Chapter Thirty Six
It had been barely two weeks since Rick drove away from the hectic pace of New York City, yet it felt like years since he left. All the noise, the crowds, the energy used to excite him. Now all the commotion felt like the perfect camouflage for Maddox or another sniper to shoot at Kate. Rick did not want to scare her or Alexis but he felt like everyone was watching or listening. He was wearing his faithful disguise of a baseball hat (Yankees of course) and sunglasses, yet he still felt vulnerable. He could only imagine how uncomfortable Kate was feeling, she was his primary target yet looking at her smiling and laughing with Alexis, it seemed like she didn't have a care in the world. Even knowing that Mike was watching them, Rick still felt very exposed at JFK Airport. However, he refused to let Alexis leave for France without seeing her off. It had been hard enough to talk his daughter into leaving them and visit her mother.
As his daughter and Kate compared and swapped songs on their smart phones and iPods, Rick thought back to Tuesday morning. After the huge pasta feast he and his guests had shared the previous day, he wasn't really hungry but definitely needed some coffee to wake up. Kate was still sleeping peacefully in his arms when he woke and he wanted to leave her that way. Rick needed to talk his daughter into leaving him for just for a short time. Usually Alexis was up first and had coffee waiting for everyone. Today, he came down stairs to find the coffee pot empty and his daughter impatiently waiting for the promised explanation.
"No Coffee? Please Pumpkin, I really need some caffeine."
"Answers first, then I'll make some coffee."
"Sweetie, we will talk, I promise. I just need some coffee to kick start my brain."
"No coffee, I know you too well, Dad. You will think up some well-crafted and believable story that sounds plausible but I want the truth. I know that someone is still after Kate; she went after Maddox on her own which is why Gates suspended her. I just don't understand why she would quit the force. Getting justice and closure for people and families was the main thing that helped her go on after her mother's death. She wouldn't give that up unless she had to, protecting something or someone else."
Rick sat down stunned by his daughter's perception but he was about to be blown away.
"I'm pretty sure it's not her Dad she's protecting. He was a lawyer but he is semi-retired now and never tried any criminal cases. It's definitely not you or Kate wouldn't have let you come back to the precinct to help after she was shot. So...if it is not someone alive, it is someone she loved that's dead and is trying to protect their memory. So it has to be either her Mother or Captain Montgomery. Kate has been working on her Mother's case for so long that everyone knows about it, including Captain Gates. So it has to be Roy Montgomery. He had...something and he was using it to protect Kate. When he was killed, whoever killed him or had him killed is now coming after Kate because he needs to recover or destroy it. Kate knows what it is but doesn't know where the Captain hid it. So she has been looking for it ever since she was shot or she is trying to find and protect whoever has it now."
Rick was amazed but perhaps he shouldn't be. Alexis had helped him with his story lines for years and she always read his manuscripts before they went to Gina. His daughter was very smart and mature beyond her years; she could usually spot a phony or a liar in minutes. She grew up reading the books of James Patterson, Michael Connelly and his dear friend Stephen Cannell. Was it any wonder she had pretty much figured out what was going on so quickly. Rick was so proud of her; he just had to hug his daughter. Since she knew what was going on, it would make it that much harder to convince her to leave him.
"First of all I want you to know how much I love you and I am so proud of you." Hugging her, Rick did not want to let go...plus it gave him some extra time to think. "No sense in me coming up with a story, you'd see through it and me in a minute. You are right there is something and someone we need to find but I promised Kate not to say anything to anyone, even you, Sweetie. I know that you'd never say anything to anyone even by accident but I won't take any chances with your safety. The less you know, the better and I want you far away from this and Mother too. We need to find it and the man that has it now but I promise we won't be doing this alone and I will be careful, very careful."
"Dad, I want to help you, help Kate."
"I know but you can't be involved at all. I need to know you are safe, so I can concentrate on keeping Kate safe. Remember when you were little and I had to go away on book tours."
Alexis smiled for the first time all morning. "You'd call me every night just before bedtime, so I knew you were OK."
Rick handed his daughter a phone. Puzzled, she examined it. "Kate and I may have to go into hiding for safety, just for a short time. This should all be over by the time you get back. No matter what you hear on the media, you will always be able to reach me with this...but just once, then destroy it. Drop it in the sea at a beach or better yet put it down at an airport or train station…"
"So someone will find it, take it and use it, so it can't be traced back to you or me."
"Ah young Jedi, I have taught you well and the force is strong in you." Kissing her forehead, "Hopefully, we can get this resolved quickly and you'll never need to use it."
"And then what, Dad?"
"Life goes on, you go to college. I continue to write and Kate decides if she goes back to being a detective."
"What about you and Kate? You aren't getting any younger."
"Ouch! Thanks for those kind words."
"I meant if you and Kate want to get married and have kids, you better get started pretty soon or you'll be too distinguished to play on the floor with them and all their toys, like you did with me."
"Sweetie, I want that so much but as the saying goes, it takes two. I'm not sure that Kate is ready to give up being Detective Beckett to settle down and become Mrs. Rick Castle or Mrs. Richard Rogers."
"Why does she have to? You raised me and wrote 26 best sellers as Richard Castle. I think Kate Beckett can work as a detective and who knows maybe later as a captain by day and be Mrs. Castle at night...and still have time for you and a baby or two."
"Two? I thought you wanted a little brother OR sister."
"Or one of each would also work nicely. Just remember you have a free babysitter for weekends, at least for the foreseeable future."
"So does that mean that you would be OK if I asked Kate to marry me?"
"Duh Dad! I've been waiting for you to pop the question for two years. If you can help her solve the mystery of her mother's death once and for all, I think you can finally knock down the last wall around her heart. Kate loves and trusts you but I think her mother's death made her afraid to love you or anyone with her whole heart…the way you love her and me too. Besides you are much too good at being a Dad and Kate will be a great Mom to let two great parents go to waste."
"No, not such a great parent. I wish I could have given you a more normal childhood…."
"Dad, you did! A little unconventional but I had the best nanny, playmate and stay at home parent when I was little and a pretty cool father as I grew up. Not perfect but pretty close. Hey, don't start crying or I will too. Dad, that's the final call for my flight, I have to get on board now."
"You have your ticket, bag, I added a new limit on your card so you can buy things you need or want for your dorm room. Have fun with your Mom but come back to me soon, I'll miss you so much, baby bird."
Giving them a minute alone, Kate walked over to hand Alexis her bag and smart phone. "All set, have fun, see you soon." After a not so brief hug with them both, she waved and walked into the jet way to hide her tears.
Rick walked to the window, his nose practically pressed against the glass and watched as her plane pulled back slowly from the gate, turned and rolled towards the runway until it was out of sight. "I hate when she goes away for a few days to see Meredith, the next two weeks are going to be horrible but when she moves to the dorms, I am going to be a total mess."
Kate snaked her arm around his back and ducked under his arm to rest her head on his chest. "You once called me your beautiful mess. So I guess that makes you my ruggedly handsome mess. Come on we are meeting Agent Shaw at your loft, we can't be late."
Once they were settled into the SUV, Rick removed his baseball hat and glasses knowing that the windows were tinted and bulletproof. Pulling out into traffic with Kate at the wheel, Rick looked up as a plane circled the airport gaining altitude. "Have fun, Sweetie."
Kate was about to reassure him when the burner phone in Rick's jacket pocket began to buzz. Ryan was the only one that had the number so she wondered why he would be calling. "Hello?" Castle made his voice sound much lower than normal as a precaution.
"Castle?" Kevin sounded equally guarded and puzzled.
"Hey, what's up? I thought we agreed only in emergencies."
"Well this qualifies. Where can we meet, there's something you guys need to know but not over the phone."
Kate took the phone from Rick. "Where are you, Ryan?"
"I just dropped off the bid for my townhouse. Can you thank Rick for me, I…it was really nice of him but it was too much until Jenny finally talked me into accepting the down payment as a loan."
"You can tell him in person, we'll meet you. It will take us about ten minutes to get there." She ended the call and handed the phone back to Rick. "I wonder what's up, he sounded spooked. Good thing we aren't meeting Agent Shaw until three."