Tom and Harry took Cassie to the hospital to be checked out. She swore she was alright, but neither of them would budge. She was going to be given the medical once over whether she wanted it or not. They went into the examination room with her and waited for the doctor to join them.
"You're exhausted. Go home." She told Tom. "You've had what, three hours sleep in 48?"
"I'm fine." He said.
"Yeah, that's what I said and you still made me come to the hospital."
"The difference being, I actually am fine."
"What makes you think I'm not?"
"Let's see, a man you trusted and were involved with kidnapped you, threatened to throw you off a building, and was shot and killed right in front of you," Tom said. "Pretty sure shock is an option even for someone as tough as nails as you are." He pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"Yeah, and it was the first shooting you've been involved with since… you know…"
"No one is going to question this one," Harry said. "I guarantee it."
"Thank you… both of you." She said.
"I'm just sorry I didn't figure it out sooner," Tom said.
"Tom… I was the one sleeping with him. If anyone should have known he was a psycho it was me." She said "Oh wait… I'm human. And so are you." She managed to hold it together through the doctor's exam, through the questions by the officers looking into the shooting, and through the ride back to her apartment.
"Are you okay going in there?" Tom asked
She nodded.
"I can stay if you want. The couch is comfortable."
"What would your girlfriend think?" She asked.
"That I am taking care of my best friend," Tom said. "It's okay. I'll call her later and tell her."
"Then yes. I do want you to stay." She said. She didn't want to be alone. Once inside she excused herself to take a shower and change.
Tom was glad to see they hadn't torn her place apart when the forensics team had come in. He went into the kitchen to make something for them to eat. He knew she wouldn't want to eat but she was going to need to. He got out the ingredients for omelets. While the onions and bacon were cooking he called Maura. It was three hours earlier in California so he didn't think he'd be waking her up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's me." He said and could hear the relieved sigh on the other end of the line.
"Well, hello Me." She said, "Were you able to find her?"
"Yeah. Harry and I brought her home. I'm staying at her place for a couple of days."He said and waited for her reaction.
"Of course. I can't imagine she would be able to be alone just yet. I know I wouldn't be in her place."
It was his turn to sigh in relief. "I'm going to put you on speaker. I'm in the kitchen making omelets." He pushed the button for the speaker and set the phone on the counter while he cooked.
"Omelets are still your go-to comfort food." She said "Some things never change. That's a good thing by the way."
"I like to think I've changed a little since high school." He said with a laugh.
"All the good things are the same."
"So how is the house hunting going?" He asked and moved the bacon and onions to a plate.
"Slow and tedious I'm afraid. I am starting to think I should get us a rental and we can choose the house together."
"That sounds good. Have you had a chance to check out any of the local museums?"
"I spent a day exploring. One of them has a lovely children's section so I took Sam with me. He is so adorable."
"I get the distinct feeling we're going to be having the let's have children' talk soon."
Maura laughed "Possibly yes."
Cassie finished her shower and dressed in comfy pajamas. She wandered out into the living room and could hear Tom in the kitchen. She held back a few moments listening to Tom and Maura talking. He laughed easily, and his tone was contented and confident when he spoke to her. The laughter she heard wasn't at his expense, it too was comfortable. Cassie smiled sadly. She was happy for him, but sad at the same time. The door was closing, there was no getting him back, and there was no longer going to be Thomas Ryan waiting in the wings for her to decide if she wanted him back or not.
She finally stepped around where he could see her. Tom smiled.
"Honey, I've got to go. Cassie is out of the shower and her omelet is ready. I love you."
"I love you too." She said "Give her my best. I'll see you in a few days."
Tom ended the call. "Feeling any better?" He asked her.
"Does cleaner count?" She asked as he handed her a plate then poured the rest of the egg mixture into the pan for his own omelet.
"Sure." He said "Every little bit counts."
"So… a few days?"
Tom nodded. "Yeah. I don't want to leave you right away."
"I'm going to miss you so much." She said. "I just got you back."
"You're not losing me, Cass." He said. "We'll stay in touch. You can always call me, no matter what."
"It's not the same." She said. "I want you to be happy, Tom." That wasn't going to be with her. She'd realized that while they had still been married. The thing was she wasn't certain that it was going to be with Maura either. At least they weren't getting married yet. They were going to live together. Maybe he'd figure things out before he made a mistake this time.
He put his omelet on a plate and they went to the table. "I will be." T,m said. "I… I'm not leaving because of you, you know that right?"
"Not really, no." She said honestly. "It feels that way."
"I can't stay here. Maybe one day I'll be able to come back but I can't stay I can either go to California to work with Rita or I can go to Boston and as much as I love my family I just can't do that." It would feel too much like he was going home with his tail between his legs even if he wasn't still in trouble.
"I guess I understand it. Doesn't mean I like it. Clearing your name is supposed to mean that you're free of all the bullshit."
"I don't think it ever works that way. Not for anyone, and especially not for cops."
"You're probably right." She said sadly. "But I know, and Harry knows, that you're not that guy."
"The commissioner wanted to see me hung out to dry. I don't see that changing. Craig Alexander had the power yanked out of his hands twice. He's not going to forget that."
"But he's the one that investigated things." She said in earnest.
"You weren't there. Even knowing I was set up, even knowing that I was targeted by Internal affairs when my lawyer asked if he was pressing charges his answer was not at this time until he was pressured to give a definite answer. He wasn't going to let me off the hook. He was going to hold it over my head indefinitely."
"I don't agree. He just doesn't like being pressured."
"Wait, are you of all people championing Craig?" Tom asked, actually stunned by this.
"Not… really." She said, "I'm just saying you can't gauge his intent by that situation."
"You weren't there." He said.
"Tom, there was no way I was going to be invited to that meeting."
"No, you weren't there. The entire freaking mess you weren't there. You weren't sitting in the meeting where they told me I could either betray a friend or go to jail while they sent someone else after her. I got my shield and gun back because Chief Doyle insisted, Craig made it plain that it was because he was told to do it not that he wanted to do it. He didn't want to let me off the hook and that was why my attorney demanded it in writing that I was never going to be prosecuted for Miles Archer's death. Because she saw it too. I'm the one that got away. I'm the guy dating the mobster's daughter, the one that killed my previous girlfriend's husband." He ran his hands through his hair. "We need to change the subject. I'm sorry. You don't need me going off right now."
"It's okay," Cassie said. She rose from her chair and went to his side. "Tom, it's okay." She reached up and touched his cheek. "You're right. I wasn't there. But that's not entirely on me. When I did try you pushed me away. Every time."
"When I tried to make that right you would walk away." He said. "Neither of us handled it well. At the end of the day, even though we're best friends, we're still people that hurt each other horribly during the divorce. That colors things. There's no way that it doesn't."
"Are you sure I'm not why you're leaving?" She asked.
He shook his head "I'm why I'm leaving. There are too many ghosts here." Tom said. "No matter what we've done to each other over the years, you're still my best friend. That's not going to change."
He meant it. She knew that he meant it. But she also knew that he was wrong. She hugged him close, wondering if this was going to be the last time she did. Slowly she eased back and wiped at her eyes.
"I should get this cleaned up and go to bed. I - I think the day is catching up to me."
"I've got this. Go on to bed. I know where you keep the blankets and extra pillows. I'll be out here on the sofa." Tom told her. "I'll be here if you need me."
Tom cleaned the kitchen and set up his bed on the sofa. But he couldn't sleep. He didn't try. There were too many unanswered questions spinning in his head. Will Adams, Adam Williams, whoever he really was, was just a pawn in all of this. He wasn't the mastermind. The problem was that Sebastian Graham, who Tom was convinced was behind all of it, couldn't be touched. He was in New Orleans and there was nothing to connect him to Adams other than a business card and a vague potential connection that could be argued to be fabricated. Unfortunately with Adams dead, they couldn't prove an actual connection. The son of a bitch was going to get away with it.
Harry's visit the following morning only served to confirm it.
"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news first thing in the morning." Harry said, "But the man you spoke to in New Orleans is not the same man that New Orleans PD spoke with."
"So I spoke with an impostor?" Tom asked
"That's what it looks like. My gut disagrees. Regardless, the wild goose chase the man sent you on would seem to indicate he's the one connected to Will Adams."
"But if he isn't Sebastian Graham he doesn't have a motive and how would he have known that I was going to show up in New Orleans?"
"Will said that the information was spoon-fed to you," Cassie said. "I wrote it off to him just being pissed that it was so easy to sort out that he was the one who had kidnapped me. Is it possible that was all a setup?"
"To get at me? For what reason? No. I'm positive the man I spoke to was Sebastian Graham. I think he tossed Adams under the bus because I got close."
"I am inclined to agree. New Orleans PD is not."
"So what do we do now?" Cassie asked.
"Nothing we can do." Harry said "As far as Palm Beach goes, the case is closed. I'm sorry Tom, I know you wanted this guy."
"He isn't the first to get away with it. He won't be the last." Tom said, frustrated.
"That is the sad fact of reality, boys and girls," Harry said. He handed a folder over to Tom. "Your final paperwork. I sent your records over to Rita this morning. Including a copy of the letter, the DA sent to your lawyer. I don't think you've read it have you."
Tom shook his head.
"He clears you completely. Including the fact that Internal Affairs was setting you up for a fall. You'll be going out there with no shadows lurking in the background."
"Thanks, Harry/" Tom said. "I'm gonna spend a couple of days with Cassie and then go pack up my place. Maura hired a crime clean-up crew to take care of her library and then the movers will start packing up her place."
"I can help you pack, Tom," Cassie said. "I can't just sit around here all day. We'll both go crazy. Neither of us is any good at doing nothing."
"Excellent." Harry said "I'll bring boxes. Frannie saves every single box. I have boxes from when we moved into our first apartment together. I will gladly get them out of my attic."
They spent the next three days packing and cleaning Tom's small apartment. They would have finished much quicker if there hadn't been so much wine involved in the process. As much as Tom was excited to start his new life in California he didn't want to leave Palm Beach either. It had been his home since he'd graduated college.
On the fourth day Harry and Frannie through a going away party for him and Tom was genuinely surprised by how many people showed up. Including Craig Alexander.
The District Attorney held out his hand to Tom, who shook it amiably. "I hope there are no hard feelings, Tom."
Tom shook his head "You were just doing your job." He said. It wasn't the fact that he had considered prosecuting Tom for a murder that Tom had a hard time with. It scared the hell out of him but he wasn't angry about that. The situation with Maura was another matter entirely.
"So were you. I've made that plain in my letter to your attorney and Captain Lance."
"I appreciate that," Tom said, and he did. He was relieved not to have to deal with Internal Affairs looming over his shoulder when he moved.
He mingled for a while and then settled onto the sofa with Cassie and Harry. "I'm going to miss you guys."
"We're going to miss you too," Harry said.
Cassie took him to the airport the following morning. "I keep hoping you're going to change your mind. But you're not are you."
He shook his head. "No. There are too many ghosts here."
She nodded. "Call me. I mean it. Don't make me come out there to find out why you haven't."
He laughed quietly. "Make threats like that I might have to put off calling."
Her eyes widened "Don't you dare!" she said, smiling in spite of herself. "When are they coming to pick up the mustang?" She asked.
"They aren't," Tom said and stepped back to reach into his suit coat pocket. He took out an envelope. "Title and registration. I've signed it over to you."
"But you love that car." She said.
"Yeah well, I want you to have it."
"Thank you."
A voice came over the intercom announcing that they were now boarding his flight.
"They're singing my song." He said and hugged her one last time, kissed her cheek, and turned to walk away, not daring to say another word.
Over the next year, Tom found that he liked California. He liked the people, he liked the 101st precinct, and he liked the house he and Maura had purchased outside the city with room for dogs and one day children to run free. They had set a wedding date and he dropped the invitations off at the post office on his way to work.
He took off his jacket and hung it from the back of his chair. "Morning." He said to his partner. Adrian Kendall was a decent cop. There wasn't the spark of genius between them that he'd shared with Cassie, but they had gotten into a good rhythm and had a good solve rate.
"Morning," Adrian said. "You have mail." He indicated a thick brown envelope on Tom's desk.
Tom frowned. "Who is sending me mail here?" He asked rhetorically as he picked up the package. "A book of some sort." He opened it and removed the hardbound novel. Deadly Secrets by Sebastian Graham. Tom's blood ran cold. He opened the book and turned past the title page to the dedication. It was dedicated to Detective Thomas Ryan. Well done, Detective! It was autographed: With respect, Sebastian Graham.
