Roots and Seeds
a Law and Order: CI story
by RoadrunnerGER
Disclaimer: Dick Wolf still has not agreed to sell them, so they're not mine. This is just for fun and practice.
17
Getting the call from Declan had surprised Bobby. He wondered why he had not answered his calls earlier and so he awaited his former mentor's arrival anxiously. While he waited he watched the passer-bys out on the street and sipped at his coffee from time to time. He had not known the diner before but it was easy enough to find and the coffee was drinkable. He desperately needed coffee. Screaming Naomi had made that necessary. A caffeine boost was very welcome.
I still can't believe that Nicole is dead. It can't be her. Not like that. It's impossible.
Massaging his throbbing temples he tried to clear his head. He had to concentrate on the case not get lost in his irrational grief.
Grief it was, he realized. He grieved for Nicole Wallace. Even though she had forced it on him he mourned for the mother of his daughter.
For now Bobby had to quit his musings because Declan Gage entered the diner and strode directly over to his table by the window.
"Hello, Bobby," Declan greeted.
Bobby just acknowledged his presence with a nod. "I tried to call," he said as Declan dropped in the chair opposite of him.
"I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't answer your calls right then." He stopped a waitress with a gesture, ordering, "Coffee and two pieces of apple pie, please. Thank you."
"Where have you been?" Bobby spat, venting his concern for his former mentor. "Why did you leave the hospital? You would've been safe there!"
"I didn't feel safe, Bobby. If she wanted to get me then she would eventually. I didn't intend on waiting for her."
Silence fell and Bobby took another gulp of his coffee.
"So, what about Miss Wallace? Did you catch her yet?" Declan wanted to know.
Bobby hesitated just for a moment. "She's dead."
"Dead?" Declan sounded honestly surprised. "Did you shoot her?"
"No."
Declan nodded thoughtfully. The waitress served his order and Declan paid for both of them.
"How did she die? Was it an accident?"
Leaning forward and keeping his voice low to avoid other guests hearing what he had to say he told Declan, "I got a package that contained her heart."
"Wow! That's inventive. How did you get it?"
"In a card I received she hinted at a certain place where I then found the box."
"So, she led you to her own heart."
"That's what the M.E. wants me to believe."
"Yeah, but you don't!" Declan exclaimed with an enthusiasm as if he just discovered that the earth was a globe and not a disc. "Or maybe you just can't accept it. Your greatest nemesis, brought down by someone else."
Frowning deeply Bobby glowered at him and waited for him to continue. When Declan spoke again he sounded like a precocious professor.
"Fine, working theory… Nicole had a partner who turned on her."
Leaning back in his chair Bobby contemplated that assumption. His features contorted with concentration. "So-someone who… knows her history with me.
With a broad smile Declan held up his hands in a way of presentation. "You."
"Me."
Declan paused for a few seconds for effect. "You're being set up. They're probably already investigating. Like I was," across the table he slapped Bobby with his hat, "when Eames was kidnapped. I never blamed you. C'mon!" He pushed one plate over to Bobby. "Don't you want your pie? C'mon."
Reluctantly Bobby tasted the apple pie. It was good. Realizing only now that he was actually hungry he devoured it with just a few forkfuls.
"Hmm, my daughter was very clever," Declan said out of the blue, remembering how she had framed him.
"How is Jo?" Bobby wanted to know, now that Declan raised the subject.
"She's very well, considering. The irony is we spend more time together now than ever before. She's an intriguing case…"
His voice trailed off and he wiped at his mouth with a paper napkin. He got up and gathered his brief case. Leaning over to Bobby he told him, "Go through your case files. It's someone from your past. Don't rule anyone out. You'll have to ask yourself, Bobby: Who benefits from all this?"
He made a prompting gesture, pushing Bobby to make the right conclusion, turned around and left the diner.
Bobby remained sitting for another moment. He knew that he should return to work, but he was not in the mood for anything but his brooding. So far he did not know what Declan meant even though he felt like he was just about to figure it out. Finally he picked up his binder and left, too.
xXx
Alex was not happy with checking her husband's telephone records. Next thing I know Ross will ask me for his alibi.
She worked together with Bishop and when they went to meet Ross in interrogation room two Bishop did the talking.
"Goren's luds and cell records. No calls to Phoenix or Pittsfield."
"He's smart enough to use a no name cell, someone else's email." He shrugged. "Just a theory."
"Based on nothing," Alex retorted.
That was when a man came in without bothering to knock first, already starting to talk, "Hey, Captain, I've gone through those accounts you gave me…" He stopped awkwardly when he spotted Alex.
"Simmons is taking a look at your partner's finances," Ross explained the sudden appearance of their coworker.
"Ask me!" Alex exploded. "My husband had medical bills. He went six months without a paycheck. He's not flush!"
"She's right," Simmons confirmed hesitantly, reading from his papers. "He's got credit union loans, he's got charge card debts and he pays the minimum."
"You've looked at life insurance?" Ross demanded to know.
"Uh, not yet. Just… take one second," he threw his clipboard on the table and rushed over to the laptop, "to run the check."
"Start with Frank Goren," Ross ordered.
"Frank?" Alex was stunned. Why would he ask for Frank? Well, the detective in her knew the reason, but as Bobby's wife she avoided that thought. "He lived hand to mouth. He didn't have a job or credit. How could he have life insurance?"
"Well, this has just popped up. A Gen Life policy in Frank Goren's name." Straightening up from his crouching position in front of the computer he adjusted his glasses. "It is for 500,000 dollar."
"Who is the beneficiary?" Ross asked unapologetically.
"William Brady," Simmons told him.
Silence fell over the interrogation room. Bishop did not know what that meant, but Ross and Alex knew it. Shooting Alex a dark glance Ross left for his office.
Shrugging helplessly at Alex Simmons hurried off, too. Bishop shuffled her papers together awkwardly and followed him.
Alex walked past her on her way to Ross office. She reached it just when the captain entered.
"There's an explanation," she said heatedly.
"William Brady is the name Goren used when he went undercover at Tates. Why is there a policy on Frank's life in that name?"
"Someone went to a lot of trouble to set Goren up!" she fired her theory at him, but he would not listen to her.
"I'll have to go upstairs with this…" he told her, stuffing files into his briefcase. "Get him a psych consultation."
Exactly that moment chose Bobby to barge into his office, pushing the door open with so much momentum that the blinds clattered against the glass.
"Someone checked my luds," he started, glaring at Ross furiously. Finding Alex in the office surprised him and he needed a second to recover from the shock. "My credit union accounts… my emails… Do you think that I'm a suspect?"
He had intended to confront Ross with it, but now he accused Alex.
"Bobby… right now you are a suspect," she had to admit. "But I'm…"
"Do you think I'm capable of something like that?" he pushed.
Now was not the time to back down, though she could clearly see the hurt in his dark chocolate eyes. He felt betrayed and she could not resent him that feeling.
"You called Frank the night he was murdered, Detective," Ross told him. "Did you go over to his apartment when he didn't answer?"
Bobby snorted. "You think that I would kill my own brother?"
"You're a detective," Ross stated the obvious. "What should I think? You're under sustained stress. Your mother's death, your suspension…" He made a pause for effect. "Your father?"
From the entrance Bobby slowly walked up to Ross, measuring him with his intense gaze.
"My father?!" he screamed, punching with his left hand at Ross's direction without the intent of actually hitting him. Then he added accusatorily, "Your girlfriend tell you that?"
Unnoticed by the men Alex shook her head. What Bobby was doing was not a good idea.
"You don't have the guts to ask me yourself?" Bobby accused his captain, his agitation clearly audible in his voice.
"I'm asking you now."
For a fleeting moment Bobby looked as if he would shed tears of rage. Then he calmly went to the door where he opened his binder to take out a few pages.
"You wanna pry? Here!" he shouted, throwing the pages to Ross's feet at the floor. "Knock yourselves out!"
"That's not what this is about," Alex tried to reason with him, but all she got as response was an awfully hurt look. We'll have a pleasant evening tonight, she mused.
"Yeah, my father, he was a killer," Bobby said, considerably calmer now. Actually he was forcing himself to reduce the volume of his voice. It was hard. He went to the door and opened it, then he approached Ross again. "Now, so I'm that, too. Is that it?" he challenged, towering right in front of Ross who did not back off. "Yeah, I'm a killer."
Both men tried to face each other down. They stood in a staring contest, also trying to judge each other.
Bobby shrugging just his right eyebrow finally ended the wordless fight.
That was it.
Nothing more.
Ross's opinion about him was revealed. His captain actually believed that he could be a killer. He did not trust him. Whatever fragile respect had been built between the two men before was destroyed in the moment the captain would not back down and offer him the possibility that he was wrong with his point of view.
Bobby had seen enough, he had heard enough. Turning on his heals he strode out of the office and out of the squad room.
Ross bent down to pick up the papers.
"Let him go," he said to Alex who was about to follow Bobby.
"You're happy captain?" she wanted to know. "That worked for you?"
Ross did not shy back from her either.
"The question had to be asked. And here is our answer," he told her, waving the papers in front of her. He already had spotted what he was searching for. "Mark Ford Brady is Robert Goren's biological father."
"So this means Goren is suddenly capable of murder?" Alex tried not to let her shock show. Even though she had had her own suspicions about Bobby's paternity learning the truth still had a deep impact on her.
"You have a better suspect?" Ross dared her.
Alex needed a short moment to collect herself. She was determined to prove that the captain was wrong with his assumption.
"No, but I have a witness," she told him. "My partner would tell you, with serial killers the most important interview is with someone who survives."
It was clear who she meant and Ross could not see any reason not to follow that lead.
"Okay," he agreed. "Bring Gage in. But Bishop will lead the interview. Clear?"
"Crystal."
tbc…