Chapter 15 Year 3 (Kensi) & 4 (Marty)
Kensi's cell phone rings. 'It's Hetty, I wonder what she wants?'
"Hello Hetty, great to hear from you."
"And you, my dear. I have a question for you; will you and Marty be back at Stanford for Labor Day weekend?"
"Yes, we will. Why?"
"I will be spending a couple of days with Roger and Cheryl, and I have something for you. A piece of equipment you may wish to have and use. Might I spend a couple of hours with you?"
"Surely. Why don't you TXT me day and time and I will check with Marty. We should be very flexible that weekend except for my work at the restaurant – which is evenings by the way. I look forward to seeing you."
"And I, you. See you soon."
Hetty comes by the apartment and is welcomed in. After some time chatting, catching up, Hetty asks, "Any new developments re Nell Jones?"
"Only one that we didn't tell you about, because we didn't see any reason to. But, now let me tell you," Kensi says. She relates her nightmare to Hetty who has some questions.
"Did you see the background?" Hetty asks.
"No, it looked like a grey mist."
"Anything unusual about her face; any marks, bruises, cuts etc.?"
"No."
"What about her voice?"
"Nothing unusual."
"Any sounds other than her voice?"
"No."
"Ok, but in the future would you please report to me any happenings. No matter how trivial they seem to be?"
"Yes, we will. I'm sorry we didn't this time."
"No worries, my dear. Now, I have a piece of equipment you may have if you desire. We are upgrading some things, including 'bug' detectors. As I have said, there still is no evidence that either of you is at any risk. So, you may not want to use this – that will be your decision. If you do accept and use this device, I would suggest that you periodically sweep the apartment (and maybe vehicles) for listening, video, and recording bugs. If you want to accept this, I will spend a little time today showing you how to use it. I assume you want to talk it over?"
"Yes, let's. What do you think, Marty?"
"Personally, I see no need to do this; but I will totally support Kensi if she wants to accept. The choice is yours, babe – with my total support."
"I agree with Marty. However, I would like to have it on hand in case things change. Ok, babe?"
"Absolutely – let's see how this works."
Hetty spends 45 minutes; she does 2 sweeps, then has Kensi and Marty do 1 each. They thank her and she leaves.
"Well, you ok with this? I don't want to seem unduly paranoid," Kensi muses.
"Totally ok. I always want you to feel safe."
"Thank you.'
"Yup, I love you."
"Love you too."
"Marty, what are you thinking about work next year. You seem really happy teaching and tutoring." Kensi inquires. "It's getting toward time to let folks know what's coming."
"Yeah, it is. It's a real conundrum; I came up here primarily for two reasons; to be nearer to you and to accept the 3-year deal to be a public defender. Part of me feels like I owe James that three years. But, a bigger part of me really likes the teaching part of what I'm doing. Being a PD, I can help many people. Teaching, I can help prepare many young lawyers who will help a lot more people. And my contract does allow me the flexibility to choose my career path. So, what do you think, babe?"
"I see how happy you are working with Roger, teaching and tutoring. I'm afraid you won't be happy as a PD. Besides, as a PD your life, your hours are not your own. I hope I'm not getting ahead of myself, but family life as a PD is bound to suffer, at least somewhat. I'm a little biased here, I admit."
"Wow! I knew I loved you for more than your body! You make some great points, Kens. In all fairness, I probably should have a talk with Roger and James. Do you think I should do that separately or together?"
"Well, this whole affair has been with them working together, pursuing us; and they seem to be good friends. So, I would do it together. How about that?"
"I like that. I'll set that up. Are we still on for the city this Saturday?"
"Yup."
A day exploring San Francisco is something they have looked forward to for a long time. They drive north along the bay, past the airport and into the city, going over the hills to Ghirardelli Square where they park underground. The aroma from the chocolate factory almost short-circuits their day but Marty keeps Kensi moving, barely!
They take the Hyde Street cable-car (CC) back towards city-center. They get off at California Street and take that CC down to the bay. The walk along the bay until they near Coit Tower. They veer inland and climb the tower.
The view from the top is spectacular. They descend to the lobby and spend some time viewing the 1930's era paintings along the curved walls. They exit and continue their walk along Fisherman's Wharf, sampling some fresh steamed crab from one of many steaming crab pots. They stop at the Boudin bakery store for a sourdough bread bowl filled with clam chowder. Continuing on, they pick up some souvenirs and postcards finally ending at Ghirardelli Square where they do visit the chocolate factory store and share a huge hot fudge sundae. They find their car and fall exhausted into their seats. After a short rest they exit the garage and drive home. What a day!
The meeting about Marty's career decision (the 1st part of an anticipated long career) was set-up at James and Karen's home in San Jose. In preparation, Marty had carefully reviewed his and Kensi's contracts. He did indeed have the right to choose either PD or working for Stanford or a mix of both. Whether he felt obliged to do some PD work was entirely up to him. Items affecting his decision included:
Did he really want to use his law degree to practice some type of law?
How will Kensi's choice of career, and her location, affect his decision?
Does he feel any real sense of obligation to one or the other?
Perks of the job. Stanford has a real edge here.
Being a PD, he can find a job almost anywhere in the country.
Education will provide him a more stable, predictable family lifestyle. (hours & schedule)
The meeting was very cordial; after all, they all were friends of a sort. Both Roger and James agreed that Marty did have the freedom to choose among the options that he thought he had available. They could see in James' eyes that he would be disappointed if he got none of Marty's time, but he admitted that Marty was right in how he was interpreting the contract. The decision was not going to be easy; Marty and Kensi wanted to be fair to all concerned.
Kensi's decision was still a year away.
Halloween was a similar affair as last year except the costumes were toned down. Kensi dressed as Princess Leia with a rather conservative cover-up. Marty was Han Solo – Kensi lobbied for Jabba the Hut but he wouldn't even consider it. She even tried to get Chester to do a Photoshop poster, but he valued his life too much.
The kids did drive down to LA for Thanksgiving this year. Donald & Julia included Syd & Chester in the family Thanksgiving dinner. Kensi and Marty did the wishbone thing – Kensi won, of course. Damn is she competitive!
Christmas vacation was also spent in LA – on the beach as much as possible. Tandem surfing was becoming their favorite sport. They considered entering a local tandem competition, but they really didn't have time to properly prepare.
Marty got Kensi a pair of white diamond & ruby earrings. Kensi got Marty a deluxe leather case with fine writing instruments, to carry his files and paperwork etc. in for his teaching assignments. They loved their gifts.
Marty had something special up his sleeve for Kensi's 21st birthday next July. He just had to save his pennies, nickels, and dimes!
Shortly after New Year's, Marty entered the classroom where he was teaching 'Introduction to Personal Injury Law' (he taught 2 classes this year). He asked Susan, a pretty co-ed sitting in the front row as usual, to take attendance for him. He turned around and started writing names on the board.
"Your attention please," he asked the class. "I have two projects available for extra credit; these are available only for the students whose names are on the board. Volunteers will work in pairs, and the pairs must be approved by me. If you wish to do one of these projects, please let me know in writing at our next class. I will announce the pairs one week from today; and give each pair their instructions. Any questions?"
"Why only those names?"
"Because they need the extra credit."
"What are the projects about?"
"They are two cases I have agreed to help the SJC Public Defenders office with. The pairs will work with me, I will supervise their work."
"What, specifically, do the cases deal with?"
"That is for next time, and only for the pairs to know. Anything else? No, then let's get started, and BTW thank you, Susan."
He was attempting to get his students hands-on experience while he learned more about the SJC PD office and if it would be a good fit for him. His plan worked.
As the pairs worked, the class critiqued their work; and the class voted on the final result. Marty learned that he really wasn't cut out to be a PD. He felt somewhat badly about this but needed to be honest with James. Kensi supported him totally. He notified Roger and James and started planning for the next year. And for this year's 1-week vacation with his girlfriend.
They chose a condo on the west coast of Mexico. Neither had spent any time in that area. They were looking forward to the sand, sun, surf and FOOD. They were not disappointed in any category. Next year they would have 2-weeks and were already discussing their options. Marty was very happy with his decision to stay with Stanford.
However, the projects he had his students work on for the SJC PD office had gone so well that he was looking for ways to expand that 'partnership'. James was excited about that prospect.
A/N Next – Kensi's 21st birthday!