The Blacklist : A Traitor in the Family (Putting the Band Back Together) Chapter 1-8
So The Return was written before The Apothecary. Post Apothecary I redid and explanded it to account for that episode.
Putting the Band Back Together
Chapter 1
“It's not Dembe.”
Gently, Elizabeth pointed out. “Who else had the knowledge and the access?”
“It's not Dembe.” Reddington said it again and closed his eyes in exhaustion.
Cooper frowned. “If that's true - and I don't think that it is - we may have managed to stop the poison, but we are still no closer to figuring out who it is targeting you.”
As the nearby elevator dinged, Reddington opened his eyes to find Ressler and Aram carrying in his doppelganger. He commented. “I take it I am about to have a relapse.”
Cooper nodded. “It's time to play possum. Let word get out that you're dead. See who that shakes out. See who steps forward to take credit.”
Reddington nodded. He was still having trouble catching his breath. “I have a safe -”
Cooper cut him off. “- No. We're not using any of your resources or any of your people. We're going low key with your protection to try to fly under the radar. Reports of your death are already starting to be leaked.”
“How low key?” Reddington asked.
“Very low key. Keen, get him out of here. The rest of the task force will be staying with the other you. ”
Lizzie gave him a shoulder to lean on, but before they could get out the door, Cooper added one final insult. “I'm going to need your hat.”
Raymond looked in horror at the baseball cap Cooper offered him in trade.
As, they entered the elevator just the two of them, he asked. “Where are we going?”
“You wanted to see my new place. There's no time like the present.”
Raymond shook his head. “I won't put you and Agnes in danger.”
“You won't. Tom took Agnes away for a few days.”
OOO
Not that he looked like he could make it anywhere on his own … still Liz told him. “Wait here while I do a quick sweep of the apartment.”
She left him leaning against the wall outside her door as she entered from the back through the kitchen. Entering the living room, Liz spotted her.
That hadn't taken long was Liz's first thought seeing her.
“Mr. Kaplan!”
tbc
Chapter 2
“Mr. Kaplan! Dembe told me you were dead - that Reddington killed you!”
As she spoke, Mr. Kaplan tucked her hair behind her ear to highlight her scar. “As Anslo Garrick could once attest - Raymond is a lousy shot.”
Liz didn't know where to begin. She started with the most recent development. “Are you the one that poisoned Reddington?”
Mr. Kaplan looked sad and … offended. “No.”
“I don't understand. What are you doing here?”
“Several years ago Raymond put together a protocol I was to follow in the event of his death. I heard the news about Raymond. I came to fulfill his last wishes. I'm here to give you all the answers that Raymond never could bring himself to - about himself, about your mother, and about you.”
Liz's eyes widened. “I'm listening.”
She was so eager to hear more, so distracted, she forgot … until she heard Reddington's voice just before he stumbled into the room.
“Lizzie, what's wrong? What's taking so long?”
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Chapter 3
“Lizzie, what's wrong? What's taking so long?”
Gun in hand, Reddington stumbled into the room.
Mr. Kaplan's gaze went to Reddington. Her lips pursed. “I thought you were dead.”
Lowering his gun, a stunned Reddington said it back to her. “I thought you were dead. I thought I killed you.”
Liz waited for Reddington to ask Mr. Kaplan the same question Liz had asked - was she the one responsible for the attempts on Reddington's life and business.
He didn't. Instead, stumbling forward, he just put his arms around her. Holding her tightly, he buried his face in the crook of her neck.
Looking like she was still trying to make up her mind about the situation, Mr. Kaplan didn't pull away, but nor did she embrace him back. Not until his legs started to collapse under him and she found herself holding him up. Liz rushed to help her get him to the couch and into a reclining position.
Reddington grabbed hold of Mr. Kaplan's hand. “Dembe is missing. I don't know where he is and ... someone is trying to kill me, Kate.”
He said the two things in the order in which they were important to him. He said them almost as if the two things were coincidental - as if they couldn't possibly be related. In his mind, the idea that Dembe was missing because he had tried to kill Reddington still wasn't even a possibility.
Mr. Kaplan did the same. Seemingly having made up her mind, she brushed her free hand across his temple. “Well, we can't have that, dearie. We'll find Dembe and then we'll find who ever it is that's out to get you.”
Liz couldn't believe it. Just like that, Mr. Kaplan was back in the band.
tbc
A/N Sorry if the reunion seemed anticlimactic, but given Mr. Kaplan's rather forgiving attitude towards Raymond during her conversation with her rescuer, I suspect her reentry into the fold will play out in a similar fashion. Besides, I've already done it the other way where she refuses his apology and wants nothing to do with him upon her return so there is that.
Chapter 4
“I see you pulled out your IV on your own.” Mr. Kaplan didn't look impressed.
Reddington's hand had a handkerchief tied around it.
“That doctor was taking too long. He kept talking and wanting to run tests. I don't have time for that. I need to find Dembe which -“ Reddington swung his legs down off the sofa and tried to get up. “ - I'm not going to do by laying here!”
Liz started to rush to try to stop him, but Mr. Kaplan waved a hand to ward her off. Instead, she let him try and fail to stand.
“I know you are worried about Dembe, but Raymond, you need to slow down. Take a moment. Breath. You look like you haven't slept or eaten in days - I'm sure because you haven't slept or eaten in days.”
Sinking back down onto the sofa, Reddington sounded incredibly frustrated. “Kate, Dembe is missing because of me. Either the person behind this has Dembe or Dembe found some sort of clue and has gone off after that person on his own.”
Calmly - as if it was going to be the easiest thing in the world - Mr. Kaplan suggested. “Then to find Dembe all we have to do is figure out who is targeting you.”
Reddington looked like he was going to continue to argue, but reluctantly he nodded.
Liz hadn't appreciated before what a stabilizing influence Mr. Kaplan was on Reddington.
In a no nonsense tone, she told him. “I am going to bandage that hand properly, you are going to eat something, and then we will figure this out.”
She turned to Liz. “Elizabeth, where is your first aid kit?”
Watching Reddington's poorly bandaged hand seep blood onto her sofa cushion, Liz didn't offer to get it for her. Instead, she lied. “In the kitchen. Under the sink.”
She waited until Mr. Kaplan had left the room before pretending to remember. “I think Tom may have moved the kit when he started baby proofing the kitchen. I'll be right back.”
Turning the corner into the kitchen, Liz approached Mr. Kaplan.
Having already found the kit fully visible on top of the refrigerator, Mr. Kaplan had moved on to raiding the cabinets.
Cursing the open concept floor plan, keeping her voice low, Elizabeth asked. “About that proto -”
Mr. Kaplan stonewalled her. “ - What protocol?”
A jar of peanut butter, a spoon, and one of Tom's post workout sports drinks in hand, Mr. Kaplan walked away.
Elizabeth sighed. After adding peanut butter to the grocery list already started on the dry erase board attached to the refrigerator, she followed after her.
tbc
Chapter 5
Trying to hand the bottle back, Reddington made a puckered face and complained. “This tastes awful!”
“I don't care what it tastes like. It's full of electrolytes. Drink it.”
While Reddington started on the peanut butter, Elizabeth got down to business. “I know you don't want to believe it, but all the evidence points to Dembe.”
“How many times do I have to say it? It's not Dembe!”
Gently, Liz pointed out. “Dembe is on the run. He's not answering his phone. He hasn't checked in.”
“Dembe is running to something, not from me.” Reddington insisted.
“If Dembe isn't the one that poisoned you than why didn't he get sick too? Just because the poison was tailored specifically to you, doesn't mean it wouldn't have made him sick too.”
Whether it was having Mr. Kaplan back by his side or the little bit of food in his belly, Reddington was starting to get back his cheek. “I feel like I am talking to Donald! The answer to that should be pretty obvious - he didn't get sick because he didn't drink any of the poison.”
“But why didn't he drink any? How did he know not to?” Liz asked.
“He didn't drink because he was driving that night and while he plans to be an organ donor in the near future, he wasn't planning on being one that night! Dembe would never betray me!”
“I bet you used to say that exact same thing about Mr. Kaplan - that she would never betray you.”
“And she never has!”
Liz was floored. “Okay ... What do you call helping me fake my death to get away from you?”
“Mr. Kaplan didn't betray me. What Mr. Kaplan did was a fulfillment of my wishes.”
Liz raised an eyebrow. “You wanted me dead?”
“Mr. Kaplan was doing exactly what I asked her to. You were in danger. She was trying to protect you. To do it ... she put your safety over my interests.”
Gaping, Liz couldn't even begin to formulate a response to that. She glanced Mr. Kaplan's way to gauge her reaction. Liz was pretty sure she caught the end of an eye roll.
Still, Mr. Kaplan sided with Reddington on the Dembe topic. “It's not Dembe. I may not know what has been going on here the past few weeks or months, but that I know. Now … why don't the two of you tell me exactly what has been going on since I've been gone?”
tbc
Chapter 6
It didn't take long to get Mr. Kaplan up to speed.
“It seems like all of your business troubles are tied to that one account - the one used to pay Stone.”
Reddington agreed. “Isabella was told about the cruise liner deal. She stopped that by killing Zack Smoll who was in the process of moving money out of that account into the new one he set up to pay for the liners. The same account was used to pay for my dealing with Stratos. Even the bonds stolen from my courier and used to frame Justin Sperry were purchased with the account that paid Isabella.
Liz chimed in. “So from the sounds of it, all of the information Isabella Stone claimed to have received about your operations could have come from a person with access to that account.”
Reddington nodded.
Getting the dry erase board from the kitchen, Liz erased the grocery list. “Who had access to the account that paid Isabella Stone?”
“There are 11 people who had access to that account - the 11 people I invited to dinner that night.” Reddington listed them off so Elizabeth could write them down.
“What about Dembe?”
Grudgingly, Reddington admitted. “12 with Dembe.”
Just trying to be thorough and considering it a fairly safe hunch, Liz corrected him. “13.” She glanced apologetically in Mr. Kaplan's direction before adding her name to the end of the list.
13 was too many. Frowning, Liz asked. “Do any of them stand out to you as more likely than the others?”
“When I called the meeting, Marvin was the only one who didn't show up. The others all came.”
“Of course they did. Whoever did this isn't a fool. Running is an obvious sign of guilt.”
Mr. Kaplan had a point.
Liz made another. “Dembe is on the run.”
“Have you spoken to his daughter? Seen if he's checked in with her?” Mr. Kaplan asked.
Liz was surprised. She didn't know Dembe had a daughter. It hadn't occurred to her that Dembe might have a life outside of Reddington.
“No. I don't want to alarm her. She has enough on her plate with Elle being sick. We save Dembe and then he can decide what if anything he wants to tell her.”
Growing frustrated with Reddington's refusal to accept the obvious answer before him, Liz looked at the list again. “Why would you let so many people have access to the same account?”
Reddington grimaced and admitted. “In hindsight … I should have done more to compartmentalize.”
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Chapter 7
Liz asked a question. “The cruise line you were trying to bail out, you said one of your competitors was able to buy it out from under you because your money didn't get there in time. Who was the competitor?”
“Baldur Magnusson but I don't believe he's involved - and my money didn't just not get there in time - it didn't get there at all. Smoll was in the process of moving the money to a new account to pay for the ships - one that couldn't be traced back to me. The 250 million dollars in bitcoins that were in transit went poof along with Smoll. No one knows what happened to the money.”
Mr. Kaplan looked skeptical. “I find that very hard to believe. According to whom?”
“Abe.”
Mr. Kaplan raised an eyebrow. “Smoll's second in command who conveniently enough received a promotion? Has Brimley vetted his story?”
“Smoll and Abe have been partners for years. They've been best friends since before college. You really think Abe set Zack up to be murdered - and murdered in such a monstrous way?”
Mr. Kaplan didn't sound as sentimental as Reddington. “I can think of 250 million reasons why Abe might have done it.”
Mr. Kaplan asked another question. “Smoll was killed at a massage parlor in the middle of the day?”
“Not exactly the happy ending he went in there hoping for.” Reddington acknowledged.
“You said Natalie Luca was sent to kill him and given instructions on when she would find him at that specific location. I take it Smoll going there was a regular occurrence?”
“Smoll was by no means a saint, but he was as loyal a customer as they come. Apparently, he had a standing appointment there twice a week.”
Mr. Kaplan's eyebrow arched again. “A loyal customer, but not a very loyal husband. Which brings us up to 250 million and 1 reasons. If you dropped in on Mrs. Smoll to pay your condolences, I wonder who else might be there to comfort the grieving widow?”
Reddington didn't look pleased. “I'll ask Teddy to have a chat with him, but Abe didn't know about the apartment. None of my money people knew about the apartment.”
Trying to contribute something, Elizabeth made a suggestion. “Okay so let's make a list of people who did know about the apartment.”
“It's a very short list.”
Liz made a new column. “Who knew about the apartment?”
Reddington answered. “Dembe and Kate. Oh and you.”
“Elizabeth did fake her death to try to get away from you. That didn't work. Logically ... killing you would be the next step.”
Liz didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure if Mr. Kaplan was being serious.
Reddington looked her over, but dismissed that idea too. “I don't see Lizzie having it in her.”
“Never underestimate what a mama bear will do to protect her family.”
Before Liz could stutter a response, Mr. Kaplan was moving on.
“Who else are you leaving off, Raymond?”
When Reddington denied there was anyone else, Mr. Kaplan prompted him. “The cat.”
Liz didn't understand, but Reddington seemed to be mulling the idea over.
“I do speak freely in front of her and she can be a bit of a diva, but I just don't see her pulling it off. That whole not having thumbs - it's very limiting. Besides, she's much more the Godfather type - leaving a mouse head in my bed while I'm sleeping.”
Mr. Kaplan gave him a look of irritation. “Who feeds her and takes care of her when you're away? More often than not, when you are away so is Dembe.”
“My neighbor, but she has no idea who I really am. She thinks I'm a traveling sales rep.”
“How difficult would it have been for one of your accountants to have discovered the apartment by following the paper trail?” Liz asked.
Reddington dismissed the idea. “Impossible. I don't use money from the account that paid Isabella Stone or any of the my other laundering accounts to pay for the expenses relating to the apartment - at least not directly. I use cash to buy money orders.”
“Do you ever bring women -”
“- No.” Reddington cut Liz off.
“Maybe someone followed you.”
“That apartment was my sanctuary. Knowledge of its existence was closely guarded.”
“Is there anyone else who knew about the apartment, had access to the account and knew all the details about your operation that were given to Isabella Stone?”
“Just Dembe and myself.” Mr. Kaplan answered for him.
Liz frowned. Truly, she didn't want to believe it anymore than Reddington did, but … “Reddington, I know you don't want to hear it -”
“-Then don't say it.”
Liz was out of ideas.
“When you eliminate the impossible -” Taking the dry erase marker, Mr. Kaplan went in a line crossing off Dembe's name, her own and Liz's. “- whatever you are left with however improbable is the answer.”
“Been reading some classics in our retirement, have we?” Reddington asked.
“Going out of my mind with boredom would be a more accurate assessment.” She circled his neighbor. “Just because you didn't tell her doesn't mean she doesn't know.”
“She's a sweet, little old lady.”
Mr. Kaplan's raised eyebrow and head tilt said it all.
Reddington protested. “She wouldn't have had access to the bank account.”
Mr. Kaplan's tone held a mixture of tolerance and pity. “You're not considering all of the possibilities, Raymond. You're fixated on the idea of one person who could have done it all.“
“You think it's a conspiracy? You think the Cabal is behind this?” Liz asked.
“No.” Reddington looked grievously wounded. “She's suggesting multiple of my people have betrayed me.”
“I think we should bring her in for a little chat with Brimley.”
Reddington didn't look convinced. He shook his head. “She's in Florida. She turned snowbird this year. She's been gone since Thanksgiving.”
Mr. Kaplan's head whipped in his direction. “Then who has been taking care of the cat since Thanksgiving?”
There was a barely perceptible hesitation before Reddington's denial. “No one. It hasn't been necessary.”
By the narrowing of her eyes, Liz got the idea that Mr. Kaplan didn't believe him. “Raymond -”
Liz's phone began to ring. Trying to decide if the interruption was worth it, she pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. It was no help. BLOCKED CALLER
“Keen.”
“Elizabeth -”
He only got out one word, but she would recognize that distinctive voice anywhere. “Dembe! Where are you?!”
tbc
Chapter 8
Liz's phone began to ring. Trying to decide if the interruption was worth it, she pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. It was no help. BLOCKED CALLER
“Keen.”
“Elizabeth -”
He only got out one word, but she would recognize that distinctive voice anywhere. “Dembe! Where are you?!”
Liz had to stand and move away as Reddington reached for the phone.
Dembe ignored her question and sounding deeply morose, he asked his own. “Did Raymond ever regain consciousness? Did he suffer?”
“Dembe, you need to come back. With you not here -” She hoped he couldn't hear the shame in her voice. “ - people are starting to think that you are the one responsible.”
“I am responsible for Raymond's death. What happened to Raymond was my fault.”
A little stunned, Liz asked for some clarification. “Your fault as in you should have noticed the colorless, odorless, tasteless poison in the drink you poured for Reddington? Or your fault as in you put the poison into the bottle?”
“This all started with Kate's death. Her murder. I should have done something to stop Raymond. I didn't and now we must all suffer for my sin of omission.”
“Yeah, well about that … we should talk.” She had to dodge Reddington as he again grabbed for the phone. “Just tell me where you are so I can come get you.”
“I can't tell you that, Elizabeth. But there are things that I can tell you. Things that Raymond should have told you, but he never did.”
Liz caught her breath. “I'm listening.”
Having had enough, Reddington shouted so he could be heard. “I'M NOT DEAD!”
“Ray-mond?” The first half of the word came out joyous. The second half … not so much.
There was a moment of shocked silence before the line went dead.
tbc
Putting the Band Back Together
Chapter 1
“It's not Dembe.”
Gently, Elizabeth pointed out. “Who else had the knowledge and the access?”
“It's not Dembe.” Reddington said it again and closed his eyes in exhaustion.
Cooper frowned. “If that's true - and I don't think that it is - we may have managed to stop the poison, but we are still no closer to figuring out who it is targeting you.”
As the nearby elevator dinged, Reddington opened his eyes to find Ressler and Aram carrying in his doppelganger. He commented. “I take it I am about to have a relapse.”
Cooper nodded. “It's time to play possum. Let word get out that you're dead. See who that shakes out. See who steps forward to take credit.”
Reddington nodded. He was still having trouble catching his breath. “I have a safe -”
Cooper cut him off. “- No. We're not using any of your resources or any of your people. We're going low key with your protection to try to fly under the radar. Reports of your death are already starting to be leaked.”
“How low key?” Reddington asked.
“Very low key. Keen, get him out of here. The rest of the task force will be staying with the other you. ”
Lizzie gave him a shoulder to lean on, but before they could get out the door, Cooper added one final insult. “I'm going to need your hat.”
Raymond looked in horror at the baseball cap Cooper offered him in trade.
As, they entered the elevator just the two of them, he asked. “Where are we going?”
“You wanted to see my new place. There's no time like the present.”
Raymond shook his head. “I won't put you and Agnes in danger.”
“You won't. Tom took Agnes away for a few days.”
OOO
Not that he looked like he could make it anywhere on his own … still Liz told him. “Wait here while I do a quick sweep of the apartment.”
She left him leaning against the wall outside her door as she entered from the back through the kitchen. Entering the living room, Liz spotted her.
That hadn't taken long was Liz's first thought seeing her.
“Mr. Kaplan!”
tbc
Chapter 2
“Mr. Kaplan! Dembe told me you were dead - that Reddington killed you!”
As she spoke, Mr. Kaplan tucked her hair behind her ear to highlight her scar. “As Anslo Garrick could once attest - Raymond is a lousy shot.”
Liz didn't know where to begin. She started with the most recent development. “Are you the one that poisoned Reddington?”
Mr. Kaplan looked sad and … offended. “No.”
“I don't understand. What are you doing here?”
“Several years ago Raymond put together a protocol I was to follow in the event of his death. I heard the news about Raymond. I came to fulfill his last wishes. I'm here to give you all the answers that Raymond never could bring himself to - about himself, about your mother, and about you.”
Liz's eyes widened. “I'm listening.”
She was so eager to hear more, so distracted, she forgot … until she heard Reddington's voice just before he stumbled into the room.
“Lizzie, what's wrong? What's taking so long?”
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Chapter 3
“Lizzie, what's wrong? What's taking so long?”
Gun in hand, Reddington stumbled into the room.
Mr. Kaplan's gaze went to Reddington. Her lips pursed. “I thought you were dead.”
Lowering his gun, a stunned Reddington said it back to her. “I thought you were dead. I thought I killed you.”
Liz waited for Reddington to ask Mr. Kaplan the same question Liz had asked - was she the one responsible for the attempts on Reddington's life and business.
He didn't. Instead, stumbling forward, he just put his arms around her. Holding her tightly, he buried his face in the crook of her neck.
Looking like she was still trying to make up her mind about the situation, Mr. Kaplan didn't pull away, but nor did she embrace him back. Not until his legs started to collapse under him and she found herself holding him up. Liz rushed to help her get him to the couch and into a reclining position.
Reddington grabbed hold of Mr. Kaplan's hand. “Dembe is missing. I don't know where he is and ... someone is trying to kill me, Kate.”
He said the two things in the order in which they were important to him. He said them almost as if the two things were coincidental - as if they couldn't possibly be related. In his mind, the idea that Dembe was missing because he had tried to kill Reddington still wasn't even a possibility.
Mr. Kaplan did the same. Seemingly having made up her mind, she brushed her free hand across his temple. “Well, we can't have that, dearie. We'll find Dembe and then we'll find who ever it is that's out to get you.”
Liz couldn't believe it. Just like that, Mr. Kaplan was back in the band.
tbc
A/N Sorry if the reunion seemed anticlimactic, but given Mr. Kaplan's rather forgiving attitude towards Raymond during her conversation with her rescuer, I suspect her reentry into the fold will play out in a similar fashion. Besides, I've already done it the other way where she refuses his apology and wants nothing to do with him upon her return so there is that.
Chapter 4
“I see you pulled out your IV on your own.” Mr. Kaplan didn't look impressed.
Reddington's hand had a handkerchief tied around it.
“That doctor was taking too long. He kept talking and wanting to run tests. I don't have time for that. I need to find Dembe which -“ Reddington swung his legs down off the sofa and tried to get up. “ - I'm not going to do by laying here!”
Liz started to rush to try to stop him, but Mr. Kaplan waved a hand to ward her off. Instead, she let him try and fail to stand.
“I know you are worried about Dembe, but Raymond, you need to slow down. Take a moment. Breath. You look like you haven't slept or eaten in days - I'm sure because you haven't slept or eaten in days.”
Sinking back down onto the sofa, Reddington sounded incredibly frustrated. “Kate, Dembe is missing because of me. Either the person behind this has Dembe or Dembe found some sort of clue and has gone off after that person on his own.”
Calmly - as if it was going to be the easiest thing in the world - Mr. Kaplan suggested. “Then to find Dembe all we have to do is figure out who is targeting you.”
Reddington looked like he was going to continue to argue, but reluctantly he nodded.
Liz hadn't appreciated before what a stabilizing influence Mr. Kaplan was on Reddington.
In a no nonsense tone, she told him. “I am going to bandage that hand properly, you are going to eat something, and then we will figure this out.”
She turned to Liz. “Elizabeth, where is your first aid kit?”
Watching Reddington's poorly bandaged hand seep blood onto her sofa cushion, Liz didn't offer to get it for her. Instead, she lied. “In the kitchen. Under the sink.”
She waited until Mr. Kaplan had left the room before pretending to remember. “I think Tom may have moved the kit when he started baby proofing the kitchen. I'll be right back.”
Turning the corner into the kitchen, Liz approached Mr. Kaplan.
Having already found the kit fully visible on top of the refrigerator, Mr. Kaplan had moved on to raiding the cabinets.
Cursing the open concept floor plan, keeping her voice low, Elizabeth asked. “About that proto -”
Mr. Kaplan stonewalled her. “ - What protocol?”
A jar of peanut butter, a spoon, and one of Tom's post workout sports drinks in hand, Mr. Kaplan walked away.
Elizabeth sighed. After adding peanut butter to the grocery list already started on the dry erase board attached to the refrigerator, she followed after her.
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Chapter 5
Trying to hand the bottle back, Reddington made a puckered face and complained. “This tastes awful!”
“I don't care what it tastes like. It's full of electrolytes. Drink it.”
While Reddington started on the peanut butter, Elizabeth got down to business. “I know you don't want to believe it, but all the evidence points to Dembe.”
“How many times do I have to say it? It's not Dembe!”
Gently, Liz pointed out. “Dembe is on the run. He's not answering his phone. He hasn't checked in.”
“Dembe is running to something, not from me.” Reddington insisted.
“If Dembe isn't the one that poisoned you than why didn't he get sick too? Just because the poison was tailored specifically to you, doesn't mean it wouldn't have made him sick too.”
Whether it was having Mr. Kaplan back by his side or the little bit of food in his belly, Reddington was starting to get back his cheek. “I feel like I am talking to Donald! The answer to that should be pretty obvious - he didn't get sick because he didn't drink any of the poison.”
“But why didn't he drink any? How did he know not to?” Liz asked.
“He didn't drink because he was driving that night and while he plans to be an organ donor in the near future, he wasn't planning on being one that night! Dembe would never betray me!”
“I bet you used to say that exact same thing about Mr. Kaplan - that she would never betray you.”
“And she never has!”
Liz was floored. “Okay ... What do you call helping me fake my death to get away from you?”
“Mr. Kaplan didn't betray me. What Mr. Kaplan did was a fulfillment of my wishes.”
Liz raised an eyebrow. “You wanted me dead?”
“Mr. Kaplan was doing exactly what I asked her to. You were in danger. She was trying to protect you. To do it ... she put your safety over my interests.”
Gaping, Liz couldn't even begin to formulate a response to that. She glanced Mr. Kaplan's way to gauge her reaction. Liz was pretty sure she caught the end of an eye roll.
Still, Mr. Kaplan sided with Reddington on the Dembe topic. “It's not Dembe. I may not know what has been going on here the past few weeks or months, but that I know. Now … why don't the two of you tell me exactly what has been going on since I've been gone?”
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Chapter 6
It didn't take long to get Mr. Kaplan up to speed.
“It seems like all of your business troubles are tied to that one account - the one used to pay Stone.”
Reddington agreed. “Isabella was told about the cruise liner deal. She stopped that by killing Zack Smoll who was in the process of moving money out of that account into the new one he set up to pay for the liners. The same account was used to pay for my dealing with Stratos. Even the bonds stolen from my courier and used to frame Justin Sperry were purchased with the account that paid Isabella.
Liz chimed in. “So from the sounds of it, all of the information Isabella Stone claimed to have received about your operations could have come from a person with access to that account.”
Reddington nodded.
Getting the dry erase board from the kitchen, Liz erased the grocery list. “Who had access to the account that paid Isabella Stone?”
“There are 11 people who had access to that account - the 11 people I invited to dinner that night.” Reddington listed them off so Elizabeth could write them down.
“What about Dembe?”
Grudgingly, Reddington admitted. “12 with Dembe.”
Just trying to be thorough and considering it a fairly safe hunch, Liz corrected him. “13.” She glanced apologetically in Mr. Kaplan's direction before adding her name to the end of the list.
13 was too many. Frowning, Liz asked. “Do any of them stand out to you as more likely than the others?”
“When I called the meeting, Marvin was the only one who didn't show up. The others all came.”
“Of course they did. Whoever did this isn't a fool. Running is an obvious sign of guilt.”
Mr. Kaplan had a point.
Liz made another. “Dembe is on the run.”
“Have you spoken to his daughter? Seen if he's checked in with her?” Mr. Kaplan asked.
Liz was surprised. She didn't know Dembe had a daughter. It hadn't occurred to her that Dembe might have a life outside of Reddington.
“No. I don't want to alarm her. She has enough on her plate with Elle being sick. We save Dembe and then he can decide what if anything he wants to tell her.”
Growing frustrated with Reddington's refusal to accept the obvious answer before him, Liz looked at the list again. “Why would you let so many people have access to the same account?”
Reddington grimaced and admitted. “In hindsight … I should have done more to compartmentalize.”
tbc
Chapter 7
Liz asked a question. “The cruise line you were trying to bail out, you said one of your competitors was able to buy it out from under you because your money didn't get there in time. Who was the competitor?”
“Baldur Magnusson but I don't believe he's involved - and my money didn't just not get there in time - it didn't get there at all. Smoll was in the process of moving the money to a new account to pay for the ships - one that couldn't be traced back to me. The 250 million dollars in bitcoins that were in transit went poof along with Smoll. No one knows what happened to the money.”
Mr. Kaplan looked skeptical. “I find that very hard to believe. According to whom?”
“Abe.”
Mr. Kaplan raised an eyebrow. “Smoll's second in command who conveniently enough received a promotion? Has Brimley vetted his story?”
“Smoll and Abe have been partners for years. They've been best friends since before college. You really think Abe set Zack up to be murdered - and murdered in such a monstrous way?”
Mr. Kaplan didn't sound as sentimental as Reddington. “I can think of 250 million reasons why Abe might have done it.”
Mr. Kaplan asked another question. “Smoll was killed at a massage parlor in the middle of the day?”
“Not exactly the happy ending he went in there hoping for.” Reddington acknowledged.
“You said Natalie Luca was sent to kill him and given instructions on when she would find him at that specific location. I take it Smoll going there was a regular occurrence?”
“Smoll was by no means a saint, but he was as loyal a customer as they come. Apparently, he had a standing appointment there twice a week.”
Mr. Kaplan's eyebrow arched again. “A loyal customer, but not a very loyal husband. Which brings us up to 250 million and 1 reasons. If you dropped in on Mrs. Smoll to pay your condolences, I wonder who else might be there to comfort the grieving widow?”
Reddington didn't look pleased. “I'll ask Teddy to have a chat with him, but Abe didn't know about the apartment. None of my money people knew about the apartment.”
Trying to contribute something, Elizabeth made a suggestion. “Okay so let's make a list of people who did know about the apartment.”
“It's a very short list.”
Liz made a new column. “Who knew about the apartment?”
Reddington answered. “Dembe and Kate. Oh and you.”
“Elizabeth did fake her death to try to get away from you. That didn't work. Logically ... killing you would be the next step.”
Liz didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure if Mr. Kaplan was being serious.
Reddington looked her over, but dismissed that idea too. “I don't see Lizzie having it in her.”
“Never underestimate what a mama bear will do to protect her family.”
Before Liz could stutter a response, Mr. Kaplan was moving on.
“Who else are you leaving off, Raymond?”
When Reddington denied there was anyone else, Mr. Kaplan prompted him. “The cat.”
Liz didn't understand, but Reddington seemed to be mulling the idea over.
“I do speak freely in front of her and she can be a bit of a diva, but I just don't see her pulling it off. That whole not having thumbs - it's very limiting. Besides, she's much more the Godfather type - leaving a mouse head in my bed while I'm sleeping.”
Mr. Kaplan gave him a look of irritation. “Who feeds her and takes care of her when you're away? More often than not, when you are away so is Dembe.”
“My neighbor, but she has no idea who I really am. She thinks I'm a traveling sales rep.”
“How difficult would it have been for one of your accountants to have discovered the apartment by following the paper trail?” Liz asked.
Reddington dismissed the idea. “Impossible. I don't use money from the account that paid Isabella Stone or any of the my other laundering accounts to pay for the expenses relating to the apartment - at least not directly. I use cash to buy money orders.”
“Do you ever bring women -”
“- No.” Reddington cut Liz off.
“Maybe someone followed you.”
“That apartment was my sanctuary. Knowledge of its existence was closely guarded.”
“Is there anyone else who knew about the apartment, had access to the account and knew all the details about your operation that were given to Isabella Stone?”
“Just Dembe and myself.” Mr. Kaplan answered for him.
Liz frowned. Truly, she didn't want to believe it anymore than Reddington did, but … “Reddington, I know you don't want to hear it -”
“-Then don't say it.”
Liz was out of ideas.
“When you eliminate the impossible -” Taking the dry erase marker, Mr. Kaplan went in a line crossing off Dembe's name, her own and Liz's. “- whatever you are left with however improbable is the answer.”
“Been reading some classics in our retirement, have we?” Reddington asked.
“Going out of my mind with boredom would be a more accurate assessment.” She circled his neighbor. “Just because you didn't tell her doesn't mean she doesn't know.”
“She's a sweet, little old lady.”
Mr. Kaplan's raised eyebrow and head tilt said it all.
Reddington protested. “She wouldn't have had access to the bank account.”
Mr. Kaplan's tone held a mixture of tolerance and pity. “You're not considering all of the possibilities, Raymond. You're fixated on the idea of one person who could have done it all.“
“You think it's a conspiracy? You think the Cabal is behind this?” Liz asked.
“No.” Reddington looked grievously wounded. “She's suggesting multiple of my people have betrayed me.”
“I think we should bring her in for a little chat with Brimley.”
Reddington didn't look convinced. He shook his head. “She's in Florida. She turned snowbird this year. She's been gone since Thanksgiving.”
Mr. Kaplan's head whipped in his direction. “Then who has been taking care of the cat since Thanksgiving?”
There was a barely perceptible hesitation before Reddington's denial. “No one. It hasn't been necessary.”
By the narrowing of her eyes, Liz got the idea that Mr. Kaplan didn't believe him. “Raymond -”
Liz's phone began to ring. Trying to decide if the interruption was worth it, she pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. It was no help. BLOCKED CALLER
“Keen.”
“Elizabeth -”
He only got out one word, but she would recognize that distinctive voice anywhere. “Dembe! Where are you?!”
tbc
Chapter 8
Liz's phone began to ring. Trying to decide if the interruption was worth it, she pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. It was no help. BLOCKED CALLER
“Keen.”
“Elizabeth -”
He only got out one word, but she would recognize that distinctive voice anywhere. “Dembe! Where are you?!”
Liz had to stand and move away as Reddington reached for the phone.
Dembe ignored her question and sounding deeply morose, he asked his own. “Did Raymond ever regain consciousness? Did he suffer?”
“Dembe, you need to come back. With you not here -” She hoped he couldn't hear the shame in her voice. “ - people are starting to think that you are the one responsible.”
“I am responsible for Raymond's death. What happened to Raymond was my fault.”
A little stunned, Liz asked for some clarification. “Your fault as in you should have noticed the colorless, odorless, tasteless poison in the drink you poured for Reddington? Or your fault as in you put the poison into the bottle?”
“This all started with Kate's death. Her murder. I should have done something to stop Raymond. I didn't and now we must all suffer for my sin of omission.”
“Yeah, well about that … we should talk.” She had to dodge Reddington as he again grabbed for the phone. “Just tell me where you are so I can come get you.”
“I can't tell you that, Elizabeth. But there are things that I can tell you. Things that Raymond should have told you, but he never did.”
Liz caught her breath. “I'm listening.”
Having had enough, Reddington shouted so he could be heard. “I'M NOT DEAD!”
“Ray-mond?” The first half of the word came out joyous. The second half … not so much.
There was a moment of shocked silence before the line went dead.
tbc