I debated posting this for a while until all the good writers got done posting their season finale fics but since I'm going on walk-about for a week of so, here ya go.

I think only two chapters left. Depends on how I edit them. Thanks to the 37 loyal readers who have followed me into the wilderness of my mind. I hope you all survive the trip. Enjoy

OM


No Matter Where You Go by Oldest Man

Chapter 8

KOA Campground
Somewhere in South Carolina

Alexis pulled 'The Beast' into the slot following Kate's hand signals. She was good on the open highway, not so good in tight spaces like a 15-foot wide access park. When Kate signaled 'OK' with her thumb and forefinger,
Alexis shifted into park, set the emergency brake and then reached down and pulled a lever that lowered the jack stands that automatically leveled and anchored the big RV motor home.

Kate climbed up the stairs and sat down on the couch and woofed a stray strand of hair off her face. "You're getting pretty good at this, Lex. If college doesn't work out for you, you could always get a job as a long haul trucker. You're a natural."

"No thank you. My butt goes numb after the first 100 miles or so. So explain to me again why we're stopping here instead of hitting the coast?"

"I've been rethinking my strategy and I think if we drive on down to Savannah and start from there, we'll hit the North Carolina border in a week or so. If we haven't found him, Lex, I'm sending you home and then I'll start over again. You can't register for classes from here, kiddo. And your grandmother's due in for a while and I know there are things pending for you."

"No! Absolutely not, Kate. I'm not giving up. College can wait. I don't even want to go back unless I've put this thing to rest. It's our Quest and I will not abandon it. I won't abandon you and I sure as hell am not abandoning a chance to find my Dad. Subject closed. Tomorrow morning we hit Savannah and begin our beach combing."

Beckett sighed and had to smile. The acorn hadn't fallen far from the tree. She had to get this strength and determination from her father because the only time she'd spoken to Meredith after Castle's 'death' had been announced, all the woman had done was go on and on about 'life goes on'. She'd written her ex-husband off as soon as she'd remarried and no longer got those fat alimony checks. Bitch!

"Fine. We'll play it by ear. The other reason I wanted to start at the Georgia line is that there are fewer seaside B&Bs and we'll make better progress and that's all psychological. I just wish – I just wished there was some other clue, some other hint that we might have missed. Let's look at the DVD again after you make supper. It's your turn. And I do not want spaghetti again. I want something substantial. Something normal but not spaghetti."

Alexis got up, smiled, and walked down the landing to the open door and hopped down.

"Hey, the galley's that way, Lex!"

"Yeah, but the office is that way and that's where they have the list of take-out places. You want normal – how's Chinese or pizza sound?"

"Normal." She had to hand it to Castle. He's raised an interesting daughter. She had just the right mix of common sense and free spirit that made her maddening and endearing – just like her father.


Pawleys Island, South Carolina

Michael Ponti always enjoyed his random visits to check in with Alexander Richards. Of all the participants in the Program, Alex had the most interesting bio. He'd read all his books and passed them around to his squad mates. He'd been a real stickler for detail and accuracy and the Marshal found reading his novels not only relaxing but educational as well.

Now, as he turned down the barely paved road to the B&B, he quickly reviewed his checklist. Alex had folded and blended in with the locals and was both well-liked and even admired. He'd followed the rules, accepted things he couldn't change and didn't whine and cry every time he saw his

Program coordinator. And he kept a low profile and didn't make waves. That made him special.

He parked in one of several spots that used to be a 'front lawn' of sorts but was now a crushed shell parking area. He noticed other improvements in the place. There were new front steps, the walkway was freshly dressed with crushed sea shells and the plants along the front verandah were alive this time, unlike the first time he'd been here.

The front door was wide open leading to a foyer with a typical hotel registration desk arrangement. He rang the bell and waited a few minutes before walking through the 'living room', the formal dining room and then into the kitchen where he found his charge stirring a large pot and singing along with whoever was on his iPod. With earbuds in, he couldn't have heard the bell or a howitzer either.

"Alex!" He pulled on earbud away and then stepped back, escaping the spoonful of liquid the shot out when he turned abruptly, startled.

"Shit, Mike, don't do that. Y'ever think about calling first? Maybe sending me a heads up so I could send all the hookers home? How ya been, Mike?"

"You need to pay attention to your surroundings, Alex. Suppose I'd been one of those nasty bedsheet fellas with a huge damned sword coming to take your head back to the mullahs? You have got to be aware of your surrounding!" He was pissed off because he liked this guy and didn't want to come down and find him dead someday.

"Lesson learned, Mike. I really wasn't thinking. You don't think those camel jocks are still gunning for me, do you? I mean, hell, I'm dead and have been for a long time."

"I'm just saying, watch your surroundings and be vigilant. Hell, at least lock the damned door when you're back here alone. Where's the help you were going to get?"

Alex looked sad for a moment. "I'm always alone, Mike. I won't live like I'm in prison. I don't think old Hadji Baba and his forty thieves are anywhere near finding me, if they're even looking. You guys have done too good a job of squirreling me away."

Castle turned down the heat under his pot and then opened the refrigerator and took out two beers, handing one to Ponti.

"So, other than not giving a shit about my personal safety, what else are you here to harass me about? Man, I thought having two ex-wives was a pain but you guys…" He went on and on for a few minutes until Ponti finished his beer and went for another.

"This is just a random check, Alex. I like what you've done with the place. For one thing, it's clean and for another, it looks like you really want to attract guests, not just be 'shabbily sophisticated' like the other idiots on this sand bar."

"Hey, it's still got its turn of the century charm. I just added some things, fixed things that might get someone hurt and me sued, y'know, maintenance?"

"Listen, Jordan Shaw called me. Beckett and your daughter are out and about and Beckett hasn't checked in like she said she would. I just wanted you to be aware and to maybe call Shaw if Beckett contacts you? You know she resigned from the department after busting that rats' nest open. She did a helluva job and I can't say I blame her for turning in her badge. But call Shaw if she contacts you. Jordan's worried."

"She has no idea where I am and I prefer it that way until the coast is clear but I will contact Shaw if she does get in touch with me somehow. Hey, hungry? Want to try my newest homemade stew? Everything comes from local sources and it smells a lot better than it looks." He changed the subject adroitly and both recognized that the lecture and the real reason for the visit had been delivered and discussed.

Ponti left shortly after having two bowls of 'stew', surprised that it was as good as it was. Alex didn't seem to him as the kind that would be comfortable in a kitchen but looks could be deceiving.

Castle turned on the CCTV that sat on the counter and doubled as a 'kitchen TV' and watched Ponti's car drive down the mostly sand lane. He'd known instantly when someone passed the perimeter of the property and he'd turned on the TV and watched as Ponti drove slowly down. He had relaxed when Mike got out of the car and he had put the 9mm back into the waistband of his shorts. His florid Hawaiian shirt would cover it as it always did.

The reaction when he'd been tapped on the shoulder was all for show. If Castle had learned one thing the hard way it was to never be unprepared or surprised again – ever.

Castle had watched Mike's reaction to his 'stew' and decided to add it to his menu after the agent had helped himself to another bowl without prodding. High praise, in a left handed sort of way.

One task on his To Do list out of the way and he moved on to the next. In the back of his mind he'd had an idea that maybe he'd set a theme for each room. There were only 3 guest rooms, each with its own bathroom and, of course, the master suite that Castle had appropriated since it was on the top floor and had the walkway going around the roof and the balcony he liked to sit on and 'catch the rays'.

He'd finished the first room and decided to call it 'the Floral Room' since it was one big gigantic greenhouse with many different kinds of local plants as well as some imported ones that were more exotic. It was the room most often requested by his weekend guests.

He glanced at his watch and wondered what Beckett was doing. Probably out with Lanie or talking with Alexis on the phone. He wondered how Alexis was doing in school after the trauma of his death? He hated hurting his baby girl but it had to be done as it was. He couldn't risk anyone coming after his daughter because they couldn't get to him.

Strangely at peace, he trudged up the steps to his suite of rooms and walked out onto the balcony to watch the waves and think. He hadn't written a thing in months and he had several ideas for novels that just screamed to be written. He'd had Mollie pick up a laptop for him on one of her trips to the mainland and on impulse, he opened it and began to type.

Exile by Sebastian Rook

He had two chapters written by the time the light had failed and he saved his work and closed the laptop. He felt – satisfied.

Alex walked down stairs, did a quick perimeter check and then set the night ADT alarms that sounded throughout the building, in a small monitoring center in another state but also sounded in the alert center of the 'local' office of the Marshals Service that was at least located in the same state. He's was only two hours away from assistance – some comfort.


Outside the KOA Campground
Somewhere in South Carolina

"You are sure the woman and girl are here?" One man asked another as he used the cherry from one cigarette to light another.

"Yes, I walked into the office to ask for a map and the daughter was in there inquiring about take-out restaurants. It is surely her. Her hair is unmistakable."

"Good. Get some sleep. I shall remain awake until 2am and then you shall relieve me. We will continue to follow them until they lead us to the man who killed our brothers in New York. We will make his woman and daughter watch and then we will leave them alive to grieve and mourn and spread the word that no one escapes the wrath of the Abu-Jihad."

'Imshallah'.