She knew that she needed to see Carlos, Rick's old boss in Houston. Since she had been there on a cross country trip when she was freshly out of college she knew right where to go and not be found out if she appeared in Houston. She blinked and she was at Bayou Place in downtown Houston within the tick of her secondhand. It took a quick cab ride to the restaurant and she asked if the chef was there to speak to. Since this was a casual visit she neglected to use her shield to get the information she needed. She watched as the hostess went back to the kitchen and brought Carlos to the lobby. From there they sat at a table for the staff and talked. There they had a long conversation about Rick and how he loved working at the restaurant. At first, he was a little guarded about what she was asking about Rick but then he understood that she was interested in him. He could see it written all over her face.

He wondered why and or even how an NYPD Detective would be so interested in your basic run-of-the-mill sous chef like Rick. When he was working for him he was the model employee. Deciding to see if she was here for him and not some investigation he teased her a little bit.

"Detective Beckett, Rick has long since moved on from this establishment. I have seen many odd instances in my lifetime, but I am at a loss as to why you would be asking about Rick. Has he committed a crime that I am unaware of? Or sadly has he passed onto the next life?"

"Carlos, I am going, to be honest with you. I met Rick at the home of his childhood friend a couple of weeks ago. This friend had lost his wife due to her being murdered. I was the detective investigating her murder. At first, I was sure that Rick's friend had committed the crime. But Rick was there and he defended his friend with vigor until the very end."

"Yes, that would describe Rick to a T."

"So what I am here to ask you about is how he was."

"I'm sorry detective I don't follow."

"I'm sorry Carlos. What I meant is what was Rick like away from his job? What hobbies did he have? That sort of thing."

"To be upfront with you detective Rick has a great gift to see people for who they really are. What I mean is that he loves to watch people. There were times I would see him just sitting in the park by himself simply taking in everything around him. He would sit there for hours on end. There were times I thought he slept there overnight but he never did. If I knew then what I know now, I know what he was doing in the park."

"How so Carlos?" Kate asks.

"From what I could gather he was writing down the things that he observed in the park. One day I waited until he left the park and followed him to his next destination. What he had been doing was taking notes about everything. The color of a dress a woman was wearing as she was rushing down the street to make an appointment, what type of shoes a small child was being shown in a shoe store with her parents, a man explaining a haircut style he wanted the barber to give him, a couple perusing the menu at a cafe sitting on the sidewalk outside."

"So you followed him around just to see what he was doing?"

"It was more than following him around Detective. After reading his first book most of the passages in the book were a direct result of his people watching you can say. I never realized that he was doing this to get ideas to write."

"So tell me, Detective, how has Rick been since I've seen him last?"

"Carlos, I've only had a limited amount of interaction with him which is why I'm here. From what I can tell after looking into his background he's a very reserved person. What I mean is he thinks before he does anything which in today's world is something of an oddity. Most people just jump right into an opportunity or an idea to put into motion without thinking. Rick on the other hand thinks everything out before he does anything from what I can tell."

"Rick was methodical in his planning when he was preparing the extras at my side. There were times where he could almost read what was being ordered and have it ready by the time I had finished cooking the main course. He was mostly in charge of preparing everything as an accessory. I would prepare the meat, fish, or chicken and he would have the accompanying side to go along with it. And it was like he was my right hand because I never asked him for what I wanted it just mysteriously showed up when I was presenting the meal."

"Amazing. It's hard to find someone who can basically read your mind. He must have known you well. But aside from work, I need to know how he was emotionally. Was he happy all the time or was he sad or a combination of both or did he ever speak to anyone other than you?

"Kate ah, may I call you that Detective?"

At Kate's nod Carlos probably went into the longest story she's ever heard about Rick giving her a good background on him.

"Kate, it's hard to describe Rick as being a loner but when he came here he came from somewhere in Florida. I never asked where he was before this but I could tell that even he was a lost soul. When I mean is that he had a heavy heart about a decision that he must have recently made because he never spoke that much about his background unless you had pried it out of him. After a month or two here he started becoming more social but only with me. He would do what he was told no matter what it took and how long he had to stay to do it which in my book is dedication to any craft be it a mechanic, a pilot, or the person who crosses children at a school. There were times I would leave shortly after dinner was served and Rick would still be back in the kitchen making sure all the preparations for the morning rush were taken care of before he left. Items like milk, eggs, and all the perishables were not left out but he had all the dry food ingredients ready to go the next morning which made my job a lot easier."

"So if he was assigned a job it would be guaranteed to be finished. Is that what you're telling me?"

"Yes, Kate that's exactly what I'm telling you. And I don't know how in the world he found the time to do what he did to write his first book because on average he was in the kitchen from four in the morning until shortly before eleven pm. He must be very good at budgeting his time because from what I understand his first book was written during his tenure at this establishment. Now that is something to be proud of."

"Is there anything else you can tell me about him, Carlos?" Kate asks again.

"No. I am sorry. I know that his mother passed away recently and if you do see him please tell him that I am deeply sorry for his loss. He often talked about her when he worked with me and in a way, I felt like I knew her."

"Thank you Carlos you've been a big help."

Kate was reluctant at first but once she stood up she walked next to Carlos and pulled him into a hug. For some reason when she pushed away he did not seem offended by the act.

Xx

Kate took a cab back to Bayou Place. From there she went into the ladies' room and simply disappeared. She had one more place to go to before she headed back to New York City. She blinked and ended up in Milwaukee Wisconsin since it was the only place she had been to when she was younger. She took the Amtrak train South to Waukegan where she ended up walking to the car dealership that Rick worked at when he was a porter. The walk wasn't as far as she thought it was and she was at the dealership within 35 minutes. She spoke briefly to Jeff who was the used car manager but he barely remembered Rick from that point being that he was not the used car manager back then. He had heard stories from other longtime employees but he never met the man. After dealing with this dead-end she once more has to think about where he had been after he left Waukegan. As she walks out of the dealership and it hits her. She remembers that he was working in a sporting goods store near Pittsburgh.

She has an issue with Blinking to Pittsburgh because she's never been there in her life. She wants to talk to the manager Robert and see what he can tell her but being that she's never been there she decides to Blink back to New York City and refresh her memory a little bit before she heads back towards Pittsburgh.

Xx

The next day she decides to take the day off from work. And she does remember her mother telling her when she was younger that there were relatives of hers living near a small town in Ohio not far from Pittsburgh. The only problem is that she cannot remember or picture the location in her mind of where their house was. She has her sights set on a location but she's unsure about what would happen if she just materializes out of thin air. Deciding to play it safe she will use her time off to call the man at the sporting goods store.

Robert was not so forthcoming with Rick's employment record as Carlos was. For some reason he thought that she was investigating him for a crime he had committed and he would not give up any information about him whatsoever except to say that he was an upstanding employee, he was prompt and always on time, and built a rapport with the customers that to this day still stands with everyone who walked in the door he talked to. This is why she likes to have a face-to-face meeting with people, she can tell if they are being truthful or not.

Knowing that she won't be able to get anything else because she doesn't have anything after this point she calls it a day.

As she slowly drifted off to sleep all she can think of is how he was so dedicated to each job that he held.