Brand New Day

Chapter 19 - Stuck With Me

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

Kate's head turned in the direction of the stairwell, eyebrows rising high on her forehead as Trudy marched up the steps and into the Intelligence bullpen.

"Uh, I work here?" Kate's tone was coloured with confusion, peering up at Trudy when she came to a stop at the corner of the desk, an expression of bewilderment on her face.

"Not today you don't!" She scoffed, bracing her hands on her hips. Kate chanced a glance at Hank who was leaning casually against the kitchen doorframe sipping his coffee, watching the exchange with amusement.

"You're getting married tomorrow Meadows!" Trudy exclaimed, looking at Kate as though she had suddenly sprouted a second head. Over Trudy's shoulder, Kate could see Erin and Kevin huddled together near the whiteboard, the two of them doubled over in fits of silent giggles.

"Trudy, the wedding is tomorrow." Kate said gently, failing to smother a grin when Trudy tutted loudly, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

"Well, that's what I said dumbass but what if one of you gets kidnapped or something!?" She lifted both hands from her hips, holding her palms skyward with a hike of her shoulders.

"Jesus Christ." Kate breathed, closing her eyes and shaking her head with a laugh. She had considered taking the day off but there was nothing left on her to-do list and her family weren't getting in for another few hours and, without anything to distract her, she knew she would only amble around aimlessly so she figured she may as well be somewhat useful at the district.

"I'm sure we'll both survive the day Trudy." Hank eventually piped up from his place in the doorway but any further discussion of their upcoming nuptials was halted by the arrival of Kevin and Erin who had been chasing down a lead regarding their most recent case.

Homicide had been working a series of home invasion cases where five women had been found beaten and strangled to death before being brutally raped posthumously and, given that they were likely looking for as serial killer, Fischer had passed the case over to Intelligence. So far they hadn't unearthed anything that would help them ID the killer but they had managed to identify all five victims, the most recent being a young woman called Lisa Saunders, a twenty six year old PhD student who had been dancing at a local strip club to pay for her tuition. While they couldn't find a connection between the five women, it was clear that their killer had a type - long, brunette locks, light eyes and slim or athletic builds.

"My stripper CI said Lisa was working the night she was murdered and apparently that night she went home with a client...a guy called Michael Keane." Erin shrugged out of her jacket, handing Hank the tablet containing the details of their new suspect. "She didn't say if the two were romantically linked but she did confirm that Keane was a regular."

Hank hummed in the back of his throat, his eyebrows lifting as he skimmed over the meagre information the database held on him.

"There's no record of Michael Keane before 2000 but, judging by his DMV photo, there's no way this guy is in his twenties. Something doesn't add up." Erin said, perching on the edge of her desk, arms folding across her chest.

"Well, it doesn't exactly scream serial killer but it's enough to get me interested. Burgess, Ruzek, you're with me. Let's go see what he knows."

Kate watched his retreating back as he returned to his office to grab his leather jacket, her eyes sliding to Adam and Kim who had scooped up their own coats as they waited for Hank to join them. Kate turned her attention back to the file on her desk, picking up her previously discarded pen as the trio passed her, already discussing Keane's last known location. She was still scribbling a note at the bottom of the page when she called out to Adam, all three of them stopping just shy of the staircase to turn and face her.