Jordan looked out the window as the FBI building got closer and closer. Finally they landed and she jumped out. She saw Burke and Caffrey standing on the roof by the door, and ran over to them. "How are we doing for time?" She asked as they went inside.
"Meeting starts in ten minutes. You can use the bathroom on this floor to change." Peter said.
Neal handed her the garment bag and shoe box. "This looks like it was made for this kind of meeting. If I had to face these two I'd get something similar." He said.
"Thanks." She said. "Who's the OPR agent?" She asked.
"Jimmy down in parking said his name was Sam Rooker." Neal said.
"Sam 'The Hammer' Rooker?" Peter asked looking pale.
"Then I have a plan." Jordan said taking the items into the bathroom.
"The Hammer?" Neal asked looking at Peter like he was making it up.
"I'm not joking. He's a psycho. He works out of the OPR office here in the city but teaches ethics at Quantico every year. In OPR he tends to crack down on any infraction no matter how small. Jordan's going to lose her job." Peter said sadly.
"Can't you do something? Speak on her behalf?" Neal asked.
"Noooo! The Hammer hates me. Gave me a D in his class for not catching a lie in a mock questioning. I had to take the class again here in New York." Peter said looking a little green.
"Bad memories?" Neal asked.
"So bad. I can't even show my face in the room. Tim knew that. It must be why he picked him." Peter said pacing back and fort.
"So she has to go in there alone?" Neal asked.
"It's the only way she has a shot." Peter said looking at his watch. When he looked up Jordan walked out of the bathroom and stopped him dead in his tracks. "Now that's one way of going at this." He muttered.
Jordan was dressed in a black Armani jacket, red shirt and a black skirt just short enough to show off some leg but long enough to be tasteful. The shoes were black stilettos with a bit of a platform and a six inch red heel. "I feel, sexy, and powerful. How do I look?" She asked pulling her hair up into a tight bun at the back of her head.
"Sexy, and powerful." Neal said eyeing her up just a little too closely.
"Eyes up Caffrey, or you'll lose them." She said stalking down the hall with a swing to her hips.
"She is defiantly going to get fired, or she's really going to make them regret this meeting." Neal said watching her walk away.
"You have no idea. Go back to the office, and wait for me." Peter said following her down the hall to the Director's office. He saw her standing in the outer office waiting to be called into the conference room across the hall. "Remember. Nothing they say can rattle you. If they rattle you then they have you on the ropes, and you both might lose your jobs." Burke said.
"I know what I'm doing Burke. Hand me the file. I have a plan, and stay out here or The Hammer might get you fired for breathing wrong." She said.
"You don't have to tell me twice. I think I might need new underwear just standing in the hall." He said sweating.
In the conference room Tim Hearting sat at one end of the table with a tall angry looking man. When Jordan walked in he stood to greet her but she ignored him. "Lets cut the crap Tim. This meeting is bullshit and you know it. This is the file with everything we could find regarding Richard Castle." She said tossing the file on the table and Rooker picked it up. "As you can see the applicant is highly qualified and comes with a recommendation for the Captain of the twelfth precinct. He has two plus years of experience working murder cases. He stopped his own murder from happening, and in the process made three arrests. All without carrying a gun. I would put the applicant against any Jr. agent in the building right now. Lets really get down to the brass tacks people. I'm in here on my day off because I forgot to file some paperwork. If the 1049 was on file you would have zero grounds for calling me in here. So lets talk about why I'm standing here instead of on a beach in Montok." She said confidently.
"And why do you think you're standing in this office?" The Hammer asked in a cold deep voice.
"Because I'm a woman and Tim's pride got hurt because of an article in a paper. If I was a man and the applicant was a woman this conversation wouldn't even be happening. You would back date the form using directors discretion and release a press statement. Instead I get a phone call form the director telling me this might cost me my job. Well let me tell you something Tim, I might not have a penis but I sure as hell have balls. You've made an enemy today, and before you go scoffing it off let me ask you this: How many times was I passed over for promotion to the head of my division? We were in the same class, how did you end up in the big chair before me with not even half the arrests I have? How many men did you promote before you were forced to give me the job once you had the big chair? How many Tim? And we were friends. We came up form Virginia together. We worked the same cases for how long?" She asked.
Tim looked like he was going to say something but then he stopped himself. "What's the point of this speech Jordan?" Tim asked feeling a hell of a lot worse now then he did ten minutes ago.
"The point, Tim. Is that I'm more famous then you. I have more arrests then you and if I walked out of this room today and called for a press conference reporters would show up. Especially now that the Ledger is running that article. All I have to do is tell them about the bullshit double standards that you use to run this Field Office and you'd be out on your ass so fast your chair would still be hot when I took your place as Director." She said giving him a cold stare. "So lets not threaten each other ever again Tim because the only thing stopping me from ousting your ass is the fact that I don't want your little girl to go hungry, because lets face facts Tim, you're barely qualified to do the job you have, where the hell would you go if you got canned form the FBI?" She asked making Tim sit back in his seat and lower his head. "Good, that's the way I like to see you Tim, afraid and weak. It fits you better. So lets talk about this incident like the smart, professionals Agents that we are. Agent Castle will come in tomorrow and take the tests, if his scores are below average then you can drop him into the pool with the rest of the shitty agency rejects. If, however, he performs above average like his file says he has the potential to? Then you will back date a 1049 and make the God Damn press release like you should have this morning!" She said slamming her hand on the table and making both men jump.
"Director Hearting, leave the room." Rooker said.
"Excuse me?" Tim asked looking confused.
"Leave the room Tim, right now and you better pray I don't look into those allegations she just laid at your feet." Rooker said raising an eyebrow. "And take Burke with you. Before I re-open the case against his CI."
Tim shot out of his chair and pulled Peter out of the outer office. "You know you should be running this place right?" Rooker said turning to Jordan.
"I know, but I like the hunt too much Uncle Sam." She said coming around the table to hug him. "How is Aunt Betty? She still putting up with you?" She asked with a big smile.
"She's still putting up with me." Sam said matching her smile. "She wanted me to tell you to stop by the house on Sunday for dinner. You know how she is." He said shaking his head. "Now you stalled enough, what did you do?" he asked.
"Nothing really. I forgot to file a stupid form. The one time in my life I forgot the paperwork and comes back to bite me in the ass." She said dropping into the chair at the head of the table.
"It's more then that Kid. Your in big trouble with this Jr. Agent Castle. Is he using you to get a job here?" He asked.
"No, if anything I'm using him to get my life back together. I pulled him out of a bad situation and gave him a shot. He's a good man, and he has the potential to be a great Agent." Jordan said.
"But you know what people will say if he works under you, right?" He asked.
"The same crap they put in the paper." She said looking at her hands.
"You could fix all of this by doing two simple things, and you know what they are." he said patting her on the shoulder.
"Assign him to Ken, my old boss and put Jenifer Moss in charge of his testing." She said resting her chin on her fist.
"Or put him into the pool. The pool is not so bad you know? Some of the best agents started out in the pool, including me. You toss him in the pool for a few months and he makes his way to the top. From what the file says he's good, and cream always rises to the top." He said.
"I'll assign him to Ken until he retires next year. It will be good for him. Ken has a light case load and he can teach Rick the most. He taught me after all and I'm the best." She said smiling. "I'll also make him available as a floater on light days."
"You know one day people are going to find out just how devious you really are." He said looking down at her sitting in the big chair.
"And one day people are going to find out you're not Hitler." She said patting his hand.
"Oh no, they can't find that out. I like it when people fear me." He said giving her his angry eyes stare.
"Speaking of fear are you ever going to stop scaring Peter Burke? He's a good friend of mine and I'd like to be able to tell him the truth about us one day." She asked.
"Is he still jeopardizing his career for a convict?" He asked.
"He is, but that will never change. He treats Neal like a son and so does his wife. One day, something bad is going to happen to Neal and he'll straighten out his life, until then it's just a lost cause." She said smiling a sad smile.
"So can I stop by tomorrow and meet your guy before I have to see him Sunday and the magic is broken by a family dinner?" He asked.
"Are you really asking me if you can scare Rick on his first day, and during a test that will determine where he'll be placed?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"Okay fine I won't rattle the boy but if he ever hurts you I'll have him bounced out of the agency so fast he'll never even know what hit him." He said hugging her again.
"I love you too Uncle Sam." She said. "Now lets make it look good for the spectators." She said standing tall and pushing her shoulder back. "You ready?" She asked.
"Kid, I've been playing the hard ass long before you ever thought about being an agent." He said winking at her. He pushed open the door and they saw Tim Hearting and Peter Burk standing in the outer hallway. "That's how it has to be or I'll transfer this Agent Castle to the L.A. field office. I don't like rule breakers Agent Shaw, and I really don't like being talked down to. That might fly with little Timmy Hearting over there but it's not going to fly with me. OPR is a place for respect, and you will respect the office." He said.
"Fine, but you had better uphold your end of the deal or you'll be standing next to Hearting at the press conference." She said shaking his hand before he left. She turned to Burke and Hearting and shot them both a dirty look. Tim looked like he was going to say something but Jordan shot a look back at him that said if he even spoke one more word to her that day she would be sitting in his big office. "As of tomorrow agent Castle will be assigned to Ken Carpenter and Special agent Moss will take over his testing to ensure a fair and unbiased playing field." She mocked out. "Sure it's fare alright, the bitch will probably give him the worst of the worst tests she can throw at him and then try to fuck him because she knows he's spoken for. God Damned evil bitch!" She yelled. "And I'm taking my SUV home because I had to come here on a FUCKING helicopter For this stupid meeting! I swear, if you don't send out the press release tomorrow I'll be sitting in your chair by the end of the day!" She said poking Hearting in his chest with her finger to accent every word before turning on her heels and marching to the elevator. "Burke on me!" She barked. And Peter ran after her. Once the elevator doors closed she started laughing. "Now that was worth coming home early for!" She said hugging Peter. "I got everything I wanted and I didn't have to play defense at all. Sucker!" She said ecstatic.
"But The Hammer?" Peter asked looking shocked.
"Did I mention that I'm the only one to ever get an A+ in his class?" She asked looking shocked for a second before she lost it again as the doors opened on the twenty-first floor and Neal was standing in the hallway waiting.
"So how did it go?" He asked.
"Better then you would think. Rick stays in my department, under Ken, my old teacher. The down side is Moss is going to be picking the tests so you have to figure she's going to throw everything she can at him." She said walking into Peters office with the boys following her. She drooped into the chair in front of his desk and put her feet up. "I'm hungry, did you two eat lunch yet?" She asked.
"No, and we won't be thinking about ordering from somewhere for another few hours. It's only ten." Peter said sitting at his desk.
"Really? I had quite the adventure so far this morning. I think I'll head down to my office and talk to Ken. Get him ready for Rick." She said standing up.
Ken Carpenter was the very definition of the word Grandfather. At 65 years old he had six grandchildren and unlike other Special agent he had picture of them hung on the walls of his office and not his fancy diplomas from Harvard and Yael. Ken came to work everyday, and sat in the same big comfy chair. In the same corner office. On the same floor. Wearing one of ten brown tweed suits and he did it with a big smile on his face like he did every day for the last five years. If you would have met him five years ago things would have been very different. Back then Ken ran the profiling department and he lived and died with every case, and he taught his agents to do the same. He pushed them all to never give up on a case. To work every detail and every fact into the ground until you were sure they held no value to the case. The department's arrest record was a staggering 89 percent. After twenty-five years it gave him a massive heart attack and almost killed him. That day he made a deal with his wife. No more running things. No more new cases. No more stress. Just good old Ken, the guy just waiting for his retirement surrounded by pictures of his family. He handed off the title of head Profiler and took on cold cases. He solved a few of them but there was no pressure to get them all. He still taught his class on profiling every week but he never touched a hot case file in five years. Most days he spent looking over old case files. So when Jordan walked into his office and sat in front of his desk on her day off he was dreading what she was going to tell him. "Jordan, shouldn't you be on a beach somewhere?" He asked putting down the file in his hand.
"I should be but the press got pictures of me and Rick. Tim freaked out and tried to use it against me by calling in The Hammer." She said rolling her eyes.
"Tim was always very stupid. He still doesn't know you're The Hammer's niece?"
"No clue. No one does, except of few of you old timers." She said smiling.
"I swear that boy is dumber then a box of rocks. You know that's why I promoted him out of the department right? He was a danger to our arrest record." Ken said laughing.
Jordan laughed too, not for the joke but at the sound of Ken's deep belly chuckle. He taught her so much, but she loved seeing him like this. He earned the right to be happy, and it was why she really didn't want to do this to him. "Ken, I need you to take Rick on as you're Jr. agent." She said.
"Jordan, I don't need a Jr. agent. I work on old cold cases. What is the boy going to do?" Ken asked sitting back in his chair.
"I want you to teach him like you taught me years ago. Run theory with him, real or fake I don't care. Have him pour over cold case files with you. He used to be a teacher a long time ago so have him help you teach your class. I just want him to work with you before you retire. You're the greatest Agent the FBI ever had and I want some of your wisdom to rub off on him." Jordan said sincerely.
"You just want to keep him in this office, and keep him out of the pool." Ken said smirking. "I'm old Jordan, not stupid."
"True but I also really want him to work with you." She said.
"Fine, but he does other stuff too besides working with me. Just because he's you boyfriend does not give him a break in workload. He works other hot cases first and helps me teach, then we can talk about cold case files. He also does not annoy me or I'll have him sent to the pool. I retire in 14 months. This guy is not going to make this last year hell for me. My wife will kill him, you know Jenny, she will come down to the office and yell at him for me." Ken said begrudgingly.
"Ken you have my word, this is not going to be a burden for you. Besides working with you I'm going to have him float for Burke's office." She said.
"Bring him by tomorrow morning." He said standing up.
Jordan came around the desk and hugged him. "Thanks Ken. You won't regret this, I swear." She said pulling back from him. "Are you losing weight?" She asked looking at him.
"It's this new diet they have me on. The food tastes like crap and they took away my coffee. How's a man supposed to live without coffee? It's injustice I tell you. And jenny is sticking to the diet word for word. No salt. No sugar. No nothing! I've lost twenty pounds in a month!" He said bitterly as he plopped down in his chair.
"Do you want me to call her? Tell her to lighten up a bit?" Jordan asked.
"No, I'm going to have my doctor tell her. A man my age needs something to live for. She took my candies too!" He said opening his desk draw to show her it was empty.
"That's not right. The draw full of candy is the only perk of this job Ken." Jordan said with fake shock.
"It's not funny." Ken said pouting.
"Come on, it's kind of funny?" She said laughing.
"Laugh it up Shaw, I'll have my new Jr. agent clean out your draw." He said with a cold smile.
"You wouldn't!" She said.
"I would." He said.
"You would, you old meanie." She said slinging her arm around him. "Come on old timer. Lets call my uncle and go get an early lunch at the chop house. My treat, and I won't tell Jenny you ate half a cow." She said.
"No use, she'll see I'm happy and know I cheated on the diet. But I don't care right now, all I want is a big plate of mashed potatoes and gravy." Ken said with a goofy smile on his face.
"Then lets go all in! a big steak, a big glass of expensive scotch, and a good cigar." She said walking him out of the office.
Rick was driving Jordan's Mustang back to the city with the girls in the back seat when he got a phone call from Jordan. "How did it go?" He asked.
"Not bad at all considering my uncle was the OPR agent Tim called. You have to be tested tomorrow like I said but you will be working under Ken Carpenter my old boss and mentor. You will also be floating for Burke at White Collar division. Aside from that nothing has changed. you will still have a desk in the bull pen and work any major cases we get." She said.
"That's great!" Rick said relaxing for the first time since reading the article. "I've called my publicist and I had her talk to the Ledger. They will be printing a retraction in tomorrows paper."
"Good, I'll have a press release to go with it tomorrow afternoon. I'm taking Ken out to lunch to butter him up. I'll see you later." She said
"See you later Jordan." Rick said hanging up the phone. "Jordan said the meeting went very good. She said something about her uncle getting called into the meeting?" He said.
"They called uncle Sam?" Kelly asked laughing.
"You have an uncle Sam?" Alexis asked.
"I do. Well a great uncle Sam really." She said.
"And they let him handle the case of his own niece?" Rick asked.
"Almost no one knows they're related. Uncle Sam's last name is Rooker. He was my grandmothers brother. When mom went to Quantico her name was Miller her fathers name so no one made the connection. When they saw no one blinked an eye when she took his class at Quantico they decided to keep the fact that they're related a secret. Mom even worked for uncle Sam's old partner Ken for a long time and no one made a big deal out of it. As long as they didn't talk about it in the office no one knows the truth." Kelly said.
"I'm going to be working for Ken she said." Rick told Kelly.
"You get to work with uncle Ken! That's great. He's such a nice man. He always has a big smile on his face and he always has candy in his desk." She said excitedly.
"Really?" Rick asked.
"You're going to love working for him." She said.
"You're just a fountain of good information kid. Do you know agent Burke? I'm going to be working for him too." Rick asked as they crossed the bridge into Manhattan.
"Peter Burke is like mom's brother. They went to Quantico together along with Tim Hearting. They were friends in school and they made fun of the fact that they sounded like a law firm. Burke, Miller, and Hearting. They even had business card printed up as gag gifts. They all graduated at the top of the class and they all got to work in New York together. Mom and Tim worked for uncle Ken and uncle Peter went to work for white collar division. Mom is still really close with uncle Peter and we go over to their house sometimes. He's married to a very nice lady named Elizabeth, and they have a big dog named Sahmo." Kelly said listing off as many facts as she could.
"That's good to know." Rick said locking all the information away.
"Knowing aunt Betty, that's uncle Sam's wife, were all invited to Sunday dinner this week. So you'll get to meet them all and get to know them." Kelly said.
"Alright you two, I have a mission for you both." He said and he smiled when they both perked up. "You two are going to craft a case file for everyone you think I might work with at the office. They don't have to be everything about the person but give me something to work with. Likes, dislikes, favorite foods, music, books, that kind of stuff. Use what ever means you have at you disposal. You have unlimited funds to work with but a very short time frame. The faster you get me the files the faster I can get them memorized and the faster I can get into the mix. I want everyone to like me. The more they like me the faster I can start picking their brains, and become a better Agent. Jordan is counting on me to be the best and I need information to get there." He said.
"We can do that. We'll put it on an encrypted flash drive and we'll add a file on Jordan too. You want to suck up to the boss the most after all." Alexis said.
"That's what I'm talking about." Rick said.
Kelly looked up from her phone. "Take this next right up here and cut across the park. You can drop us off at aunt Elle's gallery. Uncle Peter is the person we know the least about so we'll start with her. She's also the hive mother when it come's to aunt Jenny and mom. She'll be able to give us something good to work off of." She said looking up from her small moleskin notebook.
"Yes ma'am. Do you have anything for me to do?" He asked getting into the game.
"I do. Aunt Betty, likes a good bottle of port. The more expensive the better. I'd go fined six good bottles. Uncle Sam collects antique firearms. Like old ones that don't even look like guns. Uncle Ken loves salted caramels. He keeps them in his desk, and his wife, aunt Jenny loves books, her favorite book is The Grapes of Wrath. She has like three copies of it but I know for a fact she wants a first edition. So start with that and I'll call you when we get intel from aunt Elle." She said.
"So Port, Book, caramel, and an old gun. That's an easy list except for the gun. There's a waiting period for guns." Rick said pulling up to a nice gallery.
"Not for Agents." Kelly said. "All you have to do is flash your badge and they run you ID number. When it comes back clean you can buy anything you want." She said helping Alexis get out of the car. "You might also look into getting a nice car with four real seats. It's a bit cramped in the back." She said rubbing her but.
"I've already got that covered, I have a guy building me a car right now. I'll go see if it's ready to go." He said.
"Good to know." Kelly said.
"We'll gather what we can and hop from aunt to aunt collecting facts." Alexis said.
"How are you going to make your way around town?" Rick asked.
"I'll call for a car. I have my cards and I think I have some cash on me." Alexis said.
"Well here," Rick said pulling a wade of hundreds from his wallet. "You know I don't like you walking away from me with 'I don't know money'. call and check in frequently and be safe girls." He said before driving off.
The two girls walked into the gallery and Alexis felt under dressed in her jeans and band shirt almost instantly. "Aunt Elle!" Kelly called out and a beautiful woman wearing an expensive black dress and heels walked out of the back room.
"Kelly? Is your mom here with you?" She asked hugging the young girl.
"No, just my friend and future sister Alexis." She said pulling the taller girl over.
"Sorry for the way we're dressed, I would have changed before coming over if I had known." She said waving at the expensive painting on the walls.
"Don't worry Alexis. None of it's good art anyways. Just a bunch of wanabe art students that think they're special. This is all an act to make rich fool spend way too much for junk." Elizabeth said smiling.
"Well you got me fooled." Alexis said laughing.
"Good. Now what did you girls need?" She asked walking them back to her office.
"Well, I don't know if you saw the Ledger this morning?" Kelly started.
"You mean the one with you're mother making out with a hunk? Yeah I saw it, I was going to call her and tease her about it later." She said picking up the paper from her desk.
"I would hold off on that. She almost got into a lot of trouble for it. Uncle Peter helped her but still, it could have been very bad. As it is, Rick, Alexis' dad and the hunk in the picture is going to be forced to come in tomorrow and go through a bunch of tests to prove he's good enough to be in the FBI. Once he passes he's going to be working under uncle Ken and also for uncle Peter. He wanted to get some intel on the two of them so he can fit in better." Kelly said.
"He doesn't want to go through the New guy stage. He wants to butter up his bosses on the first day and score some brownie points right?" Elizabeth asked.
"Exactly. Can you tell us anything about uncle Peter that Rick would need to know to fit in better and get on his good side?" Kelly asked.
"Girls, you better record this talk because there are so many little goodies I can tell you. But first you have to tell me about Rick. I want to make sure he's staying around for good." She said smirking.
"You have nothing to worry about on that front." Alexis said. "My dad's so in love with her its cute. And we tricked them in to falling love so we know what were talking about."
"This is have to hear." Elle said kicking off her shoes and pulling a box of macaroons out.
Across town Rick pulled into a warehouse in a shady industrial part of the docks. Inside the warehouse was full of black cars and SUVs being worked on by dozens of guys in black work shirts and jeans. When he got out of his car a big guy covered in grease and dressed like the rest of the worker walked up to him. "Hey Rick!" He called out.
"Hey Miguel! How's the car coming?" Rick asked bumping fists with him.
"Good dog. She's fine as shit I tell you right now." He said waving him over to the back corner of the shop. "We started out with a red BMW M5 we found in a junk yard. We fixed the frame and dropped in a twin turbo V12 from a 7 series. We put the full armor package on it and we put blue and red light behind the grill and in the visors. You need to get somewhere fast, you just flip those babies down hit the button and boom, flashing lights and sirens. We sprayed it oil slick black, and we put black twenty inch BBS racing rims with run flat Continental tires on this bitch. Track suspension and racing pipes to give her the look and sound. I got my boys putting limo tints on her right now to make it look VIP. I had my cousin re-badge some black bucket seats from a Ferrari for the front to give it that baller feel. The car will be read by tonight. We just have to finish putting in the sounds." He said leading him to a car that just screamed badass.
"Miguel, you are worth every penny. Your shop is just top notch. Add ten grand to the bill and give the boys a tip for me will you?" He said running his hand up the side of the car.
"I'd be happy to. You want us to deliver the car to your house or do you want to come pick it up?" He asked smiling.
"Oh I'll be back tonight for sure." Rick said getting behind the wheel and hitting the start button. The engine spun to life in a symphony of turbo wine and V12 rumble. Rick touched the gas peddle and the whole car shook as the turbos hissed and the tail pipes popped and roared. "Do I look like an agent in this car Miguel?" He asked putting on his sunglasses.
"No, you look like a Badddddd Man! Cops is going to be pulling you over in this baby." Miguel said laughing.
"You're right. Can you have one of the guys knock up a Shield decal and stick it around the car for me? don't ruin the cool factor, but let's tell people it's an Agency car." Rick said holding his belt shield up under the BMW symbol on the front fender.
"I see what you're looking for. I'll have Binky draw some on the car. Lets take a few pictures of that shield before you go so he has something to work with." Miguel said.
Rick's phone rang. As he answered it he tossed Miguel his shield. "Hey girls, how did it go?" He asked.
"We have a lot of good stuff, but if you really want to get on uncle Peter's good side get him something with the Yankees on it. He love that team." Alexis said.
"Yankees, got it. What about Elizabeth?" He asked.
"She wants to talk to you." Alexis said handing the phone over to Elle. "Hello Rick, I'm Elle, Peter's wife." She said.
"Hello, Elle. It's nice to talk to you." He said walking away from a guy grinding a door on a black SUV. "Sorry about the noise I'm in a body shop checking on my new car." He said.
"That's okay. I just wanted you to know you don't have to get me anything. I'm just happy Jordan found a nice guy. But you might want to get Neal, Jones and Diana something nice. They work very close together and you don't want to show up with something for the boss and have to sit next to them empty handed. They treat each other like a family in the office. Jones likes ties, Neal and Diana both like a good bottle of wine." She said.
"Thanks for the head's up Elle. I want to make the best first impression on them." He said.
"Then you better start early. Come to our house tonight for dinner. You and Jordan. I'm making lamb chops. That will give you a chance to get to know Peter." She said.
"That's a great idea. I'll run it buy Jordan and if she doesn't have plans then we're in. I'll bring the wine." Rick said.
"You are very good at this. Checking with Jordan before saying yes is a classy move Rick. You just earned my vote." She said.
"It's the right thing to do. The shop owner is calling my name I'll talk to you later Elle. Bye." He said.
Elle handed the phone back to Alexis. "He's checking with Jordan first. I wish Peter would do that." She said shaking her head.
"My father has always been the more considerate party in his relationships. It's why his two ex-wives divorced him and not the other way around." Alexis said.
"So are you girls off to Jenny's house?" Elle asked.
"We are, we want to make sure our fact are straight." Kelly said looking up from her notes.
"You really are your mother's daughter you know that?" Elle said hugging Kelly.
"If I want to be an agent like my mother then I have to start acting like it." Kelly said primly.
"Well I think it's very cute." Elle said walking them out of the gallery.
A black town car was waiting for them out front. A tall stocky olive skinned man with slick back hair and a crisp black suite opened the door for the two girls. "Hey Tony." Alexis said.
"Hello Miss. Castle." He said formally.
"Relax Tony. She's family." Alexis said patting him on the shoulder as she got in.
"Good to know Lexie. Where are we going today?" He asked dropping the formal tone and letting his Staten Island accent slip out.
"Kelly has the address in her book." Alexis said holding up the small notebook.
"Right, so we're headed north. Any chance we can stop for some chow any time soon? I'm starving and the stiffs I had this morning were real jerks. They didn't let me leave the car once." He said talking with his hands.
"You know the drill, if you see a place you know is good on the way there, we'll stop for lunch. If you make a poor choice you pay." She said smiling.
"I love you Rodgers women. All heart." He said.
"Tony this is Kelly, Kelly this is Tony. He works for Black Car, but he's the only driver my Gram uses. Tony's been driving Gram around for how many years now?" She asked.
"Five glorious years I've been carting Mrs. R around town. She's my best passenger." He said talking with a lot of hand gestures.
"Tony has a game he likes to play. He knows the best restaurants in the city. If he spots one then we stop and go eat, if the food is good we pay. If the food is bad, he pays." Alexis explained.
"Five years and I have never picked up the check." Tony boasted.
"So did you get anything on Elle?" Alexis asked.
"I did, I got the name of the bakery of those great little cookies she had I also found the labels and sizes for the jackets she had hanging up on the rack, and the shoes she was wearing. I also know she likes to curl up on the couch with a good cashmere blanket. She has like ten of them and mom always says she's looking for more. As for the dog, Sachmo loves a big bone. I know the place they get it from, it's on the way. We can run in and get one for tonight." Kelly said looking over her notes.
"You really are scary sometimes, you know that right." Alexis said smiling.
"Want, Act. You know the rest." She said writing more stuff in her book.
"Right." Alexis said slinging her arm round the smaller girl.
