For the People Chapter 44

As predawn light seeps into their bedroom Kate props herself on one elbow. "Rick, are you up?"

A crooked smile forms on his lips as his eyes open. "In all respects. And the baby monitor is still blessedly quiet. What time is it?"

Kate reaches for her watch on the bedside table. "Five am."

"Then God and Lily willing, we have time. In the mood for a delayed encore?"

Eyes sparking green, Kate swings herself astride his hips. "I can barely remember when we had the time or the energy for any encore. But it was definitely before Lily was born."

Rick reaches for the epicenter of his wife's arousal. "All the more reason to catch up."

Kate jerks at his touch. "Wow! And damn! My milk just let down. You'd better not…."

"I'll stay my hand and other body parts from Lily's breakfast bar, as enticing as it is. But there are plenty of other interesting yet sadly ignored spots to explore."

"I'm going to drip all over the place."

"It's laundry day anyway, and I rinse clean. Relax, Kate. It's part of the package, and I signed on for the whole thing." Pulling himself up against the backboard, Rick brings his lips to Kate's. "The best encores are favorite songs."


Kate tries to keep her face impassive as she exits the grand jury room. The press is always hanging around trying to read tea leaves, but she's determined not to give anything away. Inside, however, she's bursting to tell someone. Not only did Graupel not take the Fifth, he practically spilled his guts. Kate has no doubt that it wasn't out of the goodness of his heart. Rather, it was because his counsel advised it would be the best way to minimize the charges against him and have the prosecution recommend a minimum sentence. Kate doesn't care. She got more than she needed and texted Itzen as soon as she had a second to spare. Hopefully, the judge will set a prompt trial date, and until then, her team will cross every T and dot every I to put Brooks away for as long as possible.

As far as Kate's concerned, Brooks' traitorous behavior against the city he was supposed to serve and protect qualifies him for a life sentence. But she doubts that a judge would agree. Her first order of business now is to thoroughly update her co-counsels and supporting paralegals. After that, she could even make it home for dinner. She might even pick something up. Rick's been more than carrying the home fires load.


"You know," Rick tells a sagely observant Lily, "For most of the day, I've been digging into what was behind that interesting phenomenon you experienced at the market. But the bas… um, bad guys running those companies put up walls within walls to keep out digital curiosity seekers. They have a mail drop in Delaware at the same building where 1200 other corporations also have a mail drop. And the building isn't even as big as our loft. From there the trail is cold. At least that particular trail is cold. I'm sure there's a better one here in New York somewhere, but I'll be da…, um, darned, if I know where.

"On the upside, your mama said she had a very good day, and she's bringing home dinner. Of course, she always brings home yours. But as much as I enjoy the culinary arts, I can use a break from cooking now and then."

"Coo," Lily comments.

"Cooking, right you are. And Mama should be here any minute. So how about if we get you all spruced up and, ew, sweet-smelling before she arrives bearing edible gifts?"

"Ooh."

"Glad you agree." Rick pops out of his chair and clicks his heels. "To the changing table!"


Closing his eyes, Rick savors a spicy-sweet bite of his barbecued rib. "This is incredible! Where did you get it?"

"It's from a pop-up near the courthouse. It just opened today, but it had an A card from the health department, so it must have been planned. Judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, recorders, almost everyone was lining up to get some."

"Well, with food like this, if they want to open a real restaurant, they're well on their way. And I take it that you're also well on your way."

"If you mean that I got the indictment, yes. But that's not the major battle. There's a quote from Bonfire of the Vanities, 'A grand jury would indict a ham sandwich if that's what you wanted.' I think that's a stretch, but if you have any decent evidence, they'll usually go for it. And I had even more evidence than I expected. But now I have to draw a judge and get a trial date. I'm hoping for Willis. He knows how to move things along. But he's also got a full docket, so I could end up with someone else. The case could go to one of over 40 judges. Still, whoever it is, the sooner the better. How's your research going?"

Rick lays down his rib. "On the great garbage truck mystery? It's going nowhere. Whatever ownership I can find reveals almost nothing. You know that privately held companies don't have to do much in the way of disclosures. And believe me, these guys don't."

"Have you checked the court documents for complaints against them?"

"You mean complaints about price gouging? I thought that in this case, that's not illegal."

"Which doesn't keep people from filing complaints. They just get dismissed. But no, I was thinking more about improper disposal, dumping, that kind of thing. If they're only in it for the money, they could be trying to cut corners wherever they can."

Rick smiles as he reaches for the container of coleslaw. "Right, like their unfortunate victims. I hadn't thought about that, Kate. Thanks. I'll look into it."

"And if you find anything, let me know. It might support my case in terms of actual harm to the city or state."

"Ah, the prosecutor has an ulterior motive."

Kate scowls at the accusation. "Actually, I'd been regarding your research in terms of your book. Until this moment, I hadn't thought it could dovetail with what I'm doing."

Rick reaches across the table for her hand. "Sorry. I was out of line. I will let you know if I find anything you can use. Hell, I'll let you know whatever I find and you can figure out of it's useful or not. By the way, this is also excellent coleslaw. Home run with dinner, Kate."

"I wish it were that easy to hit one with a trial."

"You will, as your dad might say, get it over the fence."

"I hope so."


Judge Leah Maynard is not crazy about drawing the case against Chief of Department McKinsey Brooks. That he is a uniformed cop, not a suit, just makes it worse. Two of Leah's brothers are cops, as was her grandfather who walked a beat in Brooklyn. None of them ever wore a suit on the job. And as far as they're concerned, everything is always blamed on the boys, and occasionally girls, in blue. Leah's seen too many cops lying on the stand to take everything an officer says at face value. And fortunately, whether Brooks is guilty or not is up to a jury, not to her. Still, if he's convicted in her courtroom, she'll have hell to pay with her family. The prosecution could have a weak case. Maynard won't know until she hears it. But Kate Beckett's reputation precedes her. She doesn't chase shadows. And as an ex-cop, she's unlikely to come down on a member of the club without good cause. Leah will just have to deal with both sides as impartially as she can. And for a while, she may have to skip family gatherings.