Chapter 11 - Deep Background

WEDNESDAY

The next morning Jon was up and about early again, eager to put his plan into action. After he left Cate in her office yesterday, he had gone back to his hotel and gone for a long run, to work off his pent-up desire. Then, like a good student, he had done his homework while he dined on room service.

As he had paged through the Defensive Tactics binder he saw that his session with Cate was going to involve quite a bit of close contact – a lot, in fact. From the looks of things, she was basically gonna try to kick his ass. He wanted to be ready, in control of himself.

She had kept him off-balance all day yesterday, and that wasn’t going to happen again. Jon was a man used to being in charge. Though Cate would be the one directing today’s training, he was determined to control their interaction.

Jon felt like he had learned a bit about Cate yesterday, and he was starting to figure her out. He didn’t know why he was so drawn to her, but he knew for damned sure she was attracted to him, and not just because she was a fan. Hell, she was doing everything in her power to hide the fact that she loved his band. That was something he wasn’t used to – most Bon Jovi fans were “loud and proud.”

Jon had seen Cate’s reaction when he uncovered her tattoo….she had been embarrassed. Aroused, but embarrassed. Jon thought he knew why. Cate was undoubtedly one of the toughest women he had ever met. It wasn’t a far leap to assume that she hated any hint of weakness, any chink in the armor of her "Tough Cop" swagger.

Jon imagined it was difficult to be a woman in a man’s world – even an incredibly capable one – and he sensed that Cate regarded any show of emotion as a weakness she had to defend. He had to figure out how to get past that, to get her to let her guard down so he could get to know the real Cate. And there was only one person he knew of who could give him counsel on how to do that.

Knowing Cate was teaching until lunchtime, Jon arrived at the FTB early, a little before ten. He entered the building and stopped by Cate’s office to drop off his gear. He had dressed in PTs as she instructed, and had brought his other clothing in a duffel bag.

He tossed his range bag and duffel on her couch, and noticed a pile of cop gear on Cate’s desk. There was a thick, black nylon web belt, an empty black leather holster, a red rubber handgun, a wicked-looking collapsible baton in a nylon case, what looked like a can of mace in a small holster, and a pair of handcuffs settled inside a black leather pouch. A yellow post-it note was adhered to the cuff case, and “For Jon” was written in neat script. Jon shook his head and smiled. Even Cate’s handwriting was carefully controlled.

Jon headed down the hall to the break room. After fixing himself a cup of coffee, which he had to brew (Damn, these guys drink a lot of coffee!), he went in search of Danny’s office. As he wandered down the hall, Jon ran into Troy. They chatted for a few moments, then Troy pointed Jon to Danny’s office. It was three doors down from Cate’s on the opposite side of the hall.

Jon looked through the half-open door and saw Danny sitting at his desk, reading e-mail. Alice Cooper’s “Welcome to my Nightmare” blared from his speakers. Jon knocked on the door, and Danny looked up, then waved Jon in. He reached over to turn down the music, and pointed to a chair. “Hey, man, what’s up? You’re here early. Cate’s on the range.”

Jon sat down and grinned at Danny, shaking his head. “What’s up with you two and Alice Cooper? You guys got some sort of creepy dungeon hidden under this building, where you torture poor students, like in ‘Silence of the Lambs’?”

Danny laughed. “Hey, Alice Rocks! His was the first concert my brothers took me to when I was a teenager.” He took a swig from the coffee cup on his desk, then made a goofy mock-scary face. “And yes, we DO have a dungeon. Shhhhhh!” Danny brought his finger to his lips as he made the “shushing” noise.

Jon gave a hearty laugh in response. Danny really was quite a character. Jon genuinely liked Danny, despite a strange little shadow of jealousy he felt when he thought of Danny and Cate dating all those years ago.

The men talked for a few minutes about what was going on with the students, and about the role Jon would play in his next movie. Jon noticed the muscle car calendar hanging on Danny’s wall, and the two men compared notes on their “babies”; Danny was restoring a 1969 Camaro. Jon promised to come by Danny’s place to see it before he had to depart next week.

Danny could sense Jon had come to see him for something more than a social call. And he thought he knew what it was about. “So, Man…. What do you wanna know?” Danny asked, looking Jon straight in the eye.

Jon was caught off-guard by Danny’s directness. He hesitated a moment, then decided to be direct himself. “I wanna know about Cate. You obviously know her better than anyone else here; you have history with her. You’re best friends. So I figured you’d be straight with me.”

“Yep, I will.” Danny could see where this was going, but he was going to make Jon ask. After all, he loved Cate like the sister he never had. And any man who wanted to be more than friends with her was gonna have to go through him first. Danny sat silent, regarding Jon.

Jon took a deep breath. “So…what’s her story? I mean, she’s fantastic – tough, cool, smart, beautiful, obviously very good at her job. But I can tell there’s more there, that she’s trying to cover.” Jon felt a little intimidated by Danny’s stare, like he was meeting a girl’s father before their first date.

“Does it matter?” Danny asked, not harshly, but matter-of-factly. “It seems that she is doing a pretty good job of giving you what you came here for. Top-notch cop training, right?”

Danny had spent years chasing criminals and terrorists, and he was a highly-trained interrogator. He could read the signs in Jon’s posture, eye contact, voice, and expressions. Mr. Rock Star was smitten with his Cate. Not that Danny blamed him – Cate was truly a phenomenal woman.

“She’s an awesome teacher.” Jon replied. He gave Danny a direct look. “And yes, it does matter.” Jon paused for a moment to let Danny see he was serious about pursuing this conversation. “I want to get to know her, the woman behind the badge.”

Danny snickered at the corny “behind the badge” reference. Jon was obviously out of his element here, and had watched too many cop movies. “Well, I could tell you all kinds of stuff about Cate, and she would probably kill me if she ever found out. But…” Danny paused. “Since I’m kinda responsible for putting her in this situation – with you – what do you wanna know?” Danny pushed back his chair and propped his feet up on his desk.

“Well, first of all, are you and she….I mean, are you still…together?” Jon couldn’t believe he felt awkward asking Danny whether he and Cate were a couple. She had said they were just friends, but this was a man-to-man discussion. Jon needed to know if he had a rival for Cate’s affection.

Danny gave a hearty laugh. “God, no! She’s like my sister!” He hid is surprise that Jon had said “still together.” Cate didn’t like to disclose her previous relationship with Danny to anyone. Not that she was embarrassed, but she just didn’t think anyone needed to know about ancient history. In fact, the only other person on the FT staff who knew Danny and Cate had ever dated was Floyd. Obviously she had for some reason entrusted this information to Jon. Danny cocked his head. “So, she told you about college, eh?”

“A little,” replied Jon. “Just that the two of you had a ‘hot and fast fling’ and that you figured out you made better friends.” He raised his eyebrows at Danny. “That still true?”

Danny was surprised at the hint of challenge in Jon’s voice. Man, Rock Star’s got it bad…. “Yeah, it is. We dated for a couple months in college – it was mainly physical – and we realized it just wasn’t meant to be. We were much better friends than lovers. Still are.” Danny smiled at the memory of meeting Cate. “Despite her taste in football teams.”

“What?” Jon asked, smiling. Football? Now here’s a subject I know….

Danny grinned. “The first time I ever saw Cate was at a get-acquainted mixer at our dorm. It was 1986 and she was wearing this Chicago Bears jersey with a big number 9 on it – ya know, Jim McMahon? She had really long hair then and was pretty hot. So I walked up to her and said ‘Bears Suck.’ "

“Bears Suck?” Jon said, laughing. “Great line, man. I’m sure THAT really impressed her.”

“Yeah.” Danny chuckled. “Ya know what she said back to me? ‘You must be a Pecker…I mean Packer….fan.’ And then she just gave me this look.” Danny shook his head, grinning at the memory. “Right there, at that moment, we became friends for life.”

Jon smiled at that story. He could picture their meeting in his mind. “So, what happened after college?” he asked. “You were both in the military?”

“Yeah. We went through ROTC, became officers, and both went on active duty. I went to California and she went to New Jersey.” Jon raised his eyebrows in surprise. Danny noticed. “Yeah, Jersey. She was right down the road from you boys. Anyway, that was 1990, so you probably weren’t home much.” Danny chuckled. “But she loved it there. Still says it was her favorite of all the places she has lived."

"Anyway, we both applied to be Special Agents and were selected, and we ended up in the same BAT class here. After that we got assigned together as partners in Ohio. We did a lot of counterterrorism work, and deployed to various garden spots around the world. We’ve been in Africa, Eastern Europe, and pretty much all over the Middle East. Eventually we both left the military, came here as civilian Special Agents, and we’ve been together ever since. Hell, we’ve been partners so long we don’t remember what it was like NOT to be together.”

Danny paused for a moment and regarded Jon. “But that’s not what you really want to know,” he continued quietly. “Yes, Cate was married. So was I. She was better at it than I was. But neither one of us could make it work.”

“You were married?” Jon asked Danny.

“Yeah, right out of college. We were together 13 years. Two great kids.” Danny smiled wistfully. “But I was a shitty husband.” He paused and took a sip of his coffee, then looked at Jon, who was regarding him with a knowing look.

“I was never there. I was always traveling, or deployed, and even when I was home I worked all the time. Julie was basically a single mother. It wasn’t fair… I wasn’t fair to her. She deserved more.” Danny sighed. “Cate used to yell at me all the time to go home, spend time, warning me I would wake up one day and everything would be gone….” He trailed off. “She was right.”

“I know that story too well.” Jon responded quietly. His own marriage to Dorothea had ended for exactly the same reason. It’s hard to have a marriage when you live separate lives, Jon thought wistfully. After a minute, he spoke again. “And Cate?”

“She got married about 5 years after college. To a pilot she met in the military – Kevin.” They were married for 11 years.”

“No kids?” asked Jon.

“No. Thank God.” Danny replied. Jon could see from Danny’s expression that he did not regard Cate’s ex-husband highly at all.

“They divorced?” Jon probed. He was starting to understand part of the reason Cate seemed to continuously shield her emotions. She had been hurt, probably badly, before.

“Yeah.” Danny’s voice turned cold. “That’s the nice way to say it.” He paused, a stormy look on his face. Jon waited until he was ready to speak again.

Danny continued after a moment. “He was screwing around through most of their marriage. He was always away on missions, and Cate spent most of her military career in war zones. She left the military to try to provide a more stable relationship for them. She changed her life for him.” Danny spat out the pronoun. “And when she needed him most, he ran.”

“What do you mean?” Jon leaned forward, focusing on Danny’s words.

“Cate was shot in the line of duty on April 14th, 2006.” Danny watched as Jon’s eyes widened in surprise, and he sat back hard in his chair. Okay, Rock Star, let’s see how serious you are about her…. “We were serving a warrant in Cincinnati, with local police. It went bad. Two CPD cops were killed, I had a minor injury…” Danny raised his shirt sleeve to reveal a scar on his right bicep. “And Cate took a bullet in the back.”

Danny paused again, reading Jon’s expression. He looked pained. Hmmm…maybe there is something there…

“How bad was it?” Jon asked hoarsely. He realized his throat had gone dry at the thought of Cate being shot. He took a gulp of coffee.

“Well, she obviously recovered. But she lost part of her liver, some intestine, and had lots of muscle damage. She had a long recovery.” Danny’s voice was quiet, matter-of-fact. He was reading Jon’s every move.

“Wasn’t she wearing a bullet-proof vest?” Jon’s mind flashed back to his encounter with Cate the day before, when she had measured him for his vest.

Danny saw something stir in Jon’s blue eyes. A flash of desire. Then it was gone, replaced by concern. “Of course. But those things only cover so much. The bullet hit her just below the bottom of the vest, right above her belt, to the right of her spine. It went in, splintered, bounced around, and didn’t come out. She still has some fragments in her body. Thankfully it missed her spinal column and didn’t cause any major nerve damage. But she spent 6 months in physical therapy, trying to get strong enough to pass a physical fitness test so she wasn’t forced to retire.”

“And her husband….?” Jon left the question hanging, anticipating the answer.

Danny scowled. “Three days after Cate was shot, while she was still lying in a hospital bed recovering from surgery and wondering if her career was over, the son-of-a-bitch left her. He came in, told Cate he was in love with another woman, that she was having his baby, and that he was serving Cate with divorce papers.” Danny’s voice was hard and he looked like he wanted to kill someone.

Jon felt a surge of anger toward Cate’s ex. Jesus. No wonder she has walls up. Jon and Danny sat in silence for a moment. When Jon found his voice, he asked quietly, “And since….?”

"Nobody.” Danny answered firmly, looking Jon straight in the eye. “In three years she has not had one single relationship. A one-night stand here or there, to scratch the itch, but she hasn’t let anyone into her heart since that night.”

Jon sat silently for a long minute, processing what he had just learned. When he came to ask Danny’s help, he didn’t expect this. Now what? How was he going to convince Cate to trust him enough to start a relationship – of any sort – after what she had been through? He was still mulling when Danny’s voice brought him back.

“You are attracted to her.” Danny was blunt, straight to the point, and dead on-target.

Jon looked up and met Danny’s stare. “Yes,” he answered. He didn’t say anything else and the two men sat, regarding each other.

Danny broke the silence. “It was pretty obvious on the range last night.” Jon’s eyes widened. “To me, not the others,” Danny hurriedly added. “I know her so well that I can almost read her mind.” He grinned slightly. “And the way you were checking her out when she burned her boobs, well…” He winked. “I guess any guy would go a little goofy after the eyeful you got. Nice rack, eh?”

Jon laughed, relieved at the break in the tension. “Yeah, she is pretty…amazing,” he said.

Danny gave Jon a more serious look. “She thinks the same of you. Not just in a super-fan sort of way, either. I can read her like a book. She is doing everything in her power to hide her attraction to you.” He gave an ironic smile. “Dude, she may be Super Girl, but you are her kryptonite.”

Jon chuckled at Danny’s metaphor. He would have to remember that. “Yeah, well…it seems like she’s doing a pretty good job of resisting my advances. Not that I’ve really made any,” he added quickly, seeing Danny’s eyebrows elevate. “But yesterday, there was definitely a connection…” Jon trailed off.

Danny smirked. “And what do you need from me?” He could read Jon pretty easily. He was obviously looking for help, for advice on how to get Cate to open up to him. Danny felt a little superior, for just a moment. Mr. Rock Star may be able to charm the panties off millions of women, but he needs my advice just to get Cate to listen to him? Heh heh…

“Man, I just need to know how to get her to trust me enough to talk about something other than cop stuff. I want to have a conversation with her, spend time with her, take her out for dinner and dancing….” Jon gave Danny an almost pleading look. “Can you help me with that?”

“I think so,” said Danny. He thought for a minute. “Well, to start with, let me give you this piece of advice. Do NOT let on that you know what a huge fan she is of you and your band. You will just embarrass her, and she’ll lock down and push you away.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “I know, it’s stupid, but it’s how she is. You’d think she would be thrilled beyond belief to spend time with somebody she idolizes so much, but she’s too humble to admit it. She would be absolutely mortified if she realized you knew how crazy she is about you and your music. She can’t stand it when somebody other than a trusted friend sees her acting ‘girly.’ She thinks it makes her look weak.”

So, I was right…. Jon thought for a minute. “So, exactly how big a fan is she? Are we talking she likes our songs when she hears them on the radio, or more like she wants to tie me up and hide me in the dungeon?” Jon asked, grinning.

“Well, I’m pretty sure she’d gladly tie you up, but it wouldn’t be in the dungeon….” Danny laughed heartily. “Dude, she had that 6-foot poster of you with the big hair, in the purple coat and red boots, on the door of her dorm room. I saw that damned thing almost every day for four years.” Danny shook his head at the memory. “She’s been a huge fan since even before I met her. Waaaay back at the beginning.”

He quickly ran through some of Cate’s “secret obsession” with Bon Jovi: the large number of concerts she attended over the years; her impressive collection of their music and videos; her dresser full of band and Philly Soul t-shirts; her prized black Stetson that she had to buy when they were TDY in Texas, because it looked like Richie’s. Jon grinned at that one. Danny also teasingly complained that Cate had dragged him to New Orleans for the Arena Bowl last year, because she just had to be there when the Soul won the title.

“Oh, and you’ve seen the tat.” Danny added.

“Yeah.” Jon responded with a smile. “That was a surprise.”

“Yeah, well… that one is the newest. There are a couple more.” Danny laughed as Jon’s eyes lit up. “But it’s up to you to find ‘em, Dude. I’m not gonna draw you a map.”

He chuckled a bit more, then sobered. “Seriously, though. I love Cate. She’s my best friend. I want to see her move on with her life. You seem like a good guy, like you are sincerely interested in her for more than an easy lay.”

Danny leaned forward and his expression hardened a bit. “I’ll do what I can to try to help her take a leap of faith and give you a chance. Because she deserves to be happy. But I want you to listen to what I’m saying now.” Jon saw a steely glint in Danny’s eyes as Danny paused to ensure he had Jon’s full attention. “Hurt her, Rock Star, and I’ll kill you. And I know how to make it look like an accident.”

Jon could see that Danny wasn’t kidding. He nodded. Message received.