Chapter 9

The new case they had picked up ended up being much more involved than was originally thought. Another man had shown up at the meeting which Joe and Westlake were surveilling in the Defender and shot the two men. After a brief chase the arrest was made, it turned out he was a member of a Japanese gang that was trying to get its foot in the door in Metro City. A detective from Tokyo was sent to bring the suspect back to Tokyo and before they could interrogate the suspect, the team had to wait for the detective to arrive. The person who did arrive was not exactly what or who Westlake was expecting, the detective was female, and it seemed like she and Joe had known each other when he was travelling before.

Joe and Westlake never did make it to Catlett's office to have that discussion with him, but as annoying as he could be, Sherman Catlett was a good agent and very observant. During the past few weeks, he had observed how Astor and Westlake seemed more in tune with each other than usual, they were almost in sync with each other. Now while working this case he observed how Westlake seemed to be rather jealous of Detective Sato and her past, and maybe present, relationship with Astor. When the he, Westlake and Astor were working late in his office he also noticed that the usual banter and glances were few and far between them. It almost seemed like she was giving him the cold shoulder.

After the ambush at the sushi restaurant when Astor announced he had taken Detective Sato back to his apartment for protection, Westlake looked at him in shock and then tried to cover it up with some remark about that being a good idea since the Teki-ya would not know where she would be. At first Astor seemed almost relieved at her response but then when he asked her if she wanted a ride back to the complex at the end of the day, she had refused him saying that Frankie was coming by to get her. Astor left the building seemingly sad and she was also rather despondent when she left for the day also.

It had not gone unnoticed to him in the last year and a half the mutual attraction between Astor and Westlake. There were certain rules regarding partners and relationships in both the Metro Police and FBI, but Catlett also knew that they were both very professional and would always put the job first. In all the time since Astor joined the Viper Project, this was the first time he had seen any sort of personal rift between them. He knew something had changed between them in the last few months, and they had seemed happy. This had made Catlett happy for Westlake; he had always been smitten with her but knew she would have never looked at or felt the same way about him. He didn't like what he was seeing between them now.

The following morning (it was now Thursday) Westlake came into the office looking for Joe. She appeared anxious but was trying very hard to hide it, Catlett couldn't take it any longer and called her into his office.

"Hi Sherman, you wanted to see me?"

"Good morning Westlake, yes please come in." he said closing the door behind her. "Please sit down, we need to talk." He said directing her to the sofa in his office.

He didn't want this to either be or feel like an official conversation between her and the boss, he wanted this conversation to be between two friends. He didn't want her to think that she was in trouble. They sat down on the sofa and faced each other.

"Okay, this is weird Sherman. What is this about?" she asked

"I wanted to see how you are doing these days?"

"What do you mean how am I doing?"

"Cameron, I know more than you give me credit for. There is something going on between you and Astor, you two are acting much differently than I'm used to seeing."

She stared at him blankly. They had intended to have this conversation with him about their relationship but then the case had come up and Kamiko Sato came to town; and Westlake didn't know where they stood in their relationship. Joe had fallen back into step with Kamiko so easily and it seemed like she still had feelings for him, maybe it was mutual now that he'd seen her again. She knew that she was at his apartment and when he didn't come home or answer his phone, the thoughts she had running through her head had kept her awake most of the previous night.

"Cameron, hello. Talk to me please, what's going on?"

She shook her head to get focus again and everything spilled out. How she and Joe had begun a relationship weeks ago and that they had had every intention of talking to him about it. She told him about the baby and the miscarriage and how she was freaking out now that Joe might still have feelings for Kamiko and might decide to be with her, despite his admission of love to her the other day. Catlett was stunned and in pain for everything Westlake had been going through in the last few days. He pulled her to him and gave her a hug while she wiped her eyes with a tissue, he had handed her, this was more than he had expected. He was furious with Joe right now but put those feelings aside for now.

"I'm so sorry you have been through all of this Cameron. I wish you had told me sooner." He said rubbing circles on her back.

She pulled back and looked at him sheepishly.

"Well to be honest I, I mean we, didn't know how you would react, and I guess we wanted to figure everything out before saying anything officially."

"You were worried that I would break up the team." He stated releasing her

"Quite frankly, yes. You are very 'by the book' and the rules say that partners can't be personally involved so…"

"I understand. Seriously though, you and Astor have pretty much been 'together' since you started working together. I'm surprised it took this long for you to actually 'get together'. I'm sure we could have worked something out, I don't need to tell the director everything if things don't get complicated, if you know what I mean." Catlett said smiling at her

"I suppose I do; I'm just surprised to hear that." She replied smiling

He was glad to see her smile again.

"Okay, now that I know everything," he stressed, "is there anything you need or that I can do for you?"

"No, I feel fine and the doctor said everything is okay, physically. What I need right now is to find Joe and see what our next move on this case will be."

"After you find out why he didn't come home last night first." Catlett said

"Maybe, or we can save that conversation for after this case is closed. Thanks for listening Sherman and being so…understanding." She said standing up and walking towards the door.

"Alright, keep me informed, on the case I mean."

"Will do."

Westlake closed the door behind her and went to her office. When she arrived, Joe was sitting at her desk doing something on the computer.

"Good morning, what may I ask are you doing at my desk?"

"Good morning, I'm trying to see if I can bring up a map of the pier where Bradford worked."

"How about you scoot over and let me look." She said shooing him out of her chair and turning to the monitor.

She logged into the Metropol computer system and looked up the information about the port there. She asked Joe specifically which ports Bradford was responsible for and brought those up on the screen.

"So, what is it you are looking for?" she asked

"Something Kamiko said last night while we were talking. The Teki-ya will need to use something untraceable to move the drugs and guns back to Tokyo, and they used to deal with the Russians, right?"

"I'm following, carry on."

"I started thinking what could be untraceable that they would need access to the ports? A submarine, it could get in undetected into a port on the other side that they control."

"Okay, a submarine is not a small vessel, it would be noticed. It would have to be a dock somewhere out of the way, and it would have to be able to accommodate a smaller sub, which still isn't small, but not quite as noticeable. Good work partner."

"I've been studying with the best partner for some time now, something was bound to sink in." he said leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

"So is work the only reason you didn't answer your phone last night?" she asked worriedly

She sent a quick message to the city planning office requesting copies of the blueprints for docks 28 and 30 as soon as possible.

"I'm sorry about that Cameron. We were talking about the past, she kissed me and asked if there was a chance that we might try a relationship again once this case was over, but I told her that I already had someone in my life whom I love very much. She guessed that person was you and I told her she was correct."

"So other than her kissing you, nothing happened between you two last night?"

"Nothing at all. By the time we finished talking and she went to bed, I slept on the couch by the way; it was not as comfortable without you there I might add, it was far too late to call you back."

"You still could have called; I didn't sleep much last night."

"I'm sorry, I know it hasn't been easy the last few days. I've been ignoring you and that was wrong."

"Yes, you have, and none of this has gone unnoticed by Catlett by the way."

"What do you mean?"

"He called me into his office this morning and asked me what was going on. I spilled everything."

"I'm sorry, we were supposed to talk to him together. He should have called me in also," he said getting upset

"It was actually quite casual; he did say that he wished we'd come to him sooner though. When I mentioned about breaking up the team, he implied that if things didn't get complicated, he wouldn't say anything to anyone. I got the impression that he might actually be on our side."

"Well he's going to assume things are complicated now." Joe mumbled

"I don't think so, we've talked now, and we are on the same page. We can remain professional at work, but I think it would be a good idea if you had a talk with him after this case is over with. You know, to clear the air, so to speak."

"I will." He said as he stood up to stretch his back. Sleeping on his sofa had not done him any favors the previous night.

Westlake's phone rang and she answered it. After speaking to the other person for a few minutes she hung up and turned to Joe who was also on his phone. After he hung up, she spoke.

"That was my contact at the city planner's office, they've got the blueprints for us. Who were you talking to?"

"That was Frankie, the tap we put on Dan Harmon's phone paid off, he was speaking to Tashogi earlier, he is the mole."

"Catlett's not going to like that. Tashogi must have something on Dan or is using someone or something against him."

"Well let's hope whatever it is he tells us, and we can help him. I will go with Sherman to pick up Harmon if you want to go to the planning office and get the prints."

"Sure, I'll meet you both in Catlett's office. Is Kamiko around, maybe she should go with me?"

"I think she was waiting to talk to Igawa again, don't worry I told her that won't happen without supervision."

"Okay, I'll go get her and we'll be back in an hour." She said as she turned off the light in her office and closed the door behind them.

Joe reached out and gave her hand a quick squeeze and then took off for Catlett's office. Westlake went and found Kamiko and the two of them left for city hall. They all met up later, the girls with the blueprints and the guys with information from Dan Harmon. They split up into teams and left for the port. Arriving at pier 28, Joe and Westlake found nothing going on at their location so they left to meet up with Catlett and Kamiko, who had found the submarine and the Teki-ya were loading their drugs and guns onto it. Kamiko went ahead of the rest and Catlett followed as back up but they ended up getting caught.

Once the others arrived in the Defender, they used the static pulse to shut down the submarines electronics, but it was such a large pulse it also shut down the Defender's systems. Westlake saw an opening to get onto the sub and get to the others and ran out of the car, Joe calling out to her to wait. In the moments it took for her to get to the sub she was taken hostage at gun point by Tashogi who was arguing with Kamiko. Joe tried to get a lock on him but the last of the Defender's systems went down so he jumped out of the car. Suddenly a gun shot was heard and Tashogi and Westlake both fell to the deck. Joe felt a sudden rush of panic come over him, he yelled out for his partner as he ran over. He saw her sit up and they looked at each other and both felt instant relief. Kamiko had killed Tashogi and saved Westlake in the process. She looked from one to the other and knew that they were very much in love and there would be no chance of a reunion with Joe at all.

The next day Kamiko was in Westlake's office at the federal building hoping to see her and say goodbye before going to the airport. She was not around now, so she settled for leaving a note for her, as she was folding the note and putting it onto the desk Joe walked in.

"Kamiko, I didn't expect to find you here. I thought you would be downstairs getting Igawa ready for transport."

"I'm just on my way now, I was hoping to see Detective Westlake before I left for the airport. I wanted to thank her for everything she did on this case."

"Well I think she should be here any moment."

"I've left her a note, I really should be going. It was wonderful to see you again Joe, I'm glad we had our chat. I can see that you both care very deeply for the other, take care of her."

"I will, it was nice to see you again also Kamiko. All the best when you get back to Tokyo, I hope you get everything you want in your life."

She moved into Joe's personal space and lifted herself up enough to give him a quick hug and a kiss goodbye. Just then Westlake arrived at her office.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" she asked

"Not at all detective, I was just saying goodbye. I thought I might have missed you, I left you a note, but I'm glad I haven't." She came over to Westlake and gave her a hug also, "Thank you for all your assistance on this case. I'm glad we got to meet, take care of each other." She whispered the last part in her ear.

"We will, thank you Kamiko, it was good working with you also." She said pulling back. "Have a good flight back to Tokyo."

"Igawa won't be any trouble, come and visit sometime. Both of you." She said as she stepped out of the office.

Westlake turned to Joe who looked a bit confused.

"Well this has been an interesting week, hasn't it?" she asked him

"Yeah, I guess it has."

"Are there any other ex-girlfriends we might run into in the near future I should know about?" she said jokingly

"No, don't think so."

"Good, so what do you want to do tonight? It's Friday and this case is closed; we should do something."

She turned to look at Joe for an answer, he was staring at her with a look of resolve on his face.

"Kyameron, anata ga watashitoisshoni sunde kuretara kōeidesu," he said.

"What are you saying Joe, I don't speak Japanese remember. And up until a few days ago I didn't know you did." She mumbled the last part to herself.

He stood in front of her and took her hands in his. Both completely forgot the office door was open and anyone could see in. He leaned in very close to her.

"I said, Cameron, I would be honored if you would live with me."

She studied his face for a moment to see if there was any hesitation, she didn't see any.

"I was going to ask you last Friday but then everything else happened and I didn't want to bring it up right away because I wasn't…"

She cut him off there pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss. A moment later they heard someone clearing their throat at the door. They pulled apart and saw Catlett standing there.

"Guys, people can see, close the damn door." He said smirking and closing the door as he went back to his office.

They laughed both out of embarrassment of being seen by Catlett and whoever else and just because they were happy.

"Joe, I would be honored to live with you, but you're moving into my house. We won't fit all my stuff into your apartment." She said smiling.

"Deal! Your place is more like home to me anyway; always has been," he said and then sealed it with a kiss.

8