Life Goes On

Chapter 36

Kate tossed restlessly, trying fruitlessly to clear her mind. Castle reached out, brushing back the hair that her thrashing had strewn across her face. "Kate, are you all right? Is BG okay?"

"Castle, BG's fine," she assured him. "She actually seems to be sleeping. I'm just trying to figure out how to nail the bad actors on the council and trace who's paying them. If I were at the precinct this would be easy. I could get a warrant if I needed to. I could pull financials and follow the money. But as Public Advocate I can't do that. And even if I could, I'm not sure I can trust everyone on my staff. Most of them are holdovers from Leticia and from the way she was blocked too, it's possible some of them are on the take."

Castle pulled himself up to lean against the headboard. "Kate, I do have some training and experience in this, although Hayley has a lot more and even Alexis is better at it. But I can tell you that there is a lot that is available in public records if you know where to look. And it's amazing how much people will put out on social media. The clues are there. You just have to find them and follow them."

"Castle, I just don't have the time to pursue that kind of investigation on my own and if I can't trust my staff, I can't put them on it either," Kate fretted. "And I don't want to farm anything else out to RCI. You've blown a lot of time and resources on what should be my problem already."

Castle's brows lowered angrily. "Kate, I thought we established that if you have a problem, we have a problem. But I think I might have a solution that won't drain RCI, at least not much. You can hire your own staff, can't you?"

"Within the budget of my office, yes," Kate replied.

"Why not hire Alexis?" Castle suggested. "You know you can trust her. She's really good at this kind of thing and she's got Hayley to lean on if she needs advice. She can also keep an eye on the other members of your staff. It's beyond my masculine experience, but I'm told an awful lot can be learned just in the ladies room."

Kate couldn't stop the giggle that rose in her throat. "That is true, Castle. It is easier to talk more freely with someone who's lent you a tampon. I'll have to check, but I don't think the city has any rules against nepotism. I've observed that quite a few officials have family members on their staffs in one capacity or another. If Alexis willing, I should be able to hire her."

"It seems like the people that worked on the Rikers investigation are pretty straight shooters too," Castle noted. "I didn't detect any suspicious holes in the data. They might be back up if you need more help than you can get from Alexis."

"Point taken, Castle," Kate agreed.

Castle slid back down back under the covers to spoon with Kate, wrapping his arms around her and tucking her head beneath his chin. "Good. Then if BG is sleeping maybe you can too."

Sighing, Kate settled into the warm curve of his body and closed her eyes.

Alexis stared at the screen of her computer at her new work space in the office of the Public Advocate. She was beginning to realize just how much she had been spoiled at RCI. She had usually had an office to herself, whatever equipment she needed, and the luxury of a comfortable retreat in the safe room. Here she was surrounded by the desks of other staff members and was constantly on the alert for anyone who might be looking over her shoulder. Still the story unfolding through her research was fascinating, if depressing. Multiple initiatives that would have benefited the people of New York had been derailed. Others had been allowed to go through, but remained useless because no funds were allotted in the city budget for their implementation. It appeared that multiple council members were involved, including Malony from Staten Island and Costello from Brooklyn. Alexis had been looking for connections between them. As far as she could determine, they weren't related by blood. They had attended different schools and had never worked for the same employer. She searched through lists of campaign contributors. "Eureka," she whispered finally under her breath. The corporations on the list were different, but at least one on the list of each suspicious council member was could be linked to the holding companies that also controlled TK Enterprises, operators of the drones. One of the same holding companies also owned a chain of nail salons. In itself, the ownership proved nothing. The contributions were legal, if suspect. But they were a start.

Alexis stretched and looked at her watch. It was almost lunchtime and her father would be arriving with one of the feasts he provided a couple of times a week for Kate and BG. Since Alexis had begun working for Kate, she had been invited to share in the massive spreads. It would be a perfect opportunity for a family brainstorming session. Alexis smelled rather than saw Castle's entrance as tumeric infused the air. BG apparently was on a curry kick, or at least Kate was and the doting husband and father was more than eager to feed the need. To say Castle was going overboard, she mused, would have been an understatement, but she supposed it was no worse than the way she'd behaved after he'd been found floating in the dinghy in the middle of the ocean. She wondered idly how her father had obsessed when her mother was pregnant with her. Probably worse, she guessed, considering Meredith's constant demands to be the center of the universe. Kate didn't ask Castle to fuss over her, he just couldn't keep himself from doing it.

Castle came to Alexis's desk with overfull arms. "Ready for lunch?"

"Can I take something?" Alexis inquired, reaching for a bag barely balanced on a rice cooker.

"Thank you," Castle responded with relief.

Kate's door was opening as she ushered out the last petitioner of the morning, a daycare provider concerned with an ureasonably rising rent on the property her operation occupied. As she departed, Kate promised to see what she could do.

"Damn!" Kate exclaimed as soon as she closed the door of her office behind the Castles. "The way costs are increasing for childcare facilities, some families will have to spend more than half their monthly income on childcare. Who can live like that?"

"What are you going to do?" Alexis asked.

"Try to negotiate the lease, I guess," Kate responded. "It's been done before. If the landlord is civic minded he might give in, but he isn't legally required to do so. I'll just have to give it a shot."

"How about the buildings the city's confiscated, like the one where you and Vikram set up your headquarters? Couldn't the city rent the space to childcare providers cheap, maybe just for the price of upkeep?"Castle suggested.

"Then maybe the city could have a proviso that childcare providers using the properties would have to keep their fees affordable, maybe on a sliding scale depending on the parents' income?" Alexis added.

"If I haven't told both of you how much I love you lately, consider it said," Kate declared. "That is a great idea!"

Castle started laying food out on the conference table. "Good, now that that's settled, let's take care of the hungry child in waiting."

"We can do a whole lot more than that," Alexis put in. "I have a lot to tell both of you. I might just have a line on who's holding the strings that are tying up the city."