Cold Case 8-1: The Wall (Not My Creation)

[valrush]

As I have a some down time between classes this week, I figured I would use this time to post these old stories.  I am still looking for 8-4 and 8-5.

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COLD CASE:

THE WALL (PART 1)

Lilly and the squad reopen the case of a CIA agent who retired at the end of the Cold War, only to be murdered in a park in 1993, when new evidence comes to light that robbery may not have been the motive. As they delve deeper into the case, they soon learn that even retired spies have secrets, and that the man’s co-workers and even his own family may know more than their letting on.
Meanwhile, as Lilly gets ready for a new chapter, working for the FBI, she begins to have second thoughts as she she realizes she’ll be leaving behind more than just her job.
PREVIOUSLY ON COLD CASE:



“I wanna see what you got.” Cavanaugh said. “Could mean a job for you.”
“A job?” Lilly asked.
Cavanaugh nodded. “Federal Cold Case Unit.”

“Jimmy Mota,” Pierson said. “He’s the piece of garbage that attacked your mother.”
“What about him?” Scotty asked, frowning as they walked.
“Took a deal, three to five, sent him to Graterford.”
Scotty looked at Pierson. “You gotta be kidding me!”
Pierson shook his head. “Could be out in eighteen months on good behavior.”

“There’s a new fish on your block, likes to sing.” Scotty said, quietly.
Hector looked at Scotty. “Sound to me like you want someone to catch a cold.”
“It’s goin’ around.”
Hector looked down in thought for a moment. “Suppose… suppose this fish gets made out to be a snitch in the yard.”
Scotty shrugged. “Then he’s everybody’s problem.”

“Yo, Mota.” Scotty said with a smile as he approached Mota in the yard.
Mota turned around and just recognized Scotty as Scotty put his arm around the felon. “What’s happenin’, bro?”
“Tag, you’re it, b*tch.” Scotty said, quietly into his ear. “That’s for my mom.”

In the prison showers, Mota lay in a pool of his own blood.

“You left your gun at home” Stillman said.
“No.” Doherty said weakly.
“Car was in the badlands,” Stillman continued, ” I know all about your boy Matt’s struggle with drugs.”
“I wanted to believe him” Doherty said.
“But you knew enough when you heard about that shooting to make that plate match go away.” Jeffries said with a glare.
“Knew Matty was involved.” Stillman said solemnly.
“No.”
“Buried that witness report!” Jeffries said. “What kind of cop does that?”

“We’re family!” Celeste said, looking at Lilly from across the dinner table. “Full stop. That means birthdays, holidays, hospital visits, God forbid, funerals, the whole thing. Whether you like it or not, Lilly Rush, you are tied to us for good. Are we clear?”
“Okay.” Lilly said, while a smile started to form on her face, much like the ones on Paul and Finn.

“I’m looking to move,” Christina said. “Somewhere more permanent, near family.”
“I mean honestly, every time you come around, it’s like a hurricane hit town.” Lilly said.

Christina spun around as Cliff kicked the motel door open and slapped her.

“I thought if I just left her with a friend, and came home, I could get it together.” Christina said, struggling to breathe.
“Left… left who?” Lilly asked.
“Then I could come and get her.”
Following the sound of the cries, Lilly’s eyes widened at the sight of the baby in the laundry basket.
Christina sleeping on one of Lilly’s shoulders, the baby on the other, Lilly looked at Scotty from the back seat of the car as they made their way back to Philly…
 

[valrush]

1

The following story is fictional and

does not depict any actual person or event.

Cold Case Soundtrack: "Carl's Reflection"

“Bonnie, I need those heat signatures.” Jeff Royce whispered, leaning up against the wall, his eyes scanning the darkened area.

“I’ve almost got it.” Bonnie said through the ear piece. “Okay, I got it. Two signatures at four o’clock. Seventy feet away.”

Peeking out from around the corner, he could just make out two figures covered behind a similar structure. He pulled his head back just as he saw a muzzle flash from one of their position.

“Oh, hell.” Jeff muttered. He took a breath, then took a running jump towards a neighboring structure, dodging shots as he did.

“Bonnie, I can’t get a clear shot on these guys from here. They’re too well-covered.” Jeff looked down for a moment, then up again. “Let me know when they’re on the move again.”

The two men, in their twenties, one white, one black, scanned around the area when Jeff had taken cover. They couldn’t see any sign of movement. They spun to the right at the faint sound of a twig snapping. The men squinted towards the source of the noise, a small row of bushes, and, with the dim light, were able to barely make out the colors of a flak jacket.

The white operative gestured to the black one, who nodded. They stood up, raised their guns, and started towards the bushes.

“Bonnie?” Jeff whispered.

“They’re on the move again.” Bonnie said. “I think they’re– wait! I’ve lost the heat signatures, I can’t tell which direction they’re going! I think someone’s tapped into the feed! I’ve lost it.”

“Bonnie, you have to get it back.” Jeff hissed. “I’m exposed out here!”

“I’m trying!”

“Bonnie!”

“I’m working on it!”

Jeff looked around uneasily.

The two men crept closer to the bushes, keeping their guns trained on their target in the bushes. They stepped closer.

Suddenly both men grunted slightly, both feeling a stinging sensation on their back. Both men reached at the source of the pain, until their hands came back with a sticky paint on them. They looked up, to see Jeff, no flak jacket, training his gun on them with a sly smile.

“Bang, bang.” He said evenly, almost deadpan. “You’re both dead.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Time!”

The two men groaned as overhead lights flooded the room, revealing Jeff’s surprisingly life-like flak jacket sitting over the bushes, stuffed with shrubs.

Jeff chuckled and patted both agents on the arm.

“Don’t beat yourself up. Every field agent dies a hundred times in here. You just gotta remember to watch your backs.”

[valrush]

CIA Headquarters – Langley, Virginia – January 13, 1993

Bonnie smiled as she and Jeff walked through the hallways. “I can’t believe you’re still doing field training on your last day.”

Jeff shrugged. “You know me. I’m not the type to keep an eye on the clock. Keeps me busy. Besides the more times we kill our guys in here, the less it happens in the real world.”

“Oh yeah? Cause a few of them are saying you just wanna prove you can still go toe to toe with the younger guys.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “I don’t care about trying to prove anything, if that’s what you mean.”

Bonnie giggled.

Jeff gave her a slightly condescending look as they reached the door to his office. “Look, I’ll give you this much; you gotta get up a little earlier than them to catch me off guard.”

Jeff opened the door and was immediately taken aback at the two dozen people on the other side, in front of a cake and banner which both read ‘HAPPY RETIREMENT, JEFF’, and yelling “Surprise!”

Jeff lowered and shook his head, showing a hint of amusement at Bonnie.

“You’re right.” She said with a sly smile. “We did.”

[valrush]

REM
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)”

Ethan Moore, the shorter man with thinning hair, tapped his hand on Jeff’s shoulder as he went for another slice of cake. “So this is actually happening.” Ethan said, wistfully.

“Yeah, Ethan, it’s actually happening.” Jeff said with a chuckle. “You’ve known this was happening for a while. Plus Sharon’s been wanting to move back to Philly for a long time.”

Ethan shrugged, “Yeah, it’s just the thought of someone I started with retiring. Makes me feel so damn old.”

“Hey, if you’re old, what does that make me?” asked the man approaching them with light hair turning silver. “I was the one who recruited both you guys, remember?”

“So you like to remind me every time, Bob.” Jeff said to Bob Garrison, the older man.

“It’s just we’re starting to lose more people with everything that’s gone on over the last year.” Garrison said. “It’s like we got kids running around here now.”

Jeff nodded solemnly. “So were we once upon a time. They’ll grow up fast.”

Garrison chuckled. “Everything’s changing, you know? No more Gorbachev, no more Soviet Union, a Democrat in the White House again.”

Ethan held up a hand in mock defense. “Don’t blame me, I voted for Perot.”

Jeff smiled. “Hey, look at it this way; we won the Cold War. I like to think maybe we had a hand in that.”

Garrison nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to Bonnie and the crowd, who were starting to chant “Speech, speech, speech!”

Pouring some more champagne, Jeff nodded and stepped out into the center of the room.

“Okay,” Jeff started with a sigh. “I know there’s been a lot of rumors going around that my retiring has something to do with everything that’s been going on in Russia the last year and a half, or the new administration here, or that I’m buying into the thinking that maybe we’re obsolete now or something like that. Honestly, the truth is, it has nothing to do with that.

“This week, it’ll be twenty years since I joined the Company. I’ve seen and done a lot, lost a few friends. On balance though, I feel like I can be proud of those twenty years.

“Thing is, I wanna have dinner with my wife every night. I wanna see my kid catch a ball that I threw to him. I wanna come home to them every night, instead of having them wonder where I am and worry about me all the time. I just wanna be there for my family. I mean if we haven’t been working this whole time so that a guy can do all that, then why the hell are we here?

“We got people like Bob and Ethan sticking around, plus new people like Bonnie here. I honestly feel like I’m leaving the Company in good hands, I don’t feel like the place’ll fall apart without me..

“Anyways, I don’t mean to sound sappy, but Bob here was just telling me everything’s changing, and he’s right. But that doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. I gotta believe that even a guy like me can find some happiness, no matter how much things change.” The group smiled and laughed lightly at this. Jeff raised his glass. “To new chapters.”

Garrison, Bonnie, Ethan, and the others all raised their glasses. “New chapters.” They said.

Satisfied, Jeff smiled, and took a sip…

Cold Case Soundtrack: "Late Returns"

Jeff’s body lay across the park walkway, barely visible as the moon remained covered by the clouds. His eyes were closed. His shirt and jacket were stained with blood around his chest.

The detective shook his head in resignation as he stacked the case box, marked ROYCE, J. among the others.

[valrush]

FBI Field Office – New York

Lilly Rush’s face remained impassive as she squeezed the trigger repeatedly, emptying her weapon into the target. Ryan Cavanaugh, the tall, dark-haired man next to her pressed his thumb on the button, pulling the sheet of paper with the dark silhouette on it back towards them. He nodded in approval as he inspected the series of holes in the center mass, and gave her a sly smile, which she returned.

“Well that should cover weapon proficiency when you transfer over.” Cavanaugh said as they walked back towards the office. “Consider yourself lucky. The instructor I had at the academy was a real hard-ass.”

Lilly chucked. “You should see the one we have in Philly. ‘Locked and loaded’ Lafferty.”

Cavanaugh chuckled back. “If you’re looking for some living arrangements in the city, I know some people who can help.”

Lilly nodded. “Just gotta make sure it’s cat-friendly.”

Cavanaugh leaned closer with a grin. “I know a few places to eat too when you get back.”

Lilly cocked her head and smiled.. “Just don’t forget your keys.”

Cavanaugh’s smile faded slightly. “So you’re still going back to work at Homicide till then?”

“You know me, like to keep busy.”

“Just hoping you won’t forget about us up here.” Cavanaugh said, looking serious. “I mean it, the Bureau needs good people, especially now that we’re an agent short.”

“You mean now that they forced Yates out.” Lilly said coolly.

Cavanaugh nodded. “Yates and I didn’t agree on much, but for what it’s worth, I think she deserved better. But, yeah, it’s all the more reason to find good people.”

Lilly nodded, then glanced at the clock. “I better go.”

“Okay.” Cavanaugh said evenly as Lilly walked away. “Rush?” He asked as she was halfway out the door, causing her to turn around.

“Don’t be a stranger.”

Lilly smiled, turned back and started walking again.

[valrush]

Lilly couldn’t help but be a bit taken aback at the stares she got from her colleagues as she walked into Homicide.

“Now there’s a face I didn’t expect to see around here again.” Kat Miller said, walking over to give Lilly a hug.

“Good to see you, Lil” Will Jeffries said. Nick Vera, not getting up from his desk, gave her a friendly nod.

“Yeah.” said Lilly’s partner Scotty Valens awkwardly, while walking over himself.

“Lil,” Lieutenant John Stillman said, coming out of his office.

“Here to work, boss.” Lilly said, smiling uneasily.

“Any idea how long?”

“Open-ended for now.”

Stillman gave her a look, then placed a folder on the desk in front of him. “Well, since you’re here, we just got some new info on an old job, might interest you.”

“Yeah?”

Stillman opened the folder, revealing Jeff’s photo clipped to the top. “Victim’s Jeff Royce. He was shot in Summerton Park back in ‘93. Assigned figured it was robbery gone bad, since his wallet was missing. Main suspect was junkie named Oscar Torres. He’d held up two other people at gunpoint in the same park back in the eighties.”

“So where’s Oscar today?” Scotty asked.

“Dead.” Stillman said. “He was found OD’ed in his apartment the next night, had the victim’s wallet on him.”

“But we got something new?” Kat asked.

Stillman nodded. “Oscar’s family’s been trying to clear his name ever since. This past week, they caught a break. Managed to find a drug counselor who could put Oscar at a rehab clinic at the time the coroner put time of death. Records and sign-in logs back him up.”

“So what’s he doin’ with the wallet?” Vera asked.

Scotty shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first junkie to take somethin’ off a dead body.”

“Well if that’s the case, then robbery wasn’t the motive.” Lilly said. “So what was?”

“Well, Jeff Royce was no ordinary victim.” Stillman said. “Guy was a twenty-year field agent for the CIA.”

Jeffries nodded. “Twenty years with the CIA, that’s a lot of skeletons in your closet.”

Lilly looked at the other detectives. “Maybe one of them got out.”

[valrush]

2

“Jeff Royce, forty-five.” Scotty said, reading the file down in storage, as Lilly and Stillman looked on. “Born and raised in Philly. Graduated fifth in his class at West Point, 1970. Two tours in ‘Nam, then recruited into the CIA January ‘73. Retires with his wife and son to Philly January ‘93, ends up gunned down in Summerton Park nine months later, October 17th, ‘93.”

“Shot in the chest once, close range.” Lilly said, looking over a crime scene photo of Jeff’s body. “Bullet and shell casing matched an unregistered glock, never got a hit off it.”

“Looks like they zeroed in on Oscar Torres pretty quick once they found Jeff’s wallet at his place, and a needle in his arm.” Scotty said evenly.

“Not much you can do when your only suspect’s dead.” Stillman said, shaking his head.

“Looks like our vic was a hell of a globe-trotter back in the day,” said Vera, walking in, carrying a file of his own. “Afghanistan, Indonesia, some stuff in the Gulf, plus some time in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and a couple of other countries that don’t even exist anymore.”

“Guy traveled to some of the worst hot spots in the world, winds up murdered practically in his own backyard.” Scotty said.

“Well if he made enemies, it was probably abroad.” Lilly said.

“Wasn’t able to find out much other than the guy bein’ a frequent flyer, though.” Vera said with a frown. “Looks like somebody took a black marker to the guy’s whole life.”

Stillman shrugged. “Well, good luck getting the CIA to unload its dirty laundry.”

“Well, maybe cross-check visitors or immigrants from countries Jeff visited, maybe we get lucky.” Scotty said.

“Maybe a couple of Jeff’s old co-workers could help with that.” Lilly said.

“I already made a call,” Vera said. “Jeff’s old boss is still shuffling papers down in Langley. Name’s Bob Garrison. Told him we might be stopping by.”

“Road trip, huh?” Scotty said, with a smirk.

“Well, try to have some fun in Virginia.” Vera said, smirking right back.

“You know, Nick, I think it’s been a while since you hit the road.” Lilly said with a smile.

Vera’s smirk vanished.

“Well that’s true, Nick.” Stillman said. “Think you’re well enough to take a trip.”

“Right.” Vera said in a monotone voice.

“You know, I think Miller’s free this week too.” Scotty said with a smile.

Lilly cocked her head innocently. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“It’ll be fun.” Scotty continued.

“Yeah, fun.” Vera said in the same tone.

“Well, you best start packing, Nick.” Stillman said with a slight smile, before turning to Lilly and Scotty. “I’ll be back in an hour. Got something to take care of.”

“Meetin’ with the brass?” Scotty asked.

Stillman’s smile faded. “Something like that.”

[valrush]

Stillman scanned around the nearly-empty tavern until he saw the fifty-something man at the edge of the bar throwing back a shot of whiskey. The man was out of uniform, something Stillman usually wasn’t used to, and had at least a few days’ worth of stubble on his face.

“John.” The man said with his slightly raspy voice, managing a slight smile as he looked up at Stillman. “I didn’t know this was your usual watering hole.”

“Hey, Pat.” Stillman said with a sigh as he sat down in the neighboring stool.

Pat Doherty waved the bartender over. “Joey, pour one for my old friend John here, on me.” Doherty looked back at Stillman. “You got some time?”

Stillman shook his head uneasily. “Not much.”

Doherty eyed Stillman suspiciously. “What, are you checking up on me, John?” He asked, not sounding like he had the energy to get angry.

Stillman put up his hands. “Just wanted to see how you were doing.”

Doherty looked ahead somewhere far beyond the wall of the bar. “I don’t know, John. How am I doing? My son’s in jail. His baby boy’s gonna be at least a teenager before he sees his father outside of a prison wall. I just watched a thirty-five year career with the department get flushed down the toilet, pension and all. Councilman Boone’s not even returning my phone calls anymore. Oh, and last week, Mary kicked me out.” Doherty turned back towards Stillman. “So tell me, John. How am I doing?”

Stillman nodded solemnly. “I heard. Where are you staying?”

“Motel in Kensington. I think the owner likes me, probably cause I’m the only guy who doesn’t bring hookers around.”

Stillman said nothing.

Doherty’s eyes narrowed to a glare. “You know, John, I wanted to blame you.” His gaze softened as he shook his head. “You, or Jeffries, or anybody but me. But I can’t do that, can I? No, I pretty much made this bed myself, didn’t I? And I don’t just mean the Johnston case. No, I’ve pretty much spent my life covering up people’s mistakes, and what’s it gotten me?” Doherty started to look far off again. “I let Matt skate on one drug charge after another, and he just kept on using. I tried to derail the Caceres case, and it blew up in my face. You wouldn’t believe how much of Boone’s garbage I cleaned up, got a promotion out of it, and everyone started talking behind my back how I didn’t earn it.” His eyes started to mist up. “I buried what Matt did, and it destroyed my family.”

Doherty looked at Stillman with a weary smile. “Now you, John, you won’t rest until the truth comes out, no matter what it is.” Doherty shrugged. “Maybe it’s having a priest for a brother. You know what my brother does? Sells used cars.” He chuckled slightly. “I wouldn’t even touch one of those junk heaps he sells.”

The bartender gave Stillman an uneasy look as he placed two more shots in front of him and Doherty. Doherty immediately raised his glass, and waited for Stillman to do the same.

“To the truth, and setting you free.” Doherty’s look suddenly turned bitter. “And God help you if you learn that too late.” He threw the drink back as quickly as he’d picked it up, then looked at Stillman, looking warily at Doherty.

“Have a drink with me, John.” Doherty said. “Who else will?”

Stillman sighed and threw back the shot.

Doherty smiled and nodded with approval.

Stillman pulled a card from his pocket. “Look, I know a guy in private security who owes me a favor. You can tell him I called.” He placed the card on the bar. “I know it’s not much, but it’s steady work.”

Doherty looked at the card, then back at Stillman, and shook his head. “Why are you doing this, John? I made your life a living hell, I sicked I.A.B. on Jeffries, got Miller reassigned.”

“I’m not interested in kicking someone who’s already down.” Stillman stood up. “Look, call the guy or don’t. It’s your life. Anyways, I gotta get back.”

Doherty stared at the card on the table, but nodded slightly.

Stillman headed towards the door, but stopped at the bartender.

“I don’t care what you have to do, but don’t let him drive home.” Stillman said, quietly.

The bartender nodded and Stillman walked out.

[valrush]

Walking through CIA Headquarters, Vera noticed Kat’s jacket was still done up tight as she adjusted her visitor’s pass.

“You know I’m pretty sure they keep this place room temperature.” Vera said with a smirk.

Kat sighed. “The way you were blasting the A.C. all the way here, I’m lucky I don’t have frostbite.”

“Well, I figure the one who did the driving gets to choose, not the one sleeping.”

Kat didn’t respond, but instead looked around the hallway. “If these walls could talk…”

“They’d probably have to kill us after.” Vera said.

Before Kat could respond, she noticed the graying blonde-haired man and forty-something woman approaching them.

“You must be our Philadelphia visitors.” The man said, shaking Vera’s hand, then Kat’s. “Bob Garrison, Head of Special Operations.”

Vera nodded. “Yeah, we talked on the phone. You were Jeff’s old boss.”

Garrison nodded back with a smile. “He was in the first batch of guys I ever recruited into the Company. Great guy. Listen, I’m sorry to inconvenience you, but something’s come up, so I‘m going to postpone our conversation for a bit.” He gestured to the woman next to him. “This is Bonnie McLaren. Until I get back, she can help you with anything you need. And she knew Jeff just as well as I did. I promise I’ll talk with you as soon as I can.”

Kat and Vera eyes Garrison uneasily as he walked away. Bonnie could only shrug. “I’m sorry about that. Things can be crazy around here.”

“So you and Jeff were close?” Vera asked.

Bonnie smiled. “He recruited me himself, trained me. Had me over for dinner with his family.” She chuckled. “I even used to babysit his son when he was little.”

“Sounds like you two were close.” Kat said evenly. “Must’ve been hard to see him go.”

“I was sad, sure, but he had a family. I could understand that.” Bonnie shook her head with a wistful smile. “That was a crazy time too. We had a new President, first Democrat in twelve years. The Soviet Union broke up just over a year before. No more Cold War. Some people actually thought the world might calm down after that.” Her smile faded. “Two weeks after Jeff retired, a guy with an AK-47 shot up the entrance to the grounds here, killed two people. A month after that, a bomb went off at the World Trade Center, killed six people.”

“Little preview of things to come.” Vera said.

“Yup.” Bonnie said, simply.

“So you and Jeff keep in touch after he left?” Vera asked.

Bonnie nodded. “We talked on the phone a little bit, especially at first. It seemed like he take any excuse to talk, or stop by, and not just with me, with anyone here.” Bonnie looked around.

“Something else you wanna add?” Kat asked.

Bonnie sighed. “I don’t think it was as easy for him to make a clean break as he thought it would be. I mean, it’s one thing to say you wanna move on. It’s another to actually do it…”

[valrush]

REM
“Losing My Religion”

Bonnie smiled as she noticed the man across down the parking lot. “Jeff? What are you doing here? I thought you were moving tomorrow.”

Jeff nodded uneasily. “I just had a few things to go over with Bob, clearing things up with some assignments.”

“I thought you said those were all taken care of.”

Jeff shrugged. “Guess I was wrong.”

Bonnie turned to see a familiar-looking car pull into the lot. Her eyes widened as she recognized the blonde-haired woman who got out.

“Jeff?” The woman said, looking at him.

“Sharon, what are you doing here?” Jeff asked.

“The real estate agent called, he said you rescheduled. Jeff, what are you doing here?”

Jeff shook his head. “I was just meeting with Bob about a few things.”

Sharon looked at Bonnie suspiciously. “I just found out myself.” Bonnie quickly said.

Jeff shrugged. “He just asked me to come. That’s all.”

Sharon stepped closer to Jeff. “You know why you married me, Jeff?”

Jeff looked at her, unsure of what to say.

Sharon sighed. “Because I’m the only person in the world you can’t lie to. Look, I knew what I was getting into when I married you. But I thought you meant it when you said you were ready to come home. You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, to me or to Jimmy.”

“Sharon…” Jeff started to say.

“When you decide where you wanna be, I’ll be waiting.” Sharon turned and headed back towards her car. “But not forever.”

Bonnie looked at Jeff, who lowered his head and sighed…

[valrush]

“So Jeff’s wife wasn’t too happy about him dragging his feet.” Kat said.

Bonnie nodded. “It seemed like their marriage was as solid as any for a long time, but I think they were starting to drift apart. I’ve seen this place do that to a lot couples. It’s not easy finding someone who understands what it’s like.”

“But Jeff did move.” Vera said.

“Yeah, they bought a house up in Libertyville. Jeff got a quiet desk job. Last time we talked, he said things were going well, but…”

“You didn’t buy it.” Kat said.

Bonnie shook her head. “It’s one thing to take a guy like Jeff out of the Company. It’s another to take the Company out of him.”

[valrush]

In the living room of the Royce’s house, Lilly and Jeffries noticed the fist-sized chunk of granite on the mantle over the fireplace. The young man of about thirty standing next to him gestured and smiled.

“That’s an actual piece of the Berlin Wall.” Jimmy Royce said. “My dad was there when they tore it down. Brought that back as a souvenir.”

Lilly smiled. “Is that right?”

“I think he was always fond of the city cause that’s where he and my mom met.” Jimmy turned to the fifty-something woman emerging from the kitchen with drinks. “Isn’t that right, mom?”

Sharon Royce, older but still attractive and confident-looking, nodded and smiled. “Yes, that’s right.” She turned to the detectives. “I was working over there when he was passing through after some assignment.” She looked back at her son. “I thought you said you had to get to work.”

Jimmy sighed, without losing his smile, and headed for the door. “Okay. I’ll stop by and see you tomorrow.”

Sharon looked wistfully as Jimmy walked out. “You know the older he gets, the more I see Jeff in him.”

“Sharon, we’ve heard Jeff might’ve been having some trouble adjusting to civilian life.” Jeffries said. “Maybe a little trouble letting go of his job.”

Sharon smiled. “Is that what Bonnie told you? Well, I guess she was partly right. Looking back, maybe I could’ve been a bit more understanding. I was an army brat growing up, so I knew what it was like to have someone be away for long periods of time. I guess once he decided to retire, I just figured I shouldn’t have to share him with that place anymore.”

“Once we actually got to Philly, though, I thought he started to come around.” Sharon’s smiled faded. “Anyway, that wasn’t what I was worried about.”

“What was?” Lilly asked.

“We threw a barbecue after we settled in to try and get to know our neighbors.” Sharon shook her head. “I knew his job might’ve made him some enemies, but I figured any he had would be halfway around the world. Turns out he had some even here. I saw that for myself…”

[valrush]

REM
“Shining Happy People”


As Sharon placed the potato salad on the picnic table, Jimmy ran over to her.

“Are the burgers almost ready?” Her thirteen year-old son asked with a frown.

Sharon cocked her head. “A few more minutes. Why don’t you meet some more of our neighbors. Maybe you can mow some lawns if you still want that Nintendo game you were talking about.”

Jimmy sighed and looked over to his father, standing over the barbecue, speaking with a thin, faintly middle-eastern-looking man.

“Dad’s still talking to that guy?” Jimmy asked.

Sharon smiled. “We’re just trying to make some friends. Don’t worry. I’ll let him know you’re hungry.”

Jeff smiled as his wife walked over. “There she is. This is my wife Sharon.” Jeff gestured to the other man. “Sharon, this is Omar. He lives across the street.”

Omar took Sharon’s hand when offered and smiled graciously. “Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Royce.” He said with a slight accent. “You have a lovely home.”

“Our pleasure.” Sharon said. “We’ve been look forward to a chance to meet our neighbors.”

“Omar was just telling me he’s from Afghanistan, studied engineering there.” Jeff said.

“Really?” Sharon asked.

Omar nodded. “That was a long time ago, though. I came here for a fresh start.”

Jeff shrugged and chuckled “I guess we got that in common. Can I get you a beer?”

Before Omar could answer, he turned to see a dark-haired walking towards them, staring intently at Jeff.

“You,” the man said, pointing at Jeff. “You’re the CIA man, right.”

“Uhhh, yeah.” Jeff said, uneasily. “I used to work for them.”

“So what did you do for them anyway?” The man said with a smirk. “Overthrow democracies? Assassinate heads of state? Hunt down dissidents?”

Jeff put up his hands. “Look, I’m just trying to have a barbecue here, pal. I’m not looking for trouble.”

The man glared at Jeff. “What, you people cause trouble all over the world and you can’t handle a little in your own backyard?”

Omar recoiled as he got a whiff of the man’s breath. “You’ve been drinking, Roberto. I think it’s time you headed home.”

“You’re defending him?” Roberto looked at Omar incredulously. “After everything they did?”

“I’m just trying to get to know my neighbor.” Omar said, coolly.

Jeff stepped closer to Roberto. “Look, you got a problem with me? Fine. We can talk about it in private.” He said calmly. “There’s no need for anybody to make a scene.”

Roberto stared at Jeff for a moment, then suddenly took a swing at Jeff. Jeff immediately deflected the punch, twisted Roberto around, grabbed his wrist with one hand and pressed the other into his back, subduing him.

“Or you can do something stupid like that.” Jeff said, while Roberto grunted and struggled in vain to pull himself free.

Omar waved over two larger neighbors who had seen the commotion.

“I think Roberto’s had enough of Mr. Royce’s hospitality.” Omar said, frowning at Roberto. “Why don’t you help him get home?”

The two men nodded and took Roberto from Jeff’s grip and walked him out to the front yard.

“This isn’t over!” Roberto yelled as the men pulled him away. “I swear on my parents’ grave, you’re going to regret moving into this neighborhood!”

Jeff sighed and shook his head, while Sharon watched, uneasily…

[valrush]

Sharon nodded. “His name was Roberto Sanchez. I heard later he was from Chile, a professor over at Powell. Bit of an activist. He tended to drink a lot, so a lot people didn’t take him too seriously, but he made me nervous after that. I heard he tried to get us kicked out of the neighborhood. He even referenced Jeff in one of the rallies he used to organize at the park.”

“Summerton Park?” Jeffries asked, to which Sharon nodded. He turned to Lilly. “Where Jeff was killed.”

“You didn’t mention this to cops when Jeff was killed?”

Sharon shook her head. “It was a few months before. I didn’t think of it. And the police seemed so sure it was a robbery.”

“Maybe Roberto got tired of protesting.” Jeffries said. “Decided to take matters into his own hands.”

Lilly nodded. “And just when Jeff was starting a new life, his past caught up with him.”

[valrush]

3

Lilly gave the teenage boy sitting in the living room a nod and smile as she entered the house with a small grocery bag.

“Hey.” She said. “Is Dad around? I stopped by that market he likes. I don’t know if I’ll get another chance to go there for a while.”

Finn Cooper look at Lilly uneasily without smiling back. “He’s just getting ready. We were goin’ out somewhere.”

“Yeah? Where?” Lilly asked, still smiling.

Finn paused for a moment, before shaking his head. “Nowhere important.”

Both of them looked over at the older man emerging from down the hall.

“Lilly.” Paul Cooper said, looking surprised to see her. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”

Lilly set the bag down on the kitchen counter. “I just stopped by the market, thought I’d get a few things.”

“Well we were just heading over to see Christina.” Paul said. “Celeste is going to meet us there with the baby. You’re welcome to join us, obviously.”

Lilly glanced at Finn for a moment after hearing this. Finn returned a cool gaze, before she turned back to her father. “Actually, I’ve got to get back. I’ve got work.”

Paul nodded evenly at this. “I thought you’d be done by now.”

Lilly shrugged. “Just working one last case.”

“Told you she didn’t wanna come.” Finn muttered under his breath.

“Finn.” Paul said, frowning at his son.

“Sorry.” Finn said, curtly. “Can I wait in the car?”

Paul sighed and handed the keys to Finn, who walked out, giving Lilly a glance as he did.

Paul walked over to the bag on the counter and started taking things out, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Lilly. I’ll talk to him. He’s just not taking this well. I guess he’s gotten a little more attached than I thought.”

Lilly attempted a smile. “I’m just taking a job in New York. It’s not like you’re never gonna see me.”

Paul gave her daughter a solemn look. “We both know that’s not the kind of job that gives any more free time than your last one.”

The two said nothing for a moment.

“So where’s Celeste?” Lilly said.

“She was just taking Ellie to park for a bit.” Paul smiled. “It’s starting to be a regular thing.”

“So things are working out well?” Lilly asked, slightly anxious.

“With Ellie? Sure, Celeste is crazy about her. She loves having a baby in the house again.”

“What about you?”

“I’ve changed a few diapers in my time. It’s fine.” Paul chuckled slightly. “Actually a part of me’s still surprised Chris was the first one to make me a grandfather.”

“How is she anyway?”

Paul nodded. “Good. The rehab doctors say she’s doing really well. Maggie’s coming home from Cornell for a visit in a few weeks. She was asking about her.” Paul said, then turned to Lilly. “And about you. She still wants to meet you.”

“I know.” Lilly said, nodding quickly. “I just don’t know what kind of time I’d have in New York. Once I know that, I can figure things out.”

“Okay.”

Lilly looked at her father a moment. “Dad, do you think I should take this job?”

“I can’t answer that for you, Lilly.” Paul said, calmly. “It’s your life.”

“It’s just, an opportunity like this doesn’t–”

“I know.” Paul said. “Look, I’m the last person to give advice on this. I’ll say this much; whatever you decide, you have to live with the choices you make.”

Lilly nodded solemnly.

[valrush]

Scotty frowned at the text message on his phone as he walked into Homicide. Pausing for a moment, he opened it and looked at the message: I KNOW WHAT YOU DID, SCOTTY VALENS

Scotty narrowed his eyes in disgust and hit DELETE.

“What, you got some junk mail or something?” Lilly smiled as she walked in a few steps behind.

Scotty nodded quickly. “Yeah, somethin’ like that. Uhhh, did a bit of digging on Roberto. Tried to get Jeff kicked out of his neighborhood. A couple of neighbors said he started passing out flyers about it.” He handed Lilly a folded, faded orange paper. On it was a black and white photo of Jeff with a caption that read KEEP THIS MURDERER OUT OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

“Sounds like Roberto meant business.” Lilly said.

“He had some sort of beef with the CIA. Got arrested in Miami in 1990 for harassing agents outside a field office down there.”

“I wonder what the professor’s got to say for himself today.”

“Will’s bringin’ him in now.”

Lilly and Scotty looked over to see Jeffries sitting with a delicate-looking Hispanic woman in her late sixties. The woman immediately looked up at Lilly when Kat gestured to her.

“Lil, this is Maria Trejo.” Jeffries said. “She wanted to talk to you about a case.”

Lilly looked at Scotty, then took the woman’s hand.

“Someone told me you solve cases that are old.” Maria said in a soft, accented voice. Before Lilly could respond, the woman pulled a photo, that of a teenage girl, out of her purse. “This is my daughter, Rosita. She was killed in 1979. Someone pushed her from a balcony at the house where I was working at the time. I… I was told you solve cases like this.”

Lilly looked at the woman uneasily. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Trejo, I’m working another case right now, and I won’t be available here after that. Detective Miller here should be able to help you if you have any information.”

Mrs. Trejo looked confused for a moment. “I… I was told you solve old cases here. Do you not do that here anymore?”

Lilly looked at the woman, unable to find an answer.

[valrush]

Scotty ignored the bored look Roberto Sanchez was giving him and Stillman as he sat at the interview room table. Instead Scotty gave the sheets of paper in his hand a second look.

“Never seen a college professor with a rap sheet this long.” Scotty said with a smirk. “Trespassing, vandalism, harassment, resisting arrest.”

Roberto gave him a defiant stare. “I speak up for oppressed peoples. I consider every one of those charges a badge of honor.”

“That include those three drunk and disorderlies and a DUI?” Stillman asked.

Roberto frowned and said nothing.

“How about murder?” Scotty added. “That a badge of honor too?”

Roberto’s eyes narrowed. “Murder?”

“You remember a guy who moved into your neighborhood in ‘93?” Scotty continued. “Jeff Royce?”

“That was a mugging in the park.” Roberto said, confused.

Stillman nodded. “Same park where you organized rallies, protested him moving in. You didn’t want a CIA agent living there, did you?”

“Why should I?” Roberto answered with a glare. “Do you have any idea how much suffering the Central Intelligence Agency has caused all over the world? They spent the entire Cold War overthrowing democratic governments. Iran in 1953, The Congo in 1960, Brazil in 1964, Argentina in 1976, even my own country of Chile in 1973. It didn’t matter how repressive or barbaric the new regime was. As long as they weren’t communist, they could do whatever they wanted.”

“It was a little more personal than that, though, wasn’t it?” Stillman said, sitting next to him. “We did a little digging into your background. Your parents opposed the Pinochet regime, and ended up being executed. That was your real beef with Jeff, wasn’t it? As far as you were concerned, your parents’ blood was on his hands.”

Scotty noticed a hint of pain in Roberto’s eyes as he looked at Stillman.

“I didn’t kill him. I wasn’t even in town when that happened. You can check.”

“Don’t worry.” Scotty said. “We will.”

“Fine.” Roberto said, condescendingly. “And while you’re at it, maybe you should look into what Jeff was doing after he moved into the neighborhood.”

“What he was doing?” Stillman asked.

“Let’s just say your CIA man wasn’t as retired as people thought…”

[valrush]

REM
“Driver 8”


Roberto stuffed the pamphlet into the last mailbox on the street. The last batch hadn’t garnered any positive responses, but maybe these ones would.

He heard the faint noise of someone’s footsteps and instinctively ducked behind a hedge. A few neighbors hadn’t appreciated his mailings, and Roberto wasn’t eager for another confrontation on the street in the middle of the night.

He peered over the top of the hedge, able to make out Jeff walking out of his driveway, a large garbage bag in hand, onto the street as a car approached. Jeff plopped the bag into a garbage can and walked towards the car. The driver pulled a stop, and lowered his window, while Jeff leaned on the car.”I thought there were supposed to be apple trees.” Ethan said with a smirk, inspecting Jeff front yard. “Isn’t that what they used to put in the ads?”

Jeff gave Ethan a dull look. “I think they took those out a few years ago. People probably got sick of cleaning rotten apples off their lawn. You didn’t come here to talk about apples. You checking up on me?”

“Hell yeah, I am. I’m your partner. It’s my job. So you met him yet?”

Jeff nodded solemnly. “Yeah, not really what I expected.”

“Well that’s kinda the idea. You’re not goin’ soft on me, are you?”

Jeff fixed Ethan with a steely gaze. “Don’t tell me how to my job, all right? And don’t come around here again unless I call you first.”

Ethan leaned back in his seat. “Fine. Just don’t get too comfy in suburbia, and don’t start thinking that retirement party back in Langley was anything but a show for the rookies. We both know you’re a lot of things, but nine to five and picket fences, you aren’t.”

Jeff leaned into the car. “Don’t think you know everything about me.”

Ethan smirked at this. “Twenty years working together, yeah, I do.” Jeff recoiled as Ethan put up the windows and drove away.

Still crouching behind the hedge, Roberto glared at Jeff and shook his head…

[valrush]

“He didn’t need any trouble from me.” Roberto said, looking stoic. “He brought plenty of it with him.”

“When was this?” Stillman asked.

Roberto shrugged. “Early in the year. Few months before he was killed.”

“And you were out of town when that happened.” Scotty said, giving Roberto a condescending look.

He nodded. “There are police who can verify that.”

“Another ‘badge of honor’?” Scotty asked.

Roberto nodded evenly.