CH5
It had been a month since they had returned from their Yellowstone trip and Johanna was back to being downcast again, not eating and she slept most of the day. The only time Kate saw her was when she came home from work and cooked dinner that her mother only picked at.
"Mom's killing herself Dad and I don't know how to stop her." Kate collapsed onto the sofa and cried herself to sleep.
XXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxXXXXXxxxxxxXXXxxxX
Kate woke up, took a shower, got dressed, and went downstairs. "Hi Mom, ready for our trip?" she asked her smiling. "All packed, I was just putting some last minute food choices together to put in the refrigerator," Johanna responded. "I thought we did that yesterday," Kate said. "I thought up something for me to cook to say thank you," Johanna replied.
"I'll go get my bag then and meet you at the motorhome," Kate told her and went back upstairs. She would have liked to have something for breakfast but she had gotten out of bed too late and spent too long in front of the mirror putting on her make-up. Why she had done that escaped her. It wasn't like he was going to see her until they stopped for one of many reasons. Her mother showed up with her suitcase and they loaded themselves into their motorhome. Kate started it up, checked all her gauges and brought up the address for their first stop on their portable GPS unit.
She slowly drove away from their big, blue, two story house that had grass, flowers, and plants everywhere. It even had a white picket fence. There was a barn out back that was just big enough to house their motorhome. The home's previous owner had it built for their motorhome which was probably smaller than the Becketts' but theirs still fit.
She drove slowly down their dirt and gravel road that they swore they were going to have blacktopped one of these days to hopefully make getting in and out of easier, especially when it rained.
Kate reached the end of their access road and saw their company for this trip waiting for them on the other side of the road. She and her mother waved and saw them wave back. She watched them pull their truck and trailer out onto the highway. Kate followed for their combined trip to Mount Rushmore. It was one more place her mother had never been to. She accepted the breakfast bar her mother handed her as she followed the trailer in front of her and the map on her GPS unit.
She was smiling all the way while her mother kept stealing glances at her while smiling herself. "WHAT!?" She couldn't take it any longer. "Just admit it Katie, you…"
Suddenly she was wide awake. Looking around she realized that it was late and that she had fallen asleep on the sofa dressed in her work clothes. She didn't understand why she was smiling nor why she was horny. She also felt like she was really dream was fading fast but she could still see a large dark truck with a large trailer behind it. She was used to seeing a motorhome but this one felt different somehow. Bigger maybe, certainly better looking inside. Even though Kate didn't remember seeing them, she just knew their scooters were strapped down in back.
"Mount Rushmore?" she said perplexed. It was then that Kate decided it was time. Her fears had stopped her when they had gotten back from Yellowstone, but it was time to be brave.
She pulled out their laptop and started a search. It took a little time but she found 2 real estate agents to talk to and sent them emails after filling out the information they asked for on a form on their websites. They each covered several counties of the state of Wyoming. Her mother had liked that area so that was where she would start her search. Montana didn't have that many large cities which suited Kate just fine.
First she needed some leads from the real estate agents before they flew out to see at least one property they had sent her to preview. If she and Johanna found one they both liked, she would turn in her resignation with two weeks' notice.
Next she went looking for a motorhome for them to go camping in since her mother seemed to like the last trip. She soon had two that she liked and wanted her mother's opinion: the Newmar Allstar, ATME 4153 with a table and 4 chairs instead of a dinette that seated four. The Thor Outlaw, 37RB didn't have the option for changing the dinette to a table. They were both toy haulers that had room in back for 2 scooters just like Yellowstone. Both were diesel with better mileage. The Thor was 37 feet long while the Newmar was 41'-10" long which gave it a little more space. She spent the next hour comparing the two and had formed her opinion of which one she liked better, but would wait to see what her mother thought. Both of them looked familiar but her dream had mostly faded.
As she closed the laptop keeping the websites open, Kate found herself smiling and actually felt free. It was a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. "We're moving Mom. I'm not losing my mother too. You're all I have left," she stated with conviction and went to bed.
XXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXxxxxxxXxXxXxXxXxxxxxX
Today was going to be a very big day for her. No, scratch that. This whole week was going to be a really big week. Her only hope was that she wasn't making the biggest mistake she would ever make. But that nagging voice that had recently shown up in the back of her head was telling her it was the perfect choice.
She couldn't discount the change that had come over her mother over the past 2 months. Kate had gotten a number of housing options from both realtors and had whittled that number down to three from each. Together with her mother they further reduced that down to two from just one of the realtors. A week later, after asking for another 2 days off work, she and her mother had flown out to a small city in South Dakota and rented a car for the drive to the realtor's office. It had taken them just short of 1 hour and 45 minutes to make the drive.
The first place he had taken them to was way outside of an even smaller town called Newcastle in Wyoming. It wasn't so small that you could throw a rock from one end to the other. It was just that anything not as big as New York was small. The next one was a lot closer and was about 20 minutes north on US85, turning off onto a dirt access road.
Kate almost had a heart attack when the house came into view. It was two stories, painted a light blue. It had a large front patio area that had a table and chairs. There was a large deck on the second floor. The place was surrounded by grass and flowers. Planted flowers and wild flowers. It even had a small white picket fence that didn't really enclose anything.
"Are you alright Katie?" Johanna asked seeing the look on her face and the fact that she had stopped breathing. Johanna thought it was a lovely house but not enough to warrant kind of reaction. "I'm fine mom, just fine," she insisted. "It reminds me of something I think I saw in a magazine," she added to prevent her mother from digging a little more.
They had both seen the pictures that the realtor had sent them however it wasn't until Kate actually saw it in person that it hit her. It was the house in her dreams. It even had a large garage barn out back. The previous owners were an elderly couple who had a motorhome and had the garage built to store it in. They were long since retired, however, now both of them needed constant medical attention so they had sold the motorhome and were selling the house, furniture, and everything else included. It turned out everything meant everything, right down to the linens and pillows on the beds.
The house had a 90' deep well and a septic system with two different drain fields. Solar hot water panels and a 500 gallon propane tank served the furnace, water heaters, dryer, and stoves. The realtor explained that they would need to have the tank filled about every 3 months in the dead of winter.
For whatever reason the previous owner had the house split into two apartments. One full apartment upstairs and the original house downstairs. Each floor had a living room, dining room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and 1-1/2 bathrooms. It only had one electrical service and one water service to feed the entire house. Each floor had its own propane fired water heater.
The downstairs living room had a fireplace as did the master bedroom. Both master bedrooms were huge with large sitting areas. The downstairs apartment had hardwoods throughout while the upstairs was completely carpeted. The upstairs kitchen, while very large, wasn't much to look at and the appliances were on the old side. They agreed to spend some of the money to have the kitchen totally gutted and re-done. They would use the one downstairs while that took place.
The property was listed at $660,000. They offered $606,000 and ultimately settled on $622,000 provided it passed inspection.
Kate and Johanna returned to Rapid City, South Dakota to see if the motorhome she had selected on-line was even sold there. Unfortunately the dealer told her she had to go to Denver to get it. The Newman Allstar was available at the RV Center. They had listed the motorhome online at $165,000. She found a Yamaha Majesty with all the options for $6,800 for herself while her mother settled on a Yamaha Zuma 50FX with all options at $2,590. All they had to do was fly to Denver, pick it all up, then drive 6 hours to their new home. Johanna was going to follow Kate in her brand new 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. They would then drive to Rapid City for Kate to pick up her Jeep Wrangler Sport.
Jeep Wrangler Sport – 4.0 liter, 5 speed manual, (which was new to Kate), 4WD, airbag, black hardtop (she didn't want a rag for a roof). It was a dark winter green color, had a winch on the front and a block heater.
Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited – 4.0 liter, 4 speed automatic, 4WD, air bag, optional full size spare tire, block heater. It was white with a tan interior.
XXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxXx
The motorhome, cars and scooters were in the near future. Right now Kate was nervous. Since she leaving soon, she wasn't permitted to work on any new cases and her present case load was nothing so she decided to work off her nerves. She was upstairs in the gym working out. She had long ago done stretching routines followed by some weight lifting. Now she was trying to pound the punching bag hanging from the ceiling into the next state. She was getting tired, sweaty, and probably stunk up the place which only added to the stinky dried sweat that permeated the place already.
Suddenly there were hands holding her swinging bag in place. "It works better if you have someone holding the bag," he told her. "Probably but I've had enough already. The place is yours," Kate replied and started taking off her gloves. "My name's Demming, Tom Demming. I'm a detective in Robbery," he offered. "It's been nice meeting you Tom," Kate said. "I didn't catch your name," he pointed out. "I didn't throw it," she countered and was saved from any further communication for the moment when her cell phone rang.
"Beckett. …Oh, hi Mom. …No, I'll be home early tonight I think unless the guys or Lanie have something planned and knowing them they probably do," she chuckled. She listened for a minute. "That sounds nice, how about if I meet you there? There's nothing in the house to cook with anyway. See you there, bye Mom." She ended the call and headed for the showers.
"I was only trying to be nice and ask you…" Tom was interrupted when Kate said, "So was I." And she walked into the women's section to shower and change clothes to go back down to the bullpen.
Tom, however, now had enough to work with. He decided to not work out as he had planned and went downstairs to bide his time. He would wait just long enough for Homicide Detective Kate Beckett to make it out of the showers and spend some time on the 4th floor before he would make his entrance and try again.
She wasn't surprised when she found the guys and even Captain Montgomery waiting for her, though he was probably just Montgomery or Roy now, since it was just past 5:00 pm and she was officially unemployed. "There you are," Espo called and put a bottle of beer in her hand. "To Detective Kate Beckett, the best homicide cop this city has or ever will see," Espo offered up and clinked bottles with everyone.
"It's not going to be the same around here without you Beckett. I feel like I'm losing a family member or something." Ryan looked like he was ready to cry. "You two will find someone else to harass on an hourly basis," Kate countered. "Naw, the Captain here will just hire some slob who litters his desk with last week's trash and has the personality of a block of granite," Espo snarked.
"I'll remember you said that detective," Roy remarked teasingly. "Sorry sir." It was only then that Espo worked out how far he had stuffed his foot into his mouth. "I'll be right back. I need to find out where Dr. Parish is," Roy said. He had invited her to the little get together.
"There you are," Tom called as he walked into the break room. He helped himself to a bottle of beer and opened it. "What are we celebrating?" he asked while staring at Kate. "It's a going away party Demming and I don't remember the Captain putting you on the list," Espo barked. "I'm on everyone's list and Kate here invited me while we were upstairs, right Kate?" And Tom placed a hand on her arm that she looked at and wished it would wither to a stump.
"Not cool Demming." Espo had had just about enough of this. "Kate was just accepting my offer to dinner tonight when she got called away." Tom wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The next thing he knew he was on the floor with a bloody nose after Kate used her elbow to jab him in the ribs then took his head and slammed his face into the table followed by an open palm to said broken and bloody nose.
"What happened in here?" Roy was back. "The, uh, floors are a little slick in here. I think the janitor crew over did it last night and Demming is wearing the wrong shoes. Ryan and I tried to hold him up, but I think we just made it worse…sir," Espo haltingly explained. "Espo's right Captain. Demming just can't hold his liquor," Ryan added since the bottle of beer Demming had had spilled all over the floor.
"I see. You'd better get downstairs and have that looked at Detective. No more party for you," Roy told him as Demming picked himself up off the floor then gave Kate a look of "I'll be back for payback later" and stalked off to the elevator.
"Now that he's gone, anyone care to tell me what really happened?" Roy demanded, starting with Espo and then moving on to Ryan before coming back to Espo. "It was just as Espo said…" Kate was interrupted by Espo who couldn't take the look Roy was giving him anymore. "Demming was hitting on Beckett and the table took exception to him and smashed itself into his nose…sir." Espo provided his rendition of the events that took place.
Roy took it all in. "We're really going to miss you around here Kate. I don't think we're going to have this much action around here anytime soon." He was no fool. "Sir, I didn't…" she was interrupted again. "I'm sure he had it coming and if he wants to press charges, none of us saw you do anything. Now if you'll excuse me… Take care of your mother and yourself, Kate." And Roy did what she never expected him to ever do, he hugged her tightly, let go, and walked to the elevator.
"What happened to you?" Lanie asked as the bloody mess that was Demming walked into the morgue. "Just fix me up so I can get out of here," he growled. "I mostly work with dead people but I'll see what I can do," Lanie replied and started gathering up supplies. "You're making me miss the party," she informed him, making sure that he knew he was inconveniencing her.
"It's not a party, it's a…" Demming didn't get any further when Roy walked in. "Dr. Parish your presence is needed upstairs. I'll handle it from here," he said and stepped up to the two.
Lanie dropped everything. "If you say so," she agreed. He was the captain of the precinct and her boss in a way. Lanie had only just gotten past the doors and started down the corridor when she heard "YOU'RE DAMN LUCKY BECKETT DOESN'T PRESS CHARGES FOR SEXUAL HARRASSMENT DETECTIVE!" Roy bellowed. "You're suspended for one week without pay and will attend a mandatory class about avoiding sexual advances and the consequences of these actions. If you fail to attend even one class you can consider yourself permanently suspended pending an official review about being fired. Do I make myself clear detective!?" Roy's voice traveled all the way down the hallway to Lanie who had finally made it to the elevator which was easy given that she was moving very slowly, not wanting to miss anything.
Thirty minutes later Lanie was hugging Kate, crying and sniffling. "I'm going to miss you girl. I don't know where I'm going to find another best friend." Lanie's tears mingled with Kate's. "I'm going to miss you too. You've been a good friend who straightened out my stupidity. You can expect phone calls asking you what I should do," Kate said.
Kate was waving at the guys and Lanie who waved back as the elevator doors closed. "Now what do we do?" Lanie sniffled and wiped her nose and tears away. "We're detectives. We find out where exactly she moved to, save up our vacation time and surprise her with a visit. That's what we do," Espo answered her question. "Isn't Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone out there somewhere? I'm sure Jenny would love to see one or the other," Ryan pointed out. "Time to start saving our money," Espo said as Lanie nodded. She was going to work her ass off to be able to afford the trip. Her best friend may be moving away but she would be damned if she let Kate get away from her completely.