Uninvited Interlude

Chapter 18

Paul can feel the prickling on his neck that made him wary of IEDs in Afghanistan. He doesn't like that there are only two roads to the broadcasting station, and as he and the Beckett-Castles get closer, he likes it less. He pulls the rental car into the nearest available place to park.

"What's wrong?" Rick asks.

"I have a bad feeling," Paul explains.

"Spidey-sense?" Rick queries.

"Something like that. To be safer, I think that you and Kate should put on your hats and your glasses and we should walk the rest of the way," Paul suggests. "It's only about a klick. And I'll walk ahead of you. In Afghanistan, I got pretty good at spotting places where explosives could be concealed."

"Paul, don't let yourself get blown up, either," Kate cautions.

"I'll do my best," he promises.

Moving at what he hopes looks like a leisurely stroll, Paul scans everything in front of him. He spots a man standing on the sidewalk across the street, smoking a cigarette. In itself, that's not suspicious. Smoking is prohibited in many buildings in Israel, as it is in the United States. Nicotine addicts get their fixes outside. But the man's attention keeps flicking to a newspaper vending machine on the corner - one that could easily accommodate a bomb. Paul signals Rick and Kate into the nearest building. "Look, I may be jumping at nothing, but I don't think it's safe to continue walking the way we are."

"So what do we do?" Rick asks.

"Go through the buildings, where we're out of sight. Leave by side doors, back doors, whatever we can find, until we get to the station. But we stay away from the road."

Avigdor consults his watch for the third time in five minutes. The Beckett-Castles are late for the recording of the broadcast. He hadn't planned on them showing up at all, but he hasn't heard or felt an explosion either. Something should have happened by now.

He'd made a big show of being upset that he had to switch the order of the show when the couple didn't arrive on time, but now he's worried that if they do turn up, it will be in one piece.

Leah knocks on the door of Avigdor's office. "They're here with their translator. They apologized for being late and are ready to record their segment."

Avigdor nods. "Fine. Make sure they're miked and ready to follow the guest that's on now."

As Leah closes the door behind her, Avigdor presses his face into his hands. Starik is going to be furious, but what is worse, so is the leader. And if Israeli authorities find the bombs and connect them to Avigdor - he'd better find a hole to hide in and find it fast.

"So," host Yossi Meir reiterates, "it was U.S. forces that protected the passengers and crew of the Ariel, regardless of national origin, from harm."

"It was," Rick confirms.

"And of course, Captain Raff," Kate adds. "He was brilliant in recognizing the danger and calling in the cavalry."

"I understand," Yossi continues, "that the events aboard the Ariel and what followed, interrupted your honeymoon."

Smiling wistfully, Rick reaches for Kate's hand, "Unfortunately, that's true. But we have been enjoying what we can of our travels and," he winks, "we are looking forward to making up for lost time."

"I wish you every happiness," Yossi declares, "and I'm sure my viewers do as well."

"Now what?" Rick asks Paul as they approach the exit of the studio.

"Pretty much the same as last time, except we'll use the buildings on the other side of the street until we get to the car," Paul explains. "I already sent a heads up to our people to warn the Israeli authorities about the possibility of bombs on the route to the studio. We'll just have to stay away from possible sites until the Israelis can bring in disarmament units. They may already be on their way."

The plane Rick and Kate are taking back to the United States is a lot more comfortable than the one they took to Europe. It has real seats that recline, a lavatory and even a little refrigerator stocked with juices and soft drinks to go with prepackaged but not inedible meals. Rick turns to Kate, who is gazing out the window at the clouds below. "Looking forward to getting home?"

"I want to see my dad. I sent messages to him that we were all right whenever I could, like you did with Alexis and Martha, but he'll still be worried."

"I think in-person reassurance is called for all around," Rick agrees.

"And I need to get back to work," Kate adds. "Our whirlwind tour has used up most of my vacation days, and I want to save what's left for our real honeymoon."

"You know," Rick considers, "until then, we could do a staycation of sorts, whenever we have the time. New York is one of the world's tourist meccas, and aside from the obvious attractions, like the Statue of Liberty and Times Square, there are always nooks and crannies and out of the way corners to explore. And I haven't been to the museum with the mummies since we caught the murderer and broke the curse. If we explore together, we can see things through fresh eyes."

Kate takes a sip of spicy tomato juice. "Playing tourist in our own city could be fun, but I still want a real honeymoon."

"On that, we are in complete agreement."

Francis regards the latest newscast from Russia, relating the sad tale of Viktor Pamshenko who accidentally fell from the platform to the tracks in the path of an oncoming subway train. "Accidentally my ass!" he exclaims to Danberg. "Well, at least he's gone. Pamshenko was the center of the web from which the sleeper cells were spun out. We went after as much of the organization as we could, and without him, the Russians will have difficulty reconstituting it. Chances are they'll concentrate even more on their cyber incursions instead."

"Is that better or worse?" Danberg wonders.

Francis throws up his hands. 'Who knows? But our people better get on the stick to combat it. Are the Beckett-Castles safely settled back in New York?"

"They are, Sir," and Paul Geeson returned to Indiana. We pulled a few strings to get him a better teaching position," Danberg replies.

"Don't let him get too comfortable. He did a damn good job, and we may need him again."

"I don't know how well that will work. Practically the moment he touched down, he put himself out on an internet dating service for LBGTQs. His face and his profile will be all over the web."

"Honeymoons, dating - things would be a lot less screwed up without people spending so much time on their love lives."

Danberg considers the candlelight meal he's planning with an operative of a sister agency. "If you say so, Sir."

After a long dinner that Martha mercifully had catered by a nearby Italian Deli, and trying to answer all of Alexis' questions without spilling any classified information, Rick and Kate are ready to call it a night. Rick wraps his arms around Kate as she spoons into the curve of his body and presses his lips to the skin of her shoulder. "I guess all's well that ends well."

Kate sighs, setting into the warmth of Rick's embrace. "Not quite ended. I got a text from Ryan. They got a fresh one. I'm going to join them in the investigation in the morning."

"We're going to join them," Rick corrects. "The Beckett-Castles, crimebusters extraordinaire will be back on the job."

Finis

A/N I hope you enjoyed this interlude. My next story will be a different AU. I'll begin when Rick rescues Kate from the submerged car in Pandora/Linchpin, but from there, things will go quite differently. Join me for "Too Close," Love, Sally