Chapter 28
It was gorgeous. That was the only coherent thought she could come up with when she stepped outside every morning. Beautiful, gorgeous, spectacular. She had tried to describe it to him the one time they had spoken on the phone since she had arrived, but no words could touch it. He had laughed at her, chided her for her rambling sentences that completely lacked eloquence. But she wasn't the writer. He was. He was her writer, and his plane would be landing within the hour.
She let out a sigh; her hands still wrapped around the coffee mug, warming themselves in the early morning light as she leaned her elbows on the wooden rail and let the ocean air wash over her, whip her hair around her in a frenzy. She didn't care because it was… perfect.
There had been a point in time when she believed it would no longer be possible. She would never be free, but she had been proven wrong. Then Bracken had come after her, and she had thought herself as good as dead. But she had been proven wrong again. She had risen, she had overcome, she had paved her own path and it had led her here- to paradise.
Part of her mourned for New York; for her parents' graves she would never again be able to visit, for the detectives who had worked so hard to free her and would never know she had survived, for her place of birth and death. She would never see that city again. But this was proof that a little bit of good could come from a twisted and evil situation.
Proof that maybe she deserved a little good.
Her eyelids closed and she let the salted air fill her lungs, felt them expanding, a subtle reminder that she had won.
Word had come down two weeks before: Bracken earned himself life in prison for his sins. They had gone easy on him, given him the chance of parole after twenty-five years. Kate smirked to herself, not that he would make it that long. She had made some friends in prison, friends who knew people.
It was vengeance, revenge, retribution, and she knew it was wrong. The justice system had dealt out his punishment, but it wasn't enough, it was never enough. So she had made it enough. She had set a plan in motion.
One hand slipped off of the mug, her palm momentarily mourning the loss of contact with the warmth before sliding into the back pocket of her jeans to retrieve the burner phone. It would be the last time she'd use this one; she would take it down and throw it in the ocean when she was finished. She was already packed, because as much as she liked the water front cottage, there was a bungalow waiting for them on the big island. She had already spoken to the realtor; they were just waiting for her boyfriend to get there to iron out the details.
Boyfriend. It sounded so young, trivial.
Partner.
They had overcome everything together. Persevered.
She pressed the buttons slowly, methodically punching in the phone number she had long ago memorized for this very moment, listening as it rang and clicked over.
"Sing Sing Correctional Facility."
"Officer Carter, please."
"May I ask who's calling?"
"Tell him it's Jo."
"One moment, ma'am."
Her heart pounded in her chest as she waited for the man on the other end of the line.
"Ma'am?"
"Officer Carter, you should have been told to expect my call."
"Yes, ma'am. Please hold."
Kate let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
The prison didn't have hold music, so only dead silence echoed back at her as she waited, the sound of the ocean lapping and her pulse pounding filling the void.
"Hello?"
All the nervousness melted away when she heard the voice float through the receiver, only to be replaced by the burning calm of released fury. He couldn't hurt her anymore, and that made it okay. She could never forgive or forget, but she would move on.
"Hello, Senator."
"You…"
All the disdain he felt for her radiated through the phone with the one word.
"Oh, come now Senator, don't be like that."
"You did this."
"Me? But I'm just a silly little girl remember? Karma, Senator. You did this to yourself. But know this, I made friends over the past ten years. Powerful friends, some dangerous, and you've made enemies. And they may come and visit you in the night, like the ghosts that haunt Scrooge. When they do, think of me."
Kate hung up the phone, deft fingers sliding out the battery and sim card before walking down the steps of the cottage. It was a private beach. Every once in awhile she would see another couple strolling or a lone runner jogging in the surf, but normally it was quiet, like today. She gripped the dismantled phone as her bare feet padded over the sand, carrying her to the water line. It was low tide, and her eyes roamed the shells, scattered debris and sea life stranded on the shore by the receding water as she strolled down the beach.
She liked it here. People had always said Hawaii was beautiful, but she hadn't wanted to believe it until now. She never wanted to dream that she would actually make it somewhere like this- endless blue in front of her, a dormant volcano at her back, her home, in between.
After wandering a while, she turned to stare out at the vast expanse of blue and green, wiggled her toes in the sand for a moment, relishing the feeling of the cool ocean breeze washing over her before winding her arm back and throwing the pieces into the water, listening for the 'plop' as they landed. She never heard it, but she had seen them fall, felt that life - her tragic past - melting away.
It was done. Finished. They would never come after her again.
It had been astonishingly easy to plan: faking her own death, framing Bracken. It had taken a few months and an acquaintance in Manhattan willing to help her store her own blood one pint at a time. But she had planted all the pieces, and Bracken had unwittingly played his part perfectly.
The money had been the next step. She had no parent, no children, no relatives, so it had not been difficult to explain why she would set up a will naming a person with no blood or marital relation to her as her beneficiary and power of attorney. To everyone else it would look like she had left everything to the only person she loved, and he would then use that and his book money to go start a new life. A life somewhere that didn't hold constant reminders of her, somewhere he could be secluded and write in peace.
It was time to move on.
But she still felt the weight of the ring around her neck; she always would. Then she looked down at her watch -her father's watch - to see what time it was. And that was okay. She could still live even though they were gone.
She had to get back. Castle's plane would be landing soon.
She leaned down to the brush a patch of sand off of her shin as she traipsed back up the stairs, pausing as she caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass of the French doors that lead out to the deck.
"Hey."
"Hi." She felt like her face was going to burst from the smile. "You're not supposed to be here yet."
He dropped his bag to the floor just inside the door. A carry-on. The rest of his belongings were being shipped. They would be delivered to his- their- new home. His eyes were glued to her, studying every inch of her sun-kissed skin.
"Caught an earlier flight."
And then he was on her, arms circled around her waist, lifting her off the ground as she squealed into his neck, clinging to him.
"Hi," he murmured the word into her ear, his nose nuzzling into her hair.
"I missed you," she whispered back, her fingers threading through the fine hairs on the back of his neck as her feet hit the ground again. She moved to pull away, look him in the eye, but his mouth was on her, warm and seeking, and her body melted into his. Too long, it had been too long, but this was the last time they would go months without each other. Even if he had to go on a book tour or meet with editors back in New York, it would be days or weeks, but not months, not years. Never again.
The moan died on her lips when his mouth finally reached hers and they were stumbling backward until the back of her legs bumped into the edge of one of the chaise lounges.
"I missed you too," he mumbled back, his mouth still smiling against hers as he looped his pointer finger under the thin strap of her sundress, pulling it slowly off of her shoulder, leaving a line of goosebumps in it's wake before starting on the other one. Soft torture on her already overheated skin.
"I can see that," she laughed back. "Welcome to Hawaii."
"Aloha."
His lips moved leisurely down the curve of her bare neck, his hands moving lower. Her fingers found the column of buttons on his shirt, making quick work of them before sneaking inside, finding warm skin. She moaned, not at all worried about the volume, because this was paradise, and there was no one around to hear.
He had fallen asleep as they lay in the hammock hung in the corner of the wrap-around porch, the purple crocheted blanket draped over their naked bodies. Not that she blamed him, he had been going for hours between packing and traveling and then their 'welcome to your new home' activities. She allowed her fingers to dance over his chest, mapping it, memorizing what had changed and what hadn't in the months since they had last been together. This beautiful, wonderful man who had saved her in so many ways, too many to list, and then given up his own life, lied to his friends and family to be with her in the end.
Part of her still didn't understand why he hadn't given up months ago, years. She was no good for him, but he was exactly what she needed, so she clung to him. Her leg wrapped around one of his, arm curled around his chest, head resting on his shoulder as he slept, spent, in the pristine Hawaiian afternoon.
Her fingers were playing with his, unable to stop touching, looking, feeling, when her new iPhone began to chirp on the far banister. She debated for a moment, comfortable with the feeling of his large, warm palm anchored at her hip, securing her to his side. Always.
It was the word he whispered in her ear when she said she loved him, when she thanked him, when she doubted that she deserved him. He would say that she had him always, because she was imprinted on his soul, he on hers; that this was what fate felt like. It was the word that would render her speechless because he could say more with two syllables than she could say with a thousand pages.
The phone chirped again and she peeled his fingers from her skin, rolling out of the fabric swing with as much grace as possible.
"Hello."
"Hey, Becks."
Kate tried not to smile into the phone. Graham.
"I told you not to call me that."
"Oh come on, what am I supposed to call you? Rebecca? That is an entire two syllables too long, besides don't tell me you hadn't thought of that before you chose the name. Becks. It has a nice ring to it."
Kate rolled her eyes. Some things would never change no matter how many times she died.
"What's up, Graham?"
"Lover boy there yet?"
"Yes, he just landed a couple of hours ago."
"Oh, sorry, I didn't interrupt anything, did I?"
"No, not interrupting."
"Oh, please tell me that you're not still at it."
"Graham!" Kate pressed the back of her hand to her mouth to suppress a laugh.
"Okay, okay, fine," Graham teased before pausing, the levity in his voice falling away with his next words. "I just wanted to let you know that I got a call from your detective friends, Bracken is dead; found hanged in his cell."
Silence filled the line.
"But you knew that already, didn't you? K... Becks?"
Kate drew in a breath, felt the warm air filling her lungs- her living, breathing lungs. It was done, over, finished. Her only regret was that she couldn't have been there to see the terror in his eyes when he was strung up.
"How would I have possibly known the Senator was going to kill himself, Graham?"
"Right..."
"Thanks for the update."
"One more thing. I ran into Selena Hernandez the other day. She told me Hector finally received citizenship. I thought you'd like to know."
Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to overthrow the image of calm she was attempting to maintain.
"That's... fantastic. I wish I could have been there to see it."
"Selena said it was because of you, because of the case you put together for him before... Anyway, go on, get back to lover boy."
"'Kay..." Kate whispered, wiping an errant tear from her cheek. "See you soon?"
"You know it, it takes more than a little thing like death to keep me away."
Kate stared at the phone for a moment after the line went dead before placing it on the rail and stepping back over to the hammock, her new mane of blonde hair floating in the breeze behind her. She stared out at the horizon for a moment, listening as the birds chirped a cheerful, tuneless melody, and leaves rustled in the wind. It was bright; vivid colors hit her senses, threatening to overload them in a way that they hadn't in years, not since her mother had died. But now the haze, the clouds, were gone.
The hammock jerked as she eased back into it, causing Castle to startle awake.
"'Sup?"
"Nothing, Graham just called to make sure you had arrived safely," she soothed as she curled back into him. "Go back to sleep."
"Mmkay. Wake me when it's time to go see the realtor. Rebecca Rogers and her ruggedly handsome writer fiancé have a house to buy."
Kate froze. Fiancé?
She turned back to question him but he was asleep, snoring lightly.
Biting her lip, she leaned over to feel at the pockets of his pants where they had gotten flung under the hammock, finding a box-sized bulge on one side. Stunned laughter flew from her lips when she turned to look at the sleeping man.
She would just have to act surprised. And she was okay with that, because this was what her mother and father would have wanted for her. This was what she had dreamed of, lying awake in that damp, grey cell, curled up with the same purple blanket- a life ahead of her, slate blank...
...yet to be written.
