Emergence

Chapter 52

Brett Paulsey motioned Kate into his office and waved her to a chair. "Is there a problem, Mr. Paulsey?" she inquired, making sure her blouse gaped open as much as possible.

"Call me Brett, Kitty, and no there isn't. The sale you made last night was a winner. Usually we only get a thousand or two out of customer. Ten thousand was quite a score."

Kate shifted forward in her seat, searching Brett's face for signs of facial surgery. The tiny scars were hidden in his hairline, but she could make them out, and his skin was taut. "Thank you, Brett. I pride myself on a job well done and I'm sure Ricky's investment will pay off."

"Of course, it will," Brett replied too quickly. "And I was wondering if you'd have a drink with me to celebrate your success?"

"What about my shift?"

Brett drew himself up in his chair. "Scheduling is at my discretion, Kitty. If I want to give an employee a little more break time, I can do it. And there's a nice little bar not too far from here. Make the calls from your first page, and I'll come get you when I'm ready to leave for the day. You can come back and finish later."

Kate had been afraid that Brett would view the drink as a prelude to something more intimate, but it seemed that, for the moment at least, he wasn't about to give up on having her talk some other poor saps out their money. She widened her eyes and her smile. "I'd love to have a drink with you, Brett."


Brett's description of the Archie's Cave as "little," had been accurate. Kate wasn't as sure about the "nice" part. By her estimate, it could not have been more than a thousand square feet, maybe less. The small tables were jammed as close together as possible to make the most of the space, but fewer than half of them were occupied. The lone cocktail waitress squeezed between the surrounding tables. "Hey Brett. What can I bring you and the lady?"

Brett looked inquiringly at Kate. "Cosmo."

"Cosmo for Kitty, Ginny, and the usual for me."

"Right, Cosmo for Kitty," Ginny repeated, "and gin and tonic."

"Sounds like you're a regular," Kate observed as Ginny went to pass the order on to the bartender.

Brett shrugged. "This place is handy, and I haven't heard Ginny get an order wrong yet. I like people who know how to get the job done."

Kate smiled. "I hope I'm one of them. You read my application. You know all about Kitty, so tell me about Brett. How did you get into selling investments?"

Brett's eyebrows moved upward for a fraction of a second, but long enough for Kate to catch his micro-expression. She'd expected it, but now she was sure he was going to lie. "My father was a shoe salesman. He was very good at it. He always made sure the customer got the right fit, especially the kids, you know?"

Kate nodded.

"My Dad sold shoes for twenty years, Then the big stores where people would just try on the shoes themselves started coming in. The store where he worked tried to hold on, but it just couldn't make a go of it against the competition. First, they let my father go, then they closed down altogether. Dad didn't know anything except selling shoes. He had to start over. He'd saved some money, but it wasn't enough. He went through some hard times. Our whole family did. So, I decided there had to be a better way for the little guy to have a nest egg. I started looking around, and I realized just how much money people could make buying stock in great companies that were just starting up. Think how well people who invested in Apple or Amazon at the beginning made out. I've made it my mission to spread the wealth."

"Oh Brett, that is so sweet!" Kate put down her drink and pushed her chair back as far as it would go in the cramped space. "I'm going back to Reach Out right now and try to help as many people as I can to build their nest egg."

"You don't have to hurry. You should finish your drink."

Kate shook her head. "No. Our work is too important. I'll see you tomorrow, Brett."


Castle slapped his palm against the table at the loft where he and Kate were sharing a late-night snack. "Kate, you are amazing! Not only did he think you fell for his story, you gave yourself the perfect excuse to get away from him. That was brilliant!"

"Mm, but that trick will only work once. I'll need to wind this thing up before Brett wants to do more than share a drink."

"Ah, but you can always have a poor sick auntie you need to get home to. I don't look bad in a flowered bonnet."

Kate barely avoided spitting out a grape. "I'm sure you look terrific, Castle. I suppose that's as good an excuse if any if I need one. But I should have more information on Brett Paulsey tomorrow, so Kitty Houghton's tenure at Reach Out Enterprises will be short. What's your day been like?"

"Interesting actually, aside from finding out more about Fall color than I thought there was to know, I got a look at some of the first art for the Nikki Heat graphic novel. No comic could truly do justice to your exquisite features, but it was pretty good. I think I'm going to see if the artist can make Rook's biceps bigger, but I think the project will fly. The story wasn't bad either. It was based on one of the first murders we solved together. Remember the smuggler who hid the passports in the knockoff bags?"

"Hard to forget that one, considering we both almost got killed. Are they putting in that thing you did with the champagne cork?"

"My modesty almost prevented me from mentioning that to the writer, but yes." Kate rolled her eyes. "Having Heat and Rook hunker down in that kitchen will be very visual," Castle continued. "I didn't mention Meredith, though. No need to bring in an unnecessary character."

"Or being called 'Kitten,'" Kate added. "You know Castle, I really thought you were going to ask me to sleep with you in exchange for saving my life."

"God! I'd made enough of a mistake by having sex with the deep fried Twinkie. If I'd asked you into my bed, you might have killed me on the spot."

"No, just shot you someplace non-fatal but exquisitely painful."

Castle shuddered. "Anyway, a character based on Meredith couldn't hold a candle to Nikki Heat, so why bring her into it? And like me, Rook will eventually realize who's the woman of his dreams."

A yawn forced itself from Kate's throat. "Speaking of dreams. I'm going to knock off. Join me?"

"How could I not? I'll clean this up and be right in. I haven't started the dishwasher yet."

Kate yawned again and began to wander toward the bedroom. "Okay."

As soon as Kate disappeared, Castle reached up to the highest shelf in the kitchen, pulled out a familiar box of snack cakes and jammed them in the trash can. After staring down at the cream and crumbs leaking from the smashed box, he buried the evidence in the scrapings from the meal he'd shared with Kate, and slammed the lid.