CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX – Wrap up
Rick Castle was working away in the kitchen, cooking dinner for a large group. There was Alexis and Martha of course. Beckett, Esposito, Ryan and Montgomery were coming to celebrate the end of the case, and the fulfillment of Beckett's dream of putting away her mother's killers after ten years. It had been a big enough event that Martha had taken the night away from her play, allowing her stand-in a night of glory.
His mother was sitting on a stool at the counter, sipping at a glass of Shiraz while he and Alexis did the heavy lifting. He was making Steak Diane, and Caesar's Salad, with steamed vegetables and fresh sourdough rolls from Arrabieta's.
It was too early for them to be doing any actual cooking, so it was mostly prep work. Alexis washed and then tore the romaine lettuce, then wrapped it and popped it back in the crisper for later. She pulled down the large, wooden salad bowl from above the fridge, rinsed it and wiped it out. She dried it and set it aside on the counter for later.
Castle chopped a large portion of fresh shallots for the Steak Diane, wrapped them and put them away. He also had a demi-glace on the stove. Martha contributed by getting out a bottle of Harvey's Bristol Crème sherry and a bottle of Asbach, a strong German brandy he'd need later.
They talked while they worked, with Castle explaining to the women exactly what transpired on the case. He started with the theft of the money, and then moved on to the murders of Johanna Beckett and Theodore Warren. He told them how Coonan had killed both Hatten and Grayson when Bell had become suspicious that others on the team had learned of his thievery. That little tidbit had been supplied by Cheryl Lefebvre once they had her behind bars. The NYPD was searching the sewers in the area around Grand Central for Hatten's remains now.
He told them of their initial meeting with Gibbs and DiNozzo at the Fairmont Hotel, and of their visit to see Detective Russo the following day. He continued working as he talked, getting ten nice, thick fillet mignons out of the fridge on a large platter. His butcher, Pete, had butterflied each one. He'd premade a rub of salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. He rubbed a little bit, lightly, onto both sides of each fillet.
He told them about their trip to Washington and the trip Esposito took with Kate and Ziva to Miami, and about the discovery of the money trail that led them to the two brothers, about how that connection had led them to Colonel Bell and eventually to Markham and Lefebvre.
The doorbell rang and Alexis ran to let their guests in. Beckett was the first. In what was a definite change of pace from the Beckett they knew, she wore an ankle length black skirt which fit snugly over her hips, and a silky white blouse with the top two buttons undone, just enough for a peek of her black lacy bra to show. She had a belt of what appeared to be bronze links, and a pair of small, gold hoop earrings.
They welcomed her in, and got her settled on the stool next to Martha. Castle poured her a glass of the Shiraz before returning to his prep work. He was rinsing and cleaning two large pans, which he would use later to cook the steaks.
They caught Kate up on the conversation, and she smiled while she lisetened to Castle tell Martha and Alexis about the raid on Bell Defense Systems, and their trip to Albany. He was an excellent storyteller, something she well knew, and he was certainly doing himself proud with his rendition on this evening.
Ryan arrived next, followed shortly by Esposito and Montgomery. Once everyone was there and had a drink in hand, Alexis began setting the table. Kate and Ryan gave her a hand. Castle opened several more bottles of wine, both red and white.
It wasn't long before everyone was seated. He stood at the far end of the table and made quite a production out of making the Caesar's Salad. First he rubbed down the side of the bowl with minced garlic and some freshly ground black pepper, and then used a serving spoon to grind some anchovy fillets into a paste with the garlic. He added a generous portion of mayonnaise and some stone ground mustard, a bit of olive oil and red wine vinegar. After he added each ingredient, he'd mix everything thoroughly, making sure to coat the sides of the bowl. Alexis retrieved the romaine from the fridge for him and he dumped it in, making an even bigger show of tossing it until the leaves were well and evenly coated in Caesar dressing. He added in a generous portion of shredded parmesan and Romano cheese, and some homemade roasted garlic croutons, before serving out a plate for everyone.
The salad was delicious. It had a sharp bite that was stronger than Kate was used to from a Caesar Salad, but she found that she really liked it. However, between the anchovies and garlic, she figured she'd have dragon breath by the end of the meal. She smiled when she remembered that she'd bought a pack of gum the other day, and it was still in her purse.
While his guests worked on their salads, Castle got down to the job of fixing the steaks. He coated both pans with generous portions of butter, and lightly seared the steaks, first on one side, and then the other before removing them from the pans. He mixed the shallots in with the butter to brown, while he spread a very light coating of stone ground mustard on one side of each steak. After a minute or two, he put the steaks back in the pans, with the coated side down, allowing the mustard to sear into the side of the steak. He lightly coated the top sides, and then splashed a good bit of Asbach into each pan. He used a long-handled lighter to ignite the brandy in each pan, burning off the alcohol, but leaving the flavor. When each flame had gone out, he flipped the steaks, allowing the other side to sear in the mustard. He added his demi-glace and let it all cook for a moment, using the time to check that the veggies, a mixtures of snow peas, cauliflower, carrots, and green beans was nicely done. He poured a bit of the Harvey's Bristol Crème into each pan, and a little more Asbach, since the alcohol content of the sherry wasn't high enough to allow it to flame on its own. Alexis and Martha helped him serve as he filled each plate with a nice fillet and a generous portion of the Diane sauce, as well as a heaping pile of veggies, and a sourdough roll, hot from the oven.
The dinner went splendidly, capped off by a champagne toast, a bottle of Dom Perignon '71, to celebrate the closing of the case. The group spent another few hours talking, telling stories. Castle led the way in wildly inappropriate stories, which Alexis could have told the others in advance he would.
Montgomery was the first to leave, claiming that he needed to get home to his wife. He hugged Beckett one last time and congratulated her again on a job well done. Alexis was next, slipping upstairs to bed. Martha excused herself in order to put in an appearance at the wrap party for her play. Ryan and Esposito decided to head to Ryan's for an hour or so of video games, though Esposito reminded Ryan that he wouldn't sit on his "road kill couch".
That left Beckett and Castle alone together. She insisted on helping him with the dishes. He'd been adamant about holding off on doing them right after dinner. They laughed and flirted and bickered, like any other day. When they'd finished, they retired to the couch in the living room. Castle flipped on the television, but neither of them really wanted to watch, nor cared what was on.
After fifteen minutes of necking on the couch like a couple of teenagers, Kate took Castle's hand and led him toward the stairs. When he asked if she was sure, her only response was a smile. She couldn't think of a better way to end the best day she'd had in nearly ten years.
Booth walked into Brennan's lab at the Jeffersonian and flopped himself down on the couch just inside the door. "What's up, Bones?" he asked.
"Booth," she said, "you're back,"
"You don't miss a thing," he teased.
She smiled. "That's true," she agreed. "How did things go today?" He told her, including everything he knew about the case that NCIS and NYPD carried out when he wasn't around. She asked a number of pointed and insightful questions, which he answered as best he could.
"So they put the bad guys away, and solved at least three, no four murders in the process. I'd say that was good work."
"For them, and for you," Booth said. "You finding that sliver of Coonan's knife in the bone is what started them down the road. Nice job, Bones."
"Thanks, Booth," she said.
"You almost done here?" he asked.
"Yes, why?"
"I was thinking about getting a slice of pie. Wanna come?"
"Sure," she said. "Just give me five minutes to finish up here."
"You got it," he said. "I'm gonna go say hi to Cam. Come get me when you're ready."
Michael Westen and Sam Axe stepped off the SECNAV's private Gulfstream at Miami International Airport. They each had a small shoulder bag. They'd known in advance that they wouldn't need more than an extra day or two worth of clothes.
As they walked past baggage claim, they saw a pair of familiar faces, Sam's old FBI friends, Agents Harris and Lane were waiting by the exit doors.
"Michael Westen," Lane said.
"Don't you boys from the FBI have anything better you could be doing?" Michael asked. From where they were standing, he could see Fiona's Saab 9-3 idling at the curb outside.
"We're just here to remind you that, this little adventure today aside, you're supposed to keep your butt here, in Miami," Harris said.
"I was asked, by two government agencies, to make this trip," Michael said.
"We know," Harris replied. "We heard from Agents Gibbs and Fornell both."
"So, we'll be going then," Sam said, starting toward the door.
"Just don't leave again, we're just here to remind you is all," Lane said.
Michael smiled, giving them the full wattage, and said, "Thanks for the concern guys. And don't worry, I have no other travel plans." With that, he and Sam exited the building.
Fiona popped her trunk from her seat. The boys threw their bags inside and Michael closed the trunk while Sam climbed into the back seat. He joined them, and Fi couldn't resist a little jab at the FBI, peeling away from the curb. Michael and Sam both grinned.
Gibbs, Todd and David stepped off the elevator at NCIS. It was pushing nine pm. Dinozzo, McGee, Ducky and Abby were gathered around Tony's desk. Three large pizza boxes sat on Ziva's desk, and they were all laughing and enjoying a slice.
"Hey Boss," Tony said, seeing them approach. "Saw the announcement on ZNN. Did Detective Beckett enjoy arresting the Judge?"
"Oh yeah," Gibbs said, flipping open the lid of the top box and helping himself to a slice of pepperoni and sausage."
"There's a veggie combo in the bottom box, Kate," Abby said.
"Thanks, Abs."
Vance appeared at the top of the stairs. "Nice work. All of you," he said. "When you've finished your pizzas, go home. Get some rest. Take the day off tomorrow." He paused for a second, and then said, "You've earned it."
Gibbs looked to Vance, and then his team, and back to Vance. He nodded once, acknowledging that the Director was right. They had earned it. "Thanks, Leon," he said. Kate sat on the edge of his desk, next to him.
"Who's up for a movie tomorrow afternoon?" Dinozzo asked…
AUTHOR'S NOTE: That wraps up this little opus. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I can't recall ever knocking out 160 pages in less than 20 days before. I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed, or sent PM's. They are a great source of feedback & interest. I'd also like to take another moment to thank my roommate JMAC, who helped conceive the basis for this story, and who supplied ideas for a number of interesting scenes. I did all the actual writing, and any mistakes found within are purely my own. I own none of the characters for NCIS, Castle, Burn Notice, Bones, or Law & Order, nor do I own any rights to any of these shows. Until next time, thanks again for reading, G