For the People Chapter 41
"You're so adorable!" Lanie coos over the baby in Kate's arms. "You're going to be just beautiful, like your mama."
Rick looks on beaming. "Lily's already beautiful, but I think she has my eyes. They're blue."
Lanie fixes him with a skeptical stare. "That doesn't mean they'll stay that way, Castle. There's no light in the womb to darken them up. Now that she's out, they may change."
"For a godmother, you don't sprinkle much magic," Rick complains.
"Babies have enough magic of their own, Castle. Lily doesn't need any help from me. But," Lanie reaches into her amply sized tote, "I did bring something for my goddaughter." She holds up a purple onesie printed with "I'm cute, Mommy's hot, Daddy's lucky."
Rick regards the tiny garment. "I would have used periods or semicolons between phrases, but otherwise, I agree completely."
"That's sweet, Lanie. Thank you. Do you want to hold her?" Kate offers.
Lanie rolls her eyes. "That's what I've been waiting to do since I came in here." Under Rick's vigilant gaze, Lanie takes the baby from Kate. "So when are they letting you out of here?"
"As soon as she poops – Kate, not Lily," Rick declares. "The doctor wants to make sure there aren't any kinks in the plumbing. I haven't been this anxious for something inanimate to emerge since I was potty-training Alexis. But as I recall, Lily's sister was extraordinarily proud of depositing her output in the appropriate receptacle."
Kate pushes up against her pillows. "I don't need to be proud. I just want to get out of here and take Lily home."
Rick takes his wife's hand. "Which makes two of us."
Three months later
Kate surveys herself in the full-length mirror in the loft's master bath. The effects of her workouts in-between feedings, changings, and trying desperately to grab a nap, have returned her abdomen to its original appearance. At least it looks the same with her clothes on. Despite the cocoa butter and more pricey recommended products, she still has stretch marks. Rick refers to them as a badge of honor and she suspects he might even mean it. But she hates having anything about her body that she can't control.
However, Kate's convinced she at least has control over her return to work. She'll be starting back part-time with, except for Mertree's sentencing hearing, the boring but necessary load of charges to be pleaded out. She had a small refrigerator installed in her office to keep pumped milk, and she can lock her door while she's pumping. Rick will have the baby by himself for about six hours a day. He can take her along to most of the places he goes. And if he has a meeting or appearance where he can't, they have sitters, including Alexis, Martha, and Jim Beckett, ready to take over temporarily. Everything's taken care of and organized. She's ready to go. She just wishes her flip-flopping stomach got the message.
Shapiro sticks his head in the door of Kate's office. "Beckett, I know you wanted to work your way back into your caseload gradually, but something unexpected just came up. Put aside whatever you're doing and meet me in my office."
"Shut the door," Shapiro instructs when Kate steps into his domain. "Have a seat. Do you remember Victoria Gates?"
"Head of IA? Of course. If she hadn't pushed the case against Mertree, we never could have nailed him."
"Right. Well, Mertree wasn't the only big investigation she was working on. It wasn't even the biggest. She believes most of the rot in the NYPD begins at the top, so she's been scrutinizing operations at 1PP for years. And just this morning, she informed me she has the goods to go after the Chief of Department, McKinsey Brooks."
"He's the highest-ranking uniformed officer."
"But not nearly as visible as the Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner. Gates has been gathering evidence that Brooks is on the take to protect certain organizations from enforcement activities."
Kate's eyes widen. "Is he taking money from the families?"
"Not the families, a lot bigger, and not as close to home. You know a lot of foreign interests like to acquire businesses and property in New York City."
"Sure, this city is one of the Russian's favorite money laundries."
"And the Russians aren't the only ones using the city for the spin cycle."
"Isn't the Southern District going after that? It's more of a Federal thing, and it's their specialty."
"The SDNY is building cases against a lot of foreign actors and their conspirators in this country for the actual purchases. But the local activity that goes along with them is more of a problem for us. Increasingly, those properties and companies are being used to take over local businesses and push out competitors. And the means to do it often aren't legal. But Gates believes that Brooks has been steering investigations away from his patrons and spreading some of their cash around to make it happen. Until recently, she's just been amassing documents. Still, that's all circumstantial. But she used what she had to flip Brooks' number one, Lindsey Graupel. She's ready to go with the case, ASAP, and after your success with Mertree, she thinks you should be in charge. I agree."
Kate's teeth snag her lower lip. "If Gates has that many documents it's going to take time to go over them and make sure they match up with Graupel's statements. We can get an indictment with just a portion of them, but once we do, the cat's out of the bag. Even if we get a judge to seal it, for police corruption at that level, one of the courthouse hounds will sniff something out for the Ledger or ZNN."
"Which is why you'll need to have all your trial prep done and ready to go the minute the indictment comes down. You'll have the people, Beckett, including extra paralegals. I'll make sure you have whatever other resources you need, but you'll have to move fast. I know I authorized your present schedule, but this case could mean going full-time sooner than you planned. Can you do that?"
"I need to talk to my husband. I promised him he wasn't going to have to raise Lily alone the way he did his older daughter when his ex-wife skipped out on them. But when he worked with the NYPD, he got almost as furious at the crap coming down from 1PP as I did. So I think he'll understand, but we'll have to figure out how to make it work. Can I let you know tomorrow?"
"Early tomorrow, Beckett. We need to get rolling on this right away."
Rick eyes Kate as she shoves breastmilk from her cooler into the refrigerator. "I haven't seen a frowny face like that since the case of diapers we ordered was late. What's wrong?"
"What could be the right thing – if it weren't the wrong time. We need to talk. Is Lily asleep?"
"I just put her down. She should be in baby dreamland until she gets hungry for Mama's special blend. So you want to have something to eat first or dive right in to talking?"
Kate drops into a seat at the table. "Might as well dive right in. Chief of Department Brooks is dirty. Captain Gates, the cop who nailed Mertree, has the evidence. She told Shapiro she thinks I should take the case. He agrees."
"I agree too. After your success with Mertree, you're the perfect person to handle corruption up the chain. So, I ask again, why the frowny face?"
"Because he thinks I might have to work full time. That could mess up everything we planned out. Wait! Why are you laughing?"
"Kate, how long have we been working together? I saw you live on coffee, refusing to sleep until you cracked a murder. And you were up to your ears on Baird and on Duffy. I never believed you'd be slowing down for long. And we always said you were going to work back into full time. We just didn't know how fast it would happen."
"But I promised I wouldn't leave you with the full load of taking care of Lily."
"You won't. You'll still be able to pump, won't you?"
"I think so."
"And you'll come home whenever you can?"
"Of course."
"And maybe, if you get a break, I can bring Lily to you sometimes."
"Maybe. Shapiro's giving me paralegals. They can handle a lot."
"And you won't be running off to have an affair with a director?"
A smile blooms on Kate's lips as she rolls her eyes. "No. And if I tried, I'd probably drip all over him the way I did on you the last time we had a chance to…."
Rick grins. "I remember. At least it was warm. All right, then. Whatever happens, we'll figure it out. Like always."
Kate's palm cradles Rick's face. "Like always."
