killer? Do something the NYPD hasn't been able to do for 20 years – bring down Flanagan. But you're going to have to wear a wire."

The nondescript police van is parked just far enough away from Lucky's lingerie to avoid being spotted. Kate hands Decker her com. You put this deep enough in your ear, and Flanagan won't be able to spot it. It broadcasts in low-energy bursts. So it won't register on most bug-detectors."

"And if it does?"

"We'll get you the hell out of there. But if you get into trouble otherwise, what are you going to say?"

"Huh? Oh, my panic phrase. 'I could really use a drink right now. Do you have any Scotch?' But I'm not going to panic. I'll get the job done."

"Recruit, overconfidence is what gets cops killed," Kate warns. "You follow the plan. Are you hearing me, Decker?"

"Yes, Captain Beckett, I hear you loud and clear."

"You really think she's ready for this, Cap?" Esposito queries. "Not a lot of women are as kick-ass as you."

"And if Flanagan makes her, he won't hesitate to put a bullet in her skull," Ryan adds.

"Then we'll get in there before he can do that," Kate insists. "Decker's determined to prove she can be a good cop, even if she is Jack Flanagan's daughter. Maybe especially because she's Jack Flanagan's daughter. She'll be fine." Kate swallows against the lump in her throat as Decker leaves the van.

Hunt jolts awake as his transport touches down at Stewart International Airport in Orange County, New York. It takes him a moment to realize he's no longer in Ukraine. But he recognizes the field. He's landed here before.

The last time was to establish himself as Anderson Cross. He didn't expect that Martha would have to play Florence Nightengale or that he'd put Richard and Kate in Gemini's crosshairs. Adrenaline was the only thing that gave him the strength to rescue them and take out his target. This visit to Richard should be less hazardous to their health – and his. At least, Hunt hopes so.

Supposedly a car is waiting for him to make the 90-minute drive to SoHo. But as he looks around on the tarmac, the only vehicles he spots are in active use by military personnel. SNAFU, situation normal, all f***ed up. On still stiff knees, he starts walking toward the nearest structure. If someone got their wires crossed, this could take a while. He massages the small of his back, hoping that someone can produce a car for him with enough headroom so he doesn't have to hunch down all the way to Richard's loft. Sometimes being his size can be a pain in the neck – literally.