CH38
Kate hears a noise behind her and spins with her weapon ready, only to see a man falling to the ground right behind her. Kate never heard him. As he hits the ground a knife he was carrying clatters away on the pavement
"He could have killed me." Kate tells herself.
Suddenly another man steps out of the shadows. He is carrying a much larger weapon than she is. "CASTLE?"
As Castle steps up towards the guy lying on the ground Kate can see that he has attached the silencer to his weapon.
"Jack?" Rick calls out. And Kate can see another man in the distance where she came from suddenly vanish.
"You can put that away Kate. We need to leave soon." Castle tells her.
"Castle, what the hell is going on?" Kate asks as she puts her weapon in her holster. But Castle ignores her question.
"Jack call the operator for me."
"Dialing." Jack tells him.
"Operator." Says a voice.
"This is operative Jess Carson, code Operation 28 West Alpha Zeta 1244 Bottoms Up."
"ID and code confirmed. How may I help you?"
"I need an emergency dust off at the following address." And Rick gives the address of the alley they are in.
"One moment." The voice responds.
"Castle?" Kate asks him again. Watching Castle put a finger to his lips.
"Dust off in under 10 minutes." The voice responds and the call ends.
"We need to leave." Rick tells her as he bends down and does a quick search of the body. Finding a cell phone he pockets it and stands.
"Castle, what the hell?" Kate looks at him wide eyed with her mouth hanging open.
Castle steps up close to her. "Please Kate we need to leave."
"You just shot a man Castle, we can't leave. We need to call someone." Kate tells him.
"I did call someone, and in under 10 minutes he's going to be gone. And we can't be here when that happens. Please Kate, trust me just a little longer. I can explain when we get home." Rick looks directly into her eyes.
"Please Kate." Rick puts everything he can into his eyes to get her to see and leave.
Then takes her hand and leads her back to the others. "We're leaving. Everyone back into the car." Rick tells them.
"Did it work dad? Did mom get to talk to her mother?" Alexis asks.
Rick stops and looks at Alexis then looks at Kate. And Kate can see the same look of love that she has seen countless times before in his eyes.
Kate just shrugs her shoulders. Seems she has some explaining to do too.
Rick gives her a quick kiss and leads all of them to the car. Rick takes the silencer off before getting in the car.
"Did it work mom?" Alexis asks during the drive home.
"No sweetie it didn't. We were interrupted by someone." Kate tells her.
"Oh." Alexis looks down sad. "You're going to try again, right?"
"Yes sweetie, we're going to try again." Even if I have to do it alone. Kate tells herself.
"Jack I need you to clone the cell phone I picked up." Rick tells him while driving.
"Scanning, … Scan complete. …. Cloning complete." Jack tells him.
"Here take this apart and throw it out the window. "Rick hands Kate the cell phone.
Kate takes the phone.
"I'm sorry, please take it apart and throw it out the window." Rick amends.
Kate takes the back off and pulls the battery, SIM card and memory card out of the phone. Tries to break the flip phone into two separate pieces and throws the whole thing out the window.
The rest of the trip is done in silence.
Once back home with the door closed and locked everyone but Rick head for the living room to sit on the sofa. Rick goes into the kitchen. A minute later he comes out with a glass of wine that he hands to his mother, two shot glasses and a bottle tucked under his arm.
Giving one of the shot glasses to Kate he puts his down on the coffee table that he sits on directly across from Kate. Opens the bottle and tries to pour into Kate's shot glass. But he's nervous, well scared really, and can't hold it still enough to pour straight.
Kate takes it from him and pours it for her and his after he holds his out to her. Then gives the bottle back that Rick sets on the coffee table next to him.
"Explanation." Rick drinks his glass dry and sets it down then takes Kate's hands in his with her still holding her full shot glass. "I love you. More than you may ever believe I do. I need you to remember that." Rick tells her looking like he is ready for her to shoot him and make love to her right there on the sofa.
"You'll remember that I told you once that there are a handful of these units. Like Jack and Jill. … I don't even know who has the others or exactly how many there are of them. Ray had one, I only ran across him by accident. Jack scanned him and Jill scanned me and we ended up talking for a few hours.
We only ever did one thing together and never talked to each other again. He was a self-employed researcher and well I'm a mostly self-employed writer. However because of Jack and Jill we both work for the same person.
We both work for and answer to just one person. Just the one." Rick holds up one finger.
"We were, are private investigators. Just not the private investigators you are probably thinking about right now." Rick tells them.
"Like Dick Tracey dad?" Alexis speaks first knowing this is serious but curious at the same time.
"Something like that pumpkin." Rick agrees but knows it goes a lot deeper than that.
"COOL!" Alexis tells him. Getting a grin from Rick.
"Ray and I would only handle the really big cases or problems. Ones that never make it into the papers." Rick tells them.
"So who do you work for Castle?" Kate doesn't want to guess.
"Well that has changed over the years. I worked for the first one for only 2 years. The latest one has been for just over 4 years. He can only work at his job for 4 years at a time and 8 years total. Then he gets replaced." Rick explains.
Kate's and Martha's mouths hang open. Martha decides now is a good time to drink some of her wine.
"You work for the Secret Service?" Kate asks still with her mouth hanging open.
"No I don't, exactly. Technically I can order the Secret Service, FBI, CIA, NSA and anyone else with letters what to do. There isn't any secret I can't find out about and there is only one other person who has the same clearance that I have." Rick explains.
Kate decides it is time to drink her drink. Rick reaches for the bottle and this time can re-fill it for her.
"You're the Presidents own personal private investigator." Kate is not sure she is asking or telling herself.
"Yup, first it was Bush and now it's Obama and after his last term it'll be whoever is next." Rick confides.
"Castle that has to be, what, top, top secret. You just told us, someone could be listening even now." Kate still can't get her mouth to close.
"Well telling you is maybe a risk. However I love you, all of you and as for anyone listening. Jack?"
"I scan for listening devices, cameras and prevent window panes or surfaces of water from being used to determine what is being said 24/7 everywhere I go. My guess is that the final missing memory core for Jill can do the same. As well as call the operator." Jack explains. "I'm also able to block any of the devices from functioning whenever I scan them."
"You did that at the alley, what or who is operator?" Kate asks.
"Operator is a contact point between me and the president. I call the operator and ask for things and they are delivered at a scheduled time and place." Rick explains.
"So if you called this operator and asked to be told who really killed JFK he/they would tell you?" Kate asks wonder just what Castle does know.
"If I asked and he/they knew the answer than yes, they would." Rick tells her.
Kate grins at him playfully. "Have you?"
"Even if I did know I couldn't tell you, you don't have the proper clearance, ... yet."
Kate suddenly inhales and in a scared sounding voice as she takes one hand and reaches for Jill. "JILL?" Now really scared.
"Are they/he going to take Jill from me?" Please say no Castle.
"Not at the moment. Jill is incomplete, not whole if you will. She is unable to call the operator. If or when we find her last memory core and attach it she will be able to. And at that point you will likely be given, not asked, two choices." Rick warns her.
"And those are?"
"You'll be offered to do what I do and work for who I work for. For as long as physically capable. Or you'll be told to hand Jill over to be given to someone who will." Rick tells her, sadly.
"I can't just hand Jill over. She's one of my best friends. I'd rather have my leg cut off then hand her over to someone else." Kate tells him while increasing her hold on Jill.
"Well I guess that answers that question." Rick states.
"Will they let us work together? Will I get to keep my job?" Kate is now worried about the outcome of keeping Jill.
"As to your first question, I don't know. I wasn't told not to work with Ray when he had Jill. We simply didn't. As to your second question, I'm guessing yes. You will need a cover job to work in the shadows like I do." Rick tells her. "Does this mean you're not mad at me?" Rick asks looking like he's about ready to jump in case Kate tries to hit him.
"No I'm not mad at you Castle." Kate smiles as she sees him ready to run.
"If I had a secret that big I wouldn't have told you either. Not like I would have been given a choice, would I?" Kate answers. "Besides, I love you."
This gets a big. "YES!" Out of Alexis as well as a thankful. "Katherine dear." Out of Martha.
Rick starts breathing again and gets up off the coffee table and leans in and kisses Kate. "I love you too."
"You want to run and get a juice box pumpkin?" As Rick grabs the bottle and re-fills the shot glasses.
Not sure why. "O-Kay." And comes back with a juice box with a straw sticking out.
Rick raises his glass. "To Jack and Jill. I'm just sorry you're the one who fell down Jill." Rick toasts.
Eventually everyone touches each others, though it took a little effort to get to Alexis who didn't understand. But she drank thru her straw all the same.
"Well darlings I for one have had enough excitement for one evening. I believe I will retire." As Martha gets up. "Katherine dear." And leans in to kiss her cheek. "Richard dear." And kisses him. "Alexis darling." And kisses her.
"Have fun darlings." And Martha waves her hand and is out the door.
"And it's past your bedtime too pumpkin." Rick gets up and lifts her up. "It's time you were in bed, you have school in the morning." Rick carries her down to her room and then reads to her. Then leaves after he is sure she is asleep. Leaning in. "Good night pumpkin." And kisses her.
Back out to the living room where Kate is still sitting. Where Rick sits down next to her.
"I guess that explains you having a permit for this thing." As Kate taps his machine pistol that he still has with him. "How did you know anyway?"
"Actually it was Jack that spotted him. I just hung around in the shadows until I had a clear shot." Rick explains giving Jack the credit.
"He was going to kill me, wasn't he?" Kate looks sad. "The exact same place my mother died."
Rick places his hand on her chin and twists her head to face him. "But he didn't. And you're not getting rid of me that easily."
Kate smiles as she looks into his eyes. "I don't want to lose you at all.
Castle?"
Rick. "Hhmms's." His response.
"I want to stop taking the pill." Kate tells him.
"I guess that means we'll have to be extra careful about our use of condoms from now on." Rick responds.
Kate looks guilty. "I don't want us to use them either."
"Kate that would mean , …." Rick stops talking and stops breathing and looks at Kate.
Kate nods her head. "I want to make a baby. Our baby." Kate tells him shyly.
It's at this point Kate hears someone. A kind of shocked happy sound and it didn't come from Rick. Alexis is in bed and Martha is in her apartment.
Kate jumps up. "MOM?"
"MOM PLEASE!" Kate begs to open air.