Under and Over Chapter 24
"So what now?" Rick inquires as he and Kate walk away from securing Bracken in a cell.
Shaking her head, Kate sighs. "More investigations, trials, maybe years of them, added to jurisdictional fights. And we have to pray that no judge grants Bracken bail."
"You think the Senate will kick Bracken loose?" Rick wonders. "I looked it up. Some senators have been pushed to resign, like Packwood in '95, but none have been expelled since 1862. Theoretically, Bracken could hold onto his office until his term expires. That would still give him some pull – and further embarrass Ben Moss. His political machine won't like it. But what's he going to do? Take out his son-in-law? On the other hand, if a wife ever had grounds for divorce – or murder, Lydia Bracken does. Still, if a woman was going to kill Bracken, I imagine you would rather it be you."
"I've fantasized about it," Kate admits. "But what I really want is to hear Bracken admit to every f***ing slimy act he's ever committed."
"I confess, I would find that scene better than anything George Lucas, Gene Roddenberry, or Steven Spielberg ever put out. But why would Bracken admit to anything?" Rick queries.
"Because admission and contrition is the only way he could hope to get any kind of a break from a judge. And Bracken could put on quite a show as the man inexorably caught in a web of political demands and lust for success. He could try to dump the whole thing on Ben Moss."
Rick's eyes suddenly focus on the empty air in front of him. "Unless he can't make his story fit."
"What's going on in that head of yours?"
"The pen, or these days the laptop, is mightier than the sword, Kate. Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, Woodward and Bernstein, all nailed criminals better than any courtroom could. You said the trials could go on for years. With all the research we've already done, that will give me more than enough time to write a book exposing Bracken for the murderous bastard he is. No matter what his lawyers argue for a judge to exclude from a jury, I'll make sure that the unrelenting truth gets out there. Once it's in print, it will be out there forever. And Kate, if my book can make the public warier of Bracken and his kind, your mother won't have died in vain."
Kate stretches up for a sudden kiss.
"That might have been caught on camera," Rick warns.
"I don't give a damn!"
Martha waves triumphantly at the sumptuous spread on the table in the loft. "Katherine, I thought we should celebrate your triumph. And yours too, Richard."
Rick suspiciously eyes the food in his best serving dishes. "Mother, you didn't…?"
"Cook? No. I was at the theater most of the day, helping members of the next generation of actors perfect their craft. I barely had time to put in an order. Good thing your impatience keeps you on all the local expedited delivery lists."
"It's not my impatience, it's paying the upcharge. And I'm a good tipper. Most of the delivery people are out-of-work actors. They need the money."
"Yes, fine, Richard. We all support the theater community in our own way. However, I did set an attractive table."
"Yes, you did, Mother. Thank you."
"Yes, thank you, Martha," Kate adds, noting three place settings. "It looks wonderful. But isn't Alexis joining us?"
"She made one of those giant sundaes of hers and went up to her room to obsess. Apparently, she only got the second-highest grade on her chemistry exam, the one she studied for instead of going to a movie with Ashley."
"But that would still be an A," Rick protests. "It wouldn't affect her GPA."
"But you know your daughter. She's bound and determined to figure out where she went wrong."
"I should talk to her," Rick declares, turning toward the stairs.
"Let me," Kate suggests, "as a woman very familiar with teenaged-girl obsessions."
"All right," Rick agrees. "I can always heat things up again for you."
Kate winks. "I look forward to it."
"You're getting serious about Katherine, aren't you, Richard?" Martha asks as Kate disappears into Alexis' room.
"Past getting, Mother," Rick confides. "She's the one I was always waiting for, the yin to my yang I'd hoped Meredith and Gina would be. But what I felt for them never came close to the way I feel about Kate."
"You love her."
"Like a house afire."
"Then what are you going to do about it? It's obvious the two of you are sleeping together. You didn't stay at her apartment all night to discuss cases. And you're right at her side whether you're working on one or not. So what's your next step?"
"I'm going to write a book."
"You've lost me, Richard. You already write the Nikki Heats about Katherine. Why will writing another book take your relationship anywhere?"
"Because the book I'll write will nail Bracken's coffin shut once and for all, and the Kate Beckett I reach for through the cracks in her wall will be free to kick it down."
"You're probably talking about thousands of hours of work, a lot more than it takes for you to write your little mysteries and spy stories. Your attention span has never been that long."
"I never had a reason for it to be. But I do now. I'll be writing for love, not money, and that's the ultimate prize."
"You've still got to pay the bills, Bucko. Alexis is already looking at colleges. And you don't exactly live on the cheap."
Rick regards his mother's designer blouse. "Nor do you. But you don't have to worry about the cash flow. I'll keep up with Nikki Heat. And the Storm novellas are selling. Patterson, Roberts, release new books every quarter, sometimes sooner."
"They don't spend their time at the 12th Precinct."
"I do research. So do they. I can do this, Mother. If I'm going to have the life I want, if Kate's going to be free to live the life she deserves, I'll make it work."
Martha grabs her son's hands. "I believe you, Richard. I hope what you're planning is worth it." At the sound of clicking heels, she glances at the stairs to see Kate and Alexis descending. "I'd better set an extra place."
As a movie that neither one of them cares about plays in front of Rick and Kate's nest on the couch, he draws her closer. "What did you tell Alexis?"
"About some of the craziness I went through over boys when I was a teenager. She's actually a lot saner than I was. Maddie used to drive me past a guy's house every night to watch him through the window, because I was afraid to talk to him. And I'd call his house and hang up."
"That doesn't sound like the kick-ass Beckett I know."
"The kick-ass part came after my mother was murdered. Until then, I wasn't the most confident girl in the room. I still wasn't after. I was just determined. We both know how many false starts and how many bad plays it took to finally chalk up the win. But I did it. I told Alexis that she's a brilliant girl who can achieve any goal she sets her mind to, regardless of the stumbles along the way."
Inhaling the faint scent of Kate's shampoo, Rick kisses the top of her head. "An excellent thought to take to heart."