A Hole for Two

Chapter 1

When his wife approached the kitchen, Castle turned from flipping the sweet and quirky s'morelets he was preparing as a light supper. His eyes immediately fell on the duffel bag she carried. "Kate what's that? Are you going somewhere?"

Kate bit her lip as tears threatened to well in her eyes. "Castle I have to go. There are some things I have to work out. And I have to do it alone."

Castle gazed at her in shock. "Kate, if you have a problem, then we have a problem. That's how this works. Stay. Whatever is going on we can work it out together, like always. Partners in crime and in life, remember?"

The tears she had been fighting over-topped Kate's lashes."Castle, I'm sorry I can't. I have to do this by myself."

The omelet pan began to smoke behind Castle as he stared at his wife. "Why are you throwing away our marriage?"

"Castle," she protested, as her eyes blurred the face she desperately wanted to remember, "I'm not throwing it away. I'm trying to save it."

"I don't believe you!" Castle retorted. "There was nothing wrong with our marriage - until that phone call. You were going to the job you wanted, I was building my P.I. business. We were happy. We were..."

The smoke alarm began to scream.

"Castle the stove! You're going going to burn down the kitchen," Kate warned, dropping her bag and moving toward the source of the smoke.

Castle grabbed her by the shoulders. "Screw it! Kate, I don't care if the whole loft burns down. The only thing I'm worried about losing is you. I've seen this look before, when you were headed for a rabbit hole. It's obsession. Please, tell me what's going on."

Kate buried her face in his chest. "Oh Castle if I do, I could lose more than a loft. I could lose you. They already might kill me. I couldn't bear it if they went after you too."

The doorman banged on the door. "Mr Castle! Mr. Castle! Are you all right in there?"

Kate backed away. "We have to take care of that." She went to turn off the stove while Castle opened the door.

"Just a little cooking mishap, Eduardo," Castle hurriedly explained. "Nothing to worry about. We'll be fine."

"It you say so, Mr. Castle," The doorman agreed doubtfully as Kate pressed the reset button on the smoke alarm and the blaring stopped. "You have a good night now."

Castle closed the door and turned back to Kate. "Kate, I have walked into a burning apartment for you. I've stayed by your side when you were standing on a bomb. I made myself a target for 3XK so that Esposito could take him out and we could save you from that insane bitch of a plastic surgeon. The mercs who were after you already tried to kill me. I'm still here. I would walk into a tornado for you. I thought you'd understand that by now. There is no way I can let you walk away to save me. So talk to me. What's really going on?"

Kate dropped heavily to a stool at the counter, in the still smoky air. "Castle, I met a woman named Rita. She said she's your stepmother. She told me that Alison Hyde wasn't really behind the slaughter of my team at the A.G.'s task force. Bracken had a partner who was protecting him, someone known only as LokSat. LokSat killed those people."

Castle paced the hardwood floor beside her. "I can't believe that my father married anyone. When we were in Paris he told me that he couldn't have any relationships. That's why he couldn't be with mother and me. He cited Alexis' kidnapping as proof. Then he said the same thing when he manipulated us into helping him with the Gemini case. Whoever this Rita is, she was probably lying to you. And how about Vikram? He started all of this. You don't know him either. He never worked with you. What did he have, an emergency code? He's a hacker. Who knows how he got it? He almost got you killed. He almost got both of us killed. And Kate, do you know if your team is even really dead? Did you ever try to call Rachel or Richmond or Villante? "

Kate buried her face in her hands before drawing a shaky breath, pulling out her cell phone, and putting it on speaker. Rachel McCord answered on the first ring. "Kate, nice to hear from you. I was following the story when that crazy writer of yours disappeared. I'm glad everything seems to have worked out all right. Do you have a case that has something to do with our office?"

Castle held Kate's eyes as she answered. "Rachel, I was checking on something. I'm captain of the precinct now and there's a guy here named Vikram Singh I'm looking to put in as a replacement for a tech who went into the private sector. He says he worked at your office. He knew I worked there and said he was hired in the last few months. I'm not asking for anything classified, but can you confirm or deny?"

"Kate, congratulations on your promotion, but no one named Vikram Singh works here or to my knowledge ever has," Rachel replied, her voice heavy with concern. "Most people aren't even supposed to know the task force exists, you know that. Whoever he is, he damned well shouldn't have known you worked here. Listen, don't let him know you suspect anything is wrong. I'll fill Villante in and get on a plane. I should be there by morning. Watch yourself."

"I will," Kate agreed, ending the call. She slid from her stool to wrap her arms around her husband. "You were right, Castle. Everything happened so fast, I didn't have time to think about it. Whatever is going on, it isn't what I thought it was. Someone is doing this to me, to us, and I have no idea who or why. And if Vikram was lying, Rita probably was too. But how could she know about your father? He's in deep cover. She even called him Jackson Hunt. How would she know his name?"

"That may be a clue," Castle realized. "I don't know what his name is, but it isn't Jackson Hunt anymore than it was Anderson Cross, the guy he posed as when he took out Gemini. When I met him in France he told me Jackson Hunt was made up. Whoever Rita is, she is tied in with the CIA, but maybe not at a high level. There's one person who might be able to tell us."

"You mean your father?" Kate queried. "Can you even contact him?"

Castle pulled out of Kate's arms but offered his hand to lead her to his office. "When I was ten, my father was a stranger who handed me a copy of Casino Royale at the public library. After Paris, he sent me one to let me know he was alive. I know he keeps tabs on our family, he's told me that much. If I mention Casino Royale on my blog, he may take the hint and get in touch." Castle slipped into his seat in front of his desk and flipped open his laptop with Kate watching over his shoulder and began to type.

Just re-read Casino Royale. It may not be the best book ever, but in many ways it was for me, since it started me on the road to being a writer. I will always remember it and the special meaning it has in my life. If any of my faithful readers has a comment on the book, I'd love to hear from you.

Castle posted his entry and rising from his chair, closed the computer again. "Kate, there's something else I need to do." Castle walked the short distance to the bedroom. He pulled a small box from the dresser and opened it, revealing a circle of silver and diamonds engraved with the word "Always." "I found this in a pool of your blood. There was so much blood I thought you were dead, that you'd never wear it again. Now I'm asking you to wear it again, but only if you mean what it says. No more secrets. No more lies. No more pushing me away, even if you think it's for my own good. No matter how deep you have to go to pursue whatever is happening, I'll be in that hole right beside you. Can you do that Kate? Is there a door in that Beckett wall you can unlock to let me in?"

Kate extended her hand. "You have the key, Babe, the only key. I love you Rick, always."

Castle snapped the bracelet around her wrist.