Becks Takes A Vacation
CHAPTER TWELVE
Guy was able to get Sue up the slope of the hill with no trouble. Over the years she'd seen Guy, and Coyote, show a lot of amazing abilities in strength, agility, and speed. But she was most impressed by his heart. For all that he was the Spirt of Mischief and Trickery, he was never mean spirited nor had she ever seen him inflict severe damage to a living creature.
They crested the hilltop and moved slowly toward the Jeep. It had taken significant time to destroy the drug producing compound but when they approached it was like no one had moved from where they were when Sue and Guy had left.
"Sue! Are you hurt?" Becks was still sitting on the hood of the jeep, concern for Sue obvious in the tone of her voice.
Sue let slip a slight chuckle. "Just tired. It's going to take me awhile to get back to full power."
Becks nodded. "While you were down there having all the fun, Joseph went and brought my dirt bike back from where I hid it and put it on the rack in back."
Sue gave her old friend a smile. "Thank you." Sue moved over toward the driver's door. "We've got to get Becks to a doctor to get her patched up properly, but I'd really like to avoid having to report gunshot wounds to some local law enforcement. Especially since it happened in a foreign country."
Joseph shrugged. "Maybe we can stop at the reservation again. I'm sure Warren can help us again. He was also a medic in Viet Nam. That's where we met. I would think that he'd have access to clean sterile bandages and antiseptics."
Sue smiled. "Alright we have a plan."
Becks carefully slide off the hood into Joseph's arms to steady her and keep weight off her injured calf. He walked her over to the back seat of the Jeep and helped her settle in. He then walked over to the other side and got in back with her. He whistled and Jocko sprinted over and leapt on his lap. Most of the wolf was on Joseph, but his head lay on Becks lap where she began to scratch behind his ears with a smile on her face.
"There's no reason your friend has to continue running alongside of the vehicle." Joseph explained. "Jocko will behave from now on."
Becks leaned down and whispered in the wolf's ear. "You'll be a good boy won't you buddy." The wolf just closed his eyes as Becks strong fingers worked their magic on Jocko's head.
Sue was laughing as she got into the car. Guy just smiled.
The trip to the Red Lake Band Reservation seemed to take less time to get back there then it had from the res to their final destination. It was a bit different seeing it in the daytime. At least the daytime that they had left. There were more people moving about. The Mini Mart seemed to be doing a bang up business.
Joseph directed them to his friend Warren's place. It was a nice single level slab foundation home at the end of a block. They pulled up into the drive and were soon greeted by the amiable friend of Joseph's.
They quickly outlined the problem they had with Becks' injuries and hoped he could help. Luckily he kept a well-stocked first aid kit. Many of the people there knew of his background and went to him for help with minor injuries rather than the reservation doctor who charged them for his services.
Becks was helped out of the Jeep and brought over to a well-padded stool in his den.
Sue remembered Warren saying something about a repeater cell tower on the reservation.
"Excuse me Warren," Sue interrupted him while he was pulling out some supplies. "Do you know if your tower would allow me to reach Winnipeg?"
Warren stopped and pursed his lips. "I believe it would if your cell service provider also has connections with Winnipeg."
She thanked him and let herself out of the house and around the back of the house. She pulled out her phone and a small notebook where she kept addresses and phone numbers of people she knew or has had contact with over the years. She quickly located the personal phone number she had for Dustin Arenson, the Mountie that she knew from a few meetings they'd had in the past.
Surprisingly it rang right away. She hadn't been worried about the distance, mostly the somewhat mountainous terrain and the service provider. She also figured she'd get better results by calling him directly rather than by trying to go through normal channels.
After the third ring he answered. "Sue, what a pleasant surprise. I hope this is a social call and not an official one."
Sue bit down on her lip. "Sorry Dust, I've run into an interesting problem up around your way."
"What do you mean?"
Sue took in a deep breath. "I sort of ran across a drug processing operation up just north of the Minnesota border."
"What?"
"Yeah, just a short way north of the border and about 60 kilometers west of The Angle, there is a big prefabbed metal warehouse. The name on the roof is McKinney Tractor Company."
She could hear the exasperation in his voice. "Sue, what where you doing there?"
She shrugged even though she knew he couldn't see her. "You know me. I was following a lead. Unfortunately, a colleague of mine got there before me and got herself in a touch of trouble. I had to get her out."
She heard a big sigh over the phone. "Is there anything left?"
"Well, the head of the operation, along with three flunkies are secured in a rolling dumpster. The building they used for processing was… accidently burned to the ground." She heard another sigh and could imagine Dustin rolling his eyes.
"Is there anything left?" He asked.
"The large warehouse that they used to grow the poppy plants is still standing. They had converted it into a hot house to grow the plants. They had the whole chain going. From inception all the way through to distribution." She paused. "I should tell you that the place was heated with a steam boiler that has been damaged and is inoperable. And the electric generator that provided all the electricity to run the place, including the banks of grow lights was destroyed in the fire that took the processing building. I guess it wasn't too smart to use a log building for that."
"Sue, I'm not sure how I'm going to pull this off, but I'll do what I can to find a reason to get out there, and accidently come across the devastation I'm sure you left behind."
She smiled. "Thanks, I always knew you were a standup guy. I'll contact you in a couple days to see where things are. Maybe I'll be able to get your name in a major magazine?"
"Don't do me any favors, Sue. Your favors always seem to backfire."
"Ha ha, I happen to know that all you underappreciated lawmen love to get your names in print. I'll be talking to you soon. Thanks a ton, Dust. Bye."
She thumbed her phone off and went back inside to see how things were going.
When she got in Becks was all wrapped up in something that wasn't her silk pajamas. Warren had also given her a walking stick so she could get around. Becks was in the middle of trying to give the stick back to Warren.
"No, I couldn't possibly keep this." She held out the beautifully carved staff of some sort of highly figured wood. "There is no way I could get it back to you."
Warren laughed. "It's not a problem. I'll just get Joseph to make me another one."
Becks turned to the old Indian. "You made this?" Joseph nodded. "It's gorgeous."
"Thank you." He shrugged. "It's something to do with my hands on the cold winter nights."
Becks held the elegant walking stick in her hands as a single tear escaped her eye.
Sue walked over and hugged Warren. "Thank you so much for your help, both earlier and patching up Becks."
Warren smiled. "I didn't have to do much. Joseph was always good at field patching."
Sue didn't ask. She just thanked him again and rounded up her charges. She wanted to get Joseph and Jocko home before it was real late. The sun had set and it would be getting dark soon.
The trip back to Joseph's place was uneventful. Everyone had piled into the Jeep in the same configuration as before, with Sue and Guy in the front and the other three in the back. Joseph and Becks were side by side and Jocko laid across them, with Becks slowly using her nails to comb through Jocko's long dark fur. The old wolf fell asleep.
After dropping off Joseph and Jocko, and the time it took for Becks' and Jocko's extended goodbye, Sue turned toward Becks who had stretched her leg out in the back seat.
"Are you alright, you're crying."
Becks sucked on her bottom lip. "I'm going to miss him."
Sue smiled. She didn't have ask who she was going to miss.
Two very tired young women, or one young woman and another woman who didn't look nearly her age, stumbled into Sue's cabin under the stars. Guy just smirked at them.
One of his annoying proclivities was neither Guy nor Coyote seemed to tire. He was always up for anything. Sue knew he slept on occasion, but she wasn't sure it was anything like what passed for sleep in normal humans. Sometimes she felt he faked sleep just to avoid talking about something he wasn't interested in.
She had known Coyote for many years now, and she still hardly knew anything about him. She just knew he was reliable and fun, and that was enough for her.
Sue immediately opened the fridge and began rummaging through the shelves. It suddenly hit her that they hadn't eaten in over a day and a half. She didn't know how she was still standing. Becks went right over to the coffee pot.
"Are you sure you want to do that? It might just keep you up?"
Becks glared at her.
Sue laughed. "Suit yourself."
They all took plates with sandwich fixings on it along with their beverages of choice. Becks had her coffee, Sue had some juice, and Guy had a bottle of beer.
Becks stuffed half the sandwich in her mouth and turned to Sue. "So, tell me what happened when you went down to the warehouse."
She grinned. "Well we did take your advice and I imagine those four clowns aren't all that comfortable sharing that dumpster."
Becks broke out laughing. "Serves them right. They were jerks. Well the two that I interacted with were jerks."
Sue then proceeded to give Becks the full story of what she and Guy had done while they were down there.
Becks' reactions went from laughter to amazement and back again several times. She was just glad that it was all over. She finished her coffee and laid her head back.
Everyone was silent for several minutes. Then Sue broke the quiet. "So, you've been out here less than a week. Are you going to pick up your vacation where you left off?"
Becks looked over at her but shook her head. "I'll admit that with the sightseeing I indulged myself I saw some pretty remarkable sights. I took in a lot of natural beauty, but I'm afraid that I'm just not built for too much of that peace and quiet majesty. I'm a big city girl and if it's too quiet for more than a couple days I get itchy."
Sue laughed. "So what are you going to do?"
"Well, if you don't mind." Becks started. "I'm going to sleep as long as I physically can, then get up. Drink some coffee, thank you profusely for the wild time we had, then leave you in peace."
Sue rolled her eyes. "That doesn't sound like fun."
Becks shook her head. "Oh, I'm just getting started. I'm going to stop at the Antler Inn and order a gigantic breakfast, call Rick and Kate to see if Kate is climbing the walls yet, then head for Duluth." Becks dissertation was interrupted by a huge yawn. "I'll spend a little time in Duluth buying cheesy souvenirs to give to my friends back home. I might stop at one of the casinos and try my luck for a while, then head down to 'The Cities' and see about changing my return flight to a sooner one."
Sue chuckled as she got up from her chair. "Well, it seems like you have your itinerary all figured out." She reached down and squeezed Becks' arm. "I can't thank you enough to the help on this. I'd never have been able to pull it off without you."
Becks smiled. "It was my pleasure."
True to her word, Becks slept in till nearly nine A.M. She stumbled into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee without realizing how the full pot got there.
She was pouring the hot beverage down her throat when she saw Sue coming out of her bedroom.
"Hey," Becks mumbled in greeting.
Sue laughed. "Well I see you finally were able to get up, and were even able to dress yourself."
Becks nodded like a bobble head doll. "Yeah, it wasn't too bad. Of course I wore a button down shirt because I couldn't lift my arm above my head." They both laughed.
Sue had something she was hiding behind her back. Becks gave her the squinty eye.
"What are you hiding from me? Is it my bill for my stay here?"
They both laughed. "No," Sue said. "I just wanted you to have a memento of your time up here. I dug this out of a box of pictures from before the days of phone photos."
She handed Becks what looked like an old Polaroid photo. Becks instantly began to tear up. It was a photo of a younger Joseph Grey Bear standing in front of his cabin and right beside him was a handsome black and silver Timber Wolf.
Becks held it in her hand. "I can't take this from you. This is precious."
Sue nodded. "Which is why I have several." Sue wiped a tear back. "You need something to remember this adventure."
Becks let go a watery laugh. "Like I could ever forget."
The two women hugged. Then Becks went in and grabbed her things.
The flight into New York from MSP, was long and boring. She found herself pulling the picture out and looking at it frequently. It made her smile.
The line for her baggage claim wasn't bad and she was out the door looking for a cab when she spotted a well-dressed man holding a sign with her name on it.
She rolled her suitcase over to the man. "I'm Rebecca Beckett."
He smiled. "Mr. Castle was correct you do look a lot like Mrs. Castle."
Becks rolled her eyes. "Cousins."
She followed the man to the limousine. He took her suitcase from her and stored it in the trunk, then opened the door for her
She noticed that the driver was taking her to Castle's loft instead of to her apartment. She asked why. He told her his instructions were to bring her to the loft. She didn't argue.
The ride was pleasant and in less time than she thought it would take, he was opening the door for her and handing her the suitcase and walking stick. She reached for her wallet but he stopped her.
"All gratuities have been prepaid." He smiled and left her at the front entrance to Castle's building.
It felt strange walking up to Castle's door using the walking stick to keep her steady and with a suitcase in tow. She only had knocked one time when the door flew open and a grinning Rick Castle stood in front of her. He let her in, closed the door and gave her a big hug, which caused her to cry out.
Castle jumped back with a look of concern. "What's wrong?"
Becks rolled her eyes. "I kind of got shot in the shoulder."
"What!"
A very pregnant Kate stepped out of the bedroom. "What's the yelling about?"
Rick turned to Kate. "Becks was shot."
"What!"
Becks waved off their concern. "It's not a big deal. It was a through and through, no damage beyond muscle tissue."
Rick and Kate sat down on the couch as Becks took the lounge chair.
"So what happened?"
Becks dropped her head. "It's a long story. Can we wait until after dinner to talk about it? I'm starving."
Kate laughed. "Well it's good then that Rick has been cooking all afternoon."
Castle was antsy. "So if you won't tell us about your dangerous adventure, is there anything else you wish to share?"
Becks had to bit her lips as a smirk tried to fight its way onto her face.
"Well I have a boyfriend now."
Both Rick and Kate stared at her. "What?" Came the harmonic response.
Becks nodded. "Yep, I met him up in Northern Minnesota."
Kate had a wary smile on her face. "What's he like?"
Becks looked up at the ceiling. "Well, he's really sweet, and cute." Becks gave them a look of complete innocence. "I have an old picture, would you like to see?"
They both nodded eagerly.
She pulled the photo Sue gave her out of her jacket pocket and came over and sat between them. She flipped up the picture.
Rick looked confused. "This old Indian guy? He's got to be sixty if he's a day."
"That's Joseph. Actually, he's seventy. I told you it's an old picture. But he's not my new boyfriend." She points at the other figure in the photo.
"He's my new boyfriend, his name is Jocko."
FIN.
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A/N: Well that wraps up this little tale. My thanks to all of you who spent the time to read my efforts. As I had mentioned before, I liked the Becks character (well she is a Kate Beckett after all) so I was always thinking of a way to bring her back. Also, I had readers tell me that they'd like to see Sue Thomas again, so why not kill two stones with one bird… or something like that. I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you.
As always, All Readers are greatly Appreciated, Review if you wish.