Kiss Me, Detective – Chapter 11
As Castle, Demming, and Sorenson celebrated in the bar of the restaurant, Ryan and Esposito sat in an unmarked squad car across the street, keeping an eye on the threesome through a street front window.
"Man, is he wasted," Ryan said, concerned. "Beckett is not so not gonna be happy when he shows up to the dance and can't even pronounce her name."
Esposito tried to allay his partner's fears. "Don't worry, bro. It's all gonna work out. Trust me."
"How do you figure that?"
Esposito shook him off again. "Just don't worry about it. Let's focus on how we're gonna fix both Swelled Head and Demming's tails."
"Ok. Well, their car's right over there," Ryan gestured towards a four-door sedan similar in color and make to theirs and that was parked about half way down the block and across the street from the restaurant.
"What're you thinkin'?" Esposito inquired.
"Just follow my lead." Ryan answered.
The two exited their car and made their way towards their twin nemesis' car. As they stood over it, considering their options, Esposito noticed two garment bags hanging from clips over the back seat. Both were emblazoned with the logo of Jack Silver Formal Wear and had a tag hanging from each bag, one reading "Demming" and the other reading "Sorenson."
Esposito's face broke out into a wicked grin. "I got an idea too."
Three hours after they had joined Castle at the bar, Demming and Sorenson helped a very drunk Castle out the front door of the restaurant, each with an arm around his shoulders to keep him on his feet.
"Awwright, guys," Castle slurred. "I gotta wun. I gotta go get a dress…err…I gotta go pickup a bawl for Bickitt. Whoops!" The guys let go of Castle and he weaved dramatically on his feet, trying to hail a cab. "I mean a Bickitt for the bawl…A Beckle…A Bick…She's great isn't she?"
"Yeah, she is, big boy," Demming said, grabbing ahold of Castle again to keep him from falling in the street.
Sorenson joined in. "Hey man, you know what? I think maybe we should drive you home. C'mon, our car's right over there." He took hold of one of Castle's arms as Demming again wrapped his arm around Castle's shoulders. The three hobbled over to the car and Demming and Sorenson sat Castle across the back seat, making careful not to knock down the garment bags that contained each man's tuxedo for the dance. With Demming in the front passenger seat, Sorenson took the wheel and started the car in the direction of Castle's apartment. By the time they arrived half an hour later, no thanks to traffic, Castle had passed out cold.
Their plan had worked to perfection. Now all that was left to do was to make it to the dance and be the first man there to comfort Kate when news reached her of Castle's arrest for public intoxication. Laughing to themselves, Demming and Sorenson lifted Castle off the back seat of the car and irreverently deposited him in a flower bed on the side of his building.
Then Sorenson quickly jumped back in the car, started it up, and took off cackling with Demming's tuxedo still hanging in the back, before the shocked robbery detective realized what was happening. Cursing the FBI Agent, Demming used his badge to hail a cab and ordered it to follow every move Sorenson's car made.
The ballroom that night was beautiful. Small waist high tables each with a plain, but elegant candelabra in the center surrounded the large dance floor which was overseen by a full jazz orchestra. Waiters in full formal wear carried small trays dotted with flutes of champagne, glasses of wine, and bottles of beer between groups of intermingling dignitaries, guests, and police officers, some in Class A dress uniform and some in tuxedos or suits. Other staff carried larger trays filled with delicate finger-sized appetizers or decadent bite-sized desserts. However, despite the laughter, conversation, and general frivolity, Kate Beckett, stunningly dressed in a long deep purple colored sleeveless gown with hair in loose curls hanging freely over her well-toned shoulders, sat drumming her fingers both angrily and nervously on a table a fair distance away from the dance floor. A flute of champagne sat in front of her, barely touched.
Kate watched her friends enjoy themselves: Ryan and his long-time girlfriend Jenny dancing closely, Esposito and Tracy Chen chatting near the bar with Lanie and Robert Hughes. During a lull in what seemed to Kate to be a rather animated conversation, Lanie took notice of her best friend's solitude and made her way slowly through the crowd to Kate's side. The others joined her one by one.
"It's almost 8 o'clock," Kate grumbled. "Exactly how long can a lunch time meeting with your publisher take?"
"I don't know, honey. It's still early," Lanie tried. "I mean this thing goes until midnight. He's got plenty of time to get here if he got held up."
"She's right," Ryan agreed. "I know for a fact Castle said he'd be here, so he's probably just stuck in traffic or something."
Esposito nodded. "Yeah, I'll bet he's on his way here right now, all spiffy in his tuxedo, bouquet of flowers in his hand."
"It's not that he's late, guys," Kate disputed looking around at the group, which now included Captain Montgomery and Medical Examiner Dr. Briscoe. Her bottom lip trembled slightly and her voice shook with each word she spoke. "It's that…I didn't want anything to go wrong tonight. The past couple weeks have been so great…almost perfect, in fact, that I…" Kate looked down at her hands, unable to articulate what she was thinking.
"You didn't want it to end?" Captain Montgomery guessed.
Kate shook her head and bit her bottom lip. Lanie wrapped an arm around Kate's shoulders and gave a little squeeze as the band began playing Unforgettable.
"Great," Kate complained. "Just what I needed right now – to hear my favorite song."
"Well, let's not waste it then," Captain Montgomery said and extended his hand invitingly to Kate. "May I have this dance, Detective?"
The warm, paternal smile came back to the Captain's face and Kate couldn't resist accepting his invitation. She stood, smiling slightly, and accompanied her boss to the center of the dance floor. Not long after, Ryan and Jenny, Lanie and Robert, and Esposito and Tracy all joined them.
After the instrumental section of the song, a strange new voice took up the singing. It was a much deeper alto voice, almost a baritone, as compared to that of the female lead singer of the band. As the song reached its crescendo, the singer revealed himself on the band stand, dressed in a simple, but perfectly cut tuxedo and bow tie, and carrying a bouquet of red roses in one hand and the microphone in his other. He slowly and smoothly made his way directly over to where Kate stood in the middle of the floor, dumbfounded. The crowd of dancers had parted slightly leaving Kate and her suitor alone in the spotlight. Esposito and Ryan heaved sighs of relief, while the others smiled brightly.
Castle had finally arrived, completely sober.
