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Chapter 7
Kate fidgeted beneath her kevlar, it was warm within the airport, and these foreign dignitaries seemed to be taking their time about it all.
The team were feeling it too, they crawled through sewers, perched in freezing cold bolt holes for hours on end, guns trained at threats. They ran into situations angels feared to tread, yet give them a comfortable room, regular refreshment and no imminent threat, and they struggled to stay awake, never mind alert.
"Heads up guys" Kate said, standing straighter and trying to focus her attention back from what she had been daydreaming about "Here they come"
"Damn" came a small growl from her left. Marty 'Cookie' Cook forced his attention back from the pretty woman who stood behind the desk.
Kate laughed "You got yourself a date there Cookie?" she teased.
"Almost" he sighed.
Duane 'Harlem' Majors snorted "Poor girl" he observed "She dunno what she's lettin' herself in for!"
"Shut it Harlem" Cookie replied "You're jealous"
"Hey I got a beautiful wife at home" he said.
"Ssssh" Kate admonished them as the party swept past them. They followed on at the back, Kate taking lead point, the team falling into the regular attack formation behind her.
"I feel like a right prick" Leon Pedesky muttered as he swept the room from the back "The most dangerous thing in here is Chuck's guts"
"Fuck off Pedesky" grumbled Charlie 'Chuck' Grey.
"Just get it done" Kate said, her voice holding authority.
They dived into the two armoured cars outside, Kate driving one and Helen Roe, a new comer to the team driving the other, with three officers in each. Kate saw Helen take on the sidewalk to get to the front of the long line of black and sparkling cars that held the party they were assigned to protect. Kate was almost bumper to bumper with the last car in the line.
"Who decided the women get to drive?" Leon asked.
"I did!" Kate gave him a sideways look as they hurtled through town streets, headlights and blues flashing "You got issues with that?"
"Not if we get there alive" he said, earning himself snorts of laughter from Cookie.
"I can drive with one hand and shoot you with the other" Kate warned as she swung the car into the hotel underground car park, blocking the entrance with it. Helen had stopped further along, near the lifts to the main hotel and her and the other two team members covered the party as they alighted quickly.
Kate shook her head as the security team came last, swinging guns and dark eyes in every direction.
"These guys are paranoid" she said as they parked the cars.
"They're worth a lot of dollar" Harlem observed.
"OK" Kate said "Lets get on it, Helen, Harlem, Pedesky, south side, we'll take the north end, stay awake" she warned as they made for the stairs.
…...
"Hey Jo?" Don smiled as he walked into her office, totally in contrast to the last time he was there.
"Well hello Detective Flack" she grinned "Someone's looking chirpy"
He brushed aside her comment with a self conscious wave of his hand "You speak to Adam?"
"Yes I did" she replied "And I'm thinking we need to speak to the sister again"
"I think so" he nodded "As much as I'd like to, I don't think we can pin Harley's murder on those debt collectors"
"Me neither" she mused "That leads us back to the sister, I just can't believe..." Jo stopped, frowning.
"I know" they fell into step along the hall as he answered her unasked comment "It seems rough, and out of character, and just plain horrible to contemplate slashing the wrists of someone you love, never mind actually doing it"
"Do you have the warrant?" Jo asked.
"Search warrant? Yeah" he said with a small smile "Friend at the DA's office helps me out from time to time, it was tricky, but she pulled it off"
"She?!" Jo arched her eyebrows at him "Kate know about this 'friend'?!"
He held his palm up as Jo punched the elevator button for the ground floor "I'm strictly a one woman man" he laughed "And Kate is far too good a shot to mess with like that anyway"
"But this 'friend'" Jo persisted "She has a crush on you right?"
"Maybe" he shrugged, grinning.
Jo gave him an indulgent look "Well if there's any evidence at her place, we'll find it" she changed the subject.
…...
Danny and Lindsay entered the plush office, looking around them.
"Boom" Danny said "This place is nice"
"This guy is our Mr X" Lindsay said as they sat in a waiting room larger then their apartment "I managed to track it right back to his own computer"
"You did?" Danny gave her a sceptical look "Or Adam did?"
Lindsay grinned at him from under her lashes "I did"
"No you didn't!" he accused "I spoke to Flack, he saw you! You snuck off back to the lab to get Adam to trace it for you while you ran Flack's fingerprint analysis in return, talk about a good deal!"
Lindsay was saved an answer as the receptionist stood, gaining their attention.
"Officers?" she said "Mr Rodgers will see you now"
"Thank you" Lindsay said, then flashing Danny a look of pure innocence "I have no idea what you mean"
"Pah!" Danny said with a laugh as they entered another larger and more luxurious office.
"Nathan Rodgers?" Lindsay opened.
"Yes" a man in his early 40's stood from behind the desk "How can I help you?"
"We'd like to talk to you about an anonymous email you sent to journalist students at NYU" Danny said, sitting on a chair he could have quite easily fallen asleep in.
"Ah the internship" Rodgers smiled "What of it, what I did is not illegal is it?"
"Not in itself" Lindsay replied "But it's not very patriotic, encouraging students to find a sensational story and get it published at any expense"
"I merely offered the internship to inspire people, to separate the wood from the tree, so to speak" Rodgers leaned back in his chair "What students choose to do to get their story, I can hardly be held accountable for"
"That depends" Danny said "What your motivation is. I understand that this company is an engineering firm, what association would you have with the press?"
"Everyone has association with the press" Rodgers smiled "News is what keeps the world turning, along with love and money of course" he flashed a sickly smile at Lindsay "I find good journalism intriguing, I want to help to keep the flow of good journalists through our city"
"But why Mr X?" Danny asked "Why be anonymous?"
"I'm sure you understand that a man in my position, needs to protect his interests" Rodgers smiled again "By being anonymous I can protect those interests better"
"Well thank you" Lindsay stood to leave, Danny frowned, but followed her lead "Thank you for your time"
Rodgers also stood "Any time" he shook her hand "Can I trust that I will remain anonymous?"
"As long as you not broke the law" Danny muttered as they left.
Outside he turned to Lindsay "I don't like that guy, there's something about him"
"I know" Lindsay mused "But softly softly catchee monkey"
"What?" Danny looked perplexed "You been reading Lucy's books again?!"
…...
Don watched Jo speaking to Casey Harley through the two way mirror. Jo had practically thrown him out at one point, as he really got into his stride, describing what he suspected her of doing to her brother in detail. It'd worked though, he thought to himself, slightly defensive, she'd broken down.
"What I don't understand" Jo said softly "I why that way? Why his wrists? An overdose would have been so much kinder for you both"
Casey wiped her tears, Don scowled. He had no time for murderers, especially ones that lied to him and led him a merry dance around New York before coming back to the same place.
"It was so people would think that he'd done it himself" she sobbed "So I wouldn't be found out. He said that he'd cancelled his care calls, cancelled the alert bracelet and got rid of all the equipment, so when they found him, they would think it was straight suicide"
"He didn't bank on anyone digging deeper?" Jo probed.
"No" she said, clearly distressed "He was so angry, so sad. I couldn't see him like that, he begged me, you understand what that's like? To have someone you love in so much pain? To beg you to end that pain?"
"I don't" Jo admitted "I hope I never need to find out"
…...
Don groaned in pleasure as Kate released the tension in his shoulders "Oh you're good at that"
"I know" she said smugly "Though you should be massaging my shoulders"
"I offered" he said lazily "But you say I'm too rough"
"You are" she replied "You practically break my bones!"
He sighed "Can I ask you somethin'?"
"Yeah"
"If something happened to me, like I was ill or something, or on life support, would you ya know, turn it off?" he asked.
"Wow" she said, surprised "Wasn't expecting that"
"Sorry" he said "But would you?"
"For the next month" she said "It's your mothers call, not mine"
"She'd ask you" he replied "You know she would"
"Would you want me to?" she countered.
"I don't know" he mused "If there was no hope, then yeah, I guess so"
"Then that's what I'd do" she said "Maybe I'd unplug the machine and plug it back in, ya know, see if that rebooted you"
He laughed "Might work"
"What brought this on?" she asked.
He ignored her "Would you want me to?" he pressed "Pull the plug? If there was no hope"
"Yeah" she said "I don't wanna be hanging around cramping your style"
He stilled her hands, pulling them onto his chest and holding then there, turning her wrists to face him. For all she was tough and strong, he could see the small jump of her pulse under the pale skin, the fragile veins criss crossing her wrists.
"I can't imagine..." he stopped.
"What?" she probed "What's wrong?"
"Nothing" he smiled "Come on, you only got an hour before you need to leave for work again. I'm not liking these shifts"
"Me neither" she yawned "But you're not getting away with it, come on spit it out"
"That case I just worked? The disabled guy? His sister did it, she slashed his wrists to help him end it all. He couldn't do it himself so she did, he was depressed, no hope of recovery" he said.
"Seems a bit brutal" Kate said "There are easier ways, even shooting someone"
"I know" he replied "She said he wanted her to not get caught, and he banked on it being ruled suicide straight away with it being slashed wrists, I was so shocked, and disgusted but listening to her... I don't know, I kinda understood"
"It must be hard watching someone you love suffer like that" she said "Knowing you can't do anything"
"I still don't think I could do that though" he replied.
"That's why you're the cop" she told him, leaning down and resting her chin on his shoulder "It must have been awful, for both of them"
"I think it was" he sighed "I kind of admire how much she loved him, I couldn't have done that for Sam"
…...