As they get out of the Suburban that they were transported in, they take a look around and like what they see. As they drove through the town on their way in this is where they would spend the rest of their lives in, it was a comfortable seventy-one degrees here.
He needed to get used to his new name and his wife needed to get used to her new name as well. Rodolfo Gonzalez was now Jonathan Shipley. And his wife who was previously known as Kimberly DeNardis is now Kelly Shipley. Yes, he said wife. It was a quick ceremony before they left New York. The justice of the peace married them and this is their honeymoon of sorts.
The U.S. Marshall who steps out of the Suburban motions them to walk towards the modest three-bedroom home in front of them. The home is located at 16033 Sparrow Circle South in Coolidge, Arizona. They are already falling in love with it.
The Marshal explains to them what will happen next, what they need to do where they need to report for work, and for the first year they will be under surveillance to make sure that they don't fall back into the mess they had already left in New York. After the first year, there will be a visit by another Marshal who will tell them that they now are free to do whatever they want but need to assume the identities they were provided with. The catch is if they are caught doing what they were doing in the past everything reverts back to jail time.
Jonathan is now employed by a company that delivers crushed stone and sand to the state for roadway construction projects. Kelly has a job that she loves. She is a manager at an antique store that has been doing a very brisk business. She only hopes that she can make it more profitable while she is there. The government deeded her the shop so it's hers free and clear.
Xx
INTERPOL and the German Federal Police had secured the entire office building in the hopes of catching whoever shot and killed Wilhelm Müller. Their efforts were in vain. Whoever had murdered the man had escaped long before they arrived. They painstakingly went through all the security camera footage for the building he worked in and noticed nothing out of the ordinary that would hint at a person carrying a very large case as they exited the building that held the office he occupied on the fifteenth floor. They knew that he was killed with a high-powered rifle but nothing matched the description of anyone leaving any four of the surrounding buildings with a case that large. After six months of being a cold case with no new leads, the case was officially closed with no resolution as to who had killed him.
Xx
The crime scene had been cordoned off for the last three weeks. The FBI was dealing with something they had never seen before. They had just released the crime scene after it had been cleaned up on the fourth day of the third week. The FBI insisted that they handle the remnants of the Jaguar SUV that simply blew apart. They had no clue as to how that happened, but they knew that a high explosive was used.
During their three-week investigation, Kate had walked by to see how they were progressing along. It seemed that they could not find out how or why he would be carrying explosives of any kind in his car.
Most of the car was completely evaporated. The SUV's components were 62% plastic. Most of it melted in a blob in the middle of the parking lot. Metal doors that were blown away were found 600 feet in a parking lot two buildings away. The panoramic sunroof completely shattered and blew outward along with most of the steel that housed it. It looked like someone took the car in their hand and use a can opener to pry it open. The FBI had no more luck in identifying who was killed in the car. They couldn't find enough of whoever it was to fill a petri dish.
Flashback to three weeks prior…
Jordan never knew what hit her. For a split second, she thought that they were in an SUV, and then after hearing an explosion she ends up on a beach in Hawaii.
Strange things are happening. When she became conscious again she looked to her left and noticed that Kate was throwing seashells into the ocean from the beach. She made a nauseating sound that sounded like she was going to throw up and that's what triggered Kate to look behind her. Once she did only two words left her mouth.
"Hello, sleepyhead."
"Kate, what just happened? Because I could have sworn we were in an SUV for a brief second and then I come to, find out that we're in what looks to be like Hawaii."
"Diamond Head to be exact Jordan. Just take a look behind you and you'll see what I'm talking about."
Jordan turns and looks to see the remnants of the volcano cone behind her and then turns back to her friend.
"I see Diamond Head, but I just don't know how we got here. Care to explain?"
"Well since we don't have the time I'll give you the nickel tour," Kate suggests.
"Ever since I was a little girl I'd say about four or five years old I can easily think of a place and appear there. The first time I did it I was about four and I had to go to the bathroom so bad but my mom was too busy shopping in a department store. I had been to the bathroom in that store many times before with my mom, so I simply closed my eyes and I ended up in the stall where I could use the bathroom."
"I'll bet that went over well with your mother and father? The fact that you were there one second and disappeared the next."
"Yeah I didn't think about that part and you're right they were a little more than upset. But before that, they did not know what I was able to do. Since then though I've used my gift to their advantage."
Kate catches the look on Jordan's face and now has to explain more.
"There was an airline strike years ago. My father and mother had tickets to go on a five-country tour. So when the airline called and told them that their flight was canceled I took them to their destination."
"Are you talking about the airline strike from about five years ago? The one that eventually crippled airline travel all over the world?"
"That's the one. Since I'm able to be anywhere in less than a second, I blinked my mom down to Cape May New Jersey just to show her that I could do it. We took a walk on the beach and we bought some saltwater taffy and then twenty minutes later I blinked us both back. My father wanted to know what it felt like but my mother would never lie to him and told him the truth. He was fine with going with me then. I took the both of them one at a time first to Ireland and then you're right by the time the strike took hold in the United States, and before they were able to fly to Rome it shut down everything in Europe as well. But I saved the day because I brought them to Rome."
"Okay I realize how you might have brought us here, but what I need to know is how you figured out what was going to happen before it happened," Jordan asks Kate with an all-knowing look on her face.
Kate has no choice but to tell her the truth. But before she does she needs to know if Jordan has any idea of what her lover can do.
Before Kate can suggest telling Jordan anything more she stands up, brushes the sand from her skirt, and takes off her shoes to make walking in the sand that much more fun. Kate can tell she has a specific location in mind and thinks that she knows where she wants to go because the sun is literally roasting them to a crisp. Jordan takes Kate's hand and lifts her up from the sand. They start walking towards what looks like a bar all by itself on the beach. By the time they get within fifty feet, it's exactly what she expected. They can have adult refreshments and get out of the sun literally killing two birds with one stone. Once Kate sits upon the barstool and gets comfortable she continues her story.
"Jordan I need to know what you know about Rick? If this conversation is to continue you need to tell me everything you might think you know about him."
"Kate you might find this a bit weird, but I was walking towards the precincts break room after passing the elevator that was dividing the homicide floor. Then I saw a discharge of what I thought was static electricity. As I moved closer to the spot where you must have been standing, I saw a really fine black powder. So tell me is this what happens when you leave us for wherever you're going?"
"Yes and no. The reason I knew about the C-4 explosives was that Rick had seen it in a vision he had. Now I'm going to put this out there knowing that you can turn us into any government facility that would just poke, prod, and tear us apart. And I mean that literally. They would physically dissect us just to find out what we can do. Rick is my lover. He is my soulmate and I am his. I would appreciate it if you just kept everything I say to yourself. Because if you don't they will be no coming back from this. We will both be placed in some secret lab and we will be taking apart piece by piece never to be heard from again."
"Kate your secret is safe with me. I will never tell anyone what I'm about to hear from you now or ever."
"Jordan, I can blink to anywhere in the world in less than a second as long as I have been there prior to blinking there again. I can't use pictures or anything of that nature but if I'd been there before I can get there again."
Jordan nodded for her to continue.
"When I first met Rick things between us started off pretty rocky. He was very closed off and very protective of his past. I started looking into him when I realized that maybe he could be the one for me. I even blinked out to Houston to talk to his old boss about the commodation that he got from the city."
"Commendation?" Jordan inquires.
"It seems that Rick was just a sous chef at a high-class and very expensive restaurant in Houston. The head chef had assigned him to accompany him in preparing the food for that night due to the fact that one of his line chefs had called out sick. Rick was more than happy to help whenever he could. But it's what happened next that had me believing he was a man who would do anything for anyone without even asking. He had served the meal to a man and his wife and retreated back to the kitchen. Then he was asked out to clear off the table adjacent to where the man was eating he had just served five minutes before. He could hear the man gasping for air and knew the man was choking on the food that he had just brought out. Rick then sprang into action. He performed the Heimlich maneuver on the man who was choking to death. Once the man had recovered Rick escaped back into the kitchen without taking any accolades as to what he had just done."
"So he just brushed it off? He saved a man's life and he just went about his daily routine of washing dishes?" Jordan asks.
"Jordan you have to understand that Rick was young. He was escaping where he was and wanting to be his own man to make his own way in life. He didn't need to be given anything. So he just brushed it off as you said. It wasn't until later when Chef Carlos had called the news stations and told them of his heroic efforts. He saved a man's life and that's all that counted."
"Let me go out on a limb here Kate. I'm guessing that after he saved that man's life he conveniently disappeared. am I right?"
"You are. He went North to a car dealership in Illinois and after that, I lost track of him. There was a sporting good store in Pittsburgh that he worked out of but the man I talked to didn't really have nice things to say about him. I think it was because Rick took the job that he wanted."
"Tell me Kate why are you giving me all this background on your boyfriend?"
"Jordan he has a gift that is similar to mine. When I said that we would both be dissected by a government lab I meant it. He has the ability to see three minutes and twenty-two seconds into anyone's future. But if he has any contact with me by touch, he can see seven days into my future. But if he touches me again that path that he had seen earlier now changes to a different path. It's the same with anyone really. He can see your future three minutes and twenty-two seconds into what could be saving your life. I'm not going to get into specifics now but let's just say that you were in the shootout with some bad guys and he knew where the next round that was fired from the bad guy's gun would end up. He would pull you out of the way just to make sure that you would not die."
Jordan takes a very large draw from the straw that sits in her pina colada. She thinks about a couple of things to start with. But she knows, in the end, it would only be something more that she would have to explain. She could use Rick and his gift with telling the future and then she could use Kate to transport her wherever she needed to go to stop those bad guys. But knowing that she gave her a promise she will not use them to her advantage.
"Kate as I said before your secret is safe with me. So what do you say that we get out of here? Heading back to New York City. Because I know that there are certain people who are going to be wondering where we have been for the past hour."
Kate takes hold of Jordan's arm and she waits until the bartender and patrons are looking out at someone who is parasailing a little too close to the beach before she blinks. She of course left enough money to cover the drinks that they had a hefty tip.
Xx
Captain Ben Rhodes, Lieutenant Hannah Baker, and Lieutenant Rob Kennai sit at a booth in the Old Haunt bar. Each has a drink of their choice and they are staring deeply into that drink wondering how this case was ever closed.
"All I can say is that everything is back to normal and the bad guys are behind bars or dead whichever the case may be. But I have a feeling that we will never know the complete outcome." Rob conveys this to his co-workers.
"Rob just because whoever was responsible is now dead because he was blown up with about three pounds of C-4 doesn't mean that we didn't do our job to the best of our ability," Hannah tells him.
"And besides, you did do your job to the best of your ability. The syndicate that caused all this chaos has been taken down thanks to you." Ben tells Rob.
"So don't go thinking that this is something that you had no part in. You successfully got the intel that we needed to take down the German organization that was causing all the problems in our city."
"And look at it this way Rob the Marshal Service has given Rodolfo and Kim a new lease on life. I'm not sure where they are but I hope they use it to the best of their ability." Kim says.
"So tell me what's next up for you guys?" Rob asks.
"That's a simple one. I'm going back to the cyber unit at One Police Plaza." Kim announces proudly.
"Ben what about you?"
"First of all, I can't believe that we dealt with this in less than a week. Captain Gates, who just returned this morning needed a full rundown on what I was doing while she was at her seminar in Chicago. When I explained to her what went on and what we did to get a positive resolution she asked me if I would like to stay as her second-in-command. Now I'm all for anything that has to do with the NYPD and seeing the department advance, but after the last four days and everything that I have been through I decided to turn down her offer and officially put my papers in to retire. I've been on this job for over 35 years and I think it's time to call day. So with that said I wish you both all the good fortune that you come across."
Each of them finishes their drinks and goes their separate ways. Ben did retire and now he plays with his grandchildren in Westchester County from time to time.
Hannah had been instrumental in reducing the impact of the server intrusion and she was rewarded with a promotion to Captain in the cyber unit.
Rob who was part of the FBI was offered his own team. In his mind, he couldn't take the position knowing that he was loyal to Jordan Shaw. He would work with her until he retired ten years later.
Xx
Rick stands watching Jordan and Kate share a deep hug. When they separate he looks at his lifemate and can tell that she is sad that Jordan is leaving. He knows that without her nothing would be what it is today. In essence, she saved more lives than she knows.
Rick watches his Jordan get into a Chevy Suburban and drives off. It's then that Kate turns towards him and walks to where he is.
"Hey, babe. So now that we're done with this case and everything is almost back to normal what do you say we go somewhere?"
"Kate while that sounds like an extraordinary idea I have one thing I need to take care of before we… you know, go anywhere."
The smile that Kate presents to him is something she knows that he'll understand. But then she starts to get worried when she doesn't see him. He was standing right in front of her when she was talking to him and now she can't see him anywhere. Then she looks down to see him kneeling on his right knee. In his hand, he holds a blue velvet box. She knows that it's small enough to hold a ring. He looks up and his blue eyes meet her hazel ones and asks her the question that she has hoped he would ask for so long.
"Kate, I know we make a great team together and we both have gifts that we can both use to do whatever you need to do to solve your cases. But right now I would like to ask you if you would be my wife?"
Tears started streaming down her cheeks. Instead of merely acknowledging his request all she could do was nod her head. Up and down. He rises from his kneeling position removes the ring from the box and places the very large diamond on her ring finger.
"Rick I can't wait to start planning our wedding but in the meantime, I think we have time to go somewhere we both know we will love."
"Kate all you need to do is take my hand and we're both gone."
She did just that. She takes a hold of his forearm and closes her eyes. The next thing he knows he is standing on a beach that looks a lot like Fiji. From where he stands he can see huts that are hovering over the South Pacific Ocean on stilts. He's going to love being married to this woman….
~Fin~
A/N: When I was about halfway through the story I had ideas from someone who grounded me so to speak. Her ideas took this story to a level I thought I could never have achieved. Without her, the last fifteen chapters would not have been posted. DK this is for you!
I say thank you to everyone who has left a review ad let be known that I appreciate them and I do try to get back to everyone who did leave a review. Because without the people who read the stories they would be no one left writing them.
I will have the next chapter for Above and Beyond ready to post in two weeks. When that story is finished I will have one more idea that I want to put out for people who still like reading about Castle. Until next time, stay safe, stay warm, and be kind to each other.
P2P