What if?

Chapter Eighteen

~Present Day~

"So should I drop you off around the corner again?" Espo laughed. Kate shook her head at him, a grin covering her face. She leaned over to give him a slow kiss.

"I think that if people didn't know yesterday, they will today." She whispered almost seductively to him.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, marry me."

The proposal was simple. Simple words, simple actions. But it did the trick. Kate, positively beaming, agreed. Espo spun her around and peppered her in kisses. He slid the simple solitaire cut ring on Kate's thin finger as Ryan whooped behind them.

Esposito sat back in the seat, staring into the distance. Kate tilted her head. "What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking about how it's been five years at the precinct already. Five years with you." Espo gave her a quick peck on the lips before pulling away from the curb and driving to the precinct. They walked in, hand in hand. A coffee in the other hand. There were a few applauses and, "Congratulations!" here and there. Ryan sprang up to Kate and Espo.

"I have the perfect engagement gift. A triple homicide!" He said in a tone that would be inappropriate given other circumstances.

"Triple?" Kate asked, slightly shocked, feeding on Ryan's energy.

"Yeah!" Ryan led them over to the whiteboard. He plucked off a photo and held it in Kate's face. "This woman's whole head was ripped off by a large caliber bullet at a very high speed." Ryan plucked off two more photos and shoved them at Esposito. "This woman here was shot almost seventeen times at fairly close range. The bullets are all within about a foot radius of each other. But this last victim was only stabbed once, in the kidneys. The blade seems to have been stuck in her abdomen and then twisted. A fatal move. She bled out within minutes."

"Ryan, this is great!" Espo high fived Ryan as Kate took the pictures from Esposito's hands, studying the pictures. Her heart picked up the pace as she looked over the third victim. Her face was partially covered by her hair and sprays of blood. Brown hair, prominent cheek bones, fair completion. Images of January 1999 seeped into her mind. A chill went through her veins.

Name: April Thatcher. A small tidal wave of relief washed over Kate.

"Yo Kate, are you coming?" Espo called. She snapped out of her daze and chased after Esposito and Ryan.

The crime scene looked like something out of a book. The walls were bathed in a cherry color, the once cream colored rugs were now dipped crimson red. Kate felt her mouth drop open several times as she did her usual walk through. Bits of gray, jello-like matter coated the tables and chairs. A body lay strewn on the ground, covered by a white sheet. A red splotch had formed where her head should be.

"Rachael Nicole. She and her two friends, Lisa and April," Ryan informed Kate, pointing primarily to the headless girl, then to shooting range and finally to stab victim. "The three girls were 'roomies' as they call it nowadays."

"Wow, tight space for three girls." Kate surveyed the apartment. A futon lay in the living room and two beds were set in a room to the left of the kitchen. A laser beam had been set up in the living room with the path of the bullet. I followed the beam from the girl's head, out the window, and up to a neighboring apartment complex.

"Let's go check it out!" I ordered. Javier and Kate briskly jogged across the street in the crisp air. The manager was kind enough to let the two detectives look around.

The appartment was vacant. A table had been pulled up to the window, ajar. Kate pulled out an imaginary sniper rifle and looked down the scope. She saw Ryan jotting down notes at the crime scene.

"Kate?" Javier brought Kate back to the present and her sniper rifle dissolved into dust. "Lets grab the files and look closer tonight, okay?" Javier helped Kate off the table and back across the street. He grabbed the files and let Kate hold onto them on their way back to the house. Kate buried herself in the notes immediately as she always did. Javier ordered them some food and then say down next to Kate and immersed himself in a police report.

"Nothing. Nothing!" Kate sighed and rubbed her temples. "Its been four hours and forensics hasn't even found a hair.

"Food's here!" Esposito jumped up and amswered door buzzer. Kate pushed the files into the corner of the table. Espo returned bearing a white bag of Chinese. Kate grinned.

"Bon Apatite!" Espo declared and dug into his food. Kate was about to take a bite, her mouth watering, her stomach growling, when her phone buzzed. She debated ignoring it, but felt her arm reaching out to grab it. It was Roy. Roy's voice, for the first time since Kate could remember, sounded nervous, almost... Frightened? His voice quivered as he spoke the next two words, Kates heart stopping completely.

"Ryan's hurt!"